Chapter 1

Relena sighs and looks at her clock on the bed’s headboard. “It’s almost three in the morning and I still can’t sleep…” She groans lightly and puts her left arm over her eyes before sighing again. For the past few nights, she had been getting very little sleep and was unsure of the reason for it. The blonde haired young woman closes her eyes and tries to find some rest before she had to get up in four hours.

The alarm goes off and Relena lightly jolts, having fallen asleep some time after three. She groans and turns off the alarm before getting up off the bed and heading to the bathroom. The bathroom door closes behind her and she starts the shower to warm up the water. A glance into the mirror makes her smile wryly. “Good morning Relena, you look like a mess…” She looks away and removes her white pajamas before stepping into the shower.

The hot water falls onto her body, the steam rising to her nose, invigorating her sleep fogged mind. She breathes in the vapor and begins cleaning herself, letting the water and heat wake her up. When she finishes, she steps out of the shower and dries herself with a towel. She wraps the towel around herself and she picks up her pajamas, going back into the bedroom. The pajamas are placed in a dresser, then Relena goes to the closet and pulls out a thin white robe.

She removes the towel and puts the robe on, tying the sash around her waist and wrapping her hair within the towel. Walking to the pair of fuzzy blue slippers, Relena goes over what she had to get done today. “I need to go over the budgeting plan for the terra formation of Mars with the finance council at nine. Most of the members agree, but the others will do their best to block the plan. If I get out of the meeting in time, I promised to have lunch with Quatre. Then there’s the meeting with the President, wanting to know how the trip to colony X12333 in the L-2 area went.”

By this point in time, she gets to the kitchen and smiles, seeing Pagan all ready there. “Good morning Miss Relena.” “Good morning Pagan.” She sits down at the table, seeing a bowl of oatmeal and some fruit there. “I assumed you were going to be up early today, with your meeting later on this morning, so I made you some breakfast.” Relena smiles at Pagan, thankful to have him here. “Thank you, I appreciate it.” He nods respectfully and sits across from her.

“I also wanted to tell you something.” Relena looks up at Pagan. “What is it Pagan?” Pagan’s brow furrows very slightly. “For the past years, there’s been a certain young man trying to contact you.” Relena looks curiously at him. “Who is it?” “He says he had attended school with you at the Saint Gabriel Institute until it was attacked and you left.” Relena looks curiously at Pagan. “Do you at least have a name for him?”

“He said his name was-” “Vincent Semist.” A male voice interrupts Pagan, saying the name instead. Relena and Pagan look towards the doorway to the living room. A young man enters, his dark brown hair clumped together into a few locks that bend downwards towards his blue eyes. Relena’s eyes widen and she half rises, recognizing the man in faded blue jean pants with a green wife beater tucked into it, covered by a blue unbuttoned shirt. “Heero!”

Heero leans his shoulder against the doorway, bowing his head with his eyes closed. “Vincent had been trying to reach you shortly after the Saint Gabriel attack. Interestingly, he had been blocked by an elderly man that refused to pass along any message.” Relena looks to Pagan, who furrows his forehead in annoyance. “I did what I felt was best for Miss Relena. And besides, it’s not like I’m the one that sneaks into her house early in the morning.” Heero smiles slightly. “I also do what is needed for Relena.” Heero opens his eyes and looks at Relena, who stares back at him. “Vincent had been trying much harder, as of late, to contact you. I think it won’t be too long before he ends up dropping by here.”

Relena gives Heero a curious look. “Why are you here, Heero?” Heero turns to lean on the doorway with his back, his arms folded across his chest and head bowed. “I’m protecting you, as I’ve been doing.” Pagan remains silent, but he wonders about Heero’s motives. “Heero, do you think I’m in danger?” Heero lightly shrugs. “His connections don’t mark him as dangerous, but there’s something about him I don’t trust.” Heero pushes off the doorway and looks over his shoulder at her. “Just be careful if he shows up.”

He starts to walk off when Relena stands up completely. “Heero.” Heero stops and turns to look at her. “Won’t you be protecting me though?” Heero nods. “Yes, but I won’t drop in uninvited again.” He walks into the living room, leaving Relena alone with Pagan. “I know he’s trustworthy, Miss Relena, but I don’t think we should put our faith in him.” Relena smiles slightly. “You said the same thing about Dorothy, and she has proven to be a good friend. There’s no reason for us to doubt Heero, I’ve trusted him with my life many times before.”

Pagan bows. “As you wish Miss Relena.” He goes into the living room to make sure the door was locked after Heero left. Relena sits back down and begins her breakfast. While she eats, her thoughts wander to Heero and his sudden appearance… as well as who Vincent might be. She breathes in and tries to clear her mind of the two, she had to mentally prepare for the speech and debate ahead of her. Which meant first finishing breakfast then getting dressed.

Chapter 2

The waiter delivers the two waters and lightly bows before leaving the table. “Sounds like you had a lot of resistance to the project.” Relena nods lightly and rests her head in her right hand. “I was sure there was going to be a few that didn’t want to pursue the terra formation, but I didn’t think their were that many against it.”

Quatre smiles and sips his water. “They feel that more attention should be focused on stabilizing all the space colonies and the areas still impoverished. I can’t really blame them.” Relena chuckles and sarcastically says, “Thanks Quatre.” Quatre blinks before chuckling as well. “I’m sorry, I was just thinking of their view of things.” Relena smiles at him. “I know, it’s fine.”

The two continue talking as the waiter returns with their food. “Enjoy.” The waiter says before leaving. “Relena, besides the meeting, how have you been?” Relena finishes the piece of lettuce in her mouth before speaking. “I’ve been good. A lot of moving around between the colonies and Earth, but I’ve gotten used to it.” Quatre nods and smiles. “That’s good. I wish I could have time to sit down and enjoy a chat with the other guys. We haven’t really seen each other since the Mariemaia conflict a year and three months ago.” Relena looks at him. “You hadn’t ran into any of them?” Quatre shakes his head. “No, I’ve been busy with the business.”

He takes a bite out of his salad and finishes before asking, “Have you?” Relena looks at him. “Until earlier today, no, I hadn’t seen them.” Quatre looks curiously at her. “What happened earlier today?” Relena sips at her water and tries not to be embarrassed. When she regains her composure, she tells him about Heero dropping in on her. “Wow, it seems like he has been watching over you.” Relena nods and continues eating her salad.

The rest of the lunch was filled with more catching up. Quatre stands up and looks at Relena, both of them having finished their meal. “Well, it won’t be all that long before it’s your birthday. Do you have any plans?” Relena blinks before answering. “No, I probably will be off visiting a colony again.” Quatre motions towards the exit, and the two head towards the front double doors of the restaurant. “You should take it off. I’m sure you could use a break from your busy life.” Relena opens her mouth to say something but smiles instead, knowing he was right. “All right, I’ll make sure to take it off.” Quatre smiles. “Great, if you want, I can go ahead and make arrangements for you.”

Relena gives him a curious look. “Just what do you planned?” Quatre smiles bigger and starts to laugh nervously. “Oh, it’s nothing, don’t worry. I promise you’ll enjoy it though.” Relena nods, though not completely convinced. “I don’t know just what you’re scheming, Mr. Winner, but go ahead with it.” Quatre sighs and nods. “All right. You won’t be disappointed Miss Relena.” She smiles at him. “Quatre, please, just call me Relena.” Quatre pauses for a second then nods. “Okay, Relena.”

The pair walk out of the restaurant and down the steps. Pagan opens the door for her and she enters the pink limo. “I’ll see you then Quatre.” The Arabian nods. “Yes, and take care.” Pagan closes the door and walks to the driver’s seat. Quatre stays standing there, watching as the limo takes Relena to the President residence. He thinks, “Less than a week from now. I had better start getting things ready for her.” He smiles brightly and walks to the car that pulls up for him. Abdul steps out and holds the door open for Quatre. “I take it the lunch went well Master Quatre?” Quatre nods. “Yes, it went very well.” Abdul smirks. “Great, then maybe there’ll finally be a misses in your life.”

