FACING FATE By: Alithiel

Disclaimer: Tada! Here's Chapter 8! Sorry for the delay but Arlyssa stole my laptop and daddy wouldn't let me write on the family computer! He's so cheap.anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter.I'm gonna see if I can crank out two tonight.wish me luck! The only warning? A bit of sap, and Heero acting HUMAN! WOW!

Bye!

Alithiel

Chapter 8: Shadow Queen

Word reached Relena about midnight that Lord Septem was dead.

Of course, she knew who was responsible.

So, she took up the candleholder beside her bed, pulled on her robe, and padded down the hallway in bare feet. A left turn, then a right and she was in front of the room that was her destination. Her heart pounded in her ears, but she swallowed the lump of nervousness that clogged her throat.

She opened the door and walked in.

* * * * *

Heero was standing in the middle of his room, and he whipped around at the sound of the door opening. For a moment, he thought it was a ghost. Pale, beautiful, radiant in candlelight, the slim figure moved toward him. But once he saw the sloping set of its shoulders, the soft curve of its mouth, the silken sheen of its robe, he knew who it was.

That made his heart hurt worse.

"Relena."

She approached him, bare feet making no sound on the thick green carpet.

"Why did you kill Septem?" She asked without preamble.

He turned his back on her. The light from the lamp on the table and the fire in the grate shone deep gold on his dark hair. His eyes were in shadow.

"To protect you."

"Peygan told me that he had been found in the river. He had also been stabbed. All his belongings were still on his person, so robbery wasn't the motive. So what I wanted to ask was."

She sat down in one of the chairs, and set her candle on the table. Then she looked up at Heero seriously. Her golden cascade of hair was confined with a black velvet ribbon.

"Was it really necessary to stab AND drown him? Either one would have worked just as well. Or maybe you could have hung him."

Heero was so stunned that he actually laughed. A parchment scroll was tossed on the table.

"That's rather bloodthirsty of you."

"Even I like a little blood now and then." She picked up the scroll. 'What is this?"

"Read that, my lady vampire."

Relena smiled, unrolled the scroll and adjusted the light so she could see it better.

"The serpent is in place, and the kingdom heart will not escape, even should her rock wall get in the way. The balance shall be placed. For the glory of the Shadow Queen." She read aloud.

She rerolled the scroll and handed it back.

"This makes no sense."

"Actually, it does. The 'kingdom heart' is you, and the 'rock wall' is most likely me. As for the 'serpent', it must mean an assassin, and the 'Shadow Queen' is probably Catalonia. But," He said thoughtfully, "I don't know what he means by 'balance'."

"I will think on it. Maybe I can come up with a reasonable explanation." Relena said as she stood.

"Wait."

She turned to Heero, the candle flame igniting his eyes, which for once looked warm.

"I do not feel comfortable with you being by yourself, especially when there may be an assassin running around. I will accompany you to your chambers."

"Really, Heero, that is not necessary." Relena said as she turned toward the door. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Then stay here tonight."

She whipped around in surprise. Heero was not looking at her. Instead, he was staring into the fire, the flames shining in his eyes. He seemed almost shy in his posture. The look in his eyes was not shy, however, and Relena felt a tingle rise up her spine.

"I do not want you to be alone."

"I am 22 years old, Heero. I've been alone for half that time." She said, shaking off the strange lethargic feeling that fought to overwhelm her.

He turned his gaze directly at her. His expression was earnest as he strode across the room to her. "As have I. But neither of us have to be alone anymore." He took her hand, and it was cold. "I do not only protect you only to fulfill my fathers wishes. I stay near you for my own sake."

"What is it that you're saying?"

"I am saying that I am giving you all I have. My honor, my sword, my allegiance, and.my heart as well."

"Your heart?"

"As odd as it may seem in an assassin, I do have one. And it is yours, for as long as you require it." He pressed her chill hand over his heart. Relena could feel it pounding wildly beneath her palm through his thick linen shirt.

"Beware your promises, Heero Yuy. When I require something, I usually keep it forever."

"As it should be."

"And." She couldn't help but smile. "Why should I have any reason to believe I am safer with you? You may be the assassin sent to kill me. Are you going to kill me?"

