Disclaimer: For the last time, character names, not mine.
Author's Notes: So now we've come to the end of the road. Enjoy:)
****
Some Kind of Wonderful
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
Duo and Hilde pulled up to the Peacecraft house only to discover the front door wide open. Panicked, Duo jumped out of his beat-up wreck of a car as soon as the engine turned off and ran up the steps. Hilde followed him as fast as she could on platform shoes.
They burst into the foyer. "Relena!" Duo called out. He turned to look into the parlor. Although he had thought he would be prepared to see Heero again, he still took a comical double take upon the sight of his oldest friend on the Peacecraft's parlor couch.
He was cradling Relena's unconscious body against his chest, and to Duo's complete surprise, Millardo was letting him. Heero glanced up. "Duo," he said, as though everything were perfectly normal. "It's good to see you again."
Duo blinked. He felt Hilde's hand squeezing his as he studied Heero's face, specifically the scar down his left cheek. "Dammit...Heero." Duo inhaled deeply. "You've knocked us all on our asses here, man."
A hint of a smile played on Heero's lips. "I suppose I have." His fingers ran through Relena's hair. "She's more beautiful than I remembered."
Millardo cleared his throat. "Heero, there's something you should..."
Duo held up his free hand; he kept the other clasped with Hilde's. "Wait, let me. Please."
Heero looked back and forth between them. "What's going on?"
There was a long pause. "Heero, while you were gone..." Duo hesitated. "Well, it was a long time and things happened that..."
Just then there was a noise behind him from the foyer. Duo turned around and came face to face with Quatre. The groom-to-be smiled brightly. "Hey, what are you doing over here? Are you here to bug Relena, too?" While Duo was desperately trying to think of an answer, Quatre peered over his shoulder into the parlor. His smile immediately fell. "What's going on, Duo?"
Duo threw up his hands. The situation was now completely beyond his control. "Quatre Winner...meet Heero Yuy." Quatre took a step back as Duo turned his attention to Heero. "Heero Yuy. This is Quatre Winner. Relena's fiancee."
Heero's head shot up to see the new arrival. He and Quatre watched each other for a long minute as Duo rambled on, trying to make sense of something that made no sense to anyone.
"...so as you can see, we're all pretty stunned here and I think the only one who might have all the answers..." Duo turned to Hilde. "...is you. Are you going to explain to us all how Heero came back from the dead?"
Hilde opened her mouth to speak, but Quatre cut her off. Pushing past her and Duo, he entered the parlor, hand extended. "Welcome home, Heero."
Heero gave the man a cold stare. "You're engaged to my fiancee?"
Duo closed his eyes. "This is not going to be pretty," he muttered.
"I'm engaged to Relena, yes. For nearly a year now. We're to be married tomorrow." Quatre's smile was tight as he withdrew his hand. He kneeled down next to the couch and reached for Relena. "If you don't mind..."
"I do mind," Heero replied, pulling her closer to his body. "I.." He stopped upon hearing a tiny whimper from the woman in his arms. "Relena..."
"Relena," Quatre said at the same time.
She opened her eyes to two faces staring down at her. The comfortable ocean of Quatre's eyes and the stormy sea of Heero's. "Oh..." Relena breathed. "Heero..."
He smiled softly. "You fainted, baby. I'm so sorry...I shouldn't have shocked you like that."
"You're alive," she whispered, uncomphrending. Her gaze shifted to her fiancee. "Quatre..." Suddenly, her head throbbed. "Oh god..." Relena struggled to sit up in Heero's lap. "This is...it's too much...I can't..."
Millardo seized the opportunity to break up the trio. He gently pulled Relena to her feet and wrapped a strong arm around her. "Listen, there's only so much my sister can take in one night. Now, someone needs to start explaining all of this right now."
Hilde stepped forward. "To make a really long story as short as possible, I found Heero in a M*A*S*H unit in the middle of Vietnam where I had been assigned to be a nurse. He couldn't get all of his memories straight because he'd been a POW for months, tortured and beaten every day." Relena let out a small cry against her brother's shoulder. "Once I saw him, he started to remember everything. And the first thing he wanted to do...was come home. So, here we are." She looked at Duo. "And that's pretty much the whole story."
"We were told you had died," Duo explained to Heero. "How could our illustrious army make such a huge mistake?"
"One of the gooks who dragged me out of the camp during the attack took my dog tags as a souvenir. They never found a body. Easier than having another POW to look for, I guess, assuming that I got caught by a grenade." Heero touched his cheek. "Which I did, just not that badly."
Quatre let out a breath. "Unbelievable..."
Relena stepped away from her brother and walked back over to the sofa on which Heero still sat. "I can't believe...you're alive." Fresh tears slipped down her face, gathering at the notch of her throat. "Heero..."
"I could never die without saying goodbye to you, Relena," he whispered. "That's why I left the way I did...in the middle of the night. If I left things open between us, I knew I wouldn't die."
A sob tore through her throat. To escape the intensity of his stare, she looked back at Quatre. His eyes were red as he swallowed rapidly. "Quatre," she began. "I have no idea what to do."
He stuck his hands in the pockets of his pants for a distraction. "I'm sorry, Relena. I don't know what to tell you. Actually, I do." He shook his head, trying to laugh. "But it's rather biased."
"This is all going so fast...I can't keep up!!" Her chin trembled as her eyes closed. Taking a breath to steady it, she went with her first instinct. "I need to be alone." She opened her eyes and licked her salty lips. No one had moved. "Fine. I'll be alone in my room." Without another word, Relena pushed her way out of the crowded parlor and ran up the stairs. Ran away from the power of Heero's eyes.
Duo whistled after she was gone. "What a fucking day."
