Formal Engagement

Arthur Schopenhauer "Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax"

Relena Darlian Peacecraft smiled pleasantly at all the socially important men who flocked around her in attendance. Her feet were killing her from having to stand for so long but one would never know it by the way her eyes shown. She was happy that the keynote speakers for Dorothy's defense and been met so warmly by her guests, some of those who she had invited had never expressed a definite show of support for Dorothy but she was certain that she had swayed some of them over to her side.

She spotted Lady Une, dressed in a pale blue gown being asked to dance by her brother. She recognized his white formal suit from when he had gone to outer space as a peace delegate representing the Sanc Kingdom. He looked quite handsome she thought, with his long platinum hair around his face.

She felt light tap on her shoulder and she turned to see Quatre Winner. A large smile light her face when she saw him, she had barely had a chance to speak to him the entire evening.

"Hello Relena," He smiled warmly at her. "You look very lovely this evening."

"Thank you," Relena gave a slight curtsey which Quatre returned with a bow.

"May I steal the lovely lady away for a dance?" Quatre asked the nearest man.

"Of course," Mr. Delacroix said gently. "We've kept her too long from the fun. Go and dance, be young."

Relena blushed in mild embarrassment. She had known Mr. Delacroix when her adoptive father had been the Vice Foreign Minister and he had always managed to say things that made her feel like a young girl again. She supposed that she was young but it did not make much of a difference to what she was able to accomplish.

"We did well," Quatre said as he led her onto the dance floor.

Relena nodded in silent agreement. She had never dance with Quatre before and was not sure what to expect. A few minutes later and she could not remember why she had been so worried. Quatre was an accomplished dancer and she did not even have to concentrate on the people around them or worry about being led into another dancing couple. Heero was a good dancer but Quatre had the natural rhythm of the music down and his movements were graceful while Heero's had been mechanical.

"You dance nothing like Heero," She made the observation aloud without really meaning to and wished she could take the words back.

Tonight was supposed to be a night centered on Dorothy and having a little bit of fun and now she had gone and spoiled all of that by reminded Quatre of his missing friend. She really did not know about her future career as a politician at times.

She held her breath and time seemed to slow down to an unbearably sluggish pace as she waited to see what Quatre would do. She began to breathe again when she thought he was just going to ignore her sudden outburst which was probably for the best considering the setting.

"I'm glad," Quatre whispered. "I've seen Heero dance and while he knows how to he's really not very good, although he give the appearance of it."

"Yes he does, doesn't he?" Relena chuckled softly. "You're much stronger than you appear sometimes, you know that right?"

"They don't pick just anyone to be a Gundam Pilot," He murmured. "But enough of the serious subjects, we should be having a little bit of fun. According to Mr. Delacroix we should 'be young'."

Relena smiled but said nothing. She could not tell if Quatre was upset or not so it was safest to drop the dangerous subjects. They danced the entire dance and began another. Part way through Wufei came up and cut in on Quatre who graciously bowed out.

"Hello Relena," Wufei gave a brief nod. "How are you this evening?"

"Well enough," She responded.

"You and Quatre picked some very good speakers for the evening," Wufei commented. "I was quite impressed by several of the things they said. I know that Une and the Preventers will be proud to support you. I have an offer to make to you even though Une will probably be upset with me over this."

"What is it?" Relena asked trying to imagine what could upset Une so.

"If you think it will help you have my permission to reveal my identity as a Gundam Pilot," Wufei spoke softly so that no one would be able to overhear who was not already privy to such information. "It will not upset me to have it known that a Gundam Pilot supports Dorothy Catalonia and it cannot damage her."

"That's very generous of you Wufei," Relena stammered slightly before recovering herself. "But Une is correct this time. The public would have an up cry if we were to suddenly release the identity of one Pilot and not the others."

"That is so," Wufei finally acknowledged. "I won't do anything rash, I'm not Maxwell."

"No you're not Duo," She shook her head at the comment. "Any luck tracing either of them Wufei?"

The Chinese Preventer shook his head. His dark eyes were sad but not overly so. She wished that there was something she might say to ease a bit of his sadness but they were all that way, including herself. They had seen too much, done too much and lived through too much. They were all lucky they had not been more permanently scarred then what they lived with now.

Even she had moments where she felt that she should be living out in the middle of nowhere because she could not stand to be around so many fake people, people who had hidden away in their fancy houses during the worst of the wars and then poked their heads out to complain and try and make the new rules. Those were the people who should not be overly involved in such processes but she could not change it all in one day.

