Chapter 2
Hope and Despair
Relena sat uneasy in her office chair. She would have been in a meeting, but had canceled it for an important call she was expecting that day. A week ago she had gone to the doctor's regarding her 'stomach flu'. They took a few tests and told her they would call in a week with the results.
Suddenly the vidphone rang causing her to almost fall out of her chair. Then Duo's usually cheerful face popped up on the screen. But Duo didn't look cheerful, which was odd for him.
"Relena, I have some bad news. It's Heero..."
On L5 in a dark alleyway a few hours earlier
Heero stood quietly in the shadows watching two men in trench coats talk in private. He had heard most of their whispered conversation about war and recorded it for proof to take back to the Preventors. He finally decided that he had heard enough and turned to leave before he was caught. As he quietly started to walk away, he heard one of the men yell.
"What was that?" Heero turned to see if they had seen him.
"Look," the other one yelled as he pointed at Heero. Heero saw them reaching in their coats, for what he assumed were pistols, before he turned and ran for his life. Then three gunshots could be heard as they echoed off the walls of the empty alleyway.
Back in Relena's office
"No!" Tears started to fall from her eyes as she shook her head. "No! NO! He promised me! He promised that he would come back to me."
"I'm so sorry, Relena, but he is gone. I wish that it wasn't true and I didn't have to sit here telling you this." Duo said to Relena as she collapsed onto her desk. Duo looked away from the screen. It was hard to watch her collapse like that when she always seemed so strong and steady.
"I'm sorry, Relena." Duo whispered, then the screen went blank. Relena didn't hear Duo say good-bye or notice that the line was dead. She just sat there and cried. After an hour of crying she fell asleep. She was awoken from her sleep by the vidphone that was beeping. She lifted her face to see Doctor Smith on the screen smiling broadly. Dread quickly filled her again. She had completely forgotten about the call she had been waiting for before Duo called.
"Congratulations, Ms. Peacecraft! You are going to have a baby!" With those last words Relena's fears were confirmed. Her world, as she knew it, came crashing down on her. What was she going to do know?
"Thank you, Doctor." She managed to crock out. Then she cut the connection before the doctor could respond.
Three days came and went. Relena had not cried since she found out Heero was dead. She was in denial and kept on thinking that one day he would walk though her front door and say, "I'm back". But that never happened.
It was the day of his funeral and everyone stood out on the green grass of the cemetery as a priest read his memorial service to the people standing around his casket. The weather did not match the grim scene as the sun shone brightly making their thick black cloths very uncomfortable. It was a private service and only Heero's dearest friends attended. Relena, Duo, Quatre, Trowa, Hilde, Noin, even Milliardo and Wufei showed up to pay there last respects.
When the service was over people slowly left, leaving only Relena and Duo. Duo put his hand on the casket and a lone tear fell from his eye to hit the mahogany wood.
"Good-bye my friend", he said. Before turning to leave he placed a comforting hand on Relena's shoulder. "Are you alright Relena?" She just nodded in response.
"Could I have a moment...please?"she pleaded in an almost inaudible whisper as she continued to stare at the casket. Duo nodded in response then left to join the others. She just stood there for a few seconds then let out a sob as tears started to flow from her eyes for the first time in three days.
"You're really dead aren't you?" She asked the casket. After getting no response she started to talk again as a steady stream of tears fell from her eyes.
"It's hard to believe that you are dead. You always seemed so...strong, and...immortal that nothing could possibly ever harm you. Now you seem like nothing more then a flimsy figment of my imagination. As if I thought you up in a dream, but you weren't just a dream. I have proof of that. It seems like just yesterday you were here with me." She paused for a moment to take a deep breath. "What am I going to do without you? I know I'll live, I have to. I'm pregnant with your child. You know, I always hoped I would be able to tell you that, but I guess its too late now," she paused for a moment and gave a kind of sad, ironic laugh that didn't sound like a laugh at all. "I haven't told anyone else and I'm not going to. I'm going to leave. I hope you're not mad, but I can't stay here. It's too sad here. Everything reminds me of you. I drive down the street and I see the beach where I met you. I walk through the garden and I remember us walking through there talking about things I can't remember now. I speak in public and I no longer feel safe because I know you aren't there watching over me. I sleep in my bed and remember that one precious night that you stayed with me and kept away the cold. It not that I want to forget you, I never want to forget you, it's just that your presence still seems to be here. It haunts me and tells me that you're still alive. I can't wake up from another dream of you to find out it was just my brain lying to my heart again. I can't raise our child in that kind of misery. Please forgive me." With that she leaned down and kissed the wood. Then she stood, wiped away her tears and walked away never to return.
