Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ When We Were Young ❯ En Garde ( Chapter 10 )

A/N: finally!!!! It took me long enough, ne? I was gonna post it earlier but our cable went out and our server runs on a cable modem =P

Disclaimer: I do not own them, nor do I claim ownership to them. The characters, I mean. Uh…* clears throat* well…that's it…for the disclaimer, I mean…so…uh…yyyyyyeeeeaaahhhh…. *gulp *…. * dashes away*

FYI: This takes place right after the last chapter (well the next morning).

"En garde"

Noin shifted her backpack on her shoulder, glancing down the white-walled corridor expectantly. She wasn't going to enter fencing class until the last possible second. Where was that boy, anyway? After the first two days in the Academy, neither him nor Noin were ever late. And what in the world happened last night?

She had been having trouble sleeping, contemplating Zechs' unusual attitude towards her. The nighttime sky had always calmed her, so she decided to take a midnight stroll. The last person she had expected to run into was Zechs. He was in a pair of sweatpants, and the soft moonlight glistened off of his chest as rivulets of sweat trickled down his body. There were raw red marks on the right side of his torso and arm that looked strangely like burns. That wasn't the strangest part, though. The thing that surprised Noin the most was his face. He wasn't wearing his mask and she was able to see the fine features of his face. He looked peculiarly aristocratic, and Noin was finally able to look into his eyes without the God-forsaken mask and its obscured eyeholes.

To say what she saw shocked her would be the understatement of the year. Crisp, ice blue eyes had looked into her own, and, for a moment, she saw what no one else saw. Noin saw his desperation, and what appeared to be utter fear, but that couldn't have been it, right? He seemed to be harboring some inner struggle and it took all of Lucrezia's willpower not to take him in her arms and rock him soothingly. That's when she had a sudden revelation.

Noin had been angry with him, for not opening up to her. She had felt betrayed, like her best friend didn't trust her at all. She never assumed, never guessed that he had had past troubles not unlike her own. What else could bring such guilt and pain into his light blue eyes? When he started to run away from her, she had been too shocked at first, and just stared after his retreating form, before snapping out of her thoughtful reverie. She wished she would have gone after him, and found out what was troubling him. That's what a true friend would have done. That simple thought nauseated her beyond belief. She treasured her friendship with Zechs higher than she really should, and the fact that she let run away to God-knows where proved a fact she had been trying to ignore. Maybe he was all right, though she hadn't seen him since last night.

Noin heard the distinct click of boots echoing down the now empty hallway. She looked up and immediately recognized her best friend as the source of the noise. She instantly noted the telltale mask, back on his platinum blonde head. She offered him a weak smile, and he returned in kind, and both slipped into class just as the bell rang for the start of class.

"Today we will be partnering up and sparring…" began the instructor, but Noin tuned him out and turned to her friend.

"What happened last night?" she whispered, anticipating his response.

"Fire in my room…" he stated swiftly, turning to look into his friend's deep violet eyes.

Noin immediately tensed up and gripped his arm, "Was it purposely set?" she asked anxiously, studying Zechs' face trying to gauge his response. He shook his blonde head, but Noin did not release the grip on his arm, instead asking another question that plagued her mind, "Are you all right?" she asked tentatively, eyeing him from under her cropped raven hair.

Zechs offered her a small reassuring smile, shaking his head again. Satisfied, Noin turned back to the instructor and was able to catch the last bit of his over-long directions.

"I want you to be more concerned with completing the new moves correctly, and not so concerned with defeating your opponent. This will be a longer match, say ten points, because I want to come around and observe each of your matches. Now, for the partners…" he said, looking among the cadets, and everyone automatically shifted closer to their friends. Zechs snorted, did he really expect everyone to be not so competitive? He had better keep dreaming…

Instructor Mason's brown eyes roamed over the class, as he began pointing to people and telling them to get their fencing garb on. He came to where Zechs and Noin were standing and grinned at them, which was quite a frightening sight.

"Can't split up the Dream Team, now can I?" he said jokingly, motioning for Zechs and Noin to go get their stuff on.

As they slipped their suits over their clothes, Noin turned to Zechs inquisitively.

"Does that mean we're sparring partners?" she asked, pulling her helmet on over her raven head.

Zechs nodded, "Probably," he said. Zechs did not put a helmet on, because Instructor Mason had already said that his usual mask would serve all right as a fencing helmet.

As the duo simultaneously grabbed their foils, just as they heard the instructor's voice echo through the matted gym.

"You may begin when you are ready! Remember, first to ten points!" he called. Noin followed Zechs as he walked over to an open mat and stood across form her. Nervousness suddenly flooded Noin's veins and her knees buckled slightly. She knew she was a good fencer but Zechs was so much better! It's like he had done fencing before he came to the Academy. Well, he very well might have, considering Noin did not know anything about the young cadet anyway.

"Ready?" Zechs asked his Italian friend, and he saw her nod her helmeted head slowly. The two held out their foils as they slipped into their fighting stances.

"En garde," Zechs said softly, but Noin was still able to catch it. And the match began.

Zechs started off by a quick thrust, which Noin easily knocked away with her foil, and that's how the match continued. An onslaught of attacks and parries kept their foils ringing throughout the gym like some haunting melody. Noin was becoming frustrated, for she was constantly on defense against Zechs' relentless assaults. So far, Noin had three points and Zechs had six. She knew she could still catch up, but she was becoming increasingly exhausted and Zechs was not backing down.

"What were you doing outside last night?" Zechs asked through the foil collisions. He grunted as Noin pulled a particularly aggressive thrust that almost set him off balance. Almost.

"Watching the stars," she replied, clipping her answer in order to pay attention to the task at hand.

