A/N: Hey hey - sorry about the delay - major writer's block coupled with fighting to keep my job [keep your fingers and toes crossed for me, folks] Big shout out to AmmyPie - your review gave me the kick in the pants I needed to write this
And with that - on with the story!
I swirled clumsily around the polished hardwood floor, gripping tightly to my partner and desperately trying to keep the beat in my head and failing miserably as another yelp pealed from my instructor's mouth as once again, I tromped on their toes for the billionth time that day.
"Sid, the point of this is to stay toe to toe, not actually step on them." Rebecca sighed sheepishly, taking a step away from me; she ruffled my hair as a silent way of letting me know that she wasn't mad before walking to the boombox to restart the track we were dancing to, "Remind me again why you aren't asking one of your brothers teach you?"
"Are you out of your mind?" I balked, squeezing her hand a bit tighter than necessary as she resumed her position to lead, "They'd never let me live it down! They'd hold it over my head forever...plus they're my brothers - getting them to help me with anything is like pulling teeth."
"Oh yeah - almost forgot how the whole sibling thing works since mine's been out on her own for years now." Rebecca replied cheerfully, as she slowly guided me through the box step required for waltzing.
Why was I currently dancing with her?
Allow me to flashback four days ago to the whole mission thing that I was apparently going to be participating in.
Apparently the negotiations summit was also going to have a party afterwards to bring some levity after the tenseness that was sure to come during the conference and said party was to be a couples only affair - three of the pilots were going to mingle among the waitstaff, one was to be Relena's escort [take a wild guess who got saddled with that assignment] while the lonely fifth was going to attend as a guest with me as their plus one; I had objected - quite loudly I might add - and asked why they didn't just doll up Duo and have him be the plus one instead.
While the majority found the idea hilarious [whereas Duo sulked and refused to speak to me the rest of the day], none of them truly entertained the thought and ultimately decided I didn't have a choice in the matter and that was the end of it; however there was one little detail they overlooked - I am a klutz, and as such...can't dance.
I toyed around with the thought about informing them about this slight oversight, but ultimately decided against it - I was awkward enough as it is, so asking any of them to teach me was out; not that I was repulsed by the idea of being physically close to them in anyway - not at all - but I'd never danced with a guy before and since my only guy choices were ridiculously attractive, mentally unbalanced terrorists at the moment...I was gonna pass.
This didn't leave me many options in terms of tutors...so, I decided to try a shot in the dark, and ask Rebecca if she could the next time I saw her; as it turns out, I didn't have long to wait as she returned to school the same day I did.
"Oh hello bestest friend in the entire world." I chirped upon seeing her enter the classroom, leaping to my feet and grabbing her arm, snuggling into her shoulder; she laughed loudly - she had to have known something was up.
"Okay, what do you want? I know you love me and all but there's no way you're this happy to see me without wanting something." she snickered, tugging lightly on one of my curls,; I felt relief surge through me and sincerely hoped the answer to my next question would be a yes.
"Becca, you wouldn't know how to dance by any chance, would you?" I asked tentatively, peering up at her as I drew circles on her arm with my index finger, "My brother got invited to this fancy to do and is taking me as his guest, but I don't know how to dance...can you help me?"
"Sure." she replied with a smile, laughing again as I practically smothered her in a hug, "I can only afford to give you lessons every other day though, what with my part time job and all. However, it wont be for free - you gotta do something for me!"
"Like what?" I questioned, biting my lip nervously, "I don't have any money of my own, and I'm not really good at anything. I mean, I can sing a little bit, but it isn't all that impressive."
"That should work out just fine actually." Rebecca grinned, giving me a thumbs up, "I wouldn't have taken your money even if you offered it. I'll walk you through things and afterwards, you can give me a private concert - sound okay?"
"I think I can work with that." I answered, smiling timidly, "But just so you're warned, I'm going to stumble over the words since I'll have an audience - I always get the worst nerves when someone's watching."
"Don't worry so much! Just do your best." she said cheerily, giving the hand I had wrapped around her arm an affectionate pat, "Now I'm excited! I've never heard you sing before - this'll be fun!"
Fast forward to the present where I was stepping all over my poor buddy's feet as she attempted to teach me how to waltz in the school's auditorium; how I had managed to convince to pilots to let me stay after school?
