Noin had delivered the new mission to the Gundam pilots, which was to gather the others together at the Peacemillion. Heero and Wufei had not arrived yet. Trowa was listening at rapt attention, of course, but Quatre...
The blond-haired young man gazed sadly out a window at the stars, tears welling inside.
"Oh, by the way, Quatre," Noin's comment brought his attention back to the briefing, "I have a message for you."
"Ah? Mmm...from who?" he asked, distracted.
"For good reasons, she didn't give her name but she did say to tell you this: 'Sandy,--' " she started to recite when she head him audibly gasp.
Trowa asked, "Hm? Sandy?"
Noin ignored the question and started over.
Sandy,
I asked Noin to tell you this. I've been on the run for years and the only way I can come home is for you to get rid of Oz and Romafeller Foundation. I'm depending on you...
Noin then handed Quatre a piece of paper, noting his reaction to the message and watched as he brought out a small, rectangular metal object from a pocket.
"Pretty girl in there," she asked, "Who is she?"
He opened the object and gazed at its contents, which was a picture of a pair of children running in a field. One was a girl with brown hair in pigtails and the other, a boy trying to keep up with her...
Quatre heard Trowa say, "The other kid's you, right? Is she your sister or something?"
The younger man shook his head, replying, "No...her name is Tira. Tira Felice."
"Why did she call you Sandy?" Noin asked.
"It's...a nickname she put on me. For a while, she'd call me Sandmop because of my hair. Although later on, when she wasn't angry, she'd just call me Sandy."
His eyes started to fill with tears as he continued, "She disappeared some time ago...and for the longest time, I thought she was killed by Oz... I'm sorry...could you please leave me alone for a bit?"
Noin and Trowa nodded and vacated the room quickly.
As soon as he knew he was alone, Quatre held the picture close to him and cried.
Quatre shook his head, remembering the first sign that Tira was still alive. A little over a year had passed since then and now he was running to one of the docking bays.
I haven't seen her in such a long time, he thought, Is she going to still be the same? I don't know whether to hope so or not.
"Ah, you're just in time," a docking crew member in front of him smiled as she saw him, "Lady Felice's ship is on final approach as we speak."
He nodded and tried his best to wait patiently as the aforementioned spacecraft slowly orbited the colony then entered the dock.
"The ship has entered, Mr. Winner," the crewwoman said just as he was about to start pacing, "You can enter now."
He nodded and went inside.
He saw the ship and had to consciously keep himself from running like a little child. In front of him was a small group of people, none of them recognizable.
As he arrived to where the group stood, he could see a young woman with chestnut brown hair in a stylish dress walking down the extending pathway, accompanies by two younger men.
One of the men in the waiting crowd suddenly saw Quatre, grabbed his arm, and said, "What's someone like you doing here? The only people allowed in here are us and someone from the Winner family."
"Sir, I'm--" he started to reply.
"This kid looks more like a street rat to me," another one in the crowd agreed, causing the group to grab him, pulling him towards the door.
"I'm not a street rat!" the young Arab protested.
The group seemed to ignore him and continued dragging him away.
"Stop!"
That call from the woman on the stairway halted the group.
She glowered at them and said, "Is that any way to treat someone that was expected here?"
"But Lady Felice--" one of the men started to explain.
"Let go of him right now. You're really not up to date to not recognize Quatre Winner," she said in the type of tone that was kind but had an edge to it.
At that revelation, the others not only let go of him but also cleared a path between him and the small entourage.
"Quatre," the woman said with a small smile, "Could you please come with me?"
He nodded and walked beside her as she came the rest of the way off of the runway and onto the colony.
"Lady Felice," he said, opting to follow along with the mode she had set up, "I hope the trip wasn't problematic." She's had enough trouble as it is.
"No, it was smooth sailing, actually," she replied, "Oh, that reminds me...the two with me."
She gestured towards the young man in the front right and front left, saying, "I believe you know them. Trowa Barton and Heero Yuy."
Quatre's eyes went wide but he nodded, saying, "Hello."
After that, the small group went out of the docking bay.
Even though the two of them were making small talk, Quatre couldn't help but feel sorrow inside. The woman beside him in the vehicle that was headed for the Felice residence looked the same as the Tira he knew...and yet none of her remained. She seemed...like...
Like a complete stranger. Tira, what happened to you all this time?
"Well, here we are," the driver said, motioning for the two in the backseats to get out.
"You won't be needing us now, Lady Felice," Trowa said, remaining in the taxi-like car.
"Thanks for coming with me," she replied, nodding to them as she and the blond Arab got out and walked inside.
As they walked, the feeling of sorrow inside seemed to grow quickly.
"My old friend Relena suggested them for an escort to here," Tira explained, seeing the puzzled look on his face.
"N-no...that's not what I was thinking about," he answered, "Relena? As in Relena Peacecraft?"
"Yes...we were classmates at St. Gabriel Institute...though I had to go by an alias. I had no idea who she really was at first, though..."
