AN: Even the smallest moments are important.

Chapter 2: Day by Day, Motion by Motion

The same wind that had disturbed the dead tree by Heero's apartment continued to travel through the desolate streets of the city, its chill flowing into a small park, embracing the first human it saw all night.

Relena turned around as if she expected the wind was not the only one following her.

The concrete pathway behind her, framed by the bare trees and green grass, was still empty, still hers; the same way it had been for the past half hour.

With that confirmed, she continued on her way again. She wouldn't be this edgy if it wasn't for her memory of the last time she got kidnapped. Ironically, that vague and unpleasant memory still wasn't enough to inhibit her from wandering out into the night.

For a moment, Relena had forgotten what had influenced her to take a stroll in the middle of the cold fall night. After three seconds, she remembered. Unfortunately.

The nightmares for her came every three to four nights. Relena would wake up, her mouth and eyes stretched wide, her lungs begging for the air around her. It wasn't often though that she would bolt out of her slumber feeling sick.

Tonight had been special, she guessed.

It had only been a few moments ago when she was in her washroom, her back hitting the wall on purpose—a futile attempt to rid her of the images that twisted themselves into her memory. She had then returned to her bed, spending for two hours studying the creases and folds of her bedsheets before she was finally convince that her state of mind would not grant her another peaceful rest…again.

Relena wondered if tonight was just another start of another routine that would randomly weave its way into her life. Was tonight just the first night of her being chased out of her own house from her nightmares? Her own home didn't even feel like her own anymore. Was it even really a home?

Pagan had left. Pagan, her good butler, and even better friend of twelve years, had left. For obvious reasons of course. She held nothing against him and did the only thing she could do: Let him go.

That was just another price she had to pay.

Relena wasn't naïve. Even with no trials to face, she knew there would be consequences she had to deal with: Pagan leaving, the professional but cold indifference of her new and old collegues, and the looks and whipsers she felt and heard when she was in public. It was all inevitable and all that she was prepared for. The one thing she wasn't prepared for was for someone to actually still see her as just another person.

Alex…

Alexander Fox was the man Heero had left in charge of her security after he left. During his short term as her bodyguard, he had been strictly professional but kind—especially a lot more gentler than her last guard. She had never really gotten to know him during their time together considering her own...situation at the time. And she had no expected to see him again when she officially stepped down from office so it had been a surprise to have him slowly become a part of her life.

It was Relena's second out of town trip with the sector when she found her ex-bodyguard escorting her and her co-workers onto the plane. The Preventer Agent ha dbeen assigned as one of the regular guards to accompany the sector on its trips. From there on, before she knew it, a friendship began. They sat together on most of their trips, bought coffee together, and even had lunch occasionally.

She had a made a new friend—the last thing she thought she would ever have or even deserve. But he was real and he was there. Relena even found herself attracted to him on some level. It was unfortunate that his attraction to her wasn't as vague.

Relena, do you want to go out with dinner to me tonight.

She remembered how she'd smiled so naively, the proposal flying right over her head.

Of course. I could use a break. Plus we haven't spend some timte together for a while and…" She trailed off when she felt his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at his gaze which held hers firmly.

"Relena," he said, "I'm asking you out on a date."

Relena cringed at the very memory of her embarrassment. And she cringed even more a the memory of declining him and the disappointment in his eyes.

"You brainless idiot."

She roughly kicked the concrete beneath her, breaking the surface of a black puddle. She couldn't believe how slow she was. Now that she looked back on their time together, his attraction to her was so obvious. She studied the ripples as they slowly died away, the water molding back into its original form. She saw her refelction illuminated by the harsh glow of the streetlight above her like an artificial moon. She glared back at the face in the black water before her foot came down on it, destroying the image.

She had to get back home.

Appoaching her doorstep, Relena didn't even try to avoid the memory that this once simple, trivial location was stained with: Heero Yuy pulling her into a fierce embrace.

She had stopped trying to ignore the memory a long time ago. And even when she was ignoring, she wasn't exactly putting her best effort into it either.

…Why did he do that?

Did it even mean anything to him as much as it did to her?

