Hiding Scars

Chapter 7

A/N: This is a long one. Sorry about that :-)

Heero was disappointed. He lay in bed, his phone next to him, but he had not heard from Relena all night. Hilde tried to tell him that it would be stressful for her to acknowledge her former life, and that she might not even contact him all week, but Heero couldn't listen to that rational. He wanted to talk to her sooner rather than later. He felt a little selfish wanting her to call him so badly. It was all for his own reasons that he wanted to see her, and Hilde accused him of not being concerned about Relena's feelings. Heero had stormed off to his bedroom, but as the time passed, he knew Hilde was right. After he had stormed to his room, he had heard his friends leave the house, and he watched out the window as they piled into the car and drove off. Heero had no idea what they were doing, but he was glad they didn't ask him to tag along. He was too anxious to do anything.

He picked up a book he had brought along and flipped it open. The picture of Relena rested between the same two pages they have rested between for the last couple of years. He picked the picture up between two fingers and stared at it, comparing the eighteen year old face of Relena with the twenty-two year old, haggard looking face of Relena. If Heero was honest, he'd say that Relena looked hung-over. She looked similar to how Hilde would look after a night of hard drinking.

Heero sighed. She wasn't going to contact him, at least not right away. He had to stop hoping too much. Finally, he stuck the picture back into the book, set it aside and eventually drifted off to sleep while brooding about the situation.

-

When Cassandra woke up the next morning, she felt physically and emotionally exhausted. It was six in the morning. Rather than continuing to brood, she pulled on a pair of shorts, a sports bra and a tank top, socks and her running shoes. She woke up Cherry with the promise of a run, and together, they left the house. Cassandra attached Cherry's leash to her collar, and they took off at a jog to warm up. When she started to feel better, she sped up, Cherry adjusting to match Cassandra's speed. The endorphins began to course through her body, waking up her muscles and her brain, making her feel better than she had during the last couple of days. She listened to the sound of her shoes pounding against the pavement, and the jingle of Cherry's dog tags clinking together. Sweat beaded on her forehead and began to drip down her temples to her jaw line. Her head felt light, but her thoughts and feelings became clearer and more defined as she ran. She was beginning to feel like she could take on this current situation that had been presented to her with the care and grace she'd never lost.

At least, she felt that way until she was running down the sidewalk and saw a familiar blonde man sitting on the front porch of a house, reading and drinking from a coffee mug. Cassandra slowed her pace, Cherry reacting and slowing as well.

Quatre looked up and saw her. He set aside his book and mug and stood up. Cassandra slowed down all the way to a walk, and then stopped in front of the house. Quatre walked down the steps and down the walkway until he was standing in front of her.

"Quatre..." Cassandra said quietly. She looked him over, how he'd gotten taller, how his hair had gotten a little longer, and how his face that always looked so young was beginning to show signs of worry and smile lines.

"Miss Cassandra, or rather, Miss Relena," he said, giving her a short bow. Cassandra blushed and looked away. A rush of conflicting emotions welled up inside of her. She was torn between breaking down and hugging him or just taking off running and never looking back. She chose the former.

"Oh Quatre," she said, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him. Quatre returned the hug tightly. Cassandra started to cry.

"Why are you crying?" he asked her.

"It's just that... well... I haven't seen you in four years and now I'm hugging you and I'm all sweaty and gross," she cried. Quatre laughed out loud and pulled her away so he could see her face.

"Don't worry about it, Miss Relena," he said. She brushed away her tears.

"I guess that is my real name," she said. "Though I haven't been called in since I left," she added.

"We are all kind of wondering about that," Quatre said frankly. Relena nodded, then sighed.

"What are you doing awake right now?" she asked. Quatre shrugged.

"You know how traveling is. Your sleep schedule gets all messed up," he said. Relena nodded. "So do you, well, do you think you'll be able to talk to us sometime while we're here?" Relena looked away again, down at Cherry, who was sniffing at Quatre's shoe. Quatre looked down and scratched the dog's head. Cherry barked once, then tried to jump up and lick Quatre, but Relena commanded her down. Cherry sat back down.

"Who is this?" Quatre asked.

"Cherry," Relena said. "I'm assuming that you guys know where I live, since Heero is with you," she said. Quatre nodded. "Come over tonight around six. I'll make dinner, and..." she trailed off for a moment. She pondered her choices, and not for the first time, wondered what Heero would do in her situation. "And I'll tell you everything." Quatre nodded, then gave her another hug.

"I'll see you then," he said. Relena nodded, and Quatre turned away and walked back up to the front porch. Relena resumed her run, pushing herself harder than she had in a long time, forcing her muscles to burn all the way back to her house.

-

"She was here?!" Heero cried out. Quatre held his hand up in front of him to keep Heero from lunging.

"Yes, but you all were still sleeping. She was just out running with her dog, and we talked for a minute. She invited us all over for dinner tonight, and she said she would tell us everything," Quatre explained. Everyone was quiet for a moment.

"I'm so glad," Hilde said to break the silence. "I've missed her." Duo nodded in agreement. Heero sat back in his chair, his leg shaking beneath the table.

"I know you're going to be anxious, Heero, but you have to give her space when we go over there. She's feeling reserved about this, I could tell, and we are lucky she is inviting us over. If we just go over there without any intent to try and get her to come home with us, then maybe everything will go fine," Quatre said. Heero nodded his assent to the plan.

The group fell silent again as they picked over the last of their breakfast that Hilde had made. Heero looked at the clock. It was only ten in the morning. It was going to be a long day until 6 pm.

