Author's Note: Thanks so much for all of the reviews! I really appreciate it, and am glad that everyone's enjoying the story so far! As far as the Heero/Relena relationship, someone had asked me if I'll be writing much about it… It really wasn't my intent to focus the story on those two, for one being that Heero is an exceptionally difficult character to write, mainly due to the fact that he's so emotionless in the series, while in my story I've made him come out of that a bit. However, I do plan to write a bit about them, and there will be more chapters to come with some of their interaction between themselves, and others – including a wedding!

I'll admit I'm not much of a romance writer, this is my first time trying out the field, as I've mainly focused on sci-fi/action stories, so you'll have to bear with me while I get it right. Although I did plan for Heero's proposal to be awkward, as I think that's how Heero would do it – bold and a bit out of style. It might've seemed sudden, but during those 5 years after the GW series, I made that Heero had stayed in the Sanc Kingdom during most of that time and had begun to get closer to Relena, thus their relationship built during that time that isn't explained in the story. Anyway, hope that clears some things up!

As always, reviews are very much appreciated. Thanks~

Chapter Four: Reunion

The cold autumn air swept through the branches of the trees, swirling dead leaves upon the majestic landscapes. Winter seemed to be arriving early in Europe.

Zechs hadn't been to the Sanc Kingdom since he initially revived it five years ago, and was a bit surprised by how much it had developed. Obviously last he'd seen it, the palace was disastrous and half-destroyed. Now it was flourished to its full extent – he couldn't remember a night that it ever looked prettier. Although granted he never had really seen it at night, only after dinner parties or some other fine event that the Peacecraft family would attend to. He missed those days more than most anything. Anything that he had obtained over the years he'd gladly give back to regain what he had lost. Perhaps that's what he thought he was doing by reviving the Sanc Kingdom so many times – trying to restore things to the way they once were.

He climbed the marble steps to the palace slowly, taking in all of his surroundings. The side view where the courtyards could be seen brought back old memories of summer days when the family would picnic out back. The windy pathway which led through the outskirts of the forest where his father had taken him horseback riding for the first time, and the smell of the peonies that were placed just outside the front entrance… Just the smell brought back so many memories in which he treasured dearly – and longed for. He remembered his mother planting those, and was amazed that even after all of the Peacecrafts had died, those flowers had not.

"Good evening." He told the guards smoothly as he reached them. "I'm surprised her royal highness has allowed such high security."

"It's for her own safety, and the safety of the entire kingdom." The guard replied stiffly.

"Forgive me, I wasn't trying to question, I was simply commenting that she allowed it." Zechs said, a slight edge of impatience in his voice.

"Unified Nation?" One guard asked, gauging by Zechs' uniform underneath his black trenchcoat.

"Yes, I'm Zechs Merquise."

"Aren't you their ambassador?" One of them quizzed.

"At times, yes."

"Well, there's no need for an ambassador. There's no war here – unless of course you've brought it with you." The guard replied coldly.

Zechs, undisturbed by this statement, went on.

"I'm not here for treaties, but have been sent here by His Excellency himself. I need to speak with the queen on a few things concerning the Nation."

The two guards exchanged glances, then allowed him inside. Young and ignorant, that's exactly what those soldiers were, although Zechs preferred them that way. He didn't like the employees of the Sanc Kingdom knowing 'too much'.

As Zechs passed the foyer, he noticed the familiar figure of Pagan, the family's old butler and caretaker of himself and Relena. He hadn't seen Pagan since he was six years old, and he'd certainly aged a bit since their last encounter.

Pagan turned to face him, studying him up and down a moment before meeting his eye. Zechs nodded respectfully, while the aged man bowed his head lowly.

"Your Royal Highness—" Pagan began, but got cut off by Zechs as he shook his head.

"No, please don't." Zechs said, as Pagan raised his head.

Pagan smiled at him with endearment, as if an uncle were greeting his long-lost nephew after a very long time.

"It has been eighteen years, Prince Milliardo, and you haven't changed a bit." Pagan tilted his head slightly. "It brings happiness to my heart to see you are well and all grown up."

"It's good to see that you are well yourself, Pagan. I'm glad that you managed to escape the attack on the palace alive." Zechs said.

"Motivation is the key to most things in life." Pagan answered simply.

"Motivation…?"

"I had a reason to make it out. I needed to see to it that King Peacecraft's children survived, and would have the chance to grow up and become independent people. That is what I had promised him, after all."

"Thank you for taking care of Relena."

