Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Chapter 9: Homecoming Jitters

"And you're done!" as Katherina curled the last strand of blonde hair on her daughter's head. She circled her daughter, examining her closely. "I did a magnificent job, don't you think?"

Relena rolled her eyes, "Mom, you can be so full of yourself."

"What?" she asked, with her eyes gleaming with laughter. "You don't agree with my work."

She had to give her mom credit. Her mom knew how to style hair, a talent that Relena did not inherit. The only thing that Relena could do to her hair was put it up in pony tail, a practice that she has perfected.

"Mom, you know your work is gorgeous. Stop looking for acclamations." Relena's hair was up in a French twist with two curled strands framing her face. Katherina had picked up some blue-bells from the florist and weave a couple of them in her daughters hair. The blue-bells were a great match with the midnight-blue off the shoulder dress that adorned her daughter's figure. The dress went down to just below her knees, and had a slit on the right side. "You have talent with hair. We all know it."

"Nah, I don't think it has much to do with my talent," she squeezed her daughter's shoulder lightly, "I think it has more to do with my subject."

Relena blushed, "Awww, mom." She was never good with compliments.

"Princess, you look beautiful." She stared at her daughter sitting in front of the mirror all dressed-up and going to the homecoming dance. Her daughter was really beautiful and for the first time she realized how grown up her daughter was. Katherina always commented on how grown up Relena had always acted, but tonight she looked grown up.

A lone tear strayed down her face. She was the one pushing Relena to act her age and go out with boys. However, now, she didn't know if she wanted that. She didn't want to let go of the little she would spend hours playing house with.

"Mom, don't go sentimental on me," she whined as she noticed the tear fall from her mother's eye. "You have a date tonight, you can't have fluffy and red eyes.. That just isn't attractive."

Katherina chuckled at her daughter's comments. She did have a date tonight. "Yeah, about that. You cheated."

"What do you mean I cheated?" Relena looked at her accusingly. "The deal was you go out with David, if I go to homecoming with a straight guy. And Heero is straight. Well, I think he is. I haven't really asked.; I know some people are really good at hiding these things. Do you think Heero is gay? Is that what this is?"

"No" Katherina exclaimed as she shook her head, "Don't worry Heero is straight. On a side note though, don't you even think about asking him if he's gay or not."

"Don't worry about that," Relena assured her mom. "I'm not that clueless., that would be a big blow to his ego.. If it's not that, then what is this cheating business about. I followed all the rules you stated."

"Yeah you did, but you didn't follow the given rule that didn't need to be stated."

"What are you talking about," Relena was completely confuse. Where was her mother getting this crap?

"You told your friends all about our deal. Then Heero had to go 'Oh, I'll help a friend out and volunteered to take you.' "

"Yeah, so. You didn't say that I had to keep quiet about our little deal." Relena knew she didn't cheat. Just because she got her date the unconventional way does not mean she cheated. Her mother did not specify anything about how she had to get her date. Although she knew the reasons behind her mother's fussing.

"I thought it was given. Our little deal was made because I wanted you to do the whole teenage thing. A big part of that was getting all nervous and jittery because you have to ask a guy out to the dance. However, no, you totally skipped that part and got your friend to volunteer to take you."

Relena smiled at her mother's annoyance, "Sorry, but no rules are given. All rules that are not stated or written does not count."

"Whatever." Katherina turned her back on her daughter and crossed her arm. Relena snorted at her mother's childish behavior. She rolled her eyes and stood up to hug her mother from behind.

"Don't worry, mom. I'm sure there'll be plenty of chances for me to get all jittery and nervous about asking a guy out. Plus, I'll make sure you're the first one to know about it. Who knows I might even ask a guy out in front of you just to make up for my so-called cheating episode."

"You better. Now enough about that. We have some rules to go over before I hand you over to that handsome boy of yours."

"I know I know, we had this talk already. Curfew is at one. No drinking, drugs, etc." Relena returned to her seat in front of the vanity, since it looked like her mother was going to go into maternal mode and start naming out rules. Even though, it was very unnecessary.

"Not those rules, princess. I know you, you won't break those rules. Even though sometimes I wish you would, just to prove to me that you're a teenager and there is a rebellious bone in your body. Even just a tiny little one."

"Okay, just to make you happy maybe I'll get Heero to take me home five minutes after curfew." She rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of Heero, what I'm talking about concerns him."

"What?" she eyed her mom suspiciously.

"Well technically this is a date right."

"I guess, but not really. It's just a dance." Relena picked up her perfumed and sprayed some on her neck and dabbed some on her underside of her wrist.

"Whatever, dance or what not. We're counting is as some sort of date."

Relena nodded acknowledging her mother's words. There was no point in arguing. Although, she really did not think of this as a date. For it to be considered a date, one person has to ask the other person out and that really did not happen.

