Chapter Ten
Sally finally arrived home. Thankfully, Wufei would be home the day after. They had started living together just over a year ago and, to be honest, she just did not like being on her own anymore. It was fine for a few hours but, as soon as the night came and she had to go to bed, she was reminded that she was on her own and it was very sad and almost scary. She was also worried because Wufei had told her about the favour he was doing to Quatre and Trowa. It was a stupid thing worrying so much about him, after all he was an ex-Gundam pilot…in any case, she was concerned that something might have happened and she would not be there…
She was about to tell herself off for being so silly when the videocom buzzed. She virtually dived to it and pressed the button. It was her best friend Lucrezia.
"Ah, it's you…" she said disappointingly.
"Well, yes…I'm sorry…" Lucrezia replied a bit annoyed.
"Oh no…I didn't mean it that way…I just thought it was…" started Sally trying to repair the harm.
"I know…you thought it was Wufei…" finished Lucrezia understandingly.
"Yes…I'm sorry…I'm also very happy to talk to you…I think I need to…" said the doctor a bit sad.
"What's up sweetie? You look so down…" asked Lucrezia worried about her friend's sad expression.
"Is just…well, I guess I feel lonely…Wufei has only been gone for two days but…well, is just that it's the first time we separate since we moved in together…" explained Sally.
"I see…you know, I would feel the same…I used to feel very lonely before we had Zach…now, even if Milliardo isn't home, I still have Zach to keep me in company…besides, he's just like his dad…" said the short haired brunette.
"What, he's also 'incredibly good looking and absolutely adorable' as you put it when you married him?" asked Sally jokingly.
"No…Although I still think that about both my husband and my son, I meant to say that they are also a bit of a handful…I hardly have time for myself at all…" explained Lucrezia.
"Oh well…I wish I could say the same…is just that I don't think Wufei will ever take that step…" said the blond girl.
"What do you mean?" asked Lucrezia.
"I don't think he wants to marry me…I don't think he actually loved his wife but I think he does respects her memory so much…besides, he's too young…don't forget he's almost four years younger than I am…" explained the Chinese-American girl.
"Sally, I don't think those things are an issue for Wufei…have you spoken about it?" asked Lucrezia.
"Not really no…I don't think I should actually bring the topic up though…I don't want to scare him off…" replied Sally.
"I think that is a huge pile of bullshit…it's you who's scared…I think that if you speak to Wufei he'll consider your feelings…he's got a very strong sense of honour….It will be just a matter of speaking to him, maybe you should ask him where does he see this relationship going to…or what does he want from this relationship…it's up to you, you know him much better than I do…in any case, don't keep it all inside you…if I have learned something from my relationship is that it's better to speak up…keeping it all inside does not get you anywhere…" said the ex-OZ officer.
"Maybe you're right…I don't know…is just that, you know, Wufei is a really mature person, sometimes the highly intellectual way he speaks, makes me feel like if I was younger than him…he's just so cultured and reflexive…but yet again, sometimes he can be such a baby…it's very confusing…" explained Sally.
"That is called a MAN sweetie…most men are like that…they have two sides, a very mature one that impresses us when we meet them and then, sometimes for things that matter most to us, they can be so childish…but that is the part we learn to love…you should not destroy that part from them because is what makes them able to be so sweet and adorable and also, you should see Milliardo playing with our kid, sometimes I wonder who's having more fun, the kid or Milliardo…" said Lucrezia smiling sweetly.
"Ah well…I will have to speak to him then…now, I better let you go…" said Sally hearing in the background the cry of a baby.
"Ah yes…it's meal time…who needs a watch when you're a mother? Babies tell the time so much more precisely than any watch I've seen…" said Lucrezia smiling.
"I'll talk to you soon…" promised Sally.
"Sure, and good luck…" said Lucrezia cutting the communication.
Sally decided that she would talk to Wufei as soon as he came back. Maybe Lucrezia was right after all…
Trowa was definitely not looking forward this. Unfortunately, for Midii's sake he had to go back to the circus, after all, he had rescued her and had promised her that he would protect her.
Now he understood the commitment that had tied Heero to Relena all these years. Of course, even if the poor beggar did not admit it with words, he had fallen for her like a ripe apple. Trowa was still trying to decide what he felt for Midii…he was sure there was some kind of common feeling linking the two of them…
When he had learnt that Midii was being beaten up by that bastard, he wanted to shoot him. Actually, he would have done so if he had not promised with the other pilots that he would never kill again.
In any case, looking at the sleeping girl sitting next to him in the shuttle, he had much more important things to think about.
To start with, he had to speak to his sister. Catherine's wedding was in less than two weeks. He had promised to take her up the aisle a long time ago. Now he had to do everything he could to prevent just that…
"Are we there yet?" asked Midii with a sleepy voice.
"No…we still have a good half hour before we land…" replied Trowa.
"Ah…Ok…Tell me about the circus where you live…" asked Midii.
Trowa used the next half an hour to explain to Midii all about the circus…the way they lived, always changing places, seeing different colonies, different people…different cultures…then he told her about his animals…his lions, how proud he was of them and he also told her about the people he worked with. He used most of the time to talk about Catherine…about how much he loved her also about how much they fought…and eventually ended telling her about his sister imminent wedding…
"That does not make you very happy…does it?" asked Midii noticing the man's sad voice.
"Not really…I've just found her again…I don't want to lose her so soon…" admitted Trowa.
"Why would you lose her? Is she moving out or something?" asked Midii worried.
