Author: Fallen Angel

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. Don't sue.

Email: fallen_angel_2012@hotmail.com

Chapter 6

13th December, 1805

Dearest Log,

I listened to the men's argument in the kitchen with great interest. Although it wasn't really an argument, each of them made good points about what would be the best way to attack Trieze's hideout in the mountains outside Sydney.

I cannot begin to analyse the finer points of their strategy, but the conversation went something like this:

"I say we ride through the mountain pass then circle around and enter from the back."

"No, it's too exposed there. Besides, that would take too long. We could ride through the pass, though."

"The terrain is really treacherous. What if we get injured on the way there: we can't be of much use in a battle after that."

"It's a risk we'll have to take. The road will be too exposed. And they'll expect us to take the easier road. Only a madman would attempt to cover ground through the mountains."

"Exactly. We'll be encountering a battle one way or another."

"The fewer men we have to fight, the better. They are under the orders of Governor Trieze anyway: they shouldn't die for their loyalty."

While they were talking, I kept to the shadows of the room in the hopes they wouldn't notice me. They didn't. It was only when they came to the point of discussing who would lead the party that I spoke up.

In a calm, clear voice I told them, "I want to come with you."

You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed. All the other men looked to me, then to Heero, as if to say 'you brought her here, you tell her.'

He glared at me but I refused to back down. Finally, he said, "You can't. It's not safe."

"For a woman, or for me?"

"Both. It's not safe for anyone, to be honest. The brutal truth is we may well die doing this."

"This was my father's responsibility," I told him firmly. "Therefore, now that he has failed, I must take his place. Do you have a problem with that?"

Heero didn't answer, but Wufei spoke for him. "I will not risk my life even more by taking a woman on this mission."

"I don't see how being female has anything to do with this," I answered. "You let Dorothy partake in your mission."

"It isn't just that," Wufei went on. "You aren't trained for this. Can you even ride in that terrain? Can you even use a gun?"

Maybe I shouldn't have done what I did next. It was impulsive and dangerous and totally out of character for me. But my father's life was hanging in the balance, and I wasn't going to waste it fighting with a man who thought women were only good for keeping the house clean. But I did it and I'm glad I did. I strode towards the table and picked up the gun Trowa had been cleaning earlier and absent-mindedly brought with him.

It was a flintlock, something I recognised. Swiftly, I checked it was loaded and shifted it from half-cocked to full-cocked before aiming it straight at Wufei's chest. All this in a blink of an eye. As their faces went from mild annoyance to outright shock, I silently thanked father for sometimes forgetting I was a daughter, not a son, and teaching me how to shoot. Amongst other things.

"If you doubt my ability to ride as well, Mr Chang," I said, trying to make my voice sound cold and threatening, "then perhaps we should race now. Otherwise, I suggest you accept my offer of help and take me with you."

Wufei continued to frown at me, as if trying to stare me down. But I was not to be defeated so easily. I saw, from the corner of my eye, Quatre stand up and step forward. "Now there's no need to get violent…" he began.

The sound of another woman's voice cut him off. It was Sally Chang. "Miss Relena, I would greatly appreciate it if you would aim that gun somewhere other than my husband…"

I lowered the weapon slowly, not wanting to offend Sally after she'd been so nice to me. I thought I was defeated then, until I heard her continue in a voice that indicated Wufei would spend many cold nights on the lounge seat if he were to argue.

"And Wufei, take her with you. Miss Relena is old enough to make her own decisions. And if you don't take her with you I'm sure she'll find a way to follow anyway."

That was how I ended up joining the mission. Later on, Sally secretly told me it was about time someone put her husband in his place, and she was glad it was a woman.

I had best finish this entry soon. We leave in a half-hour. The men are preparing the horses now, giving me time to change into men's clothing and tuck my hair into a hat. They said it would be safer for me if I looked like a man.

This may very well be my last entry, now that I think about it. But I am not afraid. This is something worth dying for. Father, or Heero, if you are reading this, you have made it out alive while I have not.

So I will say what I hope you already knew.

I love you.

The night air was cool, in stark contrast to the heat of the day. Relena was glad for it, though. It cooled her temper and invigorated her. It also helped keep her mind off other things.

Like Heero.

He was riding in the lead, guiding them through the rocky and dangerous paths through the mountains: some leading steeply up along gravel, others snaking down cliffs so high the bottom was not visible. But Relena didn't mind: she'd been one of the best riders - male or female - at her father's club back in London. The stallion she rode was wilder than she was used to, but more suited for the rough terrain.

Now she only wished Heero was as agreeable. He'd made it clear to her he didn't want her coming along by not speaking a single word to her on their entire journey. She knew it was important they were quiet, so as not to be detected, but hell - even Trowa had spoken more to her since they'd left the city. Even Wufei seemed to have forgiven her for her boldness. In fact, he almost seemed to admire her now for it.

"I wouldn't worry about him, Miss Relena," whispered Quatre beside her. Again, she marvelled at how he could pick up on people's emotions. "He was like this back in London."

"You knew him before you came here?"

"We met a few times, about the mission. He wasn't very talkative then, either," he said, and Relena could sense he was smiling in the darkness. "Besides, he likes you. He will forgive you."

Relena sighed. "But how long will that take?" she whispered to herself.

Suddenly, Wufei came to a halt in front of her and Relena quickly brought her stallion to a halt. Up ahead, she could see Heero raise a hand, the signal to be quiet. Slowly and carefully, she rode with the others until they were lined up beside Heero. Only then did she take in her surroundings. When she did, she had to hold back a gasp.

