Relena couldn't move. He'd shown up by surprise plenty of times before, but this time she truly was not expecting him. A feather could have knocked her over.

She remained still as Heero lowered his phone and approached her, more tentatively and earnest than usual. He paused a few steps in front of her, frowning. "I'm sorry… did I frighten you?"

"No," Relena breathed. "I'm just… genuinely surprised. How did you pull this off?" Then again, this was Heero Yuy…

His smile returned, and he moved around her to shut the door, leaving her bodyguards waiting in the hall. But instead of answering, he wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss.

"I thought you were working," Relena said after they'd parted. Heero's eyes were glimmering in the candlelight.

"I was," he said.

Relena frowned up at him. "You didn't happen to tell me where."

"You never asked."

She rolled her eyes at his canned response. "Silly me." Her brows furrowed. "When did you even get here?"

He'd seen her off at the spaceport just that morning… to this day, Relena still did not understand the machinations of Heero Yuy.

"I took a Preventers shuttle, right after yours left." He nuzzled against her and planted another kiss, this time to her neck. Relena sighed and leaned in to his touch.

"Oh, so you're on an actual mission? Or you just decided to follow me to space?" she teased, reaching up to tug on his tie.

"That's classified," Heero clipped. But his eyes were dancing.

"Of course it is," Relena sighed, placing her hands on his chest. He was dressed in a black suit, complete with a perfectly pressed white dress shirt and tie. He looked, in a word, irresistible. And he seemed to be thinking the same thing of her as his midnight eyes drank her in.

"You look beautiful," he said. And then he kissed her again, squarely on the lips this time.

"So do you," Relena said with a smile, earning a laugh from Heero. God, it was good to hear him laugh… "And these are beautiful, too," she added, gesturing to the roses he was still holding. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me." Heero broke their embrace briefly to walk over to the nearby coffee table, where he deposited the flowers.

"I should put them in water... " Relena mused.

"I'll take care of it," Heero said. With both hands freed, he took her back into his arms. Relena rested her head on his chest, relishing each wild beat of his heart.

He led her over to the couch, identical to the one in Quatre's suite, holding her hand as he directed her to sit. And that's when Relena began looking around wildly.

The candles… the roses… her lifelong love, lowering himself before her… bending one knee…

Wait. No. He can't be. Ahhhhhhh...

"Oh, God, Heero… are you going to propose?!" Relena's hand flew to her mouth, tears automatically flooding her eyes. Now that the moment was here – once she registered that this was really, actually, finally happening – Relena could scarcely get a hold of herself.

Heero raised his head, and his gaze was so soft and loving, Relena could feel herself losing her heart to him all over again.

"Heero…"

He lifted her hand to his lips, and pressed a kiss to her palm. Then he lowered his gaze to the floor. "Huh. That's weird. I must have dropped this." He picked up his key card, and grinned mischievously as he tucked it inside his shirt pocket.

And then he raised himself and sat down beside Relena, looping an arm around her shoulders, chuckling under his breath. She gaped at him for a full minute before recovering, and landing a not-at-all hard smack to his arm.

"Heero! That wasn't funny!"

His chuckle deepened, his chest rumbling as he pulled her in for a lingering kiss. Relena kissed him back, but she wanted to smack him again. He deserved it for toying with her like that.

"I'm not proposing to you now," he murmured as their lips parted. He tucked a finger under her chin, keeping their faces close. "Not like this. First of all, I need a ring… and I figure I should let you pick it out. Or at least tell me what you want… I want to get you something you'll like."

Relena was still breathless as he used his other hand to trace his fingers over hers, caressing her ring finger.

"After all," he added, his eyes gleaming. "You're going to have this one forever."

"Let's hope so," Relena quipped, working to keep calm against the rapidfire beating of her own heart.

Heero raised her hand back to his lips. "I love you, Relena. And when I ask you to marry me, I want it to be special. I don't want there to be any doubts in your mind that this is exactly what you want."

