CATS AND DOGS

Chapter 1

When the news of his death had first reached her, she had laughed. It was probably the most inappropriate thing she had ever done, including abandoning her own ongoing birthday party, but then who could have blamed her? They had always believed him to be indestructible.

Sally had been called. They'd thought she was in shock, but all she had needed was confirmation. She'd needed to hear the words from someone she knew and trusted. Someone who knew him and thus understood just how ludicrous the words 'Heero' and 'dead' sounded on the same sentence.

She hadn't cried, not right away. 'How?' was all she had wanted to know because it still seemed surreal.

As it turned out, it had been his choice. He could have fled, but then he would have compromised the mission and Heero wasn't the kind that failed. Not anymore, not since Marshal Noventa. He must have thought he would make it even against all odds. Relena did not think he would have purposefully tried to end his own life, he just did not value it as much as others did. He never had. So he had risked it, he had gambled, and he had lost.

'Can I see him?' she had asked because she did not see how she could possibly believe those dreadful news without actually seeing his body with her very own eyes. Or so she had explained to the blonde doctor who had looked quite obviously torn by the simple request.

They had pleaded with her not to. Sally first, then Une and, finally, her own brother. Apparently, Milliardo had been the agent closest to the site of the accident and, therefore, the one to bring the body back to HQ. She hadn't listened to any of them, but she should have. It hurt to see him cold and bloodied and empty.

She cried that night. She thought she'd never be able to stop, but at some point she must have fallen asleep for when she opened her still puffy, sticky eyes it was already morning. It was a beautiful spring day, warm and sunny. It was supposed to be a good day, a happy season, but Relena had a funeral to plan. She had no obligation to do it, of course, Preventers took care of its lost sons and daughters, but he had been her best friend so she had insisted.

Her personal assistant, who had been in the middle of her vacations, had driven all the way to Relena's place to help. There weren't many people to call, at least not many that Heero would've wanted to be present, but she had been extremely grateful for the assistance. Her voice was hoarse from all the crying she had done so she had been restricted to making lists while Chris made the calls.

'I hope you would have been pleased.' She whispered to the ceiling as she went to bed that night. They had never really talked about funerals, after all they were still in their twenties… Late twenties, but nevertheless. She knew Heero was not religious. He hadn't believed in anything of the sort and probably wouldn't have cared no matter what she chose to do, but Relena did. She had chosen to do something simple which was just the way he'd lived his life, but sophisticated the way she'd always thought he deserved. She cared that his funeral did him justice and she had spared no money in making it so.

She had stood there from the very beginning to greet everyone who came. Their friends, their friends' families and Heero's co-workers. They had all treated her as if she had been his wife and he'd left her widowed. They held her hands, usually in both of theirs, and stared into her eyes with painful frowns meant to reflect her own feelings of loss. She had not cried though, not since that first night as she did not think Heero would have wanted her to. Instead she put on the most serene face she could manage because that was how she wanted to believe he felt and had always felt about the idea of his death.

Her mother had authorised her to bury him in one of the many Darlian family plots and, though she had the feeling he would have chosen to be cremated, Relena had had it prepared. His body had already been badly burnt in the explosion and she could not bring herself, for whatever reason, to have what was left of it set on fire again. As if to make it up to him, she had chosen the most isolated plot available so she could assure him a bit of privacy even in death.

She was present until the very end and, by the time their last friends said their goodbyes and left, the sun was already setting over the cemetery. Relena watched in silence as the skies turned red. It must have been late, but she didn't care for, whenever she looked down and read the name on the tombstone, the only thing she could do was wonder where her world of peace had gone wrong. Was it worth continuing down this path? Should she keep on fighting or would it all prove to be useless in the end?

When she could no longer read his name, no matter how hard she squinted her eyes, she turned away, preparing to leave. It was when she spotted Trowa standing a good three rows away. Her eyes were well enough adjusted to the dusk by then to be able to recognise his tall, slim figure and long bangs.

It surprised her to see him there. He had been gone for years and left no contact, so she hadn't been able to invite him. She hadn't noticed him before and he clearly hadn't been at the funeral, but someone must have informed him because there was no doubt as to his identity. She was glad he had shown. Heero would have wanted him there.

