3 A.M. The alarm clock rang with such vengence that no one could escape it, even the perfect soldier himself. He slammed down the snooze button, and thrusted the morning reckoning into the wall.
("Mission today...so tired...and immobile...") Those thoughts ran through his mind, and he slowly threw off the covers as someone knocked on his door. He scoffed, pulled the covers and pillow over his head.
"Heero?" The voice was kind, and welcoming. "Are you alright? There was a crash, and, well, I thought something happened to you."
("Things just had to get worse...") He gave her his fated 'omae o kosoru' look from under the pillow, and then threw it at her face.
"Smooth move, Heero," Relena remarked, taking the pillow. "You're quite the gentleman; no wonder girls don't stick to you."
("You do...baka...") He shook his head and glared at her, "What brings you here?"
She threw the pillow back in his face, but he caught it with skill, that is, before it hit his face, "You don't sound too good. By chance, are you ill?"
He stretched and sat on the edge of his bed, "No, I'm perfectly fine with myself," Then, Heero stood in her face. "Now, get away and do not haunt me thus."
"Wilt thou leave me?" She tagged along, sarcastically. "Do not so!"
"Stay on thy peril, I alone will go!" However, that last line caught them both off guard, for he lost his focus and fell onto Relena.
"Perhaps you were wrong," She said, helping him balance. "Anyway, you're in no condition to fight! Your health comes first!"
He tried to shake the princess off, "Relena!"
"Heero!" She scolded with just as much force, "Listen to reason for a change! You're staying in bed no matter what you think!"
Once more, he tried taking her down, but his fever prohibited him from doing so. She slowly took him back into his bed, and tucked the perfect soldier in gently.
"Just sit tight and I'll be back with some medicine and a bowl of soup," Relena let her hand absorb the heat of his forehead to a certain point. "It's official, Heero Yuy, and you're sticking here."
"Can I sleep now?"
She smiled, "Of course!"
As Heero slowly closed his eyes and rested, Relena tiptoed out of his room. When she let the door click shut, a snickering entorage appeared in her face.
"Hey there, Relena!" Duo snickered.
She gasped, "Duo, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei! What brings you here so early?"
"You know, we're just roming around the halls looking for our leader," He answered. "Speaking of which, what's he still doing in bed?"
"Resting."
"Heero...resting?!" exclaimed Duo, hands flailing in the air. "What's he doing resting?! We've gotta big mission today!"
"What if I said that he was sick?"
Quatre raised an eyebrow, "He's just sick? That's a miracle. Our perfect soldier hasn't been taken down by anything, but now it's the flu bug that got the best of him."
"Can't all of you go off without him today?"
"Duo was just exaggerating, Relena," Trowa corrected. "All we're going to is guard a carrier that's taking some entorage to the L1 colony."
"Why would they want you to do something that a Taurus suit could do?" Relena asked, confused.
"Practically all of them are in battle," he responded, "and we're the only things left here that could do the job."
"Yep, that's right," Duo said, "we pilots are so popular with the Alliance that we get to take something from point A to point B," He then leaned against Heero's bedroom door and put his hand on the doorknob. "Also, we could use our leader for this, so I'm just going to see what's up!"
"Duo! I wouldn't do that if I were you!" She whispered, trying to stop him.
"Don't worry, Relena," He winked, "Heero won't mind if I just checked on him."
Relena, Duo, Trowa and Wufei sweatdropped.
She slapped a hand across her forehead, and began counting backwards, "Five...four...three...two...one..."
Duo then came out the door and was slammed against the wall. He sat there, eyes unfocused, as Relena glared at him.
"What did I tell you?" She shook her head, "I tried to warn you that he wasn't in the best of moods, so look what you got!"
"Well, excuse me!" Duo retorted, getting the pillow off his chest, "Now I know why Heero's in a bad mood, Ms. 'Ray of Sunshine!'"
"So you're saying it's my fault that he's not feeling well?!"
"Of course!"
Their auras sparked off in a verbal fight where the fittest would only survive. Trowa, Quatre and Wufei sweatdropped watching the young princess of the S
ank Kingdom versus the pilot of Gundam 02 take it out on each other. "It's not my fault, Duo! End of discussion!" She retorted for the final time, then turned the opposite way, "Anyway, I'm going to get some medicine for him. They'll-"
A large blast filled the air, and its impact sent the pilots off their feet.
"An attack at this hour?!" Trowa exclaimed, trying to stay on his feet.
"Take care of Heero, Relena!" Duo said, running off with the others.
She watched their backs until they were out of her sight. Turning to Heero's door, she gently laid her forehead against it and went off to get what he needed.
***
He heard the blasts, and they weren't the ones that Duo and Relena created outside his door. Even though he felt as if a raging inferno penetrated his defenses, Heero tried to shake it off and attempted to reach the door. Pulling the sweat-drenched sheets off his body, he kept hearing voices from the outside that he could've sworn that belonged to his friends. Heero Yuy was on his feet, but as he walked, the world became a blur and he found himself on the cold floor.
"Heero!"
That one was too familiar. ("Relena...")
