Chapter 21: Couples go public
Hi!!! Well, after they hot love scenes in the last chapter, I'm putting a bit of darkness in the end of this one. You can probably guess what happens in this chapter from the title. So, check it out!
So, after a quiet night and a few jaw drops after Duo came sneaking out of Venus's room early the next morning (both insisted absolutely nothing happened.) everyone was in a surprisingly good mood. This time Jonathan was finishing up breakfast when everyone came down.
"Good morning everyone! Sorry I can't stay, Raul got up late, and I must get to work."
"You go, we can fend for ourselves." Jupiter laughed.
He smiled at her and left quickly. Heero stretched and sat down. "Just coffee for me."
Jupiter snorted at him. "Absolutely not, Heero. You probably still haven't gained a pound, and I will put some meat on you if it kills you."
Heero smiled and Duo stared at him. "Incredible.you actually got him to smile. This is an event. Where's Quatre? He should see this." He looked around.
"I'm right here, Duo and I saw." Quatre said as he opened the door.
"What's next? Perhaps he might laugh." Wufei mused quietly.
"Seems like everyone is changing." Mars added, sitting next to him.
"No, Trowa still never says anything." Duo teased, looking at the one exposed eye of the silent boy.
"At least I don't babble on like a monkey."
Duo put his hands over his heart. "Ouch, that hurt, buddy, really hurt." He dropped off his stool and fell to the ground with mock pain.
Zechs looked over from his stool a few feet away. He sighed, and with a slight smile reached his hand over to help Duo up. Duo looked at it, and then took it with a grin. "Hey at least someone has a little sympathy."
Venus rolled her eyes and poked him. "Hey, will you drink your coffee? It's getting cold."
The rest of the morning passed with out event, and a very boring afternoon soon got under way. Zechs read some dark, title-less tome, with Pluto studying it over his shoulder, Venus and Laytha looked through a magazine, and everyone else sat, bored.
Venus suddenly threw the magazine on the table and stood up. "Let's go shopping!" She yelled.
The Scouts all enthusiastically agreed, but the boys protested a little. "Is that your solution for everything? Go shopping?" Wufei moaned.
"Do we have to ride in a taxi?" Quatre whined, thinking of his unpleasant experience.
"Do you all have a better idea?" Pluto asked. In the following silence, Pluto assumed the answer was no. "Then let's go."
After a twenty-minute bus-ride, a slight emergency when the driver made a rude comment to Venus, and an anonymous call to the hospital later, the group stood on the sidewalk across from fancy clothes place.
"You shouldn't have knocked that guy out." Mars told Venus as they crossed the street.
Duo squeezed Venus's hand and stood up for her. "Hey did you even hear what that idiot said? I think Venus is totally justified."
Venus leaned closer to him. "Thanks. Besides what will he tell the police? Some blond chick blew an energy beam from her hand at him? They'll send him to the asylum."
"Where he belongs, the asshole." Jupiter added.
"Maybe we could go somewhere else." Zechs said, looking dubiously up at the neon pink letters above the doors.
"You can stay outside if you want." Pluto said absently while fixing her hair.
"I wouldn't be caught dead outside of a store like this." Heero said with complete seriousness.
"Same here." Wufei muttered.
"Then we stop complaining and get in?" Venus complained.
Though it was the afternoon, the store was completely empty, save a small group of sales people, hovering around a magazine.
Venus cleared her throat loudly. They looked up and rushed over.
"Hello! How are you today? How can we help you?"
Everyone stepped back at the sudden enthusiasm. The salespeople seemed to notice this and calmed down. "We're sorry." One said. "You are our first customers today, and we weren't expecting anyone at all."
Venus looked around the store. The clothes seemed to be good quality and there were sales signs all over. "Why isn't anyone here?"
The salespeople's faces fell and they looked away. "Everyone's on the other side of town shopping. Since the festival is on Second Avenue, everyone is one Third Avenue, you know that little so-called street mall they have all along the street, everyone is down there for the festival sales."
"Sales?!" Venus cried.
"Festival?" Mercury asked.
The person in front, a younger girl with bright purple hair looked at them strangely. "Yeah, the Cherry Blossom Festival. What planet have you all been on?"
