Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Survival ❯ Rise to the Occasion ( Chapter 24 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Rise to the Occasion

So… yeah.

Has anybody figured out where Wufei really is, after last chapter's surprise? The clues have been laid out… and the two scenes that were third person from Wufei's POV were him.

This is really moving right along, I'm so happy with it… I'm not sure exactly how the details of everything are going to play out, but the skeleton of the plot and a lot of details are there, and I'm mostly just trying to find the time or bits of constructive filler that make the time pass realistically because otherwise some of the stuff people end up doing would be OOC…

I have no intention of dragging this out for the sake of dragging it out, I can't stand those kinds of stories, it's just that for everything that I know needs to happen, it takes time to develop in the real world sense. Pointless filler that's there to kill time tends to piss me off, and everything I'm doing is integral to the plot or needed development somehow… maybe not the fine details, but a scene always has a purpose behind it.

…I don't have issues with anime filler arcs… *snorts* No, none at all…

Enjoy.

July 27th 197 - Thursday - Brussels

“You excited?”

Jake snorted as he did another pull-up. “I've been on the inside for almost two years, and you have to ask that question?”

“If you really wanted the great outdoors, you could have requested a change of post,” Dave Mitchell reminded him.

Jake shook his head, not slowing his pace. “A) Zechs had me set trying to find members of what's become the dissention my every waking hour for the first year after Libra before he thought it was viable that I might do shit where he had other specialists in place already, and b) none of the jobs I could have taken appealed.”

“You were getting paid to just sit on your ass,” Mitchell noted. “There's something both incredibly appealing yet utterly disgusting about that.”

His friend laughed, still going. “Yeah, I thought you'd appreciate that.” Tilting his head for a moment, holding himself at the height of his movement, he seemed to consider for a moment. “I guess I was just waiting for the right opportunity to come bite me in the ass.”

David snorted. “Your post was interesting once Catalonia stumbled on you,” he noted, remembering. “I thought half the shit you said was exaggerated until I went with them to China.”

Swinging slightly as he switched his hands around so that his palms were facing away, the other ex-Special started doing pull-ups again, although much more slowly. “She's a cute kid,” he dismissed. “Odd, and more than a touch confused about life in general, but she's really not that bad.” Shaking his head and half snickering as he remembered something, he added, “She certainly keeps everyone on their toes with the outrageous shit she says, but I think it's half just a cry for attention.”

“Ploys for attention, sure, I can see that,” his old friend conceded. “But Catalonia's hardly a kid.”

“What, she kiss you again or something?”

David blushed furiously even as he shook his head. “No, and that's not what I meant. Relena's not really a kid anymore either.”

Dropping from the bar, Jake sat down. “True, but it doesn't have anything to do with age at this point. Either Dorothy makes Relena look like an old woman, or Relena makes Dorothy look like a toddler. When you boil it down to maturity level, Dorothy's back in middle school.”

“If that were true, they wouldn't enjoy each other's company as much as they do,” David argued.

Jake rolled his eyes. “Dorothy's always just trying to get a rise out of Lena, and the princess mostly finds it amusing. If you're trying to put a finger on what their relationship is like, your closest bet would be sisters, where Relena's a handful of years senior. Trust me on this; they're close, but they're not exactly what you would call best friends.”

“Eh, I guess I can see that.” He tilted his head slightly, and smiled. “So how do you like spending all your time with teenage girls, anyhow?”

He chuckled, leaning over to punch Dave in the shoulder. “Why do you think I'm so eager to come hang out when I get a break?” When his friend started laughing, he grinned and shook his head. “No, really though… it's not too bad. Relena's easygoing and only goes all girly on me when she's trying to get ready for a press conference, and then she keeps it to herself and Dorothy, then Dorothy…” He shrugged a little uncomfortably. “She can get frustrating sometimes, but mostly she just…” Sighing, he finished with a quiet, “The way she takes to me anymore really is like a kid wanting someone's approval or interest…”

“Reminds you of Junior, huh?” his friend returned softly, all the humor gone from the conversation.

Jake swallowed. “Yeah… sometimes it kinda does.” He sighed again. “Let's go… I don't know, bowl, or something.”

“…You want to go bowling?”

