I do not own Gundam Wing.  This fan fiction has no commercial value and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this.  

Warnings: some lime, pretty mild, I think.

Chapter 16

            The peace and tranquility that Pagan was enjoying within the Peacecraft mansion was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.  The old butler sighed heavily and placed his crossword puzzle down on the kitchen table and got up to answer it.

            Heero tried running a nervous hand through his hair to calm himself, but found that his unruly locks were still congealed into their typical points by the infamous Barton hair gel.  He cursed under his breath and shifted the flowers and box of candy he held in his arms.  A second later, the door opened, and Heero’s eyes widened in surprise.  There in front of him was the kindly old man, Pagan, Relena’s most trusted servant, pointing a gun in his face!

            “Ah, it’s you, young master Yuy.  I thought you might be that scoundrel Maxwell that tore up my kitchen earlier today.”

            Heero blinked in disbelief but felt a little relieved.  The old man’s gunning for Duo?  A slight smirk curled his lips in amusement.  “Actually Pagan, it was partly my fault.”

            “Ah, Master Yuy, it is too kind of you to want to take the blame for your friend.  But Miss Relena said he was the one responsible, and so he will be the one to suffer the consequences of his actions.”

            Heero raised an eyebrow.  “Are you planning on shooting him, Pagan?”

            “What, this?  Oh no.  I’m not typically a violent man, Master Yuy.  His punishment is the loss of kitchen privileges for the next week.  He’ll either have to starve while on duty or bring his own lunch.”

            “Well, that to Duo is like a fate worse than death.”

“Yes, it’s so much easier to deal with someone like Duo, he’s dangerous of course, but openly engaging.  One always knows what is going on in that mind of his.  The one we must truly be fearful of is the ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ so to speak – the snake that comes in the guise of a friend.”

“So, then, why the gun?  Are you expecting a snake? And are you going to let me in?”

            “Well, you see, young Master Yuy.  Miss Relena is like my granddaughter.  She’s very special to me, and this gun has served to ward off many the unsuitable suitors.”

            Both of Heero’s eyebrows shot up.  He’s threatening me?  “Are you suggesting…”

            “I’m not suggesting anything, young Master Yuy.  I am well aware of Miss Relena’s feelings for you.  It was very apparent during the war, and she continues to have these emotions despite her better judgment.  She can be a very rash person, and so I just wanted to remind you that she is a lady.  Inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated, and I will be watching.”  As if to emphasize the point, the safety was disengaged from the pistol.

            It was all mildly amusing, until the part about Relena liking him ‘despite her better judgment’.  He found that insulting, and his temper started to flare, but he wasn’t going to lose control.  “And what do you intend to do about it?  Shoot me?  Do you think I’ll let you?” He asked with a smug smile.

            “Actually yes, if necessary.  I hope it won’t come to that, really.”

            “Hn.” Heero scowled darkly.

            “But I wanted to ask you one question before I let you in for your date this evening.  What is it that you’re up to with Miss Relena?  For I know you certainly do not claim to be in love with her.”

            “I don’t think I understand you.”

            “Ah, I see.  Is it her money?  Are you tired of body-guarding, Master Yuy?”

            Heero shook his head.  “No.  I have no interest in money.”

            “Humph.  Well, in case I have not made myself clear, young Master Yuy, I will not be parting with Miss Relena to anyone unworthy of her.  I will kill you if you hurt her again.”  With that, the old man reengaged the safety mechanism, and stepped back to allow Heero entrance to the house. 

           

            Heero stepped passed the normally kindly old man into the Peacecraft mansion.  Ever on his guard, he kept a wary eye on the butler that had just a moment ago confessed to ‘scaring off’ Relena’s suitors.  Hmmm…no wonder she’s never dated, Heero mused while watching Pagan retreat up the steps to announce his arrival.  Mission note: Pagan is definitely not an ally.  He must be regarded as an enemy, as he is opposed to mission objective, Relena Yuy.  All enemies must be eliminated or neutralized…

            He was interrupted from his train of thought when Relena appeared at the top of the stairs looking very attractive in a white sleeveless summer dress that seemed to flow around her as she moved, and a sensible shawl wrapped around her shoulders.  He allowed himself a moment to appreciate how beautiful she truly was, and then an image from his dream suddenly sparked in his mind – of the two of them in her room, kissing passionately as he led her towards the...  Heero quickly quashed the image and fought the bodily reaction the fantasy attempted to stir. 