Well...I lied - I told them there was a group assignment and my troop was meeting after school a few times a week to work on it.
I was surprised they bought it [if they even did] - I'm a terrible liar; I truly suck at it, but there were more pressing matters on the table right now...such as not flattening my tutor's toes.
"Let's take a break - get a drink of water...maybe remove our shoes?" Rebecca giggled, kicking her flats into a corner with a smile on her face that told me I should do the same; it was probably for the best - this way when I slipped up again [and I was sure I was going to] I wouldn't hurt her as badly, "I'm glad this thing isn't for a week or two or you'd be screwed."
"Don't I know it." I mumbled sheepishly, taking a seat on the bleachers and watching as Rebecca massaged her toes gingerly, "I really am sorry - believe me when I say I've never wished more that I was born graceful than I do right now."
"Oh don't let it keep you up late at night." She laughed, hopping to her feet and tugging me upright, "Come on - we have a lot more work to do! And don't forget - you're singing for me after this."
"I remember, I remember." I chuckled nervously as she walked over to restart the music, "Just don't leap down my throat if I'm not all that good."
"Sooo - that's what she was up to." Duo chuckled, smirking at Wufei who was massaging the bridge of his nose unable to conceal the look of abject disappointment on his face; pilot 05 had been so sure that Sidra was up to something sinister - perhaps selling their secrets to the enemy or something else utterly out of the scope of her abilities.
All five pilots had known that when she had told them she had a group project she hadn't been telling the truth and a quick online syllabus check confirmed this; what promptly followed was Duo and Wufei making the trek to the high school and scouring the premises for any signs of the red head - fortunately they didn't have far to look.
It hadn't taken them long to find the projection booth for the school's auditorium...which had a perfect view of the stage on which two teenage girls - their ward and an unknown brunette - were dancing quite clumsily; well...not entirely accurate - the brunette was holding her own just fine whereas Sidra was barely keeping up and appeared to be tripping over her own feet every now and then.
"I wonder how all of us managed to jump to the conclusion that that woman could dance when she can't even walk straight?" Wufei muttered to himself as he and the braided teen beside him exited the building and walked towards the direction of their temporary home.
"Well at least she's trying to do something about it - that counts for something, right?" Duo remarked thoughtfully as he tried to work out a kink in his shoulder as they plodded along, "And she even went out of her way to find outside help so she wouldn't bother us too - pretty damn decent of her, doncha think?"
"Oh be quiet, Maxwell - she probably didn't have the presence of mind to ask us." Wufei shot back snappishly at the deliberate jab pilot 02 made at his earlier accusations of treachery as the safe house loomed into view, "You guys were right, I was wrong, she's not selling our secrets - I get it. Let it go for the love of god."
Duo couldn't suppress a snort of laughter as a the pair walked through the front door and entered the living room to a be greeted by Trowa and Heero absentmindedly; Trowa's hazel eyes were glued to the computer screen in front of him and a quick glance over his shoulder revealed schematics to Peacecraft Castle along with a guest list of those attending the summit, staff who would be working, etc.
Heero sat next to pilot 03 with his own laptop in front of him, with his own list of OZ and Romefeller officers, doing cross reference to see if any matches turned up between those working the event and those who also were working for OZ and Romefeller; so far, they had a small list of low-rank officers...however, after a little digging the pair unearthed that all of them had backgrounds filled with poverty...so their presence there was beginning to look more along the lines of moonlighting than actual assigned undercover work.
"Hey, where's Quatre?" Duo asked as he tore his eyes away from the screens, scanning the room for the blond in question, but seeing nary a sign of him; it was rare and odd occurrence as pilot 04 rarely left the domicile without Trowa or one of the other pilots with him and was the firmest in the stance of safety in numbers.
"Out running an errand, I believe." Heero murmured vaguely, steely blue eyes still focused on the screen in front of him, the glow from it illuminating his face an eerie green, "Said there was something he needed to take care of and that he'll return as soon as is possible."
As if on cue, the front door swung open and the blond pilot stumbled inside, wobbling as he attempted to remove his shoes with his arms ladened with several large, mysterious, unmarked paper bags; shoes successfully removed, he made his way over to the living room to join his fellow pilots
"Oh, hello everyone." Quatre smiled cheerily, setting down his load and meandering over to the couch to join them, "Sorry that took so long - there was a bit more involved than I originally anticipated. Manage to dig up anything prevalent to this mission while I was gone?"
