January 7th, 1777, Philadelphia

A/N: Thought I wouldn't keep up with this one now did ya? No, just had some writer's block with this chapter, as well as some major, major inspiration within my Gundam Wing/Metal Gear universe. Those things combined would surely equal a delay with this, but that's all in the past.

Encounter with Fate

January 7th, 1777, Philadelphia

Heero scowled. He hated balls. He had always hated balls, his parents had made him go to way too many since he was five, and as a member of New York's high society (albeit only by birth, not in spirit), he continued to have to go. So when General Washington bade him to go to a Philadelphia ball, he was not too pleased. But orders were orders.

General Washington sent him there as an ambassador of sorts to build good feelings to continue to support the Continental Army. After the victories at Trenton and Princeton, faith in the revolution was increasing again, and Washington wanted him to help seal the deal. Even though the Continental Congress was not currently in Philadelphia,(1) many members who were influential in society were here at this ball and Heero had been sent to assure their support.

It still made him want to vomit.

Heero took another shot of whiskey. This must have been his fourth in the past hour. He was sitting down and leaned his arm on a counter. He was sick of talking. Maybe now the whiskey would help somewhat. He was startled out of his alcohol-warmed thoughts by a female voice.

"It seems we meet again, Major Yuy."

Heero looked up. Standing up and looking down at him was a woman wearing a golden ballroom dress. The same woman he had found so intriguing but had not thought of in a while, with the crisis of the past few months. He had dared not ever hope to see her again.

"Miss Peacecraft. I didn't think we'd ever speak to one another again." He said, trying to keep his cool and not appear like a nervous thirteen-year-old.

"You're not disappointed are you?" She asked, wrinkling her nose and giving a pout.

He smirked at how cute she appeared. "Not in the least."

She smiled. "Can I sit beside you?"

"It's a free country."

Her smile widened. "Guess so."

"Why are you here in Philadelphia? Last I heard Mr. Jefferson is no longer representing Virginia in the Continental Congress."(2)

"He isn't, but I loved it here so much that I purchased the townhouse he was staying at. So I now divide my time between Virginia and here. My brother wasn't too happy when he heard about it but it's a lot easier when he's away fighting isn't it?" She laughed lightly. "Technically I don't control my estate, but it isn't like I can't spend some of my own money here and there."

"Built on slave labor." Heero challenged with a smirk, remembering her attitude about her slaves.

"Please, don't remind me. I feel guilty enough as it is."

"I see."

"I also see that you don't seem to like being here."

"I'm only here because General Washington sent me. I've always hated things like this, and I've been to more than a few."

"So, Washington sent you to Philadelphia once again?" Relena laughed. "I won't ask why. I remember that look you gave me the last time."

Heero smirked.

"So the army is picking up momentum. That's good, I was afraid the whole thing was over two weeks ago." She smiled.

"I think we all were. Us in the army kept retreating, and I admit even I questioned whether there was any fight left in us. General Washington might have saved us all."

"I see. Does all of the killing bother you? I know without a doubt, you have killed before. And you've probably lost a few of your own men as well. That must have been so hard..."

Heero's eyes softened as he looked at her. "You have to lose your humanity when you kill and watch your own people die; you aren't allowed to have feelings about it, not during the battle anyway. After it's over you get to sit and reflect and wonder if things could have been any different."

"I could never understand the heat of a battle."

"You shouldn't. A compassionate, gentle woman like you should never have to lay your eyes on such things."

Relena blushed and looked at the floor. "I wasn't aware that you thought of me in such ways, Major Yuy."

"You advertise it openly. Wouldn't anyone see that?"

"No. People just see my money when they look at me."

"And your beauty." Heero said without thinking.

Relena blushed even more than she had previously.

Heero quickly overcame his embarrassment. "But still, I feel guilty being here. Why should I get to be here in the company of a woman like you while my men are freezing?" He said to himself more than her.

"I don't know. But anyway, I'm glad that you are here." She said getting up. "Would you like to dance, Major Yuy?"

Heero said nothing. He got up and led her to the dance floor.

"Heero, you know I know how you feel when you fight, right?"

"What?" Heero asked, startled.

"I could never understand a battle, but I do understand our cause, and I consider myself just as much a Patriot as you. Before the war, I was just as angry as you must have been at the Intolerable Acts. I wish there were more I could do to help the cause out. The constraints of my gender weigh heavily on me. My uncle Thomas said that it was a shame I wasn't a man two days before Independence Day, he says I would have made a great statesman."