-

It was 5:45 and Relena, up until now known as Cassandra, was freaking out. Sure, she had dinner ready to go, the table set, the wine chilled and uncorked, Cherry fed and content, and she was showered and dressed and her makeup was done. She had decided at the last moment to leave out the green contacts. They already knew who she was, so it was pointless to pretend that she had green eyes. She thought maybe it was because she didn't have anything to do, that she was freaking out. She was pacing back and forth in her kitchen, wringing her hands. Milly had stopped by earlier, but then Cassandra had told Milly that she was having some friends over from out of town and would be unavailable for the evening.

Her agent had even called and said that sales of her book were going well, and getting better. That was a good thing. She was even being asked about a second book, either to make The Invitation a series or to write another stand alone book. Cassandra Cooper had several novels in the works, one that was almost finished. That one was closer to being an autobiography of Relena Peacecraft-Darlian.

At 5:55, her doorbell rang and she jumped, a squeal escaping her mouth. Relena stopped herself before opening the door, to regain her composure. She took a deep breath, then opened the door.

Quatre, Duo, Hilde and Heero were standing on her front porch, all smiling. Relena put a smile on her face and said,

"Hey everyone."

"Relena!" Hilde cried and threw herself into Relena's arms. Relena hugged her friend tightly.

"Hi Hilde," Relena said. Hilde pulled away and stared at her face, then let go and moved aside. Quatre hugged her again, and made a joke that at least she wasn't sweaty now. Quatre moved aside, and Duo pulled her into a bear hug, which lifted her off the ground.
"Man, Relena babe, we have missed you!" Duo said. He touched her long, red braid. "Looks like we're in competition now, girl," he added. Relena laughed. Next was Heero, who seemed to hesitate before stepping forward and drawing Relena into a hug. Relena couldn't help but notice how the last few years had been good to him, how he'd grown and matured. Her heart fluttered at the sight of him, and her throat tightened, threatening to force tears from her eyes. Against his chest, Relena felt more at peace than she had in a long time. She could hear his heart beating hard against his rib cage. When he let go, Relena almost said not to. But she let them into her house and closed the door.

They all stepped in and took off their shoes, then stood there, looking at her. "I'm sorry. I think I have lost anything I learned about being a gracious host," Relena said, her hands once again in front of her, wringing together. Hilde laughed and took Relena's hands in her own.

"Stop worrying. We're still the same people as before. Just show us to the alcohol and everything will be fine," Hilde said with a wink. Relena let out an exhale, grateful, then led the group into her dining room. She poured out glasses of wine and handed them around. Duo raised his up for a toast.

"Here's to finding our Princess again," he said, and they clinked glasses and took a sip. Relena blushed.

"Well uh, dinner is ready so we can eat now if everyone wants," Relena said. Her friends nodded and sat down at the table. She brought out the dishes from the kitchen and set them on the table. Everyone began to eat, and like a miracle, everyone just started to chat like it was old times. They talked about their trip over to the States, and what they had done in the city so far. Duo and Hilde talked about their wedding. Relena felt horrible for missing it, but they assured her that she didn't miss much except for a drunken mess.

"I have learned to love drunken messes," she said with a laugh.

-

Heero couldn't keep himself from staring at Relena through dinner. He was glad that she had her blue eyes back, and he actually liked her red hair. The one thing that drew his attention the most was the large tattoo on her shoulder. It looked like an explosion of flowers, surrounded by vines and leaves. The tattoo spanned over her shoulder and down her back. He wondered how far down it went underneath her tank top. He felt his own neck get hot from the thought of investigating the size of the tattoo along her slim back. He pushed the thought away.

Her laugh was what made him smile the most. Even when he was first getting to know her back during the war, she didn't laugh very often. She was so serious all the time, trying to be an adult at the age of 16. They were all trying to be adults at young, teenage years. But now, she was laughing and smiling, and her skin had a glow to it, a combination of the sun and of general happiness, Heero assumed. Occasionally, Relena would look at him and smile, and he would smile back, just for her.

-

Once dinner was done and dessert was served, Relena led them onto her expansive deck off the back of her house. She refilled their wine glasses, then sat on a deck chair. Cherry followed her outside and curled up beside her. She took a deep breath.

"I know you are all still wondering what happened," she began, and her friends nodded their heads. "It's not a pretty story, and I still haven't really- come to terms with what happened. I have tried. You may think that it had something to do with the assassination attempt during my birthday party. But that is neither the beginning, nor the end, of this story," she said.

"It started after the Eve War, when I was performing my job of Vice Foreign Minister. I began to receive emails and letters. The emails were untraceable, and the letters came postmarked from all over the world. They were threatening emails and letters, promising bodily harm and other awful things. The person sending them was clearly upset with something I had done, though it was never made clear what it was. It's possible this person just did not like me. But the amount of hate fueled into those letters and emails was overwhelming. I reached out to Lady Une, and she promised she would try to figure out what was going on. All she was able to find were dead ends. I tried to ignore them and move on with my life." Relena glanced up from the wine glass resting between her folded hands in her lap and saw Heero's face. "I didn't tell anyone except for Lady Une. Maybe I should have told you, Heero, or any of you all, but I didn't know how closely I was being watched by this person. I was afraid that if I told my friends, he would come after you as well.

"And as you know, there was the assassination attempt. It happened about a year and a half after the letters and emails. I was whisked away to the hospital, questioned by Preventers and the police, and I was finally able to go home..."