"You can say that again," Millardo muttered.
"What a fucking..." Duo was cut off by Hilde's hand squeezing his. The simple motion was so entirely Hilde...he almost gasped with the overwhelming familiarity.
Heero stood up from the couch. "I should go. My mother doesn't know yet." He walked towards the foyer, a dark glare concentrated on the blond man who claimed to be Relena's fiancee. When he walked past him, his shoulder not-so-accidently pushed Quatre out of the way.
Quatre shook his head. "Yes. And it was great to meet you, too." The front door slammed shut behind Heero. "So. That's Heero." He lifted his eyebrows. "Nice guy."
"He is a nice guy," Hilde scowled. "You just sort of got him at the worst moment of his life, save for the months he spent in a North Vietnamese torture chamber, of course."
"Quatre..." Duo gave her hand a squeeze of his own. "This is Hilde."
He nodded at the girl he had heard so much about. "Welcome home to you, too."
Millardo put his arm around his wife. "Can you check on Relena before we head to bed?"
She nodded. "Goodnight, Duo. Quatre." Together, they started up the stairs.
Hilde looked up at Duo. "I guess I should get back to the hotel." Clearing her throat, she reluctantly pulled her hand away from his.
Duo caught her wrist without warning. "Do you actually think I'm letting you get away from me again, babe?"
She blinked. "You called me 'babe'."
"Well..." He reached out his free hand to stroke her cheek. "You're my babe. Aren't you?"
Hilde stared into his eyes for a long moment. Warm and violet, they enveloped her, making her completely safe for the first time in a long time. She would eventually have to tell him everything...the drugs, the promiscuity, Trowa...and he probably had things to tell her, too. But for that moment, none of it mattered.
"I am," she replied. Duo's smile descended onto hers, sealing the words with the sweetest of kisses. "And I'm home. For good."
Quatre cleared his throat, reminding them that he was still in the room. "Hey, man..." Duo licked his lips. "Um...do you want to go for a burger with us? Or something?"
"No, that's all right. I'm going to..." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm going to wait. To talk to Relena."
Duo patted his back. "Tell her I'm thinking about her." He looked at Hilde. "We. We're thinking about her."
"I will." Quatre watched them leave, holding hands. With a sigh, he sat down in an armchair, preparing himself for a very long wait.
****
It wasn't too long before Relena finally came back down the stairs. She had changed out of her wedding dress around the same time her tears had dried up. Now, clad in worn jeans and one of Quatre's old shirts that she was supposed to have sewed a patch onto many months before, Relena crept into the parlor.
Her fiancee was curled up on the sofa, dozing. His eyes opened as he felt her presence. "Relena."
She tried to speak, but nothing came out. She looked at him, the man who had helped her through the roughest years of her young life. His sleepy eyes were hopeful; there was a part of him that innocently believed the night's surprises might have no bearing on their future together.
But the rest of him knew better.
"Relena," he began again, as he sat up. "Please don't say it. I already know."
"How can you know when I'm still not sure myself?"
Quatre stood and rubbed the back of his neck. "I think you are sure. You just don't want to hurt me." He smiled sadly. "That's the Relena I love. The Relena I will always love."
"You deserve someone so much better than me." Fresh sobs appeared as Relena went to him, throwing her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for putting you through this. I didn't use you, Quatre, I swear. Please believe me, you have a part of my heart forever."
"But Heero is your heart." Quatre blinked back a tear before grasping her hands and gently prying her away to look into her eyes. "He always has been, hasn't he?" She nodded miserably. "It's all right, Relena. I understand. I mean, it hurts, sure. But I've always told you...and it's always been true...your happiness is my happiness." He faked another smile. "Now, if you don't think you can be happy with Heero, I'll be more than willing to meet you at the altar tomorrow." There was a pause. "But your only true happiness is with him, isn't it?"
Relena looked down at the carpet. "I decided to marry Heero Yuy when I was ten years old. Sitting by my window...wishing on stars." Her teary gaze returned to Quatre. "The universe almost took him away, but now they've given him back to me. I can't lose him again."
Quatre nodded. "I know." His eyes squeezed shut. Forcing them open, he pulled her head towards himself and kissed her hairline. "When you marry him, I'll be the first one to wish you all the best."
Relena kissed his cheek, wetting his skin with her tears. "You have the biggest heart. Thank you, Quatre." She looked down at her hand and the ring that graced it. Slowly, she slipped it off her finger and held it out to him, unable to say the words.
"No." Quatre shook his head, refusing to take it from her. "I want you to keep it. So you don't forget...how much I loved you."
"I could never forget." She pressed a final, chaste kiss onto his lips. "You were my friend before. I hope you will be after."
He backed up towards the door. "I will." There was a pause. "He really is the luckiest bastard in the world."
Relena sat in the parlor for a long time after Quatre had left. The ring in her hand was heavy. Heero was just next door, as he had been for most of her life. It should have been a comforting though, yet she was fairly sure she wouldn't be sleeping that night.
****
"Duo." Hilde stared into his bottomless amethyst eyes. "Part of me really wants to invite you in. But..."
He held two fingers up against her lips. "Babe, I understand."
Standing outside her motel room door, Hilde began to cry. Four years of pent-up sorrows flooded out onto Duo's strong shoulder. "I have so much to tell you, Duo, before I deserve to be with you again."
"Babe..." He rubbed her back, savoring the feeling of her slender body pressed to his once again. "I know I have things to tell you, so I figured you might have things to tell me. We spent way too much time apart. And no matter what we each did in that time, all I want to do is make up for it. Can we do that?"
Hilde smiled up at him through her tears. "I've missed you so much."
