Sea of Emotion 8/?

[Gundam Girl]

Here?s the ?date? chapter you?ve all been waiting for! And suspense.

Disclaimer: I don?t own GW.

Sea of Emotion ? Chapter Eight

By Gundam Girl

Heero felt odd, standing in the doorway of the Golden Wave?s main entrance and feeling the salty breeze that swirled continually around the Venice dock. Had it really been a month and a half since he?d stood on dry land? He?d felt as at home under the water as he did over it. Looking at the city that practically floated, he felt a small smile touch his lips despite his nervousness. The sun was just setting over the Italian channel-lined town, casting strips of gilt light across the blue-green waters that twisted through it. It was a beautiful sight.

At the sound of a throat clearing, he turned and saw a sight that was even more beautiful.

Relena wore dark purple and wore it stunningly; the dress was more or less a brief line of material. It began at where her arms became slopes that led to her neck, clinging to the shoulders and molding down her hips, where it flared slightly just above her knees. It was simple, all in all, made of a soft satin but it suited her ? and it suited Heero to see her in it.

He looked like a movie star. Not that Relena had kept up with any of the big celebrities in the past few years, but Heero could have passed for one. He wore khakis and a black dress shirt, and with his hair in its usual mussed form, he looked like someone to tackle.

Good thing Relena wasn?t the tackling sort.

?Heero,? she said in greeting, noting how dry her mouth was. ?You haven?t been out here long, have you??

?No.? He had to clear his own throat. Her hair was mostly down, but it was pulled half up in a way that looked like it could fall any moment, loosing her hair so that it was wild. He wanted to pull out the tiny restraint and free the soft curls, then plunge his fingers in it.

He wanted to make it through this night without being a total idiot.

?Oh. Good.? She forced herself to smile and hoped the powder Hilde had forced her to put on covered the fact that she was probably looking pale. They were nearly twenty-four, they didn?t need to be acting like kids on their first date. ?Well, I??

?We should go,? Heero said quickly.

?Yes. Okay.? Relena nearly breathed a sigh of relief as they began walking down the dock, her heels clicking with each step. ?So you?ve never been here??

?No.? A topic? A topic. Conversation. That was always a good thing, Heero thought. ?How many times have you??

?This is my fourth time. Zechs prefers fuel from this part of the world, and there?s a supplier here that?s good friends with us.? Relena pushed her small purse, borrowed from Sarah, up her arm. ?He knew ou?Zechs? parents.?

?Parents do help with a lot of connections, I would guess.? He was curious about her slight stumble in words.

?Hm. Do?? Relena abruptly closed her mouth and called herself a bitch. ?Sorry. It?s not my business.?

Heero walked a little slower, stuffed his hands in his pockets. He glanced down at the channel as they crossed over a bridge. ?Go ahead. It doesn?t bother me anymore.?

Hearing that would have made any normal person sad. But Relena was the same way, so she could empathize. ?Did you?come out here so you could honor them?? When Heero hesitated, she hurried on. ?I?m just wondering because there?s similar situations I know of. Wufei?s with us because his brother always wanted to be a sailing bounty hunter, but he died from a heart attack six years ago. Wufei joined us three years ago.?

?He?s been with you that long??

?Mh-hm.? She twisted her fingers together again, uncharacteristically uncomfortable with the way he was staring down at her all of a sudden. ?Trowa came six months before him, and Quatre?s been here since we first started four years ago. I?ve known him since we were teenagers. We both grew up in Southern France, but we?ve dropped our accents.?

Not completely, Heero added silently. There was still some regality to her voice, a quality that was useful for commanding a ship full of crew members. ?I see. Well.? He drew out one hand from his pocket and scratched his ear. ?To answer you question, my ?situation,? as you called it, isn?t like Wufei?s. I just enjoy the ocean. You could say it?s hereditary.?

They both paused at the same time as they went over a bridge and leaned against the railing. The sun was setting directly across from them, and there weren?t any floating taxis blocking the view, a rare thing. Under the dulling light, the sea gleamed.

?It should be daunting,? Heero continued. It wasn?t usual for him to be talkative, but when he was with Relena, he found there was much he could say. ?It?s such a big thing, and it?s deadly. But looking at it, you?d never been able to think of that.?

?It?s not possible for me not to love it,? Relena agreed. ?The feel of it, inside and out. I love to swim, too.?

He glanced at her and then tore his eyes away. The mental images of her in a bathing suit and less than that could possibly cause him to babble.

?It gives me a sense of calm, too. I was born on a cruise liner.? She laughed, a sound that made Heero?s knees feel unsteady. ?It was my parents? anniversary present to each other. I came a month early and a doctor that was on vacation delivered me for free. My brother didn?t get any regular souvenir when they got home.?

Heero remembered what Quatre had said about Relena and her brother and veered slightly away from that subject. ?Do you keep in contact with your parents??

?They?re both dead.? She said it so naturally that Heero could have mistaken the sentence for something simple, like a comment about the weather. ?My mother died when I was fifteen. She had breast cancer. My father killed himself six months later.? The smile never left her face, like it was frozen there. ?He couldn?t summon the strength to live without her.?