"Well, since it is a date. There are some things I need to lay out." There was a twinkle in Katherina's eyes, and it was making Relena squirm. "Now princess, we don't want anyone to think that you're easy right."

"What!" Relena exclaimed standing up.

"Now, now" her mother said unaffected by her daughter's outburst. "Sit back down, and listen." She pushed her irritated daughter back down into her chair.

Relena's face was scrunched up due to the glare that she was giving her so called "mother". Her mother was having way too much fun with this.

"I guess, I'll use the baseball euphemism. Let's see." Her mother stared at the ceiling, deep in thought; while, Relena continued glaring. "Now first and second base are definitely acceptable on a first date. I'll be extremely disappointed if you don't get to first. Come on, princess. Heero is hot." Katherina looked at her daughter. Relena was fuming and embarrassed, her face was red and both of her hands were folded into a fist. Katherina was laughing silently in her mind. "Third base. I would be extremely surprised if you get that far because, come on now, we're talking about you here. However, I will be mad and disappointed. I thought you better than that, however, I do now that teenagers nowadays . . .Now home run is a no-no. You got that princess. I mean what would Heero think of you. I'm sure . . ."

Relena did not allow her mother to finish her little speech. "Mom," she whined and ran out of her room and headed to the bathroom. She knew her mother was only teasing her, but she was already nervous about this date. Now her mother was talking about all the intimate stuff that goes along dates. Although, it was very unlikely that anything will happen between her and Heero.

She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror and took a deep breathe. She had the urge to wash her face and cool off, but that would ruin her make-up; so breathing had to do.

"Princess, are you okay?" Katherina asked as she knocked on the bathroom. She thought it would be funny, since Relena had always felt uncomfortable when it came to any kind of intimacy with the opposite sex. Now she was going to a dance and as a mother, she couldn't have let this opportunity passed. It was only suiting that she would tease her daughter about this.

"Yeah, I'm fine mom," Relena answered after exhaling for about the tenth time. "I guess I was just a bit nervous. Just give me a minute, okay."

"Princess, you have nothing to worry about. You'll be fine. You look so beautiful that Heero will be stuttering the whole night." Katherina smiled as she recalled he image that her daughter presented. "I'll wait for you downstairs."

o o o o

Heero stepped out of his car and took a deep breath. His nerves just would not calm. His left hand, the one that was carrying the corsage that consisted of white roses, blue-bells, and babies breathe, was shaking.

He had been like this for at least half an hour, a nervous wreck. All day all he could think about was the dance. Of course he played it cool on the outside, and pretended not to realize that today was the dance when people came and asked him about it.

"Here goes nothing," he said as he rang the doorbell to her house.

o o o o

"Mom, he's here" Relena said as she headed towards the door. However, she would never make it there, since her mother grabbed her wrist effectively halting her actions.

Katherina shook her head at her daughter. "Haven't I thought you anything."

Relena choose to ignore her mother's comments and was busy trying to remove the offending hand on her wrist.

Katherina rolled her eyes at her daughter's feeble attempt and dragged her off to the kitchen. "Apparently there's another set of rules you don't know about."

"What is up with you an all these rules?" Relena asked exasperatedly. "Is there a book out there or something that I should have read beforehand. Tell me, so I can find it and burn it after I shred it to pieces." She was really getting annoyed by all these so-called rules. Relena was a very prompt person and she did not like to keep people waiting. She was always on time and her mother was keeping her away from her "appointment".

Katherina could not believe how clueless her daughter was on dating etiquette. "First of all, you never answer the door if there is someone else in the house to do it for you. And if there isn't, you most definitely not answer after the first ring. You make the door weight for at least a couple of minutes."

"What's the point in that?" Relena didn't understand the logic in keeping the boy waiting. "That's completely illogical."

"Logic is not the point here princess. This is not science, it's dating. There's no room for logic in dating."

Relena was baffled, her mother was not making any sense.

Katherina took in her daughter's puzzled face and sighed. 'She's completely hopeless.' "Just remember to keep the boy waiting for a couple of minutes. A couple of minutes won't kill you. Just make some last minute adjustments to your look or something."

Relena gave in and sat herself down gently on the sofa, weary of her dress. She closed her eyes and started counting sheep.

o o o o

After about 150 sheep, Relena heard her mother open the door and make small talk with Heero. 'This is it. Time to face the music.'

She took one last deep breath and quietly stood up from the sofa. As she turned, her eyes locked with Heero and for a second she felt like she forgot how to breathe.

o o o o

"Wow!" Hilde exclaimed as she sized up the gymnasium. The once banal gym that smelled of sweat and rubber was transformed into an elegant ballroom adorned by blue and white decorations, glowing due to the white Christmas lights along the periphery.

