Chapter 8
 

    Heero Yuy's hands clenched the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles had turned white. His eyes narrowed at the tall, dark-blond, polished-looking man that opened the passenger door for Relena. The same man that supposedly had a hold of Relena's heart.

    Heero ducked down in his seat when they drove by so his car would look like it was empty. After they passed, he turned the key to start the engine. He inched along the pavement, waiting for them to go through the intersection, then hit the gas to follow close enough as to not lose sight of them, but far enough a way so he would not to be noticed.

    He felt ridiculous, following Relena around, watching her every move. The crazy occupation, or rather preoccupation, had been his for the past two weeks. But he wouldn't have had to stoop so low if she hadn't convinced her brother to shut him out of the Preventers.....
 

It felt weird walking into the lobby of the new Preventer Headquarters in Brussels. Heero approached the security officer on duty. They scanned the former Zero pilot just like any other civilian that walked through the doors.

"Canna help you?"

"I'm here to see Zechs Merquise."

The guard looked him over and smirked. "And who, might I ask are you, and what do ya want?"

"My name is Heero Yuy, my business is non of your concern."

The man laughed. "Heero Yuy. That's the best one I've heard yet. Look kid, Agent Wind doesn't do interviews, he doesn't give autographs, and I highly doubt we've found out through the miracle of science that he's your biological father."

"I've been expecting you."

The guard's eyes widened and he gaped at something over Heero's shoulder.  The former Zero pilot turned just in time to see 'Agent Wind' step out of the shadows.  

"Uh, I'm s-sorry Mr. Zechs, s-sir. I—"

"Yuy, come with me."

Heero left the sputtering guard and followed his former rival, now head of the Preventer Organization, to the elevator. Both of them remained quiet as they rode to the top floor, exited the car, and walked into his office.

"Have a seat." Heero pulled a chair away from the wall, and sat down. He could feel the other man's eyes follow his every movement. Silence hung over the room for ages

"I know why you're here."

"I figured."

"Wufei contacted me. I'm sorry about what happened to you."

"Which part?"

"Hm. I'm glad you're alive, Yuy. I'm sorry we didn't know sooner."

"My father—"

"It's all in the past now. I think it's best left there, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Heero, the skills you used to have were invaluable to this organization three years ago. But things have changed. You've changed. You've grown soft over the years. You don't remember all of your training, if you remember anything at all. I can't have that type of uncertainty around my sister; it's her life we're talking about."

"I see."

Zechs turned a small picture frame around on his desk. "Doesn't she look happy?"

Heero stared at the photo of Relena and a man he assumed was her fiancé and nodded his head, transfixed. Her smile in that picture and the way her arms were wrapped around that man's waist was more than enough to let him know that she loved him.

"Don't make a mess of her life. It took forever to get that smile back on her face."
 

    It didn't take Heero long to figure out that Wufei hadn't been the one to 'warn' Zechs; it had been Relena.

    Heero had tried desperately to see the busy Vice Foreign Minister after he arrived on Earth, but her secretary always gave him the cold shoulder; her security had been heightened seemingly for the express purpose of 'protecting' her from him. She was trying her best to keep him away.

    He pulled his vehicle to the curb as the car he was following came to a stop outside an Italian restaurant.
 

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    Relena's heels clicked on the porcelain tile of the entryway. Soft music played in the background – a calm, piano concerto that soothed the fluttering butterflies knocking against her ribcage. David held onto her arm as he led the way into the dining room.

    The room buzzed with couples and partners easy chatter. But the only thing keeping Relena rooted in this reality was the weight of her fiancé's hand on her arm. The people seemed…distant, vague, like cardboard cutouts that didn't really exist where her mind had gone. She tried her best to keep her attention on those around her, remembering to smile at David as he introduced his parents to her. She blushed when Mr. Whitaker kissed her hand, and returned the hug Mrs. Whitaker gave Relena in the couple's enthusiasm to welcome her into the family.

    "We're so tickled to meet you, dear. All our David does these days is talk about you. You're even lovelier in person."

    "Thank you. I'm delighted to meet you as well."

    Conversation floated around her head, mostly led by David and his chatter about the upcoming wedding. She squinted at the menu, then paid little attention to what she ordered. She couldn't help feeling…

    "Relena, dear, has David ever told you about when he was eight—"

    "Oh, geez, Mom. She doesn't want to hear about that."

