Disclaimer: GW is owned by Sunrise & the Sotsu Agency and probably a bunch of other people. Not mine. I’m just borrowing. Don’t sue.
Warnings: well, umm . . . everyone’s straight!
C&C?
Please?
From Forever to Forever
Part One: In Health
September 22nd, A.C.
199—WuFei Chang—11:30 a.m.
I grab the map from Sally with a sigh. She’s got us lost. Again. I don’t understand
why someone as brilliant as her has so many problems with maps, but it never
fails. And here we are, driving around
the whole damn colony looking for Quatre’s house, because she insisted that she
navigate.
She gets out of the car, still angry with me. “I’m getting a soda,” she says coldly. “Do you want anything?”
I shake my head, pulling my reading glasses out of the glove
compartment. My head’s buried in the
map, but I still notice the way she stalks off toward the gas station
store. I try to hide a smile. She’s cute when she’s frustrated.
The map is relatively simple. We just missed an exit—that’s easy enough to fix. However, Sally had led me down some
weird back road in order to get back on the main highway. It probably set us back about twenty
minutes. Still, no big deal.
She slides in again, holding the cold soda can against
her forehead. “Why on earth would any
one willingly live on a desert colony?”
I smile. I like
it when she whines. It’s nice to be
reminded that she’s not a super-human.
Taking off my glasses, I hand her the map and start the engine.
“You know,” I begin, after a moment’s silence, “we’ve
been living together for nearly a year now.”
“Yeah?” Her
breaths quicken. She must be
nervous. But she tries to hide it. I like it when I can see through her. “It’s good for our missions; who cares what
the guys will say?”
I bite my lip, nervously. I’ve never done anything remotely like this in my life. “Well, what if we stop thinking of it as
business?”
“You mean . . . you want us to live together? Like a couple?” Does she have to sound so incredulous?
I can feel my face flush. Is she really interested in me, or had I interpreted her actions
the wrong way? “Yeah, like a real
couple.” There’s a lot more I can say,
but I can’t get the words out. I don’t
know where to begin. Do I confess that
I had purposely stood next to her at the New Year’s party in order to kiss
her? Do I tell her that I like cooking
dinner for her, though I try to disguise it with complaints? Do I tell her that she’s the one who made me
finally begin to let go of Meiran?
I can’t say a thing.
I glance over to her, hoping to smile instead, but her eyes are glued to
the passing scenery. Way to give a guy
some confidence, Sally.
“I’d like that, WuFei,” she says softly. She reaches over and gently covers my hand
with her own.
I
almost swerve off the road.
September 22nd
–Hilde Schbeiker—5:28 p.m.
When we show up for Quatre’s birthday party, a
sprite-like girl answers the door. She
looks like she's younger than me, but I can tell by Heero's expression that
this is Silvia Noventa-Winner. Wow, I
have to say that Quatre did well for himself.
She's lovely. It's hard to think
that she's a year and a half older than me.
She looks all of sixteen. For a
moment I’m grateful that Duo hadn’t met her first.
"Hello, Heero," she says, as we enter the
foyer. "You must be Hilde and
Duo. I've heard lots about you from
Quatre." She takes our coats and
leads us toward the reception room.
Duo leans toward me.
"I forgot how rich Quatre is.
It's kinda weird, considering how our conditions are in the Preventor
barracks," he whispers into my ear.
I smile. Duo's not one for
whispering, so I can tell that he's really awed by Quatre's home.
"I'm really glad you guys could make it. I was afraid it was just going to be us and
the Maganacs." She laughs
prettily. "To be honest, I've
known them all for a year and I can only remember about twelve of their
names!" I almost tell her how long
it’d taken me to get all the gundam pilots’ names straight, but don’t want to
hurt Heero’s feelings. For so long they
were just a bunch of guys with mobile suits.
Heero steps forward to talk to Silvia. "So how are the defenses on this
colony?"
Duo snickers, and I can't help but laugh a little. What is with that guy? I know he's Duo's best friend and all, but
frankly I think he's a little psycho.
Who talks about defense when there hasn't been a major battle in three
years? Duo's bright eyes meet mine and
he grabs my hand.
"So, are we gonna tell them?" he asks, his
voice low.
"Tell them what?" Quatre asks, popping out from
a nearby room, dangling champagne glasses between his fingers. He greets us all with hugs and formally
introduces us to his wife. "What's
the news?" he asks Duo, handing a glass to each of us. I refuse, and I notice that he doesn’t keep
one for himself, either.
"Well," Duo begins, scratching his head. "You see, Hilde and I are
engaged."
"That's wonderful!" Silvia says with a
smile. She takes a bottle of champagne
from the table and pours it. Duo gulps
down his entire glass. Maybe I was
wrong to accept his proposal.
"Is she pregnant?" Quatre asks, smiling smugly
as if he's enjoying some kind of private joke.
Duo starts to cough and sputter while Heero thumps on his
back unmercifully. I can't hide my
blush, so I look away. The carpet is
lovely—I'll examine that instead. Duo
never explained to me how very blunt his friends can be.
