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 Notes: Sorry it has taken so long to get this part out. The first half came together quickly, but I just could not decide where I wanted to go with the rest of the story. It did not help every time I sat down to write, something would interrupt. [sigh… some days are just like that.]
The first section of the chapter is my attempt at comedy. Duo and crew
are down right mischievous and rotten to poor Kiel. ~ I hope someone other
than myself finds it at least amusing.
Marimeia sat in the backseat cuddled up next to Heero, Kiel was in the passenger seat and Duo was driving. Duo slowly drove by Quatre's mansion.
"Hey, isn't that where Mr. Winner lives?"
Heero was about to rebuke Duo but was stopped by a nudge from Marimeia. He raised an eyebrow at her in quandary.
"Mr. Winner as in Quatre Raberba Winner of the Winner Corporation?" asked an astonished Kiel.
Heero was enlightened to the game his friends were playing with the awe Kiel asked his question.
"That's the one," answered Duo. "Let's take another look."
Duo made a U-turn in the road and slowly drove by the front of the house. Kiel craned his neck to see past the gates and the long drive.
"It says Winner on the gates," observed Marimeia.
"You are really interested in him aren't ya'?" asked Duo.
"He is infatuated with the company," offered Marimeia. "We went on a tour of its head quarters this morning."
Marimeia had to remind herself that it was this morning that they had gone. It seemed like days ago.
"I think we need a closer look," announced Duo as he parked the car along the road.
They all got out of the car and admired the estate through the fence surrounding it. Kiel's eyes widened in wonder as he took in the sights. The house setting on a hill could barely be seen through the trees and shrubs around it. They wandered down the sidewalk till they came to a gate.
"I think we should go in," declared Duo.
"I don't think it would be a good idea," said a worried Kiel.
"Sure it is," chimed in Marimeia. "We might even get to meet him."
"And he might have us thrown in jail for trespassing," Kiel protested.
"It will be fun. Won't it Heero? Just like old times," said Duo.
"What ever you say," responded Heero.
Marimeia tried the gate, but it did not open.
"Locked," observed Kiel with relief. "We had better leave. The others will be wondering where we are."
"We're fine," reassured Duo. "Do we unlock the gate or go over it, Heero?"
"Over," Heero answered getting into the spirit of the game.
In a mater of moments, Heero was on the other side of the gate with the grace of a cat.
"Kiel, your next."
"I don't want to!"
"Sure you do," replied Marimeia. "It will be fun."
Kiel had his doubts about that.
Before Kiel knew it, Duo and Marimeia hoisted him to the top of the gate and the only way to go was down on Heero's side. Marimeia was next, and Duo quickly followed.
Marimeia decided that this was more fun than just introducing Kiel to Quatre and Catherine at dinner like she had planned.
Duo and Heero skillfully creep through the trees. Marimeia grabbed Kiel and dragged him along.
"We had better keep up with them if we don't want to be caught," whispered Marimeia.
Kiel squirmed nervously under her grasp but followed. Kiel's adrenaline was pumping with the whole situation. He was sneaking around the grounds of probably the richest man in the universe, his roll-model, with Marimeia and two Preventers.
"It can't be this simple to enter the estate," observed Kiel.
"It is if you know what you are doing," answered Heero.
"I wonder if he has dogs," muttered Marimeia.
Kiel was ready to take off back to the car if he though he could make it, but he knew he could not get out without the others help. The others were set on their present course and Kiel followed. He would rather be caught with them than alone. He could see the headlines now… "Obsessed business student and friends caught breaking into Winner estate." His only hoped that Heero and Duo being Preventers might work in their favor.
The group slowly made their way across the grounds, through the garden, and to the house with a few tense moments, like hiding from the patrolling guards. Soon they stood before a glass door in the side of the house. Duo tried the door and it opened.
"In here," he said.
The other three followed him in. A single lamp on the large desk illuminated the room enough to move around without tripping over anything. Kiel's eyes grew to the size of saucers as he took in his surroundings. They were obviously in a study. There were bookcases and filing cabinets around the rooms edge. At one end there was a large desk with a wide back leather chair facing the wall behind the desk. There were several chairs and a sofa placed before the desk. Duo plopped down across the arms of one of the chairs with hands behind his head.
