Gundam Wing/AC 1. Prelude

**Aiden **

By Iryl  
Rated PG13

**Chapter 1: Prelude **

It was daybreak and a handsome young man with wild dark hair stood in front of a small, two-story home on Colony L1. A white-picket fence which needed repainting surrounded a yard that needed mowing, and the house itself seemed to sag a little to the left.

The young man opened the latch on the gate and walked slowly up to the door, hearing small noises inside as the family moved about, waking up. Cartoons blared suddenly and he blinked, then took a bracing breath.

_Ding-dong_. Musical chimes rang cheerfully out, and after a moment he could not hear the cartoons anymore.

"Yes?" a woman stood there, her thick dark hair messy from sleep, her faded nightgown held by a safety pin where a button was missing. She blinked at the young man before he spoke.

"Ohayo, my name is Aiden, and I think I'm your son."

He caught her smoothly as she fell.


	2. Caught

**Chapter 2: Caught **

"Nii-san!" a little girl's voice called, and Aiden turned to catch the small flying body that flung itself into his arms. "Fly!" Obeying the request, he lifted the slender body into the air, whirling her around as she squealed in delight. Kia was turning six the next day, and the family was having a barbecue together in the backyard this evening before her big party with all her friends tomorrow. The fence around them was freshly painted, and the house bore marks of new carpentry.

"Aiden, you're going to make her throw up," the man standing at the grill told him, smiling at the fondness between the siblings. He was a tall man, though not very broad, and he had obviously given the little girl his thick black hair.

"Gomen," Aiden gave his brightest smile – a half-quirk of his mouth and a shining light in the same deep blue eyes as the man he spoke to – and set the child down. It had been three years since he had come here at sixteen, and he had fallen completely in love with his family. His mother was a sweet woman, gentle and sickly, and often needed help in things neither of his younger siblings could do. He had done household work, dishes, cleaning, and repairs, then immediately offered to paint the fence and take care of the yard. Since then, he had fixed various things like the porch, the heater, and the car every time it broke down. It had been a relief to have something to do with his hands, and a comfort to work in machines again. It was even better, he had decided, since these machines were not made for mass destruction.

His father worked a great deal at his shop in town, and Aiden had helped him off-and-on until Yamashi was old enough to work there part-time. Yamashi was a belligerent boy, now fifteen, and had never really adjusted to Aiden's presence. Yamashi seemed to sense the lingering traces of Aiden's military training, which made him antagonistic toward his new older brother in the pacifist home.

Aiden had never told them of his past, and they had gotten used to the gaping void in their knowledge of him, if not comfortable with it. They knew nothing but the fact that he did not like talking about war, and always watched the news. His mother had even noticed that an odd light came in his eyes when Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian came on. Yamashi helped in the endeavor of watching Miss Darlian, for he had become obsessed with her as an idol figure and had posters of her spread across his walls.

Aiden rarely went into his brother's room.

"Yamashi, help me cut this," Aiden heard his mother call, and the boy went to cut the watermelon for her. He noted that her hair had gotten silver streaks, and her fragile hands shook as they handed Yamashi the knife.

"Carry!" Kia demanded, breaking into Aiden's thoughts, and he obliged as she leapt onto his back.

"Alright," he grinned and carried her to the table, about to set her down when a voice stopped him.

"Heero, I didn't know you were good with kids!"

Aiden's demeanor changed from friendly warmth to black coldness in moments, and he set Kia down on the bench with excessive care before turning around.

His family watched, his father setting his spatula down on the grill, and Yamashi pausing with knife embedded in watermelon.

"Duo."

The young man leaning by the side of the house laughed and came forward, chastising him, "Don't use that tone of voice with me, _Aiden_."

Aiden took in the Preventers uniform, perpetual smile, and long brown braid in one sweeping glance. "How's Hilde?" His question held no warmth for all its personal aspect, but Duo shrugged the tone off as he always had.

"Fine. She wanted to join the Preventers, but I wouldn't let her. She's got a cute little repair shop." He grinned. "Engaged. You?"

"Fine." He left it at that one syllable, and his mother shook herself to politeness.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, Mr . . ."

"Maxwell, Duo Maxwell," Duo smiled, accepting her offer, and she let him sit beside Aiden.

"Isn't there a Gundam Pilot named that?" the father asked, frowning, as he set the meat on the table.

"Ex-Gundam Pilot, yeah," Duo nodded, eyes alighting on the food.

"Aiden, why don't you tell us how you met your friend," his mother said, her eyes searching his.

"I'd rather not," he sent a glare to Duo, telling him not to say a word, and the Deathscythe pilot shrugged, his mouth full of pickle.

"Why don't you tell them, Hee-chan?" Duo asked almost gently, sending Aiden an acute side glance. The silence that fell upon the table was uncomfortable, and Aiden's insides boiled. After a long moment, Duo got up with a sigh. "Whatever. Come on, 'Aiden,' I have to talk to you." And walked away from the table, expecting the other to follow.

After a pause, Aiden did.

"I have a business proposition," Duo said, his face serious for once as he leaned against the robin's-egg blue of the house. His profile to Aiden was clear and perfect, bangs ruffling slightly in the artificial wind.

"I'm not interested," Aiden replied, his glare cold and unfeeling. "Now get out of my home." He turned away, but Duo's voice stopped him.

"Not even to save 'Jousan?"

Aiden stared into the violet eyes. Duo had known how he would react. "Relena?" Aiden's head bowed a moment and he relented to his tumultuous feelings: "What's wrong?"

"Assassins. Somebody wants her dead, and there's already been three attempts on her life. If it hadn't been me teamed up with Wufei to protect her, she'd be dead by now. Already, the attempts have been pretty close."

In the next moment, Duo found himself being slammed up against the house by his collar, "And you left her _alone_?!" Aiden's face was twisted into a bestial snarl and his words were harsh and cruel. "_Baka_. Don't you know she could be _dead_ by now?!" punctuating the terrifying word with a shake.

Duo glared back, unfazed by the treatment. "I have Trowa and Noin covering my spot, not to mention the extra precautions Zechs is making." When Aiden's fury only waned a bit, Duo drove his point home. "But I know that _nothing_ we do is as good as what you can. You're the best, and 'Jousan needs the best right now. I'm good, but this is Relena, and I'm not taking any more chances than you would. Why do you think I came out here?"

Aiden's felt lost for a moment before releasing Duo from his place against the house. The latter adjusted his collar and shrugged more comfortably into his navy, tan-trimmed Preventers jacket.

"Your family can come with you and be put under our protection while you work. You get seven thousand for the initial job, plus four thousand for every extra month you're needed in it. What'd'ya say?"

"I have to ask them." Aiden walked back around the side of the house, lost in his thoughts. Duo followed.

"Are you okay, hon?" his mother asked, looking up at him in concern as he stood by the table.

"I've . . . been offered a job," Aiden didn't look at Duo, but was acutely aware of his presence. "It's on earth, and they would be willing to give you a paid vacation if you came along while I worked."

"What kind of job is this?" his father asked, standing up to face the two young men.

Duo looked at Aiden, who nodded for him to go ahead and tell them. Duo then outlined the basics of the plan, giving them just the factual details and leaving the rest for Heero to answer, including the identity of the person to be protected.

Aiden's mother looked perplexed. "Why do you want Aiden, and not some professional bodyguard?"

"Because Heero's the best," Duo shrugged.

"But Nii-san doesn't do that kind of stuff!" Yamashi protested, affronted that anyone would accuse a member of his family of being involved in such violent work.

"He did," Duo shot a glance at Aiden who sighed and uncrossed his arms, turning from is contemplation of a bluejay that had landed on the fence.

"I was a terrorist, okay?!" Aiden glared at Duo, who looked no happier for the outburst as his family stared. "Happy?" he ground out to the solemn Preventer. "I was a Gundam Pilot . . . I killed people. _Killed _them."

"We got it, buddy," Duo said softly, rubbing his friend's shoulder to calm him down.

"Damn it," Aiden turned violently away, tears stinging the backs of his eyes, "I didn't want to do this."

"Who are you protecting?" his father finally asked.

"Relena Darlian," Duo told him seriously, and Aiden could just see Yamashi's eyes widening to unnatural proportions.

"Re-re-re-re. . . ." the younger boy stammered, then leapt onto his brother's back, almost knocking the young man over. "You _have_ to take this job!" Yamashi screamed.

Duo laughed heartily, "Oi, Heero, I need my camera." Calming, he told the eager, dismounting boy, "But didn't you know? Your brother could get you in to see Relena any time he wanted. All you need to do is mention the name 'Heero Yuy.'"

"I'm sure she's over that by now," Aiden grimaced, rotating his shoulder and ignoring his mother's questioning gaze.

Duo looked at him seriously, "Hee-chan, you know she's still in love with you. She carries that damn teddy bear everywhere."

Aiden gave him a carefully controlled glance before turning away. "If we're going, we should pack." He walked over to a small building that Duo had taken for a maintenance shed.

After a heartbeat, Duo followed him inside.

"Why did you say that?" Aiden asked after a moment, his voice unsteady as he moved precisely about the room.

"It's true," Duo shrugged. "She's always been in love with you, you just didn't care or had something better to do. You really had 'Jousan worried when you disappeared, and she's not any better for it, though she's trying to get on."

Aiden folded a shirt into his suitcase, clicking it closed and, reaching under the mattress, pulled out a gun and clip, then put it together and stuck it into the back of his waistband.

"We a'ready got guns and stuff," Duo said upon seeing this, "so you don't have to take that."

"I like it," was Aiden's only reply.

Shrugging, Duo looked around. "This building looks kind of new. Did they make it just for you?"

"I offered to build it," Aiden replied, glancing around absently. "I couldn't stay in Yamashi's room . . ."

Duo started to ask why, but soon found out as Kia came and dragged them both to her room, showing Duo her Pretty Pink Gundam collection, and then took them into Yamashi's room where their mother was helping her younger boy pack.

"Now, baby, I know you want to take your Collectors Edition Relena Doll, but I think you could do just fine without it," she was saying, and Duo simply stared at the walls. Posters of Relena Darlian covered them, magazine photos of her plastered across the dresser and mirror, two UFO Catcher dolls of her on his pale pink comforter, a cardboard standup model (the life-size type that tourists take pictures with), and a Collectors Edition doll of her dressed as the Queen of the World standing next to another of her in her ambassadorial garb. Aiden leaned against a large poster of her face, watching Duo's reaction, and gave a small smirk as the latter's wide violet eyes met his own, as if to say "See?"

"Eh . . ." Duo blinked, then turned, shaking himself. "If you guys are ready to go, we should try to make the next plane."

"All right," the brown-haired woman said, her eyes moving pensively to her elder son, who looked away, almost guiltily. 


	3. Travel

**Chapter 3: Travel **

"Aiden."

The young man in question turned to the soft voice, and found himself looking into a younger, thinner, brown-eyed version of himself. "Yes Yamashi?" They were just about to leave, and Aiden was getting the younger boy's bags to take down.

Yamashi fidgeted, uncertain, but finally asked. "Is Relena-sama really in love with you, like Duo-san said?"

Aiden sat on the side of his brother's bed and looked at his hands a moment. "As far as I know, it was a silly little crush. We were really young, and she didn't seem to show much prudence about it. But then she started doing things on her own. She grew up and stopped following strangers like me around. I doubt she really can think of it with anything but embarrassment now," he grinned and Yamashi's expression lightened. Aiden ruffled the boy's messy dark hair and grabbed his bags. "Come on, let's go and I'll try to get you in to meet her sometime."

"Really?!" Yamashi's eyes brightened again.

"Yeah," Aiden chuckled. He watched the boy bound downstairs to tell their mother. He loved his family, and anyone who dared touch one of them would have hell to pay.

Outside, Duo waved him over. "This one's good, Heero." Duo picked up a simple gun from the small armory they had in the illegally tinted van. He and Aiden sat in the very back where the weapons were as Aiden's family watched them nervously every now and then from where they were riding in the front.

"Don't touch that, Kia," Aiden warned as he saw his little sister eyeing his handgun. She shot a brown glance his way, then turned back to her Pretty Pink Gundams. Looking at Duo, he replied, "I'd have to try it, but I think I think this one is better," he picked up a slightly longer and more slender model. "Besides, I tried to shoot your gun once and it sucked."

"Hey! I'm a great shot! You know I could hit a fly on a black wall!"

"That's because you're _used_ to bad weapons."

"But Heero . . ." Duo protested, and Aiden snorted. "Are you _laughing_?"

"And don't even get me started on your choice in explosives."

"All right, all right, forget it." He waved his hand as if to dispel the conversation.

"_Kia_!" Aiden suddenly shot forward, across Duo, and grabbed his sister's arm as she hastily dropped the pistol she had picked up to examine. Shaking her so that her teeth rattled, he raged, "Don't you _ever_ do that again, you hear me?" The little girl's sweet brown eyes widened in fear, tearing up at the rough treatment from her beloved brother, and Aiden's harshness melted slightly. Kissing her forehead swiftly, he softened his hold and gazed earnestly into her eyes. "You just scared me," he murmured, and she nodded, drops falling down cheeks still slightly chubby from baby fat.

_Better hurt than killed_, he thought as he sat back, shaken, and made Duo help him pack up the weaponry.

His mother let Kia move up to sit with her father, then turned to the boys just behind her. "You might have been a little kinder," she murmured, and Aiden looked up.

