Love’s Choice 6

Katana Force

Relena had just pulled the steaks out of the refrigerator when everyone came walking in, or rather, storming in. Sally, Wufei, Noin, Milliardo, Dorothy, and Quatre walked by without so much as a greeting, but the strong smell of manure did greet Relena. Duo, Hilde, Trowa, and Midii walked into the kitchen smelling like roses.

"Uh, what happened?"

"They all fell into some horse dung."

"It must have been a pretty big pile to get it all over themsleves."

Hilde, Duo, and Midii laughed. "Nope, they just couldn’t get out of it."

Relena chuckled. "Gee, I’m sorry I missed it."

Duo winked at Relena and pulled out a videotape. "No, you won’t, but you will miss the camcorder."

"What happened to your camcorder?"

Duo looked a little sheepish and scartched the back of his head. "Well, it’s actually yours, but Milliardo was the one who threw it in the water trough."

"What! My brother did? Well, you can bet it will be coming out of his paycheck."

Duo told Relena what happened with the camcorder.

"So, when’s dinner?" Hilde asked as she pulled her head out of the pantry.

"Oh, Trowa, Duo, could you guys grill these steaks for me?"

"Sure thing, Jousan."

The girls watched the boys walk out before questioning Relena. Hilde came bouncing up a grabed Relena’s arm.

"So, tell all!"

"Yes, do tell us everything."

Relena laughed and pried her arm out of Hilde’s grip. "Nothing happened."

"Liar!" They both yelled in unison.

"You’re shining eyes, really red lips, and beat red face said differently."

"Okay, something happened."

"Yeah, but what?!"

"Shh, I’m not sure, okay?"

Hilde’s eyes watered up. "Gee, after all these years you two are finally getting somewhere. It must have been so romantic with him being sick and you caring for him."

Midii imitated Hilde. "Yes, so romantic."

The others, done with their showers, chose that moment to enter. "What is so romantic?"

Relena blushed as Hilde and Midii burst into laughter. "It was nothing."

Sally and Noin threw Relena a knowing look. Relena rolled her eyes and left the kitchen. She headed for her bedroom but decided to check on Heero. She found him typing away at his laptop. "Hey."

Heero set the laptop aside. "What’s all the yelling, and why where people stomping around up here?"

Relena smiled as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Apparently my brother, Noin, Wufei, Sally, Dorothy, and Quatre decided to go frolicking in the manure. Duo says he got it all on video tape. The stomping you heard was them going for showers. They smelled pretty bad."

Heero took Relena’s hand and intertwined their fingers. "When’s dinner?"

"In about fifteen minutes. Why? Are you thinking of joining us?"

"Yeah."

Relena gigled. "You might want to take a shower first. You’re still all pink."

"I’ll just wear sweats to cover it up. Do the guys suspect anything?"

"No, but I don’t know how long the girls will keep it a secret."

Someone knocked on the door. Relena was going to go answer it, but Heero wouldn’t let her go. He pulled her back down before speaking. "Come in."

Sally walked in and smiled when she saw what was going on. "Sorry to interupt, but I need to check the patient."

Relena nodded. "I’m going to go make sure everything is okay. I’ll see you both down stairs."

Sally took the spot Relena had vacated and gave Heero a big grin. "All I can say is that it’s about time."

Heero shook his head before letting himeself be examined.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner had gone well. There were stories told of the day’s trip, but it ended up in an arguement. Heero, who was sitting next to Relena, sat back and put his arm along the back of Relena’s chair. To their surpirse, no one noticed. Relena and Heero exchanged looks before getting up and clearing the table. Still no one noticed, except maybe Trowa, but he was being dragged into the arguement by Midii. The table was cleared, and the bickering still hadn’t stopped. Heero sat on a stool and watched Relena put the leftovers away.

"Sometimes I wonder if they will ever find something to agree on."

Relena laughed and sat next to him. "Yeah, but leave them with me for a week, and I’ll have them spouting peace every second."

Heero pulled Relena closer. "Planning on using brute force?"

"No, just talk them to death." Relena’s hands rested on Heero’s shoulders.

"Enough talking already." Relena smiled as their lips met. Relena vaguely heard someone mention ice cream and a movie so she barely had time to pull away before the others entered the kitchen.

"Jousan, Heero, we’re going to go watch ‘Remember the Titans’. Care to join us?"

Heero and Relena nodded their heads in the affrimative. Hilde pulled out all the cartons of ice cream. Sally got the bowls and spoons; and soon they where all in the den eating ice cream with the fire blazing.

An hour into the movie, the phone rang. Relena sighed and charged up the stairs to answer it. She was met with the sad face of her secretary. "Miss Peacecraft, I know I wasn’t supposed to interupt your vacation unless it was an emergency, but I would constitute this as one."

Relena noticed her secretary’s worried look. A quick check of the clock told her that it was 3 in the morning back home. "I trust your judgment. What’s wrong?"

"President Max Stephenol of Colony L1 called your office with a ‘propossal’ that was revised by the other colony leaders. It has something to do with- Oh, hello, Col. Yuy."

