Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Gundam Wing Characters.
To come back…always
The shadows of the night stretched long over every surface. Through the windows the moonlight lit only a small fraction of the room making only well adjusted human eyes able to perceive what normally would have been unreadable.
His eyes shifted cautiously about the room and they rested momentarily against the small form of a body fast asleep on one side of a large bed. He traced the outline of the shadowy form. Its curves accentuated through the thin sheet that barely covered it. He sat lightly on the bed but hesitated to touch it lest he wake it.
He gave a slight smile as his thoughts retracted to a few hours before. As soon as the smile came a frown took its place. He felt stupid and immeasurable. It was a mistake. He turned away from the silent form and with one last glance back towards it, disappeared into the shadows the moonlight cast.
Relena Peacecraft had always been strong of spirit but she was weak of heart. She was a young girl when she first met him and she had loved him even then. When he left her constantly during the war the only reprieve she got was when he came back for her…always. Even when she thought all hope was lost he would be by her side, strong and brave. His strength was her strength, her ideals had been derived from him and for him. She wanted to keep him safe, so he would always be able to come back to her. After the Marimeia incident he left and she didn't see him. She kept strong her ideals hoping one day he would come back for her, because he could. The world was no longer in danger, yet something was keeping him away. She felt her world shatter with each passing day knowing she may never see him again.
All she had left to her was her work. As vice-foreign minister she was constantly busy, but she made sure she kept even busier. She was so busy; she never had a thought to herself, which was what she wanted. She didn't want time to think. Thinking was dangerous. It made herself conscious and it made her miserable. She began to think of everyone she missed and everything that had changed.
She would think of her brother, Milliardo. He was elusive from everyone, even her. He loved her terribly but like most men brought up in war, his capacity to express his feelings openly was limited. She lived with many men like this. Things one would normally consider rude was actually a stretch of affection for them. He was always away and he always kept busy. Every once in a while he would call in to her for some diplomatic reason or another, but there was always that lingering silence at the end where he would attempt to be sociable.
Lucrezia Noin had abdicated her last name for Peacecraft shortly after the war ended in a small elopement ceremony. As far as Relena understood she was pregnant with their first child. Milliardo had been very unforthcoming with the information and she respected his distance. Eventually, she would be able to see the new baby and she didn't chastise him for wanting safety. Unlike her, he spent most of his life avoiding the media and paparazzi and it was just as well.
She had no choice.
Her thoughts swirled to the other people who she had come to make an acquaintance with over the years.
After her mental breakdown Lady Une had attended clinics to help strengthen her self-esteem and awareness but nothing but her young ward, little Marimeia, helped more than anything. The young red-headed girl had grown into a young beauty. Already men were after her as suitors but Une was very protective of her. In some ways it almost seemed Une felt she owed it to Treize to watch over his only child, but it was more than that. The girl kept her connected to the world around her and it made her a better person for it. Although Relena hated it when Une overexerted herself she had become the director of the Preventors. Sally Po would have taken the position but she preferred the flexibility as employee. She also liked the flexibility of employee relations.
Chang Wui-fe had kept a wary eye on her since they first met, but stubborn to the bone it had taken a lot of initiative for him to make the first move and open relations with Sally. Relena also suspected that although he was a soldier he was also still a boy and Sally Po was a very intimidating older woman. He was probably merely waiting until he felt mature enough and confident in his own age to pursue relations. They had dated for so long Relena thought he would never propose and of course he didn't…first. Sally was patient but being older by a few years she was also worried about how much older she would have to be and eventually pushed him into proposing to her by goading him on, by pretending to insinuate she would be the one asking him. Eventually his stubbornness was his own demise and he couldn't face himself again if he let her do that and decided it would be best if he asked first. She accepted quickly for fear he may change his mind. They didn't even bother with a wedding either and Relena feared she would never get to attend a real wedding between two people who actually loved each other. The swarm of political engagements and receptions made her nauseated at all the fake facades.
There was only one person at such engagements that kept her in check with reality. Quatre Winner who had taken on his father's position as heir still maintained good relations with Relena. He was the most cordial of all the politicians and nobles. She couldn't imagine how her political career would have survived without his suggestions and his caring atonements. At one point she had even considered him for a possible suitor, but she knew their combined history together kept them well out of each other's leagues. Besides, he had his eyes set on Dorothy Catalonia. In his position she had the family connections and her own political standing to make for a very sought after companion, but they were often busy and it had only been recently that they had begun dating. Sure there was the political aspect of their relationship but he was impressed with her knowledge and skills in many things. She was impressed with his sincerity and honesty. Together they complimented each other. For a while after the war she had dated Trowa Barton, but he was too fickle and not reliable enough for her and that is when she came to realize Quatre as a companion.
