Promise of the Rings by Andrea Readwolf

Part Eight: Goodnight Sweetheart

"Thank you for dinner," Sally said as she began to stand from the cozy settee in the family room and take her leave for the evening. "It was very delicious."

Beside her, Anne stood as well, brushing a strand of dark ruddy brown hair back behind one ear. "Let me walk you to the door, Sally," she said softly, warm grey eyes looking up at the other woman.

Sally’s lips twitched in a small smile and she nodded, looking past the shorter woman to the little redheaded child who sat reading a book in a corner chair near the fire. "Night, Marie," she called, using the pet name she’d bestowed on the daughter of Trieze Khushrenada.

The child looked away from her book, a very serious expression on her young face as her blue eyes landed on the older woman. "Miss Po," she said, closing her book and standing. "May I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Marie," the woman smiled friendly-like. "You can ask me anything you like."

The girl crossed the room in easy, unhurried steps—the limp from previous months almost completely gone now—and when she stood only feet away from the older woman, the redheaded child looked up at her and asked, "Do you like Lady Une?"

Sally laughed lightly. "Of course I do, Marie. We’re very good friends. I like you, too, you know," she added affectionately, tapping the girl on the tip of her nose.

The girl, however, lost none of her seriousness. "You like her like Trowa likes Quatre, right?"

"Marie—" Anne started forward, but Sally stopped her.

The golden haired woman bent over until she was face-to-face with the child. "Yes, Mariemeia, I do. Does that upset you?"

"Then why don’t you sleep here with us anymore?" the girl asked instead. "In the country, you used to spend … but now that we’ve moved to the city, you leave every night." The girl frowned at the two women. "Quatre and Trowa sleep together. I know, Trowa told me. He said he liked Quatre so much that he wanted him to be the first thing he sees in the morning and the last thing he sees at night. And Duo, Heero, and Wufei sleep together, too."

Anne and Sally looked at one another, blushing prettily. "Mariemeia," Sally said, shaking her head and smiling. She brushed back her red bangs and kissed the girl’s forehead. "You are a very smart little girl, Marie. Very observant."

"You haven’t answered my question."

Sally grinned. "Because I don’t have a good enough answer for you," she replied. "Does it upset you that I don’t sleep here anymore?"

The girl seemed to pout, her lower lip inching out as she thought her feelings over. "Yes…" she began, "and no." She rubbed her eyes. "I mean, I want Lady Une to be happy, and she said you make her happy, so I guess I just don’t understand why you don’t want to make her happy anymore."

"Marie," Anne said gently, stepping forward and taking her ward’s shoulder in hand. "I think it’s time you go upstairs and get ready for bed. It’s late. You go ahead; I will be up shortly to tuck you in."

The child looked from one adult’s face to the other, and then went back to her seat to collect her things. The meanwhile, Sally carefully watched Anne watch the girl, trying to gauge the other woman’s emotions. Then Marie was gone, and the two women were alone.

Anne rushed to apologize, saying, "I’m sorry, Sally, I—"

"Shh." She placed a finger against Anne’s lips to reinforce the command. "She has a good point, Anne. Why haven’t we moved-in together?"

"I thought you…"

Sally inched closer to the petite woman. "You thought I what?"

"You never mentioned it before," Anne answered softly, looking away. "I thought you weren’t interested in living with Mariemeia and me now that she’s better." She couldn’t look the other woman in the eye; her chin pointed to the floor as she whispered the confession.

Sally’s fingers gently tipped her chin up until Anne was forced to look at her. "I didn’t say anything not because I didn’t want to, Anne, but because I didn’t want to rush you. I know it’s been difficult trying to adjust to having a child in your life, and I didn’t want to add any stress to what you’ve already been going through by suggesting we up the stakes in this relationship any." Sally lightly brushed her lips against Anne’s. "I really like you, Lady. I’ll even go all out and say I love you."

Anne’s lips parted as she took in a sharp breath, wide grey eyes staring up at Sally. Smiling softly, Sally traced a strand of hair away from Anne’s face. "I like how I get to see this soft side of you no one at work knows. I like how you can go from being a hard-assed bitch to play-do in 0.2 seconds flat. I like how your eyes get these tiny sparks of silver in them when you’re feeling playful and *lusty*," Sally whispered, pulling her body closer as her voice got more and more huskier. "I love how those tiny little gasps fall from your lips when I—" She leaned in and whispered in Anne’s ear, grinning wickedly when the other woman gasped. "And I really like this color on you," she added, her fingers fiddling with the soft ruddy brown strands.

