Disclaimer: I don't own GW, and I'm getting nothing but a kick and a head ache from this, so there is no need to SUE. Seems like that is what everyone is turning to nowadays. . .

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Wings of Last Impression

Part Eight

"Damn it to high hell," Wufei muttered under his breath. He slapped his right arm, scratched at his neck, and rubbed his left thigh.

"Why, Wufei, what's wrong?" a female voice asked in mock surprise.

"Nothing, just go back where you came from," he hissed as he slapped his right arm again.

"I think the mosquitoes have a fatal attraction to you, Wufei," Sally snickered as Wufei scratched at his left arm.

"Focus on the job! We didn't come here to enjoy these inferno blasted bugs!" Wufei huffed and walked further into the jungle. Sally laughed inwardly to herself, smiling as she patted a bottle of sweet water and mosquito spray. She snapped out of her joke as she heard the rustling of bushes and an invisible Wufei.

'Why can't you wait for me?!' Sally grinned as she chased Wufei into the heart of the Brazilian jungle.

Wufei placed one foot on a rock and took out his binoculars. He peered through the lenses and muttered to himself. Sally stopped short behind Wufei, her gaze shifting from the faraway spec to Wufei's face. Wufei stayed still for a moment, then glanced at Sally.

"What are you gawking at? Can you not see we've a mission to complete? Get your head out of that womanish gutter of yours and concentrate!" Wufei hissed.

That got Sally's attention and she turned her face to stone. She gave a defying glare Wufei's way and took out her own pair of binoculars. She focused on the point where Wufei's gaze lingered. 'Hmm, Lady Une's guess was right. It has always been right.' Sally's vid talkie crackled to life, drawing her thoughts away. On the screen appeared first-in-command Bruno Tsaku. Worry lines crinkled his forehead.

"Sally, are you there?"

"Yeah, Bruno, I'm here. What's happening?"

"My squad and I stumbled upon something you might be interested in. One of the unknown forces spotted us, so we had to book it." There could be a "hmph" sound coming from Wufei's direction. Sally glared at him and directed her gaze back down to Bruno.

"I'm not sure how long we could hide out here before they send out some reinforcements after us, Sally," Bruno said.

"Alright, we'll be right there. Just hang on as long as you can. Over and out."

Before the screen went black, Bruno gazed at Sally's face, sadness traced in his eyes as he saluted her with a smile. Sally gasped as she caught the look, but didn't fully understand the depth of his gaze. Wufei looked at her annoyingly as she slightly caressed the screen.

"Come on, woman, locate them already so we can get out of here!"

"Patience, Wufei," Sally said quietly.

Wufei looked at her, surprised that she didn't snap back with a comment. Sally took out another device that tracked all the Preventers whereabouts within the precinct of a rough one-hundred mile radius. She twisted the steel gray knobs and typed in their location. She then inserted Bruno's code and tuned a black knob, tracing and tracking Bruno's distinct code. She smiled to herself as she found his exact location and plotted the shortest and safest way to him.

With a final beep, Sally turned around to Wufei and smiled triumphantly.

"Got 'em! They're 62o north-west of us. We can get there in less than an hour if we take this route. . ." Sally continued to Wufei.

Wufei just scoffed at her, pretending to not be interested, but was very impressed. He preferred to keep things to himself, so sure he was that Sally would boast and her ego would flare up. Wufei listened intently though and drank in every word she uttered.

"Wufei?"

"What?" Wufei asked, drawn from his thoughts.

