Chapter Three
<203 AC ~ Winner Mansion, Earth>
It was the day of the reunion planned and everyone was glad to see one another after so long. Almost everybody came. Trowa had arrived late, but still managed to come after years on end of not coming due to what he said were "personal issues." Relena had been the first to arrive with Gally, uncomfortable in a formal dress.
She was wearing a pale blue dress that came up to mid-thigh, slanted. The top looked like it was made out of two pieces like a robe, baring her shoulders. Everyone said it looked good on her, but Gally still felt uncomfortable. She was a tomboy at heart and would rather wear a T-shirt and jeans than a fancy dress with five inch heels that made her feel a bit off balance.
Wufei arrived next with his fiancee, Mai-Ling, who was wearing a spectacular red mandarin dress. When he first came with Mai-Ling, nobody could even believe that Wufei Chang had a girlfriend, nevertheless a fiancee. But Mai-Ling proved to be much different from other women, once you got to know her. Get on her bad side and you wouldn't be able to walk straight for a month.
Duo and Hilde arrived with Zechs and Noin, who managed to delay their missions just for this day. Sally came with Catherine, both talking to a woman that the others didn't know. Some more people arrived as well: acquaintances, friends, relative, etc. The only person who was absent was Heero, but he never came so nobody was surprised.
While everyone was busy chatting, Andy and Kitsune stood in a secluded area. At first, only Andy was supposed to go, but Kitsune insisted on coming and bugged her brother to his wits until he finally agreed. Now Andy was glad that his little sister came because there wasn't anybody he recognized.
"Ne, oniichan," Kitsune asked as they were observing the crowd. Andy turned his head slightly. "Who are we looking for anyway? And why didn't Hee-chan come with us?"
"Heero had something to do," he answered. "And we're looking for his girlfriend or whatever to keep an eye on her."
Kitsune's eyes widened, a smile creeping to her face. "Hee-chan has a girlfriend??"
"Beats me, but think what you think," Andy simply replied.
Kitsune giggled to herself despite the fact that they were supposed to look for a woman that their guardian hadn't seen in seven years. They were to keep Heero posted; either kept an eye on her in the "usual" way or stalking her day and night, Heero would've cared less what his two family relatives did. Kitsune just thought it funny for her uncle to be so shy around women especially when he was once an assassin. No matter to her; she thought it was fun.
"Ne, oniichan," Kitsune spoke up again. Once more, he turned his attention to his sister. "Why are we looking for Hee-chan's girlfriend?"
"He wants to know if she's okay, I guess," Andy answered.
"Oooh," she realized, putting a finger to her bottom lip. "Sou ka na..."
"Hey!" Gally's voice called out to them as she walked towards them. She was relieved that she knew someone other than Relena. "You're Andy, right? Remember me?"
"You're the new girl who just transferred," Andy answered, a bit surprised. "Gally, right?"
Gally nodded happily. Kitsune looked at her brother, then at Gally, then back at her brother again. Andy patted his sister on the head.
"This is my imouto, Kitsune. Kitsune, this is Gally Trepe, one of my classmates," Andy introduced.
Gally waved hello to the girl and Kitsune waved back.
"It's nice to meet ya, Gally-san!" she greeted happily.
"It's nice to meet you, too, Kitsune-chan," Gally replied back, smiling. "A fox? That's a strange name. Is it your real name?"
Andy slid into the Mask to show an expressionless face, but deep inside, his mind was spinning. How does she know that?
Kitsune nodded cheerfully. "Uh-uh. It's Setsuko. Demo, everybody calls me Kitsune because I'm fast."
"Setsuko? That's a pretty name," Gally commented. "So, what brings you two here? I didn't know that people my age besides me go to reunions where you barely know anybody."
Kitsune was about to answer the question when her brother cut in, his grip on her fragile shoulder tightening.
"Ah, our uncle couldn't make it because he had some business to take care of, so he asked us to go for him to meet his friends," Andy answered. Don't you DARE tell her what we're really doing here, Kitsune, mind waves travelled through the small connections in their brains. Gally here lives with the woman that Heero's watching.
O-okay... came her response.
<to a very large group of reunified G-boys...er...MEN =) >
"Trowa!" Quatre exclaimed. "How have you been?"
"I'm fine, thanks," Trowa replied. "Sorry for not making it to the other ones."
"Oh, daijoubu!" Mai-Ling said cheerfully, hugging Wufei's arm tighter. "Catherine's been able to fill us in."
"Yeah, she's been able to fill me in, too," Trowa replied. "So, when's the day, you two?"
"U-uhh..." Wufei stammered. "Sometime this summer. Right, Mai?"
Wufei was a changed man after he met Mai-Ling. Instead of being the hypocritical sexist pig that everone was used to, one day when Wufei came in with Mai-Ling for the first time, they could already tell that somehow, miraculously it seemed, Mai-Ling was able to break the dragon's harsh attitude and code of "justice" and tame him to act like a normal human being, so to speak.
