The building wasn’t the tallest in the town, but everyone knew where to find it. It stood in the center of the newly developed area, an impressive symbol of protection and renewal after war and destruction.
At this time of night, the building was dark – with the exception of a single window on a high floor. A pale light shone from the interior and, if one had eyes to see it, one might discern the dark shape of a person in that window, looking down at the night-cloaked city. A closer look and the observer would notice the pale shine of tears streaming down the figure’s cheeks.
“That son of a bitch!” The woman in the window turned away with an exclamation.
An audible sigh was heard from across the room, and Lucrezia Noin whirled to confront it. “What?”
“Nothing,” Une said resignedly. “Nothing we haven’t heard thirty times already. Are you going to talk about it, or can I go get some sleep? It’s almost 1AM and I’ve had a long day.”
Sally entered the room with three beer bottles in her hand and gestured for the women to join her at the desk. Noin shook her head.
“No thanks, I don’t drink beer.”
Sally laughed cheerfully. “Don’t be silly – it’s not for you.” She placed one open bottle in front of Une, and left two on the table in front of herself. She leaned on her arms and asked quietly, “Why don’t you tell us?”
Noin dropped heavily into a chair. “He’s gone,” she said with a sob. “He left me, the sonofabitch.”
Sally and Une shared a look. “Zechs left you? Where? When?”
Noin closed her eyes, and laid her face down on the table. “Almost a month ago. I thought…I thought it was just like before. But two weeks ago I received a note.” She waved a hand vaguely. “Trust me – he’s gone.” She slammed the hand onto the table. “What a bastard! I waited my whole life for him to notice me – I thought it was always something else, the war, his kingdom, his madness…when all along…I just wasn’t good enough.”
Une laid a hand on Noin’s arm sympathetically. “I know exactly what you mean, Noin.” She leaned back with a despondent sigh. “I thought, well, I thought if I could be the person he wanted, Trieze would love me. But he never did – not the way I wanted him to.” She gave a sudden bitter laugh. “No matter how hard I tried, I’d never be the person *he’d* want.”
Sally leaned forward. “So, he left you for another woman, huh?”
Noin’s head rose, her forelock obscuring one eye, the other filled with irony and pain. “No, no he didn’t. Gods, I’ve been blind.” She slumped forward again. “He left for me a man. All this time and I couldn’t even see the obvious. Trieze, Heero, all his obsessions have been men and there I was living in some happy lalaland where he and I would finally settle down together.” She groaned loudly. “I feel like such a fool I could die.” Une and Sally watched as Noin’s body shook with misery.
Sally lifted a bottle and took a long drink. “So. He’s gone.” She didn’t sound surprised. She took another long drink and placed the bottle on the desk with a sharp rap. “Didn’t he and Trieze have an affair when they were in university together?”
Une glanced at the blonde Preventer sharply. “Yes, thank you for reminding us both with such subtlety and charm.” Her voice hissed with anger, “Why don’t you just rub salt into the wounds a little, Sally?”
Sally shrugged, unconcerned. “It was just a question.” She turned back to Noin who was watching them, surprised both at Sally’s indelicacy and Une’s vehemence. The black-haired woman reached out slowly and grabbed Sally’s second bottle of beer. She made a face, swigged back a large portion of it, made another face and sighed.
“Okay, okay, Sally, I get your point. Tears are wasted on him.” She looked away. “I’m more angry at myself than Zechs anyway.”
“Not wasted – misdirected,” Sally said gently. “If you want to cry – go ahead, but cry for yourself, not for him.”
Une slapped a hand on her knee. “Stop it Sally! You don’t understand – you barely know Zechs and you never knew Trieze,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “you don’t understand how they inspired love.”
Looking hard at the other two women Sally shook her head. “You’re right,” she admitted. “I don’t understand – I didn’t run in the rarified circles of the OZ and Romerfeller organizations. I’m a grunt, a regular army girl, and in my world love and sex had not a hell of a lot to do with each other.” He voice remained calm and even, but tension was visible in the lines of her body. “While you two played with big words and big mech, I watched people die on the ground, the soldiers, the civilians…” she drank more beer.
Noin stared at Sally, her face pale. “Une is right, you didn’t know Trieze – he was…he was a true leader, who inspired great loyalty and who had the most amazing charisma.” She looked down at the desk. “Zechs wasn’t immune to it, none of us were. And Zechs – he was a mystery. He lived in a high place even when we were crawling through mud together. He shone with a kind of light – like Relena does, even now.” She stood suddenly and turned back to the window, slamming a hand into the wall. “Damn them all for being so brilliant. Damn them for being so goddamn brilliant.” She leaned her head against the glass.
