By: Ame-san
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, and I am not making a profit off of this fanfic.??
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews; they were really helpful. Just to clarify a few things, I know this story is not very original, but I'm working hard to twist it around. (The idea actually came from a dream I had; I wasn't going to write it initially, but somehow it just needed to be written.) The fact that no one recognized Relena was indeed a problem in the plot, I had trouble writing it in the first place. But I hope my explanation in this chapter makes sense. Sorry about that. Enjoy!?
Chapter 2
The ride to the Neirins' house was quite pleasant; the scenery was just breathtaking. Relena looked out the window and saw the endless ocean spread out like glass. Only briefly was the calmness disturbed by soft winds. As Hannah introduced the surroundings to her, Relena memorized every color, every sound of this place; she grasped tightly onto her new memories for fear of losing them again.??
It only took them forty minutes to arrive at the home of the old couple. The one story house was made of red bricks; she thought it looked like something out of a children's fairy tale. According to Hannah, they've lived here for over thirty years, and the house seemed like it was only built yesterday. Hannah said that that was because she and Manfred would repaint it every other year. Relena laughed at the strange couple and found herself falling in love with them as time went by.??
" Here," Manfred helped her out of the car and into the wheelchair. Despite her protests, Ian, the doctor, had ordered her to travel in a wheelchair until further notice.??
" One of these days, I'm going to walk on my own." She said with determination.?
" One step at a time, kid." Manfred pushed her wheelchair toward the front door of the house. " It's already a miracle that you are discharged from the hospital only a week after you've been in a coma."
" Yeah, remember the look on Ian's face when I told him that I want to get out? He really takes his job seriously, doesn't he?"
" He's a good kid. Very responsible." Hannah caught up with them while carrying several bags in her hands.?
" Here, let me have some." Relena offered to help.
" No, you just concentrating on getting healthy. Trust me, when you are better, there is a lot of things you can do in the house."??
The inside of the house was very simple. The living room was not big but seemed spacious nonetheless. The floor was made of wood and in the center there lay a piece of white rug. A few couches completed the rest of the picture. Relena's room was on the left. She had a twin bed with country flower sheets. A few feet from the bed was a wooden dresser. A mirror hung on the cream colored wall, and at the corner under the window were two chairs and a small table. Simple, but comfortable. She loved it very much.
After they situated everything, the old couple sat down in the chairs and looked at Relena with concern.
" Relena, there are a few things we have to do within the next week." Hannah began. " Manfred and I thought that it would be best if we begin searching for your family as soon as possible." She paused to gather her thoughts. " When we found you that day on the beach, we reported it to the local police. But because you've been in the hospital, nothing has been done so far."
She eyed her husband and said to Relena, " I think we need to take you to the city police. The local officers are a bunch of lazy bums; they are no good. Isn't that right, 'fred?" Her husband nodded quickly.
" That's very kind of you, Hannah. It all sounds fine to me." She smiled gratefully.
" Ian is also coming tomorrow to do a few tests on you." Manfred added.
" He's coming over here? I thought I was supposed to have them done at the hospital." She asked.
" Well, he said that you shouldn't travel too much under your current condition."?
" He's just too good to be true." She shook her head in amusement while the old couple guffawed.
* * *
" Relena!" He was calling her name again. The man with those Prussian blue eyes was calling her name again. She reached toward his hands only to come face to face with pitch darkness. Where did he go? She needed to reach for his hands. She didn't know why but all she could feel was the overwhelming urge to grab a hold of his hands. Who are you? Tell me, who are you? Wait! Please don't go! No, wait! Don't leave me!
" Relena, Relena, wake up, Relena." Gentle hands shook her body with the utmost care. " Relena."
She awoke to a familiar voice. " Ian?"
" You were having a bad dream, Relena."
" I dreamt that..." She decided not to tell him; after all, she didn't even know the man in her dreams. " Nevermind. I'm ok. Why are you here so early?"
" It's almost ten in the morning." He chuckled at her look of shock. " Our appointment was at nine; I've been here for a while now."?
" I can't believe I overslept." She apologized immediately. " Just give me a few minutes and I'll be right with you." She tried to get into the wheelchair herself but her legs fell back as she stood up.