"Princess Relena has been such a charming young lady. I've been honored to be her butler." Pagan replied.

"Do you know where she is?" Zechs asked him, glancing up towards the large grandfather clock which stood in the corner of the foyer, checking to make sure it wasn't too awful late to pay his sister a visit before retiring.

"I'll bet still working on her speech for Treize's Christmas party. When she gets going on something, she can't stop. She's very ambitious."

"I've noticed that about her." Zechs said, recalling a comment a good friend made awhile back that the two of them were quite a bit alike. Not that he believed himself to be quite as reckless as his little sister, but he couldn't help it running through his mind that perhaps he were that stubborn too.

"So then, what brings you back to the Sanc Kingdom?" Pagan asked him. "For awhile I thought you would never step foot in this region again."

"For awhile I did too, until fate had it planned for me differently." Zechs replied. While he loved the Sanc Kingdom, and it truly was the only place that he could call home, it brought back painful memories. But then again, most of Zechs' past was based off of painful memories, so to say that these were especially painful was trivial.

"I see, vague as always." Pagan said with a little laugh.

Zechs looked up.

"Forgive me. Letting go of habits of being a soldier has been rather trying for me." He said in an apologetic tone.

"No need to explain yourself, Prince Milliardo. I hope you enjoy your stay here." Pagan said, still smiling.

"I'm sure that I will."

Pagan told Zechs where he could probably find Relena. He found it rather interesting that Relena had chosen their father's old study to be her own. Perhaps Relena was more like them than he initially thought.

In some ways, in many ways, Zechs wasn't happy with what he had become, but had thought at the time it was essential in order to survive. He couldn't continue on as Milliardo Peacecraft, and if he hadn't joined the Alliance and taken revenge for his dead parents and the loss of the kingdom, Relena never would've come to rule, and perhaps the kingdom would still be led by heartless people – As that's exactly what Zechs thought the world was built up of: Heartless people unworthy of what they have gained.

He knocked on Relena's office door before entering, although it perhaps would've been better manners to first await a response.

Relena looked up from her desk in surprise.

"Milliardo? I certainly wasn't expecting you." She said, although she certainly wasn't about to complain.

He smiled at his little sister. He had seen her a few times now since leaving her as a baby, but each time between these brief visits she had changed so much. He was proud to see that she had become a strong, confident woman, and ruler of his kingdom. He had many regrets. Many regrets for the way their lives had been. But he felt that he did the best he could, and made the best decisions based on the time they were made.

"I thought I'd surprise you."

"Well then, today has certainly been full of surprises." Relena said with a laugh.

"It's good to see you, Relena. As always." Zechs said, walking over to her desk, he then bent forward and put his arms around her. This was probably the second time that he ever had embraced her. Relena began to wonder why the affection. Her brother wasn't usually as caring as this. To him, he had heard the threats being made on her life, and was rather happy to see her again well and unharmed, and arriving before it was already too late. This way he knew now he could protect her. While he was around, he was confident no one could harm her.

Although he had never struck a close relationship with his sister, he did indeed love her very much, and put her safety as one of his top priorities. They both knew that with the positions they had taken on in their lives that there was no way they could ever be able to achieve one. Sometimes, especially then in particular when he needed it most, he wished that he knew Relena better.

"Yes, you too." Relena replied awkwardly, returning the embrace. "Now tell me, Milliardo… What exactly are you doing here?"

Zechs was slightly taken aback by her accusatory tone.

"To visit you." He said simply, his blue eyes sharply meeting hers. "Is there a problem with that?"

"But… Why? It isn't like you to come back to the Sanc Kingdom after all of these years just to come see me." She frowned. "Did Treize send you?"

Zechs' expression was unreadable as he continued to look upon Relena silently for a moment before responding.

"Because you're my sister. I've regretted my lack of communication with you, and thought since I'm not currently needed at Treize's side that it would be the perfect opportunity to get to know you. It's a shame that I can say I know nothing about my own little sister."

Relena eyed him suspiciously. He got the feeling that she knew he wasn't being entirely truthful about his intents, but she decided to drop it.

"That's very nice. I'd love to get to know my brother as well."

He smiled. He knew that Relena wasn't entirely convinced, but it was good enough. He had a feeling that she probably wouldn't question him any further.

He eyed a pile of crumbled sheets of paper beside her desk, then noticed all of the papers written on her desk as well. Obviously she had been working at her speech for quite some time.

"So, Pagan tells me that you're working on a speech for the ESUN party?" He asked her.

Relena sighed, standing up from her desk.

