Parent Trap
By Eva-Lynn
Authors Note: I do not own Gundam Wing and yes, this was inspired by the movie 'Parent Trap'. Thank you everyone for reading, please review!
Chapter Nine
June 9th, Year XXX9
Location: Europe
Place: Sanq Kingdom
Rhea took a couple of deep breaths, closing her eyes and keeping her nerves in check. The plane is landing and in the next hour, she will be arriving at the PeaceCraft mansion and meeting the other family she never knew existed.
Then, she will be there too. Relena PeaceCraft. Her Mother.
'I hope she likes me…' Rhea prayed, 'Please, like me…'
The plane landed smoothly and followed the runway toward the gate, and a flight attendant approached her when the plane came to a complete stop. "Miss PeaceCraft, I'm here to escort you out of the plane. Your Guardian is outside waiting for you."
Rhea stood up, she grabbed her carry on and smiled at the lady. "Thank you very much, Miss."
"You are very welcome, please, follow me." The woman smiled and guided Rhea out of the plane. "I hope you had a wonderful flight."
"I did, thank you. The flight was wonderful." Rhea answered politely.
"Excellent." The attendant said.
Outside, in the waiting area, Rhea couldn't believe how crowded it was. Since this is her first time actually flying to another country, she didn't know what to expect.
'How am I supposed to find anyone in this crowd?' Rhea thought nervously. She followed the flight attendant to the nearby exit, heading to the baggage claim.
"I'm told to take you to the Private Lounge, that's where your guardian is waiting." The lady confirmed.
Rhea followed the woman with graceful stride just as Gwen showed her, how to look elegant with statues. Needless to say, it is actually pretty tiring. Rhea remember hearing her sister complain how much she hates being treated differently because of who she is, a PeaceCraft Princess.
'I keep forgetting that I am also a Princess...' Rhiannon sighed and then she realized that the woman have stopped walking, she also stopped. A mahogany door in front of them, "Here?"
The woman nodded, she knocked twice before entering the room. "Hello, I'm Beca Jones. I'm the escort of the Miss Guinevere."
Rhea entered the room behind the woman. The lounge is spacious with floor to ceiling windows, luxurious decor and hardwood flooring. A bar on one side while tables and chairs on the other, cream sofas and a very beautiful chandelier that brings them all together but what really surprise the young girl is the one who came to take her home.
'Gwen said that Pagan will be picking me up...' Rhea is speechless at first but found her voice when the stranger before her stood up from one of the chairs near the window. "Mother..."
Relena's sandy brown hair shined from the sun's rays as she turned around the face her daughter. She smiled vibrantly at Rhea. "Guinevere, welcome home, my little Queen."
She couldn't help herself, Rhea rushed toward her Mother and embraced her tightly. "I've miss you!"
"Oh, my darling, I've miss you so much more." Relena kissed her daughter's hair, "Your hair smell like fresh pine trees and wild flowers, it's very refreshing."
Rhea looked up to her, "I didn't expect you to come get me."
"Your Aunt Dorothy made some arrangement and was able to get me a few days' worth of vacation." Relena answered with a very sly tone of voice.
"How long is your vacation?" Rhea asked, excited.
"I'll tell you all about on the way home." Relena said, she look at the woman who escorted Rhea. "Thank you very much, Miss Jones."
The flight attendant blushed at the sight of Relena, she bowed. "No, the pleasure was all mine, your Highness."
Pagan took the liberty to gather all of Rhea's luggage and carefully place them in the trunk of the limo by the time Mother and Daughter arrived.
"Hello, Pagan, I've miss you." Rhea smiled at the older gentleman and gave him a hug, it was one of Gwen's request.
"And I've missed you, Lady Gwen." Pagan smiled as he hugged her back before opening the car door, "How was camp?"
"It was very lovely." Rhea answered before getting in the car.
"The restaurant first, please, Pagan." Relena said before climbing in the car after her daughter.
"Of course, ma'am." Pagan closed the door and made his way to the passenger seat at the front. The young looking driver smiled at Pagan, "To the restaurant, please, Jonathan."
"Yes, Uncle Pagan." Jonathan answered, he looked at the side mirrors for traffic before driving away.
"So, tell me. What was camp like?" Relena asked her daughter.
"The camp was very neat, organize and there was so much things to do. My friends and I were afraid that six weeks might not be enough, it was so much fun." Rhea excitedly said, "The staff were friendly, the cabin that I was in was very nice and there was a large lake that we get to swim into every day!"
"Sounds like a lovely camp, dear, I'm glad you have fun." Relena felt happy that she allowed her little girl to go. "What sort of activities did you do?"
"Mountainside trail was something amazing, Mum, you could see everything and enjoy the scenery. Horseback, you're an expert on that and we get to ride them around the trails too. Canoeing, it was very exciting." Rhea listed a few more, and then. "My friends and I participated in the volleyball competition, we won."
"That's amazing, love, I'm so proud of you!" Relena said proudly, 'Oh, so much like her Father.'
Rhea unzipped her bag and took out her wallet, she handed Relena a gift card. "Each of us got one, I thought we could go sometimes."
Relena took the card, her eyes widen. "Oh my, a gift card for the ice cream parlor we like to go."
Rhea laughed. "Everyone was so driven to win this, it was amazing."
"I'm sure." Relena pocketed the card, "We can go tomorrow."
Excited, Rhea hugged her Mother. "I look forward to it."
"Oh my baby, I'm so sorry that I haven't been spending any time with you but I promise that starting tomorrow, the two of us will have some fun." Relena hugged Rhea tightly. "Are you hungry?"
"Famished." Rhea answered.
