Disclaimer: I only own the idea, and the characters I made up.
A/N: Thank you for reading my fic. This chapter is a little longer than the last one but it's still kinda short. Enjoy!
The Guarding Assignment
Meanwhile, across town, Heero parked his car at Preventers HQ and he and TJ got out. They walked briskly to the doors and went inside. Milliardo met them there.
"What took you so long?" he asked. They walked down the hall toward Milliardo's office.
"It's nice to see you too Zechs," Heero answered.
"The situation is much more serious now. This was definitely an attempt on my niece's life. I think we need to beef up the security at the palace. The school is going to be closed for the next two days. Then it's the weekend. I'm sure you both know about the party correct?" both Yuy's nodded. "Well, even though it's a party for Rodrigo's dad, I think there might be another try to kill Kammy. If there's not, there will be at the party the next day," Milliardo sat down at his desk. Heero and TJ stood across from him.
"There's another party that weekend?" Heero asked perplexedly.
"Yep. You see, tomorrow is actually Enrique's birthday. Friday is Kammy's but he refused to let her have a party at the same time as him, so Kammy's is Saturday. She doesn't know about it though. It's gonna be a surprise." He smiled. "Anyway, we have to be extra careful at these two occasions. If we can just keep her safe through these, everything will be fine. After Wednesday next week, they have Christmas Break, so it'll be easier to keep tabs on Kammy. Unfortunately, until then I need TJ to watch Kammy; starting tonight. Just stay in the garden outside her side of the house and make sure she doesn't escape." TJ looked outside the window at the quickly accumulating snow. It was gonna be cold out tonight.
"Um, Zechs, what if Kammy does try to escape?" Heero asked.
"He shouldn't show himself. He should radio the guards and tell them. If they don't come tail her, kid. I doubt she'll try to leave the palace tonight but she's a little unpredictable." TJ and Heero left. After stopping at the hotel to get, a coat, hat and some gloves for TJ, Heero dropped him off at the palace. He quickly drove off before anyone saw him.
Inside the palace, Rodrigo had just gotten home. He passed the butler, Max, in the hall.
"Max, make sure no one comes to bug me. I'm going into my study. I mean it! NO ONE should bug me or I'll hold you personally responsible!" Then he stormed into his office. Max passed Engracia.
"Poor King, he's so distraught over what happened to his daughter!" Max said. Engracia laughed.
"If he's distraught about Rosa then I'm an auto mechanic!" she declared.
"But he-"
"Forget it Max, just go warn the staff not to bug him." With that, Engracia headed to the kitchen. Max shrugged and went to tell the staff to leave the king alone.
It's was eight pm by the time Kammy woke up. She felt very thirsty so she decided to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Inside were Engracia and Relena. Relena was doing crossword puzzles and Engracia was baking more brownies.
"Hi mom," Kammy said.
"Oh, Kammy! How are you feeling?" Relena asked. encumbrance
"I'm fine mom. I just felt kinda thirsty so I came to get a glass of water."
"Well since you're here, maybe you could help me out. I need an eleven letter word that begins with and e for hindrance."
"Um," Kammy thought for a second. "What about encumbrance? I used it in an essay I wrote about Raúl."
"Thanks Kammy," Relena said happily. Then she continued to work on the puzzle. Engracia laughed.
"Rosa, you are a wonder!" she said. Kammy laughed.
"Well Engracia, if I want to be in politics I need to know a bunch of big words that mean nothing to anyone else." She took a brownie and her glass of water and left. As she passed by her father's study she heard raised voices.
"I don't care if the Preventers are involved or not! The plan will continue as planned!" Rodrigo yelled. "How could this have happened? I planned everything perfectly. What if- what if I have no real power? What if this doesn't work?"
"Calm down, sir," soothed another voice. "You have power! You are the leader of El Agroupción de Nocivo! No one can stop you! Soon the People of Earth and the Colonies will tremble at your very name! Remember, you are stronger and smarter than them! You won years ago and you will win now!"
