The Wish (2)

[Heero's Kitty]

Disclaimer: Not mine...wish they were...



?It?s a perfect day for a wedding,? Hilde noted as she admired the way the rays from the still rising sun bestowed a beautiful display of color over the gardens. The sky was a faint pink blended in with a few strands of light orange and brilliant violet; the already warming morning air announced spring?s arrival.

She was watching two robins construct their nest when a cloud of dust on the road to the castle caught her eye. She was about to shrug it off as Sally returning from her morning ride, but as the object came closer, Hilde saw it was a sleek black limousine. Well, somebody?s traveling to the wedding in style. She grinned and spread the curtains wider, letting the rays brighten the room.

Not feeling the least bit tired, she decided to make use of the Olympic-sized pool. She changed into her bikini and grabbed a towel. Heading down the corridor, she decided to see if Dorothy wanted to join as well. She knocked lightly on the door to the girl?s chamber then walked in, not bothering to wait for a response.

Dorothy was cuddled up in a huge blue comforter with a stuffed elephant nestled in her arms. Hilde chuckled and wished she?d brought her camera. You never knew when you?d need blackmail when it came to Dorothy. She shook the sleeping girl. ?Hey, Dorothy! Common, girl, up and at ?em. I?m off to the pool, wanna join??

?Leave me alone,? Dorothy muttered sleepily and snuggled deeper into the covers.

Hilde yanked the covers away. ?You can?t just laze in bed all morning. Geez, no wonder you?re so pale. When was the last time you saw the sun??

The platinum-haired girl groaned and sat up to face the over-zealous girl. She realized just how perfect Hilde and Duo were for each other; they both had the annoying ability to talk a person to death. ?I have a better idea,? she gritted out through clenched teeth. ?How about you go away and let me sleep or I show you how cranky I can get when excited little German girls wake me up at the crack of dawn!?

The dark-haired pixie grinned, her blue eyes glittering with humor. ?Sheesh, here I am trying to be nice. I just thought you and Quatre would have so much more in common if you weren?t sleeping all the time. Remember, it?s the early bird that catches the Gundam pilot!?

?AAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!?

Hilde bolted from the room followed closely behind by the stuffed elephant and Dorothy?s angry shriek.

~*~*~*~*~

Noin stood in front of the grand mirror in her chamber. She was dazzling in the elegant whit dress. Sally Po and Catherine Bloom stood behind her, admiring their handiwork. Now that Noin had let her hair go out, it was so much easier to style. Sally had wanted to braid it and Catherine wanted it curled, so they compromised. Noin?s hair was pulled halfway up into a French braid and the rest hung in curly ringlets around her shoulders.

?What do you think, guys?? Noin asked somewhat uneasily, the pre-wedding jitters setting in.

?Milliardo won?t be able to take his eyes off you, Lu,? Sally beamed at her friend and Catherine nodded in agreement.

?Are you sure???

?Trust us. When have we ever been wrong?don?t answer that!? Catherine said with a grin.

A knock at the door caught the girls? attention. Sally went over to the door and cracked it open slowly, making sure it wasn?t the groom trying to get an early glimpse of the bride. It was a servant girl that requested to speak to Noin.

?Mistress, the special guests have just arrived.?

Noin grinned and thanked the girl who nodded and left.

Sally scrutinized her with a raised honey-blond brow and curious light blue eyes. ?Special guests??

?They?re just dear friends that Zechs and I felt deserved to be invited. After all, we owe them so much, it?s the least we could do to ask them to come. You?ll be able to meet them all later.?

?Noin??

?Come on guys. I have something old, something new, and I?m borrowing Relena?s pearls, so that just leaves something blue. Help me find something blue.? Both of the other women noticed the abrupt change in subject but hey, it was Noin?s wedding day. They?d find out about the surprise later. Letting it slide, they began decorating Noin?s hair with a few strands of light blue Baby?s-breath flowers.

~*~*~*~*~

Relena followed her brother into the banquet hall that was teeming with wedding guests. Glancing around the room, she hid a smile at the sight of Dorothy?s annoyed expression at Hilde?s constant chattering. Sally and Catherine were deep in conversation, as she passed them, Relena heard something about ?special guests? and surprise Zechs and Noin had planned. Oh, no. Not more diplomats, Relena groaned slightly.

Milliardo Peacecraft stepped upon the slightly raised platform and all conversation in the room ceased as the guests turned to listen to him. ?I thank you all for joining us today?,? Milliardo continued on with his speech, thanking the guests for coming and being part of the festive event. Relena stood dutifully beside him, trying only half-heartedly to follow Milliardo?s words.

She barely noticed as he spoke of welcoming back some old comrades. She kept her eyes riveted to the floor, but all Relena could were his eyes, beautiful dark cobalt blue eyes that haunted her day and night. Why now? Why after so much time had passed was this affecting her so strongly now? She shook her head and glanced up to see?no, it couldn?t be?Hilde had actually stopped talking! She looked like she had stopped in mid-sentence and was staring delightedly at the far side of the room. Dorothy was also staring and a hint of a smile played upon her lips. Curious as to see what could leave Hilde speechless and Dorothy smiling, Relena turned slightly and arched her neck to see what they were so infatuated with. In fact, the entire room seemed to be turned toward that direction as well. She stood on her tiptoes in an attempt to see over the crowd, but she was just too short to see anything.

??And so it is with greatest pleasure that I welcome you to the Cinq Kingdom. I?m grateful that you all could attend,? Milliardo finished the speech and motioned for someone to come forth.

