15 Jan AC201 Hilde sighed softly, pacing the dark office hallway impatiently. She had come down to try and surprise Releena, but a major crimp had appeared in her carefully thought out plans: it appeared Releena was trapped in the meeting from hell. According to Lady Une's secretary, she, Releena and some other pro- Preventer cabinet members and politicians, as well as most of the Preventers' brass were behind closed doors with one of their greatest opponents: the government accountants. Hilde almost felt sorry for Releena as it was likely that she and Une were being forced to justify every expenditure for the past year, down to the nuts and bolts if needed. "Looks like you're here waiting as well, Hilde," a familiar, and quite amused sounding, voice said from behind her. She turned to see Dorothy Catalonia standing behind her, a pleasant smile on her face. "Would you like some tea while we wait?" she invited. Hilde chuckled softly, "I'd love to." She followed Dorothy to two plush chairs, the tea already set up for two. She raised her eyebrow at Dorothy inquiringly. "One of the guards saw you pacing," Dorothy explained. She poured the tea neatly, then sat down across from Hilde. She smiled wickedly, "How's married life been for you?" "No complaints," Hilde said with a contented smile. "Are you and Une planning to settle down any time soon?" she asked in return. Dorothy took a small drink of her tea. "I suppose it will have to depend on how the adoption arrangements go," Dorothy answered her calmly. "Adoption?" Hilde echoed, sounding more than a bit confused. "Well, we couldn't just leave Mariemea with the Barton family, could we? Une was already making the arrangements when I entered the picture, and I support her completely," Dorothy said with a little smile. She looked up from her tea to see Hilde's reaction. Hilde gaped at her, almost like her brain had derailed at the thought of Dorothy and Une raising a young girl together. She shook her head, "I hope you know what you're getting into. I spent a few days with her after she’d finished her rehabilitation and finally got out of her wheelchair while I was getting ready the be assigned as Releena’s bodyguard, and she's one of the most... intense children I've ever met." "I know," Dorothy said with a fond smile, "that's one of the things I most like about her." Hilde laughed softly, and they settled down to some serious tea drinking. A young woman in a Preventers' uniform jogged up to where they were sitting, and then saluted Hilde. She gave her report as if it was a military debriefing. "They'll be out of the meeting in another half hour," she repeated calmly, "even if they have to shoot their way out. That's a direct quote from Commander Une, by the way." "Thank you," Hilde said with a sigh and a smirk. The girl jogged off, and Hilde turned to Dorothy with a shrug. "Only half an hour left." Dorothy looked at Hilde thoughtfully, "I've always wanted to ask you this: what in the world did you see in Duo Maxwell, anyway?" "You don't pull any punches, do you?" Hilde said with a nervous little laugh. "Well, part of it was a sort of mothering thing. What can I say? Duo Maxwell is just a big kid at heart. I saw it as my chance to be a ‘big sister’ in a sense." She sighed softly, "And part of it was... well..." She blushed, "I'm a bit ashamed to admit it." Dorothy grinned as she quickly bargained, "Tell you what. I'll tell you why I had a crush on Releena, all 4 1/2 years ago, if you'll tell me the rest." Still blushing, Hilde shyly admitted, "I think it was also because he completely unimpressed by me." She pretended to look very surprised, "He's ignoring me?" then a bit indignant, "How dare he?" then finally an exaggerated, seductive pose, "I'll make him notice me!" To the quiet sound of Dorothy's laughter she sheepishly explained "I don’t regret what I had with Duo, it was a lot of fun. Sooner or later, however, you have to grow up. He didn’t, at least not when we were together. I guess I got so caught up in the thrill of the hunt I don't think I really noticed the faults of the prize." Dorothy sipped a bit of tea before finally keeping her end of the bargain. "When I first met Releena-chan in the Sank Kingdom, she was dressing in that ridiculous school teacher outfit, surrounded by her students, and all I could think was, 'She's so beautiful.' Of course, that was before I even talked to her," she explained with a smile. "Once I started debating her, my crush got worse." She smiled up at Hilde; "There's so few people who can actually keep up with me, Releena. Thankfully Lady Une is one, Mariemea, one or two others, and her. I loved sparing with her, crossing swords with our minds over the merits of war and peace." "Plus, she is such a babe," Dorothy said offhandedly, toasting her with her teacup. Hilde, laughing softly, could only agree. "Free at last, free at last, thank god almighty we're free at last," they heard a pair of quite happy women's voices chanted together, growing closer by the second. Hilde turned to see Releena and Une jogging down the hallway towards them. Une gently pulled Dorothy out of her chair and into her arms, surprising the blonde Duchess with a vigorous