AN: (sheepishly peaks around the corner of the stage) Um… I'd like to apologize to my readers who have (VERY SPECIFICALLY) informed me that I don't update often enough, but who still love me even if I am a bum. :) I do promise to re-commit myself to not shoving this to the back-burner as I have done before. However, these chapters really do take much more time and effort for me, so I'm sure I won't be as speedy as we all would like. I am truly thankful to all of you who keep reading!

"Realizations"
By Isis cw
Chapter 13

"You two are actually kind of stuck, you know that?"

Relena sat at the picnic bench set up at the far end in the patio area. Ry was seated next to her, quickly becoming the next in the list of her friends who were creatively sniffing for information on herself and Heero.

"Stuck?" she asked, the incredulous note in her voice was enough to let him know she didn't appreciate the topic.

Ry turned towards her, placing one foot up on the bench and leaning into his knee, his brown green eyes sparkling with the mischief. "Well, yeah. Think about it, who else are you going to date?"

"Ry, we are not dating," she tiredly informed him.

He waved it off. "Yeah, because you can't go anywhere without the three of us mood killers chaperoning."

"That is not it." After all, the three of them had begun making more and more insinuations about the two of them since they had found out that her necklace was from Heero. Apparently the three had decided it was rather obvious for the two to be 'a couple.'

"Whatever," he grumbled.

Relena tapped her nails against the tabletop and then turned to look at him, curious enough to wonder at him. "What do you mean stuck?" she took the bait.

Ry held his hands up and gave her an odd look. "Come on, who else do either of you have?"

"Excuse me?" she regarded him evenly.

"Well, let's see. First off, we have 'Preventer Special Agent, Heero Yuy,' ex-Gundam pilot extraordinaire. The man's only resume skills are blowing things up, and preventing things from blowing up."

Relena tossed a hand over her mouth as she gave him a shocked look, shaking her head back and forth. "Ry, quit that," she muttered out finally. "That's not true." She quickly scanned the back area to be sure that no one would have overheard that.

"Oh, yeah," Ry made a production out of rolling his eyes. "Where else is he going to go? I'm sorry; I just can't see him taking the gardener position. Honestly, between the glaring and the whole 'silent and deadly' act, it still just doesn't take much to water the fichus once a week."

Relena mentally kicked herself for not being able to hide her laughter at that. "All right, that's enough," she stated, holding up a hand. "I will remind you that he is your superior officer… for good reason," she added, poking him in the chest.

He snorted, "Yeah, he threatened someone within an inch of their lives to not get the filing job."

"Ry!" she chided.

"Come on, the guy doesn't exactly have the personality to get the girls lined up at the door."

She sighed loudly at him, refusing to answer that.

"And yet, somehow, for some unknown freaking reason, he's dating the most eligible bacheloret in the Earth Sphere. Tell me how that happens?" he added, making wild hand gestures.

She tilted her head back and giggled, feeling half-embarrassed for even being in this conversation. "Maybe I think he's cute. And we're not dating," she added.

Ry's arms slumped straight down at his sides, and his whole body simply drooped. His foot slipped off the seat and he ended up sitting with one foot on either side of the bench, facing her. "You have got to be kidding me."

Relena laughed at him and then shook her head. "Alright, that may not be the only reason."

"I should hope not," he muttered.

"What's wrong with that?" she snickered.

"Something a little above the belt would be good," he muttered, which promptly got him yelled at.

"You keep your mind out of the gutter!"

"Whoa, deal!" he held up both hands, and the promptly dropped them. Changing expression he leaned in, "Cute?"

She sighed again, knowing that was not the best word she could use for him, and shook her head. "If Alli can drool over him, I think I'm entitled," she sniffed, remembering the last time there were here.

That got a reaction. "Really?"

Again she giggled at his crestfallen expression. "Oh, it's harmless," she assured him.

"Really?"

"Ry." She shoved him lightly until it jostled him out it.

"Fine, then," he grumbled before turning serious. "Moving on to you."

"Me what?" she blinked.

"Well, we've established that you're a very eligible young woman. And if I have to say so myself, also very cute," he reached out and tried to pinch her cheek until she swatted him away. "And we've established that you don't get out much."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, let's see. You can't leave the house without at least four officers surrounding you, not to mention that at least one of those wouldn't be all that keen on the idea of you going with someone else," he winked. "And you can't be seen with anyone under a five-point security clearance. That's not good for the whole dating scene."