Twenty minutes later, Rhea found herself admiring the ocean view as they drove up the mountain. 'Gwen was right, it is beautiful.'
"Miss it?" Relena asked.
"Yes." Rhea answered. "It's beautiful and I'm glad to be home."
The limo came to a stop in front of a very modern restaurant. Pagan got out and opened the door for them, "We've arrived ladies. Please, give us a call when you are ready to leave."
'Italian restaurant...' Rhea realized, she followed Relena inside.
A middle age man greeted them at the door. His jolly round face and plump body reminded Rhea of Santa Claus, 'Friendly looking man...'
"Ah, my beautiful Queen! How are you?" The man with a thick Italian accent pulled Relena into a Fatherly hug.
"I'm fine but Gus, look who's finally home from camp..." Relena motioned her head to the side.
Gus followed Relena's line of sight, his smile widen when he saw Rhea. "Ah, my Bella! You are home!"
Rhea recognize the man as Gustavo Pierre, the Italian restaurant owner that Gwen and Relena love to go to on some weekends. "Hello Gus."
Gus approached Rhea, he picked her up and gave her a bear hug. "Oh, you lovely little Queen. I've missed you!"
Rhea hugged him back, "I've missed you too."
Gus held on to Rhea, he carried her in his arms as he started to walk toward the back of the restaurant. "I've made a feast! All of your favorite!"
Relena giggled as she followed them. Rhea look at her Mother, she smiled. 'Wow, Mom is so beautiful up close.'
Gus put Rhea down in front of the door. "Go in, please, I'll go get your food from the kitchen."
"Ok." Rhea answered. She turned to find her Mother beside her, she smiled. "I am really hungry right now, the plane didn't exactly have anything filling."
"Open the door and we can get seated then." Relena suggested.
Without a second though. Rhea opened the door. Not only the breathtaking view of the ocean blew her away but also the party-popper and screaming 'Welcome Home, Guinevere!' caught her by surprise.
Rhea took a step back and leaned back against her Mother. "Oh my..."
Three figures came running towards her. "Gwen!"
'A welcome home party!' Rhea blinked in surprised. "H-hi, oh my goodness!"
"Everyone..."
"Surprise?" The first girl that ask is the same height as Rhea but Chinese. "Your Mom planned all of it herself."
The other girl is completely blonde with baby blue eyes, she hugged Rhea around the neck. "I've missed you! You should have taken me too!"
"Shut it, like your Mom would have let you." The girl with lighter blonde hair said with a smirk.
"Megan. Patricia. Mei." Rhea called each of the girl's names. "It's wonderful to see you, I've missed you."
Mei sweetly smiled. "You have to tell us all about your experience in an American Camp."
"Was it scary?" Patricia asked.
"I'm sure she had fun." Megan eyed Rhea from head to toe. "Look at her, she is tanned."
"And I love it!" Patricia whined, "Look at me, I'm a light bulb compared to Gwen!"
"That's because you don't stay under the sun enough." Mei said. "I told you, didn't I?"
"Yeah but…" Patricia frowned. "I don't want to burn…"
"Girls. Girls. Give Gwen some space, she just got back." The friendly voice didn't exactly matched the face but Rhea recognized her from the pictures Gwen have shown her. "There are other times you can have your little chat."
"Aunt Dorothy, I've missed you!" Rhea went to over to give the tall woman a hug.
"Hello, little Queen." Dorothy returned the gesture. "Look at you, you're glowing and very healthy. That is wonderful."
"Hello, Gwen." A tall man appeared behind Dorothy and it took Rhea's breath away. His long almost-snowy blonde hair and blue eyes that matches her Mothers stood elegantly with a loving smile on his pretty face. "I've missed you, darling."
"Uncle Milliardo." Rhea excitedly walked over and gave him a hug around the waist. "I've missed you."
Milliardo bent down a little to pick up his niece off the ground, gave her kiss on the cheek and hugged her close. "Six weeks is far too long and so far away."
Rhea enjoyed the hug very much, "I wish to go again next year."
"Ah, next year, I'll persuade your Mother not to allow you." Milliardo joked. "Welcome home."
"Alright! Let me have a turn!" Lucrezia came around her husband and took Rhea away from him. "My turn!"
For the next twenty minutes, Rhea found herself passed around by family and close friends of her Mother along with their children. Mentally preparing herself for this weeks before but this experience is actually overwhelming.
Like the sweet Uncle Quatre.
The very serious Uncle Wufei and funny Aunt Sally.
Then there's the rest of her cousins. Meeting new faces in another country is a little much for a 10 year old all at once.
'Gwen have so much people who love and care for her…' Rhea though, she smiled and hugged everyone that came her way.
Three hours later, Rhea managed to get away from the party and the balcony overseeing the ocean really helps clear her mind. 'I feel very bad lying to them like this…'
'I just hope they'll forgive me when the time comes…'
"Darling? Are you alright?" Her voice is so soothing Rhea though she was dreaming.
Rhea turned around and found her Mother approaching her. "I just stepped out for some air, I'm alright."
Relena smiled lovingly at her daughter, "Everyone is ready to retire and I'm sure that you are also tired from your trip. I should have known, I'm sorry."
Rhea shook her head, "I'm alright, Mother. I'm happy to have seen everyone."
"Let's go home, hmm?" Relena touched her daughter's hand.
"Ok…" Rhea followed her Mom back inside.
It took about twenty minutes to say goodnight to everyone with few lunch dates scheduled on the next couple of days and the minute she entered the car, she fell asleep in Relena's arms.
End of Chapter Nine…
A/N: Thank you all for reading. Hope for some reviews and the fun begins!