One Year Later
Transformations…
Chapter 25: One Year Later
“So, how much longer until we're there?” Tammy asks shifting uncomfortable in her seat.
Lance laughs, “Not much longer. Maybe a half hour.”
“We'll be there soon, Tammy.” Shorty says, holding a small sleeping child in his arms.
“I'm not used to being in such cramped spaces,” Tammy grumbles, getting laughter in response.
“It's a transport ship, surely it's more comfortable than the lion,” Lance retorts.
“Yeah, but I'm not in control,” Tammy replies.
Fala laughs a young boy in her arms, “I wonder how everyone is doing. I can't believe it's been so long since we've seen each other. I wonder if they have changed as much we have.”
“Okay team, I've got clearance to land. Our ETA is five minutes,” Keith says. “Everyone fasten in...as best you can,” he adds as an afterthought.
“Ha ha, Chief. So funny,” Tammy retorts, getting laughter from the rest of the group.
“Come back here, Richard!” Colt yells, running after his young son, the child squealing in delight.
April is watching him, laughing at the sight.
“That very well could be you and Fireball in a year or so, you know?” Robin says laughing, her hand touching her protruding stomach.
April looks up and smiles, “Yeah, I know. It's funny how things change. It all seems so long ago.”
Robin nods, “Yes, it does. Well, most of the time anyways.”
Fireball comes from inside the house, carrying a tray of food, followed by Elaine and Thomas.
“What's all that?” April asks curiously.
“We will soon be having guests, Ms. April,” Thomas replies with a smile.
“Who's coming?” Robin asks as Colt joins the group, holding a squirming Richard in his arms.
“We aren't quite sure. Master Saber and Lady Amanda wouldn't tell us. I can tell you that it will be a few people, as we were asked to get several rooms ready for guests,” Thomas replies.
“Where are Saber and Amanda anyways? I've not seen them at all today,” April says.
“They went out at dawn, came home briefly, then left to meet the guests. They should be back fairly soon,” Thomas replies with a smile.
The transport arrives and the GoLion team and guests descend the ramp. Almost immediately Lance spots Saber and Amanda standing to the side, his arm around her waist. They are talking with Lacus, Kira, and Athrun. They wave and he waves back.
“Who are they, Lance?” A woman asks curiously, holding onto Lance's arm.
“That's Saber and Amanda, Noriko. He's the one that killed Merla,” Lance replies. “Amanda is his...well, I'm not exactly sure what they are, but obviously they are closer than the last time I saw them,” he adds with a smile. “The others are from Orb. The pink-haired lady holding the kid is Lacus, the one beside her is Kira, and the slightly taller one to his left is Athrun.”
Hothead isn't far behind Lance, Sara holding tightly onto his arm and looking around wide-eyed, “Wow, I've never been off of Altea before. What are we going to be doing here, Seidō?”
Hothead laughs, “Anything we want. We're on vacation.”
They all meet down at the bottom of the ramp and Keith makes introductions for Noriko and Sara.
“It's nice to meet both of you. This is Amanda, my wife,” Saber says smiling.
Fala smiles, “You're married?!” Saber and Amanda nod. “When?” Fala asks.
“It's been what, seven months now?” Saber asks looking at Amanda, who nods.
“Something like that. It seems like a lifetime ago, doesn't it?” Amanda replies.
“Yes, it does,” Saber replies. “But in a good way.” he adds laughing at the looks from the others.
“So, did you have a large wedding?” Lance asks.
“No. Just the two of us, Thomas, Elaine, and the Prime Minister; who performed the ceremony, that’s how we wanted it,” Saber replies.
“Were the others upset?” Hothead asks curious.
“Perhaps a little at first, but we did it while they were all away at Calvary Command, it was sort of a spur of the moment thing,” Amanda says as they start walking to the van.
“Spur of the moment?” Lance asks looking over Amanda with a smirk.
“Not because of that!” Amanda retorts giving him a look. “We just decided we wanted to get married that day while we were out riding, so Saber made a couple calls, and we did it that afternoon,” Amanda says. “The others came back a few days later and we told them then.”
Everyone loads up in the van and they head for the estate. There is constant talking throughout the ride and they arrive before anyone realizes it. Everyone goes inside and then meets later for a meal. Afterward, they are all gathered in the back courtyard talking when Fala notices Amanda and Saber quietly slip away from the group. Curious, she makes sure that Keith has their son and she follows them to see where they're headed.
“Saber, Amanda?” Fala says as she comes around a corner. She stops when she spots them, sitting with their their backs against a brick planter, talking quietly. Amanda turns to face her when she hears her approaching.
“I'm sorry,” Fala says, noticing Amanda's serious expression. “I'll talk with you later.”
“It's all right, Your Highness, you can come over if you wish.” Amanda replies quietly looking tired.
