Lovebirds
By Rin Amaru
Disclaimer- I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters, only this story.
A/N: This story has been swimming in my head since I first saw the show 6 years ago. Here it is. It should only be about 2 chapters.
I had been sitting in the same, horribly uncomfortable, plastic chair for the past 8 hours. My wife, Relena Darlian-Yuy, was undergoing an emergency bone marrow transplant.
A few years ago, just over a month after our daughter, Emi, had been born, Relena had her first collapse during a UESN conference. Okay, so, maybe she was just tired; babies usually keep parents up all night. That's what everyone thought. Even Sally agreed it was nothing serious. And, with Relena being the strong-willed woman we all know her to be, she went back to work the next day. In addition to her 12 hour work day, she would spend time everyday with Emi and me before getting a few hours of sleep. The next few collapses were blamed on exhaustion. The former Queen of the World couldn't possibly be sick.
This morning, however, she fainted in a Preventers meeting. Luckily, Sally was sitting beside her and immediately checked her pulse. It was dangerously low. I was standing outside the room at the time, waiting for her to come and have lunch with her daughter and me. Suddenly, Sally and Noin carry her out of the conference room and onto a stretcher that had been called for. Without delay, she was airlifted to the main hospital on L1.
It was here that we all learned the terrible news. All along, she had been suffering from acute myelogenous leukemia. Her increasingly frequent collapses should have been red flags. The doctor wasn't sure about the cause, but mentioned the disease could be caused by extreme exposure to radiation. Immediately, I thought back to the many times Relena had been on or near a battlefield. It wouldn't be at all surprising if she had been accidentally exposed.
The doctor said she was in a very advanced stage of the disease, because it had not been treated, and the cancer had spread to her lungs, brain, and lymph nodes. If they couldn't successfully replace her bone marrow within the next few hours, Relena would die.
After allowing us to gape and blame ourselves for a few minutes, the doctor asked us if she had any close blood relatives, such as a child, parent, or sibling. Well, her parents were dead, so that was out of the question. Emi was too young to donate her bone marrow, so that option went out the window. Finally, we decided to call up Zechs. Being the overly concerned brother he was he would gladly give his baby sister his bone marrow.
We were right. Zechs was on the colony and in the hospital within the hour and was quickly led to the operating room to extract his marrow and test it for compatibility with Relena's. During that time, Relena herself was prepped for her surgery. Upon examining Zechs' bone marrow, they decided it was sufficient. Immediately, Relena was taken to the operating room to insert the bone marrow.
And now we're back to the present time, where I'm still sitting in this stupid chair, worrying about my precious wife and daughter. Emi, though not in mortal danger, is spending the night at Duo and Hilde's. Just the thought of my child spending time with that lunatic makes my skin crawl. Yes, he is one of my closest friends, but not someone I'd feel comfortable leaving my child with. At least my beautiful two-year-old daughter can play with their three-year-old son, D.J.
My pocket began to vibrate and I slid forward on the seat just enough to grab my cell phone. Seeing Duo's name on the screen, I hesitated before answering.
"… What?" I grunted, afraid to know why this imbecile was calling me.
"Hey, Heero! Don't worry; I'm not calling to bother you… though that would be fun… Nah, I called you because your daughter wants to say goodnight!" After a moment of hearing the phone being placed in tiny hands, I heard my daughter on the line and smiled.
"Hi, Daddy… Where's Mommy?" Emi asked, using what little English she knew.
I realized I had forgotten my wife's predicament for a moment. Emi's question brought me back to earth… or colony L1.
"Mommy's very sick, sweetie," I said, not really knowing what else to say.
"Why?" my daughter asked in her small voice.
"… I don't know, sweetie… But you can see her tomorrow, okay?" I hoped she couldn't hear the uncertainty in my voice.
"'Kay. Ni'night, Daddy!"
"Good night, Emi. Sweet dreams!" I said softly, blowing her a kiss. She giggled happily and blew a kiss back to me, unaware of the current situation.
The phone was jumbled around a bit and was back in Duo's hands, "You know? I still can't believe you're a daddy, Heero… Well, Hilde and I send our love and our prayers to the Princess! Well, I gotta go. See ya later, buddy!" With that, Duo hung up.
"Wow…" I muttered to myself, "And I thought that idiot could never shut up…"
You're probably wondering how on Earth I managed to settle down. Well, after wandering around for a year (seeing the sights, accepting random missions, etc., etc.), I realized I never truly followed my own advice.
I once told Trowa to 'always follow your emotions'. I never even knew I had emotions back then, I was just regurgitating the advice my first boss/father figure/trainer, Odin Lowe, gave to me. The saying never really held any meaning for me; until one morning.
I had arrived on Mars the day before and was staying in a room typically used as a living quarters for the men and women working to colonize the planet. It was small, but not uninhabitable. There was a tiny T.V. on the wall opposite the sleeping cots. Impulsively, I turned it on.
