Disclaimer:
Yadda yadda I don’t own Gundam Wing and so on.
Watching the
wind blow through the leaves of trees is strangely relaxing. One can become
easily accommodated to life on Earth, where all things are natural and happen
only as they are meant to.
Usually.
Heero turned
from the glass door he was gazing through and rested his eyes on the young
child sitting in the center of the room. She was running her paint-covered
fingers across a large sheet of paper, very intent on her work. The hot cocoa
in the cup next to her was untouched.
Relena was in
the study. Talking to Zechs.
Even with his
incredible amount of respect for her and her privacy, Heero found himself
wondering what Relena was discussing with her brother.
Knowing the
truth may not be worth it. But then again, Zechs’s daughter was right in front
of him, far from her father’s eyes.
Why?
Not until he
heard the name of Alex Sinay was he even the slightest big curious about
Zechs’s whereabouts. Now that he had, his mind was completely chaotic.
Had this ‘Alex’
hurt Relena in some way? Had he tried? What had he tried to do?
His skin was
crawling. Every time thoughts of the many possibilities came into his mind he
instantly pushed them away. He didn’t need to start worrying about his anger,
of all things. Right now the important things were Relena, Laura, and the ones
after them.
And Alex. And
Alex’s neck.
He heard
laughter coming from the study. Zechs was making her laugh. That’s good, he
thought. Maybe he can loosen her up. Make her slip something important.
Maybe he should
listen in. Just for a little while. What could it hurt?
Turning away
from the determined artist on the floor, he walked silently across the room,
stopping just in front of the doorway to the study. The door was cracked. He
could hear Relena’s soft voice but couldn’t make out the words.
This is wrong,
he told himself. I shouldn’t be listening. If she wants to tell me, she will. I
shouldn’t invade her privacy this way.
He leaned closer.
“…him and Laura
seem to be getting along just fine now, though,” he could hear her saying.
“He’s so protective of her, too. I think he cares about her more than I do.”
“That’s saying
something,” Zech’s voice replied. Heero’s well-trained ears picked up on the
slight difference in the pitch of his voice and the light humming that
accompanied it. He surmised that they were talking via videophone. Zechs
definitely wasn’t trying to hide, then. “How did Heero react when he first
found out that I am her father?”
He could
practically feel her smiling. “He was quite surprised, to say the least. I
think he was expecting me to say that I was her real mother.”
“That might be
true. If there’s anything I know about Heero, it’s that he always assumes the
worst with you. It’s safer for him that way.”
“What do you
mean?”
There was a
pause. “What’s that on your neck?”
Heero grinned
as he heard Relena’s gasp, followed quickly by the sound of her hand slapping
against her neck. He could just imagine the look on her face.
“It’s uh…” she
paused. Heero found himself longing to be in the room with her so he could see
Zechs’s expression. He was actually weighing the pros and cons of just walking
in. “It’s…um…well it’s…”
“It’s what?”
Zechs interrupted her, “Heero’s way of saying ‘thanks’ for something?”
He could just
see her blushing.
“Uh…no.
It’s…um…it’s…err…”
“Good God
Relena what is that on your neck!?”
Noin’s voice
was an explosion through the videophone. He wondered if Laura had heard her. A
quick glance in her direction showed that the child was still hard at work on
her latest masterpiece. He returned his attention to the conversation inside
the room, where Relena was doing well for being stuck between a rock, a hard
place, and another rock.
He decided to
make a mental note of this incident: From now on, all marks must be left below
the neck.
A good plan.
Except for
Alex.
That was a neck
that needed to be marked immensely.
“…So you see,
Heero’s been taking really good care of us. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more
safe in my entire life.”
“I can see
that,” he heard Zechs say. Noin whispered something he couldn’t hear that
resulted in Relena choking on a drink and coughing like crazy. Zechs’s low
chuckle sounded in his ears.
“I can see that
you’re happy, but for how long? It’s only a matter of time before Alex-”
“Alex won’t
find us,” Relena interrupted him. She was still coughing but spoke with a stern
voice. “Even if he were to do so there is nothing he can possibly do to us
now.”
“Don’t be so
sure of that,” Zechs warned. His tone wiped the grin right off of Heero’s face.
