I don’t own Gundam Wing…. What? Is there an echo in here?
Standing in a solemn line in front of the Minister’s desk, we watched and waited to hear what Relena had to disclose. Glaring up at us, she clasped her hands together, almost appeared to fight the urge to strangle someone. Duo cleared his throat nervously. I remembered his comment once, on how he would sooner face Heero’s wrath any day, than Relena’s.
“At least Heero would just kill you, and get it over with. Pacifist, my foot!” He had grumbled.
“Since when did Heero turning up at your place intoxicated, rate
as a non-event in your books Duo?” Relena asked sweetly, her chin resting on
her intertwined fingers in a deceptively tranquil fashion.
Dipping one hand into her jacket pocket, she pulled out a
familiar diamond pendant, which she laid casually on the desktop. Duo shot a desperate glance at Quatre, who
returned it with a grimace.
“I know Heero left this.
What I want to know is what you had to do with it?”
Leaning back in her seat, she crossed her arms, and waited.
“Well, Lena, it’s like this, well, that is…” Duo shot Quatre
another look, which Relena noticed, turning to Quatre with her eyebrows
raised. The blonde man flushed, self
consciously clearing his throat.
“It was only partly my idea….” He began, guilt flashing across
his features, “Heero wanted to know what would get your attention…I only
suggested the pendant… he thought of the rest…” his voice gradually faded off,
as he shot Duo a dirty look.
I shook my head, giving a sigh.
“I thought we decided we weren’t going to….” I stopped abruptly
as I suddenly noticed Relena’s hard stare.
She glanced across at Wufei, who was simply shaking his head in
disbelief.
“Hey, don’t look at me. I
had nothing to do with this debacle.”
Relena groaned, dropping her head into her hands.
“And at exactly what time did my private life become a game to
you? I think, perhaps, we should start from the beginning.”
“Relena,” began Quatre, who was then fixed with a very hard
stare.
“From the beginning, Quatre.
When did you first see him again?” she glared at Duo, and waited.
“New Years.” Duo mumbled.
Relena waved her hand, entreating him to continue.
“He went to the ball, to watch over you. As he does,” Duo rolled his eyes.
“He saw you with another guy, and he sort of… got drunk.”
Relena shook her head slowly.
“But Duo, if he’s been watching me as closely as it seems, he
would have already known about Justin.
Why would seeing me with him at the ball make a difference?”
Duo shook his head.
“It wasn’t Justin he was worried about. He knows you, Lena, and he knew you’d give
that slime ball the flick, even if you did take a little longer than we
thought. No, Heero got upset when he
saw you dancing…” he pointed an accusing finger at me, “with him.”
“What the hell are you talking about Duo?” I exclaimed. “You told me yourself that it was
Justin. What in god’s name has this got
to do with me?”
“When Heero turned up at Duo’s place, he was so inebriated, that
Duo thought his jealous ramblings were about Justin.” Quatre paused, glancing
across at me. “They weren’t, they were
about Trowa.”
“Okay, now you’re losing me.” Murmured Relena, her gaze flicking
between Duo, Quatre and myself.
“Well, it wasn’t like he gave me a name,” protested Duo “pretty
much the only thing I could make out was that it had something to do with
Relena. So when I saw the paper the
next day, I just, kinda… assumed.”
“But then Heero came back a few days later, in a more coherent
state apparently.” Interrupted Quatre.
Duo shrugged sheepishly.
“Relena, he really loves you….”
“Did he tell you that Duo? Or is this just another
‘assumption?’” inquired Relena.
Quatre cut short Duo’s explanation.
“Relena, Heero does love you.
And as misguided and incorrect as it may seem, he is truly trying to
look out for your best interests.”
Relena gave an inelegant snort, earning a raised eyebrow from
Wufei and Duo.
The blonde entrepreneur ran his fingers through his tousled
locks, obviously trying to formulate the best method to get his point across.
“Look at this from Heero’s perspective. You are the Foreign Minister. You are the head of the Sanq Kingdom
Monarchy, as well as the former Queen of the World. Whether you like it or not, you are held up as a beacon to all
those that hope for peace. You have
long been placed on a pedestal, Relena, and the one Heero has placed you on is
the highest of them all.
To us, he’s a champion, the warrior that saved the Earth from
destruction. No one could be more
deserving of your love. He was
courageous, selfless and dedicated to what he believed was his only purpose in
life; to obstruct those that possessed power and sought to abuse it. He was completely single minded in that
quest, Relena, but I doubt he genuinely believed that we would ever experience
success. Not until he met you. And you gave him hope.”
Relena nodded softly.
