She breathed a sigh of relief as the prince turned away
from her to speak to her mother, and excused himself. There had been something…
strange about him- he had glanced at her, and she had been riveted to the spot,
unable to move, or think, or… well, anything, as those cold ice blue eyes looked
at, and through her.
So, she had done the only thing she could do- react
by instinct, and fight back. It was in her nature to do so, and so, she did,
returning the prince's look with one of her own, and, although it seemed
childish now, she had locked her will behind that look- refusing to back down.
No- she wasn't going to back down again… never again…
With a huge effort,
she tore her mind away from those thoughts and what she knew they would lead to-
and shut her eyes tightly against the memories. Concentrating fiercely on her
breathing- the warmth of the sun as it streamed through the huge glass windows,
spilling onto her skin- the sounds of the room and the people around her-
anything, she bit at her lip, as she pushed against the pull of the
memory.
A sharp pain in her bottom lip told her that she had bitten a
little too hard, as she tasted the coppery tang of blood on the tip of her
tongue. Using the pain, she managed to pull herself back into reality, pushing
at the memories until they were where she wanted them. They weren't gone. No
amount of pain was strong enough to erase those memories, but she had managed to
lock them in the very back of her mind, behind all of her thoughts and feelings,
till they felt like no more than a chill shadow, passing briefly over her
mind.
She reached up to her neck to gently brush her fingers against the
small pendant that hung there, supported on a fine gold chain, and wrapped her
fingers around it.
Suprisingly enough, no one seemed to have witnessed
the internal struggle she had just had with herself. Bringing her hand down from
her throat, she began to actually listen to what her mother and the
queen.
'If you would follow me- we should sit down before continuing to
talk.'
'Yes- of course… come along now, Lucretzia' her mother responded
before she had chance to reply.
Following the queen and her mother as
they began to weave through the many members of nobility who were present,
Lucretzia sighed, and followed. She hated the fancy gatherings the class that
she lived amongst seemed so fond of.
I guess it must be because I'm not
one of them… She thought to herself. Maybe I'm not comfortable with being
surrounded by all this because I don't belong here…
She let her eyes
drift over the well-dressed crowd around her. The faces of those around her all
bore different emotions- some bored, others speaking animatedly- her eye caught
on the face of a particular girl as she made her way towards them. Her features-
or perhaps it was simply her bearing or mannerisms… there was something there
which reminded her of someone…
She pulled her wandering thoughts back
with a start as the girl stopped by their table.
'Mother, I heard you
wished to see me?'
Lucretzia took in the younger girl slowly. The dark
blond hair and darker still blue eyes… there was no mistaking that she had to be
the younger sister of the prince- there was something about her that instantly
proclaimed her to be of the Peacecraft linage. But that was where the
similarities ended. The younger girl looked up at her with a welcoming smile
before looking back towards her mother.
The queen smiled at her daughter.
'Yes. Your Grace, may I present my daughter, the princess Relena. Relena, the
Duchess of Erathia- Lady Gabrielle, and her daughter, Lady
Lucretzia.'
She watched as the princess curtsied gracefully to her
mother.
'Perhaps the Lady Lucretzia would prefer me to show her around
while you talk to my mother?' the princess inquired.
'Would
you?'
Lucretzia blinked sharply as she heard what the princess
had just said. That had gotten her attention. Not what the princess had just
said to her mother, but to her… it had seemed almost like…
She stared at
the girl in front of her, who returned her look with a smile.
'I'm sure
that Lady Lucretzia would enjoy that Relena.'
'Yes- why don't you two get
to know each other better while the princess shows you around? After all, you
may be spending quite a bit of time around here
soon.'
'Wha-'
'Well then, I'll begin by showing you around the
gardens. It's beautiful there at this time of the year!' interjected the
princess cheerfully.
'But-'
'We'll see you girls back here later
then! Have fun.'
Lucretzia gave up trying to interrupt as the princess
looked up with another smile.
'Ready to go?'
Author's
note: Well? How was that one? Sorry about the wait, but I didn't really know
what to put into this chapter, but I had a feeling that you guys probably
thought it was about time that I had a chapter from Noin's point of
view…
Thankyou once again to everyone who reviewed- Sorry if this chapter
was a little short- I just thought that things would probably work out better if
I posted the chapters more often and had short chapters than long chapters and,
well… month long waits? Tell me which one you would prefer.
Disclaimer:
No… I don't own Gundam Wing, I don't own any of its characters, I DON'T OWN
ANYTHING TO DO WITH GUNDAM WING UNLESS YOU COUNT THIS STORY!!!
