The Legacy of the Rose
By: Ammendiana
Chapter Two
The Preventer Academy campus was huge all around. Nothing about it could be said to be small. In each direction there was a sample of terrain that its students would be trained to deal with. In the north there was a salt water pond that was thirty feet deep and an acre square. It was used to train recruits on conditions similar to that of the ocean. They even imported sharks and other marine animals, and had a generator that created waves. It was very realistic, except for the storms of the sea. When you needed to learn how to deal with those, they would take you out to sea in the middle of the storm and leave you there.
In the south, there was a square acre of simulated desert, equipped with camels and wind.
In the east, there was a humongous rock climbing range that was also a square acre, which had mountain goats, wind and snow generators, and cracking and falling rocks.
And, in the west, there was a woodland of giant oaks and hidden caves, potholes, and other unpleasant things.
But it was the building itself that was most intimidating. It was seven floors, the bottom three being dormitories, the top four being indoor shooting ranges, training rooms, computer rooms, a cavernous cafeteria, and other rooms for assorted courses. The building was a perfect cube, and built of plain granite stones with windows of all shapes and sizes. There was a parking lot, but it was around the back and it wasn't very big. The driveway was paved with asphalt and lined with kaleidoscope rose bushes.
Mariemaia walked up the drive with one suitcase and one duffle bag that carried her bedding. She had asked Otto to drop her off at the wrought-iron gate so she wouldn't attract attention. He had smiled at her little request and, tipping his cap in her direction, had driven off. Mariemaia walked down the driveway lugging her bags and feeling her worry increase as she was swallowed by the shadow of the imposing building. Assorted people her own age, and some older, were standing and talking on the steps with old friends or new acquaintances, all looking perfectly relaxed and content.
Mariemaia felt envy well up like a spring in her gut at their relaxedness.
Not fair! I'm so stressed I might start pulling out my hair!
Mariemaia sighed irritably as she pushed open the glass doors that lead to the packed lobby of the building. The noise of new students talking and yelling was nearly deafening, and Mariemaia almost dropped her things to cover her ears. But, since that was not an option, settled for a grimace of distaste instead. She swam through the veritable sea of new students, trying to find breathing space.
"Hello!" A voice yelled in her direction. Mariemaia turned to face a honey-haired Chinese woman that was unusually tall. "What's your name?"
"Marie Une! Who are you?" Mariemaia yelled in return.
"Sally Po! Do you know your room number, Miss Une?"
"No! How do I find out?" Mariemaia's throat was becoming raw from the yelling.
Sally pulled out a palm-top computer from her jacket pocket and typed in Mariemaia's name. Then she yelled, "You're in room three ninety-four! Here, I'll take you there! It's hard to find!" Then she relieved Mariemaia of her duffle bag and started towards the long elevator line. Students in line made way for her, surprisingly, and soon she and Mariemaia were on the packed elevator to the third floor. Mariemaia was quiet, reveling in the near-silence of the elevator and thinking about why this woman was helping her.
The bell dinged and the doors opened, letting Mariemaia and Sally into the relative freedom of the wide hallways of the third floor. Sally sighed in relief harmoniously with Mariemaia, and they both laughed. Sally brought the duffle bag up over her shoulder and started down the hall, Mariemaia in tow.
Sally seemed to know where she was going, so Mariemaia followed without looking at the room numbers. Sally wasn't bothering to look at them, either. She lead Mariemaia down the long hall, to the left, down three steps, and into a dark corner of the hallway. There was a door with no number on it, and Sally knocked on it politely before opening the door.
The room was empty except for two desks, a bunk bed, and two small dressers. In the northern wall there was a circular window that must have been ten feet in diameter, and on the east wall there was a closet. There was no bathroom, so Mariemaia supposed there was a group showering room somewhere.
Sally thumped the duffle bag down on the mattress of the bottom bunk and sighed deeply.
"Where's the bathroom, Sally?" Mariemaia inquired as she surveyed the yard from the vantage of the huge window.
