Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Noin & Zechs Collection ❯ When Dawn Breaks ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is owned by Hajime Yadate, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Sotsu Agency Sunrise, and Bandai Entertainment. The song, "Collide," is co-written (with Kevin Griffin) and performed by Howie Day.

Pairing: Lucrezia Noin & Zechs Merquise

Rating: Warning: Rated "M"

Author's Note: A Noin and Zechs Song Fic. Thought expressions are indicated by 'text'

Spoiler: The timing is based on Episode Zero, (A.C. 191) when Noin and Zechs are officers in The Specials unit.

The young teenager roused, with deliberate slowness, not yet ready or willing to release the serenity that was gifted to him in slumber but a few hours ago. His lips curved upwards at the corners when he felt his best friend snuggle even closer against him. He struggled internally, as a part of him craved to return to peaceful repose while the other half yearned to watch her sleep. His eyes finally remained open, having chosen the latter. He waited impatiently as his sky-blue eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room, before he lowered his gaze towards her half-hidden face.

He reached out and painstakingly brushed the tendrils of her short cropped hair from her face to expose more of her to him without her awakening. When he had accomplished the delicate task, his eyes missed nothing, from her slightly parted lips to the calmness in her expression. She was held tightly in her own serenity’s hold… and she was his serenity.

-*-
The dawn is breaking...
A light shining through...
You're barely waking...
And I'm tangled up in you.
-*-

The creeping dawn’s radiance strained to infiltrate the filthy windows of the abandoned Alliance base that served as their shelter. The shadows of night were forced away, the way their night of loving had driven away the perpetual ghosts that lurked in his mind. He was thankful for the respite, however brief…

The young officer felt the softness of his lover’s silky skin against his thigh, but it was not enough to beguile him from averting his eyes. A tender look crossed his face when a beatific expression manifested on his companion’s visage after a sigh she had made in her sleep. He traced the length of one of her arched eyebrows with the padding of his index finger before he grazed the back of his fingers down the hollow of her cheek. With a twist of his hand, he continued his administering with a light trailing of his thumb over her bottom lip. And then, he yelped in surprise…

--

The young lady grinned, in a way that resembled the Cheshire cat. While her lips were still curved impishly, she held the tip of his thumb captive in between her teeth.

She grazed the tip of her tongue over the rounded end, and when she caught the nearly inaudible intake of breath that had escaped his lips; she repeated the action to reproduce a repeated response. Rewarded for her efforts, she released her captive.

“What was that for?” Her lover inquired.

“That was for waking me up.” The young lady gave a soft, low-toned laugh as her violet eyes sparkled with mirth. She relinquished herself to an unladylike yawn, before she peeked at her watch. “Hmm… The rendezvous isn’t for another four hours. I thought we were sleeping in.”

She felt the crook of his finger raise her chin, and almost instantly, when her eyes met his, she felt herself become enraptured.

“I wanted to see your eyes.”

-*-
I'm open, you're closed.
Where I'll follow you'll go.
I worry I won't see your face
Light up again.
-*-

Officer Lucrezia Noin melted. She always did when he exposed this side of him... the playful, unpretentious, tender Zechs… which came forth so very few and far between, and only when they were absolutely alone.

It had taken many years of friendship before the young man, who embraced her so warmly now, could open up and express himself so freely. Years before Zechs trusted her wholeheartedly to share his deepest secret with her… Of his true identity and the revenge that fueled his very existence. By then, she was already half way in love with her closest friend, and deep within her soul, she knew… that for Zechs Merquise, she would follow him even to the depths of hell…

Lucrezia reached up to take possession of the hand that, but a moment ago, supported her chin, and pressed her lips against the center of its palm.

She worried about him and the destined path he has chosen to walk. ‘Will revenge really give you peace?’ She asked silently as she propped herself up higher to lean her forehead against his. ‘Will it make you happy?’ Lucrezia shut her eyes.

A light flickered in her mind and with it, a memory of time gone by… nearly five years ago, on the coldest day of the winter season…

--

- Flashback -

Young Lucrezia Noin mad dashed it through the runway towards the gray hangar that held her first class of the morning, Mobile Suit Circuitry. Clutched in her small arms were loose notes that were pinned in between pages of two spiral notebooks and an oversized textbook. While she was aware that she held her burden precariously, she took a chance and peeked at her watch, and wished she hadn’t.

