The Master of Chateau le Loup

Chapter Twelve

Heero was on the verge of pulling rank and demanding Relena stay out of the night's affairs. No, he was past the verge. He was literally drawing air into his lungs as he watched his wife sweep her hair into the beginnings of an elegant bun. Air that was about to be expelled in a stern rush of commands.

He didn't even have a chance to let out the first syllable when his wife glared at him from her position before the mirror. "Do not," she warned gently, though her voice held no teasing. "I am a part of your world and a pivotal part of this situation; I will not be tucked away like some ignorant child."

Heero heard the hesitation on the work 'tucked.' She had wanted to say 'locked' and it nearly broke his heart; a weakness he did not dare examine too carefully. He strode up to her and placed gentle hands on her shoulders. "It is not because I think you are ignorant," he pointed out. With a heavy sigh he bowed his head slightly, "I just want you to be that way in this situation. You have barely begun understanding the way we see the world and how we fit in. I would loathe showing you our dark side now."

Relena smiled just slightly, the curve to her lip slightly sardonic. "And all along you mean to tell me that you have shown me nothing but your best?"

Heero bowed his head to her neck and bit in gently, a small teasing bite that ensured a tiny, subtle mark would be left behind. He felt surprisingly possessive over her. Not like before. This was different. He wanted to physically mark her as his. He wanted his scent on her at all times and he wanted to brush her mind at any time of the day and know that she was already thinking over him. He wanted her in a way that was complete and total. God help him, he was treating her like he was a wolf.

Relena tilted her neck to give him slightly better access, and with a surrendering groan, Heero stepped forward to steal his arms about her waist and bury his face into the inviting curve of her skin. He found a tendon and began to trace it with his lips, tongue and teeth. He felt her sigh heavily against him and lean back into the strength of his body. This was how he wanted her at all times. Wanting him. Just as badly as he wanted her.

"Heero, please, you know it would be a bad decision if you just dismissed me in this issue. I may be of no use whatsoever but at least if I know what is going on I will be out of your hair about it in the future and will be informed enough to remain quiet and as calm as possible."

Her rationale was not what drove Heero to give into her wishes; it was the sincere way she asked him, addressing him by first name followed by please. It was almost childish in a way. In a vulnerable way. In a way a person pleads with another in a higher position. He hated that sound but when Relena used it he only felt sad.

As demanding and domineering as Heero was, he never thought women to be less than him. No one was less than him. Never in his life had he merited respect and honor above others. It was his damned name that put him above all else and it was a pathetic excuse. Relena was proving to be as powerful as him if not more and her intelligence was far exceeding of women her age and class. That slightly subservient tone in her voice caused him to cave almost instantly.

"I am being foolish trying to separate you from what is happening. I just…" Heero searched for the right words as he toyed with an intriguing dip on her collarbone. "I just want to surround you with happiness, contentment. I want you to have this carefree world; one I never had."

"It would hardly be a world of contentment without you," Relena murmured huskily, her eyes fluttering closed in bliss.

"I could visit often," Heero responded, as his hands sought to explore her stomach and higher to more interesting conquests.

Relena's smile was genuine but faint. He knew that would never please her. Relena, despite all of her fiery and (seductive, Heero reluctantly admitted) independence, she was helplessly in love with Heero and looked to him at every turn for guidance and assurance. He grew nervous when he thought about the day she would no longer feel insecure in her new environment and would no longer need him that way.

Pulling slightly away, Relena clicked her tongue at him in reprimand. "Your hands are far too free in their wandering, good sir, and your worries are unfounded. I doubt there will ever come a day that I wish to charge headlong and unguided through a situation regarding this new view on the world."

Despite the fact that she teased, Heero felt strangely comforted. He loved how they shared their minds so freely. He had envied Trowa and Quatre and Wufei and Nitaku as they were able to reside and find comfort in each other's minds. Heero found Relena's a welcome sanctuary where he knew he would always be welcomed and accepted. It was heaven to be with her and he felt desperate to protect her. And desperation was something Heero of the Yuy Legacy rarely ever felt.

