#23. Fireflies

Not that she would admit it, but there was a time Relena had been opposed to vacations at the cabin. It was so far away form everything. A mere trip to the store would be an almost 2 hour time sink. The first time they spent a long weekend out here it felt like torture with all the missed calls, emergency paperwork, people who wanted to stop by for 1 quick thing...

It took her about 3 hours back at work to realize she had judged too quickly.

The next time a long weekend was coming, she asked Heero about going back to the cabin, he kindly obliged, possibly smirking in the process.  Now it was practically routine, any time they could get out for a couple days they would.

There were other benefits of course. Not the least of which was the chance to enjoy the stars that city lights blurred out. On a clear night like this Relena felt like she could just lay with Heero on this hammack and enjoy them for hours.

There were more things the city life just couldn't provide, a four year old was running around trying to catch the flashing bugs (only to let them go) and giggling all the way.  This had her pondering, "How come we don't have fireflies back in the city?"

"Mosquito control. They use a pesticide in the city that decreases the firefly population as well. Since I can do what I want out here, I use a different compound that in my opinon upsets the ecology less."

There was a quiet pause, one she knew he wouldn't break. His words were always measured so to him all facts had been stated and there was nothing more to say. Still she was curious and wanted to know more. "So why can't we change it in the city?"

"Why can't we get stop lights to be green if you are going the speed limit instead of turning red right before you get there?"

She considered the question. As a high level member of government used to dealing with all sorts of policy making there was only one thing she could conclude. "You're right, and you better not be smirking." She waved off his attempted protest. She was more interested in the four year old giggling as another firefly was only just out of reach. Sometimes it was worth it all just to enjoy some good moments.