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- Chimera of Life -
Story Two: Probe the Psyche
~*~
Relena’s eyes widened.
Heero’s jaw slackened.
Hilde stared at Duo and Duo’s mouth fell open.
From the corner of her eyes,
Relena saw Heero’s muscles bunch up together, very much like Wufei’s body
language whenever he wants to knock Duo to another state, but before he could
take a step forward she blocked him while Hilde went in front of Duo.
“Duo, it isn’t any of your
concern if Heero and I sleep together.”
That nearly made Heero’s jaw
fall. He even forgot to kill Duo at the moment.
“Of course, it isn’t, is it
Honey?” Hilde agreed, her voice edged sharply, almost like a knife.
“Heh, heh, heh… Of course
not… Uhm… I was just joking.” He cleared his throat nervously. “You know ‘Hah-
hah- hah’…?” Duo couldn’t believe he said that! But the thing was… Heero was
barely clothed and Relena was just in her… Heck! What’s a man to think?!
Heero and Relena saw Hilde
smile at them and, at the same time, elbow Duo.
Duo cringed. He was going to
get it from her later. Gads!
Slowly, Heero’s anger
diminished. Hilde looked like someone who wouldn’t let Duo get away with
anything- good!
Relena cheerfully grinned at
Hilde, trying to forget what just happened. “I’m so glad you guys were able to
make it. Why didn’t you call? We could have picked you up from your hotel.”
“Oh, Duo didn’t want to
disturb you guys. He also had fun dismantling some of the devices back there…
took him nearly two hours though.”
“No worries! I have them
back on line!” Duo quipped from behind Hilde before Heero could glare at him.
“You mean to tell me you two
have been out there since…!” Surprise showed in her blue green eyes then she
shook her head. Duo and Hilde are… unique, especially if they could stand
dismantling a mechanism for hours! “Well, how about we get you settled in the
guest rooms?”
“Rooms? You mean to tell me
that you’re gonna separate me and my sweetheart?!” Duo’s mocked hurt voice,
coupled with his comical painful face, was enough to liven the mood.
Relena laughed gaily. It’s
so wonderful to have them around! “Do you need help with the bags?” Relena
offered as she glanced at the two carry on bags.
“No thanks, Relena. Duo’s
got it.” Hilde turned to Duo and smiled at him. “Don’t you, hun?”
Heero’s eyebrow shot up just
as Relena’s grin widened.
Duo lovingly smiled at
Hilde. “Anything for you, luv.” He turned and instantly grabbed the two
suitcases and five bags that lay on the ground. “Where to, former Queen of the
world?”
“Just follow me.” Relena
turned and quickly smiled at Heero. “Don’t start… I don’t want any fighting.”
Relena whispered just for his ears to hear.
Heero didn’t answer, still a
bit startled with what Relena had ‘hinted’ upon. Half of his brain was already
picturing Relena snug in bed while the other half checked Duo and Hilde… He
never truly saw them in action together, except once… He never really knew how
Hilde felt about Duo but he had seen Duo’s feelings for Hilde. How those two
got together? Well, whoever was watching a certain channel saw- and he was one
of them.
“Duo, Hilde, Heero and I are
going to the park later on today. Do you want to go with us?” Relena’s voice
cut through his musings.
“Sure! I love parks!” Hilde
cried out enthusiastically.
“Anywhere my Hilde goes, I
go.” Duo promptly answered.
Heero nearly gawked at Duo.
It was corny but… dare he say it? Sweet… He caught sight of ‘the look’ that
Hilde sent Duo and… was it envy when you want that same look directed to you so
badly?
“I hope you’ll like this
room, Hilde. Duo, yours is the one right behind us.” Relena motioned to the
other white door. She figured that she should put those two as near to each
other’s bedroom as possible.
“Perfect!” Hilde gushed as
she saw the beautiful room. It was the kind of room girls dreams were made of-
plush sky blue carpeting with a canopy bed and classical white dressers
strategically placed around the area. It was pure femininity.
