Slavonic Dance No. 2 in E Minor- Antonin Dvorak

Buon giorno, amici miei! that's 'good day, my friends' in italian (which i'm taking classes). i'm so sorry it's taken me this long to get chapter 11 out to you. things have been rather busy and stressful, i've since discovered that i'm sicker than we thought; but it's not lifethreatening, so that's good. that said, i hope you will forgive me for taking so long on this, i feel awful about it. this chapter was alright to write, i love alternating POVs, from Relena's to Heero's (or Heedo's, as he's called at one point in here).

i wrote Relena's "nose injury" dialogue by plugging my own nose and speaking it out loud and then writing it as phonetically as i could. my parents gave me some pretty funny looks, as if to say: "well, she's either brilliant or totally nuts..." lol:-)

thank you, lovely reviewers! i've never, ever had a story crack 100 reviews before and it made my day to discover that it had. all because of you guys! so yeah:-)

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!

Heero didn't think he'd ever been more comfortable in such a bizarre situation. Relena was curled against him, her head on his shoulder; blood from her nose leaked onto his perfectly pressed Preventer uniform. Just the heat from her body made him lightheaded, not even counting the heady scent of roses that wafted from her dark golden hair. He resisted the urge to tuck a wayward strand of it behind her ear.

"'Dat's fide, Baryand, thank you for your hankie. I'b going to be fide, don't worry aboud id." Relena managed a wan smile and she relaxed fully in his arms.

Heero caught the sparkle of tears in her eyes, her mouth tightened in a vain effort to keep them at bay. Gently he brushed them away, for once not caring if her blood stained his fingers. He glanced at them, noting the make-up mixed with it. Curiosity piqued, he turned her to face him. Shocked, his eyes took in the black and blue stain that tainted her porcelain cheekbone. He hoped the woman in his arms didn't see the slight trembling in his hands as he carefully wiped more of the make-up from her face. The bruise continued upward from her cheekbone, curving around the outer orbital bone of her left eye and into her eyebrow. What the fuck!...I'm going to kill whoever did this...he thought as anger seared his brain, his Prussian blue eyes darkening dangerously.

"Relena, who did this to you?" His voice was firm and controlled, all earlier traces of softness gone. Already his analytical mind was racing; mentally he flipped through reports about her stalker, all the while thanking genetics for blessing him with a photographic memory.

"Uuuub...well..." She began, turning her head gingerly to stare out the window behind her desk.

And then the proverbial shit really hit the fan as the office door was flung open violently. A tall man with long, white-blond hair stood in the doorway, his ice blue eyes fairly glowing with fury.

"Yuy! What the fuck did you do to my sister?"

Heero was furious; Relena had just been about to tell him where the ugly bruise had come from when Zechs burst into the office. He hated Relena's brother's guts, and the feeling was mutual. The younger man managed a cut nod in his direction.

"Zechs," Heero greeted the older man with an almost imperceptible nod, his eyes as cool as ever. He noticed Relena gazing at him out of the corner of his eye, a neutral look on her face. He tensed. Heero was always tense when it came to her; it was impossible to relax in her presence.

"Yuy, what's the meaning of this! Why are you...touching my sister, and why is she bleeding!" He strode angrily over to Heero and I, his icy blue eyes boring into Heero's skull. The former pilot of the Tallgeese was white as a sheet except for a blazing patch of red on each of his cheeks. He fairly shook with contained wrath.

Heero merely replied with his patented Death Glare, which incensed her brother even more. Zechs returned the look, his ice-blue eyes burning with hatred. As if sensing the delicate nature of the volatile situation, Relena spoke up.

"I'b okgay, Billiardo. I got smagked id 'da face wit' da door. Heero things by dose is broken," she said sweetly, pointing a finger at the heavy oak office door and making a face for effect. The two men barely acknowledged her words, adrift in a sea of testosterone. They looked ridiculous, Zechs still standing in the doorway, Heero sitting on the floor with his arms around a bleeding Relena. They stayed like that for a little over a minute before Relena decided she had had enough.

"Goddammit, would you two stop agting like childrend and help be up!" Relena pushed away from Heero, and he felt the loss of her warmth acutely. She tried to stand and stumbled, both men rushed to aid her. In their hurry, they both forgot the other and collided in a most spectacular manner.

They landed in a disgraceful heap, arms and legs sticking out at awkward angles. Zechs had landed on his side, his silvery blond hair spread around him like some clumsy halo. Heero's arm had somehow sandwiched itself between Zechs's back and the floor, twisted in a highly uncomfortable manner. The rest of his body was trapped under the older man's legs.

