Disclaimer: Characters not mine. 'Nuff said.
Author's Notes: Thanks for your kind words;) I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you continue to do so.
****
Some Kind of Wonderful
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
"Tonight you're mine, completely. You give me your love, so sweetly. Tonight the light of love is in your eyes. But will you love me tomorrow?" -The Shirelles
****
Peacecraft
December 28, 1965
His lazy fingers slid up and down the length of her bare arm, sending little shivers of residual pleasure through her body. Relena closed her eyes and snuggled closer to Heero's sculpted chest. His skin was warm and sweat-slick beneath her cheek. She kissed his exposed nipple, rousing him from an impending sleep. "Heero," she whispered.
"Yeah?"
Through the dark of the motel room, Relena stared at the abandoned pile of clothes on the chair across from the bed. "Why was it different tonight?"
He kissed the top of her tangled crown of hair. "I suppose your body is finally used to it. I'm really sorry it hasn't been good for you until now, baby."
"It wasn't horrible, Heero." Relena propped herself up on one elbow to look down at him. "I mean, after the first time, at least. But even that first time...I still loved being with you." She pressed her swollen lips to his. "I love you."
"Mmm..." He let himself be kissed, too sated and relaxed to do much else. "But it was good tonight, right?"
Relena nodded. "Good doesn't begin to describe it."
Heero smiled in self-satisfaction. "And we still have a week together."
She laid back against his chest. "Millardo's starting to get a little suspicious." A giggle escaped her. "Oh well."
Minutes passed in comfortable, intimate silence. When Relena spoke again, her voice was soft, but serious. "What happens after the week is up, Heero?" He opened his eyes, but said nothing. "Heero?"
"I've been putting off telling you." He sighed deeply, his chest rising and falling under Relena's head. "I got my assignment right before I left the barracks."
Relena swallowed and flattened her palm against his pectoral muscle. "Where are they sending you?"
After a long time, Heero replied, "Relena...they're sending me to Vietnam."
****
Hollywood
"Oh...god..." Hilde opened her eyes and was immediately blinded by the brightness of the sun coming through a plate glass window. Her head pounded with the weight of a thousand hammers; her mouth felt fuzzy with a horrible after-taste of something she couldn't remember ingesting.
She lifted her head from the rumpled and stained sheets of the bed she was sprawled on. Her body was covered with an Indian print blanket, but she was definitely naked.
As was the strange man lying next to her.
Hilde rolled over, groaning. Her whole body ached. She tried to think back to the night before. There had been a party with Mindy, that she was fairly sure of. A post-Christmas, pre-New Year's Eve blast, thrown by the woman who supposedly did Patty Duke's hair. Just one in an endless stream of parties.
Only at this one, she hadn't passed up on any of the party favors that came her way. And now, as she thought more about it, she hadn't said no to this man in the bed when he had suggested they party in private.
Her inner thighs were sticky, a sure sign that she had gone too far. She tried to sit up, but her head throbbed too much. Suddenly, Hilde began to cry.
"Oh god..." she sobbed into the sour bedding. "God...I want..." Hilde hiccupped through her sobs. "No," she told herself. "You don't need anyone. Just a shower..." She sniffed. "And some coffee. You'll be fine."
She turned her head, settling her gaze on the rotary phone. His phone number played through the hangover haze around her brain. "Duo...help me..."
But she didn't pick up the receiver, didn't dial. Couldn't reach out and touch him.
****
Peacecraft
December 31, 1965
"Heero...I have given this a lot of thought over the past few days. I've cried, I've screamed. I've gotten mad at you, mad at myself, mad at the President. But none of it has done me any good." Relena took a breath. "The fact of the matter is, I don't want you to go."
Her boyfriend gripped the steering wheel of his car. This was the beginning of a conversation he had hoped he wouldn't have to have with her. "It's really out of my control, Relena."
"Is it?" Relena turned her head from watching the dark road to look at him as he drove towards the motel. "Why is it?"