Fala nods and comes to where they are sitting; she looks down at them and sees that they both look rather tired. “Are you all right, Saber?”
He looks up and smiles a weak smile, “I will be. Sometimes things are still a bit, overwhelming.”
Fala sits down in front of them and looks to them both with a worried expression, “What's going on?” She looks between them, waiting for an answer.
Amanda looks to Saber who nods slightly, “Well, since we came back from Calvary Command, Saber hasn't always been sleeping well. It's getting better than it was. When we first came back, we were in separate rooms, as we had been before.” Fala nods and Amanda continues, “One night, I couldn't sleep and I came out to get a drink, and I found Saber in the study. We started talking and I found out that he'd been having nightmares, which meant he wasn't really sleeping.”
“I'd been having flashes of what happened in the battle with Merla,” Saber adds quietly. “Some of it was rather graphic; I could see the other ships being destroyed, the faces of the pilots of the ships, it was like the heightened senses that happened when I snapped subconsciously picked up on all of it. Almost like I was some omnipotent third person seeing everything from my own point of view and the unknown all-seeing third person. The dreams were so real that I could even smell the fires from the explosions. It got to where I wasn't sleeping again, like after the first attack, and one night, other people were up later than usual so I asked Amanda to sit with me in my room and we talked for a while. We eventually fell asleep, her beside me. The next morning, I woke up and she was still with there, sleeping against me. It was in that moment that I realized I had slept all night for the first time since I killed Merla. I wasn't sure if it was because of her being there with me or not, but I remember how peaceful I felt. I knew then that I wanted to ask her to marry me. I waited a few weeks before saying anything to her. We fell asleep talking several times in the study, only to have Elaine come in and wake us early in the morning before anyone else got up. Anyways, I recently started having flashes more frequently again. This time even while I was awake. I'm not sure what brought it on, but we just came out here to talk about it. It seems to help to do so.”
Fala nods, “Perhaps it's because of us coming to visit that has done it? Maybe that has brought the memories back to the surface, I'm sorry if that's the case.”
Saber shakes his head, “It has been happening off and on for a while now, it might be a bit more noticeable right now, but it will pass. This is just how we deal with it.”
“Besides, we wanted to avoid being there when most of the others are drinking the wine,” Amanda adds quietly.
“Oh? Why's that?” Fala asks, a smile forming.
Saber smiles at her and nods, “We found out for certain this morning.”
“So no more going out for our morning rides for a while,” Amanda says with a sigh.
Saber kisses her cheek, “We'll find some other excuse to escape the house for a while. Eventually, we'll have to tell the others, but I think we'll wait for a while.”
Amanda smiles and takes his hand, “I figure let them wonder for a while; it’s fun watching them try to figure out what we’re up to.”
They talk for a while longer before returning to the party. Fala filling them on on the various events on Altea, including the birth of their son. A few people look over curiously at their arrival, but no one asks any questions. Varied conversations continue throughout the evening, passing around the children that are born, and some lighthearted teasing of the obviously pregnant women, Tammy, Robin, and April.
“So, when are you due, April, Robin?” Tammy asks.
“I have about two months left this time,” Robin replies, her hand on her stomach.
“It could be anytime in the next few weeks. You?” April replies.
“About five more months. I'm surprised they even let me come, since they were afraid of my having problems.” Tammy adds laughing.
“Like you would have let me bring Daniel with us without you.” Shorty adds as he leans down and kisses Tammy's forehead and scoops the boy from Tammy's arms and taking him towards Keith and Colt, both who's children are sitting on a blanket playing with a ball.
Lacus comes over to where the women have gathered, holding a small girl in her arms. “It looks like most all of us are parents now.” She says cheerfully as she sits down and plays with the child on her lap.
April laughs, “Yeah, I would have lost a bet with Colt though.”
“What do you mean?” Lacus asks curious.
“Well, when I found out I was pregnant, we went to Calvary Command so we could tell my father, and fill out paperwork and such. Colt, Robin, and Josh came with us to show off Richard to father as well, and to gather some personal possessions they had left behind to bring here. Josh has also registered for the cadet academy. He starts in a couple of months, so that is good. Anyways, when we came back, I was leaving my room rather early and saw Amanda and Saber come out of his room together. It seemed like they had been together all night. So when I got down to the kitchen and saw them talking, I noticed their rings, and I said something. They told me they got married while we were gone on the spur of the moment, so of course I assumed it was because Amanda was pregnant. Evidently, I was wrong, because she would look like me now if she had been.”
Lacus smiles and shakes her head. “I don't see either of them marrying just because of something like that.”
“That's what Colt said too. And I told him I thought that she was because they were always disappearing in the mornings and such, so it seemed, convenient. Glad he didn't take me up on that bet,” April replies with a smile.
