Night Watchman
by
Captain Anonymous


The wind had gotten colder, and the snow began to fall in greater amounts.
Midii and Trowa walked together, down the narrow pathway, towards the front steps.
It was late, but there still a light on for them.
Trowa looked up at the house, noting what lights were still on.
“Catherine’s probably waiting for us.”
Midii looked at Trowa, “You think so?”
Trowa said, “It looks that way.”
“Think she was worried?”
“Hm?”
Midii looked around, “The snow’s really coming down now.”
They got to the stairs.
They walked up the stairs slowly in the darkness, Midii went a step ahead of Trowa.
There was ice on the stairs, Trowa noticed a patch on the lowest step.
He turned as Midii lost her footing as she came upon an area of ice on the top stair.
She lost her balance, and reached with her hand to catch the railing.
Trowa moved behind her as she slipped.
Trowa caught her.

He took advantage of the situation.

He moved his free arm down to her knees, and in one fluid motion he swept her off her feet and lifted her into his arms.

Trowa felt her warm body in his hands, through the material of her coat and dress.
“You should be more careful,” he teased.
Midii blushed, “Maybe I should, although, I can’t complain with this.”

Trowa carried her to the top of the stairs. Trowa opened the door with his hand, and stepped inside.

As Trowa came in, Catherine closed her book, and stood up from the couch.
Trowa put Midii back to her feet.
Catherine walked over to them, “So did you two have fun?”
“We did, thanks so much Cathy for watch them for us,” responded Midii, as she took off her shoes.

Catherine smiled, “They’re all upstairs. I checked on Marie about an hour ago.”

Midii held her shoes in her hand, “I’m going to go up and kiss her good night.”

Trowa turned as Midii trotted up the stairs, then looked at Catherine.
Trowa loosened his tie with one hand, “Thanks again, Catherine.”
“It’s really no problem. I really don’t mind taking care of them, it helps to make up for the time I miss them when I’m on the road. Besides you and Midii really should get out more. You two are still young you know.”
Trowa looked down, there was something about what she said.
Catherine walked by him, “I’d better be getting some sleep too. I’m meeting with the manager tomorrow to discuss the new plans for the show.”
Trowa nodded, “Sounds like fun.”
Catherine smiled, “You’re welcome to come too, just to say hello to everyone. They all miss you. I’m sure the lion wouldn’t mind seeing you again.” Catherine deciding to dig into Trowa, “I really think he misses you.”
Trowa amused said, “Is that so. Well, we’ll have to see.”
Catherine turned, “Well, good night Trowa.”
Trowa said, “Good night Catherine.”
He turned away slowly.
Trowa listened as Catherine left the room.

-------

Midii slowly closed the bedroom door behind her, being careful not to make any noise.
She walked across the cold floor, still holding her shoes in her hand.
Trowa sat on the edge of the bed, slowly unbuttoning his shirt with one hand.
He looked up at her, “Is everything all right?”
Midii sat down beside him, “Yeah, Marie’s asleep. She’s quiet.”
Trowa said, “That’s good.”
Midii closed her eyes, they felt heavy, she was tired.
“It was fun tonight, wasn’t it?”
Trowa unfastened the cuffs on his shirt and slipped it off, “Yeah, it was.”
Trowa looked at how she looked in the soft pale light, coming from the small lamp on the table.
She looked so lovely, so beautiful. So perfect.
He touched her cheek with his hand.
Trowa moved closed to her, letting his lips meet hers.
The way he kissed her, Midii could feel herself melt into the moment.
She slowly laid back onto the bed as he kissed her.
Trowa closed his eyes. He could still smell the perfume she was wearing.
That scent, he let himself drown in it.
Midii lifted her feet from the cold floor, bringing them into the bed. How good it felt to her bare feet rest on the soft comforter. The time she had spent in her shoes earlier caught up to her.
With one hand, Trowa pulled the top sheet, comforter and blanket from under them, and pushed them back. He slowly moved over her.
He gently moved his hand to Midii, touching her side, feeling the warm skin through her dress.
Trowa felt Midii’s hand as it crept along the side of his hip.
She touched the buckle of his belt, and slowly with her fingers unfastened it.
The look on Midii’s face turned to playful, as she unbuttoned Trowa’s pants. As she did, she could tell that he was getting more and more excited.
Trowa kissed Midii’s neck, tasting her skin. With one hand he brushed her hair away from his face.
Trowa slowly worked his way back, moving away from her for a moment.
Trowa pulled off the t-shirt he had been wearing, as he did, Midii took the opportunity to finish removing his pants. The shirt and pants both would fall to the cold floor, the buckle of his belt making a hard sound.

