Counting Days
There was something less than comforting in her touch. It wasn’t that
her touch wasn't soft or pleasant, Lucrezia could just feel violence in
it. She could feel all the anger and need for control that went along
with the touch. It made her wonder really. The woman removed her hand
slowly and made a quick glance to see if the Lt. had even noticed it.
The violet-eyed beauty pretended she hadn’t and continued to enter
tactical data into the computer in front of her. Every once in a while
she would glance up from her monitor to see where Lady Une was and what
the woman was doing. The lady pretended to keep her self busy observing
a cadet’s work. And the matter was left to that.
A week later she was sitting patiently, waiting for Zechs to meet her
for lunch. It had been exactly three months since they had last seen
each other. Lucrezia wondered why she kept counting. He arrived ten
minutes late and it didn’t surprise her one bit. He sat down across
from her long platinum blonde hair practically sweeping the ground
crystal blue eyes piercing through her like steel. She was always
second to him. She let herself be second to him. He had more need than
she did to be “number one”. She smiled a little and sipped some water.
Her metitareran complexion nicely accentuated by the restaurants
lighting. They sat in silence for a long while and it didn’t bother
either of them. So much was said and felt in the silences between them,
and sometimes it hurt but Lucrezia sat through them with patients.
“I heard you stopped seeing Major Sally”, Zechs finally said his gruff
voice warming as he spoke. “What happened?”
“That was a while ago Zechs…a long while ago…Nothing happened. She was
transferred and it was too hard for us to have a long distance romance…
and besides…I…I didn’t want what she wanted”, Lucrezia answered softly.
“Mmmm”, Zechs muttered disapprovingly and cleared his throat. “You have
to let me go Noin. What we had at the academy is all we’ll ever
have…you should realize that by now. I can’t be bothered by it and
besides our friendship is much more important to me.”
Lucrezia didn’t have to hear it. She knew. She knew very well. She
sighed and then smiled up at him. “I can let you go Zechs, but as far
as these wars go…as far duty goes and friendship you should know…I
never want to leave your side.”
He nodded, which made her smile a bit. He couldn’t fall in love. There
were too many things going on and besides that, Zechs was too afraid of
losing Lucrezia as a friend and partner in arms. He needed her skill
and quick judgement, because she always had a way of keeping him out of
trouble. The rest of the lunch went on as most of their lunches went,
quiet with brief confessions of past events. Towards the end Lucrezia
mentioned in passing Lady Une. Zechs raised a surprised eyebrow.
“Hmmm…that’s very interesting”, Zechs mumbled and he left it at that.
The Lightening Count left Lucrezia Noin feeling a little heartbroken.
She hated herself for it and wandered to her quarters feeling a little
beat up. She could let him go she could, but it was so hard and she
felt so lonely. It was all inside though. Outside she remained the
perfect soldier, second only to Zechs and that wasn’t so bad. Entering
her quarters she threw her jacket off and onto the sofa. She watched
the news and went to bed feeling lost. The next day she went through
her normal routine, trained and researched tactical data. She called up
Sally and they had a nice long talk about how sometimes things just
aren’t meant to work. Sally was always gracious that way.
“How long has it been Lucrezia”, Sally asked playfully.
“Two years, three months and a day”, Lucrezia said softly.
“Always counting the days”, Sally whispered back.
“Only for those I love and miss”, came the unexpected reply.
After hanging up she had to go and sit through a military meeting that
felt like death. She listened as Lady Une and some general she wasn’t
familiar with argued over what Trieze really wanted for the future of
the earth and the colonies. The Lt. was startled as Lady Une brushed
past her on the way out of the building. The feeling she got in her
stomach was one she was very familiar with. The colonel glanced back at
the dark haired beauty and grinned slyly as she watched Lucrezia try
and keep her composure. At the end of yet another long day Lucrezia
went to her quarters and threw on something a little less restricting
than her uniform. She decided on a pair of sweats and a baby tank top,
it had the thin spaghetti straps and they tended to slide off her
shoulders. She glanced at her self in the mirror and decided she looked
ridiculous as a civilian. The uniform suited her best and she had poor
taste in fashion anyway. She plopped herself in front of her television
and searched desperately for something that was not war related.
Failing that mission she decided to call it a night, but just before
she could retire her buzzer rang. She sighed heavily and walked towards
the door. Checking the peephole she let out a small noise of annoyance.