Quatre waves his hands at Abdul. “No, no… it wasn’t anything like that.” Abdul laughs, the sun reflecting off his sunglasses. “I was only half kidding Master. Though you really should start looking for a wife.” Quatre smiles lightly. “I know, I know.” The blonde youth enters the car and Abdul closes the door. The older man goes to the driver’s seat of the black sedan and drives him back to the airport where the rest of the Corp was awaiting the return to the Middle East. Quatre looks at the city, admiring the European architecture. “I’ll be back soon, with a pleasant surprise for Relena.”

A patron of the restaurant in a black tuxedo with long, almost white hair, leaves the building and walks towards the southern part of Brussels. He enters a phone booth and inserts coins before dialing a number. “I need to talk to young Mr. Semist, I have some information he will find very interesting.” The man smiles, his blue eyes twinkling in anticipation. “It has to do with someone who’s birthday is coming up.”

Chapter 3

“Relena’s birthday.” Duo looks over at the young woman accompanying him in the small two passenger shuttle to Earth from the L2 sector, Hilde. “You know, it marks the twenty-three years to the day that the original Heero Yuy was killed.” Duo blinks. “How did you know that Hilde?” The brunette smirks at her braided boyfriend. “It’s history, and a very important day in the life of the colonies. I’m surprised you didn’t know that Duo.” Duo stretches out and waves his hand nonchalantly. “I never bothered to learn the details of history. To me, it was just a repetition of tragic events after another. So why bother learning about something that has been done multiple times before?”

Hilde thinks about his words. She shrugs lightly and leans back into her seat. “You might think that, but certain days are important to remember.” Duo nods lightly. “Yup, but I think the most important day so far is November 6.” Hilde smiles. “It’s good you’ve remembered the anniversary of our first date, but it only counts on the day.” Duo chuckles at that and looks at the radar again, seeing nothing along the route. “Are you checking for something?” “Well, yeah. Seeing if there’s more debris in this area that we can inform the rest about.” Hilde closes her eyes and crosses her arms, though amused. “Always looking out for possible investments.” Duo beams at that. “Of course, not like there’s a lot of people that would do our job.”

He pilots the shuttle into the atmosphere, driving the vehicle closer to the ground kilometer by kilometer. The bottom of the craft glows red from the heat of entry, the metal changing from the cold of outer space to something humans find acceptable. The shuttle makes its way to the Brussels International Spaceport. “I don’t know why they continue to say ‘International’ when there’s only one nation on the Earth now. It makes no sense whatsoever.” Hilde nods and points to the arriving area of the spaceport. “It seems rather busy.” Duo nods and wonders about that. “Shuttle T1654, proceed to land via the second entry runway.” Hilde activates the speaker. “This is shuttle T1654, we acknowledge.”

The shuttle touches down safely and the shuttle comes to a stop, guided by a worker with orange batons. He directs them to park it alongside other shuttles. After shutting down the engines, the two exit the craft and are met by a large number of people. “Well, looks like we’re rather famous here, eh Hilde?” She smirks and the two head to a familiar blonde haired youth at the center of the crowd. “I’m glad you guys could come.” “Like we would miss her birthday. Besides, it seemed like as good an excuse as any to take a break.” Quatre smiles and waves to a waiting limo. “The others are inside, you’re the last ones.” Duo smiles. “Nothing like having friends who’ll wait for you.” Quatre laughs and the three enter the limo, seeing Trowa, Catherine, Dorothy, Wu Fei, and Sally.

Duo notices the lack of a few people. “Where’s Heero and Noin?” The trio take their seats and the Maguanac Corp outside go into their vehicles to escort the limo to Relena’s place. “Heero will meet us there. At least that’s what I’m assuming. I wasn’t able to contact him, but I have no doubts that he found out. As for Miss Noin, I don’t know. I sent her a message about the party, but she didn’t send a reply.” The convoy leaves the spaceport and heads to the outskirts of Brussels where Relena stayed when she was on Earth.

During the ride there, the people in the limo catch up on things that had been going on with their lives since they had last been together. The ride seemed to go by very quickly for all those within it, though nearly an hour had passed since they started out. The convoy enters the gated entrance to Relena’s house. It was a white two story building that seemed modest enough on the outside, aside from the large number of bushes and shrubs and a garden on one side.

“This place looks real nice.” Duo comments after he gets out of the limo parked at the front door. He is pushed by Hilde from blocking the door. “Some of us would like to get out and not have to stare at your backside.” Duo turns around and grins widely. The front door opens and Lucrezia Noin smiles at the exiting group. “I’m glad you all came. Relena will be pleased to see all of you.” Duo whispers to Hilde, “But not as pleased if someone we know shows up.” Hilde steps on his foot and ignores Duo’s yelp. Noin smiles, having heard his comment. “I’m sure she would be, but do come in.”

The gang enters into Relena’s living room and look around at all the lavish decorations. Next to a table is a pile of wrapped gifts in varying shapes and sizes. Noin clears her throat before explaining. “I received all the gifts you sent Quatre and set them up with the rest of the decorations. Relena won’t be here for about an hour, so go ahead and get comfortable.” She eyes Duo. “And try not to eat everything.” Duo acts hurt before starting to snack on some cookies. Wu Fei places a hand on Hilde’s shoulder. “The only good thing about him eating is we won’t have to hear him.” Hilde laughs and goes to the corner of the living room where the other females were gathering and talking together. The gundam pilots look at each other for a little bit before joining Duo in snacking.

Relena walks into the living room and finds her friends all together, talking and laughing. They don’t notice her entrance, so she just sits down at the long table where the snacks were. She smiles, glad to see so many people she had known together and enjoying being around each other. “You should join them.” Relena jumps and turns to see Heero behind her. “Heero…” He opens his eyes and looks at her. “You should enjoy your birthday, it only comes once a year.” Relena stares at him for a few seconds before nodding and getting up, walking with him to the others.

“Hey, if it isn’t the birthday girl!” Everyone turns and smiles at the sight of the former Princess. The females get up and give her a hug, the guys nod and smile at her, everyone of them wishing her a happy birthday. “Well, there’s no need to wish for it, I’m quite happy now.” The group continues socializing but stop when they see Pagan entering from the kitchen with a white cake. On top are eighteen lit candles, burning brightly even in the middle of the day. The congregation migrates to the long table, with Relena sitting in front of the candles. “Blow them out Relena.” She smiles at Dorothy. “Good, I didn’t miss the main event this time.” Everyone turns to look at the source of the voice, seeing a blonde haired man with a smile on his rather grim face holding a bouquet of flowers.

“You ran off after Heero the last time, and I’m glad that I’ll finally see it.” Quatre looks at the stranger. “Who are you?” “His name is Vincent Semist.” The boys look at Heero. “You know him?” Heero looks at Vincent, his eyes hardening at seeing him here. “Somewhat. We fenced once, and he thought it was rude of me to rip up Relena’s invitation to her birthday party.” Vincent nods. “Yes, and it was very ungentlemanly of you.” He steps forward and places the bouquet on the table, looking at Relena. “Happy birthday Relena.” She forces a smile to her lips. “Thank you.” “Well, go ahead and blow them out all ready.” Relena nods and breathes in, blowing out the candles. Vincent’s smile broadens. “I hope you get your wish.” He then turns and leaves the house, not talking or even looking at anyone else.

“He’s a strange one.” Cathy says, which everyone there agreed with. “Well, no reason to let him dampen our fun, now is there? C’mon, let’s cut the cake all ready.” Duo grins and rubs his hands together. Relena chuckles. “Okay, just be patient Duo.” Heero closes his eyes, his arms folding across his chest, thinking to himself.

Chapter 4

“Ah… that was a great birthday party, Relena.” Relena smiles at Duo. “Thank you, I’m really glad all of you could come.” Those that came in the limo exit the house into the darkening night. “Well, why don’t we go and spend some time together; maybe see a movie or something?” “Duo, it’s all ready ten o’clock. Some of us do have things to return to tomorrow.” The braided man sighs. “Trowa, you’ve got to live a little. Otherwise you’d become as serious and uptight as Heero.”