Maybe he was just glad I was safe…

But, he's never done that before…

It had been right after he had saved her from Darwin… But there was something so desperate about his hold on her. Almost possesive and yearnful.

She shook her head hard as she walked up the two shallow steps to her door. Her consciousness never failed to play tricks on her when it came to Heero Yuy—epseically after twelve years of hoping and wanting and not even getting a mild friendship out of it all. How many times had she actually been that close to him? Two, three, four…? Five times?

….Five times within twelve years…if not less. She chuckled sadly as she unlock the door. Must be a record.

As she walked into her house, she contineued to rewind the events of that day only to stop abruptly when she saw in her mind Darwin aiming the gun at her…and then herself handing over her own gun for him to use.

Her blue eyes slammed shut. God…

When her eyes flew oepend, she smothered the memory and the suffocating emotions that came along with it deep in her mind, at the very least hoping she would only have to deal with in her nightmares.

She didn't have time to think about those things now. She still had to get in the very few hours of sleep she had to leave for work. Today was the first day of the week too—a Monday. Such fun.

Somehow a touch of optimism managed to reach her.

Who knows? Today might be a good day.

"Darlien! How could you do something so foolish!...Again!"

Relena suppressed her reflex to cringe. Somehow, after three months of working at the public sector, that seemed to have become almost a second nature to her. As her new superior, Robert Ballentine, began another one of his ventful lectures, the words gradually became mute to Relena's ears as she wondered for the hundrenth time how she had ended up like this? What had happened? When she first started out here at the public sector, things were at such a good start. Unfortuantely, her great start had slowly fallen by the wayside. It hadn't taken Relena long to figure out that she was less than welcome at the Public Service Sector. Her coworkers shied away from her whenever it was non-work related. Relena decided she'd be damned if she let such a minor glitch in her new work environment to hold her back, so she had buried herself in her work. The problem was, even her own determination had backfired, especially when her work was starting to push the borders of the sector's policies.

"Darlien, are you listening?"

She nodded numbly. "Yes, sir."

The half-east indian man forced out an irritable sigh and stared at her like how an angry father would at his daughter. Ballentine was a good man. But even he was human and as professional has he was, his discomfort at having to accept a known murderer of two politicians into his operations was…unnerving. Not just for him and the workers but also for the reputation of the entire sector. The only reason why her entire life and the public sector did not change into a media circus was that everyone was still indulging themselves with Vincent McCallister. And no doubt Une and the two widows of the deceased men had something to do with the media's lack of attention to Relena.

Still Relena knew the public was smarter than that and she wondered how long til the media would finally seek her out.

"Listen, Relena, I know you have nothing but good intentions for this sector. Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Sackhiem have spoken nothing but good things about you…"

Relena didn't miss the disbelievment in his eyes. Again, she didn't blame him

"But even you have to agree that you've been…more persistent that necessary."

She nodded solemnly, knowing that he was right.

"The Terra Forming Project has nothing to do with my part of the sector here. We are only responsible for the well being of the colonies and Earth. Not for the well being of Mars. Do you understand? Its stated clearly in our guidelines. When the Terra Forming Sector needs our help, I'm sure they will come to us."

She nodded respectfully at his words. "I understand that sir but I just thought maybe if I propose that we were to unite to some extent—"

Ballantine stopped her with the raise of his hand, his jaw line visibly tightening. "Darlien…Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Sackhiem happen to be good friends of mine…and so were their husbands—God bless their souls."

Relena felt her chest tightened as her head dropped awkwardly to the floor. That was one way of smacking her face with the facts.

"Those two women have complete faith in you and I can see why. You're an efficient and dedicated worker…but if you keep on insisting to go against my rules and continue to jeopardize the this sector's reputation, I have no other choice than to let you go…no matter what Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Sackhiem say…Do you understand, Relena?"

She raised her head to his own serious brown eyes and nodded. "Loud and clear, sir. This situation won't happen again."

"I hope it won't." He glanced at the clock situated at the far wall behind Relena. "Now go off and get something to eat. Its lunch time."

