Hilde stretched her legs out as she started to wake up. Her toes reached the end of the sheets. She could feel the cool night air. It was still dark outside. She felt so comfortable and safe. She was curious what time it was. She opened her eyes but couldn't see anything that was defining about where she was. She tried to move and then remembered. She looked up and there was Duo, he was sleeping peacefully. He held her close, she could only imagine what the past forty-eight hours had been like for him and Heero. She moved in closer, trying to get back to sleep. She felt Duo shift his weight.
"You okay?" She heard him say in what was one of the most serious tones he'd ever used.
"Yeah, how about you?" She asked back, she hadn't looked up at him yet. "I've gotten more sleep tonight then I did last night." He answered with a sigh.
"Yeah me too." Hilde agreed finally looking up to meet his gaze. In the dark she could make out his face. He didn't take his eyes off her. She brought her hand up to pull a strain of hair behind his ear. Duo leaned into her neck and let out another sigh.
"Let's not have any more of these situations. It's not good for my health." He said softly in her ear. She smiled and leaned up to his ear as well.
"Sounds good to me." She answered him, pulling her other arm around him. "I'm sorry for all of this." She said. There was a long moment of silence, in which she thought that he might have been sleeping. Then she felt his entire body begin to shake. She moved away some.
"Duo…?" If it had been any one else she would assumed he was crying but that was unlikely. She felt his breathing finally start to go back to normal.
"Are you okay?" She asked, pulling him closer to her and brushing his bangs out of his face. There was silence again.
"That guy…he was such a jerk. He implied so much, just to be cruel. It hurt so much. The idea of anything happening." He explained. Hilde looked at him.
"It's over now though." She said back. His facial expression stayed the same though. "Something happened didn't it." She said softly. He looked away from her. "I stopped myself before I did anything too drastic." He mentioned closing his eyes. She suddenly moved away from him in order to sit up. "Duo what happened? Please tell me." Her eyes pleaded to him so that he finally broke down. He told her everything that had happened in the past two days. How he almost lost control of his temper with Heero and even Quatre. How he had to lie to Sally on the phone. And how he blew up the one shuttle and Heero and him almost killed the leader of the group. And finally how Sally had to stop them. Once he was finished, there was silence. He looked down and balled his fists up. He finally felt her hand on his back. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "It's okay, Duo." She said comforting. He leaned down, wrapping his arms around her waist. She pushed his hair off his back and rubbed her hands between his shoulder blades. He just let out another long sigh before falling asleep.
*The Price of Compromise*
*Part 2*
The next morning, Relena was reluctant to open her eyes, unsure of where she was. She was afraid of waking up in unfamiliar surroundings. Although wherever she was, it seemed peaceful and she was warm. When she finally opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Heero. He was sitting next to her with his arms crossed over his chest and his head down. She had her arms around him. She smiled, comforted by his presence, even though he was sleeping. She glanced around and noticed they were in the apartment, on the couch. No one else was in the room with them. She leaned her head against his arm again, causing him to open his eyes. She smiled up at him. He actually returned the smile.
"You okay?" He asked, unfolding his arms and placing one around her shoulders. She moved in closer to him.
"I'm alright." She replied softly. She closed her eyes then opened them again, not looking at anything in particular.
"Are things always going to be like this?" She mentioned sadly. He glanced down at her, not sure what she meant.
"Why can't everyone just except things as they are. Are you always going to have to rescue me?" She added, now looking at him.
"Maybe. I'm not sure." He answered in a low tone. "But it's not like I mind it though. I would like for things to get to the point where we don't have to worry about this kind of stuff. I don't know if that will ever happen." She continued to look at him sadly. He hated it when she looked like that.
"I just want you to know what you're getting into." She told him. That caught him by surprise but he quickly dismissed the comment.
"Yeah, well I'm not the easiest person to live with I'm sure. I need my space sometimes. And besides all that, are you sure what you're getting into? We're talking about someone who's completely for peace and someone else who likes to threaten people. And I'm pretty set in my ways." He explained. Her expression softened and she smiled again. She could tell he was trying to make her happy.
"Oh yeah, I'm not always as kind as everyone thinks I am at times. So don't think that I'm perfect or anything. And I'm used to your moodiness." She remarked, getting another smile out of him. Their gaze met and they got lost in each other's eyes. Heero was the first to speak.
"You realize we only have about two months left." It was hard to tell if it was a question or a statement. She nodded contently when he mentioned it. A wave of excitement came over her, mostly about the planning part that would take place in that two months.
"Have you decided on your best man yet?" She inquired, realizing how close the wedding actually was.
"I've known who my best man was going to be. I just like watching the two of them compete." He admitted.
"I thought you couldn't stand it when they do that though." She pointed out. "You always seem so aggravated when they start."
"After a while it gets annoying but it's funny some of the things they come up with." She shook her head in disbelief.
"That doesn't sound like you at all." She told him. He brought his other arm around to hold her closer.
"Would you prefer it if I started behaving like I usually do?" He asked, looking right at her. She almost couldn't shake her head. There was another long moment of silence. Heero wasn't sure what to do at that point. He didn't want to pull away but the other option still seemed unnatural for him too. They remained like that for awhile before a voice from behind the couch brought them back to reality.
"Oh would you just kiss her already?" Duo called out. Heero snapped his head back and Relena blushed. Heero glared at the other pilot who was smiling at his lack of accomplishment.
"GO AWAY." Heero warned him finally. He didn't move from his current position on the stairs.
"This isn't good Relena. If he's not willing to kiss you now, what's he gonna be like on the honeymoon." Duo's smile grew wider causing even Heero to blush at that point.
"I'm changing my vote for best man now." Heero told Relena. Duo's bottom jaw dropped.
"DUO! Leave them alone." Hilde yelled, now standing next to him on the stairs.
