A/N: This is my first AU fan fiction! I hope I don't mess things up too much and I keep the characters' personalities as close as possible to the original ones, also, I will try to be as accurate as possible with historical and geographical facts but, if you notice something really wrong, please tell me immediately. Thank you!
Disclaimer: NO, I DON'T OWN GUNDAM WING, I'M NOT MAKING ANY MONEY FOR THIS SO, PLEASE DON'T SUE!
Indochina 1886
Chapter One
Penzance, England 1886.
Relena was still wearing the black dress she had put on for her father's funeral. She was sitting on her bed with a piece of paper in her hands. It was a telegram. She read it once more still not believing its contents. Then, she heard a knock on the door.
"Is that you Paygan?" asked Relena putting the telegram down.
"No…it's me, Hilde…may I come in?" the girl heard her best friend say through the door.
"Of course…" replied Relena getting up.
The door opened and a girl with an unusually short black hair came in. Hilde had been born in Germany to a German woman and an English man. After her parents had died of some strange fever when she was only four years old, she had been adopted by her father's older sister that lived very close to the Peacecraft's manor in Penzance, in the English county of Cornwall. Relena and Hilde had been friends ever since.
"How are you coping?" asked Hilde sitting on a chair near a window.
"I'm not sure yet…too many things have happened in a very short time…" replied the girl sitting back down on her bed, then she added, "your really shouldn't have stayed…you should have gone on your honeymoon…".
"Are you crazy? Do you think I would leave you in a moment like this? Besides, as much as I love Duo, I've been married to him for three days, I've known you for almost fifteen years!" said Hilde looking at Relena while playing with her brand new wedding band.
Hilde had met Duo, an American man, during one of her aunt's rare trips to London. It had been love at the first sight. Three days after, Hilde came back to Penzance with a solitaire and the promise to marry him. They had got married two weeks after that. It had been during her wedding that Relena's father had started feeling poorly. He had died the very next day.
"Read this…" said Relena ignoring her friend's last comment and passing the telegram to Hilde.
"What is this? Oh dear!" said Hilde as soon as she had finished reading it.
"I know…can you believe it, he left over ten years ago…I can't even say I know him at all…and now he wants me to go and live with him…" replied Relena.
"Well, he is your brother after all…I'm sure he'll take care of you…besides, you can't stay here by yourself, you know that…" commented Hilde.
"Yes, I know but… Burma…that's so far away!" exclaimed Relena.
"Where is it anyway? Is it near America?" asked Hilde.
"No, is in South East Asia, is one of the new colonies..." replied Relena almost laughing, Hilde seemed to be obsessed with the country she would soon travel to.
"Oh my gosh!! That is what…the other side of the globe?" asked Hilde shocked.
"Yes it is, but how about you my dear Hilde…you're going to go to America soon…aren't you scared?" said Relena feeling upset but trying not to show it.
"Not really…Duo is travelling with me…He's told me all about New York, I can't wait to get there it will be such an adventure for me. Can you believe it? I'm going to the new world!" said Hilde cheerily. Seeing Relena so depressed made her get angry with herself for being so insensitive, Hilde quickly added, "I'm sorry Relena…I…".
"Don't worry about me…I'm very pleased you've finally found a man who will make you happy. Is just that I wish I could stay here…I don't want to leave England…I'm going to miss this house, I will miss Penzance, the beautiful Cornish countryside…and, specially, I will miss you Hilde…like you said I've known you all my life…" said Relena starting to cry.
Hilde quickly got up and sat next to her friend. Putting an arm around her shoulders, she said:
"Don't be silly…we may not see each other but…we will be friends forever…if you give me your brother's address, I will write to you as often as you want me to…and, who knows, we may meet up again one day…".
"Thank you Hilde…I really hope so…in any case, I really wish you the best with Duo, he seems a very nice man…" replied Relena trying to brighten up.
"Oh but, you may meet a man as nice as Duo there in Burma…who knows?" said Hilde happy to see that Relena had finally smiled.
"Well, you know what they say…you can't fool destiny…" said Relena not knowing that she would remember those words for the rest of her life.
Five days after, all the furniture in the house was covered with sheets. The things that Relena could not take with her, had been packed and stored away. Maude, the maid, had been hired by another family. Relena, after taking a good look around the house where she had been born, went to the main entrance and, with a heavy heart, closed the door where Paygan, her most loyal servant, a butler who had become part of the family, was waiting for her.
The lawyers who had taken care of the Peacecraft's will, had decided that they would wait to see what her brother Milliardo, the heir of all the Peacecraft estate, decided what to do with the house and the other family assets.
