Only Time

By: Zarabeth McGregor

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. They belong to some people I will never have the good fortune of meeting.

                  THIS WILL BE MY LAST UPDATE FOR A WHILE, PEOPLE!!! No, I'm not talking about this being my last update for two days or three. I will have the next chapter out, by the earliest date, sometime next week. I'm not bluffing, peeps. Thanks for reviewing. I have a whooping EIGHTEEN reviews for this chapter. That means eighteen questions and comments.

Q and A (much shorter, don't you think?)

Spooky Fyre: For a second there, I thought you were my cousin *winks*. You're gonna cry if it's who? Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say stalker, really…Thanks for reading.

IL195: *nervous laugh, then iceberg melting smile* Uh, you don't really want to kill me, do you? Then you won't know what will happen. *Winks* your move.

Meio-chan: Ooh, who indeed. Please, feel free to guess…*laughs* Thanks for reading.

Kate: Hmm…well, you can never know with Duo, can you?

Jchild: Yeah, I guess he is, huh? Hmm…Thanks again.

Oldestof3: *laughs* okay, chill, hon…don't want one of my regular reviewers dying on me, now do I?

Polgara: Yeah, I notice that. I don't know; I wanted to be different, to kind of shy away from that cliché. Well, stay tuned, it's gonna heat up.

Amy: I think I know who you think it is. It seems likely, huh? Well, I have to start cutting back now, so…don't love me any less…

Arella Hallo: Who sent the rose…hmm…I wonder…well, don't hyperventilate on my expense…you have a whole bunch more cliffies and suspense to go through before I'm done with this fic *winks*.

Minimerc: Yeah, it's cute, no? Duo's a bad influence…really, he is. Look at what he's making Ami do…she was never like that…*shakes head* Sorta stalked him? Oh, don't get me started…I'm glad that she stopped that, though. As for the last part of your review, read on.

Silver Star: Oh, you knew? That's cool. Yeah, I might be coming down with something…I feel cold in the middle of 80º weather and I'm sneezing a lot too…Stacey gave it to me, she's upset that I gave her a cold, so she couldn't go to Relena's party and flirt with Quatre…*shrugs* So is life…feel better yet? I hope you do.

Kaiya: The only how you are finding out prematurely is if you come to my house and read my little black and white composition book! And I'm not worried about Ami…it's Heero that scares me…*sniffles*

Amanda: Yes, it does, doesn't it? *winks* Well, if that's the case then, yes, I do enjoy cliffhanging you peeps. 

Jessica: Ah, don't worry about it…my ego's WAY thicker than my skin. In fact, my friends and I do this as a banter kind of thing. You know, huh? Yes, they are heating up…and quickly too.

Mercury Ice Storm: LOL, it did…well, I don't think I was born with any, so there you go!

WindRider Damia: Uh…glad I made you happy…well, you'll get your answer soon…enough, yeah, soon enough. You got my email, right?

SakuraMona: *BEEEEEEEP*…who is *BEEEEEEEP*? Thanks for the free advertisement!

Himesama16: What is she planning, you'll find out this chapter. The rose…you'll see in due time *winks*.

Yeah…on to the fic!

~*~

At five, I stepped into Relena's office. She had her head on the desk, buried in her arms, muttering something and life being stressful.

"Uh, Relena?" I asked softly. She looked up, her hair tousled and her face creased with sleep lines.

"Yeah?" she replied sleepily. I put on a shy smile.

"Um, I was wondering, if you had nothing doing tonight, if you'd like to come with me to Roxanne's." Relena frowned.

"Sorry, Ami, I'm not up to it," she said regretfully. My heart chilled. Oh, God, she was refusing.

"But Relena, you look so stressed. A night out will be exactly what you need," I pleaded in the same saleslady voice I used at lunch. Relena shook her head.

"I have to get in here early tomorrow morning. I got stuff to do," she shrugged.

"I won't keep you out too late, I promise you," Well, okay, maybe not if tonight works out.  Relena sighed and looked out of the window. I smiled. Time to play my trump card. "Insomnia's playing there tonight," I added in a hopeful voice. Relena's head snapped back to me. Inside I jumped for joy. Gotcha!

"Insomnia's playing there?" she repeated, incredulous. Duo foresaw something like this would happen, so he told me to use this as last resort. It seemed the local group happened to be one of her favorites. "How come I didn't hear that?"

"'Cause you never go to Roxanne's for lunch!" I giggled. "A waitress told me this afternoon." Relena was beaming now.

"Okay, what time should I pick you up?" she asked, excitement evident in her voice. I smiled smugly.

"How about…8:30?"

~*~

True to our agreement, Relena picked me up outside my apartment that night. I climbed into her white convertible Celica and we drove off in the direction of the restaurant. She was wearing a soft pink peasant top and white capris. Her hair was loose, held back by a pair of pink barrettes. Perfect.

"Insomnia just happens to be one of my favorite groups," she told me as we drove down the freeway, the wind whipping through our hair.

"I picked up on that," I replied, nodding my head to the hip-hop music on the radio.

"They are just so…God, there's no word to describe them," she sighed. She put the pedal to the metal as soon as the stoplight we were at turned green. I wondered if this was how she always drove. "You'll see when we get there," she told me after she sang the chorus of the song on the radio. In less than five minutes, we were walking into the restaurant's doors. I took a quick look around, but they weren't there yet.

"Let's sit here," I said quickly, pointing to a seat that had a clear view of both the stage and the entrance. It also had four chairs. We sat across from each other, Relena with a clear view of the stage.

