Silhouetted by the Sea

Disclaimer: The usual stuff. You know it by heart.

Author's Notes: Don't really have too much to say;)

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Silhouetted by the Sea
by Kristen Elizabeth

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Hilde was awake, dressed and at the rail of the ship long before the sun started to rise. They were going to be at the last possible island where Heero and the others could have landed within the next few hours and she didn't want to miss a moment, in case that moment happened to be the one where her friends...her family...were found.

She was so wrapped up in listening to the ocean that she didn't even sense Duo coming up behind her until she could feel his warmth surrounding her. She froze, unsure of exactly how to handle the situation. Should she speak or wait for him? Ignore him or fling her arms around him?

Fortunately, he made the first move. "What happened to your dress?"

"It wasn't mine," she replied. Beneath the bindings over her breasts, her heart pounded. "And I feel much better dressed like this."

"You mean you feel much safer dressed like that?"

Hilde frowned. "I'm just tired of trying to be something I'm not." She paused. "And it's not like you really care what I look like, so why don't we just stop talking about it?"

"Fine." Duo swallowed. Right then, he would have given up his freedom for another two years just to taste her lips. "Hilde..."

"Don't." She spun around and pressed her back up to the rail. There was murder flashing in her blue eyes. "You don't get to use my name like we were....like we were lovers."

He smiled sadly. "We *were* lovers."

"Not quite." Hilde turned back around. "And I'm glad. I deserve someone who loves me. Who is capable of loving me."

Her words were like a punch to his gut and hurt far more than the kick to his groin she had given him on their meeting. "Aye. I suppose you do," he replied, putting his hands on the rail. His arms created a tiny cell around her body without actually touching her. They were quiet for a long time and it wasn't until the morning sun peeked its head above the horizon, that Duo spoke again. "For what it's worth, Lady Hilde..."

She cut him off. "It's not worth anything." Ducking, she escaped the prison of his arms and moved further down the railing to wait.

Quatre found them a few minutes later, ten feet apart, watching the same tiny strip of land in the distance come closer to the ship. And he watched both of their reactions very carefully when the both spotted the speck of fire on the island, a beacon calling to them.

Duo turned around and, in a voice calmer than Quatre would have believed him capable of producing, announced, "We've found them."

****

Trowa opened his eyes, trained to wake with the dawn. Blinking, he checked to make sure the warning fire was still going; with the amount of underbrush he had built it with and having checked on it twice during the night, hs sas satisfied to see that it was.

He sat up and ran his hands through his long bangs. His stomach called for his attention, but he ignored it for the moment. Dawn was his favorite time and he would not disturb it. The moments in which a new day were born were the only minutes he had with Catherine.

As though she had never gotten on that blasted ship with her parents and sailed back to England, she always appeared to him with the morning sun. He could hear her laughter, see her smile and, if he concentrated hard enough, feel her lips in the one chaste kiss they had been allowed.

He often wondered if the country's independence had been worth losing the only love of his life.

She was probably married by now, he reasoned with himself. To a lord or a duke or a baron...her family moved in all the right social circles. Too important to stay in traitorous country. Even if they had not fled America, she could never have been his. This thought always signaled the end of his dawn's light regrets. Saying his usual goodbye to her in his mind, he stood up, prepared to start the day.

It was then that he realized two things. One, that the baroness and Wufei were sleeping with their hands entwined. And two, Heero and the duchess had still not returned from wherever they had been the previous day. He shook his head. It was time to pay attention to his stomach.

Thirty minutes later, Wufei woke up. Without removing Sally's hand from his, he sat up. Trowa was squatting next to the cooking fire, roasting a saltwater crab. "That smells truly awful," he informed the taller man.

Trowa nodded. "But I don't intend to eat the shell." He lifted his eyebrow. "Taken to hand holding, have we?"

The Chinese man gave his usual scowl and ignored the innuendo. "I see Heero and his little girl haven't come back." He shook his head. "Shouldn't they be done by now? It only takes a few minutes to..."

"I hope Heero knows what he's getting himself into," Trowa cut him off. He stared at his cooking breakfast as he spoke. "It's not as though he can ever really be with her."

"And you'd know?" Wufei asked.

Trowa cleared his throat. "I'd know."

A long pause followed. Finally, Wufei spoke. "Turn around and tell me that's not a ship approaching."

The other man's head whipped around, breakfast forgotten. His green eyes grew wide and he abruptly stood up. "I think they've seen our fire." He swallowed.

Wufei nudged the woman next to him. "Woman...woman, wake up." Sally's blue eyes opened sleepily. "We've been found," he told her.

