Fix the Girl

Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me and never have.

Author\'s Notes: This was one of the first stand-alone NC17 stories I wrote for Gundam Wing. I posted it on FF.net over two years ago, but it, like many others, was taken down under the wake of their no-sex policy. I\'m glad to be able to put it back up again for anyone who likes this sort of thing:)

****

Fix the Girl
by Kristen Elizabeth

****

\"I refuse.\"

\"Relena...\"

\"No, Heero. Absolutely nothing you say will make me change my mind.\"

\"I\'m not asking you to compromise yourself. All I want is...\"

\"I said \'no\' and I meant \'no\'. What part of that don\'t you understand?\"

\"The part where he doesn\'t get his way.\"

\"Stay out of it, Maxwell.\"

Relena Peacecraft put her hands on her hips and adopted her politician\'s voice. \"Look...the only way you are getting me to a firing range is if you drag me, kicking and screaming.\"

\"That can be arranged,\" Heero Yuy replied, darkly.

\"All right. That\'s it. End of discussion.\" Relena smiled sweetly at her bodyguards. \"You two can leave now.\"

Duo Maxwell protested. \"What did I do?? I\'m not the one who wants to teach you how to shoot a gun. I\'m on your side, princess! Yay, pacifism!\"

Heero leaned over Relena\'s desk. \"Knowing how to operate a gun does not make you a killer, Relena. It makes you safer...with all the guns around you all the time, you need to know how to...\"

\"Kill people?\" She shook her head, blond hair flying around her lower back. \"Forget it. I\'m not doing it. Besides....\" She sat down. \"Why do you think I keep you two around?\"

\"Because we\'re dead sexy?\" Duo replied, winking suggestively.

\"Because I know I do *need* guns around me. But that does *not* mean that I have to be the one with my finger on the trigger!\" Relena folded her arms over her silk blouse. \"Now, I\'m sorry if that lowers your opinion of me, Heero. However, I will not waver on this.\"

Heero brought his fist down on her desk before he turned and stalked out of the office. Duo winced as the door slammed shut. \"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is sexual frustration.\"

Relena shook hea head. \"Duo...\"

\"Sorry, princess.\" He sat on the edge of her desk. \"No headway in that department, eh?\"

\"Who said I was trying?\" Relena rubbed her temples. \"Want to know a secret?\" Duo nodded, eagerly. \"I already know how to shoot a gun.\"

He blinked. \"Really?\"

\"I\'m actually a fairly good shot.\"

Duo scratched the top of his head. \"Well...then why aren\'t you taking him up on his offer? You could act all weak and helpless and then when he tries to play big-bad soldier....blow him away with your target skills.\"

\"Hear what you just said? \'Take him up on his offer\'.\" Relena stood up. \"My days of chasing after Heero Yuy\'s affections are over. From now on, if he wants to spend time with me, we do it on *my* terms. Not his.\"

\"And your terms would be...?\"

\"Dinner. Dancing. Movie. Walk in the park. A five minute conversation without him saying the words \'protection\', \'duty\' or \'mission\'.\"

Duo thought for a second. \"I think that\'s fair, princess. But you gotta remember...Heero isn\'t your typical guy. So, the typical date things aren\'t gonna apply. Hell...if you\'re after Heero Yuy, take \'typical\' out of your vocabulary!\"

\"Any suggestions?\" Relena asked quietly.

\"Besides sneaking into his bedroom and...\"

\"Duo.\"

He snickered. \"Sorry. All right...suggestions\" He placed an index finger on either temple. \"Think, brain...think.\" His eyes popped open. \"I\'ve got it! You and I will go out on a date and I\'ll make sure Heero knows about it. He\'ll stalk us, of course, and when the moment is right...I\'ll kiss you and then he\'ll be so jealous that he\'ll kick my ass and realize what he almost lost.\"

\"That\'s great, Duo.\"

\"I thought so...\"

Relena yanked the end of his braid. \"And while you\'re at it, try to pass him a note in gym class, but don\'t let him know that I like him. \'Cause that would be, like, so embarrassing.\" Her voice oozed sarcasm.

