Breaking All the Rules

 

Chapter Three: Why Me?

 

Disclaimer: Nope, don’t own Gundam Wing, but I own all the new characters.

 

Author’s Note: This fic is going to be a lot more fun later.  I haven’t had a chance to write much with the new quarter starting in school.  I’m taking a creative writing class, but right now we’re doing poetry.  I hope that my skills improve.  I’m not talking just grammar wise, but I want things to be much better before I complete this fic.  I have to work on improving my overall style.  I’ve looked over some of my older fics, and yes, there has been quite an amount of improvement, but still it could be better.  For now, patience is needed because I’m busy with more than just one class.  School’s really keeping me busy, so I’ll be only able to update once a week if I’m lucky. 

 

*          *          *          *          *          *

 

            The council was having so many problems dealing with what happened four months ago.  Their emperor disappeared without a word four months ago.  At first, they thought that there was a kidnapping, but there was no evidence of that.  In fact, the evidence pretty much said he ran away from home.  Why would he run away from home?  They were still confused as to why.  Isabella was watching all the events as they unfold with much amusement.  The council was made up of men at least twice the age of Emperor Xerxes.  Actually, the youngest council member was forty-two years old and the eldest, the head of the council, was sixty-eight.  It was such a distressing situation that he wanted nothing more, but to retire on the spot when it was discovered that Xerxes was gone.

 

            Upon the chief attendant’s discovery that the Emperor was gone, he scrambled and called palace security.  At first, everyone thought that Xerxes climbed down his window by making a rope out of his fine linen sheets.  However, it was soon discovered that one of the guards motorcycles were missing.  The security cameras captured Xerxes searching for the keys and taking one of the guards jackets.  The servant who bought the pair of cargo pants cried and said that he was only following the Emperor’s wishes.  The council fired the head of security instead because of the fact that a seventeen year old boy would get passed his defenses.  Of course, the council remembered that Xerxes wasn’t an average seventeen year old boy.  The council got to work fast and sent search parties in various directions to find their wayward monarch; it was to no avail.  He had simply vanished into thin air.  They had no idea as to where he went, and to make matters worse, it was also discovered that they found that four bonds were taken out of the safe.  The twelve council members couldn’t believe that they were confounded by a seventeen year old boy.  They didn’t think he had the capability of being that rebellious.  Isabella would go into her chambers and laugh herself to tears because of the situation.  The council got to work in covering up the Emperor’s disappearance because someone could take his power while he was gone. 

 

            The councilors were having yet another emergence session.  They were having an emergence session almost everyday since the Emperor had disappeared.  Almost all important business transactions had to be stopped for the good of the empire until the Emperor could be located.  Business slowed down to a noticeable level.  People on Earth were starting to fear that a recession was on the horizon.  No, everything would be fine if the Emperor of Cyndal Empire would just come home.

 

            “We should have let him wear his earring during the meetings.  It really wasn’t that bad.  We let him wear it before when his ear was just pierced,” lamented one of the councilors.

 

            “We should have allowed him to take his motorcycle out once and a while.  Just around the palace grounds,” said another.

 

            Isabella listened patiently at the grand doors of the meeting chambers.  She wanted to smack her forehead because they were going over small matters.  Yes, the small matters built up to the larger matters quite easily.  She wanted them to admit that the last decision that they had attempt to make for him was what drove him to leave, but these men were set in their ways. 

 

            “Maybe, we shouldn’t have told him that he needed to marry Lady Isabella,” said the youngest council member, who was just over forty.  Isabella perked up when she heard him.  ‘Yes!  That’s it!  Go on,’ she thought. 

 

            “We should have let him go off to the marketplace with a few hidden guards.  Just like he asked,” said the vice minister.  Isabella rubbed her head as if she had a headache.  ‘STUPID!’ she thought as she suppressed the urge to scream out in frustration.   

 

            The head of the council was busy staring off into space.  He had visions of what Emperor Xerxes must look like now.  Was he covered in piercings and tattoos?  Oh, heavens!  He could see him with piercings coming out of his eyebrows and tongue; not just his ears.  He can also see tattoos.  The head of the council shuddered to think was unmoral behavior the Emperor was indulging in.  He took out a bottle of milk of magnesia and took a swig of it.  The head of the council wished that it were a bottle of whiskey.  He had whiskey for a week after the Emperor had disappeared until his physician told him that it wasn’t the healthiest thing to do at a time of such stress.  Over the pass four months, he had an ulcer.  This was all caused by the wayward emperor, Xerxes.

