Relena sat with a blanket draped over her shoulders as she and Heero gave statements to the police. Heero had placed the blanket over her at some point, as if he assumed she was cold or traumatized. She was neither. More than anything, she was annoyed at Heero for his comments to her on the street. How could there be such a sudden change between the way he acted toward her in the lunatic's apartment and the way he treated her once they were safely outside? As usual, he made her head spin.

The cops left after a while and once again they were alone in their hotel room. Relena plucked the blanket off and decided to get down to business. She went back to arranging her clothes and preparing meeting notes for the following day. She had a presentation to make and planned to attend most of the scheduled meetings. After that, she could relax a little and go to whichever workshops she felt like attending.

Heero came and sat down beside her, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"You were right," he muttered. "This place sucks. Let's get out of here."

Relena eyed him curiously as she unfolded one of her tops and laid it out on the bed. "Are you serious? After what just happened?"

He shrugged. "You said you didn't want to stay here."

"But where else would we go? All of the other delegates are staying here and besides, I doubt we could find another place at this time of the night." She glanced over at him, puzzled. What had gotten into him?

"We could just leave the colony. Get our own shuttle." He was looking at her in a way that unnerved her. It reminded her of the almost predatory look he'd had in Kayla's apartment. There was something deeply sexual about it that made her heart flutter.

She pursed her lips. "Why would we do that? I have to work tomorrow."

"I'd think after what happened you'd have a good enough excuse to just leave."

"Well, that's not really my style, is it?" Relena smiled slightly. "I always stick around during or after a crisis. I wouldn't want people to think they could rattle me so easily."

"You have a point." Heero rose to his feet and strode over to the couch. "I'll leave you to it."

Relena sighed. "All right. Goodnight."

"Night."

She finished prepping her work things and decided to take a shower before turning in. She kept it short because the water was so cold. Apparently the colony, or at least the hotel, hadn't worked out all the kinks with the plumbing.

Relena was still shivering as she climbed into bed. Heero appeared to be sound asleep on the couch. Apparently he wasn't cold at all; as she predicted, he hadn't even bothered to procure himself a blanket. He had stolen one of her pillows, though.

Relena tiptoed over to him and gently draped an extra blanket over him. She half expected him to bolt up and seize her; she'd learned over the years not to mess with a sleeping Heero. He must have been truly tired because he only stirred a little. Relena crept quietly back over to the bed. She was still freezing, and the thin blanket on the hotel bed wasn't enough to warm her. She wished the flirtatious Heero would come back, and she could coax him into bed with her. For the sake of staying warm, of course.

Frustrated, she allowed herself to cry a few silent tears onto her pillow. When she thought about her relationship with Heero and what could have been, she felt as though she missed someone she'd never even really met. Maybe the romantic Heero Yuy of her dreams was just that - pure fantasy.

Work was a welcome distraction from Relena's troubles - namely, the one she'd hired as her bodyguard.

But Heero kept a close eye on her throughout the day, sitting or standing right beside her during every meeting, walking closely down hallways and corridors, his eyes constantly darting furtively about. Relena could tell that he was on high alert, probably because he felt so badly about what happened the night before.

As they headed to a luncheon in the hotel with a group of delegates, Heero lightly tugged on Relena's elbow.

"Hey," he murmured. "I need to talk to you for a second."

"Hmm?" Relena lifted her brows in surprise. "What for?"

"Just come here." He guided her gently to what seemed to be a private corner in the hotel lobby. Relena wondered what he might have to say to her that couldn't be said within earshot of the others. For just a second, she allowed herself to get her hopes up again, even if she was being foolish.

"I need to brief you on our new security protocols." Heero looked serious. Relena sighed, feeling the disappointment wash over her. Of course. It was always about that.

"What about them?" Her eyes wandered toward the other side of the room, where a few of her colleagues were hanging back, clearly waiting for her. "Can it wait for later?" Maybe she would put him off, for once. See how he liked it.

"I can explain more later," Heero nodded. "When we're alone."

Relena thought that she detected that certain something in his tone again, indicating that he was talking about something else entirely. But a double entendre, from Heero? She was beginning to think he was incapable of making them, and every flirtatious thing he'd said to her before was just her imagination.

"Is it… more involved than our standard operating procedure?" She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Anything specific I should know?"

He shrugged. "Not really. Let's just say that I plan on staying much closer to you from now on."

