Dorothy wasn't sure what to do, once they were alone, to break the tension in the room. The blonde just wanted to take Relena into her arms, to protect her from any further suffering, to keep her safe forever. At the very least, Dorothy wanted to comfort her, to do anything she could to make the brunette's life better. Anything. //Let her act first. Just see the way she wants to take this, and follow her lead.// It was sheer torture, but Dorothy froze where she was, giving Relena time to explain, just giving her the chance to speak first. "They said the bullet was meant for me. Maybe it was. It probably was. No one saw the gunman, and Zechs has shut everything up in the palace, he's got guards questioning everyone. Noin doesn't think they'll find him, whomever it was." Relena's voice was small and faint, but resigned, stating the words emotionlessly, as if they had no connection to her. "We have to keep going, of course. Especially now that the leader of the minority faction is dead. If we don't - well, things could seem even more suspicious... as if /I/ could plan something like this." Relena chuckled, a horribly desperate sound. "Hey, maybe that's it. Maybe the Sank kingdom splattered that guy's brains all over me for a sympathy ploy." The brunette looked up, spreading her arms wide, and smiled. Dorothy had to fight for calm, horrified at the near madness in the brown-haired girl's eyes, the horrible sorrow radiating from her pale, thin body. "What do you think, Dorothy? Do you think it will work?" "Relena, I..." Dorothy couldn't say anything, could no longer even move. "You know, his niece was named after me." Relena was staring off into a space just a few inches above the desktop, focusing on it as if it could give her all the answers to life, if she just looked hard enough. "He told me about it, right before he died. About how I was their hope. How he couldn't wait to follow me into the future. A peaceful future." Relena and her vision of peace were interconnected at the very base level, to hear the brown-haired girl speak of that dream with scorn cut Dorothy right down to the core. "Relena... please don't do this to yourself. You can't give up now, not because of what happened." The blonde put her hands around one of Relena's, was shocked when she felt the other girl stiffen completely, heard her bite back a gasp of what sounded like pure horror. It destroyed the rest of the blonde's commentary, surprised the words right out of her, but could not begin to prepare her for what the brown-haired girl said next. "Are you going to betray me, Dorothy?" Relena's voice was tight, under such brittle control that it revealed all of her panic, all of her fear and sorrow. "If you are, I just want to let you know that I understand, and I won't be angry. I know... I know it's more than disdain, what you feel for me. I can tell you right now, it'll be an easy thing to do, to get rid of me. I'm fairly... fragile, right now." She paused, taking a ragged breath. "I've been kind of edgy since Heero left - I assume you noticed he was gone. He told me... he told me how he felt, or he didn't tell me, just before he left. With him, it's the same thing, really. Even him being here and him being gone... it's almost the same." Relena smiled to herself. "I'm babbling." "Relena." Dorothy slid her hand higher on Relena's arm, up to her shoulder, and pushed slightly, forcing the brown-haired girl to turn around, to face her. Relena's eyes flicked up to her face and down again, several times, too afraid to maintain a steady gaze. "You're safe with me, Relena. I promise. No matter what happens... even if I /was/ working for the enemy, I would never, ever let anything hurt you, or taint your dreams. I promise." Relena shuddered, and flung herself into the blonde's arms, sobbing uncontrollably, brokenly whispering words in between the tears, things Dorothy could not make out. The blonde guided the crying girl to the bed, sat down on the edge. Relena curled up tightly, burrowing as far into Dorothy's arms as she could get, and dissolved into a sea of tears. The blonde tenderly stroked Relena's still damp hair, murmuring a few consoling words every now and again, waiting for the sobs to turn into sniffles, and the sniffles to vanish completely. Each time she moved, shifting to get a more comfortable seat on the bed, Dorothy felt Relena's arms tighten around her. She realized that the brown-haired girl was terrified, that Relena thought she would be abandoned now that she had shown her vulnerability, that Dorothy would leave her, just as Heero had done. //Don't worry. You don't have to be afraid to love me, Relena. I promise, I'll never leave you, not ever.// "Come on, Relena." Dorothy kept her voice light, trying to pull things back into some sort of normalcy. "I know what long hair does if you don't brush it before it dries." Relena was disturbingly complacent, following along silently as Dorothy gently pulled on her hand, leading her to a chair. //Good god, why did this have to happen now? As if she didn't have enough to deal with.// Dorothy felt a spike of panic, but adamantly refused to give in to her fears. //She'll be fine. I'll make sure... if I can do nothing else, I can be here for her. God, why this?! Why now?!