"We've been in the country for a while." Pluto explained, hushing Venus for a moment. "But still, you all seem to be having the same sale."
A second person, this one with magenta hair and bright red eyes answered. "Yeah, but we totally can't get the word out. All everyone knows about is the huge sales down on Third Avenue."
"Well, we are here to shop, so shop we will!" Venus yelled like a general leading her troops to battle. She marched to the nearest rack and proceeded to sort through it. The others spread over the store, each to their preference, and each pulling a boy along.
"Such indignity. Being dragged through a store by an onna." Wufei growled.
Mars silenced him with a warning look. "We are going to go to that festival. And you will need something to wear. Hmmm, would this look good on me?" She picked a dress from the rack and held it against her.
"Yes." Wufei answered, looking out the window.
"You didn't even look at it! Fine, I'll go try it on. I guess you can wear what you are and that white coat. I saw one of those in the front. We never could get the burn mark out of yours." She added thoughtfully as she walked over to the dressing rooms. "I'll try on this one too." She plucked one off the rack next to her and entered the dressing room.
Not too far away, Mercury was giving Quatre advice on what to wear. "No, that looks like a dress, here, no, that is a really bad color on you."
Quatre reached over and pulled a pair of pants off a shelf nearby. "How about these?"
Mercury covered her smile. "Quatre, those are woman's pants. But actually, that's a good style. Here's some one like that in men's. Now for a shirt." Flipping through the rack, she suddenly stopped and pulled out a dark blue, long sleeved shirt. "This is perfect, Quatre! It matches! Here go try it on. I'll find something for me." Quatre took the shirt and headed to the dressing rooms, slightly dazed. He looked over and had to hold in a laugh when he saw Wufei pull something from a shelf. (Mars even got him.)
A few racks away, Venus was having an emergency. "I don't know which one to pick! This one, or this one?" She flipped back and forth between two dresses. "Which one?"
Duo sighed as he picked up a pair of pants. "Hey, why don't you just try them both on? Maybe one of them won't fit."
Venus turned and glared at him. "Won't fit? What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
Duo backed up, fully aware of the tingle in the air around Venus. "I, I mean that you, um, maybe it, uh, um."
Venus sighed. "I know what you meant. I think I'm just a little stressed."
Duo grinned and tossed down the pants. "Well, if you're stressed, we could always go back to the place and-"
"Slow down, lover boy." Venus laughed as she nudged him. "I'm going to go and try this on."
"Aw."
Laytha and Pluto had an easy time finding outfits for Trowa and Zechs. They seemed to match almost everything. So, with those two holding clothes, the two girls turned and pulled several outfits off the rack. They chattered along and finally went to the dressing rooms with two dresses apiece.
Several minutes later, six girls and Quatre came out of the rooms. Each looked very satisfied and went right to the register. Everyone walked out and started talking about how fun the festival would be. The group wandered around town for the rest of the day and got a late lunch at a pizza place. Trowa, having learned from his last experience with pizza, waited for his to cool down before eating it.
Once the sun had started to go down, and a faint sound of music drifted over the city, the girls pulled the guys back to the same, empty store to change. "Do you mind if we change here?" Venus asked the same, purple haired woman.
"Of course. But hurry up, 'kay? We want to got to that festival too." She answered with a smile.
After ten minutes, six girls and six guys stepped out of the dressing rooms. Laytha, in the first room, had on silver, shimmering dress. It was long sleeved and went to her ankles, but had a slit in the side that went almost up to her waist. She had on matching, knee-high boots and small, silver earrings.
Next in line was Venus, who was sporting a yellow mini-skirt and gold halter-top. A gold chain jingled around her slim waist and her yellow choker had a small shiny star dangling from a short chain. Her yellow, rounded heels seemed to make her a foot taller, despite the fact that they were only, maybe two inches.
Quatre was in the room next to her. He was dressed in a handsome white and gray suit with a loose white jacket to match. His shoes weren't the fancy shoes one would wear to a dinner, but less formal ones made for a bit of walking without losing their reserved look.
Next up was Mars in a hot dress that looked very much like a sleeveless kimono cut like a mini-skirt. Red stars hung from her ears and her delicate hands were covered in wrist high gloves. She would have looked delicate herself, only her red heels set her tone to be more sexy than fragile.
