Nothing.

I gazed at the picture once more only to see the once outlines of figures now fully detailed. She was beautiful, I mused. The snow lighten her face. Her traditional kimono and large pattern did wonders to her figure and her brown eyes were soft.

My heart stopped. Brown eyes. She had brown eyes.

"Oh God..." I whispered. Heero though, hadn’t heard me over the engine. My mind raced and searched for more. The pieces were scattered about and I had only found one.

"But fate has allowed me back to you to make things right.........Mama...I’m sorry"

He was sorry for something, that much I knew, but was he her son or not?

"Are those pictures in the hallway of the little boy Tsuo?" Heero’s mother nodded. "Isn’t he beautiful?"

That boy. He was the same boy...

"Stop the car." I said in a deathly, yet faint tone. Heero didn’t question me, just pulled over to the side, where the snow had turned black. I got out and slammed the door, ignoring the frosty air that bit my cheeks. Heero followed my actions and came over to my side.

"What is it?" I shoved the picture of him and his mother into his chest.

"Brown." I whispered, barley audible. "She has brown eyes. What kind of mother, with an American father, who is born with blue eyes has brown eyes in her dying years?" By now I was yelling and I saw Heero take a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm. "There’s more Heero. There are pictures of Tsuo all over those halls. Your mother told me it was you. That boy is the same boy in that picture you had by the fireplace. He had brown eyes too. He’s the one you said was your friend, the one you lost!"

Heero flinched, and I felt a sickly thud in the bottom of my gut. I understood now.

Oh God. Heero. "He’s dead?"

Heero’s breath thicken and he was beginning to look pale. "I killed him." I felt my eyes moist as Heero lost himself in memories, in the pain that he had shut away. He gripped his hands together to let out some pain, yet the ache took hold of his composure as tears started to form. "I killed him Relena. What was I to say to a women who had taken me in as a young lost kid that I killed her son, my bestfriend?"

I didn’t know what to do so I did the next best thing: sat next to him in the snow.

"I’m sorry I yelled." I paused, as he wiped a few tears violently from his pale cheek. War had torn his friend away. I understood his being here. A soldiers code. To make it right. For honor, for closure. "You made it right Heero, you did. You gave her back the one thing she wanted, and not only that, you gave her security knowing that her son was in good hands. You did more than I would ever had thought." -And I’m proud to be part of it.

Heero looked up at me, his mask off, his soul aching. His look beckoned me to embrace him and I did, knocking him over in the snow in the process. I held him close, as he wrapped his arms around me, trying to grasp all the strength that he needed. Kissing his cheek and allowing his spicy scent to tickle my nose a thought came to me.

I pondered this moment, sensing a clue yet not focusing it. Heero though, broke my train of thought when his voice opened up. "That poem I was writing in bed last night...." he cleared his throat and started to rehearse a few lines, a noticeable change in the way his eyes looked at me. "Here now, she’s by my side. Own worlds, in one room, to abide. Though she smiles at me, a promise to keep. I know, forever, I have her: bride to be."

My heart stopped. Twice in one day. Not bad Yuy. Not bad at all. What he said, confirmed my flashback.

That proposal was not from Tsuo. That was from him, and if that was from him, and his poem...

My eyes widen. "Heero?"

His eyes were empty, and his face had that serious yet, curious gaze I use to know, "I’ve said it once, I’ll only say it one more time...I need you." My eyes blurred and I felt my breath quicken. He was lying. I know he is. I pulled back, a wave of anger flowing through me. Why would he toy with my mind? We were only suppose to pretend.

"Pretending is what politics do, Relena." Millardo once told me. No. I wasn’t pretending, I wanted him...I did? I was so confused. Choked. Drugged on my conscious and Heero’s breath.

He looked slightly hurt, as hurt as a man with a one draw face could look. I turned on my heel and started to get back in the car when his voice broke through.

"You know what a romance is for me?" I paused, didn’t dare to turn around and to meet his knowing eyes. I felt my breath lose it’s rhythmic beat and listened with a tighten heart as Heero continued in a voice that firm yet desperate at the same time. "For me, it’s for that little sensation you feel when the man tells the girl that he loves her, he wants to spend his life with her. Your beautiful and nothing compares. He greets the day with the satisfaction that he will see you. When he tells you that you amaze him, in every way, in every smile, tear, speech...You amaze me...That is what it is for me." He voice broke. He was listening to me that night. He wasn’t kidding.

I slowly turned, seeing his ragged breath. "It’s a simple wish Relena. A simple wish that I want to come true."

