Uplifted: ::Eats her spagetti noodles:: mmmmmmm. Huh? What?

RT: ::glares:: Hello! We are in the middle of trying to get this story up because YOU asked me when i was gonna read a story on this site! Hmph.

Uplifted: huh. I did? Well I didn't write this chapter, so all I can do is eat my noodles back here. NOODLES! Thanks for the reviews, btw! I made my sister get up early to see how you liked it! ::chomp chomp:: Yum!

RT: Yeah... OO I was up at 1 am.

Uplifted: e.e wasn't my fault. ANYWAY! Please enjoy the second installment of:

Standing in the Shadow

by Red Tail

Chapter 2:

The cold wind managed to get through even the tinest of the cracks of the shutters tightly closed on the carriage. A little girl, looking at only the tender age of five, gazed at the closed windows, enchanted slightly by the howling of the winds swarming and rushing at them behind the enclosed cabin.

"Relena?" Relena's father, the King Argle, looked at his youngest and only daughter. "How fair you?" He questioned, concerned for her health in the harsh weather. He couldn't have her sick in bed on vacation with a cold, there was much too much to do!

"I fair well, father." She replied sweetly, brushing a bang that was colored like golden honey away. Her aquamarine eyes shone in the semidarkness of the tight enclosure. She wore layers of clothing, red and white for this time of year. A thick cloak of the finest cotton wrapped around her smaller frame and a blanket kept both her and her father warm.

"That is good," He said with slight relief as he looked at the closed window that hid the winter world from them. He could feel Relena's eyes on him and he looked back at her, smiling as he asked her what was wrong.

"Father, when will we be there?" The king laughed inwardly, even though she was still a princess, children would be children after all. "I do not understand why we have to leave in winter for this." She said almost to herself in a lower whisper.

The sounds of the horses' hooves on the frozen ground hid the silence filling the room. "Relena," The king began. Relena looked up at her father and waited for what he was about to say. "We should be arriving shortly, perhaps you would care to enlighten yourself with a nap? We can refresh ourselves at the castle."

"Yes, father." She obeyed and closed her eyes, relaxing into her seat as best as she could between being jostled and bumped around by the road's roughness. Soon she was off into a pleasant dream for a while, catching up on the sleep missed from the priority to leave early in the morning, before sunrise to be precise.

"Relena…" The king said, lightly shaking his daughter's shoulder as he saw her groggily open her eyes and look at him, slightly dazed. "We're here." He told her and helped her get up stiffly from her position on the seat.

She stretched slightly and then bent down and check to make sure her shoes hadn't been kicked off in her sleep and smiled when she found them still in place. A horse's whinny told her that someone was approaching and she brushed off her gown.

The door opened and Relena blinked as the sun reflected against the winter wonderland the prince's castle had become. She looked at her father and he nodded as she lightly took the hand of coachman as he helped her from the carriage.

"Ah!" The king shouted in recognition, "So good to see you Catherine!" A woman dressed in green smiled as she swept up to him elegantly as if walking on the snow itself. 'She has such grace!' She raised, amazed as she realized that she was also standing lightly on the snow now and looked down, tilting her head.

Her golden tresses glistened in the sun and her blue eyes sparkled with curiosity. Last time she had stood on snow…Heero had hit her with a snowball. She wanted to growl at the memory, but decided to brush it off. If she just remembered at the moment, then he certainly wouldn't. That meant pay back!

"Good day, princess." A cool voice drifted along the now silent wind towards her. She raised her head and found herself looking into the ever-so-cold prussian eyes that belonged to none other than the prince, Heero Yuy.

She silently noted how he had grown and was wearing elegant clothes that did nothing to hide his slim body, which was fined to perfection with the muscles he was gaining. His slim body meant that it had long gotten rid of all his baby fat, if he even had any to begin with. His unruly bangs fell messily over his eyes, not bothering to hide the beautiful eyes that she liked the most of him, even if they were at times very cold. He was taller also, then again it had been a while since she had seen him, not that she wanted to or anything.