"I know the feeling." His fingers gently cupped her chin. "I wasn't whole after you left. Now I am again."
Reaching behind her, Hilde twisted the knob on the door. "Come inside."
"You got it, babe." Duo grinned. "Just bear in mind that it's been awhile since I..."
She cut him off with a hot kiss that reminded her why other men, including Trowa, might have had her body, but no one besides Duo could ever have her heart. "Don't worry. It's like riding a bicycle. Just hold on, and I'll steer you around the curves."
Duo whistled for the second time that night as she tugged him into the room. "Come on baby, light my fire."
****
Relena's sleep, when it finally came, was anything but restful. She woke up well after the sun had rose, but lay in bed for a long time. It was only when she heard a familiar sound that she sat up in bed.
It was the whir of a lawnmower. And it was coming from somewhere very close.
Throwing off the covers, Relena ran to her bay window and pushed open the curtains. In the yard next door, just as though it were 1965 again, Heero Yuy was mowing his mother's lawn wearing only a faded pair of jeans.
Relena clutched a hand to her heart to keep it inside her chest. Suddenly, Heero stopped to wipe sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. As he did, his gaze lifted towards her house...towards her window. When he caught sight of her watching him, he froze.
Taking a breath, Relena held up a hand, signaling him to wait where he was. She backed up from the window and ran for her door, completely ignoring the fact that she was still wearing her cotton pajama pants and Quatre's old shirt.
When she emerged from the house, Heero had stopped the lawn mower and was walking the path up to his own front door. "Heero!" she called to him. He kept walking.
Relena ran across the grass as fast as she could to catch up with him before he re-entered the house. "Heero...wait!!"
He stopped suddenly. Relena came to a halt, her chest rising and falling rapidly. He turned around. "What are you doing, Relena?"
"I'm chasing after you! Didn't you get that I wanted you to wait?"
"I didn't know we'd have anything to talk about," he replied nonchalantly. "I figured you made your mind up last night."
She shook her head. "Heero, regardless of any decision I have made or still have to make, I still want to talk to you! You..." A small hiccup rose in her throat. "You've been dead for almost two years. And now you're just....here. Back from the grave... I'm trying very hard to handle all of this. I'm sorry..."
Heero slipped his hands into his pockets. "I didn't know I'd be barging into your new life."
"You told me to get one," she reminded him softly.
"I did, yes. But I didn't know how much it would hurt to see you in a wedding gown. For someone else."
Relena tugged at the long sleeve of her shirt. "I tried to move on. I had to. Two years, Heero. Even before that, I hadn't heard from you for a year. Except for the letter..."
"The letter." He looked down at the freshly cut grass. "Relena, when I wrote that...you know, I can't even remember what I was thinking. I was probably angry. We had fought and you were so against what I had chosen for myself." After a moment, he touched his napalm scar. "But I can't blame you for that. Some of the things I saw, Relena...it was nothing short of hell. But I still believe, I will always believe, that I was doing something good. You just can't understand."
"But I do," she whispered. "When you died, I thought about it so long. I cursed everyone. I even cursed God. I thought you had died for nothing. But that was wrong of me, Heero. I need you to forgive me."
"Forgive you?"
"For thinking your sacrifice was in vain! I didn't believe for a long time that you were trying to do the exact same thing I claimed to be trying to do. Change the world. But I get it now, Heero, I do. I promise."
He took a step towards her. "Relena...I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing to me? I was the one who picked that fight and then couldn't bring myself to fix us. When I thought you were dead..." Her vision of him blurred through her tears. "I didn't hate anyone more than I hated myself."
"Baby," Heero whispered. "I'm sorry I made you suffer so much. If I hadn't gone..."
"If you hadn't gone, you wouldn't have been the man I love."
A breeze blew over them, twisting her long hair around her face. On instinct, Heero reached out to smooth a strand away from her eyes. "You still love me?" She nodded. "What about your fiancee?"
"We talked. It won't be easy for him, but he understands." Relena swallowed. "You're the man I love, Heero. Nothing can change that." She smiled through her tears. "Even death."
Heero slowly shook his head. "Why do you trust me so much with your heart?"
"Because..." She stepped up to him until she could feel the warmth of his breath against her temple. "You've never given me reason not to." Relena studied his face. The scar...on some basic level, it shocked her. But there was nothing repulsive about him. He was still so handsome. She closed her eyes and kissed the wrinkled flesh.
He tried to take a step back, but she stopped him by putting her hands around the back of his head to keep her lips on his cheek. "Relena...you don't have to do this. I know it's ugly and..."
"Nothing about you is ugly." She traced the edge of his ear. "And Heero, even if you had come back to me burned from head to toe, I would still need...I would still *want* to touch you for the rest of my life. I thought I'd never get to again." She laughed from the pure joy of having him next to her. "You came back to me! I feel like my whole world has been miraculously sewn back together."
Heero let his hands settle on her waist. His eyes closed as a tear slipped down the inside of his nose. "Relena..." In one fluid motion, his strong arms folded around her and he lifted her up off the ground. "I love you, baby."
She buried her face in his neck, breathing in his clean sweat scent. "I've missed you so much, my love." Her tears flowed freely. "Please don't ever let me go."
"Well, I might have to." Relena sniffed and, puzzled, pulled back, hard to do when she was still suspended in mid-air. Heero pressed the softest of kisses against her wet lips. "Half of the neighborhood is watching," he explained.
"Let them watch. I love you, Heero." After he had set her back down, Relena lowered his mouth back to hers and didn't let go of him for a long time. The fire of his lips consumed her. She put her whole body and heart in the kiss, the two pieces of her self back together once again. Just like her and the love of her life.