It was Lady Une, still in her uniform, brown hair still tightly
captured in two buns on the side of her head, and large circle
frameless glasses shielding two hazelnut colored eyes. Lucrezia quickly
brushed her hair out of her eyes or as much as she could with her
current hair cut, pulled a falling strap back onto her shoulder and
then opened the door. Lady Une stepped in, her usual stiff military
stance firmly in place. The Lt. noticed the lady’s small attempts at
appearing graceful, the rose colored lipstick, the pink ribbons that
held her buns into place. Even with the small attempt she could not see
Lady Une as graceful, no she was far too harsh to be graceful. Still
deep in the pit of her stomach there was that feeling she knew all too
well. It was attraction and Lucrezia fought it with all her might
because Lady Une after all was Lady Une. Keeping her violet eyes
focused on the ground she shut the door slowly and looked up at the
colonel with a curious eye.
“I’m sorry if it is too late for you Lt. Noin”, Lady Une said not
harshly but in that cold manner that made Lucrezia nervous.
“Not at all Colonel”, Lucrezia replied keeping things as formal as she
knew how. She avoided looking straight at the lady which she soon
realized was giving her away. It occurred to her that she should do her
best to keep her soldier’s face on.
The harsh lady glanced at Lucrezia a bit sideways and held out a large
file for the Lt. to accept. Lucrezia took the document and looked at
it. It was schematics of a few of the gundams Oz had been having
trouble with. The Lt. looked at Lady Une curiously.
“I need you to look over these and tell me if you can spot any
weaknesses. I want your opinion because being a mobile suit pilot your
self I’m sure it will be much easier for you to recognize any weak
points in the design”, Lady Une said her tone unchanged.
“Yes Ma’am “, Lucrezia replied finally finding her military voice.
She wanted to salute but felt a little ridiculous doing so in her
present attire. She was still feeling very odd about the entire
situation and caught herself staring a bit in Lady Une’s direction. Une
had begun a trivial little conversation with her. Trying vainly to
apologize for keeping her up and making small talk. It didn’t fit the
Lady’s basic nature to try and converse in such a manner. But as the
polite conversation wore on Lucrezia began to notice that the lady had
ushered her up against the far wall of her quarters. And as she
realized this that feeling in her stomach began to grow a little more.
It was a bit terrifying for Lucrezia to suddenly be losing control and
she didn’t know what she was losing control too exactly. Intentions
became quite clear when Lady Une took Lucrezia’s wrists and held her
firmly against the wall. Then with no subtlety there was a kiss. The
lady’s kiss was harsh and deep. It stole into the beautiful soldier and
stayed with her, and it seemed to last forever. It did end, as the
lady gracelessly pulled her lips away and looked her deep in the eye.
“Funny”, the Lady said coolly and softly, stints of harshness lingering
in her tone. “Funny how little you resist.” And then Lucrezia once
again found herself lost in the harshness of the lady’s kiss. Just when
she thought it would go on forever Lady Une pulled away again and
released the Lt. from her grip. Lucrezia sank back against the wall and
slid to the floor where she sat in shock. Her heart beat faster than it
ever had before as the colonel slipped out the door leaving the Lt. to
her confusion.
“I’m sorry…. She what”, Sally asked in a state of total shock.
“You heard me”, Lucrezia replied hastily into the phone.
“I wish to god I knew what to tell you, but…That is totally
unbelievable. So what else happened”, Sally asked.
“Nothing that’s it…I am totally confused”, Lucrezia stated.
“Lucrezia?”
“Yes Sally.”
“How long ago did it happen?”
“I don’t know…about a week maybe…or it could be two by now”, Lucrezia
said softy and then she heard her friend breathe a little sigh of
relief on the other end of the phone. “Sally? What was that about?”
“Nothing…I have to go soon Lucrezia. I’m gonna be gone for a while. “
“Your joining rebel forces aren’t you”, Lucrezia asked softly.
“I can’t say”, Sally paused. “How long has it been?”
“Two weeks…four hours and now one minute”, Lucrezia whispered. She
heard the soft click and new Sally was gone. She sighed a little and
then went to the base’s gym to work out.