"Your right! I am stronger than them! I will crush the Preventers! My pathetic brother-in-law won't know what hit him!" Kammy backed up from the door and ran away. As she was nearing the stairs, she heard a door open and quickly turned around.
"Why are you in such a hurry Kamilia?" Raúl asked almost mockingly.
"Raúl! Father was talking to a man in his study. He's the leader of this terrorist organization! What are we gonna do?" Kammy asked. Raúl just smiled.
"Or don't worry! I'm sure you heard wrong. I mean, our father, the leader of El Agroupción de Nocivo? That's just too funny! He's too indecisive to decide what to order at a company dinner how would he run a terrorist group?" Raúl continued to laugh as he walked down the hall. Kammy headed upstairs to her room something didn't feel right. After she got to her room she watched a bunch of old musicals for a while. Then she got board so she decided to head outside to her balcony.
TJ was beginning to get bored outside in the palace's gardens. More importantly however was the fact that he was getting cold. He'd been on guard duty for almost four hours and not a thing had happened. He hadn't even seen the princess. However it was at the exact second TJ was gonna call his dad and ask him to bring some hot chocolate that Kammy went out onto her balcony.
It was still snowing and Kammy smiled slightly. She really loved snow. She always had. It made the world look clean and tranquil somehow. She remembered when she was younger she used to have snowball fights, make snow angels and play in the snow. Now, she just looked at it. She remembered one Christmas her mother, Hilde and Sira had went caroling in the snow. One thing I can still do is sing in the snow, Kammy mused. She began to hum one of her favorite Christmas songs…
"The snow's coming down
I'm watching it fall
Lots of people around
Baby please come home
"The church bells in town
All ringing in song
Full of happy sounds
Baby please come home
"They're singing "Deck The Halls"
But it's not like Christmas at all
'Cause I remember when you were here
And all the fun we had last year
"Pretty lights on the tree
I'm watching them shine
You should be here with me
Baby please come home
"They're singing "Deck The Halls"
But it's not like Christmas at all
'Cause I remember when you were here
And all the fun we had last year
"If there was a way
I'd hold back this tear
But it's Christmas day
Please please please please
Baby please come home
Baby please come home
Baby please come home
Baby please come home"
As Kammy finished singing she smiled. Then she looked up at the falling ice crystals. Suddenly she heard a meow come from the garden. Looking down, she saw her pet cat Goldie. She smiled.
When TJ had heard that cat he'd been startled. Luckily he didn't give his position away. He watched as Kammy smiled at the golden colored cat.
"Here, kitty," Kammy called. Then she made a clicking noise with her tongue. To the astonishment of TJ the cat easily scaled the brick wall of the palace and jumped into Kammy's arms.
"Where have you been, sweetie?" she asked the cat. The cat just purred extremely loudly. "Guess what Goldie? I was walking by daddy's study when I heard him talking to another guy. He said he was the leader of some terrorist group." Still, the feline seemed to be content to just purr. "Of course, Raúl said I must have just heard wrong and that dad was too disorganized to be the leader of-" Kammy gasped. Goldie stopped grooming himself and looked at her. "That's what seemed wrong! I never told Raúl what terrorist group dad said he was part of. But, does that mean that he's part of it too?" She looked down at her cat. Goldie just looked nonchalantly back at her. "Goldie, you mustn't tell anyone." Goldie gave her a look that said "who am I gonna tell?" Kammy smiled. "I guess you can't tell anyone. It's just, I don't want anyone to know ok?" Goldie went back to grooming himself. "Now, Goldie, where's Jar Jar and Shady Snow? Are they with Queen Coconut again?" Goldie yawned. Kammy laughed. "Oh alright! We'll go back inside! Come on!" Still caring the cat, she went back inside. TJ stepped out from behind the bushes. He was confused. He leaned against the tree. If anyone had looked outside then, they would have seen him. And, unluckily for him, someone had seen him; Engracia. She was just finishing a batch of brownies when she had looked out the window and spied him. She smiled and turned around. Relena was working on a new crossword puzzle.