****
Three months later, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. But the real celebration that day was in Peacecraft, North Carolina, where, in front of their family and friends, Relena Peacecraft and Heero Yuy promised to love, honor and cherish each other until death really did do them part.
That first night of their marriage, they laid in the bed of their luxury honeymoon suite in New York City and watched the live broadcast of the first moonwalk, completely wrapped up in each other. Relena nestled her head in the curve of Heero's neck; his hands traced lazy patterns on the soft skin of her bare back.
The staticky voice from the moon reached through the set. "That's one small step for man....one giant leap for mankind."
"I sort of feel that the whole decade's over now," Relena murmured a moment later, her fingers lightly brushing the scarred slash marks on his chest. "Like it can't get any bigger than this. People walking on the moon. I mean, what's next?"
He drew in a breath as she continued to soothe his war wounds with her gentle caresses. She didn't shy away from the scars; she accepted them as part of him. And for it, he would love her until the end of time. "There's always that Woodstock thing next month that Duo and Hilde can't shut up about."
Relena laughed softly. "I think we can pass on that one." A long moment passed as they watched the American astronauts experimenting with walking in zero gravity. "I love you," she said, out of the blue.
Leaving the television on, he rolled her over and kissed her. "Whatever comes next, it'll be just fine. As long as you're right here with me."
"I'm not going anywhere." In the middle of a deep kiss, Heero gently joined their bodies once more. "1970 can come," Relena whispered into his ear. "I'm ready for it."
****
Peacecraft, North Carolina
September, 1973
The dreams came to him every so often. He was never certain what it was during the day that triggered his sub-conscience at night. A car backfiring. A news helicopter flying overhead while he was jogging. A segment on the television, taped in Saigon. The war was a lifetime away, but when he was least prepared, it had the power to sneak up on Heero in his sleep.
Usually when he woke up, sweating profusely, his eyes wide, his hands searching through the sheets for a weapon or some mud to coat his face, she would be there to get him through it. Stroking his hair, his back, his bare chest, she would talk him out of the hell of the dream.
Relena was his link to the present on those times when the past seized him up once again. But that night, he had to shake himself from the ghostly grip of the torture chamber because when he reached out, her side of the bed was empty. As soon as his heart stopped racing and the cold sweat had started to dry on his skin, Heero climbed out of bed and went in search of his wife.
The hallway he passed through was dark, but there was enough light for him to see the pictures that lined the walls. A portrait of Millardo, Lucrezia and their son, Jacob, when he was five months old. A framed, yellowing clipping from the town newspaper of Duo and Hilde wrapped in an American flag and kissing passionately at Woodstock.
Duo's draft notice in November of 1969 had nearly destroyed both Hilde and Relena. For awhile it had seemed as though nothing short of Duo appearing before the draft board in Hilde's underwear would keep him out of Vietnam. But through some miracle, Duo's parents had materialized and supplied an old medical report to the Army, documenting Duo's existing heart murmur. It was enough to keep him out of the war, as well as being the first and only kind hand the couple had ever shown their son.
Heero continued down the hall, past the 1971 cover of *Time* magazine that had given Quatre Winner the exalted title of "Youngest, Most Successful CEO in America." In the glossy photo, the man's eyes were still as sad as they had been on his and Relena's wedding day; his father's unexpected death had forced him to abandon his dreams of law school and civil rights activism in favor of the Fortune 500. But right next to the framed cover was a photo taken in the spring of 1972 of Quatre and his new bride, a sweet Raleigh socialite who adored much more about him than just his money. And in their wedding portrait, the smile on his face couldn't be contained.
On the little hall table, tucked underneath a fresh bowl of scarlet tea roses, were two letters, one from Trowa and one from Wufei. He hadn't had an opportunity to read over them yet, but made a mental note to as soon as possible. Both men were back in America; Trowa had reunited with his girlfriend, Catherine, married, and was expecting a child in the fall. In a coincidence that Heero still had a hard time believing, Wufei was now living with the woman who had saved his life in Lo Ke, Dr. Sally Po. His friends were happy, and that meant a great deal to him. Anyone who lived through what they had deserved only happiness.
He stopped in front of the farthest door on the left, which was slightly ajar. Heero opened it slowly to avoid any squeaky hinges and stepped inside. Across the room, in a rocking chair by the wide window that poured soft moonlight into the room, he found what he was looking for. His girl.
Both of them.
Three-month-old Harmony Yuy was cuddled up against Relena's breast; both ladies were fast asleep. Heero walked across the soft, pink carpet carefully, as not to wake either one. But Relena was too quick for him. She stirred when he was within a few feet and opened her eyes. "Heero?"
"I was trying not to wake you."
"Is everything all right?"
He nodded. "I'm fine. Now. Go back to sleep."
Giving him a sleepy smile, Relena closed her eyes. When he was sure that she was asleep once again, Heero sat on the wide edge of the windowsill and stared at his wife and daughter. After a moment of silent contemplation, he reached out to touch Harmony's tiny fist which lay in a ball on Relena's arm. In her sleep, the baby's palm opened and latched onto Heero's index finger.
He couldn't have pulled away if he had tried, but then, he never would have tried.
Leaning back against the window's frame, Heero fell asleep next to his wife, with his daughter's impossibly tiny fingers curled around his. The past might not ever leave him completely alone, but no dream plagued him for the rest of that night.