It must have been about a month, but Lucrezia couldn’t be sure. Lady
Une had returned to the base from a meeting with Trieze and the place
was a buzz with rumors that there was a secret plan to catch the
gundams and draw them out of hiding. A month ago there was tragedy and
Lady Une had caught the undeniable blame for it. Violet eyes recalled
the slight breech of command she had to make as Trieze called her and
made the Lt. speak words that no doubt made Lady Une feel less than
perfect. “Be more graceful.” It was a simple enough phrase but the look
on the lady’s face when Lucrezia spoke it was one of pure surprise and
disappointment. Lucrezia was working out when she heard the lady’s
plane arrive. She did not rush out to greet her. In fact aside from
telling the lady to be more graceful she had avoided even being in the
same room with Lady Une. Lucrezia ended up staying in the gym later
than she thought she would. It was already very dark when she made her
way back to her quarters. As she walked down the hallway to her door
Lucrezia noticed a figure standing outside her door. It wasn’t much of
a shock to see that the figure was Lady Une. She was standing in her
usual pose one hand resting on her hip the other lying flat at her
side. Divided, Lucrezia thought, torn.
“This is a pleasant surprise”, Lucrezia stated. She wasn’t telling the
truth but she wasn’t exactly lying either. She half smiled as she
walked by the colonel and unlocked the door to her quarters. “Are you
going to come in”, she called out to the lady who was standing in the
doorway.
Une walked in and shut the door. “I see I’ve caught you at a bad time
again”, she said usual cool manner. The harshness was there but it was
a bit buried.
“Hmm”, Lucrezia grunted as she walked into her small kitchen and
grabbed a glass of water. She was being careful. She was polite but
not formal. She could feel that feeling rising in her stomach and
caring over to her chest which meant it was serious. She gulped down
the water and waited for Lady Une to finish explaining her reasons for
visiting.
“I thought you might want to know that Mr. Trieze is sending me to the
colonies as an ambassador.”
Lucrezia almost choked on her water the comment seemed so funny. She
composed herself and looked at Une in wonder. “What does that have to
do with me?”
“It is obvious to me your loyalty to Zechs. I’ve a feeling he will be
asking favors of you that are not suitable for an OZ soldier”, the lady
stated rather glibly.
“Ah”, Lucrezia replied and took another sip of her water. Her heart was
pounding and she didn’t know what to do. But she kept it inside; she
tried to stay alert. “If the favor Zechs asks of me is inappropriate
for an officer of OZ then I’ll resign my commission, Lady Une.”
Lucrezia stated and looked at Une her violet eyes burning in waves of
lust and anger. “But you don’t have to worry…I have been asked no such
favors yet. Even if I had you are not the one I would be speaking to
Lady.”
It appeared that Lady Une was speechless, which was interesting since
the only person Lucrezia ever saw make Lady Une speechless was Trieze.
It almost felt like a victory. Lucrezia placed her glass of water down
on a near by table and wiped some sweat from her forehead. She was a
little sore. If she was counting the time correctly she had been at the
gym pounding her fists into a punching bag and practicing kicks for a
good four hours. She ached a little but the feeling that was rising
through her body, that familiar feeling all lust and fierce passion
nagged at her insides. She looked at Lady Une curiously and she didn’t
know why but she noticed the distance between the two of them. It was
very short, perhaps arms length. A minute had gone by.
“If there is nothing else Lady Une I do have things to do on my down
time”, Lucrezia said coolly.
There was a long empty space that was filled with nothing, except
perhaps that feeling the lovely soldier was having. It was floating
there waiting to be either conquered or to devour the two women
standing in the midst of it. Lucrezia pushed a stray strand of hair out
of her face and glanced once more towards the lady. Une looked towards
the ground and Lucrezia wondered what she could possibly be thinking.
The wonder ended in a flash as the lady’s lips met her own. Harsh and
deep, a kiss that could go on forever and a feeling to be lost in like
love, but it wasn’t. Lucrezia found herself eventually and took her
control back as she moved the lady back up against the same wall she
had succumbed to. There, locked in that kiss Lucrezia found a way to
make the moment more meaningful. She pulled away from Une just a bit
and brushed her hand across the lady’s soft face until she reached one
of the ribbons in the lady’s hair. She tugged at the pink bow and Lady
Une’s thick brown hair fell to her shoulders on the one side and
Lucrezia completed the picture by pulling the pink ribbon that held the
other bun. The lady pulled Lucrezia in for yet another kiss, but again
the graceful instructor pulled away before she got too lost in it.
Lucrezia removed Une’s glasses slowly, taking care as she tossed them
over to the couch. Then, on her own terms the Lt. kissed Une and it
went on from there. The lady tried to fight for control again getting
harsh in her kisses, all that anger. Lucrezia pulled away for a third
time and looked deeply into Une’s hazelnut eyes and whispered like a
wish, “Be more graceful Lady.”