Duo was in the room next to her and had a outfit that looked very similar to his ordinary one, except it was now pressed and washed, and he had re-braided his hair, so it too looked fine and soft.
Heero, who did not spend much time looking for clothes, wore simple jeans, but clean ones, and a dark green t-shirt with a jean jacket over his shoulder. Though he looked like a thug or something, his posture alone gave him dignity.
Jupiter was in the room next to him and had a dress very similar to Mars's, but hers was green and went a little further down, past her knees. She had green high-heel boots whose tops she had folded down and they hung around her ankles hiding all but her toes and heels. She had her usual rose earrings and a matching rose bracelet.
After her, stepped out Wufei, in his casual seriousness. He wore his usual baggy white pants and blue shoes, but had gotten a new long, white coat, which seemed to shine in the light.
Zechs came out of his room wearing a nice, white suit with sky blue designs down the shirtfront. His outfit was very similar to Quatre's, but he seemed to exhibit more of a professional air in it. His jacket hung loosely on him and his shirt was not tucked in, giving him distinction, but keeping him slightly informal.
Pluto came out next and smoothed her dress down for inspection. Hers was a pale purple ankle dress that was cut a little low, but went to her ankles. It had a fine layer of see-through that sparkled and shined, hugging her tall, curved form.
Next to last was Trowa who had a loose, dark blue suit, but had no tie, which gave him more of an 'outlaw in disguise' look. He wore the same kind of shoes as Zechs, only these were dark blue.
At the end of the hall, was Mercury, who came out in a modest light blue skirt that embraced her lithe figure. Her loose white top would have been a turtleneck, but was unbuttoned down enough to be a normal shirt. She wore a simple blue choker with a small blue heart hanging on a chain from it.
She looked down the hall and saw everyone inspecting the others' outfits. She cleared her throat. Everyone looked down at her. "We should be going so these people can get to the festival too."
With murmurs and nods, the group made it out to the abandoned street. Wufei hissed at Mars as she pulled his arm. "What are you wearing?! That is far too short!"
"Come on, Wufei, lighten up a little." Mars smiled at him as she wrapped her arm around his and laced their fingers together. She almost laughed to see him blush at how close they were. "Lighten up, we're here to have fun."
Venus laughed and took off running. "We'll never make it there if we walk the whole way!"
At the festival~~~~
She had put up her hair and stayed away from her usual wardrobe and even walked with her head slightly downwards, so the fear of being recognized wasn't the top on her list. She pulled the orange tee down over her plump form and examined the stands. (It's a good thing I was in the area this year, or I would have had to take the plane.) She suppressed a shiver. She had been recognized last time she took the plane, and ended up changing in the bathroom while she waited for the next one. But tonight, she would not be recognized. She was just another chubby girl come to enjoy the famous Cherry Blossom Festival. But she wasn't as chubby as she was three days ago. No. Those awful tasting drinks had slimmed off ten pounds at least.
(Why am I looking for people I know, they will all be at the Earth- Colony meeting on L7. Everyone I knew was a diplomat, except for Heero.) The girl had to stop and concentrate to keep from bursting into tears again. (Heero, Heero. You promised you would stay with me, but you left and I have not seen you for two months at least!) The girl did not bother to acknowledge the lie to herself. Heero had made no such promise to her face of course, but she knew he meant it!
She stopped to look at some cute cat figurines and smiled. They took her mind off Heero, for the moment. She gave the old man behind the bench five dollars for one of two kittens wrestling with a ball of yarn.
The girl put it in her pocket and turned. Her heart almost stopped. There was Heero, right there! He was, wait. He wasn't alone. (What is that bimbo doing hanging on his arm like that? What? Did he just smile at her?! He never smiled at me.) He straightened herself and waited. (No, he can't be with her. She's some ambassador he's been sent to escort. Yes. Some ambassador.) The girl followed the pair and saw the other four Gundam pilots, each escorting a girl. This seemed to confirm her theory. (Yes, all five of them have been employed to escort these ambassadors. They've probably been warned to be nice to them too.) The girl could have hissed in anger as she moved along with the crowd.
