Author's Note: this is my first Gundam Wing story due in most part to the wonderful writing and generous gifts of manga from my anime bud, RedLion2(who beta read for me), one of the best writers on this site, bar none. She got me totally hooked into the rich storyline of GW and the subtle but tender feelings between the sullen "perfect soldier" Heero Yuy and the deceptively delicate yet strong and beautiful foreign vice minister Relena Darlian. Their relationship in this story reflects what I saw in the mangas "Blind Target" and "Ground Zero". And I do not lay claim to Gundam Wing, its storyline or characters, they belong to Bandai, VIZ, Tokyopop, and are the original creation of Yoshiyuki Tomino and Haijime Yatate.

A SWEET SCENT OF ROSES

It was a rather balmy evening, the velvet sky diamond studded with stars as a soft zephyr puffed the lace curtains at the cracked open French doors of Vice Foreign Minster Relena Darlian nee Peacecraft's private residence suite. Situated within the large complex on the colony where the Alliance had their resort palaces, the residence was where she conducted her business, carrying on the legacy of pacifism left by King Peacecraft and her "father" the former Minister Darlian. And today was one of "those days", where the Alliance conference was especially rancorous as it developed into a shouting match between opposing factions, upsetting everyone but especially her as she relentlessly sought peace. Relena sighed wearily, as she stood at the French doors and threw them wide open to catch the early summer breeze and her fine strands of hair the color of burnished gold danced about her head, turning silver in the light of the pale half-moon. She gazed up longingly at the twinkling stars and wished she could soar up on the next gentle gust and fly far, far away, away from the burdens her role imparted upon her.

The evening was quiet save for the soft sound of nocturnal creatures, nightingales and cicadas replacing the sounds of the day of tempers flaring and shouting as delegates from the countries on earth and the colonies all squabbled over peace. The entire fiasco was to Relena the ultimate in the absurd circus that the so-called peace talks for a treaty had become; an oxymoron in the truest sense for peace was not practiced at the meetings at all. In fact, she felt at times that she was the lone voice of reason as the delegates each tried to out shout each other.

Sighing again Relena breathed in the fresh summer breeze, the fragrance of the rose garden below wafted over the balcony wall and teased at her nostrils, drawing her to the ledge so she could view the satiny buds and blooms, made pale in the muted moonlight. They grew in abandon, the bushes climbing up a trellis that flanked the balcony and the buds were just peeking open from the warm sun of the early summer day. Roses themselves had great significance for Relena, for there was a portion of serenity within the bushes planted for her by her loyal bodyguard Heero, who like her saw roses as a symbol of happiness cloaked in hopes for everlasting peace. However, drawn to a particularly beautiful bloom just below and enticed by the perfume, she tried to reach for it leaning on the flat of the balcony edge, the smooth marble cool to the touch to get closer to the flowers she loved. But the highly polished surface was slippery, as was the vice foreign minister's champagne satin blouse and she leaned over too far, losing her balance.

"Ahhh!" Relena squealed as she felt her feet leave the deck and gravity pulling her over to a 20 foot drop when two strong arms wrapped around her waist and defied the force, pulling her back to safety. A warm, hard chest was pressed to her back and a familiar baritone murmured in her ear.

"Are you all right, Relena?" Heero Yuy, her Japanese Preventer agent self-appointed bodyguard asked in concern as he turned her to face him, his hands resting on her shoulders. His deep Prussian blue eyes were gentle but probing as he sought assurance of her well being.

She gazed up and saw the worry for her beneath the emotionless soldier's facade that the former gundam pilot had as his trademark and hastened to put his mind at ease. "I'm fine, Heero, thanks to you. I was just staring at the roses and leaned over a bit too much to pick one. Silly of me, really."

Relena tossed a honeyed hank of hair back as she tried to appear blasé but came off as just the opposite, pale and shaken as he watched her posture with intense eyes that she knew saw right through her act. With the look of gentle concern in those orbs of blue the events of the day caught up with her and she burst into tears, crumpling against him and burying her head on his shoulder.

"Oh Heero," she sobbed, her tears tracing tracks down her ivory cheeks and wetting his dark serge jacket.

"Shhh, hush now, tenshi. It's all right," Heero murmured, using the nickname he had begun using for her as he remembered the golden haired angel that had been his savior when he crashed the Wing Gundam and that unforgettable time on the beach when he opened his eyes and first encountered Relena. His sinewy arms encircled her and his hand cradled her downy head. "You know I'd never let anything happen to you, I meant it when I said that I would always protect you."