Lance and Noriko come over and sit with them. “So, were you surprised when you found out about Saber and Amanda?” Lance asks looking to Lacus.
“I was happy for him. I know he has had to overcome a lot, including losing another woman he was engaged to before. So I was glad to see that he looked so happy when we arrived. She seems like a nice woman and they both seem to really care about each other. She seems to know about everything that has happened, and she still chose to be with him, so I hope it all works out for them,” Lacus replies.
“It was amusing after the battle ended with Merla, he was so eager to check on her, that he wanted to forgo being checked out by the doctor. Commander Eagle refused to let him go until he did. It was funny to me, knowing he was so eager to see that she was all right he was like a trapped animal barely able to wait to be set free. Hothead said their reunion was rather touching though,” Lance says.
“Oh?” April asks interested.
“Yeah, he was saying that Saber was rather tense during the drive there, because the closer they got, the worse the area looked,” Lance begins.
“Are you talking about the road trip I took with Saber?” Hothead asks as he and Sara join the group, Sara sitting in the last vacant chair.
“Yeah. I was telling them your take on how Saber is with Amanda,” Lance replies. “It's a much better story if you tell it, since you were actually there, so go ahead.”
Hothead looks around and sees Amanda and Saber deep in conversation with Fala and Keith, so he smiles and starts telling the story, “Well, as Lance said, Saber got more and more tense the closer we got to the village. I was glad he let me drive, probably only because of hurting his knee did he let me. Anyways, once we are in the village, we go towards the place where the schoolhouse is, or was rather. We pull up and he looks where her cottage should have been and sees just a smoldering slab and some huge chunks of metal debris. I saw him start looking around and he got out and started for the remains of the schoolhouse. He gets to the doorway, and I knew he saw her and she was alive because his body relaxed. I got out and was close behind him when I heard him make some remark about her actually doing as she promised. She whirled around and as soon as she saw him she practically tackled him, almost knocking him over.” he says, trying not to laugh. “He winced in pain and she immediately pulled away from him and looked over him, she realized he was injured and drug him to a chair to see just how bad it was. By this time, he was grinning at her and grabbed her hands, making her stop and look at him. She had tears flowing down and started asking for a rundown on him and everyone else. If anyone he knew was killed or hurt, things like that. She seemed genuinely concerned. I could see him checking her out to be sure she wasn't hurt either. He eventually mentioned that he wanted her to return with us, and ultimately going back to his home with him. They talked for a bit longer, eventually both of them admitting that they were in love with the other. I about fell over when Saber said it to her. I honestly wasn't expecting such an admission from him. The rest of the story, I'm sure you can figure out for yourselves,” he finishes with a grin.
“That is rather sweet,” Sara says quietly.
“I just wish I could have been there. I would have loved to have seen the two of them like that. Not too many people are brave enough to try and give orders to Saber,” Lance says laughing. “Especially after how he finished the war by himself. That was rather,”
“Frightening?” Saber offers, causing Lance to jump and the others to look up at him. He laughs and shakes his head, “You know, if you want to talk about me, you shouldn't be so loud about it,” Saber says amused.
“I was just-” Lance stammers.
“It's okay, Lance. I'm sorry that you saw what you did, I'm sorry that it took that to end it,” Saber finishes quietly.
“But it's over now, and we have all survived, so we move on, right?” Amanda says brightly, trying to change the direction of the conversation.
Several heads nod in agreement, and people start breaking off into varying conversations once more about life changes in general.
A couple weeks later, everyone is preparing for their trips back after having time to fully relax. Everyone is gathered talking when Saber and Amanda come into the room from their quarters. The conversations stop as everyone looks up to see both of them smiling.
“You two look rather happy this morning,” April says.
“Well, we thought we'd talk to everyone at once, before everyone leaves for their homes once more,” Saber begins as Commander Eagle enters the room from the kitchen. “We wanted to share with you that we are going to be parents.”
April grins, “Really?!” Amanda nods, smiling. “How far along are you?”
“About three months, according to the tests the doctor did,” Amanda replies.
Several other people offer congratulations, to them and gradually everyone leaves to take the visitors to the hangar for departure, leaving Saber and Amanda alone as they sit down and rest from all of the commotion.
“Well,” Saber says sounding amused, “I think they were surprised that you weren’t pregnant sooner.”
Amanda lays her head against him and he places his arms around her, she looks up at him and smiles, “We should have started a betting pool against everyone. We could have made some money off of them.”
Saber laughs and kisses her lightly, “That wouldn't have been a fair bet, Amanda.”
“So?” she says as innocently as possible. “You know they all thought we were together before we married. It would have been an easy win.”
He smiles at her, “I don't make fool's bets. It's not right to do so.” They laugh and talk for awhile, enjoying the peace of the empty estate before the other live-in guests return.