She glanced over to her right and some black-haired slut practically merging with that Asian pilot. (What was his name? Wufei? Yes. I pity him as well.) The girl followed her beloved Heero for five more minutes, and her moment finally came. The brown-haired bimbo finally stopped at a bathroom and left Heero standing outside.
The girl had to compose herself before she talked to him. She didn't want to go up to him screaming like a crazed fan. She smoothed her long skirt and sucked in her gut. She had not forgotten the cool, calm look required for foreign diplomats.
"Heero?"
Heero turned around with that ease of one who didn't expect anything in the way of a surprise. He looked at her with those cold blue eyes, cold and unresponsive. He didn't recognize her. "It's me. Relena." She whispered.
His eyes widened with his reaction. She saw them quickly examine her then retain their cold state. "Miss Relena. I heard you retired." He stepped back half a step as if they were too close. As if they were acquaintances.
Relena smoothed her skirt again. "Yes I know. I have retired and I admit I have put on a few pounds. But you are back! You will protect me again!"
An expression fleeted across Heero's face but it was gone before Relena recognized it. "You retired."
Relena looked at him with exasperation. "Yes, but I still need you to protect me. Someone might try to." Her mind searched for an excuse. ".kidnap me again."
"They won't. I don't need to protect you anymore." He put his hands in his pockets, as though he would refuse to let her soil them.
At that moment, the creature in a green dress came out of the bathroom. Though she saw Relena and Heero were trying to have a private conversation, she came over and interrupted anyway. (Bitch.) Relena bit down before the word escaped and ruined her composure.
The interloper came over and slid her hand around Heero's and Relena could have sworn he relaxed a bit. But she pushed that thought away. "Well, who is this?" Relena tried not to give the words a bite, but they slipped through her teeth. She carefully softened her next words. "Is she your next? You won't protect me because you are already protecting her? Heero, there are other bodyguards out there, she can have someone else-"
"Excuse me, bodyguard?" The person finally spoke. "Heero's not my bodyguard; we're just friends. Oh, and I don't think we've been introduced, I'm Jupiter." She said in such a light, almost amused tone Relena wanted to spit at her.
"I'm Relena." Relena turned to Heero. "Not her bodyguard?"
"That's right, Relena. We are friends." Relena couldn't help but notice Heero's hand move and grip Jupiter's.
"And what are we Heero? What does that do to us?" Relena felt her composure start to slip into desperation, but she no longer cared.
Jupiter turned her head. "Us?" She looked at Heero with a look that clearly asked, 'Is she someone?'
Heero shook his head ever so slightly. "I was your bodyguard, Relena. That is the only 'us' there was. We are missing the festival, Jupiter." With that, Heero left. He left Relena with nothing and close to tears. She knew that the other pilots were watching her and that they had heard everything. She didn't care. Stepping swiftly into the bathrooms, she locked herself in a stall. The cat figurine in her pocket started to crack, but she still did not care.
Crying her silent cry, Relena poured her sorrow onto the front of her shirt. Her mind tried to reason Heero's actions. (It was as though they were going out. Why would he abandon her for that bitch in stilts?) Relena's head snapped up. Now that she thought about it, the girl had seemed built. (Yes that's it. Of course, why hadn't I seen it? She was another pilot, not a Gundam pilot, of course. But she had poisoned him against me. Yes, she had twisted my every word to him to make him think I didn't care for him! Yes, yes! He had gone away for something, she had found him, knew who he was, and turned him against me, hoping to hurt me! Well, it won't work, bitch.)
Relena stood up and wiped her eyes. (I've got your plan, and now it won't work. I'll get Heero back if I have to kill you to do it.) The though surprised Relena, but it seemed to work. She smiled at the thought of a bullet ramming through that little crook's head. Wiping her eyes, Relena opened the stall door. She had a plan now.
So, what did you think? Wow, that was definitely long!! 3400 words!!! And I had to cut this chapter off! That's right, I still have more in my head! So expect another, maybe two chapters this weekend. And if the paragraphs about their festival clothes seem a little like a fashion show announcer, that was my intent. Like the effect? Anyway, did you like my little insight into Relena's mind? If you think she's evil now, just wait to see what I have in store. Well, R&R! Let me know how you like it!