He smirked. “I've never bowled in my life, it sounded like something to do.”

“I vote for pool.”

“Alright, just let me get my coat.”

***

Grójec, Poland

Heero limped into the room after disengaging the lock with the key the woman at the counter had given him. Marlé looked up at him, her expression excited. It quickly turned to concern, however, and she nimbly leapt from the bed to the bathroom, setting the water running.

His rising smile turning into more of a grimace as electricity seemed to shoot through his leg again, he eased himself up onto the bed and started to massage around his thigh. That made the pain worse, but pain wasn't any sort of real issue, and it would help. Marlé came back from the bathroom and started unlacing his boots.

He really did smile at that. “Thank-you,” he muttered softly.

She shrugged, though she was frowning worriedly. “You didn't catch him, huh?”

Odin closed his eyes, grimacing again.

“I'm sorry, I had thought you were someone else. I would not suggest following me; I won't appreciate it.”

“Wait,” Xutao protested, taking a step forward as Odin turned to leave. “Wait a minute! How do you know Wufei?”

“I did. It wasn't actually him,” he muttered as he yanked his coat off. There was a hint of anger in his voice that surprised him, and he paused; he didn't know if he had ever sounded… angry. Shaking his head, he looked over to her wide eyes, wanting to laugh darkly but suppressing the urge, holding his hands to his head instead. “I know why I thought it was him now, they even used to know each other, he has no idea where Wufei is now.”

“You know Chang Wufei?” he snapped, turning back to face the man.

His eyes were big. “Shenlong's pilot? Yeah… we went to school together. They dormed everyone alphabetically… we were roommates.”

“Roommates?” he returned levelly, but the pieces were coming together… They had the same accent, the same way of standing, even. “Are you related?”

Xutao rolled his eyes. “Maybe twelfth cousins five times removed… if we were, it wasn't enough to count. We were both from L5-A0206 though, and if you look back far enough, we were all related somehow.” He frowned. “Who are you, though?”

“More than just Wufei survived the colony's destruction?” Odin asked instead. That was good news…

The Chinese man winced, bringing a hand up to cover his face. “I wasn't there when it happened,” he explained quietly. “I left before Wufei did, when the war started, to be honest… The asshole said he wasn't going to get into fighting, so I was Master O's first choice for Shenlong. But then he changed his mind after his wife died, and he just blew me out of the water…”

Heero had to fight to control his expression at that. Wufei was married? That was a little odd… not that he expected the other pilot to have ever mentioned it, considering what Xutao had just said. The oddity was more that he had seen the other's file, and knew that he had only been fifteen when he fell to Earth in his gundam. That was hardly important now, though. The fact that Chang Xutao had both grown up with Wufei to some degree and had been a gundam pilot candidate made a lot of little things make sense too, but it was equally inconsequential in terms of what he wanted. “Do you know where he is now?”

His eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”

“Heero Yuy,” he snapped coldly, irritated. “I thought you were him, and I wouldn't have chased you across the damn continent if I'd known the truth. Do you know where he is now, or not?”

Xutao's eyes were wide, now, looking him up and down as if in confirmation. “You're really alive?”

“You're wasting my time,” the other returned plainly, glaring at him.

His startled expression was vaguely fearful, but not so much as that look usually warranted. “No, I don't… but you should come with me, talk to Sally Po… She'd assumed you were dead…”

Heero blinked. Sally Po? “What does Dr. Po have to do with anything?”

“She's heading the rebellion against Zechs,” Xutao informed him, crossing his arms… and looking just a touch smug at Heero's apparent lack of knowledge.

And that wasn't an entirely bad idea, in the end… eventually, anyway. “I have a few things that I have to take care of,” he returned after a moment. If the rebellion was worth anything, it wouldn't fall apart before he finished the tasks he had set to himself.

And Po's actions on the Peacemillion suggested that it was as organized as the rumors had always suggested.

“That… sucks,” Marlé noted. “You worked so hard to find him…”

He sighed, pulling off his sweater. “I have a way to contact the rebel group now, though, so it wasn't entirely a waste. That's the faction he's with… and I found out that some of the other people I used to know are there too, so I can go there eventually. And from what he said, Xutao knows how to pilot a mobile suit pretty decently if the struggle goes back in that direction, so he's a good ally to have.”

