Disclaimer:  Own, I do not. So there.  This is the SEQUEL to The Colours of Life.  If you haven’t read that…maybe you should ‘cause this fic will be really confusing (I think) if you haven’t read TCoL.  To the people who have read TCoL, here’s the sequel! ^_^

Joy to My Life

Prologue: A Well Deserved Vacation…

By: J.B. Santiago

  - Florence, Earth – Real Time -

Warm light poured through the open French doors, a light breeze gently lifting the thin, embroidered white curtains onto the balcony overlooking the city of Florence.  The image was quintessentially Spring BUT the person in the four-poster bed, opposite the French doors was not enjoying it.  Not one bit.  Dorothy huffed in irritation.  She was sitting up on the bed, her back propped up by very cushy pillows.  Her lower body covered by a thin cotton sheet, the heavy blanket and silk overlay thrown to one side of the bed, precariously hanging on the edge.  She huffed again, blowing air up into her eyes, making her headband-less hair go up then go back down again.  Dorothy pouted, her arms crossed over her chest, “This is ridiculous!” she muttered angrily to herself. 

“What is cousin dear?”  Bethany appeared at the entrance of the large bedroom, carrying a tray with breakfast on it.

Dorothy glared at her cousin.  “You know perfectly well what it is!  I’m strong enough - ” She didn’t finish as Bethany stuffed a bagel into her mouth.

“Now, now, Dory.  You know that’s not true.  It’s only been a two weeks since…” Bethany trailed off but quickly continued to stop Dorothy from speaking.  “ And you know two weeks isn’t enough time to heal.  So just lie down and relax.  Eat your breakfast while I tell you all the fun things were going to do today!”  She smiled brightly, settling onto the bed, legs crossed, placing the try across Dorothy’s lap.

Dorothy finished off chewing the bagel and brought a hand to stop her cousin from speaking.  “Listen, Bethany.  You do NOT need to wait on me hand and foot.  I am NEVER going to go on one of your ‘fun’ excursions again. AND - ” She paused for dramatic effect, “ – I. AM. FINE.  So thank you for your hospitality, now kindly leave me ALONE.”  She accentuated the last word, glaring meaningfully at the door.

Bethany unperturbed by Dorothy’s hostility was about to plow straight ahead with what she was originally going to say when someone knocked on the door.

“I’m not interrupting anything am I?”  A sweet voice said, entering the room, looking at the two blonds as if it was a tennis match. Quatre’s wounds had healed so completely baffling the doctors at the hospital that they had wanted him to stay longer for tests but he politely declined, instead taking a vacation in Bethany’s estate to ‘look after’ Dorothy.

“Quatre!  You’re not interrupting anything, I was just about to tell Dory, our plans for today.”  Bethany smiled up at Quatre who returned it before giving a pained expression, like someone had just yelled in his ear.

“Are you ok, Quatre?”

Quatre nodded, the ringing in his ears subsiding.  “Ahh…Bethany, your Grandmother’s on the vid-com in the study.  She wanted to talk to you, urgently.”

At this Bethany’s already pale complexion got paler.  Hurrying out of the room sending out an apologetic face and muttering, “I’ll be right back” and “What is it this time?  I haven’t done anything wrong lately…”

As her figure disappeared down into the hall, Quatre turned to look at the beauty propped up by gigantic pillows, trying to hide the annoyance she felt but it just made her more beautiful, in his eyes anyway.  He smiled at her, sitting down on the bed, moving the tray to one side and leaning close enough for their foreheads to meet.  “You didn’t have to yell, you know.”  He whispered, their lips touching on each word he said. 

Dorothy leaned back into the pillows, and gave him a withering glare.  “What took you so long?  Couldn’t you have thought of a better reason than a call from her Grandmother?  She’ll be back in two minutes trying to get me to go on her ‘fun’ excursions!”  She crossed her arms over her chest again. ‘I want to spend some ‘quality’ time with you.’  She thought.

A twinkle appeared in Quatre’s eyes.  He leaned closer to her again.  “So do I.”  Their lips brushed against each other, as they were about to initiate a tongue war –

“Quatre, my grandmother wasn’t on the vid-com…” Bethany trailed off as Quatre hastily pulled away from a very annoyed Dorothy, blushing a deep crimson.  Bethany smirked.  “Hmmm…if you had wanted to be alone, you could have just asked.”  She ignored Dorothy’s death glare and picked up the tray on the bed.  “Don’t want you using my good china for your little ‘games’.”  With that she sauntered out of the room, leaving a very red Quatre to stare sheepishly, as the door closed with a click.

