Aishiteru
Chapter Five
Secrets
8:07 PM Local Time, Experimental Mars Terra Forming Colony A-1
"Are you absolutely insane? You aren't going anywhere. You aren't even supposed to be alive! You haven't had a thing to do with her life since she was two, and you think that gives you the right to interfere with her happiness now? She's twenty-one years old, Zechs, and she's holding down one of the highest positions in existence: she's not just your baby sister."
"This has nothing to do with how old they are, or what they do. I'm going to the Moon because I have to."
"It's about love, Zechs! I knew Quatre; he was a sweet kid, and I don't think that's changed much. You're going crazy over nothing. A couple of war-orphans finding a little happiness together outside of all the pressure the world puts on them? That's a good thing! Even the tabloids aren't slandering them; this article is supporting them. Did you even read it?"
"I don't have to read it, I have to see Relena. Before this goes any further. It doesn't matter how wonderful Quatre is or what the public thinks. They can't be sleeping together."
"For God's sake, if this is about marriage or her honor-"
"I'll be damned before I let them marry."
"I don't understand what your problem is! It's just a photograph and some gossip! I'm sorry I even thought to show you! You are not going to the Moon to condemn her second chance at love!"
"Sit down, Lucrezia. I am not Alexander; I am not going to rush you; just sit down."
"Are you going to tell me what crawled up your ass and laid its eggs?"
"I'll explain if you just sit, and then I'm leaving."
"You aren't."
"Sit. Did you know Quatre Winner wasn't born of the Winner test tubes? Not many people do; it's quite the secret. The late Master Winner had a young wife he kept out of the public spotlight. I remember her vaguely, visiting with my mother when I was very young. They had been friends in finishing school I believe, but as I say, I was very young. She was from the Raberba line, one of the last of that family, if not the very last.
"I'm not certain of the specifics - it wasn't anything really discussed with a small son - but she was unable to create a child. It was some sort of condition on the marriage, as an unplanned pregnancy could have cost her life. For whatever reason, Quatrine decided she couldn't abide by that any longer and came to Mother for her help. All of her own eggs had been destroyed, and so, Mother gave up one of her own. The young man Relena may be sleeping with might have been carried by a Raberba and sired by a Winner, but he has the genes of a Peacecraft."
"You're telling me he's your brother?"
"Biologically. And judging by their apparent liaison, I would also hasten to assume he was never told."
"You've never said a word about it."
"It was never in the foreground of my mind. I was scarcely aware of his existence, outside of the occasional publicity photo in his father's shadow, until you told me he was one of the pilots. At that time, bringing what I knew of his parentage into the fray would have been useless, and one more moral obligation to consider, so it seemed best to let it go."
"And if you had killed him?"
"It was a war."
"That's a coward's response."
"It's the truth. He was a soldier; identity didn't matter."
"You targeted him personally!"
"He was commanding the Gundams."
"I'm going with you."
"Excuse me?"
"You're proposing to go star hopping to tell two people something they need to know, and, in my opinion, deserve to have been told six years ago." She rose from her seat on the edge of the bed, sparing him a glare as she snatched the limp duffle bag from his stunned arms and turned to the dresser to shove some of her own clothes in with his. "You've convinced me of the need for intervention, but not that you're the one to do it. Somehow, I have a definite doubt as to your use of tact, and they're going to need sensitivity, especially if that article is true."
"I know the art of diplomacy, Lucrezia."
"And how to move in for the kill."
"What about Alexander?"
"Lexi will be fine, he'll love getting to visit the Moon."
"He is not going with us!"
"Fine. He can stay with Rosemarie and her daughter for a few weeks. It'll be a little vacation for us." She dropped the bag and whisked out of the room to begin making calls, leaving Zechs standing stunned and trying to pinpoint exactly when he'd agreed to her accompaniment.
*
Lunar Peace Conference Facility, December 18th, 6:23 AM Local Time
Her cheek rested on something warm; hard, but not unpleasantly so. She felt the weight of a limb across her shoulder and lower back, and was breathing the scent of laundered silk and the faint musk of the skin beneath it.