"Aw I was just having some fun." He defended himself as she forced him down the rest of the stairs and into the kitchen. Heero shook his head, annoyed at the situation. It would seem that Duo resorted to his normal self again. He felt Relena's hand come up to his face, getting his attention.
"Just ignore him." She said.
"I use to be able to very easily." He explained. She smiled at him almost wickedly.
"Well his invitation could always get lost in the mail." She mentioned, causing Heero to grin slightly back at her. He leaned in closer to her face.
"I'm not entirely against the suggestion though." He said, closing his eyes. Relena wrapped her arms around his neck. A couple of moments went by and the phone rang in the kitchen. He was about to break away when Relena murmured something to him, their noses barely touching.
"They can get it." She said softly. He just went back to kissing her, ignoring the phone. When they finally did break away, they decided to head into the kitchen to see what was going on.
"Did she say anything about what it was about?" Hilde was asking Duo.
"No, but I have a feeling what it's about though." He answered turning to see Heero and Relena enter. "That was Sally. She wants both of us at the ship now. She said it was urgent." He told Heero. There was an awkward moment of silence. Duo got up suddenly to go change. Relena looked up at Heero confused.
"Did something happen?" She asked him, hoping to get a straight answer.
"The Preventers aren't very happy with the two of us right now. That's really all I can tell you right now." He explained briefly, also going to change into his uniform.
"We're going too then." Hilde decided once he left.
"What are you talking about?" Relena asked, still confused at what was going on.
"I don't know if I can tell you. All I know is that I don't feel safe here, alone." She answered sadly.
***@--***
The shuttle from L2 heading for the Preventer's ship left at nine o'clock that same morning. They traveled all day and arrived in the afternoon. Sally had a closed meeting with the two Preventer's that had caused so much trouble the day before. They stood infront of her desk waiting for her to officially begin the meeting. The waiting was obnoxious to say the least. They couldn't tell if she was doing it on purpose. She finally finished with the task she had been working on.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." She started and stood up from her chair to come around to the front of her desk.
"We have the entire group, responsible for yesterday's attack in custody. I'd like to think that we can just overlook the actions you two took but I don't think that's possible. I spoke to Une and Noin and explained the situation to them." Sally told them. They both waited impatiently for the conclusion.
"They both feel that your actions were understandable however they cannot go without consequence. But they find the only appropriate consequence is a month's suspension." She finished causing both of them to breathe a little easier.
"Guess we can't complain about that, can we?" Duo mentioned, relieved he still had a job despite what he said earlier. They left Sally's office afterwards and were greeted by Hilde, Relena, Quatre, and Trowa out in the hallway.
"Well? What'd she say?" Quatre was the first to ask. Heero didn't say anything and Duo found this the perfect time to joke.
"They are being soo unfair to us! I can't believe we both lose our jobs and have to pay this huge fine. I don't know where we're going to get that money." He complained loudly.
"Wow, I didn't think she'd do that." Quatre said back sadly. Everyone else knew he wasn't telling them the truth. Quatre finally caught on when he started laughing.
"Hey that's not funny." He mentioned but Duo kept laughing. Hilde just rolled her eyes. Heero started down the hallway and Relena followed. She hurried up to catch him, sliding her arm around his.
"So what did she really say?" She asked once they were out of earshot.
"We're suspended for a month. That's all." He stated quickly. She looked down while they walked. He glanced over waiting for her to say something.
"I'm sorry. In some way I just feel that this is my fault." She mentioned sadly.
"It's not. You had nothing to do with this." He told her.
"Well it was me though who they were after this time." She pointed out. He stopped walking and turned to face her, his expression soft.
"They would have just taken Hilde then and we would still be in the same situation. Don't blame yourself." He explained trying to make her feel better. She finally nodded in agreement.
"Just think of this next month as time to get some more planning done." He added, causing her to smile back happily. He had after all been kind of distracted with work lately. He would also get to spend more time with her.
"So did Sally tell you if they were able to get any information out of that guy who was behind this?" She asked curiously. He shook his head.
"No and I don't think that they will. This guy knows alot more then we thought he did." They headed for one of the hangars to get back to their shuttle. There was no point staying there any longer. They both got into the shuttle.
"So do you want to go back to L2 now or back to the Sang Kingdom?" Heero asked her as he leaned into her seat before getting into his own.
"I don't know. Whatever you want to do is fine with me. I still have a couple of days left before I have to go back. And we don't necessarily have to go back to L2. We could go somewhere else." She answered.
"I guess we could go somewhere else. But I don't know where." He replied.
***(two hours later)
"So no one has seen them since the meeting?" Hilde asked Duo as they got to their shuttle. Trowa walked silently behind them. Duo turned back to her when she said that.
"Yeah, I guess that was the last time we saw them. I wouldn't worry though." He said back. She took a seat and nodded back.
"He probably just took her back to earth." Trowa said before leaving the shuttle. They took off quickly after that. Once they were gone, Trowa went into Sally's office.
"I thought you were going to be alot harder on them then that." He admitted, taking a seat infront of her. She shook her head and smiled to herself.
"There was no way I could let them off any longer then a month. Une knew that too. And despite their insubordination, they reacted the only way that seemed right. And they didn't kill anyone afterall so that can't be held against them." She explained to him. He sat back in complete agreement with her.
"And besides all that, Hilde and Relena are okay and if the Preventers had handled the situation, we might have not gotten them back so quickly. Relena is too important for us to be put in these situations. The Preventers keep getting into them with our hands tied. I don't know how we are able to deal with these people half the time. A little risk every now and then may be needed." She added.
"It's not always an easy task I have to agree with you there. But the threats have seemed to lessen alot lately. This group had been the first problem in a while." He reminded her.
"I hope that eventually we won't be needed at all." She mentioned.
