Hiding Scars
Epilogue
Three Months Later...
Relena sat in her first meeting with the E.S.U.N territory delegates and the colony was seated in the front of the several rows, watching the L1 delegate give an update on the state of the colony's economy and the welfare of the residents. Relena delicately took a sip of the tea sitting before her on the low desk, and casually shifted through the packet the L1 delegate had passed out prior to his presentation. Relena glanced to her left, and saw Heero still leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, head bowed and eyes closed. But Relena knew that he was awake and listening to the presentation. It was something he picked up during the last few months. He had this new desire to actually pay attention to Relena's meetings and her work, whether he truly understood everything or not. Relena thought it was sweet of him to put so much effort into helping her out with her transition. If he continued on this path of interest in her political life, then he could end up being a useful partner to have in the future, someone to bounce ideas off of and to help her edit and review her proposals.
Relena smiled to herself and lowered her eyes to the packet on the table once again. She gently laced her fingers together in her lap and continued to listen to the presentation.
"The strange thing that has been occurring lately on L1 has been a higher demand of personal firearms and large breed dogs. If I had to guess, I would say nearly half of the female population of the colony has applied for a concealed pistol license and there are orders pouring in from pawn shops and gun retailers to have 9 mm and higher pistols. Our retailers in this industry have been having trouble keeping up with the demand, causing the prices to rise significantly in a short time," the L1 delegate said, glancing occasionally at his note cards in his hands. Relena pursed her lips into a thin line and one side of her mouth curved in a grin. She kept her eyes lowered to the desk in front of her. She felt movement behind her as someone stood up in the second row.
"L3 has been having the same thing happen! We nearly have a dog breeding black market going on and many people have taken up offering dog training courses. There's been an explosion of various items that would fall under the category of personal defense," L3's delegate said from his spot behind Relena. A few of the other delegates murmured in agreement. Relena continued to remain silent, listening to the chatter around her. She glanced again at Heero, and he too, had a slight half smile on his lips.
Prior to her first meeting, Heero made her practice keeping her mouth shut when she had something to say. She'd grown too lax while living in the Americas, and had developed the habit of speaking exactly what was on her mind without filtering first. And now, listening to their wonder at the personal defense interest, Relena and to force back the words that were threatening to come flying out of her mouth.
Do they really not realize...? Relena asked herself, her head shaking slightly.
"Miss Darlian?" the man beside her said. "Something on your mind?" Relena glanced up at the man and met his eyes. She swallowed to stop the laughter that threatened to bubble up. Past the man's head, Heero had opened his eyes and was watching the conversation intently. The attention of the other delegates in the room had all turned to Relena. Swiftly, she rose from her chair, her hands clasped in front of her, forcing her face into a demure expression.
"I believe, gentleman, that the reason this increase in personal defense has been affecting most individual territory economies is because of my announcement a few months ago." Relena looked up to see all the men staring at her, wide-eyed. A few began to slowly make the connection. Relena spread her hands out to her sides. "The people have learned that no matter how peaceful the overall state of the Earth and Colonies may be, there are still those who might hurt them on an individual level, and even sometimes- in their own home. This is a challenging situation that I plan to take on soon, in order to help keep the streets safer and more peaceful, to reflect the peace of the rest of the Earth and Colonies." With that, Relena slowly took her seat again, and took another sip of her tea. The men around her silently contemplated her words. Relena glanced once more at Heero, who had closed his eyes once more, that slight smile on his face. Her words met with his approval.
The meeting lasted well into the afternoon, and it was decided to resume the discussions the next day in the morning. Heero escorted Relena from the government building to her waiting car. Having to be chauffeured around was something she had lost a taste for, and she longed to take the wheel and speed down the road. Instead, she slipped into the backseat of the car, with Heero beside her, and the black sedan drove away and back towards Relena's home.
Using her phone, Relena checked her various emails that had come through while she was in the meeting. She had several from Molly on various topics. The girl was working extremely hard to help Relena get back up to speed with the current state of affairs. Relena smiled and replaced her phone in her purse, content to worry about responses the following morning.
She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. The warmth of Heero's hand settled on her own hand as he laced his fingers through hers and gave her a gentle squeeze. She returned the gesture, but nothing more, keeping their low profile from the Preventer who was currently driving the car back to Relena's home.
As she thought about the day, she allowed her mind to drift to her relaxing times in the Americas. It was something she'd discovered recently that helped her to calm her mind and relax her body. Reminiscing about the feeling of the sun beating down on her skin while she sunbathed on the beach, taking a long, hot shower after an intense run with Cherry, sitting at a bar drinking with her friends and chatting about nothing in particular helped her to forget the stress of the day. Those activities were things she'd never truly experienced before. She'd been so guarded as a child, and never experienced true relaxation, knowing her father could be in danger at any moment of any day. And any chance she had at experiencing teenage whims flew out the window the moment she pulled the helmet off the strange boy on the beach. The war came to her, pulled her in and didn't let her go for a long time. Immediately taking up the torch for her father after his death left her with little time for herself, and her only means of relaxation were occasional bubble baths when she wasn't too tired to actually take one.
But she had learned about true relaxation and true enjoyment of free time during her four years away from everything. And she promised herself that she would take regular vacations, work be damned, in order to maintain her sanity and her body's wellness.
Relena was pulled from her reverie by a poke in the ribs from Heero. She opened her eyes and sat up. He held his phone to her, showing her a news article that was posted on the web. The picture that headed the article was of Relena, her full back tattoo exposed along with the long, falsely red braid that hung down her back. Relena grinned.
"They're talking about me again?" she asked, taking the phone and reading through the article.
"You're causing a gossip rag field day by coming back with tattoos, red hair and a new outlook on life. People are scrambling to imitate you," Heero said, touching her cheek with his fingers. "They adore this new, carefree Relena Darlian." Relena smiled and handed the phone back to Heero once she'd finished reading the article.
"Let them. Our generation has been so tense for so long that some down time would be good for everyone," she said.
"The old Relena would never had said something like that," Heero commented, slightly sarcastic. Relena shrugged her shoulders.
"Old Relena was too boring," she said with a laugh. Heero shook his head.
"Old Relena was still sheltered, and while that wasn't a bad thing, you could only relate with people so far before you lost them. But now, with your self defense campaign and your new attitudes and beliefs, the general public will be able to relate to you even more than before. I can see you being even more successful than you would have been otherwise," Heero said. Relena raised an eyebrow.
"Talkative today?" He scowled. "I'm joking. Thank you Heero. That's sweet."
Before long, the car pulled up to Relena's home. Or rather, Relena and Heero's home. Sure, Relena had offered Heero a room of his own, but it became their shared office instead, him choosing to sleep at her side every night. Relena had worried he'd miss his own personal space, but so far, he'd indicated nothing of the sort.
Heero and Relena stepped out of the car and waved off the driver. The car pulled out of the driveway and the couple made their way up to the front door. From inside the house, they could hear Cherry barking, excited at their return. Relena was nearly barreled over when she opened the door, with Cherry attempting to lick her face. Relena and Heero took a moment together to greet the dog, before Cherry had enough and walked away to do something else. Heero and Relena grinned at each other and stepped inside, locking the front door behind them, and hand in hand, walked to the kitchen for their after-work tea.
- The End
A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to all those who have stuck by and read and reviewed this fic. I really appreciate everyone!
And just for funzies, this is my relaxing, calm moment: Sitting beside the pool at the condos where I stayed at in Las Vegas, drinking a pitcher of Mojitos and reading a book, having absolutely no care in the world except which casino we would go to later that day. Bliss.