Struggling to keep my emotions undercontrol I held my hands on my hips. "What are waiting for? Say it. Say it all." He smiled, despite himself and took a step forward.

"Your beautiful Relena. Nothing compares to you. Every morning, I get the satisfaction that I will see you perhaps." When did he get so close? His fingers traced my jaw line, his eyes never leaving mine alone, his breath mingled with mine and I was ready to go limp in his arms. His voice turned into a whisper, "You amaze me. Every day, every smile of yours, every speech, you amaze me." His hands had found my waist and his eyes turned serious, yet, held a glow. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you," His lips touched mine, but did no more, no less.

I found my voice and choked out four words. "Aren’t you forgetting something?"

"I love you?" I nodded. "I love you, Mrs. Yuy." I pulled back slightly, blinking at my surprise. So the proposal was real. Bride to be. I was his.

"Are you sure about this, Heero?" I asked, slightly dazed. His voice took a monotone beige, the one I loved. "I’m sure about nothing Relena except that I am right when I am with you."

I felt him. I felt the pain, the loss, the war, I felt the peace, the new peace, I felt him. He wasn’t joking, he wasn’t pretending, he was mine, I was his.

So, I did the one thing I knew how to do. Took a handful of white snowflakes and smashed it in his beautiful face. Laughing at my own benefit I was caught off-guard by his freezing lips capturing mine.

Oh so cold yet, warm. "Is this a happy ending?"

Heero pulled back, looking as serious as he could with snow flakes all over his face. "I don’t know. We’ll try it out, and see. Just follow your emotions and we’ll find out."

I cocked my head to the side with a sincere gesture. "What do your emotions tell you right now?"

"There’s snow in my pants." He responded casually.

Oh. That made perfectible sense, I decided.

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

Different colors of cut peaches lined the sky just above the golden line, giving evidence that the sun was once there. A gentle breeze swallowed the early evening as I ignored the wisp of hair that danced in front of my face. Quickly I rang the doorbell and retreated my hand so I keep it warm under the protection of my arm. The door cocked open slightly as a skeptical Duo stuck his head out the door.

His crestfallen features molded into a meek smile. I was always one to be blunt. "I have a someone I think you should consider to be your bestman."

Duo’s brows knitted together in confusion as if my sentence wasn’t plain old English. Finally, coming over the stumbled words that I had spoken he spat out, "What?"

"Heero." I said, as if that would explain everything. With a gesture of my hand, the truck door opened and Heero stepped out. His face looked emotionless and his posture was slightly slouched from the long car ride yet Duo paid no heed to that.

I heard his breath stop and his eyes lost focused. I stepped back, again, feeling completely out of place as Heero made his way to the front door, the wind playing with his hair. Duo, barley in control of his own emotions did the one thing that made sense.

Stuck his hand out to shake. Slowly, hesitantly, Heero reached out, taking the braided mans warm hand. Surprising both I and Duo, he pulled Duo closer, hugging him awkwardly and whispered, "I missed you."

I felt my heart fly as a soft sob escape Duo’s lips. The two men held each other, bestfriends, brothers in war. I touched my lip thoughtfully and watched as they pulled apart.

"I’d be honored," Heero whispered, "If you would let me be your bestman."

Duo’s eyes widen once again and a smile that could brighten anyones day pressed his lips further.

"However," Heero suddenly said, holding up a hand to emphasize his words, "You must promise to be my bestman."

Duo leaned to his left side and thoughtfully glanced at Heero and then to I and then back to Heero. Slowly, realization dawned on him and this time his smile was more of a smirk. "You dog you..."

I laughed as Heero wrapped his arm around me. "Everything is okay." Heero whispered against my neck as Duo was still laughing. I smiled. Yes, Heero was okay, Duo was okay. Everything was okay.

I cocked my head to the side, thinking in my own world as Duo escorted us both in from the chilly day molded into night. All I have ever done is give. I gave up my childhood to hold on to humanity, I gave my smiles so everyone would think things are great. I even gave Heero about a week of my time to help his mission.

I gave and now, everything, -I looked at Heero who was holding my hand, listening to Duo talk- everything was given back to me. All because I wasn’t afraid to pretend to be someone I wasn’t, just for a moment, to act, to fake, and then reality was given back to me in a single man.

Duo mumbled something about coffee and was out of the room. I glanced sideways at Heero, his neutral expression taking in everything and letting go of nothing. "Relena?" Heero said, his voice dangerously low and soft. I nodded my attention at him.

His voice broke. "Thank you" My features soften. Thank you.