Relena gasped as the crowd parted to allow the five young men through. As her eyes ran over them, she noted how much they had matured, especially Quatre Raberba Winner. The peaceful blond was no longer the pretty boy he once was; his features had grown handsomely masculine. Trowa Barton, still the mysterious warrior with light brown bangs obscuring one green eye, had filled out more, his lankiness replaced by muscle. He smiled as he approached, a previously rare action. Duo Maxwell and Wufei Chang hadn?t changed much except for added height and muscle. Relena turned her eyes from the other four pilots and her gaze collided with those inescapable eyes that had haunted her dreams for three years.

~*~*~*~*~

Duo tried to his smile, he really did, but the shocked look on Princess Relena?s face was really too much for him. He glanced at Heero, who stood directly to his left. The perfect soldier?s features were docile, expressing nothing, indifferent to what was going on around him, yet?he had been the first one out of the jet and into the limo when they?d arrived earlier that morning. Duo placed a hand lightly over his stomach, the dulling pain a reminder as to just how impatient Heero had been to get to the Castle.

That?s the last time I ever go anywhere with him, Duo thought. He scanned the room until his eyes met with a familiar sea-blue gaze. Hilde! He excused himself as politely and quickly as he could then walked over to where Dorothy and Hilde were.

Quatre grinned as he watched his fellow pilot tread through the crowd, his long chestnut brown braid swishing behind. Quatre leaned over and whispered to Wufei, ?Maybe now he?ll finally be able to stop obsessing over Hilde.?

Wufei humphed. ?If Maxwell?s mouth isn?t going off about the woman then he?s obsessing over food. I tell you, there?s no justice when it comes to him!?

Quatre sweatdropped and promptly followed after Duo. Trowa went over to greet Catherine, whom he hadn?t seen in months. While the two caught up on what the other had been up to, Sally gawked over Wufei?s appearance. He had grown! He was taller than she was and had become devastatingly handsome. She blushed bright red when she realized she was staring and tuned to join in on Trowa and Catherine?s conversation. Wufei, meanwhile, was busy ranting to Milliardo about the injustices of the world.

Relena pretended to be infatuated with Wufei?s speech, all the while sneaking glances at Heero through lowered lashes. Time had certainly been kind to him. The boyish figure and demeanor were gone. He wasn?t quite as tall as her brother, but he certainly had grown, in height and muscle.

Heero just stood there, living up to his reputation as the perfect soldier. He hadn?t said a word, merely nodded a greeting toward Milliardo and proceeded to listen to Wufei. Relena sighed; it seemed as if nothing had changed. Her soft sigh caused his eyes to shift to her, and when she looked up into his eyes once more, a familiar old feeling uncurled in the pit of her stomach, sending waves of warmth flowing through her.

Heero allowed himself a few more seconds of those delicate jewel blue eyes before he turned abruptly and wordlessly walked away.

~*~*~*~*~

?I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.?

Hilde?s eyes filled with tears of joy as Milliardo leaned down to kiss his new bride. Duo noticed and muttered some sexist comment, causing Hilde to smack him upside the head, all traces of tears gone. Wufei smiled in approval at the girl, and Trowa chuckled.

?Don?t you just love weddings, Miss Relena?? Dorothy gazed starry-eyed at the happy couple. ?They?re just so romantic.?

Relena turned to the platinum-haired girl, seeing her in a new light. Who would have known that Dorothy was a hopeless romantic at heart? Quatre turned to Dorothy with a smile, agreeing with her comment, and Relena hid her own smile. Those two had more in common than either would probably care to admit.

Milliardo and Noin walked up the aisle hand in hand, grinning wildly at each other. Rice was thrown from every angle except Duo and Wufei?s. Duo had sampled it and decided that he liked it, causing Wufei imitate Hilde?s earlier action by smacking him upside the head. The American pilot had had enough and began throwing rice at Wufei. Which caused the Chinese pilot to react by throwing his rice back.

Sally and Catherine followed behind the royal couple. Instantly, Trowa and Wufei, still being bombarded with rice, turned to watch the two women.
Quatre noted the identical warm glow their eyes filled with and smiled. Amazing how the age gap seemed to have dwindled as they had grown. For that matter, amazing who you found yourself attracted to as you grow up, he contemplated as he watched Dorothy. He heard a soft chuckle coming from behind him and turned, surprised to find it was Heero. Quatre raised a blond brow, puzzled.

?Care to share in on the joke, Heero??

He shrugged, his features returning to his usual bland expression. ?Your emotions are easily read. They betray your thoughts. You and Dorothy,? he shook his head in mild disbelief. ?Emotions like that get you killed. I see that?s one weakness you haven?t been able to conquer.?

?Ah, but Heero, the only way to live a good life is to act on your emotions,? Trowa said, throwing words Heero had once spoken back at him. The others left to follow the other guests back to the banquet hall where food and dancing awaited them.

?Oh, boy! Food!? Duo rushed in ahead of the others, pulling Hilde behind him. She was trying to run and keep herself from tripping over her dress at the see time.

Heero was left alone to contemplate the hidden meaning in the words Trowa had spoken.

TBC...

~*~*~*~*~
Love it? Hate it? Let me know.

[silent muse]

hehehehe, I love it when Heero gets thrown for a loop. So, he's eager to see Relena, is he? Good...serves him right for leaving.

-muse-

[Eden]

What exactly is our boy Heero thinking of anyways? Why would he make such a big deal about making it all the way to the Sank Kingdom and then not even ecknowledge Relena?

I have no choice but to agree with what someone said earlier about how Heero must be the one contracted out to be the killer. But why would he want to do something like that? *sniff* No! you will not kill Relena! You love her!

Anyhow, I need to see more of this, so keep it up!

~Eden