****
"Ev'ry time my little world seems blue, I just have to look at you. And everything seems to be some kind of wonderful. I know I can't express, this feeling of tenderness, there's so much I wanna say, but the right words just won't come my way. I just know when I'm in your embrace, this world is a happy place. And everything seems to be some kind of wonderful." -The Drifters
****
The End
****
Thank you all. I hope it was worth it:)
Author's Notes: So now we've come to the end of the road. Enjoy:)
****
Some Kind of Wonderful
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
Duo and Hilde pulled up to the Peacecraft house only to discover the front door wide open. Panicked, Duo jumped out of his beat-up wreck of a car as soon as the engine turned off and ran up the steps. Hilde followed him as fast as she could on platform shoes.
They burst into the foyer. "Relena!" Duo called out. He turned to look into the parlor. Although he had thought he would be prepared to see Heero again, he still took a comical double take upon the sight of his oldest friend on the Peacecraft's parlor couch.
He was cradling Relena's unconscious body against his chest, and to Duo's complete surprise, Millardo was letting him. Heero glanced up. "Duo," he said, as though everything were perfectly normal. "It's good to see you again."
Duo blinked. He felt Hilde's hand squeezing his as he studied Heero's face, specifically the scar down his left cheek. "Dammit...Heero." Duo inhaled deeply. "You've knocked us all on our asses here, man."
A hint of a smile played on Heero's lips. "I suppose I have." His fingers ran through Relena's hair. "She's more beautiful than I remembered."
Millardo cleared his throat. "Heero, there's something you should..."
Duo held up his free hand; he kept the other clasped with Hilde's. "Wait, let me. Please."
Heero looked back and forth between them. "What's going on?"
There was a long pause. "Heero, while you were gone..." Duo hesitated. "Well, it was a long time and things happened that..."
Just then there was a noise behind him from the foyer. Duo turned around and came face to face with Quatre. The groom-to-be smiled brightly. "Hey, what are you doing over here? Are you here to bug Relena, too?" While Duo was desperately trying to think of an answer, Quatre peered over his shoulder into the parlor. His smile immediately fell. "What's going on, Duo?"
Duo threw up his hands. The situation was now completely beyond his control. "Quatre Winner...meet Heero Yuy." Quatre took a step back as Duo turned his attention to Heero. "Heero Yuy. This is Quatre Winner. Relena's fiancee."
Heero's head shot up to see the new arrival. He and Quatre watched each other for a long minute as Duo rambled on, trying to make sense of something that made no sense to anyone.
"...so as you can see, we're all pretty stunned here and I think the only one who might have all the answers..." Duo turned to Hilde. "...is you. Are you going to explain to us all how Heero came back from the dead?"
Hilde opened her mouth to speak, but Quatre cut her off. Pushing past her and Duo, he entered the parlor, hand extended. "Welcome home, Heero."
Heero gave the man a cold stare. "You're engaged to my fiancee?"
Duo closed his eyes. "This is not going to be pretty," he muttered.
"I'm engaged to Relena, yes. For nearly a year now. We're to be married tomorrow." Quatre's smile was tight as he withdrew his hand. He kneeled down next to the couch and reached for Relena. "If you don't mind..."
"I do mind," Heero replied, pulling her closer to his body. "I.." He stopped upon hearing a tiny whimper from the woman in his arms. "Relena..."
"Relena," Quatre said at the same time.
She opened her eyes to two faces staring down at her. The comfortable ocean of Quatre's eyes and the stormy sea of Heero's. "Oh..." Relena breathed. "Heero..."
He smiled softly. "You fainted, baby. I'm so sorry...I shouldn't have shocked you like that."
"You're alive," she whispered, uncomphrending. Her gaze shifted to her fiancee. "Quatre..." Suddenly, her head throbbed. "Oh god..." Relena struggled to sit up in Heero's lap. "This is...it's too much...I can't..."
Millardo seized the opportunity to break up the trio. He gently pulled Relena to her feet and wrapped a strong arm around her. "Listen, there's only so much my sister can take in one night. Now, someone needs to start explaining all of this right now."
Hilde stepped forward. "To make a really long story as short as possible, I found Heero in a M*A*S*H unit in the middle of Vietnam where I had been assigned to be a nurse. He couldn't get all of his memories straight because he'd been a POW for months, tortured and beaten every day." Relena let out a small cry against her brother's shoulder. "Once I saw him, he started to remember everything. And the first thing he wanted to do...was come home. So, here we are." She looked at Duo. "And that's pretty much the whole story."
"We were told you had died," Duo explained to Heero. "How could our illustrious army make such a huge mistake?"
"One of the gooks who dragged me out of the camp during the attack took my dog tags as a souvenir. They never found a body. Easier than having another POW to look for, I guess, assuming that I got caught by a grenade." Heero touched his cheek. "Which I did, just not that badly."
Quatre let out a breath. "Unbelievable..."
Relena stepped away from her brother and walked back over to the sofa on which Heero still sat. "I can't believe...you're alive." Fresh tears slipped down her face, gathering at the notch of her throat. "Heero..."
"I could never die without saying goodbye to you, Relena," he whispered. "That's why I left the way I did...in the middle of the night. If I left things open between us, I knew I wouldn't die."
A sob tore through her throat. To escape the intensity of his stare, she looked back at Quatre. His eyes were red as he swallowed rapidly. "Quatre," she began. "I have no idea what to do."
He stuck his hands in the pockets of his pants for a distraction. "I'm sorry, Relena. I don't know what to tell you. Actually, I do." He shook his head, trying to laugh. "But it's rather biased."
"This is all going so fast...I can't keep up!!" Her chin trembled as her eyes closed. Taking a breath to steady it, she went with her first instinct. "I need to be alone." She opened her eyes and licked her salty lips. No one had moved. "Fine. I'll be alone in my room." Without another word, Relena pushed her way out of the crowded parlor and ran up the stairs. Ran away from the power of Heero's eyes.
Duo whistled after she was gone. "What a fucking day."
