A/N: I Don't Own Gundam Wing.

Ch. 2 Count Down

Relena scrolled through her laptop, casually going over the list of guest meant to arrive the following morning. It's not that she hadn't screened them before agreeing to let them visit. She made sure to review their records multiple times. It was mainly out of boredom. Milliardo had confiscated her cellphone so she couldn't contact Silvia or anyone at her office to see if everything was running smoothly.

"A vacation is a vacation Relena, even you have to follow this rule."

"This is ridiculous Milliardo! Give me back my phone!"

She couldn't get it back until lunch and if she persisted in contacting her personnel in Lemhi unless it was an emergency he threatened to cut off her service. Which didn't make any sense, Relena could always get another phone from her security. But she knew if she did that he would raise heck. Relena took a breath, trying to calm her agitation. Just waiting around till her guests arrival tomorrow had her at her wits end. It had been a long time since she had to do nothing.

"Relena?"

She looked up from her screen, Quatre was halfway through the door an apologetic smile playing at his lips. "It's almost time to eat. We're just waiting on Trowa and Catherine to get here."

"Thanks. I'll be down soon," she started closing her files and finishing up some drafts she had started. Quatre waited at the door though. Glancing at him again, she motioned for him to sit down. He happily obliged.

"What's on your mind?" she asked.

"Just wanted to know if you were doing okay, I know it's been a little hectic these last few months with revaluating some of the state laws. And then planning this meeting no less."

Relena couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I've been getting by. Trowa has been a great help, I sometimes wonder why he didn't get elected."

Quatre laughed, "Well he did technically."

"There you guys are." Sally stood out the door, hands on her hips. "Everyone's ready to eat and here you are chatting."

"Sorry Sally," Quatre rose to his feet. Relena was quick to follow suit once she saved and closed down her drafts. The three of them walked down a few hallways until they reached the stairs, that's when Relena heard the voices of her friends.

"I found them!" Sally yelled down, causing some of the visible shadows below to stir.

"Bout time." Duo looked at them, "The foods getting cold."

The dining room was far from cold, if anything else their recently cooked meal made it warmer. Duo was yearningly staring at the food, particularly the cut up chicken in the center of the table, while the others were lounging around the room.

"Of course that's your first concern," said Relena. Earning a few chuckles from everyone.

"Whatever, let's just eat already, in our rush to get here my beloved denied me breakfast."

"I told you to wake up earlier," Hilde said as they all started taking their seats. Duo jumped right in to serving himself, getting very little. Relena was about to ask if he was alright until she saw him handing his plate to Hilde and grabbing another for himself. Relena sometimes forgot that he was a surprisingly good boyfriend.

As she waited her turn, Trowa sitting on Relena's left, started updating her on his recent installations to the guests' homes this morning but was interjected by Sally who was seated on her right.

"You guys could at least wait until we're done eating to talk about that. Why not talk about other stuff for a change." Sally said as she served herself some mashed potatoes.

"Agreed." Milliardo added.

"If we're going to do that, you can go ahead and hand me my phone." she looked at her brother.

"Wait until after lunch," he said, stabbing at his chicken. Laughter resounded across the table, Relena swore they liked watching them bicker.

"You know I am curious over some of the visitors coming over. How about telling us little bit about them?" Catherine asked as she poked her head around Trowa so Relena could see her.

They all pretty much knew about the royal delegates coming over, but Catherine wasn't involved in the preparations as much as the others, nor was she a Cheveyo. So it was palpable question to ask. The others however broke into their own conversations as they ate.

"Well I won't go into too much detail but there's a good amount of people coming over anyone in particular you had in mind?"

"I've heard enough of the ENA to know about who's coming to represent them, but what about the Chang's heir, Wufei? Do you know how he is like?"

'Hardly,' Relena thought. When she was doing her world tour to represent the newly reunified States, her meeting with the Changs' was very formal. She was of course treated with the utmost respect, but she mainly spoke to the Emperor Chang Wen, and any of his subordinates he deemed worthy of talking to her. She never saw the other members of the royal family until a festival that was being held, and only then did she see them sitting across from her on the other side of the parade.

