a/n: I know that this story is a little different than my other ones, frankly it just isn't as edgy. BUT it's a labor of love for me. Still skim milk right now gang, but how much cream are you looking for? I like to deliver so feel free to place your orders. That sounds really gross lol. Sorry! Lime city. Yay double updates!

Previously in Silk Road

She opened her eyes to see him on all fours, looking down at her. His breath was ragged, pupils dilated in an unfamiliar way. She could barely breathe, and it wasn't because she had almost drowned minutes before.

Chapter 6

"Please… no…" Relena whispered, shrinking into the bank, arms moving to hide her breasts. Body twisting to shield her other precious parts.

It sickened him.

Heero looked away from her then, pushing the air from his lungs out through his nostrils. He had full control of his body, didn't he?

What was he doing?

Relena held her breath, silently praying a Hail Mary. Soon she felt the featherlight touch of linen fabric on her skin. She opened her eyes to see Heero carefully covering her with fabric he had retrieved from his pack.

"I'm… I'm sorry princess." He said, head turned away in shame. He kneeled before her, still nude. Heat kissed her skin as she appraised him. 'Look away Relena', she urged herself.

She was feeling some type of way about him. She could imagine what he would have done to her had she not cowered away.

The realization thrilled her. But it also made her want to vomit again. 'What is wrong with me?' She thought. She didn't understand why she feared him one minute, and wanted to throw herself at him the next.

Heero stood, unashamed of his body, and went to redress.

Relena sat up on the bank and moved her wet hair away from her neck. It felt like frozen plaster. Would he watch her get dressed? For some reason, she hoped he would.

His eyes bore into her skin as he watched her stand, roaming her figure from her neck to the curvature of her spine.

She was like a work of art, there was no doubt in his mind that she was royalty. Why did she make such a show of denying it?

Heero thought back to their conversation that morning.

She truly didn't know who she was. Worse still, Relena didn't realize what she was worth, and more importantly, it meant she didn't know who he was.

Heero supposed that was the lesser of two evils. He preferred that she didn't remember him, so that he could hold her ransom and be done with it. No feelings necessary.

None at all.

It didn't help that Wu-Fei's plan involved him seducing her. No, it didn't help one bit.

Wu's plan was just so complicated.

"We will take the first woman we see on the road, and take her with us to Persia." Wu-Fei had instructed them. "This will only work with a flaxen-haired maiden." He reminded his comrades.

"Those are rare 'round these parts Wu." Duo pointed out.

"That's not a fair assumption, Duo." Quatre remarked, earning an eye roll from his unruly friend.

"We stop all carriages until we find one, idiot. The Silk Road is rife with merchants from distant lands. One is bound to have a fair-haired maiden with them." Wu-Fei expected them all to be on his level, he always had.

Heero had accepted Wu-Fei's logic, and he enthusiastically accepted his own role in the plot.

"Heero is the smoothest, so he'll convince the maiden that she's royalty... the 'long lost Princess Relena'..." Heero cringed at the turn of phrase, the true Relena had been lost so long ago, but it still hurt to hear the words. He had also wondered how he had earned the title of "smoothest" from his serious friend.

"Heero will pretend to fancy her until he's gained her trust, and then be the one to deliver her to the party that pays most handsomely."

The idea of seducing a young woman had intrigued him. He was bored of having the rest of them for company. Plus, there was an added bonus: He actually knew Relena and her royal family, and they all knew that. For sure, he would be the one to convince the poor girl that she was someone she wasn't.

"Now of course, the maiden will not know that we would be selling her to the highest bidder. She should think we are returning her to her family."

For all Heero knew, this plan should have been cake. Relena was long dead, so no harm, no foul. Quatre naturally had ethical questions, and while the plan did seem to raise alarm bells with the rest of them, they couldn't deny their need to make a quick buck. Heero certainly needed the money. But selling a girl? Did Wu-Fei care about the buyer's intentions?

Should Heero care?

He thought back to his last year on the run as a bandit. He had given up everything, his identity, his station, all to escape the skeletons in his family's closet. If he ever wanted to go back home, and claim his place again, he'd need money.

