19 May 2001

TITLE: Velvet
AUTHOR: Kat & kumi!
PART: 33/?
FANDOM: Gundam Wing
PAIRING: A puddle of Treize, Zechs and Wufei
WARNINGS: lemon, lemon, lemmmmon!

DISCLAIMER: Not ours. *sigh* ^_~

Velvet by Kat and kumi

Chapter 33

Saying 'Good-bye' had taken them nearly two hours, more talking, more sweet, needy kisses shared between them before Treize was finally told to board the plane or that it would leave without him. A final kiss, hard and wanting, before he walked through the terminal, taking a last backward glance at the man who meant so much to him, who'd saved his life and made it worth living again.

The plane trip had been a tense mixture of bleakness and excitement -- to see his daughter again, after so long!!! And now he'd shouldered his carry on bag, and was leaving the terminal, searching, and searching for Marimeia...

"DADDY!!" There was a girlish yell from somewhere to his left and a moment later a small but fierce-looking nine-year-old parted the crowds with her hands and flung herself against Treize. Her arms wrapped around his waist tightly and she buried her face in his shirt. "Daddy, Daddy, DADDY!!" It was hard to tell if she was happy, angry, relieved, or, perhaps a little of all three.

"Ach, gott," he uttered roughly, glad his bag was a shoulder bag, and over on his better side -- it let him stoop, hug Marimeia into his arms, the grasp fiercely protective. He'd missed her so much. So very much... "I'm home, my darling. Daddy came back for you."

She tore her face away from his chest to look up at him, her face determined but tear-stained. "I... I thought you were *dead*" she said to him, more tears coming. "I thought I'd never *see* you again! And I'm never ever letting you go again!" This last remark was punctuated by her arms tightening around him as she butted him, rather forcefully, with her head.

Anne walked up from behind her, eyes glowing. "Treize... oh welcome *home*, love!" Leaning over she took his lips in a lingering kiss.

He clutched tighter at his darling daughter, his stubborn, delightfully intelligent daughter, responding only stiffly to Anne's kiss. "I'm back," was his slightly raw reply as he stroked on hand atop Mari's head. "You won't have to let go of me again, Mari."

"Daddy," she said, her voice quieter. "Daddy, Daddy, *Daddy*"

Anne smiled at her. "If you haven't already guessed, she's overjoyed to hear that you're all right. So am I." She squeezed his arm and then began walking them in the direction of the exit. "Shall we go home?"

"I have a suitcase to pick up at luggage, but yes," he murmured, half carrying his clinging daughter. Ah, why were his eyes stinging? "I'm home again. There's so much we need to talk about..."

"Plenty of time for that," Anne smiled. She put her arm through Treize's and rested her head on his shoulder. "Plenty of time."

They retrieved his luggage and Anne led the way to her car. "Daddy you *have* to sit in the back with *me* or I'll come over the top of the front seat to get you!"

"Well then, I'll just have to sit in the back, won't I?" he chuckled with a warm glint in his eyes. "Both of you have so *much* to fill me in on, Mari! How's school? Are Cathrine and Trowa still doing well? Mmm, I missed you!" A soft exclamation as he snagged Mari around her waist and lifted her up as far as the pain in his chest would let him. "and I have things to tell you -- about *London*." And there was plenty he *couldn't* tell her, but.... well.

On the drive to Anne's house, Mari talked non-stop about nearly everything that had gone on during the five months that Treize had been missing, with Anne adding a few details here and there. "I'm afraid my grades have slipped a little, Daddy," the girl admitted solemnly, but it was just so *hard* to study when I was so *worried* about you." She gave him a squeeze. "But now that you're back I'll do better, I *promise* you."

/I'll need to talk to her alone, see... if it would bother her so much, the idea of perhaps leaving home with me.../ His promise to Zechs gnawed in the back of his mind. He *did* want to go back, but that old part of him still clung on, wanting a... a 'normal' life, despite his love for the blond man.