            She saw him, looking handsome yet uncomfortable in a dark navy suit; his arms were filled with the gifts he had for her – very sweet, but highly out of character for her usually stoic guard.  Despite herself, she felt her heart doing flip-flops at the sight of him standing there, about to take her on a real date.  She fought the urge to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming the whole thing.  Heero was really taking her out – on a date!  She couldn’t help but smile at him as she stepped down from the last step and into the main foyer where he was waiting. 

            Shoving the gifts at her last time did not work well. Remember Noin’s advice and hand them to her nicely, Heero thought and held out the roses to her as she approached.  Her smile widened and that look, that look that he could never place, lit up her eyes and made them dance in the electric light.  Unconsciously, he stood up straighter underneath her gaze.  He may not have been able to figure out what that look meant, but he knew that he had never seen her glance at another man with the same gentleness and light.  That was his look, and he hadn’t seen it on her face in quite awhile.  He never realized how much he missed seeing it; maybe one day he’d figure out its significance.

            “They’re beautiful.  Thank you, Heero,” she breathed softly and then closed her eyes as she inhaled their fragrant scent.  He just watched her, studying every movement, wondering what was going on in her mind.  He found no fascination in flowers, but figured out a long time ago that Relena loved the perfumed, petal-infested things.  “Pagan, will you please put these in a vase for me?”  She called out to the old man who was watching the exchange like a hawk as his mind was busily thinking of how to get rid of ‘Master Yuy’.

            “Certainly, Miss Relena,” Pagan responded and took the flowers from her.  He quickly disappeared into the kitchen to do his duty.

              Heero then handed her the box of chocolate truffles and the card.  She was surprised by the gifts, but took them patiently and placed them on the table in the entryway where they stood.  “Thank you.”

            He nodded in response and just looked at her a moment.  Their eyes locked and he could feel his body moving towards her, as their lips sought each other for a kiss.  Her eyes closed as she felt his warm breath on her cheek…Suddenly, she felt tension and heard someone clear their throat – loudly.

            “Ahem!  Miss Relena, the flowers have been placed in a vase as requested.  Where would you like them?”  Pagan asked, trying to sound innocent.

            Frustrated, Relena opened her eyes and trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice, replied, “Oh, please put them in my room, Pagan, on my dressing table.  Thank you.”

            Heero pulled away from her at the sound of the old man clearing his throat.  He knew it was no accident.  Relena’s servant had said he would be watching, and he was keeping to his word.  Heero scowled in irritation, he had really wanted to kiss her just then.  Wait a minute!  Why?  Why do I want to kiss her?  Heero asked himself, suddenly thrown off-kilter by the thought.  The mission requires kissing, he told himself.  His research had shown that women were emotional creatures, just as Zechs had said.  He had been assured that the more kissing he and Relena did, the more likely it was that he would his accomplish mission objective.  I’m not distracted.  I’m just finally completely focused on my mission, he decided with some satisfaction.  He had everything under control….

            The moonlight played on the tips of the crashing waves, as they rolled into shore.  Relena tugged on his hand as she dragged them both, barefoot, out into the shallow waters where the last breath of the crests washed over their toes.  He shook his head, this was crazy, he thought and glanced again at the woman beside him.

            She was staring up at the moon, as if basking in its bluish glow as she threw out her arms and rolled her head back, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath of the sea air.  He watched her out of the corner of his eye, his face still unreadable in the pale moonlight.  She opened her eyes again and looked at him, her delicate limbs falling back to her sides for a moment before grinning at him mischievously.  He didn’t know what that look meant, either.

