Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing and I don't own any characters. This is a lot of plain dialogue cause I wanted to talk a lot, hehe. The action/adventure part of the story is coming soon, I promise! '. Someday. . .in the future. . .maybe a year from now. . .j/k. . .
Chapter 36
"What are you doing, Relena?" Milliardo asked as he walked up to his sister. She looked up from a book in her lap and closed it quickly, saying, "Oh, nothing! I was just. . .writing." Softly smiling, he tilted his head to the side and said, "It's nothing to be ashamed of, writing down thoughts. After all, you have to get your feelings out somehow." Relena looked up at him and said, "How did you know?"
"Just the way your acting gave off a hint of 'secret diary'. It's a good idea, perhaps I should do the same about my own thoughts." Blinking, Relena asked, "What have you to be concerned about? The war? Treize?"
"You?" Milliardo added. Relena blushed and looked down at her lap.
"Oh, yeah maybe that too. . ." Chuckling, Milliardo sat down next to Relena and said, "I have my own secrets too, just because I'm older doesn't mean I don't have emotional struggles and pains of my own."
"Oh I never imagined that you didn't! I can only imagine how frustrating your life is sometimes."
"I'm not sure if I want you to even try to imagine my life, it's even a shame to me when I think back at all the mistakes I've made over the years."
"But there's one thing that you did that wasn't a mistake."
"What's that?" Relena wrapped her arms around his waist and closed her eyes, saying with a smile, "Finding me." Milliardo smiled and said as he hugged Relena back, "That is true, I am grateful I can protect you this closely now. Perhaps there is a purpose to everything happening as it has." His face contently softened as he sat quietly in Relena's arms, enjoying being with his sister without fear of interference for once.
"You can tell they're related, they act so much like each other." Noin said to Trowa. He looked up from his work on his gundam and said, "Huh?"
"Relena and Milliardo, they're both so poetic with what they say, how they feel, the way they act. . .so articulate." Noin almost seemed transfixed by the moment, looking happily at them together. Trowa paused in his work and said, "Why are you here?" She looked at him in surprise and said, "Excuse me?"
"I understand why-Milliardo, is it? I can see why he's here but why are you here?"
"Well, why are you here?" Noin asked, not wanting to make her reasons known. He looked down at his work and said, "I'm a gundam pilot, I have to be here."
"Couldn't you go back to fighting solo? Join them on the battle field sometimes like before but be by yourself. . .why join them on their confusing journey?"
"Because, she made me." Trowa nodded toward Rachel. Noin glanced at her and said, "She made you? You, threatened by a little girl? I can hardly believe that."
"I have my reasons for being here, as do you I'm sure and since you don't seem too keen on sharing your reasons what say we call it a truce?"
"Sounds fair." Noin chuckled. Trowa went back to his work and Noin watched him fiddle away with different components in his suit.
"Rachel, may I speak with you?" Chang said calmly, walking up to her as she cleaned the dishes left from lunch. She looked up from the wash basin and said, "Sure, talk away." Kneeling down to dry the dishes while he spoke, Chang said, "I was curious about what happened to Quatre, he seems to have taken on your attributes since that accident you had. Do you know how it happened?"
"Chang, get to the point of this conversation, I know what you want to ask already." Rachel said coolly, scrubbing a plate clean.
"How do you know? Did you read my mind?"
"No, I heard you talking about me one time to Heero."
"What? When!"
"A while back, you didn't know I was there. Don't worry, Chang, I think you might be on to something with your idea. Although Heero is also right about not wanting anything to change too much, you don't control a fire by turning a fan on it."
"I suppose he is right. . .but it would still be an advantage I can't just let pass us by. But the big question on my mind is-"
"Can I do it again." Rachel finished his thought. He blinked and said, "Exactly."
"I can try, but I don't know, I'd have to think about it, if I can recreate the feeling or not."
"I'm glad you agree with me, Heero's so cautious now, especially since Relena joined us."
"His heart isn't consumed with only his mission now, Relena has taken a part of him that was frozen until she warmed him with her love and care. He's in love; if you were you would feel the same, Chang."
"Women are weak, falling in love with one would only slow me down trying to protect her all the time."
"Hmm. . .you only say that because you're afraid you won't be able to keep her safe." Chang looked confused, his brow furrowing as he said, "What are you talking about, I could protect everyone here if I had to!"
