Part Eight
To all those who continue to read and review this story, I thank you.
~Astro
All the usual disclaimers apply.
Twenty minutes later, Sally and Heero were once again zooming through the city with a controlled recklessness that would have been frightening if Sally were not in the hands of a gundam pilot. They were traveling west on one of the roads that led out of the city's thriving center into some of the lesser populated hills that bridged the gap to the next major city just a few dozen miles away. Sally wasn't sure of their exact location as Heero maneuvered the twists and turns of the road ahead of them. They went up and down hill after hill, the lights of the city flirting with them through the trees, until Sally began to wonder if Heero had become lost. Impossible, her mind told her, and she made herself relax.
A short while later, Sally felt Heero slowing down as he rounded a curve that led sharply downhill. At the bottom of the hill, Heero left the road for a wide dirt path that had been driven over many times, leading toward a break in the trees. When they passed under a low branch, Sally felt something snag her hair. Although it didn't hurt her, she knew the damage was done as she felt several strands blowing freely in the breeze.
When they were at last clear of the trees, Sally took in a breath at the sight. They were at the edge of the river that ran just outside the limits of the downtown skyscrapers, and with nothing else in the way, Sally felt she could see just about everything.. Heero led them down a low hill that sloped down to the water's edge, pausing just a few feet from the shore. Cutting the engine, Heero sat still for a moment, letting the silence overtake them. Sally continued to look around in wonder, the reflection of the city lights a pale glow on her skin.
"Ready to eat?" Heero inquired after several moments.
"Yeah," Sally replied absently, realizing a moment later that she would need to get up first.
Once they were both standing, Heero opened the small compartment in the back of the bike and pulled out a large flannel blanket, along with the white bag containing their pastries. "You come prepared," Sally noted.
Heero said nothing as he spread the blanket out, then straightened to let Sally sit first. But her attention was again directed toward the water. He watched her for a moment, illuminated by the pale glow of the city, until he noticed several strands of hair floating freely in the small breeze. "Your hair's come undone."
Sally turned at the sound of his voice, though his words took a moment to register in her mind. "Oh, yes. I think a tree branch snagged it back there." Wordlessly, Sally reached up to pull out the tie that bound the braided section of hair as she stepped toward the blanket, intending to comb the tangled locks with her fingers and repair the damage. But after fussing with it for several moments, she thought it would be much easier to simply leave her hair down.
Seating herself on the blanket, she began pulling at the still braided portion of her hair as Heero fished inside the bag for their desserts and some napkins. By the time he handed her a danish, her long hair fell loosely around her face, flowing in soft waves past her shoulders. "What is it?" she asked when Heero continued to look at her with an expression she couldn't place, but registered somewhere between curiosity and confusion.
Heero said nothing for a moment. Then, "I've never seen you with your hair down before." Sally had to smile at the unexpected comment. "Does it make a difference?" she teased. Heero regarded her, his eyes tracing over the moonlit highlights of her hair. "Yeah, it does," he said at last, smiling a little as he nodded. Sally didn't know just what to say, and instead chose to focus on her danish. Sitting across from her, Heero did the same.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, listening to the rush of the river current and the chirp of crickets and cicadas all around them. It wasn't a strained silence; it was more like a mutual appreciation of the moment, each content with not having to think or speak in order to enjoy each other's company.
As they finished off their danishes, Heero fished in the bag for their cinnamon rolls, which he had insisted they order. "You're really going to love these," Heero said, handing Sally the bigger of the two.
Sally laughed. "As long as it's better than my cooking, I'm happy."
"You shouldn't say that, Sally. That pie you made last night was really good."
Sally wasn't going to let his comments go to her head, but it still made her smile. "Flattery will get you nowhere," she said, picking off part of her roll.
"It's not flattery." His matter-of-fact tone brought her eyes to his. "I know you could do even better than this if you really tried." Those magnetic eyes held her gaze for several moments longer until Heero's attention returned to his cinnamon roll.
