"Relena's getting married". 21-year-old Heero Yuy finally takes his attention off his laptop at the words. "She's what?!" His friend Duo looks at him sadly "Married, she's getting married." he says. Heero stops typing and stares out into space. "Are you going to tell her?" Duo asks. "Yes, I have to, she needs to know."

Relena can never remember being happier. She's getting married, finally. Not to a certain Gundam Pilot who she doesn't even want to think about, but to a businessman. John Reynolds. Still she cant stop her mind from wondering about Heero. She sighs she stopped crying about Heero along time ago. Twisting the engagement ring John gave her she tries to fall asleep.

Heero drove all night. "God I must look like hell" he thinks. He couldn't sleep, he just drove around thinking, "I should've told her, I should tell her now" "Wonder what Relena's doing?" he thinks "Probably sleeping like normal people do at 3 am".

But Heero's wrong, Relena can't sleep. Today is her wedding shower. Stepping out to the balcony of her room she stare out at the town. "I wonder if Heero knows I'm getting married" Then she chides herself "I don't care if Heero know I'm engaged. He probably wont care anyway."

Heero managed to get home. Laying down on his couch he falls asleep, not bothering trying to get to his bed. What seems l like minutes later, someone is waking him. Heero half asleep already holds his gun ready to shoot the intruder. When Duo's voice clears his vision. "Man its just me!" Groaning Heero sits up "Duo do you ever knock?" He asks lowering the gun. "Do you ever not have a gun?" Duo answers. "What do you want?" Heero asks backing out of the friendly fight. "Today is Relena's wedding shower and she wants you to come." "HAHA very funny Duo" Heero retorts. "I am NOT kidding. So get your ass into the shower cause god you reek. Then get into the car go to the party. Tell Relena how you feel about her and live happily ever after". Heero looks at Duo "Did you do say that all in one breath?" "GO!"

Relena takes a shaky breath. She smiles at herself in the mirror and walks out to her bridal shower. She refuses to look for a man with scruffy brown hair and deep blue eyes. "Just focus on John" she thinks twisting around her engagement ring. Had she really told Duo she wanted Heero to come? Joining her friends, she begins to chatter pleasantly about the wedding and her future, when she hears a car pull up. Turning her head slowly she wills it to be and not to be Heero.

"How will she react" Heero thinks stepping out of the car. He walks slowly to the party. "You have to or forever behold your peace" Heero winces at thinking about Relena's marriage.

It's him. Relena knew it was him the moment he stepped out of the car so far away. Brown hair messed up, blue eyes that seemed riveted on her despite the distance. Relena stands up to face her guests. "I'll go welcome him" With shaky knees she walks toward the perfect solider.

They meet half way. Each stopping in awe of the changes that have occurred between them.

"Hi Relena" Heero says meekly, his face without emotion. Relena looks straight into his eyes "Why are you here?" she asks in a voice that's a half a plea and half in resentment. "To tell you I....." Heero stops, inside half of him screams " To tell you I love you! I cant live without you! There is no point in life for me with out you!" But he doesn't say that. He analyzes Relena he can tell she is happy, so happy. Ruining that joy on her face would be even worse than letting her get married. "To tell you I'm happy for you." The joy on her face at those words will make up for the miserable life he will live without her. "Really?!" "Yeah I even got you a present" He says reaching into his trench coat pocket. He hands her a small blue velvet box. Inside a delicate gold bracelet rests. "Heero it's beautiful. Thank you so much" Relena says hugging him. "Please don't feel how hard my heart is beating" Heero silently wills. Relena's heart is also beating hard and loud inside her chest. "Tell her" hi s mind pleads. Letting go of him she smile "come one everyone else is here and I want you to meet john my fiancé." taking Heero's hand she leads him to the party. His hand grasps the hand on which her engagement ring is on pressing it painfully into him palm.

"John this is Heero. Heero this is John." Heero shakes Johns hand "Congratulations" he says simply "Thank you" Heero refuses to meet Duo or Quatre's eyes. They alone know of his feeling for Relena. Quatre comes forward proposing a toast to the happy couple. The champagne slide down Heero's throat painfully. Quatre touches Heero's shoulder "I need to speak with you". Following Quatre inside he awaits the Arab boy's anger. "You didn't tell her" Quatre says in a tired voice. "Why Heero? Why cant you tell her?" In this exact moment as Fate would have like it Relena walks in just as Heero gives his response. "Quatre I have never seen Relena happier, not even while we were fighting for peace. She has this glow. I cant ruin that just because.... She's so beautiful Quatre. I should've told her sooner. Maybe it would be me she would be walking down the aisle toward. I lover her Quatre. That's why I'm not going to tell her I do. I want her to be happy." The cup Relena had been holding slips out of her hand. Shattering on impact with the stone floor. Turning around to face the sound Heero and Quatre see Relena crying, silently. Burying her face in her hand Relena is sobbing. "Relena" Heero says stepping toward her. Relena holds one hand up "No, get the hell away from me." "Relena please" Relena looks up at Heero, then she slaps him hard. They stand there, both amazed by what she has just done. Her hand throbs, sharp needles of hot pain dance across his cheek. Relena turns and flees outside. Heero faces Quatre who looks stunned. With a tired voice he says "I told her" Minutes later the sound of Heero's car leaving fills the silence.

