A Dance of Hearts - Chapter Two
Quatre awaited his dining partner at the large wooden table. All the platters were now served, it was time to begin and she still wasn't there. When he saw one of the servants pass through, he stopped her.
" She does know that dinner is now, doesn't she?"
" Yes, sir," she answered in a cheery voice.
" Then why isn't she here yet?" Quatre inquired, his usual quiet tone diminishing with his patience.
" I don't know sir. Perhaps she's having some problems getting ready," the servant offered by way of explanation. Quatre threw her a sideways glance as he turned to face forward and waved a hand in dismissal. He began to drum his fingers on the table. ' What was taking so long? Is she even coming?'
Just as that thought passed, the dining room door opened and Desiree slipped in silently, attired in a white evening dress that Quatre had bought her as a welcoming gift. Her long hair was bound up in a mixture of braids and curls. Around her neck she wore a sapphire necklace that contrasted nicely with the whiteness of her gown. The sight of her took his breath away and he forgot all about being upset with her. She was so beautiful.
" Please forgive my tardiness. I was having problems with my hair. Then I couldn't find the earrings to match my necklace. The shoes decided to..." she tried to explain as she sat down catty-cornered to him and placed her napkin on her lap. She stopped when Quatre held up a hand to quit.
" I get the picture. For what it's worth, you look very beautiful and I am most pleased with the effort you took in your grooming, " Quatre said formally. " You look like a jewel."
He rang a bell and servants brought in their plates, already fixed and still warm. Glasses of wine and water followed.
" Well you're welcome to look I guess, " Desiree said as she picked up a fork, ready to dive in. Quatre blushed at her words, then grabbed his wine glass and took a couple of deep gulps of the liquid. Desiree eyed him suspiciously.
" I thought Muslims didn't drink."
" Who told you I was a Muslim?" Quatre asked teasingly.
" Well, you're Arabian, aren't you?" she asked in an accusing voice.
" Yes, I'm Arabian. But that doesn't mean I'm a Muslim," Quatre said, and took another sip of wine.
" Well if you're not a Muslim, what are you then?" Desiree asked incredulously.
" A Christian," he answered simply.
" But you are head of the Maganac Core...they're Muslim," she said, putting her fork down with a clunk.
" Yes, but you see my father was Arabian, which labels me Arabian, but my mother...she is...was French and a Christian. When she died my father decided to raise me a Christian...in her memory I guess.," Quatre explained. He wasn't going to tell her about being a test tube baby.
" I see...no, I don't...nevermind," Desiree finished with a shrug and resumed eating.
" Is your room to your satisfaction?" Quatre asked after a couple of minutes.
" Yes. It's very..." Desiree thought about the spacious room. It was a bit too rich for her. She had been afraid to touch anything. "...big."
Quatre raised an eyebrow. " But do you like it?"
She looked up at him sheepishly. He seemed so eager to please her. He had a little pleading look in his eyes,one that she couldn't bear to hurt even if she tried. " Yes, I just need to get used to it."
" Used to it?" Quatre cocked his head, confused.
" There's just so many expensive things in it. I'm not used to that," she explained.
" Oh," Quatre felt relieved. He wanted to make her happy in every way he could. They ate in silence for the next couple of minutes, when finally the question Quatre had been expecting came up.
" When is our wedding set?" She didn't look up at him as she asked her question softly.
Quatre shifted and began to toy with his chicken. " Three months from today. Have you seen the dress patterns they wanted you to look at?" he asked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.
She nodded. " I'm not sure which one I like. Whoever chose them had exquisite taste." Quatre felt a smirk cross his features. Point one for him. He erased the smirk as he stuffed his mouth full of rice.
" Who picked them out?" she inquired, taking a sip of wine. She looked over and saw him blush.
" You picked them out?" she asked with a mixture of disbelief and amusement. It was a picture she found very amusing. She could just see him, a former Gundam pilot, looking through a bunch of bridal magazines, scrutinizing and analyzing each one until he had settled on a set number of choices to narrow down the headache she would go through. She smiled behind her wine glass.
" What about the rest of your wardrobe? Do you like it?" Quatre asked, the pleading look back in his eyes
" Yes. Did you pick them out too?" she had to ask.
He shrugged. " Most of it."
" What kind of wedding will it be?" Desiree asked next, as if it were a friend getting married, not her.
" A short one I hope," Quatre said, stabbing a piece of chicken with his fork.
" You don't know?" Desiree asked, looking at him as if he was terminally ill.
" No, Relena is taking care of it," Quatre said. " She wouldn't let me do anything else but pick out some choices for cakes and the bridal party's choice of dress."
Desiree covered her mouth to suppress a giggle. She had met Relena before she came to be with Quatre. Somehow she wasn't surprised. She liked Relena and she could talk to her easily. The matters they discussed at times were very...personal. A worrying thought came to her. She hoped their wedding ceremony would not be like Relena's was. Hers was too grand, too public, and far too long.
" Where will it be held? Here?" Desiree asked. The gardens she had noticed would make a lovely place for a wedding.
" On Earth. In a church. That's all I know. Relena won't tell me anything else about it," Quatre said, annoyance clearly in his voice. Wasn't it enough that he couldn't choose who he married? Now, he couldn't even choose how he got married. He saw a flicker of disappointment flash across Desiree's face.
