Author's Note: This is for Hidel the Gohan luvin', Duo huggin', GWDBZ chick. Pones!
You Pulled Me From Hell
by
Ammendiana
Chapter Three
"You look beautiful, Cat. Absolutely stunning. Simply breathtaking," Quatre told Dorothy as she stomped into the dining room wearing her flannel kitty pajamas, big, furry polar bear slippers, mussed hair, and a sleepy frown.
"Don't smart-ass me this early in the morning. I'm not awake enough to fight back." She instructed him as she plopped down into the chair across from him. Naomi placed a plate of sausage, eggs, and French toast in front of her, with a huge cup of black coffee that made Dorothy's eyes light up happily.
"It's decaf." Naomi told her with a wicked look in her eyes.
Dorothy looked at her with shocked, hurt eyes, "What did I ever do to you, Naomi?"
"Nothing. I was joking. It's as strong as I could get it without having to license it. Enjoy."
Dorothy threw her arms around Naomi in a surprise gesture of affection, "I love you, Naomi. You bring me caffeine."
Naomi laughed and disengaged herself from the sleepy woman's arms.
"Anyways," Quatre said after he was done laughing at his half-asleep housemate, "I was just practicing for the banquet."
Dorothy, who was halfway done with her breakfast already, gave him a doubtful look. Quatre in return gave her a look of wide-eyed innocence.
"Yeah, right. You were smart-assing me. I know you better than that." She shook her French toast loaded fork in his direction.
"Would I do that?" He asked in a mock-injured tone.
"Yes."
"Cat! I'm shocked at you. Shocked."
"Who cares?" Dorothy asked the ceiling as she downed half of her coffee.
"I don't!" Naomi called from the kitchen.
"I don't!" Dorothy the housekeeper called from the dining room doorway.
"I don't! What don't I care about?" Relena called from right behind Quatre. Dorothy hadn't even noticed she was there, considering the fact she was drowning in strong black coffee bliss.
"Winnie being shocked."
"Oh, I was right. I don't care," Relena said as she hugged Quatre's shoulders with one arm.
"Everyone is against me," Quatre said mournfully to his morning cup of tea.
"Yup," Dorothy agreed as she munched on a sausage link.
Relena sat down at the table next to Dorothy. Naomi brought her the same breakfast, and she dug in greedily.
"Man, it's great to have someone feed me for a change. Speaking of which, Quatre, I need to borrow Naomi if it's alright with her and you."
Quatre inquired, "What for?"
Relena rolled her eyes and sighed, "My son-of-a-bitch chef quit this morning, and I can't find another replacement in time. It will just be for tonight. Please?" She gave Quatre a patented puppy-face look.
"As long as it's alright with Naomi, I don't care."
Naomi poked her head out of the door to the kitchen. Dorothy had never noticed how pretty she was, with long raven hair and mocha colored skin. "As long as what's alright with me?"
Quatre replied, "Relena needs a cook for her banquet tonight."
"Do I get overtime?"
Relena called, "I'll give you a thousand dollar bonus!"
"Hell, I'll even wash the dishes myself." Naomi told Relena as she bounced back into the kitchen.
"That won't be necessary, sweetie!" Relena called after her.
Dorothy, in spite of herself, was a little nervous as she dressed. She curled her hair and pulled back the individual curls with miniscule glittering blue butterfly clips. She put no makeup on, save dark red lipstick. She was completely satisfied with her appearance after she was done.
Pulling a long, formal coat from her closet, she walked out of her room regally.
Quatre waited at the bottom of the stairwell for Dorothy. He played with his antique pocket watch more than a little nervously. Why am I nervous? He asked himself, puzzled.
Quatre looked elegant in his formal wear, which consisted of a pair of sleek black slacks, a white vest, shirt, bowtie, and a black jacket with long coattails. His blonde hair had not been tampered with, except for some skilled combing.
"Ahem." The voice from the top of the stairs caught Quatre's wandering attention immediately. Dorothy was, to put it very blandly, shining. Regality poured from her every pore and follicle, and she stood silently, waiting for Quatre's reaction.
He couldn't speak. He was, for the first time in his entire life, awestruck.
Dorothy climbed down the stair quickly, and Quatre offered her his arm. Accepting it, she decided, "I think I liked that reaction better than your smart-ass practice round this morning."
