"Hey, man, where were you last night?"  Duo asked in a laid-back tone, looking over his shoulder as Heero walked into the Preventor's office lobby before dawn. "Quatre and Trowa arrived late last night.  I tried for hours to get a hold of you."

Duo was lounging in a chair with his feet on the coffee table.  The other three gundam pilots had assembled in the room, Quatre and Trowa sitting across from Duo and Wufei lounging against the wall with his arms crossed.

Heero paused in the doorway.  It was the first time they had all been gathered in the same room since Christmas, and only briefly then.  He hadn't even heard from Trowa since then.  "I got your message," he said to Duo.  Obviously, or he wouldn't have known to come here, but Duo apparently needed help.

"How have you been, Heero?"  Quatre asked with a smile.  He was always so friendly.  "How's Relena?"

"Uh..." Duo stammered in warning, waving his hands to shush Quatre.  Heero wanted to smack them both.  The thought stunned him.  He had to kick this thing.

"She's fine," Heero said dismissively, walking to the empty chair by Duo. But when he got there he found he couldn't sit down.  He was too restless.

"She's seeing Prince Damion Ravineere," Wufei said coldly without lifting his head.

There was a moment of reflective, uncomfortable silence.

"What happened, Heero?" Quatre asked sympathetically.  "Did she turn you down after all this time?"

Heero decided he needed something to drink and turned toward the bar in the far corner, ignoring Quatre's question.

Duo rubbed his hand across his face.  "She didn't have anything to turn down," he muttered.  "Heero's never asked her anything."

"Then why do you spend so much time here?" Trowa said quietly, addressing Heero, elbows on his knees.  "I thought she was your reason for hanging around on Earth."

"I just like to keep an eye on her and keep in touch with things,"  Heero said coolly, finding a coke in the fridge beneath the bar.  He poured a little rum in it where no one could see, took a long swallow, and took it with him back to the table.  "She can see whoever she wants."  Quatre's eyes softened.  Trowa frowned.

"Yes, well, I meant to talk to you earlier,"  Wufei said, not directly looking at him.  "This Damion Ravineere came to see us after the council yesterday.  There's been delinquent activity in Taravren.  People have been painting graffiti on the doors of government officials homes and offices.  There have also been shipments of unauthorized arms into that area.  President Ravineere and the local police have been handling the matter openly as civil unrest, but they suspect a larger operation, possibly with international backers, and have asked for our assistance.  We haven't yet been able to trace down any names, but an anonymous call warned us that Damion himself might actually be suspect."

Heero snapped into life.  "Who is this person?"

"Is there a motive?  Evidence?"  Quatre asked.  "I mean, I've never met the guy, but I've heard good reports on him."

"Nothing substantial," Wufei replied.  "Just that he might feel it's about time he took over for his father.  He's old enough, and there have been rumors that he is not so nice to everybody.  A Miss Clara Veron, the daughter of the Duke of Taravren, complained of being mistreated by him sometime in the past, but that's old...  Heero, where are you going?"

"He's out riding with Relena,"  Heero said darkly.  "Alone.  If he has anything to do with this, he may be trying to use her somehow."

"Don't jump to conclusions.  They're just rumors," Trowa said in a dark, practical tone.  "Don't do anything rash.  If he is criminal, you don't want to scare him away."

"I gotta agree with Trowa, Heero," Duo said dubiously.  "Don't you think you're jumping the gun a little?  I mean, maybe you're a little bias..."

"Are you all defending this Damion stranger?" Heero snarled.  "Is everyone going to turn on me now?"  He strode out of the room and slammed the door, breathing heavily.  He was enraged.  There was no reason to be enraged, but he was.  He charged down the hall, downing his drink with mindless intensity.  He's rather be drunk than  furious, but there wasn't enough alcohol in this one drink for that.

"Hey, wait up, Heero!" Duo called, chasing after him.

Heero put his mug on a table in passing and kept walking.  There were rumors that Damion mistreated a girl?  He wiped sweat from his brow with his arm, feeling feverish again.  Relena might be in trouble.  She still needed him.

Duo caught up with him at last.  "Look, man, I know you're concerned.  I am too, but what are you going to do about it? There's no evidence!  And you can't just go accusing visiting princes of High Treason.  You're a gundam pilot, and everyone respects you, but you're still just a soldier."

Heero stopped.  "You're right.  I just want to keep Relena out of harm's way," he said, and started walking again.  "So stop following me.  See what you can find out about this guy if you want to help so bad."

