Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and I never will. You happy now?
When I Get Lost
Chapter 1: Tell It Like It Is
Relena sighed as she absently strolled by the now deserted beach by her mansion. It was a beautiful sight, what with the sun setting and everything, but unfortunately she couldn't appreciate its preciousness. At the moment she was now occupying her mind with fond and bittersweet memories of her childhood.
"Father . . ." She breathed out to no one in particular as she slowled down her pace to try and admire nature's magestic beauty. It was something her dear older brother was trying to destroy, at least that's how it looked like through her eyes and point of view. At the moment her brother was holding a meeting between respected people from both the Earth and colonies at her house -- which was the reason why she was now walking around aimlessly. With no destination in sight or thought, Relena continued walking. She didn't want to admit it, but she presently rather disliked her older brother/guardian . . . even after all the things he had done for her.
She was only six years old when her "father" was assassinated and her family was attacked by "rebels against peace," as her father had gently put it before dying in her arms. That was when he confessed to her that he wasn't her biological father and all the excruciating details of her birth and adoption. Sadly, no matter how hard she tried to block it all out, that day was still fresh in her mind as if it had just happend yesterday -- not many years ago. She really hated having to remember it so vivdly whenever her thoughts drifted to her brother and father.
Afterwards, her foster mother went a little mad and began to ignore her and her parental responsibilities, which was when her older brother decided it was time to intervene. He was a teenager himself, but thought it better for her to stay with him than an aloof mother. Relena only slightly hesitated at first until she gave it much thought (even at six years old, she was much like a grown up) and consideration. This young man who went by the name Zechs Marquise, real name Milliardo Peacecraft, was her blood brother and she was instantly curious to meet him -- so she eagerly accepted his invitation to leave the life she knew on Earth and live in the colonies with him as her guardian and protector.
Inwardly, she hoped that the change of scenery and life would help ease the pain of the assassination of her beloved father. However, had she known that moving out of Earth and to the colonies would only bring her double the drama and heartbreak, she probably would've immediately declined the offer -- even if it was from her blood brother that she now loved with all of her heart.
-- Flashback --
A six year old Relena slowly made her way out of the shuttle she had just spent the past ten hours on with shimmering sky blue eyes and a bright smile on her face. She politely thanked the young man that had helped her out and the other one that had helped carry her things. The young men, quite stunned at this little girl's kindness, smiled back sincerely and welcomed her before petting her lightly on the head. She just smiled back sweetly at their kind gesture.
"Now that's a sweet child." Noin whispered into the ear of the young boy she stood next to.
The teenager smiled in response and slowly began to make his way towards the little girl. "That's my little sister."
"She's adorable," Noin started softly as she fell in step with the young boy. "but do you think she'll be able to adjust to living in a colony?"
"She'll do more than adjust, I know it." He replied, proudly. "That little girl's smile alone will soon bring the much needed peace between the Earth and the colonies."
Noin narrowed her eyebrows slightly at the boy. "Zechs, she's just a kid. You don't plan on making her --"
"Excuse me, are you my brother?" A tender voice asked from below and forced Noin to look down at the six year old Relena staring up at her with curious eyes.
Noin instantly blushed at the question and bent down to meet the little girl's height and wondering eyes, earning a chuckle in response from the young boy she had not too long vowed to forever remain loyal to. Through the thick and the thin -- one of those example moments being now. "I'm sorry, honey, but I'm not your brother. I'm a girl, so please don't let the hair and uniform fool you."
Relena blinked in both confusion and emberassment before looking straight into Noin's eyes, all sincerety showing through. "Then can you please be kind enough to tell me where he is?"
"Relena." Zechs whispered and caught Relena's gaze with a small smile.
Relena, in return, smiled back and ran to hug Zechs's legs with all her might. Slightly startling Zechs with her sudden stenght. "Milliardo! . . . My big brother!"
Noin internally cringed at the name he had so long ago forbidden to ever be called. She expected him to reprimand his darling little sister, even though she probably wasn't aware of his name change and called him that just because it was the only name she had to her recognition. However, there was no yelling or explaining, forcing Noin look up and towards the two in bewilderment. They were still locked in a tight hug, Zechs had picked her up and was now practically carrying her, and although he did look a bit upset he said nothing of it. Instead he just continued to hold his little sister tightly to his chest. Noin smiled sadly at the sight.
After a couple of minutes of silent holding Relena was the first one to pull away, once she did she stared up at her brother with serious eyes that made him shiver slightly. "I know you've changed your name Milliardo, but I refuse to call you 'Zechs.' Milliardo is the name of the brother I hope to get to know and love, Zechs is the name of a man I wish to never meet. Please understand that I mean no disrespect -- I just wish to be with my brother and no one else."
Noin balked at the little girl's sudden explanation and couldn't believe this was coming out of the mouth of a six year old girl. After her inicial shock wore off she turned and cast a glance towards Zechs, who was surprisingly beaming down at the little sister in his arms.
"Heh, I wouldn't have it any other way, Relena." He chuckled out and Relena giggled right back.
'Those two . . . if I didn't know any better I would think they'd known each other their entire lives.' Noin thought with a smirk she found she could never get rid of when around Zechs and his adorable little sister.