***--@(One week later)@--***
Relena showed her engagement ring off to several of her friends. They all chattered happily about it. Heero bought it for her that week, when they had their little escapade. They bought a couple of things while they were supposedly missing. Heero had this sudden urge to spoil Relena. She didn't mind it. Hilde placed a large present in front of Relena, waiting for her to open it. While the engaged couple was out, Noin and she had arranged this bridal shower for her. They had decorated the apartment with balloons and everything. Meanwhile the guys were banished to the kitchen, waiting for the party to be over with.
"Don't you guys even want to know what's in the presents?" Quatre asked the other four pilots who were sitting around the table. They all shook their heads indifferently. He let out a resigning sigh.
"I don't remember there being presents at weddings anyway. If I had known that I would have had one." Duo said regretfully, leaning one elbow on the back of his chair.
"I don't see what's the big deal anyway. Or why I had to come." Wufei said, crossing his arms.
"Oh come on Wufei, it's not like you had anything better to do." Duo smirked.
"That's what you think. I could have found something to do. Anything is better then sitting here, doing nothing." He grumbled. Duo perked up and looked over at Heero.
"Hey why don't we have a 'guy party'?" He inquired. Heero closed his eyes and looked away.
"I believe the technical term is a 'Bachelor party." Trowa corrected him. A devilish grin crossed Duo's face.
"Yeah one of those. What do yah think Heero?" He said back.
"It's alright. You don't have to do anything for me. I don't want a party. I'm not good at parties." He said flatly, hoping it would drop right there. But of course it didn't.
"Why can't we have a party? They get a party. And we have to sit through it. It's not fair!" Wufei decided. Duo nodded in agreement. Heero shot an almost helpless glance Trowa's way. He just shrugged back.
"I don't see what's wrong with having a party." He admitted. Heero stood up.
"I DON'T want one. That's why." He ended the conversation, heading for the next room where the girls were. He figured he should see what kind of gifts he was receiving. As he entered the living room Relena was the first to see him coming. She held up one of their gifts.
"Isn't he cute?" She asked him, holding up a puppy someone had given them.
He just nodded back to her. He wasn't overjoyed about it considering his past experiences with animals. He took a seat next to Relena and she immediately handed to dog to him and went for more gifts. He absentmindedly stroked it behind the ear and it licked at him on the hand. A slight smiled managed to cross his face. Relena couldn't help but noticed and thought it was so adorable.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, the other pilots continued to contemplate Heero's doom. Duo actually decided it wasn't such a good idea.
"If you think about it, he wouldn't be alot of fun if we had a party. That takes all the fun out of it for me." He admitted, causing shocked stares to come from three ways. Wufei spoke up first.
"Well I never got a party and I think he needs to have one." He claimed.*** (Ep. 0)
"Well I never got one either, so lets not ruin the tradition okay." Duo answered. Trowa just stood up resolutely.
"This isn't worth discussing anyway, if Heero doesn't want one we can't force him to have one." He ended his side of the conversation and went to join the others. That pretty much ended the entire conversation all together.
Later that afternoon Hilde and Duo got stuck on clean up duty since it was their place. "Well that was fun." She said happily. He just nodded back, finding the whole thing ironic. He didn't have any fun at the party and yet here he was cleaning up the mess. "Hey Relena mentioned it to me so I should ask you while I'm thinking about it. Have you worked on your speech yet?" She asked him, causing him to look her way.
"What speech?" He said scratching the back of his head. She gave him such a look, he turned away quickly. "Duo Maxwell!" The tone was enough to get his attention. "What speech? The one you have to give at the reception dinner. That speech. I have all this stuff to do and all you have to do is write one little speech and you haven't done that yet." She sounded very exasperated.
"Don't worry, I can get something together. It's not too hard to write something up about Heero anyway. He's pretty much half a page summarized." He explained, causing her to calm down a little bit.
"Okay then, you have an entire month to do nothing, so you better get it done." She warned him.
"Yes Ma'am." He grinned, getting back to cleaning.
***@--The*Wedding--@***
(Okay so maybe it wasn't the actual wedding, more like the reception afterwards.) As Relena looked out among the crowd in the room, she realized that most of them were people who knew the bride more then the groom. But most of them were 'colleagues' from her line of work. Most of Heero's close friends were in the wedding party. Everyone seemed to be having a good time though, which was nice. She glanced down the table at everyone. Duo and Hilde were sitting next to Heero and herself. Then there was Quatre and Dorothy. Zechs and Noin sat on the other side of Relena along with Trowa and Catherine.
The ceremony had gone better then expected. Heero actually showed up and Duo managed to remember to bring the rings. Although he had Heero worried for a split second beforehand. On the way down the aisle, Hilde almost tripped but managed not to, Dorothy practically cried through most of the ceremony. As did Catherine but she kept it to herself about how beautiful everything was. Dorothy on the other hand, wouldn't stop mentioning her hopes to one day marry someone who was strong and possibly a soldier. All of this was told to Quatre and all he could do was blush and nod back. She even mentioned maybe a former Gundam Pilot and he suggested Wufei and tried to get away as quick as possible at that point. But as far as Wufei was concerned this entire thing was meaningless and kept muttering to himself of how shocked he was that Heero went through with it.
They had hired a DJ for the reception and Duo swore they wouldn't get through the dinner before he kicked the guy out. Too many mushy love songs that had no affect on Heero as it was. He simply yawned and placed his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. Relena glanced over at the groom. She couldn't tell if he was bored or just didn't know what to do now. On occasion he would tug at his top button, which seemed to be bothering him throughout the day. Actually now that she noticed it most of the wedding party seemed kinda bored. Catherine was jabbing her butter knife into the remaining piece of cake on her plate, while Quatre was actually slouching as Dorothy talked his ear off. Trowa just sat silently so she couldn't tell if he was bored or not. She finally leaned back in her seat to get Duo's attention to start his speech. He tapped on his glass to get everyone's attention. Once they all quieted down he started.
