A New Day - part 2

[Ame-san]

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine.

Author's note: Couldn't resist to write a follow up. Though I think this one is completely out of character. Well, enjoy.

A New Day - Part 2

" Ha! Ace of heart! I win!" A little boy with fair hair jumped up from the wooden floor and performed a dance of victory. Opposite from him sat his opponent, who jokingly tried to make a sad face but failed miserably. Heero Yuy has just lost to a child of eight in a game of cards, and he has never felt better. Life, with its twists and turns, surprisingly gave the soldier another chance despite his numerous attempt to escape from it. Then again, what was his cannot be denied. He just had to embrace it, live it according to his emotions. Some might say that he couldn't possibly recover from the horror in which he was raised, but Heero Yuy had once and again proved to be anything but ordinary. He was, after all, a very fast learner. He couldn't in his right mind give up all hope just to suffer in angst. He was smarter than that. What was past should stay in the past. He was not a philosopher, but he knew that salvation came from atonement not self-inflicted pain. In order to atone for his past, he must move on. This happened to be the very reason that led him to his current ordeal. Heero Yuy was too kind to ever take away a chance at winning from a child, especially when the little boy lived in the New Port City Orphanage of the Cinq Kingdom.??

" Well, I give up. You are too good at this game." Heero raised his arms in defeat. He looked at his watch and stood up from the floor where they had been occupying in the past half hour. " Andy, it's time for lunch."?

The little boy gathered the cards into his hands and reluctantly, he got up. " Do we have to? I'm not hungry, Heero."

Heero Yuy gave another one of his rare smiles and said, " You know that Miss Emma doesn't like tardiness."

" Miss Emma is mean." Andy crossed his arms and began to pout. Sighing in exasperation, Heero took the edge of the boy's right sleeve and half dragged the kid out of the room. The orphanage was built ten years ago, but it was expanded by the government after the war. The once one story high house was rebuilt into a three- story complex with many rooms for the newly orphaned children. The first floor was used as a cafeteria and the rest of the building served as residence for the kids and Miss Emma, the director of the orphanage.??

As Heero and little Andy reached the first floor, Miss Emma stood by the entrance of the cafeteria waiting impatiently for the pair. Emma Jenson, a girl about Heero's age, was the youngest person ever appointed as the director of a government affiliated agency. She was also very intelligent, for she completed college at a mere age of seventeen. Of course, she, like most people, lived through the war without much first hand experience of the horror and misery. An ordinary citizen of Cinq but a very handsome woman too. Her long, silky, raven hair reflected the sun beautifully in its radiance.??

It seemed like she was waving at Heero as he and Andy approached her, but apparently, she was greeting the person walking several feet behind them. Heero turned around to see who it was, and the discovery surprised him as well as the other person. Relena Dorlain, clad in a T-shirt and old jeans, stood there looking at him in an expression of awe and confusion.??

" Heero? Hello." She caught up with him and Andy. " How are you doing? And what are you doing here?"

" Relena." He nodded in recognition and chuckled softly at her shock. " I work here, and I'm doing very well. You? "??

"Oh, I'm great. I come here to help out Emma sometimes." She was more composed now. " I haven't been here in four months, and now you are working here. Looks like we have crossed path once again, Heero."??

" It seems like it." They continued their short walk toward Emma.??

" Relena, and Heero? You knew each other?" Emma questioned her two friends, and took Andy's hands, leading him into the cafeteria.??

" Who's that, Heero?" Andy turned to Heero and pointed at Relena.??

" A friend. Andy, this is Miss Relena." He introduced her.??

Relena waved her hand at the little boy. " Hello, Andy. You can just call me Relena." A smile lit up her face.?

" I like her, Heero. She's pretty and nice."??

" Are you two going to answer my question?" Emma asked again after situating Andy at a table full of food.??

" We are old acquaintances." Heero made an attempt at the question. He didn't really know what kind of relationship he has with Relena. They were not really friends, but she seemed to always be there to help him.??

" I guess you could say that." Relena added. All three of them sat at the table by little Andy.??

" Well, why wait. Let's all dig in." Emma announced. Andy grabbed a plate full of tasty food and began munching on them.?

" I thought you weren't hungry." Heero teased.??

With his mouth too full to speak, Andy grinned sheepishly.

Relena watched the scene before her with wonder. Heero's recovery was amazing. She couldn't believe that he was able to overcome his past this well.??