"Down the hall three doors and to the right," Sally's voice was despondent, like she was thinking of something else. Mariemaia heard her take a deep breath to say something.
"What's bothering you, Sally?" I can tell that you know who I really am, you know.
"Marie, I lead you here to tell you something."
"And what is it?" Mariemaia placed her arm on the circular windowsill with stunning grace and turned her head quickly to face Sally, causing some of her scarlet hair to fall from its tightly braided confinement.
"I came to tell you that I don't want you to blame Wufei, Mariemaia."
"Why would you care?" Mariemaia's tone became involuntarily cold at the mention of Wufei's name.
"He is my friend. You know that he..."
"He what!" Mariemaia snapped irritably.
"He cried when Treize died, you know. He didn't think that he'd win. And the last thing your father said to him was that he was a friend," Sally whispered quietly.
Mariemaia felt the ground shift beneath her. Wufei did? Father did?
"They did?"
"Yes. Your father placed no blame. The deaths of loved ones are what happens in war, Mariemaia. It's what keeps it from going too far. Just remember that when you meet Wufei."
"I didn't know. Mother didn't like to talk about his death. You can still see her pain in her eyes, sometimes."
Sally gave Mariemaia a wan smile before quietly leaving the room.
Mariemaia unpacked pensively, placing her things carefully but not really paying attention to anything else. Blankets on the bed, clothes in the dresser. In the closet, shoes, dress, duffle bag, and suitcase. On the desk, books and in the lockable drawer of the desk, the pictures she had brought with her.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" Mariemaia shouted at the door.
"Hello, the room!" A girl's voice, smoky and seductive, but highlighted with a sweetness and humor, said from the doorway. The door opened and a girl in a wheelchair wheeled herself into the room.
She was a beautiful girl, with long, glossy, blue-dusted raven hair that curled slightly at the ends, large almond shaped blue eyes, and pale skin. Her legs looked perfectly healthy, so Mariemaia assumed that she hadn't been born without the ability to walk.
"Hello! My name is Milan Maxwell, and I suppose I'm your roommate!"
"I'm Marie Une. Do you need any help?"
"No, I don't, though it was nice of you to ask. Most people won't ask because they are afraid I'll be offended," Milan looked carefully at Mariemaia and exclaimed, "I know you! You're Mariemaia Khushrenada! I saw your picture once in a paper years ago!"
Mariemaia felt her heart drop. Good thing she revealed that quietly.
"Oh, great!" Mariemaia plopped down onto the floor and buried her face in her hands.
"What's so great?" Milan asked as she wheeled past Mariemaia and placed her suitcase on the naked bottom bunk.
"That you recognized me. If everyone does that, all the efforts I've made will be for nothing!" Mariemaia was close to tears and didn't know why.
"Oh, don't worry! Me and you are probably the only people in this building that read, much less newspapers. Anybody who thinks that they recognize you will just shake it off as someone they met once who resembled you, not the other way around. Could you help me make my bed?"
Mariemaia felt her spirits rise at Milan's logic. "Sure."
Milan smiled and rolled over to the empty dresser and started to put her clothes away. "So what are you going to wear to the welcoming ball, Marie?" Milan asked as she pulled a drawer open.
"It's in the closet," Mariemaia grunted as she pulled a corner over the mattress.
Milan shut the drawer and went over to the closet, opening the door with adept grace. Then she pulled a long metal shaft with a hook on the end out of the arm of her wheelchair and grabbed the hanger with it, pulling it down so she could see it.
"Oh, it's beautiful! Where did you get it?" Milan asked.
"Relena Peacecraft lent it to me. I'm going to have it couriered back tomorrow."
"Aunt Relena gave you this? I can't even picture her in this!"
"Aunt Relena!" Mariemaia said in a shocked tone.
"Oh, she's not really my aunt, but she and my parents are good friends."
"Who are your parents?" Mariemaia requested as she spread Milan's comforter over her mattress.
"Duo and Hilde Maxwell."
