The Edge of Oblivion
Chapter Three: Yuy's Intrusion
January 4, A.C. 208
Early Morning
During the limo ride to work, Relena fidgeted with her cell phone. It was early in the morning, but she knew Timothy would answer her call. She had spent the entire night debating about whether or not she should tell him that her former crush was now working on her security detail. She told herself over and over that it was a long time ago, and that she had been over Heero before she ever met Timothy. "So perhaps," she said to herself as she tucked her phone away in her purse, "he does not need to know."
When Relena arrived at the Foreign Minister suite, she found Heero and Duo sitting in the waiting room. Sandy's office door was already open, meaning she'd arrived early. The administrative assistant greeted Relena from her desk, then gestured towards Duo and Heero.
"I don't know why they're here. They were here before I even got here," she said quietly. Relena smiled.
"Bodyguards," Relena said. The girl looked suddenly very interested and craned her neck around Relena to get another look at the two men. Relena saw Duo wink at the assistant, making Relena roll her eyes as she stepped into her office. She crossed the room to her desk, and heard Heero and Duo enter the office behind her.
"Good morning, gentlemen," Relena said as she tossed her bags onto the side of her desk. They crossed and stopped in front of her desk. Duo was looking a little more put together that morning, and was wearing his proper Preventer uniform.
"Morning, Princess," Duo said with a grin. He took a seat in the chair across from her desk. Heero remained standing.
"We'd like to go over your schedule with you so that Duo and I can plan ahead for our shifts," Heero said, very formally. Relena bit back a smile and sat down in her chair.
"Of course," she said. After turning on her computer, she printed off a copy of her calendar for the year and placed the pages on the desk in front of him. "You've chosen a nice time to become my security detail, as we are about to get very busy. This week we will be here, but this weekend, I shall be receiving a visit from Timothy, and we're going north to one of his family's estates on the ocean. The following Monday, my tour of the colonies will begin. So I hope you will all be ready!" Relena laced her fingers together and leaned back in her chair. Duo looked exhausted just from looking at her schedule.
"Why hasn't the government just cloned you yet?" Duo asked, pushing the printed calendar towards Heero. Relena chuckled and shook her head.
Heero bent over the printout, thumbing through the pages as if in deep concentration.
He glanced up at Relena for a quick second before his eyes flitted back down to the printed pages. In that quick instant, she thought she'd detected a worried expression.
"Heero?" she asked simply.
"Hn." He didn't look up.
Duo nudged him. "Yo. We're talkin' to you."
Heero raised his eyes to Relena's before angling his head to look out the nearest window. She followed his gaze to see a blackbird perched on a nearby tree, the serene nature scene perfectly framed by the ornate window trappings.
The way his jaw was clenched, his brows knitting together troubled Relena. She knew something must be terribly wrong, but for some reason, he didn't want to say anything.
Her voice dropped to a whisper. "What is it, Heero?"
He snapped his attention to Relena, facing her dead on so quickly that she almost felt whiplashed, just watching him.
"You're spending eight weeks touring the colonies."
Naturally, he'd dodged the question.
Relena just nodded in response to his statement. Heero said nothing in reply, just screwed his brows together again.
"So?" Duo looked at his friend quizzically. "What's the problem?"
Heero shrugged without breaking eye contact with Relena. "That's a long trip."
She shrugged, too. "It is. But I've spent longer periods of time there, in the past. This isn't really anything out of the ordinary." She clasped her hands together on her desk, leaning forward so that her face was just a little closer to Heero, who was still leaning over her. "Is there a problem with that?" She tipped her chin in slight defiance.
His gaze, unwavering, remained fix on her. Relena did her best to match his steady gaze with one of her own. Just like looking up the barrel of his gun- cold, hard steel. She would not falter; not with him. Not now.
At last, he broke eye contact, shaking his head. "No…" he said slowly, backing away from her desk. "There's no problem."
Still, Relena sensed that this - whatever "this" was - wasn't over. She sighed, looking back over the documents that littered her desk.
"Well, if you gentlemen don't mind…" She gestured at her computer. "I've got a mountain of paperwork to tackle and a ridiculous amount of email to respond to, so…"
"We'll let you get to it." Duo swept to his feet, but not before flashing Relena a grin. "But we'll be right outside if you need anything- just holler, little lady. Right, Heero?"
