It seemed to Milliardo that he had been; somehow,
separate if that was the right word, from the rest of them. Separate from his
mother and the Duchess, who were making polite conversation, it seemed to him,
in the background of the buzz of noise he could hear. Separate from the general
talk and laughter of the rest of the room, distanced from everyone around him.
It was as though he had been trapped in a bubble of stillness, where everything
was silent and still, and time itself had paused, while outside and all around
him, the world had gone on, oblivious to the fact that he wasn't truly
there.
He was alone- it seemed that no one had noticed this pause for
him- that in this void, space, he could safely observe what was happening around
him without being noticed.
Alone, he switched his gaze back to what was
around him; He silently contemplated the girl in front of him, still sunk in a
curtsy, with her head ducked down so that her raven hair covered her eyes and
most of her face from his point of view.
Its crazy, he thought. It must
be because of the dream; I'm probably just imagining things because I'm so
bored…I mean, as if this girl could possibly be the same as the one I'd seen
that day… the girl I saw was a civilian, not the daughter of some pampered
duchess-
His train of thought was abruptly cut off as the girl looked up
again, having regained her composure, feeling his gaze on her. She met his gaze
defiantly, as though it were some sort of competition that she refused to back
down from.
Startled by the determination and ferocity of that gaze,
Milliardo cut off the rest of the competition with a perfect bow. He was saved
from any further performance by his younger sister, as she called to him across
the room.
'It was an honour to have met you, Lady Lucretzia, Lady
Gabrielle.' He nodded to the Duchess, who inclined her head in return. 'Please
excuse me, I shall return in a moment. Perhaps you would like to meet my younger
sister?'
Lady Gabrielle smiled slightly. 'It would be a pleasure to meet
the princess.'
'I shall convey this to her. Please do not wait here on my
account…' with another small bow, he left the group and started making his way
over to his sister.
'Thanks, Relena.' He said as she watched her brother
approach.
'Its ok- I thought you might be needing a break from… oh… I
don't know, match-making mothers and the sort.' She teased, and grinned as her
elder brother groaned, and covered his face with his hands.
'Thanks-
don't even remind me…' he grimaced
'Seriously though, what was wrong? I
saw your face when mother introduced you to the Lady and her
daughter…'
Milliardo took his hands from his face and looked at his
sister. So he had been wrong. He hadn't been alone- what he had seen and felt
earlier hadn't gone unnoticed by everybody after all.
Who would have
guessed? He thought ironically, out of all those people who observed him
constantly; scrutinised his every move, that none of them- none of them but his
sister had noticed his previous lapse?
No- he corrected himself- there
had been someone else apart from just Relena and him… Milliardo was fairly
certain that that girl- the Duchess' daughter had sensed what had happened as
well; whatever that had been…
He studied Relena's face as she looked up
at him, her concern evident in her eyes. He smiled gently- his baby sister was
growing up- it seemed just yesterday when his mother had shown him the small,
pink bundle that was his sister…
'It wasn't anything in particular- just
some sort of gut feeling, I guess.'
'… Well… if you say so.' She replied,
not entirely believing him.
'Yeah… well, thanks for 'saving me'
again.'
'No problem- just remember, your going to owe me one when it
comes to keeping those the sons of some Count or Duke or whatever away from me
at the dance tonight.'
Milliardo winked at her- that was a favour he was
more than ready to repay- There was No Way was he going to let some overly
enthusiastic rude pest bother his sister.
'You can count on
it.'
Relena smiled in relief. 'I knew you'd do it-
thanks.'
Milliardo returned her smile affectionately. 'I'll keep an eye
out for you…' he said. 'I guess I'd better head back over there to meet a couple
more wives and daughters of some nobility.' He sighed as he turned back to the
centre of the room. 'Oh- one more thing; see that Lady with mother? She's the
Duchess of Erathia, I think. They were talking about wanting to meet
you.'
'Gotcha.
Thanks'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note:
Sorry about the wait- I've been having a bit of trouble trying to write while my
teachers are piling homework and assignments and tests and… arrrggghhhhh…. on to
me. Ok- no more mention of any more work of that sort. I know- the chapter's a
bit short, but I thought that that might have been a good spot to end a chapter
on…
Thanks everyone who reviewed!! All of your comments were really
great- Any more ideas for the title? No? ok then- Eyes of Life it is!! Thankyou
sooo much for coming up with all those ideas- you'll probably see them popping
into this story sooner or later; thanks also to Reboo who came up with the title
for this story- thankyou thankyou and thankyou you guys!! ^_^
Disclaimer:
No- I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters, or ANYTHING to do with it.
All I own is this story…
