Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out; real life was getting in the way, as usual. But I wrote most of this chapter down when I was bored in a lot of my classes. Of course, re-watching Gundam Seed helped some too; it got my mind back into the universe of Gundam.
I thought I should warn everyone now that time will seem to pass a little fast in the chapter.
Now on with the chapter.
Chapter 8
The ride back to the mansion was rather quiet. Serena sat in the front passenger seat, with, of course, Rashid in the driver's seat. Amara and Michelle were in the back. Serena was quite surprised that Amara didn't bring her car with them to the colony. Since it was so quiet, Serena found herself staring out the window next to her, watching everything fly by. Serena hoped that Amara wouldn't get to overprotective like she usually did, especially with her brother, Quatre, of any of his friends, if they showed up again while Amara and Michelle were there. Serena's musings came to an end when the car came to a stop. Serena looked around and noticed that they were back at the mansion. Amara and Michelle had already gotten out of the car the second it stopped. In the time it took Serena to realize that they were at the mansion, Rashid had the time to get out of the car and go over to the passenger side and opened Serena's door for her. Rashid was just about to ask Serena if she was alright, but before he could ask, Serena got out of the car.
"Thank you, Rashid." Serena said as she past Rashid.
"Serena, are you alright?" Michelle asked once Serena walked over to her and Amara. "You were rather quiet during the whole ride." Rashid couldn't help but smile, seeing that Serena's friends really did care for her.
"I'm fine." Serena answered, trying to sound as if nothing was wrong. Serena then reached over and grabbed Amara and Michelle by their hands and started to drag them towards the mansion, "Come on, I want to show you two around!"
Rashid watched as Serena dragged her two friends inside the mansion. As he got back into the car to put it away, he couldn't help but think and hope that these two friends of hers could help cheer her up.
Inside, Serena had already showed Amara and Michelle where they could stay, where the kitchen was, the living room, and the gardens. She pretty much showed them everything, except for one thing, and that's where they were currently heading.
"Serena, where are we going now?" Amara asked.
"It's a surprise!" Serena answered, smiling back to the two behind her.
After some walking of down the hallways and up and down stairs they finally came to a closed door.
"We're here." Serena simply stated as she opened the door. Amara and Michelle looked at each other wondering what could be so special with this one room. While they were thinking this, Serena walked in. Serena walked to the middle of the room and turned around to face the open doorway to see Amara and Michelle walk in looking around. Serena smiled as she saw the look on their faces.
"Serena, this place is amazing!" Michelle said, with excitement as she took notice of all the music instruments in the room.
"I knew you would like it, Michelle." Serena said, with a smile.
Serena then looked over at Amara and noticed that she was watching Michelle. So, Serena turned back around and headed toward the piano.
"Amara, there is a piano here if you ever feel like playing it." Serena stated, putting her hand on top of the piano.
"Thanks, Kitten. I'll keep that in mind." Amara replied. But the look on Serena's face as she made her suggestion did not go unnoticed by Amara. Serena seemed to be thinking about something else, something other than what was going on right then and there. The moment Amara spoke, that look vanished, and Serena moved to the cabinet at the other end of the room.
"Michelle, I know that you would probably prefer to use your own violin, but there are some here if you wish to use them." Serena asked, as she opened up the cabinet, making it easier for the other two occupants of the room to see what was inside. "There are also other instruments in here if you want to use them as well."
"Ah, Serena, here you are." Rashid said, standing in the doorway. "I take it you've already shown your friends around?"
"Of course." Serena simply replied.
"That's good. So, what would all of you like for dinner?" Rashid asked. Amara and Michelle looked to Serena. All Serena did was look back at them, tilted her head to the side, and smiled. With that, Amara and Michelle looked at each other and smiled. They got the hint; they would be able to have anything they wanted.
As time went by Serena, Amara, and Michelle wondered around the mansion, Serena had a feeling that they would be staying for awhile, so she wanted to make sure that they would be able to get around the mansion on their own without getting lost. The last destination was the kitchen, Serena was sure that dinner was done or at least just about done. Amara and Michelle seemed to find the kitchen pretty well on their own. All three of them were sure they would be fine navigating the mansion on their own.
Once they got to the kitchen, Serena found out that she was right, dinner was ready. The kitchen staff was currently in the process of setting up the table, and Rashid was just about to set off to tell the girls that dinner was ready.
"Ah, there you three are. I was just about to come and get you." Rashid said upon seeing them in the doorway.
"I had a feeling that dinner was just about ready." Serena admitted with a smile.
"Serena, how about you and your friends have a seat and the food will be out in just a moment." Rashid suggested.
With that said, Amara and Michelle walked over to the table and sat at a place that was all set up for them. Serena followed them to the table but stopped when she passed Rashid.
"Rashid, how about you join us." Serena suggested, looking up at Rashid.
"You're having dinner with your friends, Serena. It would be as if I were intruding." Rashid declined the offer as gently as he could. But it was true; he would feel as if he were intruding.
"Nonsense!" Serena said, brushing off what Rashid said, as if he was being shy, which wasn't the case for Rashid.
