Author: Liewe (liewe@hotmail.com)
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply.
Relena Peacecraft stood on her balcony staring at the stars, her thoughts were elsewhere though, she was analyzing her behavior during the war, he incessant pursuit of Heero Yuy in an attempt to cover her true emotions. Sure, she had been grateful to him for all that he had done, but sometimes he had annoyed her completely, she had wanted to get close to the Gundam pilots, so she chased him, she knew she would get to know their identities through him. She had used him, she’d admit it, she wasn’t proud of what she’d done but she couldn’t help it. She had needed the information she could gather by doing so, by following Heero Yuy around, possibly risking her neck at every turn. Now the war was over there was no reason for her to follow Heero around, he wasn’t the one she was after. He was touring the colonies, she could try to bump into him but it wouldn’t work, he had been disgusted with her behavior, the way she seemed like a lovesick puppy over Heero, he hadn’t known it was him she was after, he hadn’t seen through her façade.
She remembered the first time she ever had seen him, she had gone to the circus with Pagan, it had been his little gift to her, during the war. She remembered seeing him in his clown get up, the half mask on his face and the vacant look in his eyes, he hadn't even twitched when that girl had hit him with the knife. She remembered the sudden urge to go down there and take care of his wounds but she had ignored it at first. Then she had seen him again, when she was chasing after Heero his voice had etched itself into her memory. When she had first come to Antarctica with the preface of giving Heero his letter it had been to see him, maybe just get a glance at his face without anyone being the wiser. Her heart had leapt into her throat when she had seen his Gundam battling the Tallgeese but her common sense had reminded her that they had seen him on the way in. She hadn't been completely dense during those years there was another reason why she stayed clear of him why she pretended to fawn over Heero. She didn't want him getting hurt when people tried to get to her; of course she had also not wanted her heart to be broken but that was expected.
Somewhere on earth stood a young man, staring up at a scene similar to the one Relena Peacecraft gazed upon, his thoughts reflecting upon the young politician. It had irked him to no end to see her fawning over Heero, especially when Heero wouldn’t give her a second glance. Why hadn’t she been able to see him, why couldn’t she have gazed at him with those fathomless blue eyes? Why had Heero been blessed with her affections when he so obviously didn’t want them, why hadn’t she chosen him instead? He often perused this well-worn path in his psyche, forever wondering on the welfare of the women he loved. He was a tall young man, his body still honed from his occupation as a soldier during the war; he was 19 now, 19 and alone. The pilots hadn’t really kept in touch when everything was over and done with, sure, he saw Quatre every once in awhile but Quatre had his own life to tend to, so did Wufei, and Duo. He didn’t know where Heero was though, he only knew where Heero wasn’t and that was with his blue-eyed angel.
He remembered the first time he saw her, when she was still a rich brat, living in the lap of luxury ignorant to the pain and suffering of those around her. He had been drawn by the innocence he had glimpsed in her eyes coupled with a wisdom beyond her years. He had been working for Dekim Barton, building the Heavyarms, her father had taken her into space with him and she had been walking around with a small entourage, one she didn't know existed. He remembered the shine in her eyes as she went from shop to shop as he had watched her from his vantage point in a nearby take out place. He hadn't seen her again until that day at the OZ base when Heero was fighting Zechs Marquise, he had admired her bravery then, and had wondered at her own stupidity. When he heard Noin berating her for wishing the death of her own brother he had been taken aback. Then several weeks later he saw her again and he finally gave up the battle with his emotions, he admitted love to her silently, his heart broke every time he saw her chase Heero, and every time he saw her sad. In the end he had left for the circus in hopes to preserve what remained of his shattered heart, to retain the fantasy of her love.
Noin stood in her office silently gazing into the dark, her thoughts on the welfare of her sister-in-law she alone knew Relena’s true feelings, who really held Relena’s heart. She had promised never to tell a single soul any of the secrets she held tightly within her grasp. The nightmares, which haunted the younger girl, nor the terror which she, had felt when Trowa had been presumed dead after that escapade involving Quatre and the Wing Zero. No one but Noin knew, and she had promised never to tell a single soul, she hadn’t even told Milliardo what was hidden in his sister’s heart. Heero would have been in imminent danger then, Trowa too. Milliardo was entirely too protective of his younger sibling, he would go to great lengths to ensure her safety; he had proved it more than once. He did know though, that she was withering away slowly but surely, her heart freezing over, to protect itself from the pain. They had organized a party, Noin and Milliardo, a birthday party for Relena one that she would not be permitted to skip out on, as she had done in previous years.