Trowa on the other hand went from job to job. He liked working in the circus but he felt disoriented after his last encounter. He had left the circus in shambles and although the ring master had built it up again and was eager for Trowa to return, Trowa felt uncompelled. He felt unsettled resting in one place too long and often went from job to job until he made a standing record for longest employment with his present job with the Preventors. As far as Relena knew he still kept in contact with Cathy but she wasn't sure to what extent. Relena felt so out of the loop with everyone. Besides Quatre the only other people she really kept in touch with from the old days were the Maxwells.
After the Marimeia incident, it took only a year before Duo and Hilde got married in a small yet flaunting wedding. There weren't many people but it was a lot of fun. It was one of Relena's happier memories. They had already settled down and barely a year later Hilde was pregnant and then many months later the Famous duo was born. Two boys with as much mischief inherited in them as possible from their father. It was all Hilde could do to keep them reined in. Especially since they had recently added the addition of a little baby girl to their already extending family and there was little hopes of it stopping there. On the rare occasion Relena got a chance to visit them and it felt so nice and comforting to visit a real family and be involved in real family activities. She was so used to being stuffed up in her mansion all alone, with only Peygan to keep her company. Her old butler was her only companion nowadays it seemed. Especially when she longed for so much more.
When she visited Duo and Hilde it was all she could do not to be exhausted with happiness and reluctant at her own. She wanted what they had. She wanted someone to love and maybe even eventually have a family with. Her thoughts drifted so suddenly to Heero she had to jolt herself to reality. It had been five long years since Marimeia and his sudden disappearance but yet she still yearned for him. She knew Duo had seen him at least a few times in that span of time but he could tell her nothing. She had no idea why he had left her, again. She just wanted him to come back to her and rescue her from her miserable life.
Sally Po was her personal medical physician. And the long doctor appointments she was prone to mostly due to aches and pains related to stress was one of the only ways she ever got a chance to really open up to somebody. Sally was an attentive listener and she gave practical responses. Dorothy also served as a personal confidante. They worried for her health because she worked far too much and often a vacation was suggested but she always refused. She couldn't afford to take a vacation with all the work she had to do. It was hard to believe she was only in her early twenties.
If nothing else her talks with Dorothy helped her realize maybe the only reason she was in love with Heero Yuy was because of the adventure he offered. He was precisely the man that could take her breath away and the thrill of it excited her. Mainly it was just managing to get over him that was the hardest part.
But she doubted he would ever come for her. In five years since he disappeared she doubted he had even thought of her. He would not come for her unless she was in danger, but Lady Une, Sally, Wufei, Trowa and Duo made sure she was safe all the time. Wufei was with her mostly during the day but occasionally Duo filled his place and Trowa was often her nighttime escort.
She knew she was in steady hands, but she began to worry when her normal guard doubled and her private guards became more protective of her. Usually they were never within her sight especially Trowa, but lately they had been hanging closer to her, trying to act oblivious to the change and they crossed the line when Trowa had tried to stand guard inside of her room as a "precaution."
She became fed up with it and made it a point to bring it up with Une angrily. She hated being left out of news that pertained to her, especially if it was something important.
"Lady Une, I want to know what is going on and now!" She had very nearly stormed into Lady Une's office all the while trying to manage as much decency as possible. She stared at Lady Une levelly who merely shifted her papers softly and quietly knowing full well how angry Relena was.
"Relena, we thought no need to involve you in such matters. It…"
"We? Who are we? And what matters? I would like to know what is going on." Une studied her for a moment and shifting some more papers looked her squarely in the eyes, all the while keeping her hands busy.
"The Preventors received an anonymous tip that your life would become threatened. We have taken the necessary precautions in such a situation but have found no other evidence otherwise. I assure you the precautions are only temporary until we are sure of your safety." Relena was silent for a moment.
"Who sent the tip in?" Lady Une looked at her flatly and a hint of slight annoyance crossed her features.
"I told you it was anonymous. We have not been able to ascertain the identity of our tip." Lady Une became annoyed with the present conversation and handed Relena the daily reports and ushered her out of the room.
Relena was on edge all day and nervous. She could tell why the Preventors had not wanted to mention anything. They hadn't wanted her to know. She tried to console herself with the fact that she knew what was going on and that was better than not knowing and so like everything else she tried to keep her mind off of, she piled her work higher.
After her lunch break Wufei followed her a few steps behind and she walked to her secretary.
"Oh Miss Relena! The Delegates called and wanted to inform you that due to scheduling purposes their moving next month's conference up to next week." Relena stopped in her tracks.
"What?" She tried to scream the word but it came out as a breathless mumble. Her mind began to whirl. There were still so many preparations to be done.