Duo jumps as he hears a voice from right behind him. “Uptight?” Duo turns around and waves his hands in the air, trying to act like he hadn’t meant it that way. Heero just stares at him. “Anyways, Trowa’s right. It was good to see all of you again, but we have lives to go back to.” Quatre steps towards him. “Yes, but couldn’t you chat with us sometime? There’s no reason we can’t stay in contact, is there?” Heero looks at the starlit night sky. “If you want, I won’t stop you.” Quatre smiles, knowing that would be the best response he would get. “Thank you, Heero.”

Wu Fei scolds at the group. “Hurry up and let’s go. Sally and I have something important to attend to in the morning.” Duo sighs and waves at Heero. “See you later then Heero. I’ll just pass along messages for you through Relena.” He winks before entering the limo. The rest board as well and Heero watches them leave, not turning when Noin steps outside.

“You could have tried to get them to do something.” “I could have, but there’s things I need to do that I put off for Relena’s party.” Noin leans against the side of the house, looking up at the moon. “You’re going to find out more information about Vincent, aren’t you.” Heero nods before turning and entering the house. Noin lingers a minute before entering as well, going to the second floor study where Millardo was talking with Relena.

“You could have at least attended the party as well.” Millardo is standing by the window; he looks at his sister sitting in a chair. “I could have, yes, but I would have put a damper on the festivities.” Relena scolds him. “You wouldn’t have. You’re simply making excuses for not wanting to see Heero again.” Millardo smiles slightly. “You’re right. However, it seems like I should have done so. At least then we would have found out why that uninvited guest came.” “Yes, he was uninvited, but he was polite and did not ruin the party by any means.”

Millardo glares at Relena. “I don’t like him.” “Yet you have quite a bit in common. You’re both gentlemen, persistent, and have fought Heero before.” Millardo looks at his younger sister. “You make it sound as if you like him.” Relena frowns lightly. “That’s absurd. I haven’t seen him in how long, and even then I didn’t know him very well.” “Yet you hadn’t seen Heero in a long time as well but don’t show anything about it.”

Relena opens her mouth to say something but stops, not wanting to argue with her brother, but also because the door opens as Noin enters the study. “What is it Miss Noin?” The brunette walks to the former Princess. “All the guests have left together.” Relena nods. “That’s good. I’m glad Quatre set everything up for us.” Millardo continues looking at Relena. “You were going to say something.” “I’ve decided not to say what I was about to.” Millardo smirks. “Yet you haven’t answered the question.” Relena looks quizzically at her brother. “You didn’t ask one.” “It was implied.” Relena looks away. “I refuse to answer.” She gets up and leaves the study.

Noin looks over at him. “What happened?” Millardo simply smiles. “She hasn’t admitted to herself that she likes Heero. She knows she does, but won’t acknowledge it.” Noin moves to stand beside him. “How were you going to make her do it? She can be rather stubborn.” Millardo puts an arm around Noin’s waist. “I have a plan.” Noin smiles lightly. “ A plan, huh? Were you going to tell Heero about it?” Millardo shakes his head. “It will work better if he didn’t know.” “If you says so, Zechs.”

Heero types away at a computer, looking up more information on Vincent Semist and his ties. “Hm, so Vincent’s family had been against Romefeller when it first took control but lacked the influence to do anything about it.” He looks at the hacked financial reports from AC 195. “What… this can’t be right.” His eyes scan the information, but it confirms what he saw. Opening a new file, he checks the date and things begin to make sense.

“They started making financial donations to Romefeller the day after Relena had became Queen.” Heero grinds his teeth and closes the timeline file. “I doubt the change was coincidental. Yet I wonder why it was done…” “Why what was done?” Heero turns around quickly at the voice behind him. “Relena.” Relena enters the small room on the first floor and reaches to turn on the lights. “Don’t turn them on, I like it being dark in here. Makes the screen hurt my eyes less.” Relena offers a slight smile and drops her hand to the side.

She walks to his chair and leans over his shoulder to look at the information Heero was looking at. Heero looks at her, seeing her features bathed in the green light coming from the screen. Relena looks back at him before commenting, “You seem less serious than you did seeing Vincent here.” Heero blinks and recovers, putting on a stone stare. “I’m just a little tired, that’s all. It has nothing to do with him.” Relena raises an eyebrow. “Is that why you’re here looking up information on him?”

Heero reaches over and shuts down the computer, trying to hide the evidence well after he was caught. Relena smiles at this and looks at him. “You act so cold, yet I know you’re not really this way.” Heero just glares at her, finding the longer he stared the more his glare was weakening. In disgust, he looks away from her, getting up off the chair. “Where are you going, Heero?” He glances at her over his shoulder as he goes to the door. “I’m going for a walk.” With that, he leaves the room and heads to the front door. Relena sighs and then goes to her bedroom, intending to get an early start to her day tomorrow.

Heero walks down the road, paying little attention to his surroundings. He sighs and stops, looking up at the full moon. “Why am I getting these feelings anyways?” He growls and yells. “What’s wrong with me!” He stands there, his fists shaking by his sides in frustration. He puts his hands in his pant pockets and continues walking further away from Relena’s house. “I need to get a grip with myself, I’m supposed to protect her.”

With that thought, he walks back to her house. “I must protect her, that takes priority over everything, including my feelings.” He gets back to Relena’s house and enters through the front door, relocking it behind him. He goes upstairs to Relena’s room and silently opens the door, looking at her sleeping form. “Good night, Relena.” He whispers before closing the door and going into the next bedroom. He lays down and closes his eyes, getting a quick catnap before continuing his information search.

Chapter 5

Heero looks at the time on the computer. "It's nearly seven all ready. Doesn't seem like four hours had passed." He gets up and stretches his legs, getting used to being on them again. He leaves the room and heads upstairs, going to Relena's room.

Silently, he opens her door and looks within. The lights are off and the bed is empty. He enters and looks towards the bathroom, not seeing a light there. He walks to the bed and sees that the cover was hastily thrown back into place. On the other side, Relena's house slippers were still there.

Old instincts kick in and Heero quickly comes to the conclusion she had been kidnapped. He searches the room for anything that might show him who did this. "Nothing, this person's good." He quickly enters all of the other rooms, searching them for possible clues. "This doesn't make sense. It's as if she disappeared into thin air." Heero reenters the room he was looking up information in and finds something flashing on the screen. He activates it, seeing a message written out to him.

Heero,

If you want to see Relena again, you'll have to do as I say. Go to where you ripped her letter by ten o'clock or you'll never see her again. Come alone and unarmed.

Heero growls and angrily closes the window. He had three hours to get to the Saint Gabriel Institute. " 'Come alone and unarmed.' Mission accepted." He shuts down the computer, ejects his disk, and rushes out of the house, taking Relena's pink limo. The limo rushes recklessly away from Brussels to where the Institute was at. The trip takes two hours and eight minutes.

Heero looks at the school, seeing that the place was fixed since it was attacked by OZ. Not worrying about sightseeing, he hurries to get to the second story of the building. Once outside again, he turns the corner and finds a single person there, dressed in a Preventer uniform. "Wu Fei?" The chinese man looks at him. "Good, you showed up." Wu Fei starts walking towards Heero. "Did you take her?" Heero balls his fists and glares at the other. "Of course not. Miss Noin found the message and reported it to Preventer HQ. Sally and I were close by, so she continued with the mission while I went here."

Heero growls. "I'm supposed to be alone, that means not having you here." Wu Fei shrugs and rests on the side of the building. "It's still quite a while before ten. Besides, did you actually come unarmed?" Heero nods. "I swore never to kill again. I'm not going to break it." Wu Fei looks at him before turning his attention away. "Good for you."

"Will you just leave all ready?" "Are you really that worried about that woman?" Heero's blue eyes shimmer in anger. "It's my responsibility to ensure her safety." "Your responsibility? Who gave it to you?" "I did. I swore to protect her no matter what." Wu Fei just stares at him. "Is there a reason for you to continue to protect her? She's not the world leader anymore, nor is she in a great deal of politics. A trained monkey like Duo could do her job."

