Mako arrived at the gym a little late, and as she walked inside she heard Wufei comment snidely
"You're late"
"I know, sorry, Rei wanted a meeting in her room," Mako told him absently stripping off her shirt, wearing just her sports bra and Wufei was stunned at how good she looked. All the work they had been doing to train each other had paid off. They had met every day for the passed two months and sparred with each other, finding each other the perfect opponent in strength and height.
"Meet about what?" Wufei asked and Mako shrugged.
"This and that, doesn't really matter, lets spar," she invited him dodging his questions as she always did and Wufei nodded crouching low.
Two hours later the two were slippery with sweat, gasping for air but still as determined to defeat one another. Mako sunk into a sweeping kick knocking Wufei's legs out from under him and he fell flat on his back. Mako went to straddle him but he flipped her onto her back and straddled her instead pinning her arms.
"Yield," he demanded of her and Mako smiled, pleased to have lasted as long as she did against Wufei.
"I yield," she agreed but Wufei didn't release her hands. Their faces were inches apart and Wufei felt himself blushing bright red as he rolled off her, knowing he had to tell her now how he felt about her.
Over the passed few months, Wufei had felt something inside him growing. An affection for Mako, through their fighting and sparring, Wufei had come to respect and possibly love Mako for the strong woman she was. Mako reminded him of his dead wife, he wasn't about to let her slip out of his fingers. He began pacing as he tried, quite unsuccessfully to tell Makoto how he truly felt about her.
"You are….a good woman….a strong woman…..someone to respect"
"Is this your way of asking me out?" Mako asked him thoroughly amused and Wufei gave her a look of annoyance.
"You are not making this easy onna," Wufei growled in her direction and Mako smiled inwardly.
"Tell you what, I will date you, if you stop calling me onna and call me Mako," Mako gave him the conditions of the deal and Wufei hesitated only a moment, before nodding.
"Okay…Mako"
"Can I ask you a question though?" Mako asked frowning a little and Wufei stopped his pacing to finally look directly at her.
"What"
"Why do you want to date me? We fight constantly, we annoy each other to no end, half the time its like you want to cut my head off with the katana," Mako smirked as she remembered the time Wufei had come close to doing exactly that. But then he had looked in her eyes, and his fierceness had calmed and he had helped her up. It was the way he looked into her eyes now. So gentle, so protective, so admiring.
"I like you because you challenge me, because you are everything I ever dreamed of in a woman, that's why," Wufei told her surely stepping towards her and he roughly brushed her hair back with his hand.
"I never knew what I wanted in a man, but now I know I want you," Mako replied grabbing his face between her hands and kissing him long and hard, just the way both of them liked it.
In Minako's room Duo and Minako lay sprawled before the fireplace, wrapped in a fur quilt, entwined in each others arms.
"Babe, you are the sunshine in my world," Duo told her lovingly kissing her forehead and Minako could have melted with happiness but something was bothering her.
"What do you want from me?" Minako asked of Duo who shrugged hugging her tightly.
"What we have now," he said simply but Minako wasn't satisfied with his answer. She wanted more, didn't he?
"But don't you want more, don't you think about the future, about us, where we will be? I mean I am pretty much your girlfriend at the moment but you refuse to give me that title, its like you are stopping me from getting too close to you," Minako started on him pulling away and Duo sat up running a hand through his already ruffled hair. He had been dreading this conversation, but he had known it was coming.
"I was hurt so badly before," Duo whispered and Minako sat up a little offended at his words.
"Why should you punish me for what happened to you?" she demanded and Duo felt terrible knowing it wasn't her fault Hilde had left him.
"I don't meant to," he apologised in his simple way and Minako grabbed onto his hand and moving so her beautiful face was directly in front of his.
"Then love me freely please, leave everything else behind, allow yourself to fully love me," Minako begged, her wide blue eyes so willing, so pleading for him to believe in their love. Duo couldn't stare into her eyes , he bowed his head regretfully.
"I'm scared," he admitted softly and Minako lifted his chin with her hands.
"Don't be"
"I love you," Duo breathed and Minako's eyes widened with joy. He had never told her he loved her before. She had always been waiting, she had always been hoping that he would love her.
"I love you more," Minako confessed throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him lovingly.
Duo looked over at this beautiful woman curled up in his arms and couldn't believe it was real.
Minako however was frowning, thinking of Rei who still hadn't spoken a single word.
"I feel like I should apologise to Rei," Minako said absently, her eyes glazing over with sadness and Duo was surprised.
"What for?" he asked curiously and Minako shrugged.
"That's just it, I don't know, and its killing me inside," Minako whispered sadly and Duo kissed the top of her head lovingly, just holding her.
Another three months passed by as the first three had. Each couple became closer together and by the end of the three months Rei had nearly finished Endymion's cape.
Rei had pleaded with Heero to let her go searching for more roses as she had exhausted Quatre's supply from his garden, so here they were taking a leisurely stroll through the forests, just outside of Quatre's mansion grounds. They were both silent as always, Heero kept his eyes on the lookout for anything suspicious while Rei wandered beside him. He had heard rumours that people from the village were starting to call Rei a witch. He heard stories taht they believed Rei had bewitched him somehow, so Heero was cautious whenever he allowed Reiout of the mansion grounds. He would not allow anything to happen to her. Never.
"There are some roses," Heero pointed off in the direction of a clearing where the townspeople had been cutting down the trees, but they had all gone home for the afternoon. Rei's eyes widened with joy and she went on her tiptoes to kiss Heero's cheek before hurrying to the clearing where the roses were growing in abundance. The area they were clearing used to be someone's house, and the house had quite the rose garden, the previous owner had loved roses.
Heero slowly walked over to watch Rei and was stuck by the breathtaking picture of beauty she made sitting there in a bed of roses. She was wearing a lilac flowing dress, her hair tied in a low loose ponytail, her cheeks flushed from the heat. She looked up at him and beckoned him to sit with her while she picked her roses and Heero took a step towards her when he heard loud creaking noise.
That sounded like…a falling tree! Somehow Heero knew that the tree was headed for Rei and he dove to protect her pushing her out of the way, just in time as the trunk of the tree fell exactly where Rei had been sitting. Unfortunately Heero hadn't managed to get out of the way and the trunk fell on his legs. The pain was unbearable and Heero cried out, his eyes shut with the effort of trying to dull the pain running through his body. Opening his eyes he saw Rei's worried face, knowing she couldn't call for help.
-Heero has been hurt, please come now- Rei projected this message and a mental picture of their location to any open mind she could find nearby. Rei crawled as close as she could to Heero, kneeling beside him, placing his head on her lap stroking his hair from his forehead.
-Be strong Heero- Rei bethought Heero, hoping that somehow he would be able to hear her and know all would be well and she felt his hand reach up and grasp hers strongly. Rei bent her head and kissed Heero's forehead gently.
-Be strong Heero- Heero heard a woman's voice in his head whispering those words to him and each time he heard the words his strength and will to live grew. He could no longer feel his legs, all he could feel were Rei's fingers stroking his forehead and her warm tears on his face. It seemed like they had stayed that way forever but then he heard the galloping of a horse and Relena's voice crying out his name before he lost consciousness and blacked out.