Trowa might not have been able to see her as well as she could see him for the sun's last fading rays were behind her, but he too had recognised her and could surely feel her eyes on him. If he greeted her, Relena could not see, but she raised her hand for a second, greeting him as she finally turned to leave. It was when he seemed to make up his mind and decide to approach her. Had he seen her tears? The tears she had kept from pouring until the very last minute? Until she had believed she was alone?

Relena fought the urge to run even though she knew him. There was no point. Besides she could not be blamed for crying at a burial now, could she? So she stood still and waited, hands folded in front of her body, for him to reach her.

XXX

He had been having an uneventful morning when he received the call.

'Is it a life and death situation?' he had asked right away, for that was the only condition under which he'd agreed to surrender his new number when he had left. He had wanted a fresh start after the war had ended and, though Quatre did not understand why he had to cut them out of his life as well, his friend had been forced to concur.

Trowa knew that he could trust him or he wouldn't have relented. This was the first time, in almost ten years, that he had called and it was – as specified – a life or death situation. Or rather a death situation.

'Trowa, Heero's… Heero's dead.' Quatre had choked on that dreadful word and if it hadn't been for that Trowa might have thought his friend was trying to trick him and burst out laughing.

'How?'

Apparently, he'd sacrificed his life for the sake of a mission. No one knew the details, except perhaps for Une, but no one had really cared to ask anyway. The funeral, followed by the burial, would take place the next day. Quatre would text him the specifics.

'I hope you come. He would have wanted you to be there, Trowa.' Had been his friend's last words before he hung up.

He'd been distracted the rest of the day.

It seemed only right for Heero to go the way he had. It wouldn't have been fitting for him to grow old and senile and die forgotten in some retirement home somewhere. It wouldn't have been fitting for any of them. But would he have wanted a funeral? And a burial at that? A man who could never be bound to a single place for long would now spend eternity in a tiny whole in a small cemetery. Would he really have wanted Trowa there to witness it all?

That day, for the first time ever, he had gone home early. And the next day, also for the first time ever, he had willingly taken half the day off even though he hated leaving his patients in the care of others. If there had been anything he still owed Heero, he'd now consider them even.

The drive to the cemetery took approximately one hour. He was very late, purposefully so. Showing at the funeral would have attracted attention, attention he could not afford to attract or it would ruin the new life he had built for himself. He'd get chastised and have to answer questions he did not feel like answering. So, in order to avoid all that, he'd decided to attend only the burial and to be so late that everyone would have already left.

The sky had just taken an orange hue when he parked outside the necropolis' walls. He saw the last of the entourage was leaving. Zechs and his wife stopped at the kerb and talked for a while. He seemed to be angry, complaining about something, forcing her to reason with him. She looked exasperated and, for a moment, Trowa thought he would walk back into the cemetery, but at last they got into their car and left.

It was only when he stepped inside the walls that he noticed the security staff, clearly Relena's, still present. He debated the idea of coming back another day, but it would've looked quite suspicious if he suddenly just turned tail and ran, besides he had skipped work to be there.

So he strolled through the many rows of tombstones as if heading anywhere but towards the only other living person he could see against the twilit sky. It was rather soothing, he found, the quiet atmosphere of that place, the eerie peacefulness that hovered over the graves. Maybe, if Heero had had the chance to choose a place to settle, that would have indeed been it.

He paused when he reached the burial place that lined up with her. She had her back to him and he was still three rows behind so he figured he'd be safe as long as he made no sound to alert her of his presence.

Time went by, the sun disappeared behind the horizon and yet Relena made no motion to leave. In fact, she barely even moved and he began to wonder if she might have had a stroke. The doctor in him urged Trowa to step in even though this wasn't exactly his area of expertise, even though he had never cared much about her in the first place. It was when she finally turned to leave and a sliver of light, what little remained of the sun's rays, touched her face that he realised she was crying that she'd been crying all along.

