Silhouetted by the Sea

Disclaimer: I promise that they're not mine. Really. I do. And I don't lie....much.

Author's Notes: I like making plots complex with lots of different storylines because it's fun and much more interesting for the reader. But don't worry....I'm in control of it;) Just sit back and enjoy the ride;)

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Silhouetted by the Sea
by Kristen Elizabeth

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Hilde raised her head from the down feather pillow on the tiny berth Duo had let her to sleep in. It was now soaked with her tears after hours of crying. Every time she thought she had no more tears, she would think of Wufei or Trowa or Heero...and the sobs would well up once more.

Part of her refused to accept that they were dead. Because if she accepted that, then what would happen to her? She hadn't been alone since she was four years old. She only had vague memories of being found by an eight year old Heero on the streets of Philadelphia. On that day, he had become her official guardian, protecting her from older, meaner street children and making sure that when he stole food, she got most of it to eat. He was her brother, in spirit, rather than blood.

Her face scrunched up in agony. And now he was gone, along with the other two members of their strangely formed family, Trowa and Wufei. She wouldn't ever see them again and she would never get the chance to tell Heero how much she loved him.

She couldn't stay still with her misery anymore. She needed to get out of the tiny cabin. When she was little and would get scared in the middle of the night, she could always turn to Heero. They had shared the same worn blanket for years, older brother and younger sister. There was no one for her to turn to for comfort on this horrible night.

The hem of the nightdress she had taken from Relena's trunks fell to the floor as she got up and started out of the cabin. Her tiny feet made little sound as she padded down the narrow, dark corridor that would lead her to the deck. But instead of climbing the ladder, she paused in front of the door to the captain's cabin. Duo's room. As infuriating and disgusting as she found the man to be, his company was better than being alone.

She entered the room as quietly as possible. With the light of the moon shining through the porthole, she could just make out Duo, sprawled across his berth. His bare chest, with his long braid slung across it, rose and fell in time with his deep breaths.

It was either the moon's light or the sight of his exposed muscles or her own loneliness that compelled Hilde to pull Relena's nightdress over her head. It fell to the floor in a puddle of cotton. Taking a deep breath, she crossed the room and crawled into Duo's berth.

****

The touch of warm flesh against his own woke Duo from a dreamless sleep. When he opened his eyes and saw a naked Hilde curling up against his side, he shot up, smacking his head against the wood of the upper berth.

"Oww!" he cried, clutching his head. "What the...what the hell are you doing here?"

Hilde laid her head on his shoulder. "I couldn't sleep," she whispered.

He relaxed a bit, as much as any man could with a very lithe, very nude girl pressed close to him. "Is this what you always do when you can't sleep?"

A tear slipped from her eye. "When I couldn't sleep, Heero always let me sleep with him."

Duo looked up at the wood hanging over them. "So...he's more than just the leader of your little pirate band, eh? He's your bedmate?"

Hilde nodded against his chest. "He's taken care of me since was I wary lry little. Four years old."

"And..." Duo cleared his throat; his body was beginning to respond in a way she was bound to notice soon. It had been over two years since he had been with a woman. "Just how old are you, anyway?"

"Sixteen," she replied. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

Duo gritted his teeth. "You have no idea. But then, I guess you do. You probably do this all the time with your leader."

Hilde sat up quietly. Her skin was milky white in the moonlight; her breasts, he guessed, would be a perfect handful. "Do what?"

He blinked. "Um...wait. Hold on." After a breath, he continued. "You sleep with this Heero fellow....but you don't lie with him?"

"I don't understand." Hilde shook her head, her boyishly cut curls brushing her ears. "What do you mean?"

Duo cursed under his breath. He was in bed with a deliciously naked virgin. "No one's ever touched you, have they?"

"I can beat Trowa in a fist fight," Hilde boasted. "He doesn't even let me win anymore. I mean..." Her lower lip trembled. "He didn't used to. I suppose I won't ever get to beat him again."

He silently cursed God for the situation. It was not part of his job to initiate an innocent. He looked her unblemished, blossoming body up and down. On second thought...perhaps he should thank God. Profusely.

