Found
Part 6
Somehow, and Heero didn't know how, but somehow they had fallen asleep. /This would be the most amount of sleep I've gotten in a while/ he thought while stroking Relena's hair. After all this time, they could finally be together, they could finally experience peace with one another, and he would never leave her.
Relena stirred in her sleep and Heero kissed her forehead.
"What time is it?" she asked sleepily.
Heero looked at his watch, "11:00."
"Shouldn't you go feed the horses? They'll be angry with you."
"It's cold out."
"Does it matter?"
"It's warm here," he said tightening his grasp on her.
She smiled, "But we also need to get something to eat."
"I'm sure that Quatre will have something when we get there."
"You mean if we get there. At the rate we're going, I don't know if we're even going to move!"
Heero smiled slightly and shook his head. "We'll have to move sometime. There are certain necessities that must be met. And besides, when they find out that you are still alive, and with me, and your brother finds out what's going on... or even what we've done...."
"He'll be pissed. He may have that natural brotherly urge to protect me more than necessary, but I'm 18! I am free to make my own decisions and perfectly legal, so there's nothing he can do.
"Except kill me since he doesn't know exactly how old I am."
Relena half sat up and down looked at Heero. "How old are you?"
"18."
"When's your birthday?"
"Sometime during AC180, that's all I know."
"You mean you have no idea?!"
"Not a clue."
"Don't they have tests for that or something?"
"Probably, but since I wanted to stay hidden for a while, I never tried them."
"Well I'd say that now would be a good time!" Relena laughed.
"What's the rush?"
Relena lowered herself to be only inches from his face. "There's a rush because how am I supposed to know when your birthday is so I can give you your present?"
"You can give it to me now," Heero stated bringing his face closer to Relena's.
"Uh-uh. It's supposed to be a surprise. So when I give it to you, you wouldn't have seen it coming," She answered backing away slightly.
"Please."
"Wow. Heero Yuy is actually saying 'please'! Now that is a surprise! Besides, I think you've had enough for right now," she said while lightly pecking him on the lips. "Now either you go out and feed those horses or you'll have more than just those two angry at you."
"Fine," Heero said kissing Relena once more before she rolled off and he got out of bed.
"Oh, and one other thing..."
"What?"
"You may want your shirt back," she said while standing and picking it up off the floor and tossing it at him.
"That may be a good thing, but..." he answered.
Relena watched as he put the shirt in the hamper and got out a green knitted sweater. As he put it on she immediately pushed back the urge to go over there and take it off again. She decided that he looked much better without it, not that he already looked drop-dead gorgeous with it on. She smiled as Heero opened another one of his dresser drawers and bought out a couple pieces of clothing.
"Here," he said handing her a pair of blue jeans and a fluffy pink sweater. "During the last war, I brought up information on you. Part of it was your clothes size. I bought these during this last year if you were ever to come to my house without extra clothes. There's some for each season, I just hope the information was correct and that they still fit. Plus there are a few extra little things in the bathroom."
"Thank you," she said taking the clothes from him as their fingers touched. They caressed each other for mere seconds then parted and Heero went to get his trench coat as Relena went into the bathroom.
When Heero got back he was stopped dead in his tracks when he reached his room. Relena was completely dressed and was standing by the window looking out into the storm.
"You survived," she said jokingly turning to him. It was no longer dark in the room; there were actually a few lights on.
"... You... You're..."
He couldn't finish the sentence, but Relena knew what he wanted to say. She blushed and looked away as Heero started walking towards her. "You haven't changed and yet you have."
"Much like you," he said putting his arms around her. Relena looked up at Heero, their eyes locking instantly as she put her own arms around him.
"Promise me something?"
"What?"
"Don't ever leave me again."
"I already promised that."
"When?"
"When I first held you in my arms."
Relena smiled and hugged him, unable to say anything.
Heero tightened his grasp on her and they stood there, rocking back and forth in each other's arms.
"Now to put a fresh bandage on and go to Quatre's," he said finally.
Relena groaned at the thought but knew that there was no other way around it.
"Come on," he said as he slightly pulled Relena into the bathroom.
"Heero, I never liked hydrogen peroxide and I never will like it."
"I told you before: you will get a sweet reward after this."
"A sweet reward could mean many things, Heero. It could mean candy, syrup on some type of food, or a kiss."
Heero just looked at her slyly and went back to his work.
"So which one is it?"
"You'll find out."
"Sure I will," Relena said sarcastically. "Ouch!"
"Sorry."
"Right."
"Done."
"Already?!" Relena asked in disbelief.
"Yep."
"Your kidding!" she exclaimed getting up to look in the mirror, and sure enough, it was finished.
"Told you," Heero said wrapping his arms around Relena slightly smiling. "You didn't believe me?"
"I'm just astonished that it was so quick!" She said as she turned in his arms and looked into his cobalt blue eyes. "Now about that sweet reward..."
Heero chuckled and leaned in to lightly kiss her. "Later," he whispered, "We'd better go."
"sighYou're right. I'm really not looking forward to hearing all those 'Relena where have you been!' and 'Relena! You're injured!' Not to mention, 'Relena! You're okay!' and 'Heero, is that really you?!' and all the other 'where have you been's."
Heero just chuckled as they walked back into the bedroom. He got a bag out so Relena could put her things in them and then they went out to the garage.
"You have a white convertible!"
"Yep."
"Where did you get all of this money from?!"
"Here and there."
"Here we go, back into that not talking much mood again." "That's the only way the others know me as, so I have to get used to it again."
"It just better not stick," Relena said as she threw her things in the back seat and hopped in front. Heero started the car and they were off for Quatre's estate.
