Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing....but I think it's starting to own me. O.o
The Reunion
-Chapter Four
The unfamiliar glow of sunlight entered through Sally's bedroom curtains, stirring her awake. She blinked her sapphire blue eyes, then pulled herself into a sitting position. It wasn't often that she would wake to sunlight, since she had spent a lot of her time in outer space over the past few years. It was a wonderful difference today. It made her feel a lot better to wake up to light instead of pure darkness. The events of the night before quickly came crashing back into her mind. The note from Wufei was still folded on her dresser. She put it on her list of priorities to write one back to him, it would be interesting to see his reaction.
Letting out a yawn, Sally managed to drag her tired, worn body out of the bed and headed towards the shower. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and nearly gasped. Her wheat colored hair was sticking out in several different places, and her makeup was smeared in various parts of her face. However, none of those horrible qualities could compare to the large zit on her left cheek. She gasped and pressed her face up to mirror so she could see better. She had never gotten a zit in her life! Why did it have to happen now? 'I'll have to stop by Noin's room to borrow some zit cream before Wufei sees me like this.' She thought, before rushing into the bathroom to have her shower.
***
Wufei tossed his pillow towards the window, cursing at the bright sun. It took him a moment to realize he was still at the beach, at the reunion. He had been hoping he'd wake up at home, in his nice dark little room, with the sounds of the busy streets out his window. The only sounds he could hear out his window now were Marimeia and Kai playing outside in the sand. He suspected everyone had already gotten up. 'Good. Maybe I missed breakfast.' He thought, and hoped. He didn't think he could sit through another meal with of those loud, annoying people.
The Chinese man rolled over on his side, certainly not predicted that he would land on the hard, wooden floor. He cursed and untangled himself from the blankets, throwing them back onto the bed carelessly. He untwisted his white sleep pants and straightened out his T-shirt. Taking a moment a brush his hair, he walked out into the hallway, shutting the door to his room quietly behind him. The aroma of breakfast quickly acknowledged his senses, and nearly lured the man to kitchen. There he spotted all his favorite onnas. Noin was flipping flapjacks by the stove and Une was cooking some breakfast burritos, probably for the kids.
"Good morning Wufei, sleep well?" Une asked. She was still in her robe, and her dark hair was tied back into a single bun. Wufei grunted in response and sat himself down at the table, resting his head in his hand. "I guess I'll take that as a no." Une giggled, "Don't worry Wufei, the first night away from home is always the most difficult." Wufei raised an eyebrow.
"It's not like I've never traveled before." He snorted, playing with a fork and a napkin Noin had laid in front of him. There was no response from Une, as she pulled the breakfast burritos out of the microwave. She held one out to Wufei but he shook his head. He had more of eye for the flapjacks Noin was cooking. Une placed the burritos on two plates for the kids, then turned back to Wufei.
"Is Sally up yet?"
"How would I know?!" Wufei yelled, blushing furiously. Both Une and Noin gawked at Wufei. "Well, what are all you onnas staring at?" He snapped, turning his head in the other direction. Noin and Une looked at each other, shrugged and went back to their business.
Just as Wufei looked the other way he caught sight of Sally coming into the kitchen from the hall. She was dressed in loose blue jeans and a white tank top, and it was obvious that she was wearing her bathing suit underneath. Her hair had been tied back into a loose ponytail, and she was suspiciously covering her left cheek with her hand. Her eyes widened when she spotted Wufei and she rushed over to Noin. Wufei quirked an eyebrow as he witnessed Sally whispering to Noin. Noin then lead Sally up stairs, with an on-looking Une and Wufei looking very confused.
"I wonder what that was all about." Une mumbled. Wufei shrugged. Whatever it was, it was stalling his flapjacks.
***
Hilde rolled over on her side and stared at the reason she hadn't been able to sleep all night. Duo was sprawled out on the bed, the blankets kicked off and was appeared to be tangled in the sheets. He was lying on his back and snoring quite loudly, with a line of drool coming from the edge of his mouth all the way down to his chin. Hilde sighed and ran a hand through her tangled black hair, and casually slipped out of bed. The aroma of breakfast caught her senses as well, so she slipped on her robe quickly and headed downstairs, leaving Duo to his noisy slumber.
