Chapter 9: Fabric of Deception, a new enemy
Dorothy watched Trowa leave smirking to herself. 'The poor fool has no clue that his beloved will be attending the dance tomorrow eve.' She waited for his shadow to be out of sight and returned to Catherine's room. "Ok your dress will be ready tomorrow morning and to make sure that no one will know who you are I have decided to take you to get your hair done." The wind blew Catherine's hair into her eyes and she tucked it behind her ear, biting silently on her lip.
"Don't you think that is going a little too far? Trowa already does not suspect that I am going to be there, isn't that enough." She placed her feet on the hard wood floor, her mind thinking about the trickery ahead. "I mean I am not sure about that."
Dorothy rolled her eyes and closed the door behind her, shutting the curtains as well. "You wanted to be disguised right? Well your hair gives you away, I mean who else do we know that has your hair style?" She asked gently picking up one of the many waves in Catherine's hair. "I mean your hair is like a waterfall of red waves, who would not notice you? I was simply planning to maybe straighten it, dye it another color, and maybe some highlights, it would not permanent. It would wash out at some point or we could just straighten it, I mean that would only last a day." She looked at Catherine with pleadings eyes, wanting to do this more then ever.
Catherine sighed. "Fine but we can't do this now, what if Trowa or someone else comes in and ruins it?" She sat down on her bed, a pillow neatly put in her lap. "I bet Trowa would want me to explain everything and then he would just give me the silent treatment again..." She trailed off as she heard a feminine voice from the doorway.
"So you want to pull a fast one on a gundam pilot?" She asked her shoulder leaning against the doorframe. "Far be it from me to ruin a girl's fun." Noin smirked at the two her bangs hiding one eye. "I think I can help you with that department. But I have a much better idea. I think you should disguise all of the women, confuse the men. They need a good wake up call; this peace has made their minds lay dormant. And that includes Zechs, he may need the help more then others." She sat down on the bed playing with the sleeve of her shirt. "What do you ladies say?" Noin asked her smile obvious to them both.
Dorothy smiled at her, laughing a bit. "Who would have thought that you would have aided us in this mission. That is not a bad idea though, I just have to get Miss Relena and the others to agree to this."
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Relena looked at the mansion that the limo driver was pulling up to, the invitation was addressed to Heero and her but he had not been around since the end of the war. She would catch a glimpse of him but then he would disappear and she would feel alone. Everyone around her was afraid that another assignation attempt, and that they would get caught up in the fire and die. "Come back and get me in a few days, I will be staying here with friends." The driver nodded his head and set her bags outside of the car, then as silently as they had pulled up he left her at the front doorstep. "Well there is no use thinking of the past. There is a party to think of, not to mention people to meet and be reunited with." She looked at the person that had joined her. "Let us go then." She said nodding her head towards the mansion, her bags in hand. "I can introduce you to my associates, and then we can continue our conversation about this peace."
The man nodded his head his eyes hiding something wild beneath. "Of course Vice Minister Darlin, what ever you wish." There was a hunched sort of bad feeling to him but Relena had to maintain some relation to the other colonies. This man was a leader from one of the biggest colonies, or so he said. 'I just hope the other's don't mind me bringing my work with me.' Heero flashed in her mind of him casting that unreadable look her way, she shivered and straightened her back, not letting anything scare her.
The man nodded his head at her wishing they could get their arrangement over and done with. The sooner he was gone the sooner he could make his plans known to his superiors. 'They will like my evaluation, and act on it as soon as they have figured out the plans for it.' They climbed the few steps to the front door and rang the doorbell, waiting for the door to be opened. "When do you want to finish our arrangements? I am sort of in a hurry, I need to get back before my flight takes off." He looked at his watch seeing that it was going to take off within a few hours. "I hate to run but I do have other engagements to take care of."
Relena nodded understanding him perfectly. "As soon as we are led to our rooms, we can get to work on the treaties between our Earth and your colony. Maybe this agreement between us will encourage others to follow in suit." The butler opened the door and he let them in, calling servants to retrieve their bags. "Lord Quatre is in his study, filling out papers just follow the hall and it will be the first door on your left." The men left carrying Relena's bags, letting them find their way to the room.
Quatre left his study his papers left on the desk as he went out to check on the patient. He turned and stopped as he saw Relena standing there with some stranger. "Relena, I was wondering when you would arrive, where is Heero?" He asked noticing that they were the only two in the hallway besides him. "I assumed that he would be with you when I sent the letter."
Relena handed him the letter he had sent. "Heero disappeared shortly after the war ended, not telling me where he went or when he would be back. So I give no guarantees that he will show up, you know how unpredictable he is." Relena waved her hand offhandedly, trying to pretend that she did not care. "Would you mind if we used one of your rooms to finish our negotiations from before. It won't take long." She looked at the gentleman that had come with her.
Quatre nodded his head. "I will not be back for a few minutes at least, I need to see how a friend of mine is doing. She was attacked and we have been trying to help her get better. So far she is going really good, but she lost her sight. I think that the only reason she lost it is because she saw something that she did not want to see. We will not know until she is stable enough to tell us."
Relena gasped a little at the words he just said. "Would I happen to know this person?" She asked momentarily forgetting the man behind her. "What exactly happened to her may I ask?"
Quatre scratched the back of her neck. "Well what we think happened is that she was cornered in an alley and the man had his way with her. There were several bruises all over her body and she was extremely sick after that for a while. I can only imagine what she went through that would cause her to go blind. She kept ranting for a while about some strange man that was taunting her before she passed out. I don't really know if you know her or not. She is a friend of Trowa's, they were in the circus together."
