Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Battle of the Heart (formerly untitled) ❯ As You Command ( Chapter 4 )

A/N: What can I say...I finally updated!! I am still working on Song of the Phoenix...I am also working on a Sally x Wufei ficcie...kinda angsty. Expect that one out sometime. I'm also working on a fic for the Wing: Throughout the Ages contest. I _hope_ I get it done before the contest is over. It's a Renassaince fic about the Black Death. It has 2xH, 5xS and 1xR. Expect that to be uploaded in the near future as well.

Whew, now that I got that outta the way...

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

"As You Command"

Sally sat on her bed stiffly, her arms folded tightly across her chest and her jaw was clenched from her efforts of restraining herself from screaming out loud. Being held captive, as she so lovingly put it, was not something she enjoyed in the least. She would rather strike up a hearty conversation with Wufei than be stuck inside all day.

'C'mon, Sal, you never took things lying down before,' she coached herself silently, standing up from her sulking position and pacing around her room robotically. The cloth of her dress "swished" between her legs...the only sound heard in the tension-filled room. The punishment she had been given only succeeded in firing her determination to find a way out of it.

With a sigh, the honey-blonde woman walked over to the window, resting her arms on the sill. She could jump out, but she wouldn't get very far. The fall would surely break her leg.

Glancing down, Sally could see the cold and unforgiving cobblestone, which almost seemed to blend with the stone wall, which made up the side of the manor. The stone on the manor wasn't so cold, however. Green ivy vines snaked their way up the wall. Sally did a double take. The ivy vines!!!

Throwing caution to the wind, the young woman swung one leg over the window, and then the other. Soon her hands on the sill held her up, clutching tightly. Growing a little frantic, she tried in vain to dig her nails into the sill. They short fingernails scraped harmlessly against the stone, splitting and scraping the ends of her fingers. Blood dripped down her hands, tickling the skin, although the original cuts burnt.

"Calm down, Sally," she whispered to herself, trying to control her bleeding hands from slipping. Two stories was an awful long way to fall onto cobblestone.

Tentatively, she moved one hand down, grasping onto a section of ivy. Taking that final leap of faith, Sally released her other hand from the window. Her short fall was cut off abruptly as the hand clutching the ivy was yanked forcefully. She felt her shoulder groan in its socket and immediately grasped the vines with her other hand as well. Sally allowed herself a small smile. That wasn't so hard.

Relying on upper-body strength alone, Sally slowly began moving her hands down the vines, ignoring the stinging in her fingertips. Once she got a couple of meters down, she released her hands and landed hard on the cobblestone below, her knees bending from the impact. She let out a small "whoop" of triumph, forgetting about her torn-up fingertips.

Hearing footsteps approaching, the young woman immediately ducked into a shadowed corner, knowing that, if the people came too close, her cover would be blown.

"Do you insist on being obnoxious all the time, Maxwell?" came a strangely familiar voice.

"I'm only obnoxious 'cause you're uptight," came the cheery reply. Sally let out an undignified snort of laughter, her bloodied hands immediately flew to her mouth to try and stifle the noise.

"All right, who's hiding?" came the voice of Duo, all cheeriness lost. "Ya can't hide from the God of Death, so show yerself!"

Stepping into what she presumed was the direction the squires were, Sally placed on a fake, sweet smile.

"Well if it isn't my two favourite trainees!" she said brightly; her sentence was dripping with sarcasm like a honeycomb was drenched in honey.

The braided man grinned at the blonde, his violet eyes lighting up in what appeared to be amusement. His companion, however, scowled, his onyx eyes hardening. The contrast in the two men was astounding. Absently, Sally wondered how they could be friends.

"It looks like she hasn't learned her lesson," Wufei said. His eyes had softened, and he now appeared almost bored, but the slight quirk of his lips showed his amusement. Duo punched his arm in slight annoyance.

"What are you doing out here, Lady Sally?" Duo asked lightly, offering the woman a friendly grin.

"Hunting down the man who turned me in so I can kill him painfully and slowly," she informed the two squires, all the while keeping a happy smile on her face, and an amused glint in her eyes.

Wufei couldn't help the dry chuckle that escaped his lips...at his companion's expense. Duo rubbed the back of his neck guiltily, scraping the toe of his boot against the grey cobblestone.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said absentmindedly, turning to face her with pleading violet eyes. The result was an absolutely adorable puppy-dog face that no woman with a heart could turn down. "I did it in order to save the squires from doubled punishments and chores. Anyway I can make it up to ya?" Sally's sky blue eyes widened in disbelief.

