AN/ Well, it's been awhile, hasn't it? heh heh! To be honest, it's been awhile since I've written anything so I'm using this as a bit of a warm up before I resurrect anything I left unfinished. It's a part of my Relena And... series (that makes 4/5! Yay!), so... Yea! This is dedicated to Cinnamon Selkie who specially requested I did one of these. I hope you like it! I have to be honest, I'm not all that familiar with this couple and I felt a bit odd writing them. But, for the most part, I'm pretty happy with what came out. It was hard sitting down to write anything (it's just been so long!) but this is one of those things that kinda wrote itself, so... Here it is! Please let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: Ach! The most depressing part of this! No, I don't own any of the boys, most unfortunately! They all are property of Sunrise, Bandai, blah-de-blah!

Of Lovers and Brothers

By: Honourable Fool

Destiny is a strange thing. It once brought me a wounded boy who's heart I had to heal. I thought it would be my destiny to love him forever. Funny how destiny works, isn't it?

Before I met that boy I was a spoiled rich girl, an only child with no more on my mind than ball gowns and how much attention I did or did not get from my father. Afterwards, I was never the same. But you don't want to hear about that.

When the dust settled and the boy I thought I would love lay in my arms, destiny took another twist. He did not become my dearest love. No, he became something far worse than that: he became my older brother. And it just gets darker from there. My real brother, the one I'd lost and gained more times than I can count… well, let's just say he found a way to bury the hatchet when it came to his former mortal enemy the day my new brother decided to play the part of the informant. I haven't had time for many romantic relationships in my life, but I have never had one as short as that one was.

But destiny wasn't done with me. Through the boy who had now, most annoyingly, become my brother I met new friends I never would have imagined, people who opened my mind beyond the plush world I was so well accustomed to. It is, in its way, ironic that the boy I thought was my destiny was, in fact, the means of finding my destiny, though he himself was not necessarily a part of it. If anything, he seemed to try and strangle it with his sense of over-protectiveness, seeking to shield me from anyone and everyone. The hoops that I must jump through just to get a non-Preventer escort to a formal function alone are…

"And you think all this is supposed to frighten me? Relena, have you forgotten…"

"You're not listening to me!" She insisted. "I promise you, if you go to them, or worse, if they find out about us…"

He stood, raising his hands to stop her, a calm look and gentle smile relaxing his features. He was clearly entirely unconcerned. He was clearly a complete fool.

"I've told you, I'm not scared of Zechs."

"Milli…"

"Milliardo, right. Whatever. And I'm certainly not afraid of Heero!" he pointed out matter-of-factly, raising one finger to emphasize it.

"But…"

He stilled her again by placing his hands on her shoulders. He stepped in close to her, calm and unafraid, that gentle look gleaming in his cobalt eyes. He may have been a fool, but he was a gorgeous fool. And hopefully he would soon be her fool.

"I told you, I've wasted enough time beating around the bush. I care for you too much and I'm certainly not going to back down now all because Heero's being a bully."

His words made her smile, but she was unwilling to relent. She had lost too many romantic interests to Heero's interrogations. He was too important to lose like that, too important to let go. And true, he was very brave, but still…

"Do you remember that phrase you told me, years ago when you first introduced yourself to me?"

"Oh, you mean back when you were stalking Heero?"

She frowned at him while he chuckled at his own joke, and continued on with greater vehemence. "You said, 'I may run and hide,'"

"'But I'll never tell a lie'," he finished with her. "Yea, I remember. Why?" The slightly lopsided look he gave her was curious, but also had a gleam of caution to it.

"Well, Duo, believe me when I tell you that this is one of those times to run and hide!"

He tried desperately to take her seriously for a moment, but failed. All he could do was laugh, and this did not improve her attitude.

"Duo, I am telling you! This is the time! You do not want to cross Heero in this! Duo! Are you listening to me?" Relena grasped his arms and tried to shake him a little, but he was already shaking so much from laughter that he didn't even notice. Instead, he dropped his hands from her shoulders to grasp his side; it was beginning to get hard to breathe.

Relena was most assuredly not amused. Glaring at the braided fool before her, she crossed her arms and gave her foot a childish stamp, hoping to draw his attention to her irritation. She failed, of course, and was forced to endure watching his beautiful face literally split with mirth, a true emotion such as he had been beginning to show more and more often these days. He didn't realize how annoyed she was as she watched the way his broad, steady shoulders shifted beneath his shirt and the way his chest heaved with every gasp for breath while he fought for control. How truly vexing for her.