// Relena seemed to be thinking along the same lines, speaking softly as Dorothy started to gently take the tangles from her hair. "Thank you for doing this. They're going to expect a speech from me, and I have to look my best. Everyone's going to want to know what happened, why he was shot. The other man, the general at the meeting today...he was so angry /already/, I can't even think about what he might do now that his friend is dead." Dorothy had to fight for a calm tone, knowing her anger alone could slay the person who demanded that Relena speak now, in her condition, that the brown-haired girl care about anything but herself right now. "Don't think about it, Relena. Just relax." "Really, it's okay. I'm... I'm all right." It was a terrible lie, Dorothy knew that. Strangely, though, there was a steadiness in Relena's voice that seemed to have appeared by magic, as if she were gaining strength from some secret spring. "I have to do this. I have to keep going, and be strong. I /know/ that, it's just what I have to do. Kings and queens have seen death and destruction a thousand times before this, and many of them killed with their own hands. Whether I like it or not, this is a part of being a ruler. This is something that could happen anytime, and I have to be ready to deal with it." "He knew the risks too, Relena-sama. Anyone who goes into a battle knows they could die, at any time. They know, but they fight anyway... that's what makes battles so incredible." "Incredible?" Relena crooked her head back, and Dorothy was amazed to see she was smiling, a real smile, and the life had come back into her eyes. "I just get brain goo all over me, and you think it's incredible? If you were picking it out from between your fingers, I doubt you'd think it was that great." The brown-haired girl paused, and shivered, the good humor dropping from her face. It was too soon, and Dorothy thought it would most likely always be too soon for Relena to laugh at what had happened. Dorothy finished with the brush, and Relena's hair fell in one long waterfall, only needing to be braided slightly for her usual look to be back once more. The blonde ignored that for now, and slowly, gently, moved her hands through the thick river of smooth brown hair, and carefully started to knead the muscles in Relena's shoulders. "Mm. Ow, that hurts." "Just hang on a minute, Relena. I swear, it will be worth it." "I'm holding you to that." Dorothy chuckled, and waited with anticipation for the moment when Relena's slight grunts of pain turned softer, warmer, into sounds of pleasure as tension was released, muscles relaxing for the first time in what the blonde assumed was probably weeks. "Mmm, now that feels wonderful." Dorothy silently kept working, enjoying the feel of Relena's body under her hands, her slight sounds of happy ecstasy on an entirely different level than she thought she probably should have been. Dorothy was quietly happy, until she felt a slight shudder, heard a noise which could only have been a tightly suppressed sob. She paused, resting her chin on the top of Relena's head for a moment. "Relena, tell me. Please?" The brown haired girl shook her head hard, sniffling. "I don't know. I just don't know anything anymore." Relena rubbed her eyes, sniffling quietly. "Everything's so complicated." Before Dorothy could say anything, Relena turned in the chair, wrapping both arms tightly around her waist, pulling her close. "Don't leave me, Dorothy. Please, please don't go away. Not now. I... I don't think I could take it if you left me now." "Never." Dorothy murmured the word, barely containing her own surprise. The blonde ran her hands down through Relena's hair, threading her fingers between the soft strands, surprised to find that her heart was pounding. "No matter what happens, Relena-sama, I'm with you until the end." "Good." Relena slowly stood up, but her hands left Dorothy's waist for only a moment, and quickly found their way back into the embrace. "Dorothy, I..." Relena shook her head, searching for words that weren't coming. "I - I don't mean to hurt you, by talking about Heero." She bit her lip, frowning in anxious annoyance. Whatever she was trying to say seemed just out of her reach. "I've... never felt anything for anyone, before Heero. He - he just, and I..." Relena looked up, and Dorothy fell in love again, as she did every time the girl looked at her. The blonde felt her heart burst with joy and love, at the sight of those beautiful eyes gazing into hers. "Have you ever just felt... /right/ around someone else, Dorothy? Like magic, or destiny? Like everything in the universe agrees on it, that you should be together?" "I do know exactly what you mean, Relena." Dorothy didn't know how it came out, whether Relena knew the blonde had meant /her/, but Relena's eyes widened slightly anyway. "Dorothy..." Relena stopped, took a deep breath, and kissed her. It was sudden and completely unexpected, as if the brown-haired girl simply had no other way out of the conversation. The kiss was simple, a peck on the lips that lasted only a half-second longer than usual. Dorothy shuddered anyway, or at least thought she did, feeling the electricity wrap like tangled wire all over her body from that kiss, leaving her dizzy and breathless. Relena didn't seem to be any better off, staring at her with some indecipherable emotion in her eyes. "Relena-sama, I..." "Miss Relena..?" Relena quickly stepped backward, as Noin's voice came through the door. "Yes?" "It's time. If you're ready to give a statement, everything is ready. We've got a spare uniform, but you're going to need to switch rooms." Relena turned back to her, fear and panic swirling in swift currents through her eyes, blank terror on her face. "I don't know if I can do this." "It'll be fine." Dorothy smoothed a strand of the brown hair that had fallen out of place, letting her hand fall to rest behind Relena's neck, pulling her close, until their foreheads were touching, and Dorothy could look the other girl in the eye. //God knows, I don't care if she gives this speech or not. But she needs to do this for herself. It's too much. I think it's too much for her to do after what happened, but she needs it. Right now, her self-confidence is all she has.