A sequel to 'Ace And The Nine Of Hearts'. The song at the end is from the opening of Sol Bianca the OVAs
"Latte?"
"Yes," said Noin. She smiled as Heero began steaming the milk. She was the one who had gotten the espresso machine. It was the one thing she missed having on a daily basis.
Knock, knock.
"I'll get it," said Heero, walking towards the front door of the cabin after shutting off the machine. He opened up the door and saw Duo.
"I've got some mail for you that I couldn't fax over so I decided to visit you," he said smiling. "Then he saw Noin sitting at the breakfast table. "Oh, Noin. You, I wasn't expecting."
Heero sighed. "Come in. What's the mail that's so urgent that you dropped by?"
"Hmm, an espresso machine. How cozy!"
"Duo!"
Duo took off his backpack and pulled out an envelope and a few packages. "This is the main one," he said, holding out the envelope. "And only because she herself came personally to ask me to deliver it. I said I would to make her go away."
Heero opened it and read it. "It's an invitation to one of Relena's functions."
"Yeah, that's what I thought it would be but she wouldn't tell me what it was. I wanted to make sure it wasn't some other type of news. I was half tempted to throw it in the trash and half tempted to open it up and read it, but I didn't."
"... "
Duo put his hands on Heero's shoulders and said, "Whatever you do, do what's right for you, OK? Don't let Relena guilt you into doing what she wants you to do. You've got to think about your own happiness. Guilt has always been your biggest weakness, Heero. Think about it this way, she can't grow up if you're around always to catch her. She has to stand on her own two feet and she can't as long as you act as her crutch. All right?"
"I know. That's why I left. Thank you for worrying about me. Want some coffee?"
"I can't really stay too long but I also came to deliver these packages and say, ‘Happy Birthday.'"
"You didn't tell me it was your birthday," said Noin.
"I don't really have a birthday. Last year, they threw a party around this time to celebrate. I guess they remembered."
"Of course, we did. Anyway, take care. I've got a shuttle to catch." With that, Duo walked out the door.
"He's a good friend, isn't he?" said Noin.
Heero smiled at her. "The best."
"What do you plan to do?"
"I don't know."
Noin's cell phone rang. "Hello, oh, hi, mom. I got something today? Yes, you can open it? What is it?"
Pause.
"I see. Thanks, mom. No, I haven't heard from him, either. I'll talk to you later today." She clicked it off.
"What happened?"
"It looks like I got one of those invitation cards, too. I'm sure Zechs will be there."
Heero absorbed the information. "I sense a plot."
Noin nodded. "But the question is do we turn them down or do we go?"
"I don't want to go but I don't want them pestering our friends and family in order to reach us. We have to talk to them."
"How about we go together? I think we'll need all the backup we can get."
Heero nodded then got up and began steaming the milk again. "I think we both need a double latte."
Noin nodded in agreement.
Zechs and Relena waited nervously. This was supposedly to be a strictly a party for entertaining, but both were skimming through the crowd with their eyes looking for a particular person. Zechs stayed in the shadows as much as he could so he could concentrate on his task. Relena, as the hostess, had no such choice but to keep part of her mind on welcoming her guests and being charming. Then both gasped simultaneously.
Heero was dressed formally in a tuxedo with a black silk bow tie. On his arm was Noin, dressed in a long royal blue sleeveless dress with a sparkling necklace and matching earrings. They strode across the suddenly quiet room, looking to all observers like a couple. Heero was patting Noin's arm while she was whispering something in his ear. Heero bent his head towards her and whispered something back.
Relena, pale, said, "Heero, Noin, I'm glad you could come. I haven't seen either of you recently. You shouldn't make yourself so scarce."
"We apologize for that," said Heero. "We'll be sure to talk about that later."
"Yes, later... " But her concentration was shot, her replies to the rest of her guests was set on autopilot.
Zechs found himself clenching his fists. Noin... Yet he kept himself from walking toward them, afraid that he'd blow up in front of everyone.
Heero turned to Noin and said, "I'm glad we came where there would be witnesses."
