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"Memories in Lucite"Written By: Mookie
Disclaimer: I don't really need to be Captain Obvious here, do I? No ownership, no money being made. Written for fun, not profit. Characters/pairing: Noin, Une, implied 11+13 and
9+6 Category: Guns or Roses/800 points - Mine's bigger
than yours Warnings: spoilers, gen with hints of unrequited
love, mild angst, TWTish Word count: 1,227
Noin couldn’t help it. Every time she thought she
had the impulse under control, she found her eyes flicking toward
Une. It hadn’t been an easy road for them. Une had outranked her, a fact that she never let Noin forget whenever their opinions conflicted, which was often. The few times Noin had the upper hand had been courtesy of the late Treize Khushrenada, His Excellency, the only man alive that seemed to have any
influence over the colonel. Noin forced her gaze out the window and mentally amended
that thought. He was the only man who influenced Une, living or dead. Une the OZ colonel had been ruthless to a fault. Noin
had taken satisfaction in His Excellency’s subtle disapproval
of her threats against the colonies and had felt a smug pleasure in
passing his message along to "Lady" Une. It became apparent soon after that Une had done a complete
turnaround. Her speeches were delivered demurely, as if a softer voice
and hairstyle would erase any signs of the harsh military leader who’d
left her own trail of corpses behind her. Their paths crossed often as they each followed their
own paths, only to intersect at the end, after what seemed to be certain
death for earth, after Une lost the love of her life, after everyone
insisted the same of Noin. They met graveside as Une laid the flowers
upon the mound of earth where nothing had yet regrown. She’d felt almost guilty when she told Une she
didn’t believe Zechs was dead. After all that they’d been through, not together
but in parallel to each other, there had been little question of Noin
accepting a position in the newly formed Preventers. Une was once
again her superior but their relationship had undergone a metamorphosis
and Noin felt that while Une called the shots, never had they been
on more equal footing. Zechs was still missing and presumed dead, the Gundam
pilots were scattered throughout the universe, and there were rumors
that the tentative peace that had been brought about was in danger
once again. Earlier that day Noin had been in a meeting with Une
and Sally Po. It had started off listing strategic approaches and
the trustworthiness of both their informants and the grapevine in
general. Sally was the most vehemently in favor of luring the Gundam
pilots out of retirement. Une had fallen silent, and Noin knew it
was because Treize Khushrenada had met his death at the hands of one
of them. Once again it was something the two of them should have
had in common, but Heero had spared Zechs’ life. Zechs had been
convinced that the pilot of Zero One had survived an incredible explosion,
and he’d been right. Until someone brought her Zechs’ broken body, she’d
remain just as convinced of Zechs’ uncanny ability to survive
the horrors of war. Sally was the first to leave the room. She’d volunteered
to get right on the task of tracking down anyone she could and had
been eager to get started. When the door closed behind her, Noin took
her time meeting Une’s gaze. Her eyes made a slow circuit of
the room, taking in a photo of Treize looking impeccably groomed in
his smart blue coat and white gloves, a single rose in his hand at
odds with the cunning look in his eyes. Noin could understand why Une favored that photograph
above all others. It captured the Treize Khushrenada that appreciated
life and death, a man who saw beauty in unlikely places but wasn’t
blind to the ugly side of human nature. Only a man like that could have won Une’s heart,
no matter whether she was the colonel or the lady. He’d probably
been the only one who had seen both no matter what she wore or how
she dressed her hair. Noin couldn’t help feeling a little envious. Une had never been the type of woman to be easily misled.
If she had been, her position as the head of the Preventers would
be precarious at best and disastrous at worst. She met Noin’s
gaze steadily and then turned toward a glass cabinet. Une produced
a small key, turned it in the lock, and opened the doors. Noin knew that the display case housed a variety of
rifles and handguns, none of them loaded but all of them having been
part of His Excellency’s personal collection. Une removed one and laid it down on the desk, next to
a lucite paperweight with a crushed flower inside. A second rifle
joined the first and the cabinet was locked, the key placed securely
back inside a small pocket in Une’s blouse, and a neatly pressed
white handkerchief offered to Noin. Une picked up the first rifle and began polishing it,
although there was little need for it. Noin took the hint and did
the same, noting that there were no traces of dust or grime on the
white linen as she ran it up and down the muzzle. The only thing Une said the entire time was that the
rifle Noin was holding was the one Treize had always offered to Zechs
when they went shooting together, a weapon useless in a war against
mobile suits but perfectly acceptable for sport shooting. It paid
to keep sharp-shooting skills honed; one never knew when they’d
be needed. The position of the shadows inside the room let Noin
know that more time had passed than she’d realized, and she caught
the wistful smile on Une’s face as she unlocked the cabinet and
carefully replaced the rifles. "Did you notice?" Noin turned to Une and then back to the cabinet. She
leaned closer. The two rifles were nearly identical; Noin hadn’t
expected that either Treize or Zechs would want anything setting them
apart other than their own abilities. She shook her head apologetically. Une smiled at her but it didn’t reach her eyes.
"It took me a long time to tell them apart. There’s a small
nick in the one Zechs used. He would not accept the one that was in
better condition, even if it didn’t affect the firing. Treize
graciously allowed Zechs to choose from the two each time they went
out, and eventually there was no question which gun each of them would
use." Noin had no response to that. She gave Une a little
bow out of habit and as she straightened she noticed a tiny flicker
of amusement, a sparkle, in Une’s eyes that hadn’t been
there a moment ago. "I think Treize’s is just a little longer." Noin clapped her hand on Une’s arm briefly and
smiled back at her. "I’m sure His Excellency would agree." Outside Une’s office, Noin leaned back against
the wall. Zechs was still alive, she reminded herself, and then she
pushed away from the wall and went to check on Sally’s progress. Behind the closed door, Une picked up the paperweight
on her desk and held it up to the waning light, turning it this way
and that, before bringing a knuckle to her eye and wiping away the
first of several tears. Her eyes were completely dry when the door opened and
a dead man’s voice spoke to her. When Agent Wind left her office,
Une looked over at the photo on the wall. Treize would be pleased. ~ * ~
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