Believe: Part Six
By Izzy
All standard disclaimers apply.

I am SO sorry, all of you! Life is a major bitch sometimes, especially last week, the week before last (damn exams) and this week (damn school). I've got three essays due tomorrow and a Civics project due Thursday (damn Civics.) Cheru-chan had lots of fun tho-got arrested during class and dragged down to the library and stayed there for half an hour-or so she tells me. It was for some stupid activity in class at her school. Neways, I've gotten major swamped by school (I got Principal's List for quarter and Semester tho and an A on the Geometry Exam-Yay!) so much-all of us that one girl even attempted suicide Sunday night. *shudders* Don't push me there. Plus, I just cut about five inches of my hair off. WAHHHH! I feel so empty! Long hair is just so natural! I don't CARE that it takes about ten minutes less to dry! I want my hair back! Okay, sorry-about my story. I'm trying very hard to be more descriptive here. So just be nice in your reviews!

*~*~*~*

Sally Po had just confirmed his identity, and Sean was staring at him with his eyes practically bugging out of his head.

Heero set his coffee cup down on the table and looked over calmly-the complete opposite of what he was feeling inside. A storm of emotions had come over him. He didn't know what to make of them or what was happening to him. "What?" he asked, finally becoming annoyed.

Sean shook his head, breaking his trance. Dragging one hand through his thick, black hair, he answered quickly, "Nothing, I just never guessed I'd be housing _Heero Yuy_. You're a legend, man!" His emerald eyes twinkled.

Heero sat back in the chair to think about Sean's words. 'A legend, huh? To who? I must've done something really important to become thought of like that.'

His gaze drifted back towards the portrait of Relena Dorlain. He smirked inwardly. Maybe she was the answer to all his questions. Her very gaze did crazy things to his inside-brought out feelings he never thought he had.

But then he felt a pang of remorse. Had he done anything to hurt her? Had he caused her pain?

"Heero?" Noin broke his reverie. "Are you okay? I've never seen you space out quite like that before. You're usually always working-on one thing or another."

"I'm fine," he answered, gruffly. His questions would have to wait.

"Would you like to stay here tonight? We've got some of your stuff here-your clothes and your laptop. It might do you some good to be in familiar surroundings. The guys are supposed to come back tonight, and Rel-" She was cut off my Sally's snort. "What?"

"You know what, Noin, Relena's had a lot of shocks for one day, with Hilde and all. We should put this off for tomorrow." Wisdom echoed in her every word.

*~*~*~*

Heero sat in a plain bedroom. There was nothing hanging on the walls and the room was neat as a pin. All the papers on the desk were organized and his laptop was stored away in a drawer. Everything else was immaculate. Not a single thing out of place.

Kicking his shoes off, he yanked a dresser drawer open and pulled out a green tanktop and a pair of boxers. These would do for the night. He was going to look around before sleeping, though.

He pulled out the desk chair and sat down. He shuffled a bit through the papers, not really paying any attention to them. They had something to do with an organization called OZ. Gingerly setting them down, he pulled a drawer open and took a slim laptop out. He would look through that later. After setting it on the desk, he pulled the drawer open wider.

Heero smirked. Nothing. The same for the next drawer. Nothing.

But when he opened the third, a lone picture laid on the bottom. He picked it up gently, as though it would break and blew some dust off-a sign of its age. He assumed this had not been touched this for a very long time. He wiped the rest off with the bottom of his tanktop, and held it up to the light for a better view.

It was Relena. Or he thought it was. She looked exactly as she did in the portrait, so she was probably fifteen in this photograph. Furthur supporting his guess, she was wearing what looked like a pink school uniform with a white skirt.

Then his gaze settled on her face. Her eyes were so sad, filled with such longing. For what? Heero felt something in his chest cracking-a very deep pain. 'Is this what they call heartache?' he asked himself. 'Why would I feel such an emotion for her?' He stared harder at her face. She was so beautiful. Someone so beautiful did not deserve such sadness. He felt her pain as if it were his own, and desperately wanted to heal all her scars.

"This," Heero declared aloud, "is why I am still living."

*~*~*~*

Relena walked into her room, glancing at the clock on her way in. "11:30. Ugh."

She dropped her purse carelessly into a chair and pulled the navy blue ribbon out of her hair. Setting the ribbon on her vanity, she began to massage her scalp, the ache a result from having been tied up all day. Sitting down on the small stool, she stared blankly at herself in the mirror. She was shocked at her appearance.

Her eyes were dead. Nothing ...

She quickly looked away. What was happening to her? But deep inside, Relena knew exactly what was happening.

Heero was gone.

Heero was gone and she had no other reason to live. She grasped her hands together in her lap until the knuckled turned white and squeezed her eyes closed. She would not cry. Crying didn't fix anything. How many times had she already learned that lesson?

Her hands unlatched and rested on her stomach. There. There was her reason to live. She would raise this child. Hers and Heero's. She owed this to him. He who gave his life for her country-he who gave his life for her. Her Heero.

"My Heero," she whispered, a smile beginning to make its way onto her face.

Gathering courage, she looked up into her reflection.

The same dead eyes stared back.

And Relena instantly crumbled.

*~*~*~*

Elena was laying in bed. Insomnia was a major bitch. Rolling over and beating on her pillow, she looked across the room to see Flora fast asleep. "Lucky," she spit accusingly at her.

She groaned her frustration out loud, and when she had enough she got out of bed. Enough was enough. It was 2am and she needed her rest, summer or not. She stalked out of the bedroom and headed downstair for sleeping pills.

While she was passing another bedroom, she heard the sound of turning. She smirked. So, little Ziel couldn't sleep either. Tiptoeing towards the door, she whispered, "Haziel? You up?"

