Disclaimer: My ghost has eluded me… for now, that is…
A/N: Since I can't respond to reviews anymore if u have a ques. contact me thru the personal message system on my profile. Enjoy!
"…": characters talking to each other
'…': characters talking to themselves
(…): extra facts about something in the story
((…)): my opinions
Chapter 5: Last Night in Neo-Russia
Gulskii residence, St. Petersburg, planet Earth, Milky Way Galaxy- December 16, FC 62, 9:00 PM
"I'll tell you what, that was one hell of a wedding," commented Chibodee as he threw himself onto one of the couches in the den, still sporting his bruised face from the day before, loosening his navy blue tie. Chibodee, although happy for the Neo-Russian couple, who was now preparing to depart for their honeymoon in Neo-Jamaica, after which the Shuffle Alliance and company would depart for their respective countries, felt sad that the reunion was ending so soon.
"Totally. I haven't seen a wedding like that since, well, Domon and Rain's last year," commented Allenby Beardsley from her perch on the sofa opposite Chibodee's, her head resting on her boyfriend Hans' shoulder.
Allenby, now nineteen years old, hasn't really changed drastically in appearance. She's kept her greenish-blue hair shoulder-length so it doesn't get in the way when she fights in the Nobel Gundam, considering she's the official Gundam fighter for Neo-Sweden. Allenby's now five foot three inches tall and her green eyes still sparkle with mischievousness and the need to prove herself an excellent gundam fighter in her own right without the Berserk mode that her government continuously used in the last tournament. Allenby's usually seen in light blue jeans, a pale pink tank, a turquoise sleeveless vest, and white sneakers, along with a silver charm bracelet, a gift from Hans for her nineteenth birthday, which was a few months ago.
Allenby is still a video game expert and technology genius, so besides training for the next gundam fight she comes up with inventions to help improve her gundam, Hans' gundam, and the country of Neo-Sweden itself. Allenby and Domon still compete in fighting virtual reality games and almost all the time it's a tie; in rare cases Domon wins.
Hans Holger is Cecile's older brother and pilot of Neo-Denmark's Mermaid Gundam. He is now 23 years old and his dark yellow hair is just to his ears but he's thinking of letting it grow out longer. His dark blue eyes now shine with more energy as he realizes that he can afford to be more like his true self instead of being a protective brother to Cecile 24/7/365. Hans is usually seen in dark blue jeans, a beat up pair of white and grey tennis shoes, and a black muscle tank.
Hans works out a lot, hoping to beat his little sister's boyfriend in the next gundam fight but has gradually been learning about technology from his girlfriend Allenby, who he's been with for about a year. Hans enjoys the time spent with Allenby and knows she enjoys it too. Like his girlfriend Hans has agreed to be the gundam fighter for Neo-Denmark for the next fight but on the condition that his gundam be completely redone to both his and Allenby's specifications.
Allenby and Hans both know that they will eventually fight each other in the next tournament, but both feel the need to have a fair fight, meaning each gundam has to be at the top of its form. With Allenby's help Hans is going to make sure his gundam is at its very best for that year's gundam fights.
"I agree," said Hans, who was sitting beside Allenby, staring at the wall while Allenby was resting her head on his shoulder, both still feeling a little tired considering they had gotten into town only a couple hours before the wedding. Chibodee looked to where his friend was looking and, blinking when he saw nothing there shook his head and remarked, "Hans, buddy, don't stare at the wall. It's not like Allenby's face's there, considering it's right beside you."
Hans blushed but soon fixed a glare on the gundam fighter seated across from him. Chibodee took it all in stride and smiled back at the Neo-Denmark fighter. Allenby was blissfully ignoring the developing tension between the two men.
"What's up with the glare, buddy?" asked Chibodee, not really getting the reason for Hans' glare.
"Nothing at all, except maybe to get you to shut your damn trap!" replied Hans, still glaring angrily at Chibodee, wishing he could rub that smug smile off the Neo-American fighter's face. Then, his mind landed on a possibility and the glare switched to a smirk. He shifted Allenby's head on his shoulder and when she looked up at Hans, questioning with her eyes what the problem was, Hans whispered something in her ear, to which she grinned widely.
"Hey, Chib," chirped Allenby, focusing her green eyes on the Neo-American fighter's face and noticing the fighter's smile disappear off his face.
Chibodee swallowed and asked, some nervousness present, "Yeah?"
Allenby smirked once more and said, "How'd you get that nice, bruised face? Last time I looked there was not a blemish on it."
Chibodee blushed crimson and glared at both fighters, more so at Hans, who was now smirking at the fighter across from him.