“But basically, what you’re trying to tell me, is that he
doesn’t think he’s good enough for me? Quatre, that’s all very well and good,
but it doesn’t explain why my ‘friendship’ with Trowa is worrying him so much.”
“Because Trowa is his equal.
Their backgrounds are the same, as is their history. He sees all the time you’ve been spending
with him, and begins to question his convictions. Why should Trowa be receiving all your free time, when it should
be him? He’s been gone for five years,
trying to understand who he is…. what place he has in this new world. But he has yet to determine what place a
former assassin has in the life of a World leader.”
“And maybe he’s being an over analytical ass.” Relena
snapped.
“Has it occurred to any of you, with all your plotting, scheming
and bickering,” at this she shot a scathing glance at Duo, who flushed, “that I
might actually have an opinion on all of this.
Fine, Heero needed to learn more about himself. But what about the rest of us?
Maybe I could have done with his support. His friendship. I’m not some weak little female that needs to be protected from
herself. I’m perfectly capable of
deciding what’s best for me, thank you very much. So you can tell him that Duo, next time you run into the Boy
Wonder.”
Obviously chastened by Relena, Duo turned his attention back to
me.
“So, can you honestly tell me you had no intentions in regards
to Lena?”
I gave Duo my best blank look.
What was I supposed to say? ‘Well you know, I would if I could
but…’
This time Wufei interrupted,
“For God’s sake Maxwell! How much more do we have to discuss
this? Have we nothing better to do than discuss someone else’s love life?”
“I’ll keep that in mind for the next time you come around to
unload about your own unrequited love.”
Duo actually smirked as Wufei began mouthing at him like a landed
trout.
“Anyway, Trowa, you still haven’t answered the question. You have been spending a hell of a lot of
time in the neighbourhood. Maybe you
need to disclose your intentions.”
Duo was beginning to get wound up again, and I could feel my own
patience wearing thin.
“What is this, the Spanish inquisition?”
“Trowa, nobody expects the Spanish inquisition.” Duo spat.
If the atmosphere hadn’t been so tense, the situation would have almost
seemed funny.
“Oh that’s enough! You’re all giving me a head ache,” snapped
Relena, slapping the palm of her hand down on the desktop. “Duo can you spell?
Hmm? Try this one F-R-I-E-N-D-S. Do you know what that spells? Friends. Which is exactly what Trowa and I are. All of us are, for that matter. So why don’t you try acting like one! Now go back to work. Or even better go home and tell your fiancée
you love her. Because that’s the only
relationship you need to trouble your little head with. Okay?”
The room went silent, Duo literally stunned speechless. Suddenly there was a low chuckling, and we
all turned in astonishment, to see Wufei’s face plastered with a broad
grin. Shaking his head, still chuckling
away to himself, he wandered over to the large bookcase at the right of
Relena’s desk. After skimming the
titles, he pulled out a thick hard covered text, which he handed across to her.
“Have you read this one?” he asked, almost conversationally.
She gazed, slightly bemused, at the non-fiction manuscript in
her hands. The book, containing a very
detailed explanation of the conflicts of the last fifty years, including both
falls of the Sanq kingdom, the rise and fall of Oz and Romefeller and Operation
Meteor, had created a great deal of uproar from both the media and government
bodies, when it was released a little over a year before. The authors name had
not been disclosed, and the publishers guarded their identity as if their lives
depended on it.
“Yes, oh course I’ve read it.
Hasn’t everyone? It is brilliantly written.”
Wufei smiled.
“Well, I’m sure Heero will be very happy to hear you think
so. After all, he wrote it.”
And tipping his hand in a half salute, he made his way out the
door, before Relena had time to reply.
Relena looked at her watch.
“Oh I wish the day would just end. I really don’t think I could take too many more surprises.” And with a groan, she hid her face in her
hands.
******
I sighed loudly; throwing the bed covers aside and sitting
up. The house seemed quiet, but I could
not shift a feeling of uneasiness. Not
bothering to turn on the light, I rummaged around until I had found my
jeans. Quickly dressing, I padded
softly towards the door, after checking the glowing digits on the bedside
clock. 2am.
Despite Relena flatly refusing to acknowledge the media hovering
ay her front door, they had finally disbanded some five or six hours
previous. Using the excuse that I was
still her guest, and that my leaving through the front door would only
exacerbate the situation, Relena had had the final say on my remaining in the
house. Duo had been far from happy, but
as always, Relena had the last say. He
had even gone to the extreme of offering to stay the night as well. Relena had simply fixed him with a very hard
glare.
“The door is that way Duo.
Go home.”
