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Chapter Four: Promises
Relena hit the snooze for the third time. Later, her house would be filled with diplomats, world leaders and some of the most powerful, wealthy and respected people alive. There was only so much time to get ready. She needed to get up and start preparing. She didn't care. Right now, she just wanted to sleep, and continue sleeping. Because when she slept, she didn't have to face things. In her dreams, things were perfect. She wasn't in the spotlight constantly. No one cared about every detail of her life. No one expected her to be okay all the time. People didn't hang on her every word. But most importantly, he was around.
With a heavy sigh, Relena turned off the noisy alarm and sat up in her bed. This wasn't her dream world. She had to get up. She had to face the world with a cheerful smile, so that they could smile. People heard what she had to say. They cared. That's the way it had to be. This was her reality. But the harshest part, the part she had the most trouble with: She had to accept that he was gone.
Gone. But was he really? Relena spent most of her morning thinking about it. 'I'll be back when you need me…' She thought back to when he'd originally said that to her. It'd been shortly after Libra had been destroyed. She'd been busy, traveling around all the time, but he followed and kept watch, while occasionally stopping by to say 'hi.' Soon though, things settles down. She traveled less and didn't need so much security. The world was accepting the move towards peace. They'd tried just being friends and hanging out, but he was restless all the time. He started visiting less, and the next thing she knew, he'd left. Leaving only that phrase to haunt her memory.
But, he did return, when she'd been kidnapped by Mariemaia. He'd kept his promise. What a promise. To pop in and out of her life. Appearing only when she was in danger. Didn't he realize that she needed him more than just when people were threatening her? He kept her grounded. She felt at ease with him near. And not just because he was her own personal killing machine, a knight in shining armor ready to be called to save her whenever she needed him: she just enjoyed being around him. His calm approach to life helped her when things got stressful.
Why didn't he see that? She supposed it was because he only considered himself a soldier. Only good at fighting. And only useful with a gun in his hand. She didn't think of him that way, though. He was more than that to her. Much more…
It was funny, she thought. She'd spoken in front of countless numbers of people. Preached her views to the world. Led them into this so-called new era. All of this, but she couldn't tell one person how she really felt. Not that she hadn't thought about if before. A limitless number of times, in fact. She could just never summon the courage…
"Releeena?" Dorothy called to her, breaking her train of thought.
"Hrm?" Relena turned to her. 'Dorothy looks so excited…' They were supposed to be working together on this, but Dorothy had done most of the work: It was her party more than Relena's.
"The caterer just arrived and they are setting up right now. So…" she paused. "Now, we can get ready. Guests will be arriving in about one hour."
Was it four already? The day had passed by so fast. "Wonderful." She smiled. "Thank you so much. Miss Dorothy, I don't know what I would have done without you."
Dorothy returned the smile and they each left to get ready.
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Relena glimpsed in the mirror. Downstairs, guest had started flocking inside. She needed to go greet them. 'Smile,' she reminded herself as she turned to make the trip downstairs to the ballroom where they'd be waiting. After a short trip, Relena found herself at the entrance to the back of the ballroom. She glanced around and smiled as she found that Lady Une and Mariemaia had made it. They hadn't visited in a while; She'd talk with them first.
"Everyone…" They crowd grew silent and turned their attention to their adored minister. "Thank you so much for coming here today. I--"
The main door to the ballroom flew open. Twenty men armed with automatic weapons stormed in, interrupting Relena's greeting. As the crowd screamed, they quickly took formation and surrounded them, leaving no room for escape.
Relena glared. "Who are you people?!" She couldn't see their faces. They had them covered with dark handkerchiefs and sunglasses. "Answer me!" She was infuriated. She wanted to know who they were, what they wanted, and what business they had with her.
The leader of the group have a hand signal to his comrades. They dispersed, leaving about eight in the room and the others left to carry out different tasks. The leader took a few steps towards Relena and stopped. "I need your phone."
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It didn't take long for it to get out. Every television station was broadcasting it. The terrorist group, "Epyon de Telos," had occupied the Sanc Kingdom Castle, and they wanted three things: the right to bear arms; the release of their imprisoned comrades; and one-third of the E.S.U.N.'s budget as ransom. And if they didn't get all three within twenty-four hours, they planned to detonate a nuclear warhead.
Newscasters flocked to the Sanc Kingdom, against the wishes of the police there, of course. They were trying to clear the area of all civilians and the media was drawing more.
As the tension outside began rising, Relena worked to calm her guests. They'd been herded into a smaller, interior room, void of windows. Needless to say, even with the assurance from the calming voice of Relena, people were weary of the outcome.
Relena found her way to Une and her miniature companion.
"Miss Relena!" the young girl called out.
She smiled and gave the girl a hug before looking to Lady Une. "It's good to see you."
"Yes, but unfortunate that we're meeting under these circumstances."
Relena could only nod. This whole thing was a mess.
Une looked around and then to the pair of guards keeping them locked in the room. "A party celebrating peace turned into this. How could they even consider doing this? The nerve…"
Mariemaia then chimed in. "Well, this was quite the opportunity for them, don't you think?"
The two older women looked to the child.
"All these leaders here… it was an obvious choice. They have the whole world looking at them. They can do whatever they want."
Une nodded solemnly. "You're right."
She was right. Relena had never considered that this gathering could become a target. Never in a million years. 'He would have… Security would have been so high. They wouldn't have even made it onto the compound…' Relena stopped herself. She'd just realized something: She really hadn't noticed any security in place today, just a few guards at the gate and door, but those were always there. And she hadn't even seen Larry…
"Miss Relena?"
Relena looked to Mariemaia. "Hm?"
"Are you okay?"
"Of course." Relena forced a smile onto her face. "Why would you ask?"
"Last time…" she paused. "Well, last time something like this happened, you didn't look so worried. In fact, I don't remember you being scared the entire time we held you captive."
'What?' "Well, I… uh…" She was at a loss of words. What did you say to that? When a child more than half your age read the lines of worry on your face? Luckily for Relena, the sounds of the door opening stole the attention from her. The two guards that had been keeping watch were replaced by two new guards. The voice of one of them caught Relena's immediate attention. It sounded… familiar. 'Where have I heard that voice before?'
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The news of the occupation of the Sanc Kingdom had just began appearing on the news in the colonies. Heero was already on his way to the space port. She needed him.
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End chapter four.
Eek. Another shorty. Oh well n.n Was a Relena-esque chapter. Heero will occupy most of the next. And then… well, I'll stop there. n.n Oh! And while I have it on mind, I'm planning on ending this somewhere around 8 chapters. So this is just about half-way! Whee! I'm excited :D
As always, I love hearing what you have to say. So, clickity the review button and speak n.n
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Footnote: Details about the terrorists group and certain dialogue were taken from "Preventor 5," the last section of the graphic novel, Gundam Wing: Episode Zero.