"Yes, for the Christmas Party held in a few weeks. You'll be there?"

"Of course, unless Treize makes other plans for me, which wouldn't be that surprising. It's one of his pastimes. He's quite unpredictable."

"Yes, I've come to know that!" Relena said with a laugh.

Zechs began to reach out for Relena's latest draft, then turned to look at her.

"Is it alright if I read it?"

Relena nodded. "Go right ahead."

Relena rose to look through the bookshelf for more old notes her father had left her, while Zechs took her seat and read through her speech.

"Dear friends?" He asked her, pausing at the salutation.

Relena didn't turn from what she was doing but answered. "Yes, dear friends."

"How about something a little more formal? Less personal?"

"How about you write it for me, Milliardo?" Relena said sarcastically.

"Never mind, dear friends is fine. A little different, but perfectly acceptable."

Relena shook her head, wondering whether he was simply going to read it out of curiosity or criticism. There were some things she was a bit skeptical on, but the salutation or the style in which the speech was conducted wasn't one of them.

He finally set it down, chuckling softly. "Reminds me of those hour-long seminars that father would make me sit patiently through." He told her.

"I forgot, you – knew our father, didn't you?"

Zechs nodded with no further response.

"So then, you must remember him some." She went on.

"Yes."

"Do you – Do you remember our mother?"

Relena could tell by the way that his expression changed that he did indeed remember, unlike herself that remembered nothing of her real parents or her previous life as princess of the Sanc Kingdom. Relena had never been exceptionally close to her foster mother, not that Mrs. Darlian was a bad person, or had done anything wrong to Relena, she just wasn't as attached to her the way that Mr. Darlian had been. Relena desperately missed her foster father, the Vice Foreign Minister Darlian of the alliance. To Relena, he was the best father that any girl could ever hope for. That was probably the one reason why her and Treize could never see each other eye to eye. She could never forgive him for the assassination of her foster father.

For Zechs, the mention of his mother was a touchy topic. He had been rather fond of Katrina Peacecraft, and out of all of their relatives and servants that he had lost to the alliance, he missed her most of all. There were many nights that he had cried himself to sleep, longing for her. Six years old was just far too young for a child to lose their mother. In Zechs' opinion, it shouldn't be allowed.

"Yes, I remember her." Zechs said softly, closing his eyes, visualizing her standing in the flower beds. "She was a wonderful person."

"People have said that I'm like her." Relena said thoughtfully. "Is that true?"

"Not entirely, no. I wouldn't say that you're like her. Physical resemblance is as far as it goes with you being like her. You have much of the peacecraft blood in you. Your strength and determination is something that the Peacecrafts all have been known for." Zechs replied, his eyes on his little sister, who did in many ways resemble their mother.

Relena went back over to her desk and sighed, tucking a lock of sandy blonde hair behind her ear. It was just then that Zechs noticed it for the first time: A diamond ring on her finger. But no, he thought, could it be an engagement ring?

"Relena, I think there's something that you're forgetting to tell me." He said, his eyes focused steadily on hers, not betraying his thoughts by glancing back at her ring.

Relena looked over at him.

"Like what?" She asked confusedly.

This came as something of a shock to him. Relena, his baby sister, was she really old enough to get married? For some reason he always thought of Relena's marriage to be far off, like in at least eight years from then, but not then. No, she still had seemed a child to him, although he very well knew that she was in her early twenties. He then wondered how he hadn't heard about it, he wasn't that unavailable that he couldn't hear about her engagement, and was sort of offended that she hadn't told him anything. He didn't know Relena was even serious about someone, and to actually marry them… It wasn't something that he had expected and wasn't altogether sure on how he felt about it.

"No one ever told me you were getting married." He said softly. "Congratulations."

Relena's eyes widened.

"But how did you –" She then remembered her ring. He must've noticed it. She felt a little bad, this was not the way that she had wanted her brother to find out. ""Oh, you mean by my ring."

Zechs nodded, then focused hard on her.

Relena swallowed nervously, then smiled. "Yes, I am getting married, but you were the first to find out. I haven't told anyone yet."

Zechs raised an eyebrow.

"I was just proposed to tonight." She further added. "I was going to tell you, we just didn't get that far yet."

"No need to apologize, it's none of my business anyway." Zechs said rather bitterly, feeling that true it really wasn't any of his business, but that was because he wasn't in her life, not because he was just her brother. Again, his past was coming back to haunt him.

"No, I want you to be apart of it. You had excellent timing for showing up, actually. And I really hope you will be involved in all of this." Relena said.

