Hiding Scars
Chapter 11
The question took all of them by surprise.
"Uh, what?" she asked, startled. Even her friends looked shocked. Paul lifted a hand and pointed to the guys.
"I remember their names from the wars. They piloted those Gundams, and were always a source of controversy," he said. He was nodding his head now. He knew he was correct.
"Uh," Relena said. There was a very awkward silence during which Relena considered what to say. Milly was just staring, her mouth open in surprise. "I'll just say it," Relena said. All eyes turned to her. "Milly, Paul, I haven't been entirely truthful with you," she said. Milly interrupted her.
"I thought you had green eyes," she said. Relena remembered that she had not put in the green contacts that morning, since trying to fool her friends would not work. Relena closed her eyes and let out a breath.
"Yes, ah, that was fake. My hair color is fake. My name- it's also fake. My entire backstory that I told you, it was all made up," Relena said, watching her friends' faces show more and more surprise. "My name is not Cassandra Cooper. My name is actually Relena Peacecraft-Darlian. I was the Vice Foreign Minister until I had to leave," she said.
"Relena Darlian...?" Milly said. "But why?" she asked, hurt in her voice. It pained Relena to hear her sound so betrayed. Relena turned to her old friends.
"Give me a few minutes. Can you watch Cherry?" she asked. They nodded, and Relena took Paul and Milly's arms and led them a ways down the beach. They sat down in the dry sand. She gave them a brief synopsis of what happened to her prior to her showing up in Virginia Beach. When she was finished, Milly grabbed her hand.
"Oh Cass, all those things I said about you needing to get laid.. I didn't..." Relena cut her off.
"Don't worry about it, Milly. You didn't know. It's alright," she said. Milly looked very distraught.
"And those are friends of yours, from the war?" Paul asked. Relena nodded.
"My parents, well, both my blood parents and adoptive parents, were important during the war, and before, of course. Once my father was killed by OZ, my life went from a normal upbringing to being thrust into his position. And I met the Gundam Pilots. They have saved my life countless times," she said.
"Did they know you were here?" Paul asked.
"No, not until recently. My novel- it's based on something that happened between Heero and I when we met around the age of fifteen," she said. "He's clever, and they figured it out, and tracked me down," she said.
"Are they going to take you away from here?" Milly asked. Relena sighed.
"I expect that conversation will happen eventually, and right now, I have no idea what I want to do," she confessed. Paul put a hand on her shoulder.
"Whatever your decision is, you know that you will always have us if you need to escape from the pressures of being an internationally known political figure," he said. Relena thanked him quietly.
"Well hey, let's stop dwelling on the past. We were going to go to the beach party. I can get us all in for free," Milly said. Relena smiled, and they stood up from the sand, brushing it off their backsides.
"Sounds good," Relena said. And with that, her old friends and her new friends merged, leaving Relena conflicted between two people, Relena Peacecraft-Darlian and Cassandra Cooper.
-
Milly, true to her word, got the group into the beach party for free. The cover was twenty dollars per person, but they snuck in the backway. It was basically a large area, surrounded by a fence and partially covered by a tent, where there was a DJ set up, along with stage lights and a bar. Milly snagged some wristbands from one of the bouncers, wristbands which indicated special guests, and indeed, after finding out Relena's true identity, they were certainly special guests. Milly passed them out to each person and shouted over the music, "These entitle you to get as many drinks from the bar as you want for free!"
Duo barely heard the rest of what she said before he dashed off across the sand. They all laughed. Hilde shook her head and took off after Duo. Milly grabbed Relena's hand.
"Don't feel like you need to hang out with us all night, Cass, er... Relena," she said. "Spend time with your friends, but we should get together for breakfast tomorrow so you can tell me more," she said. Relena nodded.
"Of course, Milly. I never wanted to deceive you, but I never expected that they would track me down like this," she said. Milly waved it off.
"Don't worry about it. You are still the same girl I met four years ago, except for being more of a party girl than you came to us as," she said. Relena laughed. "And besides, that Heero fella is obviously madly in love with you." Relena tilted her head, watching him as he ordered drinks at the bar.
"Think so?"
"Know so," Milly replied. Relena pulled her friend into a hug, then dashed off through the sand, nearly losing her sandal, to Heero's side. When she reached his side, Heero handed her a drink.
"Sorry, I don't know what you drink these days," he said, handing her a glass of white wine.
"This is fine," she said, taking a sip. The taste triggered the memory of her early birthday with Heero. She looked up at him to find him gazing at her. Relena stepped towards him and pressed her body against his. He circled her waist with the arm that was not holding onto his drink and pulled her tightly towards him. The music was of a house techno style, and everyone under the tent was dancing and letting loose. Relena downed her glass of wine and set the glass on the bar. Heero raised an eyebrow at her.
"Let's dance," she said with a tug on his arm. Heero followed suit by downing his drink, then let himself be guided through the crowd to a somewhat open space in the sand. She threw her arms around his neck and began to sway her hips to the music. Heero placed his hands on her hips and moved with her. He felt awkward at first. This was not the kind of dancing he'd ever done with her. They'd ballroom danced before, for sure, but this was something entirely new. And in a strange way, Heero began to enjoy it. Relena's demeanor was something entirely different from the girl he knew before. She was relaxed and happy, having fun, letting herself go, swaying to the music. When she looked up at him through her eyelashes, the look in her eyes was alluring and seductive. Occasionally, she'd take his hand and spin herself around on her toes until he'd catch her with his other arm.
