Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its
characters.
Impressions
~*~
As promised, William came to see Relena on various occasions, sometimes he
would join the Peacecrafts for a cup of afternoon tea, while at other times
Katrina insisted that he should stay for dinner. During those times, William created a great impression on
Katrina, and even on Mr. Peacecraft himself.
William noticed that he kept a close eye on him and whatever he did with
Relena, but he knew that Mr. Peacecraft was protecting his only daughter in a
fatherly way.
On one night after dinner, William was left alone with him.
"It seems like you have been visiting here, quite often,
William." Mr. Peacecraft sat at
his usual black leather chair in the living room. He heard Relena and Katrina in the kitchen. He looked back at William, who stood
nervously in front of the elder.
"Yes, sir."
Mr. Peacecraft gestured for William to sit in a couch that was situated beside
his leather chair. "Would you care
for a cigar?" He held an oak box
filled with at least 10 of them. He
noticed William refused. "I never
really cared of smoking, even though I had a few of these lying in this box,
just in case, some guests arrived.
Anyhow, I just want you to know that you're a fine lad and that you've
been treating her with respect. You
better keep it that way or I'll have my hound dogs track you down."
Right then, William's face turned pale at the slight remark. He looked at the elder, who held a slight
smile on his face, a sign that he was just playing.
Relena appeared at the doorframe of the living room and noticed that her father
gave his final approval of him. "
He's a keeper." She slightly
blushed with that remark.
"I don't know what I would do without him."
The young couple then walked out to the front porch. "Good night, Relena."
"Good night."
~*~
On the following morning, Relena was left all to herself minus the fact that a
couple of maids were dusting around the vast residence. For the morning, most of the household had
cleared out to attend a picnic that was being hosted nearby.
A knock was heard on the front door.
Relena looked at a small clock that was set on the fireplace mantle. The white face showed that it was two
o'clock in the afternoon. "I don't
recall my mother having any guests coming so late in the afternoon. So much for afternoon tea." She placed a book down next to her and
smoothed out her white afternoon dress.
"I wonder who could that be."
She headed into one of the vast hallways on the first floor and
eventually came upon the front door.
"Hello, Relena."
"Hello, William. What brings you
here?"
"These are for you." He
handed her a small bouquet of red roses.
She gingerly took them into her hands.
"These are lovely. Thank
you."
"I was wondering...would you care for a horseback ride right now? I know it may seem abrupt, but I figure that
your mother isn't around to pester you."
She paused in her response, "Alright then, just give me a few minutes to
change into my riding attire. You can
come in and wait in the foyer if you like."
William decided to come in, "You have a nice mansion here."
"Thank you...I'll be right back."
She walked upstairs and entered into her room. Within five minutes, she reemerged with her white blouse and a
riding skirt. "Thanks for
waiting."
"It was no trouble at all."
The two walked out onto the same gravel road that led towards the family's
stable and in there, Relena showed him her chestnut mare. She quickly placed on the black saddle and
before long, the two were riding their horses.
Relena being an avid rider started to strike up a conversation, "You have
a nice Appaloosa."
"Thank you. My father bought if
for me as a going away present for college."
The two continued on with their slow walk through the countryside. It has been three weeks since their first
meeting at her mother's dance. "So
how are you liking Winfield so far? It
seems like I never get the chance of having a conversation without my mother
leading the actual conversation."
"The sights are interesting...but nothing as compared to you."
She slightly blushed at his remark.
"Should we now start a canter?"
He then used his right index finger and pointed in the direction ahead of them,
"The fastest one to that oak tree wins.
On my mark, one...two...three."
With that, the two horses bolted into their canters. At times, Relena was in the lead, while at
others, William was overtaking her. The
two continued with their neck in neck race and the two riders noticed that they
were closing in on the acorn tree was standing in the middle of the open
pasture.
Relena urged her horse to go more faster, while at the same time, William did
the same. When the two had reached
their intended target, it was hard to tell who actually won the small race.
"It looks like we tied for the race."
"I guess you're right, William. I
think our horses need to take a break a little."
He quickly left his saddle and went over to Relena's side. He grabbed her by the waistline and gently
placed her on her feet. "There you
go."