    "Nonsense. You were so adorable…"

    'I wonder what he's doing right now. Is he in class? Did he go back to his life, the life he should have had? Heero…'

    "Relena?" David touched her arm gently. "Are you alright?"

    She started at the sound of his voice. "Hum?" She blinked up at him. His brow was pinched above worried blue eyes. 'David. I'm marrying David.' "Oh, yes, I'm fine." She turned an apologetic smile towards Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker. "Please forgive me for letting my mind wander off."

    "Are you coming down with something? You haven't been yourself since you got back from L2."

    A pang of guilt grabbed her heart at his concern. "I've just had a lot on my mind lately." She smiled and tried to sound reassuring. But it occurred to her after the words were said, she wasn't sure whom she was trying to reassure – David, or herself.. "I'm fine, really."

    His face relaxed and he seemed to believe her. But Relena knew that it was a lie. She wasn't fine. She hadn't been fine since that day… "Will you all please excuse me; I'm going to head to the ladies room."

    "Of course, dear." David's mother spoke up. Both David and his father rose to their feet. David quickly moved behind Relena and scooted her seat out – the perfect gentleman. She gave the family a truly warm smile before she walked off.

    Relena sighed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. What was she going to do? She cared for David and had convinced herself that she was in love with him. But that was before she found out Heero was…

    'He has a different life now.  A normal life. With a father, a place to go home to, aspirations for a degree and career.  A girlfriend….'

    She moved through the dining room, lost in her thoughts. She could feel her relationship start to crumble, but David was clueless. She hadn't told him about finding Heero alive because, well, she hadn't told him about Heero at all. And then she was here, meeting David's parents, supposedly in love with their son and had made a pledge to be his wife. But what kind of a wife would she be, always wondering: what if…

    She headed down the small hallway in the back of the restaurant that led to the restroom, barely glancing at some man that passed her on his way from the men's room. Just before she opened the door she heard a voice behind her.

    "Excuse me, Miss Darlian?"

    "Yes?" She turned sideways to see who had addressed her.

    A tall man, wearing a suit – the one she vaguely glanced at when she entered the hall – smiled when she turned around. "I thought that was you. I saw you when you arrived." 

    He took a step closer, but something about his body language, the way he leaned over her, made her want to back away. "I should return I'm expected back."

    "You just got here." The man smirked.

    Relena held her satchel tight and felt her back press against the wall.

    "Do I scare you, Relena?" He took another step toward her.

    The words snapped her out of her fear. Relena stood tall and looked him square in the eye. "Don't come any closer."

    "What are you going to do, scream?" His hand grasped her arm. She gasped; his grip was harsh.

    "Let go of me," Relena said in a low voice from between clenched teeth. She knew any second now, someone would end up walking down the hall and he would let her go.

    He put his free hand on the wall, above her shoulder, and leaned down to level his face with hers. "You are a very, very beautiful woman up close."

    Relena flinched, his breath stunk with alcohol. How could an upscale restaurant serve someone until they were this drunk? His grip tightened on her arm and she tried to melt into the wall as he bent further forward, trying to press his lips to hers. She closed her eyes and willed herself to scream.

    The disgusting kiss never came. Fingers ripped the man's hand from her wrist, and her eyes flew open. The man pitched backwards, grabbed by some unknown force, and slammed against the wall. Her savior pinned the attacker's shoulders down, and her eyes widened at the sight. Even though she could only see his back, she'd recognize him anywhere….

    'Heero!'

    She watched him press his forearm into the other man's throat. He spoke in a low voice, filled with anger.

    "You hurt her."

    The man struggled to speak with Heero cutting off his supply of air. "I... I wasn't going to.…. I didn't mean--".

    Heero growled deep in his throat reminding her of a predator, one possibly protecting what belonged to him. His footing shifted and he pressed harder on the man's throat. Her would-be attacker gasped for air while clawing at Heero's arm.

    "Heero!" Relena rushed forward and gently touched his arm. "Let him go. He didn't hurt me."

    Heero's grip slackened, then he backed away. The man slid to the floor coughing and wheezing for air. He glanced up at the former Preventer, whose eyes still blazed with anger, then quickly scampered off down the hall. 

    She let out the breath she had been holding, and turned back to Heero. He was staring at her hand where she still touched his arm. She blushed and pulled away; her hand tingled from the contact.

