wishing you were somehow here again...
Who: Relena and Heero (with a guest appearance by Relena's mum), the Wingboys (Duo and Trowa) popping up later, NPC assassns
What: tl;dr: Relena learns the truth and goes out into the city. Heero stalks follows.
Where: Somewhere in Clairbourn
When: Thursday Evening (predated)
Warnings: PG-13 for Angst, maybe some Heero!comfort?
Over the past day had been visiting, from the mayor to the police chief, even a local representative came to see the mourning women. When the first person showed up Mrs. Darlian sent her daughter to her room despite her protests. She was afraid that the meetings would bring up a long lost memory buried somewhere in the mind of a two year old girl. She didn’t want to take the chance, not until she knew the truth…
Relena silently watched the latest group of people, probably from her father’s office, leave the house. From her hiding place in the study (it was going to be her father’s study when he came to visit) she could see the steady stream of people coming and going. She had never seen this much traffic in her own home. Most of the unfamiliar faces made her nervous. They still hadn’t caught the assassinator, and there were vague rumors of the person returning to finish off his family. The very thought made her sick to her stomach.
She hated it. She hated not being around her mother while she attended to the funeral and travel arrangements. She hated not going to school, where the work would be an excellent distraction from all of this. She hated that the police and FBI insisted that they put a security watch on them and that they checked everyone and anyone who came within one hundred yards of the house. Most of all she hated the fact that she couldn’t go anywhere without an escort, if anywhere at all.
“Heero..” She sighed and turned her back to the window. All of this hiding she was doing was driving her crazy. She wanted to leave the house, disguised as anyone else, and go somewhere else. Somewhere where no one knew of the Darlian Assassination. Where no one knew of the lone child left behind. Where she could go and feel safer than she could ever feel at home. Where he would be there, silently keeping watch over her.
The blond sat at the desk (the same one her father used at work before he bought a new one) and eyed the screen. Even with the software given to her she couldn’t risk making a high-security post. The agents had asked her about the software she had on her personal laptop and were mainly interested in the high-security posts made to the school’s network. Relena admitted that while she had been given it by a friend for communicative purposes, it was purely for entertainment (she had shown them the one regarding the homecoming dance, to which the older man chuckled). They had warned her about using the public network for any purpose until it was deemed ok. With the talk of an assassin on the loose they didn’t want to unknowingly lead him to the house. A valid reason when your life was on the line.
It took a few minutes of staring at the school network before she turned it off. Even if she made a post what would she say? “Heero I need to see you right now?” A simple post wouldn’t be fast enough. The going back and forth would take forever. Maybe… the phone? Picking it up, she dialed the number she knew he would answer, and as it was ringing there was a knock at her door.
“Relena, dear?”
The girl immediately hung up the phone, not bothering to notice if there was a person on the other end or not. She stood up as her mother quietly entered. Mrs. Darlian looked older than ever, in her daughter’s opinion. Her normally laughing eyes were dull and red, and the black dress she was wearing was making her look paler and thinner. When had she last eaten, she wondered. When had she herself last eaten?
“Yes mother?”
The older blonde had a small smile on her face, one most likely there for the sake of her poor child. “Relena, my beautiful, dear Relena,” she said, moving to sit on the bed. Something was in her hands… a photograph. “Your father loved you very much. It was his wish that someday, when you were old enough, he would come to you and tell you everything. I wanted to show you this….” She held it out, and Relena walked over to sit beside her mother and look at it.
The picture was old and worn, taken many years ago and faded from age. Four people stared out from it: A man, a woman, and two children. The man had a strong jaw with a blond beard that covered it. He stood in back, wearing a formal military uniform, one Relena recognized as one from Luxemburg. Standing next to him was a boy of no more than seven, with pale hair and dark eyes. He wore a similar uniform as the man behind him. The woman was sitting in a chair wearing a beautiful white gown, her pale blonde hair falling everywhere in ringlets and curls, her sky blue eyes familiar and warm. She held a small child; a baby in a white and pink dress, who had her mother’s eyes and father’s head of blond. Relena recognized the child in an instant and when she looked up in astonishment she found that her mother was smiling sadly at her.
“Relena, have you ever heard of the Peacecraft family?”
When she was done, Mrs. Darlian left the room, pausing to look worriedly back at her daughter. Relena had been silent the entire time she explained everything. She did not flinch when mentioned the death of her real parents, nor did she show any emotion at all. Just the look of utter disbelief and shock was all she showed. The woman thought that maybe it was too soon, that she wasn’t ready to know the truth. But this wasn’t her choice; it had been a clause in her husband’s will that Relena be told the truth of her birth. Looking back one last time, she decided to give her some time before coming back with some tea to discuss the truth further.
As soon as the door closed Relena closed her eyes tightly. The tightness that had been bulding in her chest since they pulled her out of class the day before was worse than ever. Now her head was spinning, everything seemed to be falling around her. It was too much for her. She needed fresh air. She needed to get out.
Calmly she stood and silently walked into her closet. She pushed around her clothing until she found a box labeled “Knickknacks.” Gently she pulled out just enough to open it and study the contents. Over the years she had found that to safely escape the media’s eye she could disguise herself to slip away. Simple changes in appearance were all it took. It was a trick she picked up from her father…
Smiling bitterly she gently pulled out a knapsack, some old t-shirts, a pair of worn jeans, a plain wallet, a baseball cap, and last but not least, two wigs. One, a shaggy purple, she put with the extra shirts in the knapsack. The other, a shoulder-length golden red, she took with her to her dressing table.
Ten minutes later, while her mother was on her way up to bring her daughter some tea, a redhead dressed in a black sweater and jeans slipped unnoticed out the back door, headed towards downtown Clairbourn.
