Title: In Between The Stars
Pairing/Characters: Relena, Quatre, Milliardo
Rating: PG
Warnings: alternate timeline
Notes: Originally had a different ending, but liked this one better. Also... it's strange what the mind can come up with. Written for gw500.


Relena sighed, her eyes dull with lack of sleep, but her back rigid after years of training to be the perfect Peacecraft princess. Her brother, Milliardo, surrounded by a bevy of brunette aristocrats, glared at her briefly.

A quick jerk of her fan hid her errant giggles. Her brother was in a worse situation, she considered, he was of marriageable age and was, as much as she was hesitant to admit it, quite handsome. And a catch.

This was a ball, mainly to attract the ladies to Milliardo. He was notoriously short tempered and rude with empty headed females and Relena knew that both of her parents feared for their oldest child.

They feared rebellion in their son. Milliardo had a role to fulfill, to be the dutiful and passive prince of Sanq. Their restictions and constrictions that they imposed to hamper their children, only encouraged more angry thoughts.

Relena greatly desired freedom from their rules and cages. She wasn't going to become addict, or become an unwed mother, or commit a crime. But she did want to escape the conventions that were ridiculously outdated.

It was AC 195, though the colonies had been destroyed before she was born and yet she was here, at a ball to spur her brother into a marital relationship, wearing petticoats.

Since birth great responsibilities had been given to her. Relena, ever the dutiful child had only wanted to please her parents. But sometimes she wondered if her parents were only using her for their own motivations and beliefs.

She was a figure head of the young pacifist movement, and while her brother had taken the role in the shadows, Relena had given into her parents demands and had given countless interviews, speeches and appeared on television. She wasn't a starlet however, sometimes wondering what she was getting out of this.

Staring up at the night's sky, she wondered if it had looked differently before the Colonies had been destroyed by Romefeller and OZ. There were still a few space stations and resource satellites, mostly managed by the supposedly near trillionaires, the Winners.

Her parents had been against the destruction of the colonies, many had, but Romefeller was in charge not the rulers of Sanq and they had fired massive lasers and explosives on the main colonies of L1 to L5. Millions had migrated back to Earth, many had been refugees and nearly all were united by one voice, Heero Yuy, their leader.

Relena had long been intrigued by Heero Yuy, a pacifist like her parents, escaping from a near fatal assassination attempt, he had been the unwilling spear point of Romefeller's campaign to destroy the colonies. His protests, his real wishes had been washed away under the suppression of the media. Speeches were edited to convey the message that Romefeller had wanted.

Seeing footage of a colony being detroyed had been an interesting if heartbreaking experience. Within those steel and iron colonies people had had died there. Some had been stubborn and refused to leave, others according to their financial or criminal status had been unable. There was no estimate of the number of lives lost. Romefeller had insisted this was better than war, and many had agreed.

Her own kingdom had been threatened by Romefeller and she had always heard rumours of a treaty that confined her parents to their opinions. Her own voice was unfettered.

"The sky..." she whispered, out of way of everyone. Alone, but still able to hear the courtly tunes of the ball and the voices and laughter. "The sky must be free."

"Full of fond wishes, Princess Relena. The sky isn't as free as you think." Said a young male voice, just behind her.

Jumping, as she had thought she was alone. Relena hurriedly brought a hand to her throat as she swallowed back down a gasp and regarded the blond boy.

"Quatre Winner. Is that you?" A mere formality, she would have to be blind and reclusive not to have seen an image of the dashing heir to the Winner fortune.

He laughed and Relena felt her cheeks warm up, and a smile form across her face. "I suppose the shadows do hide who I truly am. I am sorry, Princess."

She hoped the shadows hid her blush. "No, it's fine. I just - didn't expect you. Please call me Relena. We can be equals, can't we?" She extended a hand.

He regarded her for a moment before placing a warm hand into her own. Relena unexpectedly thanked her mother for believing that gloves were too grown up for her daughter.

"Of course. I would love to be friends with you Relena." He smiles boyishly, charmingly and his hand grips tighter around her for a moment before he withdraws. "And call me Quatre."

"F-friends?"

"Yes, friends. I've much about you, Relena."

"I've heard some about you too," Relena murmured back, not saying that she knew his blood type, his favourite food and the best present he had ever received.

"But the stars, they are beautiful. They shine with a radiance that you cannot find in neon lights. The sheer loveliness of space is a wonderful thing. I one day wish to go there."

"It's pity that the colonies were destroyed. Space had a vibrant culture once." Relena says regretfully. "I've seen pictures, read books, heard stories, but it isn't the same."

"I was almost born in space. If it weren't for Romefeller. The colonies would be still there if - "

"I wouldn't," Relena interrupts. "Tonight isn't the best night to express your true feelings."

Quatre pauses before smiling at her. "You're right. I can be foolhardy sometimes. And say careless things. Perhaps I should be more cautious."

"It's all right, I understand your feelings and motives. Sometimes," her voice drops to below a whisper and he has to lean into hear, "I feel the same."

"You don't often hear that in the press." Quatre says softly, "You have those thoughts?"

There's something about how he says those words, that makes her turn and stare into his eyes. They are bright, intelligent and testing. "I'm not sure what you mean Quatre," she murmurs jerkily, her head lowering.

"Relena, you're not a fool, you have to have heard it. I know, there have been rumours for months. About a... rebellion." He voice drops at the last word.

Her eyes narrows. "I take it, that you followed me here?" Her fingers drift to a security bracelet, where one push on a special button will call bodyguards.

"It's more than that. I'm... here to tell you, that we are not alone."

"They're aliens!"

"No!" Quatre quickly ends that thought train. "I want you to meet someone. He's a friend of Heero Yuy." He smiles as he eager gasp, "I thought you might be interested."

"The Heero Yuy? A friend of his?" Relena says excitably, "I'd be delighted! But... who is he? Um... Of course, I would have to check my date book."

Quatre laughs and Relena feels a warm blush infuse her cheeks. "His name is Odin Lowe." He smiles at Relena. "So, you will come, Relena?" He holds out a hand.

"I will," Relena promises, her hand slipping into Quatre's own hand easily.