CUSTOM ENDING ONE: THE HARD PART ,

STARRING ZECHS AND NOIN

"I'm getting old," mused Lady Une, as he examined the bags under her eyes. "I need some serious beauty sleep..."

"You and me both, Une."

Noin checked her own weary face. This was the product of serving on the night watch for the Preventers, she guessed. Granted, there wasn't much to do now, but a job is a job. At least now she was off the horrible shift ,with Otto and Zechs doing it now. Sally and new recruit Chang Wufei were somewhere in China, so the Preventers were a little shorthanded. And that meant double work for her and the others. Oooh,when those two braided joyriders came back....

"Guten morgen, Zechs," Otto finished washing his face.

"Guten morgen, boss," Zechs walked in, his usual aloof self. He looked over at Noin. "Morning, Noin."

"Morning, Zechs. I trust the piegons didn't try to kill you this time?"

"No, but ...." Zechs turned around. On his head was a white mound of perfect piegon poop," I might as well have died."

Otto and Une broke into laughter at the sight of the one time Lightning Count ,now defeated by a single well placed piegon bomb.

"That's not funny guys!"

Noin didn't laugh at all. She really cared about Zechs,and seeing him ridiculed like this was too much for her. Still, something was amiss with Zechs today...as he was for the past two weeks. She could sense it-what was bothering him ? He was spilling coffee,coming home late even after the morning shift and quite jumpy. She remembered him jabbing himself in the eye with his pencil when writing a report.

"Sorry, Noin....just sort your man out- I'm off to take mine out! " Une waved as she slung her handbag over her shoulder and walked out the door with Otto on her arm.

"See you at 9:30, Wind!" Otto hollered. "I know I can count on you!"

Their departure left Noin and Zechs alone in the office, with the only other sounds being made by the overworked air conditioner. Noin looked on as Zechs started on his word processor,typing away his latest report.

"Can I help you, Noin?"

"Zechs,you okay? You've been awful quiet these past few days...."

"It's just fatigue.....I'm just tired...oops, made a typo..."

Noin peered over the monitor and looked Zechs square in the eye.

"You're not tired....Zechs..you've been avoiding contact with me for the past two weeks! You don't call,we never get into bed together,or even out of it! Heck, we haven't slept together since God knows when! What's wrong, Zechs..."

"Nothing...is ..wrong!"he glared back at her. "I'm tired,that's all. Will you just shake it off? I...I'm just a little annoyed at something....you wouldn't understand...."

"Zechs..."

"Noin...!"his glare intensified.

Noin simply harrumphed and walked to her own office. If her longtime friend and lover wouldn't talk to her on any other day,then maybe she would have forgiven him.But it was Valentine's Day, and yet he was mumbling through the day ,acting as if he never cared. Noin usually wasn't sensitive to this kind of stuff,but she always knew he cared enough to at least tell her what he was going through. She just sighed and sat at her desk, staring at the blank laptop screen in front of her.

The phone rang, and Zechs answered it.

"It's for you, Noin."

"Hello?" Noin picked it up.

"Hey, Noin! It's me, Dorothy Catalonia! Listen,Sally just called..... She's finally coaxed that stubborn Wufei into a date this Saturday!"

"Dorothy!" Finally, someone to talk to..."So why are you calling me?"

"This is her first date in years! She needs all the girlfriend help she can get! I've even made Relena take the day off!"

"Only you could, Dorothy...."

"Well, you game or not?" Noin could hear that she still had her cackle.

"Well, there's nothing else for me to do today...why not..?"

"Hey, what about your boyfriend Zechs?I mean,do you guys have plans or something?"

Noin looked over at Zechs. He sure didn't look like he had any plans.She needed to get her mind off him,anyway....

"Zechs...you bastard...." she thought to herself.

[LATER,THAT NIGHT AT THE DOCKS]

"Remind me why we're at the docks when everyone uses space technology,Otto."

"I have a hunch a bunch of gun smugglers are using this sea port to get access to the market and past customs. See those flowers? I bet they're hiding the loot in there!"

Otto made a hissing sound as he and Zechs ducked behind a pack of crates. A couple of burly Italian men walked by, smoking cigars and carrying large ropes. They drew their guns and waited for the two men to get into the boat.

"Hands up,you two! Preventers!" Zechs called out, holding his gun and badge into the light.

"Don't shoot! We're just flower traders,honest!" one of them yelled back.

"Baloney!" Otto yelled. "We know all about your operation! Just surrender before we blow it wide open!"

"Where's your boss?" Zechs asked.

"I'm right here, gentlemen."

"Ma Ranieri? I thought your Mafia Monsters went straight and narrow..." Otto scratched his head.

"We did! We're selling flowers and furniture now..."

After a brief inspection, Otto was left with egg on his face. The Ranieri Mob had indeed become the Ranieri Flower Boys... Zechs sifted through some roses and carnations, hoping to find at least one weapon.

"Here's the permit, Otto. Now do you mind? We're making some deliveries...singing telegrams, too."

