White | Silver | Black
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Sotsu, Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment, I neither claim them nor certainly make any money off them!
Pairing: 6x2
Rating: Lemony in places
Time Setting: Post-series, three years later (minus events in Ground Zero, Blind Target, Endless Waltz as when I started this, I hadn't seen or read about these yet)
Summary: A chance meeting leads to the recovery of a wounded heart.
When the elegant white car pulled up on the street beside the outdoor cafe a month later, Zechs looked up from the cup of tea he was nursing and felt a rush of relief go through him. He watched as a slim woman with purple-black short hair got out and leaned back into the car, handing a baby to a man who must be her husband. [She's moved on!] Zechs rejoiced, and stood to wait for her.
Lucrezia Noin waved good-bye to her husband and straightened, turning to glance around the cafe. When she saw Zechs, she ducked her head for a moment, then straightened, stiffening her resolve. She'd promised to come.
"Noin," he breathed in greeting as she reached his table. "I'm so glad you could make it."
She paused to stare at him. Her dark indigo eyes seemed to want to pierce right into his mind. Once he would have shied from such an intense inspection from this woman. Now he merely returned the gaze calmly. "Well," Noin said at last, breaking the gaze as she smoothly sat in the chair he held out for her, "you've changed. I think that's a good thing."
"Yes," he agreed, resuming his own seat. "I believe I have. I'm learning not to dwell... on the past."
Noin looked over at the man whom she regarded once as her closest friend as well as the man her heart yearned for, the man she'd loved. [God, he's still so gorgeous,] she noted with a little ache. She loved her husband dearly, but Zechs could still make her heart sing. "It's about time. So... someone told me you're actually building orphanages?"
"Yes, the Peacegardens," Zechs replied somberly. "We're building a new one on C-152 right now."
"We...?"
"The Peacecraft Foundation," he explained. "It's... a political action organization whose charitable outreach is the Peacegarden orphanages as well as a varied of housing projects to assist those misplaced in the war."
"Wow," Noin breathed out, impressed. "Well, I'm glad you're making up a little for..." She ducked her head. "Damn, I wasn't going to bring it up. Sorry."
Zechs glanced down at his cooling cup of tea. "It's all right, Noin. Yes, I am doing this because of the war. I have a lot of good people helping me, however." Averting his eyes from her, he picked up his tea and sipped on it.
A waiter came by just then. "Ma'am?"
"Oh, I'll have a cup of coffee, black," Noin murmured. [Orphanages!] she was thinking, her mind still trying to grapple with the concept of Zechs being in the same room with... children. [He probably just provides the money for them and hires others to set things up,] she mused. "It sounds like a good thing, indeed. I bet that makes you feel better." As soon as she said it, Noin realized it wasn't the most tactful thing she could have said to him in this moment.
Zechs smiled a little. "It's not like that, Noin. The children bring me much joy, yes, but I am no longer in it for the personal benefit I might derive from being around children. Many of their parents had once been under my command."
"Zechs, I didn't mean..." Noin started, abashed.
He waved a long-fingered hand. "It's all right, Noin, truly. I do it because it's the right thing to do."
The waiter brought Noin's coffee; she used the excuse of needing to take a deep swallow to process some of what she was seeing. [He seems so stable now,] she thought, curious. [He was so on the edge the last time we met, so much so that I half expected some day to hear that he'd committed suicide. So... have the children changed him that much? Is that it?]
"I saw you get out of the car," Zechs murmured. "May I assume you have a family now?"
His tone of voice was light and warm, as if he was really interested and not just making conversation. "Yes, Garrick is my husband, and we have a four month old baby, Kerry. Garrick was, ah, in the Treize Faction... so we have the war in common, you see."
"I'm glad you have someone, Noin," Zechs said warmly. "I'm sure he's very good to you."
"Yes." Noin looked down at her hands for a moment, then looked back up to him. The hurt was just a little thing, bearable, really, though Zechs was as beautiful as ever. She once thought his soul was beautiful as well. Could it be again? It *was* a relief to see him at peace finally. "You look good, Zechs."
He smiled. "You look pretty good yourself, Noin. Better, actually... it seems motherhood suits you."
Noin blushed and smiled at the compliment. Then she thought of something. "What about you, Zechs? Is there... anyone?" She'd been about to say "is there a good woman in your life" when she remembered.
"As a matter of fact, yes," Zechs replied, his smile broadening. "He's quite blown my life full of fresh air and energy, I have to admit. He was in the war, too, for that matter... in fact, I believe you know him."
"I do?" [Someone I instructed?] Noin thought, remembering the class of pilots she'd instructed at Lake Victoria... and the second class who were nearly to a man killed by explosions set by Gundam Pilot Chang Wufei. "Who is it?"
Zechs had looked up and was gazing down the sidewalk, still smiling. "Here he comes now," he murmured, rising to his feet.
"Yo, Zechs!" called a bright male voice, youthful for all its baritone depths. "Hey, Noin, how's tricks?"