"Not Heero," she thought vaguely as she drifted into consciousness. Though she'd only woken in his embrace a few times, it was unforgettable. He'd slept facing her, not pillowing her like this, and there was a sort of desperation in the way he'd clutched her close all night, with her face buried against his neck. The arm cradling her now was relaxed, a comforting presence, not the tense grip of a soldier who remained alert even in sleep, as if expecting her to be ripped away at any time.
For a moment her heartbeat quickened as she realized the implication of her situation, and then calmed again as she remembered the circumstance of how she had gotten this way. Opening her eyes a little she released a small sigh, nuzzling her cheek gently against the young man's chest as she struggled to hang on to this brief moment of contentment. There was something chaste and reassuring about it, as if, just for right now, she was four years old again, waking up in her father's arms after a night of nightmares being driven away. That thought brought her mind back to Hope, and grim reality forced her out of her peaceful respite.
She tilted her head to look up and found Quatre was already awake, impossibly blue pools watching her with an expression that defied definition; a seamless blending of sorrow and encouragement and understanding that was purely Quatre. She wondered vaguely how long he might have been letting her sleep, and if he might have been somehow following her train of thought, if not just her string of emotions. She had never had one of those moments that she had observed between him and Trowa, and sometimes him and Dorothy, where it seemed somehow that an entire conversation had been exchanged when all they had done was look at each other. But he always seemed to be aware of her feelings and know just how to comfort her.
"Is it time to be up. . . ?" she murmured. Quatre offered a small smile, shifting to sit up as she pulled away from him.
"Not quite, but it probably is time for me to take my leave, if I want to have time to bathe and dress before talks resume."
"Mmm, they already have the incriminating photos, you might as well shower here and save yourself some time."
"I don't really think we should fan the flames," she was momentarily amazed that at twenty-one, there was still a blush rising in his cheeks, "I mean, it just wouldn't be right, for me to, that is-"
"Quatre, you do realize you just spent the night in my bed, don't you?"
"Ah...."
"I don't think your being undressed behind my bathroom door would be so terribly scandalous at this point. It isn't as if I'd be in there with you." He was blushing in earnest now.
"You're right, of course. I simply don't want to impose - sometimes I just can't seem to separate myself from my upbringing."
"The reflex against anything unseemly can be strong, but really, now that it's begun we should ride it out."
"But if we allow the press to go on covering us as lovers, it could be devastating to our public personas when we ... well, when we don't stay together."
"To be perfectly honest, I almost think we should just stay together."
"P-pardon me?"
"I'm sorry, not to put you on the spot. It's only that it seems like it would be easier. . . . Heero's never coming back, and Hope would have a father ... if she were our child, we wouldn't have to keep her such a secret ... and as you said, the public does love us." Quatre quirked a brow, a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth.
"I do see your point ... no more pressure to take a bride and start siring heirs ... no attempted set-ups by well-meaning old men..."
"No opportunistic attempts at courtship ... no one telling me to get over Heero and move on with my life..."
"No more 'Ten Most Eligible Bachelors in the Earth Sphere' spreads ... no awkward explanations ... I can't believe I'm having this conversation..."
"God - neither can I."
"I don't think it would work out in the long run, though ... I'm afraid I ... I might not measure up to my husbandly duties..."
"It isn't as if I'll be missing anything."
"It wouldn't be fair ... to either of us ... I don't think I could be any more a lover to you than to ... to one of my sisters."
"I see. You just don't find me attractive."
"It's not that."
"Well, what then?"
"It ... it would be practically incestuous! If Duo and Hilde split up I wouldn't be able to be with her, either."
"So you'll need to have your affair while they're still together."
"Relena!" She was laughing so hard she couldn't muster a response, but he didn't look as if he were really angry. Shocked, flustered, and even somewhat amused, but not angry. After a bit of effort she looked at him seriously again, laughter still threatening.
"Quatre, are you a virgin?"
"What?!" Now he was very flustered. She bit her lip to keep from laughing before continuing.
"Well, the only person I've ever seen you paired with is me, and I have it on good authority that we haven't slept together. . . ."
"That's not true - there was that story last year about me and Dorothy after they got those pictures of us in Berlin!"
"And you haven't slept with her, either. The closest thing to a date you ever bring to functions is Rasid, and I'm fairly certain you haven't slept with him." Quatre abandoned his protests and simply buried his face in his hands. Relena was feeling more cheerful than she had in days. "You've never mentioned any women, and you've never admitted to any relationship with Trowa..."