Heero planted himself in Duo's unoccupied chair, rummaging through a rucksack he'd brought with him. Relena couldn't help but smile at him privately as his head was bent low, noting that he still carried a backpack in place of a briefcase, taking in the slightly rumpled dress shirt peeking out from under his Preventer's jacket, the first few buttons undone, secretly delighting in his oh-so-perfectly tousled dark hair…
Unconsciously, Relena leaned her cheek into her right palm, her elbow on the desk.
Heero pulled a laptop out of his bag and booted it up, resting it on the edge of Relena's desk, which was relatively clutter-free.
"Heero?" Duo questioned, somewhat uselessly.
"Hn?" Heero didn't bother looking up at his partner.
Duo sighed loudly. "You, me- outside. Now?"
Heero just shot him an annoyed expression. "Not now. I'm busy."
Duo looked to Relena for help. That's when she realized he'd caught her staring at Heero. She immediately straightened up and shifted her attention to her computer screen, her cheeks flaming as Duo beamed a naughty grin over Heero's head.
Heero was, of course, oblivious.
"Ohhh…" Duo shook his head. "I get it. Same as ever, you two." He laughed, spreading his hands.
Sandy glanced up from her desk, frowning. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." Duo spun around toward her. "These two just want to be alone in their quiet, weird little world, that's all. Maybe you and I should go for a walk or something." Duo grinned at the younger Vice Minister, who blushed.
"Sorry, I've got too much work to do." She pointed at Duo's hand awkwardly. "And anyway, aren't you married?"
"Whoa, whoa!" Duo rapidly waved his hands. "I didn't mean it like that." He glared over at Heero. "See how much trouble your cavalier ways get me into, buddy boy?"
Heero was typing furiously. "Why don't you go find something to do." It was a command, not a suggestion.
Duo turned back toward Sandy, jerking a thumb toward Relena's desk. "See what I mean? These two…"
Sandy arched her perfectly groomed brows upward, then quickly schooled her features when Relena looked up at her. The Foreign Minister almost smiled at the shock scrawled across her younger colleague's face. Sandy had never seen the Foreign Minister with anyone other than the prince, Relena realized. And while she didn't want to start a scandal, she couldn't help but play along with Duo. Back to his old tricks, she thought slyly.
"Sandy, why don't you go show Duo the cafeteria?" Relena said sweetly. "I'm sure he's hungry."
Sandy glanced up at the clock. "It's only a quarter after nine…"
"I could eat," Duo announced, rubbing his stomach.
Sandy shuffled her paperwork and stood slowly, casting a questioning glance at Relena. "Um, all right…"
Duo winked at Relena before bounding out of the room. Sandy reluctantly followed him, mouthing something at Relena on the way out that looked like, "Girl talk?"
Relena smiled and bobbed her head up and down, mouthing, "Later."
She looked away from Sandy to see that Heero was staring straight at her. As soon as their eyes met, he quickly looked away.
Fire crept back into her cheeks. Had he been stealing glances? She couldn't help but wonder if there had been any affection in his eyes, although she knew she was being silly.
Relena sat there pretending to type something for a few minutes, then gave up and looked up at Heero again. His fingers were still moving fast, his eyes racing over his screen.
She cleared her throat delicately. "What are you working on?"
Heero frowned. "Just seeing if we can move your schedule around at all."
Now it was her turn to frown. "Why, what's wrong?"
Heero's fingers kept clack-clacking away. "Nothing for you to worry about."
Relena scoffed, almost laughing incredulously. "Heero, it's my schedule, and my job. Why shouldn't I know about it?"
"Because," Heero's tone was annoyed, "if there's something I need you to know, you'll know about it. Are we clear?" He glared at her over his laptop, daring her to say "no."
Relena relented with a sigh. "Fine." She attempted to turn her attention back to her computer, but as soon as Heero was looking down again, she glanced back up. She could see right through that gruff demeanor. Sure, it had been ten long years… but she knew him well before then. Knew him better than anyone. She knew enough to understand that whatever was bothering him ran deep, and that any roughness he displayed was all in an effort to protect her.
After all, she'd had the privilege to see him behind closed doors, in a much different capacity. And in their fumbled teenage attempts to create intimacy through physical closeness, that single-minded protectiveness of his still shone through. It made it difficult for her to know, at times, if he'd ever wanted to love her, or just take care of her. Or perhaps let her take care of him.
