By : Angel of Venus_l3
CHAPTER SIX
"Where have you been?!" Andrite demanded at her as soon as they got into the limo. "We've been searching for you for god knows how long! Where did you disappeared to?!"
Minako could only manage a shrug, refused to lead him any further to her encounter with the Gundam pilot. He had been patiently holding back his outburst when Alya had brought her back until they were safely in the limo and most importantly, safely out of the hearing range of other people.
"Gomen, I just got carried away with the festivities," she answered, not meeting his gaze. Andrite sighed exasperatedly. "You could at least have the decency to let us know where you were going," he said harshly at her.
"Would you have let me if I do?" Minako countered, her eyes locked with his sharply.
"Alright, I think that's enough excitement for one night," Alya said, hoping this conversation wouldn't lead to a serious argument. The fact that Minako had been associating with a certain Gundam pilot and combined with Andrite's hot temper were more than enough to provoke a heated argument from the two parties.
"Who is that man you were dancing with?" Andrite demanded, obviously refused to let the matter settle. "Don't deny it, who is he?!"
Minako shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Andrite seemed to interrogate her like she was a criminal and as much as she hated to admit, she was getting a little scared of him. Especially when he was beyond angry at her. She wondered if he was just plain pretending not to know Quatre considering he had a met the Earth's well known politicians but she wasn't about to ask.
"I don't know," Minako lied, daring to stare back at Andrite in the eye. "Since I refuse to let him know who I am, he said it'll be fair if I didn't know who he is either. Why are you so worked up like this? We were only dancing, just like what you and I used to do."
"That's different," Andrite snapped back. "It is quite common for a princess and a general to share a dance at a formal ball but to share a dance with a…a…stranger at a festival is absolutely absurd. He could have hurt you, for all you. His intention isn't as noble as the princes whom you have danced with before."
"He couldn't have gotten away with it, Andy," Alya said harshly. "They were completely surrounded by people and you knew VERY WELL she wouldn't be harmed…"
Andrite cast her a brief glare, shutting her up instantly and turned to Minako. "So where were you?" he interrogated. Minako grudgingly replied, "After the dance, we separated and I went back to the stall to look for you but I guess I got lost on the way."
"There, you see?!!" Andrite accused. "You got lost on the way and I'm actually surprised that no one had tried to hit on you…they didn't, did they?"
"No."
"Good. And if Alya didn't find you in time, I don't know what might happen to you…."
"Yes, Andrite, I am that lucky," Minako muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Okay," Alya exclaimed, slapping her palms together in an obvious attempt to change the subject. "Since we got that matter settled, let's talk about tomorrow's schedule, shall we?"
"Sure, but I doubt I'll listen," Minako said with a rueful smile. "I'm sorry, it's been a tiring day, with me getting lost and everything so if it's okay, I just want to rest for awhile. Without further interrogation." Andrite frowned as he watched Minako slumped on the seat and peered longingly out the window, deep in thought as a small smile tugged her lips.
That particular sight somehow bothered him.
Quatre sipped his tea, immediately feeling the warm substance easing his mind. He placed the cup down and glanced at the flight ticket next to it, studying it. Those three days seemed to pass by so quickly, he thought. Especially that wonderful evening. He felt heavy to part with this planet, more importantly, heavy to part with his companion that had accompanied him for the first few hours of his stay.
After their encounter that night, he had searched for her ever since then, spending most of his time at the beach. He did visited several other places, though but the only thing that interested him at that particular moment was meeting that maiden again. He was disappointed when he failed to locate her and almost called off his flight so that he was given more time for his search.
However, remembering the huge amount of paperwork and important meetings that had generated over his absences, he decided otherwise. Besides, he still had matters regarding his 'fiancée' to settle. It amazed him that the troubling matter barely crossed his mind for the past two days and the main reason for his brief vacation here seemed pointless now.
"This is the last call for flight MP553 to Earth, the last call." A deep sigh tore his lips as he realized he wouldn't be seeing the maiden again. Grabbing his flight ticket and luggage, he slowly made his way out of the lounge room. "The last call for flight MP553 to Earth, passengers should now be onboard."
Minako anxiously counted the days till her vacation. She had followed her daily schedules obediently and appeared genuinely excited for the past few days, chatting happily with anyone who dared to speak to her. Alya had questioned her about Quatre the previous day but Minako refused to indulge anymore information about him than what she had told Andrite. Andrite, as usual, had been watching over her like a hawk, making sure each phone calls she received wasn't from a certain Gundam pilot and every time she went out, he sent at least five of his best bodyguards to monitor her movements and personally made sure she hadn't been in contact or meeting with Quatre. Minako was well aware of what he was doing but she couldn't be bothered by it anymore.
