The Fablespinner put this challenge forth to the fic writer's on her GW ML.
For Writers: Write a fic with whichever pairing you choose. It should have these perimeters:
Setting: Near Midnight New Years Eve
Someone Must be feeling a little "tipsy" (need not be the pair, can be a someone else)
Genre: Comedy, Romance, or Both.
Must fit in the work these Quotes: (For a Challenge) "And That's the way the Cookie Crumbles" "Do you smell that?" "I think I hurt something."
Today's a New Year
written by NemKess
New Year's Eve AC 203
"Heero, loosen up," Relena said quietly.
"Hn.."
Sighing at his response, or rather his lack of response, she plastered a smile on her face and turned to say hi to someone else. When Lady Une had decided to throw a New Year's Eve party for the Preventer's and their friends, Relena and Noin had been drafted to oversee the details. The results were spectacular.
Glancing around the room, her smile softened and became real. All her friends were there and seemed to be having a good time. Duo had managed to drag Hilde onto the very center of the dance floor and was doing his best drunken Saturday Night Fever impersonation while she laughed at him. Milliardo and Noin were dancing slowly at the edge of the dance floor, completely ignoring the fact that it wasn't a song for slow dancing. Catherine, Trowa, and Quatra were sipping drinks at a table off the side, laughing at Duo's antics. Relena had to do a double take when her gaze skittered past Wufei and Sally. After several hours of drinks, Wufei (who was still a couple inches shorter than his partner) had his arms wrapped around her waist, his head on her shoulder with his face turned in towards her breast. It looked for all the world as if they were making out right there on the dance floor.
Relena snickered a bit and turned to see Lady Une coming towards them. Finally, eight years after Trieze's death, the woman seemed to be moving on. This of course was largely due to Nichol's persistence and Mariemia's badgering. Still, it was nice to see the older woman happy again. She felt Heero stiffen behind her. He had never really forgiven or forgotten what Lt. Nichols had done to him during the war. Reaching a hand back, she caught his and squeezed gently. Though it was slight, she felt the answering squeeze.
"Good job, Relena. You and Noin did well with the party." Lady Une stopped next to the young diplomat, Nichols a little behind her as far away from Heero as he could get.
"Thank you, Lady Une. I'm glad you approve." Lady Une nodded before turning to look at Milliardo and Noin.
It was a moment before she spoke. "So. Are the two of you going to let the cat out of the bag tonight or not? It's becoming increasingly difficult to keep it from Zechs. He knows we're hiding something from him."
Relena just giggled a bit. "Yes. Tonight's the night. Besides, we won't be able to hide it much longer." At her last words, she raised her hands to caress her slightly rounded stomach. In another month it would be impossible to hide the fact that she was pregnant. She leaned back into Heero's chest when his hands came up over hers. Tonight they'd tell everyone what only they and Une had known before now. She wondered idly what Milliardo would think of the fact that his 'baby' sister had been secretly married on Christmas Eve. He was going to hit the roof. There would certainly be plenty of fireworks tonight.
"Wanna dance?" she asked Heero. Luckily, he seemed to be in a cooperative mood and silently led her onto the floor, narrowly avoiding being run into by Duo. With a growl, he stuck out a foot, neatly tripping his inebriated friend. Unfortunately, Duo took Hilde down with him in a tangle of limbs.
Heero smirked in satisfaction before maneuvering Relena away. Pulling her close, he pressed his face into her hair breathing deeply.
"I love you," Relena said, sighing happily. His arms tightened momentarily and he kissed her hair lightly.
Suddenly, she pulled a little away from him and sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?"
Quirking a brow, he tested the air. There were any number of smells filling the new bar not the least of which was the various types of alcohol, perfume, and cologne. He couldn't decide which one she would be finding so interesting.
