Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Yuletide Peace ❯ Friendly Reunions ( Chapter 2 )

Title: Yuletide Peace [part 2/6]

Book 4 of the "Incredible Edibles Series"

Author: Enigma

Written: December, 2001; revised: December, 2002

Rating: NC-17

Series: Gundam Wing

Pairings: (3x5)-lemon [(Sally+9) (1x2) (6x4)]-non-lemon

Category: Yaoi, Shojo ai, Romance, Sap, Humor, Lemon, AU-OOC

Enigma Story Category: Pilots' Pleasure

Archive: mediaminer.org [author: "E-sama the Llama"], GW Addiction, Sweet&Sweet

Warnings: yaoi, shojo ai, romance, sap, humor, lemon, Howard, G-Boys in party clothes, seductive eating, holiday foods, fluff, and general silliness. AU-OOC.

Disclaimers: "Gundam Wing" is the property of Bandai, Sunrise, et al. This unauthorized and unpaid piece of fanfiction was created for entertainment only, kindly do not sue me.

Notes: Following a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with friends, Wufei and Trowa rendezvous with Sally aboard Howard's ship and the injured ShenLong pilot is finally freed of the cumbersome cast that he has worn since his Gundam was shot down. What special gift does Trowa offer Wufei while they attend a joyful Christmas party which includes another lovely face from both Gundam pilots' recent pasts?

*****

"Lucrezia Noin?!" Wufei exclaimed when he discovered who had been knocking on their stateroom door. "What are *you* doing here?"

The last time the ShenLong pilot had seen the woman had been the day he destroyed the Lake Victoria Base and she had come after him in a mobile suit intending to kill him. Of course, she had failed and his own counterattack against her had been less than lethal so there was no reason for him to be particularly pleased to see her.

Granted, he had forgotten that Trowa had spent time with her when he and Heero had gone to face off against Zechs Merquise and if he had remembered this simple fact, Noin's response wouldn't have caught him off guard as badly as it did.

Ignoring the blustered question, the former OZ officer smiled warmly and said, "Hello, Trowa. It's wonderful to see you again." She stood before them wearing an attractive holiday ensemble with a festive white sweater with images of snowmen and children dashing about above navy blue slacks that fit her like a second skin, highlighting her feminine form.

To Wufei's further shock, Trowa smiled in return and stepped forward to shake hands with the newcomer. "Hello, Lt. Noin, it's nice to see you, too. Um, won't you come in?" Gesturing at the room realizing it was inappropriate to invite a lady into the bedroom he shared with his decidedly masculine lover yet not having a lot of options.

"No, thanks, Trowa." Lucrezia answered kindly then added, "And it's nice to see you again, too, Wufei. By the way, I'm not with OZ any more, so please just call me 'Lucrezia'."

"Um, all right," Wufei hesitantly responded, not certain he felt comfortable with someone he'd tried to kill standing in his doorway so close to his angel and acting as if they were old friends. Unable to find a way to explain his confusion immediately, he repeated his earlier query with less negative emotion in his voice, "What are you doing here, Lucrezia?"

Pleased that the once rude boy was trying to be polite, she smiled warmly at him then shrugged, answering, "I'd hoped to avoid startling either of you at the party, so I asked Sal where you were and she sent me this way."

"'Sal'?" Trowa asked with a knowing smile of his own, "So, you're a guest of Dr. Po's, Lucrezia? Does this mean you've put you affections for Zechs behind you?"

The woman merely laughed then shook her head, "No, I'm afraid that you've got it wrong, Trowa, she and I are just good friends." There was a wistful look in her midnight blue eyes as she added, "Not that I wouldn't mind it being more, but there's rarely a chance for the two of us to be in the same place at the same time, unfortunately. As for Zechs, well, let's just say that the rumors about us were greatly exaggerated and frankly neither of us are the right type for the other as I'm sure young Master Winner can attest!"

"What?!" Wufei's shock-meter was getting quite a bit of use on that December afternoon as it bumped up another notch. "You knew about that? When did you find out?"

Her smile softened as she recalled the night she'd spent listening to her tall, platinum blond friend pour his heart out to her about his unexpected new relationship after the life-altering trip to Eros. Merquise had agonized over his desires for Quatre before he left OZ behind, and it had been Lucrezia that he had turned to for support during those trying weeks.

Sighing sadly that the two blond pilots had lost as much time as they did before they finally got together once more, she said, "I knew about it probably before anyone else did, Wufei. Zechs knew he couldn't go to Treize about it since it might be taken as treasonous and he had so few people he could really trust at the time." A spark of cheer returned to her voice as she added, "But that's all changed, hasn't it? A lot of things have changed during this war and my being here is just one of them, I guess."

