**Disclaimer** I don't own the Gundam series and such.
Dang it's been six months since I've posted. Feels weird. Anyway, please enjoy.
Chapter 12- A Guest of the Sank Kingdom
A Japanese middle-aged man dressed in a business suit sat at a lavish desk with a view of a city that curved up into the sky, a common sight for people who lived in the colonies. The man was surrounded by miniatures of cowboys and tanks, with paperwork intermingled in the cracks. The black hair on his head shined on the paper he was signing, a military contract. His gray eyes show signs of aging, but not enough to sway his eerily grim smile as he looked into an incoming message on his videophone. The man didn't answer it.
"Considering everything. I'm not surprised that he was killed." He brought his hand up as though to figure something out. "No... He would think something was wrong then. But, at the same time I have to tell him. That an unknown assailant killed the man I sent. Yeah, that would go over well."
The man continued to hesitate as he went through his options. He isn't going to like any way I say it. He pressed the button on the videophone and a snowed up screen appeared on the videophone.
"Eizo. I'm sorry to say this, but someone saw my man coming. He was found murdered."
"WHAT?!"
"Remember your heart!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex felt his legs for the first time in hours as he shook his right leg in bed. Relief poured over him as he thought of permanent paralysis from Diel's hand. He sat up in bed and looked around at his surroundings, which were nothing special. It was an ordinary bedroom with a closet and a table with several items on it; his wallet, pendent, and Preventor ID. His clothes were hung up in the closet. The Preventor jacket even had patches over the burnt off parts.
"My clothes?" He looked down at his attire, and saw only boxers on. The pilot immediately ran over and began to put on his clothes.
After Alex laced up his boots, the Preventor walked out of his room and into so much fuss, that he would later wish he was still in bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A month?!" Snow's jaw almost came unhinged at what one maintenance crewmember had said to him.
"That is correct."
"But, the damage isn't enough to warrant that long of a repair time." Alex looked at the wreck of Icedig with scaffolds and catwalks crisscrossing every which way to keep the mobile suit up. The paint job was gone, and a hollowed body joints remained where the armor used to be. Then again, that length of time might be too little...
"The arm units were severely damaged. One leg unit has to be replaced, and the other might as well be replaced. The upper torso armor suffered severe damage as well, and the barring joints have to be replaced due to frictional damage. Then there is the wiring..."
The list went on and on, and he had enough. The brunette waved his arms around to stop him. "Alright, I get the picture."
"But I only got half way through the list..."
"I know... I know" He sighed heavily as he walked away from the crewmember. He would have broken down into tears if he hadn't. Icedig had undergone so much maintenance since he had begun to pilot; it's ridiculous. Even the gundanium/neo-titanium outfitted Icedig was virtually destroyed in its first battle. He was beginning to question his suit's strengths and weaknesses. There was nothing more than weakness being shown in the suit, it was simply outdated and being overpowered. The Gundams are far superior to Icedig, yet. ... They just keep rebuilding it. Makes no sense, they should begin to make an upgrade or something....
The crewmember tugged on Alex's shoulder, and he turned around to look at him. "We need you to look over this replacement list and sign this shipping order."
Alex rolled his eyes. Great more paperwork...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So... What do you think about this situation?" Hilde took a sip of tea.
"Well, I don't mind that the Colonel is interested in the Sank Kingdom, again, but I can hardly believe that so much effort has been invested in this pilot." Relena brought her teacup to her lips. "He is unknown... so, why is the Colonel interested in him?"
The dark blue haired Preventor hesitated, and a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead. Another moment went by.
"Well?"
"There is going to be an invasion." Relena blankly stared at her. "The men behind it are preparing an all-out full attack, which requires our forces to be at full strength. This includes Snow."
"I wish people would stop ruining the peace obtained by the Gundam pilots."
"I know. It's only going to get worse. Unless we stop them and soon." She took a sip from her teacup.
"I'm surprised that you're the leader of your outfit. It's not bad, but why isn't that pilot in charge."
Hilde put her cup down on the table, and looked up at the vice- foreign minister. "I'm leader to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. I'm his overseer in a sense. Though, after this last skirmish I might want to do more than what I have been doing."
"I would consider it if I were you."
"His discipline is all shot to hell, and he doesn't listen to authority very well. Besides taking on missions. At this rate, he will dig his own grave one way or another."
"Discipline?"
"Yeah. It's to be expected. He has been on his own one way or another for the past five years now."
Relena placed her cup down. "What he lacks is formality."
"What?"
"The quality of being formal."
"Oh."
"Discipline usually comes along with being formal, though some people mess that part up entirely."
"So, you want to..." Hilde hesitated, "formalize Preventor Snow."
"Yes, I think it would do a world of good for him."