"Stay tonight?" Anne asked, pulling away to look up at Sally, her eyes sparkling with silver specks.

"I’d love to."

Anne smiled and pulled away. "Let me just go check on Mariemeia, and then I’ll see you upstairs."

Sally kissed her again, promising her with a, "See you there."

She rapped lightly on the door before entering.

"Is Sally staying?" Mariemeia asked, coming from the bathroom already dressed in her nightclothes, with a brush in hand.

"For the night, yes," Anne answered, taking the brush from her and shooing the girl onto the bed. "Mariemeia, what ever possessed you to ask such a thing tonight?" she asked as she began to pull the soft bristle brush through the silky red hair.

"I want you to be happy," the girl replied, looking over her shoulder at her guardian. "Sally does make you happy, right?"

"Yes, I suppose she does," Anne mused.

"And don’t you like it when she’s here?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well," the child turned back facing forward once more, "IF she moves in with us, she can be here all the time."

Anne smiled and pulled the girl back against her. "You are a very special little girl, Mariemeia."

"Lady, please—"

Still smiling, she released the girl and started to plait the red hair. "You know, if Sally *did* move in with us it would mean some changes." The girl only nodded. "Marie—are you really okay with Sally being here?"

"Yes, Lady," she answered softly. "I’ve thought about it a lot, and I’d really like it if she stayed."

Anne left he girl reading in bed with a warning not to stay up too late, and then she headed for her own rooms in the other wing of the townhouse. Her heart was beating faster and her stomach was constricting with nervous tension when she reached her door, rapping quickly before entering.

"Sally?" she called, closing the door behind her.

"In here," the other woman called back. Anne turned back to the room and froze—or, rather, flamed.

"I know," Sally said, grinning. "I should really stop trying to wear your things. Especially when they’re too small and so tight…"

The dark emerald satin negligee fit like a second skin, covering Sally from chest to calve. Full breasts defied restriction and spilled out over the top. Thin spaghetti straps fell useless to either shoulder. She looked every inch a seductress as she stood framed in the bathroom doorway, one hand fisted on her hip, the other laying flat against her thigh, watching the other woman watch her.

"No," Anne breathed. "You look very nice."

Sally smiled, leaving the bathroom to saunter over towards Anne. "Just ‘nice’?" she asked.

"Good?"

" ‘Good’?"

"Very good?"

Sally stood before her now, looking at Anne with hooded eyes. "I don’t want to be good, Anne. I want to be bad… Very," she inched closer, "Very," she pressed her luscious body against Anne’s, "Bad."

Anne’s hands came up to her waist, dragging the satin material up Sally hips and feeling the lack of anything underneath. "Very, very bad?"

"Absolutely wicked."

Anne exerted some force and turned, pushing Sally against the closed door, her mouth angling down over the other woman’s. Sally moaned as Anne’s tongue plunged between her lips; Anne’s hand reached up and cupped one full breast, the other curving in around Sally’s waist.

"Oh, god, Anne!" She gasped, tearing her lips away in order to breath.

"What did you call me?" The other woman questioned, cool command lacing the heated air.

"Lady!" Sally gasped, spreading her legs for Anne’s hand.

"That’s better," Anne replied, grabbing Sally by the arms and tossing her across the room and onto the bed. Satin tore as she fell, stunned. Anne stalked towards the bed, eyes flashing as Sally laid back, looking down her body at the approaching woman. Buttons slipped free from their holes, the zipper hisses as a precursor to Anne’s business skirt falling free from her legs, leaving her dressed only in her blouse, which hung open nicely revealing her lacy bra, and panties. Sally’s hands ran up and down her satin-covered torso as she watched Anne’s advance. Clad only in her bra and panties, the other woman climbed up onto the bed, crawling over Sally’s prone, writhing body, dragging the satin negligee up with her until she completely covered Sally’s body with her own.

"You ripped my nightgown," Anne growled, her blood-rich lips hovering inches over Sally’s.

"I’ll buy you another one," Sally gasped, leaning upwards to taste Anne’s sweet mouth. Over their heads, their palms meet against the bed and fingers entwined.

And then Sally pulled a reversal, rolling until Anne was beneath her, sliding her tongue deep into her mouth. Anne moaned as Sally’s hands caressed her arms and waist, her sides and hips and thighs, trailing a blaze of fire across her body. Her lips left Anne’s to taste her throat and collar bone, to kiss the swell of each breast against its lacy restrainment. Deft fingers unhooked the front claws and the lacy material parted with each creamy globe, leaving the valley open to Sally’s face. Her hands dipped lower, easing between the lacy panties and silky smooth skin.

