Relena Peacecraft gazed wistfully at the framed picture of Heero she kept on her night table, next to the one of her dead -foster- mother and father. It was a very rare picture: Heero was smiling...not smirking or sneering or grinning venomously...it was a real smile, soft yet with a bit of a roguish quality. His blue eyes were unguarded and smiling as well. The lighting was very bright, and Heero cast a very black shadow as though all his inner darkness was in that shadow...and not in him.
He leaned against a shining white wall, his dark shadow a brilliant contrast against the bright surface. His arms were crossed against his chest. He wore a loose white sleeveless shirt and denim jeans. It was very different from his usual outfit, or anything else she ever saw him wear, and she really had no idea why he was smiling like that.
But whatever the reason, Relena treasured the photo. She remembered the first time she had met Heero. He hadn't been anything like the boy in the picture, and he still usually wasn't. He'd been hurt, and bright red blood spotted his dark gold flight suit. When she'd found him, he threatened to kill her. But he couldn't carry out his threat.
The look in his incredibly dark blue eyes had been what captivated Relena. They were like a wild animal's, one who'd been trapped and was willing-or maybe caged for so long it was the only thing he could do-to fight. Relena had a talent for reading people, something a government official must have, but she couldn't see so deeply into anyone else, not be able to feel the pain and anger and everything else the way she felt it from Heero.
A curious expression of independence and defiance and no trust at all. An intensity that made other people's eyes seem so fake in comparison. Anger, that was there in spades. And something else, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but that told her that there was more than the soldier to Heero Yuy. And as she came to know him, more and more, she wanted to know still more. Relena knew she was falling in love with him, despite everything that screamed at her not to. And maybe it was just her imagination, but there were moments, when Heero was momentarily distracted, when his guard was down and his blue eyes would soften, just a moment, and his lips would curve slightly in the preliminaries of a se: 1.
She hoped that smile was for her.