November 25,
2000-September 2, 2003
The conclusion
of POR is made possible by and is dedicated to:
The Spy
and The Silencer Mailing List. Happy Third Anniversary!!
The Price of
Redemption
Epilogue Part
Three
By Midii Une
Duo slunk down
in his chair and pulled his black-billed hat low over his deep purple
eyes. Hilde and Dorothy stared at the closed door, owl-eyed with a
combination of curiosity, apprehension and impatience.
The two very
different girls found themselves unconsciously clutching each other’s fingers
tightly as a wild feminine scream filtered from beneath the heavy door.
Moments later an efficient nurse breezed through said door. She smiled
condescendingly at the group of innocents sitting in the private waiting room.
“Your little
friend is doing just fine,” she assured them, her words practiced and rehearsed
and dulled from much usage. “I’m just off to fetch her more ice chips.”
“Yummy,” Duo
said quietly unable to contain an attempt at humor. The former pilot
cringed as Dorothy and Hilde glared at him for his lack of sensitivity.
They spoke in whispers.
“She should
have gone for the drugs,” Hilde said, a frightened look in her bright blue
eyes.
“You don’t
know Miss Relena,” Dorothy answered with a tired, exasperated sigh.
“She’s intent on staying strong for Heero. She’d suffer anything
to maintain his image of her.”
Duo dared to
chuckle and was summarily sent off to buy the girls a pair of mocha
lattes. “That should keep him out of our hair for awhile at least,” Hilde
said, knowing full well that an errand to the bakery would keep Duo occupied
for an inordinate amount of time.
Dorothy’s cell
rang, making the pair of them jump, their nerves were as taught as finely-tuned
violin strings.
“Could it be
Quatre already,” Hilde asked, holding her breath as Dorothy answered. She felt
torn between her friends, but she and Duo had finally decided to come be with
Heero and Relena. Midii and Trowa would have Quatre and Cathy to help
pull them through this latest crisis. Good news and bad news always
seemed to come hand in hand, Hilde thought as she half-listened to Dorothy’s
conversation with Relena’s adopted mother.
“No Mrs.
Darlian, nothing yet,” Dorothy said patiently. “The nurse just reported she’s
doing fine. When your shuttle lands come straight to the hospital,
there’s a limo waiting. Yes, I’ll tell the nurse to tell Relena you’re
coming. Good-bye.”
Beyond the
doors Relena tried to focus on Heero’s eyes as the contraction gripped all the
muscles in her body and squeezed. It became harder and harder to stay in
control, to lose herself in the pools of steel blue she loved so much. So
this was how torture worked, she thought, her senses starting to scatter. Then
she felt his fingers on the back of her hand, moving in a soothing rhythm.
“This one’s
ending. You made it Relena,” he told her, coolly eyeing the fetal monitor
that measured the strength of each contraction. For Heero Yuy, this was
the most helpless moment of his life. He had no control he could only sit
and watch as the hated machine measured his wife’s agony in large sloping hills
that illustrated the peaks and valleys. His palm itched to shoot it but
common sense told him that the machine was only the messenger and the
instigator of all this pain was none other than himself. As her face
screwed up in a tortured grimace yet again and the line on the graph began to
curve he vowed a future life of celibacy. Anything but going through this
again.
“Focus on my
eyes,” he said, a hint of pleading in his usually calm voice. The line
sloped higher and Relena’s eyes shut, tears pouring down her cheeks.
“Mother,” she
screamed, clenching her hands on Heero’s and digging her nails in. “I
want my mother!”
The nurse
patted Heero on the shoulder. “Don’t you worry this is all perfectly
normal,” she said. She pushed the father-to-be aside as no one else would
have dared and leaned over Relena.
“There now
honey,” she said softly. “You’re doing fine, just fine. Your mother
is on her way. Your friends asked me to let you know.”
Relena gasped
as the pain ebbed. “I can’t! I can’t do this anymore,” she cried,
her voice small and childish.
The nurse
shook her head. “The baby’s on his way now dear and there’s no stopping
him. You’ll be holding him very soon and just think how beautiful he’ll
be, just like you and your good-looking husband here.”
Relena sat
straight up in the bed, her eyes wide.
“It’s coming,
another one’s coming,” she said, eyeing the graph with wildly as her voice
cracked in desperation.
“Can’t you
give her something for the pain,” Heero said tersely, trying to keep the deadly
assassin tone from creeping into his voice. He and Relena had promised
themselves no drugs for their baby but to hell with that, he felt himself
losing his sanity watching her suffer as surely as she was losing her struggle
to control the pain with breathing and focus techniques.
“Too late,”
said the cheerful nurse. “The baby really is coming now. I think she’s
ready to push. I’ll just step out and call the doctor.”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!
Don’t leave me,” Relena begged, grabbing for the disappearing nurse.
“Heero, Heero,
he’s coming,” she gasped. “I feel it.”
”The doctor will be right here. Just hold on,” he said, climbing onto the bed
beside her.
“Now, right
now,” Relena said, tossing back her head and screaming louder than she had the
entire evening. Heero squeezed her shoulders and held her tight, he
sensed her breathing ease a bit and they heard a small muffled cry and their
eyes met. Heero slid from the bed and lifted the sheets.
“He’s here,”
he said wonderingly, remembering a term from all the birthing books they had
read. “The baby’s crowned, his head’s out. You didn’t wait for the
doctor.”
The
information had of course planted itself indelibly on his mind and he was
nearly as qualified as the doctor to deliver the baby. Carefully he took the
aspirator from the bedside table and suctioned the baby’s nose before easing
him out with Relena’s next contraction. With gentle hands he held the
baby up for her to see.
“He’s a boy,”
Relena cried. “Oh he’s beautiful Heero, beautiful!” She lay back
against the pillows tiredly as Heero carefully cut the cord which had bound the
child to her for nine months.
The nurse and
doctor raced through the door and halted as they saw the new father hand the
baby to his mother. Relena took her son in her arms and kissed his small
head, holding him to her gently as if he were made of glass.
“Oh my baby,
how I love you,” she whispered, tears streaming down her face unheeded.
