Disclaimer: Would I have to write fanfiction if I owned them?

My kingdom is crumbling, as it crumbled before. Can it be rebuilt this time? I may sit here, hidden behind closed doors and drawn curtains, but I realize what is going on in the world around me. I understand that it is human nature to fight. I am not trying to change that. War is unnecessary. That almost seems like an oxymoron, but it's true. How can I sit here and preach that it is human nature to fight and in the same breath state that war is unnecessary? Quite simply because it is the truth. No matter how much people try to avoid it, innocents will get hurt, even killed, in a war. In a fight, it is often just the contenders that are putting their lives at risk, not the spectators.

I have found throughout my, admittedly short, reign as princess that it is in some people's nature to be soldiers. My Heero is just one example among many. His every mannerism speaks of great pain and hardship throughout his life. I can still remember the time we danced. He held me so gingerly, as if afraid I would break should he hold me too tightly. I never knew that a gundam pilot could be that coordinated. He is certainly the best dance partner I've ever had the pleasure of dancing with. He looked into my eyes that night, and I could see years of buried pain and loss burning his soul, just as his eyes burned into my own soul. I don't know what he saw in my eyes that night, but I thank God for it, for I'm certain that whatever he saw was the reason he saved my life that same night.

I was suddenly jolted back to reality when a particularly loud beam cannon destroyed a small neighborhood near the capital building where I watched my city from my top-floor office window. I got this incredible feeling of frustration and hopelessness looking out at the half-destroyed city. How many lives would be forfeited until people realize that peace through war is an unattainable ideal?

I almost smiled at that thought, knowing that if Heero were here, we would have had quite a lengthy debate over that one. It has been so strange these past few months. My entire life has been flipped upside down and inside out, and it all started when I looked out the window and saw my "shooting star" fly by. So much has happened, and yet, even with the loss of the only father I have ever known, if I went back to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing, just because of my perfect soldier.

Dorothy has come for me. I knew she would. Oddly, I knew all along that she was part of some plot the Romefeller Foundation had concocted to try to bring down my kingdom. This hardly surprises me. I look out once more at my city before agreeing to surrender. What else can I do? My life is not worth the lives of all the defenseless bystanders watching the battle in their "safe neighborhoods."

As we walked out of the building, we passed my favorite gardens. I stopped to look at them one last time, much to Dorothy's chagrin. Gently, reverently, I picked one forget-me-not. They are so beautiful. I began to think of all the people I would be letting down by surrendering myself to Romefeller: my brother, Noin, Pagan, my entire kingdom, but most of all, my Heero. I do love him, I'm sure of it. There is no other answer for why I act like a flustered schoolgirl around him.

I was suddenly reminded of one of Heero's and mine private conversations. We never could get away from everyone to be alone together often, but whenever we got the chance, we would rendezvous in one of the gardens to talk or just be together, not speaking a word. Once, we were discussing flowers, of all things. It seemed as if we could talk to each other about anything, almost as though we were made for each other. He was asking me what my favorite flower was, as we walked through this same garden. It couldn't have been that long ago, yet it seemed as if it took place in a past life. I remember how I'd laughed and said, "Forget-me-nots, because it seems my memory is what gets me into the most trouble with the Romefeller Foundation." He had given me a small, half-smile at that, and agreed that they were beautiful but he "preferred roses," saying nothing more than they reminded him of me, delicate, but with thorns.

Remembering this conversation, I reached over to a nearby rose bush and picked the prettiest red rose in the bunch. Smirking to myself, I gently wove the two flowers together and placed them on a bench. I smiled, knowing that Heero would find them and know that I was thinking of him. Perhaps he might even figure out how to get me out of the Foundation's grasp. I grimaced to myself at how weak that sounded, even for me. I was many things, but a damsel-in-distress wasn't one of them. I would find some way out of this myself, with or without the aid of Heero. I just hoped that he would be there for me after this whole ordeal was over. For now, I would wait.

~~THE END~~