Well at least I won't be able to focus on an assassination attempt. She thought to herself. Then she groaned to herself and spent rest of the day at her desk.
It was nightfall when she heard a knock on her door.
Duo came tromping in his braid swinging behind him. In the 5 years of peace he still maintained a sharp physique due to the rigorous training schedules of Preventors, but he had grown much taller and the angles of his body and face had become sharper and more defined as the last of his childish fat had slipped away. All of the ex-gundam pilots had matured and defined into handsome men. Well the ones she knew had anyways.
Heero.
She shook her head of such thoughts.
"Hey Lena, Wufei said you were still up here. What are you doin'? Shouldn't you be home asleep?" Duo said looking at his watch.
"It's almost Trowa's shift and he is going to be wondering where you are. Come on I'll escort you home." Relena was reluctant to leave after not meeting her goals but after being dragged far enough she decided just to walk on her own and followed Duo.
Every night for the next week seemed to be like this. She felt totally unprepared for the conference and cursed the delegates for changing schedules on her. She made sure of course not to show any intention of cursing.
This was her time to put forth her opinions and prove her worth to the people of the colonies and Earth and to the delegates. Many still doubted her ideals because of her youth and gender but year after year she had proved them wrong and she wasn't about to change now.
The ride to the conference was an uneasy one. She sat and rehearsed her speech many times in her head and under her breath. Wufei muttered under his breath at her ceaseless attempts. For some reason his mutterings set her at ease. Everything was as it should be.
Strangely it wasn't nervous for her to stand up in front of the crowds of people with lights and cameras blaring at her. She knew what she said had a purpose and she wanted everyone to hear it.
She felt her well practiced words flow through her eloquently. She looked into the eyes of the people, searching for some sign of approval. She searched around the room like she did during every speech and her eyes caught sight of a flicker of recognition. Her words still flowed smoothly although she tried to shake her anxious feeling.
She felt the hairs on her arm stand on end and then her eyes shifted to a spot were the crowd became restless. A shadow enveloped her and there was a loud crack and everything went black.
She awoke suddenly and felt a sudden spinning in the dark room she was in. Her head throbbed and she tried to open her eyes enough to find out where she was. She looked around the comfortable room and realized it was her own. Looking down the length of her body, she saw that she was still in the dress she had worn to the conference. She tried to sit up groggily and the pounding in her head increased. Someone had already taken her shoes off and she looked around.
She knew her headache wouldn't let up unless she did something about it since sleep seemed out of the question. She looked around suddenly and wondered where Trowa was. She hadn't seen him yet, but she guessed he was nearby. She undressed to get the weight of her garment off and took off all her jewelry. It felt better with her hair down and in its natural state again. Casually, she moved her hair around and gave it a couple strokes with a brush before slipping into a robe.
Her stomach rumbled in hunger and she knew she wouldn't be able to get to sleep without a midnight snack. She looked at her clock.
Well a two o'clock snack anyways.
She went down the stairs lightly and entered through the back entrance to the kitchen. She went to the cupboards of her kitchen and pulled out a glass. She waited until the water ran cool before filling her glass. She took a quick sip, but her ears perked at a distant sound. It was a low hum but as her headache began to dissipate slightly she could make out quiet murmurs. She moved slowly about the kitchen towards the sound that was coming from a nearby sitting room. Whoever it was hadn't heard her yet. She felt vulnerable but she had time to think of something quick.
There were a number of guns around the house hidden in case just such an emergency should occur. Looking across the kitchen towards the door where the sounds were coming from, she tiptoed over and felt her hand shaking. The glass of water was still in her grip. She leaned closer to the door and heard some familiar voices. There was a woman's voice, deep and thick. It sounded like Sally's.
"You shouldn't keep putting yourself at risk. You are still young and one day these scars are going to…" At that moment Relena had opened the door a little to see who had been injured and the glass in her hand shattered when it hit the floor.
Sally's voice stopped.
As the shards of glass bounced it scraped against her ankles and she suddenly regretted not wearing slippers as her toes also met the same fate. She tried to back up and ended stumbling and landing on her hind quarters.
"Relena!" Sally Po was beside her at once as well as Duo and Wufei. Trowa appeared out of the dark behind her but her eyes didn't focus on any of them. Her eyes remained focus on the tall figure partly shrouded in shadow. His unruly dark hair fell across his eyes making him all the more mysterious. His deep blue eyes stared into the depths of her soul and for a moment it was as if her heart couldn't beat.
He came back. After all these years. He came back.