Trowa glanced towards the lamp on the bedside table, reached over to turn it off.
The lamp was just out of reach, he move awkwardly across, but accidentally lost his balance. He barely caught himself with one hand.
But his weight had shifted.
He heard a soft sound, a quick sound of pain.
Trowa turned back to Midii. “Are you all right?”
Midii touched her thigh, where Trowa’s knee had come down, putting a portion of his weight into her.
Midii said, “It’s all right.”
Trowa touched the spot, gently rubbing the spot with his warm hand, “I’m sorry.”
Midii looked at him, “It’s okay. It really didn’t hurt that much at all.”
“That’s good. Are you sure?”
Midii said, “It’s fine, really.”
“Okay. I’ll try to be more careful. But it’s all right?”
Midii smiled softly, “It’s all right, don’t worry about it. Although, I seem to remember some one before saying something about being careful earlier.”

Trowa shook his head still embarrassed, and looked at Midii as she laid there. She looked back at him with her bedroom eyes.
Midii leaned up and kissed him softly on his lips, “Come on.”

--------

It was almost morning.
It didn’t seem like it was going to come soon enough.
Lt. Norton walked down the empty corridor, it felt good to be up and moving around.
He had spent the past several hours at his desk, working on the never ending stack of paperwork.
The building seemed quiet, it almost seemed like he was the only one left working.
He still fairly certain that Captain Harrow and Sally Po were still about, probably in their offices working on paperwork, or lurking through the hallways.
He was fairly certain at this point, Lady Une was gone for the night, probably at home with he adopted daughter, His Excellency’s daughter.
Thinking of that young girl, it made him want to smile, but it also reminded him of just misguided he was, and his shame in misunderstanding His Excellency’s beliefs.
He was just glad now that she was still with them.

Norton passed by Count Townsend’s still empty office.

His mind drifted.

Norton thought quietly about his conversation earlier with Trowa.
It just seemed so good at the time to hear from him again.

He thought of what Trowa had asked him to do for him.

Trowa didn’t say why he wanted him to do it, but Trowa said it was merely just a precaution.

Norton looked down at the tile patterns.
He remembered when Trowa was a Preventer, it seemed like so long ago now. He knew that Trowa would never come back. He had a family now.

His mind wandered, he thought of Trowa’s sister.
He remembered when he saw her for the first time, how lovely she was.
He had been to her performances at the circus, when it was in town. How amazing she seemed.
Maybe someday he would get the chance to tell her, to ask her.....
But still, he remembered something that Captain Harrow had said to him about her.
That it would be impossible after what happened. The Captain never explained further.

It just seemed so quiet now.

He could barely remember the last time he had been out in the field.
Once in a while they would get calls, leads and information, but for most part nothing ever came of them.
Sometimes it would be destroying some old weaponry or other stores, or checking up on a potential threat.
Sally sometimes took care of herself, often with that other Gundam pilot.
Other times it was Lt. Nichol, or one of the other agents in the unit.
But those cases now were becoming so few and far between.

Norton sighed, maybe he just bored. Well, no maybe about it, he was bored.
He knew a number of the other agents felt the same way.

The last thing Norton wanted was a war, far from it.
The sacrifice His Excellency had made had shown them the way of peace.
None of the Preventers wanted a war or an uprising or anything like that, just something to do.
He knew was part of his duty now, like the rest of the Preventers that were left.
Maybe all were they were now were the night watchman.
They were to keep watch, to wait, even if they weren’t needed, to put out any fires

-------
It was morning.
The air seemed to be so calm, so quiet. Joel Mitchell stood by the open window and looked out over the city.
He marveled at just peaceful the city looked, how quiet it was.
He took a deep breathe, and could smell the warm morning air mingling with the lingering scent of the food. Mitchell glanced back into the room, where Sylvia was.