The pair returned to silence as they ate their pastry, though Sally could not help but regard Heero. It was amazing how much he had changed since the war, while he still kept the same basic personality. But he was more open now. She felt that instead of locking his emotions away in a vault somewhere, he merely kept them in a book; you just had to look beneath the cover if you wanted to discover what was inside.
"You make me wonder about you, Heero."
Heero looked at her, a veiled amount of curiosity in his eyes. "What do you mean?" "I don't know…" Sally thought for a moment. "When I heard you were coming to work with us at Preventers, I guess I expected… a slightly different persona from you, something more like…"
"You mean, something more like the way I was. The Perfect Soldier, more machine than man."
Sally was surprised to hear the pain in his voice. But buried beneath the pain, there was a sense of bitterness, too. It was clear to her now that his past brought a great deal of suffering to him, but she felt that right now, sympathy was not the best strategy. "Well, to be perfectly honest, Heero--yes, that is what I expected. I mean, the boy I met five years ago certainly matches that description."
Heero looked away from her, letting his gaze drift to the ground. "That was a long time ago," he said quietly.
"Yes, it was," Sally whispered, her tone softening. "But you have changed. And from what I've seen, it's for the better."
Heero looked at her, searching her eyes as if searching for the truth. Then there was a change. Heero's sudden sadness disappeared just as quickly as it had come. "Thank you, Sally," he said with a short dip of his head. "I didn't mean to snap at you."
"Don't worry, Heero, you didn't." Sally gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "But I can understand how you feel."
Heero looked at her quizzically. "You do?"
Sally nodded. "I know it's hard for you, when you've been on your own for so long, and now you're trying to establish those connections that everyone else is used to. And with a past such as yours… trained to kill at so young an age… From a psychological standpoint, I think it's amazing that you've come so far."
Heero gave her a fleeting smile. Picking out a weed with a soft, fuzzy tail, Heero ran the end of it through his fingers as he thought. "Dr. J always told me I had the heart of an innocent. I never believed him, though. An innocent would never have taken on all those missions, ending so many lives…" Heero paused there, seeming to get lost in a memory. But Sally waited patiently, knowing she was hearing words that he had probably never spoken aloud. "Looking back now, I see things a little differently. All those times I felt guilty about what I was doing, or hated the monster I had become, I thought that made me less of a soldier. It was a weakness, and I hated that even more. But now I see, that's the reason Dr. J chose me, and why he wouldn't let the others retrain me or brainwash me into something different. You need that sense of humanity to fight a war. Otherwise, all battles are just meaningless bloodshed, and peace will never last. The others know that as well, but they were able to accept it long before I did. Now I've got some catching up to do."
Had it been any lighter, Sally might have seen the shimmer in his eyes, but as it was, she could only hear it in his voice, and it left her speechless. She felt as though Heero had just ripped down some invisible boundary that had been there all this time without her realizing it. Now that it was gone, she could at last see into Heero's soul, the turbulent place deep inside of him that his eyes had only hinted at the night before.
On an impulse, she felt herself moving forward, not totally realizing what she was doing until her arms found Heero in their embrace. She surprised herself at her directness, but what shocked her was the feeling of Heero hugging her back, resting his head in the nook between her neck and shoulder. But the shock soon gave way to comfort and warmth. It was as if a void had formed after Heero's outpouring, and this was the only way to fill it. So they sat together, embracing, for several moments, drawing strength from each other until they could at last stand on their own.
They shifted simultaneously, pulling back to look each other in the eye. Sally offered a smile. Heero returned the smile, but then pulled away, as if suddenly embarrassed. "What's wrong, Heero?" Sally could not completely hide the teasing note in her voice.
"Nothing, Sally. It's just… that was my first hug." Heero's smile widened. It struck him just how absurd that sounded, and the absurdity made him laugh out loud.
