Time was irrelevant to a God. Eternal life made counting the days tedious and pointless, especially in a dimension where time wasn't supposed to exist. His current predicament, however, was the closest he had ever come to caring about the passage of time. He had made a vow; bound by his word as a God to fulfill the terms if the agreement and truly claim his prize.

"I promise you now, I will do everything in my power to see that your land is restored… and that your people will be taken care of…"

His promise haunted him; taunting and nagging his every minute. He could not directly fix the problem. They sacrificed her to him, the God of War, on his alter, with the terms restoring prosperity to their lands. Prosperity was not his area. Death? Yes. Fights? Certainly. But prosperity? Heero sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. They had sacrificed her; left her to die alone and cold. He could still see her fragile, blood soaked body slumped over...

He clenched his fists. His father banned human sacrifice years ago. His father had not been pleased when he brought the princess with him into their realm. But he had to buy some time until he could figure out how to fix this.

"So… what do you plan to do with me, then?" He raised a brow and pulled back as to study her. "I mean… I am grateful that you saved me… and I was offered to you as a sacrifice…" hair the color of honey cascaded over one shoulder drawing his attention to her long, slender neck. Large aqua eyes, full of confusion sat above a thin, proud nose, high cheekbones and tempting red lips. The thin tunic left little to his imagination… "Technically, I belong to you… right?" He nodded, and could not stop the smirk.

"Not technically . You do ." the look of shock in her eyes amused him. He wanted to show her the true meaning if his words...

Heavens help him, he had nearly wanted to take her right then and there, but there was more to the situation. It was far more complicated because the mortals had actually mixed up the process and made the jurisdiction of the terms of fulfillment… complicated.

"But… if you are the God of War, then how will you bring prosperity back to my home?"

Therein lies the problem. The alter used belonged to him, but the incantation used belonged to the God of Prosperity and, technically, the Goddess of the Earth. To properly fulfill the terms he needed to figure out how to get the other two gods to either renounce their claim or fulfill what he could not. Hilde was likely to oblige. Triwa would be another matter entirely. It had been abundantly clear that the long-banged diety desired the princess. There had to be a way…

"Relena…" Heero closed his eyes and pictured her as he'd left her:

"Wait." He paused and turned to her. His brows raised as he looked at her. Relena stood and walked to him. "Did you forget the terms already?"

"Relena…." She reached up, took another deep breath, released it and pulled off the straps of her gown from her shoulders to let it pool around her feet on the floor. Her cheeks burned as she stood… naked… completely exposed to his gaze… She lowered her eyes though she held her head high...

Heero felt his whole body light on fire. He had lived countless centuries; seen thousands of beautiful women… but she outshined them all.

However, he knew her blood and so, knew her. She was modest and strong and proud. She was not the sort of woman to offer herself so freely, but she would do anything to save her people even as they so heartlessly offered her like a lamb to the alter. He could sense her embarrassment and reluctance.

"Are you sure…" He reached out and touched her face gently, "that this is what you want?"

"You're… going to give me a choice?"

"I am the God the War, Relena… I have spent centuries watching as mortals forced each other to do what wanted by wars, torture and blackmail… It never brought happiness to those upon whom such suffering was inflicted… I have no intention of doing the same..." he caressed her cheek. "So, I'll ask again…" he looked into her eyes."Is this what you want?" Her blushes deepened, doubt in her eyes.

"I… I don't know." He closed his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh.

"Then I will go." He turned away.

"But-"

"I will find way to fulfill the terms of the sacrifice. You have until then to figure out what you want."

True to his word, he left, returning only occasionally to bring her food and drink. Her food had to be specially collected. Being mortal, she could not eat the food of the gods. He didn't mind. It gave him a chance to see her. A chance for them to talk.

"Hey, pally." Duo called. "Have you figured out what to do with that princess yet?" Heero inwardly groaned.

"I'm working on it." Heero growled at him.

"Any idea how to get Hilde and Trowa to help you?"

"No." Heero glared, annoyed. "But I will. I have to."

"Damn, man," Duo smirked. "All these centuries and I've never seen you like this about a woman. It's almost like you would steal the stars for her if you had to."

"Yes. I would." Heero realized he meant it. He did not know why or how this princess had managed to become so important to him. It went beyond just fulfilling the terms of his oath. The longer he knew her, the more time he spent with her, the more he realized how much he wanted her in his life forever.

But just as Gods did not know time, mortals could not know eternity. He swore under his breath. He would find a way. He had to… even if it meant stealing those stars.