She walked down the carpeted stairs, hearing the voices of some of the other guests in the kitchen. She identified Une's, Quatre's, and Wufei's voice. As Hilde entered the kitchen that's just who she saw, sitting at the table eating flapjacks, and Quatre with eggs and toast.
"Morning!" She said cheerfully, pulling up a chair next to Wufei, who grunted in response, while Une and Quatre greeted her. "Where's the kids?" Hilde asked, trying to start a friendly conversation. Une pointed outside with her fork, where the sounds of the children's laughing was coming from. "Endless energy." Hilde giggled. Une nodded.
"Is Duo up yet?" She asked. Hilde shook her head, and stuffed a piece of flapjack in her mouth. The expression on her face told everyone she thought it was delicious. "But he slept better than I did."
"*Everyone* slept better than me." Wufei snorted, raking a hand through his hair. He pushed away his half eaten flapjack and laid his head on the kitchen table. Everyone pretty much ignored this, since Hilde was going on and on about Duo's sleeping habits.
***
"You've been in there for over an hour!" Catherine yelled over the sound of the raging blow drier. Dorothy had gotten up early just so she could get into the bathroom first, and now she was proceeding to blow-dry her mass of blond hair. It would take at *least* two hours to blow-dry hair that could be used as a carpet! Catherine let out an exasperated sigh, throwing her arms over her head in defeat. She raked a hand through her usually curly hair, which now laid flat on her shoulders. She had never told anyone her hair wasn't naturally curly, it had always been her little secret; but she was getting awfully hungry and the smell of flapjacks in the kitchen was driving her crazy.
Catherine's eyes shot wide open when she felt the door she was leaning against begin to open. She stumbled back just in time to see Dorothy stick her head out the door, her hair in a huge frizzy mass on her head. Catherine gasped and tried to hide her flat, stringy hair but Dorothy didn't miss a thing.
"Oh, so little miss curly girlie *actually* doesn't have curls at all. Wait until I tell Quatre!" Dorothy snickered evilly. Catherine's eyes widened in panic.
"No, please! I don't want him to know yet! I'm still reeling him in!" She slapped her hand over her mouth realizing what she had just said. Dorothy laughed.
"Well, I'm sure we can arrange *something*." Dorothy cackled. Catherine sighed in defeat as Dorothy continued. "Quatre and I are going to have a romantic dinner on the beach tonight, and *you're* going to cook it for us! Then you're gonna get your butt out of our hair for the rest of the reunion." Catherine frowned.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you that blackmail is a very bad
thing?" She scoffed. Dorothy rolled her eyes.
"I just want to prove to you that I can win Quatre's heart faster
and more efficiently than you ever could." The blond hummed, twirling
a strand of her hair. Catherine glared at her with a look of pure
hatred. Dorothy giggled and slammed the door in her face. A
few seconds later Catherine could hear the roar of the blow drier once
more.
"And I expect that dinner ready by six-o-clock! No sun bathing for you this afternoon, Catherine!" Dorothy shouted over the sound. Feeling immature, Catherine kicked the bathroom door as hard as she could, then cursing at the pain that pulsed through her foot. She sighed and walked over to her dresser, frowning at herself in the mirror, and then fished her bandana out the pile of clothing. She tied all her hair back in the bandana. She played with loose strands of hair until she was satisfied with her look, then finished dressing and went out to get breakfast.
***
"I can't believe this happened. I've always taken such good care of my face." Sally whined as Noin dug through her suitcase to find something for Sally's problem. She sighed and sat down on the bed, running her finger over the offending bump on her cheek. Noin, seeing this, slapped her hand away.
"Ddon't do that. You'll only make it worse. You don't want it turning bright red." Noin warned. Sally drew her hand away hesitantly, folding both in her lap. She looked around the room while Noin was looking for the cream, admiring the master bedroom of the house. She suspected it was a lot bigger than most of rooms there. She spotted a candle by the night stand, and her lips twitched upward.
"Did you and Zechs have a nice night?" Sally asked, eyeing the candle. Noin looked up from the suitcase, and followed Sally's gaze to the burnt out candle. She laughed softly.
