Author: May Chang
see prologue for warnings. disclaimers

The Path Between + Chapter 6

"I was the captain of the Peacemillion Guards," she replied. I stared. Noin was the captain of the Peacemillion Guards? One of the best group of fighters of the world, and she was the captain?! .....What the hell is it with all these damn secrets??!!

"You.... were the captain of the Peacemillion Guards?" I asked quietly. Quatre and Sally were both staring at Noin, their mouths wide. Noin nodded, eyes going distant as she remembered her time then.

"That was where I met him," she said softly, smiling at the memory. "And at the same time, I met Relena. She was such a sweet little girl. Always happy and bubbly, and always by Zechs' side."

"She sounds sweet," Sally said. Noin smiled, nodding.

"After Relena took the throne and Zechs `disappeared', I stayed for a few more months. She's an able ruler, and when Dorothy arrived, I resigned and went back to Zechs' side."

I think Quatre would be considered a hopeless romantic at this point. He's got that dreamy look on his face, his eyes all bright and shiny and he just sighed happily. I looked over at Sally.

....Another one...

+

We reached Sanq that night. Noin wanted to go directly to the palace; the rest of us vetoed her.

"Noin, it's the middle of the fucking night," I said irritably. "I need my beauty sleep. Besides, you need sleep. You're about to fall off your feet and your judgment is rather impaired at the moment."

I think I heard something about Noin being a woman from Wufei. Noin glared at all of us and we glared back. It's comforting to know that Heero agrees with me. His glare could melt wax.

"Fine!" Noin burst out, throwing her hands into the air. "We'll go tomorrow morning!" She stormed off, grumbling about the injustice of it all. ....That reminds me of someone. [1]

The next morning, we all set off to the palace. Noin was strangely subdued...not to mention she wasn't wearing her usual gray cloak. Nope, she's wearing the Peacemillion Guard uniform. Damn, she looks good.

....I wonder if Zechs would mind --

No, wait. I've already got two guys. Let's not get greedy here, Duo.

........well, damn...........

"Captain Noin!" A guard called out in surprise. "Welcome back!"

"Mueller, Alex, it's been awhile," she nodded to the two guards. "I need to see the Queen."

"Of course, Capt. Noin," Alex said, opening the gate to allow us in.

.....Do I detect the signs of worship in those eyes, people? Oooh, this is going to be fun.

I stifled the urge to snicker evilly as I passed the two guards.

Quatre, on the other hand, elbowed me in the ribs.

"Itai!" I bit out, glaring at the blond. "What?!"

He just glared at me. "Don't. Even. Think. It. Duo," he grounded out. Damn, I forgot about his ability.

.....I wonder if he wants to --

Another elbow in the ribs. Guess not.

We led our horses to the stables and then we followed Noin to the throne room. The guard announced our arrival and we entered. The first thing I noticed is that the Queen is about my age. The second thing is that she was fucking gorgeous. Oof! Dammit, Quatre, quit it with the elbowing!

The Queen rose up and walked down to give Noin a hug. "Noin! It's been forever!" she said, smiling brightly. Then she looked at us.

"Your Majesty, may I present to you some of my friends," Noin said formally.

"The name's Duo Maxwell," I introduced myself, then flashed her my super-charming smile. "The one with eyes that kill is Heero Yuy, the one with the bang is Trowa Barton, raven-hair is Chang Wufei, blondie is Quatre Winner and this distinguished lady is Sally Po."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," the Queen smiled at all of us, her eyes lingering on both Heero and me. Ooooh, I wonder if I can -- Elbow in the ribs. This time, from Trowa. I glared, and he looked back.

Why can't I have any fun??

"Please, call me Relena," the Queen said. Noin gave her a disapproving look. Relena shrugged it off. At this point, a blonde girl came up, also in a Peacemillion uniform. Man, that's got to be the weirdest set of eyebrows I have ever seen!

"My Queen, you have to remember," the blonde said. "Formalities, formalities, formalities. Hello Noin. It's been quite a while."

"Dorothy," Noin nodded to the blonde. "I see you're still in the Peacemillion guard. How are the new recruits?" Dorothy sighed and rolled her eyes. Noin chuckled, then turned serious. "We need to talk, Your Majesty."

Relena and Dorothy blinked, then nodded.

"Come with me," Relena said. "We'll talk in my study."

+

Look at all the books! She's even got the Chronicles of Zeon[2] in her library!! I think I was gaping, since Wufei looked at me and told me to close my mouth.

.....Why is he so mean to me??? Don't hate me because I'm beautiful![3]

Relena was at the desk, looking amused at my antics. Hey, I am the comic relief here! Quatre and Sally sat in chairs, while Wufei, Heero and Trowa stood nearby.

"Noin, what is it that you needed to speak to me about?" Relena finally asked. Noin nodded, seating herself in another chair.

"The Kazarians are mobilizing again," Noin said. "From what I understand, they have also enlisted the help of Trieze --"

Dorothy's lips tightened.

"-- and there have been rumors that the Kazarians are coming to invade Sanq."

Relena was silent, thinking over what she had heard. She finally stood up and looked at Dorothy. "Dorothy, I think we had better mobolize the army," she said. Dorothy nodded, then promptly walked out of the room. Relean then looked at the rest of us.

"Anou....are you here to help us?" she asked, looking directly at me.

I nodded, glancing at Noin.

"Let's just say that Treize has something that we want," I said, grinning. Then I launched myself up, took her hand and gave it a kiss. She blushed. Noin couldn't choose between looking outraged or laughing hysterically. Heero, on the other hand....

"ITAI~~!! NOT THE BRAID!! NOT THE BRAID!!!"

+

[1] = Guess who? *points at Wufei*
[2] = I couldn't think of anything, so I decided to stick in the name from "Mobile Suit Gundam."
[3] = Damn me and my being high as a kite on sugar.........  

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