"No," she replied to Catherine. "I was told he was busy with his studies while I stayed in China. Truthfully I think that they were getting a feel on my character and that's why I didn't get introduced to anyone but their leader. Unless that's their tradition."

"They are a very secluded empire after all," Trowa chipped in.

"Oh so this will be your first time meeting him and his fiancé?" Catherine asked.

"No," Relena shook her head. "Ms. Long isn't coming, it's just Wufei with his guards and personal assistance."

"Aren't they in an arranged marriage sort of deal?" said Duo.

"Yes they are but from my sources they're reportedly in good terms," Noin put down her water. "The Changs and the Longs have a history that goes way back."

"Well that's good, maybe they've known each other since childhood," said Sally.

"Actually they weren't introduced to each other until they were teenagers. They were supposed to get married when they were sixteen but it was put off for reasons unknown, at least to my sources," said Noin.

"I can't even imagine marryin you at that age," Duo turned to Hilde.

"So when they were going to get married we were just joining the Nashadii Zechs," Relena said.

"Just goes to show you the world will keep spinning no matter the joys or woes of the people," he responded.

"To finish answering your question Catherine, I may not have met the young prince but from what I heard he's an intellectual, and is masterful in various forms of martial arts. Unfortunately I don't know much about his personality." Relena shrugged.

"He sounds very different from Prince Treize and his fiancé," said Catherine.

"Well they do come from different cultures," Quatre put in.

"From what I heard he's very charismatic and generally well liked by his people," said Noin. "He's also engaged to Lady Une, she served four years in active duty for the ENA's Special Forces and is a decorated soldier. Their engagement caused shock waves across Europe."

"Was it because she was a military woman?" Hilde tilted her head.

"No it was because everyone thought he would marry another woman from the Barton family. But Relena did smooth things out without really meaning too." Noin smiled.

'Here we go,' Relena thought.

"Now that's something we don't have to get into," her brother said nonchalantly.

'Thank you,' Relena happily agreed. However some people just couldn't take a hint.

"What that she almost got married?" Duo smirked. "Everyone knows Zechs."

"There was no way she was getting married." Her brother said calmly.

"Oh yeah! You were supposedly going to elope with Treize's head guard! What was his name?" Hilde tried to think up the name.

"Heero Yuy," Sally pointed her fork at Hilde. Everyone's faces turned to expressions of recognition, as they recalled her trip to the ENA six years ago. Relena placed her head between her hands. They were never going to let this go.

"We Were Not in a Relationship," she emphasized each word, but to no avail.

"Uh you guys were caught training together…" Duo crossed his arms on the table, food all but forgotten.

"It was just a few sparring matches," Relena broke in.

"In a compromising position," finished Duo.

Never letting it down, her brow twitched. The next few minutes passed with a debate over Relena's relationship with Heero. No matter how much she tried to dissuade them she eventually just let them have at it, not bothering to correct any rumors that had made their way to the States. Although she was grateful that Noin was making an attempt to save her by providing the facts of what happened during her one month visit to the ENA. Her sister in law was the first person she contacted when the media frenzy exploded while she was overseas. That way her people didn't think she was off romancing instead of doing her job.

"So where did the theory of them eloping come up?" Quatre asked. Relena just finished eating her pasta and was serving herself seconds. Trowa, seemingly uninterested in the topic of her love life, continued to slice his turkey meat in smaller pieces.

"That I can't say, when Relena and Heero where found during one of their sparring nights it may have snowballed into that rumor. But that's just my guess." Noin offered.

"Are you guys done talking about my non-existent love life yet? I don't know why you all seem so captivated by it." Relena forked another plump ravioli.

"Almost," Duo chuckled. "But I do have one more question."

"What?"

"Did you really like him?"

"Honestly Duo, I did. You and him would have gotten along."

"Wait what?" said Milliardo.

"I knew it!" Duo looked triumphantly.

'Give them a minute,' Relena counted down. Her confession had stumped them all. Quatre looked jubilated at hearing that she had finally fallen for someone, while her brother didn't share the same sentiment. She could feel the heat of his gaze growing stronger. However some caught on faster than others and before her beloved brother could start his interrogation Trowa saved her.

"So when do you plan to elope this time?" Trowa asked.