“Guess you two
didn’t need us,” the doctor said, examining Relena. “It happens quickly
sometimes doesn’t it?”
Heero watched
carefully as the nurse took his son from Relena and examined him too, cleaning
him off with a soft towel.
“He’s just
perfect,” the nurse exclaimed as she weighed the baby. “And just over
nine pounds too, my he’s a big one.”
“No wonder it
hurt so much,” Relena said laughing, her eyes bright with smiles and tears.
The nurse
handed the baby back to Relena.
“Would you
like a shot of Demerol now,” she asked the young woman, patting her
comfortingly on the arm. “There will still be some after pains.”
“Oh no, I’m
perfectly fine,” Relena beamed, smiling down at her baby. “I’m in heaven
with my little angel and I don’t feel a thing.”
The nurse
smiled. “New mothers,” she thought. “They forget all that pain just
like that.”
“I’ll leave
you two alone a bit before I let your visitors in,” she said aloud.
“Tell the
girls how beautiful he is,” Relena said, her voice cracking with love and
pride.
Alone at last
the two new parents looked down on their baby.
“We’ll always
keep him safe won’t we Heero,” Relena said, softly stroking the baby’s fine
hair.
“I’ll always
protect the two of you,” Heero promised, leaning over to kiss his wife.
He took the baby’s small hand in his and his heart ached when the tiny fingers
closed with a tight grip over one of his.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Midii felt
uneasy, as if the doors of a trap were swinging in on her and she didn’t know
which way to run. All of them were anxiously waiting for Dorothy to contact
them about the long-awaited birth of Heero and Relena’s baby, reason enough for
tension. But a host of seemingly inconsequential things were making her
suspicious that there was something lurking beneath the surface. She
wondered especially why Quatre was here and not on L1 with Dorothy. Earlier
this evening when she’d gone to see Trowa in his dressing room after the
performance Quatre had been there and the two of them had looked almost guilty
when she came in.
Now she felt
everyone sneaking peeks at her as if she had spots on her face. It was as
if there were some secret about her that everyone knew and she didn’t.
She searched her thoughts wondering what it could be, through old habit she
felt guilty and threatened but she had truly told Trowa everything. He
knew everything about her. He sat beside her now with his arm around her
shoulders, holding her tight, almost too tightly, but neither he nor Quatre
would meet her gaze.
Even Sally’s
cheerful new husband was watching her carefully with such an odd expression on
his face. She’d been a spy for God’s sake didn’t they think she knew they
were watching her?
Midii shook
off Trowa’s arm and started to pace around the room. Cathy got up and
gave her a silent hug, which only increased her certainty that something was
wrong. She was just about to demand from them what it was when Quatre’s cell
finally rang.
They all
looked at him expectantly and Midii forgot her personal worries for a moment as
time seemed to stand still and they all held their breath. It had to be
Dorothy.
But Quatre
kept hesitating, seeming afraid to answer the phone.
“She’s
dead,”
he thought. “Miss Relena’s dead just like my mother…and the world will
be thrust into chaos once again…”
“Quatre,”
Sally said finally, gently shaking his shoulder. “Your phone’s
ringing. Didn’t you hear it?”
“Yeah, sorry,”
he said, closing his eyes momentarily and taking a deep breath before flipping
open the tiny phone.
They all let
their breaths out as Quatre’s worried gaze transformed to a beaming smile.
“You’re sure Dorothy?…Everything’s fine…All right….Give them
everyone’s love, we’ve been sitting here for hours on tenterhooks…Okay, I’ll
tell Sally, Midii and Cathy the baby was more than nine pounds….I love you
too…No, not yet, we decided to wait until after…I know…I’ll call you then….I
love you…Good-bye.
“I take it
that’s good news then,” Sally surmised from the one-side conversation and
smiling with her relief. “Well I knew those two would be blessed after
everything they’ve been through. And with Heero as the father the baby is
bound to be healthy, I’ve never seen such a wonderfully put-together genetic
package as that boy.”
Jack raised a
brow as his wife sang the praises of the perfect Heero Yuy. “Should I be
jealous,” he asked teasingly, but he watched Midii with the eyes of a
diagnostic specialist as she and Trowa hugged. He wondered how his little
patient would take the shock, he thought she could handle it but she’d been
through an awful lot in this past year.
“I’ll pop some
champagne,” she said, pulling from Trowa’s embrace. “I know there’s some
in the fridge.”
But the others
stood and prepared to leave as if by mutual consent.
“No thanks
Midii. It’s late,” Sally said. “We’ll leave you to yourselves now we’ve been
reassured Relena and the baby are all right. You know we’ll be close by
for a few more days at least, if you need...if you’d like to call.”
She hugged
Midii goodbye.
“Take care,”
she said, kissing her cheek. Jack pinched her other cheek.
“You’re coming
along just fine,” he said. “Call if you need anything.”
“We’ll see you
out,” Cathrine said, bounding to her feet and grabbing Quatre by the
hand. Quatre said good night with all his usual friendly politeness,
clapping Trowa on the shoulder and kissing Midii’s forehead, again avoiding her
eyes.
As the door
clicked shut Midii frowned, and whirled on Trowa.
“What is it
Trowa,” she demanded, grasping his arms. “I know something is
wrong. Why are Sally and Quatre really here?”
Trowa took her
hands and drew her down to sit on the couch beside him. He looked into her eyes
for a timeless moment, not wanting to ever see them change, to see them fill
with sorrow and pain yet again. Something bad was coming at her and he
felt as if he sat in his Gundam helpless and out of ammunition just when it
counted most. Then he pulled her close so her head was tucked beneath his
chin.
He couldn’t
look at her when he knew his words would kill a part of her heart.
‘Just tell me
please,” she whispered finally. “I’m starting to imagine worse than it
could possibly be.”
Her voice was
shaky and he knew she was being hopeful that what he had to tell her wouldn’t
be all that bad.
“Sally’s just
here on her honeymoon. It’s Quatre, he’s heard from his sister on Mars,”
Trowa said. “She has information she wanted him to bring you in person.”
“Safira?