"You can say that again," Millardo muttered.
"What a fucking..." Duo was cut off by Hilde's hand squeezing his. The simple motion was so entirely Hilde...he almost gasped with the overwhelming familiarity.
Heero stood up from the couch. "I should go. My mother doesn't know yet." He walked towards the foyer, a dark glare concentrated on the blond man who claimed to be Relena's fiancee. When he walked past him, his shoulder not-so-accidently pushed Quatre out of the way.
Quatre shook his head. "Yes. And it was great to meet you, too." The front door slammed shut behind Heero. "So. That's Heero." He lifted his eyebrows. "Nice guy."
"He is a nice guy," Hilde scowled. "You just sort of got him at the worst moment of his life, save for the months he spent in a North Vietnamese torture chamber, of course."
"Quatre..." Duo gave her hand a squeeze of his own. "This is Hilde."
He nodded at the girl he had heard so much about. "Welcome home to you, too."
Millardo put his arm around his wife. "Can you check on Relena before we head to bed?"
She nodded. "Goodnight, Duo. Quatre." Together, they started up the stairs.
Hilde looked up at Duo. "I guess I should get back to the hotel." Clearing her throat, she reluctantly pulled her hand away from his.
Duo caught her wrist without warning. "Do you actually think I'm letting you get away from me again, babe?"
She blinked. "You called me 'babe'."
"Well..." He reached out his free hand to stroke her cheek. "You're my babe. Aren't you?"
Hilde stared into his eyes for a long moment. Warm and violet, they enveloped her, making her completely safe for the first time in a long time. She would eventually have to tell him everything...the drugs, the promiscuity, Trowa...and he probably had things to tell her, too. But for that moment, none of it mattered.
"I am," she replied. Duo's smile descended onto hers, sealing the words with the sweetest of kisses. "And I'm home. For good."
Quatre cleared his throat, reminding them that he was still in the room. "Hey, man..." Duo licked his lips. "Um...do you want to go for a burger with us? Or something?"
"No, that's all right. I'm going to..." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm going to wait. To talk to Relena."
Duo patted his back. "Tell her I'm thinking about her." He looked at Hilde. "We. We're thinking about her."
"I will." Quatre watched them leave, holding hands. With a sigh, he sat down in an armchair, preparing himself for a very long wait.
****
It wasn't too long before Relena finally came back down the stairs. She had changed out of her wedding dress around the same time her tears had dried up. Now, clad in worn jeans and one of Quatre's old shirts that she was supposed to have sewed a patch onto many months before, Relena crept into the parlor.
Her fiancee was curled up on the sofa, dozing. His eyes opened as he felt her presence. "Relena."
She tried to speak, but nothing came out. She looked at him, the man who had helped her through the roughest years of her young life. His sleepy eyes were hopeful; there was a part of him that innocently believed the night's surprises might have no bearing on their future together.
But the rest of him knew better.
"Relena," he began again, as he sat up. "Please don't say it. I already know."
"How can you know when I'm still not sure myself?"
Quatre stood and rubbed the back of his neck. "I think you are sure. You just don't want to hurt me." He smiled sadly. "That's the Relena I love. The Relena I will always love."
"You deserve someone so much better than me." Fresh sobs appeared as Relena went to him, throwing her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for putting you through this. I didn't use you, Quatre, I swear. Please believe me, you have a part of my heart forever."
"But Heero is your heart." Quatre blinked back a tear before grasping her hands and gently prying her away to look into her eyes. "He always has been, hasn't he?" She nodded miserably. "It's all right, Relena. I understand. I mean, it hurts, sure. But I've always told you...and it's always been true...your happiness is my happiness." He faked another smile. "Now, if you don't think you can be happy with Heero, I'll be more than willing to meet you at the altar tomorrow." There was a pause. "But your only true happiness is with him, isn't it?"
Relena looked down at the carpet. "I decided to marry Heero Yuy when I was ten years old. Sitting by my window...wishing on stars." Her teary gaze returned to Quatre. "The universe almost took him away, but now they've given him back to me. I can't lose him again."
Quatre nodded. "I know." His eyes squeezed shut. Forcing them open, he pulled her head towards himself and kissed her hairline. "When you marry him, I'll be the first one to wish you all the best."
Relena kissed his cheek, wetting his skin with her tears. "You have the biggest heart. Thank you, Quatre." She looked down at her hand and the ring that graced it. Slowly, she slipped it off her finger and held it out to him, unable to say the words.
"No." Quatre shook his head, refusing to take it from her. "I want you to keep it. So you don't forget...how much I loved you."
"I could never forget." She pressed a final, chaste kiss onto his lips. "You were my friend before. I hope you will be after."
He backed up towards the door. "I will." There was a pause. "He really is the luckiest bastard in the world."
Relena sat in the parlor for a long time after Quatre had left. The ring in her hand was heavy. Heero was just next door, as he had been for most of her life. It should have been a comforting though, yet she was fairly sure she wouldn't be sleeping that night.
****
"Duo." Hilde stared into his bottomless amethyst eyes. "Part of me really wants to invite you in. But..."
He held two fingers up against her lips. "Babe, I understand."
Standing outside her motel room door, Hilde began to cry. Four years of pent-up sorrows flooded out onto Duo's strong shoulder. "I have so much to tell you, Duo, before I deserve to be with you again."
"Babe..." He rubbed her back, savoring the feeling of her slender body pressed to his once again. "I know I have things to tell you, so I figured you might have things to tell me. We spent way too much time apart. And no matter what we each did in that time, all I want to do is make up for it. Can we do that?"
Hilde smiled up at him through her tears. "I've missed you so much."
