Hi everyone...here's chapter nine!!! Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

demee: Thanks for your review and yes...William is a lowlife villain. ^^

Ladybug: Aww...thanks. Well, the wait is now over for this chapter. ^_~

Sakura123: Yeah, the Victorian era has always fascinated me and so, I thought I would write an AU fic with my favorite couple...Heero and Relena. Hopefully, I'm getting better at the romance part, but I'm still trying. ^_^ As for the century aspect of it, it's set in the 19th...I sometimes confuse the numbers myself. lol

We Meet Again

~*~

Two days had passed...

"Miss Relena, you have only two hours to get ready for Martha's dance." Trudy called from the hallway.

"Thanks for the warning, Trudy. I'll be ready soon. I hate going to these dances." She adjusted her corset that tugged at her body again. The constricting necessity was making it hard for her to breath from what she could tie from the back.

"At least you're making some progress in reemerging back into the social life of Winfield." Trudy was now at the foot of her bedroom door.

"Oh please..." She motioned for her to enter to finish knotting the white fabric.

Trudy quickly knotted the loose strings together and she continued their conversation, "Just teasing...who knows...Heero could be there?" She saw the reaction in Relena's face, which showed a little blush. "You do like him." She gave an acknowledging look toward the young woman. "Well, I better stop chatting and let you get ready now."

Relena smiled to her maid and friend. "Thanks Trudy. Any news from my parents, yet?"

"No, not today. I'm sure they'll be back in a matter of days." The woman could tell that Relena was beginning to worry. She decided to change the subject to a lighter one, "So, what dress do you think you'll be wearing for the evening dance?"

"I was thinking of the rose chiffon dress that laces in the back."

"That would be a lovely dress." Trudy went over to the closet and pulled out the lightweight dress. "Is it me, but I think most of your wardrobe is in pink... well almost?" She heard a laugh coming from the young woman.

"Funny, Trudy, very funny."

"It's good to hear you laugh again." She then helped Relena into the dark pink dress and helped her with her hair. She slowly twisted the long honey blonde hair into a coiffure that was eventually decorated by a matching ribbon. By the time the two were finished, it was nearly time for the dance. "You do look stunning." Trudy nearly cried as she saw how beautiful the young woman was.

"Thank you, Trudy. I better be off now, Martha will probably wonder why I haven't showed up yet. If she does send a messenger, tell him that I'm already on my way.

"Alright, just be careful now."

"I'll see you later then."

"Have fun." The woman quickly ushered Relena out of the vast mansion and she watched her enter a small carriage that was prepared for the night's festivities. The one-man driver gently escorted her to her seat. Inside the carriage, she smoothed out the wrinkles to her dress and she then felt the carriage start. She heard one of the lanterns gently clang against the wooden frame of the carriage, but she didn't mind at all. The ride to Martha's would only last a couple of minutes. Before long, she felt the carriage come to a stop and the door was opened. She gave the driver her right hand that was gloved and she slowly emerged into the summer night.

"Thank you, sir."

"I'll be waiting to escort you back to your residence." He bowed to her.

"Alright then." She thanked him in return and slowly walked to Martha's front porch. She could already see that there were a couple of guests sitting in one of the guest rooms. The light from her lamps glowed through the lace curtains that donned the room. "Here goes nothing." She rang the doorbell and in seconds, the familiar socialite of Winfield appeared before her. Her black dress seemed to sparkle in the light of her own home.

"Hello Relena. We all have been expecting you for quite a while." She smiled to the young woman dressed in the rose chiffon dress. "Please, do come in." The old woman then called out to her other guests, "Look who's here."

All eyes then focused on Relena, who was now in a more precarious situation than before. She didn't want all of the attention that Martha was giving to her now. It seemed like with her mother's absence, Martha decided to pick up the role of playing the matchmaker for her. To lighten the mood in the waiting room filled with lavish plush furniture and electric lamps, she greeted everyone individually to maintain her position within the circle of socialites of Winfield. Otherwise if she disrespected any of them, the Peacecraft name would be frowned upon. That's why she hated some of these social functions in Winfield, if she hadn't shown up to Martha's party, everyone would start to have rumors about her and her family. It was a game that she couldn't win...no matter how hard she tried to escape.