Noin chuckled nervously. "Well, we shouldn't spend the whole party acting skittish." She picked up a flute of champagne. "That's the one good thing about Relena's parties, great catering. Aren't you going to drink one?"
Heero picked up a flute and looked at the pale bubbly liquid. "I never got to drink at her parties, I was always the guard."
"That's even worse than the designated driver," said Noin, smiling impishly. Heero smiled and took a sip, then stopped after making a face.
"What's wrong?"
"I never really got used to drinking... "
Noin chuckled behind her hand. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh... "
Heero put the glass down. "It's all right. It's good to laugh if that's what you truly feel like doing." They decided to step out onto an unoccupied balcony.
Zechs sighed to himself. Just look at them, laughing and talking away like that, he thought. How did he do it? How did he make you laugh like you used to? Of all the people, why Heero Yuy? He was about to step out and talk to them when he saw his sister make her way across the ballroom towards them.
"Ah, Noin. I see that you finally brought Heero back. It took you a while to find him, didn't it? I'm sorry to have put you to so much trouble," Relena said.
Noin suddenly felt sad. Whatever her faults, Relena had usually told the truth as she saw it. However, bit by bit, that trait had been worn away and polished into a politician's imitation of sincerity. In that instant, she knew that Relena knew that something had changed but was trying to save face. "Relena... "
"Could we please go to the library room, it would be less... public," said Relena.
Noin and Heero threw each other a look, then Noin said, "All right."
Relena then walked back into the ballroom, saying, "You'll be amazed at the new books I've received... " Then she began rattling off various titles.
Both knew that she was saying this to remain calm, to keep anyone else in the party from thinking that this was anything other than a hostess displaying a bit of vanity in her acquisitions.
However once the door of the library was closed, Relena interlaced her fingers in front of her chest in a gesture that reminded Heero of prayer, of someone trying to pray away the apocalypse. "You are back, aren't you?" Her voice was tinged with hope, with fear.
Heero said, "I... "
"I know that I've been very hard on you, that I've put an enormous burden on you, making you do everything. But it's only because that's how much I trust you. When you left, I figured that you needed a vacation after so long. I didn't want to bother you... You needed the rest. But I didn't know that you would be gone so long... You should have said something."
Noin felt a bit awkward at the way she was being completely excluded from the conversation, however she continued looking at them. The same fight-or-flight mechanism that would kick in while she was piloting was in overdrive now.
Heero looked at Relena sadly and said, "What am I to you?"
"What?" That question completely threw her off guard.
"I know that I'm just the rabbit's paw that you have with you for good luck. I'm just something that puts your mind at rest like a magical talisman. But I'm not satisfied with that. I'm more than that. I can't live the rest of my life like that."
"I don't understand how you can say that. I don't understand... You owe me an better explanation than that."
Heero closed his eyes and remembered what Duo had told him. Guilt's always been your weakness. Don't let Relena guilt you into doing what she wants you to do. He felt the warmth of Noin's hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes. "Whenever I've tried to explain how I feel, you would say that you had a headache from work and couldn't it wait until later. Or you would say that you had to prepare for the next meeting, the next round of negotiations. I wrote everything down in my resignation letter. I heard you tore it up. I suppose it's my fault that I can't explain it any better, but please don't ask any of our friends to ask me to come back again."
"You came all that way just to tell me that?"
Heero hesitated then nodded before looking down. Noin noticed how Relena's eyes began to shake slightly and the way her nose flared. It wouldn't be readily apparent to anybody except someone standing right in front of her who knew what to look for. Noin was about to pull Heero back when Relena slapped him.
Relena said, "You're running away, again, you coward, just like you always have! I hate you! You're just like my mother! Why is it that you abandon me when I need you most? You're just like everyone else. You don't understand how hard it is. When I become the least bit of trouble... " She stopped when a hand hit her on the cheek.
"Noin!" said Heero.