“It still sucks,” the girl noted as she finished getting his second boot off. “And you pushed it harder than you should have, huh?”

He gave her a half annoyed look. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

She sniggered a little at that. “I bet it did.” Smiling brightly at him, she added, “We've got a tub this time, though, so you can soak for real.”

That did sound nice. “Thank-you.” He frowned at her a little thoughtfully, and decided it couldn't hurt to say what was on his mind. “You're really helpful.”

She flushed with pleasure at that, before moving to work at the muscles in the calf of his bad leg. It had startled him the first time she asked if she could help, but, as she never tried to go above his knee, it wasn't too uncomfortable of a process; it made it go faster, really. He had lost his pride at needing help back in Jerusalem, at least for the most part.

“Thanks,” he muttered again, continuing to work at his thigh. He hadn't been able to really keep it submerged in hot water for a long while, and as he had to wait for the tub to fill anyhow, he would get more of a benefit from working at the sore muscles both before and after the water. “We can start looking for your mother tomorrow,” he suggested to his young friend. They hadn't had much luck on the computer so far, but it hadn't been their main focus either.

“Alright,” she returned easily. “It's not a huge rush, though; I've been missing for a while anyhow, it won't hurt to wait until you can walk without the cane.”

“I'll be fine,” he returned, glaring at her slightly… to which she just rolled her eyes. “I shouldn't need the cane tomorrow,” he argued. Probably… He was relatively sure he hadn't regressed that far.

Marlé shrugged a little, biting her lip as she worked harder at a knot… and he grit his teeth, seeing her point, but still giving her a level glare when she gave him a skeptical look. Shaking her head, she said, “Sure… So what happened? Was it hard to catch him?”

***

Brussels

Milliardo looked up when the door to his suit opened, and smiled when he saw that it was his sister. “Relena,” he greeted happily. Despite literally living next door to each other, they were both so busy that they rarely saw each other. Glancing at the clock, he bit his lip. I must have lost track of time… “Do you want to get some lunch?”

She shook her head. “I already ate. You,” she muttered, gesturing at one of the aides. “Can you tell someone to get Mr. Peacecraft something to eat? It's almost two in the afternoon.” The woman flushed slightly and nodded before settling her paperwork on one of the smaller desks arrayed around the room and making her way over to the door. When the Lightning Count raised a brow, she smirked slightly. “You need someone to make sure you take care of yourself the same as Dorothy does.”

…Come to think of it, when Dorothy was immediately under my wing instead of Relena's, meals just appeared at convenient times. “We should put Catalonia in charge of the kitchens,” he muttered jokingly. Really considering the folder she was carrying for the first time, he sighed. “I suppose you didn't just want my company?”

Her sweet little smile was apologetic… and she really looked like their mother, these days, and that little smile filled him with an odd sort of nostalgia. In most aspects, his little sister was nothing like their forthright mother had been, but she had certainly inherited her appearance. She made her way up to his primary desk, and he motioned quickly for one of his aides to make room for what she was presenting; Relena never came to him with anything unless it was a fully formatted, finished proposal.

Opening up the thick blue folder, she started laying out papers of the freshly cleared space. “I'm taking a surveying tour of Europe.”

His stomach clenched, hard, as her wording struck him. Merely raising his brows, however, he considered the rough itinerary she had placed directly in front of him. It was… a touch radical. Some places were reasonable enough, but others… “This needs to be reevaluated,” he decided. “I'm not against the idea, but-”

“No.”

“…Excuse me?”

“My tour includes the areas that need the most work done, to at least a great enough degree that the details of further evaluation can be worked out,” she explained calmly. “This is necessary to continue my programs to the greatest degree.”

He met her eyes and found them completely cool, serene… like the waters of a tranquil lake. “I cannot send you into rebel hot spots,” he returned just as coolly.

Resting her hands on his desk and leaning forward, Relena declared, “You cannot punish civilians for the actions of guerrilla fighters,” she returned easily. “The probability of insurgent residents does not change the fact that those areas require aid.”

“Your safety is paramount, Sister,” he reminded her. “Send out teams to survey if you wish, but I will not allow you to do anything that might endanger you.”

