GW and its characters don't belong to me, they just occasionally stop by to play with my brain. All transcribed actions and words from the series are shown in grey text.
He waited impatiently as the pilot patched the call through to his monitor.
It flared to life with a close up of Noin’s face as she leaned over the monitor’s console blocking anyone else’s view with her shoulders. She grinned affectionately at him, "It been quite a while, Lieutenant Zechs." Her husky voice rolled out of the speaker.
"You’re looking good, as usual, Noin." The words slipped out of his mouth before he knew it. He was thankful she seemed to ignore his slip of the tongue, but he smiled slightly as a faint blush touched her cheeks.
"I hear you’ve been pretty busy these days." Her voice dropped an octave in a conspiratorial fashion; "Rumors about the ‘Lightening Count’ have made it all the way down here to Victoria."
He frowned at her undisguised curiosity, "I don’t like where the rumors are headed. I’ve become the target of enemies, and allies expect more than I can handle." He was uncomfortable with which he had been labeled and the crushing responsibility to up hold its reputation.
To his increasing displeasure, she perversely turned her back to the monitor and stepped to the side allowing him to get a glimpse of her surroundings. She was in the underground pilot training facility, "I think rumors are great. You heard any rumors about me?" The coy question held more than a hint of the camaraderie they had known in their school days.
"I hear that you’ve done well training pilots. Also that you’re a superior all around soldier." He hesitated, and then continued. He had wondered about her motives ever since he had found out that she had been promoted to Lieutenant and made an instructor. "But Noin, you used to hate war, so what’s with all the effort you’re making?"
She blinked at the monitor in what looked like surprise, "I’m honored that you seem to remember so much about me, Lieutenant."
He silently gritted his teeth as she smoothly used his title once again in an undisguised effort to place distance between them. Or is that her way of reminding me that I have ignored her for too long. Oh, Noin, how on earth could I forget anything about you? You were my best friend, tutor, confidant, and conscious. I remember everything about you
. His thoughts almost made him miss her answer but her last words jerked him out of his reverie. "My efforts are for my love of outer space." They were enough to keep his mind occupied for the rest of the flight.
He forced himself to concentrate on the newest information about the Gundams until the conversation with the pilot unexpectedly returned the subject of Noin, the Victoria Base, and the Taurus MS’s manufactured there. He confirmed the pilot’s assertion that even civilians had common knowledge about the MS manufacturing occurring there and continued, "And I’m on my way over there. Noin is about the only one that will welcome an annoying lieutenant."
"Didn’t you graduate from the Lake Victoria Military Academy together?" The pilots inquisitive questioning surprised him.
"I’m surprised you knew."
"Of course I do. Everyone knows the top two students of all time that graduated form the Lake Victoria Military Academy. I also know that you, Lt. Zechs, were the top student."
Zechs allowed the slightly bitter smile to touch his lips since the pilot could not see him. "She was always trying to be second, in order for me to look better. It looks like she will be helping me once again."
His mind kept returning to her last emotionally charged statement until the wheels of the plane touched down on the tarmac at Victoria Base.
Meanwhile at Victoria Base, floating in Zero G as she watched the pilot trainees practice maneuvering in the weightless atmosphere, Lt. Lucrezia Noin thought to herself, Zechs, it’s been one year and 22 days.
[memories] Noin put down the pencil and watched the graceful stride of the tall blonde haired boy as he walked through the library. He carried four books on simulators. A smile touched her flips as he bent down to scribble his name on the cards and the fabric of his jeans tightened in all the right places. It was after hours which meant that Zechs could be seen in jeans and tee-shirt instead of the normal school uniform.
But... She giggled quietly to her self, butt... what he does with a plain pair of jeans should be illegal... she thought. Letting her eyes trail down to his boots and back up, she blushed before determinedly pasting her eyes back on the open book before her. Gotta learn these trajectory calculations...
At the checkout desk, Zechs smiled shyly at the librarian as he felt a familiar gaze settle on his form. He studiously kept his back to the room until his instincts told him that the gaze was firmly back under control and planted determinedly back in the book out of which it had wandered. With quiet steps he paused in the doorway and turned to look at the dark head bent over the open book. He sighed.
He had only just started at the academy but he knew she was the top student in their class. He wanted to study with her, but rumor had it that she always studied alone. He needed the extra help because all of these subjects were so different from the education he had been receiving... he mentally yanked himself back from those thoughts and watched as she pushed a stray strand of hair behind her right ear. Suddenly, she looked up and met his stare squarely. Caught by her curious blue eyes, he felt his body lock and freeze. After nearly a full minute that seemed like a year, she stood and closed the book and gathered her pencils and paper. His breathing picked up pace as she walked to meet him. [memories end]
Noin rubbed the towel over her wet hair as she prepared to go meet her long time friend and take him on the tour of the base. She knew some of the troubles he had been having lately, from those rumors he disliked so much. She paused as she wandered past his likenesses where they sat on the table in her sitting room. "Zechs Marquise. Or rather Peacecraft come here and let me help you out." She stared at for several minutes then turned into her bedroom to get dressed for her meeting.
Several hours later Zechs sat swirling the wine in his glass wondering why she had insisted in sitting across the empty room to try and carry on their conversation. "When we will slip the Taurus’s out?" He asked.
Her reply was short and sweet and to the point. "0700 hours tomorrow."
"That’s close."