"You probably would have." Heero agreed as they whirled on the dance floor. "But I'm certainly glad you're a woman."

Relena's sapphire eyes sparkled as she laughed. Heero was admiring their glow.

"So, Major Yuy, are you enjoying yourself now?"

"More so now." He said, eliciting a smile from Relena.

He was enjoying himself. Dancing with a beautiful woman was one way to enjoy a ball, but yet, he'd done that many times before and still hadn't enjoyed it. Heero didn't know what, but there was something different about this woman, and he'd known that from the first time he met her. One dance led to another and another, he was savoring this break from warfare, it was amazing what fate could do sometimes.

"You're a good dancer, Major Yuy."

"You too Miss Peacecraft. I guess it comes when you've been forced to do these things since age five."

"You're right. I had to learn all these formalities as well."

Heero didn't quite know what he was feeling as he continued to dance with Relena. She felt so…right in his arms. He wondered what she was feeling too. As the latest dance ended, Relena spoke.

"Well Major Yuy, I best be going home now. It's getting late."

The party was beginning to die down. Heero, at first springing to get out of this thing, was now wishing it could last longer.

"Please Miss Peacecraft, allow me to accompany you home."

Relena smiled. "I'd like that Major Yuy, please just let me get ready to leave."

Heero watched her as she put on her heavy coat. Perhaps being sent here by Washington was all right, after all. Heero escorted her out of the building and the two began to engage in conversation.

"Both of your parents left you now? That's sad to hear." Heero said to her.

"Yes, they both became very ill. You were telling me the same happened to your own mother."

"Yes, my father has never forgiven himself."

"What?" Relena asked with surprise. "It wasn't his fault she was ill."

"No, but he thinks he neglected her. He was a leader of the Sons of Liberty in New York before the war, and he was so intently focused on the goings-on with Great Britain that he believes he had the wrong priority. He has never forgiven himself."

"Do you think he neglected her, Major Yuy?"

"Honestly, I don't. He perhaps should have paid somewhat more attention, but I don't think he neglected her. He's just grief-stricken, I think he needs somebody to blame. His activities with the Sons of Liberty can give him a somewhat plausible excuse."

"Well, to be honest I don't think he's had time to grieve. Our rights have been under threat. He's had to help stop the tyranny of the British crown. Once we kick the redcoats out, I think he'll have time to properly grieve and he'll come to realize he shouldn't be blaming himself, because he is not at fault."

Heero gave a rare, open-mouthed smile. "I think you are right, Miss Peacecraft."

"We will kick the redcoats out. I have faith in you, my brother, General Washington, and all of our other heroes."

Heero's eyes softened, she thought of him as a hero? "I promise I won't let you down, Miss Peacecraft."

"Please, you may call me Relena." Her eyes sparkled.

Heero smirked. "So, we are on a less formal footing now?"

Relena's eyes glinted with amusement and she gave a coy smile. "I don't think that we need to refer to one another in such a formal way, because I believe that you and I have come to know each other."

Heero recognized that this was his chance. "I suppose you wouldn't mind if I wrote you then."

Relena gave him a flashy smile and nodded her assent. Heero swore his heart could have melted right then and there.

"How long will you be staying in Philadelphia?" She asked after she had finished giving Heero her contact information for both there and in Virginia.

"As soon as I drop you off, I'm leaving. I have to get back to my men."

"I see…your devotion to them is admirable."

"They are the ones upon whose backs our freedom is founded. We in the officer corps are merely there to help guide them toward that goal, and I promised them that I wouldn't ask them to do anything I wouldn't do first."

Relena smiled as they reached her townhouse. "I'm delighted that we were able to meet once again, Heero."

"I'll make sure to write you soon, Relena."

"I'd like that very much, Heero." She smiled and walked inside, waving to him one last time.

Heero wore a triumphant smirk as he mounted Zero and left Philadelphia. Fate sure was kind sometimes. He greatly regretted not getting Miss Peace…Relena's contact information the first time around, and now he had received a second chance and succeeded. Perhaps he should thank General Washington for sending him on this mission. Heero didn't know what kind of connection he really had with Relena, but he intended to find out. He knew he'd be going back to war soon, back to battle, but for now, he was ecstatic.

For now, he was on top of the world.

1. The Continental Congress left Philadelphia for Baltimore in fear of Howe's army in New Jersey.

2. Thomas Jefferson had left the Continental Congress in September 1776, and returned to Virginia, where he was later elected to the newly formed House of Delegates.