She visited Caroline regularly each morning before dawn to learn more about Quatre and Caroline's background. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to pull off Caroline's behavior at all. It was rather difficult for her considering she wasn't please with Caroline's attitude herself. At least she fit in her lavish lifestyle well, having no problem with the luxuries provided and daily shopping routines. On their last day together, the girls had went through their plan several times and exchanged phone numbers, in case of emergencies that might occurred during her stay at Quatre's.
Minako practically squealed in delight when she woke up that morning and was hit with the realization that today was the starting of her month long of vacation. After her bath and breakfast in her room, she hurried downstairs with her luggage and met with her generals in the dining hall.
"So are we ready to go?" she greeted happily, failing to contain her excitement.
"You bet," Alya exclaimed, giving her a thumbs-up. "Let's go, I wouldn't want to miss our flight."
"That would be impossible, your flight isn't until five hours later," Andrite mumbled, following them outside. Daniel was already in the limo, having to carry their luggage earlier.
Alya quickly got into the limo along with Daniel and as Minako was about to follow her general, Andrite gently pulled her away, motioning his head to the side. Minako reluctantly followed him and when they stood a slight distant from the limo and out of Alya's hearing range, she looked at him questioningly.
"Here," he said, handing her a tiny package in a brown paper. It looked rather plain for a gift but she was more surprised at his generosity. "I thought it might be a suitable gift for your departure. Think of it as a peace offering if you want." Minako smiled at him and took it.
"Wow, I never thought I'd be getting any gifts from you other than on my birthday and on Christmas." Suddenly noticing Andrite was still staring at her, she continued teasingly, "Andrite, I'll be going for only a month, I'm sure you can find someone to endure your tortures…"
Before Minako could react, he leaned down and brushed his lips lightly against hers, prompting a startle gasp from her. The wide eyed princess instantly pulled back, too numbed to say anything. Her cheeks were flushed and she had to look away. Andrite didn't appear at all surprise by her reaction. When Minako dared to look at him, she noticed that he looked so different, unlike the usual stern exterior he always wore during his duties. For the first time, he seemed to let his guard down and looked so vulnerable and unusually warm to her.
"I'll see you when you get back, princess," he murmured gently with a small smile. His features appeared softer then, startling her again at his sudden boyishness.
"Princess! Let's go, we're going to miss our flight!!" Alya yelled from the limo.
"A-arigato, Andrite, ja," she said, quickly turning away from him and trotted towards the limo. Andrite watched silently as the limo sped away from his view, along with his princess.
"For a second there, I thought Andy change his mind about letting you go," Alya said. Minako shrugged, fiddling with the tiny package. Her mind was still racing at the thought of their brief kiss and she had to resist the urge to touch her lips. She could still feel his lips on hers, brushing gently for consent and if she hadn't resist, he probably would have pulled her into a deep kiss. She had never thought Andrite would perform such a bold act on her, a princess that he highly respected.
"What did he say to you?"
"Oh, h-he told me to have fun," she hesitantly replied, concealing her blushes with a smile. "Very unlike of him. And he gave me this as a peace offering."
"Well, open it," Alya urged. "It's not everyday you get a gift from a general who hardly shop for his own wardrobe. Come on, open it."
Minako reluctantly tore the wrapping, almost fearing whatever item this gift bear would mutedly declare his feelings towards her. Once the wrappings were undone, she stared at the item in complete awe. There on her lap, half wrapped by the brown paper was a heart shaped pendant with a Venus sign engraved in the middle, the exact same necklace she had her eye on at the festival.
"Oh man," Duo groaned as soon as he entered the office. As highly and dreadfully expected, stacks of paperwork took half of his desk while the other half was covered with files and other documents. Even his coffee table was filled with folders and thick reports for references.
That sight disturbed him terribly as it seemed to promise him long, terrifying hours of writing and rewriting reports, filing and sorting out documents and rechecking his subordinates' errors in the process. Again. He much rather risked his life to complete dangerous missions but since Heero, the Lieutenant General of the Preventers Forces was still sore over his recent 'experiences' due to Duo's outrageous party several days ago, had deliberately pushed most of his duties to Duo in an attempt to retaliate. Wufei, as expected, had been very, very supportive of Heero's prompt action.
