A Matter of Heart: Heirs to the Legacy
By: Andrea Readwolf
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Rating: YA/Mature
Families: YMC Fam (Yuy-Maxwell-Chang Family: Trinity, Mara Jade,
and Dylan);
Winner Fam (Quatre + Trowa, Triton&Tristan, and little sis
Calista)
Peacecraft Family (Zechs Marquise/Milliard + Lucrezia/Noin
Peacecraft,Kit/Katarynna, Adrian, and Nicolette/Nicole)
Mazzolla Family (Mariemeia + Jake Mazzolla {OC}, Julian)
Catalonia-Dorian Family (Dorothy Catalonia + Relena Dorian,
Regina)
Une-Po Family (Lady Une + Sally Po, Marie Une*, Michael Braddocks,
Mark Braddocks, Matthew Braddocks)
Pairings: Trinity + Adrian, Mara Jade + Tristan, Kit + Triton (hoped
for), Calista + Dylan (hinted at)
plus: 1+2+3+4+5
Archive: Yes-- www.gwaddiction.com
Warnings: The following story contains scenes that are humorous,
sappy,fluff, with Incoherence, random PoV switching, and
Sexual innuendos abound.
Original Characters are presented; all characters are IC according to
the author's interpretation of them. Mainly heterosexual
situations, with hints of YAOI and YURI.
Spoilers: Previous Matter of Heart Series Arc stories: "Dance of the
Heart" Arc and "Oh Baby, Baby" Arc. Built off of "Traditions".
Feedback: C&C is always welcomed and adored.
Acknowledgements: There have been some wonderful people who have
made my sojourn in GW-fanfiction more than just enjoyable and have
inspired me to write, write, and write some more. Thank you.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters belong to Bandai, Sunrise
and Sotsu Agency and are only being used for non-profit entertainment
purposes. References to printed texts, films, sitcoms, musical
pieces, and/or other fanfictions don't belong to the author either.
Original Characters, including but not limited too, the Berh
Siblings, Jake Mazzolla and "the chibis", are original and hence, the
author's own creation.
Notes: This is the story of the children, the nine children of the 6
gundam pilots (Heero--Zechs) plus the grandchild of Treize
Khushrenada. This story will not focus primarily on the characters
from the series, but rather, the generation after them. This story is
not for all die-hard fans, but runs along the lines of a more
original piece.
Additional Note: 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 often times refer to each other as
"husband"; please refer back to "Promise of the Rings" Part 15 if this
causes confusion.
Additional Note 2: The chibis often times refer to their parents'
friends and partners as "Uncle" or "Aunt"--in this case, the
term is used simply as one of respect since, with the exception
of Kit & Adrian's relation to Relena and all of Quatre's sisters,
none of the parents have siblings.
***These stories and the ideas contained within are copyright of the author. No reprinting or posting without permission of said author. ***
~ January 228AC~
Unfortunately, *because* everything went back, Tristan and Mara Jade now needed to pick out baby furniture. Of course, if Mara Jade was anything, she was decisive. After spending approximately twelve minutes scanning over three different nursery pamphlets, the dark-haired mother-to-be was showing Tristan two different sets and styles asking, "Which do you like better?"
"Oh? You mean I actually get to have an opinion?" the blond-haired young man teased back, smiling and looking over at the two pictures Mara Jade had shoved in his face.
(No, he wasn't working. Not at all.... Well, it didn't matter anyway. He would've have stopped eating if it would appease his girlfriend. Okay, maybe that was going a *bit* far.... )
The one picture displayed furniture of solid pine with a honey finish, old-styled braided throw rugs, and a patchwork quilt blanket, all in pastels, predominately of blue or green.
Tristan mused and nodded approvingly. It was an attractive set. The second display was of oak finished synthetic wood with a wild animal zoo setting that he secretly admired for his own fond memories. The three foot tall stuffed lion in particular caught his fancy. Still....
"I like this pattern," he offered, point to the dancing pandas, lions, elephants, bears, and leopards. "But I like this furniture better," he added, pointing back to the first picture.
Mara Jade frowned in thought while she lifted both pamphlets out of his hands and walked back out of the room. Tristan watched her and then shook his head and sighed, deciding to finish up these last two proposals before calling it a day.
