August 22, AC 202

When Zechs walked into the Vice Foreign Minister's outer office, the last thing he expected to see was Heero Yuy sitting on the floor, reading to a little girl and a small pink rabbit. Relena's secretary watched them from the corner of her eye, smiling at the scene.

Zechs couldn't help smiling as well. It wasn't what he'd expected to find in his sister's office.

"Babysitting, Yuy? I thought you, of all people, would have no trouble finding work after the war. Looks like I was wrong."

The girl glanced up at Zechs, squeaked, and ran to hide under the secretary's desk. The secretary's little smile turned into a scowl, but it was nothing compared to Yuy's death glare.

"And I thought you, of all people, would have something better to do than scare little kids, Zechs. Looks like we were both wrong."

Zechs snorted. "My sister requested an update on the Mars project, and I thought I'd deliver it personally. I've heard some rather disturbing rumors about her lately, and I wanted to see if there was any truth to them."

"Hn." Yuy turned away from Zechs, back to the little girl he'd been entertaining. "Get out from under Amanda's desk, Faith. She really hates that."

Zechs sat down in an empty chair. At least he'd be entertained while he waited to see his sister.

"No!"

"Faith," Yuy's tone was a little more commanding this time. "Get over here. Now. You don't want me to go over there and get you, do you?"

"No…"

Yuy sighed. "You left your rabbit all alone on the floor. I bet she's scared, too. What if this jacka—uhm, guy, is here to take her?"

That did the trick. The girl scurried out and rescued her toy. Yuy grabbed her and pulled her into his lap before she could take off again. She wriggled a moment, but finally surrendered.

"Mr. Bunny's a boy," she said. "I told you."

"The rabbit is pink," Yuy replied. "Pink is a girl color, Faith."

"No!"

Zechs couldn't quite stifle a chuckle. The girl, Faith, shrieked and buried her face in Yuy's shirt. He rolled his eyes, but gently patted her back, trying to soothe her.

"You're not helping, Zechs."

"I'm not here to help," Zechs replied. "I'm here to see my sister."

He shot a pointed look at the secretary, although she probably couldn't get the full effect since he was wearing his mask. She made a face and sighed.

"Ms. Relena's on a conference call," she explained. "It's going to be a few minutes."

"It's fine," he said. "I don't mind waiting."

Especially since it meant torturing Yuy for a while. Zechs respected Heero Yuy as a soldier, but he didn't care for him personally. From the way Yuy was glaring at him, it seemed the feeling was mutual.

"What disturbing rumors were you talking about, Zechs?" Yuy asked when Faith had calmed down a bit.

Zechs scowled, knowing that Heero wouldn't see it.

"The ones about my sister getting herself knocked up and eloping with one of her body guards."

The secretary stifled a laugh, and even Yuy looked like he was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

"News doesn't make it out to Mars very fast, does it, Zechs?" Yuy asked.

"What do you mean by that?"

Yuy didn't answer. Faith had demanded his attention and was whispering something in his ear.

"Go ask him yourself," he replied. "You're not scared, are you?"

She shook her head and hopped off Yuy's lap. Zechs watched her march up to him, dragging her toy behind her. She paused by his feet, then turned around and ran back to Yuy.

"No!"

"Well I'm not going to do it for you," he said. "If you want to know, you can go find out for yourself. Politely."

She huffed and walked back to Zechs. She stuck out her left hand—the rabbit was in her right—and looked up at him with a determined expression.

"Other hand, Faith," Yuy corrected. She shot him a dirty look, but switched her rabbit over to her left hand and offered her right one to Zechs.

"My name is Faith," she said.

"Faith what?" Yuy asked, earning himself another glare. He really was fighting laughter this time; Zechs could tell. The secretary wasn't even trying anymore—she giggled into her hand as she watched the scene unfold.

"Yuy!" she cried. "Daaad! Stop it!"

Zechs spared a glance at Yuy. "This is your kid?"

Like he needed to ask. Faith had the same brown hair and piercing blue eyes. Zechs couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it sooner. She had the beginnings of her father's dark glower as well. Yuy wouldn't have to worry about keeping the boys away from her when she grew up—she'd be able to do it herself.

"Uhm," Faith said, pulling Zechs' attention away from Yuy's smirk. "You're supposed to shake my hand."

"Of course," he replied, complying. She didn't have a very good grip, but she couldn't have been older than three or so. At her age, it was probably the thought that mattered.

"You're supposed to tell me your name, too." She looked over at her father. "Do I have to be polite? This guy doesn't have any manners either. I think he was born in a barn, too."

"Zechs, will you stop being a bad influence on my kid?" Yuy asked, clearly enjoying the exchange. "This is hard enough as it is."

Zechs rolled his eyes. He could imagine. There were reasons he wasn't planning on having children. But he thought he'd oblige Yuy just this once—it was entertaining.

"My name is Milliardo Peacecraft," he said to Faith, earning himself a confused stare. "You can call me Zechs. A lot of people do."

She nodded. Relena's office door cracked open and she stepped out, looking as polished and professional as always. Faith spun around when the door opened, distracted.

"Mom! Mom! Look, I made a new friend!" she cried. "His name is Mr. Zechs. I think he's a robot. He looks like a robot, anyway."

Relena went scarlet as Yuy and the secretary both started laughing. Zechs sighed. Thanks to Faith, he didn't need to ask about those rumors after all. News really didn't make it out to Mars very fast.


Notes: So, this is the oneshot I promised to go with Chapter 14. It isn't really spoiling anything, so I'm posting it now because it cracks me up. Just a math thing-Faith is really only two, but Zechs is no good with kids and she acts like she's much older, which is why he assumes she's three.