One of Relena's servants had gotten the shock of a lifetime when she had been coming in to clean one of the spare bedrooms and discovered three people sharing the king-sized bed in it. She had even gone so far as to get Relena out of the meeting she had been in to come see.
Relena, on the hand, hadn't been too surprised to see just who had appeared in her home. Once she had heard which room was unexpectedly occupied, she had had a strong feeling that it would have been Heero. That Duo and Usagi were with him still was of no major surprise. While Heero might have been a bit renowned for disappearing, Duo was persistent about keeping up with him. It had always reassured her greatly about letting Heero out of her own sight, knowing someone else was looking out for him as well.
Perhaps two someone elses, she amended as she stood in the doorway, taking in the sight before her. They must have been exhausted, she knew, for neither Heero nor Duo to wake up through all this commotion, and she could only wonder when they had gotten in. No one had informed her of their arrival--nor apparently the rest of the staff--but that also was not surprising. She had no doubts, after all, that Heero and Duo were quite capable of breaking into her home.
The idea that they would break in to sleep, however, was a bit more troublesome to figure out. Usagi sleeping contentedly between the two of them was also a bit of a puzzler... but not that much of one. It was good to see her oldest friend had two people to take care of him, just as good as it was to see her newest friend with two people who cared just as much for her. And she just dared anyone to say anything. The names of Peacecraft and Darlian still had some weight she could throw around on their behalf if she needed to.
They were sleeping hard, so she just closed the door again and left orders with the servants--all the servants--to leave them be until they woke up on their own. Whatever they had all been through, they deserved their rest.
Heero had to say, he was a little surprised to wake up and find Duo awake already. It wasn't often that anyone was awake before him. At least Usagi hadn't beaten him awake.
"Hey," Duo greeted him quiet, presumably to keep from waking up the third person in the bed. By the look of things, a marching band could stroll through the room, playing as loudly as they possibly could, and Usagi likely still wouldn't be waking up. "How are you feeling?"
He took a brief inventory of himself and found the results vaguely startling. "I'm... good. Surprisingly good, in fact," he finally decided. And maybe it actually came out sounding more like a question than a statement, but at this point, he couldn't help it. "What about you?"
"I could sleep another day or two, but otherwise I'm all right. I'm completely confused, but I'm all right. What exactly happened? Preferably starting at the motel and everything until now."
So he found himself summarizing as best he could everything that had happened in the time Duo had been... gone. There were a couple of places that were beyond his best abilities to try to explain and some that were going to have to be left for Usagi to fill in, but he covered the bulk of the information as best he could.
Telling everything that had happened, even just to the best of his abilities, still made the entire story seem almost unbelievable. No, that wasn't entirely true: it did seem wholly unbelievable. It seemed to be miles outside of anything that should be permissible by the laws of nature and science. And yet...
"So, Usagi is actually Sailor Moon? You actually mean that?" Duo's eyes were wide with barely suspended disbelief. Honestly, if he hadn't seen the things she could do, he wasn't sure he would believe himself either. Having seen what he did, he still found it all a little hard to swallow. Of course, of the entire tale, that would be what Duo chose to latch onto.
He nodded. "Ginzuishou and all." And that damn thing was something he absolutely did not want to think about. It had helped get Duo back, yes, but it had nearly cost them Usagi. Worryingly, she was still unconscious, completely oblivious to the world around her. Even them gradually raising their voices above whispers had done little to budge her from sleep. He was going to give her a few more hours, but if she wasn't awake by then, he was going to try to wake her up. For his own comfort, if nothing else. He could admit that this was a bit concerning, even for her.
"It just seems to wholly impossible," Duo muttered. He wasn't sure if the other man was talking to him or himself, but the statement begged a response.
"I'm still not sure I believe it. Your fairy story turned out to be correct."
Duo was quiet a moment, clearly mulling this over, before he came up with a new question: "What about the bit with the Princess?"
He winced slightly. "I didn't get around to asking her that part." But it made sense.
The American stifled a yawn into his hand and then turned to look at the clock on the bedside table. "I have no idea when we got here, Heero, but it's almost fifteen hundred hours. It was dark when we busted out, right?"
So they had slept the better part of half a day. Well, that had been part of his plan for once they got Duo back. Of course, he hadn't planned on Usagi being completely unconscious. "It was somewhere around two in the morning, I think." It was a bit of a guess, of course, but his internal clock was generally fairly accurate.
Duo lay back down, though not before pressing a quick chaste kiss to Heero's lips. "Why don't I see if I can't persuade Relena to open up the kitchen? I think some food could do us all some good, don't you?"
Duo was already halfway to his feet before Heero stopped him with a hand on his arm. "I'll go. I need to talk to Relena anyway." And explain what it was they were doing there, as well as try to get her to have someone come check both Usagi and Duo over, for his own peace of mind if nothing else. "You stay here with Usagi."