She gave him an aghast snort. "You're suggesting that I'm dating Heero because it's convenient?"

"I didn't think you were dating," he chuckled.

"We're not!"

He laughed at her instead, but nodded. "You have to admit that your prospects are rather limited, especially since this gorgeous stud in front of you is already taken."

Relena shook her head. "You wish. And that could be rearranged if you're not careful. Besides, I did not choose a political career to flirt with my security."

"No… but someone chose an assignment with you. An assignment, I might add, that involves doling out those precious five-point security checks." He leaned in and wiggled his eyebrows at her until she burst out laughing at him.

"Ry, you're crazy," she stated, although she had to force down the blush that threatened to tint her cheeks at the thought.

He made a production out of stretching, "Face it, you're stuck."

"Fine," she held up her hands, "I'm stuck. Happy now? But none of that means that Heero couldn't go find some cute officer wondering around his building and dump me."

"I didn't think you were dating."

"Gaaa!" she squawked and threw her head into her hands on top of the table. "You're worse than Duo and I didn't think that was possible," she muttered.

"I really liked that guy," he stated absently. "He seemed a lot more fun."

She laughed and turned to look at him from her position on the table. "He has a five-point check, would you rather I dated him?"

"Oooo…" He shook his head. "I just don't think that would go over well."

"Ry," she picked her head up. "I am not serious," she emphasized.

He sighed, "You know, I just honestly can't picture Yuy using bad pickup lines at the coffee machine."

"…What?"

Ry waved franticly a moment. "Wait, wait." He composed himself, and cleared his throat. "So… you ever seen the inside of a Gundam?" he mimicked.

Relena's jaw dropped at the comment. "Quit that this instant!"

"You into the strong, silent type?"

"Ry!" Again she did a quick check to make sure no one else was around. If Heero heard this…

"Want to find out why they really designated me 01?" he cracked and laughed.

"Stop it!" she hissed.

"Did you know I used to be Vice Minister's boyfriend?"

She pointed at him about to say something, before she stopped. "What?"

"Hey, if he's good enough for you…"

She reached out and punched him in the arm. "Ry Noland!"

He sighed. "Anyway! My point is that I just don't see him all that into other girls."

She rolled her eyes. "Good," she sniffed.

He eyed her, "Not the least bit possessive of someone you're 'not' dating, are you?"

"Not at all," she stated. "He's free to date anyone he chooses."

Ry chuckled and waited.

She shrugged, relenting hopelessly. "As long as she's the most eligible bachloret in the Earth Sphere."

He shook his head and finally stood up. "I don't know which one of you is worse."

Relena continued to chuckle at him as he climbed out of the bench and then gave her a backwards hug. "I do keep strange company," she sighed, patting his arms around her.

He stood up and promptly stuck his tongue out at her as he moved off towards the main patio doors. "You coming?"

"I'm going to finish this first," she motioned to the datapad in front of her.

"You going to be alright by yourself?"

She nodded and waved him off towards the door. Turning back, she shook her head to herself. Why didn't anyone think that the two of them could figure this out on their own? She supposed they meant well, they just wanted to tease them.

Oh, poor Heero. What in the world would he think of all of this?

He sidestepped Ry as the man came back in through the patio doors, flashing a suspiciously goofy smile at him. Heero was getting used to that, especially out of him. Exiting the house, he slid the door shut against the chilly wind that swirled through this high-walled area of the patio that Relena was seated at.

There was a low chuckle from her for no specific reason he could find, and he paused, watching over her. Tossing her pen down on top of the papers, she ran both hands through her hair, holding the mass of it behind her head and tipping her chin up to the sky above the tree line, over the wall.

The sun was warm but the temperature was rather cool as the early winter weather turned continually colder. The trees were mostly bare, colored in a few clinging oranges and reds here and there in the row at the edge of the property. The afternoons were turning more and more overcast, and he'd heard a number of remarks that the cold rains would be starting in soon.

Heero had very little concern for the weather patterns of this place. It was just one of a hundred items that he felt he needed to find a way to get used to.