"Heero! What are you doing out of bed?!" Relena exclaimed, too concerned over his health. However, she gazed down on him with her caring eyes as she cradled him, "I suppose you've heard what's going on outside, but don't push it too much; your fever's risen by a landslide."
She tried getting him off the ground, but he gently pushed her away. Relena objected, but she decided to let him do what he wanted. Right before he reached his bed, Heero collapsed once more, and he heard Relena's voice calling him...
***
"You okay, Quatre?!" Duo yelled, trying to take a few Mobile Dolls off his back.
The young pilot of Sandrock sliced the suit into two pieces and blasted to another area, "Don't worry Duo! I'm okay! Just worry about keeping these blasted things out of this area!"
Wufei looked into another direction, "I'm going after the ones on the right!"
"Good luck!" Duo commended.
Trowa decided to step in after he took down a few extra, "I've got you covered, Wufei!"
Quatre and Duo looked at the field against them. It would seem that about twenty were left for them to tackle.
"After you, Winner," Duo graciously offered.
"Thanks, Duo!" Quatre nodded off, and let himself go. It wasn't long before the four defeated the Aries Dolls, nor when they discovered that something else was waiting for them.
Trowa and Wufei falled back to the others.
"One more to go, boys, and we're home free!" Duo proclaimed flashing his usual smile. He took Deathscythe and went to work. The opposing force dodged everything Duo threw at it, and gave him, literally, a piece of its mind.
"What in the world?!" Duo found the Mobile Doll behind him, "What's this thing's mechanism?!" The enemy shot at Deathscythe with a powerful blast from the laser cannon and Duo didn't have enough time to retreat. It hit him head on near the power supply.
He screamed in agony as his friends watched; each of them were filled with a purpose to take vengence for him.
"Duo!" Quatre cried; he got Sandrock into its battle position, facing the enemy, "That's it! You're out of here!"
***
Relena woke from her reverie, seeing an explosion from the sky, ("I hope it's not them...otherwise,") She looked down at the sleeping figure before her, ("Heero's going to want to fight as well...")
His fever had increased in the past three hours, and the pain went with that as well. The princess did everything she could for the perfect soldier, but sometimes it didn't work nor wasn't appreciated by his body. Once again, she caressed his arms, trying to stifle the groans he gave from the pain; even compress wasn't doing its job for him either.
As another shot rang through the air, the room shaked a little more, and stirred Heero from his nap.
"Heero? You're awake?"
He heard the voice, and moved his pulsating head in her direction, "T-the explosions...what's going on...w-why?"
"An atack," She whispered, removing the sweat-caked hair that was sticking to his forehead, "from an unknown force. Duo and the others just left a few hours ago, but..."
"But what?"
"From the sound of things, I don't think that they're winning." She took another cloth and wiped his face, "It's quite ironic; we're being sought by another enemy because we've been spolied by peace."
He just stared at her, trying to piece what she said into a reasonable picture. From what he came up with, Heero immediately decided that the only thing he could do was help fight. However, he knew that Relena would nag him to rest and not fight.
"I'm going out there," He declared, feeling the pain of both his feverish body and Relena's facial expression, "and you're not going to stop me, Relena."
"Is that so?!" She scolded, trying to keep him in bed, "Heero, please don't go out there! Your condition's going to worsen if you go out into space and fight!"
"Don't make me repeat myself," He hoarsely said, taking a fledgeling's steps. He felt a raging inferno sear through his body, but he didn't care. However, just before he got to the door, the world blurred and he collapsed.
"Heero..." Relena ran to him with a cold, soft cloth and dabbed at his face again. She cradled him in her arms, resting her chin on top of his head, "I warned you."
His vision cleared, and he shot Relena the more serious 'omae o kosoru' expression, "Why are you still on to me like this?!"
Tears began welling in her eyes, "I'm not doing any of this to make myself look good, Heero; I'm doing it all for your sake. You've protected me countless times, and all I want to do is repay you for that by being here for you. Ever since you left two years ago after the Mariemaya incident, you were the only thing that was on my mind. Through every conference, I've had trouble keeping my focus because I see your face everywhere. So," She buried her face in his chest, "please understand, Heero! I don't want to be separated from you again!"
She let her tears fall, and they continued to dampen Heero's drenched body. He looked at her, and realized that strong people do have weak spots. Heero raised her chin so that she was facing him, and embraced her.
"Listen, Relena," His head was spinning, but he did his best to keep his eyes on her, "I know I've kept you waiting, but I need you to be patient once more."
"Heero," she smiled through the flood of tears, "you've got my word, but be careful for me."
Relena helped him get back on his feet, and he walked out the door. ("Heero...you're more than a perfect soldier; you're...such a treasure...")
***
"Trowa!"
Heavyarms' cannon was sent flying through space, and the semi- indestructible Mobile Doll faced it once more.
"I'm not giving up!" Trowa declared, looking at what was left of the Gundam team. Quatre, with a torn Sandrock, was trying to keep Duo out of trouble. Deathscythe lost its hand-to-hand combat weapons and parts of it were missing; Duo had lost consciousness in the attack. Shenlong and Wufei were holding out quite well, but Shenlong was in a condition similar to Duo and Quatre.
