Chapter Twelve
Trowa got on his horse feeling happier than he had been for a long time. Having spent the night with Midii and knowing that he had her full support made him very happy indeed. Now, for his plan to work, he would also need Wu Fei's cooperation.
The Chinese man was pretty much shocked when, opening the front door of his house, found himself facing Relena's husband to be.
"What do you want?" asked not very politely.
"I need your help for something…"Trowa said ignoring the hostile look that the Chinese man was giving him.
"Why do you think I should help you?" Wu Fei asked not even bothering asking Trowa to come in.
"Well, I realise that you may be very upset with me because of your friend but, I assure you that I have the best intentions…" Trowa explained to Wu Fei that kept looking at him sceptically.
After a pregnant silence, during which Wu Fei seemed to be considering his options, the Chinese man said:
"Alright then…come in and let's see what I can do for you…".
Heero had been staring the brick in front of him for ages. He was getting increasingly nervous, knowing he could get away from there easily but knowing he would ruin everything if he did was the worst bit. No, actually the worst bit was NOT knowing how Relena was. He just needed to know she was going to be fine.
Heero was afraid and that was a novelty for him. He was scared that he would lose her. It was crazy that someone as collected as he was, someone that laughed at normal, human feelings, had just fallen for a girl in no time at all.
Love at the first sight…that's what silly, romantic people called it. Heero doubted that such thing existed but, now, having it experienced it first hand, knew that it was real. His rational self told him it was a normal chemical reaction for someone as attractive as Relena but, analysing the situation, he realised that he needed that rational reasoning in order to stay sane, because what he felt for Relena was absolutely irrational.
But he didn't want to stop feeling it. It felt really good to love someone and, knowing that she loved him back was just heaven.
Suddenly, his instincts warned him to stay alert: someone was opening the door. Through it, he saw the two people he wanted to see the least.
"Good morning Heero…" said Treize walking in the small cell with Milliardo behind him.
Not seeing any reply, Milliardo said:
"You really ought to be more polite…".
"It's enough Milliardo…you should wait outside now…" Treize said interrupting Milliardo.
"Alright then…" replied the platinum blond man leaving, not very enthusiastically, the room.
As soon as Treize and Heero were on their own, the governor said:
"I assume you just don't realise how grave your situation is…".
Treize stared at Heero as in waiting for a reply but, not getting anything else but a glare from the Japanese man, Treize said:
"Well, I guess that your silence confirms what I thought. No, you don't realise you are interfering with the French and the British governments' plans. You see, you've fallen for the wrong girl. Relena Peacecraft is going to marry Trowa Barton and there is nothing you can do about it. In fact, it has been my insistence that has prevented you from being interrogated by the French authorities and, I can assure you, they aren't the kindest of people…".
After a short pause to see if Heero said something and seeing that the Japanese man was not going to, Treize continued:
"In any case, now we need you out of the picture so you cannot jeopardise our plans to get the peace we've been fighting so hard to get…so, from next Monday onwards, you'll be in the hands of the French, and as it happens with most prisoners of the French, you're going to be sent to one of their 'camps'…meanwhile, you'll stay here and, please do behave properly...the French governor is a personal friend of mine and I've given him my word that you are going to be a good boy…".
With this Treize turned around to knock on the door so the guards would let him out. Heero felt like breaking his sorry neck right there and was about to move when Treize said without turning around:
"I know you're literally burning with fury and that you'll gladly kill me now but, I would reserve the energy for later…you may need it if the French decide to…have a little fun with you…".
With this Treize left the room, while they were closing the door, Heero heard him telling Milliardo not to worry about Relena…apparently she was getting much stronger now.
Heero almost forgot what Treize had told him. Hearing that Relena's health was improving made him ridiculously happy. In any case, he wondered what Trowa's plan was about.
'It better be good…or else I will kill him…' Heero thought, reassuming his usual sitting position so he could once more stare at the same old brick.
One of the samurai teachings was to focus your gaze on something neutral so you could canalise all your negative energy towards it. Once your negative energy was out of your mind, your thoughts became much clearer and it was easier to relax.
Trowa got up ready to leave Wu Fei's house when someone knocked on the front door. The Chinese man went to open the door and found his fiancée Sally.
The woman, seeing Trowa there, let out a audible sigh.
"Thank goodness!! Trowa, we've been looking for you all over the place!! What are you doing here?" Sally said short of breath like if she had been running.
"Why? What's wrong? Is it Relena??" Trowa asked alarmed.