"Okay I wasn't sure how to start this speech and I'm not very good at them either so bear with me." He began, hearing a couple of moans from around him. he narrowed his eyes then quickly grinned and continued.
"I'd like to say that Heero and I have had a wonderful friendship and that it's always been nice knowing him but I'm not going to lie about it. It all started when he was going to shoot Relena. At the time, I figured she was kinda cute and worth saving so I had to shoot him first. And from there on we've been either teamed up or completely against each other. It makes things interesting." Heero muttered under his breath. "Get on with it Duo." He was trying to remind himself why he had decided on him as a best man.
"Anyway, I hope that Relena and he will be happy. Considering all they've been through together, I don't think things can get any worse. I think they'll be good for each other. Relena will help Heero actually smile more and knowing him, he'll show her how to fire a gun properly." He added, causing Heero to grin slightly at Relena.
"That's never going to happen." She told him, pointing her finger at him.
"I had a whole lot more to say but someone decided to edit my notes so I'm done here." Duo ended, glancing at Hilde as he sat down. A large group of girls from the back stood up and applauded loudly. Heero and Relena squinted to see who they were.
"I didn't invite them." Relena mentioned, waiting to see what Heero would say.
"Me either. Hey aren't they the girls from that one school I attended with..." His sentence went unfinished as Duo grinned even more while the girls continued to applaud him. Heero glared at him.
"YOU invited them, didn't you." He declared. He confirmed his suspicions when Duo smiled innocently at him.
"You needed some excitement here today and besides they like me." He explained, standing up to try and quiet them down. There was a sudden yank at his hair and he fell behind the table. Heero and Relena stared in shock first at Duo and then at the girl sitting next to him. Hilde sat there with her arms crossed infront of her.
"You deserved that. I can't believed you invited a bunch of cheerleaders." She scowled. The girls heard her and responded.
"Hey we're not cheerleaders." They objected, causing Hilde to stand up quickly.
"Be Quiet!!! He's already taken!!!" She actually yelled out then decided that Relena wasn't really enjoying this. If Heero wanted to hurt Duo later he had her permission to do so. She settled back in her chair and glanced over at Relena who was trying to conceal her smile behind her hand. Duo's hand came up onto the table and he slowly got back up into his chair.
"Yah didn't have to go pull a stunt like that." He groaned, rubbing the back of his head. Hilde turned away from him, her arms still crossed. Quatre decided to go next.
"I'm so happy that Heero finally asked Relena to marry him. We've all been hoping for this to happen for so long." He told everyone. Relena leaned on her one elbow and sighed.
"I've waited the longest." She said under her breath. Heero looked her way and she straightened up. Neither of them heard the rest of Quatre's speech and then most of Dorothy's but that was okay since her speech was the longest.
"You still haven't mentioned where we're going after this." She reminded him.
"And I'm not going to tell you either." He ended the short conversation. Once everyone finished with the speeches and more presents were opened, Relena glanced at her watch to see what time it was. It was later then she thought. She tapped on her glass politely but no one noticed. She stood up and cleared her throat but once again the noise was louder then she was. Heero finally stood up.
"Hey! She wants to say something." He finished and sat down after that.
"Oh, well we just wanted to thank everyone for coming today. It was such a wonderful day and we hoped everyone else enjoyed it too. It was so nice to see all our friends here..." She trailed off when she noticed the large group of girls again in the back. "And some new faces too. I guess since it is getting pretty late, that it's time to wrap things up now." She decided, looking down at Heero. "Did you want to say anything?" She asked, so only he could hear her. He got up quickly.
"You can all leave now." He said firmly. Relena shot him a surprised look.
"If you want to. We've got a shuttle to catch." He said, covering up his abruptness. She smiled at his effort. Some of the wedding party as well as the bride and groom headed outside for a couple last pictures, then Relena and Heero got into their car. Relena waved goodbye before they pulled out and headed for the spaceport. Everyone else walked back into the reception hall. Most of the guest had left as well by the time they got in there.
"Well that was nice but now we're stuck with the mess again." Duo sighed. Quatre just smiled to himself and began helping Noin clean up.
"That was so much fun. More people we know should get married." Catherine said, getting a hold of all the balloons around the room. Quatre glanced over sheepishly at Dorothy. She sat on one of the tables with her finger in her mouth. She had apparently been eating some frosting off her piece of cake. She was smiling at him and he nervously looked away. Duo came up behind him and leaned on his shoulder.
"Well let's see whose left." He grinned, causing Quatre to blush and become nervous. "There's Trowa and Wufei (although I don't see him marrying anyone anytime soon). Who else...mmm..Oh yeah and there's you Quatre." He mentioned. Quatre quickly pushed him off his shoulder and went back to work.
"Oh stop it Duo. Everyone knows I'm too busy for that anyway." He reminded him, hoping that would end there. Duo leaned over to Trowa.
"It's sad, he doesn't know who caught the bouquet yet does he." He told Trowa, who merely nodded his agreement. Quatre glanced over at Dorothy once more and she held it up happily and grinned widely at him. He practically turned white and nervously looked away.
"It's not that bad. I should know after all." Duo said, trying to sympathize with Quatre. Hilde turned her head his way.
"Oh and what does that mean?" She demanded, as he hid behind Trowa.
"Trowa, save me." He said, hoping for Trowa to change the subject or something. He just casually stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked off.
"I'm not getting in the line of fire." He stated as he walked away. Wufei decided he wanted to watch Duo get it again. Dorothy snuck up next to Quatre and leaned into his ear.
"Well, what do you have to say about all this?" She asked, causing him to practically jump from her being so close. He backed away, trying to think of what to do.
Noin jumped in between them.
"Down girl. Just get back to work and leave him alone." She ordered. Dorothy flipped her hair behind her shoulder, like a snob as she turned away.
"No fun." She sniffed, leaving. Quatre let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank-you Miss Noin." He told her and she smiled back.
