Silhouetted by the Sea

Disclaimer: Same old, same old. I only own the plot line.

****

Silhouetted by the Sea
by Kristen Elizabeth

****

"Put this on her forehead." Relena wrung the excess water from a cloth and handed it to Duo. "Her fever must be broken."

He did as she asked, gently draping the wet cloth over the top of Hilde's head. Duo then took her hand and rolled up the long sleeve of the nightdress Relena and Sally had changed her into. Surprisingly enough, all of the wometruntrunks had not been moved from the *Lady Anne* to Treize's manor upon its arrival at Barbados. It made Relena wonder if Lord Kushrenada had ever intended to show her a kind hand.

Duo used another cloth to wipe Hilde's arms and neck. "What else can we do for her?"

"I'm not sure," Relena replied, honestly. Hilde coughed suddenly, turning over to press her face into the pillows. Duo quickly replaced the compress on her forehead once the cough passed. "Was she sick on the ship?"

He shook his head. "Not that I know of. But it would be like her...to hide it."

Relena glanced out the porthole. The sun had begun to set into the water; they had been sailing for hours and Hilde hadn't shown any signs of improvement. "Will you stay with her tonight, Mr. Maxwell?"

"You couldn't drag me away." He folded his hand around Hilde's and brought it up to his lips.

Relena smiled softly. "If you need anything, you know where Sally and I will be."

Once Relena had gone and shut the door behind her, Duo closed his eyes and pressed Hilde's fingers against his mouth. "Please, Hilde," he whispered. "Don't make me a murderer."

She stirred in the berth; her free hand pulled at the blankets, trying to cover more of her body with them.

"Are you cold?" skedsked. She was too fitful to reply. Duo lowered his head. "I don't know what to do for you, love. What do you need?"

Hilde's smooth forehead wrinkled, but her eyes remained tightly shut, lost in her feverish dreams. "God...Hilde, I am so sorry. I didn't notice...I should have seen if you were sick or not before it was too..."

Duo shook his head. "No!! It's not too late because you are going to pull through this, Hilde. You're going to kick it in the nuts, do you hear me?" He climbed into the bunk with her and spooned her body up against his. "I love you. And I'm not letting you go until you break your fever." He kissed her flushed neck. "I mean it..." His eyes drooped. "I love you."

****

"We'll reach Martinique in the late afternoon tomorrow and stock up on supplies." Heero pointed to an island just north of Barbados on the map he had borrowed from the *Lady Anne's* captain's quarters. "I checked below; thirty barrels of rum are on board. From Martinique, we'll head east to the Caymans. There's so much rum-trading going on there that no one will be suspicious when we sell Kushrenada's. We'll use the money from the sale to secure everyone passage to New Orleans."

"Are you sure we shouldn't head for the next island up the chain? Put even more distance between us and Barbados?" Quatre asked. "St. Lucia and Martinique are the first places Treize will look."

Heero shook his head. "We'll be long gone by the time he can even get the word out, much less get there himself."

As Relena slipped into the room in the middle of the conversation, she couldn't help but notice that the map wasn't the only thing Heero had borrowed. After he had bathed and shaved, he had helped himself to the unknown man's wardrobe and was now clad in clean breeches and stockings, a white shirt and cravat and a navy blue waistcoat. His freshly washed hair hung over his forehead as he and Quatre examined the map on the table.

Relena delicately cleared her throat. Both men looked up. "Excuse me," she said. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's perfectly all right, Miss Peacecraft." Quatre gave her a smile. "We were just finishing up." He glanced at Heero only to find the other man staring her without blinking. Suddenly, three felt like quite a crowd. "Well, I think I shall retire to my own quarters."

Heero nodded, still watching Relena with a growing hunger in his eyes that was hard to hide. "Thank you, Winner. For all your help today."

"Yes," Relena echoed him. She reached for Quatre's hands when he came closer to her. "Without your help, we would have..."