"Actually, Zechs's sunburn was so bad it kept him up most of the night. Which is bad sign, he'll be really grumpy today. He's always grumpy when he's tired." Noin's voice trailed off and she went back to digging in her suitcase, and finally pulled out a small tube. She held it up in accomplishment. "Aha! I found it." She said, grinning. She quickly undid the top and handed it to Sally, who squeezed just a tiny bit of the substance out and dabbed it on the bump. She checked the tube.
"So, how long does this stuff take to work?" She asked. Noin shrugged and took back the tube, putting the cap back on.
"It should take a couple hours, but it hides it pretty well for now." Sally sighed and got off the bed to look in the mirror. She groaned when she saw the bump. Sure, it was covered by the cream, but people could still suspect something, since the rest of her face was silky smooth. She decided the best thing to do was to keep her mind off of it.
"Where is Zechs, anyway?" Sally asked with interest, so she'd know where to keep away from today. Noin paused, thinking.
"Now that I think about it, I don't know. The last time I saw him was when he got out of bed to go check on Relena." Noin said suspiciously. The two women exchanged frightened glances. They immediately got up and headed out the door and down the hall to Heero and Relena's room.
The sight they were greeted with was so hilarious Sally and Noin had to cover up their mouths to keep from laughing out loud. Zechs was lying on the floor in the doorway of Heero and Relena's bedroom, looking apparently unconscious. The reason for this was atop Relena's bed, where the two were sleeping soundlessly, Heero shirtless and Relena in her nightgown. Noin assumed the scene was too much for Zechs, who hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, and he had promptly fainted. Noin kneeled down and shook Zechs's shoulders at an attempt to wake him up, but when he wouldn't she began to worry.
"Poke his sunburn." Sally suggested. Noin giggled slightly and poked the place of Zechs's shoulder where he had been burned the most. The blond man woke with a shout, grasping his over sensitive shoulder, and glared at Noin.
"If you wanted to sleep you should have gone to sleep in your bed rather than Heero and Relena's doorway." Noin whispered, shrugging her shoulder in the couple's direction. Zechs's eyes widened as he remembered why he was there in the first place. His eyes lit up in firry as he marched over to Relena's bed. Then, swiftly and effortlessly, he pushed Heero off of the bed. Sally and Noin gasped as the young man hit the floor with a definite "thud".
Heero awoke immediately, eyes scanning the room for any kind of danger. They rested on Zechs in confusion and rage.
"How *dare* you take advantage of my younger sister, Heero! I thought you were different. For just a brief moment I thought you might be an honorable man! But now I see I was wrong. Noin, I want this boy in another room at once!" Zechs yelled. All of his yelling caused Relena to stir awake, and was alarmed to find Noin, Sally, and her brother in the bedroom. As well as Heero on the floor.
"Milliardo, what's going on?" She asked, reaching for her robe at the end of the bed and slipping it on quickly. She eyed her brother sleepily.
"I can't believe you would go and do something like this Relena. You're too young and to make matters worse, it was with him!" Zechs shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the dark haired boy sitting on the floor. Relena looked at Heero, then looked back up at her brother, confused. Suddenly, a red tint appeared on the young girls cheeks.
"You think that Heero and I slept together?" She asked her brother in awe. Heero's eyes generously widened as he too stared at Zechs in disbelief. Noin and Sally could only watch the interesting conversation from the doorway, not wanting to get involved in it.
"How else do you explain the both of you being half naked on the same bed!?" Zechs yelled, exasperated. Heero took this time to get up, dust himself off and fish a shirt out of his suitcase. Zechs watched his every move until he sat down on his bed, also awaiting Relena's explanation. Zechs followed his eyes back to Relena. "Well" He yelled impatiently.
"I'll tell you how, brother. If you had taken the time to ask me what my hobbies were instead of actual career, you would have discovered that I had taken a sudden interest in massage therapy. I brought my massage kit here so I could practice on one or two people during the reunion. Heero kindly allowed me to give him a massage as practice and afterwards we were both really tired and I guess we fell asleep. I can assure you that's all that happened." Zechs blinked, staring at Relena, then back at Heero. His eyes narrowed at the boy, who answered with a glare of his own.