Relena continued to eat nonchalantly, "Sometime around October 32nd, we didn't want a Halloween wedding."

She visibly saw everyone slump. Some from disappointment, she stared at Quatre.

'Others from relief,' she glanced at her sibling while Noin patted his hand.

"Sneaky son of a-" Duo halted at Milliardo's glare, "beautiful flower?"

Another burst of laughter filled the room and they, fortunately, switched the topic to something else. Enjoying the remainder of their lunch Relena was reminded of how much she really missed being with all of them. Their new responsibilities of being leaders for an entire nation instead of a rebellion had kept them all busy. They hung out less than when they were in the war. So this diplomatic meeting had its upsides. She would be seeing plenty of them since they all decided to pick Relena's house to stay in till their guests left.

"Hey where's Connor anyway? I haven't seen him all day," Hilde sat next to her. The rest had already taken their plates to be washed and put away some of the leftovers.

"He and the rest of my guard decided to go visit their family and friends, they should be back tonight or early tomorrow." Relena finished munching on her garlic bread.

"Whoa I never thought it was even possible for him to take a break. Let alone leave your side." Hilde giggled.

"You're right, that's why I had to order him to do it." Relena smirked.

The two cracked up, Relena could still see Connor's stoic face as she pushed him out the door to enjoy his day off. It's not that she didn't want them around her or her Cheveyos, she just knew that a few of her men had been wanting to visit some of their wives and children, and wouldn't leave unless she said so. This worked out perfectly for all of them.

"Hey where are you going? Aren't you going to watch the movie with the rest of us?" Duo looked up at Relena as she climbed the stairs.

"Calm down I'll be with you guys in a few minutes. I just need to turn off my laptop."

"Uh huh," Duo flung his arm around Hilde's shoulders and walked away. "Don't be late!" he called back.

"Wouldn't dream of it!" she shouted so he could hear.

Opening the door to her study room the cool air traced goosebumps on her skin, she unplugged her charger and woke up her laptop. Relena wasn't lying when she said she was only going to shutoff her laptop. She would have to wake up early tomorrow too, so as soon as the movie was done she had to be in bed.

"Hey Relena you coming?" Quatre leaned on the doorframe.

"Yes, yes I'm just shutting down," she closed her screen once it turned black. Quatre stepped aside as she turned off the lights and closed the door.

"Mind if I ask one more thing about that guy?" Quatre glanced at her as they made it down the stairs.

"Go ahead," she relented.

"Did you really like him?"

She didn't answer immediately. In truth Relena only saw Heero as a good man, an attractive one she would admit, but anything further?

"As a comrade I'm sure I would have gotten along with him," she said.

"And as a man?" Quatre raised an eyebrow.

"I've never seen you be so nosy before Quatre." Relena flicked his arm.

"Oh I'm just curious, you know I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to," he smiled.

"Feh, fine," she tucked a strand of her hair away. "I sort of did, not romantically, but he was a nice guy. Even though he looks serious all the time."

Quatre chuckled, "Well I hope you guys get to catch up when he gets here tomorrow."

"He'll probably be more serious now than he was back then. I take the blame for that," Relena sighed.

"Cause of the rumors?" They walked down the carpeted hallway, the basement door ahead of them.

"Yup," she nodded.

"I'm sure you'll find a way to talk to him without making it awkward." He opened the door for her, everyone was lounging around and watching the TV. Sally made some room for her on the couch while Quatre went to sit with Trowa and Catherine. Noin hit the lights and Duo started the movie, but instead of paying attention to the opening scenes of the movie Relena's mind began to wonder.

Would he still not blame her for everything that happened? His reputation could have been ruined but he found a way to salvage both of them. And she hadn't contacted him since then, even when he risked sending her a birthday card this year. She tucked her knees under her chin.

'I'll thank you properly when you get here,' she thought.

A/N: Hey everyone! It's been very long since I last posted anything, sorry about that it's been one hectic semester for me. Hoping I will have more time to write soon but I'm not going to make any promises. Lol I'm also planning to finish this story first and then just post the chapters up every once a week, sounds like it would be more efficient but we'll just have to see. Reviews would be appreciated! Hope everyone is enjoying their day! :)