" Let me help you." Ian took her in his arms and put her down in the chair. Though their closeness was brief, Relena still felt uneasy. Her face was pink from embarrassment.?
" Ian, just wait for me in the living room; I'll be out there in a sec." She gestured him toward her bedroom door.
" Right." He left quietly.
Ian waited until she finished breakfast to begin the memory test.?
" Here, read this passage, Relena." He handed her a piece of paper.?
She took it from his hand. " Wait, I've read this already. You made me read it last Thursday."
" Good." He jot down something in a notebook.?
" What are you playing at? Is this a joke?"
" No, this tests your ability to recall things over a period of time after the accident, and shows that your learning ability is intact."?
" Which basically suggests I'm not stupid, right?" Sarcasm.
" Apparently not. Not with that sense of humor." Two could play the game.
" Humph." She made a silly face at him.
" Now, Relena, could you recall the time of our appointment?"
" Nine. You just said that twenty minutes ago."
" What's the name of Hannah's mother?"
" Iris." She remembered it when Hannah showed her the photo album. Clearly, Ian knew about it too.?
" Now, could you point her out in this picture?" He handed her a photograph she had seen the night before.
" That one, the one with red hair."
" Good."
" Is there a point to all this?" She was getting annoyed.
" Just wait." He wrote some more in the notebook. " Now, Relena." His tone was suddenly serious. " Can you tell me the date of your birth?"
" No, you know I can't - "
" The name of your parents?"
"No, what -"
" The last thing you did before finding yourself in the hospital?"
" No! You know very well I can't remember all those things!" She was getting emotional.
" Calm down, Relena. This is all part of the test." His voice returned to its usual soft tone. " Trust me, Relena."
I do trust in you. Yes, I do. Strange voices rang in her head as a fresh wave of pain pounded her temple.
" Are you alright?" Ian ran to her quickly. His closeness was making her uncomfortable again. Her stomach felt odd every time he was near. The feeling was indescribable through words, but somehow, she felt a familiarity in it.?
" I'm fine, really." She smiled weakly.
" You should go lie down." He ordered. " I'll tell the Neirins to make some soup for you."
" No, really. I'm fine. Don't trouble them." She pretended to be better. " Ian, what's your conclusion based on these tests?" She tried to change the subject.
" I don't have a final result yet, but so far I'm positive that you have retrograde amnesia. You have no memory of anything before your accident, but your ability to remember from now on is perfectly fine."
" Good, I'm not stupid."
" Just completely clueless." He laughed.
" You know, that's not funny." She glared at him.
"Ian, how am I going to get my memory back?"
" The swelling of the brain has reduced to a minimum, but I cannot guarantee that you will remember everything once you are completely healed." He paused to find the right words. " Relena, there is a chance that you will never be able to remember your past."
" But I still have the chance to remember." She argued.?
" Yes, but most likely when something of your past triggers it."?
* * *
" Heero! Hey, Heero!" Duo Maxwell rushed to his friend's desk and deposited on it a stack of paper and photographs. " Check these out! I just got them today. Relena is still alive!" He was ecstatic.
" What?"
" You were right. Remember a couple of days ago when you told me that you've found a lead in the Netherlands, well, here are the results."
He scanned through the papers and picked out the photos. They were indeed photos of Relena, or at least someone who looked just like her.
" What's the story on these?" He held the pictures in his hands.
" Well, we went for the lead and landed in The Hague. She was spotted in a hospital there. No one reported because no one thought that that was the real Vice Foreign Minister. They just thought she was a look alike."
" A look alike? Are they all blind!"
" Well, why would anyone believe that the famous Vice Foreign Minister was in a hospital alone, away from her bodyguards, not to mention in a foreign country 200 miles from Cinq. Remember Heero, Une made the media seal their lips. If everyone knew that Relena was missing, possibly dead, what would the world become? "
" I'm going to the Netherlands, Duo. Tell Une that I'm leaving tonight. If she objects my method of working, then she can very well fire me. "?
)! 
I hope Ian doesn't feel over protective either...
Elyn Yuy