Relena got in the carriage that would take her to Southampton. Taking a last look at her big house, and to the countryside that surrounded it, told Paygan she was ready to leave.
They finally made it to the busy Southampton harbour. From there, many ships left to several destinations around the globe. The trip to Burma would last several weeks so she had bought a few books about the country to pass the time. This way she hoped she would stay relatively sane given all the time she would spend stuck in that ship.
Hilde and Duo had come with them since they were leaving the day after to New York. Duo was definitely a nice man, he was funny and extremely talkative, and it was very obvious he cared a lot about Hilde. She hoped that, one day, she would also find a man like that.
The two young woman hugged each other and, against their will, started crying. Finally, Relena boarded the ship and, after greeting, like everyone else onboard, the people who had stayed on the harbour, waited for the ship to start undocking.
After a while, the land started getting farther and farther away. Relena stayed where she was till she saw the last of it. Then she started crying again, she would definitely miss her country.
After God knows how long seeing only sea and the occasional stop for supplies, Paygan announced that they were leaving the sea and had started their way up the Rangoon river and soon they would be arriving to the homonymous city, the capital of Burma.
As soon as they disembarked, Paygan started looking around trying to find someone that would resemble to the young boy he had taken care of all those years ago. In fact, Milliardo had left England when he was only 13 years old to 'see the world' with his uncle Robert, the youngest brother Milliardo's and Relena's father.
Relena looked around herself. This was just a mess. It was a huge difference between this harbour and the organised one in Southampton. There were people everywhere…no one seemed to respect any rule so there was the most absurd chaos that Relena had seen in her life.
Looking up she saw the huge gold pagoda standing proudly near the city. She made a mental note to visit it.
Suddenly, Paygan felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he saw a young man in his early twenties with very long blond hair two or three shades lighter than Relena's. His eyes were also lighter than those of the sister and, right now they sparkled with happiness.
"Paygan! Thank goodness you haven't changed a bit otherwise it may have been difficult to find you here…where is that sister of mine?" asked the young man. Paygan could not believe his eyes. That man was Milliardo Peacecraft!
"I'm here brother…" replied Relena. Milliardo looked positively shocked. That beautiful young woman was his baby sister?
"Relena? Oh my Lord you've changed so much! You are now…eighteen, aren't you?" asked Milliardo not fully recovering from the shock.
"Yes I am and I do hope I have changed a bit since the last time you saw me…" commented hoping not to sound too ironic.
"Oh well…of course, but…let's try to get home, we've got so much to catch up with…" replied Milliardo feeling quite inadequate, he certainly had not expected to find a beautiful woman instead of the little girl he used to tease so much ten years ago.
After getting away from the messy harbour, they reached a carriage that would take them to the plantation that Relena knew had been assigned to her brother. Milliardo had fought during the last war against the Burmese and, in recognition for his work, the governor had given him plenty of land next to the river where to build a plantation. Milliardo had done so with some of the money that uncle Robert, after his death, had left him.
During the way, Relena got to see some locals planting rice. Then there were some temples that Relena quickly added to the list of the things she wanted to see. Even if she was not happy to be there, she had decided to get to know her new home as soon as possible.
"I didn't know you lived in the middle of the forest…" commented Relena seeing so many trees when they were following the road to the main house.
"This is not a forest, they are my trees, these ones on the left are rubber trees, those on the right are teak trees. Behind the house you'll see the cotton fields" Milliardo replied proudly.
Milliardo spent the rest of their journey telling her facts about the country. The wars that Britain had to fight till finally a few months ago, the Burmese had surrendered and Britain had claimed ownership of this land.
They soon arrived to the house, a huge construction in European style, with huge white columns in front of it and big stairs leading to the front door. There a woman was waiting for them. She had dark short hair and immediately reminded Relena of Hilde.
"Relena, meet my wife Lucrezia Noin, she's from Sicily, Italy…I hope you'll become good friends…" said Milliardo as soon as they got off the carriage.
"Of course we will…" Lucrezia quickly replied with surprisingly good English, the she added "and, to celebrate your homecoming, I have decided to organise a ball in your honour…this way we will introduce you to everybody, I hope that is not a problem?" announced Lucrezia looking at Relena kindly.
"Of course not, I will be delighted…" replied Relena trying to sound enthusiastic.
"Who knows? You may even meet your future husband there…" said Milliardo casually.
Relena, tired from the trip, did not pay attention to neither those words nor the way Lucrezia glared at him.
END OF CHAPTER ONE