"You always look stunning to me, Dorothy," Quatre whispered in her ear with sincerity. Dorothy blushed slightly and asked imperiously, "Are you flirting with me, Winnie?"
Quatre laughed, "Maybe."
The huge ballroom in Relena's state palace held more people than Dorothy expected. Now she truly appreciated Relena's definition of banquet. Skillfully, she and Quatre wove their way through the throng and to Relena, who stood with a man who, Dorothy assumed, was the representative. She didn't look to be to happy to be with the man, in any case.
"Ah, Dorothy, Quatre, this is Tezuka Ryu. He's the representative from L-1. Representative Tezuka, these are my dear friends Dorothy Catalonia and Quatre Raberba Winner."
"Hello, Mr. Tezuka. Welcome to Earth," Quatre greeted Tezuka smoothly as he offered the man his hand to shake. Tezuka ignored him. Quatre's eyes became steely as he withdrew his hand. Relena gave Dorothy a 'this-guy-is-an-ass-but-I'm-stuck-with-him-for-the-night' look.
Dorothy didn't bother to greet the man. Instead she looked around the ballroom, examining the men and women, the decorations, anything to distract her. Quatre's closeness was making her edgy. It had been awkward ever since that night; they had simply ignored the fact that it had happened, and gone on. But his nearness was making Dorothy decidedly uncomfortable—in a strangely pleasant way.
"Relena! There you are!" Dorothy heard the familiar voice say. Happily, Relena turned around and greeted her brother.
"Hello, Milliardo. It's been awhile." Dorothy's greeting wasn't at all awkward or strained; she had been over him for quite some time. Lucrezia Noin stood next to her husband, resplendent in golden silk.
"Why, hello Dorothy! I didn't expect to see you here," Milliardo sounded less than pleasantly surprised to see her.
"Dorothy Catalonia! I would have never expected to see you here," Lucrezia said with a happier tone. "It's been quite awhile, hasn't it? Almost a decade."
"Yeah."
Quatre tapped Dorothy's shoulder, "Cat, would you like to dance?"
Dorothy turned and gave him a blinding smile, "Of course. But I'm sure to step on your feet."
"Well then I'll be sure to do the same, so you won't feel left out."
Dorothy replied dryly as she placed her hand on the offered arm, "You're so generous."
"I do my best."
Quatre led her onto the dance floor and they joined the waltz effortlessly. Despite her protests, Dorothy knew how to dance.
"Well, they certainly make a cute couple," Dorothy told Quatre as they spun.
"Who? Oh, you mean Lucrezia and Milliardo." But Quatre said nothing more. Something was wrong; Dorothy could sense it as strongly as she could sense his other moods.
"What is it, Quatre?" Dorothy asked concernedly.
Quatre looked as if he would have liked to say something, but had a hard time making it come out. He worked his jaw with the effort.
"Are you still in love with him?" He blurted finally as the waltz ended.
"What?" Dorothy was shocked. But Quatre never got the chance to answer. He was swept away from her in the crowd of people who were leaving the dance floor to take their seats at the banquet table.
Some mistake made by Relena's staff sat Dorothy on the opposite end of the table from Quatre, so she wasn't able to speak to him at all while they ate. She spoke very little to those who sat with her, only short sentences and monosyllabic answers.
It seemed to take hours for the assorted people to eat a single course. All of the food tasted like sandpaper to Dorothy anyway. She picked at it like a finicky bird.
"Go enjoy the gardens, everyone. No need for you to wait for the slow eaters," Relena said magnanimously, allowing all the people who were finished to leave without seeming rude.
Dorothy took her advice. But instead of going to the gardens, she went back to the ballroom. It was so empty and dead without anyone in it.
The shoes she wore made clicks on the marble floor that resounded throughout the hall.
"Cat?" Quatre asked from the doorway which she had just walked through a second before.
"What did you mean, Quatre?"
"I meant exactly what I said. Do you still love him?"
"Who!" Dorothy nearly shouted in her agitation.
"You know who!" Quatre stood in front of her, leavning less than foot between them.
"Well..."
"Well what?" Quatre snapped.
"You're so cute when you're irritated, did you know that?"
"God! You frustrate me so much! Do. You. Still. Love. Him? That's all I want to know!" Quatre was flushed with anger.
"No. I. Do. Not. Does that answer your question?" Dorothy was becoming frustrated herself.
