Author's note: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters. I also do not own Tannim and Shar. Lessa LeBrel is my character; please ask if you would like to use her. Don't sue me; I'm just an overworked high school student.
Off to the Faire
Lady Une rubbed her temples; she has one monster of a headache. This was a nightmare. She was losing one, probably two, of her best Preventers for at least three months.
A group of former Oz pilots had learned that the Lightning Count had survived the war and was working for the Preventers. And they wanted revenge. Why, Une didn't know, but these people wanted Zechs dead. He would have to go into hiding for awhile, and how they were going to hide someone like Zechs Marquise Une also didn't know. It was a nightmare alright.
***
"We have a problem."
The words with which Lady Une opened the meeting were not comforting to Zechs. The entire G Wing was here; that meant the problem was not just "a problem". The G Wing happened to be all of the former Gundam pilots and Sally, Hildie, Cathy, and Noin. They were considered to be the top Preventers. Relena was considered an honorary member of G Wing, but she was tied up in meetings all day. If all of them were being called in, this was a serious problem.
Lady Une outlined the problem. Zechs was annoyed, but he understood her reasoning for having him go into hiding. He would be a target, and having a target on a mission increased the danger to everyone involved.
"So does anyone have an idea of some place where people won't expect to find Zechs?" Lady Une asked.
"Aye milady. I think we can managed that."
Everyone turned to look at Noin. Her voice had acquired a slight accent.
"I'm not sure I understand," Lady Une said.
"Och now, milady. Tis only because you've never been to the faire."
Zechs couldn't help grinning, "She's right. No one will ever look for me there."
The others were utterly confused.
"We could do the faire circuit. We'd be moving around somewhat, and most of the faire folk used assumed names for the faire anyway. No one in Oz ever had any idea that I was a closet rennie," Noin said.
"She's talking about a renaissance faire," Zechs explained to the others who were still rather confused.
"But wouldn't you be recognized as new people at the faire?" asked Quatre.
"Yes, but there are always new people at the faire, and there may be quite a few people who remember me from when I was in school. I can get in touch with the Keltic Klan," Noin replied.
"The what?" Hildie asked.
"Keltic Klan. It's one of the loosely organized groups that does the faire circuit. They tend to do the shows together and have a shared camp."
"Shows? I'm a little confused," Duo said.
"Well, the group gets a take, that a share of the profit, from scheduled performances. I've always busked on my own or with a small group and turned quite a profit between show."
"What do you do?" asked Sally.
"Fiddle and voice. I know step dancing as well, but I don't preform often."
"That explains how you'll fit in," Wufei said. "But what about Zechs? He's the one who's supposed to be in hiding."
"The Klan always has people who basically bum around the fair site and make sure no one is hassling people in the group. They also tend to end up helping security with problems."
"How soon do you think you can get things arranged?" Lady Une wanted to know.
"Let me contact Craig; he's basically in charge of the Klan. The faire season is just starting, so we can probably disappear in a week or so."
The meeting broke up. Zechs waited for Noin before leaving the room.
"You know Noin, you don't have to go into hiding with me."
She shot him the look, "Zechs, don't make me repeat myself again. Besides, I haven't done the faire circuit since I graduated from Lake Victoria; it'll be fun."
"You're sure about this?"
"Yes. I'll see you later; I've got some phone calls to make."
***
Noin sat down at her desk and flipped through her address book. Five minutes later, she was talking with Craig.
"I don't think that'll be a problem, Noin. You've always been welcome in the Klan. What faire names are you two using?"
"Ian MacDuff and Nerys Llewellyn."
"Great. Do you have housing all figured out yet?"
"No."
"Well, the reason I was asking is Lessa is overnighting in your area on route to faire. She's arriving in a few days. You can pass along your plans with her. I'll give you her number."
"Great. Say hi to Fia for me."
"I will. See you in a few weeks."
Noin went to go tell Zechs and Lady Une about the arrangements she had made. Things were looking up.