\"Ow!!\" Duo grabbed the back of his head. \"Okay...not the most mature plan. \'Sides...Hilde would have kicked my ass long before Heero got anywhere near it. But I\'m just trying to help.\"

\"I know.\" She released his hair. \"Thank you, Duo. You\'re the only person who seems to want me and Heero together.\"

\"Besides you.\"

Relena raised her shoulders. \"I dt knt know anymore. It\'s been threers srs since he was assignedbe mbe my bodyguard. When is enough, enough? I don\'t think I can wait another three years for him to come around.\" She plopped back into her chair. \"Maybe I just need to find a nice, safe guy to date.\"

\"Safe guy?\" Duo snorted. \"No such thing.\"

\"I refuse to believe that. There must be...\"

\"Miss Relena?\" Her secretary, Jane, appeared in the doorway. \"Mr. Yuy told me to give this to you.\" She walked over to them and laid a thin book on top of a stack of papers. On the cover was a drawing of a Colt .22 handgun. Over it, in bold letters, was the phrase \"Gun Safety\". Jane smiled weakly. \"He said to tell you he\'ll meet you at the target range, Saturday at noon.\"

Duo lifted his hands to his ears, but the explosion never came. Instead, Relena picked up the safety manual and gracefully dropped it into the trash can. \"Jane,\" she said, calmly. \"Is that cousin of yours still single?\"

****

\"...so the nurse gives me the strangest look and says, \'Doctor...this patient has cramps\'.\"

Relena shook her head, amused. \"What did you do?\"

Her date, Doctor Alexander Keen, shook his head. \"I apologized and got out of there quickly. I had never been more embarrassed in my life.\"

Across the elegantly set table, Relena began to laugh. \"I can imagine.\" She scooped up a bite of her cherries jubilee and studied her date. He was every bit as handsome as Jane had promised. Blonde hair that reminded her of Quatre Winner with the green eyes of Trowa Barton, tall, good-looking...a resident in the cardiology unit of Bradbury Hospital. Through three courses, they had discussed current events, classic movies and traded anecdotes about their jobs.

And never once had he said the word \'mission\'.

\"You know...\" Alexander lifted his coffee cup. \"When Jane told me she was setting me up with thce Fce Foreign Minister...I was a little intimidated.\" He leaned forward. \"But I\'ve had more fun tonight than I\'ve had in a long time.\"

Relena set down her spoon. \"I know what you mean. And I want to thank you.\"

\"You don\'t have to thank me. It\'s truly been my pleasure.\" He paused. \"I know how stressful your job must be.\"

\"I can\'t imagine that being a heart surgeon is a breeze.\" Relena smiled. \"I think we both need a evening like this every now and then.\"

Alexander smiled, revealing perfect teeth. \"I\'m very glad you t tha that. Because I would like to invite you to the polo game tomorrow morning. I\'m playing for the hospital\'s team. Will you be my date?\"

\"Tomorrow?\" Relena bit her lip and imagined Heero waiting at the target range. A slow smile spread onto her face. \"I would love to.\"

****

The target range was deadly silent. Somewhere in the distance, a bird garbled a happy little song. Heero scowled and checked his watch for the fifteenth time.

She was very, very...very late.

It was unacceptable. Wherever she was, whatever she was doing...it could not be more important than her physical safety. It was his responsibility to keep her safe, even if that meant teaching her to protect herself. But time and time again, she pitched these temper tantrums and refused to cooperate. In the beginning, he
had ignored them. Now...they had begun to bother. An. And things did not bother him easily.

He picked up his handgun. He had done everything short *of* dragging her, kicking and screaming. And she still wasn\'t here. Kicking and screaming was starting to sound more and more like his only option. He checked the gun\'s clip, lifted his arms, aimed and fired at the target across the field. The bullet passed clean through the center of the bullseye. It was reassuring to know that he wasn\'t losing his touch.

A loud honk from behind him nearly caused the gun to go off again. Heero loosened his grip on the weapon before he could pull the trigger and spun around to confront the idiot who would startle someone with a gun in their hand.

\"Heero!\" Duo leaned out of the window of his car. \"Good! You\'re here!\"

Heero advanced on the braided man, murder in his eyes. He only stopped when he noticed the petite figure in the passenger seat of Duo\'s car. Hilde Schbeiker gave Heero a friendly wave. \"What are you doing here?\" he asked Duo, rather coldly.

Duo ignored the question. \"You\'re waiting for Relena, aren\'t you?\"

\"I told her to meet me here at noon,\" Heero replied, answering without really answering. \"She\'s late.\"

\"She\'s on a date.\"

Heero blinked. \"What?\"

The car doors opened; Duo and Hilde climbed out and exchanged a worried look. \"I told her to tell you so you wouldn\'t be here waiting all day....\" Duo fidgeted. \"But you know Relena when she gets an idea into her head.
\
\"She has a date?\" Heero repeated, as though he were trying to get used to the idea.