What?! she wanted to shriek. She wasn't sure how much closer he could possibly be; they were together almost constantly. She felt a shiver rush down her spine. Maybe this was Heero's way of flirting...

"You're not going to follow me into the bathroom, are you?" she blurted out, immediately regretting it. There could be people listening, after all.

Heero chuckled. "No. Unless you want me to."

"No!" she screeched, drawing a few stares from passersby. She grabbed his arm and pulled him tighter into the corner, her back nearly up against the wall. "I don't know what you plan on doing, but…" She sighed, not wanting to get into a major discussion with other people around. She was a lot like Heero in that way. "Whatever it is, I trust you."

"You do?" He drew in a breath, as if he'd been concerned. Relena wasn't used to seeing him look unsure of himself.

"Of course." She tipped her head. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Maybe because I totally screwed up last night." He glanced around, as if he had suddenly become aware of the people around them. "I won't let it happen again."

"It's all right, Heero. You don't have to beat yourself up over it. It wasn't your f-"

"It was my fault," he cut her off. "I let myself get distracted."

Relena frowned up at him, wishing he would stop referring to their relationship - if they could call it that - as a "distraction."

"And I trust that won't happen again, will it?" she said sullenly, lowering her eyes.

"Not if I can help it," he glowered.

"Right. Just like you said." Relena turned to glance back at her colleagues. "Well, I should be going. You can take off for a while, if you like. There's plenty of security at the luncheon already."

"No, I'm coming with you," he said firmly, fixing her with a no-nonsense gaze. "Like I said, increased security."

"Oh. Yes." She nodded. Why did she think he meant anything else? "Well. Come on, then."

She sidestepped him and made for the banquet hall, positive that she could feel Heero's eyes on the back of her head as he followed behind.

"Relena, it was an accident…" Heero said to her back, as she stormed ahead of him down the hall. She answered him by slamming the door to their room in his face. Of course, she temporarily forgot that he had his own keycard.

She could hear Heero's grumbling on the other side of the door as he fumbled around for his card and at last let himself in. She kept her back turned as he approached her.

"I doubt they have dry cleaning here," she mumbled, dabbing at the purple wine stain on her cream-colored silk dress. "This is never going to come out…" She sounded calm, but her anger was bubbling up inside of her. She couldn't believe Heero had been careless enough to tip her glass over… all over her nice dress.

"I said I was sorry." He was standing so close behind her, she could feel the heat from his breath against her neck. "I… I thought I saw someone…"

"Heero, that's not like you." She whirled on him, striding toward the bathroom to grab another towel. "None of this is like you."

She saw him rake a hand through his unruly bangs. "I know… I just…"

"Would you mind turning around? I have to get out of this thing." Relena didn't wait for a response as she reached up and yanked for the zipper. It was a rather snug dress that was oddly easier to put on than take off; it seemed to mold itself to her figure. She always had trouble snatching the zipper when she wanted to undress. Maybe she was better off getting rid of it. And anyway, she'd gotten it on sale.

She felt his hands then, reaching and tugging the zipper down for her. She froze.

"Don't start…"

Then she gasped at herself. She hadn't meant to say that out loud.

She turned to look at him, almost afraid of what she was about to see. Because if she saw it, she wasn't sure what she was going to do.

But there Heero was, gazing steadily down at her, with his usual stoic expression, except for that slight twitch in his eye. That look could easily turn humorous, but just then, there was no mirth in his expression. No teasing or playfulness.

That twitch was pure desire.

Relena wasn't sure who stepped forward first. They connected nearly instantly, their lips eagerly crashing together. It had been a while since the last time they kissed, but she knew for certain he had never kissed her like that.

She wanted to enjoy the way his mouth searched hers, taking her in deeper, but she couldn't. Confusion clouded her mind. She forced herself to break away. She even had to push him slightly to get him to back off.

"Stop," she whispered, to make her intentions clear. "Please don't."

"Why?"

"You know very well why." Relena swiveled past him and wandered over to where she'd left her suitcase, searching for something clean to change into.

"I'm afraid I don't." He followed.

Once again she was flinging articles of clothing about, hoping to distract herself from her latest misery. "Don't you remember what you said to me last night? After the whole kidnapping fiasco?"

"Yeah…" Heero just stood still, watching her closely. "What about it?"

Relena seethed, stopping just short of throwing something at him. Since she was holding one of her bras, she decided she'd better not.

