Prelude in G sharp minor, op. 32 no.12 - Rachmaninov-The soundtrack of this chapter...

hi everbody! i've started putting the music that i listen to as i write at the top of each chapter. dunno why really, just thought you all might enjoy a peek into my brain-or something. i apologize for the tardiness of this chapter, last week i wrecked my bike and sprained my wrist (actually, i fell off my bike. you know how they say that 'you can never forget how to ride a bicycle?' well i did. yes folks, i'm 20 years old and have forgotten how to ride a bike :-) . so it's been slow going on this chapter :-)

holy crap you guys! imagine my amazement when i discovered that this 'fic now has 68 reviews, it really made my day. i'm very proud of you! shout out time, lol:

Shikiko Rikuo Korono: Duo's pretty silly, but he's sharper than he lets on. yay kudos! i think it's only fair that if Relena's sex deprived, so must be Heero :-)

Niebezpiczny Ksezyc: i hope i spelled that right :-) how do pronouce that, it's awesome! thanks for reading, yay!

B: HeY tHaNkS! i ThInK i LiKe TyPiNg ThIs WaY nOw, It'S rEaLlY FuN :-)

DogDemonK9: alas, the icky cowboys far outnumber the cute, nice ones. and the icky ones drive around muddy trucks (not that muddy trucks themselves are inherently icky...) and blast cruddy music and give me weird looks when i'm in the Spitfire. cow tipping has always fascinated me for some reason, though it doesn't seem very nice to the cow. what an eeevil cowpie, to steal your shoe like that!

Rin Amaru and animee yuya: oh such steamy parts will there be! most likely yummy lime, and maybe a lemon...mmm, lemon :-) i promise that i'm not a perv, really i'm not! just an undersexed college student... yeah, i am a short chapter person. i'm working on it, trying to make my chapters longer, and they will be when the real drama starts :-) i promise...

Haruko Higurashi: when writing that scene, i got the cutest mental picture of a blushing Heero. so cute! yeah, it seems that in the show that even though Relena's a real strong person, they don't really focus on the strength of her character as much as they do others. that's why i always like to write her as a strong woman...'cause she is. thanks a ton for reading! yay!

Chikifriend: i'm so happy my little 'fic has been the one to change your mind about Relena, your reviews have so boosted my miniscule self-esteem. and thank you so much for killing my nasty writer's block! i've already started working on chapter nine, though it's slow going with my stupid wrist. i've always liked Duo, he really livens things up, don'cha think? they're magic cookies, they become whatever kind you like them to be...like, iced molasses, chocolate chip, ginger snap, oreo, shortbread...dang, now i'm hungry :-)

as you well know, Gundam Wing doesn't belong to me (neither does Heero...:-) but the plot does, so don't steal it. if you do, i'll track you down and throw water balloons at you. ones filled with really really cold water, yeah.

i really hope you enjoy this chapter, bon appetit mes amis!

On a normal day, it took the average person forty-five minutes to drive from one end of the city of Brussels to the other. But for Heero, it felt more like an eternity. Upon leaving his new apartment, he discovered the day for be overcast and rainy. After leaving Duo to his work (e.g. picking up and sorting out the report that his ass had so charmingly knocked off Heero's desk), he stood on the steps of his building and cursed the Weather Gods. Shit...I hate the rain!

It was at that moment he realized that his only sources of transportation were his motorcycle or asking the Dreaded Duo for a ride. It wasn't difficult to make that decision at all; he refused to ask the baka for a ride. That was something Heero Yuy would never do.

The cold rain pelted the visor of his helmet as he made his way across the city to the ornate government buildings on the other side of town. He positively dreaded seeing her in person. It wasn't so much Relena, but the uncomfortable uprising of confusing emotions that made him so wary of her. She looked so tired...he thought to himself as he checked his mirrors and changed lanes to avoid a slow moving sedan. For some reason, he couldn't get the image of the exhausted President of the Earth Sphere United Nation out of his head. Something just wasn't right, and it weighed heavily on his mind. Shaking his head to dispel such distracting thoughts, Heero directed all his attention to the road and arriving at Capitol building alive.

Twenty minutes and two near-death experiences later, the young man on the motorcycle pulled up in front of the imposing Capitol building. He found a somewhat sheltered parking place and made his way into the stone edifice.

