Disclaimer: (I do not own Gundam Wing, I just play in the sandbox. I mean no harm and make no profit from this).
Warning: This fic contains a female/female relationship, if this offends you do not read.
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Sally stomped on the brakes of the massive truck and down-shifted as brake lights flashed in front of her. The vehicle slowly groaned to a halt. She sat up a little straighter and looked out across the long line of cars stretched out before her. Nothing but brake lights, as far as the eye could see. An accident probably. She swore under her breath in Mandarin and reached for her cell phone to call Noin. She was only about a block away from where she was supposed to pick her partner up…hell, it looked like the accident was right in front of the intersection where Noin was probably waiting.
She looked down at the phone and swore again—no service. It really shouldn't have surprised her, since everything in this colony was either broken or breaking. She couldn't wait to get out of here and back to Earth. It didn't help her impatience that she and Noin were both going on vacation once they got back to the planet. At the same time. To the same place. Together. Just her and her beautiful lover. It had taken nearly an act of God to get Une to give them simultaneous time off, so they could go to Bangkok like they'd been planning for the last two years. Sally smiled as she thought of the two of them doing the tourist-thing, strolling hand-in-hand through crumbling ruins and past that giant golden Buddha that Noin kept going on about. Her partner had bought no less than three tourist guides, determined that they would see all there was worth seeing in New Thai-Burma.
Sally had plans for those guide books—plans involving fire and/or sewage. She didn't care so much about wats and botanical gardens and reclining Buddhas with mother-of-peal soles so much as the chance to spend some quiet time with Noin. Preferably in a bed.
Her smile widened as she thought of Noin as she had looked this morning. She had caught her partner going out the door to another day of pretending to be a small-time smuggler trying to establish a new route. Usually, it was Sally who went undercover and Noin who sat in the apartment and ran surveillance. But, Noin had wanted to try her hand at being incognito, and Une had granted them permission. For her role, Noin played with a new style of dress, very different from her normal civilian clothes (Sally was in love with the world's one and only Italian cowgirl). Today, it was brown baggy cords cinched at the waist with a black belt studded with rivets. A soft off-white shirt that was neither tight nor baggy protected Noin's arms from the colony's chill, and she had tucked the front into her waistband, so the rest flopped over her belt in the back. Over that went a black zip-up vest made of corduroy material with no less than nine pockets. The vest was Sally's—she'd bought it to fit all her electrician's tools—but Noin made it look more than just utilitarian. The crowning touches were the tan corduroy fedora sitting atop her partner's short purple hair and several black and silver chain necklaces tight around her throat. Oh, and combat boots, of course. Sally had been very tempted to make Noin stay home today. That's how hot her partner had looked as she headed out the door. Made her want to stamp "Property of Po" on Noin's forehead, so the world wouldn't get any ideas. And the funny thing was, Noin didn't think she was pretty at all. She argued everytime Sally complimented her on her looks. It was frustrating.
Impatient honking shook Sally from her reverie. She looked up ahead—traffic had started to creep forward, inch by inch. Maybe there hadn't been an accident. There weren't any emergency vehicles. But, for some reason, most of the cars were slowing down a little as they started to go through the intersection. Something spilled on the road maybe?
More honking came in through the open truck windows. Some colorful cussing as well. Sally was the third vehicle back from the light when she realized just what everybody was slowing down to look at. Noin was leaning against a lamppost, arms folded over her chest. The smile that danced across her full lips was smug and arrogant, but the look in her eyes was one of confusion. The teenage males in the red convertible in front of the truck let out wolf whistles at the sight of her. The driver of the vehicle behind Sally had been itching to get moving, but even he was looking around to see what was attracting so much attention.
Sally shook her head and brought the truck to a stop right in front of Noin. "Get in," she said, barely containing the laughter bubbling up inside of her as the violet-haired woman climbed into the truck, "You're holding everything up."
Noin shook her head in amazement as she took off the fedora and gave Sally a quick peck on the cheek. "I don't know what it is—one lady was staring at me while she was sitting at the red light. Then, the light turned green, and she just kept staring. I couldn't tell if she thought I looked good or if I had a third arm growing out of my back. For a second, I thought she recognized me, and that my cover was blown. The guy behind her nearly hit her, and the next thing I know, everybody's stopping to look!"
"I guess it's official then," Sally said with a smirk, "You really are beautiful enough to stop traffic."