"Sally!" Anne cried, her body leaving the bed, displaying itself for the other woman.

Sally groaned, nibbling on Anne’s pert little breasts. "You’re all wet, Anne. Do you want something?"

Anne’s eyes sparkled and suddenly, she was looking down at Sally, grinning as she rubbed her clit against Sally’s fuzzy mound. Sally rocked up against her, groaning, "God, yes, Lady."

Sally reached up and pulled Anne’s bra off, leaving her pert little breasts to spring free, available to her hands, before pulling Anne down to her again and kisser her crazily.

It was several hours before they calmed down enough to actually attempt any sleep.

"Good morning, Lady, Miss Po," Mariemeia greeted the next morning when the other two women entered the breakfast room.

"Good morning, Marie," Sally returned, pouring herself a cup of coffee and some tea for Anne. "You’re up early this morning for someone who has no place to be."

"My tutors will be here soon," the girl answered, pushing her fruit slices around on her plate.

"Tutors, huh? What are you learning about?" Sally asked as she handed Anne her tea and picked up an English muffin with some raspberry jam.

"Boring stuff," the girl replied, unexcited.

"Boring stuff? What kind of stuff is that?"

"Mr. Gifford believes that I should know about prepositions and what irregular verbs are," Mariemeia answered. "The difference between integers and fractions and decimals; that man first traveled to the moon in 1969 ACE, and that the first successful colony was opened in 3 AC…" The redheaded girl sighed and frowned. "Miss Po," she asked solemnly. "Does it really matter if I know that ‘on, over, before, after, beside, in, and under’ are prepositions or that it took over a thousand years for people to get living in space right, or any of that boring stuff?"

"It didn’t take a thousand years," Sally smiled. "And knowing those things are just the building blocks to learning and understanding bigger and better things."

"I suppose you could be right," Mariemeia sighed, pushing her plate away. "But I don’t see how. If you’ll excuse me?"

Anne watched silently as the girl left the room, worried grey eyes staring after her, her lips sealed shut with concern.

"What’s wrong?"

Startled out of her own private thoughts, Anne turned and smiled at her girlfriend. "Nothing," she lied. "Just thinking of some reports on my desk I have to read."

"I know when you’re lying to me, Anne," Sally accused, leaning over the table and staring at her. "I already told you that those missions went well; reading the reports is just a boring formality."

"They wouldn’t have gone well if the others weren’t there," Anne countered, frowning.

"Oh, not that again," Sally waved her girlfriend’s frown away. "They *were* there, and things went fine."

"They might not be there next time—Remember, they volunteered to join you."

"Because Wufei asked for their help," she countered. "If we need their help again, all we have to do is ask."

"I would prefer it if they were part of—"

"You know they don’t want to get that involved, Anne," Sally cut her off softly. "They’ve been through enough already, practically fighting away their entire childhoods. Allow them a bit of a break."

"Like we haven’t?" Anne asked, hurt lacing her words. Her grey eyes wavered as they stared at the dirty-blonde-haired woman. "I—we’ve all been fighting, Sal, for a very long time, and even now, when peace has been won… even now, we are still fighting. Fighting to make sure we keep this peace, so that the next generation won’t have to fight like we did."

"There will always be fighting, Anne. You told me that yourself."

Anne stared at the fruit bowel. "I don’t want her to fight like we did," she whispered.

Sally reached across the table and covered her girlfriend’s hand with her own and said softly, "She won’t have to. She won’t have to."

Anne didn’t go to work with Sally that morning, telling Sally she had something she had to take care of and she’d meet up with her that evening for their dinner date. That other matter was Mariemeia, and when her girlfriend’s car pulled away, Anne turned back into their city townhouse and climbed the stairs to the third floor.

"Mariemeia?" she called as she rapped on the door. "May I come in?"

The door opened—and there stood the girl-child, her red hair gleaming, neatly brushed and held back with two blue daisy barrettes. The soft short sleeve sweater and the pleated cornflower blue skirt were free from wrinkles or stains. The white knee-high stockings were as clean as when they’d come from the wrapper, and her blue sandal shoes were free from any scuffmarks. The child was pretty enough to be a model, and held herself like a princess.

"You wanted to talk to me, Lady?" Mariemeia asked as she stared up at her guardian.

"How would you like to skip lessons today and take a ride with me out into the country," Anne asked, smiling gently.

