Disclaimer: Yadda yadda I don’t own Gundam Wing and so on.

The Symbol of Temptation

Chapter One

He sat with his arms crossed, staring out the window as trees and bushes zoomed by. He would have preferred to drive. He could get there faster if he drove himself.

The car pulled to a stop outside the gate of an enormous estate. The driver handed something to the guard (identification, probably) and the gate opened. The guard gave the driver back his information and the car pulled forward once more, passing more trees and decorative things before finally stopping parallel to the steps leading up to the main double doors. Guards were there, too.

Good, Quatre took care of things ahead of time.

He glanced up at the enormous house before him, noticing a raven perched on the windowsill of a second-story room. He found it very strange for a raven to be in a place like this, so busy and full of sound. The raven, however, appeared very interested in something inside the room, despite the fact that it was out of place. It shifted its weight and cocked its head every which way as if trying to get a better look.

The door opened and he got out, taking a step towards the double doors and stopping when they suddenly opened. Peagen emerged, looking at him hesitantly, and then…

Her.

She was wearing a dress. White. Plain white. Her hair was down, flowing behind her and down her back. Her skin was glowing, her frame illuminated by sunlight. Her appearance was pleasing. He was glad to see her. Maybe now that he could look at her of his own free will he would stop seeing her every time he turned around.

She smiled, walking down the steps and stopping in front of him. He stiffened his muscles to prevent himself from shivering. For some reason his body felt cold. He realized that she must have canceled all her meetings to be able to greet him. She shouldn’t make such arrangements just for him.

“Hello, Heero. Welcome to my home. Will you be staying here or do you have other arrangements?”

The trance he hadn’t known he was in wore off. “I have no other arrangements.”

She nodded. “Alright, then. Peagen will take your things up to one of the guest rooms. Would you accompany me to the study?”

He nodded and followed, figuring she had some other, more important questions. As he passed Peagen coming down the steps, their eyes met briefly and he thought he saw a gleam in the old man’s eyes that only a father could have. Was Peagen trying to intimidate him? He didn’t bother to think about it. He continued following Relena, not having to look back to know that the old man was still watching him. They walked through the double doors into a large room, with many doors and hallways extending from it. Directly across from the main double doors was a massive staircase, rising up to the second floor. The carpets were a maroon color, the walls white with brown trim. Everything was polished, gleaming, the very picture of an elegant house. The way it was supposed to be.

She turned left and opened a set of large oak doors, revealing a room filled with books of all kinds. She walked toward the far wall, stepped behind the one desk in the whole room, and typed something on a computer that was positioned there. She then turned off the monitor and straightened up, bringing her beautiful eyes up to meet his.

“I hope this situation doesn’t inconvenience you?” Her voice was light and delicate, her words flowing.

“No,” was all he could think to say.

She smiled, something in her eyes telling him that she was not at all happy. “Well then, I suppose I should introduce you to your other charge?”

He nodded, not entirely convinced that whether or not he found this whole situation ‘convenient’ was her only question.

Someone sobbed behind him.

He turned just as Relena came around from behind the desk, heading over to the young child standing shakily in the doorway. The first thing he noticed was how alike they looked; light brown hair, bright blue eyes, slender faces. If he didn’t know better he’d think they were related, possibly even mother and daughter.

He shook his head, somehow disgruntled by thought that she may already be a mother. He didn’t have time to figure why it bothered him, though, because the child began to wail.

Relena had already knelt down before the child and wrapped her arms around her, whispering soothing words into her ear. Feeling slightly out of place, he walked over to them and stood there, not particularly sure what to do. After a few minutes, the child settled down and raised her tear soaked face off of Relena’s shoulder. Relena looked up at him with an unreadable expression.

“Heero, this is Laura Dryek. Laura, this is Heero Yuy, the one who’ll be looking after you with me.”

The child sniffed and nodded her understanding. Relena stood up and placed a hand on the child’s head.

“Heero, I’m going to take her to get something to eat. Would you like anything?”

“No, thank you.”

“Well then, make yourself at home.” She smiled again, and this time he was sure she wasn’t smiling out of happiness at all. When they’d left, he went over to the desk and began checking for bugs. Might as well get started with one of the reasons he was there; to find out who was trying to kill Laura Dryek.

While he was searching the desk, he let his mind wander to his feelings upon first seeing the child. Why would it bother him if Relena were a mother already? He tried a number of reasons, but none seemed to fit. He tried exploring exactly what he’d felt, the weight that seemed to fill his stomach, the slight burning in his chest, the way his throat tightened. He seemed to feel put-off by it. He came to the conclusion that he was what Duo would call, “Jealous.”

Jealous? How was that possible? He ran his fingers along the top of one of the drawers, where he couldn’t see. In order to be jealous, he would first have to be involved with her, wouldn’t he?

Finding no bugs, he left the study more confused than resolved, but glad that this whole thing was giving him time to think about why Relena affected him so much. If anything, he could at least spend time with her, and get the desire to do so out of his mind.

* * *

There was a knock on the door, just as he finished setting up his computer. He walked over and placed his hand on the handle, half hoping it was Relena, half hoping it wasn’t. He opened the door to find Peagen staring back at him, though this time he did not look so fatherly.

“Miss Relena has requested that you join her and Miss Laura in the dining hall, Mr. Yuy. Dinner is about to be served.”

“Thank you,” he replied, stepping out and closing the door behind him as the old man strode away. He wondered for a moment if Peagen actually felt resentment or gratitude towards him, both of which he seemed to display throughout the day.

He turned the other direction and headed toward the dining hall, having acquainted himself with the large house as soon as he left the study earlier. The revelation he’d had in the study about the prospect of Relena being a mother still made as little sense as it had before, but he figured it didn’t matter.

It wasn’t as if he could ever be on her level.

There was no need to be jealous.

The dinner went by as though it were a casual meeting; Relena inquiring as to his life in the colonies, and he responding with as much detail as she requested. In her presence, he found it very easy to believe that she may one day become President, because she seemed to give off a commanding, yet peaceful, sort of warmth. As he went back to his room that night, Relena emerged from a door along the hallway, having just put Laura to bed. She walked with him to his room, thanking him for coming to Earth, and saying good night with a smile.

The smile was still not happy, but something in her eyes when she smiled at him made his breath catch.

No, the desire to see her was not fading. The desire to see her was increasing with every empty smile.

A smile he wanted to see shine.