16-Nov-2003
Title: Meeting Beatrice
Author: Sol (archived as Zefyr on FF & MM)
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Pairings: 1+R (past), 1+2, 3+4...
Rated: PG or PG-13 for mild cussing (maybe).
Warnings: Silliness and fun, mostly at the expense of two canon characters.
Archiving: Sure, just write me at zefyr@hereticstudios.com
Critiques: Always welcome, especially constructive.
Disclaimer: I just like to take them out and play with them. I promise to
put them back where I found them.
Spoilers: Takes place 3 years after EW, and may reference some events/past
history.
Heero was already on the beach, with Relena, Quatre and Trowa by his side. Wufei was waiting just past the gathering of attendees, while Sally spoke with the Justice of the Peace. The old man was looking a little bewildered by the need to remove his shoes, but seemed amiable enough about the proceedings. His white hair flew around his head in the high winds, and the crashing sea thundered in the background as the crowd waited for Duo, Zechs, and Noin.
When they appeared, a hush settled over the crowd. Quatre frowned, studying Duo's grave expression. The young man looked neither left nor right, and was dressed in a black shirt rolled up to just shy of his elbows, and black jeans. His hair was pulled back in a tight braid, and the end was whipped by the wind as he strode forward. Zechs was on one side, and Wufei fell in line at his other side. The crowd parted as the three approached, with Wufei and Zechs falling off to the right as Duo came to Heero's side.
Trowa raised an eyebrow at Quatre, bumping the shorter man with his shoulder. The blond shook his head, signaling quiet, but the line between his brows remained as he studied the two young men in front of the Judge.
"Do you come here today, to be married to this man?" The Judge gave Duo a beneficent smile.
Duo's stony expression didn't change. "No."
Heero blinked, then frowned. Quatre's eyes opened wide.
Trowa paused, then opted for the safe assumption, and smirked. "Not the best time for a practical joke, Duo."
Several in the crowd laughed. The longhaired man's practical jokes were notorious. The Judge regarded Duo for a moment, and then turned to Heero with a smile.
"Do you," the Judge asked, "come here today, to be married to this man?"
"Yes," Heero said, softly but clearly. His voice was just loud enough to be heard over the pounding surf.
"If anyone should know a reason these two should not be joined in matrimony," the Judge intoned solemnly, "I charge you to utter your reasons now."
Duo turned to Heero, a strange smile playing on his lips. "Know any?"
"What?" Heero asked, the uncertain frown returning to his face. His blue eyes searched Duo's expression, and Quatre could clearly see a flash of hurt in the midst of the confusion.
"Do you?" The Judge countered, looking up from his book with a stern glance at Duo.
"I asked first," Duo retorted, his eyes still squarely on Heero.
Wufei laughed nervously. "Come on, Duo, enough. We're supposed to be serious, it's a wedding!"
"I have never been more serious," Duo replied. His voice was soft, and icy. The Preventers at the outer edge of the crowd gave each other puzzled looks, unable to hear what was going on.
"This is your best friend, Relena," Duo then said, rounding on Relena. "If you had to, what value would you put on that friendship?"
"I couldn't," she answered, but her expression was troubled. "There's no way to put a price on friendship."
"Then you're welcome to it," the young man replied. "I don't think I can keep affording such a friendship." Duo spun again, and his fist came out before Heero had a chance to react. The next thing anyone could tell, Heero was flat on his back, looking up in astonishment at Duo, standing over him, fists at the ready.
"Duo!" Quatre cried, leaping forward. Trowa restrained him from getting in the way, but the blond Preventer struggled against the hold. "Duo, what the hell are you doing?"
"Not getting married, for starters," Duo snapped. "Maybe someday, but never to someone who'd use me so cheaply." He laughed at Heero's stunned expression. "So much for the real value of *our* friendship, you bastard." His voice cracked slightly, but he regained his composure immediately, glaring down at Heero. Wufei was staring in shock, as Relena knelt behind Heero to help him up. Duo watched, and shook his head, a cruel smile flitting across his face. "All I ever did was love you."
"Which is all I ever---"
Duo cut off Heero's words with an angry laugh. "Bullshit. I won't be ridiculed, and I won't be cuckolded," his voice went up to a shout that everyone could hear clearly, "and I won't be treated in this *manner*!"
"Duo, please," Heero started to say, as Relena helped him stand.
"Just answer one question, Heero," Duo said.
"What? Why?" A bruise was already forming on the dark-haired man's face, and his eyes were wide in shock. Any pretense of control that Heero normally had was gone completely, and a shocked young man was left in his place.