With a tug on his arm, she pulled him off the dance floor and towards a buffet table set to the side. Oh, he should have known. Food. Oh the joys of a pregnant wife. Smirking a bit, he followed her, tripping Duo again as he passed the dancing man. Ignoring the sputtering behind him, he watched with a decidedly queasy stomach as Relena began to pile various odds and ends onto a plate. It appeared to be mostly crab legs, broccoli and honey mustard with a few things thrown in that he really didn't want to think about.
"Do you want something?" she asked without turning. The thought of food had lost appeal as he'd watched her fix her own plate so he just murmured a negative and grabbed a glass of punch, knowing good and well that it was spiked. If Duo hadn't gotten to it, then one of the other young Preventer's had. He was going to need the alcohol if he was going sit and watch her eat that stuff.
It was about an hour until midnight when Relena decided it was time to tell everyone. Milliardo looked tipsy enough for Noin to control. And since Heero had been drinking fairly steadily since she'd eaten, she doubted he would start anything. At least, she hoped that was the case. It was strange to her that after all these years, the two still couldn't let bygones be bygones and let go of the past. To Heero, her brother would always be the Oz soldier and White Fang leader. To Milliardo, her husband would always be the young upstart who'd defeated him and 'soiled' his sister. Hopefully, after tonight, the two would make a more concentrated effort to get along.
Stepping onto the small stage, she nodded her thanks to the local band that Howard had hired for the party. Taking the microphone, she called everyone's attention to her.
"First of all, I'd like to thank Lady Une for the wonderful party." she paused to allow the applause to die down. It was amazing how much noise 50 inebriated individuals could make. When it quieted down, she continued. "Now for an announcement of a more personal nature." She held out her hand and Heero joined her on the stage. The pair shared a smile before turning back to the crowd. "As of December 24, of this year, Heero Yuy and I are wed."
The applause was deafening. Unfortunately, it wasn't loud enough to drown out the roar that came from the direction of her brother. He wasted no time in plowing through the crowd, throwing people out of his way, and pulling Heero off the stage. Later on, Relena would decide it was just courtesy that actually caused her husband to let her brother get in the first punch. At the time, she was too busy trying to help Noin separate them. Especially once Heero decided to fight back. He ducked under Milliardo's next punch, causing the enraged man to hit Wufei. When the Chinese man retaliated, he was too late because the platinum blonde head had already snapped back from another fist. Instead, he hit Heero who in turn, pounced on him.
For a moment, everyone stood frozen watching. Then, with a loud war whoop that would have made any Indian proud, Duo jumped right into the middle slugging at whatever came close.
Relena gasped as she felt arms grab her around the middle. Turning, she realized it was Howard who was dragging her towards the bar and out of the fray which was spreading to include every male, and some of the females, in the room.
They both ducked behind the bar as a chair came flying in their direction. Standing back up, Relena strained onto her tiptoes trying to find her husband over the fighters. It was no good, she was just too short. With only a moments hesitation, she crawled onto the bartop. Scanning the room, she managed to locate her tall blonde brother, but he was no longer fighting with Heero. It actually looked like Lt. Nichols. Just off to the side, she could see Trowa sidestepping a kick from an officer she didn't know. He appeared to be mildly amused, but more intent on just defending himself than actually fighting. That changed though, when someone accidentally hit Quatra. Catherine was using candles as mock knives, throwing them at everyone in the general vicinity. Dorothy had found a broken chair leg and was wielding it like a rapier.
Relena had to scoot down the counter quickly when someone's head was slammed right where she'd been.
"Here, use this," she stared blankly at the beer bottle Howard had thrust into her hand. When she just looked up, confused, he added, "Hit the next head that comes near you."
Though she was uneasy with the idea, she kept ahold of the bottle. And when a head came near, she closed her eyes and swung down. And promptly snapped her eyes open again at her husbands growl. "Opps."
Rubbing his head, he ducked and kicked someone before turning back to glare at her. "If you are going to engage in this brawl, at least keep your eyes open and make sure you hit the enemy." Pulling her face down for a hard kiss, he waded back into the fray. He pushed one officer in her direction and once again, she brought the bottle down, this time with her eyes open.
