A/N: Holy snot, this is a long chapter, but a lot happens. And I'm starting up again with real plot. Yes plot. I am also stickin' it to the man and rebuilding Relena's character, but the big changes come in the next chapter. I tried to make her more "Heero" appropriate and I hope you like her. Enjoy!
Chapter 7: Parties and Replacement"Mail's in," Trowa announced, laying a stack of letters on the table. It was a few weeks after the battle incident, and everyone was trying to restore things to their normal order.
"Ooo!" Duo cried, "I wanna sort it!"
"Hn," Heero mumbled. He usually sorted the mail.
"Bills," Duo said, tossing them at Heero.
"Why does Heero get the bills?" Tizzy asked.
"I'm the landlord," Heero said.
"Yeah," Duo said, "We have to pay rent. But it goes toward food and stuff."
"At least that's what he tells us," Wufei added. Heero gave him a dirty look. "A letter from Sally," he continued handing it slyly to him. Trowa whistled.
"What's that, Wufei?" he asked.
"It's nothing," Wufei said snatching the letter.
"Hmm," Duo said, "This one's for Trowa. Strange, you never get mail."
"Who's it from?" Quatre asked eagerly.
"No one," Trowa said snatching it and blushing.
"Let's see, let's see," Quatre said trying to retrieve the letter. After a few minutes of struggle, he slipped it out of Trowa's grasp. "Hey, it's from my sister…" Quatre said looking confused, "Why would she send you a letter?"
"Why else, Quatre?" Duo said, smiling viciously.
"No, no, no!" Quatre cried, "Not another one! What is this like number 17?"
Trowa snatched the letter saying, "Maybe."
"Heheh, it appears you have a letter from a girl too, Quatre," Duo said mischievously, "From Relena."
All the pilots gave Quatre a scared look.
"What?" he said, shrugging, "She's cool."
"She's a stalker," Heero said with a look of terror.
"And she's so proper," Duo said, shuddering, "Actually, maybe you two would make a good couple…"
"Whoa, hold up," Quatre said, "Relena doesn't like me. We are just friends."
"Why else would she send you a letter?" Trowa asked again snidely. Quatre rolled his eyes and opened his letter. Just as he had pulled it out, Tizzy snagged it and leapt onto the kitchen counter.
"Hey!" Quatre exclaimed. Tizzy just stuck out her tongue.
"Read it out loud!" Trowa coaxed. Quatre's eyes got wide, and he shook his head pleadingly at Tizzy.
"Well I suppose I shouldn't deprive the other pilots of this entertainment," Tizzy said, "But since Quatre said there is nothing between them, it may not be that interesting. What do you think, Hee-chan?"
"Read it," Heero said, in his perfect monotone. He did his best not to show Tizzy, but Duo noticed it. Heero looked jealous.
"Alright," Tizzy said, as Quatre turned pale. The letter read as follows:
Quatre!
Hey babydoll! How are you? Better still be alive. Thought you should know I am holding this ball…conference… thingy and I need someone to keep me company. Now I have specific instructions for you. You will come, and you will drag Trowa and Heero along (don't bring Duo, he'll scare away all the sane people). And you will also bring a close friend of yours. Close, very close, are you catching my drift? Good. pats head If you follow these instructions, I will take you to another party. Heheh, our kind of party… I better see you. Info is on the back.
Lovingly,
Lena
"Aww, how sweet!" Tizzy said, laughing.
"Yeah there's absolutely nothing going on between you two," Trowa said sarcastically, "Tell us the truth!"
"There is nothing between us!" Quatre pleaded.
"Not from the sound of this letter," Wufei said smiling evilly, "Babydoll!"
"Come on!" Quatre said, "We just good friends! Lena just likes to act like there's more. That's just the way she is."
"What's with calling her Lena?" Duo asked.
"That's what her close friends call her," Quatre said, "You guys really don't know very much about Lena. She's a lot of fun when she is comfortable with people."
"She did sound different in that letter," Heero said, "Not very much like the Relena I know." Duo was sure of it now. He could see pure jealousy in Heero's eyes. He decided to change the subject.
"So are you going to go to the party, Quatty?" Duo asked.
"Sure, why not?" Quatre said, "Trowa, you and Heero are coming with me right? Right?"
"Sure," Trowa said, "Sounds like fun."
"Absolutely not," Heero said, in a low voice.
"Please?" Quatre said, "I wanna go to the other party too! C'mon! Just pretend like you're a nice guy for one day?"
"Hn," Heero said reluctantly.
"But who else are you going to bring?" Duo asked eagerly.
"Not you," Quatre said. Duo's face fell.
"I'll go!" Tizzy said.