Her answer was muffled as she nodded, her head still buried in his shoulder then she pulled back and regarded him through teary periwinkle eyes. Heero reached up and with his fingers, delicately brushed the rivulets away, like he always did and had done the day he first met her. The tender gesture elicited more tears as Relena became annoyed by her penchant for weakness and she pulled away from Heero, and causing him to frown in dismay.

"Ohh, I can't stand this! Breaking down like a baby the way I do, and doing crazy things like leaning too far on the balcony to pick a rose. Sometimes I get so annoyed at myself." Fuming, she turned and walked away, clutching her shoulders as she resolved to compose herself forgetting that for all the burdens her important position bore, she was still just a 16 year old girl.

"You're too hard on yourself," Heero stated. "You just need to be more careful."

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you and I didn't mean to lean down so low." Relena gave a little sarcastic laugh as she said, "I was foolish and not thinking, reaching for a rose."

Heero said nothing, just took her elbow and guided her through the French doors and back into the parlor. Puzzled by his action she meekly followed as he took her to the hallway and down to the spiral staircase that led out to the rear exit and to the courtyard where the rose garden was located. With the utmost of care, he took her hand and guided her down the narrow case and out the open door. Once out in the moonlit night, he pulled her along side of him fingers entwined with hers as they strolled toward the roses.

"Heero…?" she asked as the stopped right below the balcony and near the trellis where her quarry was at reach.

"Since you wanted to enjoy the roses, I brought you down here," he said quietly. It's much safer than leaning over the balcony to get one." He reached up and plucked an especially vivid rose, deep red and handed it to her, flooding her with his deep fathomless eyes.

"Is this the one you wanted?"

Mesmerized by the Prussian gaze Relena took the gift from her bodyguard, her own softly shimmering zircon eyes like jewels in the lunar glow. Her heart pounding, she accepted the rose.

"Thank you, Heero."

Words became a nonentity as the young couple stood locked in each other's eyes and the summer breeze fanned them. It was as if time stood still while their hands encompassed and the rose was crushed as their lips met in a butterfly kiss. . . . .

An undetermined time later Relena and Heero sat on a filigree iron bench, amidst a circle of bushes, each a different hue of roses relishing the hushed beauty of the summer evening and savoring one of their stolen moments away from the madding crowd. It was unspoken but common knowledge that the Vice Foreign Minister and her Preventer agent bodyguard were more than their titles suggested. However, knowing the temper of the former assassin Yuy and what violence he had displayed he was capable of if crossed, nobody dared to make any comment that intruded on their privacy. At least not to their faces.

Reaching and brushing her golden bangs back from her eyes he asked gently, "Are you feeling better now?"

Her head resting on his broad shoulder Relena replied, "Uh-huh. For the moment, anyway." She raised her head up and rose slowly to her feet with a sigh. "But tomorrow's another day."

Heero sat and watched Relena while her frame became stiffer as she again took up the cross she had chosen to bear. He offered, "True and it may be better."

She gave a sniff as she scoffed, "I doubt it. The way today's session ended, everyone was about to come to blows so I adjourned the meeting and told them that we'd resume everything tomorrow. But I'm sure that they all will just pick up where they left off and we'll have near chaos, again."

Heero got up and stepped forward as he saw the struggle within so he kept back to allow Relena her space, standing ramrod straight as he stayed close by to listen as she went on.

"Today was the worst of the entire conference," she stated flatly as she began pacing in agitation, her delicate features tense as she harangued.

"I know, I heard the commotion. I thought a new war was breaking out," Heero pointed out, his eyes pinned on her.

Relena went on, "I felt like I was all alone in there, Heero. Everyone was at each other's throats, hardly what I'd call 'peace talks.' More like a war council." She shivered involuntarily as she added, "If this keeps up I'm afraid war is inevitable instead of a treaty being signed for peace."