"Yes…she's finally woken up…she's asking for you…she wants to speak to you…come on…" Sally said turning round to go back to the carriage she had used to get there.
"How did you think of coming here?" Trowa said following her only turning briefly to look at Wu Fei to ask a silent question, the Chinese man replied with a nod.
"Well, it's the only place we had left…" Sally said entirely missing the exchange between the two men.
Trowa boarded the carriage with the blond girl and ordered the driver to take them to his house as fast as possible. He decided to leave his horse there. It had been two very busy days for the poor thing and it deserved some rest.
The French man was back to his usual silent mood so Sally chose not to break this silence. Instead she stared at him as discreetly as possible.
He looked a bit different. One no longer saw the defeated expression on his eyes as if now he had a reason to be happy. Sally, with her romantic notions, thought it was the news about Relena's recovery.
As soon as they got to the house, Trowa helped Sally off the carriage and raced towards Relena's room.
There, in front of the door, he encountered his sister Catherine.
"Where have you been? You didn't even spend the night here…" she started asking.
"Catherine…I will tell you once more…I'm not a child anymore…you really should stop asking so many questions…what I do with my life now is none of your business…" Trowa replied leaving a speechless Catherine staring at him while Trowa entered the room.
No one was there. Only Relena lying on the bed with her eyes closed. Trowa thought she was sleeping again so turned round to leave the room.
"Trowa…" he heard her soft voice calling him and that made him stop.
"Sorry…I didn't mean to wake you up…" Trowa said turning round to face her. She still looked beautiful even though she had lost weight because of the sweating and she had two blackish shadows under her eyes.
She patted next to her on the bed inviting him to sit there and Trowa, closing the small gap between him and the bed, sat down and took one of Relena's hands. Doing so he realised just how weak she still was, and how fragile. He had not seen that aspect before. Relena was physically small but her strong personality hid that fact from everyone. Now, seeing her like that, made Trowa feel very weird.
He needed to clear his throat before speaking.
"Sally's told me you were calling me…".
"Yes…I wanted to confirm that what I've heard from you during my sleep were just a product of the delirium caused by the fever…" Relena asked trying very hard so her voice sounded as strong as usual but failing miserably.
"No, they were not caused by the delirium…I meant every single one of the words I said to you…I'm just shocked you remember them…" Trowa said happy to see that his plan was beginning to work.
"How could I? You gave me the hope I needed to pull through the disease…I will be forever grateful…" Relena said giving him the best smile she could manage.
"Don't thank me yet…I've got a plan but for it to work, like I said, I need you to get stronger…we've got to get married and soon…" Trowa said shocking Relena.
"What? But I thought…" the blond girl started saying.
"Don't worry…just trust me…we won't get as far as taking our vows…" Trowa said getting up, then, before walking to the door, added, "now you need to rest as much as possible and eat everything they give you…trust me Relena…everything will be fine…".
"I trust you…Trowa...I'm sorry we had to meet like this…I believe we could have been friends…" Relena said sadly.
"We are friends…and we will stay friends…I hope you feel the same…" Trowa said stopping briefly. Then, opening the door, Trowa left the room, Relena laid back on her pillow, tired, and went back to sleep.
That same night, the Peacecraft's and the Winner's, joined Trowa and his sister for a celebration dinner. Sally had gone out to meet Wu Fei for dinner.
Trowa, hearing Milliardo's referring what Treize had told him about Heero's sentence was glad that Relena was not there.
"Well, with that settled…we better organise the wedding as soon as possible…" Trowa said trying to divert the topic of the conversation.
"Why that sudden change of mind…Relena's just recovered…" started saying Milliardo.
"She actually asked me herself…she wants this to be over with so she can forget Heero…the disease has made her see what really matters in this life…" lied Trowa very convincingly.
"Right then…the church is empty this Saturday…the Prêtre has told me so himself…" said Catherine eager to see his brother finally married.
"But it's already Tuesday…" said Dorothy not conceiving the fact that a proper high society wedding could be organised in such short time.
"Actually, it does make sense, most of the guests are already here…so we shouldn't have problems…besides, we already have most of it organised…" said Lucrezia not wanting to mention the reason of the previous date's cancellation.
"Perfect then…I'm sure Relena will be strong enough by then…and, this time, there will be no reason and no one that will prevent you two from getting married" said Milliardo happy to see that everything was heading the right direction.
"Let's hope not…" said Trowa trying to avoid Quatre's gaze. The Arabian man knew him too well and he would probably be able to see that he was clearly lying.
END OF CHAPTER TWELVE