Duo knocks on Heero's door desperate for him to open it. "Heero man let me in you're scaring me". five minutes later Heero slowly unlocks his door. Duo quickly turns the knob to get in. "What happened?" are his first words. Bloods shows through one of his sleeves. Before Heero can protest Duo is already examining the self-inflicted wounds. Silent, Duo gets the first aid kit and begins to bandage Heero hand. Now he watches as his friend falls mechanically asleep only because he had made him. Watching Heero's chest rise and fall as he breaths Duo whispers "It'll be okay Heero. Fate has always favored you and Relena."

Relena is desperate. She managed to keep it a secret what she had heard Heero say. Everyone thinks she came back crying tears of joy. Not tears of pain and frustration. The hurt she had felt inside when she thought about Heero, when she loved him. When she would cry herself to sleep over him. "I HATE YOU!" she yells out then starts to cry again because she really doesn't know who she hate. Herself, Heero, John, the ring she wears. She hates them all. Quatre for not telling her, Duo for not telling her. Did everybody except her know that Heero..... that Heero...... loves her? "Heero loves me" she whispers to herself and begins to twist around her ring. Looking at her hand she realizes she hand been fidgeting with the bracelet Heero had given her. Taking it off she stares at it hard before coming to a conclusion. She lets it slip through her fingers onto the dresser. "But I don't love Heero" she says sounding like she trying to assure herself.

Heero wakes up early and watches a sleeping Duo. "She gets married today" is his first thought. Getting up careful not to disturb his friends he retreats to the bathroom. Undoing the bandages Duo did last night he stares at the wounds in the mirror. The cut was just left of his veins. "I should have done it," he thinks miserably tracing the veins on his wrist with his ring finger. But he never could, not now at least, now that Relena knows. He stares at his reflection, mind set. He's going to let her get married. He's going to let her be happy, and bask in the glow of her joy as she says, "I Do" to someone else. Taking off the clothes from yesterday he turns the water scalding hot hoping it will was away yesterday. He remembers driving home after Relena had slapped him his heart banging so wildly against his chest that he thought it would explode. "Not a bad idea" he thought, "it would stop the pain". The pain in his head was worse. He had managed to get home stumbling blindly up the stairs to his small fairly bare apartment. He had stood in the kitchen searching for his butcher's knife. He never knew why he had bought it, or why he had asked Duo to go buy it with him. He doesn't even cook. When he had found it he had held it up so the light would reflect off it and blind him. After seconds of staring at it he brought it slowly down to his wrist. The scars of his last attempt on his life were there. if only he had looked at his other wrist. But no he looked at the time he had tried to kill himself and Relena had saved him. His love for her had brought him back. Still he wasn't in the past everything was still there the pain in his heart the throbbing in his heart. He had to let it out.... somehow. So he had brought the knife down on his wrist right next his veins lightly enough not to do significant damage but enough for blood to relieve the pain. In the shower Heero opens the wounds watching the blood gather only to be washed away by the water. Duo's knocking on the door brings Heero back to reality. "Heero come on! Don't make me come in there" "I'll be out in a minute. Duo I'm fine" The water has stopped the bleeding. Heero finally steps out of the shower. He's going to let her be happy he reminds himself. He's going to watch the love of his life pledge to love someone else.

The night before pure panic had settled in for Relena. She barely slept, crying most of the time. She finally gathers enough courage to look at herself in the mirror. Her eyes are red and puffy her skin blotchy. Looking at the white dress hanging on her bedroom door sends Relena on another wave of tears.

