Astra: Woo-hoo!  A new chapter!

Shizuko: Longer than the last one too!  And it wasn't THAT late…

Chapter Three: The Worst is Yet to Come

            Heero was cleaning away his breakfast dishes the next morning when Relena called.  "So when are you going to go see Milliardo?" was the first thing she asked.

            Heero gagged on his last sip of orange juice.  "WHY in the world and all COLONIES would I want to go see Milliardo?  In case you haven't noticed, I tend to AVOID him!"

She laughed at his annoyance.  "Because, when a couple is going to get married, the guy asks the girl's father for her hand.  Only, both my biological and adoptive fathers are dead, so you get to ask…"

            "Your big brother," finished Heero gloomily, flopping onto his living room couch.  He had forgotten about that part.  "I guess I should go soon."

            "Yeah.  Do you want me to come too?"

            "PLEASE.  He's less likely to do something violent and potentially deadly in front of you."

~

            "So what did you tell him when you called?" asked Heero nervously as he and Relena rode the elevator up to Zechs and Noin's apartment.

            "Just that we needed to talk to him about something."

            "That's IT??"

            "Yeah."

            "So I have to explain EVERYTHING right there??!"

            "Yeah, I thought it would be better that way."

            Heero's scowl deepened.  "Better as in entertainment-wise for you and Noin," he muttered under his breath.

            "Hm?"

            "Oh, nothing.  This is their floor, right?"

~

            Noin answered the door.  "Relena!  Heero!  How lovely to see you both!  What's going on?"

            Relena smiled and leaned over, whispering confidentially into Noin's ear.

            "How EXCITING!!  That's WONDERFUL!!"

            "What's wonderful?"

            Heero tensed at the sound of his rival's voice.  Relena and Noin shoved him forward to greet Zechs.  "You tell him," said Relena.

            "Tell me what?"

            Heero swallowed.  "Well…I…uh…" He was cursing his training to be silent and strong with every fitting word he knew by then.  Why couldn't he have joined Speech and Debate at least at ONE of his many schools? 

            Zechs was getting annoyed.  "Well what??"

            Relena giggled; Heero turned a little red.  "Zechs…I…I never believed in taking spoils of war, but…" He winced inwardly.  Did THAT ever sound lame!  In the hall mirror hanging up behind Zechs, he could see Relena and Noin making a huge effort to keep from doubling over laughing.  Doing his best to salvage his dignity, he forced himself to look Zechs in the eye.  "Maybe," he said dryly, "it would help if we sat down and talked this over together."

            Relena was all but holding her breath to keep the laughter in as she followed Heero and her brother into the living room, with an equally hysterical Noin right behind.  They all sat facing each other in the living room, where it didn't get any better for Heero.  Zechs was quite irked by now, and Relena noticed that his hand strayed several times to his side where he used to constantly keep a pistol.  "Well??  Yuy, are you going to tell me or not?  I hope you're not just trying to irritate me."

            "No!  N-no, sir!  It's just that…"

            Relena shook her head pityingly.  This wasn't going at all well.

            "See…last night…I asked Relena—"

            Zechs all but exploded.  "You went out with her AGAIN???"

            Heero cringed visibly.  "Yeah…"

            Zechs slumped back in his chair.  "She's MY sister for cryin' out loud."

            Heero shot him a death glare.  "She's MY GIRLFRIEND and FIAN—"

            "WHAT??"

            "I mean…uh…"

            Relena nudged him.  "Go ahead."

            "My…uh…never mind…"

            Relena rolled her eyes and sat back on the couch.  Noin left the room before she lost control of herself, but her shoulders were shaking quite noticeably with laughter. 

            "So…"

            "Um…"

            "Look, you've been here almost fifteen minutes, and I still DON'T know why!!"

            "Um…wanna play twenty questions?" asked Relena.

            "WHAT??"

            "So you can figure it out."

            Heero glared at Relena, and she smiled back at him innocently. 

            "We might get somewhere that way."

            "Why doesn't RELENA just tell me?"

            "It's Heero's job."

            "Thanks a lot, Relena."

            "Any time."

            Zechs sighed.  "Okay.  It has something to do with Relena, right?"

            "Yeah."

            "And…it has something to do with Heero too?"

            "Yeah…"

            "Is he going away somewhere and leaving you behind?" asked Zechs hopefully.

            "No."

            "Is he going away somewhere and taking you with him?"

            This required some thought.  After all, such a question could easily apply to the honeymoon, but that was only IF they could even get to the wedding.  What to say?  According to the rules of twenty questions, it had to be either yes or no.  "Um…not really…"

            "What's that supposed to mean?"

            "Uh…no?"

            "Okay.  You asked Relena something last night?"

            Heero blinked.  Come to think of it, he hadn't said anything.  "Um…not verbally."

            "WHAT sort of answer is THAT???"

            "An honest one?"

            "Give me a BREAK!!"

            Relena sighed.  Maybe she should just help and finish this torture.  Slowly, she slipped her left hand from Heero's right and fingered the ring around her fourth finger, trying subtly to make the movement seen.  It didn't work.  The two kept right on arguing, neither paying attention to her or Noin, who was now watching from the doorway in case she had to make another speedy exit.

            Time passed and the discussion went absolutely nowhere.  Zechs still had not noticed the ring.  Relena grew impatient.  "Are you going to tell him?" she asked Heero. 

            "Um…"

            Relena rolled her eyes and glanced at her watch.  "So sorry, Milliardo, but we've got to be going.  I have someplace to be."

            "Where?"

            "Um…somewhere.  Okay?"  She stood hurriedly.

            "But…why were you here?"

            "Oh, that.  I'll call you or something, K?  Bye!"  She walked out the door, dragging Heero by the collar. 

            Heero didn't even dare to look her in the face until they were in the car.  When he finally did, he was surprised at how indifferent she looked.  "So what are we gonna do now?" he asked.

            She shrugged.  "He'll find out eventually.  I realized that since he gave up the Peacecraft name, he technically has no control over me.  I'm old enough to make my own decisions now too."

            Heero groaned.  "Why couldn't you have figured that out BEFORE we went over to his place??"

            Three days later, Noin brought the mail up from their post box on the first floor.  Most of it was bills or ads, but there was one small white envelope addressed to her husband.  She found him reading the newspaper in the kitchen and handed it to him.  Zechs slit it open with his knife and stared at the card inside.

Come help us celebrate!

Please join us for the wedding of

Heero Yuy

and

Relena Darlian

On Saturday, August 26

            …and so on.

            Zechs calmly set the note down on the table, and then walked quietly to his closet. He pulled out his favorite machine gun from his past days of war and destruction and picked up the phone.

            Heero was watching The Princess Bride (his excuse to see why Quatre liked such movies) when the phone rang.  He picked it up absently and was nearly deafened by the voice on the other end.

            "YUY!!!!!!!!!"

Astra and Shizuko: He!  R&R!