"You shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly." Heero said quietly. Zechs ignored Heero's comment at looked at Noin, who was giggling uncontrollably.
"Really Zechs, leave Relena alone. She's almost an adult and already has tons of responsibility. She doesn't need you to be giving her orders as well." She said in between her giggles. Relena gave Zechs a look that agreed with Noin, and a sigh escaped Zechs's lips.
"Fine. But don't come crawling to me when-" Heero cleared his throat. Zechs muttered something under his breath and stomped out of the room angrily, brushing past Noin and Sally. Noin gave Relena an apologetic look, turned and went after Zechs. Sally smiled at the couple and exited, closing the door as she left. Relena, too embarrassed to look Heero in eye at the moment, pushed a strand of her golden blond hair behind her ear, then got up and headed for the bathroom.
"Relena." She instantly spun around hearing Heero say her name, and looked at him awkwardly. Heero smiled ever so slightly which Relena wasn't too surprised by, since she had seen him smile before.
"You give good massages. Can I make another appointment?"
***
Kai wiped his mouth with the back of his hand once he was finished with his breakfast burrito, burping in satisfaction and ignoring his mother's angry grunt. Marimeia sat at his other side, who still wasn't quite done with her breakfast, and was making a lot less noise eating it. Une sat across from them with Wufei, who was quietly talking to Trowa. Hilde was chattering away about anything and everything, when finally Zechs, Noin and Sally came down the stairs. Noin and Zechs appeared to be arguing about something as usual.
"You have to stop budding into her life!" Noin yelled, who was obviously being ignored by Zechs, who walked right past her and to the breakfast table. He sat down rather loudly at the end of the table, so he wasn't really sitting by anyone. Marimeia scooted closer to Kai to get further away from the steaming man. Sally took a seat as far away from Wufei as possible, keeping her cheek hidden from him. Une got up to help Noin make breakfast for the both of them.
"Would you like flapjacks Zechs? Sally?" Une asked, raising an eyebrow at the two of them. Zechs shrugged and Sally muttered a response. It was clear that the two of them weren't having a very good morning. Une sighed.
"Listen everyone." She spoke. All heads at the table turned to her, curious eyes blinking. Une sounded serious. Une cleared he throat and put down the spatula she had been holding with a definite slap.
"I know some of you haven't been having a very good time at this reunion up until now. Well, I just wanted to say I paid a lot of money to go on this trip as well as a lot of money to rent this luxury beach house. Would you rather be living a some dusty old shack with nothing to sleep on but cock roach infested floors and moldy, smelly old blankets, all in one room? I'll I'm asking is that everyone here survives for two weeks here until the last day where we have our party and say good-bye. Am I asking too much?"
There was complete silence at the breakfast table, and everyone stared, unblinking at Une. A moment passed and they mumbled words of agreement, even Marimeia and Kai, who were a bit frightened at Une's strict tone.
***
"I'm really sorry about all this, Heero." Relena said sympathetically as she tied her hair back into a high ponytail. Heero grunted in response while digging his swim trunks out of his suitcase. Relena turned to watch him for a moment, a bit surprised that he was going to go outside today. Once she had her hair tied back she walked over the window, where the breeze was gently blowing the curtains about. Leaning on the window sill Relena looked over the beach. It was empty, peaceful, not a soul in sight. She smiled slightly at the thought of she and Heero on the beach together, alone. Maybe he'd help her with her suntan lotion.
The sound of the bathroom door closing brought Relena back into reality, and she turned and stared at the closed door. 'Maybe I'll go down and get a bite to eat while Heero's changing.' She thought, and headed over to where she had left her sandals. She slipped them on quickly and left the room.
Meanwhile, Heero was staring at himself in the bathroom mirror. He gently ran a hand over the several scars scattered around on his chest and stomach. Most were from the self-detonation, but he had collected them all throughout his life. He new he would have more scars then the rest of the pilots, and that everyone's attention would be focused on him. He wanted to erase them, he didn't want anyone to have to see. He had deliberately hidden most of them from Relena the night before and from Zechs, Sally and Noin this morning, it was easy to have an arm crossed over the large scars. He couldn't hide them all the time though.