What could she possibly have that has anything to do with me,” Midii asked
quizzically, remembering the childish innocence of Quatre’s sister.
“It seems your
brother Michel is working on the terraforming project, he’s a kind of assistant
or student of Lucrezia Noin. Diarmid Walker made the connection
Midii. I have a vid disk from your brother that Safira sent to Quatre,”
Trowa explained.
Midii bounced
up on her knees to hug Trowa jubilantly.
“But that’s
wonderful! Oh if I’d only known I’d have jumped at Milliardo Peacecraft’s
offer! But I can’t look back. We’ve found Michel, found him at
last.” she said, her words tumbling out in happy confusion. “Oh Trowa if
Michel is there he must be with Marc too. Didn’t Quatre say? The
pair of them were always inseparable. Only 11 months apart, the people in
town would call them twins sometimes. They’re together I know it! We’ll
get them home as soon as possible, I’ll ask Sally, Lady Une, Heero, anyone to
help me. Oh Trowa I’m so happy, I think this means God has forgiven me
for all I’ve done at last.”
His head began
to ache and his heart pounded miserably in his chest, her happiness making him
feel desolate. She squeezed her arms around him tighter and rained kisses on
his face.
“Where’s the
disk? I want to see my brother, he must have grown so. Why he was
younger than Thierry when I saw him last,’ she said, sitting back and holding
her hand out for the disk.
“Trowa?”
His face was a
blank and his eyes seemed closed off and mysterious, the green depths full of
concealing shadows. His expression made her feel cold and the feeling of
anxiety returned.
“What’s
wrong,” she asked cautiously, venturing a guess. “Has something
happened? Is my brother all right?”
“Michel is
fine. Safira told Quatre that he’s Miss Noin’s pride and joy, a real
prodigy. It’s not that Midii. Marc isn’t with him,” Trowa
said. “I’m sorry-
“No,” Midii
said interrupting quickly, sensing his next words as she kept on talking
desperately to ward off the inevitable. “We’ll still find him. I
found Thierry and Michel has found me and together we’ll find our
brother. I would have thought Papa would have kept them together, they
were so close. But I’ll find him, I’ll renew my efforts. I have to
find him.”
“Midii, please
listen,” Trowa said, pulling her back so she was hugged close against
him. “You can’t find him. It’s on the disk. Marc was killed
during the war in the attack on the
He steeled
himself for an outburst, but none came. He held her quietly stroking her
hair, and cuddling her limp fingers in his hand. She didn’t make a sound.
After awhile
she spoke, startling him, she had been so still.
“Well then, no
wonder I couldn’t find them,” she said, her voice small and emotionless.
“All the records from the Operation Daybreak attacks were destroyed. OZ
was rewriting history even as it happened. Why to them it was as if that
fortress never existed, as if those men and boys had never lived. Just as
the
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“She’s
sleeping now. Trowa said she watched the disk but turned it off and went
to bed without saying anything,” Sally reported. “Is that normal Jack? Do
you think she’s in shock?”
“We do things
to protect ourselves from grief as best we can. But eventually it gets
in. Don’t worry too much Sal, she’s no stranger to this. None of us
are in this world of ours,” he said. “Things will be rough for them for
awhile but they have each other, just like we do and that’s the most important
thing now.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Trowa stared
at the blank screen where Sally’s face had been. Neither she nor Jack
Anderson had had any advice. He hadn’t expected this, this cold,
dead-eyed acceptance of fate. A quiver had gone through her when her
brother’s voice had broken on the video and he’d told her a little of what
happened at
The air in the
bedroom seemed turbulent with her unshed tears. She wasn’t sleeping he
knew, her body was rigid and taught as she lay curled up and turned away from
him in the bed. Midii held herself completely still as his hand touched
her arm gently and she squeezed her eyes shut tighter.
“Please say
something,” she heard him whisper. “Are you going to be all right?”
“I’m fine,”
she muttered tightly. “Michel looked very well didn’t he? And it
all happened so long ago, so very long ago. Of course I’m fine, just
tired. Good night.”
Trowa woke
with a start, he must have dozed off because when he reached his hand toward
her side of the bed the covers were thrown back and the sheets were cool. He
dragged a tired hand across his eyes to rub away the sleep and wandered out
into the small living area. Midii was hunched over her laptop at the
kitchen table, her face pale in the artificial glow. He peered over her
shoulder, it seemed there was unofficial information to be found about
Piles of
corpses, men and boys with faces blackened from explosions, their eyes shining
white and glazed staring out from their still, dead faces.
“I can’t find
him here,” she said when he pulled up a chair beside her. “I won’t ever
be able to bury him beside mother. We were in the garden when she died
and I lied to my brother. I pushed him on the swing and told him she
would be home soon and we would have a new baby brother. I told Marc
everything would be the same. But it wasn’t. She never came back to
us. Only Papa and little Thierry. And then, and then Papa changed…”
She stood up
suddenly, swiping her arm across the table and shoving the laptop to the floor
where it crashed in a shower of sparks, leaving the room in darkness.
“And now there’s nothing to be done. The men responsible for this are
already dead. My brother’s been dead all this time and I never knew, I
never felt him go!”
Midii sat back
in the chair and buried her face in her hands on the table. “Where was
I? Where was I when my brother was dying? I was hiding like a
coward with Stefan on
She made a
sound that was the combination of a laugh and a sob, and when he went to hold
her he felt her delicate hands pushing him away with a desperate force that
surprised him.
“Can’t you see
the irony of God’s justice,” she asked him, backing away and putting the sofa
between them. “This is what I did to you. Those pictures could be
pictures of your Captain and the others. I killed them in just the same
way, what made me think I had the right to want you to love me? I’m just like
those men that did this to my brother!”
Trowa felt the
echoes of pain that tore at her heart, the same type of pain that had destroyed
his own heart and soul each day during the war. But Catherine and then
Midii had brought it back, making him more than a soldier at last. He
approached the wounded girl slowly, afraid she was going to run but she was so
distraught that he soon had her backed into one of the small room’s dim
corners.