"Elena? What are you doing out of bed?" he whispered back, accusingly.

She stepped into the room, the moonlight shining off of her dusty blonde hair. She walked quietly up to him and plopped herself down on the foot of the bed. "I couldn't sleep. I was just going downstairs for some sleeping pills."

"Me either. But, Elly, you know you can't take those. You won't be able to sleep in tomorrow and you know you'll get it from Mom. She'll only let us use them if we have time to sleep the next morning-which we don't. You want to go see Aunt Hilde, with me, don't you?" His Prussian blue eyes sparkled.

"That's not what's keeping me up," she whispered back. "Something's happened, and I think we're going to find out real soon."

Haziel didn't answer. He knew something was up, too.

After a while, Elena began again. "You know, you really look a lot like Dad."

"Yeah?" he murmured, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Elena nodded. "I can see him every time I look at you. I would never have admitted this before, but Ziel, you can't deny that we've grown to love him."

He looked down. She was right and he knew it.

"Thank about how Mom's been taking this. She's been in love with him forever and he was just ripped away. I don't think you know, but sometimes, I can hear her crying at night."

Haziel nodded. "I do. Elena, I don't think she's ever going to heal. Not from something like that. I mean, she's been through so much already. First leaving when she was fifteen to have us, and then coming back just three months ago for Uncle Milliardo. Then he gets killed in battle and she finds out she's pregnant again. Then moving back? Elly, did you notice that she was the happiest she had ever been when she was with Dad?"

Elena reached for a pillow and hugged it to her chest. "You're right. You know, Ziel, maybe we should be extra sweet to her. She deserves it. Just look at her. She looks like she'g going to crumble any minute now. And her eyes," she began with a sort of astonished voice, "Ziel, those aren't hers! They're ... lifeless."

Hazile nodded absently before looking at the clock. 2:20. "Elena, we should be getting to sleep."

"Yeah." Elena untangled herself from the bed sheets and leaned over to give her brother a hug before leaving the room. "Night, Ziel."

"Good night, Elly," he called after her.

*~*~*~*

Heero woke the next morning at 5:45. He groaned silently. He always woke at exactly this time. 'I should really get more sleep,' he scolded himself. Pulling the covers up over his head, he tried to drift off again, but it wasn't working. "Damn it," he muttered to himself.

Dragging himself out of bed, he quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a navy blue button up shirt. He didn't even bother to comb his hair. 'It'd just look the same an hour from now,' he spoke to himself mentally.

A knock at the door broke his thoughts. "Heero?" a woman called through the door. 'Noin,' he automatically told himself.

He pulled the door open and she scrambled in.

Heero frowned. "What are you doing up this early?" "I'm always up this early, and so are you. Why do you think I came to talk to you now?" Heero stared at her. "Okay, sure, whatever. Everyone's going to be leaving for the hospital at nine. They're probably going to spend the day there, so you're coming, too."

Heero still didn't respond. So he was going to meet his angel today? Good enough for him.

"You take a look around for a while. I'll have breakfast sent up to you and Sean-he's next door. And-try to remember something, hmm?"

Heero glared at her and she left the room. Shrugging, he opened the laptop and began accessing files. He _was_ going to remember something-anything-before the day was through.

*~*~*~*

Relena, Haziel, Elena, Milliardo, Noin and Sally sat around the huge dining room table.

"So, when did Sally get here?" Relena asked, emotionless.

"Last night," she answered quickly. "Wanted to see the babies!"

Relena nodded her response, and busied herself in her food. There was nothing much on her plate actually. She wasn't very hungry.

Sally stopped and watched. "You eat up. You have another person to feed." Relena's head shot up, but she obliged.

Elena and Haziel exchanged glances. It was going to be a long day.

*~*~*~*

Twelve faces gathered around three little cribs.

"Oh, look at his little toes!" squealed Flora. "They're so cute!"

"Oh, they're all so adorable!" squealed Elena.

Haziel snorted. "I knew they were going to say something like that."

"Whatever, geek boy," Elena retorted. "They _are_ cute. Can't stand a little competition? Oh, Floraaaaa, who's cuter, the babies or Ha-" She was cut off by a kick in the shin. She stopped, pouting.

Hilde smiled at their antics. "Just think, my kid'll be acting like that in fifteen years, except there'll be an extra one!"

Meanwhile (about two hours later) ...

Noin and Sally had excused themselves for the snack machine returned to Sean and Heero who were waiting around in the lounge.

"Sorry for making you guys wait here all day," Noin apoligized.

"No prob! Free tv, why not?" Sean greeted her.

"Well, visiting hours are almost over, so the gang is going to come down here in about," she glanced at her watch, "fifteen minutes. Be ready." And they left.

"That was short, huh?" Sean asked Heero. Then he picked up the remote control and flipped to another channel.

*~*~*~*

Relena was sitting and listening to a conversation between Hilde and the guys when an elderly nurse stepped into the room. "Visiting hours are over, you can come back tomorrow." Everyone glanced up. "Wow, there are so many people here! You must be really lucky, Miss," she said to Hilde.
"Yeah, I am." She smiled and the group filed out.

*~*~*~*

Heero could hear voice down the hall. They were coming. The door began to open and he stood up.

Relena stepped in first, and her eyes laid on him.

"Heero."

*~*~*~*

Woohoo! A cliffhanger! I love doing this to you! Look I finished and it's only 12:18! Yay! Now, there's not telling when the next part'll be out. Be patient! I wanted to make you happy and gave you an extra long part-it just made seven pages. Deep and emotional? Maybe-tell me! R&R!
Ja! Izzy