"You say 'admit' as if I need to confess. If no one's mature enough to ask, they certainly aren't mature enough to be answered!"
"You haven't answered me."
"And I don't intend to!" In a melodramatic huff he abandoned her bed before snatching the missing pieces of his attire from the settee where he had been sleeping, last night excluded, and then shutting himself indignantly in her bathroom. Relena collapsed into more giggles at the display that, she knew, was purely a selfless performance to lighten her spirit.
*
8:41 AM, Lunar Peace Conference Facility
"We should go on just as planned before the threat. With the way rumors are flying, it will look perfectly normal for Relena to leave with Quatre."
"We all go to L4 for Christmas, the way it was scheduled, and Hades and Smoke bring Hope with them, instead of Relena. She'll be written off as part of his family there, and with four Gundam Pilots and four other Preventers already the extent of the guest list, it should be the most secure space available."
Trowa nodded curtly in agreement, his eyes never leaving the vidscreen he and Dorothy were monitoring. "They'll leave here directly after the last meeting, skipping the formal Christmas closing ceremony. I'll be on the shuttle with them."
"And I shall remain here until the facility is completely closed, monitoring the other dignitaries, and then meet up with Hades and Smoke on their way to L4. It's all perfectly lovely, but what about Heero?" Dorothy continued. Trowa spared her a noncommital glance before returning his attention to the two youngest diplomats at the long table displayed on their vidscreen.
"What about him?"
"You tell me, Sir Rain."
"Hades and Smoke encountered him at the refueling station on their way to the Preventer base on MO-II."
"Then he discovered Miss Relena's Christmas present."
"Hades informed him of Sandstorm's 'shindig' over Christmas, and overtly invited him. Smoke relayed all this to me in his last transmission."
"Well, we haven't had a good Christmas battle in a while; I'm sure the great Heero Yuy will remedy that."
"There is no guarantee that he'll even show up."
"On the contrary, it is impossible that he won't. What there is no guarantee of, is whether or not he'll make his presence known. And to what ends. It will behoove us to be prepared for the eventuality of his interference."
*
3:15 PM Universal Time, Preventer Base A12, Resource Satellite MO-II
"We have confirmation of their departure. ETA on L4-A01: 1700 UT, tomorrow."
"Geez, man, you're getting to be as bad as Heero. Can't you just say that they should get there around five?"
"Ignoring that, Maxwell, they should be far enough out of range of the Lunar Facility to make a secure transmission undetected in roughly three hours."
"Three hours, huh?"
"That is what I just said," Wu Fei spat, irritated.
"So who's hailing us now?" He blinked and glanced over, to see Duo lounging bonelessly in his chair with his feet on the console, toying obliviously with the end of his braid. And then, sure enough, noted the blinking light on his monitor.
"Well, Maxwell, to find out, you could try accepting the signal." he grumbled, fighting the urge to massage his temples.
"Damn, Wu, I'd have never thought of that one," Duo rolled his eyes as he kicked his feet down and leaned forward to play with the com-link, "I was just wondering if you were expecting anyone. Opening transmission ... Sonofabitch, it's Milly! What the hell are you doing out of the boon docks? Is Noin with you?" Wu Fei shot his gaze back over to Duo's screen, ignoring his prattle, and was met by the visage of Zechs Marquise.
"Don't call me 'Milly'."
"It's hopeless," Wu Fei advised, bumping Duo's chair to the side with his own so he could face the blonde. "I have spent the better part of our time together trying to coerce him into addressing me properly, and he still can't seem to remember my correct name. But despite his inane babbling, Hades does have a valid point. Is it wise for you to be out this far, agent Wind? And what is your purpose?"
"Your animosity, though well contained, is duly noted, agent Smoke. I had intended my rendezvous for the Moon, but it seems I was too late to meet my target."
"So Une called you in on this deal too? She must be getting desperate." Wu Fei spared Duo (now leaning over his shoulder) another glare as Zechs responded, somewhat incredulous.
"You mean you are aware of the situation?"
"Since the beginning. Rel and Q are on their way to L4 now for Christmas-"
"Maxwell!"