"I hope so."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex stepped out of the maintenance corridor, which lead from the cliff hangar, and slowly walked up some stairs toward the surface.
There were two hundred parts on that list. It will take a month to completely fix that suit. I'm stuck here for a month. Figures.
After several minutes, he reached a door and opened it. He was now on the outskirts of the mansion. The sun glared his eyes as he stepped out, and his hands went up to shield them. He shifted his sight down the hill and saw the city along with the forest on either side. The sea was also a beautiful to take in.
"I guess it isn't such a bad place after all."
"It sure is." A voice came from behind Alex. He jumped forward and looked behind him. It was Diel. He was in a summer getup with a black shirt and green shorts. A gym bag was in his right hand. The bodyguard saw the shock on Alex's face, but stood there not caring about it. "Don't tell me, I scared you."
"Yes... you... did...." Alex almost hyperventilated.
Diel shook his head, "Most people don't spaz out when I do that."
Alex caught his breath. "Excuse me if I'm not like most people."
"Good. You're better now." Diel coldly walked past Alex.
"Thank you for caring."
"If I did that to anybody in the field, they wouldn't be breathing right now. Their bodies would be limp on the ground." Alex just stared at the comment. "Just making sure you weren't being sarcastic."
"Of course not..." Alex kept his nervousness back. "Why would I?"
"I'm a bodyguard. I can read people's body/mouth gestures. I'm not stupid." Diel continued to walk away.
"Great, I made a jerk out of myself in front of him." The brunette mumbled. The black-haired man stopped and looked back at Alex. "Want to join me for a game of chess?" "Chess?" "Yeah. You know a game with pieces..." "I know what it is! And, I accept." "Ok, then."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex and Diel sat in a remote corner of the recreation center's lounge. Alex had, thus far, managed to upset Diel's plans on several moves, and the only pieces to dispose of were his two Rooks, Queen, and one Bishop aside from the King. Though the game had went badly, Diel was very calm about the situation.
"I must say, I expected more out of you." Alex commented as he surveyed what was left of Diel's pieces.
"If it weren't from a pilot, I'd be offended." Diel stared at the board with a stare that would have sent chills down people's spines. But, Alex didn't notice.
"What have you done for all these years anyway?" Alex slowly moved his hand onto his Queen.
"Since Heero Yuy's death, I have gone from country to country and even colonies in search of a job. I could never find one. Mostly because people didn't want a bodyguard who failed his mission." A small tear went down his face. "That is until I got this job."
"That's bites. Being unemployed for all those years." Alex moved his Queen. "Checkmate."
"I worked at restaurants, and even worked as a martial arts expert for a little while." Diel observed Alex's move carefully.
"Martial arts. That explains the karate chop." Alex rubbed the back of his neck. Diel picked up his Queen and knocked out Alex's Queen.
"Checkmate."
"What?!" Alex looked frantically looked down at the board.
"I let you win up until that point. Usually people bring out their King out and I crush them. Except you didn't, I needed some move that would put your King at risk. And, you obliged. Good game."
The brunette couldn't believe his eyes. Diel had pulled a fast one on him. Now, he knew how Duo felt. "But..."
"That's life." The bodyguard got up and picked up his bag. He headed off toward the multi-purpose room.
Alex blankly stared at the chessboard. "I was winning too..."
The next moment, Alex was tugged out of his seat and dragged away by Hilde.
"I can walk!"
"Then walk."
She let go of Alex, and he got back up to his feet. The brunette brushed off the back of his pants.
"What was that for?!"
"The Vice Foreign Minister insists on seeing you at once."
"What for?" "Relena and I want you to become disciplined." Alex angrily stared at her, and had a hint of confusion in his eyes. "She says the best way is to make you formal. In other words, she is going to formalize you."
"Oh, that's all. Phew, for a minute...." The concept connected in Alex's head. "Formalize. You want me to be formal. Excuse me, no!"
"That's an order."
"No way. I refuse."
"Snow. What better things do you have to do?"
"Nothing, but I'm not doing it. Period."
The dark blue haired Preventor turned around and headed toward the door. "Ok. But, don't be surprised if your past came to light in..."
Suddenly, Alex booked and was in front of Hilde. "Why didn't you say I was going to be taught how to be formal? I would have come if you said that." He anxiously chuckled.
Good boy. Hilde hid the smile on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson one: Food Etiquette
Alex sat in an expensive wooden chair, which was placed at the head of a long table. His blue eyes almost drooled at the sight of the food in front of him. A perfectly cooked drumstick from a Turkey, a pile of mashed potatoes with Turkey gravy, and small assortment of vegetables lay before him on his plate. A roll was on a small plate with the butter conveniently next to it. An arsenal of silverware lay on the three sides of the plates, each similar, yet different from the one next to it. A napkin was folded up toward the ceiling and stood next the forks.
