By West Wind
Disclaimer: I have no claim to any of the Gundam Wing characters in
this story. They belong to someone else.
Author's Note: I want to thank those who reviewed with their
desire to see the story continue. I am trying my best to get this
story written and posted, but it might be a bit slow going for a while.
I have a test to study for, and taxes that need done, which I hope to accomplish
both this weekend, and staying up late to write is beginning to take its
toll. But, when I get an idea, I just want to get it out and into
written words.
"It's not Heero. He would have given them to me in person not sent them to my house. I can't think of any reason why Relena, Trowa or any of the other pilots would sent them. Maybe, Kiel. It would be like him."
"Open the card," said Lady Une.
Marimeia pulled the card from the bouquet. It was addressed to Miss Marimeia Une. When Lady Une adopted Marimeia, she took Une as her last name. She concluded it would be easier to live a more normal life if she did not use Khushrenada. The entire world and colonies knew that name and would probably not forget it in her lifetime. She had always considered the possibility of one day, after finishing school and she had established herself, she might taking it back, but currently she was hoping to change it to Yuy before she got to that point.
She opened the envelope and pulled out the card to read the message scrawled across it. She read:
This is a small token of my appreciation to you for pulling me from my car and saving my life. Please, give me a call at the number below for I would like to arrange a time to thank you personally.
Sincerely,
Jim Moore
"That was very nice of him," stated her mother neutrally.
"Yes, it was," she replied.
"Are you going to call him?"
"I don't know. I am definitely not calling him tonight. I'm exhausted," she stated as she headed off to bed.
A few days later, Marimeia had decided not to call Mr. Moore. There was no need for him to thank her personally. The flowers were enough, and she was only doing what anyone would do, she thought. Other than the flowers in the hallway that reminded her occasionally, she had forgotten about him.
Marimeia worked half days on Mondays and had been home only long enough to change cloths and grab something to eat when there was some one at the door. She looked out the peephole. There stood a guy that looked slightly familiar. She cautiously opened the door.
"May I help you?" she asked.
"I'm looking for Miss Marimeia Une," he replied.
"You're looking at her."
"I'm Jim Moore. You pulled my from my car after the accident."
Marimeia knew now why he looked familiar. In daylight he looked different. She could see the healed cut on his forehead and what she had thought was dark blond hair was really reddish blond. He was broad across the shoulders and deep chested – built like a football player.
"I just wanted to thank you in person," he continued.
"The flowers were thank you enough," Merimeia countered.
"Please, let me take you out for dinner tonight. It would be a shame to waist the reservations I have made, and since I am new in town, I know no one else to take," he pleaded.
Marimeia looked into his pleading pail blue eyes and decided it would not hurt to meet him for dinner.
"I will meet you at the restaurant," she stated. "Where and what time?"
~*~*~*~*~
Marimeia walked into the restaurant five minutes early and waited for Mr. Moore to show up. She did not have long to wait. He greeted her with a handshake, and the waiter showed them to their table. It was a very nice and fancy restaurant, but she preferred the ones she and Heero had visited the few times they had gone out to eat together. The thought of Heero brought a smile to her face.
"Do you like it?" he inquired noting her smile.
"It is very elegant," she said sidestepping the issue for she was not fond of extremely fancy places.
"One of my co-workers told me the chef hear is excellent," he commented as they browsed the menu.
"Really. Where do you work?"
"I just started working for Sermtech a week before the accident," he answered and started to tell her all about his job and where he use to live.
Marimeia listened to him talk and answered his questions without revealing too much about herself and her past.
"Thank you for dinner," said Marimeia after they were getting ready to leave the restaurant.
"It was my pleasure," replied Jim. "What are you doing this Saturday?"
"Why?" she asked cautiously.
"Since I am new in town, I was wondering if you would be willing to show me around."
"I might be able to do that," she replied. "I will have to see what I have planed."
"I will call you Friday to see if that is a possibility."
"Sounds good to me."
With that they parted ways.
~*~*~*~*~
Jim called on Friday night, and Marimeia agreed to show him around town. They were to meet at his place. Marimeia parked in front of his house and walked up to the door. Before she even knocked, Jim opened the door and stepped out.
"What do you want to see?" asked Marimeia as they stood on his sidewalk.
"I know how to get to work, the grocery, and a few other places. I would like to learn what is unique to this city. Maybe find a park or museum."
"Why don't we start by going downtown, there are many things within walking distance to see there," she suggested.
"Sound good to me."
They got in her car and she drove them downtown. She found a place to park and they headed out on foot. They started at the old library and worked their way to the cultural center, which currently had an exhibit about the colonies and the gundams.
"This looks interesting," commented Jim. "I have always been interested in the gundams. Let's go in!"
"If you want," replied Marimeia hiding her reluctance to see the exhibit.
They paid the admission price and wondered through the self guided exhibit. There were films on the constructing of the colonies and their history. There were boards with facts about the colonies, such as how much metal it took to construct and how many man hours were put into each one's creation.
The section on the gundams had photos, drawings, and film records of the gundams in battle. No where was there any actual photo of any of the pilots or mention of their names. Heero and Quatre had long ago made sure of that, in order to give them all a chance at some what normal lives. As far as the world in general was concerned, the identity of the five pilots was a mystery. She smiled as she watched a battle scene play before her, and she identified each of the gundams and their pilots to herself. They were awesome to watch fight. She was still amazed at times to think her uncle and the rest of his friends were the ones piloting those suits.
"Can you imagine what it must be like to pilot one of those?" whispered Jim in awe. "I wonder who the pilots were and where they are now?"
"I guess that is something we may never know," stated Marimeia.
Jim agreed.
To Marimeia's relief, the exhibit stopped at the destruction of Libra and did not cover her brief reign of terror that was stopped by the gundams and their pilots.
