Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters.  The show respectfully belongs to its creators, and I, unfortunately, am not one of them.  *sniff*

A Weekend to Remember

Chapter Eleven:  The Night from Hell Begins

Hilde paced back and forth as she waited for her date to come down the stairs.  They have been waiting for almost half an hour now for Heero, Duo, and the girls to finish getting ready.  If they did not hurry up, they were all going to be late. 

‘Geezum, how much longer are they going to be?  Even I have never taken this long.  Maybe I should go see if he needs any help.  But, all the girls are helping each other out.  They’d probably screech if they saw me walk in there.  Argh!  Just hurry up already.’

Just then the sound of someone clearing their throat reached the bottom of the stairs.  Hilde, Relena, and the guys looked up to see five beautifully dressed women standing at the top of the stairs.

Hilde smirked as she looked at Duo.  She made him wear the dress she’d bought last week for this event.  She wanted to see the look on Duo’s face when he saw her in it.  Now here he was walking down the stairs wearing the sexy little black number that she had purchased with him in mind. 

It was a simple long black dress.  It wrapped around the neck in a halter top with the back completely open.  It also had slits on both sides.  All in all, it left very little to the imagination, and she figured Duo would have a field day once he saw her in it.  The irony of all this being that she had bought the dress for Duo, but not for him.  Yes, life’s little perks where sometimes very interesting indeed.

Duo walked over toward Hilde who was actually offering him her arm.  He grumbled wanting nothing more than to wipe the smirk off her face . . . err . . . his face . . . err . . . whatever.

“Shall we go, milady?”  Hilde playfully asked.

“Yeah.  Let’s get this over with.”  Came his tart reply.

“Why, love, I’d say you weren’t looking forward to this.”  She said sweetly. 

“Don’t . . . start.” He said through clenched teeth.  He was not in the mood for joking around.  The wedgie up his ass was killing him and she wanted to make jokes.   Well, it was not going to happen.  He was going to make it through this night, and then Hilde was going to rue the day that he got her back for this humiliation. 

Granted, it was a private humiliation, but that was beside the point.  The God of Death did not take kindly to having to wear a dress that made him feel practically naked, skintight panty hose that cut off the flow of blood, two-inch heels that he couldn’t walk in, and a thong that constantly rode up his ass.  Whoever invented all of it should be drug out into the street and shot as far as he was concerned.   If he ever met the bastard, he’d regret the day he was born.

Duo glanced at Hilde as she continued to escort him toward the waiting limo outside.  The little she-devil was actually smiling at him.  Oh, she was not going to like his retaliation come tomorrow.  No sir. 

‘Just you wait, Hilde, this is far from over.’  He said to himself as he looked up at her.  After all, she is currently the taller of the two of them.

Hilde as if reading his thoughts.  “I look forward to it.”  She whispered then smiled devilishly.

<>

Heero repeatedly resisted the urge to squirm in his seat as they drove down the road.  It was the most agonizing position he had ever been in.  Sleeping cramped up for a week in his gundam was more comfortable.  This was just damnably annoying.

No one deserved this torture.  How do women wear this shit anyway?  The constant wedgie was literally the biggest pain in the ass he’d ever experienced and, to make matters worse, the irritable scrap of fabric continuously kept riding up further.  Every angle he shifted to worsened his situation.

He glanced toward Relena out the corner of his eye.  The little shit was actually smirking.  Something in him finally snapped.

‘Alright, this means war.’ Heero thought and mentally threw down his gauntlet.

Relena sat up straighter in her seat.  She felt like someone just slapped her.  She turned towards Heero.  He looked grim as usual, but upon closer inspection she noticed a different light in his eyes.  He had a look of hardened determination.  It was a look she had not seen in long time, and she instantly knew it was directed toward her. 

Her smirk widened to his quiet challenge.  She was actually looking forward to it.  ‘Bring it on.’

Heero, as if sensing her acceptance, quietly spoke.  “Count on it.”

Now all they had to do was wait.  Wait for this damn limo ride to end and wait for this damned night to be over.  Then he was going to see to it that she kept her promise.  Oh yes.  His little princess owed him big time and he was not about to let her off the hook very easily.

<>

Their arrival at the huge reception hall proved easy enough.  Now all they had to do was pray that the rest of the night went as well.  Relena knew that Heero would not take kindly to reporters shoving microphones in his face and, thankfully, that had not happened.  Yet.  So far all they had to deal with were flashing cameras and yelled questions, which was a miracle in her book.

Now came the true test.  Could Heero make it through the night without threatening to kill a single person?  She could only hope.