Heero growls. "Wu Fei, just leave so I can save her." Wu Fei smirks, his head turned back and to the side. "You're a fool. You continue along thinking you're protecting her because she's always in danger and needs a bodyguard. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you're looking after her because you love her?"

Heero stares at Wu Fei, the anger having left his eyes. "What?" Wu Fei turns his body towards the other. "Admit it. You only look over her because you don't want anything to happen to her because you're in love with her." Heero blinks and looks away at the ground below. I… I can't be. I've always protected her because of what she is to the future… haven't I?

Wu Fei smiles softly. "I see you're finally realizing the truth." He turns around and starts walking away. "Wu Fei?" The Preventer continues walking. "My job is done. If you really want to see Relena, you should know who she's with now." Wu Fei turns the corner and disappears from Heero's sight. "I should know… Vincent." Heero turns and goes back down the stairs, hurrying down it to Relena's pink limo. Starting the vehicle, he rushes away from the Institute towards the Semist mansion.

Relena looks at Miss Noin, who does her best to ignore her. "Miss Noin, won't you tell me what is going on?" The two sit in a parlor, waiting to be seen by someone. "We've been here for nearly an hour and you still haven't said why we're here in the first place." Noin sighs and looks over at the former princess. "Miss Relena, we're here because your brother said we needed to see someone. I told you this earlier this morning before we left the house."

Relena sighs and gets up, going to the window and looking out at the countryside that was once the nation of France. The door to the hallway opens up and a butler enters the room. "I'm terribly sorry for the wait, but Mr. Semist will see you now." Relena looks at Noin. "Semist?" Noin gets up from the chair and waves towards the open door. "Shall we?" Relena nods curtly and the two women are lead by the butler to a library. "He is inside." He bows and opens the door for them. The two ladies enter and the door closes behind them.

Vincent smiles. "It's good to see you again so soon Relena." Relena furrows her brow lightly. "May I ask as to why I've been brought here?" Vincent gets up and walks towards her. "You may. The reason is, I want to help you with your plan to terra form Mars." Relena blinks her eyes in surprise. "Help me? How?" Vincent smiles easily.

"As I'm sure you remember, there are quite a number of people against the project. I've found out quite a number of things about them that would be an embarrassment if, say, it was put on the front page of every major newspaper across the Earth Sphere Unified Nation." Relena's eyes widen. "That's blackmail!" Vincent smiles easily. "Call it what you will, but that is how things can get done."

Relena looks at him coolly. "And why would you help me?" Vincent walks closer to her, standing an arms length away. "It would make you happy, and I want you to be happy." He smiles and takes a step closer. Relena takes a step back, keeping the distance between them. Vincent frowns and takes another step closer, his hand reaching over to grab Relena's shoulder. "Why try to run away? I'm just trying to make you happy."

Noin steps towards the two and removes Vincent's hand from Relena's shoulder. "Miss Relena is capable of doing so on her own." Relena steps back to stand beside Noin. Vincent glares at Noin before looking at Relena. "By the same token, I know information that would be an embarrassment to those that support the plan. If you won't cooperate with me, you'll find that your plan to terra form Mars will never occur." Relena tightens her jaw and stares at him. "What would you have me do?" Noin blinks and turns to look at the younger girl. "Miss Relena?" Relena ignores her, having kept her focus on Vincent.

Vincent smiles. "I will have you escort me on a short vacation where you'll realize that I'm twice the man Heero is. Then you'll know that I'm the one you should marry." "Marry?" Relena takes a step back and stares at him in confusion. "That's right. For me to have and hold forever and ever." Relena blinks and looks at Noin, who looks just as surprised. Vincent steps forward and extends his hand to Relena. "Do we have an agreement?"

"I can't agree to it. I have as much right to chose who I'll marry as the man I marry." Vincent's eyes turn cold but he keeps his hand extended. "Take my hand." Relena looks at his hand. "Take it. You belong to me, and no one else. Through me will you find happiness." Relena looks up at his eyes, wondering just how many screws were loose in his head. Vincent growls. "I won't repeat myself. Come now or you will find a huge lack of political support."

Relena sighs and steps forward. "Very well then." She places her hand in his. "Miss Relena…" Relena looks back at Noin and shakes her head. "I must do what I can to further my ideas. Don't worry, I'll be fine." Vincent smiles, his eyes having gained warmth after its former icy gaze. "She's right, she'll be in good hands." He squeezes Relena's hand none too gently and pulls her towards him. Relena forces a smile onto her face in spite of the pain. "Tell everyone I'll be away for a while for me, please."

Noin nods, her uncertainty evident in her eyes. "Take care of yourself Relena." The blonde nods. Vincent leads Relena out of the library and calls over his shoulder to Noin. "You can leave now. Your job is done." The pair leave the room and Noin grits her teeth and balls her fist. "Zechs, if this is your plan, I'm going to make you pay. You're going to get Miss Relena hurt or worse leaving her with him." She shakes her head and leaves the library, going to the front door where the motorcycle and side pod she brought Relena in was waiting.

A black limo drives past her and Noin tries to look through the tinted windows, but couldn't see anything. The limo leaves the mansion and heads towards Paris. Noin glares lightly and puts on her helmet and goggles. She straddles the bike and starts it up. "Heero. It'll probably be quite some time before he comes here after finding out the meeting was a fake. I guess I'll wait for him." She turns the motorcycle off and moves to lean against the bike, her arms crossed and head bowed.

Chapter 6

Heero parks the pink limo in front of the gated entrance to the Semist Mansion. He scales the gate and falls to the ground below, taking off running. Something by the front door catches his eye and he runs to it. "Took you long enough." Heero stops after the six hundred yard dash and pants a little before straightening up and looking at Noin. "What are you doing here?" Noin tilts her head towards the mansion. "Miss Relena had a talk with Vincent and left with him. I was waiting for you to show up so you can stop him."

Heero raises an eyebrow. "What's going on?" Noin explains what occurred in the library to him and where they seemed to be headed, omitting Zechs' possible involvement. Heero growls and starts to turn and run back to the limo. "Hey, let me give you a ride to the car and we'll switch there. You'll attract less attention with this than that limo." Heero nods and gets in the side pod as Noin starts the bike and takes off towards the front gate. The gate opens and Noin gets off the bike while Heero climbs on. He takes off just as Noin was removing the helmet and goggles for him to use.

She shakes her head as he rushes without any protection and his shirt billowing behind him. "That guy's crazy… crazy for Relena." She walks to the limo and enters it, throwing the helmet and goggles into the passenger seat. The limo starts up and she starts heading back to Relena's house when she notices the lack of fuel. "Dammit, HEERO!"

Heero rushes down the country road, passing the few cars that are driving down it. As he finally gets to the city limits of Paris, a police car heading in the other direction turns around and flashes its lights, rushing after him. Heero turns and looks at the car before increasing his speed. He sees the police car was catching up, so he starts kicking the side pod, intending to decrease the added weight. The side pod gives way and rolls away to the side of the road while the bike increases its speed.

The police car catches up and pulls next to him. The window lowers and the officer starts yelling at him to pull over. Heero ignores him and speeds up further, shooting ahead of the officer. The police radios for backup as Heero barely turns down a side road. The officer stops and reverses as he passes it before entering the side road. "I never had this problem with a mobile suit." He thinks as he turns and steps on the brakes.

The bike comes to a stop and Heero grits his teeth, finding himself blocked by an anti Mars protest. "Of all the times…" He gets off the bike and rushes into the crowd, seeing the police car turning the corner and hitting the parked bike. The crowd continues their protest march towards the center of the city, with Heero shoving his way through the bodies to the other side.

He runs through the town, finding a library and hurrying into it. "Welcome, how may I help you?" Heero looks at the elderly woman behind the reference desk. "I need access to a computer, please." The woman sighs and hands him a notepad. "Please sign your name and wait for your turn. There's quite a few in front of you." Heero glares. "Any idea how long it'll be?" The woman shakes her head. "No, but it probably will be well over an hour." Heero growls and runs out of the library, ignoring the woman yelling for him not to run.