“Half the point of doing this, Brother, is to regain the confidence of the people; a public act of faith is necessary, as is a shown willingness to directly approach the problems.”

“It is far from necessary to personally walk the dives of the world,” he argued, unable to keep the ice out of his tone. This was ridiculous; a tour was understandable, but the areas ought to be carefully selected for the greatest exposure to the public for the greatest effect, not simply visiting all troubled areas of the continent. “You will revise this list to compile a more appropriate trip before I approve it.”

Those clearwater eyes were dispassionate as she leaned back to stand fully upright again. “I was not asking, Milliardo,” she informed him simply. “I merely thought you would like to know my schedule. My sponsor has already approved the schedule, and the plans have been set in motion. I will be leaving in less than a week.” Glancing at her watch, she noted, “I have a meeting I need to get to down in Restoration.” She gestured at the papers she had left on his desk. “That's your copy of my itinerary.”

He stood as she turned to walk away from him. “You cannot do this if I refuse to let the motion through,” he argued.

The princess looked back over her shoulder at him. “Legal age is seventeen, Brother, and you were never my guardian in any case. As the funding is not coming through you, the most you could do to restrict me is refuse me my honor guard. I would appreciate it if you would allow me the men I am familiar with to continue protecting me, but if you refuse, I have been approved to hire bodyguards for the trip with RLTT funding as well.” When he simply stared at her, she began to walk back out of the suite again. “Good day, Milliardo.” Nothing in her tone suggested she meant anything but honestly good sentiment with the comment.

He stared after her for a moment, his mind reeling. She just… It was unthinkable, he hadn't thought her wanting or even capable of the action she had just taken. His lunch arrived shortly thereafter, and he sent everyone out so he could eat alone and consider the paperwork she had left him with. He had been careful not to broach her legal status, and had not thought she would choose to throw it in his face nearly four months after she was a full adult.

Any actions he tried to take now would only make him look bad, if she had truly officiated it already… There was nothing to be done, except to remember that she was capable of surprising him like this and doing as she willed without his knowledge. That was worrisome…

But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little proud. Maybe she was more like their mother than he had thought after all.

***

Kielce, Poland

“Jumpy, aren't we?”

Xutao glared at the woman, shifting his bag's weight slightly. “I've spent the last four months in hell,” he informed her bluntly. “My nerves are fried.”

Hilde rolled her eyes, shoving him back into the room he'd just left with one hand. “No kidding, Xu. For a while in there, Po was convinced you were dead; it's good to see that the rumors were true, for once.” She smiled a little mischievously. “You completely lost everyone for a long while, though, and that's pretty cool. Until a couple days ago, for all we knew you were still in Africa.”

He grimaced slightly at that; she didn't realize he had only lost his all trackers for one of those four months, and it had been with substantial help from a rogue… and he had found out the night before last that he really hadn't lost everyone after all. Given, it was an ex-gundam pilot who had tracked him alone for the past three and something weeks, but it still stung, especially since his comrade was praising him for it.

She frowned. “What?”

“It's complicated,” he returned shortly, shrugging his bag higher on his shoulder again. “But this really isn't the place for talk.”

She raised a brow at that, giving him a skeptical look that he hated, before shrugging herself. “True enough. Let's get back to base, then.”

He followed her lead, as she had already planned a route home, feeling miserable. This was bad enough… and it would only be worse once the truth came out.

***

Brussels

Jake raised his eyebrows when she came out and gave him a tiny smirk, which he returned before following her down to the main of the base. “How did it feel?” he asked quietly enough that only she would be able to hear him, even if the hall was crowded.

The princess smiled brightly at him. “It was brilliant. He was completely caught off guard; he couldn't believe that I hadn't come for approval.” The smile disappeared as she bit one lip, thinking. “I don't think he would try to take my guard, but I practically dared him to.”

Her bodyguard shook his head. “He wouldn't, he trusts me far more than he would someone you might go and hire. He's only worried anyhow… you doing this will really just force him to get used to the idea that you're independent from him again.”

She nodded at that, then grinned at him, eyes sparkling. “I made him break his composure,” she revealed. “He didn't ruffle mine at all, but he didn't look terribly calm by the end of the conversation.”