Quatre kissed the back of her knuckles. "I shouldn't have waited so long." He looked back at Heero. "Goodnight."

After he was gone, there was a long minute of silence between them. Then, like a lightning bolt, the overwhelming need to touch each other broke through the quiet air. Relena ran to him, as she had outside the jail, and he met her halfway, gathering her up into his arms.

He buried his face into her hair. "Relena," he whispered.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, soaking the sleeve of his shirt. "Heero...Heero, I was afraid I'd never see you again. On the ship...they wouldn't let me go below. And then when we arrived..." She pressed closer to him. "Oh god...all I wanted was to just see you...just for a moment...and they wouldn't let m

Heero stroked her long locks. He had a million things he wanted to tell her, a million more ways he wanted to touch her, but first...

"Relena." He pulled back but didn't release her. "Hilde? How is she?"

She lowered her gaze. "I believe she has influenza. Her fever is very high." Fear flashed in Heero's blue eyes. "Mr. Maxwell is with her, taking care of her; she's in the best possible hands, Heero."

"It's his fault she's even like this at all," Heero growled. "If he had just let her go, rather than handing her over to Kushrenada..."

"I'm sure Mr. Maxwell regrets his actions," Relena said, stroking his cheek. "But getting angry at him isn't going to make her any better any faster."

Heero's features softened. "You're right, of course." He brushed her tears away with his thumbs. "Kushrenada's jail was horrible. Tell me that his house was better for you."

Her eyes flooded with new tears; the memory of Treize's fingers exploring inside her body was still painfully fresh in her mind. "He...his house was..." She stopped and lowered her face to Heero's shoulder. "It doesn't matter," she said, her voice muffled. "I'm fine."

"You are now." He wasn't about to make her talk about it until she was ready. Kushrenada had been properly punished in his eyes. Run through with a sword, abandoned by his bride, had his prized ship stolen away. Still, if Heero ever met the man again knowing what he had done to Relena, he would not get off so lightly.

Relena drew back. "He hurt you, too." She touched his jaw where bruises were already forming.

"The Baroness took care of my wounds." Heero ran his hands down her arms. "Will you let me take care of yours?"

She didn't have to nod; he knew she had longed for this moment as much as he had. He lowered his lips to hers, kissing her for all the days he had been unable to. Relena snaked her arms around the back of his neck, crushing their bodies together. She couldn't get close enough to him...especially with their clothes still on.

"Heero," she whispered between kisses. Her hands dropped down to fumble between them for the buttons on his waistcoat.

He didn't bother with the pins on her stomacher. Instead, he ripped the pieces of cloth apart to get at her stays. "Relena," he groaned when her lips found his ear. He pulled at her corset. "Help me with this thing."

Giggling, Relena pulled away from him. He reached for her with a disappointed groan. "Wait a second," she said with glee. Heero was left to watch as she peeled the torn sides of her gown off her arms, leaving her in corset, chemise and petticoats. She worked the ties of her stays loose with deliberate preciseness. When it was undone, she wriggled it down her hips and tossed it aside with abandonment.

Heero licked his lips. Her chemise did little to hide the full curves of her breasts. "I'm not going to be able to hold back much longer."

She waved her finger at him before kicking off her slippers, rolling down her stockings and untying her petticoats. They puddled around her feet. The hem of her chemise skimmed the tops of her thighs. Relena slowly inched the material up.

It was too much for Heero. He reached for her and pulled the thin chemise over her head. His hands slid down her silky bottom as he walked her back to the captain's double-wide berth. "Trying to torture me, Relena?" he breathed into her ear.

"Of course not." Relena tugged his shirt out of his breeches. "I just want this moment to last forever."

"It will." Heero kissed her, lowering her naked body to the bed. "I promise...it will."

He made quick work of throwing off his shirt and loosening his breeches, all the while loving her lips and shivering when her fingers plunged into his thick hair to lightly scrape his scalp. When he was completely naked, he slid his arms underneath her slender back and lowered himself onto her.

Relena opened herself to him, waiting for his heated entry into her body, but he took his time, walking his hand down her stomach and over the inside of her thigh. His mouth found her nipples and toyed with them. She bit her lip when his fingers danced over her moist folds. But unlike Treize, he waited until she was ready before he slipped one digit into her. Her back arched with pleasure and all memories of her violation vanished.

"Heero..." As he continued to stroke her and run his tongue over her breasts, she squirmed beneath him. "Heero, I want to do something for you."

He stopped his ministrations and looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

She glanced down between their bodies to his rapidly hardening sex. "You made love to me with your mouth on the island. Is there a way for me to do the same?"

Heero swallowed heavily. "Yes. But Relena, you don't have to..."

"Shh." Relena pressed a finger to his lips. "Show me how."

He kissed her again and rolled their bodies until she was on top of him. She was familiar with this way of making love; they had tried it during their night by the lagoon. But this time, instead of taking his sex into hers, Relena bent over and kissed his neck. She wriggled her way down his body, pausing to tease his nipples. He groaned; apparently, they were as sensitive as hers.

"What should I do?" she asked him, circling her fingers around his member and scooting down on the bed until she lay between his legs.

Heero closed his eyes. "Just...do what you...what you feel like doing."

Relena raised an eyebrow. After taking a breath, her tongue darted out to touch the tip of his erection. With his groans as encouragement, she continued until she felt brave enough to take him into her mouth. At this, Heero gasped and plunged his hands into her hair. His head shook back and forth on the pillow in excruciating pleasure as she made love to him.

"Am I...doing it right?" she asked, stopping momentarily for air.

Heero grabbed her under her arms and hauled her back up his body. "Too right. Any more and I'll..." He stopped and kissed her. "Thank you. But I want to be inside you."

She smiled and returned the kiss. Tugging on his shoulders, she rolled him back over her and parted her thighs to accommodate him. Before he entered her, Relena cupped his face in her hands. "Did you mean it? What you said back at the jail?"

"Yes," he replied, his voice husky with passion. "I love you, Relena. I will love you forever."

Relena felt a tear slip down her temple. "And I love you. Always."

They came together with a joined cry of relief. Her nails dug into his back as she re-familiarized herself with the exquisite feeling. When she was ready, Heero made love to her...slow, steady, lovingly. Relena's ankles locked behind his back. "Harder..."

He obeyed, bringing them closer to the bliss they had found together in the jungle. Heero kissed the side of her neck and drove his hips forward. "Relena, I'm..."

"I know." Her back arched. "Please...kiss me, Heero."

Their lips met as they tumbled over the edge of ecstasy, bodies and souls entwined. The kiss they shared muffled his groans and her cries. After a long minute of blinding pleasure, their bodies relaxed into each other. They held one another as they spiraled back to earth.

Relena opened her eyes. "Heero..." she murmured. Her lips pressed against his perspiring temple. "Promise me it will always be like this."

He had no hesitations. "I promise." Kissing her again, he withdrew from her warmth and pulled the blankets up around them. Relena settled into his arms for the night. "I promise we'll always do this on a bed," he continued.

She laughed. "Maybe once or twice on the sand someday. For posterity." Heero kissed her lips softly, sealing his promise. They fell asleep in each others arms, still lost in the magic of their lovemaking.

Hours later, long before the sun rose, they were woken up by the sound of someone entering the room. It was Duo; he burst in, carrying a candle for light.

Heero sat up; Relena frantically secured the sheets around her breasts. "What the hell are you doing, Maxwell?" Heero's eyes narrowed.

Duo blinked at seeing the two of them in bed together by the moon's light, but it didn't truly shock him. His mind was elsewhere. "Her fever broke. She's awake and hungry." He backed out of the room with his candle. "Just thought you'd like to know."

Relena glanced up at her lover when Duo was gone. "Do you want to go see her?"

"First thing in the morning," he replied, laying back down and folding his arms around her body. "Right now, I want to hold you some more." Relena smiled and rested her cheek on his chest. She had no objections to that.

