Disclaimers: The song is Fiona's, the boys belong to some production company somewhere, not making any money from this, you know the routine.
Spoilers: There's a reference to a couple of in-series events. If you've been around the fandom for a while, you shouldn't be surprised.
Feedback: Pretty please? With little chibis on top? (You
pick which ones ~_^) Post here, or you can e-mail me at insanewritinggirl@yahoo.com.
//thoughts//
Never Let You Go
Chapter 15
by quelirain
| What I need is a good defense
'cause I'm feeling like a criminal and I need to be redeemed to the one I've sinned against because he's all I ever knew of love --Fiona Apple, "Criminal" |
It was a quiet flight.
Relena sat in first class, next to a window, while Wufei glared at everyone
and anyone who dared to near the front of the plane.
Even the flight attendants were starting to show some nervousness.
They sat in the very first seats in first class, so that no one would
have a good reason to come by unless they were a member of
the flight staff. They were the last on the flight and would be the
first off, giving the other passengers very little time to ogle at
the disheveled state of the Vice Foreign Minister, who certainly had
been reported missing, perhaps kidnapped, by the National News Service.
Of course, the flight personnel were well aware of who they had on board. Although Relena had let her hair down, the suit was the same one she'd had on this morning, and she still wore the heavier on-camera makeup. The flight attendants whispered in small clumps in the galley, and every time an attendant passed the front seats, obstensily on the way to the front galley, it was a different person.
"Here." Wufei handed Relena a basket of warm, wet towels that the latest attendant had brought. "Clean your face."
Relena accepted the basket and obediently began scrubbing her cheeks to remove the makeup.
"That was not the best way to accomplish your goal," Wufei said flatly.
She rubbed the warm cloth over her eyes. "What would you know about removing makeup?"
"That's not what I meant."
Relena looked sourly at the black and brown streaks left behind on the towel. "I had to do something. You all were just sitting around, waiting for something to happen." She dropped the dirty cloth onto her tray table and picked up a clean one.
"Do not mistake lack of visible action for inaction." Relena looked blankly at Wufei. He sighed. "Preparation should be part of every endeavor, no matter what the situation. Yuy is being protected from others and from himself. Winner is alive and well. Intelligent, considerate action was required in this case, which takes time, which we had plenty of until you acted. Therefore, your actions were foolish."
Relena turned back to the tray table and her towel.
"W-would you like a mirror, Miss--" Wufei glared at the flight attendant, who swallowed and repeated, "miss?"
Ignoring Wufei, Relena looked at the flight attendant standing nervously
in the aisle. "Please," she replied. The flight attendant
handed over a small mirror and stepped away, but not before Wufei caught
his arm.
"In the future, we will contact you if we need anything."
The flight attendant nodded rapidly. "Yes, sir, sorry to disturb you." He flew down the aisle.
Wufei picked up where he'd left off. "The best way to win a battle is to combine a well-planned attack with a reconnaissance plan. Your strategy lacked both."
Relena looked in the small mirror, noting that the majority of the mascara was gone, although there were still dark circles under her eyes. Whether those were from the makeup or lack of sleep, she wasn't certain. She patted at them gently. "Quatre isn't like you. He hasn't kept his skills as honed as you and Heero have. He's a businessman."
Wufei gave her a long, level look. "Precisely."
Relena dumped the rapidly-cooling towel onto her tray table and began working her face over with a third one. "What do you mean?"
"Winner is an expert tactician. His strategies have proved reliable in the past, and though not infallible, they have always included a back-up plan. I trust his decision to keep Yuy secluded. I will aid that plan however necessary."
Relena frowned her disagreement. "But in Heero's current state of mind... is it safe to leave Quatre alone with him?"
Wufei's eyes narrowed. He spoke slowly, as if trying to explain a difficult point to a child. "You forget who Winner is. Do not insult him by underestimating his abilities."
"I didn't mean--"
"Yes, you did," Wufei replied, "but I don't fault you that. Your comments reflect your understanding of the situation, which is not consistent with the reality of the situation. We're not here to protect you from Yuy. He does not want to hurt people any more. He is not a threat."
Relena's eyes widened. "But... but Quatre--"
"Winner's injuries were not fresh. I suspect there was a struggle between him and Yuy the night you left Paris, but it did not appear that anything had happened to him since," Wufei said, staring flatly at the seat in front of him.
"Then hiding me makes no sense!" Relena sputtered. "If there's nothing to fear from Heero, then why are we bothering with all this cloak and dagger business?"
Wufei blinked, then turned to look at her. His face held an incredulous wonder that was quickly concealed. "Do you understand _anything_ about Yuy, onna?"
Relena took a deep breath before answering tightly, "Your point, Wufei?"
Wufei shook his head. "Yuy cares deeply for you. Your... infidelity," he said it like a dirty word, "wounded him as deeply. Yuy does not do hurt well. He channels it into the mission, which was, in this case, to find you. However, if he couldn't find you, that would give him the time to process his emotions. Winner can help him with that." Wufei leaned back. "This is not about protecting you from Yuy, though your brother would have it seem that way. This is, and always was, about protecting Yuy from himself. We are providing him with space."
The sentence silenced her. She stared out the window as the clouds underneath the plane churned.
"As for Maxwell..." Wufei closed his eyes. "That is something he will
have to work out with Yuy." He paused. "Quatre... he is
doing for Yuy what Maxwell does for you. That is admirable."
"Quatre and Heero are not sleeping together, Wufei, and I resent your implying that," Relena replied tartly.
Wufei looked at her levelly. "I never said that. I am merely stating that Winner has chosen to support and distract Yuy as needed without expecting anything in return." He paused. "Both Maxwell and Winner are getting what they expected."
Relena flushed. "That was cruel."
"You forget who Winner and Maxwell are. You forget who Yuy and I are. And you forget where our loyalties lie." Wufei crossed his arms. "I will tell you what I see. I see a woman who does not know what she wants. I see several of my friends have been hurt because of that woman. It would not be honorable to sit idly by and watch the inevitable come to pass."
Relena flinched. "Have you had this discussion with Duo?"
"We have talked before, yes. He was... much less appreciative of my intervention."
"I hope he was." Her gaze returned to the window. "I do care about him."
"Not enough."
Relena's head whipped around. "How would you know whether or not it's enough?"
Wufei stared at the back of the seat, his eyes slightly unfocused. He
was silent so long that Relena thought he was ignoring the
question. When he finally spoke, his voice startled her. "I, too, did
not love enough. I did not realize what I had in my late wife
until she lay dying in my arms, a direct result of my foolishness and
pride. I have spent much time living with the knowledge that I wronged
my wife and will never have the chance to right what I have done. Consider
yourself fortunate; you have time on your side." Wufei swung his
head around to take in Relena's dropped jaw and wide eyes. He laughed.
"I am not made of stone, princess, but nor am I made of glass. As I said,
I've had time to live with my actions. So will you."
Although she had felt some sympathy for Wufei during his quiet retelling,
his last, almost teasing, comment, riled her. "So if you
think what I've done is so wrong, and what Duo's doing is so wrong,
why are you helping? Why did you take this assignment? ou could have just
as easily sent someone else, made this an official Preventers problem."
Wufei regarded her flatly, all the amusement gone from his face. "You are not the only one with unpaid debts, princess. I do what I do for Yuy's sake, not yours." He returned his gaze to the seat in front of him, then closed his eyes. His chest began to rise and fall in a steady rhythm. Relena stared at him, indignant, but finally turned back to the window.
~owari chapter 15~