Missing by a Mile - Chapter 27 (Rated R)

[blackrose]

<p align="center"><b><u>Missing by a Mile</u></b></p><p align="center">By the Black Rose</p><p>AN: My apologies for being a bit late this time out. Much love, Rose</p><p>PS - Warning, this is rated R for some mild references to sex. I kept it very mild. Thanks!</p><p><b>Chapter 27</b></p><p>Duo threw a leg over the balcony railing, and let out a groan. He supported his entire weight on his forearms as he lifted his body onto the floor of the suspended porch structure connected to Relena's bedroom. He placed both feet on the cement, and when he could subtract his limbs from the railing, the former Deathscythe pilot crossed his arms against his chest to keep from shivering.</p><p>"Are you in position yet, Duo?" Hilde's voice went straight into his right ear.</p><p>"Yeah." He spoke into his headset's microphone. "I'm about to enter the dwelling. Wish me luck."</p><p>"Good luck."</p><p>He pulled his lock pick toolkit from the utility belt and began to work on the balcony sliding glass door. After several seconds, he still hadn't heard the telltale 'click' of disabling the lock mechanism. Duo scowled; on a whim, he tried sliding the door aside; surprisingly, it slid on its tracks and out of his way.</p><p>"Hmmmm?" He frowned. 'Surely the Princess doesn't leave her door open. Heero would have a conniption fit?'</p><p>He stepped into the room; the plush carpet quieting every step as he moved. A lump of covers in the center of the bed confirmed Relena's presence despite the heavy silence. He moved on the balls of his feet towards the young woman he intended to whisk away.</p><p>It was a simple plan. Or, at least, he hoped it was. Wake her up and in her half-asleep stupor, convince her that they needed to go ? with a little luck, she'd think he was on guard duty and telling her she needed to evacuate the mansion.</p><p>Duo wheezed against the obstruction in his lungs, again, and tried to hold back a cough. It threatened to win over the strength of his body; he covered his mouth and dashed across the room, closed the balcony door, and let the cough wrack his body. Hack. Hack. COUGH. 'Dammit.'</p><p>"Abort," he said into the mic.</p><p>"Abort? What are you, out of your mind?"</p><p>"It's all I can do not to cough, Hilde." He cast a glance over his shoulder to make sure Relena was still asleep in her bed. The lump under the covers hadn't moved. "Trowa'll hear me."</p><p>"Didn't you take that cough syrup I prescribed?" Trevor's voice broke into the connection.</p><p>"It's got codeine in it!" Duo 'shouted' in a hoarse whisper. "I can't!"</p><p>"You can take it now and it will start to suppress your cough." The doctor sounded reasonable, but less than patient. "The amount of codeine is very small, you'll be fine."</p><p>"No, you don't understand." The Preventer shot a quick look back at Relena's room. He tried to keep his voice low enough not to be overheard. "It makes me loopy, I start babbling?"</p><p>"So, there's really no difference."</p><p>Duo could practically see his friend's taunting smirk. "Shut up, this isn't funny. I have only a few minutes to pull this off?"</p><p>"Take the damn cough syrup, Duo!" His wife's voice yelled into the receiver.</p><p>"Gah!" He winced and yanked the headset off. "Don't yell." He heard her voice again, through the wires, but refused to replace the bud in his ear. He held it up to his head and hissed into the microphone. "Fine. But you two are carrying me and the princess out of here."</p><p>He pulled the bottle out of his utility belt and swigged some from the spout.</p><p>"Make sure you take only the measured dose--"</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, I did already. Now, hopefully I can still make it in and out before Trowa's check time." The former Deathscythe pilot pushed off the balcony railing, and spun around to march back inside. He froze mid-step into one solid block of ice.</p><p>Trowa stood just outside the balcony door, wearing Relena's nightgown, and aiming a 9mm with a laser sight at Duo's forehead.</p><p>"Too late."</p><p>Duo swallowed another cough, and felt his insides start to burn. "Oh hey there, buddy. I was just?pulling some extra shift time, ya know, keeping guard on the balcony."</p><p>"Lie number one." The former Heavyarms pilot removed the safety. His eyes seemed to glint in the artificial light. "Keep talking."</p><p>"Oh sure, well, you know that is kinda the ol' specialty." Duo stretched his arms over his head and then straight out to shoulder-height. "What should we talk about?" He laced his fingers together and cradled the back of his skull in his hands. "The way that nightgown fits you, or why you're trying to sabotage Heero's efforts with Relena?"</p><p>Trowa didn?t even flinch at the accusation. "I think a better topic is what trick you and Heero have been up to."