Okay, this chapter contains tid-bits from the ending of Endless Waltz, HOWEVER, I have taken pieces from both the anime and the manga. Most of the words are from the anime, but I like the ending in the manga better (where Heero becomes Relena's bodyguard) so that's what I'm using. Okay, hope you enjoy!

CHAPTER SIX

Alianna collapsed against the large plush arm chair in the large lounge of the Darlian mansion. She was exhausted. Now that the war was over, Relena had been so busy with conferences and press releases that Ali hadn't had time to sit down all week! Even as it was, Relena was about to begin her talk on the Mars Terraforming Project and Alianna had to be there for the whole thing. She glanced at the clock in the corner of the room and sighed; five minutes. She stood up again, her feet aching for some relief, and stood in front of the full length mirror before her. She straightened the collar on her lilac business sit, straightened her skirt and smoothed down her hair just as Relena was coming down the stairs.

Ali turned with her usual smile and watched as Relena spouted off orders to Pagan as he quickly jots them all down on his typical notepad. Of course, Heero was never more than a few steps behind her. Ali could never quite get over the look of Heero in a black suit and sunglasses. He always looked so professional and if it wasn't for Duo (and the fact that Heero was madly in love with Relena), Ali just might have gone for him. She approached the stairs and waited for Relena to join her.

"And lastly, I'd like you to move Monday's meeting to tomorrow so I can have at least a little time off." She finished.

"Yes, Miss Relena." Pagan bowed and rushed off. Relena smiled tiredly and turned to Alianna. "Ready, Ali?" She asked.

Ali smiled. "As always, Miss Relena." She bowed and moved so Relena could walk past her. "Yuy." Ali acknowledged as Heero passed.

"Hn" he grunted and hurried to keep up with Relena.

Ali held in her smile. Heero, the perfect soldier, hurrying to catch up with a senator. She shook her head as she followed them. "You're plane is waiting for you at the landing, Miss Relena," Ali said, holding her clipboard and reading from it, "and the conference begins at 9, giving you just enough time to get there and get you're notes together before it begins."

Relena nodded through-out the speech and finally sighed. "This is getting tiresome."

Ali smirked. "Forgive me, Miss Relena, but you're the one who asked for this job."

Relena chuckled. "Yes I know. Anyway, we better hurry."

Alianna, Heero and Relena all piled into her limo and it pulled out of the drive. Heero and Relena talked in hushed tones as Ali stared out the window. She couldn't help but wonder where Duo was at that moment. She hadn't seen much of him during the 'Mariemaia Incident' and she was wondering how he was dealing with normal life. Little did she know, at that very moment, Duo was doing anything but experiencing "normal life;" In fact, he was in the process of preparing his Gundam to be destroyed.

"There!" He exclaimed and jumped from the cockpit to the ground. "Finnished." He turned to Quatre and Trowa. "You guys ready with yours yet?"

Quatre jumped from Sandrock and smiled. "Yeah, it's all ready to go."

Trowa soon joined them with a nod.

"Good," Duo said and looked up at Deathscythe, "I'm gonna miss you pal." He smiled and turned to his friends. "We'd better get out of range."

Quatre and Trowa nodded and the three friends walked out of the clearing and up to a small cliff that over looked the valley. Duo sighed as he looked out on the three Gundams in the valley as he fingered the small metal device in his hand.

"Ali should be here."

Trowa and Quatre turned to look at him and Quatre blinked. "Why?"

Duo sighed and looked at the device he held. "Because she was just to close as Deathscythe as I was."

Trowa moved forward and placed a hand on Duo's shoulder. "Call her."

Duo shook his head. "No…she's on a plane heading to a press conference with Heero and Relena."

Quatre smiled. "Call her anyway. She may not be able to come, but at least she'll know."

Duo smiled at his friends and nodded. He dug his hand in his pocket and pulled out the small cell phone. He dialed a number he knew by heart and listened as it rang.

Ali's phone rang and startled her. Relena turned around just as they were walking up the stairs to enter the plane.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

Ali looked down at the phone. "It's Duo." She said, shocked. She looked up to Relena and smiled. "Go ahead. I'm right behind you."

Relena nodded and entered the plane. Ali followed but remained in the attendants room. She placed the phone to her ear and pressed 'talk.'

"Hello?"

"Hey, Al."

Ali smiled at the familier voice on the other end. "Duo…is something wrong?"

"Well, I know you're busy, so I won't keep you long." He paused as he started at the Gundams. "I just thought you'd want to know that Deathscythe is about to meet the reaper."

Ali's eyes widened for a moment before she sighed with a sad smile. "I suppose it's time then."

Duo grunted. "I'd ask you to come and say goodbye…"

"I understand." She smiled to herself. "Thanks anyway. Tell him I said goodbye."

Duo chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I will." He hung up the phone and turned to Quatre and Trowa with a smirk before turning to Deathscythe.

"Well Deathscythe, old buddy, this is it!" He said and held out the device in front of him. "Oh yeah, and Ali says goodbye." He added just as he pushed the button.

The explosion shook the hill sides and the Gundams were blown to pieces.

"Looks like I'm back to being nameless." Trowa said sadly.

"Trowa sounds good to me. You should keep it." Quatre smiled.

"I agree!" Duo piped up, "Names are things given to you by other people. There's no need worrying about it." He turned to his friends. "The important thing is that we have a place to go home too, right?"

Trowa and Quatre smiled. "Right." They said together.