"I know the feeling." His fingers gently cupped her chin. "I wasn't whole after you left. Now I am again."
Reaching behind her, Hilde twisted the knob on the door. "Come inside."
"You got it, babe." Duo grinned. "Just bear in mind that it's been awhile since I..."
She cut him off with a hot kiss that reminded her why other men, including Trowa, might have had her body, but no one besides Duo could ever have her heart. "Don't worry. It's like riding a bicycle. Just hold on, and I'll steer you around the curves."
Duo whistled for the second time that night as she tugged him into the room. "Come on baby, light my fire."
****
Relena's sleep, when it finally came, was anything but restful. She woke up well after the sun had rose, but lay in bed for a long time. It was only when she heard a familiar sound that she sat up in bed.
It was the whir of a lawnmower. And it was coming from somewhere very close.
Throwing off the covers, Relena ran to her bay window and pushed open the curtains. In the yard next door, just as though it were 1965 again, Heero Yuy was mowing his mother's lawn wearing only a faded pair of jeans.
Relena clutched a hand to her heart to keep it inside her chest. Suddenly, Heero stopped to wipe sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. As he did, his gaze lifted towards her house...towards her window. When he caught sight of her watching him, he froze.
Taking a breath, Relena held up a hand, signaling him to wait where he was. She backed up from the window and ran for her door, completely ignoring the fact that she was still wearing her cotton pajama pants and Quatre's old shirt.
When she emerged from the house, Heero had stopped the lawn mower and was walking the path up to his own front door. "Heero!" she called to him. He kept walking.
Relena ran across the grass as fast as she could to catch up with him before he re-entered the house. "Heero...wait!!"
He stopped suddenly. Relena came to a halt, her chest rising and falling rapidly. He turned around. "What are you doing, Relena?"
"I'm chasing after you! Didn't you get that I wanted you to wait?"
"I didn't know we'd have anything to talk about," he replied nonchalantly. "I figured you made your mind up last night."
She shook her head. "Heero, regardless of any decision I have made or still have to make, I still want to talk to you! You..." A small hiccup rose in her throat. "You've been dead for almost two years. And now you're just....here. Back from the grave... I'm trying very hard to handle all of this. I'm sorry..."
Heero slipped his hands into his pockets. "I didn't know I'd be barging into your new life."
"You told me to get one," she reminded him softly.
"I did, yes. But I didn't know how much it would hurt to see you in a wedding gown. For someone else."
Relena tugged at the long sleeve of her shirt. "I tried to move on. I had to. Two years, Heero. Even before that, I hadn't heard from you for a year. Except for the letter..."
"The letter." He looked down at the freshly cut grass. "Relena, when I wrote that...you know, I can't even remember what I was thinking. I was probably angry. We had fought and you were so against what I had chosen for myself." After a moment, he touched his napalm scar. "But I can't blame you for that. Some of the things I saw, Relena...it was nothing short of hell. But I still believe, I will always believe, that I was doing something good. You just can't understand."
"But I do," she whispered. "When you died, I thought about it so long. I cursed everyone. I even cursed God. I thought you had died for nothing. But that was wrong of me, Heero. I need you to forgive me."
"Forgive you?"
"For thinking your sacrifice was in vain! I didn't believe for a long time that you were trying to do the exact same thing I claimed to be trying to do. Change the world. But I get it now, Heero, I do. I promise."
He took a step towards her. "Relena...I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing to me? I was the one who picked that fight and then couldn't bring myself to fix us. When I thought you were dead..." Her vision of him blurred through her tears. "I didn't hate anyone more than I hated myself."
"Baby," Heero whispered. "I'm sorry I made you suffer so much. If I hadn't gone..."
"If you hadn't gone, you wouldn't have been the man I love."
A breeze blew over them, twisting her long hair around her face. On instinct, Heero reached out to smooth a strand away from her eyes. "You still love me?" She nodded. "What about your fiancee?"
"We talked. It won't be easy for him, but he understands." Relena swallowed. "You're the man I love, Heero. Nothing can change that." She smiled through her tears. "Even death."
Heero slowly shook his head. "Why do you trust me so much with your heart?"
"Because..." She stepped up to him until she could feel the warmth of his breath against her temple. "You've never given me reason not to." Relena studied his face. The scar...on some basic level, it shocked her. But there was nothing repulsive about him. He was still so handsome. She closed her eyes and kissed the wrinkled flesh.
He tried to take a step back, but she stopped him by putting her hands around the back of his head to keep her lips on his cheek. "Relena...you don't have to do this. I know it's ugly and..."
"Nothing about you is ugly." She traced the edge of his ear. "And Heero, even if you had come back to me burned from head to toe, I would still need...I would still *want* to touch you for the rest of my life. I thought I'd never get to again." She laughed from the pure joy of having him next to her. "You came back to me! I feel like my whole world has been miraculously sewn back together."
Heero let his hands settle on her waist. His eyes closed as a tear slipped down the inside of his nose. "Relena..." In one fluid motion, his strong arms folded around her and he lifted her up off the ground. "I love you, baby."
She buried her face in his neck, breathing in his clean sweat scent. "I've missed you so much, my love." Her tears flowed freely. "Please don't ever let me go."
"Well, I might have to." Relena sniffed and, puzzled, pulled back, hard to do when she was still suspended in mid-air. Heero pressed the softest of kisses against her wet lips. "Half of the neighborhood is watching," he explained.
"Let them watch. I love you, Heero." After he had set her back down, Relena lowered his mouth back to hers and didn't let go of him for a long time. The fire of his lips consumed her. She put her whole body and heart in the kiss, the two pieces of her self back together once again. Just like her and the love of her life.
