A.C. 200
Quatre fought the immature desire to laugh and skip along with the little children as they left the big circus tent. It had been an incredible show, the highlight of which had definitely been Trowa and Catherine’s act. He wondered if Trowa got nauseated on that spinning wheel. If he did, he never showed it. Where was Trowa, anyway? Dorothy had said she was going to go talk to him, but Quatre couldn’t see them anywhere. As he wove his way through the tents and trailers, he heard Dorothy’s giggle behind a trailer and hurried around it to meet up with his girlfriend. But when he turned the corner, he stopped in shock, his big turquoise eyes suddenly wanting to brim with tears. Dorothy was with Trowa, and they were...kissing. "D-Dorothy? Trowa?"
They both turned and looked at him, surprise showing even on Trowa’s face. "Oh no," Dorothy said, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. "Oh Quatre, I’m sorry...I meant to tell you..."
Quatre swallowed a couple of times before he found his voice. "How long has this...have you..."
She walked toward him. "Only a couple of days, I swear."
"But...but why?"
She reached out, her hands lightly cupping his face, as she smiled sadly. "You’re a wonderful person, you really are. You helped me back to my feet after that terrible war when no one else would even talk to me." She sighed and let her hands fall. "But I really feel that we’ve outgrown each other and we should move on. Trowa and I have found each other, and I’m sure you’ll find someone too, someone better than me."
"I’m sorry, Quatre," Trowa said.
Quatre could see that their regret for the pain this caused him was genuine, and he forced himself to nod. "I...I understand. I hope you two will be happy."
"Thank you, Quatre," Dorothy replied.
"Thanks," Trowa added.
Quatre nodded again, walking until he was sure he was out of earshot. Then he bolted, fleeing the circus grounds as fast as he could.
After staying home for a few days, he decided to go visit one of the other pilots. They were all living in the colonies. Duo and Hilde ran a scrap yard in L2 and Wufei was living on the rebuilt L5 colony. To find Heero, all Quatre had to do was watch the news and find out where Relena was currently conducting diplomatic relations between the earth and the colonies. Heero trailed after her, supposedly as an invisible bodyguard, although when Quatre had spoken to her recently, a little gleam in her eye made him think that she knew Heero was following her around and that his reasons were more personal than professional. Not that Heero’d ever admit it, of course. Quatre was also overdue for a visit to his own colony to check how the company was doing under the joint control of his sisters.
Quatre sighed. Of the three of them, Duo would be most sympathetic to his bruised emotions, and staying with the ever-buoyant pilot would surely cheer him up. With that decided, he packed some things in a suitcase and headed for his private shuttle at the local spaceport.
* * * * *
Duo and Hilde stood next to a wall at the docking bays of L2 colony. Duo leaned against the wall and watched the people go by, looking for a certain medium-tall blond boy.
"There he is, Duo," Hilde said, pointing.
Duo saw him and started waving. "Hey, Quatre!"
Quatre looked and then walked over to them, smiling. "You guys didn’t have to come meet me, I just called to make sure I wasn’t showing up at a bad time."
"That wouldn’t have been very nice of us," Hilde replied.
"Yeah," Duo agreed. "What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t come to meet ya?"
Quatre shrugged as they started the walk to the door. "Well, I just figured you’d be busy working."
"Duo? Working? That’d be the day," Hilde said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey! I work!" Duo protested, and Quatre laughed.
"Hey look, Duo, it’s your twin sister!" Hilde teased, pointing to a girl who wore a cap and had long hair pulled back in a braid. She was just seating herself on a tall stool at a little cafe. Duo and Quatre laughed. She glanced to the side, offering a profile of her face, before picking up a menu and perusing it. Hilde and Quatre continued walking, but Duo had stopped stock still.
"Duo, is something wrong?" Quatre asked, turning to look at him.
"No way," Duo said softly. "It can’t be. I mean, that would be too weird."
"What are you talking about?" Hilde said.
"I’ll be right back," Duo said as he walked to the cafe. He hopped up on a stool next to the girl and glanced at her face. It was her, and he wondered what she was doing in the colonies. "What’s good here?" he asked.