"I know you will, Darling," he smiled, wincing only slightly when she squeezed him. "Not so tight, Mari," was the gentle chiding. "My chest still hurts from when I was shot."

"Oh! I'm sorry, Daddy!" She let go and look up at him in concern. "Did I hurt you? I wish I could hurt that man. The one that kidnapped you and shot you. I don't want you going *anywhere*, *ever* again! I'm going to fold you up and carry you in my satchel to school with me." She hugged him again, lightly this time, and gave him a mischievous smirk.

"Mmm, then I could pass you answers?" he chuckled softly, kissing her forehead before he shot Anne a *nasty* look in the rear view mirror. /She's lied to my daughter... how.../ "You don't want to hurt Zechs, though, Mari. He wasn't the one who kidnapped me, and I was shot trying to protect him. And I never protect anyone who doesn't deserve it."

"I never want to hear about him again," Mari replied, firmly. The she gave her father another winning smile. "I wrote you a poem... while you were gone. Want to see it?"

"Oh, yes - show him, Mari. It's really lovely, Treize." Anne said, ignoring the glare she'd gotten from the man. /He's just exhausted, in pain. Anyone would be cranky after what *he's* been through. 'Patience, Anne... with time and patience, he'll come back to you...' Isn't that what Cathrine had said? And she knows Treize well enough... Patience.../

/We'll see how I can do here, given a few days.../ he mused, before he replied, "Yes, show me, Mari? Your poems were always sweet... and you could only have gotten better!"

She smiled self-consciously and reached down into the school satchel that sat on the floor of the car. Pulling out a piece of paper, she looked as if she were about to read it, but then reddened again and handed it to Treize. "Here it is - a bit depressing, but... well, I *did* think you were dead."

"For my father

But know that someday I will seek For you among the fallen fair In gardens wild with blossoms meek, The two of us, beyond all care"

Treize didn't read it aloud, but silently, to himself, once, twice, before he solemnly handed it back to her, unable to hide the slightly teary smile that tugged at his face, before he pulled his daughter close again, letting the tears fall. "Ah, my Mari... Gott. I'm glad that I lived, if just to see how happy it makes you that I'm alive." Her hair was so much like her mother's had been, straight and feathery soft, but *thick*. A kiss was pressed to the top of her head, and he sighed softly. "You know, it was thinking of you and Anne that kept me alive when I was first taken..."

In both senses of the word, and he shivered a little as he kept holding her. that was an unpleasant memory that he'd long kept shoved down. The first time he'd been taken by his first master, and the feeling of his throat, raw from screaming and more, while all he could think of was Mari's face, how angelic she'd looked when he'd tucked her into bed the night before he'd last seen her, watching her leave to visit her little friend for the night. "I'm so glad you went to that sleepover."

"Daddy..." Her voice broke, tears streaming down her face as well and once again she buried herself in his arms and hugged him as if she would never let go.

"We're here," Anne said softly. She had pulled to the side of the street, directly in front of the small but fashionable house she kept. "Come on, you two - let's go inside."

He didn't even ask about the apartment he'd lived in with Mari -- the thought of going back there scared him a little, though he knew he'd have to do it eventually.

"A moment," he answered, unbuckling his seat-belt before he freed Mari of hers, and then backed up to the door, opening it and stepping out, pulling Mari up with him. "It's good to be back in Bonn again."

Walking beside him, Anne looked up at the elegant profile and felt warm for the first time in months. "I'm so glad your back. Everyone was overjoyed to know you were coming home. They all wanted to come over, throw parties, invite you to dinner - I had to tell them we'd figure that out later. You'll need lots of rest and the first place you're going is a doctor's visit, tomorrow."

She unlocked the door and led them into the house. It was warm and comforting after the chilly air outside and it smelled of freshly baked bread and something with cinnamon in it. "Let me take your coats - and why don't you go on in to the den. I'll get something for us to drink and join you."

"Come on, daddy. *You're* sitting next to *me!*"

"Now Mari," Anne called in a teasing voice, "be fair. We're going to be sharing him, remember?"

