30 Ways to Conquer Mars
#015 Perfect Blue
A.C. 197, May 12 「I Know Who You Want, And It's Not Me」
Gundam Wing © SOTSU AGENCY - SUNRISE - ANB
This is a work of derivative Fanfiction. No claims are made towards the ownership of intellectual rights pertaining to the metaseries.
...
The last thing Noin'd expected to find on Mars was Quatre Raberba Winner sipping from a clear glass in a bar at the Mars orbital Hub.
"Hello, stranger," she smiled, accepting the silent invitation to join him. "Aren't you a little young for alcohol?"
"Can I buy you a drink?" He asked instead, presenting a charming kiss to the back of her hand with a mischievous look.
To a casual observer, the stripling head of the Winner Corporation was innocently chatting up another older woman to fill his britches, just as he has done every night since arriving to deliver the space station, and will every night until his departure. His actual success rate is the source of much speculation, although no-one was naive enough to think that he would go home with any of them on his arm as the next Mrs Winner. Had anyone noticed that his lady of the evening was Zechs Merquise's flight partner, they said nothing. If not for her unusual purple eyes, Noin was not terribly distinguishable from other short-haired brunettes.
To the Preventer last known as Fire, Quatre would never make a good field agent. His Achilles' heel was the pleasure that inevitably showed whenever he achieved a goal, like Maxwell's boyish excitement, though much better disguised and contained. They shared a few drinks before vacating their seats in search of fresh air and privacy, both of which were found in an area unofficially designated Lovers' Terrace, a series of alcoves tucked between shelves of aeroponic seedlings, originally designed for maintenance access.
The first personal thing she said to him was "how's things with Trowa?" And noted with pride that he did not blush one bit when informing her that they were both doing well. She already knew, when he drew a flat brown package out from the inner recesses of his suit jacket, that it must have come from Relena. The Preventer agency would have had whatever it was slipped amongst her things in the most invisible way possible. Relena would want someone to see the face of the addressee when they see what she has sent.
Noin opened the envelope unceremoniously, her face tightly drawn, expecting more bad news from the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. It must be pretty dire to make the Vice Foreign Minister risk contacting them. As far as ESUN leaders were aware, the world had lost track of ex-OZ officers Noin and Merquise and presumed them dead after the Libra incident, until they were spotted arguing at a florist within the 20-mile radius of Vice Foreign Minister Darlian's townhouse, fifty miles from the new Parliament House, and five minutes to the apartment where the Secretary of Internal Security kept his mistress. Lady Une had given them both an exasperated sigh and a week of menial deskwork, several times worse than anything else she could have done to them, for the oversight. No-one has officially seen nor heard from them since.
"We, that is, Relena, Sally and me, thought you should have this," Quatre said softly as a piece of scorched parchment encased in clear protective laminate slid into Noin's hand. She stared, slack-jawed for the first time since Quatre has known her.
"Is something wrong, Miss Noin?" She had gone deathly pale.
"Have you…" the woman whispered hoarsely, "have you shown this to anyone else… Une…"
"No. Wufei was with Relena and Sally when they found it, and we've all agreed that this is not a Preventer matter. Even though Wufei wouldn't say it, I'm sure he will be happy for you…" his enthusiasm wavered on the last three words, sensing a strange squeeze on his heart.
"We thought it was destroyed in the fire…" Noin trembled, inspecting the tragic fragment with its faded inks and missing seals, tracing the impression left by the third crest with a delicate finger. Quatre did not dare break her reverie to ask who 'we' were.
"Why… why bring it to me?"
He would have thought it'd be obvious, unless they had been wrong and things were more strained than they had guessed between Zechs and Noin. "Because it's yours. We thought it would help you and Milliardo get to the next stage," he managed to say with coherency.
Noin frowned.
"Quartre, this is proof of his marriage to Lady Anatolie. What's that got to do with me?"
Quatre smiled with failing conviction. "It's okay, Miss Noin, the war is over, neither of you have any reason to conceal your real identities any more. We know you are the Anatolie Dau he married sixteen years ago…"
"You're making a terrible mistake." She interrupted, resealing the evidence.
"Why, Miss Noin?" He pressed a hand on her arm, demanding. "Didn't you once tell Relena that you love him?"
"Please, Quatre, you don't understand," she said quietly, angering him.
"Because the war is over so you no longer feel you have a place beside him? Because Sanq is gone and he thinks he is a dead man? None of that changes the fact that you are both alive and need each other!" He cried, "all of us can tell, why can't you? Don't you see? Your love is what gives the rest of us hope, if someone like him can find forgiveness and love, so can we all! What is the point of everything we've done if in the end it just causes sadness for those we care about? There are a lot of people who care about you, Miss Noin, so even if he's the worst fellow there ever was, although none of us really know or like him, he makes you happy and we just want you to be happy…"
"Quatre," Noin grabbed his chin in one firm hand, forcing him to look at her through his tears. "Quatre, thank you." There was a gentleness in the kiss she pressed to his forehead that warmed him. He drew a fist across his eyes and sniffed pathetically.
"Have you calmed down?" He nodded. "Good, I need you to listen very carefully to me," she returned Relena's package to his pocket. "You need to take that back to Lady Une, because she was Treize's Colonel Une. She should be the one to decide what to do with that, and she will probably know best."
"Why, Miss Noin?" He pleaded once again, giving in to what he thought was right. "I'm only a kid, but if it's a matter between two people, shouldn't they be the ones to deal with it and not someone else?"
"Yes, that is exactly why I can't be involved."
The awful realisation sunk in. "You're not Anatolie Dau…"
She shook her head.
"But you know who she is."
"Yes."
Quatre's guts twisted. The thought of Zechs and Lady Une being friendly with each other was… well, he couldn't decide if he should be frightened or sick.
Noin chuckled lightly at the stricken look he wore. "Don't worry, she would be twenty-eight this year if she is still alive. Une is too young."
It hadn't occurred to anyone in the honour of the German dictatress' acquaintance to ask just how old she was, until that moment.
...
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A/N:
Perfect Blue - A novel turned OVA turned Movie about stalkers, obsession, and perceived personalities of minor celebrities. The Anime is the most exciting of the lot, the least true-to-word, and frankly, the most powerful. Definitely worthy of watching if the subject doesn't immediately freak you out.