Hiding Scars
Chapter 21
A/N: I think an epilogue will suffice to wrap this story up. I'll get to work on right away :-)
After a few days, the shock of the horror that took place in Relena's front yard began to wear off. The thought that Relena had facilitated the death of another human being, however, weighed heavily on her. Relena wanted to talk to Heero about it, but she assumed his response would be something along the lines of 'He was an evil man and will no longer be performing evil.' She tried to rationalize that to herself but found it difficult to truly accept.
To keep her mind occupied, Relena spent as much time as possible with her friends while she had the chance. Cherry wasn't up to taking long walks yet, so the recovering dog frequently stayed home, pouting about the constant presence of the cone around her neck.
One morning, Relena woke up early, before the sun had really began to peek over the horizon. Heero was sprawled out on the bed next to her, with Cherry curled up beside him. Relena smiled, then slipped off the bed to find her laptop. She unplugged it from where it was charging, and after making herself a cup of tea, ascended the stairs once more and climbed into bed. She rested the tea cup on the nightstand beside her and propped the laptop up on her legs. Relena lifted the lid and turned the laptop on.
She signed into her email account and began to browse through the messages that had come in. She found one from Molly with the subject line "Homes for Sale." Relena opened that message and began to click through the links Molly had given her. All the homes met the standards Relena had given Molly. Her desires and needs for a living space had changed drastically, and she no longer wanted a large home with too many places for someone to hide.
One link brought Relena to a home that struck a chord with her. It was a two-thousand square foot home, and appeared to be modeled after the beautiful Tudor Revival homes. The home was painted in different shades of blue. Relena clicked through the pictures and fell in love instantly. She hurriedly responded to the message and asked Molly to put a bid on the house right away. Feeling satisfied and giddy, Relena closed the laptop and ignored the rest of her emails. She stretched and snuggled back up to Heero, burying her face in his neck.
The last day of the festival arrived, dawning bright and sunny. Relena, Heero, Milly, Paul and the two children met up with Duo, Hilde and Quatre at the beach. The final day was arranged as an all-day, family friendly beach party. There were people everywhere, but the group managed to find a place to lay out their blankets, towels and their picnic lunch. Relena wasn't the only one who noticed that many people were openly staring at her, which prompted Heero to remain closely attached to her side.
The group ate the lunch that Relena and Milly had prepared, then most went off to try and swim in the ocean. Relena and Milly sat side by side on the blanket, watching the activity around them. Milly threw an arm around Relena's shoulders and pulled her into a side hug.
"I'm gonna miss you, Cass," she said, falling into the old nickname.
"I'm going to miss you, too, Milly," Relena replied, hugging her back around the waist.
"But I know you'll come visit, and I'll probably see you on TV all the time." Relena laughed.
"More than likely," she replied. The two women sat together for a long time, holding onto the life they'd known for four years, feeling afraid of change, but not willing to admit it.
Heero watched the two women for a moment, wondering about the emotions flitting around in their eyes. He made a silent promise that he would make sure Relena maintained a friendship with this woman that helped protect Relena for the last several years. Heero leaned back on his elbows and pulled his attention from the two women and stared out at the ocean. He could see Duo and Hilde wrestling in the water, and Quatre playing with Milly and Paul's children in the sand. Paul was nearby, conversing with a group of unfamiliar people. Any people were still staring at Relena as they walked by. Heero itched to press better security upon her, but he knew she'd resist. When she moved back to New Port City, her life would be hectic again, and he didn't want to do that to her yet.
Heero had been making plans for his return as well, but he hadn't informed Relena just yet. He was looking for places in the city, but he didn't know yet where she would be living. He'd already contacted the manager at his current apartment complex to let him know that Heero would be moving out at some date in the near future. He'd take up an active role in with the Preventers again, and try to become Relena's guard once more. Une, however, would not be sending him on any long trips away from Relena. He would never risk leaving her alone again, not after what she already endured.
A finger poked him in the ribs, and he pulled himself from his thoughts. Relena was looking at him, a smile on her lips.
"Daydreaming?" she asked playfully. Heero smirked and shrugged his shoulders.
"Something like that," he said. Heero noticed that Milly had gotten up and joined Quatre and her children with building a sandcastle. Duo and Hilde had abandoned their splashing contest and were helping out as well by digging a moat around the castle.
"About what?" she inquired. Heero glanced back at her and brushed a wisp of hair off her forehead.
"The future," he said. Relena looked surprised.
"This is a new development," she said with an almost sarcastic tone of voice. He threw her a glare, but she only smiled at him. "The Heero I remember never thought about the future."
"Well that Heero didn't have anything to live for," he said, his voice low, but sincere. Relena's mocking expression evaporated from her face, and she stared at him. She reached up to touch his face.
