The Final Storm

Chapter 8

by Scarlet Eve

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The next morning, Heero was lounging on one of the couches in the parlour, a book in one hand, one foot resting on the knee of his other leg. He'd somehow, despite what Pagan had said about her sleeping habits, been able to wake up earlier than Relena. The night before, after she'd disappeared to her room, he didn't see her at all. Even when James tried to say good bye, she only cracked the door slightly. Heero thought this was strange behavior, and was tempted to ask her about it. Heero had spent the rest of the day unpacking his trunk, and had borrowed a horse to ride up to the train depot to send off an order for some parts for the locks on the doors and windows.

Before long, he heard soft footsteps on the steps, and a blonde head peeked into the parlour.

"Good morning, Mister Yuy," she said politely, stepping into the room and giving him a quick curtsy.

"Good morning," he replied, his voice low. Heero noticed that just as the previous day, she wore nothing on her feet. "Just call me Heero," he added. Relena sat down in the chair across from him.

"And you can just call me Relena," she replied. He nodded, though he wondered if that would change once James returned home. He watched her as she sat on the chair, fidgeting with her dress and her hair that hung down over her shoulders.

"This is not how you spend your day," Heero said. Relena was startled at the statement, and she stared at him. He was gazing at her intently, and he saw a flush creep up over her cheeks.

"No," she replied. Heero rose and gestured towards the door.

"Don't let me stop you," he said. Relena jumped up, and led the way towards the back of the house. She stepped out the door onto the porch with Heero close behind. The lawn stretched out from there, dotted occasionally by old, strong trees. In the distance, the workers were already at the gardens, and the foreman was up on his horse, watching the progress. Another woman was in the chicken coop, picking up eggs from the nests. Heero knew of these two people, though he did not know their names. Luckily for him, Relena supplied him with the information.

"Hilde over there, is the cook, and Duo, out on the horse, is the foreman, and also married to Hilde. They live in a cottage about a mile from the house on the land," Relena explained. She stepped down into the grass. "The gardens were already being worked when we bought this house from the previous owners. James was good to keep those employed, and he sells everything at a low price to the villagers down the road. So at least it is a little bit of extra income to give to our staff. James feeds them as well. He is quite kind that way," Relena rambled, and Heero noted that it sounded rehearsed, like she explained it to all her guests.

"Hn." Relena glanced up at Heero, and he raised his eyebrows at her.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you do for fun," she said quietly, turning away slightly.

"Don't worry about me," he replied. "I'm being paid to be here." Though he hadn't intended to sound rude, his words came out gruff and uninterested. Relena's expression changed, and Heero wondered if he should say something else in a nicer tone. Before he could think of anything else to say, she shrugged her shoulders and walked through the grass towards a large tree, where there was already two chairs set up beneath the shade. Heero watched her walk ahead of him, his head tilted to the side. During his trip out to the estate, he'd imagined a woman full of herself, with an attitude befitting her money and upbringing, but Relena was a mystery to him.

He watched her throw herself into a chair and sort of curl up into herself. As Heero approached, the young woman who was in the chicken coop began to walk towards Relena. She was carrying a basket full of eggs.

"Miss Relena!" she called, waving an arm above her head. Relena sat up and smiled.

"Hilde!" Hilde stopped beside the chair and set down her basket, then took the chair beside Relena. The other woman then turned towards Heero, settling her gaze on him as he approached the tree.

"Heero, this is Hilde," Relena said, gesturing to the young woman. Heero nodded his head, waited a moment to see if he would have to shake her hand, but was relieved when her hands remained in her lap.

"I hope you're up to the challenge," Hilde said mildly, averting her gaze from him and leaning back to Relena. She whispered something, something Heero certainly wasn't meant to hear, then she rose, took her basket and called "good bye" over her shoulder as she made her way up the lawn towards the kitchen house. Heero looked at Relena, who was grinning and blushing, it seemed.

"Are you really as wild as they all say?" Heero asked her, sitting in the chair beside her. She threw him a somewhat offended look.

"I am not wild," she countered, huffing a bit and folding her arms over herself.

"Hn."

