In the halls of the Vice Foreign Minister's Palace on Earth, I could hear my own feet as they tread lightly over the velvety maroon-colored carpet. No one else would be able to hear such slight movements, I assured myself, creeping steadily closer to her room. My ears picked up sounds behind me, and I turned my head to locate their source. Rain. I saw the light scatter in irregular patters off the beads of water on the windowpane at the end of the hall. The light sound of falling rain against the glass seemed loud in my well-trained ears, but again I doubted that anyone else would heed such small sounds.
Lightning suddenly split through the palace. I closed my eyes momentarily against the blinding brightness of the electric discharge. When I opened them again, a low rumbling thunder shook the walls of the palace, making the framed painting to my right rattle against the expensive marble wall. Reaching out, I put a finger on the edge of the frame, stopping its loud rattling. Only loud to my ears, I reminded myself, yet again. I've completed my rounds.
With another sigh, I settled down into my chair. From this position outside her door, I kept watch over the Vice Foreign Minister. I did it every night. And every night I found myself thinking of nothing but…her. She was beautiful and intelligent. Unlike anyone I had ever known in my many real or made-up lives. She was compassionate like Quatre or Catherine. She was clever and good-natured, like Duo or Hilde. She carried within her a strong sense of justice and righteousness that made her want to save anyone who suffered, just like Wufei or Sally. But she also had the ability to be intimidating and powerful as Heero or Jin. She was everything. Especially to me.
But Vice Foreign Ministers don't get involved with Preventor Special Service agents, my mind hissed at me. I knew I was doomed to live alone. Without love.
The natural sounds of a spring rainfall overtook my unhappy thoughts. I listened to that instead of the defeating voice in my head. The voice that reminded me of my past, and my failed future. More lightning flashed sporadically, adding a little bit of interest to my night watch. A noise from the stairs caught my attention. I glanced at the chronometer on my wrist before I pulled out with guns blazing. 04:38. Exactly on time. I looked to where I knew Heero would be forming from the darkness of the shadowed hallway.
In a black Preventor Special Service uniform that matched mine, Heero Yuy appeared, walking down the hallway in a very nonchalant manner. Well, a very casual manner considering he was supposed to be making his rounds through the Palace to inspect for intruders. He smiled at me as he saw me looking his way, a slight upturning of the corners of his mouth that he called a smile. Of course, I couldn't complain. My own stoic demeanor is more than frustrating to about everyone I meet. Except Heero, of course. And, as usual, he stopped next to my chair and put his ear to the door beside my left shoulder.
"Notice anything?" he whispered as he listened to her bedchambers.
I shook my head no.
"She hasn't been sleeping well," he admitted, pulling away from the door and kneeling next to my chair.
What did he want me to do about it? I just stared at him.
"It will affect her work if she can't get enough sleep at night," he explained, getting up and walking away to leave me wondering why in the hell he told me that. It's not like I could do anything about her sleeping habits. I'm just a Special Service agent. Not Superman. Being Vice Foreign Minister of the Earth Sphere United Federation was a hard job. After holding that position for the last three years, I'm sure that anyone would become weary of the constant political struggle to retain peace and contentment throughout the Earth and Colonies. It's only natural that she be having some problems sleeping after all the stress she encountered on a daily basis. Being Special Service agents, my friends and I are closest to her. We noticed the way she doesn't seem in as good of spirits as she used to when she came down for breakfast. And the way she rubbed the sides of her temples, in an effort to release some of the pressure of a random headache. And the way she stopped being so friendly and nice to us, like the way she used to smile at us as we escorted her around and lounged in her receiving den.
That's when I noticed the sound from inside her room. I glanced down at my chronometer again. 05:05. Too early for her to be getting up, I wondered as I got up from my chair. I lightly rapped on the door, meaning for the sound to both be a request to enter her chambers as well as a question as to why she was awake an hour earlier than normal.
"I guess I can't hide anything from you, can I?" she asked as she opened the door, tying a robe about her nightgown. Her dark skin and chocolate locks seemed even darker in the dim light of the predawn morning. Hazel eyes questioned me for a moment, and I tried not to notice as her gaze floated from my face, to my feet, and back up my body to my face again. "Well, are you coming in?" she said, sounding a little bit irritated. Probably because you're standing there like an idiot doing an impersonation of a tree, I reminded myself.
"If you wish," I found myself replying with a slight bow. She hardly ever addressed me in such a personal manner, and her sudden display of friendship was throwing off my soldier façade. I smiled a little as I held the door open and followed her into her chambers. Ok, so I didn't really smile. I refrained from frowning through, that has to count for something.
