Previously Controlled

By: Jade Maxwell Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing! Warnings: Yuri- Une x Noin, (Sally x Noin, Une x Sally). Lemons will not abound; I lied in my last chapter, sorry. I just don't feel like writing a lemon anymore. Oh, and death, angst, and some sappy fluff waits. Notes: A gift to my soulfriend and husband, Kanae Starwind a.k.a. Hyatt Insomnia! The mood of the story comes from listening to Waterbone Tibet. It's new age music. If you would like to hear it, then go and try to download it! Summary: After the death of Treize and the care of his paralyzed daughter a year later, Lady Une is feeling quite worn to the bone. Lucrezia Noin was feeling distraught over Zechs, who disappeared often without word, and pursued out something stable. Sally Po used to be the Preventers authoritative voice, now the Preventers are no longer needed and her specialized doctoring is not as useful. Three fates about to collide with violent force to bring two souls together. And what in the world does Miss Mariemaia have to do with any of it?

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The hospital was cold and quiet. The smell of Lysol permeated the halls with a thick bittersweet scent, tinted with pine, that made the strongest of stomachs wrench in disgust. The air was clouded with the heavy feel of death and sadness. Thick enough that you could practically chew the air. Nurses in tidy white outfits walked swiftly from one side of the small hospital to another side. Their hair pulled back in buns and most of their faces covered in blue masks. Doctors, wearing bright blue and green, rushed from room to room, pushed people dying on gurneys to their own rooms, worked on people in the very halls themselves. The place was a wreck, so many people, so little space, so little time. Much like the war all over again. Leaving too much of a trace of death in the air to breathe right. Too much sadness on the walls to see right.

Amongst these poor suffering souls were two more equally tormented and equally sad beings. Lucrezia Noin, her face soaked beautifully with tears and Lady Une, singled out tears sliding down her face painfully. They were carefully searching their surroundings for Sally Po. Matching worried expressions masking their faces as they walked, side by side, looking for all their might. Yet, their were so many people, and so many dying people that they didn't know where to start. Burn victims were laid out amongst the heart attack victims. While cancer patients were amongst the stab and gun wounded. And everyone else was mixed so thoroughly with everyone else that it was becoming hopeless to look for one person; a woman with blonde hair and lavender eyes that could be mistaken for any blonde-hair or lavender eye woman. Yet they kept at it. Three hours later, at 10 o'clock in the night, they found the only surviving plane crash victim. It was Sally, and she was had died two hours after being brought to the hospital. Being rolled off to the morgue to be tagged and set aside for family or friends to claim.

Noin broke down against the death stained wall, her eyes wide with dried tears while horrible sobs racked her slender body. Lady Une felt the hot tears under her eyes dry quickly and she bent down to wrap her arms around the dark-hair woman. "Noin, take a deep breath. We have to go identify the body or she'll be set aside in the deep freezer till they get rid of her. She wouldn't want that and neither do you, right?" Her voice was a piano playing the sweetest tune amongst the souls of the living working on the bodies of the dead and dying. Lucrezia, thankfully, followed her advice, letting a deep sigh escape with her release of breath.

"I would never want my beautiful Sally to be thrown away like so many used and broken toys." She replied, and with the help of Une, stood precariously on jelly legs. "She wouldn't want that either." Noin's voice was hoarse from the dry sobs; muffled from her mouth against the soft silk of the Lady's shirt. Both of their tears were dried up now, both of their beatific faces sore and rubbed raw from boiling tears of pure agony. Slowly they found their way down to the cold, damp morgue. The lone, ragged nurse they saw led them without a word on her part to the stall where the newest body had been laid out. Sally's face, well the half of her face that was still recognizable, had a single heat crusted teardrop against the cheekbone. Noin looked away, her face pale and contorted with pain. The Lady sighed, a deep pain worming its way into her heart as she looked down on the dead face of her ex-lover from so very long ago. The saddest part being that Sally knew she wouldn't get to say goodbye to her newfound lover.

Lady Une couldn't help but feel sad, if a bit guilty, that they had never made up after their break-up. And now she never would. Light brown eyes traveled up to the nurse, whose once cold face when they came in was set in a deeply sympathetic line. Her voice, when she allowed herself to speak, was as harmonious as before when the two were in the hallway. "We know her, her name is Sally Po. She has no existing family, and we're the only ones that could take her off your hands." The nurse nodded and went to get the paperwork to sign the dead body over to Lady Une. After they were all signed, and Sally's body was pushed back away from view, Une grabbed Noin's hand. "Lucrezia, we'll arrange the funeral and such tomorrow. Let's get you back to the hotel." Lucrezia just nodded her head sadly; quietly letting the taller of the two lead them back outside; to fresh air and cold stars.

