Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

She didn't need the girls to tell her she'd been followed. She could sense him. She needn't have been informed he was angry, either. She knew. She folded her hands demurely, feeling the midnight blue eyes glaring at her from the shadows, sending chills down her spine, but she brushed it off with grace.

"Lena?" Adriana called as she and her sister ran down the hall to meet their guest. "Market?"

Relena smiled. "I would enjoy that," she answered, calmly. The market was the best idea they could have come up with. Heero had yet to show himself, but she knew it was coming. She'd sensed him following her all day. Getting out of the mansion was—frankly—ingenious.

"Iria has convinced Quatre to host a feast, tonight, in your honor," Ariel said. "We must go and find you appropriate attire!"

Relena's eyes widened. She wanted to argue that a feast was not necessary, but by the look on the girl's face, she understood that she was just an excuse. Her eyes closed in a childlike smile, as she nodded in agreement. "I would be glad to enjoy dinner with you."

Relena shivered under his intense gaze as she followed the girls to the door. Touching the frame to steady herself, she glanced back at the shadows she felt watching her before she exited. Her eyebrows were knit, communicating her offense. With a frustrated sigh, she disappeared into the colony.

Heero's eyes lingered on the exit as it closed behind her.

"She knows you're here," a mature female voice commented. Iria stepped up next to him. The blonde woman was the oldest of her family, a kind doctor, bringing a comforting presence wherever she went. During his visits since the war, Iria had quickly grown fond of her brother's best friend and treated him like a member of her already large family. Quatre offered him friendship and a place to stay, but Iria made it feel like coming home.

"Hn."

"You will be coming to dinner." The statement left no room for argument. He would show himself to her.

His eyes narrowed.

"Tonight we celebrate our friends. You will be there." She turned to leave, placing a reassuring hand gently on his shoulder. "It's not a request."

He closed his eyes thoughtfully. "Iria?"

She stopped with her back still to him, awaiting the question.

"If your patient was ill—very ill—what would you say to make them leave their friends and return home for treatment?"

Iria smiled, looking back with sad eyes to convey understanding. "They say that laughter is the best medicine. Medical treatment, alone, is not enough for a person to fight a serious condition. They need a will to fight. They need that support. The friends you would have her leave." She waited for a response that would never come. "You understand." Shaking her head she smiled tragically.

Heero opened his eyes, again, crossing his arms as she stared at the door. Iria agreed with Relena's choice, but he still wasn't convinced.

"But the ailment—"

"I understand your concern, but Relena needs the love—as well as the rest. Leave her be. It's only temporary, anyway."

:::

"It's called a 'bedlah'," Ariel said.

Relena's eyes widened at the skimpy traditional dancewear. "Where's the rest of it?"

The Arabian sisters laughed at her.

"It's just for special occasions. It'll be fine," Adriana stated.

"But look how much skin it will show!"

"Just try it on?" Ariel begged.

"But Heero will be there," Relena groaned.

"Yes! And that's exactly why you should wear it," Adriana answered. "We'll all wear one."

Relena shook her head.

"Just try it on, Lena?" Ariel was pleading now. "We just want to see how you'll look."

"You'll never convince me," Relena said, knowing well that she was outnumbered by very persistent twins.

:::

Heero had been sitting silently opposite Quatre for three hours. His slouched posture and melancholy expression would lead anyone to believe he was sulking. As far as Quatre was concerned, maybe he was, but more likely he was planning. Quatre knew Heero was going to face Relena tonight, and he was not optimistic enough to believe the Gundam hero was going to do so unarmed. He'd have something for every argument, and she had little chance of bringing down his guard.

When the shrill sound of female laughter carried into the west wing, the pilots made eye contact in a standoff. Reiterating his dominance in the domain, Quatre looked back at his paper before answering his friend's thoughts. "Don't even think about it."

Heero's nostrils flared. "Just let me speak to her."

"Not now. They just got back from shopping, and they'll need to be getting ready for dinner."

Heero cocked an eyebrow.

"Don't over estimate them. Women can take a long time getting ready for things, especially in groups."

"Hn."

There was another long moment of silence before Quatre gave his last word on the subject. "If she will have you, you may speak to her briefly during dinner or after, but not now; and you will not press the subject."

Heero turned away in silence, remaining patiently in the seat until Quatre stood and left. Out of respect for his ally's home, Heero waited in the office until dinner.