Hi!!! Well, after they hot love scenes in the last chapter, I'm putting a bit of darkness in the end of this one. You can probably guess what happens in this chapter from the title. So, check it out!
So, after a quiet night and a few jaw drops after Duo came sneaking out of Venus's room early the next morning (both insisted absolutely nothing happened.) everyone was in a surprisingly good mood. This time Jonathan was finishing up breakfast when everyone came down.
"Good morning everyone! Sorry I can't stay, Raul got up late, and I must get to work."
"You go, we can fend for ourselves." Jupiter laughed.
He smiled at her and left quickly. Heero stretched and sat down. "Just coffee for me."
Jupiter snorted at him. "Absolutely not, Heero. You probably still haven't gained a pound, and I will put some meat on you if it kills you."
Heero smiled and Duo stared at him. "Incredible.you actually got him to smile. This is an event. Where's Quatre? He should see this." He looked around.
"I'm right here, Duo and I saw." Quatre said as he opened the door.
"What's next? Perhaps he might laugh." Wufei mused quietly.
"Seems like everyone is changing." Mars added, sitting next to him.
"No, Trowa still never says anything." Duo teased, looking at the one exposed eye of the silent boy.
"At least I don't babble on like a monkey."
Duo put his hands over his heart. "Ouch, that hurt, buddy, really hurt." He dropped off his stool and fell to the ground with mock pain.
Zechs looked over from his stool a few feet away. He sighed, and with a slight smile reached his hand over to help Duo up. Duo looked at it, and then took it with a grin. "Hey at least someone has a little sympathy."
Venus rolled her eyes and poked him. "Hey, will you drink your coffee? It's getting cold."
The rest of the morning passed with out event, and a very boring afternoon soon got under way. Zechs read some dark, title-less tome, with Pluto studying it over his shoulder, Venus and Laytha looked through a magazine, and everyone else sat, bored.
Venus suddenly threw the magazine on the table and stood up. "Let's go shopping!" She yelled.
The Scouts all enthusiastically agreed, but the boys protested a little. "Is that your solution for everything? Go shopping?" Wufei moaned.
"Do we have to ride in a taxi?" Quatre whined, thinking of his unpleasant experience.
"Do you all have a better idea?" Pluto asked. In the following silence, Pluto assumed the answer was no. "Then let's go."
After a twenty-minute bus-ride, a slight emergency when the driver made a rude comment to Venus, and an anonymous call to the hospital later, the group stood on the sidewalk across from fancy clothes place.
"You shouldn't have knocked that guy out." Mars told Venus as they crossed the street.
Duo squeezed Venus's hand and stood up for her. "Hey did you even hear what that idiot said? I think Venus is totally justified."
Venus leaned closer to him. "Thanks. Besides what will he tell the police? Some blond chick blew an energy beam from her hand at him? They'll send him to the asylum."
"Where he belongs, the asshole." Jupiter added.
"Maybe we could go somewhere else." Zechs said, looking dubiously up at the neon pink letters above the doors.
"You can stay outside if you want." Pluto said absently while fixing her hair.
"I wouldn't be caught dead outside of a store like this." Heero said with complete seriousness.
"Same here." Wufei muttered.
"Then we stop complaining and get in?" Venus complained.
Though it was the afternoon, the store was completely empty, save a small group of sales people, hovering around a magazine.
Venus cleared her throat loudly. They looked up and rushed over.
"Hello! How are you today? How can we help you?"
Everyone stepped back at the sudden enthusiasm. The salespeople seemed to notice this and calmed down. "We're sorry." One said. "You are our first customers today, and we weren't expecting anyone at all."
Venus looked around the store. The clothes seemed to be good quality and there were sales signs all over. "Why isn't anyone here?"
The salespeople's faces fell and they looked away. "Everyone's on the other side of town shopping. Since the festival is on Second Avenue, everyone is one Third Avenue, you know that little so-called street mall they have all along the street, everyone is down there for the festival sales."
"Sales?!" Venus cried.
"Festival?" Mercury asked.
The person in front, a younger girl with bright purple hair looked at them strangely. "Yeah, the Cherry Blossom Festival. What planet have you all been on?"
