Relena walked calmly into her office and sat down at her desk as usual. Any minute now her secretary would come in with the normal workload and she would begin another day of signing papers. But this day was different. On this day, two of her closest friends were going to become engaged. At least she hoped so. She sighed and her smile faded a bit. I wonder if I'll ever get married...
*Knock*Knock*Knock*
The door opened and her secretary walked in, her face hidden behind the stack of papers waiting to be signed.
"Good morning, Miss Relena." She greeted cheerfully as she set the papers down on the desk.
"Good morning, Kairen. How was your weekend?" she asked politely.
"Oh, it was alright I guess, but nothing like your weekend I imagine." Kairen commented on the engagement announcement she had just read in the tabloid a few minutes earlier.
Relena was a bit puzzled by this but figured she probably meant Milliardo's decision to go back to Mars. She had practically forced him to go, convincing him at long last that she was safe and she could take care of herself. Her secretary knew all about the argument since she had walked in on them yelling several times.
"Yes, well, it was a tough decision for both of us, I guess. But I finally convinced him that it was all right and that he should just do it. It's what's best for both of us."
"Yes, I think so. Congratulations, Miss Relena." Kairen said as she walked out and shut the door.
Congratulations? Her unasked question was interrupted by the beeping of her vid-phone. She sighed and pressed the button to answer it. She smiled when she saw Duo's face pop up.
"What is it Duo?" she asked sweetly, expecting him to say that he was now Hilde's husband-to-be.
"Lena, she said yes! She said yes! She said yes! She said-"
"Alright, I get it Duo! Calm down and take a breath! So how did you do it?" she placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands, smiling brightly.
"Well, I'm not gonna say exactly how I did it, but let's just say I was, well, being myself." He winked at her and grinned mischievously.
"Forget it, I don't want to know! But I'm happy for you Duo, I really am."
She gave him a sweet, sincere smile. "So what's the date set for?"
"Three days from now."
"What!" she yelled in both shock and disbelief.
"Yeah, um...well...I'm not a patient person and I don't want any guys to try and steal Hilde away from me so we're eloping in three days."
Relena closed her jaw after a few moments and swallowed. "Duo, you know that no one in their right mind would try to 'steal Hilde from you.' And besides, Hilde loves you too much to ever leave. Are you sure you don't want more time to plan an elaborate wedding?"
"Nah, Hilde's fine with it. Besides, I don't like all that fancy-crap. It's bad enough that I have to wear a tux. The only people that are going to be there are me and Hilde, Quatra and Trowa as witnesses, hopefully Heero as my Best Man, and Hilde wanted me to ask you to be her Maid of Honor, since she's already busy shopping for a dress."
Her smile returned. "I'd be happy to be the Maid of Honor. I wouldn't miss this for anything! I'm so happy for the both of you."
Duo's face tightened. "Hey, Lena...I'm kinda...uh...nervous."
"Nervous, why?"
"Because, heh, if Heero's the Best Man and you're the Maid of Honor, that means you two have to share a room together because it's a small resort and there's only two rooms. Quatra and Trowa aren't arriving until the day of the ceremony, and I'm nervous because I don't know if you two will make it to the service on time!"
Duo began laughing hysterically while Relena blushed and looked away.
When he calmed down again she looked back at him and said, "Duo, you don't even know if Heero's going to come. And what makes you think that he won't be working on security details for the wedding all night?"
Duo's goofy grin of plotting was her answer as he reached for the off switch to the vid-phone.
"Trust me Lena, he'll be there. You just make sure you bring something nice and lacy. I want my Best Man to be really happy at my wedding." And with that, Duo cut the connection. Relena just stared at the blank screen for a few moments gaping at Duo's bluntness. 'Lacy?' What did he mean by tha- "That conniving little snake!" she said sarcastically. She remembered some of the dreams she'd had over the past few weeks since she last saw Heero. She had invited him to stay at the Darlian estate while he was on Earth. It was only going to be for a few days, so he had agreed. But, things were rather...tense.