"Stars above, not fighting over me," he murmured with a chuckle as he let Mari slid out of his arms. "I'll get my bags, find..." he hesitated for a moment. He and Anne had always slept together, and... they'd need to resolve that. "Well, I'll just bring them in."

It was refreshing to be *back* again, and his step was lighter than usual as he went back to the car, got his suitcase and shoulder bag, locked the car, then headed back into the house.

His shoulder-bag held his medications and the *most* conservative clothing he'd had with him; the suitcase was a different matter, and Anne may have found the fact that it was *locked* a strange thing. At the top were his tighter pants, and those soft, familiar sweaters, a few pairs of boxers, and a t-shirt that was Zechs' and smelled like him; below that were the odder things. A deep blue silk poet's shirt, the mesh body-suit, the cock-ring and both collars he had -- one that was more 'elegant', the other the comforting supple blue-dyed leather that he'd spent so much time wearing.

Both were set down just outside the door to the large kitchen/dining room, and Treize re-entered the room again.

Mari was on the sofa, waiting for him. "Daddy - you're not going back to work right away, are you? I mean, we'll get some time with you just being *here*, right?"

He let out a quiet sigh, pushing a hand back through his hair as he moved to sit on the edge of the sofa, all lean muscle and finely re-tuned control. "Frankly, Mari, I'm not sure if I can go back to work at *all* again. Right now, I just need to rest."

"Yay!!" Mari let out a cheer and bounced on the sofa cushions. "So I'll probably need to stay home from school and take care of you, right?"

"Nice try, young lady," Anne murmured, coming in with hot cocoa and thinly sliced gingerbread. "I believe that *I'll* be the one staying home. But you can take a day off tomorrow, I suppose. That couldn't hurt."

Treize's eyebrows rose just slightly at that, thinking. /They've both gotten used to me not being here./ "No harm in that -- it *is* a Friday tomorrow, anyway." He laid a hand atop his daughter's head, stroking her hair for a moment, "You never do anything at school on Fridays, do you?"

"No," she said scornfully. "It's as if the teachers all think we've overloaded our little brains during the rest of the week and have to "rest" them or something. So we sit around learning to sing songs or have to go to the gym for social dance. It's *horrid*!"

"Now now, Mari," Anne said softly, coming up behind the sofa and putting her arms softly around Treize's neck and letting her hands slide down very gently to his chest. "Someday you'll be *glad* you learned to dance that way. When you meet that special someone." With a soft nuzzle, she kissed Treize's temple and winked at the girl.

Treize shivered at the touch, so familiar but very different from what he'd learned he'd come to love most. "Anne." The softened tenor voice held a warning tone, as the muscles she touched stiffened. "I am not... comfortable with this..."

The woman's cheeks reddened and she pulled away. "I'm sorry, Treize. Of course. It's understandable..." She sat on the arm of the sofa and picked up a mug of cocoa. "So," she said cheerfully. "What can we do tomorrow that won't tire you out to much, Treize? Your doctor's appointment is at 9am. Is there something or someone in particular you'd like to see?"

Treize sighed quietly, watching Mari pick up a slice of gingerbread, her face content and happy. "First of all, What sort of *doctor* is this, Anne?"

"He's a generalist," she said vaguely. "He's going to look at your side."

"Anne, the french doctors did a very through job of looking at me," he sighed, shaking his head slowly. "I have quite the regimen of drugs to take, too."

"Well it won't hurt to have a doctor here in Bonn who's following your progress. Now..." She smiled at him. "Answer my question. Anything you'd like to do in particular?"

"Sleep in," he sighed lightly. "Hospital beds make it impossible to sleep, and any sleep I got last night was destroyed by the stress of the plane-trip... And before *that*, Zechs had his alarm set horridly early." Stretching a little, Treize gave in and picked up one of the gingerbread slices. "So I look forward to sleeping in a familiar bed again.

Anne leaned over and squeezed his thigh lightly. "I look forward to that, too," she said, softly.