"I haven’t a clue. I’m not from here," she replied, not looking up.
"Where are you from?"
"Earth."
"Oh yeah? I went there once. Nice place. A little warfare, a little bloodshed, Romefeller foundation taking over with the mobile dolls, you know, a real happenin’ joint."
She looked up at him, frowning, and her frown disappeared as her eyes widened in surprise. "Duo Maxwell," she said, smiling. She leaned toward him and they hugged. "I knew something there was something familiar about that voice."
"Hey, Reggie, how’s it hangin’?"
They released each other and she sat back. "Pretty good, how about you?"
"Couldn’t be better. What are you doing here?"
"Looking for work. I figured I could get a job somewhere, maybe fix the mobile suits they’re using to repair the colonies."
"So you’re still playing mechanic?"
"Yeah."
"Where’ve you been working?"
"I was on Howard’s ship for a while after you went on your mission, but then I met my supposed fiancée and left. After that fiasco, I’ve just been knocking around, doing odd jobs and stuff."
"When I met up with Howard here in space, all he said was that you had found a guy. What happened?"
"Patrick said he loved me and wanted to marry me, but all he really wanted was to get into my pants. I found out he was seeing three other girls at the same time, so I found their numbers and called them all and we got together. Boy, were they all pissed when they found out that they weren’t the only ones he’d been dating! Anyway, we left him high and dry, and since then I’ve just been moving around, working where I’m needed."
"Serves the guy right," Duo said, laughing. "You have a place to stay or anything?"
"No," she said, shaking her head.
"Why don’t you come with me? I’ve got plenty of space."
"If you don’t mind..."
"‘Course not. C’mon, I want you to meet someone."
She picked up her duffel bag and followed him to where Hilde and Quatre were standing. Hilde’s arms were crossed, and she stared at him almost accusingly. "Hey guys, this is Regina Torres. She saved my life once." He walked over to Hilde and hugged her from behind. "This is my wonderful girlfriend Hilde Schbeiker and that’s Quatre Winner, pilot of the Gundam Sandrock."
"Hi," Regina said, looking at Hilde and then Quatre.
"Hi," Hilde said reluctantly.
"Pleased to meet you," Quatre said.
"She’s gonna stay with us until she finds a job and a place of her own, okay?" he said, releasing Hilde and looking at her as she turned to stare at him. She said nothing, only nodded after a moment.
* * * * *
The trip back to Duo and Hilde’s home was filled with non-stop chatter from Duo and Regina as they caught up on each other’s lives. Dinner was more of the same, with Hilde fuming silently and Quatre glancing between her and Duo, uncomfortable with the tension that was filling the room.
After the meal was over, Hilde walked to the front door.
"Hey Hilde, where ya goin’?" Duo asked.
"For a walk."
"You want company?"
"No," she said, and walked out, nearly slamming the door behind her.
When she returned later, Regina was sitting outside, pegging stones at a piece of metal. Regina glanced up at her as she came near. "I didn’t mean to make you jealous," she said quietly.
"Who are you really?" Hilde asked. "Some old girlfriend or something?"
Regina shook her head. "No, we’re just friends."
"Did you really save his life?"
"Yeah...it was way back when the gundams first came to Earth. I was an OZ pilot."
"So was I, but later than that," Hilde said, sitting down next to her. "I thought I was doing something good for the colonies...anyway, what happened?"
"Duo was captured, and they were torturing him. They even set up TVs around the base so people could watch the interrogations. Everyone thought it was great entertainment. But I just...I mean, he was a kid, just like me. I couldn’t watch that. I couldn’t believe anyone would think it was funny."
"What did they do to him?"
"At first they just beat him...but then they started getting really nasty. They whipped him and then they popped his knee out of joint and the interrogating officer kept stomping on it--"
"Oh God," Hilde said, one hand over her mouth.
"Yeah, I didn’t see it, but one of my fellow pilots took great pride in telling me what happened. I can’t imagine how terrible the pain must’ve been. I started taking care of him after that. All I could really do was bring him water, but it was enough to keep him alive."
"Did they do anything to him after that?"