"Serena, you are having dinner with your friends. I don't think your friends would want to have dinner with someone that is a complete stranger to them." Rashid explained, still trying to convince Serena that him joining them was a bad idea.
"Rashid, don't make me offer again." Serena stated, giving Rashid a determined look. Amara and Michelle were watching the entire conversation and they recognized the look Serena was giving Rashid, and knew what it meant.
"It's alright, we don't mind." Michelle said before Rashid could say anything else. "Please, join us."
"But…" Rashid tried to decline again, but was interrupted before he could really say anything.
"If Kitten wishes for you to join us for dinner, then you should. An offer from Kitten shouldn't be ignored." Amara stated, leaning back in her chair.
Rashid looked at the two sitting at the table, then look at Serena, then back to the two sitting at the table. "I suppose that I'm out numbered here." Rashid simply stated. Amara smirked; Michelle nodded her head, and Serena smiled, glad that Amara and Michelle were helping her out. "Alright Serena, you win." Rashid said with a sigh, conceding defeat. The look on Serena's face brightened, her smile growing bigger.
"Come on then." Serena said, grabbing Rashid by the arm and dragging him over to the table.
With that Rashid joined them for dinner, after he went and told the kitchen staff that he would be joining the girls for dinner, since the table was set for three people instead of four.
Dinner went by uneventful, the four of the just talked. Rashid ended up finding out more about Serena's friends. The fact about the three being Sailor Scouts was kept a secret from Rashid. And Amara and Michelle ended up finding out more about Rashid. Of course, him being apart of the Maganac Corps. and a mobile suit pilot was kept a secret from the three. At some point the topic of conversation turned to Quatre. Amara and Michelle started the topic by asking question after question about Serena's brother. Rashid ended up answering most of the questions. Amara and Michelle concluded that this was just Rashid's opinion and point of view of Quatre, which showed great respect for the boy. Of course, Rashid never mentioned that Quatre was a Gundam pilot; for Quatre didn't want Serena to know, and he was sure that Serena's friends weren't suppose to know either. He would leave it to Quatre to tell them if he wished for them to know.
Day after day seemed to go by and still no sign of Quatre. Amara couldn't stand being cooped up in the mansion for very long, considering she was the Scout of the Wind, Serena and Michelle could understand. Because of this, they ventured outside very day, almost spending most of the day outside. They went to the part a few times. They also went shopping, Serena insisted on this one. Serena didn't know how much Amara and Michelle brought with them, but she didn't know how long Quatre would take in getting back, so they went shopping for the two of them, figuring that they two of them might get sick of wearing the same clothes to many times. But, of course, Rashid always went with them everywhere they went, continuing to do as Quatre asked, to look after his sister and to keep her company. But when they ran out of things to do, they just found themselves wondering around, weather it be in town or at the park.
It was about a week since Quatre left did he finally come home. No one had any warning as to when he would be there until he walked in through the front door and into the living room. The sight that greeted him was his sister with two other girls, though he could swear one of them looked like a guy, were sitting either on one of the couches or on the floor at the coffee table that was placed in the middle of the, almost, circle of couches. The three of them were sitting there talking and eating a snack-like lunch. They didn't even seem to notice that he was there. After a couple of minutes Rashid walked in from the kitchen carrying drinks for the girls, and was the first to notice Quatre standing there watching the girls, a smile on Quatre's face, he was happy to see that his sister was happy again.
"Welcome back, Master Quatre." Rashid said, in a way, announcing to the girls that Quatre was there.
This caused Serena to look up at Rashid and noticed that he wasn't looking at them but at something or someone behind them. Noticing that, Serena turned around and saw that Quatre was standing there, his attention turned to Rashid after he spoke.
"Quatre! You're back!" Serena said with excitement, as she jumped up off the floor and ran over to her brother, giving him a hug. "How did the meeting go?" Serena asked as she let her brother go.
"It went as smoothly as can be expected." Quatre answered.
"That's good." Serena said, happy that everything went ok. "But, did it have to take so long?" Serena asked, with a little bit of a pout.
"I'm sorry, but it couldn't be helped, there was a lot of organization and planning involved." Quatre explained.
"I see." Serena said, looking off to the side.
Quatre noticed that this seemed to make his sister sad, so he decided to mention something else, hoping it would cheer her up, "But my friends were there."
"They were?" Serena asked, looking back at her brother, curious now.
"Yes, they were." Quatre replied with a slight nod of his head.
"So, that's what took you so long! You were hanging out with your friends while you were altogether." Serena said in realization, as if that answered everything.
"You caught me." Quatre said, with a faint sad smile. "We all spent time with we had some off time from the meeting."
Amara, Michelle, and Rashid noticed the faint expression on Quatre's face. The three of them sat back quietly and watched the whole exchange between the two. Amara figured it was time to break this little family moment up. After all, there were more important matters at hand, like officially meeting their princess' brother.
"So, you're Quatre." Amara calmly said, with a smirk. Reminding Quatre that there was two others there with his sister.
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I've already started writing the next chapter. I wonder how many boring class moments it will take me to write the next chapter. I know that this chapter isn't as long as the other chapters but I wanted to leave this chapter there, but I still think 6 pages is still pretty good length.