Midii drew
back a little as she saw the movement of his hand at the edge of her peripheral
vision, she jerked her face away, projecting the hate she felt for the
His fingers
continued moving over her face softly and she finally leaned into the warm hand
that touched her. Trowa slid his hand into her hair and pulled her close
against him and his voice whispered in her ear.
“Your brother
didn’t die because of you, Midii. He was killed in a battle during the
war, it had nothing to do with you or what you did. Hundreds of thousands
of people were killed and all of us became killers in our turn. You, me
and probably even your younger brother. I don’t judge you for what you
did, I love you for everything you are. I hate that you were forced to do
the things you did and I hate that when we met I couldn’t help you. Go
ahead and cry for your brother but it has nothing to do with us or how I feel
about you,” he murmured, holding her close, making her listen and understand.
“My
brother. My brother is dead,” she whispered, feeling all the strength go
out of her body and her heart explode with agony. The hot tears fell
finally and Midii felt strong arms lift her up when her legs could no longer
hold her. Through a foggy haze of tears her burning eyes could make out
his face near hers as he laid her gently back in bed. With a hoarse,
agonized cry she reached out for him and he was there and they held onto each
other tightly as she grieved for her lost brother.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A slim figure
slipped unobtrusively into the communications building. Diarmid Walker
jumped a little in startled surprise as a small hand landed on his shoulder.
“Is he talking
to Midii at last,” Safira asked, taking a seat on the sofa beside him.
“Yeah, I
figured out not to mess it up this time,” Diarmid said disparagingly. “I
let Mike make the call. I couldn’t help hoping she’d be interested in me
again if I called her with the news last time. I was only thinking about
myself. I owe you one for giving him a hand with getting in touch with her so
quickly. You’re a better friend to the kid than I am.”
“Oh no! I’m
sure you’d have done the same if you had the resources, I’m just lucky to have
so many sisters,” she said, pushing a tawny curl back behind her ear.
“Besides my reasons weren’t all unselfish either. I wanted my brother to
see that I could do something worthwhile for a change.”
“I wonder how
Midii took the news about her brother,” Diarmid said, seeing Safira’s
embarrassment about her motivations for helping Mike. “Poor girl had a
tough time during the war. Her own father practically blackmailed her
into performing
Safira sighed
heavily, a puff of air lifting the stray curls that framed her forehead. She
hated feeling jealous over Diarmid’s protectiveness of Midii, but she felt the
emotion rising unwillingly in her heart anyway. She briefly wished that
she had some glamorous and tragic past that would make him interested in her.
“Well, I’m
sure talking to Mike will help,” she said softly. “He’s a great kid.
He’s been helping me with some of my work lately. I sure will miss him
when he goes home.”
“Sounds like
someone’s homesick,” Diarmid said gently, blue eyes studying the pretty girl
beside him speculatively. “How about we get together some time. Mike’s
not the only ‘great kid’ around here. I’ve been hearing some very nice
things about you as well Miss Winner. Would you like to join me for
dinner some night.”
“Where would
you like to go,” she asked, looking at her fingers and blushing hotly.
“Why the
finest establishment in the colony,” he laughed, taking her hand and grinning
when she returned his friendly squeeze. “Le Café of course.”
Le Café was of
course the code name the colonists had given the one and only place to get food
on Mars, the barracks’ cafeteria.
“I’d be
delighted. It’s my favorite,” she said.
“Then it’s a
date,” Diarmid said.
“Yes, a date,”
she echoed, turquoise eyes shining in anticipation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Michel Une
looked anxiously at his sister’s face as it wavered on the grainy video
feed. He hadn’t expected Midii to feel responsible for him any longer, he
had been on his own for so long that it was strange to have someone telling him
what to do and when to do it.
It hadn’t been
long after the last failed attempt to contact his sister that he had realized
that everything he really cared about was right here on Mars. He loved
his sister and his little brother Thierry but in reality it had been years
since he’d seen either of them, years since he’d even known if they survived
the war.
And in that
time Michel Une had become his own person. He wished he didn’t know the
things Diarmid had told him about Midii’s life. How Papa had used him and
Marc and Thierry to coerce their older sister to lead the life of betrayal she
had. He was sorry for her and now sitting face to face with her it was
hard to stick to his plan.
He could tell
she was holding back tears for Marc. It must be hard on her, and it hurt
him still, but it had been years ago now and the pain that was fresh for her
had started to fade for him long since.
And then she
asked him the question he dreaded.
“When are you
coming home,” she said. “I have connections and you can be here as soon
as a transport is ready to leave.”
Mike took a
deep breath.
“Sorry Midii,”
he said. “I don’t think I can. I have a lot I can do up here and my
friends are here. I’ve decided to stay on Mars.”
Marc
winced. He felt as if he’d slapped her, even with the poor video he could
see the stricken look in her eyes. And her words made him feel even worse
than her initial shocked silence.
“I
understand,” she said softly, her voice was wounded, and he could see that
there were times she despised herself. As for himself, he felt again the
sickening dread he’d felt when learning to drive at the base and he’d
accidentally run over a rabbit that had scurried innocently across the road.
Sadness and
misplaced guilt colored his sister’s words as she continued speaking. “I
failed you and Marc, I couldn’t help you when you needed me. I’m so
sorry.”
Another crime
of Papa’s he thought bitterly. He’d sent Marc to his death and there was
certainly a part of Midii herself that had died in the war, he could see
that. At least she said Thierry was happy and leading a normal
life. Hard to believe the baby brother he’d left behind could be a
teenager now, growing up in a peaceful world the rest of them could only have
dreamed about.
“Listen
Midii,” he said. “Please believe what I’m saying! It’s not you. I
do want to see you and Thierry very much and at first I wanted nothing but to
come home and find you. But I’ve realized up here I’m important. I owe
Miss Noin for the chance she’s given me. I really want to stay.
This is where I belong. It’s home. And you’re free now, won’t you
please be happy? Live for yourself now, its time. We’ll see each other
someday, you’ll come to Mars and bring Thierry and you’ll be proud of what
we’ve done here.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Trowa scowled
and kicked at the dirt. The storage warehouse seemed to beckon him as he
walked past on the way to freshen the water in the animal cages. But he
realized it was useless to go in there and stare hopelessly at an impossible
dream. Over the past month it had been imperative that he spend as much
time with Midii as possible anyway. And at last he was beginning to catch
her with the ghost of a smile on her face at the sight of a child dripping ice
cream on the circus grounds or when he surprised her with the brush of a daisy
petal against her pale cheek.
