27 Oct 2000
It took Zechs few moments to realize that Noin had fled the chapel, but when he did he cast another shocked look at Treize and followed her at a run.
She had gone outside and was standing under one of the graceful linden trees that were clustered around the back of the building. She was leaning over with one hand on the greyish-white trunk, supporting herself.
Zechs approached slowly "Noin? May I talk to you?"
For a few seconds she didn't move except for the shaking of her shoulders. Then she brought a trembling hand to her mouth and turned, slowly, to face him.
"It's all over, isn't it?" she whispered, her voice muffled by her hand. "I knew it was too good to be true. There are no fairy tales are there Zechs? Even in a place like this." Her face was wet with tears and she turned away again, mopping her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Noin, please," Zechs murmured, coming up behind her and slipping his arms around her waist. "Everyone is in shock right now, including me. Let's not make any decisions until things calm down..."
She wanted to scream at him. /No, Zechs!! That's not what you were supposed to say! You should have said that of *course* it's not over, that you have every intention of going through with the wedding, that nothing and no one could convince you to give me up... but you can't say that, can you? And I knew that when I proposed to you. I really did. It just doesn't help to know in advance. It hurts every bit as much.../
Noin felt the press of Zechs's cheek against her hair and the tenderness of the gesture made her cry. "I love you so much," she said sadly, simply. "There was nothing I wanted more than to be your wife, to have your children, and raise them with you..."
She seemed to break down then, burying her face in her hands. "Damn him! Why did he have to come back!!"
Zechs felt helpless to comfort her. He knew exactly what she wanted to hear and he also knew that seeing Treize alive and well, standing there in the chapel, had caused a confusing surge of joy and shock to run through him that seemed to make make it impossible for him to utter those words.
He couldn't tell Noin what would happen next because Treize's arrival had brought everything back to square one. All he could do was to stand there, dazed, and hold her while she cried...
The priest had been thoroughly confused by the appearance of Treize, and Sally had hurriedly explained that they would all need to calm down and discuss things before the wedding rehearsal could continue. She had politely suggested that they call him to arrange another time, and had sent him off, still rather baffled.
Now the four of them, Relena, Sally, Howard, and Treize, stared at each other down the length of the chapel.
"Well, it appears I've achieved my basic goal of stopping the rehearsal at least," Treize murmured. "Now I only have to do the same at the actual wedding, if there is one..." He slid gracefully into a pew near where he'd been standing, and looked at the others mildly.
Relena was the first to speak. "How could you do this to him" she demanded in a stern voice, "to us all! Showing up here at the last minute and pulling something like this! If you *care* about my brother, you'd have stayed away from him, but *no*, you have to come here and break up his wedding rehearsal! What kind of man are you??"
Sally stepped forward. "Relena, *please*..."
"Don't trouble yourself Miss Po," Treize said, smiling at the Princess. "I have no regrets. I wanted to be here precisely *to* stop Zechs from marrying Noin. I admit it, up front. I see no need anymore to hide the fact that I am, and always have been, very much in love with your brother, Miss Peacecraft. I want him for myself because he belongs with me and if that means I have to compete with Noin for the honor of his hand in marriage, I'm prepared to do that." He smiled at all of them. "She'll be a worthy opponent, no doubt... I look forward to it, really.
Sally couldn't rememeber ever seeing Relena more livid, but was still caught off guard as the Princess of Sank launched herself at the former general. Luckily, however, she was sufficiently slow that Sally and Howard had time to grab her back before she reached him.
"Come on now, Your Highness," Howard soothed in his somewhat raspy voice. "Let's see if we can talk this out, okay?"
"You're a *horrible* man!" Relena shouted at Treize, stomping one small foot. "This was supposed to be the best time of Noin's life and look at what you've done to her! She's miserable, crying... and all because of *you*!!"
Sally had had enough. "Relena, we don't need angry words or name calling. We need to let everyone calm down and then find out what Noin and Zechs want to do."
Treize stood up and walked out into the aisle of the chapel. "Make no mistake, Princess, I sympathize deeply with what Miss Noin must be feeling, although for all we really know she could be thinking that her wedding will continue as planned -"
"It *will,*" Relena said sternly.
"Perhaps," Treize replied, "but perhaps not. It seems to me that your brother is the one who will decide that matter. He has two passionate suitors vying for him and he will have to make a choice. I trust him to make that choice wisely. /Wisely, of course, in favor of me... I just need to talk to him, and quickly.../
"Leave him *alone*! Didn't you do enough to ruin his life already?"
"No!" A deep voice came from the apse. They all turned and saw Zechs standing there, his eyes on Relena. "Relena, nothing that happened to me was Treize's fault, nor was he responsible for anything I did during the war. Those were *my* choices - and terrible ones, I admit - but they were *mine.*"
Treize was staring at the blond, drinking him in as if he were water and Treize a man who'd been wandering in the desert. "Miri... you haven't changed at all... still so beautiful..."