"It looks like little Rosa has an admirer," Engracia declared. Relena looked up.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Engracia pointed out the window.
"There's a young man standing in the garden looking up at your youngest daughter's balcony." Lucía, who had been listening to the conversation from the hall, chose this exact moment to leave. By doing so, she totally missed the most important part of the conversation.
"Oh, that's probably just a guard Milliardo posted. You know how he's always trying to do what he thinks is best to keep everyone safe," Relena said with a laugh.
"Ah, but Rosa will not be pleased. She doesn't like people thinking she's not capable of taking care of herself," Engracia said. They both laughed.
Upstairs, Lucía had decided to use what she had overheard to her advantage. She barged into her sister's room without even knocking.
"I know about your little secret boyfriend!" she declared. Kammy looked up from her homework.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Kamilia. Engracia saw him in the garden looking at your window. She told mom. Now, we both know that you are their favorite so they won't tell daddy. However, I overheard them." Lucía grinned evilly. "How about we make a deal? I won't tell Daddy about your little boyfriend if you give me your allowance for the next, shall we say, two and a half months." Kammy was still trying to process all this information. She decided it was best to just pretend that she knew about the "boy in the garden" . She smiled at her sister.
"Actually Lucía, I have a better idea. If you tell dad about the boy in the garden, I'll tell Pablo about Hector," she loked back at her homework. Lucía gasped. Pablo Sanchez was her fiancé. Hector Martinez was her current boyfriend. Of course, Hector knew about Pablo but if Pablo found out about Hector, it could cause a lot of problems for Lucía.
"You wouldn't!" Lucía declared.
"Try it. Go tell Daddy about the boy in the garden. After all, Pablo is coming for Christmas, it would be a wonderful gift, I'm sure, for him to find out his fiancé is cheating on him!"
"Oh you- you-" letting out a frustrated scream, Lucía left the room. Kammy turned to Goldie, who was now sitting on her homework grooming himself.
"So, Goldie, do you think I handled that well?" Goldie glanced up then jumped down and headed toward the balcony doors. "Alright, lets see who this boy in the garden is," Kammy opened the door and stepped outside.
About five minutes earlier, TJ's cell phone had vibrated, signaling that he had a call. He got it out of his pocket and answered it.
"Yuy."
"Zechs is sending someone to keep you company. He thought you might be getting bored," Heero said.
"Maybe a little," TJ admitted.
"So, how's everything going?"
"Ok. So far no one's tried to kill her."
"Did she come outside at all?"
"Yeah. She went on the balcony a while ago. She looked up at the snow then she sang a Mariah Carey song."
"Did you hear anything else? Anything that pertains to El Agroupción de Nocivo?" For a second, TJ was taken aback. He wasn't sure if he should tell his dad what Kammy had told her cat about her brother.
"No, nothing. However, Kammy did talk to her cat. Do you know who Jar Jar, Shady Snow and Queen Coconut are?"
"What?!"
"She mentioned those names while she was talking to Goldie, her cat."
"Hold on," Heero said. He typed the names into his computer. "They're her other cats. Queen Coconut is the oldest. Jar Jar is Coconut's grandson. Kammy got Goldie form the people on that colony they helped out and Shady Snow was a stray she found. Her father wasn't happy she kept it."
"Ok."
"Keep watching. Call if anything happens."
"Got it." The call ended. TJ put his phone back in his pocket. He wondered who Zechs had sent.
"Hey Buddy!" an enthusiastic voice said from behind him. TJ inwardly groaned. It was Duo's happy-go-lucky son Solo. "So how ya doing?"
"Fine. Now be quiet. We're supposed to be guarding her. No one is supposed to know we're here, got it?"