            She suddenly reached out and grabbed his hands, forcing his arms up into a dancing stance, as she started humming and trying to get him to waltz with her in the water.  Mechanically, he followed her lead, surprised for not the first time that evening, and definitely not the last, by her behavior. 

            The water splashed around them, and Relena giggled at his expression as he realized his pant’s legs were soaked, despite her efforts to roll them up for him when they took off their shoes.  He scowled slightly; this was a new suit – one of the few articles of clothing he owned that was not associated with his job in the Preventers.  He would have to have it cleaned before the wedding, now, as he had bought it expressly for that purpose, but had been talked into wearing it on this date.  He glared at her and her giggles turned into laughter.  He still could not figure out why she was behaving like this, but he didn’t mind her amusement – it had been far too long since he had seen her laugh.

            As he stared at her, watching the expressions change and flash across her face, he wondered if she knew how much of her emotions were displayed for the world to see in her beautiful eyes and full red lips.  She looked up at him, and suddenly grew serious. 

            “What was it like – piloting your Gundam?” She asked, studying him quietly.

            He frowned slightly at the question.  “What do you mean?”

            “I mean, how did it feel?  How did it make you feel, to pilot Wing or even Wing Zero?”

            He stiffened and looked away from her.  “It was at times exhilarating to fly Wing.  When there was no battle to fight, it was enjoyable.  But most of the time, it was terrifying to be trapped inside it, on a uncertain battlefield, with your only purpose to live through another battle so you could fight again.”

            She had never heard him say anything like that.  She could tell it was spoken from the heart, and any defensive wall she had been trying to keep in place crumbled at his words.  Instinctively, she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.  “Heero…”

            He turned and looked down at her, and the last conscious thought he would remember was, I wonder what that card said…

           

            The two figures were almost completely indiscernible in the poor light, as Duo tried to adjust his binoculars to see what they were doing.  He’s still got too many clothes on to be doing the ‘deed’ with her, but it’s certainly not for lack of effort.  Duo thought as he watched Heero lean down and begin kissing her again.

“Ah, there we go, I knew the night vision option would come in handy,” Duo mumbled as he finally found the button on his binoculars in the dark.  “Let’s see what you two are really up to, now… Woah!  Go Heero,” he said with an amused chuckle as he saw the former Zero pilot reach down and start to push the long gauzy skirt Relena was wearing up to her mid-thigh as he continued to kiss her, his body pinning her down against the soft wet sand. Her arms were wrapped around his neck as she returned his kisses, and didn’t appear to mind the bold move.  Suddenly, they broke apart, and Duo wished he had managed to slip a mike onto one of them so he could hear what they were saying.  The end result was that Heero stood up, and then helped her to her feet.  The two gathered their discarded articles of clothing: his jacket, tie, socks, and shoes, and her shawl and heels.  Duo quickly jumped up and ran back to the car, he wasn’t sure if he had given away his cover as their driver for the evening, but he was going to keep up appearances regardless. 

Duo held the car door open and waited for them to get settled inside.  He dashed around to the driver’s side, eager not to miss anything that passed between the amorous pair.  As soon as the car was in motion, Heero and Relena, who had formerly been sitting up straight on their separate sides of the backseat, picked up where they had left off.

Relena sighed in pleasure as Heero broke their kiss to nip down the side of her neck, and then returned to claim her lips once again.  Using his bodyweight, he slowly pressed her down into a lying position upon the plush leather seat. 

Her head was spinning from his intoxicating kisses; she couldn’t think, all she could do was feel his lips on her mouth and skin, as forceful and demanding as he was.  His hand came up to caress her thigh under her long skirt as he once again trailed his hot breath down her neck and towards her chest.

“I love you,” she whispered suddenly, the logical part of her brain unaware that the words had escaped its strong emotional defenses.  As soon she said it, she wished she could have taken it back.  She felt his body tense above her, and that painful ache in her chest, momentarily forgotten for the evening, returned once more.  She noted with trepidation it somehow felt stronger; the pain of heartbreak seemed to worsen every time she let him in.