Death wasn't here, where the air was fresher, the ground softer, and no sickly walls to make a person feel claustrophobic. No dying bodies being operated on amongst the living. Only a briefly quiet night, with stars shining and moon waning in the dark sky. Then an ambulance drove up and paramedics rushed out. A gunshot casualty being wheeled into the crowded hospital to be lost amongst the others like so many others are. Lady Une sighed deeply and started them towards a line of taxicab drivers sat waiting for fares. The cab ride home was uneventful, only the smell of pine from the car freshener to remember. The Lady paid their fare and pulled the alarmingly quiet woman out of the backseat. Draping a pale arm over her shoulder and pulling her up to her own room.

Said room still had the television on, the muted sound leaving the buzz of electricity humming throughout the room. With a grimace Une turned the TV off and then laid the ex-soldier Noin onto her bed. The woman's eyes were open, but they were black with utter sadness. The tear tracks on her face and the splotched cheeks stood out against her abnormally pale skin. Une ran a slender hand through the younger woman's hair gently. Amazed that the texture wasn't silken, much as she thought it would be, but something much more amazing. Almost like cool, velvet water; it was so amazingly different. Especially from her own, which was admittedly more like silk. A small smile graced her lips and she ran her hand over the dark hair, soothing it back into place.

"Go to sleep, Lucrezia, we'll talk tomorrow." The Lady whispered and closed the other woman's eyes for her. No sooner were they closed, then rhythmic breathing reached her ears and she let that small smile light her face again. Then she dimmed the lights, happy for once that the hotel had a dimmer and not shut an off or on switch. Slowly she pulled Noin's shoes off and pulled the comforter up to her shoulders. "Sleep well." Then she disappeared into the bathroom to wash her face.

Her reflection was that of a sophisticated woman, light brown eyes, that show clearly how cynical she had become over the past three years. She took out the contacts and then slipped on a pair of bronze-framed glasses. Barely darker brown hair extended well past her shoulders in supple waves. A pale rose face, clear of tear tracks now, revealed her resolve against the world. Broad shoulders straightened innately under her critical gaze, much as they would've had she been looked over by a commanding officer in the war. She was slender, but still muscular, strong enough to lead an army into war. Command a frightened officer to die for his loyalties or be killed for treason. A disgusted grimace smeared her calm expression as she thought about those times. Then a cold shiver wormed up her spine, reminding her that she had not slept peacefully in well over a week. She removed her clothing and sighed, finding a slip in her bag she pulled it over her head and clicked the light off on her reflection.

The room was still quiet, Noin still asleep, her face smooth in her slumber. Lady Une, having no regrets about putting the other woman in her bed, slipped in alongside the slumbering woman and then sighed. She had forgotten to turn off the damn light. Carefully, so as not to disturb the woman (even though she was pretty sure that a bomb could go off right now and she wouldn't awaken), she got up and turned the lights off completely. Dousing the room in comfortable darkness. Then she slid back into bed; the silk of her slip feeling heavenly against her sleep deprived body. Tonight the Sandman was not elusively out of reach, he dusted the sand of dreams upon the Lady's face and she slept deeply.

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Sun filtered through the thick curtains, illuminating the room with a peaceful red-gold glow. Noin stretched, feeling muscles tighten in protest at the sudden movement. She ignored them continued into a relaxed stretch, ending with her feet curl back behind her. The she froze; her feet had come in contact with a warm, pliable sleeping body. Carefully she turned her head over her shoulder, eyes wide when she saw it was her, once, commanding officer. Curled on her side facing Noin, still very much in a deep relaxed sleep. One pale rose arm flat against the pillow by her head, the other arm twisted under her head comfortably. Her face was calm; the usual cold scowl replaced with a divine peaceful look, accentuated by the warm glow in the room. A small giggle escaped Noin's lips when she saw that the other woman had completely forgotten that her glasses were still on her face. Apparently she had fallen asleep with them on.

With a smile, Noin relaxed and turned onto her other side to watch the other sleep. Tendrils of brown hair fell over her face, onto her supple lips, across the pillow and Noin reached a pale hand to brush them away. Then she brushed at the hair again, amazed that it was so silky. Of course it appeared silky, especially under the moonlight. Suddenly she jerked her hand away. Feeling like a lowly cheater against Sally. Then, with a blast to the gut, her eyes widened impossibly large. A barrage of images assaulted her mind in a blink and a single boiling hot tear slipped down her face sadly. The crystal tear falling on the pillow under her head, spreading out damply. Sally was dead and she was lying here in Une's bed, admiring her beauty in the limited light.

