Disclaimer: Standard. You know it by heart.
Author's Notes: I hope you are still enjoying the story; thanks for reading;)
****
Some Kind of Wonderful
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
"Soldier boy....oh, my little soldier boy...I'll be true to you." -The Shirelles
****
"To the class of 1965, congratulations." The valedictorian smiled down at his classmates from the podium. "May you have the knowledge and courage to change the world."
Relena stood up with the rest of the class, clapping. At the signal, she grabbed the cap off her head, ignoring the carefully arranged bobby pins and tossed it into the air. Within a matter of minutes, she felt the towering presence of her older brother next to her on the gym floor. She turned around and embraced him.
"Good work, Relena," Millardo Peacecraft kissed the top of his sister's head. "Mom and Dad would be so proud of you."
She lifted her head from his shoulder. "Thank you." Wiping sudden tears from her eyes, she glanced past her brother. Only a few yards away, Heero stood, handsome as ever in his graduation robes, talking with his mother and a man in a dark suit. Relena bit her lip. The baseball recruiter from NC State, no doubt.
Before she had time to dwell on it, she felt a small hand slip into hers. "I can't believe I actually graduated!" Hilde squealed.
Relena gave her best friend a quick hug. "I knew you could do it if you set down your movie magazines for a moment and studied."
"Hey, all that knowledge is going to be useful in California."
"I'm going to miss you so much," Relena replied, her good mood taking a sudden plummet. "And I know someone else who will, too. Even more." She glanced over at the braided boy making his way through the crowd towards them.
Hilde turned around in time to receive a huge, wet kiss right on the mouth from her boyfriend. When Duo pulled back, he winked at Relena. "Sorry, Princess. She just looked too damn cute."
"It's really all right." Relena looked back towards Heero. He was shaking his head at something the man had said. "How long does it take to tell someone they're getting a scholarship?" There was no reply; Hilde and Duo were too caught up in each other.
Ten minutes later, after they had been shuffled outside with the rest of the graduates and their families, Heero had yet to join them and Relena was getting worried. She was about to send Duo in for her boyfriend when he appeared from the gym with his mother.
Relena approached them. "Mrs. Yuy," she greeted the older woman. There were curious tear stains on her gently wrinkled face.
Heero's mother kissed her cheek. "Congratulations, Relena dear." Beth Yuy looked at her son. "Heero, I'm going to head home now. I expect you won't be too far behind? We still have a lot to discuss."
"I won't, Mom. I just have to talk to Relena."
She waited until Mrs. Yuy was out of earshot before Relena gave him a puzzled look. "Heero...what's going on? The scholarship..."
Duo's voice cut her off as he and Hilde jogged over to the other couple. "Hail the conquering Heero!! So, it's a full ride, right? Tuition, housing, books, the works, right?!"
Heero put his arm around Relena's waist and ignored his friend. "We're going for a drive. Alone."
"But what about Peterson's party?" Duo demanded.
But Heero was already leading Relena towards the parking lot. "Go without us."
With raised eyebrows, Duo glanced down at his pretty girlfriend. "They're not going to...you know...are they?"
"I doubt it." A mischievous smile spread on her pink painted lips. "But we could..."
****
Heero waited until he was parked in their usual spot before he spoke again. By that time, Relena was in a state of near panic. "Heero Yuy. You tell me what's going on before I..."
He stopped her with a soft kiss. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."
Hot tears tickled the backs of her eyes. "You didn't get it? Is that what's wrong?"
"No." Heero gave her another kiss. "I got it."
Relena let out a happy little cry. "Oh, Heero! I knew you would get it! It's going to be so..."
"I turned it down, Relena."
Her eyes moved back and forth, watching his steady Prussian blue gaze. "What?"
"It's not a decision I came to lightly." He shifted in the seat to see her better. "The thing is...I think there's something better I can do with my life than playing baseball in college."
Relena licked her lips as she gathered her thoughts. "All right, Heero. You have to do what you think is right for your life. But just what..."
He took her hands. "This will probably come as a big shock. It was for my mother, at least." Heero paused. "Relena...this morning...I signed up. With the Marines."
"You...you did..what?"