Dorothy’s face brightened. ‘Finally!’ she thought crawling towards Quatre, pulling him down by his waist.  She caressed his face, running a hand through his messy hair.  The heat from his face seemed to follow her hand and he felt dizzy with joy.  Running a hand across her face, as if he was trying to remember every line and contour on her face.  He smiled as they their lips met again.

Bethany shook her head.  Her cousin in love was so strange.  The Dorothy she knew was a bitch, all cold and aloof.  Now Dorothy was a bitch in love.  She laughed out loud, wandering through her gardens on her estate situated on the outskirts of Florence.  Two weeks ago Dorothy was adamantly denying she felt anything for a certain, blond-haired, blue-eyed pacifist billionaire.  Now she was busy making out with him.  ‘At least she’s exercising.’  A wry smile touched her lips.  The international media had swooped down on the story like a pack of vultures that hadn’t eaten in a year.  Of course they had gotten it all wrong.  She remembered Dorothy’s facial expression when the media had broadcasted the news that Mr Winner had been shot by an angry ex, of not Dorothy Catalonia’s but Bethany Montague’s.  The media had added two and two together and had come up with this story:  Mr Winner was last seen in Paris with a mysterious blond woman later to be identified as Bethany Montague (a socialite and related to the Duchess Catalonia), and were then seen in Florence apparently having a lovers tryst.  An angry ex-lover of Ms. Montague’s pulled out a gun and shot Mr Winner, twice – in the shoulder and left lung.  The assailant had been identified as Alessio Luciano and is still at large.

Bethany shook her head her eyes sparkling, remembering the angry phone messages Alessio had given her when he found out he was a wanted man for shooting Quatre.  He was now in hiding, until the whole thing blew over.  Bethany smirked.  She never liked that family anyway.  Sitting down on one of the benches located around the estate, she watched goldfish swim around lazily in the koi pond.  Relena and Heero had left the night Quatre woke up, so not to arouse suspicion about why they were there so suddenly.  The Parisian police relieved since the Vice Foreign Minister had been missing from the terrorist attack on the Peace Talks.  Wufei and Sally had returned to Preventer Headquarters to report back from their mission.  Catherine and Trowa stayed a few more days in the hospital before heading back to the Circus in Paris, which was still under investigation about why it had collapsed; sabotage the main suspect.  While the Maxwells were enjoying what was left of their anniversary, on an all expenses paid holiday to Milan, Italy – thanks to Bethany (Duo was horrified: “More shopping!?”).  Bethany dipped her toes into the pond, scattering the fish in every direction.   She hadn’t really gotten to know Dorothy’s friends well but she missed them.  ‘I should invite them for a vacation…’ Her train of thought interrupted when John, her butler gave her an envelope.

“Miss Bethany, the letter just arrived by messenger.  There is no forwarding address.”

Bethany eyed the envelope, her hand softly going over the round, red seal with a weird design imprinted on it.  She nodded.  “Thank you John, that’ll be all.”  John left with a slight bow and briskly walked towards the mansion. 

Bethany stared at the envelope.  ‘A Council summons.  I knew they’d want to meet.  Wonder what took them so long?’  She vaguely reflected, opening the envelope to reveal one sheet of thick paper with a logo embossed on it, the writing neat and cursive, reminiscent of the ancient 12th century transcripts written by monks.  Bethany scanned the letter, skipping most of it until she found what she was looking for. ‘The Greater Council will meet on May 1st, A.C. 201, at Council Headquarters.  The Red Council is required to attend, as their account of the events concerning the Darkness is imperative to the future of the Greater Council.’  Rolling her eyes, she threw the letter up in the air and it exploded into a ball of fire, then disappeared, no trace of it; no ash could be seen.  She raised an eyebrow; the Council is discovering more parlour tricks.  Standing up she walked to the entrance.  She couldn’t wait to tell Dorothy the ‘good’ news.

         ***********************

  - ESUN office, Earth – Real Time -

Two weeks.  It was two weeks since it had happened.  Two weeks ago she had died.  Relena sighed dropping her pen on one of the treaties she was supposedly reviewing.  ‘Come on, Relena.  Snap out of it!’  She stood up and walked to one of the huge arch windows.  The weather had been beautiful for the last week, hardly any clouds to blot the light blue sky.  During those two weeks she had immersed herself in everything that came her way.  She attacked her work with vigour, gave huge donations to charities, donated blood, ran in charity marathons – anything and everything.  She called her adopted mother everyday now, telling her about her day and that she loved her.  She talked to Milliardo who was still on Mars with Noin as well.  And of course, she spent as much time as possible with Heero, showing him how much she loved him.  Relena sighed again, leaning her forehead against the cold glass.  ‘Maybe I should slow down a bit…I’m going to burn myself out…’ She straightened up, shaking her head.  ‘No.  I can’t slow down now.  I’ve been given another chance, I’m not going to stop.’  Sitting back into her plush office chair, she forced herself to focus on the treaty in front of her.  Unbeknownst to Relena, a figure watched her intensely through a hidden camera located in the room.