"We've been in the country for a while." Pluto explained, hushing Venus for a moment. "But still, you all seem to be having the same sale."
A second person, this one with magenta hair and bright red eyes answered. "Yeah, but we totally can't get the word out. All everyone knows about is the huge sales down on Third Avenue."
"Well, we are here to shop, so shop we will!" Venus yelled like a general leading her troops to battle. She marched to the nearest rack and proceeded to sort through it. The others spread over the store, each to their preference, and each pulling a boy along.
"Such indignity. Being dragged through a store by an onna." Wufei growled.
Mars silenced him with a warning look. "We are going to go to that festival. And you will need something to wear. Hmmm, would this look good on me?" She picked a dress from the rack and held it against her.
"Yes." Wufei answered, looking out the window.
"You didn't even look at it! Fine, I'll go try it on. I guess you can wear what you are and that white coat. I saw one of those in the front. We never could get the burn mark out of yours." She added thoughtfully as she walked over to the dressing rooms. "I'll try on this one too." She plucked one off the rack next to her and entered the dressing room.
Not too far away, Mercury was giving Quatre advice on what to wear. "No, that looks like a dress, here, no, that is a really bad color on you."
Quatre reached over and pulled a pair of pants off a shelf nearby. "How about these?"
Mercury covered her smile. "Quatre, those are woman's pants. But actually, that's a good style. Here's some one like that in men's. Now for a shirt." Flipping through the rack, she suddenly stopped and pulled out a dark blue, long sleeved shirt. "This is perfect, Quatre! It matches! Here go try it on. I'll find something for me." Quatre took the shirt and headed to the dressing rooms, slightly dazed. He looked over and had to hold in a laugh when he saw Wufei pull something from a shelf. (Mars even got him.)
A few racks away, Venus was having an emergency. "I don't know which one to pick! This one, or this one?" She flipped back and forth between two dresses. "Which one?"
Duo sighed as he picked up a pair of pants. "Hey, why don't you just try them both on? Maybe one of them won't fit."
Venus turned and glared at him. "Won't fit? What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
Duo backed up, fully aware of the tingle in the air around Venus. "I, I mean that you, um, maybe it, uh, um."
Venus sighed. "I know what you meant. I think I'm just a little stressed."
Duo grinned and tossed down the pants. "Well, if you're stressed, we could always go back to the place and-"
"Slow down, lover boy." Venus laughed as she nudged him. "I'm going to go and try this on."
"Aw."
Laytha and Pluto had an easy time finding outfits for Trowa and Zechs. They seemed to match almost everything. So, with those two holding clothes, the two girls turned and pulled several outfits off the rack. They chattered along and finally went to the dressing rooms with two dresses apiece.
Several minutes later, six girls and Quatre came out of the rooms. Each looked very satisfied and went right to the register. Everyone walked out and started talking about how fun the festival would be. The group wandered around town for the rest of the day and got a late lunch at a pizza place. Trowa, having learned from his last experience with pizza, waited for his to cool down before eating it.
Once the sun had started to go down, and a faint sound of music drifted over the city, the girls pulled the guys back to the same, empty store to change. "Do you mind if we change here?" Venus asked the same, purple haired woman.
"Of course. But hurry up, 'kay? We want to got to that festival too." She answered with a smile.
After ten minutes, six girls and six guys stepped out of the dressing rooms. Laytha, in the first room, had on silver, shimmering dress. It was long sleeved and went to her ankles, but had a slit in the side that went almost up to her waist. She had on matching, knee-high boots and small, silver earrings.
Next in line was Venus, who was sporting a yellow mini-skirt and gold halter-top. A gold chain jingled around her slim waist and her yellow choker had a small shiny star dangling from a short chain. Her yellow, rounded heels seemed to make her a foot taller, despite the fact that they were only, maybe two inches.
Quatre was in the room next to her. He was dressed in a handsome white and gray suit with a loose white jacket to match. His shoes weren't the fancy shoes one would wear to a dinner, but less formal ones made for a bit of walking without losing their reserved look.
Next up was Mars in a hot dress that looked very much like a sleeveless kimono cut like a mini-skirt. Red stars hung from her ears and her delicate hands were covered in wrist high gloves. She would have looked delicate herself, only her red heels set her tone to be more sexy than fragile.
