"How about you just stay here with me?" he suggested as he wrapped his strong arms around her securely. "I just want to be sure that this is real and that when I wake up again, I didn't just dream the whole thing."

She smiled at him gently, "Sure," she said to him with a smile, pecked his cheek, and the two of them settled into the hospital bed as best they could to get some sleep.

Somewhere I Belong

Chapter 18

Epilogue

By: Miguela

Heero walked home, his laptop bag slung over one shoulder, and was whistling quietly to himself. He greeted a few pedestrians in his neighbourhood cheerily as he tucked three single roses under his arm so that he could get to his keys. It was his and Relena's three month anniversary and he wanted to remind her that his feelings for her hadn't changed in the least.

The three bedroom house that they had purchased in the neighbourhood of the Preventers branch, where he had resumed work as the administrator, was shaping up nicely. The old brick in the front of the house had had the old white paint sanded off and was replaced with a light glaze to accent the sand coloured stones outlining the outcropping window seat in their living room and very light wood for the rest of the siding. Relena was out planting flowers along the walkway that lead up from the curb to the small porch on the front of the house. She smiled at him warmly as she wiped dirt from her face, which resulted in a very large smear across her nose and one cheek.

Heero laughed gently as he presented the roses to her. "To commemorate our three month anniversary," he said to her as she looked at him in confusion. Her smile widened as he pecked her cheek. "Did you have fun with your flowers today?"

"There's something calming about gardening," she said to him happily as she smelled the sweetness of the roses. "By the way, Trevor is going crazy in the entrance way."

Heero gazed over to his front door, which was open, and he could see the puppy that Relena had gotten him for their first month anniversary wagging his tail happily and barking enthusiastically. He had named the pup Trevor since no other names popped in his head that would be suitable for a male dog. "Calm down Trevor," Heero called to the puppy. "It's just me."

Trevor started whining when Heero didn't move fast enough to let the dog outside. He ran over the grass, stumbling as his paws were much too big in relation to the rest of his body, and started to lick Heero's hand and rub up against him.

"How was work?" Relena asked him lightly as she went into the kitchen to add the roses to a vase of tulips she had already on the counter top. "Lady Une called earlier today to tell me to remind you that you have three days mandatory vacation coming up," Relena added as Heero spied the note that had been taped next to the vid-phone with that exact message.

"So, what are we going to do for my days off?" Heero asked her as he stripped off his preventer's jacket and hung it up in the closet. Trevor had his head between Heero's knees as he tried to get at the shoes in the closet.

"I was thinking about a romantic night out," Relena said to him with a smirk as she came back from the kitchen with the smears of dirt cleaned from her face. She pecked his lips again. "How about dinner and a movie for the first night at least?"

"I could help you with the gardening the next day," Heero said to her gently as he hugged her. Trevor wedged himself between them so he could feel like he was part of the embrace. "I'm sure that we could find lots of things to do."

"Or we could do nothing at all," Relena suggested slyly. "Really, the possibilities are endless."

"I agree," he said with a light chuckle. Heero actually had a relative plan formed for his days off though they were last minute. He had placed a call to Duo and Hilde and invited them over so that they could share in the fun. Duo had agreed exuberantly and told Heero that they would be on the first flight there that morning. He pecked Relena's nose gently. "What's for supper?" he asked her casually as he let her go reluctantly and dug in his laptop bag for his laptop and a small box, which he slipped in his pocket before Relena could see.

"Well, I found a good recipe for sushi," she said to him with a smile as she went into the kitchen, "But apparently my culinary skills haven't improved any; it tasted so awful even Trevor wouldn't eat it. I ordered us some from the restaurant down the road."

Heero chuckled to himself as he went into the kitchen as Relena was serving. He fingered the little velveteen box in his pocket and decided he would wait for the perfect moment to whisk the object into sight. It had been Duo and Quatre's nudging that had gotten him this far, he might as well go the whole way.

Supper was quiet with Trevor begging at his feet while he and Relena had a comfortable meal from the takeout sushi. "I think I'm going to enrol in a cooking class," Relena was saying as she poked at the sushi with her chopsticks, "I knew I would have to start fending for myself at some point; I guess having someone cook and clean for you doesn't prepare you for those kinds of experiences."

Heero chuckled gently, "I'll show you how to cook," he assured her gently, "It's not too hard, I promise. You just have to think about one thing at a time. Once you've gotten that down pat, that's when you start working on a couple of things at once. You don't become a pro overnight."

She stuck her tongue out at him and smiled sheepishly. "Mr. I-can-do-anything to the rescue," she said to him teasingly as she ate her sushi.

After the meal was done, Heero got dessert and then slid closer to Relena instead of sitting across from her. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about," he said to her casually as he served her shaved ice. "And I want to know your honest answer."

Relena was confused as Heero produced the little box from his pocket to present it to her. She gasped in surprise as he showed her the little ring he had gotten her. It was a slender band of white gold with a medium sized sapphire surrounded by smaller diamonds. He presented the ring to her as she covered her mouth in surprise, a swell of emotions playing in her eyes.

"Relena, I know that we've only been together for a short time, but to me, it feels as though we've been together all our lives," he said to her gently as he took her hand. "Will you marry me?"

She nodded vigorously though she couldn't seem to find her voice as Heero slid the ring home on her ring finger of her left hand before she flung her arms around his neck exuberantly. He smiled as he hugged her in return as she started to weep.

The End.... Until next time

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**Author's note**

That's it for this one! My first complete story! *Cheers and applause* And now you know why I want to write a sequel :P The more response I get, the more motivation I get.