Heero pushed himself off the rail. ?Some men think that way.?

?Would you?? Before he could even register her words, she chuckled and smacked herself light on the temple. ?I?m sorry, what a weird question. I don?t even know you all that well, and I?m asking something like that.?

?No, it?s fine.? But because he had no answer for something as un-thought-about as that, Heero shrugged. ?Where do you want to eat??

---

Dinner was at Garden Fiesta, where everything from American-style pizza to gourmet French escargot was available on the menu. Relena and Heero both ordered spaghetti, as they had agreed upon, and as they shared a basket of brown bread (both refused garlic) and a bottle of red wine, they discussed ship life.

?Is it hard sharing a bathroom?? she joked. He knew she had her own suite of rooms.

?Feels like summer camp,? he countered just as easily. ?Except that we?re not gung-ho about porn.? He remember Duo, ?Well, not all of us.?

She shook her head and smiled into her wine. ?You didn?t look like a fun man when I first met you.?

?I wasn?t. Maybe I?m faking it.? He tore of more bread and buttered it just as their entrees came. ?You didn?t act like a fun woman.?

?But my ass looked fine?? Her eyes glinted mischievously as he looked away, embarrassed but not in an obvious way. ?You know,? she changed the subject as she lifted her fork and twisted some noodles around it, ?I didn?t think this would be fun. But it is. It?s also pretty?I?m not sure, simple.?

Simple. That described it perfectly. Heero dug into his own spaghetti. ?Me either. I didn?t even know what the hell inspired me to ask you out.?

?I didn?t know what inspired me to say yes. I haven?t been out with a guy since before Zechs and I started the plans for this ship.? Her mouth tightened, but she forced it to soften again. Heero didn?t miss the quick tension. ?Anyway, I?m pleased it?s not hard like we both seemed to think it would be.?

?You?re a surprisingly easy person to talk to.?

The baffled her. Many phrases had been used to describe the strict colonel, but ?easy to talk to? hadn?t been one of them. Relena swallowed some meatball. ?You?re not too bad at it either, once you loosen up.?

?Hypocrite,? he chided.

?Maybe. I wasn?t always so cold, if you believe that, Heero.? She lowered her eyes and finished off the rest of her dinner while Heero thought.

He decided he could believe it. Her smile was too beautiful to not have been used before. The lavender flecks in her eyes were highlighted by her dress, and he nearly smiled again himself. Nearly. He hadn?t smiled so freely ? if one could call it freely ? since he was a kid.

As a kid he?d had nothing, he recalled. Hell, when he was on the land, he had nothing. He?d joined the Golden Wave to find something, anything that he could call his pride. His joy. And Heero was enjoying himself and others on the Golden Wave; if he was honest with himself, he could admit that it was likely he and Duo and probably Trowa, Wufei, and Quatre would become friends. He had fallen into routine on the ship, and undoubtedly, it was his home now, with all of the above added.

But pride and joy weren?t the words he?d used to describe his need for leaving Panama to Dr. J.

He?d said what if. And it couldn?t be denied that when he looked at Relena? Heero thought about all sorts of what ifs.

Not all of them were innocent, either.

?It?s dark now.? He didn?t know why he stated that it was, but he didn?t really care. He was feeling impulsive.

?Moonlight on the sea. That?s the best thing about being surfaced, I think. Being able to see the water shining like that.? Relena drank the rest of her wine and stand up. ?But we should be heading back, don?t you think??

?Yeah.? He wiped his mouth with the burgundy linen napkin and motioned to their waiter. ?I?ll get the bill.?

?I?ll be right back.? In a classic maneuver that women with even the least of experience know, she smiled and turned on her heel, heading toward the bathroom.

The feminine, perfumed room with tiled walls and a plush couch was the escape Relena felt she desperately needed. As the soft Italian opera music cleared her head, Relena walked to the row of meticulously clean sinks, and bypassed the little bottles of body spray and other quaint necessaries for plain soap. She washed her hands, splashed a little bit of water on her neck. She?d been watching him while he had been staring out the window by their booth. Relena didn?t think she?d been boring him; the talking had gone very well. She hadn?t spilled her wine or gotten something caught in her teeth. She hadn?t lost an eyelash. She?d been doing everything right. So had Heero, as far as she knew. And nothing above casual had passed between them.

But she felt so hot. It felt like her clothes could melt off her any moment. He had a remarkable stare that had fixed on her whenever she said anything. Who would have thought a gaze as cool as his seemed to be would actually be so searing?

When it came to sexual energy, Relena opted for denying all. She?d only felt this way once before in her entire life, and that man was over and done with. She hadn?t expected to experience this wave of feelings ever again. When she was with Heero, everything turned itself upside down and shook hard.

God, she thought as she carefully repaired her food-lightened pink lipstick. She wished her stomach would stop trembling, dammit.

She doused herself with perfume from, like the lipstick, her purse and took a deep breath. Dubbing herself ready, she opened the door and walking with a swinging gait to where Heero was waiting by the restaurant?s door. She noticed before he turned to look at her that he had released a button on his dress shirt.