"How long should the ride last until we get there?"
"About an hour and a half."
"Good, maybe I can make up for the rest of the lost sleep," she said snuggling into the comfortable seat and closing her eyes. In no time she was fast asleep.
When she awoke (yet again) she felt a warm hand shaking her gently. "Relena... time to wake up. We're here."
"Hmm...?"
"We're here," Heero said again.
"Impossible, I just fell asleep."
"You've been sleeping the entire way."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
By now Relena was fully awake and looking around. Sure enough, they were in the driveway right in front of Quatre's estate. She looked up into the window and saw the shocked look on Mariemaia's face before the little girl turned around to tell the others something.
"I think we've just been spotted," Relena said.
"Wonderful."
"Everybody!" Mariemaia exclaimed. "There's a white convertible parked in the driveway!"
"Quit joking Mariemaia," Catherine said as she walked over to the window herself. "No one we know drives a white convertible."
"It could very well be a door-to-door sales person," Duo stated. "Want me to get my gun?"
"No, but Mariemaia's right. There is a car down there," Catherine said. "But there seems to be no one in it."
"Okay, I have a plan," Relena said under the cover of the mini-porch by the front door.
"Here we go," Heero rolled his eyes.
Relena batted at him softly, "Just listen. We'll both go in. There are stairs there, so you can have some cover. Once I say 'I've brought a friend' then you can show yourself. Just make sure you get to the top and away from the stairs because of what Duo might do."
"Okay."
"Mission Accepted?"
"Mission Accepted," Heero smiled as he lightly kissed Relena again.
"Okay, here goes..." she said while opening the door. "Hey guys!" she exclaimed as Heero silently counted down as they walked in.
/3...2...1 – /
"– Relena!!!"
Relena started up the stairs and Heero followed halfway.
"How did you get here? Is that your new car?" Mariemaia asked.
"No," Relena answered as she reach the top of the stairs. "If it's no trouble, I've brought a friend." At that Heero walked up into view and cast out a slight smirk on his lips, which made everybody stop dead.
/Good acting Heero./ Relena thought and then whispered, "GetawayfromthestepsGetawayfromthesteps." Which Heero immediately did as Duo rounded one of the many bends.
"Hi Relena –" He said but then came to a screeching halt as soon as he saw Heero. A huge grin spread across his lips as he started full speed at Heero exclaiming, "HEERO!!!!"
Heero gently, but quickly, pushed Relena towards the closet seconds before Duo's glomp sent him slamming into the banister. He winced at every question.
"Heero!! You're back!! Where have you been?!?!!!! What have you been doing all this time!?!?!?!!!! How long are you going to stay?!?!!! Where have you been?!!!!!?!!!!"
"Get off me you baka!!!!!!" Heero practically screamed as he tried to push the braided boy off of him, which obviously wasn't working. So he resourced to a more unique tactic when he looked over at Hilde. She had a slightly angry gleam in her eye and Heero smiled slightly.
"You don't like what he's doing, do you Hilde?" He asked.
She looked shocked for a moment and then caught on quickly. "No, I don't."
"What do you plan to do about it?"
At this time Relena caught on as well and immediately went into the hallway that Duo previously came from, making sure that it wasn't one of the ones that led to some of the bedrooms. Luckily it wasn't.
"I plan to kill him," Hilde answered with a hint of evil in her tone as she made a grin that matched it.
"You wouldn't dare," Duo said, still holding on to Heero who was beginning to run out of air.
"Wouldn't I?" she asked leaning forward on her position on the couch like she was starting to get ready to lunge at him.
"You wouldn't dare!" He said again gripping Heero more fiercely like a Boa Constrictor, cutting off the circulation of air completely. When Hilde started to see Heero's face beginning to turn blue she took her chance and lunged at Duo. He quickly let go of Heero and immediately started dashing for his room, although Hilde was very close on his tail. Heero sank to his knees, grabbing onto the banister as he gasped in the welcomed air. Relena quickly went by his side.
"Are you alright?" she asked putting her hand gently on his back. With his eyes still closed Heero nodded his head, trying to quickly take control of his breathing.
"I'm alright," he said getting up. "Duo has certainly gotten stronger." Looking back down the hall he heard laughs and shouts of 'No not that's. "Of course with Hilde as a girlfriend I can see why."
"Well, why don't you take your coats off and stay a while!" Dorothy exclaimed coming from the kitchen. "Hello Heero, it is good to see you again."
"Likewise," he answered in monotone as he took off his coat and hung it up and Relena removed her hood on the dark blue coat that Heero had gotten her. Gasps came from all around the room as the others saw the bandage.
"Miss Relena! You're hurt!" Dorothy exclaimed.
"So it's true!" Zechs exclaimed. "You were in that 'accident'!"
"I'm fine brother," she answered, putting her own coat away and glancing up at Heero.
"How did you get out?" Wufei asked.
"Heero helped me. Now can I sit down before I get bombarded with more questions?!" Relena exclaimed and moved to sit on the loveseat that was strangely unoccupied. Heero just stayed close to the steps and folded his arms.
"You know you can sit down as well Heero," Quatre said as he brought in two cups of eggnog for them.
"Thank you, Quatre," he said taking the warm liquid from his friend smiling slightly.
Quatre smiled back and moved to give Relena hers. "Here you are Relena. And Merry Christmas! Have you received any gifts yet?"
"Thank you Quatre. Merry Christmas to you, too. And, yes, I've received a few."
"Any ones in particular you liked the most?" Mariemaia asked.