"Oh," Zechs replied, before adding, "Don't you have a window in your room?"

Noin chuckled, blocking his attack with an attack of her own.

"Yeah," she said, but it came out quite breathy as she tried to force her tired limbs to work. Truthfully, she was tired because she hadn't got much sleep last night at all, but she couldn't let Zechs see she was weakening or he'd have her for sure.

Zechs asked no further questions, but did score on Noin again, causing the young girl to curse under her breath as the blonde boy muttered, "Touché."

"Bite your tongue Cadet Noin!" Zechs whispered sharply, and his joking caused Noin to let out another half chortle.

"Yessir!" She said sarcastically, and saw an opening to score another point on her friend, "Touché," she said teasingly, mocking the young cadet.

Now it was Zechs' turn to curse, and he quickly began another vicious assault. He suddenly realized that everyone else had finished their games and were watching them spar. He grimaced at his lax muscles, trying to ignore the fact that he had practically no sleep whatsoever last night. Now the score was four to seven. Truthfully, he didn't know how Noin was keeping stride with him for so long. Fencing was the one class he particularly excelled in, not that Noin wasn't good or anything.

Noin was forced to back up under the torrent of moves she was obligated to parry. Try as she might she could not find a weak point in Zechs' offense and defense. Then, a picture of Zechs from last night slipped into her mind. He had been wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants, and his right torso and arm were raw with burns. Noin studied his movements closer, and this small fault stuck out to her. He was favoring his right side.

Noin was too busy studying her partner's weakness to notice his foil that slipped against her stomach.

"Touché," he said, mentally tallying up his points. He had eight and Noin had four. Only two more.

Noin made a quick thrust at his right side, causing him to knock away her foil fearfully, and she took the opportunity to come around quickly and graze his left side.

"Touché yourself," Noin replied, allowing herself a small smile for her little victory.

"Eight to five," Zechs said, attempting to twist her foil but she rotated her wrist and swiped at his shoulder. He, of course, knocked her foil away.

Noin swiped again at his right side, and again she copied her move before and slashed at his left torso.

"Touché," she said again, and watched amusedly as Zechs tightened his jaw decidedly and began attacking her swiftly.

Noin leaned forward as their foils met, and their helmeted foreheads banged together, their breath mingling.

"Eight to six," Noin said, and Zechs grunted, pushing Noin away as she began an attack. He realized now she was trying the same trick and he would not fall for it again. As she attacked his right side her countered it like he had previously done, but when she went to hit his left side he slipped through her attack and grazed her shoulder.

"Touché," he informed her, then added, "Nine to six." Their attacks went on for sometime, Noin was not willing to take another chance at attacking and stayed on defense, hoping to wear him out. However, soon the bell rang for class and Instructor Mason stopped the sparring partners.

"Nice match, cadets," he said happily, "You both did very well, and Zechs you even went beyond the new attacks I showed in class. Keep up the good work." He turned and began walking away, leaving the two to slip off their fencing suits and, in Noin's case, her helmet.

"But," Noin said to his retreating form, "We never got to finish!"

Zechs shrugged, stretching his long legs, "Maybe we can finish it later…after supper."

Noin considered this for a moment, then shook her sweat-slicked head, "No," she said, "I'm way too tired, I didn't get much sleep last night."

Zechs nodded, "Yeah, me either," he agreed, and the two began to walk to their next class.

"What was the score again?" Noin asked, shifting the weight of her book bag so it sat more comfortably on her drained shoulder muscles.

"Nine to six," he told her, slipping his hand in his mask to wipe some sweat from his brow. That's when he suddenly realized: Noin had seen him with his helmet off last night! Panic seized him, until he thought logically. Noin probably had no idea who he was! And there wasn't any reason for her to tell anyone; he was her only friend at the Academy, after all.

Noin thought about this slowly. Nine to six? That thought amused her slightly. What were the odds that the bells would ring at the exact score? She wondered if she should tell Zechs about this little tidbit that fascinated her, but then thought against it. He would probably think she was being dumb for thinking about something so silly.

But she couldn't get the thought out of her head as she walked to class.

Nine-six.

*Neun-Sechs

Noin-Zechs

*Neun and Sechs are the original German spelling of Nine and Six, but they are pronounced Zechs and Noin.

A/N: If you didn't understand the last part, Noin just thought it was strange how the score came out nine to six, and their names mean nine and six in German. Well did ya like this chapter???? Gomen nasai! I know it took awhile! If my cable would have been fixed sooner I would have updated sooner. * sigh*. Such is life. Well I have some other things I would like to ask everyone, so please don't push the back button yet!!! ^_^

1) Quite obvious, please review! Even if it's really short or whatever I don't care! And to those of you who have been reviewing I would like to give big thanks! It means a lot to me! If the Internet was working (while I'm typing this) I would be able to name everyone who's been reviewing, but I will try and do it from the top of my head. Thank you's go out to Chibi Tsuki who reviewed…well…a lot. To sweetangel who also reviews a lot. To Callipso Nicol, thanks ^_^ (hehe watch out for the ketchup!). and to moongiggles, who suggested I make the chapters longer. -_-; ehehehe…sorry if they're still too short for your liking.

2) This story is sort of reaching a blockade with me, stupid writer's block. *kicks the writer's block, but stubs her toe *. Ow! Well anyway, if you have any suggestions you would like to appear in this story please feel free to leave a comment either by review or email. My email is trunks_girl01@hotmail.com if you wanna be lazy and don't go to my bio.

Thanks soooooooo much everyone!! Oooh, my cables back on I'm gonna go update now!! Chao, kids!!!

Luvvies, KaT aka Mistress Shinigami