****

Duo returned to the cabin Hilde occupied with a goofy smile on his face. She was halfway sitting up in bed, sipping a cup of cold, weak tea he had prepared for her.

"Is Heero coming?" she asked, her voice like a whisper.

"He will. Soon." Duo put the candle down on the trunk that was serving as a night stand and sat on the edge of the berth. "You need to take it easy for awhile."

Hilde swallowed. "But I feel better."

"Miss Peacecraft thinks you have influenza." Duo took the tea from her and set it to the side. "You're not really going to feel well for a least a week."

"All right." She sighed. "I don't feel good. But I am going to...get better."

He urged her to lie down. "Yes, of course you are."

"Because you're here," she went on to say.

Duo busied himself arranging the covers over her body. "I don't know about that. You're just a natural fighter, Hilde."

"No, that's not it." She touched his arm. "It's you."

"Hilde..."

She cut him off in her soft, tired voice. "I lied, Duo. In the jail...when I told you I didn't love you....it was a lie. You knew that, right?"

"I should have," he whispered a minute later. Taking her hand, he planted a kiss on the warm flesh of her palm. "Just like I should have followed my gut and let you go free. But I didn't. I turned you over to Kushrenada and..."

Hilde interrupted him again. "You came for me." Her lovely, but dry lips curled up into a smile. "You held me all night. You were the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes. And I don't know quite how, but you're the reason I woke up at all." Her other hand lifted from the bed and brushed over his lips. "Maybe because I heard you say that you loved me."

"I do." He kissed the fingers on his lips.

Her exhausted eyes suddenly grew worried. "What's going to happen to us now, Duo?"

He crawled into bed with her again, surrounding her tiny body with his warmth, strength and love. "I can't say for sure. But do you trust me when I say that I'll never leave your side?"

Hilde's smile came back to life. She turned her head, coughed well out of his range and, after a moment, snuggled back into his arms. "I trust you," she mumbled into his black shirt. "And when I feel better, I'm going to show you just how much."

Duo fell asleep shortly after her, a huge grin plastered on his face.

****

"So..." Sally twisted a few straight, black strands of her lover's hair around her fingers. "Did you miss me or just this?"

Wufei chest rose and fell underneath her head as his breath returned to him. She had been like a feline in bed, her passions riled on the island and unfulfilled since then. "Woman....you ask inane questions."

"Was that an answer?"

He moved quickly, pinning her beneath his damp muscles. "If the answer were 'just this', I would never have been coming to get you back there."

Sally's eyes grew misty. "I just...wanted to know that you..." She looked away, embarrassed to be caught in a feminine moment.

"You don't ever have to doubt me," Wufei said, guiding her face back to meet his gaze. "Do you understand?"

She hesitated. "But what happens now? Will you and I be taking the same paths?"

"That's entirely up to you," he replied. There was a pause. "I've always wanted to see the country of my parent's birth."

"The Orient?"

Wufei nodded. "Would you like to see it with me?" Sally pulled him down for a long kiss. He broke for air. "Was that an answer?" It was as close to intimate teasing as he was capable.

Her kisses moved to the back of his ear, his Achilles' heel. "Yes," she whispered, delighting in her ability to make him shiver. "I'll go anywhere with you."

"Good." He rolled them over until she straddled his hips. Her hair fell around them, blocking out the rest of the world. "Now...no more talking." It was the one command of his that she ever obeyed.

****

"Excuse me."

Trowa dropped his stare down from the starry sky and focused on the blond man coming towards him. "Do you need something?"

Quatre came closer. "No. I just thought you'd like some company."

"Oh." Trowa indicated a coil of rope. "Well then, have a seat."

The two men were quiet for a long time, just watching the stars. "I owe you my thanks," Trowa finally said. "Our necks would be stretched by now if not for you."

The blond man shook his head. "As I told Miss Peacecraft, had I acted sooner, so much of this could have been avoided."