"Thank you, it means a lot to me."

Relena smiled warmly. "I actually want you to have a part in the wedding, too. Except I need to clear it with Heero first –"

"What does Heero have to do with anything?" Zechs interrupted.

"Relena seemed taken aback by his question initially, the replied calmly. "Well that's who I'm marrying, so obviously he must have a say in –"

"—Relena!" Zechs broke out, interrupting Relena yet again. "Don't tell me that you're actually going to marry that gundam pilot!"

Relena frowned at him.

"He's not a 'gundam pilot', he's a person, and my friend."

"Don't you think this is a little – sudden? Was it really coming to this?"

He could tell that Relena was growing impatient.

"I wasn't quite expecting this, but all in all I'm very happy with it. I want to marry him, really I do. I honestly haven't really thought of my future, or marriage, but I'm very happy with this."

Zechs could only stare at her, lost for words. First off, he couldn't believe that Relena was really getting married, then to top it all off she was marrying Heero of all people!

"Don't you find it a bit odd," Zechs began. "that Heero suddenly wants to marry you? After all of these years without even attempting to strike a relationship –"

"Why are you criticizing me about relationships?" Relena shot at him, rising suddenly from her seat, fury running through her veins. "Like you know anything about them, like you're leading a perfect life!"

It was quite apparent that Relena was getting rather upset. Before Zechs could respond she spoke again. "I know you have a long time grudge against Heero, and that you don't like the way that he's handled things in the past, but that doesn't make him a bad person."

"Incompetent maybe." Zechs suggested.

"I believe in Heero!" Relena exclaimed hotly. "Everyone can make mistakes. You did too, Milliardo, and still I think you're making mistakes, your biggest being abandoning the Peacecraft name."

"Relena…" Zechs said warningly, as though she were touching topics that weren't to be discussed.

"But I forgave you, and let it all go, as I did Heero." Relena said, watching her brother teary-eyed.

"Did it ever occur to you that perhaps he's using you?" Zechs inquired.

Relena growled in frustration as she threw her hands up in the air, then went over to the window, her back turned to him. Now he'd done it. He had never been very tactful.

"Relena –" Zechs said after a strained moment of silence, but Relena cut him off.

"I know you'll never like Heero, and you could never forgive him and let go of whatever miserable grudge you two have between each other – " Relena said thickly, and Zechs could tell she now was in tears. "But at the very least I was hoping that you could be happy for me."

Zechs didn't know what to say. What could he say? True, he did have hard feelings towards Heero, which Heero returned quite willingly, and he knew he could never let them go. He didn't trust Heero as far as he could throw him, and wasn't too keen on the idea of his sister marrying him. There was just something about Heero that always hade made him uneasy. He seemed inhuman, supernatural – and indeed he had supernatural capabilities. That he had proven when he had miraculously survived the self-detonation of his gundam while standing on the open cockpit door. A foolish move, yet a brave one. Heero was very determined, and perhaps that's where Zechs' mistrust stemmed from. If he had a mission, he would do whatever it took to accomplish it – even at the detriment to himself or others. Zechs wasn't altogether sure on how pure Heero's intents were on marrying Relena, and as much as Relena refused to believe it, he wondered if Heero too were getting himself involved in this new invisible dispute that could quite easily brew into the first seedlings of war. And that by marrying Relena he was gaining access to something, perhaps power over the ESUN. Of course, these were things he couldn't go into detail on with Relena, he had upset her enough as it was without saying much of anything at all. So he decided to set aside his concerns, for right now at least, and be the supportive brother that Relena was hoping for - then behind her back he could look further into what Heero's true intents behind all of this was.

"Relena, I'm sorry." Zechs said finally. "You're probably right in the fact that Heero isn't a bad person. I had never said that he was. I'm just concerned for you. I doubted if he were truly capable of making you… happy."

"Well, I am very happy with my decision." Relena said stubbornly.

"Then I guess my worry was for nothing." Zechs went over to her and put a hand on his little sister's shoulder. "I really am hapy for you, Relena. It's just such a shock to see that you're already getting married."

"I'm not sixteen, you know. I can take care of myself."

Zechs laughed bitterly, and gently turned Relena around to face him.

"Yes, you definitely are capable. You've proven that to me countless times."

At last Relena met his eye.

"Just promise me that while you're here that you'll be a good sport?" Relena said, more as a question rather than a statement.

"Don't worry, I'll be perfectly civil." Zechs reassured her.

He would be civil. If Heero would be was an entirely different story.