The brunette turned his head and glanced over at Relena who was observing from a nearby wall. "When do you want me to start?"
"Right now, if you want."
"Ok."
Alex reached over toward the fork closest to the plate.
"Not that one."
His hand passed that one, and went to reach for the one next to it.
"Ahem."
Feeling a little frustrated, he reached for the next one.
"Ahem."
There was only one fork left to choose from, now. "By power of deduction, I conclude that this is the fork I must use in order to eat properly." The Preventor picked up the fork and brought it over to the plate. "Finally, I shall eat." He whispered.
His fork was only an inch away from the mashed potatoes. "You're still wrong."
"What? What am I suppose to eat with then? My hands. That isn't proper, now is it?"
"The first step is put your napkin onto your lap."
"Oh... of course... right." He promptly put his fork down and put his napkin on his lap. "That's it, right?"
"Don't forget about your knife. Also, work outside in...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson Two: Dress Attire
Relena and Hilde sat in a set of leather-covered chairs. Hilde twirled her dark blue hair with her right hand to make it look straight. Relena on the other hand, looked straight at a dressing screen with clothes hung over the top. The clothes were very formal in appearance and it appeared to be a tuxedo.
"I can't believe you got a tailor to measure him up." Preventor Lumin stopped with her hair, and looked straight at the screen. "Even better is that he isn't fussing about it."
Voices came from behind the screen. "What's this?"
"That's a tie."
"I take that back." Hilde let out a heavy sigh.
"Ok. What are you doing with that?"
"Measuring your waist."
"Oh, gotcha."
"Good. Now stay still."
"What are you doing with those needles?!"
"Just fitting the suit together. Just stay still. This will be a lot quicker if you do."
"But..."
"Do as he says, Snow, or else. " Lumin's voice was forceful and firm.
"Right. Get on with it."
"Hold your arm up."
"OW!"
"I told you stay still."
"Ok. Ok."
"It's a wonder that he made it through the food etiquette lesson of yours so quickly." Hilde grumbled as she continued to listen to Alex and the tailor behind the screen.
"I think he knew what he was doing. He just wasn't used to the extra silverware there."
"I guess that would make sense."
"What are those?"
"They're cufflinks."
"What do they do?"
"Hold the cuffs together."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson Three: Lecture Hall
Relena stood at the front of a lecture hall, and had several philosophy titles written up on a chalkboard. She held a book in her right hand and chalk in the other. The long, blonde-haired woman turned to face the only student in the class.
"Alex, now remember when dealing..." Relena saw Alex sound asleep in the back row of the hall; also he used his book as a pillow. It was a discouraging sight for any professor, indeed. "Well, you just made this harder on yourself."
Relena cleared her throat. "Mr. Cros. Will you care to read from the tenth page out of the book?" She projected her voice forcefully across the room.
A mutter came from Alex. In effect, "call someone else."
"Mr. Cros. You're the only one in here."
No response this time around.
"Ok. If you don't wake up in five seconds, I'll expect you have read the entire book by tomorrow and have written a detailed book report about the philosophies described in it the day after that."
Alex sprung up out of his seat. "I'm sorry. What page was that?"
"Ten."
Alex feverishly flipped through the pages.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yusao, do you have any idea how pissed I am?" The voice over the videophone said.
"Of course, I do. You haven't spoken to me in a week, since my last call." The Japanese businessman spoke hesitantly.
"In that time, I had to consider my options and such along with not tearing apart my last remaining partner."
"Thank you for doing that." He gulped.
"I have come to one conclusion. A sniper shouldn't have been sent after him. The Sank Kingdom is better than that."
"What's the conclusion then?"
"Send Silent Wind. Kill 235 and then have him kill off the remaining Gundam pilots." Yasuo was in shock.
"But, he still handling that assignment you gave to him."
"Get him off that. I want those four dead before anything else happens."
"This will cause the Preventors to come after us. We can't allow such action."
"Without the Gundam pilots, the Preventors are useless. I don't want to beat around the bush anymore. Understand?"
"Yes I do. I'll have him handle it immediately."
"Good."
The Japanese businessman killed the connection, and placed his head in his hands. "I can't believe you would be that rash. I've worked too hard to get this far. Way too hard." He reached over to his desk and opened up his pda. He slowly wrote up a new message under a directory titled jobs for Wind. He then folded up his pda and placed into his pocket.
"I just have to wait a little longer. Then, everything will be set." A smile crawled across his face. "Just a little bit longer."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson Four: Dancing
"Hilde step to the right. Ok, now to the left, and hold your left arm out like this." Relena held her left arm in a move of a slow dance, and Hilde was in step with her. Alex was nearby, while he tried to practice a slow dance. Diel was on the other side of a glass door, and kept a close eye on the exits.