The former Minister bowed her head. "Thank you, sir." She turned and exited the room.

Most of her coworkers had already retreated to the cafeteria or lobby to eat their lunch. Only a few were left behind to catch up on the usual report or to review an important contract. Relena quickly wielded her way around the cubicles until finding her own. She slumped into her rolling chair, the full weight of her back supported by the wool cushioned backrest.

How could she have been so foolish! So selfish! Here she was trying to get some tiniest amount of power over what use to be hers when her actions could endanger her job that Mrs. Smith and Sackhiem had so benevolently gotten for her after the pain she'd cause them.

It was barely five past noon and the exhaustion and the emotions she kept at bay constantly was already beginning to take their toll on her. The tips of her fingers came to her forehead. The lights above suddenly became to harsh for her as an impending headache finally made itself present. Through the growing ache, she managed to decide to get herself working on the healthy pile of paperwork on her desk. As Relena tried in vain to ward off the headache, her other hand with a life of its own had latched on to a handle of the one of the drawers to retrieve a pen. Barely conscious of the action, she pulled.

Relena just caught sight of the drawer being suspended in the air for a second before it came crashing down at the floor.

"Oh!"

Her knees hit the floor hard while her hands immediately ceased the scattered pens and pencils that rolled anywhere but near her.

"Damn it," she cursed through her teeth.

Relena bent over to retrieve the pens that escaped under the desk. She managed to feel out four pens with her fingers before straightening back up and discovering the other body kneeling right across from her.

"Une!"

the head of Preventers just smiled at her. Relena glanced down and saw her hands filled with ballpoint pens.

"Shoddy craftsmanship?" the older woman inquired conversationally.

She looked up at her words, suddenly embarrassed. "Uh, yeah…" She watched as Une allowed the pens to slide out of her hand. The sound of pens rattling back into the drawer quickly came and went. With Une holding the other side of the drawer, the two women quickly shifted the drawer back in its niche.

"What are you doing here?" Relena asked curiously, standing up. Une followed suite. "Are you here on business?"

"Actually, I'm here to see you."

"Oh…" The back of her hand brushed at her forehead-a small act of surprise. "How can I help you?"

Une smiled softly at her. "Join me for lunch?"

After a five minute stroll, Relena found herself in a private tea room at a well-known restraunt with Une. Une apparently had a appointment lunch which was then reschedualed so had decided not to waste the reservation on just herself.

Relena couldn't help but be slightly releived to be the tea room away from the normal dining area. She and Une had already received a few shocked glances on their way in the elegant restraunt and it didn't take the former Minister to realize how out of place she felt and how what other people thought did affect her more than she wanted to believe.

Her uneasiness steadily washed away as Une drew her into light conversation; Relena still in awe on how different Une was when away from her desk and yet still effortlessly in so much control even to the finest, trivial detail. As their conversation deepened, she watched how she lifted the water gass to her lips, the way she dipped her spoon into her clam chowder. Even to the most finest, trivial detail, the woman beside her was so effortlessly in control of everything.

As Relena spooned her own clam showder into her mouth, her free hand tightened around the wool material of her business skirt at a passing thought: If Une had been in her position all those months ago, would she had handled it better?

"Marimaia will be coming here by the ninteenth."

Relena's eyes widened at the news. "Oh, my God—really?"

Une nodded. "And she wants to see you too."

Relena beamed. "Please tell her to call me immediately once she lands."

"I will do that."

"Wow…she must be eight—nineteen now, isn't she?"

"Yes she is."

"And what is she studying in England again?"

"I believe English Literature and political science."

"That's wonderful."

Une sipped from her glass. "Yes, she's enjoys it immensely. No doubt she will ask you on your opinions on the two subjects once she gets back." Une watched Relena smile wistfully. But as a neutral silence fell over them, lasting barely a moment, Relena spoke, her smile disappearing with the short silence.

"Une, you didn't just bring me here to have lunch, did you?"

Une exhaled softly. "No, I didn't."

Relena's brow knitted. "What's wrong?"

"Sally's told me you stopped taking sessions with her."

it was Relena's turn to sigh this time. "Yeah…I just don't think I need them anymore. I'm doing find with out counseling."

