Stars
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"Hero!" Wing shouted happily, leaping into Heero's arms. He caught her, knocking the breath from his lungs but her held her. Relena raced up the steps panting, her face red but she was smiling.
"I don't know where that girl gets her energy!" Relena said breathlessly. She groaned as she walked with Heero into the HQ, Heero still carrying her daughter. Wing had her face buried into his shoulder, her arms twined around his neck. Heero was smiling gently, and Relena could see it out of the corner of her eye. "Let me warn you…never run in high heels!"
"I'll take your word for it," Heero mused, setting Wing down as they stepped through the door. "How's Nathan?"
Relena smiled brightly. "Very good, he was showing me Wing's artwork from school. I wanted to show them off," She grinned, "but I left them at home."
"It's fine," Heero commented. Wing returned to his side and held his hand. "I can't wait to see them." He said to the little girl in a childish voice very unlike his nature. She giggled.
"He asked about you, how's your back?" Her voice was concerned.
"Much better, tell him thanks."
Relena looked around for a moment, her expression curious. "Is…"
"Madeira here?" He finished for her and she nodded. "Yeah, she's here. By now she should have her uniform, she starts training tomorrow."
His friend studied his face. "Heero…" She said cautiously, "I don't like that look in your eyes…" She gave him a strange look. "You're going to pick on her, aren't you? Why?"
"I'm not going to 'pick' on anyone. And I told you, I don't like her. Both her and Lee are gonna work harder than ever before tomorrow." Heero said icily. "I have to go pick up Madeira's files, come on."
Relena nodded and they quietly walked to the central office where Dorothy stood to greet them. "Welcome back, Miss Relena!" Dorothy chirped, then reached back to her desk and retrieved a small pile of papers and handed them to Heero, who flipped through them. Wing let go of his hand and began to explore the office as Relena kept an eye on her.
"Thank you, Dorothy." Relena said warmly to her friend. "Has my brother called?"
"Miss Noin did, they should be back in about two days. Mr. Chang is taking the rumors much more seriously than the rest of them."
"He would." Grunted Heero, amused. Relena smiled inwardly, and kept to formality and business.
"And how is the search coming along?" She asked, taking a seat at her brother's desk. With a note of amusement and a little annoyed disappointment, she glanced at a small chunk of reddish metal on his desk, obviously a piece of gundanium, a little broken piece of the Epyon. She pointed it out silently to Heero, who only cocked an eyebrow and shrugged. He kept a mangled piece of Wing Zero in his room, and a familiar green tank top in his dresser. It wasn't good to hold onto the past like that, but he needed to be reminded. He needed to remember that life was never as perfect as this, he needed to remember all he went through to attain this peace and the pain for this nation he was calling his home. It kept him sane on some level.
"It's coming along as good as ever," Dorothy said simply. Even after ten years, the Preventers were still looking for stray mobile suits in space and on earth. "Mr. Winner," She looked a bit distant for a moment, her actions all those years ago still haunted her sometimes. Dorothy followed business protocol diligently, refusing to call anyone but "miss" and "mister" until the workday was over. "Mr. Winner's team has found thirteen prototype Leo's on L1."
"Thirteen?!" Relena gasped. "That many? How many were functional?"
Even Heero was a tad surprised. How many mobile suits could there possibly be after all this time?
Dorothy nodded, "Only two were functional, they were older models. They've been shipped to Mr. Maxwell to dispose of them."
Relena listened alertly and nodded. "Good to hear." She turned to Heero. "Heero? Anything interesting about Madeira's files?"
Heero continued reading, but nodded. "Yeah…her uncle wasn't kidding."
"Eh?"
Heero put them down on his desk next to his computer. "She's had twelve years of military training. Nine years of fencing, ten years of assorted martial arts…" But mildly he thought, Not one day of mobile suit training…that used to be required for a soldier…
Relena let out a low whistle. "Impressive." She said.
"I was pretty surprised when I pulled them up," Dorothy said, sitting back in her chair. "We have very few soldiers who are even half as well trained."
Heero sat down in his own chair. "I know of some better." He said breezily. Relena gave him a questioning look and he leaned back in his chair, an amused smile on his face. "Zechs, Wufei, Duo, Quatre, Trowa," And he smirked up at the ceiling as he leaned even further back, "and me."
~*~*~
Madeira wandered through the Preventers HQ curiously, studying the halls, wondering where and to what they led to.