"Sounds good," Quatre said.
"Hold on, is it formal attire?" Tizzy asked timidly.
Quatre flipped over the letter. "Uh, yeah," he said after scanning the invitation. Tizzy nodded and bit her lip. Then she leapt down from the counter and walked out.
"What's with her?" Quatre asked.
"I'll find out," Duo said as he followed her. He found her in his room pawing through the few things she had brought with her from her foster home. "What's up?" Duo asked.
"Nothing, it's just…" she stuttered, "nothing, never mind."
"No, really, Tiz," Duo said, "What's wrong?" Tizzy pulled out a yellow dress with a large bow in the back.
"This, this, scary thing," she said angrily, "is the only dress I own!" Duo winced.
"It's not that bad," he said wincing and trying to be sympathetic.
"Yeah right!" Tizzy exclaimed, "What was wrong with me then?"
"Ok, now I'm not tracking..." Duo said.
"When I lived with my foster family, I was a total priss," Tizzy admitted, "I recently started becoming very you know... "
"Renegade?" Duo offered.
"Exactly," Tizzy said, "One of my maids noticed the change and said she wondered if it came from my real family. That was when I found out about my past and you."
"Cool!" Duo said, "So when you went rebel, they said it must be in your blood? That makes sense! Now I have an excuse!" Tizzy laughed.
"Now about this dress, what if we dyed it black?" Duo suggested. Tizzy smiled and nodded.
"That would make it somewhat better…" she said.
"So Quatre..." Tizzy said inching towards him, "Tell your good friend what's really going on between you and Relena?"
"Nothing!" Quatre exclaimed, "Jeez why does nobody believe me!"
"Come on! You're lying!" Tizzy said, poking him, " 'Lena' sure said some interesting things to you…. 'Lovingly?'…What's really going on?"
"Do you want to know the truth?" Quatre said with a sigh. Tizzy nodded vigorously. "Lena and I never went out, but we were really close for awhile," he said, "The media decided that we were too close and basically started making up stories…"
"No!" Tizzy exclaimed laughing, "That's just too priceless!"
"It gets better," Quatre said, "Lena decided that it was so funny, we should actually give them something to talk about. So we started appearing at parties together and such, but never "admitting" to anything. Finally we "came out of the closet" when Lena "informed" all her friends that we were an item. The press eventually figured us out, but Lena still likes to mess around."
"That might just be a sign to you, Quatre," Tizzy said, eyeing him.
"Nah, we both decided it would be better if we didn't try," Quatre said, "We know each other to well to be in love." Tizzy sighed.
"And here I was hoping for some juicy blackmail…" she said.
It was the night of the party and Tizzy was freaking out. She paced the room.
"Duo, what am I doing?" she asked frantically, "I can't go to this party! I won't know anyone! What if they don't like me? What if I say the wrong thing? What if…."
"Tizzy, relax," Duo said, carefully throwing up Goldfish crackers and catching them in his mouth, "Besides after this you'll never see these people again."
"Good point…" Tizzy said.
"You'll be fine," Duo told her. A glint came into Duo's eye. "Go get dressed maybe you'll feel better," he said. Tizzy sighed and walked to Duo's room. She walked over to where she had laid her dress. To her surprise, there was a white box with a note on it in the dress's place. She picked up the note.
Tiz,
Heard about your dilemma,
Hope you like this better
Quatre
Tizzy carefully opened the box. Inside was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. It had a black strapless bodice that came to a point upon a flowing, black A-line skirt. On the bodice, in silver lamé, was a pyramid with a small orb above it, an Egyptian representation of the sun. She carefully pulled the dress out of the box and stared at it in awe. She immediately tried it on.
Tizzy came out of Duo's room a little while later. She had on the dress from Quatre and the locket that had led her to Duo. Her hair was still in braids, but some of it was sacrificed to make buns on top of her head. She ran into the living room. Trowa sat reading a book.
"Have you seen Quatre?" Tizzy asked.
"Kitchen," Trowa said without looking up. Tizzy sprinted into the kitchen and hugged Quatre.
"Thank you so much!" she cried. He pushed her away.
"Let me see," Quatre said, "Do you like it?"
"Do I like it you ask me?" Tizzy said, "There's no word to describe it! I love it! Where did you find it? I've never seen one with a pyramid."
"Well it didn't come that way," Quatre said, "I had that put on there."
"Holy crap!" Tizzy said, "How much did you spend on it?"
"Are you kidding?" Quatre asked playfully, "You not supposed to ask the price of a gift!"
"Thank you, Quatre," she said lovingly. Quatre nodded and blushed.
"You look great," he said. Tizzy was about to respond when Heero and Trowa came in.