“He’s dangerous, Relena, you know that. Don’t forget what happened last-”
“I know. I
don’t want to talk about this right now. I just want to enjoy my time here with
Laura and Heero. It may be the last time that I get to see them like this.”
…What?
“Don’t talk
like that. Everything will be fine. Heero is perfectly capable of protecting
Laura and you. Especially you.” Another pause. “He loves you.”
He didn’t have
to imagine her face to see its expression. “I know.”
“Then trust
him. Everything he’s ever done he’s done for you, he just doesn’t know it yet.”
Something inside him jerked. Was that really true? “I wouldn’t have trusted him
with this if I wasn’t sure of that fact. He’ll die before he’ll let anything
happen to you.”
He heard her
voice strain. “I know. That’s what I’m afraid of.”
He let his eyes
fall. When they hit the floor, he felt extremely confused.
‘That’s what
I’m afraid of.’ Why did she say that? Why was she afraid that he was going to
die?
What the hell
was going on?
He heard the
conversation coming to an end so he walked back over to the glass door and
gazed outside once again. When Relena emerged, she was smiling what was
obviously a fake, empty smile. If ever there were a time when her gloominess
truly bothered him, this was it, and he needed to fix it. Fast.
So he kissed
her; then let her know exactly what he thought of her ‘masking’ her feelings
from him.
She didn’t talk
to him for the rest of the afternoon.
* *
*
After dinner,
when Laura was roasting marshmallows again, Relena grabbed him by the hand and
led him into the study. It was dark, even though she’d left the door ajar to
keep an eye on their charge. She stood there for a long time facing away from him,
breathing deeply and running her hands through her hair. He’d never seen her
like this. So nervous and unsettled. He felt the need to touch her, comfort
her, anything to make her calm down.
When she turned
around, her face betrayed her efforts at composure. She was in complete agony.
“I don’t quite
know how to tell you this,” she began, voice shaking. Whatever she was trying
to say, she seemed eager to say it and get it over with. “You’ve been such a
great help to me, Heero. Such a great help…that’s why I didn’t tell you until
now.”
Whatever he was
about to hear, he felt certain that it wasn’t going to ease his mind the way he
wanted it to.
“Al…Alex
Sinay…he-” she shuddered. In the back of his mind something began chipping
away. He noticed he was shaking, but not like the other times. He was anxious
for a different reason now.
She took a
breath, determined to say whatever she had to say. Despite his instincts to run
away, he was determined to listen. He wanted to know, right? This was his
chance. If she didn’t say it now she never would. They both knew that.
At last, her
eyes met his, and he about died at the look of complete and utter pain he saw
there. “Heero,” she breathed heavily, as though she’d been running. Perhaps she
had been running. “Alex is a man used to…getting what he wants. He…he wanted
a…a family.”
She shook
terribly now, and he placed a hand on her shoulder to try and steady her. It
didn’t work.
She shook
harder.
“He…he…”
“Shhh,” he
hushed her, drawing her to him and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She
cried into his chest. Why was she so terrified? He didn’t understand. “Relena,
tell me what happened. I need to know, in case this guy is the one I’m after.”
“He…he tried…he
tried to…” She shook her head and squeezed his shirt between her fingers. “Oh
God, he killed them, Heero! I watched him kill them! He said Laura was ‘our
daughter’ and that they had no right to take her from us! He-” she sobbed, her
whole body jerking from the force of it, “He told me I could never get away,
that I belonged to him. He tried…he tried to force me to…he said I belonged to
him…” He felt her shaking uncontrollably now.
His body was on
fire with rage before she even finished the first sentence.
Alex caused her
pain.
Alex deserved
pain.
“He…he told me
no one could ever love me like he did. He attacked me when I said I didn’t want
him. That I never wanted him. He killed my mother. He killed the Dryeks. He
tried to kill Laura and Milliardo and Noin and Peagen and everyone just to hurt
me! He said I deserved it for how much I hurt him. I didn’t do anything to him!
And he’s killing people! He’s killing them because of me! Oh God, Heero! He’s
killing people because of me! I can’t take this! I can’t take this anymore!”
Her strength
gave way and she collapsed in his arms, tears streaming down her face, as he
lowered her to the floor. She whispered one last thing before she stopped
completely.
“I can’t take
anymore death, Heero.”
I know, he said
in his mind. I'm sorry.
"I guess
you'll just have to look away when I find Alex."