Tristan Winner was familiar enough with his girlfriend *not* to be surprised when, two days later, he'd come home early in the afternoon to hear his father shout, "She's upstairs in her room!" He was surprised however when he discovered just what she was doing in 'her' bedroom.
Mara Jade was sitting in the chair from her desk struggling with two mobiles in her lap. All around her were large unopened boxes. A quick glance at the pictured labels on their sides told him they were boxes full of baby furniture and accessories. From the number of boxes it looked as if she'd purchased a complete set.
For a brief instant, Tristan felt a flash of anger. What was this? She had him send all those gifts from his aunts back, saying she wanted them to pick out furniture together, and here she was, sitting in a room full of furniture she'd picked out by herself!
And then, just as quickly, his anger dissipated as a new realization dawned. Mara Jade was here, at Emerald Gardens, with baby furniture. Did this mean...? Could this mean...? Had she relented? Would she be moving into Emerald Gardens permanently?
It had been one month since their last.... Disagreement. Unfortunately, that difference of opinions had been witnessed by their family, casually initiated by Duo's seemingly innocent question, "So, have you two decided where you're going to be staying when the baby comes? Can't keep switching houses every other week like you're doing now, you know."
Of course Mara Jade and he had both said, "Home," which led them to fighting over the baby's "home." After all, for all practical purposes, Mara Jade still lived at Whispering Pines; and Tristan, Emerald Gardens. Just because they'd become accustomed to sleeping over at each other's houses for what was going on three months didn't mean anything final, right? Right?
Both parties had avoided the topic since then, and in truth, Tristan had pushed the thought so thoroughly from his mind that he hadn't given it much thought recently. He'd been too busy. But seeing Mara Jade now at Emerald Gardens, surrounded by baby furniture....
Damn! She looked good!
Her rich dark hair fell free around her shoulders, one glossy tendril pooled in her lap, tangling with her furiously working fingers. A look of intense concentration infused her face, her fiery eyes never leaving the mobile in her lap as she tried to detach the tiny dangling plushies.
With a disgusted, "Gah!" Mara Jade tossed the defenseless mobile onto the bed and said, "You do it!"
Tristan started. He hadn't realized she knew he was there. She'd never even looked at him. Mara Jade relaxed back into the chair as Tristan stepped into the room and picked up the mobile she'd carelessly tossed away.
"What are we doing?" he asked casually.
Mara Jade closed her eyes and rubbed her belly. "Switching mobiles," she answered sounding tired and Tristan looked down at the miniature stuffed animals in his hand--a lion and panda.
He smiled, tossed the mobile aside and reached over to pull Mara Jade onto the bed with him. They rolled until he crushed her beneath him, kissing her soundly.
For a second, Mara Jade squawked as she was yanked from her chair; the next she was moaning as her mouth was invaded, her body arching eagerly towards Tristan's. Arms moved of their own accord to wrap around his body as his fingers slipped beneath her sweater and teased over her stomach and breasts, swiftly pulling the rusty-colored material up, over, and off.
As soon as his goal was unobstructed, his lips dove for her tender throat, sucking greedily. Hands danced over her sides, feasting on the smooth flesh beneath their tips, and then his lips were back, thirstily drinking from hers in a series of open mouth kisses.
A sharp rap on the door quickly interrupted their tryst.
"Daddy wants to know if you're staying here tonight or heading back over to Whispering Pines?" Trowa's voice called through the portal.
It was another two weeks before Tristan got over to Whispering Pines with Mara Jade. By that time, Mara's room at Emerald Gardens was completely transformed into their baby's nursery. When he did get to Whispering Pines, he received the shock of a lifetime. Well, besides the time he found out he was going to be a big brother.... and when he found out he and Mara were pregnant.... and when he pulled that lion's tail to see if it would bite him--it did.
Mara Jade was upstairs in Trinity's bedroom.... only.... it wasn't a teenaged girl's bedroom anymore. It was a baby's bedroom.
"What's this?" he asked, barely able to say even that so great was his shock.
Duo, who was helping assemble the crib, looked up. "It's a crib. What's it look like?"
