Part III

A/N: Part 3! Part 3! I've gotten such good reviews that I just had to post this one…here's where things get interesting.

 Relena rose early the next morning, blinking sleep from her eyes as she dressed and made her bed.

 Funny, she thought as she pulled on a green sweatshirt. The servants used to do all this work for me, and all my life I took it for granted. Funny how, once they are dead, I am doing the work they once did for me…

 Shaking her head and grinning, Relena opened the closet and pulled out her raincoat, just in case it was still raining. Putting it on, she locked the door behind her and set out. She had wanted to go for a walk for quite a bit, but Heero had refused to let anyone out of the house while it rained so hard.

He does too much for us, my Heero. He works so hard, every day, and yet he still seems to be able to keep going, day after day. I wonder…what is it that forces him to go outside, every day, to search for food and other items? What makes him come back?

 Relena looked outside cautiously and saw that it had indeed stopped raining, and people were walking the streets once again. Relena set off for the food stores, which were abandoned buildings that had been salvaged. All the food that had been either found or recovered was there—for some reason, the non-perishable food items had been left untouched in the attack. Most were stored in underground cellars that were particularly strong—Relena had had one in her house.

I'll get some food for a real breakfast, she thought. And maybe get some more water, too.

 Relena remembered what life had been like, a few months ago. The war had been over for one year, and peace had been a normal part of life. Relena had been living in the Peacecraft palace, leading the people of the Sank Kingdom in a time of pacifism. Zechs and Noin lived in a small house near the palace, and Relena had made up the lost years with her brother and his new fiancé. Life had been perfect…until that morning. Explosions had shattered the early morning air, mingled with screams. The palace had crumbled to the ground, but Zechs had pulled Relena out of the debris. She hadn't been hurt too badly, but the three of them—Zechs, Relena and Noin—were forced to run, and run hard. When Relena had asked what had happened, Zechs had looked her straight in the eyes and said the four words that had changed her life forever…

 " Milliardo? What's happening?"

 " Nuclear attack. White Fang." He stammered, pulling her to her feet and, grasping her hand, running. Shots rang out behind them, and more screams of pain as the surviving people in the palace were shot…

 Relena sighed, bringing herself back to the present. That had been nine long months ago, and since she still had her life, and her brother, Noin and Heero, she shouldn't be dwelling on the past.

 Relena's eyes continually flicked back and forth, watching the streets. All of the other people in the streets walked like zombies—straight and slow, with their eyes staring forward and nowhere else. It made the girl nervous, and she continually looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was following her.

 However, just as Relena reached the food stores, a hand shot out from an alley that was beside her and covered the girl's mouth so that she couldn't scream. Another hand yanked her into the alley, forcing her against a wall. Relena tried with all her strength to escape, but her attempts were in vain. In her feeble efforts to twist free, Relena never saw nor remembered the three men who surrounded her or the gun that was pointed in front of her. She did, however, remember a loud bang, the sensation of dropping to the ground and a piercing, white-hot pain just below her collarbone…a pain that increased as blackness began to surround her.

 Heero…

 And then Relena knew no more.

 Several blocks away, Heero's eyes shot open wide and he sat up in bed, a sense of foreboding overwhelming him. Dread filled him as he crept to the girls' bedroom, where all the beds were filled…all but one.

 " Relena…" Heero whispered, feeling sick. " Oh god…"

 Somewhere, deep inside of him, a voice whispered.

 She is going to die if you don't find her…

 Heero closed his eyes, steadying himself on his feet.

 " Mission Accepted…" he murmured as he pulled on his raincoat and locked the apartment door behind him.

 Noin opened her eyes slowly, trying to savour every bit of sleep she could grasp. She shivered slightly and wished that she had more blankets—it got very cold when there was no sunlight, and in the mornings after rain or snow it was particularly chilly.

 Checking her watch, Noin groaned quietly to see that it was still only eight in the morning. Although she had gotten up at six every day since she had been thirteen, nowadays nobody had enough strength to wake so early.

 Damn internal alarm clock, She thought. Getting up at eight used to be sleeping in for me!

 Standing, Noin crossed the room to the tiny set of shelves that the girls shared and picked up a medium-sized, plain tin container from the bottom shelf. Going into the kitchen, she pulled the lid of the tin off to reveal a candle inside the tin. Striking a match, Noin lit the candle and almost immediately the smell of cappuccino filled the room. Breathing in, Noin sighed with pleasure—the scent was a favourite of hers, and this candle was all that she had left of it.

 Checking the food supplies, she saw that there was a bit of coffee left and preceded to pour herself a cup, watching the candle as it wavered in the early morning air.

 " May I join you?" a husky voice asked behind her. Noin smiled at the sound.

 " Of course, be my guest. I could always do with some company."

 Zechs walked into the room and poured himself some coffee, sitting across from Noin. She reached over and took his hand gently.

 " Good morning."

 Zechs nodded.

 " Same to you. Evidently your body, like mine, still says to get up or the drill sergeant will kick your ass," he grinned. " Not that it matters anymore."

 Noin returned the grin and laid her head on Zechs' shoulder, sighing softly.

 " This is so odd…living like this. We used to have everything, remember? Everything we needed…everything we wanted…"

 Zechs nodded.

 " Yes. Now it's gone. All of it…but we still have each other."

 Noin lifted her head off his shoulder and blew out the candle.

 " I think I'll try to get back to sleep, what about you?"

 Zechs opened his mouth to speak, but before he could make a sound Hilde burst into the kitchen, eyes red from crying.

 " Relena's gone!" she sobbed. " We can't find her, and her weather gear is missing, too! Heero went to look for her, and he…he…"

 Zechs tried to calm the girl down.

 " Maybe she just went on a walk, or something like that—to get some breakfast, or something—"

 Hilde held out a shaking hand to reveal a bloodstained peace of paper.

 " This…we found this…someone slid it under the door…"

 Zechs took the paper and opened it. He could barely make out the writing because of the bloodstains, but when he did finish his eyes opened wide and he dropped the paper.

 The blood of a princess stains the ground

But her life force shall remain intact

Bring yourselves, no more, no less

For it is you we want.

It is only then, only then,

That princess shall be set free

To find the bodies of her friends,

Dead at her hands.

Her life, or yours?

You must decide.

W.F.

 Zechs met Hilde's eyes slowly.

 " W.F…white fang…"

 Hilde managed a nod before collapsing to the floor in a dead faint.

A/N: See, I told you things get interesting. Sorry about the wait and about the slightly shorter chapter, but this was a good place to end. Please review, no flames, or I will get writer's block on purpose.