"What about it?! Heero…" She quickly stashed the bra back inside her suitcase, hoping she had kept it out of his view. "You drive me completely crazy! You know that, don't you?"

"Well, I should hope so." He perched himself on the edge of the bed, reaching a hand up to stop her from tossing everything out of her suitcase. "What's with you?"

"What's with you? You're treating me like a yo-yo lately and I can't handle it. I don't know what you think you're doing, but I…"

"What the hell does that even mean?" He furrowed his brow.

She sighed. The term was probably a little old-fashioned for him. She found herself explaining, "It's a child's toy, Heero. One that you pull, to make it go back and forth, back and forth…" She feigned the motion with her hand. "Get it?" She watched as he nodded, then placed her hands at either hip. "I'm not your toy, Heero."

He took both her hands in his, pulling her to sit down beside him. "I never said you were."

"See what I mean?" She snatched her hands away, sitting on them so he couldn't try the move again. "You keep manipulating me."

"I didn't know you had such a problem with me touching you…"

"I don't!" She had to work to keep from screaming. "That's the problem, Heero! I want you to. All the time. Not just some of the time. Or whenever you feel like it."

He looked shellshocked before quickly recovering. "Is that so?"

"Yes!" She was beyond exasperated. "This shouldn't be so hard to figure out. I mean, honestly…"

Heero shook his head. "Relena, I think you should know that I have no idea what the hell I'm doing."

She laughed drily. "No, I do know…"

"So what are you so upset about?" He was frowning still, looking at her as though he was studying her like the manual to his Gundam.

She refrained from throwing up her hands. "I'm frustrated because you go and kiss me like that - after last night, when you basically told me that this 'thing' between us has to stop. Or did you at some point fall and hit your head in the middle of the night and forget that the whole conversation happened?"

Heero scratched the back of his head. "Relena, I think you misinterpreted what I said."

She laughed again. "No, Heero, you expressed yourself very plainly."

"Relena…" He shook his head slowly. "I was saying we can't go on those stupid dates any more. It's too dangerous. If we hadn't gone out gallivanting, none of that would have happened." He glared at her. "I wanted to stay in and have pizza."

"That's what we do all the -" Relena stopped mid-sentence, gaping at him open-mouthed, realizing what he was saying. "Heero. You mean…"

"What?" He still wasn't putting it all together, she thought. Would she have to start all over again?

She placed a hand on her forehead. "Are you… are you saying that you want to keep… doing this with me? Whatever it is we're doing?"

He surprised her with his laugh. She looked at him in disbelief as he recovered himself. When he stopped, he reached over to brush back a loose strand of her hair.

"I want to keep things the way they are." He shrugged. "I don't see why we have to go out and do things like everybody else. What's the big deal?"

What's the big deal? Relena wanted to laugh, too. But she was still confused. Until she remembered something else she'd wanted to ask him…

"What was it you were going to say to me outside of the restaurant?" She scooted closer to him, happy to finally have him pinned so he'd have to answer her.

"If you could call it a restaurant," he quipped.

She poked his arm. "Funny. I'm serious. You were going to say something…"

He shrugged. "I don't remember."

"Oh, no you don't." She moved even closer. "You don't forget anything…"

He rubbed his head. "I'm a little fuzzy today. Sorry."

"Ok, I'll refresh your memory." Relena folded her arms. "I was saying to you how it wasn't a bad first date, overall, and that seemed to stop you in your tracks. I thought you were about to debate me on whether that constituted a date, or whether we should even be on one. Or something." She sucked in a breath, awaiting his reply.

"Oh, yeah." Heero smirked. "Yeah. I was."

"I knew it." She sank further back on the bed. "So it wasn't a date, right? Even though you paid?"

"No, it was a date." Heero leaned back, too, so that they were lying side by side. "But it wasn't our first."

Relena bolted up. "What?"

Heero just chuckled, remaining where he was.

She frowned down at him. "When was it, then?"

He reached for her hand, and yanked her back down beside him. She almost fell onto his chest.

"For me it was that time we went on a picnic. I don't know much about dating, but that seemed like a date to me."

Relena's heart began thumping wildly. She thought back to that day in the Sanc Kingdom all of the time. It was the first time she'd seen Heero so relaxed and carefree. And she remembered how she felt like she was floating on a pink, cotton candy cloud all day, wrapped in a secure little bubble of warm and fuzzy feelings, falling asleep that night thinking, He must love me!