“Alright with me!” Duo said
at the same time. Relena must have hired a male interior designer, too, since
his bedroom had a very subtle masculine trace. Dark mahogany bureaus along with
a sturdy looking king bed with navy blue sheets. The room was wonderful, but
his attention was too focused on his lovely wife. He’s not gonna be in the same
room with his Hilde, but at least he’ll be near enough.
“I’ll arrange my stuff
inside and then help make breakfast.” Hilde announced as she pushed her
suitcase inside.
“Oh, that’s all right.”
Relena shook her head. “I can do it myself.”
Heero couldn’t believe his
ears as he stared at Relena. ‘She? Do it herself?’ Heero thought,
incredulously. Then again… he had thought that she always had servants around
her, now he knows that she gives them Fridays to Sundays off… Hmmm… Time to
observe how the real Relena operates…
“Nah, it’s okay, Relena. I
want to.” She turned to face a grinning Duo and gave him a knowing smile.
“Don’t start the show without me.”
“Of course not. I would
never do it without you.” Duo answered before he stepped in front of her and
then quickly, but thoroughly, kissed Hilde right on the lips.
Relena looked away but Heero
curiously observed the act. He could never really imagine why two people do
such an unhygienic act. What could it accomplish?
“See yah in a bit, doll.”
Duo smiled down at Hilde’s face then forced his feet to take his aroused body
into his room while his heart stayed with the woman he loved.
Hilde watched until his door
closed then, with a funny smile directed towards Heero and Relena, she walked
into her own room and finally closed the door.
“What was that about?” The
question left his lips before he could stop it.
Relena sighed, a bit happy,
a bit sad. “Love.” She faced the stairs and started to walk to the kitchen
while Heero followed right behind her. Duo and Hilde were her friends, but she
couldn’t help but feel jealous right now. How horrid of her, but… who wouldn’t
envy those two?
“Love isn’t real. It’s an
illusion people make themselves believe. It is a means to an end.” The words
weren’t really his, but it became a part of his reasoning, his thoughts, ever
since he could remember…
The words stopped Relena and
she instantly turned to face him. Heero nearly plowed against her but he
stopped in time and saw a pained look in her eyes.
“If you believe what you
just told me, then… you… will never be able to feel the best emotion of all.”
“Why, Relena?” Heero met her
gaze. “Have you ever been in love? Was it that good?” He saw her eyes widen and
then she looked down.
‘Yes… I’ve been…’ Unable to
meet his eyes, lest he saw something, she answered. “Maybe.” She turned away
from him and continued towards the kitchen.
For a moment, Heero didn’t
move. Maybe, she said… Why, then, does he have this twisting feeling at the pit
of his stomach? He followed her. Emotions… such a waste of energy, and yet here
he was, trying to understand. “Relena…
tell me.”
She knew… somehow, she knew
that he was going to ask… How could she describe it? “Heero, when you fall in
love, you’re hit with a multitude of feelings…
There may be satisfaction, excitement, wild happiness, and eagerness,
but there could also be anger, frustration, discontent, hesitancy, loneliness,
jealousy, envy and more. Sometimes, it occurs all at once… sometimes, one at a
time.”
“So, it isn’t always
happiness… It doesn’t give total satisfaction, but people still want it.”
Strange world… strange people.
Relena shook her head… He
could be so innocently dumb for someone who was so smart. “Heero, it is being
in love that they want. To feel all those things, I suppose… But sometimes,
people don’t look for it. It just finds them. People adapts to these feelings
just as they adapt to their surroundings, to the situation they’re facing, and
their mates…”
“And what if they don’t
adapt to the situation or their mates?” Heero prodded on. Their topic of
conversation finally garnered his interest.
“Then they will be unhappy.”
Relena shrugged. ‘As I was before…’ She didn’t speak any more, and Heero,
feeling her want for silence, kept silent… She purposely ignored him while she
made scrambled eggs and bacon over the stove, and focused on Duo’s large
appetite instead.
“Heeeeey! I smell bacon!”
