Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or its characters OR the song "Truly, Madly, Deeply" By: Savage Garden. This is a particularly romantically sappy chapter so beware those who are faint of stomach!

Chapter 34

"So do you think I can have some powers too? It might be fun to be able to teleport wherever I want to or read people's minds. . ." Duo said with a grin as he hugged Rachel. They were sitting together at the opening of the cave staring at the stars, watching them twinkle in the sky overhead.

"They're not for your pleasure, Duo. I was given these powers for a reason, not just to find out the secret behind why Chang's so stubborn. . ." Rachel said, elbowing Duo gently. He chuckled and let go of her, laying back on the cold rock floor and placing his hands behind his head, letting out a sigh of exhaustion. Rachel smiled at him and leaned back against her elbows, searching the sky for familiar constellations. A gentle breeze blew in, making a slow howling noise as it blew through the cavern and over and through its numerous cracks and crevices. Finally, Rachel laid back and folded her hands over her stomach, watching as a shooting star fell through the darkness, making her heart skip a beat.

"Cool, did you see that?" Duo said, pointing in its general direction.

"Yeah, did you make a wish?"

"Huh?"

"On the shooting star, did you make a wish? That's what I always do when I see one, wish for something I really hope to happen or want to come true."

"My wish already came true." Duo smiled at her. She blushed and gazed away at a different part of the sky. She saw another flash of light streak across the sky and said, "Wow, there's another one!"

"And another, look." They stared at the blackness slowly being covered with white rain as a meteor shower started up, gradually getting faster and more beautiful by the second. Duo scooted closer to Rachel, leaning his head close to hers as he said, "Almost looks like the sky is falling, huh?"

"I guess, it's so cool that we're lucky to be here to see it."

"Yeah. . .kind of makes me feel like singing." Rachel looked over at him and said, "What did you have in mind?"

"Well. . ." He looked up at the sky with a smile, letting a little dramatic suspense fill the air first before he began to sing, "♪I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy. I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need. I'll love you more with every breath, Truly, madly, deeply do. I will be strong, I will be faithful, 'cause I'm counting on. A new beginning, a reason for living, a deeper meaning, yeah.♪" He paused to smile at her as she wrapped her arms around his, resting her head on his shoulder. Continuing with a flutter in his heart, Duo sang, "♪I want to stand with you on a mountain, I want to bathe with you in the sea, I want to lay like this forever, until the sky falls down on me.♪" Rachel lifted her head, saying quickly, "My part!"

"Go ahead." Duo softly smiled. Snuggling up to Duo again, Rachel sang, "♪And when the stars are shining brightly in the velvet sky, I'll make a wish, send it to heaven, then make you want to cry, the tears of joy for all the pleasure in the certainty, that we're surrounded by the comfort and protection of the highest powers In lonely hours. The tears devour you.♪" They both closed their eyes as they sang together in perfect unison, "♪I want to stand with you on a mountain, I want to bathe with you in the sea, I want to lay like this forever, until the sky falls down on me.♪" Looking deep into Rachel's eyes, Duo softly uttered, "♪Oh can you see it, baby? You don't have to close your eyes 'Cause it's standing right here before you. All that you need will surely come. I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy. I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need. I'll love you more with every breath, Truly. . .madly. . .deeply. . .do.♪" He tilted her chin up with his finger and leaned in, gently kissing her lips. Softly touching his cheek, she eased into the kiss, not wanting to break away until the sky truly did fall down on them.

"They act like long lost lovers, despite only truly knowing each other for a week now. Do you think it will survive the battle?" Zechs asked, watching Duo and Rachel together under the stars. Noin stood next to him, her arms crossed as the cold breeze blew by her, rustling her long slate blue bangs.

"For them I hope so, they're so deeply in love it's amazing they made it this far through all the emotional and physical struggles they've been through." Noin said. A swift, chilly breeze whipped by them, causing Noin to shiver a little. Zechs quickly unbuttoned his uniform jacket and took it off, draping it over Noin's shoulders. She looked up at him in surprise and said, "Thank you, Zechs. . ."

"Please, call me Milliardo, I want to get away from my OZ past now that I'm free from my pact with Treize."

