PAINTED REFLECTIONS

CHAPTER ONE: Memories of Light

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from this fanfic except the story line!

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The incessant rapping of fingers drumming keys mercilessly pulsated in the still moonless night air, whilst harsh cold wind made curtains billow around the room like stretching hands of death. The room was dark save for the faint light of the small laptop that adorned the wooden desk. The lone figure with his unruly chocolate hair and Persian eyes focused on debugging, filing and destroying countless trails of scripted information.

It had been 6 months since the night Relena had perished in the devouring fires of the night club, and Heero had since buried himself in Preventers work as a means to escape the consuming anguish that had turned to unrivalled rage. Perished. Often in early mornings such as these Heero would just cease all his work and simply contemplate. He knew Relena was alive, he was sure of it, and his work with the preventers acted as a pretence to his projects of searching for her current location and, most importantly, her safety.

Heero sighed. It was currently 5.27 in the early hours of a crisp December Tuesday. In exactly sixteen days the population would be celebrating Christmas once more, making the streets of the city of Kaiser particularly busy. Even at this time of the morning mothers and fathers were bustling along the streets, eager to get to work early in the high hopes of completing their tasks for an early afternoon of shopping mayhem. As Heero glanced at the soft flakes falling from the gray sky his mind continued to wander over the events previous leading up to his sudden seclusion and sullen moods. He continued to stare into nothingness, statuesque in his appearance, in a trance that he used as a substitute for sleep most nights. In about half and hour he would wake, and go about his morning rituals before beginning the cycle of work once more.

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"…It is during this time of the year that we remember most that Peace is not obtained simply through the actions of figure heads such as myself and the Colony Delegates, but from the people themselves. Each and every one of us is capable of bringing about a new age of peace and prosperity between the Earth and the Colonies; let us unite under one banner….."

The current broadcast of Vice Foreign Minister Winners speech to the Earth and Colonies alike was quickly snapped off by the young woman in flurry about her living room in a desperate attempt to finish her green tea and slip on her shoes before running out the door.

'I am definitely going to be late. You just had to press the snooze button 5 times before getting up. Well this is what you get, uncombed hair, wrinkled clothing and cold tea, because you couldn't wait for the blasted kettle to boil.' The blonde woman's internal rant to herself continued as she jumped ungracefully into her Nissan 350Z. The car matched the driver perfectly. The car, black in colour, was covered with a custom paint job. A tapestry of dark blues and greens outlined in silver criss-crossed and swirled to create an ornate image of a phoenix in flight, it's long lustrous tail and wings sweeping and engulfing the car.

The design concept was inspirational really. Relena had unintentionally come across the concept whilst delivering Riku to, what would become, his new home. The flamboyant city of Kaiser was home to one of the largest animal zoos on Earth, and consequently was an ideal habitat for Riku to stay. Although the parting had been one of many tears, Relena had been given considerable amount of leniency in terms of visiting hours, and had consequently become an 'experienced' tiger handler three days a week, allowing her to indulge in her childish pleasures of playing with Riku once more. This was her destination this morning, having being privy to such a close relationship with a wild tiger it made for wonderful entertainment for spectators to see this ferocious beast being tamed by the gentle, yet stern hand of a beautiful young woman.

The routine for today's exhibition would be a bit more interesting due to some special guest arriving to the zoo. Relena contemplated which universal figure head could cause such uproar amongst her pears. Every single trainer, volunteer and general personnel had been debriefed about today's events. The zoo would have additional security, the facilities had been cleaned to royal standards and each animal presentation had been overhauled with new and outstanding tricks and routines that each handler had taken months to perfect with their respective animal partners.

As Relena pulled into the staff parking lot she noted the large number of special services type security officers patrolling over the park before it had even opened. She was directed to a special holding place where security with special drug and security dogs would be expected to inspect her car before a special agent was used to park the cars for all the staff.

Relena's head was spinning from the huge amount of security that was encompassing her work. It did her head in that only a short time ago that a simple trip to the theatre would have caused as much upheaval. That's when it hit her. Like a flash of lightning her mind had registered who would be coming today, and who would be accompanying him. Her stomach was doing acrobatic flips of joy and despair. How could she have not known that Quatre would be coming to the zoo? His family was the sole benefactor for the whole establishment, and it was common for him to venture to this quaint city and observe the beauty that he had created. 'Stupid! You are the dumbest woman in the world Relena!' her nerves at having to face Quatre were a physical nuance upon her face, having turned several shades paler than her usual soft complexion.

"Jade? Are you feeling alright? You look pale!" exclaimed a fellow co-worker and friend of Relena.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks Nadia" Relena mumbled whilst placing her bag for the day away in her locker, "Just a headache."

"Please tell me you actually took up Scott's offer for drinks yesterday!" squealed Nadia.

"NO!" Relena exclaimed in shock. Scott had been working with Relena ever since she had started a short 4 months ago. He was a very handsome guy, tall, with short black hair that he would style into a series of gentle spikes or a cute Mohawk. His dark chocolate brown eyes were soft and inviting, and he was built like a Greek god, keeping fit through a mixture of martial arts training, gym work and ice hockey. He would often arrive at work with new and exotic forms of bruising and cuts which would lead to a humorous story about his wild weekends.

"He's a nice guy Nadia, but he's really just not my type." Relena said casually, whilst smiling to herself about the strong and sexy man that she had been dating a short while back.

"Not your type? Damn girl, what kind of sexy man must you be getting to shoot down the God of Sex himself?" Nadia mumbled baffled at Relena's obvious disregard for her hot co-worker.

These thoughts quickly brought her back to her current predicament of the awaiting crowd for her and Riku's performance. Relena was doing some finishing touches to her hair, which she had coloured a dark brown which had highlighted red in the sun, making her look even more exotic with her beautiful cerulean eyes, which were highlighted by the dark blue polo shirt that all staff wore.

"Okay." Relena sighed to herself, 'show time.'

"Don't worry, you and Riku will knock 'em dead!" Nadia replied cheerily waving her out whilst getting herself ready in her wetsuit for the seal presentations that would take place shortly after the tiger display.

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Quatre had just seated himself amongst his bodyguards who just happened to be his closest friends. The preventers had taken it upon themselves to send their highest trained staff to escort the Vice-Foreign Minister to this event today. Of course the head of the Preventers, Lady Une, had explained to the fellow pilots and their significant others, that today they would be expected to wear preventer uniform, however, they were also expected to have some fun, as it would be the closest they could get at this time of year to a sanctioned day off.

Heero had begrudgingly agreed to this 'mission'having been explained diplomatically by Une that unless he wished to be forcefully removed and restricted from all and any preventer work, he would take the day with his friends, and he would enjoy himself. Mumbling to himself about the waste of time this whole charade was he seated himself next to Trowa who was lovingly holding the hand of his now fiancée Catherine. It had come as a shock to all of the pilots and their partners, as everyone had suspected that it would always be Duo and Hilde who would tie the not first, however the deeply silent Trowa it seems held a significant well of feelings for Catherine, and felt that their long term relationship should be made a permanent thing.

Heero stared at the couples entwined hands and his resentment for the group just increased. He was about to stand up and walk away, consequences be damned, when the figure of a young beautiful woman emerged from the high bamboo looking fence at the rear of the enclosure. The group of close friends froze.

Heero was gaping at the girl who was staring as intensely back at him from her position within the enclosure. "Re-Relena?" Heero's mumbled question shot out of his mouth as he collapsed back onto his once vacant seat.