Such a short time they'd spent together, spanning just a few years but likely adding up to a handful of hours, Relena realized sadly. Maybe not even twenty-four of them, all together. No wonder she'd never felt like she had quite gotten to know him at his core. He had let her in, but only so far.
She, on the other hand, had given him everything. At that tender and vulnerable age, full of hope and bursting with emotions, she'd seen no need to hold back with him. She'd lived through a war; she'd lost people dear to her. Live in the present; that's what she thought. She thought he'd felt the same way, until one day, he just left.
A chill raced down Relena's spine; she shuddered. It was unnerving, sitting here with him so close. The palpable attraction to him couldn't be ignored; it clung to the air, static all around her. But with it came a rush of memories - his warm breath, rough hands, earnest glances - that made her heart quiver yet filled her mouth with a bitter taste. She bit her lower lip, remembering exactly how his tasted.
Air. She needed air.
Relena leapt up from her desk and went over to the window, attempting to wrestle it open. It was an old building and simply jarring the window open was no easy task.
"What are you doing?" came Heero's voice from behind her.
"J-just getting some air," she answered, frustrated.
And then she felt him right there, his face nearly brushing hers as he leaned over her shoulder, strong arms darting past hers. As soon as he'd opened it, he stepped back.
Relena straightened herself, smoothing her hair unnessarily; he hadn't even touched her, but it sure felt as though he had. He'd been that close.
"Thank you," she murmured, wandering back to her desk uselessly.
Heero said nothing as he shuffled back to his seat and the corner of her desk he'd commandeered.
Relena attempted to concentrate this time, all the while pondering why her former flame seemed to have no trouble at all occupying the same space as her. As if he'd never left.
Her thoughts drifted back to last night, when he'd stood just inches away from her, closing his hand over the one she'd clasped to her chest. The touch of his hand, so close to her heart.
"I don't want it to be awkward for you… I know I've been a terrible friend to you… Let me make it up to you, Relena."
Peering at Heero over her computer, Relena wondered how, exactly, he planned on doing that.
Sandy led Duo down the hallway to the nearest elevator, listening to him chatter as they made their descent to the office building's ground level, where the cafeteria was located.
Her mind raced as she nodded and smiled and pretended to absorb his rapid-fire banter, all the while wondering what was going on with the Foreign Minister- and her new handsome, mysterious bodyguard.
She didn't think for a second that Relena would cheat on Timothy, despite the strong impression that something was going on between the Foreign Minister and the Preventer. But what?
Sandy led Duo into the expansive cafeteria, gesturing widely. "We have pretty much everything you could want down here. What's your fancy?"
Duo's eyes lit up like a child's in a candy store. He immediately raced over to a table boasting platters piled high with assorted breakfast pastries and eagerly filled up a plate. Sandy couldn't help but giggle at the sight.
Duo pointed to a danish. "Want one?"
Sandy shrugged. "Sure. Might as well eat breakfast while I'm down here. Coffee?" She headed over to a state of the art espresso machine.
"Of course. You gotta eat breakfast." Duo grabbed a few oranges from another table. "Don't get into the same bad habits as Relena. Whenever I see her I'm tempted to force-feed her…"
The Vice Foreign Minister sighed as she topped off the first coffee mug, then proceeded to fill another. "It's a tough habit to break, skipping meals. There's just not enough time in a day. And with all the stress Relena's always under, it's no wonder she's gotten so thin."
"Yeah, she's like, half a person," Duo mused. "And she was tiny to begin with! But it's annoying getting her to eat real food. She won't touch anything normal… like meat, or pizza. Eating out with her is a pain." The long-haired Preventer pulled a face.
Sandy laughed, not wanting to poke fun at her superior, but knowing exactly what Duo was talking about.
"Relena and I almost always do salad dates for lunch," Sandy shared. "She's always saying how much she hates salad, but she eats it every day, anyway."
"Have you seen those green drinks of hers?" Duo plugged his nose. "Awful."
Sandy giggled again before turning serious. "Speaking of Relena…" She gave her bodyguard a shrewd look. "What's going on with her and Heero?"
"Hmf-ow?" Duo had a piece of donut hanging out of his mouth.
"Beg your pardon?" Sandy quirked an eyebrow.
He swallowed before answering. "Who knows?"