"This is true," Trowa smiled and then gave Wufei a tiny apologetic smile as he admitted, "Come to think of it, though, shouldn't some of us be going to Sally and Howard's party? I'm sure we can get caught up more on the way to the hangar where the party's being held." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Wufei's disappointed expression, he hated having a tryst interrupted but the shock of seeing Lucrezia had severely diminished his desires anyway.

Shrugging his shoulders helplessly, the ShenLong pilot agreed, "Certainly, Tro, but don't say their names together like that, please. The image it brings to mind is more than enough to deprive me of my appetite."

"Oh?" Trowa chuckled softly and stood to one side of the doorway so his beloved could hobble through more easily with his cane. "Now that you mention it, that *is* a rather squicky idea, koi."

There wasn't any hesitation or reluctance to call his lover by the endearment openly in front of the woman despite not knowing what she did or didn't suspect about their emotional connection to begin with.

Since their arrival onboard the "Aloha," they had been completely open about their relationship and were pleased to discover no difficulties because of it. Howard's only comment was that he was relieved since the quarters he was assigning them only had a double bed in them anyway, however, the suggestive wink that went with the remark told a different story. Sally had obviously been thrilled about it from the very start. The technicians and crewmembers were appropriately disinterested, they were in charge of maintenance of machines not romances, and it left the two young warriors feeling totally relaxed about a subject that might have been problematic elsewhere.

Lucrezia giggled softly after thinking about Trowa's remark for a moment and nodded her head before warning, "But if you think it makes *your* skin crawl, just imagine how Sal would react to it! Ugh, that would *not* be a pretty picture!"

"Precisely," the Chinese teen agreed leading the way down the metal corridor with greater ease when they encountered the higher friction of the anti-slip flooring that was outside the VIP quarters they were sharing. Neither boy had complained about the fact that the slick metal floor in their stateroom was not compatible with his cane since they were in it so infrequently, sad to say.

As they left the vicinity of their cabin behind, Wufei mentioned, "Angel? Could you remind me to send out Debra's Christmas card later?"

"Sure," the European boy smiled easily, "You got that done already, koi? I'm glad the ship's mail gets dropped off in Corpus Christi. She ought to get it close to Christmas then."

Lucrezia listened to their conversation with curiosity and before long she gave in and asked who "Debra" was. As a result, she ended up hearing several amusing anecdotes about the little blond child that had made the two pilots' lives more colorful recently if nothing else and she saw a new side to the two boys she'd never expected.

"You two sound like doting uncles to me," the blue-haired woman teased gently.

Wufei snorted softly and tried to deny it, "Oh, not at all, Lucrezia. She was simply a pleasant child who we got to know rather well."

Trowa nodded but wondered if there wasn't a grain of truth to be had in the nineteen year old woman's words.

"Ah," the woman nodded, then smiled secretively as she asked, "so if I asked if she liked Barbies or teddy bears better you wouldn't know, right, Wufei?"

The glimmer of amusement in deep blue eyes was unmistakable as the Chinese youth answered automatically, "Neither, she's an Elmo fan." Realizing he'd fallen into her trap when Lucrezia snickered softly at his reply, he sighed and nodded, smiling helplessly as he admitted, "Well, I guess you're right, we *do* sound like doting uncles after all! At least we don't carry her picture in our wallets or anything, though."

"Bet you would if she gave you one," Lucrezia commented teasingly, then added more kindly, "I think it's sweet, actually. Anyone who thinks you guys are all death and destruction should get to know you better the way that I have. No wonder Zechs fell for Quatre. If he's half the sweetheart you two are, then my dear friend is in good hands."

Trowa coughed quietly to cover the laugh that wanted to escape as he recalled accidentally walking in on the two blondes making unusual use of the surface of the washing machine in Virginia then agreed, "Oh, you can rest assured that Milliardo is indeed in *very* good hands, Lucrezia."

"I'm glad to hear it," the woman smiled.

Conversation then turned to a variety of other topics as they made their way down the corridor and the noise level increased with every step.

*****

Approaching the party from the side of the hangar where one of the crewmen had set up a DJ booth of sorts, the threesome discovered why the music was so deafening.

Howard, ever creative with his engineering skills, had somehow put together an amplifier and speaker system that rivaled that of most heavy metal rock bands. Music from around the world from more genres than one might think exist had been blaring through the huge open room to the mixed delight of the partygoers.

Trowa and Wufei looked more pained by the loud noise than Lucrezia did as they made their way past assorted merrymakers on a makeshift dance floor.