Heero continues running through the streets, occasionally running into buildings to avoid the police looking for him. He looks at the building in front of him and heads into it, noting the sign says "La Sorbonne". He enters through the double doors and looks around the very fancy room. "Good day sir, are you a visitor?" Heero looks at a man walking towards him. "You could say that." The man nods and ushers him to a table. "Here at the University of Paris, we pride ourselves in being one of the best universities in the entire Earth Sphere. We date back…" Heero tunes him out and looks for a floor plan.

Heero interrupts the man. "I'm a computer major and I'm curious about your facilities here." The man smiles. "Ah, but of course. If you'll follow me, I'll show you to the computer science building." The man leads him to the building, explaining that even though computer science wasn't one of their major fields, they had adequate instructors and equipment to provide for those in it. They enter the building and head into a stairway. "The labs are on the second floor and you'll see that…" The man was unable to finish the sentence as Heero knocked him unconscious and carried him up the stairs. After binding and throwing the man into a room, Heero goes into the computer lab and knocks out the two facilitators before settling down into a chair.

He inserts a disk and quickly hacks into the computer system, hunting down information on where Vincent might have taken Relena. After checking on a change in their finances, he sees that within the hour, two tickets were purchased for a shuttle heading out to space. "Two tickets to the L-1 sector… he won't get away." The former gundam pilot pulls up a map of the city, finding the spaceport and the university he is at now.

Heero closes the computer and removes his disk. Leaping over the unconscious facilitators, he rushes down the stairwell and leaves the building. As he races toward the spaceport, two things are on his mind. 'Vincent's going to pay for this.' The other he speaks in between his breaths, "Relena."

Chapter 7

"This must seem rather uneventful for you Relena, having gone to space so many times before." Relena just looks out of the window at the spaceport surroundings. "You could answer me, after all, I'm just trying to be nice and polite." Vincent grinds his teeth at the lack of attention he was getting. He reaches out for her hand and squeezes it. "Relena dear, are you listening to me?"

Relena finally turns to look at him. "I can hear you just fine. I'm thinking is all." Vincent scoffs and looks at the back of the seat in front of him. Just be glad there are other people here Relena, otherwise I'd make you pay more attention to me. Relena looks back out the window, not wanting to pay him any mind. Vincent broods about her behavior and just assumes it is PMS.

"Attention all passengers, we are about to lift off. At this time, please fasten your seat belts, place your seats in an upright position, and raise the tray in front of you. Thank you for your cooperation and for flying with us today." The stewardess puts down the speaker and takes a seat in the front of the shuttle. "It's about time, I'm anxious to get to outer space." Vincent smiles and looks at Relena, who was still looking outside.

The shuttle starts up its engines, vibrating the entire vessel. It picks up speed and begins moving forward. Relena looks at the view, wishing for this trip to be short, when she sees something headed towards the plane. A jeep was speeding after someone that was going after the plane. She looks closer, blinking in surprise. "Heero?" Vincent looks over at her. "What?" Relena looks back at Vincent and shakes her head. "Nothing." Looking back out the window, she sees the person was closer, but about to lose ground to the now accelerating shuttle. It's Heero… but what is he doing here?

Heero ignores the jeep that pulls up next to him, wanting to get to the shuttle before it could take off. The engines increase in intensity and the shuttle speeds up as it gets to the acceleration ramp. Relena… Heero stops and grits his teeth as the shuttle reaches the ramp and slopes towards the sky. Blasting off, the shuttle soon reaches the atmosphere and out of Heero's reach.

"Hands up where we can see them." Heero turns to see the three occupants in the jeep had jumped out and were pointing their pistols at him. Heero turns back to stare at where Relena was. The port guards move closer and one pulls out some handcuffs. Another jeep races towards them and comes to a stop next to the group.

"I'm Preventer Water, I'll be taking him from here." The three guards salute the woman and reenter their jeep, heading back to their post. "You're being reckless Heero." Heero doesn't turn to face the other. "I need to get to her, I have to protect her from him." Sally Po smiles slightly. "I know you want to. If you'll come with me, I'll get you a shuttle." Heero nods and follows her to the jeep.

Before entering, he looks at Sally. "What happened to your mission with Wu Fei?" Sally pauses before looking at Heero. "He explained what you were doing so we switched places so I could bail you out." Heero enters the jeep and closes his eyes with his arms crossed. "You're lying." He states simply. Sally blinks and stares at him. "Why do you say that?" He opens his eyes and stares at her. "Wu Fei wouldn't have known that Relena was going to go with him to Paris, since they left as I was on my way to Vincent's place."

Sally stares at his cold blue eyes. "Just go all ready, I don't have time to waste." Sally sighs at Heero's statement. "I don't know why I followed through with this." Heero smiles slightly to himself, having a good idea why she has. Sally takes him to a hanger where she lends him a shuttle to pursue Relena. Heero looks at the shuttle then at Sally. "This shuttle isn't fast enough, it won't catch them." Sally sighs. "There isn't one here that can. Most that can are at the Preventer Headquarters, and we aren't there right now." Heero frowns and goes to the shuttle, intent on getting to Relena.

A few minutes later, the shuttle blasts off towards space. Sally stares at the shuttle. "Good luck Heero, I know that it'll be hard to catch her, but not impossible for you." She looks over her shoulder as a man stops at the edge of the shadows. "Things seem to be going as you wanted." He smiles and looks through his nearly white hair. "Good, I just hope they are able to forgive me for this later on." Sally smiles lightly at him. "What are you going to do now?" Millardo starts to walk to her. "I need to get to Preventer HQ. I'm going to go to space." "Just to make sure things go the way you want them to?" He nods and sits in the passenger seat of the jeep as Sally takes the driver's seat. Please forgive me Relena, I just want you to be happy.

Chapter 8

"Welcome to colony X-14342." The stewardess bows and steps to the side so the passengers can get off the shuttle. "It's time to wake up Relena." Vincent looks at her sleeping form. He gently shakes her to consciousness. "What?" Relena blinks as her mind becomes aware again. "We're at the colony now. C'mon." He stands up and she gets up as well. A man bumps into Vincent and apologizes. "Hey, sorry about that, didn't see ya there." Vincent sneers lightly. "That's fine." The man bows and looks at Relena. "You have a lovely wife." He then leaves, a long braid following after him. Relena stares at him. Wasn't that Duo?

"Is something wrong dear?" Relena blinks and shakes her head. "Nothing, I'm fine." Vincent smiles. "Then let's leave." The two exit the shuttle and Relena looks around to see if the braided man was still around. She didn't see him so she forgets about it, not needing to be worrying about it. While looking into the store windows, something catches Relena's eye. "A teddy bear…" She pauses in front of the small toy store and stares at the teddy bear. "I have one just like it, Heero gave it to me…" She blinks and shakes her head when she feels Vincent's eyes on her.

"Are you all right dear?" Relena nods. "Yes, it's just that I have a teddy bear like it." Vincent arches an eyebrow at her. "From a young girl, right? It's stupid to be giving an adult a childish toy." Relena looks at him in a mixture of confusion and annoyance. "It might be a little childish, but it shows someone cares." Vincent scoffs and walks off. "Whatever, come along now, we've wasted enough time here." Relena glances at him before looking back at the teddy bear. "Heero." She walks away from the store to follow Vincent.

Relena gets to him and he reaches over and puts his arm around her. She tenses slightly at this, which puts a frown on Vincent's face. "What is it? There's no need to be frightened, I'm right here." That's plenty reason enough, Relena thinks to herself. He tightens his grip on her, forcing her closer. "You're with me now, and you'll do as I say, understood?" The harshness in his voice surprising her, she had not heard such a tone since Heero told her he would kill her. Why do I keep thinking about Heero?

She hears laughter and looks to the side, where a man is pointing at them. "What's so funny." Vincent's gray eyes harden at the man. The other looks up from his ball cap, his face becoming apparent. "Duo." Duo smiles at Relena. "How are ya? I thought that was you, and I couldn't help but laugh. Poor Heero, he's going to be heartbroken." Duo chuckles to himself some more. "C'mon Relena, let's leave this idiot alone." Relena moves towards Duo as Vincent walks away. "Duo is a friend of mine, and was an invited guest at my last birthday party."