"What? He's on the same mission." Duo turned back to the blonde on the vidscreen, "Anyway, we're intercepting them there. Well, catching up to them, really. Their route is about two hours faster than ours, and we aren't scheduled to depart until 1500. It's already covered by Q's party. Works out great, really; we're all supposed to be there anyway. Hey, did you get an invite out there in no-man's land? Doesn't matter, Quatre won't mind you crashing. You know, really, if Satan himself came knocking, Quatre'd invite him in for tea. I guess you're pretty close. No offense, just that whole destroying mankind spiel of yours. Not that I'm keeping score or anything, and Rel'll definitely want you there, and Q never steps on anyone's toes, even if he has to cut off his own feet to do it-"
"Maxwell, would you shut up!" Wu Fei growled, giving in and rubbing his temples to ward off the threatening headache. "I believe the point he was trying to make is that the situation is being handled. There is no need for the urgency of your visitation."
"I see. Still, I'm sure you can appreciate the weight this matter carries for me personally, and won't begrudge my involvement, even if superficially."
"I suppose, since it does concern family. Very well, Merquise. We will not impede your sojourn. If you alter your flight path now, from your current coordinates if will take you approximately thirty one hours to reach the Winner estate on L4-A01. That is a mere five hours behind their schedule."
"Many thanks, Preventer Smoke."
*
December 19th, 7:30 PM Local Time, Winner Estates, Private Docking Bay, L4-A01.
"There she is!" They had barely gotten the stairs wheeled into place beneath the shuttle door when Relena broke away from Quatre's side to meet her daughter tearing haphazardly down, looking with each step as if she were about to lose her balance, but never quite tripping.
"Mommieee!" Relena caught her on the last step, hugging her with all the genuine closeness no com-link between their shuttles had been able to reproduce. Either Duo or Wu Fei, if not both, had taken it upon themselves to dress her up properly for her reception as a guest. She had been carefully clad in a full skirted dress of dark green velvet, white tights, and black patent leather shoes. One of them had even managed to brush out her snagged curls enough to clip a matching bow neatly at the nape of her neck. When later questioned as to where the ensemble had come from, Duo would merely comment that he'd missed a few birthdays.
By the time Duo and Wu Fei alighted from the stairs, Relena was just relaxing her grip on Hope and was able to turn a grateful smile to the both of them, for once, at a loss for words. Quatre, meantime, had followed Relena over, smiling broadly and embraced first Duo, with a kiss on the cheek, and then Wu Fei, somewhat more reservedly and sans kiss. To Relena's mild surprise Wu Fei, while not hugging back as Duo had, made no protest to the Arabian's affectionate greeting and in fact, if stoically, appeared to welcome it. He grasped Wu Fei's hands meaningfully for a moment longer, attesting to some silent recognition of kinship, and then turned to usher them to the car that would take them up to the mansion itself.
*
10:00 PM Local Time, Winner Mansion, L4-A01
The soft patter of unshod feet on the hardwood floor caused Relena to pry her eyes open and see who had snuck into her room. As she forced her eyes to focus, she found herself staring into familiar violet pools. Relena rubbed the sleep from her eyes and took in the small girl in flannel pajamas; blonde hair mussed and right hand clutching the limp limb of a worn teddy bear.
"What's wrong, Nadey?" Relena asked in an unsteady and still half asleep voice.
"I had a bad dream. . . . Can I sleep with you?" she queried in a whisper.
"Of course you can," Relena said as she pulled the comforter back for her daughter. Hope hoisted herself over the edge of the bed and crawled under the covers to lay beside her mother. As Relena pulled the comforter to cover herself and Hope, she rolled over to face her.
"Will you tell me a story, Mommy?"
"Which one do you want to hear?"
"The one about my name," she responded immediately. Relena smiled softly to herself in the dark, knowing that she had planned this.
"OK, but only because it's your favorite and you had a nightmare." She saw Hope's small mouth curve into a smile, half hidden by shadows.
"It was the year After Colony 197, and the people of Earth had put down the Barton Foundation's coup d'etat-"
"What does coo-tada mean, Mommy?" Hope interrupted.
"It means that they were trying to use their armies to take over the government. May I continue?"