They were in the dance hall; chandeliers lined the ceiling and the luxurious furniture were off to the sides with dusts covers on them. It was a gorgeous place to look at, let alone be in a party there.
"Good. Now, keep your feet like that and..." A thud emitted throughout the hall. The two ladies stopped and looked at Alex. He was on the ground; apparently, he had landed headfirst with his legs twisted on each other. "How many times has he tried that number?"
"That would be the eleventh time. Trying to teach him dancing is like teaching a blind man to see." Hilde let out a heavy sigh.
"I'm okay." He mumbled.
"It's a wonder that he could even pilot that suit with that poor feet eye coordination of his."
"Agreed."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson Five: Coordination through Fencing
Two fencers stood on a gymnastics mat in the recreation center. Alex stared at his opponent's fencing sword, and held his own up. The opponent was his height and wore a fencing suit. Through the mask, the brown haired Gundam pilot, Heero Yuy, stared back at him with cool intent and battle on his mind. Alex gulped. Why me? Alex stared back to immediate Heero. It didn't work. In fact, it only made it worse as his opponent smirked.
"Ready, when you are."
Alex looked at Heero more anxiously than before. Shit. He wants me to move first, again. Snow gulped again. He then parried forward, and his sword lunged forward.
Heero tapped Alex's sword to the side, and had his sword pointed an inch away from Alex's head.
"You're lucky this isn't battle. A mistake, like that, would get you killed." Heero let down his sword.
"I thought this was suppose to get me more coordinated."
"It is."
"Then, why do you keep knocking off my first move?"
"They're foolish moves."
"Why did you have to come, anyway?"
"Relena insisted."
"Figures."
In an adjacent room, Relena and Hilde kept an eye on the two. Relena's black haired bodyguard closely stood by her side yet kept his sight on Heero alone.
"How many times has Heero done that?" Hilde shook her head.
"Tenth time." Diel stated.
"I wonder when he'll learn."
"Not sure."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm beat." Alex dropped his sword on the ground as he looked into his locker. Sweat poured down his face. "Four hours of straight fencing. It's so unrealistic. I've had enough of fencing for a life time." Alex glanced over at Heero. The Gundam pilot didn't have a sweat drop on him, and had already changed into his brown shorts and green tank top. "Aren't you even tired?"
"Nope." He bent down and began tying his shoes. Alex stared him in shock. "Don't give me that look, though, you got better."
"I don't see it as that." Alex began to take off his suit.
"You did." Heero stood back up, and walked out of the locker room.
Snow blankly stared at Heero. I'm not sure if I should be excited or afraid right now. He shook his head and got his mind back together. The brunette rushed to put his khaki pants and his solid blue shirt on. He slipped on his shoes, but didn't tie them as he dashed off to catch up to Heero.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"He has improved." Hilde took a sip of tea.
"Yes he has. I'm impressed how in four weeks he has become more proper. Though, it seems he is resisting the change." The Vice Foreign Minister took a sip of tea.
"I'm not surprised about that. He resists a lot of stuff." Hilde glanced over at the blonde-haired Minister. "I'm not sure..." A knock came from behind the closed door to the study. "why..."
"Come in."
The door slowly opened and the middle aged Diel stepped through the door. He hesitated to look at Relena and glanced down at the papers in his left hand.
"Is something the matter?"
"Yes. I'm resigning, Ms. Dorlain."
Relena stood straight up. "Why?" Hilde had a surprised look on her face.
"Earlier today, I received news that my cousin and his wife were killed in a car accident in San Francisco. Their four-year-old son survived the crash, but now he is orphaned and well I'm the only family left that could take care of him." Small tears came from his eyes, as he tried to keep his emotions back.
Lumin stood up and walked over to him. "That's terrible."
"Yes it is. I have to get going. Here are my..." Diel placed the papers he had onto the desk, but Hilde grabbed his hand.
"You worked hard for this job. There has to be another way."
"I did work hard, but that child needs a mentor. I won't let foster parents try to fill a void that only a family member can provide."
"But..."
"Hilde let him go." Lumin complied and both her and Diel looked over at Relena. "I know you have done a great here. It's been an honor to have you as my bodyguard, but guarding lives goes on different levels. That child needs you." "Thank you for understanding, Ms. Dorlain." The bodyguard bowed, and slowly walked out of the room.
Relena approached the door and glanced at Diel one last time. "Take care."
He turned around and, with tears were being forced back, he said, "Thank you again, Ms. Dorlain." Diel turned back around and dashed off.
Hilde took one last look at the man, and couldn't help but cry. "What a tragedy.'