Mari rolled her eyes. "Come on you two, don't get all mushy until I've gone to bed, all right?"

"Someday, Mari, when you're older, you'll appreciate mush," he mused, chewing thoughtfully on the gingerbread. /Duo's cooking has spoiled me completely./ "There's comfort to be found in touching things, isn't there?" he asked her, referencing in what had used to be his usual roundabout way, to her hugs.

"I *suppose*," the girl admitted reluctantly. "But don't expect *me* to ever get mushy with a boy!"

Anne laughed. "I want that statement in writing so I can show it to you when you're sixteen! I think you'll find when you get a little older that boys are *wonderful* to be mushy with." She leaned over and ran her fingers through Treize's hair.

"Or girls," Treize spoke in a dead-pan voice before he chuckled quietly. Ah, hands in his hair... that were different from Zechs's. /Gott.../"Now, if you can say that you don't want to get mushy with *anyone*, I'll frame the written statement, Mari." It was quickly becoming obvious to Anne that Treize, the *new* Treize, was a good bit more liberal than he'd ever been before.

Mari waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, grownups always think they know everything. But *I* am definitely *not* going to be boring and predictable. There are girls in my class who are already convinced that the only thing they want to do with their lives is find some boy and get married and have children and keep house. I'll *die* before I let that happen to me."

Laughing softly, Treize patted Mari on the back. "I hope that's so, Mari -- you can do so much more with your life than that, if you want."

"Especially now that *you're* back, Daddy!" she said, giving him another hug. "Everything can go back to being normal again."

"Here here, Mari," said Anne. "After what we've all been through 'normal' sounds like the best thing in the world."

The telephone rang and she rose to get it.

"All depends on what you call 'normal'," Treize sighed a little, reaching for the last mug left, as Anne exited the room. "Mari... would you be entirely adverse to travelling a little? Going to England, perhaps?"

Mari made a face. "But Daddy! You just got home! I want to just be *here* with *you.* I want you to come see me play in the school concert and we have play to put on! Next month. I'm the *director*!! You *have* to come see it, and I couldn't *possibly* go anywhere now!" She rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at him, her face glowing with adoration. "Please, Daddy. Let's just stay *home* for a while?"

He'd promised Zechs, but... how could he deny Mari? /I'll try this. Try..../ "We'll see. It all depends on how this week goes, all right?"

"Nnnn... we stay *here!*" she growled, butting against his arm with her head. "Grrr..."

Anne walked back into the room. "Mari! Can't you give your father a couple of days to get used to things again before you start your "mad bull routine"?" She smiled indulgently at the girl and then sat down on the other side of Treize. "That was Trowa. He and Cathrine wanted to know if they could be of any help. I said I thought we had things fairly well-covered, but that I would ask you if you were up to having them over for dinner the day after tomorrow. What do you think?"

His lips curled into a smile. "I'd be *happy* to see them again for dinner," was his reply, even as he put a firm hand atop Mari's head, stopping her from butting him anymore. So familiar, and good to be back... "there's a lot i need to find out from them." /How the firm's been, how well they've done without me.../ the more he thought of it, the more it seemed he wasn't suited, anymore, for law work, or political office. The only job he could think of himself holding was at Zechs's side.

"You know Cathrine's going to try to get you back to work as soon as possible. She really missed your expertise while you were gone. Relena did as well, even more so, I'd say. Have you thought about when you'd like to go back?"

His lips thinned for a moment, then he took a sip of his now lukewarm cocoa. "I can't go back, Anne. I no longer have the skills required for such work." He smiled a little weakly at her over the edge of his cup. "Just trust me that I know what I'm talking about. It's too... intense for me to handle anymore. I suppose I'll have to start looking for something that I'm more *suited* for." /Like with Zechs. I *enjoyed* doing that research, being his personal aide.../

For the first time that day, Anne's face took on an expression of disfavor. "Treize - you can't just give up your legal career! You put *years* into it! I mean, it's perfectly understandable right now to see how intimidating it must seem, but after you've been here for awhile, after you've had a chance to rest and recover, you'll love it again, I'm sure. And besides... it's the *best* way to position yourself for public office. And I *won't* let you give up on that. You're just too *good* at politics to not be a active participant."