"Ah... yes. As a matter of fact there were three that I especially liked," she answered before taking a sip of her drink and looking at Heero, who was doing the same. He looked up at her and smiled knowingly though still drinking.
In those few seconds, Zechs looked from his sister to Heero and back again before it clicked. He narrowed his eyes and said, "So that's why you two are acting strangely."
At that statement both Heero and Relena almost choked and almost spit out their drinks in surprise. Although Relena's wasn't quiet as noticeable as Heero's because she had prepared her self for a surprise like that. They both immediately put their drinks down and looked at Zechs shockingly.
He shook his head disapprovingly. "I figured it out."
"Figured what out?" Catherine asked.
Heero thought that that was a good of time as any to grab his drink and go sit beside Relena, who was trying to control a slight blush.
"You two have some explaining to do," Zechs simply stated as Heero sat down.
"What are you talking about, Zechs?" Lady Une asked.
/Damn. Not this soon!/ Heero thought.
Relena cleared her throat nervously as she began to take a few sips from her drink once more. "This is very good eggnog, Quatre," she said trying to change the subject.
"Thank you," he answered. "But what is Zechs talking about?"
"I honestly don't know, I didn't know we were acting strangely," Relena answered as she quickly glanced nervously at Heero who did the same thing. "Hey, Mariemaia! What did you get for Christmas?" she asked still trying to change the subject.
/Oh, no. You're not getting away with it this soon, dear sister of mine. And I have just the plan for you both to slightly lose control and spill everything without knowing it at first./ Zechs thought as he frowned. "Hey you two, have you even bothered to look up recently?"
Heero and Relena both got confused looks on their faces as they looked above them.
"Mistletoe," Heero grumbled. "Wonderful." But he could already feel himself slipping as the knowledge of the tradition slid into his mind. If he couldn't kiss Relena on his own yet, this would be a perfect way to... / It is tradition after all.../ They looked back at each other as Heero grinned slightly and Relena blushed more and looked at her brother with a tiny pleading look as if saying "Do not get us started, I beg you!" But Zechs, being Zechs, didn't understand a girl's body language just yet and thought that his sister was just trying to escape the tradition. He just gestured with his hand for them to continue, and watched expectantly.
"You really think Heero is actually going to kiss –" But Quatre was cut short as Heero leaned in softly kissed Relena's lips, making it more passionate as the seconds went by. And Relena wasn't complaining. Her hand slowly went up to Heero's neck and his touched her waist gently as they rounded first base. Heero could hear the soft whistles and little gasps of disbelief and chose to ignore them. He kept it going for a few moments more before softening it thinking, /If I don't regain control, we'll probably go much further than what's called for under the mistletoe./ He broke away for a second before kissing Relena lightly again. When they looked at each other they were both smiling fully. Then their smile quickly faded as they realized that Zechs had planned to do that. Their heads snapped towards him with shock and disbelief clearly visible on their faces. Zechs just merely stated, "Caught hook line and sinker. Looks like you definitely have some explaining to do now."
Heero's eyes narrowed. /Too damn soon!/ "Have I told you recently how much I hate you?"
"No, not recently. It has been at least a year."
"Then I'm way past over due. I really hate you."
"Well, be that as it may, let me ask you one question. How long?"
It was at Zechs question that Mariemaia realized what had just happened and what was going on. "You mean that she is... and he is..."
"Let's let them explain," Zechs said and repeated his question. "How long?!"
Heero looked at Relena and she just gestured to let him answer. He looked back at Zechs and went to say 'a day', but then stopped. A look crossed his face that went to mean that he was deep in thought, as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the chair, truly thinking about the question.
"How long could mean different things," he said which surprised Zechs. "It could mean 'how long have we technically been together?' and it could also mean 'how long have I loved your sister?' Which one is it?"
"Uh... It would be nice to know both...." Zechs finally answered.
Heero looked at Relena asking with his eyes whether or not he should tell them, and she just shrugged telling him that she really didn't care; that they were going to find out sooner or later anyway. Then he looked back over to Zechs and said, "Well, to answer the first question..." he thought about it some more. "...I'd have to say, technically... with both of our acknowledgments... this morning." At the first answer a few mouths dropped. Relena just smiled and sipped her eggnog some more. "And to answer the second question..." Heero continued and Relena really listened in on this because she was curious, "Really, when Duo and I first met; when I was sending underwater missiles to destroy Wing Gundam. Maybe sometime before that, about the time when she handed me an invitation to her party, I'm not sure really. But I knew that I was right at her school's party when she bowed to me asking me to dance. I just wasn't ready to admit it yet, and wasn't really certain." He looked over to Relena to see her mouth dropped slightly and she formed the words, 'That long?!' Heero nodded and looked back over to Zechs who leaned back on the couch, looking like he was still soaking in everything that Heero had just said.
"You know," he finally said. "You're the one who has to repeat this to Duo. Only, tell us when you do so we can put in some earplugs."
Relena smiled as she set her drink down and Heero straightened his back against the back of the seat.
"You approve?" She asked.
"Do I have a choice?"
"Not, really. But I would like to know anyway."
"No. I still don't trust Heero yet, but seeing as I don't have a choice but to accept this, there is nothing I can do," he answered.
Heero frowned and narrowed his eyes, but Relena, on the other hand, curled up next to him, put her head on his shoulder, and said, "At least he isn't putting up a fight." Looking down at her, Heero put his arm around her waist and smiled because he now knew that they could now show affection to each other in public, or at least with their friends, without having to worry, slightly. Relena looked up at Heero just in time to see a gleam enter his eye as he smiled wickedly to himself.