"You turned me in?" she cried dubiously, letting out a wry chuckle. "I expected it from grouchy over there," she exclaimed, jabbing her thumb in Wufei's direction, who scowled at the blonde woman. Her antics earned an appreciative laugh from Duo.

"Well, my lady," the braided man said with a low bow, "how may I pay penance for the sins I have committed towards thee?"

Sally tapped a long finger against her chin thoughtfully, unknowingly smudging blood against her face. The two squires wisely kept their mouths closed.

"I know!" she exclaimed, eyes lighting up. "You can teach me to fight."

Duo rubbed the back of his neck with his hand nervously, violet eyes scanning the ground. His companion simply snorted with a shake of his head.

"Listen, lady," the chestnut-haired man explained, motioning towards her bloody fingers, "you could barely make it out of your window unscathed. Teaching you to fight wouldn't do you a lick of good." he frowned. "Shouldn't you be inside cleaning or something?" Sally was livid.

"You asked for a way to assuage your act against me," she ground out slowly, trying to keep her anger in place, which was usually something she was quite good at. Usually. "I tell you how you can repay me, and you tell me no. Now, either you teach me to fight, or I'll have Hilde taken to kitchen duty." At Duo's confused look she added, "Maids on kitchen duty aren't allowed outside."

Duo opened his mouth to say something, and then abruptly closed it as his companion interrupted him.

"Conniving woman!" Wufei accused. "You are blackmailing him into doing as you please. We could easily report your absence to Lord Shang and walk away unscathed."

"You could..." Sally drawled slowly, placing her hands behind her back and rocking back and forth slightly. "But doing so would go against your code of honor, now wouldn't it? And," she added, "I could still use my blackmail by telling Hilde to take up cooking duty."

"So you admit it's blackmail?" Duo inquired coyly, a half-smile on his boyish face.

Sally blinked. "Did I say that? I meant selective usage of incriminating information."

Duo nodded slowly. "Riiight...anyway, if I'm going to teach you to fight, we had best get going." He slipped out of his cloak and through it around the blonde woman's shoulders, effectively hiding her gender. He walked in front of her, drawing up beside Wufei.

"You gotta help me," the braided man murmured, low enough so Sally couldn't hear. "How am I supposed to teach a woman to fight?"

The Chinese man snorted. "You got yourself into this mess, Maxwell."

"C'mon, Wufei," Duo pleaded, before adding, "you're best at hand-to-hand combat." The violet-eyed man smiled inwardly. Hopefully boosting his ego would help him loosen up...

"Nice try," the ebony-haired man said dryly, accompanied by a low sigh. "But I suppose I'll help. We shall be knighted soon, so our duties will lessen." Duo grinned. The prospect of ending their squire ship was a happy thought, indeed. A sudden thought made Duo frown slightly.

"Hey!" he called over his shoulder to where Sally was walking, still wrapped in the cloak. "How did you know I had met Hilde?" he inquired, catching the smug grin that the cloak hood failed to enshadow.

"Hilde's my best friend," she answered truthfully, watching as Duo's eyebrows rose, disappearing under his bangs. "She tells me just about everything, and I trust her with everything."

Duo fell back from where he was walking with Wufei, falling in step beside the cloaked woman. He watched her out of the corner of his eye.

"So..." he began, "how's Hilde been?"

"Fine," she answered, keeping her voice clipped. If her face had not been covered, Duo would have seen the amused glint in her light blue eyes.

"Has she, uh, said much about me?" he asked, focusing his violet eyes on Wufei's back, who was leading them to a hidden field behind the manor. The field was surrounded by pine trees, which helped conceal it from view.

"Oh, she talks about you all the time," the blonde woman said secretively, picking up her pace so she fell into step beside Wufei. She shot an extremely amused glance over her shoulder at Duo, who couldn't decide whether her last comment was good or bad. The Chinese man was struggling to keep from smiling, for he had heard the whole conversation. Even though he degraded women, he was glad his friend had found someone who made him happy.

Duo lunged forward suddenly, so he was in step beside Sally and Wufei.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" he inquired with a small amount of indignation, placing his hands on his hips.

"Well now, that is just my little secret, isn't it?" she purred with a small smirk at Duo's abashed face.