The Vice Foreign Minister frowned down at her coffee cup. "Well, you seem to know something…"
"Nah. I'll never tell!" Duo winked before attacking another pastry.
"Seriously? You were obviously conspiring to leave them alone, for some reason that you won't even tell me." Sandy attempted a pout.
Duo sighed dramatically, sending his bangs flying skyward. "All right, all right; you twisted my arm."
"That was easy," Sandy joked.
"Oh, yeah? Then forget it, little lady- I'm not telling you nothing." Duo stuck out his tongue.
"No way, you already promised." Sandy wagged a finger at him. "Besides, it's my office, too; I have a right to know why I'm being kicked out of it."
"You sound just like Relena," Duo complained. "Super-whiny… but persuasive."
"Um, thank you?" Sandy decided she'd take that as a compliment. "Anyway. Why all the secrecy?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Duo rolled his eyes.
Sandy frowned, lacing her fingers together. "Obvious that they're somehow… involved? Because yeah, I kind of gathered…"
"Not just that." Duo spread his palms. "They're soulmates."
Sandy nearly spit out the coffee she'd just sipped, stopping herself just in time. "W-what?"
"You know, soulmates? Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed lovers, fairytale kind of stuff? Yeah. That's them."
"I know what soulmates are." Silly, she wanted to add. "And Relena already has one. A real-life fairytale one- her own prince, with a castle and everything."
"Sure, she has Prince Charming, now," Duo amended. "But she and Heero go back way before that."
Sandy's brow crinkled. "Funny, she's never mentioned him…"
"Doesn't want to." Duo shrugged. "She's still pissed at him for leaving, I guess."
"And when was that?"
"Oh, about ten years ago…"
Sandy's eyes bulged. "That long ago? But… Relena's not that old."
"Nope."
"So they were childhood sweethearts, or what?"
"Yep." Duo nodded. "They met when they were fourteen, fifteen? Something like that. During the Eve Wars. We were all just a bunch of kids..." Duo's expression turned wistful.
"Wow…" Sandy could hardly believe what she was hearing. "So that's Relena's first love up there?"
Duo snorted. "I would assume he was her first, yeah…"
Sandy flushed. "And he's back as her bodyguard..."
"Yep."
"And… you think leaving them alone is a good idea?"
Duo waggled his eyebrows and whistled a little tune.
Sandy's face colored. She looked down at the danish on her plate, felt her stomach churn angrily, and decided she wasn't very hungry, after all.
"Maybe we should go…" she started.
"And break up their beautiful reunion?" Duo chuckled. "That'd be a crying shame."
"What about breaking up Relena's engagement to a wonderful man?" Sandy spat. "Don't you think that would be a shame? Not to mention a public relations nightmare. And after what happened with the President the other day, the last thing Relena needs is bad press. A broken engagement could kill her career." She jabbed a finger at Duo's chest. "And you're supposed to be her friend! Don't you care about that? Or do you get your jollies over her and her old boyfriend hooking up?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Duo backed up. "Relax, Miss Waters. I'm just kidding around. If I know anything at all about Heero and Relena, it's that when it comes to relationships, those two move at a glacial pace. I seriously doubt anything is going to happen between them now. I just like to give them a hard time is all."
Sandy relented, letting her shoulders relax. "Sorry. I should have known. You and Relena have been friends a long time, too. I guess it's sort of an inside joke for you."
Duo snorted. "Hoo boy, if I ever joked about this for real, she'd have my head…"
"Not Relena!" Sandy gasped. "She's a diehard pacifist."
Her bodyguard just chortled. "You don't know her as well as you think…"
Sandy puzzled over this as she traipsed back to the office. She was relieved upon entering the room to find Heero and Relena sitting in total silence, both apparently hard at work on their respective computers. If it hadn't been for Duo's oversharing, she might never have noticed anything was the slightest bit amiss.
The Vice Foreign Minister sat down at her desk and immediately opened her instant messaging program. She shot a quick message to Relena.
SandyAre we still on for lunch, as usual?
RelenaSure. I don't see why not came Relena's swift response.
SandyGood. Sandy frowned at her screen between keystrokes. SandyBut will we be alone?
Relena shot her a quizzical glance from across the room.
RelenaDoubtful. We have to follow the new protocol. We did sign off on it...
Sandy bit her lip. No good. She wanted to speak to Relena privately about Heero and get her perspective. It was only fair.