He left Duo standing in the hall, his face contorted into a look of confused frustration.  "Don't do anything stupid!"  Duo called out.  "Hey! Come on, wait!  Damn it, Heero, why can't you admit you're just stuck on Relena and insanely jealous?"  Heero ignored him.  Duo fumed and stomped his foot, but Heero didn't turn around.  "Can you even ride a horse?"  Duo yelled desperately, and sighed in defeat when he got no response.

Damion rode just behind and to the right of Relena as their horses thundered across grassy slopes, hooves tearing into the soft ground, grass laden with morning dew.  Relena wore full English riding gear, red coat, black pants, boots and all, but her hair was loose and blew behind her in the wind.  He smiled and shifted his weight forward just a little, encouraging his own mount to catch up to hers.  He pulled up beside her, guiding his horse with nothing but his knees, and got her attention by reaching out and plucking her sleeve.

She turned and grinned, radiant in the morning as in the evening, and sat back in her saddle, pulling lightly back on the reins.  Her horse slowed and Damion followed suit, pulling back expertly beside her.  They rode side by side at a walk up a hill.

"A rest when we get to the top?"  he suggested.

"Oh, it would be nice to sit in the grass and stretch my legs," Relena agreed.  "Do you think it's dry enough yet?"

"Up this high, in the sun..." he tilted his head from side to side, musing visibly for her entertainment. "Might very well be."  He smiled.  "And if not, I have a blanket."

She laughed as they pulled to a stop at the top of the hill, right before a breath-taking view of the wilderness beyond the city.  The sea glittered to the Northeast.

"It's beautiful!"  she exclaimed.  "God, I should do this every morning!"

The joy on her face was more beautiful to him.  He did do this every morning.  Feeling suddenly brave, he pulled in closer to her, managing his horse's tendency to vie with her horse with the reins in his right hand.  With his left, he reached over and touched her knee.  She turned toward him and he kissed her, unexpectedly, and longer and deeper than he had last night.  Her lips, lightly chapped from the wind and morning, were as sweet as he remembered, and even sweating lightly she smelled like springtime.  He squeezed her knee and wished they were not on horses so that he might attempt holding her, but he never passed up a good moment, and this was classic romance.  He was glad now he had listened to the ladies' courtship stories back home, happy that his caretaker family had provided him the equivalent of with six older sisters eager to teach him anything he would learn.  He felt rather proud when he pulled away, and was elated by her following smile and the twinkle in her eyes.

He dismounted smoothly, tied his reins to the pommel horn on his saddle, and walked to the left side of Relena's horse to hold her reins and help her dismount.  She took his proffered hand graciously and dropped lightly to the grass on both feet.  It was dry enough.  Once she was down, he looped her reins over her pommel horn, removed the blanket he had rolled up behind his horse's saddle, shook it out, and laid it down for both of them.  He let the horses graze.

"Are you going to do everything?" she asked, smiling above him as he knelt.

"Do you want to do more?" he asked sincerely, sitting and hanging his arms lightly over his knees

She folded her legs and sat down beside him, raking fingers through her long, straight honey-colored hair.  "No, I was only teasing."

"You never know these days," he said.  "Some women like a lot of control.  Thirsty?"

"Tired," she said.  "I wish I could spend days and days doing nothing but enjoying the Earth," she closed her eyes as a breeze swept up over the hill.  He looked into her face, smooth and young and beautiful, watching her enjoy the wind and the world.  He could already see the worry-lines he had noticed at the council beginning to fade.

Before he knew it, he was kissing her again.  And to his delight she responded with more energy this time, her lips parting, her hands taking his face.  He was surprised, and turned on, and enjoying every second of it.  When she finally pulled away, they were both red-faced, but she was still smiling and the flush in her cheeks was more like a healthy glow than an embarrassing heat.  He fingered her hair and took one of her hands, stroking her fingers, and said nothing.  She had soft, pretty hands.

"How long are you going to be here?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know," he said truthfully.  "I have no urgent reason to return home, but I can not stay too long."

She nodded soberly, looking down.

"But I can always come back," he added thoughtfully.

"That would be nice," she said, squeezing his hand.  "Because I like you.  And that would be nice." This time she did flush with embarrassment.

"I like you too," he returned.  "I would be delighted to visit you often, if you'll have me here.  I understand you also go away a lot."

"I make tours, yes," she said, looking away. "And I work hard to keep peace and maintain communication, but it's been a year and things are falling into place, becoming a little more steady, a little more routine.  I probably won't have to leave so often in the future, not unless I want to, and maybe I won't."

He smiled at her and she smiled back and he felt three times over that it was a glorious morning.  "Ride some more?"