This time, Wufei didn't even try and hide the throaty chuckle that escaped his lips.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The wind slipped through his long platinum hair, twisting and caressing each strand until it waved out behind him like a blonde banner. His ice blue eyes were squinted against the oncoming wind, turning ever so slightly to gaze beside him, where Lucrezia was riding alongside him. Each was mounted on a sleek horse, racing along the beaten forest path. Lucrezia's horse began nosing forward, threatening to pass Zechs. The woman rider threw him a devilish smirk, before fully pulling ahead of him.

The steeds slowed to a quick trot, before finally calming to an even walk. Now that the beating of hooves and the rushing of the wind were silenced, the two companions were able to hear the telltale sound of running water. Lucrezia slid easily off the horse's back, leading the sturdy mare to the stream for a drink. The blonde man followed suit, tying the reins to a branch so the horse wouldn't stray, but leaving them loose enough for access to the water.

"Have you heard news of the feudal conflict?" Lucrezia inquired, and her voice, though soft, broke the still near-silence that had previously been obtained. Zechs caught the Italian woman's gaze, her deep violet eyes extraordinarily expressive. The young prince felt his heart quicken, and he couldn't have looked away if he had wanted to.

"Yes," he finally answered, breaking away and licking his dry lips. "It doesn't look good for Lord Shang..." Her face crumpled slightly, before contorting into anger. She stormed over to the stream, kicking up water in pure frustration.

"We should be helping them!" Lucrezia cried in indignation. "The Po's have always been our friends!" Zechs grasped her shoulders roughly, wincing as she bit her lip against the gesture.

"Come on, Lucrezia!" he told her forcefully. "You know that is impossible! Your father owes his allegiance to Lord Treize!" The raven-haired woman dropped her gaze, unable to stare into the face of her friend. She had a foolish outburst, and chagrin was settling in.

Zechs's face softened, and he released her shoulders, instead pulling her into a warm embrace. Lucrezia's breath caught in her throat, and she was ashamed to discover her hands were trembling.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," he murmured into her hair.

"Don't worry about it," she replied, her voice slightly muffled against his chest. Lucrezia closed her eyes, pleased to discover that she could feel his heart thumping against her ear. His heart was beating awfully fast, and his breathing was slightly uneven.

So he feels it too, Lucrezia thought to herself in wonderment. And it was true. He was acutely away of every place that they were touching, and it amazed him how warm she felt. Their rapid hearts beat in unison: an uneasy rhythm that betrayed their own nervousness.

With more excitement than apprehension, Lucrezia lifted her head, and her violet eyes beheld the ice blue eyes of Zechs. She literally stopped breathing when he pressed his lips gently against hers. A feeling of warmth spread down her body, and if Zechs hadn't been holding her so tightly, then she would have certainly collapsed by now. Her nerves were working into overdrive by the simple pressure of his mouth on hers, and she leaned against Zechs heavily, not wanting the pleasurable moment to end. Zechs broke the contact, and Lucrezia took a deep, very shaky, breath.

Most people would probably be embarrassed or shy after their first kiss. Most people would probably turn away and blush. Or, if the experience was unpleasant, some people may even smack their partners.

Lucrezia did none of those things. Instead she smiled, and Zechs saw hope, and something more, beneath her happy exterior. But all conscious thought was swept away as she joined their lips in another sweet kiss.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lord Shang Po paced his study nervously, repeatedly rubbing his chin or wringing his hands...anything to keep his mind occupied. Treize had attacked a small band of knights on the outskirts of a rural town. This wouldn't normally have bothered the feudal lord so much...except for the fact that Treize's knights had then proceeded to burn the town.

Shang ran a hand through his graying hair. Things certainly did not look good.

"Sir Quinze!" he called sharply, turning to the knight who had been watching the whole episode blankly.

"Yes, milord," he answered, bowing respectfully.

"Knight the remaining squires, we are marching into war!" the lord exclaimed, his fist heaving upwards.

A look of fright crossed Quinze's face, but he quickly masked it with casual indifference. He replied, "As you command, my lord."

A/N: Hmm...so how was that? Sorry people, but Treize is gonna be the "bad-guy" in this story. I'm not gonna make him the typical cynical, cruel and dishonorable bad-guy, so any Treize fans won't totally hate my story. How did ya like the lil Zechs x Noin moment? That was fun to write. This is also gonna have Hilde x Duo and Sally x Wufei, but I haven't really delved into their relationships too much yet. This is also gonna have more of Zechs and Noin...especially since the war is starting. Plus, Zechs can't marry Noin (they're in different classes), but I have to find someway to keep them together, ne? Thanks for reading thus far! Please review!!

Luvvies, KaT aka Mistress Shinigami