At the time, he thought Wu-Fei's plan to be morally wrong, but genius. Find a fair maiden, convince a group of political idiots that she was the long lost princess Relena. Have some fun with her in the process.

There was only one issue.

They weren't supposed to actually find the real princess Relena.

Heero watched as Relena shook out the fabric he covered her with, paying special attention to her softest parts. She stood proud with her back to him still, such fierceness he hadn't seen since they were children. The convent had taught her shame, but it was short-lived.

He smiled.

And then the panic of it all set in. Relena had died ten years ago, or so he thought.

His companions thought they had picked up a merchant's daughter, a maiden fit to play the role of a murdered princess. Heero was the only one who seemed to recognize her.

And why wouldn't he? They had grown up together, once.

Heero stood, retrieving his hakama pants and dofuku in the process. When he was fully dressed, he approached her.

"I'll help you." Heero said with as much consideration as possible.

Relena turned to him, hands clutching at the collar of the slate blue kosode he had given her. There was something in her eyes… Was it appreciation? Recognition? No, it couldn't be. If she couldn't remember who she was, there was no way in hell she would recognize him.

He eyed the exposed flesh of her neck. He didn't have any underclothes for her, and the kosode was his, and therefore a bit too large. He motioned for her to turn, and she obeyed for once. Her compliance made him blush. Was she starting to trust him? He hoped she hadn't.

The more time they spent together, the more he hoped Wu-Fei's plans would fail.

He tied a belt made of the same blue cloth around the narrowest part of her waist, cinching tightly to accommodate the gaping neckline. Her chest still heaved from within the fabric, and her modesty was at risk.

"Don't move." He ordered, rushing back to his horse to retrieve a solution from his pack. He returned with a colorful red, blue and yellow bolt of light fabric. Wrapping it once around her neck, he pulled the rest over her hair. This would do as a proper disguise, he decided. It would also protect her from any lechers they'd surely encounter once they made it to the city.

Relena brought her hand up to the fabric, fingering the hem. She looked up at Heero, and his breath caught when she met his eyes.

'Just who was he?' She thought.

It was starting to frustrate her, these feelings. Her rightful trepidation, mixed with a curious dose of attraction. Surely there was a name for such a phenomenon. She chalked it up to the adrenaline of being captured by someone so dashing. She hated how handsome he was. She hated the low timbre of his voice, or the sensual moodiness of his stare.

But still. He knew something about her, she could tell. And he had this intrinsic need to protect her, of that she was sure.

"Let's go. Time to find the others and make camp." He shook her from her rolling thoughts.

They trotted leisurely along the bank of the river in comfortable silence.

Relena rode side saddle; Heero told her it would be easier due to the kosode she wore. She tried to ignore the fact that he was her kidnapper as she more than happily leaned her back against him.

She let herself indulge in the feeling of him holding her close. Could she pretend that they had met under different circumstances? Could he have been something other than a swashbuckling bandit from the East, and she something other than a penniless orphan? His hostage?

She grew drowsier by the minute and decided it was useless to fight the feeling. She let herself be lulled to sleep by the fantasy of him being someone other than Heero.

It was nightfall by the time he reached the camp, some kilometers up the river bank.

Trowa met him first, and pulled Relena off the horse and into his arms.

While Heero was grateful for the help, he glowered at Trowa as he tried to retrieve Relena from him. She was his responsibility. Heero grunted and pulled away from his comrade, directing the horse away from Trowa.

The girl slept soundly in Heero's arms as he held her close.

As he approached the tent Quatre had set up for him, his eyes met Wu-Fei's.

Wu sat guard over the woman Lucretia, eyes glowing with firelight and a mischievous smile on his lips. He was happy to see Heero holding the 'princess' in his arms.

As he lay Relena down on his bedroll, Heero was grateful to be the one Wu-Fei had tasked with seducing her.

Glossary

Stockholm Syndrome: The phenomenon of falling for your captor. Relena probably has it.