*Flashback*
He had walked her to her room since she had been scared by some psycho on the street trying to steal her purse. Heero had, of course, come walking up from behind the thief and knocked him out as he was putting a knife to Relena's throat and telling her to 'Hand it over.' After that, Heero wouldn't leave her side until she was back in her room, safe, and off the streets. He also gave her a long lecture on walking around alone.
She opened the door and was about to step in when Heero walked in past her, heading for the window. She sighed and walked in, shutting the door behind her. She watched him lock the window and scan the room.
"The security in this place is too light for a person of your stature." He said plainly, without any feeling at all.
She merely smiled at him. "I guess it is, if you say so." She walked over set down her purse on the vanity he was standing beside. He watched her carefully as she took off her jacket and folded it over the chair. She then turned to walk past him so he tried to move out of the way only to trip her and send them both falling to the floor.
He landed on top of her with his hands on her breasts. Her eyes widened and he quickly jerked his hands away, only to lose his balance and send his upper body further down on her. The lips were mere inches apart, and they stared at each other, shocked and embarrassed. She decided that the situation was too awkward to go on like it was so she pushed herself out from underneath him and got up. He got up soon after and didn't look at her as he apologized and left, swiftly and quietly. Once he was gone, she laughed to herself.
"So I guess I'm not the only one who's clumsy."
She turned and headed for the bathroom to take a shower.
*End Flashback*
Ever since then, she's been dreaming about him touching her, and every time it started to get good she would wake up to the sound of her alarm clock and curse before getting out of bed.
She sighed a final time and reached for the first document on the stack of papers. Then she spotted it. Sitting right in front of her on her desk was a tabloid. And on the cover of that tabloid, in big, bold letters, were the words, "Vice Foreign Minister Darlian engaged to mystery man!" Right below that was a picture of Duo on one knee with a hand on his heart and the other hand holding Relena's. She gasped. Oh my God! She quickly flipped open the tabloid and turned to the section on her 'engagement.' There she saw the picture again, along with one of her and Duo hugging. The article explained how they must have been 'dating in secret in order to protect their private lives.' According to the tabloid's editors, everyone was sure to be bursting with joy that the Vice Foreign Minister was finally getting married. She cringed. Oh God, Milliardo's going to kill me! He's gone for one day and already I'm being manipulated! And if I try to explain this, everyone will think I'm lying because of the photos! And if they do believe me, then they'll think that I'm some cheap whore who seduces men for her own pleasure! What am I going to do?
Then a thought donned on her. "Oh my God, Heero!" She put a hand on her mouth. Duo's about to ask Heero to be the Best Man, and if Heero's already read the tabloid...
She got up and shot out the door like a bullet. She had to stop Duo before he got himself killed. If she got on a shuttle right away, she could make to the colony Heero was on just before Duo. Since Duo was still on Earth with Hilde and they were probably busy planning the wedding, she had at least a few hours start on him.
She got in her car and sped off.
Heero read the cover one more time. "Vice Foreign Minister Darlian engaged to mystery man!" He blinked as he looked at the photograph of what was obviously Duo on one knee seeming to propose to Relena. His Relena.
He grabbed the tabloid and ripped it open, finding the right section and becoming even more enraged as he read the article. The pictures were undeniable. But why? Duo knew that he loved Relena, although he hadn't said it out loud. And Relena...she loved him, didn't she?
He ripped the paper in half and started walking. The last time he saw her was...awkward, to say the least. The compromising situation they had landed in, literally, was definitely not one he could forget. He had never wanted her more than he did in that moment, but she pushed out from under him and he merely apologized and left.
Is that why she pushed away? Has she been in love with Duo the whole time? He fought desperately to find some logical explanation only to find more questions than answers. In the end, jealously over-powered reason and Heero decided he was going to stop this wedding or simply kill Duo and take Relena for himself.
"My Relena." He said coldly to himself. "Nobody touches her but me."
He returned to his apartment with murder in his eyes.
The next day, Duo arrived on the L2 colony to find Heero. Duo still hadn't seen the tabloid and had no idea why people were pointing at him and whispering. Hilde had already gone to the resort on the colony their elopement was to take place on, and Quatra and Trowa were preparing for their trip. Since everything was going ahead of schedule, they had decided to move the date up one day and get married as soon as Heero arrived.
On the L2 colony, however, all hell was about to break loose.