"They are close by," Heero said suddenly, lifting his head just slightly as though he would actually be able to hear them.

"Just in time," Relena chirped as she slipped on her shoes and led the way out of their bedchamber.

Heero was quick to slow her down and wrap her hand about his forearm before they descended the stairs to the lower floor.

"Such formality," Relena murmured.

"They will no longer see you as my new bride, Relena. You are the wife of their leader. The lack of formality would be appalling."

You are the wife of their leader…

Relena looked up at her husband and noticed how aloof his features were. He was distant, his mind already reaching into the future in hopes of guiding the conversation towards production. This was no king. No man with a title of authority. Heero led people. With his decisions were consequences, with his mannerisms were judgments. How alone he must have been until now.

"Bebe," Heero barely breathed the endearment. "Your pity is flattering but entirely uncalled for."

Relena felt an instant rebuttal rise up. It was not uncalled for! The poor man had been utterly alone. Before she could open her mouth, though, Heero spoke again.

"You are here with me now; making my past just some distant, and rather unpleasant dream. Your actions defeat your pity."

There was humbleness to his tone. Genuine Gratitude.

Midnight blue eyes peered down into surreal sea-green ones and the world seemed to stop for a moment.

You are my life now. Nothing else matters.

And Heero meant that.

(O)(O)(O)

Relena barely recognized her husband. His eyes had gone cold, calculating. He was no longer man or beast. He was some brooding god sent down from the heavens. His presence filled the room and commanded it. Everyone in the room seemed uncomfortable with it. Relena was just fascinated.

"Trowa, your logic is superbly sound…" Heero muttered.

Trowa raised an eyebrow at his lover momentarily at the compliment, never having received one before from his leader.

"But…" Heero died off. His eyes went straight to Wufei and then to his wife. "I am not so sure I am keen on how we discover if your idea is right."

Wufei bent his head and Nitaku instantly put her hand on his shoulder.

"You want me to look into his eyes," Relena put it bluntly. "To see if I see through his powers? That makes me good, correct?"

"Not quite," Wufei murmured. "It should reflect visibly back onto you. We would see some physical sign of proof."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"If you are not," Nitaku said quickly. "What you will see could haunt you for years. Only Heero so far has been able to look back at himself without horror."

"I am not afraid of myself and that is all I am."

Relena stood and strode over to Wufei. The instant hush in the room was close to a gasp. She motioned for Wufei to remove his glasses and instantly, Heero was at Relena's side, readying to pull her away at the first sign of trouble.

Wufei looked to Heero before following Relena's gesture. Heero simply nodded.

With a forlorn sigh, Wufei gave into the request and took his glasses off. Relena met his stare directly.

Quatre let out a soft exclamation with Nitaku as a small light radiated back onto Relena's form, barely haloing her. Heero couldn't believe it. She was the key but the light was weak, incomplete looking. Faded.

Shrugging in defeat, Heero decided to pull Relena away from the gaze, to tell her it had been a good idea but…it just wasn't what they needed. He reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. But then the light extended to him, growing stronger, more brilliant.

"Incredible," Nitaku's hushed voice spoke what no one was saying. "Quatre, Trowa, quick, put your hands on Heero or Relena's shoulders."

Trowa and Quatre followed, each finding a shoulder to touch. The light grew brighter, bolder and it seemed to come alive, engulfing all of them.

"Hilde, you as well." Nitaku moved to join the girl and the light continued to increase exponentially.

Wufei blinked and the light remained. He had unlocked the key. The source. Standing, he slipped his glasses back on and stood to hold his wife's shoulder.

Quatre's voice was haunting as he murmured a lullaby sung to all of the immortals as children. "Darkness, darkness goes away when all our powers join the day. Flame will burn if wick is found and stay that way through nighttime's ground. Evil, evil goes away when all our powers join the day. Close your eyes and breathe out fast, and evil, evil will not last."