"And tell me, new Heero, what do you have to live for now?" she asked, already knowing the answer, but feeling the desire to hear him say it out loud. Heero turned toward her slowly, reaching up to her face, his eyes soft.
"Some blonde chick with an attack dog," he said. Relena scoffed before she could stop herself. Heero pulled back and let out a laugh.
"You have been spending too much time around Duo," Relena declared. She rose from her spot on the blankets and was about to try and tackle him into the sand when he pulled her legs out from under her and she landed in his lap.
"Hey!" she cried out. Heero pulled her against his chest.
"You know that it is you. It's always you," he whispered in her ear. She instantly forgave him and turned towards him to kiss his cheek. "If it suits you," he continued. "I've been making plans to move back to Earth. I would like to resume my old position of being your guard."
"I'd like that," she said. Heero nodded. "You should uh-" she paused and looked away, a pink blush on her cheeks.
"What?" he asked.
"Sorry, I just have gotten so used to not having to filter everything I say," she said.
"You don't have to filter around me."
"I was just gonna say that the house I'm having Molly bid on for me has a few extra bedrooms, if you'd like to stay in one," she said, not meeting his eyes, the blush darkening to a red.
"If that is what you wish," he replied, his voice still in a whisper. Relena nodded her head. "Then yes, I will."
Relena knelt down in front of Cherry and began to remove the plastic cone from around her neck. The wounds had healed nicely and the stitches had been removed. Around Relena, her important belongings, such as clothes and her computer and other such items were being packed away by her friends. Once the plastic cone was removed, Cherry licked Relena's cheek and happily pranced away to investigate the activity in the home. Relena rose back up to her feet and looked around as well. She would be leaving most of her furniture and other belongings in the house, to be watched over by Milly and Paul. The rest would be shipped to the airport in the morning and loaded onto the President's shuttle, which he kindly lent to Relena to make the return trip to New Port City. The following day, she would part ways with Duo, Hilde and Quatre, and for a short time, Heero, until he put the rest of his affairs in order and relocated on Earth.
Relena heaved a nostalgic sigh and thought about all the changes that would be taking place rapidly. Her assistant Molly would be arriving as well, to make the return flight with Relena and help her catch up on some important matters that had been left since Relena disappeared. The Foreign Minister dumped Relena's hard drive from her old office computer into a laptop and sent it along with Molly for Relena to look through during the flight. So many plans from the last several weeks were finally coming together.
Relena was shaken out of her thoughts when Duo bounded up to her side. "I think that's everything, babe. Was there anything else you wanted to pack?" Relena took a piece of paper out of her pocket and checked it over.
"I think that was everything," she said. She looked around. Duo rested his arm around her shoulders.
"So you're really going through with everything, huh?" Duo asked. Relena nodded.
"I have been thinking about it a lot, and I think it's the right thing to do. I shouldn't keep my skills to myself; I should be sharing what I know and what I can do with the world." Duo glanced at her.
"It is not selfish if you just want to live your own life and not share it with the world," Duo said quietly.
"I had the chance to do that already, for the last four years. It was okay, but no matter what projects I threw myself in, nothing could make me feel as fulfilled as what I was doing before," Relena said. "I was meant to be in politics." Duo shrugged his shoulders and pulled Relena into a hug.
"As long as you're happy," he said, still a little skeptical, an unusual trait from Duo. Relena patted his arm.
"Of course."
A little while later, Milly and Paul knocked on Relena's front door. The group had been sitting around her living room, just talking. Relena let the couple in the house with a cheery, "Hi!"
"Hey! We just wanted to see if you guys wanted to come over for drinks and food," Milly said, with Paul nodding beside her. Relena looked around at her friends, who were nodding.
"Sure!" The group rose and followed Milly and Paul out the door, with Cherry loping behind. Milly led them up to the porch, and Relena was startled when many people yelled out "SURPRISE!"
Once Relena caught her breath, she saw that Milly and Paul's back porch was decorated in streamers and balloons, and all her neighbors were there, plastic champagne glasses in hand, and a giant streamer that read "WE'LL MISS YOU CASS!"
Relena clutched her hand to her chest, tears threatening to fall onto her cheeks. Milly and Paul swept her up into the party, her friends following behind.
"Oh, this is wonderful," she said. Milly and Paul kissed her cheeks and someone handed her a glass of champagne. "How did I not notice?" From behind her, Quatre laughed.
"We were in on it," he said. Relena turned to face him. "We kept you inside and away from that side of the house so they could set everything up." Relena smiled happily at him, and turned back. Someone turned on some upbeat music. There was a large cake sitting on one table, and many other dishes and desserts all around, and drinks everywhere.
"Guess I'm flying hung over!" Relena called, lifting her glass to the sky. The guests followed suit and everyone cheered.