He turned a suspicious glance back to the doors that Ry had just entered through, wondering if that man was up to his usual remarks again. Heero was continually expecting comments from most of the people he was around by now. His group had been making insinuations since they had discovered that Relena's necklace had been a gift from him. He tended to ignore it, but Relena had trouble when confronted over such things. He wasn't sure why. He knew her skills for persuasive speaking.

Of course, she was more comfortable with the whole situation than he was still. There were a number of things that nagged on his thoughts. Mostly from outside sources, he was noting.

Duo's excuse for a 'pep talk' still got to him now and then. Not so much what the other man had said, but that his 'friend' assumed to know what was going on between them. And that he was right about it. Although, Heero had yet to figure out what Duo was so adamant that he do about it.

Even Ry now seemed to be attempting to coerce something into happening.

Was Heero just missing something again? And why did this have to be so confusing? The only person he felt like he understood in all of this was Relena, and that was mainly because she hadn't said anything on the issue.

Somehow he imagined that was who he should be concentrating on anyway, but the concern was still there that he just didn't have all the information available to know if he was in the right. How did everyone else seem to figure these things out?

There was very little that the two could manage as things stood now, regardless of 'friendly help' in the matter. A 'relationship' between them could not be made public and could not even get out that far within the Preventer ranks, or he would find himself in violation of his commitment to her as his charge. Heero had no intention of doing something to get himself reassigned. He didn't trust her security that far.

He tried to shake the feeling as Relena let her hair fall back down, moving back to studying the things she was working on. The thick strands of honey-blond tumbled down her back, almost waist length again. She usually never tied her hair up in the two little side braids that she had always worn when he first met her. But here she seemed to fall back into the old hairstyle as casually as she left behind a good deal of the worries and pressures that bombarded her in the Capital.

And it was oddly nice to see again.

The typical, low ponytail, or more formal twists and braids, she tended to wear now was professional, classy, the image that a Vice Minister should portray. He found he liked it better than the shorter, straight cut that she had done when she first took over the position.

Why he found her hair of any interest, he wasn't exactly sure. But he could honestly not help but notice sometimes just how beautiful she was. It was another one of those feelings that tended to tie up his thoughts since there was nothing more urgent to concentrate on. He was still learning to get used to that, although he'd long since given up trying to ignore it.

Relena was never a woman to flaunt her… attractiveness. Especially in her public role. She was modest, conservative, innocent. Her qualities were far more advanced than physical beauty. Her professional side was shown in her appearance as well as her manners. And her skirts had lengthened significantly since the end of the war.

Heero was annoyed with himself for that thought.

Relena meant far more than that to everyone. Sometimes he wondered if he felt selfish for knowing that he was special to her. What made him deserve that? That was actually a long question.

Irregardless, she was the one person in his entire life that he found completely incorruptible. In everything.

Except by him.

It was an old feeling. Something he'd had since before the war even ended. The feeling that he had gotten her into this, had destroyed her normal, peaceful life. Each time he thought of it, he knew it was incorrect. Relena would have been drawn into the war no matter what he did. But the young girl on the beach, who had mistakenly attempted to help a washed up soldier she didn't know…

But she didn't care about any of that. She willing accepted the failures in him along with everything else. Heero found that he truly believed that he was her single downfall. Her… love for him.

Maybe that was honestly what she meant by loving him. She was his, for everything that he'd done right, and everything else that was wrong. She wanted him beside her. And as much as he knew he didn't belong there, he stayed.

Because he was the one corruption of her. The single flaw that kept her human and not angelic.

Just as she was his single grace and conscience that kept him out of the fire.

Originally, those types of thoughts had kept him to himself, kept him from getting too close to her. He'd had no intentions of smudging her tenderhearted soul. But now… Now, it was that sharp edge of pride in him that was whittling down his belief that he would do her more harm than good. It whispered into his conscience that she wanted him near and that it was alright to be close to her.

It would grant her anything she wanted. No. It would make him want anything she wanted.

Heero thumbed the page down as he continued to read through the material. With little else to work on, he had brought up one of his course replacement texts to read through during his early morning watch. So far he had tested through all of his required math and science courses, which left him with a seemingly random assortment of 'humanities' classes.