Heero pulled a book from his pocket, a well-worn book that he always kept with him for situations such as these. It was his favorite book, Dracula, by Bram Stoker. He noticed Relena eyeing the worn out book that was missing the back cover, but he ignored her, intent on not giving her the amount of attention that she seemed to require from those around her.

Beside him, she made little noises, huffs and scoffs and heavy sighs, and Heero assumed she was trying to draw his attention. But his eyes and mind remained fixed on his book. From his travels and various jobs, he'd learned to read even if the world around him was chaotic.

After a while, Heero glanced at her, and found that she was asleep, her body positioned away from him on her chair. Heero took the moment to admire her obvious beauty, free from her childish expressions and indignant looks. Asleep, her face was expressionless, but her skin glowed in the morning sunlight. Heero supposed he could tolerate his assignment if she was asleep the entire time.

Hoof beats and an approaching shadow pulled his attention away from her.

"You must be the one who's got the job of keeping an eye on our little princess," the rider said as he swung down from the horse. Heero noticed that his voice seemed to be full of laughter, as if something were funny. Heero also noticed that this man had a very long braid down his back, longer than Relena's hair. Heero nodded. "Name's Duo Maxwell," he said, sticking his hand out. Heero returned the gesture, which was different than the handshake with James. Rather than a soft hand and a polite shake, Duo grasped his hand roughly and shook his hand up and down several times before making a quick release.

"Heero Yuy."

"Good to meet you. I see she's asleep already. Rough morning?"

"No. Not unless moving from the house to this tree is work," Heero said, a bit of scorn leaking into his voice.

"Miss Relena has more energy than that. This pregnancy must be hard on her. It is pretty strange for her to be so exhausted," Duo explained, his hands on his hips as he looked down fondly at the girl. Heero rose from his chair, tucking the book away into his pocket.

"I see," he replied. "I was wondering about something."

"Anything," Duo said, a goofy smile on his face.

"Do you have a place to try out a new gun?" Heero asked.

"Of course," Duo replied, his attention caught. In a swift movement, Heero pulled his new gun from somewhere beneath his clothes and handed it over to Duo, who inspected it, making noises of approval. "Where did you get this?"

"Can't say," Heero said. Duo nodded, still admiring the gun.

"Understandable. That is a beauty. After quitting time, let's you and me head out and put that gun to the test," Duo said. Heero nodded again, took the gun back and tucked it away. "Mister Darlian is quite the collector, and does a little shooting for sport, but he's no hunter," Duo said. He turned and looked over at the field. "I should get back. Take care of her," he added, motioning to Relena with his chin.

"I will." Duo pulled up on the reins and the horse broke out into a canter, speeding towards the fields. Heero sat back down and stretched his arms and legs out. Beside him, Relena stirred. She slowly rose her head, her unruly hair tumbling over her shoulder in a golden wave, a slight smile on her face. But she looked around and met Heero's gaze, and a scowl replaced the smile.

"Did you sleep well?" Heero asked out of politeness. Relena huffed and turned away. Heero rolled his eyes and reminded himself that as soon as his parts arrived, he'd fix everything up and high tail it out of this estate, leaving this bratty, self-important girl behind him.

From the corner of his eye, he watched as Relena settled in her chair, chewing on her thumbnail. Heero thought that was a strange thing for a high born girl to do, but there she was, tearing the skin on her finger and staring off across the fields. Her attention broke when a door slammed up at the house, and Pagan appeared on the lawn, carrying a silver tray. Relena glanced over and seemed to reluctantly straighten herself up in the chair.

It took several minutes for Pagan to walk across the lawn, and finally, he stopped beside Relena's chair and lowered the tray to her level. "Miss Relena, the RSVPs for the party have arrived," he said. For the first time all morning, Relena's face lit up with excitement, and she bounced out of her chair and swept the envelopes off the tray. She began to open the first one and slipped out a small gilded card. She squealed.

