It was a warm, lazy evening; one of the few where Relena had gotten out of work early due to a canceled meeting. Heero Yuy lay on the grass staring up at the blue sky as the white clouds drifted above. His head was next to hers although their bodies pointed in two different directions. The grass was soft and a bit damp and he had no doubt that she would have more than a few stains from their current activity. Today, his charge decided to spend her free time cloud watching. Heero had wasted no time asking her for a reason. He personally thought the practice to be a waste of time...
"What are you doing?" He asked as she tumbled, laughing, onto the ground.
"I'm going to cloud watch." she said matter-of-factly. He raised a brow and stared down at her.
"You're going to watch the clouds?" The idea seemed so ridiculous.
"If you stare at the clouds long enough, you can see familiar shapes forming in them! It's fun!"
"Fun?" He asked. She smiled up at him.
"When I was little, Pagan would take me outside to look at the clouds. We would see all kinds of interesting things!" He looked up at the clouds. "Come on, Heero! Join me!" Her smile mixed with her pleading tone won out. Sighing, he sat down, laid on his back and began to search the skies.
It seemed impractical. Clouds were clusters of tiny water droplets compacted into the wispy forms that floated above. These particular clouds were a mix of cumulus and altocumulus, fluffy and random. Try as he might,he simply couldn't see anything on his own. It was only her observations that made any sense to him. The joy he heard in her voice whenever she pointed out one of the various shapes warmed him though. It made the dew and inevitable grass stains on his white shirt worry it.
"Look, Heero! That one looks like a dragon!" Relena giggled and pointed at the sky. Heero studied the cluster she pointed at. "See that? Those are the horns, there's the snout. There's the wings and that's the tail."
Heero traced the clouds with his eyes, following her fingers' path. As he did so, the form of a dragon took shape. Her imagination surprised him. Very little surprised him, but then, Relena had been nothing if not a constant surprise. She surprised him when she found him on the beach. She surprised him when she found him in his room before the party at the school and again when she said she was on his side. Her random, borderline recklessness had always been unpredictable. At times, it was annoying. Her spontaneous ideas and actions bothered the security teams, but-in spite of it all-It was one of the things he found so interesting about her. She was full of surprises, many of which led him to new experiences.
Lying here, on the grass, with her, staring peacefully at the sky was something he never thought he would be able to do. He expected to die long ago, but she saved him. Every time he thought of ending his existence, or letting death claim him, he saw her face. Big, aqua eyes begged him to live; to come to her. So he did.
At first, he said it was to protect her because of what she meant to peace. He soon realized that that was a lie; a cover for his real motives. He wanted to protect her because he needed her to be safe. Because he needed her. When she was with him. Everything made sense. His life made sense. His purpose for his continued existence was clear. He lived for her. He protected and cherished her and in return, she gave him a peace he had never known. One he knew he didn't deserve. More than that. She loved him. He didn't deserve it, but she did. And when he was with her, everything melted away. His past, his demons, his nightmares fled from her love and he selfishly continued to enjoy it.
He closed his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh. If all there ever was was this: the two of them, then that is all he would ever need. Her fingers threaded through his and his lips curled into a small smile.
Yes, this is all he would ever need.