I'm back and ready for action. Technically, I should be writing a paper on Buddhism right now, but it only has to be two pages long and it isn't due until tonight, so I've got plenty of time. Anyway, I stayed up really late last night decorating one of my friends' door for her birthday, so I'm kind of sleepy right now. So hopefully I'll be able to grasp grammar and structure and all that good stuff on what sleep I've had. Maybe I should get some coffee.
*****
In Times of Peace
Part 6
*****
"You see, Quatre." Duo explained to Quatre as they sat eating breakfast several days later, "Women are evil. The only thing they really enjoy is causing innocent guys like us pain."
"Shut up, Duo." Isanu slapped his arm sharply. "You're in no way innocent, and you're just mad about last night. It was your own fault."
"What?" Duo gave her a wide-eyed look. "I just wanted to say good night to you. I didn't know you'd be getting changed." He protested. Just because his pouting had so far had no effect whatsoever on Isanu didn't mean he'd give up on it. She had to eventually have a weak moment, didn't she?
"Yeah, right." Isanu nodded as she spoke in sarcastic tones. "Next time, you might want to try knocking."
"See, Quatre. She hit me." Duo indicated his arm. "It hurt a little, but most of the time, women focus on emotional abuse instead of physical. They play games with your mind and rip your heart up. Then they'd help heal all the wounds so that they can catch you off guard when they rip off the bandages and tear the stitches out."
Quatre cringed at Duo's graphic description of female behavior. "But Driana isn't mean to me. She'd never hurt me." He protested. Driana smiled reassuringly at the blonde and patted his hand affectionately.
"That's what you think, buddy. Just wait." Duo gulped down his orange juice after warning Quatre.
"Duo, you're really starting to get on my nerves." Driana glared at the braided male viciously.
"And Duo, I don't think that Isanu is evil either. She is my sister and she is very nice to me all the time." Quatre opined. "Perhaps girls aren't nice to you because you upset them so much. You need to learn how to treat women properly."
"Great, what kind of messed up world is this?" Duo threw up his hands in defeat. "Quatre is telling me about how to treat women?"
"You'd better learn fast, too." Isanu advised. "We're leaving tomorrow morning."
"So soon?" Quatre's eyebrows arched in dismay.
"I'm afraid so." Driana nodded. "We've been gone too long already."
"See!" Duo pointed at Driana triumphantly. "That hurt, didn't it Quatre? Well, it only gets worse from here on in."
"Duo, I'm going to hit you." Driana spoke primly as she folded her napkin and placed it on her empty plate.
"Yeah, it's sad that we have to leave so soon." Isanu sighed wistfully. "Some mornings I just wish we could stay here forever. But on others…" she glared at Duo meaningfully.
"I just wish we all got to spend more time with you two." Quatre commented. "Speaking of which, where is everyone else this morning? Are they all still asleep?"
"I think Trowa said something about meeting Catherine for breakfast this morning, and I saw Wufei headed out to the hangar." Isanu volunteered the information.
"That reminds me, didn't you say that all of the pilots had their Gundams destroyed?" Driana asked. "How are there Gundams out there if you guys destroyed them?"
"In the end, we decided that it would be safest if the world thought the Gundams were gone." Quatre explained. "But we're all soldiers. It's a part of us forever, and we can't help but be cautious, so we blew up dummy Gundams instead of the real thing. No one ever comes out here, so they don't wonder why we have a huge mobile suit hangar on the grounds. It works well to remind us that the threat of war is ever-present."
"Plus, I just didn't wanna give up Deathscythe." Duo shrugged. "Everyone knows my Gundam's the coolest. It really pisses off Heero, though."
"Where is Heero?" Driana wondered aloud.
"He talks less than Trowa sometimes." Isanu said. "I don't know, but I have my suspicions as to where he could be."
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Heero felt the warm light of day creep over his face, slowly waking him. He lazily opened twin steel blue eyes before allowing himself a smug grin. Relena was cuddled close to him, her limbs entwining with his own. He always made it a point to wake up before her. It gave him a chance to admire her.
His eyes wandered over her smooth sheen of honey golden hair. It seemed as though her hair was never in disarray, even in the aftermath of their lovemaking it remained smooth and tranquil, unlike his own wildly unruly hair. She said that she loved his hair, but it seemed as though Relena loved everything about him. He could understand how she felt, though why such a perfect creature could care for a mere soldier was beyond him.
"Mmm, Heero." She mumbled in her sleep, her fingers moving lightly down his bare chest as he felt a sudden heat at her touch. What was it about this woman that held him at her side. No matter how he fought and denied it, Heero knew that he loved her. It was unfair. He had undergone a lifetime of training so that he would be able to ignore such emotions, and one casual brush of her hand could toss it all away. It was completely inexplicable that she could have such an effect on him, and he wondered if he still had any control over his decisions regarding her. His mind wandered back to the night before.
"I love you, Heero." Relena whispered as he lay beside her, propped up on his elbow so that he could watch her as she gazed adoringly up at him, a thin glimmer of moisture on her pale skin still present from their recent lovemaking. "I love you." She repeated, lifting a hand to the side of his face. He grunted slightly. It was obvious that she wanted him to tell her how he felt about her, but it was hard enough for him to admit it to himself without being forced to say the words out loud, as if for the whole world to know. "Why won't you say it, Heero?" Relena asked, her cornflower eyes widening pleadingly. "I know you do. I know you love me too."
"Isn't that enough then?" he asked her. Relena rolled her eyes and turned away.
"Nevermind." She sighed sadly.
