AN: Thanks to all my reviewers. Angel of Mirth and gundampilotX24, its good to hear from you for the first time. Your encouragements are so heartening, I really hope to hear more from you soon.

So many people have reviewed, asking who Gray Eyes is. This chapter, I am excited to reveal to you... an original character...

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

He was tall. He was well-built. He was as young as she herself. He was brunette. He was handsome. And he was not Heero Yuy.

"May I have this dance?" He asked her formally, bowing regally and extending his gloved hand.

Caught off guard, she automatically placed her hand into his outstretched one with no other thought than how much he resembled the former pilot of Wing Zero. He smiled dazzlingly down at her as he drew her close and began to lead the dance. Relena was struck by how handsome he was.

"Miss Peacecraft, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dekedenz Cocytus. I have been watching you for quite some time, and I can't begin to tell you how much I admire your work. The way you hold the entire world in your hand and cradle it in peace is something that I greatly admire and hope to also accomplish someday."

"Thank you." She studied his face carefully before venturing, "Cocytus? As in Cocytus Corp., the maker of high-tech, high-power jets and space shuttles?"

He inclined his head in another small bow, a signal in the affirmative.

Relena smiled brightly, relaxing noticeably. "Then I am very pleased to make your acquaintance. Your company has been a powerful and steadfast ally in our endeavor to keep the peace between Earth and the colonies."

"You are mistaken," replied Dekedenz, flashing her another breath-taking smile, "the pleasure, I assure you, is all mine." There was a strange gleam in his ash-colored eyes.

They waltzed together for a few more minutes, exchanging pleasantries and other civilities. The more they spoke, the more Relena found she liked this Dekedenz. He was sinfully handsome, no one could miss that fact. He reminded her so much of Heero, but at the same time he was so different. The most marked difference is his courtesy and attention to her. He always answered her fully, and with impeccable manners, so that conversation with the young corporate executive was refreshingly pleasant. In the back of her mind, she wondered why, with all her connections and obligations, she had never had the occasion to meet him before tonight. As the Vice-Foreign Minister, her network of acquaintances and colleagues was as extensive and impressive as a Gundam pilot's fighting skills. But Dekedenz... it was like he had just appeared out of nowhere.

When the last strains of the waltz reverberated on the air before dying out, and every other couple was breaking apart, Relena moved to pull back and thank her dancing partner but found that she couldn't. Dekedenz did not relinquish his tight hold on her. Before she could open her mouth to speak, Relena realized that the room had darkened, there was a dense, milky spotlight thrown onto the two of them, and that everybody in the room was looking at them. She turned to him to ask him what the meaning of it all was, but he was not standing before her anymore. No, he was kneeling now on one knee, and he was reaching into his jacket.

What's going on? Bewildered, Relena could only look on as Dekedenz pulled out a large crimson, velvet jewelry box. She felt her eyes grow wide with shock. She tried to move away but she was frozen, paralyzed. For a split second, she registered that all the Gundam pilots, including Heero, must be watching this scene play out. But it lasted only a split second before it vanished, chased out of her consciousness by the opening of the box.

It was a brilliant, dazzling, impossibly beautiful diamond necklace.

"Relena," Dekedenz began, "I've only introduced myself today, but I've admired you and loved you from far away for six long years. We are so compatible, and I know I can make you happy. Will you do me the honor of granting me your hand in marriage?"

Speechless. Utter hush permeated the entire great hall, the air was thicker than any gas should be, impenetrable as Gundanium alloy. Everyone held their breath, just as shocked by this unexpected event and all waiting silently to see what she would do.

Finally, Relena found some of her voice. In a choking, breathless whisper, she tried to express herself. "Dekedenz Cocytus, I... we... I've just met you... I can't..." She stared down into his storm-gray eyes. They were so intense, almost like his. A strange voice spoke in her head, It's a good match. Politically and personally. And the kind, polite part of her did not have the heart to refuse him outright in front of the hundreds of important public figures. It was a humiliation that nobody deserved, no matter how hasty and inappropriate was his proposal. "I can't... give you an answer just now... I need... some time."

Dekedenz Cocytus' expression lit up. It was the answer he had been hoping for, been counting on. "How much time?" he asked her, just as he had planned.

