Chapter 11

Relena insisted on staying right next to Heero. She would not move, no matter what anybody said. So, while everyone retired to the living room to decide what to do next, she stayed at Heero's side as he laid there, unmoving.

The room was dark, and all that could be heard was his steady breathing. After a while Relena turned on a small lamp, so that the room was bathed in dim yellow light.

He was so handsome, even simply lying there. Relena had memories, of course, but none of them did him justice to what she saw now. He had grown so much, and his previous skinny, boyish body was long gone. Relena longed to run her fingers through his unruly mop of dark brown hair, but instead she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, unable to do anything to help his situation.

She sat motionless for a few minutes, then suddenly he groaned softly. Relena jerked and her eyes flew open.

He was sitting up in bed, one hand on his forehead, his dark blue eyes wide and alert, yet filled with pain. Relena reached out to touch him, but instinctively drew back. She said, "Are you feeling okay?"

Heero turned and started, as if seeing her for the first time. "Yes," he said slowly. "I think I am."

Relena couldn't help but smile at his hesitation. "You - you gave me a scare." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wished she hadn't said them.

His eyes opened wide. "Really?"

Relena closed her eyes and bit her lip. Well, it's now or never. "Yes, you did. I was terrified."

"Why?" he asked simply.

She shrugged, not really knowing how to answer the question. Instead, she moved from her armchair to sit tentatively at the foot of the bed.

Surprisingly, he scooted closer to her, and said quietly, "Is Treize okay?"

And there, in the last place in the entire world Relena wanted it to happen, she began to cry. This was much worse than when she had been kidnapped; these were tears of sadness, of grief, and not of just the night; these were tears of regret and misery over those long, horrible seven years.

Heero didn't have to question her further. Instead, he did what Relena had fantasized about for seven years; he pulled her into a warm, embracing hug, just like when they were kidnapped, and once again let her cry into his chest.

They sat like that for a long time, until Relena stopped crying and pulled away, slightly embarrassed. Heero stood up and crossed over to the window, unwrapping the bandage around his bare chest gently. Relena averted her eyes; why, she couldn't say, but for some reason Heero standing without a shirt in the same room with her was embarrassing. Well, he hugged you and you didn't flinch; you cried with him hugging you...so he can hug you but you can't look at him? Relena shook her head, annoyed at the strange thoughts.

Heero dug around in Duo's dresser drawers and pulled out a shirt; on the verge of being too small, but it was okay. He pulled it over his head and then took a seat next to Relena again. They were silent for a long time, until Relena said, "Why did you try to come and get me?"

Slightly startled, Heero answered, "You wouldn't come when Zechs called...there wasn't much choice. I was too late, though," he added, and to Relena's surprise, his voice was filled with regret.

Sympathetic, she touched his arm lightly and said, "It wasn't your fault, Heero. I - I was just being silly, just like Zechs said," she continued forcefully, her voice rising slightly. "I ran off to go look for the most reclusive guy in the universe, a guy who didn't even talk to his best friends for seven years - " She suddenly realized what she was saying and clapped her hands over her mouth.

Heero was looking the other way, but Relena could tell she had hurt him. "Oh, Heero, I'm so sorry...I didn't mean..." she trailed off uneasily, feeling incredibly lame. Way to go, slick. Third day you're with him and already you're screwing everything up. No wonder he stayed away from you for seven years.

He stood up and crossed the room to the window again. Relena realized with a start that it was raining hard; the raindrops whacked the roof with resounding noise; the muffled voices in the living room had died down, and she suspected that everyone was asleep.

But she had one more question, and it had to be answered.

"Heero, why did you stay away for seven years?"

He was quiet for such a long time that Relena suspected that she had hurt him even more, or made him angry, or something like that. She sighed and was just about ready to give up when suddenly, out of the blue, he said quietly, "Because I fell in love with you that day on the beach."

It came so fast, so unexpected, that Relena couldn't move. The entire world seemed to stop, seemed to spin, to fall, to crash, and at the same time she was frozen. She felt hot, then felt as though she had fallen into a pool of liquid ice; her breath came in short gasps. And then, everything straightened itself out, and she was left staring into those dark blue eyes.

Hope.

That was what she first noticed in his eyes; he was hopeful, but right next to that was apprehension. Relena opened her mouth, but found that her tongue, her voice, wouldn't work.