Mara Jade looked up sharply, as well. "Tristan..."
"But--!" He gestured wildly. "We already have one!"
"Yes, at Emerald Gardens," Mara Jade snapped. "And now we have one here."
Tristan looked down at the furniture. It was the exact opposite of the one at his house. The animal furniture with the pastel linens. Even the mobile was exchanged--tiny teddy bears hung from a plain white 'X'.
"I.... I... I need to go think," the golden-haired young man said before turning on his heel and going back the way he'd come.
As with almost all disagreements between the young couple, disagreements ended after a long drawn out period of avoiding and not talking to each other. And as with almost all disagreements, Tristan was the one to back down and give in...... After, oh, say, one or two weeks of steaming.
Kit was now in the colonies, working as some rich guy's personal secretary. Adrian was, of course, in Sank with his new bride ruling the country. In early February, when Lucrezia's mother finally passed away, Zechs, she, and their youngest, Nikki, returned to Bridgelight. Julian, who had stayed with them for over the holidays and then stayed at Emerald Gardens for the beginning of Winter Semester, was happy to return to Bridgelight as well.
The quartet often visited their close friends--for dinner dates, card games, or just to vent over some little thing that had happened at the office. Heero, Duo, Wufei, and Trowa were more often then not able to see the other couple at work since the four men had begun to take a more active role in the Preventers Organization, and all four men kept a close eye on husband and wife. For all appearances, it looked as if Zechs and Noin had patched up their marriage and were willing to give it another shot.
Time always seems to pass quickly. Especially when you're wishing it would drag just a little bit slower.
"Abigail means 'Father's joy'."
"'Adamina means 'Daughter of the earth.'"
"Adamina Winner."
"I'll keep looking."
"'Adriana' or 'Adrienne'. It means 'Dark one.' I wonder if Adrian knows that..."
"'Affrica' means 'pleasant.'"
"I'm not sure I want my daughter named after a country."
"Oh, I don't know. 'China' might be nice."
"'Aileen' is Irish for 'Light.'"
"Aileen Winner. That might work."
"'Alana' is 'Awakening' in Hawaiian."
"That's pretty. How 'bout 'Zahara'? It means 'flower.'"
"Zahara Winner? Isn't that one of your aunts' names?"
"Could be. I've only got thirty of 'em."
"'Amanda' means 'worthy of love.'"
"Amanda Winner. That might work."
"Angelina--a heavenly Winner."
"Ha ha."
"Shina is Japanese for 'virtue' or 'good.'"
"The virtuous Winner or the good Winner."
"Will you stop making a joke of this?!"
And then one day it happened. As it was bound too. Two stubborn spirits like Mara Jade's and Tristan's couldn't coexist without it someday happening.
They fought.
Worse than normal. No, no hitting or punching, thankfully, but not for Mara Jade's lack of trying. Still.... Mara Jade refused to give in, and this time Tristan wasn't willing to back down, either. When they left it was with hot and angry words that each one only meant half-heartedly.
And then Tristan disappeared.
Mara Jade was ready to relent and called him to tell him so, but Triton answered the phone.
"He went out last Saturday," the oldest son of Quatre Winner said icily to his brother's girlfriend. "I haven't seen him since." And then he hung up.
Mara Jade stared at the phone, blinking wide, confused, and hurt blue eyes. She went to bed early, softly informing her fathers she wasn't feeling well.
Her fathers looked worried, as fathers were wont to do, but she didn't stay around long enough to be questioned. It was after midnight when she gave up sleeping and slowly crawled back downstairs and into the kitchen to make a sandwich or something. But it was too much work for her depressed and weary pregnant self and she plopped back into a chair. Mara Jade started crying.
A light flared to life in the hallway and bare feet padded across the wooden floor.
"Mara? What's wrong?"
She tried to scrub her face free from belying moisture, but she found she couldn't stop crying. "I'm--I'm fine," she sniffled, not looking up at her father.
"Hungry?" Heero asked, noting the bread and peanut butter sitting out on the counter.