 

*          *          *

 

            Derek read the newspaper with a slight frown.  There was news from the financial world about slow downs throughout the economy.  He knew that those industries were part of the Cyndal Empire.  He sighed.  ‘Maybe, I should have left a rubber stamper with my signature, so they could sign things without me there,’ he thought.  It was now Saturday; Duo and Derek woke up around eleven o’ clock in the morning.

 

            “Anything interesting?” asked Duo coming out of the shower.

 

            “No,” said Derek immediately as he folded the newspaper.

 

            “Give me the funny pages,” said Duo.  Derek found it, rolled it, and tossed it to him.  Duo caught it and unrolled that part of the newspaper.  Derek stood up and stretched out his limbs.

 

            “I’m going to go look for a job soon,” said Derek.

 

            “Uh?  Don’t your parents pay for everything?” asked Duo.  He never really asked because he assumed that Derek’s parents paid for everything.   Derek looked at him with his strangely colored eyes.  Derek did have rather strange eyes.  They tended to change color depending on the lighting.  Sometimes they were green, sometimes they were amber; it depended on the lighting of the area that he was in.

 

            “No.  My guardians have given me a certain amount of money to spend.  There isn’t much for extra expenses,” lied Derek.  For all the time that they had lived together, Derek had lied about his identity.  It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Duo, but he had to be careful.  He also had to be careful about the bonds that he had.  He couldn’t cash them all at once because that would be suspicion.  No, he had only cashed one of the bonds through a Swiss Bank account.  That was only twenty grand in pounds.  He was careful with that money.  Besides, if he were a normal teenager, he shouldn’t have a lot of money.  Especially without parents, so he decided to get a job.  He never told Duo about his royal heritage, and he felt Duo had enough to royalty to deal with. 

 

            Derek was having lots of fun teasing Relena.  It was just so interesting that someone who he thought had infinite patience get so agitated at him.  Relena couldn’t stand the fact that he kept calling her “Relly.”  The only stress reliever Relena had in her dealings with him was archery practice.  Some might have said that she was visualizing him.  They were partners now for two weeks in the class.  Relena learned that Derek was well versed in the classics.

 

            The drama class had decided to do post modern plays because Shakespeare had been done all the time that the drama class had existed.  They were going to do Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw as the first play.  Relena was having a hard time trying to cope with Derek.  He didn’t make it easy on her.  To make matters worse, recent news from the restoration of the Sank Kingdom wasn’t good.  There wasn’t enough funds to rebuild more than half the country, and the people were restless.  They relied on their Princess to help them, but she didn’t have the money to do anything about it.  Relena was working hard as the foreign vice minister.  She put the money in the treasury of the Sank Kingdom, but it didn’t help much.  Relena didn’t want to put all of her inheritance from her foster father, Mr. Darlian because she couldn’t inherit all of it until she was twenty-one. 

 

            She had no choice now, but to negotiate with other countries on Earth.  Quatre offered a large subsidiary for the Sank Kingdom, but he was already being so much help in the Colonies, that she didn’t want to take it from him.  It was partly pride that also prevented her from taking the money.  Also, there was something about borrowing money from friends; it was the fastest way to make enemies.  Not that Quatre would become her enemy, but she still didn’t want abuse his kindness.  No, there wasn’t anything to do, but to get the money from another source. 

 

            Quatre did do Relena one important favor: using his contacts, he managed to set up a meeting with the powerful Cyndal Empire.  Relena didn’t know that much about the Empire because hardly anyone ever got a chance to even see its current monarchy, Emperor Xerxes Xianrui.  She wondered if he would be anything like Quatre.  He didn’t bother to tell her anything about the Emperor, and she wondered why.  However, the meeting would take place during the week, so she would be absent for the next three days. 

 

            For once, Relena was grateful to be away from school.  She didn’t worry about the extra work that she would have when she returned.  Duo and Hilde promised to pick up her assignments and scan or fax them over to her while she was away, so that she could stay caught up.  And she was happy to be away from Derek. 

 

*          *          *

 

            Derek came to drama class on Monday to find out that his partner was gone.  “Relena isn’t here,” he said in a bland voice to Mr. Durant. 

