Aishiteru

Chapter Four

Extra! Extra!

8:07 PM Local Time, Winner Resource Satellite SE-IV, Docking Bay and Refueling Station.

"Well? He's been standing there for ten minutes. Isn't he going to check on her?"

"I doubt even Heero Yuy would venture into the Women's Restroom without a specific mission objective."

"Do you have a four-year-old? I have a four-year-old. When you have a four-year-old, everything is a specific mission objective. Besides, she has a reputation for trouble in restrooms." Wu Fei only raised a brow. Hilde would have laughed. What was it with his audiences lately? "Well he's just standing there! What's he think he's doing, holding up the wall for her?"

"He is waiting for her to come out, listening for trouble, and watching us."

"What?!"

"You, Maxwell, are the one who claimed he knew everything within a ten mile radius. I imagine he's been aware of our presence for quite some time. Being spied on is something he would consider relevant. In fact, I am fairly sure he knows exactly what we are saying right now, judging by the way he is watching the place where our reflection must be on the glass over there."

As if to confirm Wu Fei's statement, Heero turned his head just enough to acknowledge them. Duo glared accusingly and went so far as to stamp his foot, before Wu Fei nudged him sharply and began a calm pace towards Heero's self-appointed post. Duo followed begrudgingly, still pouting.

"Sloppy work." Heero grunted, dispassionately.

"Yeah, well, she ran off. Whatchya gonna do?"

"You've taken countless prisoners into custody. You should be capable of watching one child without letting her escape."

"Well I didn't expect she'd go off on her own!"

"Then you were unprepared."

"Oh, and you're doing such a great job."

"It was not my mission. It fell into my lap and I have adapted as best I can without prior briefing."

"And what were you planning on doing with her?"

"If you didn't come forward, I would have delivered her to Quatre."

"Quatre's on his way to the Moon."

"Not yet; he is on the fifth level finalizing adjustments to his public schedule and relaying his parameters with Headquarters and his secretaries respectively. His private shuttle is scheduled to launch in twenty-eight minutes."

"Do you have micro-tracers in our blood streams or something? With recording systems and tiny cameras so you can keep track of everything we do? Do you know when we have sex?"

"Maxwell!"

"Considering what facts are readily available, I would surmise at the very least, five years ago."

"Hey! You know, I think I liked him better when he didn't joke. That was a joke, right? Two jokes in almost six years, woah, don't push yourself there buddy, it's not like Trowa's giving you much of a race."

"Idiot, can you hold your tongue and be serious for five minutes, without needing your woman bleeding on the sidelines?"

"Well, I just can't stand the way he knows things about ourselves we don't even know! It's not fair. He should have put some of those devices in Relena so he'd have a record of when she was ovulating, then we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. And for the fourth time in the last two hours, her name is Hilde!" Duo pouted. Wu Fei changed the subject.

"Do you know what's happened on the Moon?"

"I am aware that a threat has been issued to members of the Peace Summit, yes."

"What about specifics? Do you know who is behind this thing? Where they are hiding?"

"That does not concern you. Your mission is merely the safe transport of this child. When that is completed, I am sure Lady Une will give you a full briefing on the situation at the Lunar Base." Duo contemplated his disinterest suspiciously. He would have thought even Heero Yuy would be just a little bit more enthusiastic if his daughter's life had been threatened. Then again, Heero's facial expressions were not the most trustworthy of mediums. Any number of thoughts could be running through his head right now, including anxiety over Hope's safety. After all, he was still human, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

*

18 Hours Later, December 16th, Lunar Peace Conference Facility, 11:00 AM Local Time

Quatre closed his eyes a moment, consciously relaxing his shoulders and clearing his mind for a brief moment of rest before facing Relena's back again. He had managed a grand total of four hours sleep during his emergency travel and the effect was beginning to show in his face. Relena turned her head away from the window to face him over her shoulder.

"Quatre. . . ."

"Please, Relena, It's alright. It hasn't been so long since the war that I'm incapable of functioning under strain. Nor am I so vain as to think I can stay up to watch over you for twenty-four hours; I need to sleep to stay effective, and as soon as Trowa has finished rerouting the surveillance, I'll go to bed for a while. And you need to rest yourself, you know ... Dorothy told me you were in and out of bed all night."

"And how would you suggest I rest?" She turned to face the window once more, her voice taking on a strained pitch. "My daughter is in danger and I can't do anything about it. I can't even be with her.... What if she's afraid? What if they're watching her right now? My God, Quatre, my own death doesn't frighten me, but this ... this I can't bear. At least if I were killed, I know she'd be loved and cared for."

"We're doing everything we can. Hope is in two of the most capable sets of hands in the world, and neither Duo nor Wu Fei would stand for anyone harming an innocent child. She'll be protected in one of the most secure strongholds in the Earth Sphere, and I'll escort you to her personally as soon as we can leave here." His voice, already sincere, gently dropped a note. "And no one will ever hurt either of you. I'd die before I let that happen."

