To Live is To Love

By:  Sage ^_~

*Well, I edited the story…but I doubt if I caught it all.  So, if it's still screwed up…I sowwie!!  =( 

Enjoy!!

Yay!  Another fanfic!  Okay, I wrote this last night at 11:38pm.  It's not that great, and it's purely fluff.  If anyone has a problem with the fic, send your flames elsewhere, because I already think I'm hot enough! =)  Hehe.  Okay, bad joke, but seriously, flames are not my friend, they are the reason for my therapy…

Disclaimer:  Come on people, do I really need to go through this again?  I just had a breakthrough in my therapy sessions… don't bring me down now!  *Sigh* Another $100 bucks down the drain…I don't own Gundam Wing! ::sob::

Oh, and the poem belongs to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Relena was happily leaning against a tree in her garden, reading a book.  It was her first day off in weeks, and Relena was making the most of it.  She had given her bodyguards a break and was enjoying the book of quotes Milliardo had given her. 

The bright sun shone down on her, basking her in its warm embrace.  She buried her toes in the soft green grass and inhaled the sweet smelling air.  She smiled contentedly as she read the various sayings from some of her favorite authors.  Her eyes suddenly widened as she came across an excerpt of a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

Tell me not in mournful numbers

Life is but an empty dream;

For the soul is dead that slumbers

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real!  Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal.

Dust thou art; to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

If Heero ever shows up again, I'm going to force him to read this.  Relena thought with a smirk.  Maybe it will knock some sense into that guy.  Relena sighed and got back to her reading, although a certain Gundam Pilot occupied most of her thoughts.

Relena tiptoed quietly through the garden.  She had fallen asleep underneath the tree and night had crept up on her.  The moon and the stars sparkled against the velvet night sky.

It really is a beautiful night.  She thought.  She blushed as she remembered the dream she had. 

She and Heero were dancing under the stars.  There was no one around them, no pasts to haunt them.  They were merely two people sharing a wonderful memory, the stars the only witness to their happiness.

Thank goodness Noin and Milliardo are out of town.  She thought, Otherwise, I bet they would send the National Guard out looking for me.  She joked to herself.

"Out kind of late, aren't we?"  A familiar voice broke through the silence, startling Relena.  She whirled around and saw Heero leaning casually against a garden wall. 

Relena stared at him in awe.  She tried to force back the smile that was threatening to break out across her face.

"Heero!  You scared me to death!"  She scolded.  He merely smirked a little and pushed off the wall.  Relena eyed him warily.  After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Relena finally asked,

"What are you doing here, Heero?  I mean, I'm glad to see you again and all, but, it's been two years."

Heero sighed and lowered his eyes.

"I needed…I have to tell you some things."  He said softly.

"I'm listening."  She replied, taking a seat on a nearby bench.  Heero sat down next to her.  He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

"I've spent the last two years trying to figure out my life.  I was trained to fight, it's all I know…knew…know how to do."  He scrunched his brow, struggling for words.

"After the Mariemaia incident, there was no purpose for me, no fighting to be done.  I had to find out if there was more to me than fighting."

"And did you?"  Relena asked breathlessly.

Heero turned his sad eyes on her.

"Everything just kept coming back to you.  All my thoughts, my dreams, my questions…all to you.  I just don't know…I need to ask you something…"

"What?"  Relena prompted.

"Why didn't I die in battle?  I meant to, that day I self-destructed my Gundam, I thought it was over.  But, it wasn't.  There were more battles, more killing, more pain.  Why didn't I die when I wanted to?  Why am I still here?"  He asked in a pain filled voice.

Relena sat in silence for a moment, trying to digest everything he asked and come up with an answer.  She then recalled the poem she had read earlier.  Life is free!  Life is earnest!  And the grave is not its goal. 

"Because," she began, "We don't live to die…we live to live." At Heero's quizzical look, she elaborated.

"All of your life you've been searching for death, peeking around corners and flying to the farthest reaches of space to find it.  How can you possibly die, when you have yet to live, Heero?"  She asked gently.

"I don't know how to live."  He whispered.

"I'll help you, Heero.  All you have to do is trust me." 

Relena was surprised to see tears in Heero's eyes.  He bent over and buried his face in her lap.

"I do trust you," he said softly, "with the only thing of value I have left to give…my heart."  Relena's entire body stiffened when she heard this, then she smiled.

"I fear, my dear sweet Heero, that you have always had a hold of mine." 

The emotionally exhausted Heero merely smiled and closed his tired eyes.  Relena held him close.

From now on, Heero, we will now be each other's saviors.  She thought.

"Ashiteru, Relena."  Heero whispered in a barely audible voice.  Relena's eyes filled with tears, and she quietly replied,

"I love you too, my savior, my soldier, my love."

Alright, it is done!  I wrote this in like, a half an hour.  I'm too lazy to do any real proofreading and corrections, but, if you guys and gals really like it, I'll go back and make some changes. 

Ahem…it's that time again.  What time, you ask?  Time to review!  Listen as the button calls out to you:  Click, write, send.  Click, write, send.  So, what are you waiting for!?! ^_~