After she had greeted everyone, Martha moved the entire party to her glass garden that was connected to the main house and with that opportunity; she decided to showcase the room. Inside the glass garden, the guests saw white rose bushes and a variety of orchids. To their amazement, a small water fountain was situated in the middle of the garden. The fountain consisted of a short cement pedestal and top of it, stood a winged cupid. The winged cupid was aiming his arrow at some invisible target, but at the same time, water spurted out from the tip of his arrow and cascaded back down into the pool of water.

"This is truly amazing, Martha. I don't know how you do it." A woman wearing a forest green evening dress commented on the serene garden.

"Well thank you, Lily." She then allowed the guests to meander around for a while and admire her lovely garden. She waited patiently for her guests to complete their mini excursions and she then called out to the group, "May I have your attention, the dancing shall now begin in the dance room, where dinner will also be served." The clicking of a variety of footsteps ranged throughout the glass structure, as the group made its way to the dance room, which was similar in size to the Peacecraft's dance hall, but with more modern luxuries such as electricity.

Relena slowly complied to Martha's request and sat at the dinner table with Martha and her friends. She longed to be at home, where she could find more useful chatter with Trudy. She heard one of Martha's friends bring up the issue about William Bennett. She knew that she couldn't evade the issue any longer due to the fact that Martha told everyone that she remained in her home for two weeks after the shocking revelation.

"So how are you truly holding up my dear?" A woman in her early thirties with bright brown eyes and black hair asked the question. She wore the dark forest colored dress. All the others at the table tuned their ears on their conversation in hopes of gaining a little dirt on the Peacecraft.

"Well, Lily, I'm doing fine now. Thank you for asking." Relena tried to hide as much information from the curious socialites.

"Well that's good to hear indeed. I hear that Bennett boy is still lingering around here. When I was visiting my sister in Western Springs, I could have sworn that I saw him at an inn over there. Why did you break up with him?"

"If you [all] must know, I found him cheating on me." She gauged the reaction of the table and noticed how shocked they were to see the truth. In return, she knew that Martha was setting her up for more town gossip.

"I didn't know that," commented Martha. "All I heard was that the two of you quickly dissolved the relationship." She sipped a cup of her creamed coffee.

Relena just nodded at her mother's friend. Now she knew why her mother was so gossipy during these social functions. She figured it must have rubbed off from Martha. She then looked towards the grandfather clock that was situated nearby. The face of it showed that two hours had passed from the start of the party. "Well, it was nice talking to all of you and catching up. If you would please excuse me, I need some fresh air."

"But you haven't even danced yet dear," protested Martha.

"That won't be necessary tonight, but thank you for your offer. Good night everyone." She gracefully left the table, where the ladies were wondering why she was off in a hurry.

"She seems to be awfully rude today," quipped Lily. The others at the table looked to each other and shrugged the incident off. With that, the group dressed in their summer's best resumed eating their dinner, while a couple of other guests began to dance on the ballroom floor.

As for Relena, she approached the glass doors, but was stopped by a guest wearing a black tail coat. The man asked her for a dance, but she politely refused him. She quickly walked out of the vast dance room with the other guests minding their own business for once.



With that, she retreated to Martha's glass garden, where she was overcome with anger and betrayal due to Martha's plan. The conversation she had with the women was one of Martha's ways to get the actual "scoop" in love affairs that filtered throughout the small town. "I can't believe that nerve of that woman sometimes." She clenched her fists at her sides and decided to take a short walk through the garden. She slowly returned back to her normal self and eventually took refuge by a small white rose bush. The scent of its sweet smell intoxicated her body and drowned out the useless chatter she had heard minutes before. While at the same time, she heard the water splashing about within the fountain, but the sound of it was music to her ears.

~*~

Outside by the main road, a familiar Appaloosa slowly walked about. The rider was somewhat fatigued, but his hazel eyes were concealed well under his black hat. Passersby greeted the stranger, not knowing it was someone they had known from the early summer season. They all assumed that he was from some close town and was just passing through.

Word of Mrs. Grant's dance filtered throughout the small area. He had heard of the news from a woman, who was greeting her sister in Western Springs. Hearing the name of Relena within earshot of the women's conversation enlightened him. He thought about returning to Winfield soon afterwards the conversation, in hopes of winning back her heart, but at the same time, he needed a way to eliminate one obstacle in his path. Before his return, he had purchased a small pistol from a local dealer.