He laughed again as he pulled her closer, and the sound pierced Relena's heart. He dropped a kiss to the center of her palm.

"I am only your assassin. I follow no other orders."

Relena smiled wider and threw her arms around his neck.

"I was hoping to break you out of your stony shell someday."

"It was cracked when I caught you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Heero dropped his head, kissing her softly on the cheek, before trailing his lips across her soft skin to her mouth. The kiss was sweet and innocent. After a moment, it gathered heat as Relena pressed closer, burying one hand in his unruly hair. Heero pulled away, looking into her clear blue eyes.

"Nor would I." He murmured as he kissed her again

* * * * *

Quatre had not fallen asleep easily that night. His thoughts had been troubled ever since the battle with the strange soldiers earlier in the week. They had not been disturbed in their travels since, and soon the Maguanac would be to the city. He rolled over in his bedroll, sweat standing chill on the bare skin of his chest (A: Pleasing Mental Picture, No?). The wings of the dream sucked him into their dark vortex. He found himself in a long, dark hall, walking toward some unknown destination. As he walked, he could hear strange sounds around him, like the wind blowing through steel chimes, or the singing of birds inside a barrel. All sound seemed strangely distorted here. Soon he came to two brilliantly glowing figures. The one to his left seemed a male figure hewn from brilliant orange stone that gave off bright light, standing at attention like a soldier. Only the eyes were not orange, but blue, brilliantly deep as cold water. Across from him was another figure, female this time, long haired, garbed in flowing pink robes. She shone with rosy light, and her arms were raised toward the stone man as if to embrace him. Her eyes, as well, were blue, paler like the sky at dawn.

Quatre moved on down the strange hall. Shortly he came to two more figures. The left one was male again, robed and hooded, with a long braid down his back. Large wings spread from his shoulders, and his right hand was raised toward the sky. This figure was engulfed in bright green light, but his eyes shone startlingly amethyst. The figure facing him was a woman, garbed in brilliant violet. Her short hair was crowned in laurel leaves, and she was winged as well. Her hands were folded before her, and her eyes were greenish blue and cut through the violet light around her.

He moved on, and there seemed an abnormally long interval before the next figures came into view. On the left was a man, naked from the waist up, garbed in loose pants. He was drowned in pale blue light, and his figure seemed to waver, as if he were being viewed from underwater. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his head was thrown back, the spring green of his eyes brilliant in the dark. The woman across from him as dressed in a short, deep green gown, and vines twined up her bare legs and across her outstretched arms. Curly hair was crowned in flowers, her eyes shone as pale as periwinkle flowers through her deep green glow.

The next pair came soon after. The man on the left crackled with crimson flames. He was set in a fighting stance, and his loose clothing billowed in the heat of his fire. His eyes were black as night and gave off no light in the bright red aura that surrounded him. The woman across from him was crowned in icicles and garbed in cracking, dark blue robes. Her hair cascaded down her back in a shower of curls, and the paler blue of her eyes shone on the man across from her, even through the cold blue of her aura.

Something drew him back to the emptiness of the center of the hall. He noticed a new figure had been added as he had journeyed onward. Brilliant white was this robed woman figure, beautiful in her radiance. Her hair curled around her face, and she was crowned in stars. White feathered wings swept in majestic beauty from her back. Her golden eyes pierced through Quatre, and he heard words in his mind.

"Turn around."

He did so, and saw himself.

He was standing across from her. His hand was raised in blessing; his golden robes fell in graceful folds around him. Wings rose from his back, and he had a crown on his brow, adorned with a sun, moon, and star. His aqua eyes shone through the golden yellow of his own aura.

Quatre woke with a start.

"What the hell?"

* * * * *

Brynn was ripped from her dream sending. Awaking in the cool, pre-dawn light with a pounding headache is not a pleasant way to start one's day.

Still, she couldn't help but smile at the reason for her rude awakening.

An explosion of brilliant orange and pink light had awakened her.

* * * * *

Alithiel~ *Laughs evilly * Take that last one as you will, folks! Read and review, please!

Gundam Boys and Girls~ Oh, brother.