The characters of Gundam Wing aren't mine. Sorry to disappoint. Panthanaea, however, is mine, and if you steal her, I will hunt you down and peel the flesh from your bones with a wet noodle! That said, enjoi!
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The void echoed silence around the tiny planet Earth, and it's surrounding colonies. The void was split only by a small transport streaking towards Earth, headed for the tiny Sanc Kingdom.
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Relena Peacecraft sat in her finely furnished lounge, surrounded by friends. She'd sent invitations for the wedding, but hadn't expected everyone to show. Wu-fei, sitting to her left in an armchair, had taken the time to travel from the Gobi, where he studied as a Shao-lin monk, for the occasion. Quatre and Trowa, to her right, had flown in from their homes in the arab region. Relena remembered attending Trowa's wedding; he'd married Quatre's youngest sister. It was only fitting that the two of them ended up brothers; they were such good friends.
She looked over at Heero, who was chatting good-naturedly with the others, and smiled. It had taken them 13 years, but life had finally slowed, and Heero had softened, enough for them to seriously look at settling down. Her eyes fell on Duo, in an overstuffed chair with his back to the door, and grew sad. He was working on his third glass of whiskey and trying so very hard to keep his famous cheerful nature.
She remembered well the events that had led up to his current sad state. He and Hilde had settled down and started building their family. After their second child, Gretchen, was born, they had decided to make it official. The plans were all set, but Duo's wandering eye got on Hilde's nerves one too many times, and after a particularly nasty fight, wandering eyes turned to an unfaithful heart. When Hilde found out about the one-night-stand, she threw Duo's ring in his face. Without a word, she took Solo and Gretchen and left.
Duo searched for months, but was unable to find them anywhere. So, on the day he was to marry Hilde, he married the bottle. He'd been married to that bottle ever since. Relena had found Hilde, but trying to talk to her was futile. Duo missed his children, and they missed him, but Hilde would hear nothing of a visit. That was 6 years ago, and Hilde had since married a nice man who was a very good father. She hoped that someone might become the mistress needed to end Duo's marriage to Jack Daniels.
Relena blinked as she realized they were all laughing at a joke she had missed while lost in thought. She chuckled good-naturedly to hide the oversight and looked up as a butler entered with a note. She took it gratefully and opened it. She stared in wonder at the writing.
Heero looked over at his bride to be as her face drained of color, then flushed again. "Who is it from, Relena?"
"My cousin," she said, breathlessly. Heero looked confused. "Not by blood that can be proven, and distant if she is. It's complicated. We grew up together. Her grandfather was my mother's most trusted advisor, so we may as well have been family." She looked down at the note and then back at Heero. "She flew back from her job on Mars for the wedding. She's at the gate right now."
She looked up at the butler and nodded. "Go ahead and show her in." She then got up to pace. "I...I haven't seen her since before the war. I heard she got her degree in Xenogeology and Xenobiology. I wonder how much she's changed."
Just then the door opened again and the butler entered. "Announcing miss Panthanaea Weridge, granddaughter of Marquis Weridge."
Everyone stood, and Duo turned just in time to see a woman walk through the door. She was wearing Khaki shorts that came to mid thigh, a white t-shirt, hiking boots, and a fine layer of red, Martian dust. Her long mahogany hair was pulled back in a braid and her dark-rimmed glasses hid intense brown eyes. She wasn't gorgeous, but she was easy on the eyes...if one could get past the mud. She smiled at Relena.
"Relena!" Her mezzo-soprano fit her little more than five feet of hight, and slender form. "So I hear you're getting married." She moved to hug Relena with a smile.
"Pan. So good of you to come. I hope I'm not interrupting your work." Relena hugged her cousin with a smile.
"Psh. I needed a break. I was starting to dream in green, just for a change from all the red." She looked at the assembled men. "So, which one's the lucky man?"
Relena laughed. "I'm sorry. I forget myself. Panthanaea, this is Heero Yuy, my fiancé."
Heero bowed. "Panthanaea, eh? Quite a name. European?"
Panthanaea smiled. "Please, call me Pan, and it's Greek."
Relena smiled and introduced the others. Pan shook each hand as it was offered. "These are our friends. Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, Wu-Fei Chang, and Duo Maxwell. This is my cousin, Panthanaea Weridge. She's a Xenogeobiologist. She studies organisms and rocks on other planets."
Pan's smile broadened as she shook Duo's hand. He wasn't bad looking, but he smelled of alcohol. She noticed him giving her the same sizing up she gave him and chuckled. "A pleasure, Mr. Maxwell." She pulled her hand gently from his grip and looked at Relena.
"I'm sorry I can't stay longer today, but I'm staying up at the university. I brought back some samples my colleagues there might be interested in, and I'd like to see the looks on their faces when I hand them over." She hugged Relena again and shook Heero's hand. "You're a very lucky man." Heero nodded in response, and Pan winked.
She handed Relena her number and smiled at everyone as she left. "Ciao!" She walked out, her knee-length braid whipping behind her. As soon as she disappeared around the door, everyone sat...except Duo. After a moment, he set down his glass of whiskey and rushed after her. Relena smirked. Maybe her cousin would be just the ticket to turn Duo's life around. Duo needed a reason to live, and if Pan didn't find someone soon, she probably never would.
Duo rushed out the front door of the mansion just as Panthanaea was climbing into a cab. "Panthanaea!" She looked up. Suddenly Duo wasn't sure what he wanted to ask her. To ask her out for dinner or something like that would be a bit sudden, and probably brought on my his slightly inebriated state, so he stuttered.
"W..Ah..Uhm...I'd like to see your work sometime. Maybe over coffee?"
Pan smiled. He was cute, she'd have to give him that. "Meet me at the Starbucks at the U tomorrow morning, 10:30. And be sober, or you won't learn anything." She got in the taxi and drove off towards the University. "Ever the professor, eh Pan?" She chuckled to herself. "'You won't learn anything.' Smoooooth..."
Duo watched her leave, wide eyed. For the first time since Hilde left, he was nervous, and giddy at the prospect of seeing a woman. She wasn't a supermodel, or some sexy stripper. She was just a plain, toned, geology professor who dug in the martian dirt looking for clues to it's past. She showed up at the mansion covered in martian mud, and he'd thought she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He must be drunker than he thought.
He walked back inside and up to the lounge where they were all seated. He sat down and picked up his glass, downing the last bit of whiskey in one swallow. The conversation slowed and then Quatre turned to Duo with a smile.
"So, did you ask her out."
Duo frowned. "Not exactly. I think I've had a little too much whiskey. She honestly looked like an angel to me."
Wu Fei smirked. "The lady is not without merit." Quatre nodded in agreement. Trowa grinned.
"Actually, I bet she cleans up really nice." For that, he got an elbow in the ribs from his brother-in-law. "Hey, I was just saying."
Relena laughed. "Actually, we used to look alot alike. Still do, if you can convince her to take off those infernal spectacles. She hides behind them like a mask, trying not to attract the attention of men. I honestly think she intends to be an old maid professor for the rest of her life."
Everyone laughed at Relena's clip, but Duo just stared into his empty glass. Come to think of it, it wasn't her looks that had grabbed him. It was her eyes. Deep and wise. They seemed to bore deep into his soul and for a moment, he felt naked. Like she could see every secret he had, every flaw, every hole in his heart, every thought in his mind. Everything. It frightened him.
He excused himself, citing that he needed to pick up his dry cleaning before they closed. As the cab took him home, he couldn't get those eyes out of his head. Those deep, dark, searching eyes. He felt there was more to this Panthanaea girl than she let on, and he was determined to figure her out.