Alphabet Soup

Chapter Seven

Hey, everyone! Thanks a bunch for all the reviews! Gundam Wing is not mine, and it never will be, so I shall just console myself by writing.

At approximately 10:58 PM, a mere ten minutes after Heero Yuy popped the question to Relena Darlian, two figures entered the Merquise household, the shorter of the two stomping quite angrily and noisily.

"Oh, my goodness, look at that," commented Noin flatly as she slammed the door closed behind her, just barely missing hitting Zechs. "Looks like the house is still in once piece, Zechs."

Her husband didn't reply, instead he looked at her uneasily, tossing his keys on the kitchen table as they strode inside. Noin was marching irritably ahead of him, her shoulders tense and her pace quick as she sent an annoyed glance over her shoulder. She stopped at the entrance to the living room.

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open for a brief second, but before her husband could notice her surprise, she plastered an angry look on her face and grabbed Zechs by the arm, steering him away from the living room. She couldn't let him see what she had just seen. Knowing Zechs, he would probably spontaneously combust and disintegrate on the spot.

Pushing him against the wall so she was sure he couldn't see into the living room, Noin glared at her husband. "And Zechs, honey, you won't BELIEVE this," she growled at him, "but Alex AND Relena are still alive! Both of them! Can you believe that? They're perfectly unharmed!"

Icy blue eyes focused on her. "You're angry," he stated.

His wife glared up at him. "Well, zip-a-dee-doo-dah, look at that! You're actually experiencing BRAIN ACTIVITY!"

She knew she didn't have to be quite so loud as she was being, but hopefully her shouting would alert Relena that they were home in enough time for her and Heero to end their current activities before Zechs discovered them.

Zechs, for his part, found himself unable to move as he watched Noin, who never let her temper get the best of her. Tonight was obviously an exception. She looked really beautiful when she was angry, he noted.

Her eyes flashed a warning as she continued, "Since your brain is obviously WORKING now, perhaps you've realized that there wasn't a reason for your incessant worrying after all! All night long, all you did was spaz out and act jumpier than Quatre that time Duo laced his tea with amphetamine! ALL NIGHT LONG, Zechs, and for what? Nothing!" Each word of her rant was punctuated with a sharp jab of her finger to his chest. "I'd feel pretty STUPID if I were you, Zechs, dear."

Zechs groaned and ran a hand through his bangs tiredly. "Oh, Luc," he moaned. "Shut up."

"Shut up?" she repeated heatedly, getting on tiptoe to glare directly at him. "Shut UP? Do not tell ME to shut up! I'm your WIFE!"

"Lucrezia . . ."

"Can you even FATHOM that we've left your dear sister and son together for FIVE HOURS in the company of an INSANE, SUICIDAL EX-GUNDAM PILOT and they're still ALIVE? And the house is still STANDING and the walls aren't covered in BLOOD and the Earth Sphere Unified Nation isn't declaring a state of EMERGENCY and . . ."

"Look, Luc, I'm sorry."

Noin paused, her face still flushed, but her eyes now wide. Thoughts of Relena, Heero, and her anger at her husband suddenly faded. "What was that?"

Zechs let out his breath heavily. "I'm sorry. You deserve to be mad."

Noin had to take a step back to look at her husband clearly. "Really?"

"Yeah. You're right," Zechs said grudgingly. "I shouldn't have acted the way I did tonight. It's our anniversary, after all. I shouldn't have worried."

She was staring up at him, wide-eyed. "Zechs."

"I'm sorry, Luc. Really." He was looking down, shuffling his feet like a guilty schoolboy, then he raised his eyes to look at her. "I'll make it up to you."

The tense muscles in her shoulders and arms relaxed as she cocked her head to the side and regarded her husband. Really, how could she stay mad when he was looking at her like that? "Well . . ." she said innocently, "technically our anniversary's not over yet . . ."

"No, technically, we have an hour before it's officially over," he replied casually, raising an eyebrow at the look on her face. "You have something in mind?"

An unmistakably catty grin curved her lips. "I suppose I could let you make it up to me. But I don't know if you're really sorry for the way you acted. I might need a bit of convincing . . ."

