A/N: Welcome back. Sorry for the wait- I had just finished my summer class, had the best of intentions to update and then regular classes started... Moving fun and other things coming into play, this story got kind of side tracked. GOMEN! Long story short- updates should be more frequent Enjoy!
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Her words would have been convincing if it were not for the continued explosions rattling the very foundation of the compound.
For what seemed like hours the building walls rumbled under the heavy fire from above. The once strongest man in the universe now huddled protected by the comforting arms of Relena Peacecraft. He had stopped asking questions about who the attackers were, and how he could be involved. No one had seemed to answer him and his memories were certainly not able to help him.
He felt helpless. Like a child that had awoken from a nap and found out he had missed the greater part of a decade. Around new people, they were all strangers to him, and what made things worse was that he too was a stranger.
The once happy boy from the past was now in a larger man's body and it terrified him. All he could do was rely on the woman he clung to for support. Her smile had given him the assurance that she cared, and he held tight to any feelings at the moment.
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After the bombing ended, Millardo came and got the pair from their secured hiding place. They all were silent as the two exited the room behind the ever cautious commander. Neither sibling spoke as they reentered the above ground Preventor building via the tunnel systems available.
Relena couldn't help but feel disheartened at the look of utter fear she had seen in Heero's eyes. It was the first time he had let that particular emotion surface. He seemed so different from the man she had clung to when trouble came so many times before. As much as she tried to assure him of them being safe she found she could never be so confident. The reassurance in Heero Yuy had always been enough for her- yet when roles were reversed things seemed lacking. She was no use to him during the attack except for her sheer presence and warm embrace.
Heero had never held onto her in such away either... the thing that bothered her most was that his warmth hadn't changed. The few times where she had been held by the perfect solider and the feeling of being in his arms were exactly the same Even though he had been terrified, probably even more than she was, Heero, well Ryo had still retained his same old way of communicating with her. It was that warmth that had kept her together down in that secured bunker.
"Millardo, I'm going to leave for the day." Relena spoke finally breaking the silence. "And I'm keeping Ryo with me." She added sternly waiting for any opposition from her over protective brother.
The once most feared man in the galaxy stood silent, reduced to merely watch the siblings. He didn't understand a lot of things at the moment- especially why he wanted to stay close to Relena as possible. However, the one thing he did fully comprehend was that the blonde man seemed to be hiding a greater problem with him.
Both Relena and the brown haired ex-pilot were nearly blown away as the commander nodded and called for an armed escort to take them to their destination.
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The car ride was mostly silent. Sure Relena tried to make small talk or assure him everything was going to be fine. Yet, the more he heard that the more suspicious and disbelieving he became sitting silently trying to piece back together his life: why these people kept calling him Heero, or why the base was attacked, or how he could possibly lose an entire decade of his life.
Nothing anyone was saying made sense anymore and it was driving him crazy. And another thing was why he awoke in a hospital with so many wounds all over his body. The even scarier enigma to him was his own body. So many healed scars and stitches marks covered his tanned skin. How could one person accumulate all the abrasions? His mind wondered this over and over as he traced the more prominent lines on his arms that were visible and un-bandaged.
As the car stopped, Ryo was struck in awe of such a large residence before him. The door of the car was suddenly opened and Relena smiled as she exited first. The moment the car left the two standing on the front entrance area, Ryo began to take in his surroundings. The property was large. Well large, he decided, didn't do this place justice. Huge- extensive- Vast. These were better descriptions. The front lawn went on for yards and it was heavily protected by a forested maze and fences upon fences of security. There was every security measure imaginable in place, and yet, that didn't really reassure him he was 'safe' there.
"This is your home?" He asked still unsure of what to do, or even if he should talk at all. The girl before him smiled warmly at him once again. It was a smile that for some reason felt so very familiar. Maybe that was why he felt comfortable around her...
"Yes, this is. Both my brother's family and I live here." She replied thankful that he had finally spoken. As she was about to respond to him again, Relena was cut off with a happy squeal from her little niece coming from inside the house. Promise, with blanket in hand ran with open arms at the couple on the porch. Through the open door, Ryo watched the toddler's fast approach.
"Relena!" The little girl screamed as she launched herself into the foreign minister's arms. Once she was safely in the arms of her aunt, the child continued to ramble as another figure come up from behind.
"I'm sorry Relena. I thought I had thrown her to bed, but after all the commotion, well she's not tired now." The still young looking mother said with a sigh as she tried to pull the toddler off Relena. "So how are things back at headquarters? I'm actually glad you came because I want to get over there and help."
"Things have calmed down for now..." Relena was about to go into further detail until she remembered the man standing still halfway into the house looking rather lost. "Ryo, come in. This is Noin. She's Millardo's wife and my sister in law. Promise here is their little girl." She said handing Promise back over to her mother. Bolding taking Ryo's hand, she brought him into the house so the door could be closed.
