Warnings: A bittle wittle angst.
Disclaimers: Gundam Wing and all related characters do not belong
to me.
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No Title Yet - Chapter Three
Having almost forgotten about the events of the previous night, I awoke in Bruno's small trailer bed, my head thumping in pain. I groaned, and found my throat sore and dry. I coughed softly, and waited for my blurry vision to clear up. Soon enough, my eyes began to focus, as I suddenly realized that I wasn't at home in my comfy bed, and that Heero was nowhere in sight. My first thought was that I had been kidnapped, when slowly the memory of the night before crept back into mind. It was still so vivid - Heero... Duo...
Staring at the muddy white ceiling above me, all I could see were the images of the one person I trusted most with one of my best friends... I could remember perfectly every bit of detail in that moment, haunting me, nagging in my mind...
I shook my head in frustration, willing these thoughts away. I quickly sat up, and found that Bruno had already gone. I knew that he was probably practising, since today was their opening night. I sighed softly, and quickly changed from the T-shirt my new friend had lended me to my white, now wrinkled, suit.
Standing in front of a small bathroom mirror, I brushed my long, messy hair, then tied it up with my usual bow. And, for a moment, I just stared at myself.
'Vice Foreign Minister Dorlian-Yuy. That is who I am,' I thought, but somehow, that didn't really make feel better. I felt like I was about to throw up. I ran my hand through my fringe, not parting gazes with my own reflection. Somehow, it suddenly occurred to me how fast I had grown up. I had only been fifteen when I became the leader of a country, and then the Queen of the World. And only a year later, the Vice Foreign Minister. When had I become so... joyless?
I sighed at my reflection, and looked away from it. I was too disgusted by myself and by what I had become. No wonder Heero didn't want me anymore. Who would?
'Shut up and get over it,' I told myself. 'No use whining about it.'
I straightened my posture, and made my way back out the trailer. I had to be strong. That's all I could be. After all, I hadn't come this far to be shattered by something so... so silly!
With that in mind, I looked around the wide, green field. It was full of busy circus people, hurrying from one tent to another. No one even spared me a glance, but I didn't really expect anything. The main tent in front of me towered above me with its bright colours and happy music playing. I could already smell the delicious smell of breakfast and the usual carnival scent of cotton candy. Behind the row of trailers I could hear groups of people talking, probably having breakfast, and for a moment I thought to join them, until I realized that I wasn't really hungry.
My headache still being a pain, I decided to take a walk, and look around the place a bit, see if I could find Bruno, and thank him for everything. I still wasn't really sure if I should go back and talk to Heero - maybe it had all been a misunderstanding...
'Yeah, right,' I thought, and rolled my eyes unintentionally.
I decided to take a look at the main tent, first, since it seemed to be the busiest part of the circus. Once inside, I found myself between two huge seating areas for the guests to watch this evening. Rows upon rows went round the tent, making it look almost like an arena. The lights and decorations had already been set up, gracing the sides with colourful eye candy. Pictures of strange sea maidens and brave lion tamers had been painted on the inside of the tent. Strong beams had been set up for the acrobats, as well as the net to go under it.
At the moment, the magician practised his acts, while above him, the acrobats swung themselves from one beam to another. In one area of the arena, the clowns threw their pies, and in another the knife thrower carefully eyed her masked victim. I was guessing that Bruno was probably among the clowns at the moment, and so didn't want to disturb him in the middle of his act. I silently exited the main tent again, and looked around for anything else to investigate.
There was a side entrance for the main tent on the other side, which was probably for the performers. I decided to wait there for Bruno, thank him for everything, and leave. As I entered, I was met with the annoyed growls of a female lion, her piercing eyes immediately directed at me. I guess I woke her up. I walked over to her cage, and smiled softly. She growled again, trying to get me to go away, but I gave her no response. I guess the lioness grew tired of me, and simply lay her head back down, although her eyes never left me.
"Do you know what it feels like to be free?" I whispered to her. She just blinked at me, tired and bored. "'Cause I sure don't." I would have loved to touch her soft, furry coat, but I was too unsure of how tame circus lions were.
"Don't worry, she won't bite," a voice beside me spoke. Startled, I suddenly realized that someone had come up next to me. I looked up at him, but his face was still masked - he been the target for that knife throwing act, I was sure of that. He was quite tall and softly toned, a long uni-bang shadowing most of his face. His head slightly turned towards me.
"Sorry?" I asked.
"Alanna here," he gestured towards the lioness, stuck his hand in the cage through the bars and massaged the lioness behind the ear. "She's completely harmless."
"Oh," I said, not really knowing what else I should say. I turned towards him, and asked, while he was here, "Do you know Bruno?"
"Yes."
"Well, could you please tell him that I thank him for his hospitality, but I have to go now, since I-I have... I have to go to work." He nodded. He too turned towards me, and smiled. Well, at least half of his lips did, since only now did I realize that his mask was chopped in half.
"Wouldn't you want some breakfast before you leave?" His left eye glinted at me a deep emerald colour, and I was sure I had seen it before.
"Sure," I murmured, somewhat awed. Luckily, I snapped out of it, as he took his hand back out of the cage. Without a word, he lead the way to a little seating area outside, situated right behind the trailers. There were already a couple of circus people seated, talking over their food, some even in their costumes. At the side stood a little booth, tended by a young girl, who smiled at us cheerily.
"G'mornin', Trowie! Who've ya got there? Ya new girlfriend?" I blushed softly, but "Trowie's" expression didn't change. I guess this was normal. "Well, what will it be?"
"Usual."
"You got it!" she grinned and immediately handed us two plates of bacon, eggs and french toast, all of it practically swimming in fat. I eyed it warily, then the young girl, who still grinned at us.
"Enjoy!" she winked.
'Trowie' had already sat down at a table, and started to delicately eat his food. I quickly caught up, and sat down opposite him. Without looking up, he continued on systematically devouring his breakfast. Hesitating, I looked down onto my plate. Ugh.
'Ok, you've gone through worse, Relena. You can get through this,' I thought to myself. I slowly started cutting at the bacon, but it was an impossible task, as it seemed to be made out of rubber.
'Ok, calm... calm...'
I tried again, this time applying more pressure onto it. Cut cut cut cut.... nothing. What was wrong with this food? Or was it the knife?
Warily, I looked around to see everyone else happily eating their breakfast, no one seeming to meet any troubles at all. My gaze slowly wandered to my comrade in front of me, who was delightfully chewing on a piece of meat. I dropped both knife and fork, and pushed my plate away.
"I'm not hungry anymore. I... really, really need to go," I said, but he still didn't look up. Was he deaf or something?
I sighed and shook my head in frustration. Taking my plate to the bin, I scraped all the food off it, and handed it back to the cheery lady, who was still grinning like a maniac.
Deciding that I needed to get out of this place as soon as possible,
I made my way out of the grounds. Warily looking back at the towering tent,
I suddenly heard someone call my name. I stopped and, only a few metres
away, I saw Heero get out of his car, and walk towards me. My jaw dropped
slightly - how did he find me? Then I remembered - he's a Gundam pilot.
What did I expect? In either case, he was here, and this time, I wasn't
going to run.
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