When Allenby got no answer she asked again and instead of responding Chibodee got to his feet, grabbed his tuxedo jacket from beside him (which he had promptly taken off before landing on the couch) and stomped out of the den, trying to not hear the laughter coming from behind him.
After a while Allenby stopped laughing and asked, "So, Hans: care to tell me how Chib bruised his face again?"
Hans stopped laughing, a frown coming onto his face, and said, "Well, from what I heard, this is what happened…"
Hans related the story to his girlfriend once more and by the end of it both were laughing once more. They didn't hear Sai and Cecile enter the room until they heard Sai clearing his throat. Both fighters stopped laughing
"What's so funny, bro.?" asked Sai, a curious gleam entering his eyes, to which Allenby got off the couch, stretching her arms over her head, not noticing Hans' eyes running appreciatively over Allenby's deep burgundy sleeveless bridesmaid's dress. All of the guests were still in their wedding attire, which for Hans was a black tuxedo, a white dress shirt, and a dark green-blue tie. Sai was also in a black tuxedo, complete with a white shirt and a green and black tie, which he was tugging at, not used to its presence, and to which he kept receiving glares from his girlfriend in response to his actions. Cecile was dressed in a deep green-blue dress with capped sleeves. Both the females' dresses had a shawl that was optional, which Allenby had point-blank refused to wear but which Cecile had gladly accepted.
"I heard you guys got to watch Chib get slaughtered by Nastasha yesterday on a DVD Shirley had, right?" Allenby asked, her eyes gleaming with mischief and mirth. When Cecile and Sai heard this, they did their best to stop from laughing but failed miserably. After a few minutes Hans joined in, chuckling a bit and Allenby giggled as well.
They soon stopped when they heard cursing coming from the foyer of the house. Glancing at each other they quickly exited the den and stopped when they saw Chibodee being tossed luggage by Argo, who was at the top of the stairs. Chibodee was desperately trying to catch all the luggage but was unable to and tried to hold back a curse as a particularly heavy suitcase landed on his foot. After a few minutes, about twenty suitcases were sitting at the door to the house, Chibodee leaning against the wall, muttering darkly as he glared at the top of the stairs about his new injuries because of the luggage fiasco. The glare soon vanished after he heard Argo's heavy footsteps approaching the top of the staircase and Chibodee focused his eyes on the ground.
"Are all those yours?" asked Rain as she walked up to the scene, Domon and the rest of the guests of Neo-Russia behind her.
Nastasha shot her a small look of humor and replied emotionlessly, "Of course not, Rain. Only two or three of these suitcases are for Argo's and my honeymoon. The rest were just thrown down to get them from the attic to the ground floor."
Chibodee seemed to choke when he heard this and opened his mouth to retort to Nastasha but quickly closed it when he saw Argo's eyes settle on his face, which was still sore from the previous day. Chibodee gulped and ran for his life, taking refuge behind the door to the small kitchen. Shirley looked over to where Chibodee was hiding and shot a smirk at Nastasha, who smiled in return. Shirley was dressed in a hunter green, sleeveless dress while Argo and Nastasha were in their regular clothes for their trip to the Bahamas by plane. The rest of the party was in their wedding attire like Shirley, Hans, Allenby, Sai, and Cecile. All the men had on tuxedos with varying colors of ties while the women had on different colored dresses and different styles. Marie-Louise had on a pale pink three-quarter inch sleeves with a shawl draped over her shoulders, Bunny had on a pale blue sleeveless dress with a shawl on one arm, Cath had on a red dress with capped sleeves, the shawl draped over her neck, Janet with a deep goldenrod dress with no shawl, and Rain was in a pale pink and green dress with no sleeves, fit for her condition.
"Hey, have fun you two! Tell us what happened when you get back!" demanded Domon from his position near his wife, who turned to glare at him and afraid of getting hit again quickly stepped back a foot or two, which earned him another withering glare from his wife.
Nastasha took the opportunity to glare at Domon as well then her glare shifted to where she knew Chibodee was hiding. She knew the Neo-American fighter was lucky that she had managed to repair her wedding dress before the ceremony that day. She quickly hugged the females in the group and then, with Argo having shaken hands with all the fighters except for Chibodee, who merely nodded his best wishes, she and Argo left the house with three suitcases, leaving seventeen downstairs, and headed for their flight to the Bahamas.