Her hands were around his arm, squeezing gently, and she smiled at him. "You'll miss it, darling, really. You'll be glad to go back, once you've had the chance to recover from the ordeal you've been through."

He wanted to say something, but... "Mari? Could you excuse Anne and I for a moment? We need to talk in private, so.... We'll be back in a few minutes." He was already rising to his feet, brows furrowed together a little as he looked to Anne. "I have a perfectly good reason for not wanting to go back, Anne," he murmured as they walked down the hallway and towards the master bedroom, "to either politics or the legal world."

Once the door had been closed behind him, he realized that he'd carried the mug out with him. Well, it was something to hold onto as he told her, leaning his back against the closed door. "You are aware of how in politics they have a nasty way of digging up the *darkest* skeletons you have in your closet? I'd rather not see my last five months plastered across papers and television ads."

"No one would do something like that!" Anne protested. "And even if they did, *none* of it was your fault. You were *forced* Treize! You were kidnapped and beaten! It's not as if you *enjoyed* what was happening to you!" She looked at him in utter disbelief. "There's not a soul in the world who could accuse your of *any* moral failings!"

Silent, he sipped again at the cocoa he had in hand. "I was more than beaten, Anne -- I was used as a sex-toy for my first three masters. And I did *enjoy* my time with Zechs."

Her face was grim, determined. "But that was *them* doing it to *you* and you *don't* really mean that you *enjoyed* your time with that man. I'll allow that you say he treated you better than the others did. But don't you see? *That's* why you think you "enjoyed" it! It wasn't that you felt anything for him, or liked what the bastard was doing to you! You were just so relieved that it wasn't as bad as it *had* been that *anything* he did probably seemed acceptable! If *he'd* have bought you first, you'd loathe him as much as you do the others. You are *not* gay, Treize. That man and his twisted, sick lifestyle cannot change the soul of the man *I* have known and loved for years. It's simply not possible."

"I changed him, Anne, just as much as he changed me," Treize murmured in an even tone, finishing the last of the cocoa. "And it's not that he changed me, so much as that he showed me things about myself I'd never known before. And he *cared*. Maybe the differences in treatment did tint my mind favorably for him, but I *know* that I was something special to him, more than his other slaves. He was going to free me after the negotiations in France, before we were both shot."

"Oh, yes - I'm sure he told you that. Very convenient of him, given that the police probably *ordered* him to do it." She crossed the floor to him and put her arms around his neck, fingers again in his hair. "Let's not fight about this Treize. None of it matters anyway because it's *over.* You're back *here*, where you belong and everything you've gone through this past five months will just be a memory - a horrible one, I know, but only a memory nonetheless." She reached up and nuzzled his jaw, letting her hands slide down his neck and shoulders, all the way down his back. Then she pressed herself to him. "Just give me a few nights, and even some long, lazy afternoons with you. I'll show you how 'gay' you are..."

He shuddered, back stiffening. "Anne... no. I... can't."

She smiled sympathetically, but held onto him. "Treize... you're just not used to being touched in a truly *loving* way. I know you feel like pulling back, but the best way to get back to normal is to wade right in, sweetheart." Another kiss, on the tender skin of his neck. "My Treize... how I've *missed* this..."

Another shuddery sound left him. "It doesn't do anything for me."

"It *did*..." she whispered, "before you left... you can't have changed *that* much, love..."

"I'm sorry, Anne," he eked out softly, arms coming around her. The strength behind them was shaking. "I'm not the same Treize anymore."

"You *are*..." she murmured softly. "I just *know* it." Standing on tiptoe, she took his mouth in a long, lingering kiss. It wasn't wet or deep, just mouth on mouth, with her breasts and hips pressed tightly to him, fingers back in his hair.

