Noin walked down the hall leaving the headquarters room, muttering a few choice words to herself about a certain Lady Une. On her left cheek she sported a slightly blue and yellowish colored bruise. Later, she noted, it would probably get bigger and darker. She could feel it pulsating slightly with pain. Normally she wouldn't have thought twice about it, she had taken worse. The thing that did hurt, though, was her pride. She had just been slapped by Lady Une, and in front of everybody; after trying to get her to calm down and quit making hasty actions involving the defeat of the Gundams. She felt the tears starting to well up in her eyes at the embarrassment she had just gone through.
*I shouldn't have just let her slap me...* she thought to herself as she continued to walk down the hall and turn left into a corridor. Her main objective was to leave at once. Lady Une had gotten tired of her "help" that she was suppose to be offering and dismissed her.
All she wanted to do was leave and go to the tiny apartment she had and lay down. She was here for Zechs, not OZ and she would be damned if she let them play her for the fool and use her to their disposal.
*Zechs* Noin thought to herself, letting his name linger in her mind. She had known him for a long time. They had gone to the Victorian Academy together. They were the top of their class and Zechs was always number one with her in second. She let him beat her, of course. She had never really been interested in all the battle strategies and so forth. No, the original reason she had gone in the first place was so she could possibly get the chance to go to outer space. That was her goal then as it was now. But then she had met Zechs and all that changed. She had allowed herself to become infatuated with him. She now could say that she loved him. He was so strong, smart and brave. One of the toughest men she had ever met. She admired him. But she didn't just like him for his looks. He was also a kind and considerate man, when you got to know him. He seemed to have a high sense of honor and often took dangerous missions onto himself so others wouldn't risk getting killed. Many people didn't really know Zechs like she did.
Many who had met him thought he was a cold-hearted man. Indeed he was that way with her when she first met him, but he had gradually began to trust her and accept her as a friend. She had also learned his deeply guarded secret too back then. That he was truly Millardo Peacecraft, lost ruler of the Sank Kingdom. She had overheard him talking to Trieze one day.
The discovery had shocked her at first, and hurt her. Hurt her because Zechs hadn't trusted her enough to share his secret openly with her. From then on, she swore to herself that she would prove herself to Coronal Zechs; so that one day he would trust her as much as he did Trieze and share his secret with her.
Though, she knew that was too much to ask for from him now, she hoped that one day he would tell her. She had a feeling that he knew that she knew though. She didn't know how, but she just knew that he did know that she knew the truth about him. That's probably why he ended up leaving so soon from the academy to go join Trieze while she was left behind to help train new cadets on how to learn to fly mobile suits. She couldn't complain though, she loved the job. She just wished she could have been closer to Zechs.
"I just need to get home and rest," Noin said to herself, "maybe, even put a little ice on this to help the swelling stay down."
Just as Noin went to open the door in front of her it burst open and Zechs came marching straight into her. They both went down. Noin landed hard on her rear while Zechs only went down onto one knee. *He always was more graceful than me* Noin thought wryly to herself.
"Noin!?" she heard his voice echoed above her, "Are you okay? I didn't mean to run into you I was just in a hurry to catch Lady Une before she left." Zechs told her offering her a hand up.
She took it gladly and he effortlessly hauled her off the ground.
"It's okay," Noin said not looking up and pretending to wipe some of
the dirt off of her white pants.
"Noin, what's the matter?" Zechs asked her suddenly sensing something was wrong.
"I don't know what you are talking about. Nothing is wrong I..."
"Noin, I know you better than you think. I know something is up.
Why won't you look at me? Did I disappoint you in the fight today?
Was I that bad at controlling the Tallgeese?" Zechs asked her. She
could almost hear the hurt lining his words at the thought that she didn't
think he was good enough.
*Why would he care what I thought?* she thought to herself before quickly
looking up at him to protest his words.
"Oh, no sir!! You did a wonderful job operating the Tallgeese. I couldn't be more proud of you," she said hoping to sooth his fears.
"Noin!! What happened to your face?" Zechs asked alarmed stepping closer to her.
Noin went pale as a sheet as she remembered the nice bruise she was sporting and quickly put her hand up to cover the area in hope that Zechs wouldn't notice that it was the size of someone's hand. But she was too slow. Zechs had surveyed the damage done to her smooth porcelain skin. He clinched his jaw tightly and felt a small tick on the side of his head. *Who ever has done this, is going to pay dearly* he silently swore to himself.
