Disclaimer: I don’t own anyone from Gundam Wing.  They belong to Sunrise, Sotsu, Bandai, etc.  Don’t take my fic w/o permission.  Blah, blah, blah.  You people are so mean!  What if I want a little piece of Gundam Wing, too?  *sigh*  Please R/R!  Arigatou!

I’ll Be Home For Christmas

~Zechs & Noin~

By: Footnote

Lucrezia Noin yawned and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.  The war between the colonies was long over; the war to find a new place had just been declared finished.  Noin had just moved into a new apartment in Ireland, the same town she and Zechs had gone to over spring break once upon a time.

Zechs, Noin thought and glanced out her window into the dark snowy abyss.  Where are you?

It was Christmas Eve, and she knew she would be spending Christmas alone.  She missed Zechs so much, but life must go on.

But that’s so hard, she thought as she unpacked a few more boxes.  She and Zechs had been friends for as long as she could remember.  She often times found herself smiling over the childhood adventures they had with Treize. 

The war started when they had all gone off to the academy.  Noin was much younger then, but she already had feelings for Zechs Merquise, and she missed him so much.

She was snapped out of her reverie and back to reality when she discovered and old VHS tape in the bottom of the box.  Wondering what it was, she popped it in the VCR and pushed “play.”

It was a homemade movie, about five or six years old.  Lucrezia saw her younger self, sitting happily on Zechs’ lap.  He had an affectionate arm wrapped protectively around her waist.

The present Noin smiled sadly as she remembered that Christmas, this was just making her miss her love more.

Her attention turned back to the video as Noin’s family left the room for dinner.  The young Zechs and Noin continued their close conversation, not knowing they were being taped.  As the older Lucrezia still watched on, she saw her younger self look into Zechs’ pure blue eyes as they leaned in for their first kiss.  The couple’s romantic moment was shattered by a high-pitched giggle from behind the camera as Noin’s little sister came out of hiding from under the Christmas tree.

The little girl sang out, “I saw sissy kissing her boyfriend, underneath the mistletoe last night!”  Present Noin watched as past Noin sprang at her little sister and pinned the little one in a headlock.  During the whole thing, the camera was still recording.  Young Zechs burst into laughter at the spectacle before him as Noin’s parents rushed back in the room to break up the catfight.

“C’mon,” Lucrezia’s father joked.  “It’s Christmas!  You two can fight the other three hundred sixty-three days that aren’t Christmas related.  Let’s go eat.”

“We’ll be there in a minute,” past Noin replied as her little sister left and went to the dining room.  She and Zechs shared one more kiss before remembering and turning off the camera.

Zechs Merquise sat deep in thought on Christmas Eve’s night.

I miss you, Noin, he thought as he stared deep into the warm fire before him. 

When he’d finally returned home from the colonies, he had moved to a quiet little town in England.  It was a comfy little cottage, and the people in this town didn’t seem to know who he was, and acted like they didn’t really care.  He was comfortable here.

He wondered how Noin was doing in Ireland.  He knew she had moved there, but didn’t go to her.  She must hate him for all the suffering he caused her.  He deserved her contempt; he must’ve put her through Hell along with himself.  That was a hard time for everyone during the war, but mostly for himself.  But that was all in the past, and there was no use ruining Christmas with it.

Zechs’ gaze suddenly ticked over to a small bookshelf where he kept most everything, but more specifically, an old homemade tape that Noin gave him for Christmas about six years ago. 

He didn’t have to watch it to remember what was on it.  The year before the tape was made, he went over to Noin’s for Christmas and her little sister had received and early Christmas present of a camcorder.

When everyone had seemingly left the room, they had shared their first kiss, only to have it recorded and interrupted by Noin’s baby sister.

The next year, Noin gave him a copy of the tape as a Christmas present with 98 Degrees’ “This Gift” playing in the background.  He kept it along with all the other gifts he received from her that Christmas along with all the other Christmases before and after.

Tiring of the fire, he turned to a frosty window and looked out over the falling snow.

It was beautiful.  The sparkling flakes drifted contentedly to the crystalline ground.  There wasn’t a blemish on the silken snow on the frozen velvet land.  Not a footprint, not a spot, not a lump…completely smooth as antique porcelain.  The black trees looked as bleak as death against the virgin snows.  The dark trunks reached like Death’s twisted claws into the dark sky.  The sky itself looked like a deep blue-black woolen sheet spread gently across the top of the world.  The silent scene before him was simply gorgeous.

But not nearly as gorgeous as his dark-eyed love…

Turning from the winter window, he popped the tape in the VCR, he watched and wanted to relive those sweet moments again.

//The lamp is burning

Upon my tabletop

The snow so softly falling

The air is still

In the silence of my room

I hear your voice softly calling

If I could only have you near

To breathe a sigh or two

I would be happy

Just to hold the hands I love

On this winter’s night with you

The smoke is rising

In the shadows of our head

My glass is almost empty

I read again between the lines upon each page

The words of love you sent me

If I were lonely in my heart

And you were lonely too

I would be happy just to hold the hands I love

On this winter’s night with you

The fire is dying

The lamp is growing dim

The shades of night are lifting

The morning steals across the windowpane

Where whims of snow are drifting

If I could only have you near

To breathe a sigh or two

I would be happy just to hold the hands I love

On this winter’s night with you

And to be once again with you…//

Noin looked longingly out her window, wondering where he was.