</p><p>Duo narrowed his eyes. "Just protecting the princess is all." He dropped his hands back to his sides and shrugged. "Well, I can't really speak for Heero. He's been up to a few other things, too, if you know what I mean." He winked at the other Preventer and gave him one of his patented grins.</p><p>"Lie number two." Trowa tightened his grip on the gun. Duo could see the red beam of light waver, and didn't like the thought of it being trained on his forehead.</p><p>'Son of a bitch.' He stopped smiling.</p><p>"No, actually he hasn't had any luck in the 'other things' department." A slight breeze caught the edge of the nightgown ? which really didn't fit the other Preventer well at all. It looked like the neck had been completely stretched out to accommodate Trowa's broader chest and shoulders. Duo shook his head.</p><p>"And you know that. Which is why, I suspect, you were attempting to kidnap her. Were you planning on forcing her to marry Heero or is there another motive involved?"</p><p>"You know, pink really isn't your color." The floor rotated underneath him. His head spun in a different direction. "Pbbbt. Force her to marry him. She's always been in love with that idiot. That's what pisses you off the most." The balcony light cast a halo over Trowa's head and Duo's stomach began to spin a little in a way that was not in its typical, approved rotation. Duo held up the bottle of cough syrup. 'Only take the measured dose.' He shook the container. It was half-empty. 'Oh shit. I'm screwed.'</p><p>"I think you and I need to have a little chat." Trowa's head split into two, scowling specters.</p><p>Duo shook his head. His mouth felt dry, and the entire balcony tilted forward. He leaned with it and caught his balance. "Noooo, no chat. My cough syrup's kickin in, and there are two of ya." His eyelids drooped ? they felt so heavy. "That's not fair odds."</p><p>"But I want to help you."</p><p>Duo blinked and tried to focus the two Trowa's back into one body. "You do?"</p><p>"Of course. I want whatever makes Relena happy - and you are trying to make her happy aren't you?" The voice no longer seemed to match up with either set of lips. And it warbled in Duo's ear?</p><p>He nodded his head up and down. "Yesh. Yes? Me and Hilde, and then Heero - ya know, we really do believe he loves her."</p><p>Trowa cocked his head to one side. There were still two of him, looking strangely patient as he lowered the gun and the red dot disappeared. Duo put his right arm back and propped some of his weight against the railing.</p><p>"No matter wh-whasss that idiot says."</p><hr size=1 width=100% noshade>Relena knew she was staring into space, she even knew she had come out of her room for something, but her mind was blank. She couldn't remember what it was, and she couldn't get her brain to turn over and ignite anything that resembled thought.</p><p>"Hey." Her sister-in-law's voice seemed to come out of nowhere. "What are you doing up so late?" Noin laid a hand on Relena's shoulder. The young Minister blinked and the world finally came back into focus.</p><p>"Nervous?"</p><p>She tried to smile. "Yeah. A little, I guess." Relena glanced around the room. She was in the kitchen. 'How did I get here?'</p><p>"Just one more day, huh?"</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>"What's wrong?" Noin pulled a chair out from the kitchen table and sat down. "You're not having second thoughts are you?"</p><p>The Minister's heart thumped against her ribcage. "I guess I am."</p><p>"That's normal." Her sister-in-law gestured for her to sit as well. Relena moved another chair and fell into the seat.</p><p>"Is it?" Her stomach twisted and she caught her hands shaking. "I mean?I've cared about him for so long, I just?"</p><p>"It's perfectly normal." Noin's voice sounded patient, slow ? like every word was being chosen very carefully. "I'd known your brother since we were in the academy together, and still, when it came down to it?" Her sister-in-law reached up and tucked some of Relena's hair behind her ear. "I was sorely tempted to make a run for it."</p><p>"Really?" The Minister glanced up and met Noin's eyes. She wore a soft smile on her lips ? like she was remembering something dear.</p><p>"Yes. It's a scary commitment to make - loving someone for the rest of our lives." She withdrew her hand from where it rested on Relena's shoulder. "But it's healthy to have a little fear. It means you're taking it seriously - not like so many others these days." Noin glanced away. "Listen to me, I sound like an old woman!" She chuckled.</p><p>"Maybe it wouldn't be so scary if?"</p><p>"Things seemed more normal?"</p><p>Relena sighed. "Yeah. But the whole thing has been a little strange from the beginning." She studied her hands. Her fingers hadn't stopped trembling. "One minute, he won't even talk to me, the next, he's proposing. I don't know?"</p><p>"Relena, he wouldn't have kept at it if he didn't care. You know that."</p><p>"I guess so?." Her stomach untied itself and then knotted in a different way.</p><p>"Look at me." Relena dragged her eyes up to focus on her sister-in-law again.