Hiding Scars

Chapter 18

A/n: Not much left of this story- and we're coming up fast on the climax. I hope everyone has enjoyed this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I have so many more stories to bring you, and I'm super excited about them!

Also, thank you to all the reviewers and everyone who has stuck by through the whole story. I appreciate your feedback! Makes me happy to be back in this community again!

Relena leaned back in her computer chair and stretched her arms above her head. Cherry sat beside her whining.

"What's the matter, Cherry?" Relena asked, looking down at the dog. The dog continued to stare up at her, a whine deep in her throat. Relena looked at the clock. "Oh, you haven't been outside in a while, have you?" Relena asked. Cherry's tail whipped back and forth. Relena rose from her chair and stretched some more, causing her back to pop loudly. Cherry jumped to her feet and followed Relena from the room. Relena checked out the window off the back door. She could see several officers patrolling her property, so Relena felt safe enough to allow Cherry out the door. She pulled the sliding door open, and Cherry bounded outside, barking and leaping around in the fresh air. Relena watched her for a moment, then turned away.

She began to pace. She'd just spent most of the day writing in her autobiography, adding details and descriptions that she'd never wanted to write before, because then, she was supposed to be writing as Cassandra Cooper, not Relena Darlian. She'd written about many details about the Gundams and other people from the war, in order to hide her identity. Now, it didn't matter. Her face was once again plastered all over the media, being talked about and speculated about.

Relena knew she'd have to make a statement sooner or later, a statement to the world, like she'd done so many times before. Only this time, she would be returning to her place in the political world. Relena sighed and sat down on her couch, pulled a pillow into her lap and hugged it to her chest. There was so much to think about and consider, and the more she thought, the more stressed out she felt.

"Milliardo," she mumbled. "Noine." Relena rose. After four years, she had completely forgotten the time difference from where Relena was in Europe to their location on Mars. Now she was in a different time zone. She supposed however, that if Heero had gotten a hold of Milliardo, then she could, too. She sat down at her vid phone and dialed up the connection that she had to unbury from deep within her memories. It took several minutes for the connection to make it through, but finally, a fuzzy image appeared on the other side. The person on the other end made some adjustments, and the image became clearer.

"Hello brother," Relena said. Milliardo stared at her through the screen.

"Oh baby sister," he said, reaching up, as if trying to touch her through the screens. "I can't tell you how happy we were to find out from Heero that they'd found you alive," he said. Relena smiled.

"I should have let you know," Relena said. Milliardo shrugged.

"I don't know what happened, but I'm sure you made the best decision for yourself as possible," he said. "I hope someday you'll be able to tell us what happened."

"That's sort of why I called," Relena replied. "I'm trying to still my mind, and this is something that I can do to help that."

"Let me get Noine," Milliardo said. Relena nodded, and his face disappeared from the screen. She waited, and soon, Noine's familiar face appeared on the screen.

"Relena!" she cried. "Oh darling, I'm so happy to see your face!"

"It's good to see you too, Noine," Relena said. Noine shifted and she could see both her brother and Noine's face on the screen. "I guess I'll start at the beginning..."

It took her thirty minutes to tell the story, editing out parts that she didn't want her brother and Noine to hear. In the end, they just started at her. Noine was crying, and Milliardo looked enraged.

"If I were on Earth..." Milliardo grumbled. Relena shook her head.

"Please don't think that way. Besides, they got him, and the Preventers are investigating the crime. They are doing what they can," Relena said. Milliardo and Noine didn't look too heartened.

"Maybe I should tell Yuy to just kill that man. I'm sure he'd agree," Milliardo said.

"No, brother. We ended that sort of thinking after the war. He will be tried and most likely sent to prison, as he should," Relena said.

"I suppose so," Milliardo said.

"You are so strong, Relena," Noine said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "If you survived this, you can survive anything else that comes your way."

"Thank you, Noine," Relena said. The connection grew fuzzy. "I think I'm losing you. I'll call you again soon!" Relena said. She could see them wave to her and call out good bye before the connection went to static. She turned off the vid phone. Her heart felt lighter and more at peace now. Her thoughts began to organize themselves.

Cherry was pawing at the back door now. Relena let her back inside. Cherry licked her hand and walked away to lie down on her dog bed. Relena wandered back into her office and picked up her cell phone. There was a missed call from Une's number. She listened to the brief voicemail. Une said in the message that she'd found someone for Relena, and to call her back. Relena quickly dialed Une's number.

"Hello Miss Relena," Une's voice said on the other side of the line.

"Une! I got your message," Relena said. "You found someone?"

"Yes, Miss Relena. A former student at St. Gabriel's institute. She remembers you from her time there. She is a little older than you, but sat in during many of your peace talks. Her background check was clear," Une explained. "Her name is Molly Shores. I will send you all her information for you to look over. She's ready to start on whatever projects you need done over here before you come back."