// Dorothy made a mental note, to change /that/ problem as soon as possible, to clue the brunette in on the fact that there was more to life than speeches and sorrow. A /lot/ more. For now, she focused on letting Relena know she wasn't alone, that the blonde believed in her even if no one else in the world did. "You'll do great, and right now, they just want to see that you're all right. You're what matters to them right now. Don't be afraid." The brown-haired girl nodded, already shutting down some of her expressive nature, the fear and uncertainty draining from her eyes, her entire demeanor becoming more calm, more sure of herself. Outwardly, there was little trace of the panic Dorothy knew was still there "I'll be right behind you, Relena-sama. I'll be right there, waiting for you when it's over. I promise." Relena smiled, nodded, and walked out of the door, moving down the hall with Noin a few steps ahead of her. They passed another figure, moving toward the room, and Dorothy took a few steps back in surprise, before she smiled grimly. //So, is this how it's going to be?// The blonde thought it was suspicious, that Relena would have to go to another room to change into a uniform, and as she saw Zechs walking toward her, and the look of dangerous anger in his eyes, she knew she was right. Dorothy had one moment to look up into Relena's eyes as the brown-haired girl turned the corner, to look and see the confusion and fear there, before Zechs walked into the room and calmly shut the door behind him. --------------------------------- "She's worried, Lightning Count. Relena didn't understand why you needed to come to see me, and I can assure you that the look on your face didn't help things any." "Shut up, Dorothy." Zechs quickly walked to the desk, threw the manila file folder he had been carrying down on the table in front of him. "Do you know what this is?" Dorothy looked down, expressionless. "It looks like my file. Fairly impressive, Zechs. It must have taken you some time to find a way to pull that. But, as far as I know, I don't think you'll find anything in there you need." "You didn't pull the trigger, I know that." Zechs glared at her, and she didn't believe him. "There's nothing in here to incriminate you as a part of anything - not on the surface, anyway. There's still more than enough here for me to see what you are. The kind of person you are A lifetime of training in espionage, sabotage. I just have to wonder, what are you training for?" "Do you honestly think I'm going to answer that?" Zechs shook his head. "No. But I know enough to know that you don't have to." He pointed to a corner of the room, and Dorothy squinted, seeing a very small flash of light in the wall. "A camera." Dorothy was angry, but more for Relena, for the invasion of the other girl's privacy than her own. "You bastard. I suppose you bugged the room as well." "Of course." Zechs' blue eyes narrowed as he leaned back, still glaring at her. "My sister doesn't know about the world, Dorothy. She doesn't know about people who can easily use any situation, even the dangerous fragility of others, to their own advantage. Relena has to be protected - sometimes from herself - and sometimes..." "From people like me." Dorothy smiled. "Those were going to be your next words, weren't they?" "I know what you're trying to do, Dorothy. And I won't let you destroy this dream. I won't let you hurt Relena." Two soldiers calmly walked into the room. "You are hereby under house arrest until this investigation is over. You are not to see or speak to Relena until I say otherwise." "Afraid Relena may be seeing more action than you are, Zechs?" Dorothy sneered. The blonde man slapped her for that, but she saw the strike coming, and Dorothy knew she had hurt him with words more than he could hurt her with blows. She was also raging inside, knowing that arguing with him was worthless, that she wouldn't be there when Relena was done with her speech, and that it would hurt the brown-haired girl, wound her deeply, especially after all that had happened with Heero. //Oh Zechs, what are you thinking? Don't you know - don't you /realize/? Do you see how much trouble she's in right now, that she has no one to turn to? She doesn't need this. Of all the times, she doesn't need this /now/...// The soldiers came toward her, but Dorothy warned them away with a glare. "I can walk on my own, thank you." She turned to Zechs just before reaching the door, eyes cold and sad, not angry. Dorothy wasn't angry, but she was afraid. "You're making a mistake, Zechs." The blonde man didn't answer her, and as Dorothy walked down the hall, she could hear the commotion as Relena finished her speech, the cheers of a world of admirers who simply didn't understand.
Back to Valkyrie Index - Back to Gundam Wing Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction