New Semester

Steigenberger Wiltcher's, Brussels

January 5th, AC 199

Moonlight and the ambient colours of the city poured through the windows of the hotel room, casting their bodies in fantastical hues of orange and blue. Otherwise there was no other light in the room, no other sounds, no other movements but the occasional rustling of their bodies against the duvet. They lay there in silence. Bodies apart at a safe distance as if physically denying what had just transpired. But for them, it had always been like this.

Une felt the tips of fingers gently walking along her curves. Ingrid's index finger and middle, alternated their steps as they slid from the heights of her butt down to the valley of her lower back, enjoying the feel of Une as well as trying to grab her attention.

Ingrid was at once envious and lustful for Une's body. They were around the same age but Katerina looked much younger. Ingrid was not an ugly woman, in fact she had been described on many occasions as being quite handsome. She presented a formidable figure, her dark blue shoulder length hair and her slightly gaunt face somehow seemed appropriate for she who was; the world's first and foremost lawyer. Still, she wondered how despite years of military service and surviving through the war, Une could have possibly maintained her natural beauty and youth. And despite being the gorgeous brunette that she was (beauty being rather a disadvantage in the realm of government and politics), Une was just as feared and respected as Ingrid was.

Une was distracted. Which wasn't unusual. It had always been the case that after the culmination of passion, still with their legs intertwined, and their breathing heavy and desperate, Ingrid could always count the seconds until Une's orgasm faded and that distant stare appeared upon her face. But this felt different. Something about Une's disposition on that night annoyed and worried Ingrid in equal measure.

"When can I see you again?" Ingrid asked softly as she retreated to her pillow after failing to get a response out of Une.

"I'll let you know," Une answered without moving an inch.

"What's wrong Katerina?" Ingrid asked.

"Nothing," Une answered. That was always her answer to that question.

"Are you sure?" Ingrid pressed. "You can tell me you know."

Ingrid placed her hand on Une's calf. Une pulled her leg away and tucked it underneath the duvet. Ingrid let slip a frustrated sigh before she reached for her pack of cigarettes and her lighter on the nightstand.

"Fine," Ingrid said as she popped out a cigarette from the pack and put it to her lips. "We don't have to talk if you don't want to."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be distant," Une said as she finally sat up and covered her naked body with the duvet.

"How's the investigation going?" Ingrid asked as she lit her cigarette and took her first drag, letting the smoke effortless drift out of her nose.

"You know I can't talk about that," Une answered.

"Really? And I thought we were friends," Ingrid said as she took another drag of her cigarette. This time, she let the smoke come out of her mouth. The little grey cloud sat in the air between them and lingered.

"We were friends," Une said as she turned to look out at the city. "I'm not sure what we are now."

Ingrid put her lighter down and scooted herself over next to Une.

"We are this," Ingrid said softly as she gently brushed Une's hair aside and kissed her neck. "What's wrong with that?"

"This… this isn't anything," Une said absently.

"It was fine when we were in the academy," Ingrid murmured as she continued to kiss Une's neck and explore her body.

"We're not in the academy anymore, if you haven't noticed," Une said as she finally turned to face Ingrid. "I have a kid now. And you have a husband."

"Is that what this is about? The fact that I'm married?" Ingrid asked.

"No, I don't mind that," Une answered with a shake of her head. "But don't act like this is anything more than it is."

"You want to keep work and sex separate…"

"It's better this way," Une whispered.

"We could really help each other," Ingrid said as slid closer to Une once again, bringing Une's forehead to hers. "We're a good team. We're powerful. We can rule this city, you and me."

Ingrid kissed her.

"I'm done with that," Une said as she looked down.

Ingrid leaned back. Her body expressed frustration.

"You know I was respectful. I waited. I let you grieve," Ingrid said in a slightly aggressive tone. "Even though you chose him over me. I'd hope that you would be over that phase by now."

"Phase?"

Une suddenly looked up with an expression of disbelief in her eyes.

"You believe that Treize was a phase for me?"

Une jumped out of bed and collected her underwear off the floor and out them on. She took her bra from the pile of clothes on the chair next to the window and began to get dressed.

"Come on, wait," Ingrid said as her tone softened again. "You know that's not what I meant."

Une stood up and said, "I think I should go."

Vustgaarde, Sanc Kingdom

A few hours later…

Heero was already awake. He had been for the better part of an hour. It wasn't that he couldn't sleep or that he was uncomfortable, although he did find Relena's mattress oddly soft. No, Heero was just a creature of habit and schedule. Keeping time was an aspect of his training that he excelled at. He was taught that being a little slow or a little late almost always meant certain death. That meant that it was a hard habit to shake. Still he didn't mind. The experience of being awake in bed alone was a world away from the experience of being awake with her still sleeping in his arms.

He soaked it all in, the tranquility of the moment, the serenity of their new life together. Every detail imprinted itself upon his memory, the gentle rays of light that pierced through the curtains, the cool and clean air of her climate controlled bedroom, the warmth of her soft skin upon his, as if his mind somehow knew the importance of the moment. None of it felt real. He felt guilty as though he had abandoned the path of most resistance and chosen that which was easy, that which was comfortable, and hence, that which was weak. But he knew he had to let those instincts go. That which served him well in the previous era would only hold him back in the current one. He had to constantly remind himself that his good fortune was not a betrayal of his ideals.

She was an absolute angel sleeping in his arms. He was incapable of understanding how things had worked out between them. But he had to admit, he knew even in the early days, that something was between them. And that inkling was only confirmed when his body betrayed his will and did not kill her when he had the chance with his Gundam. She was the only good thing in his life, the only thing that kept him going. Even still, he was afraid of what that meant and how much it would reshape his own self-conception. He was a man destined for misery and death, not happiness. That's what the good doctor had drilled into his head. So he put up as many walls as he could between him and her. She broke down every one of them.

Her phone rumbled on the nightstand on his side of the bed. They had made a deal that since they couldn't actually function without their phones, that they would keep them on the opposite nightstand, so that they would have to ask the other to get their phones for them. Heero picked up her phone and looked the message. It was from Maxine, Relena's stylist. He was under strict orders from Relena to ignore all communications from Augusta, since she knew it was going to be nothing but her publicist bitching and moaning about her and Heero's very public kiss on New Years at Le Parloir.

"Princess," he whispered in her ear with a slight nudge.

"Hmm…?" Relena's eyes slowly began to open. "What is it?"

"You just got a text," Heero whispered.

"If it's Augusta, Dorothy, or my mother, I told you I don't care," Relena said as she nestled herself back into the crook of his arm.

"It's Maxine," Heero said.

Relena's eyes shot open. She rose from his embrace and grabbed the phone out of his hand and immediately checked the message. She jumped out bed, threw on the tank top and her panties from the night before and without speaking a word, rushed downstairs.

Thoroughly confused, Heero wasn't sure if he was supposed to follow her or not. He supposed that he should out of simple caution but she would've said something if she needed him to come. Before he could make up his mind, she returned with Maxine in tow. Maxine carried a bunch of shopping bags with her. And with only so much as a cursory glance of acknowledgement, Relena and Maxine began to go through the bags and started trying in various items.

Heero upon realizing the context of Maxine's visit, he promptly lost interest. He grabbed his phone off of Relena's nightstand, and began checking his email.

Relena tried on a pair of skin tight white leggings and pranced around for a bit before stopping and taking a look at herself in front of the mirror.

"What do you think?" Relena asked.

"Yes, they make your butt look amazing, if that's what you're asking," Maxine answered.

"That's not what I was asking but thank you," Relena said.

"These move great!" Relena said as she did a quick little pirouette in front of the mirror.

"Wow! That was… unexpected," Maxine said as she took a step back.

"I'm taking a dance class," Relena explained as she continued to pose in front of the mirror.

"That explains a lot," Maxine said as she looked into one of the shopping bags.

"Please pay them. I know these companies keep sending freebies, but I'm not looking to become a brand ambassador," Relena said.

"Relena, if you keep wearing their stuff, they are going to keep sending you stuff," Maxine said with a frustrated sigh. "It's a vicious cycle."

"Well, at least if I pay for it, I won't feel any obligations to continue wearing what they send me," Relena said. "And we can just send back whatever we don't like."

"It's the sheer amount that's becoming a problem," Maxine said. "I can keep bringing you stuff, and sometimes I go to the palace to stash some stuff there. But even still, it's starting to make my apartment really crowded. We need a better system."

"I know," Relena said in a serious tone. "I'm working on it."

Maxine rolled her eyes and let out a big sigh. "Okay, relax Relena. No need to sound so grim. I'm not saying this is a big problem. You've got enough to worry about between school and work. I can handle the daily influx of free clothes okay?"

"You're the best," Relena said as she brightened up. She reached over and gave Maxine a big hug.

Heero pretended to review his emails as he listened to Relena's conversation with Maxine. He secretly enjoyed the little trivial details of her life and witnessing her apparent joy at them. He lacked these moments in his life. He was even keel, all the time, with the few exceptional moments of great joy or great suffering. He wasn't sure if he wanted to experience life the way Relena did but he didn't mind experiencing it vicariously through her.

"Heero, what do you think?" Relena turned to him and snapped the waist band.

The Valknut, Preventers headquarters

Hope opened the door to Une's office and nervously made her way in. She found the director sitting at her desk, reviewing something on her holographic monitor. Une didn't say anything when Hope entered but she was pretty sure that Une knew she was there. Une wasn't absent minded, she was just making a point.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Hope asked.

"Yes, come sit down," Une said without averting her gaze from her work.

Hope made her way across the distance between the door and the chair quickly and sat down.

"Did Nolan tell you yet?" Une asked.

"That I am back on the Lucio investigation, yes sir, he did," Hope answered meekly. "And thank you, for giving me another chance."

"Don't thank me," Une replied. "Thank Nolan, he vouched for you. Just don't screw it up."

"Yes sir."

"We should talk about your brother," Une said as she finally turned her attention towards Hope.

"I guess this conversation was inevitable," Hope said.

"The files say he was a Special," Une said. "I must say I don't remember him specifically although the de Vries name is not wholly unfamiliar to me."

"I come from a long line of soldiers," Hope said.

"Clearly," Une said as she scrolled through his file. "Graduated from Lake Victoria, AC 191. Stationed in Moscow with the 25th Specials Mobile Suit Squadron until AC 195. And the rest… well I think we know the rest."

Hope looked down at her hands.

"Don't worry, I'm not judging him for abandoning OZ during the revolution," Une said. "Family before work. It's entirely understandable."

"But that's not all, is it?" Hope whispered.

"No, it is not. I was hoping you could shed some light on that aspect," Une said. "What happened to him after he left OZ?"

"He came home," Hope said. "They all did, luckily. You have to understand, the men in my family have been proud members of the Alliance since the beginning. They were proud of that. My family and I don't come from nobility. There was nothing in Romefeller's future."

"His Excellency was always looking for good soldiers," Une said.

"Yes, my father said that the only glimmer of hope was that Mr. Treize was leading the revolution," Hope said.

Une looked away momentarily when Hope said his name. She was now the Director of the Preventers and she believed in the peace that they had built with the efforts of the civilian governments, both of the Earth and of the Colonies. And she fully intended to carry out her solemn mission to the best of her abilities. Still, there was a small part of her that believed in Treize's ideal world, even now.

"So… Where is he now?" Une asked.

"I'm sorry I don't know," Hope said. "He left a couple of months after the revolution and we've only ever had sporadic contact with him over the years."

"Do you know what he's doing?" Une asked.

"I don't."

"You haven't looked at the intelligence reports?" Une asked with a sudden spike of interest.

"I would prefer to not know unless it's absolutely necessary," Hope answered.

"I'll be honest with you, Hope," Une said grimly. "It may soon become absolutely necessary."

Vustgaarde University, Sanc Kingdom

It was a bold step for the both of them even if their reasons were different. Their romance had been long and arduous and not exactly a secret to those who knew them but for the most part it had been kept out of the public. Until now. There was no hiding it anymore. Ever since their very public kiss at Le Parloir on New Years, the tabloids and the campus alike were obsessed with their fledgling relationship. Paparazzi began hounding her again, but this time with a certain amount of their attention devoted to her mysterious boyfriend. Likewise, the students on campus seemed to notice them wherever they went.

For the most part, they had completely ignored it. While they were on the topic of conversation for every daytime talk show, they were busy fucking. While they were a trending hashtag on social media, they were busy fucking. While they were the talk of the university campus, they were busy fucking in the parking lot.

But stepping into that lecture hall, together, hand in hand, they could feel the heat of hundreds of eyes staring at them. Some out of disdain, some of out of envy, some just out of sheer curiosity. They found a place in the middle of the lecture hall. They weren't pretending the curious onlookers didn't exist by placing themselves in the front row. Nor had they hid themselves in the back. They weren't denying anything. They just didn't owe any of them an explanation. The students were polite enough to not say anything to them directly. But they weren't polite enough to keep their whispering out of audible range.

Relena took it all in stride. She was used to the public scrutiny. Heero was much more apprehensive about the whole situation. His natural alarms went off in his head and he had to repeated remind himself that this was normal and nothing bad was going to happen.

"Did you choose an elective yet?" Relena asked as they sat down.

"Not yet," Heero answered.

"Heero! You're running out of time," Relena said as she gently slapped him on the shoulder.

"I'm still considering my options," Heero said.

Relena noticed the tension in Heero's posture, despite his best efforts to seem relaxed. He kept adjusting the way he was sitting, shifting the way his legs rested. She understood how uncomfortable the situation was for him. She had seen it before. When he attacked the guy at Matilda's party. Heero was at a loss in situations where violence was not a viable solution.

"It's okay," Relena said soothingly. "Try to relax."

"I am relaxed," Heero replied coldly.

"You look like you're about to go into battle,"Relena giggled.

She took his hand into her own and gently rubbed his palm with her finger tips. Immediately, she could feel him loosen up a bit.

"Remember, they don't matter," Relena said. "We're all that matters."

"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to people noticing me," Heero said as he let out an audible sigh and readjusted himself in his seat once again. "I hope you don't think less of me."

Relena smiled and looked at him. What a ridiculous boy. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"On the contrary, it's what I think makes you great," Relena whispered in his ear.

With her index finger, she turned his head to face her. She smiled as she locked her gaze with his. For a moment, everything fell silent, everything became still. She had that effect on him. She always had. She leaned and kissed him. He let himself be taken by her charms against his better judgement, against every hard-learned instinct.

"Relena…" Heero whispered as he finally broke their kiss. "People are looking…"

"Let them look." She kissed him again.

Hope left Une's office feeling rather uneasy. The director had spent the better part of an hour grilling her about her brother, his whereabouts, associates, and anything else she knew about him. She couldn't quite tell if that was a loyalty test or if the information she provided was actually pertinent. Perhaps it was both.

Feeling the need to decompress, Hope made her way down to the canteen and found Duo sitting by himself at a table in the corner of the room. He looked as though he was actually working for once. He had some documents in front of him as well as his computer. Next to his papers was a stack of donuts and a mug of coffee. Hope approached and sat down opposite him.

"Hey," Hope said in an upbeat manner.

Duo looked up and immediately lit up, "hey yourself!"

"Guess what?" Hope asked.

"I know, I heard," Duo said. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you!" Hope said. "Although, it wasn't without some difficulty. I just went through a trial by fire in her office."

"Yeah, I know what that's like," Duo said.

"What do you mean?" Hope asked.

"Nevermind," Duo said.

"Whatcha working on?"

Duo panicked a bit at the question. "Oh you know, stuff…"

"Stuff?" Hope asked curiously.

"Yeah, it's not related to the Lucio investigation, at least, not directly," Duo said. "It's my turn to be on the sidelines."

"Oh my god! What happened?" Hope asked.

"Nothing! It's just… well you know how she is," Duo said. "Une just needs me on something else at the moment."

"But you're coming back right?" Hope asked.

"Yeah," Duo feigned confidence. "It's just stuff I have to take care of first. You know, former Gundam Pilot type stuff."

Hope rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile. "Speaking of… Did you hear about Heero and Relena Peacecraft on New Years?!"

"Oh yeah," Duo said. "That's been going on for years."

"Really?!" Hope asked. "I'm shocked. He's a stone cold killer and she's a pacifist! I wonder what she sees in him. Unless she's not-"

"Oh no, she is," Duo interrupted. "She's as obnoxiously perfect as you think she is."

"Still…" Hope said with a sigh. "Such an odd thing to think about… I worked with Heero and now he's dating… her."

"They practically fought the war together," Duo said, sounding a little confused. "I'm surprised you didn't put two and two together. Pretty sure all of this is in his file."

"I'm pretty sure Heero's romantic entanglements are not in his file," Hope said. "But I guess it does make sense. It's kinda romantic if you think about it. An epic love forged in the fires of war…"

Duo almost heard a sigh come out of Hope. Duo had to hold back a condescending expression.

"I never took you for a romantic," Duo said.

"Why? Because I wouldn't go out with you?" Hope asked teasingly.

"Oh, so that was a no…" Duo said cheekily. "And here I thought it was just a building collapsing."

Heero sat in the dining hall by himself paging through the course catalogue and visiting the department websites on his phone. He had already been at it for several hours. The process was arduous and confusing and made him realize how little he knew about himself. He did like math? Or was he merely good at it? Did he like history? Or was he just taught a lot of it? Did he like athletics? Did he like anything at all?

His thoughts were broken when he saw Tatyana enter the dining hall. He hadn't seen her in months. She wasn't with the others during New Years. She wore her hair in a ponytail. She was wearing a yellow tank top with a pink sweatshirt and multicoloured leggings. She probably just got out of the gym.

"Hey you," Tanya said as she jumped into the empty seat next to his.

"Hey," Heero said as he turned briefly to look at her before returning his attention to the pamphlet in his hand.

"Long time no see," Tanya said.

"I've been busy," Heero said.

"Yeah, I've noticed, blow up any good buildings lately?" Tanya asked cheekily.

Heero said nothing.

"Hey, come on, you know I'm joking," Tanya said while giving him a friendly shove. "Where's the girlfriend?"

"Still in class," Heero answered.

"Then why aren't you?" Tanya asked.

"It's a dance class," Heero answered simply.

"Ahh, the mighty Zero One, does not dance." Tanya folded her arms across her chest.

"I'm supposed to find a course that interests me," Heero said ignoring Tanya's little taunt.

"She's right, you should." Tanya said as she took a spare pamphlet Heero had in front of him next to his computer. "You can't just babysit her for the rest of your life."

"That's exactly what I intend to do," Heero said sternly.

"How romantic." Tanya rolled eyes. "So have you decided on anything yet?"

"I'm trying to choose between History of Law and Introduction to Economics," Heero answered.

"You're so missing the point," Tanya said. "Relena didn't choose Diplomacy 101. She chose something fun for her elective."

"I fail to see your point." Heero finally turned to look at her.

"Oh my god…" Tanya groaned in frustration. "Take something fun!"

Heero took a deep breath and returned his attention to the catalogue. He left the political science and law sections and flipped to a random page.

"Astronomy?" Heero asked. "I'm from the colonies."