Yes, now was
the perfect time to finalize their relationship. She needed to know he
would be with her forever, that he was her family now. With Thierry
living on Earth and Michel having decided to stay on Mars with his beloved Miss
Noin, Midii needed him more than ever. There was more than one way to
accomplish this mission and since Plan A had gone down in flames he had to
admit that Duo’s long-time assertion that he do it the “normal” way was finally
looking like the best way to go. She would be happy again and that was
all that mattered. Still he looked back at the storage building and shook
his head in disappointment, if only…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cathrine
clasped her hands together and an irrepressible grin lit her face. Tonight was
the night at last. She laughed to herself and wondered if Midii
suspected.
“Coming,” she
called cheerfully as a knock sounded on the door. Duo and Hilde stood
outside, twin smiles on their faces.
“Well, well,
the lovely Miss Bloom,” Duo chortled, treating himself to a hug and bestowing a
smacking kiss on the attractive circus performer.
“Behave Duo,”
Hilde said, she swatted her husband but she only teased him and her smile never
faded. “Thanks for inviting us Cathy, we wouldn’t want to miss being here
to congratulate Trowa and Midii. This has certainly been a long time
coming!”
“He shoulda
listened to me sooner,” Duo said, waving his arms and rolling his eyes.
“But better late than never. And I brought along some of L2’s finest
champagne to celebrate, although Trouble will probably turn up her la-de-da
little French nose at the stuff. Bet she’s so happy she drinks it
anyway.”
He popped a
cork from one of several bottles he’d brought and took a deep swig of the cold,
sparkling liquid.
“Duo,” Hilde
protested again, shaking her head.
“What? They’re
not going to be back for a couple hours at least, I gotta do something in the
meantime,” he explained, putting a hand to the back of his head. “Oh
yeah, do you ladies want some?”
He offered the
bottle to the girls, his violet eyes wide and ingenuous as they refused with
giggles and vehement shakes of their heads.
“Suit
yourselves,” he said. “Say when are Quatre and the Eyebrow Lady gonna get
here?”
“Duo!! Don’t
call Dorothy that or I’ll cut you off right now,” Hilde warned, but she
couldn’t help smiling as she teasingly grabbed for his bottle.
“You’re no
fun,” Duo complained, holding the bottle aloft. “All I can say is that
Quatre’s lucky those things haven’t poked his eyes out yet!”
“They’ll be
here soon,” Cathrine said, looking at the gold watch that encircled her slender
wrist. “Heero and Relena sent those roses but they couldn’t bring
themselves to travel with the baby yet. It’s so sweet how protective they
are about him. And I couldn’t track down Wufei. His office said he’d gone
off to Earth more than a week ago and I haven’t even heard from him in all that
time.”
“I wouldn’t
worry,” Duo said, noticing her downcast look. “If anybody can take care
of themselves its Wufei.”
As if the
sound of his name had conjured him up, the young man in question appeared
suddenly, bursting through the door of the small trailer as if demons from
ancient legend were following him.
He looked
around the room quickly and after assuring himself that Midii was not present
he spoke tersely and urgently.
“Where’s
Trowa?”
“Ah! I’m so
glad you’re here,” Cathrine said, clasping her hands together happily.
“You’ll never guess!! Trowa’s finally asking Midii to marry him.”
“What?
He can’t! Where is he? I have to stop him,” Wufei said, his eyes
glinting darkly.
“But-but why,”
Cathrine said, her jaw dropping and her eyes puzzled.
Her fiancé
drew her aside to a private corner of the room and showed her the contents of a
small box he kept in his pocket. Cathrine took a quick look at the
coveted object and shrieked joyfully, pouncing on Wufei and proceeding to
squeeze the life out of him.
“Just give me
the address of the restaurant woman, before it’s too late,” he choked. But he
smiled unwillingly at her exuberance, his face dark red from lack of air and a
bit of embarrassment at her display of affection.
Then, having
garnered the necessary information, Chang Wufei disappeared into the darkness
as quickly and as mysteriously as he had appeared moments before.
“Oh, this is
going to be just perfect,” Cathrine said, wiping away a happy tear.
“You’re not
saying that guy found the part! Not THE part,” Duo guessed, irritated
that his fellow Preventer had accomplished what he could not.
Cathrine
nodded blissfully.
“Oh! Oh wow!
Who’d have thought Wufei could be so romantic? I could fall for that—“
Hilde started to say, stars in her shining blue eyes.
“Don’t even
say it Hilde,” Duo groused. “Don’t even think it.”
“Well I could
fall for that guy! What a wonderful thing to do,” Hilde whispered to
Cathrine. “I just hope he isn’t too late!”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Midii rested
her head on Trowa’s shoulder as they danced, realizing suddenly that she could
count on one hand the times they had ever engaged in “normal” dating
activity.
In a way it
felt rather strange. Besides, it seemed to require too much effort to relax and
enjoy the moment when for weeks now she had felt as if she was barely keeping
her head above water. Surely without Trowa’s support she would gladly let
herself go under and fade away from everything. Nothing she had ever done
had ever really had any meaning. She closed her eyes and let her fingers
tighten on the lapels of his dark charcoal jacket as the ghost of her brother
looked at her sadly from beyond a hazy mist and her throat clogged with grief.
And to make
matters worse Michel was not going to come home. He had no desire to pick
up their family life and how could she blame him. As hard as she had
tried her efforts had always been misdirected.
All her life
now seemed focused at last on the man who held her in his arms. She
glanced up at him through her lashes and caught him looking at her
worriedly. She forced a small smile, letting her fingers brush his red
bowtie.
“This is
lovely, thank you,” she whispered, gasping when he tightened his arms around
her waist and lifted her off the floor twirling her in the air.