Jake snorted, shaking his head. “Oh dear, sibling rivalry exists in every family, doesn't it?”

Relena waved a hand flippantly. “I'm not listening to you, you're trying to burst my bubble.”

He snorted again at that, deeply amused. “Your bubble? I rather thought you were floating about on a cloud.”

“Clouds draw too much attention,” she informed him easily. “Bubbles only shimmer when you look at them right.”

He brought a hand to his mouth to smother a snicker. “Ah, yes, of course, my mistake.”

She began walking backwards, and her smile was absolutely dazzling. “Everything is going marvelously, better than I had realized it could,” she explained happily. “There isn't anything to hold me back any longer, and the relief is simply wondrous. I feel better than I have since I first reinstated Sanc; everything really might change for the better this time, I'm going to make sure of it, and it's not a big ideal this time, this is succinctly planned and will work to at least some degree.” Her face darkened. “It's not even vaguely feasible for it to end like before, this time around.”

The Special shook his head a little. “I think you just burst your own bubble for no good reason, Princess.”

She frowned at that before sighing slightly and turning to walk the right way again. “Bubbles are hardly important, Colonel Miller.” She smiled easily at him again, though this time it was more sedate. “They might be pleasant, but hardly necessary. It serves better to remember past mistakes and be sure they don't happen again.”

“No arguing with that,” he agreed quietly. She didn't seem upset, just no longer bouncy, which was hardly appropriate for her position in any case. Her firm basis in the reality of the world situation now was the key to her success, once combined with her determination… and she had just proven to herself that she had not lost any of her drive and tenacity that had served her so well during the war. The traits were merely more refined now, and perhaps she was choosing her battles more effectively. “They are nice once in a while though, aren't they?”

The young woman graced him with another of the smiles that seemed to be practically warming their world again. “Yes, that they are.”

***

Amsterdam

Duo did his best not to gape at the building. It was hardly large, but…

“What's the catch?” he asked breathlessly.

Melissa considered. “Maybe the roof's due to fall in?”

“I can fix that…”

His girlfriend snorted, elbowing him gently in the ribs. “It was supposed to be a joke, you know.”

Ignoring her, he turned to the woman who had brought them to the property. “Can we look around inside?” It looked like there was a real garage too… A little two story with the downstairs almost entirely garage, the upstairs more of a loft than anything, from what he could see through the broken window.

“Of course,” the realtor agreed easily, walking up to the door. The lock was a piece of shit, but that was easily remedied… he might even be able to salvage something off one of the abandoned buildings around town, if someone had been smart enough to buy something decent that wasn't so pretty that it attracted attention from the first or second wave of vultures…

“There's a good piece of Plexiglas out at Sullivan's that would work for that front window, if we got something to cut it with,” Melissa muttered, considering. “The guy who used to live here ran a business a little like my family's, but really only for fun, he couldn't out-compete us, but he was retired and he liked it… He moved out before the gundams came to Earth, I think to be closer to his kids.” She gestured at the concrete floor and open piping and wiring that could be seen running along the walls. “It's not pretty, but it's perfect for what we need…”

The realtor seemed impressed with Melissa's knowledge. “Indeed… it only just went on the market for leasing; the previous owner died a few months ago, and his daughter inherited the deed. The market is hardly good for sale, but she's hoping to make some money on the property until the economy improves just the same.”

Duo nodded thoughtfully, considering the stairs before beginning to gingerly climb them. “It seems like she's in good enough shape,” he admitted. The garage wasn't all of the downstairs, but was only separated by a half wall that had a suggestion of a kitchen about it. If they got themselves a sturdy table, what was left of the entryway might work well as another workspace.

“We would put all the paperwork here, probably,” Melissa suggested. “No reason to make customers traipse up the stairs to see whatever mess we make with smaller end work.”

He bit his lip and nodded in agreement; he had managed to forget about that part of what would be their business. And it was nice too, seeing as there was an unbroken window there for good light. The garage was already loaded with fluorescents… The place was a damn diamond in the ruff. “Only the immediate paperwork, though,” he argued after a moment. “Records and tax stuff ought to be upstairs… we can always run to fetch it if we need to.” He squatted slightly on the stairs to point. “Some kind of table or desk there, a chair or two… I think I can find some fold-up ones cheap.”