Relena sighed her thoughts back on the matter at hand. "Well maybe I can visit her another time since I have this at hand. I seem to remember talk of a friend of his, if you don't mind me joining you maybe I can make a quick visit to her." Looking over her shoulder the man nodded his head saying it was ok.
"Don't worry, I understand what it is like to have a friend in need. Would you mind if I came with you?" Asking this he brushed aside his black hair, which had fallen, over his forehead.
Relena nodded her head and let him follow them. "Do as you wish." She then walked beside Quatre. "So how has everything been going?" Her voice soft and quiet thought the room was silent.
He looked at her as he thumbed through a novel trying to find his place and mark it. "So far everything is normal, there are no threats of war or anything to hurt the people here. Everyone desires peace, as far as is apparent to me." The halls were silent except for their footsteps. "No signs of rebels or anything have been sighted. I just hope it holds to."
"I agree, I would hate to have another war kill all those innocent people just like last time. To think of how many lives could have been saved if the war had ended sooner. Of all the battles we would not have had to fight." She shrugged her shoulders knowing fully well that she was dwelling on the past again. "But we must make sure that this peace endures, for the sake of the future." Relena looked at him her mindset and her face showing that she was serious.
"Of course, we do what is needed to keep our peace. Everyone is doing his or her part and so far it has been working. We can only hope that it holds." They came to the room where Catherine was and he noticed that Noin and Dorothy were visiting her. "Why does she never listen?" Opening the door he sighed and walked over to Dorothy's side, taping her on the shoulder. "What did I tell you about bothering her while she was resting?"
Catherine looked towards the door, faking the blindness. "Quatre is that you?" She asked making sure that her eyes looked vacant and unfocused. "What is this unexpected visit for?" She asked her mind wondering if he had over heard their conversation.
"I just came to visit you and to bring someone you might know. Catherine Bloom, this is Relena Peacecraft. Relena this is Catherine Bloom I hope you two become friends."
The man held his chin and watched the women and the man interact seeing that the one in the hospital clothing looked familiar. 'There is something about her that seems so familiar, yet I know that I have not been here for long so it is impossible for me to have met her. Most of my time was spent in the market place and then at Miss Peacecraft's home.' He looked at the woman with the beautiful red wavy curls. 'Maybe after my discussion with Relena I can go visit her and figure it out. You never know I may make a new friend.' He smirked at this and kept watching the women in front of him.
Dorothy glared at him. "Well what else am I supposed to do, you always stay locked up in your study never wanting to pay any attention to me. So I decided to pay her a visit, at least she does not ignore me when I want to be talked to." She then turned away from Quatre and back to Catherine. "Anyway what were we talking about again?" She asked looking at Noin to see if she had any clue.
Noin laughed at them and stood up, brushing off her pants. "Well I need to get back before Zechs starts to worry and calls the guards out to find me. He will be happy to find out that his baby sister has decided to grace us with her presence." She looked at Relena softly and then shook her head. "It was nice to see you again Relena, and don't work too hard you are still on vacation." She waved her hand over her shoulder saying bye and noticed the man watching the rest of them. 'What is he doing here? I thought he had abandoned Earth when the war stopped.' She kept her tongue silent and walked away slowly. 'I must inform Zechs; as soon as possible he may have the answer. No need to cause a world wide panic over some man.'
The stranger watched the older woman leave wondering if his cover was blown. He returned to watching the other women and then watched the auburn haired woman close her eyes and laugh at something. 'Something about her draws me to her. Yet I don't know what it is. Maybe it is because her hair is the color of blood. Innocent blood shed for no reason at all. That may be the reason, because I love war and the smell of blood entices me to keep at my work. To ensure that war lives on and that this false peace dissipates quickly. People are only truly happy when they are at war, killing others.' He started laughing as the idea came into play. 'They have no clue that their lives are going to end soon.'
Relena nodded her head towards Noin as she left. "Don't worry I plan on finishing my work and then relaxing after I have disgusted the matters at hand with Mister De la Croix" With that said he stepped into the light and everyone's eyes glued to his handsome yet mysterious face.
"Please call me Vincent, just about everyone does." He bowed to them feeling that he was on trial underneath all those eyes. "My deepest apologies to the one that is ill. I only hope that your recovery is fast and painless." He smiled charmingly at Catherine who was looking in his direction but not at him directly. 'There is something about her that makes me think of war.'
Catherine blushed at the words he said hearing the emotion behind them but feeling empty concern coming from the stranger. She felt like she recognized the voice and it unnerved her to no end, feeling that something sick and repulsive deep in her gut. Her face was pale as she felt ill and she started coughing. "Thanks for your concern, I am doing better from what I have been told. My friends have been silently praying that I get better and it looks like it may be paying off. Do forgive me but I feel that I know you from somewhere. Maybe you visited the circus, or maybe we ran into each other when I was out shopping. Before this mess began and everything was normal, or as close to normal as things could be. There is something about you that makes me believe that we have crossed paths before.
Vincent looked up at her seeing her doll like blue eyes wondering how long it would take to get lost in them, like an ocean of pure water staring, yet seeing nothing in his direction. "I know that is not the case, I would have remembered a woman as breath taking like you." He smirked knowing fully well that his charms always worked on women, even the unwilling always succumbed, except that one woman at the market, she had never given in.
Catherine blushed even more choking with disgust on the frosting covered words he was trying to feed her. "You are too kind." She simply said her ton hard like a rock. Something about the man unnerved her maybe it was his demeanor, he seemed too sneaky to be anyone noble.
