Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing…um…or anything else I perhaps mentioned that I most likely don't own…yeah.

Chapter 17

Slowly, Heero opened his eyes sleepily, looking up at the roof of the plane as he recalled where he was and remembered what was next to him. He sat up suddenly and found her still asleep in his lap, a slight smile on her face. He stared at her for a minute before softening his expression and thinking, She's still here, with me. . .what's this weird feeling I get every time I look at her? Could. . .could I. . . He gently ran his fingers through her auburn hair, following it down her head and over her shoulders, then continued to drift over her smooth skin. He stopped abruptly at her hand and realized what he was doing. His eyes widened and he nervously looked around to make sure no one was watching him petting her. Gently, he shook her shoulder, saying, "Relena, wake up, it's stopped raining." She stirred and opened her eyes, seeing Heero's leg first and jumping up, looking frightened as she put a hand to her chest. With a sigh of relief, she said, "Goodness, you scared me for a minute there. . ." Heero was a little startled too and said as he composed his cool, "We should be going now that the weather's cleared up." She looked outside at the dew-covered world and saw that it was now dark because of the setting sun.

"What time is it?" Relena wondered, sounding slightly daydreamy. Heero stood and looked at the color of the sky, judging about what time he figured it was.

"Around 7:30 by my guess." Heero answered.

"That late? I didn't realize that we've been here that long!" Relena looked surprised.

"I'll see if everyone's awake and tell them to get ready to fly." Heero started walking back to the cockpit when Relena called, "Heero, wait!" He paused and glanced over his shoulder. She gulped nervously and mumbled, "Nevermind. . ." He blinked and continued.

What was that about. . .Heero thought as he opened the cockpit door. Quatre looked up from the control panel and smiled, saying, "Did you have a nice nap?" Heero stiffened and stared at Quatre.

Dang it, he saw me. . .Heero grit his teeth and said, "Yes and shut up." With a frown, Quatre said, "Huh?"

"I mean it, you tell and I'll hurt." Heero said, clenching his fists threateningly. Shrinking down a bit in his seat, Quatre said, "Okay, geez, sorry I asked. . ." Still looking cranky and annoyed by his hard-soldier-boy-don't-care-about-nobody reputation being blown on one nap with Relena, he stalked over to the pilots seat where Trowa was laying sideways in it and smacked him on the shoulder, startling him awake.

"Huh? What happened? What's that?" Trowa sat up suddenly, forgetting where he was and toppling out of the seat with a thud. Quatre cringed and Heero stared at the crumpled up boy on the floor.

"Move it, we're leaving." Heero said bluntly, poking Trowa's side with the toe of his shoe. The lump wobbled out of the way and Heero sat down with a grunt, checking the systems with a ticked scowl.

"Um, Heero?" Quatre cautiously asked in a timid voice, not wanting to die. He got a death glare.

WAH! My life just flashed before my eyes. . .I don't remember that. . .woah, good thing no one else can see my thoughts. . .Quatre thought, his eyes wide with fright.

"What!" Heero snapped at him.

"Uh. . .well. . .Chang wanted to talk to you." Quatre said quickly. Heero sighed in annoyance and punched the com link button.

"Wufei, what do you want?" Heero said.

I see you're happy as ever. . . Chang said sarcastically, I had a few questions to ask you, do you have a minute?

"Sure, why not. . ." Heero said, returning the sarcasm.

Alone? Chang asked. Heero glared at Quatre and Trowa.

"Wow, look at the time! I think I'll go check on the others. . ." Quatre said, jumping up and running for the door.

"I gotta pee." Trowa muttered as he stumbled out the door. Heero rolled his eyes and said, "Yes, I'm alone."

Good. Now, I want your honest opinion on this. . .

"That's all I give anyway."

Then this shouldn't take long. . .

"Hello, is anyone home?" Quatre walked into the cockpit and found Rachel and Duo on the floor together.

"No, it's just your imagination, go away." Duo said sarcastically.

"Oh ignore him." Rachel said, swatting Duo away. "What's up?"

"We're leaving now since the weather's cleared up, Heero kind of sent me over to tell you that."

"Kind of sent you over?"