He had officially decided that creative writing was not going to do him any good by the third 'recommended' assignment, and had forsaken the course for philosophy instead. It was a lot more reading, but it proved to have several interesting points, and he had noted a number of worthwhile authors that he planned on reading more in depth if there was a chance.

Still in his folder of test preps were two required literature courses, complete with an essay-writing manual. None of the material was difficult, but odd poems about being personified as butterflies and balloons tended to make him wonder about sanity testing for published authors.

He supposed that was why creative writing didn't suit him.

Currently he was a little more engrossed in Introduction to Sociology. A few of the ideas presented he found ridiculous and more like laughable, but for the most part he was finding it… useful. All information was valuable in some way, he assumed.

There was a rustle of movement that reached his ears and Heero quietly marked his place before closing the laptop and casting the room into darkness. It was a cloudy night and with dawn coming later in the fall and winter months, the only light came from the outside street and security lights.

He stood and slipped silently from his position on the couch, placing himself flat against the wall next to the library's first doorway. Nearly silent footfalls sounded on the stairs just around the corner from the room, but the sliding of the blanket along the carpeted steps made enough of a rustle to detect.

The pace skipped a beat as the target carefully stepped over the loose third stair, avoiding the telltale creak. It brought a half-smile to his face as the steps fell onto the tile floor of the front entryway. Bare feet were hard to track across the glassy flooring, but the preceding shadows gave away her position before she quietly slipping into the doorway with a little extended hop over the creaky threshold.

She stopped only a couple steps in, just in front of him, as she scanned the dark room. Relena gave a slightly confused sounding, "Huh," into the dim surroundings.

"You're getting better," he mater-of-factly informed her.

To his surprise, she didn't jump, but instead turned to regard him standing in the shadows next to the doorway. "Are you trying to scare me?" there was a definite smile to her voice.

Not the response he was looking for. "Yes."

She stepped a pace in, but then stopped. "What? Why?"

"You shouldn't be so trusting," he returned.

"In general? …Or of my security team?" she asked, coming up in front of him.

He blinked, knowing it was a tease. "At all times."

Her outline tilted her head to the side, "You don't believe in relaxing, do you?"

Mission failure. Heero internally sighed at the response, annoyed that she was missing his point. "You should be more careful in your own defense," he responded instead, figuring it was already a moot point. He had yet to figure out a way to get her to take any initiative in developing her self-defense skills.

"Yes, I should," she agreed with a nod, although he had a feeling she was being facetious. "But can you teach me to pick handcuffs later? I'd really like to talk to you," she softened.

That wasn't a bad idea actually… Heero shook it off and stepped away from the wall, curious as to what she seemed so bent on saying. Relena turned away and trailed her blanket over to the couch, taking a seat. This was apparently going to be a long conversation.

He followed after her, crossing his arms and standing beside her as she tucked her legs up under her. "I… want your opinion," she started.

Heero leaned against the arm of the couch beside her, watching her outline. His opinion? He rarely, if ever, offered to influence her decisions. He trusted her more than enough to allow her to come to her own conclusions. However, he assumed that if she was asking for something, he would need to try to give her an answer.

"The Foreign Minister has officially asked me to run with him in the election next year," she quietly stated.

He waited, keeping a careful watch on her through the dark.

Relena puffed out a sigh, and then raised her head, apparently looking up at him. "I haven't given him an answer yet, Heero."

He looked down at her, taken aback. "Are you considering not running?"

She paused, quiet for just a moment. "…Can I turn on a light?" she meekly asked.

Heero moved to the table aside the couch and clicked on the crystal lamp. He looked back to her to see if that was good enough and got a smile for it.

"Thanks," she blinked up at him. "I feel a little odd sitting in the dark."

Strange, he felt odd with the light on. But he stepped back to lean against the couch, still waiting for an answer to his question.

Recollecting herself, she seemed to twist her hands together under the blanket that was folded around her shoulders and bunched in her lap. The neckline of her pajama top was cut in V shape, buttoning high, but it exposed more than enough for him to note that the necklace he had given her was still clasped around her throat.

"I have been half-heartedly thinking of saying that I won't run for the position," she talked more to her own hands. "There's just a piece of me that wonders if it's worth it. A year of campaigning will be brutal and I'm more than a little worried what this will bring with it."