    "Heero, I.... " Her eyes fell to the floor. "Thank you."

    He didn't respond. She brought her head up, and quickly spun around to go back to her seat. "I should get back. David's expecting me." She stepped away and moved rapidly down the hall; she had to get away from him. She didn't quite trust herself to be around him, yet, and the last thing she wanted to do was hurt David - or herself.

    She slowed her pace when she reached the dining hall, so as not to attract attention. But she hadn't made it far when a hand clamped down on her wrist; she came to an abrupt halt.

    "Relena, wait." Heero let go of her as soon as she turned to face him. "Don't walk away from me."

    Her heart fluttered despite herself. "Heero." She spoke in a quiet voice. "Please don't do this here."

    "Where else will I get the chance? You keep shutting me out."

    Relena closed her eyes as she looked away. She could feel the diners staring at them. Her eyes snapped open when Heero gently placed his hand under her chin.

    "Look at me, Relena." She took a deep breath and couldn't help but obey. She could see it in his eyes how much he cared for her. It made her knees feel weak and her heart pound. His hand never left her face and she found herself craving his touch. "I should have died that day."

    She swallowed against the lump that caused in her throat. It wasn't fair. Tears sprang to her eyes as she remembered…. "Don't say that. Please. You're here, you're alive."

    "But I would rather have died than not have you in my life." His hand moved down her neck, until it rested on her shoulder, his thumb lightly traced her collarbone.

    "Heero...."

    "If I had known, I never would have put you through that pain. I would have returned."

    Her heart hammered in her chest, filling her ears with its sound. She couldn't hear anything around her, except his voice. All there was, was Heero. "I... I don't want to hurt David." She stared back into the blue eyes that bore into her own, but she was losing a battle she didn't really want to win.

    Heero took a step closer, his hand came up to tip her face toward his; he leaned down. Her eyes slid closed as she waited for his lips to meet her own, the rest of the restaurant forgotten. 'He's changed so much.'

    "Relena." A deep voice barked from behind her.

    She gasped and pushed away, one thought resounding through her mind. 'Oh God, did he see?' "David!” She whirled around to see David, standing about a yard away, staring at the two of them. How much had he seen? How much had he overheard?

    "What's going on?"

    "I." She felt tongue-tied. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't pull a stupid line and say that it's not what it seemed, because it was. She was about to kiss another man in front of her fiancé, and in front of a room full of witnesses.

    Heero's hand grasped her arm again, but she shook it off and kept her eyes trained on David. "Can we go somewhere more private to talk?"

    He glared at her, or something behind her. "No."

    She stared at her fiancé. She had never seen him angry, but at this moment, it was undeniable - he was furious. "David." She moved to his side and placed a hand on his arm, but he shied away from her touch. His eyes never left the man that stood across from him whereas she wouldn't turn around. She didn't trust herself to look at him.

    "Tell me what the hell is going on here, Relena. Who is that-that man you were kissing?"

    "We weren't exactly kissing." She swallowed hard and glanced back at Heero to beg for his agreement. But his eyes narrowed instead – he seemed just as angry. She had to get them apart before something happened. "He's-he's just an old friend. It was a friendly kiss, y-you know, like the French. They kiss each other on the cheek in greeting." 'Oh God, that sounded lame.'

    "He doesn't look French to me."

    She moved to her fiancé and placed a hand on his forearm. "Please," she said in a soft voice. "Can we take this somewhere else where the three of us can talk without an audience?" He met her gaze; angry blue eyes stared at her a moment, then softened.

    His eyes darted again over at something behind her, then back. One eyebrow raised. "You mean where the two of us can talk."

    "What?"

    "Your friend left."

    Relena whirled around only to see that David was right; Heero was gone. "Where...."

    "Let me go tell my parents goodnight, and that I'm taking you home. Then we can go have that talk."

    Relena nodded and walked with him to the front of the restaurant. She felt heat rise to her cheeks at the many stares and whispers of the diners as they passed. She could understand their curiosity. In their eyes, she had a fiancé and now a secret lover on the side. She started when she felt a hand come to rest on the small of her back. She looked behind her, half hoping that Heero had returned, only to see David.

    "You ready?"

    She nodded and followed him outside. He handed a valet the ticket for his car, and the young man promptly disappeared toward the parking garage. They waited in silence. In the distance she could have sworn she saw something flash - like a camera, but quickly dismissed it. She had much more important things on her mind. The drive home was awkward; only the radio filled the silence that continued to stretch between them.