Blue eyes studied her cautiously. "Have I done something wrong?" she questioned, not understanding why the Lady would want her to miss her lessons.

"No, no, of course not," Anne rushed, reaching out to the girl only to snatch her hand back nervously. "I—I am going out to visit your father’s estate, and I thought you would—you would like to keep me company," she answered weakly.

"I—" Indecision shook Mariemeia’s thoughts. Was this a test? Dekim had often times tested her in such ways. ‘Duty before pleasure, Mariemeia," was his lecture. ‘In order to be an effective leader, you must always choose duty over pleasure’ But—to visit her father’s estate--! To see where her father had lived, walk where he had once walked….!

Training won out, however, and regretfully, she declined the Lady’s offer. Anne, however, was not pleased with the girl’s answer and icy steel seemed to flow into her veins, chasing away any pleasantness of her demeanor.

"You *will* accompany me," Lady Une told the girl, and her tone accepted no refusal. Mariemeia stared up at the woman she’d lived with for the last four months, shocked. Never, never before had the woman spoken to her in such a tone.

"Y—yes, ma’am," she replied with wide eyes.

Nodding, Lady Une turned back the way she’d come and returned to her rooms. Half an hour later, the two sat in the back of the car beginning the ninety-minute drive to the country. It would be two hours before they reached the estate. In that time, the Lady worked on her computer and conferenced over the phone while Mariemeia stared out the window at the passing landscape.

We’re here," Anne announced, surprising the girl as the car continued to drive on through the countryside.

Mariemeia looked around them but all she saw were more fields and some woods in the distance. "I don’t see anything," she said, frowning.

"The main house is still 30 miles away," Anne told her, "but these fields once belonged to your father."

And the girl stared back out the window with new eyes, awed by the beauty of the land. When they pulled off the main road and onto a private drive, Mariemeia thought she might burst from excitement.

"Right around this turn, on the other side of these trees," Anne announced, "Is the main house." She turned off her computer and phone as Mariemeia held her breath—and gasped, eyes gone round as she first saw her father’s home.

When Mariemeia had first come to Earth, when she had left the hospital in Lady Une’s care and the woman had taken her to a country estate to recuperate from her injuries, she had thought the place huge. Afterwards, they had moved into the city townhouse so the Lady could be closer to her work, but Mariemeia remembered the country house well. That this… this was enormous. A mansion.

Five or six stories high, twice its height wide, with gardens surrounding its front and sides. How did one person live in a house so large? The driver pulled them into the circular drive, stopping at the bottom of the front staircase. Already a man was opening her door, before the car had even stopped.

"Welcome, Lady Khushrenada," the footman greeted, startling her. "Hello," she replied, accepting his aide in exiting the car.

Lady Une was already out and waiting for her at the steps. "Come, Mariemeia," she called; the girl hurrying to her side and whispering up to her, "He knows who I am!"

"Yes, I called ahead so they would be prepared for us," Anne told her, climbing the steps in no hurry.

"Oh." But Mariemeia looked back over her shoulder and found the man smiling at her. Up the steps and at the door, someone else was waiting to hold the large wooden portal open for them. "Good day, Lady Une, Lady Khushrenada. Welcome back."

"Thank you," Anne replied, handing the elder man her gloves and sweater. "How are your son and grandchildren?"

"All kicking!" the man answered, grinning as he took Mariemeia’s articles as well.

"It’s a pleasure to have you back, Lady Une," an elderly woman came up to them, bobbing her head eagerly. "Will you be staying long, ma’am?"

"No, thank you, Maude. We will be leaving sometime after lunch."

"Very good, ma’am. I’ll make sure you have something to take back with you into the city. " She winked at Mariemeia.

"Come along, Mariemeia, " Anne called out as she began climbing the staircase, trusting the girl to follow. They traveled up two flights and then turned down the corridor leading to the rear of the house. They went all the way to the end, to the very last door. Without hesitation, Anne went in, entering the office she was so familiar with…

She went straight to the large, dominating desk before the windows, moving to take up the seat behind it before looking at the child standing uncertainty just inside the room.

"This," she announced, "was your father’s office. Many of his decisions were made in this very room. Through that door were his private chambers. Through that one, a conference room. He could control the entire world from this room.

"The order to overthrow the Federation came from this room. When Romerfeller betrayed your father, they sent him here as punishment, not realizing that here was where he needed to be. Your father spent his last hours on Earth in this room. Near the edge of this property is a small airfield. It was from there that he left Earth for the first and last time."