"What are you thinking now?" she asked.
"I just thought of a way to get back at Duo for glomping me and practically suffocating me."
"Ohh, do tell, do tell!" Noin exclaimed.
"Okay, I'm going to need all of your help, but I assure you, we will be able to at least drive Duo insane with frustration, curiosity, and the like."
"So what's your plan?" Dorothy asked.
"Well, as Zechs said, I'm going to have to tell Duo all what I told you. Although I think I'm going to let him suffer a bit. Only slightly though. When he comes out, Relena and I will be in the same position we are in now. What he doesn't know is that we've already kissed, so when he tells us to look up, we'll tell him that he's missed it. Then if you want, we'll go into talking about it, but not actually telling him what happened. He should go insane within five minutes. Agreed?"
"All I'm saying is that you could have lain off the hair during the pillow fight!"
"You aim for the head during one Duo!!! Of coarse your hair would get messed up!!" Hilde argued with Duo as they came out of their room. Duo had his hair completely down and was brushing it.
"Agreed," everyone whispered quickly.
"Did you kill him?!" Heero called back to Hilde.
"Sure did!" Hilde smiled and once she saw Heero and Relena her smile grew. Duo was behind her and couldn't see what was going on yet, not that he was paying attention anyway.
"Duo," Heero said. "Don't ever try that again." It was at that point that Duo looked up from picking pillow feathers out of his hair. He stopped momentarily when he saw what position they were in. "Hey you two lovebirds," he said finally reaching the living room and sitting on one of the chairs by the banister. "You're doing the same thing Hilde and I did. You might want to look up."
Without even moving his eyes to look up at the mistletoe again, he simply said, "You missed it Duo." Everyone took that cue to plug their ears.
"YOU MEAN YOU ALREADY KISSED AND I MISSED IT!!!!!!" Duo stated angrily.
"Thanks for the warning statement," Zechs grumbled.
"You're welcome."
"So what – what was it? Just a regular kiss, or were there fireworks?" He asked.
Relena motioned for Hilde to come over to her and she whispered what happened in her ear. Hilde's eyes widened and then she smiled slightly kneeling, "Congratulations!" she whispered, barely audible. "So when?"
"Just this morning. It was a Christmas present that we both shared."
"How many times and how far?"
"Three." She looked up at Heero and he just whispered. "Only tell her bases, not details."
"Gotcha." She turned back to Hilde and whispered into her ear as Duo was trying desperately to get the details of the kiss, and was failing miserably. Zechs tried to listen in to the mini conversation going on between the two girls, but Relena had covered her mouth with her hand and was talking in a barely audible whisper. "The first time, and first official kiss, was first base. The second was only a few minutes after that and was second base. Then the third one that was like fifteen minutes after the second and was base two and a half."
Hilde's eyes widened more and grinned while whispering into Relena's ear, "You've gone further than Duo and I have! And we've been going out for months! You've only been going out since this morning! We've only hit two!"
Relena tried to hide back a smirk but couldn't help it. Heero looked at her questionably and Relena asked if she could tell him. Hilde said yes as she went over to sit next to Duo. Relena turned back around in whispered into Heero's ear, "Okay, think about this a moment. Duo and Hilde have been going out for months now, and we've only been since this morning, technically. Now, we've gone to two and a half." Heero grinned and nodded. "Guess how far they've gone?" Heero shrugged and Relena continued. "Only two." At that Heero's eyes widened in shock. "Now I know we must both be thinking the same thing." Heero nodded. "Yeah, I thought that Duo would be more like you are right now as well!" As the information fully sunk in Heero started to actually laugh.
"What's so funny?!" Duo demanded after giving up trying to get details from everyone in the room.
It took a while for Heero and Relena to calm down their laughs, since obviously it was contagious. "You were bragging all this time about how you were 'Mr. Love' and now I find out that you, oh, how should I put this?" Heero pondered for a moment before continuing. "You are probably boring Hilde!" He looked over at her and asked, "Am I right?"
"Yep," she answered.
"Get your earplugs," Heero stated as everyone else who was enjoying the show scrambled to find anything possible to plug their ears with.
"How can you say such a thing when you two aren't even going out yet! I'm surprised you're even acting this way towards each other when it hasn't even been clarified yet!!"
"Wanna bet?" Heero asked as Relena chuckled a little.
It sunk in. "WWWHHHHAAAAATTTTT!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!" Duo screamed. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?!?!!!! HOW LONG?!?!?!?!!!!"
"This morning, technically."
"Technically, oh technically. What, was there something before technically?!!!"
"Yes."
"You know, I don't even want to know about that... How far?" Duo asked finally giving up.
Heero held up two fingers on one hand and only put up part of his pointer on the other. Then he quickly put both arms around Relena again.
"T-T-T-T-Two and a half!!! Two and a half! Two and a half." Duo stuttered over and over again trying desperately to get it through to his brain fully. He would have kept it going too if Hilde hadn't put a hand over his mouth.
Zechs narrowed his eyes even more at Heero who was obviously enjoying the little scene before him and his lip curled into a slight snarl. He looked at his sister who was laughing and then back at Heero, narrowing his eyes more. The fact that Heero did that to his sister made him sick. Noin saw his look and leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Let it go Zechs. You cannot fight against love. You know how long he's loved Relena, and for her, it had probably been longer! They are just following their hearts. At least he didn't say a 'home run'! Then we would have all killed him. Let it go..." Zechs sighed and relaxed a little, but only a little. Noin was right. And even though he barely knew Heero, he knew that he would never do anything to hurt Relena. He might not like it, but he had to accept it.
