Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or it's characters.
Chapter One: The Roommate
Relena took the carry on from her brother and gave him a bright smile.
"Thanks for helping me move in, Milliardo."
The older sibling smiled back. "Are you sure you won't reconsider? You know you're always welcome at the estate if you need a place to stay."
"I know," she replied. "But I'm not a kid anymore. I can take care of myself. How do you think I survived living on my own while I was away in Italy?"
"I hardly think staying at our Villa is called surviving."
"Milliardo!" Relena punched her brother's arm playfully.
The man smirked. "Did I tell you how glad I am to have you back after all this years?"
"Only about a million times," she answered, rolling her eyes. She gave her brother a hug and whispered, "I missed you too."
Milliardo briefly squeezed her back before clearing his throat. "Much as I'd like to spend more time with you and get all emotional," he said with a wooden expression. "I'm afraid I have to run. I promised Lucrecia I'd take her out to dinner tonight."
Relena lightly laughed at her brother's discomfort and walked him to the front door. "Tell Lucrecia thanks again for recommending me as Sally's roommate."
"Yeah well, I'd rather have you move in with her best friend than in some place I know nothing about."
"Did you know that Sally even got me a job at Social Services?"
"Well, it's about time you did something useful."
"Ha, ha," she flatly replied. "I'll have you know that my time spent overseas were wisely used."
"Doing what? Lounge around under the sun?"
His sister crossed her arms and huffed. "Just for that, I won't tell."
Before a full on argument can ensue, the front door opened to reveal a woman with dark blond hair coming in.
"Hi, I thought I recognized your car up front," Sally told Milliardo. The girl turned to Relena and smiled. "So, you got everything? Something else I can help carry inside?"
"No, we're all done," she answered back cheerfully.
Milliardo turned to Relena. "Well, I'll talk to you later. Call me if you need anything." The young man nodded to Sally. "Sorry, can't stay and chat. Lucrecia will be mad if I'm late."
"Too late," Sally said with grin. "She just called me on the cell. She told me that if I catch you still here to say to get your butt moving, your reservation's in half an hour."
xoxoxox
"Where do you want this box?" Sally asked Relena as she entered the girl's bedroom.
The other blond looked up from box she was digging into. "Oh, just set over by the table. Thanks again for renting out the room for me. Don't worry it's just until I find a place of my own."
"Don't worry about it," Sally assured her as she helped her new roommate unpack. "Any friend of Lucrecia's is a friend of mine. Besides, you're as good as a sister to her pretty soon."
Relena watched the other girl with wide eyes. "You don't mean … Has Milliardo proposed to her? How come he didn't tell me?
"Well, he hasn't yet. But Lucrecia said she has a feeling he's going to soon."
"I'm glad," Relena said with genuine smile on her face. "He needs someone to take care of him. That's one of the reasons I came back. I mean he's told me about your friend in his letters. I knew they were close, but I didn't know it was really serious."
"Oh, those two clicked from the very beginning."
"How exactly did they meet?"
"What, your brother didn't tell you? Anyway, it was over a year ago. I managed to coerce Lucrecia into coming to one of the fund raiser gigs my work was throwing. Milliardo was there too as one of the sponsors. Well, let's just say that once those two laid eyes on each other it was like they were meant to be."
Relena wistfully smiled before going back to empty the box in front of her. Sally did not miss the change in the girl's cheerful mood.
"What's the matter? Did I say something wrong?"
"Oh, no. It's nothing," she said shaking her head. "Don't get me wrong. I really am glad for my brother. I thought he'd never love any one again after Rebecca."
"Ah," Sally said knowingly. "The high school sweetheart. Lucrecia told me about her."
"Um." Relena gave a noncommittal response. The girl was a topic she did not want to discuss right now for a completely different reason.
"Hey, don't worry about those," the younger blond gestured to the box Sally was unpacking. Hopefully her new friend will take the hint and leave the subject alone. "You must be tired after a long day at work. Go to bed or something. I'll take care of those."
"I don't mind," Sally said, lifting out the books from the box. "Wow, you must be a die hard fan of hers. It looks like you have every book this author has ever written."
Sally picked up one of the volumes and read the author's name. "Lenira McPeirson. I haven't read any of her books. Mystery's really not my thing, but from what I gather I think she's a pretty good writer. Her books are always on the bestseller lists."
"Well, that's good to know," Relena said, amusement lighting up her eyes. She picked up one of the books herself. "I wouldn't call myself a fan of hers exactly, but it's nice to hear someone's work is appreciated."
The social worker looked up with a confused looked. Relena laughed then gave Sally a thoughtful look. Well, if she was going to live with somebody, she might as well let the person get to know her better.
"You wanna know the truth?" Sally nodded at the blond's question. "Well, for starters, she doesn't really exist. 'Lenira McPierson' is just a pseudonym. You wanna know why?" Sally gave another nod. "'Cause I made her up. I'm 'Lenira McPierson', these are my books."
TBC:
Author's notes: Well people, any good? I know it's not much right now, but please drop me a line or two with a review and tell me what you think.
Preview from Chapter 2:
"Do you know 'Lenira McPierson'?"
Before she can answer a uniformed cop appeared by the kitchen door. "Detective, I think you should come see this."
Heero followed the man to another room. It looked like one of the bedrooms, but boxes were everywhere. Brown eyes surveyed the room before landing on a table piled high with books. He cursed under his breath when read who the author's name on the books. His thoughts, however, were interrupted when he heard the sound of pounding feet followed by a woman's panicked voice.
"Sally! Where are you?!"