"I already know what I want," she breathed, pressing both her hands against his broad chest. "I want you, and only you, for... forever, Heero Yuy." She smiled through the tears that now fell unchecked down her cheeks. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

He smiled and brushed his thumb over her cheeks, sweeping her tears away, as he always did.

"I think I can manage that," he said, his smile reaching his eyes.

"Oh, you can, can you?" Relena teased, tugging on the lapels of his blazer. "I'm not letting you go again. Not ever."

"I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you." He drew her closer to his chest, his hands roaming her back as he kissed her, deeply and thoroughly. Relena kissed him back with equal passion, clinging to every breath of this moment, praying it would never end.

No… that their lives would be made up of moments like this, every day from now on, as long as both their hearts were still beating.

"Come on." Heero rose to his feet, keeping her hands in his, drawing her to stand beside him. "Let's go get some dinner."

Relena arched a brow. "You don't want to stay in and order room service?"

"You're always saying we don't go out enough," Heero said as he went around the room, extinguishing the candles. "So let's do it." And then he was heading for the door. Relena beamed and followed after him.

After an evening of dinner, wine and dancing – which was, perhaps, the biggest and best surprise of them all – Relena was practically floating on air when she and Heero returned to the hotel suite, both eager to end their romantic night on a high note.

And hours later, nestled in Heero's arms in the dark of night, Relena heard him utter a hushed, near-reverent, "Marry me."

She bolted upright. "What did you say?"

"Hm?" Heero stirred beside her, stretching and circling his arms around her waist from behind, securing her in his hold again. "What?"

"Did you just propose to me, Heero?"

He sat up, his arms still around her middle. "Uh… I…"

"My answer is yes!" Relena flung her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his lips, tumbling back down beside him.

"Wait…" Heero sat up again, breaking their embrace. "That didn't count. I was half-asleep. Let me ask you for real…"

Relena shook her head, reaching for him again."You don't need to. Everything about tonight was perfect. I don't want anything more than this."

Heero drew in a breath, hesitating. "Are you sure? I don't even have a ring…"

"I don't care about that." Relena snuggled against him. "A ring just symbolizes commitment... you've already given that to me. That's all I ever wanted."

"All right…" Heero returned her embrace, and Relena's heart soared. "Then when do you want to do this?"

"Hmm…" Relena lost herself in thought for a moment, then brightened. "I've always wanted to be a June bride…"

"As in this June…" Heero asked slowly. "Or next year?"

"Why not this June?" Relena tilted her head back to look at him.

His eyes widened. "I guess… but that's only two months away. Does that give you enough time to plan?"

"Sure it does." Relena smiled as it all came to her, clear as a summer day. "We could get married in my hometown… I happen to know of a pretty nice venue we could get for cheap..."

Heero gaped at her. "You want to get married in the Sanc castle… in two months?"

"Yes." Relena pressed her hands to his bare chest, her excitement brimming. "Why not?"

Her new fiancé looked absolutely, adorably bewildered. "You really think we could pull that off?"

She grinned up at him. "I think you and I can do anything we put our minds to. Don't you agree?"

He smiled back at her, his eyes more serene than she had ever seen them. At last, they were on the very same page, one chapter coming to a close while another adventure was just beginning.

"I couldn't agree more," he said.

And then they sealed their new agreement with a kiss.

The end.

A/N: Well, everyone... we did it! It's over!

Thank you to each and every one of you who took the time to read, review, follow and favorite this story. You never fail to bring me joy. And I hope you enjoyed this one! It was a lot of fun to write overall, even if it did not turn out any way like I expected when I set out writing it... that's half the fun, right?

Don't be surprised if I disappear for a little while, now... I have to finish writing my YA fantasy novel, and that involves, oh, you know, focusing on one thing at a time. But I will be back! I'd still like to finish up my other pending fics. Fan fiction, especially of the 1xR variety, will always hold a special place in my heart.

So cheers to ending another one and giving Heero and Relena their happily ever after... and cheers to you!

Love love love,

- RFP