kiss. "You have no idea how good it is to see you," Une sighed. "Gee, I should trap you in budget meetings more often," a broadly smiling Dorothy said with a breathless little laugh. Une winced, "Don't even joke about that, please." Releena laughed softly, Hilde getting from her seat at the sight of her, "That goes double for me." She pulled Hilde into a slower, more thorough kiss until the wolf whistles from nearby Preventer officers caused them to separate. "Don't you have something better to do?" Une asked the revelers, sounding fairly severe but still smiling slightly. Once they were more alone she turned to the other three, "Let’s get out of here before the accountants decide they missed something." Releena all but shuddered at the idea of dealing with the accountants any more today, "Very good idea. Let's go!" Une slid an arm around Dorothy's shoulders as they walked out into the sunlight. Hilde and Releena followed a bit more slowly, watching their friends walking together. "They do make a lovely couple," Releena said softly. Hilde gently took Releena's hand, smiling down at her. "Yes, they do. But not so lovely as you," Hilde answered her softly. "You know just what to say," Releena smiled, squeezing Hilde's hand slightly. Hilde smiled down at Releena, "What say we go home, skip dinner, and go to bed early?" Releena grinned back at Hilde, "Promises, promises." Une smiled her arm around Dorothy as they all walked away from the Preventers' building together. Treise's dream of a peaceful world still hadn't come about, but they were getting closer to it everyday. Absolute pacifism, she had realized, wasn't the answer. Only hard work from people with the courage to make the world a better place could accomplish that dream. Une looked at her lover and her friends, and felt certain that it would be done, someday. The End Story Timeline: 26 Dec AC196-The events of "Endless Waltz" come to a close 14 Feb AC197-Heero Yuy reunites with Releena and confesses his love for her 30 Dec AC197-Heero is KIA (Killed In Action) taking down a terrorist faction plotting to kill Releena 01 Nov AC198-Releena begins her relationship with Dorothy Cataloina 30 Jan AC199-Dorothy and Releena amicably split up and remain friends 01 May AC199-Story begins 30 July AC200-The wedding of Releena and Hilde 15 Jan AC201-Story Epilog Author’s Notes: First off, I cannot give enough thanks to Shanejayell, the author of the story "True Protector," on which this story is based. You can find the original at: http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=750223 and at: http://www.shoujoai.com/fanfics/gundam/truprot/ . Per Shane’s request, I’m going to point out the differences between the two, chapter by chapter. However, so much of this story is Shane’s work that I’ve decided to just point out the changes I’ve made to the original. They are as follows: Ch.1-Adding Paragraphs 1-4, changing Noin to Hilde Ch.2-Paragraph 2, changing Wu-Fei to Trowa, Noin to Hilde, Hilde to Catherine, adding Duo and his dialog, adding the last paragraph Ch.3-Noin to Hilde, Paragraph 8 changes Ch.4-Noin to Hilde, ‘Dotty-chan’ and Releena’s relationship, Paragraph 26-27 Ch.5-Dorothy and Releena’s relationship, Releena and Hilde’s declaration of each other’s bisexuality, Noin to Hilde, Black silk PJs, Ch.6-Tallgesse references, Noin to Hilde, last two Paragraph mods Ch.7-Noin to Hilde, Hilde to Wu-Fei, Paragraph 6 changes, Using the Tallgesse Mk. III to fight in, Wu-Fei to Trowa, changes to 35, 37, 41, 42, 45, 46, and 48 Ch.8-Paragraph 3, Paragraph 9 changes, Howard to Quatre, Paragraph 11 changes, Ch.9-Releena to Hilde, Chapter 10 changes, Chapter 14-17 changes. These are in addition to other changes too numerous to mention. To find If you’re reading this Shane, again, thank you. Second, some people ask, "Why a Hilde/Releena story?" Very simple: Regarding Hilde, I always thought she was of the most potentially interesting characters of the story. Who was this petite, brave young warrior woman really? What kind of person was she? We get a glimpse of this in the series, but I always thought there was a great deal more than met the eye. As for Releena, when you watch enough anime, you get an idea of a character’s true nature, and in some cases, their "preferences" by looking at certain clues. In the case of the former "Queen of the World," it includes: -Her being a strong, self-assured young woman, (in spite of all her pining away for Heero). -She has a quiet, yet take charge demeanor. -Except for the white mini-skirt in the beginning of the series, she has an affinity for slacks and somewhat boyish looking outfits when she has a choice of what outfit she wants to wear. I know, I know, these factors don’t necessarily make a woman/girl and lesbian or bisexual. However, again, when you watch enough anime, certain things can’t help but perk up one’s ears. As for the whole Dorothy/Releena thing, to me, she just seemed too devoted to Releena. Why? The story above is my explanation for this. I hope I am not to far off. Thank you for your time and understanding.
Back to When the Shadow and the Hammer Fall Index - Back to Gundam Wing Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction