AN: Once again, things may be slow but eventually the pace shall quicken up and the story will become more exciting. I do neither own Gundam Wing nor any of its characters.
Relena sat in the gardens behind the Peacecraft mansion. She closed her eyes, breathed in the fresh air, and absorbed the sunlight. She had arrived home late last night, and was exhausted from the current events that had taken place. Despite Pagan's insistence that she remain indoors for the day, Relena retreated to the gardens where she could clear her mind and think about the current situation.
War was coming; at least it would come soon, if something were not done about it. With mobile suits consistently attacking the earth and no one to blame but colonial groups, it would only be a matter of time. None of the delegates of the ESUN wanted to cooperate either. The real problem is that no one trusts anyone. Relena sighed and opened her sapphire eyes. Time was not on her side. Time was what she so desperately needed.
The sun was beginning to set as Relena stood to go back inside the mansion. She needed to talk to Milliardo and Noin. She had been seeking their advice and guidance quite often as of late.
Relena entered through the back kitchen door and greeted Pagan who appeared to be waiting for her. He cleared his throat and spoke,
"Miss Relena, your presence has been requested at the Preventers base immediately."
"Thank you, Pagan. Please prepare the car while I get ready."
"Yes, Miss Relena."
Preventers HQ…
Lady Une sat at her desk, filling out reports regarding the attacks. A knock was heard at her door. "Enter," she replied without looking up from her work.
Zechs and Noin walked into the spacious office and saluted their Commander. In return, Lady Une nodded and motioned for the two of them to relax.
"Are there any new developments?" she inquired.
"None regarding the attacks," replied Noin. "However, we have just learned that all open seats to the ESUN have been filled in."
Startled by this statement, Lady Une stopped her work and looked at the two officers. "So soon? It's hardly been two days since the attacks. You're saying that all eight positions have been filled?"
"Yes," replied Noin. "They were elected immediately following the attacks."
"Does the Vice Minister know about this?"
"Yes, she was informed early this morning," was Zechs reply.
"Did she approve of the new delegates?"
"She really had no choice. The positions had to be filled somehow. If not, all hell would break lose. Not that it hasn't already," Zechs added at the end of his statement.
"Relena is on her way here right now to discuss any more details regarding the current situation," said Noin.
Lady Une paused deep in thought. Though to others it may have seemed a normal operation, but the fact that the positions in the ESUN had been filled so quickly worried the head of the Preventers. It all seemed too strange, as if it had already been planned. Almost as if someone knew of the coming attacks and made preparations for it. Someone who is inside of the ESUN. Lady Une was snapped from her thoughts from a knock on her office door.
"Enter," she replied. Upon her approval, an officer entered the room and saluted to his Commander and fellow officers.
"Commander, there are three visitors outside who wish to see you."
"Who is it? I really have no time right now to socialize."
"I didn't get all of their names but one of them is a… Heero Yuy?"
Lady Une's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Noin and Zechs. They seemed to feel the same way from the expressions on their faces. She saw Zechs clench his fist and straighten to his fullest height.
"Send them in," commanded Lady Une.
The officer nodded and exited the room. Moments later, the door opened again and in walked a young man with a long braid accompanied by a young woman with short raven hair. They smiled warmly at the occupants of the room. Seconds later, their companion strode into the room, quietly. His unruly hair fell about his face shadowing his eyes. He stood calmly and collectively as he surveyed his surroundings.
"It is good to see that all of you are well," said Lady Une with some warmth. "What may I ask is your business here?"
Duo looked at Heero motioning for him to speak. Heero cleared his throat slightly and began. His voice was deep and empty,
"I have some information regarding the recent… situation."
"Well, why does this not surprise me too much?" mumbled Zechs under his breath. Noin gently nudged him, motioning for him to remain silent.
"Well then, please do share it with us, Heero," replied the Commander.
"May I?" asked the former Zero pilot as he motioned at the computer on Lady Une's desk.
"Of course."
Heero pulled the two disks he had been carrying for the past couple of days, out of his jacket. He slid the first one into the computer and waited for the information to upload on the screen. The other occupants of the room pressed closely together to receive a better view. Finally, the information on the disk unfolded, and all in the room stared in wonder.
"How long have you had this information?" asked Noin.
"A long time," was Heero's flat reply.
Lady Une pressed the intercom button on her desk, "Get me Captains Chang and Poe into my office at once." Turning to face Heero she said, "I know what you are thinking Yuy, but I doubt that it would work."
"What exactly are you thinking?" questioned Zechs.
"To rebuild the Gundams," was Duo's reply.
"There's not enough time to do that," said Noin. "There's no way we could rebuild all five of them within a couple of days. It could take months, maybe a year to rebuild them perfectly. We do not have time. Nor do we have the material."
"We can provide the material," put in Hilde as Duo gave her an approving glance.
"Yes, but with things going the way they are right now, time is not on our side."
"Then we shall have to make time," said Heero calmly.
Everyone turned to look at him. Zechs clenched his fists tighter than before. This is going no where. Suddenly, the door opened and in walked Wufei and Sally, who both stopped as soon as they saw the three unexpected guest that were also in the room.
"What is going on in here?" asked Wufei.
"If you will both give me a chance to explain…" said Lady Une, but her phone ringing interrupted her.
"Yes?" she said as she listened. "Very well, we shall meet in conference room A. Tell her we shall be there in a few minutes." She set the phone down and looked at the room's occupants.
"The Vice Foreign Minister has arrived and is waiting for me to meet her. I am inviting all of you to come. There I shall explain the situation at hand."
Relena sat in the cool conference room alone. She was fidgeting, moving around in her leather seat, trying to reach a comfortable position. Giving up, she stood from her chair and began to walk around the room. She wiped the sweat from her brow and took a deep breath. She was so tired, tired of all of this. It was beginning to take its toll on her body.
"Stay strong," she told herself. "Don't let them know what you are really thinking."
At the sound of the door opening, Relena jumped slightly and turned around to greet her visitors. In walked, not only the head of Preventers, but, her brother, Noin, Wufei, Sally, and to her great surprise Duo and Hilde. Relena smiled warmly at all of them but her smile faded as the last visitor stepped through the door to the meeting room.
As Heero Yuy walked through the door, Relena almost gasped aloud. She hadn't seen or heard from him in over two years, no one had. He stared at her, as she did him, his eyes piercing through her own, making her emotional wall crumble. She quickly sensed this and wiped away the dumbfounded look that had crossed her face. A little embarrassed by her actions Relena simply nodded to all in the room and took a seat. The others followed her suit.
"Minister Darlian and those who have not yet heard this information," started Lady Une. "As you well know, mobile suits have been attacking various places on earth, each place being very highly regarded in the ESUN in terms of delegates. During the attack on the ESUN conference that was held here in Cinq the other day, eight members of the committee were killed. All eight were delegates of Earth. Now, only days after the attacks, all eight positions have been filled. You have approved of this Minister Darlian, am I correct?"
Relena knew of what the Commander was speaking of. She cleared her throat and spoke in her diplomatic voice. She was firm but steady with her words,
"Yes, I have approved. All eight candidates were qualified and approved by the rest of the committee. I understand your concern for the haste of this situation, but without a balance between the members of the colonies and earth, nothing would be accomplished in this dire time of need. I am meeting with each of the new delegates tomorrow at a conference."
Lady Une nodded approvingly toward the young woman. Though she trusted Relena, she was still unsure of herself about the positions in the ESUN being filled too quickly. However, she pushed these thoughts aside and told herself that it was necessary due to the present circumstances. There were other matters that needed to be discussed.
"Very well then. But now, Minister Darlian, there is another more important matter that needs to be discussed with you. This matter regards our means of …defense should the mobile suits attack again."
Relena straightened her posture to her fullest and tried to remain calm for what she was about to hear next. She glanced around the room quickly noticing all eyes were fixed on her. They all know something. She however, remained dignified as she spoke for the Commander to continue,
"Go on."
"We have little time before an all out war commences," started Lady Une "but, with what time we do have we are going to try our best to make the most of it."
"What did you have in mind?" asked Relena.
Lady Une now arose from her seat and began to slowly walk around the room. She suddenly found herself feeling cramped into a small space. She knew what she had to say next was extremely serious. She also knew that the young woman, who was so highly regarded in the ESUN, would never approve of the actions they wished to take.
"We are suggesting to rebuild the five Gundams: Wing Zero, Deathscythe, Altron, Heavyarms, and Sandrock."
Wufei and Sally, who had not yet heard this new information, looked around at each other and then at their commander. Wufei nodded understandingly towards Heero and Duo. HE then bowed his head and closed his eyes thinking to himself. I shall battle once more so that justice may prevail.
Relena watched everyone in the room intently. On the outside she forced herself to remain calm and collective. Yet inside, she was running around in a nightmare screaming to wake up.
"You know that I shall never approve of such an idea," stated Relena as calmly as possible.
"Relena," said Zechs as he stood from his seat to walk over to her.
"Milliardo, no, I can not approve."
"Relena please, hear me out. This must be done"
"Milliardo, if I approve of this then it shall most certainly go against everything that I have ever stood for. It goes against everything that the entire ESUN has ever stood for. Even if we must use mobile suits, the Preventers have suits that are adequate enough to defend against another attack or war."
Zechs sighed heavily. He did not wish to tell his younger sister the next thing that was about to come out of his mouth but it had to be done. It was the only way they would ever convince her.
"Now if you'll all excuse me," said Relena as she turned to exit the conference room.
"The enemy has a Gundam suit," said Zechs before she took another step toward the door.
Relena stopped immediately. She slowly turned around to face her brother, her eyes reflecting worry, concern, and though it was almost inaudible, fear. She closed her eyes and counted to ten slowly, trying to keep her composure.