To his relief, Duo nodded, sinking back down on the bed and curling up around Usagi's prone form again. He watched her closely for a long moment before she finally moved slightly, moving closer to the warmth of Duo's body. That was a good sign, at least. Maybe she was moving from unconsciousness into something more like real sleep.
He stared at the two of them for a long, long moment. The thought kept running through his mind about how had someone like him come to have two people like the pair of them, when he so obviously did not deserve them.
Or maybe he had it backwards. Maybe it was less they were his... and more that he was theirs.
It took Usagi another sixteen hours to wake up. During that time, he and Heero had taken turns staying in the bed with her, neither entirely willing to leave her alone. Of course, neither of them were too willing to be away from each other for long either.
It was probably just as well, then, that Heero had brought them to Relena's. This place was as secure and safe as any other building he could think of, and Relena had the money and staff to dote on them as much as she saw fit. Which she had proceeded to do once Heero had let her know they were there and awake.
Though apparently, she had checked in on them earlier. That she hadn't been utterly surprised to see them was good; that they had slept through her previous visit was troublesome. Of course, they had all been beyond exhausted--and they all knew that Relena was as far from a threat as could be possible. Hell, better than that: she was a friend. They were in short supply of those.
Relena had spent more than a little time in this room as well, probably as much as she dared set aside to do with her busy politician's life. Alternately she had spent that time either speaking with Heero over various matters or whispering to Usagi, saying things that he could not hear, even from his position right beside Usagi. It didn't really bother him too much that he wasn't a major part of Relena's visits; while the two of them were more than passably friendly, they weren't exactly the closest of pals. And it wasn't like Relena was ignoring him when she was in here.
Relena's presence gave him time enough to think over everything that had happened, both that he had been present for and that Heero had told him about. He got the feeling Heero had glossed over a few things, though it was probably more that either he wasn't present for it or thought the explanation was best suited to Usagi telling it. The whole thing seemed so terribly improbable, but if the last few weeks had taught him nothing else, he had learned that the improbable seemed to happen every day. Especially around Usagi. That was fine. As far as he was concerned, it would keep them on their toes. He could see how it would have bothered Relena, though.
As luck would have it, though, Usagi started waking up while Relena was in another meeting. This time, however, the meeting was trying to get Relena's personal physician to come check all three of them over because apparently Relena was not accepting the statement that they were fine; he halfway wondered if Heero had something to do with that.
It took Usagi a few moments to stir awake, giving him time enough to rouse Heero as well. When she finally opened bright blue eyes again, they were both right there. A tired smile tugged at her lips.
"Hey, you," he whispered. It was almost enough to make him grin, repeating the almost exact same thing he had said to Heero when they both woke up earlier. "Welcome back."
If she had ever had even the faintest of doubts about how the two men in her life felt about her, they were erased by the time she woke up. She had only vague recollections of everything that happened immediately before she used the Ginzuishou, but previous experience had taught her that it would eventually come back to her. Besides, she was starting to get used to life with a few spotty sections in her memory. Right now, at least, it wasn't a big deal.
Right now, nothing seemed like much of a big deal. She had her men on either side of her, and she felt warm and safe in their arms. Maybe it wasn't the future she had supposedly been destined to have--and maybe it wasn't even a conventional future--but it was glorious to her.
She was even willing to be poked and prodded by Relena-san's doctor. It wasn't the first time; that had been when she had first come to stay at Relena-san's home. It felt like she had a lot to thank Relena-san for, including introducing her to Duo and Heero, but she wasn't going to do that, not just yet. For the time being, she was going to enjoy lying where she was.
She had the faintest of inklings that things were not yet settled, that all the loose ends with Mamoru and Rei and their son were not yet tied off, but that was in the future. They were things she was--that they were--eventually going to have to deal with. She would also need to look closer into finding out just what consequences her last request on the Ginzuishou, to make everything all right, would end up being created.
In addition to that, she also wanted to check and make sure there were no more surprises from her past that might crop up in the future to surprise them; while there was some probability that Heero would see them coming, she wanted to be sure ahead of time.
Not today, though. Today, she intended to enjoy being with the men she had come to love so quickly.
No, it definitely was not the future Queen Serenity had intended for her. It was one of her own making, made from her own heart's wish, and it was going to be wonderful. It wasn't destiny set in stone, and that might have made it all that much better.
Really, it was her future, and she intended to start living it. Just the three of them...
26 August 2012
And wow... It's actually done. I almost can't believe it's actually done. Okay, there is some room for more stories in the same 'verse-and I do, as always, welcome anyone's writings. All I ask is, if you decide to join in on the Belladonna 'verse, link me to the story and let me add it on my site .
There's a new chapter of Of Worlds to Fall going up tonight as well, so if you've enjoyed Belladonna, please give it a read!
Thank all you guys so very, very much for sticking with me for this story. I know there were some seriously long hiatuses, but we've all made it through now. I think the story that ends here is actually probably better than the story it started off as, and it's thanks to your feedback.
Thanks!
Apollymi