They stopped and ate at a nearby restaurant before visiting the museum. After the museum they wandered around the park. Marimeia glanced at her watch.
"We had better head back to the car," noted Marimeia.
"Why in such a hurry?"
"I promised a friend I would baby-sit," she answered, "and I want to get back in time to clean up a bit before going over."
"In that case, I would not want to make you late."
They made there way back to the car and Marimeia dropped Jim off at his house.
~*~*~*~*~
Marimeia showered and changed before heading over to Relena's. She and Heero were baby-sitting while Relena and Trowa went to a banquet. She had been looking forward to her time with Heero all day. She walked in the door and was assaulted by Christine and a very energetic Nathan. They hugged her and chattered about this and that. Heero emerged from the room the children had flown from and pried Chrisy off of her so she could move. She gave him a peek on the cheek. Christine giggled at Marimeia's kiss and placed her own on Heero's other cheek.
"You better watch it, Heero. You are becoming quite the lady's man," teased Relena as she and Trowa descended the stairs.
Heero glared at her then gave her a small smile as he put a squirming Christine down.
"Bye, Mommy. Bye, Daddy," chirped Christine.
Relena bent down and gave them each a kiss.
"Now, be good for Uncle Heero and Marimeia," said Relena.
"We will," answered Chrisy before hugging her father farewell.
Relena added her kiss to the others Heero had collected that night.
"You," she whispered with a twinkle in her eye, "better behave too."
"Always," he replied.
Trowa escorted Relena to the car. As they pulled out of the drive and headed to their evening event, a spectator watched from a parked car hidden in the shadows along the road.
In the house a timer sounded and Heero announced dinner was ready. They ushered the children to the kitchen for the meal. The children ended up wearing more food than they consumed, Marimeia thought. Afterwards they cleaned up the children and the kitchen.
"Can we play hide-n-seek?" asked Chrisy.
"Sure," answered Marimeia. "I'll count first, and Heero you help Nathan hide."
He gave her a look of 'how did I get roped into this' but picked up his charge.
They selected base to be the family room couch. Marimeia sat down, closed her eyes and started counting. She heard them leave the room to find hiding spots. She finished counting and warned the hiders of her coming. She first checked the room she was in for any sign of her pray. Neither of them had chosen to hid in the family room. She started systematically searching from room to room. She heard a noise from the bathroom and entered. She looked in the tub and found Nathan sitting there playing with his rubber duck.
"There you are," she exclaimed as she picked him up. "Now, were is Heero? He can't be too far," she pondered just before two arms wrapped around her waist causing her to jump.
"I'm not," he whispered in her ear.
She turned to face him still holding Nathan. She smiled up at him and he gave her a quick kiss.
"Two down, one to go," Marimeia said as she regretfully moved out of Heero's embrace.
She continued her search with Nathan in tow. One of the curtains has a strange bulge and behind it she found Chrisy.
"It's my turn," called the young girl.
They continued their game of hide and seek for several more rounds before Marimeia called it quits. She and Heero were quickly pulled into another game. By eight thirty the children were wearing down and were put to bed. Marimeia came down stairs after tucking them in to find Heero sitting on the couch. She nuzzled up beside him, and he pulled her close with an arm around her shoulders. She let out a contented sigh as she rested her head on his chest. He placed his chin on the top of her head.
"How was your day?" he asked.
She was loved the sound of his voice resonating in his chest.
"It was ok," she replied and continued to tell him about her day with Jim.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Trowa and Relena came home to find Heero and Marimeia curled up on the couch asleep. Heero opened his eyes at their approach and gently woke Marimeia. She yawned and stretched.
"Well, I should be headed home," she stated. "See you guys later."
She got in her car and headed home. She thought nothing of the car that had pulled out from the shadows of the road to appeared a distance behind her and followed her home.
~*~*~*~*~
One evening during the next week, Relena and Lady Une were dinning out with Heero, Trowa, Relena, and family.
"Marimeia?" questioned a voice behind her.
She turned to find Jim walking up behind her.
"Hello, Jim" she greeted.
"Fancy meeting you here," he commented.
"I could say the same thing. What brings you here?" she asked.
"I had dinner with a client," he answered. "Who are your dinner companions?"
"This is my mother, and the rest are friends of the family," she answered. "Chrisy," who was beside her looked shyly at her plate when introduced, "Relena, Trowa, Nathan, and Heero," she introduced pointing to each one in turn. "This is Jim Moore. He was in the accident with me."
Everyone offered their greetings to Jim.
"Well, I should be going. It was very nice meeting all of you. Bye."
~*~*~*~*~
As the summer progressed, Marimeia saw Jim fairly often. She ran into him at the grocery since they shopped at the same one, once at the mall, and sometimes at the park. She would occasionally do something with him. Go to a movie or shopping. He even introduced her to some of the friends he had made since moving.
~*~*~*~*~
Jim has invited Marimeia to come over for a cookout at his place. His friends and neighbors came over. Once they left she offered to help him clean up. They finished and collapsed on the couch.
"Thanks for helping clean up," Jim said.
"Your welcome," she smiled back at him.
Jim moved closer to Marimeia and leaned in to kiss her. She quickly pulled back from his kiss.
"I'm sorry, Jim, but I just don't have those feelings for you," she said.
"In time?" he asked as he sat back.
"No," she said definitely.
"Then there is someone else?"
"Yes. I'm sorry. I should go."
With that Marimeia left.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note: I hope you found his chapter interesting.
As I wrote the chapter, I felt it was lacking something. Not as intriguing
as I had wanted, but I don't know if it is because I know how the rest
of the story will play out. Anyway, it introduces the other needed
characters and plot for the story's continuation. ~ ^_^ ~