She opened the bottom drawer and pulled out stacks of envelopes. "He constantly wrote—he would tell me they were letters, but he never asked me to mail any of them. When he died, when I finally came back here, I discovered these." She stared at the white envelopes. "I never had the courage to read them," she whispered, lovingly tracing one envelope with a finger.

Suddenly she stood and finally looked at the child. "Perhaps, Mariemeia Khushrenada, you will," she said, placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder as she passed to leave her alone in her father’s rooms.

Anne found that her wanderings of the estate brought her to the gardens. She was surprised to realize how much she’d missed the heady scent of roses, the soft velvet touch of petals against your fingertips and nose, the sharp reprimand of thorns.

"Treize-sama," she whispered, slipping naturally into formal Japanese as she studied one particularly spectacular bloom she knew he would have loved. "I am terrible with the girl. I still don’t know how to act around her… I—I never was very good with children. I really don’t understand them well at all. And she—she’s been hurt so much already. How can I possible do anything to help her?"

Have more faith in yourself, Lady.

Her eyes slid shut, her head bowed, smiling softly. She could still hear his voice. A year and a half after his death and she could still hear his voice…

She didn’t know when or how, but Anne found herself on her knees in the middle of the rose garden, tears running down her cheeks. "Treize… Treize… I’m scared of doing something wrong. Please, help me… I… I don’t want to hurt her, too."

Have faith, Lady…

In her hand, the rose she’d found bit into her flesh and a tiny river of red bled into the soil.

It was already late afternoon when Anne finally returned to Treize’s chambers to search out the child. Mariemeia wasn’t in the office proper where she’d been left. Indeed, Anne actually found the girl asleep in the large poster bed, curled up in a little ball, a parchment strangled in her small fist.

"Mariemeia? Marie? It’s time to head back."

"Mmn."

Tentatively, she approached the bed. "Did you read any of the letters?"

"Yes," the child replied, not turning over to look at the woman. "He… he writes funny," Mariemeia said softly, "And I don’t understand some of the words he uses."

Anne bit her lip—Had she done the right thing? Giving the child those personal letters without having read them first?

No, the father’s words—his thoughts, hid dreams, his soul, whatever he chose to leave in those letters—they belonged to the daughter. His daughter. Her daughter.

Anne’s throat constricted.

‘Her daughter’? Where had that come from? Mariemeia Khushrenada was her ward, nothing more. One last service to Master Treize. She was not her daughter…. She was not.

No…but…

Without understanding why, Anne reached out her hand to the child, her fingertips sliding over glossy, baby-soft red hair, off-handedly noting the tiny knots that were beginning to form.

Red. How in the world had the child ended up with such rich, flaming hair? Treize’s family, she knew, were mostly blondes or golden browns, and what she’d been able to discover about the Barton family, they were of similar color. Though, it was true that sometimes, when the light was right, Treize looked flamed-haired. Maybe it was a recessive gene?

Her communicator went off, causing Anne to jump and guiltily snatch her hand back. "Go," she snapped into the device.

"Mother may I?" a teasing, laughing voice asked.

Anne moved out of the bedchamber and into the office. "What is it, Sally?"

"Auh, now. That’s not the correct answer," the other woman responded. "You’re supposed to say, ‘yes, you may.’"

Anne slipped behind the desk and pulled up the vid-screen, connecting her communicator to it. "Is this a social call, or is there something you needed to tell me?"

"Yes and yes," Sally answered as her grinning face flared to life on the screen before Anne. " ‘Fei and I are going to check something out in the L4 area. We’re heading out in about an hour from now."

Frowning at her girlfriend, Anne leaned back in the executive chair. "There are over one hundred teams in this organization, Preventer Water. Why is it that only you and Preventer Dragon are capable of handling this assignment?"

Sally shrugged. "As long as we don’t miss our window, we’re closest right now; it’ll take us less time to get to the site. Besides, we’re not going in alone. TriDel is already in the area scoping it out for us."

Anne’s frown was darkening, but her girlfriend either did not notice or choose to ignore it. "I don’t like it," the head Preventer woman said. "You just got back from assignment."

"It’ll be fine," the honey-haired woman insisted. "We’ll be back in a couple of days and then we’ll talk about where we can put my stuff, ne?"

Finally, Anne smiled. "Flea Market, I say."

"I think not! Hmphf!"

"Be careful," Anne whispered, all serious once more.

Sally smiled at her, winked and blew a kiss. "Where would the fun be in that?"

And then Anne was staring at a black screen.

"It’s a shame Q-man doesn’t have business up there this week, or else we could’ve visited that little strip club he was telling us about!" Duo Maxwell teased his dark-haired Preventer boyfriend when Wufei called in to let the others know he was going out of town for a few days on business. "You’re just lucky I haven’t made any special plans yet!"

"Oh?" Wufei tried his best to hide the laughter he felt bubbling up inside of him in face of his boyfriend and lover. "And why is that?"

"Because," Duo replied, grinning, "If I had, you wouldn’t be allowed to go play with your little girlfriend! I would be forced to ground your ass to the house indefinitely."

"Oh really?" Wufei asked, amused now more than ever. And then, as an afterthought, he added, "And she’s not my girlfriend, Maxwell; she’s my partner."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," the other teen continued to tease. "You don’t think Heero and Me don’t know you’re boinking her every chance you get? That’s why you’re always so anxious to leave us and go on these missions!"

"Duo…" the Chinese Preventer warned, growling low in voice.

Duo visibly shivered. "Oooh, I love it when you talk to me like that!" And then he laughed. "Okay, okay, okay. You just take care of yourself out there. Watch your back and come back to us safely, got it? If you need any help you know what to do!"

Wufei smiled and blew the other man a kiss. "Lover you, too," he said before the vid-phone died.

"Do you have your permission now?" another teasing voice asked from behind.

"Onna no baka," he humphfed… and then grinned. "Yes."

Sally just laughed—it was always safer to tease the Chinese man after he’d talked to one of his friends. They were good for him; a calming, loving influence on him. "Come on, let’s get going," she charged, swinging up her bag onto her shoulder and turning to head for the spaceport.

The hardest part of getting into space was getting an open window. At the commercial airports, the problem of windows could cause massive delays—sometimes lasting days. Since the Preventers’ Defense Unit had sprung up from the ashes of military forces throughout the earth sphere, however, they were given sole rights of former OZ and Federation bases, and some of the Romerfeller ports, too. Preventer jets, unlike commercial jets, did not *have* to wait for an available window—it was only prudent to do so.

"Systems, All-clear," Sally called back from the cockpit of the B-class shuttle.

"Pre-flight check," Wufei called back, climbing to the front, "all-clear. We’re good to go," he added, moving into the pilot’s chair next to his partner.

"Great. You wanna take us up, flyboy?" the woman grinned, strapping in.

There was a glint in those onyx eyes before Wufei replied, "with pleasure."

They were all like that—never addressed to an actually person, only ever "My Lady", or "My Eternal Friend", never with a date on them. Always with a salacious farewell and his name… The words swam in her young head, tripping over each other. From some of what she knew by listening to Dekim fuss or the Lady talk she was able to guess at what or whom her father was talking to in the letters.

His Lady… that must have been Lady Une. And the young princess who would play at being a queen, Miss Relena; leaving the prince he spoke of to be her brother, Zechs. She wondered at the importance of his name, though. She knew, from her grandfather, that Zechs Merquise was really Milliardo Peacecraft, Relena Peacecraft’s brother, but that he chose to be called Zechs. Her father had figured out why, but it didn’t tell the secret

It was like reading a journal—a diary; reliving the past. Her father’s life between her fingertips.

She was both saddened and excited when Lady Une had come in to tell her that they would stay for the evening. Saddened because she knew it was only delaying the inevitable time when she would have to leave; Excited because it gave her more time to look around this grand house that her father had lived in. She asked the lady if she might keep the letters, bring them back with her.

"They are yours now, Mariemeia Khushrenada," the lady spoke solemnly. "What you choose to do with them now is no one else’s concern but your own, but I charge you to take good care of them for they once belonged to a great man."

"Yes, Lady." She would. She would treat them like the treasure Lady Une believed them to be. In truth, Mariemeia thought them a treasure, too. Her father’s treasure, which was now hers. Packing the letters safely away in an attaché a servant found for her, Marie took off to discover the large house in the remaining hours left to her.

She found it to be much like the governmental buildings she’d visited with Lady Une on occasion. The difference here, though, was mainly the beautiful grounds that surrounded the main house—beautiful gardens full of blooming, colorful, fragrant blossoms. And the rose garden….

Roses were her father’s favorite flower—everyone knew that—but standing here, in the middle of his garden, she could understand why.

Breathtaking.