</p><p>"You know him. You know he cares about you." Noin grabbed the Minister's hands and held them. "So, he's not always good at putting his emotions into words, and he's a little gruff from time to time."</p><p>Relena glanced away.</p><p>"He can seem insensitive to what others are thinking or feeling - especially when it gets in the way of something he's focused on." She pressed the Minister's hands. Relena looked up. Noin's smile widened.</p><p>"But, at the heart of it, he loves you. Don't doubt that."</p><p>"It would be nice to hear the words, though. Even just the one time." She drew in a deep breath and realized her eyes were warm ? like she was about to cry. "To hear him say 'I love you, Relena, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you' would be nice."</p><p>Noin let go of her sister-in-law's hands. "Well, that would be nice. But I think you'll have to settle for: 'marry me before I go completely insane and start killing any man that comes within 200 feet of you'." She laughed. "It kinda means the same."</p><p>Relena smiled, and she felt the warmth in her eyes recede. "I suppose it does."</p><p>"So, the good news is, I'm taking your brother out of town this weekend so you two can have the house all to yourselves," Relena's sister-in-law said as she stood up from her chair.</p><p>"That's very sweet of you, Noin. Thank you."</p><p>"Well, I also gave Pagan the weekend off, though I've had to put Trowa in charge of bodily removing him." She patted the Minister on the shoulder as she made her way towards the door. "You'll have minimum cooking staff and no maid service for the weekend. The cooks should be here only during lunch and dinner hours." She stopped and turned around at the door.</p><p>"I suppose my one full-time, around-the-clock and very dedicated guard is sufficient protection according to the Preventer schedule?" Relena placed her palms flat against each other. Her hands were terribly interesting?</p><p>"Wufei will be posted on the grounds. He was the only one we figured wouldn't try to interfere with?anything." Noin's voice sounded amused.</p><p>"I see."</p><p>"Are you still planning on leaving Heero here while you're on L4?"</p><p>"I'm?not sure, Noin. I requested he not be sent with me, and I know Une complied and assigned other agents." Her knotted stomach tied itself in several more little knots throughout her abdomen. "I didn't intend to be marrying him before I go?" Relena took a deep breath; something burned in the back of her throat and she had to swallow. "Maybe the time apart would be good. Maybe we should put the wedding off?"</p><p>"Relena, stop it!"</p><p>The Minister's head jerked up and she stared at her sister-in-law. "What?"</p><p>Noin's dark blue eyes flashed in the overhead light. "I know you're not used to crazy flights of fancy or acting on your emotions. At least, you haven't been since you were younger." She crossed her arms and leaned forward, towards Relena. "I've watched you grow?emotionally distant, the same way your brother did once upon a time. You used to be impulsive, you used to be passionate about your beliefs." Her hands dropped to her sides and she stepped closer. "But as you've grown older, you've become logical and rational; you learned to doubt people."</p><p>Relena stared at the top of the kitchen table. "It's less disappointing that way."</p><p>"You either believe in him or you don't. But stop being afraid."</p><p>"It's?it's hard." She traced the lines in the wood grain of the table. "I don't know what I believe."</p><p>"Do you love him?"</p><p>Her heart thumped loudly in her chest. "Yes."</p><p>"Then do what your heart tells you. Be in love with him, and let go of your fear of being hurt."</p><p>"I?I don't know if I can." Tears welled in her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. "It hurts so much?he's hurt me so many times in the past."</p><p>"But, your love doesn't depend on whether he loves you, does it? He's never said as much to you before and yet you didn't stop feeling the way you do, did you?" Noin's voice no longer sounded angry. Instead, it was patient, nurturing. But did her sister-in-law know what she was asking of her?</p><p>Relena swallowed against that burning, aching lump in the back of her throat again. "No. No, I didn't." She gasped for breath. 'I won't cry. I won't cry.'</p><p>"Then love him, Relena. No matter how he feels or doesn't feel for you."</p><p>'But, if he leaves?'</p><p>"I promise everything will turn out ok."</p><hr size=1 width=100% noshade>Trowa had sprouted three heads. Three, funny-looking heads that swam in front of Duo's eyes. He couldn't help but laugh. Three heads, three eyes, and three gravity-defying peaks of hair.</p><p>"So, tell me about your mission." The other Preventer bodyguard placed both elbows on top of the stainless steel table in the?oh hell, where were they again?