"This is really nice," declared Duo a little too loudly in Kiel's opinion. "Mr. Winner sure has good taste."
"Well, thank you, Mr. Maxwell," said someone from the chair behind the desk.
Kiel in his nervous state jumped three feet off the ground. Heero place a hand on his shoulder to keep him from bolting. It slowly began to soak in that the speaker knew Duo's name.
"I was beginning to wonder if you got lost," the soft pleasant voice continued.
The chair slowly rotated around to reveal the speaker who was still hidden in shadows.
"I never get lost," replied Duo defensively.
The man behind the desk chuckled and flipped a switch. The lights came on so all could see.
Marimeia grinned at Quatre as did Duo. Heero nodded and Kiel looked like he was going to pass out. Kiel was stunned. He could not move. He could not speak. He was frozen in place with mouth gaping. Both Duo and Marimeia found his state of shock amusing enough to laugh so hard their sides ached, and Heero has a slight smirk on his face. Kiel recognizing the blond as a member of their rescue party. Kiel slowly regained movement. His hand raised and pointed at Quatre, who smiled warmly at him.
"Your… Your… Meia…," Kiel stammered once he found his voice.
Marimeia calmed down from her laughing fit and took this opportunity to perform introductions.
"Kiel, let me introduce you to a friend of mine, Quatre Raberba Winner. Quatre, Kiel Short. I had planned on introducing you to him at dinner, but those plans got interrupted," explained Marimeia.
Kiel turned his attention to Marimeia and blinked a few times while trying to process what she was saying. Too much had happened to him today and the pieces were not falling into place very easily. His face mirrored his quandary.
Marimeia took pity on her friend and explained, "Quatre is Trowa's brother-in-law, who we had dinner plans with earlier. I didn't tell you beforehand because I wanted it to be a surprise."
Understanding slowly seeped into his brain.
Quatre stood and joined the group.
"I think you have had enough fun at Mr. Short's expense for one night," observed Quatre. "Come, the others are waiting."
Quatre ushered the group into another room where everyone else was. They sat around the room chatting.
"Your guys weren't even trying to hide your movements!" accused Wufie when they entered.
"If we did that, you would not have been able to watch," retorted Duo.
Kiel sank into the couch in a spot between his sister and Nikki.
"Your reactions to the whole sneaking in and meeting Quatre were priceless," Nikki informed him.
"You saw us?" he questioned.
"On the security cameras," said Nikki.
Kiel just groaned and covered his eyes with his hand. He knew it had all been too easy. A sence of embarrassment came and went. So he had been the evenings entertainment. He could not blame Marimeia for what she had done, because he would have done the exact same thing if he had been holding such a great trump card in his hand.
"Can we replay the footage for Kiel and the others?" asked Nikki.
Soon everyone was watching Duo, Heero, Marimeia, and Kiel's evening exploits, from them climbing the fence to the episode in Quatre's study. Even Kiel was laughing at himself. Afterwards Catherine showed everyone to their rooms for the night.
~*~*~*~*~*~
They had boarded the shuttle and settled in for take off. The shuttle slowly left its dock and headed to earth. Marimeia watched as L4 drifted from view. There was movement from the front of the shuttle and Jim Moore emerged from the cockpit waving a gun in each hand. Shots rang out and flying bits of metal blanketed the small cabin. Marimeia screamed as she watched those around her fall to the ground. Blood pooled around each fallen friend as evidence to their lives slipping away from her.
"No! No! No!," she screamed as she took in what lay before her. "This can't be happening!"
