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"Can't Have It All "Written By: Dragonmistress_7 Disclaimer: I don't own the Gundam Wing Boys. Summary: A single night of comfort turns into
Relena's lifetime commitment to the children who came of it, but when
their father's identity comes out, it's hard to see where other important
people in their lives will fit into this strange picture, and if,
somehow, they can all become a family.
Can't Have It All Chapter 3
The next thing she recalled was a soft knock on the door and Quatre gently calling her name. She sat up immediately. Her fingers went automatically to take down and somewhat comb her hair as her eyes sought the crib nearby. The girls were awake, but lay quietly. “Come in,” she called, satisfied that her hair would not satisfy her until it could be washed and properly brushed. Quatre and Trowa came in, each carrying an extra large teddy bear. “I heard about your girls, and I couldn’t wait to come see them.” “Just put the bears on the extra chair. They’re so cute! I’ll put them in the nursery. They can guard the Aiko and Kyoko while they sleep. Don’t just stand there, go on. I know you didn’t come here to see me. You can see me any time.” The pair needed little more encouragement to hurry over to the crib. Quatre’s eyes widened as he looked at the pair. “Goodness, Relena, how will you tell them apart? I’ve never seen two children who looked more alike.” Relena shrugged. “I don’t know how, but I can tell them apart already. I just know. You can take them out, if you want.” She watched with a smile as Quatre lifted Kyoko out of the crib. He held her close, smiling at her like an idiot. Trowa silently took Aiko and examined her, as though taking inventory. Satisfied, he gave the softest smile Relena had ever seen on his face. “Your daughters are as beautiful as I knew they would be,” he said softly, his voice heavy with some unknown emotion. Quatre peered at his lover, giving a brief, puzzled smile before saying, “I don’t suppose you’d consider making a present of them? I have a birthday coming up, after all.” Relena shook her head. “Try me again in a few months when I’ve had to stay up all night with them.” She looked back to Trowa, wondering what exactly was going on in his mind, but not confident in her suspicions. She didn’t really know enough about him to assume to know his mind, but she liked to think he was her friend, and he obviously already doted on the little girls, which meant he had excellent taste, in Relena’s book. “Of course, you are both welcome to spend time with them any time you want,” she said graciously. Though, really, all things considered, it was the least she could do. “If you ever need a break, put us at the top of the willing babysitter list,” Quatre said, smiling down at the little girl he held. “She is beautiful. Which one is she?” “Kyoko. You really can’t tell the difference?” Relena asked. Both shook their heads. How odd. Could Heero and Duo tell the difference? She’d have to remember to ask. “So, there really are two of them. Silly woman, isn’t one bad enough?” Wufei demanded from the doorway. His words were countered with a soft tone and a curious look on his face. Relena was a bit startled. He was the last person she expected to see. They weren’t enemies, and never really had been, but neither was there any love lost between them. Wufei was just- Wufei. Of the gundam pilots, she understood him the least, and that was saying something. “Oh, you know me, always going the extra mile,” she said lightly. She caught the shrewd look Quatre cast them, and knew by the way Wufei’s eyes shot briefly in the Arabian’s direction that she wasn’t the only one. She didn’t know what to say, how to tell Quatre that he had the wrong idea, or, depending on what he was thinking, the right one. Hell, she didn’t even know what the right idea was, anymore. She didn’t know how she felt about anyone or anything except those two babies. “Won’t you come in, Wufei?” He gave a curt nod and walked with efficient movements to stand beside Quatre. He looked down on Relena’s daughter like she was some kind of science experiment that Quatre had gotten a hold of, something fascinating that he didn’t quite understand. Quatre didn’t seem to like the look any more than Relena did. “Here. Holding her will make all the difference.” Wufei looked downright frightened as Kyoko was placed in his arms, but it was take the child or allow her to be dropped. He took her. Trowa gave Aiko to Relena and, with Quatre, discreetly exited. “Quatre suspects-” Wufei began, but Relena interrupted, “Yes, he does, but years in politics have taught me that, no matter what you say, people will believe what they want to believe until evidence to the contrary hits them over the head. Don’t waste your breath.” Wufei seemed almost angry, and Relena briefly wondered if she had assumed too much, if perhaps- but Wufei had already let it go, so she did the same. He looked down at the baby in his arms with a frown of concentration, as though waiting for her to give up the secrets of the universe. At long last he spoke. “Kyoko: a mirror. What do you see in it, I wonder?” Relena indicated the child she held. “Love, mostly. Innocence, long gone and sorely missed. Joy, determination, simplicity, and beauty. I suppose they are mirrors of the past, more than anything, mirrors of the girl I was.” “And you see nothing of the woman you are in them?” Wufei asked, his frown deepening. “Don’t try to frighten me,” she replied, “by suggesting that you do.” He seemed to want to say more, but kept his mouth shut, perhaps fearing to cross some invisible line. “Why did you come, Wufei? You are no great friend of mine, and you have never pretended to be. You aren’t a politician, though a great many of them will come to my door and stick their noses right in the middle of this. You have too much good sense to be one of the toadies who wait on my every whim, and, from what I can tell, you don’t even like children.” “Am I unwelcome?” Wufei asked, stiffly. “Would I have told you to come in if you were?” she said irritably. “I just want to know why. You never sugar-coat anything, why should I?” Wufei’s mounting anger suddenly dissolved. He looked at her sadly as he gently lifted Kyoko to lay across from her sister in Relena’s arms. “Perhaps you were right, Relena. Maybe there is less of you in these girls than I believe. I did not know you had begun looking for the ulterior motive of every act that is even remotely kind. I did not know you had become just like the rest of us. I came because I wanted to see them, before I go to China. I’m building a house there, and I wanted to make the break from this part of my life a clean one. Like it or not, Relena, because of who we are, we will always be connected. Not friends, but- allies, for lack of a better term. Being on the same side when everyone else is against you counts for something, or I thought it did, at least. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I’m wrong about a lot of things.” With that, he was gone. Relena was surprised by the
hot tears that streamed down her face. She had her answer, and her
worst fears were coming to pass before her very eyes. Chang Wufei,
a boy who had always seemed so- together- was just as lost as she
was. ~ * ~ |