"Because...I signed up with the Army. If I don't do what they ask, I'll be labeled a deserter. I could be court-martialed, Relena. Is that what you want?"
She shook her head. "You know the answer to that, so why even ask? I'm just saying...damn it, Heero. It's Vietnam!! Soldiers are dying over there!"
Heero blinked as he pulled into the motel parking lot. "You cursed, Relena."
"Well, I'm mad!! And I'm fully capable of cursing when I'm mad!!"
Shaking his head, Heero turned off the engine. "I'll be right back."
She waited, tapping her foot with great impatience, until he came back with the key to a room. They drove in silence around the building. Heero opened her door for her a few minutes later and led her into the room he had rented. Once inside, Relena turned on him. "Do you want to go, Heero?"
"I want to do my duty." Heero shrugged out of his coat. "I don't want to shirk away from the mission I've been given."
Relena unwound the scarf around her neck. "I just don't understand. Why you? I mean, you said that you'd just be assigned to a domestic base! What happened to that?"
"It's out of my control, Relena!" He stripped off his shirt. "And it was a risk I accepted when I signed up!"
She pulled her blouse over her head, ignoring the buttons. "Do you have any idea what you've signed up for then?!"
Heero paused in unzipping his pants. "What do you mean by that?"
"Do you know that you'll just be fighting someone else's civil war?" Relena let her skirt pool around her feet, fervently hoping that Heero wouldn't press her for any more information than the little she had. Suddenly, she wished she had gone to one of Quatre Winner's meetings.
"Look, I'm just a soldier. I don't have the luxury of asking questions," Heero snapped, tossing his pants aside.
Relena put her hands on her hips. "You have to ask questions, Heero! You're not a pawn for them to carelessly use! Open your eyes and see what's really..."
He grabbed her, hauling her body against his and cutting off her diatribe with a deep kiss. "I don't want to fight with you," he growled softly into her ear.
Her knees almost gave underneath her. The raw sex in his tone erased any deep thought in her mind. All she needed at that moment was his body on her, in her, around her. She got her wish minutes later, after Heero had removed the last pieces of their clothing. He gently pushed her back onto the bed and laid his body onto hers.
When they came together, Relena wrapped her arms and legs around him, letting him take her away from the reality where he would be leaving her again, this time for a war. She held onto him as they moved in complete sync, driving each other closer to white-hot pleasure. Relena reached the heights first; she cried out his name as she came.
By the time Heero released himself deep within her, tears were rolling down her cheeks in a steady stream. He lifted himself up to see her face. "Relena...please don't cry...shhh..." He dropped soft kisses onto her wet eyelids.
"I can't help it..." She pushed on his shoulders until he slipped out of her and rolled to one side. "Heero, you have no idea...what they're making you do..."
He plunged his fingers into his very short, but sweaty bangs. "And you do?"
"I've heard things." Relena blinked the residual tears away. "I try to keep informed of what's going on in the world."
"And you think you have it all figured out?" Heero sat up. "I can't believe this....not from you, Relena."
"Heero, I'm just saying...I don't want you to go over there, thinking you'll be doing all these great things for our country...when it has nothing to do with our country!!"
He looked down at her, the face he had loved for most of his life. For a moment, he wasn't even sure if he was talking to the same girl. "Relena, just because you've had a semester of college does not mean you know more than the United States Army."
"I never said that I did, Heero!" Relena sat up to see him better. "When did I say that?"
"You didn't have to. It was all there in your voice." Shaking his head, Heero swung his legs off the bed. "Wufei was right. You have changed..."
She flinched; his words physically hurt her. "I've changed?"
"Remember that time when we supported each other in everything?" He reached for his shorts and pulled them on. "It was only eight months ago, so I know you haven't forgotten. Do you think you could give me some of that support now, Relena? I could really use it."
Her eyes narrowed. "I'm supposed to support you because you've chosen to put yourself in the hands of a government who's sending American men off to die across the world for a cause that has nothing to do with us?!"
