Chapter Twenty-Eight
One Question

Trowa couldn't stand it any longer. Leaving work early he headed home. Serena had plagued his mind all day.

He had tried to work, but more often than not, Trowa had replayed what happened that morning over and over. Trying to come to some conclusion about what it all meant. He even went as far as to try and ask her but Serena had simply brushed it off. However, her words from earlier had struck a chord with him.

"By giving you what you want."

Trowa didn't understand why she specifically said those words or what they meant. Serena was like a puzzle. Any time Trowa thought he was starting to understand Serena more, and possibly her intentions, she would confuse him by doing something unexpected. Since the kiss, things had intensified and it was to the point that he couldn't lie to himself anymore, regardless of if it was right or wrong, he wanted her. And he wanted her badly.

It wasn't just the sexual tension Serena was building between them that drove him mad. Everything about her was fascinating to him. Trowa had never met anyone like her. Other than Heero, but that was likely due to their training. Serena and Heero's personalities, on some level, were the same. They were both calculated in everything they did. Maybe that was it though? Maybe Serena had already figured everything out and was just waiting to see if her results were accurate?

Or maybe Trowa had it completely wrong. But he intended to find out. One way or another.

Making his way towards his apartment, Trowa thought about how he would go about bringing the topic up to Serena. Maybe going straight to the point would work? Or maybe he should just take some advice that was once given to him -ironically by the same person who warned him not to get involved with her- to act on his emotions?

Either it would work out in his favor, or it would backfire.

As Trowa was pulling out his key to unlock the door, he stopped. Looking up he could faintly hear music coming from the other side. Inserting his key he unlocked the door, carefully opening it. He slowly stepped inside, closing the door quietly behind him.

He followed the sound of where the music was coming from, till his eyes landed on a speaker that was sitting on the island next to her phone. Then he noticed something he hadn't before. A voice could be heard over the music. His eyes wandered as he strode closer. Serena standing in the kitchen, her back to him as she faced the stove. Her hair was down, falling in waves against her back. A dark grey shirt and a pair of black jeans completed her look.

Serena was dancing along to the song. But her voice… captivated him, even if he didn't understand the words. Moving closer, Trowa tapped on the screen of her phone. Whatever song was playing he couldn't read the name. Turning his attention back, Trowa continued to watch her. She was blissfully unaware of him. He had caught a glimpse of her face as she moved to grab the cooking dish that was on the counter. Serena was smiling as she opened the oven, placing the dish inside.

Trowa smiled to himself, this was something new he was discovering about her. Serena looked happy as she continued to move around the kitchen, keeping her back to him. She placed a few things in the sink, dancing and singing as she did so. As Serena turned her body, her eyes closed, but the smile remained on her face. Slowly Serena opened her eyes, and the rest of the words she was singing died on her lips as her eyes went wide.

"So this is what you do when I'm not home?" Trowa asked as he moved around the breakfast bar to stand in front of her, a smirk forming on his face.

"I…" Serena quickly shut her mouth. Trowa reached over to where her phone sat, pausing the music. When he turned back, Serena's eyes were still wide as she stared at him, but her face had flushed with a dark shade of red. Trowa took another step closer to her, reaching a hand up to touch her cheek.

"You have a beautiful voice," he said softly as he leaned his body towards her. Dipping his head, "you should sing more often," he whispered as he brushed his lips against hers.

Serena didn't respond right away, but slowly Trowa felt her relax after his second attempt to get a reaction from her. Wrapping an arm around her waist, Trowa pulled Serena closer while reaching the hand that was on her cheek to the back of her neck. Tilting her head so he could deepen the kiss.

Trowa felt Serena's arms come up to wrap around his neck as Serena leaned into him more. Taking a chance, he lowered his other arm to join her waist. Lifting her, Serena wrapped her legs around him as he turned them. Setting her down on the island, Serena kept her legs locked around him as his hands started to roam.

Lifting her shirt, he slipped his hand underneath the material, feeling her soft skin. Serena's hands found their way to the back of his head, running her fingers through his hair.

Their kissing was cut short when Serena's phone started to ring. Breaking away, Trowa cursed under his breath before turning his eyes back to Serena, a look on her face Trowa wasn't sure he understood. Serena's eyes were hardened but her lips were still parted. Her chest rose and fell as she tried to regain her normal breathing. Serena tore her gaze away from him as she looked over to her phone.

"Heero's calling me…" Trowa said nothing as he stepped away. Serena hopped off the countertop, moving to answer her phone.

Trowa couldn't figure out why he'd even bother to try and listen. Serena was speaking in Japanese to Heero. But it wasn't something that surprised him at this point. Heero and Serena tended to keep their conversations private for whatever reason. His curiosity did spike when Serena turned to look at him. Her brow lifted at him as she said something into the phone before turning away to check the oven.

