AN: I totally ran out of Wednesdays before I knew it. Seriously, I thought there was another one in January. And then...I couldn't upload the chapter. How about a little weekend reading…?^^

Queen of the Stars

Mars
Five days to the royal wedding…

Zechs hadn't thought about where he lived in years. He was a soldier and he went where he was needed. Before, he stayed on military bases as much as possible and only Lake Victoria Academy stood out in his memory. Rare moments off duty were spent either at Treize's estate or wherever Lucrezia was. During the war, he went back to his family's home once on official business and twice in secret to check on Lucrezia and Relena, but he never could stay long. Libra he hardly remembered and Tallgeese he did, having spent many hours dozing in the cockpit between destinations.

The year at Ember and Rhodri's colony hospital he recalled in bits and pieces, either pain or drugged to alleviate pain, or recovering from pain. It was so much pain he did not like to count it except for it being the longest he'd lived anywhere since LVA. Mars was in the running, but their apartment on the Square was long gone, given to new colonists, and they'd moved into the telescope building. It was a choice based on necessity, not any real desire to live there.

It was not a bad set up by a long shot, just required a little more discretion. For example, acquiring a midnight snack meant sneaking into the kitchen under cover of darkness. Astronomy got its own dining hall when it was decided the whole team was taking up residence in the building. Everyone had private apartments, but the kitchen was communal. The risk was encountering a wakeful scientist filled with excitement about newly discovered stars, a mapped nebula, or a heretofore unknown planet tooling around a distant sun. As colony leader—his stomach tied itself in knots when he thought about being leader of a colony insane enough to chose him for the role—Zechs always felt duty bound to listen. It was like Treize lived in the back of his head repeating 'mind your manners.'

Fortunately for tonight, most of the insomniac staff was already on the roof. When Zechs and Lucrezia moved in, Toya Kiri decided to resurrect the old star-gazing parties from LVA. Six small telescopes were installed on the roof. Howard brought up a grill and a table. Every day for a week, Addison Cale 'borrowed' a chair from around the colony, including the main cafeteria, the hospital, and Zechs's office until he had enough for everyone. Lucrezia was in on it, too, sweet-talking Jomi and the band into one giving up two or three little speakers for a sound system. As per usual, Zechs restricted his involvement to one or two eye-rolls, a long suffering sigh, and allowed them to do as they desired.

Like at LVA, he made the trek to the roof at night because Lucrezia did. It had nothing to do with Toya showing him Earth gleaming like a blue diamond in the telescope, the impressive home-brew lager Howard devised, or Jomi's new songs. All of that was fine, of course; Lucrezia's presence made it better. If all they did was stay in the apartment and stare at the ceiling, at least he was with her.

It was Astronomy, yet since Zechs lived here, the Treize-voice reminded him it was only polite to offer to get drinks for everyone. The prince padded barefoot through the echoing kitchen from the hall that led back to the rooftop stairs. He scowled at the reflection of his face in the polished metal doors of the refrigerator, straggling bangs clinging to his cheeks and chin.

Zechs stopped and stared at himself for a minute. What possessed him to keep his hair this way? Maybe he ought to cut it. He twisted it back. No, that wasn't right, either. Maybe it wasn't the hair…or the face in the mirror. His appearance concerned him in so much as it pertained to whatever role he played at the time, yet the delicate, sharp-featured young man frowned too much. He tried to relax his eyebrows into a less-threatening position. It didn't really work. He was still too tall and too…pretty.

With a sigh, he let the hair fall back and tucked it behind ears that stuck out just a bit. At least the bangs covered that. No, he still didn't feel like a colony leader. After all those years of being in command, it shouldn't bother him so much which meant the suspected reason was likely the truth. He looked up at the ceiling. The faint sounds of conversation and music floated back.

Thus armed with a cooler and a blanket—since Lucrezia might want a blanket—he trekked back up the stairs. On the way he passed the door to their apartment. Although it was slightly smaller than the place on the square, he liked this one better. The windows looked out on the whole Village instead of just the square and the rocky planet beyond. One could even see the Tallgeese in the mountain. They had the same amount of furniture-one bed, two trunks (former shipping containers) for clothing, and a lot of empty space. The only time they seemed to have in the apartment was to sleep. If they were here, they were in a lab, in the main telescope control room, or up on the roof. If they lived anywhere, Zechs felt they lived at the Village office and aboard the shuttles ferrying projects and people around. His time in the sky was cut short now; he was needed in the Village more than ever.

