Chapter 24

"WE HAVE THE LITTLE PRINCE."

Lady Une stared at the message. Blinked. Stared some more. It was still there.

A door opened. "Mother?"

It was Mariemaia. Concerned, she walked over to where Lady Une was sitting dumbly and
staring at her screen. Mariemaia's look of gentle concern soon hardened into cold fury.

"They work fast," was all Lady Une said.

Mariemaia nodded. "Indeed."

"So then, who should I bestow the honor upon to notify Wind and Fire?"

Mariemaia's mouth twitched. "Not me."

a few minutes later...

"Why is it always me?!" Mariemaia sighed to herself, staring at the retreating
forms of Zechs and Noin. They had, expectedly, not reacted well to the news of their son's
kidnapping. Sighing once again, she quickly ran forward to intercept them. "Zechs-sama,
Noin-sama-"

"Move," Zechs growled, staring straight ahead. Noin nodded grimly.

Mariemaia took a deep breath. "Fine, just what do you think you're going to do? Storm
their base? WHAT base? WHICH base, is more like it. And do you think that that is going
to get Geoffry back? I understand your concern-"

"No you don't," Noin said softly, shaking her head. "You couldn't possibly-"

They were interrupted by Quatre. Mariemaia breathed a sigh of relief.

Quatre smiled sympathetically at the younger girl, then said firmly, "Zechs, Noin, with
all due respect, please control yourselves right now. We are receiving a transmission
from the Neo-Rommefeller right now." Here he hesitated. Finally, he said, "I believe
Nicolae wants to speak to you."

There was silence. Zechs' hands were clenched into fists; Noin stared straight ahead with
steely eyes. Finally, Zechs said, "Fine. Let's go."

The two stalked off, leaving a frustrated Quatre and Mariemaia in their wake.

a few minutes later...

"We cannot possibly agree to your demands! Put the inhabitants of Earth and the
colonies under your control?!"

Relena felt like screaming. It had been at least a decade since she had had to deal with
such nonsense. Ever since the last attempt at a coup, people had realized that one:
peace could only be maintained if everyone cooperated, and two: anyone stupid enough to
even try to stage a coup would have a heck of a time at it. Unfortunately, as always,
time always dulled the memories of people, and it seemed like the endless waltz was
beginning anew.

"It is not much to ask, Mrs. Yuy," Nicolae tsked, smiling. "Admit it: You have not
been able to be rid of all dissension. There are many still out there that question this
little proposal of yours, with your disintergrating of all borders, elimination of all
arms-Oh pardon me," he said sarcastically, "the elimination of all arms except for a select
few!"

"A necessary precaution, and that is all!" Relena snapped, her patience wearing
thin. "They have not been used; the majority of the weapons remain in storage, as I'm
sure you undoubtably realized when you raided the Preventer bases!" Oh why, why, why?
Relena thought to herself angrily. Why won't some people listen to reason. When the
transmission had first been put through, everyone had immediately elected Relena to
communicate with him, in part to try to obtain information, and in part to stall until
Zechs and Noin could be calmed down enough to speak to him.

When the doors behind her finally opened, Relena breathed an inner sigh of relief. Zechs
and Noin had finally arrived; perhaps now they could get down to business.

Or maybe that was too much to hope for. Both Zechs and Noin froze when they saw Nicolae,
and then,

"Ah! Merquise! Noin! It is a pleasure to see you again!" Nicolae called out in
mock friendliness. Continuing, he said, "Simply wonderful children you have, by the way.
Your eldest daughter-"

"Where are my children?" Noin said coldly, glaring at him.

Nicolae pretended to be hurt. "Why, Noin, we haven't seen each other in two decades.
Surely you could be a little more polite to your old friend?"

"Skip the pleasantries, Nicolae," was Noin's response. "I want Aelis and Geoffry
back, and I want them back now. Where are they?!"

Nicolae smirked. "Ah yes, it hurts now, doesn't it?" he sneered, finally dropping his
mask of sugary politeness. "To have the fruits of your womb stolen from you, one
permanently sullied, the other two with questionable fates?"

"Is that it, then? You do all of this, just for your pitiful revenge against
us? This whole war, just for us? You flatter us," Zechs spoke up with disgust.

Nicolae laughed. "Revenge? Yes, partly." His eyes narrowed. "You two RUINED me. You
destroyed ANY chance I would ever have for glory. I watched from the shadows as you two
both rose to prosperity, and the only reason you were there, the only reason you were in
that spotlight, was because you had shoved me out! I was your competition, so you-"

"Stop fabricating lies, Nicolae! You know EXACTLY what you did, and you got
exactly what you deserved!" Noin shouted. "Why you twisted, little-"

"Now now. Let's not lose our tempers now," Nicolae soothed. As Zechs and Noin
seethed, he continued, "Yes, well, let us put that part behind us. What I want is what
I was destined to have. As Dermail's only male descendant, I should hold the reigns of the
Rommefeller, and yes, I do know that it no longer exists."

Nicolae snorted. "Dermail was an old fool, and if it hadn't been for you two, I would have
controlled Rommefeller during the Eve Wars. But no matter; I have a second chance now.
I'll have everything I was destined to have, and," he said, his eyes dangerous, "I ruin YOU
two in the process." His face twisted. "Feel the pain I did," he hissed. "Feel the
suffering that you put me through. You two will PAY, and it will be through your children's
blood! I will personally make sure that-"

There was a gunshot.

Everyone in the room turned around. Jaws dropped. "What...the..." Mariemaia choked.

Mariko Yuy stood there, holding a smoking pistol. "I couldn't take it anymore," she
said simply. "The garbage he was spewing, I refused to have anyone have to listen to it."