He nodded, a bit distracted.
Right then, they reached a sitting room and as they went in, Quatre had to turn away in order to hide tears that were starting to fill in his eyes.
As she shut the door, she said, "Now that we're out of the public view..."
With those words, not only did her way of speaking change, but so did her entire attitude...from an upper-crust aristocrat to an impish young woman with a devil-may-care attitude.
His eyes, still shining with tears, widened a little more as he looked at her, asking, "Tira...?"
She held out her arms, smiled and completed the sentence, "...C'mon over here, Sandy!"
Quatre smiled with relief and wrapped his arms around her, resting his head near her shoulder.
Tira mentally frowned, thinking, He thought that I had forgotten him? How silly...he forgot I can still read his mind. But he's hurting...I can tell.
As she held him, remaining still, the pain and loneliness in his face from the past four...nearly five years slowly vanished.
His voice was very soft as he said after a while, "I've missed this...I've missed you..."
Tira looked at him closely, saying, "I've missed you too...and now I won't have to take off again. Quatre..."
"Yes?"
"From the way you said that...you mean nobody in all this time had done anything as simple as hug you? With everything that happened?"
He shook his head and looked at her, sorrow returning to his eyes.
"Sandy, I'm so sorry!"
"Father died during the war...too much has happened, Tira. I'm not--"
"Trowa and Heero told me on the ship," she replied, "I already know everything that's happened."
He turned red a little at this remark.
"Quatre, I'm quite proud of you. Even after all that, you really haven't changed as much as you think you have."
He smiled a little at her, although he wasn't as sure as she seemed to be.
"But enough talk of wars. We've got a lot of catching up to do...Sandmop."
He winced, saying, "Tira, you know I hate being called that!"
"Sorry, sorry," she said with a laugh, then saw that the look of sorrow was still in his eyes.
She held him close again, saying, "Quatre...anytime you start getting anywhere near that lonely, you let me know," and thought, I'll hug you as much and as long as you want and need.
He heard both and simply nodded.
Tira smiled and though in a way that Quatre wouldn't pick it up, I've watched you for quite a while, more than you know...
Tira was sitting inside an empty parlor, looking out the window when Pagan came in.
"Uh...Miss Tira," he said, using her real name, "What are you doing here?"
She replied in a slow but firm tone, "I'm watching...I'm watching him."
"Watching who?" he asked, "There's nobody here."
"I'm watching Quatre."
"Pardon me for asking, but are you out of your mind? He's in outer space!"
She shook her head. She heard Quatre asking faintly, "Tira...? Is that Tira...?"
He knows I'm watching him.
"My power...it now lets me see beyond these walls. My fate...my life is in his hands now. It's only fair that I watch him. Now please don't ask me anymore, Pagan. If I'm interrupted, I could die."
He nodded and sat down nearby in case she were to collapse.
Outside the Felice residence, Duo started to walk up to the door when he saw two other people standing in front of it.
"Hey, guys," he called out, "You're here to see the heiress, too?"
One of the people, Trowa, shook his head and said, "Not exactly. Tira's not accepting visitors today."
"Huh?" the American pilot asked, "Why're you here, then? And what's your reason, Heero?"
"As a personal favor to her," Heero replied.
Trowa nodded, saying, "If it wasn't for Tira leading me towards the Mobile Doll control room, Quatre would have certainly died in the duel against Dorothy. Those two have a lot of catching up to do and we're going to stand here and make sure no visitors come today to interrupt them."
"W-wait a minute here...how do you know the phantom that led you was her?"
"That doesn't matter," Heero quickly answered, "No visitors."
For quite a moment, Duo looked at them and suddenly had a serious look on his face as he said, "Aw, man...I may as well stay put, too....just in case she was responsible for saving his life."
Trowa silently nodded and remembered the strange encounter...
Trowa had just arrived in Libra's docking bay, looking to accomplish his part of the mission to destroy the large Peacemillion-class ship before it crashed into the Earth and to stop the Mobile Dolls.
He was about to turn left down a three-path corridor when he saw something rather unusual right in front of him.
A young woman with long, brown hair gestured to him, the expression on her face filled with worry.
"Who are you?" he asked.
She shook her head and moved her arms, pointing to the right-hand path.
"Go that way?"
The woman nodded and Trowa heard her voice in his mind, not aloud.
You're Trowa, right? Come with me, quickly!
"Why?"
He's in grave danger! Follow me or it'll be too late!
"He...? Wait, I recognize you..."
He then realized who this woman was and who the "he" that was in danger was.
Without a second thought, he turned right, following the woman and blasting everything that was in his way.
He called out, hoping that the person leading him would carry his voice to the destination, "I'm coming, Quatre!"
And inside the large house, Quatre and Tira continued talking and "catching up" as Heero had put it, uninterrupted, not knowing of the silent payback going on outside.
Back to the Esteemed Hall
Back to RaJa's Hall
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