She took some of her father’s letters out, there in the middle of the rose gardens. Sitting on the stone bench, she thought she could *feel* her father’s presence more strongly than ever before…

Ai shiteru, zutto,

Young fingers traced the black ink scrolled across the paper as tears slid down her rosy cheeks.

Wufei lowered the binoculars with a snort, handing them over to Sally. "Amateurs," he grunted.

"You would rather be home tracing files?" she reminded him, silently sharing his disgust at the people in the warehouse across the street.

There was movement behind them and the hatch to the roof was pushed opened and two figures climbed their way over to their position. "Six insides; Two more in the back," the man whispered. "They’re scared."

"As well they should be," the youngest member of the team answered, dark eyes glowing with an inner light. "Justice is about to rain down upon them."

"Okay," Sally said, ignoring her partner as she looked at the other pair. "Dragon and I will take the back. Wait five minutes before going in. We’ll meet you inside. Minimum casualties, people."

"Acknowledged," Rock and Cheetah chimed in unison as Wufei and Sally headed to sneak around back.

"I’ll distract," Sally whispered, catching a quick glimpse of the two men guarding the back door and shedding out of her Preventer’s jacket. "You take out. *Quietly*," she stressed, barely waiting for his "ryokio" before taking the corner at a leisurely pace and strolling right up to the men.

"Hi there," she called out. "Maybe you could help me?" They didn’t have a chance to reply before their faces were kissing the cement ground. "Took you long enough," Sally smirked.

Wufei humphfed and pressed against the door, testing it. It gave way and, cautiously, he went in, Sally right behind him, gun at ready.

Six men—offset, four and two. Everyone was hot; four openly showing handguns still in their holsters, the other two packing in their jackets by the looks of it. One of the two men looked to be begging his friend to leave, but the friend didn’t look in the mood to be persuaded. Too bad.

"You have thirty seconds to drop your weapons to the floor!" Rock shouted from the shadows across the room.

Wufei snorted, that was much nicer than he would have been, and still they weren’t cooperating. He shook his head reproachfully as he shot the firearm out from one man’s fingers. "Uh uh uh," he called. "That’s not the way to drop your weapons."

Someone shot at his position, nicking the crate he was ducked behind. Four more shots got off, before Rock, Water, and Cheetah contained the six men. He held back, his senses tingling, eyes darting to each corner of the room.

There!

He shouted, reaching out for Sally even as he aimed and fired at the shadow. He hit the ground on his side with an hard <<OOMPH!>> and rolled until the Chinese woman was safely beneath him. "You okay?" he asked, catching his breath as he stared down at the startled woman.

She stared at him, still surprised, nodded as Preventer Cheetah rushed over to them. "Make that seven inside," the African woman growled. "Are you alright, Preventer Water? Preventer Dragon?"

"Fine," Wufei gruffed, pushing up off Sally and helping her up.

"You’re bleeding."

Wufei looked at where she was looking and noticed the torn fabric that was quickly darkening. "A scratch," he dismissed the wound. "Let’s finish up here and then we can take care of it."

"You should let me take care of that first, so infection doesn’t set in," Sally argued.

"It will be fine, woman." And then he smiled. "I will let Heero look at it when we get home. He is the Reiki Master."

Sally just laughed and shook her head. "You just want to have a good excuse to be babied by your boyfriends, I see how it is!"

"Now that you mentioned it," Wufei grinned at her, "I think I might have bruised my back during that fall…"

Two days after her visit to Rose Hall, Mariemeia asked to meet with Dorothy Catalonia. The blonde young woman was somewhat surprised by the request and almost turned it down before Relena told her to go. Dorothy went to her, meeting her in the parlor of Lady Une’s capital city townhouse.

"Good day, Mariemeia Khushrenada," the blonde woman said as she entered the room where the child was waiting, not bothering to hide her disdain at being summoned as t were. "I understand you would like to talk with me?"

The child nodded, not standing as the woman entered the room. "Yes, good day to you, Miss Catalonia. I thank you for coming."

Both girls, though a decade separated their births, recognized something in the other, and unknowingly, their smiles turned more genuine.

"Tea?"

"Thank you."

"I understand you knew my father?"

"Quite well, yes."

It was a game, a battle of words. One both females had been well trained in.

"Tell me," Mariemeia said suddenly, breaking the moment of silence. "What was your relationship to my father, Treize Khushrenada?"

Dorothy finally sat back in her chair, more comfortably. "You mean to ask if your father and I were intimate, no? If we were lovers?" she turned on the child.

Mariemeia stiffened in her chair. "I would not know of such things," she returned.