"No, Relena. You're supposed to support me because we love each other! We're lovers. Someday, we'll be married. Doesn't that matter to you, or do you only care about all the politics you think I'm too stupid to understand for myself?"
Relena slowly pulled her knees up to her chest. "I never said..."
"Just forget it, okay?" He glanced at his wrist watch. "It's almost midnight."
"A new year." She rested her chin on her knee. "But in this one...you might die, Heero."
"Yeah. I might."
She looked up. "Doesn't that bother you?"
"I have no control over it."
A long, painful pause followed. Somewhere in the midst of it, the clock turned and the new year was upon them. But neither noticed or cared. "I can't do this," Relena finally said. Her head swayed from side to side, long strands of tangled hair brushing her upper back. "I can't...spend another eight months holding my breath..."
"And you shouldn't have to," he said quietly. "So...what are we saying here?"
"I don't know," she whispered. "Just...please, Heero. Don't go...stay with me..."
Heero plucked his pants off the floor. "You're not getting it at all, are you?"
"Heero..."
"Get dressed, Relena. I'll get you home before Millardo even notices you were gone."
They pulled on their clothes in complete silence and left the motel room. The drive back to town also passed without a word, until Heero pulled up into his mother's driveway. Relena's house was dark, a good indication that Millardo was still at the country club's party with his date.
Heero looked down at his lap. "I ship out in the middle of the month. So, we have until then to figure out...us. If there even is an 'us' anymore."
"I want there to be."
"But only if I desert the Army."
She sniffed. "You make it sound so dramatic. All I want is for you not to die!"
Heero shook his head. "There's nothing you can say to change this, Relena."
"Then...I guess there isn't anything else for me to say at all." She opened the car door and climbed out.
"Relena..."
"I love you, Heero. Don't forget that." The car door slammed and Heero watched through the glass as Relena across the lawn towards her house. His fingers curled up as he brought his fist down onto the dashboard.
****
To Be Continued
Author's Notes: Thanks for your kind words;) I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you continue to do so.
****
Some Kind of Wonderful
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
"Tonight you're mine, completely. You give me your love, so sweetly. Tonight the light of love is in your eyes. But will you love me tomorrow?" -The Shirelles
****
Peacecraft
December 28, 1965
His lazy fingers slid up and down the length of her bare arm, sending little shivers of residual pleasure through her body. Relena closed her eyes and snuggled closer to Heero's sculpted chest. His skin was warm and sweat-slick beneath her cheek. She kissed his exposed nipple, rousing him from an impending sleep. "Heero," she whispered.
"Yeah?"
Through the dark of the motel room, Relena stared at the abandoned pile of clothes on the chair across from the bed. "Why was it different tonight?"
He kissed the top of her tangled crown of hair. "I suppose your body is finally used to it. I'm really sorry it hasn't been good for you until now, baby."
"It wasn't horrible, Heero." Relena propped herself up on one elbow to look down at him. "I mean, after the first time, at least. But even that first time...I still loved being with you." She pressed her swollen lips to his. "I love you."
"Mmm..." He let himself be kissed, too sated and relaxed to do much else. "But it was good tonight, right?"
Relena nodded. "Good doesn't begin to describe it."
Heero smiled in self-satisfaction. "And we still have a week together."
She laid back against his chest. "Millardo's starting to get a little suspicious." A giggle escaped her. "Oh well."
Minutes passed in comfortable, intimate silence. When Relena spoke again, her voice was soft, but serious. "What happens after the week is up, Heero?" He opened his eyes, but said nothing. "Heero?"
"I've been putting off telling you." He sighed deeply, his chest rising and falling under Relena's head. "I got my assignment right before I left the barracks."
Relena swallowed and flattened her palm against his pectoral muscle. "Where are they sending you?"
After a long time, Heero replied, "Relena...they're sending me to Vietnam."