"Yeah. That’s what finally gave me enough courage to get him out of there before they killed him. They...they electrocuted him...electric torture."
Hilde closed her eyes. "He has nightmares sometimes...I always thought it was because of the war, but maybe not."
"I know I’d certainly have nightmares about it."
"How’d you escape?" she asked, opening her eyes again.
"Pure dumb luck," Regina said, laughing a little. "I managed to get him out of the cell, across the base, and into the gundam before somebody noticed he was gone. We escaped from the hangar and I was able to pilot the gundam away from the base and eventually met up with Howard and his crew aboard his ship."
"And they took care of him?"
"Yeah. It took a little while for him to recover, but eventually he was okay."
"So you two were never...together, huh?"
Regina looked at Hilde, meeting her eyes. "To be perfectly honest, he kissed me once. Maybe things would have developed, but he went off on a mission and I didn’t see him again until today. The opportunity came and went. He has you now, and believe me, I have no intention of trying to take him. He’s my friend, and there’s nothing more than that between us." She smiled suddenly. "Besides, I think that blond friend of his is really cute."
They lapsed into girlish giggles. "I know what you mean," Hilde said. "I love Duo with all my heart, but sometimes when Quatre smiles and those gorgeous eyes of his get all sparkly, it’s enough to make you faint!" They giggled until they were weak, leaning against one another for support.
"C’mon," Regina said, getting up. "It’s cold out here and I’m tired of sitting on the ground." She extended a hand, and when Hilde grabbed it, pulled her to her feet. They walked inside, and Hilde ran over to the couch where Duo was sitting and flopped down next to him, still giggling.
"What’s so funny?" he asked.
"Nothing," she replied, and kissed his cheek.
"Well, while you girls were outside gossiping, Quatre and I were discussing more serious matters."
"Yeah, like what?"
"Dorothy...broke up with me," Quatre said softly.
"Oh, no!" Hilde exclaimed sympathetically. "Quatre, I’m so sorry to hear that. Was it because of somebody else?"
He looked down and fidgeted. "Yeah...Trowa."
Hilde winced. "Oh...ouch. That must really hurt."
"Yeah...I know they were really sorry about it, but..."
"Not sorry enough to not do it, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I think you should get an award."
He looked up at her. "An award?"
"Yeah, you’ve gotta be pretty brave for telling something like that to the biggest blabbermouth in the Earth sphere," she said, poking her elbow into Duo’s stomach.
He gave her his best offended look. "What is this, Pick On Duo Day? Sheesh!"
"And I think the award you should get...is a kiss."
"What?" Quatre said, startled.
"Hey, wait a minute--" Duo began, but Hilde silenced him with a finger on his lips.
"I never said I was going to kiss him." She cast a significant look over at Regina, who blushed but decided she was going to see this through.
Walking over to where Quatre was sitting, Regina plopped herself down right in his lap, prompting another startled look from him. She giggled and put her arms around his neck. "What kind of kiss would you like?" she asked him.
"Uh...um..." he stammered.
"A good one," Hilde put in.
Quatre sent a desperate look toward Duo, who was grinning widely and obviously enjoying the scene. He looked back at Regina, who was watching him with a small smile on her face, head cocked rather charmingly to one side. "Whatever you want," he said, trying to prepare himself for the worst.
Instead of virtually attacking him and latching on like a leech, she merely tightened her arms around his neck, bringing her face up to his. Her lips touched his skin, the bottom one just barely catching the corner of his mouth. She held it for a couple of seconds and then broke away, letting her arms slide back to their relaxed position. "Not so bad, was it?" she said.
"No," Quatre replied. "It was actually pretty...nice," he added, unable to keep from blushing.
"I dunno, that wasn’t much of a kiss," Duo said.
"What do you want me to do, french him?" Regina asked, looking at Duo. Quatre felt his skin grow warmer and knew he was turning bright red. "I don’t even know the guy!"
Duo couldn’t answer because he was laughing hysterically, pointing at Quatre and trying not to fall off the couch. "Stop it, Duo, you’re terrible!" Hilde said, smacking him in the head. Duo either wouldn’t or couldn’t stop laughing, and Quatre wished he’d chosen to visit Heero instead.