At last Duo stopped laughing and was able to clear his eyes of tears soon enough to watch her recompose her face into one of hardened annoyance. It made him smirk.

"I hardly see what was so funny about what I said." She said irritably. She truly was a fantastic actress!

"Oh, it was everything really. That whole story: bringing up the past like that, remembering old times, exaggerating your brothers' protective feelings for you."

"Duo, I wasn't…"

"Oh, I know they can be pretty fearsome when they want to be, believe me." He spoke so nonchalantly, merely brushing aside her fears. And then his smug countenance was dropped, and he was stepping up close to her again, his face still flushed from laughing and his eyes gleaming. It was amazing how quickly he could stop her heart. "But Relena, you have to understand, I only run and hide when I have no other options. Even if it's a losing battle, I will fight until the bitter end, so long as what I'm fighting for is worth it. And believe me, you are the most worth it thing I've ever fought for."

She had to chuckle at his handsome grin; a fool indeed, but definitely her fool. Closing the distance between them, Relena threw her arms around his neck, feeling his hands immediately circle her waist, and she couldn't stop the smile that he brought to her lips. "Duo, I wish you didn't have to fight. I wish we could just continue our little 'friend dates' right under their noses and never have them suspect a thing."

"Yea, but then we wouldn't have anywhere to go with this. We'd be stuck, dreading the day they discovered us. No, I may run and hide, but I won't run from a fight, and believe me, you're…"

"I know, I know. You're such a broken record." She teased.

"That's only because you have a pretty thick skull." He grinned back.

"That was an insult." She told him, narrowing her eyes a little.

"It was? Could a' fooled me." He grinned even wider, failing miserably at an innocent look.

"Yes. My head is perfectly normal, in all physical senses of the word,"

"But not mentally." He threw in. She ignored him.

"And I'll have you know I am stubborn."

"Damned Peacecraft blood!" He mock cursed.

"I hope you are planning to make it up to me."

And he did. No further encouragement was needed for him to swoop in and claim her mouth in a kiss, one that bespoke of all the passion he had yet to bestow upon her. It made her foot pop, her toes curl, and every ounce of stubborn determination melt in its wake. When they parted at last, he touched his forehead to hers, breathing rather heavily. It had been a very good kiss.

His breath feathered across her face as he said, "I should go see Heero. If whoever's watching the monitor hasn't already run to get him, he'll hear about that soon enough."

Relena blushed at this. She had forgotten they were still in her office, having never left for that lunch they had meant to go to. She felt his arms begin to slacken around her body and she knew she had to move quickly.

"Duo!" He hesitated, arms tightening around her again. She was still slightly breathless, but she continued on softly, urgency edging her voice. "Duo, I need you to promise me something before you go. Just one thing."

Surprise shown clearly in those cobalt depths she could so easily be lost to. "Sure, Lena. What is it?"

She took a moment to breathe in deeply, breathe in the scent that was so uniquely Duo, breathe in the moment so she'd never forget, lest it be the last. "Duo, I need you to promise me. Promise me you won't just leave me, no matter what Heero says or does. You are too important to me for me to lose you because of him."

The relief gleaming in his eyes was enough to calm her as he said, "I promise, Princess." and kissed her on the nose.

"Good." She sighed. Again she felt his arms begin to release her, and she moved quickly. "Duo!"

He blinked his surprise, but waited for her to speak, arms holding firmly to her again.

"Duo, I…" she couldn't say it.

Concern was starting to shine in his eyes again. "What is it?"

Taking in a deep breath, she looked her soon-to-be boyfriend in the eye and said, "Duo, could you wait a bit longer? I still can't seem to find my knees."

C'est Tout! Did you like it? Was the ending a tad abrupt? How soon did you know it was Duo? Or did you know all along? Hmm? As you can tell, I am eagerly awaiting your responses! So hit that button and talk to me! If you like you can even just let me know via Inazuma-sama's 5 Star Rating Guide! Many thanks to her for it's use!

Inazuma Akai's 5 Star Rating System for Fanfiction:
1 star – This fic is unreadable! Get a beta-reader stat!
2 stars – This story needs a face-lift in the worst possible way…
3 stars – Not bad, but with a little more effort you can make it a really good fic.
4 stars – There are some minor errors here and there but otherwise it's a very nice fic!
5 stars – It's an exceptional work of art! More, please?