Rocks in Sand

© Lady Pax

I'm bored, so I'm writing this next chapter the same day as part two... WHOO HOO!!!!! Yeah...

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. But Shae and Riana are original characters, and they are copyrighted (©) to me! Use them only with permission or with statement to me, first, please! AND DON'T SUE!

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part | three

Riana was glad to get out of the car. She had talked to Noin and Sally most of the time, but the look Heero and Duo were giving her almost made her regret saying that she had heard them make love before – making fun of them, also.

Almost.

She didn't approve of it, but she reluctantly allowed a servant of Relena's who had seen the car take her bags, and she bounded up the stairs and sidewalk winding up to Relena's abode. It was too large to be a house, and too small to be a mansion – so it had been dubbed Peacecraft Manor. She loved the house. Rose bushes lined the walkway and stairs, and yards of green grass rolled out in every direction. There were trees here and there; all of them bore flowers, and Riana could see a large apple orchard stretching along the end of the unlimited backyard. It was a large backyard, larger than any, because there was a plain of trees beyond – no houses built yet. Relena had bought all the land, and of course all the children and young people she knew loved playing there. It was beautiful...

Riana saw a red-headed child many years younger than her from an upstairs window. She waved. It was Mariemaia – daughter of Hilde and her late husband (this is an AU, remember). The oldest female Merquise had a thing that attracted children to her – a good thing, seeing as she wanted a family of her own someday.

The servant taking Riana's bag went around back after learning her name, and the five people were left outside Relena's enormous, front French doors.

Riana's hard skipped a beat. This was where her father was, and her little sister... And all the people she had grown up to love. She was suddenly very glad she was taken out of school early to be at the 'family' reunion. She had been wanting to stay at school in America instead of going to France, but now she was glad Zechs had convinced her. She knew she'd enjoy staying there for the month of the reunion – even if she had to share it with Heero and...Duo.

Sally pressed the small button next to the door, and the group outside could hear the chimes that served as a doorbell for Relena. Through the blurred windows, Riana could see a figure walking to the door, then reach and open it. It was Relena, of course.

"Well, look who's here!" Relena said loudly as she embraced her niece. "Riana! So good to see you!" She let go of the girl who was as tall as she herself, and turned to the large entrance-room that branched off in four directions. "Zechs!" she exclaimed. "Zechs! Come here!"

"Be quieter, Relena. You'll wake Shae," Zechs said as he walked into the main entranceway. He paused, staring at Riana in shock. "R-Riana..." he said, struggling to form words. Riana grinned, and ran into his arms. Even though she was tall, her father still towered over her a bit.

Trowa, Quatre, Hilde, Mariemaia, and Wufei walked in, and smiled when they saw Zechs and Riana. Soon, after the father-daughter reunion, more hugs and kisses were exchanged by the others and Riana, which made her glow with the attention. She was cherished, of course she was; but because she was going to boarding school overseas, affection like this was hard to come by...especially at an all girls school when she was not homosexual, but hetero(straight).

"Where's Shae?" Riana asked her father as the group moved down a hallway to the spacious, and leather-furnished living room.

"She's upstairs in the room next to yours. Sleeping in Relena's nursery."

"Nursery?" Riana asked, arching an eyebrow and looking at her Aunt. "Why do you have a nursery if you have no kids of your own?"

Relena blushed, and Wufei made a strangled noise, and he accidentally knocked down a few chess pieces that he was playing Trowa with. Quatre was helping Hilde cook in the neighboring kitchen with the servants, and Heero and Duo were sitting at the loveseat that was near the fireplace – far enough that Riana and Zechs and Relena couldn't hear the important conversation they seemed to be having.

Riana tore her eyes from Heero and Duo, and looked at Relena's blushing face – and Wufei. Her eyes were averted to their hands on instinct. Matching gold bands were around their ring fingers. "You two are married?" she asked in surprise.

"We have been," said Relena, looking at Wufei – who pretended to be absorbed in picking up pawns and knights at the moment... "For about a year now.."

Riana's eyebrows furrowed. "I was at school during the wedding? You could have at least told me, I would've sent a gift."

"Oh no, no, no!" Relena exclaimed suddenly, catching people's attention. She blushed again. "Well, you see..."

Zechs finished for her. "What she's trying to say, Riana," he said, "is that Wufei proposed to her in secret, and they told no one. They retired to the tropics for about a month, which got us very worried... And then they came back, told us, and decided to set up this reunion to tell us – and to celebrate their first year reunion. Everyone knew just a few hours before you."

"Oh," said Riana. "So you two are going to have children then?" she asked. She shook her head at the wine a servant offered her.

Relena blushed again, and didn't take any wine, either. "Well, we're....trying," she said quietly. "But we might end up having to adopt." She sighed.

"Ah," said Riana. "But adopting is good," she said. "That way you'll be surprised." She paused, looked at her father and they shared a glance before she continued. "Or you can always use a donated egg and/or ovary – or get a DNA mixing setup."

"What is that?" Relena asked, gaining interest.

"A DNA mixing setup is really only for homosexual couples that are technically unable to have children, but it works both ways. They take a sample of DNA from each parent, make an exact clone of both – but larger in quantity of course – and then they do a series of testing, and voila! A child. And the great thing is, you can personalize your child. You can choose the sex, its weight, anything. But it can alter when it grows. But also... in the DNA mixing, there's a 10% chance the child will die or develop a serious disease." Relena nodded, and made a small noise of interest. Wufei although, seemed as though he were struggling to breath.

Riana continued her explanation. " And using a donated egg or ovary is self explanatory. Basically the man donates sperm, and it is inserted into the egg – a fail and fool-proof plan, unless the man has no sperm." Relena nodded. "But there's a downside..." Riana explained. "The child might inherit some of the traits of the woman who donated the egg or ovaries." She smiled, and leaned back in her chair.

"Or you can just adopt." She shrugged, and the people listening (Quatre and Trowa – who had helped clean the chess pieces, and had joined them; and Wufei, Relena, and Zechs) laughed.

Quatre seemed puzzled. "But what," he said, and blushed, "Excuse me for asking, Zechs..." Said man looked up.

"Yes?"

"Well...how did you and Heero have children?"

Zechs glanced at Riana, who was suddenly very interested in a loose thread on her sleeve. Quatre noticed, and he swallowed. "Ah...I'm sorry, I never should have asked..."

"No, it's...okay," Zechs said slowly. "We were going to do DNA mixing with Riana, but Heero and I changed our minds to the donation setup. The DNA mixing was giving a 50-50 chance to the children they would produce, then."

"I suppose you gave the... necessities?" said Quatre.

Zechs nodded, smiling slightly at Quatre's choice of words. "Yes. It was a hard decision, but it came down to me in the end. And we're lucky Riana didn't inherit the woman's attributes – the one that donated, of course."

"Or maybe Heero didn't want to give the sperm," Riana said quietly, "because he was too weak to understand that – even though he was homosexual – he had to enter a woman's body in order to have me." No one heard her. Or so she thought.

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Dun dun!! WHOO HOO! TWO CHAPTERS IN A DAY!!!!!! FWEE!

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