Heero found himself wincing when he touched the largest scar on his body, a wide slash just above his belly button that practically encircled him. It had been deep, and painful. He remembered that one. He had only been about twelve or thirteen, and was doing some repairs to his gundam after training. He was still afraid to be up there at that point, working with such a big machine. Through his fear and being slightly clumsy, he had slipped off the chain, snagging and ripping his flesh on a bent piece of metal he had not yet repaired. He hadn't been able to sit up for a week because of the pain.
Yet there were so many other stories so much more horrifying than that one. So many mistakes, accidents, some of scars were even purposely made. He never dared to tell anyone about those scars. Remembering last night, he wondered why Relena hadn't said anything about them. She must have at least been curious. Now that he thought about it, there was something about Relena, something that made her more comfortable to be around than everyone else he knew.
Making his decision, Heero tightened the string on his swim trunks and headed outside. As he passed through the house he noticed nobody in the halls or the kitchen. He did, however, hear a few showers going on downstairs and a few voices from outside. He leaned against the screen door, peering out into the endless sand and water. Relena had a set up a little spot on the beach, with her umbrella and chair and bag of accessories. She was lying out, apparently tanning, in a blue and white striped bathing suit. Her dark sunglasses covered her eyes and soft breeze tousled her hair. A smile teased Heero's lips as he opened the sliding glass door and stepped outside.
***
Catherine, with her hair finally curled and all ready in her bathing suit and sandals, swung open her bedroom door. At the same time she heard another door open, and looked around the hall to see Quatre also coming out of his room. A tinge of red washed over Catherine's face. He hadn't seemed to notice her yet, so she just stood and waited for him to pass by. He did indeed notice her as he did.
"Morning." He said shyly. Catherine smiled and nodded, twirling a strand of her hair absently around her index finger. Quatre stuffed his hands in his swim trunk's pockets and looked around nervously. "Going to...um...catch some rays?" He asked.
"Actually, Hilde, Duo and I were planning on taking a boat ride." Catherine said. She held up her bag, indicated to Quatre she had packed lunch for them. Quatre smiled.
"That should be fun." He said. Catherine bit her bottom lip. She really wanted to invite Quatre on the boat ride with them, but if Dorothy saw that she was spending time with him, she might give away her secret. Then again, Quatre and Dorothy would be having dinner together that night, so she might as well make the best of her time with him.
"Why don't you come along?" Catherine blurted out. Quatre looked up at, and blinked.
"Well, I guess so. Are you sure it wouldn't be too much trouble?" He asked.
"Of course not, I'll just pack another lunch and we'll be on our way!" Catherine shouted enthusiastically. Quatre smiled and nodded, and followed Catherine into the kitchen to help her with his lunch. Meanwhile, Dorothy watched them from the hallway, a serious frown crossing her face. 'Why is that twit having such an effect on Quatre? I'm more beautiful not to mention more powerful than that girl.' She thought. 'And now they're going on a boat ride together? Well, I'll just have to do something about that. The blond girl marched into the kitchen, where Catherine and Quatre were hovering over the counter picking out lunch meats.
"Quatre?" Dorothy said as sweetly as she possibly could. Quatre turned his head in the direction of the voice, and smiled politely when he saw Dorothy standing there. She was wearing a short, flowered dress and a straw hat, and she had a picnic basket in her hands, which she was holding out in front of her.
"I was wondering if you'd like to come on a picnic with me. Sophia and I were discussing it yesterday and we're going to go along with Trowa and little Kai. I'm sure you;d be nice company for him. Trowa's says he hasn't gotten a decent chance to talk to you, and he'd love for you to come on the picnic with us. I *already* packed you a lunch." Dorothy said sweetly, holding up the picnic basket. Quatre hesitated.
"Quatre's already coming on a boat ride with Duo and Hilde and I." Catherine said firmly, stepping up front to face Dorothy. Dorothy frowned.