She braved another message and hit send.
SandyThere's something we need to discuss in private.
Sandy glanced up in time to see Relena's brow furrow briefly.
RelenaWhat is it?
Sandy almost sighed audibly.
SandyIt's about Heero.
She heard Relena's fingers furiously hitting her keyboard, and glimpsed the Foreign Minister's motions out of the corner of her eye.
Relena typing… The instant messager displayed. Relena typing…
She was obviously backspacing over and over. Finally, she apparently gave up, and stood up from her desk.
"Excuse me for a moment," Relena said demurely.
Sandy noted the way Heero immediately rose to follow her. Relena held a hand up to him.
"I'm going to the ladies room," she murmured.
"Oh." Heero seemed to mutter something to himself, sitting back down. Duo snickered.
Relena looked at Sandy knowingly as she strode past her desk.
"Ah, me too." Sandy jumped up. "Be right back…"
Once the women had safely absconded themselves in the restroom, Relena let out a labored sigh.
"All right. What did Duo tell you?"
Sandy placed both hands on her hips. "Miss Darlian-Peacecraft…" She clucked her tongue in mock scolding. "You've been holding out on me."
Relena didn't even blink. "How so?"
"Um, how about by not telling me that you have an old boyfriend for your new bodyguard?" Sandy shook her head. "That seems like rather pertinent information."
Relena sighed and opened her mouth to answer, then clamped it shut as her friend forged ahead.
"You told me that before Timothy, you never even had a serious relationship. That you only ever went on dates here and there."
"That wasn't a lie," Relena said softly. "Timothy was - is - my first boyfriend, in the truest sense of the term."
"So Heero doesn't count?"
Relena shrugged. "We were teenagers. We never really… dated. At least, not in the typical sense."
Sandy frowned. "No? Well, how did you meet?"
"During the war. He was a mercenary who went undercover as a student in my high school. I found out his secret. So he tried to kill me."
Sandy's eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean, he tried?!"
Relena just shrugged again. "He made a few attempts… aimed his gun at me and everything. But something always stopped him from pulling the trigger…"
"True love?" Sandy guessed.
Relena laughed darkly. "No, I don't think so. Just his heart. He couldn't bring himself to kill Duo, either, or a lot of other people who could have been his enemies along the way. That's the thing about Heero…" Her eyes appeared to mist over. "He seems cold, but deep down, he's kind, warm and gentle."
"I bet…" Sandy bit her lip mischievously. Relena rolled her eyes.
"I didn't mean…"
"Right. So what kept you two from.. you know. Being a real couple, or whatever? Besides his trying to kill you and all."
Relena sighed. "Commitment issues…"
"Yours, or his?"
"Heero was a soldier," Relena explained. "He was bred to fight, and for the longest time, it's all he ever knew. He never really had a real home; he barely remembers his family. Nothing in his life has ever been permanent… where he lives, his schools, his comrades... his friends."
"Wow," Sandy breathed. "That's awful."
"It is." Relena closed her eyes. "So imagine me at sixteen, trying to date someone like that. I mean… I wasn't exactly your typical teenager, either. We were both… damaged. But he had gone through so much more than me. So in a way, we had a bond, I guess." Relena's eyes opened, holding a far away expression. "But it wasn't enough to last. Plus my job made it nearly impossible to live a normal life… or something close to normal, anyway. So we had to keep our relationship under the radar, given the positions we were both in."
Sandy snickered. "Any specific positions, or was he pretty much good at all of them?"
Relena sputtered, her face turning beet red, and she turned away, trying to hide her furious blush. "Sandy!" she managed to choke out, covering her eyes with her hands.
Sandy began to laugh, the sound echoing around the bathroom. Relena pulled herself back together, and planted her hands on her hips. Sandy was doubled over, holding herself up with her hands on her knees.
"Actually, if you must know," Relena began, glaring at Sandy, "he was quite good at all of the positions."
Instead of stopping Sandy's laughter, it only served to make her laugh harder, and soon the younger girl was wheezing through her laughs. Relena scoffed, the blush still staining her pale cheeks.
"You are as bad as Duo," Relena said, flustered, and brushed past Sandy and disappeared from the bathroom.
Following behind, trying to control herself, Sandy walked out the door to follow her boss back to the office.
A/N: Thank you to the readers and reviewers!
-Relena's Glam Squad