****
Hollywood
"Oh...god..." Hilde opened her eyes and was immediately blinded by the brightness of the sun coming through a plate glass window. Her head pounded with the weight of a thousand hammers; her mouth felt fuzzy with a horrible after-taste of something she couldn't remember ingesting.
She lifted her head from the rumpled and stained sheets of the bed she was sprawled on. Her body was covered with an Indian print blanket, but she was definitely naked.
As was the strange man lying next to her.
Hilde rolled over, groaning. Her whole body ached. She tried to think back to the night before. There had been a party with Mindy, that she was fairly sure of. A post-Christmas, pre-New Year's Eve blast, thrown by the woman who supposedly did Patty Duke's hair. Just one in an endless stream of parties.
Only at this one, she hadn't passed up on any of the party favors that came her way. And now, as she thought more about it, she hadn't said no to this man in the bed when he had suggested they party in private.
Her inner thighs were sticky, a sure sign that she had gone too far. She tried to sit up, but her head throbbed too much. Suddenly, Hilde began to cry.
"Oh god..." she sobbed into the sour bedding. "God...I want..." Hilde hiccupped through her sobs. "No," she told herself. "You don't need anyone. Just a shower..." She sniffed. "And some coffee. You'll be fine."
She turned her head, settling her gaze on the rotary phone. His phone number played through the hangover haze around her brain. "Duo...help me..."
But she didn't pick up the receiver, didn't dial. Couldn't reach out and touch him.
****
Peacecraft
December 31, 1965
"Heero...I have given this a lot of thought over the past few days. I've cried, I've screamed. I've gotten mad at you, mad at myself, mad at the President. But none of it has done me any good." Relena took a breath. "The fact of the matter is, I don't want you to go."
Her boyfriend gripped the steering wheel of his car. This was the beginning of a conversation he had hoped he wouldn't have to have with her. "It's really out of my control, Relena."
"Is it?" Relena turned her head from watching the dark road to look at him as he drove towards the motel. "Why is it?"
"Because...I signed up with the Army. If I don't do what they ask, I'll be labeled a deserter. I could be court-martialed, Relena. Is that what you want?"
She shook her head. "You know the answer to that, so why even ask? I'm just saying...damn it, Heero. It's Vietnam!! Soldiers are dying over there!"
Heero blinked as he pulled into the motel parking lot. "You cursed, Relena."
"Well, I'm mad!! And I'm fully capable of cursing when I'm mad!!"
Shaking his head, Heero turned off the engine. "I'll be right back."
She waited, tapping her foot with great impatience, until he came back with the key to a room. They drove in silence around the building. Heero opened her door for her a few minutes later and led her into the room he had rented. Once inside, Relena turned on him. "Do you want to go, Heero?"
"I want to do my duty." Heero shrugged out of his coat. "I don't want to shirk away from the mission I've been given."
Relena unwound the scarf around her neck. "I just don't understand. Why you? I mean, you said that you'd just be assigned to a domestic base! What happened to that?"
"It's out of my control, Relena!" He stripped off his shirt. "And it was a risk I accepted when I signed up!"
She pulled her blouse over her head, ignoring the buttons. "Do you have any idea what you've signed up for then?!"
Heero paused in unzipping his pants. "What do you mean by that?"
"Do you know that you'll just be fighting someone else's civil war?" Relena let her skirt pool around her feet, fervently hoping that Heero wouldn't press her for any more information than the little she had. Suddenly, she wished she had gone to one of Quatre Winner's meetings.
"Look, I'm just a soldier. I don't have the luxury of asking questions," Heero snapped, tossing his pants aside.
Relena put her hands on her hips. "You have to ask questions, Heero! You're not a pawn for them to carelessly use! Open your eyes and see what's really..."
He grabbed her, hauling her body against his and cutting off her diatribe with a deep kiss. "I don't want to fight with you," he growled softly into her ear.