Quatre looked at her, and then caught her eyes.
Then he breathed a sigh of relief, and the anger drained out of his face. "Thank God."
"For what?"
"For that."
"Sometimes you're so specific it scares me." Dorothy's tone was sarcastic.
"A little fear never hurt anyone." Now something else was bothering him. She could tell by the way he was fidgeting.
Dorothy walked up to Quatre and, in a whispering tone, asked, "Now the real question is: Why do you care so much?"
Quatre looked into her eyes for a moment, and then said, "You know why I care. I told you once."
"I wasn't ready to hear it then. I think that you should try again." Dorothy slid toward him, their faces close to each.
"I love you, Dorothy." His breath caressed her face as he spoke.
Dorothy wrapped her arms around his neck and responded, "I love you, too."
Before Quatre could say anything else, Dorothy kissed him. It wasn't a deep kiss. Or, at least, not at first. But as he relaxed it became deeper, and longer.
Dorothy found herself gasping for air when it was over. Quatre smiled, and wrapped his arms around her waist covetously.
"Now that that's over, what do you say we head to Relena's broom closet for a little game of 'Seven Minutes in Heaven'?"
Dorothy pushed him away, laughing loudly. "Yeah, right. You aren't getting me that easily, and I don't even know if Relena has a broom closet."
"Oh, really? Gonna play hard to get?" He lunged for her, grabbing her hand and pulling her back into his embrace without much difficulty. "That's perfectly fine with me."
Dorothy lifted her head and smiled at him. Smiling back, he grasped her chin with his long fingers and kissed her again, gently.
Dorothy continued to live with Quatre, although some of the staff regarded it as 'living in sin.' Quatre had told them quite plainly that no one was forcing them to work there, and he didn't want to hear another thing about it.
Dorothy's therapist, who had only come two or three times in the half-year she had lived with Quatre, had cleared her some time ago. She was ready to live once again, and she had never been so happy in her entire life.
As they sat at the dinner table, Quatre was nervous about something. Dorothy, with her Quatre intuition, had an idea as to what it was, but hadn't said anything, reasoning that it was nice to see Quatre squirm every so often.
"So, love, do you have anything you want to talk about?" Dorothy asked calmly over her wine glass.
Quatre jerked and Dorothy smiled inwardly.
"Actually, I do," he took a deep, shaky breath that practically sang his nervousness and continued, "We've been living together for quite awhile now, and I was thinking that maybe it would be nice if we, well..."
"Well what?" Dorothy knew, of course, but she was having far too nice a time watching Quatre sweat.
"Dorothy, you know I love you, and, um..."
"I love you, too. Now will you just spit it out?"
"Cat, will you marry me?" Quatre asked quickly as he held out the ring.
It was a very pretty ring, platinum set with star sapphire.
Dorothy smiled stunningly at him and said, "You didn't even have to ask. Of course I will."
Quatre gave her the happiest smile she had ever seen in her life, and she felt her heart exult. He took her hand and placed the ring upon her finger.
He got up from his chair and pulled her out of hers, taking her into his arms and starting to sway. Softly, music started to play in the background.Dorothy smiled to herself, "This was a conspiracy!"
Quatre whipped her around. "Of course it was. But you enjoyed it, didn't you?"
She laughed out loud, "Yeah. You're are a great actor, Quatre. I think you missed your calling."
And, laughing, they danced for an hour before sitting down to plan the wedding.
Two years later...
"What shall we name her, Cat?" Quatre asked an exhausted Dorothy as he rocked his new daughter in his arms.
Dorothy stretched, looking at her daughter and husband lovingly.
"I like the name Kathlin."
Quatre thoughtfully looked at his daughter. "Hmmm...Kathlin. I like it. But what about her middle name?"
"What about Sadira?" Dorothy broached gently. Quatre smiled sadly and, looking at the small, golden haired girl, whispered, "Kathlin Sadira Winner. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
Dorothy smiled and held out her arms towards her husband and baby. Quatre rose from his chair and gingerly passed the baby to her mother.
"Well, it sounds good to me."
Quatre embraced his wife and daughter warmly, kissing Dorothy on the forehead, "And just think of it, Kathlin, you have twenty-nine aunts to spoil you."
The baby cooed, her little hands grasping the air. Dorothy and Quatre laughed.
"Yeah," Dorothy said, "The only thing we'll have to pay for is college."