Sapphire Eyes

Chapter 5: Gossip Among the Ranks

By: Liewe

Standard disclaimers apply, I don’t own the gang from Gundam Wing, but Yanisha is my character and she’s based on my late Great Aunt.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“I’m a failure,” Noin whispered as Yanisha sat to the side.  The gentle hands of one of the numerous Maganac guards cleansing the wound of dust and cloth.

“You’re not a failure, you were outnumbered by more than ten to one.  Even a Gundam pilot would have faced some difficulty,” Yanisha gently explained, as she flipped through an abandoned book.

“I failed in my task, I allowed myself to get injured.  What if the wound had been more serious?” Noin asked as she gasped in pain, Auda, the Maganac tending to her wounds smiled in apology as he continued to tend to the wound.  “They could have completed the task they were sent to do, they could have killed you!”

“Yes, they could have, but they didn’t.  Noin dear, you need to lighten up,” Yanisha said reproachfully, leaning forward to tap Noin gently on the thigh.  “Have some fun in life, don’t approach everything as a matter of life and death.”

“I used to be like that,” Noin whispered through gritted teeth as Auda pulled the needle through her irritated skin.  “But when I met Zechs my life became meaningless compared to his.  I allowed myself to become infatuated…”

“And?”

“And what?”

“You seemed to trail off there, almost as if something was left unsaid.  When I became your employer I intended to become your friend as well.  Throughout my years I have come to value friends and family above all else.  Without them you are truly alone,” Yanisha whispered, her gaze empty.

“There was a reason I trailed off Yanisha, but I gather you will not let this be?”

“No I won’t, and now you will kindly enlighten me,” Yanisha grinned softly, her silver tinged hair falling into her aqua eyes and distorting her vision.

“If only to quiet you,” Noin said with a defeated sigh.  “I have failed all my life,” Noin whispered.  “First with my family, I promised my little sister I would return to her, yet I never did.  I left home and never looked back again, Italy was lost to me, and my heart belonged to the cause.  When I met Zechs, my life had little meaning if I were not at his side, I counted the days we were apart.  I became obsessed with him, what I believed was love was truly infatuation.”

“How much of your life did you devote to him?” Yanisha asked, seeing her bodyguard in a new light.

“Almost a decade, we met when I was 12 years old, I’m 21 now,” Noin sighed, reaching for her blood stained shirt.

“Nine years is a long time to be infatuated in someone,” Yanisha said thoughtfully.  “It could have become love?”

“If Zechs had been more caring maybe, but during the war, he was obsessed with peace and gaining revenge for the death of his family.  When the war was over he was only interested in the redemption of his soul.  If I had come along during his stay on Mars then maybe we would have stood a chance,” Noin said each word ringing with sorrow.   “But, alas I didn’t, and my life’s path was mapped out from there…”

“He could have grown to love you, as you could have grown to love him,” Yanisha replied.

“That was impossible, and you know it, my friend.  Someone else held my heart all that time, yet I refused to acknowledge what it was screaming in my ear,” Noin said with a rueful smile.

“What is his name?” Yanisha asked eagerly.  The thought of gossip bringing out the girlish attitude, which had long since been locked away.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Master Quatre?” Rashid called, causing the young and blonde Arab heir to jump and blush profusely at being caught.

Quatre turned around and tried to affix his most angelic look on the grizzled guard.   His pale hands were tucked in his pockets as he turned to gaze at the horizon, his pale gold bangs brushing against the pale skin of his forehead.

“Yes Rashid?”  Quatre asked innocently.

“It is not very noble to eavesdrop on the conversations of others,” Rashid said softly.  “Come for a ride on the dunes with me, the sun has set and the wind has stilled.”

“You wish to talk with me don’t you?” Quatre asked, his nimble mind seeing past the ruse his dear friend was trying to perfect.

“I may,” Rashid said with a shrug.  “I may also want company, you will only know if you join me on this ride.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Through hills of sand, and lakes of dust, they rode on in silent companionship.  The twilight sky with the rising moon gave the perfect backdrop for their jaunt.  The steady breaths of their steeds broke the silence periodically, and the men brooded.

“Master Quatre,” Rashid said softly, startling the young man from his reverie.

“Yes?” Was the questioning reply.

“Your mind has been occupied with many questions as of late, do you care to share your burden?” Rashid prodded softly as he turned to face the moon, the silver light casting shadows across his countenance adding years he hadn’t lived.  For the first time Quatre was struck with the age of his dearest companion, he had never thought of the large Arab warrior as old.  His treacherous mind, which had been filled with questions of the man Noin loved, now began t circle around itself, worry for his dear friends life spiraling into every dark corner of his mind.

“I don’t wish to trouble you,” Quatre whispered softly, his eyes turning to gaze at the moon as he tried to gather his wits about him once more. 

“Master Quatre, sometimes it is best to share a burden for then the weight is more easily borne, and the solution can be more readily found…” Rashid’s voice trailed off as a shadow passed over the moon and for a moment the world of the desert was bathed in pure darkness, the wind still, and life non-existent.

“It’s like the moon,” Quatre whispered in response, his melodious voice breaking through the silence as the moon broke through the shadow which had hidden it’s silver light.  “The burden changes from day to day, sometimes being barely there, and then other days, something which can’t be ignored.  It continues in a cycle…”

They sat in companionable silence, the gentle wuff’s of the horse’s as they breathed in the cool desert air creating a melancholy mood. 

~*~*~*~*~*~

Zechs Merquise, the once famed lightning count, and Prince of Sank, cast a downhearted glance towards the empty glass sitting mournfully on the bar top.  His silvery hair hung in limp clumps about his dirt riddled face.  Large bags hung under his eyes as he read the report a dear friend had left in his mailbox.  A oil ingrained finger moved out to gently stroke the young woman’s cheek in the photo.

“Lu…”

The barman watched the young man drinking away his sorrows, the piece of paper clutched in a dirty palm.  He shook his head, he had seen others afflicted by the same disease.  Heart break.  Sorrow.  Pain.  Loneliness.  They all culminated in one disease, a disease of the heart that was sweet sorrow, for it showed that you had lived at least once.

“Sir?” 

“Yes,” the voice of the fallen man at the bar croaked.

“We have to close now,” the barman said apologetically as he watched the man leave without a word, a hand throwing a few credits on the table.

Zechs walked slowly, each step taking him closer to a destination which he paid no heed.  He was alone, she wasn’t with him.

“Lu… come back to me,” he whispered to the dark alley’s he passed, his head in the clouds.

~*~*~*~*~*~

~ To Be Continued…