"They really got it together for the dance."

"Yeah, got to agree with you there." Duo was looking devilishly handsome in the traditional tuxedo and his hair was in its customary braid. "The gym doesn't look half bad."

"Let's go find a table. We have to save a seat for Heero and Rel, plus Quatre and them guys." Hilde hurriedly dragged Duo along.

Duo just shrugged at the girl's antics. He wasn't going to argue with the goddess in front of him. She was a sight to behold, wearing a black spaghetti trap dress that clung to her body at all the right places. Duo had a feeling that he wasn't going to be able to say no to her tonight.

"How about this one." Hilde stopped by a round table for eight, "it's not to far from the snacks and the dance floor that we'd have to walk far. Plus, it's not to near that there would be a lot of people gathering. It's the perfect location." Hilde smiled at her choice.

Normally, Duo would have a smart remark about that comment. Come on, perfect location for a table. However, after seeing the smile on her face, whatever remark that was in his mind vanished. She was right, this was the perfect location.

o o o o

"I'm sorry about that" Relena apologized to Heero as he got comfortable on the driver's seat.

"It's okay. I mean everyone's parents take pictures." Heero tried to appease Relena's worries as he fastened his seatbelt.

"Two rolls, Heero," she cried out. Apparently, it didn't work.

"I guess she was excited or she seems like the sentimental type.." Heero tried again.

Relena gave him a dry look. "Come on, Heero. Don't act all gentlemanly on me. Don't tell me that you weren't annoyed by all those pictures. Even a little bit. Do you remember how many different poses we had to make and plus she made us pose all over the house so there will be a variety of backgrounds."

Heero laughed at her ranting. Relena was really cute when she was annoyed.

"I can't believe your laughing at me." She turned, so she would be facing the road instead of Heero and sat up straighter than usual.

"I wasn't laughing at you," Heero explained softly, he didn't want to get on Relena's bad side right now. He wanted this night to be perfect for her and a happy Relena would be needed for that to be possible. "I was just laughing at the absurdity of the situation. I guess your mom went a little bit overboard. "

"I'm glad you finally agree with me."

"I never disagreed with you. I just didn't think an apology was necessary." He smiled at Relena, goading her to smile also and give up her foul mood.

Relena sighed, Heero was looking so adorable with that smile and those eyes. She couldn't help smiling back at him.

The car settled into a comfortable silence. They were both into their own separate worlds, each with their own expectation for what the night would bring them. However, neither of them expected this.

"Why is the car stopping?" Relena asked as she noticed the car slowed drastically in the middle of the road.

"I don't know what's wrong. This car is in perfect shape." Heero was baffled. "I'll go check out the hood."

Relena observed her surroundings as Heero got out of the car and checked under the hood. They were by the corn fields. There was a part of town where there was only a stretch of corn fields. There were no houses nearby and the last building she noticed was a gas station they passed a couple of miles away.

Heero returned with the same baffled expression on his face. "I don't get it, everything looks fine."

Relena looked around the car, trying to find something. Although, she knew nothing about cars. She just needed to do something to make it look like she was doing something.

"Oh, shit." Heero cursed. He couldn't believe it. How could he possibly forget? He was so nervous about everything that he forgot.

"What? Did you figure it out?" Relena turned her attention towards Heero and followed his line of vision.

"You forgot to gas up the car!" Relena exclaimed, dumbfounded.

Author's Note:

Hey, I'm back from the Philippines. Thank you all for being patient with me and for showing interest about my trip. I had fun in the Philippines, seeing relatives and visiting all those place. The trip was just tiring. I swear we were traveling every two days or so. We kept on traveling back and forth, province to the city. It took a lot out of me. It took like two weeks for me to get my sleeping cycle back. Thanks you all for the reviews. They were great encouragement. I really needed the encouragement in order to get over my lethargic state.

Thanks to: RayxJade, Reignashii, Remiera, Captain Stu, gundamgirl818, CrimsonDragon010, silvertwighlight, heaven's girl, gundamgurl24, Lauren, gundampilotX24, Bulma BriefsYue Lover, Sanoske & Duo, Taraneh, Lay Hime, Kokoro, kawiineko4eva, PureAngelEnchantress, FluffieGirlie. You guys are awesome!

FluffieGirlie: Two months, two years. . . It doesn't matter. I love hearing from everyone or anyone.

Lay Hime: I was wondering if your offer for editing was still up. I still don't have an editor. I didn't contact you for this chapter 'cuz I'm working on an old computer and I wouldn't have been able to send you the files.

silvertwighlight : I don't know about a whole Trowa fic. This story looks like its going to be longer than I originally thought it would be. I know where I want this story to goes, but it looks like my mind is working faster than my hands.