Trowa lifted his shoulders. "He was your friend, was he not?" In the dark, Quatre nodded. "It's a hard bond to break."

"Yes, well..." Quatre cleared hhroahroat. "I am glad I could help Miss Peacecraft. No one should be forced into a marriage..."

"Agreed," Trowa said quietly.

Quatre continued speaking, not entirely sure why. It just seemed very easy to talk to this man. "I avoided an arranged marriage once. An Italian countess. She was lovely, according to rumor. Rich. High-spirited." He paused. "Everything I was supposed to want."

"But you didn't want it."

"No." The blond man straightened the lace cuff poking out at his wrist. "She wasn't what I wanted."

Trowa nodded. "No man wants his life decided for him. Or taken away from him without his consent."

Quatre smiled sadly. "Yes."

There was a long pause. "I had my life taken away from me once," Trowa said, unexpectedly.

"What did you do?"

"I found a new one." Trowa stood up. "I wish the same for you."

Quatre remained on deck for a long time, repeating the pirate's words in his mind.

****

The island of Martinique might have been owned by the French, but to the passengers of the *Lady Anne*, it was a tropical haven. Being English and therefore distrusting of the French, Treize did no business on the island. So when the *Lady Anne* sailed into the port of Fort de France, there were no questions, no suspicions and no hesitations. Everyone except Hilde and Duo went ashore to forage for supplies.

Somehow Relena managed to convince Heero to let her sell one of her dresses to help pay for the food and water necessary for their voyage to the Caymans. They spent the day bartering and trading and making trips back and forth to the ship with the supplies. Hilde, while still sick, felt well enough to come onto the deck to see the island.

They spent the night on the ship. Relena spent it, again, in Heero's arms. In the morning, Hilde made an announcement over breakfast, before the others returned to the island for the last load of supplies.

"I want to come ashore."

Heero swallowed the last of his stale biscuit. "You're sick."

"I feel better," she protested. "And if I'm going to be on this ship for another two weeks or so then I want to get on land for a little bit like everyone else."

"We shouldn't take the risk." Heero pulled on his coat.

She stood up on shaky legs. Duo put his hands around her waist. "Hilde," he said softly. "I hate to agree with Yuy, but..."

"I'm going," Hilde said, her jaw set. "Miss Peacecraft...Baroness...can you help me?"

Relena glanced at Heero apologetically before she reached for the girl's arm. Sally took Hilde's other arm. "I have just the dress for you, Hilde," Relena told the younger girl as they helped her down the ladder to the cabins. "It's blue with little purple..." Her voice faded as they descended further into the ship.

Trowa shook his head and peeled a banana. "You shouldn't have raised her with a mind of her own, Yuy."

"Hilde would've listened," Wufei corrected him. "If she didn't have those women to fall back on for support. Women united are not to be trusted."

Duo glanced at Heero. "If she thinks she's up to it..."

"You just keep an eye on her," Heero ordered the braided man. "If she even breathes slow for a second, I want you both on your way back to the ship."

Wufei blinked. "You're going to let her go, Heero? You're going to let them win??"

Heero gave him a look of warning. "Only because I'm thinking it might be better this way."

"Better?" Quatre asked.

The pirate leader nodded and felt in his pocket for something he had purchased with one barrel of rum the day before without anyone's knowledge. "I want her with us today," was all he would say.

****

The port city delighted Hilde, perhaps because, for awhile, she hadn't been sure if she would ever walk on dry land again. She stayed close to Duo, a bit behind the group, and pointed out everything that caught her eye with the joy of someone who had come all too close to death.

Tha That women has at least ten coconuts in that basket on her head!" Hilde cried. "And look there...that man has a monkey!"

Relena followed Hilde's every word, finding each thing just as exciting as the younger girl. "No wonder," she said, tightening her grip on Heero's arm.

"No wonder what?"

She smiled at him. "No wonder you're in love with the Carribean."

Heero paused for a second. "How dou kou know that about me?"