They were perched on the edge of a cliff, the land dropping away beneath them in an almost vertical drop. Beyond the trees that grew at the foot of the cliff, Relena could spy a clearing and within that, a large farmhouse. There was light in a few of the windows, and from that, Relena could see figures patrolling the house.

"That's it alright," said Trowa. "Now what?"

"We go down there," answered Heero.

"What? Down this?" Relena didn't need to see where Trowa was pointing to know he indicated the cliff. But the question was not nearly as worrying as the answer.

"Yes."

"Can the mounts handle it?" asked Quatre.

"If we can, they surely can," said Heero. Then, for the first time that night, he met Relena's eyes, a silent question in his Prussian depths.

She swallowed her fear and nodded, assuring him that she was not going to quit now. That was all he needed to know. With a soft cry, he kicked hard at his mount's flanks and it tore off down the slope at breakneck speed, its hooves finding footholds even Relena's sharp eyes couldn't see. Gravel was kicked up and every so often, Relena was sure the horse would go head over heels. But it didn't. Heero was as good a horseman as she'd ever met.

Before she knew it, he was at the bottom, gently stroking the horse's neck. Shown now that it was possible, Quatre soon followed. Trowa was after him, then Wufei. Relena took a deep breath. If they could do it, so could she.

She wasn't to realises it at the time, and it would only occur to her much later. But this was her rite of passage. This was her proof to Heero that even if he could not be a part of her world - due to, of all things, money - at least she could be a part of his. With a silent prayer and a soft cry in her mount's ears, she followed the others, her heart pounding wildly in her chest as she felt herself hurtling downwards, the thud of the horse's hooves echoing in time with her rapidly beating heart. It was all she could do to grip tightly to her mount with her knees and lean back in an effort to control her balance.

Only when she reached the ground was she able to release the breath she was holding.

"Good," was all Heero said. "Let's get going."

Relena would have been offended if she hadn't seen a glimmer of something in Heero's face as she reached the bottom of the cliff. It wasn't something she saw often, but she would know it anywhere.

Heero was smiling.

To have called Trieze's place a farmhouse was misleading. Sure, it was constructed of the same strong timber and corrugated iron as the other houses in the country. But unlike the other farmhouses, this one was huge, sprawling and spreading out in various wings. It was a standing testimony to the power and money Trieze possessed.

The five of them stood by a number of gum trees at the edge of the forest, a hundred metres or so from the house. Heero's expression was grim.

"We'll need to go in separately, if we're to get past the guards," he said. "Trowa, you and Wufei circle around and enter from the back - the delay will most likely mean you are backup. Quatre, you take the far side while I take the front."

"The front?" asked Quatre disbelievingly. "That's the most heavily guarded side."

"That's why they probably won't be expecting an attack from there."

That was when Relena chose to speak up. "What about me?"

"You aren't coming," said Heero. "If you wish, you may enter after we've secured the place."

"Heero…"

"No, that's it," his tone was harsher than she'd ever heard it. "I was crazy enough to allow you to come on this mission. I won't further that mistake by letting you go any further."

Relena knew there would be no arguing with him. "Alright. I'll stay here and wait."

It was the last thing she was able to say before they were gone, slinking around the edges of the forest to their assigned positions. Relena recognised that it was a credit to Heero's leadership abilities that they didn't argue with him, just followed. She only wished she could be so obedient. Waiting there for the others, all she could think about was how badly she wanted to be doing what they were doing.

She fingered the gun tucked into the back of her pants thoughtfully. How could they be so sure she couldn't do as good a job as they would. A gun was a gun: who held it didn't matter. Not that she wanted to shoot anyone, especially if they were only following orders. There had to be another way…

Quickly, before she lost her nerve, she ran along in the darkness towards the near side of the farmhouse. Only one guard was on duty here and, while he was walking in the opposite direction, she crouched down and stripped off her clothes till she was left only in her camisole and pantaloons. She tucked the gun in the back of these before lying down on her clothes and making soft cries of pain.

As she'd expected, the guard raised his head at the sound before walking in her direction. Even better, in the dark, he didn't see her until he was right next to her and the sight of a barely clothed woman in the middle of nowhere had exactly the right effect.

"Lord Almighty," the guard said in shock. "What on earth are you doing out here, Miss?"

Haha, Relena thought triumphantly. And they thought a woman couldn't do this job. Don't they realise women can be just as deceptive?

As the guard put out a hand to help her to her feet, Relena said, in her most helpless voice, "Oh, thank god I found this place. I fell off my horse further up the mountain, my clothes were torn and I was lost…Please help me…"

"Of course, Miss," said the guard, putting an arm around her to help carry her, since she was doing a wonderful impression of someone having difficulty walking. Now that his arms were busy and he wasn't paying attention, Relena made her move. Before he even saw it coming, she had grabbed her gun and hit him over the back of the head with the butt of it. With a soft moan, he slumped to the ground.

It took all of Relena's strength to drag his inert body over to the shadows of the farmhouse, before stripping him to his underwear and donning his clothes and taking his musket. She still tucked the handgun into her pants though; it had gotten her this far, she wouldn't abandon it yet.

And dressed like that, her hair securely tucked under her hat, she walked into the farmhouse. Straight through the front door and right passed the guards. They didn't even glance in her direction.

But hidden in the shadows beneath the front stairs, one person noted her entrance. He had watched her walk, her motions, so often and with such longing that he would have known them anywhere.

Heero frowned, and bit his lip so hard with silent anger and frustration he nearly drew blood.

Damn it, he thought. Damn it, damn it, damn it.