"No mom," he whispered back, his voice slightly hoarse. "I've seen too many dead children already in my life . . . if something happened to Kia . . ." He left the statement hanging and ducked his head to his work. The woman gazed at him another moment before nodding and turning back to the front.

_You're a good boy_, she thought. _A very good boy._


	4. Relena

**Chapter 4: Relena **

"Duo, you're back!" a graceful young woman bounded down from her plane, throwing herself on the braided young man who grinned and hugged her back.

"Ohayo, 'Jousan!" he replied, grinning at the vibrant girl before him. "Hope ya didn't get married while I was gone!"

"No, but leave again and she may."

Relena turned to smile at a golden-haired man as he dismounted the plane's steps behind her.

"This is Ryo," she hurried forward to take his hands in hers, leading him over to her bodyguards and friends. His skin was too tanned and his teeth too white, Duo noted as Ryo came over to greet them.

"Pleasure," he murmured, shaking a few hands as Trowa sent Duo a cool, probing look. The tall Preventer had known the nature of Duo's little journey, and knew also the turmoil it would bring to the Prime Minister's life if Heero showed up. Duo nodded slightly and confirmed the other young man's fears.

"Where is he?" Trowa asked when they had a moment away from the others.

"Checking the limo," Duo murmured back. "Had to bring his family, but we put them up in one of the safe hotels."

Trowa raised an eyebrow cooly, "Family, hm?" but said nothing more.

"Shall we go?" Relena asked, clasping her hands behind her back and smiling around at them all. Ryo slipped his arm about her waist as they walked toward the cars. Aiden wiped his hands on a greasy towel and sat on the side of the car's open front, making sure he had gotten everything. Glancing at Pagan, he gave as much of a reassuring look as he could. The older man looked a little sick at the items he was holding, and gladly gave them back to the handsome young man when he asked.

"Yo! Got anything?" Aiden heard Duo call, and the former felt his heartbeat increase at the thought of who Duo was probably with as he smoothed out his expression and walked around the side of the pink limousine to greet the group.

Relena expected another one of the Preventers bomb squad when the young man came from behind the hood of her limousine – really, expected anyone but the tallish young man with wild brown hair and fierce blue eyes who stepped out, dirty black machine parts in his hands.

"C4," he handed them to Duo to inspect, not even glancing in her direction. She was partially glad he did, for her cheeks were flushed and she could _feel_ herself staring. But she was also annoyed that he did not look at her. A voice in her head wondered at his return, and another just pondered what the _hell_ she was going to do now. "It's pretty touchy, I wouldn't drop it," he advised, then watched Pagan shut the car hood before he glanced at her, only to give a curt nod of acknowledgment before turning back to Duo again.

Emotionless.

Relena felt the tears coming to her eyes, but then two strong arms surrounded her slim waist and she turned, realizing Ryo's presence for the first time in what seemed like hours.

"What's wrong, honey?" he asked, pulling her to him in a hug.

"Sorry," she smiled wanly, trying to be convincing, "just some old war memories."

"We'll just have to get rid of those," Ryo murmured in her ear, and she smiled at the pleasant sensation as his breath tickled her ear.

"I need to wash up," Heero was telling Duo, looking at the black grease spots on his hands.

"We'll wait for you," Duo replied, and Heero nodded, going inside the small building nearby to wash his hands. 


	5. Lonely

**Chapter 5: Lonely **

Relena stumbled, laughing, into her room, Ryo's arms around her as she pulled him in. She had seen Heero again that night at the conference as he watched things unobtrusively, talking in an undertone to Trowa, who watched the cameras around the compound. Seeing him there had tortured her, and she threw herself more and more upon the unwitting support of Ryo, who she was now kissing and pulling onto her bed, trying to forget _his_ blue eyes and drown herself in Ryo's green, wipe the vision of _his_ lips with the feel of Ryo's, the touch of his pale skin with Ryo's warm golden brown, the wild dark hair with these silken golden locks.

"Relena," Ryo pulled back, breathing heavily. "We shouldn't. You're upset." She looked at him from where she reclined on her elbows, her body stretched out on the bed, tense and humming with energy.

She rolled over, sighing. "Yeah, you're right."

"Do," he hesitated, uncertain as to her reaction or what was going on, "you want to tell me about it?"

Relena stood up, walking to the balcony doors and not looking at him. "I don't know if I should." He came up behind her as she stepped out and sat in one of the chairs there, the cool night caressing her skin. "It was a long time ago."

"Tell me, darling, please," Ryo clasped her hands in his, looking at her so earnestly that she had to kiss him.

"You know I care about you, Ryo," she looked deeply into his eyes and saw that he did know. She let out a breath and looked away. "I cared about someone else – once. Four years ago, really, in the wars. He was a Gundam Pilot, and his name was Heero Yuy," she looked at Ryo again, knowing he would connect that name with her newest bodyguard. "He never cared for me," she assured him, "at least, not like I wanted. I don't think he ever did." She ended simply and without self-pity, but in her mind she added the words _or will_.

He gazed at her a long moment, and she felt compelled to reassure him.

"It's just the memories bother me," she insisted, "I'm fine, really."

"Do you still love him?"

Relena opened her mouth to protest that she didn't love him, but stopped herself and looked away, troubled.

Ryo sighed, frowning. "Relena . . ."

"Ryo, he doesn't care," she burst out before he could continue, "and I don't want to lose you. I don't want to . . ." she bowed her head to hide the tears from him, but he had heard them in her voice.

Ryo relented, patting her shoulder and bringing her into his embrace. "Sh, sh, baby, don't think about it. I got ya."

Aiden watched the couple from his place in the shadows below the balcony. He knew when Duo came up behind him, and didn't bother to turn, only watched the pair stand up, share a tremulous kiss, and go back inside.

"The price went up," he told Duo. "Ten thousand."

Duo nodded, and Aiden walked away.

"Give them their privacy," he muttered, almost bitterly. 


	6. Stupid

**Chapter 6: Stupid **

"Oh, Ryo," Relena murmured looking at the open velvet box in her hand. "It's a beautiful bracelet, but it must have cost a fortune."

"Don't worry about it." He smiled into her eyes, and she could feel herself melting. "I'd do anything to make you happy."

"Thank you," she threw her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth to his. Aiden froze in the doorway. His nerves had already been bothering him, and Quatre's insistence that he go up to check on Relena for the night had not set well.

Clearing his throat, Aiden effectively broke the embrace, and both blushed, then gave him odd, nervous glances.

"Quatre asked me to make sure you were settled for the night." They knew that the blonde aristocrat came to check on Relena every night, so nodded their understanding, both wishing that he would go, but for different reasons. For Relena, it was too painful to see the wildly tousled young man, his intense eyes giving her nothing to grasp or hold on to in the way of hope for anything between them. For Ryo, the golden man felt that Aiden was spoiling the lovely mood he had had with Relena.

After Aiden left, he went down for his night shift beneath her balcony. Relena did not know of this vigil, and that was probably why she went through with what she did next. Relena lay on her bed, having asked Ryo not to stay with her that night. They had never been physically intimate, but Ryo often stayed in her room because she wanted him to, in case she had one of her nightmares about the war – or about Heero.

But tonight, she was confused. She knew Ryo wanted to ask her to marry him – he had practically said so as they got off the plane! – but a part of her still belonged to Heero, and she was not sure if she could ever get that piece back.

Relena rolled over, moaning in frustration, then swiftly got up, a defiant light having taken possession of her eyes as she locked the door and marched over to her closet, pulling out a dress Hilde had made her buy. It was dark, almost black, and indecently short. The material was light and floated over her skin as she slipped it on, pulling a pair of nude stockings over her long, slender legs before going to her makeup table and putting on the makeup that Catherine had helped her buy but she had never worn. The blonde locks went up into a slightly disheveled style on her head, and strappy black heels adorned her delicate feet.

Relena stood in her closet and looked at the entire effect in a full-length mirror. The dress fell to show the tops of the creamy mounds of her chest, tightening on its way down to fit her slim waist, then flowing into an immodestly brief skirt. Her legs beneath it seemed as long as Noin's, shimmering because of the sheer fabric clinging to them. Mysterious eyes watched from behind iridescent lids, lips laid heavy with dark crimson, parting slightly with indrawn breath. She did not recognize herself under the disheveled silken hairstyle. It surprised her.

Grabbing the small black bag she'd prepared, Relena turned out all lights and waited for her eyes to adjust before slipping out onto the balcony. Aiden blinked when he saw the almost invisible figure climbing down Relena's balcony and dangling for a moment before dropping to its feet. Standing, the slender figure adjusted itself, checked its clothes, and cast a hunted look around before trotting across the garden toward the compound's outer wall.

Aiden followed out of the compound, frustrated. What was she doing? Was she suicidal?

He continued to follow her along sidewalks until they reached a street lined with clubs.

"Go on," a broad, heavy man nodded, obviously approving of her, and Relena sent him a flirtatious glance from beneath dark lashes before she went into the club. _Heero, eat your heart out,_ she thought wildly, brushing against people as she moved about. A young man with a bare chest gave her an appreciative once-over, and she returned the look, heaving caution to the winds.

Relena refused to think about what she was doing as she followed the guy through the mass of twisting bodies, her purse slung across her body and bouncing uncomfortably against her hip as she moved, the music loud and insistent in her ears. The guy stopped and she bumped into him. She forced herself to relax as he slipped his hands onto her hips and led her in the dance. It was wild and free, and Relena was able to let herself go, her arms lifted above her head and eyes closed as she moved, the shifting lights playing havoc upon her closed lids.

After what might have been hours or moments, she felt herself being transferred to a new partner, but didn't open her eyes right away to see who it was. She brushed up against him a few times, then raised her eyes to the man's face, shock flaring as she saw Heero in front of her. Then, angry, she turned her back against him, moving against him, the beat of the music taking control of her limbs as she taunted this young man cruelly and without a second thought. Finally, after a longer period of time than she would have imagined he'd let this go on, Heero put her away from him, disentangling the slender hand that had unconsciously woven itself into his hair, and led her out of the club with a firm grip on her elbow.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked when they were on the sidewalk and away from the crowds.

"Living," she shot back, her eyes daring as she leaned forward and challenged him.

He ignored the amount of skin he could now see and glared back into her face. "You're just lucky no assassins tried their luck on your way over here."

"What do _you_ care?" her voice held a wild careening note. "Is your precious mission going to be jeopardized?"

Aiden felt a twinge, but refused to back down. "You're being reckless."

"I'm _human_!" she yelled, keeping the tears back by sheer will, "I can't help it that I need something more sometimes!"

"Isn't that what Ryo's for?" he replied, dark blue eyes unconsciously narrowing.

Relena caught something of the underlying emotion in his manner and moved close to him, looking up into his face with a purely reckless light. "Why? Jealous?" Her face was close to his and Aiden, for an impossibly lucid moment, stared at her lips. The color she had put on them was deep in the darkness of night, looking almost black and slightly wet.

Plump, ripe lips, perfect for kissing . . .

Aiden turned away, shaking himself mentally as he pondered her words.

"You need something else?" he glanced at her, and she nodded slightly, not really having expected any real response to that comment. Aiden grinned, shocking the girl, and grabbed her hand to race along the street with her, gaining a corner and signaling a cab. "I have just the thing." In the cab, he suggested she wipe some of her makeup off, and she complied with a tissue from her purse.

"Heero," Relena commented as they got out at a clean, respectable hotel. "I didn't really mean . . ." she stopped as he put two fingers to her lips, eyes shining with something she'd never seen in him before. Was it happiness?

"C'mon," they went inside and passed through the lobby, pushing the button to the elevator. The man behind the desk looked at them askance and started to come over.

"Excuse me, but do you have a room here? We really don't run that sort of establishment." the little weasel of a man looked Relena up and down in distaste, and Aiden stepped forward.

"Please tell room 105 that they have guests on the way." The weasel-man blinked, looked at Relena again, back at Aiden, and nodded dumbly. Thankfully, the elevator came before he could say anything else and Aiden pulled her onto it.

In the first floor hallway, Aiden stopped at door 105 and slid his electronic key into the slot. He opened the door a crack. "Wait here," he told Relena, and she stood out of the way.

"Hey!" a man's voice on the other side said, and Heero smiled again, a rare treat Relena was just getting used to, and whispered.

"Is everyone decent? I have a surprise."

"Yeah, yeah, the others are watching TV, and I was just reading. What's the surprise?"

"Her."

Relena came forward into the man's view as he swung the door open wider to let them in, and he blinked, then grinned. "Yamashi is going to love you forever."

Relena couldn't help staring at the man's familiar eyes, but didn't have the time to connect him to Heero as the latter mentioned young man led her inside with a hand on the small of her back. As they entered the hotel room's small living room, a petite body saw them through the open bedroom door as Heero peeked in, and then the child raced at them, flinging herself at Heero.

"NII-SAN!"

Relena found herself staring almost dumbly at Heero as he swung a fragile-looking child around in his arms, both of them seeming as happy as Quatre in a room full of kittens. (Or Dorothy in a room full of Quatres, but we won't go there.)

Nii-san? Big brother?

"Oi, Kia-chan, were you a good girl while I was gone?"

"HAI!" the child screamed.

"Re-re-re-re-re-re-heh heh heh heh . . ." Relena turned again toward the door, still not over her shock of finding out that Heero was a big brother, and found herself staring at a smaller version of Heero, looking much like he was when she first met him, but with brown eyes instead of blue. "Hi . . ." the boy stared, a look of euphoria plastered dumbly onto his face as he slumped against the doorjamb.