"Yes. It is."
Dang it's been six months since I've posted. Feels weird. Anyway, please enjoy.
Chapter 12- A Guest of the Sank Kingdom
A Japanese middle-aged man dressed in a business suit sat at a lavish desk with a view of a city that curved up into the sky, a common sight for people who lived in the colonies. The man was surrounded by miniatures of cowboys and tanks, with paperwork intermingled in the cracks. The black hair on his head shined on the paper he was signing, a military contract. His gray eyes show signs of aging, but not enough to sway his eerily grim smile as he looked into an incoming message on his videophone. The man didn't answer it.
"Considering everything. I'm not surprised that he was killed." He brought his hand up as though to figure something out. "No... He would think something was wrong then. But, at the same time I have to tell him. That an unknown assailant killed the man I sent. Yeah, that would go over well."
The man continued to hesitate as he went through his options. He isn't going to like any way I say it. He pressed the button on the videophone and a snowed up screen appeared on the videophone.
"Eizo. I'm sorry to say this, but someone saw my man coming. He was found murdered."
"WHAT?!"
"Remember your heart!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex felt his legs for the first time in hours as he shook his right leg in bed. Relief poured over him as he thought of permanent paralysis from Diel's hand. He sat up in bed and looked around at his surroundings, which were nothing special. It was an ordinary bedroom with a closet and a table with several items on it; his wallet, pendent, and Preventor ID. His clothes were hung up in the closet. The Preventor jacket even had patches over the burnt off parts.
"My clothes?" He looked down at his attire, and saw only boxers on. The pilot immediately ran over and began to put on his clothes.
After Alex laced up his boots, the Preventor walked out of his room and into so much fuss, that he would later wish he was still in bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A month?!" Snow's jaw almost came unhinged at what one maintenance crewmember had said to him.
"That is correct."
"But, the damage isn't enough to warrant that long of a repair time." Alex looked at the wreck of Icedig with scaffolds and catwalks crisscrossing every which way to keep the mobile suit up. The paint job was gone, and a hollowed body joints remained where the armor used to be. Then again, that length of time might be too little...
"The arm units were severely damaged. One leg unit has to be replaced, and the other might as well be replaced. The upper torso armor suffered severe damage as well, and the barring joints have to be replaced due to frictional damage. Then there is the wiring..."
The list went on and on, and he had enough. The brunette waved his arms around to stop him. "Alright, I get the picture."
"But I only got half way through the list..."
"I know... I know" He sighed heavily as he walked away from the crewmember. He would have broken down into tears if he hadn't. Icedig had undergone so much maintenance since he had begun to pilot; it's ridiculous. Even the gundanium/neo-titanium outfitted Icedig was virtually destroyed in its first battle. He was beginning to question his suit's strengths and weaknesses. There was nothing more than weakness being shown in the suit, it was simply outdated and being overpowered. The Gundams are far superior to Icedig, yet. ... They just keep rebuilding it. Makes no sense, they should begin to make an upgrade or something....
The crewmember tugged on Alex's shoulder, and he turned around to look at him. "We need you to look over this replacement list and sign this shipping order."
Alex rolled his eyes. Great more paperwork...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So... What do you think about this situation?" Hilde took a sip of tea.
"Well, I don't mind that the Colonel is interested in the Sank Kingdom, again, but I can hardly believe that so much effort has been invested in this pilot." Relena brought her teacup to her lips. "He is unknown... so, why is the Colonel interested in him?"
The dark blue haired Preventor hesitated, and a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead. Another moment went by.
"Well?"
"There is going to be an invasion." Relena blankly stared at her. "The men behind it are preparing an all-out full attack, which requires our forces to be at full strength. This includes Snow."
"I wish people would stop ruining the peace obtained by the Gundam pilots."
"I know. It's only going to get worse. Unless we stop them and soon." She took a sip from her teacup.
"I'm surprised that you're the leader of your outfit. It's not bad, but why isn't that pilot in charge."
Hilde put her cup down on the table, and looked up at the vice- foreign minister. "I'm leader to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. I'm his overseer in a sense. Though, after this last skirmish I might want to do more than what I have been doing."
"I would consider it if I were you."
"His discipline is all shot to hell, and he doesn't listen to authority very well. Besides taking on missions. At this rate, he will dig his own grave one way or another."
"Discipline?"
"Yeah. It's to be expected. He has been on his own one way or another for the past five years now."
Relena placed her cup down. "What he lacks is formality."
"What?"
"The quality of being formal."
"Oh."
"Discipline usually comes along with being formal, though some people mess that part up entirely."
"So, you want to..." Hilde hesitated, "formalize Preventor Snow."
"Yes, I think it would do a world of good for him."