"Well, it's a little late for that." Solo got out a tray of hot brownies and two thermoses of hot chocolate. "Engracia and Relena already saw you. Well, Engracia saw you but she told Rel. I think Lucía knows you're here, too, but that's ok. Engracia said you were probably cold so she sent some brownies and hot cocoa out with me. Oh, and Rel says thanks for guarding Kam."
"You mean you walked right through the house?"
"Of course! I had to go to the bathroom and I was hungry!" Solo got out a box of pizza. "Want some?" TJ groaned and took a piece.
"So did Kammy see you?" Solo asked.
"No, I don't think so but-" Just then Kammy came out so they stopped talking.
"Hello? I know someone's out here! Lucía said Engracia saw you. Look, I'm gonna make this quick. I know my uncle probably sent you to guard me. That's very kind of you but I don't need a guard. I don't like people to think that I can't take care of myself. You can tell him I said that, too." Goldie meowed. "Oh, but while you're out there, if you see any cats with blue collars on, I'd appreciate it if you took them inside for me. Well, thank you, and goodnight!" With that Kammy, and Goldie, went inside.
"Well, it looks like they escaped again. Her cats have a habit of getting away, TJ," Solo stated.
"Do you ever stop talking?"
"Nope. I have a lot to say. So, do you like Kammy?"
"What? Why do you change subjects like that?" TJ asked.
"Well, I felt like asking!"
"Why?"
"Because, I think you do. Otherwise you wouldn't be getting all defensive like that!"
"Do you like Clara Campbell then?"
"She's hott!" Solo declared. "And she's really smart. In Biology today, she knew all the answers. I'm glad she's my lab partner. I'm gonna get an A for sure!" Solo began to dance around in a circle. Then he stopped. "You wanna know what?"
"Not really. But you're gonna tell me anyway aren't you?"
"Of course! I heard that Lucía and Raúl are gonna be going to our school after Christmas. What do you think about that?" TJ didn't answer. "I'll tell you what I think. Something's up. They hate school. Probably Rodrigo needs them there to spy on Kammy. Oh, and also on the cousins, too. Supposedly, Wesley Five likes Fawna and Lucía's jealous because she likes getting all the attention!"
"And this matters why?"
"Because, don't you see? If Rodrigo decided to put the two oldest kids in school, that means he isn't going to finish his plan before at least Spring Break!"
"What?!"
"And people say you're the smart one. Alright, now listen closely. Obviously Rodrigo is planning to take over both countries, or at least that's what Sira thinks. Anyway, he doesn't actually run them. Rel does. Now, think for a second. Let's say you run a huge military empire. Unfortunately, your wife runs the country and she's a pacifist. Now, if you kill her, you won't be king because you aren't an equal partner in this whole ruling thing. Also, your two favorite children can't rule because one is already betrothed and the other one has the same militaristic ideals as you. This means your youngest daughter, who isn't technically a pacifist yet but will be after her sixteenth birthday, will most likely be queen. Now, you want one of the other two to take over, so what do you do? Obviously, the best thing to do is let your wife live her life out. She doesn't matter. Then you have two choices. One, make everyone hate you by taking over the government by force or two, you use your secret powerful military to kill your soon-to-be pacifist daughter and name one of the other two, preferably the militaristic one, to be the ruler after your wife's death. Then , the poor queen, so distraught over her youngest child's death, "commits suicide" and tada! There's a new military based country." Solo stopped and took a long drink of hot chocolate.
"So you think that's his plan?" TJ asked.
"Yep, Sira and Ria kinda discovered most of it but I helped too!"
"When do you think he'll do it?"
"Between New Years and Memorial Day in the US," Solo said. He held out the tray of brownies. "Brownie?" TJ took one. He was gonna have to tell his dad about Solo's predictions and inferences. As Solo began to babble again, TJ realized it was gonna be a long night.
TBC..
A/N: Well, there's chapter eight, I hope you liked it! Please review, it gets kinda discouraging writing this when hardly anyone reviews.