Sally's heart warmed at the sound. It was such an easy laugh. She knew Heero would find the balance he sought very soon. "That was a good first hug, Heero. You should give them more often."
Heero's smile sobered as he looked at her. Yes, he thought, I should have been giving hugs a long time ago. He thought he was beginning to realize all the things his life was missing. The other gundam pilots were more than just friends now, they were his family. But he felt he had missed so much by wondering around for so many years. He hoped to start making up for that now that he had his own place and a new job that would at least let him keep in touch with the others. But there was something else, too. Intimacy. Whether it was the hugs and handshakes shared with close friends or the first kiss with the one you love, he had missed all of it, and his heart was telling him it was time to make amends.
Heero's thoughts were interrupted when Sally's face broke out into a wide yawn. "Tired?" he taunted.
Sally nodded through the last of her yawn. "A little," she sighed, stretching her arms out. "What time is it?"
Heero looked at his watch, pressing the indiglo button. "About 11:30."
"Oh." Sally blinked, trying to shake off her weariness, but Heero could see it wasn't working.
"Ready to go?"
"Mm, I suppose so."
Heero chuckled to himself as he got to his feet. Grabbing the white bag, he scooped up their unfinished cinnamon rolls before helping Sally to her feet. A few moments later, the blanket was folded and secured in the small compartment in Heero's bike, along with their pastries. Once again, Heero mounted the bike, then looked at Sally to follow suit. She needed no prompting this time, easily sliding in and securing herself snugly behind Heero. As her arms hooked themselves around his waist, her head lolled forward, resting on his back. Resting against him, she heard Heero's laughter resonate within him. "What is it now?" Sally asked, raising her head.
"It seems you've finally learned that I don't bite."
Sally was confused for a moment, but then she remembered how she had left the gap between them on the ride over. There was no gap now. In fact, she doubted they could be any closer. Sally felt a warmth seep into her cheeks, and she knew her face was turning bright red. She was thankful it was so dark. If Wufei ever saw her blushing like this, she would never hear the end of it. "Don't laugh, Heero," she warned, using defense to hide her embarrassment, "or you may be the one who ends up getting bitten."
Heero laughed again, then revved the engine and took off, leaving Sally no recourse but to hang on for the ride.
* * *
Wufei could not believe he had spent the last two hours with Relena Dorlian in her apartment when he only came for a five minute apology. The fact that he was with Relena was strange enough--if he were to call Lady Une right now and tell her where he was, she would probably laugh at him. It was the fact that the time went so quickly that boggled his mind.
When he had come in to accept that bowl of cherry ice cream, he had only intended to stay for twenty minutes or so. But after listening to her tell about her day spent shopping with Hilde, they had moved on to conversations about work, and how they can't stand to be away from work for so long. It seemed that they were both workaholics, and were both forced into their one week vacation.
Of course, that topic led to a discussion about what the perfect vacation would be like--a spa treatment for Relena, a solitary mountain hike in China for Wufei--and when, if ever, they thought they would take such a holiday, etc., etc. And so it went. Their conversation jumped from topic to topic, seemingly without end, until they had spotted the time.
Now, close to midnight, Wufei stood alone by the window, peering out onto Walnut Avenue. Despite the late hour, there were more people out than he would have expected, but the lack of daylight and the yellow-orange glow of the streetlights made it seem a little eerie, as if he were looking out into a different world. Perhaps it was true when they say that the night has a life all its own.
Across the street, parked in front of his building, was a motorcycle. Looking closely, he was almost certain it was the same one he had seen earlier. He wondered who it belonged to.
"What are you looking at?" Relena asked from behind his shoulder.
Turning around, he saw that her hair was now freshly brushed, hanging softly over her shoulders. It struck him that even though her hair was one of her most prominent features, he had never really noticed it until the day before. "Nothing really," he sighed, turning to get another look at the motorcycle.