</p><p>"Ooooooh nooooooo," Duo said with a slow shake of his head. He couldn't shake it too hard in any direction or the room would keep spinning for hours. Or maybe it was days. "I don't think so. You'll tell."</p><p>Trowa's three heads seem to move closer. "I want to help you." Three sets of eyebrows came to points in the midst of three pairs of eyes.</p><p>"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. You schay that. But I'm not fallin for it." He found it really difficult to keep his head upright. It wanted to sag down towards the table. The really comfy-looking table. Duo finally let it.</p><p>"Duo." He heard Trowa's voice, but didn't know where the other Preventer had gone. All the former Deathscythe pilot could see was silver reflecty stuff in front of his eyes.</p><p>"Hm." He tried to lift his head, but it felt like it weighed a thousand pounds on his neck.</p><p>"You were trying to kidnap Relena."</p><p>"Uh-huh." He nodded his head; his cheek slid along the cool tabletop and the reflecty stuff caught the light and shined right in his eyes.</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"Because Heero's a hard ass." He brought his hand up to rest under his cheek. "An' I say that withh all the love in my hhheart."</p><p>"Heero wanted you to kidnap Relena?"</p><p>"Uh-huh." His eyelids didn't seem to like being open any longer. Duo shut them.</p><p>"Why?" Trowa's voice was starting to annoy him. The former Deathscythe pilot just wanted the other Preventer to be quiet so he could sleep?</p><p>"Why what?"</p><p>"Why does Heero want you to kidnap Relena."</p><p>"Ummmm, can I go to schleep now?"</p><p>"In a minute. After you tell me why Heero wanted to kidnap Relena."</p><p>Duo exhaled. He shot up in his chair and scowled at the three Trowas."What are you talkin about? Heero didn't know." The room spun around. And around. "Shhhhh, it's a secret."</p><p>"Ok. I won't tell."<br>
"Good. Cuz when he finds out?I'm dead." He rested his head back on the top of the table. "I'm gonna be dead. He thinks I'm helpin' him."</p><p>"Oh?"</p><p>"Dead dead dead dead dead."</p><p>"I got that." Now, Trowa sounded annoyed.</p><p>"Like way dead." He shut his eyes and prayed the room would settle down. "So incredibly dead even dead people will be more alive than me."</p><p>The sound of skin slapping skin sounded from the direction of the Trowas. "Uh-huh." His chair scraped against the cement floor, and Duo heard one set of footsteps coming his direction.</p><p>"Can I sleep now?"</p><p>"No." Trowa grabbed his shirt collar and hauled the former Deathscythe pilot into a sitting position. Unfortunately, said pilot couldn't keep his head lined up with the rest of his body.</p><p>"Awwww. Fubby dubby." Duo frowned at the ceiling and tried to right himself. "No, thass not right. I meant fuddy dubby. Er somethin' like that." He finally found the three Trowas ? staring down at him with a serious expression. "No wonder Pagan likes you best?"</p><p>"Hm. So, you're not going to tell me? I can keep the secret from Heero."</p><p>"Well?we thought if she was missing?" The room spun out of control. Duo shut his eyes. "?the other fubby dubby would realisssse that, ya know, he's in love with princesssss. Man, what is up with my head?"</p><p>"That sounds like a great plan."</p><p>He opened his eyes and managed to get into a mostly upright position. "Isn't it? It's genius! And all my idea." He nodded his head and watched the world tilt in strange ways. "Woah. Remind me not to do that again. It makes the room go wonky. And stuff."</p><p>"Sure. So, here's the part I need you to help me with." Trowa pushed him into a position leaning back against the chair for support. He and his ghostly twins bent forward until they were all at Duo's eye level. "And you can help me with this, right?"</p><p>"I'll try there buddy boy. Cuz, ya know, me an you, we been th-through a lot together."</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>"And?" The spinning of the room increased speed. Duo shut his eyes to make it stop. He felt gravity take hold of his head, and pull it down to the table. "?you're a good guy?" Nausea swept over him in a terrible wave. "A good friend."</p><p>"So, tell me, friend?"</p><hr size=1 width=100% noshade>Relena gathered the edge of her trench coat in her fist and stared at the door. It was a plain, green door on the second floor, facing the courtyard of the apartment complex. There was no welcome rug, no plants, no advertisements taped to the door. The only thing to designate this door as different from all the others in the complex was the number: 2401.</p><p>She gulped in air and finally willed her hand to knock.</p><p>Her knuckles rapped on the hard panel, which she found was metal underneath the paint ? judging by the sound and the feel against her skin. She waited, and listened for the sound of movement inside the apartment, but it was hard to hear over the whooshing sound of blood speeding through her system.</p><p>'What if he's not here?'</p><p>Relena took a step back from the door. 