Of course, nothing had actually transpired between them that demonstrated solid evidence of his feelings for her, other than the fact that he was there. But it was enough to sustain her at the time. After a while, she'd convinced herself that she had just let her imagination run wild.

"That… that was a date?" Her words came out breathy as he tipped her chin up with one finger.

"It was to me."

Her dreamy gaze turned to a frosty glare. "Heero, that was three and a half years ago."

His dark eyes looked full and innocent. "And?"

"And! We have not been dating all of this time." She could not believe she still had to spell all of this out for him.

"I never said we were dating, either…" His finger was tracing her jaw. She struggled to grasp onto the words she wanted to say to him and somehow get them to form into sentences.

"Then what are we doing?"

"This."

She should have known he would pull her in for another kiss. She attempted to slap him away.

"Maybe I don't want this." Relena massaged her bottom lip, which stung after she'd backed away from him so abruptly that Heero had accidentally bitten down. Or maybe he had done that on purpose. She looked over at him bashfully. "What is this, anyway?"

"I don't know." He propped himself up on his elbows. "But I expect you're going to tell me." She wasn't looking at him any more, but she immediately recognized the smirk in his tone.

"If this is your idea of dating, then… we have been moving at a glacial pace." She started picking at the gauzy fabric of the duvet they were sitting on.

"You know, I don't claim to be an expert on this stuff." Heero frowned. "You've filled me in on all these social cues over the years."

Ha! Relena wanted to laugh. And she'd thought he hadn't been paying much attention.

"I've done my best," she admitted, smiling slightly. His social ineptness and utter cluelessness was starting to tug at her heartstrings. Stop it! she warned herself.

"And I've been doing my best to read you," he continued. "Sometimes it seems like you don't want me near. And other times…"

"Other times, what?" She challenged, refusing to let the matter drop. She had to at least try to figure out what he was thinking.

He shrugged. "Other times you look like you want me to kiss you. So I do."

She sighed. "And what about what you want? By all means, don't feel like you have to cater to me…"

"I'm doing what I want," he said gruffly.

She blinked at him. "Are you sure?"

He nodded.

Relena braced herself. "And what do you mean by that, exactly?"

He looked confused. "What do I mean by… what?"

"I mean, do you think of yourself more as my bodyguard, or my…" She paused, searching for the right term. It already sounded stupid in her head, and she knew it would only sound worse out loud, but it needed saying. "My... boyfriend?"

Heero looked horrified, although he attempted to mask his reaction quickly. "I…" His resolve obviously weakened, as his face appeared to collapse into confusion. "I don't know."

Relena's heart sank. She should have known better than to try to extract some form of commitment from him, or convince him to take on some trivial title. It would have been too simple and perfect. No one could ever make Heero Yuy into a mere "boyfriend."

She was crestfallen, but tried to appear nonchalant.

"It's fine," she said in a clipped voice. "I'm not asking you to be. I just needed to know."

And after you kissed me and I told you I loved you and everything, you jerk, her inner monologue seethed.

He was still frowning at her. "I'm sorry. I just don't like that term."

Most men don't, she figured. Why should Heero be any different?

Then he took her hand, gently stroking her fingers.

"I… I guess I sort of thought we were past that."

She wondered when he was going to stop shocking her into oblivion whenever he admitted a hint of his feelings for her. If ever.

"Past that? When did we start?"

"I already told you when I thought it started. Clearly I was wrong."

Relena started laughing until her shoulders shook up and down.

"What?" He looked only more perplexed, even a little hurt. "What is it?"

She placed a hand on his shoulder, looking at him through teary eyes. She wiped a stray tear away as she laughed.

He frowned at her. "Relena, I think you need more sleep."

"Heero, don't you see?" She threw up both hands. "We've been on completely different pages this whole time."

"I don't see how that's funny," he grumbled.

"Well, I do." She grinned at him. "I have to try to see the humor in this. Otherwise it's just plain sad."

He opened his mouth as if to speak before clamping it shut again. Relena decided to take advantage of his puzzlement.

"And last night? When I told you that I loved you? Did that completely throw you, or what?"

He regained his composure, squaring his jaw. "Why would that have thrown me?"

"You know. Because I'd never said it before. I figured I shocked the living daylights out of you. You didn't even respond."