Relena hesitated. Then, reluctantly, "Three days."

He rose from his kneel to stand imperiously before her once again. Taking the diamond necklace from the case, he said, "Very well. But until then, please, wear this as a token of my affection and admiration. By no means is this a seal." She stood there fearfully, trembling slightly as he enveloped her with his arms, reaching to clasp the necklace behind her neck. The click that the latch made as it stuck fast seemed to resonate throughout the room with some mysterious sense of finality. Relena reached up with her left hand to touch the necklace lightly, clearly dazed by the event that had just transpired. She felt like she had just witnessed this from another vantage point, outside of her body; it was as if she had no control over what had happened. The beautiful necklace might very well have been a collar, a choker.

The entire room erupted in applause and cheers. What did they know? To them, a beautiful, influential young woman had just been proposed to by a handsome, wealthy corporate head. And she had not said "no." It was not a "yes," but it was not a "no" either, and that was good enough for them. What did they know? They knew nothing.

The Gundam pilots and the three young women stood there, eyes wide and staring, equally taken by surprise. Hilde, Sally, and Dorothy stood frozen in place. Their expressions were those of incredulous awe. Trowa, who was usually expressionless in the face of any danger or surprise, had lifted both eyebrows and gaped just slightly. Duo's jaw was dropped as low as humanly possible. Wufei blinked rapidly. Quatre watched with sad eyes and shook his head dejectedly. The master tactician of all battlefields, both warring and political, already knew what this would mean. A distance away, Heero was not breathing. He had his hands clenched so tightly into fists that his knuckles turned white and was devoting all his strength to shooting both of them his death glare. Except it was not the normal death glare. It was more of a rip-you-apart-with-bare-hands-and-riddle-your-corpses-with-bullets glare. Only one word was able to form in his head.Impossible.

The clapping and cheering still had not stopped. Suddenly overwhelmed with emotions and a dire need to escape, Relena mumbled a quick "Excuse me," and walked as quickly as she could out of the great hall before she would collapse in front of the entire party. The applause slowly died down, and the people returned to their friends and colleagues, conversing undoubtedly about the marriage proposal. In less than one hour, it would be the talk of the entire human race throughout the Earth, on every colony, and across the vastness of space. Dekedenz Cocytus smiled smugly and turned to walk confidently out of the hall.

Relena's friends turned to look at each other with disbelief. Had that really happened? Nobody knew what to say, how to react. They had all heard Relena's reply - she hadn't said "no."

Trowa was the first to shake himself out of shock. "We have to report this to Une." He had heard the man's name. "Dekedenz Cocytus." Wufei nodded his agreement. His instincts told him this was serious.

Quatre, himself a politician, felt his head reel just from beginning to think about the political implications. Vice-Foreign Minister and Former Queen of the World Relena Darlian Peacecraft... married? What kind of power would this union afford unto her husband?

Duo could only utter a helpless and betrayed, "Princess..." and then his thoughts turned to Heero. Oh man, Heero... what's he going to do now? He knew him all too well. This is going to be ugly. "Heero," he spoke out loud, and fear lit up the eyes of all eight people. They finally understood the disaster that this Dekedenz guy had created – a disaster greater than anything the political world ever had to worry about; the disaster that is incurring the wrath of Heero Yuy. They turned here and there, looking for him, but he was no where to be found. They were too late.

Heero had seen Relena leave. Rage clouded his mind and shrouded his vision with red. The Perfect Soldier who prided himself on not having emotions was drowning in a fathomless ocean of jealousy and anger. She had been offered a proposal. And she did not refuse. She left it open. There's a possibility. He growled savagely. I'll show her. I'll show her. And with that, he took off purposefully after her.

Far ahead, he saw the door to her room click shut. Two seconds later, Heero Yuy turned the same knob and slipped inside.

AN: Please, tell me what you think. I'm always eager to read your reviews. Oh, and that rating change? It's here. When I post chapter 8, I will also change the rating to "M." This thing is getting real dark, real fast. Please, let me know now if a rating increase is all right by you guys; if you'd rather this story remain at "T," then I can change the course. But please tell me, if that's the case. Thank you, all readers and reviewers.