'Where else would he be, though?'</p><p>She raised her hand and pounded, this time, with the bottom of her fist. The ESUN Minister glanced around ? looking for anyone or anything suspicious ? before settling her eyes back on the door. 'I haven't seen him in days? He did say that he had things to take care of? But. What?'</p><p>Relena stared at the door and willed it to open, but it remained silent and still. She expelled a long breath and finally turned away.</p><p>She hadn't taken two steps when a chain jangled, and the door behind her whipped open. Relena started to turn around when a hand clamped down over her mouth; one strong, lean arm wrapped around her waist and she was lifted off her feet and dragged into the apartment. Her captor slammed the door shut by throwing his back against it. Heero paused for a second before retracting the hand over her mouth. He released her, drew the chain, and locked the door.</p><p>She could see it written on his face ? the questions: why are you here, where are your guards, what are you doing. He opened his mouth and before he could utter a sound, she pressed her lips against his; her arms went up to wrap around his neck. Heero moved his hands up to her shoulders, and attempted to pull out of her embrace. His neck muscles strained against her hold.</p><p>"Relena, wha?"</p><p>She swallowed whatever it was he had to say and kissed him hungrily. This tactic apparently worked because he stopped trying to push her away and chose to, instead, pull her closer. He swept his tongue into her mouth and grabbed her waist with both hands; she tangled her fingers in his hair and drew his head down further so she didn't have to stand quite so much on her toes.</p><p>One of them broke for air. "Relena??"</p><p>"I want to?make love to you."</p><p>She saw him take a breath, and then it was like he stopped breathing. He stared at her in the dark, and she realized, now?. Heero had no shirt on; his gun was loosely tucked into the front waistband of his jeans. His hair seemed to be stuck to his head in long pieces that looked only half dry.</p><p>"Did I wake you?"</p><p>"Are you here or?"</p><p>She drew a line down the center of his chest to his belly button, then shot him a look that she hoped re-iterated the invitation she gave him a few seconds before. "I'm here. But I want to be somewhere else."</p><p>He swallowed and continued to stare.</p><p>She leaned close enough to whisper next to his ear. "Show me your bedroom?" Relena pulled away.</p><p>Heero's fingers came up to toy with a loose piece of her hair. "How did you get here?"</p><p>The way he was staring at her was unnerving. She swallowed and wet her lips. "I drove."</p><p>"Wing?" He tucked the strands of hair behind her ear. She shivered.</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>His eyes narrowed and he retracted his hand. "Where's Pagan?"<br>
"Asleep."</p><p>He nodded slowly. "Where's Trowa?"</p><p>Relena moved closer; she ran the palms of her hand up his forearms towards his shoulders. "I don't have any idea. He disappeared, and I don't know who's supposed to be on duty in his place. I thought I'd heard Duo's voice, but?"</p><p>Heero grabbed her wrist and tugged her down a short hallway; he didn't bother to switch on any lights, or give her the tour. Her fianc? threw open the door, and spun her inside the narrow lamp-lit room with a small twin bed in the middle of the floor. He leaned back on the panel and shut it into place. Heero turned and set the bolt on what had to be a lock he installed after he moved in.</p><p>In the somewhat brighter room, Relena could see his chest heaving, and the wild look in his eye when he gazed at her. Her heart was hammering at breakneck speed, and the way he was staring at her?</p><p>"Tell me again," his voice rasped as he removed the pistol from the waistband of his pants and slid it over onto the top of his dresser. "What you want."</p><p>She felt her knees weaken and all the blood in her body rose to her cheeks. "I want?" Relena swallowed and brought both hands up to cup his face.</p><p>"I want to make love to you, Heero."</p><hr size=1 width=100% noshade>Heero couldn't help but gape at the young woman, his fianc?e, standing in his bedroom. Relena seemed real enough, and none of his dreams had ever been quite so vivid or intense. And, in his dreams, he would have never pictured her in what had to be Zechs's trenchcoat.</p><p>She pulled something large and cube-shaped out of the coat pocket and deposited it on his nightstand. Then, in slow, slow motion, her hands came up to toy with the belt on the jacket. His mouth went dry?</p><p>She tugged the knot out of the fabric strap; the front fell open. Relena wore a silky-looking slip of a nightgown underneath - and, from the looks of it, nothing else. It stretched over her shoulders and pulled tight against her chest. The light blue fabric fell from the bottom of her breasts, over her hips, and stopped abruptly at the line that probably, in the back, just covered her rear.