"It's nice to meet you Ryo. I hope you feel right at home here with us. I understand you'll be staying here with us. Don't let my husband intimidate you. He's never really warmed up to anyone." She smiled as she excused herself and took her daughter back to the nursery for another try at nap time.
"Well, that just leaves us two. Are you hungry? We can have tea in my study?" She asked not knowing what to expect from him. With a simple nod from her companion, Relena led the way up the stairs to her study. Pushing a button behind her desk, her ever trusty attendant brought the tea to them.
The awkward silence continued as Relena watched him look over his surroundings, it surprised her how many of his actions now seemed to be more instinct than learned behavior. Relena tried everything to get the lost man at her side to open up as well. To her delight, he did little by little, telling her of all his childhood memories, of his mother and normal things he did at a time Relena couldn't even imagine. The Heero Yuy she knew never seemed to have capacity to actually be a child. Even though it sounded ridiculous, she had never really thought of him actually growing up. The ever-constant weapon, or training from birth- that had been her thoughts on a younger Yuy. He seemed so normal to her now and yet his past was still a sad one.
She had hoped there would be something good she could tell him, yet there was nothing. All the questions he asked of her went mainly unanswered. The sad fact of things was that for as much as she loved Heero Yuy, she knew next to nothing about him except for the killing. Deciding that his bloody past would only bother him, Relena withheld as much information as possible.
"How did we meet?" He asked after a short silence. "I mean you seem to know me, well the Heero me and you seem to care for him... me... yet I know nothing about us... or you." He said quietly as if he was ashamed of that fact. Here this beautiful woman was taking care of him and yet he couldn't even remember her, except for the smile and feeling of warmth in her embrace.
"Well, it was purely by chance really. I had wondered off and was walking along the coast when I saw you unconscious on the shore."
"And you loved me from that moment? You didn't even know me." He said looking her straight in the eye. He needed to know everything. He wanted her to come out and tell him everything. Every time she told him half stories and events with large chunks of information lacking, he only became more curious about what kind of life he had been living.
"What? Loved you? What... ah what are you talking about?" She tried to act like she didn't know what he was talking about. How had he seen right through her? She had never told him how she felt... quickly taking a long sip of her tea. The blush on her face was covered only temporarily as his hand took the cup from her hand and moved so she was looking at him.
"Your eyes... they told me everything... ever since I woke up to your face, they show the deep feelings...like my mother's did all the time. Yet yours are a different kind of love... I wish I could remember. I'm sorry." He said looking away quickly as to not make a fool of himself.
Relena was amazed at his insight. He had hit her square on. Quickly taking his hand in hers, she gave him a reassuring squeeze.
"Don't worry. We'll get thorough this."
"What about those men? The ones that attacked? What have I done to make them this serious about coming after me?" He asked again. "Won't they be back? Please... tell me what's going on." He asked of her. However this was something that Relena was not willing to do.
"I think you should rest now. Once you are feeling better, I'll tell you everything... I promise." She said standing up. Her face was grim, yet the smile tried to shine through. "Your room is across the hall. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to get things ready for your stay. I'll be right back." She told him as she stood and quickly exited the room.
Sitting in the large and ornate room alone was becoming a bit uneasy. Standing up, he couldn't help but wander around. Stopping to look at the many personal touches that adorned bookshelves and her desk, Ryo found several pictures most interesting.
His Prussian blue eyes stared down at the photo of himself and several other young men. Behind them stood several large machines all scuffed and worn looking. From the surroundings it looked like a battle field, however the people in the photo were mainly smiling. All except himself, and the dark haired Chinese man. Looking over to the next photo, it was a candid shot of the beautiful foreign minister dancing with a handsome brown haired gentleman.
'I want to remember her...' He thought to himself setting the photo of what would have been proof of their first dance together, if he could recall the moment that is.
Still there were more pictures of different people in Relena's life. She always looked happy and utterly gorgeous in each of the photos. The intimacy of the shots told of her deep relationship with all the five young men, however it was his relationship with her that Ryo most cared about. 'What if I never can remember her?'
There were many newspaper clips hanging on the walls as well. The text was removed from the main photos. Quickly skimming the collage of clippings his breath stopped as he came to one picture in particular.
It was him, well the person he was, Heero Yuy. The size of his body was so small in comparison to the large mechanical being he stood on. He didn't know how someone had taken this particular shot; the only thing he wanted to know was how he could have piloted such a machine. And why was he standing on a platform in front of the cockpit, looking like he was about to destroy himself and who knows what else.
Several other photos showed the same mechanical giant in a variety of settings. However the reoccurring theme was one of war.
'Could I have actually piloted this... this... weapon? Did I cause all that destruction?' He questioned himself over and over. 'Just exactly what kind of person was I?'
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A/N: Again sorry for the wait- I'll be back in a few weeks for the next chapter. The action will pick up soon, so don't worry all you action fans. And there'll be lots more fluff too!
Until we meet again- Thanks for the reviews!!!
Ja Ne