"Don't you want to sit here?" she asked, indicating the seat next to her. "Clearer view of the stage."

"No, I'm fine," I replied with a smile. Relena shrugged. I turned and looked up at the stage. Five people were presently coming on: four guys and a girl. They were dressed in urban chic gear, right down to the baggy pants and jeans jackets. The girl, tall and slender walked up to the mike. She had her hair dyed red hair in braids and her blue eyes, obviously contact lenses owning to her olive complexion.

"Good night, my peeps here at Roxanne's, how y'all doing?" she asked in a thick Hispanic accent. She was met with several cheers and applause. "Good. I'm Casmine, and these guys are a part of my band, Insomnia. Richie's on the guitar, Pete's on the keyboard, Paul is on the drums and Michael is the male lead. I'm female lead." She paused to look around a bit. "So, sit back and enjoy the show!" she ended with a smile. The patrons, including Relena, cheered at this.

I, one the other hand, had other things on my mind. Where were they? I looked at my watch impatiently. Quarter to nine. I rolled my eyes and sighed. Well, they could be on their way.

Three songs and two Sprites later, they were still not here. Relena was well engrossed with the show, while I was well engrossed with the door. I think I was contemplating ways of killing someone with a spoon. Duo was sooo dead.

"Oh, Relena, look!" I said, my voice suddenly chirpy. "Look who just arrived!" Giving me a strange look, Relena looked over her shoulder to the door. At Heero and Duo. I was feeling suddenly happy. Maybe it was the Sprite. They spotted us and Duo waved. Heero was looking sullen as ever. I could see Duo pulling Heero over to our table.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Duo asked, not a trace of phoniness to be found in his voice. Was it me or did Heero's eyes seemingly narrow? Relena smiled at him.

"Oh…" she started before I cut her off.

"Relena looked stressed, so I decided she needed a night on the town," If Relena had said something like 'Ami dragged me here' Heero would've gotten suspicious. And we didn't want that, did we? Relena nodded and she got up to hug Duo; it seemed to be their customary greeting. I watched seemingly uninterestedly, but my eyes were trained on them like a hawk. Relena turned and was immediately facing Heero. They looked gazes for a few seconds; I could see Duo was watching them too.

"Night, Heero," Relena said with a strained smile. Heero nodded at her. His arms were folded across his chest. Relena's eyes rested on them for a mili-second, before she sat down with a nervous chuckle. Duo and I exchanged a brief glance before I got up to hug him.

"You're looking lovely," he whispered to me, complimenting my simple white slip dress and blue wedge heels. I did my hair in two plaits, secured across the back of my head.

"Thanks," I whispered back. I caught a good whiff of the same nameless cologne he wore Friday night. I exhaled deeply. We pulled away and Duo sat easily next to me. Heero was left with no choice but to sit next to Relena, unless he wanted to insult her. I doubt that was an option. He sat down in the chair next to her resignedly. Relena smiled briefly at him before concentrating her full attention on the band. They were singing a pop-sounding tune, Casmine's throaty voice touching deep cords within me. If I closed my eyes, I knew I'd see Rei.

For the next hour, we made casual conversation. No, scrap that, more accurately, Duo and I made casual conversation while Relena answered in monosyllables  and Heero either grunted in response or ignored us completely. He seemed to be deep in thought. Duo and I sighed and exchanged yet another glance. We seemed to be doing a lot of that tonight. This time, though I gave a slight nod.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I announced.

"Yeah," Relena replied quietly, while Heero grunted. I trekked over to the bathroom, passing a panel of windows. I looked in the parking lot and saw Relena's Celica. Once in the ladies' room, I took out my cellular phone and dialed a number. My call was answered with a joyful 'Hello'. I stayed silent. After a few words, the person hung up. I disconnected as well. My job was almost done. After about five minutes, I sauntered back out. I noticed that one person was missing.

"Where's Duo?" I asked, frowning. Relena shrugged.

"One of his friends just called, had some problem with some Theology assignment. He left not too long ago." She replied and went back to watching Insomnia.

"Oh," I replied, sounding disappointed. I sat down quietly. I looked over at Heero, who still seemed to be deep in thought. His eyes, they resembled a stormy sea.

After about ten minutes, my cellular phone rang. Excusing myself, I answered it. I noticed Heero was watching me. He had been for the longest time, I just pretended I didn't notice. After a short conversation, where I answered like I was trying to calm someone, I hung up, my expression stressed.

"Um, I'm gonna have to leave now," I said regrettably. Relena started to get up. "No, no, don't leave on my account. You're obviously enjoying the music." I told her. She sighed and sat back down. Then was when Heero said his first words for the evening.

"I'm going to the bathroom," And he left. I shrugged, bid Relena 'goodbye' and walked out to the parking lot.

"My God," I sighed, massaging my head. Matchmaking was hard work.

"That didn't go well," Duo agreed, leaning against the driver's door of his black convertible.

"No, it didn't" I sighed. "Lunch tomorrow? Regroup?" I suggested. Duo nodded.

"Give it time," he said comfortingly with a shrug. I smiled and shrugged back. I started to walk to the corner to hail a cab. "Hey, don't you want a ride?" I shook my head.

"Nah, Heero just went to the bathroom, he might see," I answered. Duo muttered an 'Oh' and waved. I waved back and went to the corner.

Remember my notice. Oh, and tell me what you thought of the hook-up plan. And excuse the possible mistakes in grammar and spelling; I wrote this in a hurry.