Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Stolen Memories ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three

"God, she was so young!" Hilde's pale face was peering out of the screen on the vid phone "I can hardly believe it! Was there no warning at all, no symptoms…?"

Relena shook her head. This was the last of the calls she was making on behalf of Lady Une, who had been so affected by the death of her ward that she had been sedated by Sally. Une had given Relena a list of people who she wanted to be informed of the teenagers death, and Relena had been dutifully working through the list all afternoon into the early evening.

"No, apparently not." Relena said "Sally said that Mariemaia had a congenital heart condition - hypertrophic cardiomyopathy . Apparently it's just not that easy to spot. If she had been lucky, she would have developed symptoms of chest pains, palpitations or shortness of breath. That could have lead to a diagnosis. I'm afraid Mariemaia was one of the very unlucky few who had no symptoms. It was very sudden, Sally said that even if she had been in the hospital there would have been very little that could have been done."

Duo's face appeared next to Hilde, his arm draped around her shoulder in support.

"How's Une doing, Princess?" he asked, his normally cheerful face very sombre.

"Not so good, I'm afraid Duo." Relena replied "She is resting now. She doted so on poor Mariemaia, she really considered her to be her daughter. Une hasn't any other family."

"When is the funeral to be?" asked Hilde "I would like to send some flowers."

"I don't know." Relena said, shaking her head "Une is in no condition at the moment to arrange anything. As soon as I hear anything I can email you"

"Yup, do that Princess." Duo said "And give Une our condolences. Ah, long time no see Heero!" Duo waved, and Relena half turned to see Heero standing behind her. "How ya doing, pal?"

"Fine" Heero nodded at Hilde, and handed Relena a glass of water. It was only then that Relena realised her voice was hoarse from talking for so long. Hilde smiled at her in sympathy.

"You go have some rest Relena." she said "You know, it would be nice to see you in person again soon. Maybe you should put in for some leave and come visit after the funeral"

"A holiday!" Relena grinned "Don't hold your breath! Take care guys, and I'll email you when I know more." Relena waved and terminated the call. She sighed deeply and took a sip of the water and felt Heero's hands on her shoulders.

"It doesn't seem real." she said "Mariemaia was so young and was doing so well with her life. You know, I was talking to her only last week - she wanted to come and do some work experience in the Ministry. She said that she had decided that she wanted to be a diplomat. Une was so proud of her. It's just not fair"

Tears trickled down her face, and she wiped them away sniffing and sipped more of the water.

Heero was silent, he didn't know what to say to comfort Relena. Death was nothing new to either of them, but a young girls life being lost to natural causes in peacetime seemed to him to be very perverse.

"Nothing could have been done" he finally said "She lived a very full life for one so young"

"Full - yes I suppose she did. She managed to be a dictator by the age of eight, goodness knows what she could have achieved as an adult." Relena laughed, then put her hand over her mouth startled that she could joke about Mariemaia.

"Relena, you need your rest now" Heero said "Anyone who you haven't contacted yet?"

"Only Millardo" Relena said, stretching aching muscles "The link to Mars is flakey tonight, I thought I would try later. Will you ask Sally how Une is doing?"

"…" Heero nodded "I will let you know when she wakes - you get some sleep"

Relena gratefully followed orders.

The next morning Relena found that the vid-phone link to Mars was still down. Frowning with disappointment that she couldn't talk to Millardo, she ended up sending an old-fashioned text message to her brother. Once it was dispatched Relena went to visit Lady Une, with Heero accompanying her as security.

Une lived in a small flat that was filled with photographs and portraits of her dead love Treize, father of Mariemaia. Relena always felt a little uncomfortable in the living room with so many eyes seeming to scrutinise her from the walls. Une let Relena in, whilst Heero remained outside the front door. Une was alone. She was pale, her hair was loose and tangled and her clothes looked crumpled as if she had slept in them. Relena gave Une a hug, but Une's arms remained by her side.

Relena hesitated for a minute, then led Une into the living room and made her sit on the couch. Une did so passively and made no effort to talk.

"Lady Une, have you eaten this morning?" Relena asked, sitting down beside the woman. Une was staring towards the portrait of Treize that dominated the room. She shook her head.

"I cant eat" she replied quietly. "I feel sick when I try."

"Perhaps some tea…?" Relena offered. Une nodded her agreement, and Relena, feeling relieved at being able to do something, went to the kitchen to make a pot. When she returned to the living room Une was standing at the fireplace looking up at the portrait of Trieze. In it he was in full dress uniform, a faint smile on his lips, and in his hand he held a rose.

Relena poured a cup of tea and held it out to Une. Une ignored her, her hand reaching up and caressing the picture frame.

"He will never forgive me." She murmured. "Treize will never forgive me for letting Mariemaia down."

Relena put the cup down on the tray.

"Une." She said firmly taking hold of the hand touching the portrait and pulling it away "It was not your fault. You cannot blame yourself for something that no one could predict."

Une sighed and closed her eyes and bent her head forward so that her hair covered her face. "I miss her so much Relena. She is…was my little girl, my baby. She was so gifted, so good. I keep thinking why. Why did this happen." Une started to rock back and forward gently. "I keep thinking if only I had noticed something. Did I miss her being out of breath. Perhaps she was having chest pain and just didn't tell me. Why wouldn't she tell me, Relena? Was it because I was being a bad mother to her? Did I let her down? Would she have been happier if she hadn't come to live with me? Would she have been alive if she hadn't been with me?"