"Actually," Duo says, "We are kind of
expecting a baby sometime in April."
"Really?" Quatre exclaims. I glance up and meet his wide eyes. "I was just kidding—that's what Duo
asked me when I married Silvia!"
He's flustered and blushing cutely.
I can't help but laugh.
Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.
"That's not why we're getting married. I couldn't pull Duo away from the Preventors if I wasn't sure
that he really wanted to do it."
"Oh," Silvia says quietly. "I forgot that you'd both have to leave
the Preventors."
Duo nods glumly.
"I hate having to leave, but those are the rules. Hilde puts in her last two weeks after New
Year's, and I'll be leaving right before the wedding."
"And when will that be?" Heero asks.
"July," I answer promptly. "The kids will already be born, but
it'll be a lot less hectic than getting it done with now."
"Kids?"
Duo asks with a confused expression.
I cover my face with my hands, mortified all over again. I guess I forgot to tell him about my visit
with the doctor.
I nod, grinning like an idiot. "Twins."
Duo always was one to believe in “the more the
merrier.” He grabs me up in a bear hug,
and the others congratulate us excitedly.
"What's this I hear?" WuFei asks dryly as he
and Sally make their way across the crowded reception room. "Maxwell's breeding? My God, what is this world coming to? Next thing you know Heero will run off and
marry Relena Darlian."
We all get a huge laugh over that one.
September 22nd—Silvia
Noventa-Winner—11:28 p.m.
I
nuzzle gently against Quatre, still excited by the secure sensation of his arms
wrapped around me, despite the year we've been together. I can't remember sleeping alone. And I don't want to.
I
can smell the scent of his skin—like water.
I find it strange, since he was raised in a desert colony, that he
always smells like water drawn from a fresh spring. And his skin always feels so cool against mine.
I
nuzzle even closer, lowering my head into the shallow dip separating his
shoulder from his collarbone.
"Are
you awake?" I ask, knowing that he is.
"Mm-hmm." He doesn't want to talk. But he needs to.
"You’re
upset that Trowa didn't come." I
meant to ask it as a question—but I already know the answer. He'd been upset all day, from the moment he
realized that his friend wasn't going to show up for his birthday dinner.
He
nods and glances down at me. In the dim
light of our bedroom his eyes look almost brown. "I thought he would come." His voice is gruff—he's fighting his emotions, as always.
"Do
you know why he didn't?" I hold
him tightly.
He
shifts uncomfortably. "We had an
argument last year, when I left the Preventors. I haven't heard from him since."
"An
argument about what?"
He
rolls onto his side, turning me with him.
I feel his lips on the back of my neck and smile. "We just—it was nothing
important."
I
know he's lying. Trowa means too much
to him to hold a year-long grudge over something trivial. And even if he's not mad at Trowa, something
is definitely keeping him from searching him out.
He
clutches his hand to my heart, as if it's his own. "I know he's not ready to talk yet—and that bothers me more
than anything," he confesses in a low whisper.
I don't understand
this pain he feels, but I will do my best to make him forget it. I bring his fingers up to my lips and kiss
them softly. Turning over, I draw his
angelic face close for a deep kiss. He
responds hesitantly at first, but then his arms wrap around me tightly. I know that this won’t cure whatever wound
Trowa had dealt my husband, but maybe it will sooth it.
His kiss deepens,
becoming fierce, demanding. I’m more
accustomed to his gentleness—but I find this new side of Quatre incredibly
arousing. Suddenly it’s as though I
can’t get near enough. I break the
kiss, trailing my lips down his neck, letting my fingers explore the contours
of his chest. He’s lean and solid, and I
can’t help but grin at the glint of his wedding ring in the dim light. He’s mine.
His hands drift toward
my shirt, unbuttoning the satin pajama top and pushing it over my
shoulders. I sit up slightly, allowing
him to pull my shirt off completely.
Quatre pushes me back down, leaning over me and kissing roughly as his
free hand delves into my hair. He
twists it around his fist, holding me against his mouth as his tongue pursues
mine.
“Quatre,” I murmur,
twining my arms around his neck. “It’s
just you and me, now—two against the world.”
Kissing the top of his head, I whisper the words he’d reassured me with
when everyone said we’d married too quickly.
His hair smells faintly of shampoo, and feels so soft against my
lips. I will never let anyone cause him
pain again.
Suddenly his expression darkens. He pulls away, turning away from me to
clutch his pillow. “I’m sorry—I—” He clenches his eyes shut, shaking his
head. “Allah, Sil . . . I’m sorry.”
I quickly shove away
my disappointment at his abrupt rejection.
This isn’t like Quatre. I’ve
never seen him like this—so hurt. So
vulnerable.
Pulling him back to
me, I cradle his head against my shoulder.
His warm tears dampen my skin. I
hold him tightly, closing my eyes and vowing that he will never be hurt like
this again. Not for as long as I live.