"Yes."
"Your father had destroyed the Barton Foundation's stronghold, and all the soldiers were coming out of their mobile suits to give up. Nobody wanted to fight anymore.
"We all tried to go back to normal life. Duo returned to L2 to live with Hilde, and found out a few days later that she was pregnant. Boy was he happy! Once he dislodged the pastry from his trachea. And Trowa went back to the circus to be with his sister. Quatre took over his father's position as the head of Winner Corporation, and Wu Fei joined the Preventers and started working with Dr. Sally."
"And Daddy?"
"Your father was in the hospital for exhaustion, so I stayed there with him. When he was released from the hospital, we spent some time together."
"But the world still needed his protection, so he had to leave, right?"
"Right. One morning I woke up and he just wasn't there. But he left me with two things. A beautiful Nadeshiko flower on my pillow and-"
"And me!"
"Yes, and you. But I didn't know about you yet. Dr. Sally told me about you a few weeks later."
"Where was I?"
"You were in my tummy," she took Hope's hand and placed it at her abdomen. "Right there. But you were so tiny that nobody knew." She pinched her pointer finger and thumb together so that only a pinprick could be seen separating them and squinted through it. "You were just an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, microscopic, little-"
"Mommy," Hope huffed, exasperated at her mother's patronizing.
"Well, you were small. Anyway, I had been very sad that your father had needed to leave, but when Sally told me that I was pregnant, I was soooo happy! I just wanted to tell everyone I knew!"
"But you couldn't."
"No, I couldn't. I had to keep you a secret."
"Why?"
"Because if I told everybody, then people who didn't like me might try to hurt you in order to hurt me."
"When I get hurt, you hurt, too?"
"Yes. I'm your mother and I love you. When you love someone, you want to do everything you can to try and protect them. So I didn't tell anyone about you."
"'cept Grandma, the Lady, Quatre, and Dr. Sally."
"Yes, except for them."
"But what about my name?"
"Be patient; I was just getting to that. So when you were born, I already knew what I was going to name you. I gave you the first name of Hope, because I wanted more than anything for you to live in a world with out war, and for you to never know the pain of it. I gave you the middle name of Nadeshiko after the flower that looks delicate but is strong. And the surname of Peacecraft, so that you would always know your family and heritage. You are the fourteenth generation of Peacecraft, and when I retire, we are going to move away from New London and live in the house of our antecedents. In a place that used to be the Cinq Kingdom, on edge of the ocean."
"Tell me about the Cinq Kingdom, Mommy."
"That is another story, for another night. It is late and we should go back to sleep." Hope sighed and snuggled up to her mother.
"Sleep sweet, Nadey," Relena whispered to her daughter.
"Sleep sweet, Mommy," Hope murmured back into the pillow of her mother's breast. Relena listened to her breathing and waited for the slow, even patterns indicating sleep. She relaxed and tried to sleep as well, but couldn't. After a few minutes, she slipped out of the bed and padded over to the window seat. She lowered herself onto the cushions and looked up at the holographic sky of the colony. Dissatisfied with the projected Earth constellations, she closed her eyes and imagined the stars she had been able to see out her window in the Cinq kingdom. Her mind meandered through the memories, pausing here and there to relive some days, and hurrying past others. Eventually, she drifted to sleep; sitting on the window seat, her legs pulled up to her chest, and her head tilted towards the imitated sky.
*
He was vaguely aware of Noin on his heels trying to say something as he burst through the heavy oaken doors of the Winner Library. His murderous gaze swept the room, taking in first Wu Fei, who secretly loved to be prodded into reading aloud, with a volume of Dickens opened in his lap as he sat beside the fireplace, pausing mid-sentence at the intrusion. Then Duo, sprawled almost gracefully across a leather sofa with a bowl of popcorn balanced on his chest, presumably listening to Wu Fei. For once. And Trowa, seated beside Duo's feet, thoughtfully perusing a sheaf of papers printed with music; presumably Christmas carols, considering there were going to be at least three children to entertain.
"Where is my sister?"