"Please don't say that Quatre ... I don't want anyone else to die for me. Least of all you."

He smiled faintly, wearily, even though she couldn't see his face. "If it helps any, I wasn't planning on dying except in an absolute worst case scenario. I fully intend to track down whoever is so unconscionably heartless that they could possibly find justice in righting a wrong with the life of a child. Right now, all I can think is to hope that they're bluffing. I simply cannot fathom that these people, whose entire platform is that they have lost their families, friends, and businesses to these Eve War leaders, would consent to the death of another person, merely to force their views on you."

"And if you're unable to track them down?"

"Then Hope will stay with me. I have so many nieces and nephews no one will give her a second thought. But we will neutralize this threat." He was silent a long moment before continuing in a hushed tone, "Despite the atrocity of their methods, there is a grain of truth beneath all that anger and hatred." Relena turned to face him completely.

"You aren't thinking of meeting their demands."

"No, those that have been tried and sentenced or acquitted have payed their debt, but there are those who have never received justice. I can't speak for the others, nor can I condemn them, but I would be lying if I told you I had never considered it before. It just seems that with the current state of affairs, it might form some sort of compromise if I were to come forw-"

"Stop it! For God's sake, Quatre; your life is not a chess game, do you understand that? You can't sacrifice yourself in hopes they'll take the bait and leave their king unprotected!"

"I'm not talking about sacrificing myself, I'm talking about taking responsibility for myself. I was a killer, Relena - you can't gloss over that. I destroyed two colonies."

"That wasn't you."

"If that's true, then I'll be acquitted."

"Or put to death. People make mistakes, and there are still those who don't regard the Gundams as heroes."

"Then maybe my death would let their wounds begin to heal."

"If you're so determined to do it, why have you waited five years?"

"If I turned myself in, I have no doubt Trowa would follow my example ... Wu Fei would see it as a matter of justice, and feel it his duty to be judged as well ... Heero would come forward out of his need to work for society and protect the people; he'd see it as his responsibility to the world. And once all four of us were incarcerated, Duo would jump on the bandwagon out of loyalty and guilt. If for no other reason, then to be able to bawl the rest of us out."

"So you see yourself as guilty but not the others. You still want to protect them from what you think is the right thing. You're a hypocrite, Quatre Winner."

"Maybe I am, but I cannot help how I feel."

"Quatre, you all have payed your debts, and then some. Wu Fei is working to save lives in the Preventers, as are Duo and Trowa, you have started and supported too many charities to count, and Heero," her voice caught and refused to function for a few seconds at the utterance of a name she had avoided saying for so many years. "Heero," she started again, "has already been tried, and found to have saved more lives than destroyed by his presence in the war and destruction of the Libra fragment."

"Heero has been tried? When? By who?"

"Yes, after the Eve War by the three head officials of the Preventers."

"You mean Lady Une, Sally, and Miss Noin? No wonder no one heard anything about it. Something of a biased jury, I think."

"No one wanted to betray him by turning it into a public spectacle."

"The fact still remains that the only way we can convey any message to these terrorists is through the media, and the actions we can take to that effect are severely limited, without compromising Hope."

"Then we'll find a way that doesn't involve a broadcast confession."

"Let me see the e-mail again, maybe there's something we're missing. If only it were hand written, I might be able to feel something from it."

"Your friend was right about you, you know. You'd blame yourself for the lack of air in space. There is no point in meaningless self-deprecating when the situation calls for action. It would be far more effective to put aside 'if onlys' and concentrate on what is," said a young woman with a devil-like smirk on her face and platinum blonde hair that reached to her calves who had walked into their conversation unannounced and unnoticed.

"I didn't feel your presence. You've been practicing."

"Intelligence versus empathy. Never a dull moment since we first met."

"As I recall, when we first met, you were more interested in my companion than you were me."

"I made the critical error that so many have made when pitted against you by underestimating your influence on my strategic front. I confess, I was taken aback when I found out that you were a Gundam pilot. But even you have to admit, I learned quickly."

"In any case, I assume you are here to relieve me?"

"Of course. It would just be cruel to ask you to watch over Miss Relena any longer. I know you have been awake almost as long as she has. You both need to sleep, but I don't need psychic abilities to tell me that it will be easier to convince you, than it has been her." Dorothy gave a nod in Relena's direction, obviously displeased at her lack of concern for her own well being. Quatre stood to leave and Relena rose from her point of vigil at the window to say goodnight.

"Quatre, please try to stop worrying over me and get some sleep? I'm not made of porcelain; I won't break if you drop me, you know," she chided wearily.