Vincent's eyes flash for a second and he takes a step towards her before catching himself. He grinds his teeth and nods slowly to her. "He may have been your friend, but you will come along now. That is, of course, unless you want what I told you before to occur." Relena winces inside and nods lightly. "All right. Bye Duo, I hope to see you again." Vincent leads Relena off, leaving Duo watching them in disbelieve. "Unbelievable. That guy's got some serious issues. He's worse than Heero…" Duo shakes his head and pulls out a cell phone, making a call.

"Hey, it's me. The two lovebirds are heading away now. I still don't see how this will get Heero and Relena together though, it seems like he would kill her if she doesn't do things as he wants." He sighs at the other's response. "All right, leave it to me. Heero's gonna owe me big time for this." Duo hangs up and frowns at the direction they had went. "He's gonna owe me real big." Sticking his hands in his pockets, he follows them down the street.

Vincent leads Relena to a park, where they walk along the cemented path and gaze at the flowers and watch the children playing. "It's nice here, isn't it?" Relena nods, not looking at Vincent. "I think it's nice, but not as beautiful as the natural parks found on the Earth." Vincent smiles slightly before speaking. "So you prefer things natural things and not man made?" Relena glances at him before nodding. "Yes, because not everything made by humans is good."

Vincent waves towards a bench and the pair sit down on it. "I think that man made things are good. It's only right to take pride in what we have achieved." Relena looks over at the blonde. "Yes, in what we achieved, but not the things we made, such as war and weapons and hate." "No one made hate, it was something humans had created within themselves. It's not as if the first people intentionally made themselves hate each other." "So do you hate someone?" Vincent closes his mouth and doesn't speak for a few seconds. "Yes, I do." Relena presses on, having a good idea who that someone was. "Then who do you hate?"

Vincent looks hard into Relena's eyes. "I hate Yuy. I hate how perfect he is." Vincent gets up off the bench and watches as two boys start fighting, with the smaller of the two is knocked down to the grass. "I hate how much better he is… as well as having your affection." Vincent turns back to look at Relena. "But I'll show him. He'll see that I'm more of a man than he is. And I will have you beside me when that happens, so he can witness the fact that you love me instead of him."

Relena looks quizzically at Vincent. "What makes you think that Heero would care about that?" Vincent clenches his fist and sets his jaw in frustration before speaking. "He follows you under the disguise of protecting you. Any man doesn't protect a female without their being some kind of love between them. He might not think so, but that's how it goes." Relena blinks and the past events cross her mind, thinking of all the times Heero had protected her. Does he… love me?

"So to prove that I'm better, I'll take away the only thing that matters to him." He looks at Relena coolly. Relena stops thinking to herself and looks at him, seeing the intensity in his eyes. "So what would happen if you were not able to succeed?" Vincent smirks at her. "I won't lose." Relena arches an eyebrow at him when she notices someone walking towards them. Duo? The braided man is walking towards them, trying not to be suspicious. Now what is he doing?

Vincent notices she wasn't staring at him and turned to see what it was that was obviously more important than him. His face becomes twisted in anger. "You again…" Duo waves at them. "Hey, I thought that you guys looked like you would need some fun. So… I'm passing along the information that the circus is here." Relena's eyes widen. "The circus? Do you mean Trowa?" Duo nods and smiles. "Yeah, it's pretty good. Hilde and I saw them before, and it was great." Vincent scoffs. "A circus, how childish." Relena glances at him, crossed, before looking back at Duo. "So where is it at?" "It's being held next to the river in the center of the city. It's quite beautiful there. I'm sure you'll have a blast." Relena smiles and looks at Vincent. "We should go and see it, it would be fun."

The blonde haired man sighs, vexed. "All right, fine." Relena smiles. "So will you be joining us Duo?" He shakes his head, his braid moving like a snake behind him. "Sorry, I can't, I've got some work with Hilde to do in a little bit. Try and have fun without me though." Relena nods. "All right, see you later Duo." He waves at them and walks away. After disappearing from sight, Duo circles around to check on them. "I don't know why Zechs made me do this. I'm good at sneaking around unnoticed, but babysitting these two won't be any fun." Relena and Vincent head to the river with Duo in their shadow. Relena thinks as she walks, wondering why Duo had suggested going there. Something's going on here. I don't know what, but things can't be a coincidence.

Chapter 9

Relena claps her hands in appreciation with the rest of the crowd around her. Everyone but Vincent, who sits with his arms crossed and eyes closed. “And now, a performance with a lion, the king of beasts, and a young clown!” A clown with half a face mask flips to the center ring as a spotlight is shown on a curtain. It parts to show a lion as it roars and runs towards the clown. Relena’s eyes widen in surprise as the lion gets within a claw’s reach of the seemingly unsuspecting clown. The clown leaps forward into the air and spins before stopping the spinning and landing one handed on the lion’s back. “That was amazing!”

Vincent scoffs lightly to himself, not having seen it. The clown shifts so he rides with a leg on either side of the lion. He waves to the crowd and Relena gets a look at his unmasked side of his face. “It’s Trowa.” Trowa gets off the lion and lets it run back behind the curtain before flipping around the ring as the spotlight aims upward at the trapeze performance. Catherine swings through the air and lets go, spinning through the air. Trowa leaps into the air onto a tightrope, extending his arms in time to catch Catherine.

The crowd bursts into shouts and applause. Catherine and Trowa walk across the tightrope and bow to the crowd before getting down. The manager takes center ring again. “I thank all of you for coming, and I hope you enjoyed yourselves. Have a wonderful day.” He bows as well before heading to the back of the tent, allowing the crowd to disperse at their own discretion.

Relena gets up and starts heading to the back when a hand grabs her wrist. “Just where are you going?” She looks over her shoulder to look at Vincent. “I was going to go visit Catherine and Trowa in the back.” Vincent tightens his grip on her. “You’re not going anywhere unless I say so, understood?” Relena looks at him with a serious expression. She opens her mouth to speak, but she is interrupted. “Hey there!” Relena looks at the voice and sees Catherine with Trowa close behind, both still wearing their performance uniforms. The two reach Relena and see Vincent holding onto her wrist. “So, are you guys doing well?” Relena smiles lightly at Catherine. “Yes, we’re good; we really enjoyed the show.”

Vincent lets go of her wrist and stands there, sulking. Trowa looks at Relena and gets her attention. “You seem happier around Heero.” Relena blinks at his comment and Vincent grinds his teeth. “You seem rigid and contained around him, so different from your calm and free self around Heero.” Vincent steps towards Trowa. “Will you shut up about him all ready? We don’t care about him.” Vincent starts walking away. He looks over his shoulder at Relena. “Come on, we’re leaving. Now.” The edge in his voice makes Catherine wince. “Well, I suppose you two have things to do, see you later Relena.” Relena smiles politely and nods, waving at the two as she follows Vincent.

“I think she realizes that he isn’t any good for her.” Catherine nods in agreement. “He isn’t, he’s such a control freak.” Trowa looks at the two and sees someone start following them. “I see Duo is stuck following them around. I’m sure he must hate it, being forced to be silent.” Catherine lightly chuckles. “Maybe, but who knows for sure.” Trowa sighs and heads to the back of the tent. “Well, our part in this is done. It’s time to continue on.” Catherine follows him and looks back behind her shoulder. “Stay safe Relena.”

Chapter 10

Relena sighs happily as she leans more into Heero’s body. He looks down at her, holding her in his arms above the water. She tightens her left arm around his neck and cuddles closer to him, feeling the tautness of his chest and shoulders. She looks at the water below her body. The water is cool to her foot as she extends it into the waist high water, at least, it reaches Heero’s waist.

He walks deeper into the water, lifting her body higher up to keep her dry. He stops and looks out at the vast ocean. Relena’s eyes follow his sight, seeing a tidal wave heading towards them. She tightens her hold on his neck, urging him to leave before it comes. Heero stands there, unwilling or unable to move away from it. She tries to get out, but his grip prevents her.