Duo excitedly ran into the kitchen. He was met with both a glare and a warm,
friendly smile. Ignoring the glare, he walked to Relena and gave her a hug
while she added a new batch of bacon into the pan.
“Oh! Duo!” Relena laughed as
she hugged him back.
“I wasn’t able to give you
my hello hug, gurl. So, how’s everything been?” Duo slyly looked at Heero from
under his bangs and he saw his friend seethe. Score One!!!
“Doing fine as ever. Thanks.
Heero’s been taking quite good care of me.”
“Relena, sorry it took me so
long.” Hilde suddenly appeared from the other side of the kitchen. Duo
instantly let go of Relena and went beside Hilde to wrap a possessive arm
around her waist. “How can I help?”
“Keep your man away from the
food. That’ll be all the help I’ll need.” Relena teasingly pouted at Duo.
Hilde laughed. “Oh come on.
You could have asked Heero to do that for you.”
“What the-! Are you on my
side or what? You want me to die?!” Duo protested as he saw Heero switch from
‘get away from her’ to a more dangerous glare.
Hilde and Relena just
laughed.
“I’m always on your side.
But you sit down while I help Relena over there.” Hilde pushed Duo to the other
side of the table, farthest from Heero, then walked to the stove. “Do you have
any extra rice or something?”
Hilde found what she needed
with Relena’s instructions and, in no time at all, a steaming plate of fried
rice, bacon, and eggs sat in the middle of the table while Heero laid out the
plates and Duo followed with the other kitchenwares. With a starting yell from
Duo, the four started digging in.
…
“I think we picked a bad
time.” Heero glared at a couple on the grass, kissing as if there’s no
tomorrow… That’s the sixth couple he had seen doing that so far, and he’s
getting angrier by the minute.
“No. We picked a perfect
time.” Relena smiled at an old couple, holding hands. She longed for that scene
but it will never be. With a sigh, she looked at him. “I want you to observe
everyone around you. Look at what they are doing… their facial expressions…
Just observe. It’s the best way to learn.” She nodded to another couple who
walked by them. “And Heero,”
Heero wondered why that
smile made his heart beat questionably. He grunted his answer.
“Try not to look at it
logically.”
He felt his hands grow cold
when Relena turned and walked away from him, leaving him. “Relena, where are
you going?”
She turned her head to
glance at him from over her shoulder and smiled encouragingly. “I’m going to
sit on that bench. Don’t worry about me, I won’t be too far away.”
He made sure that she
reached the bench safely, that she was all by herself before he turned and
started looking at the couples all around him, at the child playing with a
balloon… at the seemingly brothers and sisters, playing tag. What was he
looking for? Why was his heart pounding? Why was he sweating?
Relena watched him with a
slight smile, legs crossed, elbows upon her leg, and chin cupped in her hands.
For the first time, she was able to look at him, to observe him… How could she
have missed such telltale signs of emotions on him? Probably because she used
to only look at people’s faces for their reactions… Ah well, people learn… What
had happened to him these past few years? Ten years is such a long time…
‘Oh Heero…’ She shook her
head lightly. He thinks he doesn’t have any emotions… how wrong of him… But
even so… ‘I love you just the way you are.’ She thought of what Wufei had told
her about him, once… What Heero mentioned
when they were fighting each other over the ocean so long ago... It makes a
person wonder, and open one’s eyes to a different man-
A tug at her long skirt and
a gurgle of giggles made Relena look down to a cherubim face.
Relena’s smile widened. “Hi
there, darling.”
“Kelsie! You disturbed the
lady.”
Relena looked up and saw the
‘mother’ reach her side to scoop ‘Kelsie’ from the grass. “Oh no… It’s all
right.”
“I’m sorry about that.” The
mother gave an apologetic smile. “I was looking after the other kids.” She
pointed to the three other children playing tag at the other side of the park.
Relena laughed, drawing
Heero’s attention. “Really, it’s fine.” She looked at the baby. “How old is
she?”
“Sixteen months.”
