Hi everyone, here's another AU fic of mine.  It's basically set during the late Victorian era of the 1890s and the places are fictitious.  Sorry about this short chapter, it always takes me forever to setup the plot line, but this is just only the beginning.  Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the characters.  But, the plot is mine.  Anyhow, hope you all like this and please let me know what you think and thank you.  ^_^

First Sight

~*~

"Come on, Relena, will be late arriving at Winfield.  The carriages are already waiting for us."  A door slammed after her.

"Alright, mother, let me just gather my things."  She began to go through her closet and picked out several corsets, evening lingerie, afternoon dresses, shoes, and a variety of silk chiffon dresses ranging in a multitude of colors.  She didn't see why her parents always took her along for their summer vacations.  Every weekend, her mother would host evening dances in their summer home, where her mother would introduce her to possible suitors.  She hated the thought of her mother picking her future husband.  A knock was heard on the door, "Who is it?"

"It's Pagan, miss."

She quickly ran to the door and opened it for the old man.

"I brought you some extra suitcases."

"Thank you.  Are my parents still outside waiting in their carriage?"

He nodded and waited tentatively for her to finish packing.

"I think this should do it."  She managed to stuff her clothing in three suitcases, being careful not to wrinkle them to an extent, where they would have to be re-ironed especially the dresses.

"You do have your accessory kit with you."

"Yes, I do," she smiled.

"And your gloves for the evening dances?"

She nodded in response.  Before she left the room, she donned on a hat that was accented with a blue satin ribbon at the back, which matched with her dress.  The two then clambered down the wooden stairs with Pagan and her, each carrying luggage in their hands.  They finally emerged to where the carriages were waiting for Relena.  Within minutes, her luggage was secured on the second carriage and before she entered, she lightly kissed Pagan on the cheek.  "You take care now."

"I will."  With that, he watched Relena step into the carriage and he waved to her.  He then heard the coachmen giving the orders to start the horses, and in minutes, Relena was out of his sight.  "I'm going to miss that girl."

~ * ~

"Do you think Relena will like the one I chose for her?"

"Katrina, you should stay out of her love life."  He looked towards at his wife, who was somewhat appalled of his response.

"All I want is for our daughter to be well off in life.  I mean he's close to her age and he comes from a respectable family that we both met last year.  I believe he's already attending Yale."

"I just hope you know what you're doing.  I don't want to repeat what happened with our eldest son."

"Don't you have any faith in me, darling?"

He then gave his wife a kiss and for the rest of the ride, the two glanced out the open windows, admiring the maple and cottonwood trees that dotted the roadway once in a while.

Meanwhile, Relena was quietly reading to herself an Emily Brontë novel, Wuthering Heights.  She was about midway through when she felt the carriage slowing down to a halt on a bumpy road.

"We're here, miss."

Right before her eyes stood her family's summer home with its Corinthian columns adorning the front along with the elegant glass windows shining in the late afternoon.  It still looked the same from the previous summers with its pink rose bushes dotting the walkway.  She stepped out of the carriage and admired the scent coming from the nearby pine trees and the lake.  A breeze ran against her blue dress and she quickly placed her right hand on her hat to keep it from blowing away in the unnerving wind.  She then walked to her parents, who were already walking towards the front of their home.

"I hope you enjoyed the ride."  A hidden smiled was seen on her mother's face.

"Yes, I did.  I'll be going up to my room now.  May I please be excused?"

"Go on, Relena.  Dinner will be served later this evening."

She quickly walked up to the front patio stairs of their home and entered through the front door.  The air in the room was fresh and that the southerly breeze blew through the main hallway that was adorned with wooden frames and with oriental rugs.  She passed a couple of servants that were arranging some flowers in small glass vases.  "Welcome back, Ms. Peacecraft."  A woman about thirty looked up from her floral arrangement.  Her black hair was tied neatly into a bun.

"Thanks, Trudy." She watched Trudy come near her and the two conversed with one another. "It seems like ages that I last saw you, how have you been doing?"