"It doesn't look like nothing," Relena teased, coming to stand beside him to peer down as well.
Wufei thought he heard a small gasp as she caught sight of the motorcycle, but the airy sound could have been anything. Looking at Relena, he saw that her smile had disappeared. "Is something wrong, Relena?"
When Relena saw the bike, she knew it was Heero's, the white splotch on the brown paint just before the black leather seat making it unmistakable. She didn't know quite what she felt at the realization that he had been with Sally just as long as she'd been with Wufei. There was shock, confusion, anger, and finally a sort of grim acceptance as she realized the dual implications of the situation.
She knew that Sally had spent the evening with Heero, but Sally still had no idea how much time she had spent with Wufei. She wondered how Sally would feel about all this, and how it would effect their friendship. Suddenly, that little idea she'd had at lunch on Monday seemed like the worst one she'd ever conceived. She felt she should end the charade--despite the fact that she and Wufei were developing a genuine friendship, as most likely Sally and Heero were--but that was also a double-edged sword. If Wufei or Heero ever found out how or why this started, their friendships might never be the same. Trust would be gone forever, and it would be all her fault. "Oh, what have I done?"
Wufei heard her whispering, but it was too low for him to understand. She seemed fixated on something, lost in her thoughts perhaps--but what was the cause? He wanted to find out. "Relena?"
Relena sparked to her name, realizing that Wufei was watching her with a great deal of concern. Slipping on a smile that had helped her through several political entanglements, she met the warm black eyes that suddenly seemed a little too close. "I'm sorry, Wufei. I didn't mean to scare you." Moving away from the window, Relena shook her head. "I guess I was just thinking about something."
"Like what?" Curious, Wufei followed her as she sat on the couch, taking a seat at the opposite end. Her skin, a healthy pink only moments before, had turned an ashen gray. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Relena nodded, giving him one of her most practiced reassuring smiles. "Yes, I'm sure. It was just the height, that's all. Sometimes it makes me dizzy."
Wufei felt she was lying, but he didn't want to push it. Not now, anyway. But it seemed like her mood changed as soon as she saw that bike. He nodded his head in acceptance of her answer, but returned with another question. "Do you know who that motorcycle across the street belongs to?"
Relena froze for the smallest instant, then covered it up with a shrug. "Even if I did, I couldn't recognize it in the dark," she said evenly, trying to be nonchalant. She hated lying. It was not something she was good at, nor did she ever hope to be. "Why?"
Wufei dropped his gaze. "I think it's the same one I saw a couple hours ago, when I came over. It was a good bike. I'd just like to get to know the owner."
Relena smiled, letting herself relax just a little. "I didn't know you were very fond of motorcycles."
Wufei nodded, then turned his eyes back to her. "Have you ever ridden one?"
Relena shook her head. "No, that was something I was never allowed to do."
"Why not?"
"Well," Relena began, shifting into a more comfortable position, "for one thing, it isn't very lady like, and the daughter of the Vice Foreign Minister cannot afford to do things that aren't very lady like." Her tone suggested she was mocking a voice she had heard several times before.
"That's understandable. But you're grown up now. I'm sure you could make your own decisions on how to have fun."
"You would think so, wouldn't you?" Relena looked at him for a moment, then focused her gaze toward the ceiling. "It isn't that easy, Wufei. All my life, I've had people looking out for me, telling me what is proper and how to behave. And with my position, I have to consider what's safe. Riding motorcycles was never part of all that."
Wufei nodded. He knew very well what it was like to live with everyone around you dictating how to live your life without regard to how you felt. "Have you ever wanted to ride one?"
Relena glanced at him, a vaguely reminiscent smile on her lips. "I guess so. I asked Heero if he would give me a ride once."
Wufei's brow crinkled at the implication. "He didn't?"
Relena's smile faded. "No, he didn't."
"Why not?"