"Let's go!" Sally said happily and pulled his hand. Wufei snorted and was dragged along with Sally, into the unknown.

~~~~~

Relena visited Heero in the hospital every day, arming herself with smiles and news. Relena received a call from Gale, her secretary, saying that she couldn't fend off the political ghosts, piling meetings, and urgent messages from everyone and anyone. Relena sighed as she walked her way up the stairs, knowing that this would be her last day to see Heero. Her work would simply take up too much time to see Heero again after this. Relena smiled as she saw Heero's door, but it was shut. He never shut his door around this time. Frowning in dismay, Relena made her way closer but stopped short as a nurse blocked her way.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but I was instructed to not let anyone in the room," the nurse said.

"Why not?" Relena asked, hurt that she could be denied.

"Orders, ma'am, you must understand. Come back some other time, but just not today," the nurse said, not looking Relena in the eye.

"Alright. Could you let Heero know that I was here today, then?"

"I'll try, ma'am. Good day to you," and stood there, in front of the door. Relena sighed and walked away, wondering why she couldn't get access to his room. 'This is my last day that I'll see Heero in a long time,' Relena thought with a bitter sweet smile. The hostility of the nurse rang in her ears, and she stopped abruptly. She twirled around, retracing her steps. A short spark of anger flared in her eyes, but died down quick, as she saw no one on the floor. Relena walked quietly to the door, glancing about. She slowly gripped the knob, wondering why her heart was beating so fast. She felt a twist of bad feelings run through her veins, and redrew her hands to herself.

"Why am I hesitating to open the door?" she softly asked herself.

Soft padding feet on the waxed floor got her attention, panicking, she opened his door in a hurry and threw herself inside. Relena closed the door and caught her breath. The sound passed by the door and Relena heaved a big sigh. She trembled at what she saw.

There, on Heero's bed, sat a woman with silvery-blue hair and eyes that glowed bright in the dark. She had her arms around Heero's waist, who by now was sitting up in bed. Chuckling slightly to herself, she leaned in and kissed Heero tenderly. She broke away from Heero, her eyes drinking him in.

"Do you remember now, love?" she asked huskily.

"Yes, Reiya," Heero said shakily, closing his eyes. Relena gasped out loud, drawing the attention of the woman Reiya to her.

"Miss Darlian, I do want to thank you for taking precious care of my pet," Reiya cooed. Relena felt sick to the stomach, and wasn't able to bring herself to talk.

Her vision became clouded as she focused on Heero, who seemed to not notice her presence. Relena put a hand up to her mouth, backing away towards the door. Reiya chuckled softly again, the laughter of mock growing within her chest. Relena felt the warm tears trail down her cheeks as she forced herself to open the door, giving a final glance at Heero.

'Heero.'

He opened his eyes immediately and his beautiful eyes ate away at her. Confusion lighted their way to her before he hung his head. Relena suppressed a spark of hope as she closed the door behind her.

~~~~~

"Relena!" Hilde said from her porch.

Relena smiled at her, trying in a vain but valiant effort to hide her recent shock. Hilde bounced down the steps and skipped to Relena, smiling. Hilde stopped as she grew nearer to Relena, noticing that she had been brooding. Hilde said nothing as she went closer to Relena and wrapped her arms around her. By then, Relena let all the frustration and confusion out, telling her about what happened.

Hilde shook her head in despair and sadness at her friend's event. She threw an arm around her shoulder and steered her into the house. Relena found herself in the kitchen, watching Hilde blankly as she rummaged around. Silence reigned supreme for a while as Hilde fixed lunch, Relena's last homemade meal before she was shuttled off back to Earth. Relena snapped out of her trance as Hilde placed a bowl of chicken noodle soup in front her.

She poured some water into a cup and gave one to Relena. The oven timer buzzed, Hilde running to it and opened the oven door, taking out fresh French bread. Hilde placed a medium-sized crystal bowl between them, full of sliced mangoes, strawberries, blackberries, melons, and watermelons. Relena smiled appreciatively at Hilde.

"Thank you, Hilde, for making my last meal beautiful."

"No problem! I have fun doing this anyway," Hilde said, winking at her.

During the lunch, Hilde and Relena talked about life. They traded memories of the war, the good and bad things, sharing hopes and dreams as they ate the fruit. They were interrupted as Duo came in, eyeing their food.

"Aw, Hildey! You didn't leave any for me?!" Duo said wistfully.

"Not with you all dirty and grimy like that, of course not!" Hilde scolded. "Clean yourself up, don't forget that today is Relena's last day."

Duo nodded and rushed up the stairs, both girls hearing him slam the bathroom door behind him.

"Fastest way to get that guy cleaned after an all-nighter and half day stay in the basement is to set down the number one rule: No eating until you're clean!" Hilde said with a laugh.

Relena laughed along with Hilde, finishing off the last bread. Relena sat back and thought quietly to herself. She watched Hilde bring out another bowl of soup, two baskets of bread, a platter of roasted beef complete with a side of mash potatoes and green beans, and another enticing bowl of fruit. Relena eyed the fruit, and her hand shot out and retrieved a plump strawberry.

"Relena!" Duo said from the doorway.

"Mmph-Yes, Duo?" Relena said as she chewed on the strawberry. She gulped it down and then smiled at Duo, who came to the table and sat beside her.

"Ask first, please! I'm really starving and all," Duo said, the white towel strung about his neck, his damp hair falling behind him.

He was bare to the waist, wearing big black boxers that said "Shinigami" on the back with two scythes crossed in front. Hilde rolled her eyes at his appearance.