Somehow, and Heero didn't know how, but somehow they had fallen asleep. /This would be the most amount of sleep I've gotten in a while/ he thought while stroking Relena's hair. After all this time, they could finally be together, they could finally experience peace with one another, and he would never leave her.
Relena stirred in her sleep and Heero kissed her forehead.
"What time is it?" she asked sleepily.
Heero looked at his watch, "11:00."
"Shouldn't you go feed the horses? They'll be angry with you."
"It's cold out."
"Does it matter?"
"It's warm here," he said tightening his grasp on her.
She smiled, "But we also need to get something to eat."
"I'm sure that Quatre will have something when we get there."
"You mean if we get there. At the rate we're going, I don't know if we're even going to move!"
Heero smiled slightly and shook his head. "We'll have to move sometime. There are certain necessities that must be met. And besides, when they find out that you are still alive, and with me, and your brother finds out what's going on... or even what we've done...."
"He'll be pissed. He may have that natural brotherly urge to protect me more than necessary, but I'm 18! I am free to make my own decisions and perfectly legal, so there's nothing he can do.
"Except kill me since he doesn't know exactly how old I am."
Relena half sat up and down looked at Heero. "How old are you?"
"18."
"When's your birthday?"
"Sometime during AC180, that's all I know."
"You mean you have no idea?!"
"Not a clue."
"Don't they have tests for that or something?"
"Probably, but since I wanted to stay hidden for a while, I never tried them."
"Well I'd say that now would be a good time!" Relena laughed.
"What's the rush?"
Relena lowered herself to be only inches from his face. "There's a rush because how am I supposed to know when your birthday is so I can give you your present?"
"You can give it to me now," Heero stated bringing his face closer to Relena's.
"Uh-uh. It's supposed to be a surprise. So when I give it to you, you wouldn't have seen it coming," She answered backing away slightly.
"Please."
"Wow. Heero Yuy is actually saying 'please'! Now that is a surprise! Besides, I think you've had enough for right now," she said while lightly pecking him on the lips. "Now either you go out and feed those horses or you'll have more than just those two angry at you."
"Fine," Heero said kissing Relena once more before she rolled off and he got out of bed.
"Oh, and one other thing..."
"What?"
"You may want your shirt back," she said while standing and picking it up off the floor and tossing it at him.
"That may be a good thing, but..." he answered.
Relena watched as he put the shirt in the hamper and got out a green knitted sweater. As he put it on she immediately pushed back the urge to go over there and take it off again. She decided that he looked much better without it, not that he already looked drop-dead gorgeous with it on. She smiled as Heero opened another one of his dresser drawers and bought out a couple pieces of clothing.
"Here," he said handing her a pair of blue jeans and a fluffy pink sweater. "During the last war, I brought up information on you. Part of it was your clothes size. I bought these during this last year if you were ever to come to my house without extra clothes. There's some for each season, I just hope the information was correct and that they still fit. Plus there are a few extra little things in the bathroom."
"Thank you," she said taking the clothes from him as their fingers touched. They caressed each other for mere seconds then parted and Heero went to get his trench coat as Relena went into the bathroom.
When Heero got back he was stopped dead in his tracks when he reached his room. Relena was completely dressed and was standing by the window looking out into the storm.
"You survived," she said jokingly turning to him. It was no longer dark in the room; there were actually a few lights on.
"... You... You're..."
He couldn't finish the sentence, but Relena knew what he wanted to say. She blushed and looked away as Heero started walking towards her. "You haven't changed and yet you have."
"Much like you," he said putting his arms around her. Relena looked up at Heero, their eyes locking instantly as she put her own arms around him.
"Promise me something?"
"What?"
"Don't ever leave me again."
"I already promised that."
"When?"
"When I first held you in my arms."
Relena smiled and hugged him, unable to say anything.
Heero tightened his grasp on her and they stood there, rocking back and forth in each other's arms.
"Now to put a fresh bandage on and go to Quatre's," he said finally.
Relena groaned at the thought but knew that there was no other way around it.
"Come on," he said as he slightly pulled Relena into the bathroom.
"Heero, I never liked hydrogen peroxide and I never will like it."
"I told you before: you will get a sweet reward after this."
"A sweet reward could mean many things, Heero. It could mean candy, syrup on some type of food, or a kiss."
Heero just looked at her slyly and went back to his work.
"So which one is it?"
"You'll find out."
"Sure I will," Relena said sarcastically. "Ouch!"
"Sorry."
"Right."
"Done."
"Already?!" Relena asked in disbelief.
"Yep."
"Your kidding!" she exclaimed getting up to look in the mirror, and sure enough, it was finished.
"Told you," Heero said wrapping his arms around Relena slightly smiling. "You didn't believe me?"
"I'm just astonished that it was so quick!" She said as she turned in his arms and looked into his cobalt blue eyes. "Now about that sweet reward..."
Heero chuckled and leaned in to lightly kiss her. "Later," he whispered, "We'd better go."
"sighYou're right. I'm really not looking forward to hearing all those 'Relena where have you been!' and 'Relena! You're injured!' Not to mention, 'Relena! You're okay!' and 'Heero, is that really you?!' and all the other 'where have you been's."
Heero just chuckled as they walked back into the bedroom. He got a bag out so Relena could put her things in them and then they went out to the garage.
"You have a white convertible!"
"Yep."
"Where did you get all of this money from?!"
"Here and there."
"Here we go, back into that not talking much mood again." "That's the only way the others know me as, so I have to get used to it again."
"It just better not stick," Relena said as she threw her things in the back seat and hopped in front. Heero started the car and they were off for Quatre's estate.