“Zechs, where are you?” she asked the infernal silence.  Not being able to take it anymore, she jabbed the radio, turning it to some pop rock station.

“Here’s 98 Degrees,” the DJ announced as the classic Christmas jingles came over the speakers…

//The snow is falling the city is white

Your eyes are shinin’ like diamonds tonight

And we’re all alone

There’s no one home

You’re finally in my arms again

The night is silent and Christmas is here

I couldn’t ask for more than having you near

Cuz I love you, girl, I always will

And now I know the moment is right

The moment is right

I’ve been waiting to give

This gift

Tonight

I’m down on my knees there’s no better time

It’s something to last for as long as you live

Tonight I’m gonna give you

All my heart can give

I thought I’d give you something shiny and new

I tried to find something worthy of you

But I realized when I looked inside

There’re some things that money can’t buy

I feel the magic

Whenever you’re near

I feel it even though this time of the year

Cuz I love you, girl, I always will

And now I know the moment is right

The moment is right

Cuz I’ve been waiting to give

This gift

Tonight

I’m down on my knees there’s no better time

It’s something to last for as long as you live

Tonight I’m gonna give you all my heart can give

You know I’ll always be true to you

And you know I’m the one you can turn to

Anytime or anyplace or anywhere

You know that I’ll always be there

I’ve been waiting to give

This gift

Tonight

I’m down on my knees there’s no better time

It’s something to last for as long as you live

Tonight I’m gonna give you all my heart can give

Waiting to give this gift tonight

I’m down on my knees there’s no better time

It’s something to last for as long as you live

Tonight I’m gonna give you all my heart can give//

Zechs, do you feel this way, too? She thought as the last chords left the speakers.

Zechs quickly threw a few things into his car and sped off to the airport for a last minute Christmas flight to Ireland.

Noin sat down, finally done with unpacking what few things she brought.  She surveyed her new home, content with the layout: the floral couch and coffee table, simple kitchen and two sparsely furnished bedrooms.  Finding an old book on the newly stocked shelf, Noin sat down on her sofa, next to the cozy fireplace.  She didn’t get far in the book; she fell asleep soon after she began.

Zechs waited in line, there was hardly anyone going somewhere tonight.  He figured everyone was already where they wanted to be.  He yawned and he heard his flight being called.  Quickly boarding, he sat and waited for the long-distanced flight to begin.

Noin awoke with a start.  The nightmare she was having was more painful than anything.

“Oh, Zechs,” she whispered to the dying fire.  The horrible images still fresh in her mind, she started to cry.

Her painful reverie was shattered by an almost inaudible knock at the door.  Wiping away her tears, she quickly opened the door.

“Merry Christmas,” Zechs greeted, a crooked smile laced over his delicate face.

Lucrezia stood in slight shock for a moment, and then leaped into his arms.

“Zechs!  I missed you!” she sobbed.

Zechs, still holding her high above the ground, muttered, “Shh.  I missed you, too.”  Upon hearing his tender words, Lucrezia burst into tears.

Zechs stood in her doorway for a minute muttering reassurances into her ear.  He took her back inside, gently closing the door with his foot, and set her down in a chair.

“Shh.  It’s okay,” he murmured as she seemed to calm herself down.

“I missed you so much,” Noin sobbed.

Zechs sat down next to her, “I missed you, too.  So much…”

Noin leaned against his arm as he told her his story of how he came back, and how much he missed her.  How his mental balance slipped a few times simply because he hadn’t seen her in so long; how every time he looked at the stars, or felt his heartbeat, he thought of her. 

“If you knew where I was, why didn’t you come back sooner?” she asked, looking at him.

“I was afraid,” he replied.  “I was afraid that you were angry at me and never wanted to see me again, so I left you alone.”

Lucrezia looked horrified, “Zechs, I could never be mad at you.  Never leave me alone again.  I’m so glad you came back home.”

Zechs smiled and put his arm around her, “Didn’t I tell you that I’ll be home for Christmas?”

“I love you, Zechs,” Noin sighed.  “I’ve loved you for so long…” she trailed off, not really expecting any reply.

“I love you, too.”

Lucrezia’s head snapped around to look at Zechs’ face.  He smiled back at her.

She smiled back, her tears starting to resurface, “I’m glad you finally came home for Christmas.”

That night, when the pair woke up, there were no presents under the Christmas tree, no stockings filled with candy, they just received the total love from one another, which was enough to last them a lifetime.  But before the morning was over, Zechs had a surprise for Noin.

“Lucrezia?” Zechs asked.  She looked up at him in response.  He kissed her, took her hand and slipped on a dazzling diamond.

“Will you marry me?”

Noin was shocked speechless after hearing the four words she longed for and dared to dream of for so long.

She looked into Zechs’ hopeful blue eyes.  They were so tender and sincere.  She nodded dazedly and he scooped her up in his arms for yet another Christmas kiss…

</I’ll be home fore Christmas

You can plan on me

Won’t you please

Please have some

Mistletoe

And presents on the tree

Christmas Eve will find me

Where the love light gleams

I’ll be home for Christmas

If only in my dreams…/>

~*MERRY CHRISTMAS!!*~

// “A Song For A Winter’s Night” by Sarah McLachlan //

// “This Gift” by 98 Degrees//

</ “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” the 98 Degrees version />  (Yeah, I know, I sound like a 98 Degrees freak don’t I?  Honestly, I’m not that big of a fan of them…)

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