A/N: I'm going to go ahead and say Zechs's little conversation with Heero is a little OOC, but it's his SISTER we're talking about.
Oh, and guess what else! (Go ahead. Guess.) If you guess that we're within TWO chapters of MY most anticipated, you would be correct! GOOD JOB! lol
Enjoy your reads.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing
"So, I hope you guys don't mind," Relena said coyly as they entered the hotel suite. "But I got a room big enough for all of us."
"How could we mind?" Lucrezia asked, admiring the fine details of the five star hotel. "We're always glad for the time we have with you."
Relena smiled, nodding solidly. She and Lucrezia glanced back at the men, each of which was doing his own stealthy security scan of the lodging, unnoticed by their ladies—or so they thought. The girls silently agreed to take advantage of the distractions and check out the view from the balcony.
"You can see Rome from here," Lucrezia commented in admiration as she allowed the door to close behind her.
Relena couldn't answer, speechless at the beauty of the ancient land.
After several seconds, Lucrezia eyed her old friend with mischief. "So," she said. "How is he?"
"Huh?" Relena looked at her with only innocence behind her thoughts. "How is whom?"
Lucrezia shrugged, closing her eyes and brushing her raven hair to the side. "I assume a Gundam Pilot must have quite a bit of stamina," she hinted, turning her gaze on Relena again. "How is he?"
Relena felt the blush wash over her, rouge filling her neck, ears and cheeks. The thundering of her heartbeat made it impossible to hear and nearly as hard to talk. "I—um—"
Lucrezia turned her attention back to the skyline below. "The real question is, what is your brother going to say when he realizes there are only two bedrooms in this suite?"
:::
"Yuy."
"What?"
"There are only two bedrooms in this suite."
"I noticed."
"If Relena had intended for you to sleep on the couch, she would have mentioned it."
Heero turned to face Zechs, unmoved. "Then it holds to reason that that is not her intention, doesn't it?"
Zechs sighed, glaring at his formal rival from under his long, white blond bangs. "How long has this been going on?"
"That doesn't affect you."
"It affects me insomuch as I am concerned for her wellbeing," he turned and marched into the kitchen. As he spoke, he found two glasses in the cupboard and picked a vintage scotch from the stocked fridge. Filling each glass, he offered one to his ally. "The fact that she did not announce your relationship when we touched down concerns me. How long has this been going on?"
Heero glanced into the glass with a bored curiosity, before turning his attention to a suddenly very wound up Zechs Marquise.
"I can only suspect that for the time you've been in this—relationship—you've refused to make promises, and thus she cannot define a relationship that is slowly leading nowhere."
Heero stood stock still, simply watching Zechs rant through icy, stoic eyes.
"Honestly, man, it is not good in her position to have a less than serious pairing. If you have been—bedding her—without the intention of making at a permanent state of affairs, you're endangering her reputation and her career. You trusted her with this position, Yuy. You promised to protect her in it. Don't be her downfall."
He took a sip of the drink, looking away in thought—and partially to avoid eye contact with the statue of a man he was berating. "There are a million men who would gladly take your opportunity and offer her marriage within months, if not less. Don't be the fool who stands between her and that opportunity." He shook his head, his hair swaying with the motion. "It's nothing against your status, or any type of caste question, Yuy. I respect you completely—as a warrior and as a man." Zechs looked at his hands. "What I mean to say is—shit or get off the pot."
Finally, Heero blinked. When he gave way to the crooked grin, Zechs could feel the mischief flowing out in waves. The blond looked up, through the corner of his eye.
"I do enjoy it when you make a fool of yourself," Heero commented, before the smile melted away. Looking suddenly serious, he said, "I slept with Relena in December—at Quatre's house."
Zechs straightened, maintain eye contact as he did the math.
"I was her first—and she was mine."
A slight flush crept up Zechs's neck, causing him to look away.
"To be clear," Heero continued. "I never intend to be near another woman in my life. I love her, entirely and completely. As soon as your sister is willing, I will marry her, and not a day later."
Zechs sighed, studying his glass as he set it on the counter between them.
Heero's hand came near, placing his own down, still half filled. "Which reminds me," he added in an impish tone. "How long have you and Lucrezia been together? Ten years? Fifteen?"
Before he could taunt his would be brother-in-law any further, the balcony door came open and their women entered, eyes on the quarrelling pair.
"My poor children," Lucrezia purred. "If they take after their father, they'll invent new shades of red for anger and embarrassment."
Zechs simply looked away uncomfortably.
:::
Lucrezia just had to get one more look at the view of Italy before calling it a night. Inside, her family—yes, family—was relaxing in the sitting area, enjoying late night coffees. She couldn't, for the life of her, understand what the Peacecrafts loved about a shot of caffeine before turning in for bed, but perhaps that was because she was not a coffee drinker, at all.