"Excuse Yamashi," a woman with long, wildly brown hair said, edging politely past her son. "He's been a fan of yours for a long time."

Aiden watched Relena's reaction to his family from under the cover of holding Kia. She was shocked, no doubt, but he saw her recollecting her wits. Her mouth closed, and she made an effort to smile.

"Pardon me," she shook herself. "I have been rude and not presented myself." Bowing as deeply to his parents as her skirt would allow (for they _had_ to be his parents), she stated politely, "I am Relena Darlian."

Aiden noted his parents' smiles, and could tell they thought she was charming. He held his breath as they introduced themselves, then pretended to be playing with Kia's hand as Relena sent him a brief, curious glance.

"Have you eaten yet tonight?" his mother asked, noting her thinness, "We were just about to order something."

"I . . ." Relena thought for a moment, flushing because she was thrown off by the question and felt that she had to answer quickly. "No," she felt her face flame and wildly looked anywhere but at a person, her gaze darting like that of a trapped animal, "I . . . have not been up to eating lately."

Aiden watched his mother become concerned for her nutrition. "Then let us get you something. I'm sure no one would mind you eating with us for a bit."

Relena blushed again, "No one really knows where I am."

Aiden's mother shot him a look, but he was busy thinking about the possibility of calling Zechs. The wavelength could be picked up by assassins and tracked to where they were, if they had not already followed them there. Aiden cursed himself silently. _I'm being sloppy._ But he was pretty sure that he would have noticed someone following them, and a Preventer was staked out as a janitor on the first floor with orders to call up at the first sign of trouble, as well as the two in the rooms on either side.

Duo had kept his promise in being thorough.

"Then it's settled," Aiden tuned in to the conversation just as it was ending. "I'll get you your usual, Aiden," she was saying, "and some chicken lomein for Miss Darlian. Come on, Yamashi, Kia." Aiden watched in baffled alarm as his mother started to pull Yamashi out with them and Kia protested to leaving. But before he could think to do anything, Relena saved him.

"Oh, she can stay if she wants," Relena waved a negligent hand from where she sat on the small couch, and Kia grinned.

Aiden's father looked at her in concern, "Are you sure she won't bother you?"

"Of course not," Relena gave a warm smile that brooked no further argument, and the man realized why she was one of the best politicians on Earth and the Colonies.

"All right then," he followed his wife and son out the door, closing it behind him on the boy's protests.

"Yay!" Kia squirmed from her brother's hold and wiggled onto Relena's lap, shoving the short skirt up so that the young woman blushed and tugged at it as the little girl hugged her. Aiden, realizing her discomfiture with a jolt, looked modestly away until she had straightened it.

"Has something been worrying you?" Aiden finally asked, sitting in an armchair and crossing his long legs. "I _have_ noticed your lack of appetite."

Relena looked away, uncomfortable. "Ryo's going to ask me to marry him soon."

Aiden went still at this, but forced himself to relax. "Do you love him?"

The painting on the wall suddenly seemed extremely inspiring to Miss Darlian, and Aiden had to ask his question again, more insistent. She transferred her gaze to Kia who was now on the floor with her Pretty Pink Gundams.

"In a way. . . ." Relena whispered.

"There's a problem," he asked, making it a statement.

"Yes," she held her chin steady by force of will, but the fog in her eyes refused to go away.

Aiden suddenly remembered Duo's words: _You know she's still in love with you. She carries that damn teddy bear everywhere._ His first impulse was to ask her straight out, but he forced himself to be discreet and gentle. "Is there someone else?"

She nodded tremulously, the Pretty Pink Gundams now the most interesting thing on the planet.

He started to ask who, but Kia got up and pulled herself onto the chair beside him, wrapping her little arms around his neck and asking him in a voice soft but just loud enough for Relena to hear. "Nii-san, is Relena-san going to be my new sister?"

"Um. . . ." was the extent of his eloquence as a blush rose up from his neck and covered his face, ears, and head.

He couldn't look at Relena just then, because he was so embarrassed, but he heard her half-giggling sob, and turned to see her laughing as the tears spilled over and made their way down her cheeks.

"Relena," he said, distressed, and went to put his arm around her, trying to make her stop crying. "Sh, sh, don't cry." He murmured nonsense, trying to do for her what he'd seen his mother do when Kia had a nightmare. "Don't cry. Come on, sh, sh."

"Your parents probably think I'm a slut," she got out into his shoulder mournfully, and he chuckled against her, assuring her otherwise. His words rumbled into her ear and she found herself wildly comparing this with Ryo's whispers to her. His had never made this thrill go down her spine . . .

Her face was against his shoulder as the rain of sobs finally softened, and Kia came up to sit on her lap and hug her too.

"I love you, Relena-san," the little girl said.

Relena hugged the child impulsively, more tears streaming down her face as she held the girl close. "I love you too, Kia." After a moment, she pulled back, and both looked a little rumpled, but pleased.

"And we _all_ love Nii-san!" Kia threw herself onto Aiden, who caught her just in time from knocking him off the couch. "At least," the child squirmed around on his lap, turning to face Relena, "Duo-san said _you_ did, and I know _I_ do." She smiled brightly at her own logic. "So we all love Nii-san!" Kia kicked her feet, leaning against her brother's chest, and didn't see the startled blush rising up Relena's face.

"Kia . . ." Aiden started in a pained voice, but Relena interrupted him by standing.

"I should go," she hurried to the door and had opened and was out of it before he could even completely remove Kia from his lap.

"Stay here," he told his sister sharply, and she nodded, staring with wide eyes as her nii-san left to follow the pretty lady.

"Relena!" Aiden saw the elevator doors finish closing and could not get it to come back up, so he ran to the emergency stairwell and ripped the door open, dashing down the three flights and bursting into the lobby just as he saw a man level a gun at Relena – who was looking at _him_. "Move!" he yelled, rushing forward as the sound of a gunshot echoed in the room, and shoved her behind a potted palm tree, pressing himself to the plant behind her as he reached into the back of his waistband and got his gun. Crouching quickly, he stuck his head and gun arm around the side of the plant and clicked off two shots at the man, who managed to move before he was seriously injured. Just then, he caught sight of his family in the glass entrance doors, carrying bags and talking. But as Yamashi started to come in, his father noticed the bleeding janitor on the floor just inside and pulled the boy back.

Aiden hissed in pain as something tore the skin at his arm, just grazing him, and shot a few more times at the man who effectively hid behind the reception desk.

"Heero!" Relena turned, concerned about him, and stumbled into the open area of the room.

Aiden saw the assassin leveling his shot, and moved with all the quickness due a former Gundam Pilot. His body slammed into Relena as he brought her down under him, barely registering the pain that flashed through him as he twisted and pulled the trigger, hitting the other man dead in the chest.

"Aiden?" his mother's worried voice floated to him through the pain, and he looked up to see her in the too bright lights of the hotel lobby.

"Are you all right? You've been shot," he could hear Relena's now, but hers was less anxious.

The last thing to register before he fell into the inky blackness was his father's question: "Where's Kia?" 


	7. Wheelchair

**Chapter 7: Wheelchair **

Aiden groaned, opening his eyes then blinking against the light.

"Baby," he heard his mother's voice, but it was indistinct, and he blacked out again, his body heavy and weak. He felt very – vulnerable – as he attempted to open his eyes again, this time just barely succeeding.

He could see worried faces hovering over him.

"They say you'll be okay," his mother was saying softly as he watched her. "The bullet hit an organ, but they were able to repair it."

"Kia," he managed to grate out, voice weaker than he would have liked to admit.

"She's right here," his father brought the little girl up, but stopped her from touching him. "No, Kia, nii-san isn't feeling well."

"Heero?" a soft, sweet voice called, as lovely as bell-chimes, and he shifted his attention to Relena as she bent over him worriedly. She had changed from her dark dress to some sensible grey sweat pants and a matching tank top, hair pulled back from her concerned face.

"Relena," he murmured, and his heavy eyes pulled shut.

-----------------------

"What the hell are you doing here?" a Chinese man stared down into the sweetest little face he had ever seen. His stare turned to a troubled scowl. "This place is restricted. You need to leave." The child stared at him in confusion for a moment, and he looked up to see a familiar figure rounding the corner in a wheel chair.

Aiden gave a half-smirk. "If you don't talk nicer to my little sister, Wufei, I'll have to kick your ass. And you know I can still do it."

"Language, Aiden," a motherly woman said as she came up behind him.

"Sorry."

Wufei Chang watched the exchange with a mildly puzzled expression, ignoring the benign threat. "Heero, who are these people?"

"They're Heero's family," Relena said, coming up behind the group and explaining to the Preventer, "and we're giving them a little tour." She gave him a look that stopped all arguments and the young Chinese man simply shrugged in defeat, losing interest in the affair.

"Just don't mess anything up." He walked off toward the medical wing of the building, wondering absently what Sally was doing.

"Heero-kun!" Quatre cried, coming up to them, "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, Quatre," Aiden replied. "I get out of this thing in a few days."

"Hi," a small voice was heard, and the pair of young men turned to look at Kia. The little girl was staring up at Quatre with wide eyes, a Pretty Pink Gundam clutched in her hands as some drool slid down the side of her mouth. "H-hi," she repeated dumbly, and Quatre blinked at her a moment, smiling uncertainly. Suddenly, and with a leap, she was in his arms, face looking with enraptured eyes into his. "Quatre, right?" she asked, her voice a hum of love.

"Y-yeah," he replied, nervous, and sent Aiden a distressed glance. "Quatre Winner. What do you have there?" he asked, looking at her Pretty Pink Gundam as it lay on the floor where she'd dropped it. "It's very nice," he stumbled, looking for anything to distract her.

She glanced at the floor, then back at Quatre, and hugged her arms around his neck, "You're going to marry me!"

"Um, Heero?" Quatre was on the verge of tears, and Aiden rolled over to them, trying not to laugh.

"Quatre, you're going to be late for that meeting if you don't hurry." He winked at the former Sandrock pilot who gave him the most grateful look he had ever received.

Mouthing 'Thank You' as he handed Kia to Relena, the blonde man bid a hasty goodbye to everyone and sped off down the hall.

Kia swooned and fell into Relena's arms in a mock-faint.

"No, I'll just stay here," Aiden told them. "I've seen the rest of this part, and I'm tired."

"You're sure?" his mother asked, looking uncertain, "I can bring you back something if you want. A drink, or some soup?"

"The servants will bring him whatever he needs, I'm sure," Relena smiled graciously, "And I'll tell them he's here." This assuaged the woman and she gave her elder son a quick kiss on the forehead before turning to go. When she was halfway out the door, Aiden's father bent down to him with a quick glance at Relena who was busy with the kids.

"You haven't, um," he made a vague motion with his hand, and Aiden was confused a moment before he realized what the man was implying.

"_Dad_!" he exclaimed, then sent a look at the small group that was now staring at him before turning back and whispering an emphatic "No!"

Relena sent him a baffled look, trying to repress the smile that wanted to come. He looked so cute when he blushed. She wondered what they had been talking about, but shrugged and joined his mother in the hall.

Soon Aiden was alone in Relena's office, and he sat back in his chair, trying to get comfortable.

"No good," he muttered, then turned his head as someone walked in.

"Oh, I thought Relena was back," the young man paused, shutting the door behind himself, and looked around the office.

"She is," Aiden told him, "she's just showing some guests around the estate."

"Ah," the young man looked at Aiden carefully and Aiden returned the look just as coolly. "You're that new bodyguard, aren't you? The one that took a bullet for Relena."

"Hai," Aiden replied without emotion.

The young man's green eyes narrowed. "If it hadn't been for you, she wouldn't have been in danger in the first place. What were you doing out at night with an impressionable young lady, anyway? Trying to take advantage of her?"

Aiden felt his eyes narrow and the old look come into them. "Excuse me?"

The young man nodded, angry, "You heard me. If you had done your _job_ and brought her back immediately, she wouldn't have been in danger at all!"

Aiden froze, inside and out, his eyes almost black in their cold fury. Trying not to show how much it cost him, he rose from his wheelchair and stood, glaring down at the other man, working for dominance.

But the young man, fool that he was, went too far. He grabbed the front of Aiden's shirt and sent his words into Aiden's face like white hot chips. "If you lay one finger on my girl again, I'll kill you."

Like a dam bursting, Aiden's anger poured into his fist, which suddenly found itself planted in Ryo's midsection, pushing all the air from his body. But that effort took its toll and Aiden had to sink to one knee, breathing heavily. After a few moments, Ryo had recovered himself and punched Aiden in the face, rocking the young man and splitting his lip, but otherwise not phasing him as he looked up at the furious blonde.

"If you fight anyone like that for Relena," Aiden panted, "then she's in good hands."

The anger in Ryo's eyes faded and he became bemused. "A-arigato . . . I think."

"I still don't like you," Aiden told him after a moment as he regained his wheelchair, and bright green met dark blue.

"Same here," Ryo nodded, a mutual understanding, if not amiability, flashing between the two men before he left. 


	8. Heal

**Chapter 8: Heal **

"What _did_ happen to you?" Relena asked Aiden as they sat in her office, the politician perched on the edge of her desk, bending over the figure in the wheelchair as she doctored his bloody lip. His family had left after the tour, and he was glad his mother had not seen the blood – she had fainted when he was shot, and would have gotten hysterical at this scratch.