"If that's what you want, Milliardo it is." Noin smiled. She pulled at the edges of the jacket, trying to close the opening so the wind wouldn't get in and freeze her. Zechs reached out an arm and put it on Noin's shoulder, pulling her gently against his side so that the opening was against him, keeping out the cold. She blushed slightly, saying, "Milliardo. . ."

"Is something wrong? If you don't want me to. . ."

"No, I. . .I have a question." She looked up into his eyes.

"What is it?" Milliardo asked, meeting her gaze.

"Just before you passed out earlier, you said we were equals. What did you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said, I'm no longer in any authority over you so you're free to do as you wish, you don't have to follow any of my orders ever again."

"But. . .what if I want to be under you?" Milliardo blinked in surprise, saying, "What do you mean?"

"Milliardo, you're the heir to the Peacecraft monarchy, I want to help you regain that power to bring peace to our world again!" Milliardo's face fell and he looked away, saying, "I can't do that, Noin."

"What? What are you saying, that you won't stop Treize and end this war for the good of all the innocent lives at stake?"

"That's not it, I would gladly help the rightful heir to the throne accomplish just that but it's not my place to do so."

"Why?" Noin asked, looking confused.

"I ran away from my family, gave up on a life of peace and became a killer, murdering innocent lives and coming out of this war with hands permanently stained with bloodshed and tears. Who am I to promote such things as peace and happiness when I have done nothing to protect it in the first place? I'm nothing but a miserable soldier and I have no right to be a king of a land I helped bring down, that's a job for someone with a pure heart, unsoiled by murder and deceit and still deeply caring toward the people and their feelings. That is something only Relena has the ability to still achieve and has any hope of accomplishing. I can only hope that I can still help to bring her dreams of a peaceful future to life." Noin looked down, understanding his feelings about taking control of the world's destiny. She reached up to his hand holding her shoulder and squeezed it, smiling at him as he looked down at her.

"Then I will help you assist Relena to achieve peace and prosperity however I can."

"Noin, you don't have to. . ."

"Do you not want me to? If that's the case you can just say so, I won't feel hurt."

"No, that's not it. It's just that. . .it might be dangerous and I don't want you to risk your life for me."

"If I choose to risk my life for you I have every right to, you can't stop me."

"I don't want you to, I'm not worth it."

"You are to me." Milliardo stared into her eyes, seeing a familiar sparkle he had seen in Relena's eyes when she'd look at Heero. Blinking, Milliardo said, "You. . .you love me?" She looked surprised and lowered her gaze in embarrassment.

"Was it that obvious?" Noin asked, sounding slightly sarcastic.

"I saw it in your beautiful eyes." Milliardo lifted her gaze back to his and whispered, "I have felt the same for quite a while, I just didn't think it was appropriate to tell you since we were working together in war scenarios most of the time if not all the time."

"Milliardo. . .I. . .I wish you had told me before, even if we did work together."

"Why?"

"Because I wouldn't have had to wait so long to do this." Stretching her neck out and raising up on tiptoes, she kissed Milliardo's lips so tenderly he immediately melted into her touch, pulling her closer to feel the full intensity of her soft yet powerful kiss. Finally they parted for air and gasped, breathlessly looking deep into each other's eyes and feeling their deep desires fulfilled after so long.

"Noin. . .I never thought I'd see this day. . ." Milliardo whispered, gently resting his forehead against hers with his eyes closed, breathing heavily.

"I didn't either, at the rate we were going I thought you'd end up killing yourself in that Mobile Suit of yours with what it put you through the first time you flew it! I was so worried. . ."

"I'm sorry if I scared you, I never meant to. If it will make you feel better I won't fly it anymore."

"No, you're used to its controls now, it's alright. As long as you don't go boosting the engines on that thing. . ." She grinned. He chuckled and said, "Good idea, I should do that right now."

"So you're going to leave me for your little toy in there?" Noin said, pouting her lips and giving him puppy dog eyes. He smiled and said softly, "I wouldn't leave your side for anything."

"Not even to save your sister?"

