Pure Intentions (5xR, 1xR, PG-13 for now)

[Aeris_Eithne]

Pure Intentions

After the events of Endless Waltz, Wufei is reluctant to ever face Heero again... Especially when Heero learns about Wufei's feelings for Relena. Will the perfect soldier finally crack? Or will he let the dragon steal away his princess?

Chapter One: The Lovelorn Dragon

Chang Wufei draped his black Preventer jacket over the back of his chair and sighed. ?Well, Sally,? he muttered to himself, ?another day, another dollar.? The muscles in his back twitched, and he reached a hand back to massage his neck. He surveyed the dark room and flipped on his desk light. Were it not for his presence, the Preventer offices onboard the group?s ship, the Aventinus, would be abandoned. That suited Wufei fine; he liked working late, and often made a habit of it. It kept his mind off of other things, namely the events before and during the Eve Wars that still haunted him.

A year after the wars? bloody conclusion, the fragile peace he and the other Gundam pilots had worked tirelessly to attain had been threatened by Mariemaia?s appearance in the political arena. Wufei had bought into the lies of Dekim Barton to give soldiers like him a purpose in life, and wound up facing Heero Yuy, saviour of earth, on the battlefield. It was not an incident Wufei liked to remember.

He hadn?t seen Heero since the humiliating affront months ago, nor did he want to. Even the thought of it was more than he could stand. Wufei slammed a fist on his desk. That Yuy, he thought. He saved the world again. People are gonna keep falling all over themselves around him. Especially...

He flicked on his computer screen to reveal an image of Relena Darlian, Vice Foreign Minister of the Earth Sphere United Nation, smiling as she gave one of her many speeches on peace.

?Her.

A sharp rap on the door interrupted his thoughts. ?Wufei?? he heard Sally call. ?Are you in there??

?Yeah,? he answered half-heartedly. He heard the door creak open, but didn?t bother to look up.

?Staying after hours again, I see,? she teased, walking toward his desk.

?There are no after hours for Preventers,? Wufei retorted more sharply than he meant to. ?We work whenever we?re needed.?

?I realize that,? Sally answered more softly, clucking her tongue. ?But your team did a great job uncovering all that data today, so I think you deserve a rest. Go on, get out of here; you?ve more than earned it.?

Wufei felt his shoulders sag as he continued to stare blankly at the screen in front of him. The image?s pixels seemed to blend together into one large, pink blob. His head started to droop.

?Really, Wufei, you should go get some sleep.? He felt Sally?s hand on his shoulder and bolted up.

?I?m fine,? he snapped. Without another word, he switched off the computer monitor and stalked out of the room. Sally stayed behind, shaking her head.

?That guy?s been in this funk for weeks,? she murmured. ?I wonder what?s set him off now??

Wufei could hear the concern in her voice, but kept walking to his quarters. He wasn?t fine, and he knew it; he was never fine. He could ignore his memories, his emotions, when he was in the middle of an assignment; but afterward, when he was alone, he couldn?t face the silence. Emptiness ate at him, creating a void in his being.

?Agh!? He cried, once again slamming a fist into an inanimate object. ?There?s gotta be something worth fighting for!?

And, once again, as if on cue, he heard another knock on his door.

?Wufei,? Sally was trying again. ?I know you really don?t want to talk right now, but I have something important to tell you.?

He sighed, but forced himself to open the door. He had no reason to be angry with Sally, anyway?none of this was her fault. She stood in the open doorway, light brown hair pulled back, smiling at him.

?What is it?? He asked in as personable a tone as he could manage.

?Vice Foreign Minister Darlian has arranged for us to receive a government grant from ESUN. She?s coming here personally to see our operations up close. I thought you should know that I?ve invited her to spend a few days with us on the ship. She should be here later tonight.?

Despite his efforts to conceal his surprise, Wufei?s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. ?Relena Darlian? Are you serious??

Sally cracked a tiny smile. ?Am I detecting a more than professional interest in her? Or is this purely political?? She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for his reply.

?What?? Wufei?s dark eyes widened. ?You know I have no interest in politics, Sally. And as for any other kinds of interest?? He smirked. ?I barely know the girl. So I really don?t know what you?re getting at here.?

Sally rolled her eyes. ?I?m more astute than you think, Wufei. And I?m a woman. We may be the ?weaker? sex, but we definitely have instincts for this kind of thing.?

?Huh?? Wufei shook his head. ?I still don?t know what you?re talking about? and I don?t think I want to, either. Just let me know when Miss Darlian arrives and I?ll do my best to accommodate her? all right?? He looked pointedly at Sally. She met his stern gaze with an unwavering one of her own, as if waiting for him to admit something. Finally, she relented with a sigh.

?All right, all right. You can keep living in denial all you want. But I bet that, when Relena gets here, you won?t just do your best to accommodate her?you?ll trip over yourself trying to.? She leveled Wufei with a mischievous grin.

Wufei all but slammed his door on her. ?We?ll see about that. I?m telling you, I have nothing but pure intentions. Now just drop it, okay?? Before Sally could answer, he shut his door. It was all Sally could do not to laugh out loud. She walked away biting her lip, one hand clutched over her stomach. She didn?t even make it down the hall before she burst into giggles.