The sparkle
returned to her eyes as he pulled her back to him, he knew her attention had
been wandering as it had so often lately. Her smile grew genuine and a
bit mischievous as her fingers tugged gently on his tie. She stifled a
giggle, she hadn’t had the heart to tell him that black would have looked much
more elegant. There was more clown in her sweetheart than she sometimes liked
to admit. She shut her eyes and held him tighter as they danced close
together on the shining wood floor and she let her universe distill into this
one happy moment.
She
strengthened her resolve to let all the recent sadness go and simply enjoy the
evening. She knew Trowa was catering to her desires tonight, fancy
restaurants and formal dress were not his idea of a good time but he had
planned this night out just for her.
“I love you,”
she whispered, looking up to see him smiling down at her, his expression almost
shy. And she knew she wasn’t really alone, he was beside her at
last. Always.
“I love you
too,” he said, bending to kiss her. The touch of his lips took her breath
away and she felt like she was gasping for air when he finally pulled back.
“Let’s step
out and get some air,” he suggested as if he read her mind, leading her off to
the balcony. She could only nod, truly left breathless by the new
intensity in his kiss and her heart beat faster.
He held her
hand and helped her sit on a delicate wrought-iron bench. Candlelight
illuminated the private area romantically and she felt suddenly timid as he sat
down beside her and held her left hand tightly in his. His hands were a
little damp with nervous perspiration and she looked up at him wonderingly.
Trowa squeezed
her hand and bent to kiss her again. He felt unaccountably nervous, the
time had come at long last but the words wouldn’t leave his mouth.
Midii sighed
as her lips parted beneath the urgent pressure of his. His tongue slipped
softly into her mouth and she pressed closer to him, feeling his hands grip her
waist and hold her tightly against him. Again she felt that strange
breathlessness and anticipation when he pulled away and looked into her eyes.
Her heart
seemed to stop as he slid off the bench and knelt beside her skirt, his hand
reached into his jacket pocket and her mouth fell open slightly as he looked up
at her.
“Midii,” he
whispered, so soft she could barely hear. “Will you m-
Wufei chose
that moment to burst through the delicate French doors, slamming them open with
a loud crash that threatened to shatter the fragile glass panes.
“Trowa wait!
You don’t want to do this,” he shouted.
Midii groaned
and slumped back against the cold iron of the bench. He had been about to
ask her to marry him, she knew it! But now the magic had gone out of the
air, everything felt cold and dull and she glared at Wufei with an icy blue
gaze. Trowa dropped her hands.
“Wait right
here, I’ll take care of this,” he promised her before rising up and turning on
Wufei, pushing the other Preventer back into the restaurant and shutting the
doors firmly behind him leaving Midii alone outside.
“What are you
doing here,” Trowa demanded, fisting his hands in the other man’s shirt and
glaring down at him with deadly green eyes. “I was just about to ask her
to marry me and there’s nothing you can say to change my feelings--
“I know that
and I have no intention of doing so,” Wufei said cutting him off
impatiently. He was starting to tire of this role very quickly, but it
was for his and Cathrine’s future after all and he hadn’t gone to all this
trouble for nothing. “But I thought you’d like to see this first.”
He popped open
the small brown cardboard box and showed Trowa the contents, his face was smug.
“Well, do you
see now why I stopped you? You shouldn’t settle for second best,” Wufei
chided. “Stick to your original path, that’s my advice.”
Trowa took the
box reverently as if it held treasure.
“Two
hours. Two hours is all I need,” he muttered, his thoughts
whirling. “Stay with Midii, keep her here that long, okay?”
He grabbed
Wufei’s arm, opened the French doors and thrust him out on to the balcony with
the astonished Midii.
“Dinner’s on
me,” he called back as the unlikely duo stared after him disbelievingly as he
disappeared into the crowd of diners and dancers.
Wufei gulped
nervously as he met Midii’s angry gaze. He hadn’t figured on this happening.
Two hours alone with the woman who was the bane of his existence! The one
who had shot him and whose tumultuous escapades had stood between him and
Cathrine for far too long.
“Well, you
heard Trowa,” he said finally, grabbing her hand clumsily and pulling her after
him back into the restaurant. “We might as well eat.”
Midii gasped
out loud as Wufei pushed her chair in a bit too briskly, pinning her to the
white-clothed table. She muttered curses under her breath as she pushed
the chair out a bit so she could breathe. Suddenly she felt very much
like her old self again with a challenge before her and an enemy to avoid, this
might be just the distraction she needed.
“What the hell
is going on,” she demanded, her voice sweet and sugary so nearby diners would
not hear the anger in her tone. “What are you doing here, of all people?”
“You will
thank me later Onna. For now just eat your dinner and be quiet,” Wufei
answered, glaring at her over the top of his gilt-edged menu.
“Oh that will
be the day! I can assure you that whatever you’ve told Trowa about me
won’t stand up to investigation. I’ve already told him everything,” Midii said
confidently.
“I highly
doubt that,” Wufei said, leaning his head against his hand tiredly. “A
woman like you will always have secrets. You’ve probably done things even
you’ve forgotten about. You’ll be nothing but trouble to him for the rest
of his life. But that’s his decision and who am I to question it!”
“Who are you
indeed? You are the rudest, most self-righteous man,” Midii ranted,
quieting and smiling primly when the waiter appeared with a bottle of Maison
Petitvert Chardonnay. Their own special wine and she was now to be
expected to share it with Wufei! She simply could not understand why he
would abandon her now after he’d obviously gone to so much trouble. But
she vowed to find out and Chang Wufei was certainly not going to detain her for
long.
She grabbed
her glass and saluted her grim partner with the delicate crystal goblet before
gulping the wine down in one go.
“Listen, I
didn’t tell Trowa a thing about you. You’ll know what’s happening soon
enough so try to exhibit a little patience. I believe your heart is in
the right place but you don’t make the proper choices and that’s why I’m
counting the moments until I can make sure Cathrine no longer has to live in
the same vicinity as you. That’s Trowa’s risk to take and not hers,”
Wufei said in a failed attempt to be nice to the woman who sat across from him
at the intimate table for two, but he was honest to a fault and felt compelled
to speak his mind.