 

            “She went off for business for the next three days,” said Mr. Durant.

 

            “I guess I’ll be practicing soliloquies for the next three days,” said Derek with a smile.  He really missed the chance to annoy Relena.

 

            “Don’t worry, Mr. Yarden.  She should be back from her trip to the Cyndal Empire soon,” said Mr. Durant   Derek’s whole body stiffen suddenly at the mention of the Cyndal Empire.  He calmed himself back down quickly and asked:

 

            “Where did she go?  I mean…not that it matters, but do you know why she went there?”  His voice trembled ever so slightly as his eyes flickered in color. 

 

            “Not that I know of, but if you paid attention to the news, Mr. Yarden, then you would know that her trip has something to do with the Sank Kingdom,” said Mr. Durant, “What in Heaven’s name are you two doing?”  He spotted the direction group fooling around on stage.  While he was talking to them, Derek slipped out of the auditorium.  He walked until he got to one of the four compute labs in school, the one closest to the auditorium, and went on on-line.

 

            He carefully read the report about Relena’s trip and the financial problems of the Sank Kingdom.  The meeting was arranged by a mutual acquaintance, Quatre R. Winner.  Derek noticed early on that his council didn’t put out a report about him being gone.  Were they pretending that he was there?  ‘Probably.  Isabella has something to do with that.  Too bad I can’t call her.  I haven’t been able too.  They’re probably bugging everything. Oh well, I wonder what the council is going to do with Relena.  Either way, I can find out first hand what’s going on,” he smiled at the computer screen and decided to go back to class.

 

*          *          *

 

            Relena was sitting in one of the ostentatious guest rooms of the palace in Oslett.  She had just finished the first round of assignments that Duo and Hilde sent to her.  It was over twenty-four hours ago that she had arrived.  The capital of the Cyndal Empire was very beautiful, but she was almost dying of boredom.  She hadn’t gotten any work done since her arrival.  No, she had fine meals and discussed things with the head of the council, but no work was actually done. 

 

            The Emperor had not shown hide nor hair of himself since her arrival.  She thought that was strange because whenever she had a meeting in the Sank Kingdom, she was always the one who greeted them or at least she showed herself once during a meeting.  Either way, she didn’t wait for more than a day to present herself to any important guests.  ‘Maybe, I’m not important enough.  Or maybe, this is how they do things here?’ she thought.  She took out her copy of Pygmalion and read the lines for Eliza Doolittle, for which she was the understudy for.

 

            A knock came at the door, and Relena jump to her feet to answer it.  It a young servant girl who said, “Your Highness, the council would like to meet with you now.”  She said it in a rather timid and small voice as she gazed up at Relena with uncertain eyes. 

 

            “Thanks for telling me.  Will you show me the way?” asked Relena.

 

            “As you wish, your Highness,” said the servant girl as she made a small curtsey to her.  Relena was under her royal title during this visit.  Any business for the Sank Kingdom, she used her royal title.  This was all for her people.  The young servant girl led them through sunny corridors and archways of Asian design until they reached the large double doors of the council chambers.

 

            The great double doors opened to show a dozen middle age men sitting around a large rectangular table.  There was a throne at the head of the table.  Only that head of the table had a chair.  It was the grand one, so it had to be a throne.  There were on other chairs at the other head of the table.  So, six men sat on either side of the table.  The head of the council or rather his official title was grand vizier sat on the right side of the grand chair, while the vice minister took his sit on the left side.  The youngest council member (who also was the last one hire and had the less amount of years of experience) sat on the last chair closest to the door on the left side. 

 

            Relena looked at them with a chill.  They all looked rather tired and stressed, and when she noticed that the Emperor wasn’t in the room, she clutched her jaw.  ‘What in Heaven’s name is going on here?  Where’s the Emperor?’ she thought.  The doors closed shut behind her. 

 

            “We have considered the negotiations for the Sank Kingdom, and we are afraid that we cannot consider you requests at this time.  Please return to the Cyndal Empire when we are ready to consider your offer,” said the head of the council in a calm voice.  Relena’s eyes widened.

 

            She swallowed her pride and logic again, “D-didn’t the Emperor even look at the papers?  Quatre Winner was the one who arranged this meeting.  Please reconsider your decision now,” she stammered.  She could see her kingdom not getting any help, and it was causing her to panic. 