"I've been considering it for awhile," he continued. "And last night I couldn't sleep at all, I was thinking about it so hard. When I woke up....I knew what I wanted to do. Just like that. And it feels good, Relena, it does."
"Oh my god." She pressed a trembling hand to her mouth. "Heero...no....no, please...you can't." Her head shook back and forth.
"Relena..." He gently grasped her shoulders. "Baby...please don't cry..."
She lowered her head as tears slipped down her cheeks. "Why, Heero? I just don't understand....why you want to go to war."
"There's no reason to believe I'd be sent to Vietnam, Relena." His strong hands massaged her bare arms. "I'll just go to boot camp and I'll probably be assigned to some domestic base. It's going to be okay...I promise."
"You can't promise," Relena protested, jerking away from him. "You don't know! Heero, you listen to the news. They're sending more troops over every day, it seems. I don't want..." She broke into quiet sobs that tore at his heart. "I don't want to lose you."
Heero folded her up into his arms. "You're not going to lose me. You'll never, ever lose me. But this is what I want, Relena. Just like my dad did...I want to serve my country."
"It's just...you've never mentioned this before. It's always been college and baseball." Relena sniffed delicately. "Heero. Tell me something. Are you doing this...so we don't have to get married?"
His reply was a long moment in coming. "There's just one person I could ever imagine marrying. Tomorrow or five years from now...you are the only woman for me."
She tried to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand, but they were flowing too steadily. "When would you be leaving?"
"That's the hard part." Heero looked up at the roof of his car, as though to hold back his own emotions. "I'd leave the day after tomorrow."
"It's not enough time," she whispered after a painful minute of silence. "Heero...it's not enough time!" Her arms tightened around his neck; she stared at the inside of the car door, her chin resting on his shoulder. "Please...please don't go!!"
"I'm sorry, baby," he told her, stroking her hair. "It's a done deal." He pulled back and lifted her chin for a kiss, but Relena turned her head to the side to avoid his lips. Instead, he kissed her cheek. "Nothing is going to happen to me, Relena. And just as soon as I know where I'll be after boot camp..." He took a deep breath. "I want you to marry me."
Just before Relena broke down, she managed to reply with a simple, "Yes."
****
Relena woke up the day after her graduation with a splitting headache. She had spent most of the night after her talk with Heero crying. After Millardo's wake-up knock on her door, she lay in her four-poster bed for a long time. The sheets were tangled and damp with sweat from the nightmares that had plagued her in the few minutes of sleep she had garnered.
Outside her window, a bird chirped. Just another reminder her life might have screeched to a halt, but the rest of the world was still revolving. She considered banging on the glass until the offending bird went away, ultimately deciding against it. The noise would alert Millardo, and the last thing she wanted was to hear how Heero Yuy going to war could be a good thing for her.
She turned over on her side to stare at her nightstand. There was an envelope lying on top of the lace that she hadn't noticed when she had gotten into bed. Of course, the Beatles could have been playing in her room and she wouldn't have cared. Wiping her eyes, Relena reached for the piece of mail.
It was addressed to her, a rare enough thing for mail coming to the Peacecraft House. But what made her sit up in bed was the return address. North Carolina State University Admissions Department.
Relena blinked several times. With a steady hand, she carefully opened her letter and unfolded the cream-colored paper within. Taking a breath, she read out loud, as though the action would make the words more real. "Dear Miss Peacecraft. Congratulations...out of this year's female applicants, you have been selected for admission to North Carolina State for the fall term of 1965..." Her voice trailed off as she took in the news.
She had been accepted to college. And she was mostly engaged. Only two days earlier, she would have sent the letter back with a nice note of decline. But now...Relena re-read it with even more focus. The very idea that she could now go to college just for herself, not to be close to Heero...it appealed to her. And for awhile, she had been convinced that nothing would appeal to her ever again.
Her tongue darted out to wet her dry lips. She felt like a newborn kitten, making its first steps away from its mother. Shaky, uncertain, but determined. Pushing the covers off her legs, she jumped out of bed, letter in hand.
"Millardo!" Relena ran down the stairs in her nightgown. "Millardo...guess what?!"
