Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Contemplation Indigo ❯ Contemplation Indigo ( Chapter 1 )

Contemplation Indigo

By DRL

'It was a dark and story night…' Only joking! It is neither dark nor stormy and to be quite honest, considering where I am at the moment, the dark I can cope with but the stormy I could definitely do without.

I am on a yacht, Trowa's yacht actually. Well I guess it's kind of mine too, since we are married and, according to our vows, what is mine is his, and vice versa. It was my present to him for his 30th birthday a few months ago. Well it was kind of a joint present, since it happened to have been our 10th wedding anniversary that month too. Ten years! I can scarcely believe it… Anyway, back to the yacht.

She's a beautiful yacht and Trowa is so delighted with her that I have been patting myself on the back ever since for having had such a wonderful idea. Just to give you some local colour, here is a brief description. She is a 160ft motor yacht with four decks, five staterooms in addition to our magnificent Master Suite, a large Main Salon, three bars, once office, one fitness room and a media room (a sort of movie theatre-cum-entertainment room). She also boasts an interior elevator, which links the four decks (for those, like myself, who are incapable of negotiating the lethally steep stairways), a helicopter landing pad (complete with helicopter), a sundeck and a swimming pool. The crew also have their own separate living area, which is very comfortable (I was most insistent upon this point).

Her exterior is quite traditional in style for a new-build motor yacht, with a navy hull and white superstructure. Her interior is pure 'Art Deco' and quite sumptuously luxurious. Trowa and I were watching an old movie one night, which was set on 'Earth in the roaring 1920's' we were reliably informed. Throughout the film Trowa constantly admired the fixtures, fittings and furnishings of the various hotels, houses, apartments and restaurants within which the action of the movie took place. I pigeonholed this information, as I do with everything my darling tells me about his likes and dislikes, and once I had had the idea of having the yacht built for him, the style of the interior needed no thought whatsoever. An afternoon's research at the library gave me all the information I needed. I gave the interior designer a simple brief - 'Art Deco', 1920's, unadulterated luxury. That was it in a nutshell, and I have to say that he certainly came up with the goods.

I still remember the look on my darling Trowa's face when he first laid eyes on her. I had insisted on his being blindfolded as we were driven to the marina where she was berthed. As I helped him from the car he immediately said 'We're by the sea aren't we?' Ha, there's no fooling my Trowa! Well I was not about to have the surprise I had been cooking up for the past three years foiled that easily, so neither confirming nor refuting his suspicions, I turned him so that he was facing her aft end, and removed the blindfold.

I could clearly read his emotions in the expressive sweep of his elegant eyebrows. At first they drew together in confusion as he took in the sight of the sleek yacht bobbing gracefully at anchor, then as he read the name picked out in flowing gold script on the gleaming navy lacquer of her transom, 'Trowa Babe', his beautiful eyebrows rose to the level of his hairline, even as his eyes assumed the size an shape of a couple of the saucers from my favourite Missen tea service. He turned to me and I saw the tears shining in my love's eyes.

"A charter?" He asked falteringly, although I was sure he knew that this was no charter. A chartered yacht could never be so personalised as to bear his name. I shook my head and smiled up at him.

"No my love, she's all yours."

The dam burst and the tears flowed from emerald eyes that met mine with an expression of such pure devotion that I felt sure my heart would burst. He enfolded me in his strong arms and whispered in my ear,

"I love you, my God how I love you."

It was a pricey present, even for me, but I would willingly buy him ten more just to see that expression on my love's face again. To say that he was pleased with his gift is a bit of an understatement. I won't go so far as to say that he loves that boat more than me, but it's a pretty close contest! No, I'm only kidding but as a gift, it was definitely a winner (no pun intended).

Trowa has taken to yachting like a duck to water, and in a few years I think that he might be ready for a sailing yacht, you know, real hands-on sailing, with sails and ropes and everything. I, on the other hand, have unfortunately discovered that I have no sea legs whatsoever. In fact, I am writing this on the sun-terrace of our Stateroom as I have taken to my bed with seasickness. I am usually only like this for the first day, since Sally usually gives me a shot of something before we sail, which usually kicks in after about a day; I'm usually fine after that. I hate being like this because my Trowa won't enjoy himself if he knows that I'm not comfortable. He was with me until a few moments ago, but I sent him away - back to our guests.

