Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

A/N: So here we are. I apologize for the long windedness of my characters. If the paragraphs seem broken a little much, I'm just trying to make it easier on reader eyes because I have trouble reading long paragraphs. Hope you can navigate the dialogue.
Do enjoy. :)

"Our mother's dying wish was for me to marry someone I don't know," she said, softly. Her chest burned with sadness.

Milliardo began to flex and release his fist as he stared at the desk. "There's no telling what happened, here, Relena. She may have-she may have been under distress."

"You don't know that's how it happened."

"You don't know that's not."

"Perhaps," a third voice interrupted. "I can shed some light."

Relena turned to find Daimyo Chiaki at the door. Not so unlike Relena's behavior, he'd let himself into the office, unannounced. She turned back and continued toward the window.

"It was never Lady Peacecraft's intention to put you in this position, Princess," he assured her. The old man settled into the chair opposite the Preventer. "I'm afraid the entire ordeal is primarily my fault."

Relena turned her eyes on him, furrowing her brows.

The Master's cheeks burned, and he looked down at his feet. "I'm afraid I've made many mistakes in my life, my dear. Some greater than others.

"When my daughter was young and would tell me about her 'prince' or 'hero'-some young man that would win her heart and run away with her-I suppose I never thought anything of it. I suppose I just assumed she'd honor tradition.

"But she didn't.

"Somewhere in her teen years she got it in her mind that she was going to show me by falling in love and running away; and I got it in my mind that she was out to dishonor me and our family. We allowed it to become a war between us.

"So she got her way. She met a young man who was visiting from the Colonies, and after only a few weeks, she announced that they were going to be married." He folded his hands, straightening his posture. "And I did something-terrible."

His eyes met with Relena's hardest frown. "I disowned my child," he sighed, looking away.

Relena folded her arms and leaned on the wall behind her.

"Cho was your mother's friend, ever since they were girls. They were inseparable," he grinned.

"And after she'd moved to the colonies, she found ways to contact her mother and yours.

"I'd be lying if I said I handled it gracefully. I was so unkind. I just-" He gestured abstractly with his hands, his eyes almost begging her to understand. "I had a plan.

"I hadn't considered the consequences of my actions. I hadn't thought of a grandchild, yet. I just thought of honor, in those days. And so I dishonored us all."

Daimyo Chiaki shifted in his seat, shrugging slightly in disappointment. "My son-he fell sick. It was all over so quickly. He left his parents and a widow in his wake. He never even got to say goodbye to Cho.

"I did, after I lost my son, realize what I had done. I tried to make things right between myself and my daughter; but she wouldn't hear of it. Rightfully so, I suppose.

"I heard that she was pregnant, not long after your mother announced that she was expecting you." Chiaki rubbed a hand across his tired face. "I thought perhaps if I reinstated her inheritance, the inheritance of her child, she'd hear me out.

"But the government wouldn't hear of it. They would not allow me the opportunity to go back on my decision. It was nearly impossible. As far as they were concerned, my grandson was no longer of noble blood. He would never be allowed to inherit my land or my title. I had stolen it from him."

"But he inherits it, now?" She asked.

"No."

Both Relena and Milliardo looked surprised.

"No?" She pressed. "Then what-?"

"The State would not recognize my son as a lawful heir unless he reinstated his nobility through other means."

Relena stood up, away from the wall, her hands dropping to her sides. "-A prince?"

Chiaki's weary eyes met hers. "I spoke with your mother, and she was-hesitant. She didn't want you in this position. She helped me chase down every possible lead. But time was running out, and the World was about to plummet into a dark war."

The Daimyo stood up, volleying his attention from each Peacecraft to the other. "Please know that when I left your mother that morning, she was very much alive. I could see the fear in her eyes, but she wouldn't come with me. She was courageous. She would not give ground to her enemies."

Milliardo balled his fist, bitterly, looking away.

"It's a different world," Relena said, sharply. "Your land should go to whomever you name as your heir."

"And I've rallied behind that, Majesty," the Daimyo agreed. He stepped toward her, his eyes wide and honest. "But the new State powers are no more fond of the idea of allowing me that opportunity than the previous one. They simply see me as a custodian of their land. They want this village gone, and as long as the bureaucrats can prevent me from giving it as an inheritance, they will. They've reinstituted the old laws, so all they have to do is bide their time until I'm-no longer an issue."

"What about the people?!" She snapped. "The children?"

Chiaki sighed. "If you leave, which you may, I will announce that the rumors are true. I'll ask the older generation to adopt the younger. I'm sure most of them will. I don't know where they will live or how they will handle the inevitable separation. I have to trust them, I suppose.

"I knew I should have stopped years ago, but I thought-if I could only give them a home for a few years, at least they would have that."

