The Doll House
Notes: Consider this an OVA series to Broken Dolls. Because of the tremendous fan response and the fun I had writing it, Broken Dolls is going to be an ongoing thing. It'll put the Energizer Bunny to shame. ^_~ Expect many sequels to pop up. Some will be five or six chapters long and some will be one-shots. This one should be around six chapters, and no, I haven't stopped working on Cemetery Roses. I'm taking my time with that fic, instead of rushing it as I did the last parts of Broken Dolls (which I still regret to this day).
Relena pressed her fingertips against the cold glass window. She was in space. More accurately, she was on General Yuy's ship, heading for earth. They had taken a trip to Colony L1 for some political debating about this and that, things that didn't really concern Relena.
It looked so peaceful, space did. The endless black void of glittering stars stared at her, as if welcoming her into it's depths. And she stared back. Lately, Heero had been avoiding her. It seemed like he purposely did things in secrecy, like he was trying to upset her. Of course, she knew this was wrong assumptions on her part, but there was definitely something going on.
She pulled herself away from the window and walked over to the mirror. Sometimes she didn't see herself in the glass. Sometimes she saw a rich, snobbish aristocrat. With her shiny, silk evening gowns, topped off with diamonds and pearls, she hardly looked like a former Doll. It made her sick. She knew that the Dolls were still suffering, that the Freedom Act wouldn't help this generation at all. But what calmed her was that she knew it would have a profound effect on all generations to come. Still, her heart ached to think of the former Dolls, newly freed but with no where to turn, starving on the streets while she lavished in the riches even a king would delight in.
In her frustration, she ripped the red satin gown from her body and kicked it aside. She pulled the jewly from her neck and wrists, throwing them across the room in a fury she had kept inside her for the past two years. That's right. It had been two years since the Freedom Act had been passed, and Relena felt like it had achieved nothing. The Dolls who were freed were desparate and afraid. Most had ended up going back to their owners, begging for food and shelter, suffering the beatings, rapes, and humiliations just to be able to survive.
Relena stared at her own naked form in the mirror, then ripped the bonds from her hair, which had held it in a formally delicate design. Her now pale hair, a result from the bright sunlight on L1, fell over her shoulders like a veil. This was the only way she felt like herself. All other times, she felt as if she were still Heero's doll, dressed up to his liking. She sighed. "Once a doll, always a doll."
"Do you really still feel like a doll?"
Relena jerked around, instinctively wrapping her arms around her chest and blushing slightly. "Heero... what do you want?" she asked sharply.
Heero seemed to pay no mind to her display of skin, but casually pulled his trench coat off and handed it to her. "Didn't like the dress?"
Relena narrowed her eyes, knocking the coat from his hands. She walked over to the closet and tore out every fancy evening gown there was, throwing them onto the floor. She finally found a pair of jeans and slipped them on, along with a plain white T-shirt. "Well? Aren't you going to scold me, Heero-sama?" she asked mockingly.
"Why would I do that?"
"I know this clothing isn't to your liking. I know such plain and simple things are painful to your royal eyes."
"All right. I'll make sure all the dresses are disposed of." he said, a hint of spite in his voice.
"You do that."
Heero turned to leave the room, but not without being hit right in the back of the head by his own coat. He turned around quickly, glaring at her dangerously. "You're testing my patience, Relena."
She turned her back to him. "And what are you going to do? What can you do? Kill me?"
Heero stood firm, his eyes still furious. "Maybe I will. I'm tired of your disrespect and your outbursts. You've become spoiled. No matter what I give you, you're not satisfied."
Relena looked shocked. "How can you say that?! All I've ever wanted was to be accepted for what I am, not for what you want me to be! Can't you understand that?! I'm still a doll, your doll! I'll always be your doll!"
Heero was quiet, eyes on the floor, looking away from her face. "If that's how you really feel," he said softly, eyes roaming back to hers, "then I'm sorry." With that, he left the room and closed the door behind him.
Relena leaned back against the mirror and slid down to the floor. She looked
back to the window, letting herself get lost once more in it's emptiness, and
the stars blurred into fuzzy dots as tears filled her eyes.