"So, Tiz, ever been to a formal party?" Trowa asked. Tizzy nodded.
"I told you, I lived with a rich family," Tizzy said.
"Would they have made Quatre look poor?" Trowa asked eagerly.
"No…." she said, "Why?" Quatre sighed.
"We have this bet," Quatre explained, "If he can find someone richer than me, I have to give him $300. But Relena doesn't count."
"Let's go and get this over with," Heero said.
"Aren't you excited, Hee-chan?" Tizzy asked, teasingly.
"Ecstatic," Heero said, once again in a perfect monotone.
The four climbed out of the limo and walked up to the mansion in which the party was to be held. Quatre had insisted they come early, so when they were escorted in, no one else was there. Quatre walked in like he owned the place and told Pagan he knew where he was going. Pagan greeted him as warmly as a butler could and let him through. They walked up a long flight of stairs and followed Quatre to one of the bedrooms. Quatre knocked on the door.
"I'll be right out!" a voice said, "Jeez the party doesn't start for a half an hour!"
"This is the FBI," Quatre said, "We're here to question you about the bar incident." Relena opened the door. She was wearing a straplesspink dress that ended a few inches above her knees.
"I told you already, I only beat up one of 'em!" she said laughing. She hugged Quatre and kissed his cheek. "It's great to see you!" she said, "Why didn't you RSVP?"
"I wanted it to be a surprise," he told her, "I followed your instructions." He motioned towards Trowa, Heero, and Tizzy. "Was there a reason behind this?"
"Yes," Relena said, "Trowa, Heero, you two need to get out more. And you must be…"
"Tizzy," she said shyly, "Tizzy Maxwell."
"Maxwell?" Relena asked.
"I'm his sister," she explained.
"You fell for Duo's sister!" Relena said turning to Quatre.
"No!" he said, "Let me explain."
"You better explain," Tizzy said giving him a confused look.
"Relena wanted me to bring my girlfriend," Quatre began, "but as you know, Lena, I have no girlfriend, so I brought Tizzy."
"That's really sad, Quatty," Relena said.
"And I suppose we'll meet your boyfriend tonight?" he asked.
"Trapped!" Relena said wincing, "I too am all alone!" Quatre smirked.
"So what have you done to earn the right to stand in my presence?" Relena asked, quickly changing subject.
"Huh?" Trowa asked.
"Maybe we should explain," Quatre said giving Relena a look.
"Yes," she said, "You see when Quatre and I were in school together, we came to the conclusion that being rich automatically gave us a good kid reputation. So we decided to change it."
"You know pull a couple pranks, get in a little trouble," Quatre added, "Small stuff."
"Whoa, wait a minute!" Heero said, "You, Quatre Winner, and you, Relena Peacecraft, decided to be Trouble makers?" Quatre and Relena looked at each other.
"Yup," they said in unison.
"I never would have guessed," Tizzy said, "Go on."
"So in order to see each other we had to have a reason," Quatre continued, "We would have had to either done something or have been planning to do something wrong."
"Cool!" Tizzy exclaimed. Heero shook his head.
"So again," Relena said, "What have you done?"
"Well, I learned to play poker?" Quatre said wincing.
"I expected more but that's still pretty awesome," Relena said.
"What did you do?" Quatre asked looking afraid.
"Well," Relena began with an evil looking her eye, "I wrote a runaway note saying 'I am tired of being Queen of theEverything, Goodbye' and went to a party. When I got back everyone cried and acted really surprised. I still can't figure out why." By the time she finished Quatre and Tizzy were cracking up. Even Heero and Trowa managed a smile.
"I think you're winning this contest," Quatre said, gasping for air, "So why are you throwing this party anyway?"
"Well I figure if I throw a ball every once and a while and invite a bunch of rich kids," Relena said, "They won't suspect I've changed. After I throw my boring balls, I throw a real party to cheer myself up."
"Roxy, these are my friends, Quatre, Trowa, Heero, and Tizzy," Relena informed her friend. The ball had started and the boys were pretty bored.
"Pleasure to meet you," Roxy said offering a curtsy. She had black hair with out-of-place red streaks. Her eyes were a brilliant green. She whispered something to Relena. Relena laughed and nodded.
"Good," Roxy said sighing and relaxing, "And I thought I would have to be formal with everyone. So if you guys are Lena's real friends, are you comin' to the party at eleven?"
"I don't know," Quatre said, "Did I earn it Lena?" He gave Relena Bambi eyes.
"I guess so," Relena said, "You didn't follow my orders exactly but…"
"If I had a girlfriend I would have brought her," Quatre said gritting his teeth.
"Oh you're not going out with anyone?" Roxy asked, moving towards him.