"I haven't been sleeping well," she said, walking slowly to her bathroom and retrieving a hairbrush. Absently, she pulled the brush through her thick hair as she paced the room, making random patterns of trails across her large floor. I remained standing by the door. And of course, I said the first thing that came to mind…
"Why not?"
She looked surprised for a moment, as if not believing I actually had the ability to carry on a conversation. Well, just because she hadn't heard me engaged in a conversation before doesn't mean that I can't have one.
"Forgive me," I said lowly, trying not to let my disappointment creep into my voice. I took a step back and lowered my head, reaching for the doorknob behind me. This was a bad idea. Coming into the Vice Foreign Minister's bedchambers and actually expecting her to want to talk? How much of an idiot was I? Ok, very much of an idiot, I'll admit it. But who wouldn't want to come in here with her lovely presence? Forgive me, my dear sweet Roddy, but I had to indulge in the fantasy that you might actually love this nameless soldier standing before you. In the way that I love everything about you.
"Trowa…" she actually used my name. She actually knew my name. "…I…I don't want you to go," I heard her melodious voice say as she reached out and touched my arm. Her touch was feather-light and I barely felt the weight of her small hand through the uniform shirt and jacket I wore.
My heart pounded harder in my chest. As if her use of my name wasn't enough to send me into oblivion, her confession that she actually wanted me to stay in her room was complete ecstasy. I put a hand flat against the wall behind me, to steady myself as my knees suddenly felt too weak to hold my heavy body up.
"Please, help me sleep Trowa," she said with a low and husky voice. My mind reeled the sexy sound of her voice. I backed up to the wall, knees very shaky as I attempted to remain calm. "Help me fall asleep."
"How?" I asked, unsure of her intentions.
Her small body pressed up against mine. I could feel the contours of her form through the clothes we wore. I could feel my own arousal deepen at her closeness.
"Make me exhausted," she instructed in a sultry tone. Her hands snaked up my chest, rubbing against my face briefly before she hooked them around my neck, bringing my head down to her…
"Trowa." I barely heard my name being called. A hard nudge in my side woke me up from my more than pleasant dream. Heero's face filled my vision.
"Wha?" I managed to say, rubbing my eyes in order to focus better. I looked around, noticing we were backstage at an auditorium, waiting by the dressing rooms for Miss Roddy Adelphia to emerge.
"Having a dream about our favorite Vice Foreign Minister?" Duo said with a smirk, looking meaningfully at my pants. I shifted uncomfortably and tried to hide the bulge there by standing and buttoning my long jacket.
A door opening to my left caught attention away from the state of my pants and back to business. Roddy emerged, dressed regally in her light peach colored business suit that I liked best. Of course, she didn't know that, but I could pretend that she put it on just for me. She gave a quick smile to the three of us. I thought her gaze might have lingered a little longer on the braided Agent standing next to me, and I felt jealous anger warm my stiff muscles.
"Shall we go? That speech was quite taxing, and I am in definite need of a nap," Roddy smiled as she spoke. Heero led the way through the congested back hallways of the old auditorium that had been used for Roddy's public address to L3. It was odd being on my old colony in such a high position: one of the Preventor Secret Service. Heero, Jin, Duo, and I are the only ones given this honor, as a special group assigned for the protection of the Vice Foreign Minister.
Duo grinned his normal maniacal grin as he hopped around the big black car and to the driver's door. Call me crazy, but making Duo the permanent driver for the Vice Foreign Minister seems like a bad idea. Heero stood guard with his hand inside his jacket, no doubt resting on the butt of his holstered gun, as I opened the door for Miss Adelphia. His eyes scanned over the roof of the car to the buildings across the street and then flicked back to the auditorium we just exited. Heero was endlessly the perfection of a bodyguard.
Roddy slid into the seat and moved to the middle of the big sedan, making room for me to follow her. I blushed as I sat in the seat next to her, accidentally brushing my leg against hers as I shifted on the black leather seats. She smiled nervously. I think she noticed my blush. Damn.
The door opened and Heero sat down with a small hmph in the front seat.
"Let's get going Maxwell," he ordered. Duo sighed but dutifully put the massive car in gear and drove out onto the L3 streets. I focused on the back of Heero's head where I could barely see it over the top of the headrest, and I tried not to let my attention linger too long on the beautiful woman of my dreams next to me.
"Heero," I heard her soft voice say from my left. Heero just looked back at her. She must have taken his silence to mean "proceed." Roddy cleared her throat and continued a little louder with a joking tone in her voice, "How is Jin doing? Well, I hope, since you put her in the hospital."
Heero grunted in response. But Duo took up the bantering.
"Oh, yea, that's right. I forgot about Jin being at Sally's today. How is she recovering from her latest encounter with the great Heero Yuy?" Duo smirked as he drove. He dodged Heero's swipe at his head and still managed to keep the direction of the car steady.
