Chapter 10:
"Finally finished?"
Lark started at the sound Trowa's voice. Turning, she sighed a breath of relief, "You scared me!"
"Sorry," Trowa grimaced as he walked over to where she was sitting. Leaning over her shoulder, he stared at the computer screen. He sighed, she was not finished yet.
Lark leaned her head back against his chest, "I've been working so hard, it's all starting to run together."
Trowa massaged her shoulders, "Maybe you should take a break for awhile."
She reached up and ran a hand through her hair, "I've go to finish this, it can't wait."
"Can't Heero do it?"
"I'm sure, but he's got the checklist to worry about," Lark replied as she closed her eyes. Her shoulders were so tense and Trowa's strong hands felt good.
"So what are the rest of us supposed to be doing?" He asked as he moved his hands to her neck.
"Duo and Wufei are in town getting supplies, and Quatre is preparing the Mangwanaucs for his absence," she smiled, "And you, you're giving me a back massage."
"Well," Trowa replied, "It seems we have this place to ourselves." He pulled her and the chair away from the computer and turned her toward him. "Let's go get something to eat."
She sighed and looked back at the computer, "I only have an hour worth of work left."
"Then it can wait until you've eaten and gotten refreshed," he said as he pulled her to her feet.
Lark tried to protest, "Come on, you're gonna mess up my concentration!"
"That's what I'm planning on doing," Trowa smiled as he dragged her out of the hangar and into the hall.
She was still protesting when they entered the "galley" as Lark liked to call it. The room had several tables with booths lining the walls, and the kitchen was toward the back. There was a bar complete with stools separating the dining room with the actual kitchen. What the room lacked in style, it made up with its space and convenience. Lark smiled, as she looked about the ever so familiar room, it definitely did not lack a woman's touch. She could remember when her mother had decorated this room and several others in the ship. She sighed as she sat down on one of the stools and propped her elbows on the bar.
Trowa looked over at her as he walked around the bar, "What are you thinking about?"
"My mother," Lark replied as she smiled.
"Oh?" Trowa raised his eyebrows questioningly. "And what great memory is plaguing your mind?"
Lark smiled at him, "I was just remembering when she decorated the ship right before I left so that if I got homesick, the rooms would remind me of home."
Trowa looked around at the space-like wallpaper and the many little decorations, which enhanced the feel of the room. In the middle of the room stood a bronze statue of something that looked like a unicorn rearing up on it's hind legs. From what he could judge, it stood over eight feet tall. Far above it hanging from the fifteen foot ceiling, was another sculpture which Trowa guessed was Quarrentine, it's many moons and other stars which surrounded them. The oak wood tables were adorned with little table lamps with crystal lampshades and pure white tablecloths. Trowa held his breath lest the beauty be blown away by a sigh. The dining room was probably one of his favorite rooms in the entire ship. He had thought that the Yahara family must have been rich to have these kinds of decorations in not one but most of the rooms on The Yahara Moon.
"And you're telling me that your mother decorated this room?"
Lark laughed at his amazement, "She not only decorated it, but she sculpted every decoration and painted the walls."
"Painted, " Trowa was truly amazed, "I thought that was wallpaper!"
"Pretty amazing isn't it?" Lark asked.
"I'd say so," Trowa replied, "It looks just like wallpaper."
"It's supposed to," she told him as she stood and began toward the sculpture in the center of the room. "It's a style of painting which my mother invented called 'mimik' and takes hours to do a square foot of wall."
"Hours?" Trowa asked in disbelief as he followed her.
"Yes," Lark said in reply as she smiled up at the big horse, "My mother made this sculpture of a Lahunand for me because she knew that they were my favorite animal."
"It looks like a unicorn," Trowa remarked.
"Unicorn?" Lark asked as she looked at him questioningly.
"They're mythical horses with horns on their foreheads, and wings, which once lived in the time of knights and kings, but don't exist anymore," he explained.
"Really?" Lark was intrigued. "You must tell me more about them some day."
"I will," Trowa replied, "After this battle is won."
"Well," Lark said as she smiled, "You haven't seen anything until you see Emperor Khan's castle. My mother's decorations are what make that place what it is."
"You're telling me that Khan forced your mother to decorate his castle?"
"No." Lark exclaimed as she frowned. "That was before Taobu came into the picture. That was back when Khan befriended our family and before the Gundams came into the picture."
"Your planet must really be behind the flow of things," he observed.
"Yes," Lark replied as she laid a hand on her prized sculpture and smiled, "But that's what makes it so intriguing."