"The least you could do was cover yourself a bit more," Hilde said, staring at him.

"Oi, Hilde, Relena's been with us for almost a month! She knows how I am, ain't that right?" Duo said, stuffing his face already.

Relena giggled and murmured yes, a very faint blush across her cheeks. Hilde sighed and threw her hands up in silent defeat and sheer annoyance. Relena checked her watch and jumped up.

"I should really be heading to the shuttle station now," Relena said, scooting out from her chair.

She tried to take her dishes to the sink, but Hilde insisted to leave that to her. Relena agreed after a few minutes and headed upstairs. As she passed the room where Heero had slept in before the accident, she stopped and stood in the doorway. Her eyes misted as she inhaled deeply, trying to imprint his scent in her mind.

'Who was that woman that was with Heero? Why did she call him 'love'? Why did he say yes. . . what was there to remember!?' Relena clutched the sides of her head and ran to her room, sitting on the chair where he had been a few weeks ago. She released her hands and they fell to her sides. Glancing about the room, she spotted her suitcases.

"I really am going, back to another life that. . ." Relena wasn't able to finish as Hilde shouted to her.

"Montel's here to pick you up!"

"I'll be down in a moment!" Relena shouted back, getting up. She walked reluctantly towards her bed, taking the suitcases and walked out the door. She came down the stairs slowly, a smile slowly spreading on her face as she spotted Montel. To her surprise, she dropped her suitcases down and ran to him, throwing her arms about him.

'Warmth, just give me warmth,' Relena thought as she buried her head in Montel's shoulder. Montel just stared down at her, wondering what came over her. He smiled at her and hugged her fiercely back. 'The moment is right,' Montel thought.

~~~~~

"Okay," Relena said, as she straightened up, "let's get to the shuttle station."

Montel released her and picked her bags up. He went out the door with her suitcases, and Relena lingered behind. She turned around to Hilde, who stood there with a shine in her eyes. Relena went up to Hilde and embraced her.

"Thank you for everything, Hilde," whispered Relena, "I'll repay you somehow."

"Don't make me start crying," Hilde whispered back, a smile tugging at her lips.

"My turn!" Duo said, separating the women. Duo gave Relena a bear hug and a peck on the cheek. "You be careful with that Montel, now," Duo said, "or else the Masked Shinigami will be at his window sill!"

"Duo," Relena said with a light tone.

She smiled at them and walked out the door. Relena looked ahead, to see Montel waiting for her with a smile. Relena glanced towards the Maxwell porch, seeing Duo wrap his arms around Hilde, and Hilde waving back at her. Duo gave her a Victory sign and formed his right hand to resemble a phone. He mouthed the words "call me" to her. Relena giggled and nodded her head. She gave a slight wave as she finally joined Montel. Montel opened the door for her and giving one last look at Duo and Hilde, she sat herself in. Montel came in some seconds later, sitting across from her.

"It's good to see you so soon," Montel said.

"Yes, I know," Relena said as the limo picked up speed.

"You're not traumatized about the assassination, are you? I'm really sorry I couldn't come by and try to console you," Montel said.

"Not to worry yourself about it, I'm a big girl. Your sympathy should be redirected to my fortunate friend who bit the bullet for me," Relena said, her hands twisting the ends of her shirt. All was silent as they traveled the rest of the way to the shuttle station. Once they reached their destination, all the luggage, flight path, time, stops, and tickets were cleared. They walked slowly hand in hand to their shuttle, Relena being stopped every now and then by reporters or supporters. She just flashed her smile and did her little handshake, while all inside she was asking them to leave her alone. Before they boarded the shuttle, Montel stopped Relena and faced her. He held her firmly but his tone was gentle.

"Now is a good time as any," Montel said, reaching deep within his pocket.

He got on one knee and produced a gold velvet box. Relena blushed and tried to calm her panicking heart. She thought of all the times that she and Heero had shared. She hastily compared Montel to Heero, Heero to Montel.

"Will you marry me, Relena?"

There was the question she was waiting for, all her life since she knew how to love a human being the way. . . the way she had loved Heero. Someone caught her eye as a couple walked behind them, the woman pausing as everyone else was to hear her answer. She recognized the woman's silvery-blue hair, and the outline of Heero's hair in the dusk. The woman named Reiya clutched tightly at Heero's arm, giving him little pecks on the cheeks all the while eyeing Relena.

It's decided, she thought, as she gave her answer.

~~~~~

I'm sorry-no, I'm not sorry-if the charas are OOCky. Please e-mail if you have any comments or flames.