Only Time

By: Zarabeth McGregor

Chapter: 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon; they belong to some undoubtedly rich Japanese people. I ain't one of them, once again.

                  Alright, peeps we are about a third through the fic, give or take. Yes, I spent the whole weekend categorizing the upcoming events into chapters, and I figure this fic will span some thirty chapters…you know what that means…lots more cliffhangers, people! Hehe!

Q and A:

Amy: Hey, haven't seen you in a while! Glad you loved it!

Wicked Lady: Yeah…or Heero can decide he doesn't want Relena; he wants Ami, and BOOM! Soul mate found, a little wedding and three baby Yuys! And a cat. *shrugs* it could go either way, you know. I'm not saying anything concrete…*giggles at an undoubtedly grumbling Jenna*

Amanda: I think you mean Duo…anyways…you'll find out soon enough *winks*

Kaiya: Didn't break anything did you? No? Shucks! *pouts*

Himesama16: Lemme see…all I have to say…it's going to get very interesting soon…Stay tuned to 'Only Time' only on FanFiction.net. *laughs* Thanks for the idea, by the way.

"''''''''''''' : *shrugs* Sorry to hear that.

Mercury Ice Storm: Ooh! You're just like me, then! Lost a few screws, huh?! Me too! *grins like a maniac*

Aurora: You ask some pretty deep questions…I like! Yes, the intense description of Heero's eyes, that's what you get when you read too many romance novels *wink*…Well, the whole thing about Ami forgetting her planet, I wanted to show that she is slowly moving away from her old life…but the thing about Mercury being hard to find, that was to show that she hasn't completely forgotten about her past.

Huh…the rose not being from Duo…possibility, no?

Silver Star: *grins sheepishly* I can't help myself…

Oldestof3: *laughs* okay…all I have to say is please read on…hehe!

Jessica: I really can't help myself. And I am sweet and innocent…funny, you guys all sound like my friends…they seem to think I'm mean…*pouts*

WindRider Damia: *nervous smile* Sorry?

~*~

"Oh my God! Duo are you okay?" I asked, alarmed as he started to choke on his cappuccino.

"No problem," he choked out and waved a hand. After a few more coughs, Duo looked up at me, blinking. And said six little words that sunk my hopes—for the time being.

"Are you out of your mind?" he said quite bluntly. It was my turn to blink now.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. "Isn't it a good idea?" Duo sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Relena didn't tell you about her history with Heero?" he asked. I think the answer was obvious, but I still shook my head. Duo sighed again.

"Okay, this is highly classified information," he said softly, but seriously enough I paid close attention. "Don't tell anyone, especially Relena, that I told you this. It's not that she wouldn't have told you, it's just that she might've been waiting for the right time. Okay?" he ended off, his blue eyes begging for my compliance.

"Okay," I nodded. Duo stared off like he was trying to remember something.

"When Heero first met Relena, she was kind of…overbearing. She, more or less stalked him," Duo paused as I let this information filter through. "She followed him to another continent when he changed schools, and she followed him to…Antartica to deliver a letter to him…never heard of FedEx…" Duo muttered the last part with a roll of his eyes. "Among other things. Well, she stopped towards the end of the war when she had other things to focus on and they hardly had any contact during the period between the Eve Wars and the Mariemaia Revolts. When Relena was kidnapped, Heero risked his neck to save her, ending the war in the process."

"Uh-huh," I said, nodding. I really didn't see where this was going.

"Well, they tried to…date each other after the revolts…Heero seemed to have finally developed emotions and fell for her—hard. It was all good and jolly for a few months, but…I don't know…" he trailed off and took another sip.

"You don't know? That's not helping me," I responded. Duo sighed again in an impatient kind of way.

"I doubt Relena or even Heero knew what happened. They started to get all heavy…no, not like that," Duo clarified when he saw my eyebrows shoot upwards. "But intense, you know, the stage when you start to confide in each other. They just…drifted after that, really," he shrugged. "And that's the oh-so-lamentable tale of Heero and Relena's love affair."

"That's it?" I asked, shocked. Duo rolled his eyes.

"Ami, you must understand. Relena was ready to plunge emotionally into this relationship; hell, she was already doing it. But Heero…Heero has some issues he needs to resolve. I don't even know what they are myself. He doesn't confide in people easily. And that hurt Relena; badly. I doubt she wants to go through that again." I pounced on that.