Une lifted her bottle in agreement and drank, as if Noin had just finished a toast.
“So,” Sally said after the silence had lengthened, “what now?”
But Noin didn’t answer the question. She remained at the window, wrapped in self-pity.
Une turned to the blonde once again. “What about you? Haven’t you ever been in love before?”
Sally shook her head. “Lovers, yes. Love? No.” She stood and stretched, unaware of the look on Une’s face.
“Well,” Noin said with a self-deprecating laugh, “what kind of men are you attracted to, then? Une and I,” she gestured towards the brunette, “seem to have a knack for falling in love with men who loved each other more than us…what about you?”
Sally shrugged. “I have no idea.”
Noin turned. “But you said…”
“I said I’d had lovers.” Sally picked up the empty beer bottles and headed towards the bar. “I never said that any of them were men.”
When Sally returned to the desk, this time with two beer bottles and a glass of wine for Noin, she found the other Preventers staring at her open-mouthed.
“What?” she asked, amused. “Does it come as that much of a surprise?”
“Yes!” Noin and Une exclaimed in unison. Sally laughed at this and seated herself again at the desk.
Une cleared her throat. “I think we all supposed that you and…” she stalled until Sally gestured for her to finish the sentence. “Well, that you and Wu Fei…” she ended lamely, a slight flush on her face.
Now it was Sally’s turn to gape. “Me and Wu Fei?” she asked, openly shocked. “He’s a child! And an annoying one to boot.” Sally began to chuckle, a deep throaty laugh, which seemed like it might continue for some time. “Me and Wu Fei…that’s just great,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Is that common knowledge among all the Preventers?”
Noin smiled sheepishly, “Zechs and I always assumed it…”
Sally’s laughter continued until it became contagious. The tension in the room slipped away as the three women laughed together until they could no longer breathe.
Weakly, Noin slid back into her seat and drank her wine. “I’m sorry, for assuming…”
Sally gestured the apology away. “Don’t be ridiculous. I didn’t tell you and you never asked. There’s nothing wrong with that.” Her face became serious for a moment. “I have to admit, it’s been a long time, though. While fighting with Earth forces, during the war, sex was just another thing you did, like treating wounds, eating, sleeping…” She sighed. “Then the war ended and I met you,” she included both women in her gaze, “then I became a Preventer…Wu Fei, huh?” She smirked, then shook herself. “But why are we talking about me? I thought we were here to let you get things off your chest.” She turned to Noin, where she found two dark eyes boring into her face intensely.
“It occurred to me as you were speaking,” Une said, breaking into the new tensions, “that we really don’t know much of anything about each other. I know more *of* Noin than anything – you both know more of my own actions than I do…and you, Sally, neither of us know much at all except what we’ve been through together.” She pushed herself away from the table with a yawn. “And I want to learn more, I really do. But if I don’t get some sleep tonight, I won’t be fit to meet with the Representative from the colonies tomorrow.” She put a hand up to shield yet another yawn.
Noin smiled at Une. “Get some sleep then. Sally will sit here, fortified by beer and listen to my tale of woe, won’t you?” she shot a dark glance at the blonde.
“Sure!” Sally replied quickly. “Lady, you have a good night’s sleep.”
Une bowed slightly and excused herself, closing the office door behind her.
“She didn’t say it, but she’s been up for nearly 48 hours,” Sally commented after the door had closed.
“And here I was, torturing her with my tedious personal problems.” Noin put her face in her hands. “Not too self-absorbed.”
Sally patted the black-haired woman’s shoulder gently. “That’s alright, Noin. We’re both worried about you.”
Noin shot the blonde a tight smile. “I’ll be fine. This is just me allowing myself a little self-pity. It’s not like I haven’t seen it coming for years.” She heaved a sigh. “Une’s right about one thing – I hardly know anything about you. Tell me about yourself, to distract me.”
“What do you want to know? The Sally Po you know was born the day a strong, black-haired woman crashed through a Romerfeller window.”
“But,” asked Noin gently, “what about the Sally Po I never met?”
Sally shook her head. “She’s dead. She died in the war.” The blonde’s lips tightened. Obviously she wasn’t going to say more on the subject.