Since this man didn't have Heero's incredibly hard head, he fell in a heap under a barstool.
Hearing another loud whoop, she looked up to see Duo bring down Nichol's before turning his attention to Wufei. He didn't fair nearly as well against his newest opponent, but was helped out when Trowa's foot connected with the back of the dark head. Quatra had even joined in, though at the moment he was mostly just trying to keep Dorothy from gutting him with the chair leg.
Someone else hit Relena's leg and she brought the bottle down without thinking. Another body on the floor.
Fifty minutes, and 6 unconscious bodies later, the brawl had all but ended. The women, except for Dorothy, were all still standing but most of the men lay prone- some of them having just passed out from a combination of alcohol and exhaustion.
Duo and Heero both came limping over towards her. Duo was holding his side, chuckling and grimacing at the same time. "Damn, I think I hurt something. Boy oh boy, Heero. That was a blast. Remind me to tell Lady Une she throws one hell of a party."
"Hn.." Heero just walked up to her and stared for a moment, as if trying to determine that she was ok. When his toe encountered the pile of bodies, he looked down for a full minute. Then, he raised his head and stared at her, his brow raised and one corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. She just shrugged. At least she hadn't hurt anyone too badly. They'd all just have headaches in the morning. She stared at his bruised face.
"We should get ice on that," his answer was just a grunt.
Sally walked over, dragging a barely conscious Wufei with her. She glared at Heero. "I hope you know that my chances of getting lucky tonight are absolutely nill thanks to you and your little fight." When he just glared back, her lips twitched before she dissolved into laughter. "Oh well. That's the way the cookie crumbles, I guess."
A few more mobile stragglers wandered up to them. Trowa, favoring his right foot, was leaning heavily on Quatra. At Sally's questioning look, he shrugged. "Dorothy has a hard head."
Relena gaped for a moment before she fell over giggling. Even Heero chuckled a bit. Lady Une just shook her head, having become used to the oddball sense of humor these pilots had. She should have known better to try to throw a dignified party. Oh well, she thought, rubbing her bruised knuckles. It had been kind of fun.
Noin was pulling a reluctant, pouting Milliardo up to them. Hands on hips, she elbowed him in the ribs causing him to mumble something. He didn't even have a chance to duck the hand that slapped the back of his head. Glaring at her for a moment, he sighed and turned back to them a sheepish look on his face. Holding out a hand, he waited for Heero to grasp it before he repeated himself. "I apologize for my ungentlemanly behavior. I'm sure my sister couldn't have found a better husband."
"Hn.. " was the only response that passed Heero's lips. Well, until Relena's foot found it's way into HIS ribs. With a grunt and a long suffering look, he nodded. "You did what you felt you had to."
An announcement came over the loudspeaker. "One minute til midnight guys. Grab your partner and get ready to greet the new year in style."
Thirty seconds. Duo pulled Hilde close and kissed her gently- mostly because his lip was cut and anything harder would have been painful.
Twenty seconds. Trowa and Quatra embraced tightly and nearly went tumbling when the taller man forgot about his foot.
Ten seconds. Heero had to open his mouth. "Well, at least you and the baby stayed up and out of the way."
Eight seconds. Milliardo, "What did you say you bastard!?!"
Six seconds. The fight between the two started all over again.
Four seconds. Noin and Relena just stood watching them, shaking their heads and resigning themselves to many long years of this kind of behavior.
Two seconds. Sally looked at the now completely passed out Wufei. With a philosophical sigh, she sat down.. Maybe next year.
One second. Lady Une lifted her glass of champagne, ready to say goodbye to an old memory.
Happy New Year's!!!
As fireworks went off outside, and the two men continued fighting inside, Howard looked around his brand new bar. Ain't that the way it always goes, he thought to himself. You just get finished paying for something and a bunch of loonies bust it up. Oh well. Today was a new year.