Hilde smiled weakly. \"With a doctor. The one who took her to dinner the other night.\"

\"She went out the other night?\"

\"Where have you been, Yuy?\" Duo couldn\'t help but smirk at seeing Heero\'s little boy look of confusion. \"Don\'t worry...I did a background check on the guy. He\'s just an average Joe.\"

Heero flexed his finger against the gun\'s trigger. \"Why wasn\'t I informed of this?\"

Duo raised an eyebrow. \"It wasn\'t a secret, Heero. You have access to her day planner...it was written in there in bold ink. What did you think...she was in a business meeting on a Friday night?\" When Heero failed to answer, Duo shook his head. \"Sheesh...\"

\"Where are they? Her and her average Joe?\"

Hilde kicked the grass with the toe of her sandal. \"A polo game.\"

\"Where is this game? Is it a safe location? Are there any Preventers there?\" Heero looked pointedly at Duo. \"Has anyone checked this place out?\"

\"Hey...soldier boy.\" Duo put his hands up. \"Calm down. I\'m sure it\'s fine. I don\'t think there are evil henchmen waiting around a polo field with an arsenal of weapons ready in case a world leader comes by.\"

Heero backed up, heading for his own car. \"And that is how mistakes are made and lives are lost.\"

Duo scratched his head. \"By making assumptions?\"

\"No.\" Heero reached for his communicator on the driver\'s side seat. \"By you thinking.\" Before he could even press any buttons, a picture appeared on the tiny screen. Brow furred, Heero answered. \"What is it?\" There was a long pause as the face on the screen spoke to him through the small device sitting in his ear. \"How long ago?\" Heero\'s voice was deadly quiet.

\"What\'s going on?\" Duo asked. He went ignored.

\"I\'ll be right there.\" Heero turned off the communicator, removed the earpiand and climbed into his car.

\"Hey! What the hell is going on?\" Duo yelled. Heero turned the engine on. In desperation, Duo ran around to the back of the car and planted himself firmly in place. \"Tell me what\'s wrong.\"

Heero put the car in reverse. \"Relena\'s been attacked at your safe polo field.\"

\"Is she all right?\" Hilde cried.

\"I don\'t know.\" Heero lifted his foot off the brake pedal, allowing Duo just enough time to jump out of the car\'s path before he backed up and took off, leaving Duo and Hilde behind.

****

\"I\'m sorry, sir. This is a crime scene. I can\'t let any unauthorized...\" The young guard watched the man with intense blue eyes stride past him.

Heero took in the scene with practiced calm. The grass behind the stands of the polo field was splashed with blood, the source of which seemed to be whatever was covered by a stained sheet a few yards away. Heero took slight comfort in the fact that the body under the sheet was far too big to be Relena. Still, someone was dead..

The very worst part of Heero hoped it was her date. He felt a twinge of guilt at the thought, but pushed it aside with ease. The only thing that mattered was making sure Relena was all right.

Heero caught Chang Wufei\'s eye. The Chinese man was talking to his hand-held communicator; he lifted his chin at Heero. As the other man approached him, Wufei closed it up. \"Heero.\"

\"What happened?\"

Wufei squinted in the sunlight and looked at the chaos around them. \"If I had any idea, I\'d tell you. We\'re not getting anything from her date; the guy\'s a mess.\" He glanced at Heero. \"She\'s all right. They have her in one of the ambulances.\" He pointed. \"But I have to warn you. She\'s not...completely herself.\"

Heero wasted no time pondering the man\'s words. In a minute, he was at the ambulance. An EMT was wrapping gauze around Relena\'s wrist. She sn thn the lip of the open back doors, staring at grass below while allowing the paramedic to treat whatever wound she had acquired. Heero gave her a cursory exam. She appeared to be all right.

\"Relena...\" He approached the ambulance.

The EMT looked up. \"Sir, you can\'t be here. The Vice Foreign Minister...\"

Heero lifted his Preventer ID badge from his pants pocket, effectively silencing the medic. \"Relena...can you tell me what happened?\"

She moved for the first time, lifting her chin to stare at him. But her eyes did not focus. They were glazed over; she did not blink for the longest moment.

\"I killed him,\" she finally whispered.