"No, he's not," Relena said smiling.
"In fact he's looking for someone tonight," Trowa said, pushing Quatre towards her.
"What? Would you two matchmakers knock it off?" Quatre said as slipped out of Trowa's grasp, "I can make my own friends, thank you!" Relena and Trowa swapped amused glances.
"Oh great now they are going to help each other!" Quatre cried, "Roxy, I apologize, my friends are crazy. Despite the fact that they are both single, they think it's a crime that I don't have a girlfriend."
"Aren't you abused?" Roxy said shaking her head sarcastically, "Why don't you come dance with me?"
"Well…" Quatre said.
"If you don't dance with her I'llkick you," Tizzy said, pushing them off.
"Not you too…" Quatre moaned as he walked off with Roxy.
Heero grabbed Tizzy around the waist and whispered, "That's rather unselfish of you." Tizzy's smile faded.
"I just want his happiness," Tizzy whispered back. She gasped as she realized whom she had said it to. "Heero, I…" she muttered. Heero shook his head.
"I understand," Heero said, "We would have never lasted. You're in love with him. I've tried to ignore the hints, but it's obvious now."
"Heero, I'm sorry," Tizzy said turning to face him, "I did love you…"
"No, don't apologize," Heero said, "You have taught me something, Tizzy. Trust. You were patient with me and held my hand every step of the way. Now it's time for mylast lesson. I'm learning how to lose. Goodbye Tizzy Maxwell." Tizzy nodded. She kissed him and pulled away. As this was happening Relena was watching, with jealous eyes.
No,x she ordered herself, You mustn't do anything. You've tortured him enough. In fact… Tizzy walked over breaking her thoughts.
"Is there a lady's room here?" Tizzy asked. She tried to hide her pain as Relena pointed it out. As soon as Tizzy was gone, Relena walked over to Heero. She could have sworn she saw him wipe his eyes, but when he looked up she couldn't tellthat he'd been crying. She ignored it and continued with her plan.
"Can I speak to you in private?" she asked. Heero's eyes widened and he blinked rapidly, but he nodded anyway. She pulled him into another room.
"Don't worry this isn't some crazy attempt to make a pass at you or anything," she said laughing a bit, "But I feel like you should know something." Heero nodded again and appeared to brace himself.
"I want to apologize for, well, stalking you basically," she said. Heero's surprise was apparent and Relena sucked in air, trying to gather the courage. "I was going through a rough time and I really can't explain my behavior," she continued, "I guess, I did it because you seemed like a strong person and I thought I could draw strength from you. I was still wrong and I'm sorry." Heero looked away then back at Relena. He couldn't believe what he had heard. He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to decide if she was serious. "Am I forgiven?" she asked, smiling at her own pathetic-ness.
"I suppose," Heero said softly as he walked from the room.
Heero stood talking with Quatre and Trowa. "Can you believe she said that to me?" Heero asked.
"I can, Relena is that kind of person," Quatre said looking away, "If she feels like she's been the slightest problem, she'll confront you about it."
Tizzy strolled over to where they were. "What do you think?" Quatre asked.
"These things are all the same," Tizzy said, "A bunch of rich people with masks of sincerity." He sighed.
"Exactly. These people are supposed to be beautiful and glamorous, but most of them are just trying to keep up with the Jones's," he said, "It's no different than in any other class of people."
"At least the other pilots and I are here," Tizzy told him.
"True," Quatre said, "That makes it a lot more fun."
"Wanna dance?" she asked.
"Aren't I supposed to ask that?" Quatre said.
"Well I'm just breaking all the rules aren't I?" she said laughing as he led her to the floor.
Meanwhile Heero watched with jealous eyes. Trowa noticed.
"Relax Heero," he said, "Its just Quatre."
"I know," Heero sighed, "Besides I did just let her go..."
"What?" Trowa asked shocked.
"I can't ignore it," Heero said, "She clearly has feelings for Quatre." Trowa looked down.
"I noticed, but I figured it was just my imagination," he said, "but still its got to be tough." Heero nodded grimly.
The party came to a close at 10 P.M. and the boys and Tizzy were told to meet Relena in front of the mansion.
"Now," Relena said smiling evilly, "I have strict instructions for you. Go home and change into the best party clothes you have. I'm not talking about suits and dresses; I'm talking jeans, t-shirts, the whole she-bang. Oh and grab Duo, he'll fit in at this party. Meet me back here at 10:30 and Quatre, bring the RED limo." Everyone looked at Quatre.
"You have a red limo?" Trowa asked.
"And a lime green one," Quatre said blushing, "Lena insisted."
A/N: Love me, Hate me, just wanna say hi? R&R! Please?
Please?