Author's Note: I know that there was a lot about the last chapter that was rather vague. I was hoping to offer a decent enough set up to the story without actually placing Hilde anywhere yet. I apologize if there might have been any confusion about this or if it turned you off from my story in any way. I wanted it to be angsty without all of that teenaged drama! But things are going to return to some form of normalcy now with this and all of the following chapters. Thank you so much for your support.

As Lovers Do

Chapter Two

The doorbell rang, causing the young woman to squint against the sunlight pouring through the closed blinds of her window. It was peculiar for there to be so much sunlight for a winter morning.

She was lying on her side, legs curled upwards towards her chest. The covers were pulled up high enough to expose just her shoulders to the warm morning sunlight and moved only slightly with her calm breathing. Rolling over onto her side, Hilde looked at her ceiling for a moment, studying the patterns that swirled in its simple white construction. She always had wondered just why it was that someone had ever thought it necessary to include a pattern in the ceiling; it wasn't like people spent much time concentrating on that particular feature of their home.

The doorbell rang again and Hilde groaned, gazing at the clock positioned on her bedside table.

'Eight forty five?' her tired eyes couldn't have been playing tricks on the poor girl as she sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and to the floor a bit more quickly than her body would allow. Taking a moment to steady the spinning in her head, Hilde grabbed the short white robe hanging from the back of her doorway and tied it securely around her waist before she exited her bedroom and entered the hallway.

She paused for a moment before opening the door, taking a bit of time to run a hand haphazardly through the morning mess that always constituted her hair when she first awoke for the day. The tangle was slightly longer than it had been when she had been in the army, though Hilde still preferred to wear her hair short. The strands fell to a place just below her jawbone and curled outwards naturally. Her skin was still the same pale porcelain color that could only manage to gain a soft buttermilk shade with her summertime exposure to the sun. But she didn't appear sickly, as she had when she was younger; the girl that Hilde was looking up had matured.

Hilde had learned a lot about the world since she'd matured into adulthood. It hadn't taken long for her to realize that the mechanical work she loved wasn't a profession attributed to many women and the uncommon nature of her profession gained her much attention from the male population. To say that she didn't exploit such attention would have been a lie. Knowing that the beautiful Miss Hilde would be fixing their appliances and automobiles was enough to attract a rather interesting collection of men, especially in the summer when her tight mechanic's jumpsuit would be replaced for less clothing in an attempt to counterbalance the heat.

The young woman thought of Duo rather often, wondering what he would have thought if he knew how she would subtly sell her body along with the repairs she made. All Hilde had ever wanted to do was make Duo proud and the girl knew that her actions would have instilled a bitter tinge of jealousy in the Gundam pilot. The boy would tell Hilde that her decisions to attract customers with her lovely curves and witty conversation disappointed him slightly and Hilde would just laugh. She would wrap her arms around his waist and rest her head against his chest, assuring him that she wasn't doing anything wrong; that her heart belonged to only him.

When the doorbell rang again, Hilde sighed, pulling her eyes away from the mirror. Running a hand through her hair hadn't really helped to tame the mess of it, but it was slightly better than it had been before. She felt the cool metal doorknob beneath her fingertips and smiled despite her need to squint into the morning sun shining around the apartment complex in front of her house. It was cold outside, a fresh blanket of snow had fallen on the ground, and Hilde responded to this realization by wrapping her robe more tightly around her small frame.

"Hello, Miss Hilde!" the delivery man greeted her with a smile as warm as the sun and, as ashamed as she was to admit it, Hilde was a bit disgusted. It was too early in the morning for such pleasantries. He normally would have brought her packages to the shop where one of her coworkers would have signed for it, so bringing something to her house was rather peculiar. "You have a package today. It was marked 'Urgent Delivery' so I thought I should bring it by the house for you."



The girl blinked, looking at the box he was handing her. It wasn't anything exceptional, just an average sized box, not much bigger than one that might store shoes, wrapped in brown paper and addressed to her. She saw the words that he had used to justify his deliver on the side of the package in rather large, glaring red letters. Hilde bowed her head slightly, murmuring a soft 'thanks and take care' before closing the door behind her.

She softly padded her way into the kitchen, noticing the familiar feeling of soft carpet beneath her feet. Hilde was trying to take her time and not appear too excited, in case this was just the delivery of another part to the repair shop, but her heart was full of excitement, even if she wouldn't allow herself to admit it. Hilde rarely received mail and, when a letter would come for her, it normally entailed some form of payment that was expected by a certain date, normally near the end of the month.

But inside of this package was another box, this one much smaller. It was wrapped in elegant black paper that felt like silk against Hilde's fingers. There was a red bow that tied it all together and she could feel her heartbeat quicken just slightly as she gently pulled on the strings holding everything together.

With trembling fingers, Hilde removed the lid from the box and noticed the small red envelope that was lying inside of it. Her name was written elegantly across the back of the object in her hands in fancy golden ink; Miss Hilde Delphine Schbeiker. When she went to remove the envelope from the box, she noticed that there was another, narrower piece of paper beneath it. A plastic cover surrounded a shuttle ticket to earth and Hilde could almost feel her heart stop beating in her chest.

It was a ticket to earth; more specifically, the Sanc Kingdom.

'Relena?' she questioned, wondering if the other woman was somehow behind this. Or perhaps it was her friend, Lucretzia, who had remembered the slender beauty with hypnotizing sapphire eyes that had risked her life to help the Gundam pilots in their battle against White Fang. Hilde ran her fingers across the raised seal of the royal family of the Sanc Kingdom that was emblazoned on the front of the envelope. Her hands shook slightly as she removed the stiff parchment from its folded prison.

Miss Hilde-

You are cordially invited to spend Christmas
and New Year's Eve with Miss Relena and
her guests at the Grand Palace of the Sanc
Kingdom. Please RSVP so a room can be
reserved in your name.

Sincerely, Relena

Thousands of questions raced through her mind in a matter of moments. There was more information that accompanied the original letter, explaining about the two formal occasions that this party would entail and how to get a hold of Relena to RSVP. But, still, Hilde wondered who her other guests could be; it wasn't like she was expecting to keep herself entertained by the various Aristocrats that Queen Relena normally entertained herself with. And she wondered if any of the Gundam pilots would be in attendance.

The next thought hit her like a ton of bricks, 'Would Duo be there, as well?'