Hope and Despair
Relena sat uneasy in her office chair. She would have been in a meeting, but had canceled it for an important call she was expecting that day. A week ago she had gone to the doctor's regarding her 'stomach flu'. They took a few tests and told her they would call in a week with the results.
Suddenly the vidphone rang causing her to almost fall out of her chair. Then Duo's usually cheerful face popped up on the screen. But Duo didn't look cheerful, which was odd for him.
"Relena, I have some bad news. It's Heero..."
On L5 in a dark alleyway a few hours earlier
Heero stood quietly in the shadows watching two men in trench coats talk in private. He had heard most of their whispered conversation about war and recorded it for proof to take back to the Preventors. He finally decided that he had heard enough and turned to leave before he was caught. As he quietly started to walk away, he heard one of the men yell.
"What was that?" Heero turned to see if they had seen him.
"Look," the other one yelled as he pointed at Heero. Heero saw them reaching in their coats, for what he assumed were pistols, before he turned and ran for his life. Then three gunshots could be heard as they echoed off the walls of the empty alleyway.
Back in Relena's office
"No!" Tears started to fall from her eyes as she shook her head. "No! NO! He promised me! He promised that he would come back to me."
"I'm so sorry, Relena, but he is gone. I wish that it wasn't true and I didn't have to sit here telling you this." Duo said to Relena as she collapsed onto her desk. Duo looked away from the screen. It was hard to watch her collapse like that when she always seemed so strong and steady.
"I'm sorry, Relena." Duo whispered, then the screen went blank. Relena didn't hear Duo say good-bye or notice that the line was dead. She just sat there and cried. After an hour of crying she fell asleep. She was awoken from her sleep by the vidphone that was beeping. She lifted her face to see Doctor Smith on the screen smiling broadly. Dread quickly filled her again. She had completely forgotten about the call she had been waiting for before Duo called.
"Congratulations, Ms. Peacecraft! You are going to have a baby!" With those last words Relena's fears were confirmed. Her world, as she knew it, came crashing down on her. What was she going to do know?
"Thank you, Doctor." She managed to crock out. Then she cut the connection before the doctor could respond.
Three days came and went. Relena had not cried since she found out Heero was dead. She was in denial and kept on thinking that one day he would walk though her front door and say, "I'm back". But that never happened.
It was the day of his funeral and everyone stood out on the green grass of the cemetery as a priest read his memorial service to the people standing around his casket. The weather did not match the grim scene as the sun shone brightly making their thick black cloths very uncomfortable. It was a private service and only Heero's dearest friends attended. Relena, Duo, Quatre, Trowa, Hilde, Noin, even Milliardo and Wufei showed up to pay there last respects.
When the service was over people slowly left, leaving only Relena and Duo. Duo put his hand on the casket and a lone tear fell from his eye to hit the mahogany wood.
"Good-bye my friend", he said. Before turning to leave he placed a comforting hand on Relena's shoulder. "Are you alright Relena?" She just nodded in response.
"Could I have a moment...please?"she pleaded in an almost inaudible whisper as she continued to stare at the casket. Duo nodded in response then left to join the others. She just stood there for a few seconds then let out a sob as tears started to flow from her eyes for the first time in three days.
"You're really dead aren't you?" She asked the casket. After getting no response she started to talk again as a steady stream of tears fell from her eyes.
"It's hard to believe that you are dead. You always seemed so...strong, and...immortal that nothing could possibly ever harm you. Now you seem like nothing more then a flimsy figment of my imagination. As if I thought you up in a dream, but you weren't just a dream. I have proof of that. It seems like just yesterday you were here with me." She paused for a moment to take a deep breath. "What am I going to do without you? I know I'll live, I have to. I'm pregnant with your child. You know, I always hoped I would be able to tell you that, but I guess its too late now," she paused for a moment and gave a kind of sad, ironic laugh that didn't sound like a laugh at all. "I haven't told anyone else and I'm not going to. I'm going to leave. I hope you're not mad, but I can't stay here. It's too sad here. Everything reminds me of you. I drive down the street and I see the beach where I met you. I walk through the garden and I remember us walking through there talking about things I can't remember now. I speak in public and I no longer feel safe because I know you aren't there watching over me. I sleep in my bed and remember that one precious night that you stayed with me and kept away the cold. It not that I want to forget you, I never want to forget you, it's just that your presence still seems to be here. It haunts me and tells me that you're still alive. I can't wake up from another dream of you to find out it was just my brain lying to my heart again. I can't raise our child in that kind of misery. Please forgive me." With that she leaned down and kissed the wood. Then she stood, wiped away her tears and walked away never to return.