Otto looked over the papers and sighed. He could just feel Une and Zechs taking the mickey out of him for this. But the latter seemed uninterested, stepping off the boat and walking past him. He shrugged and left Zechs with Ma Ranieri on the pier.

"Zechs,lad, what's wrong with you? You look like someone shot you in the balls..." Ma asked.

"You always this foul mouthed,Ma?"

"Only around liars and poker cheats, Zechs.Now tell Ma what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong, Ma...ow!" he yelped as the long time mob leader pulled his ear.

"Your daddy didn't raise you to lie to older people, Zechs! Now come on,tell me...is it Noin?"

"Noin's the least of my problems....I don't know where to start..."

Ma signalled for her boys to get on with their work as she walked down the harbour with the subdued Zechs.

"I'm a Preventer now,but I feel so out of place....I'm not using my real name,yet I don't want it.I don't know what's come over me,Ma Ranieri...But I don't want to drag Noin into it,too..."

"What has Noin got to do with your problem?"

"She's got nothing to do with my problem, Ma. But that IS the problem...I..here,look at this," he said as he pulled out the box he hid from Noin in the park earlier.

"Zechs...is that what I think it is?"

"Yes it is," he opened the box. Inside were two gorgeous silver rings,both engraved with "M.P (Milliardo Peacecraft) and L.N (Lucerezia Noin) forever" .

"It's beautiful,Zechs....so what's stopping you?"

"It's me, Ma Ranieri....I can't honestly bring myself to the conclusion that I want to spend my life with somebody when I already did as someone totally different....the point is...the hard part is who Noin is going to marry...right now, I don't know who I am...,"he folded his arms.

"Zechs, I've been married to Bob for over 30 years.Over those years, we've both grown as people and evolved. Remember ,he became Silver Scorpion? I still loved him. He discovered I was a mob boss, he still loved me. Zechs, Noin has been with you since you can probably remember. All you have to do is be yourself..."

"Look at the rings...they say it all...Milliardo Peacraft..not Zechs Marquise,not Preventer Wind....Relena had them engraved, I forgot to tell her to wait...Ma, I don't want Noin thinking she married the same guy..."

"Zechs,you're beginning to sound like Ron Moss...."

"...the same guy who tried to destroy the world just a few years ago. I have to admit, the White Fang was a mistake...and what scared me most...was that I was going to shoot her Taurus to get to Libra...."

"What stopped you?"

"A tiny bit of reluctance...the ZERO system amplified it." His fingers squeezed together .

"Just a tiny bit?"

"I don't really know. Sorry if I don't sound too cooperative, Ma...."

"Zechs...the hard part is always saying yes to your feelings and no to your past. Often people do it the other way round. From what I've heard from the other Scorpions, you and Noin are the perfect couple. Don't worry, Milliardo.....just go for it!"

"Phantom really rubbed on you, didn't he?"

"Well, he wrote Relena a letter ....some of it mentioned you and Noin...see,even your rivals think you should get hitched...come on, bambino!"

Zechs simply stared into the still water.

[NEXT DAY,FRIDAY]

"Hello, Noin."

"Hello,Zechs....came late last night again, huh...?"

She held her breath as a bouquet of carnations (her favourite) plopped onto her desk. She looked up to verify if it really was Zechs who gave her these. Indeed it was.She returned his smile with one of her own.

"Sorry I was late last night, Noin... I ran into an friend at the docks." he pulled up a chair. "Someone who gave me some very good advice."

"What KIND of advice?" she cocked her head.

"I'm going to tell you tommorow night, after you do your little gig with Dorothy and the others." he got up and pecked her cheek, before going to his own office.

[SATURDAY NIGHT, AFTER WUFEI'S SOCIAL EXPERIMENT]

Noin waved good night to Sally and the others as she went onto the street to call a cab. Surprisingly, it was Zechs who pulled up in his car.

"I thought you needed a ride."

Noin walked in and was surprised to see him dressed in his white Sanq Kingdom ambassador outfit,instead his usual attire. She also noticed a dress in the back, wrapped in a zip cover. Also, Zechs wasn't driving her to the space port...

"What are you up to, Zechs?"

He stopped at a hill which faced the cloudless colony skies.

"Zechs, what are we doing here-"

She couldn't finish , as Zechs kissed her, lunging over the arm rest. They parted with a smack, leaving her breathless.

"Celebrating Valentine's...like we used to back at Academy....only now Walker isn't in the bushes snipping photos...oh, and I want you to change into that gown over there....we're going to Londo Bell..."

"Zechs! Londo Bell??That English restaurant that just opened in town?"

"Yes, THE Londo Bell....now go change."

"Zechs,do you mind?"

"Yes, I mind. I haven't seen you naked for two months.I'd better start now..."

"Ho,ho..." she threw the dress cover over his face.

Zechs looked at the ring box.

"Dinner, date....then...."

The rings sparkled in response.

*ONTO CHAPTER 15*