Relena thought for a moment, back to that day she asked him for a ride, and what he had said as a refusal. "He told me he didn't want to risk my getting hurt, or being seen by the wrong people if we were to just go out on the street. He said it was too dangerous."
"He wouldn't let you?"
Relena shook her head.
"That baka. You should have punched him in the stomach and took off without him." That's what Meiran would have done, he thought silently.
Relena laughed out loud at the statement, imaging her punching Heero and riding off on his prize possession. "He'd kill me if I did that. Or worse, he'd get Lady Une to assign me 24/7 in house protection." Relena laughed again. "Nothing like tripping over three huge guys in your apartment, looking over your shoulder at everything you do supposedly for your own good."
Wufei bowed his head. He knew what that was like, having been assigned to protect certain people in such a manner before. It was not pleasant, to say the least. "Speaking of protection," Wufei mused aloud, "are you all alone here?"
Relena violently shook her head. "Parish the thought, Wufei! They would never let me out of my cage all by myself. But I did manage to convince them to get their own apartment next door."
"Next door?"
"Uh-huh." Relena pointed at the wall in front of them, indicating the next apartment. "I've got my own private task force in there. They're probably listening in on us right now."
"Probably," Wufei agreed, lifting his gaze toward the wall. A moment of silence passed between them, filled only by the soft ticking of a clock. "I should get going," Wufei said at last. "I know how you women need your beauty sleep."
"Ha. Ha," Relena scoffed, tossing her head.
Grinning at her, Wufei got up to stretch, working the kinks out of his muscles as Relena rose beside him, stifling a yawn. Silently, Relena walked toward the door, Wufei only a step behind. He wasn't really anxious to leave, but it was getting late, and visiting hours had come to a close. He wondered if these nightly visits were beginning to become a habit. He realized he would not be too annoyed if they were.
Stepping through the portal, Wufei gave one last glance back at Relena as she sagged against the door. She was smiling at him, but he thought it was more from sleepiness that anything else. He shook his head at her, disapproving of the way she kept herself up so late when she knew she should be in bed, but he couldn't help but smile back.
"Thanks for the company, Wufei," she sighed with half open eyelids.
Wufei bowed. "Thank you for the ice cream."
Relena nodded, then yawned a little more fiercely this time.
Wufei chuckled, letting a smile peek through his stern features. "Goodnight, Relena."
"G'night," she managed, making a great effort to pull herself off the door into a standing position so she could close it.
Wufei waited until the door was completely shut and he heard the click of the lock and, after a few fumbles, the drag of the chain. Making his way down the dark hallway to the elevator, Wufei began to wonder what Relena would be doing if she weren't in politics. From what he'd seen of her, she seemed to have such a girlish nature to her, but she was unquestionably her own woman, and no doubt a force to be reckoned with on the political battlefield. It was true that he had once thought of her political manipulations as somewhat of a farce--that was the way he felt about all politics. It was all a game that he refused play. But thinking back, he could see the results of her campaigns. They were always fair, and they were all positive. She was one of the few who really made a difference. Walking back to his apartment, he began to wonder why he had never seen her merits before.
Back inside his apartment, Wufei sighed to himself as he glanced around. It seemed so sparse somehow, and empty. He hadn't hung up all of his wall scrolls yet. They were still in a box beside his bed. Thinking that the dragon Relena gave him needed some company, he made a mental note to set those up the next morning.
Walking over to his window, he looked down. That motorcycle was still there. When he passed it this time, he had made sure to take a closer look. It was definitely one of a kind--a custom job, most likely, with an odd set of wings painted in minute detail on the body. Those wings reminded him of something…
Lifting his gaze to the building across the street, he saw that all of Relena's lights were off now. Good. She had finally gone to bed. Now it was time for him to do the same. Turning from the window, he was about to do just that when the distinct sound of a motorcycle engine flared up from the street. Looking out, he barely caught a young man with a familiar head of unruly brown hair don his helmet, then turn his bike in a u-turn and speed away.