“Then I’ll tell you a story,” Noin offered. “The first time I ever saw Zechs Marquise was when he joined the class at the OZ academy. I was addressing the other cadets when a buzz started moving through the troops. I shouted for them to stand at attention, but the noise kept moving, spreading…and then I saw him. His helmet covered his head, of course, but his eyes were that blue, I could see them from where I stood, and his hair shone in the morning sun. And I heard the phrase “Lightning Count,” for the first time. The next thing I knew, Trieze Kushrenada himself had stepped forward and was introducing the newest OZ Officer in Training. And I was lost.”
Sally said nothing for a long moment. “OZ was something I knew about, obviously,” she said at last, “we saw the OZ officers come through from time to time, but to us in the Earth Forces, they were just dandified pretty boys and girls. No offense intended.” She nodded towards Noin, who watched her closely. “It wasn’t until I met you, until that day you rescued me, that I understood that OZ were really the cream of the crop, that they really were of an order above us.”
Noin shifted slightly. “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned it, that day. Does it mean that much to you?” Once again Sally looked up only to be met by dark eyes watching her closely.
“I suppose it was,” she agreed pleasantly. “It was the day I chose a path to follow.”
“You’re a bloody liar, Sally Po.” Noin said quietly. “You’ve been lying to yourself for a long time. Don’t try to deny it,” she held up a hand to stall Sally’s protest. “I can see the signs – I should recognize them, I’ve done it myself for years. I kept telling myself that Zechs wasn’t gay, he was just experimenting, that Trieze was irresistible in any case, that after we had time together he’d grow to love me. I was wrong but,” Noin reached out a hand and laying it lightly on Sally’s wrist, she said, “you may not be.”
Sally looked hard at Noin, pulled her hand away and stood. “Don’t, Noin. Not as a joke – definitely not as a way to make yourself feel better.” She turned away from the desk and stopped. “It’s late – you’re tired and overwrought. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Sally.” Noin’s voice was thick with emotion. “Don’t leave me alone tonight.”
Sally turned around, a frown on her face. “I admire you Noin – I have since we met. Don’t ruin it by asking for something you don’t want.”
“I want you.” Noin looked up at the blonde, her eyes clear. “I’ve been a fool about Zechs for a decade. And I don’t want to be a fool about you for a second longer than I have to.”
Doubt filled Sally’s eyes.
“I’m not playing with you, Sally, I swear – and you’re not second place. And I’m not drunk, so don’t use that as an excuse.” Noin gestured to her hardly-touched glass of wine. “Don’t try to argue that you’re drunk either, because I’ve seen you put away a lot more than two bottles of beer and walk away sober. There just aren’t any good excuses for turning me down left to you.”
“Yes there are,” Sally insisted, her head shaking at Noin’s arrogance. “There’s a perfectly good excuse, Noin. I don’t want you.” She took two steps back towards the desk and bent down to speak directly into Noin’s face. “I don’t want you, I don’t love you and I can’t help you.” Her voice was gentle but firm.
Noin’s dark eyes looked up sadly. “I’m afraid for you. Please, I mean this…don’t be like me, hiding your desire behind duty and logic. Just once, do what your heart tells you to.”
Sally hadn’t moved. Noin watched as emotions crisscrossed the blonde’s face. She could see a war being fought, and she wasn’t at all sure who might win.
Sally stood upright, her face drawn. “Good night, Lucrezia.” Once again she began to walk away, but Noin stood quickly and spun the blonde around, her eyes blazing.
“You’re an idiot.” Noin spat. “Think! Think of what you are saying. Think back to the day I rescued you…didn’t you want me then?”
Sally’s jaw tightened. “I wanted to be free.”
“I freed you. I’m just trying to free you again.” Noin pulled on Sally’s arm and brought them closer together. “Why are you denying this?”
Sally pulled her arm roughly out of Noin’s grasp. “Because,” she grated, “You love someone else, because…because…” her body slumped a little. “Because I never dared to hope before and all I can think is that this isn’t a good idea now.” Her voice dropped. “So…what? We make love tonight and I spend the next few weeks watching you, waiting for a cue, for it to be something more to you than a way to make you feel better…knowing that’s its not me you wanted, that you just wanted to be needed.” She shook her head angrily. “I’m not a child Noin, and I don’t need that in my life – ever.”
Noin didn’t answer. Instead she leaned forward, pressing her lips into Sally’s. When the blonde didn’t pull away, Noin moved closer, and slipped an arm around Sally’s neck. Her mouth moved against Sally’s neck, jaw and lips.