We have our best friends staying with us as we spend a couple of weeks cruising around the Caribbean islands. At the moment we are at anchor about half a mile off the coast of Bridgeport, Barbados. I am looking out at the mainland coast as I write, and I have to say that there are worse ways to spend an afternoon, seasickness notwithstanding.

Our guests are two other couples, Heero & Duo Maxwell Yuy and Treize and Wufei Kushrenada. We've all stayed really close in the 15 years since the end of the war. We've kept up with the others, you know, Zechs, Noin, Une, Sally, et al, but the six of us are particularly close. I need scarcely articulate why this should be - I think it's fairly obvious.

Trowa and I got together immediately after the war. We both knew that we were in love with each other way before then, but also we both knew better than to do anything about it at that time. After all, we were both soldiers - we could hardly go out on dates could we? The time was just not right while the war was still raging. Either of us could have gone at any time, and then what would the other have done? No, the time was not right.

After the war though, we took the first tentative steps towards a relationship. It was of necessity a somewhat sporadic relationship, since I had to take up my position as the head of the Winner family and CEO of Winner Enterprises Inc. and Trowa had no option but to return to the circus. We thought that we were in love, but at 15 years old and with no previous experience on which to draw, neither of us had any real idea of what that meant. We soon found out, however, since the increasingly long periods of enforced separation almost killed us both. We finally reached a point where neither of us could function without the other, so after about two years Trowa left the circus and came to live at first near me, and then with me.

He was insistent that he did not want to be 'kept', so to give him something constructive (not to mention gainful) to do I tried him in several jobs within WEI. However, the cut and thrust of the business world was just not for him. I had just started up a charitable organisation to raise and administer funds for various charitable applications around Earth and the Colonies and Trowa gravitated towards this, its more sedate pace and disinterested aims being more suited to his calm, level personality. Within a few short years he had risen to become the spokesperson and figurehead for what had become The Winner Foundation and under his surprisingly expert guidance, it is now the largest charitable organisation I the world with patrons from within the highest echelons of society and work programs in all of the neediest areas of the Earth Sphere and the Colonies.

After living together for three years my darling did me the honour of accepting my proposal and ten years ago, on what was still the happiest day of my life, he became my husband. As I think back to our wedding day I unconsciously raise my left hand to my lips and place a light yet fervent kiss upon the gold band around my third finger. Smiling to myself as I realise what I have just done, I lower my hand and continue writing.

Heero & Duo's relationship ended up pretty much the same way as Trowa's and mine, but it began quite differently. They did begin a romantic relationship while the war was still in full swing. Now I use the term 'romantic' in its broadest possible sense. From what I could see back then, there was little or no romance in the 'rutting' that took place between those two.

I believe that there was a bond there, though I would hesitate to call it love. Much as he would like to have denied it, Heero did care for Duo, albeit in a very domineering and possessive manner. Surprisingly though, Duo seemed to respond well to this, seemed even to crave it. Trowa and I came to the conclusion that this could possibly have been because to Duo this possessiveness was at least evidence of the fact that someone cared about him enough to be bothered about what he did or didn't do. During the war there was little tenderness in Heero's attitude towards Duo, at least not in front of the rest of us. However, Duo assured me that he was quite different when they were together in private.

Heero was never brutal or violent towards Duo; Never that. It's just that he seemed indifferent to him one minute, typing away on that laptop computer of his, then he would be barking orders at him the next minute. Usually these orders were ultimately to Duo's benefit, such as 'Duo, eat those vegetables, you need the nutrients', or 'Duo, zip up that jacket before you go out, you'll catch your death otherwise. You know how prone you are to colds.' These orders were delivered with Heero's own special blend of Drill Sergeant and Schoolmarm. His manner notwithstanding however, Heero took very good care of Duo, always looking out for his welfare and taking care of him if he was injured on a mission. He was quite obsessive about it as I recall and it was really quite sweet.

For his part, Duo was utterly besotted with Heero, and seemed totally oblivious to the fact that Heero dominated him completely. As a soldier, Duo was second to none, and was completely in charge of himself and his Gundam, but outside of that Heero controlled him completely. As I said though, Duo embraced this wholeheartedly, and Heero was never really mean to him, only cold and indifferent sometimes. At nigh however, they seemed to find some sort of happy medium because they certainly seemed to make some sort of music together, whether it be beautiful or otherwise.