_Well, more than a scratch_, Aiden relented, wincing as Relena dabbed at the cut with alcohol. "Ow," he murmured, and Relena smiled down at him.

"You got shot and you're complaining that _this_ hurts?" her expression was playful and Aiden smirked back at her, responding to the tone.

"I was unconscious for most of _that_ treatment. Besides, you're rough." Her eyes clouded over and the porcelain lids dropped.

"I'm sorry I got you shot," she whispered, the entire mood changing. "I didn't – I just – I didn't want anyone to get hurt," her voice broke and she put a hand to her mouth, a muffled sob escaping, shaking her form as she tried to choke it back. Aiden's face softened and he pulled her down off the desk, settling her onto his lap in the chair and holding her there as he might a child, rocking her slightly as she buried her face into his shoulder and cried. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he heard her gasp out, and he hugged her closer to him.

"It's okay," he murmured, stroking her silken hair. Aiden wasn't as good at comforting as his mother was, but he had picked up a few tips here and there and spoke in a soft, kind voice, murmuring nonsense meant to make her feel better. "You know, when Kia skins her knee or something," he said after a pause and some meandering thought, "she always gets somebody to kiss it and it feels better."

It was only mollifying nonsense, something he remembered that he had the vague feeling would make her feel better, but Relena sniffled and drew back from his shoulder, looking him in the face. After a moment, she leaned forward and brushed her lips lightly against side of his mouth – a butterfly kiss on the cut. She drew back and he looked at her in slight surprise, though the feelings the touch invoked in him almost overwhelmed the surprise. After a moment of looking into each other's eyes and realizing fully the position they were in, Relena asked in a soft, husky voice, "Where else does it hurt?"

He stared at her for a moment, her face suspended over his, slender white hand cupping his cheek, her weight a welcome feeling on his lap . . . Aiden shook his head, looking away from her, and she moved back, taking her hand down. "I should go," he said quietly, and after a moment she slipped silently from his legs and moved to shift through some papers, not looking at him.

_Good,_ he thought, _she understands._ As he wheeled toward the door, not looking back, his heart throbbed once and he added, _I hope._

-------------------

Aiden was back on his feet before the week was out, and busy training with Trowa in the gym. Quatre sat by the side with Relena and watched – or tried to. Aiden's mother had coerced them into helping Aiden babysit the kids for the day while the parents relaxed in the pool. They had been transferred to the secured mansion earlier that day, which happened to be where Relena was staying until the whole terrorist mess could be resolved. Aiden felt bad for putting his family through all of this and was more at ease when he could keep an eye on them all.

Aiden dodged and swept his leg at Trowa, who did a full leap into the air and over Aiden's head. Instead of marveling at this feat, Aiden swept around and caught him as he came down, slamming the acrobat into the mats. Trowa twisted and almost wriggled loose, but Aiden was ready and shifted his weight accordingly, effectively pinning Trowa face-down to the mat.

Trowa sighed, giving up his struggles. "Yeild," he murmured, and felt blessed air rush into his lungs as Aiden let him sit up. "Better than yesterday," he complemented after a moment, then stood and walked over to his water. Aiden watched him walk away absently and transferred his gaze to the four chattering by the side-lines. They hadn't even noticed the sparring match was over.

Aiden smirked as Kia sidled a little closer to Quatre, whose charming smile was beginning to look strained. Aiden didn't blame him, Kia could test the patience of an angel sometimes. Relena, in turn, was trying to follow Yamashi's prattle as he showed her his car magazines, but only succeeded in being increasingly lost. Finally, he gave up and pulled out the big guns.

_Teddy Bears Illustrated_. Aiden laughed silently as Relena's eyes widened in happiness and she perused the magazines with enthusiasm. Their chatter and laughter filled the room, echoing, and Aiden glanced over to see Kia thoroughly whopping Quatre in a Pretty Pink Gundam battle.

Pushing himself up, Aiden walked over to the battle and watched with evident enjoyment. Kia was presently of the mind where nothing could harm her Gundam but she could inflict severe damage on anyone else's. This meant that though Quatre tried his best, all his valiant efforts to take down Gundam Fuschia were thwarted with violent comebacks and the outright ignoring of any damage he managed to "inflict."

Aiden laughed at Quatre's dismayed bemusement when this happened for the third time, then caught Relena's eye as she glanced over from her magazine and smiled at her. There was a warm fuzzy feeling in Aiden's stomach that he had enjoyed immensely for the past few years with his family that now mixed with an aching pang in his chest as she smiled back, sweetly.

"Relena!" a voice came from behind Aiden at the door to the gym and Relena's gaze transferred to the blonde man standing there.

"Ryo," she smiled, and Aiden looked down, the fuzzy feeling evaporating, replaced with hot indignation. It seemed almost sacrilegious for Ryo to have come at that precise moment, when Aiden was feeling so good.

"Come on," Aiden said softly, standing and picking up Kia's toys, "you should get cleaned up for dinner." He gave his pouting sister her Pink-Gundam-filled backpack and took her hand, leading her over and telling Yamashi in an undertone that they were going, as Relena was over talking to Ryo. Unfortunately, Yamashi made his protests as loud as he could.

"I don't _wanna_ go!" he yelled, straining against his brother's strong hand on his arm. Luckily for Aiden, though Yamashi looked like him he held nothing of Aiden's old strength as a soldier. Kia took this as a cue for her rebellion, and she promptly and shrilly shrieked her displeasure.

Annoyed that they were creating a spectacle, and embarrassed that they were doing it in front of his friends – and rival – Aiden closed his eyes briefly before bending and sweeping both off their feet, Kia in one arm and Yamashi over the other shoulder.

"We have to go," he muttered to Relena as he passed, his burdens ungraciously hitting him in the face and almost kicking Relena as they headed out.

Stunned, Relena only had time to call a worried goodbye before they were down the hall and out of her sight. 


	9. Jerk

**Chapter 9: Jerk **

"Nice siblings," Ryo murmured, stepping up to Aiden at dinner that night. "Figures you'd be from a vulgar family like that." Aiden had been standing in a shadowy corner, having claimed no appetite, and growled when he saw Ryo approaching him. "No wonder you don't want to sit with them," the blonde man chuckled.

Now, to understand his next actions, one must realize the state of mind Aiden was in at the moment. He had given Yamashi and Kia a thorough scolding for their misbehavior earlier and threatened not to let Relena and Quatre help him babysit anymore if they didn't straighten up. This had only succeeded in an hour of head-splitting cries and pouting debuts, finally ending in a tickling contest that left them all on the floor panting and smiling. Still, this did nothing to allay his earlier embarrassment and he tried once more to calmly explain to them why he did not want such behavior from them again. He thought they understood, and the pain in Kia's eyes as she realized how her brother must have been feeling tore at his gut to place him in a completely drained and miserable mood for the duration of the day, not wanting to deal with any form of human life whatsoever until morning's cheer could wipe the depression from his mind.

So it was no little surprise to any but those who knew nothing of his grumpiness that Aiden slammed the cocky young man against the wall and knocked him down again with his right fist. As opposed to the fight in Relena's office, Aiden was almost at full strength now and left a dazed, bleeding Ryo lying on the ground.

He didn't bother to look back as he stormed out to the balcony, ignoring his mother's indignant calls after him.

"Aiden!" he heard again, and turned with a scowl.

"_What_," he glared, and immediately regretted both tone and glare as his mother's angry eyes darkened.

The woman stepped toward him, dark hair clouding around her face and making her seem almost demonic in the starshine as her hand came up and smacked him firmly across his cheek.

He kept his eyes down, penitent, and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Don't tell _me_ that," his mother raged softly, "you go in there and apologize to that boy. _Now._"

Aiden's brow furrowed and he turned away, angry. "He insulted Yamashi and Kia."

There was silence behind him for a moment and when she spoke her voice held more understanding. "You still should have kept your temper. They'll think we turned you into a jackal out there."

Aiden turned and grinned, leaning back against the railing. "Oh, there's not much of a problem with that. I did _horrible_ stuff before I came to you; you'd kill me if I did it now. Like when Relena gave me a birthday invitation and I tore it up in her face."

"Aiden!" his mother exclaimed, a hand flying up to her mouth. She was smiling a little despite her horror, though. It was the first time her son had really talked about himself in four years.

Aiden laughed. It felt good to laugh with his mother. "Don't worry, she got me back later." He winked and at her curious look, he told her. "She ripped up the birthday card I gave her."

"_Oh_," her hand moved to her cheek and he could tell she was trying to look scandalized, but was really eating all of it up. He tried to think of something else to tell her, but his mind went blank as Relena came out, looking uncertain.

"Ryo's being taken upstairs. You knocked two of his teeth out," she said softly.

Aiden's eyes narrowed. "You like Yamashi and Kia?"

Relena blinked up at him. "What? Yes, of course I do. I love them."

Nodding, Aiden said seriously, "Then you would have hit someone if they insulted them, too."

"What?!" Relena's eyes went wide and Aiden looked away.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Look, you wanna talk to us a bit? I'm telling my mom about what a jerk I used to be." A hint of a smirk crossed his lips and Relena tried not to look as interested as she was.

"Okay."

"So, what do you remember about me?" he asked, relaxing and smiling at her.

Relena thought for a moment. "You didn't associate with anybody, but all the girls had crushes on you." She grinned.

"And I'm sure you were nowhere in their ranks," he replied seriously, a glint of teasing in his eyes as she huffed and turned away.

"I certainly was not!" she replied.

"Mm-hm," he said, but dropped that subject. It was too risky. "You should have seen Miss Royal Lady Relena with her trailing of loyal followers; they wouldn't do anything without her."

"They were _nice_ girls!" Relena defended, smiling, and turned to his mother for help.

"I'm sure they were, dear," his mother gave him a look.

"Oh, please," he cast his gaze heavenward and informed his mother, "They had _no_ brains of their own."

The rest of the evening was spent on the balcony, swapping stories in perfect contentment.

------------------------------------

Aiden was listening to the news in the small parlor, which was fit snugly under one of the stairwells by the entrance. Leaving the door open, he could see out and note everyone coming and going.

He was sunk into the soft beige cushions of the larger couch, arms folded as he frowned at a report of a bombing in a lower city. He wore a dark brown t-shirt and jeans, ankles crossed out in front of him.

"Six-o-clock news," Relena said, leaning against the doorway. "You're so predictable."

"Sit," he offered when she continued to stand there. She came in, glancing at him as she sat politely and smoothed her cream-colored skirt. He didn't glance at her, but she noted the snug fit of his t-shirt and the way the muscles in his arms tensed as he shifted.

Aiden saw her looking at him uncertainly and turned his head. "What?" She seemed flustered at having been caught looking at him, but regained her composure quickly, wrapping it around her with learned grace. He noticed that she was dressed differently today -- no tight, stiff jackets and skirts, but an off-white satin blouse, simple but elegant, a creamy, flowing skirt that touched her ankles lightly as she stood, a golden heart-shaped pendant dangling daintily to her stomach, and matching earrings. Even her hair was curled and pulled softly back, light makeup brushed across her face.

"I'm sorry. I was just wondering if Hilde and I could go shopping tomorrow. I'd really like to get out of here, and I have no meetings then," her eyes lit up as he frowned and uncrossed his arms. She was standing beseechingly, hands clasped in front of her. "I already called and took care of finding a store! I just . . . if you would let me . . ." Her eyes fell and she waited, tense, for a verdict.

"I have to babysit Kia tomorrow, but we could take her along _if_ I approve of the store's security. I'll check it out tonight and tell you in the morning."

Relena's eyes brightened and she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh _thank_ you!"

Aiden shifted uncomfortably under her appreciation. "Sure." He tried to think of something to make her stop hugging him -- it was affecting him oddly. He kept wanting to wrap his arms around her and hold her back. "How's Ryo?" he finally said.

Relena went still and when she drew back, she wasn't looking at him. "He's fine. I'm going to the dentist with him today. He was busy and couldn't see us last night."

Aiden looked at her. "Hn. You dress like that to see a dentist?"

"It isn't nice?" she looked down at herself then up at him, almost frantic.

"No," Aiden shook his head, "you look very pretty. It's just a bit -- much -- for the dentist."

Relena was stunned. "I . . . You think I look pretty?"

Aiden's gaze came up and was caught by hers -- she wanted so much to be accepted by him. She needed it. His eyes softened and he told her gently, "Of course."

She smiled. "Thank you, Heero." She turned to go, the skirt swirling delicately, but he caught her wrist and she turned back, surprised, the golden-brown curls bobbing.

"Call me Aiden," he told her. Her eyes widened. Only his family called him that; no one else dared to. It was obviously an affectionate name for very close family and friends, and of yet he had allowed it of no one except those four.

Relena sat back down, her face a mask of seriousness. "What do you think of Ryo?"

Aiden took the change of subject without the blink of an eye. He answered firmly and coldly. "I have no place to say."

"Hee--Aiden. You're my friend," she looked up at him, missing his internal wince, "and I trust your judgment. More than anybody's, maybe. Please, tell me."

Aiden sighed, taking her hands in his. "I really couldn't tell you and consider it an impartial judgment. I have so many things to hate him for . . ." his eyes unfocused.

"Like what?" she asked softly.

Aiden looked at her again, her face so close and earnest he just wanted to kiss it -- not like a lover, but like one would a child, smothering it with kisses for no better reason than its dimples. He smiled, tenderly. _Because he has you_, he thought. "Not now. I'll tell you later."