"Honestly? Not much of anything." Heero replied ruefully, pushing his laptop aside and closing his eyes, wincing slightly as he raised his hands and rubbed his eyelids in a vain attempt to ease the soreness brought on by hours of staring as a hazy screen, "Just a lot of overworked, underpaid OZ soldiers trying to earn a few extra credits to send home to their families by the looks of things."
"What sort of errands were you running anyway?" Duo asked, nodding towards the discarded bags on the floor, "We're fine on food and supplies so...what gives? Is one of your sister's having a birthday?"
"Well...remember what Heero informed us during our last planning session? About Sidra?" Quatre answered gently, walking back over to the bags and lifting their contents out, "It isn't much, but I thought it would help her hold on to what memories she has left."
Photographs - very old photographs of vaguely familiar faces; it took a few moments for them to recognize the sepia tinged people within the wooden frames - faces they had only briefly viewed once before all those months ago.
"This is...wow...Quatre - how on earth were you able to uncover all of these?" Trowa murmured as he lifted his gaze from his computer at last, awestruck at the amount of photos pilot 04 was able to find of Sidra's friends and family, "I would think that there wouldn't be much of anything to be found."
"It definitely wasn't easy." He replied with a tired smile, placing the photos back in the bags and hefting them back up, striding towards their ward's room, "Luckily...if you can honestly call it lucky...in this plane of existence, she's been dead so long that anything relating to her is now public record, and it didn't hurt that she and her loved ones kept a decent photo archive during their lifetime."
"Need a hand?" Trowa asked, climbing stiffly to his feet as Quatre entered Sidra's bedroom, the faint scent of fresh paint and plaster ebbing through the air as the blond pilot entered the newly renovated space, "I could certainly use a break from staring at the screen."
"Thank you very much, I'd appreciate it." Quatre smiled gratefully as Trowa strode in and started sifting through one of the bags and extracting a rather large photograph of Sidra's mother and father from within; shortly after, the other pilots joined them and within a few minutes, every photo was hung except for one small family picture which Duo had carefully stationed on her bedside table.
"Alright. Back to work." Heero sighed, ushering those present out of the room and closing the door quietly behind them, "Hopefully looking things over with fresh eyes will help somewhat, and now that everyone is present we should be able to unearth something a bit faster."
"I'm home." I called tiredly as I hobbled into the house, my sore legs wobbling beneath me as I struggled to pull off my shoes - Rebecca hadn't let me leave until I had managed to make it through at least one waltz without stepping on her toes so needless to say we were at it awhile; even then I hadn't been allowed to leave until I had held up my end of the bargain and sung for her - I didn't sing anything particularly remarkable, just a few by The Eagles I somehow still remembered.
"Well, well - she lives!" Duo remarked, eyeballing me suspiciously as I limped into the living room and set my school bag down, "What happened to you? Trip over your own feet? ...maybe someone elses?"
"Ha ha...very funny Duo." I replied, rolling my eyes although inwardly my heart had skipped a beat at the accuracy of that particular jab, 'He couldn't possibly know...right? ...right?' I thought worriedly as I nonchalantly massaged my shoulder, "I tripped over a pothole so large that it could legally be called a crater on my way home, that's all - nothing life threatening, I assure you."
"Whatever you say." Wufei chimed in mildly, not even bothering to lift his eyes to look at me as they were currently glued to the computer in front of him; I could tell by his tone he didn't believe me - at all - so I was almost one hundred percent sure that he knew somehow what I was actually up to...which was undeniably embarrassing.
Hoping it didn't show on my face I made my way to my bedroom to change into something more comfortable to study in, and as soon as I flicked on the lights I had to bite down on my lip to keep from shrieking with joy; Karli, Mina, Luca, and Bree's happy faces greeted me from one wall, my parents smiled down at me from the wall across my bed, and an even mixture of my loved ones and school photos were on the wall my dresser rested against.
There's was one lone frame propped on my beside table and I lifted it with trembling fingers to see my family together - my mother looking as beautiful as ever with a grin across her face, my father looking like the Brawny paper towel model as always [I had always given him crap about that; never gain if I managed to get home] and me in between them, oblivious to he future that was the befall me; I remembered this day - it was the day we'd gone to Silverwood theme park in Idaho and had paid this random guy five dollars to take the photo.