The ten year old was running late (which was very rare), having slept through her alarm from pulling an all-nighter. Yet she maintained her confidence that her feet would cross the hangar gate at the onset of the bell that would herald the beginning of the class. Huffing and puffing, she continued her mission, adroitly evading near collisions with maintenance vehicles that honked at her and their drivers who bellowed at her to either “be careful” or to “get the hell out of the way”, despite the armful she carried.

A glare of light briefly obscured her line of vision and she had to look away. She heard a loud thump, of heavy metal hitting ground, amidst sounds of industry. She glanced towards the sound and was gifted by the sight of her crush, Instructor Treize Khushrenada, leaping down from a prototype Leo mobile suit. The young girl felt her face burn and quickly glanced away, and inadvertently crashed.

Into something, someone… she wasn’t sure. All she knew as she laid there, her jacket soaking in the winter chill from the slab of concrete beneath her, was that she had lost what she was carrying and that sitting would be very painful for the next few days. She heard the screech of the bell, and sat up quickly and groaned… both from the fact that she was now indeed late for class and from the pain literally in her ass. “Ow…”

“You can say that again…”

-*-
Even the best fall down sometimes.
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme.
Out of the doubt that fills my mind,
I somehow find you and I collide.
-*-

Lucrezia blinked at the words she heard, and saw a body a few feet away, littered with her notes, notebooks, and heavy textbook on top of him. She scrambled to her feet to kneel by the limp figure. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” She cried out in dismay, as she began to shove her things off of the unfamiliar boy, but one who bore the same uniform as she. “Are you okay?” The young girl asked as she hovered over him to cast her eyes on his face, and her breath caught in her throat, for he was the most beautiful boy she had ever seen…

Her violet eyes captured everything… from the youth’s long, silky platinum-blond hair that framed his face to the clear sky-blue eyes that peered into hers. The images her mind committed to memory, while the young girl was unaware now, would be imprinted in there forever. They will become part of a collection of happy memories that the adult Lucrezia Noin would be able to draw upon during darker times.

“I’m alright, I think.”

The voice, still alto and reminiscent of a pre-pubescent boy, jostled her out from her unmannerly staring and shot up quickly to her feet to give the young boy a hand up.

“I’m so sorry. I’m not usually so clumsy.” Lucrezia blushed a deep crimson hue.

“I didn’t think you were from the way you maneuvered your way through that traffic back there. That was brave of you.”

If it was possible, the girl’s face would have reddened a shade darker after hearing the boy’s words.

“It was my fault, was it not, Lucrezia?” A deeper voice grew louder as the handsome aristocrat-instructor approached them.

“S-Sir!” Lucrezia brought her feet together in attention and an accompanying salute. ‘His fault? Does he know about my crush?’ Her face, which was as red as a lobster a moment before, drained of all color.

“As you were.” Treize Khrushrenada smiled, after returning her salute. “As I was saying… I believe Lucrezia was distracted by the new Leo prototype that I was test driving. What do you think of the latest mobile suit?” He asked the young female cadet.

Lucrezia’s knees nearly buckled in relief. She paused to count to three before she replied. “I heard rumors of the Leo’s high mobility. I can’t wait to see its schematics and possibly test pilot it myself, Sir.” The young girl couldn't hide the excitement that grew in her voice with each successive word.

“Continue raising the bar, Lucrezia, and I do not doubt that you will be offered the chance to test it very soon.”

“Yes, Sir." The cadet blushed. "Thank you, Sir.”

“Ah… where are my manners!” The elder of the three exclaimed as he looked from the girl to the boy before him. “Cadet Zechs Merquise, I am honored to make known to you, Lucrezia Noin, the youngest cadet and top student in the history of Lake Victoria Academy. Cadet Noin, this is Zechs Merquise, a new addition to the academy and your new classmate. I’m counting on you to help him catch up and become comfortable here, Cadet.”

Throughout the introduction, Noin’s heart swelled from the compliments that spilled from her idol’s lips. “Please leave it to me, Sir.” Noin turned to the other cadet and bowed. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Cadet Merquise.”