He came forward and said earnestly, his voice rising slightly, "You know, part of my mission with the Gundams was to destroy all barriers that kept me from achieving my goal. It turned out that, easily, my biggest barrier was you. Yet every time I tried to kill you, even when I had the gun to your forehead, my finger on the trigger, I couldn’t do it. So many times I stayed awake at night, trying so hard to figure out why I couldn’t destroy a simple female student. I never realized that it would be something like this, that my heart would go crazy every time I saw you, that every time you looked at me I wouldn’t be able to speak. Relena, you don't have to say anything. I just - I couldn't go on anymore without you knowing, even if you don't love me back - "

"Are you crazy?" she interrupted, standing up indignantly. "Don't love you back? Heero, you're absurd! I've loved you since you crash-landed into the ocean and then hijacked that ambulance! Not love you? You're nuts!"

Slowly, a grin spread over his face, and Relena fell silent, captured by those dark blue eyes. They were both quiet, staring at each other, amazed at what they finally had the strength to say.

And then it happened. It was as if a trigger had gone off inside; they both leaned forward at the same time, and then their lips met in a passionate kiss.

The door burst open and light flooded in.

"Ahahahaha! Quatre, guys, get in here! Ohoho! Check this out, look what they're doing in here!"

They separated instantly as Duo doubled over laughing in the doorway, the other pilots and their wives right behind them. Zechs came up and instantly knew what had happened.

"YUY!"

Heero groaned and flung himself back on the bed, spread-eagled. Relena couldn't help but laugh.

"...kissing my sister in the bedroom, lights out, all alone, I can't believe you'd have the nerve..."

Heero rolled his eyes, grinning, as Zechs yelled on and on about how abominable the whole ordeal was. Relena stood behind her brother, giggling quietly, until Zechs rounded on her.

"And you, actually thinking you could do something like that, daring to kiss him out of all things. What do you have to say for yourself, missy? Hmm?"

Relena smiled and said, "What would you say if I did this, Zechs?"

She walked over, wrapped her arms around Heero's neck, and kissed him again. Surprised but delighted, Heero pulled her in tighter.

Zechs threw up his hands, yelled something totally unprintable, and stalked out of the room.

Duo entered the room, took one look at the couple, then turned around and headed right back out.

They all made their own beds somewhere in either the bedroom or the living room, spreading out blankets. Even though Zechs's son was dead, everyone knew that they couldn't stay sad forever, even Zechs and Lucrezia. Besides, the whole Heero/Relena thing lightened everyone's mood considerably. With a few exceptions, everyone slept peacefully.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Relena woke up in the morning to the delicious smell of bacon and eggs. Yawning, she went on a quest to find the kitchen.

Arriving at her destination, she was astounded to see that, of all people, it was Heero standing over the stove. As she entered, he looked up and grinned.

"Morning, sleepyhead."

Relena shoved him playfully, but he turned around and caught her up in another kiss, which she happily received. When they parted, Relena whispered, "You have no idea how good it feels to be able to kiss you, Heero."

He touched her face lightly and said, "I think I do."

There was a crash, and they both turned to see Duo standing frozen over the remains of two plates and a cup. Heero gave a mock groan and said, "Duo, I am trying to make breakfast here. Be a little careful, would you?"

Duo grinned sheepishly and said, "Sorry bout that, buddy. I’m not used to seeing you and her exchanging - "

"Shut up," Relena and Heero said in unison.

Over the next ten minutes, random people entered the small kitchen, all looking tired but at least cheerful. Surprisingly, Zechs and Lucrezia seemed happy, and when asked about it, they replied, "We are not going to walk around sad and gloomy when in times like this we need to be happy and uplifting. We are beyond sad about our son and will grieve for him always, but we are thankful we have Ashlyn, and for now are trying to make her life full and complete."

They ate at around eight-thirty, and everyone complimented Heero on his cooking. No one had even dreamed that Heero even knew how to make a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, but, as Heero cheerfully put it, "Spending seven years in recluse kinda makes a guy live on something other than Fruity Pebbles every meal."

After they ate, they took turns taking showers in the two bathrooms, getting dressed and ready for the day. Wufei, after delivering Treize’s body, had good-naturedly picked up everyone’s dufflebags and suitcases, and Hilde delt out pairs of jeans and shirts to the ladies.

Relena stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in jeans and a white tank top, her hair falling loosely around her shoulders. Shaking out the blonde tresses, she went to sit next to Heero on the couch, where he was talking to Duo and Wufei about the Colonies. Grinning, but not stopping his conversation, Heero pulled her onto his lap. Teasingly she tickled the short dark hairs on his chin, and then, everyone’s mouth dropped open as Heero threw his head back and laughed.

