Author's note: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters. This is for the 30 Kisses challenge using list eta. This is set directly after Endless Waltz. Theme 22: Memories in a Box.

Hat Full of Stars

Relena sighed. Her spartan apartment was now cluttered with a handful of boxes. The fact of the matter was that while she could afford a large place, she liked the cozy little studio. Besides, it was a little place all her own where she could just be Relena without having worry about being the vice foreign minister or the Peacecraft heir. Well, except right now since she currently had a recovering Gundam pilot, a kitten, and half a dozen boxes that belonged to her brother's girlfriend.

She had been pleased when her brother had agreed to help out with the Mars Terraforming project she had been working about, and Relena hadn't been surprised when Noin had taken off with him. However, she hadn't expected Noin to send her the contents of her own apartment when she left. So now she had boxes to go along with Heero and her newly acquired kitten.

Setting her mail down on the table, Relena frowned at the carved wooden box already resting there. She didn't remember having this.

"Relena, do you want hot chocolate or coffee?" Heero's head popped out of the kitchen area. Despite the fact that he was supposed to be here recuperating, Heero had spent much of his time fussing over her. She had been more than a little startled to find the perfect soldier's domestic side, but she wouldn't complain either.

"Hot chocolate please. Do you know where this box came from?"

"Which one?"

"The wooden one with the carvings."

"It came with the rest of the boxes from Noin. There's a letter too." He pressed a mug into her hand then leaned over her shoulder, plucking an envelope from the mess of paperwork on the table.

She quickly tore through the envelope. It was a simple sheet of notepaper with a short message:

Relena

Sorry to dump all this junk on you, Relena. I didn't have time to make arrange storage before our shuttled needed to live. Take care of the documents in the box for me. I'll be needing them later. Thanks again.

Noin

Relena frowned and reached for the box. She lifted the heavy lid to find an assortment of papers and photographs, all neatly organized. Pulling out the first packet of papers, Relena untied the faded lavender ribbon that held it together. A picture slipped out, and Heero bent to pick it up. Relena began sorting through the papers: her brother's birth certificate, Noin's birth certificate, a thick sheaf of papers, and more photographs. The one that jumped out at her though was a formal portrait. Her brother in full court grab stood behind a chair where Relena, in an adorable christening gown, was set. But what was really surprising about the photo was the little girl who held her. The dark haired girl was clearly Noin, but what on earth was she doing in a formal court portrait?

She went back to that thick sheaf of papers. As far as she could tell, it was a legal contract of some kind between the Contessa of Livorno and the Prince of the Sanc Kingdom. It was when Heero handed her the picture he had recovered that it dawn on her. Her brother and Noin couldn't have been more than four years old in the picture. It was another court portrait though and clearly modeled after the ones of her mother and father. She was holding a marriage contract.

With Heero's help, Relena spent the next half hour investigating the contents of the box. It seemed to amount to all of the legal paperwork for her brother and Noin as well as photographs. What shocked her the most was the packet tied with a white lace ribbon. In it she found pressed lilies of the valley, a marriage license and certificate, legal name change paperwork for Zechs and Noin Marquise, and wedding photos. Her brother and Noin couldn't have been older than eighteen in them. Her brother wore his formal red uniform from Oz while Noin was dressed in a simple sleeveless white gown. Her arms were around his neck, and Relena could see the glint of a ring on her finger, almost hidden by the nosegay of flowers she carried. Zechs was leaning down to kiss her. Noin was her sister by marriage.

"Hn. That explains a lot."

She frowned at Heero. "What do you mean?"

"All the intelligence we ever had on Noin said that she had met Zechs at Lake Victoria. We could never figure out why she was so committed both to him and the Sanc Kingdom. Even if she was in love with the man, it didn't explain the level of trust he put in her." Heero smiled; Relena had noticed he was doing that more lately. "But given their history together, it makes perfect sense. He wasn't trusting some random subordinate, albeit an incredibly loyal one. He was trusting his wife."

Relena smiled and considered the wedding photo again. Maybe she could get some of these framed for her sister-in-law. It would be a rather late wedding present, but she couldn't be blamed for that.