On the screen was none other than Relena's face. Her golden hair was tied back in a tight bun. Her aquamarine eyes shone with light and hope. It was clear that in her eyes were the souls of everyone on Earth and in the Colonies. She was giving a speech at another one of those conferences. She talked of peace and how we needed to work together to keep the peace. She said our dreams could become reality if we took charge of our war torn lives and put them together; if we followed our hearts.
Relena's voice awoke the meaning in the quote. I suddenly knew what my strange and weird emotions I had been trying to suppress and ignore were telling me all along. Immediately, I packed and left Mars for the Preventers headquarters in the Sanc Kingdom.
Upon arriving, I applied for a job there. Recognizing my name and connection to Relena, Lady Une selected me as the Vice Foreign Minister's personal bodyguard. After I signed in all labeled places on the working papers, Une firmly shook my hand and said, "Welcome to the team, Mr. Yuy. I'm sure Relena will be very pleased to see you!"
I replied with, "Hn… I do not want news of my arrival to reach her…"
Une's mouth dropped open in protest, but quickly smiled sweetly, "I understand, you little lovebird. It'll be our secret." I nodded and left for the door. Just before leaving, I turned to bow to the Lady. She simply winked at me.
After leaving her office, I couldn't help but smile. She had noticed how deeply I cared for Relena. How every breath I took was filled with her, every thought of mine was somehow linked to hers, and how every single thing I had done since the day I met her was for her. She had become my everything, and I loved her. Yes, you heard it right. I love my wife.
Continuing on… The following day, I began work. I was to arrive at Relena's home at 6:55 AM. She would be in the car at precisely 7:00 AM. I would escort her to her office by 7:25 AM and would then travel around with her all day to ensure her safety. At 10:00 PM, she was allowed to leave the office and return home with myself as her escort.
I pulled into Relena's driveway at 7:54 AM. Not long afterwards did I see a lovely girl with golden hair flying out of the door of her mansion and towards the car. Ever the gentleman, I exited the car to open the door for her. I hadn't even reached the other side of the car when I saw Relena drop the papers she was holding. Her mouth had dropped open in utter surprise. Next came flashes of different emotions across her face: shock, sadness, happiness, confusion, excitement, and… possibly… love?
Her eyes became glossy as her eyes filled with tears. Without caring about her schedule, her meetings, or the flowing world around her, she dove into my arms.
I held her.
Time stopped.
I had decided to follow my feelings, and they all led there. To that exact moment when I knew my love was returned. The moment when the beautiful lovebird who would spend the rest of her life with me sank into my waiting arms. That was where my real life began.
And here I am, five years later, stuck in this uncomfortable chair, waiting for news about the condition of the love of my life. I heard footsteps and instinctively turned my head towards the noise. The doctor was slowly walking down the hallway and stopped in front of me.
The doctor looked down at me over his thick glasses, "Mr. Yuy… Your wife…"
Watching the doctor's pale, shaking face, I became anxious, "Yes…? Is she alright?"
Silence.
"Your wife… stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest near the end of the procedure… we brought in the defibrillator… and…" The doctor paused, rubbing his hands together, "You know… everyone… err… loves your wife very much… for all she's done, and…"
Before I knew what was happening, I had grabbed the man's collar and pressed him against the wall. I glared at the man. He was hiding something from me.
Threateningly, I asked, "What the hell happened to my wife?"
The doctor looked me straight in the eye for the first time. He was shocked, frightened, and deeply saddened. "Your wife, Mr. Yuy… has passed on…"
The words 'passed on' refused to register in my mind. Relena couldn't be dead. That's not possible. She was smiling at me this morning. She was playing with Emi on the kitchen floor with pots and pans. My beautiful, smiling wife couldn't die. My world couldn't possibly die.
I saw red. I screamed. I pulled at my hair. I punched through the concrete wall beside the doctor's head. I cried. That's right. I, Heero Yuy, have cried for the first time in my life.
I was so lost in my sorrow that I couldn't feel the blood pouring through my fingers. I couldn't feel the hands of various medical staff, Trowa, Wufei, and Quatre restraining me from strangling the doctor who told me the news.
I had lost the will to live.
Suddenly, I remembered what Relena told me after she learned of her chronic condition this morning. The color had drained from her face, but she still turned her pretty little head and gazed up at me with those perfect, aquamarine eyes.
Smiling softly, in almost a whisper, she said, "If anything happens to me, take care of Emi."
With that thought in mind, I slowly regained my sanity.
I didn't know if I could speak to anyone. I wasn't even sure if I could live, but I knew I had to make sure Emi could. And that was motivation enough to bring me to the room they put Relena in.
I held her small, limp hand in mine, feeling the warmth drain from her soulless body.
I kissed her cheek for the last time.
Without speaking to anyone, I silently left the hospital.
I drove to Duo's house and (after telling him the news) took my sleeping daughter home to her bed. Caressing her fair skin, her chocolate hair, her closed Prussian blue eyes, I smiled. I guessed I could spend a few more years watching her grow up into the girl her mother wanted her to be.
But lovebirds don't live long without their mates.
A/N: R&R!