She swiveled on her seat at the bar to partially face him, "I’ve heard the enemy won’t show on radar so we’ve got extra soldiers watching for them." She was looking to him for confirmation of that rumor.
He offered her the extent of his knowledge freely, "That is the best strategy. Good thinking Noin."
She smiled coyly, "I appreciate your compliment, Lt. Zechs."
"Just call me Zechs, Noin." If she called him that one more time, he was fairly certain he would react violently. It was almost as if she was needling him by talking to him so formally. Deciding that he had better change the subject before he said something rude, he decided to comment on the Officers Club which she had proudly told him she had designed. "By the way this room sure is cheery."
"Most of my soldiers are young and restless, I thought this style would suit them." Her happy tone rubbed the raw spot that her fencing conversation had uncovered. He didn’t like to think too closely about all of the young men that surrounded her day in and day out.
"Don’t go getting too attached or parting will hurt."
"Thanks for being so concerned but my soldiers are never going to be destroyed in battle. They’ve been trained not to overdo things. In my mind the value of life verses war, can’t even be compared."
Her reply was unexpected. She had assumed he was referring to their age old argument about war. Deciding that he would look foolish to correct her assumption, he picked up the gauntlet, "My soldiers have died. Noin, I disagree with your philosophy."
She didn’t disappoint him. To the contrary, her eyes lit up with inner passion as she warmed to the friendly debate. It was the first sign of the real Noin in well over an hour. "Battles that risk men’s lives are miscalculations. I pity the soldiers that get destroyed." He almost growled when the phone interrupted her and her face started to close over again with that blank look. "Noin here. Oh." She listened for a few seconds then extended the phone to him. "Lt. Zechs, you’ve got a call from Lt. Otto."
Zechs sighed and walked to the phone. The short cord necessitated him turning his back to her as he spoke into the phone. Lt. Otto was very informative and rattled on for several seconds. He thanked Otto, "Thanks for letting me know." His dress saber wiggled as a soft clink sounded startling him from his conversation. He knew he hadn’t moved so when it happened again he glanced down to watch as Noin slowly rotated her own saber in its sheath to clink softly against one side of his saber then the other. His lips quirked as she silently crossed swords with him behind his back and finished his conversation. "Sounds good. Keep me posted." As he hung up the phone with the firm intention of drawing her back into the debate in the hopes that his long time friend would finally emerge, a young pilot stepped through the door causing her to still her movements.
[memories] Zechs quickly drew the textbook strategical maneuver on the dry-erase board to demonstrate his point. "That maneuver would neutralize those forces." He circled several X’s on the board and continued his argument, "and would be in place to make an offensive move against this point here." He glared at Noin as she sat there shaking her head.
"Zechs, it wouldn’t work that way if you were fighting against a less than honorable enemy." She stopped and held up a hand to silence his defense of his statement. "Just listen to me for a moment, ok? I am going to tell you something and if you tell anyone I will personally flatten you. I have seen that maneuver fail in battle." She ignored his frank disbelieving look and plowed ahead in her explanation. "Myself and three other students were allowed to take part in the L3's X18999 colony uprising. General Septem employed that tactic but the unscrupulous rebels decided to open fire on the base inside the colony. If my CO had not blocked the shot at the expense of getting shot himself, the colony, which was barely functional, would not exist today. So believe me when I say it won’t work."
His expression had slowly mutated from one of skepticism to one of awe. "I read about that. About the ‘prodigy soldiers’ that fought in that battle," Her grimace was confirmation enough. "I also know that they say it was a total failure. That although their reflexes were superior, their minds couldn’t handle the reality afterwards. But in the source I read, all of those young pilots went quite mad." She doodled on the table with her finger. "Are you really ok?" Concern colored his voice
"I don’t need your pity. I’m fine, the reports say that we all went nuts to protect me. It was an experiment to see if younger pilots could handle the stresses of war. I am the only one still here. The others all ended up in psych wards. That is where I went four weeks ago, I went for my yearly sanity check. They think I was able to handle it better than the others because I was raised in a military family." She lifted hard blue eyes up to clash with his. "But that is why I argue with you all the time about it. I was strong enough to survive it with my mind intact, but I never want to see war again."
They stared at each other for several long moments. He finally asked the obvious question, "Then why are you still enrolled in a military academy?"
"Because, I have no where else to go. And it is the only thing I am good at. And because I believe that if you want peace you have to fight for it. And I want peace!" Her harsh words stung, and he took them to heart. [memories end]
He called loudly hoping she was conscious inside the cockpit and able to hear him, "Noin, are you alright in there?" He had heaved a sigh of relief as the door slid open. At least I won’t have to have her cut out of the darn thing, he thought a little irrationally. He had been worried sick since he had found out that all contact with her MS had ceased abruptly several moments before the MS transport plane had been shot down. At first, his heart had nearly stopped. Then, it had gone into overdrive when one of the Taurus pilots had reported the location of her intact Aries.
Her shaky voice answered him, "Yeah. Just feeling a little beat-up, inside and out."
That scrap of sound was pure music to his ears. "Noin. I’m just so grateful you are alive." He extended a hand to help pull her from the battered bowls of the trashed Aries’ cockpit. The smell of fried circuitry was strong as she allowed him to pull her out into the fresh air.
"You’re just saying that ‘cause if I’d died I’d get a two rank promotion." She looked up into those royal blue eyes, now shielded by a mask, and wondered if he still remembered those fun times at the academy. She was only half listening to his voice as she lowered her eyes and only half answered him with a weak flippant remark. She grimaced when he roughly squeezed her hand and looked at him as he wanted her to.
"You’ve got nothing to worry about with that sense of humor." Distressed by her pessimism, he rebuked her lightly.
She stared as her distorted reflection scowled back at her from the shiny surface of the mask between and surrounding his worried blue eyes. Still, reeling from the attack and her sound defeat, she implored, "Listen. You’ve got to let me fight the enemy with you. I want to retrain. Get stronger." He wondered if she was fully aware of what she was asking as she shakily dusted herself off.
He offered reassuring words, "I’ve been through it with that Gundam as well, but the next time I see them, they won’t be getting off so easily." However, her blank stare told him that her mind was already elsewhere. Her eyes had slipped over his shoulder to watch as an ambulance sped toward the base hospital. The silent sirens told a sad tale.
Her voice cracked slightly, "Oh, Zechs."
Realizing that she wasn’t far from totally losing her composure, Zechs grimly offered her the chance she had asked for, "I’d be happy if you’d work along side me, Noin." He knew it could very well get her killed, but at she would be where he would be able to monitor her every move, unlike that morning.
She nodded faintly in answer to his last statement. "I’d be happy too. Thank you," she said, then firmly made her way down form the cockpit.
She didn't wait for him to descend after her. She merely started walking toward the headquarter offices. She put those long legs to good use and lengthened her stride trying to cover up the slight limp. He knew she heard her name called as she was half way to the door and was infuriated when she refused to look back.
Her thoughts raced faster than her feet. This Zechs, the Lightening Count, he could not understand how I feel. He isn't like the other one, the shy blonde boy that so easily stole my soul as we grew and learned together. Laird, my friend. No, this one, Lt. Zechs Marquise is better than me. He’s a better pilot, better at military strategy, better at fighting. I’m the ‘Instructor’ but I still need to really learn how to apply myself in battle. Today proved that. Two young pilots died because of my orders. I thought I had learned my lesson, years ago… Maybe he can teach me what I so obviously need to know. She jumped slightly as she slammed the door, still ignoring the echoing strides on the tarmac behind her. Ten paces into the gloom of the hallway, she stopped and leaned heavily against the wall rubbing her left leg where despite the safety harness she had banged it into the metal side of the chair in the MS. The door crashed back against the wall and she ignore it just as she ignored the voice that called her name in a worried and angry tone.
He pulled himself up sharply and got a tight grip on his anger before he spoke again. In sharp contrast to his entrance, Zechs quietly closed the door and watched as her head snapped up. Wary blue eyes glanced around at him as he noticed she was digging fingers rhythmically into her thigh. He breathed her name in concern and started toward her only to stop as she straightened and addressed him coldly, impersonally.
"I need to go check on my men, Lieutenant. If you will excuse me?" Her voice lacked the small dose of slightly teasing mockery but still echoed with emptiness as it always did when she used that blasted title.
Finally fed up with this split personality and treatment, he caught her and spun her around shaking her slightly as he did so. "Don't speak to me so coldly, Noin. I have known you for too long, to allow you to use that heartless military voice on me. I already have someone going through the lists. And you are hurt. So come with me to medical."
"Lieutenant, I have screwed up once today. I can’t afford to do it again! Good pilots died out there because of me!" Her glazed gaze stared blankly toward where his eyes would have been if not covered by the mask, but the blank quality to her gaze didn’t worry him as much as her tone.
Realization hit him squarely between the eyes. He considered the other times and places she had used that particular tone to him. Then he realized that she wasn't even looking into his eyes, she was staring at his helmet. No, at her reflection. Not even thinking he reached up and pushed the mask off the back of his head, not caring if it dented when it hit the floor. He watched as shock widened her eyes. Her pupils dilated and her jaw dropped. But she finally met his eyes. The reward for his rash decision came in the form of his name as it slipped in a whisper from her lips. The nick name she had always used when they were totally alone.
Bittersweet and poignant. "Laird..." As her eyes welled with the tears that he had known weren’t far away, he pulled her to him as the dam broke on her grief over the loss of her students. Her sobs nearly broke his heart but the nick name she uttered against his chest cause his own vision to swim with tears. Although she was crying, this was the Noin he remembered. His heart-as-big-as-the-universe Noin, his best friend.
[memories] "Hey, where were you? You missed simulator practice. Noin skidded to a halt as accusing blue eyes balefully cut into her. His demeanor was colder than a block of ice. "What is wrong?"
"When, exactly, were you planning on ratting me out?" He snarled.
Taken aback, Noin simply blinked at him until he thrust a page of hardcopy at her to read. She quickly scanned her old report, which was what the paper consisted of, and stopped at the grainy printout of a picture that had never been part of her report. She had found the picture in researching the report but had not used it. With thinned lips, she frog-marched him down the hall with a whispered threat and into a classroom 12. Once assured they were alone she flipped the lock on the door before flying off of the handle.
"Ok, Your Majesty," she sneered, "Milliard Peacecraft, if I had wanted to ‘rat you out’ I could have done it the day you arrived! Look at the date this was last revised, you ninny! I did this report six months before you ever set foot on these school grounds. So, yes I knew who you were, I have always known, but I respected your privacy in a way that you obviously don’t respect mine. I accepted your right to wear a false name and even offered my friendship. This is how you repay me? You hacked into my files and have the audacity to be mad at me because you learned that I am not the dupe you thought?"