"Dear God," Heero whispered, clearly recalling the song that had been sung to him a million times over. "Quatre, Trowa, you two are opposites; physical sensation and mental sensation. Wufei, you and Nitaku are reflection and absorption. Relena and I are dark and light. Hilde you are faith and Duo…"

Hilde's eyes slowly lifted up to Heero's and she shook her head. "He is certainty and I am hesitation." She sighed heavily.

It was Trowa's voice that broke through the long silence that followed. "We need Duo to finish this."

(O)(O)(O)

Treize, Une and Dekim, still dressed in his priest's attired strangely enough, all knelt before a worn armchair. Relena's surrogate mother stood next to the armchair, regally, her hand resting on a small girl's fiery red hair.

"I feel them gathering." The voice was happy, carefree bubbled with laughter. "I think our little game must soon come to an end."

Treize peered over to Une who kept her eyes closed and breathed steadily through her nose. It was all a façade, he knew. Une had wanted the death of the Yuy legacy just as much as he did for the banishment of their family from the protected lands. Generations ago as it was, he kept his family's honor above all else and made sure Une did not cave either. Dekim had provided them the means to exact revenge but now Relena was in the picture and Une was weaker than ever.

"You kneel before me but your loyalty hardly does," the girl pointed out Treize's thoughts to Une.

"She is my daughter. Blood is never a simple matter."

"Then aren't to be trusted!" Mariemaia spat, leaning forward. She breathed heavily for a moment, a bit out of control until she felt her 'mother' pat her shoulder reassuringly. "Right," she murmured to herself. "You have a decision to make, Lady, if you wish to continue your existence on this traitorous earth, then your loyalty will lie with me. Besides, she belongs to him now. Not to you."

"Of course, milady."

Treize was not convinced but hoped Mariemaia would be slightly more so.

The redhead sat back and crossed her feet, a childish matter for an ancient being.

"The key has already been unlocked," Mariemaia paused at the strange, illogical but ancient saying before continuing, "and it seems that your little ray of sunshine is their flame. They need only that preposterous Duo character to complete their…union, if you will."

Une looked up, her eyes wide. Relena? The flame? Sprung from such evil, though. Relena was born from hate, out of marriage, out of immortality for God's sake. How could she be the flame?

Mariemaia raised an eyebrow at the woman. "I was born in love, from two married couples and in immortality. It would only be fitting that my enemy not be."

Une bowed her head, feeling unwilled tears coming to the surface.

"We need to act now, be ready for them at the caves. If they are able to join with Duo, all will be lost in our attempt. We will have to precede them and be ready to welcome them when they arrive. Treize, a map if you will."

As Treize stood, Dekim snuck at look at his leader. "Will all due respect, milady, how were you freed from confinement if you do not have your mate with you?"

"Ah, alas, he is not yet born. It is truly not necessary for a mate to be physically present to rescue his other half. Just existent. In fact, Lady Une, he is currently very content in your daughter's womb."

Une's head snapped up, her eyes wide with fear.

Mariemaia laughed. "Of course, Dekim and I had been in contact for a very long time and he has been ever so loyal to me and my commands. But it was a particularly cool and pleasant late afternoon when I all of a sudden was able to see light shining down in my small cell. I rose to the surface the very night your daughter joined…our family."

"No…"

"Oh, yes, I think I shall be around for quite some time. You see, I do not think Heero and Relena would respond so well knowing that the only true way to destroy their people's enemy would be to destroy their own son."

Une's head fell, tears beginning to fall from her eyes onto the stone floor just inches away from her.

She froze, one hand unable to stay away from her swollen belly. Despite the regal and defiant look she kept on her face she was shaking inside with fear. She had certainly just seen her doom in the face of the man standing before her in the middle of the forest. No matter who she called for, this was it and she was going to die alone. Well, not alone; her poor, innocent daughter would go as well. She had loathed the creature growing inside of her until it began to bring her a measure of peace, of goodness. She had felt the pure spirit living inside her womb and was beginning to believe that if she could create something so good she must be good herself…somewhere deep down inside. It didn't matter now. She was as good as dead.

