Healing - Chapter 3

[Angeldreams]

Healing ? Chapter 3

A/N: Still don?t own.

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Blackness surrounded the unconscious body. Gradually, beams of light poked holes through her deep sleep, urging her to wake up. Her head felt dizzy and light. She gradually opened one eye to be greeted by the blinding sun.

?How did I get here? mumbled something insider of her.

Opening the other eye and slowly sitting up, she found that somehow she was on a rather large old sailboat. Its dirty masts stood high and proud in the sky. Small sections of paint on the boards of the boat were visible, but mostly had long since worn off. The boards creaked with every wave, yet was able to gently guide over them. No shore was visible on the horizon.

Relena jumped as hand touched her shoulder. She turned cautiously, wondering how this person was able to walk quietly on the boards that seemed to groan with every movement. Bright blue eyes looked back at her. Relena?s heart raced widely, knowing who those eyes must belong to.

But once again, her heart was wrong. The man was perhaps a year or two older than her. His tan, muscular body contrasted with his sun bleached blonde hair. Relena quickly glanced away; a blush crossing her face as she noticed all he was wearing was a pair of shorts.

?How do you feel, miss?? a kind voice asked.

?Fine, I think. Where am I?? A confused Relena questioned.

?On my boat. I found you in a pool of your own blood in a canoe during a storm a couple of nights ago. You?ve been unconscious since then.?

?A couple of nights ago??

?Yep. I was beginning to worry about you, but there wasn?t much I could do about it. No place to dock now for a couple of days.? The wind picked up and danced through Relena?s hair. He looked up to the sky and paused for a moment, then made some adjustments to the sails. Relena watched him in silence, still in a haze over what had happened.

Once finished, he looked back over to her. She still was standing in the same spot, now looking at the endless miles of water.

?I?m sorry! Where are my manners? My name is Hugh.?

Hugh reached out a calloused hand to shake hers. A bright smile illuminated her face as she stretched her hand out to meet his.

?Nice to meet you, Hugh. My name is?? His eyes briefly sparkled with amusement as she introduced herself.

?Relena Peacecraft,? he interrupted, ?Of course I know who you are.?

Relena smiled slightly and looked at the deck of the boat. His eyes were so like Heero?s. She had run to get away from Heero, and somehow she had, only to again be saved again by someone whose eyes were so much like his. ?My luck? she sadly laughed, ?why can?t I escape him??

Hugh motioned her to follow and led her to a small cabin in the boat. ?You must be tired, make yourself comfortable and feel free to take a nap, I figure you might need one. I saw you come out and left some food on the table.?

Remembering her manners, she looked back into Hugh?s steady eyes. ?Hugh, thank you.? She then closed the door and fell asleep.

Hugh looked back at the closed door, still surprised that the former queen of the world had found her way on his ship. She was more beautiful than he expected. He guessed that it had to be how she carried herself and her personality. No picture was able to capture that. He sighed and walked back to the bow, preferring to watch the beauty of nature instead of think about this angel under his watchful eye.

One week later?
Relena awoke to find that she had fallen asleep again much to early. Her injury to her head still hurt and forced her to sleep much more than she would have liked. It had been a week since she had opened and met the mysterious man who rescued her. He was so kind to her, making sure she ate properly and attending to her injuries. Somehow, he knew when she wanted quiet or when she needed to hear another?s voice. He seemed to appear out of nowhere when she was lonely.

She had spent most of her waking hours out on the deck of the old boat, learning about the sails. He had patiently showed her what to do when the wind changed. His brilliant smile would break into laughter when she would mess up the timing the sails. He was a good teacher, though, which unfortunately gave him less to laugh at.

Relena found herself enjoying life on this boat. Her mind whispered that she had to get back to duties, but her heart was far from ready to return. She needed more time. Time to heal from the dream she lost when Heero rejected her. Fortunately, she found out from conversations with Hugh, that his original calculations to reach the port were based upon a stronger wind, which meant it would take longer. But as she walked out onto the side of the boat and yawned, she reflected that the journey would end tomorrow. Or rather, hers would. She had too many responsibilities, while he, on the other hand, had much further to travel.

Quiet engulfed her. The brightly shinning stars and the full moon added to her surroundings and gave off a surreal aura that matched her mood. She heard the footsteps behind her this time.

?Your awake? he quietly stated, handing her a small cup of water.

?It is so beautiful out here.? Appreciatively sipping at the drink, Relena looked back at the river, in awe of the peace that surrounded her.

?Yes.? Hugh joined her, leaning over to place his elbows on the sturdy side of the boat. They were silent for several minutes, simply observers of nature.

He sipped at his drink before turning to her. ?Relena, why where you alone on that canoe? What happened?? He had tried to ask her before, but she never seemed to want to talk about it. He was convinced that there was far more to the story than she was letting on.

He noticed her suddenly look down to the stars as if searching for the words. When he was about to give up on an answer, he heard a soft voice say, ?I needed to escape.?

?Well,? he said, motioning to their surroundings, ?This is about the best place you could escape to.?

A wholehearted ?Yes? escaped her lips as she took in the beauty of the water rocking against the boat.

?Relena, was someone trying to hurt you?? The concern was evident in his eyes, if only for a few moments.

?No,? her sorrowful eyes locked momentarily with his, ?It was my fault, I caused my own pain.?

He looked at her strangely and noticed a small tear had slid down her face. He couldn?t help but reach his hand up and wipe away her tear. She looked into his eyes startled; yet pleased.

He lowered his hand and quickly muttered, ?I?m sorry.?

She grabbed his wrist before it reached his side, still not breaking eye contact with him. His eyes held some indescribable emotion. During the last week, his eyes became less and less Heero?s as Hugh allowed Relena to see the emotion in his.

?Don?t be.?

Before she knew what was happening, he leaned down and briefly kissed her. The kiss was soft and non-demanding. Her heart erratically beat between nervous happiness and pain over another who had done that what seemed so long ago.

?I left dinner out for you. Good night, I?ve got to get some sleep.?

With that the handsome man slipped into the ship, leaving her to her jumbled thoughts.

?Oh Heero. Maybe you were right to say no.? Relena whispered to the wind.


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A/N: Don?t worry ? it?s not over for Heero (Duh). At least, not yet. Of course you know it's not going to be easy...

[melodrama]

Another sweet chapter Angel. I like the way this is heading... can't wait to read more!

[goddesswing]

*smirks* Ooooo, Heero's got some competition!! Keep going!!!! I can't wait to read the next one! I'm soooo excited about this story, it gives you a type of exuberance and enthusiasm... a urging looking forward type feeling. I can't explain it... Or maybe its just cause these are the kinda stories I really like?? Hmmm... Its probably both.

+::goddesswing::+