"I hope so."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex stepped out of the maintenance corridor, which lead from the cliff hangar, and slowly walked up some stairs toward the surface.
There were two hundred parts on that list. It will take a month to completely fix that suit. I'm stuck here for a month. Figures.
After several minutes, he reached a door and opened it. He was now on the outskirts of the mansion. The sun glared his eyes as he stepped out, and his hands went up to shield them. He shifted his sight down the hill and saw the city along with the forest on either side. The sea was also a beautiful to take in.
"I guess it isn't such a bad place after all."
"It sure is." A voice came from behind Alex. He jumped forward and looked behind him. It was Diel. He was in a summer getup with a black shirt and green shorts. A gym bag was in his right hand. The bodyguard saw the shock on Alex's face, but stood there not caring about it. "Don't tell me, I scared you."
"Yes... you... did...." Alex almost hyperventilated.
Diel shook his head, "Most people don't spaz out when I do that."
Alex caught his breath. "Excuse me if I'm not like most people."
"Good. You're better now." Diel coldly walked past Alex.
"Thank you for caring."
"If I did that to anybody in the field, they wouldn't be breathing right now. Their bodies would be limp on the ground." Alex just stared at the comment. "Just making sure you weren't being sarcastic."
"Of course not..." Alex kept his nervousness back. "Why would I?"
"I'm a bodyguard. I can read people's body/mouth gestures. I'm not stupid." Diel continued to walk away.
"Great, I made a jerk out of myself in front of him." The brunette mumbled. The black-haired man stopped and looked back at Alex. "Want to join me for a game of chess?" "Chess?" "Yeah. You know a game with pieces..." "I know what it is! And, I accept." "Ok, then."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex and Diel sat in a remote corner of the recreation center's lounge. Alex had, thus far, managed to upset Diel's plans on several moves, and the only pieces to dispose of were his two Rooks, Queen, and one Bishop aside from the King. Though the game had went badly, Diel was very calm about the situation.
"I must say, I expected more out of you." Alex commented as he surveyed what was left of Diel's pieces.
"If it weren't from a pilot, I'd be offended." Diel stared at the board with a stare that would have sent chills down people's spines. But, Alex didn't notice.
"What have you done for all these years anyway?" Alex slowly moved his hand onto his Queen.
"Since Heero Yuy's death, I have gone from country to country and even colonies in search of a job. I could never find one. Mostly because people didn't want a bodyguard who failed his mission." A small tear went down his face. "That is until I got this job."
"That's bites. Being unemployed for all those years." Alex moved his Queen. "Checkmate."
"I worked at restaurants, and even worked as a martial arts expert for a little while." Diel observed Alex's move carefully.
"Martial arts. That explains the karate chop." Alex rubbed the back of his neck. Diel picked up his Queen and knocked out Alex's Queen.
"Checkmate."
"What?!" Alex looked frantically looked down at the board.
"I let you win up until that point. Usually people bring out their King out and I crush them. Except you didn't, I needed some move that would put your King at risk. And, you obliged. Good game."
The brunette couldn't believe his eyes. Diel had pulled a fast one on him. Now, he knew how Duo felt. "But..."
"That's life." The bodyguard got up and picked up his bag. He headed off toward the multi-purpose room.
Alex blankly stared at the chessboard. "I was winning too..."
The next moment, Alex was tugged out of his seat and dragged away by Hilde.
"I can walk!"
"Then walk."
She let go of Alex, and he got back up to his feet. The brunette brushed off the back of his pants.
"What was that for?!"
"The Vice Foreign Minister insists on seeing you at once."
"What for?" "Relena and I want you to become disciplined." Alex angrily stared at her, and had a hint of confusion in his eyes. "She says the best way is to make you formal. In other words, she is going to formalize you."
"Oh, that's all. Phew, for a minute...." The concept connected in Alex's head. "Formalize. You want me to be formal. Excuse me, no!"
"That's an order."
"No way. I refuse."
"Snow. What better things do you have to do?"
"Nothing, but I'm not doing it. Period."
The dark blue haired Preventor turned around and headed toward the door. "Ok. But, don't be surprised if your past came to light in..."
Suddenly, Alex booked and was in front of Hilde. "Why didn't you say I was going to be taught how to be formal? I would have come if you said that." He anxiously chuckled.
Good boy. Hilde hid the smile on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson one: Food Etiquette
Alex sat in an expensive wooden chair, which was placed at the head of a long table. His blue eyes almost drooled at the sight of the food in front of him. A perfectly cooked drumstick from a Turkey, a pile of mashed potatoes with Turkey gravy, and small assortment of vegetables lay before him on his plate. A roll was on a small plate with the butter conveniently next to it. An arsenal of silverware lay on the three sides of the plates, each similar, yet different from the one next to it. A napkin was folded up toward the ceiling and stood next the forks.