Her friends and loved ones were dying before her eyes and she stood unharmed. Jim slowly made his way towards her, his face twisted evilly. His hand came toward her just as the ship rocked with an explosion which tossed them around. Marimeia looked out the window and was shocked to see Wing Zero hovering above the shuttle with its gun aimed at it. Wing Zero fired a shot that rocked the shuttle again. Marimeia felt herself falling. When she looked up she was being supported by Relena and Lady Une. She was in pain. It hurt. She was bleeding. There was rubble all around her. A figure emerged from the shadows promising peace. Heero pointed his gun at her and prepared to fire. A shot rang out and crimson slowly spread across Heero's shirt. Heero stumbled to the ground.
Marimeia quickly sat up in her bed as she awoke from her dream/nightmare. She tried to slow her breathing. A cold sweat covered her body. Once she got herself clamed down, she laid back down and stared up at the ceiling. Sleep just was not coming very easily to her nor was she anxious to return to the horror of her dreams. Each time she would drift off, the dreams would plague her, and she would wake. She looked over at the clock. It was three in the morning, and she had probably had only over an hour of sleep since they all went to bed at eleven. There was just no use trying to sleep so she got up to get some tea and a book, hoping that would lull her into peaceful sleep.
She quietly opened the door to her room and stepped into the hall. She paused briefly in front of Heero's door on her trek down the hallway. She fought the urge to knock and wake him and continued to the deserted kitchen. She made a cup of tea and went to the library to find a book while it cooled from scalding to just hot.
The house was quiet and every little noise she made seamed to echo loudly in her ears. She was relieved that the doors were fairly quiet when opened or closed. She entered the library and glanced over the titles. After pulling a few from their shelves for examining, she settled on one. She took it back to the kitchen with her and retrieved her tea. She turned off the lights as she exited the kitchen and started up the stairs. She climbed them slowly as her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit house. She pattered back down the hallway. She had just passed Heero's door when her foot caught on the corner of the throw rug. The tea cup tottered and splashed hot liquid down her shirt sleeve. She quickly brought her other hand to stabilize the cup and dropped the book in the process. It hit the floor with a thud. Marimeia cursed under her breath before bending down and retrieving the book. She was so occupied with retrieving the book and not waking the others that she did not hear the door open and a person come up behind her. She stood to go back to her room.
"Marimeia?"
The unexpected voicing of her name startled her and made her jump slightly. She stifled the scream that was on the verge of exploding out of her mouth. The cup rocked and splashed out more liquid onto the saucer. She steadied the cup again without dropping the book.
"What are you doing up?" asked Wufie demandingly.
"I couldn't sleep," she replied. "Thought I would try a cup of tea and a book. Did I wake you?"
"No," Wufie answered. "I was awake. The time difference."
Marimeia understood. It had taken her the first couple of days to adjust to the difference in times between here and home. She keep waking up the same time she would at home which was too early to get up here. She bid goodbye to Wufie and went to her room. She shut the door behind her and walked to the bed.
"Couldn't sleep?" came an deep emotionless voice from one of the chairs.
For the second time this morning, Marimeia was startled. This time the tea cup did more than teeter, it fell over and emptied its content down the front of her shirt.
"Shit!' she exclaimed annoyed.
Heero flipped on the lamp beside the chair as Marimeia vented her frustrations and tossed the book to the bed. He stood, grabbed a towel and handed it to her as he took the tea cup. She blotted at her shirt with the towel to no avail. The once warm liquid had quickly turned cold against her skin. The best thing to do was change shirts. She grabbed a clean shirt from her suitcase and sulked off to the bathroom to change.
Marimeia emerged from the bathroom to find Heero sitting on her bed flipping through the book she had thrown there.
"What are you doing here?" she grouchily demanded.
"Waiting for you to return," he answered.
"Why?" she shot back testily.
"To see if your O.K. I can leave if you want me to."
Marimeia let out a sigh of frustration and ran her fingers through her hair.
"I want you to stay," she spoke softly. "I should not be snapping at you. I am tired. Just can't sleep."
"Come here," he said as he patted the space beside him.
She walked over to him and sat on the bed edge beside him. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. The warmth of his body felt so good as it penetrated through her shirt. He moved them both so they were leaning against the headboard with pillows between them and it and pulled the covers up over them. Marimeia rested her head on his chest.
"Yesterday's events?" he asked.