A surge of memories overwhelmed me and I fell to my knees, my heart doing happy little flips inside my chest as some of what I had forgotten resurfaced in my mind as I stared lovingly at the faces of my parents; I traveled from picture to picture, awash in warmth as a portion of my fragmented memories returned.
"I hope I didn't overstep any boundaries." Quatre's voice came from behind me sheepishly as I pivoted to face him, "Heero was the one who gave me the idea and-!" I didn't let him finish as I smothered him in a bone crushing hug that nearly took us both to the floor, barely noticing that it was returned; as soon as I broke off the embrace, I charged Heero, startling him as I hugged him just as tightly, feeling him awkwardly pat me on the back, which made it nearly impossible not to laugh.
"Thank you...thank you so much..." I said quietly, smiling ear to ear as I finally released the poor boy, looking at all those present, "All of you...I mean it - I can't remember the last time I've felt this happy."
"Where's our hugs?" Duo chimed in with obviously feigned indignance, appearing behind Heero to peer at me with the cheeky smile he'd made famous, "We helped set up your room too, yknow."
With a giggle, I sidestepped Heero, took a track runners stance and launched myself full speed at Duo, who caught me and gave me a little spin; after wriggling free, I quickly finished my rounds, hugging Trowa and Wufei in turn - the latter of the two going hilariously rigid at the unwanted physical contact, which made the urge to burst out laughing almost impossible to resist -before turning back to pilot 02 and asking, "Better?"
"Better." he grinned.
"I don't think so." Sally murmured, eyeing the red-head up and down with a critical gaze, circling the flustered teenager to take in every angle, "That color does absolutely nothing for you."
"Sally, it doesn't have to look good." Sidra groaned, her cheeks pink with frustration, "It barely even has to fit - it just has to be a ball gown. I'm not supposed to draw attention to myself, remember?"
"Now, now." Noin replied gently, stepping forward and cupping the girl's chin in her gloved hand, lifting her face to look into her eyes, "This may be a mission, but no where in the briefing did it say you weren't allowed to look pretty."
The trio were on their fourth dress shop on the hunt for a dress that would allow Sidra not stick out like a big, sore, red thumb at the upcoming negotiations summit at newly restored Sanq Kingdom, which was proving to be a much more difficult task than originally anticipated; Sidra's pale complexion, slight figure, fiery red curls and bright green eyes were a lot more challenging to pair with a gown than they realized.
Either the dress was a good color and bunched at waist and sagged at the chest, was a terrible color and fit well but the overall design was for someone much much older - it was quite the uphill battle and it was no wonder the girl was getting discouraged.
"But I'm not one bit pretty." Sidra protested, chin trembling as she turned her head away, twisting her fingers through her curls in an effort to steady herself, "I'm just weird looking and gawky...I'll never be as pretty as Relena...or you, Noin...or you, Sally."
"Sidra!" Sally said reproachfully, closing the distance quickly and lifting the girl's bright red, unhappy face to look at her, "Sidra - you ARE beautiful. Relena is beautiful in her own way, just as Noin is in hers. I'm not beautiful like either of them, but according to you I am, right?"
"But that's because you are!" Sidra protested, trying to squirm away and stepping on the hem of the far too long gown, tripping off the pedestal she was on with a yelp, being caught by Noin's swift arms; her face went even redder from shame as she chewed her lip, "You have pretty skin, and lovely eyes, and hair that doesn't look like you were attacked by a weed whacker."
"Hush!" the Baronet smiled, gracefully spinning the girl back upright and pushing some stray curls from her eyes, "We have nothing to gain by lying to you, yes? You'll just have to accept that we have our own opinions of what is and isn't beautiful."
Sidra was reduced to a sulky silence with no retort to make, as the older women sifted through racks of gowns for another for her to try on, sliding down to the floor, skirt poofing up comically around her as she did so.
"Heyyy...this one has promise, don't you think?" Sally remarked, showing a gown she'd unearthed to Noin - it was a black off-the-shoulder number with a fitted chest and waistline that descended into a full pick up skirt with beaded embellishments and pleating.
"I agree - alright Sidra, we'll make this the last one and if it doesn't fit the bill, we'll call it a day, okay?"