</p><p>"You went out in that?"</p><p>She quickly pulled the trench coat off her shoulders, her eyes never leaving his. She tossed it on his dresser.</p><p>He gulped down some much-needed air. 'She's a dream. A hallucination. If she's not, as soon as anyone discovers she's missing and eventually, that she's here, I'm a dead man.'</p><p>"Heero?." She ran her hands over his chest and then wrapped her arms around his ribcage. Her head came to rest just beneath his shoulder.</p><p>'Dead's not so bad.' In fact, death was looking quite good right then - as long as death involved removing the nightgown and taking Relena to bed.</p><p>"We're going to be married in a little over twenty-four hours. I'm nervous, but I know I want this." Her head came up and her eyes found his. "Heero?"</p><p>His heart was galloping down a one-way track, and beating any of the other horses, he was sure, in the race. Heero pulled her tightly against him and bent forward to bury his face in her neck. "Releeeeenaaa?. "</p><p>"Hm. Heero. Come on. I know we technically have all night, but I've missed you?" Her fingers threaded in his hair.</p><p>'All night. She's mine all night. In nothing but this little nightgown and no one to interfere.' His heart took a happy little skip, and he thought he might just die right there. But first things first - nightgown off.</p><p>Her lips rained kisses over his neck and shoulders; as he lifted his head, her mouth found his throat, then his collar bone. She kissed her way down his sternum and her fingers ran the forward assault on the button of his jeans. A low growl sounded in the room, and Relena's head snapped up to look at him - as if he was the one who uttered it.</p><p>"Is something?wrong?"</p><p>Oh, he had been the one making the sound.</p><p>She gasped and took a half step back. "Heero?" Relena retreated another step - too bad she was heading in the direction of his bed.</p><p>He advanced. She moved back. He couldn't help but grin. "Heero? Is?Are you all right? If?if I disturbed you or--"</p><p>Heero struck - his right hand grabbed her around the waist and hauled her against him, the weight of her body supported by his arms, he looked her straight in the eye. "Say it again, Relena."</p><p>"Wh-what?"</p><p>"Why did you come here."</p><p>She stared at him for a second, before she glanced away. "Because I?I want to m-make love to y?"</p><p>He surged forward and seized her lips in a rough kiss. Her hands came up to cup his cheeks, then slid down to his shoulders. Heero moved to the bed, bent forward, and dropped her onto the mattress. She bounced. And so did?other parts of her anatomy that he really liked watching bounce.</p><p>"I-I thought? I was afraid for a moment you didn't want?" Heero pulled her up into a sitting position and all but ripped the nightgown off her back.</p><p>"Heero!"</p><p>He dove forward, and tackled her onto the bed.</p><p>"Oof!" She wriggled beneath him as he settled over her, his body pressing hers into the mattress; he propped his head up on his right arm and let his left hand cup her breast. She gazed at him, light reflected off her eyes from the nearby lamp he had turned on when he heard her at the door. He felt his lips twitch into another smile and then ducked his head to pay his full attention to the soft, bare skin beneath him.</p><p>Heero kissed and sucked a path down her chest to her abdomen. He heard her sigh and she seemed to sink a half-inch further into his bed. He looked up, and she wore the most beautiful smile on her face. Her eyes slid closed; she moved her hands to tangle her fingers in his hair.</p><p>"Relena?"</p><p>"Hm?" She lifted her eyelids in a lazy fashion; she peered at him through half-open eyes.</p><p>"Are?you sure?" He could barely force the words out of his mouth. If he had to, he could still stop and spend the night in the icy cold shower, but it wasn't like the rest of him had to be happy about that possibility.</p><p>She lifted the top half of her body off the mattress and propped herself into a semi-sitting position with her elbows. "Heero. I know I've been?afraid, of so many things. But tonight?I know. Maybe tomorrow I won't be as sure or maybe tonight I'm being foolish, but right now?I trust you, and I believe in us. For the rest of our lives."</p><p>He sighed. "Only a politician would give her fianc? a speech before sex."</p><p>"I guess as long as I?m not trying to give a speech during sex." She leaned far enough forward to drop a light kiss on his lips. He grinned.</p><p>"Hm. If you can give a speech during sex," he said while moving forward, his body position forcing her back into a lying position on his bed. "It mustn't be very good?."</p><p>"The speech or the sex?"</p><p>He shot her a dark look and she giggled.