Chapter VI- In which day dawns, Sylvia gets a mission, and Duo compares women to…pickles?!

A/N: Ano ::sighs:: chapter five had a lot of grammar errors, didn't it? Gomen ne, I did it at one a.m. and was not entirely there grammatically.

::Godzilla-Relena beats Moonkitty over the head with her grammar wand::

Moonkitty: Ouchie!

Day had dawned over a grumpy mansion. Sylvia's screams had awakened the entire Noventa household (except Relena, who wasn't asleep in the first place). The two very beat-up and somewhat smug head bodyguards had done a quick search of the grounds and claimed they had found nothing (when they returned to their office, they had found Duo and the pack of cards were gone as well.)

Mr. and Mrs. Noventa (who were both certain their daughter was delusional) had left shortly afterwards, leaving Relena alone to soothe the distraught teenager. Needless to say, both of them didn't get much sleep that night.

By this time, our harried heroine was ready to throw away her pacifist ideals and pick up the nearest handgun to go on a killing spree.

And it was showing, too. Exhaustion marked her normally pretty face and her long blond hair crackled with static, even though she had bathed that morning in the antiquated shower (there was no way she was going near the bathtub knowing the things she knew!). Sylvia, however, seemed to show no signs of fatigue. Clever makeup hid her crow's feet and she seemed to be a living streak of energy. One night without sleep did nothing to her.

Relena couldn't help being scathing in her misery- the girl had never really had any important responsibilities, had she? Her chief concerns, it seemed, were school, fashion, and boys (or, more specifically, Heero Yuy). Relena paused her thoughts momentarily. Was it jealousy at Sylvia's freedom that angered her, or the fact that she had a crush on Heero Yuy?

She shook her head. She didn't have time to think these thoughts. Besides, she didn't like where they would lead…

"Relena? Are you ready yet?" Syvlia asked through the door.

The newest member of the Noventa family tied back her hair in exasperation and flung open the door for Sylvia who was, of course, stunning, even though it was a Saturday.

While Relena had opted for shorts and a tank top (her usual casual wear), Sylvia was bedecked in a lovely cheery-print sundress.

Relena decided that she had been spending too much time alone. Whenever she had a day off, she had let everything go, style, worries, everything, because there was no one to complain about her posture or dress or demeanor. She could relax comfortable in sweats or sleep away most of the day.

"What are you wearing?" they asked each other simultaneously.

"Casual clothes!" they answered each other at the same time.

Relena looked her companion up and down, "I think we are on different wave lengths."

"I agree."

"Anything planned today?"

"Yes!" Sylvia replied vehemently.

Relena was slightly taken aback by the violent reaction, "What is it?"

"Look, Relena, you believed me when I told you someone was peeking, right?"

Relena nodded slightly. Perhaps Heero had remained a little bit longer to see if she was all right. Or perhaps he really did have an interest in the beautiful granddaughter of the man he had killed.

Yes, typical of Heero to be so stupidly ridiculous.

Ouch. Where had that come from?

Sylvia was continuing on, unaware of her "sister's" mental confusion, "I believe we should go look for traces. I'll bet you anything that that guy left some clues as to who he was."

Relena kept her opinions to herself. The idea of stoic Heero Yuy thinking of any girl 'that way' was amusing. But Duo, on the other hand…No, it couldn't be, he had been unconscious. Her eyes darted around the portico nervously as they walked to the dining room. Who knew who could be watching at that moment?

Still, there were more important things to focus on.

Like breakfast.

Her stomach was rumbling at the thought. She would have a bowl of cereal or perhaps toast. Oh, a bagel with jam! How delicious!

She snorted to herself. Dreaming about breakfast foods? One day under the roof of the Noventa house had driven her batty!

There was no way the Noventas could get meat into their breakfast foods.

Sylvia stopped in front of the dining room's door and smiled at Relena, "I can tell we're going to be really good friends."

She pushed open the door and led Relena to a seat. It was just them again- the adults must have found some other thing to do. Relena wondered if they were ever there at all. It was no wonder that Sylvia had fallen in love with Heero, she had probably talked to him more than she ever had to her parents!

A maid brought in two covered plates- another thing Relena was unused to. She and Pegan usually sat down at the kitchen table together. She had been served before in a household, but certainly not regularly and definitely not for something as casual as breakfast.

The plates were uncovered. Relena's eyes widened.

Scrambled eggs mixed with bacon bits, two sausages, and buttered toast. Relena let out a small wail.

"What? Is something getting in your way?" Sylvia asked, already digging in to her hearty breakfast.

Relena heaved a sigh, "Just my pride."

