Forgive and Forget

By Midii Une

Dedicated to Nightheart, a fan of 4xR and 3xMU

Happy Birthday to one of my favorite writers ^_^

Prologue

Dearest Diary,

It is time for me to start a new story upon your lovely mauve-tinted pages. I am done with the story of the princess and the diplomat’s aide. After father and mother’s deaths I fancied myself in love with Heero Yuy, his quiet strength and the exotic cast to his looks were the balm I needed to hide from my grief. Milliardo quite rightly forbid the relationship and Heero returned forever to faroff Japan alone. And so my dream of love amidst the cherry blossoms and foreign temples dissolved into dust and I have hated my brother these past two years with a stubborn and childish persistence. But as we travel I have been indulging myself in reading a thick and scholarly tome on the concept of reincarnation. It comforts me, to know that there may be other lives, I can let Heero go, for perhaps there will be another time for us. But for now, this is the life I lead and I am open to whatever fate has in store for me.

So, in many ways this journey is a new start! There will be adventure, finally, in this protected princess’s life. Our destination leaves not a doubt of that. As I write we are sailing down the Nile, a massive river edged by lush green banks. We can glimpse the barrenness of the desert beyond however, the endlessness of it sends a delicious shiver down my spine!

We travel in luxury as we always do, our conveyance is an opulent yacht owned by Milliardo’s fondest life-long companion, the Grand Duke Treize Khushrenada. He lords over some small Russian principality that with all my fine schooling I dare not try to recreate the name of here. He is accompanied by his fiancée and her young cousin Midii.

Midii is a mysterious creature, she seems so quiet and withdrawn and I fancy I detect something hidden and tragic in her manner. But I am heartened by the fact that on a few occasions we have exchanged understanding glances that give me a hope of future close friendship. I shared these thoughts with my brother’s wife, Lucrezia, who travels with us. She confirmed my suspicions. Miss Midii is the orphaned daughter of the famous French archaeologist Andre Une. He died after contracting some exotic illness in this very place to which we travel. Miss Midii herself was lost for some time in these deserts before her father found her and the rare and ancient artifact that made him famous. Sadly he did not live long enough to enjoy the fame and Midii went to live with the family of Lady Une, Treize’s intended. We call her Lady all the time, she is so prim and proper that we dare not call her anything else. I fear her real name will be lost to history and she shall be forever known only as Lady.

I catch Treize and my brother watching the Miss Midii rather speculatively when they think no one sees. Though she is quite lovely, they are not romantically inclined, she and I are but children to them. They think themselves so much more mature due to the difference of but a few years in age. Does she carry some secret that will aid their quest? For we go to seek treasure, the six of us. It is a popular hobby these days among the idle rich and petty royalty. We are prince and princess of Cinq, my brother and I. This is not as impressive as it sounds for Cinq is a small and inconsequential place. We are taking this trip nominally to purchase and discover some artifacts of North Africa in order to found a national museum in honor of our parents. Spoils from the tombs of dead kings are all the rage in this year of our Lord 1895.

Treize accompanies us because he wholeheartedly supports the idea, and besides he and Milliardo can never bear to be long apart. They attended military school together and have been inseparable since. Treize does not believe our tomb-raiding expedition is a form of plunder at all, he declared it would be a grave crime to leave these lovely objects buried beneath the desert sands where they cannot be enjoyed by all humanity.

When he speaks thus the mysterious Miss Midii’s demeanor grows even more sorrowful and I suspect the shine of tears in her bright blue eyes. She must miss her dear father most dreadfully, as I will always miss my own beloved parents, and I wonder at Treize and Lady for bringing her here where her past caused her such torment. I myself do not know how I feel about our plans. I only know I am ready for adventure.

We will shortly rendezvous with our guides. From what I have overheard of Milliardo and Treize’s conversation they are two young men of the same age as Midii and I. As you know dearest diary, I celebrated my 17^th birthday last April. One of the young men we go to meet has a terribly romantic past, he is the son of a desert sheik and a beautiful young Dutchwoman who fled her family to run off with him. I believe her name was Quaterina, a name nearly the same as my own dear mother’s. I admit I find the tale very exciting and it has colored my daydreams of the adventure that awaits us.

~~Relena Peacecraft, Princess of Cinq

On the Grand Duke Treize’s Yacht Epyon

June 1, 1895