Relena looked behind her to see Heero headed her way with a questioning look. Throwing him a quick smile, Relena returned her attention to the silent secretary. "Mrs. Wells, please continue."

She hesitated but did as she was told. "This propossal has something to do with the unification of the Winner Corporation and Sans Line Corporation on the Mars project."

"I thought that they had worked out the agreement."

"So had the rest of the world, but I’ve been getting calls from the Nation’s leaders. They want to know what’s going on and why Winner Corp. won’t work with Sans Line."

"Has there been any problems with the employees of each organiation?"

"Rumor has it that the death that occured with the Winner employee was caused by a Sans Line foreman."

Relena slammed a fist onto the table and bowed her head. "All right. Fax me the propossal and get me all the messages that where left. Also, see if you can’t set up an appointment for me with Sans Line. I want the head of that corporation, not the Vice. Got it?"

"Yes, ma’am."

"Good, oh and get your self some sleep when your done." Relena’s secretary smiled before ending the call. Relena scrached her head and ran a distracted hand through her blonde hair. "Why does this happen to me?" Heero didn’t answer. He knew she was talking to herself. "Heero, do me a favor. Go back and enjoy the movie, but tell Quatre to tear himself away from Dorothy and get his butt up here. We got trouble." Heero nodded but didn’t move. Relena stopped preparing a pot of coffee and turned to face him. "What?" He still didn’t move. This got Relena a little frustrated. She walked up to him and planted herself in front of him. She was getting a little more ticked every second that passed. After what seemed like forever, she couldn’t take it anymore. "What are you staring at?!" Relena was unprepared for his actions.

Heero reached up and gently cupped her cheek while burying his other hand in the hair at the nape of her neck sending chills throughout her body. "You’re cute." He then leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose and left, leaving Relena a little off balance; but she got herself back together just as Quatre came in the kitchen.

Relena and Quatre sat hunched over papers, files, documents, and computers. They still couldn’t figure out what was wrong. The propossal that came through the fax had Relena sitting in stunned silence for a while. It stated that the colonies didn’t want Sans Line anywhere near the moon or near a Winner Corp employee. It was about two in the morning when Relena finally got a hold of Max Stephenol to find out the meaning of the propossal.

"Relena, it states exactly what we mean."

"I see that, Mr. President, but I was wondering why you came to this decision."

"The murder investigation came to a close finding the Sans Line forman guilty of first degree murder."

Quatre came up and sat next to Relena. "Max, how come I haven’t heard of this?"

"Winner, what are you doing there?"

Quatre nearly glared at him, but resisted. "That’s none of your concern. What I want to know is why didn’t I hear about this?"

The President obvisously seemed a little flustered. "Well, uh, we- it happened just yesturday."

"What!? How could a murder happen yesturday and the main suspect be tried and sentenced the next day?"

"There was no question that he did it."

Relena grew susspicious. "Mr. President, was there even a trial by jury?"

"Well, no. The evidence spoke for itself. We felt there was no need to waste so much time, money, and energy."

Relena sighed and sat back in defeat. "I would appreciate it if you would send Mr. Winner and I a copy of ALL the evidence and the steps you took to come to this conclusion." Relena’s voice was ice cold.

"Uh, yes, Miss Peacecraft, I will do that right away. It will take a few hours to gather it all, but I will get it to you both ASAP."

"Good. I’ll speak with the Nation leaders and then get back to the colonies, is that acceptable?" The President of L1 nodded and cut the transmission. Quatre leaned his seat back and studied Relena as she massaged the bridge of her nose.

"You should take it more easy, ‘Jousan."

"Speak for yourself." Quatre and Relena turned to see Dorothy standing in the doorway. "Come on, Quatre. You need to get to bed. ‘Night, Relena!" Quatre got up and followed Dorothy out.

"Goodnight, Relena."

Relena chuckled as Dorothy grabbed Quatre’s hand and nearly dragged him out of the room. "Night guys." She listened as they made their way upstairs before going and getting another cup of coffee. She was suprised to open the kitchen door and find Heero standing on the other side.

"Hey, Heero. What are you doing up?"

Heero handed her the cup of coffee. "I was just going to see you."

Relena smiled as she drank some of the soothing brown liquid. "Thanks. I needed this." Grabbing a peanut butter cookie, Relena sat on a stool while Heero joined her. "Things are getting more and more complicated with the Mars project."

Heero cocked his head to one side. "How so?"

"A foreman for the Sans Line Corp was blamed and sentenced for the death of a Winner Corp employee. The colonies now refuse to work on the project with Sans Line, and Sans Line is argueing that they had nothing to do with it and that the guy is innocent. There was an investigation, but the foreman was tried and sentenced in one day. Because of that, I’ve got half of the earth breathing down my neck about injustice."

"Look, it’s late, why don’t you get some sleep?"

"Sleep? Yeah, that’s a laugh. Once my head hits the pillow I’ll have every single event that happened today go through my head at a mile a minute."

Heero gave Relena a sly smile before pulling her off the stool and onto his lap. "Now I wouldn’t say that was so bad. It has been a pretty good day until now." Relena rested her head on Heero’s chest and smiled, but she didn’t comment. She wasn’t so sure she could agree. "How about we comendear the jacuzzi?"