"Where were you last night, around nine o'clock?" Duo crossed his arms and waited. His chin was down, and his eyes glittered in the mid-morning sun. His braid swirled behind him in the wind like a scorpion's tail.
"On the beach, with Relena," Heero said. "We were---"
"Yeah," Duo said, cutting him off. "I know what the *fuck* you were doing."
Relena's eyes went wide, and then her brows came down. "Duo, what the hell are you talking about? We're just friends, we---"
"Shut up, bitch," Duo snarled.
Wufei gasped, stepping forward. Duo shot him a single glare, and the Chinese Preventer stepped backwards, giving Relena a confused look.
"I know *exactly* what you were doing," the longhaired man told her. "And to think... I *encouraged* your friendship. To think, after the wars, you two *pretended* to be merely acquaintances. Or did it start later, once you knew I trusted you both implicitly? When exactly did you start taking advantage of my trust?"
Heero shook his head, desperate. "We weren't---"
"I know what I saw! Ask Zechs, ask Noin, they saw as well." Duo pointed at the outcroppings of rocks, off near the house's deck. "That wasn't a conversation between *friends*," and he growled the last word.
Relena stared at Zechs, who stared at her evenly, his blue eyes ice-cold. "Relena, I'm very disappointed in you," he said. The words slammed into her like a solid punch, and her face crumpled as her gaze darted between Noin's disapproval, Zech's regret, and Duo's hatred.
Quatre and Trowa looked at Noin, who caught their eyes and nodded slowly. Refusing to say more, she turned her head away, only to see Wufei looking back and forth between Duo and Heero, his jaw open. Shaking himself, he moved to Relena's side as the young woman swayed.
"Duo," Heero said, a plaintive sigh. His hand reached out, as if without his knowledge.
The longhaired man stepped back, shaking his head. "You want comfort, use someone else. You've used *me* enough for one lifetime."
With that, he turned on his heel and strode from the gathering. Zechs, Noin, and Dorothy fell in behind him, their legs stretching easily to keep up. The crowd watched them go, and pulled back as the guests tried to figure out what had happened. The sea had drowned out much of what had been said. The gray sky overhead was also making a number of the guests glance towards the clouds with worried eyes, and a few were heard to joke hollowly that the God of Death's fury had shut the sun away.
Heero remained where he was, his face an open book of shock, disbelief, and confusion. Trowa quickly moved to his side, but Heero didn't seem to notice the arm around his waist, or even care. He could only stare in the direction that Duo had gone.
There was a long silence, and Trowa tightened his arm around Heero as the dark-haired man started to step forward, then stopped, blinking. Quatre' s hands were out, as if to catch him, but then slowly dropped.
"I don't understand," Quatre said. He turned to Relena, anger suddenly blazing. "What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know," she cried, cringing backwards. Wufei caught her, and glared at Quatre.
"That's not good enough," the blond retorted. "We all know you had a thing for Heero during the wars. Have you been using us? Using our friendship as a way to get closer? Have you been---"
"She hasn't been anything," Heero snapped, and the sudden flare of anger was gone, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Nothing but friends." He leaned into Trowa's partial embrace, his eyes still fixed on a distant point. "We spent the evening just talking... we walked down the beach, and back again."
"It got cold, and I didn't have a jacket," Relena explained quietly.
"I believe them," Sally said, but the wind caught her voice and only Quatre heard her. He turned, reading her lips as she continued. "And frankly, this has the stink of someone's fingers in the pie," she added, a cold note in her voice.
"Dorothy," Quatre said, realization dawning in his face. His voice was caught by the rising wind and blown away, but Sally nodded.
Behind them, Relena staggered away from the gathering, her face drawn and pale as she headed down to the ocean. Wufei glanced at Trowa, who nodded, and the Chinese Preventer quickly took off after the young woman.
"Relena, Relena," he cried, catching up to her. "Where are you going?"
"To take a walk," she replied woodenly. "To sit down. I don't know."
"Are you... " Wufei caught her by the arm and turned her to face him. "Are you crying?"
"Yes," she said angrily, and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "And I'm going to keep doing it for a little bit. It's a thing girls do when their best friends get stood up at the altar."
"I don't want to you to cry," he told her gently.
"It's good to want things," she said, but the sarcasm was ruined when she choked on a sob. "I want this morning to go away, for instance."
The two were silent for a moment, and Wufei watched the crowd dispersing on the beach. The sky was darkening, storm clouds rolling in from the east, and the sea was churning an angry gray with silver froth. Wufei took it all in, and then turned back to the young woman, realizing his hand was still on her arm. He dropped it reluctantly.