The boy executed a very elegant bow and then gave her a slight smile. “It is a pleasure to meet you too, Cadet Noin. Let me help you with your things.”

Noin smiled in return. “Thank you.” She murmured as she kneeled to the ground to assist him and Instructor Treize who began to help as well.

“Lucrezia…”

She heard the instructor say, and she glanced up to see Treize carefully studying one of her papers. “Sir?”

“Did you draft this?” Treize held up the schematic drawing he was holding.

“Yes, Instructor Treize. It was just musing on my part, Sir. It’s nothing important.” Noin said quickly as she reached out to grab it.

Treize pulled it out of her range. “May I borrow this, Lucrezia?”

“I… Yes, Sir.” The young girl acceded in defeat. She lowered her face when she felt her cheeks grew warm again and kept herself busy righting the papers she had collected. “It’s nothing special, Sir.”

“We shall see.” Treize murmured before handing the oversized textbook and loose sheaves of paper to young Zechs, who was not prepared for the heavy weight of the tome.

Noin stood up and was about to take her possessions from the other cadet when the young Instructor gestured for them both to follow him to the hangar.

Her heart began to thump in anxiousness as she approached her classroom. She was never so late to class before, and her imagination ran rampant to various forms of punishment, even the archaic ones, she might receive for being at such state of tardiness.

Noin scanned the room quickly when she entered, but she need not have worried. All eyes were on Treize Khrushrenada who not only introduced the new cadet to the instructor and the entire class, but covered for Cadet Noin’s tardiness.

After apologizing and bowing to the instructor and class, Lucrezia Noin grabbed the remainder of her things from Zechs with an apologetic thanks and proceeded to the empty workstation near the back.

No sooner had she settled in, the instructor deployed the new cadet to Lucrezia’s station. With a warm smile, Lucrezia proceeded to share her textbook and her notes.

-*-
I'm quiet, you know,
You make a first impression…
-*-

While the young girl was engrossed in reading a passage in her textbook, young Merquise’s eyes kept finding their way onto her face.

--

“Earth to Luzia…”

The young lady’s eyes blinked open to the sound of the nickname that Zechs coined from her name. She leaned back to gaze at him, and wondered how it was that she came to straddle him.

“Did you fall asleep?” He asked with a laugh that reverberated through his entire body.

“I was just remembering the day we met.” She slipped her arms around his neck and speared her fingers through the silkiness of his light-colored hair. She closed her fingers around the tendrils that caught in her hand and gently pulled so that his lips could meet hers for a gentle, fleeting kiss.

“You knocked me head over heels, as I recall…” He murmured softly, as he returned the kiss.

The young lady smirked at his comment. "And that awful book had pinned you to the ground!" She dipped lower to lay a kiss upon the hollow of his collarbone.

Zechs buried his face in Lucrezia's hair, breathing in the fading scent of the herbal shampoo she favored. He brought his hands to skim down her sides to settle on her hips. "I was so surprised to see a female cadet that day. I never once saw a girl during the tour."

"Hmm… There were only four of us in that entire academy." She sat up and grinned impishly. "The cool part was that we each had two bathrooms all to ourselves."

"Lucky you!" He chuckled. He gazed deeply into her violet eyes, before he pressed his lips onto her forehead, on the apple of each cheeks, the tip of her nose, and finally, her chin.

"Back then, I was actually surprised that you even glanced at my direction." Zechs Merquise murmured quietly.

Noin arched a winged eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You only had eyes for Treize back then," was the solemn reply

The lady officer’s eyes grew wide with shock, but a moment later, she gave in to a gurgle of amusement. “You knew?”

Zechs smirked at her as he brushed her longish bangs from her face. “You blushed every time he came about ten feet of you.”

“I did not!” She exclaimed.

“You did too!” Officer Merquise rebuttled as he resettled her on his lap.

“I grew out of it eventually…” She wiggled her bottom teasingly.

The teenager groaned at her administering. “Yeah…” He began breathlessly. “Two years later!” He grabbed the sides of her face firmly with his hands and thoroughly possessed her lips, as if to make Noin forget that she even had a crush on another man.

After what seemed like eternity, he crossed his hands at the wrist behind her head and rolled them both until Lucrezia was on her back. He then proceeded to explore her mouth as if chartering new territory. His hands followed suit…