At first, Duo had considered this was much better than Heero's previous methods that usually involved violence and weapons in hands but since Relena had taught him that violence wasn't the solution, Heero had resolved to a new yet still disturbing method.
Much to Duo's dismay and his friends' delight, the method appeared rather effective because Duo was seriously considering to end his wild parties and outrageous pranks. Seeing that sight in his office practically everyday since the party made Duo realized how much he missed having Heero's gun pointing at his head, followed by the usual death threats.
"Dang that guy," Duo muttered, slumping in his chair. "If he keeps this up, I'm gonna have blood pressure higher than Relena's stacks of documents."
Trowa entered the office in time to hear Duo's last comment and smirked at his friend. "You're beginning to look like Quatre," he stated with a wry smile, walking over to the desk.
Duo sighed heavily. "Well, I don't think I deserve this, Tro-man!" he cried, giving his friend a wild look of desperation. Trowa shrugged.
"Haven't we gone through this?"
"But I don't deserved this!" Duo whined. "I don't see why Heero needs to get his knickers in a twist! I got the fire perfectly under control…"
"After it burned half of his room."
"But that's Wufei's fault," Duo accused stubbornly. "It was his meditation candles and it wasn't me who brought it to Heero's room…"
"Duo, don't get me started on my problems," Trowa said in a warning tone. "We've left you for only half an hour to return the rented videos and get some food and already you've managed to trash half of the mansion. I'm still trying to figure out how Heero woke up in the storeroom with writings on his face and his shirt inside out…"
Duo looked thoughtful, trying to recall back that wonderful moment and then his face slowly broke into a grin. "Oh yeah…" he quipped, grinning from ear to ear. "That was a pretty good sight. Definitely worth the chase around the mansion."
Trowa shook his head and placed a disc right across from Duo, who looked at him questioningly in return.
"For reference," Trowa answered, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Heero isn't satisfied with your last report and demand immediate corrections on it. Submit it again next week." Trowa paused and scanned the surrounding of Duo's stuffy office. "I've to admit," he murmured. "At this rate, you'll be living a life of Quatre Winner any day now."
"Speaking of that devil," Duo muttered, flipping through a file. "He hardly contacts us since he moved out a week ago, I wonder how bad he's taking all this…"
"Well, since he was reluctant to talk about his engagement or his vacation…" Trowa trailed, looking thoughtful. "I'm thinking it's THAT bad."
"Here we are!" Minako declared brightly, beaming as she glanced around. Alya frowned at her.
"We're at the lounge," she retorted flatly. "And we still have three hours and a half till we get on the plane."
Minako merely grinned. They were now seating at the room specially reserved for her and having another light breakfast and some refreshments. The room was secluded but still huge for three persons to occupy and as expected, three guards were placed outside, under Andrite's orders. Minako had forcefully pushed Andrite and his gift from her mind, determined to enjoy her vacation to its full extent.
"I still don't understand why you insisted on arriving at the airport a few hours earlier than scheduled," Daniel said, sipping his coffee.
Ironically, he had never been assigned to guard Minako before, despite being one of the most capable generals in the palace. His main duties consisted mostly of conducting extensive trainings for the armies and creating battle strategies but through his serious involvements, there was no doubt about his capabilities and he was one of Andrite's most trusted generals. Which was why Minako was placed under his protection. Unlike Andrite however, he was a pure Venusian with longish, golden hair and bright cerulean eyes. Minako didn't know him that well nor had an actual conversation with him as he spent most of his time extensively training the armies.
"Well, it doesn't hurt to be extra punctual," Minako replied in unison, flipping through a magazine. "I just like to get a head start on my vacation."
And the earliest flight to Earth, she added silently to herself. She chatted with Daniel briefly as he seemed to be more interested in talking to Alya about his current trainings. A topic that Minako had the least bit interest to discuss during her 'month-off' from duties.
After a good two hours later, she took a quick glimpse of her wristwatch and gave a wry smile. Yep, it's definitely time, she noted. However, she conceal her excitement behind her magazine, pretending to enjoy the written world of the latest economic issues. As if on cue, there was a sudden knock on the door.
"Come in," Minako said sweetly, looking up and found a stewardess entering the room. She politely greeted Minako before turning to Alya.
"I'm sorry, Miss Alya but there's a call for you. It's rather urgent." Alya frowned.
"That's odd. From who?"
"Why don't you just take the call?" Minako urged, her tone sounding almost exasperate. "We still have time, maybe Andrite changed his mind about letting me go."