Heero froze when he heard her soft voice tell him so sincerely, “I love you.”  It was one thing to be told that she loved him, it was quite another to hear those words spoken out loud - her heart so blithely offered in selfless sacrifice.  It caused something deep within him to stir strangely, and he felt his physical desire for her multiply.  He leaned down to kiss her again, when suddenly the car door opened.  He had been so caught up in Relena, he hadn’t noticed they had stopped moving.

Duo held out his hand and helped the princess out of the backseat.  She didn’t look up at his face, or thank him, she ducked her head down to keep the hurt inside as she moved swiftly towards the front door. 

Heero started to climb out after her, completely unaware of her distress.  Suddenly, the car door slammed shut, and he retreated quickly to avoid having his nose broken.  Heero growled and reached for the handle to let himself out, then quickly went after Relena.  “When I’m head of the household, I’m going to fire that guy,” he thought with irritation as he saw that his ‘fiancée’ was about to escape.  He was hoping to be eating breakfast as a guest of the Peacecraft mansion the following morning, instead of as a guard.

He caught up with her about the time she had unlocked the door and was reaching to open it.  Heero slid his arm around her waist from his position behind her and leaned down to nuzzle her neck.  Her skin was so soft and he could smell the faintest tinge of seawater in her hair from the time they spent earlier that evening at the beach.  He kissed his way up to murmur in her ear. “Invite me in,” he said in a husky voice laden with desire.

Relena felt the arms around her waist and the warm lips on her throat and closed her eyes to the hormonal desires he stirred within her body at his touch.  She heard him tell her to invite him in, and stiffened in his grasp.  She tried to pull away.

Heero felt her tense within the circle of his arms and frowned.  “What’s wrong?” He asked without thinking and released her when she strained against his embrace.

Relena shook her head; her body and the eyes that would give her every secret away were turned to face the door.  “Let’s just leave it with I had a good time tonight,” she said softly, trying to keep the hurt from tainting the memory of the evening they spent together.  She turned the knob and started to open the door.

Heero reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her around to face him.  She kept her eyes cast down, as she heard his gruff voice utter her name in question.

“Relena?”

His heart was pounding in his ears, he was sure she could hear it in the quiet darkness illuminated only by soft strains of moonlight and the remnants of electrical light that escaped from the front windows of the mansion.  Everything within him said not to let her go.  He wanted her, wanted to drown himself in the softness of her skin and hear her whisper those words again.  In that vague corner of his mind he didn’t want to listen to right then, he wondered when it was he had lost control over his body….

He leaned down and kissed her hard on the lips, trying to tell her how much he wanted her without saying a word.  After a few seconds, she broke away. 

“Good night, Heero,” she said breathily in dismissal, still refusing to look him in the eye.

It had never been his intention to seduce her.  He had never thought of her that way; his mission was to protect her, and bodyguards didn’t, to use Duo’s phrase, “touch the merchandise.”  But something was happening to him that he couldn’t control, and it was infecting his entire being.  An image from his dream suddenly appeared in his mind, and he felt a throbbing ache settle in the pit of his stomach.  It took every ounce of self control he had left not to maul her right there on the porch.

“I don’t want to say good night,” he said in a low voice, his body speaking without the prior consent of his brain.  Did I say that?

She froze in the midst of opening the door to look up at him in surprise.

He took a step forward.  “I don’t think you do either.”  What am I saying?

A thousand little electric shivers ran down her spine as he pulled her into his arms again and leaned down to kiss her.  Just in time, the logical part of her brain kicked in and she turned her head away.

Heero straightened his relaxed posture at her rejection.  Anger and confusion began to surface through the hazy cloud of desire that had settled in his mind, threatening to dispel the mental picture of him making love to her on the porch.  Dammit, where are these images coming from?

“I’m sorry.  I don’t want…”

“You don’t want me?” He challenged, knowing that he was affecting her as much as she affected him. 

“Yes. No…I mean, I don’t know,” she stuttered, trying to put distance between them so she could think straight. He wasn’t cooperating.  He doesn’t love you, that voice said again in her mind.  And no matter how attracted she was to him or how much she loved him, she was determined not to do something she would regret.  “I don’t want this to be one night.”  She finally admitted in defeat, telling him more than she wanted him to know.