Wufei could hear her from his room, and anger welled up inside of him again. Or was it anger? He was full of emotions, but he couldn?t place them. All he knew was that Sally?s merciless teasing about Relena was driving him crazy. She was implying that he had a crush on her; a silly, teenage crush. What does Sally know about anything? He thought incredulously. His eyes narrowed. Just because she?s older and a former Alliance officer doesn?t give her the right to be so condescending. I fought my battles hard, too, even harder than she did. So why does she still treat me like I?m a child?

His thoughts turned to Relena. ?And what about her?? he mused aloud. ?Wonder what she thinks of me? after I turned on her ?hero? and all.?

A few short hours later, Wufei would find out. After a dinner meeting with some colony representatives, Relena arrived on the Aventinus.

?Wow,? she breathed as she surveyed the state-of-the-art vessel. ?This is the first time I?ve seen your new ship. It must aid you well on your missions.?

?Having a ship definitely helps,? Sally said with a small chuckle. ?And with this grant of yours, we?ll be able to hire more hands, maybe even start working on another ship.?

Relena beamed at her. ?I?m so glad I could help.? She gestured to the ship with an outstretched arm. ?So, where did you get this one from??

Sally surprised her by laughing. ?That?s a funny story, actually. Duo collected discarded mobile suit armor from his scrap yard. Quatre donated funds so we could buy more parts, and then Duo, Trowa, and Heero all helped build it.?

Relena?s dark lashes fluttered. ?Heero??

Sally lowered her eyes. Of course, she?s still stuck on him, she thought. Poor Wufei.

?That?s right,? she answered Relena. ?He?s pitched in with a few Preventer assignments here and there; other than that, I haven?t seen him much. Duo says he?s been hanging around with him on L2 quite a bit. I think they?ve been going to school together."

Relena smiled warmly. ?That?s so good to hear.?

?Yeah,? Sally continued. ?I hear he?s? different now.?

One of Relena?s eyebrows crept upward. ?Who?Duo, or Heero??

?Heero, of course. Duo?s the same happy-go-lucky guy as ever. But Heero?? Sally?s eyes darted across the room. She leaned toward Relena and whispered conspiratorially. ?Duo says he? whistles.?

Relena gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. ?No?? She giggled. ?That can?t be true. I mean, Heero?s capable of doing amazing things, but? whistling?? She shook her head firmly. ?I just can?t see it. That?s not the Heero I know.?

Sally threw her head back and laughed. ?It?s not the Heero anyone knows. Then again, who really knows him? He?s always been an enigma.?

Relena sighed. ?You?re right. I guess, deep down, he really is a kindhearted person? who likes to whistle.? She placed a hand over her face and laughed again. ?Oh, I can?t believe it! I?m going to have to investigate this myself to find out if it?s true. Do you think Wufei would know anything about it??

Abruptly, Sally stopped laughing. ?Wufei? hasn?t seen Heero since the Mariemaia incident.?

?Oh?? Understanding dawned on Relena, and she nodded. ?I suppose that makes sense. I?d better not pry, then.?

?Well, he seems anxious to see you, so maybe he?s gotten past the whole Heero thing.?

?What? Wufei?s? anxious to see me?? Relena?s wide-eyed stare showed her disbelief. ?I?ve always thought that he can?t stand me? I mean, he has good reason to dislike me; I?m part of the reason former soldiers like him struggle to find meaning in their lives.?

Sally let out a low whistle. ?Wow. You really are on top of things, aren?t you? You seem to understand the perspectives of so many different people affected by the war and resulting peace.?

Relena flashed another smile at her. ?That?s very kind, Sally, but it?s part of my job description to try to understand people. Besides, the next time I see Heero?? Her eyes held a far away expression. ?I want to let him know that I?m doing my best for him.?

Sally winced. She really has it bad for that guy, doesn?t she? I wonder how Wufei will take it?

[0mikr0n]

Interesting... very interesting.

Not only do you keep them in perfect characterization in the wake of Endless Waltz... you nail them perfectly. I can totally imagine this in an episode.

And the thing about Heero whistling, I myself laughed. I have never imagined him to whistle... ever. In anything. Any fics I've read, any episodes I've watched recently... heh, that's hilarious.

I like this story, for sure. It still shows that Relena likes Heero, but Wufei has to find a way around that. I can see this walking right into conflict, but how long until then we can only guess. Good job!

[Aeris_Eithne]

Awww, thank you for reviewing! I was beginning to think people hated the 5xR pairing and refused to give this story a chance.

Not only do you keep them in perfect characterization in the wake of Endless Waltz... you nail them perfectly. I can totally imagine this in an episode.

That, right there, is probably one of the biggest compliments my writing has ever received. I could hug you! lol

And the thing about Heero whistling, I myself laughed. I have never imagined him to whistle... ever. In anything.

I like to think that the events of the war (not to mention meeting Relena) changed Heero a lot... either that, or brought him back to the person he once was. But as for the whistling... Well, it's not quite what you think (or what I've led you to think!). He's not that happy, especially now that Wufei is making a move on "his girl."

I can see this walking right into conflict

Brace yourself!

[CrazyQuatre04]

I like a story about Wufei and Relena... It's something different, for once. Some people seem to think Wufei's the last pilot that Relena would go for, but I like writers who aren't afraid to experiment. Keep up the good work.

[so_so_sad]

Relena is so intelligent! I love how you write her, I can't wait to get to the next chapter!!! :o