Duo turned back to the remains of the Gundams. "Hmm…" He jumped from the cliff and ran into the rubble.

Trowa and Quatre watched him with suspicion before following.

"What're you doing, Duo?" Quatre asked, watching Duo pick up various pieces of Gundanium from the ground.

"I just got a really interesting idea…" He smirked and turned to Quatre. "Hey Quat, mind if I borrow a few hundred bucks?"

Alianna smiled as she watched from behind the stage as Relena gave her speech about the Mars Terraforming Project. She had to admit, it was a brilliant idea. She had to suppress a giggle when she saw Heero fighting off a rather persistent reporter who "only wanted answers". If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn that Heero would just kill the man and be over with it. The conference didn't go nearly as long as she was thinking and soon they were back on the plane and headed back to Relena's mansion for some long awaited sleep.

Ali smiled as she watched out of the window at the passing clouds. It reminded her of being in a mobile suit, only no where near as fast. It saddened her somewhat that mobile suits were being destroyed. She'd miss piloting them. It was probably for the better, she knew this, but it was still slightly sad.

The plane landed without incident and Ali stood to begin gathering Relena's things. She paused when she felt eyes on her. She looked up to see Relena staring at her, her eyes shining.

"What is it, Miss Relena?"

Relena smiled and approached her. She took the things out of Ali's hands and looked up at her. "I'll take care of this. You just go outside."

Ali blinked, confused. She turned to Heero in search of understanding but he only grunted and slid his sunglasses over his eyes again. She turned back to Relena and opened her mouth to question her when Relena pushed her through the isles.

"Go on, Ali. Just go outside." She said.

Ali began to protest until she saw what she was being pushed to. Duo was standing at the foot of the stairs just outside of the plane. She smiled and, with a playful glare to Relena, she walked down the stairs and met Duo. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"I'm surprised to see you. I thought you were with Deathscythe."

Duo shrugged. "Detonation only takes a few minutes." He smiled.

Ali nodded. "I suppose you're right."

Duo smirked. "How was the conference?"

Ali sighed, exasperatedly. "Tiring. I just want to go home and sleep."

Duo's smirk grew and he suppressed a chuckle. Ali blinked and crossed her arms over her chest. "What is it? I know that smile…" She couldn't help but giggle.

"Listen Ali," Duo said and moved closer to her, "We've been through a lot, right?"

Ali nodded, confused.

"Well, all this action has made me think. What do I really want to do once the war is over? I've thought about this a lot since the war started and I've never really been able to come up with a stable answer." He reached her and locked his fingers with hers. "Except one." His eyes met hers. "You."

Ali blinked. "Me?"

Duo nodded. "You're the only thing that has ever made since to me. After everything that's happened, you've always been there. You've been a constant." He chuckled darkly. "You're the one who scared away the God of Death."

Ali smiled and nodded, admittedly.

Duo sighed and looked deep into her eyes. "Ali…I love you. I have for the past two years. And…there's only one real way I can think of to show you just how much I love you." He backed up and lowered himself to one knee.

Ali felt faint. She jerked her head back to the plane and saw Relena and Heero smirking down at her. She glared at them and turned back to Duo, who had pulled out a box and was holding it in front of her.

"Alianna Westwood…" He smiled and Ali closed her eyes in anticipation, "…will you marry me?" He finished and Ali felt a wave of relief flow through her.

The more rational part of her brain was screaming at her that it should have been obvious. She knew he was purposing, she shouldn't be so stupid, but the natural woman in her was screaming at the rational side to shut up and commenced in giggling profusely. She opened her eyes, letting a single tear fall down her cheek.

"Duo…we're just kids."

Duo chuckled and shook his head. "According to the law, maybe, but you and I both know that we're more grown up than over half the adults in this world. Why else do you think we were able to get such prominent jobs?"

Ali couldn't help it; she laughed. Duo was right. If it wasn't for her maturity, she never would have received the job as Relena's personal attendant; and surely Duo wouldn't be working salvage and repair at his own privately owned shop. "Yeah…okay you're right." She looked down at him and smiled. "Yes." She said at last.

Behind her, she heard Relena squeak in excitement and Heero's grunt of approval but she resisted turning around. Duo stood up and held her close, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. When he pulled back, he opened the box he was holding. Ali looked down and gasped. The ring inside was a silvery color with small black "wings" on the top. And right in the center of the wings was a sizable red stone. Ali studied it closely and turned to Duo.

"Duo, is this-"

Duo nodded. "It's Deathscythe, or what's left of him anyway. I used the scrap from his destruction to make the ring."

Ali felt herself tear up. "Then this is…" She pointed to the stone.

"The glass from his eyes." Duo smiled and held Ali closely.

"Duo, how'd you afford this?"

Duo chuckled. "Well…let's just say we'll be working pretty hard for the next few years to pay Quatre back." Ali opened her mouth to protest until Duo silenced her with a kiss. When he pulled back, she was out of breath. "I love you, Ali." He said, "Don't ever forget that."

Ali sighed and placed the ring on her finger. She studied it for a moment, amazed at how wonderful it looked there, and wrapped her arms around Duo tightly. "I won't, Duo. I promise." She looked him in the eyes. "And I love you too."

He smiled and leaned down and their lips touched in a passionate kiss. Both Ali and Duo knew that at this moment everything was perfect. Maybe war really was the best way to find peace; after all, it brought them together. What could be more peaceful than true love?

The End

Okay, there it is! Done at last. So what do you think? I hope you've enjoyed it!