Heero continued watching as Relena's lovely face became drawn and worried as he was certain she was contemplating what would happen if the treaty talks broke down and they became engaged in yet another war. He frowned as he too found the idea of another conflict with the colonies to be troublesome as the rebel factions were always ready to jump into battle, being led by hotheads for the most part. And the Alliance organization OZ was only too happy to oblige to be the strong arm if that occurred. It was a circumstance that he wanted to avoid, now that his mindset was toward pacifism as was hers. For it was Relena who had actually changed him from the cold killing machine he had been when he could not get her piquant image from his mind, from the moment he saw her on the beach, it had haunted him even as he attempted to kill her. At that time, his mind's eye was constantly filled with the view of the thick lashed cornflower eyes that both had compassion and friendship for him, yet damned him at the same time as he struggled with his once dormant conscious. And her place in his heart became even more solidified when she tended the bullet wound dealt to him by Duo Maxwell, in spite of his one-track mind to eliminate her.

"Heero?"

His brooding thoughts were interrupted as Relena gazed at him, a question in her eyes as her concern now was all about him, her soliloquy halted. Heero returned the look, his Prussian orbs brightened to sapphire brilliance as all dark thoughts fled. She always had that effect on him, nobody else could accomplish that. He offered her a rare but genuine smile, something that he had exclusively for her.

What, tenshi?"

She smiled, blushing at the nickname as she replied, "You were so far away from me there. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Relena was not convinced. With lowered head, she began to apologize, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to---,"

But Heero laid a finger on her lips to interrupt. "You have nothing to apologize for, Relena. You need to let yourself vent and I'm here. . .for you."

"Really?" Her face brightened and caused his heart to catch at the expression of innocent hope there.

"Yeah." He reached and took her hand as he said, "Come with me."

He took her over to where four bushes bearing four different color of rose, in a row as if planted in a specific order with a special meaning in mind. Heero stopped at the first bush, with yellow roses growing in abandon on the branches and reached for his penlight to illuminate the blooms.

"See the yellow roses, Relena? Do you know what yellow roses stand for?" Heero's piercing Prussian orbs were waiting as was he while she studied the flowers with a thoughtful look on her delicate visage. After several minutes she shook her head.

"I'm afraid I don't."

Heero said, "They stand for friendship. And friendship is in fact unity and agreement, a common ground. I planted these to show you what you need to continue to encourage the Earth and her colonies to strive for."

Relena nodded in acknowledgement. "I see."

He then took her to the next bush, and shone his penlight on the pearly buds of the white roses, silvered in the moonlight and ivory in the brighter ray. He continued his illustration.

"White roses stand for innocence. And true peace is innocence because true peace is trusting, knowing that the other side has agreed not to war. The example of a shining hope."

Relena stared at the blooms and reached a reverent hand as if touching Heero's symbol would make it so. She was standing transfixed by his words and he noticed a glimmer of a tear in one of her azure eyes so he again brushed the teardrop away as one would lightly flick a dewdrop from a leaf. He took hold of her elbow and guided her to the next shrub. The small beam of his light scanned the bush and they saw the soft pink color, like a conch shell from the seashore back on Earth, with a pastel blush that was like Relena's own peaches and cream complexion. In spite of himself Heero was staring at her, the ever present admiration for her rising in him as he continued.

"The pink roses stand for joy. I planted them for the joy that true and everlasting peace brings, the freedom of fear of war which is the purest and most profound joy."

He then stared at the bush and his mind went back to the time at the Academy, when OZ, who had been seeking to kill Relena after assassinating her father, interrupted a school dance. He was dancing with the golden haired girl that had captured his thoughts so when the attack came he had rushed to his gundam to confront the five mobile suits that were after her. After destroying them, he turned and confronted Relena as inside him there was another war going on, his head warring with his heart. For his sense of survival as a trained assassin told him she needed to be eliminated because she knew too much, he had told her as much during their dance. But the warmth in his heart and its habit of pounding whenever he saw the beautiful blonde confused him as he had hesitated, the idea of killing her suddenly repugnant to him.

What is it? Heero asked himself even now as he still gazed at her Is this what I heard is 'love'? This overwhelming feeling of wanting to be by her side and protect her from everything and anything is stronger than any other feeling I've ever had. Love to him was a mystery and due to his being brought up and programmed practically from diapers to be nothing but a methodic machine to kill, it was as unknown and alien a concept to him and as perplexing as women were themselves. He knew that there were men and women, had even seen women at the complex where the doctor trained him. And when he entered puberty, the female body fascinated him, just like any boy coming into manhood. With those feelings, it was natural that he felt drawn to Relena, admiring her and thinking her pretty but the intensity of those feelings were strange as male/ female relations were seldom if ever explained to him. So he usually just coldly dismissed those weaknesses as he focused on the matter at hand, which was to thwart OZ no matter what, accepting mission after mission from Doctor J. Yet, the more time he would spend with Relena, especially now that he was assigned to be her bodyguard, the deeper and more intense his feelings became. Fact was, he would do anything to help her carry on the Peacecraft legacy and bring it to full fruition. And heaven help anyone who dared to try hurt her, he would kill them without hesitation. The truth was, it was Relena that brought him joy and drew out the kindness and purity buried deep in his soul.