Midii looked
at her shining white china plate dismally. His words hurt because there
was truth in them. The peace they shared at this moment could not always
last although she believed now that they could survive whatever life threw at
them as long as they were together. Still, she wanted desperately to
escape those haughty, mocking black eyes and her thoughts focused on her goal
as she demurely picked at the expensive Salade Nicoise the server set before
her.
Then the most
obvious of feminine ruses came to mind and a wicked smile lit her face.
“Excuse me
while I go to the ladies’ room,” she said, pushing back her chair and bolting
for the female sanctuary in a very unladylike manner before her “date” could
react.
Midii powdered
her nose, barely seeing herself in the mirror as she tried to compose
herself. Damn Wufei, he was too fast and despite her head start he’d
almost caught her arm before she’d made it safely into the friendly
confines. Seemed the insufferable man didn’t trust her an inch!
Slowly her breathing returned to normal before her heart raced again as the
door swung open.
“Ah,” she
thought to herself. “Just the cleaning lady.”
“You didn’t
notice a dark-haired man with mean eyes out there did you,” Midii asked
cautiously.
“Oh yeah,” the
woman said, nodding sagely. “He’s out there all right, scaring all the
fine ladies away from the door. Say, he’s really good looking though. You
sure you’re not running in the wrong direction honey? Bet you could tame
that tiger if you gave it a try.”
“Hmm,” Midii
said thoughtfully, luckily for the cleaning lady she had been too caught up in
planning an escape route to take note of the “tame that tiger” remark.
“Could you please tell me how many feet of material is in that roll-a-towel
machine?”
“Err, no one’s
ever asked before, but I know the answer. I change it every night after
all. Comes with 40-feet of clean toweling. Don’t worry ma’am,
everything’s quite hygienic in here, we’re quite the fancy establishment.”
The other
occupants of the room took their time powdering their own noses, listening
curiously to the odd conversation between the petite blonde and the chatty
employee.
“Of course you
are! This is a very elegant restaurant and you do your job so well,” Midii
said, patting the woman companionably on the shoulder. “And I suppose the
dispenser is anchored to the wall so no one could break it off?”
“Ma’am!! Our
customers would never…but of course we meet all safety standards as well,” the
puzzled woman retorted, eyeing Midii worriedly. “Say, are you the health
inspector or something?”
Midii was now
looking down at her elegantly-clad feet with regret, she couldn’t make the leap
she planned in her new heels, her ankle just wasn’t up it after her recent
injury the past winter. Her gaze fell on the cleaning lady’s feet, just
as small as her own. Perfect and what an unexpected piece of serendipity,
the gods were on her side for once. She turned her attention back to the
curious woman.
“Oh no, I’m
just a regular girl trying to evade an annoying man!! You’ve been so
wonderfully helpful! Now, if you’d just sell me your shoes,” Midii said with a
grin, tossing all the credits in her purse (minus cab fare) at the shocked
restroom attendant. As she bent to lace her new set of sneakers Midii
moved hastily, she sensed that decorum wouldn’t keep Wufei out of the ladies’
room much longer. With the heel of her shoe she cracked open the towel
dispenser with a well-aimed swat and gave the cloth a hard yank, smiling when
the fabric gave a satisfying tearing sound.
With a quick,
graceful movement she astonished the other women by jumping out the third story
window with the white towel billowing behind her as she clung to the heavy
cloth with one hand and clutched her expensive shoes carefully in the
other. They watched with astonished eyes as the material rolled rapidly
off the spool and the dispenser strained at its bolts.
Midii dangled
about 15-feet over the sidewalk for a second, feeling a moment of hesitation
before letting go, the ground did seem so very far away. The hesitation
cost her as she felt her secure line break away from the wall with a jerk and
she landed hard on her feet with a groan. She breathed a sigh of relief and
tested her ankle a bit, nearly as good as ever, though it gave a slight twinge
of protest that she chose to ignore.
Just as she
stepped into the nearest cab she heard a chorus of outraged feminine shrieks
from above. She smiled victoriously. Seems Wufei had stormed her
castle a moment too late.
“You are far
too slow to catch me, ma chére,” she called, laughingly blowing a mocking kiss
to the furious man who stared at her out the window as the cab took off toward
the circus, a cloud of vituperous Chinese curses following in her wake.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Heh, heh, heh! Guess all Wufei could manage was 75 minutes,
actually I’m impressed his date with Trouble lasted that long,” Duo laughed as
he spotted a determined Midii step out of a taxicab alone at the circus
entrance. “Good thing Trowa finished everything up quicker than he
thought, course it’s because I was there to lend technical advice!”
Hilde ruffled
his unruly chestnut bangs affectionately and kissed his cheek. “You were
sweet to help out,” she whispered in his ear. “You do have such a
wonderful sense of romance.”
Duo smirked,
her words promised a lucky night ahead for the God of Death.
“I don’t know
about the rest of you,” Cathrine said at last. “But I have to see
this! Who’s for peeking?”
Dorothy and
Hilde stood as one and Duo merely opened his dark coat to reveal the video
recorder he’d brought for just that purpose.
“Every special
occasion needs pictures,” he said, grinning cheerfully.
“Are you guys
sure Trowa won’t mind,” Quatre said uneasily.
“Shhhh
Darling. We’re going to sneak up on them, they’ll never know they’re
being watched until it’s too late,” Dorothy said, pulling her reluctant spouse
along with her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Trowa held his
breath as he carefully placed the delicate gold circle in the device. How
small it was, he thought, as a wave of protectiveness washed over him as he
felt the remembered sensation of her hand engulfed in his larger one.
He pushed his
bangs out of his face and looked down at his grease-stained white T-shirt and
the red bowtie that dangled down on either side of his loosened collar of his
open dress shirt. He looked at his watch, just enough time to shower and
change before she came back. Everything was coming together perfectly.
But a low,
grumbling growl coming from the vicinity of the animal pens alerted him that
he’d congratulated himself too soon. He smiled in spite of himself, when would
he ever stop underestimating Midii’s potential to throw a wrench in the most
carefully laid plans? Hastily he wiped his grimy hands on his pants and took a
deep breath, pulling the control switch and listening carefully as the old
machine creaked back to life at long last.
