For five weekends, Heero made the trip from L2 to L4 to meet Quatre for lessons. It was exceptionally difficult for him to 1.) leave Relena unattended for almost 72 hours every week and 2.) not update her on where he was going.
"Why not tell her where you're going?" Duo asked as he piloted the shuttle into the landing bays at the L4 colony. "I think she'd be proud of you if she knew you were trying to improve yourself."
"I don't want to worry her," he replied, "Besides, she might be insulted I asked Quatre for help and not her."
"Why didn't you ask her?" Heero was an insular person and it seemed more logical that he'd ask his girlfriend for help dancing than reaching further out for help.
Heero took a long drink of coffee before responding. "She's busy and I know she'd drop everything to help me, but I want her to stay focused on getting ready for these meetings and trade proposals. The last thing she needs is me distracting her from one of her longest dreams."
Duo let out a short laugh and shook his head. His relationship with Hilde wasn't something he'd trade in a million years: their relationship had grown organically out of a common goal and he completed her in a way that he could be his snarky and carefree self while also appreciating all the things that Hilde brought to the table: her devotion, her maturity, her responsibility, but also her sharp wit and unrelenting sass. It also helped that she had a great butt. He loved her immensely and could imagine no one else as his life partner and the mother of his children.
But in his heart of hearts, Duo knew that the romance between Relena and Heero was something completely different and beautiful. Theirs was a love story for the ages: a princess in disguise falling for her assassin turned protector. It was every bit as deep as his and Hilde's romance, but theirs had a sense of glamor to it that he knew his relationship could never attain. All he could do was marvel at how much of an impact Relena had on him and how much he cared for her when he had been programmed to care about nothing but his mission from command. Anything and everything were for her, even something as distasteful to him as dancing.
"The paso doble may be the dance where you move the least, but the salsa is the easiest in my opinion." Quatre said as he stretched in the studio. Nimble as ever he was able to stretch his legs over his head one at a time in a way that Duo wasn't completely sure humans were supposed to bend. Heero had changed out of his usual suit he wore on bodyguard duty into the only thing he had that resembled workout clothes: green tank and blue shorts.
"You should probably practice in the same shoes and pants you plan to wear to the dance," Quatre advised. "It's best if you get used to the feel of what you'll be wearing when out on the floor so you don't trip over your own feet or your pant legs."
"I'll make sure to bring them next time," Heero grunted. He was doing this because he loved Relena. That did not mean under any circumstances that he had intentions of enjoying himself.
"Alright! Are you ready to move your hips?" He accentuated the question with a sway of his pelvis that seemed both whimsical and yet so very calculated. Duo chortled his drink at the thought of Heero swaying his hips like some sort of Casanova.
"I will never be ready to do what you just did," he replied honestly.
"Oh, don't say that! With enough practice you'll be a pro in no time."
Quatre had to be faking. He could not genuinely be this innocent or this nice all the time. Duo still wondered how of all the boys destined to become child soldiers selected to pilot giant, steel murder machines, Quatre was given not only a gundam, but already had a small army in tow to do his idealistic bidding. Duo often wondered how Quatre was able to be this sweet and congenial after everything that had happened to them. Heero and Trowa were broken almost beyond repair, Duo coped with his trauma by being sarcastic and never really confronting his demons and Wu Fei…just kept it bottled up inside and it eventually just came out as angst. Quatre seemed to be the only pilot in the group that had a healthy emotional life. Maybe having that many sisters could do that for your or maybe just knowing his family had that different of an impact. Duo didn't exactly envy him, but he at the very least admired him for what he had.
The salsa was bitter work. Heero was able to master the steps well enough, and could even keep up with the music, but the upper body movements and the swaying of his hips was difficult for him to grasp. Quatre explained as best as he could, providing demonstration after demonstration of how exactly he should balance his body to allow for better hip movement, but it just wasn't something Heero could watch and pick up. They broke for lunch (another Cuban dish prepared specifically to teach manners) and upon returning picked up where they left off.
"Here," Quatre finally said exasperated. He put his hands on Heero's hips. He pushed them into place. "Now take a step, stay on the ball of your foot" Heero hesitantly obeyed, Quatre's hands changing positions as he moved. "Another step." Heero obeyed, his pelvis being pushed into position. "Do you feel that? How that's different from how you normally pose yourself?"
Heero uttered a short "Yes." In the dire hopes that it would satisfy his instructor and he would let go. It was subtle, but Duo could see the discomfort on his face.
"Ok. Now this time, move your hips on you own. Take a step forward…now a step back…now a side step…and a rock step…" Quatre wasn't adding pressure, but still left his hands on Heero's hips to feel him take the proper steps. "The hip movement is crucial to the Cuban style dances; you have to get this right if nothing else in any of our lessons sink in. Once you have this mastered, the other dances are just minorly different." He removed his hands entirely and took a step back.
"Again." He ordered.
Heero tried the combination again, putting extra effort into making sure his hips had the correct posture as he followed the music.
"Relena's going to like that," Duo muttered under his breath to Quatre.
"She's not going to get to enjoy this view unless he dances with someone else."
"Do you mind?" Heero asked, a small hint of irritation in his voice.
"It's much better," Quatre called to him. "We can break for lunch and work on the cha-cha after we eat and give our food a chance to settle." He turned the CD player off and Duo tossed each of them a water bottle.
Heero had to sit for a few minutes and cool before he was ready to move to the dining room. Eight hours a day twice a week wasn't much but until his muscles got used to being put through this additional training on days he was used to relaxing, he was sore and exhausted, but still determined as ever.
Lunch came with a unique offer to smoke Cuban cigars after dinner. All three of the boys refused, but Rashid and the waitstaff chose to smoke one
"It might be in your best interest to smoke a few with some of the representatives after dinner," Quatre said, not necessarily encouraging him to try one, but giving him an offer of any advantage. Heero still refused.
"I'd prefer to be where I can keep an eye on Relena. She has a knack for getting….kidnapped."
"Be fair, that only happened twice," Quatre insisted. "And she hasn't had any successful attempts on being killed or taken ever since you became her chief of security.
"And I intend to keep it that way. While bartering trade deals with the Americans will benefit the colonies, the Europeans and Asians that have sponsored colonies in space have every incentive to try and kill off the competition before it can even be formed. Relena may very well be target at this event. I don't anticipate anything violent, but I'm also not discounting it either."
A sudden beep on Quatre's watch alerted them that lunch was over and it was time to get back to work.
"Well, back to the studio," Quatre said standing and stretching. "Plus, that good meal should have given us plenty of energy to go at it for a few mor hours."
Heero nodded. He was ready to get back to work.
He was going to make this perfect for her in every way.