"No, of course not…is just that, she already does not have time for me now, imagine after the wedding where she will have her husband to take care of…" said Trowa.
"I don't think you're making any sense Trowa…from what you've said you are very close with your sister…I don't think that kind of liaison is going to break up just because she's getting married…but again, if you create too much trouble, she may end up getting tired of you…she's got the right to live her own life after all…you really should do your best to support her instead of being against her…even if she's making the wrong choice…it's her life and she's got the right to live it like she wants to…" explained Midii.
"What about you? You obviously made a mistake with Bill…" said Trowa damning himself for being so direct.
"I know…I did not make the right choice…but, I was lonely and…he said he love me…" admitted Midii adverting her gaze from Trowa's green eyes.
"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to be so direct…I'm…Why were you lonely? What about your father?" asked Trowa.
"He died…I couldn't afford his medication for too long then I started making some money with my singing, it was too late, my father was too sick and he ended up dying…then I met Bill…" said Midii.
"What about your three siblings?" asked Trowa.
"The youngest got killed during the war…a mobile suit fell on him while we were trying to escape…" replied Midii.
"And the other two?" asked Trowa.
"They decided to join Marimeia's army…I heard that one had got killed…the other one…I've never heard from him again…" explained Midii.
"So you were truly alone…and that Bill probably took advantage of it…the bastard…" stated Trowa feeling himself getting angry again.
"I guess so…I'm sorry for disappointing you…you never thought much about me anyway, did you?" asked Midii sadly.
"That's not true…I admired you for your bravery, after all, you had the guts to spy on a guerrilla group…also, I envied you…you knew what your real name was and had a family...I definitely thought of you as a much better and luckier person than I was…I suppose that it made me angry and that's why I drove you away from me…you reminded me of everything I did not have…" replied Trowa with brutal honesty.
"Oh Trowa…I'm sorry…I thought you were lucky because you had rid yourself of all feelings…" said Midii.
"Midii…a good friend of mine told me once that you has to live life led by your heart's emotions…if your heart is empty, then so is your life…" replied Trowa.
Midii was to add something to that when the hostess announced that they were about to land. Trowa did not give signal to tell Midii he wanted to continue with the conversation.
The move was not too difficult. They had found a tenant for both the apartment and the scrap yard fairly quickly, it was actually a young couple very much like themselves that wanted at all costs to stay together. The young man was an ex-soldier and, having survived the war, was looking forward a normal life. Duo thought how much that man reminded him of himself when the war was over. Desperate to get back to normality as soon as possible. After a whole life escaping and trying to stay alive as long as possible by any means, even the illegal ones, Duo was finally happy to have settled down. He had found a great partner in all senses. Hilde was someone that did not invade his personal space but understood when he needed the love and the attention and was only too happy to comply.
As an orphan, Duo had not known what being loved meant. At least not until he had found Sister Helen and Father Maxwell…but, even so, that was a very short spell in his life and he was back to being alone once more too quickly. Everyone thought of him as a never ending source of happiness and laughter. Nobody understood how much he had fought with himself not to become as miserable as Heero was before he met Relena. Only Hilde knew about his internal battle. His hardest battle.
He was happy to know that he had won that battle. He had managed to pull out of the misery of war keeping his inner child almost intact.
He believed that it was this inner child the true source of happiness. You could never be truly happy without keeping a bit of innocence in yourself.
He had managed to do that. And now, here he was, learning how to become a flying instructor with the person that he thought to be his direct opposite. Heero Yuy. Unfortunately for him, his inner child had been murdered a long time ago. That was why Heero had had so much trouble to achieve some happiness. Duo was only happy his friend had found Relena. She was the quintessence of innocence. No one was purest than her. It was exactly that innocence that drawn everyone to her. They all wanted a piece of it. They all wanted to be part of her dream. Even Heero. Even himself and Hilde.
Hilde herself was now with Relena. They had gone to the hospital together. Relena to have a scan done and HIlde for some more tests. They were going to try IVF at the end of the month. They had to. The doctors did not want her to have a miscarriage for this would only make it more difficult for her to get pregnant afterwards so, they did not want her to get pregnant naturally. Better keeping everything under control, they were told.
This was the main reason for moving to Earth. Firstly, there were much better doctors, secondly, the Earth's natural ecosystem would help them, everyone knew that, even thought the scientist had done wonders with the colonies, it was still not totally risk-free to give birth in the colonies…the artificial gravity was not as good as the natural one, also the chances of having problems during the pregnancy were higher than on Earth.
When they landed, Heero told Duo off for not being concentrated. Duo had to admit that his mind was as far away as it was possible and apologised to Heero. Heero was about to add something when he saw his wife and Duo's smiling like to little girls after seeing Father Christmas.
"Hey hon…what's up?" asked Duo being his curious self.
"You'll never guess…" replied Relena giving a quick kiss to Heero then, returning to Hilde's side added "Come on girl…don't you have something to say?".
"Duo…you're not going to believe this…they were doing the tests…and…wow…I'm just too emotional…" said Hilde starting to cry while smiling all the same.
"What she's trying, badly, to say…is that…Duo, you're going to be a daddy…the doctors don't know how it's happened but…Hilde's pregnant…" said Relena glowing because of the sheer happiness she felt for her best friend.
Duo wanted to say something but, for the first time in his entire life, he was truly speechless. Then, Heero's quick reflexes prevented him from hitting the ground: Duo Maxwell had fainted!
END OF CHAPTER TEN