Lunch was rather dull as the three young friends talked about mundane things in general to fill silent, awkward gaps. Life, however, decided to make things more interesting. Little Andy accidentally spilled his cup of water on himself. A brave boy he was, but someone had to take him to clean up. Relena volunteered, leaving Heero and Emma alone at the table.?

" Just old acquaintances?" Emma asked in a sly voice as she watched Relena disappear with little Andy from their view.?

" Hn?" Heero was confused at her question. " What do you mean?"?

" Even though you two don't show it, but I think that there is a strong attraction between you and Relena." Emma was never the one to be evasive.?

" Attraction?" Heero almost laughed at the absurd idea. " I think you are reading too much into people. Relena and I are just friends. We might be able to understand each other better than most people do, but that is about it."

" Do you really think so?" Emma stared at him. " Maybe you should rethink it, or maybe you should just ask her to go for a cup of coffee." She paused and thought for a second. " Just as friends, would that be ok?"

" Why are you so interested in my relationship with other people?"?

" Because I'm never wrong."?

After lunch, Emma decided to leave early to take Andy back to his room for an afternoon nap. This, of course, gave both Heero and Relena a break that wasn't really necessary, but they did have a chance to talk alone. A walk in the park nearby was the perfect solution to their boredom.

" Heero Yuy, you continue to amaze me." Relena spoke as she strode through the park. "You have adapted very well to this time of peace, probably even better than I."

" Probably not as well as you think. I'm pretty good at concealing my emotions." He took a deep breath and stared straight ahead into the lush green trees.

" Something just can't be forgotten. It's meant for us to remember, so we won't repeat the same mistakes." She looked at the sky. " Then again, we never learn, do we?"

" No." He chuckled silently. He had been wanting to contact her in the past months since their last meeting at the hospital, but somehow he just couldn't dial the number. He wanted to thank her, but he was too new at this life to know what to do. So he waited, and seeing her on the news made it easier for him to know that she was doing just fine.

" Why the orphanage, Heero?" She asked quietly.

" Hn? " He thought for a minute. " It gives me a sense of hope, and this is my way of atoning for my past, Relena. I was probably the one who took away the lives of Andy's parents. I was probably the one who caused these children to lose their family, and if I could give them a drop of happiness, then I can finally live. Isn't it your reason for being here as well? "

She nodded. " Seeing them smile reminds me that I have been doing the right thing. I have done my job right. Believe me, I question myself every single day. My actions have consequences, Heero, just like yours. I doubt my every move because I don't want any one to suffer due to my incompetence."

" So far, you have been successful." He said.

" Hopefully, my luck will last a bit longer." She laughed out loud. " It won't be long until I am replaced by someone else."

" At least you won't have any regrets." He tried to comfort her.

She was silent for a moment. " Ok, let's stop focusing on me. I'm tired of being in the spotlight all the time. That makes me look so selfish." She looked at him. " So, tell me about you and Emma. I don't want to pry in your personal life, Heero, but it seems to me that you two are quite close." She didn't give him a chance to reply before she continued. " You don't have to say anything if you don't wish to. I'm just curious, since Emma happens to be a very good friend of mine. Don't mind my obnoxious nature. I'm a girl after all."

" Right, I can see that." Heero gave her a confused look. " And I'm beginning to understand that as well."

" What do you mean?"

" Nothing. If you want to know, there is nothing between us. Emma is a very nice person, but we are just friends. Like you and me."

" Oh really?" She didn't believe him. " But she's very pretty and smart, and you are not bad looking too."

" Very funny." He glared at her. She laughed at his cold expression. " Don't you have a speech to write or something than making fun of me."

" Sorry, I'm off today. My first personal day in eight months." She stretched her arms into the air. " But, I do think that we need to go back to the orphanage. We've been gone long enough. After all, we are here to work not play."

" Relena?" He decided to take Emma's advice.

" Yeah?"

" Coffee after work today?" He laughed at his own inability to form a complete sentence.

" Are you asking me out, Heero Yuy?" She didn't take him seriously at all.

" As a matter of fact, yes." His gave a firm answer.

She smiled and stared right into his eyes as if taking on a challenge. " Fine. But let's make it clear that we are not going on a date. We'll talk and drink coffee as two friends and nothing more."

" We'll see." He spoke quietly.

" No."

" We'll see." He walked off, leaving her behind looking completely dumbfounded.

[Fate Lowe]

Oh I do hope there is more!!! Please!!!

[RelenaDorlinYuy1]

Hahaha this is cute XD I hope you update soon ^^