Weakly, Mara nodded, giving up on trying to hide her tears. Silently, Heero went to work making two snack plates--celery with peanut butter and banana slices on lightly toasted honey wheat bread. Without saying anything, Heero set the two plates on the table and snatched a couple of napkins from the centerpiece holder.
Mara Jade looked at the plates and then smiled. A perfectly nutritious snack that was yummy, too. She dug in.
"You gonna tell me what's bothering you?" Heero asked after several minutes of quiet snacking.
"Nothing's bothering me," Mara whispered, avoiding her father's eyes.
With a deep breath, Heero replaced the celery stick he'd just picked up and looked intensely across the table. He leaned forward, folding his hands in front of him.
"Look, Mara J. I've never been pregnant, but I've been around your Dads and Uncle Trowa and Aunt Lucy and Dory while *they* were, and I think I might've picked up on a thing or two over the years. So."
He waited until she sneaked a peek at him and then held her gaze. "What's wrong?"
It took another silent, tense moment before she answered, tearing her eyes away and staring at the floor. "Tristan.... went away," she answered in a small voice.
Heero waited a moment for her to explain, but she didn't. "What do you mean, 'went away'?"
She mumbled something, too soft to understand.
"What?"
"I said," Mara repeated, looking up and Heero saw her eyes flashing with more than tears. "We had a fight last week and he went away. He left without telling me where. I tried to call him, I tried going over to Emerald Gardens, but he wasn't there. And today, I caught Triton, and he told me...." She swallowed back another sob and furiously blinked tears from her eyes. "Triton said he hasn't seem him since... We fought, and Tristan left, and... And... He hates me, I know it. He hates me, Daddy. He left to get away from me. I--I chased him away!"
Mara Jade was sobbing now, hiding her face in her folded arms on the table. Heero watched carefully before making a decision. He sighed heavily and then got up.
"What happened to my rational, practical, independent little girl?" he asked, picking Mara Jade up, sitting in her now empty seat, and then plopping her in his lap, hugging her like when she was little and crying because she'd gotten in trouble for hitting one of the boys at school. Hmm.... Come to think of it, that was Tristan's fault, too.
"Then again," Heero continued, smiling. "Rational and practical were never involved when it was between you and Tristan, were they?" He squeezed her tighter as she turned her face into his shoulder and let her cry it out. When she slowed down a bit, Heero went on. "You're a big girl now, Mara J. An adult, really, about to be a mother real soon. Let me give you a piece of advice as one parent to another and as a father to his daughter.
"Stop lying to yourself. Stop trying to hide your true feelings, whatever those feelings may be, because kids... they see through lies real quick. You can't lie to them, so don't start by lying to yourself... And, for another... well, no one believes that you don't love that boy," Heero said softly. "And I don't think you really believe it, either. It's just become something for you to say to protect yourself from whatever threat you see him as. I know you, Mara Jade. I know how good you are at protecting yourself, but let me suggest something to you:
"Take a nice long walk and figure out what it is that you really want. Go find a nice big body of water to watch, or go into the mountains like Papa likes to do, and you think. You think real hard about what it is exactly that you *think* you want, and then what it is you *really* want. And when you've figured that part out, I know you'll be able to figure out how to go out there and get it."
Mara Jade sniffled. "I don't know whether to be insulted or impressed," she whispered, smiling just a bit.
"Be impressed," Heero told her, affectionately slapping her thigh and pushing her up out of his lap. "And think about what I said, and get up to bed, okay? You have school tomorrow, don't you? And you look like you haven't had a good night's sleep in over a week!"
"I haven't," she nodded and trucked back upstairs and into her bed.
Heero waited a moment, long enough to hear a bedroom open and close upstairs and then he said, calmly, "You can come out now," and a sheepishly grinning Duo Maxwell leaned up against the hallway entrance."
"Well?"
"Well."
Duo shook his head and snatched up a celery stick from over Heero's shoulder. "I thought you were coming down to get the cherries, whip cream, and chocolate syrup. I was just checking to see what was keeping you."
"Hn."
Duo grinned and then dipped a dab of peanut butter on Heero's nose before swooping down to lick it off personally. "I'll go tell 'Fei you're on your way."
End Part 40
Andrea Readwolf
Please send comments to: andrea_readwolf@hotmail.com