"No, indeed," Dorothy smiled, clearly not believing the child. "Your father and I are—were cousins," she answered sincerely. "Our mothers, sisters. Though he was more like a brother to me."

The redheaded child frowned. "Then we are cousins, too?"

Dorothy nodded, sipping more of her tea. "In truth, second cousins."

"Then why…?" Her small frown deepened.

"Why are you not in my custody?" Dorothy guessed. "Simple," she answered when the child nodded. "I am too young to care for a child, even one who shows as much intelligence as yourself, Mariemeia. I have no desire to deal with children, let alone become the mother of one."

Mariemeia stared at the blonde woman, shocked by her honest, if callous, answer.

"Besides," Dorothy continued, waving off handedly. "They would never have allowed two enemies to reside together."

"Two… enemies?"

Dorothy nodded, almost solemnly if not for her smile. "I for my involvement with White Fang; you for, well. You know your part."

The child nodded, thoughts tumbling over themselves in her small head. "You worked for the Rebellion, then."

"No." Dorothy’s voice cut through the air, so frigid that even the breeze froze. "I worked for myself. There is no point in doing anything if it does not ultimately serve yourself, Mariemeia. I served Milliardo and his White Fang because that allowed me to be in the middle of battle, to participate in the battle with little threat to myself, to pit my skills against those of the gundam pilots. I did not fight for anything so noble at the colonies’ freedom. In truth I could care little for the people of space. I think they are fools for wanted to leave Earth, and good riddance to their leaving."

She didn’t know what to think of this only living relative of hers, but she knew there was much to think about. Dorothy’s words played over in her mind long after the blonde woman left, long into the night and for many days there after.

Saturday was a hectic day at the townhouse: Sally was finally moving in with them. Mariemeia helped for a little while, before Sally and Anne began arguing over where some lamp would go, and then the girl gave up on being useful and took herself to the small park on the corner of the street, her father’s letters in their attaché case with her.

The more she read, the more she felt like she better understood the man her father was. Though some of the words and their meanings escaped her, she was able to piece together much of the story, feel many of the emotions that seemed so thick in each letter… And more and more, she believed her father was someone very special.

Sally had been living with them for two weeks when Mariemeia finally broached the subject that had occupied many of her thoughts since her talk with her cousin Dorothy. She waited until after dinner, when the Lady seemed to be in a happy mood over the news Sally had brought home: the gundam pilots had agreed to join the Preventers. Mariemeia wasn’t exactly sure why this made the Lady so happy, other than thinking that she, like Mariemeia, really liked Heero, Wufei, Quatre, Trowa, and Duo and so she was happy that they would be working together. She had thought to ask the Lady after they had retired to the sitting room with books and papers…but the nerve failed her.

It was as she was slipping into bed and the Lady came in to tuck her in that she finally said something.

"Lady?"

Anne smiled softly down at the child, brushing away golden red hair from her face. "Mm?"

"Would you—have you… ever thought of me as your daughter?" she asked softly, cornflower blue eyes darting away from the woman’s face as if afraid to see the woman’s reaction.

For her part, Anne was in shocked by the girl’s question. Carefully she swallowed back the irrational tears that threatened to fall and asked instead, "Would it upset you if I told you ‘yes, there have been times when I have thought of you as my daughter’?"

Mariemeia braved a look at the woman, and found to her astonishment that there were tears in the woman’s blue eyes. Slowly, she shook her head, her tiny rose lips parted, her large eyes larger with surprise at the woman’s reaction.

Anne forced a smile onto her face and cupped the child’s soft cheek. "Yes, Mariemeia," she answered softly. "There have been many times when I have thought of you as my daughter."

"Would it… would it be alright, do you think, if… if maybe I could call you… call you ‘mother’, sometime?" she asked hesitantly.

The woman sitting next to her on the bed nodded, impatiently wiping away the rebellious tears that were slipping down her cheeks. "I think I would like that very much, Marie…I think that would be quite alright."

Impulsively, the girl darted up and wrapped her small arms around Anne’s neck, pecking her cheek quickly and whispering, "Goodnight, Mother," before falling back into bed and shutting her eyes tightly.

With her third surprise for the night, Anne mildly wondered if there would be anymore before she went to bed. Smiling, though, she leaned over and kissed the girl’s forehead, whispering, "Goodnight…sweet heart."

End Part 8

Andrea Readwolf

Please send comments to: andrea_readwolf@hotmail.com

On to Part 9

Back to Part 7

Back to the Series Index

Back to Andrea Readwolf's page