She took it back; if he looked at her, she would never be ready.

?Ready??

It took her a second to realize he was speaking to her, but she nodded, her brain fuzzy. ?Yeah.?

?Okay.? He hesitated, but then he held out his arm. He felt more than a little foolish, but his damned teenager-like nerves settled when she slipped her hand under his elbow.

When they got back to the same bridge they?d stopped on before, Relena tugged on his arm a bit and they stopped again.

?Let?s be honest with each other,? she said slowly. ?Does that sound fair to you??

?Very fair,? he nodded. He had to resist undoing another button on his shirt.

Relena took another breath and leaned her back against the rail, Heero standing directly in front of her. ?Do you feel like a juvenile kid? ?Cause I sure as hell do.?

He chuckled a little, both amused and surprised. ?What happened to the us that swing-danced without any timidity at all??

She shrugged and folded her arms, causing the neckline of the dress to dip a bit. Heero forced his eyes to stay on hers. ?I think we gave ourselves time to think about it.? Turning away from him, she had to grin. ?This is what I was telling you about.?

With effort, Heero looked past her. The moon was full and cast a milky glow onto the blackish-blue water below them. Heero wasn?t sure if it was more beautiful here than in Panama because he was in Italy, in Venice no less, or because he was standing here looking at it with Relena Darlian.

?It?s good,? he said simply. He shrugged when she looked back at him. ?I?m not one to work well with words.? It was an honest sentence.

?That?s all right. ?Good? is the right word for it.? She looked back at the moon-tinted water over her shoulder. ?It?s very good.?

When she turned her head back to him, they were a lot closer than she had realized. Relena didn?t move, however. Neither did Heero.

And neither looked away.

Slowly, as though pulled by a string controlled by something with a plan, both of Heero?s eyes slid around Relena?s trim, satin-clad waist, drawing her ever nearer. When she didn?t resist, he bowed his head. ?Relena??

The heat inched through her again even as her arms wound about his neck. She discovered she liked the sound of her name when he said it and thought maybe he?d like his coming from her. ?Heero.? She tilted her face up to look at his.

Beneath a full moon and above lunar-dappled waters, their lips met and clung.

And a sea of emotions rushed around them.

---

?Are you coming in??

Relena smiled at him and hugged her arms around herself. ?In a second. I?ll stay out here and watch the water for a little longer. Go ahead inside. We both have to be up early in the morning for the dive.?

Heero stepped up to her outside the door of the Golden Wave and tipped her chin back, kissing her softly. ?Goodnight.?

She kissed him back, smiling almost goofily. ?Goodnight.?

When the door shut behind the surveillance officer, the colonel let out a long sigh and leaned against the side of the ship. She?d only be out here until her heart stopped racing so quickly. Then Relena reasoned she could be out here all night and gave herself five minutes max. Zechs would want a roll call done before the doors locked for the night.

Heero Yuy, she thought, touching her fingers to her lips. You are a mysterious man. She rolled her eyes in the next moment for acting like an immature schoolgirl, but the smile didn?t leave her face.

Just as she turned to go in, a voice called to her.

?Colonel Darlian??

She turned back again. ?I?m Colonel??

Her eyes were covered first, then her mouth and nose. Something sweet invaded her senses in the most unwelcome way. The white glow of the moon she?d been staring at was overpowered by a swirling pitch of black.

She struggled, fought it, lashed out?she could hear a curse when her shoulder jarred against something. But then her knees buckled and her arms went limp.

A male name raced across her mind, and for the first time, it wasn?t that of her brother: Heero!

And then the darkness consumed her.

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Review please!

[Morrighan]

WHAT?!?!?!?! Uh hell no!! :evil: GG, how could you?!?!?!

But they kissed!!! *dances around* Whoo!!! Twice, too!!

Can't wait to see the next chapter!!!

[Gundam Girl]

How could I? Easily, friend. Easily.

[Eienvine]

Oh, no, what happened to Relena? Eep. But a really sweet chapter. I loved their date- it was way cute. Great job.

[Gundam Girl]

Thanks!

[blackrose]

Wow, GG, I didn't know you wanted to die so soon.

GG: ...

Rose: Next chapter, or death.

GG: But--

Rose: NO BUTS! Next chapter, or we'll have you walking the plank into a tank of sharks!

GG: I think someone else has pirates on the brain. -___-;;;

Rose: WRITE!

[Gundam Girl]

Orders and demands. That's all I ever hear from you, Rose!

<i>Wow, GG, I didn't know you wanted to die so soon.</i>

Then you weren't there for the suicidal point in my life last year.

Thanks for the, ah, enthusiasm.

-GG

PS. By the way, I was never suicidal.

[Aristale Wolf]

GGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!! why would u want to stop it there???? of all the places to stop it!!!!! RAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! it was purrrtiful and cute with the date hope to read the next soon.....very soon...please let it be soon.....

[Gundam Girl]

lol, I love you guys. You make me giggle.