"All right," he finally said. "You have a choice. You can sleep with me tonight. But..." He reached up to touch a wayward curl of black silk. "It will be *my* kind of sleeping. Not the kind you're used to. You'll learn a lot of new things and experience a lot of new feelings."

Something in the way he spoke the words sent a shiver down her spine. Unbeknownst to Hilde, but to Duo's viewing pleasure, her nipples puckered and grew hard. "What's my other choice?"

He lifted his shoulders. "Go back to your own bed." His fingers trailed down her throat. "Are you ready to be a woman or do you want to stay a girl?"

After a moment's contemplation, Hilde gave her answer. "Show me your kind of sleeping."

****

After eating several pieces of coconut and a strange fruit that Heero called a plantain, Relena felt much better and strong enough to help forage for firewood with Sally. With the driftwood they found, the men built a large fire a good ways up the beach, next to the makeshift lean-to Wufei had put together. Relena was surprised at how the air cooled once the sun set and she was quite grateful for the warmth of the fire.

Across the fire pit, Heero sat on the sand, slicing a piece of wood with his knife. Relena watched him through the dancing flames for a long minute. Sally was asleep on the sand next to her, her head cushioned on a pillow of banana leaves. Wufei and Trowa were also sleeping upright, back to back to keep Wufei's wound, bound with torn strips of Sally's petticoats, off the dirty ground.

Carefully, as not to wake anyone, Relena stood up and walked around the fire. "What are you making?" she asked the pirate leader.

He didn't glance up from his work. "A fishing spear. Can't live on coconuts forever."

Relena sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around her upper torso. "Does that mean you think we'll be here a long time?"

"Anxious to get to your fiancee, duchess?"

She blinked at his harsh tone after all the kindness he had shown her since the storm. "Actually, no. I'm not." If Heero was interested, he hid it well. She continued despite his silence. "It was a promise between my brother and Lord Kushrenada. I had no say in the matter." Relena smiled wryly. "Of course, I rarely have any say in the matters of my life except to choose my dress for the day."

"After you've picked scraps of food out of the gutters, you can complain about your life," he replied, harshly.

Relena watched his quick, angry cuts. "Should I apologize for having been born into the life I was born into?"

"No more than I should apologize for not feeling pity towards a girl who's never known hunger or pain, but still expects my sympathy."

She blinked back sudden tears. "I don't understand....why you're suddenly so...so hateful to me. Was it the things I said on ttreetreet in Savannah? Or something after that?" Heero kept at his piece of wood. "Could you at least tell me so I'll know why you despise me so much?" Still, he refused to speak. "Is it because I'm English? Or just because my family has money? Or is it that my hair is blond?" Her voice raised. "What is it, Heero?!"

Heero pointed his knife at her. "The only thing I hate is being bothered. Go to sleep and leave me alone."

Relena clenched her trembling hands and stood up on shaking knees. "If that's what you want. Goodnight." Head held high, she walked back around the fire, to lie next to Sally.

He looked down at his thumb and the wound the blade had made when he accidently slid it into his flesh moments earlier. A crimson stream dripped down his hand and spattered patterns on the sand. Setting his shoulders and blockading unwanted emotions, he continued to work on his spear well into the night.

****

No one had ever taught Duo Maxwell how to make love to a virgin. His own virginity had been given to a busty brunette prostitute named Martha on the eve of his fourteenth birthday. Up until his imprisonment, he had enjoyed the company of many more of Martha's co-workers, not to mention several well-to-do and very bored plantation owner's wives, a couple of their daughters and even some island women who loved his white skin and soft hair.

But not a single one of them had ever been untouched before he entered their beds. And none of them had ever told him what to expect if he ever did take a virgin. As he watched Hilde's bare body tremble in nervous anticipation having no idea what to expect, Duo decided he should definitely not proceed as if he were in the bed of an experienced woman.

The first thing he did was tell her to lie down. Hilde's smooth forehead crinkled. "Why?" she asked.

"It's just easier," he told her. When she agreed and he reversed their positions, he lowered his lips to hers. Starting off slow, he kissed the side of her mouth until her lips parted. He increased the pressure of his kisses, separating her lips with his tongue. Hilde's eyes flew open when his tongue touched hers. He didn't let up and a warmth spread through her lower body. She closed her eyes and let Duo continue to kiss her.