The door to the roof was blocked open with a Fell Evershade Biomed shipping crate labeled 'lenses.' He shouldered his way in. It was a big square area—prefab building like the rest—with the telescopes and grill at the farthest end and the table near the building. Zechs dropped the cooler on the table and informed the group at large the beer was restocked. Toya lifted his head from the eyepiece to say thank you; the rest of his team was engrossed in a tablet and another scope. They were discussing the status of the storm on Jupiter.

Howard and Lucrezia were at the other end of the roof, the former kicked back in a lawn chair with a margarita, a blender standing upon a tiny table next to him. This was Howard's usual nighttime spot. He haunted the control room during the day. Lucrezia had her feet up on another crate and her eyes closed, a tablet dangling forgotten in her fingers. She used the rooftop time to work the same as he did, just like they used to study on the roof at LVA.

Addison's kids were the ones doing homework this time. The patch of roof they had staked out was covered in sidewalk chalk drawings, stacks of textbooks, and two sleeping bags. They eyed Zechs as he crossed the roof to his place by Lucrezia. They still didn't know what to make of him, if they should be afraid or not, but Trifine put down her book and came over anyway.

"Is the princess asleep?" she whispered politely. Lucrezia opened one violet eye and smiled.

"I believe not," Zechs replied.

"Good, then I can give her this. I made another bracelet to replace the one she used when she got lost on the surface."

Lucrezia accepted the new bracelet—white and purple cord this time—and said, "Thank you. I was very glad to have the first one. I'm sorry I had to take it apart."

"That's what you are supposed to do with it. The rules are, if you use it, you tell me the story and then you get another one."

"Thank you again, Trifine." Lucrezia put the tablet aside and got up to stand in front of Trifine. "I have a question for you, then. Do you know how many attendants I need in a royal wedding?"

"Dad showed me where to look it up. You need three bridesmaids and a flower girl in the Sanc Kingdom's tradition."

"That's right. I don't have a flower girl yet. Do you want to do it? It's important—when we all walk down the aisle, you have to go first. You lead the way."

"I go before you?"

"The bride goes last," Lucrezia nodded. "You helped save my life, Trifine, so I'd like it a lot if you'd be in our wedding."

Zechs thought Trifine was going to topple over from joy. The girl was normally pretty unflappable. She made survival bracelets and read books about tying knots, getting lost at sea, and living off the land. Her biggest wish was to swim with sharks and she pestered the terra crew daily about when the ocean might be ready for them.

"You mean it?"

Lucrezia's expression changed to one of regal seriousness that Zechs found irrefutably charming. "A princess does not make such a request in jest. Go ask your dad." Her tone reminded him of Treize.

Trifine almost fell over her feet as she raced over to the astronomers at the other end of the roof, yelling "Dad, Dad…I saved the princess! I can be in the wedding! Please, Dad?"

All of the astronomers made a big deal out of this, forcing Toya to give up on the storm discussion. He wandered over while Trifine was telling the bracelet story again and said to Lucrezia, "She got her biggest wish. She rescued someone."

"She's gonna be insufferable," Grayson warned them. "And she's gonna want you to sew emergency cord into her flower girl dress."

"Damn smart girl," said Howard.

Zechs fell back on the usual tolerant smile and stared up at the star drenched sky, shimmering faintly with reddish dust. The dome was gone, the atmosphere having passed the last of the tests in the past month. It was better without it. The air and the oceans working together were forming an original ecosystem with Mars. They were introducing bigger trees now, and animals. Trifine was going to get her sharks. And in less than one week, Mars was hosting its first state event, his wedding. The wedding of a lost prince to his country's missing queen…

"What…?" Lucrezia whispered in his ear when she saw him lost in thought under the silver stars.

"Just stargazing," he said. "Isn't that what we're doing?" It was not the kind of thing he wanted to get into with the others around, even Howard and Toya. It was not about trusting them. Out of respect for the princess, he had to save it for later.

Zechs waited until the star party ended and the last of the astronomy team slinked off to bed. Addison took the kids home first. Toya stayed the longest to pack up the telescopes. They could not predict weather here yet with any sort of accuracy. It was best to assume a rainstorm—or worse—could spring up at any minute. This night was bright and warm. A side effect of the current stage of the terra process was elevated heat. Mars was supposed to be colder than Earth in general, but the past few days were summerlike and nice. It was only at night when the temps dropped enough to need a light blanket.