“Relena…” Heero watched his fiancé throw herself back into her work.  She had been like this since… Heero growled in frustration.  She was working herself to a pulp.  She needed to stop this insane need to do everything.  She needed a vacation.  Heero whispered to himself, “Mission accepted.”

         ************************

  - Milan, Earth – Real Time -

Hilde struck a pose in front of the huge Milan Cathedral.  Duo stood a good ten metres away from her, trying to get both Hilde and the cathedral in one shot.  Pigeons milled all over the place, as tourists threw corn seeds at them.  The place was packed with people all enjoying the wonderful spring weather.

“Duo!  Hurry up!  I can’t stand in this pose forever!”  Hilde glared at her husband, though she doubted he could see it.

“Hold on for a minute, just a few more seconds…” Duo moved a step back, his eye glued to the eyepiece of the camera, not realising he was about to bump into a corn vendor.

“Duo!  Look - ” Hilde said too late as Duo tumbled into the vendor, sending a huge amount of corn seeds into the air. “- out.”

“AAGH!”  He yelled as pigeons flocked towards him.  They landed around and on him, pecking at the seeds.  “AAGH! Get off me!  Get off my HAIR!!!”  Duo ran like crazy towards Hilde, some pigeons still pestering his head for seeds.

Hilde couldn’t help but laugh at the sorry sight her husband made.  He didn’t think it was too funny, growling at her. “How would you like being attacked by hundreds of pigeons, hmm Hilde.”  He said, menacingly, advancing towards his laughing wife.

“Oh no you don’t!”  Hilde ducked as Duo threw some seeds at her that had come from inside his shirt.

Duo chased Hilde through the plaza, both of them laughing now.  He finally caught up to her, slinging her over his shoulder, running towards the pigeons.

“Duo!  Put me down!”  Hilde exclaimed playfully hitting his back.

“If you insist!” Duo dumped Hilde on the ground next to the eating pigeons that thankfully flew away from her.  She gave Duo a grin, pulling him down next to her.  She smoothed his mussed up hair.

“There, there.  Now you don’t look like you’ve just been attacked by a flock of birds.”  She couldn’t get that silly grin off her face.  “Kiss me bird-man!”

‘Bird-man? Hope she doesn’t tell anyone about this!’  Duo thought as he bent his face down to meet hers, complying with her wishes.

         ************************

  - Paris, Earth – Real Time -

Catherine leaned against the railing of the Eiffel Tower.  She took in the sight of Paris.  It truly was a beautiful place.  When she and Trowa had gotten back from Florence, however, the police were extremely pushy… She had been kidnapped after all.  But the only thing she could really tell them was that, she had woken up in a Florence hospital with no memory of her captors.  This had irritated the police to no end until the Preventers took over the case, leaving them with nothing to worry about.  Catherine closed her eyes.  Two weeks since those horrible events had happened.  Sometimes she would wake up at night thinking she could hear those people scream.  She shivered as a cool breeze blew the thin coat she was wearing.  A strong arm encircled her, pressing her closer to him.  She smiled up at her brother, who gave a small smile back before looking out onto the city.  She was glad Trowa was there.  She knew he felt guilty for what had happened to her even though she continually told him it wasn’t his fault.

“We can go back down, if you’re cold Cathie.”

Catherine shook her head.  “No, I’m fine.  I want to stay here a bit longer, if that’s ok with you.”

Trowa nodded, squeezing his sister’s shoulder in a sign of comfort.  He glanced at her as she looked out at the city.  He didn’t know what to do about those nightmares she had, except to be there to hold her hand when she woke up.  It didn’t help that every time she did have a nightmare his thoughts would lead to a certain blond woman with grey eyes.  If Catherine had nightmares about what happened, Midii would too.  Who would be there to hold her hand?  To comfort her?  Trowa didn’t know why he cared, she hadn’t tried to contact them at the Circus; he had checked every night and nothing.

Trowa almost didn’t hear Catherine call out his name; too caught up in his thoughts.  “Trowa, Trowa.  Are you ok?”   Catherine asked concernedly.

Trowa nodded absentmindedly. ‘Get out of my head, Midii Une.’

         *************************

  - Preventer HQ, Earth – Real Time -

“Congratulations, Wufei, Sally, on a job well done.  The children were kept safe and protected.  Excellent job, Wufei; with the Circus incident.  I trust the whole event is in your capable hands.”  Said Lady Une, watching Wufei as if he had just grown an extra head.  Ever since they had entered her office, Wufei hadn’t uttered one ‘onna’ or ‘kisama’.  Lady Une was getting worried. Was he planning to exact some humiliating revenge on her, for making him wear a purple dinosaur suit?  She silently chided herself for being overly paranoid but…dammit!  He was SMILING!