"Ha!" I said, pointing an excited finger. "You don't know that…Friday night, you didn't see her. She was all into Heero. And when we came up to you guys; there was something there, I swear," I snapped my fingers, looking for another piece of evidence. "And when I asked her this morning if Heero was her boyfriend…" Duo visibly paled at this.

"You asked…Dear god…" he muttered, running a hand over his face. But I was on a roll now, I couldn't stop myself.

"…you should've seen the look on her face. She laughed it off, sure, but there was something there, Duo!" I sighed and calmed myself. "Don't you see, Duo? It can do them some good. Relena and Heero; there's something between them." I could see Duo's resolve breaking. I tried to work on this. "When we came over to the two of you at the party, they exchanged a glance…you could see that they regret whatever happened to break up their relationship." I conveniently left out the fact that Heero looked away. Duo sighed. "The look in their eyes, Duo, the longing…" I was pouring it on real thick now. Okay, okay I put my own little romance novel spin on it, but I'm sure if I got a longer look, I would've seen it.

"I tried it before…Heero nearly took my head off my body," Duo groaned. I smiled harmoniously.

"He doesn't have to know…they don't have to know," I said in a light but persuasive voice; the type those salesladies use when they're trying to convince you to buy a pair of hundred dollar shoes they know you love.

"I can't believe this…" Duo buried his face in his hands. "I know better than this." I smiled inwardly and took a leaf out of Relena's book.

"Please, Duo," I pleaded in a soft, sugary-sweet voice. Duo looked up at me like he just signed his death warrant.

"The things I do for a pretty face…" he sighed. He sighed again. "Okay, what do you have in mind?" I giggled gleefully.

"I knew you'd see things my way," I proclaimed proudly. Duo muttered something about him having a death wish. "Okay…here's what I'm thinking…" For the next half and hour, we put the finishing touches on a plan to hook our friends up in an inconspicuous but ingenious way. By the time we were done, Duo was feeling a bit more confident.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" I asked teasingly as we declared the plan perfect. Duo leaned back in his chair.

"I'm just doing this because you'd keep haggling me if I didn't. Am I right?" he asked with a slight smirk. I gave a smug smile.

"So, you'd brave the wrath of Heero just so I wouldn't harass you?" I asked. Duo shrugged.

"There are some things worse than having your head shot off," he said calmly. I laughed and stared at him. He was so cute!

God, where'd that come from?

"Thanks for the rose Duo," I said suddenly. That was the first time I thought of it since I stepped out of the office. Duo frowned.

"What rose?" I frowned along with him.

"You know, the white one with the sweet poetry on it," Duo raised a brow.

"Sorry, babe, don't know where that came from," he grinned now. "Ooh, Ami has a secret admirer," he said like a gossipy high school girl. I rolled my eyes.

"Please," I said with a laugh. Duo quirked another brow.

"Why not?" he asked with a shrug. "Why wouldn't a guy want to be your secret admirer?" I felt myself blush at this. I conveniently looked at my watch at this point.

"Oh, look at the time," I said in the typical clichéd fashion. "I gotta go." Duo nodded knowingly with a smug smirk on his face. "Seriously, Relena left a lot of work for me to do this morning."

"Whatever, Ames," he said. "Whatever."

~*~

I went back to the office that afternoon torn between feelings. On one hand, I was glad our plan was so foolproof, but on the other hand, I was confused.

If Duo says he didn't send the note, who did?

I was determined to find out. I walked up to Stacey at her desk.

"Hi, Stace," I announced as I leaned on her desk. She looked up and gave a wan smile. Her cold was really knocking her around. "Can I talk to you for a second?" she nodded.

"Sure, what's up?" she asked groggily.

"Who sent the rose?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I don't know. No one does. Samantha came in this morning and found it there," Stacey told me. She started to cough and I thanked her for her information. "No prob," she said and started to blow her nose. I frowned. Samantha was the cleaner lady. I didn't feel like questioning her because she wasn't the most cheerful person in the world. I doubt she'd want to get involved in the love life of a young adult. The rose was fresh, so it must've been placed there this morning.

                  As I walked into the office, the rose was on my desk, mocking me. I picked it up and noted with a frown its immaculately white petals were now slightly wilted. I got a small juice bottle and filled it with water. Then I cut it diagonally in the florists' fashion and put it in the bottle and I then took it over to my desk and put it there, right next to my computer.

As I sat down to finish gathering Relena's information, I tried to figure out who sent it. I wasn't about to ask for surveillance tapes from the night before just so I could see who it was…I suddenly noted with a smile that I actually didn't mind being kept in suspense.

But I know you guys do! Please review and thanks for reading. Ja!