The party was to be held a few days after Relena’s 19th birthday and all the Gundam pilots had been invited, so had Catherine, Hilde and Dorothy. Several members of the Preventer organization who had become friends with the young politician had also been invited to the relatively small get together. Some people though had been invited due to political formalities; there had been no polite way to forget about the stuffy politicians Relena worked with, no polite way. Lady Une would also be bringing Mariemaia with her per Relena’s request. Some many more preparations were to be made before the party; Noin had been doing everything herself since Relena had taken ill due to work overload. Milliardo was not being of much help due to his worrying over his sister’s health, and trying to keep the whole situation concealed. He had managed to keep the fiasco quiet for a week but shortly the news would go out and the world would know about Relena Peacecrafts questionable health.
Trowa stood in his tent staring at the paper with disbelief etched into his face; his mind just kept repeating the phrase "Relena Peacecraft fainted at a meeting last week, everyone in the household keeps saying no comment." He was scared for the first time in a long time, she was ill and no one was saying anything, no one had been saying anything since she fainted at a meeting a week ago. They didn’t have a show for the next three weeks, he could take some time off, he was owed time off he needed to check up on his angel see how she really was. To see with his own eyes her condition, to make sure that she wasn’t leaving him behind, like all the others did.
Relena Peacecraft lay in her bed completely unaware of the turmoil surrounding her, and her love’s dilemma about her health. She was dead to the world, comparatively speaking; she was in such a deep drug induced sleep. The doctors had said that she was suffering from severe exhaustion, and stress, their prescription was bed rest, complete and total bed rest for until her party. She was banned from the office, banned from going anywhere near anything that resembled work. Milliardo had physically removed her from her office that day, throwing her over his shoulder and dumping her in her room before storming out of the room and locking the door behind him. Noin had been in shortly after to force feed Relena some sleeping pills to get the stressed girl to rest. Now Relena lay there in her castle, surrounded by false people, in a deep and dreamless sleep.
There was trouble in the perfect world which Relena strived to protect along with the other politicians, more and more people were rebelling against the changes which had been wrought since the end of the war. Relena being the Vice Foreign Minister was often traveling to the colonies to waylay the news and ease the people’s fears. As a direct result of this she hadn’t been taking the best care of herself, often skipping meals, losing sleep, and just fretting over everyone’s well being but her own. The fainting spell which she had had, happened to occur during one of these meetings with the colony leaders. She hadn’t been feeling well for weeks, she had dropped considerable weight, her color was off and she was always tired. One moment she had been standing there giving one of her passionate speeches when to her the room began to spin before her very eyes. The colony leaders reported to Milliardo that before she collapsed she said, "oh, why is the colony spinning like that," she had immediately been rushed to a private hospital where Sally Po was called in to check her over. After hours of waiting the lab results came back indicating that there was nothing major wrong with the young politician, and that she was only suffering from exhaustion, stress, slight malnutrition and over work. Sally had then immediately ordered for Relena to be returned to her home and receive bed rest for the next few weeks, until she regained some of her lost weight, the bags under her eyes completely disappeared and she no longer felt any dizzy spells. Milliardo took the instructions to heart and Relena was now ensconced in her home being treated like the princess she was much to her disgust.
Trowa had traveled through the night to reach his angel’s side, to reassure himself that she wouldn’t be leaving him anytime soon. He managed to sneak into her room with little effort, which gladdened and surprised him at the same time, he had expected Heero to be there watching over her, but he wasn’t. Did this mean that there was nothing going on between Heero and Relena? He had been so sure that those two had gotten together, that’s why he had stayed away, he didn’t want to be hurt. Now that he stood there though gazing upon her moonlit form, his face lighting in a rare smile. He jumped when he heard a sound come from the bed, quickly retreating into the shadows silently praying that she hadn’t seen him.
"Trowa, is that you?" He remained silent, anxiously wondering why she would ask if it were him and not Heero.
"Must have been a dream then, why can’t you ever be real, why does my mind have to continue playing tricks on me," she asked the darkness as she made to return to her deep sleep. The same sound form before though prevented Relena from going back to bed, instead she slowly climbed from her bed tottering on her legs as she made her way to the corner where she had heard the noise from. He didn’t move, fervently hoping that she hadn’t seen him, but also praying that she had.
"Is anyone there," she asked again as she moved closer and closer to the corner her eyes adjusting to the darkness in the room. She was able to make out a human shape, from what she could tell, the person was tall and well muscled but that was all the shadows revealed.
"Please tell me who you are?"
"Relena," he whispered against his better judgment, his heart craving for her. Craving to have her near him, but also fearing her rejection.