After the war their relationship moved into a different gear as both Heero & Duo came to terms with life in peacetime. They both foundered at first, as indeed did we all, but they eventually found their feet and their respective callings. Heero gravitated towards computer technology (surprise, surprise), and after designing a computer operating system that soon swept the world and became every industries standard, he now owns and runs the largest computer software company on Earth and the Colonies. Duo fell to expressing himself through art, and has become a successful conceptual artist, specialising in large sculptural installation compositions using materials found in nature and scrap items he collects from dumps and scrap yards. He also does some individual canvas work as a sideline, and has a large retrospective on at the MOMA in New York at the moment (do go see it if you get a chance). Considering his media his work is surprisingly good and I have a small collection of his canvasses.

The two of them moved in together immediately after the war, and Heero's attitude towards Duo changed considerably. He became less domineering and much warmer towards him, although he was still a control freak. Funnily enough, Duo also changed and he became much less receptive and tolerant of Heero's tendency to tell him what to do and how to do it, giving just as good as he got. Well, as you can imagine this led to a rather volatile relationship, with Heero telling Duo how things were going to be and with Duo telling him in no uncertain terms just where to get off. Many was the time that Trowa and I would be knocked awake in the small hours of the morning by either Heero or Duo (and on occasions both) seeking refuge after having stormed out of their apartment in a huff during a particularly heated fight. They invariably made it up though, and I'm sure the sounds of their 'make-up' lovemaking could be heard halfway across the Galaxy!

They married the same year that Trowa and I did, and I find it ironic that, although they fight like cat and dog, where Trowa and I never even exchange a cross word, I would swear that they are as much in love with each other as we are.

Now Wufei & Treize came as a big surprise to all of us. I had no idea that there was anything going on between them, Treize being the enemy and all. However, by the time the whole thing came to light, this fact was neither here nor there, since the war was over. The first thing any of us knew about their relationship was about three and a half years after the war. Wufei had disappeared immediately after the armistice was declared. Well he didn't exactly disappear, since we all knew where he was. He had gone to China to the Shaolin Temple for a while to 'get his shit together' as Duo so elegantly put it. We heard from him periodically, but we never saw him.

Around three and a half years after the cessation of hostilities, the four of us each received a communication from him asking us to make our way to what turned out to be a large chateau in the Dordogne region of France on a certain date. When we all arrived Wufei was there, looking bright eyed and bushy tailed and acting quite the Lord of the Manor. He ordered refreshments to be brought and then calmly proceeded to inform us that he had first an apology and then an announcement to make. Firstly, he apologised that he had been less than honest with us over the past few years. He had indeed gone to the Shaolin Temple, but he had remained there only 18 months. He then announced that he had left the temple voluntarily and promptly married his lover of the past two years. He then left the room and returned a moment later, leading Treize fucking Kushrenada (excuse my French) by the hand.

Well to say that you could have knocked the four of us down with a single feather is putting it somewhat mildly. We had all done the sums and realised that Wufei had just confessed to he and Treize's having been lovers during the war, albeit for the final 6 months, while he was still our enemy. There were no recriminations though, and amid many tears (from me, I admit it), many hugs and much backslapping, we managed to convey our delight in finally being reunited and our joy in Wufei's having found happiness, even if it was with Treize Kushrenada of all people. We all well knew how desperately bleak and lonley those days during the war could get and if Wufei had found comfort in the arms of the devil himself, I think that each one of us would have patted him on the back and said "Atta boy!" We welcomed an apprehensive Treize to our little group and we all spent a pleasant week getting reacquainted and talking over old times.

Treize is a gentleman of leisure and does nothing in particular for a living, having enough hereditary property, land and wealth to sustain both himself and Wufei in aristocratic style for several lifetimes. Wufei himself, having no real need to earn a living, occupies himself by undertaking independent studies into whatever subject takes his fancy, then writing well-informed books on the subject. His books actually sell quite well, considering that this is not his main objective in writing them.

So, this is what became of us all after the war. Fifteen years later we are all still the best of friends. We haven't changed much over the years, but we have all changed some, in both appearance and personality. This is only to be expected however, since we are all between 29-30 years old now, and Treize is almost 40.