She watched him curiously as he left. 


	10. Shopping

**Chapter 10: Shopping **

"How in the world did she rope us into this?" Duo muttered, burying his face in his hands.

"Because she roped _your_ fiancée into going with her," Aiden replied unmercifully. He was leaning against a wall behind Quatre, who seemed to be seriously contemplating a blue-grey cashmere sweater.

"Yeah, well, I've been seriously reconsidering the whole marriage thing. If I have to put up with this kind of stuff on a regular basis -- nuh-uh. I'm out." Aiden glanced around the empty store, ignoring Duo because he knew the braided man would never really give up Hilde. Relena had gotten an old friend of her foster father to open the store only for her, even though it was supposed to be closed -- and _was_, to the public.

"Guys, what do you think of this?" Quatre turned, holding the sweater out before him.  
Aiden blinked. "Too small and we're in the _women's_ department." Duo chuckled and Quatre rolled his eyes.

"For my _sister_, Heero."

"Which one?" he lifted an eyebrow.

Quatre shrugged and fiddled with the tag, checking the price. "Any one it will fit."

Duo and Aiden shared a look, then grinned and turned as the girls came toward them, arms full of clothing.

"We found some great things for Kia," Relena smiled to Aiden as they handed their things to the men.

"Mm," Duo commented, "yeah, she'd look pretty cute in this." He picked out a small dark green dress, which would come down to Kia's knees.

"Duo," Hilde took the handful of fern-patterned fabric, smiling up at him, "this one's mine."

He stood completely still for a moment, eyes moving from her to the dress, before a small, serious grin spread over his face. "You're not wearing that in public. Just for me," he told her, kissing her on the nose as she smiled and put it back in his arms with her other selections.

Aiden watched the exchange with an oddly detached smile. His eyes slipped to Relena where she was trying a black velvet, fake-fur trimmed coat on a glowing Kia. Aiden's family had never really had much money, and Kia was eating all this attention up. She twirled as Relena stepped back to observe her creation.

"You've made a monster," Aiden stepped up behind Relena, smiling. She turned. "And you're spending too much," his eyes were serious, a little concerned.

"Never too much for Kia," she dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Don't you want anything?"

"No," he told her, watching Kia prance around them. "I'm fine."

"You're sure?" she asked, a devilish twinkle in her eye. "You, the man who went an entire war in a green tank and black spandex?"

He chuckled dryly. "I _did_ wash them."

She looked at him oddly, eyes glancing up and down his form curiously, an expression in her eye that sent his heart beating faster, blood heating. "What did you wear when you did that?" she asked, keeping his eye one last moment before turning and following Hilde to the shoes.

After a moment of calm, bracing breaths, Aiden followed them.

"I like the red ones!" Kia said as Hilde slipped a glittering red flat on her left foot and Quatre had a classic glossy black on her right. They went to find some others as Kia admired the mismatched pair on her feet.

"The black will do, and that's _all_ you're getting," Aiden told her calmly. "Miss Relena is spending quite enough on you besides shoes." Her mouth opened wide in a cry, and Relena looked up at him from beside both of them, but their protests were cut short as the lights went out.

Relena had been near Kia's bench, just in Aiden's reach, and he moved swiftly to grab her, shoving her to the ground, as several gunshots cut through the air and someone screamed. Aiden was covering Relena's body with his, his hands pressed against her ears, and prayed that the others were all right.

The lights flickered back on as the sharp sounds faded, stopping, and Aiden lifted himself cautiously and glanced around, looking for the shooter as he reached for his own gun. Relena stirred under him, her eyes wide, but as Aiden glanced to his left, he froze.

With a rough, "Kia," he was scrambling over to where the small figure lay. Quatre came around the side, followed by the others, and stared at Kia. Aiden shoved his emotions away and took in the damage with one sweep of her body – there was a bloody hole ripped through her shoulder, and another in her leg, her head turned to the side with dark hair fanning out around her too-pale face. The red shoe had blood splattered on its shimmering surface, the black had none -- she had not yet lost enough blood to be in danger, but it would not be long until she had. Taking a swift look around, he noted their open position and gathered the small figure into his arms, growling orders for Quatre to get Relena.

He moved them further into the racks and was grateful for the thick winter clothing as he grabbed a dark grey and a pale pink sweater, pressing one to her shoulder and giving the other to Quatre to tend her leg as Duo huddled Hilde and Relena against a jacket rack, gun bared as the violet-eyed man kept a keen eye out for more assassins. They made makeshift bandages over her wounds and Aiden put her carefully into Quatre's arms.

Keeping low among the racks, he moved to Duo, Quatre following him.

"Take the girls out to the car and leave," he told Duo. Their car was a beat-up Honda the Preventers had lent them, with bulletproof windows, special tires, and an engine in perfect working order. "I'm going to check on the saleswoman, make sure she's okay."

Duo's eyes darkened, but he nodded, taking Hilde's arm and motioning for Relena to follow them and keep low.

"Aiden," Relena whispered, turning to him. "We'll wait for you."

"You wait for me, then Kia dies," he replied. Duo glanced back, impatient, but Aiden ignored him and slipped his hand behind her head, pressing his lips firmly and briefly to hers, before releasing her and moving back.Relena was stunned for a moment, eyes locked to his and lips slightly parted, but then he slipped away and Duo was taking her arm, leading her out, and she didn't even have the presence of mind to blush at the braided man's grin.


	11. Advice

**Chapter 11: Advice **

"How'd it go?" Duo asked as Aiden came into the kitchen late that same night. Maxwell was sitting at the counter, drinking decaf coffee, and Aiden sat down beside him.

"Found the sniper."

"I figured," Duo chuckled. There was a moment of silence. "He alive?"

"No."

"Painful death?"

"Very."

"Much information?"

"Enough." Silence fell over them again, thickly, like a blanket. "How's Kia?"

It took Duo a moment to reply, and he didn't look up from his coffee. "Alive. Still out though."

Aiden cursed, balling his fist up on the counter. "I should have protected her! I should have . . . paid more attention, I should have . . ." he slammed his fist down, tears welling up in his eyes, "I should have done _something_," he whispered hoarsely.

A small intake of breath stopped his tirade, and he tried to get control of himself.

Duo turned around. "Hey Ojousan," he said softly.

"I'm sorry," Relena said. "I'll go if you want."

Aiden turned slightly to glance at her. She was hovering uncertainly in the kitchen doorway, eyes everywhere but on Aiden.

"No," Duo said, smiling gently, "I was just leaving." He squeezed Aiden's shoulder as he stood, moving past Relena and out of the room.

She came slowly over and paused by Aiden. "Duo told you about Kia?"

He nodded. "When this job is over, I'm taking my family back to L1."

He wasn't looking at her, and something tense in his voice and posture combined skillfully with that one line to tell her everything.

She stilled. He wasn't coming back. He didn't _want_ to come back, because it would put his family in danger and he couldn't do that to them – he loved them too much.

Relena gave an odd little laugh. "At least you told me this time," she murmured when he looked at her. Her eyes were dark in the ill-lighted room, and though her tone was soft and smiling, those eyes told of her pain.

Aiden touched her arm gently. "Go to bed, Relena." She paused, then turned, nodded, and left. After she was gone, Aiden bowed his head and stood, grabbing the jacket he had put on a nearby chair. Setting off at a brisk pace, he went under the grand staircase, slipping through the door nestled under the second sweep of stairs, and into a small dark area, the only light provided by a small number panel by a plain white door. He punched in the correct code and waited a moment before the door whisked open to allow him through. He took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dim lights of the inner sanctuary and stepped in, glancing around the silent offices. He headed back past all the dark, abandoned rooms to a lighted one at the end of the hallway, and glanced inside. A woman sat with her back to him, hair falling out of the two sandy twists they were up in from long hours of work. He knocked lightly on the door and she turned around, blue eyes bleary from lack of sleep.

"Heero," she murmured, eyebrows coming together in concern and understanding. "She's in the back; Trowa's watching her."

"Arigato," he murmured, and turned out of the office to head farther back into the compound. He went through a pair of double doors and walked down an ill-lighted hallway until he found an open door. Entering, he saw by the light of a low lamp a small form lying on a white, sterile bed, hooked up to an IV.

A figure beside the bed looked up and stood.

"Trowa," Aiden walked over to the man and clasped his hand. "Thank you."

Trowa shook his head. "Thank Sally. She did some amazing emergency work on the kid."

Aiden smiled wryly. "I'll send her flowers." He sobered. "Honestly, though. Thank you for staying with her."

"No problem. She's a cute kid. I wouldn't want her waking up alone in a strange place."

Aiden moved to the side of the bed, sitting in a hard plastic chair and leaning forward, head down and hands clasped between his knees. "I should have grabbed her when the lights went out."

Trowa bowed his own head, then looked up from under his bangs, assessing his friend. The slim, tall body folded into the chair, muscles less pronounced with years out of training and the wars far behind him, but still trim, indicating that he did manual labor regularly. His hair was a bit longer in back, shaggier, and was ruffled from the walk back to the mansion, giving him an air of pleasant dishevelment. But for all his tousled beauty, his eyes struck Trowa like a blow. Their normally hard blue depths were open, and filled with nothing but cruel black pain. The anguish he found there, the self-hatred, made Trowa step back in fear and concern.

Heero was in trouble.

Trowa stepped forward, slowly, as if not sure whether he could safely approach the man with a demon's eyes, and held out one hand as a sort of peace offering. "Heero." That awful gaze transferred from the unmoving child to Trowa, but it was unseeing. "It was a mistake. You can't dwell on it like this; everyone makes mistakes. Let it go and just be glad that she's alive now."

Aiden's gaze hardened, focused, and he gave Trowa a terrible glare, worse than any of his past because of the horrible pain held behind it. "You haven't almost killed an innocent," he grated, something raw and heart-wrenching in his voice. Something familiar, and it struck a cord in Trowa.

"No, I haven't," he shook his head, then looked Aiden straight in the eye. "But someone we know _has_ killed innocents. A whole colony of them."

Aiden's eyes clouded over as he remembered – they had both been there, fighting. No one else knew what it had been like to see one of their own comrades turn, but they had been there. They had seen the devil break free."Talk to him. He might be able to help," Trowa suggested, taking his seat beside the bed again, looking at Aiden across the child. Aiden nodded, glanced at his sister one last time, and left.


	12. Peace

**Chapter 12: Peace **

Aiden was walking down the hallway in the early dawn, watching the sunrise absently out of the windows he passed. He was tired and ragged, still wearing the same clothes he had been in the night before, only more rumpled from vain attempts to sleep.

Aiden sighed and leaned against a window frame, looking out and thinking to himself. Was this the best plan of action? Was it wisest? He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair, tugging a few tangles free. He needed to sleep before he did anything, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to rest very well with this all on his mind. Aiden closed his eyes and rearranged his plans a little. He would go at night and sleep today. Surely Sally could give him something to knock him out for a few hours . . .

Someone cleared their throat behind Aiden and he turned.

"I'm sorry," Ryo told him, looking nervous, "about what happened. To your sister, that is. I'm sorry."

Aiden eyed him wearily. His first instinct was to distrust the man, but on further inspection, Aiden had to be honest that there was nothing for Ryo to gain by doing this, and that the sympathetic look in those green eyes was genuine.

"I have two little sisters at home, and it would kill me if anything happened to them," Ryo swallowed, his eyes darted to the side before struggling back to Aiden, as if he didn't want to look at him, and he forced out, "I know I was a jerk before, and I wanted to apologize for that too. I mean, it was uncalled-for." Ryo rubbed his jaw and gave a small smile. "My dentist even agreed about that." He sobered. "I guess I was just upset about having you around. She told me how she used to feel about you, and it really made me nervous. I love Relena, and I don't want to lose her."

Aiden took his gaze from the blonde man and glanced out the window thoughtfully. "She's a good girl," he agreed, ignoring the twinge at "_used_ to feel about you."

"So . . ." Ryo trailed off and finally stuck his hand awkwardly toward Aiden. It hung suspended there for a moment as Aiden looked at Ryo. Clean cut, proper, probably rich, a jerk when upset, but all-in-all a fairly decent fellow.

Aiden took the proffered hand. "Hurt her and I'll kill you." With a vague smile at Ryo's startled face, Aiden turned soundly and walked off down the hall. 


	13. Empathy

**Chapter 13: Empathy **

It was bright when Aiden entered the fencing hall. Relena and Yamashi watched the match quietly, but Aiden did not join them. He was waiting for one of the participants to finish, and looked mildly about the room. There were two great windows in one wall, with light, filmy curtains that were opened to allow golden sunlight to slant in onto the participants.

"Nii-san?" Aiden turned to Yamashi, who was twisting his hands nervously, brow furrowed in worry. "Is Kia going to be okay?"

Aiden didn't speak for a moment, looked up at the high windows and listened to the clanging of fencing foils. "She'll live," he paused. "As for when she'll wake up . . . I don't know."

Yamashi's gaze turned down and Aiden realized that he was not the only one suffering. His family had to be going through hell right now and he wasn't able to be there for them.

Aiden slipped an arm across Yamashi's shoulders and led him to one of the windows, Relena watching them from across the room. "Look out there, Yamashi," Aiden told him softly. "Look at the birds and the sky and the grass."

"It's so peaceful," Yamashi's worn brown eyes trailed over the scenery. Sweaty fighters clashed behind them.