"She is doing well, as far as I know," Heero finally answered, glaring at Duo and Roddy who both had conspiratorial looks on their faces.
"Well, after being shot, I'm surprised she still wants to see you…"
"Shut up, Maxwell," Heero said in a gruff voice. Jin had accidentally taken a bullet on a mission with Heero last week on one of Heero's many joint missions with the regular Preventor force. It had been a pretty routine search and destroy mission, but a terrorist snuck up behind the Perfect Soldier. Jin shoved Heero out of the way just in time to save his ass, but got shot in her shoulder for her trouble. She was still having trouble using that arm, so she went back to Sally's lab this morning.
"It's only an observation, man," Duo said with a grin. "If I had gotten Hilde shot, she'd never forgive me."
"Jin's not Hilde," Heero reminded him.
"True, but Jin's got a hell of a temper compared to Hilde. And Hilde's been known to start quite a few sparks with her spitfire personality."
"Hn." Heero remained silent in the front seat, watching as the Vice Foreign Minister's shuttle appeared in the private port.
I glanced aside at Roddy, who was trying not to snicker too loudly and had a hand over her mouth to mute her efforts. I gave her a little glare, warning her not to piss Heero off anymore. Despite what the stoic soldier tried to lead us all to believe, I knew he felt more than responsible for every injury Jin suffered and cared more than he'd ever let on about her. The two were meant for each other. They even both hid their relationship from the rest of the world, only showing their emotions to the other. Even though Heero and Jin had an odd and unexplainable relationship, they still had something. Which is more than I can say for my current situation.
Roddy controlled her laughter somewhat and got a neutral expression back on her face, smiling as I climbed out of the stopped car and held the door for her. Heero was already in the shuttle doing a security sweep. Duo came out and stood next to me, holding a hand out for Roddy's briefcase, which she easily tossed through the car door to him. Then she took my offered hand, using it as leverage to stand up.
"So we're going back to Earth now," Roddy stated more than she asked. I flushed, noticing she didn't let go of my hand as we made our way to the stairs that led up the to the shuttle door. Heero was waiting in the open hatch, his eyes passing briefly over us before scanning the rest of the port runway. I thought I might have seen a flicker of amusement in his dark blue eyes.
"Yes," I finally managed to answer her question, keeping her hand in mine as we went slowly up the metal staircase to the hatch. Heero moved out of our way, letting us inside. She took the lead once we entered the plush and beautifully decorated shuttle. With a smile, she pulled me to the dark red couch, sitting down primly and waiting for me to join her on the oversized cushion.
Duo set her briefcase on the end table near the couch, smiling broadly and with a skip in his step made his way to the cockpit. Heero followed, trudging steadily after securing the hatch with Yuy-like precision.
"Take off in two!" Duo yelled back from the closed cockpit. Heero was beside him in the copilot seat, I knew. Just like always. In two minutes we'd be in the air, then in space, and on our way back to Earth. But this time wasn't like "always." This time, Roddy was still holding my hand from when I'd politely offered her help out of the car, and she was waiting for me to sit down next to her.
I knew I was blushing by the heat I felt radiating from my own face. My collar seemed suddenly tight, and I was aching to loosen my tie. I gave her a little smile and sat down a comfortable distance from her. She still held my hand.
And she looked nervous now that the shuttle was warming up and Duo was calling out his preflight checks to Heero from the cockpit.
"Trowa," she said quietly, her eyes taking a sudden interest in her shoes.
I didn't answer. But then again, I rarely do.
"I don't know how to say this, so bear with me," she began. I decided to interrupt.
"You aren't the only one here that has trouble with words," I reminded her.
She smiled. I'd give an arm to see her smile like that every time I spoke. I'd talk nonstop. "I just wanted to let you know, Trowa…and I understand if you don't want to work in this section anymore and if you'd rather go back to normal Preventor work…but I just wanted to say…well, I can't help but notice…oh fuck it. Trowa I like you."
The look of surprise on my face lasted only a millisecond. I can recognize the ramblings of an unsure attraction. Duo and Heero have heard about mine plenty of times for me to be forewarned the moment Roddy lost her eloquent speech. But learning the woman of my dreams actually reciprocated some of my feelings for her left me speechless.
I smiled. A big smile, which felt warm and odd at the same time. I didn't tell her anything, but the look of relief on her face when I smiled like that put to rest any of her self doubts. I barely had time to brace myself before the little woman launched herself at me and threw her arms around my neck in a fierce hug.
The window outside was dark with space, and I realized I hadn't even noticed when we'd taken off. With adoration controlling every move I made, I held Roddy's chin in one hand and lifted her face up, giving her a kiss from the bottom of my heretofore lonely heart. That was the first kiss of many.
~fin