Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, but I do own Kiara McSullivan and Bruce Oakley characters. Don't sue, I'm a very poor student!
AN: This is situated in AC 202. This is a Duo/OC pairing. I apologize to all Hilde fans out there, but in this fic she's the bad girl. Please don't kill me ^.^;
AN2: I changed a couple of things in both the prologue and the first chapter, due to a review from my friend. Ah yeah! And the rating is for future chapter. Enjoy!
R/R, please, and don't flame me.
My best friend's heart
Chapter 1: Welcome Back!
Kiara looked around, in search of a honey blond hair head and blue eyes, in a crowd of travellers.
"Kiara!!! Here!!!" waved a excited Relena.
Kiara looked towards the scream, just in time to catch Relena in her arms.
"Relena! I'm so glad to see you! I've missed you so much!"
The Vice-Foreign Minister took a step back to look at her good friend. Her mid-long dark blond hair had several streaks of blue in it, and her hazelnut eyes were filled with sparkles. They were the same height, but Kiara was a bit slimmer than Relena. They hugged each other until someone tapped on Kiara's shoulder. She turned her head to see a smiling Quatre.
"Q-man!"
Kiara jumped into Quatre's arms, making him blushed. Kiara looked at his red face and laughted.
"Still having trouble with a girl's affection, huh?" she said, pinching his right cheek.
"Hn…How...how was university?"
"Nah! Don't talk about it! Awfully hard!" Kiara answered with a wink, making Quatre blushed even more.
"Luckily, most of the guys were cute!" she continued while giving a wink to Relena.
The two girls started to laugh as Quatre shaked his head in despair.
"Come Kiara, I'm sure you're very hungry after all this travelling. I've made reservation at your favorite restaurant."
"All right! Are you coming Q-man?"
"No, I'm sorry, but I still have some unfinished paperwork to do. I'll see you around!" he said as he left the two girls.
"I'm pretty sure he left us because he's afraid to go out with two beautiful girls like us!" said Kiara while she grabbed Relena's arm and dragged her out of the spaceport.
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When Heero came back from his lunch break, he noticed that he had a new vidphone message. He opened it and saw Duo's smiling face:
"Hi old buddy! I just wanted to tell you that the training mission is over and I'll be back tomorrow afternoon."
Duo's gaze turned serious as he continued:
"If you're still worried about me, I'm fine…And don't send me to the end of the universe for my next mission. I miss teasing Wufei!!! Tell him that I've accumulated 6 months of energy and tricks specially designed for him! Don't forget to send someone to the spaceport for me! Ja ne!"
As the screen turned black, Heero smiled to himself. It's going to be good to have the old Duo back. Even though he wouldn't admit it out loud, not even to Relena, he missed the American pilot and his endless chat, and found out that seeing Duo depressed was the last thing he wanted to see again. 'And Relena just brought back from the spaceport the perfect element to cheer him up' he thought with an evil smirk.
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Inside a greasy Chinese restaurant, the two girls were chatting joyfully. But Kiara could feel that her good friend was hiding something from her. And suddenly Kiara figured it out: they talked about everyone except for Duo and Hilde, though Kiara was their best friend and matchmaker.
"So, how's my favorite couple?"
"Oh! We're good…we are thinking of getting married in a year or two…"
Kiara took Relena's hand into hers and look deeply in her blue eyes.
"Relena, you know who I meant… You're hiding something from me…And I bet it concerns Duo and Hilde…"
Relana sighted and looked down.
"Yeah… I guess I'm not very good at hiding secrets. Maybe I should ask Heero to teach me" she said with a fainted smile. "About 7 months ago, Hilde broke up with Duo… It was very hard for him… Heero arranged a mission on the L2 colony, hoping it'll help Duo to deal with that." Relena looked up to see a Kiara lost in her thoughts. Her eyes were filled with sadness and worries.
"Why… Did she said why?"
"She said she fell in love with another Preventer. A Rookie like Wufei said…"
"I… I don't understand…we worked so hard to help them overcome their differences…I worked so hard… Can't she see how Duo's a great guy?"
Kiara blinked back her tears. 'Why can't at least one of us be happy?' she wondered, playing with a wristbands.
"How is he?"
"Well, last time Heero talked to him, the mission was so far a success, and he was about to be on his way back. But his eyes are still filled with sorrow…". Relena tightened her grip around Kiara's hands. "You're gonna help us to cheer him up, will you?" she asked, her voice full of hope. Her question brought back Kiara's smile:
"Yeah…anytime…that's what friend are for!"
"Good! Would you like to come at the Preventers' HQ? I can give you the grand tour, before you start working."
"Sounds great!"
Then the customers' ears were relieved as the two giggling girls left the restaurant.
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"And here is the lab where you're gonna work."
The girls had passed most of the afternoon wondering around the Preventers' HQ. Since the Mariemaia "breakout", the government had invested millions of dollars on the Preventer department. Now, the department had a facility on every colony, and the HQ on Earth had it's own academy, dorms and labs. Brussels had grown out like a "university" town, since most of the people living there were working at the HQ or providing services to them.
Their final destination was the medical laboratory that just hired Kiara, for a research on infant diseases. Relena, followed by an amazed Kiara, walked towards a woman in her mid 20's, with blue eyes and brown hair arranged in two braids.
"Doctor Po, this is Kiara McSullivan, your new lab team leader" Relena said to the woman.
"It's an honor to work for you, Doctor Po. I heard great things about you at the university" said Kiara, reaching to shake the lady's hand.
"My! Thank you! And call me Sally. Relena told me that you are one of the best in your field of study."
Kiara nodded and blushed at the compliment: she had no idea Relena followed her university's career. True, she was one of the top researchers back at the university.
"You better behave well onna. She doesn't look like it, but she bites pretty hard."
Kiara turned her head to see a young Chinese Preventer wearing a smile of disdain on his face.
"Hum…you must be Wu-man."
"Hn…and you must know Maxwell."
"I'm Kiara McSullivan. Duo told me everything about you. He sure has funny stories about you!!!"
"That damn braided baka…"growled Wufei while storming out of the lab
"I guess that was Chang Wufei. How do you manage to live with a man like that?" asked Kiara to Sally.
"Oh, you know, despite his primitive manners towards women, he's a very kind and sensitive person. But how come you know Preventer Maxwell?"
"I went to the Sanq Kindom Academy after the war. I was in the same year and dorm than Relena, Heero, Duo, Hilde and Quatre. I guess you could say that we were inseparable. And we kept in touch after I left for university."
"Excuse me Miss Relena?"
The three women turned towards a young Preventer, half bowed.
"Yes?"
"Preventer Yui sent you this message", the young man said, presenting a letter to the Vice-Foreign Minister. Relena opened it, read it and smiled at Kiara as she folded it.
"Looks like the whole gang will be reunited again. Trowa's circus is in town, and Duo's coming back tomorrow from his mission on L2."
The grin on Kiara's face widened.
"Great! I guess my first mission will be to pick my ol'buddy up!"
"Not without all of us", said Sally, putting a hand on Kiara's shoulder. "It's gonna be good to have the braided baka back…"
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To be continued in Chapter 2: Confrontation (coming very soon)
Nue-chan: Please!!! REVIEW!!!***blows kisses and hugs to all her reviewers***