****
To Be Continued
Author's Notes: I hope you are still enjoying the story; thanks for reading;)
****
Some Kind of Wonderful
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
"Soldier boy....oh, my little soldier boy...I'll be true to you." -The Shirelles
****
"To the class of 1965, congratulations." The valedictorian smiled down at his classmates from the podium. "May you have the knowledge and courage to change the world."
Relena stood up with the rest of the class, clapping. At the signal, she grabbed the cap off her head, ignoring the carefully arranged bobby pins and tossed it into the air. Within a matter of minutes, she felt the towering presence of her older brother next to her on the gym floor. She turned around and embraced him.
"Good work, Relena," Millardo Peacecraft kissed the top of his sister's head. "Mom and Dad would be so proud of you."
She lifted her head from his shoulder. "Thank you." Wiping sudden tears from her eyes, she glanced past her brother. Only a few yards away, Heero stood, handsome as ever in his graduation robes, talking with his mother and a man in a dark suit. Relena bit her lip. The baseball recruiter from NC State, no doubt.
Before she had time to dwell on it, she felt a small hand slip into hers. "I can't believe I actually graduated!" Hilde squealed.
Relena gave her best friend a quick hug. "I knew you could do it if you set down your movie magazines for a moment and studied."
"Hey, all that knowledge is going to be useful in California."
"I'm going to miss you so much," Relena replied, her good mood taking a sudden plummet. "And I know someone else who will, too. Even more." She glanced over at the braided boy making his way through the crowd towards them.
Hilde turned around in time to receive a huge, wet kiss right on the mouth from her boyfriend. When Duo pulled back, he winked at Relena. "Sorry, Princess. She just looked too damn cute."
"It's really all right." Relena looked back towards Heero. He was shaking his head at something the man had said. "How long does it take to tell someone they're getting a scholarship?" There was no reply; Hilde and Duo were too caught up in each other.
Ten minutes later, after they had been shuffled outside with the rest of the graduates and their families, Heero had yet to join them and Relena was getting worried. She was about to send Duo in for her boyfriend when he appeared from the gym with his mother.
Relena approached them. "Mrs. Yuy," she greeted the older woman. There were curious tear stains on her gently wrinkled face.
Heero's mother kissed her cheek. "Congratulations, Relena dear." Beth Yuy looked at her son. "Heero, I'm going to head home now. I expect you won't be too far behind? We still have a lot to discuss."
"I won't, Mom. I just have to talk to Relena."
She waited until Mrs. Yuy was out of earshot before Relena gave him a puzzled look. "Heero...what's going on? The scholarship..."
Duo's voice cut her off as he and Hilde jogged over to the other couple. "Hail the conquering Heero!! So, it's a full ride, right? Tuition, housing, books, the works, right?!"
Heero put his arm around Relena's waist and ignored his friend. "We're going for a drive. Alone."
"But what about Peterson's party?" Duo demanded.
But Heero was already leading Relena towards the parking lot. "Go without us."
With raised eyebrows, Duo glanced down at his pretty girlfriend. "They're not going to...you know...are they?"
"I doubt it." A mischievous smile spread on her pink painted lips. "But we could..."
****
Heero waited until he was parked in their usual spot before he spoke again. By that time, Relena was in a state of near panic. "Heero Yuy. You tell me what's going on before I..."
He stopped her with a soft kiss. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."
Hot tears tickled the backs of her eyes. "You didn't get it? Is that what's wrong?"
"No." Heero gave her another kiss. "I got it."
Relena let out a happy little cry. "Oh, Heero! I knew you would get it! It's going to be so..."
"I turned it down, Relena."
Her eyes moved back and forth, watching his steady Prussian blue gaze. "What?"
"It's not a decision I came to lightly." He shifted in the seat to see her better. "The thing is...I think there's something better I can do with my life than playing baseball in college."
Relena licked her lips as she gathered her thoughts. "All right, Heero. You have to do what you think is right for your life. But just what..."
He took her hands. "This will probably come as a big shock. It was for my mother, at least." Heero paused. "Relena...this morning...I signed up. With the Marines."
"You...you did..what?"