Midii flipped
her hair back over her shoulder and refused to give the beast the satisfaction
of a fearful look as she walked past Jupiter’s cage with a haughty click of her
heels. Absolutely nothing, and especially not that lion, was going to
stop her from finding out what Trowa was up to in here at last. She had seen
the lights on in the old warehouse when she’d stepped from the cab and known
exactly where he must have gone.
She rounded
the last corner, the words of a question poised on her lips, before she stopped
and let her hands drop limply to her sides and she blinked at the vision before
her.
It was dark
but the gloom was lit by thousands of small white lights reflected in a
confection of shining painted horses, sparkling mirrors and gleaming
gilt. And there was music, a haunting refrain that she had heard once
before in her past. The tune filled her head and she was back in a
rickety truck, she could see her child’s legs dangling over the end of the
seat, her feet unable to touch the floor and a boy beside her looking out the
window. This music had filtered in through a crack in the dirty windows.
She had hated
him then, so cold, so free of feeling and the guilt that overwhelmed her and
shadowed her childhood. But looking at him at that very moment she had
discovered his secret. They were the same and he was as lost as she
was. She loved him, she wanted to be beside him always and fill the empty
space in his heart.
“Do you
miss it,” she’d asked, looking out at the canvas circus tents so like the
ones just outside. But her words had broken the spell and the soldier
replaced the boy again. And this music had played then. It had been
the sound of a carousel organ.
He was walking
toward her out of the darkness and she could see his hand reaching out to find
hers. The green eyes that looked at her were shining and expectant as his
fingers gripped hers tightly.
“What-what is
it,” she heard her own voice whisper.
“A carousel,”
he said, his eyes watchful as they swept her face.
“Yes, it’s
beautiful. Do you remember the music,” she asked, tilting her face to his.
He shook his
head. “I found it when I had nothing. It was like I remembered it
somehow. Did we see it together once?”
She shook her
head as he slowly led her toward it.
“We heard the
music once but you wouldn’t tell me why it made you sad,” she said.
“I don’t
remember that now,” he said. “But when I found this I began to remember
you. I started to work on it right after the war.”
Shyly she
reached forward to gently touch the nose of the nearest painted horse on the
platform.
“Want a ride,”
he asked.
Midii took a
step back, she had that breathless feeling again and she couldn’t look at him,
it felt her heart would burst if she did.
“Oh Trowa,
it’s too beautiful,” she said, her voice barely a whisper as she shook her head
so her hair hid her face a little.
She gasped
when his strong hands circled her waist to lift her up with effortless ease.
The platform began to move and he swung himself up to stand beside her.
“I did it for
you,” he said.
He kept his
arm around her waist holding her steady as the painted horse went up and down.
“All this, you
did all this,” she said, her fingers touching the gilded flowers tangled in the
horse’s mane as her face lit with a smile as she saw the two of them reflected
in the polished mirrors as they whirled past. “Do you know I’ve never
ridden one of these? Oh Trowa, thank you.”
Her face
looked like a child’s as she tilted her head back to let the rushing air push
her hair back and she grinned at him, her blue-gray eyes open and innocent and
happy.
The ride
slowed and he pulled her off the saddle and into his arms. He reached and
pulled down the handle, setting the carousel in motion once again. She
grabbed the ends of his tie and pulled his head down to hers for a kiss, the
world spinning as their lips met.
“Look,” he
said, raising his head from hers and pointing to a hook at the side of the
platform. He reached out and caught the small gold ring he had placed
there and held it out to her. The tiny diamond in the center sparkled
like a star in the twinkling lights of the carousel as he slid it over her finger.
“Oh, Nanashi,”
she breathed, her voice wondering, the old name slipping out in her surprise.
He looked at
her intently and grabbed both her hands. “That’s not me,” he said.
But his words faltered, in the dreams he had had everything had always fallen
into place, he remembered his name, his past and his family.
“I’m sorry,”
she said, her fingers touching his face softly, a hint of sadness in her eyes.
“I always dreamed of Nanashi, you are Trowa now.”
She tiptoed
again to kiss his lips and he lost himself in her embrace, disappointment
forgotten, erased by the touch of her lips on his and the caress of her hands
on his shoulders. He sighed and held her tightly, she hadn’t understood.
He didn’t understand himself. But somehow it felt just right, she loved
him even if he couldn’t remember who he really was, she loved him in spite of
it or even because of it.
“Where are you
Trowa? You seem so far away,” she asked, her eyes wide and luminous in
the glow of the tiny bright lights. Her voice and the urgent touch of her
hand pulled him back to this moment they had waited a lifetime to share.
“I was
trying—I thought I could remember who I really am. I wanted to tell you,”
he explained. “It felt so close just now but it’s slipped away
again. I think now I’ll never know.”
He felt her
arms wrap around him in a fierce embrace that made him feel the force of her
intense love. All else seemed superfluous after all.
“You are the
one I love,” she reminded him, pressing her head against his heart. “And
I won’t ever leave your side again.”
They were
interrupted by the sudden clatter of footsteps and happy voices. Trowa looked
up and he saw all of them running towards them: Dorothy and Quatre, Hilde and
Duo and of course one other.
There was
Cathrine, her pretty face shining with happy tears as she ran towards
them. And as he held his hand out to her to help her up on the carousel
platform he knew as his fingers touched hers that even if his past was gone
forever he would never let anything happen to destroy his future. He had
people he needed to protect, Cathrine and Midii, his family.
THE END
Author’s Note:
Finished at last! Thanks for everyone’s patience over the years it’s
taken to write this fic. I know there are still a few loose ends but they’re
meant to be there, I don’t expect Midii and Trowa to live happily ever after
but I think from the past chapters you all can tell how they’ll handle any
difficult situation to come their way and their feelings are at last resolved
and have come full circle although Wufei’s comments are definitely
foreshadowing of their future. I had intended all along to reprise the
story Time to Remember as the conclusion of this story and I hope it
worked, wonder if anyone saw it coming? (there is a tiny hint in that story’s
author notes that it’s all related to something bigger