A/N: Well, this is the last chapter. Don't worry though, I will write an epilogue for it that I hope I will publish before sweetangel14 goes back to school…
I have just realised that I have not thanked any of my reviewers for a long time and I am incredibly shocked of how rude I am.
A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU THAT HAVE READ AND REVIEWED!!!!
Chapter Twenty One
Heero felt so sick that was afraid to speak. He feared that, if he opened his mouth he would vomit. Finally, with a gigantic effort, the Japanese man managed to ask:
"Can we…can we see her?".
"Sure…please follow me…" replied the other doctor.
Heero started walking unsure whether his legs would be able to carry him. He felt like in some kind of trance. Some kind of nightmare that would hopefully end soon and he would, like every single morning, wake up next to Relena and would realise that nothing had been real.
Milliardo was about to follow him but Duo's hand grabbed his left arm to stop him.
"Give him some time alone…" the American man said.
"But…" insisted Milliardo
"I know Relena is your sister but, Heero's her husband…and the father of her baby…just give them some space now…you'll see her later…" intervened Trowa.
Milliardo gave it up and decided to sit down next to where Quatre was. The Arabian man was unusually silent, Trowa feared that the satellite's explosion and the subsequent massacre had affected his friend a lot more than to anyone else.
Sally observed Heero while he walked away, she felt as bad as the rest of the guys. No one had ever seen Heero in such state. It was very disturbing.
"It's not your fault…I'm sure you did all you could…" said Wufei that, seeing his wife's grave look, had come next to her and put one of his arms around her shoulders in a very supportive manner. Sally laid her head on her husband's shoulder and said:
"I know but…is just that…I've never seen Heero with that expression…he looked so desperately hopeless".
"I know…neither have I…in any case, if the worst happens, we'll have to be ready to give him all our support…" replied Wufei.
"Wufei, you've really changed over this years…the old Wufei would have never said something like that…" Sally said looking up to him and giving him a small smile.
"Well…the old Wufei did not know that loving a stubborn woman like you would be so rewarding…" replied Wufei.
Sally thought that Wufei had blushed a little bit but, didn't comment it because Wufei, even this new version of him, would prefer to give up his favourite katana before admitting such a 'weak' thing like blushing.
Meanwhile, Heero sat on the chair that Sally's colleague had placed next to Relena's bed.
"You should talk to her…even if you don't think so, she can still hear you…it'll do both of you good…" said the doctor before leaving them alone.
As soon as the door was closed, Heero turned his attention back to Relena, she looked so frail and white. Through the white hospital sheets, you could still see a bump where the baby used to be.
On their way to her room, the doctor had told Heero that Relena had suffered a major internal haemorrhage and that had caused her body to have a shock. He also told him that, if Relena was still alive, was mainly because of Sally's prompt intervention.
Heero had listened to everything but had not spoken a single word. He did have lots of questions but he couldn't bring himself to speak.
Now he had the same problem. He just sat there holding Relena's small hand. Making a huge effort, he cleared his throat twice before he could start talking.
At first he did not know what to say but, as he found out, once he started he just couldn't stop the flow of words:
"Relena, although the doctor has told me you can hear me, I'm not very sure…in any case, I would like to tell you now what I should have told you a long time ago. I love you. I love you so desperately that if I lose you again…I just don't know what I'll do…Relena, we've got a son now…we are the family we've been wanting so much…we can now live a normal life…but our son needs you for this, I need you for this…please, if you can hear me, come back to me…I promise I will make it up to you…all the patience you've had with me…you never gave up and kept fighting for us…and now, I have failed you, because I wasn't able to protect you like I promised but, if…no, when you come back, I will make sure that nothing harms you ever again…I've failed once but…once is enough…now I will not fail you again…but please, come back to me… please…"
Heero found his eyes moist with new tears. It looked like he was now crying all the tears he had never cried in his whole life. Heero kept speaking to Relena, telling her about what he remembered of his troubled childhood, about the plans he had for their son…about his dreams and about his love for her…
He put his head next to his wife's on the pillow and, after a while, fell asleep still holding Relena's hand.
In the mean time, Milliardo, considering he had given Heero plenty of time, was about to get up when he saw a familiar person approaching the waiting room.
"Sally, thanks for calling me, I've come as soon as I've been able to…I thought this mission had to be a quiet one…you've blown up an entire satellite, erasing all the evidence we had, you've also violated some federal laws in the way you've searched inside the Genix building…I expect a full report from you tomorrow at nine am sharp…" said this new arrival.
"We can explain…" started Duo in a very childish manner.
"Maxwell, not now…" said Wufei not wanting to upset even more his superior.
"Lady Une, we've encountered an unexpected enemy…but this isn't the time to speak about it…if you follow me, I will take you to one of the staff rooms…" proposed Sally.
"Alright then, apart from all of you preventer officers, I would also like you three to come with us…" replied Lady Une pointing at Quatre, Trowa and Duo.
Sally lead them all to a small room and, after being granted its use by the hospital staff, asked everyone to go in. There was a table with four chairs around it and a small kitchenette. This was obviously the coffee break room.
Lady Une and Sally took two of the chairs. The other two were taken by Quatre and Milliardo. Wufei stood behind his wife's chair while Trowa did the same behind Quatre's. Duo, observing everything from the wall he was leaning against, found kind of funny the older brother attitude that Trowa had with Quatre. The funny thing was that, according to the registry, Quatre was actually older than Trowa.
