Trouble
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Madeira took a step off the plane and glanced around. She let out a small impressed grunt at the sight of the elegant city in front of her.
"Not so bad, Malattia…" She commented quietly. She stepped off the narrow stairs and into the crowded terminal. Despite the fact that she looked very different from the rest of the civilians there, with her tan and being as short as she was, she blended very well. She was twenty-two going on twenty-three, but her mother and grandmother had both been short women, raised in poverty.
Born in poverty, raised in poverty, at least only one of them had to die in poverty.
Madeira sighed as she walked, looking around for someplace where she could buy a map. Her father was Paulo Brindisi…married to the short Regina Vano, the little one dressed in hardly anything but torn and dirty rags. When her uncle Nicholah took over the nation, with his sister-in-law in mind, he tried creating a nation that took care of its people. Regina had been so delicate…the exact opposite of Madeira most of the time.
Madeira had been three and a half when an accident claimed the lives of her mother, father, and over 70 civilians during a plane crash in China. She'd been playing in the nursery with her five-year-old cousin at the time, with her aunt watching them as she drank her tea. The only thing Madeira could remember from that day was the teacup hitting the ground and shattering as Louisa Brindisi shot to her feet after being informed that her sister- and brother-in-law had died.
"Don't think about it," She commanded herself, "just don't think about it…"
She found a newsstand, bought a map, and concentrated on getting to the palace of Relena Darlian and her family.
~*~*~
The intercom buzzed, a familiar sound, but very alien in the normally bustling office. Desks and computers surrounding her own were empty and dark, the only previous sounds had been the clicking of her own computer keys and the quiet music emitting from her desk radio.
She turned down the volume, cutting off the sound of "My Graduation" by SPEED(1).
She clicked the intercom. "Yes?" Dorothy asked distractedly.
"Miss Catalonia, we have a young girl here demanding entrance."
In the background, Dorothy heard a angry growl.
"I'm twenty-two, you mother-(2)"
Not wanting to hear the rest of that comment, Dorothy clicked it off for a moment. She turned it back on and waited for the security guard to speak again. "Who is she?" She asked when it still remained quiet.
"My name is Madeira Brindisi." The girl spoke, her voice muffled from the intercom. The older blonde woman paused, trying to remember where she'd heard this name. The email, she reminded herself. She'd received a very short email from Relena, telling her about a "Madeyra Brindisi" coming as an exchange guard who might show up in a few hours.
"Er…show her in, Oren." Dorothy said uncertainly. She looked up from her work, watching the door, wondering what to expect from this abrasive-sounding girl. A minute or two passed, and the door to the central office opened, letting a short, pretty, dark-haired girl in. She had a worn bag slung over her shoulder, but set it on the ground. Madeira didn't look at Dorothy right away, not even looking in her direction as she briefly studied her surroundings.
"Just you in here?" Madeira finally looked to her, jade eyes glinting with the overhead light. She put one hand to her jean-clad hip.
Dorothy cocked her head to the side, thinking, Who does this girl think she is?
"Yes. You're Madeyra Brindisi?"
Madeira's eyebrow rose. "It's Madeira. Deir, not deyr(3). And to answer the question, yes, I am."
Dorothy had ended up being of an average height, and still was rather taller than Madeira, who was past her growing stage and stuck at the height of 5 '2. It made Dorothy want to laugh.
"Well, Miss Madeira, I don't handle the soldier recruiting, you will have to wait for Mr. Yuy to come back, and that won't be for another two hours at least. You might want to walk around or…something…" The look in Madeira's eyes, which were locked onto Dorothy, seemed familiar in many ways. It was the look of one who always knew what to do to make sure the outcome was in her favor.
When Madeira grinned, it caught Dorothy somewhat off guard. "Miss?" And she chuckled quietly. "That's a first. Is that protocol or what?"
Despite the attitude, Dorothy Catalonia decided that she liked Madeira. "Yeah, it is. It's what I was raised and taught to do. Unless you'd rather me call you Brindisi?" Dorothy shot back with the same grin.
"Madeira is fine, I don't care much for protocol….?" Madeira left the sentence lingering, meaning she didn't know Dorothy's name.
"Dorothy Catalonia," She finished. Madeira nodded.
"I've heard of you." The girl mused. "Duke Dermail's granddaughter, right? You worked for Romafellar."
"How did you know that?" Dorothy asked quizzically.
"I've done my research." Madeira shrugged.
"I did…. I even worked with the White Fang, but that's history." Dorothy said truthfully. Madeira studied her expression.
"You're not lying." Madeira stated. Dorothy felt puzzled. It was a statement, a fact, and not a question. "When you say its history, you mean it."
"Of course I mean it," She retorted halfheartedly. She was bewildered. "Why would I lie?"