After Alya left with the stewardess to answer the call, Minako tossed the magazine aside and let out a heavy sigh. Casually, she rose to her feet and walked over to the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" Daniel asked, his tone meant business.
Minako bravely looked at him, giving him her best casual impression she could muster with and replied, "The restroom. Care to join me?"
"As a matter of fact, why not?" he challenged, rising to his feet and followed her. Minako had expected that from Andrite's close friend and allowed him to assist her. At least until she reach her destination.
Minako was about to enter until she noticed Daniel had stopped his tracks. As expected. She deliberately turned to him and inquired with a small pout, "You're not coming?"
Daniel smirked at her. "I doubt Andrite appreciate me monitoring you on that part, my lady. I try not to abuse any of his privilege."
Minako was stunned at his reply, feeling her cheeks grew warm and forced herself to turn away. As soon as she entered the restroom, she found Caroline by the sink, busily applying a fresh coat of red lipstick on her lips.
When she noticed Minako's presence from the mirror, she quickly turned and demanded, "What took you so long? You're not the only one who have a flight to catch up to, you know…"
"What are you talking about?" Minako protested, quickly untying half of her ponytail and tossing her red ribbon to Caroline. "Everything's right on time. I hope your boyfriend can hold Alya up for awhile, though."
"No problem," Caroline assured her, immediately slipping out of her jacket and giving it to the princess. "He's quite a chatter. Although I still don't understand why you brought your friends along, only to go through all this trouble so that they won't have to accompany you on this trip. Why don't you just tell them you're going to Earth?"
"Um, they're sort of planning to go to Pluto and they've been looking forward to it so much, I didn't want to hurt their feelings," Minako blabbed half truthfully as she begin to unbutton her cardigan. "They're very protective, too and in fact, one of them is standing outside right now."
Caroline paused and glanced briefly at the entrance. "You mean, that guy?" she exclaimed in disbelief. "Boy, they are protective. What's with you Venusian anyway?"
"Let's just focus on the plan, shall we? It's going well so far but the best is yet to come…"
Daniel leaned heavily against the wall, silently waiting for Minako. He seriously didn't consider the possibility that Minako would run out on him and Alya, the Venusian princess was too eager for this vacation to do anything to spoil it. Even Andrite's action to reduce the amount of bodyguards clearly indicated that he trusted the princess. However, Daniel simply couldn't understand why it was necessary for Andrite to place the princess under him. Despite his strict personality, he was actually more lenient when it came to anything else other than trainings, considering his skills were confined in the battlegrounds and planning out strategies.
Daniel was deep in thought about the latest training for his soldiers when Minako suddenly came out hastily from the restroom but instead of heading towards Daniel, she quickly rushed to the opposite direction and instantly left the lounge, avoiding Daniel's gaze all the while. As soon as she pushed past the door, she quickly began to ran, not even turning back.
"Hey!" Daniel cried, obviously stunned at her sudden leave and quickly followed her.
From the see-through glass door, he could see the
princess rushing ahead , blending in
almost perfectly among the crowd. His stunned mind reeled in
disbelieved as he
watched her slowly disappearing from his view.
"Daniel!" Alya
exclaimed with a
frown, approaching him from behind. "What are you doing? Aren't you suppose to
guard Minako? Where is
she?"
"Playing hooky from her vacation," Daniel muttered, trying to keep his calm and anger under control. Without waiting for her reply, he quickly took off in search for the princess, pushing his way through the crowd furiously. Alya stared at him in dumbfounded but she quickly snapped her dazed mind and run after Daniel.
"Wait, Daniel, you lost her?! How can you lose her?" Alya demanded as they pushed their way through the crowd. "You're Andy's best guy for this job!"
"I'll tell you," Daniel muttered, his eyes almost narrowing to slits upon the princess's trickery. "Right after we strap her to the plane!"
Minako slowly peered out from the restroom door and smiled in satisfaction. Even though she felt a little uncomfortable wearing Caroline's skimpy clothing, a red sleeveless top that revealed her tummy and a white miniskirt, she was glad Daniel didn't realize it wasn't her he was chasing after. At least Caroline had brought along a jacket that Minako was definitely going to use to cover her exposed figure. She just hoped that Caroline was able to keep Daniel and Alya in a wild goose chase for half an hour more.
Snickering silently to herself, she quickly grabbed her bag and left the lounge as well, heading straight to Caroline's private shuttle.