Marimeia looked up into his Prussian blue eyes confused.
"The reason you can't sleep," he clarified.
"Yes," she said as she placed her head back on his chest. "Every time I go to sleep, my dreams are filled everyone getting shot. Kiel, Jen, Nikki, you…"
"Your safe. Kiel's safe," Heero comforted. "I'm here, and I won't let anything harm you."
Heero stroked her hair and placed a kiss on the top of her head. Marimeia snuggled closer to him. His arms encircled her making her feel safe. The faint scent of his cologne greeted her, and the steady rhythm of his heart and breathing quickly lulled her to sleep. Heero rested his chin on top of her head and soon joined her in the land of dreams.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kiel looked around the room after opening his eyes as his sleep fogged mind recalled where he was. He still found it amazing to be staying in the home of Quatre Winner. He crawled out of bed and stretched his stiff body. His injured arm was slightly sore. He cleaned up, dressed and went in search of breakfast. He wandered down the stairway and followed the smell of food into the dinning room.
"Good morning. How's the arm?" inquired Sally from the table.
"Morning. It is sore but good," Kiel replied.
His stomach took that moment to loudly declare his hunger. He eyed the buffet table along the wall that was covered in food and chafing dishes and realized he had never had dinner last night.
"Help yourself," encouraged Catherine.
Kiel did not have to be told twice and filled a plate with eggs, toast, and fruit before sitting down at the table to enjoy it.
"Are the others up?" he asked the tables two occupants.
"I have not seen your sister, Nikki or Marimeia yet," answered Catherine.
"We might not be seeing her for a while," informed Sally. "Wufie said he ran into her at three this morning, and she was having trouble sleeping."
Trowa entered the room carrying a young boy who chattered away at him. The boy noticed Kiel at the table, stopped talking and stared at him with large blue eyes. Kiel decided the boy had to be Quatre and Catherine's son. He looked like a miniature Quatre except his hair was a darker blond than his father's.
"Did Jacob wake you?" asked Catherine.
"No," answered Trowa as he gave the boy to his sister before filling a plate with food.
Trowa handed his nephew a piece of fruit as he sat beside Catherine.
"So, why didn't you tell me that Heero and Marimeia were together?" demanded Catherine with a playful slap at Trowa. "You are suppose to keep me informed on such things."
Trowa just stared at her and shrugged his shoulders in response.
"I would probably not know Relena was pregnant again if it was up to you to tell me," she accused.
"I told Quatre," he stated and received another punch from his sister.
"What am I to do with you?" she growled playfully.
Kiel watched the interaction between the two siblings and thought about his sister. He had seen the concern in her eyes after he had been rescued. She would be crying her heart out now if he had been killed yesterday. He was grateful for the timely rescue.
As if she knew he was thinking about her, a cheerful Jen and Nikki entered the room.
"So when did they get together," Catherine asked Trowa.
Nikki's ears perked up at the question and quickly finished filling her plate so she could sit down.
"Yes, when and how?" asked Nikki as she claimed a seat.
Trowa did not look at either girl but concentrated intently on his plate.
"Come on, Trowa," pleaded Catherine.
"Early summer," he answered. "As for how, you will have to ask them."
Catherine knew she would get no more from her brother and dropped the issue.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Heero awoke with a warm weight on his chest. He smiled down at the sleeping Marimeia. He regretted he had to leave her, but he and Duo had an assignment. Around three this morning he had called Lady Une before she went to work to inform her that they had located Marimeia and she was safe. Lady Une was greatly relieved at the news. She also wanted Duo and Heero to check out something while they were on L4.
Heero lightly ran a finger around the curves of Marimeia's face before carefully crawled out from under her and pulled the covers around her.
"Heero…" she moaned.
"Shhh… go back to sleep," he whispered and kissed her forehead.
He silently left the room and went to wake Duo for they had business to attend to.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Marimeia slowly opened her eyes and there was no Heero beside her, but the pillow she was cuddled up to smelled of him. Her eyes half closed as she breathed in the sent and could feel his arms around her. She finally crawled out of bed refreshed and joined her friends downstairs.