"I recall telling you to be quiet."

"Yeah…" She rolled her eyes. "There was that. Typical." She snorted.

His glare deepened. "We were in a hostage situation. I was listening for our captor's footsteps."

"Oh, yes…" Relena was on the verge of a fresh giggle fit. "Kayla the terrible…" She lost it.

Heero attempted his version of calming her down, seizing her by the waist and pulling her into his chest, grasping her tightly against him.

"Would you knock it off already?" he mumbled grumpily.

Relena let out a muffled "sorry" against his shirt.

Then she realized.

"You weren't surprised, then?" She lifted her head to look up at him. "When I said it."

"No. Should I have been?"

If he hadn't been holding her still, Relena was sure she would have fallen off of the bed.

"I would think hearing me say those particular words out loud for the first time would have elicited some type of reaction. But really? You felt nothing?"

He had to feel something, her mind insisted. He wasn't a robot. She could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest right then and there.

"I didn't say that…" He frowned."I just said it wasn't surprising to me."

She tried to smack his shoulder; it was the only place on him that she could reach, the way he was holding her. "You're telling me you knew, all this time?"

"Well, yeah. You're not exactly what I would call discreet…"

"Heero!" Relena gasped, her cheeks coloring in fresh embarrassment. She didn't expect him to keep talking then, but he did. "You kept on insisting we go out on a date… What else was I supposed to think?"

Relena groaned. "I think I'm losing my mind…"

Another question plagued her, but she wanted to hold it in. Her mind kept taunting her, Out with it.

"Heero…"

She paused. She didn't want to ask him. She didn't want to know. But didn't she need to?

"Yeah."

She fought to find her courage.

"If… if you've been thinking of us as being… together, all of this time…" She swallowed. "Is there a reason you haven't said that to me?"

She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for a blow. Not a physical one, of course. But her heart was poised for the breaking.

She felt his hand cup her face, smoothing her hair back at the same time. Relena dared herself to open her eyes. The look on his face was gentle and kind, his dark eyes looking lighter than they usually were, this time an almost cerulean blue. And he was smiling. Her own eyes widened.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I didn't know it needed saying."

She blinked several times, still unsure of his meaning. He managed to cloak his feelings so well.

"Heero." Her voice, like her breathing, had grown ragged. "Are you saying…"

"Relena, I…"

She shot a hand up and placed it over his mouth. "Don't say it if you don't want to. Especially if you don't mean it."

He mumbled something behind her hand. She slowly took it away. "I'm serious," she added. "If you're just trying to appease me then I don't want to hear it."

"I doubt you'd believe me anyway."

"You're right." She sighed. "Not at this point. You could say just about anything to me now, and I'd…"

"You'd what?" Somehow he managed to draw her even closer to him. They'd never been pressed up so close. Relena could feel… well, everything. And she realized very quickly that there was at least one way to tell what Heero Yuy was thinking. A very obvious physical sign that at the very least, he wanted her.

She felt her face burn scarlet.

"I…"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. After what felt like several minutes of kissing, they broke apart. Relena gasped for air.

Heero fingered the bottom of her dress. "Remind me why you're still wearing this thing."

"Oh. Right." Relena looked down in dismay at the wine stain. "Well… I…"

"Sorry about your dress," he added.

She tipped her head, smiling at him. "It's all right. I'm pretty used to having you ruin my dresses…"

"Oh, really?" He knocked her back down on the bed, quickly positioning himself on top of her. "I don't think I've ruined quite enough of them." His hands trailed up her back to where he'd left off unzipping earlier.

"Oh, no you don't." Relena grasped both of his arms. "Heero Yuy, I am not about to lose my virginity in this hotel room."

He looked taken aback by her frankness. "We don't have to go that far."

"This is far enough." She sat up, tugging down the hem of her dress. "I don't mean to be a prude, but…"

"Then don't." He bent his head toward her for another kiss. She turned her face away.

"Heero, I really don't want to do this here…"

"Is it that bad?" He glanced around the room. "It's just a hotel."

How to explain to him what she wanted? It didn't need to be a fairytale wedding or Valentine's Day with roses and candy hearts, but she definitely wanted more than this.

"This… this is just happening so fast," she said weakly. "I think I need more time to process everything. I mean, just before this, I had no idea how you really felt about me…"

"I'm sorry for not making that clear enough." He looked at her intently.