She realized the others had gone quiet and she shook her head back to reality. She saw their sad attempts at hiding their feelings. There seemed to be a glint of happiness in each of them and Trowa for sure was supplying a smirk. She turned back to the tall dark figure. He was still there. Her mind wasn't fooling her. He started to step towards her and the others backed away hesitantly. He bent down slowly and took her small form into his arms. He had grown stronger since she had last seen him and taller. When they were youths their heights hadn't been too different but he had since matured into a fully gown figure and had reached his full potential. The expression on his face was the same mask he had always worn, so emotionless. He didn't stare down at her as she wrapped her fingers loosely about his neck as if the touch of his skin was the most extraordinary thing she could experience. A part of her had to keep reassuring herself he was still real and he was still with her.
She didn't realize how long it took for her to get to her room but he laid her gently back on her bed before she realized where she was. She watched him slowly turn on a few lights but instead of his eyes going straight to hers, as she wished, he leaned down and traced a hand along her smooth legs to find where she had been cut. He examined her thoroughly before turning and with a hint of hesitation heading to the mirror in her bathroom that served as a door into a small medicine cabinet. There were a few bandages in there and with a damp cloth he returned and began to clean her cuts and bandage them perfectly.
There was a lump in her throat as she fought back tears but still he wouldn't rest his eyes on her again. All was quiet downstairs or at least as much as she could tell, but her thoughts wouldn't tear away from him.
"Heero." She whispered so breathlessly she wondered if she had said anything at all. His head turned to her then and she knew he had heard her.
"Relena." He said her name. His blue eyes bore through her once again. She missed him, but she couldn't tell him and she didn't think she had to. She wondered if he had missed her. After a moment of looking at her he turned back to his work. She tried to gain control of her thoughts but the questions that bombed her mind were too overwhelming. Her pulse quickened in the anxiety of finding the right words but she couldn't think of anything. Finally, the words formed in her head.
"What made you come back?" He had just finished his bandaging and turned to look at her.
"You needed help." Her mind swarmed back to the conference and the loud noise she had heard and she became confused.
"The conference…I…" She was at a loss of words to say.
"There was an assassin. He was very good and he had been tracking you for at least a month. I'm not sure of his affiliations yet, but he was a hired professional." There seemed to be a smirk in his voice. Her old self was coming back now after the shock of him being there finally set in. All the anger she felt at being left. She knew he would do it, but she hadn't wanted to believe it. With no war she had hoped…well it didn't matter anymore. She narrowed her eyes slightly.
"You could have let me die." That smirk deepened and he turned away from her and began to head out of the room, slowly turning off the dim lights he had turned on.
"Heero." He stopped wearily at the door the silhouette of his body cast in shadow. His face turned a bit just enough so she could see the outline of his features but his eyes would still not rest on hers.
"Promise me you won't leave without telling me." The words echoed in her mind as she thought about the familiarity of them. He gave a slight nod as he shut the door behind him. She stared into the darkness for a bit before settling her body down for sleep. Her dreams were happy.
"Heero Yuy, what have you to report." Lady Une watched him from beneath her glasses studying him.
"He was a professional hired hand. I have some idea about who hired him, but he left no easily detectable traces." Lady Une sat behind her desk.
"You know my offer still stands with a position in the Preventors."
"I have always worked with the Preventors." He said sternly. Lady Une gave a smile.
"Yes you have, but never for the Preventors. I appreciate your anonymous tips, but don't you think Relena would be safer with you as her protector." There it was, the famous death glare. The Perfect Soldier stared at her mercilessly like a patient predator. Une did not give in easily.
"Look Heero my offer stands as always, the Preventors would be better for it if you joined us and so would Relena." Barely finishing her sentence, Une knew it was hopeless. Heero left her office without another word resuming his emotionless mask.
"Hey Heero!" Duo always energetic bounded into the hallway behind Heero his braid jerking across his back until it finally came to settle still. Heero paid no heed and continued walking on his way with Duo, still catching his breath trailing behind him hurriedly.
"Heero, slow down. Where have you been man? No one has seen you in a while." Heero grunted.
"He's been running away." As they rounded the corner Trowa stood cross armed against the wall. His hair covered his eyes and he looked up and met Heero's eyes.
"I'm not running away." Heero muttered. He hid his feelings discretely behind his mask.
"The war is over Heero, what have you been doing?" Trowa's voice was soft and the penetrating stare passed more than enough information between them. Of all the pilots Trowa could understand Heero the most. He was watchful and he was an apt judgment of character but more than anything he was more alike Heero than anyone else.
Heero gave him one last glare and tried to walk past him. Trowa let him but Heero had barely gotten a foot away when Trowa spoke up once more.
"The assassin may be dead but the threat is still at large. Someone should be there to protect Relena." Heero stopped for a moment his head turning slightly and then continued on his way. Duo gave a wide grin.
"That boy has still got it bad. I don't know why he fights it." Trowa smirked and walked away. Duo's words still echoed in his mind.