"I’m sorry," Regina said, bringing his attention back to the girl in his lap. She was serious now, gray eyes regarding him solemnly. "I didn’t mean to embarrass you."
"That’s okay. It...kind of happens a lot," Quatre admitted.
She smiled as she slid off his lap. "I think it’s cute," she whispered, giggling when he blushed again.
* * * * *
A week passed lazily. Quatre didn’t often have the chance to simply be a tourist, so he took full advantage of the opportunity, seeing all the sights of the colony. Only one thing bothered him, and he wasn’t even sure that it should. His thoughts were drifting more and more from Dorothy to Duo’s friend Regina. Was he "allowed" to be interested in her, or was there some kind of unspoken rule that set a period of time before he could start dating again? Was he even interested in her? He wasn’t sure whether it was genuine or only a reaction to his loss and her kiss, an attempt to salve his wounded heart.
Maybe it was love at first sight, but he wasn’t sure he believed in that. His relationship with Dorothy certainly hadn’t been that way. Out of compassion, he’d given the emotionally broken, war-torn girl a place to live and their relationship had progressed gradually from virtual strangers through friendship to romance. But Regina... When all four of them had gone out places, they were a couple by default and he’d grown to like the slight head tilt she had when she listened to someone else speak, her quick, open smile, and those gray eyes that could express such a wide range of emotions.
He realized he’d stayed too long and that he’d better get to L4 and see how the company was doing. He doubted there would be any problems; his sisters were smart, efficient, and economical. He was packing his bags when Duo knocked on the half-open door. "Quatre?"
"Come in."
Duo walked in and eyed the bags. "You leavin’ already?"
"Yeah, I figure I’d better. It’s been really nice staying with you, but unfortunately, I’m officially the head of the Winner business, so I have duties I should be attending to."
Duo flopped down on the bed. "Man, I don’t envy you that."
Quatre smiled. "It’s not so bad. My sisters are really the ones running things, at the moment I’m more of a figurehead than anything else."
"Hey Quatre, you use mobile suits at your resource satellites, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Regina’s a real good mechanic, but she hasn’t been able to find any work here. You wouldn’t be able to find a place for her, would you?"
"I don’t see why not," Quatre said, shrugging. "I’m sure we could use another skilled mechanic. I remember one of my sisters complaining that the suits weren’t being maintained well enough."
Duo grinned and got up off the bed. He walked to the door and called down the hall. "Hey Reggie!"
"Yeah?" her voice came back.
"Quatre says he can find you a job!"
In a moment, she arrived at the door. "Really? What kind of a job?"
"Mechanic."
Quatre looked at her. "My company uses mobile suits to do some of the mining on resource satellites."
"Your company?" she said, looking confused. Then her eyes widened. "You’re that Winner?"
Quatre blinked. "You didn’t know?"
"I guess I just didn’t think..." She smiled at him. "Thank you for the job offer, you’re very kind."
He smiled back. "It’s not a problem."
"Are you leaving now?"
"I don’t need to leave right this minute, so you’re welcome to pack and join me."
"That’s good," she said, grinning, "because I spent all my money getting here." She left the room and disappeared down the hall to her room.
"She’s more than welcome to join you, huh Quatre?" Duo said slyly.
"What are you implying, Duo?"
"You know exactly what I’m implying. You like her."
"Is it wrong?" Quatre asked, looking down at his hands. He didn’t realize he’d been that obvious. "It’s only been a week and three days since Dorothy broke up with me. I’m not even sure what I’m feeling is genuine."
"I see your point, but I don’t think it’s wrong. If you like her, then you like her, and nothing good’s gonna happen if you try to deny that. And if you’re not sure it’s real, then just don’t do anything that you’d regret later if it isn’t."
"Yeah, thanks Duo."
The next morning, Quatre and Regina said their last good-byes to Duo and Hilde and boarded his shuttle. They stowed their bags and strapped themselves in, and when Quatre received clearance, jetted away from the colony. "It’s amazing what a difference a lack of atmosphere can make," Regina said, staring out the window. "There are so many more stars and they’re all so much brighter."