 

            “I am sorry, but the Emperor is busy,” said the head of the council.  Relena looked at them all.  There was something that they were all hiding, and she could feel it.  Suddenly, all the things that she noticed the past couple of hours made sense, so she decided to use it:

 

            “The Emperor isn’t here, is he?” she said with a slight smirk.

 

*          *          *

 

            “The ball passes to the center, Maxwell.  He passes the ball to Collins…and he blocks the newcomer to Robinson High.  Collins passes the ball back to Maxwell …can he do it?  And…GOAL!” shouted announcer gleefully.

 

            “Go Duo!  Yeah!” shouted Hilde.

 

            “Let’s go say hello,” said Derek with a smile.  Duo just scored the winning goal in the soccer game against the rival school across town.  Derek video taped the whole things for Relena to watch when she came back from the Cyndal Empire. 

 

            “Hey! Duo that was great,” said Hilde.

 

            “Yeah man, and I got it all on tape,” said Derek as he gestured to the small camera.  He didn’t have a computer for the camera, but it was Relena’s and she was the one who asked someone to tape Duo’s game for her.  Relena didn’t communicate with Derek at all because she didn’t see him as a friend.  At least, not yet. 

 

            “Let’s go out and celebrate,” said Duo with a smile.  Derek and Hilde took a step back away from him.  “Why are you doing that?” he asked.  A cold rush of water and ice came down upon his head.  He turned around quickly to see two of his teammates take off running.  “YOU GUYS ARE DEAD!” he shouted as he took off after them.

 

            “Should we stop him?” asked Hilde.

 

            “Nah!  He’ll come back when he’s hungry enough,” said Derek with a shrug.

 

*          *          *

 

            Relena folded her arms over her chest as she narrowed her blue eyes at them.  They all shifted uncomfortably, and Relena knew that she was right.  She had the ace that she needed to play with.  Typically, she didn’t resort to such tactics, but they weren’t giving her a choice.  “He’s not here.  Emperor Xerxes isn’t here and you’re covering it up,” she said.

 

            “Um…well, he’s not here in the physical sense, but his power as Emperor remains,” said head of the council, still maintaining his calm façade.

 

            “You all are liars and insane.  You can’t cover this up forever.  The world economy can’t handle it.  Worse yet, this will effect the world politics.  You aren’t the ones in charge and you can’t stand up straight without him.  Hmm…I wonder if I should tell someone,” said Relena musingly.

 

            “No!” shouted the twelve of them in unison.

 

            “Well, now.  Aren’t we a bit touchy?” asked Relena with an eyebrow raised.  ‘Gosh.  I don’t know why I’m doing this like this.  Oh well, I’ve been around Duo for too long,’ she thought.

 

            The council was in an uproar all at once.  There were various phrases shouted throughout the room.  “No!  Please don’t do that!”, “We can come up with something, Princess Relena!”, “It will be disastrous if anyone finds out!”, and “We’ll come up with something!”  Isabella listened to this whole thing with an amused look on her face.  She had to admit, she didn’t know what to think of Relena, but she was starting to really like her.  A soft laugh escaped her tender, luscious lips, but it was drowned out from the sound of the council.  Relena stood there just waiting for them to finish. 

 

            “Please leave for a few moments, your Highness.  Uh…we have to discuss this,” said the head of the council.  Relena nodded and left the room.  She was met by a beautiful woman with golden hair that were like ringlets, sapphire blue eyes, and she was tall and graceful.  She made Relena feel rather awkward and small.  Relena was more like a natural beauty, but this young woman looked like one of those princesses out of a fairy tale.

 

            “Hello, my name is Isabella Marcella,” said the young woman.  She curtseyed for Relena who nodded numbly.  There was something familiar about the graceful woman, but she couldn’t quite see it.

 

            “Hello, my name is Relena Darlian-Peacecraft,” said Relena as she bowed.  The custom for the Cyndal Empire was to bow rather than to handshake a new acquaintance. 

 

            “I am the cousin of the Emperor Xerxes.  Yes, the council has been hiding the fact that the Emperor has been gone for months now.  You see, if people were to know about it, there could be a fight for the throne,” Isabella informed.  Now Relena understood why her silence was necessary from the council’s point of view.

 

            “Well, if you asked me.  The Emperor is very irresponsible to leave his empire like this.  And he deserves to have it taken right from under him,” said Relena stiffly.