:::

The more Quatre sat with Heero, the more he felt the legitimacy of Heero's concerns. Oftentimes the stoic pilot was known for micromanaging and overprotecting the golden haired politician. Quatre knew Heero had Relena's interest at heart, but he couldn't help but feel that his admiration for her was taking more from her, emotionally, than it was giving. Considering the depth of their feelings for each other, Quatre watched the drama unravel before him, feeling what a shame their love life, or lack thereof, really was.

Something's got to give, already, he thought as he reached his sisters' rooms.

From within he heard the squealing of giddy chatter and the soft laughter of happy young women. Sensing Relena's ease, alone, warmed his heart.

All of the girls tensed when there was a soft knock at the door.

"Is everyone decent?" Each of the three girls sighed in relief at Quatre's voice.

"No!" Relena answered at the top of her lungs.

The twins burst out laughing and covered her mouth to fight her protests.

"Yes," Adriana shouted from the scuffle.

The girls pushed away from the guest, eying the intruder as the door came open.

Quatre should have been warned by the mischief in the twin's voices before he opened the door, but he was too preoccupied with Heero's anxieties. When his eyes fell on his longtime friend, his mouth fell open in shock, before he turned his gaze away, blushing deeply.

"Oh, my God." Relena unconsciously drew her closed fist up to her chest, bearing her worry in the open. "You hate it." Her face was twisted with concern, her cheeks flushing pink.

"No—no. You look—fine." Looking down and too his right, Quatre brought his left hand up, over his face, to massage his tense brow.

"Then why won't you look at me?"

Quatre opened and closed his mouth, several times, looking for words. "It's just—"

He sighed, taking a large step back, into the hall. Still refusing to look into the room, he checked up and down the corridors twice, listening intently at the nothingness around him. Once he was satisfied with his finding, he stepped blindly back into the room and closed the door securely be behind him.

Quatre slowly and forcibly pulled his hand back down to his side, looking no more at ease with his eyes squeezed tightly shut. "Relena, you look fine," he repeated.

"I knew it," she mumbled. "I look fat."

"Wha—?" He finally opened his eyes, again, looking at her in surprise. "No. Your shape is—perfect."

"Then it's my skin tone?"

His eyes seemed to widen with confusion.

"I'm too white," she said, looking even more horrified.

Quatre's shoulders dropped to show another level of perplexed shock. He shook his head. "No. Relena, you look—beautiful."

"Then why were you so upset?"

Quatre sighed. His initial reaction was stuck in her head, and now he'd have to be completely honest to calm her. He glanced back at the door, again, locking it before stepping closer.

His sisters threw each other knowing looks in pure amusement.

He put his hands firmly on Relena shoulders, leaning back slightly as his eyes bore into hers. "Relena. I have always found you beautiful, but a moment ago I walked in on you wearing—this. I had never realized that you are so—hot."

Relena tightened her fist, as her eyes went wide and her cheeks tinted a slightly deeper red.

The troublesome twins broke into another giggle fit.

"Did you see him check the door?" Ariel squeaked.

"Of course," Quatre answered them, refusing to smile, himself. "I'm not blind and I'm certainly not dead, but I'm also not stupid—and that outfit is liable to get me killed."

The heat grew to Relena's cheeks as she shied away from him.

"Relena," he continued. "If Heero tries to approach you, tonight, I'm afraid the conversation will end in you screaming his name—and not because you're fighting."

Relena gasped, eyes bulging, as she collapsed onto the bed behind her. She looked at the ground, feeling swelteringly hot as her entire body finished its cycle, taking on the approximate color of your garden variety beet.

The twins hollered in amusement, and even Quatre laughed aloud at his own comment.

"Get out," Adriana choked as the girls threw themselves defensively between their completely embarrassed friend and her sarcastic aggressor.

"Hey, Relena," he called back almost calmly in the chaos. "Thanks for the sneak peek. If I had first seen you at dinner, I can't promise I'd have reacted any better, and then I would be killed."

Relena's misty eyes finally made their way back to his face just before the door closed him out. When she saw his kindness, again, she broke into laughter, in spite of being the butt of the joke. After all, where's the shame in friends pointing out the thought of screaming Heero's name, especially when she'd given the matter so many hours of thought, herself?