Author's Note: Hey everyone! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to finally write another fan fiction, but I've had no time! Not to mention the biggest writers block you've ever seen! *Clutches head as if in pain* It's a bit different from my other stories (I wanted to try something new) but I wanted it to include Midii and Trowa…(since my other 3xMU still remains unfinished *sniff*). I promise to work on my story Love and Betrayal as soon as I can Midii! Honest!
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BUT NANASHI NEVER CAME
Chapter One:
Headquarters was an absolute whirlwind of excitement and mass confusion. There was gossip buzzing madly around the compound. Unsigned papers and documents cluttered half the staff's desks.
The male half.
It had been six months since a new arrival was promoted to working at headquarters. And the news was that Lady Une had even surpassed Preventer Yuy in assigning the position. She kept her reasons, as well as the identity of newest recruit, a secret. The only thing that had managed to leak out was that the officer was female.
"I bet it's that hot brunette from Earth," an officer whispered to his comrade from behind the security of his hand. "You know, the one who recently stopped the assassination attempt on Vice Foreign Minister Dorlian?"
"Nah," he hissed back in a hoarse tone. "Yuy already talked to her and thanked her personally. Besides, if Une were bringing her here, what would all the secrets be for?"
His friend was about to protest but at that moment Heero Yuy and Trowa Barton turned the corner of the metal corridor. He quickly snapped his mouth shut and attempted to revert his gaze from the cold, hardened one of probably the most irritable Preventer of all.
Heero's eyes, as well as his entire physique, were unusual hard at the moment. His temples throbbed and his jaw muscles clenched tightly. He brushed passed the lower officers with hardly even a glance, even though he had heard the mention of his name long before he had turned the corner. People just couldn't learn how to keep their mouths shut.
His strides were long and swift; his hands shoved into the pockets of his forest-green Preventer jacket. It wasn't often he was surpassed, especially without any motive as to why. But that had definitely been what happened that afternoon.
The pilot, still outraged at Lady Une's extreme actions, took a deep breath. It was his job to interview possible Preventers to be moved to headquarters. He was the one after all, who had the most knack for picking out a liar or spy. Une had no right to surpass his authority and hire someone whose name wouldn't even be mentioned.
Trowa smiled inwardly, noticing his partner's intense acerbity. Heero always did have a 'don't-mess-with-me' aura about him, but today it seemed greatly intensified. His quickened pace was only one of the almost invisible signs of irritation that only he and the other gundam pilots could notice.
He took a deep breath, inhaling through the nose and blowing it out into the deep brown bangs that concealed half his face. He'd changed a bit over the years, grown to be nearly six foot, and his figure had become much more masculine. But his face had always stayed the same. It's contours were still darkened with the pain and sorrows that we inevitable with war. His eyes…still the jaded green they had always been.
It was something that Catherine told him always set him apart in the crowd. "Not everyone has eyes like you do Trowa," she'd told him one night after a show. "Just look at all those girls. They're simply swooning over you. It's as if you could drown in their depth, but if you blink, they suddenly become shallow and hardened. Ever changing…and yet always the same…"
The two walked toward the hangar in silence, minus the hollow echoing of their footfalls. Even though Lady Une had cut Heero out of her interview, he and Trowa had still been assigned to receive the new recruit. Was there even a need for a new officer? Trowa wondered as he slid his security card through the keypad of the staff elevator.
As the wire cage began to descend, the two caught sight of the shuttle as it pulled into the hangar. An aggravated growl rose in the back of Heero's throat. It wasn't her fault, he reminded himself.
"You know, Heero-" Trowa began in a seemingly casual tone, but Heero knew him well enough to realize that Trowa's laid-back manner meant to should listen. "Lady Une technically had the right to make the executive decisions. She is head of Preventer after all. You might be important to the organization…but it's her organization."
Heero's muscles loosened a bit, the logic finally settling in. That was true. He just wasn't used to being ignored.
The cage came to an abrupt halt. Slowly the un-oiled gate whined and opened. The two headed toward the stream of people shuffling anxiously off the passenger shuttle.
"How the hell does Lady Une expect us to find her new recruit if we don't know what she looks like?" Heero inquired irritably, scanning the crowd. Trowa merely shrugged his shoulders.
The two waited apprehensively, Heero still goaded about his involuntary absence in the decision. The mass began to dwindle, and soon the hangar was nearly empty.
"Well-" Heero grunted, turning to leave. "Just shows what a great Preventer she would have made. She can't even catch a shuttle. I told Lady Une-"
He stopped as he noticed Trowa wasn't following. "Trowa-" he barked.
But he wasn't listening. He stood rooted to the spot, a thousand memories rushing painfully through his mind. He blinked, then blinked again. It couldn't be. No, it had to be some uncanny coincidence; there would be no way it could possibly be true.
His breath caught in his chest, a twinge of pain jolting through his heart. It had been so long, but the ache was just as agonizing as it had been that day. "There's nothing that ties you down. You have no name, no past- and now no comrades." That had been the most difficult thing he had ever done- walking away without looking back. It took every ounce of his self restraint not to run back and hold her tightly in his arms.
Much like it did at this exact moment.
Her hair was still the same pale gold, resting gently in tendrils on her now defined shoulders. Her skin glowed under the fluorescent lights. A saddlebag hung at her side, and the Preventer symbol could be seen stitched into the dark green fabric of her jackets right sleeve.
She strode confidently toward the two, her azure eyes glistening with audacity. Her steps were light, barely echoing from the now deserted hangar.
"You weren't planning to leave without me, where you?" she questioned, a sly smirk adorning her youthful features. Heero turned toward the girl and replied with a short grunt.
Trowa couldn't breathe. Why…why was she here?
