Rose in the Wind

Chapter 2

By Devon Masterson

"Ms. Winter," Ryoko squealed as she abandoned her decorum. She hugged the woman. "What are you doing here?"

"I’m your tutor," she replied as she picked the child up.

Ryoko looked toward her father who was standing in the door way. "Work hard, Ryo-chan," he said softly as he ruffled her blond hair.

"I will, Daddy," she assured him.

Heero nodded to Cheryl and left the room. "So why don’t we start from the beginning?" she suggested as she put the child down. Ryoko nodded and got out her book. She looked up at Cheryl expectantly as she waited to start. "We’ll start with the numbers and alphabet…"

***

Ryoko swayed back and forth in time to the piece that she was playing on the violin. She had been playing every since she could hold a bow in her hand. She always liked to play when she was thinking about something complicated. Sherlock Holmes always did it in the books that her mother read to her at night and her Uncle Quatre played as well. Like all things associated with him, she liked playing the violin. She was the only one of the children that played an instrument. Parker said that it was a noble task, but he was more of a recipient than a philanthropist in the arts. Their parents refused to let Victor play the drums so therefore he was not interested and Ja-Zell preferred to sing along. She had a beautiful voice and often she would sing as her little sister played.

"That was very good, Ryoko," Cheryl complimented in Russian.

Ryoko looked at Cheryl plainly but inside she was very pleased and Cheryl knew that. Only people that knew the Yuy family and their associates well could tell the nuances of their facial expressions. "Thank you, Ms. Winter," she replied in Russian as well. "I am ready for my lesson today."

"Very good," she said. She took the pale hand in her brown one and motioned for her to follow her. "We’re going to go out today and no English."

"Ryoko, I heard you play…." Quatre’s sentence trailed as he looked at Cheryl. "I didn’t realize it was time for your session."

"Can Uncle Quatre come with us?" Ryoko asked Cheryl remembering the rule of the evening.

"I don’t think he’ll enjoy going out with us. Remember the rule about no English?" Cheryl asked. Ryoko nodded and looked with pleading Prussian eyes. "If he wants to come it’s fine by me."

"Thank you Ms. Winters and I’m sure you won’t have to break your rule," he replied in Russian as well.

"You know Russian?" she asked impressed.

"I am not very good, but I have been studying up on it to be a help to Ryoko," Quatre answered with a smile. He had been working with Cheryl for the past four months and he found her to be refreshing. She was not like any other woman he met. She seemed to balance her civilian life and her professional life with ease. He looked forward to each day he spent with her. "I don’t have anything to do. Since they knew Ryoko had to study, Heero took the boys and Lady Une and Ja-Zell went out. And I’m always up for time with my princess."

Ryoko smiled mischievously as her plan started to unfold. With the help of her siblings, she had managed to get Ms. Winter and her Uncle Quatre to meet several times outside of work, by using her studies. With the both of them helping her learn, she was getting better grades as well as starting chemistry. She had already caught her Uncle Quatre sneaking peeks at Ms. Winter. However, Ms. Winter was not doing enough on her end. Ryoko knew she would have to step it up a notch. "Can we get something to eat while we’re out? I’m hungry."

"I don’t see why not," Cheryl said as they started down the hall.

"I know a Russian restaurant that’ll help us keep our rule," Quatre commented. "Have you ever been to the Sign of a Dove?"

"No, but I’ve been meaning to," Cheryl smiled as she thought about the expensive ethnic restaurant that she frequently went passed on her way to work. She always hoped that she would go there on the arm of a handsome man. "The fantasy was half right anyway." She would be hand-in-hand with her pupil and a handsome man.

"Then I guess I will be taking two beautiful women out to dinner then," he replied.

***

"Excuse me," Cheryl said as she got up from the table. "I’ll be right back."

Once Cheryl was out of earshot, Ryoko turned to her uncle. "Uncle Quatre, why don’t you have a girlfriend?"

His eyes widened at the line of questioning. "My job doesn’t leave me too much time," he answered.

"So if you had a girlfriend she would have to be someone that you worked with?" Ryoko asked.

Quatre’s eyes narrowed as he saw what she was up to. "Are you trying to set me up?"

"I just noticed that Ms. Winter is very pretty and single, that’s all," Ryoko answered innocently. "And I was wondering if you wanted to be her boyfriend, because you keep staring at her and smiling."

He could feel his cheeks grow warm at the innocent observation. "I do find her attractive but it isn’t proper to have a relationship with someone you work with."

"Mommy and Daddy do," Ryoko pointed out.

"They’re a special case," Quatre evaded as he took a sip of water. It was suddenly getting hot where he was.