Anger definitely won the inner battle at those words.  He took a step back from where she stood on the porch, and mentally cursed not being able to run his fingers through his hair as was his habit.  Suddenly, everything came back into focus as he was able to calm the sea of emotions and gain sight of the final target.  He could complete his mission this evening, and satisfy the irrational physical attraction she had created – only to get it out of his system, of course.

Intent on his mission once again, he stepped forward and grabbed her left hand, his thumb resting on her ring finger, nudging the engagement ring she was still wearing. 

“It isn’t for one night, Relena.  I’ve already made a promise to you.  Accept my proposal for real, and I’ll marry you tomorrow,” he said with a slight smirk tugging at his lips, confident he had won the undeclared battle of wills between them.  Proof once again that emotions are a weakness…

The words stabbed her heart. She knew he kept his promises; the fact that she was alive was proof enough of that.  But he was asking her to give him everything, and all he was offering in return was another oath. “A promise isn’t enough, Heero.  It’s not that I doubt you’d be there in the morning, but rather that I know your heart will be absent the entire night.  I don’t want your promises, Heero; I want your love.  If you loved me, things could be different, but I will not spend the night with a man who doesn’t love me.  Just like I won’t marry a man who doesn’t love me.”

            Her words registered in his brain and caused the alarm sirens within to go off.  Mission status: critical, he thought, desperation taking hold of him as she spoke.  Relena removed the ring and laid it carefully in the palm of his hand before turning to retreat into the house.  He couldn’t let her go, or all his efforts would be in vain.  His body reached out to stop her, his voice cracking slightly as he touched her and awakened with full force all that he had sought to quell.  “Don’t go, Relena…”

            She turned around at the choked sound of his voice, her blue eyes having to adjust as the porch light flickered on when her hand accidentally brushed against the switch when she had tried to move inside.  She looked up at him with pleading eyes, begging him to tell her what she wanted so much to hear.

            “If you can look me in the eye, Heero, and say you love me, I’ll gladly spend the night with you,” she said and couldn’t help the blush that crept up her neck and stained her cheeks.  That was as bold as she had ever been about sex.  She dropped her gaze to the ground to cover her embarrassment, and missed the vicious battle being waged inside her inexperienced date.

            Two things were essential, and he was debating which one took precedence. One, the ultimate goal of getting her to marry him should be all that any smaller operations are geared towards.  But the immediate objective of satisfying this physical hunger he had suddenly developed for her soft feminine form… More enticing images floated through his mind and then he remembered what Duo had once said:  “Men will say anything to get a woman into bed.” 

What harm would come from saying three meaningless little words?  Instinct told him that the chances of completing the overall mission increased if he could succeed at Operation: Early Wedding Night.  Just because he knew the words she wanted to hear weren’t true, didn’t mean he couldn’t tell one simple little lie for the greater good of mankind.  Going to bed with her tonight would bring him closer to the goal of getting her to marry him - so that he could protect her in order for her to keep peace.  Deception was often part of mission protocol….  He took a deep breath, and reached out to raise her chin up to where he could look her directly in the eye.  He took in the hopeful expression in those light blue orbs and willed his mouth to form the words.

“Relena, I….”

AN:

Rose: **whistles and looks up at ceiling, hands jammed in pockets, trying to look innocent and most likely failing miserably**

Angry mob: Pitch forks? Check. Torches? Check.  Anything else?  Hand in the back.

Anonymous mob member: Uh, yeah, do we use the pitchfork first or the torch, I’m confused.

Rose: **pales and runs away**

Angry mob:  Doesn’t matter, as long as you get her!!!  **runs after Rose yelling** Come back and tell us what he said!  We need chapter 17 now, or else!  Get back here!!!!!!

My apologies for a particularly hideous chapter break, Blind Target style.  It wasn’t my original intention, but the way the first scene in ch. 17 plays out, it really couldn’t be helped.  SORRY!!!!  L