</p><p>"I love you." Her voice changed from something light and teasing to a whisper. Tears gathered in her eyes as she stroked her fingers through the hair on the back of his neck. She lifted her head off the pillow and pressed her lips to his, coaxing his mouth into a tender kiss. He lay against her, not much separating their bodies at this point. The urgency from earlier was replaced with something warm and steady, like ocean waves during a summer storm. The kiss broke, and something inside him did, too.</p><p>"I love you," she whispered a second time and pulled his neck down to kiss him again. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and then tightened as if to bring him even closer. Every inch of her body was pressed against him, and still, there remained this desire?this feeling that he wasn't close enough. They paused again, and this time her breath, when she spoke, nibbled at his ear.</p><p>"I love you?"</p><p>He gently untangled himself long enough to remove his boxers and her panties; then slid back under the covers and into her embrace.</p><hr size=1 width=100% noshade>Heero sat on top of his dresser - across the room, knees drawn up - and stared at the blanketed lump in his bed. The one with golden hair spilling out over his pillow and emitting a slight snore every time she breathed. 'Fianc?e. Wife. Relena.' He shook his head and slouched forward to rest his forehead on his arms.</p><p>'That was nothing like the last time.' His traitorous conscience had to remind him. His only 'experience' had been that blond, when he was mostly drunk - and she had done tricks that he had only seen in? Ahem. 'Not material evidence.' But tonight, with Relena?</p><p><i>He heard a sharp intake of breath and glanced up; her eyelids were clamped shut, and her brow was drawn into a deep frown. </i></p><p><i>Heero froze. "Did I do something wrong?"</i></p><p><i>She wriggled beneath him, and it sent shockwaves through his body. He bit back a groan.</i></p><p><i>"I'm okay. It-it hurts a little, but I'm okay."</i></p><p>He had felt so comfortable, lying there in her embrace - he'd had to get up and move away. It wasn't right, being that comfortable, hearing those words from her lips:</p><p><i>"I love you?" </i></p><p>Yes, she had said that to him many times before. But somehow, tonight, they meant something different. Something not quite tangible, yet he could catch a glimpse of it from time to time - like a ghost of an idea that skirted the edge of his consciousness and eluded his grasp.</p><p><i>She trembled beneath him, her eyes fixed on his as they moved together. Relena tilted her chin up and every muscle in her body tightened. A soft moan escaped her lips and it was like he could feel that, too. He was inside her, and she was all around him - all he could see and feel and smell?</i></p><p><i>"Heero?"</i></p><p>"Whatever I did was worth it. The hell I endured to?deserve this, to know you, to be with you, Relena? It was worth it. I know, now, that it was."</p><p><i>It was excruciating, and he didn't know how much more he could take. Her hips rose off the mattress, taking him deeper inside, and he knew it was only seconds before this battle was over. The wave broke over his body and he crashed forward; his arms weakened and gave out. He bit at the flesh of her collarbone as he heaved for air and fought to still his quaking muscles. Another breaker shattered what was left of his body and he let go.</i></p><p><i>Relena caught him in her arms, circling his shoulders, and holding him close while he came.</i></p><p><i>"I love you?"</i></p><p>What did he really know about love? Obviously, not enough that he could understand how she could share so much of herself so fearlessly - especially with someone like him.</p><p>And not even ask for the words in return.</p><p>He found himself wanting to say them to her; wishing for once that he could have been a regular person, a normal man who knew something about the emotion, and could feel it for another.</p><p>Heero sat up again and spoke to her sleeping form. "I know it's not enough, Relena, but it's all I can do. Maybe?someday, the lesson you've been trying to teach the world - maybe I'll understand it; maybe I'll believe it and feel it for you in return."</p><p><i>"How do you feel?" She whispered; her arms were still holding him, her lips caressed his forehead when she spoke.</i></p><p><i>"Hn."</i></p><p><i>Relena giggled, and ran her fingers through his sweaty hair. "Does that mean 'better'?"</i></p><p><i>"Hn."</i></p><p><i>"I'm happy, Heero. Just to be with you like this. I feel?closer to you. Do you feel that way?"</i></p><p>He let himself down from the top of the dresser and crossed the few feet to kneel down at her bedside. "I do understand, now, that my?ability to protect you is insufficient compared to what you feel for me." He smoothed pieces of blond hair out from in front of her eyes. Heero continued to talk in a whisper.</p><p>"I know that, and still?I'm asking you?" His head dropped onto the pillow next to hers, his body still kneeling at her bedside.</p><p>"Relena?" Her breathing remained deep and even.</p><p>"Believe in me."</p>