"Chang, honestly, you don't have to hide your fears, it doesn't make you weak."
"I have not found a woman worthy of my attention and I doubt one exists."
"Not anymore." He froze, staring into her eyes with his own, wide and showing true fear hiding beneath his surface. Rachel could almost hear his heart skip a beat as he quickly covered his soft spot, saying, "I'm sure I don't know what you mean. Excuse me, I should help Trowa clean the sleeping quarters." He quickly stood and walked toward the tent.
"Oh Chang, what would Nataku say if you denied her existence?" Rachel whispered as she scrubbed another dish.
Nataku. . .Meiran. . .Chang took a deep breath as he choked back his memories of a tragic past.
She can get to anyone, is she a friend or foe with all her knowledge. . .it's hard to tell. Heero thought, watching the conversation from the shadows, his arms folded across his chest as he stared blankly at Rachel's back. As if she could feel his eyes on her, Rachel turned and stared at him. They met gazes for a few seconds before Rachel let a fake smile crease her lips and she returned to her work. Heero knew something was wrong but he wasn't sure if he was the one to talk to her about it. He took a quick glance around the cave for Duo but he couldn't find the braided boy anywhere.
I wonder where Duo is, he should be here annoying Rachel like usual. Is he up in his Gundam? Walking toward the Gundams, Heero looked up at Deathscythe and found the cockpit closed.
Unless he's hiding inside he's not here. He knocked on the metal foot to echo a message to Duo if he was inside. Fortunately, the hatch popped open and a head peeked over the edge of the door, a braid falling over the side limply.
"You knocked?" Duo called down, a grin on his face.
"Let me up, I need to talk to you." Heero said back. Looking surprised, Duo pressed a button, lowering the escape cord to allow Heero to come up to his level. Heero grabbed the cord and Duo reversed the pulley, hauling Heero up to the hatch. He jumped off and leaned against the doorframe, saying, "How come you're way over here and she's all alone."
"I see you don't waste any time with 'hello's or 'how are you's. . ." Duo commented, standing to enter his Gundam. He sat down in the seat and relaxed, saying, "She doesn't want me around."
"I think she does, she gave me some ridiculous smile that was blatantly forced there." Heero said, glancing over at Rachel in the distance.
"Then you talk to her."
"She's not my girlfriend, Duo. Part of being in a relationship is talking and being over 40 feet from her isn't communicating anything but 'stay away from me'. . ."
"More like 'I don't want to get killed so I'll just stay over here until you're in a better mood'."
"She doesn't seem to be in a bad mood, over there scrubbing away at those dishes like there's some contest for the shiniest dinnerware." Heero said sarcastically.
"Scrubbing away? Yeah, like she's NOT in a bad mood! Females always work on something to perfection when they're ticked, it's their way of getting their minds off of something or someone. . .like me."
"What did you do?"
"Well. . .I started yelling at Trowa because he wanted me to 'share' with everyone my personal feelings about him and Quatre. The hypocrite wants me to spill and denies hiding anything, ha, right like he's not. . ." Duo mumbled, pushing buttons and running system checks to distract himself.
"I think he just wanted to help relieve the tension, you have been cold toward Quatre ever since that 'incident'. . ."
"And? You're cold to Zechs and he didn't even do anything to you! Geez, this place is full of hypocrites!"
"And you're not one?"
"I never told someone to do anything, other than almost telling Trowa to shove it. Hey, it's not my fault he's a. . .nevermind. . ."
"Hmm. . .and what did you do to tick off Rachel?"
"She got annoyed by our fighting and screamed at us, didn't you hear her! I thought the whole world did." Duo rolled his eyes.
"I was outside patrolling the area, sorry I missed your disciplining." Heero didn't grin but the comment was made in amusement. Duo glared at Heero and he said, "Yeah, she said she'd kill the next person to speak so it was quiet for a while. . ."
"Maybe she's been a bit preoccupied by other things and you three fighting pushed her over the edge."
"Preoccupied? By what?"
"Shouldn't you know that? Being her boyfriend and all."
"Stop saying that, okay? At least I don't keep trying to nail my girlfriend!" Heero gave him the death glare and said, "What are you talking about."
"Duh, you and Relena rockin' the bed back in the tree camp, I heard you from my cabin next door."