"I've seen so much death, and caused so much of it myself." Aiden put his hand lightly on the sill, staring at the sky. Yamashi glanced up at him. "Now I'm on the other side – and there is no way I'm going to let her die." He looked down at Yamashi and the boy saw an awesome power burning in those dark blue eyes. His voice was soft, silk-laden steel. "I am going to find whoever is behind all of this, and I promise you – they will pay."

"Heero," a hand clasped Aiden's shoulder gently. He turned as Quatre took his fencing helmet off. "You wanted to talk?" he asked gently.

"Yeah," Aiden turned to Yamashi and ruffled the boy's hair. "I'll see you later."

He followed Quatre into the dressing room and waited while the other young man showered and changed. Shortly, they went to one of the smaller balconies of a private anteroom where Quatre had already had tea set up for them.

They settled in and Quatre looked up at Aiden, knowing the reason of his distress without having been told. "What do you think you did wrong?"

Aiden replied promptly. It was, of course, what he had been dwelling on all night. "I forgot about her and she got hurt."

Quatre nodded, sipping his tea for a long moment as he looked out at the birds flitting and twittering through the tree just beside their balcony, the lush green plant sending a splendid shade over them in the morning radiance. "Why did you forget about her?"

It took him longer to answer that one. Not that he didn't already know, but it was a personal matter and Aiden had never been good at spilling his guts to anyone. "Relena distracted me," he sighed.

Quatre looked at him, straight in the eye, and almost smirked. "I saw that you were a little out of it there. What _did_ she say to you? You stood in the sweaters for ten whole seconds, just looking blank." He sipped his tea again, looking at Aiden curiously over the rim. The tea steamed pleasantly, little curls of vapor rising up and mixing into the cool morning air. Aiden dumped another spoonful of sugar into his tea and stirred, just for the sake of doing something distracting.

"It was more her tone than anything," he replied, not looking at the blonde boy. "It was . . . coy, I suppose. I've never seen her like that before, so it was . . . shocking."

Quatre chuckled and lifted an eyebrow. "I'd imagine." He watched Aiden dump another spoonful of sugar in and stir it methodically. "Heero, you're human. You're not perfect, you never were, and just because you're losing that edge doesn't mean it's your fault. Personally, I think it's _great_ that you've gotten on with your life so well."

"But I almost lost my sister. That's not something I can rationalize away so easily." Aiden left the tea alone and looked at Quatre, whose eyes shimmered with sympathy.

"Neither is destroying a colony."

Aiden shook his head, holding back the tears with some effort. His throat and eyes burned, but he managed it. "You were under the Zero System. This was _my_ fault, my personal fault. If I had been strong enough–"

Quatre stood up and banged his fist against the table, getting Aiden's attention. "'If I had been strong enough,' 'if I had done this, if I had done that.' I'm _sick_ of it, Heero, and I don't want to hear another damn word like that out of you!"

Taken aback, Aiden could only stare as Quatre sat back down and frowned at his tea.

"Don't you think I've gone through that?" he finally asked, quietly, cupping pale slim hands around his warm cup.

Aiden looked down, ashamed and throbbing with the fresh wounds of guilt.

"It doesn't work, Heero. You can't just hide behind your pain. You're sorry, yeah, but you can't keep beating yourself up over it. If you do, you'll just end up hurting more. I _know_, Heero. I've felt it all."

Aiden spooned more sugar into his tea and sighed, frustrated, a terrible turmoil churning around in his stomach. They sat in silence for awhile and Aiden sipped his tea.

Then spat it out.

"Ugh," he wiped his mouth, and Quatre laughed.

"I _thought_ you were putting too much sugar in there," he chuckled. "But I didn't want to say anything."

Aiden pushed his cup away in disgust, turning to serious matters. "I've got a tip on who was behind the attempts. I'm going to visit them tonight." His eyes narrowed at the birds as one landed on the balcony railing and Quatre poured him a new cup of tea, having dumped the too-sweet cup over the rail. Aiden was busy thinking about what he would do to the fellow in charge of the attacks.

Quatre set Aiden's cup down firmly and looked him in the eye, studying him with a frown. "Heero, I don't want this to turn into revenge. Please tell me you'll act rationally."

Aiden glared up at him and Quatre's frown turned into a glare.

"Heero, I don't want you to go off half-cocked on a suicide mission. Before you do anything stupid, think about how Kia would feel if she woke up and found out you were _dead_!" Quatre spat the last phrase, and Aiden clenched his teeth, angry because Quatre made sense. His plan had been suicidal, but if he died who would protect his family?

Who would protect Relena?

Aiden sighed. "You really know how to push a guy down, Quatre."

"If he's a suicidal maniac, then thank you." Quatre sipped at his tea some more and Aiden glared at him, then carefully measured the amount of sugar he put in his tea and sipped at it.

"Alright," Aiden had finished his tea and was feeling somewhat better. "I'll do it the safe way. But do me a favor."

"What?"

"Give me a pill that will let me rest. I was up all night."

Quatre chuckled and stood. "Come on." They walked up in companionable silence. Once in Quatre's room, he drew a plastic bottle from the medicine cabinet and shook out one tablet. He handed it to Aiden who swallowed it with a handful of water.

"Aren't those things bad for you?" he swiped at his mouth and raised an eyebrow as Quatre settled the bottle back in the cabinet.

"Addictive, you mean? Only if you use them regularly." He looked down. "I just use them when I have nightmares and can't get back to sleep."

"Hn," Aiden grunted. He paused at the door and turned back, thinking about his problems again. "Who helped you? How did you get through it?"

Quatre smiled. "I got through it because I found someone else who needed me. We helped each other."

"Who?"

"Go to bed, Heero." Quatre smiled gently, obviously not going to give him any more information.

Aiden nodded complacently and left. 


	14. Sneak

**Chapter 14: Sneak **

Aiden was in full black as he slipped from the tree to a private balcony that night. The virus he had inserted into the security system ought to buy him plenty of time, so he was patient as he jimmied the doors open and slipped in.

_Hello, General._ Aiden looked at the figure sleeping in the bed and drew a disk silently from a pocket in his jacket. His hands were gloved so that he would leave no prints as he went to the general's computer, keeping one eye on the sleeping man in the other room as he used the codes he'd already cracked to load the program and send it out to a key few people connected with the general. He could have done it from anywhere, but couldn't resist this little personal touch. It was an invasion of privacy that would make the general, in his cosy, secured little home, think twice about the message Aiden had left him.

Aiden smirked and left.

----------------------------

Ryo whistled softly as he went up to Relena's room. He frowned at something new on the bed next to her old teddy bear and walked over, peering down at a soft white stuffed bunny, a friendly yellow bow around its neck. Ryo picked it up, wondering when she had gotten it, and noticed a rough line on its stomach. Turning it over, he saw with surprise that there was a zipper lengthwise along the bottom of the white bunny.

Ryo, pausing uncertainly, pressed his lips together and unzipped the bunny, taking out a folded piece of paper and opening it with one motion, dropping the bunny back on the bed.

Ryo finished the letter and felt his face grow hot with anger. _That bastard._ Crumpling it up, he stuck the paper into his pocket to throw away when he had time. He hated to do it, but that man just didn't know when to quit with Relena.

Walking out, Ryo flicked off the light and went outside to throw the note in the large trash bin. He took it out, uncrumpled it. _Relena, Goodbye. I'm sorry I couldn't stay. I do love you, but you have Ryo. You're safe with him, and I've asked Duo to watch out for you. Aiden._

Ryo felt like crap as he threw the ball of paper into the trash bin. Absolute crap. He sighed, letting the lid fall. _God help me._


	15. Secrets

**Chapter 15: Secrets **

Relena knocked on the door of Aiden's family's room. She had had an early meeting with some delegates and Aiden's mother had asked her to come by when she was off and they would have lunch together.

She waited, but no one came. Trying the knob, the door opened and she peeked in, only to swing the door wider.

"Hello?" she called. No one was there. The room had been recently cleaned, and the usual toys that covered its floor were gone. The drawers were empty too.

Relena ran downstairs and found Duo. "Duo!" she grabbed his arm. "Aiden's family is gone! Where are they?! Is everything all right?!"

Duo blinked down at her, surprised, before giving a small sad smile. "Calm down, Ojousan. They just went home. Heero was done, so they went home."

"Even Kia?" she frowned, a pit opening up in her stomach.

"Moved to their hometown hospital." He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Relena looked up at him. "Tell me where they are," she demanded.

Duo sighed and took his hand away. "I can't."

"What?"

He looked down at her. "I can't, 'Jousan. I'm sorry, but I promised Heero I wouldn't tell anyone." He cast his eyes down. "He didn't want anyone to know – especially not you."

Relena swallowed, trying to keep her chin from trembling as she looked up at him. "I knew following him around like that would come back to haunt me," she tried to smile and make light of it, but tears blurred her vision and she lost the battle with her chin. She turned away from him and buried her face in her hands, crying softly.

"Oh, 'Jousan," he felt terrible, ran a hand through his bangs, and wrapped his arms around her. "'Jousan, please, I hate it when girls cry." Duo rubbed her back helplessly.

"Sorry," she gasped out between sobs, "I can't really help it." She trembled in Duo's arms, and finally calmed, whispering, "Why doesn't he ever tell me when he's going to do something like this? He always just . . . leaves!"

"Relena?" she heard Ryo on the stair but didn't turn to look at him, only cried harder.

"What's wrong with her?" Wufei stood at the base of the stairs and looked at the weeping woman oddly. He held a water bottle in one hand, but wasn't drinking it.

"Heero left again," Duo told him over her sandy head. Wufei only rolled his eyes in disgust and turned to leave.

"He does this often?" Ryo asked Wufei, eyes still on Relena.

Wufei snorted. "Hell, yeah. Every time he's ever been near her, he's up and left without a word, so they tell me." He cast a look over to Duo trying to placate the Vice Foreign Minister. "First time she's done this, though." He drank some of his water and capped the bottle back, turning and leaving.

"Relena . . ." Ryo stepped forward, then stopped, looking self-conscious. He closed his eyes briefly and spoke to Duo. "Mr. Maxwell, could you give us a moment?" Duo looked up at him and nodded, detaching the young woman and grabbing her a few Kleenex before he left them.

Ryo guided Relena into the small parlor under the stairs, closing and locking the door behind them.

"Relena, tell me what's going on."

She used up one of her Kleenex and threw it in the little trash can by the couch. "I'm sorry," she tried to smile, but the effect was spoiled by her red nose and watery eyes. She sniffled.

"Relena," Ryo looked at her seriously and she turned away. "Just tell me, okay? Please. You owe me that."

She used another Kleenex and wouldn't look at him, but spoke simply and seriously. "I've always loved him, I still do, and he always does this to me. It wasn't so bad before, but this time . . . I don't know . . . it's different."

"This time, he loved you back," Ryo felt pain wrenching his guts as she shook her head, blonde hair flying.

"No, he never did. He wouldn't have done that to me again if he did."

Ryo closed his eyes briefly. "Yes, Relena. I found a stuffed bunny in your room when I went in there today. I thought he was trying to take you from me. I threw away the note he left in it. I'm really sorry now. I didn't know." She was looking at him now, quietly. "He told you goodbye in it, and . . . that he loves you." He looked up at her face. "I'm sorry, Relena. I didn't know you felt like this about him. I wish I had known sooner. I'm really sorry."

"He said . . . that he loved me?" she stared at him, unbelieving. The tears were coming again, slowly, and then darkness claimed her. 


	16. Crushes

**Chapter 16: Crushes **

General Dakeya woke up late in the morning to a message beeping on his computer. _Funny,_ he thought fuzzily, pushing himself up from his sheets and padding over to it, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. _I don't remember leaving that on._ He shrugged and sat at the terminal, clicking the blinking icon.

_Good morning._ A pair of eyes flickered onto the screen, drowning out the whole desktop, and the general, clicking about with his mouse, found that he could not turn the image off. The eyes took up the majority of the screen and all other features were scrambled. They were dark eyes, blue, a beautiful color, but lazy and menacing, pupils contracted to angry black dots. _This goes out to General Dakeya and his friends. I have a proposition._ There was a pause and Dakeya was beginning to get alarmed. _Stop the attacks on Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian and I will not kill you. Otherwise . . ._ Images flashed in boxes on the screen: men fighting, Mariemaia's coup, the war of 196, Treize Kushrenada, and then five small windows appeared, drowning out the eyes, each holding a flurry of explosions before five machines flew through the fire in their own respective window and into clear view. Gundams. _Otherwise you will have to deal with_ us.

The message flickered off, leaving Dakeya's silent desktop.

Back in his room, he heard the phone ring, but he could not move.

----------------------

"Hey, Aiden!" Kia called brightly as he pushed her down the hospital hallway. They were taking her home from the hospital and the rest of the family was down getting the car.

"Hn?" he asked, happy that she was awake.

A small face turned up to look at him. "Can we get some balloons? I like balloons!"

Aiden smiled at her. "I'll see what I can do."

She fell silent for a moment as they got on the elevator. "Penny for your thoughts," he murmured.

Kia sighed. "Quatre."

"Oh." Aiden nodded. "Miss him?" He looked at her and she tried to smile.

"No, he's not my type." She looked down at the brand new teddy bear she was hugging.

Aiden looked at her, surprised. "What happened?"

Kia blushed and looked away. "I kind of . . . saw him and this girl," her light voice was laced with disappointment. "She was really pretty. They were . . . kissing and all." She blushed again and wouldn't look at him.