He leaned in, brushing his lips against her cheek. "Oh, I think I'm up to it," he said huskily.

"In more than one way," added Noin innocently, suppressing a giggle.

His eyes snapped open at her joke. Why, that little . . . "Not funny."

She twined her arms around his neck leaned in so her face was inches from his. "Oh, well, I thought it was very," and she kissed him once, "very," and she kissed him again, "funny."

"Ahem," a voice from the doorway said.

Noin and Zechs turned to behold the sight of Relena standing beside Heero, who was holding a sleeping Alex in one arm. Noin immediately put a restraining hand on Zechs' arm; Relena was holding one of Heero's hands, and Alex was cuddled up against Heero with his blond head on his shoulder.

It really would have been a cute scene, Noin realized. That is, if Zechs wasn't turning bright red and steam wasn't coming out of his ears.

"What . . ." he started, his voice coming out in an angry hiss and slowly growing to a roar, ". . . do . . . you . . . think . . . you're . . . DOING . . . WITH . . . MY . . . SON!"

Heero blinked at him, then looked at Alex, who was stirring in his grasp. "Well . . ."

"AND LET GO OF MY SISTER'S HAND!"

Heero blinked down at Relena's hand in his. When he looked back up at Zechs, his expression was defiant.

"Your son is trying to sleep," he said bluntly. "He's had a long night, so don't wake him up."

Zech's icy blue eyes were burning in anger. "You're not listening to me, Yuy!" he shouted. "LET GO OF RELENA'S HAND!"

"And you're not listening to me," shot back Heero coolly. "Your son is trying to sleep. Be quiet."

"LIKE HELL I WILL!"

"Zechs!" Noin said reprovingly.

"Mmf . . . Uncle Heero?" a soft voice asked.

Heero looked down at the child he was holding. Alex was blinking up at him sleepily, then he turned and smiled at his parents. "Hi, Mommy. Hi, Daddy." He stopped, yawning. "What're you yellin' at Uncle Heero for, Daddy?"

But Zechs wasn't listening. A murderous sort of look was in his eyes. "WHAT did you call him?" he demanded of his son.

Alex blinked confusedly as if he had done something wrong and wasn't sure what. "Uncle . . . Heero . . ." he replied cautiously.

Zechs was seething, and nothing Noin nor Relena could do would stop him. "He is NOT your uncle," he growled. "Not now, and he never will be!"

Noin noticed how Relena nonchalantly tugged her left hand from Heero's grip and hid it behind her back. She wasn't sure, but she could have sworn she saw something glittering on one of her sister in-law's fingers. She would be sure to ask about it later.

Alex blinked at his father for a moment, looking thoughtful in his sleepy state, then he glanced up at Heero and smiled. "Can I call you Uncle Heero even if Daddy says not to?" he asked sweetly.

Relena disguised a chuckle as a cough. It was a high-pitched cough, but it worked.

Heero smirked. "Sure."

"YUY!"

Heero shot Zechs a glare. "No need to yell," he muttered. "I can hear you just fine."

"Daddy really doesn't like you, does he, Uncle Heero?" asked Alex sleepily.

"No, Alex, he doesn't."

Zechs snorted. "You got that right."

Noin and Relena exchanged exasperated glances. Men.

Alex yawned widely, his big, sleepy eyes drooping closed for a moment. Forcing them open, he snuggled closer to Heero. "Uncle Heero," he said quietly, "can you take me to bed?"

The look on Heero's face was surprisingly gentle, Noin noticed, and he seemed about to agree when Zechs stepped forward, murder gleaming in his eyes and electricity seeming to crackle around him.

"You will do no such thing," he said in a very frightening voice.

Heero was hardly one to be intimidated, but his skin was a shade paler as he handed Alex over to Noin.

"Your mom's going to put you to bed, Alex," he said quietly. "Okay?"

"Mm," replied Alex, his head lolling against Noin's shoulder as his eyes slid shut.

Noin adjusted her son on her hip as she looked from the furious Zechs to the cautious Heero to the disapproving Relena. Deciding that leaving Heero and Zechs in each other's presence would not result in the death of either if Relena was still in the room to keep the peace, she nodded to Relena and Heero with a smile and started up the stairs with Alex in her arms.