"I would like to, but I have a ton of work to do before I even think about speaking with the Nation leaders. Besides, you’re still covered in pink stuff."

"Speaking of pink stuff, I still itch in some places."

Relena slid off his lap and pulled his sleeve up to examine the red marks. "Wow, Sally was right, this won’t last to long. Half of them are already gone." Pulling the sleeve back down, Relena smiled up at Heero. "Go take a shower, making sure not to scrub, and get this stuff off. The you can put on some more lotion."

"Why do I have the feeling that you are trying to get me away from you so you can work behind my back?"

Relena gave Heero her most innocent, puppy eyes look. "Who? Me? I would never do such a thing."

Heero snatched Relena’s jaw a brought his face down to hers. "I’ll go do what you said; but when I get done, you’re going to bed to get some sleep, even if I have to tie you down and traqulize you."

Relena was speechless as she gazed into those blue orbs. A storm seemed to be brewing there; one she knew she didn’t want to get involved in. "Okay."

Heero left, leaving Relena with a growing feeling of apprehension. "I told myself we would never be more than friends. I lost my heart and more once. I’m not about to let it get taken again."

Twenty minutes later, Relena was typing away at her computer. She never heard Heero walk into the room, giving him time to study her.

He watched as she diligently studied papers and files. Her concentration never wavering. He remembered that one day he had declared the he would last longer than anyone, longer than Relena. Both he and she had made it through the war for peace, but his war was over. Her’s still continued on, and it would conitnue on for years to come.

Relena was strong, very strong. She had the ability to carry both worlds on her shoulders, yet she took the time to spend an evening listening to him or anyone else. She was the strength that had carried him through the most difficult battles. She was the very reason he made it through the Eve Wars. She was his reason for living and breathing.

The memory of ‘that night’ came flooding through his being. He wanted her and wanted her now, but he could tell she wasn’t ready. Indeed, they had both agreed that it had been a mistake, that it was just two teenagers getting carried away with declaring their adulthood.

But this afternoon was not just two teenagers, it was two adults. Two adults who knew eachother better than anything or anyone. That was something Heero didn’t want to loose, but he didn’t want to scare her away either.

Heero mentally laughed at himself. If Dr J were to see him now, he would do a flip in joy. Dr J had never really wanted to alter him, to erase his humanity, but it had to be done to defeat OZ. Now though, with all the time Heero had spent with his ‘family’, he was slowly gaining his own humanity back.

Heero was brought out of his own little world when a warm hand came to rest on his bare arm. "Heero? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking."

Relena smiled. "Good, I was worried about you for a second." Turning, Relena went back to her chair and began to work again.

"Just what exactly do you think you are doing?"

"Working."

Heero walked over and closed the book she was reading. "I don’t think so. You’re going to bed, now."

Relena turned in her chair to face blazing purssian blue eyes. "No, I have got way to much work to do."

Thinking that the same tactic he had used in the kitchen would work, Heero bent down, snatched Relena’s jaw once again, and brought his face within inches of her’s. "Go to bed." Heero commanded softly.

"Sorry, Heero, it isn’t going to work this time. I have to get this work done." Heero’s eyes crinkled slightly in mild amusement. "Don’t you dare laugh at me."

Relena got a small smile in response. She was outraged, but before she could form a comeback, Heero covered her lips with his own.

It was a simple kiss, one used to break Relena’s defences, but the desire again rose in both of them, crying to be let out. Heero pulled Relena out of her chair and slid his arms around her slender waist. Relena repsonded by bringing her arms up around his neck and pulling him closer.

Heero crushed Relena to himself, his body feeling as if it was catching on fire. Relena pulled back for a breath of air and rested her forhead against Heero’s. She was shaking.

"Heero, I-I......."

"What?"

"I don’t know." Relena sighed. "I want you, but I don’t want to get hurt all over again."

Heero stepped back and gripped Relena’s slim shoulders. "When I said I would never stop acting human around you, I meant it. What I also wanted to say was that, I want you. I love being a part of your life, but I want us to be more than friends or evern lovers."

"Are you saying what I think your saying?"

Heero gave her a small grin. "I hope one day that I can call you my wife."

Relena broke down on the spot, tears of pain and joy pouring out. Heero smiled and pulled her into an embrace and let her cry on his chest. Hearing some voices just outside the door, Heero’s head snapped up and in that direction. Milliardo came walking into the room.

"What’s wrong?"

Relena smiled and wiped her tears away. Stepping out of Heero’s embrace, she walked over to her brother and embraced him. "Nothing, just getting through another stressful day."

Milliardo returned Relena’s hug with a bear hug of his own. "Go to bed. You can finish your work in the morning, okay? I’ll give you a hand." Relena gave him a small grin before turning to leave the room. Milliardo’s attention turned to the silent pilot. "Thank you, Heero." Milliardo left.

Heero shook his head and almost pinched himself. He had to be dreaming! Did he hear what he thought he just heard? Shutting everything off, Heero went to go find some sleep of his own.

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I claim, Gundam Wing or anything pertaining to it.