For Rel
Note: I don't own Gundam Wing or its characters. I don't own any of the rides, or Six Flags, that are mentioned in this or in any other chapter.
Okay, did he have this right? She did say Six Flags in Illinois right? By the carousel she would meet him right? So where in all those instructions was 'by the way you won't find me there'? Quatre had no idea but he was getting impatient with just waiting for Relena to arrive, and he had only been there for five minutes though it felt like five years.
"Where could she be?" he wondered out loud as he straightened his navy blue vest and red t-shirt. Out of nowhere he felt two hands cover his eyes, keeping him from seeing anything.
"Guess who?" whispered a taunting voice in his ear.
"R…Relena?" he muttered as a smile spread across his features. The hands uncovered his eyes and Quatre turned around to a see a changed Relena. Wow, was his first and only thought as Quatre took in Relena's pin-up stripped pants, white tank top, black tie, and black suspenders.
"You're no fun, you didn't even guess anyone else's name," pouted Relena.
Uh? Did she say something? Quatre questioned being brought out of his trance.
"Oh well, I'm glad you could come. Especially since I know it probably took you forever to convince your bodyguards to let you come alone," smiled Relena.
"Yeah, a four and a half hour long debate, but I finally talked them into letting me come," shrugged Quatre cheerfully but then his mood switched to one of relief. "It's good to see you again, Relena." The former gundam pilot approached the girl, ready to give her hug.
Relena met him half way and there they stood embracing one another. "I've missed you too, Quatre," she murmured into his shoulder as it suddenly dawned on her that he had grown a few inches compared to what she remembered of him. "You've grown a bit, haven't you?"
"A few inches," chuckled Quatre releasing his hold on Relena. "Well, what would you like to do first?"
He watched as Relena put a finger to her chin as though in thought, and that was when he saw that she had cut her hair to shoulder length again. This time it was cut on an angle so that the front strands of hair were longer then the back.
"Well, since we're already by the carousel let's go on this one first," she grinned grabbing Quatre's hand and dragging him into the line for the upper level of the carousel.
It didn't take long before they were sitting on two large horses on the upper level. Quatre was mounted on a white horse with false ruby gems while Relena was on a brown horse with false emerald studs.
"Aren't we a little old for these kind of things?" Quatre inquired feeling a bit stupid for riding on a carousel when he was nearly 20 years old.
"At heart I'm not, but if you want we can get off," offered Relena ready to dismount.
"No! No, it's fine. I just haven't been on one of these in such a long time," stated Quatre deciding to let Relena enjoy the ride even though he felt embarrassed by it.
The ride began to spin.
"Really? How long ago was it?" asked Relena as she went up and Quatre went down.
"It has been nearly 10 years since I last rode on one of these," snorted Quatre noticing the children in front of him wave below to their parents. That was father and I at one point, but that had all changed, he thought sadly.
"Are you okay there, Quatre?" called Relena in a voice of concern.
Shaking away his thoughts the representative nodded. "Of course, so when was your last time on one of these?"
Relena blushed slightly. "Actually this is my first time," she answered.
Quatre's jaw dropped. What child had not been on a carousel before? Was that even possible?
"Father was often busy or elsewhere in the colonies or Earth, mother was not interested in carnivals plus she had back problems, and then Pagan has a history of a heart attack so he was not fit for the rides. So, instead of deciding to be a burden-as I thought of it as-I just choked up my tears and never went to any carnivals," explained Relena.
"Wow," was all Quatre said as the ride stopped.
"Oh well, at least now I get to have all these new experiences with one of my friends," the girl just said off-handedly as Quatre helped her off.
"But you wish Heero was here instead of myself," pointed out Quatre, afterwards wanting to kick himself in the butt for that. There was a noticeable tensing of her muscles and a glint of hurt in her eyes that quickly passed.
"Heero, gets to have all these experiences with Vice Foreign Minister Sylvia Noventa. If I remember correctly, they are still an item," claimed Relena grapping Quatre's hand. "Besides, you are the one that wanted to see me even if it meant having to let me go again, and for that I am grateful for."
Quatre's heart almost soared. Almost, that is.
"Come on, you choose a ride," Relena suggested as she led the way off the carousel, down the stairs, and back into the crowds.
In the crowds, Quatre pulled out his map of the amusement park and began scanning it for a nearby ride that they could go on together. "How about the Fun Machine?" he suggested having no clue what it was.
"Sounds good to me," nodded Relena letting Quatre lead the way to the ride.
