Notes: This is set two years after Endless Waltz. And just for the record, this is rated PG only. So, no matter what the basics suggest, we aren?t going there. I don?t have the guts to write that material just yet.
But, anyways, here?s all you need to know to get you going: Heero. Relena. Wet clothes. Two bathroom scenes. One bed scene.
Hey, what?d I tell you? Get your mind outta the gutter?
A Message in the Steam
written by: Nausica?
She disliked having them wait for her when she chose to work overtime. Their shift was over at 10:30 p.m., but yet, they chose to stay. Such loyalty moved her, but they still were officially off duty. Why drag them all into her boring, weary routine every night?
?Are you sure, Relena? Matt and I don?t mind staying behind to wait until you?re done.?
?She?s right, ?Lena. I wouldn?t mind if it meant protecting you.?
Ms. Relena Darlian looked fondly at her bodyguards turned friends. She knew that they had meant what they?d said with all their heart and were truly willing to stay. Both of the young men valiantly tried to hide their drooping shoulders and increasing rate of yawns, but she saw through their forced alertness and issued a softly voiced but final order.
?No,? she said with finality. ?You two should?ve headed home an hour ago. I don?t know how long I?ll be here with this paperwork.? Relena indicated a depressingly large stack of folders and ledgers, ?And I can tell you?re ready to fall asleep where you stand. The mansion?s only ten blocks away. I can walk.?
Knowing that it had been a lost cause from the start but still worried, Matt had one more argument in his mind. With eyebrows furrowed, he said, ?Pardon me, but I don?t care about the distance. Mr. Chang will have our heads if anything happens to you. At least promise us that you?ll call a taxi if you stay longer than midnight.?
Giving way to their genuine concern, Relena promised Matt and his friend that she would take a taxi if she were to stay longer than midnight, and with reluctant waves of goodbye, Relena was finally left alone in her office.
Sighing, she ran her hand slowly through her hair and tiredly reached for another folder.
Stepping outside into the cool evening air, the two bodyguards stopped for a moment. Gazing back and up into the single lit window, Matt shook his head sadly.
?Y?know, she?s never been the same since he disappeared.?
?What do you mean, Matt?? his friend asked. ?Who?s ?he???
?Oh, that?s right. You only joined the Preventers last year.? Continuing to the discreet black car parked in the front, Matt leaned against the hood and turned his gaze heavenward. Shining down on them with dull, golden lustre was an infinite number of stars. Countless and unreachable, but always the focus of so many fairytales and dreams.
?Hey, Rob, what do you see when you look up??
Rob followed suit with his friend?s question and tipped his head back. ?Well, I see stars.?
Matt nodded. ?They say he came from the stars? or just appeared out of nowhere.?
?Who??
?Heero Yuy.?
He was wearing a path into the carpet. He couldn?t help it. He felt caged, restless, and aching to do something, but what was one to do, if the single purpose of your existence didn?t need you anymore? He glanced at the bulletin board as he passed by it. Newspaper clippings blurred together, but he didn?t need to read them. He knew every single one by heart.
Vice Foreign Minister Seals the Deal
Former Queen Relena Founds Memorial Site
Peace: The Passion of the Peacecrafts
And the list went on. The board and parts of the surrounding wall were covered with them, two years worth of them. But the most recent one was what had him up and scaling the walls.
Is This It? Our Princess and her Perfect Match
When he?d seen this on the newsstand, he?d bought it instantly and read the article through. Three times.
Could this be the one that Vice Foreign Minister, Relena Darlian, 18, has been looking for? Reports of sightings of Ms. Darlian spending time with an unnamed young man have piqued the interest of many?
Heero Yuy tore his gaze away from the article. He needed to get out of here for a while. Going to the closet and grabbing blindly for a jacket, he left, his destination unknown even to him.
?I just need to get away, away for fresh air,? he didn?t know why he had to convince himself of it.
?Heero Yuy?? Rob echoed. ?Sounds familiar? Wait, isn?t he that guy believed to be the best MS pilot of all time??
Matt answered. ?Uh-huh, but he wasn?t believed to be, he was.?
