[Ficlet ~ PG] Best Case Scenario

[wingzerosnuggles]

Title: Best Case Scenario
Continuity: Nonsensical Nuances
Length: Ficlet
Pairings: 1xR
Prompt: None
Teaser: "You're a Peacecraft. Stubborn by blood. Even if I did kill him, you'd
find a way to arrange a post-mortem marriage just to spite me. The way I see it,
I have no choice."
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5141105/25/ ... al_Nuances

Disclaimer: GW = not mine.

Nonsensical Nuances
by mistress amethyst une

Best Case Scenario

Relena had chosen to tell Milliardo via long-distance video conference to Mars. It was costly and had a short time limit but she was simply taking a precaution. Even if he was her brother, she wanted to be well out of range if he decided to go into a rage and start throwing things around. Considering what had occurred when they last met, she wondered if he would even speak to her.

Freaking your big brother out by telling him about the kinky things you've done with a boy he hardly approves of is one thing. Telling him you're marrying that same boy...well, it wasn't how she wanted to die.

Taking what she hoped wouldn't be her last breath, she told her brother the news and hoped his reaction wouldn't make her die of fright.

"It's about damned time," shrugged Milliardo's image on the vid screen.

That was it? No flying into a rage? No epileptic convulsion from shock?

"Huh?" gaped Relena, puzzled by her brother's lack of reaction.

"It's not like I can stop you," he sighed. "You're a Peacecraft. Stubborn by blood. Even if I did kill him, you'd find a way to arrange a post-mortem marriage just to spite me. The way I see it, I have no choice."

"Y-you approve?" she stammered.

"I guess. Have you set a date?"

"Not yet."

"Call me when you do. I'll walk you down the aisle. You were going to ask me if I would, right?"

"Smug, much?"

"Do you want me to or not?"

"Of course," she smiled. "You're taking the news pretty well."

"I've had eleven years to prepare for this. Epyon told me you were going to marry the idiot."

"Epyon?"

"The ZERO system. It can see into the future. Didn't Heero tell you? It records your brain waves, memories, emotional responses. From that, it produces images of what's most likely to happen in the next few seconds, minutes, even years. Hallucinations. I had a brief telepathic link with that boy during the final battle."

Relena was dumbfounded. So Heero had been telling the truth. He had seen that he was going to marry her.

"What did you see?" asked Relena.

"It qualified as pornography," replied Milliardo, obviously peeved. "That boy's mind is filthy. I hope you know what you're in for. I hardly enjoyed seeing you at seventy and- Well, at least I know you're going to live a long life."

"Just how accurate is ZERO?"

"Accurate enough. It predicts and lets you dodge beams moving at the speed of light, after all. There is a trade-off though. When you lose control of it, it shows you worst case scenarios. Deaths..."

Millardo paused, taking a deep breath.

"I do respect him," said Milliardo, his voice brimming over with sincerity. "During that brief link, I felt everything. He's seen you die. Seen you die so many times. It was ZERO's favorite way of torturing him. The fact that he's still sane is mind-boggling..."

Relena looked at her brother, amazed at the compassion on his face.

"Time's almost up," snapped Milliardo, eyeing the timer off-screen as it began to beep. "I'll see you soon. Take care of each other, all right?"

Take care of each other.

This was as close as Milliardo could get to admitting that he cared about his former rival. He trusted Heero to take care of her. The only question remaining was could he trust his sister to stick by her decision and keep Heero whole? As much as he hated to admit it, he had sympathy for the boy.

"I promise," said Relena.

Her smile was the last thing he saw as the screen went black.

Noin walked up to him then, now certain that Relena wouldn't spot her.

"Still couldn't tell her, could you?"

He stroked his wife's pregnant belly through her dress.

"I couldn't go and upstage the bride now, could I?"

[Elyn Yuy]