The woman laughed at the two young men and realized her own ability to tolerate the raucous noise of the J-Rock song that was blaring around them was mostly from her time with the various groups of cadets she once taught for OZ. If she hadn't grown accustomed to the decibel level of their frequent spontaneous assemblies to blow off steam, the blue-eyed instructor might have been less well-loved than she was at the time.

Thoughts of the young men she once lead crossed Lucrezia's mind and she sadly recalled the fates of so many of them leaving her with a touch of unwanted melancholia as they approached the far end of the room where there was not only less noise, but more importantly food.

Spotting the new arrivals, Sally smiled broadly and strode towards them. The former Alliance physician looked particularly lovely in a lively party dress made of red and green plaid which boasted a poinsettia corsage that the ship's crew had given her in thanks for organizing the party. Smiling as she greeted Wufei with a warm, sisterly embrace that left the usually staid youth huffing in mock-annoyance, she said, "Ah, Luce, you found them, wonderful. Is everything okay between you now?"

Lucrezia smiled back, temporary sadness banished by the older woman's fond smiles and the use of the childhood nickname no one else ever used since Lucrezia usually reacted badly to hearing it, and answered, "Sure is, Sal. We had a nice chat on the way here and I'd say we're getting along famously now, right, boys?"

Her impertinent grin might have offended them some other day but not this one as Trowa offered a tiny smile of his own and said, "Yes, I'd say so. I'm just glad we aren't on opposite sides of the war any longer. Having Lucrezia here would be a much more uncomfortable situation if we were still enemies, wouldn't it, Sally?" His pointed emerald gaze seemed to try to silently convey a deeper meaning to his words, yet the doctor missed it.

"Absolutely right, Trowa," Sally commented and then added, "Wow, you two look *great* in those outfits! Duo's fashion sense is unparalleled."

Shy as always when people stared at him, Trowa glanced down and brushed an imaginary speck from his tie before looking back up from beneath his bangs and saying, "Thank you again for the clothes, Sally. I don't know if I look all that good or not, but Fei is simply exquisite in the red silk tunic you selected. Very dignified yet intriguing, don't you think?"

"Yes indeed," the honey-haired woman agreed with a smile then reassured, "but you look great, too, Trowa, I'm sure that Wufei already told you that."

"Of course I did," the oriental youth huffed in annoyance, "I don't know why he doubts my words, though."

"Maybe because you say that even when I'm covered in grease after working on HeavyArms?" Trowa teased unexpectedly, then smiled shyly and reached out to tuck a stray strand of black silk hair over one bronze ear lovingly, a gesture not lost on anyone present.

Wufei assumed his classic arrogant expression and replied haughtily, "And it is true then as well, Mister Barton! Never doubt the word of the last son of the Dragon clan!"

"Ah, so *that's* why there are dragons on your outfit," Lucrezia suddenly remarked, pleased to have kept her curiosity at bay long enough for an answer to be offered without asking for a change.

With a knowing smile of her own, Sally remarked, "That's right, Luce. Wufei and I talked about our shared heritage awhile back and even though I'm not from a family as distinguished as his is, I thought it fit to select a design that honored his ancestors. Besides," she winked at the former OZ pilot as Wufei glanced away and missed the hint that he was about to be made fun of, "rumor has it that a certain someone calls him that on a regular basis, too. I wonder what's so 'dragony' about him?"

"Onna!" Wufei exclaimed peevishly, sparkling onyx eyes filled with a displeasure that was erased by the touch of a soothing ivory hand to his own where he suddenly held the cane in a death grip. Looking up at delighted emerald eyes, the instant anger vanished and he added more calmly, "What Tro deems worthy to call me is his own choice, I assure you."

Trowa shrugged and remarked easily, "As to what is 'dragony' about him, Sally, I'd say publicly that it is his fierce nature and dedication to justice, both things I find highly attractive about him. What I might say in private is for *his* ears alone, aren't they, my dragon-Fei?"

The gently seductive teasing that the pair were engaged in earlier had returned and this time it was the more dominant of the two's turn to feel a slight bit of heat in his cheeks as he replied in an equally teasing tone, "Unquestionably, my angel-Tro." Noting the raised eyebrows on both of the women who were listening to them with rapt attention, he added archly, "And, no, I *won't* tell either of you what is 'angely' as you might say, about him! He is *obviously* heavenly, end of story."

The two women broke into giggles and found themselves suddenly interested in other things as Trowa blushed furiously, Wufei grinned like the cat that ate the canary, and both of them looked like they were considering a return to their stateroom as soon as possible.

*****

To be continued

Full Author's Notes to run at conclusion.