Duo was in the room next to her and had a outfit that looked very similar to his ordinary one, except it was now pressed and washed, and he had re-braided his hair, so it too looked fine and soft.
Heero, who did not spend much time looking for clothes, wore simple jeans, but clean ones, and a dark green t-shirt with a jean jacket over his shoulder. Though he looked like a thug or something, his posture alone gave him dignity.
Jupiter was in the room next to him and had a dress very similar to Mars's, but hers was green and went a little further down, past her knees. She had green high-heel boots whose tops she had folded down and they hung around her ankles hiding all but her toes and heels. She had her usual rose earrings and a matching rose bracelet.
After her, stepped out Wufei, in his casual seriousness. He wore his usual baggy white pants and blue shoes, but had gotten a new long, white coat, which seemed to shine in the light.
Zechs came out of his room wearing a nice, white suit with sky blue designs down the shirtfront. His outfit was very similar to Quatre's, but he seemed to exhibit more of a professional air in it. His jacket hung loosely on him and his shirt was not tucked in, giving him distinction, but keeping him slightly informal.
Pluto came out next and smoothed her dress down for inspection. Hers was a pale purple ankle dress that was cut a little low, but went to her ankles. It had a fine layer of see-through that sparkled and shined, hugging her tall, curved form.
Next to last was Trowa who had a loose, dark blue suit, but had no tie, which gave him more of an 'outlaw in disguise' look. He wore the same kind of shoes as Zechs, only these were dark blue.
At the end of the hall, was Mercury, who came out in a modest light blue skirt that embraced her lithe figure. Her loose white top would have been a turtleneck, but was unbuttoned down enough to be a normal shirt. She wore a simple blue choker with a small blue heart hanging on a chain from it.
She looked down the hall and saw everyone inspecting the others' outfits. She cleared her throat. Everyone looked down at her. "We should be going so these people can get to the festival too."
With murmurs and nods, the group made it out to the abandoned street. Wufei hissed at Mars as she pulled his arm. "What are you wearing?! That is far too short!"
"Come on, Wufei, lighten up a little." Mars smiled at him as she wrapped her arm around his and laced their fingers together. She almost laughed to see him blush at how close they were. "Lighten up, we're here to have fun."
Venus laughed and took off running. "We'll never make it there if we walk the whole way!"
At the festival~~~~
She had put up her hair and stayed away from her usual wardrobe and even walked with her head slightly downwards, so the fear of being recognized wasn't the top on her list. She pulled the orange tee down over her plump form and examined the stands. (It's a good thing I was in the area this year, or I would have had to take the plane.) She suppressed a shiver. She had been recognized last time she took the plane, and ended up changing in the bathroom while she waited for the next one. But tonight, she would not be recognized. She was just another chubby girl come to enjoy the famous Cherry Blossom Festival. But she wasn't as chubby as she was three days ago. No. Those awful tasting drinks had slimmed off ten pounds at least.
(Why am I looking for people I know, they will all be at the Earth- Colony meeting on L7. Everyone I knew was a diplomat, except for Heero.) The girl had to stop and concentrate to keep from bursting into tears again. (Heero, Heero. You promised you would stay with me, but you left and I have not seen you for two months at least!) The girl did not bother to acknowledge the lie to herself. Heero had made no such promise to her face of course, but she knew he meant it!
She stopped to look at some cute cat figurines and smiled. They took her mind off Heero, for the moment. She gave the old man behind the bench five dollars for one of two kittens wrestling with a ball of yarn.
The girl put it in her pocket and turned. Her heart almost stopped. There was Heero, right there! He was, wait. He wasn't alone. (What is that bimbo doing hanging on his arm like that? What? Did he just smile at her?! He never smiled at me.) He straightened herself and waited. (No, he can't be with her. She's some ambassador he's been sent to escort. Yes. Some ambassador.) The girl followed the pair and saw the other four Gundam pilots, each escorting a girl. This seemed to confirm her theory. (Yes, all five of them have been employed to escort these ambassadors. They've probably been warned to be nice to them too.) The girl could have hissed in anger as she moved along with the crowd.