As if on cue, she saw someone making a beeline in their direction.  Relena groaned.  ‘Maybe he’ll go away.  Maybe he’ll find someone else to bother on his way here.  Maybe he’ll . . .’

“Enchante Mademoiselle (1) Foreign Minister.  It’s so good to see you again.”  He was so concerned about getting to Relena before anyone else that he practically pushed Quatre and Catharine aside, who unfortunately happened to be in his way.  Then he bowed, took Heero’s hand, and lightly kissed it.

Heero quickly pulled his hand away and resisted the urge to deck the bastard for even thinking he had permission to touch him, or Relena for that matter.  He wanted to punch his overconfident ass and tell him to get lost, but somehow Heero managed the opposite.  He took a deep breath and silently counted from ten backwards in Italian.  Feeling a little better after a few moments, he managed to give the man a forced smile. 

“Yes, it is.” Heero replied in the sweetest Relena voice he could muster. 

“You’re looking lovely tonight, as usual.”  The delegate said with a playful smile.

‘Take slow deep breaths.  I will not kill the bastard.  I will not kill the bastard.  I can get through this.’ 

Heero continued his mental pep talk as his new acquaintance decided to get a little braver.

Duo blinked as he continued to stare in Heero’s direction.  ‘Am I seeing this correctly?’  He then noticed how hard Heero’s hands were clenched at his sides and knew it wouldn’t be long before his friend finally snapped.  Something needed to be done fast.  The slight movement made by their new arrival immediately placed Duo on full alert.

Relena was about to panic.  She knew Heero’s cool demeanor couldn’t last forever.  Her head was reeling.  She needed to come up with an idea very quickly, but she was at a loss. 

‘Shit!  What would Heero do in a case like this?  Okay.  Bad idea.  Don’t pull a Heero, but damnit it can’t be too out of character.  Crap.  Crap.  Crap.  Oh, double crap, what’s that idiot up to now?’

Relena felt her knees start to shake as she watched the idiot, whose name she couldn’t recall, take another step toward Heero and once again reach for his hand.  ‘Son of a bitch!’

Heero snapped out of his reverie when he felt a light touch move slowly down his arm to his hand.  ‘Okay, that tears it!  Someone is about to die a slow and painful death.’

The delegate continued to smile; oblivious to the danger his life was in.  “May I have the honor of the next dance, Mademoiselle?”  He said and once again raised Heero’s hand to his lips to place a light kiss.

Heero tried to pry his hand away, but the old fart was actually stronger than he looked.  Heero was about to slap the man’s hand away when he felt someone else grab a hold of his other hand.  ‘Now what?’

He looked to his side to see that it was Relena who stopped him.  She was holding onto his hand, and he could tell she was silently begging him to behave.  ‘Bloody hell!  What does she think I’m trying to do?’

He tried again to count from ten backwards, this time in Spanish.  Maybe he’d have better luck with a different language.  ‘Diez, Nieve,  . . .’

He never finished, however, because his admirer started to get a little impatient from lack of response. 

“Mademoiselle?”

“She can’t.”  Came the blurted reply before Heero could even answer for himself.

“Why on Earth not?”  The delegate asked looking for whoever was rude enough to interrupt his conservation with the Vice Foreign Minister, never mind that he had completely ignored the other ten people standing around her until that moment.  It was then that he noticed the vicious glares he was receiving from everyone standing around him.  He especially noticed the glare coming from the dark brown-headed boy with Prussian blue eyes.  If looks could kill, he would already be dead. 

“Because . . . um . . . uh . . .” Duo tried to think hard for any logical reason.  His mind was currently drawing a blank.  He really just wanted the night to end.  But, thankfully, he didn’t have to come up with a reason himself.

“Because she doesn’t have to associate herself with a dishonorable pompous ass such as yourself.”  Wufei interrupted finally having enough.

The man turned up his nose.  “Humph.  Well, I never.  Do you know who you are talking to, boy?”

Wufei glared harder at the man and crossed his arms over his chest.  “No.  Don’t care to either.”

He puffed up like an overstuffed irritated peacock.  “Why I aught to . . .” 

“You aught to, what?”  Someone else spoke up, daring the man to finish.

The man looked at the little chit who dared speak to him in such a tone.  “And, who might you be?” 

“Some call me Dorothy, but you Sir . . .” Her tone started to turn a little malicious.  “May call me Miss. Catalonia.”

He tapped his finger on his chin as if trying to remember why the name sounded familiar.  Suddenly a glimmer of recognition came across his face.  “Ah, Mademoiselle Catalonia, it is such a pleasure to see you again.  Why I haven’t seen you since you were just a small child.  Your grandfather once brought you with him to our house, but you probably don’t remember.  You were really young then.  Allow me to introduce myself I am Ambassor Alfonse Dinmont.”  He bowed and gracefully took her hand.  “Pleased to see you again, Mademoiselle.”