Then the most painful thought hit him as he danced with the girl he thought he'd lost forever. I can't ask her to go back to her old life.
-
The drinking and partying continued well into the night. Duo got wasted and puked in the ocean. Hilde had to hold his braid back, less deal with the wrath of the God of Death. Quatre had met someone and disappeared. Relena drank too much, and Heero pretended to drink too much, until he was basically carrying her. They finally left the beach party as it was beginning to disperse. Heero reminded Relena to pick up Cherry from the bouncer who she'd left the dog with. Cherry was both happy and pissed to see Relena, but she pranced along beside them anyway. Duo, Hilde, Relena and Heero stumbled down the beach, where other couples were walking, making out, or from the looks of a few, beginning to perform sexual acts in public. They laughed at this, but averted their eyes.
Relena was holding tightly onto Heero's arm, trying to walk through the sand. Heero had an arm around her, trying to keep her on her feet. However, Duo let go of Hilde, who were trailing behind, and tackled Heero and Relena down into the sand. Both came up with mouthfuls of sand.
"Duo!" Relena cried, laughing though. She rolled over and laid on her back on the sand, staring up at the stars. Duo laid next to her. Her laughing dissolved. "When you aren't a part of it, it's easy to forget about the colonies," she commented.
"Never thought about that," Duo said.
"Relena, do you need help up?" Heero asked, holding a hand out to her. Relena shook her head.
"My head is spinning," she said. Hilde caught up and collapsed across Duo and Relena's legs.
"Mine too," Hilde said. The three of them lay in the sand, staring up into space. Heero sat down beside Relena.
"Have the colonies changed?" Relena asked.
"Not really," Duo replied. "Same old, same old. You ought to come visit us up there sometime."
"I will," she said. As they lay there, they didn't notice that the waves coming off the ocean began to swell. Relena was about to say something else when an excessively large wave crashed onto the beach, completely soaking all four of them. Each one cried out in surprise and alarm. Heero jumped to his feet, his clothing sticking to his skin. Duo, Hilde and Relena were trying to untangle themselves. They were all covered in sand. Heero reached to Relena and hoisted her back onto her feet. He then helped Hilde and Duo to their feet as well.
"Ah shit man," Duo said, plucking at his clothes. Relena giggled and tried to squeeze some of the water from her hair.
"That's one way to sober up," Hilde commented, wringing sea water from her clothes.
"We should probably head home," Relena said. They all agreed, and Relena led them off the beach. Cherry followed, having missed the large wave and was still luckily dry. As they walked, they laughed and joked. Hilde had the sense to call Quatre and make sure he was alright. He said he was already at the vacation home. Slowly, in the warmth of the night, their clothing dried. Soon, they reached the point where Relena would break off to go to her own home.
"I go this way," she said, pointing down another block. "You guys are that way." Duo and Hilde began to walk, but noticed that Heero was hesitating. Relena glanced back at him. She held a hand out for his. "Walk me home?" she asked. Heero nodded. Duo and Hilde smiled knowingly, then walked their own direction while Heero and Relena disappeared around a corner.
When they reached her house, she let them in through the front door. Cherry was exhausted and immediately went to sleep on her dog bed in the living room. Relena tried to brush off the sand from her clothes before going into the house, but most of it was stuck there and required a washing.
Heero lingered near the front door. Relena placed her hands on her hips. "I hope you're not thinking of leaving me tonight," she said. Heero's mouth formed a half smile.
"It's up to you," he replied.
"Don't leave me tonight, Heero Yuy," she said, sounding more like a command. Heero knew that she was still intoxicated. He kicked off his shoes and followed her into the home. She led him upstairs to her bedroom.
"I don't really have... boy clothes," she said, stumbling into her bathroom and turning on the light.
"Mine are mostly dry by now anyway," he said. He tried not to watch, but she had left the door open. Relena stripped off her wet skirt and tank top and walked back into the bedroom wearing only a pair of panties and a bra. Heero flinched, mostly from knowing that he wasn't going to be able to control his body's reaction to seeing Relena, mostly naked in the moonlight that happened to be streaming through her window.
"Relena..." he said. He couldn't take his eyes off her. Relena laughed and turned away. Heero could see her tattoo again, snaking it's way down her back. He noticed that it disappeared under the waistband of her panties as well. He hadn't noticed that before. Relena stepped into her closet and took down a nightgown. With her back to him, she unclasped her bra and slipped the nightgown on over her head. She turned back to him, and Heero prayed that she wouldn't notice the bulge that he couldn't control.
Relena gestured to her bed. "Lay with me?" she asked. Heero nodded and stripped off his shirt and his shorts, leaving on his boxers. He did a double check to make sure everything was in its place, so to speak. Relena threw herself onto her bed, sprawling out. Heero climbed into the bed with her. They'd never made it this far before, at least, never with so few articles of clothing on. Heero had hoped that they'd eventually get there, but he thought it would be sooner, and he didn't think that Relena would be drunk. Heero laid on his back beside Relena, who was sprawled on her stomach. He could tell that she was already drifting off to sleep.
"Relena, are you comfortable like that?" he asked. She grunted a response. Her head was not even on a pillow. Heero slid down so that his head was next to hers. He bent his arm under his head and laid on his side so he could watch her. The salty smell of the ocean clung to her skin and her hair, mingled with the smell of her shampoo and perfume. Heero thought it was an amazing smell. He rested his other arm over her back and eventually, he himself drifted to sleep.