The Guardian

Chapter 4

As the couple made their way down the grand staircase to the ballroom, Heero glanced from the corner of his eye at the golden-haired maiden beside him. "Are you always this quiet Heero?" Relena chimed with her soft melodic voice, breaking the uncomfortable silence that ensued between them.

"I'm here merely as your escort, not as your social partner," Heero snorted.

"You never were the conversationalist Heero, but if you care to be an ass, I would gladly take my company else where," Relena retorted defiantly.

Heero had no response to Relena's sharp tongue and remained silent as they continued towards the dance hall. The sweet sound of music and voices could be heard from the bottom of the stairs where Mr. Yuy stood, greeting guests as they came in. Mr. Yuy heard the sound of footsteps from above and saw Heero and Relena descending the last steps. "Ah my dear, you look ravishing," the elder Yuy said kissing her hand.

"Good evening my son. Please take care of Miss Relena here," Mr. Yuy told Heero with conviction.

"I will father," Heero replied back and proceeded to the night's festivities.

Relena decided not to let Heero's boorish behavior interrupt her night, she was determined to enjoy the evening. Relena and Heero were greeted with the sound of the orchestra and the array of voices filling the room. Relena just stood there taking in as much of it as she could. A sea of unfamiliar faces flooded Relena's view as Heero guided her through the crowd of bodies. "Good evening Mr. Yuy," a voice sounded from the crowd.

Heero paused and turned around to meet a young gentleman with blonde hair. "Good evening to you Mr. Winner," Heero greeted the man followed by a sturdy hand shake.

"Please, call me Quatre, Mr. Yuy," the man sounded eloquently.

"It's Heero. How do you do Quatre?" Heero asked Quatre politely.

"Very well thank you. Heero my good man, you haven't introduced me to the lovely lady here," Quatre said as he locked eyes with Relena.

"Quatre Winner, meet Miss Relena Dorilan. She will be staying with my family for the time being," Heero informed the blonde.

"It's a pleasure," Quatre said before taking Relena's hand and kissing it. "I hope this won't be the last time we meet Miss Relena," Quatre implored before going on his way.

Relena watched as Mr. Winner slipped back into the crowd. A waiter then brought around a tray full of champagne glasses to Heero and Relena. "Champagne for you and the lady Master Yuy?" the man asked the two.

Heero carefully took two of the glasses and nodded to the waiter. Heero scanned the crowd from where they stood and he caught a glimpse of a tall man with brown hair braided down his back. "Would you please excuse me," Heero announced before disappearing into the crowd, leaving Relena to the company of herself.

"Miss Dorilan I presume?" a voice sounded from the side of her.

Relena turned around to come face to face with two women. One was tall and slender with curly auburn hair and the other was petite with black hair. "Yes, I'm Miss Dorilan."

"Hi, I'm Hilde Maxwell and this is Catherine Barton," the woman answered with a cheerful tone of voice.

"Good evening to you both," Relena greeted the two ladies.

"I see you too have lost your escort Ms. Dorilan," Catherine inquired.

"It appears so," Relena answered. "He tends to be rather anti-social at times."

"We understand your situation all too well Ms. Dorilan. We find ourselves alone many a times at occasions such as these," Hilde told Relena and Catherine nodded.

"They generally disappear for most of the evening and towards the end of the night, they grace us with their presence once again just in time for the last dance," Catherine added.

"Please, call me Relena," Relena said with a pleasant smile gracing her face.

"Care to join us while we wander the crowd?" Hilde asked.

"I would love to," Relena told them.

The three of them were all smiles as they ventured back into the crowd. Unbeknownst to them, three gentlemen gathered in a corner of the room, out of the sights of the three ladies. One of the men was tall and slender with green eyes and brown hair, the other was also tall and slender but had violet eyes and a long, brown braid cascading down his back. In the company of the other two men was Heero, who was leaning up against the wall observing the crowd. "So, what do you have?" Heero addressed the two men in a hushed voice.

"A man named Ned Deville was found dead in his home early this morning, it appears to be arsenic poisoning," the braided hair man quietly informed Heero.

"All of his money was missing and there were no signs of a break in, just like in the other two unsolved cases. I presume we are dealing with the same suspect here are we not?" the man with green eyes spoke with the same tone of voice as the other.

"I've come to the same conclusion Trowa. What do you think Heero?"

"What we are dealing with here, Duo and Trowa, is a mastermind. The culprit was probably a person whom these people trusted and saw on a regular basis. The slain were all wealthy, eligible bachelors so I'm figuring that our murderer is a woman. We must find a common acquaintance among the three victims," Heero said in a barely audible voice.

"Finding others that fit the same profile as the victims will help to prevent more deaths," Trowa added.

"Heero, I suggest you watch your back. You fit the profile to a tee," Duo told his comrade.