Quickly she got out of the bed, once again ignoring those annoying knots of pain along in her muscles. Not caring that she couldn't find her shoes she ran out of the hotel room, trying to get her bearings. She spun around and saw that Lady Une was in room 11, two doors down from her own room. Then she bolted down the short distance, fumbling in her pockets for her keycard. The hard plastic slipped into her hand and she waited for the glowing green light to blink on before pushing the heavy door open. It closed itself with a brief whoosh of air. Finally, she breathed, letting her rapidly beating heart slow before she moved away from the door. She blinked in the bright sunlight streaming through the open curtains and sighed. A heavy weight seemed to wrap tightly around her heart, pulling it under a wave of cold despair.

With the consent of no one, her memories surface themselves of Sally. Her smiling lavender eyes, pale blonde hair falling over her shoulders in curled waves when it was loose, the way she always seemed happier than most people. Of course not Relena happy, or even Dorothy happy, but sincerely happy. She could light up a room with a simple hello; at least in Noin's eye. She sighed again and leaned against the balcony edge she hadn't realized she had walked towards. Again, without her consent, her head moved down to the right where Lady Une's room was. Jus a single room between them, the room that should've been Sally's.

Now, Lady Une was an enigma to the ex-soldier. For as long as she had known her, she had always been so cold or distant during battles. Then when everyone found out she had a split personality, it was intriguing. This side of her was regal, gentle, caring, and as warm as the day is long. This was confusing as well, what could've possibly drawn this other personality out of her and which one was her true form. Neither seemed to be her actually. Yet, the Lady was now a mixture of both, she was as regal as before with a cynical outlook on the life in front and behind her. Her beautiful features held in a permanent place of perpetual anger. As if she would turn her slender back on the world if it would mean peace of mind. For no doubt she always thought about the war. Who couldn't? With the way it ended in pure agony for all involved.

Lady Une had softened a bit more after taking Trieze's daughter under her wing. Maybe it was something about the young woman's ability to look past her mistakes and take the world head on that had driven her to become a better person. Of course, it could just be that she had to concentrate on getting the younger girl out on her again. A sigh slipped past my pursed lips, another nonconsensual act of my body. There was much more to Une than there first seemed to be. The Lady was growing that much was obvious from last night's acts of calm kindness, of agonized sadness, and of pure exhausted help. So, why was I so afraid of being in the other woman's bed?

It was simple; the Lady of Enigma was too beautiful under the influence of depressed loneliness. True as it was Noin had been lonely for over a month now. Feeling too emotionally and physically separated from her lover had drawn a lot of long buried desires. Such as the burning desire to hold Lady Une, comfort her, caress her, and do all those wonderful things that in the war you didn't think about doing to your commanding officer. Naturally that didn't stop her from wanting to be with Zechs/Milliardo, they were once considered high school sweethearts. The couple that everyone had something against because they seemed too happy, too complete. Under the façade though, there was a secret that wasn't made clear till they finally split up. Milliardo was a flaming homosexual, mourning the loss of Treize by wasting his time with Noin; who did nothing but love him as much as she could.

What was a girl to do after one lover is brutally burnt to death in a terrible plane crash, while secretly wishing to be with another? Obviously, she wasn't supposed to run away from the problem and hide in her own room.

Her dark purple eyes roved over to the other balcony longingly. Then the door slid open, and there she was. Her cream slip falling down over a voluptuous body just barely reaching the middle of her pale rose thighs. She brushed one hand through her long waves of hair and smiled over at Noin. The wind decided to pick up then and blew over her body in a welcoming caress. Lucrezia was suddenly jealous of the wind, wanting to run her hands over the flesh teasing her in the daylight.

"Morning Lady Une, how did you sleep?" Noin said, after quelling her sudden jealousy of the breeze. She had forgotten she was still dressed in her rumpled clothing from yesterday and refrained from grimacing down on herself.

"Just fine, slept rather late though." She replied from her bent position on the side of her balcony. Her smile, when it appeared, was a small calm one that set Noin's heart at ease. "Have you eaten yet?" She didn't seem agitated that Noin had left abruptly. A shake of her head no and Lady Une laughed. "Why don't you come over here after you shower and change and we'll order room service. Then we can discuss," Long pause. "Other things." Her smile left with her choice of words. Noin nodded her head in agreement and watched as Lady Une's scantily clad backside disappeared from view.

"Just great, I'm opening up to this," The ex-soldier grimaced down at herself finally, "attraction for her and my own lover's been dead for no more than a day. What a way to show remorse, eh?" She muttered to herself and walked into her hotel room. Everything was unpacked and put away neatly. Color coordinated, each color ranging from largest to smallest. Military training was clearly embedded in everything she did.