****

Duo had the ship drop anchor just outside the impenetrable shallow waters of the island's coral reef. He felt Hilde's eyes on him as he helped the crew lower the rowboat to the water. Finally, when the task was complete, he turned to face her.

"Are you coming?"

Her eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly. She scampered across the deck and joined Duo, Quatre and three other native crew members as they started down the rope ladder to the boat. Her impatience mounted as they began the slow task of rowing to the island. She knew was she was fidgeting and she didn't give a damn. All she cared about was seeing the familiar faces of the people she loved...the people she had almost given up hope of ever seeing again. Wufei, Trowa....Heero.

"Can you please row faster?" Hilde asked one crew man. The man smiled, his teeth brilliantly white against his dark skin.

Duo watched her squirm in anticipation before it became too hard for him to watch any more. Instead, he watched the shore as it came closer. There were two fires he could see now, the large, warning fire and a smaller one, probably for warmth or cooking. He sensed movement on the shore, but no shapes took form until they were much closer.

When they were approximately forty feet off shore, Hilde cupped her hands around her mouth. "Heero!?" she shouted.

The reply from the shore was faint. "Hilde??"

She dropped her hands. "It's Trowa!! He's alive!!" Duo smiled at her joy. She raised her hands again. "Heero?!"

"Hilde....we're here!!" a second voice replied. It was definitely Wufei's.

Hilde's initial enthusiasm began to waver. "That's Wufei....he's all right, too." She frowned. "But what about Heero?"

Duo wasn't sure if his jealousy was justified, but he was beginning to dislike this Heero fellow.

When the water was shallow enough, Hilde could no longer stand to wait. She could see Wufei and Trowa, with the baroness, standing on the shore. All she wanted to do was to throw her arms around the two men....and ask them about Heero.

She jumped over the side of the rowboat and landed in the water. "Hey!" Duo cried to her. "What the hell are you doing?" Hilde ignored him and starting wading. She emerged onto the shore running, her boyish clothes plastered to her body. She ran straight into Trowa's arms.

"You're alive!" she cried into his chest. "I thought you were all dead!!" Her older friend hugged her back, having no words at his disposal to give to her.

Wufei joined them and found himself next in line for a bone-crushing embrace. "Where do you pack all your strength, little one?" he asked her.

Hilde drew back and asked the one question she absolutely needed answered. "Where's Heero?"

****

Heero was awake a long while before Relena. He was content to lie on the sand forever with her lithe body curled around his, watching her sleep. Waking up in a woman's arms had never even crossed his mind as something he would like to do. Now, he knew he would never feel complete unless he started every morning like this. But, he thought as he pushed a wayward strand of hair off her face, only Relena's arms would do.

When she finally woke, Relena didn't say anything. She only watched him right back, lost in the love she felt in his stare. Afraid that if she spoke, the moment would be lost, she simply touched her hand to his cheek. He covered her hand with his and brought her fingers to his lips.

Finally, Relena couldn't keep her thoughts at bay. "Please tell me that I'm not dreaming," she whispered.

Heero smiled. "You're not."

"Please tell me that those times you woke me up during the night weren't dreams either."

"The times *I* woke *you* up?" he asked, pointedly.

She gave him a dazzling smile. "Perhaps it was more of a mutual thing. Whomever woke whom....I'm glad it wasn't a dream." Relena pressed herself closer to his warm body.

"Relena," he began, hesitantly, a few minutes later. "I'm hungry."

Her head lifted. "And I'm thirsty." She blinked. "Does this mean we have to get up?"

He nodded. "I think so. But..." he reassured her. "We can always come back."

Relena smiled and let him pull her to her feet. After regaining her balance, his arms encircled her. He kissed her deeply. "Are you sure that we have to..." she began.

"We need sustenance."

She pouted playfully. "I suppose I'm not as tempting as a roasted fish or a plantain, am I?"

Heero lifted her off the ground. "You're a different kind of sustenance. One that I will never get enough of."

"Hmmm...." Relena gave him a soft kiss. "All right. That's good to hear."

After a quick dip in the lagoon to wash off the sand, they donned what remained of their clothes and followed the freshwater stream back to its ending point. Hand in hand, they emerged onto the beach. What they found waiting for them made Heero's stomach drop.

Several natives in European clothing stood a close guard over Trowa, Wufei and Hilde. They, in turn, were watched over by two white men, one blond and dressed in the height of fashion; the other, in all black with an effeminate braid hanging down his back.