"We meet at last." Every word was an animalistic growl that she could barely understand.

"Yes, your timing seems to be slightly one step behind mine as of late. I was beginning to think you had failed your heritage."

Heero's eyes were stone cold as he stared at her, his hands balled in fists. She could feel his hatred boiling off of him, directed solely at her. A small kick in her stomach reminded her of her child, no doubt aware of her mother's true distress and reacting accordingly.

Heero seemed to follow her eyes down to her swollen stomach where instantly, his demeanor faltered.

"A girl," Une sighed. "I gave her a French name, since her father happens to be of that origin. Relena. I heard a mother calling to her daughter from a creek once in the South of France. I found the name to my liking. She responds well to it…"

"A girl…" Heero murmured, sounding extremely confused. He stared down at the swollen abdomen for several long moments and Une was acutely aware that the baby's attention was just as fixed on him as his was on her. At long last, Heero took a few stumbling steps away.

"I will not spill the blood of an innocent child," he said with a wavering voice, filled with rage, regret, self-hatred and something that resembled fear. "Leave before I change my mind. NOW!"

Une had never thought to look back. Though, she knew her child had.

Relena. Now carrying her grandchild safely in her womb. A child that would have to die to save their entire race. Une felt a sob rise up in her. This wasn't right. How had this happened?

Mariemaia sat back and smiled.

"Tell me, Une, where your loyalty lies now. Could you truly kill your unborn grandson and your daughter or are you disloyal to me even now?"

Une slammed a fist down hard into the tiled floor. She bit her lip until it bled.

"Answer me!"

Looking up, Une glared fully into the eyes of the devil itself. "My loyalty lies unerringly with you."

Mariemaia's smile was that of satisfaction and confidence.

"I had a feeling that would be your response."

(O)(O)(O)

Heero collapsed, sated, exhausted, sweat still glistening on his body. Relena instantly curled up to his damp body as his arm easily encased her.

He found her temple and pressed a loving kiss to the side of it.

"You are my world," Heero murmured huskily, tiredly in her ear.

"As you are mine."

Heero could not prevent the itch to lay a hand over her abdomen. At times, he had felt the beginning of life growing in his wife's womb. At times it was impossible to tell. It wouldn't be until the child was several months old and truly developing. The idea, though, was enticing enough. He wanted to see his wife swollen and full with his child. Soft fantasies of a nursery and a sleeping wife and baby made Heero sigh contentedly.

A child. Their child. What he wouldn't give…

"Heero?" Relena murmured.

"Go to sleep, my dear," he coaxed, closing his own eyes firmly and letting go of his daydream. "We have much to plan tomorrow."

Relena mumbled something barely understandable under her breath as she nuzzled in closer to her husband. With another kiss to her temple, Heero surrendered himself to sleep as well.

(O)(O)(O)

AN: shorter chapter, but I couldn't resist ending it there. Dum, dum, dum! Thank you to all who reviewed. I am very excited that this story is building in action. As far as chapters go…man, I'm not so sure. This is poorly planned out as far as chapter-to-chapter goes. This is chapter twelve…huh…probably twenty chapters as the max. Don't quote me though! Who knows? Anyways, I truly hope you enjoyed this chapter and ALL feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you to the following reviewers: SAGA123, Deja Know I Been Lookin For Vu, LoVe23, hashiba42, jellybean-kitty, hieiashke, Nihal, WindCloud, LoisLane95, AngelicRoses, Alaskantiger, lolopptt, Amulak, Animouse03, whitefang585, Mini Nicka, Death'sFlowerGarden, Reignashii, Native-Chick-Pea, Uruwashii Inochi, heaven'sgirl, 4everfanfic, Morrighan of Crimson and Sable, sanctuary, Purdy, and silver-eyed.