Relena saw pride in her
face. “Would it be alright if I hold her for a few minutes?”
She must have seen something
in her eyes because agreed to let her hold the baby. “Kelsie, be a good girl
now…”
Heero watched as Relena
cuddled the baby who seemed to laugh the moment she touched her. He watched as
Relena kissed the baby, touch her nose with the baby’s button nose, and smile
in a very different way…
“Excuse me, but… you look
like someone…” The mother started to say as she stared at Relena.
Relena just smiled at her.
“My name is Relena. A pleasure to meet you and your child.”
Heero watched them, aware of
the conversation and saw how the mother’s jaw slackened. Then, right at that
moment, the baby started suckling at Relena’s chin! It was a funny, and at the
same time, touching scene as Relena laughed and gently took her chin away while
the mother fussed about, trying to bring a diaper to light.
Who wouldn’t smile at such a
sight? Relena wiped her chin on her sleeve- so unladylike of her. People would
have never thought she’d do that… at least, not him.
The mother brought out a
rubber nipple and Relena gave it to the baby who instantly took her attention
away from Relena’s blonde locks and focused on the new toy.
“Cute, huh?”
“I think Relena is going to
be a wonderful mother someday…”
Heero nearly jolted at the
sudden voices by his side. How did these two get near him without him seeing
them?
Suddenly, Relena looked over
to their side and waved. An idea popped in her head and she mouthed Heero’s
name, knowing he could read her lips, then motioned for him to come over.
A frown appeared on his face
and confusion churned in him, but he willingly complied and walked to the
siren’s silent call.
Duo and Hilde watched from
where they stood as Relena introduced the baby to Heero and then made him sit
right beside her. Finally, to everyone’s surprise and delight, she gently gave
the baby to Heero.
“Just hold her and try not
to scowl.” Relena whispered until she was sure that the baby was secure in
Heero’s arms.
A look of confusion appeared
on Kelsie’s cherubim face and then she reached out to hold on to Heero’s bangs
with two-fisted hands. Relena laughed while Heero frowned.
“Hey, stop that.”
Relena noticed that his
voice was softer. The way he was holding the baby under the arms, away from his
body- it was so adorable! “Heero, bring her to your chest.”
“What?” Heero turned to her
and she could see the plain look of confusion in his eyes. She stood up and
walked behind him.
Heero’s frown became more
pronounced while the baby seemed to enjoy the look on his face as another
gurgle of squeals escaped her lips.
Oh, she shouldn’t have done
it, but she couldn’t stop herself. If this was the only time she could hold his
hands, then she would take her chance… She reached out and touched his hands,
her arms over his shoulders, then guided his hands to his chest, to bring the
baby to his shoulder… to secure the baby in his arms… and to embrace him at the
same time.
A gentle, wonderful feeling
he had never felt before enveloped Heero as he embraced the now still baby
while Relena’s arms were around them, almost like hugging them both. Her
breasts were like a pillow to his head and her soft hands, still over his own,
like an anchor to this wonderful world he suddenly felt himself a part of.
Relena couldn’t help herself
as she leaned her cheek against Heero’s hair while he leaned back to nestle in
her embrace.
“They look like family…”
Hilde whispered as she stared at the scene. Even with the mother beside Heero
and Relena, they still looked like… family.
“I wonder when he’ll realize
that they’re perfect for each other.” Duo whispered along with her.
Hilde sighed as Relena
closed her eyes, cheek still pressed against Heero’s hair. She could feel
Relena’s ache... “I wish he would just take her in his arms and kiss her and
never let her go.”
A gleam appeared in Duo’s eyes.
“Now there’s an idea…” He turned to Hilde just as she turned to him. “Like
this?” Duo pounced at Hilde but she
quickly stepped back, evading him.
“Gotta catch me first,
slowpoke!” Hilde playfully yelled as she ran away.
“Slowpoke!? Who’s the
slowpoke!?” Duo ran after her, laughing like there’s no trouble in the world,
just like the couple with the baby on the bench, enjoying their short moment of
intimacy…