"Staying up?" Toya asked as he took the last box to the door.

"Yes," said Lucrezia. "I still have reading to do. We'll put away the chairs."

"I'm turning in, too," Howard said, getting up and picking up the blender. "Gotta big day ahead tomorrow."

"What big day? You sit in the office and drink and bother me," said Toya with a grin.

"Yeah, that's a big day! I need my rest. Good night, Zechs…Princess." He winked at Lucrezia and followed Toya to the door.

"What I'd give for a day like that," Zechs said once they were gone.

"You'd be so bored," she said, going back to her tablet. "And Angharad would miss you," she added with a devious grin.

The CEO was staying for the wedding, not by choice, but for political reasons as Relena hinted strongly it would make her happy. Relena was still trying to force an agreement. She did not know yet that her brother was done negotiating.

"I told Angharad I'd be the colony leader to shut her up long enough to go looking for you. As well as that turned out, I should have stayed quiet." He shot his bride-to-be a glare. "It is completely impossible for you to allow me to fly to your rescue."

"That's my job," she giggled.

"Nonetheless, I have informed Angharad we will hold another election to confirm this. Prior to that, I must have a discussion with the charming princess of Sanc regarding the future."

"Charming?"

"Yes…" Zechs reached over, grabbed both arms of her chair, and dragged it and said charming princess around so she was facing him. Lucrezia stared in surprise; he pulled her closer until their knees touched and stared pointedly into her eyes. The surprise melted with her resolve; after all these years he knew what worked. There were some advantages to his appearance.

She glanced at his hands still resting on the arms of her chair. "Muscles," she said succinctly, touching his arm.

"Don't try distracting me." Her touch was soft as starlight.

Her hand stayed put, but she nodded. "All right, what question do you have for me?"

"You assume the question is for you and not Relena?"

"Relena…?"

"The Princess of Sanc…"

Lucrezia dropped her chin to hide behind her bangs, a surefire sign he'd made his point. "I'm sorry…it's just that she doesn't…"

"She doesn't think of herself that way, but you do," Zechs finished for her. Lucrezia tipped her head up to look at him, displacing her shield. He stroked the long hair back. It was almost all one length now—she hadn't cut the back part short since moving to Mars. It brushed her shoulders, curling at the ends.

"I'm not mad," he said quickly to forgo any doubt that might send her packing. Her hand trembled a little on the tablet. He took it away and put it down on Howard's blender stand. "I wanted to see what you'd say."

Lucrezia tried to glare at him, but it did not exactly work under his full regard. "Curse Treize for teaching you tricks like that."

"Not the point. And he taught you, too. You fell for that one."

"Fine… What is your question, my prince? Is this a formal thing or am I being seduced?"

"Yes and no… I do have a real question. And I need an honest answer beyond what you usually tell me about being my royal guard, so to speak. Which I also find charming, by the way…" he kissed her quickly. "So don't think I'm frustrated by that. Simply put, my decision regarding Mars depends upon what you want to do with this situation in the Sanc Kingdom."

"What situation?" Lucrezia looked confused. "There isn't anything wrong. I speak to Serena weekly and she never said there was a problem…"

"Except…"

"I guess…" she bit her lower lip, "the problem of electing a leader."

"And…?" Zechs leaned a little closer until his bangs brushed her forehead.

"You're going to make me say it?"

"Yes."

Lucrezia closed her violet eyes and cringed in her chair. "It's the same thing that is happening to you, here, isn't it? We all ask you over and over again to make a choice…and I have the same choice. That's what you're trying to say."

"Right," Zechs smiled.

"You don't want to be the leader?"

"I don't know what I want to do if you don't answer my question."

"I thought I did."

"Almost," said Zechs. He took both of her hands in his. "What is your choice? Do you want to be Queen?"

"I want to stay with you."

"I know. That isn't up for debate, either. We've already agreed on that." He touched the ring on her left hand. "My question is do you want to be Queen?"

"It doesn't matter if I do, Zechs. You said you don't belong in your father's kingdom…"

"That's just it. We wouldn't be in his kingdom or mine…we'd be in yours." Her eyes got even wider at that. It was nearly comical. The constant red tint in the sky brought out the purple. She was looking at him as if he'd gone crazy, his princess with the purple eyes. When she did not reply, only kept staring, he said, "Why is it more important that I get what I want?"