He continued to travel down the main road of Winfield and eventually he came upon the Grant residence. The lights were on full and he heard a string quartet play music in the background. He didn't see her in his sight and he didn't want to attract any attention towards himself as he was snooping around the premises. He nudged his horse further down to a side road and decided to hide in the darkness of the forest. His eyes carefully scanned the area to see if anyone left the residence and he was hoping that one of them had honey blonde hair...otherwise if it was [him], he would set his plan into motion.

~*~

Relena continued to admire the peacefulness of the serene garden, but eventually she had enough of it. She sneaked out to the front door and saw that her coachman was still there. "I've decided to walk home for the night. You can go home now."

"But miss," the coachman looked worried.

"I'll be fine. But thank you for waiting." She took out her purse and gave him some money to pay for the trouble of waiting on her.

"Thank you, Miss Peacecraft. You have a good night then." He climbed up to his seat and drove off into the main town.

She started off to the side road and headed off into the night. The sounds of the night life echoed throughout the trees. Since the night was still young, she decided to head towards the direction of the lake. The fireflies twisted about from one area to another as she walked along the well-worn path. Within minutes, she saw the lake in her sight with the moon's reflection right at the crystal surface.

She undid her coiffure by loosening the rose ribbon and her honey blonde hair tumbled downward towards her lower back. Some of the strands caught the moonlight and reflected a golden glow, as she walked about the shoreline. In the background, she heard twigs break and wondered what could have triggered those sounds. She carefully picked up a branch and hid it close to a fallen log. Her blue eyes flashed around the area to see anything out of the ordinary, but she couldn't find anything. She then resumed her walk, but stayed close to the fallen log. She heard footsteps coming towards her, but with the darkness, it was hard to pinpoint what was coming towards her.

"Who's there?" Alarm was in her voice.

"You sure don't miss anything...do you?"

The voice slowly registered in her memory and she finally realized who it was. "William...what are you doing here?" The appearance of him still shocked her. "How did you know I was here?"

He evaded her second question but answered the first one, "I came to see you." He approached more closely to her. "I heard that Mrs. Grant was hosting a dance tonight and that you were supposed to be there. I should correct myself...well you were there, but then left."

"Have you been spying on me?" She walked closer to the fallen log and pretended to be preoccupied with her dress.

"Well, not really."

His hazel eyes looked innocent, but she sensed something wasn't right. She smelled whiskey in his breath. "Have you been drinking?"

"Yes." He came closer to her than before and was within arms reach of her. "You look more lovely than ever."

She then produced the branch she had hidden and swatted him. "Stay back now. Don't you come even closer or I will hit you again."

"There's no need for that." He took a step and was met with a sudden poke in his right arm. "I just came here to apologize to you for my actions, I'm sorry. Can't we start over again?"

She continued to hold the branch in striking distance of him, "We can't... what's done is done. I can never forgive you for cheating on me. You must leave now."

"Or you do what? Swat me with that branch of yours? We're far from the town and no one can come to your aid," he quipped in a mocking tone. He walked closer towards her with the moonlight casting a sinister glow about him.

"Stay back, I warned you!" She swatted him again, but it didn't affect him at all. She continued her futile attacks. Within minutes, he grabbed the branch out of her hands and shook her violently by her shoulders.

"Just give me a second chance," he pleaded with her.

"No!!" She wrestled out of his strong hold and tried to run towards the trees and back to her home. She felt a strong grasp about her waist. "Get off of me." She elbowed him in his abdominal area and he fell into the moist dirt.

"Why do you have to make this difficult?" He grunted. He started after her again, but she knew that it was the whiskey making him more delusional than ever. He saw that she had another branch in her hands and was prepared to strike. He charged towards her and felt whacks about his shoulders and arms. He ripped the branch out of her hands and slapped her to the ground, but she quickly got up and ran from him.

She screamed on the top of her lungs, hoping someone would hear her cries, "Hel...p!" She felt his hand cover her mouth, but she bit back in response. "You will never have me, William." She gritted her teeth during the struggle and continued to fight him off. The strength from her surprised him and he knew this wasn't over yet.

