Noin's Strength: Chp. 2 Preparations...
The lights practically blinded Noin as she casually walked into the ballroom. She resisted the urge to shield her eyes and settled with a small squint.
"Geez, you'd think we were using 1000 watt light bulbs to light this place." Noin's voice echoed through the huge room and reverberated down the halls. Her head snapped over to a small figure in the room as it shuffled across the floor, table to table.
"Well, I think Peygan thought I said 100 and I meant 70. He's a little hard of hearing these days, as you know." Relena was pulling the table cloth on a nearby table, straight. "I wanted the soft glow effect for tonight's ball, but I think we're going to have to settle for the 'walking on the sun' effect instead." Relena smiled sweetly at Noin as she looked up from the table cloth.
Noin returned the smile and then took a look around the room. Her breath was suddenly taken away from her as her as she turned toward the huge wall of windows that was off to her left. "Oh my. It's...beautiful."
Relena nodded as she straightened out the last wrinkle in the table cloth she'd been fiddling with. "The moon is supposed to be full tonight and the good thing is, there are hardly any clouds in the sky right now. Everyone will love the view."
"Maybe that's not such a good thing, Relena. Everyone will stop dancing and line up against these windows to stare at the sky all night." Noin laughed as she turned to take a look at the room.
"Well, there's certainly enough room for it. This place is bigger than a football field. This wall could line up plenty of people..." Relena smiled as she walked over to the window and placed her hand on the huge pane of glass.
A smile slowly spread across Noin's face as she watched a handsome figure step into the room. "Relena, I must be going. I've yet to get my dress and make up on."
"That's fine, Noin. I'll see you later then." Relena dreamily stared out into the sky. The sun was just setting, and the colors were exquisite.
Noin began for the exiting hallway, holding in a chuckle as the handsome figure crossed her path. "Don't startle her too badly." She had said quietly as she passed him.
A smirk almost touched his lips when he heard the remark....almost.
Noin turned as she reached the hallway. Her eyes glistened as she watched Heero quietly walk up behind Relena. The air was different, she realized. Something didn't feel right.... Quickly shaking off the feeling, she hurriedly turned around and made her way up to her room.
She was beautiful...her hair fell around her shoulders and down her back like pieces of golden silk. Her dress, or what he could see from behind, was stunning. The material looked a velvety texture. The cloth was white and thick, but moved so easily with every breath she took. It cascaded down her body, accentuating every curve, and rested beautifully around her feet. "Lovely..." He leaned in close and whispered into her ear.
Immediately, a smile met Relena's lips. "You came..."
"Yes..." Heero reached around Relena from behind and showed her a small box with a ribbon tied to it. "For you..."
Relena gently took the box from his hands and smiled. "Why Heero...I didn't think you cared." She teased.
"I don't...but I'm giving it to you anyway." He stood behind her, expressionless as usual...
Relena rolled her eyes and gently pulled the ribbon off of the box. Tipping it open slowly, she smiled when she caught a glimpse of something silver.
The top of the small box dropped to the floor as Relena let out a small gasp. "Heero...I-it's...." She lifted the small silver locket necklace out of the box, letting it hang from her fingers. "It's beautiful..."
"Good..." Heero felt a strong hand slap him on the back before he could finish what he was about to say.
"HEY there Heero-boy! How are ya?!"
Heero glared as he turned around to see Duo's goofy grin.
Relena and laughed when she turned and saw Heero pop Duo upside the head.
"Hey hey, no violence. Hilde'll be here in a sec. She'll kick your ass if my pretty face gets damaged." Duo batted his eyelashes and puckered his lips sarcastically.
"Nah." Hilde walked into the room as if on cue, beaming. "Go ahead and kick his sorry tail, Heero. He needs it."
Duo gave Hilde a pleading look as she reached his side. She gave him a wink and nudged him with her elbow.
"You look great, Hilde babe." Duo looked her up and down. She was wearing a beautiful midnight-blue spaghetti strapped gown. The silken material was long, and lightly dragged the floor when Hilde walked. The fabric fell down her thin body, gently hitting each curve before cascading to the floor... She was thin, yeah, but boy did she have curves, Duo had always thought. And that slit up the side the dress didn't hurt either....
Hilde snapped her fingers in front of Duo's face. "Hey, you're drooling, braid-boy."
Duo smiled and winked as he took Hilde's hand and looked back at Heero and Relena. "So where's Noin goin? I just saw her walking through the halls...She looked a little distraught.."
Relena grasped the tiny locket in her hand as she spoke. "Noin went to go get dressed for the party. She'll be back in a little bit. You say she looked distraught? Well, she's got a lot on her mind right now..."
Heero spoke up. "How about we stop worrying about what other people are doing and do something ourselves?"
Duo nodded in agreement. "Yeah, lets go wait out on the balcony and watch the sunset. Maybe I'll get a chance to push you off Heero..."
Heero glared at Duo as Relena pulled on his hand.
Hilde tugged lightly on Duo's braid.
"Hey!" Duo smirked at Hilde.
Back in Noin's room...
Tears fell down her cheeks...She had so many questions....
"Noin, I'm back...that's all that matters." A soft white glove gently brushed against Noin's cheek, wiping away stray tears.
"No...no...you can't be." Noin shook her head feeling relieved, confused, and angry all at once. "You just can't..."
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Hee hee! That's right! It ends right there. ^_~ But guess what? I have the third chapter almost done...so I'll probably post it tomorrow...then you won't have to suffer TOO long. ^_~ :O) Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know you'll like the next one! ^^ Review please, I wanna know what you guys think. Thanks!