Noin recognized the voice before she turned to look, and knew a rude shock. [HIM? But he and Zechs never met in the war!] She turned and rose as well, trying to compose herself. "Duo! Ah... good," she managed to reply though her brain was trying to do mental gymnastics to pair together Zechs Merquise and former Gundam pilot Duo Maxwell... and wasn't doing too well.
"Great, great..." Duo replied, practically bounding up to them, carrying a bookbag. "Hi, Heart," he greeted his lover, grinning, and reached up on tiptoe to plant a kiss on his cheek.
Zechs turned a little pink but was relaxed, accepting the buss on the cheek gracefully. "Hello, love," he murmured, putting his hand to the younger man's back. "How were your classes?"
Duo made a face, then turned to Noin as he sat next to Zechs. "I'm going to the local university here to learn how to become a mad scientist," he explained with a wink. "Nah, really, I'm studying to become either an engineer or a science teacher, or both. I'm already doing a little teaching at Peacegarden here - Zechs tell you about the orphanage?"
"Er, yeah," Noin answered, but wasn't going to get another word in edgewise as Duo plunged on, bent on his story. She glanced at Zechs, amused, and he gave her a wink, which she thought was plainly astonishing.
"Anyway," Duo was saying, "I want to work with the kids, but I figure I can also work on mobile suit design - honestly, the pieces of junk the colonies use up here for construction are way outdated and almost worthless when you look at their mobility. Anyway, Zechs and I have a couple ideas in mind..."
He paused to stick his finger into Zechs's cold tea. "Thought so," Duo muttered, then raised his hand to gesture to a nearby waiter. "Could you please get my man here a fresh cup of hot peppermint tea? Yeah, thanks, buddy." He turned to Zechs finally. "Classes were boring as usual, what else is new? Had a little talk with my advisor about that."
"Yes?" Zechs accepted the fresh cup of tea which had evidently already been enroute... or diverted. "How did that go?"
Duo pulled a pout, then laughed and replied, "She's going to talk to my professors! Might be a chance I can test out of these baby science courses I'm taking. Hell, the beginning mechanics class I can teach in my sleep! But of course they wouldn't waive requirements for a short, skinny li'l nosewipe like me..."
"Duo..." Zechs warned, his eyes alight with humor. Noin was staring at one, then the other, transfixed by the changes in both men. Duo hadn't mentioned death once, and Zechs wasn't beating himself up verbally. [Huh. But are they really... lovers?]
"Yeah, yeah," Duo was blabbering on, happy to have an audience other than Zechs who always listened to everything he said so patiently. "Well, I don't have school records at all, so how were they do know? Maybe I should have strolled in, announced I was a Gundam pilot, and demanded a diploma?"
"Something like that," Zechs agreed, sharing a smirk with Duo.
[He looks... happy!] Noin thought, and felt the old twinge again, though it was a good twinge, because it was clear that Zechs had found whom he was meant to be with, and Duo was clearly the best thing that had ever happened to him. And Zechs was obviously good for Duo, too, who was focused on some pretty high goals and no longer content to merely eke out an existence, unwilling to commit to any project. She knew each Gundam pilot was actually quite exceptional in intelligence; they'd just had so little formal education.
Duo was looking at her, she realized, and wondered if she'd missed some of the conversation. "Huh?"
"So, this is a big surprise, I bet," Duo remarked, looking at her sidelong, arms folded over his chest as he leaned back in the chair. "I'm not someone you might have expected to end up with this big blond stud over here..."
[Oh, my...] Noin realized she would have to revise her opinion of this "boy". Obviously their relationship included sex. [Duo's, what, eighteen? Oh... my... of course he is, it's been three years...] She swallowed carefully. "I wouldn't have guessed it was you, no," she admitted frankly.
Duo smirked. "Heh, that's all right. We Gundam pilots -former Gundam pilots, that is - have made a science out of surprising people. I know you probably still think of me as a kid..."
Noin coughed nervously. "Well, you were only fifteen in the war..."
"Yeah." Duo nodded, only a little smug. "Well, enough said about that. So... you two are talking together obviously?" [Don't need to remind her that she can't be with Zechs... and I can....]
"Yes," Zechs spoke up, relaxing. "I think we've cleared the air. Have we cleared the air, Noin?"
"Ah, yeah," Noin replied, shrugging, then managing a little smile. "Well, though I'm shocked as hell, you two are apparently something of a good match." [Though life doesn't get much stranger than this... huh...]
"You said it!" Duo crowed, then scooted his chair over so he could lean on Zechs's shoulder. "Well, he was a mess when I found him, but that's all over with now, thanks to me," he explained with a wink.
"Modest, isn't he?" Zechs murmured with affection. He clasped Duo's chin playfully. "Cute, too."
Noin felt a knot of tension in her stomach relax, watching the easy banter between the two lovers. [Zechs is healed... he's moved on, and he's even able to love someone,] she thought, smiling as she watched them. [Duo... well, the little shit does have a way about him. Lucky guy... no, lucky *guys*...]