Aiden's eyebrows shot up. Girl . . . "What color hair?"

"Blonde," Kia looked curiously up at him.

Aiden smirked. "Weird eyebrows?"

At her nod he laughed outright and the doors opened.

"Dorothy Catalonia," he murmured, wheeling her to the front of the hospital where his parents were waiting. _Quatre, you sly stud. No wonder he wouldn't tell me who had helped him._

-----------------------------

When Ryo left, Relena came out to find Duo and Quatre talking. They stopped when they saw her, and Quatre put an arm around her. "Come on, princess, let's talk." He led her up to his room and she looked around dubiously as he got a bottle from his medicine cabinet. He popped a pill out and handed it to her. "Here, that should help you sleep. You need to rest right now, but I'll get you up later." Relena looked at the little white pill. "Relena," Quatre put a hand on her shoulder, handing her a glass of water. She looked at him. "I'll find him for you. He needs someone to help him as much as I did."

She blinked, nodded dumbly, and took the pill.

-----------------------------

Rakki sat on the whitewashed fence, swinging her long legs in time to the radio, and licked at her popsicle. Her long dark hair was down and blowing lightly in the wind as she watched her little brother play in the back yard.

_Pink Gundams,_ she snorted. _How gay._ Her dark, avid eyes wandered around restlessly. L1 was so dull! She licked vengefully at the cherry ice-stick and pouted. Here she was, beauty, intellect, charm, rotting away in this stupid hole-in-the-ground. The neighbors weren't even all that interesting! The house on their left had an old woman whose dog was trained to do its business in other peoples' yards and the one on the right didn't even seem to have anyone in it. She'd tried to break into the shed late the other night, but the lock was pretty complex just to protect a bunch of tools.

She was half finished with her popsicle when a TV blasted from the house on the right, and she nearly fell off the fence as a door opened and banged closed, someone coming around the side of the house. A moment more and she dropped her popsicle on her foot.

_Ahem._

Rakki stared at the man that unlocked the shed and stepped inside for a moment, then came back out with a toolbox and pulled the plastic covering off of a machine she had peeked at the other day. It seemed to be a car engine, but she wasn't sure and didn't really care as the fellow opened the box and pulled out a few tools, tinkering expertly with the big stupid piece of metal. He was in a grease-stained white t-shirt and jeans that clung to his strong legs. Rakki felt herself flush at the way his hair fell into his eyes.

"Aiden!" a small voice sounded from the back door and the man turned quickly, watching attentively as a little girl was helped down the porch steps by an older man and left at the picnic table.

"Watch her, will you, son?" the older man asked, and the object of Rakki's interest nodded tersely, casting a glance to the little girl who had pulled a few Pink Gundams out of her backpack.

The Object then turned back to his work and told the little girl. "Ask before you do anything."

The little girl nodded, not paying much attention to him, and Rakki licked the melted cherry juice off of her lips. He had a _great_ voice. Just perfect for . . .

"Hey, you!" Rakki turned in horror as her little brother leaned across the fence toward the little girl, earning a hard glance from The Object. "You like Pink Gundams?"

"Yeah!" the little girl answered.

"Wanna come over and play?" Rakki sat stunned as her little brother waved a Gundam at the little girl.

"Can't! I'm recovering!" the little girl shouted back.

"From what?!" her brother yelled, even though they were quite within normal speaking range.

The little girl opened her mouth, but shut it when The Object placed his slender tanned hands silently on her shoulders.

"She had her appendix out," he replied calmly. Rakki's little brother asked if the girl had a scar, but The Object's glare made him shrink back.

Rakki felt her chance to meet The Object slipping away, so swiftly entered their exchange.

"That's rude, Taru!" she chastised the boy, sleekly getting down from the fence and striding slowly over, pushing long silk hair back across her shoulder with a lingering, sensual movement. Her eyes paused on The Object's as she spoke to her dark-haired brother. Her chin was tilted down and she had to look at him from beneath long black lashes.

_Yummy,_ she smoldered, licking her parched lips.

-----------------------------

Quatre rubbed the back of his neck, blinking at the laptop's screen. Duo had promised not to let anyone know where Heero was, but that didn't mean Quatre couldn't find him. Apparently, the braided pilot thought he should be found as well, since he had dropped a not-so-subtle hint about the codes on his information of Heero being easier to crack than butter. Unfortunately, Quatre had never had much luck with butter, either.

"Working on something?" Quatre didn't turn as the figure came up behind him and started rubbing his shoulders.

"Mm, lower," he murmured, and sighed happily, taking one of the slim white hands in his own and kissing it. "You have a magic touch, Dorothy."

"I know," she hugged him with her free arm as he held onto her other hand. "That's what two years working in a Japanese massage parlor will do for you."

"And make you bilingual," he smiled up at her lightly and she kissed his nose.

"Tri, honey," she corrected, "I speak French."

"Speak computer?" he quirked an eyebrow, "Maybe you could curse this thing out for me."

Dorothy laughed and sat with him, toying absently with the blonde hair at the nape of his neck as he finally broke through Duo's codes.

"Bingo," he muttered, drawing up Heero's file.

Dorothy leaned over his shoulder and smiled, her hair brushing his cheek as she scanned the file. She smelled like honeysuckle from the shampoo she used, and Quatre breathed the scent deeply, turning his face a little so that the long golden strands tickled his nose.  
Dorothy paused and blinked.

"What are you doing?" She looked down where Quatre was jerking back and blushing.

He coughed. "Sorry." When she kept looking at him curiously, he explained, "You smell nice."

Her eyes softened and she bent to him, taking his mouth with hers and tasting him gently. "Thank you," she murmured. "Now," her eyes sparked serious, "you have to get some sleep. I'll take care of this and book your tickets to L1."

Quatre sat back sleepily, watching her move gracefully to his bed and pull down the covers, then move to his bureau and open a drawer to pull out his pajamas. She smiled and turned around, waving the camel-speckled flannel things at him, then tossed them to him.

"Go change," she ordered and he obligingly went into the bathroom. When he came back, she was at the computer, ordering his and Relena's tickets online.

He glanced at the screen then bent and placed a lingering kiss on her cheek. "Good night."

"Good night, Quatre," she watched him slip into bed and give her a sweet smile, cheek pressed drowsily against his pillow, before snuggling down and falling into a deep dreamless sleep. 


	17. Date

**Chapter 17: Date **

"Aiden," his mother called him into the kitchen. She was washing her hands in front of the dark window, about to sit down to skin some potatoes, a pot of water beside her and the empty trash can in front of her. "Help me make dinner, dear."

He nodded and pulled another chair up to the trash can as she handed him a potato-peeler. They sat silently for a few minutes, the soothing _shuck shuck_ of their work calming nerves on both sides.

"Honey," his mother said softly. Aiden looked up and met her eyes in question. "You really need to get out and do more. I hate seeing you stuck in the house all the time, it's eating you up."

He stopped his work and sighed, tossing the potato into the water, and put a hand over hers. "Mom, I love it here. Ever since I can remember, I've been out and 'doing things' and I hated it. This is the first time in my life I've been able to do what I want to, and I want to stay _here_."

His mother sighed. "I'm not saying you should _leave_, dear. I just want you to get away from the house a little more, away from your brother and sister and stodgy old parents." She smiled. "Go to a movie, or a baseball game."

Aiden laughed lightly, pleased that she was worried about him. "I'm fine, mom."

"Really?" she sounded doubtful. "You know, there's this really nice girl next door about your age. I met her yesterday and she might be interesting to hang out with."

_I already know an interesting girl._ Aiden felt a pang at the thought, but pushed it back, deep down into his gut so that his mother wouldn't see how much it was really upsetting him.

"Maybe," his mother broached carefully, "I could set you up. It might help."

He looked up at her, disoriented. From the tone of her voice – she knew.

She was concerned about how much his trip back to earth had affected him, and wanted him to feel better. They were all concerned, but he had been too preoccupied to notice. Well, he would just have to hide it better.

"Okay," he gave an unconvincing smile and continued peeling potatoes.

---------------------------

Rakki licked cherry filling off of her slim, tanned fingers. Tilting her head, she observed the pie she had just put into the oven, its pale crust ready to brown. She smiled to herself and, leaning against the counter and gazing out the window, daydreamed of her new neighbor. Tall, lean body, strong shoulders, burning blue eyes . . .

Rakki frowned at two strangers walking around the side of her neighbor's house. Who were _they_?

A handsome young blonde man was looking around uncertainly, hands in his pockets as he surveyed the house. The woman following him had a cap on, shadowing her features. Long light brown hair fell from under the cap and the woman watched the young man, biting her bottom lip and clasping her hands.

Rakki checked the time on her pie swiftly and went outside.

"Excuse me," she called to the pair, and they came over. "What are you doing?" she frowned and crossed her arms.

"We're looking for the family. No one answered when we knocked."

Rakki gave them an unfriendly look. "No, they're out. What do you want?"

"We're here to see Aiden," the young woman replied, looking up from under the brim of her cap. Rakki felt like she'd seen the woman before, but couldn't place where.

"Why?" she demanded instead, expression hard and uninviting. No matter who the woman was, if she had something to do with Aiden, she was competition.

The pair shared a look, and the young man answered. "We're some old friends of his."

"Well, I'm his girlfriend and he's not home. No one is, so if you'll please _leave_," she saw the young woman pale and turn away, and the young man sent her a swift, concerned look.

Yep. Competition.

"I'll tell him you came by, though," she told them smoothly and the young man took the woman's arm gently.

"Thank you, miss," the young man gave her a wan smile and looked again at the woman, whose posture was stiff and unnatural. He spoke to her softly, but Rakki could hear him. "Come on, Relena. We'll come back later."

The woman didn't answer and they walked away.

-----------------------------

"Relena," Quatre told her as they drove their rented car back to the hotel, "don't worry about it. He's probably just–"

"Quatre," she broke in, turning to him for the first time since they had started driving. Her eyes were worn and nose slightly red, but she attempted to give him a small, brave smile. "I'm okay." She turned away and was horribly silent until they pulled into the hotel parking lot. Here, she turned to him with terrible thoughtfulness. "She was lying, wasn't she?"

Quatre nodded. "I think so, but I'm not sure. Relena," he turned the wheel and shifted to park, speaking an uncomfortable warning, "he may actually have gotten on with his life."

She got out of the car, her gaze far off. "I know."

-----------------------------

Later that day, Rakki brought the pie to her neighbors, dressed and ready for her date with Aiden. He met her at the door – his mother gratefully took the pie – and led her silently to his motorcycle, tossing her a helmet.

She slid on behind him, he waved shortly to his mother, and they were off.

He frowned at a blue car that passed them, but couldn't catch more than a glimpse of short, pale blonde hair behind the steering wheel, since his helmet was very dark.

In the car, Quatre was talking softly to Relena.

"We're his friends, no matter what he says. He can't just throw us out."

"I suppose," she murmured, looking out the window. Her voice rose a notch in certainty, "His mother wouldn't let him, anyhow."

They pulled into the driveway and, as they walked to the house, found Kia on the front steps with a little dark boy, playing with Pretty Pink Gundams. She glanced up and stared at them, mouth opening and closing in an attempt to speak.

"Quatre," she breathed. "Miss Relena. . . ."

"Kia," Relena said happily and swooped down, snatching the little girl up in her arms. She swung the laughing, shrieking child around.

"What are you doing here, Miss Relena?" Kia asked when she was set down, then introduced her friend absent-mindedly. "This is Taru. He lives next door."

"We came for a little visit," Relena replied airily as Kia grabbed her hand and dragged her inside, the little boy following after them.

Aiden was not home, but his family was thrilled to see them both. His mother insisted that they stay for dinner and, when she heard of their hotel arrangements, that they bring their things to sleep there too.

"I will _not_ have friends of my son staying at a hotel when we have room to spare," she said when Relena protested, and that was the end of that.


	18. Carbon Copy

**Chapter 18: Carbon Copy **

They had just finished dinner when Aiden returned, scowling fiercely. He had decided very adamantly against the "charms" of dating women his mother picked out, and decided that they were going to have to have a very long talk. All of these thoughts, however, flew out of his head as soon as he stepped into the kitchen.

"Aiden, take out the garbage," his father ordered from putting away the milk. Quatre was helping Yamashi dry dishes for Aiden's mother. The blonde sent an uncertain, pensive look over at his friend. "Get both bags."

Relena stepped forward. "I'll get one," she offered, lifting the smaller before Aiden could stop her. He sent her an unreadable glance, but didn't protest.

They walked to the curb in silence, Relena handing Aiden her bag to toss into a big brown bin. After that was done, he wiped his hands on his jeans and bowed his head.  
"What are you doing here?" he asked her in a deviously soft voice.

Relena straightened a bit. "We came to see you." She paused. "_I_ came to see you. I needed to, after what Ryo told me he'd done to your letter."

Aiden sent her a sharp glance. "What?"

Relena shook her head, dismissing Ryo. "It doesn't matter – he was jealous and . . . and scared. He was scared of what you meant to me. That's why he was so mean to you." She put a hand on his arm and looked tentatively up into his eyes, moving closer. "He was scared of how much I loved you."

Aiden frowned, but didn't move away from her. "That's over now, Relena. 'Loved.' Past tense."

She shook her head, fighting back tears. "I still love you, Aiden! I love you! And if Ryo was being honest with me about that letter, then you love me too."

"It doesn't matter any more," he started impatiently, but Relena interrupted him.