Milliardo, taking the initiative, started briefing the whole affair to Lady Une. The preventers chief listened carefully to all that Milliardo had to say. When he was explaining the fact that they had to leave all the guards in the satellite before its disintegration, Quatre interrupted him saying:
"It was my fault…I should have done something about it…".
Trowa was about to tell Quatre for the umpteenth time that it had not been his sole fault but Wufei preceded him:
"Quatre, you cannot help some things…you really ought to stop blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong…".
Quatre winced at this. He knew very well about this fault in his personality, Dorothy had reminded him many times he should try get tougher but, it still hurt being told off like a kid about it…
"I'm not particularly interested in who did what but rather, I would love to know how did you manage to beat mobile dolls that were made of gundanium and…why did you need such a big carrier…" asked Lady Une.
Quatre was about to reply but, this time Trowa was faster.
"It was my idea…Quatre had kept some of the blue prints so, after the Mars incident, I decided to ask Quatre to rebuild the gundams…We've made an exact copy of 01, 02, 03, 04 and 05 although, thankfully, we only needed to use 01 and 02" said Trowa pressing with his hand Quatre's left shoulder so the blond man would not say anything.
"WHAT? Trowa, do you realise that what you and Quatre have done is actually illegal? It is actually punished very severely…" said Lady Une astonished.
"We know…and we're prepared to pay the price…" replied Quatre.
"Well, this is not the time nor the place…besides, as head of the disarming committee, it's Relena's job to decide what to do with you…not mine…" said Lady Une, then she added, "In any case, the important thing is that we have in our custody the director of Genix and, thanks to you, we won't have to worry about the doctor anymore...I'll wait for the full written report so we can analyse all the data you've gathered…also, I've learnt that Relena has been freed but regretfully she's in a coma. I'm going to order that the best doctors are sent here…I would also like, as a personal favour, of course, to be kept informed about her conditions…".
"Sure…" replied Sally.
"Well, unfortunately, I have other matters to deal with so, I'm going to have to head back to ESUN. Preventer Chang, I would like you to stay here with your wife and clear up as much of this mess as possible. Preventer Wind, I believe you've got a family to take care of and a mission in Mars waiting for you…although I will grant you a few days off if you wish to stay here with your sister. Quatre, you and Trowa, will have keep yourselves free may you be required to attend a meeting regarding the gundams…of course, the gundams will have to be kept where they've been up to now since maximum discretion is needed…" said Lady Une getting up.
"As much as I hate to leave Heero in these conditions, I really need to go back home…I need to take care of my wife and, I have to reopen Heero's school…specially since we don't know whether he'll be coming back anytime soon…so I would appreciate a ride back to earth…can I come with you?" asked Duo speaking to Lady Une.
"Sure, be at the colony's docking bay in half an hour sharp…" replied Lady Une leaving the room.
"I also have to go back to my businesses, I've been away for too long now…" commented Quatre.
"I need to go back to the circus too, Catherine and Midii will be worried…" added Trowa.
Soon after the meeting was over, Quatre and Trowa left with the carrier and the gundams. They would keep them in Quatre's secret hangar till a decision regarding them was taken. Quatre hoped that this decision would be taken by Relena.
Duo and Milliardo went to Relena's room. They found Heero still sitting on the chair with his head next to Relena's and holding her hand. Someone had brought the baby to the room and it was there next to the bed. Looking at the picture it was just like another couple that had just had their first child.
Duo shook him gently. Thankfully, it didn't take much to wake him up.
"What?" said Heero then, turning around, he saw Relena still unconscious and his face went all sombre again.
"I've just come to tell you that, as much as I would like to stay, I need to go back home…" said Duo hoping that Heero would understand.
"Sure…you've got to take care of Hilde…Duo, do me a favour…take really good care of her and never let anything harm her…when you love somebody, they should always come first…" replied Heero.
This shocked both Milliardo and Duo. Heero's constant personality changes never stopped amazing them. Relena had really worked a miracle with this guy…Duo wished he could kill that bastard of a doctor again for doing this to his best friend and the only girl that had managed to bring his humanity back. Praying to God for the first time in his life, he hoped that Relena would be alright.
"Ok then…I hope I will see the three of you soon…" said Duo but Heero had redirected his attention back to Relena and wasn't listening.
Milliardo stood there while Duo was closing the door behind him. He stayed there silently watching the newly formed family.
"You really love her, don't you?" Milliardo asked suddenly.
"Yes. I love her" replied Heero, if he was shocked because of the question, he did not show it.
"Then my job here is over…I've got to go back to Mars…I have a family there to protect, I trust you'll now take care of yours…" said Milliardo leaving the room. He was not going to stay there, like he had said, his job protecting Relena was over. Not that he had ever done a really good job either for he considered himself a failure as a brother. Now that he knew that Heero really loved his sister, he could go back home with a clear conscious.
Heero was left in the room with mixed feelings. He would never understand Milliardo Peacecraft no matter how hard he tried. It was easier when he fought against Zechs Marquise, at least there was not too many differences between them…but, Milliardo was an enigma.
Heero left his wife's side for a second so he could get their baby in his arms. He had liked it a lot when he held his baby while feeding him back in the shipper. He stared at the baby in wonder, he looked just like Heero but, when he opened his little eyes, you could see his mother's kind, light blue eyes. This little person was partially his. For a person used to kill, creating a life was something totally new, something Heero Yuy liked it very much.
He was so concentrated on the baby that he did not even notice a very feeble sound coming from the bed.
"Heero…".
END OF CHAPTER TWENTY ONE