Dorothy fought the urge to cringe as he lightly kissed her hand.  She wanted to rip her hand away from him, but propriety demanded she grin and bare it.  She did not like this man.  She didn’t care if he was a former acquaintance of her grandfather or not.  He was rude, arrogant, and the only reason he was paying her or Relena any attention was because of their family background and money.  She grit her teeth.  “No, the pleasure is all mine.”

Quatre saw how Trowa was forcibly resisting the urge to bodily remove the man from the building.  He knew something needed to be done before the idiotic ambassador dug his grave any deeper.  Quatre took a deep breath and stepped forward to put an end to this charade once and for all.

Everyone anxiously watched as Quatre placed a firm hand on the ambassador’s shoulder and politely pulled him away from Dorothy.  “Ambassador Dinmont, is it?”

“Yes.”  He answered then another little light of recognition appeared.  “Oh, Monsieuer Winner, it is such an honor to finally meet you.”  Then he took Quatre’s hand in a rapid handshake.

Quatre sighed and pulled his hand away.  “Yes… um… likewise I’m sure, but I’m sorry to say we need to be going.  We were supposed to meet the Lady upon arrival, but as you can see we are running a little late.  So, if you’ll excuse us.”

“Oh!  Well, don’t mind me.”  He then turned to Heero.  “I’ll get that dance with you later on, Mademoiselle.”  He grinned then walked away just as quickly as he arrived.

“Like hell you will.”  Heero venomously replied under his breath.

“Can you believe that guy?”  Hilde asked disgusted.

“Yeah, actually I can.”  Sally answered.  “People like him are just . . .”

“Dishonorable weaklings.”  Wufei finished for her.

“Thank you, Wufei, but I was going to say, too arrogant and pigheaded to know any different.”

“Don’t patronize me, woman.”

“Why Wufei, what on earth would give you such an idea?  I’d never dream of doing such a thing.”  Sally said with a teasing smirk.

“Woman.”  He said in a warning tone, which only made Sally laugh.

Dorothy slightly giggled under her breath at the two of them, but she decided a change of subject was in order to not a cause an even bigger scene.  “Thank you, Quatre, for getting rid of him for us.”  She gratefully said.

“It was nothing.”  He replied and slightly blushed from the unexpected praise.  “Well, we need to let Lady Une know we are here and find out if there have been any changes before we head to our posts.”

“Yes.”  Heero replied more than ready to get away for a few minutes before someone else tried to pull a similar stunt.  “Let’s go.”

~~~To Be Continued~~~

(1)   Enchante is French meaning “enchanted” or “delighted.”  It is usually used in the form of a greeting.  Mademoiselle is also French.  It is the way to address a woman who has never been married.  It is equivalent to the English title of Miss.   Just like Monsieuer is the French title equivalent to the English title of Mister and Madame is akin to Mrs.

Oh wow . . . um . . . it’s finally done.  *Stares confused* Is this chapter eleven that is being posted?  Oh my goodness.  I can’t believe it.  My eyes must be deceiving me.  ^_~

Thank you everyone for all your patience with this chapter.  I’m so sorry that it’s been over three months since my last update.  *Blinks flabbergasted* THREE MONTHS!  No way!  I’ve never gone that long without an update. *Sigh* There’s a first time for everything, right?

Anyways, I promise I haven’t been lazy during those three months.  I have been busy.  Let’s see I started a new job since my old one was making me miserable, which, thus, hindered my will to write anything worthwhile back then.  Oh!  I took the GRE and made it into graduate school.  Yay!  Not an easy test I assure you.  I hate standardized tests.  Have I ever mentioned that before?  Well anyways, I start school again in January.  God help me. 

Well, to make a long story short, I’ll just say that all this means good news and bad news for all of you.  The bad news is that with graduate school starting in the middle of January I won’t have much if any time to write fanfics, but don’t worry I’m not quitting.  I love to write, and I’ll keep writing fanfics.  The good news is that I’m going to do my best to get the rest of A Weekend to Remember out before school starts.  I haven’t written the next chapters yet, but there should only be about two or three more chapters until the story is finished.  I think I can do it, but I can’t make promises.  All I can say is that I’m going to try really hard to accomplish this goal.

I’m sorry that this chapter is short.  I think it’s the shortest chapter I’ve ever written for this fic, but I wanted to get this out today.  Merry Christmas!  This is my gift to everyone.  I hope you liked it.

Well, I must go for now.

Bye,

Carebear