 

            “X isn’t all that bad, Princess.  He’s only about your age.  Maybe, a little bit older by a few months.  And he was trying to be a good Emperor, but he found it hard to live up his father’s legacy.  His father and mother died when he was small, so the council has always run things really.  They didn’t think that he was that need, so he decided to leave,” said Isabella.

 

            “I don’t care if he’s a good person in general.  Not only is the rest of the world going to feel his absence, but what’s worse is the people.  His people need him.  I don’t give a damn if he’s unhappy here.  I am here for my people,” said Relena, leaving her tone of utmost diplomacy behind and speaking with a passion that Isabella wished that her dear cousin had.  Before, Isabella could say anything more, the double doors opened to the council chambers.  Relena walked back in without looking at Isabella, and the doors slammed shut behind her.

 

            “We have considered your requests, Princess Relena, but we do not have the power to act upon them.  We apologize.  However, we must keep the secret of our Empire’s most direr problem.  Our Emperor disappeared four months ago.  We have not been able to locate him, nor are we any closer to finding him.  We have decided you will have whatever you want of the Cyndal Empire for the Sank Kingdom when he returns.  Just as long as you keep this secret,” said the head of the council.

 

            Relena’s brain set to work.  Basically, she could get whatever she wanted now, but the Sank Kingdom needed the money yesterday.  “I agree on one condition,” she said after a long silence.

 

            “What is that?” asked the vice vizier cautiously.

 

            “I want a small subsidiary to be sent to the Sank Kingdom for the farmers to grow crops and to get much need food and medicines to the people,” said Relena.

 

            “Then it is done, will you keep our secret?” asked grand vizier with much relief.

 

            “Yes, but I am only one person.  How long do you think that you can keep this from the world?  Besides, if anyone asks me if I knew anything, I’ll deny it,” promised Relena with a smile.

 

            “Thank you very much for your cooperation,” said the grand vizier.

 

            “You’re welcome,” said Relena and with that the meeting at the Cyndal Empire concluded.

 

*          *          *

 

            Relena returned from the Cyndal Empire a day earlier than expected and turned in all her homework on time.  The Cyndal Empire’s capital was nothing like the rest of the world.  She thought about the beautiful things and people she saw.  It like a fairy kingdom, and the mysterious Emperor Xerxes was like King Oberon of Avalon.  She was staring into space.  Suddenly the tip of a paint brush touched her nose.  She looked to see Derek holding a paint brush and laughing.

 

            “You looked like you weren’t paying attention,” he said with a laugh.  Her eyes narrowed.  They were painting the sets for the first play.  Relena was dressed in overalls and a tee shirt with a scarf to keep her hair out of her face.

 

            “Oh yeah?” said Relena.  She painted his arm.  He was wearing a blue shirt with a pair of black jeans.  Derek retaliated and painted her arm, too.  She smiled and painted across the front of his shirt.  Derek smirked and grabbed the scarf from her head.  Relena didn’t bother to go after it she painted his face in one streak.  Now, they were really dueling with the paint brushes.  They were getting everything messy and wet with paint. 

 

            “STOP IT!  Both of you!  RELENA!  DEREK!” shouted Mr. Durant.

 

            They both stop and were rather breathless from their fight.  Everyone looked at them with wide eyes.  No one expected this from the foreign vice minister.  Despite, Mr. Durant’s calm face, the other students knew that he was angry, so they were making themselves scarce.  “You both have two hours of detention come back here at three and re-paint all the sets that were worked on today.  There is no way I will let the public see splatters on the walls of Higgins’ study,” he said through his teeth.  Relena and Derek nodded.  The bell rang and they had to go to the next class.

 

            “HA!  Two hours?  I can do that standing on my head,” exclaimed Derek as they walked out of class.

 

            “I’m so glad for you.  I’ve never had detention before and it’s your fault,” said Relena as she glared at him. 

 

            “You are such a goody toe-shoes, and you’ve got a stick up your ass, Relly,” said Derek with a smirk.  It was nice having her back.

 

            She glared at him.  ‘Great.  I have to spend more time with him.  Why do these things keep happening to me?  How did I get stuck with him?  This is Mr. Durant’s fault.  No, this is Derek’s fault for existing in the first place.  No, I think it’s mine for existing.  What did I ever do to deserve this?  Why me?’ she thought. 

 

Chapter Four: Campout in the Outback…