"Don't worry about it. I just don't particularly like her that's all. She can be pushy." She added, going back to work. It didn't take them very long to clean up once Hilde stopped chasing Duo and Dorothy left Quatre alone. Once they were finished with the task, they all went their separate ways.
"You okay?" She heard him say in what was one of the most serious tones he'd ever used.
"Yeah, how about you?" She asked back, she hadn't looked up at him yet. "I've gotten more sleep tonight then I did last night." He answered with a sigh.
"Yeah me too." Hilde agreed finally looking up to meet his gaze. In the dark she could make out his face. He didn't take his eyes off her. She brought her hand up to pull a strain of hair behind his ear. Duo leaned into her neck and let out another sigh.
"Let's not have any more of these situations. It's not good for my health." He said softly in her ear. She smiled and leaned up to his ear as well.
"Sounds good to me." She answered him, pulling her other arm around him. "I'm sorry for all of this." She said. There was a long moment of silence, in which she thought that he might have been sleeping. Then she felt his entire body begin to shake. She moved away some.
"Duo…?" If it had been any one else she would assumed he was crying but that was unlikely. She felt his breathing finally start to go back to normal.
"Are you okay?" She asked, pulling him closer to her and brushing his bangs out of his face. There was silence again.
"That guy…he was such a jerk. He implied so much, just to be cruel. It hurt so much. The idea of anything happening." He explained. Hilde looked at him.
"It's over now though." She said back. His facial expression stayed the same though. "Something happened didn't it." She said softly. He looked away from her. "I stopped myself before I did anything too drastic." He mentioned closing his eyes. She suddenly moved away from him in order to sit up. "Duo what happened? Please tell me." Her eyes pleaded to him so that he finally broke down. He told her everything that had happened in the past two days. How he almost lost control of his temper with Heero and even Quatre. How he had to lie to Sally on the phone. And how he blew up the one shuttle and Heero and him almost killed the leader of the group. And finally how Sally had to stop them. Once he was finished, there was silence. He looked down and balled his fists up. He finally felt her hand on his back. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "It's okay, Duo." She said comforting. He leaned down, wrapping his arms around her waist. She pushed his hair off his back and rubbed her hands between his shoulder blades. He just let out another long sigh before falling asleep.
*The Price of Compromise*
*Part 2*
The next morning, Relena was reluctant to open her eyes, unsure of where she was. She was afraid of waking up in unfamiliar surroundings. Although wherever she was, it seemed peaceful and she was warm. When she finally opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Heero. He was sitting next to her with his arms crossed over his chest and his head down. She had her arms around him. She smiled, comforted by his presence, even though he was sleeping. She glanced around and noticed they were in the apartment, on the couch. No one else was in the room with them. She leaned her head against his arm again, causing him to open his eyes. She smiled up at him. He actually returned the smile.
"You okay?" He asked, unfolding his arms and placing one around her shoulders. She moved in closer to him.
"I'm alright." She replied softly. She closed her eyes then opened them again, not looking at anything in particular.
"Are things always going to be like this?" She mentioned sadly. He glanced down at her, not sure what she meant.
"Why can't everyone just except things as they are. Are you always going to have to rescue me?" She added, now looking at him.
"Maybe. I'm not sure." He answered in a low tone. "But it's not like I mind it though. I would like for things to get to the point where we don't have to worry about this kind of stuff. I don't know if that will ever happen." She continued to look at him sadly. He hated it when she looked like that.
"I just want you to know what you're getting into." She told him. That caught him by surprise but he quickly dismissed the comment.
"Yeah, well I'm not the easiest person to live with I'm sure. I need my space sometimes. And besides all that, are you sure what you're getting into? We're talking about someone who's completely for peace and someone else who likes to threaten people. And I'm pretty set in my ways." He explained. Her expression softened and she smiled again. She could tell he was trying to make her happy.
"Oh yeah, I'm not always as kind as everyone thinks I am at times. So don't think that I'm perfect or anything. And I'm used to your moodiness." She remarked, getting another smile out of him. Their gaze met and they got lost in each other's eyes. Heero was the first to speak.
"You realize we only have about two months left." It was hard to tell if it was a question or a statement. She nodded contently when he mentioned it. A wave of excitement came over her, mostly about the planning part that would take place in that two months.
"Have you decided on your best man yet?" She inquired, realizing how close the wedding actually was.
"I've known who my best man was going to be. I just like watching the two of them compete." He admitted.
"I thought you couldn't stand it when they do that though." She pointed out. "You always seem so aggravated when they start."
"After a while it gets annoying but it's funny some of the things they come up with." She shook her head in disbelief.
"That doesn't sound like you at all." She told him. He brought his other arm around to hold her closer.
"Would you prefer it if I started behaving like I usually do?" He asked, looking right at her. She almost couldn't shake her head. There was another long moment of silence. Heero wasn't sure what to do at that point. He didn't want to pull away but the other option still seemed unnatural for him too. They remained like that for awhile before a voice from behind the couch brought them back to reality.
"Oh would you just kiss her already?" Duo called out. Heero snapped his head back and Relena blushed. Heero glared at the other pilot who was smiling at his lack of accomplishment.
"GO AWAY." Heero warned him finally. He didn't move from his current position on the stairs.
"This isn't good Relena. If he's not willing to kiss you now, what's he gonna be like on the honeymoon." Duo's smile grew wider causing even Heero to blush at that point.
"I'm changing my vote for best man now." Heero told Relena. Duo's bottom jaw dropped.
"DUO! Leave them alone." Hilde yelled, now standing next to him on the stairs.
"Aw I was just having some fun." He defended himself as she forced him down the rest of the stairs and into the kitchen. Heero shook his head, annoyed at the situation. It would seem that Duo resorted to his normal self again. He felt Relena's hand come up to his face, getting his attention.
"Just ignore him." She said.
