It was refreshing to have a friend who didn't see her for her money or her power and
position, even if she was a bit odd, Relena thought to herself with a faint smile. Oh, her
bodyguards, currently on loan from the Preventers, were none too keen on the idea of the
Vice-Foreign Minister bringing home some amnesiac war orphan she'd met glad-handing at
a hospital on Earth in her latest goodwill mission, but she didn't really care. Usagi
was the one of first real friends she'd had in what seemed like forever, since Heero
vanished two years ago once he was recovered from the Mariemeia Incident.
Heero hadn't been on her mind much except in the periphery as of late, she recalled
in amusement -- at least not until Duo called to wake her up late -- very late --
last night (And she wasn't going to ask how he'd gotten the number to the personal,
unlisted line in her bedroom. One just didn't ask Duo those kinds of questions; the
answers tended to be a bit on the alarming side and generally tended to make her
glad they were friends.) and let her know that he and Heero were on their way here.
She had to stifle another smile. It was good to know at least one person was able
to track down the Japanese man and stay by his side. She worried about her friend
a lot less than she might otherwise have since Duo was so frequently with him. One
of these days, though, she'd like to see them when it didn't involve herself and/or
the Earth Sphere and the colonies being in danger. A friendly visit would be a welcome
change.
In the years that she'd know them, though, she'd never heard worry in Duo's voice
like she'd heard on the phone. She'd always assumed that he didn't let things worry
him, that he just acted on what was bothering him and moved past it. Or, at least
as she'd come to learn, that's how he was when what was bothering him didn't directly
affect Heero as well, at which point all bets were off. She could relate, since the
same held true for her with her few friends, Heero especially. He deserved the rest
of his life to be without worry or war. She would do anything and everything in her
power to make sure that happened, and it reassured her to know that Duo would do the
same -- and probably more since he wasn't quite as bound by legality as she was.
Usagi was making that list as well, though, short though it might be. For not having
a memory to speak of, the blonde's blue eyes reminded her of Heero's: world-weary,
tired, sad, the eyes of someone who had seen too much and had no need or want to
talk about it ever again. At least Usagi didn't remember what had happened, whatever
it was. How she wished she could say the same for Heero. That was one of many wishes
for her friend she had, though, and she didn't foresee any of them coming true.
"Relena-san?" She started at the sound of Usagi's voice. The girl had an
absolute talent for sneaking around. She glanced up to see the blonde standing in
the doorway to her home office, a worried look in her blue eyes. "Are you all
right?"
Her friend did always seem to have a way of knowing when something was bothering
her. It was uncanny, since they'd only known each other a few weeks. "I'm fine,
Usagi. I'm just worried about Heero and Duo getting here okay in this weather."
She looked over her shoulder at the torrents of rain pouring down outside the house.
"It is looking pretty nasty out there." As if to punctuate her words, a
bolt of lightning shot down, close enough to hear the pop inside. "Your friends
shouldn't be out there in this mess."
She frowned in worry, turning all her attention to the weather beyond the window.
"No, they shouldn't. I wish they were here already."
At her side, Usagi stiffened, just briefly, like she tended to do when anyone started
a sentence like that. Usually Relena was careful to avoid saying those words, mindful
of the way they seemed to make her friend uncomfortable -- but also equally mindful of
the fact that whatever was 'wished' for around the younger girl had an alarming tendency
to come true. This time, though, she couldn't have avoided it if she'd wanted to: she
would prefer Heero and Duo to be here already.
As if on cue, the ringing of the front doorbell echoed through the large house, loud
enough to startle her from her reverie. Usagi looked a little pale and the wan smile
on her face seemed pasted on, but she was making the attempt to be cheerful. "What
do you want to bet that's your friends?"
Given what she'd witnessed over the last few weeks, that two of the former Gundam
pilots were at the door was a pretty strong chance. So in answer, she just smiled
and headed out of the room, dimly aware of Usagi following her.
Relena looked... good, he supposed. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her in the
two years since the Mariemeia Incident, but her television appearances hadn't really
show how she was. She'd cut her hair a bit but otherwise looked much the same as the
last time he'd seen her. That was... good as well, he supposed.
He just wasn't too sure why he was here. He'd told Duo about seeing that girl,
the so-called angel, near Relena, dating her at a point they could investigate --
and somehow within a day, they'd ended up on the road to the Vice-Foreign Minister's
estate. They'd driven through the night, making good time till they hit this storm
and had been forced to slow down. Then somehow they'd gotten from the highway to the
estate in the blink of an eye. It didn't seem like something Duo should be able to do,
even with this odd new ability of his, so that left a whole new set of possibilities
that he didn't really want to consider too heavily just yet.
Duo had both their bookbags, one slung over each of his shoulders, wordlessly
acknowledging something he'd never verbally told his friend: that weather like
this made his whole right arm and shoulder ache in remembered pain of the abuse
it had taken two years ago. Not that Duo hadn't taken his own fair share of beatings
in the wars, but if it bothered the American, he never gave any sign of it.
"Hi there, Princess," he greeted Relena with an easy smile. Even he
couldn't tell if the other man was faking it or not, and he liked to think he
could read Duo fairly well. "How've you been?"
The smile she returned was a lot easier to read: she was genuinely glad to see
them. "I've been well, thank you. What about you?"
Duo shrugged. "Same old, same old."
Sometimes Duo amazed him. How could he just be standing there making small talk
after what had just happened? Wasn't he at all curious about how they'd come to be
here so suddenly? For the moment, he continued to bite his tongue. Who knew? Maybe
Duo was leading up to it. Or was this one of those 'being polite' things he'd never
quite mastered?
A quiet shuffle of noise, barely loud enough for even him to notice, drew his
attention to the open door behind Relena. Less than a moment later, a familiar
face, framed by long blonde hair, peered around the door. Blue eyes, a shade or
two brighter than his own, glanced at him then Duo briefly before locking onto
Relena's back. It was just as well she hadn't said anything; he was pretty sure
the breath had been shocked out of him: it was the angel, the same girl he'd been
seeing in his dreams.
The quiet around him was what drew him back out of his surprise. Apparently
Relena had asked him something, and when he didn't respond, they'd both turned
to see what was distracting him. Duo was following his gaze -- and he looked a
little pale himself. She was the same girl they'd tracked down, the one from the
past, the same age and exact identical appearance to her photograph online; a little
shock was certainly allowed in extenuating circumstances like this.
Relena was smiling though, seemingly oblivious to the surprise on their faces,
and took a few steps back to grasp the girl's hand lightly in her own. "Heero,
Duo, I would like you to meet my new friend, Usagi. Usagi, this is Heero and
Duo."
She smiled very faintly and sketched an even fainter bow, an archaic gesture that
seemed so out of place, yet... "I'm very pleased to meet you."
And for just a moment, all he could think was 'I'm not going crazy -- she
is real'.
First Draft: 14 February 2007
Revision: 12 January 2009
Yay! At long last, a new chapter of Belladonna. You have no idea how much it's been bugging me that this wasn't ready for others to read. So I sat myself down and made myself finish today. So, Happy Single's Awareness Day, everyone. Thanks for the read.
As for the revisions, I am in the process of converting all my stories with Gundam Wing characters over to traditional spellings. So that means all my "Hiiro"s will become "Heero"s and all my "Ririna"s will become "Relena"s. For clarity's sake.
Apollymi