"The actors have accepted! Oh, I'm so excited!" Relena said, hugging the small card to her chest. Heero stared at her for a moment, then glanced at Pagan. The older man's mouth turned up into a slight smile, then he bowed and excused himself. Relena sat back down and methodically opened each envelope and read over the cards inside. Heero could almost feel her excitement and energy filtering off her skin and permeating the air around her. His surprise swelled as he watched her, seemingly in her element for the first time since Heero had arrived.

Relena rose again, holding all the little cards as if they were precious jewels, and looked to Heero.

"I have some arrangements to make, so I'll be going into the house," she said, a little haughtily, and she whirled around and ran through the grass towards the house. Heero stared after her, feeling slightly confused, but he rose and followed her at his own pace.

He found her in the parlor, sitting at a small desk in the corner. She had arranged the little cards in rows in front of her, and she was writing furiously on a piece of paper. She had a few catalogs stacked up beside her, some with pieces of paper sticking out between the pages.

"What is all the excitement about?" Heero asked as he stepped into the room.

"James wanted to throw a party to celebrate the marriage of a friend of ours, and everyone has accepted! Now I can plan the menu and the decorations and music..."

She continued to talk, but Heero's mind stopped listening. A party? His least favorite affair. Perhaps, as an employee, he wouldn't be required to attend… but his memory of his first night at the estate reminded him that he was already invited to the party. Inwardly, he groaned.

Heero sat with her for a while, but she was so absorbed in her task that she only spoke out loud to herself as she shuffled through pages of catalogs. Heero continued to read his book, until loud boots thumping against the wood floor caught Heero's attention. Heero glanced up and saw Duo standing in the doorway, a grin on his face.

"Howdy," he said. "You ready to go out back?" Heero nodded fervently, and rose from the couch. He glanced at Relena and was about to say something when Duo shook his head.

"She won't even notice. She'll be fine." The two men exited the house and tromped off towards the fields. "How have things been going with the little princess?"

"Spoiled princess more like," Heero grumbled, but that only elicited a laugh from Duo.

"No one would argue with you there, buddy," Duo said. A moment passed, and Duo suddenly became serious. "Don't judge her too harshly, though. There is a lot more going on under the surface than you realize." Heero was suddenly filled with a sense of foreboding from Duo's statement.

"What do you mean?" Heero asked, but Duo simply shook his head. The two rounded around a barn. They reached an area away from the barns and the fields where there was a large hill. There were already wooden structures for holding targets, and an array of rusted cans and old bottles. "Here we are!"

Heero was unable to shake the feeling he had, and was intensely curious about what Duo had meant. But his desire to try out the new gun was stronger at the moment. He pulled his gun from under his shirt and checked the cylinder. It was full, as it should have been. Heero lifted up the gun with both hands, feeling the weight settle in his grip. With a thumb, he pulled back the hammer until it clicked. With a finger on the trigger, Heero aimed the barrel at a glass bottle on the wooden structure. Duo made sure to stand back. Heero pulled back on the trigger, bracing for the recoil.

Fire blasted from the barrel and there was a roar, and Heero nearly lost his balance. But his aim was true and the glass bottle, along with a portion of the wooden structure were nearly disintegrated.

"Shit!" Duo cried, laughing. Heero lowered the gun, a half smile on his face. Duo stepped up beside him and admired the destruction of the shot. "That's powerful," he added, and Heero nodded. In a move that Heero normally wouldn't have done, he offered the gun over to Duo, to have the second shot. "Oh sure!" He took the gun, and Heero stepped back this time. Duo took aim and squeezed the trigger. He lost more balance than Heero, and the aim fired wide, blowing out a chunk of the hill near the top. Duo was laughing, and handed the gun back.

"Nice shot," Heero said sarcastically. Duo nodded, still laughing. Heero took aim once more, and fired off the last four rounds, one after another, blasting holes in the wooden structure. After the sound of the fourth shot dissolved, the wooden structure collapsed on itself. Heero lowered the gun and smiled.

"Probably have to fix that thing up," he commented. Duo snorted.

"Yeah I think so."

-/-\-

A/N: I apologize for the delay. I was out of town gathering more inspiration during the holiday weekend. :-) But we're back!

Thanks again to all my reviewers, followers and favorites! I look forward to hearing your thoughts about this story!

-Scarlet Eve