Une was becoming increasingly more agitated. She was openly crying and her hands were clenched into fists. At each question she asked she was hitting her thighs. Relena hugged her tightly. "Hush.." she tried to comfort the woman. "No Une, you did your best for Mariemaia and she loved living here with you - she told me so. Please stop Une! Don't do this to yourself. Please, sit down and try and be calm." Relena managed to manoeuvre Une back into a chair and then handed her the cup of tea.

Une's hands were shaking as she held the cup so that it rattled on the saucer. She lifted the cup to her lips and sipped it slowly and gradually her shaking eased. Relena sat on the arm of the chair, her arm around Une's shoulders. She was quiet, knowing that Une would talk if she needed to.

When Relena finally left a couple of hours later, Heero was still at his post by the front door.

"How is she?" he asked as they walked towards the car.

"She is taking it hard." Relena sighed "I called Sally and asked her to come over and check on Une later. Une has asked that the funeral be private, family only and no flowers."

Heero looked surprised "I thought she had no family."

"She doesn't." Relena confirmed "But that is how she wants it. Just her, Mariemaia and the celebrant."

Relena ran her fingers through her hair and looked back towards the flat. She could see Une's silhouette in the window and Relena waved to her as she got into the car. Une didn't move. "I'm going to ring Sally and ask her to come sooner rather than later."

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

"Woman." Wufei bent his head near to Sally "Lady Une wants to see us this afternoon after this conference is wound up"

Sally looked at him in surprise, Une had only returned to official duties that day, two weeks after Mariemaia's funeral. Sally had been concerned with the state of Une's health prior to the funeral and had recommended that Une have an extended leave of absence from the Preventors. Une had declined and had taken the statutory two week bereavement leave. She had left her apartment immediately after the funeral saying that she needed to get away. Sally had not seen or heard from Une since that day.

"My understanding is that she wishes to send us on an undercover mission".

"What!" Sally hissed "I don't do missions anymore! I'm the resident medical officer, not some new entrant keen to prove himself."

Wufei snorted. "Typical!" He said "You should be honoured that Lady Une does not consider you too old to do field work".

Sally glared at him, - old indeed! She was only a couple of years his senior and he was not above checking out her body when they were both using the gym. She waited until he was not paying attention to her and swiftly elbowed him in the stomach - hard. He bent over, clutching his stomach trying to catch his breath.

"Old indeed" Sally muttered as she stalked off.

"Injustice!" Wufei tried to call after her, but being winded only managed a weak whisper.

That afternoon found them sitting in Lady Une's office, nursing coffees that Une's secretary had provided them with. Sally watched Une closely trying to determine her state of health both mental and physical.

"Thank you for coming." Lady Une said, sitting opposite them behind her large oak desk. She placed both her hands on the smooth table surface, and raised her eyes to Wufei. "I have a special assignment that I want you both to undertake. It will involve infiltrating a group that we have concerns about. This will be of special interest to you Wufei as the group is calling itself "The Dragon Clan".

"Dragon Clan!" Wufei sucked his breath in "This cannot be - I am the last of the Dragon Clan"

"Yes, well, I am aware of your background" Une frowned at him "That is why I have selected you for this task. This mission requires someone with knowledge of your clan, its history and policies. I understand that you had a high profile in your clan prior to the destruction of the colony - I am assuming that if these people are part of your clan they will remember you and make your infiltration - or return - to the clan that more easy. If the group is only using your clans name, then you will have to tackle the infiltration in a different way".

Sally shifted in her seat and placed her coffee cup on the table.

"In what capacity do you want me to go" she asked Lady Une "I have not been out in the field in the last five years, and would have thought I would have been of more use here, remaining as Relena's physician"

Lady Une was looking at the cup, she rose slightly from her chair and picked the cup up, moving it to sit on some papers. She rubbed at the ring that the offending cup had left on her table.

"You and Wufei work well as a team. You have been a team ever since Wufei joined the Preventors, I see no reason to split you up now.." Une said slowly "You need not worry about Miss Relena, I have arranged for a physician to replace you." Une held up a hand forestalling the protest that Sally had been about to make "I have had checks done on this man and he is safe and eminently qualified. Relena's health will be treasured as always."

Sally glanced at Wufei. Wufei was ignoring her.

"You leave in two days time". Une signed the orders, handed them to Sally and stood indicating that the meeting was over. Sally and Wufei got up, saluted, and left her office.

"Relena has Heero." Wufei said softly as they walked up the hall "She will be safe".

Sally nodded, but felt foreboding. Something wasn't right. She glanced down at the messy signature of Lady Une. She didn't like this feeling, at all.

Back in Lady Une's office, Une took her glasses off and surveyed the paper work in front of her. She had a lot of signing to do

"Do you think they suspect anything?" Une signed a document in the scrawling messy signature, identical to the one on Sally's orders.

Une shook her head "No" she said "They will follow orders like the good preventors they are. You were right - a new Dragon Clan was just the right thing to entice Wufei away. Sally may initially object but she will be keen to follow her man." She signed the next document. The signature was tight, elegant, flowing.

"He is so predictable" scrawling signature.

"It is as well he is, this makes Relena's isolation so much easier" neat signature

Une slumped back in her chair, looking around her empty office. She closed her eyes, a thin smile stretched across her face. Her fingers tapped the side of her chair drumming a slow regular beat.