"He kicked me out to talk on the comlink privately. . ." Quatre sighed. He frowned and said, "You know, he's been acting really cranky. . ."

"Cranky?" Duo cocked an eyebrow.

"Is he feeling sick or something?" Rachel asked.

"Uh, not exactly. . ." Quatre looked at the ceiling innocently and Duo said, "You know something don't you. . ."

"Maybe, but I can't tell."

"Wow, did he threaten you?"

"Maybe. . ."

"This must be good. . .SPILL!" Duo said in an excited voice, standing up.

"What! No, he'll kill me! And this is Heero we're talking about, he'll do it." Quatre said, backing up a step. Duo walked up to him and put his arm around his shoulders, saying, "Come on, Quatre, he can't kill you if he doesn't know that we know what you know. . .ya know?" Confused, Quatre responded, "No?"

"Look, just tell me and I'll zip my lip, mm MM!" Duo said, making a motion as if zipping his lips together.

"I don't know. . ." Quatre looked nervously at the floor.

"Duo, I don't think it's a good idea to pry into Heero's private life." Rachel said, standing up as well and leaning on the armrest of a seat, crossing her arms.

"Awe please, just a little? I gotta have SOMETHING good to tease him with late at night or when he's in a reeeaaaallly embarrassing situation." Duo said, grinning as he plotted what to do.

"No you don't. Quatre, you don't have to tell us anything so don't worry, 'no one' will pressure you. . ." Rachel said, glaring at Duo. He grinned back and said, "Well then, since I can't have some fun what do we do now?"

Quatre, get over here. Heero called over the comlink. Quatre jumped at the sudden command and ran out the door straight to the plane. Duo walked over to the console and pressed the button, saying, "He's coming as we speak. So Heero, you sound a little cranky, any reason for that?"

What? Heero sounded a bit defensive. Rachel shoved Duo out of the way and said, "Ignore him, he's being a dork. We're ready to go over here whenever you are. Say, since we have a new passenger, who's she riding with?"

I think we need to even out the passengers a bit. There are seven of us now so we'll split it three, two, and two. Quatre, go find Trowa and tell him to fly with Chang. They heard a panting voice grumble a reply in the background before Heero spoke again. "And Quatre will fly with you."

"Where's Relena going?" Duo butted in. Rachel put her hand over his face and rolled her eyes.

Where do you think, you dope. If I'm here and Quatre is with you and Trowa's with Chang. . .do the math.

"Why does she have to ride with you?" Duo asked, pulling Rachel's hand off of his face.

Because I say so, got a problem with that? Heero said, sounding cold.

"Geez, I think he just froze the link with his cold shoulder. . .brr. . ." Duo commented, rubbing his arms.

"That's fine, I'll get the engine running while we wait. Rachel out." Rachel said, ending the connection. She smacked Duo in the arm and he cringed, saying, "Owe, what was that for?"

"Don't tease Heero, I want you to live a little longer. . ." Rachel commented, a sarcastic tinge at the end.

"Haha. So, why does Heero want Relena with him? Why not Chang and Trowa or me and you? Doesn't he trust us?"

"It's not that. . ."

"You know, don't you?"

"Maybe. . ." Rachel innocently grinned and sat down in the pilot's seat, starting up the engines.

"Awe, come on, please? Please, please, please, please. . ." Duo pleaded in her ear, tickling her neck with his finger. She cringed up and giggled, shouting, "No! Ack, stop that, it tickles!"

"What, this?" He tickled around under her chin. She shrieked and he grinned slyly, saying, "Or maybe this?" He started digging at her sides and she exploded in laughter, violently kicking her legs and swatting Duo. He backed away cautiously and said, his arms up defensively, "Geez, girl, you're violent!" She composed herself and said, "Don't mess with me then or else you have to fight off my flying feet and arms." With a wink, she hollered back, "Quatre, get in here already!" The blonde boy leapt into the room, sweaty and out of breath, looking like he had just gotten back from a marathon.

"I'm here, I'm here. . ." Quatre said, slowly slumping down into a seat. Duo sat down as well and said, "So, where are we going?"

"Probably to drop Relena off back at her home, so basically we follow Heero." Rachel answered, closing the hangar door and turning the plane to get ready for take off.