"I use to be able to very easily." He explained. She smiled at him almost wickedly.
"Well his invitation could always get lost in the mail." She mentioned, causing Heero to grin slightly back at her. He leaned in closer to her face.
"I'm not entirely against the suggestion though." He said, closing his eyes. Relena wrapped her arms around his neck. A couple of moments went by and the phone rang in the kitchen. He was about to break away when Relena murmured something to him, their noses barely touching.
"They can get it." She said softly. He just went back to kissing her, ignoring the phone. When they finally did break away, they decided to head into the kitchen to see what was going on.
"Did she say anything about what it was about?" Hilde was asking Duo.
"No, but I have a feeling what it's about though." He answered turning to see Heero and Relena enter. "That was Sally. She wants both of us at the ship now. She said it was urgent." He told Heero. There was an awkward moment of silence. Duo got up suddenly to go change. Relena looked up at Heero confused.
"Did something happen?" She asked him, hoping to get a straight answer.
"The Preventers aren't very happy with the two of us right now. That's really all I can tell you right now." He explained briefly, also going to change into his uniform.
"We're going too then." Hilde decided once he left.
"What are you talking about?" Relena asked, still confused at what was going on.
"I don't know if I can tell you. All I know is that I don't feel safe here, alone." She answered sadly.
***@--***
The shuttle from L2 heading for the Preventer's ship left at nine o'clock that same morning. They traveled all day and arrived in the afternoon. Sally had a closed meeting with the two Preventer's that had caused so much trouble the day before. They stood infront of her desk waiting for her to officially begin the meeting. The waiting was obnoxious to say the least. They couldn't tell if she was doing it on purpose. She finally finished with the task she had been working on.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." She started and stood up from her chair to come around to the front of her desk.
"We have the entire group, responsible for yesterday's attack in custody. I'd like to think that we can just overlook the actions you two took but I don't think that's possible. I spoke to Une and Noin and explained the situation to them." Sally told them. They both waited impatiently for the conclusion.
"They both feel that your actions were understandable however they cannot go without consequence. But they find the only appropriate consequence is a month's suspension." She finished causing both of them to breathe a little easier.
"Guess we can't complain about that, can we?" Duo mentioned, relieved he still had a job despite what he said earlier. They left Sally's office afterwards and were greeted by Hilde, Relena, Quatre, and Trowa out in the hallway.
"Well? What'd she say?" Quatre was the first to ask. Heero didn't say anything and Duo found this the perfect time to joke.
"They are being soo unfair to us! I can't believe we both lose our jobs and have to pay this huge fine. I don't know where we're going to get that money." He complained loudly.
"Wow, I didn't think she'd do that." Quatre said back sadly. Everyone else knew he wasn't telling them the truth. Quatre finally caught on when he started laughing.
"Hey that's not funny." He mentioned but Duo kept laughing. Hilde just rolled her eyes. Heero started down the hallway and Relena followed. She hurried up to catch him, sliding her arm around his.
"So what did she really say?" She asked once they were out of earshot.
"We're suspended for a month. That's all." He stated quickly. She looked down while they walked. He glanced over waiting for her to say something.
"I'm sorry. In some way I just feel that this is my fault." She mentioned sadly.
"It's not. You had nothing to do with this." He told her.
"Well it was me though who they were after this time." She pointed out. He stopped walking and turned to face her, his expression soft.
"They would have just taken Hilde then and we would still be in the same situation. Don't blame yourself." He explained trying to make her feel better. She finally nodded in agreement.
"Just think of this next month as time to get some more planning done." He added, causing her to smile back happily. He had after all been kind of distracted with work lately. He would also get to spend more time with her.
"So did Sally tell you if they were able to get any information out of that guy who was behind this?" She asked curiously. He shook his head.
"No and I don't think that they will. This guy knows alot more then we thought he did." They headed for one of the hangars to get back to their shuttle. There was no point staying there any longer. They both got into the shuttle.
"So do you want to go back to L2 now or back to the Sang Kingdom?" Heero asked her as he leaned into her seat before getting into his own.
"I don't know. Whatever you want to do is fine with me. I still have a couple of days left before I have to go back. And we don't necessarily have to go back to L2. We could go somewhere else." She answered.
"I guess we could go somewhere else. But I don't know where." He replied.
***(two hours later)
"So no one has seen them since the meeting?" Hilde asked Duo as they got to their shuttle. Trowa walked silently behind them. Duo turned back to her when she said that.
"Yeah, I guess that was the last time we saw them. I wouldn't worry though." He said back. She took a seat and nodded back.
"He probably just took her back to earth." Trowa said before leaving the shuttle. They took off quickly after that. Once they were gone, Trowa went into Sally's office.
"I thought you were going to be alot harder on them then that." He admitted, taking a seat infront of her. She shook her head and smiled to herself.
"There was no way I could let them off any longer then a month. Une knew that too. And despite their insubordination, they reacted the only way that seemed right. And they didn't kill anyone afterall so that can't be held against them." She explained to him. He sat back in complete agreement with her.
"And besides all that, Hilde and Relena are okay and if the Preventers had handled the situation, we might have not gotten them back so quickly. Relena is too important for us to be put in these situations. The Preventers keep getting into them with our hands tied. I don't know how we are able to deal with these people half the time. A little risk every now and then may be needed." She added.
"It's not always an easy task I have to agree with you there. But the threats have seemed to lessen alot lately. This group had been the first problem in a while." He reminded her.
"I hope that eventually we won't be needed at all." She mentioned.
***--@(One week later)@--***
Relena showed her engagement ring off to several of her friends. They all chattered happily about it. Heero bought it for her that week, when they had their little escapade. They bought a couple of things while they were supposedly missing. Heero had this sudden urge to spoil Relena. She didn't mind it. Hilde placed a large present in front of Relena, waiting for her to open it. While the engaged couple was out, Noin and she had arranged this bridal shower for her. They had decorated the apartment with balloons and everything. Meanwhile the guys were banished to the kitchen, waiting for the party to be over with.