After the silent examination that she did every year was completed, she nodded her head slightly in return of the gesture. After getting an elbow nudge from her father she exhaled through a forced smile that didn't adore her features at all. "Good day to you," She said, getting another sharper jab. "Prince Heero." She added reluctantly but sighing with relief at no more jabs.

He bowed and she curtsied. The ever-so-known routine was being done yet again, as was every winter. He gently took her hand with a look of disgust as his mother who glared at him but smiled when he kissed it, disdain dripping into his features. His eye twitched and he crossed his arms, turning away from the princess.

'Why me?' Were his thoughts, much close to the princesses own also. 'This is so boring…' He thoughts grimly. Winter was the bleakest months here at the castle. He was lucky if he could find something to do.

Argle looked at the walking away form of the prince and then down at his own daughter, exhaling slowly as he saw his breath cloud before him like smoke. He shook himself to get rid of all exhaustion in his limps from the long journey and bent down, pushing Relena towards the way that the prince left in.

"Father?" She questioned, really not wanting to go after the boy, silently pleading her father to not make her do this. He looked right back at her, unaffected by the puppy dog look in her eyes and she shrugged, looking at the snow that now looked really interesting.

"Relena," Her father commanded in the sort of tone that she knew not to argue with. She sighed and then lifted her skirts to a reasonable level, just above her ankles and then took light but full steps towards the way that the heir took off in, the castle looming ahead.

"Shall we go after them?" Catherine asked, biting her nail in the habit she had adapted to when her reckless son gave her a heart attack nearly every day. The last serious episode involved when Heero had decided to jump out of a second story window with his friend and partner in crime, Duo Maxwell.

"Maybe, but perhaps we should wait for a while," He suggested, winking his eyes for her to get the hint. She smiled, nodding in agreement. "Just to give them a head start."

"Yes, wise idea Argle." She smiled at him sweetly and he felt himself slightly weak at the knees. After a moment before they decided it was too cold to say out in such weather, they walked off slowly and side by side towards the castle where both children had run off at.

They heard the laughter of Duo and the screaming of Relena and the clanking of what sounded of metal. Catherine looked worriedly at the man at her side before swiftly walking into the room where all the commotion was.

Here she saw Duo Maxwell on the ground while rolling over in a laughing fit and then Relena with a candleholder in her hand. Heero was no where in sight and the window was wide open. The only problem was that they were on the second story so far. Relena looked quite shaken, the candlestick in her hand quivering slightly from the tremors her body was emitting.

'Oh no…' The Queens thoughts were racing as fast as her heart now. "Heero!" She yelled, rushing towards the window and missing the still laughing Duo Maxwell.

Argle looked at his daughter and then rushed at her, trying to calm her and get information on the prince's whereabouts. Relena looked at him and a scowl took her features, furrowing her brows and stiffening at the mention of Heero.

"That—That- Well--…that…!" She gave up, 'Why should I even bother?' She snorted, turning her head and glaring at the wall coldly.

"Relena, dear," Her father tried once again, "Where did Heero go." He questioned, noticing the lack of response on her part. He sighed and then pulled her off the table.

The Queen knelt beside the shaking form of Duo, who was still in his fit of hysteria. "That Heero!" He howled with laughter. "He really got her!" He laughed, not noticing the dark expression over taking the Queens usually peaceful features.

"Where is my son?" She said through clenched teeth slowly, wonder what it was that he had done.

Duo blinked, regaining his composure and sliding his clown's mask off his face and looking solemnly at the Queen. He sat upright before getting to his feet slowly and dusting his clothing off.

"Well?" The Queen questioned while quirking an eyebrow at the obviously delaying actions.

"Well, uh…Heero got really mad at Relena here 'cause she wouldn't leave him alone and so," He took a breath, his eyes shimmering with checked laughter that wanted to be released.

"What did he do this time?" She sighed heavily, massaging her throbbing temples with a heavy sigh as she tried to relax, already thinking about getting a much-needed massage to release the tension in her muscles.