“Yeah…” She bounced on her toes hard, smiling when the stairs under them didn't creak. “This place has really held up…”

He grinned back at her. “No kidding… The roof probably needs to be re-shingled, and we ought to paint the downstairs or something to make it a little more presentable, but this looks like a pretty sweet deal.” He cautiously stepped out onto the second floor and rested all his weight on that foot; it creaked slightly, but he was relatively sure that it was too low of a sound for the women behind him to have caught, which meant it was fine. It was just an open loft, like he had suspected, and there was even a large desk that had been left that looked like it was sturdy, had probably been used for their kind of work before, if Melissa's story was true…

It was perfect.

He grinned broadly at Melissa again and she did this happy little bounce thing back at him before pulling out a tape measure out of her pocket to go see if the piece of plastic she had in mind was big enough for the window. This was much better than either of them had expected to find when they realized they were getting enough business and had enough money saved to open an official shop.

Smiling a little to himself, wondering at his luck lasting into this happier rendition of life he had settled into, he turned to discuss the details with the realtor.

***

July 30th 197 - Sunday - Undetermined

Catherine Bloom hummed softly to herself as she unlocked the door to her trailer. They were putting on a show that night, but she still had some time to kill before she had to get ready. Maybe I'll work on that new suit… She had been playing with the idea of a new leotard, and working on it when she had time.

Those thoughts flew out of her head when she saw who was waiting for her, calmly sipping at a glass of ice tea at her table. He smiled at her, obviously enjoying her surprise. “Hello, Cathy.”

She grinned broadly and sat down next to him, pulling him into a hug. “Trowa! I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to come back.”

He made a face. “Sorry… nothing really worked out how I planned it.”

***

July 31st 197 - Monday - Brussels

“I'm annoyed with you,” Dorothy grumbled pointedly, tossing herself into the second desk chair with far more force than was necessary. “Your brother's an ass.”

“Why aren't you annoyed with him, then?” Relena asked curiously, continuing to write, not looking up.

“Oh, I am. It just overlaps to you too.”

The princess rolled her eyes. “I might have annoyed him first, but he does have final say when it comes to you, and maybe he's decided you were the bad influence that made me act out.”

“Jake is the one that got you to go all assertive on him,” Dorothy argued.

Relena rolled her eyes. “Yes, Jake's been somewhat literally shoving my own power in my face for the past month, but he's also the closest thing to a friend that Milliardo has anymore.” She doubted her brother realized how much his patronization of her aggravated her bodyguard.

And she certainly was no fool; she had noticed the careful reconstruction of her self esteem that the blonde man had been working on for at least the past five weeks… possibly since their first meeting, when she really thought about it.

She recognized what was happening, but she wasn't sure if it was a crafted process or just the way he treated other people… and she could hardly argue with the effects. She was still on something of a high from her confrontation with Milliardo the other day, and was actually unsure if she'd ever felt this… pleased with herself in her whole life.

She'd always been the pampered daughter of an important politician, adored by her classmates and politely respected by everyone she met… but she had been aware that the foundation of that respect was merely an extension of what was extended toward her father. Her time in Sanc had really only been a continuation of that, and she had been forced into her position as Queen of the Earth Sphere… though really, if she had stayed there, she had already more than halfway made it fully her own specialty. They had wanted a puppet queen but she had turned the tables, and had been winning, before her brother entered his “temporary insanity” phase.

She was really beginning to think everyone had one of those phases.

“You like settling into one place more than the meandering about that we're going to be doing anyway,” Relena noted to her friend. “There's more for you to do here, and less random people to annoy you.”

“Well, yes,” the other woman conceded. “But I'm going to be alone again.”

Relena frowned. “You have other friends that are staying,” she argued. “Just spend more time with them.” True, Dorothy did spend a great deal of time with her anymore, but she hadn't thought she was so attached that her leaving would elicit this strong of a response.

Her friend's face just fell… and for the first time since they had met, Relena was absolutely positive that the emotion was sincere.

Standing up quickly, she reached out and pulled her into a hug. “That look really doesn't suit you,” she muttered.

