Chapter 1

It was Thanksgiving, and many families were celebrating with traditional or nontraditional dinners. There was laughter and warmth in many kitchens and dining rooms all around America. Of course, there were people who could not celebrate the holiday. There was one person in particular who chose not celebrate Thanksgiving or any other holiday for that matter. Who could it be?

Heero Yuy sat in his office brooding over the new merger contract. Everyone else had already gone home to have Thanksgiving dinner with their families. Even his partners had left. They had plans unlike him. Duo Maxwell had a date. Trowa Barton was having dinner with his sister, Cathy. Wufei Chang...well...Wufei had his wife, Sally. They were both Chinese, but Sally was half-American. So, she roped Wufei into a Thanksgiving dinner. Heero Yuy didn't have any family left, wasn't married, and rarely dated. He preferred his own company. That and his cat, Ebony.

Heero tossed the thick stack of papers onto his desk and leaned back. He stretched out his arms and neck when he noticed a light through his window. He glanced at the clock. It was six. That was strange. He thought everyone had left at five. He left his office and went in the direction of the light. It was coming from one of the cubicles. He stopped when he heard a voice, a woman's voice.

"I'm sorry, honey. I'll be home right away, and then we can have dinner," the voice said. "Be a good little boy, and I'll see you later."

Relena Peacecraft hung up the phone and started to collect her work. Finally she picked up her purse and workbag and stood up. Relena walked out of her cubicle and almost instantly collided with something that felt like a boulder. She stumbled backward and would have fell if two strong hands didn't grab her. She felt herself being pulled forward, and when she opened her eyes and looked up, Relena gasped at what she saw. It was her boss, Heero Yuy, and he didn't look happy to see her.

"Are you all right?" Heero asked her.

Relena was surprised by the baritone voice and had to blink a few times. She gathered up her wits and backed away from him. From his frown, she knew that he wasn't in a happy mood. Then again when was he ever in a happy mood? God, she hoped that she wasn't in trouble. Everyone had been ordered to go home at five, and she was still here.

"Are you all right, Miss?" Heero asked again. He was puzzled with her expression. She looked frightened. "Miss?"

Suddenly Relena realized that he had asked her a question. What was it? Oh, yeah! "I'm fine, sir," she replied softly.

Heero was startled by her soft, musical voice. It was a beautiful sound. His frown deepened at the thought. "Why are you still here? I thought I told everyone to leave at five," he said in a harsher tone than usual and then crossed his arms.

Relena clutched her bags to her chest and swallowed hard. He was so intimidating with his tall stature and dark scowl. "I had some extra work to do, Mr. Yuy, so I stayed to finish it," she stammered. Oh, dear, was that stuttering voice hers? "But I'm leaving now."

Heero stared hard at the woman. She was a head shorter than he was. Her sandy hair was pulled back into a bun, and her aquamarine eyes were wide opened. It was too dark to see anything else. He smirked and uncrossed his arms. She thought that she was in trouble for staying late.

"Sir, may I go now?" Relena asked quietly. She didn't like that smirk on his face any better than his frown. Frowning meant displeasure, but smirks were more ambiguous.

"Yes, go on," Heero replied in the same harsh tone.

Relena let out an inaudible sigh of relief and gave him a very small smile. "Thank you, sir," she said and turned around. She started to walk away when he suddenly called out.

"Wait! What's your name?" he asked.

Relena tensed up but didn't look back. Instead, she just answered. "Relena Peacecraft," she replied hesitantly. She really hoped that she wasn't in trouble.

"Well, good night, Relena Peacecraft."

Relena let out another sigh of relief. By the sound of his voice, she figured she was all right. "Good night, Mr. Yuy."

Heero watched her leave and then let out a sigh of his own. He went back to his office and started looking over the contract again. For some reason, he couldn't concentrate. He kept thinking about that woman and the look of fear in her eyes. Heero knew that he wasn't exactly the friendliest guy around, but did she have to look at him as if he was a monster or something? But then again most if not all of his employees thought he was a monster. Not a cruel one but a cold, unfeeling one. He treated them with the respect they deserved, but he didn't befriend them like his partner, Duo Maxwell. Heero thought that it would be better if he maintained a strict employer-employee relationship with them. However, it earned him a reputation of being emotionless man. He glanced back at the contract and decided it was time to go home. It was six, and Ebony was waiting for her dinner. It would be best to go home. It may be Thanksgiving, but to Heero, tonight was like any other night. A lonely night by himself.

* * * * * *

Relena took off her coat and hung it up. She could smell the tantalizing aroma floating out of her kitchen. Suddenly the kitchen door swung open, and what looked like a ball of blue and blond hurled itself into Relena's open arms.

"Mommy, you're home!" exclaimed Evan Peacecraft, giving Relena a big hug. "What took you so long?"

"Your mother had to work, remember?" a deep male voice declared. Milliardo Peacecraft or Zechs by his friends came walking out of the kitchen with a towel over his shoulder. "Now get back in there and help out your aunts."

"Yes, sir!" Evan exclaimed again. He gave his uncle a salute and then went rushing back in with a speed that made Relena smile.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I had some work to finish up," Relena exclaimed. She walked up and gave her brother a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, no problem. I only had to deal with a five-year-old bundle of energy namely your kid and two gossiping women," Zechs drawled, leaning against a table.

Relena shook a finger at him. "Watch your sarcasm, big brother. That's your nephew, wife, and my best friend you're talking about." She pushed open the kitchen door and was greeted by her sister-in-law, Lucrezia Noin (Lucy for simplicity) and her best friend since they were young, Hilde Schbeiker. Evan was setting the table in the corner.

"Hey, girlfriend. Dinner's almost ready. Have a seat," Hilde declared with a smile. She was a petite woman with short crop blue black hair and deep blue eyes. She owned a restaurant not too far from Relena's house.

"You know, that boss of yours isn't very nice keeping you at work on Thanksgiving," Lucy said with a slight frown.

"Lucy, I chose to stay. I had a little more work to finish, and my boss is actually very nice compared to others. I'm really sorry that I didn't make it back in time to help you guys," Relena stated and sat down with a thump.

Lucy wrapped an arm around Relena's shoulders and set down a cup of tea in front of her. "Hey, don't worry about it. You have enough on your plate what with your job and taking care of Evan."

"Beside, Lu, I know for a fact that her boss is one hot looking guy. Can't say much for his personality, but other than that-whoo!" Hilde explained, fanning herself with one hand.

Lucy laughed at Hilde's expression. "Is he really that good-looking?"

Suddenly Zechs cleared his throat to remind them of his presence. He crossed his arms and looked expectantly at Lucy.

She gave her husband a sweet smile and ambled over to his side. "But of course you, my love, are the best of them all." She leaned up to give him a kiss on the lips. All of a sudden Zechs caught her in his arms and gave her a long, passionate kiss. Hilde and Relena laughed out loud at the blatant show of passion.

"Eew! Yucky!" exclaimed Evan, covering his eyes.

Relena smiled at her son. "You're yucky. Now go wash up for dinner." She pointed in the direction of the bathroom. Once again, he shot off like a bullet.

Hilde had to grin at his extraordinary energy. Later on, the five of them sat down for Thanksgiving dinner. They gave thanks for the meal and started on their feast.

Somewhere not too far away from Relena's house, Heero sat alone at his dinner table with his "Thanksgiving" dinner. Behind him was Ebony happily enjoying her meal and didn't notice her master's dark expression.