Then, the most peculiar thing happened. Relena began to laugh, and not just a polite chuckle (which was her usual response to anything amusing) but a deep, rich, belly laugh. It bubbled up from her mouth and Heero's heart stopped at the sound. He'd never heard her laugh like that before and the sound was so lovely he almost forgot himself and smiled. In between guffaws, she gasped for breath and tried to speak.

"Bary Aaaad! Get 'da cabera you keep id your desk! You hab got to see this!" She called to the young woman, who rushed into the office with the camera. The men had started to untangle themselves, but were blinded by the rapid fire of the camera flash and fell back into a heap.

Zechs was heavy. It didn't matter that he was slender and tall; the man weighed a ton. Or so it seemed to Heero as he lay on the floor with his arm trapped under the blond man. Zechs's legs were draped over his chest and it made Heero was distinctly uncomfortable.

It was then that Dr. Sally Po-Chang arrived on the scene.

She stood frozen in the doorway, her pale blue eyes surveying the scene. After a moment the young doctor sprang into action.

"What the HELL is going on here!" She bellowed, and Relena's near-hysterical laughter ceased immediately. The young president of the ESUN made her way across the room and sat down at her desk, vainly trying to look dignified.

"It was awful, Dr. Po-Chang! I rushed into Ms. Relena's office and the door smacked her! It's all my fault, really!" Marianne rushed forward, grasping Dr. Po-Chang's arm and leading her towards the blonde woman seated at the desk. Then she practically flew from the office, muttering something about canceling the rest of the day's appointments.

Sally Po-Chang glanced at the pile of men in the middle of the carpet, her eyes sparkling with concealed mirth. She leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially into her ear.

"You'll tell me everything, right Relena?" She chuckled as she opened her emergency case, her lips twisting into a barely controlled smile.

Heero scowled. It was at times like this that he regretted his proficiency in lip-reading. There were some things that women talked about that he just didn't want to know.

"Ob course, Sally! We god pictures!" Relena whispered back, attempting to retain her neutral expression.

Sally began her examination and she looked past her shoulder to watch Heero and Zechs extricate themselves from their awkward pile of limbs. Each glowering balefully at the other and my brother muttered curses at Heero. Heero was silent (as usual), but his angry glare spoke volumes.

Deep violet eyes locked onto his Prussian blue ones, and he felt a twinge of male satisfaction when Relena's pale cheeks aquired a rosy tint. Even with her feminine white blouse stained red with blood and her hair falling out of its confines, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Suddenly, he frowned as his tracked down the front of the desk and stopped abruptly. Anger flashed across his smooth face...What the hell is that...a whiskey bottle! Since when did Relena become a drinker?

"Ow!"

Heero was brought out of his reverie by Relena's exclaimation of pain in response to the probing fingers of Dr. Po-Chang as explored the younger woman's damaged face. She tried vainly to hide the shimmer of tears in her eyes.

"Sorry Relena, but I think your nose may be broken; but we'll have to do some x-rays to be sure." Sally said gently, as she began to pack her case.

"Heero, would you help Relena to her car? I don't think she should be driving right now."

"Of course," he spoke quietly, gently grasping her arm and helping her off the desk. "Do you have something you want to talk to me about, Relena?"

"I dun' know what you're takig aboud, Heero," she replied and winced; stumbling. It passed quickly and we began to walk carefully across my office.

"I don't know, that bottle of whiskey under your desk?" He asked casually, or as casually as one can whilst speaking in a monotone.

Relena stumbled, surprise blanketing her features, only to be washed away by anger.

"'Dat is absoldley nod ob your bidness, Heedo!" She replied, her righteous anger made amusing by her injured nose. "You cobe in here ad' act like nuffink's changed, it's beed eight years, you dow!"

Heero didn't react, his face was completely expressionless as he swept her into his arms, bridal-style. She had stumbled once too many for his taste. And, he admitted to himself, he just wanted to have Relena in his arms again.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, long enough to reach the parking lot.

"Which one is yours?" He asked, the silence shattering. Relena dug around in her purse for her keys. She didn't answer right away, instead pretending to be immersed in finding the elusive keys.

"'Dat black Bercedes," she replied, and raised her pale arm; the keys clutched in her slender fingers. "Here, I'll unlog it from here..." she pressed a small button on the black plastic key-fob.

The explosion was deafening.

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