"Don't play games, Relena." He spoke in a voice that for him, was gentle. "I just want to know why it isn't enough that you know."
"Because, I want more than that!" she crossed her arms over her bare chest, suddenly self-conscious. She tugged at her silk sheets until she was decently covered. "It used to be enough for me just to know, but now it just isn't. I was stupid to tell you before that it was all I wanted, just to have you beside me. I'm greedy, may I be punished for my greed, and I want all of you. I want just as much as I'm willing to give you. Everything. I know it sounds selfish, but it's the truth. If you don't want me, then just tell me so that I can move on with my life. But if you do…"
"I do." He told her, lifting a hand to rest on her shoulder and brushing his fingers along the edge of the silk sheet where it met her soft skin.
"Then you have to give me something in return, Heero. You can't just have someone without giving something in return. It isn't fair, and it isn't love." Relena pouted.
"I see." Heero mulled it over in his mind. He knew she was right. And he knew that when she wanted something so much as this, he couldn't refuse her. Moving toward her, Heero pulled the sheet off of her shoulder slightly so that he could kiss the smooth curve of skin softly. "I love you, Relena." He whispered in her ear, kissing her neck as he moved ever closer to her. "You know I do, but now I'm telling you. I love you."
"
"Heero, you're still here." Relena spoke, opening her eyes slowly as she smiled in happy surprise. "You're always gone by the time I wake up." She told him. "Almost as though you're a beautiful dream that's gone when I open my eyes."
"I know." He told her, kissing her jawline lightly. "I just didn't want to get out of bed."
"Oh no, now I've done it." Relena giggled lightly. "I've ruined the Perfect Soldier, made him a bedridden sloth. Now what will become of the fate of the world?"
"This is my world." He whispered in her ear, reaching down to tickle her. "And I am in control."
"No…don't…" Relena gasped between bouts of laughter as she tried to tickle Heero back to no avail. Finally, they both collapsed against each other. "You really are the Perfect Soldier. I can never win a tickle war against you. How can you not be ticklish?"
"Years of training." Heero told her, running his fingers through her honey colored strands of hair. They were silent for a long moment.
"Imagine what the boys would think if they could see you now, sleeping in and tickling me. They'd die of shock." She smiled at her secret Heero, the one that only she knew.
"I don't know. I think that some suspicions have been brewing." He told her. "I get more of an interrogation every time I come home late. It's as if they think I'm doing counterespionage instead of spending time with you."
"Why bother keeping it secret, then?" Relena wanted to know. "We could always…"
"No." Heero stopped the idea. "I've told you, Relena. I don't want to get married."
"Don't you love me?" she stuck out her lip sadly. She knew the answer to that, she just liked to make him suffer.
"Yes, I do." He replied, sighing heavily. "That isn't the problem. I just…it seems so expensive. Why spend all that money just to reaffirm our feelings?"
"That isn't the real reason is it, Heero Yuy?" Relena narrowed her eyes at him, smiling slightly as an idea struck her. "You just don't want to tell the boys because you're afraid it will ruin your reputation!" she laughed as Heero blushed, confirming her suspicions. "Okay, that's fine, but I'm only agreeing for one reason."
"What's that?" he asked.
"I know I'll eventually win." She grinned smugly. Heero growled and leapt on her, covering her with kisses as she laughed at his attack. She hoped she could always be so happy as she was in that moment.
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Driana was sitting in her room and packing her clothes for the next day when there was a knock on her door. "Come in." she called as she folded the last shirt into her suitcase, pulling the cover down and snapping it shut before she turned to greet her visitor. "Quatre!" she smiled happily at the young man standing hesitantly in her doorway with his hands behind his back. "Come on in, don't worry. I swear, it's safe in here."
"I…I just wanted to come see you before you left." Quatre told her, stepping into her room and closing the door behind him. "And…I wanted to give you something."
"Oh, Quatre, you didn't have to get me anything." She blushed, flattered that he had something for her.
"I wanted you to have it." He told her, his eyes wide and his voice sincere. "It just seemed…right."
"What is it?" Driana tried to see the hand still hidden behind his back, but he was too far away.
"It's very special. I want you to know exactly what it means that I'm giving this to you, or it loses it's meaning." He explained, bringing his hand forward to reveal a small, folded square of aged cloth. He began to slowly unfold the cloth as he spoke. "My mother gave this to me just before she passed away." He explained. "She told me that my father gave it to her long ago. At the time, they were only seeing each other, but my father thought that she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, so he gave her this token. My mother told me that when I found a girl that I thought I could love for the rest of my life, I should give this to her." He held up the thin silver chain with a round, intricately made locket hanging from it. "I've only known you for three weeks, Driana, but I think I love you." He told her as he walked around behind her to put the necklace on her. "After only three weeks, I can't be sure, but if there was ever a chance worth taking, this is it. I've never met a woman like you, Driana. I never want to forget this feeling that I have for you, and I never want it to end." He finished. Driana whirled around and lunged into Quatre's arms. She couldn't believe how incredibly sweet he was.
"It won't end. I promise." She told him, turning up to face him. "I won't ever forget you Quatre. And I'll call you all the time."
"Yes, and promise that you'll visit us again. This place is so much more beautiful with you in it." Quatre told her, running his fingers through her silky red hair.
"I will. I promise." Driana told him as she stood on tiptoes to kiss him. If only this moment could go on forever. She thought as she pressed against him. Who would've thought that she could come here with a bag of clothes and leave with the most precious gift she had ever received. Quatre's heart.
*****
The End (Of Chapter 6, That Is)