She heard voices coming from the central office as she made her way along, and knew that Yuy was probably in there with Dorothy. But she heard a softer voice, and realized that Malattia Darlian must have come.
Malattia was 'Lady', the closest thing Ms. Darlian would be getting to a formal title.
Madeira slipped further down the hall, and opened the door without knocking, which turned out to be a rather stupid thing to do.
She took one step into the office, heard a chair hit the floor and found two handguns aimed directly at her. Her eyes widened and she froze.
Dorothy immediately put hers down, looking abashed. A small child darted towards Relena and buried herself into the woman's arms as Heero kept his gun level.
"Knock." He growled, and sat the gun on his desk. "Always knock."
"I noticed you didn't earlier." She retorted, shutting the door behind her. Heero picked up his chair from the floor.
"I was expected. You were not." Heero said curtly. "This is a government building, and until every single person here knows exactly what you look like, you'd better knock. Because of that bomb back in Italy, we're doubling security. Watch out." He warned her coldly. Madeira nodded.
"Thanks for the advice."
She looked at the small golden-haired child who Relena had in her lap. Relena gave the girl a gentle shake, and the girl looked at Madeira questioningly.
"Madeira, this is my daughter, Wing." Relena introduced her daughter lovingly. Madeira kneeled in front of Wing with a smile.
"Hello, Pricipessa." The Italian woman murmured. Relena cocked her head to the side as Wing smiled sweetly.
"Pricipessa?" She asked. Madeira looked to her.
"Princess." She translated. Relena smiled.
"That's sweet. What about those other ones?"
"Malattia?"
Relena nodded. "And that other one."
Madeira stood up and sat on the desktops as four sets of eyes in all shades of blue watched her.
"'Lady' and 'bodyguard." She answered, pulling up her legs and sitting Indian-style on the desk, which happened to be Wufei's.
"Did Oren show you around?" Heero asked as he turned his computer on, filling the air with a static feeling. Madeira shook her head.
"No, he was busy and I have already grated on his nerves today. I decided to show myself around."
Heero gave her a sharp look. "Look, I don't want you wandering around here. No one knows you and if you get caught in the wrong place, you'll be in trouble."
Relena made a sound. "Heero, calm down. It's not that big of a deal if security finds her."
Her sea blue eyes locked on his cobalt gray ones and he could tell she was demanding to know why he disliked Madeira so much and was harsh with her. He sighed and averted her intense gaze.
"Is something wrong, Miss Relena?" Dorothy questioned, sensing the tension. Heero said nothing, and Relena remained silent as well. Madeira let out a loud sigh, again sounding annoyed.
"Captain Yuy and I have met before." She said lazily. Heero glowered at her but she ignored him.
Relena was bewildered, and her eyes darted between her two guards. "Really? Why didn't you say so? When?"
"Just about a week ago." Madeira shrugged.
"Relena," Heero picked up where Madeira left off. "Madeira was the one at the bombing, the girl I saved."
Their eyes were on Madeira again, and the short woman frowned. Relena's eyes widened and she gasped quietly. Dorothy's jaw dropped.
Both Heero and Madeira grunted in unison, Madeira crossing her arms over her chest and frowning coldly. To Heero, she looked like a pouting little girl, more childish than Wing.
Heero turned away from the speechless Relena and Dorothy and the frowning Madeira perched on Wufei's desk. He locked his eyes to his computer, and concentrated on researching the police reports about the bomb.
"Madeira," Relena started, but Madeira shook her head and hopped off Wufei's desk.
"I'm going back to my room." The girl snapped irritably. She took quick steps and left the room silent and stunned in her wake.
But not Heero.
He was smirking.
~*~*~
Maybe sleeping with her window open hadn't been such a great idea after all. Madeira woke up brutally uncomfortable in a bed that wasn't her own, and it was damn freezing in her room.
She clung to her dark blue sheets, trying to soak in as much warmth as possible.
"Mmph…" She groaned, and rolled over to face her ceiling. Unfortunately her bed in Sanq was much smaller than her bed back home in Italy.
She tumbled off her bed with a small shriek of surprise and lay on the floor face down, a tangle of sheets and limbs.
"Well this sucks." She complained into her carpet. She stood clumsily, rubbing her hands against her shivering arms. Madeira walked to her open window and slammed it shut, swearing quietly in Italian. She looked down at the drilling field, dew covered and sparkling with light from the lightening sky.