Kiel and Nikki were on the floor playing with Jacob. The young boy was having a blast with his new playmates. She found Jen talking with Catherine. They both smiled at her as she entered the room.
"You look well rested," said Jen.
"I am," Marimeia replied. "Where are the others?"
"Trowa is around here some place and the others had things to check on," answered Catherine. "Do you have anything planned for today?"
Marimeia looked at Jen who shrugged.
"Not really. We had been planing each days events the morning of," answered Marimeia.
"Quatre called earlier and wondered if we could have lunch with him. I told him I would check."
"Sounds good to me," said Marimeia and Jen nodded her agreement. "I'll check with the others."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They all piled out of the limo and were entering through the glass doors they had entered the Winner Corporation yesterday morning. They followed Catherine as she nodded greetings to the receptionist and strolled past. Trowa brought up the rear with Jacob happily riding on his shoulders. They made their way through the foyer and to the elevator. Marimeia notice their tour guide Marry was showing another tour group around. Nikki waved at her as they passed.
They stepped off the elevator into a reception room.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Winner," greeted the male receptionist behind the desk. "Go right in. He is expecting you."
"Thanks, Mark," said Catherine.
"He's hot!" whispered Nikki to Jen and Meia.
"You think every guy is cute," sighed Jen as they entered Quatre's office.
Quatre lightly kissed his wife's cheek in greeting and affection before greeting the others with his arm still around Catherine's waist. Trowa let a slight smirk cross his lips at the sight. He was happy his sister had found such love and devotion in Quatre.
"This way," Quatre gestured and lead them into a conference room with food on the table. "I had something brought in. I hope you like it."
Upon entering the room, the first thing Kiel did was stare out the window at the city below with marvel.
"Breath taking, isn't it," said Quatre standing behind Kiel.
"It sure it," Kiel replied before turning to face Quatre.
Kiel felt this face get warm and knew it was probably pinker then normal. He just had not go use to actually talking to Quatre. Quatre's kind manner quickly overcame Kiel's uneasiness, and they all had a wonderful lunch with Quatre.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning they packed up their things so they could go back to Earth. Quatre, Catherine, and Jacob accompanied the group to the shuttle. Good-byes were said and hugs or handshakes were given.
Catherine embraced her brother and said, "You, Relena and family should come up for a visit some time soon."
"I will inquire when I get back," he promised as they pulled apart.
Catherine turned to Marimeia and hugged her as well. It was followed by a hug from Quatre and Jacob.
Everyone headed to Earth boarded the shuttle. Trowa and Duo were in the cockpit getting ready for take off while everyone else secured their things and themselves. Marimeia stared absentmindedly out the window. She was not actually observing what was outside the shuttle but replaying the scenes from her dream. She was brought out of her fearful contemplation by a hand on her arm. She looked over and smiled at Heero.
"Everything will be fine. Jim is still in police custody, plus we checked over the shuttle thoroughly," he comforted.
"Thanks," she smiled up at him.
Her haunting dreams had returned again early this morning, and she decided she had to talk to someone about it. She went to Heero's door and knocked. He had looked at her rather sleepily but welcomed her. She poured out her nightmares of the massacre in their shuttle to him while he held her. He promised her he would make sure Jim was still in custody and everything was operational with the shuttle before they left.
Duo's voice came over the intercom telling everyone to get ready for takeoff.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They landed at Preventer HQ and started unloading. Lady Une was there to welcome them home. She enfolded her daughter in her arms and made Marimeia promise to tell her everything that had happened.
Marimeia and friends drove back to her place where they loaded up Jen's car.
"It's been fun," said Jen.
"At least very interesting," added Kiel.
Marimeia laughed, "That it was."
The quartet said their farewells and looked forward to seeing each other in two weeks when school started. Marimeia waved as they pulled away. Once they were out of sight, she returned to the house to tell her mom about their adventure.
~*~ THE END of Marimeia's Summer ~*~ [I hope
your enjoyed the story and the ending was not too rushed. ^_^]