They were both silent for awhile, then Trowa broke the silence, "So, what would you like to eat?"
Lark looked at him with a playful smile, "You're gonna cook for me?"
"Of course, my dear Miss Yahara," Trowa replied as he took her hand and bowed gallantly.
Lark made a disgusted face at him, "Call me that again and I'm gonna kill you."
Trowa laughed as he straitened and mussed her hair, "Ok, how about Mrs. Barton?"
Lark smirked at him, "Is that a proposal?"
"If you want it to be." Trowa replied.
_____
"Heero!"
Relena had been watching for him all day. He had promised to come and say goodbye before he left for the island and went into space. She had been pacing back and forth waiting for him to return.
She ran through the halls, her high-heel shoes echoing on tile floors. Servants stopped their work to see their mistress run by, but Relena did not care, she would straighten it all out after Heero was gone. She laughed like a schoolgirl as she burst through the lobby and out the front door. Miliardo was standing on the porch talking to Heero and she almost mauled him to get to Heero. Heero smiled as he took her in his arms and swung her around in a circle. Neither said a word as he carried her back into the house.
"I wish you didn't have to go without me," Relena remarked when he sat down beside her on the couch.
Heero looked at her and frowned, "I wish you could go too, but there are too many people who don't like me there and I would rather them not try to go after the one I love just so that they can hurt me." He clenched his fists in anger, "Taobu was once the father I never had, but now I have to kill him."
Relena leaned over and linked her arm in his, "I feel so bad for you."
"Don't," Heero replied as he smiled down at her, "I'll have all the family I ever wanted when he's dead."
"When are you leaving?" she asked as she bit her lip. She did not really want to know, but she wanted to take advantage of every minute she had with him. She did not worry about him not coming back, because he had promised, and somehow it just seemed that everything would be happily ever after.
"Lark wants to leave at 8:30 so that we'll get there when everyone is still asleep."
"The time is the same?" Relena asked in astonishment. "I thought there was at least an hour or two's difference."
Heero smiled, "Nope."
Relena smiled back and laid her head on his shoulder, "Three hours left."
She felt him sigh as he ran an oversized hand through her long blond hair, "Let's not think of that until the time is over."
"You're right," Relena replied, "But I can't help it."
"You'll get along alright without me," he assured her, "You've done it before."
"But you didn't love me all those other times."
Heero sighed again. "I did, but was too stubborn to admit it."
Relena smiled and sat up so she could see his face, "Aha! I knew it!
"So," Miliardo said as he so gallantly interrupted their flirting, "What's going on with you two?"
Relena looked up as he entered the room and strode over to the couch opposite the one she and Heero occupied and ground her teeth angrily. "Must you interrupt me every second of the day?"
Miliardo chuckled softly, "Dear little sister, don't you realize that Heero is a mystery to me?"
Relena looked at her older brother in confusion, I wish he'd speak English! "You're talking about fighting again aren't you?"
Miliardo laughed outright and shook his head from side to side, "Come on Relena, we're not that different are we?"
"What the heck are you talking about?" Relena exclaimed in exasperation.
"I'm talking about," Miliardo replied suddenly dropping his nobility air, "I wouldn't mind Heero as a brother-in-law, if you'll have him."
Relena looked at Heero who smiled. She could not help but smile too, so that was what they had been talking about.
"Well," Miliardo said as he stood to leave, "I'll leave you alone for while."
_____
"But you mustn't go alone Master Quatre!" one of the Mangwanaucs protested. He was a big man, dark skinned with fiery red hair, towering over Quatre even as he bowed before him.
Quatre looked at him fondly as if he were an overgrown son and smiled, "You are the only one who can handle the leadership of the Mangwanaucs, Anwar, I want you to stay here."
"But Master!" they all protested at once.
Quatre silenced them with one hand and frowned, "My faithful servants, I need you to stay here and wait for me to come back. If you always go with me wherever I go, then how will you learn to live without a leader?"
"Don't say that!" another man from the crowd exclaimed as he came forward.
"Finn," Quatre replied as the black haired man knelt in front of him, "I need you to stay here most of all, you're leadership is what will keep the Mangwanaucs together during my absence. Don't make it any harder than it already is."
"Yes Master," Finn replied silently as he stood and frowned, "Come back as soon as you can."
"I will," Quatre replied as tears threatened to spill over onto his white silk shirt, "But I must leave you now, it's almost 8:00."
With that, Quatre began toward the car that was waiting for him. I wish that I could at least take one of them, he thought silently as the car headed out of the camp and he waved goodbye for the last time.