*
10:30 PM Local Time, Winner Mansion , L4-A01
A soft and muffled rapping on her door woke Relena. She twisted her neck around to view her surroundings, having temporarily forgotten where she was, and then cringed. She'd fallen asleep at the window and now she was paying for it with a crick in her neck. The gentle rapping came again, and she swung her legs over and stood, stumbling as her feet tingled for the lack of circulation. She looked over to the bed, but Hope was undisturbed in her slumber. She slept soundly, a trait inherited form her father, no doubt. That stray thought made her wonder what Heero might have been like if Dr. J had never asked him to pilot the Wing. The rapping came a third time, and Relena dismissed her mind's wanderings to open the door.
She found herself face to face with one of the maids on duty who quickly gave a short nod of apology and said, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but someone has arrived and requested a private audience with you at once."
"Who?" Relena queried.
"I was not told. I was only instructed to awaken you and bring you to the master study."
"By whom?" She pressed, becoming slightly agitated at the prospect of changing back out of her nightclothes to endure some impromptu meeting regarding whatever "urgent" matter had come up in the last few hours.
"Master Trowa, ma'am. He seemed to think the matter most pressing."
"But not pressing enough to disturb Quatre? Very well, I'll be along shortly. Did he indicate anything of the nature of the visit?"
"No, ma'am, only that you were needed immediately."
"Immediately, hmm?" With a deepening frown, she snatched the white silk robe from the arm of the fainting couch and shrugged it over her shoulders, deftly tying the sash around her waist as her feet found the matching slippers, and then, with surprising dignity, padded down the hall after the maid.
Several meters of richly adorned corridors later, she was finally presented with the tall mahogany door to Quatre's study. With a deep breath she pushed it open.
She was met at first by the rather familiar sight of Trowa holding up the wall from the far corner of the room. The silent observer, biding his time. He turned his head a bit to catch her eyes with his own piercing gaze, and then shifted it back again, directing her attention to the other end of the expansive room. She gasped harshly as she recognized the back of a pacing Milliardo Peacecraft and the seated form of Lucrezia Noin beside him on the small couch. Zechs turned sharply at the sound, fixing her with a stare she found more unnerving than Heero's had ever seemed, and she was momentarily glad that Trowa had apparently taken it upon himself to oversee the proceedings. Only then did it occur to her to wonder why they had come and why he seemed so furious. She felt a debilitating sinking feeling as she realized it could only be that he had found out about Hope. His glower, she noticed, had drifted from her face and seemed to be roving over the fragile silk robe, as if trying to surmise what was beneath it, and she felt her cheeks begin to flush with anger.
"I've interrupted you from entertaining him, I suppose? Do you know what you're doing? I cannot believe you would bring such filthy disgrace-"
"Zechs!" Noin had sprung from her seat to grab hold of his arm, fighting valiantly to keep peace in the room. "Miss Relena, I apologize for having disturbed you so late. We would have arrived before you retired if there had been any way we could have piloted here any faster, but I'm afraid we didn't get here until just now. It's been a very long flight and I think both of us are a little short tempered, but the matter we came about is urgent."
"Short tempered is an inaccurate description when it seems quite obvious to me that he is livid. I would like to know what you think gives you the right to rule on my propriety and barge onto Quatre's property to condemn me in the middle of the night, Zechs Merquise."
"What gives me the right? The fact that I am your brother not withstanding, do you have any idea how disgusting your affair is, or its repercussions? Do you have no sense of duty to your family?!"
"How dare you degrade my sense of family duty and claim yourself to be my brother! I am not the one who discarded my name and turned against my father's teachings! The way I understand it, Milliardo Peacecraft does not exist, and I have no brother. My 'affair' is most certainly none of your business! And you were not there to guide me when it began, so you need not blame me for it now. I refuse to be ashamed of loving another human being, and I will never regret the repercussions!"
"You have no conception whatsoever of what you've done!"
"And so you've waited five years to tell me?!"
"You mean to tell me this has been going on for five years?!"
*
Hope awoke alone. Something was wrong. Mommy was gone. Ordinarily, this would not have disturbed her so greatly, but it was plainly still the middle of the night, and Mommy was supposed to be all hers, all Christmas, so she highly doubted that she'd left early to meet with any delly-cats. She pushed herself up to a seated position in the center of the giant poster bed and looked around to confirm that she was, in fact, alone. She then rolled her way over to the edge and slid down to the floor, righting herself on bare feet and straightening her nightgown.
