Author's note: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters. Both Zechs and Noin are fourteen years old. Some of these chapters have been posted before as part of This Kiss.
Lost Contessa Found
There were a number of drawbacks to Lake Victoria Academy. Of course, that would be true of almost any Alliance run school. The main problem was that what the Alliance called history wasn't that accurate to one who had lived through some of the events. And truthfully, people noticed. It was easy to tell who had suffered at there hands by the subtle signs of anger during the lesson. Zechs might be good at hiding his emotions, but some of the others still showed visible signs.
He had come prepared for today. They were covering the so called Easter War with the Sanc Kingdom today. He was ignoring everything that came out of their instructor's mouth. It wouldn't do him any good to lose his temper because of this. He needed to stay under the radar when it came to this particular subject. Zechs passed the class watching the other students. For the most part, they were mindlessly absorbing the work of fiction. Except for Noin. Her hands were clenched around her pencil so tightly were knuckles were white. He could see a trace of blood on her lip; she had been biting it since the teacher had starting talking about the royal family.
Noin was an enigma. She was one of the few girls in their year, and the only other student worthy of his time. She consistently had scores equal to his in everything except for science and languages. She had the edge when it came to physics, math, and engineering while he was stronger when it came to literature and philosophy. And her skills when it came to languages were unbelievable. The dark haired girl also had a respect for privacy that was unusual. They had formed a study group of sorts. And while she pushed him to improve, she also was very much a reminder of what he had lost, if only because of her name. It was the same as his contessa's.
From what he knew, Noin was an orphan. Probably from Germany given her surname. He didn't know her first name. No one here used it. And she was currently furious. He watched as she stalked out of the classroom the moment class was dismissed. Zechs would admit to curiosity being the main reason he was following her. Nothing had ever provoked Noin like this, not even the nasty pranks that had been played on her throughout their first month at the school. And it was an odd thing for her to get worked up about as well. The destruction of the Sanc Kingdom really shouldn't matter to a German orphan.
It wasn't until they had reached the edges of the training grounds that she let loose, her voice rising from a whisper to near shouting. Zechs was fairly certain she was oblivious to his presence. He certainly would have never voiced such thoughts with anyone in earshot.
"—and the treaty. The damn illegal treaty. Signed by whom? Certainly not anyone with legitimate authority. The king and queen were dead. Relena couldn't have signed her own name. She was only two for God's sake! And Zechs would have died before he signed it. He probably did. He was too stubborn to let them win."
And everything fell into place. Her name, her eyes, her hair. They were familiar because he knew them. Her anger made sense. The Alliance had taken not only her family but her future family as well. She was his Noin. Zechs watched her with new eyes, recognizing familiar features in an older face. She was facing away from him, unaware of presence.
"Contessa." It slipped from his mouth unbidden.
She froze, her entire body tense. Zechs lifted the mask from his head, waiting. She turned, eyes widening.
"Your royal highness." It was barely a whisper.
Zechs smiled. It was an old game. They had never stood on ceremony with each other, but at court there conventions to be upheld, hence the formal acknowledgement of their titles. Once that had been observed, any trace of formality between the two of them was typically dropped.
He dropped the mask as Noin threw herself into his arms. She buried her face in his shoulder, and Zechs could feel a damp spot forming. He just held on to her. Here was one thing, one person who he hadn't lost. He still had his contessa. He kissed the top of her head and let her cry.
Eventually, her tears stopped. Zechs had the presence of mind to steer them towards a shady corner where they would be out of sight. He had a feeling that explanations would take awhile. He tugged Noin down to sit next to him, leaning against a tree.
"What happened? Everything I could find reported your death." Noin bit her lip. "I thought I'd lost you."
"I was lucky. Relena had already been sent to safety, but I was still living at the palace. I had gotten in trouble that morning and was hiding in the hedge maze, the one we always pretended was infested with fairies. Pagen was out looking for me when the attack came. He hid us in the old gardener's shed. It wasn't much of a battle, more of a massacre. By the time it was over, we were part of a handful of survivors. Pagen took me to Treize. Apparently, the Kushranadas owed a debt of honor to my family. They took me in. I lived with them until Treize offered me a chance to train in order to overthrow the Alliance." There was very little emotion in his recitation. Zechs didn't want to deal with the emotions that went with those memories today. Not when he had something to be happy about.
Noin squeezed his hand. "And Relena?"
He smiled. "Safely ensconced with the Darlian family. Richard Darlian and his wife, Pagan, myself, and now you are the only people who know that Relena Darlian was born Relena Peacecraft. Treize has his suspicions that she is still alive, but nothing more than that."
He ran a hand through his hair, taking the chance to really look at her. Noin had been six the last time they had been together. It was inevitable that she would have changed, but some things had remained the same. Yes, she was taller and had short hair, but her eyes were the same. A little sadder maybe, but still the same violet that used to sparkle with mischief and excitement.
"What happened to you, Noin? I saw the reports on your family. There was a dark haired little girl found with your parents bodies." He had locked himself in his room for three days after that. He hadn't wanted to accept her loss. He had lost everyone at that point. The hope that her family would survive was all he had had left.
"She was one of the servants' children I think. Not that anyone cared." Her smile was bitter. "I was at confirmation class with the nuns. I hadn't wanted to go. I was so mad. They kept saying how wonderful God was, and all I knew is that God had let my best friend be murdered. After the attack, the sisters took to one of their orphanages. They decided I could stay Lucrezia Noin, but I was to tell everyone I was German born named after an Italian grandmother. It wasn't a problem since I was already fluent in both German and Italian."
Noin sighed, twining her fingers with his own. "After that, I was shuffled around by the church and the Alliance. It was like playing musical chairs. As soon as I got settled into once place, they would send me to another. The Alliance finally paid attention to my test score and sent me here."
Noin leaned her head against his shoulder. "They never gave me a choice in the matter.
"Il mia povera contessa piccola." He smiled, resting his head against hers; her hair still smelled like lilacs and lavender just like when they were children. "If they hadn't sent you here, I wouldn't have known you were still alive."
She smiled at him. "True."
"Lucrezia Alessa Fiammetta Illeana Noin." Her name rolled off his tongue. "What shall I call you now, contessa?"
"I have always been Noin to you, your highness."
He fingered a lock of her hair. "True. You'll always be my Noin."
They sat in silence for awhile, just enjoying each other's company. Zechs knew they were missing classes, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He sighed when a thought occurred to him.
"Zechs?"
"No one can know, Noin."
She frowned at him. "I don't understand."
"No one can know what you were to me, are to me. I can't risk it." He met her eyes. "I can't give them any hint of who I was or weakness to exploit. All I can be in public is your classmate and friend, Noin."
She lifted her chin in a stubborn gesture he remembered all to well. "I can accept that, Zechs, in public. In private, you'd better remember that you're my best friend. I have as much reason to be involved as you do. I'm your partner in this. You're not alone."
He pressed another kiss to the top of her head. She was right. He had her.
Italian Translation: My poor little Contessa.