"Thank you so much," Relena said.

"Have you spoken with the President?"

"Yes, he came by this morning. I informed him of my intentions, but I have yet to confirm with him that- that I'll be coming back to the position of Foreign Minster."

"That's wonderful Miss Relena," Une said sincerely. I look forward to working with you again upon your return. Although this time, your security will not be lacking. I will personally make sure of that."

"Although I wish it weren't necessary, I will trust your judgement," Relena said.

"Plus I'm sure Heero Yuy will not let you out of his sight again," Une said, sounding amused. Relena laughed.

"He has barely let me out of his sight since they found me," Relena confirmed.

"Good. I wll let you go, Relena, but we will talk again soon."

"Good bye Une."

"Good bye."

Relena hung up her phone and hurried into her office. She had a speech to write.

-*-*-*

Wufei, Sally and Heero sat together at a table, drinking bad coffee heavily fortified with sugar and cream. They were silent, still reflecting on the disastrous interview with Howard Munn. The man was clearly insane, and they would probably not get much useful information out of him. The first interview had been bad, the next two were worse. Munn seemed to realize that he got enjoyment out of explaining the gross details about his exploits to the officers, and gave them more than they wanted to hear. Heero shook with rage at everything he said, because in his mind, he could see Munn doing those horrible acts to Relena, over and over again.

When Heero had walked towards the bathroom, he'd overheard some of the other officers wondering if they would use truth serum on him. Heero's anger fueled him to hope that they used the maximum dose on him to get all the information they could.

The police chief approached the table and set a folder down in front of Wufei. Standing behind him was a short man who looked to be of Asian decent. His dark hair was cropped close to his head and he wore a suit. There was a badge around his neck that indicated he worked for the American FBI.

"This is Dr. Young. He's a psychologist. We're going to send him in to have a talk with Munn to see if any diagnoses of a disturbed mental state can be made," the police chief informed them.

"Sir, that's not really the wording we like to use," Dr. Young said. The chief shrugged his shoulders.

"Around here, Doctor, anyone who laughs about attacking, stalking and raping women is subject to be labeled as having a disturbed mental state." The doctor pursed his lips together but said nothing. The chief turned his attention back to Wufei and Sally. "We'll let you know the results as soon as we have anything. Why don't the three of you get something to eat?"

"Sure thing," Wufei said, taking the folder and peeking inside. It was a recap of the interviews with Munn. He tucked it under his arm and nodded to Sally and Heero. "Let's go," he said. They gathered their things and headed out of the police station.

"Mind if I call the others?" Heero asked.

"Go ahead," Wufei said. Heero called Quatre and informed him that they were going to get something to eat at a nearby diner. Quatre said they'd meet them there. They piled into the Preventer vehicle and drove the short distance to the diner.

When they arrived, they sat down at a large table. It didn't take long for Quatre, Duo and Hilde to arrive.

"So what happened?" Duo asked once they'd ordered their food. Sally shook her head.

"It didn't go well, that's for sure. He's having a psychological eval done right now by some FBI agent. We're not sure if we are going to get anything out of him that can be used in a trial," Sally explained. The others looked grim.

"We've heard plenty about how much he likes raping women though," Wufei said, rather coarsely. His statement did little to make any of them feel better. They continued to sit in silence for several minutes.

"It's Relena Darlian!" someone shouted. The attention of the table was caught, and they looked around, thinking they'd seen Relena walking through the door of the diner. But no, everyone was looking at a television mounted on the wall. The waitress near the television turned up the volume.

"What's she doin'?" Duo asked.

-*-*-*

Relena stood on her lawn in front of her house. She'd showered and dressed in her more business like outfit, and pulled her long hair back into a braid. A few wisps of hair were fluttering in the light breeze outside. Standing at her left elbow was the President of the E.S.U.N. Relena took a deep breath and began to speak.

"People of the world and colonies, my name is Relena Darlian, former Vice Foreign Minister. Four years ago, I abandoned my position. I'm here to tell you why. I was the victim of a cruel sexual act which left me afraid for the life of my friends and family, and for my own life. So I went into hiding with the hopes that the people close to me would be spared the wrath of this deranged man. As many people know by now, I appeared in a brief video of a fight happening at the fair in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the United States. The man attacking me was the same man who attacked me four years ago. The man has been arrested and will be tried for his crimes. And because of that, I feel safe now to say that I will be returning to my former job, but as the Foreign Minister. I intend to use my power to add another item to my list of projects, which will be to help women learn to protect themselves from those who would wish them harm. Though the wars have ended, there is no way we can control the acts of all the people on Earth and in the colonies. But we can learn to protect ourselves and to make good choices to avoid getting ourselves into trouble. And that is what I wish to teach to anyone who would be willing to learn. Thank you, and I feel so lucky and happy to be back among the world that I love," Relena said.

