See? Told you I'd get the chapters up more often. Remember, I don't NORMALLY post chapters so close together… Oh- someone tell me, am I dragging this out too long? I mean… nothing's really actually happened yet. Sort of. Yet.

'So… what do you girls have planned for today?'

'Umm… nothing really, I guess mother. Do you think I'd be able to show Noin around past the gardens?' Relena asked hopefully.

'Why, have you already taken Lady Lucretzia here and explored all there is to our home?' her mother inquired with a smile.

Noin looked quizzically at the younger girl, wondering why she would sound so eager to be leaving the mansion grounds. It wasn't as though they had been everywhere on the grounds yet- she had hardly seen half of what there was to Relena's home. Yet… Relena sounded so eager to get out that Noin couldn't help feeling towards her.

'No… I mean, yes mother.' Relena replied quickly.

The queen of the Sanc Kingdom smiled fondly at her daughter. 'Well, have you two visited the gardens in the maze yet? Those are probably the parts most worth going to in this whole place. Relena, you know the way, don't you?'

'Oh- of course mother. I'd forgotten about those gardens with everything else going on; and I haven't been through there for ages. Do you want to go take a look Noin?'

'It's your choice,' Noin replied, smiling at the way her friend's thoughts jumped from one idea to the next.

'Well, I guess that's where we'll go today. At least, for this morning, mother.'

'Good- now, are you sure you remember the way Relena? Perhaps Milliardo should go with you to make sure you two don't get lost.'

Relena's eyes narrowed at the mention of her brother's name. 'No mother, it'll be all right. I remember the way.'

'Alright then, I'm presuming you girls will be back in time for lunch?'

'Definitely.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Noin walked through the gardens after Relena. They had arrived in the centre of the maze, at its gardens. Similar to the other garden they had visited previously, this one also had a hedge sort of wall around it. Only, this one's walls were the walls of the maze itself, and were easily over two and a half metres tall.

The walk there had been uneventful, save for moments when Relena had lost her way, coming to terms with a dead end on one turn. However, they had soon gotten back on track, and reached the gardens at the centre within the hour.

The place was… beautiful. Noin could find no other word to describe it. It wasn't as well ordered as the smaller garden Relena had taken her to yesterday, but there was something about the place that tugged at her, drew her in. It was almost as though she had been here before. Yet, at the same time, she hadn't. A memory pulled at her, something about the place was so… familiar. It was different to what she had known it as, but it was still the same. Perhaps it wasn't so much the actual garden that she felt was familiar, but the feeling it gave off, made her feel.

'I haven't been here for so long…' Noin broke out from her reverie to glance at Relena, who was still walking before her. 'I'd almost forgotten what it was like in here…'

'Its so beautiful in here… so quiet and peaceful, yet so… I don't know, old I guess at the same time. No- not old, but something else…' Noin struggled to find the right word to describe what it was she was feeling from the place.

Relena was the first to break the silence of Noin's struggle. 'I guess we'd better head back, it took us about an hour to get here, and we still have to get back in time for lunch.'

'Yeah,' Noin sighed, giving up trying to describe what it was she felt. 'Lets go.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Relena turned her head sharply, taking in the high hedge walls surrounding them. Lost. She had gotten them lost. I should have listened to mother… she thought. Nevertheless, she scowled as she remembered her mother's suggestion. Have Milliardo go with you… No. Definitely not. She was still angry with him for abandoning them like that last night, she reminded herself. So angry that she had put up a shield around her mind to block out any of his messages. She hadn't done something like that since… she couldn't remember when was the last time she had done such a thing. Its his own fault, she thought grumpily to herself as she turned another corner to find another dead end.

'Umm… Noin? I'm so sorry, I guess this means we're lost.'

'Don't worry about it, I'm sure we'll find our way out eventually, at least I'm not hungry or anything, we had such a late breakfast.'

'Yeah, I guess. I'm so sorry about this…' Relena said, taking in their surroundings. ' It just all looks the same in here… I used to know the way out, its just that I haven't been here for so long…'

'Yeah, I know. And this maze is so big…'

'Well, I guess all we can do is keep walking…'

'Yeah'

Noin looked around her in interest. It did all look the same, a high hedge surrounding them on both sides; there was a feeling here too, though. Not as strong as what she had felt in the garden, perhaps, but still… she searched her memories, intrigued by the way the maze and its garden had pulled at them.

Noin gasped softly as a memory, more vivid than any of the others threatened to overwhelm her. It was from her past again. Not her past as the pampered daughter of a duchess, but her past as… she was running again. She was so sick of running away from everything. Sick of it all. But it was all she could do till her power was strong enough… The walls of the maze loomed around her, casting her in shadow. It was so dark, the light of the stars blocked out by the high hedge walls. Stumbling badly, she tripped, winded badly, the little girl lay there, sprawled on the ground…

'Noin- Are you all right?'

Noin groaned as she sat up. 'What happened…?' she asked, dazed. She was lying on the ground, sprawled face first on the grass of the maze.

'You just tripped, that's all. Did you hurt yourself when you fell? Maybe we should rest awhile'

Noin nodded, squeezing her eyes shut. Must be because I was so tired from last night. I probably just conked out there for a second…

Relena sat down next to her. 'Don't worry, it'll be all right. You sure you didn't you hurt yourself or anything in that fall?'

'Yeah… I was just tired I guess.'

'Well, we'll stay here for a while till you feel better.'

Noin nodded gratefully. 'Thanks'. She leant back into the hedge with a sigh. Typical for me to fall over, especially since we're lost… I guess I'd better stop and rest awhile…

Noin lifted a hand to brush her hair out of her eyes, before brushing her fingers against the necklace.

Noin opened her eyes in surprise. 'Relena? I think I can hear your brother calling for you. He's looking for us- they must have realised something was wrong when we didn't turn up for lunch.'

'Hmm? What? Oh!' Relena jumped up, scanning the paths leading to them with her eyes. 'I can't see him anywhere… you sure you heard him?'

Author's Note: Well? How was that? Relena's about to find out that Noin can 'hear' everything they say. That chapter should have made up for the BIG wait for the last chapter. It was definitely longer than the other chapter neways.

Thanks to Stephanie Yuy for the idea used in this chapter. Hope this one made up for the last one.

Please review and tell me what you think…

Disclaimer: Duh… course I don't own Gundam Wing. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this fic, coz I'd actually OWN the whole thing, meaning I wouldn't have to make up a story involving the GW characters for me to own now, would I?