The thought of Relena not maintaining her position seemed strange to him, but he had always known that she was unsure with this. She said something a couple times to the effect of waiting to see what would happen when the time under her father's term ran out. It seemed that the decision was actually a year early.

He watched her face as she turned her thoughts over. In a neighborhood park somewhere in L2, she had told him that what she wanted from her position, her life, was to help others and to feel that she had a use. Did she believe now that she had another purpose that would outweigh this? It didn't seem like Relena to let nervousness have this much sway over her.

"What are you worried about?" he asked, trying to find her reasoning.

She looked up at him, her eyes calm but troubled. "The same thing that should worry you. My touring schedule will go through the roof, I'll have three times the amount of press around me as normal, and the media will hound us for every move I make. This is a non-Presidential election year, myself and the Minister will, quite possibly, be the most noteworthy race in the ballet box."

Somehow he didn't feel like that was what was weighing on her mind. "Security constraints will need to be tightened. We can add to the team if necessary." It was the proper protocol for such a question, but she didn't seem to take comfort in it.

Instead she focused back down in her lap. "I'm not worried so much about my safety, Heero."

That came as no surprise to him.

"…I'm worried about you and the team. I'm worried about how this will affect everyone. This may sound immature, but I just don't know that I want to put everyone through that," she admitted.

Heero silently scrutinized her words, finding that he didn't expect anything less from her. She was placing herself second to those who were here to protect her. There wouldn't even be a team if she did not hold the position she had… or at least some position. And Relena would not be happy outside of the realm of government. He knew that. She had found a purpose in politics, and she was very good at what she did.

She had told him that she thought she was selfish for believing that no one else could do her job. But she was right. Her name, and mere physical presence, resolved more tension and harsh words than he would have thought possible if he had not seen it happen so many times. He had finally begun to understand the significance of his own name-sake.

Heero Yuy, the last great bridge between Earth and the Colonies. Relena's father had been cut down before he achieved the same status. But Relena, she had that and then some. She had opened the floodgates. And had, wisely, created the way for many others to do the same type of work.

Although none compared to her, it meant that it would be harder for someone to destroy the ties that now bound them together.

"Can you walk away?" he softly asked.

She raised her chin to look up at him, her eyes searching his for a moment. "If it means sparing you, yes."

"I'm not in this decision," he specifically refuted her, wondering why she was even thinking like this. "I've promised you before that I will stay with you."

Relena stared up at the man in front of her, feeling her heart swell at the words. But she also felt herself shrink, feeling stupid for even debating this. She had never had any doubt that Heero would follow her, no matter where, she had only worried that he wouldn't want to.

The simple fact was that he didn't care.

She should know by now that there was nothing he couldn't do. Facing down an election year was not the same as facing an armed enemy, but he would take it with just as much certainty and forcefulness. Her thoughts, her planned words and questions, disappeared.

Leave it to Heero to displace her entire, neatly planned, speech with one lousy sentence.

She closed her eyes with a smile, mildly chuckling to herself. "Thank you." She meant it, more than he would probably understand. Sliding her feet to the floor again, she unwrapped herself out of her blanket and stood up. He let her pull her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

He returned it, saying nothing and probably at a loss to understand her again. Well, that made two of them, so why bother?

She pulled back some to stand in his arms, not daring to misuse these types of quiet moments. She would have to burn them into her memory for a while. Although he was awfully resourceful, she figured they would be few and far between for a while.

The thought didn't dim her heart though, her fears washing carelessly away. They would find a way, and she knew they would only grow from it. And when everything settled down again she would wonder why she'd been worried.

She felt his bangs brush her forehead and she leaned into him, tipping her face up so that their foreheads met. Maybe Dorothy was right about there being certain touches that were special to different people. As odd as it sounded, Relena couldn't help herself from wondering about her friend's words every now and then. It was… fun. And harmless.

Getting the idea she bit her lip at the thought, before she found her courage and slipped one hand up to run her fingers over the hair at the back of his neck. Opening her eyes she watched what she could of him…

No reaction.

Well, worth a try she supposed. She slipped the hand back to his shoulder and closed her eyes again. "I don't know how I'd get through this without you," she whispered, feeling somehow that she needed to find a way to truly thank him for being beside her.

"You would," he quietly responded.

He always had too much confidence in her. Why didn't he ever see that he was her strength? She revolved around him.