The sound of that name, the one that only Treize had ever used, made Zechs's knees weak. This was his one true love, the man he'd fought for and fought against, the only person, on earth or in space, who really knew him well. But what did he think of Zechs now? /I tried to kill him... wanted him dead... how can he even look at me...?/
"We need to talk," Treize was saying, "where we can be alone. There are things I desperately need to say..."
"Brother, don't listen to him!" Relena said, her eyes pleading. "You thought he was dead. You were happy, and going to marry Noin. Nothing's changed just because he somehow survived! You still love her and she loves you more than anything in the world! Don't let him convince you different!"
"Relena..." Zechs held up a hand at her words. "He's right. We *do* need to speak to each other." He looked over at his former lover. "Not here. We can... take a walk..."
Treize's voice was a familiar silky tenor on Zechs's ears. "You lead, I follow."
Zechs looked up at Sally for a moment. "Sally - can you please check on Noin? I walked her to the terrace... I think she was going to lie down."
Glancing between the two men, Sally looked concerned but nodded anyway. "Of course," she said softly, "I'll check in on her right away. Why don't you come with me Relena."
"Yes, poor Noin," she said, casting an accusatory glance directly at Treize.
They left the chapel, brushing past Zechs. Only Howard remained. His look was wary, too, and Treize picked up on it. "I'm not surprised you feel me suspect, Howard. "We were enemies all through the war, weren't we?"
"Sometimes yes, sometimes no," the old mechanic replied. "But this isn't my business, so it doesn't really matter. Just don't do anything stupid where he's concerned, okay?" He had jerked his head in Zechs's direction. "As far as I'm concerned we just got him back - and back to normal, whatever that is. I don't want to see him or anyone else hurt."
"I'll do my absolute best, Howard," Treize said, bowing just slightly.
"Zechs - you know where to find me if you need me," Howard called, over his shoulder. The he turned, held up a hand in goodbye and headed out of the chapel.
Now it was just the two of them, facing each other for the first time in over five years.
There was a part of Zechs that wanted to cry - for all the lost time, for the agony they both went through, for the love and trust that had been there, between them and then so suddenly gone. It ached powerfully in his chest, growing deeper and more intense as he continued to stare at the man who had been his childhood friend, and so much more.
There were no words he could find, though, and a great wave of relief passed through him when Treize spoke first.
"Take me somewhere green and quiet, Miri... there is so very much to say..."
In the palace, Noin heard a knock on her door. "Come in," she said softly, hoping it would be Zechs, telling her he'd sent Treize away, but it was Sally instead, with two cups of cammomile tea.
"All right if I come and talk for awhile?" she said, smiling, coming into the room and putting the tea cups down on a small table by the window. She handed Noin a cup, which the dark-haired woman accepted reluctantly, and then sat down on the bed with her own. "How are you taking this all, honey?" she said as Noin sat down next to her.
"I... I must be... still in shock... because I can't believe he's really back." Her voice was trembling and her eyes stared blankly ahead of her, as if they looked inward, not out at the world. "I really wanted this to happen soon," she continued. "I'm so tired, maybe all the arrangements have been too much in too short a time, but I just wanted to get over this and be with him, somewhere warm and sunny - secluded, so it could be just us..." There was a pause as he took a long sip of her tea. "Now it looks as if there won't be a honeymoon... at least not without a fight..."
Sally smiled sympathetically and took hold of Noin's free hand. "Women have always had to fight for their men - the good ones anyway. It's just that they usually fight other women."
"And this is Treize, the former General, the ruler of the world, Zechs's closest friend... and a *man.*"
"Does that mean you give up?" Sally asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Do you think I should?" Noin asked, her voice nearly a whisper.
"No," Sally said emphatically. "If you don't try now, you may never get another chance."
"Right." said Noin, wearily, putting down her teacup and stretching out on the bed. Sally picked Noin's feet up and put them in her lap, taking off the shoes and massageing her feet and toes.
"You look pale, Honey? Are you eating all right?
"Not for a few days," Noin told her. "Nothing sounds very good. I've put it down to excitement about the wedding."
Sally was silent for several moments, just thinking, and then she looked up at her friend. "Would you mind doing me a favor?" she said, to which Noin shook her head. "Let me get something," she murmured and stood up. "I'll be right back."
She was gone a few moments and came back carrying a small plastic case. "Can you put one of these strips of paper in your mouth and then tell me what color it turns?"
Noin looked puzzled but complied. When she took the paper out of her mouth and held it up to a small color bar on the case, she asked Sally, "Why am I doing this very strange thing, Sally?"
"It's a pregnancy test," Sally said. "I just want to rule that out as the cause of your tiredness."
Noin's eyes were wide. She held out the paper strip and the case. "W-What does this color mean...?"
End of Part 7
(:./kumiko/rosen7)