How strange, to feel those breasts against him again.. those lips, so different from Zechs's. He didn't react much beyond what instinct made him do, and then he broke it gently. "Anne. Later, all right... we'll see about this later. it's late, and I'd like to unpack, spend a bit more time with Mari..."

"Of course, darling," she said sweetly, kissing his cheek. "Shall I make us some dinner?"

"If you could," he replied, still a little stunned as he backed away from the door, and opened it. "I'll unpack." Then he slid into the hallway, body as smooth as a cat's, down the hall to the main room, where he snagged his bags, "Mari...?"

She was reading, sprawled out on the sofa where they'd left her. At the sound of her name she peeked over the edge of the book and blinked. "Are you going to unpack, Daddy?" she asked, tossing the book aside. "Can I help?"

Thoughts went back to the collars and cock-ring, but... He could keep her from seeing those. "You can unpack my bag for me, and I'll unpack the suitcase," he grinned at her, shouldering both, before gesturing her down the hall ahead of him.

"Great!" She leapt up from the sofa and headed off down the hall, doing a few spins as she went. "Daddy's home, Daddy's home, *Daddy's home*!!!" The spinning continued until she landed on the bed he would share with Anne. "Oh, *god* - I'm so *dizzy*!!"

Chuckling, Treize set both the suitcase and his bag down on the bed beside her. "Silly girl. You'll make yourself sick doing that!"

"I never do, though. I could be an astronaut someday..." She sat up and looked at the bags. "Which is mine to unpack - and did you bring me anything?"

He handed the softer bag to her, expression a little sheepish. "Uh, sadly, no. I would have, but everything happened so fast..." The suitcase was pulled over to him, and he started to dial in the combination.

"Well than we can go out later and you can buy me all kinds of things!" she said as she unzipped the bag and began taking clothing. "Anne is such a tightwad - 'only if it's absolutely necessary,'" she intoned in a fairly good imitation of her father's fiancee. "Whoa, Daddy! When did you start wearing *these*?" A girlish giggle escaped her as she held up a tiny black thong bikini.

His face flushed deep red as he took them from her. /At least it's not the see-through ones,/ he thought distractedly. /Or the mesh.../ Two more numbers to put into his suitcase... "It's a *long* story, Marimeia. A very long story."

"Yeah?" she said, walking to the dresser with a small clump of his socks. "I've got time. Did you visit a nude beach?"

"No," he answered bluntly, a little smile twitching the corner of one lip. "It's just that all the clothing I have are things that Zechs bought for me." His suitcase opened at last, and he started to slowly take out his pants, one at a time, re-folding them.

"Ewww!" Her face was screwed up and she looked at him with no little disgust, perhaps even outrage. "That *creep* bought stuff for you? And you *kept* it? I think we should gather it all up and *burn* it, what do you say?"

Looking a little chagrined, Treize shook his head. "Actually, Mari, I *like* some of it. Zechs has impeccable taste."

"Yeah right," she said, her tone angry now, "that's why he beat you up. That's why he took you away from all of us and let you almost get *killed*! How can you say you like it, yuk!"

"Mari." his tone was firm, as he reached out to grasp her shoulders. "Mari. *Zechs* wasn't the one who kidnapped me. Zechs *never* hit me."

"He let you almost die!" she said emphatically. "What's *wrong* with you! Why can't you see how horrible he was to keep you like that, when you wanted to come home, to us... to me?"

"I wanted to come back to you Mari, but I couldn't -- I was too ashamed of everything that had happened to even try to live anymore. But Zechs helped me past that, helped me back to the point I'm at now." He didn't take his hands off her shoulders, just held her steady. "After all the other owners I had, I needed structure and stability to get back to myself, and that was just what he gave me."

A tear spilled from reddish-brown lashes. "*Owners*? Oh, Daddy!" She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him fiercely. "Poor Daddy!"

"Hush," he soothed softly, stroking a hand through her hair. "Don't cry, Mari. It doesn't do either of us any good."