"Oh, that sounds nice. I just hope that the boat doesn't turn over. Then your hair might get wet, Catherine, and everyone will know that your hair *isn't* naturally curly. Wouldn't that be a shame?" She asked. Catherine gasped. Dorothy had given away her secret, and without using blackmail. She didn't turn around to face Quatre, she didn't want to see his shocked expression and disappointment.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be fine." Catherine's eyes widened as she heard Quatre speak from behind her. She spun around to face him.
"Y-you mean, you don't mind, you still like me?" Catherine asked softly. Quatre looked slightly confused.
"Of course, why wouldn't I? I like you because you're a sweet and thoughtful girl. I don't care what color or style or hair is. You're beautiful just the same." Catherine smiled at his sweet words, and then looked back at Dorothy, who looked even more shocked. She smirked.
"Well, we'll see you after the boat ride, Dorothy." Catherine said, a wide smile across her face, that definitely did *not* match Dorothy's enormous scowl. Quatre walked over and took Catherine's arm in his, and the bag with their lunches, and the two of them walked outside. Dorothy could only stand there, in furry, and sadness. Suddenly, she didn't feel like having a picnic anymore.
***
"Relena." The calm, cool, and collected voice of Heero Yuy surprised Relena so much she threw the book she was reading up in the air unintentionally, but it didn't get so far as it bumped the bottom of Relena's nose and sent her sunglasses flying off her head. Retrieving her sunglasses from her lap, she looked up at Heero and smiled weakly.
"Oh hi Heero, you surprised me." She said quickly, hoping the sun was shining down to much on her bright red face. Heero raised an eyebrow and sat down in the sand next to Relena's beach chair, folding his arms on his bent knees. For a moment Relena just stared at the way the breeze rustled the young man's hair, imagining the feeling of her hands running through that chocolate mass while engaged in a passionate, everlasting kiss. 'Woah...calm down Relena.' She thought to herself, looking away, and focussed on the waves. Marimeia and Kai were down by the shore building a sandcastle, and Trowa and Sophia were having a walk on the beach, fingers laced. Relena couldn't help but sigh as she watched them.
"Something wrong?" Heero asked, not looking at Relena but the way the ways broke as they neared the shore.
"I was just thinking of how this is all going to end soon, and we'll return to our normal, productive lives, and everything will be the same again. I really wish for some more variety like this. It's nice to change of pace once in a while." Heero didn't say anything to that, but the frown he always wears softened greatly, it was so close to a smile one could almost say Heero felt peaceful.
"Well, I'm happy for Quatre and Catherine." Relena said suddenly, a smirk on her face as she gestured towards a boat at the dock. Heero turned his head towards the dock, and spotted Quatre and Catherine sitting at the edge of the dock, a picnic basket at their side, and their arms around each other.
"And Duo and Hilde." Heero said silently. Both heads turned to see Duo and Hilde walking towards the dock, Duo's arms thrown around Hilde's shoulders. They were laughing and chatting away as always, and every so often Duo would bring her in for a kiss.
"And Trowa and Sophia." Relena continued, shrugging her shoulder in the direction of the couple, who were slowly fading away into the distance, but you could still make out that their hands were clasped tightly in one another.
"And Wufei and Sally." Heero inquired, looking mildly amused at the sight of Wufei and Sally sitting on the rock by the house, eating those little sandwiches that Une was famous for making. Wufei was even smiling, and every so often he would laugh at something Sally said. They had never been a peaceful couple, had they ever been a couple, but they were always an interesting one.
Watching the mentioned couples talking and flirting with one another, Relena felt a strong sting in her eyes. She knew the tears were coming, and thinking of Heero and that something she thought they could never have was only making things worse. She had convinced herself there wasn't another man like Heero in the entire world, and still she wondered why she had become so infatuated with him. However, she believed now it was something a lot stronger than infatuation; which only made things worse because Heero would not return those feelings.
The stinging in Relena's eyes got unbearable and shouldn't hold the tears back any longer. Stumbling out of her beach chair, the young woman ran towards the house, without so much as a glance back at Heero.
To be continued...
AN - Wanna know something? I don't know where I'm going with this
yet. ^_^;; Some author I am. Feel free to leave suggestions and stuff!!!