"Finally finished?"
Lark started at the sound Trowa's voice. Turning, she sighed a breath of relief, "You scared me!"
"Sorry," Trowa grimaced as he walked over to where she was sitting. Leaning over her shoulder, he stared at the computer screen. He sighed, she was not finished yet.
Lark leaned her head back against his chest, "I've been working so hard, it's all starting to run together."
Trowa massaged her shoulders, "Maybe you should take a break for awhile."
She reached up and ran a hand through her hair, "I've go to finish this, it can't wait."
"Can't Heero do it?"
"I'm sure, but he's got the checklist to worry about," Lark replied as she closed her eyes. Her shoulders were so tense and Trowa's strong hands felt good.
"So what are the rest of us supposed to be doing?" He asked as he moved his hands to her neck.
"Duo and Wufei are in town getting supplies, and Quatre is preparing the Mangwanaucs for his absence," she smiled, "And you, you're giving me a back massage."
"Well," Trowa replied, "It seems we have this place to ourselves." He pulled her and the chair away from the computer and turned her toward him. "Let's go get something to eat."
She sighed and looked back at the computer, "I only have an hour worth of work left."
"Then it can wait until you've eaten and gotten refreshed," he said as he pulled her to her feet.
Lark tried to protest, "Come on, you're gonna mess up my concentration!"
"That's what I'm planning on doing," Trowa smiled as he dragged her out of the hangar and into the hall.
She was still protesting when they entered the "galley" as Lark liked to call it. The room had several tables with booths lining the walls, and the kitchen was toward the back. There was a bar complete with stools separating the dining room with the actual kitchen. What the room lacked in style, it made up with its space and convenience. Lark smiled, as she looked about the ever so familiar room, it definitely did not lack a woman's touch. She could remember when her mother had decorated this room and several others in the ship. She sighed as she sat down on one of the stools and propped her elbows on the bar.
Trowa looked over at her as he walked around the bar, "What are you thinking about?"
"My mother," Lark replied as she smiled.
"Oh?" Trowa raised his eyebrows questioningly. "And what great memory is plaguing your mind?"
Lark smiled at him, "I was just remembering when she decorated the ship right before I left so that if I got homesick, the rooms would remind me of home."
Trowa looked around at the space-like wallpaper and the many little decorations, which enhanced the feel of the room. In the middle of the room stood a bronze statue of something that looked like a unicorn rearing up on it's hind legs. From what he could judge, it stood over eight feet tall. Far above it hanging from the fifteen foot ceiling, was another sculpture which Trowa guessed was Quarrentine, it's many moons and other stars which surrounded them. The oak wood tables were adorned with little table lamps with crystal lampshades and pure white tablecloths. Trowa held his breath lest the beauty be blown away by a sigh. The dining room was probably one of his favorite rooms in the entire ship. He had thought that the Yahara family must have been rich to have these kinds of decorations in not one but most of the rooms on The Yahara Moon.
"And you're telling me that your mother decorated this room?"
Lark laughed at his amazement, "She not only decorated it, but she sculpted every decoration and painted the walls."
"Painted, " Trowa was truly amazed, "I thought that was wallpaper!"
"Pretty amazing isn't it?" Lark asked.
"I'd say so," Trowa replied, "It looks just like wallpaper."
"It's supposed to," she told him as she stood and began toward the sculpture in the center of the room. "It's a style of painting which my mother invented called 'mimik' and takes hours to do a square foot of wall."
"Hours?" Trowa asked in disbelief as he followed her.
"Yes," Lark said in reply as she smiled up at the big horse, "My mother made this sculpture of a Lahunand for me because she knew that they were my favorite animal."
"It looks like a unicorn," Trowa remarked.
"Unicorn?" Lark asked as she looked at him questioningly.
"They're mythical horses with horns on their foreheads, and wings, which once lived in the time of knights and kings, but don't exist anymore," he explained.
"Really?" Lark was intrigued. "You must tell me more about them some day."
"I will," Trowa replied, "After this battle is won."
"Well," Lark said as she smiled, "You haven't seen anything until you see Emperor Khan's castle. My mother's decorations are what make that place what it is."
"You're telling me that Khan forced your mother to decorate his castle?"
"No." Lark exclaimed as she frowned. "That was before Taobu came into the picture. That was back when Khan befriended our family and before the Gundams came into the picture."
"Your planet must really be behind the flow of things," he observed.
"Yes," Lark replied as she laid a hand on her prized sculpture and smiled, "But that's what makes it so intriguing."