Several hours later, Duo Maxwell was casting a critical eye over his charges, preparatory to starting a new ta'i chi move. He walked past the line of children, murmuring his comments. "Knees... good form... chin up... lower... much better... feet forward..." Then he turned to face them to show the new move, bending his knees and elbows, holding his arms up before them. "All right... 'dragon whips tail'..."
There was a giggle from several children. Duo straightened. "What?"
"That's funny!"
Duo gave the speaker a mock scowl. "Hey, I didn't name these! Remember, it's just something descriptive. You tell me what this looks like!" He settled into position again, then after a pause, began to move his arms in a pattern, shifting his weight to the other foot.
"Um, 'getting out of the covers'?" a boy offered helpfully.
"Godzilla clawing his way through the army?" More giggles.
"You're making two big circles," Deener offered helpfully. Though she was now living with her aunt and uncle nearby while the adoption paperwork was finalized, she had insisted on coming back to Peacegarden to attend classes until the end of the term, which was a couple weeks away. "How about 'rolling wheels'?"
Duo nodded, impressed. "Well, that seems more sensible." He demonstrated the move again, now to the other side. The children began to copy the movement.
"What's that part?" another girl asked, pointing to Duo's outstretched hand, held parallel to the floor with fingers together.
"Knife hand," Duo explained. He glanced at Deener who gave him an innocent look. "Hmmm, how about 'edge of road'? That makes sense, too."
The children all agreed heartily. The movement mimicked wheels coming to a stop at a certain point. "The road has to be flat, so make your hands flat, not at an angle. See the circles as your hands and forearms draw them..."
From the other end of the exercise room Zechs Merquise lounged against the doorjamb, his arms folded over his chest. There was a look of longing in his eyes, of love and fondness, and gratitude for the granting of his heart's wish... that heart's health and someone to give his love to. That someone was Duo Maxwell, whose own growth of confidence and purpose had paralleled Zechs's return from the hell of his own mind.
Just before the time the class was to end, Zechs called out to the young teacher softly. "Duo..."
Duo looked and saw his lover, his whole being appearing to light up from within. "Hey, you!"
"Hi, Papa Peace!" "Papa Peace!" the children variously greeted him, coming over for hugs. Now the hugs were giving hugs, rather than taking; Zechs no longer thought of the children as bandages for his broken self. Smiling broadly, he hugged each other in turn, ending a little longer with Deener, who, he was relieved to see, seemed very happy indeed. Then, not minding the children's presence, Zechs pulled Duo in for a hug, too. The children giggled, for it was a common enough sight now, and they, too, were glad their "Papas" liked to hug each other. Deener, of course, positively glowed with triumph.
"Class, dismissed, children," Zechs told the group, his arms still around the shoulders of a couple after he'd hugged "Papa Duo". "Your teacher is looking terribly hungry. I think he needs to be fed."
"Yeah, I'm starving!" Duo complained, clutching his stomach as if in pain. "Ow, it's so empty!! Need food!"
The children giggled then ran off, for Miss Cherry was calling them to supper. The woman gave Zechs and Duo a wink before she ushered the group out.
"Yeah, feed this skinny dude!" Deener ordered, poking Duo in the stomach.
"Hey, watch the finger!" Duo protested.
Laughing, Zechs took the girl's hand as they began walking out. "Deanna, your aunt is here to pick you up."
"Okay," the girl answered brightly. When they reached the lobby area, she pulled her hand from Zechs's to run to her aunt.
"Ready to go, sweetie?" the woman asked, smiling. She waved at the two men.
"All set!" Deener giggled. "Mr. Peacecraft has to feed the skinny dude," she added, pointing at Duo.
"Oh, of course he does," the aunt replied, winking at Duo. "Come on, Deanna, there's a skinny little girl who needs to get fed, too!"
They waved good-bye, then Duo looked up at Zechs. "Okay, I'm ready! Where are we going?"
Zechs looked after the two departing, smiled, then turned back to his lover. "You're not ready. In my office, you."
"Eeep!" Duo exclaimed, bouncing, then obeyed, skipping inside before he got a swat.
Once Zechs closed the office door, Duo prepared to launch himself into the man's arms, but his lover was already holding something out to him.
Duo's eyes widened. It was a tuxedo, evidently Duo's size. "What's this, a monkey suit?" Now that he looked, he realized Zechs was wearing one, too, under his long, black coat.
Zechs smiled thinly. "Put it on. I'm taking you somewhere I can show you off."
The cobalt blue eyes went wider. Then Duo hastily changed. There were even new boots, very sharp, to go with the black suit. "Man, I bet I look good in this..."
Zechs was just thinking the same thing, his mouth going dry. [Later... damn...] "Exceedingly good. Ready?"
Duo turned to see the look in Zechs's eyes. [Oh, shit...] "Don't we have a little... time first?"
A low chuckle. "We have a reservation. I don't want to be late. I'll just ravish you later."
"Promise?" Duo asked, delighted.
"Oh, yeah," Zechs murmured, looking down the slender length of his lover.
"Lead on, kindly light!" Duo replied, gesturing toward the door, grinning.