"The L.A. faire is starting in two weeks; it lasts about three weeks. After that is the San Francisco faire. That one lasts six weeks. What we need to decide is whether we should camp at the faire site or rent an apartment in the area."
"Would commuting be a problem?" Lady Une asked.
"Not really. Quite a few people do it anymore."
"Good. It shouldn't be hard to find an apartment for the two of you."
Three days later, almost everything had been taken care of. Noin walked down the street searching for someone. A young woman with chestnut hair waved to her.
"Noin, over here."
The girl was seated at table outside of one of the cafes.
"Lessa, I haven't seen you in ages."
"That's what you get for not coming to the faire for four years."
"It wasn't exactly my choice Les."
"So whose this guy you're bringing?"
"Zechs Marquise, my best friend from school."
Noin didn't mind telling Lessa about Zechs or the real reason why they were going to be at faire. Lessa LeBrel was not your typical seventeen year old. She had been one of the youngest performers on the faire circuit when she and Noin had first met. And even then the girl had been one of the few people Noin trusted with the truth.
"Do yo guys have costumes ye?"
"No Zechs and I are going shopping for them later."
"Let me take care of that."
"Les, costumes are hardly cheap."
"Not with my family's friends. And they'd love a challenge. They redid my entire faire wardrobe and added to it considerably."
A family? This was new for Lessa. Her parents had been killed when she was eleven. Lessa had been a loner since then. Her closest friends had been at the faire, and there hadn't been many of them. She had been on her own for the most part.
"Do you have a picture of the two of you?"
Lessa's question jolted Noin out of thought.
"What? Oh, sure."
Noin passed a picture of her and Zechs to Lessa. The girl's sable eyes widened as she looked at her watch.
"Oh my god. My plane leaves in an hour! I'll see you at the faire Noin."
Within seconds the girl was gone.
***
"Are you sure they'll be there? The faire doesn't start for another two days," Zechs asked.
"Oh, they'll be there," replied Noin.
Twenty minutes later, Noin was leading him to the far end of a campsite next to the faire site. It was bustling with people. Several awnings were set up next to each other, and people were hanging tarps from the sides making a large pavilion.
"Welcome to Klan headquarters," Noin told him.
"Nerys!" a dark haired woman was waving to them. When they reached her Noin was pulled into a hug.
"Fia, long time no see."
"Hey that's my line. You're the one who hasn't been coming to faire. You must be Ian."
"Yeah," he said shaking the offered hand.
"Welcome to the Klan. Come on, you two, I'll introduce you around."
Five minutes later, Zechs was feeling rather overwhelmed. He had just met over a dozen people. Also he wasn't really used to being called Ian yet.
A dark haired projectile flung her self at Noin.
"Nerys, what to you so long?" the girl cried.
"Sorry Les, we've been busy," Noin replied.
"This is Ian right?"
Zechs found himself being scrutinized by a pair of sable eyes.
"Yes, this is Ian. Ian, this is Lessa LeBrel."
A smile lit the girl's face.
"Oh, I've got your costumes, come on."
Lessa dragged Noin off by the wrist, and Zechs followed her. They were lead to a small tent. The girl ducked inside and reappeared with a large duffle bag.
"Here they are."
"Great. We'll see you opening day," Noin said taking the bag.
"Sure. Do you want to busk with me? That way we can both do some voice as well as fiddle."
"Sure."
Noin and Zechs bid Lessa farewell. Back at their apartment, Noin took a look at their cosyumes.
"These are great. There are at least four coustumes for each of us."
Noin disappeared into the bedroom. She reappeared a few moments later in a deep blue skirt with a cream colored shirt and a lighter blue bodice. Both the bodice and the skirt had matching embroidery.
"How do I look?"
Zechs managed not to sit there with his mouth hanging open. The outfit suited her very well. Noin dropped onto the couch next to him.
"There are ten faire costumes for each of us as well as some other outfits," she chattered on happily.
He smiled at her excitement. She sounded like a little girl waiting for her birthday party to start. Not at all like the calm, cool professional she was.