They were both silent for awhile, then Trowa broke the silence, "So, what would you like to eat?"
Lark looked at him with a playful smile, "You're gonna cook for me?"
"Of course, my dear Miss Yahara," Trowa replied as he took her hand and bowed gallantly.
Lark made a disgusted face at him, "Call me that again and I'm gonna kill you."
Trowa laughed as he straitened and mussed her hair, "Ok, how about Mrs. Barton?"
Lark smirked at him, "Is that a proposal?"
"If you want it to be." Trowa replied.
_____
"Heero!"
Relena had been watching for him all day. He had promised to come and say goodbye before he left for the island and went into space. She had been pacing back and forth waiting for him to return.
She ran through the halls, her high-heel shoes echoing on tile floors. Servants stopped their work to see their mistress run by, but Relena did not care, she would straighten it all out after Heero was gone. She laughed like a schoolgirl as she burst through the lobby and out the front door. Miliardo was standing on the porch talking to Heero and she almost mauled him to get to Heero. Heero smiled as he took her in his arms and swung her around in a circle. Neither said a word as he carried her back into the house.
"I wish you didn't have to go without me," Relena remarked when he sat down beside her on the couch.
Heero looked at her and frowned, "I wish you could go too, but there are too many people who don't like me there and I would rather them not try to go after the one I love just so that they can hurt me." He clenched his fists in anger, "Taobu was once the father I never had, but now I have to kill him."
Relena leaned over and linked her arm in his, "I feel so bad for you."
"Don't," Heero replied as he smiled down at her, "I'll have all the family I ever wanted when he's dead."
"When are you leaving?" she asked as she bit her lip. She did not really want to know, but she wanted to take advantage of every minute she had with him. She did not worry about him not coming back, because he had promised, and somehow it just seemed that everything would be happily ever after.
"Lark wants to leave at 8:30 so that we'll get there when everyone is still asleep."
"The time is the same?" Relena asked in astonishment. "I thought there was at least an hour or two's difference."
Heero smiled, "Nope."
Relena smiled back and laid her head on his shoulder, "Three hours left."
She felt him sigh as he ran an oversized hand through her long blond hair, "Let's not think of that until the time is over."
"You're right," Relena replied, "But I can't help it."
"You'll get along alright without me," he assured her, "You've done it before."
"But you didn't love me all those other times."
Heero sighed again. "I did, but was too stubborn to admit it."
Relena smiled and sat up so she could see his face, "Aha! I knew it!
"So," Miliardo said as he so gallantly interrupted their flirting, "What's going on with you two?"
Relena looked up as he entered the room and strode over to the couch opposite the one she and Heero occupied and ground her teeth angrily. "Must you interrupt me every second of the day?"
Miliardo chuckled softly, "Dear little sister, don't you realize that Heero is a mystery to me?"
Relena looked at her older brother in confusion, I wish he'd speak English! "You're talking about fighting again aren't you?"
Miliardo laughed outright and shook his head from side to side, "Come on Relena, we're not that different are we?"
"What the heck are you talking about?" Relena exclaimed in exasperation.
"I'm talking about," Miliardo replied suddenly dropping his nobility air, "I wouldn't mind Heero as a brother-in-law, if you'll have him."
Relena looked at Heero who smiled. She could not help but smile too, so that was what they had been talking about.
"Well," Miliardo said as he stood to leave, "I'll leave you alone for while."
_____
"But you mustn't go alone Master Quatre!" one of the Mangwanaucs protested. He was a big man, dark skinned with fiery red hair, towering over Quatre even as he bowed before him.
Quatre looked at him fondly as if he were an overgrown son and smiled, "You are the only one who can handle the leadership of the Mangwanaucs, Anwar, I want you to stay here."
"But Master!" they all protested at once.
Quatre silenced them with one hand and frowned, "My faithful servants, I need you to stay here and wait for me to come back. If you always go with me wherever I go, then how will you learn to live without a leader?"
"Don't say that!" another man from the crowd exclaimed as he came forward.
"Finn," Quatre replied as the black haired man knelt in front of him, "I need you to stay here most of all, you're leadership is what will keep the Mangwanaucs together during my absence. Don't make it any harder than it already is."
"Yes Master," Finn replied silently as he stood and frowned, "Come back as soon as you can."
"I will," Quatre replied as tears threatened to spill over onto his white silk shirt, "But I must leave you now, it's almost 8:00."
With that, Quatre began toward the car that was waiting for him. I wish that I could at least take one of them, he thought silently as the car headed out of the camp and he waved goodbye for the last time.