"We just sat down," she laughed.  But she looked around at the hills and smiled guiltily.  "All right.  Yes, I would."

He grinned and stood, offering her a hand to get up.  She took it and rose smoothly to her feet.  He quietly folded up the blanket and fastened it securely behind her horse's saddle.  Just as he was finishing, handing her the reins to her horse, the sound of hooves pounding up the slope made him turn.

A horse appeared on the horizon with a rider he didn't recognize.  Damion's horse's ears lay flat back against his skull and he snorted, backing up.  Damion whispered something soothing and ducked under Relena's horse's head until he had hold of both sets of reins, standing between them.

It was then that he got a closer look at the newcomer's face.

"Heero!" Relena cried, straightening.  Concern painted her features; concern, worry and anxiety.  Everything he had worked so hard to erase this morning.  "Has something happened?" she asked.

The rider, Heero, seemed to avoid her gaze, but swung his eyes in Damion's direction.  Damion stiffened under that baleful glare.  Eyes deeper blue than the ocean and hard as steel bored into him directly, with an undertone of biting...hate.  Damion started in shocked surprise.  He did not understand it, but he drew himself up, brows lowered in resentment, wondering who this man was.  In all the civility he could manage, he nodded politely in welcome.  Perhaps something tragic had occurred that had to do with him?  But no, he was pretty sure this stranger's mood was personal...and threatening.

"Everything's fine," Heero said.  His voice was dark, dark and deep, and his eyes never left Damion's.

"Then, if I may ask without offending, what brings you here?"  Damion asked straight-out.  He was feeling belligerent and he did not like it, not toward someone he didn't even know.  But he felt attacked, and he did not know why.

"Nothing," Heero said.

"Heero?" Relena asked, sounding confused.  "What's this about? What's going on?"

For a second, Damion thought he saw Heero's face crumble when he glanced at her, as if he were fighting some enormous struggle and lost ground momentarily.  But he swung his head and the statement vanished as if it had never been.

"I'm Heero Yuy," Heero began.

It sounded familiar, but Damion couldn't place it.

Suddenly, a second horse appeared on the horizon and Damion didn't recognize him either.

"Heero!  Miss Relena!  Prince Damion!"

"Quatre?"  Relena said.  "Quatre, what's going on?"

"Trouble at the castle," the young blonde man said, reining in with the mark of some small training.  "Duo got in a fight with his servant," he said, pointing at Damion.  "He's..."

"Oh, bloody hell,"  Damion cursed under his breath.  "Relena, can I call you later?"

She nodded.  "Of course, but what...?" she began.

"Don't worry.  I'll take care of it," Damion said.  He swung into the saddle in one fluid motion and wheeled his horse around.

Quatre looked toward Heero and some question to pass between them, but Heero turned away from whatever question Quatre had asked and his eyes locked on Damion.  Damion glared back.  This guy has something to say, and he had a funny feeling it was mixed up with whatever happened back at the castle.

"I guess I'll stay with Miss Relena," Quatre offered, sounding a trifle puzzled.

Damion gave his hurried thanks and booted his mount into a canter.  "You coming?" he said over his shoulder through gritted teeth.  Heero glowered but urged his horse to pull up beside Damion's.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Damion turned on him in anger and resentment. "So what is your problem?"  Damion shouted at him as they trotted lightly down the treacherous slopes.  "I thought you were going to kill me back there!  I think you still might!"

Heero said nothing for several seconds, but his eyes were intense.  "I don't know what's happening back at the castle," he said at last.  "I came to find you and Relena, but Duo's my... comrade."

Relena?  They were on a first name basis?  Damion took a second look at Heero Yuy.  He was good looking, seemingly confident, obviously dangerous and hated him for no apparent reason.  He remembered Relena's reaction, her statement, the concern in her voice.  It all took on new meaning.  This Duo was his comrade, huh?  Two and two made four.    "And I ask you again, what the hell is your problem!?" Damion yelled.  He was furious, livid with anger!  This boy came because... He had not been this angry in years.   Manny had better be all right!  He felt like swearing to color a sailor's face.

Heero didn't answer.

"Oh, you're something!"  Damion snapped in his rage, and then he delivered a blow that would confirm his suspicions if they was right.  "She's never mentioned you!"  It was only the truth.

Heero's face grew cold as stone.  statement hardening, he urged his horse into a gallop.  They leaped to flatter ground and Damion stood lightly in his stirrups, picking up speed as he leaned low over his horse's neck.  He could feel the ground fly away beneath them as his horse's gait became smoother, fluid like water.  And he passed Heero up.  He and his horse tore across the ground like lightning, like sunlight.  The wind whistled in his ears and bit across his skin, but he urged more speed until horse and rider were flying at a dead run, racing for all the world like they were being hunted.