“Nothing does,” she returned just as quietly, gripping the back of the princess's jacket in fists. “Nothing ever has, but you don't care about that…”

Holding her tighter, Relena let her mind race. As shocking of an idea as it was, Dorothy was… depressed. How long has she been like this? Her mask was so good, and she had always known on some level that it was a mask, but had long given up bothering to look behind it for more than the most current motives… and now it had slipped and she needed to say the right thing.

“I'm sorry he's making you stay here,” she whispered. “I tried fighting him on it already…”

“I hate it here,” the older girl returned shakily, hiding her face against the other's shoulder. “It stopped being fun after the first week…”

…That would explain her work ethic… “Why don't you quit?”

“I swore…” She didn't seem to be crying, but her voice was getting harder to hear. “And nowhere else is better anyway.”

“That's a sad way to think,” Relena returned. “If you want it to be better, it's just something you have to find a new way about.” She had been learning that lesson herself, the past year or so. “If you don't like something, tear it down and rebuild it so you do.” She frowned. “Aren't you going to inherit soon?” The Catalonia fortune wasn't in her friend's hands until she was eighteen instead of the current seventeen standard for some reason, but Dorothy was roughly six months older than she was. “You could completely remake your life without any trouble at all, go up to the colonies.” This job is beyond stressful, if she doesn't want it she certainly shouldn't have to face it down…

Instead of calming her down, however, her last sentence made the other tighten her grip. “I don't want to give up what I do like!” she cried. Pulling back and looking down, she explained, “It's all fine with you, none of it matters then, I'm not alone if I don't want to be anymore, that would all go away if I left, and I swore to stay here…”

Relena frowned slightly, pulling Dorothy back into an easy hug again. She had a few ideas, but none that she could put into action immediately, if at all… so for now, this was the best she could come up with. She was going to be heading out in a few days, too soon to really try to change something about the other woman's situation, so she'd have to wait it out this time… and maybe in the meantime they would work on finding a loophole in her agreement with Milliardo.

She could stay and not have half the responsibilities she blatantly ignored… they just had to work out the details on how.

“You can call me, you know,” she reminded her. “And you can message Jake on his laptop. Just because you won't be in the same room for a while doesn't mean we're completely gone.”

Dorothy leaned back, focusing hard on her face for a moment… before smiling broadly in that devious way of hers. “Right…” She quickly ducked back and pulled her into one last hug, this one brief, before stepping away entirely and setting her hands on Relena's shoulders. “Of course I can.”

“You're plotting something, aren't you?” Relena asked, unable to stop her own lips from twitching into a smirk. The mask was back in place, but this was her personality all the same… the more somber end was just hidden away, and who didn't do that? Who didn't use different facades for different occasions, really?

“I might,” Dorothy returned elusively, her eyes dancing. “We should go out tomorrow, do a few things before you leave to save the world one square inch at a time.”

Relena raised a brow at that, but when her friend only continued to grin impishly, she just shook her head. “Alright.” There were definitely problems afoot… but she couldn't remember the last time life had been without any complications. Well, she could, but, having nearly gone insane with boredom and depression before her return to Brussels, she preferred not to think of it. In any case, despite the prevailing issues, which Dorothy had managed to just add herself to, everything was just… happy. Content, somehow.

“I don't suppose I get any hints about what we're doing?”

That grin was just so sly that it was downright comical. “Oh, I don't know…”

Okay, sorry this took so long as it did… and I suppose it's something of an in between chapter, at least in my head, seeing as plenty of stuff is happening, just not the stuff I've been planning for forever and a day.

As usual, I'd love to hear from any of you guys on what you liked or what you think might happen… I'm always kinda wondering if anyone is actually on the right track, or any of the false trails I'm trying to leave or off on something I hadn't even considered, considering how much I like to play in terms of the whole plot curveball sense. *looks pointedly over at Xu* Yeah, that was planned from the start, by the way, I didn't randomly change my mind or anything… I know exactly where Wufei is, and there's been enough hints dropped that maybe some of you all know too. I can be horribly overcomplicated most of the time… but sometimes it's just a simple straight-shot sort of answer.

Relena's finally turning into the character I want to write her as… damn, but it's taken her long enough to get going on that.

So… it'd be really awesome if I wasn't always just talking to myself on here… I'll even outright answer questions so long as they don't outright spoil the plot …