The tidal wave crashes on top of them, separating them. Relena coughs up the salty water and calls out to Heero as he starts being pulled out to sea. She swims to him as he just watches her, his arm extended towards her. As she gets closer, the water becomes stronger, forcing her to exert more of her strength to get to him. Her hand comes just short of his when everything turns black.

Relena sits up, her body cold and clammy from sweat, her night gown sticking to her skin. “A dream, it was just a dream…” She looks about the strange room, her slowly waking mind remembering that she wasn’t at her home on Earth, but in an inn on a colony. She gets out of bed and goes to the window, looking out at the artificial nighttime. “What was that about… why was I dreaming of Heero?”

She sighs and looks around the room. Thankfully, she was able to sleep in a different room than Vincent. The room has some pictures of nature and strives to comfort the soul of the visitors. It would in normal light, but with the very small amount of illumination found in the room, much of its effect was lost. Relena looks back outside the window.

She turns at the sound of the door opening. “Hello?” Relena calls out to the person, who stands in the doorway. The figure walks in, closing the door behind them. “My, isn’t it rather peaceful here in the colonies Miss Relena?” Relena blinks her eyes in surprise. “Dorothy? What are you doing here?” Dorothy lightly chuckles. “Why, I was just around and happened to find out you were here.” Relena frowns at her. “No one knows I’m here except those that are here. It’s not common knowledge that I traveled to this colony.”

Dorothy glances at her, stroking her right eyebrows. “So it’s just a coincidence that you ran into a few of the Gundam pilots while here?” Relena blinks and puts on a neutral face, which she usually does around her. “What are you getting at?” Dorothy chuckles to herself. “Isn’t it rather curious how quickly things are coming together? Why, you barely turned 18 and events are taking place to lead you to marriage.”

Relena’s eyes widen. “What?” Dorothy simply smiles. “Oh, I know full well about Vincent’s plans. He wants to marry you, and is trying to achieve it.” She turns to the side and looks up at the ceiling. “Of course, he doesn’t realize that Heero is also actively searching for you as we speak.” “Heero is looking for me?” Dorothy looks back at her and nods. “Yes, he is trying to get to you. He’s such a strong willed person, he often reminds me of you.”

Relena suppresses the urge to question further about Heero. “How do you know all of these things?” Dorothy smiles sweetly. “That would be telling, Miss Relena. However, I will say this, the source is from someone who loves you.” Relena ponders these things, having forgotten completely about the feel of her night gown. “But two in the morning is not the time for you to be thinking about such things.” Relena blinks and looks at the clock, seeing it was a few minutes after two am. “I suppose you’re right.”

Dorothy nods and smiles at her. “Yes, if you’re to make the correct decisions for your future you must get some sleep.” Dorothy walks to the doorway and reaches for the door. “Oh, and don’t do anything to anger Vincent. He may be a spineless man, but his temper can easily get the best of him.” She opens the door and leaves the room without looking back. Relena stares at the door, thinking about Dorothy’s words. “Well, now’s not the time to be thinking too much. I’ll try and get some sleep.”

Relena walks to the bed, noticing that the few minutes out of the bed made the night gown feel a little less uncomfortable and took that as a plus. She lies down in the bed and pulls the covers over her body. Turning her head to the side she watches the wall and tries not to think, unable to stop thinking of her dream and what Dorothy said. “Heero’s… looking for me…” She tosses a few times before finally falling asleep.

Heero stares at his recently ‘liberated’ computer. “Vincent doesn’t have any relatives here on this colony, so he would have had to go somewhere to rest. So why can’t I find it?” He frowns at the list of inns and hotels on the colony, not seeing a single one having a room paid for by under an account held by the Semists or under his name. “Relena’s name would raise too much attention for his taste… so where are they?”

He sighs and glances over at the man lying on the ground unconscious. The man had been up using the computer, watching some porno website, when Heero snuck in the apartment and knocked him out to make better use of the computer. Heero glances at the time on the computer, seeing it was after three am. He sighs and rechecks a few hotels before closing the computer down.

“It doesn’t make sense, where could they be.” He growls lowly. “You’re being a major pain Vincent, and you’re going to pay for it.” Anger slowly settling, he gets up and leaves the apartment, leaving the man as he was. He walks out of the building into the vacant street, frowning at his lack of progress. “It’s all ready been twenty four hours since I got any rest… guess I’ll find some place to sleep before I continue looking for her.”

He walks a little before seeing a big tent and a large amount of trailers next to a river. “Looks like a circus troupe. Trowa?” He heads towards it, ignoring how not a single light is on in the camp. A lion opens its eyes and starts to growl at him. It stops as Heero stares at it, a slight smile appearing on his face. “It’s okay, I’m just looking for someone.”

“And who would that person be, Heero?” Heero turns to the source of the voice, seeing long bangs hiding part of the person’s face. “I was looking for you, when I noticed the tent and trailers here.” Trowa nods. “Well, you found me. What did you need?” Heero walks to him, fighting the sleepiness wanting to take over. “A place to sleep before I continue looking for Relena.” Trowa raises an eyebrow. “Relena’s been kidnapped again?”

Heero shakes his head. “Not quite. She went off with a guy and I’m looking for them.” Trowa’s lips raise into a smirk. “Maybe they want to be alone and not… disturbed.” Heero’s eyes turn into a death glaze. “I highly doubt that. She probably didn’t go because she really wanted to. Anyways, can I stay here tonight?” Trowa nods. “Sure, take as long as you need, we’ll be staying here a few days still.” Heero nods. “Thanks Trowa, I owe you one.” Heero walks into Trowa’s trailer and crashes on the bed, falling asleep instantly. Trowa walks in and smiles at Heero. “Let’s just say you owe me a lot.” He takes a piece of paper and writes something on it and sets it on the table next to the bed. Trowa goes into the back of the trailer and lays down on the couch there, going back to sleep. Heero mumbles in his sleep, “Don’t trust him… I… I love you… Relena….”

Chapter 11

Relena wakes up, blinking her eyes as she gets rid of the sand in her eyes. She murmurs to herself and looks at the clock, seeing it was a little past six. Groaning, she places an arm over her eyes to shield them from the outside world. Her mind starts to wake itself up, even though her body longs to continue sleeping. A knock on the door forces her to follow her mind’s want and not her body’s.

“Yes?” “Mr. Semist asked us to wake you up at this time so you can get ready for the day.” Relena groans again and nods to herself. “Okay, thank you.” The attendant leaves the door, having not entered the room, and Relena closes her eyes, not yet willing to get up.

She jolts as she hears pounding on the door. “Relena, aren’t you up yet? We have to leave.” The door opens and Vincent walks in, frowning at seeing her still in bed. “It’s nearly seven, I thought I told them to wake you up at six.” He scolds in the direction of the front desk. “It’s almost seven?” Relena looks at the clock, seeing it nearly was. “I must have fallen back asleep…” Vincent turns to her, sneering. “Well hurry up and get ready, we’ll be leaving soon.”

He exits the room in a huff, leaving Relena alone. She sighs and gets out of bed, quickly changing clothes. Exiting the room, she finds Vincent waiting on her, his foot tapping in frustration. “It’s about time. Let’s go.” He walks off down the hall to the exit. Reluctantly, she follows him.

The two leave the building and one of the doors in the inn opens; Duo comes out of it and follows them. Dressed in a casual attire of a blue shirt and khaki pants, he easily blends in with the rest of the crowd. He follows them to the edge of the city, where a church laid. “A church? I wonder why they’re heading there.” He continues shadowing them.

The church doors open and two men bow at their waists to Vincent and Relena. The two enter the church and proceed to the alter, where a well dressed man stood. He smiles as the two approach. “It’s good of you two to come. It shall be my privilege to wed you two in the holy bounds of matrimony.” Relena’s eyes widen. “What? Who said we were going to get married?” Vincent grabs her arm tightly. “Remember, we talked about it before… and you said you would, right?” He squeezes her arm harder and Relena tries not to scream at the pain. Behind clenched teeth, so says, “Yes, now I do.”