"But if your grandson is a Prince, the State loses?"

"This has gone on long enough," the Daimyo said, evading the question. "Go home."

Several seconds passed between them as she stared hard at him. "I will," she said, coldly, sweeping out of the room.

The fire and ice pulsing out of Relena as she pushed past Wufei in the hall were more than enough to create the pull that turned him and dragged him into her room, close behind.

On her bed she found a small packet of papers full of the questions she hand been asked, but the answers were not her own. On the top she read a name that turned her blood cold.

Hayato Chiaki Isamu

"This is madness," she announced as he closed them into the room. "I'm going home."

"Okay."

"Don't bother arguing. It's none of my business how this whole thing turns out. I never should have been brought into it in the first place."

"Okay."

She heaved her empty suitcase onto the bed and began shuffling through the drawers of clothes, tossing things indiscriminately into the bag. "Prince," she hissed.

"Who's a prince?" Wufei asked.

"No one," she bit out, arching one brow threateningly. "And it's going to stay that way."

He nodded slowly.

"Don't even think that you're going to humor me and hope I don't notice. This entire thing is just-unacceptable."

Wufei stepped back slightly, folding his arms as his eyes bore into her.

She finally stopped, her muscles exhausted from the adrenaline. "Am I overreacting?" Relena looked up at him.

To any other man, the irony of the scene might have been amusing. Overreacting? There she stood, her ears still red and her cheeks patchy, surrounded by her clothes, strewn about the guest room. Her chest heaved as she caught her breath.

She was suddenly self aware, looking around her to take in the same moment. Relena dropped her head back against the wall, and sunk to the floor.

"Arranged marriages are dumb," she mumbled. "They're for people who are born into the busyness and stress of power and responsibility; who have a need for affection and no time to date and fall in love."

"Like you?"

Relena sighed. It was a sarcastic remark, she knew, but she had no witty response. "I'm in love," she tried to rebut, but she fell short. "What difference does it make?" She grumbled into her hands.

Wufei made his way around the bed so he was standing over her. "I was in love once," he said, casually. "It sucked."

Relena chuckled. "Really?"

"My wife."

"Who?!"

Wufei offered half of a smile, kneeling beside her. "My wife. We were kids, and they married her to me."

Relena blinked.

"She was pissed," he confessed, turning and plopping down on his rear.

"I would be, too," she retorted, laughing at the sound of her own comment. "I didn't mean-well-it doesn't matter," she confessed.

"I did end up loving her, though," he said. "Very much. I guess our elders knew us better than we thought."

"This isn't one of those situations," she clarified. "We were babies."

"I know."

Relena leaned closer, pressing her forehead into his knee. "They're ruined if I leave," she said, softly.

"That's not your fault, though, Relena. You have to stop taking responsibility for other people's problems."

She shook her head, not saying another word.

Wufei slept on the floor near the door that night. He knew she was upset, and he had come to understand how Relena's emotions affected her decisions and actions. True to form, Relena rose before dawn, tiptoeing past the Gundam Pilot.

The Daimyo was startled to see her, again, so early.

"I've made my decision," she announced, standing in his office doorway.

"It's five in the morning," he said sternly.

"I know."

"Have a seat," he answered, gesturing her in.

Hayato's questionnaire was in her hand, far more wrinkled and worn than she had found it only hours before.

"I see you've given the matter thought," he said with a smirk. "I do appreciate that, Your Highness."

"Stop calling me that," she mumbled.

Chiaki folded his hands, raising them to his lips. "Well?"

She tilted her head, slightly.

"Your decision?" He clarified.

"Oh. Yeah-" She looked back down at the pages in her lap. "I'm not-I'm not going to fall in love, again."

Chiaki took a cool breath.

"I'm not losing anything," she whispered.

"Relena," he interrupted. "Don't feel rushed on this decision. It's not that urgent."

"You won't live forever," she stated. "You could die tomorrow, and no one would ask any questions." Relena suddenly felt awkward for stating something so taboo directly to a new acquaintance's face.

The Daimyo smiled at her candor. "Very well," he said, not fully admitting that the same unknown suspense had been plaguing his own thoughts.

"I will take your grandson as my prince."

The Daimyo straightened in his seat.

"But know this," she continued. "I will personally overturn that law, and if and when I can, I'm walking away from this situation. I will save your village, but I will not lose myself in it."

A bittersweet smile crept across the old man's face.

"When do we close this contract?" She asked, coldly, folding the papers she held.

"We can hold the wedding this weekend," he answered. "Traditionally, it will only take one day to prepare you."

"Prepare me?"

"You'll be treated like a queen," he answered.

"Of course." Her response was less than joyful.