"Fine, Ms. Peacecraft.  I'll show you to your room.  I kept it the way you wanted."  The two women slowly walked up to the second floor and within the upstairs hallway, an endless red rug extended to both ends of the hallway with small lights dotting on both sides of the walls.  The two turned to the left after reaching the top of the stairs and after passing three oak doors, Trudy finally led Relena to her summer bedroom.  "Well here it is.  If you need anything, you know where you can find me.  I'm glad that you're back."  She then left Relena at the front of her bedroom door.

Relena slowly turned the brass knob and peeped into her room.  Trudy was right about her room.  Her windows were decorated with intricate lace curtains, while her bed was covered in white linen sheets.  Her dresser was adorned with a simplistic oil lamp along with small mementos of her childhood.  As for her makeup table, it was situated by the windows with her accessory kit already lying on top of it.  "You might as well get use to this again…home away from home" she whispered to herself.  She moved her luggage that were already brought up minutes before and unpacked their contents.  She then took off her hat and shoes, and immediately fell onto her bed in hopes of catching a nap before dinner started.  The ride to Winfield was two hours and she needed some sleep after reading endlessly during the carriage ride.  She slowly drifted into a light sleep, as she watched the sun's rays shift on her flower-printed walls.

Before long, a knock was heard on her door, "Ms. Peacecraft, dinner is served in the main dining area."

"Thanks, Trudy, I'll be right there."  Relena slowly arose from her bed and went to her accessory kit.  She opened the small case and pulled out her silver hairbrush and combed her soft wavy hair.  Afterwards, she quickly walked down the stairs to meet up with her parents.

"There you are," replied her father.  "I take it you enjoyed a quiet nap."

"I did."  She seated herself at the end of the mahogany table, where her parents were seated.  The three quietly ate their three-course meal that consisted of a creamy tomato soup, meatloaf with steamed carrots, and a slice of vanilla cake frosted to perfection.

Katrina was sipping her tea when she decided to strike up a conversation with her daughter. "I found a nice suitor for you."

"Excuse me..."  She choked on a sip of lemonade.

"He's about your age and he's currently attending Yale."

"But you didn't confer with me in the first place about this."  Fear began to seep into her heart, knowing that her life could be changed in a matter of moments.  "I can't believe this.  I'm not like you."  She abruptly left the dining room to escape from her mother's control.

"But..."  She looked over to her husband, who gave a disapproving look at her.

Relena quickly entered the kitchen and traversed the back end of the house.  Luckily, she didn't have to encounter any of the servants, as she made her way to the back patio.  She lifted the small latch on the door and walked into the vast emptiness of her back yard.  In the distance, the lake gleamed under the moonlight.  "I can't believe her, there she goes again, trying to persuade me to marry soon. I just wish...I could decide for myself."  She continued to walk down a dirt path leading towards the lake, being careful not to trip over hidden twigs that may lie in the dirt.

~*~

"So how was your trip from New York?"

"It was fine."

"I heard that you were on some family business, but what really happened there?"

"Nothing," he said sharply.

The two men carried wine glasses in their hands.  The red liquid reflected the pale moonlight.

"It looks like the Peacecrafts are back for the summer.  Their carriages lined the front of their mansion today.  I guess we'll be hearing music from them every weekend from now until the end of summer."  He kicked a lose pebble in front of him.

The two continued to walk by the lake and one of them kept stumbling over rocks and pebbles.  In the distance, they both saw a slender figure emerge from the dense forest that lined the other side of the lake.  Within a blink of the eye, the figure disappeared again into the darkness.

"Was that an apparition?"  He blinked a couple of times.

"No...that was probably Ms. Relena herself.  She sometimes comes to this lake at night, you know."  He looked over to his friend, who kept eyeing the distant location where Relena emerged.  "We should be heading back before we're too drunk to walk at all."

The two continued their mini stroll up along a broad dirt path that led towards another Victorian styled home but with simpler ionic columns that stood against the dark summer night.

TBC