"How long were you going to wait to tell me this?"
"Yeah, how long?" questioned Duo, he too, being surprised at the new information. The others all looked at him. He felt Hilde elbow him to be silent. Duo sank into his seat.
"We wanted to make sure that there would be no other possible way to defeat them," said Zechs.
Relena looked down at the ground pain evident in the depths of her sapphire eyes. She spoke quietly, "How long will it take to rebuild them all?"
Startled by her question, Zechs remained silent. Noin was the next to speak up, "A couple of months at the least."
"We may not even have that much time," said Relena sadly.
All in the room were silent. Relena walked around and peered out of a small window. It was raining outside. The world seemed to be falling apart. She felt helpless, as if there was nothing she could do to stop the oncoming war. Suddenly an idea hit her.
"I have an idea."
Everyone looked at her. She did not let her gaze leave the window, however. She spoke solemnly, the words rolling out of her mouth as if on their own,
"For the next couple of months, I shall go on a tour throughout the colonies. There I shall discuss problems with the colonial leaders and find out all that I can about rebel groups that are said to be causing these attacks. This should hopefully give you enough time to rebuild the Gundams."
"Relena, it is far too dangerous for you to be taking up such an ordeal. You could be killed."
"Zechs it might just work," said Noin. "The Earth is blaming the colonies. The colonies believe that they are being blamed for actions that are not even their own. If Relena goes as a representative for the ESUN she may be able to negotiate with the colonies and find out if they are really to blame. If so, this may be settled with out a war after all."
"Yes," put in Lady Une, "but in the meantime, if things do not work out, and the attacks continue, the Gundams will be built and ready to use for defense."
"That all sounds very well," said Zechs, "but, the colonies may not trust Relena even though she is well-liked. She still is from earth, being Vice Foreign Minister does not make her a colonist."
"Milliardo, I can assure that I will be fine," insisted Relena as she turned to meet his worried gaze.
"Relena, I must agree with Zechs on that point," stated Noin.
Relena refused to give up however. If she could find a way to prevent a war peacefully she would find a way to do it. What she needed was someone from the colonies to travel with her. They had to be well liked, and trusted by both the Earth and colonies. The headstrong young woman smiled slightly as only one person came to mind,
"Quatre Winner could travel with me. He would find out about this anyhow if the Gundams are to be rebuilt. Although he is not a member of the ESUN, he is highly regarded by both people of the colonies and the Earth."
Lady Une, Noin, and Zechs all looked at each other. She had made her point and now there was no stopping her.
"Very well," said Lady Une. "I shall contact Mr. Winner, immediately. As for everyone else, I am expecting you all to be back here tomorrow morning. By then the plans concerning the Gundams and the Minister's tour shall be drawn up. Until then I suggest that everyone gets some rest." With that the head of the Preventers left the room motioning for Sally and Wufei to follow her.
Relena sighed and turned once more to look out the window. Her voice came softly as she addressed the remaining occupants of the room,
"Duo, Hilde, Heero, you may all stay at the mansion if you like. I suppose that tomorrow will be a busy day."
"Thank you, Relena" said Hilde.
Zechs reached out to touch Relena's shoulder but she simply shrugged him off. He turned and left the room, knowing that she wished to be alone at the moment.
Noin suddenly found herself feeling very uncomfortable. She looked at Relena and then at the room's silent occupants.
"If you three would come with me, I'll take you to the mansion and settle you in." With that Noin turned on her heel and left the room. Duo and Hilde got out of their chairs to follow her. Soon the only remaining people in the room were the Heero and Relena.
Heero had remained quiet the entire time. He sat absorbing the information that was being given. Of course, he had already known most of it. He now watched the young woman who was before him. She hardly seemed to notice his presence in the room. Years ago she probably would have tried to talk to him, but now she was quiet. To Heero, it looked as if a part of her had died, the fire that he normally saw in her eyes when she was around him had died.
He noted that her physical appearance had changed also. She had grown into a matured young woman, no longer the girl she had once been. Her hair was longer: it spilled down her back like a waterfall. She had also grown out her light bangs. Her eyes were still beautiful sapphires they had always been though. Heero made another note: she had grown up way before her time. They both had.
Relena could feel his cold Prussian eyes watching her every move. It made her feel uneasy to not know what he was thinking. It felt strange seeing him again. The emotions that ran through her body confused and frightened her. She could stand it no longer. She slowly turned around to face him, her eyes meeting his steady gaze.
"What are you looking at, Heero?" she asked him softly.
Heero stood and rose from his chair. Her question had somewhat startled him. He supposed that wasn't the kind of question he would have thought her to ask. Then again, she always had been one to surprise him.
"I was looking at you," he answered as he walked out of the door leaving her alone with her thoughts.
AN: Hey this chapter is complete! The last part of this chapter between Heero and Relena is meant to have a deeper meaning than it sounds. Please read it carefully it you did not understand. The next chapter is coming along steadily. Always please R&R.