The brunette turned his head and glanced over at Relena who was observing from a nearby wall. "When do you want me to start?"
"Right now, if you want."
"Ok."
Alex reached over toward the fork closest to the plate.
"Not that one."
His hand passed that one, and went to reach for the one next to it.
"Ahem."
Feeling a little frustrated, he reached for the next one.
"Ahem."
There was only one fork left to choose from, now. "By power of deduction, I conclude that this is the fork I must use in order to eat properly." The Preventor picked up the fork and brought it over to the plate. "Finally, I shall eat." He whispered.
His fork was only an inch away from the mashed potatoes. "You're still wrong."
"What? What am I suppose to eat with then? My hands. That isn't proper, now is it?"
"The first step is put your napkin onto your lap."
"Oh... of course... right." He promptly put his fork down and put his napkin on his lap. "That's it, right?"
"Don't forget about your knife. Also, work outside in...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson Two: Dress Attire
Relena and Hilde sat in a set of leather-covered chairs. Hilde twirled her dark blue hair with her right hand to make it look straight. Relena on the other hand, looked straight at a dressing screen with clothes hung over the top. The clothes were very formal in appearance and it appeared to be a tuxedo.
"I can't believe you got a tailor to measure him up." Preventor Lumin stopped with her hair, and looked straight at the screen. "Even better is that he isn't fussing about it."
Voices came from behind the screen. "What's this?"
"That's a tie."
"I take that back." Hilde let out a heavy sigh.
"Ok. What are you doing with that?"
"Measuring your waist."
"Oh, gotcha."
"Good. Now stay still."
"What are you doing with those needles?!"
"Just fitting the suit together. Just stay still. This will be a lot quicker if you do."
"But..."
"Do as he says, Snow, or else. " Lumin's voice was forceful and firm.
"Right. Get on with it."
"Hold your arm up."
"OW!"
"I told you stay still."
"Ok. Ok."
"It's a wonder that he made it through the food etiquette lesson of yours so quickly." Hilde grumbled as she continued to listen to Alex and the tailor behind the screen.
"I think he knew what he was doing. He just wasn't used to the extra silverware there."
"I guess that would make sense."
"What are those?"
"They're cufflinks."
"What do they do?"
"Hold the cuffs together."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson Three: Lecture Hall
Relena stood at the front of a lecture hall, and had several philosophy titles written up on a chalkboard. She held a book in her right hand and chalk in the other. The long, blonde-haired woman turned to face the only student in the class.
"Alex, now remember when dealing..." Relena saw Alex sound asleep in the back row of the hall; also he used his book as a pillow. It was a discouraging sight for any professor, indeed. "Well, you just made this harder on yourself."
Relena cleared her throat. "Mr. Cros. Will you care to read from the tenth page out of the book?" She projected her voice forcefully across the room.
A mutter came from Alex. In effect, "call someone else."
"Mr. Cros. You're the only one in here."
No response this time around.
"Ok. If you don't wake up in five seconds, I'll expect you have read the entire book by tomorrow and have written a detailed book report about the philosophies described in it the day after that."
Alex sprung up out of his seat. "I'm sorry. What page was that?"
"Ten."
Alex feverishly flipped through the pages.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yusao, do you have any idea how pissed I am?" The voice over the videophone said.
"Of course, I do. You haven't spoken to me in a week, since my last call." The Japanese businessman spoke hesitantly.
"In that time, I had to consider my options and such along with not tearing apart my last remaining partner."
"Thank you for doing that." He gulped.
"I have come to one conclusion. A sniper shouldn't have been sent after him. The Sank Kingdom is better than that."
"What's the conclusion then?"
"Send Silent Wind. Kill 235 and then have him kill off the remaining Gundam pilots." Yasuo was in shock.
"But, he still handling that assignment you gave to him."
"Get him off that. I want those four dead before anything else happens."
"This will cause the Preventors to come after us. We can't allow such action."
"Without the Gundam pilots, the Preventors are useless. I don't want to beat around the bush anymore. Understand?"
"Yes I do. I'll have him handle it immediately."
"Good."
The Japanese businessman killed the connection, and placed his head in his hands. "I can't believe you would be that rash. I've worked too hard to get this far. Way too hard." He reached over to his desk and opened up his pda. He slowly wrote up a new message under a directory titled jobs for Wind. He then folded up his pda and placed into his pocket.
"I just have to wait a little longer. Then, everything will be set." A smile crawled across his face. "Just a little bit longer."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson Four: Dancing
"Hilde step to the right. Ok, now to the left, and hold your left arm out like this." Relena held her left arm in a move of a slow dance, and Hilde was in step with her. Alex was nearby, while he tried to practice a slow dance. Diel was on the other side of a glass door, and kept a close eye on the exits.
