w i t h a s m i l e

c h a p t e r 2

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Here's chapter two! Many thanks to those that reviewed last time, I hope this fic continues to please :)

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"RELENA!"

The young woman had just got out of her shower, and stood shocked, clutching her towel tight to her chest. That voice, she hadn't heard it for so long... Her grip on the towel tightened, causing her knuckles to turn to an even more of a god-awful pale than usual. Almost subconsciously, she glanced in the mirror again and sighed. She was so far from the young, vibrant beauty she had been before. Why did he want to see her like this? Why would anyone?

"Go away, Duo." She said softly, turning to stare at the closed door. Hadn't the maid already told him she couldn't see him? Relena bit her lip, cursing - of course Duo wouldn't have listened. It was rare for him to listen to anyone.

"Relena!" She heard him call again, having obviously not heard her. A second later the door flew open, and she screamed, frozen like a rabbit caught in headlights. Duo ... the ache in her heart intensified, while a stab of fear flashed through her mind. He was so ruggedly handsome, so much more like a man than when she had seen him last. Why? Her mind screamed, Why did he have to come back? She wanted to run, to break down and cry, to be cradled and comforted in his arms.

"My thoughts betray me." She spat, producing a glare from somewhere beneath. From that little place inside that knew she should hate him with every fibre of her body.

His dark blue eyes, however curious as they may have been otherwise, could not bring themselves to leave her face. Bloodshot cerulean eyes, pale skin, the "princess" he had once known appeared so drawn and hollow ... What had he done?

"Relena," He whispered, taking a step closer. The past year and not been kind to her, and it was his entire fault. Did she even understand why he had done what he had done? He was sure that Yuy had never told Relena what she meant to him, how, everyday he would wake up, alone, far away from the Sanc Kingdom, wondering what she was doing. If she was in Heero's arms, sleeping softly as Heero (the lucky bastard) stroked her soft blonde hair from her face in a sign of affection that was rare to see. It had killed Duo, staying away from her to help his "best friend". And when he had been invited to Heero's birthday party ... it was murder. Literally, he thought with a sadistic smile tugging at his lips. He pushed it down.

"I'm sorry." He told her, watching as her face contorted into one that was straining not to collapse into tears.

"You..." She whirled around to face the wall with passion, as if merely the look of him disgusted her. "You ... I saw you do it." Finally the heart-wrenching sobs broke loose, wracking her entire body. Without thinking, Duo moved closer and pulled her to him.

"Shhhh... It's alright... Shhhh." He rocked her slowly, feeling the guilt that had lain down upon him for years escalate impossibly further.

"I saw you follow him outside," Relena choked, before pushing him away. The pain in her eyes shimmered, "I saw you call out to him, and the way he looked like he was about to strike you out of anger." She stared hard at the friend she had once adored, not bothering to stop the flow of tears, "I didn't know why he was so angry at you, and I still don't." She sunk to the cold tiled floor and wrapped her arms around herself, "But I know you killed him. I can remember the exact look on your face as you pulled the trigger, like a man possessed.

You were his friend, Duo," Relena cried.

"You were his friend …"

{…}

"Duo." The menacing growl of his name caused the playful brunette to laugh and sling an arm over my chair. He leaned close to my ear and his warm breath whispered something about how uptight Heero was. I wasn't listening too carefully – his closeness was making me light in the head. Or perhaps that was the alcohol. Anyhow, I giggled in a manner quite unlike my usual self, and glanced up at my fiancé, whose deadly serious expression didn't faze me in the least.

"Heero," I greeted him warmly, and gestured for him to pull up a chair. "Duo and I were just discussing you."

Heero rose an eyebrow and sent a meaningful look towards Duo, "I'm sure you were."

The shinigami grinned and slapped him on the back, "Long time, no see, buddy. I was beginning to think you were dead! That was, until, the papers crushed my hopes by informing me you were engaged." His laugh, chorusing with my own, was strangely hollow. Heero's eye's darkened, and I knew only too well what that look meant.

He was suspicious of Duo. But why? They had always been such close friends; surely a couple of months apart couldn't have changed that. And Duo was always kidding around … I frowned. There was definitely something deeper going on here that I didn't know about.

The two chatted a little more, in what I would consider to be a very one-sided conversation. I watched Duo's face meticulously, as if doing so would give me some kind of clue. Unfortunately, he didn't give anything away. He seemed the same as he had always been. I sighed in defeat, and lay a hand on Heero's thigh. He threw me a questioning look. "Could I talk with you for a moment?" I smiled sympathetically in Duo's direction, "It's kind of… uh… personal."

He shrugged, "Whatever you want, princess."

"What's wrong with you?" Once well away from ear shot I spun on him, catching Heero by surprise. "He's your best friend and you're treating him like dirt. I know you two haven't seen each other in –"

"Don't talk about things you don't understand." Heero cut me off, his tone low and serious. His eyes, as hard as steel as the bored into mine own were unnerving. I shivered, and moved closer to him for warmth. His arms drew me closer, and I sniffed into the hollow of his neck.

"Doesn't mean you're forgiven." I muttered.

I could almost feel him smile in spite of himself. "I know that. But you should know … things haven't exactly been "peachy" between Duo and I recently. He was staying away from the kingdom for a reason, you know." He had begun playing with my hair again, tucking it behind my ear and uncoiling the braids. It was an odd habit of his I had grown used to.

"Why, then?" I pressed on, "What went wrong?"

Heero just kissed the top of my head softly, "Do you trust me, Relena?"

"Of course." What kind of question is that?

"Then stay out of it. It's not a situation you should try taking into your own hands." His grip on me tightened, and I got the feeling that he felt Duo was threatening me somehow. I shook my head, he wouldn't do that. Duo was my friend. Our friend. I trusted him with our lives.