"Are you sure?" Une's voice reclaiming its usual firmness. "Sally says that it would be very beneficial for you."

Relena shifted slightly in her cushioned chair, hididng her uneasiness of the topic by faking a slight chuckle into her voice. "I know, but she mentioned something about using hypnosis on me to recover some of the memories I seem to have lost between the time I was kidnapped and the time I was released(1). Um…You know I just don't think something to that extent is necessary. As you can see, I'm doing fine."

Une just nodded at her reply and Relena knew she wasn't entirely convinced.

The Preventer leader decided to leave it at that. she looked into the young woman's eyes, allowing something to show in her own brown ones to trigger Relena to ask of something else. It worked.

"What else do you want to know?"

Une leaned slightly foreward, the sharpness of her eyes returning and gazing deeply into Relena's. "Actually, there's something you should know. ESUN…there's word that ESUN wants to reconsider giving you a trial." Une watched her carefully for any signs of shock and was mildly suprirsed that the only change in her demeanor was a blink. …Maybe she had suspected something like this?

"I see," Relena said, nodding her head slowly.

"I don't want to alarm you. From what I've heard and researched, its just talk. Nothing is decided yet and it probably won't be solved for a long time. there might not even be anything to solve. But I felt it was my responsibility to warn you, just in case. And if a trial does come, there's nothing either Mrs. Smith, Sackhiem or I could do to stop it. But I will do everything I can to help you."

Relena's eyes regained their focus at Une's last words. "Une, you don'thave to do all this for me. You've done so much already."

"No, Relena. I want to." Une smiled. It was a sad smile. "it's really all I can do. besides…I owe you."

Relena blinked. Her gaze a mixture of hurt, wonder, and gratitude. "Une…"

The room slipped into a quiet stillness again. Une looked down at Relena's hand resting on the table. Slowly, she covered it with hers and it was soon covered by Relena's other hand.

It was at that moment when Relena remembered that Une was only four years older than her.

Wensday

Duo Maxwell was at a crossroads, asking the question every man had to face once in his life time.

Celery or cucumbers?

Cucumbers or celery?

….Hmmm.

Duo had been standing infront of the two piles of vegetables in the produce section at one of the local supermarkets in town. For six minutes. The man liked to pick his vegetables very carefully…of course, he was the only one who knew that.

I'll go with…celery.

His snatched up a bounded, slightly wet bundle of the vegetable. He weighed it with his hand for a few seconds before his eyes went back to the neatly stacked pile of cucumbers. He dropped the bundle.

No…cucumbers. His hand paused just before it touched the dark green plant. Or, no, I'll go with…

Something suddenly caught his attention in the produce mirror. His eyes widened at what he saw.

Relena?

He started blinking. Holy crap! He hadn't seen her for…months! He watched her as she made a B-line towards the tall pile of apples in the middle of the produce section just not so far to his right. As he watched her, Duo realized how much he missed seeing her.

Relena had just started to suspect one of the apples when Duo's infamous grin spread across his face.

Relena walked up to the pile of autumn grown apples, admiring its colour.

she plucked one up, inspecting its colour and size. she turned the fruit over in her hands, enjoying the dry smoothness of its skin.

"Princesses should never eat apples. From what I read, things never turn out well when they do."

Relena could feel her entire face breaking out into a child's smile, a deep breath filling her lungs. She schooled the expression to only a soft smile before facing the man who never failed to put a smile on her face.

Sure enough, she was greeted with Duo's contagious grin.

"Maxwell."

"What's up, Darlien?" The rhythm of his words came out like child's rhyme.

Their gaze lasted only a second before she was pulled into a bear hug, letting out her first laugh of the week as her feet momentarily lifted off the ground. The two friends completely oblivious to the people glancing their way.

"Oh, my God! I haven't seen you in so long," she beamed. the last time she saw him was when he had visited her in the hospital those three months ago.

"I know," he replied, his arms returning to his sides. "I'm sorry I haven't called to check up on you."