Heero nodded. "We will convene again tomorrow night, understood?"

Duo and Trowa nodded in agreement and went their separate ways, Heero then disappeared into the crowd as well. "Trowa, where do you suppose our wives may be?" Duo asked his friend as they rummaged through the crowd.

"In search of gossip no doubt," Trowa said with a smirk. "Ah, there they are now," Trowa motioned with his head to a group of females towards the window.

"Good evening ladies," Duo chimed as he went up and stood beside Hilde.

"Well, where have you two been? You always seem to disappear the moment we arrive," Hilde remarked with a smile.

Relena could not keep her eyes off the young man, something about him struck a chord within her. She knew him from somewhere but she just couldn't place him. "Oh and Duo, this is Miss Relena Dorilan, our new acquaintance," Hilde informed her husband.

'Duo, why does that name ring a bell?' Relena then looked at his eyes and the sparkling violet orbs sounded bells within her head. "Duo?" she uttered in an unsure tone of voice.

"Aw come on, don't tell me you don't remember me?" Duo said with a mischievous grin on his face.

Hilde turned a questioning eye to her husband. "Come on now, how could you forget a face like this?" Duo commented sarcastically.

Relena just smiled. "How could I forget an old friend?"

Duo gave Relena a light and long awaited hug. Hilde still had no clue what was going on as did the other two. Duo turned to his wife and friends to fill them in on the whole situation. "Relena and I used to play together as children. My mother worked in her household when I was a child and that is how we met. Let's just say this, wherever we went, chaos followed close behind," Duo boasted proudly.

"And when I moved, I never saw Duo again. My parents thought it would be necessary for me to learn how to act like a proper lady and not a ruffian who rolls around in the mud with boys. I think it was more for their best interest rather than mine considering their high rank in society," Relena added.

"My, what a small world this is. And I thought that missing partners was the only thing we had in common this evening," Hilde spoke with delight.

"Where are my manners," Duo said waving his hands in the air. "Relena, this is Trowa Barton and his wife Catherine."

"A pleasure meeting you both," Relena acknowledged the couple.

At that moment, music filled the air as the orchestra began playing sweet music. The two couples headed towards the dance floor as Relena stood by the window and observed. Just then, Quatre Winner started walking over in Relena's direction with a graceful smile on his face. "Where is Mr. Yuy, Miss Dorilan?" Quatre inquired politely.

"I have not seen him since our meeting with you earlier this evening," Relena replied, rather embarrassed at the fact that she was alone.

"Would you care to dance my lady?" Quatre asked as he offered his hand.

With her elegant smile, Relena accepted the invitation and followed Mr. Winner out to the dance floor. From a spot near by, but not visible to her, Heero had kept a close watch on Relena the entire evening. From her interactions with Mr. Winner to her mingling with the Maxwells and the Bartons, he never lost sight of her for a single moment. Frankly, he was quite surprised to see that she had already been acquainted with Duo in the past. But his interest was now averted to Relena sharing the dance floor with Mr. Winner. An uneasy feeling formed in the pit of his stomach as he observed the couple as they shared the dance floor, and for some reason unknown to him, this was hard for him to watch.

Heero remained in the shadows for the rest of the evening, keeping a close eye on Relena but not once rejoining her company. Relena appeared to be undaunted by his untimely disappearance for she had enjoyed a delightful evening of dancing and conversation with the likes of Mr. Winner. When the time had rolled around for the last dance of the night, the realization of Heero's disappearance put a damper on the evening. Despite the fact that she had a wonderful time with Mr. Winner, she did hope to share a dance with Heero. Her hopes were never realized however, as the last note of music faded and the crowd slowly ebbed out, leaving Relena to stare out the window at the sky above.

As she pressed her fingers against the cold glass, many questions became aloft in her mind. 'Why Heero, why? What did I ever do to you to deserve such an icy shoulder? Oh how I wish I knew what was making your heart so frigid and stony.' Tears began to slowly fall from Relena's eyes, down her cheeks and onto her dress. Her hands balled up into tiny fists at her sight, both shaking in anger. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself of how much fun she had that night even without Heero, the pain in her heart refused to disappear. A hurt that had existed all throughout the night but was easily ignored in the midst of excitement that came with the evening. "This was supposed to be my night, my night to be the princess who gets swept away by Prince Charming," she cried softly. "My night," she said pounding her fists against the wall and then resting her head upon them.

After a few minutes, Relena managed to collect herself and wipe the rest of the tears from her eyes. At that moment, like the rest of the evening, Relena had no idea she was being watched. Standing against a doorframe on the other side of the room, Heero watched as Relena cried, carefully listening to the words of woe that escaped from her mouth. 'I am sorry Relena, I could never be your Prince.' Heero told himself in a somber tone as he turned on his heel and quietly walked away.