"Okie dokie!" Duo said, sitting back to enjoy the ride for a change as they took off.

"The Darlian mansion should be coming in view up ahead in a few minutes." Heero commented as he quietly piloted. Relena was too fearful of Heero to start a discussion so the trip there was extremely quiet, bothering her a bit.

"Okay." She answered timidly. Heero looked over at her and said, "You're being really quiet, I would have expected you to be talking a lot more."

"You don't want to talk anyway so why talk to myself?" Relena said sadly, looking away. He blinked and thought, I never said I didn't want to talk, I do want to talk. But. . .I don't know what to say to her. Relena gasped suddenly and Heero looked out the window to see the mansion up ahead, in a pile of rubble.

"Mother. . ." Relena gasped, covering her mouth in shock, her eyes wide with fear.

"Relena. . .I'm. . .sorry. . ." Heero said, seeing the devastation in her eyes drowning in her tears. She slowly shook her head in disbelief and whispered, "Why. . ." Sadly, Heero said, "It's a war, lives are lost everyday because of people's selfish greed."

"But why her? What did she do to deserve this?" Relena exclaimed. Heero couldn't answer her, staring into her eyes. She sighed, looking away as she whispered, "She adopted me, that's why this happened. . ." Heero's eyes widened and he said, "You're adopted?"

"Yes, I am. My father, Mr. Darlian, is my stepfather. My real name is Relena Peacecraft." He stared in disbelief. She was a countess of the Peacecraft monarchy, heir to the throne.

Is she the only living descendant? Heero thought, realizing her true potential.

"Are you all that's left of the family?" Heero asked.

"I don't know, all my stepfather said to me was that I was adopted, revealing my true identity. . .just before he passed away. . ." Relena said, sadly looking away.

"And. . .you didn't know before?" She shook her head and covered her face, sobbing, "And now the last thing I ever cherished is gone. . ."

"Maybe she wasn't inside when the mansion was demolished. . .she could still be alive." Heero said, trying to cheer her up. She dropped her hands defeatedly and said, "Do you honestly believe the words coming from your mouth?" Heero didn't want to admit that to her. She sniffed and said in a low whisper, "Just drop me off here."

"What? But-"

"It's me they want, just let them have me. Besides, it'll get me out of the picture for good, doesn't that make you happy?" Heero hit the autopilot and stood up, walking over to Relena and grabbing her by the shoulders. She looked up in shock as he said, "No it doesn't. Look, Relena, you have more to you than even you could imagine. You have a future you need to see to the end, don't give up so easily! I won't let you give up that easily and I'm not going to leave you to die." She blinked in surprise as she said, "But. . .why? Why do you care?" He stared blankly at her.

Why do I care? What's that nagging feeling in the back of my mind trying to get my attention? Could I feel something for her? Could I. . .love her? He shook off the thought and let go of her shoulders, saying, "Don't give up until there's nothing left to fight for, as long as there's hope there's a reason to battle on into the night. I'll find out what happened here and see if there's someone safe to leave you with that's a trusted friend of your stepfather." Turning, he walked back to his seat and sat down, re-buckling and taking over the controls. He reached over to the comlink button and pressed it to contact both planes.

"There's nothing left here, we need to find a temporary encampment to hide out in while I do some searching for Relena to find out what happened here."

I know a forest that's perfect for hiding our Gundams in, it's about 500 miles north northwest if you mean that kind of hiding place. Chang said.

"Lead the way." Heero said. Chang's plane veered to the right and headed off toward his hidden forest with the others close behind.

"Wow, now that's a forest! Look at those trees, they're huge!" Duo exclaimed as they landed their planes one at a time in a narrow strip of open space evidently put there on purpose for planes to land. They unloaded the Gundams and stalked them off into the forest to hide out, able to stand because of how tall the trees were in the area.

"It's one of the last known Sequoia forests on the planet, if these trees could talk they could tell you tales over 300 years old." Chang mused as he jumped out of his gundam and joined the others. They followed him over to a stand of trees perfect for building a camp in for a while.

"Cool. . .so, what, we sleep around the trunks or something?" Duo asked.

"No, in the trees. . ." Chang said, turning to the group.

