A/N: For the Gundam Wing 25th anniversary revival, the 1xR Brigade issued a Church of Lemons challenge in February 2021. You can find my submission for that under the title A Place to Live both here and on AO3. Subsequently, a new challenge was issued to keep the train going. March Madness is a prompt-based challenge. A prompt is issued at 12am EST Monday through Friday during the month of March with a 24-hour turnaround time to post something between 100 and 1,000 words. I have chosen to do a chapter-based fic in which the prompt has to be worked in for each chapter. The goal is a cohesive story. Since I work during the day, this means I have 2-3 hours to write each chapter.

Hereafter

CHAPTER 1

March Madness #17 Prompt

"Someone is Watching You Smile"

Heero could barely make her out. Through the glass, he caught glimpses of her at the podium, a part of her cheek and jaw, a tendril of wheat-colored hair falling over her suit jacket—gray blue today, like her eyes. When she turned her head, he saw the slight upward turn of her lips.

She was smiling. So, the meeting was going well then. That was good. He relaxed. Relena deserved a good day.

He had chosen his vantage point carefully. He stood on a hill overlooking the legislative building where the ESUN had assembled to discuss unification with the Colonies. It was Spring on Earth and the hill was covered in sun-soaked green grass carefully manicured by government-employed gardeners. Heero's position gave him a view into the sixth story where Relena was speaking. However, his view through the window was obstructed by a birch tree, the white bark of the trunk and branches forking across the glass.

"Heero. I thought it was you."

Heero started. He had not heard anyone approaching. He turned to see Trowa Barton trudging up the hill. The former Gundam Pilot was carrying two bags.

"Here," Trowa said, extending one of the bags toward Heero. "I brought you one."

"One what?" Heero asked, eyeing the bag.

"A swag bag."

Heero said nothing. He didn't know what that was.

"For the Preventers," Trowa said. "Orientation was this morning. Everyone was there except you and Quatre. Of course, Quatre had an excuse."

"I'm still not sure," Heero said. "About joining, I mean."

Trowa set the bag down. "There's no obligation to join. Not for us former Gundam Pilots anyway. You could say it's an honoree position, so you're a member whether you want to actively get involved or not. However, they could use you. It's going to take some time to build up a proper peacekeeping force, especially after all those budget cuts following the Mariemeia incident."

Heero looked down. In the bag, he could see a jacket with the Preventers logo embroidered on the arm. "Thanks," he said. "You didn't have to do that."

"It was no trouble," Trowa said, straightening. "I saw you up here so I thought I would come say hello. Are you watching Relena? Is she speaking?" He turned to look toward the building, shading his eyes with one hand to block the sun's glare.

Heero hesitated. Trowa's voice was very neutral, but that was like him. Out of all the former Gundam Pilots, Heero found Trowa's company easiest to tolerate. He was perceptive and analytical, but not judgmental. He seemed to accept everything at the value with which it was presented.

"Yeah," he admitted finally. "I told her I'd be close."

"I heard she's your girlfriend now," Trowa added. "Is that right?"

Even in the direct light of the sun, he felt a chill rush through him. But he didn't retreat from the question. "Yeah," he said. "I think so."

"You're not sure?"

"I asked her to be. I just don't really know how to do this," he admitted. "But she's important to me."

Trowa nodded. "You know, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think anyone really does."

"You mean us Gundam Pilots? Doesn't Duo have a girlfriend? That girl Hilde?"

"No. I mean anyone. Being someone's significant other… well, it's significant, isn't it? There's no guidebook. We learn as we go."

"Not everyone's significant other was once Queen of the World."

"True. But neither is everyone's significant other a Gundam Pilot."

Heero looked down. He was not good at taking compliments. Or was it a compliment? Trowa had a way of making stated facts sound like compliments and compliments sound like stated facts.

"Is she meeting you after the conference?" Trowa asked.

"We're going to eat lunch together," Heero said.

"It's been a long couple of days," Trowa noted. "She's probably exhausted."

"Yeah, but she's in a good mood."

"Oh? How do you know?"

"She's smiling."

"She doesn't really frown, though, does she?" Trowa said. "I've noticed that."

"No. But she looks blank-faced when she's having a bad time, and when she's in a temper, her eyes get hot."

"That's sweet."

"What's sweet?"

"That you know her moods by her expressions," Trowa said. "I think you're doing fine. You and Relena, I mean. You two are going to be fine."

Heero didn't say anything. Perhaps it would all be well as Trowa said, but even so, he was a bit afraid. He could admit that to himself. He didn't know what he was doing. He feared that something would happen. What if Relena changed her mind about him? He couldn't imagine it, but he still worried about it. She could change her mind. He had changed his mind about her after all. The way he felt now compared to when he had first met her… Well, they were not comparable. Or… well, maybe there had been something even then. He couldn't really remember. He just remembered thinking she had to die, and then thinking he had to make sure she lived. Everything that had been going on underneath that was a scramble.

"I want to tell her—" he began to tell Trowa.

The explosion blew him off his feet.

Heero felt grass in his mouth and scrapes on his hands. He blinked, but the air was full of dust. He could not see. He also could not hear anything except a high-pitched ringing. He felt hands on his back. Someone was shaking him.

Heero pushed himself to his knees. The hands belonged to Trowa. Trowa's face was covered in dust. Dust was everywhere. He tried to say Trowa's name, but he could not hear his own voice. When he opened his mouth, he tasted only dust. His eyes darted toward the building—the building where Relena had been speaking, where Relena had been smiling.

Through the dust, he could just make out a mountainous pile of rubble.