What: tl;dr: Relena learns the truth and goes out into the city. Heero stalks follows.
Where: Somewhere in Clairbourn
When: Thursday Evening (predated)
Warnings: PG-13 for Angst, maybe some Heero!comfort?
Over the past day had been visiting, from the mayor to the police chief, even a local representative came to see the mourning women. When the first person showed up Mrs. Darlian sent her daughter to her room despite her protests. She was afraid that the meetings would bring up a long lost memory buried somewhere in the mind of a two year old girl. She didn’t want to take the chance, not until she knew the truth…
Relena silently watched the latest group of people, probably from her father’s office, leave the house. From her hiding place in the study (it was going to be her father’s study when he came to visit) she could see the steady stream of people coming and going. She had never seen this much traffic in her own home. Most of the unfamiliar faces made her nervous. They still hadn’t caught the assassinator, and there were vague rumors of the person returning to finish off his family. The very thought made her sick to her stomach.
She hated it. She hated not being around her mother while she attended to the funeral and travel arrangements. She hated not going to school, where the work would be an excellent distraction from all of this. She hated that the police and FBI insisted that they put a security watch on them and that they checked everyone and anyone who came within one hundred yards of the house. Most of all she hated the fact that she couldn’t go anywhere without an escort, if anywhere at all.
“Heero..” She sighed and turned her back to the window. All of this hiding she was doing was driving her crazy. She wanted to leave the house, disguised as anyone else, and go somewhere else. Somewhere where no one knew of the Darlian Assassination. Where no one knew of the lone child left behind. Where she could go and feel safer than she could ever feel at home. Where he would be there, silently keeping watch over her.
The blond sat at the desk (the same one her father used at work before he bought a new one) and eyed the screen. Even with the software given to her she couldn’t risk making a high-security post. The agents had asked her about the software she had on her personal laptop and were mainly interested in the high-security posts made to the school’s network. Relena admitted that while she had been given it by a friend for communicative purposes, it was purely for entertainment (she had shown them the one regarding the homecoming dance, to which the older man chuckled). They had warned her about using the public network for any purpose until it was deemed ok. With the talk of an assassin on the loose they didn’t want to unknowingly lead him to the house. A valid reason when your life was on the line.
It took a few minutes of staring at the school network before she turned it off. Even if she made a post what would she say? “Heero I need to see you right now?” A simple post wouldn’t be fast enough. The going back and forth would take forever. Maybe… the phone? Picking it up, she dialed the number she knew he would answer, and as it was ringing there was a knock at her door.
“Relena, dear?”
The girl immediately hung up the phone, not bothering to notice if there was a person on the other end or not. She stood up as her mother quietly entered. Mrs. Darlian looked older than ever, in her daughter’s opinion. Her normally laughing eyes were dull and red, and the black dress she was wearing was making her look paler and thinner. When had she last eaten, she wondered. When had she herself last eaten?
“Yes mother?”
The older blonde had a small smile on her face, one most likely there for the sake of her poor child. “Relena, my beautiful, dear Relena,” she said, moving to sit on the bed. Something was in her hands… a photograph. “Your father loved you very much. It was his wish that someday, when you were old enough, he would come to you and tell you everything. I wanted to show you this….” She held it out, and Relena walked over to sit beside her mother and look at it.
The picture was old and worn, taken many years ago and faded from age. Four people stared out from it: A man, a woman, and two children. The man had a strong jaw with a blond beard that covered it. He stood in back, wearing a formal military uniform, one Relena recognized as one from Luxemburg. Standing next to him was a boy of no more than seven, with pale hair and dark eyes. He wore a similar uniform as the man behind him. The woman was sitting in a chair wearing a beautiful white gown, her pale blonde hair falling everywhere in ringlets and curls, her sky blue eyes familiar and warm. She held a small child; a baby in a white and pink dress, who had her mother’s eyes and father’s head of blond. Relena recognized the child in an instant and when she looked up in astonishment she found that her mother was smiling sadly at her.
“Relena, have you ever heard of the Peacecraft family?”
When she was done, Mrs. Darlian left the room, pausing to look worriedly back at her daughter. Relena had been silent the entire time she explained everything. She did not flinch when mentioned the death of her real parents, nor did she show any emotion at all. Just the look of utter disbelief and shock was all she showed. The woman thought that maybe it was too soon, that she wasn’t ready to know the truth. But this wasn’t her choice; it had been a clause in her husband’s will that Relena be told the truth of her birth. Looking back one last time, she decided to give her some time before coming back with some tea to discuss the truth further.
As soon as the door closed Relena closed her eyes tightly. The tightness that had been bulding in her chest since they pulled her out of class the day before was worse than ever. Now her head was spinning, everything seemed to be falling around her. It was too much for her. She needed fresh air. She needed to get out.
Calmly she stood and silently walked into her closet. She pushed around her clothing until she found a box labeled “Knickknacks.” Gently she pulled out just enough to open it and study the contents. Over the years she had found that to safely escape the media’s eye she could disguise herself to slip away. Simple changes in appearance were all it took. It was a trick she picked up from her father…
Smiling bitterly she gently pulled out a knapsack, some old t-shirts, a pair of worn jeans, a plain wallet, a baseball cap, and last but not least, two wigs. One, a shaggy purple, she put with the extra shirts in the knapsack. The other, a shoulder-length golden red, she took with her to her dressing table.
Ten minutes later, while her mother was on her way up to bring her daughter some tea, a redhead dressed in a black sweater and jeans slipped unnoticed out the back door, headed towards downtown Clairbourn.