"That thing should've been ancient history by now," Wufei remarked. "Why can't we destroy it?!"
Trowa continued throwing various attacks at his opponent, but it blocked each one and struck him instead. He groaned in pain, but the enemy was behind him and began plummeting towards Heavyarms. "Trowa!!"
The young pilot braced himself for impact, but all he got out of it was seeing a golden ray of light. As it cleared, the Wing Zero was shielding him.
"Heero?!" He wondered, "I thought you-"
"I forced Relena to let me out here," Heero answered weakly.
"What about your fever?"
"I've put that on hold," He answered, "and you need to get back with the others; let me handle this guy." Then, he blasted away taking the enemy with him.
"Heero!"
"Don't bother him, guys," a sleepy Duo said, "I think he's doing this for someone."
Quatre's eyes were snaped open, "Duo? You're awake?"
"If I wasn't, would I be talking?!" He retorted, massaging his bruised arm, "Anyway, I think the only thing that's holding him back isn't his fever, but Relena."
"Now I get it." remarked Trowa.
Each of the guys looked back into the battle, and saw that things were letting up. Heero kept throwing blasts from his laser cannon, and the enemy was losing its focus. Just when Heero was going to take the final strike, the opposing Mobile Doll struck him with a rather powerful force.
***
Relena snapped awake and saw the explosion in the morning sky, "Heero!"
***
"Man, did you see that?!" Duo exclaimed, "Heero! What are you doing?!"
Heero felt the impact of the force, for he felt a few bruises and cuts along his back, "I'll...survive!"
However, for a strange reason, he saw Relena in his mind, and took a final strike. Wing Zero's hand penetrated through the Mobile Doll, and it exploded on contact.
"Mission...complete..." He said, before blacking out.
His team was shouting and cheering for him.
"The perfect soldier did it again!" shouted Duo.
Trowa and Wufei got Wing Zero in their grasp.
"Now, let's get back before Relena gets paranoid," said Quatre.
The G-team then blasted off; destination: earth, Sank Kingdom.
***
"Heero! Say something, anything! Just let me know you're still here!" Relena surely didn't want to be left alone. She kept both her hands around one of Heero's and held her breath, ("Open your eyes...")
She was too absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't hear him stir. Heero looked around the surroundings with an awkward curosity, and stared at Relena whose hands were wrapped around his, and her forehead resting against them.
"Why am I still here?" He blurted out of the blue. Relena just stared at him.
"You forgot the promise I made you take?" she smiled, letting a stray tear fall from her clouded eye, "It's a miracle you were able to survive that on, but I shouldn't be surprised that the perfect soldier can live through anything."
"Actually, you should."
"Huh?" She blinked, confused.
"For a while now, I've done some serious thinking," He sat upright in his bed. "I left you two years ago because I needed to rethink about myself, my life and well...you."
"Me?"
"Of course," Heero nodded. "At first, you were an annoying pest swarming around me wherever I went. However, you were something else when you took on that Peacecraft responsibility, and I felt that you needed to be protected. Right before I went to fight your brother, I would've given you something more than just a sympathetic farewell."
"What do you mean, Heero?"
Heero grinned mentally, and laced his free arm around her back; he felt her back tense, but eventually loosened as she melted into his arms.
"You surely do know how to bring surprises to life," She whispered. "Speaking of which," He whispered back, "watch your words." A sweet, tender moment of silence was broken, "Ai shiteru, Relena."
She held him tighter, "Ai shiteru, Heero Yuy."
Both held their breath, for their lips had joined. It wasn't a long, passionate kiss, but a sweet, tasteful one at that.
"I swear, you really do surprise me," Relena commented as they broke apart. "Now," She laid him flat on his bed, "it's time you get that fever down."
"How about I get you down here with me?" He snickered.
"Next time, genius," She laid her head down on the pillow, "but I'll be right here if you need me, okay?"
He smiled contently, and slept peacefully knowing that he could finally live again.
***
"Watch it, Hilde! You're making it worse!"
"Well, if you could just cooperate a little, maybe I could get this stupid bandage on and you can go on with your life! " A girl with a red beret scolded, trying to wrap a thin bandage around his arm.
Duo knew she won this conflict, so, he just stayed put. After she did get his wound covered, Hilde placed a coffee mug in front of him, and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders.
"You know, Relena's been in Heero's room for a while," Duo snickered.
She slapped him upside the head with her beret, "Idiot, you know why." "You didn't have to hit me, for it; you know I was kidding!"
"Oh, Duo," Hilde wrapped her arms around him, "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"We know what we'd do without him, Hilde," smiled Wufei.
"What was that?!" He raged.
Hilde pulled him back in his chair, "Just shut up, you idiot!"
Trowa and Quatre sweatdropped.
"Well, it's nice to know things will be just a tad bit peaceful." Quatre remarked.
"Peaceful?" Trowa wondered, "Quatre, I don't think that'll be given to us. After all, how would peace survive among those two?"
"I suppose you're right..."