I didn't know Treize during the war, so I can't vouch for his personality back then. Now he is distinctly aristocratic in his bearing, very sophisticated but also very polite and considerate (not to mention a litte eccentric). He is devoted to Wufei and will stop at nothing to ensure his comfort and happiness at all times. He is constantly fussing over his 'Dragon', plumping his cushions for him when he sits and drawing a rug over his knees when the temperature drops as the night draws in. Being the spitfire that he still is, Wufel feigns impatience with Treize's solicitations, but those of us who know him well can see the pride and love in his eyes as he regards his aristocratic husband.

In appearance I think that Treize has changed the most. He was a full-grown man during the war, and even then he had a large, firm build, which he still has. Beside him Wufei looks quite the waif. He stands just over 6ft tall, with an upright, stately bearing. He does look older though, a slight tightening of the skin around the jaws and the appearance of fine lines at the corners of his eyes when he smiles.. His red hair, while still vibrant, is greying slightly at the temples, although I think this gives him an air of distinction. Wufei finds it irresistibly sexy and Treize says that if this is the reaction he gets, he can't wait to go grey all over.

Wufei is still short (even shorter than me, and that is saying something), around 5ft 7", whippet trim and quite effete looking. He still looks darkly exotic, with those smokey almond eyes, but he no longer wears his shoulder-length hair in that tearjerkingly tight pony tail. It now sweeps up and over the arch of his brow to cascade down the left side of his face, swinging freely around his shoulders, although he tucks it neatly behind his ears when he need it out of his way. He has very lovely hair; I have often told him so. He wears spectacles most of the time now, his eyesight, never 20:20 at the best of times, having gradually deteriorated over the years. These make him look even more the scholar though.

As I mentioned before, he is still a spitfire, with the shortest fuse ever. He is extremely quick to anger, but equally as quick to forgive. Strangely enough, his fiery temper is usually directed at the two people that he has the most affection for, namely Treize Kushrenada and Duo Maxwell Yuy. Wufei has always had a soft spot for Duo, even when we were kids, and I often wonder what might have been, but for Heero.

Duo really hasn't changed a bit personality-wise. He is still bright, bubbly and exuberant, loud, vocal, sometimes profane but always utterly adorable. He still has that impossibly long, chestnut coloured hair and still wears it in his trademark braid. His beautiful violet eyes still shine with mirth, and he is always equally as ready with either a smart-ass wisecrack or a kindly word, delivering whichever he deems necessary at any particular moment. He and Heero do seem to fight rather a lot, but it is never about anything really serious. My theory is that they do it either to keep the rest of us entertained (which it invariably does) or to keep each other from getting bored.

Heero and he are much of a height, around 5ft 10". Duo ended up being the heaviest of all of us, although he eats the most, so there is no surprise there. When I say heavy I don't mean overweight, he just has the broadest and heaviest build of all of us. Not quite as heavy as Treize, but heavy nonetheless. He does a lot of manual work while making his 'Junk Models' as I jokingly call them (Duo hates it when I call them that), so his musculature is quite well defined and he has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of when he removes his shirt.

Heero's build is more akin to Wufei's, although he is several inches taller. He has loosened up considerably over the years, but one still would not call him gregarious. He is nowhere near as taciturn as he used to be, but he's far from a chatterbox. One thing you can be sure of though, when Heero gives you an opinion you can be sure it is an honest one. He is not one to spare feelings; a spade is a spade to our Heero. One thing that has changed is his hair. It is still dark brown, but it is no longer messy since he has taken to wearing it in a close crop, the only length being at the crown. This crowning thatch is messy yes, but I think that this is by design rather than by accident.

As for myself, well, what can I say? I am not very tall, although I am taller than Wufei. I know, I already mentioned that, but allow me to clutch at my straw. I am still blond, although thanks to Nicky, an Image Consultant that I hired about 8 years ago to groom Trowa and I to perfection for our very public lives, I have now acquired what he calls 'highlights'. So I have now graduated from a 'natural' blond to an 'enhanced' blond. Nicky ensures that Trowa's and my appearance keeps up with current trends, but only so far as befits our age and status, so that we appear appealing to our public. I know what you are thinking, sounds like a load of old nonsense, but they have done a lot of research into this and apparently it works. Politicians and the like thrive upon it. It certainly does Trowa and I no harm either, judging by our mutual success so far.