Zechs had to admit it was easy to get caught up in the excitement of opening day. He watched Noin and Lessa set themselves up by one of the drink booths. At some unspoken signal, the two of them raided their bows and started a lively reel. He turned his attention away from the ladies and concentrated on his job.
"Ian!" he heard someone call several hours later.
He turned to see Noin waving at him Lessa by her side.
"Come on, let's get some lunch."
The three of them found a spot in one of the taverns to eat.
"So how are you two doing?" he asked.
"Great," Lessa bubbled. "We should have started working together years ago. If this keeps up, I'm not going to have to get a job for awhile when college starts."
"College?" Noin tilted her head to look at Lessa. "Aren't you still in high school?"
"No, I graduated this year. It was a year early, but at that point I just wanted to be done with high school. I'm going to Portland State University this fall."
"Oh." Noin blinked, "You mentioned a family earlier."
"We-ll, to make a very long story short, I kind of got adopted. It wasn't exactly something I expected to happen. But Tannim and Shar are great; they're more like an older brother and sister than parents. They have a daughter, she's about six months old, named Lucia, but we all call her Lucy."
Zechs saw a flash of pain in Noin's eyes when Lessa mentioned the name Lucia. That had been Noin's foster family's pet name for her. After they had been massacred when she was eight, Noin had not been able to bear hearing that name.
"They're going to stop by the Frisco faire, so you'll get to meet them," Lessa continued.
Noin smiled, "I'd like that."
They finished the rest of their meal.
"Come on, back to work," Noin said.
"No rest for the wicked," Lessa laughed.
The two of them scapered off to find a new spot to busk. He smiled at their retreating forms. He should get back to work himself.
Two weeks later, Lessa was over at their apartment helping them pack.
"So have you guys had any trouble?" she asked.
"No so far," Noin replied. "So Les, what are you doing after the next faire?"
"Well, I'll have a few weeks before college starts, so I'm going back east to pick up my stuff and spend some time with my family."
"Where do your folks live?" asked Zechs; he had become pretty good friends with Lessa in the past couple weeks.
"Their house is in Savannah, Georgia, but they travel a lot. Tannim's a test driver/mechanic for Fairgrove Industries."
"Fairegrove Industries?"
"They're a racing firm."
"So how are you getting up to San Francisco?" Noin asked.
"I'm riding up with Craig and Fia."
"See you in San Fran," Noin called as the girl left.
***
Zechs helped Noin carry their stuff into their new apartment. There wasn't a lot, just clothes and their personal stuff, since the apartment was already furnished.
After they'd finished that, the two of them decicded to explore San Francisco. They spent the rest of the day sightseeing. They had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf, then took a petticab to Chinatown. From there Zechs and Noin took a taxi to Golden Gate Park where they visited the conservatory. It was dark when they got home. Noin carried several bags; she'd found souvenirs for people back at Preventer Headquarters as well as some things for herself.
"That was fun, so Ian what do you want to do tomorrow?"
"I don't know Nerys. Maybe we should walk across the Golden Gate Bridge."
The two of them laughed. It still felt strange to call each other by their faire names.
"So, there's been no sign of trouble yet."
"Yeah, I don't know whether to be happy or to worry."
"Last time I talked with Lady Une, she said that there had been a couple of attacks aimed at Preventers at some of the events I was scheduled to work at, but she doesn't know if they were specificallt aimed at me."
"We'll just have to keep our eyes peeled as usual."
Noin leaned against Zechs. Their apartment had a beautiful view of the bay. The two of them watched the lights of cars that zipped across the bridges connecting the city.
"We have another couple of days before the faire; let's just enjoy them."
Faire started, and they were as busy as ever. Neither of them saw any signs of danger. He watched a young couple with their baby stop and listen to Noin and Lessa.
After the two ladies finished the set, Lesa surprised him bu putting down her fiddle and hugging the woman. Noin waved him over.
"Tannim. Shar, this is Nerys Llewelyn and Ian MacDuff. Nerys is an old faire buddy of mine."