“Thank you, Lady Une.  It was quite a challenging and satisfactory mission.”  Wufei replied, bowing slightly.

Lady Une was now officially freaked out and afraid.  “Good… You’re dismissed… Could I speak to you alone, Sally?”

Sally nodded and Wufei closed the door behind him.  Lady Une studied the woman’s face; she was smiling ever so slightly.

“What’s going on, Sally?  I don’t believe Wufei could suddenly have a change of heart that big.  Please explain.”  She crossed her arms across her chest, her layered hair falling forwards.

Sally gave her a puzzled look.  “Going on?  Nothing’s going on…Wufei’s just discovered a fondness for children, that’s all.”  She grinned.  “He’s also discovered a fondness for me, it seems…”

Lady Une’s paranoia seeped away as she grinned back at Sally.  “Oh…good.  It’s about time.  All the best of luck, Sal.” She laughed, sitting down on her office chair, shuffling the papers on her desk.

Sally laughed with her before turning towards the door.  “Don’t worry, Lady, I don’t think Wufei will be trying to harm you for the dinosaur suit.”

         *************************

  - The Council HQ, Earth – Real Time -

Mario Luciano Sr, twirled his walking cane around in an anti-clockwise direction.  He waited impatiently as the other Heads of Council entered the conference room. “Finally!  Now that you are all here, we can get down to business.”  He nodded acknowledging the three people seating themselves in their respective chairs.  “We have been able to tap into the old powers.  Now all we need to decide on is – do we tell the Greater Council of our findings?”  He let the question hang in the air, a tension already developing among those assembled.

“What do you mean, do we tell them?  We must report these findings to the Greater Council.  How else will we usurp Red as leader and begin to take over Earth?” asked Giovanni Andretti, his newfound Gold power made him glow slightly.

“He means, why share with the Greater Council?  Why do we want to give the old powers to the Outer Council?  Those families were and still are nothing but lesser nobles, compared to us.  We are the Inner Council; the Head’s of each Colour.  Our families were born to rule.”  Replied Henry Windsor, he created a drink of sparkling mineral water and took a sip, staring superiorly at Giovanni.

“What are you suggesting? We don’t tell the Greater Council?  Don’t you think they’ll become suspicious when our families begin to use the old powers for conquest?”  asked a sceptical Emeline Noventa, her body already becoming younger and healthier the Green power coursing through her veins.

“They won’t need to know if their not alive.” replied Mario Sr.  “We’ve called a Greater Council meeting.  Every member will be here.  They wont be alive the morning after.”  He smiled maliciously.

“Are you mad?!  You’re planning to kill six families.  Eighteen people, all together.  We just can’t kill them!” exclaimed Giovanni, glowing a little bit brighter.

“They are opposition to us.  We must eliminate all who oppose us.  WE are meant to rule!  Don’t you understand!?  The old powers we have tapped into will not be enough to sustain all those families, we must get rid of them.” Repeated Henry, the Blue power glowed darker around him, the room now glowing gold and blue.

Giovanni stared at the three sitting around him.  He turned to Emeline.  “You don’t support this madness, do you, Emeline?”

Emeline placed a wrinkle free hand on the table, tapping tunelessly.  “My family is the only family left of the Green Council.  You three,” she pointed to the three men, before continuing, “have other families under your Council.  I will not be part of this decision as I don’t have your problem.”  She stood up, nodding to them before disappearing in a burst of green light.

“It seems you are outvoted, Giovanni.  We will prepare the cleansing of the Greater Council, at the coming meeting.”  Mario Sr said snidely.

Giovanni clenched his fists before walking out of the conference room, slamming the doors with a loud bang.

Henry stared at Mario.  “The meeting will need to be told to the press.  The Romefeller foundation’s senior families gathered for talks on how terrorist attacks like on the Peace Summit Talks should be handled.” He chuckled slightly before continuing, “Then the meeting will be attacked by terrorists, and eighteen senior members will be tragically killed as well as the head of Romefeller, Duchess Catalonia.”  He laughed now.  “Wonderful, isn’t it?”

**********************

Person who said this fic was going to be light but realises that’s not going to happen:

Hehe…I have a feeling this fic is going to be a bit darker then TCoL…sheesh!  I try to write a comedy and I get this! ^_^ hope no one minds! I’m currently writing Chapter 1, so I’m sorry for such a long writers block!!! C&C, R&R and flames!! Are all VERY, VERY welcome!!! (e-mail too! ^_~)