"Well, he wanted to leave so," He paused again, this time more for drama than for the reaction he wondered the Queen would give, both on him and Heero's part. "He jumped out of the window." He said simply, not even bothering to take in the now ashen features of the naturally peach-tones woman.

"Oh no…" she whispered, Duo grabbing her hand before she rushed over to the window in fear of seeing the dead body of her only heir. His grip seemed to reassure her that she wasn't dreaming, something she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted at the moment.

"But," Duo continued to tell. The Queen looked back at him. "He remembered that he wanted to go to his room, so he just walked right through the front doors again." He explained. "Then," The story continued. "Relena, er—Princess Relena," Relena gave him a nasty look with a glare to include in the package deal. "Screamed when she saw him jump out of the window and she grabbed the candlestick when she saw him walk right by, thinking he was a ghost or something."

The Queen fell back into the chair that Duo offered her and he walked off towards the prince's room, ready to warn him of the punishment sure to be coming.

The Queen stood up stiffly after a short break to regain her thoughts and slow down her heart rate. She patted Relena on the head, telling her the punishment for scaring her would be dearly to her son and walked out of the room briskly.

"Heero," She said coldly as she opened the door to her son's room and saw he was sleeping soundly. She gazed at him for a moment and then looked even harder, bending down to check his pulse to see if he was really asleep. His pulse was slow and steady, still oblivious to the world, the child slept on.

The Queen looked at him and then decided to deal with the problem later. She walked back into the room at a more efficient but slower rate and smiled at them. "Currently," She began, "He's asleep and I shall see to it that he is punished later on for this…inconvenience. Shall I send the servants for your luggage as I show you the accommodations you'll have for the moment?"

The nodded and Relena felt more at ease when she stepped into the warm and welcoming room that the Queen always had prepared for her. The servants carrying her luggage quickly set them down, her disposing of her soiled garments and hopping into the warm bed with a smile.

'Queen Catherine is so kind and sweet.' She thought sweetly to herself before realizing that her eyes had closed and she was soon drifting away from the world.

The birds chirping were enough to wake the princess, but instead she had to have the sound of snow hitting glass, the impact sounding very hard and painful to her ears. She covered them, wincing slightly when she realized that there were pieces of ice imbedded into the seemingly fluffy snow.

She scowled at the person's behavior and wiggled her way out of the covers, getting into a red dress and putting on warm garments while getting a warm jacket her father had bought for her to play in during the cold season.

She smirked, today was the day that she would get Heero back for last year. Then she remembered something as she stopped her trek down the hallway. She had thought the same thing the year before, and the year before, and---well…as long as she could remember that she could think it had happened!

'He must have plotted this…!' Relena thought darkly of him as she walked in swift strides towards the table where Heero and Duo were talking and her mother and Heero's father were deep in conversation. She took a chair near Heero, rather sitting next to him than that prankster Duo Maxwell, who grinned at her. She shivered involuntarily as to think of what type of prank they would try today judging by the dark glimmer in the kid's violet eyes.

"Well," The Queen announced after the wonderful breakfast they had shared was finished, "I hope that you children will have fun out in the snow while Relena's father and I have important matter's to discuss."

Heero nodded at this obediently and stood up, grabbing some mittens, a scarf, and a warm jacket to throw over his body. He laced his boots that were for winter and looked at Duo to ensure that he was also ready. The nodded their heads at the same time and then they raced outside, the wind nipping at their faces but the smiles never ceasing.

Relena dashed out after them, only to be caught in the cross fire between the two boys who were having a snowball fight that would make the first World War look like a chicken versus a turkey.

Relena quickly made her way away from the line of fire and joined in, giggling as she managed to make a few hits of each of the boys. 'Maybe this won't be so bad as last year…' Relena wondered to herself with a small smile on her face when she realized that Heero and Duo weren't so cruel as the last years they had spent together.

Yes, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all…

TBC

Authoress' note:

RT: Please review, we got this chapter out early for the people who reviewed. Thank you for those who did for the support. Um...well, i hope that y'all liked it and hopefully the next chapter will be out soon (gotta work on my other fics too...)

Thanks!

Red Tail and Uplifted