"No. Don't apologize—its fine. Besides, we both have lives to get back to."

He nodded, his blue eyes suddenly veiled with a melancholy. His glanced at the apple still in her hand. He gestured to it. "Princesses shouldn't eat apples," he repeated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Why? Is it because when they do, they release chaos upon the earth?"

His smile dropped faster than a bowling bowl. "Uh…that was a Snow White reference, not a Bible one…"

Relena expression mirrored his own awkward one, if not more embarrassed. "I know," she nodded. Her gaze dropped to the floor, her cheeks growing warm. "Uh…bad joke." She returned the apple back to its brethren.

One of side of Duo's lips curved up sympathetically at her embarrassment. "So, how are you doing? You know, with your new job and everything."

"Oh, that's going alright I guess." She laced in a chuckle as she continued, "Its definitely a lot less challenging that what I was doing before." Her smile once again diminished when she heard her own words. "Oh, uh, when I say that I mean my Vice Foreign Minister position…Not that the other thing was easy to do, I mean—I—"

Her choppy explanation was halted by a strong hand on her shoulder.

"I get it," Duo said. He lightly squeezed her shoulder, giving a her a small assuring shake, before releasing her.

"So, how about you?"

"Well, you know, nothing big. Work's work, life's life.

"You know, I saw you a few times hanging around Alex Fox a few times. You guys friends now?" He nudged her playfully, achieving another blush from her as he added, "More than friends?"

"Oh, um, no. Just friends," she answered sheepishly.

He raised an eyebrow at her still flushed cheekswondering why she was so embarrassed.

A small pause passed before his next question. "Have you seen Heero lately?"

That definitely grabbed her attention. "What?"

"Have you seen Heero?"

"Uh, no not really…" She decided to tell a bit of the truth. "I saw him once some weeks ago but besides that, no, I haven't seen him lately. Why do you ask?" she said frowing with curiosity.

Duo shrugged. "Oh, you know—no reason, just wondering." Only because the guy looked like the world ended when you almost died—no biggy. "So have you seen anyone else lately? Um…Quatre for instance?"

"We've talked here and there but you know how he is—he's so busy. We still keep in touch of course."

"That's all?"

Relena nodded. She somehow didn't like the way Duo sounded. Now he was frowning at her, his eyes filled with sympathy and concern.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Duo, I'm doing fine."

Yeah, I remember saying that a lot too, was Duo's silent reply.

"Lena, its just that I've noticed you're always alone. And…" His voice became quiet. "Ever since what happened, I really do think you should break that habit. ….I'm just worried for you."

Relena looked down at the items in her shopping basket hanging from her arm.

"And, I know we've never been close, but you know that if you ever need to talk, I'm right here." He spread his arms apart, his palms facing upwards, to emphasize his point. The blue shopping basket on his left forearm swung slightly. "Just a phone call away and I'll be right there with you."

A soft, sad smile blossomed on her lips. "I know that Duo."

"Well, jeez, do you mind testing out your knowledge then?" he asked amusingly, his hand dropping atop her head only to mess up her hair. He made a joking pout. "I get lonely too, you know."

Relena laughed as she pulled his hand out of her messed up hair. Duo was always like this; his sincere charm making her feel right at home no matter where she was. Alex had been like that. "Alright, I will."

"You promise?"

"You have my word." She meant it.

"And you have mine, princess."

At his words, Relena burst into giggles. When she didn't stop, Duo worried that her giggles were at his expense.

"Hey, you gonna tell me what's so funny?"

She raise a hand to her face to suppress her laughter. "I'm sorry," she managed out. She quickly got her giggles under control, just aware of the tiny tears in her eyes. "It's just that you haven't called me princess in the longest time."

Duo chuckled. "Well I guess I'll have to get back into that habit."

"Oh," she groaned. "Do you have to? You know how much it annoyed me when you did."

Duo rolled his eyes. "Please. Like you don't miss it just a bit?"

He was right. She did. Of course, she would never let him know.

Her hand suddenly caught an orange.

Relena blinked down at the fruit before looking back at Duo. She held up the orange. "What's this for?"