"What did Heero want?" Trowa asked the second the call ended.

"He wanted to know if you were all right. He said you left work early," Serena said as she turned to face him.

I left early because of you. He thought.

"What did you tell him?" Trowa crossed his arms over his chest. He had a feeling Serena was going to shut herself off to him again based on the way she was looking at him.

"That you were fine," Serena frowned at him. "I told Heero that I asked you to go to the store for me before you got home. Remind me to have that verified on both of our phones. Just in case he goes looking," she said. Trowa wanted to question her about how she planned on faking messages, but Serena spun away from him before he could. "You should go change and relax for a little. Dinner won't be done for another half hour or so…"

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Trowa made his way to his room. Shutting the door behind him, Trowa stood staring at his bed. Once again Serena had him rethinking everything.

Trowa needed to know, without a shred of doubt that this was something Serena truly wanted. He wasn't going to force her into something if she wasn't sure. This was something that could, would change them. Trowa just needed to figure out how he was going to go about finding out.

Trowa and Serena had spent most of their dinner in silence. Trowa had been watching her out of the corner of his eye as he ate while Serena looked lost in thought as she pushed her food around on her plate.

Trowa had taken the time before dinner to think about things. He had wanted to confront Serena and clarify what was going on between them when he came home, but after listening to her sing, he simply acted on his emotions. Serena was driving him crazy, but the more Trowa thought about things the more he came to have a new perspective of Serena and how maybe their relationship should be.

Serena wasn't some ordinary girl, and while it would've been easy to just sleep with her right then and there, Trowa knew deep down that wasn't what he desired at the end of the day.

Trowa wanted to have a relationship with Serena, not just physical, but emotional as well. Serena wasn't the type of girl he could have a one-night stand with and forget about once his needs were met. Not after everything that had happened between them and everything he had learned about her.

Serena was someone worth pursuing. Someone who could be everything he never knew he needed or wanted in a partner. Having made the decision, Trowa had just one question for her.

"Would you like to go out tomorrow night?"

"Huh?" Serena snapped her head up, turning to look at him.

"Would you like to go out tomorrow night? On a date?" Trowa asked.

"A date?" She echoed, giving him a puzzled look.

"Yes."

"You want to take me out… on a date after everything that has happened between us?"

"Yes," Trowa said again. He could see the confusion in her eyes. He had learned that when Serena wanted to, she'd let him see what she was thinking.

"You don't just want to sleep with me?"

"No," Trowa shook his head. "I want to do this the right way if that's okay with you?" There was a long pause before Serena responded.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

"I'd like to give it a try," Trowa nodded his head.

"Where would we go?" Serena asked him quietly, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. Trowa let a small smile form on his lip.

"There's a restaurant not too far from here."

"What will the attire be?"

"Wear something nice," Trowa said. He saw her blush deepen as she nodded her head. Serena didn't say anything else as she turned back to her plate. But the small smile that had formed on her lips did not go unnoticed by him.

The next day...

Serena had been counterproductive for over an hour. She was trying, but her mind kept taking her to places other than the work she needed to do. Sitting on the floor, crossed-legged, Serena had not one but three laptops set up on the coffee table.

Each supposedly doing their respective tasks.

Heero's laptop was running the program she had made. At this point, Serena didn't care if Heero found out. Though he hadn't, as far as she knew been checking to see what she was doing. Serena needed the remaining files to be finished. Thanks to the help of the software program she had created, Serena was able to get them done faster. All that remained was to send in her last few reports and hopefully, arrests could start being made.

On her laptop, Serena had been trying to hack into J's old lab. But her efforts were futile. Serena wasn't finding anything. She wondered if it was even worth trying to retrieve old data that wasn't necessarily useful. Nevertheless, Serena wanted to see for herself. Maybe there was something J had left behind that might help her. Some note, some small hint of what ROE had been doing the two years she wasn't around the leaders.

But Serena hadn't found anything. It seemed like J had deleted anything and everything. She had finally given up after two hours. Whatever was once there was gone now.

Trowa's laptop had been her main focus. For at least the last hour. Part of her felt guilty for using Trowa's laptop behind his back, but Serena knew she couldn't do the work she was currently doing on Heero's. Serena had informed Une of what she was doing. Une had offered to send Trowa home with a second laptop for her to work on, but Serena had quickly pointed out that it might arouse suspicion if he were to do so.

While Trowa was an excellent hacker, Serena knew how to keep her work hidden. So far, he hadn't found the folder containing the information yet.

Serena always placed his laptop back wherever she had found it and made sure the battery was at the same percentage as it had been when he last used it. Serena never looked through anything on it. All his files and folders were left unopened. It was none of her business what Trowa did or what he kept on the machine.