"All right, we need to get these other suitcases into one of the other rooms so they don't trip over them when they return. Who wants to help?" Rain asked as she looked around at the group. When she got no response from the men she glanced to the women and got nods of acquiesce. While Rain supervised Allenby, Cecile, Bunny, Cath, Shirley, and Janet each took two suitcases, one at a time, and carried them to the den, leaving five in the foyer and right in front of the men. Rain glared at the men, daring them to not volunteer and take the last suitcase, and smiled when Hans came forward and took the other five suitcases. She then continued to glare at the remaining men.
"I'm surprised that none of you would be kind enough to help out us poor women and carry something that for you fighters should be as light as a feather," scolded Rain, her face turning into a pout, which had the desired effect on her husband. Domon moaned and walked to his wife, wrapping his arms around her.
"You're right, as always, and I, for one, apologize for my actions in not helping the girls with the suitcases," reassured Domon, gently nuzzling Rain's neck in apology. Rain giggled and then glared at the other men, expecting to hear them mutter apologies as well.
After a few minutes the remaining men, now including Chibodee, shifted uneasily and muttered their apologies to Rain and the rest of the women, who had finished taking the luggage to the den with Hans. The women turned to each other and, smiling silently agreed to let their men stew in their discomfort and shame. Allenby smiled to herself, knowing that unlike the other women she didn't need to ignore Hans as he had helped with the luggage.
The women, not including Rain and Allenby, turned their backs on the ashamed men and marched up to their rooms to pack their own suitcases and prepare to return to their respective countries.
Gulskii residence, St. Petersburg, planet Earth, Milky Way Galaxy- December 16,FC 62, 10:30 PM
"Guess we'll see you all when the next reunion rolls around," Chibodee said, the now cocky grin back on his face, but still not looking quite normal because of his still bruised face. Chibodee was currently leaning on the navy blue van he had rented for Shirley, Jamie, Daniel, Michael, Bunny, Janet, Cath, and himself. Hans and Allenby were standing in front of the green small car they had only rented that morning with Sai and Cecile standing next to a black and red motorcycle that he had found more interesting to rent then a car, helmets in hand. Domon and Rain were also standing in front of a small beige car they had rented, Rain's three suitcases and Domon's one loaded into said car. George was leaning on the black limo he had made sure was rented for the princess and himself while the princess stood in front of the vehicle. All of the luggage was loaded into their respective vehicles, except Sai and Cecile's luggage, which was in Hans and Allenby's car.
"Guess so," said Jamie, who was leaning against the van's hood, Bunny leaning against him, obviously having forgiven her boyfriend. Bunny sighed and commented, "When is the next reunion?"
Everyone looked at each other, no one quite sure of the answer to that question. After a few moments of unsettling silence Allenby said, "Well, why not let Domon and Rain decide? After all, Rain is due in, what, three months? I think that because of Rain's condition we should let her decide."
Allenby then looked to her friend for confirmation and Rain nodded, accepting responsibility in deciding where the next reunion was going to be.
After a few minutes Rain said, "Well, how about we meet again in another month but in Neo-Japan, because I think that otherwise Domon and I wouldn't be able to make it. In addition, after that one I think we should continue meeting in Neo-Japan until the baby arrives. Then, we'll go somewhere else for the reunion after the baby's born."
Domon nodded in agreement with his wife's words and looked around at the people gathered there. When they nodded in agreement Domon said, "All right, it's decided. When next month rolls around we'll meet in Neo-Japan and will continue to do so until our baby's born." Domon paused to place a hand on his wife's stomach then continued, "Someone's going to have to tell Argo and Nastasha when they get back from their honeymoon about our plans. Who's going to do it?"
Shirley raised her hand and said, "Chib and I'll do it." Shirley ignored the glare Chibodee sent her as she walked over to Rain and carefully hugged her. "We'll see each other next month. Bye, and be careful."
Rain smiled, hugging Shirley back, and responded, "'Course. You too."
Everyone bid farewell to each other and got in- or in Sai and Cecile's case, on- their respective vehicles.
"See ya 'round!" was the general farewell as they all drove off towards the airports they'd come in at to catch their flights back home, Hans staring a little worriedly after his sister as she was behind Sai on his motorcycle, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. The last to leave was Chibodee and his van full of fighters and mechanics. Chibodee couldn't help but feel sorry for himself, thinking, 'How is it that everyone I know is in a relationship with someone else; I mean, for god's sake George and Marie-Louise are together, and that took them two years. When's my turn goin' to come, huh?'
Chibodee was too focused on the road to notice Shirley's emerald eyes watching him, her eyes expressing affection for him that she knew he never noticed. She was thinking the same thing as Chibodee, but both of them had no clue what was going to happen to them, and their friends, next…