"Well, it sure took you long enough to make a move." She poked his chest, attempting a smile. "And then when you finally did… you really went for it." Her eyes widened.

"Yeah…" He scratched his head. "Sorry about that. Normally I'm better at controlling these, ah… urges."

Relena stifled a laugh. "Oh, so you've had them before?"

He nodded. "Plenty of times."

"Like when?" She challenged.

His hand came up to rest on her neck, where he began to massage slowly, until it was inside the top of her dress.

"That's classified," he murmured.

She gave a little huff of irritation. "You'll tell me. Eventually."

His lips twitched into a grin. "Unlikely."

She tried not to melt into his massage; his touch was paralyzing her. "I can be convincing too, you know…"

"I know. And you'd be much more convincing if you were out of this dress…"

"There you go again," Relena scolded, swatting his hands away. "Getting all dark and dangerous…" She shot him a glare. "You know for a bodyguard, you're not doing the best job of actually guarding my body…"

That got a laugh out of Heero. "You're right. Which reminds me. New security protocol."

Ahh, that did it, she thought. It was easy to figure out Heero Yuy's triggers, after all. Now she knew just how to shift him from business mode to, well, business mode. So bringing up work is Heero Yuy's version of a cold shower? She nearly giggled, making a mental note.

"That's right. You were going to fill me in." Once we were alone.

"I'm sure you've figured most of it out." He gave a slight smile. "You know my methods."

"All you said was that you were going to stick closer, but…"

Relena waited for Heero to fill in the blanks. All she got was another one of his smirks. Apparently there was some little joke that she wasn't in on.

"Yeah. Well. I started implementing the new protocol and all you've done is complain."

She gasped, wagging a finger at him. "Heero Yuy! Since when did your seducing me become part of your protocol?"

"There you go complaining again," he said flatly. "I thought you wanted me to touch you."

She felt her facing getting hot again. If he kept on embarrassing her like that, she feared her whole head would explode.

"Yes, but… is that really what you meant by 'new security protocol'?" She quirked an eyebrow. "Or are you just messing with me?"

"That's pretty much what I meant." He inched closer to her. Relena backed up.

"You're not serious."

"I am."

"I don't believe you."

He reached for her face. "You should."

It was growing more and more difficult not to succumb to temptation. "I think you're just looking for an excuse to sleep with me," she taunted him. "As if you needed one. You could have just asked."

"I don't need an excuse," he countered, pausing to plant a few kisses down her neck. "I think I should be closer to you. I didn't think you'd mind."

She had to agree with him there. At least they finally seemed to be on the same page. She sighed, closing her eyes blissfully.

"Well, you could've said something earlier… this could have been so much easier."

"The point is moot now." Heero lifted his lips from her skin. "You said you don't want to do it here. We don't have to."

"No?" Her eyes fluttered back open. "You won't be too disappointed?"

"Nah." He sat back up. "It can wait until we get home."

Home. Her heart flipped over. He meant their home. She had to remind herself that he was still talking about having sex with her, albeit it in a pretty romantic way. At least for Heero.

"So why now?" She found herself asking him while they were still side by side. "What was it that pushed you over the edge?"

"You mean…"

"You could have attempted this at any time." She cocked an eyebrow. "But then you cornered me earlier with this new protocol thing. Did you just pull that out of thin air, or what?"

"No. I told you, I've thought of this before." He shrugged. "I guess it just felt like the right time."

She jabbed a finger at his chest. "Admit it. You spilled that wine on me on purpose to lure me into the bedroom."

He caught her hand in his, his expression remaining neutral while his eyes seemed to twinkle at her. "It really was an accident."

"Nice try," Relena quipped. "Somehow I don't believe you."

He said nothing in response, and a comfortable silence lapsed between them. Relena finally felt like she could relax around him; at last, she knew the feelings she'd long harbored for him were requited, even more than she could have hoped for. Although things hadn't exactly unfolded the way they had in her most secret reveries, she felt content for the first time in a long while.

"What do you want to do now?" She asked after a while.

"You already know the answer." The look he gave her was downright devilish.

"Yes." She cleared her throat delicately, hoping he didn't notice her blush. "I'm well aware."

"You still need to change."

"Yes." She leapt to her feet, clutching at whatever clothing items were nearest to her. "I'll be right back." Relena scurried away before Heero could follow her and locked herself in the bathroom.

Maybe a cold shower would help.