"Heero?" Relena's soft soprano reached into his reverie and he shook himself as he came to full alertness. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He took her elbow and said, "Come on, I'm not finished. . ."

Heero then took Relena to the next and final bush in the row, shining his penlight on the dark crimson blooms, turning them from shadowed mauve to their actual blood like shade.

He asked Relena, "Do you know what red roses mean?"

She nodded with a smile. "That I do. They mean happiness. The Germanic tribes in history would decorate the graves of fallen warriors with them and if they bloomed, that meant they had passed through the land of the dead and were happy in the afterlife. That's what you told me." She lowered her eyes briefly and barely whispered, "They also mean love."

Heero nodded as he added, "The reason I planted these was my wish for happiness. For Earth and the colonies and…," he paused for emphasis. "…for you."

He reached and plucked a newly open red rose, pure in its beauty and color and then handed it her, his eyes dark and sparkling like the midnight sky. Her own orbs were luminescent as they caught the soft glow of the half moon and unabashedly displayed the emotions that his gesture was eliciting. Mesmerized, Relena's lovely face became all he saw as the rest of the world disappeared into a homogenous blur. . . .

From her view, Relena gazed at the man who was such an enigma, quite able to be the most formidable of foes and yet now showing a well of sensitivity with amazing depth that was for the most part earthed beneath a veneer of stoicism, the consummate warrior. But what was causing her heart to flutter was the sheer force of Heero's emotions reflected in the deep fathomless blue orbs that appeared nearly black and were almost hypnotic as they lured her in, beckoning with a soft comfort that promised safety and protection. Holding the rose he had just handed her, she moved closer as his hands, on her elbows ran slowly up to rest briefly on her shoulders.

"Heero," she said in a whisper before his hands cupped her face and drew her to him for his kiss.

Like the time on the abandoned colony, his lips captured hers with deliberate slowness, as if to make it last and become engrained in her memory forever. Heero's mouth was firm yet gentle, as he teased hers to part and allow him entrance. Insistent and searing, he partook of the sweetness of Relena, as if to savor what he now claimed as his. And as his hands slid down and encircled her, holding her tight against him, she felt like he was daring her to challenge that claim. Breathless, Relena felt as if they were suddenly airborne, soaring high into the starry clime with abandon, free from the fetters of duty that had shackled both of them. She snaked her arms around his trim but muscular torso, melding against his strength and reveling in his warmth.

After several blissful moments, they drew reluctantly apart as Heero stated cryptically, "It's getting late. You need your rest to be fresh for the conference tomorrow."

Relena bit her lip and nodded. "Uh-huh."

He took her elbow and walked her back through the garden to the residence door from which they had exited before. Heero then stopped her and rested his hands on her shoulders to pin her with his riveting gaze.

"Relena, go to bed now and get the rest you need for tomorrow. You'll have to be strong, like you always are to get that treaty signed."

"If I can get it signed." Relena sighed as she remarked, "I wonder if it's all really just a practice in futility as these colonies and nations seem to like being at each other's throats." She hung her head in weariness, knowing all too well what awaited her come morning.

Heero took her chin in his hand to raise her head up to meet his earnest Prussian eyes. "Just remember the roses and the promises they stand for. Then go forth and fulfill those promises. No one else but you can do that, Relena."

"I know," Relena said resignedly as she acquiesced. "So you're leaving me?" She tried to hide her disappointment.

Heero gave her a slight grin. "Just for the night, tenshi. But I promise I won't be far." He leaned in and planted another soft kiss on her bow-shaped mouth. "Sweet dreams." He then released her and disappeared into the night.

Relena sighed and remembering the rose still clutched in her hand, she brought the flower to her nose to breathe deep as the words spoken to her about the promise of the roses echoed in her ears. So with fresh resolve to bring forth those promises, the young Vice Foreign Minster went inside to turn in….

Tomorrow she would do what she was destined to do, fulfill the promises of the roses.