Sally’s eyes closed and she sighed, a soft, nostalgic sigh. “Yes,” she breathed, “that’s what it felt like.” Her arms came up and enclosed Noin in a tight embrace, and she lowered her lips to the other woman’s, meeting her tongue as it was offered.
When both of them huffed with need for air they broke away, panting. Noin held Sally’s hand in her own as she spoke. “Don’t leave me alone tonight – or any night.”
“I can’t promise that – you know that. We’re not Office Ladies, we’re Preventers.”
“Right now, we’re women,” Noin said with conviction. She pushed on Sally’s chest until the other woman found herself backed up against the wall. Noin leaned forward, her eyes burning in her face. “All there is is right now.” She captured Sally’s lips with her own, then bit the blonde’s lower lip until Sally hissed in pain.
“Promise me tonight, and we’ll take the rest as it comes,” Noin murmured against Sally’s lips.
The blonde didn’t answer, instead she shot her left hand out and found the light switch. The lights in the office clicked off, leaving only the city lights outside to illuminate the room.
Noin’s arms slid down Sally’s body, her hands pulling at the khaki blouse. When the shirt had been pulled free, Noin let her hands slide underneath the material, stroking the other woman’s back. Sally took Noin’s face in her hands and held it. Even in the dim light, Noin could see the intensity in the blonde’s gaze.
When she spoke, Sally’s voice was wryly amused. “Sometimes,” she muttered both to herself and the other woman, “you see something in front of you and you know it’s just *wrong* to want it, but you close your eyes and go for it anyway. This is just one of those things.” And she kissed Noin deeply, letting her tongue fill the other woman’s mouth.
Something inside Sally snapped, something she had held tight for far too long. With her back to the wall, she slid down to the floor, drawing Noin down with her. Sally pulled at Noin’s blouse, lowering her lips to the soft skin of Noin’s breasts. Kissing gently, her tongue tracing slow swirls, Sally began to speak so softly that Noin wasn’t sure at first that she heard the other woman.
“The window came crashing in in a million pieces. And you swung in, breathing a little heavily, your coat was like a cape.” The blonde lifted her head and looked into Noin’s eyes. “I was surprised that my knight in shining armor was such a magnificent woman.”
Noin forced herself to breath, forced herself to concentrate on Sally’s words, even as the other woman’s fingers removed her blouse and bra. Warm hands covered her breasts, kneading them, stroking them, all while the soft voice whispered in the dark.
“Your eyes reflected the flames in the fireplace, and you had a small smile, like you already knew what I was thinking.”
Noin’s head rolled backwards as fingers flicked her nipples, causing sparks to fly up and down her spine, settling low in her abdomen.
“Lucrezia Noin,” Sally’s breath tickled Noin’s ear, “I have wanted you since that day, more every time we met and more now than I can ever express.” The voice stopped and Noin moaned as cool lips covered a nipple and fingers pulled at the other.
“Sally,” Noin moaned into the night, then again as her legs were parted and Sally stroked every inch of her legs she could reach. When a hand reached her ass, Noin broke away.
“Wait,” she said and pulled herself from the other woman’s embrace. Quickly, she stripped herself of her clothes, and watched with open pleasure as Sally did the same.
When the blonde had once again laid herself out on the floor, Noin joined her, taking the opportunity to acquaint herself with the lush body in front of her. With deliberation, she traced the curves of Sally’s hips and legs, stroking her face along Sally’s belly and chest. With only the slightest hesitation, Noin held herself over the blonde’s chest. Sally could not see Noin’s eyes, shadowed as they were, but she could feel the other woman’s breath coming in panting gasps. Her skin felt that proverbial fire where Noin had touched her, and a desire grew to feel Noin everywhere, within and without. But that longing was lost in the sensation of curious fingers and tongue, exploring her breasts, tasting the skin around and below them, the soft areas around her aureoles, then lightly brushing across the nipples. Sally’s breath hissed out as a nip of Noin’s teeth was followed by another, and she cried out as Noin fastened her mouth on the sensitive underside of one breast and sucked hard.
When Noin had finished with that task she transferred her attentions to Sally’s neck. Again Sally felt the pleasant pain of Noin’s mouth sucking at her hard enough to leave a mark. With a laugh, she pushed the other woman off of her.
“I am *not* going into work tomorrow with hickeys,” she announced firmly and captured Noin’s lips once again with her own. Tongues played with each other and hands met and separated in their parallel quests for intimate knowledge.