And Heero kept up.  He did not sit his saddle as well, and he was harder on his horse to get it to keep pace, but he did not lose his balance, and there was no fear in his eyes.  They seemed to burn now with an inner flame.  Even in his fury, Damion was impressed, that such an inexperienced rider could keep pace with him, but it only made him more determined to win this race and prove...something.

Pace for pace, beat for beat, both riders pressed their steeds to their limits, driving them as fast as they could run, as they had ever run before.  The thrill of it was almost too sweet, and he knew it was dangerous.  He had raced before, but not with such fury, such desire to overcome, and with a horse who's merits he did not know, and on terrain that was unfamiliar.  And he felt he was flying faster now than he had ever before, and the elation was almost too much to bear.  But Heero was not giving up.

New Port City came into view as they bounded over the next crest and leaped down the slight slope to the street.  Damion checked his pace for the impact of grass to concrete, but Heero urged his mount faster.  Damion cursed as he urged his horse to speed up again.  The fool was likely to get both his horse's and his own neck broken!  But miraculously, the horse seemed to anticipate the danger and landed flawlessly, hooves battering the street, skidding on loose pebbles, but regaining balance and bolting forward in short time.  Damion followed up behind, using every skill he knew to catch them.

They entered the city side by side, their horses lathering, tongues hanging out of their mouths.   By a hair, Damion reached the stables first and vaulted out of his saddle before his mount had stopped moving and the grooms could grab the reins.  Heero came after him, literally jumping to the ground from the horses back.  He hit and rolled, but came smoothly to his feet again.

Damion turned a moment to stare in bewilderment, but then turned away again and shot for the castle gates.  The guards let him in without questions, and Heero too.  They ran in together, racing each other still, looking straight ahead.  People of all sorts leaped out of their way.  If they competed much longer, Damion had the feeling it would turn into a regular brawl.

And he still did not understand clearly what was going on.

"Damion!"

Damion halted suddenly and turned at Manny's voice, forgetting Heero completely.  Heero stopped too, and looked at him with eyes that flamed with predatory light, but then he ran on and disappeared down the corridor.  Damion didn't care.  This was insane.  It needed to stop.

Manny had been running too, but he slowed to a stop at Damion's side, gasping for breath.

"Manny, what happened?"  Damion asked above indoor voice level.  "I came as quickly as I could.  They said you were in a fight."

"I knocked him down, my Lord!"  Manny expelled, breathing heavily, anguish in his eyes.  "I didn't mean to.  He insulted you.  He was saying horrible things and I just... I just hit him!"

"Who? What?  What did he say?"

"He doubted your character.  He asked if you were, oh God, if you were involved somehow in the rebellion, against your own father!  He wanted to know your intentions with Miss Relena!  It was too much, sir.  You, being accused of treason and taking advantage of girls.  I couldn't help it; I just hit him!"

He was accused of what?  "Who was this?"  The young blonde, Quatre, had said Duo, but that was no help.

"I...I don't know.  Young guy, big blue eyes, loud mouth, long braid.  He just came up to me, joking around.  He asked me if I minded being a servant, like I should be ashamed, and then delivered all those lies about you, as if he thought I would agree, like I resented you!"

"Okay. Calm down.  You have no idea who this was?"

"That Preventor found us in the hallway, the chinese guy.  He said "Maxwell" and then charged me with assaulting a gundam pilot!"

Damion stared at him.  Duo Maxwell, Gundam Pilot 02.  "Wufei Chang?  He's a gundam pilot too."

Manny groaned and looked like he was going to fall over.  "I knocked him down too!"

"What?"  Damion yelled.

"I had to! He wouldn't let me pass!  Then he came at me.  I got a few marks before I got him, sir.  The guy knows how to fight."

"Manny," he growled, "this isn't okay.  You've assaulted two gundam pilots in the Cinq kingdom, and one a Preventor!"

"I was just trying to protect you, sir, and me too toward the end.  What's going to happen to me?"

Damion rubbed his forehead with his fingers.  "I'll take care of it," he said wearily.

Suddenly, it came back to him and he groaned.  Heero Yuy, Gundam Pilot 01.  That belligerent madman who had raced him to the city today over a girl was the same hero that had saved the Earth from Libra and brought peace to the universe.

"Well, this is one hell of a mess," he said to no one in particular.