"People change, opinions change, what you think sometimes isn't the way the future is gonna lay it out for you. But in your face, in the way you talk about it, the honesty is always there." She was quiet for a split second before she shrugged it off. "Anyway, I'll wait for 'Mr. Yuy' to come back right here, if you don't mind." She spoke in a tone that said she would be waiting there, even if Dorothy did mind, which she didn't anyway.
"It's fine," Dorothy said. Madeira nodded and sat down at Noin's abandoned desk. Dorothy went back to work, occasionally looking up inconspicuously at Madeira.
The girl sat quietly, her eyes shut, arms crossed, and stayed this way. Dorothy shrugged and turned the volume back up, just in time for the end of the song.
Dorothy grinned as she could hear Madeira humming to it lightly.
~*~*~
When the private jet landed in the Sanq Kingdom, Heero didn't accompany Relena back to her mansion as he usually did, but it was still early, he would see her later at the HQ.
He sighed with exhaustion, running one hand through his hair as he opened the door to the central office. At least he wouldn't have to see Lee again until the next day. Or maybe I could take a day off… He thought, feeling a brief twinge of pain in his shoulders. Its not like Relena wouldn't let me. But he shook his head. He'd only been off one day in all these years, Heero really didn't know what to do on days off. It was pointless anyway, one more night of rest and he'd be fine.
He took a step into the large business room. His eyes widened at the sight of Madeira, honestly he'd forgotten about her.
She turned her head to him as the door creaked open. She said nothing, merely looked at him with a strange expression.
"Welcome back Mister Heero," Dorothy's voice brought his gaze to her. "Where is Miss Relena?"
"At home, she'll be coming here later. She's bringing Wing, so remember to lock up the ammo."
Dorothy nodded. "Yes, sir." She gestured to Madeira and the younger woman stood up stiffly. "You know Madeira already, right?"
"Yeah." Heero agreed in a low voice. Madeira's level gaze with him broke, and momentarily her attitude wavered. "I'll take her to the officer's quarters, draw up her files for me, will you?" He looked to Dorothy and she nodded. "Come on." He motioned to Madeira. With a split second pause, Madeira grabbed her bag and said something to Dorothy in Italian. A quick look passed between Heero and Dorothy before they figured it must have been a goodbye.
"Goodbye, Madeira." Dorothy said politely as the door to the office swung shut, once again leaving Dorothy in the quiet. Even though she had not spoken much to Madeira during the last few hours, she would still somewhat miss the company of the short girl. She sighed before returning to work.
However, Madeira's words were still echoing in her head.
~*~*~
Madeira followed him silently as they walked a half-mile to the quarters of all Sanq Kingdom military personnel. The Preventers HQ had been relocated to the Sanq Kingdom, and it shared the six-mile piece of land that the Militia HQ was placed in.
The entire military compound was very large, and it was far from Relena's mansion and the institution. Sanq was still very much a pacifist nation, but it did need its own protection from numerous yet insignificant forces that still opposed Relena's principles. Their small, but perfectly capable militia was completely made up of old soldiers and younger recruits to handle all security and defense of their peaceful nation.
Heero was First. The head officer, he had the highest position in his department. Not that he'd received it by Relena's favoritism. His first day in the Sanq Kingdom was his first day in training, with Zechs as head officer. It had been by Heero's own request that he start with the rest of the recruits, to test Zechs in some way. He had risen to the top quickly, and he had worked for it.
Now he, Zechs, Wufei and Sally Po were the heads of the separate departments, the militia and the Preventers. Wufei and Sally ran the Preventers with Une as their voice in space, the grown Mariemaia Khushrenada working with her. Zechs and Heero had a few problems starting out, but now mutual respect kept them from jumping each other's throats. They were the heads of the militia department. There were four other officers who helped run the six units of the department, Heero with Unit 1, Zechs with Unit 2 and others.
Madeira kept up behind him, despite his furious pace. He wanted to know what the hell was wrong with her, was she some suicidal maniac? Not that he hasn't known his fair share of those, but still…
Worse still, was she connected with the bombing?
But he actually had some inwardly thought that this was some game between them, which could handle it for longest? Which of them could not mention the burns, the singed hair and the bruises?
Well, he would win this twisted game.
He didn't have to wait long.
"I know what you're thinking." She said coolly. He kept walking, and he didn't respond at first. Nor did she even look at him as she spoke. She kept her gaze on the collection of buildings they were approaching.
"We've got a mind reader now, ne?" He said sarcastically in a flat tone. "That's interesting."
She grunted quietly. He turned his head slightly, just to be able to see her out of the corner of one eye. Madeira was looking at him now, the same way. Nonchalantly, like it didn't matter anyway.
"Do you expect an explanation?"
"It'd be nice." Heero said coolly.
"I don't feel like giving you one." She replied curtly.
