Authors note: eeeee this is my first fanfic and i haven't written anything more than an email since i was in college (which was far too long ago LOL) now i am all nervous, please be nice!
and of course i do not own gundam wing or any of the characters...
Relena Peacecraft was hiding.
After 4 years as the vice foreign minister of the earth alliance she's gotten rather good at slipping away from her guards. She understands the need for constant supervision, but sometimes she feels like she is drowning. Sometimes she takes advantage of a turned back or some other pause in normal vigilance to fly free.
She has managed to free herself today, and has made her way to one of her favorite quiet spots; a lovely little indoor garden. Sunlight filters through the high glass ceiling, lighting up the motes of dust floating in the air like tiny jewels. The walls are camouflaged by an arched tangle of trees, flowers scattered at their feet. The dirt floor is carpeted with thick grass. A bench sits under the branches of one of the trees invitingly, and it is here that Relena sits, eyes closed and head back, basking in the sun. She knows she will be tracked down sooner rather than later and put right back to work, so she is making the best of this stolen moment.
She slips her feet out of her shoes and buries her toes in the grass, sighing happily. She shuts her mind off, narrows her world down to the feeling of grass on her feet and sun on her face. She listens to the gentle rustle of the leaves and lets it all melt away.
After almost 10 minutes of restorative silence a figure blocks the light from her face. Her eyes open to find reproachful blue eyes staring back at her.
"Relena. you know we can't guard you if you run away." he says sternly.
"Oh Heero," she sighs. "I just hate it sometimes, being stared at like a fish in a bowl. Everyone needs me to be something, and sometimes I just need to be."
He stares back at her, silently.
She looks up at him wistfully, her eyes full of her plea. "Can we stay for just a little while longer? Come and sit with me Heero, please?" He looks unsure, but when she tilts her head to the side and gives him his favorite sly grin he can't bring himself to disappoint her. "Fine." he says, "but only for a few minutes"
She gifts him with an enormous smile as he sits down carefully at the end of the bench. He watches her warily as she shifts a little closer.
"Do you ever get tired of watching over me Heero? Do you ever miss the freedom you had before? The freedom to go to new places, and see new things, to do whatever you want whenever you want?" she asks him, a solemn look on her face. After a few minutes with no response she casts a sidelong glance at her stoic guard, hoping that she hasn't put him off with her questions. "I'm sorry Heero, I know you don't like to talk about what happened when you went off on your own. You came back to save me from Mariemaia and then you went off again. I was worried you were gone for good, but then you came back. You stayed. That should be enough for me, I'm sorry I keep asking you questions. It's really not important."
Heero stares at the ground. He sits in silence for another minute or two before slowly saying "Relena. I was never free. What I do now, keeping you safe, it's important." he looks up at her quickly, meets her eyes and catches them. She is watching him as if he is the only thing in the world that matters. He looks away and says softly "Looking after you is something I am proud to do."
The touch of a small gentle hand on his knee brings his eyes back to her again.
Relena brushes a finger across his hand, clenched by his side. "I don't know if I have ever really told you how glad I am that you came back to me, Heero. How much it matters that you came back. How much I missed you while you were gone. How often I thought of you while you were away."
Heero shifted nervously on the bench, looking up at the trees above them. "I had to wash myself clean Relena. I had so much blood on my hands by the end of the war, I needed time to learn how to be a person who does more than kill. It wasn't a happy time, I just want to leave all of that behind."
Relena smiles up at him. "Heero, I think that is the most you have ever said to me about the time you were gone. Possibly the most you have ever said to me about any subject at one time, ever. Not that I mind. she gently strokes his knee. "I know what you mean even when you can't seem to say it. It never bothers me that you can't get the words out. Well." she looks at him sidelong and grins. "Maybe sometimes."
His eyes meet hers once again. "Heero. Why did you come back to me?" He looks back up to the sky, staring at the patterns the sun is making on the leaves above their heads. She shakes her head. "If you aren't ready to tell me yet then that's okay, but it's been more than a year since you wandered back into my office and informed me that you were now my personal bodyguard. You know I know why you came back, but I want to hear it. From you, Heero." She smiles at him sadly. "It doesn't matter how long it takes for you to say it, I'll always be ready to listen."
Relena closes her eyes and turns her face to the sun, trying not to think about how deeply she loves this silent strong young man sitting beside her. About how her heart aches with longing every time she is near him. About how badly she wishes she had the freedom to touch him whenever and however she wants. To hug and hold and comfort him, to ease his pain and sooth the scars on his soul. She hopes that one day he will let her in. He came back to her after all, didn't he? She knows he loves her, she is just not sure how much or in what way. All she knows is that she can never even think about another man because her heart is already full of him. Her gundam pilot, her assassin, her mysterious stranger.
She opens her eyes in surprise when Heero carefully moves close enough to her that she can feel the warm heat of his body pressed against her side. He looks out over the sun-dappled grass and quietly says "Relena, I came back because you are the only home I have." Her eyes fill up with tears as his hand finds hers and their fingers entangle. She leans her head against his shoulder, burrowing closer when he shows no sign of protest.
They sit together for a long sweet moment before Heero untangles his hand from hers and runs it down the length of her silky hair. "Time to get back to work, vice foreign minister." he says.
With a snort of laughter Relena stands up. She brushes her skirt down and straightens her blouse. She pauses in front of him and gives him a sunny smile. "I love you, you know. I always will." He leans forward to rest his forehead against her belly. Surprised, she hesitantly brings her hand up to rest gently and lovingly on the back of his neck.
"I know." he says, burying his face in her. "That's why I came back." Relena's heart swells as she leans down to press a kiss to the top of his head. She is so full of love that she is afraid she will overflow if she moves at all.