Sally pushed Noin flat onto the floor and held her there with one hand. The dark eyes stared up in calm anticipation while Sally watched the rise and fall of the black-haired woman’s chest. Slowly, she lifted a hand and spread it wide, then placed it on Noin’s stomach. With agonizing leisure, Sally dragged the hand down until it moved through the short, dark curls between Noin’s legs.
Noin moved below Sally, her body curving delightfully, back arching with pleasure. A purring noise made Sally’s lips pull back in a kind of smile as she lowered her head to follow her hand. Noin’s legs opened to accept Sally’s hands and mouth with another purr. Sally lay down between Noin’s legs and looked up at the woman she never expected to have as a lover.
“Even if this never happens again,” she said quietly, “I’ll always have this image in my mind.”
Noin looked at Sally seriously. “Whether it will ever happen again depends on what you do next.” She reached out and buried her hands in Sally’s hair. With a smile for the other woman, she pressed down. Sally buried her face in Noin’s cleft, licking and sucking until Noin’s sighs and moans were louder than her own. When Noin lifted herself, Sally entered her, never removing her mouth from Noin’s clit. The dark head whipped back and forth and, with a rasping groan ripped from her throat, Noin came, the rippling waves of her orgasm thrusting back at Sally delightfully.
Slowly Noin subsided, panting and heaving for breath, her hands still clenched in Sally’s hair, which had come unbound from its tight braid.
Sally rolled away from Noin and quickly undid the rest of the braid, while Noin watched with unfocused eyes. Shaking out her hair, Sally climbed up to embrace the dark-haired woman, who lifted a hand to stroke the golden hair as it fell unbound onto Sally’s shoulders.
“It’s beautiful,” Noin breathed, bringing a lock to her lips and kissing it lightly. She looked up at Sally, then leaned forward and kissed her just as lightly on the lips. “You’re beautiful.” She pulled away a little to better focus on the other woman. “I want to taste you,” she said, making the statement a question.
Sally looked down at her, her eyes soft. “Not here.” She smiled. “I don’t want to experience the look on the colonies’ representative’s face when Une brings him here in the morning and they walk in on us.” She stood, scooping up various parts of clothing and handing over Noin’s to her.
Noin also stood and regarded the other woman with an intense stare. “Sally,” Noin reached out and grasped the blonde’s wrist. “I meant what I said.”
Sally turned to face her. “Which thing you said? About us living happily ever after, or wanting to…”
“Both,” Noin interrupted quickly, unwilling to face Sally’s skepticism. “But mostly that this isn’t a fluke.” She took a deep breath and looked towards the window. “I want to wake up tomorrow morning with you – and the morning after.”
Sally laughed musically. “Not even a whole date and already you’re ready to move in?” She shook her head. “Let’s get through tonight and we’ll deal with tomorrow when we get there. Come on,” she gestured at Noin’s pants, which the black-haired woman held in her hand, “I want to take you up on at least one promise.” She walked over to the desk, jotted a quick, haphazard note, then returned to face the other woman.
Noin stared at Sally for a long moment, then broke out into a low chuckle. “You never cease to amaze me.”
“Now *that* is something I can totally believe,” Sally said, and with some strength, pulled a mostly-dressed Noin from the office, slamming the door shut behind them.
The early morning sun slanted in through the picture window, casting long beams of sunlight onto the desk. The office door opened; Lady Une stepped through and turned slightly, bowing.
“Please come in and make yourself comfortable,” she spoke politely. Une had opted for a less than military look for this meeting, but anyone who had met her in her former incarnation would recognize the significance of the maroon suit she wore.
The man who entered was of the “hearty” variety; a man who had carved his early life out of hard rock and metal. His bluff thanks seemed out of place with his finely tailored suit.
Une gestured him to a seat and offered to make tea for them. As she stepped towards the bar, something caught her eye – a white object on the floor near the wall. Stooping casually, she scooped the object up before it would be noticed, then proceeded to the gas ring on the counter. After setting water to heat, she joined the representative at the desk. Une’s mouth dropped slightly as she noticed and read the sloppily written note on the desk surface, but she recovered gracefully as she smiled across the desk at her visitor. As Une continued with polite chatter, and the water heated in the pot, she surreptitiously opened a drawer. Slipping the panties she had found on the floor into the drawer, Une smiled down at the note.
“Noin and I are sleeping in late. Don’t call. Sally.”
Gundam Wing © Sotsu Agency, Sunrise and Fuji TV
Original characters and situations, E. Friedman