    Once they were inside her home, away from the prying eyes of the public, David finally spoke: "I need to know the truth. Who is that guy, and more importantly – what is he to you?"

    Relena slipped off her shoes and sat down on the couch. "His name is Heero. Heero Yuy. He used to be the head of my security three years ago."

    "He used to be?" David sat down next to her. "Why isn't he involved now?"

    Relena swallowed and looked down at her hands. "H-he died."

    "He died?" She could feel David's eyes on her.

    "He was at Preventer Headquarters on April 16^th."

    She felt him shift beside her and lean back. "You believed he was killed then.. So how did he survive? Where has he been all this time?"

    "It's a long story what happened to him, most of which, I still don't know. Of course, I haven't really given him a chance to explain. But I do know he's been through a lot over the last three years." She couldn't look at him, couldn't face him. If one thing had become abundantly clear to her in the last hour or so, it was that--

    "You care for him a great deal."

    "Yes."

    "Were you in love with him?"

    She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.  He was back to sitting on the edge of the sofa, staring at her with a pained expression on his face.  She felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny, but he deserved the truth. "Yes. Although to this day, I don't know if he ever felt the same way toward me. We have a rather…complicated past."

    David looked away from her. "Do you still love him?"

    "I-I, I'm still trying to figure that out. Three years ago…." She bowed her head. "Things are just different, now."
 

*************************
 

    David's hands clenched the edge of the sofa cushion, and, he fought back the urge to yell. He had been waiting for Relena to say "I have you, now." But those words never came.

    This man, this Heero Yuy, meant a lot to her, probably a lot more than she was letting on. David didn't have a doubt that his fiancée had returned his feelings during their time together, but the way she had looked at that other man in the restaurant made him want to kick someone's teeth in. He had never seen her eyes sparkle they way they had when she looked at 'Heero'. But the thing that was the most telling was the fact that this was the first time Relena had ever told him this story. If she was over this man from her past, if she had truly given David her heart, now, he felt like she should have, would have, related all this sooner. 

    He stood up from the couch and turned away. "So, where does this leave us?"

    "I'm not sure." Relena's voice sounded far away. "I care for you...."

    He snorted. "But not the way you care for him." He crossed his arms over his chest and tried to calm his racing pulse. This was the end… He wanted to stop, to cover his ears and not hear the words, but he knew… She wasn't his anymore.

    "David, Heero and I were never together; we were friends. I won't lie and say I didn't want to be with him, because I did. But I don't know if it would have worked out between us."

    "But that doesn't mean you wouldn't want to try now that he's back"

    She didn't answer. And that was answer enough. He started towards the door.

    "David...."

    He stopped, but didn't turn around. "I should have seen this coming. You've been acting so distant lately. I thought you were under a lot of stress from work and traveling. I never thought that another man--."

    "You make it sound like I was having an affair. I saw him once on L2 and then again tonight. He has nothing to do with this."

    David spun around to gape at her. "You're breaking up with me because of him, Relena. You can't say he's not involved."

    She stood up from the couch. "No, not because of him, but because I don't think I would make a very good wife for you."

    "What!" David felt like the room tilted underneath him and he was off balance. "That makes no sense!"

    She brought a hand up to her collarbone. “I can't give you my whole heart, and you deserve that.You deserve so much better than what I can give you. I know that now." She took a deep breath and dropped both arms to her side. Her gaze held his. "You are a wonderful man. And I hope you will find someone who can truly make you happy."

    He watched her slip the engagement ring off her finger as a tear slid down her cheek. He wanted to turn around and run. If she couldn't give the ring back, it he could just get her to keep it a while longer, she'd realize… He tried to turn away, but his legs had frozen solid. 

    She closed the gap between them and kissed his cheek. "Please accept my decision." She slid the ring in his hand. "Goodbye, David."

    She moved passed him to the hallway that led to her room. The ring, the engagement ring… This had to be a dream. He turned and watched her disappear before finally letting himself out the front door.

    David climbed back into his car and rested his forehead on the wheel. He was so tired….  He didn't know how long he stayed there, only that when he sat up to turn the key, he noticed a collection of moisture on the steering column in front of him.

"Please accept my decision."

    'I won't accept it. I can try to understand, but until I see that you're happier with him, I can't let go.'

    'I love you.'