"G'night Aunt Relena," called Alex softly, his eyes closed. "G'night, Uncle Heero."

"Good night, Alex," said Relena sweetly.

"Night," said Heero shortly, casting a glance at Zechs, who was glaring angrily at him.

Noin smiled again and continued up the stairs to Alex's room.

"Hey, Alex, sweetie," she said quietly.

"Mm?"

Noin bit her lip, curiosity getting the best of her. "Do you know what that was on your Aunt Relena's finger tonight?"

"A ring," yawned Alex.

"Really?" Noin was starting to smile. "Was there anything special about that ring?"

"She's wearing it 'cause she's gonna marry Uncle Heero," murmured Alex sleepily. "Then he'll be my uncle for real an' Daddy won't be able to stop it an' Aunt Relena will be happy 'cause she likes Uncle Heero an' he likes her."

Noin wasn't as surprised at the news of the engagement as she should have been. She was smiling, imagining her husband's reaction to the news.

"Is that so?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"Mm-hmm," replied her son. "But I'm not supposed to tell Daddy."

Noin grinned as she opened the door to her son's room and went inside to put him to bed.

Meanwhile, Heero was looking uneasily at Zechs, who was looking more and more like he wanted to kill him. For the first time in his life, Heero decided to follow Relena's example and take the diplomatic, peaceful path.

He turned to his fiancee. "I'll just wait in the car," he said quietly.

Relena beamed at him and nodded, watching with an expression a little too soft for Zechs' taste as Heero nodded at her and headed toward the door. The second he was gone, Zechs turned to glare at Relena, who continued to keep her hands behind her back.

"Well?" he asked impatiently.

Relena blinked. "Well, what?"

"Are you okay?" he growled. "Are you in the same condition you were in earlier? Did that bastard hurt you or Alex at all?"

"Heero would never hurt me!" Relena exclaimed. "Or Alex! You should have seen Heero tonight, Milliardo, he was so good with Alex . . ."

Zechs snorted. "I find that hard to believe."

"Of course, you do, because you won't give him a chance!" hissed Relena. "He's changed since the war, Milliardo. Heero's not the same person who defeated you so long ago."

"You have to bring that up," muttered her brother.

"Well, that's what this is about, isn't it?" she asked heatedly. "You're still holding a grudge."

"That's not it at all," said Zechs, shaking his head. "I don't trust him around you."

Relena stopped, eyes wide. "You don't?" she asked softly.

Zechs shook his head again.

"But he loves me, Milliardo."

He stopped, frowning as he tried to ignore the feeling of dread that suddenly seized him. "I seriously doubt Heero Yuy is capable of feeling . . ."

Relena suddenly removed her left hand from behind her back and stuck it in her brother's face so he could clearly see the diamond ring glittering on her finger.

"He loves me," she repeated simply, waggling her ring finger so the diamond caught the light and sparkled.

Zechs stared at the ring with huge, unfocussed eyes. He stammered, open-mouthed for a moment, then he suddenly dropped to the floor in a dead faint.

Relena sighed, shook her head, and moved toward the door Heero had exited moments before. When she got in the car, she found Heero seated at the steering wheel, watching her carefully.

"Well?" he asked quietly.

Relena buckled her seatbelt and turned to him, smiling. "Well, what?"

"Zechs didn't come out to kill me, so I take it he didn't find out."

She giggled. "No, he knows."

He raised an eyebrow. "And he . . . isn't coming out to kill me?"

"Doesn't seem like it, does it?" she asked cheerfully.

Heero looked around cautiously as if Zechs was waiting to jump out and hit him over the head with a shovel. "No . . ."

Relena let out a light, happy laugh. "Well, let's be on our way before he decides to come out and kill you, alright?"

He glanced at her. "Okay."

She sighed happily, leaning over to put her head on his shoulder. "I do believe a celebration is in order," she said softly. "Don't you?"

Heero smirked down at her. "Hn."

Stay tuned for the epilogue, everybody! Hopefully it won't take me as long as this chapter did! College has been so busy I haven't had time to breathe. Seriously.