Something New
"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue…" Relena whispered to herself as she cast anxious glances about the small room. A door to her left opened and Hilde entered, all smiles.
"Stop worrying!" she reassured the golden-haired girl as she walked circles around her, inspecting every fold of the silvery-white gown and elegant veil she was wearing.
"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue…" she continued, nipping at her fingernails nervously.
"Honestly, I don't know why you're so concerned…" The black-haired girl adjusted the tiara on Relena's head so the shroud didn't fall so far on the right side. "It's just an old tradition. No one bothers with that any more!"
"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue…" The girl was relentless. No other words had left her mouth since she had arrived at the church.
"Something old," Hilde said, slipping off her finger a silver and aquamarine ring, "and borrowed," and placing it on Relena's trembling hand, "and blue."
In a show of gratitude, the bride caught her friend up in a tremendous bear hug, releasing her only after her thoughts caught up again.
"Something new…"
Hilde opened her mouth to make another reassuring statement, but the door opened again and Marimeia stepped in, shutting it lightly behind her. Something was clutched in her small hands, and at the sight, the blue-eyed girl froze.
"Duo said…you should take this." She unclasped her fingers, palms upwards, to reveal a delicate chain from which dangled a tasteful little gold cross. It caught a ray of light and for a brief moment shone with an unearthly glow.
"Duo's cross…?" Relena frowned, taking the necklace from the red-headed girl and holding it up for a moment before clutching it to her heart when Hilde shook her head.
"It's not Duo's," Hilde replied, her smile softening.
"Then-" a knock at the door cut her sentence off. A few moments later, Trowa and Quatre stepped in, faces solemn.
"Relena, I'm sorry but…" Quatre managed before his eyes began to water. The taller boy wrapped a strong arm about his shoulders and took the liberty of finishing for him.
"…Duo's disappeared."
"No!" Relena pushed past them and hurried outside. She slid into the back of the limousine that she was supposed to ride off in with her new husband by her side and shouted at the driver to head for the cemetery.
"How did you know that's where he's headed?" the driver turned around and asked.
"Wu Fei! Just go!" She sat back in a huff and crossed her arms across her chest.
~*~*~*~
The moment the black limo pulled up to the cemetery gates, Relena jumped out. Gathering her skirts, she ran as fast as she could up the hill until she caught sight of him sitting next to a particular headstone. When she got a little closer, she called out his name, but he sat still as stone. Finally, she stood panting by his side.
"Duo, what are you doing!?" she demanded, not exactly sure how she felt but deciding she would be angry that he was sitting in morning dew in his tuxedo.
He didn't respond, but continued to gaze straight ahead over the edge of the promontory the site was situated upon. A breeze stirred her dress and carried with it the sound of a faint, plaintive cry.
After puzzling for a moment, she sat down beside him, no longer worrying about her dress.
"Do you have the crucifix?" he asked, shattering the silence that had befallen the couple. Relena nodded and, as proof, dangled it before him. With a lightning-quick action, he snatched it away and clutched it to his chest. She was in shock.
"I don't-"
"Relena, I can't marry you."
"What?"
"I can't. My heart doesn't belong to you. I tried, but…" he frowned, almost disturbed by what he himself was saying.
"Who could…You don't mean…? Duo, she's dead!"
The way their conversation was going seemed a bit too serious for the sun to be shining and the birds to be singing, but they carried on nonetheless.
"I don't care, Relena. I don't want you to be trapped in a false marriage. It would only be pain for you, for both of us!"
"You can never be with her!" Relena cried, tears forming at the corners of her eyes and spilling down her cheeks.
"I can…if you help me."
"What are you talking about!?"
Duo never broke eye contact as he reached into his pocket and drew out a small gun. Unimpressive, unobtrusive, but none the less capable of the job it was made to do.
"No…I won't do it!"
"Relena, if you truly loved me, you would…" Duo placed the gun in her hand and wrapped her fingers around it.
"You don't love me… You love her… A dead girl over me…" Rage built inside her, and she took a tighter grip on the weapon. "I HOPE YOU FIND YOUR LITTLE BITCH IN HELL!" The gun leveled and raised, she drew back the trigger.
Duo Maxwell died with a peaceful smile on his face, and a crucifix clutched in his hand. As his would-be bride stood over his body, tears streaming down her porcelain cheeks and collecting on her rosebud lips, the realization of what she had just done hit her, but somehow she didn't feel it was a sin. At least, not on her part.
"Ask, and you shall receive…" she murmured, whirling around and tossing the gun over her shoulder where it fell with a sickening thud. She cast a glare of bitter understanding at the angelic headstone and the body slumped against it, coloring it a hateful crimson before turning and heading back down the hill.
"Perhaps this is my 'something new'..."
~*~*~*~
Tori: Disturbing…
Kegawa: Quite…
Tori: Wanna go MST "Z-Mind"?
Kegawa: Why the hell not?