"Don't you guys even want to know what's in the presents?" Quatre asked the other four pilots who were sitting around the table. They all shook their heads indifferently. He let out a resigning sigh.
"I don't remember there being presents at weddings anyway. If I had known that I would have had one." Duo said regretfully, leaning one elbow on the back of his chair.
"I don't see what's the big deal anyway. Or why I had to come." Wufei said, crossing his arms.
"Oh come on Wufei, it's not like you had anything better to do." Duo smirked.
"That's what you think. I could have found something to do. Anything is better then sitting here, doing nothing." He grumbled. Duo perked up and looked over at Heero.
"Hey why don't we have a 'guy party'?" He inquired. Heero closed his eyes and looked away.
"I believe the technical term is a 'Bachelor party." Trowa corrected him. A devilish grin crossed Duo's face.
"Yeah one of those. What do yah think Heero?" He said back.
"It's alright. You don't have to do anything for me. I don't want a party. I'm not good at parties." He said flatly, hoping it would drop right there. But of course it didn't.
"Why can't we have a party? They get a party. And we have to sit through it. It's not fair!" Wufei decided. Duo nodded in agreement. Heero shot an almost helpless glance Trowa's way. He just shrugged back.
"I don't see what's wrong with having a party." He admitted. Heero stood up.
"I DON'T want one. That's why." He ended the conversation, heading for the next room where the girls were. He figured he should see what kind of gifts he was receiving. As he entered the living room Relena was the first to see him coming. She held up one of their gifts.
"Isn't he cute?" She asked him, holding up a puppy someone had given them.
He just nodded back to her. He wasn't overjoyed about it considering his past experiences with animals. He took a seat next to Relena and she immediately handed to dog to him and went for more gifts. He absentmindedly stroked it behind the ear and it licked at him on the hand. A slight smiled managed to cross his face. Relena couldn't help but noticed and thought it was so adorable.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, the other pilots continued to contemplate Heero's doom. Duo actually decided it wasn't such a good idea.
"If you think about it, he wouldn't be alot of fun if we had a party. That takes all the fun out of it for me." He admitted, causing shocked stares to come from three ways. Wufei spoke up first.
"Well I never got a party and I think he needs to have one." He claimed.*** (Ep. 0)
"Well I never got one either, so lets not ruin the tradition okay." Duo answered. Trowa just stood up resolutely.
"This isn't worth discussing anyway, if Heero doesn't want one we can't force him to have one." He ended his side of the conversation and went to join the others. That pretty much ended the entire conversation all together.
Later that afternoon Hilde and Duo got stuck on clean up duty since it was their place. "Well that was fun." She said happily. He just nodded back, finding the whole thing ironic. He didn't have any fun at the party and yet here he was cleaning up the mess. "Hey Relena mentioned it to me so I should ask you while I'm thinking about it. Have you worked on your speech yet?" She asked him, causing him to look her way.
"What speech?" He said scratching the back of his head. She gave him such a look, he turned away quickly. "Duo Maxwell!" The tone was enough to get his attention. "What speech? The one you have to give at the reception dinner. That speech. I have all this stuff to do and all you have to do is write one little speech and you haven't done that yet." She sounded very exasperated.
"Don't worry, I can get something together. It's not too hard to write something up about Heero anyway. He's pretty much half a page summarized." He explained, causing her to calm down a little bit.
"Okay then, you have an entire month to do nothing, so you better get it done." She warned him.
"Yes Ma'am." He grinned, getting back to cleaning.
***@--The*Wedding--@***
(Okay so maybe it wasn't the actual wedding, more like the reception afterwards.) As Relena looked out among the crowd in the room, she realized that most of them were people who knew the bride more then the groom. But most of them were 'colleagues' from her line of work. Most of Heero's close friends were in the wedding party. Everyone seemed to be having a good time though, which was nice. She glanced down the table at everyone. Duo and Hilde were sitting next to Heero and herself. Then there was Quatre and Dorothy. Zechs and Noin sat on the other side of Relena along with Trowa and Catherine.
The ceremony had gone better then expected. Heero actually showed up and Duo managed to remember to bring the rings. Although he had Heero worried for a split second beforehand. On the way down the aisle, Hilde almost tripped but managed not to, Dorothy practically cried through most of the ceremony. As did Catherine but she kept it to herself about how beautiful everything was. Dorothy on the other hand, wouldn't stop mentioning her hopes to one day marry someone who was strong and possibly a soldier. All of this was told to Quatre and all he could do was blush and nod back. She even mentioned maybe a former Gundam Pilot and he suggested Wufei and tried to get away as quick as possible at that point. But as far as Wufei was concerned this entire thing was meaningless and kept muttering to himself of how shocked he was that Heero went through with it.
They had hired a DJ for the reception and Duo swore they wouldn't get through the dinner before he kicked the guy out. Too many mushy love songs that had no affect on Heero as it was. He simply yawned and placed his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. Relena glanced over at the groom. She couldn't tell if he was bored or just didn't know what to do now. On occasion he would tug at his top button, which seemed to be bothering him throughout the day. Actually now that she noticed it most of the wedding party seemed kinda bored. Catherine was jabbing her butter knife into the remaining piece of cake on her plate, while Quatre was actually slouching as Dorothy talked his ear off. Trowa just sat silently so she couldn't tell if he was bored or not. She finally leaned back in her seat to get Duo's attention to start his speech. He tapped on his glass to get everyone's attention. Once they all quieted down he started.
"Okay I wasn't sure how to start this speech and I'm not very good at them either so bear with me." He began, hearing a couple of moans from around him. he narrowed his eyes then quickly grinned and continued.