"You're such a gentleman, you know that." The two were standing face to face. She felt his breath running close to her face. His mouth hovered near hers and he was about
to kiss her. She immediately moved away
from him, "I don't think we should be doing this. Not yet."
"Sorry about that then, I guess we should be getting back to your home
then." The feeling of hurt carried
within him.
The two slowly trotted back to the Peacecraft mansion, and Relena could tell
that William was somewhat crushed on his first attempt to kiss her. "I really had a nice time, thank
you." The two were now in sight of
the stable. "I guess this is my
cue to leave now. Bye, William."
"Bye, Relena." He watched her ride to her family's stable, but in the
distance he saw someone emerge from the shadows of the stable. "I wonder
who could that be," he strained his eyes to see if he could pick up
anymore details of the mysterious man, but then he remembered something else
that was on his mind. He ordered his horse to trot back to his family's
mansion, where someone else was awaiting for his arrival.
~*~
"Mind if I join you?"
Heero nodded his head to the left, gesturing that Duo could join him on the
quiet afternoon.
"You seem to have something on your mind lately."
"Your point?"
"I'm just striking up a conversation here, that's all."
"Well, it's none of your business."
Duo lifted one of his eyebrows up in curiosity, "Oh really...is it about
Relena?"
"It's not about her." His right hand gripped the arm rest of the
patio chair.
Duo decided to change the subject, "About your New York trip...what really
happened?"
Heero looked blankly in front of him, remembering the confrontations with his
father, "My father kicked me out of the family."
Duo's face dropped slightly after hearing the news. "I didn't mean to get all of the details. You're welcome to stay here as long as you
like." He then decided to leave
Heero for the day in hopes of allowing him to collect his thoughts and that he
could sort through his problems.
Once Duo was out of his sight, Heero felt somewhat relieved that he finally
told the truth to him, but something else kept nagging within him. It was his recurring dream of his trip to
New York intertwined with someone running away from him in a hallway. All he could remember from his dream that
there was laughter in the background and that there was a feminine voice. Could it be in relation to Relena or someone
else that he had met before?
"Why can't I remember?" He
closed his eyelids, but couldn't draw up any memories to help solve his nagging
dream.
~*~
"Where have you been, Miss Peacecraft?
Your mother has been looking for you." A pair of keen black eyes focused on her.
"And you're?"
"Answer my question first."
The man grabbed hold of her horse's reins by the teeth bit.
"I was out riding with William Bennett.
If you could please release my reins now, I would greatly appreciate
it." He let the leather reins go
and allowed her to enter the stable.
"If you must know, I'm Wufei Chang."
He walked off somewhere to the back of the stable, clearing a pile of
haystacks to be used for the horses' feed.
Relena got off from her horse and led it back to its stall. She quickly unsaddled her horse and did a
quick grooming down its back and main body.
Once everything was back in order, she resumed her conversation with
Wufei. "I was wondering, did my
mother ask you to question me on my whereabouts?"
Wufei paid no attention to the woman that was standing behind him. He kept using a pitchfork and lifted the hay
into a small bin. He heard Relena
slowly walk out of the stable and with the feeling of uneasiness in the air, he
decided to acknowledge her question, "To answer your question, yes she
did. I need to get back to work now, if
you'll please excuse me."
She decided to leave Wufei alone and walked back to the mansion. With that, she
heard other footsteps coming from behind her.
"There you are, my dear."
"Hello, mother. Why did you ask a
stable boy to question me about my whereabouts?" Her mother suddenly stopped in her walk and right then, Relena
decided to face her mother.
"I was just wondering where you went.
When I came back home, the house was entirely emptied."
"Unlikely story...you were waiting somewhere in the stable when I came
back and when Wufei questioned me, you could hear the gossip firsthand."
"Are you accusing me for that action?"
"I just wish you could just let me be and stop controlling my life as if
you were repeating yours through mine," frustration was heard in her
voice.
It suddenly dawned on Katrina that something in that statement finally clicked
in her mind. She finally saw that she
was molding Relena's life into a life that she witnessed as a young lady due to
the fact that her own mother did the same exact thing to herself. It was this society that kept laying out the
guidelines to a proper way of life, the women were respected if they showed the
proper etiquette and that if they had the money to host social functions, they
couldn't be rejected. Even though her
husband was rich and well respected among his colleagues, she decided to use
Relena in this game of popularity in hopes of attracting gossipers to her
home. With that, news of Relena being
courted would spread like wildfire through the community and in someway, she
could then get the recognition in raising a fine girl.
