|
"It’s a Beautiful Day"Written By: Dùlin Fic #12 In the Thirty Kisses Arc Archive: This arc is archived on this site with permission. Do not reproduce it anywhere without permission. Pairing : 1xR, unrequited 4+R, 4/R friendship,
1+4+1 Rating : PG Warnings : canon continuation, angst, character
death Please be aware that while this technically is
a prequel to both #20 – Rest in Peace and #6 – Pray for
One, Pray for Two … and a sequel to #16 – She’s Strong
in terms of timeline, you should read those three before you read
this one. I swear it makes more sense that way.
"It’s a Beautiful Day" AC 228 Dorothy lightly knocked on the open door but didn’t wait for an answer and came in. “Miss Relena ? Here are the files you requested.” Relena put the report she was reading down and beamed at her. “Thank you, Dorothy. Tell me, did Quatre call to confirm the dates of his next stay with us? I think he was supposed to do it either yesterday or today ...” “He would be more likely to call your direct line to do it, Miss Relena,” Dorothy said as she carefully put the stack of files down on the desk. Relena frowned and bit her bottom lip. Her hand automatically reached out to grab the engraved pen that Quatre had given her when she had been appointed Foreign Minister. Dorothy had never seen her use the pen for any actual writing, but Relena often played with it when she was nervous or concerned. “I take it that he didn’t call,” Dorothy surmised. “No, he didn’t. I suppose he didn’t try to call the main line either ?” Dorothy shook her head. “I’m sorry, Miss Relena, he didn’t, and you know that if he had left a message, it would have been given to me and I would have forwarded it to you as soon as possible.” Relena sighed, fingers still nervously fumbling with the pen. “I know his schedule is probably as busy as mine. He’ll probably call at some point today,” she said. “Maybe he tried to call you at home, Miss Relena,” Dorothy cut in. “You’re so rarely there these days that you might have missed him.” Relena winced at the very thinly veiled reprimand, but let it slide. “The caller ID didn’t show his number and there were no messages, Dorothy.” Dorothy smiled a bit smugly, but didn’t comment on the fact that while the Foreign Minister spent more time in her office than at home lately, the first thing she did when she got home was to check the caller ID to see if Quatre Winner had called. “Well, you can always ask Mr. Yuy if he didn’t call this morning, Miss Relena.” “Heero is here ?” Relena asked, surprised. “Why didn’t you show him in right away, Dorothy ?” Dorothy shrugged. “I wanted to deliver those files to you first, and then you asked me if Mr. Winner had called, Miss Relena. I didn’t even have the time to mention your husband before you changed the subject.” Relena blushed furiously at the innuendo, but laughed and carefully returned the pen to its holder. Dorothy took this as her cue to go and fetch Heero from the waiting room. Heero and Relena had been married for close to thirty years now, but the ex-gundam pilot never barged into his wife’s office unannounced. He always stopped at Dorothy’s desk and asked her to tell Relena he was here. If she was in a meeting, he would either wait for her to come out or leave a message and stop by again later. It didn’t matter that Relena would drop everything just to see him for a few moments, since their respective occupations kept them apart for much of the day. Relena was busy smoothing invisible wrinkles on her suit when Dorothy came back with Heero in tow. Her whole face lightened up when she saw her husband. She started to get up, but he beat her to it and walked around her desk to kiss her on the cheek. “Don’t get up, I’m only checking in,” he said, gently pushing her back down in her chair. “Can I get you something, Mr. Yuy ?” Dorothy asked from the door. “No, thank you, Dorothy. I’ll only be a few minutes.” Dorothy nodded and left, closing the door as she went. “Did something happen ?” Relena asked. She stopped herself just short of reaching for the pen again, but Heero had noticed it and snatched it before she could say anything. She smiled when he did. She always messed with the pen when something was bothering her, but Heero just liked to spin it around while he talked with her. “Une called,” Heero said. “I need to go to Luxembourg for the day, and I might not be back tonight. I just wanted to let you know.” “You could just have called ...” Heero raised an eyebrow, and Relena looked down, embarrassed. “I mean, I’m happy to see you, of course !”, she said hurriedly. “I just wouldn’t want you to run late, or anything and ... Oh, by the way, did Quatre call you to tell you when he’d come to see us ?” The pen stopped spinning. “He didn’t call you ?” Heero asked. “I thought he was supposed to arrange it with you.” “I’m guessing he forgot, or he just didn’t have the time. Maybe you could try calling him on the way to Luxembourg, or maybe send him an e-mail to remind him we’re still waiting for his answer. I’m sure it just slipped his mind.” “Probably,” Heero said, putting the pen back down, but he didn’t sound very convinced. “I’ll do that. And I’ll call you tonight if I can’t get back.” “Good ! Do you need to leave right now ?” “My shuttle takes off in forty minutes.” Relena looked disappointed, but shrugged it off, like she did any minor annoyances. “Alright. Be careful, then,” she said, getting up to hug him. “You too,” he said, hugging her back and tucking a lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear. “I’m going to be stuck here all day,” Relena said ironically. “Not a very dangerous place to be in.” “I’m not so sure about that,” he answered, a bit more seriously than she would have liked. “Some times, it feels like it’s going to swallow you whole and I won’t see you again.” Relena laughed and rolled her eyes, pressing the intercom button. “Dorothy, could you please escort Heero out ?” “Certainly, Miss Relena.” “Safety procedures,” Relena reminded him, with a tap on his nose for good measure. “You of all people should know about those, shouldn’t you ?” Another light knock on the door, and Dorothy once again came in without waiting for an answer. “Mr. Yuy, if you’ll follow me ...” “Make sure that she gets home at a reasonable hour, Dorothy,” Heero said sternly. Relena gasped and hit him on the shoulder, but both Heero and Dorothy ignored her. “Anything else, Mr. Yuy ?” “Yes. Make sure she doesn’t bring any work home. You have my permission to do a full body-search if you feel it’s warranted.” “Stop that, you two !” Relena said with mock-indignation. “I’m not working that much !” They both looked at her quizzically, and she had to burst out laughing at the identical disbelieving expressions on their faces. “Alright, maybe I am, but it’s my job !”, she said. “Now shoo ! You’re going to be late and Dorothy’s got work to do !” “Do you need anything while I’m here, Miss Relena ?” Dorothy asked. “If you’d be so kind as to bring me back a cup of tea ...” “Of course, Miss Relena.” Relena was still grinning as she sat back down. Now if only Quatre would call, she would only need to concern herself with her reports for the rest of the day. She had only read a few lines when she began to feel dizzy. Dorothy wasn’t back yet, and since she was escorting Heero out she wouldn’t be back for another few minutes. Relena decided to take a short break and go the bathroom to wash her face. This was probably just fatigue. Her workload had increased tremendously in the last months, and while she wasn’t always ready to admit it, both Heero and Dorothy were right when they said that she was working herself to the ground. But work didn’t do itself in government offices. Quatre could understand that, and he was handling his corporation on top of his political activities as well. Sometimes she didn’t know how he managed. She lost consciousness as soon as she got up, her strength evading her like a candle being blown out. She had already stopped breathing by the time she fell on the ornate Persian rug. ~ * ~
|