Noin grinned, "Would you like to join us for lunch?"
"Sure."
The six of them found an empty table in one of the taverns. The chatted for awhile about all kinds of things. Lucy was adorable and was the main topic of conversation.
"So what do you two do when you're not on the faire circuit?" Shar asked.
Zechs and Noin shared a glance.
"We work for a security consulting firm," Noin replied using their cover story.
Shar took Lucy back from Tannim, "How long have you been working the faire circuit?"
"This is my first faire season," Zechs said, "but Nerys has been doing this, what, six years now?"
"Seven. After school, I was too busy to do faire for awhile. I'm glad to be back."
"We've missed you," Lessa said. "You always come up with the best pranks to play."
At the others' curious looks, she continued, "There was this one time she managed to put bleach in"
"Lessa!"
"Well, you did. I could mention the time you"
"And I could mention the time you put orange and green Kool-Aid in"
Lessa held her hands up, "Okay, okay, you win."
Zechs shot a curious glance at Noin; she sent him a look that said I'll tell you later. Shar and Tannim looked curious but held their peace. Tannim changed the subject, "Have you explore the city in your free time?"
Lessa shook her head, but Noin laughed and said, "Ian and I did a bunch of sightseeing when we first got here before faire started."
"And a lot of shopping," Zechs grumbled.
Noin kicked him under the table. Both Shar and Lessa grinned.
"He carries packages?" Shar asked.
At Noin's nod, Lessa said, "Maybe we should go on a shopping trip this weekend."
Zechs looked at Tannim for help; he shrugged, "You're on your own for this one.
"Yo Ian," a guy outside called.
"If you'll excuse me."
After he had left, Lessa leaned across the table and grinned at Noin, "Nerys, he's a hunk. And polite. Where did you find him again?"
Both Tannim and Shar looked amused. Noin blushed; she wasn't exactly used to people assuming she and Zechs were a couple. They were, but people typically assumed they were just good friends. Their relationship wasn't always an obvious one.
"We met at school when we were thirteen. We've been friends ever since."
"Yeah," Noin thought, "that's the short version of our history."
A trio of performers started a lively tune out side the tavern.
"As much as I hate to say this, we should get back to work," Noin sighed.
Lessa nodded, and they both got up. Shar ans Tannim bade them farewell as they set off to find a new busking spot.
***
"Are you sure we're looking in the right place?" Alex asked.
"Yes, for the tenth time. Besides who would expect to find the great Lightning Count at a Renaissance Faire," Mueller replied.
"You could be wrong."
"Look, I saw the costume Instructor Noin was wearing. The only thing it could be was a Renaissance Faire costume."
"Do you think she's here with him?"
"I would be a bonus to get her as well as kill Zechs Marquise."
***
Noin strolled down one of the booth lined streets her fiddle slung on her back. She was wearing her favorite faire costume: a while blouse with a sapphire skirt and a bodice of blue-green both with winking silver embroidery. She caught sight of Zechs and waved to him. They were soon walking hand in hand.
"Why aren't you out busking?"
"Lessa broke a string, and it was close to lunch anyway," she replied. "So I thought I'd take a look around the faire and do some window shopping. I could use some company."
He smiled, "Lead on MacDuff."
They wandered along admiring the wares they were offered. Sone thing caught his eye in particular. It was a silver ring in a Celtic knotwork pattern that held a single sapphire. He bought it while Noin was busy admiring a pair of knives.
"Zechs," Noin's voice instantly commanded his attention; she sounded extremely worried. She pulled him between two booths where they were half hidden.
"Look," she whispered pointing to two men.
Zechs felt a chill trickle down his spine. He knew them; they were supposed to be dead.
"Let's get out of here," he suggested.
"Right," Noin replied. "And remember, act natural."
They returned to the street with their backs to Alex and Mueller. They quickly ambled toward the campgrounds.
They almost made it. But before they reached the edge of the faire, someone grabbed Noin's shoulder.
"Instructor Noin, is that you?"