"I'd like to say that Heero and I have had a wonderful friendship and that it's always been nice knowing him but I'm not going to lie about it. It all started when he was going to shoot Relena. At the time, I figured she was kinda cute and worth saving so I had to shoot him first. And from there on we've been either teamed up or completely against each other. It makes things interesting." Heero muttered under his breath. "Get on with it Duo." He was trying to remind himself why he had decided on him as a best man.
"Anyway, I hope that Relena and he will be happy. Considering all they've been through together, I don't think things can get any worse. I think they'll be good for each other. Relena will help Heero actually smile more and knowing him, he'll show her how to fire a gun properly." He added, causing Heero to grin slightly at Relena.
"That's never going to happen." She told him, pointing her finger at him.
"I had a whole lot more to say but someone decided to edit my notes so I'm done here." Duo ended, glancing at Hilde as he sat down. A large group of girls from the back stood up and applauded loudly. Heero and Relena squinted to see who they were.
"I didn't invite them." Relena mentioned, waiting to see what Heero would say.
"Me either. Hey aren't they the girls from that one school I attended with..." His sentence went unfinished as Duo grinned even more while the girls continued to applaud him. Heero glared at him.
"YOU invited them, didn't you." He declared. He confirmed his suspicions when Duo smiled innocently at him.
"You needed some excitement here today and besides they like me." He explained, standing up to try and quiet them down. There was a sudden yank at his hair and he fell behind the table. Heero and Relena stared in shock first at Duo and then at the girl sitting next to him. Hilde sat there with her arms crossed infront of her.
"You deserved that. I can't believed you invited a bunch of cheerleaders." She scowled. The girls heard her and responded.
"Hey we're not cheerleaders." They objected, causing Hilde to stand up quickly.
"Be Quiet!!! He's already taken!!!" She actually yelled out then decided that Relena wasn't really enjoying this. If Heero wanted to hurt Duo later he had her permission to do so. She settled back in her chair and glanced over at Relena who was trying to conceal her smile behind her hand. Duo's hand came up onto the table and he slowly got back up into his chair.
"Yah didn't have to go pull a stunt like that." He groaned, rubbing the back of his head. Hilde turned away from him, her arms still crossed. Quatre decided to go next.
"I'm so happy that Heero finally asked Relena to marry him. We've all been hoping for this to happen for so long." He told everyone. Relena leaned on her one elbow and sighed.
"I've waited the longest." She said under her breath. Heero looked her way and she straightened up. Neither of them heard the rest of Quatre's speech and then most of Dorothy's but that was okay since her speech was the longest.
"You still haven't mentioned where we're going after this." She reminded him.
"And I'm not going to tell you either." He ended the short conversation. Once everyone finished with the speeches and more presents were opened, Relena glanced at her watch to see what time it was. It was later then she thought. She tapped on her glass politely but no one noticed. She stood up and cleared her throat but once again the noise was louder then she was. Heero finally stood up.
"Hey! She wants to say something." He finished and sat down after that.
"Oh, well we just wanted to thank everyone for coming today. It was such a wonderful day and we hoped everyone else enjoyed it too. It was so nice to see all our friends here..." She trailed off when she noticed the large group of girls again in the back. "And some new faces too. I guess since it is getting pretty late, that it's time to wrap things up now." She decided, looking down at Heero. "Did you want to say anything?" She asked, so only he could hear her. He got up quickly.
"You can all leave now." He said firmly. Relena shot him a surprised look.
"If you want to. We've got a shuttle to catch." He said, covering up his abruptness. She smiled at his effort. Some of the wedding party as well as the bride and groom headed outside for a couple last pictures, then Relena and Heero got into their car. Relena waved goodbye before they pulled out and headed for the spaceport. Everyone else walked back into the reception hall. Most of the guest had left as well by the time they got in there.
"Well that was nice but now we're stuck with the mess again." Duo sighed. Quatre just smiled to himself and began helping Noin clean up.
"That was so much fun. More people we know should get married." Catherine said, getting a hold of all the balloons around the room. Quatre glanced over sheepishly at Dorothy. She sat on one of the tables with her finger in her mouth. She had apparently been eating some frosting off her piece of cake. She was smiling at him and he nervously looked away. Duo came up behind him and leaned on his shoulder.
"Well let's see whose left." He grinned, causing Quatre to blush and become nervous. "There's Trowa and Wufei (although I don't see him marrying anyone anytime soon). Who else...mmm..Oh yeah and there's you Quatre." He mentioned. Quatre quickly pushed him off his shoulder and went back to work.
"Oh stop it Duo. Everyone knows I'm too busy for that anyway." He reminded him, hoping that would end there. Duo leaned over to Trowa.
"It's sad, he doesn't know who caught the bouquet yet does he." He told Trowa, who merely nodded his agreement. Quatre glanced over at Dorothy once more and she held it up happily and grinned widely at him. He practically turned white and nervously looked away.
"It's not that bad. I should know after all." Duo said, trying to sympathize with Quatre. Hilde turned her head his way.
"Oh and what does that mean?" She demanded, as he hid behind Trowa.
"Trowa, save me." He said, hoping for Trowa to change the subject or something. He just casually stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked off.
"I'm not getting in the line of fire." He stated as he walked away. Wufei decided he wanted to watch Duo get it again. Dorothy snuck up next to Quatre and leaned into his ear.
"Well, what do you have to say about all this?" She asked, causing him to practically jump from her being so close. He backed away, trying to think of what to do.
Noin jumped in between them.
"Down girl. Just get back to work and leave him alone." She ordered. Dorothy flipped her hair behind her shoulder, like a snob as she turned away.
"No fun." She sniffed, leaving. Quatre let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank-you Miss Noin." He told her and she smiled back.
"Don't worry about it. I just don't particularly like her that's all. She can be pushy." She added, going back to work. It didn't take them very long to clean up once Hilde stopped chasing Duo and Dorothy left Quatre alone. Once they were finished with the task, they all went their separate ways.