Relena Darlian's fingers twitched in her lap as she played with the hem of her skirt suit, wondering if it was too short to be professional. It was longer than the mini-skirts she wore when she was still in high school, which already felt like a lifetime ago. But still. She wondered what her mother would say, a thought that made her laugh. It had also been a long time since she had consulted Mareen, her adopted mother, on anything, least of all her wardrobe.

"Something funny, Miss Relena?"

Relena glanced up to see her longtime driver, Pagan, wagging his bushy gray eyebrows at her in the rearview mirror. She laughed again, waving a hand.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just…thinking." Relena was often so caught up in her own inner monologue, she sometimes would start talking to herself out loud without realizing it. Sometimes Pagan would respond; other times, he blessedly ignored her.

Unfortunately this was not one of those times.

"Nervous for your speech, are you?" he asked.

Relena's face flushed. "Oh, no. Not really." But she could feel the heat creeping up to her hairline despite her protests. "I'll be fine," she added brightly. Then she resumed fiddling with her hemline.

Maybe it wasn't the suit's length that seemed juvenile so much as the color. Both the blazer and matching flared skirt were the softest shade of blush pink. It was about as feminine a color as she could have chosen, but then so was most of her wardrobe. People were used to seeing her wearing pastels and girlish ensembles. She was, after all, sixteen years old. Just because she found herself taking up her late adopted father's position in the government didn't mean she should pretend to be anything other than the teenage girl she was.

But she would be seventeen in a matter of weeks—practically an adult. Maybe then she should try some more serious colors. Maybe not full-on black, but gray or navy. She wanted to look professional and be taken seriously, but she also wanted to evoke calm, and inspire people. Happy colors did that, and pink was a happy color.

She would save the serious colors for serious speeches. Today was all about giving people hope.

And hopefully, no one would be able to look up her skirt while she gave her speech. She tugged on the flared bottom again, wishing she could add just another inch or two. Maybe she should have consulted Mareen on her outfit choice after all, or some government PR person.

After this, she decided, I'm hiring a stylist.

But enough fretting about her outfit. Now on to her speech…

Truthfully, she was nervous. Over the past year she'd spent following in her father's footsteps, she had become adept at public speaking. However, it wasn't the whole getting-up-in-front-of-people part that worried her. It was the feeling that she was always making false promises she couldn't necessarily keep, much as she wanted to with all her heart. Raising peoples' spirits was harder work than Relena could have ever imagined. She hated feeling like she was nothing but a disappointment to the people who were depending on her.

Relena sighed softly and leaned her forehead against the car window, watching the city roll by in a blur of muted colors. Was it just her, or was winter endless this year?

She needed to cheer up; she would be on television in a matter of hours, doing her part to reassure the restless public. Which was much easier said than done, given that there was still so much work ahead to repair all the homes, businesses, and beautiful ancient architecture that had suffered major damage during both the Eve Wars and Christmas Eve conflict. Not just in Brussels, but in communities all over the world and colonies.

Relena was not looking forward to telling people what they had already been told—that the Earth Sphere Unified Nation was "working on it." Still. But ESUN was newly-formed, and there were a lot of growing pains and nuances to work through. Especially given that the new government was made up of former military and Romefeller elites, and other organizations that the public did not readily trust. And for good reason. This was why officials like Relena had to be very careful about getting the right messaging across.

She couldn't help but note, wryly, that as a junior politician, she seemed to be the one tasked with making these speeches lately. She was starting to think that some of her more experienced colleagues were sticking her with the duty as some sort of initiation, or trial by fire.

Her car rolled up to the front gate at the Palace of the Nations. Relena waited as Pagan flashed his credentials to a guard. Meanwhile, she sat gazing up at the impressive architecture. Somehow, she was always awestruck when she thought about just how old so many of the buildings around her were. She found herself overcome with the same feeling of wonder every time she revisited her birth family's home in the Sanc Kingdom.

She'd come to appreciate that history was a living, breathing thing. And over the past few years, she'd had more than a front row seat; she was an integral part of it.

And while no major decisions or policies would be set forth today, she was eager to get to her speech, and do what she'd come there to do.

Moments later, Pagan parked the car in the lot reserved for officials. Relena opened the door for herself, before he could come around, and stepped out of the vehicle. As she turned to look up at the grand balcony where she would soon deliver her speech, an icy wind rustled her hair and skirt. Relena used one hand to secure her wayward bangs, the other to tug her skirt back down where it belonged. She knew she should have worn a more substantial coat over her outfit today, but thought it might be too bulky over her suit. Stupid women's fashion. The wind ceased, but she was still shivering.

"It feels like snow," she said softly to herself, remembering the last time it had snowed in Brussels.

The last time they would ever have to fight again. She hoped.

She still thought of the Gundam pilots often. It had been several weeks since she had encountered any of the five young men who had turned her world upside down. But then she knew they were all busy reordering their lives so soon after the threat of war had sparked again. A few, including Chang Wufei and Trowa Barton, had joined the Preventers. Quatre Raberba Winner, being the young mogul that he was, had gone back to his family business in Arabia, although work still brought him to Brussels every now and then. Duo Maxwell had returned to space to run his scrapping business, as far as she knew. Relena would not have been surprised in the least to bump into him out of the blue, though; the former pilot of the Deathscythe Gundam seemed to have a penchant for showing up out of nowhere.

So did someone else she knew. And Relena had to admit, of all the ex-pilots, he was the one she was the most curious about. Still.

Some things never change, she mused as she began to move toward the Palace entrance. And thank goodness. Because so much had changed, over the past year alone. She had changed, irrevocably.

Call it wistfulness or nostalgia, but knowing that at least her feelings for that remarkable boy she found washed up on the beach when she was just a clueless girl on the cusp of turning fifteen…those feelings hadn't changed a bit. If they had, then they'd only grown stronger. And she found that comforting, somehow.

Pausing before the main set of doors, Relena stole one last glance at the snow-laden clouds hovering above the Palace, waiting to blanket the earth again before winter's end, and smiled.

"Wherever you are right now, whether you can hear me or not... " She couldn't help but laugh at herself for thinking that was even possible, but she'd said and done crazier things before. She caught herself before Pagan could turn around and comment on her inner monologue escaping her tongue once again, and lowered her voice. But her smile stayed put.

"I can't wait to see you again, Heero."


A/N: Hello, friends! I hope anyone who is reading this is doing well. Thank you for taking the time to check out this story! Sorry it's been forever since I've posted anything on here, but after some gentle prodding (you know who you are! lol) I am back to writing GW fanfics. ;)

This fic is an idea I've been playing with for some time now, so I hope you'll stick around to see what happens. Eventually, I plan to wrap up my other unfinished fics as well; although I am balancing fanfic writing with my original novel writing, but I will do my best. Thank you so much for reading, and please feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think so far!

Hugs and Heero!

RFP