Relena clung to Heero's arm. What was left of her dress wasn't indecent when everyone else's clothes were torn, but with the entrance of the fully-dressed strangers, she suddenly felt uncomfortably exposed. The man glanced over at them as they came into view.

Hilde's eyes grew wide. "Heero!!" she shouted, making a run for him. One of the native men grabbed her, holding her back. "Let go of me! What are you doing?"

The man with the braided hair spoke to him. "It's all right." The man released Hilde and after she had thrown him the most withering look she could conjure, she quickly covered the sand between her and her oldest friend and threw her arms around Heero's neck.

Heero returned her embrace with equal emotion. Showing the feelings he had seemed suddenly easier. He looked at Relena. He owed it all to her. Prying Hilde's arms away from his neck, he cupped her face in his hands. "What's going on? Who are these men?"

"I thought you were dead," she sobbed instead of answering. "We found wreckage where you were supposed to be..."

"A hurricane," Heero said. "We're fine. Hilde...the men...."

She sniffled. "I did just like I was supposed to...until I got lost. But I ran into them...they were looking for Kushrenada's ship. They work for him. I didn't mean to tell them who I was, Heero, I swear. But Duo....he wouldn't believe me."

"Who's Duo?" Heero shook her gently. "Tell me what's going on, Hilde?"

"It's pretty damn easy to figure out." The braided man approached them. "Yeah and don't bother showing *too* much gratitude for us saving your asses." He gestured to Trowa and Wufei. "Your men have already given us plenty of thanks." His voice oozed sarcasm.

Heero frowned and held Relena's hand tighter. "Who are you?"

"Duo Maxwell, at your service." He winked. "And yours, m'lady." Out of the corner of his eye, Heero noticed Hilde's eyes following this Duo Maxwell's every movement. It bothered him.

Before any further conversation, the other man joined them. "Miss Peacecraft?" His mouth gaped open as he took in the sight of the disheveled woman pressed to Heero's side. "Miss Peacecraft....what have they done to you?"

"Do I know you?" Relena asked, folding her arms across her nearly-exposed breasts.

He shook his head. "We've never officially met, even though I saw you at your brother's wedding years ago. My name is Quatre Winner. I'm a good friend of Lord Kushrenada's."

Relena nodded. "Forgive me for not curtsying, sir."

"It's quite all right." Quatre reached out a hand to her. "Come. Let's get you away from these people."

Heero's eyes grew dark with what Relena recognized as fury. "Relena decides for herself whether she goes or stays."

"You have a lot of audacity, sir, to address Miss Peacecraft by her Christian name."

Relena raised her hand. "Please, it's all right. This man has done nothing but save my life, Mr. Winner. There is nowhere I feel safer than with him."

Duo licked his lips. "You can't stay with him, duchess."

She bristled; she was only one man's duchess. "You may call me 'Miss Peacecraft', sir."

"Miss Peacecraft, fine. But you still can't stay with him." Duo signaled to a native man. "Because I'm arresting them all." He paused and glanced at Hilde. "Including her." His eyes moved back to Relena as he accepted a length of rope from the crew member. "So, please go with Quatre. It's just going to make everything easier if I don't have to put you in the brig, too."

She looked up into Heero's eyes for reassurance. They were watery with unshed tears. All he did was nod and release her hand.

Relena was too numb to do anything when Quatre gently pulled her away from Heero. It was only when she saw the ropes begin to be wound around her lover's wrists that she reacted. "No!" she shouted. "You can't do this...please!" Quatre held her in check, preventing her from running back to him. "Please...don't do this...Heero....Heero!!!"

Heero closed his eyes, unable to bear watching her be lead away from him. The ropes dug into his skin, but the pain was nothing compared to when she began to call his name. When her cries faded, he reopened his eyes. Beside him, Duo was binding Hilde's wrists behind her back.

He watched the little girl he had protected for so long hold her chin up high despite the disheartening situation. The braided man seemed to be taking an awful long time with her ropes, to Heero's thinking, with far more concern in his movements than a jailer should afford his captive.

"Do they hurt? I can loosen them," Duo said, once he was finished.

Hilde refused to look at him. "I'd rather you not touch me anymore, sir."

There was hurt in the man's strange, violet eyes at her words. If he hadn't been thinking of Relena, he probably would have paid it more mind. But as it was, all Heero could think about as he waited for the rowboat's return trip, was their last few moments together, holding hands, making their way though the tropical forest...heading for an inevitable conclusion.

He lowered his chin to his chest and let a few tears fall.

****

To Be Continued