"I've been considering it for awhile," he continued. "And last night I couldn't sleep at all, I was thinking about it so hard. When I woke up....I knew what I wanted to do. Just like that. And it feels good, Relena, it does."
"Oh my god." She pressed a trembling hand to her mouth. "Heero...no....no, please...you can't." Her head shook back and forth.
"Relena..." He gently grasped her shoulders. "Baby...please don't cry..."
She lowered her head as tears slipped down her cheeks. "Why, Heero? I just don't understand....why you want to go to war."
"There's no reason to believe I'd be sent to Vietnam, Relena." His strong hands massaged her bare arms. "I'll just go to boot camp and I'll probably be assigned to some domestic base. It's going to be okay...I promise."
"You can't promise," Relena protested, jerking away from him. "You don't know! Heero, you listen to the news. They're sending more troops over every day, it seems. I don't want..." She broke into quiet sobs that tore at his heart. "I don't want to lose you."
Heero folded her up into his arms. "You're not going to lose me. You'll never, ever lose me. But this is what I want, Relena. Just like my dad did...I want to serve my country."
"It's just...you've never mentioned this before. It's always been college and baseball." Relena sniffed delicately. "Heero. Tell me something. Are you doing this...so we don't have to get married?"
His reply was a long moment in coming. "There's just one person I could ever imagine marrying. Tomorrow or five years from now...you are the only woman for me."
She tried to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand, but they were flowing too steadily. "When would you be leaving?"
"That's the hard part." Heero looked up at the roof of his car, as though to hold back his own emotions. "I'd leave the day after tomorrow."
"It's not enough time," she whispered after a painful minute of silence. "Heero...it's not enough time!" Her arms tightened around his neck; she stared at the inside of the car door, her chin resting on his shoulder. "Please...please don't go!!"
"I'm sorry, baby," he told her, stroking her hair. "It's a done deal." He pulled back and lifted her chin for a kiss, but Relena turned her head to the side to avoid his lips. Instead, he kissed her cheek. "Nothing is going to happen to me, Relena. And just as soon as I know where I'll be after boot camp..." He took a deep breath. "I want you to marry me."
Just before Relena broke down, she managed to reply with a simple, "Yes."
****
Relena woke up the day after her graduation with a splitting headache. She had spent most of the night after her talk with Heero crying. After Millardo's wake-up knock on her door, she lay in her four-poster bed for a long time. The sheets were tangled and damp with sweat from the nightmares that had plagued her in the few minutes of sleep she had garnered.
Outside her window, a bird chirped. Just another reminder her life might have screeched to a halt, but the rest of the world was still revolving. She considered banging on the glass until the offending bird went away, ultimately deciding against it. The noise would alert Millardo, and the last thing she wanted was to hear how Heero Yuy going to war could be a good thing for her.
She turned over on her side to stare at her nightstand. There was an envelope lying on top of the lace that she hadn't noticed when she had gotten into bed. Of course, the Beatles could have been playing in her room and she wouldn't have cared. Wiping her eyes, Relena reached for the piece of mail.
It was addressed to her, a rare enough thing for mail coming to the Peacecraft House. But what made her sit up in bed was the return address. North Carolina State University Admissions Department.
Relena blinked several times. With a steady hand, she carefully opened her letter and unfolded the cream-colored paper within. Taking a breath, she read out loud, as though the action would make the words more real. "Dear Miss Peacecraft. Congratulations...out of this year's female applicants, you have been selected for admission to North Carolina State for the fall term of 1965..." Her voice trailed off as she took in the news.
She had been accepted to college. And she was mostly engaged. Only two days earlier, she would have sent the letter back with a nice note of decline. But now...Relena re-read it with even more focus. The very idea that she could now go to college just for herself, not to be close to Heero...it appealed to her. And for awhile, she had been convinced that nothing would appeal to her ever again.
Her tongue darted out to wet her dry lips. She felt like a newborn kitten, making its first steps away from its mother. Shaky, uncertain, but determined. Pushing the covers off her legs, she jumped out of bed, letter in hand.
"Millardo!" Relena ran down the stairs in her nightgown. "Millardo...guess what?!"
****
To Be Continued