"I'm going to her wedding" Heero announces over breakfast. Duo calmly continues to eat over the announcement. "Are you going to stop her?" he finally asks. "No I want to watch her get married I need to say goodbye" The news does not seem to affect Duo. "Alright Heero. I see you have made you choice"

"Relena what's wrong? Please let me in" Noin begs. Drying her eyes Relena opens the door. Noin gasps "What happened?" "Is it that bad?" Relena says sadly. Noin guides her to the bed. Relena manages to get the story through between the sobbing. "He loves me" Relena moans finishing. "Do you love him?" Noin asks gently. Relena stares at her engagement ring, the diamond winks up at her. "No" she says drying her eyes. "What am I thinking " she laughs sadly "I know better than to cry over Heero Yuy"

Relena checks her reflection a last time. "You look beautiful" Relena blushes at her brothers remark. Hugging him she whisper "I'm scared" as if some one was going to hear her. "Don't be" She's wearing no jewelry, her white dress sits perfectly on her pale body. "Something's missing," she says to herself. Looking at her dresser she spies the bracelet. Clasping the delicate chain she mutters "You haunt me even on my wedding day" "Surprise" Millardo says hand her a jewelry box. In it a antique simple yet elegant necklace rests it almost matches the bracelet. "It was our mothers. She would place it on you when we were younger. It looked as beautiful on you then as it does now" "Thank you big brother" Relena says her voice choking on tears. "Don't cry Relena please don't"

Heero wait for the bride to arrive at the church "Church, one place I never thought I would be unless.... unless I was marrying Relena" He sits on the second pew far away from the aisle close enough to see Relena. The music starts, his stomach lurches.

The veil fuzzies her vision, but she follows her brother. Her support. She smiles when she sees John. With every step she says goodbye to a certain solider, and teenage fantasies. She spies all the old Gundam pilots. Trowa, Quatre and his smile, Duo and his hair, even Wufei here. "Please don't have come" she silently wills. But she soon sees him standing along with all the other people blending in yet standing out. Staring straight at her, straight into her eyes. Relena averts her gaze blushing behind her veil. "Don't be silly," she thinks, "Everyone is looking at you" Her brother passes her to John. "I'm getting married" It finally has sunk in.

The ceremony drags along for Heero every word the minister says is another year of Heero's life alone. "If anyone here should object, speak now or forever behold your peace" "I object"

The cathedral goes dead silent.

Relena turns to the person who said their objection. Lifting her veil the directions she stares at is Heero

"Did I just say that?" Heero thinks "I said I wouldn't stop her" "I also object"

Forgetting manners the entire congregations turn to face the one who object.

Duo stand grim faced. If Heero wouldn't object he would.

Quatre also stands. His face is blank missing its usual smile. He had to stop this for Heero and for Relena.

Heero stands up. "No, they don't. I'm sorry, Relena, they think they're doing the right thing for me. But I'm sorry. They don't object neither do i. I want you to marry him" He now stands in the aisle. "I want you to live the fairy tale life you've always wanted, the life you deserve. And live happily ever after." He turns and walks out. The cathedral is dead silent only the clicking of photographers cameras. The veil is hiding Relena's tears.

Heero got in his car and drove off. All night debating whether he should leave this place. He won't turn on the radio, the last thing he needs to here is that Relena Darlain is now married despite the interruption. The pounding in his head is back; the ache in his heart hasn't gone away. Its past midnight Heero is alone on the road, he spends every moment yelling at himself for not objecting. He gives up yelling at himself and drives back to his apartment.

He trudges up the stairs. Why is he coming back here? He can't exactly call this place home. Everything seems tainted by a foolish little boy in love. He opens his never locked door. He has to leave this place, because he's starting to go crazy. He swears he sees a veil on the floor. When he stoops down to pick it up he spies a pair of white shoes. His house is littered with a trail of white leading to his bedroom. There on his bed, sits Relena white dress wrinkled, head in her hands, blond hair disheveled, crying. "Relena" Heero says amazed. Relena looks up, suprised. "Heero you're still here I thought that you had left. Run away again" Heero ignores the sarcasm he hears in Relena's voice. "You didn't get married" Relena holds her hand up no longer containing the ring. "No not married" Heero is suddenly the child who needs the obvious to be spelled out to him "Why?" Relena looks up at him blue-green eyes flashing with anger "Why?! You say what you say and you ask WHY?! Why am I here Heero? You break my heart and here I am. I cried over you for 4 years. Then I met John. Who loved me. Who TOLD me he loved me. Who asked me to marry him. And yet here I am. Why?" Relena begins to cry again. "I don't know either" Heero says stepping only inches away from Relena holding up her wrist. The bracelet he gave her is still there "But I do know that I love you" he says bending down to kiss her, Relena mouth meets his half way there. They had each thought about this more than they would ever admit. But all the pain and frustration, Relena had bottled up is gone along with the pain in Heero's head and heart. "Marry me" Heero says pulling away from the kiss and getting down on one knee. "What?" "I want to you to marry me. I love you. God I almost lost you" "Yes" Relena whispers sinking down to the floor too. "I love you too. I always have" "You love me" Heero repeats amazed. He wipes the last of the tears sliding down her happy face. "I love you princess" he says kissing her again. The room spins and gives into daylight and hope.

For love is wonderful thing. It could make the perfect soldier and the princess live happily ever after.