****
Three months later, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. But the real celebration that day was in Peacecraft, North Carolina, where, in front of their family and friends, Relena Peacecraft and Heero Yuy promised to love, honor and cherish each other until death really did do them part.
That first night of their marriage, they laid in the bed of their luxury honeymoon suite in New York City and watched the live broadcast of the first moonwalk, completely wrapped up in each other. Relena nestled her head in the curve of Heero's neck; his hands traced lazy patterns on the soft skin of her bare back.
The staticky voice from the moon reached through the set. "That's one small step for man....one giant leap for mankind."
"I sort of feel that the whole decade's over now," Relena murmured a moment later, her fingers lightly brushing the scarred slash marks on his chest. "Like it can't get any bigger than this. People walking on the moon. I mean, what's next?"
He drew in a breath as she continued to soothe his war wounds with her gentle caresses. She didn't shy away from the scars; she accepted them as part of him. And for it, he would love her until the end of time. "There's always that Woodstock thing next month that Duo and Hilde can't shut up about."
Relena laughed softly. "I think we can pass on that one." A long moment passed as they watched the American astronauts experimenting with walking in zero gravity. "I love you," she said, out of the blue.
Leaving the television on, he rolled her over and kissed her. "Whatever comes next, it'll be just fine. As long as you're right here with me."
"I'm not going anywhere." In the middle of a deep kiss, Heero gently joined their bodies once more. "1970 can come," Relena whispered into his ear. "I'm ready for it."
****
Peacecraft, North Carolina
September, 1973
The dreams came to him every so often. He was never certain what it was during the day that triggered his sub-conscience at night. A car backfiring. A news helicopter flying overhead while he was jogging. A segment on the television, taped in Saigon. The war was a lifetime away, but when he was least prepared, it had the power to sneak up on Heero in his sleep.
Usually when he woke up, sweating profusely, his eyes wide, his hands searching through the sheets for a weapon or some mud to coat his face, she would be there to get him through it. Stroking his hair, his back, his bare chest, she would talk him out of the hell of the dream.
Relena was his link to the present on those times when the past seized him up once again. But that night, he had to shake himself from the ghostly grip of the torture chamber because when he reached out, her side of the bed was empty. As soon as his heart stopped racing and the cold sweat had started to dry on his skin, Heero climbed out of bed and went in search of his wife.
The hallway he passed through was dark, but there was enough light for him to see the pictures that lined the walls. A portrait of Millardo, Lucrezia and their son, Jacob, when he was five months old. A framed, yellowing clipping from the town newspaper of Duo and Hilde wrapped in an American flag and kissing passionately at Woodstock.
Duo's draft notice in November of 1969 had nearly destroyed both Hilde and Relena. For awhile it had seemed as though nothing short of Duo appearing before the draft board in Hilde's underwear would keep him out of Vietnam. But through some miracle, Duo's parents had materialized and supplied an old medical report to the Army, documenting Duo's existing heart murmur. It was enough to keep him out of the war, as well as being the first and only kind hand the couple had ever shown their son.
Heero continued down the hall, past the 1971 cover of *Time* magazine that had given Quatre Winner the exalted title of "Youngest, Most Successful CEO in America." In the glossy photo, the man's eyes were still as sad as they had been on his and Relena's wedding day; his father's unexpected death had forced him to abandon his dreams of law school and civil rights activism in favor of the Fortune 500. But right next to the framed cover was a photo taken in the spring of 1972 of Quatre and his new bride, a sweet Raleigh socialite who adored much more about him than just his money. And in their wedding portrait, the smile on his face couldn't be contained.
On the little hall table, tucked underneath a fresh bowl of scarlet tea roses, were two letters, one from Trowa and one from Wufei. He hadn't had an opportunity to read over them yet, but made a mental note to as soon as possible. Both men were back in America; Trowa had reunited with his girlfriend, Catherine, married, and was expecting a child in the fall. In a coincidence that Heero still had a hard time believing, Wufei was now living with the woman who had saved his life in Lo Ke, Dr. Sally Po. His friends were happy, and that meant a great deal to him. Anyone who lived through what they had deserved only happiness.
He stopped in front of the farthest door on the left, which was slightly ajar. Heero opened it slowly to avoid any squeaky hinges and stepped inside. Across the room, in a rocking chair by the wide window that poured soft moonlight into the room, he found what he was looking for. His girl.
Both of them.
Three-month-old Harmony Yuy was cuddled up against Relena's breast; both ladies were fast asleep. Heero walked across the soft, pink carpet carefully, as not to wake either one. But Relena was too quick for him. She stirred when he was within a few feet and opened her eyes. "Heero?"
"I was trying not to wake you."
"Is everything all right?"
He nodded. "I'm fine. Now. Go back to sleep."
Giving him a sleepy smile, Relena closed her eyes. When he was sure that she was asleep once again, Heero sat on the wide edge of the windowsill and stared at his wife and daughter. After a moment of silent contemplation, he reached out to touch Harmony's tiny fist which lay in a ball on Relena's arm. In her sleep, the baby's palm opened and latched onto Heero's index finger.
He couldn't have pulled away if he had tried, but then, he never would have tried.
Leaning back against the window's frame, Heero fell asleep next to his wife, with his daughter's impossibly tiny fingers curled around his. The past might not ever leave him completely alone, but no dream plagued him for the rest of that night.
****
"Ev'ry time my little world seems blue, I just have to look at you. And everything seems to be some kind of wonderful. I know I can't express, this feeling of tenderness, there's so much I wanna say, but the right words just won't come my way. I just know when I'm in your embrace, this world is a happy place. And everything seems to be some kind of wonderful." -The Drifters
****
The End
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Thank you all. I hope it was worth it:)