"In the trees? But. . .how do we get up to the top? They're over 100 feet tall!" Quatre exclaimed as he craned his neck to see to the top. Chang looked at Rachel, saying, "Since you're the resident mage, you can build us an encampment in the trees. Unless that's too much to ask you?" She blinked and frowned, saying, "No, it's fine, I can do that. Let's see here. . ." She looked up at the trees and closed her eyes, envisioning tree houses and a way up. Lifting her hands in the air, she closed her eyes and focused all her thoughts on creating a sanctuary for them. The leaves below their feet began to rustle as a strong wind blew in through the branches of the monstrous trees, causing the group to have to stand their ground if they wanted to remain upright. The gusts grew stronger and the ground floor erupted, leaves everywhere exploding into the air and soaring high up into the trees. Relena almost lost her balance and fell against Heero, clinging to his arm while attempting to keep her skirts down. Heero pulled her close to keep her safe from flying debris. As the leaves and other fallen objects flew around the trees, they began to take form and suddenly with a flash of light, a magnificent tree village formed near the treetops, ropes and ladders and manpowered elevators leading to the wooden huts. Rachel began to fall back and Duo jumped forward to catch her in his arms.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Quatre exclaimed, staring up in admiration. Relena looked up and said, "Is it safe?"

"I don't think she'd build something that's not if we're that high up." Trowa commented, walking over to one of the rope ladders and taking hold. "See you at the top, I'm going to check it out." He quickly climbed up and Duo picked Rachel up, carrying her over to the rope elevator, taking hold of the pulley cord.

"Anyone else wanna easy ride up?" Duo asked.

"I don't think I care to climb a ladder in a skirt, thank you for the offer." Relena said, stepping into the elevator. With a grin, Duo said, "Ground floor, going up! Next stop, first floor: bedding supplies, bedroom sets, and cranky oriental boys. . ." Relena giggled and Chang and Heero glared at him. By the time they reached the top, the others had already climbed up and were waiting for them, looking impatient.

"You pull like a girl, Maxwell." Chang commented as he walked down the rope bridge crossings between trees to find himself a suitable hut. He decided to room with Trowa, who had picked the last hut that looked out over the forest so he could keep watch. Heero picked the room across from them and closed the thatch door, getting to work immediately. Duo picked up Rachel and Relena said, "I'll room with her, you can stay with Quatre."

"Awe but. . .can't you room with Quatre?" Duo said, pouting. Relena scowled at him and said, "No, a gentlemen doesn't sleep with women he's not married to."

"Who said I was a gentleman?" Duo commented with a wink.

"Nevertheless, I will not sleep with a boy, I'd rather room with Rachel. Now, I pick the room by the elevator, right here." Relena said, opening the door to the hut. Duo sighed and complied, carrying Rachel inside and gently laying her on one of the beds. He stroked some lose hairs from her face and kissed her forehead, saying, "See you later." Relena smiled at his love for her and stepped aside, holding the door open for him to leave. He stopped in the doorway and said, "Tell her I said goodnight, please?" She nodded and he smiled, saying, "Sleep well. If you get scared or hear anything out of the ordinary, just come on down to my hut, I'll take care of it!" She giggled and said, "I'll be sure to do that, good night, Duo." She closed the door and prepared for bed, kicking off her shoes and flopping down onto her bed. As she combed through her hair with her fingers, she heard a moan and looked up to see Rachel sitting up. She smiled and said, "I didn't think you'd be up till the morning after this, how are you feeling?"

"A bit drained, I might just go to sleep anyway but I don't feel like sleeping in this. . ." Rachel commented, looking down at her outfit. She pulled off her sneakers and sat Indian style, putting out her hands and closing her eyes, making a pile of pajamas appear in her hands. Relena looked longingly at the comfy looking outfit and then down at her school uniform. Rachel looked over at Relena and said, "Would you like a pair as well?"

"Oh, I don't want to bother you. . ." She said humbly.

"It's no trouble! Something pink perhaps?" Rachel smiled and produced a pair of pink silky pajamas, tossing them across the hut to Relena. With a quiet squeal of delight, Relena caught them and quickly began to change. When they had both converted to their bedtime garments, they began to chat and giggle about "girl stuff".