At this, Duo cast a quick sidelong glance at Relena and groaned. If Zechs and Noin had
been angry, it was nothing compared to the fury that was on Relena's face. Turning to
face Heero, Relena said sweetly, "Heero, darling, explain. NOW."

It wasn't even a request; it was a command. Riko glanced nervously at her mother.
"Kaasan-"

"Later." Riko shut her mouth.

Smiling sweetly at everyone, Relena stalked out of the room. "Heero, Riko, outside please.
We need to have a little 'talk.'"

outside...

"Okay Heero. Let's try this again. How did Riko learn how to operate firearms?"

Heero showed no signs of backing down. "She had to know how to protect herself."

"Heero, dear, didn't we have a little AGREEMENT before she was born? Or does the
'Perfect Soldier' forget things rather quickly?" Relena sneered, her voice bordering on
sarcasm.

"Had you known, you would have interfered."

"Interfered?! Is that right, Heero Yuy! I am, after all, just an INTERFERENCE in
my own daughter's life, right?! I EXPLICITLY told you that Riko was NOT to have any-"

"Open your eyes, Relena! WE are her parents! She could not have possibly gone
through life innocently and naively in your ideal world!"

"MY ideal world? MINE?! Tell me, is there anything WRONG with peace? Or is it
just that you've grown up with war so you cannot even DEAL with a life of peace, so
you decided to CONTAMINATE OUR DAUGHTER'S LIFE with YOUR little 'ideals?'"

"Contaminate?! Relena, I am her father! I am a former gundam pilot! You are
her mother! You are the Vice-foreign Minister! It is universally expected that Riko is
to succeed you. We have enemies, Relena, and therefore, our enemies are Riko's enemies.
Do you know how many people would love to put a bullet through her head? Do you know...how
many times...I had to save you?" he choked, suddenly realizing that his throat was
constricting. Shaking himself out of it and donning his Perfect Soldier mask again, he
continued, "Relena, you thought I had disappeared from your life for a few years after the
Mariemaia incident. The truth is...I didn't.

"For those long years, I fought to get my humanity back. I had realized...that I
felt something for you, something more than friendship. But I, as I was, could not make
you happy. I knew that. So I disappeared, hoping that time would make both of us
forget about each other.

"It didn't work. I successfully avoided you for a month. But then one day, I
read in the paper that you were touring the colonies. You would be visitng the colony I
was staying on. I should have left. I nearly did; I packed my belongings, bought a
ticket on the next shuttle out. But then, for some reason, I still stayed.

"I remember seeing you. You were surrounded by bodyguards and you were being
ushered into some auditorium so you could make your speech. I went in ahead and found a
seat in the back. I nearly ran someone over, who was crouched in the back.

"The person had a bomb, and he was busy planting it in the seats. No one had
noticed him. I killed him quickly and disabled the bomb. Then, to insure your safety,
I started a small fire. Everyone evacuated; your speech was postponed to the next week.
When the event finally occured...I was there. Since then, I was always with you. I watched
over you, and many times, I picked off various unknown assassins trying to kill you. And
even as I did so, even as I continued to play a soldier, I slowly gained my humanity back.
You...you gave me a reason to live, Relena. And so, after many years, when I realized that
the Perfect Soldier was no more, I revealed myself to you."

Relena closed her eyes briefly, fighting the tears that were threatening to overflow.
She regained her composure, and said, "Heero...why didn't you ever tell me this?"

"There was no reason to," he sighed. "You were happy thinking that I had
disappeared from your life in order to regain my humanity, and then came back for you. I
saw no reason to change your viewpoint. But," he continued, "I realized that you would
never be completely safe. And so, when Riko was born, I knew she had to know how to
protect herself. I...I'm not invincible. I can't protect you both forever. And so,
Riko had to learn."

"You lied to me," Relena said quietly. "You promised me point-blank to my face
that whatever child we had, he or she would know only a life of peace."

"I didn't know what to do. To tell you my reasons would have meant I would have
to tell you how many times people had made attempts on your life. It was too complicated."

"So then, you trained Riko," Relena sighed and shook her head sadly. "...Very
well, then. What's done is done. Please tell Lady Une that Riko will henceforth be
available as a backup pilot."

"Kaasan, I'm sorry," Riko said quietly. "But...when Tousan offered to train me, I
couldn't turn down the opportunity. I don't know if I'll ever be as lucky as you, having
someone like Daddy to protect you. I wanted to be able to depend on myself, and not on
others."

"Riko, honey, it's okay. I...I'm sorry for not thinking things out thoroughly."
Relena wearily ran a hand through her hair. "After seeing my father killed in front of me,
all I ever wanted was to be in a world with peace, where no one would ever have to go
through the pain I did. But that's never going to happen. Peace will only be achieved as
long as people are willing to fight to maintain it. I realized that when I was forced to
ask people to fight during the Barton coup...but I wish I didn't have to do that. So,
when you were born, some part of me hoped that maybe, just maybe, if you were kept as
isolated as possible, then you at least would never have to suffer. I'm sorry."

"Mom, it's okay. I understand what you mean. I don't regret being who I am. I
love peace, but at the same time, I'm willing to fight for it. But I also hate war. I
hate what it does to people, I hate how it kills people. I still don't like fighting or
using weapons; I'd rather fight the peaceful way, your way. But, if I have to, I'll fight
Dad's way too, even if it means having to hurt others. I'll do it for the good of this
world."

"I know. I'm proud of you, sweetie. But," and Relena turned to glare at Heero,
"your father is still sleeping on the floor tonight!"

"Hn," was all the Perfect Soldier said.