They were in the dance hall; chandeliers lined the ceiling and the luxurious furniture were off to the sides with dusts covers on them. It was a gorgeous place to look at, let alone be in a party there.
"Good. Now, keep your feet like that and..." A thud emitted throughout the hall. The two ladies stopped and looked at Alex. He was on the ground; apparently, he had landed headfirst with his legs twisted on each other. "How many times has he tried that number?"
"That would be the eleventh time. Trying to teach him dancing is like teaching a blind man to see." Hilde let out a heavy sigh.
"I'm okay." He mumbled.
"It's a wonder that he could even pilot that suit with that poor feet eye coordination of his."
"Agreed."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson Five: Coordination through Fencing
Two fencers stood on a gymnastics mat in the recreation center. Alex stared at his opponent's fencing sword, and held his own up. The opponent was his height and wore a fencing suit. Through the mask, the brown haired Gundam pilot, Heero Yuy, stared back at him with cool intent and battle on his mind. Alex gulped. Why me? Alex stared back to immediate Heero. It didn't work. In fact, it only made it worse as his opponent smirked.
"Ready, when you are."
Alex looked at Heero more anxiously than before. Shit. He wants me to move first, again. Snow gulped again. He then parried forward, and his sword lunged forward.
Heero tapped Alex's sword to the side, and had his sword pointed an inch away from Alex's head.
"You're lucky this isn't battle. A mistake, like that, would get you killed." Heero let down his sword.
"I thought this was suppose to get me more coordinated."
"It is."
"Then, why do you keep knocking off my first move?"
"They're foolish moves."
"Why did you have to come, anyway?"
"Relena insisted."
"Figures."
In an adjacent room, Relena and Hilde kept an eye on the two. Relena's black haired bodyguard closely stood by her side yet kept his sight on Heero alone.
"How many times has Heero done that?" Hilde shook her head.
"Tenth time." Diel stated.
"I wonder when he'll learn."
"Not sure."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm beat." Alex dropped his sword on the ground as he looked into his locker. Sweat poured down his face. "Four hours of straight fencing. It's so unrealistic. I've had enough of fencing for a life time." Alex glanced over at Heero. The Gundam pilot didn't have a sweat drop on him, and had already changed into his brown shorts and green tank top. "Aren't you even tired?"
"Nope." He bent down and began tying his shoes. Alex stared him in shock. "Don't give me that look, though, you got better."
"I don't see it as that." Alex began to take off his suit.
"You did." Heero stood back up, and walked out of the locker room.
Snow blankly stared at Heero. I'm not sure if I should be excited or afraid right now. He shook his head and got his mind back together. The brunette rushed to put his khaki pants and his solid blue shirt on. He slipped on his shoes, but didn't tie them as he dashed off to catch up to Heero.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"He has improved." Hilde took a sip of tea.
"Yes he has. I'm impressed how in four weeks he has become more proper. Though, it seems he is resisting the change." The Vice Foreign Minister took a sip of tea.
"I'm not surprised about that. He resists a lot of stuff." Hilde glanced over at the blonde-haired Minister. "I'm not sure..." A knock came from behind the closed door to the study. "why..."
"Come in."
The door slowly opened and the middle aged Diel stepped through the door. He hesitated to look at Relena and glanced down at the papers in his left hand.
"Is something the matter?"
"Yes. I'm resigning, Ms. Dorlain."
Relena stood straight up. "Why?" Hilde had a surprised look on her face.
"Earlier today, I received news that my cousin and his wife were killed in a car accident in San Francisco. Their four-year-old son survived the crash, but now he is orphaned and well I'm the only family left that could take care of him." Small tears came from his eyes, as he tried to keep his emotions back.
Lumin stood up and walked over to him. "That's terrible."
"Yes it is. I have to get going. Here are my..." Diel placed the papers he had onto the desk, but Hilde grabbed his hand.
"You worked hard for this job. There has to be another way."
"I did work hard, but that child needs a mentor. I won't let foster parents try to fill a void that only a family member can provide."
"But..."
"Hilde let him go." Lumin complied and both her and Diel looked over at Relena. "I know you have done a great here. It's been an honor to have you as my bodyguard, but guarding lives goes on different levels. That child needs you." "Thank you for understanding, Ms. Dorlain." The bodyguard bowed, and slowly walked out of the room.
Relena approached the door and glanced at Diel one last time. "Take care."
He turned around and, with tears were being forced back, he said, "Thank you again, Ms. Dorlain." Diel turned back around and dashed off.
Hilde took one last look at the man, and couldn't help but cry. "What a tragedy.'
"Yes. It is."