-- End of Flashback --
The sounds of the waves crashing on the shore of the beach forced Relena to come back to reality and leave her bittersweet childhood memories behind. That beach, it was where she had last seen him, she remembered sadly. Seeing that beach once again her thoughts now drifted back to him, as they always had from time to time. Unfortunately, she could never forget about him or block him out of her mind. It was merely impossible.
"Heero . . ." Relena whispered softly, slowing down her walking pace to a complete stop in front of the fence that seperated her from the beach. She roughly placed her hands on it and gripped the cold metal tightly in her hands. The memory of her last encounter with him slowly coming back to mind as she began to steel herself for the oncoming whirlwind of emotions that always ensued afterwards.
-- Flashback --
Two kids stood on the beach's shore, staring intently at one another as the shore drifted in and out lightly to wet their bare feet.
"Heero, what did you want to talk about?" Relena asked, the first one out of the two kids to finally break the silence, but not the stare.
Upon hearing her question the other kid narrowed his eyebrows together and stared back coldly, any sort of emotion he had before gone in the blink of an eye. "Are you in some sort of hurry? I thought you said you weren't busy."
Relena lightly shook her head, never breaking her gaze from the boy in front of her. "I'm not, but Milliardo will start to worry if I don't return home soon." When he didn't give a response she decided to continue and break the sudden uncomfortable silence. "We've been standing here for awhile, Heero, it's getting dark."
Heero clenched his fists, "It's never been an issue before."
'Well, you've never stared at me like that before.' Relena sighed and finally decided to break their intense stare, looking away at the setting sun in the horizon. At least there she managed to find some sort of warm acceptance and feeling. His peircing prussian blue eyes had been too much for her to handle, their coldness towards her was unnerving and she couldn't take much more of it without breaking out into tears. 'If I had stared any longer I probably would've begun to cry. Hmph, I'm so pathetic, no wonder Heero finds me so irritating.'
"Relena." Heero said softly.
Relena hesitantly looked back up and blinked, trying her hardest not to shed any tears at his cold and uncaring stare. "Yes?"
"I'm leaving to join the war." He said unceremoniously.
Relena balked, her fear and hesitance instantly forgotten at his statement. "W-What?"
He blinked, "The colonies need protection, and I'm leaving to provide them that protection."
"B-But Heero, there's a chance you could die!" Relena exclaimed, her fists clenched at her sides.
"That's a chance I'm willing to take." Heero replied in his usual monotone voice. "Life comes cheap, especially my own."
Relena couldn't believe it. When she had first met the cold boy at the tender age of eight he had had the same ideals, but after spending time with him and reminding him over and over again that his life was worth something she had thought that it had finally gotten through to him. However, she was dead wrong -- at the moment he looked even more determined than before about his worthlessness.
"I don't believe you." Relena breathed out, her eyebrows narrowing in shear anger. "How could you still think like that?"
"Because it's true. My life is of no value." Heero answered, raising an eyebrow at the girl's sudden burst of anger.
Then, after a moments silence Relena suddenly brought up an arm and slapped the young boy, managing to catch him off guard. "I can't believe you, Heero! Here I am telling you year after year that your life is worth something and then you go and pull something stupid like this! Was all of my worrying and caring for you meaningless? Didn't it matter to you that I thought you were worth something!"
After his shock of being struck by Relena wore off Heero turned and glared at the now furious girl. "You think of everyone too highly so your opinion of the matter isn't worth taking note of."
That was it, he had finally gone too far. "Fine then, if my opinion doesn't matter to you than I won't bother with you anymore. Just go off and kill yourself in that stupid war -- I no longer care. I just hope you're happy with your decision. Goodbye, Heero." With that calmly said Relena turned around and headed towards her mansion -- not once looking back at the boy she had grown to love over the past four years.
-- End of Flashback --
The memory of it still stung, fresh in her mind. Once the words had come out of her mouth she had instantly regretted them, but at the moment she was too prideful to let him know that, so she stalked off -- mad at herself and the situation. But not at him, she could never be mad at him. She loved him far too much, but yet she had still managed to hurt him when all he wanted to do was protect in what he believed.
"Oh, Heero, I'm so sorry." She whispered to herself as she continued to walk along the beach. "I hope you can forgive me one day . . ."
Her words trailed off as she noticed a body on the beach's shore. It was in a suit, so maybe that person was still alive. She immediately dashed down the stairs that led to the beach to reach the limp body. Upon reaching it she knelt down beside it and carefully took off the helmet, gasping at the sight that greeted her.
Obviously hearing the gasp the body abruptly stood up and covered its face in an attempt to hide its identity. "Did you see --!" It stopped mid-sentence upon a careful examination of the girl before it, slowly lowering the hand that had covered its face. "Relena?"
"Heero?" Relena breathed out, letting out the breath she hadn't known she had been holding in since seeing the boy.
Silence ensued afterwards and Relena knew she had to say something before he had the chance to run away, so she smiled up at him from her kneeling position with sparkling sky blue eyes she had only ever allowed him the pleasure to see. "It's good to see you alive."
------------ Eh? How was it? I hope it didn't suck too badly. Anyways, if I get enough reviews I'll consider continuing it. So please go review and tell me if you liked it or not!