"I'm sorry Relena, I don't know what overcame me in the first place. I guess with your brother's refusal made me
more determined to find a suitor for you.
Can you ever forgive me?"
Tears were now welling up in her blue eyes.
Relena slowly walked over to her mother's side. At first, she stood apprehensively in front of her, wondering if
she lets her guard down, would the whole process of her mother intruding into
her life begin again. She then embraced
her, "I forgive you...but you must keep your distance in my personal
life."
"I'll try, but there's no guarantee." A wry smile was seen on her face.
Relena felt uneasy around her mother and contemplated to herself, "Is this
another game that she's playing?"
"So how was your ride with William?"
"It was pleasant."
A curious look was seen on her mother.
~*~
Duo walked on endlessly for over an hour.
His eyes focused on the ground rather than what lay ahead of him. He was shocked that Heero's father had
kicked Heero out of the family. He
mumbled something to himself, "Now I can see what predicament he's in. If only I had known earlier." He contemplated back to their first night
when Heero arrived in Winfield, the signs were subtle, even though he knew that
Heero kept most to himself. He should
have paid more close attention to his friend's drinking habits, he never
thought that Heero would pick up the habit of drinking alcohol. "There's something still wrong to this
picture. I wonder what it could
be?" He continued to walk down the
main gravel road that led from his residence.
Right before him, a slender figured emerged from a side road with small
packages in her hands. She was busy
juggling the packages, being careful not to drop them. She stopped and readjusted her grasp on
them, and with that, she continued to walk down the main road.
Unexpectedly, the two collided into one another, each of them falling onto the
floor with Duo tripping over something in the process and ended up in a small
patch of mud, while the female figure fell onto her knees.
"Watch where you're going, mister!"
She immediately picked the paper-wrapped packages that were strewn
across the dirt path and checked to see their contents were still intact. "You're lucky that none of these
porcelain dishes broke."
"I'm glad that you're alright, too."
Duo slowly got up from his mud bath and nearly slipped in the
process. "I'm sorry about this
incident, miss, I'm truly am." He then wiped away some of the mud that
clung to his face and eyes, his vision was somewhat blurred for a while. "Do I know you from somewhere?"
The lady immediately stopped in front of him with an appalled look on her face.
"I think you're the one from the Peacecraft dance that was held three
weeks ago, if I recalled correctly."
"Duo?"
"You do remember me! That's a
relief."
"What brings you here?"
"I was just walking through the neighborhood."
She gave him a questioningly look.
"You sure about that? I
think you might be here for another reason."
Duo started to look guiltier. "How
can I put this...there was one thing that I need to ask you. Do you remember a Grandfather clock chiming
during our conversation at the dance?"
"Yes, but just get to the point."
He tugged at his shirt collar that was stained with the brown soil,
"What's your name again, I somewhat didn't quite catch it."
"Is that what you came here for?"
She looked towards his face and he responded with a guilty look. "It's Hilde. That wasn't painful, was it?"
"No, not really." She then
brushed past him and a slender hand flashed quickly at him. "Why did you do that for?" He landed back into the mud puddle.
"I'll see you around, Duo."
She continued down a small dirt road, holding the packages still in her
hands.
"It figures for her to be cunning."
He wiped away the mud that clung to his cotton shirt. He then thought to himself, "But she
sure is feisty." He smirked and
wandered off in the same direction that she had ventured just a few minutes
ago.
~*~
Heero had left from his spot on Duo's front porch and decided to take a small
walk. It seemed to him that he had
walked endlessly in the surroundings of Winfield. Everywhere he went to, there were maples, birches, ash trees, and
cottonwoods. But once in a while, there
were clusters of pine trees that dotted the landscape. He pressed on further until he came across a
newly cleared field and a few hundred yards in front of him, a small two story
home stood in stark contrast from the land.
Its dark blue shutters looked repainted, while the boards looked like
they were white-washed quickly. The
paint baffled him, considering the fact that most of Winfield residents were
wealthy.