"Yeah, you’re right," Quatre replied. "I guess if you live out here, you’re used to it."
"I hope it takes a while before I get used to it."
"You’re planning on living out here in the colonies?"
"Yeah," she said. "Going back to Earth...right now the only reason I’d go back to Earth was if I couldn’t make a living up here. I’d have to go home and live with my father and brother lording it over me because I couldn’t make it on my own. I won’t do that. I’d rather die."
"You don’t seem to be very fond of your family."
"My brother was always my father’s pet. I was just the extra child that he paid attention to when he had nothing else to do. My mother was the only one who loved me, and she died when I was five."
"That’s terrible," Quatre replied sympathetically. "My mother died when I was born, but at least my father loved and spent time with me. As much as he could, anyway, with the business to run."
"My father was really involved with business, too."
"What did he do?"
"He owned a company that made mobile suits for OZ. I don’t know what he’s doing now, unless he turned to making repair suits."
"Is it safe to assume he was an OZ supporter during the war?" Quatre asked with a little smile.
Regina laughed. "Oh, definitely. My brother and I grew up on stories of the wonderful things OZ did. I became a pilot when I was old enough to join, but I think it was more an attempt to get my father’s attention than any kind of loyalty to OZ. I certainly abandoned it easy enough when I helped Duo escape."
"What did happen to Duo while he was a prisoner, anyway?" Regina told Quatre the entire story, plus her own adventures since their separation during the war. Quatre shook his head. "Duo’s lucky you were around. You saved his life."
She shrugged. "Yeah, so people keep telling me. I wish I’d done something sooner, but I guess I shouldn’t complain if people want to make me a hero for what I did do."
"I don’t think heroes ever consider themselves to be heroes. The public calls us gundam pilots heroes, but I’ve never felt that I deserve that kind of...worship, and I know the others feel the same way."
Regina nodded. "You’re probably right. The public creates heroes out of ordinary people doing what they feel they have to do."
Quatre simply nodded in reply.
The journey was completed in silence, but it was a companionable one. Soon they reached the L4 colony and Quatre docked the shuttle with a practiced ease. His butler, Julian, met them as they exited the shuttle. "Master Quatre, it’s good to have you home."
Quatre smiled as Julian picked up his bags. "Thanks, Julian. It’s nice to be home."
Julian turned to Regina. "If you like, miss, I can take your bag as well."
"No thanks, I’m fine," Regina replied, slinging her duffel to her shoulder. Julian nodded, then turned and led the way to a car.
When they reached Quatre’s mansion, they walked inside and Julian headed off to Quatre’s room with his bags. Quatre and Regina were about to follow, but stopped when three female voices cried "Quatre!" He was squeezed tightly as three of his sisters all tried to hug him at the same time.
Regina couldn’t help but grin, and he smiled at her. "Regina, this is Iria, Marta, and Victoria, three of my sisters."
"Three of your sisters? How many do you have?"
"There’s twenty-nine of us," Victoria said, "but we’re all test-tube babies. Quatre’s the only one who was created and born biologically."
Regina giggled because Quatre was blushing again. "I’m Regina Torres. Quatre said there might be work for a mobile suit mechanic here...?"
"Is there ever!" Marta exclaimed dramatically, releasing Quatre. "Why don’t you come with me, and I’ll show you where you can get settled in, and then we’ll talk about work."
"Okay," Regina said, and walked away with Marta.
"I’d better go save her from Marta’s non-stop mouth," Victoria said. She kissed Quatre on the cheek. "It’s so good to have you home for once, little brother."
"Thanks," Quatre replied, waving a little as she walked off after Regina and Marta.
"Dorothy didn’t want to come with you this time?" Iria asked.
Quatre sighed. "She...broke up with me."
"Oh..." Iria said after a moment.
The odd tone of her voice made Quatre look at her. "Oh? Oh what?"
"You’d better come to the office and see for yourself."
* * * * *
"I have to get married?!" Quatre exclaimed in astonishment, staring at his father’s will.
