Title: Gravity
Chapter 2: Poison Apples
Chapter Summary: Sylvia stays at Lady Une's estate, and reunites with someone from her past.
Characters are not mine. I am just borrowing.
F/F content.

Old wars had changed the ways the maps of the Earth were drawn. The Germanies was as common as saying the Americas. Whatever the old country had been it was redrawn once the new aristocracy had settled into place, and would probably be redrawn again now that much of aristocracy had been purged during the war. Very few kept there titles, and those that did usually had their reasons for doing so.

Lady Une's family had a rich estate in the north, and Sylvia found the house dark and slightly troubling. It was nothing like the village she had grown up in, or the estates of her grandfather. There was something sinister in the woodwork, made worse by the frozen forest outside. It was a desert of white punctuated by the looming skeletons of black tree trunks on the horizon.

The fireplace in the main hall had been lit, and cast a rather ancient yellow-orange glow over the room. Sally was tending to it off and on since there was only one servant. He was an older man that had served the Une family for years, and he reminded Sylvia a little bit of Pagan from the Peacecraft family. She had told Relena once not to take Pagan's loyalty for granted, and appreciate him for all he had done. She was never sure Relena really understood her.

Sylvia was tired from the boredom of being cooped up in the house. She had read the books she had brought with her a few times, and was already working on the collection that remained in surprisingly good shape in the house's library. The books seemed to be hundreds of years old, but the servant, Hans, had assured her that they were copies that had been aged, and that the real books had been given away to museums years ago.

Her German was astoundingly atrocious, and so she skipped over those books for ones in French, or Italian. Such an odd assortment of languages permeated the works in the library, and so many of them were easily forgotten with the universal language in place, a language that had been created to tie the nations of the earth together. The older romantic languages were easier to learn though, and she wondered at the things that changed in the name of progress.

When she arrived she made Sally tell her everything she knew about what was going on. Sylvia was disappointed, but not shocked to learn that the man she had gathered evidence to convict was not just stealing money from her family's foundation to line his own pockets. He was also lining other pockets, an underground revolutionary movement to be exact. She found her stomach lurching as her heart and head battled over which was worse, the perpetually growing universal reach of the Preventers' forces, with their secret operations and covert tactics, or a galaxy in a constant state of wars.

No easy answer pervaded her thoughts.

Hans entered the room with a letter for Sylvia. It was written in an elegant scrawl that denoted an aristocratic upbringing. It was from Lady Une who explained in very plain terms that things would be under control soon, and to expect an extra pair of hands to assist Sally.

She handed the note over to Sally, whose opinion Sylvia particularly trusted because the woman didn't mince around subjects that were hard to talk about. And, of course, Sally still managed to make everything sound perfectly tactful.

The letter made Sally frown.

"What," Sylvia asked.

Sally shook her head. "Mere observation, and nothing to do with your safety."

"Sal."

The older woman grinned. "No getting passed you now."

"No. We've been in this place for too long together. I think, I rather have your habits down," Sylvia replied.

"When I see who she sends I'll have a better answer for you," Sally stated. "Until then why don't we kill the time with some cards? I'm sure Hans isn't too busy to join us."

Sylvia nodded and sighed. Death threat or not she really wanted to be back home and fighting this out herself in the public, and the press decrying the traitor to her family's name, and speaking out against violence. Somehow she imagined that Relena was still out there making speeches and saying all those controversial things that made her a political dynamo.

Still, she seemed to understand that there was something bigger going on than just another terrorist plot, or peoples' revolution. It involved her, and her death, her family name. It was like the original coup d'etat perpetrated by OZ with her grandfather's death. It made her head spin to think that it could happen again, and so soon.

A few days passed and another bad snow storm over took the region. Hans had a lot of forethought and brought in extra food for the pantries and freezers. He had weathered many such storms in the past. He seemed expert at passing them through without much effort now.

Sally seemed to be growing uneasy which she attempted to pass off as mere cabin fever. Sylvia didn't buy it.

Then one mid-afternoon there was a hurried knock at the door. Sally rushed over and Sylvia heard the muttered exchange of phrases that she supposed were Preventer codes. Sally opened the door and man who seemed outfitted for the arctic entered the house. He removed his jacket and goggles, and Sylvia recognized him in an instant.

She pushed into the room and ignored Sally's comment about having been told to stay out of sight. She looked the young man up and down, and then shook her head.

"I hope you aren't here to have me kill you again, Heero Yuy." Sylvia said sullenly.

He shook his head. "I'm here to protect you."

"You know," Sally chimed in, "because an ex-Gundam pilot and one Preventer does an army make."

Sylvia shook her head. "It's a bad joke, Sal."

Heero nodded and asked to see the layout of the house. Sylvia went into the library and found a book to read.

She wasn't bitter about Heero, just mildly disappointed. He had come to her once to pay what he thought his due penance. She had refused him, and had never seen him again. She had heard plenty about him though. Relena had more Heero Yuy stories than Sylvia cared to hear. It saddened her that after everything the young man could only find his calling in warfare. And that's what it was even if the Preventers called it protection.

Her attempts to be philosophical on the matter failed her. She tried to consider that maybe after all his soul searching it was what he wanted, but the stories of him from Relena made her wonder if he merely stayed in the business out of some strange obligation to be the white knight.

A knock at the library door prompted her to look up from the unread pages of her book. Sally leaned in the doorway and had an odd look about her.

"You wanted my opinion on Lady Une's letter?"

Sylvia nodded, and watched as Sally entered the room. Sally had a slow and easy gait that changed ever so slightly whenever she was upset. The slight change caused a lump to form in Sylvia's throat.

"I think you're in more danger than Une first thought, and that she still pays too much attention to the things Relena says to hurt her," Sally stated flatly.

Sylvia was going to say something, but Heero entered the room.

"There's a panic room down in the cellar that's well protected. I think Sylvia should get down there with Hans," Heero said quickly. "I'm sorry we had to meet again this way."

"Don't be sorry," Sylvia replied. "Just stay alive."

Sylvia watch the way Hans stood guard at the door to the panic room, and saw signs of a past military background. She wanted to ask him questions about it. She wanted to know more about him since he was risking his life for her. Instead, she asked about Lady Une.

"The Lady comes from a long line of military based aristocrats," he replied. "I was a...Ordonnanz for her father in the old wars."

Sylvia tried to twist the term around in her head. "A batman?"

Hans thought for a moment and then nodded. "An old custom that had been abolished, but had been reinstated after the new aristocracy was formed."

"Why-"

"It is my duty to protect this family," Hans said stiffly. "I have known the Lady all her life, and she obviously cares for you a great deal or she would not have asked me to assist in this manner."

Sylvia took a deep breath as she wrapped her head around the statement. She couldn't think of a reason for Une to care for her at all. They'd only met a few times, and had connected in a small way, but...Her thoughts left her as the sounds of gunfire filtered through the walls. She shut her eyes and wished for peace.

Instead there was a loud rumbling and the ground shook. Sylvia couldn't move.

The door to the panic room was forced open, but before Hans could get a shot off a voice in German commanded him, and he stepped aside. Sally staggered in looking half alive. Sylvia rushed to her.

"It wasn't you," Sally whispered. "They were after him."

Sylvia clenched her fists and shook from tears she couldn't cry.

To be continued...