The neoclassical lobby hadn't changed at all in the eight years he had been away. Smooth marble columns graced the huge, airy room. The ceiling had been painted a light blue and high windows around the cupola let in huge streams of watery light. He bypassed the security station, merely flashing his badge at the bored-looking Preventer working the x-ray machine. Heero had traveled the halls to the office of Lady Une so many times, his brain disengaged as his feet carried him over the marble floor of the hallways. Soon the grandeur of the lobby gave way to a more functional décor of simple white walls with maple wainscoting and dark green carpeting. He preferred simplicity to ostentatious presentations of wealth, as opulence made him distinctly uncomfortable. He knew that even though Relena had grown up as the spoiled daughter of a famous diplomat, she too preferred simplicity to the complex. His lip twitched, the right corner of his mouth lifting in a subtle smirk. An image of a smiling Relena standing at a stove in a cozy kitchen, laughing with two small children as she slowly stirred a pot of bubbling soup while waiting for her husband to return from work slid into his mind. His mouth dropped as the daydream continued, his heart becoming heavy in his chest. At the sound of a door opening and closing, the two children (a girl and a boy, one with unruly dark hair and the other with shining golden hair) rushed out of the kitchen to greet their father...to greet him. Never in a million years, Yuy...he thought angrily to himself as he arrived at the imposing mahogany door of Lady Une's office.

Knocking briskly, Heero stepped inside at the muffled voice of the Lady herself. The office, just like the lobby, hadn't changed a bit and neither had the imposing woman who sat behind the large desk in the center of the room.

"Good morning, Commander Yuy," she said, sounding just as serious and intense as she had always sounded.

"Lady Une," he replied as he snapped her a crisp salute. She looked up from her paperwork and gave him a vaguely amused look and slid four thick manila folders across the desk.

"A little early, aren't we Yuy? You weren't scheduled to arrive until tomorrow morning," Une said, a mocking note sneaking into her usually cool voice.

"As you stated in my order I have a lot of work to do, it seemed the most logical thing to do would be to begin as soon as possible." He replied, his voice calm and carefully modulated. The newly reinstated Preventer Commander eyed the files warily. You call that a lot of work? That's the overstatement of the year, Une...he thought facetiously to himself. Why am I really here?

"Since you are here ahead of schedule I'd like for you to take these to the President, they're urgent and her secretary is dreadfully slow. After that, please return here and I'll have Trowa show you to your office." Une's voice brought him out of his thoughts in an instant. See Relena! Now!...His brain panicked, but his face remained smooth and expressionless.

"Yes ma'am," Heero replied before picking up the files and saluting the Lady. As soon as the door had closed behind him, his normally perfectly positioned shoulders sagged slightly. Seeing Relena in person was something he definitely wasn't ready for, especially since he hadn't even had his customary morning cup of coffee. He was uncertain about seeing her in person after eight years; she was the woman who had haunted his dreams the whole time he had been away. It had been fine speaking to her via vidphone earlier that morning, but to actually be in her presence- in her office-made his stomach do bizarre little twists. Come on Yuy, you're a grown man, not a schoolgirl!

Slowly he began the journey to Relena's office, dreading it every step of the way. The trip was short; her office was much closer to Une's than he remembered.

The rather narrow, plain hallway opened up into a brightly lit reception area. The secretary's desk was to the left of the door to the dreaded office, and comfortable chairs were placed around the room in a manner appearing to be random. Heero sighed in relief; the secretary was nowhere to be seen, so he could leave without being spotted. He had just sidestepped an overstuffed chair when the door opened and a harried looking woman rushed out.

"Oh! Are you here to see the President?" Her voice was high pitched and breathy, like a little girl's and she fidgeted like one too. He had been caught, and resigned himself to his fate.

"I am. Should I make an appointment then?" He kept his tone rather light, but there was an undercurrent of annoyance.

"Actually, you picked a great time to stop by!" The secretary grinned, "She just got in, and there's no one on the books until ten-thirty!"

Heero gulped. Now there was nothing short of a natural disaster that would get him out of the situation. He had to accept this offer of an informal meeting or he would seem suspicious.

"That would be great," he replied, forcing his face into a semblance of an expression of gratitude. It must be the uniform, he thought wryly.

"Now, if you would just sign in, I'll let the President know she has a visitor!" She exclaimed, as she gestured to the logbook prominently displayed on her desk.

"There's no need to inform her of my arrival, we're old friends and I'd like to surprise her if it's no trouble," he said as he signed his name in the book.

"Oh I see!" The infernal woman exclaimed again as a sneaky expression of understanding stole across her face. "Well then, Commander Yuy, just go right on in!"

He muttered his thanks as he strode past her desk and into the office beyond. There was barely a moment to take in his surroundings when the sound of shattering china brought his attention to the woman sitting behind the massive desk.

Crash!

"Heero!"

It took all his willpower not to smirk at the surprise written across the beautiful face of ESUN President Relena Darlian-Peacecraft.

eee! i got the idea for the inside of the capitol building from the inside of the reading room at the British Museum in London. it was so big and pretty and there were so many books...it made me a happy panda. so if you want to do a google image search for it and see for yourself :-)

please review, your reviews bring joy and cookies into the lives of thousands of children every year. :-)