"How long should the ride last until we get there?"
"About an hour and a half."
"Good, maybe I can make up for the rest of the lost sleep," she said snuggling into the comfortable seat and closing her eyes. In no time she was fast asleep.
When she awoke (yet again) she felt a warm hand shaking her gently. "Relena... time to wake up. We're here."
"Hmm...?"
"We're here," Heero said again.
"Impossible, I just fell asleep."
"You've been sleeping the entire way."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
By now Relena was fully awake and looking around. Sure enough, they were in the driveway right in front of Quatre's estate. She looked up into the window and saw the shocked look on Mariemaia's face before the little girl turned around to tell the others something.
"I think we've just been spotted," Relena said.
"Wonderful."
"Everybody!" Mariemaia exclaimed. "There's a white convertible parked in the driveway!"
"Quit joking Mariemaia," Catherine said as she walked over to the window herself. "No one we know drives a white convertible."
"It could very well be a door-to-door sales person," Duo stated. "Want me to get my gun?"
"No, but Mariemaia's right. There is a car down there," Catherine said. "But there seems to be no one in it."
"Okay, I have a plan," Relena said under the cover of the mini-porch by the front door.
"Here we go," Heero rolled his eyes.
Relena batted at him softly, "Just listen. We'll both go in. There are stairs there, so you can have some cover. Once I say 'I've brought a friend' then you can show yourself. Just make sure you get to the top and away from the stairs because of what Duo might do."
"Okay."
"Mission Accepted?"
"Mission Accepted," Heero smiled as he lightly kissed Relena again.
"Okay, here goes..." she said while opening the door. "Hey guys!" she exclaimed as Heero silently counted down as they walked in.
/3...2...1 – /
"– Relena!!!"
Relena started up the stairs and Heero followed halfway.
"How did you get here? Is that your new car?" Mariemaia asked.
"No," Relena answered as she reach the top of the stairs. "If it's no trouble, I've brought a friend." At that Heero walked up into view and cast out a slight smirk on his lips, which made everybody stop dead.
/Good acting Heero./ Relena thought and then whispered, "GetawayfromthestepsGetawayfromthesteps." Which Heero immediately did as Duo rounded one of the many bends.
"Hi Relena –" He said but then came to a screeching halt as soon as he saw Heero. A huge grin spread across his lips as he started full speed at Heero exclaiming, "HEERO!!!!"
Heero gently, but quickly, pushed Relena towards the closet seconds before Duo's glomp sent him slamming into the banister. He winced at every question.
"Heero!! You're back!! Where have you been?!?!!!! What have you been doing all this time!?!?!?!!!! How long are you going to stay?!?!!! Where have you been?!!!!!?!!!!"
"Get off me you baka!!!!!!" Heero practically screamed as he tried to push the braided boy off of him, which obviously wasn't working. So he resourced to a more unique tactic when he looked over at Hilde. She had a slightly angry gleam in her eye and Heero smiled slightly.
"You don't like what he's doing, do you Hilde?" He asked.
She looked shocked for a moment and then caught on quickly. "No, I don't."
"What do you plan to do about it?"
At this time Relena caught on as well and immediately went into the hallway that Duo previously came from, making sure that it wasn't one of the ones that led to some of the bedrooms. Luckily it wasn't.
"I plan to kill him," Hilde answered with a hint of evil in her tone as she made a grin that matched it.
"You wouldn't dare," Duo said, still holding on to Heero who was beginning to run out of air.
"Wouldn't I?" she asked leaning forward on her position on the couch like she was starting to get ready to lunge at him.
"You wouldn't dare!" He said again gripping Heero more fiercely like a Boa Constrictor, cutting off the circulation of air completely. When Hilde started to see Heero's face beginning to turn blue she took her chance and lunged at Duo. He quickly let go of Heero and immediately started dashing for his room, although Hilde was very close on his tail. Heero sank to his knees, grabbing onto the banister as he gasped in the welcomed air. Relena quickly went by his side.
"Are you alright?" she asked putting her hand gently on his back. With his eyes still closed Heero nodded his head, trying to quickly take control of his breathing.
"I'm alright," he said getting up. "Duo has certainly gotten stronger." Looking back down the hall he heard laughs and shouts of 'No not that's. "Of course with Hilde as a girlfriend I can see why."
"Well, why don't you take your coats off and stay a while!" Dorothy exclaimed coming from the kitchen. "Hello Heero, it is good to see you again."
"Likewise," he answered in monotone as he took off his coat and hung it up and Relena removed her hood on the dark blue coat that Heero had gotten her. Gasps came from all around the room as the others saw the bandage.
"Miss Relena! You're hurt!" Dorothy exclaimed.
"So it's true!" Zechs exclaimed. "You were in that 'accident'!"
"I'm fine brother," she answered, putting her own coat away and glancing up at Heero.
"How did you get out?" Wufei asked.
"Heero helped me. Now can I sit down before I get bombarded with more questions?!" Relena exclaimed and moved to sit on the loveseat that was strangely unoccupied. Heero just stayed close to the steps and folded his arms.
"You know you can sit down as well Heero," Quatre said as he brought in two cups of eggnog for them.
"Thank you, Quatre," he said taking the warm liquid from his friend smiling slightly.
Quatre smiled back and moved to give Relena hers. "Here you are Relena. And Merry Christmas! Have you received any gifts yet?"
"Thank you Quatre. Merry Christmas to you, too. And, yes, I've received a few."
"Any ones in particular you liked the most?" Mariemaia asked.