Vincent nods and loosens his grip slightly, but still holding onto her. “Good, now where were we preacher?” The preacher smiles and raises his hands above his head. “Oh Lord, we give you thanks for your blessings and for this couple coming together today. I wish that you would bless them and keep them close to you, so that they may walk in your path. I…”

Vincent clears his throat. “That’s all nice, preacher, but can’t you just make this quick?” The preacher blinks his eyes. “Marriage is not something to rush into, young man, only with patience and the love of God can it be successful.” Vincent rolls his eyes. “Fine, just try not to take forever.” The preacher clears his throat and picks up the bible behind him on the alter.

“As is said in First Corinthians chapter seven verses three and four, ‘The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife’. Marriage is not simply about one person’s desire, but mutual love and respect. This, along with being one with God, keeps marriages together. Though there are no more wars in the universe, the war between good and evil has not stopped, and those unprepared will be swept away. This is why marriage must be agreed upon by God above.”

Throughout the speech, Vincent seethes and shuffles his feet, getting more and more agitated by the length involved. Relena notices this and hopes the preacher takes longer, if for no other reason, than to frustrate Vincent. “Now, let us pray for God to bestow his blessings upon your marriage.” The preacher bows his head and closes his eyes, placing a hand on the heads of the couple.

“Oh Lord, we ask that you would bestow your blessings and grace upon these two young people. I ask that you shall guide them through the rest of their lives and bring them unto you when they depart from this life. If this is not your will, let there be a sign for this.” Upon the last word, the church bell rings, and a figure walks into the chapel. “Well, looks like I wasn’t too late for the ceremony.”

Duo smiles and places his hands on his hips. “Don’t mind me, preach, keep going.” Duo takes a seat in one of the pews on the groom’s side, placing a leg upon the back of the pew in front of him. Vincent starts to fume at seeing him again, when the door opens again, another person walking in. “It takes two witnesses to make a wedding valid, so I guess it’s good I came.” Sally Po enters and takes a seat on the bride’s side. “What are you doing here?!” Vincent’s face and voice revealing his anger.

“I thought it was obvious.” Quatre enters through the doors and sits two rows in front of Duo. Vincent chokes on his words as his fury prevents him from speaking. “It’s very nice to see others coming to see this wonderful event.” The preacher smiles, not flinching as Vincent turns his attention to the preacher. The door opens again and Wu Fei walks in. “Weddings are supposed to be happy events, though it’s doubtful he’s happy.” Wu Fei takes a seat behind Duo, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his black eyes.

The doors open again, Catherine and Hilde coming together thru them and sitting on the bride’s side, next to Sally. “How did you people find out about this?!” Vincent turns back to the ‘guests’. “Someone told us.” Trowa walks in and sits in front of Duo, knocking the braided haired man’s feet off the pew. The door opens again, Noin enters and sits behind Sally. “This is filling up quite nicely. Such a wonderful thing on such a happy occasion.” Vincent looks at the preacher. “Just shut up. I don’t want your comments.”

“That’s odd, since he’s supposed to be the director of the wedding.” The doors open and Dorothy enters, a smirk on her face. “Besides, if he’s not going to talk, we’re all going to be here for a very long time.” Dorothy takes a seat next to Noin. Relena looks at all of them. “How did you all know about this, since I didn’t even know?”

The side door behind her opens up, and someone walks into the chapel. “Let’s just say that someone doesn’t want this to happen to you, and made sure we knew about it.” Relena turns to the voice and her eyes widen. “Heero…” The blue eyed man looks at her. “This is a mistake Relena, and you shouldn’t marry him.” “Damn you Heero, why can’t you just butt out for once?!” Vincent seethes even more, his pale face turning red of anger. “This is my day Heero, mine! I’m marrying Relena, not you!”

The preacher looks puzzled at Vincent. “Could you explain what’s going on?” Vincent turns his gaze to the preacher. “Just marry us. Now!” The preacher steps back and bumps into the alter. Vincent reaches behind him and draws a gun, pointing it at the minister. “Marry us now or get ready to meet God.” The preacher fumbles with his words before raising his hands into the air. “Do you take her to be your wife?” “Yes.” Vincent says, his gaze going to Heero, the gun shaking in his unsteady hand. “Do you take him to be your husband?”

Relena looks at the preacher, then to Vincent, then to Heero. “I…” Vincent tightens his grip on her arm. “Say ‘Yes’, or you’ll regret it.” Relena looks into Vincent’s fury filled gray eyes. “I can’t…” Vincent growls. “What did you say?” Relena winces as he tightens his grip on her arm even more. “I said I can’t.”

The door behind Vincent opens up and a tall man walks thru it. “She said she won’t marry you Vincent, let it go.” Vincent turn around and sees Millardo. “You… we had a deal! She’s mine!” Millardo shakes his head. “The deal was that she had to willingly marry you. Forcing her would negate the deal. Therefore, I won’t keep Heero away from her.” Vincent growls and levels his gun at Millardo. A gun shot goes off and Vincent’s gun is knocked out of his hand. He looks towards the pews, seeing Wu Fei, Sally, and Noin with guns drawn.

Vincent pulls on Relena, placing her body between him and the Preventers as he reaches for his gun. His hand grasps the gun and he brings it to bear on Millardo again, but stops as a foot stomps down on his wrist. “Just give up, there’s no way you can win this.” Vincent growls at the sight of Heero standing on him. “I won’t lose, there’s no way I’m less of a man than you are!” Vincent slips his hand out from underneath Heero’s foot and aims it at him. Heero kicks the gun away and sidesteps away.

A bullet stabs itself into Vincent’s arm and turns him around to the ground. He clutches his wound and seethes as Wu Fei walks closer to him. “You’ve been defeated, stop trying to resist.” Vincent lunges at Relena, but is met shortly by Heero’s fist into his stomach. He crumbles onto the ground and lies there unmoving. Heero walks to Relena and extends his hand to her. “How about we get out of here?” Relena takes his hand, letting him lift her up onto her feet. “Sure, I feel like I need a vacation now.” Wu Fei and Sally arrest Vincent while everyone else separates and leaves the church.

The preacher shakes his head in disbelief. “Oh Lord, how mysterious are your ways. Please guide them down the path you intended for them. Grant them safety and wisdom. Let your works be done thru them. I pray that you’ll bless them and keep them. All things are done according to your will. Amen.”

Chapter 12

“And in other news, earlier today, Vincent Semist, heir of the Semist family, was arrested by Preventers after he kidnapped Vice Foreign Minister Peacecraft and attempted to assault her. It has not been released as to why he had done so, but a full investigation is underway. The Vice Foreign Minister has since taken a leave of absence to recuperate after the kidnapping.” The announcer taps his paper against the desk before looking at the camera. “That’s the main stories occurring throughout the Earth Sphere Unified Nation, and now, a message from where you are.” The screen changes to another announcer that starts to describe coming events on the colony.

A remote control turns off the television before being set onto the coffee table. Heero leans back into the sofa and runs his fingers through Relena’s hair as she sleeps in his lap. She slowly wakes up and looks up at him. “Hi.” Heero smiles and replies. “Hey. Are you wanting to get up?” She shakes her head and settles her head back on his lap. “I hadn’t been getting decent sleep recently, so I’m going to stay here where I can.”

Heero nods and continues running his fingers through her hair. She lightly smiles and closes her eyes. Heero reaches over and picks up a thick book, turning to a page he had marked off. He reads out loud to himself.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Relena opens her eyes and looks at Heero. “What are you reading?” Heero bookmarks the page again and shows her. “Duo said I should read that section.” Relena glances at the title. “So you believe in God, Heero?” Heero shakes his head. “No, I don’t believe in a god.” He bends over and kisses her cheek. “But I do believe in love.”

Relena touches his cheek and gently kisses him. They smile at each other and Relena lies back down. “I love you, Heero.” “I love you, Relena.” She smiles and goes back to rest again. Yes, I do, believe in your love, Heero. She feels his fingers entwining with hers. She squeezes his hand and the two remain there, a faint light glittering off her left hand.