They had ordered breakfast in their room, the smell of coffee, fresh fruit, eggs, bacon and various pastries, all presented on silver serving trays.
It made him feel a little better to have a full meal, along with a full nights sleep.

He looked back out over the city. Most of the buildings looked the same as they did during the war, but still it seemed different.
All the anti-aircraft guns and the other batteries were now gone, the places where they had been were covered, the fittings removed. All the damage from the war, from OZ’s first attack, and from the second, it seemed like it all hand been cleared.
Aside from the cemetery, it almost seemed like all traces of the battles fought to defend the city were gone now.
He thought about the battle, he gone over it all so many times before.
Maybe down in the channels, in the tunnels under the city, where the last of the base’s mobile suits made their stand, maybe in that place, there was still something left.
In times since the war ended, he never once thought of going back to that spot.
The Alliance soldiers, they all were all killed, but so were the OZ pilots.
The thought of it made him feel cold. 
He knew that it was Trowa, his Gundam had been the one who had destroyed the OZ suits down in the tunnels.
He was always going to be grateful to Trowa for that, for saving the city, the soldiers of the Alliance, and most importantly, for helping to protect Sylvia.
Mitchell had never asked Trowa why he was in the town, why he was fighting.
Maybe someday, somehow he would find out why he was there.
Maybe.
Mitchell slowly and watched Sylvia as she looked in the mirror, as she arranged her hair.

How beautiful she looked in the early light.

They had decided the night before, that they would go this morning to the cemetery, to see the grave of Sylvia’s grandfather.

“Are you all right?”  Mitchell turned as he heard Sylvia’s voice.
Mitchell closed the window, and bowed his head, “I’m fine Sylvia.”
Sylvia smiled, “We probably should be going soon.”
Mitchell nodded, “Of course.” He picked up his jacket from the back of one of the chairs and followed Sylvia to the door.

-------

Relena sat across from her mother, it was so nice to be home once again.
She looked at her mother, who had more quiet then usual.
Relena took a sip of tea.
Her mother finally spoke, “I am glad to see you home again Relena, I still worry about you so much when you’re away.”
Relena said, “I’ve been quite all right on my own, especially since I’ve been with Heero. I’m sorry that I haven’t had a chance to call as often as I did before, but my work has been keeping me busy.”
“And just how has your work been?”
Relena took another sip, “It’s been going fairly well, mother. We’ve made considerable progress with the Mars project, even despite some of the problems we had with funding.”
Relena’s mother took a sip of her tea.

She knew that she had to tell Relena. She wanted to be one to tell her, to tell face to face.
Mrs. Dorlian  put the cup down on the table.
“Relena, there is something I have to tell you.”
Relena looked at her mother, “What is it?”
Mrs. Dorlian placed her hands her lap and she didn’t look Relena. “It’s difficult for me to tell you about this, but I wanted you to know.”
She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. “Relena, I wanted you to know, that I have been seeing someone.”
Relena was silent, caught off guard by what she said. She finally spoke, “Is that so?”
Mrs. Dorlian looked at Relena, “Yes, I’ve been seeing him for only a short time. He’s a kind and gentle man.”
Relena said, “I might I ask who he is?” There had been slight change in the tone of Relena’s voice.
Mrs. Dorlian said softly, “His name is Count Townsend.”
“Count Townsend,” repeated Relena. The name sounded familar to her, but she couldn’t place it anyone in her mind.

“Relena, I did not want to upset you about this.”

“Why would I be upset?”
Just how could she do this.
She went possibility after possibility, trying to some how rationalize it, trying to understand.
Relena’s adopted father, her father, just how could she do that to him.
She didn’t want to believe it.

Her mother said softly, “Please, try to understand, Relena.”

Relena responded, “No its fine.”

The tone Relena used, Mrs. Dorlian recongized it.
The way she said she was fine, in that tone, she had often said it to her and her husband before, when Relena was younger.
Relena would always say she was fine, when everything wasn’t all right.
She wanted her to understand so much.
Maybe Relena just needed some time, maybe there something else she could say to her.
But all the words were lost.

Relena put down her cup, “If you’ll excuse me, mother. There something that I must see to.”
Relena stood and left the room.
The door closed quietly behind her.

Mrs. Dorlian sat alone, surrounded by a cold silence.

To be continued.......