" What is it?"
" I just hoped it wouldn't be so formal. Like out in the estate's gardens, or something. A lot less expensive," she finished. She was definitely Duo's sister. Informal was the least you could say about Duo and Hilde's wedding. He couldn't help but agree with her though.
" Yeah, it would be nice. But they want it to be a big formal affair," Quatre rolled his eyes as he placed the last morsel of food he had on his plate on his tongue.
" My life isn't going to be like Princess Diana's was back in the 20th century, will it?" she asked, slightly annoyed. There were some things she felt should be kept personal. Her marriage was one of them. Sure, she didn't love Quatre yet, but how could she grow to if she was never left alone with him? Him, not the public Quatre, but the private one.
" No, that won't happen. Any reporter caught doing anything even remotely like it was then, is arrested for trespassing, or disturbing the peace," Quatre assured her.
" Good. Will your fellow pilots be there?" she asked, looking away, stirring her food around.
" Yes..." His facial expression darkened." Except for one...the one who mattered most, Trowa. He would have been my best man if he could come," Quatre looked down, hurt. Trowa hadn't even told him why he would not come, just that he couldn't.
" Trowa?" Desiree looked confused. She knew of no former Gundam pilot named Trowa. But other than Quatre, Heero was the only one she knew for sure by name. Well...she knew another. But his name wasn't Trowa. " You said he would have been your best man, if he's not going to be, who's stepping in?"
" Heero...even though Duo would have been a better choice." Quatre's eyes widened. He wasn't supposed to tell her yet.
" Duo? You mean the one called 'The God of Death'? Why him? You closer?" she asked, clearly confused.
" Well, no...yes...pretty much the same," Quatre said, a blush rising to his cheeks and spreading.
" Are you hiding something from me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
" Um..." How could he get out of this one? " It's a wedding gift, so I can't tell you."
" The reason you prefer Duo as your best man is a wedding gift?" she asked, clearly thinking he was losing it. Quatre flashed her a nervous smile, then rang the bell for dessert. Desiree snickered slightly. She had to admit, she liked him. It probably wasn't wise, but she did. They were brought their dessert, and again they ate in awkward, thick silence. Desiree stared ahead looking at the intricate detailing in the woodwork of the baseboards and the ceiling.
" Other than Heero, have you met any of my fellow former Gundam pilots?" Quatre asked, breaking the silence. She seemed as if she might know at least one of them.
There was a long pause before she decided to answer. " Yes. I know one of them," She looked down at her food and gently pushed the plate away. " I think I need to excuse myself, I'm full." She looked at him. He noticed a hurt look had crept into her eyes.
" Okay, goodnight." He watched her stand as she said goodnight to him, then with a flicker of remorse, he watched her leave. Had he done, or said something wrong?
" Your path together is going to be difficult, Master Quatre," Rashid said from the doorway.
Quatre looked at the Maganac and stood. " I'm done. I'll be in the gardens if I'm needed. Goodnight, Rashid." Quatre said, then walked the length of the long room to the door at the far end where Desiree had left earlier.
Rashid had expressed his displeasure over his choice of bride that was not of a wealthy family numerously. He didn't understand. Rich people seemed to lose something in their personality. They weren't true to who they were most of the time. Those who had no wealth learned to cherish love over money, wealth and status. That was what Quatre wanted, and would try to achieve in his marriage. He had to if he was truly to reach his ideal of peace.
~~~~*~~~~
' Why?' Desiree asked in her mind. ' Why did things have to be this way? This poor, poor man. He was doing all he could to please her, and make her happy, yet, all it did was make it hurt more. How could she return his kindness...his openness...his effort to try and make this work out, when her heart belonged to another? Quatre deserved better. He deserved someone who could plunge into this body, soul and mind. She could go into this with all of those things, save one, her heart. As it stood, all she could be right now was nothing more than his lover, or his friend, or in a sense, both...but not in the sense marriage demanded. Or at least not in the sense it was meant to be.
" Oh Quatre...you poor sweet thing. I don't deserve you," she said through her tears a as she collapsed on her bed in violent sobs.
~~~~*~~~~
Why is Rashid so against this? Was there something more about this than he had told him? She fit his...requests nearly perfectly. ' Will she be happy here though? Will I be happy with her? We don't know each other at all. What made her the "suitable match"? She had to have some quality they favored above all else.' After all, his ideal was a far cry from theirs. ' How will I go about this? How do two people who don't know each other become...' He felt a blush come to his face at the word, ' lovers? Because no one can truly fall in love in just three months,' Especially since they would hardly see each other in those three months. He had business trips and other things that had to be done before the wedding. The wedding and consummation would be very empty of feeling. ' How did Wufei do it? He didn't even like his wife. At least I like my fiancee.'
Quatre found a small solace in that thought, yet, a wedding night without genuine love between him and his partner seemed wretched. He forced hmself not to curse his ideal, his job, and his position. Since the war ended he had never truly taken anything by force or beguile. During the war he did, but never truly wanted to. He never thought he would in the first place. And of all things he could have imagined taking by force, never once did he believe it would be a bride.
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