We do not own "Gundam Wing" nor any of the characters.
"GUNDAM WING: NEVERENDING STORY"
Chapter 11
"Duty and Influence"
"Did Miss Relena and Mr Milliardo not come with you? I hope they can still make it." Dorothy inquires pleasantly enough to Catherine, not noticing Hilde's inattention as much as she was ignoring her herself.
"Oh, well, they had to meet with um—the ummm—Head of Integral Security this morning." Ditzy Cathy finds herself stuttering under Dorothy's intense gaze.
"'Internal Security', surely you must mean." Dorothy corrects in her overpowering way, causing Catherine to blush at her own naïveté.
How sweet and simple you are.
Dorothy smiles at this young girl who had just changed into a white wraparound skirt very becoming to long circus performer legs.
"Oh, yes, how silly of me!" Catherine's giggling chuckle was likeable enough, though. Dorothy couldn't help but want to overlook her simplemindedness because of it.
"A Miss Une called for them at the front desk, just as we were leaving the hotel lobby. She must be someone very important because Miss Relena took the phone and said she'd catch up with us later."
"Miss Relena didn't meet us at the airport, though. But Quatre said we should go on—after all, she was with her brother and his wife."
"Hmmm…if Lady's involved, there must be something mysterious going on…After all, we all have a lot of hope riding on Miss Relena, don't we?" Dorothy Catalonia mutters to herself in the bureau mirror quite ominously.
"Mysterious? What do you mean by that?" Catherine's big lilac eyes open wide as she twiddles her curled hair on her long nailed fingers.
"Nothing, dear! It's just the little inconveniences in life which one must be accustomed to when one is in powerful and influential circles." Dorothy trails off, considering her 'powerful and influential' self in her vanity mirror with pleasure.
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It was precisely this kind of 'powerful and influential' circle that one Wufei Chang wished himself to never be a party to ever again.
That is, if he had any say in the matter.
And indeed he didn't. The commander of his organization had all the say in all matters—and Wufei Chang didn't like that either.
After all, she is just a woman.
Rolling his eyes, Wufei had been glad to say the least, that he, unlike all the other poor saps present, would neither be required nor invited to attend a certain evil-eyed senator's vacation island.
Strange how one phone call could change an entire weekend's outlook.
"Why do you have to tell her, stupid woman?" Wufei mumbles under his breath, feigning sleep in the jet's co-pilot seat all the while his partner in crime flew the craft.
The cloaking shields were switched on and Sally Po could not see any reason for her not to take this opportunity to answer that muttered challenge, meant for her ears to hear his discontent.
A challenge from him must never go unanswered, after all.
"It's called 'duty,' Wufei. If an important personage such as Vice Foreign Minister Darlian needs an escort, we will provide without questioning our superiors, thank you very much."
Sally's own eyes roll now, she imagined what a day with non-delectable Miss Catalonia's beach resort would be like, especially having to spend it with an old stick in the mud when it came to fun Wufei Chang.
Sally blames the smile creeping up around her lips entirely the pleasant girl rattling on and on to one bored as all get out older brother and his more courteous wife.
She didn't feel there would be much trouble today—of the dangerous sort, anyway—but you could never be too sure, Colonel Une would say.
Better safe than sorry. Sally focuses on the air ahead with her plane load of precious cargo on her mind.
"Peacecraft pacifists…" Wufei utters quietly, shaking his head at those seated on the passenger deck.
"I can't understand why we couldn't simply join the others on Quatre's private plane, Milliardo. I believe Miss Une is just overreacting. I am certain film stars and politicians and others in the public eye all get death threats like those ridiculous letters I've received. Why would anyone want to harm me? It doesn't make any sense, Big Brother." Relena Darlian indeed was the daughter of both political speaker and orator king—and it showed in her long-winded speeches, even to members of her own family.
"You're right on all three counts, Relena. One, Lady Une does overreact to everything. Two—" Milliardo's husky voice was filled with only the consternation older brothers held for their headstrong little sisters, "—you did receive those threatening letters," Zechs gives Noin a quick glance, their eyes connecting with the seriousness of the epistles that had been sent to the Vice-Minister's office (and thusly screened by the Preventers of the Preventer unit Lady Une had assigned to keep guard of Relena's offices).
Colonel Une had brought the letters to Zechs and Noin's attention this morning via video call, both having been her former staff in the Preventers and close contacts to the vivacious Miss Darlian.
"—and three," Milliardo's see-through steel blue eyes soften ever so slightly as they finally rest on Relena, "I am your big brother and now I'm not going to sleep night's worrying about your safety."
"Oh, Milliardo!" Half-frustrated, half-adoring of her elder sibling, Relena shows that, despite being the world's foremost political figure of the day, she was still just a young girl.
Noin reveled in her innocence as she watches Relena give Zechs a big bear hug, leaning her head to his wide chest from the airplane seat beside him.
"Big brothers are so worrisome! Please don't lose sleep over me! I've got lots of good people watching out for my welfare—Lady Une and all her Preventers, Miss Sally and Mr Chang, and…" Relena's encouraging smile fazes out to a pair of crystal clear blue eyes melting into the depths of the crystal blue sky.
The unwhispered name was on her lips as her eyes look up to the sky, something that Lucrezia Noin herself was familiar with—Relena's love for someone out there reached out far beyond the stars.
"I'm going to go see if we're almost there yet." Relena, after giving her unresponsible, caught slightly off guard older brother one more big hug and sweet kiss on the cheek, jumps up to her feet and walks down the aisle to the cockpit with not a care of death threats in the world on her peaceful face as she hums along.
"She's something else, isn't she? A pillar of strength." Noin says, smoothly taking Relena's seat beside her husband.
"Yes, she is." Milliardo couldn't help but agree with her, his eyes proud as he was sure his father would be of his youngest child.
"So," Noin playfully tries to take Zechs' mind off his worries for Relena's safety as she pushes back some strands of his long platinum hair into place which had been caught on his hugging little sister's jacket buttons.
"We'll just have to find you something to idle yourself with all those sleepless nights then, Zechs." She coos up at him, as Zechs saw just what kind of day this was going to be.
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"Hello? Excuse me? Miss Sally? Ummm…is Mr Chang sleeping? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to disturb you or him or anything! …So I'll just go back to my seat." Relena says in embarrassment as she backs out of the cockpit upon peeking in to see the Chinese boy's eyes closed tightly in the one seat, his unmoving arms crossed tightly his slightly breathing chest.
"Oh, no, that's all right. He's not sleeping. Just 'meditating.'" Sally's low tones indicate that she was amused by something, though Relena couldn't understand exactly what.
"We'll be arriving momentarily on the island." Sally says as Relena's own voice escapes her. "That is what you came to check up on, isn't it?" Her laughing eyes smile over her shoulder at the quiet girl, who held such an important political office.
"Yes, thank you." Relena whispers back, so as not to awaken Wufei. She turns to leave as silently as possible.
"We're almost there, Wufei." Sally says evenly in her normal low tone. "You don't have to pretend for me. I know you're wide awake, mister. Besides, you don't have to be afraid of them here." Sally says drolly, giving Wufei a sideways glance. "We'll be on land soon enough and you'll be safe from their 'pacifist' cooties." She giggles at her male partner's discomfort at being in such close range to the despise amoeba-like creatures he considered pacifists to be.
"I fear no 'pacifists', woman!" From sound asleep to wide awake in .02 seconds, Wufei Chang's growling face would've been a frightening reflection in Sally's glass windshield if the stunning view of the sea and land and air before her was not so breathtaking.
The plane breaks through the last barrier of clouds to take a clear look at the beautiful ocean and stunning island which was Catalina below…