Madeira paused and tilted her head as someone stepped out into the middle of the field, and stared out into the fading stars.
Her eyes narrowed in cold recognition. "Someone's an early riser." She said sardonically, watching the fully awake and dressed Heero Yuy stare at the sky. With a grunt, she stepped away from the window and proceeded to get ready for training.
~*~*~
Heero heard soft footsteps in the grass behind him, and his graze broke from the glittering stars. Madeira was walking past him, combing her hair.
She wasn't looking at him, but somehow he knew that she had been watching him, even though he hadn't seen her.
"Morning." He said loudly, making Madeira snap her head in his direction. "There's still another half hour before you have to get out here, go get something to eat."
"Okay." She responded, nodding. And she stepped away without another word. Heero merely shrugged, his attitude about her casual. He'd had some time overnight to think about it. Madeira was here, he couldn't help that, so he'd have to deal with it. And her skills were an asset, a major one.
He grunted and stepped off the field.
~*~*~
With annoyance, Heero realized there were only 24 soldiers standing in front of him. He looked back to Oren, who was watching to get a little experience, soon he would have his own unit.
"Who's missing?" Heero asked the man. Oren looked over the assembled soldiers prepared for drill. He recognized the dark-haired Italian woman from yesterday, making him a tad angry all over again.
"Smithe is missing." Oren stated. Heero's forehead furrowed.
"Dammit. I forgot about him." He said under his breath. After the rotation, this would be Heero's new unit for a few weeks. He assumed Lee had started under a different unit, which would explain why he hadn't known his name or who he was. At least he only had to deal with Lee for a few weeks, then he would switch to Unit 2 and be Zechs' problem. Madeira was another story. "Where the hell is he?" Heero asked icily.
"Captain Newman had the same problems, sir." Oren said, "The boy tends to sleep in."
Annoyance and anger stirred within him. "How did Newman deal with it?" He asked. Oren grinned slightly.
"He'd usually send me in with a bucket of water, sir."
Heero cocked an eyebrow. "Really? Hn, I like the sound of that." He mused.
"Should I get the bucket, sir?" Oren offered, his eyes lighting up. Heero grinned.
"No thanks, Oren…" He took a step away. "I'd like to do this myself. Handle things here."
Oren grinned as Heero walked off, then returned his attention to the other 24 soldiers. Payback time, he thought, glaring at Brindisi.
~*~*~
Coming back from a two-mile run, the soldiers lined back up. Madeira came back last, wondering why Oren had demanded she run three instead of two, but the thought didn't bother her for long. She looked forward, and saw Heero standing waiting for her, giving her a dangerous look.
She matched this and walked by him, also passing a boy a year or two younger than her but taller whose hair was dripping wet and he looked rather angry. The boy's eyes lit up at the sight of her, and Madeira stared at him rudely, wondering who he was and why he was looking at her like that.
"Nice rack." The boy said loudly, grinning. Madeira's jaw dropped open, and her green eyes flared with anger. Without a moment's hesitation, she stepped toward him, with full intention to do some damage. Heero was quicker, coming up behind him. She paused, thinking that Heero was defending the boy.
"Get in line, Brindisi." Heero said lowly. She gritted her teeth and gave both Heero and the boy murderous looks. But she stepped down and got in line. Heero put his hand on Lee's shoulder and twisted the boy violently around to face him. "Smithe," He said coldly, "I don't care if Brindisi has a 'nice rack' or an eye in the middle of her forehead." He poked at Lee's head hard, making a red blotch. "When you're here in my arena," He gestured all around the drilling field, still keeping one finger jabbing hard at Lee's forehead, "you pay attention to me. You will get here on time, and you will respect Brindisi and all the women in this unit. Understood??"
~*~*~
Her body ached horribly, like it had when she's first started training when she was just a kid. But still she was smiling, thinking of the day. After the regular workouts and drilling, Yuy had made the boy Lee work harder than anyone, with the 20 men and 4 women of the unit watching him.
Training had ended a few hours ago, but by the time Madeira finally made it back to her room to sleep, it was late and she was exhausted beyond belief. She collapsed onto her narrow bed, not even bothering to change clothes and was asleep in moments.
That night, she slept so soundly that she didn't even hear the sound of the explosion that wiped out three buildings downtown and killed 126 civilians.
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Review??? PLEASE????