"You have to be engaged, anyway, before your twenty-first birthday," Iria said.
"That’s...that’s in a couple of months! How am I supposed to find someone..."
"I don’t know. I thought you and Dorothy were going to stay together. Quatre, if you don’t do this, the company’s going to be forfeited to our competitors!"
"I know, I know. I’ll just...I’ll just have to find someone I think I’ll be able to live with for the rest of my life."
* * * * *
But after a month and a half of dinners and dances with high-ranking society figures and their ditzy, giggly, thoroughly boring daughters, he was ready to throw in the towel. "I give up," he moaned to Iria before a dance. "I won’t find anyone. Our company’s going to be dissolved and it’ll be all my fault."
"You still have a couple more weeks," Iria replied as she did last-minute touch-ups to her hair and makeup. "You seemed to enjoy Miss Relena’s company the few times you saw her."
"Relena’s taken." He smiled in reminiscence. The last time they’d met, they were both sure they’d seen Heero lurking in the shadows of the ballroom, watching them. Relena had been giddy with delight.
"Oh, I see," Iria said, bringing him back to the present. She sighed as she put her things away in her purse. "Well, we’ll just have to hope, then."
"Yeah."
* * * * *
Quatre half-listened to his current companion’s prattle as he looked around for some way to escape Miss Helen’s tenacious grasp on him. Halfway across the room, a beautiful young woman in a gray dress listened to the man beside her talk, her head tilted slightly to one side as she nodded, the curls of her elaborate hairstyle waving gently. With a start, Quatre realized it was Regina. He was on his feet before he knew what he was doing, and Helen was abruptly quiet, staring at him in shock. "Umm, excuse me for a moment," he said quickly, and hurried across the room toward Regina.
She saw him as he approached, and her brilliant smile washed across her face. Her companion turned, and Quatre saw that it was Owen Harber, the CEO of one of his competitors. "I hate to interrupt your undoubtedly interesting conversation," he said as he stopped in front of them, looking first at Owen and then fixing his attention on Regina, "but I was watching you and thinking that with your obvious grace you must be a magnificent dancer, and I’d be most honored if you’d agree to a dance with me."
"How could I say no to such a wonderfully phrased request?" she said, still smiling, and she took his outstretched hand and let him lead her to the dance floor.
A slow waltz started, and they moved across the floor with the other couples. "You look so beautiful tonight," Quatre said softly.
Regina blushed. "And you cut quite a dashing figure in that tux," she replied.
"Are you here with Owen?"
"Oh...yes. I caught him snooping around the repair building, and he invited me to come here with him. I guess he thinks he can bribe his way inside or something."
"Already deciding what he wants to take?" Quatre asked, a trace of bitterness in his voice.
"What do you mean?" Regina asked. "You’re not going bankrupt, are you?"
"No, but that would work just as well. My sister Iria was going over my father’s will and discovered that there was a statement to the effect that I have to be engaged before my twenty-first birthday or my company will be divided among my competitors."
"When’s your birthday?"
"Two weeks from tomorrow."
"Uh oh."
"That’s putting it mildly."
"Too bad I’m not high-society in space," Regina said, smiling, "or else I’d be glad to take the job."
Quatre’s heart jumped and he was about to reply when someone tapped on his shoulder. "May I cut in?" Owen asked, eyeing Quatre belligerently. Quatre found himself nodding and let Owen take his place with Regina.
He walked to a quiet corner and leaned against the wall, suddenly aware that his heart was pounding and that he was shaking. She all but said yes to a direct proposal, he thought, and realized that his tentative feelings a few months before had blossomed into full-blown, worship-the-ground-she-walks-on love. He wanted this woman in his life.
Iria walked over to him, concern etched on her face. "Quatre, are you all right?"
"Iria, I know we’ve been over the will hundreds of times, but my mind is so...muddled right now...what’s the exact wording on the marriage thing?"
" ‘In addition, my son, Quatre Raberba Winner, must be engaged to be married before his twenty-first birthday, or family rights to the company will be lost and the aforesaid company will be divided among the competing businesses in the colonies,’ " Iria quoted. "Why?"