"I'm sorry but I don't have as much patience as I used to. Tell me, Relena, what is it that you want him to do? What does he owe you that he should give up everything to serve you? And understanding how hard it is? You can say that with a straight face? After all the things you've seen him go through... As for running... Sometimes, leaving is the only thing left to do... When the house has crumbled around you... the only thing left to do is pack."
The door opened and Zechs walked in. "Brother," said Relena.
"You're wrong, Noin. I'm asking for one more chance."
Noin shook her head. Heero put her hand in his and gave it a bit of squeeze. "Go on, tell him all the things that you said you wanted to tell him," he said.
"It'll just end up like all those other times. I remember the times that we went to couples' therapy. After the first few visits, I ended up going alone. You really got angry at the one counselor who suggested you go to a psychiatrist to deal with your own issues. How can things change if you don't want them to change?"
"Maybe having a child would... "
"Oh, Gods no!" said Noin. "We'd end up arguing about the poor baby, too. No."
Zechs flinched at that reaction. And she was the one who really wanted to start a family, he thought. "Noin, please... "
"Zechs... I'm tired," said Noin. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life exhausted from trying. I... can't do it any more." Two tears suddenly trickled their way down her face. "I fought so that people could be free, so that there would be an end to the fighting... I want to experience that for myself."
"I think that she's said what she came here to say," said Heero quietly as he handed her a handkerchief, which she used to dab at her tears.
"You bastard, if it wasn't for you... " started Zechs.
"No, you can't blame this on him. There's only two people you can blame and I'm not taking all the blame this time," she said. "Zechs... " She pulled off the gold band from her hand and put it on a nearby table. "I don't want this anymore."
"Noin, what will I do?" said Zechs.
"Find someone who can make you happier than I ever could," she said. "I don't have the knack anymore, if I ever did... "
Zechs turned to Heero, his lips turned slightly downwards, his eyes narrowed, the furrow between his eyebrows set deep. He was the very image of bitterness. "Why is it that I lose all the people I care about? Ever since I was a child... my family, my kingdom, my identity... Why are you taking her away from me? Haven't I lost enough? Tell me!"
Noin turned to them and said, "Heero and I... we've lost a lot, too. Why is it that neither of you ever ask us how we feel about that?"
Zechs slumped down into a chair while Relena leaned against the wall and seemed to try to think of something to say.
The room was quiet as Heero and Noin quickly left the library, then took the most discreet way out of the house.
"A strange way to wind down a day like this, isn't it?" said Noin as they sat at a twenty-four hour diner, still in their formal dress. Sitting before her was a small ice cream sundae. Neither of them had eaten at the party and it was right next to the hotel they were staying at.
"Hmm... yes, it is," said Heero, sipping a cup of cocoa. "Do you think this is the end?"
"Probably not, but I think it's the beginning of the end. Anyway," said Noin. "While I went out shopping to get a dress for the party, I got you a birthday present." She pulled a small package out of her black purse.
"You didn't have to."
"I wanted to. Go ahead, open it."
Heero quietly opened to find a small old book with the title, "Heero Yuy: His Own Words."
"It's a small book about the man you were named after. There had been a few made before he was assassinated. This one is an autobiography. Even after the government tried to get rid of all signs of him, there were a few people who kept these books. I found one in an antique bookstore. I remember you saying that you couldn't find anything about him so when I went to the bookstore and saw it in the case... " Noin said referring to the glass case where rare and expensive books were displayed.
"This is the best birthday present anyone has given me."
"You're welcome."
"This must've cost a great deal of... " started Heero.
Noin waved off all protests. "Don't worry about it. Think of it as a thank you for helping me to stand up to Zechs tonight if that helps. Now help me finish up this sundae so we can go back to the hotel and see what's on TV."
A song began playing in the background:
Though you try to drain my mind
With all your foolish lies
I am fragile but powerful
No need to deny
Listen to my deed
I know your scheme
Is just a constant bluff
I need to get away
From this game you like to playTo be free
As free as a bird can be
Got a goal to reach
Be free
As free as a bird can be
Though you may not believe it
The End
(:./mk/pair)