"I don't know." Relena kissed his cheek. "I could just tell."

They continued on until Hilde spotted something new. "Oh, look!! Heero..." Hilde pointed to a building several yards away. "A church!"

Sally clasped her hands. "A church...oh, I haven't been to church since we left England."

"It's French Catholic," Quatre informed them, his English Protestant nose crinkling up.

"Same God," Trowa said. "Would you like to go in, Baroness?" He offered his his arm when she nodded emphatically.

Wufei elbowed Trowa out of the way. "I can escort her just fine, Barton."

Hilde looked up at Duo. "Do you want to go, too?" She frowned when she saw that his eyes were wet. "Duo...what's wrong?"

"I haven't been in a church...since I was eight," he told her. Duo blinked back his tears and kissed the top of her head. "If you want to go, I'm with you." She smiled, nodded and pulled Relena's shawl tighter around her shoulders.

Heero held back as the others, even Quatre, headed towards the church. He reached for Relena's hand to keep her back as well. "Heero?" She squinted in the sunlight. "You don't want to go?"

"Actually...I do." He cleared his throat. "But there's something I have to ask you first." After a long minute to gather his wits, he continued. "Relena...from the minute I bumped into you in Savannah, you have done nothing but turn my life upside down."

She blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"No...no, it was what I needed. What I was looking for." Heero took a breath. "You've made me consider things I never would have thought of before. You've made me feel things I thought I didn't ever want to feel. You took away the complacency I thought I wanted...and you gave me the opportunity to love someone as more than a friend or a brother." He took her gloved hand. "You gave me your heart with no conditions. And without thinking of your reputation, you gave me your body."

Relena squeezed his fingers. "I don't care about my reputation, Heero, if that's what you're trying to apologize for. You don't have to..."

"I want to give you something back," Heero gently cut her off. "When we sail into New Orleans, I want to be able to call you my wife. And have no one question your morals."

"Heero, what are you..."

For a second time, he didn't let her finish. "There's a church right over there. It's Catholic, but if you don't mind that...." He pulled a simplld bld band from his pocket. "I want you to marr. To. Today." He searched her eyes. "Will you be my wife?"

Her hand flew to her mouth; tears spilled over the white kidskin of her gloves. "Oh, Heero..." She nodded vigorously. "Yes...I would love to marry you!"

The brightest smile he had ever given to anyone graced his lips. He kissed her long and deep, tasting the salt of her tears. They were interrupted by Duo jogging back to them. "Hey, what's keeping..." Duo stopped. "Ah, never mind then."

Heero took Relena's . "M. "Maxwell...is there a priest in there?"

"Aye," Duo replied. "Father Delacroix, he said his name was. Why?"

"Tell him..." He looked back down at Relena; she was wiping joyful tears from her beautiful eyes. "...there's two people out here who wish to be married straight away."

****

"Do you, Heero Yuy, take this woman for your wife? To love, protect and cherish, until death parts you?"

Heero nodded at the priest's heavily accented English. "I do."

The old missionary looked at the radiant bride. "Do you, Relena Peacecraft, take this man for your husband? To love, honor and obey, until death parts you?"

"I do," she replied softly as Heero slipped the ring onto her left hand.

"By the Almighty Father's power and with the authority given to me by the Catholic Church, I say that you are man and wife. You may kiss your bride."

In the makeshift front pew of the tiny church, Hilde watched Heero slowly lower his lips to his new wife's. She wasn't quite sure how to react to the simple ceremony. On the one hand, it was plain to see that Heero was indescribably happy, an emotion she hadn't ever expected to see in her guardian.

On the other hand, she was losing her life-long protector to another woman.

Her momentary lapse into fear was assuaged by Duo's hand covering hers. When she looked at him and he winked as though he knew exactly what she was thinking, Hilde understood. As long as she had him, she would never be alone. Heero would always be her brother, the boy who had given her the biggest piece of stolen bread, bandaged her cuts and scrapes with strips of his own clothes and beaten up the bullies until he taught her to beat them up herself, ber ler life was with Duo now. She kissed his cheek, still afraid to give him a real kiss, and not just because they were in a church.

