27-Aug-2000
Warning: Some yaoi thoughts and a few curse words, one shooting.
*Disclaimer*: These guys don't belong to me, if they did, I'd never
let them out of my sight (shades of Relena).
Archiving: I'd be honored, just let me know.
Note: This fic is one in a series of stories with the same continuing characters, The Belle of the Ball Arc, or BotB Arc for short.
All eyes were on the pair, Relena and Duo, wearing the twin dresses, all except Heero's. His were busy throwing daggers at Quatre, who was nervously pulling at his now too tight shirt collar.
Relena wanted more than anything to wrap her hands around Duo's throat and squeeze the life out of him. Once again, he had managed to upstage her and this time the whole world was watching. Unfortunately, she could not allow herself the pleasure, afterall, she had just been crowned Queen of the World a little earlier that evening at her coronation. Being "Queen" now meant putting away any personal desires and instead treat the situation with grace and aplomb.
So, instead of wrapping her hand around Duo's neck, she extended one hand and offered it to him. Duo took the cue and accepted it.
"Lovely dress," was all Relena would say and Duo could only offer her an apologetic smile in return.
Heero took Quatre aside and whispered, "How the hell did this happen?" (*Poor Duo*, Heero thought, *How am I going to make it up to him, for this*).
Quatre was just as upset as Heero "I don't know," he answered. "I don't know why my sister didn't say anything if those dresses weren't designed for her," he paused, . . . "Although she and my other sisters have been really pissed at me for 'borrowing' those other dresses," another thought crossed Quatre's mind, "Oh no," he uttered, "No wonder they didn't want to come... they set us up! This is their way of teaching me a lesson! You know, they only got involved with helping us get ready after they saw the dresses Wufei and Duo were going to wear. I'll bet they're at home laughing their asses off right now!" And they were too, because the coronation and celebration was being televised.
Once the excitement died down, the celebration got started. The orchestra started playing dance songs, both old and new. The people danced, ate, drank, talked and laughed.
Wufei, though, was having a most miserable time. He felt very uncomfortable and conspicuous in a dress. He kept tugging and pulling at it until Trowa made him stop. "You're annoying the hell out of me," Trowa told him. "Maybe you should wear the dress." retorted Wufei.
Quatre's sisters had done an excellent job of transforming Wufei into a woman. The white of the dress brought out the golden hues of Wufei's brown skin and since the dress was trimmed in gold as well, they chose a burnished gold eye shadow under a heavy coat of mascara (Wufei did not have much in the eyelash department), and a bronze color for his lips. They only had to brush his eyebrows into place. No need for pencil as they were already tapered and dark with a natural arch. But Wufei was unimpressed with the end results and could not wait for the evening to be over.
Trowa, though was impressed, he could not believe the transformation performed by Quatre's sisters, although he secretly wished it could have been Quatre in that dress. "Thank God he didn't come out ugly," Trowa thought. He may be quiet, but he has his standards.
Trowa's thoughts drifted back to Quatre. They each had confessed their affection for one another but were still in the 'flirting' stage. Trowa hoped that soon it would progress to the 'kissing' stage. Quatre was terribly old fashioned and Trowa found that charming.
There was a sudden gasp that escaped the crowd, everyone turned toward the entrance. In walked Treize, dressed in an impeccably designed tuxedo complete with a rose at his lapel, he had arrived late, on purpose, to make a grand entry. He was alone.
A ripple of whispers passed through the crowd as he made his way to Relena. He stood before her and deeply bowed, took her hand and kissed it. "Your Majesty," he addressed her.
"Lord Khruzhenada," Relena acknowleged, "I'm so glad you decided to come."
"So am I," he said, then turned and walked away. He was soon surrounded by a group of young Oz officers who had surved under him and whose undying loyalty was still his to command. Treize, drink in hand, chatted and laughed with the officers, but the whole while he was also scanning the room, looking for one particular person.
He had hoped that Zechs - now Milliardo - would have set his grievances with his sister aside and attended her coronation, for her sake. But he wasn't there. "I guess the anger he feels and the disappointment over Relena's surrender is still very much alive in him," Treize thought. He missed Zechs terribly, not just as his second in command always by his side, but as his lover in his bed. "It is a tragic thing," he thought, "when a lover becomes your enemy."
He continued scanning the crowd, then stopped, his eyes beheld the most magnificent woman he had ever seen, not only was she beautiful but she carried herself with a poise and grace he saw in very few. "Maybe this evening won't be so boring afterall," he thought.
He walked over to her and introduced himself. "Hello, my name is Treize Khruzhenada, may I have the pleasure of this dance?"
The young woman's eyes grew wide with surprise and the hairs on her neck stood up. "I don't believe this." Wufei thought, "Of all times to run into him, when I can do nothing.". Their last meeting flashed through Wufei's mind, and everytime he thought about that, he got angry, very angry. Trowa knew this and grabbed Wufei and took him out to the dance floor and told him to start dancing.
"I don't need your 'protection', Barton," Wufei hissed. "I know this isn't the time or the place."
"Glad to hear that, Chang," Trowa said. "But I still didn't want to take the chance."
"You might want to accept his offer for a dance, though." Trowa suggested. "You can kind of 'feel' him out, see what his mood is and determine whether or not he's involved in this assassination plot."
"Not a bad idea, but I'm telling you, I can't stand the man. No one has as much ego as he does," Wufei said. "Oh, I don't know," said Trowa, "I can think of one other." "Who?" asked Wufei, knowing he was not going to like the answer. "Why, you, of course," said Trowa, smiling.
Wufei walked up to Treize. "I believe this dance is ours?" he said in the softest voice he could manage.