He had the good sense to look shamed in the face of her anger. He watched as she carefully folded the papers and put them in the pocket of her uniform jacket. Filled with remorse, Zechs tried to placate her, "I am sorry. I shouldn’t have done it, but I had to know why you were being so nice to me… after what happened to my family, I am paranoid that they will find me and finish the job." His penitent face and sincere words caused her to loose some of her animosity.
"Milliard, I never give my friendship lightly. I like you, not for who you were or what you were but for who you are here and now. It doesn’t matter to me if you call yourself Milliard Peacecraft or Zechs Marquise, because to me they are one and the same, a new friend." She watched as tears flooded his eyes briefly and reached out to grasp his shoulder in comfort.
"It has been so long since anyone has said my name. So long since I even dreamed of hearing to spoken in friendship instead of it being screamed by my mother a nightmare of smoke and gunfire. I figured the next time I heard it would be right before someone killed me."
"Well, the next time you take it into your head to give yourself royal dispensation to go through my stuff, Milliard… hummm, Mi’ Laird… It might very well be heard next by you right before I kill you. So… Laird… you have exactly thirty minutes to get to the simulator for your tutoring session…" She giggled at the incredulous expression on his face at her daring in bastardizing both his name and title.
He was still blinking in surprise several seconds later as he heard her laughter echo down the hallway at her private joke. [memories end]
He could feel the dampness of her tears through the shoulder of his jacket and sighed. The wool would hide the evidence of her tears and he was glad because he knew she would not be very happy if there was any evidence of her slip from prefect status. He was sure she did not know that the reason her students and fellow officers respected her was because of her all too human mind and actions. Her great love of people showed in every aspect of her life. Every aspect except one, he thought. Once she had treated him with the loving care and friendship that she heaped on her students now. Once she would never have spoken to him so coldly. Once they had been the best of friends. Once. But now she flip-flopped between warm welcomes and cold shoulders. He could not begin to understand her mood swings.
Yesterday morning she had been happy to see him and that afternoon had proudly shown off her base and soldiers, but the longer she had spoken to him the colder the responses had gotten. He didn’t question her loyalty, even at her coldest. However, he did question whether she still saw him as a friend.
He sighed again as she pulled away and straightened her uniform. He stood there gazing at her as she bent and retrieved the fallen mask and watched as the blank distant look descended over her features as she shined the surface on her sleeve before handing it back to him. She reached out and smoothed the front of his jacket, never meeting his eyes.
She glanced at the helmet wedged into the crook of his arm and said, "Zechs, I have to go check on my boys. I have to and I am sure you understand. My leg is ok. I will meet you later in the OC if I have time. If not, I will see you at the meeting I will set for 0900 hours to assess damage and casualties and plan what to do next." She swiftly avoided the hand that reached out to grasp her chin by turning and striding down hallway.
As the scent of fried electronics which had permeated her clothing and hair faded, Zechs held up the silver mask and stared into the empty glasses that protected and shielded his eyes when he wore the thing. Distorted, his reflection glared back at him with a malevolent look. The blue eyes seemed to glower in animosity and his full lips were twisted in a mocking sneer. He held his own gaze for several seconds before the strangely morbid thoughts that the sight caused to float around in his mind truly had time to coalesce.
[memories] He walked slowly from the room and as the door closed behind him, he reached up to adjust the odd weight on his head that was obstructing his field of view. The urge to remove it was strong, but if it was going to be part of his uniform, he knew he had to get accustomed to the limited vision and the confining heat it sheathed his face in. He headed out of the admin building and over to the student lounge to wait for the official announcement and to await Noin. He wondered idly where she was. She had been absent all day. He had been slightly hurt when she hadn’t showed up to wish him luck on his officers exam.
He settled into the corner chair so that he had full view of the room, but mainly because he was feeling slightly vulnerable with his peripheral vision narrowed to two small windows. He slowly relaxed as he watched the other students mill in and about like ants as they went about their daily business.
Tinkling familiar laughter caught his attention and turned his head toward the doorway where Noin stood in the midst of four students laughing and joking. One boy pushed her lightly and she giggling in near hysterics shoved him back. They all cracked up at her quip and stood leaning on each other as they tried to get a hold on their breathing. She patted one on the shoulder and broke away from them and headed into the lobby. She looked around, letting her gaze wash over the still, seated figure in the corner. He watched her sigh heavily then stop and stare at him with a look of inquiry. He knew the exact moment she recognized his hair because her eyes widened to the point that they looked like they were going to fall out of her surprised face. Of course the brilliant red jacket hadn’t helped her identify him either. She took a hesitant step toward him and he stood up and smiled. That seemed to clarify his identity in her mind and she ran toward him, laughing.
As she grabbed him in a rambunctious hug, her temple glanced off of the side of his new helmet. Knocked askew and ringing with the force of the blow, the helmet blinded and deafened him for second before he righted the thing and stilled the vibrations. She was standing there with a pained look on her face holding a hand to the side of her head.
"Sorry. Congratulations! I knew you were testing for something, but didn’t know what. I thought you would be in my testing group. I made pilot!" She reached out a tentative hand and gently stroked the crisp red wool. "But you had your sights on higher things, I see." She reached up and snatched the helmet from his head, effectively tousling his long hair. She then wrapped both arms around his neck in a tight hug. When she released him, she said simply, "I needed that and you looked like one wouldn’t hurt you either…"
He pulled the helmet from her hands and placed it back on his head, not bothering to straighten his hair. As he did so her voice trailed off. The look on her face was impossible to read. She just stared at him blankly as if he might have done something wrong but she wasn’t quite sure how to correct him. The idea must have been a fancy because she had never failed to let him have it whenever she deemed that he needed to be taken down a peg or two. She was his self appointed conscience, he almost grinned as he pictured two little Noines - one with horns the other with halo - perched on his shoulders. But she merely stared back at him with that almost hurt, almost confused, almost insulted expression on her face. He saw her open her mouth to say something but it snapped shut when an authoritative voice rang through the lobby behind them. Though the voice interrupted his thoughts, that mental picture of Noin as his consciences stayed with him. [memories end]
He plunked the mask back down on his head and did an about face to head back out onto the tarmac. He tried to put Noin’s strange behavior out of his mind as he set about ordering the loading of the remaining MS’s and set emergency mechanic crews to repairing the her damaged suit. However, like the unforgotten memories of tiny Noins sitting on his shoulders, the memory of her mood swings kept running through his brain. Yesterday, in the space of one hour, she had gone from being in a happy bouncy mood to cold and withdrawn. She had gone from being friend to being Cadet Instructor.
He thought about the warm hand shake and how she had squeezed his arm in a firm grasp while smiling up at him with a big goofy grin that never failed to bring a smile to his lips. She had leaned her shoulder into his side in a friendly bump in a look-over-there manner several times at the beginning of the tour of the base. As the hour wore on, her smiles grew less and less, and she maintained placed more and more distance between them. Her body language became stiff and jerky, which was unusual for such a graceful and nimble person.
By the time they returned to headquarters, she had barely been speaking at all except to say his rank title. She would probably have said serial number too, if we still used the antique things… He blinked as he slammed a clipboard containing the latest data on repairs projection down a lot harder than he had intended. His own vehemence surprised him. He could still hear that slightly awed, almost worshipful but extremely distant and decidedly cool tone she had used. It rang in his ears.
"Lieutenant?" The rank title spoken behind him almost wrenched a growl from his throat as it held a similar tone to the one replaying in his mind.
He calmed himself, "Yes?" He listened to the young mechanic’s report on supplies and parts. He focused and made several decisions before he had to head back to the office for the meeting. He reached up as he entered the cool building to remove the helmet in the dark hallway and wipe the sweat from his brow. He pulled a small handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the inside brim of the mask and then his forehead. He tucked the mask under his arm as he refolded the small cloth and tucked it into his pocket again. He wasn’t worried about being late because he had headed back early. He knew Noin might very well be upset after her trip to the hospital, and he wanted to be there early in case she needed him.
The door opened and a bundle of energy barreled through at top speed. Long pleated printouts held up in front of her and trailing in her wake, Noin entered the building at just short of a dead run. For the second time that day, the mask took a nose dive onto the carpeted floor of the hallway in HQ building 2. Zechs had looked up as the whirlwind of paper and limbs ripped through the doorway. He had just enough time to drop the helmet in order to catch her and keep her from running slap over the top of him. She made a small sound in the back of her throat and instinctively reacted to being grabbed. Elbows and knees partially obscured by flying paper, landed several effective blows.
Refusing to let go, even as he felt his knees buckle from the blinding pain, Zechs drug her to the floor with him as he sank bonelessly to carpet level. Harsh breathing punctuated by a hearty groan and violent rustling of paper as it was shoved and ripped aside, was joined by the pathetic sound of his name being croaked from between suddenly dry lips.
Small callused hands cupped his cheeks as she leaned toward his face. He squinted at her through slitted eyes as he tried to sit up without releasing his hold on her arms. He refused to let go because if he did, he knew right where his hands would go, and he refused to clutch at himself in front of her. Barely able to hear over the roaring of blood in his ears, he heard her moan his name and nick name several times as she patted at him apologizing profusely. She managed to get him sitting up straight against the wall as she squatted on the balls of her feet in front of him between his out-stretched knees.
He slowly calmed his breathing trying to deny the pain as she twisted around. Her movements pulled at the death grip he had on her shirt sleeves. He felt like a doll that she had sat against the wall and tried to get his brain to work his fingers into releasing the fabric they were clutching. He was close to succeeding when she suddenly twisted back and leaned forward planting one knee on the floor far too close for comfort to the throbbing area on which her last assault had been successful. He folded like a house of cards. Where before he had been leaning against the wall like a boneless doll, he jack knifed into rigid straight posture with his back pressed against the wall, unconsciously his hands protected his vulnerable areas as his unprotected head bounced off of the wall.
When he had blinked the new tears of pain from his eyes, he noted her frozen position. She knelt holding his helmet in such a way that he knew she had been going to place it on his head. The startled looked frozen on her face almost lent her a look of pain.
"Sir? I am sorry, Lieutenant." That obscenity rolling off of her tongue unknowingly, to her, assaulted his ears much as she had unthinkingly assaulted him only seconds before.
"Zechs." He growled, "Zechs, or Laird, if you prefer. I know you can say them because you just did. So don’t throw my rank in my face when we are alone." His sharp tone, given in the form of an order, had the effect of wiping the strange look from her face.
"Yes, Sir!" She grimaced as he narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth in a silent growl. "Uh, yes… Zechs. Here…" she gingerly reached out and plunked the mask back over his eyes.
He tossed it back onto the floor in frustration and held out a hand. She tentatively placed hers in it and proceeded to pull him to his feet. He staggered on weak legs. He sighed as she put her shoulder in his armpit and steadied him with an arm around his waist.
"I am so sorry Zechs. I didn’t mean to… well, I did, but not to you…"
He leaned back against the wall and placed a palm gently to the side of her face. "I know. I wasn’t thinking when I grabbed you. I just wanted to avoid a collision. Looks like I caused one instead." He grinned at her trying to lighten the worry and guilt he saw building on her face. He rarely teased or joked, but he knew it never failed to brighten her moods in school so he tried it now. "I guess that will teach me to stand around in dark hallways grabbing women as they fly by."
Hesitantly, wonder transformed her face as his words penetrated her brain. His eyes devoured the change as a smile settled on her face and laughter bubbled up in her eyes. In fascination he watched the corners crinkle just before the rich sound of her laughter tinkled out into the still air.
"Laird, the day you start grabbing women in dark hallways, is the day I would dearly love to see, because prince or not, you would likely get slapped." She assessed his stability before squatting at his feet. She handed up the mask and started scooping up the armloads of paper strewn all over the floor.
He tucked the mask under his arm and waited until she stood back up before responding. He caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger in a hold he had tried to catch her in earlier in the day, holding her steady as he then smoothed the thumb over the curve of her lower lip. "Open your eyes Noin, that day is here and I would say that your aim was much more effective than most women’s would be." The papers fluttered from her slack arms down over the toes of her boots while her eyes widened, but the moment was lost when the door careened open, slamming against the wall again, admitting a young soldier carrying a stack of boxes piled higher than his head. The two sprang apart. With a glance at Noin, Zechs plunked the mask back on his head and stopped the young man while Noin re-gathered the papers.
[memories] The speaker was never going to stop or get to the point. Maybe time was grinding to a halt while this man gave this eternally long speech. After what seemed like hours, the dean stood up and started calling students, in alphabetical order, to the podium to receive their diplomas. Impatiently, Milliard ‘Zechs Marquise’ Peacecraft awaited his turn. He was seated in the ‘M’ section of students, but he wondered if his diploma would have his real name on it or not. The line moved impossibly slow. The procession of students before him crept along at a snail’s pace. The whole section of ‘L’ students walked as though treading through molasses. Finally, the ‘M’s’ were called. Feeling invisible and center stage all at once, Zechs marched along with his section to the edge of the stage.
He knew two sets of eyes were watching him. His friend, the one that had gotten him into the Lake Victoria Military Academy, and Lucrezia Noin watched him walk across the wooden stage and accept a diploma under a false name. A single bulb flashed as the graduation picture was snapped. Two people, one photo, and a false name in place of thousands of subjects, hoards of media, and an impossibly long name that also carried numerous titles. He retook his seat numbly and stared blindly stared until Noin minced across the stage in the unfamiliar attire of dress and high heeled shoes. The numerous ribbons and braids of honor were identical to his own except for one. He wore a navy blue honor cord that denoted Valedictorian.
She had pushed and drilled and yelled and coaxed him for the entire last semester, until his fighting spirit finally retaliated. He had finally picked up the gauntlet she had so eagerly thrown in his face. The competitive spirit had surrounded them like a cloud. She had kept him in a total fog oblivious to her deceit until he accidentally learned something had wasn’t sure he had wanted to know. The stack of graded tests on her desk had been too tempting to pass up. However what he had read had shocked him. She had deliberately missed the easiest questions on each exam, questions she had drilled into him for hours. She had been telling him that she had messed up this or that calculation, but she had been blightently lying. He wasn’t sure he could confront her with her cheating. She was cheating herself out of a higher score and him out of a true victory.
He knew he had been pretty withdrawn since that day, two weeks ago, but could not seem to understand why. He knew she hadn’t meant any harm by it, but he had to wonder why she had done it. As she came down the aisle to sit back down she waved at him and did a little dance jig. He couldn’t help but smile at her antics as she gave him a thumbs-up sign. He was glad he had declined making a speech because the rest of the ceremony flew by and when the last name was read, every senior stood and tossed their hats into the air. In the following uproarious confusion, a hand clamped on his arm and spun him around. Everyone around him had been laughing and crying and hugging patting each other on the backs, so he wasn’t surprised when two arms immediately latched around his neck.
What did surprise him was that the lips belonging to the same body, which was now wedged tightly against his own in the crush of people, had clamped onto his. Wide blue eyes stared down at the dark lashes that lay against her cheeks. She slanted her mouth against his and he felt the smooth slick lining of her lower lip slide over his. That warm heat combined electrically with the nervous stimulation of her short fingernails lightly raking the nape of his neck as her hands knotted in the length of his hair. His eyelids sank to half mast as he pressed to deepen the kiss. The wary flick of her tongue across point of his upper lips jacked teenaged hormones into overdrive.
That kiss would live forever in his memory because it was his first and because it was commented on by nearly every single student he passed in the halls over the next two week period while he waited for the ESA to come test the graduates that wanted to join the military. The flavor of cinnamon would forever be linked in his mind to the burning spicy heat of Noin’s mouth. It seemed like those two weeks had been spent in two ways, trying to figure out how to corner Noin about her cheating or how to abduct her for a make out session. Neither ever happened, and he was still unsure exactly why not. [memories end]
Zechs took a seat near the window. The new orders for evacuation of the remaining Taurus suits was handed down and he listened as a lieutentant from the medical corps gave the status of the few surviving cadet pilots. None would ever fly again at the controls. Noin grimly gave a report on the Gundam she had faced off against that morning and the boy she claimed was piloting it. She shirked none of the blame for her decisions. He listened as she tried to claim the blame for two pilot’s deaths because they followed her orders to not fire on the Gundam when they had a chance.
Having heard enough of her self and career destructive speech, Zechs butted in and quickly set things straight. He ripped into her report and with clever detailing showed just how easily she could have ended up dead. Having everyone’s undivided attention, he followed his interrogation with some startling news on the explosion tolerance of the Gundams that Lt. Otto had extrapolated from the current data.
He smoothly turned the meeting back over to the base commandant before turning his attention to the cinnamon scented potpourri on the table next to his chair. He wondered if anyone would notice if he opened the window and dumped it out. That scent was far too distracting, especially after everything that had happened today. He shifted his eyes to the opposite side of the room without moving his head. Noin was sitting there ramrod straight. Her face was blank but her eyes burned with suppressed emotion. He could not tell if she was upset about the young men in the hospital or his obtrusive adjunct to her report.
Several minutes later, the commandant closed the meeting with new orders and released everyone to take care of business. Zechs stood and strolled at the back of the crowd to the door. His slow progress put him in the right area to hear the orders the man gave to Noin. She was to go back to quarters and get some rest, because he was pushing her transfer orders through and she would have to be ready to leave when they came back approved. Zechs allowed the small smug smile to curl his lips as she blinked at the man.
She didn’t know anything about him putting those orders through, but she held her piece. She saluted and gave Zechs her back as she exited the room. She never even so much as cut her eyes at him as she walked briskly down the hallway. He noticed as he chatted with the man that she rubbed her hip as she approached the outside door.
Hours later Zechs stood outside the door to her quarters holding the official printout of her new orders. He knocked briskly on the panel and again waited impatiently for to appear. The slow shuffle of sound approached the door and it swung open. Noin stood there squinting into the bright light of the hallway. The thick fluffy robe engulfed her; it swallowed her whole. Only her hands and face peeked from beneath the folds as she reached to switch on the lights in the room.
He watched her shake the sleep from her eyes and stiffen as she realized who was standing on her doorstep. "Lieutenant Zechs? Is there something wrong?"
"May I come in Noin?" He had not seen the inside of any room she had lived in since the unfortunate incident that involved his snooping and hacking into her computer files, and wasn’t about to force his way into her domain now. Like most of her salvos, her slap about him not respecting her privacy had hit him hard and he had strove hard to prove that he could respect her space and limits. She abruptly waved him in.
From the blank sterile hallway, he stepped into a different world. Her rooms smelled faintly of fruit, not cinnamon as he half expected. The crisp scent suited the comfortable and homey atmosphere she had affected in the room with the help of very few props. He couldn’t help wandering toward the bookshelf and running a knuckle over the spines of several mystery novels mixed amongst the technical journals on space and MS operations manuals.
She cleared her throat and regained his attention, "Uh, can you give me a moment?" She didn’t wait for his response but turned and walked past a small table on which rested a photo frame that caught his attention. The door to her bedroom clicked shut before he moved to pick it up. He reached slowly for the frame, almost afraid that the thing would disappear before his very eyes. A tattered collage of photos, worn and creased from folding, was grouped within the limiting borders of the frame. He stared at himself in places doing things that he had never been aware of a picture being taken. He noticed the multitude of smeared fingerprints frosting the glass. Just the thought of how often the frame was handled, shocked him enough that he very nearly dropped it.
[memories] Each picture was of an important point in his life. His first medal, his first MS, a military demonstration at which he had performed in a mock battle, and graduation from the pilot training school. Each carried special meanings, but he could not remember anyone taking pictures of him at those events and more confusing, he could not remember Noin being at any of those events except the graduation.[memories end]
A muffled curse wrenched him from his reverie nanoseconds before the bedroom door was flung open to reveal a very distressed looking Noin holding the edges of a button front shirt together with one hand. For the first time that day, her eyes bored into his through the glasses of his mask. Her face drained of color as embarrassment etched across her cheeks tightening the skin until it appeared to have the fragility of parchment. Her mouth quirked slightly and he guessed that she had bitten down on her lip, hard.
The depths of her bottomless eyes slowly drained of brightness. As he watched, life leached from her body as her shoulders slumped. The hand holding the fabric of her shirt closed clenched tightly, making the knuckles blanch. The energy of purpose she had opened the door with evaporated and she seemed to wilt as she slowly closed it. Her dull movements revealed a hopelessness that wrenched at his soul.
That last look of despair raised the hair on the back of his neck as chills raced down his spine. He had felt almost the same thing that very morning when he had learned that her Aries had been badly damaged. He glanced back down at the framed photos in his hand then back at the paneled door. Without another conscious thought he strode to the door and swept it open. The room was small and darkly lit with only a small lamp glowing by the bed along the opposite wall.
She kept her back to him. She stood there with her hands covering her face and the light glowed through the loose hanging edges of the shirt that she had neglected. He held his breath, waiting, hoping, for her to turn around and blast him for so rudely invading her privacy, but he waited in vain. Her shoulders hunched more in a protective gesture with her head bowed into the solace of her palms as though she was waiting for him to hit her mentally or physically.
Gently, he sat the frame down on the dresser next to the door and walked up behind her. Her frame tensed and the movement tugged a frown onto his face. What does she imagine I am going to do? He asked himself. A hiccup shook her shoulders and the knowledge that she was crying galvanized him into action as a knot of anxiety tangled in his stomach.
He wrapped his arms slowly around her shoulders, giving her time to brush him away. He slowly tugged her hands away from her face and held onto the wrists so that her arms crossed along with his over her chest underneath her chin. He pulled her gently back against him and pressed his jaw to the side of her head above her ear carefully so as not to bump her with the hard metal of his mask. He tightened his arms until he was sure that anymore would be painful and then stilled, just holding her dear form as it shook once again with tears. He felt tears drip onto the fabric of his sleeve and rubbed his cheek against the silky darkness of her hair.
"Noin," he whispered as she hiccuped once more. The jerk of her body reverberated through his body centering low in his stomach. He resisted the jerk of her hand when she wanted release. He didn’t know how long it took before her tears stopped, but he knew it felt like an eternity. Thoroughly confused about this new mood swing, he gently tried to turn her around to face him, but her struggles were much more than token this time and he finally release her hands rather than hurt her.
She yanked the sides of her shirt closed and swiped roughly at her cheeks before stiffening her spine. She crossed the sides of the shirt in a double layer across her front and folded her arms across it securing it in place. At last, she paced a couple of steps away and turned toward him. "I am so sorry that I am being such a watering pot today, Lieutenant."
Confusion combined with anger as she drew the line between them once more using his rank title. He spoke roughly, "Noin, why do you insist on calling my by my rank when we are alone, instead of my name like you used to? I hate it when you do that."
Soggy blue eyes, blinked up at him. "I’m sorry. I didn’t realize… I guess it’s because of that thing." She waved a hand at him and it took him several seconds to realize she meant the helmet he continuously wore. "You wear it as a false identity like you wore the false name of Zechs Marquise in school. But that thing is your military personality. I once promised you that I would never betray you no matter what name you called yourself. If I allowed myself too much familiarity between us when you are dressed that way, I would eventually slip up and accidentally break that promise. Besides, the military frowns on fraternization amongst officers." She watched as he slowly removed the mask and blinked in the brighter light of the room.
He watched as her face relaxed slightly until her glance skipped toward the door. When her gaze returned to his, it was grim and shuttered. Not an improvement or the effect he had been trying to achieve. Thinking she might be worried about someone seeing them through the main rooms open windows, he casually shoved the door shut. When that failed to produce any relaxation in her stance, he again noted her darting glance to the side and the nervous stiffening of her features. Carefully, he followed her line of sight to the picture frame sitting on the dresser beside him. Mood swings… blowing hot and cold… those pictures… and she looks almost scared to death. Scared of me?! What on earth?
He looked back quickly at the pictures protected behind the layer of glass then at her defensive posture. Her arms were clenched around her waist and her eyes were big enough to drown in. Not wanting to scare her any further than she already looked but unable to ignore his instincts or the sudden wild thoughts flooding his brain like the adrenaline and hormones that flooded his body, Zechs approached her slowly. Her wary eyes watched his every move. He slowly lifted the heavy metal helm and placed it on her head. She gasped but remained still.
"Noin, can you see through the glasses?" When she nodded, he continued, "Is the heads-up display on?"
She shook her head no, uncertain of where the conversation was going. She saw his hand extend toward the sides of the helmet and then his fingers tickled past her ears as they crept inside to press the mechanism to turn on the tiny monitor. Faint blue light flickered to life. It abruptly gave her a multitude of statistics on her surroundings as it flashed and scrolled information at her at a frightening rate.
She remained still and quiet, but that was not the reaction he had wanted. "Forget the display, Noin. What I want you to see something else. Unfocus your eyes but keep them straight ahead or you won’t be able to see what I want you to see. Do you understand?" She nodded slightly and he waited. The moment the etchings came into view was obvious because she gasped and her mouth fell open in shock. He could see that her eyes had gone impossibly wide behind the glasses.
"Oh. My. God." She coughed out.
He smiled serenely. "Which do you like best?" Her shocked silence and fast blinking eyes stated clearly that she was incapable of further speech. But if he was correct in his thought processes, speech was unnecessary. "I like the little devil one, that outfit is damn sexy. But the angel… I have dreamed of that expression on your face and you wrapped in nothing but a sheet for years. It was easy to draw, that picture. All I had to do was add wings. So, you see, I keep my own set of pictures behind a glass frame." She was trying to say something, but no sound emerged. He slowly released the trigger mechanism on the helmet and slid his hands cautiously to the nape of her neck.
"But Laird… You defaced an OZ uniform…" She sputtered.
He chuckled, "No, I had this one made to OZ specifications and then had a jeweler etch my drawings in there. Besides, OZ doesn’t put heads-up displays in any of their helmets. But what OZ doesn’t know won’t hurt it." He kneaded the muscles of her neck and felt her start to relax. He watched her eyelashes sweep shut behind the protective glass as he lowered his head to sip delicately at the hot cinnamon of her mouth. His last conscious thought, I wish I could keep her safely hidden behind a glass dome.
The end.
I hope you liked it… I SOO wanted her to call him hentai, but just couldn’t work that in there…. Drat!
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