"I think we should go in," he said.
"Not until I show you something," she said. "Down there," she added, leading the way. They came to a stop near several rocks down by the shore, but their base was covered in water as the tide rolled in. Relena sighed and shook her head. "It's underwater now. Damn!" She punched her fists against her thighs, and Wufei caught one of her hands with his, worried. She shook her head as she spoke, but she didn't pull away from his touch. "That's where we sat, for a little while. Heero was over there," and she pointed, "and I was sitting here. I made a sandcastle." She laughed, but it was a bitter sound, and when she spoke again, it was a sorrowful whisper. "He was telling me about what it feels like to be in love." Relena raised teary blue eyes to Wufei's, and then dropped them again.
Wufei caught her by the chin with his free hand, and lifted it up until she looked at him again. "I believe you," he said. He paused, and offered her a shy smile. "I love you... strange, isn't it."
Relena's eyes went wide, and her mouth quivered just a little bit. She inhaled deeply, and then smiled back at him. "I believe you, too... and I never thought I'd say I feel the same, but I do. I can't deny it, but I'm sorry... I can't seem to say the words. Nothing seems real. Everything is upside-down today... "
He chuckled softly. "This certainly wasn't the circumstance I would've picked, when it comes to confessing love... "
"That's true," she said, and the moment was broken as they both laughed quietly. Then she sobered, sighing deeply as she stared at the spot where she'd spent time talking to her best friend, before they decided to stroll down the beach. The wind whipped her hair around her face, and she absently pushed it back, tucking a strand behind her ear.
"Relena," Wufei whispered, tugging on her hand to get her attention. "If there's anything I can do, just say it... "
The young woman watched the roiling sea for several seconds, before turning steely blue eyes on the Chinese Preventer. When she spoke, her voice was harsh and low.
"Kill Duo."
Wufei took a step back, laughter automatically coming to his lips. "No way! Not for anything!"
"Fine," Relena retorted, even though she knew her words were petty. She turned to go, and Wufei chased her for several feet before catching her again.
"Relena, please wait," he called.
She didn't stop. "I'm going inside. There's a storm coming," she informed him. "And I have no reason to hang out here, any longer."
Wufei noticed they were alone on the beach, and the wind was whipping several of Quatre's handouts along the sand. Desperate, he caught Relena by the hand, jerking her around to face him. "Please, we're friends and I---"
"We can't be friends," she snapped, yanking her hand away from him, "if you won't deal with my enemy."
The Chinese Preventer could only gape. "Your enemy?"
"Duo, damn it!" Relena laughed, a cold sound, as her footsteps carried her towards the house. The wind pushed them both sideways, and she snarled at the way her skirt was billowing out. "I'm not a Gundam Pilot," she cried, sarcasm coloring the phrase. "I can't take any of you on, and I know it. God damn it," she shouted. "I wish I were! I'd claw Duo's eyes out, and rip out his heart with my own two hands!"
"Relena, I love you, and I'm certain---" Wufei tried again to snatch her hand but she jerked away from him and began running. The rest of his words were blown away by the wind and he swore under his breath as he ran to catch up with her. He caught her as she reached the top step of the house's back deck.
"Stop telling me you love me," she cried, rounding on him. "If you loved me, you'd help me do something about the fact that a friend just got thrown away like yesterday's garbage!"
Wufei stopped, quieted, and watched the panting girl for several seconds. He ignored the darkened sky, the wind's fury, and the beginning patters of rain on the deck. All he could see were Relena's blue eyes, the pain and agony written across her features, down to the fists clenched at her side. Slowly he sighed, and took both her hands in his, leaning forward to gently kiss her on the forehead.
"Duo is wrong," he said, making the question a statement. "You know this for a fact."
"I do," she whispered, her hands clutching at his. "I don't know why he said what he did, but he's wrong."
"Then I'll deal with him," Wufei replied, stepping back to release her. He stared around them, seeing Heero opening the sliding glass door, waiting for them. Wufei nodded at the other man, then returned his attention to Relena. "But we should probably get inside, first." A raindrop hit Relena on the nose, and he gave her a smile. "Before it gets worse."
She nodded, and released his hands. Then Wufei froze, looking over her shoulder. The wind had picked up the deck table, and it was flipping towards them, end over end. Wufei grabbed Relena, shoving her to the side. At the same instant, Heero dove into them both, shoving them out of the way. The deck table crashed down on all of them. Wufei barely registered Relena's scream as the world went dark.
End Part 8
(:./sol/meeting8)