"Hn." Mariemaia said as she tried to restrain her nervousness.
"You know, Heero says that a lot."
Mariemaia couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sorry, Milan, but can I ask you another question?"
"Shoot."
"What happened with your legs?"
"Oh, that! When I was little my daddy took me climbing on the range on the campus. I fell off the top of one of the high rocks and shattered a couple of vertebrae and injured my spinal cord. I'm lucky I survived at all. The only reason that they accepted me here is because I'm a goddamn good computer hacker."
"Oh." Mariemaia finished making the bed by plopping Milan's many pillows at the head of the bed. "Are there any more children of former Gundam pilots here?"
"Let me think. Um, Trowa's son, Marcus, graduated last year...I remember because I got wasted at the party. Funny, huh? Considering the hangover I had afterwards, anyway. My brother, Alex, is starting this year, too. I don't think we have to worry about Peace," She laughed and Mariemaia laughed with her. "Quatre's twins are in their second year. Their names are Octavia and Richard, and they are the two sweetest people you could ever hope to meet. Wufei doesn't have any kids, and Milliardo and Lucrezia's kids are all in space still, since none of them are old enough to enroll or they've already graduated. Their names are Treize," Mariemaia smiled as Milan said that, "Antonia, who's graduated, and I think they just had a baby and named her Aleonore."
"So that makes how many...?"
Milan crinkled up her nose in thought and said, "Three. Quatre's twins and my brother. I think Treize is due to enroll next year."
"That'll be interesting."
Mariemaia looked around at the filled room, and said, "So what are you wearing?"
Milan's face lit up and she rolled to her suitcase. She pulled out an outfit completely made of blood-red satin. The dress was strapless and elegant, with an empire waistband. It came with a duster that had drooping sleeves and no kind of collar. It was gorgeous.
"Where did you get that hooky-thing, Milan?" Mariemaia asked as she fingered the fabric of the dress. Milan still held it in her hand, ready to grad anything.
"Actually, my dad made it for me. It's strange, every time he looks at me I can feel how sad he is about what happened to me. He does everything he can to help me out. He and my mom built this chair for me, and they are paying a group of doctors to try to...well I guess the best way to put it is find a cure."
"A cure for paralysis!" Mariemaia exclaimed incredulously.
"Well, the only problem with my legs is that my brain doesn't have enough connection to them for me to walk, or even feel that they're there. The muscles are fine and so is everything else. I just can't use them."
Mariemaia thought about that for a minute and finally replied. "Do you know what time the welcoming ball starts?"
Milan grinned impishly for no reason and answered, "Seven o'clock."
Mariemaia looked at her watch and said, "It's five o'clock. We had better get start getting ready."
"Yeah. Do you think we should take showers?"
"Yes! Definitely. Will you need help, or do you have an aid?"
"Oh, I have an aid. She'll come if I call her. I don't always need to."
"Hn."
"You had better stop doing those impressions of Heero. He might get wind of it."
Mariemaia and Milan collapsed into storms of laughter.
7:00. Do you know where your children are? Mariemaia heard the thought resound in her mind like a funeral march. She clasped her hands in front of her to keep herself from pulling at her dress. Milan was serene in her chair. Mariemaia had pushed it for her so she wouldn't take the chance of damaging her dress by getting it caught in the spokes. The 'ballroom' was, in actuality, a very large classroom that was usually used as a general gymnasium. It was decorated so you wouldn't notice right away, but Mariemaia could see the gymnast rings and basketball hoops tucked up against the ceiling. It felt like a cheap high school dance. Not that she had ever been to one of those.
Many of the other new students were already clumped together in cliques, which made her wonder when they had found time to do that, which lead her to the realization that some people might have gotten here earlier than Milan and herself.
There was a band setting up on the west end, and a refreshment table near them. The room was dimly lit by pale white lights, and tables were sporadically scattered on the floor, except for a large space that had been cleared for dancing.