Rob couldn?t help but whistle. ?Whoah, have you ever met him? Seen him? I wish I could?ve met him.?
?Nah, couldn?t get near the guy. He was always so removed from everyone, y?know? Always alone and cold like. I honestly don?t see what ?Lena saw in him.?
?You mean, Relena had a thing for Heero?? Rob couldn?t believe it. Relena always seemed so oblivious to the young men who flocked around her at parties. ?He must be some guy.?
Matt looked at him. ?Correction, he was some guy.?
?What? What do you mean ?was???
Gesturing that they get in the car, Matt elaborated. ?Exactly what ?was? means. He?s gone. Absolutely no trace of him left on earth. Relena had us search for a year, but when nothing came up and her political duties got in the way, she had to give up searching.?
Pulling slowly out of its parking space, the sleek black car sped its way down near-empty streets. Rob turned to his friend.
?You think she?s over him, Matt??
Matt raised an eyebrow. ?Relena over Heero Yuy? Hell, no.?
It was 1:00 a.m. when Relena decided to call it quits. Officials, be damned. She couldn?t keep her eyes open anymore. Relena gathered her things with slow, prolonged movements. She was still making up her mind about getting a taxi home or walk but soon made her decision when she tried several times to grab for a pen and failed miserably. She was exhausted.
?I am definitely getting a cab,? she muttered.
But when she stepped outside and looked both ways up and down the streets, they were empty. Not a car in sight.
Relena sighed heavily and rubbed at her aching temple. ?Never mind, I?ll walk. Maybe it?ll help clear my head a bit.? Picking up her suitcase, Relena prepared herself for a comfortably slow walk home.
Heero walked down the street, thankful that it was late in the night. No one was about, and he was able to sort his thoughts in the quiet. His hair glinted dark browns now and then, as he passed under the soft light of the lampposts, and he crossed the street, trying to think of anything to divert his mind with.
Work? Nope, got a day off tomorrow. University? Starting next month?
But no matter his efforts at keeping her stuffed in the dark corners of his head, his mind inevitably went straight back to her.
Damn you, Relena.
?Damn you, Heero,? Relena moaned. ?I?ve only been walking for five minutes and already you wormed yourself into my head. Again.?
Shaking her head, Relena succumbed to the memories of the past two years Heero Yuy had been absent from her life. Peace had truly enveloped the earth and the colonies. There were no talks of uprisings or secret organizations, no military geniuses set on overthrowing the leaders of the Earth Sphere Unified Nations. No fear.
It?s what she?d wanted, what she?d always dreamed of having.
But none of it meant anything if Heero wasn?t there to live in it with her.
Engrossed in their thoughts, both of the melancholy youth failed to see the gathering storm clouds above.
Heero heard thunder rumbling in the distance and disregarded it just as fast as he had noted it. Rain didn?t bother him. In fact, he actually welcomed it. Maybe it could help wash away the hurt he was unaccustomed to feeling.
A small raindrop spattering across the bridge of her nose was all the warning Relena had before the skies ripped open and sheets of rain fell to drown the already dragging spirits of her body. Drenched in seconds, Relena looked helplessly around for shelter. No stores were located anywhere near her. She was in the high-rise section of the city, so Relena rationalized and started looking for a hotel to go to. She?d wait until the rain stopped and continue her walk home then.
As she walked with her suitcase sheltering her as best as it could, Relena happened to look up and see a very familiar figure crossing the street, chocolate brown hair coloured almost black by the rain. Freezing in her tracks, Relena was hardly able to breathe, praying with all her might that what she saw was not a figment of her imagination.
?Heero,? she breathed.
It was so faint that she thought she hadn?t spoken at all, but even that notion was burned to ashes, as the figure before her stopped and turned their Prussian blue eyes to hers.
Notes: Well, I hope I?ve got you intrigued enough to wait for the next chapter. This should be finished by then, so please review. Love it, hate it, caught in between ? tell me. I?m a big girl, I can handle the criticism, and I won?t cry? that hard
Until then?
MWAHAHAHA! you write so good...*sniffle* i love it! please continue it soon!
keep it up!!!!
Elyn Yuy