"It's nothing... it was an accident," Noin said obviously lying to him. Which only served to make him even madder. At his disbelieving look she hastily tried to convince him it was nothing to worry over.
"Look, I wasn't watching where I was going and I ran into something. Look, it's no big deal..."
"Noin, why are you lying to me? I know the size of bruise is almost the exact shape of someone's hand. So why do you insist on defending them? Can't you trust me?" Zechs asked hurt a little at her unwillingness to tell him who had hit her.
"Come on Zechs, I'm a big girl now. It's just a little bruise. I can take care of myself..."
"Well, obviously you can't if you let someone hit you so easily," Zechs told her in a patronizing voice.
"Why do you care?!" Noin asked getting mad at the way he was treating
her. He was treating her like a small child. Did he not see
she was a grown woman?
Noin tried to walk past him but each step she took to get around him
he always moved to block her path.
"Can I get through?" Noin asked impatiently, forgetting her manners.
"Is that anyway to talk to a superior officer Lieutenant Noin?"
Noin flinched a little at the formality he was using with her, but she knew that he would not leave her alone until she had told him what he wanted to know.
"Noin, please tell me what happened," Zechs pleaded softly with her, moving her hand away from her cheek and gently cupping her face in his own large powerful one. The action made her knees feel like jelly.
"Zechs I…" she could feel the tears well up in her eyes. * Damn me for being so weak! How can I cry in front of him, how?!? I was just hit that's all, so why can't I tell him? Because I'm too embarrassed to tell him that I let Lady Une hit me. I saw it coming and I did nothing to stop her. When Zechs hears about it he'll think I can't take care of myself and probably send me back home...like a good like girl. He just doesn't seem to think I can take care of myself.* Soon Noin's tears of embarrassment turned into one's of anger.
"I can take care of myself, I don't need you to hold my hand every time I get hurt. I'm a grown woman, and if you can't see that well that's your own problem," Noin said looking crossly at him.
"I know that Noin. I'm not blind, I can recognize a beautiful woman when I see one," Zechs said eliciting a gasp from Noin. He gently moved his hand from holding her chin to softly caressing her cheek.
"I just care about you and worry, is that so wrong? That's why I don't want you on the battlefield with me most of the time," Zechs said looking into her eyes.
"But I'm as good as you," Noin said trying to defend her dignity.
"I know you are Noin. But I feel that it is my duty to protect you. Even from yourself. I worry that one day you are going to get hurt and there will be nothing I can do about it...like now. Let me protect you Noin. Let me into your heart."
"Aren't you the one I should be asking that to? Besides I don't need someone babying me," she said looking up at him defiantly.
Zechs couldn't help but laugh at her, "I must admit Noin, you are a
stubborn one. But that is one of the things I love most about you,"
Zechs said bending over to whisper in her ear, "I'll give your regards
to Lady Une when I see her."
With that said she felt him shift slightly and plant a light kiss on
her cheek. At first she couldn't tell if he had kissed her or if
she was imagining it, but she could also feel the coldness of his mask
brush her face that sent a shiver down her spine.
*He actually kissed me!!* Noin thought as she raised a hand to her tingling cheek.
She felt Zechs brush past her and she turned with wide eyes to watch him head down the corridor she had just come down. Suddenly he stopped and looked over his shoulder at her astounded face and couldn't help but smile at her.
"Oh and Noin, get some ice for that cheek. I wouldn't want to see it swell to badly or I might just have to kiss it better again tomorrow," with that he turned back around and continued to walk down the long corridor. The soft click of his boots against the cold linoleum floor echoed off the walls as he turned around the far corner and out of sight.
Noin was still standing where he had left her. She was shocked, to say the least. Then she slowly came to her senses and raised her hand to the side of her head in a saluting position.
"Yes sir, Coronal Zechs," and with a smile on her face she turned and walked out the door on her way home. Though, she kept thinking of the next day when she would see him and hopefully he would carryout his promise, to kiss her cheek all better.
*Maybe I was wrong about him, maybe he does care.*
~ The End ~
Hope you liked it... Send comments or criticism. I love both.