He strained his eyes to see what other details he could muster, but the dust
slightly irritated his eyes. He wasn't
used to the open rural settings, since most of his life, he spent it in New
York, while occasionally, he would spend some of his time in Winfield. He continued to walk on the gray gravel path
until he heard a horse sprinting his way.
"Out of my way!" The rider
cantered right in front of Heero. A
blur of white and brown was seen, along with a faint trail of white dust.
"What an uptight fellow." He
noticed the rider steered his horse into the field that lay ahead of him. At the spur of the moment, he decided to
follow this "rude" rider.
With that, he stealthily walked closer to the home and hid behind a shed
that was situated to the side of the house.
Overall, Heero could still get a bird's eye view of what was happening
and that he could listen into the conversation, as well.
A woman was waiting patiently for someone at the front door. Her sandy blond hair was neatly braided and
it was adorned with a light green ribbon that was tied at the end. As for her summer dress, it was the same
light green color and a white sash was tied around her waist. He showed a puzzling look on his face and
his mind pressed for an answer, "Something is not right here."
A man's voice was heard in the distance, "Sorry to keep you waiting, my
dear. I was out riding."
"It's quite alright, William. I
see you renovated this home." She
went over to him and gave him a long desired kiss. "So, how are the residents treating you around here?"
"To be quite frank, they've been warm and welcoming to me." Giving off a slight smirk, "What brings
you here to Winfield, Celeste?"
"To see you." She gave him another kiss.
He smiled back to her and lifted her up in his arms. "Where shall we
begin?"
"Aren't you the naughty one?" She melted into his arms.
A couple of minutes later, the front door slammed. With this as a signal, Heero looked from his hiding spot and once
everything was cleared, he quickly ran out from the grove of trees and headed
back onto the main gravel road. The
conversation from William and Celeste role-played through his mind, along with
the community's gossip network that has been relentlessly in relaying juicy
details of some residents. One of the
names that surfaced in his mind was Relena Peacecraft. The name, William, triggered a tensed
feeling within Heero and his fists clenched at his sides.
~*~
"I know you're back there, Duo, are you stalking me?" yelled Hilde.
"How did you know that I was here?"
"It's my little secret. Well...are you stalking me?"
He quickly caught up to her and sheepishly replied, "Partially yes and no." A brief pause came into their conversation,
"Can I just walk you home? It
wouldn't be right for me to have you walk all by yourself. You never know who's in these woods."
Hilde paused in her walk and directly looked at him, "Alright then."
A wave of relief washed through Duo and he contemplated to himself, "It
looks like I still have a chance with her." He then said out loud, "Sorry about this afternoon's
collision."
"It's fine." She still
struggled with some of her packages.
"Let me take those for you."
"Thank you, Duo." The two
continued to walk up the now broaden dirt path. "So, you really didn't know my name from the dance three
weeks ago?"
"Can we just change the subject?"
Duo continued to stare straight ahead of him, he didn't want to trip
over small branches and smash the delicate packages that he was carrying for
Hilde.
"Poor thing."
"Very funny."
"Well, here we are. It's not as elegant as the rest of the homes in
Winfield." The house was a two-story structure with three windows on each
floor, but otherwise it's white color softly stood out amongst the greenery. In
addition, there were a few nooks and crannies that needed to be fix, but
nothing too serious. "My family and I can never get into the habit of
fixing this place up, it seems that we never have enough time."
He walked Hilde to the front door and helped her in with all of her
packages. He quickly peaked through the
door and saw that the inside of the house was completely furnished with
traditional wood frames and small oriental rugs. In addition, each room looked like it had a particular
theme. For example, one room was
painted yellow, which meant that it was the morning room, in which tea and
breakfast would be served. While in another room, it was painted blue and it
looked more like a guest receiving area.
"Looks can be deceiving," replied Hilde. "Thanks for your help, Duo."
"It was my pleasure, Hilde. I'll
see you around then."
She smiled in response and closed the door.
She watched Duo walk down the same dirt path that the two had walked on
earlier. "I think I'm in
love," she whispered. She then
looked away from the window and looked into the kitchen, where her mother was
baking chocolate chip cookies.
TBC