"So it doesn’t necessarily have to be someone from the colonies."
"It doesn’t even need to be someone of our class, but we thought it would be easier that way." He started laughing softly, and she gave him a stern look. "Quatre, just what is going on here?"
"Regina--"
"That’s the girl you were dancing with, right? The one who came with you when you came back from Earth?"
"Yeah."
"I thought she looked familiar. What does she have to do with this? I know the will doesn’t say you have to marry from our class, but what are people going to say if you marry a mechanic from your company? They’ll think you did it just to save the company and then rumors and accusations will start flying. "
Quatre shook his head. "She’s high-class on Earth. Her father ran a company that made mobile suit parts for OZ so of course she was rich and she knows how to behave and deal with these people and I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before--"
"Quatre, you’re rambling."
"Iria, I love her, and I think maybe she loves me too. I told her about everything and she said...she said if she was high-society in the colonies, she’d be glad to marry me, but we didn’t think that she could because she isn’t..."
Iria sighed, but she was smiling. "Heaven help me, my little brother’s love struck." She opened her purse and took out a small velvet-covered box. "Here," she said, putting it in his hand. "Go get this on her finger before some other hopeless fool steals her away from you."
He smiled at her and then walked back to the crowd, looking for Regina. He saw Owen first, talking with a group of other businessmen and their wives, and then saw Regina being held firmly against his side by one of his arms. She couldn’t get away from him without causing a small disturbance. He smiled slightly. Perfect. Just the group he wanted to witness his proposal. He walked over to the group, coming up on the tail end of their conversation. "So I was thinking that the resource satellites around L3 would suit me best," Owen was saying. "I hope the rest of you don’t object?" The other men shook their heads, and Owen smiled. "Maybe I’ll even give the deposed prince a job...he can be my janitor."
"Planning a hostile takeover, Mr. Harber?" Quatre asked from behind him, forestalling any laughter that might have erupted.
Owen moved to look at him, and Regina took the opportunity to remove his arm from around her waist and step away from him. "Nothing hostile about it," Owen said complacently even though he gave Regina a sharp look. "We’re only discussing the inevitable."
"It might not be as inevitable as you think."
"Oh really?" Owen asked, laughing. "Why do you say that? You obviously don’t prefer the company of any of the ladies present, so where are you going to find someone to marry you within two weeks?"
"I only have to be engaged within two weeks, and I’m pretty sure I have found someone." He looked at Regina and added, "Seeing as how the job description doesn’t say anything about high-society in the colonies."
She blinked, then her eyes widened and an incredulous smile took over her face. "Oh...oh yes. Yes, yes, yes!" She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Wait...you can’t just marry her," Owen said.
Regina pulled back a little and looked at Owen. "Why not?"
"You’re just a grunt in his company. He probably doesn’t even know you."
"You don’t know me, so how would you know I’m ‘just a grunt’?" she shot back. "For your information, my father owns a company that produced mobile suits during the Colony War, so I grew up rich. You can look up his name and see for yourself. Nicholas Torres."
"And we know each other," Quatre added. "We met a few months ago through a mutual friend. I gave her a job in my company because she needed work."
She smiled. "I don’t need to work anymore, do I?"
He smiled too. "Nope."
Laughing softly, they kissed, letting their mouths capture one another. The kiss went longer than they expected, and when they broke away, they were breathless. "Well," Regina said. "I’d say that’s a good start to the relationship."
They stepped away from one another, and Quatre remembered the ring. "Oh yeah," he said, opening the box. "I have a ring..."
She giggled. "Oh yeah, can’t forget that." He took it out of the box and put it on her finger, and she admired it. Three diamonds sat on top of a white gold band. "It’s beautiful," she said.
"This...can’t be happening..." Owen said, looking dumbfounded.
"It’s happening," Regina replied. "Get over it."
The orchestra struck up one of Quatre’s favorite waltzes, and he held a hand out to Regina. "Shall we celebrate with a dance?"
"Let’s," she replied, putting her hand in his. Laughing, they joined the couples already on the dance floor, leaving the would-be usurpers and the crumbled remains of their dreams of conquest behind.
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