Benevolent Hearts

By mistress amethyst une

Chapter 12

A murderer's suicide at a victim's funeral was such a strange occurrence. They found a note in his pocket written on a handkerchief. The white handkerchief belonged to the victim. This was known since the Preventer seal was embroidered on the handkerchief. One could assume he had taken it from her pocket while she was unconscious as a sort of remembrance of the murder. Now, the murder souvenir made up the murderer's suicide note. In a messy scrawl was written:

I forced her to drink poison for the sake of revenge. She haunts me but I have no regrets.

"He was in denial," said Midii.

It had been three months since the funeral and the murder had been solved thanks to Colin's unfortunate suicide. His home had been searched and all parties involved in wreaking havoc within the Preventers had been tried and convicted with amazing speed. President Lorelei Fortunato showed no pity towards the conspirators believing them to have driven her brother to murder and madness.

Integral to the investigations was Colin's diary. Though undated, the entries were fairly recent and only three pages had been filled in.

The first entry read:

I killed her and am now overcome with an urge to write about it. I don't know why. To remember? To tell myself that I really did it? I know I did it. I've fulfilled revenge for those she killed in the Neo-Leo incident. I keep telling myself she was an evil woman. She deserved to die. Still, why don't I believe myself? I have a piece of her with me. Her handkerchief... I took it from her pocket while she slept. I left the room and put it in my bag. When I came back in, she was awake. It's all so clear to me. I taunted her mercilessly before telling her to poison herself. I taunted her as she died then I left. I just left her there... For all I know, she survived the poison. Did I really do such a horrible thing? Did I really kill her?

Then the second entry:

It's on the news, she's dead. I dream of her every night now. It's always the same. She comes towards me. She's in her Preventer uniform, the clothes she was wearing when she died. The clothes she was wearing when I killed her... She embraces me and says, "I forgive you." I should be comforted, shouldn't I? Why does it feel so wrong? Why do I feel like I owe her something? She was evil! What right has she to forgive me! I killed her because she was evil! She deserved it! I did nothing wrong! I have nothing to be forgiven for! I am not sorry!

And the third:

Today, I die. I'll deal with Alexandra in hell!

"Hmph!" said Midii in annoyance when she was permitted to read the entries, "What makes him think Lady Une would end up in hell? He'll burn alone!"

Trowa held her to calm her down. He could feel her outrage and he wasn't the least bit surprised to feel a trickle of tears against his shoulder as he hugged her.

"She wasn't evil!" sobbed Midii, "The Neo-Leos were an accident! Oh Trowa! Why couldn't we do anything to save her? The media's gotten their hands on this diary. What will they think of her?"

"They won't think badly of her," he said comfortingly, "Who'd believe the ramblings of a vengeful murderer anyway?"

"He was the president's brother. Some of them might assume-"

"They'll assume nothing."

"Oh come on, Trowa. She was an austere woman! Some people might think she meant for the Neo-Leo incident to happen. That she did something so awful, the president's brother was driven insane by it! That she deserved to be murdered!"

"Well, she didn't. You think so. I think so. Everyone who matters thinks so. Isn't that enough? Now, calm down. The wedding's in a week and we can't have you like this."

After the incident at the funeral, things had gone in a rather strange direction. Heero was now the new Preventer Chief and was engaged to be married to Relena. It was a powerful allegiance between the armed forces and politics so nobody contested the match. Heero wasn't about to let Relena go after almost losing her.

As for Dorothy and Quatre, they had awoken and fully recovered. They had chosen to forego the fancy wedding and instead opted for a simple ceremony with just friends and family attending. Still due to Romafeller's stipulations, the ceremony was Catholic though the Maguanacs and Quatre's sisters hardly minded. Midii had been invited at the last minute since Dorothy had befriended her. As if by fate, Midii caught the bouquet at the reception.

Finally, Midii and Trowa were married. It was hardly a lavish event. Une's death still cast a shadow over the occasion. After all, it had been her will that specified that Midii would have to get married in order to gain custody of Mariemaia and help the girl manage the Khushrenada fortune until she was of legal age.

"This feels wrong," thought Midii as she stepped out of the chapel with her new husband, "Shouldn't we be happy?"

Mrs. Midii Barton hardly smiled during the reception. Her husband's kisses were cold. Why? Was it really like that?

Still, looking at sad little Mariemaia garbed as a flower girl, she knew it was her duty to make the marriage work. Even if Trowa had just wed her out of obligation, she intended to ignite his love for her. She knew it was there but it was a tiny ember in an ocean of darkness. She intended to make it burn brighter than a million suns, no matter what it took.

He surprised her though. That night, after they had tucked Mariemaia in and moved into their new room within Une's estate, which was now theirs, he surprised her with an unparalleled passion.

"I'm sorry for the light kisses all day," he said as he caught her in a passionate embrace, "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of you."

She was shocked to say the least. He was always so self-possessed and cool about matters.

"What are you do-" she began before he proceeded to plunder her mouth for kisses.

He came up for air and walked away from her to regain his composure. He sat on the bed and patted the space beside him signaling he wanted her to sit next to him. She obliged.

"I know it's odd," he said as he took a deep breath, "Seeing me like this... I'm not myself. The truth of the matter is I jumped at the chance to marry you. I just hid my excitement because I'm not used to all that pomp and circumstance. Midii, I don't know why but I want you in every way for every remaining day of my life."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't feel I could. I didn't feel I mattered enough to you. But now you're my wife and I want you to know that even if you consider our union a loveless one, I don't. I love you enough for both of us."

"Oh Trowa... I thought you didn't love me. I'm so happy you feel the same way I do."

He smiled, "I have dreams for us. We'll raise Mariemaia as our daughter and everything will be wonderful."

He then added with a wicked grin, "And we'll give her a brood of brothers and sisters to keep her company."

Midii felt tears of happiness rolling down her face as she bestowed a passionate kiss upon his lips, "I guess we'd better get started. Although I'm not sure I'll ever be used to you being so uninhibited with your feelings."

He smiled, "Consider that your fault, my dear. I don't think I'll ever be stoic again."

Ok, does the ending suck? I wanted a happy ending after killing Une. Too sappy? Too abrupt? This is your last chance to review this fic! Please review and make me happy! I started this in 2004 and now I'm finally finished! Two long years of writing this has definitely helped me evolve as a writer. I thank those who have been reading for the past two years. The ones who haven't been frustrated or bored with me despite the long gaps between updates... I can't believe it's finally finished!