The red-head eyed them both from her seat on the floor, shooting a look that made it perfectly clear that she didn't believe them for one second, mumbling grumpily under her breath as she rocked herself to her feet and turned around to allow the older women to free her from the zippered confines of a garish pink cocktail dress that was one good shimmy away from flying off her bony shoulders and onto the floor; Sidra extended a hand to take the newest frock back into the changing room with her and with a heavy sigh, shut the white slatted door behind her.
The sounds of rustling fabric met their ears before the door creaked open ever so slightly, "Can one of you zip me up, please?" Sidra asked as Sally stepped forward and reached through the opening, sliding the zipper up and connecting the hook closure at its top; the door opened completely and the flushed teen was met with a pair of smiling faces nodding in approval.
"I do believe we're done here." Noin grinned, turning the girl to face the mirror, delighting in the shocked expression on her freckled face at the sight of her own reflection.
"I do believe you're right." Sally replied as she wrapped her arms around Sidra's thin shoulders and gave the girl an affectionate squeeze.
I took a deep shuddering breath, letting it out slowly through my teeth, my eyes squeezed tightly as the car continued on its way.
The time had flown by far too quickly - so quickly in fact, I could barely recall all the lessons with Rebecca and was praying that muscle memory would kick in so I wouldn't absolutely murder poor Quatre's feet - he'd apparently drawn the short straw and was to be my escort.
As all he had to do was throw on a tux and comb back his hair, he'd left a bit early with the rest of the pilots - watching the rest of them prepare had been nothing short of hilarious; how often I forgot that in spite of being intergalactic terrorists they were still just teenagers like me.
There was a lot of hopping into pants that didn't belong to them, scrambling to find a missing tie, exchanging aprons and waistcoats, and the fight that had ensued when pilots 1, 3, 4, and 5 had ganged up on Duo in an attempt to restyle his trademark braid; it was all I could do not to laugh.
However, they left just in time to miss quite the show to be honest, when the poor flabbergasted hairstylists arrived, having no idea where to begin with the psychotically curly typhoon that was my hair; somehow a plan had been formed between them and they'd managed to smooth down my hair completely and twist half up it up into an intricate bun, leaving the rest flying free down my back and shoulders.
I absentmindedly slid it through my fingers - it was a strange sensation to be certain, I'd never had my hair straightened before so I wasn't at all used to it or how long it actually was when laid out completely straight like this, and I wondered how the boys would react; it brought a smirk to my lips - the thought of their respective jaws on the floor, assuming they even recognized me - hell, I didn't recognize me when I first saw myself like this, and when the makeup and gown went on, I was virtually unrecognizable.
I brought my hands to rest on my lap, trying to ignore the lump of cold steel against my thigh - Noin and Sally both insisted I be armed regardless of the fact that I had never fired a gun or so much as held one before in my life; odds were pretty good that I was just going to wind up injuring myself with it, so I prayed with every fiber of my being that it would remain safely tucked under my skirt in its holster.
All too soon, the vehicle began to slow, drawing my gaze out the window and up to the palatial building when I assumed the conference was to be taking place, a lump filling my throat as I felt the car ease to a stop at a beautifully embellished entrance; I noted the driver exiting and moving to open my door.
"Showtime." I murmured ruefully, as I took the chauffeur's hand and eased myself out into the balmy evening; I scanned the crowds milling into the building for Quatre's familiar blonde hair, however this proved futile since there was a great multitude of towheaded gentlemen.
I sighed heavily, and began making my way towards the entrance of Peacecraft Castle, pausing only when a I felt a light tap on my shoulder; I turned to see Quatre bowing with all the grace his upbringing had instilled, "You look lovely tonight, my lady."
I knew he was simply playing the part, but it still made my heart somersault - I wasn't used to being complimented, but I recovered as best I could, curtsying carefully to him, "I could say the same of you, my lord."
He offered me his arm, which I looped my own through, smiling shyly at him as we made our way into the security check point; I retrieved the carefully crafted [albeit fraudulent] ID from my clutch and presented it to the armed guard who scanned it and Quatre's before waving us inside.
He slid his hand in mine and gave it a quick, comforting squeeze, "Ready?"
"Not really." I murmured truthfully as we made our way into the great hall.
A/N: Madness ensues, shots are fired, and a mecha battle begins - stay tuned til next time, kiddies!