Relena felt him shift and she opened her eyes to look up at him, that soft expression of care etched so deep that she couldn't help but smile. He may never send her mushy Valentine's cards, but she had everything she needed from him in that look.

She hugged him tight again and moved her head to his shoulder, knowing that she didn't get enough of this. Suddenly she wished she hadn't asked him to turn the light on, almost hoping for a cover of darkness around them. She slipped an arm away, sliding down to his chest; feeling snuggled into his warm arms.

But he shifted, pulling away one of his arms as well and raising his hand between them to cover her hand over his heart. Relena felt him pull away just a little as his free arm held her tight around the waist. She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up at him only long enough to figure out his intentions.

Heero tilted his face down to hers and captured her lips with his. In her own mind she giggled shyly. He was getting much more comfortable with this, and she would never be one to complain. She couldn't help her response as she felt the power of his arm around her and his hand tightly holding hers against his chest.

Now and then she would realize how controlled he was. How strong, and yet how consciously gentle he was. It was not a feeling that she had anywhere else, and it was becoming something that she longed for. Something she felt she surrendered to with no hesitation.

His lips pulled away from hers and she left her eyes closed, continuing to feel his touch even now. She felt just a little squeeze of his hand around hers, and she let herself smile. Maybe Dorothy did know what she was talking about.

"Relena?" He was the only one that pronounced her name like that…

The whispered question brought her eyes open to look at him. His eyes searched hers and she decisively agreed that her favorite color would always be dark blue. "Hm?" she sighed.

That must have come out a little more dreamy than she thought it did, because she noted the distinctly amused expression that entered his eyes and turned a smirk up on his face. She closed her eyes, giving him an embarrassed smile.

She actually heard the soft chuckle from him at her actions, which was enough to make her laugh at herself too. He didn't laugh nearly often enough, but she loved it when he did… even if it was at her expense.

She sheepishly looked back up at him, finding a smile, and couldn't help but return it. If possible, he tucked her in closer, pressing them together against their hands that were still between them. Relena easily accepted his kiss as he leaned into her again, sweetly soothing the embarrassed blush out of her checks for a more intimate flush.

She was acutely aware that the back of his hand was pressed rather close a part of her anatomy that she tended to be very closely guarded of. Drawing attention to that would not be beneficial though, and she willed the heat in her face to go away as she tried to put her mind into concentrating on the soft touch of his lips.

They pulled away, and she nuzzled his check a little as she moved her face into the crook of his neck, attempting to hide the thoughts swimming through her. His cheek lightly brushed hers and she stood completely unmoving in his arms, wishing dawn would never come.

"I must be doing something right," he whispered in her ear.

Relena blinked her eyes open, but didn't move from her place. Did the man ever do anything wrong? "What do you mean?" she whispered back, a smile coming at the idea of the comment.

She felt his free hand move a little to rub her side where he held her. "I still don't feel like I know what I'm doing," he softly admitted.

She wondered a moment if that was something that troubled him still. Figuring she didn't know how to ask that, she moved enough to peck a lingering kiss on his cheek, before moving back to his ear. "Trust your heart. I certainly do," she breathed, rubbing her hand over his chest, as much as she could in his hold, for emphasis.

He leaned into her heavier, and she placed her cheek against his, hoping that would reassure him.

"I love you," she barely whispered, closing her eyes.

Duo's voice perked up from the phone line. "We can kidnap her and hold her for ransom. Then when Heero gets there he can rescue her and be all 'I thought I lost you'!"

Dorothy sighed, "I already thought of that. The problem is Wufei and the other fifty Preventers with him would shoot us dead before we could say it was a joke."

"…Why do all of our plans end up with us dead?"

"I know. It's getting depressing."

"Anonymous bomb threat?" he tried.

"Seven to ten years."

There was a colorful curse as the phone disconnected once again.

"Heero?"

He turned at the top of the stairs, looking back to find Mrs. Darlian's smile as she quickly paced towards him. He couldn't help but give her a smirk of a smile in return. Somehow the woman had a way of getting it out of him.

He would have to admit that she was quickly finding a place in his confidence. She, much like her adopted daughter, had found a way to make him trust her, and he held her in a place of respect for her concern for anyone who set foot under her care. It was… nice.