The band started playing a beautiful, slow song that reminded her of the wind. Sometime during her surveying of the room, Milan had struck up a conversation with a plain girl with freckles and short blonde hair.
Mariemaia looked at her and asked Milan, "Do you need anything?"
"No, thanks, Marie. This is Elisa DuChamps. Elisa, this is Marie Une."
Elisa gave Mariemaia a smile that made her whole face light up and said, "Hi! I don't really know what I'm doing here, now that I'm here."
Mariemaia laughed and replied, "I know exactly how you feel! Um, Milan, I think I'm going to wander around aimlessly for a while. Will you be okay?"
Milan smiled and said, "Sure! Elisa can wheel me back to our room if you get lost. I promise I'll send a search party if you're not back in three hours."
"You're so sweet. See you!" Mariemaia walked away, leaving Milan and Elisa in conversation. She wandered for about a half hour, looking around and talking to some people. When she got tired of that she rested in a corner, leaning against the cold stone wall. It wasn't the best vantage point, but it was comfortable. She even felt her eyes start to close as she listened to the band play. They were extremely good.
"Would you like to dance?" A deep, male voice asked. There was a certain kind of good-natured humor in that voice that she found comforting even as her eyes shot open and she gasped with surprise. The man standing next to her was looking at her concernedly. He was tall and had large, blue eyes like the midnight sky. His blue-black hair was pulled back in a long braid, and his skin was tanned.
"Hi, I'm Alex!" He said. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. You just surprised me," Mariemaia looked at him mock-crossly. "I'm Marie."
He smiled in a way that was strangely familiar, and offered his hand to her. She gave him a stunning smile and put her hand in his. Then he gently pulled her out of her corner and towards the dance floor.
Marie put her hand on his shoulder and felt his hand fall, unoffending, on her waist. They waited for the song to end and the next to begin before starting to move.
The next song was a waltz. Mariemaia felt herself being swept away in the music and Alex's embrace as they waltzed around the dance floor. She held part of the skirt of her dress in her hand and laughed as his braid smacked her behind. She couldn't resist saying, "So, having your hair do the dirty work, eh?"
Alex laughed heartily at her joke and swung her around, causing her hair, which fell past her waist as it was at that moment, to flare out like a fiery fan, catching the attention of everyone with good eyesight. Every person in the room stared at them.
Mariemaia laughed. "People are staring!"
Alex gave her an impish grin. "Want to give them something to stare at?"
Mariemaia returned the fiendish grin and nodded. The waltz ended and Alex ran up to the band and asked the leader something. The leader nodded and Alex handed him a twenty. Then he returned to his flustered partner.
Alex asked, "Ever done a salsa before?"
Mariemaia nodded, with a mischievous smile.
"Get ready, then,"
Mariemaia held out her hand, which Alex took, and the music flared up. It was a fast salsa beat with a lot of percussion. Mariemaia didn't resist as Alex spun her into his arms and swayed with her to the beat. Then she was flung out again for a fast twirl and the salsa continued.
People had stopped dancing and formed a ring around the dance floor, with Milan and Elisa in front. She looked shocked as she watched her brother and roommate dancing.
Oh, weird! Milan thought as she watched.
Mariemaia was dipped by Alex, and felt only a momentary fear of her breasts coming out of her loose dress. Then the salsa ended, seemingly as quickly as it had begun. Alex flung her up against his shoulder with the last beat and they both laughed, exhilarated.
Milan wheeled up in her chair and shouted at Alex, "Alex, I thought I told you not to do that!"
Alex took on an innocent expression and looked around to avoid looking his livid sister in the eye. "Do what?"
"That! The last time you did that the girl never recovered!"
"It wasn't my fault that she said she knew how to salsa and she didn't! Now, Marie knows how to salsa!"
What the...? Mariemaia thought. Oh, wait, Alex is Milan's brother's name...oh, weird!
"That's my roommate, you know!" Milan wagged her finger at Alex.
Alex looked at Mariemaia and said, "Oh, weird."