And so Quatre had dragged out a protesting Duo. Relena seemed to wilt slightly, as she
excused herself to ‘follow up on a few things’, before disappearing into her
study. I somehow doubted that her mind
was on anything except what Quatre had told her. She needed to be alone, so I had wandered off to recover my
novel.
I had expected to see her for dinner at least, but was
disappointed when Pagan announced that she had retired to bed early. I could see the concern on the older mans’
face, and expected that mine probably mirrored it.
Creeping down the hallway, I noticed a spill of light coming
from under Relena’s door. Scowling, I
considered whether I should check on her.
She had probably fallen asleep with the light on. I tapped softly on the door, waiting for
some form of response.
“Relena?” I called softly.
There was no response, but pressing my ear to the door, I was
sure I heard the rustle of someone moving around. Cautiously I pressed the door open, and was startled to find her
perched on the end of her bed. She sat
perfectly still, seemingly lost in her thoughts. Receiving no acknowledgment of my presence, I stepped into the
room, coming to stand beside her.
“Relena? Are you okay?”
She tilted her head to look at me, and I was taken back by the
image of despair before me. What had
happened?
“Heero sends his regards.”
Her voice was flat.
Empty. I stared at her.
“He came to wish us all the best. Oh, yes, and ‘Congratulations’”
“Congratulations?” I asked, slightly confused.
“Yes, he wanted to congratulate me on doing such a bang up job
keeping my private life private.
Apparently I’m only damaging my own reputation so I may as well have fun
while I’m at it.”
I frowned, trying to think up a new, more satisfying way to
curse him.
“When was he here?”
Relena glanced at her watch.
“About an hour ago. He
was in a pretty bad mood. He had one of
those blasted newspapers with him, and started going on about my new plan to go
through all the Gundam pilots. Wanted
to now if it was part of some new repayment plan, you know, payment for
services rendered. I tried to explain,
but I couldn’t get a word in. He
started ranting about my need to slum it, and that if I felt like ruining my
character that was my prerogative. And
then he left again.”
I was stunned. It
sounded completely out of character for him.
This whole thing obviously had the guy seriously rattled. Relena sniffled.
“You know the worst thing though Trowa? The whole time he stood there, saying all
those horrible things, all I could think was how much I love him. And now there’s no hope for us.”
I opened my mouth to protest, only to be interrupted.
“How could he have believed that Trowa? Without even trying to
hear my side of the story? I so wanted
to tell him that it was him that I turned Justin down for, that there was never
anyone else. But I don’t think it would
have mattered. ”
We sat in silence for a few minutes. I was beginning to think that I should perhaps leave her to get
some sleep, and was attempting to think up a tactful way to take my leave. With everything that had happened in the
last few hours, I was actually feeling slightly uncomfortable sitting so close
to her. I was so engrossed in struggling
not to notice the warmth of her thigh against mine that the next development
took me completely by surprise.
Reaching up, she gently tilted my face towards her and, before I
could react, pressed her lips against mine.
My mind raced. What was happening
here? Warning bells were going off in
my head, and all logic told me that I had to end this. But my senses betrayed me, lost to the touch
of lips that were even softer than I could ever have imagined. My skin tingled; as I felt her fingers brush
lightly against my cheek. I fought off
the overwhelming urge to deepen the kiss; instead I grasped her gently by her
shoulders and pushed her away from me.
She glanced up at me, her dazed expression suddenly converting
to one of horror. Her hand flew to her
lips, and her complexion took on a deep shade of red.
“Oh Trowa! I’m so sorry…” she whispered, her voice
trembling. I gently took her hand, and
ran my fingers down her tear-streaked face.
Her skin was pale, and her eyes shadowed from exhaustion.
“It’s okay Relena.
You’re just tired. You need to
get some sleep.”
She nodded gently, moving to lie back against the fussily
arranged pillows. As I stood to leave,
I was stopped by her soft request.
“Would you stay, Trowa? Just until I fall asleep? I don’t want
to be alone.”
Slightly surprised (Duo would have a fit), I sat back down
beside her. Finally, stretching out
beside her, I watched her quietly, knowing that she would not be able to fight
off sleep for long. Sure enough, her
breathing soon began to deepen and her features seemed to relax.
I had decided that I would have to get back to my own bed, as
sleep sought to claim me also, when I found a slim arm flipped across my chest,
and a blonde head snuggled against my breast bone. I sat rigid for a few moments, as I confirmed that Relena was,
indeed, still asleep. Relaxing again,
my heart sank as her voice rose softly, unconsciously imparting information I
did not want to hear.
“Why couldn’t I have met you first? You’d have taken much better care of my heart.”
******