He pulled his lips away from hers. "You even taste innocent." His finger traced her full bottom lip before he kissed her again, even harder and more passionately. This time, knowing what to expect, Hilde slipped her tongue into his mouth. He smiled against her lips. "That's it," he whispered between kisses.

The warmth in her body was growing with every kiss. He was lying on topher;her; his knee between her thighs. The only thing seperating their bodies were his breeches. Her hands lifted from the bed to tentatively slide up his arms. They were corded with the effort of keeping himself suspended over her.

Duo knew what she was after before she even really knew it herself. "Touch me," he told her, trailing kisses down her smooth throat.

Hilde skimmed her hands over the sleek muscles of his shoulders and upper back, exploring with maddening slowness. He strangled a frustrated growl in the back of his throat and kissed the soft flesh just under her ear. Her fingers danced down the ridges of his ribcage and delicately dipped under the very top of his breeches.

Unable to take anymore, Duo reached behind and grasped her wrists. He pinned them above her head with one hand, leaving her open to his own explorations. She squirmed beneath him. "Duo," she whispered the name he had given her. "Is that your real name?"

He was about to take her nipple between his lips when she spoke. Looking up, he smiled. "Is Hilde yours?" She nodded. "Well then, neither of us is lying." To stop any further conversation, Duo flicked his tongue out, licking the tight bud.

Hilde's back arched with the bolt of pure pleasure his actions sent through her. As he continued to love her breasts, she had a hard time remembering why she had wanted to hide them only days earlier. They weren't just annoying appendages anymore.

Duo released her hands but kept his mouth at her breasts. Her skin was soft and sweet and he had no desire to stop hearing the tiny whimpers she probably had no idea she was making. When her hands were free, she immediately went for the leather band holding his hair in its braid. She untied it and quickly began unraveling the long chestnut strands.

Duo's mouth finally left her breasts and started down her soft stomach. Hilde froze when she realized where he was heading. "Duo...what are you doing?"

He kissed her navel. "Trust me...you're going to like this."

But Hilde wasn't so sure. Even feeling his warm breath on the dark curls above her sex wasn't enough to dissuade her sense of modesty. "May I see you first?" she asked, breathlessly.

Duo sat up, disappointed. His loose hair hung down to his hips. He very badly wanted to taste her. But slowing down was probably a good idea. And freeing his straining erection would be a great relief. His hands fumbled in the dark for the ties on his breeches.

Hilde's small fingers covered his. "Let me help." He looked down his stomach and watched her unlace the front panel of his breeches with quiet efficiency. She helped him work them down his strong thighs, displaying a fair amount of virginal hesitation when his hard sex became exposed to the moonlight.

Without warning, she curled her hand around it. Duo closed his eyes and let out a soft curse. He could feel himself losing control with every fumbling stroke she made. When her thumb rolled across the silky tip, he grabbed her hands and lowered his chest to hers. He kissed her roughly as his knee kicked parted her thighs. All thoughts of taking care with her virginity flew out of his head. The only thing he paid attention to in that moment was the thundering desire in his lower body.

Hilde whimpered into his mouth and struggled against him. When his fingers pressed into the soft folds between her legs, she shook her head, trying to break free of his hard kiss. "No!" she cried. "Please....stop!"

Her plea snapped him out of his trance. There was pain in her eyes along with fear and a vague sense of betrayal. Suddenly, Duo felt like the lowest scum on earth. He loosened his grip on her wrists and removed his fingers from inside her body.

"Hilde," he said, his voice full of shame. "I am so sorry."

Tears wet her lashes. She turned her head to the side toid oid his guilty eyes. "Can you just hold me instead? Or do I have to go back to my bed now?"

Duo's throat closed up. He gave her cheek a soft kiss and valiantly ignored his throbbing arousal. "I can hold you." With a little effort, he shifted their positions until she was lying with her back to him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. He gritted his teeth when her bottom brushed against his erection. "Just don't squirm for awhile," he told her.

Hilde relaxed into his arms. "You don't hate me, do you?"

"No." He sighed. "I don't hate you. It's my fault...for going too fast."

She paused. "I liked what you did with my breasts."