Hilde's fingers curled around the end of his braid. Soon, she hoped to be in Relena's place. Glowing with joy, married to the man she loved...ready to start a new life with him. She caught Heero's eye as he guided Relena down from the altar and smiled at him. He retuned it with a little nod.

It was a nod that said a lot of things, but mostly it said, *She might be the new focus of my life, but you will always be my girl.* Hilde rested her head against Duo's shoulder, completely content.

****

On the evenof tof the wedding, the *Lady Anne* set sail for the Cayman Islands. A week into the journey, Heero and Relena had completely settled into married life as evidenced by their reluctance to leave their cabin even at mealtimes, Sally and Wufei were arguing like John Adams and Congress, leaving Quatre and Trowa to work the ship.

During all of this, Duo committed himself to the task of bringing Hilde back to perfect health. His efforts paid off on the night of the full moon, nine days into the trip when he came into his cabin after a lengthy poker game with Trowa and Wufei and found Hilde, completely naked and waiting for him.

"Oh, shit," he breathed, standing in the doorway. "You must be feeling better."

She nodded and stood up to cross over to him. "I told you that when I wasn't sick anymore, I was going to show you just how much I love you."

"I remember." Duo swallowed. "Do I ever remember."

"Well..." Hilde rocked up onto the balls of her bare feet. "Can I show you?"

He plunged his hands into his bangs. "Just give me a second." There was a pause. "You're sure this is what you want? You don't want to wait until we're married?"

Hilde shook her head. "I love you. I want to be with you like Heero and Relena are. I want you to show me everything you were going to show me that night."

"Baby..." He smiled suddenly. "Come here." She took a step forward, bringing them face to face. Duo gave her a soft kiss before picking her up. "You trust me? It will hurt you."

"I truou. ou. And I don't care." She worked her fingers into the crossed pieces of his braid. "Just don't ever leave me alone."

Duo carried her over to the berth. "Never. Never, Hilde."

With that promise, he lowered himself onto her tiny body. Underneath all her confidence and bravado, he could sense her innocent fear and it moved him more than anything else in his life. He undressed slowly, although she was already fairly familiar with his body. When he was naked, he let her explore. She ran her hands over his muscles and released his hair. It spilled over them like a waterfall.

Hilde was ready for his entry from the second he kissed her. When the time came, she braced herself and let him inside, bearing the pain as best she could. Duo kissed her throat, her breasts, her lips until she was ready for more. Even when she was, he made love to her with careful strokes designed to make the experience as pleasurable for her as it was for him.

When he felt release coming in both his body and hers, he urged her to wrap her legs around him. She clung to him and for one incredible moment, Duo was completely surrounded by and immersed in Hilde. She cried out his name when her pleasure peaked and it his his undoing. He let himself go deep within her; his head dropped to her shoulder.

He stayed within her warmth for a long time, until she nudged his head up. "Duo," she said, licking the corner of her lip. "When can we do this again?"

****

Heero was waiting for him the next morning, long before anyone else was awake. He stood by the railing, staring out at the pre-dawn ocean. Duo cleared his throat; it would be foolish to try to avoid Hilde's guardian. "Mor"Morning," he said, coming up next to the pirate.

The other man was quiet for a moment. "Do you intend to marry her?"

"Yes." Duo paused. "I love her."

"And for some reason, she loves you back." Heero shook his head. "I thought I taught her better..."

Duo held up his hands. "Hey, I never said I deserved her love. But I'm sure as hell grateful for it."

"I understand," Heero replied. It was the same with him and Relena. "Just know this...no matter where you and she end up, if you ever hurt her, I will track you down and I will tear you apart."

"I had a feeling you'd say something like that." Duo flashed ale. le. "But in all honesty, I will love her and I will take care of her to the best of my abilities for the rest of my life. And I will never leave her alone."