Hilde, just walking into the room, dropped the pile of laundry she was carrying and stared. Duo, being his usual self, laughed right along, but Relena couldn’t believe that it was Heero, the real Heero, that was holding her tight, laughing like any normal person. He had incredible laughter; better than his smiles, his grins...but not better than his kisses, Relena thought to herself, smiling.

As Heero and Wufei resumed their conversation, Duo grinned at Relena and said quietly, "I told you so."

Relena raised an eyebrow and said, "Sorry, Duo, but I believe Quatre ‘told me so.’"

"What?" Heero asked, puzzled.

"That’d I’d be the one to make you laugh," Relena said calmly, leaning her head back on his shoulder.

Heero rubbed his chin and said, "Well what was that tickling thing there, huh? Are you saying I need to shave or something?"

Relena giggled, and from the bathroom that he had just entered, Quatre tossed Heero an electronic razor. Heero caught it in one hand and shook his head, grinning. "I don’t believe this." He got up, pushed Quatre out of the bathroom, and plugged in the razor. "I hate my genes sometimes. I have to shave every other day and it sucks."

Duo laughed and Relena rolled her eyes, smiling. Wufei snorted and stood up, saying, "This is not a manly conversation." He was about to leave the room when Heero retorted, "Well what is this, then, a womanly conversation?"

Relena burst out laughing as Wufei’s mouth opened and closed like a fish, unable to say anything.

However, thirty minutes later the mood was very different. Everyone now sat in the living room, on the floor or on the couch or chairs, and Quatre was speaking.

"I know we’d all like to settle down, but we can’t. Everything’s changed now. There’s an enemy out there, and we, as the Gundam pilots, are going to have to destroy it. It’s another mission, but this one won’t just be to save the world, it’s more. We’re going to have to save everyone, including the people we love."

At this, Heero’s arms tightened protectively around Relena.

Quatre continued grimly, "There’s nothing else for it. They know who we are, where we live, everything. We’re going to have to destroy them, and - "

"Convince everyone that the Gundam pilots aren’t the bad guys," Relena said firmly. "And I’m going to be the one to do that."

Duo glanced at her. "I thought you would want to be in on the action, Re."

Relena drew in a breath and replied, "If it means that everyone here would be safe, then I’m more than happy to go back to being the pampered, make-up loaded pink-dressed woman I have to be."

Heero wrinkled his nose. "But not for long, okay?"

Everyone laughed, until Trowa said, "We’re going to have to leave again, and we don’t know how long. But we’re going to find them."

Wufei nodded. "Agreed. Barton is right. Thing’s can’t work the way we want them to."

"And they haven’t," Duo cut in, unusually solemn. "I think the only truly happy times of our lives have been since we got married to the day before yesterday, and that’s it."

The pilots nodded grimly, and Heero said quietly, "Then let’s leave as soon as we can - today. Zechs, I believe you can get us a ship?"

Zechs nodded once. "Of course, Heero. It’ll be a piece of cake."

"Yeah, but the press won’t be," Lucrezia said grimly, bouncing Ashlyn on her knees. The little girl giggled as she went up and down, up and down.

Relena sighed. "I can handle that," she said calmly. "I’ve been doing it since I became Queen of the World, remember?" She wrinkled her nose. "Sheesh, I hate that title. It sounds so...so...little-kiddyish. Like something from a fairytale."

"What would you prefer?" Quatre asked thoughtfully.

Relena shrugged. "Anything but Queen of the World. And I don’t want people running around calling me Vice Foreign Minister every day." She jabbed a finger at Heero. "And don’t you ever, ever call me that if you want to live."

He grinned. "Okay, Vice Foreign Minister."

Relena glared at him, and he glared right back, until both of them laughed.

Hilde shook her head. "How can you two be so happy? I mean, they’re going away on another of those missions, and we might not - "

"You will see us again," Heero said firmly. "I promise."

"And I believe him," Relena said with a smile. "I’m not going to let this get to me."

Hilde glared at Duo. "Now why can’t you be that sweet?"

Duo shrugged and said, "Cause I’m cute, and you can’t be cute and sweet at the same time."

"Heero is," Relena and Hilde said simultaneously.

Heero rolled his eyes and groaned. "Great," he muttered sarcastically. "Now I’m cute."

"And sweet!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They prepared to leave, and by noon everything was ready. The X-283 was prepared and waiting in the field behind Duo’s house, and it was well-stocked, thanks to Zechs. The pilots were ready, and all that was left was the goodbyes.

Wufei and Sally were behaving as usual; insulting each other as Wufei prepared to leave.

"Now don’t go and kill yourself, Chang, or I’ll have to kill myself and then you’ll never get your baby girl."

"Boy, it’s a boy, woman. How many times do I have to tell you? And don’t go killing yourself, either. That would be stupid. Of course, what else is to be expected from a woman?"

"Jerk."

"Idiot."

"Imbecile."

"Woman."

With that, Wufei climbed into the ship.

Trowa and Rebecca were brief but loving; Trowa gave her a long hug, and then, with a quick kiss, he went up into the ship behind Wufei. It was all Rebecca needed.

Quatre and Dorothy were much the same; with a hug, a kiss, and a few loving words, Quatre was boarding also.

Duo and Hilde were a lot like the Changs, to say the least.

"Would you just get up into that ship and get a move on?"

"What, you really want me gone?"

"Sooner you go, sooner I can have some peace and quiet."

"Sooner I go you can flirt with Heero."

"Relena would kill me."

"Huh, far beyond that. Besides, Heero’d probably chuck you out of a window."

"Oh, just get on the ship."

"All right, but no flirting!"

"No promises, Duo..."

"Hilde!"

"Just kidding."

Heero and Relena gazed at each other for a long time, each memorizing every detail of the other’s appearance. After a moment, Heero drew her in for a kiss, then whispered fiercely, "Relena, when I come back, we’re getting married. I promise."

Relena smiled and said shakily, "Heero, that’s the best thing you’ve ever said. It’ll be the best thing you ever do, too."

Heero pulled away and touched her face lightly. "No, Relena, crash-landing on that beach was the best thing I’ve ever done."

With another kiss and a tight hug, he was gone.

As the X-283 lifted into the air and flew out of sight, Relena gave a deep sigh.

"I heard that."

She turned around to see her brother and Lucrezia standing behind her, her sister-in-law carrying Ashlyn.

Relena held up her hands in surrender, saying, "No lectures, Miliardo. I don’t think I could handle it without Heero nearby to whack you when you’re done."

Zechs gave his little sister a hug and replied, "No lectures, Re. I’m just glad I’ll get to walk you down the aisle when you two get married."

"And we’ll be your bridesmaids!" Hilde called from where she was standing with the other women.

Relena held up her hands and said, "Hold on, everybody, who ever said Heero and I are getting married?"

Sally snorted. "Oh please. Besides," she added with a wink. "All of us have very good hearing."

Relena rolled her eyes. "Let’s just go, all right? I’ve had about enough of you people as I can stand."

Dorothy laughed and said, "Oh well, Relena, you’re stuck with us for life."

Relena threw an arm around her and Hilde and said, "I know, Dorothy. And for that, I’m eternally grateful."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Wufei drove the ship into space, while Quatre prepared lunch and the other pilots unpacked. Unlike the X-103, the X-283 had three rooms, with two bunkbeds and a single in each, so that there was easily enough room for everyone. Heero and Duo bunked in one room, Quatre and Trowa in another, and, to his great happiness and satisfaction, Wufei got a room all to himself.

Duo, finishing unpacking his dufflebag, looked up and Heero and said, "Penny for you thoughts. You’ve been laying up there staring at the ceiling ever since ‘Fei took off."

Heero glanced at him. "Probably because you insisted on unpacking my clothes. I don’t want to know why."

"You gonna tell me what you’ve been thinking about?"

Heero sighed. "Two things."

"Bet I can guess one of them!"

The blue-eyed pilot snorted. "Bet you can, too."

"Well, I won’t name any names, but their initials are Relena Peacecraft."

"As much as you wish it was, that’s not funny."

"What was the other thing?"

Heero rolled over on his side to look at his friend. "You heard about the sudden span of peace in an L3 Colony?"

Duo’s eyes widened. "Hey, yeah, I did! We all thought it was you - "

Heero interrupted him, "Me? I was L4, Duo!"
"Like I knew that? Besides, it was something you would have done..."

"Actually," Heero said, "I was doing it on L4. The police just convinced the press not to release the information. Strange thing is," he continued, his eyebrows knitting together. "This person performed an exact copy of what I was doing...the exact same thing. It’s just that the press on L3 released the news, and they convinced L4 not to. I just want to know who it was. Whoever did that was watching me really closely, and that’s not a good thing."

Duo nodded solemnly. "You want to investigate it?"

Heero nodded. "Yeah. Let’s just stop by and see if we can’t find any information at all, you know?"

Duo considered it thoughtfully. "I bet in the combined efforts of all five Gundam pilots - now that we’ve got the best of the best of the best - we’ll figure it out." Duo grinned up at his friend. "Good to have you back, Heero buddy."

Heero grinned and turned on his back again. "Good to be back, Duo."

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