The butterflies that plagued her prior to her speech dispelled almost as soon as she started speaking. She fell into her easy flow of speech, her passion pushing the words further into the hearts and minds of those who listened. Relena smiled into the cameras, feeling complete. At her side, the President stepped forward and the cameras turned their lenses to him.

"I, President Walden Mitchell, accept Relena Darlian's return to the position of Foreign Minister, and I wish her the best in all her endeavours," he said, then turned and rested a hand on Relena's shoulder. They both smiled and waved into the cameras. From beyond the cameras, applause and cheering could be heard from the media who were watching and recording the speech.

-*-*-*

Heero watched as Relena and the President disappeared from the screen and were replaced by a talking head anchor. Heero shifted his gaze back to his friends, feeling a little stunned. Everyone else was smiling and chattering about her return. All Heero could think about was the stress that would return to Relena's face once she took up her old duties, resurrected the Mars project and took on this new project she announced in her speech. As if she didn't have plenty to do before, now, she would be even busier.

And a bit selfishly, Heero wondered if this would cause him to have limited time to spend with her.

"Heero, what's wrong?" Quatre asked. Heero snapped his gaze up to his friend. They were all staring at him.

"Nothing," he stated. No one believed him. Instead of explaining himself, he looked back down at his plate and continued eating. He could tell they were all exchanging glances, but he did not feel like allowing them to know his thoughts. Eventually, they went on with their excited conversation and finished their meal.

-*-*-*

Once Relena had finished with her speech, most of the media vultures in front of her house packed up and began to leave. She assumed they must be satisfied with having gotten her on camera, along with the president. They would have plenty to talk about now for several days. Relena had retreated into her home after bidding farewell to the President, and was watching the dwindling activity from her upstairs window.

She turned away and looked around her room. Soon, she'd be leaving this beautiful home to take up residence somewhere in New Port City. When she thought about her changing future, she felt both nervous and giddy. She was getting excited about starting new projects and taking up old ones. It occurred to her that her abandoned plans never really left her mind. Sometimes she would think about them, then brush the thoughts away when they strayed too close to the painful memories of the past.

But this four year respite from it all rejuvenated her. She had tried to relax back in the beginning, but she grew restless quickly, which was why she took up writing and remodelling the vacation homes. It gave her something to do, something to occupy her mind. She liked to work.

Relena sat down on her bed, and Cherry jumped up next to her and rest her head on Relena's leg. Relena absently scratched at Cherry's ears. "I hope you will like your new home, Cherry," Relena said, looking down at her dog. Cherry looked at Relena with her big, brown eyes. "It will be an adjustment at first, but I know we'll get used to it quickly. There will be new friends for you to meet." Cherry yawned and stretched out fully across Relena's bed.

Relena reflected on her last four years of life. As she mentally prepared herself for returning to Europe and her old job, she began to feel like the last four years were more like a vacation. A relaxing vacation. "I will have to take more vacations," Relena said to herself. She tried to remember the last time, prior to A.C. 198, that she had actually taken a vacation. She didn't count trips into space with her father. She really couldn't remember. "That will have to change," she said to herself.

Cherry lifted her head when the doorbell rang. Relena climbed off the bed and walked down the steps with Cherry following behind. Through the window beside the door, Relena saw Milly. She threw the door opened and hugged her friend.

"Congratulations, Cass- er Relena," Milly said, hugging her tightly around the shoulders.

"You can call me whatever you want, Milly, just don't call me a bitch," Relena said. Milly snorted with laughter. Relena let Milly into the house and shut the door behind her. "I'm actually glad you came over. There's something I was hoping to ask you about."

"Anything," Milly said, throwing herself down onto Relena's couch.

"I was sort of hoping, if it wouldn't be too much for you, if I could hire you as my rental house manager," Relena said. Milly grinned.

"Sure! I don't do much else besides watch the kid and plan the summer bash, as you know," Milly said. "I'd be happy to do it! Plus, that way I'd still get to talk to you all the time." Relena laughed.

"I'd still talk to you either way," Relena said. "You've been important to my life."

"You're sweet," Milly said with a smile. She stood up from the couch and pulled Relena into another hug. "It makes me sad that you'll be leaving us, but I'm so happy for you. I really admired you when you were working so hard at such a young age before. I'm proud to call you my friend. Plus you were able to get back with that handsome Heero character," Milly said.

Relena's eyes lit up. "That reminds me!" she said. She grabbed Milly's arm and pulled her down onto the couch. "There's something I want to tell you about," her grin turning wicked and sly. Milly eyed her, then matched Relena's grin.

"I think I know where this is going," she said, and the girls settled in for an overdue girl talk.