He continued to make advances towards her and enveloped her within his hold. The two landed on the soft ground. She continued to struggle with him, but it was useless, he was beginning to have the upper hand in this struggle. She then had one more trick up her sleeve and grabbed a fistful of dirt. When he thought she had surrendered, she threw the dirt into his eyes and he screamed in pain.

"You wench!!"

Relena saw it as an opportunity to escape, but she had barely time to move out from his reach. Before she knew it, he had grabbed hold of her once more and now she feared for her life. He pinned her down to the ground and began attacking at the laces of her dress, "You will do what as I say, you hear me!!" He screamed at her.

"I'm not yours, not for all eternity. You're drunk!!!" She shouted back in hopes of putting some sense back into the transformed man. She breathed heavily from their struggle as he continued his rampage. She felt his hold loosen somewhat at one moment and kicked him in his groin, just like what she had done to Heero the first time that she saw him. She saw the pain he felt and he doubled over. This was her last chance to get out of his way and she wanted to make it count.

She quickly pushed his pathetic body out of her way and ran to the cover of the trees, but then she felt his hold around her waist and they both fell again. The two laid motionless on the semi-rocky ground and Relena laid on her left arm that was underneath her, but a small pool of crimson was beginning to trickle down her forehead.

~*~

Back at Duo's residence, both Duo and Heero were just sitting in the back patio, taking in the cool summer night. Two nights before, Duo had mentioned about the Mrs. Grant's dance, but it didn't have the affect that Duo wanted from his friend.

"Did you hear that?" An alarmed Heero gazed into the open darkness.

"Hear what?" Duo took a sip of his brandy. "I didn't hear anything."

"Hn." He looked worriedly out into the night and felt something was wrong. In the corner of his eyesight, he saw a flutter of birds emerging from the trees. "That's strange."

"There could be some wild animal nearby...probably disturbed the bird population." Duo looked towards the direction, where Heero was looking at.

"I'm not too sure though."

"Like I said it's nothing for you to worry about."

"Well for you it isn't, but I'm not used to these parts of the woods."

"Oh come on, you've been here before." He took another sip of his cold brandy. "You do have Relena on your mind." He took a quick look at his friend and caught him off his guard. "Hah, I was right."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He replied in his usual monotone voice and was trying to evade the issue at hand.

"Stop playing games with your heart, Heero. It's obvious you [like] her, I catch you daydreaming about her. You haven't been yourself during this whole summer to be a matter of fact." He finally caught his friend at his own game. "One night, I heard you say her name out loud in your sleep."

"You're lying." He gave a deadly glare at his friend.

"You said her name out during the summer storm that we had just a couple of weeks ago. It seemed to me that you were having a nightmare of some sort." He finally hit the root of Heero's problems and noticed how silent his friend had become.

"You're no doctor."

"I know that, but I think I've finally figured you out for once."

"Hn." He continued to stare in the direction from where the flock of birds came from. All off a sudden, a robin had landed in front of the two men with a something in his beak. He cautiously moved his right hand towards the small creature and took the object from him. In the moonlight, the ribbon glistened with hues of pink along with softened light from the moon.

"I wonder how that bird got to it?" Duo blinked a couple of times to make sure that he was seeing a robin at the wooden post of his patio.

"This is Relena's."

"How do you know that?"

"I've seen this ribbon before." He examined the ribbon closely and noticed something else that was out of the ordinary. There were bloodstains on it. "I need to find her now." He quickly left his seat and headed off to the woods behind Duo's home.

"Hey wait for me!" He shouted out towards his friend, who already disappeared into the dimly lighted forest.

TBC

Another evil cliffhanger...hmm...will Heero get there in time? Or has he fallen prey to William's trap? ... Well, thanks for reading and please review. THANK YOU!!! :)

Important author's note: I won't be updating periodically, since I'm starting my spring semester, in which I have to balance two science courses...organic chemistry and physics. But if you're wondering when I'll be posting, I'll be happy to send you an email. Well, I truly thank you for reading this far and I hope you'll stay for more upcoming chapters. And THANKS for all of your reviews, it means so much to me and I'm glad that you're enjoying the story!!! Bye for now.

~Water Lily2~