"I think that one day Duo will come back to us," Relena finally said when the music was beginning to slow again. "And I think that when he does he will be very different from how we remember him but underneath all that newness he'll be the same."

"What about Heero?" Wufei asked her. "Do you think he'll return as well?"

"I don't know Wufei," Relena sighed and thought quickly. "I think that there's a chance but I don't see Heero coming back on his own unless there's a huge catastrophe, maybe not even then."

"Yuy is a coward," Wufei scowled somewhat. "He ran as soon as he was able. At least Maxwell left to probably go after him."

"Heero may have had his own reasons for leaving Wufei," Relena gently admonished. "We can't know for sure but you as his friend and fellow Pilot should at least take that into consideration before proclaiming him to be a coward."

"You're right," Wufei shook his head as though to clear his thoughts. "But I cannot approve of the manner in which he left."

"I understand that," She said.

And really she did.

When the dance came to an end Wufei escorted her off to the side where some chairs had been set up. He led her to one and his look clearly told her to have a seat.

"I'll grab you something to drink," He said. "Remain here until I return."

Relena nodded and watched the Chinese Preventer in his formal dress saunter off to another room where refreshments were present.

"You know Miss Relena," Dorothy had said in the early morning just as the sun was rising while she brushed and plaited Relena's hair. "I think we're all cowards, every last one of us."

"You're certainly no coward Dorothy," She had responded.

Dorothy had laughed and continued plaiting Relena's hair, "Oh Miss Relena, I'm afraid I might be the biggest coward of all. You see, I can't stand to be weak or sit idly by while someone else does all the fighting. I have to be in there, getting my hands dirty in these sordid affairs."

Relena had remained silent, unsure of what to say.

"Oh Relena-sama," Dorothy sighed. "If I weren't such a coward I would be able to appear weak just because I know I'm not. I would be able to sit back and allow others to fight because I have no desire to die. But I can do neither."

"Relena," Wufei stood in front of her holding out a crystal glass of punch. "Here. What were you thinking of? You were miles away."

"Something Dorothy said to me," Relena took the glass from Wufei and took a sip, tasting the fruity tartness and feeling immense relief. "It was about cowards. She said that we were all cowards and that she might have been the biggest of us all because she was afraid to appear weak and sit by and allow others to fight even though she had no desire to die."

Wufei frowned thinking. Relena sometimes wished she could know what it was he thought of. He was so wise and always seemed to know just what to say when someone needed advice.

"Yes, we're all cowards at one time or another," He nodded in satisfaction. "Catalonia is wiser than I remember at times."

"Yes she is," Relena smiled and took a few ladylike sips of her punch.

The two sat together watching the other dancers go by. Relena wondered if she and Wufei could be considered friends, if there was even a name to describe the kind of relationship she had had with each of the Pilots. She stared off into space thinking of their connections, if there was anything there or merely a bond forged in the heat of the wars and conflicts.

"What are you thinking of?" Wufei asked and Relena shook herself out of her thoughts and saw Trowa approaching them.

"I was just thinking if you and I are friends or if there is even a word to describe this connection?" Relena smiled and nodded to Trowa. "And I was wondering if I'm even friends with any of you."

"I know Quatre considers you his friend," Trowa said dropping elegantly into the chair beside Relena. "And I consider you a friend even though I don't know you very well."

"I too consider you a friend," Wufei told her. "But I think that our friendships with one another are different from the normal ones everyone else seems to have. We were brought together out of necessity and even though we may not know each other personally very well we know more about our beliefs and motivations than most friends know about each other. I am proud to call you my friend Relena Peacecraft."

"Thank you Wufei," Relena gave a teary smile. "And I am proud to call you all my friends."

"I think you have your answer then," Wufei gave a tiny smile and walked over to where Lady Une was speaking with Sally Po.

Relena sat in her chair for several long moments watching the other guests dance and talk with one another. She was glad to see the three Pilots together, glad to know where they stood with one another. Trowa reach out his hand and grabbed one of her gloved ones, pulling her up from the chair and taking her punch cup and setting it on her seat before leading her out onto the dance floor.

"Why Trowa, you never even asked!" She giggled feeling like a teenager rather than a politician.

Trowa merely raised a brow and guided her in with the twirling mix of dancing guests with little effort.

When the evening began to die down Relena felt more relaxed than she had all week and she felt cared for. She thanked all of the guests for coming out in support of Dorothy and smiled prettily at them when they bade her compliments on her appearance or their enjoyment of the evening. For the first time in a long while it no longer felt like another social chore she had to perform for proprieties sake.