Her knees almost gave underneath her. The raw sex in his tone erased any deep thought in her mind. All she needed at that moment was his body on her, in her, around her. She got her wish minutes later, after Heero had removed the last pieces of their clothing. He gently pushed her back onto the bed and laid his body onto hers.
When they came together, Relena wrapped her arms and legs around him, letting him take her away from the reality where he would be leaving her again, this time for a war. She held onto him as they moved in complete sync, driving each other closer to white-hot pleasure. Relena reached the heights first; she cried out his name as she came.
By the time Heero released himself deep within her, tears were rolling down her cheeks in a steady stream. He lifted himself up to see her face. "Relena...please don't cry...shhh..." He dropped soft kisses onto her wet eyelids.
"I can't help it..." She pushed on his shoulders until he slipped out of her and rolled to one side. "Heero, you have no idea...what they're making you do..."
He plunged his fingers into his very short, but sweaty bangs. "And you do?"
"I've heard things." Relena blinked the residual tears away. "I try to keep informed of what's going on in the world."
"And you think you have it all figured out?" Heero sat up. "I can't believe this....not from you, Relena."
"Heero, I'm just saying...I don't want you to go over there, thinking you'll be doing all these great things for our country...when it has nothing to do with our country!!"
He looked down at her, the face he had loved for most of his life. For a moment, he wasn't even sure if he was talking to the same girl. "Relena, just because you've had a semester of college does not mean you know more than the United States Army."
"I never said that I did, Heero!" Relena sat up to see him better. "When did I say that?"
"You didn't have to. It was all there in your voice." Shaking his head, Heero swung his legs off the bed. "Wufei was right. You have changed..."
She flinched; his words physically hurt her. "I've changed?"
"Remember that time when we supported each other in everything?" He reached for his shorts and pulled them on. "It was only eight months ago, so I know you haven't forgotten. Do you think you could give me some of that support now, Relena? I could really use it."
Her eyes narrowed. "I'm supposed to support you because you've chosen to put yourself in the hands of a government who's sending American men off to die across the world for a cause that has nothing to do with us?!"
"No, Relena. You're supposed to support me because we love each other! We're lovers. Someday, we'll be married. Doesn't that matter to you, or do you only care about all the politics you think I'm too stupid to understand for myself?"
Relena slowly pulled her knees up to her chest. "I never said..."
"Just forget it, okay?" He glanced at his wrist watch. "It's almost midnight."
"A new year." She rested her chin on her knee. "But in this one...you might die, Heero."
"Yeah. I might."
She looked up. "Doesn't that bother you?"
"I have no control over it."
A long, painful pause followed. Somewhere in the midst of it, the clock turned and the new year was upon them. But neither noticed or cared. "I can't do this," Relena finally said. Her head swayed from side to side, long strands of tangled hair brushing her upper back. "I can't...spend another eight months holding my breath..."
"And you shouldn't have to," he said quietly. "So...what are we saying here?"
"I don't know," she whispered. "Just...please, Heero. Don't go...stay with me..."
Heero plucked his pants off the floor. "You're not getting it at all, are you?"
"Heero..."
"Get dressed, Relena. I'll get you home before Millardo even notices you were gone."
They pulled on their clothes in complete silence and left the motel room. The drive back to town also passed without a word, until Heero pulled up into his mother's driveway. Relena's house was dark, a good indication that Millardo was still at the country club's party with his date.
Heero looked down at his lap. "I ship out in the middle of the month. So, we have until then to figure out...us. If there even is an 'us' anymore."
"I want there to be."
"But only if I desert the Army."
She sniffed. "You make it sound so dramatic. All I want is for you not to die!"
Heero shook his head. "There's nothing you can say to change this, Relena."
"Then...I guess there isn't anything else for me to say at all." She opened the car door and climbed out.
"Relena..."
"I love you, Heero. Don't forget that." The car door slammed and Heero watched through the glass as Relena across the lawn towards her house. His fingers curled up as he brought his fist down onto the dashboard.
****
To Be Continued