She picked up the toast and took a careful bite.

Duo was shaking his head, "Your girlfriend eats like a bird, Heero. One day she'll collapse on you."

They were at their base camp with the portable television set displaying the dining room. They had turned off the volume because the morning gardeners had been nearby, and neither of them had bothered to put the sound back on again.

Heero glared at his friend, "You have your own problems to worry about," He looked pointedly at his friend's eye, "Did I give you that nasty shiner last night?"

Duo smiled weakly, "Uh, about that…Hilde knows we're here, by the way."

Heero smirked and nodded.

"Hey! Don't give me that look! I let her hit me! Y'know, to help her…vent her…uh…frustration."

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that."

"You know, you can't complain."

There was no reply.

"I saw what happened to your side. That is one nasty bruise."

"I fell out of a tree."

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that."

They were silent for a short while, Heero crouching as he folded up the bedrolls and Duo sitting cross-legged as he nursed his multiple wounds.

"You know, maybe we should call Wufei and tell him his 'woman' is here…let him in on the bet…"

Heero shook his head, "Bad idea. Next thing you know, we're overrun with the lot of them."

Duo nodded, placing a thumb on his chin as he thought, "I think my next move will be to get Hilde alone and try and talk with her."

"Hn."

"That sounded awfully sarcastic for a man without emotions."

"Maybe she doesn't want to talk."

"Heero," Duo said seriously, eyes level, "You may be a perfect soldier, but you’re a baby when it comes to dealing with women. Women are…Women are…"

"At least I have a vocabulary," Heero interrupted.

"Women are pickles…No wait, that's not right," Duo flipped his long braid over his shoulder, "Ah yes," he rose a finger and turned up his nose in a superior way, "Women are fickle. They're like opening Pandora's box because you never know what to expect. However, there is one thing that will always stay constant in a female," he paused dramatically, "the need to converse. They can't let things happen, they need to talk it over and make sense of it. They're always searching for hidden meanings, even when there are none.

"And lastly, they need to test you all the time like," he struggled for the correct word, "like deranged math teachers!" He waited for a moment to let that sink in. Heero merely glared at him, "They want to see your reactions to things…they'll drive you wild."

"Ah, yes," Heero said, enjoying the chance to prod his friend's pride, "Wufei wrote me an interesting letter about the fainting incident."

"What else was I supposed to do?!" Duo shouted furiously, "It was a trick question!"

"Still, I don't suppose saying that and fainting would be the right answer."

Duo crossed his arms and arranged his features into a look of wounded pride, "No one is ever going to allow me a chance to explain."

Heero lifted a hand in acceptance, "So explain."

Duo's mind spiraled back to that fateful night.

He had come back tired from a long day at the scrap heap, covering for Hilde because of her appointment with the doctor. Did anyone mention how nice he had been to cover for her instead of leaving her extra work for tomorrow? No. Everyone conveniently forgot about the only redeeming thing Duo had done in the situation.

Well, Hilde had no right to spring the baby ploy on him.

So what if they had an intimate relationship? They were both mature!

Well, sort of.

"Duo," she had said in a really soft and purring voice as she caressed her belly, "What would you say if I told you I was pregnant?"

He had turned ghastly pale, "You'd keep it? Why don't you get an abortion? We're-"

But before he could finish his eyes rolled back and he had fainted.

She packed her bags, wrote him a note saying it had been a 'test' and he had failed, and left him on the spot.

But what she didn't know, because he couldn't tell her citing his unconscious state, was that he really did love her and he wanted to be with her forever, but that he thought that she shouldn't have a baby seeing as they were both so young.

Duo returned to the present time. Now he had to get Hilde back before Heero got Relena. He looked over to his fellow former pilot and drew a breath to explain. Then he released it.

"Never mind, it's too complicated for you to understand."

Now he would have to endure smug smirks for the rest of the day.

Sylvia threw her fork on her empty plate. Relena swallowed her last bite of toast.

"Okay, Relena, it's time to impart on our quest!"

The most powerful teenager of her time was pulled to her feet and dragged out the door to the gardens.

She prayed that Duo and Heero had found a good place to hide.

A/N: Okay, next time on 'The Ward'- Sylvia and a reluctant Relena go clue hunting while Heero and Duo avoid capture. And…alas! Another encounter with the Twig and Ape-Woman! Oh…and should Wufei join in on the madness? I think so. I like to make fun of Wufei ::Moonkitty cackles evilly, then pauses:: But maybe it's getting too confused. Maybe no one wants to here about why Wufei and Sally are having a down time in their relationship. Feedback and opinions are appreciated!