"Trowa," she replied in disbelief and astonishment, her eyes lightening up with joy.
At the sound of her voice he darted from the shadows to take her in his arms, inhaling the scent of her hair, reassuring himself with her presence. Relena for her part was taken by surprise this was the sort of thing she had only imagined in her wildest dreams, Trowa caring for her, she had often snorted at the idea while fervently hoping for it. She snuggled into his arms, tightening hers around his waist, burying her head in the soft fabric, which covered his chest. He continued to hold her like that for an immeasurable amount of time, finally pulling away when her small form began to shiver, gently so as to not worry her he picked her up Princess style and depositing her on her bed. He sat down next to her as her hands pulled him down again when he tried to leave, her eyes where staring at him with a question, ‘was he real,’ he knew that he had to reassure her if he wanted things to change. Taking the advice, which Heero had once given him, he acted on his feelings as he leaned forward to brush his lips against Relena’s and then quickly departing.
The time before the party passed speedily, as each day passed Relena regained her strength and Noin conned her brother into giving her more freedom. Trowa continued to watch her from the shadows, forever remembering that night when he had held his angel in his arms. Relena also continued to replay that event in her mind, lingering over the feel of his strong arms, the feel of his lips as they brushed against hers. Her dress for the party had arrived, different from her previous gowns, more simplistic, more angelic. The gown was a shimmering silver, sleek and tight around the bodice flaring out from her hips to fall in gentle waves. The gown reached the floor and accentuated her small figure, the curves, which she had attained with time. She was going to be perfect for him, she knew he was coming; she had perked up when he had told her he was coming.
Trowa for his part was bunking with Duo, enjoying the bickering, which occurred between the Newlywed Duo and Hilde. He hadn’t been around anything like that in his whole life, well as far as he could remember. He would be attending the party with Hilde and Duo; the party was to be a formal affair, requiring a tuxedo, something, which took him many tenuous hours to find one that fit him perfectly. He had to be perfect for his angel he hadn’t seen her since that night, he had been avoiding her, her reaction to what had happened. He feared that she would regret it, being in his arms, their chaste kiss; he feared she would regret it all. He was also glancing over his shoulder at every turn watching out for the tell tale signs of Heero’s presence.
Noin stood in the main hall, dressed in a midnight blue gown, one that hugged her trim figure. She was receiving the guests for the ball, Milliardo not budging from his decision that Relena was to sit down as much as possible. He was still worried about her health, he was worried about her overdoing herself, he was also keeping the young men a good distance away from her, none feeling brave enough to brave the wrath of Milliardo. Trowa, Duo, and Hilde were among the last to arrive, Duo’s old jalopy broke down on the way to the party and it had taken the taxi a while to arrive, Hilde having to haul Duo away from his tools in an effort to preserve his brand new tux. He stood in the shadows watching her brother scare away all the hopeful men, the way he trampled them easing his heart. The urge to commit severe and physical pain to al the men who approached his angel, the rage contained within his strong form.
Noin saw Trowa standing in the shadows silently watching Relena, she knew that Milliardo was part of the reason he had yet to go over to her. All the guests had arrived and she was now free to do as she wished, she knew what her next course of action would be. She would take Milliardo far away from Relena to give Trowa a chance to go to Relena, to tell her the feelings, which were written, plainly on his face. With the determination of a conquering army, Noin dragged Milliardo into the middle of the dance floor, blocking Relena from his view. Trowa saw what Noin was doing for him; he gave her a small wink before making his way over to his angel beating several shady characters to the punch so to say. Her face lit up when she saw him in his tuxedo, his hair hanging in its unique manner. Silently he offered her his hand, which she gladly accepted, a rare smile spreading across his face when he saw her in full light. She truly did look like an angel in the dress and her hair was a tumble of curls.
Silently he led her outside, a protective arm on the small of her back guiding her towards the balcony. The other pilots saw this; they were amazed at the apparent love between the silent ex-pilot and the obsessive ex-Queen of the world. Heero covered a small smile at seeing Trowa finally taking the initiative. Outside Trowa and Relena stood on the balcony, his arm protectively around her shoulders as they stood there in companionable silence. He put his other arm around her, weaving them together at her waist, and putting his face next to hers.
"Am I dreaming," she whispered as her head leaned back against his shoulder.
"No," was his simple reply as his arms tightened around her.
"Then don’t disappear on me," came her simple request.
"I won’t," he said as he turned around, capturing her lips with his in the process. They stood there illuminated in the moonlight, completely involved with each other, ignorant to the happenings of the world around them.
-The End
AN: I just wanted to try this, I mean I haven’t really seen any Trowa and Relena stories out there.