Dorothy Catalonia sat upon the cool sands of a small bay. The sun hung low in the sky, casting a
myriad of colors on the water rolling gently along. She took a deep breath, savoring the salty air. Dorothy picked up her sandals and strolled
along the shoreline, watching the seabirds that tried to catch as many clams as
they could before the next wave came.
She was extremely amused by their antics. It was as if they were playing tag with the waves, taunting the
watery hands and then running just out of reach. Dorothy noticed a figure of in the distance, also staring out at
the setting sun. As she drew nearer she
registered the honey golden hair and, later, the oceanic eyes of the Vice
Foreign Minister Relena Darlain.
"Hello, Ms. Relena."
Relena stared at her dumbly for a moment then,
"Dorothy! I'm sorry I didn't recognize
you! What are you doing here?"
"I'm addicted," Dorothy said cryptically. She was rewarded with a puzzled
expression. Dorothy chuckled, "The salt
smell of the air, the sand cool under my feet after a day's heat from the now
sinking sun," Dorothy turned to the sea and spread all-encompassing arms, "and
this. The buck and roll, rise and fall,
crash and recede, swelling, swaying, constantly changing blue waters of the
ocean!" Dorothy let her glide slowly back to earth.
Relena smiled, "The beauty of it keeps me coming
back as well, but also the memories," Relena stepped forward next to Dorothy,
"This is where everything started for me.
Heero crashed into that ocean, washed up on this shore and rewrote all
that I thought I knew in the time of one year." Relena lowered herself to the ground, "Isn't it interesting when
you can pinpoint the exact moment when your life whole life changes?"
Dorothy sat down beside Relena, "Yes…yes it
is." The two of them sat in
companionable silence, absorbing the dying light and salt atmosphere, each
contemplating their own thoughts.
Dorothy wasn't sure what Relena though about, but her own thoughts
ventured where they often did.
Changed.
That's what she was, changed.
Physically and mentally changed.
Her body had left childhood behind with no baby fat for proof. And in her mind childhood existed as nothing
more than to remind her of what never to become again.
When did this happen? It had been a fencing match between Quatre Winner and herself
that ended with Quatre's assisted exit by Trowa Barton and the words they had
both tossed at her. It had taken under
an hour but what they had said was a catalyst.
It started a chain reaction, revolutionizing all that she was. What they had said and done exactly would
probably fade over time. All things
did. But the lessons she had learned,
the doors they had opened for her would never be eliminated. It had been as if she had never seen nor
smelt nor heard or tasted or felt ever before.
She had learned to walk all over again.
It was wonderful. They had made
her wonderful. She was becoming a
better person. All because of
them. Everything was because of them.
"Well," Relena broke the silence and stood up, "I
promised him I'd be back before full dark.
He's so paranoid sometimes," Relena shook her head, smiling. The crimson sun had splashed into the sea
leaving a pink watermark on the empty horizon.
"Relena, do you know what Quatre Winner and Trowa
Barton have been doing?" Dorothy asked suddenly.
Though startled by the abrupt question, Relena
delivered an answer, "Ah, Quatre is head of the Winner Corporation advocating
peace and Trowa works in the circus.
They see each other often."
A smile tugged at Dorothy's mouth. They were happy. That's all she could ever want for them.
"Would you like me to tell them you said 'Hello'?"
"No…no, just tell them that Dorothy Catalonia says
thank you…for everything."
Relena smiled softly, "Okay. Good night, Dorothy."
"Dorothy listened as Relena traversed the sands back
towards the road, bear her message.
Thank you for everything.
Dorothy smirked. Someday she
would show them how thankful she really was.
AN: Thanks so very much for reading! It's my first fan fiction so tell me what
you think. The idea came to me in the middle of the night (literally) and I had
to write it down. Let me know
everything that you think about it! I
can take it! Thanks for sitting through
it!
~
Tsukiyo
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the
characters in it and make no profit from this fiction.