"You know the answer to that already, no need to be silly with the questions. . ." She giggled and cuddled into his arms, letting him hold her warmly and rest his cheek on her head and enjoy the soft touch of her hair. They gazed over at Duo and Rachel finally and saw them in each other's arms watching the meteor shower and slowly falling asleep.

"Do you think that falling in love might be a bad thing during a war?" Noin asked softly.

"I think it's too late to turn back now, we've sealed our hearts with our kiss and stated our feelings toward each other. Nothing can end our love but death and still it will go on through the ages. . ." Milliardo whispered.

"You're always so poetic, Milliardo, I love how you say things. . ." Noin smiled.

"You mean like 'your eyes are like mesmerizing portals into your deep well of love that brings the very whole of me to life out of my morbid obscurity'?"

"Yes, like that. How do you ever think these things up?" Noin giggled.

"It just comes naturally, like my love for you. . ." He gently nuzzled her forehead with his and cooed softly, squeezing her slightly and sighing. She snuggled into his display of affection and said in almost a purr, "Oh, Milliardo, this seems almost as a dream. . ."

"A dream come to life." He tilted her chin up with his hand and kissed her again, slowly and deeply into the dark of night.

"Heero, can I speak to you alone?" Chang walked up to his friend who was speaking to his girlfriend quietly and tried not to barge in too much.

"Of course, I'll be back, Relena." Heero excused himself and followed Chang over to the Gundams where it was quiet and they were out of sight. Turning to Heero, Chang said, "She can share her powers, do you know what this could mean for us?"

"It was a freak accident, Quatre was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Heero said monotonely.

"I think if she tried she could recreate the same actions that caused it to happen in the first place so that the rest of us could gain powers as well, it would make us unstoppable by any of Treize's plans of attack."

"She wouldn't be able to withstand so much power drain, plus there's 7 other people here and it would take forever to give everyone powers. It's a waste of time, Chang."

"I don't think it is. Besides, the women don't have to have powers and I don't trust that supposed ex OZ lieutenant as far as I can kick him."

"I still don't think Rachel's quite up to that much work, it really wore her out the last time, after all she has been weak all day."

"That's because she had to stop those idiots from killing each other, otherwise she might be strong enough to do this."

"I'll have to ask her, I'm not going to force her to do this if she doesn't feel she can."

"Heero, you're getting soft, actually caring about how she feels about this idea." Heero frowned and said, "How would you feel if we suggested to you to plant Nataku in the middle of an OZ base and detonate it?"

"Don't you dare bring Nataku into this conversation." Chang growled.

"Then think of other people's feelings, not just your own." Heero said and began to walk away. Chang grabbed his arm and said, "Heero, think about it, we need to do this."

"When you prove to me that it is truly needed, I'll convince her that. But until then, get over it." Heero pulled his arm free and walked back to Relena. As Heero sat down, Relena said, "What was that about? You look upset."

"It was nothing, where were we?" Heero quickly changed the subject.

"Oh, I was talking about my lineage. Since I'm one of the living members of the Peacecraft family, I was thinking about how my father might like it if I continued his strive after peace. Do you think it would even be possible at this point or have the people of this planet completely lost any idea of or hope for peace?"

"I thought Zechs was your brother, wouldn't he be next up to succeed in the power?"

"Well, I suppose. But he doesn't seem to want to take this burden on, like he would rather work under people than have people working for him. I'm not sure how to explain it."

"I can see that. Plus I honestly don't trust him, he was practically Treize's second in command and a loyalty like that isn't so easily destroyed by just the shattering of a helmet."

"He could be a great asset to us, Heero, you must try to find some reason to trust him. I trust him because he is my brother and I don't believe someone of the same blood as me would lie or betray me."

"If you trust him then I will try, but it won't be easy since he hasn't done much to prove his loyalty."

"I know, please try, Heero."

"I will, for you." Relena smiled and hugged him, snuggling into his shirt and sighing.

"Thank you. . ." He closed his eyes and kissed her forehead, whispering, "I love you." Into her ear. She happily moaned and let Heero hold her in his arms for a while, until something might happen to interrupt their happy moment together. And then, the happiness broke.