"I know," she sniffed, trying hard not to let more tears slip through. "I've been very brave - you can ask Anne. I never cried once... until I saw you again. I'm so glad you're away from all of that."

"I'm glad I'm away from some of it, too," Treize murmured, kissing her temple tenderly. "But some of it I miss." /Zechs.../ "I know you think that Zechs is evil, Mari, but Anne's view on all of this is extreme -- I lived it, and she didn't, and there's where the differences begin."

"Let's not talk about it, Daddy," she mumbled into his shirt. "I'll get the rest of this bag unpacked so fast it will make you *dizzy.*"

"You handle that, I'll finish my suitcase," he smiled, pulling back from her gently to start pulling out some of his slinkier sweaters. The poet's shirt still covered and hid the two collars and cock-ring.

"So, Daddy," she said thoughtfully after a few minutes of drawer-stuffing, "Now that you're back you and Anne should set a date for the wedding." A sly gaze was tossed Treize's way. "And the *honeymoon*..." Wiggling her eyebrows at him, she began to make kissing sounds.

/Oh, god.../ "I don't think I can do that, Mari," he murmured, handing her the last sweater to put away, while he subtly folded the silk shirt around the things he didn't want Mari to find. Then his suitcase was empty, so he closed it, holding the balled up shirt in one hand. "I need time to... think it all over."

Mari eyed the shirt and then frowned up at him. "Why, daddy? You've been engaged long enough. And... well, I'd really like Anne to be my stepmother. She's good."

"I know, Sweetie," he murmured, standing up to *shove* that shirt somewhere. Such a nice piece of material, a beautiful thing that he treasured because it reminded him of Zechs, but... necessities were just that. At least Mari hadn't realized that the t-shirt he had couldn't have been his -- it was too big for him, for starters. "But I want to do what's best for Anne, and I'm not it. My heart's somewhere else."

She looked at him in shock. "What do you mean, Daddy? You... you don't love Anne anymore? You two aren't going to get married?"

"I love Anne a lot, Mari," he spoke quietly, walking to the dresser his clothes were in, and opened the top drawer, laying down the shirt. As he set it down, he could hear the luring 'clink' of the catch on the collar. "But I'm not the same man she fell in love with anymore."

The girl sitting on his bed looked miserable. "You said... you heart was somewhere else... Are you engaged to another person?"

"Not engaged, no," he murmured as he closed the drawer firmly, fighting the draw of his collar. "But it meant just as much."

"But... what does that mean? For us? Where am I going to live? I don't want to be apart from you again, Daddy." The little face was determined. There was hurt in her eyes, but there was strength and resolve as well. "I won't let you go away without me!"

"I won't," he urged softly, sitting down beside her again. "I won't leave you -- if we leave here, you'll come with me, I promise."

"What about Anne?" she asked, the sadness returning. "She loves you *so* much, Daddy. You should've seen her when you went missing, she was on the phone to *everyone*... And Daddy? Don't tell her I told you..." Mariemeia looked down at her shoes, which she kicked miserably against the bed frame. "She already bought her wedding dress... I helped her pick it out. She looks *so* pretty in it..."

Tears were running down her cheeks again and she turned her face to hide it against him. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I know I shouldn't cry..."

"Gott," he eked out softly, closing his own eyes. Everything was falling apart suddenly, collapsing from under him. Not matter what choice he made, someone's heart would break -- Anne's if he left, his own... and maybe Zechs' if he didn't. "It's okay, Mari. It's okay. I'll... figure something out. This is my fault."

"Hey you two!" Anne called from the bottom of the stairs. "Dinner is served!"

Mari quickly wiped her eyes. "Promise me you'll think about it before you tell her anything? Please? Maybe it can still work out."

He kissed her forehead lightly, shaking a little as he pulled back. This meant a delay, maybe longer than he'd planned, before going back... "I will. I'll think about it... But right now, let's go eat dinner, okay?"

End of Chapter 33

(:./kumiko/velvet33)