They went underneath a bridge and went through a mist of water before they found the ride and got into line. It was a relatively short line but they weren't going to be getting on the next time around.
"So what have you been doing the last five months?" asked Quatre, afterwards he wanted to kick himself, again, for that. She's going to think that I am trying to pry into where she has been all this time.
"Well, I have been going to college, working, and generally having a good time while enjoying every minute of my freedom," Relena told him. "It's okay to ask me that Quatre, I just won't go into too many details, but don't ask where I have been."
Relief washed over Quatre as he let out a sigh.
"I see that you cut your hair," he stated, brushing a hand over her hair.
"Yeah, I wanted a change to go with my change of life. What do you think of the outfit? A bit radical?" she inquired spinning around for her companion.
"It is a bit radical compared to what you used to wear, but it suits you," complimented the representative. "What do you want to do after college?"
"Well, as a child I did want to be a doctor, then in fifth grade I wanted to be teacher, in seventh grade I wanted to be an archaeologist, and then in ninth grade, the last year I was in school, I wanted to be a trainer for horses. Now, I'm finding a passion for music, business, and literature, so I don't know," shrugged Relena moving with the line until the gate closed in front of her.
"You are lucky to have had such goals," commented Quatre.
"Aw, come on Quatre you have a goal too, to keep wars away from the colonies," Relena reassured.
"And you had the goal of putting a stop to all wars between Earth and the colonies, which you succeeded at," he pointed out.
"That I didn't, that was all you gundam pilots, you put a stop to the war all I had been doing is keep any more wars from happening. Of course that led to almost all representatives looking to me for counsel, it was like they could not make a decision without me," corrected Relena as the ride had come to a stop and the operator opened the gate.
"Come on," urged Relena running to a nearby car and then climbed inside, followed by Quatre who pulled down the bar and locked it.
"I guess this is a first for both of us," remarked Quatre.
"That'll make this even more fun then," smirked Relena as the operator checked their car and then went back over to his control panel.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the fun machine, please keep your arms and legs inside the cars at all times and secure any personal items. Enjoy the ride," announced the operator as three honks were heard and then hissing from the center piece of the machine.
They spun clockwise slower for a bit as the three divisions of cars also were rotating. Soon the speed grew and Relena was slipping towards Quatre, until finally she slammed into him.
"Sorry," she apologized trying to move back over to her spot but the gravitational pull kept bringing her back to Quatre.
"May as well stay here with me," grinned Quatre. Glad that I chose this ride, he thought.
*****
Quatre was tired by the end of the day when he and Relena got back to the carousel, both shivering since they had just gone on a water ride, Roaring Rapids, and the temperature had dropped a bit.
Why the hell did this day have to pass by so fast? wondered Quatre. The day had been quite eventful with the rides, the lunch and dinner conversations, and Relena's spontaneous singing and dancing.
"Thanks for such a great day Quatre, but I am afraid that it is time we part," spoke up Relena.
"Yeah," nodded Quatre pulling Relena into a hug for one last time, if they were ever going to meet again that is. "You will call me again, won't you?"
"Of course I will," giggled Relena pulling out of the embrace. "I will definitively be giving you a call soon. Maybe we'll do this again sometime."
"I would like that," Quatre grinned widely. "You take care, Lena."
"You too, Quatre, you too," responded Relena giving him a kiss on the cheek before going off towards the exit.
"Relena," Quatre called causing her to turn to him with a smile, "Heero really doesn't deserve Sylvia but he doesn't deserve you either!"
Relena's smile grew. "Thanks Quatre, I'll keep that in mind." With that she disappeared among the many people leaving the amusement park.
"Well, Quatre, you got to see her and you let her go, just like you said," he muttered to himself as he sat down on a bench pulling out the picture of him and Relena that he had bought when they had gone on the rebuilt, still wooden, American Eagle roller coaster.
I should have known that he would be here too, Heero thought bitterly when he first saw Zeches sitting in Lady Une's office. "What is he doing here?" demanded Heero.
"Relena is my sister, of course I am going to be here," Zeches answered for Lady Une as he glared at Heero. The two could-would-never see eye to eye, only when it came to Relena did they set aside their own feelings to work together.
"Zeches has a hunch of who Relena might be out of those three girls," added Lady Une.
"Duo told you about them," Heero acknowledged not even needing his superior or Relena's brother to confirm it for him. "I have my own hunch."
"So let's compare. Who do you believe it to be?" challenged Zeches.
"It is Lynn, to my belief," Heero replied coolly. "Who do you suspect it is?"
Zeches smirked.