[perfectpeach]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! SO SWEET AND FUNNY! seriously i was dying from lughter by the time I had read this. Have no idea what codine is but it made it very funny^^

[Beer-monster]

Awww and I mean that in a macho way of course but still...awww

Sweet and sensitive yet funny...nice one Rose.


So....

*tap tap tap*

Where's the rest?

[Morrighan]

*kicks Beer* Ignore his last comment, Rose.

So glad to finally see the final version of this out! I can't emphasize enough how well done and in character this is!

And Duo...just got himself into a whole lot of trouble. Good thing the fact that Heero and Relena are getting married is only known by a few people.

Can't wait to see more!

[Beer-monster]

*grips shin and hobbles*

What?

I was being nice...it was just a question.

*grumbles*women!*grumbles*

[Gin Ryo no Nari]

ROSE!!!
I know you posted a chapter posting schedule.
But PLEEEEEEEEASE can we have the chapter sooner! Pretty pretty please!
It was just so good. and to take a line from a DD Full Metal Panic story (at least I'm pretty sure it was DD's), Heero and Relena "Did the deed"

Chocolate covered Heero's for everyone!
^_^
Hmmmmm now there's an idea...... probably already been done to death though.

[LilTrix]

Rose,
Great chapter!
I liked how Heero was portrayed at the end. He was very sweet and touching.
And Duo! I wanted to knock his head off, but he was just so hilarious all drugged up and stuff.
Well, till next chapter...

[Wingnut]

Drunken Duo. Always funny. 3 headed Trowa in Relena's nightgown. Definately a Twilight Zone kind of experence if Duo were not being interogated at the time.
And Haoey! Finally. The way it happened too was very nice. Heero is slowly but surely learning what it means to be in love with someone. He can't yet say those 3 words, but the repeat of the episode 48 scene works just as well.

[saeki54]

YAHOO! Good one Rose! Ya really outdid yourself in this one!
Can I ask you a question?
...
When will you post the nex installment?

(hehehehe... )

[rei yuy]

marvellous fiinish it already!!!!!!!!!!1 i love your writting but cant you post more sooner?[

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