"Sorry but nothing happened, so why don't you forget it happened." Heero said, making it sound more like a demand than a request. Duo shrugged and said, "Whatever." He looked off into the distance in thought, a melancholic look on his face, his eyes lacking their usual sparkle of life. Heero read his face for a second and said, "Finding it harder than you thought?"
"What?" Duo looked up as if he just remembered Heero was there.
"Your relationship." Duo looked away and spoke softly, "It's difficult to have one when guys keep cutting in and trying to do her, right in front of my face too. If she wants a relationship, whatever, I'll be here but I won't fawn after her while others snatch her away and throw it in my face."
"You have no faith in her, do you?"
"How can I have faith when there's nothing to believe in?"
"Isn't her love enough? Her devotion? Just curious, I don't really care if you two stay together or not but I don't want her leaving or turning against us because she's ticked at you."
"I don't know anymore, Heero. I had faith in people once but I found that to be a sad mistake on my part to even think they were honest. You can understand caution, not trusting people, only trusting yourself."
"Sometimes you can't trust yourself."
"Is this the great soldier admitting a weakness?" Duo said, raising his eyebrows.
"You're changing the subject, Baka." Heero glared.
"Sorry! Hey, I have some work to do, if you don't mind. Or were you hoping I'd go talk to Rachel so you could steal parts off my Gundam? Yeah, you still owe me for that, you thieving baka!" Heero grunted and pushed off, grabbing the escape cord and saying, "Dream on." As he leapt down to the ground, Duo shouted over the edge of his hatch, "Blast you, Heero Yuy!"
"You can try." Heero grinned, touching down and walking away.
"Did you find them?" Treize turned in his chair to the soldier standing in his office, a calm look on his face as he folded his hands and awaited a response. The soldier shifted his weight uncomfortably and said, "No, Sir, there was no sign of them in the area."
"And the cave?"
"A rock slide sealed the entrance, Sir, we couldn't get in." Treize turned casually and sifted through a pile of papers on his desk, saying, "They sealed it to conceal their presence, I want you to take an excavation crew back down there and dig them out."
"Yes, Sir!"
"And one more thing before you go, if you find Lieutenant Zechs Merquise, he is no longer part of OZ and is a traitor like the others. You find him, kill him."
"Yes, Sir."
"Dismissed." The soldier saluted and turned stiffly, marching out the door and closing it behind him. Treize slowly turned back to his desk, resting his elbows on the edge and leaning his mouth against his folded hands as he contemplated the death sentence he just served for his best soldier, and life-long friend.
"Zechs Merquise is a traitor now, should I send out a report to every OZ base to keep a look out for them in case they escape us again?" Treize glanced to the side and looked at his personal assistant, Colonel Une. She stepped out of the shadowed corner by his desk and tilted her head up, standing in attention. His expression softened and he said, "No, there's no need, they will turn up soon enough." He pushed his chair back and stood, facing Colonel Une with a soft smile.
"Sir." Une saluted him. Treize gently took her hand from her brow and lowered it, holding it lightly in his hand.
"Lady Une, you know you don't have to salute me every time I move. I was going to eat out tonight, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner?" Treize asked, his voice soothing and mellow. Une's heart skipped a beat as she tried to remain composed while saying, "But Sir, you needed some paperwork sent out before this evening-"
"I can get my Secretary to do that, I would like to discuss the future of OZ with you, if that's not too much to ask?"
"Of course not, Sir. I will clear my schedule for the evening." Une responded stiffly.
"And wear something nice, there's a French restaurant I've been dying to dine at for a while and I thought tonight was the best time as any to visit." He gently removed her glasses and said, "And don't wear these, they hide your beautiful brown eyes." She held her breath as she said timidly, "Yes. . .Sir." He carefully folded the glasses and tucked them into her hand, folding it around them and smiling. As Treize walked toward the door, he lightly ran his hand under her chin, saying, "And do call me Treize, all this formality isn't needed."
"Yes, Mr. Treize."
"Just Treize?"
"I would prefer not to refer to you so informally, if that is alright."
"If you insist, Mr. Treize it is." Treize gave her a brief smile before exiting his office. Finally letting out her breath in a quiet sigh, Une softly clutched her hand to her chest, whispering, "Mr. . .Treize. . ."