She glanced his way, perhaps she had sensed his presence despite his discretion, and froze once more. Had she recognised him? No, it was way too dark… Or so he had been trying to convince himself when he saw what appeared to be a brief rising of her hand. So his greatest fear had come to life in spite of all the precautions he'd taken…

Maybe, he reasoned, she would just forget she had seen him. Yet there was always the chance that she would comment to someone that he'd been there – the fact that he'd been hiding in the shadows would not slip her notice, especially not after he'd been gone for so many years – and that person might just be Duo or Quatre. In the end, the brand new life he had built for himself, so close and yet so far from the old one, would be ruined. He had no choice then but to approach and confront her.

XXX

Relena watched puzzled as, still a row away from her, Trowa stopped and raised both hands. It was when the cemetery's few lamps blinked to life and she noticed her security staff had closed in on him, guns raised.

'It's okay.' She assured them, wiping away her drying tears as discreetly as she could. 'I know him.'

As quietly as they'd advanced, her black covered guardians faded back into the shadows and Trowa lowered his hands, trusting them back into the pockets of his brown aviator jacket. The air grew stagnant as they held each other's gaze under the orange hue of the lamps. Relena waited, but he made no sign that he was going to speak. She had thought he wanted to give her his condolences like everyone else before him, but it was clear now that that wasn't so. His green eyes were cold, hard on hers, but she was too tired to care. He had been the one to approach her so it was only reasonable that he should be the one to break the silence.

'I wasn't here. You never saw me.' He informed at last.

Had it been any other day she would have simply shrugged it away and avoided an unnecessary confrontation, she might even have found the absurdity of the whole situation amusing, but on that particular day – after spending hours at the funeral of a man who had meant so much to her – her nerves were stretched to their very limit and his words, combined with the impertinence with which he spoke them, were all it took for her remaining composure to snap.

'What?' she demanded outraged. 'What did you say?'

'I said—'

'No. I don't want you to repeat it. I want you to explain to me why you think you can just show up out of nowhere after… How long has it been? Never mind. What makes you think you can give me orders? Or was that a veiled threat?'

Trowa was a formidable opponent, she noticed at once, albeit not a very eloquent one. He showed no reaction to her attack whatsoever, his expression remaining completely impassive, and, only once he seemed to have given his next move enough thought, did he take action.

'What can I offer you in exchange for your silence?'

'What can you offer me?' she shook her head perplexed. Had she missed something? Was this an alternative reality she had been transported into without her knowing? If that were true Heero's death just might make sense. 'An explanation would be nice.'

This time she thought she saw a flicker of annoyance cross his face, an urge to sigh or roll his eyes, but – if he really had any such urges – he resisted them completely.

'Not here.'

'Uh… Okay?' Relena was having a hard time controlling her own annoyance.

'A lot has happened. You're not in your right mind. I can see that.' He paused. Her incredulity was so great she didn't even know what to say and could only shake her head at him. 'I work at Edward Dyce Animal Hospital. Find me there tomorrow. I imagine you'll be taking a few extra days off? I'll treat you to lunch and we can discuss this.'

'Fine.' She said curtly, making it clear just how displeased she was. At least, she would have enough time to come up with a thousand questions she knew he'd rather die than answer. 'Tomorrow then.'

'Tomorrow.' He nodded simply and left as nonchalantly as he'd come.

Relena shook her head still unable to fully believe what had just happened. True they had never been close and barely knew each other, but for Trowa to just pop out of nowhere and threaten her… And on such a sensitive day at that. She glanced over her shoulder at the silent tombstone. Who was she to tell all that to now that her go-to person had departed? It was the first time she actually missed him, but it wouldn't be the last. He used to disappear from time to time, often for weeks on end, yet – even so – she'd never felt his absence as keenly as she did now. This time she knew he was gone forever.

Author's Notes: I don't think I've ever written a GW story in which Heero did not participate so this is a first for me. I feel like I'm going against the bro code here, but unless I killed him I just knew he'd steal the spotlight. Maybe the girl too. And we cannot have that, not this time. X/ That being said, I hope you, dear readers, will let me know what you think as we go along. And thanks, as always, for reading! :D

This chapter is dedicated to Relena for President without whom this story wouldn't even exist. She also happens to be this chapter's wonderful beta-reader for which she deserves a mighty thanks! I hope this story turns out to be as good as you seem to believe it will.