{…}

Duo had retreated into her bedroom, letting Relena dress in peace. If not peace of mind. He couldn't tell what she thought of him. All he could see when he had looked at her curled up on the bathroom floor was a broken girl – a mess of legs, hair and tears. Yet the feeling was still the same. The fire in her eyes hadn't completely died yet, and he wasn't going to let it extinguish. Ever.

He let himself lay back on the bed, and tossed off his shoes. She sure was taking awhile. Mmm, he could still smell her on the sheets, like flowers … and blood. Duo sat up straight. Blood… he could recognise that scent anywhere, but why here? He frowned; perhaps his actions had caused her more pain than he'd thought.

"Ahem."

Duo's eyes wandered up, and stared. Relena … God, it was a transformation. Here, here was the gorgeous girl he had known. Creamy, flawless skin, almost glowing, and her long blonde hair so smooth and sexy as it fell down her shoulders, no flimsy plait to hold in the school-girl charm. Her simple white sundress clung to her curves, almost teasing him.

"Like what you see?" Relena asked him dryly, "It's a wonder what make-up, a hair-dryer and a few items of clothing can do." She sat down on the plush cream chair facing her bed, as well as the floor length windows that looked out onto the Sanc kingdom.

"You're beautiful." He told her sincerely, leaning forward to lean on his knees.

Relena snorted, "Poor Duo, you never were the sharpest of boys. Even after seeing me like that before, you still believe this façade. Trust me; if it weren't for the media, this I wouldn't even exist. Actually," She thought aloud, "I doubt any me would exist." She turned her head and called for the maid. "Care for tea? That is apparently why you came, after all."

"You don't have to put on a mask for the public," He ignored her question, "They've seen you grow up; they don't care if you don't look pretty, or act proper."

Relena raised her eyebrows, "Perhaps not, but judging by the way I was shipped off to numerous amounts of psychiatric wards this past year, I've learnt it certainly helps to follow the stereotypical view of a princess. Or ex-princess, whatever they want to call me."

"Psychiatric wards?"

"What, don't you know what they are? You know, the mental house. Nut Cracker. Loony bin." She waved her hand around in a careless manner, "They have many names for it."

"But …" It seemed Duo was having trouble coming to terms with it. "You?"

"Mmm." She threw him a mocking smile, "And all because of you. Don't you feel privileged?" It wasn't really a question. The maid then captured her attention, and prevented her from noticing Duo's pained grimace. Never in a million years had he thought that … that she would … He shuddered. Were you really worth it, Heero? Was your life really worth the sanity of this girl before me?

Despite appearances, Relena wasn't the girl he had known last year. She was cold, bitter, and heavily depressed. Rightfully so, too, he thought to himself. He pushed a hand through his hair in frustration – what had come over him that night?

"Biscuit?"

Duo jumped a little, startled out of his thoughts by the question.

"Feeling a little edgy today, are we?" Relena said icily, "I thought ex-assassins were always on their guard … but apparently after you murdered my fiancé, there was no further need to be." Admittedly, although she had dreaded seeing Duo again (all the conflicting feelings were giving her a migraine. She'd decided that pushing all of them down save anger was immensely easier) some strange part of her had been looking forward to confronting him. Making him feel as guilty as she had felt. Even when she hadn't necessarily done anything wrong.

"Listen," He started, taking the cookie but not eating it, "I'm sorry for –"

Relena shook her head in disgust, "Don't say sorry! Don't apologise when you don't even care that your best friend is dead. You killed him, Duo, and when someone kills a person with that look of such hatred in their eyes, it isn't something they're going to regret." She stirred her coffee with aggression, the silver spoon making loud clinking noises against the cup. Duo glanced at it almost nervously, before looking back at her now-expressionless face. "As far as I know, there wasn't even any reason for you to have something against Heero. And most certainly wasn't any reason to end his life! Is there a reason, Duo?" She pursed her lips, "Or was it just something you did for kicks."

{…}

"Relena had to go talk with her mother. Something about the wedding." Heero sat, rigidly composed, on the plush silk lined chair, his fingers moving over the hand rest in contemplation. "You still love her, don't you?"

Duo's hand curled up into a fist. That's why Heero had broken up their conversation. "Afraid she's going to suddenly fall for me, Heero? It isn't like you to be so unsure of yourself."

Heero's dark eyes narrowed into slits, so this is what this "friendship" had amounted to, then. Fighting over some girl. Meh. "No," He answered carefully, "Relena could never love someone like you. What would she ever see in "the god of death", after all?"

Duo growled, deep and low in his throat. He was consciously aware of the priest's uniform he wore now, and could just imagine that smug smirk Heero must be holding in. Bastard, he thought. "She'd see a man that genuinely cares for her. Not some arrogant jerk that only proposed because if he didn't, it might just look as if he lost in a battle with his "friend"."

"I love her. And what's more, she loves me. What?" He mocked darkly, "You thought this was all about you? You, Duo Maxwell, have nothing to do with this, or us. Don't flatter yourself." It was probably the most words Heero had ever spoken consecutively. And he hadn't finished, either. "Now leave here. Don't come back. Relena knows something's up, here, and I haven't told her what. At least I've saved your dignity. She would've only rejected you."

His words, although neither of the two knew it at the time, would haunt Duo for the rest of his life.

"That's not true." He said softly, now, looking at his feet. "You've blinded her. You've blinded her to everyone but you, and you know that if given a chance…. You're not the one she would've chosen."

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Hope you liked that chapter, once again, thanks to those that reviewed, and I'll try to update soon.

Review!!!

-naitheas