"Ah... yes. As a matter of fact there were three that I especially liked," she answered before taking a sip of her drink and looking at Heero, who was doing the same. He looked up at her and smiled knowingly though still drinking.
In those few seconds, Zechs looked from his sister to Heero and back again before it clicked. He narrowed his eyes and said, "So that's why you two are acting strangely."
At that statement both Heero and Relena almost choked and almost spit out their drinks in surprise. Although Relena's wasn't quiet as noticeable as Heero's because she had prepared her self for a surprise like that. They both immediately put their drinks down and looked at Zechs shockingly.
He shook his head disapprovingly. "I figured it out."
"Figured what out?" Catherine asked.
Heero thought that that was a good of time as any to grab his drink and go sit beside Relena, who was trying to control a slight blush.
"You two have some explaining to do," Zechs simply stated as Heero sat down.
"What are you talking about, Zechs?" Lady Une asked.
/Damn. Not this soon!/ Heero thought.
Relena cleared her throat nervously as she began to take a few sips from her drink once more. "This is very good eggnog, Quatre," she said trying to change the subject.
"Thank you," he answered. "But what is Zechs talking about?"
"I honestly don't know, I didn't know we were acting strangely," Relena answered as she quickly glanced nervously at Heero who did the same thing. "Hey, Mariemaia! What did you get for Christmas?" she asked still trying to change the subject.
/Oh, no. You're not getting away with it this soon, dear sister of mine. And I have just the plan for you both to slightly lose control and spill everything without knowing it at first./ Zechs thought as he frowned. "Hey you two, have you even bothered to look up recently?"
Heero and Relena both got confused looks on their faces as they looked above them.
"Mistletoe," Heero grumbled. "Wonderful." But he could already feel himself slipping as the knowledge of the tradition slid into his mind. If he couldn't kiss Relena on his own yet, this would be a perfect way to... / It is tradition after all.../ They looked back at each other as Heero grinned slightly and Relena blushed more and looked at her brother with a tiny pleading look as if saying "Do not get us started, I beg you!" But Zechs, being Zechs, didn't understand a girl's body language just yet and thought that his sister was just trying to escape the tradition. He just gestured with his hand for them to continue, and watched expectantly.
"You really think Heero is actually going to kiss –" But Quatre was cut short as Heero leaned in softly kissed Relena's lips, making it more passionate as the seconds went by. And Relena wasn't complaining. Her hand slowly went up to Heero's neck and his touched her waist gently as they rounded first base. Heero could hear the soft whistles and little gasps of disbelief and chose to ignore them. He kept it going for a few moments more before softening it thinking, /If I don't regain control, we'll probably go much further than what's called for under the mistletoe./ He broke away for a second before kissing Relena lightly again. When they looked at each other they were both smiling fully. Then their smile quickly faded as they realized that Zechs had planned to do that. Their heads snapped towards him with shock and disbelief clearly visible on their faces. Zechs just merely stated, "Caught hook line and sinker. Looks like you definitely have some explaining to do now."
Heero's eyes narrowed. /Too damn soon!/ "Have I told you recently how much I hate you?"
"No, not recently. It has been at least a year."
"Then I'm way past over due. I really hate you."
"Well, be that as it may, let me ask you one question. How long?"
It was at Zechs question that Mariemaia realized what had just happened and what was going on. "You mean that she is... and he is..."
"Let's let them explain," Zechs said and repeated his question. "How long?!"
Heero looked at Relena and she just gestured to let him answer. He looked back at Zechs and went to say 'a day', but then stopped. A look crossed his face that went to mean that he was deep in thought, as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the chair, truly thinking about the question.
"How long could mean different things," he said which surprised Zechs. "It could mean 'how long have we technically been together?' and it could also mean 'how long have I loved your sister?' Which one is it?"
"Uh... It would be nice to know both...." Zechs finally answered.
Heero looked at Relena asking with his eyes whether or not he should tell them, and she just shrugged telling him that she really didn't care; that they were going to find out sooner or later anyway. Then he looked back over to Zechs and said, "Well, to answer the first question..." he thought about it some more. "...I'd have to say, technically... with both of our acknowledgments... this morning." At the first answer a few mouths dropped. Relena just smiled and sipped her eggnog some more. "And to answer the second question..." Heero continued and Relena really listened in on this because she was curious, "Really, when Duo and I first met; when I was sending underwater missiles to destroy Wing Gundam. Maybe sometime before that, about the time when she handed me an invitation to her party, I'm not sure really. But I knew that I was right at her school's party when she bowed to me asking me to dance. I just wasn't ready to admit it yet, and wasn't really certain." He looked over to Relena to see her mouth dropped slightly and she formed the words, 'That long?!' Heero nodded and looked back over to Zechs who leaned back on the couch, looking like he was still soaking in everything that Heero had just said.
"You know," he finally said. "You're the one who has to repeat this to Duo. Only, tell us when you do so we can put in some earplugs."
Relena smiled as she set her drink down and Heero straightened his back against the back of the seat.
"You approve?" She asked.
"Do I have a choice?"
"Not, really. But I would like to know anyway."
"No. I still don't trust Heero yet, but seeing as I don't have a choice but to accept this, there is nothing I can do," he answered.
Heero frowned and narrowed his eyes, but Relena, on the other hand, curled up next to him, put her head on his shoulder, and said, "At least he isn't putting up a fight." Looking down at her, Heero put his arm around her waist and smiled because he now knew that they could now show affection to each other in public, or at least with their friends, without having to worry, slightly. Relena looked up at Heero just in time to see a gleam enter his eye as he smiled wickedly to himself.