Despite himself, Duo chuckled. He dropped a kiss onto her bare shoulder. "Little Hilde, you have no idea how much I want you."

"I guess I am still a little girl..." She hugged his arm to her chest. "But I won't want to be one forever."

Duo nodded. "Just let me know when you're ready." But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Duo realized he wouldn't be around to see that day soo soon as they arrived in Barbados, it was his duty to hand her over to Kushrenada. She was, after all, a pirate.

He didn't believe that all the passengers on board the pirate's ship had perished in the storm. No rowboat or remains of one had been found. There were several islands nearby that no one had ever charted, but Duo knew to be in existence. They would check each one systematically.

At least, Duo figured, if he found her beloved leader for her, he wouldn't feel quite so bad when Kushrenada threw them all into jail.

****

Relena woke up the morning after they landed on the tiny island in the middle of the Carribean before anyone else. The fire had died down to embers, but the sun was well on its way to rising. She wasn't cold as she stood up, but her stomach rumbled in hunger.

She glanced across the charred fire pit. Heero lay on the sand, asleep, his head cushioned by his rolled up shirt and his hand on the knife in his breeches, as though he were ready to spring into action at any second. Relena studied his face for a long minute before her gaze slipped down to his bare chest. Merely looking at his sculpted body sent her empty stomach into nervous spirals.

"Oh no," she whispered out loud. She was falling in love with him.

She left the shelter area quickly to escape the realization and to clear her head. Inhaling the sea salt air, she started down the beach. It was her first moment alone in nearly two months.

Relena's mood lifted as she put more distance between herself and Heero. As she walked, she stopped occasionally to pick up several pretty shells that stuck up in the sand. Without an to to see her bare skin, she lifted what remained of her skirt and placed her growing collection of shells in the makeshift basket.

She had just bent down to pick up a nearly perfect conch shell when she caught sight of something large, but unidentifiable a good ways down the beach. Curious, she started towards it.

****

Heero woke with the faintest idea that something was amiss. He sa and and scanned the shelter. His eyes narrowed. Relena was gone. Quickly, he jumped to his feet. It didn't take very long to find her fresh footprints in the sand. Without any consideration that she might want to be alone, he traced her steps. When he was about fifty feet into his trek, he heard a strangled cry from around the curve of the shore. He couldn't see for sure, but it could only be Relena in some sort of trouble.

Heero began running. "Relena," he called to her. "Relena!" There was another scream and he speeded up, stumbling once or twice in the loose sand. Finally, he spotted her several yards away standing over something, frozen in shock. As he came closer, he realized what it was.

The body of an unfortunate crewman had washed up on the shore sometime during the night, to the delight of several crabs who now crawled over his body. Bloated from drowning and two days in the salt water, it gave off a horrible odor. Heero lifted his hand to his mouth and reached for Relena.

She screamed again as he spun her around. Her eyes were wide and horrified; tears streaked down her cheeks. Without thinking, he pulled her against his body. "Don't look," he told her, too late. Relena buried her face in his neck, sobbing uncontrollably. Heero held her in a strong embrace, ignoring every resolve he had made where his duchess was concerned. His fingers tangled in her hair. "It's all right....shhhh." He closed his own eyes. "Come on. Let's go back, Relena."

But her legs wouldn't work and she couldn't stop shaking. Heero lifted her into his arms, cradling her against his bare chest. He backed away from the body, turned around and started back to the others.

Several minutes later, Relena lifted her head from his shoulder. "His name was Yves," she said, between leftover sobs.

"You shouldn't think about it," Heero advised.

"He told me about the porpoises." She hiccuped. "Will you...will you bury him?" Heero nodded. She laid her head back on his shoulder. Her tears were warm against his skin. Heero closed his eyes again as he walked with her in his arms. He had come all too close to losing Relena to the water; it could have just as well been her body that washed up on the shore.

When they arrived back at the camp, he laid her down on the sand. She reached for him, begging for human contact. With only a moment's hesitation, he sat next to her and let her wrap her arms around his torso. Heero watched her fall into a fitful sleep, determined to be there to ward off any bad dream.

Could he deny he had fallen in love with her anymore?

No.

Could he ever have her?

He looked up at the canopy of palm and coconut trees.

No.

****

To Be Continued