"For you," he responded as if it was the silly question. He laughed at her more confused look. "I also heard they're for eating. They're sweet and named after their colour. Besides, you need to keep up that glow about you."

She glanced at the fruit again. She could feel her smile shrink as she thought about his words and what they meant to her. "What glow? I don't glow."

He took a step back. "Don't be ridiculous. You'll always be glowing to me." As if reading her mind, Duo made sure she caught the secret glint in his eye that only she would understand. Tilting his head foreward, he tipped an imaginary hat at her. "Goodnight, fair princess."

She chuckled as he strolled past her. She turned and watched him past the ailes. His handsome, heavy braid proudly trailed his back. The handle of the blue basket was now in his hand and she enjoyed how the twenty-seven year old boy swung it back and fourth.

Friday

Preventer Heaquarters

Last day of her work week.

10 p.m.

Relena leaned against the noisy photo copier. She listened to the loud electronic noises as it produced the last pages of the latest report of the Terra Forming Project.

She wasn't going to repeat the same mistake after her last meeting with Ballentine. Still she wasn't going to give up on helping the problems of her former project. She could still have an indirect hand in the project through public meetings and keep her business at the Public sector separate. Definitely nothing wrong with that.

The neon green light faded from the tiny slits of the machine just as the last page appeared. Quickly packing the copies into her brown leather suitcase, she returned the original folder back into its metal cabinet.

When she was assured she had everything done, she made her way around the the metal cabinets of the dark room. Her shoes lightly hitting the floor; their small echoes dying almost instantly. Just as she was about to step out of the door and shadow appeared less than a foot away from her.

She gasped. Her shoes nearly falling off her feet when she jumped from the sudden appearance. It only took her a moment to make out the darkened features of the shadow

"Wufei, jeez, you scared me. " Her hand covered her chest. She could feel it expanding as she took in a slow breath.

"What are you doing here?" he ordered curtly.

She was a little taken back by his bluntness and undying coldness. Then again, she wasn't surprise either.

"Uh, I was just getting a few things for work."

His black eyes came to her id card clipped onto the right side of her chest. "Let me see your authorization card." Another order.

Relena bit her tongue. Say, please.

She pulled the card off her shirt, the action sharp and indignant. This man was never going to like her.

She studied how his eyes went side by side as he scanned the card, a deep knit between his eyebrows. After a few seconds he handed it back to her.

"You've been here more than once. I've seen you. I remind you that this isn't a public library."

Her grip tightened on her suitcase's handle. "Excuse me, Wufei, but has your job been demoted to security of this building?"

His glare was near terrifying but she stood her ground. Hell, she had faced off Romefellar.

"Be on your way," he ordered again.

She returned his glare with a cool and almost blank look. "Same to you." Sidestepping out of the doorway and past the callous Chinese man, she never looked back.

Relena punched the elevator button, the white circle glowing yellow. She could hear her own teeth grinding against each other as she tried to keep her mutterings at bay.

She couldn't believe how Wufei had just treated her. She knew all little respect the man had for her vanished ever since what happened. Before, he had at least the common courtesy to be polite—even kind to her when it was a good day. Now, he looked at her as if one of his enemies from the war. Relena knew that he knew that she was absolutely no threat and he still acted like she had wanted to murder those men!

A shuddering breath filled her lungs as she stepped in the elevator, her frustration and exhaustion from the entire week finally taking its full effect on her as her eyes grew hot from the familiar wetness.

Relena closed her eyes. She concentrated on her breathing and the soft humming of the elevator. Most of all, she tried to dispel the angry memory of her latest encounter of Wufei.

Ding.

While the doors slid opened, Relena was glad to note that she wasn't going to be seeing Wufei or anyone else as cold as he was for the rest of the night. Her second step towards the exit was abruptly haulted as her entire front rougly collided with another body, her suitcase flying out of her grip from the force.

"Ah…" she hissed from the pain of her right shoulder, her eyes squeezed shut.

Her eyes flew opened to look at the person Relena was about to apologize when

her entire body grew numb at the sight of Heero Yuy standing right infront of her looking ready to kill.