"Fine then," Heero shrugged. But the movement caused his shoulders to seize up momentarily. Madeira sighed, actually sounding annoyed.
"I'll pay for your hospital bills." She said as she sped up a tad, and the increase of speed actually did take more out of her than it looked like.
"They've been taken care of." Heero said, and remembering the weird dreams he'd had in the hospital brought back a faint recall of the painkillers. "Did you have some kind of death wish?"
Madeira gave him a momentary look before shaking her head. "I overreacted."
"But you're not sorry?" Heero prompted indifferently.
"No." She said calmly. "I'm not sorry. I may not be happy with my own reaction, but I really wasn't happy to be saved either. I can handle myself."
"I really wouldn't have known that, Kiddo." He spat. Madeira hissed something incoherent. She stopped in her tracks and slowly Heero eased up on his walking and turned to her.
"Okay, that kind of talk is ending right now!" She continued hissing. Heero looked at her as if she wasn't even speaking English. The expression was so convincing, Madeira momentarily wondered if she'd forgotten herself and yelled in Italian.
"What 'talk'?" He questioned placidly.
"That 'Kiddo' crap." Madeira snarled. "I'm not a 'kid', and such preferences to my height will not be tolerated!! I don't care if you are the boss around here or what, I'm not a child. I'm twenty-two. If you're going to call me anything, call me Brindisi, because I don't think I'd like the sound of my name on your lips."
Heero studied her face. "Fine then, Brindisi. I frankly don't care what you call me. And for the record, it had nothing to do with your height."
Heero was being honest, God knew he'd practically been a gnome the greater part of his teen years, he'd had his long-awaited growth spurt sometime around eight years ago, bringing him to a total of 5 '5. Duo and Quatre weren't as lucky, they'd averaged in at about an inch taller than they had been, making them both 5 '3, Quatre being around 3cm taller than Duo. It had nothing to do with her height at all, it had come from no where.
"Oh." She mumbled. Heero shrugged and returned to his walking. They approached the main building of the compound, and Heero entered a small office in a corridor as Madeira waited patiently in the hall. Minutes later he emerged with a clipboard and escorted her across a drilling field to the two-story building.
As they walked, Heero proceeded into military protocol, having the intention to only say it once, and Madeira could tell.
"Okay, I'll assign you to your room, and after you settle in, go back to HQ and get fitted with your uniform and gun." He handed her a small map. "Every officer has shifts, and there are six units here in the militia department. But since you came here directly for guard duty, you'll probably only have one shift and you'll end up spending as much time with me as you do Ms. Darlian." He sneered slightly. "You're in Unit 1, that's mine. You'll spend two weeks in basic training with me and the other recruits, and you'll drill every morning when and if you get through it with the other officers, starting at 4:30, so I hope you're a morning person." They were going up to the second floor, and Heero continued talking and Madeira listened to him attentively. He handed her a few more papers. "You get one day off every two weeks, do whatever you want with that day. I advise you go to town or something, because if you hang around here, you'll get pulled back into your duties, and no one else knows or cares about your schedule. Later today I'll have Oren show you around the compound. He'll explain everything else to you."
Madeira nodded, and he opened one of the doors in the hall. He held it open for her and she stepped in, glancing around. It was simple looking, but nice. Like a small cheap hotel. She dropped her bag onto the bed and peered out the small window to the left of her bed. It overlooked the drilling field.
"Its great." She said lightly.
"Glad you like it." Heero said casually. "You'll get to know all of Unit 1 eventually, but it rotates. There are about 150 soldiers in all, and there's another one of these buildings on the other side of the compound."
"Okay," Madeira said, now looking idly around her room, which was reasonably sized. Not that she had much to fill it with anyway. Even though she really didn't like time off (it was a waste of time, in her opinion), she assumed she would use them anyway to get to know the Sanq Kingdom.
"After basic training, you get your paychecks on your days off, salary depending on how much work you do and your rank." Heero kept on. "I'll look over your records to see if there's anything else we can assign you to, this is a pacifist nation after all, and when Relena is out of the country you might not have much to do."
Madeira didn't look at him, but she raised an eyebrow. Who ever said I wouldn't be coming with her? She thought, amused, I'm her guard.
"Anything else?" She prompted. Heero paused.
"I guess not."
She turned and gestured toward the door. "Training starts tomorrow," He said as he stepped out. "See you then."
Madeira watched him go; noting that she could barely hear his steps in the hall. "See you then," She repeated him quietly. "See you then."
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AnimeCat: Stick around for chapter four, anyone? ^_^ Review!! Please?
1-AA!!! A J-Pop song I can't get enough of!!! ::hums My Graduation::
2-Madeira has a filthy mouth, ne? ^_~
3-Madeira- Mah-deer-ah. Dorothy's pronunciation was "Mah-dare-ah"