Noin turned to see Alex and Mueller.
"I'm sorry; my name is Nerys. You must have mistaken me for someone else."
They were not convinced. Zechs squeezed her hand gently; she looked up at him
"Run," was all he said.
It took a moment for his word to register, and by the time it did, he was tugging her along. Noin took the lead grateful she knew the faire's layout by heart. They zigzagged between booths and passers by. Noin led them away from the faire and into the campgrounds. The two of them lost sight of Alex and Mueller among the rows of tents.
Noin tripped over a tent peg and went down hard. As Zechs helped her to her feet, Lessa's head popped out of a tent.
"Zechs, Noin, what's going on?"
"We've been found," Zechs replied.
"Get in here."
He had to support most of Noin's weight; she couldn't use her left foot, once they were inside, Lessa zipped up the tent flap. She motioned for silence and pressed her ear to the fabric. After a few moments, she whispered, "I think it's safe to talk as long as we whisper. Is Noin okay?"
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not," Zechs corrected. He gently ran his hands along Noin's left leg. "I think you broke your ankle."
Noin made a face, "Again?"
"Again. This is becoming a habit." At Lessa's curious look he explained, "She broke that same ankle when she was fifteen and again at the end of the Barton Incident."
"Does she need a hospital?"
"I am here guys," they ignored her.
"Not immediately, but yes."
"Let me figure something out."
After a moment of silence, the girl got up, "I'll be back soon. Stay here, and keep quiet."
With that , she quickly exited the tent. Zechs closed the flap after her. It was a tense twenty minutes. Lessa returned with Fia and Craig and with an oversized cloak draped over her arm. It was a little crowded with all five of them, but they managed.
Fia offered Zechs her car keys, "It's the blue Forrester parked next to Noin's bike."
"Thanks," he replied. "But how are we going to get there without being noticed?"
"That's what this is for," Lessa said shaking out the cloak. "And there's the fact that I'll have everyone in the faire's attention in fifteen minutes."
"How?" Zechs started then said, "Never mind, I don't think I want to know."
"Probably," Lessa grinned. "When you hear the commotion, go."
She and the other to got up to go.
"Thanks a million you guys."
"No prob," Craig replied. "What are friends for?"
When the screams came, Zechs was ready. He carried Noin because it was simply faster. His heart was pounding the entire way, but no one caught them.
Once the ER doctors had started on Noin, Zechs made a phone call yo Lady Une. He also made a quick trip to their apartment to get some clean clothes for Noin once she was released.
Noin smiled at him as he entered her hospital room.
"How are you doing?"
"Better. The pain killers help. Did Lady Une catch Alex and Mueller?"
"Yes; of course, they weren't that hard to find. It seems they took part in a demonstration of tarring and feathering that Lessa arranged."
Noin laughed, "That girl is incorrigible. So when can I leave?"
"In another two hours. You'll also be glad to hear that Alex and Mueller were the ringleaders of the assassination squad, and they gave us the information we needed to find the rest. Once this faire is over, we can go home."
"That is definitely good news."
When Noin was finally released, she took a pair of crutches with her. Zechs helped her out to the car, and then headed for the faire site.
"Aren't we going home?"
"Not quite yet," he replied.
Just before they entered the pavilion that housed the Keltic Klan, Zechs scooped her up into her arms causing her to drop her crutches.
"Zechs, what are you doing?"
"You'll see."
"Do you have any idea what carrying a woman over the threshold means?"
By the mischievous twinkle in his eye, she guessed he did. Inside all her faire friends were waiting along with all of the members of the g-wing team. All of them were grinning. Zechs set her down on a couch and knelt beside her.
"Noin, I've wanted to ask you this for ages but could never find the courage to do so." He produced the ring from his pocket, "Will you marry me?"
Her mouth formed and o of surprise, and her eyes shone.
"Of course I will."
He slid the ring onto her finger and kissed her. Applause and cheers filled the room.
"Now that is a good end," Fia said.
"No, it's a good beginning," Lessa replied.
Owari (the end)