"I have no idea how appropriate this is," she started as he met her in the second floor hallway. The older woman held up a book in her hands, looking down at the cover. "But I decided I would offer it," she nodded to herself, seemingly convincing herself one more time.

"Ma'am?" he questioned.

Looking back up at him, she handed the book over. "I took a good deal of notes from this book many years ago when Mr. Darlian began his public career in politics. You told me when you were here last that you were still learning many of the 'pleasantries' around Relena's constituents."

He blinked at her, taking the offered book from her, more than confused as to what she was getting at.

"It is an etiquette book," she explained with a smile again. "It's old, but it's basics are there, and I thought, if you had any interest at all, that it might be of some use to your position."

He looked down at the thing in question, finding only a deep blue cover embossed with a pattern of gold scroll-work.

"I had a terrible time feeling like I fit in when I accompanied my husband. But you are around our government leaders more than I ever was. I'm sure you're already better than I was, but I thought it couldn't hurt to offer it to you," she finished.

He looked up at the lady in front of him, amazed that the soft-spoken woman ever had trouble fitting in with the politicians. And he knew very well that he was certainly much worse than she obviously thought he was. The act of offering the book was a show of good faith, and he couldn't help but give her another smirk for it. "Thank you, Ma'am," he meant it.

She nodded easily, "I hope it does some good."

"I think it will," he answered.

They were on the road again for probably twenty minutes before they both noticed it. Relena heard the next song come on the radio before she realized that neither of them usually turned the radio on. Although it was low and she didn't mind it, it was the fifth slow, sappy song in a row.

She raised an eyebrow at the consol as Heero also took a closer look at it. Reaching over he pressed the eject button before she realized that it was actually set to music disk. Taking the ejected disk out, he held it up.

Leaning over she couldn't help but start to chuckle when she saw the title '50 Greatest Love Songs' printed on the front. She met his eyes just a second as he cast her a half-annoyed expression. "Ry," they both confirmed.

He ungraciously tossed the thing between them to land in the back seat and she only laughed harder. "Well, you can't blame them for trying," she shrugged.

"What are they trying?" he mildly asked, still sounding annoyed.

"I wish I knew," she responded with a shake of her head.

She noticed him turn to look at her again, silently seeming to scrutinize that. She didn't get the chance to ask what for before he turned back to the road. He looked thoughtful, and she didn't interrupt, figuring he would say it if he wanted to.

That was taking a little getting used to. Usually with friends all her life she would push for them to talk if she thought something was on their mind. But she knew better than to try that with Heero, it wasn't the way he operated. Annoying, and sometimes uncomfortable, yes. But she would figure it out.

Their lead car pulled ahead and around a bend in the road and Heero slowed them quickly, steering them to the side of the road. She snapped over to look at him as he stopped them and put the car into park. "Heero?" she questioned, worry bordering on fear.

It erased itself when she saw the tiny little smile in his eyes. "Would you like to drive?" he asked. He obviously didn't expect her to say no because he opened his door just a little, waiting for her answer.

Relena was shocked for a second before she found her voice. "Can I?" she asked, knowing that she couldn't under the Preventer regulations.

He gave her a smirk but didn't answer as he simply exited the car. All she could do was quickly undo her seatbelt and get out of her side too. She left the door open as she hopped up to give him a quick hug before practically skipping around to the driver's side.

Relena got in and fastened her seatbelt as she heard Heero call the others to say that they were delayed for just a minute before he got back in. She rested both hands on the wheel, staring straight ahead, and feeling oddly worried about this. "Are you sure?" she asked.

From the corner of her eye she saw him nod. "It might be your last chance for a while," he quietly stated.

She looked over at him, seeing what she could only describe as a happy spark to his usually stern eyes. She felt a genuine grin come to her face and she threw herself across the car to hug him again, getting her seatbelt to choke her. Setting herself back upright, she took the car out of park and correctly used her turn signal, even though there was no one around for miles.

"It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide what to do." - Elbert Hubbard

"It is a beautiful trait in the lovers character, that they think no evil of the object loved." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

AN: Specially dedicated to Tanya, I do hope that your decision will work out as well!

Special thank you to Andraia! You have commented on something that I have been wondering about as well. We'll see together how that works out, huh? ;)