She glanced over to her right and some black-haired slut practically merging with that Asian pilot. (What was his name? Wufei? Yes. I pity him as well.) The girl followed her beloved Heero for five more minutes, and her moment finally came. The brown-haired bimbo finally stopped at a bathroom and left Heero standing outside.
The girl had to compose herself before she talked to him. She didn't want to go up to him screaming like a crazed fan. She smoothed her long skirt and sucked in her gut. She had not forgotten the cool, calm look required for foreign diplomats.
"Heero?"
Heero turned around with that ease of one who didn't expect anything in the way of a surprise. He looked at her with those cold blue eyes, cold and unresponsive. He didn't recognize her. "It's me. Relena." She whispered.
His eyes widened with his reaction. She saw them quickly examine her then retain their cold state. "Miss Relena. I heard you retired." He stepped back half a step as if they were too close. As if they were acquaintances.
Relena smoothed her skirt again. "Yes I know. I have retired and I admit I have put on a few pounds. But you are back! You will protect me again!"
An expression fleeted across Heero's face but it was gone before Relena recognized it. "You retired."
Relena looked at him with exasperation. "Yes, but I still need you to protect me. Someone might try to." Her mind searched for an excuse. ".kidnap me again."
"They won't. I don't need to protect you anymore." He put his hands in his pockets, as though he would refuse to let her soil them.
At that moment, the creature in a green dress came out of the bathroom. Though she saw Relena and Heero were trying to have a private conversation, she came over and interrupted anyway. (Bitch.) Relena bit down before the word escaped and ruined her composure.
The interloper came over and slid her hand around Heero's and Relena could have sworn he relaxed a bit. But she pushed that thought away. "Well, who is this?" Relena tried not to give the words a bite, but they slipped through her teeth. She carefully softened her next words. "Is she your next? You won't protect me because you are already protecting her? Heero, there are other bodyguards out there, she can have someone else-"
"Excuse me, bodyguard?" The person finally spoke. "Heero's not my bodyguard; we're just friends. Oh, and I don't think we've been introduced, I'm Jupiter." She said in such a light, almost amused tone Relena wanted to spit at her.
"I'm Relena." Relena turned to Heero. "Not her bodyguard?"
"That's right, Relena. We are friends." Relena couldn't help but notice Heero's hand move and grip Jupiter's.
"And what are we Heero? What does that do to us?" Relena felt her composure start to slip into desperation, but she no longer cared.
Jupiter turned her head. "Us?" She looked at Heero with a look that clearly asked, 'Is she someone?'
Heero shook his head ever so slightly. "I was your bodyguard, Relena. That is the only 'us' there was. We are missing the festival, Jupiter." With that, Heero left. He left Relena with nothing and close to tears. She knew that the other pilots were watching her and that they had heard everything. She didn't care. Stepping swiftly into the bathrooms, she locked herself in a stall. The cat figurine in her pocket started to crack, but she still did not care.
Crying her silent cry, Relena poured her sorrow onto the front of her shirt. Her mind tried to reason Heero's actions. (It was as though they were going out. Why would he abandon her for that bitch in stilts?) Relena's head snapped up. Now that she thought about it, the girl had seemed built. (Yes that's it. Of course, why hadn't I seen it? She was another pilot, not a Gundam pilot, of course. But she had poisoned him against me. Yes, she had twisted my every word to him to make him think I didn't care for him! Yes, yes! He had gone away for something, she had found him, knew who he was, and turned him against me, hoping to hurt me! Well, it won't work, bitch.)
Relena stood up and wiped her eyes. (I've got your plan, and now it won't work. I'll get Heero back if I have to kill you to do it.) The though surprised Relena, but it seemed to work. She smiled at the thought of a bullet ramming through that little crook's head. Wiping her eyes, Relena opened the stall door. She had a plan now.
So, what did you think? Wow, that was definitely long!! 3400 words!!! And I had to cut this chapter off! That's right, I still have more in my head! So expect another, maybe two chapters this weekend. And if the paragraphs about their festival clothes seem a little like a fashion show announcer, that was my intent. Like the effect? Anyway, did you like my little insight into Relena's mind? If you think she's evil now, just wait to see what I have in store. Well, R&R! Let me know how you like it!