"My pleasure," said Treize, and he lead Wufei back out to the dance floor and they started to dance. Wufei was gritting his teeth, "I think I know what Duo was complaining about," he thought. Duo had finally told the others about the 'fiance' fiasco.
While Wufei was out on the dance floor with Treize, Duo and Quatre were 'roaming' around one side of the room, checking out the other guests and eavesdropping on conversations. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Heero and Trowa were doing the same on the other side of the room, and both teams were working their way toward the buffet tables.
"Nothing to report, nothing looks or sounds suspicious," reported Duo. He was staring directly into Heero's eyes <*Does he know just how beautiful he is*> and Heero, taking notice of how the indigo of the dress brought out the violet in Duo's eyes, suddenly felt embarassed, as if a wave of shyness had come over him. He broke eye contact, allowing his gaze to land elsewhere. He suddenly felt the sensation of butterflies in his stomach. <* Why do I feel like this when I look at him?*>
Trowa concured, there had been nothing suspicious to report. "I hope Heero isn't too upset with Quatre,," Trowa was thinking, "It was an honest mistake. I think I'll mention that to Heero later."
"Where's Wufei?" asked Quatre. "Dancing with Treize Khruzhenada," came the answer.
"Huh?" "What?" "Pardon?" were the responses from all three.
"That was not a good idea," said Heero. "There's no telling what Wufei will do if that man says or does something to piss him off."
"Wufei's alright," said Trowa, "He knows not to do anything to blow the mission. He'll keep his temper in check."
"Why is he dancing with him, anyway?" Heero wanted to know.
"To see if he might be involved," answered Trowa.
"Wufei's not going to find out a thing. Treize is too smart to tip his hand if his is, and besides, I don't think he has anything to do with it." Heero replied back.
Wufei came walking up to them, a scowl on his face. "I will kill that man someday," he said. "He kept grabbing my ass." But only to himself did Wufei admit that he kind of liked it.
"Well, everything seems to be ok. Maybe those rumors were just rumors. Did anyone check the kitchen and the other areas?" Duo asked.
"Rashid and I did earlier," replied Heero. "Everything seems to be ok there too. Maybe so, maybe it was just a rumor."
One of the waiters passed by just then, holding a tray of champagne and taking it over to where Relena was. Quatre paused, he got an odd impression of a jumble of thoughts and extreme anger and hatred, then a flash of Relena's face. The intensity of the raw emotions emanating from that person was almost unbearable.
"It's her, she's the one!" exclaimed Quatre. "Go after her, stop her."
There was a crash of breaking glass, and the sudden explosion of a gun being fired. The boys pushed their way through the crowd, and there lay Relena on the floor. A figure stood over her, still holding on to the gun.
"Oh my God." Heero thought, "We're too late, I've failed her."
Heero felt all the hopes of the people for a lasting peace get dashed upon the rocks of chance and fate. Suddenly there came a low moan from Relena. "Thank God!" he now exclaimed, "She's still alive."
"Why can't you die, you stupid bitch," screamed the woman holding the gun. "Why can't you just die!"
She took aim again, this time she was going to finish her off. As she was prepared to fire, someone from what seemed out of nowhere grabbed her and the gun.
"That's quite enough, my Lady," said Treize in a soothing voice. He turned her around and hugged her tight. She in turn put her arms around him and broke out in hysterical tears, crying uncontrollably.
"Why won't she die? Why didn't I see this coming? I should have killed her when I killed her father. Who knew she'd be the Dorlan that would bring about your downfall. Oh, Treize, she's taken everything away from you, don't you see? She has to die and I have to be the one who kills her, don't you see? I love you Treize, please let this be my last gift to you." Lady Une ranted.
"No, Lady, you are wrong, so very wrong," Treize answered. "I'm not finished yet, you'll see."
The Oz police pulled Lady Une from out of Treize's arms, and handcuffed her. She offered no resistance. Treize took the rose from his lapel and placed it in her hands, brushed his fingers across her face and kissed her forehead. "We'll be together soon," he said "I promise." The police then led her away.
The other boys had surrounded Relena while Heero checked her wound. "She's lucky," he said. "Une was in such an agitated state I guess it affected her aim."
The wound was not serious, the bullet passed through the fleshy area of the upper arm. Relena was indeed very lucky. She didn't think it was necessary to go to the hospital but Heero insisted, even offered to ride with her as he felt he had failed her, hadn't been able to protect her. Somehow that did not set right with Duo.<*What is this, jealousy?*>. The ambulance arrived and took Relena, with Heero in tow, to the hospital.
"You know, you look pretty good as a woman," Treize told Wufei. "You certainly had me fooled."
"Don't let my behavior this evening fool you, Khruzhenada," Wufei answered. "I still plan on killing you."
"Why?" asked Treize. "What have I done to you?"
"It's the power you crave. You are a very dangerous man, and you must be stopped. I am the one who is going to stop you," said Wufei.
"Oh, I've already been stopped." said Treize. "Lady Une this evening effectively and permanently killed my political career," he walked off, leaving Wufei with something to think about.
The four boys returned to Quatre's estate, Heero was still at the hospital with Relena.
They all changed, got ready for bed, it had been a long, long night. Duo and Wufei scrubbed every last trace of makeup from their faces.
The next morning, Wufei watched Duo walk down the hall, the indigo dress in hand.
"What are you doing, Maxwell?" he asked. "Where are you going with that dress?"
"Oh, nothing," said Duo. "Just got this sudden urge for a bonfire," he was looking at the dress when he said it.
"Just a moment," said Wufei, he went back into his room and retrieved the white dress. "I think I'll join you."
Duo grinned.
Let me know what you think.
KwyckSylver
Please send comments to: kwycksylver@yahoo.com