"Lucrezia," Relena greeted from the couch as she came in. "I was just saying, one day I shall have to address the general public and announce that there is, in fact, no X in 'espresso'."
Lucrezia smiled, lowering herself onto the arm of the plush chair Zechs was sitting in. Relena rested across the far arm of the couch, to their left, with her legs tucked up, under her. Heero took the closer end, sitting relatively straight, arms folded neatly across his chest. Had anyone else seen him, they'd have assumed he was unhappy, protesting being there, but his closest friends were not put off by his posture, in the least.
"Tell me, Relena," Zechs said. "Have you seen the news, today?"
Relena scoffed, lightly. "I never watch the news, Milliardo. It would kill me early."
Her brother smiled.
Peering at him sideways, Relena added, "I don't care how hard they try or how deep they investigate; this is my vacation and I'm not coming out of hiding."
Heero nodded, silently, in agreement.
"No," Zechs said. "Well, yes, that was the gist of the story, but they uncovered a series of large donations you made to reproductive research very recently. I was wondering, why the sudden concern?"
Heero stiffened so slightly that only Relena noticed.
"Does one need a reason to donate funds to medical research?" She deflected.
Zechs sat back, persistently pressing forward with his line of questioning. "But why reproduction? Why would you not choose something more important? Life threatening? Say—cancer for example?"
"Why did I not donate to cancer research?" Relena clarified.
Zechs nodded.
The politician sighed, setting her coffee down as she weighed her answer. "Cancer is an ugly thing, really. Even modern, traditional medicine has chosen that in order to poison the parasitic disease, they must poison the host, destroying the most precious and delicate organs of the human body in the process."
"The eyes?" He asked sardonically.
Relena pursed her lips, narrowing her gaze at him. "No. The ovaries. I see where you were coming from, though."
He continued to relax, simply hearing her for the moment.
"The ovaries only get one life. They have a set number of times they can be used before they are worn out. Should something come into the body and destroy those chances, they will be rendered useless—not for a few months or a few years, but forever."
"And having children is more important than surviving?" He pressed, leaning his head on one hand.
Relena took a steeling breath, feeling the attention of all three people directly on her. Not this, again. She'd already been through it over and over with Heero. She was always frustrated when the subject arose. Not every woman would feel the way she did about her own life versus her desire to be a mother, but it made her feelings no less real—or valuable. She knew how she felt, and their logic and emotional distance from her fears could not change that.
"What is the use of surviving, if you're not living your life?" She answered.
He tilted his head in his hand, looking at her inquisitively.
"Growing up, I would look at my adoptive mother and just—dream. All I ever wanted was to be like her." Relena developed a distant look in her eyes as she remembered everything that had brought her to this point in life. "I've survived, already, Milliardo. I survived a war. I've learned how to be a leader. I've learned not to take no for an answer. I've realized all of my other dreams. And now, all I want is a little girl to teach that to, Brother." Her eyes met his, again. "If someone asked me to trade that dream—that hope—for a higher chance or a better statistic—I don't think I really could cooperate willingly. That child—that dream—is just who I am."
"But you're talking about trading someone's life, Relena," he said.
"Would I not willingly do it if my child had been born?"
Zechs sighed, unhappy with her determination. "One could adopt," he said in a strong, slightly colder tone.
Relena straightened, biting back the offense. "I have nothing against adoption, but it is not the same."
He gave her a challenging stare.
"I want to know what my babies look like."
"This is not about you," he answered.
"You don't know that," she whispered, turning and blowing out of the room in an emotional retreat.
Zechs looked after her, perplexed.
Heero stood slowly, straightening his back and clenching his fists before looking down at Zechs. "Do you ever think before you speak?"
Zechs opened his mouth to answer, but Heero also turned and left without giving him a chance.
Lucrezia gently rubbed his shoulder in a comforting gesture.
"But it's illogical," he said quietly.
"Maybe, Zechs," his fiancée answered. "But I can't disagree with Relena. If those were my choice, I can't say I'd be excited about the treatment, either." With that, Lucrezia, also, left Zechs to his thoughts.
:::
When Heero entered the bedroom, he noticed that Relena hadn't even bothered to turn on the lights. He didn't need them to see where she was. He could hear her sobbing in the bed. Kicking off his shoes, he climbed in behind her, wrapping her in a protective hold.
"Oh, Heero," she whimpered. "Am I really such a fool?"
He gave no answer. He'd always wanted to believe in her, but not his desire to see her dreams realized and his love for her in his life were clashing violently. He simply tightened his grip to reassure her.
"It's hopeless," she cried.