For once, I started the morning pretty refreshed. I remember waking without the memory that I was supposed to be meeting the President of the world in an hour. I don't know how I forgot, but it was quite a surprise when Relena showed up at my door. And I actually thought she was there just to see me.
"Relena." I said, using my stoic greeting.
"Heero." She answered back, smiling up at my face. It wasn't until she looked down that she saw I was still in my pajamas. And I was wearing flannel, too. That can be embarrassing. "Are you feeling any better?"
"Recovered. 24 hour flu."
"Maybe you were just under a lot of stress?" she asked. I'm sure she was trying to be helpful, and I can't really blame her, but until you know exactly what goes on in this wretched head of mine all day – you can't talk to me of stress.
"I don't have stress." I lied with defiance. Sometimes I think that's the only thing that keeps me sane – the knowledge that I can hide my insanity in the confines of my head. I guess I shouldn't have said it so forcefully, though, because she was looking kind of uncomfortable.
As her cheeks flushed red, I opened the door fully as to invite her in. Stepping as far as possible from me, she bit her lip and smiled. That sort of thing was a nervous habit she had acquired. From where, I don't know.
"Umm…Heero, why don't you get dressed?"
I blinked.
"Why?"
"Umm….you have a meeting with the President in two hours. It takes forty-five minutes just to get there, so you have about an hour to get dressed. Want me to wait out here?" She asked, tucking stray blonde hair behind her ear. It wasn't until she'd said that, that I had noticed she was dressed in one of her formal cerulean suits. There probably weren't enough curses to describe the way I was feeling at that moment.
"I forgot."
"Don't worry about it – just get dressed."
So I obeyed her ex-royal highness and turned to go back to my own room. Then I realized I hadn't taken a shower. That would take about fifteen minutes and then like ten just to dry the mass of a man I call my hair. If God had meant for time to fly he would have given it wings.
I can remember codes, confidential papers, and other important stuff, but I can't even remember to offer the love of my life something to drink. It was too late for that, though. I'm sure she would rather have me show up for a presidential meeting than offer her some nine days old orange juice. Even Maxwell had to cringe at the smell of our refrigerator.
Clearing my mind, like I usually do before I take a shower, I let my problems fade away. They happened to come back every time I thought of the girl in the other room, but for the most part I felt at peace. Which can be considered a big improvement from the last few hectic weeks.
"Heero, you have twenty-minutes." She called into my room. So I was a little off schedule. Hey, I'm the Perfect Soldier -- I can do anything.
After pushing away pairs upon pairs of spandex, I came to a moth-ridden suit. Not the best thing, but it'd have to do. Besides, it wasn't like anyone but Relena and the President were going to see me. At least, that's what I hoped.
"We really have to be going if we want to be at President Sanders. There should be an influx of traffic on Fourth Street, so we'll have to take a detour around the Senate Building. Heero!"
I ran out of my room in a flurry, determined to keep my cool. Now that girl really had me worried – I was meeting President Sanders? As in the Mr. Eric Sanders? The one who I nearly killed. Joy.
"I can't go." I said, coming to the quick realization that I would not be allowed to take the position on the grounds that I was an off-balance mass murderer. A few people knew, not many, though. It really wasn't a big thing. Many people had done the unthinkable during the war and it was commonly acceptable that I'd killed countless people. No one stopped me on the street asking if I had an automatic concealed beneath my coat. But people went up to Relena to ask if she was a princess. And in the words of the notorious Richard Nixon, "Politics would be a helluva good business if it weren't for the goddamned people."
"But Heero, you already promised to." She said, eyes widening as if a bad dream had come to haunt her. Though, for the record, I will state that I promised nothing and was under no obligation whatsoever to even think of going. But how could I deny that sorrowful face?
"I tried to kill Eric Sanders."
"Then I think we need to go and talk about it with him." She started. I could hear the buzzing of her quick mind as she formulated some new plan to get me out of the mud this time. "There, you will address him with the utmost amount of respect and be a grateful and changed man."
"And if I'm not a changed man?"
"Then there's nothing to worry about." She said, and grabbed her coat, "but we won't know unless we get there. Come on."
I followed her obediently. It amazed me how she could change from a demanding, outgoing woman to a petite, polite girl. Both sides of her personality were attractive, but I have to say that the control-freak was awfully appealing.
Pagan had been waiting in her limo for about an hour, and took quite some prodding to finally wake up. I checked my watch, figuring that we would only have about an hour to get to the President's residence. However, my internal clock was very much off – we only had about forty minutes to get there. Pointing out my observation to Relena, she started spewing direction to Pagan, who nodded with the same enthusiasm as molasses.
"Before I forget, here's the invitation." Said Relena, pulling me back to reality with the delicate touch of her fingertip on my arm. In my face, was a cream-coloured envelope. My name was written in a thin, curved script. I made the assumption that it was for me, and took it.
"It's for the wedding." She added. For some reason she sat back against her seat and looked at me expectantly. She's already planning our wedding? And I didn't even have to do anything…
"Luce and Zechs want you to be there. Especially since you're doing them such a favour." She said, tilting her head with involuntary flirtatiousness. After a few seconds, I was able to restrain the quick paced beating of my heart and cease it from control my emotions. "And it'd mean a lot if I knew that someone I trusted was there with me. Once Zechs is married he's not really my big brother anymore. It'll be different."
Once again, I fell into the deep hole of despair and confusion. That's how she thought of me – her big brother. So just because Zechs was "leaving", she needed someone to take her place. So she probably saw me and thought, 'well, he's skinny – we could be brother and sister.' I can't be a big brother – I don't want to be a big brother. I liked being an only child – still do.
I wanted to be Relena's love, not her kin. I wanted to protect her, but not be her protectorate. I was so close to actually telling her. And that whole thing with fate throwing us together – wasn't this our destiny? So why did she have to go and mess it up? Love. That's the only thing I could think to blame at that moment. Damn love.