She first regarded the door that led out to the hall, but with the weight of recent experiences on her mind she concluded that it might not be wise to go wandering around the strange house alone. Besides, if Mommy came back and found her missing she might cry again, and Hope sincerely did not want that. She then turned her attention to a fourth door that led to neither the hallway, the bathroom, or the closet. She and Mommy were sleeping in what Duo had called the Mistress' chamber. He had seemed to find this intensely amusing, but Hope had not understood the joke, and couldn't get Mommy to explain it to her. All she would say was that they'd be close by to Quatre and very safe with him right through the door.
She'd been shy of Quatre at first; she'd never really realized that Mommy's friend was the same man she sometimes saw on the news. It didn't take long, however, to reconcile the smiling man who's face she knew from television with the vague memories she had of a nice man when she was just a little kid. Quatre, she decided, would be the best course of action. On tiptoe, she crept stealthily through the doorway and looked around. Quatre's room was bigger than the mistress one and had a decidedly more lived-in look. The mistress room was all formal and made up, but this one, while just as richly furnished, was adorned with personal items. It reminded her a bit of Mommy's room at home with it's shelves of books (real books, not the kind for show - she could tell by the bent spines) and nicknacks and pictures. The adventurer in her couldn't resist taking the opportunity to look around before waking Quatre up.
Most of it was grownup stuff that she either didn't understand, or just found boring. On a dresser she found a box of jewelry that was interesting, and she wondered why a boy had so many pretty rings and pendants. In a far corner she was enraptured for a while by a very impressive dollhouse. While she had one of her own at home, it was decidedly more cute looking, and this one was almost as tall as she was. After inspecting a few of the rooms that seemed familiar, she decided that it was probably a miniature of the entire manor. From what she knew of boys, she had not expected they played with doll houses. She was suitably impressed. One desk drawer yielded a thick, leather-bound book of handwriting and a box of chocolates. She was beginning to like Quatre very much. Mommy never hid chocolates where she could find them. And that was quite a feat.
Once she was satisfied with her exploration, she crept over to the high, curtained bed. To her immense surprise, a gentle voice ventured out from the pillows the moment she laid hands on the dark velvet coverlet.
"Does everything meet with your approval, Princess?" When she was too startled to answer, she saw him turn over on his side and prop himself up on an elbow to look at her. She was relieved to see he was smiling. "What's bothering you tonight, that you thought I might help you with?"
"I'm sorry...." she whispered.
"For what, Princess? You've done nothing wrong. You haven't broken or stolen anything, so I don't see any harm. I won't even tell your mother about the candy." He smiled again when he saw her look away bashfully and then extended his arm in offering to pull her up onto the bed with him.
"Would you like me to bring you a piece too?" She asked quickly before accepting, noting curiously that he wasn't wearing any shirt in bed.
"No, thank you," he shook his head lightly, "I'm afraid I can't have any chocolate for a few weeks yet."
"That's terrible!" He laughed softly at her horror. "Why can't you? Did you do something bad?"
"No, not lately. It's part of a holiday, Ramadan."
"I though it was Christmas."
"It's that too ... but Christmas is a Christian holiday, and I'm Muslim, so I celebrate different holidays than you do."
"You don't celebrate Christmas? Then how come you're having a party?"
"I don't celebrate the birth of God on Christmas, no, but I can celebrate the ideals of peace on Earth and goodwill to men, and also the end of the war. Christmas is a very special holiday, you know. In fact, the first Christmas I ever celebrated was on the year you were born; it was the very first Christmas with complete peace."
"Will Santa Claus still come even if you aren't Christian. . . ?"
"Of course he will. Now, would you like to tell me why you're worried about your mother?"
"How did you know that!"
"It's what you were thinking about when you came in."
"You can read minds?"
"No, not really. But if something's upsetting you and you want to be helped, your mind makes it as easy as possible for someone to see that."
"Mommy's gone."
"Gone?"
"I woke up and she wasn't sleeping with me anymore."
"Ah, well, I'll tell you what. What do you say you and I take the servant's hall down to my study? I have the house's security monitors fed into my vidscreen, and we'll see where your mommy has gotten to."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*