Serena may have been going behind Trowa's back, but she also knew the value of keeping one's privacy. She didn't want Trowa to learn some things about herself, especially things about her past. It was safer that way. So in return, she stayed out of his, for the most part at least. The things she already knew, she couldn't change. But it didn't mean she needed to go snooping through what he has been up to since the wars.

Serena was staring at the screen looking over her design work. It hadn't occurred to her till a while ago that she was staring at something that wasn't related to her assignment. For the life of her, Serena couldn't figure out why she had gone and did a redesign for Heavyarms. It wasn't just the suit Trowa had in A.C. 196, but an upgraded version.

Serena had taken all the knowledge she had and what she knew he liked and didn't like about the suit itself and created a new version. One that she thought would better fit his needs.

As Serena sat thinking if she should change anything, a new message appeared on her laptop. The smile that was once on her face faded as she read through it.

Serena looked between the three laptops. Heero's was still running the program, her's with the open message, and Trowa's with the redesign of Heavyarms.

Serena focused on Trowa's laptop again. Last night had changed things. He had asked her out on a date. Something that had never happened to her before. Normally she was told where to go and whom to go with. To be arm candy for a night, or two.

She was starting to question her actions when it came to Trowa. Something Serena found her mind wandering to more often than not nowadays. She knew how to use her body and use it to complete a mission.

But this was different.

The day before had been a rollercoaster. From the morning straight through to the end of her day.

Relena's phone call had struck a chord with her and Serena still didn't understand why. Thinking back on the conversation, she had been open and honest with Relena, even though Relena was asking about Heero. Serena had still told Relena that she didn't know what love was.

Serena wondered what those feelings felt like. It was hard to understand when she had never felt them before. All she understood was Heero's version of what it may be like.

Then last night Trowa had surprised her with the offer to go out to dinner.

Serena thought after everything, mainly all the flirting she had been doing that Trowa would want to get straight to the point and that the two of them would end up in bed together.

The more Serena thought about it the more she wanted to step back a little and let things happen naturally. Or what she assumed was natural.

Serena liked Trowa, in more ways than one, but she also liked the idea of having something real for once in her life. Something that wasn't forced or ordered for her to be or do. Something that she decided to do of her own free will.

Turning her eyes back to the message, Serena made a decision. Her own decision. From now on she was no longer going to accept orders. From now on she was going to do things her way. Do the things she wanted to do. Deleting the message, Serena shut down her laptop. There would be no response from her this time.

Serena smiled to herself as she sat back, leaning on her hands. Looking back at Trowa's laptop she wondered if he'd like what she had created. For a fleeting moment, Serena thought about sharing the design with Trowa but quickly banished the notion. Not knowing how he would react to learning the information, even though next week Trowa would find out what else she had been up to. Serena figured she had time to think it over.

Her phone buzzed next to her, cutting through her thoughts. Picking up the phone she smiled again as she read through the message.

I'll be home a little later than usual. Dinner at seven?

Trowa kept the message encrypted enough. Serena had let him in a little more when she needed to cover their tracks from the previous afternoon. Trowa wasn't happy at first but slowly as they discussed it, he warmed up to the fact that she was right, they needed it to look like she had sent him a message asking him to go to the store for a few random items. They both agreed that it was the best thing to do.

Just in case someone went looking. Mainly Heero.

Serena sent Trowa a quick message back before double-checking the time. She had enough time to finish a few things before jumping in the shower. She had skipped one that morning in favor of waiting till later to take one. Serena just hoped she could keep her thoughts in check long enough to get ready.

Serena knew she had a lot to think about and more so, she needed to figure out some of the feelings she still didn't fully understand.

A/N

Happy Friday!

If I'm not setting the scene for what's going to happen in the next few chapters, then I am failing as a writer. Be ready for Monday and Wednesday (especially) chapters. Lots going on and I mean lots. Originally chapters 28-30 were all separate but I decided to combine them, as all of the events are taking place simultaneously. This is just a heads up so you understand when you go to read them that we'll be switching back and forth between a lot. I promise it all flows, but I just wanted to give the heads up.

Now on to discussing this chapter. Trowa and Serena are all over the place, but that's mainly due to Serena. She's a confused individual. While she knows what she wants, she doesn't know how to go about it in the easiest of ways. Keep in mind that she's only lived one real kind of life, so the freedom to pick and choose was never really an option for her. That being said, it seems she's been up to a few things. Why would she do a redesign of Heavyarms? Aren't the blueprints to the Gundams gone? What else has she been doing on Trowa's laptop? Food for thought there.

While I'd like to ramble on, there isn't too much more I think I can add at this point. Just enjoy the next few chapters and soon enough more information will be revealed. Maybe even an actual fight will break out? I will throw a warning in for that chapter. But once again, I'm getting ahead of myself. There's a lot that's going to happen and this story is picking up speed. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day, and if you celebrate Easter, I hope you have a wonderful Easter.

Until next time,
-MM