"I never wanted to interfere…"

"I know. A long time ago I asked for your help when I had nowhere else to go. I knew Treize left you at Victoria Base for many reasons, among them a place for me to turn if things got bad. I regretted it then and I still fell into the habit of leaning on you every time. And I never stopped."

"Don't," she said quickly, turning her hand underneath his and squeezing it.

"I won't, but we have to decide what we want. I made a choice for us again when I brought us here. I had important plans for you and Relena—or so I told myself. Then I realized I once again made the choice without asking anyone. Did Relena need me here, causing her trouble? Did I need to endanger you twice on the surface…all for a telescope?" He freed the hand she wasn't squeezing the bones out of and stroked her hair again. "I never wanted you to be in danger again after we fought Mariemaia's army, so I thought I'd take us here…but I should have asked first."

"You did ask."

"I asked if you wanted to come with me to Mars. I did not ask if you wanted to do this in the first place."

"Oh Zechs, I'd have told the truth if I thought it was a horrible idea."

"And you'd still be here, thinking it was a horrible idea," he finished, sharing a smile with her because they both knew it was the truth. "It wasn't horrible. I'm happy we came here. We helped build a colony. Yet I wonder if we should have."

Lucrezia's smile faded, her pretty eyes turned serious. He'd hit on something, he could see. "What…?"

I feel…" her gaze searched their interlocked hands, "I feel like I left things unfinished at home. My place is next to you and yet did we do the right thing leaving them when the goal…our first goal…was to restore the Sanc Kingdom? Not for politics, or to make a statement, just for the people who call it home? When I was on the surface I remembered the garden the girls from Relena's school restored for me as a thank you for coming back. They were so happy that one of us came back…and then…I just left," she closed her eyes against the tears and smiled fiercely. "I'm a very bad choice for Queen."

"You are the best choice. Why do you think your king decided to lean on you all those years?"

"My king does not believe he deserves anything to protect. My king does not know the measure of his strength," she smiled, but it came with a trace of sadness. It was what he told her all those years, tried to make her understand, and that he did not believe anymore.

Sometime in the past year he stopped believing it. Maybe it was Ember's perpetual harassment not to give up. Perhaps it was Rhodri and Toya, traveling all this way on his word to participate in what amounted to Kieran's grand science project. It might be Relena and Heero arriving out of nowhere and staying. It might have been Heero's silence about the past and focus on the future they wrested from the Alliance. Duo working behind the scenes to help them and Howard's forgiveness might also be considered reasons.

It was all of those things…and it was none of them. It was finding someone to fight for without guilt. There was no obligation inherent in Zechs's desire to see Lucrezia happy. Lucrezia, the girl with no name but a call sign, the girl with blue velvet ribbons who agreed to go to a ball with the world's most broken prince. The girl he leaned on. The girl he wanted since the first day she crossed his path at Lake Victoria, fretted about and waited for, and hoped to be worthy of—and probably wasn't.

"You gave up everything to follow me. There must be something left to believe in. If you will, I can, because I trust you more than anyone else in this world or the other."

She rested her head on his shoulder. "They never let me fly anywhere."

"I wasn't there to tell them otherwise. And I'll let you." Zechs said. He thought about what he would say to anybody that wouldn't let Lucrezia have what she wanted. He would put a stop to that if they went back to the palace by the sea. It was time he did a better job taking care of her. He'd have to make sure the observatory there was open…although it probably was repaired already as part of the partnership with Mars's telescopes. There were things he could do to make it more their home than a bad memory. They did not even have to live in that palace-there were eight or nine options if he remembered correctly-but he liked that one because of the ocean. They'd have to invite Trifine...only he did not remember if there were sharks in that bay.

"It's going to be hard," she interrupted his thoughts to ask. "Are you really sure...?"

She made it irresistible. "Lucrezia...don't make me repeat myself again." That made her laugh, and subsequently want to kiss him...quite a lot. Enough to abandon the roof for their apartment which, while mostly empty, at least had a bed, and did feel a lot like home at the moment. It was trite, but he knew exactly where he wanted to live and it was with her.

AN: I've never read a story where they end up in the Sanc Kingdom...

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, Zechs, Lucrezia, Treize, Relena, Heero, Duo, Howard, Hilde, or Tallgeese. The Fell Evershade Terra Crew is mine…and everybody wants you to come to the Royal Wedding…next chapter! Yeah!