"I take it you're the new recruit?" Heero mumbled. The woman smiled and held out her perfectly manicured hand.
"Indeed. Nice to meet you Mr. Heero Yuy."
Heero glared at her. For some reason she seemed to rub him the wrong way. Her impudence was rather annoying. But then again, it hadn't been a good day all around.
"Nice to meet you…" Heero trailed.
But at that moment, Trowa and her caught each others searching glances. Neither one of their eyes had changed…not since that day.
Her hand immediately dropped. Subconsciously she pushed her way past the hanging Zero pilot and stood in front of the silent figure behind him. Her breath caught, like so many times before.
He was the same as the small boy who had continually plagued her mind for so many sleepless nights in the past. His hair masked half his face, concealing one of his jade eyes. Eyes that she had been drowning in for so long…
But now they were hard and shallow. Cold, like the barrel of the gun that she had been sure that would end her life, and yet somehow managed to miss.
Pulling herself together, she let a smile caress her lips. She held out her hand to the new pilot and warmth filled her as he took it in his own.
"Nice to meet you," she crooned softly. "My name is Midii Une."
He stared at her, his emotions mixed and disfigured. She had used her name, made no attempt to hide who she was…or what she was.
He slid his hand from her grip, his fingers trailing over her delicate skin.
Heero stood, his questioning gaze resting and relying on Trowa for answers. But he remained silent, his body set with an unusual amount of rigidity.
Instead, the answer came from the thrilled Preventer chief.
"Midii!" Lady Une shrieked, rushing over to the girl from the elevator. "Midii it's so wonderful to finally meet you!" She pulled her into a loving embrace. She held her tightly, and Trowa wished more than anything that he could be the one hugging her angelic figure. Lady Une pulled her back, gazing into her face. She sighed.
"You look just like your mother…"
Midii's eyes dropped to the floor. Maybe this had been a mistake, she pondered anxiously. Already she had been swathed with painful memories of her past, things she had tried so hard to forget. Nanashi- with his eyes that always seemed to be searching her soul. Her mother- someone she had never met and yet somehow was the exact replica of. And the mysterious Lady Une- supposedly her father's half-sister, whom he had never mentioned. Perhaps she should leave. Go back home to the things that were familiar to her. Away from here; from the haunting images of things that had died from her all those years ago. Home…but away from Nanashi.
She lifted her head confidently, the gleam again reborn in her eye's unfathomable depths. This is where she belonged now…or at least for the moment.
"Yes," she replied finally, masking her ambivalent feelings. "So I've been told before. But it's not as if I can give a first hand account." Lady Une's eyes glazed over with compassion.
"I'm sorry…it must be so difficult…being all alone…"
The sting jeered at Trowa's heart. Alone…a word he had been acquainted with for so long. Now one of the few people who understood him was a friend to the feeling as well. Once again, they were the same…
Midii caught his searching glances and it locked with her own. She stared confidently back at him. "Very," she admitted, brushing a wisp of hair away from her eyes. "But I learned how to deal with emotional pain at a very young age." Trowa swallowed hard. "But that's inevitable during war, isn't?" she said, directing her comment toward the silent soldier.
Lady Une caught their glances and withdrew from her hold of the girl so she could take in the two together. "Midii," she began, carefully picking her words to minimize the painful memories it might cause. "Midii…do you and Preventer Barton know each other?"
Midii closed her eyes, remembering the small, resolute boy who could have so easily taken her life. Good-bye Midii… he had whispered. She could still hear his haunting words echo through her beset mind.
"No…" she began slowly, noticing the brief glimpse of surprise spring into his eyes. "I don't know Preventer Barton. I only know the nameless soldier who he once was. Hello Nanashi."
Both Heero and Lady Une stared at the two in disbelief. Suddenly Lady Une became aware of the tension between the two former acquaintances. Perhaps her plan would not work out as smoothly as she had planed.
Midii only smiled, the warm feeling she had first received when her gaze fell on Nanashi quickly diminishing. Now feelings of contempt…hatred…and resentment consumed her. She had loved him…possibly still loved him…but now all she could do was hide behind the tearless mask he had taught her so well.
Can I never escape you Nanashi? She thought miserably. Am I forever doomed to carry your image in my heart?
Finally she spoke, her words cautiously chosen and strung together with the finest care. "I have nothing to hide from you Nanashi. If you wanted me dead you could have easily ended it eight years ago. But you didn't and now I'm here." She looked at Lady Une, the only family she had left. "Would you mind if I retired for the night? It was rather a long flight from Earth and I find I'm very tired…"
Lady Une nodded silently and headed towards the elevator. This could be a potential problem, she thought gloomily as she waited for Midii to follow.
Trowa swallowed hard as Midii looked at him one last time. "Good-bye Nanashi…" she whispered quietly as she turned to leave.
Pain consumed his heart. She had been the only one to call him that and make it sound as if it were truly a name. But she had changed so much. There was no doubt in his mind that she was the same girl he had left, alone on the desolate battlefield. But now it was almost as if she had transformed into a completely new, dispassionate person.
Her eyes no longer cried with pain, or glistened with fear and uncertainly. They were hard and unmoving, like those of a soldier. She had shown no emotion at their reunion. No sign that she shared the same feeling that he did.
But now those feelings vanished like a wisp of smoke on a windy day. Anger bubbled inside of him. Images of a field of massacre distorted his vision and the smell of mixed sulfur and blood lingered under his nose.
It was her fault. It had been all her fault! The death, the destruction. She deserved whatever pain and agony had been inflicted on her. There was no amount of suffering that could equal the pain she had caused others…and him.
Suddenly Trowa was filled with spite. He pivoted around, glaring at Heero. His face still flawless and emotionless, he spoke cold and empty. "Lets go."