"I want you to try and sleep too. Hope is safe and protected. I'm sure that in a few hours, they'll have established a secure vidlink and you will be able to see for yourself that she is fine." Seeing doubt in her eyes, Quatre put his hands on his friend's shoulders to comfort her. He was unprepared for the waves of emotions that assailed his senses. For a precious few seconds, he felt all of her guilt, pain, sorrow, worry, fear, doubt, anxiety, anguish, and the ever present sense of responsibility to the people that had saved so many lives at such pihrryc personal cost, until he regained his control. He'd forgotten that he hadn't physically touched her since he had returned from his isolated training sessions, and hadn't been ready to block the visions of her memory that had flashed in his mind's eye and the onslaught of feelings, welled up from a lifetime of emotional hardships, and now overflowing with the latest endangerment of her daughter. Quatre pulled Relena into a strong embrace, as much for her sake as to reassure him that she was still there, and whole, and wasn't going to smash like a china doll.

Relena let her shoulders slacken and rested her head on Quatre's shoulder, exhausted. Since they had met, they had been very close. Almost like siblings. Relena had joked once that Quatre was a better brother than her real brother was.

"I hope so, Quatre."

"Everything will be fine. I promise."

"I'll keep praying," she responded. "This is the first time I've ever had to go through something like this without him...." Relena whispered, almost inaudibly. Quatre knew who "him" was and protectively held her tighter.

"Don't start talking like that. You are an incredibly strong person in your own right. Stronger than him. He knew that. You are the only one doubting it." he smiled faintly into her hair, before dipping his head to brush a kiss over her forehead. Dorothy observed the exchange seriously and then stepped out of his way as he slipped through the doorway. When she turned her face back to Relena, she was again wearing her customary mocking smile.

"Our dear Master Winner seems quite committed to you. You wouldn't want to cause him any more worry, now would you, Miss Relena?"

"If I didn't know better, Dorothy, I'd think you seemed almost jealous."

"Why, Miss Relena, I didn't know a prominent person like yourself could be interested in such gossip. After all, you and he make so much more picturesque a pairing. And wouldn't the press be thrilled. But no, Miss Relena, I am no more involved with Quatre Raberba Winner than you yourself."

"I didn't mean to offend, Dorothy, only you do seem rather attuned with each other."

"It is an understandable consequence of inhabiting each other's minds, if only briefly. It certainly lays the groundwork for an understanding. But not romance. We simply know each other too well for that. That is why I am certain he will agree to my choice of shifts for our watch of you."

"I don't know if I like that look in your eye. . . ."

*

36 Hours Later, December 17th, Experimental Mars Terra Forming Colony A-1

A tall woman with short dark hair that fell to cover part of her face, pushed the offending locks past her ear in exasperation and then went back to wrestling her two-year-old into his car seat. Her hands deftly dodged flailing limbs, and then fell to her sides when she finally heard the clasp click into place. The child stopped fighting, seeing the battle lost. She closed the car door and went back into the store.

Zechs was completely baffled as to how two very reserved people could ever have spawned such a hellion. Lucrezia knew better. She had been told by family that when she was that age, everything in the house had to either be locked away so she couldn't break it, or tied down so she wouldn't knock it over.

The most recent display of uncouth behavior by her son had been pushing the entire stand of oranges over when his mother refused to buy the sugar coated cereal he so desperately wanted. His actions had forced her to remove him from the store that she was now preparing to reenter.

She sighed and commandeered an abandoned cart, proceeding to push it past the automatic doors and the disapproving stares. She wasted no time in maneuvering through the store in a strategic pattern designed to get her to all the necessities in the least amount of time. Preferably before Alexander caught the attention of a sympathetic passerby. Again.

Mere minutes later she was checking her watch, again, as she stood in line in the alleged "express" lane. Sparing an exasperated glare at the hundred-and-something old woman keying in each barcode by hand, she then glanced over at the magazine carousel in hopes of making the time pass faster.

She was halfheartedly scanning the "thrilling" cover stories of romance and scandal, when the issue of Earth-Sphere United caught her attention. She stared at it, dumbstruck, to make sure she was seeing right before snatching it up. She studied the teaser photo of Relena and Quatre standing off together at some conference or another, and quickly thumbed through to the cover story. True to the tawdry claims of the cover, she was met by a giant, two page spread of Quatre Raberba Winner, somewhat rumpled, taking his leave of Zech's little sister, in her nightgown, at what was apparently the doorway to her suite of rooms. In the wee hours of the morning, no less. She quickly tossed the magazine on top of her small pile of groceries, staring ahead vacantly. She was rudely interrupted by the badly-dyed blonde behind her yelling that the lane was "twelve items or less!" and the magazine made thirteen. Gritting her teeth and fighting the urge to smack the woman back to her trailer park, she deftly swung her cart out of line and took a new space in one of the regular lanes.

Her distemper was relieved somewhat by the aptitude of this cashier, practically throwing things across her scanner that the beeping was no more than a prolonged wail. She turned her attention back to the magazine cover thoughtfully, and gradually broke out into a smile.

"Well, Relena, I'm glad to see you've finally put Heero behind you. Quatre's a good choice." She frowned slightly, looking at the picture again, "Funny though ... I always kind of thought he was gay."

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