"Yes, it does!" she cried, holding tightly to him. "It's not too late, Aiden! We can still make it work!"

Aiden shook his head violently, closing his eyes and pulling away, though she wouldn't release him.

"Why not?" She went pale – stricken. "_Do_ you love me? Was he lying?"

Aiden made a face and shook his head again. When she didn't speak again, he whispered, "Of course I love you."

Relena looked up at him, at his handsome brown face and wild hair, and those soft, creamy drawn eyelids. "Then why not? Why can't you come back with me?"

The calm was broken in moments. "Because you're asking me to leave my family!" Aiden spat, eyes flying open and shimmering with unshed tears.

She was shaking, both with anger and the effort it took to keep from crying. Oddly, she wasn't afraid. "I'm _not_ . . ."

"Yes," he told her, cold and furious. "That's exactly what I'd have to do–"

"To be with me," she finished, looking away. "I'm sorry, then. I'm sorry for being selfish. I'm sorry for crying over you all those nights, worrying about you, wondering if you would ever come back." She turned back, trembling with anger as the tears on her cheeks glinted at him. "I'm sorry I _ever_ thought I loved you." With that, she left him.

Aiden sank onto the driveway, lost in his guilt and misery. His father found him there, watching the darkening sky, a short while later.

"It's all fake," Aiden said softly, watching the stars fading in, surrounded by black and commanded by a thin silver slip of a moon. "These stars, that space. It's not ours, it's Earth's. We just live inside a carbon copy of Earth's beauty, don't we?"

His father sat quietly beside him and they didn't say anything else for a long while.

"I spoke to your mother, and we agreed that we shouldn't be pushing you to date anyone new."

Aiden gave a dangerous, wry smile. "Good. Any more of _that_ girl and I would have to shoot myself."

"You are a bit young to be in any serious relationship. You need to start a business or something. Perhaps a repair shop. Get financially stable."

"I could work with Hilde," Aiden smirked, looking down. "I think she'd kill me before the end of the first week." At his father's look, he clarified: "Duo's fiancé runs a repair shop."

There was another sliver of silence. "We lost a lot of money while we were gone. A lot of business. And we're behind on our bills." He took a deep breath and didn't look at Aiden. "I don't want to pressure you, but we really need a little extra income right now. If you could just get a job . . . it would help."

"The bills couldn't be too high, since we weren't even here?"

"We have _no_ money, Aiden," his father whispered.

Aiden nodded and they sat as the night took over the carbon copy sky. 


	19. Pink

**Chapter 19: Pink **

For the next week, things were tense in the house. Quatre finally had to go back to run his business, but he left his well-wishes with the family and advised the distraught Relena to stay a little while longer and just weather things through. Even so, she was about ready to leave when there was a break in the storm. . . .

On the second week of Relena's visit, Aiden's family was out, leaving him and Relena alone in the house, watching the news. After a while, though, to avoid the building tension, Aiden went to bed early. He took off his shoes in his room outside, sitting on the edge of his bed in the dim lighting of the overhead. Normally, on nice days, he was either outside or left the door open for the sunlight to play in, as he had no windows. But that night was dark and he needed the faint yellow glow so that he wouldn't trip over something in the floor.

As he was about to slip off his shirt, a faint knock came on the door and he sighed softly, settling the dark cotton back onto his body. Opening the door, he let Relena in. She stepped in timidly, as this was different than every other time she had been in his room, and sat tensely on the edge of the bed.

"We need to talk," she said, not looking at him.

"We've talked," he told her stonily.

"Aiden," she started, spreading her hands wide, "I love you. Why can't you understand that?"

He looked away, arms folded. "I do. I'm just not going to do anything about it."

"Aiden. Please."

"You want me to leave my family?!" he burst out bitterly. "They're all I have!"

She leaned forward earnestly and whispered, "No, they're _not_."

He sank beside her and buried his head into his hands.

She slipped an arm awkwardly around his shoulders, as he was hunched over, and brought up the other, tightening both arms around his neck as he sat up and held her because there was nothing else he could do.

"I love you," he whispered, kissing her gently and giving in to a few of the emotions swirling through him. She pushed him back onto the bed and deepened the kiss, her hair falling around them, but he stopped her and lay her down beside him. "Please don't," he murmured as she snuggled into his side. "I don't want to take advantage of you."

"Mm," she relented absently, trailing her fingers across his abdomen, pushing his shirt up a little and moving them to bare skin.

Aiden drew a quick breath in when she did that and pulled her hand out. "Don't," he told her breathlessly.

"Why?" she gave him an impish smile. "Like it?"

He shook his head absently, blowing strands of her hair away from his face. "Tickles," he told her, smiling in a way that made her heart beat faster.

She leaned over and kissed him, her hand flat on his stomach and moving up under his shirt. "Sh," she told him when he tried to say something, and his eyes glazed over with something that earned him a deep, soft, sweet kiss. He pulled her on top of him and she sat up briefly to tug her shirt off.

Aiden drew in a sharp breath as she tossed the shirt beside them and lowered her mouth again to his.

There was a knock at the door.

They looked at each other in stunned alarm and Relena scrambled off the bed, gasping softly as someone tried the knob. Her knees went weak with relief as the slight rattling proved it to be locked. But then Aiden was grabbing her arm and shoving her into his bathroom and gave her terse, soft instructions to be quiet. The walls were very thin in there. He locked the bathroom door behind him and shut it firmly.

All this took only half a minute, but an excruciatingly long one, as Aiden's father was calling from outside. Aiden ruffled his hair and glanced around, seeing Relena's shirt on the bed, and grabbed it, throwing it under the bed in his haste.

He opened the door.

"What took you so long?" his father scowled at him, ushering Kia in. "Your sister has to use the bathroom and we forgot our house key." He bustled the girl toward the bathroom, but Aiden got in front of them.

"You can't," he told them hurriedly, "the – door is stuck!"

His father looked at it oddly as Kia danced in place, crossing and uncrossing her legs. "Maybe I can get it to open," he pondered.

"I have to _go_!" Kia replied, her face pained.

"Hn," his father murmured and grabbed the bathroom doorknob, jiggling it and pushing on the door. Aiden watched in horror.

"Dad, it's fine, I'll get it later!" he attempted, trying not to let on how frantic he actually was.

"Hey, Aiden, what's this?" Yamashi had spied something pink under his brother's bed and pulled it out curiously. He held up the shirt, which his mother, in the doorway, stared at and quickly took from her younger son.

"Honey, stop it," she ordered sharply, holding the shirt discreetly at her side. Aiden's father jiggled the door a little more.

"The problem is that it's locked," he muttered, not paying attention to his wife. "Get me some wire or something, I can have this opened in no time."

"Honey," she repeated, and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the door. "Aiden, get your key and open the house for Kia. The rest of you go with them." As they left, his father still muttering about getting the bathroom door open, she caught Aiden and told him quietly, "Stay in the house for a while." He didn't look at her.

"Mom . . ." his voice was pained and guilty.

"Sh," she pushed him gently out the door. "Go on. Kia's about to pop."

"Yeah," he left, casting one agonized look back.

Aiden's mother closed the door behind her family and locked it. She walked thoughtfully over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Come on out, sweetie."

After a pause, the handle jiggled as it was unlocked and Relena opened it, coming out hesitantly with arms folded modestly over her chest. She was in a loose, knee-length skirt and her bra, blushing profusely as she was handed her shirt and slipped it on.

"Sit," Aiden's mother patted the spot beside her on the bed. Relena complied, but couldn't look at her.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," Relena murmured, tears blurring her vision. "It wasn't his fault, it was all mine. He said he didn't want to take advantage of me and I pushed it. I'm so sorry."

She sniffled and the tears fell.

Aiden's mother wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Why?" She knew, but she wanted Relena to tell her.

"Because I love him," Relena traced the pattern of the comforter and sniffled again, "and we can't be together."

"Why not?"

"I can't leave my job, I care too much about earth and the colonies to quit, and he can't leave all of you." She shook her head, hair and tears flying.

"Why can't he?"

Relena blinked at her with red eyes. "Because he loves you. You're his family and he needs you."

The older woman sighed, pushing brown hair out of her face. "We're his family, yes. But that doesn't mean we don't want him to go and be happy – to get a job he enjoys, marry a girl he loves, and have children of his own."

"He doesn't want to leave you."

She smiled, but it was a sad smile. "And we don't _want_ him to leave. No mother wants to see her children leave, but it would pain me to see him stay here and be unhappy because of a sense of obligation to us." She took Relena's hands earnestly. "I just want my children to be happy."

They were silent for a few moments, just sitting together and thinking. Aiden's mother finally broke the silence.

"I think _you_ make him happy."

Relena looked at her, at the older woman's solemn face and the definite twinkle in her dark eyes. "So . . ."

"So, I intend to do something about it." She stood and pulled Relena with her. "Come dear, I'll settle you in for the night and have a long talk with my son tomorrow." 


	20. Persuasion

**Chapter 20: Persuasion **

Aiden's mother was careful not to approach him in front of anyone else, but solicited him to help her with some meaner chores before her husband got home from work and while Relena was watching the children.

When she sat down and just looked at him, he caught on to her intentions and sighed. He sat beside her when she motioned for him to, and she asked the question because she doubted he would talk to her if she didn't prompt him. "Why do you insist on staying here? On refusing that sweet girl downstairs?"

He looked out the window for long moments, and pondered briefly if he could manage to throw himself out of it rather than pursue this interrogation. "I'm still just barely getting to know all of you – it's too soon."

"You've been getting to know us for a couple years now, if I remember correctly." She sighed and put an arm around his unhappy form. "Choosing Relena – or any girl, for that matter – doesn't mean that you're rejecting us. You can still call us on the vid phone, visit us on holidays – actually, I'm going to make a demand of that." He smiled and shook his head. "I know it's too soon. It's too soon for us, too. You think we want to lose our eldest son again?" Her eyes filled with tears, and she turned his face toward hers. "But there's one big difference this time. We'll know where you are. We'll know you love us and will come back to us. It's not forever. It's not complete isolation. And . . . well, I just want you to consider something for me. Do you love that girl? Would you be at all happy without her?"

He sighed in response, and she nodded.

"I figured as much."

"I'm afraid for your safety," he offered as argument, but it was moot. His mind was already made up, and they both knew it.

"If we're attacked, we'll talk to you about it and decide what to do. Until then, let's not worry about it." She gave him a warm hug. "We love you, no matter what happens."

------------------------

Aiden had been steadily avoiding Rakki while Relena was there – which meant he spent most of his time inside. But when his bags were ready – Kia wrapped around his leg the whole time he was packing – and Relena helped him pile them into the back of his father's car, Rakki appeared beside him.

"Where have you been?" she asked, annoyed that he hadn't called or come over to talk to her. Her entreaties to his mother were met with vague and off-putting phrases, and she was getting just the slightest bit suspicious.

"Oh, hello," Relena said to the girl, eyes wide and innocent as she held out her hand. "It's nice to see you again."

"Hi," Rakki waved slightly and glanced at the bags. "Are you leaving?" she asked Relena hopefully.

"We both are," Relena replied with a guileless smile. "Aiden and I are affianced."

"What?" Rakki asked, and the stunned look on her face was almost enough to crack Relena's cool veneer.

"We're engaged," she clarified.

"But," Rakki turned to Aiden, who was shutting the trunk on their bags. "We went on a date."

Aiden's look was cross, but Relena stepped in for him. Her body was straight in the politician's posture and one fist covered her heart, eyes shining with compassionate understanding. "You have my most dire sympathies. For another woman who understands Aiden's goodness and strength, I admire your valor and grief in this time of loss."

Aiden turned away so that Rakki would not see his smirk. _Loss_? She spoke as if someone had died, but . . . she was making fun of Rakki! She was absolutely gloating over her victory in front of the other girl's face, and Rakki didn't even know what was going on. He'd never seen this taunting side of the pretty politician before.

He would be sure to explore it when he had the time.

They turned and got Aiden's family, everyone piling haphazardly into the vehicle and driving off to the spaceport. There were tears and hugs and manly socks on the shoulder, but they knew they would see each other again as soon as the wedding date was announced.

So the two boarded their shuttle, and Relena held onto Aiden's hand as if afraid he would run back to his family. He made sure to smile at her reassuringly, and then they were both waving like crazy out the shuttle window to the people on the platform, stopping only when the stewardesses made them sit down for takeoff. 


	21. Epilogue

**Chapter 21: Epilogue **

The next few years were busy and exciting, Aiden guarding Relena's personal body and Relena advancing well in her political purposes. Those years were formed with love and patience. And Aiden found plenty of time to visit his family, sending a good portion of his paycheck back to help with the bills and making sure that they were together every major holiday. Kia grew into a beautiful and talented young lady, and Yamashi, in good form with his attraction to sandy-blondes, fell in love with a pretty air shuttle pilot he met at a teddy bear convention. And when Kia finally moved out into her new job designing defensive body armor and other protective weaponry, Aiden's parents moved down closer to their eldest son, on earth, in a nice white house with a pretty picket fence and sunny yellow shutters. And some days, as the middle class gentlemen drove by on their way home from work, a tall man of middling years could be seen bent next to a grey head over a flower garden, pulling weeds and speaking tenderly to the woman beside him as a younger woman lounged on the front step watching them, smiling to herself and drinking the lemonade her father-in-law had made.

And they all lived very long and very happily.

The End


End file.

Gundam Wing/AC, Drama, Romance