I take no prisoners in the boardroom and as a businessman I am considered as hard as nails, but out of it I am as meek as a kitten and as mild as a ham. I positively bawl my eyes out at the merest hint of a wedding and even the cheesiest romantic movie has me reaching for Kleenex. The bottom line is that I am a complete sap, but hey, what the hell?

This brings me to my favourite subject - my Trowa. He is beautiful, wonderful, magnificent, brilliant…can you see a pattern forming here? But it's all true though. I know that my opinion may be considered biased, but my Trowa is perfect. He has the intelligence of a scholar, the wisdom of a philosopher, the beauty of an angel, the grace and poise of a dancer, the strength of a lion, the benevolence of a saint, oh I could go on for ever. And I love him. I love him to absolute distraction. I have loved him from the first moment I laid eyes on him and I will love him until the moment I draw my last breath. He is my single raison d' etre. My business, social status and personal wealth be damned - I would give it all up in a heartbeat if it stood between me and my Trowa. I almost did once, but that is another story for another time.

The Steward has just brought me a pot of tea. He said that 'Mr Barton' asked him to bring it. My darling is so thoughtful. We allow the crew to call us Mr Barton and Mr Winner to avoid the confusion of us both being referred to as Mr Barton Winner. We adopt the same expedient at home wit the household staff and it works quite well. To the rest of the world we are Mr Quatre Barton Winner and Mr Trowa Barton Winner - we are most insistent on this point. Anyway, I digress…

My love and I live together in absolute conjugal bliss. We never argue, hell, we never even disagree! Wufei says that he would have thought it impossible had he not seen it for himself, and Duo says that it must be boring for us (you see, my theory was right). I can vouch for the fact that neither of these statements is true. It is perfectly possible and far from boring. My angel and I are so devoted to each other that we cannot bear to be apart. When our respective work schedules began to take us away from home more and more, it soon became impossible. I couldn't function without my angel at my side, and he would constantly be worrying because he knew that I would be fretting due to his absence (I told you I was a sap). Now our respective offices liaise with each other and arrange things so that we are both in the same place at the same time. It works very well and now my darling and I are seldom parted.

My Trowa has always been known for his grace and elegance, and both of these traits have developed over the years to the point where simply watching him make a cup of tea is like watching a finely choreographed ballet. His body is exquisitely honed and I swear, I only need to catch a glimpse of his smooth, flat stomach when his t-shirt rides up as he raises his arms to reach something down from a shelf, and I loose my mind. It's all I can do to stop myself from throwing him to the floor and taking him there and then. I must confess to having given in to the temptation on occasion too. I'd better leave this line of thought, however. Its ultimate conclusion is as obvious as it is inexorable, and I am already beginning to feel a little warm.

Nicky has tweaked Trowa's hair also, and it no longer covers one half of his beautiful face. I have to admit that this is an improvement (if indeed one can improve on perfection), because now both of his emerald eyes are visible. Nicky got a little carried away a few years back and tried to 'tweeze' (as he put it) my Trowa's eyebrows. I solemnly vowed to break both of his arms if he so much as showed a pair of tweezers to my angel. There wasn't any trouble after that.

I miss my love already, and he only left the room an hour ago. I sent him back to our guests, promising that I would come and join them all after I had rested for a few hours. This was a little subterfuge on my part. I had no intention of resting; I wanted to finish writing this. However, I am anxious to be with him again. I suppose I could ring for the Steward and ask him to send Trowa to me, but this would leave our guests alone again (never let it be said that the Barton Winners are poor hosts). I will just have to steel my stomach and join them out on deck. I can't see them from w here I am seated. This is our own private terrace, where we cannot see or be seen by either the guests or crew. This opens up a plethora of amorous possibilities, let me tell you. Whoa there Winner, that way lies danger!

Well I have screwed up my courage and I am ready to join the others out on the sundeck, so I'd better draw my little narrative to a close. I think that the shot that Sally gave me is beginning to work because I don't feel quite so bad anymore. Perhaps it was the tea?

Well, that's all folks! This is me, my friends, my life and my wonderful, wonderful, husband.