All silence and nothing followed the phrase and she waited for either a
reply or action to lead to the next phase. She felt the lady’s heart
beat fast and furious, like a war raging inside. Lucrezia’s own
heartbeat was not so untamed. Hers was more of want than anything else,
but then Lucrezia Noin had no demons…or at least no demons that sought
deeper places in her to hide. She marveled at Une’s appearance. With
her hair down, without the glasses, pink lipstick all but faded into
nothing, uniform half undone, disheveled, the cold and harsh colonel
looked softer. She was more approachable this way and Lucrezia couldn’t
help but to wonder…what kept her from being vulnerable. Une tilted her
head back, eyes gazing at the ceiling, slender neck ready to be
devoured, and a small sigh of want…or was it relief…whispered into the
air, heart still beating like a drum. She then looked back at Lucrezia
and almost trembling she whispered, “Make me graceful. Show me how to
be graceful.”
Violet eyes softened with the words spoken so lightly, Lucrezia began
her task. She was slow, very slow as she presented Une with what could
only be described as a first kiss. Gentle and soft it moved through Une
like a whisper and made her feel lost. Lucrezia wouldn’t let her lose
her way though; she pulled the lady close. An embrace that felt warm
and it could have been what kindness was or love, but it wasn’t. It
became a dance of pleasure as she lead Une back towards her bedroom. It
was as organized as a waltz. One… small kisses gracing the neck…two…
delicately removed clothing hit the floor…three…slow steps back towards
a darkened room. One… two… three…one… two… three…one…two…three…it was a
slow dance, less hurried than an actual waltz but best described as
one. One…two…three…down the short hallway until the two reached the
room. And inside the room, Lucrezia never knew one could change so
much. She and Une fell back onto the bed, lightly, gracefully…unafraid…
a breath from being complete. Une looked so breakable at that moment,
there was nothing harsh left of her it seemed. She still fought though.
She still wanted to be in control but Lucrezia wouldn’t give it up. And
the slower she went the faster Une let go. Her hate and cold
personality leaving her body. Until there was nothing left to give and
she was swept under the waves of pleasure. Lost to the seas of want and
lust. It was perfect and the night was far from over. It moved on a
slow beating pulse. Hearts lost in the undertow. And Lucrezia learned
just how good a teacher she was as Une recalled the lesson and dragged
her instructor to the same sea she had been in. Perfection would have
been jealous if it had been love, but it wasn’t. It was what it was.
The night could have lasted forever, but it ended with the intruding
call of morning.
Lady Une slept peacefully in Lucrezia’s arms. Lucrezia awoke and
wondered what would happen next. There was nothing to discuss though.
There was nothing more to be done. When Une awoke she smiled a little
at graceful woman who held her and the two lay in silence for along
while. There was brief conversation on both sides about how impossible
anything more would ever be, and a sighed relief that both sides felt
the same. The perfection of the evening carried with Lucrezia into the
long military day. When she got home she received a surprise call from
Sally.
“A month… five hours, three minutes”, Lucrezia sighed into the phone.
She informed Sally of her interesting evening. She was afraid of what
her friend would think.
“You think I’m disappointed …don’t you”, Sally asked. “I’m not. I can’t
worry about that. I trust you to live your own life.”
“Hmm...”
“Don’t start that… you sound like Zechs when you do that.”
“I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you sooner than I imagine”, Lucrezia
said softly.
“Why’s that?”
“Just a feeling. Anyway…I have a favor to do for Zechs…and I…” Lucrezia
paused. “Sally do you think any of us will find the answers we’re
seeking getting involved with this war?”
“I think you…like me must not expect things to come to such a perfect
ending. We need to take a lesson in grace and just accept the answers
we do get”, Sally replied.
“You taught me all I know about grace Sally. I don’t think it will be
to hard to let things just glide along the way they should.”
“Three years, Five months and thirteen days”, Sally whispered.
“What’s that?”
“The exact amount of time I’ve missed you and wished you were near”,
Sally replied and then hung up the phone.
Lucrezia put the phone down and wandered into her kitchen. She poured
herself a glass of water and smiled as she did so. Happy that she
wasn’t the only one who counted and counted well. She had no worries.
Not even future encounters with Lady Une bothered her. Things were
where they were, and things would change but for now…Now there was
nothing to do but count the days.
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