Mai-Ling nodded. "Uh-huh. I thought we sent you an invitation, Trowa-san."
"You mean the one for your engagement party?" They nodded. "Hai, I got that."
After seven years of not meeting the man who used to have no name, everyone could tell that Trowa had also changed.
I wonder if Heero changed, too, if he's still alive, that is, Duo thought.
"I think we ALL got that one," Hilde said, giving Duo the Look that made him gulp instinctively.
"Your sister's been doing a lot to prepare for your wedding, Mai," Relena commented.
Mai-Ling sighed. "Yeah, she's been making such a bit deal out of it, though. She's acting like it's HER wedding!"
As the chatting continued, Duo began to zone out and then had that feeling that something or somebody was staring at him. He looked down to find a little girl hugging a stuffed gray kitty and staring silently at him. She had large dark brown and light brown hair that was tied up in cute pigtails. Her eyes were so dark a brown that it was almost black. Her features were small in every way so that made her eyes look a lot bigger than what they were. There was something in the girl that reminded Duo of someone, but he just couldn't place it at the moment.
Duo knelt down to the girl's height. "Oi, what're you doing here, ne? Is your okaasan around?"
The girl remained silent and looked down at her shoes as Duo patiently waited for a response. Hilde noticed and knelt down slightly next to him.
"Duo, what did you say to this little girl?" Hilde demanded.
"I-I didn't do anything!" he pleaded. "I just asked her where's her mom and she won't answer!"
"Kimiko!" Trowa's voice exclaimed.
The little girl named Kimiko looked up as attention focused on her and Trowa and all chatting ceased. He kneeled down and spread his arms wide.
"Why didn't you say anything to anybody?" Trowa asked softly to Kimiko. "Daijoubu, they're just friend's of otouchan's."
Kimiko ran to him, and he lifted her up as she snuggled into his shoulder, hugging the stuffed kitty tightly.
"O-otouchan?!?!?" Duo excalimed.
"Sumanu," Trowa apologized. "I forgot to tell you. This is my daughter, Kimiko."
"Eh?!?!?"
After mild shock, Noin was the first to recover and smiled. "Oh, she's so kawaii!" She tilted her head to see Kimiko's face. Their eyes met. "Ne, Kimiko-chan, isnt' it?"
Kimiko dug her face even further in her father's shoulder to break the eye contact from Noin.
Trowa chuckled lightly. "Daijoubu, Kimiko, she won't bite." Then to Noin, "Gomen, Noin-san. Kimiko's a bit shy around strangers."
"Daijoubu, I understand."
"Maa, she's just like her father," Quatre commented.
Duo couldn't help himself. "When did you get married?!?!? And who's your---"
"Trowa!" a feminine voice called out.
A young woman slightly younger than Trowa smiled. Her pale face showed perfection as it stood out from her raven hair. Her eyes were the same as Kimiko's, dark brown, and she also had a small yet protruding stomach. Catherine and Sally were right behind her.
"So she found you instead," the woman laughed. "I lost track of her once I laid my eyes off her."
The others couldn't believe it. No, it couldn't be...and...and she's got another coming...
"Mitsuko," Trowa said as the woman slowly made her way to him. He put one arm around her waist while carrying Kimiko with the other. "How are you feeling?"
"Daijoubu, daijoubu," Mitsuko reassured. "I'm not that tired."
"Minna-san, this is my wife, Mitsuko," Trowa introduced the woman.
"NANI?!?!?!?"
Mitsuko bowed slightly, but it was impossible for her to do the traditional Japanese bow when her stomach was protruding outward. "Konnichiwa. Trowa's told me all about you guys."
"Y-you're Trowa's wife?!?!?" Duo stammered.
She laughed and nodded. "Hai. It's nice to meet you."
"Catherine, how come you never told us?!?" Noin asked.
"A-anno, you see..." Catherine tried to say.
"Masaka, you knew too, Sally?" Wufei asked.
"Of course I did!" Sally said matter-of-factly.
Much conversation ensued. Relena had to laugh as the couple announced that they were going to have another child and her friends, particularly Duo, nearly fell out of their shoes. These people were her friends. They've always been able to support her no matter what she did. Now if only Heero were here...
Her eyes began searching for Gally who mysteriously left the crowd. She finally found her and saw her talking to two people. One she recognized as the student that Gally was talking about the day before, Andy. The young girl next to him she didn't know, but there was something odd about her eyes. Then she realized it. They were the same as Heero's no mistake about it. The eyes that she had always longed to look into came back to her but in a totally different way. Those eyes that she longed to see again and share all the years that have passed between them. Those Prussian blue eyes...
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Wahahahaha, I FINALLY got cracking on this fic!! ^_^ I thank you Moonkitty for encouraging me to write more!! Will Heero and Relena ever meet again? What do Kitsune and Andy have any relation to Heero besides being under his protection? What are Kitsune and Andy hiding from the rest of the world? And when's the day when the OOC Wufei and Mai-Ling take their vows? Stay tuned for the next chapter of....The True Victor