"Hmm," Ryoko said thoughtfully then looked at her Uncle Quatre again. "Parker told me that she has legs that go all the way up, what do you think?"

Quatre choked on his water and started to cough. "Are you okay?" Cheryl asked as she came up. She patted him on the back as Ryoko looked on curiously.

"I was just surprised that’s all," he replied once he gathered his composure. He turned his head to the side and saw Cheryl looking at him with intense violet eyes. Her eyes searched his to make sure he was really okay. She smiled once she was satisfied. He found himself getting lost in her eyes and smile.

"Must have been pretty shocking," she commented as she sat down at her place.

"You have no idea," he remarked mostly to himself.

"Here is your check, Mr. Winner," the waiter replied as placed down a small golden tray with a receipt placed upside down.

"Thank you," he replied as he reach into his vest and pulled out his wallet. He placed a credit card on the tray without looking at the check.

The waiter smiled brightly and looked at Cheryl and Ryoko. "You have a lovely wife and daughter," he complimented. He picked up the tray.

Both Quatre and Cheryl flushed. They were shocked into silence. "Thank you," Ryoko smiled cutely

The man melted under the young girl’s charm and smiled. "I’ll shall be back with your receipt."

Quatre nodded then looked at the little con-artist sitting to his right. He sighed and changed the subject as his eyes went back to Cheryl. "So where to after dinner?"

"I was hoping that we could go to the museum, but it’s late and we should get Ryoko home," Cheryl commented. She avoided his eyes after the waiter’s comment. She found Quatre to be quite attractive, but she needed to stay focus, she had a promise to keep. Besides, he was heir to a billion-dollar corporation; he would surely have to have someone of prestige in mind. Her family was wealthy, but no where near as well off as the Winner family.

"You’re probably right," Quatre commented as the waiter come back. "Thank you."

"You’re welcome," the waiter replied before bowing graciously. "Come again."

The trio nodded and got up from the table. Quatre helped each of the ladies with their coats and they left the restaurant. They soon arrived at the Yuy house and walked inside. Ja-Zell smirked as Ryoko, Quatre, and Cheryl walked inside. "Come with me, young lady," the young girl said as she picked up her little sister and carried her off. "It’s time for your bath."

Ryoko hated being treated like a baby, but some things were necessary evils in order to gain independence later. "Bye, Ms. Winter. Bye Uncle Quatre," she called. Upstairs they could hear the animated voices of the kids, well the animated voice of Victor. To outsiders the Yuy children seemed very advanced for their age and all equipped with a death glare that would do both Lady Une and Heero proud, but to those who knew them and they were comfortable around, they basically regular children. They loved to laugh and play. They just got into high levels of trouble.

Cheryl smiled at the sounds of a happy home. She looked toward Quatre almost instinctively and saw he was watching her. She turned away and coughed. The two stood in awkward silence until they saw Victor run down the stairs all soapy with a towel around him. Their new governess ran after him exasperated. They both blinked in surprise then laughed.

Heero and Lady Une came out of the study to see what was going on. Heero held his arms out, as he knew what was coming next. Victor’s wet soapy body jumped into his arms and held him protectively. Lady Une looked towards the governess with an eyebrow raised then looked at her son. She smoothed back his wet chestnut locks. She had a feeling why he ran out; at least he grabbed a towel this time. "What’s the problem, Miss Roberts?" she asked

"I just mentioned that he should have a haircut and I would take him in the morning and he ran off," the woman answered.

Heero rubbed his son’s back tenderly. "He’s growing his hair out," he said coldly as though she should have known. He walked away and took Victor upstairs.

Lady Une sighed inwardly. She somehow knew they were about to lose another governess. "His hair is not to be cut."

"But, my Lady, he’ll look like a girl when it gets a little longer," the woman urged.

"His hair is not to be cut," she repeated in a stronger tone.

"Yes, ma’am," the governess replied and went upstairs to see how she could amend the situation to Victor.

Lady Une sighed then smiled as she thought about her son running down the stairs trying to hold a towel up and jumping into Heero’s arms. She was about to go back into the study when she noticed Cheryl and Quatre standing to the side blinking. She cleared her throat. "With four children, she is bound to upset one of them," she commented. She then changed the subject. "Since you’re here come into the study and we’ll do this now so you can get started."

Quatre and Cheryl each shook their heads, each secretly hoping to someday experience a moment with their own children as well, and walked inside.

Another Bond Girl Production

We all know who belongs to who, Gundam Wing belongs a whole bunch of rich influential people and I just have some concepts. Don’t sue me, hire me instead ;p