"Yeah okay… that's not bad," Tanya said. "But what about something like… Judo?"

"I know Judo," Heero said.

"Do you have a rank?" Tanya asked.

Heero paused.

"No," Heero finally said. "I don't have a formal rank."

"Well then… Maybe it's a good time to earn one."

She could feel her chest rising and falling, processing oxygen at an alarming rate. Her hair was drenched in sweat and a tangled mess. Her vision had a hard time staying in focus. And this was only the second class.

It would've been easier if she had just summoned the momentary strength to get up and walk over. But Relena was spent. She felt as though she had no choice but drag her exhausted body over to her water bottle. She thought she was fit. She had been going to the gym on a fairly regular basis with Tanya for months now. But no amount of weight lifting and yoga could've possibly prepared her for that first dance class. She let out an exhausted sigh as she finally released the bottle from her lips. She felt as though those precious gulps of water had just saved her life.

Relena noticed that Lexi, the goddess in athletic wear with the short wavy blonde hair that also happened to be the instructor of the class float over to where Relena was collapsed on the floor. Relena immediately stiffened up, she tried to regain her composure and temper her heavy breathing, all to no avail.

"Hey," Lexi said with a cheery smile as she knelt down in front of Relena.

"Oh hi," Relena said in exasperation. "Don't mind me, I'm just over here dying. That was a great class by the way."

"Oh ha! Thanks!" Lexi said as she began to blush. "I know you probably get this all the time but I just wanted to say how honoured I am that you are taking my class."

Relena pushed herself off of the hardwood floor and leaned against the mirror behind her.

"Oh no, the honour is all mine," Relena said as her breath finally started to catch up to her. "You are amazing! I wish I could move like you."

"That's nothing really, just years of hard work and practice. You'll get there. I've been watching you," Lexi said. "You're a natural."

"Not sure about that, but I did want to be a ballerina when I was a child," Relena said.

"It shows, you're very graceful," Lexi said.

"It's nice of you to say," Relena blushed.

"I'm not just saying that. Although, who could blame me if I did," Lexi said emphatically. Perhaps she was telling the truth. "Miss Relena, it's an honour to meet you. If you need anything, help with the moves, choreography, anything. Just ask."

The fires burned hot in the midday sun. The Merchant could feel the heat of those flames even from his distance. But he did not avert his gaze. It had been years of work, now sacrificed to the god of necessity. For as much money, time, and resources he had poured into those factories, they needed to go to contain the virus that was Toro Campana. Everything connected to that idiot needed to go.

It was a large sacrifice. Nearly a third of their operation ran through Lucio Internationale and this delay would cost them months, possibly even years. But The Merchant was a diligent man and he prided himself on his meticulous character. He meant to do things properly, to not rush like Quinze, and not to be overconfident like Dekim. That was the lesson he learned from other men of his generation; hubris was deadly.

He had learned that lesson well from his predecessors. He had learned the lesson inevitability. He was under any delusion that he could turn the tide of history. In fact, in his calculations, in all likelihood, peace would win out or at least outlive him. But beyond the ideological differences between him and the Peacecraft girl, which in the end didn't really exist, for he knew that in soul he had none, this was all just a matter of business. He grew up in an era of war, of conflict, of bloodshed. It gave him purpose, it gave his life meaning, and while he had no strong objections to peace, morally or politically, it made him itchy, restless, bored.

So he intended to play the game. To continue playing the game. To keep playing it as long as he could, probably until the day he died.

Standing there, at the edge of a cliff, watching as three years of work and tens of millions burn to ashes, made him unexpectedly feel young again. He had to start over. He could correct the mistakes of his past. He could do it better this time. Oh, this was going to be fun.

A young messenger approached cautiously and waited several feet behind The Merchant. A few a few minutes, he turned his head slightly and looked over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, to intrude, sir," the messenger said nervously.

"What is it?" The Merchant said in a deep voice.

"The Lucio board members… they have landed in Hong Kong."