Heero nodded. "Good. If you'll excuse me..." He started below deck.

"Tell your wife I said 'hello'," Duo called. "It sure would be nice to see her sometime this trip." The parting words earned him a vulgar hand gesture. Laughing to himself, he turned his gaze to the ocean Heero had been appreciating. When the tip of the sun peeked over the waves, Duo followed Heero's path down below and returned to his cabin. He wanted to be holding Hilde when she woke up.

****

Relena began to suspect she was pregnant two days before they reached the Caymans. When her monthly flow still hadn't made an appearance by the time they dropped anchor just off of Georgetown, she became convinced. She was carrying Heero's baby, most likely conceived almost three weeks earlier he lhe lagoon, and nothing gave her more joy.

She wanted to tell him right away, but before she could, a sudden fear gripped her. What if the news upset him? With so much longer to go before they reached New Orleans, it might not be an ideal time for her to be laid up with child. The practical fears gave way to paranoia. What if he didn't want children? What if he wouldn't want to make love to her anymore when she was heavy with pregnancy?

The hand holding her silver brush dropped to the bed. Relena nibbled on her lower lip as she debated with herself. Should she tell him and accept whatever consequences there might be? Or wait until she was even more sure that she was pregnant...and until she found out just exactly how he might feel about it?

Waiting won out. Relena finished pinning up her hair and joined the rest of her companions on deck. Heero went to her as soon as she came above. "Good morning," he greeted her with a smoldering kiss.

She lovingly stroked his cheek. "Are we ready to go ashore?"

"I'm ready!" Hilde called out. Relena had to smile at the color in the girl's cheeks and the love in her eyes when she looked at Duo. Her disease had been sudden and dangerous, but her recovery was splendid to witness.

Duo gestured dramatically to the rowboat. "After you, Lady Hilde."

With the help of her new husband, Relena joined Hilde a moment later, followed by Duo, Quatre, Trowa and then Heero himself. Wufei and Sally would be staying with the ship, to keep an eye on it according to Wufei, but Relena suspected mostly to have time to themselves.

When it wasn't his turn to help with the rowing, Heero held Relena's hand on his lap, stroking the silky smooth skin above her knuckles underneath her gloves. Ever so often, he would lift it to his lips for a sweet kiss. Every time, Relena's heart melted. And her stomach turned with guilt. She should tell him about the baby. But it was not the right time. That night, she decided. When they were lying in bed, after making love, she would tell him.

Trowa and Duo swiftly finished rowing them to the docks of Georgetown. As Relena stepped onto English land again, she was doused with a wave of homesickness. Millardo and Lucrezia...were they well? Had their child arrived without complication? Was it a boy or a girl? So much had happened to her since they had parted ways nearly three months earlier. She had been pirated, shipwrecked, she had fallen in love, gotten married and was now possibly carrying a child.

Her brother and his wife might not even recognize Relena Yuy.

She suspected a letter was already on the way from Treize to her brother, filling him in on everything that had happened on Barbados, not to mention her betrayal of Millardo's promise and her indiscretions before marriage with Heero. Relena could only hope that Millardo could hear her side one day, not in a letter, but from her own lips. Perhaps then he could forgive her as she had already forgiven him.

Heero's arm around her waist released her from the spell of her thoughts. She smiled at him and took his hand, as not to lose him on the crowded dock. "Where are we going first?"

"Nowhere," a voice from the throngs of people around them answered her. Relena froze upon hearing the voice. Although she had only spoken to it once, it was forever burned into her memory.

Heero squeezed her hand. He recognized the voice, too, beyond a shadow of a doubt. "Relena, step behind me."

Treize Kushrenada turned around to face them and pulled off the tricorne hat that had concealed him within the crowd until the proper moment. "I've been waiting for you for two days." He withdrew a musket from the depths of his overcoat and pointed it at Heero's chest. "Welcome to Georgetown."

****

To Be Continued