"What are you thinking now?" she asked.
"I just thought of a way to get back at Duo for glomping me and practically suffocating me."
"Ohh, do tell, do tell!" Noin exclaimed.
"Okay, I'm going to need all of your help, but I assure you, we will be able to at least drive Duo insane with frustration, curiosity, and the like."
"So what's your plan?" Dorothy asked.
"Well, as Zechs said, I'm going to have to tell Duo all what I told you. Although I think I'm going to let him suffer a bit. Only slightly though. When he comes out, Relena and I will be in the same position we are in now. What he doesn't know is that we've already kissed, so when he tells us to look up, we'll tell him that he's missed it. Then if you want, we'll go into talking about it, but not actually telling him what happened. He should go insane within five minutes. Agreed?"
"All I'm saying is that you could have lain off the hair during the pillow fight!"
"You aim for the head during one Duo!!! Of coarse your hair would get messed up!!" Hilde argued with Duo as they came out of their room. Duo had his hair completely down and was brushing it.
"Agreed," everyone whispered quickly.
"Did you kill him?!" Heero called back to Hilde.
"Sure did!" Hilde smiled and once she saw Heero and Relena her smile grew. Duo was behind her and couldn't see what was going on yet, not that he was paying attention anyway.
"Duo," Heero said. "Don't ever try that again." It was at that point that Duo looked up from picking pillow feathers out of his hair. He stopped momentarily when he saw what position they were in. "Hey you two lovebirds," he said finally reaching the living room and sitting on one of the chairs by the banister. "You're doing the same thing Hilde and I did. You might want to look up."
Without even moving his eyes to look up at the mistletoe again, he simply said, "You missed it Duo." Everyone took that cue to plug their ears.
"YOU MEAN YOU ALREADY KISSED AND I MISSED IT!!!!!!" Duo stated angrily.
"Thanks for the warning statement," Zechs grumbled.
"You're welcome."
"So what – what was it? Just a regular kiss, or were there fireworks?" He asked.
Relena motioned for Hilde to come over to her and she whispered what happened in her ear. Hilde's eyes widened and then she smiled slightly kneeling, "Congratulations!" she whispered, barely audible. "So when?"
"Just this morning. It was a Christmas present that we both shared."
"How many times and how far?"
"Three." She looked up at Heero and he just whispered. "Only tell her bases, not details."
"Gotcha." She turned back to Hilde and whispered into her ear as Duo was trying desperately to get the details of the kiss, and was failing miserably. Zechs tried to listen in to the mini conversation going on between the two girls, but Relena had covered her mouth with her hand and was talking in a barely audible whisper. "The first time, and first official kiss, was first base. The second was only a few minutes after that and was second base. Then the third one that was like fifteen minutes after the second and was base two and a half."
Hilde's eyes widened more and grinned while whispering into Relena's ear, "You've gone further than Duo and I have! And we've been going out for months! You've only been going out since this morning! We've only hit two!"
Relena tried to hide back a smirk but couldn't help it. Heero looked at her questionably and Relena asked if she could tell him. Hilde said yes as she went over to sit next to Duo. Relena turned back around in whispered into Heero's ear, "Okay, think about this a moment. Duo and Hilde have been going out for months now, and we've only been since this morning, technically. Now, we've gone to two and a half." Heero grinned and nodded. "Guess how far they've gone?" Heero shrugged and Relena continued. "Only two." At that Heero's eyes widened in shock. "Now I know we must both be thinking the same thing." Heero nodded. "Yeah, I thought that Duo would be more like you are right now as well!" As the information fully sunk in Heero started to actually laugh.
"What's so funny?!" Duo demanded after giving up trying to get details from everyone in the room.
It took a while for Heero and Relena to calm down their laughs, since obviously it was contagious. "You were bragging all this time about how you were 'Mr. Love' and now I find out that you, oh, how should I put this?" Heero pondered for a moment before continuing. "You are probably boring Hilde!" He looked over at her and asked, "Am I right?"
"Yep," she answered.
"Get your earplugs," Heero stated as everyone else who was enjoying the show scrambled to find anything possible to plug their ears with.
"How can you say such a thing when you two aren't even going out yet! I'm surprised you're even acting this way towards each other when it hasn't even been clarified yet!!"
"Wanna bet?" Heero asked as Relena chuckled a little.
It sunk in. "WWWHHHHAAAAATTTTT!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!" Duo screamed. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?!?!!!! HOW LONG?!?!?!?!!!!"
"This morning, technically."
"Technically, oh technically. What, was there something before technically?!!!"
"Yes."
"You know, I don't even want to know about that... How far?" Duo asked finally giving up.
Heero held up two fingers on one hand and only put up part of his pointer on the other. Then he quickly put both arms around Relena again.
"T-T-T-T-Two and a half!!! Two and a half! Two and a half." Duo stuttered over and over again trying desperately to get it through to his brain fully. He would have kept it going too if Hilde hadn't put a hand over his mouth.
Zechs narrowed his eyes even more at Heero who was obviously enjoying the little scene before him and his lip curled into a slight snarl. He looked at his sister who was laughing and then back at Heero, narrowing his eyes more. The fact that Heero did that to his sister made him sick. Noin saw his look and leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Let it go Zechs. You cannot fight against love. You know how long he's loved Relena, and for her, it had probably been longer! They are just following their hearts. At least he didn't say a 'home run'! Then we would have all killed him. Let it go..." Zechs sighed and relaxed a little, but only a little. Noin was right. And even though he barely knew Heero, he knew that he would never do anything to hurt Relena. He might not like it, but he had to accept it.