****

\"No.\"

\"Zechs...\"

\"I said \'no\', Lu. What part of that doesn\'t he understand?\"

\"The part where he doesn\'t get his...\"

\"Maxwell! Shut up!\" Heero leaned over Millardo Peacecraft\'s desk. \"I came to you out of some sense of respect for your opinion. But I don\'t need your permission to do this. Relena\'s personal safety is *my* mission and I\'ll carry out my mission the way *I* see fit.\"

Millardo d upd up and used his extra inches of height to the greatest possible advantage. \"You were assigned to Relena\'s protection by an organization. *I* was given the job of keeping her safe on the day she was born by some higher power who decided she would be my little sister. My mission takes just a little more precedence over yours, Yuy.\"

The Perfect Soldier stared up at Relena\'s brother. \"How long has it been since she talked?\"

After a second, Millardo dropped his head. \"You mean besides repeating \'I killed him\' over and over again?\" He sighed. \"Five days.\"

\"Five days. How long are you going to let this go on?\" Heero leaned forward again. \"I can help her. I\'m going to take her out of heor aor awhile and try to...\"

\"Fix her?\" Duo filled in.

Heero glared at his friend before returning his attention to Relena\'s brother. \"We still don\'t know what happened that afternoon.\"

Noin interrupted. \"We know she was attacked. We know that she killed the attacker.\"

\"But how did it happen?\" Heero shrugged. \"We have no idea. And that...doctor of hers was pitiful help.\"

Duo raised an eyebrow. \"The man lapsed into a coma.\"

Heero pressed on. \"I\'m the best one to hher.her. And you know it.\"

Millardo stalled for several long minutes, unwillingly to give in to his former enemy. Finally, he spoke. \"We own a cabin in the Cerdasian Forest. It\'s where I stayed when I came back to Earth. No one outside the family knows it exists. Take her there.\" Heero nodded and started for the door. \"Yuy.\" The shorter man turned around. Millardo searched for the right words. \"Take care of my sister.\"

****

He watched her carefully as she sat by the small, winding stream that ran past the cabin. The shawl he had insisted she wear to guard against the breeze lay in a heap at her side. The wind pushed through her long hair; locks of gold danced around her back. The only sounds were birds, the water and the wind.

Heero walked from the cabin\'s porch down to where she sat with a mug of hot tea. She made no indication she was aware of his presence when he sat next to her. Her eyes were as blank and unblinking as they had been in the ambulance on the day of the attack.

\"Here.\" He tried to push the hot mug into her hands. \"Drink this.\"

Relena drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She rested her chin on one knee and continued to stare at the stream.

He pulled the mug back; steam curled up in the cool, fall air. \"All right. You can drink it later...when it\'s cold.\"

A long minute passed. Heero watched a bird take a bath in the stream. Relena appeared to be staring at the same thing, but there was no way to know for sure. In the three days they had been at the cabin, Heero had come to the conclusion that while Relena made all the motions of a conscious being, the truth was she was barely aware of her surroundings. Not for the first time, he attempted to begin a conversation.

\"Duo called a minute ago.\" He paused. \"Your doctor...your date came out of his coma. He doesn\'t remember anything, though. So...\" He glanced at Relena. \"It\'s still up to you to tell us what happened, Relena.\"

Her voice was soft, nearly carried away by the wind. \"I killed him.\"

\"How?\" Heero asked. \"Relena...I need you to tell me how you...\" He stopped when he noticed her shivering. He reached around her to retrieve her shawl. She let him wrap it around her shoulders. \"Better?\" She said nothing, but her body stopped trembling.

He decided to let the subject drop for the moment. They sat in silence for another minute before Heero stood up. \"Come on. Let\'s go inside.\"

Relena pulled away when he tried to get her on her feet. He did not let her. Instead, he hauled her to her feet and urged her to walk. The last thing he was going to do was baby her. He guided her back to the cabin and closed the door behind them.

She sat at the tiny table as he made her something to eat. He was slicing bread when she spoke. \"I killed him.\"

He paused with the knife halfway through the bread. \"I know.\"

****

\"It\'s late.\" Heero set his gun and the rag he was using to clean it aside and glanced at his watch. \"You ought to get some sleep.\" Relena stared at the fire. \"Come on, Relena.\"

After a long moment, she stood up. Without a word, she started for her bedroom. Heero followed out of habit. He watched her go to her suitcase and open it, numbly.

\"You know...\" he began. \"I don\'t know what happened at the polo field, Relena. But I know you. And I know that what you did...was the only thing you could have possibly done.\" She blinked. \"You know where I am. If you need me.\"

Relena pulled a nightgown out of her suitcase and walked to the bathroom in silence.

****

When Heero finally retired for the night, he fell onto his bed in the room down the hall from Relena\'s. He threw one arm across his forehead and stared at the ceiling. Every day, it seemed, she withdrew more. Instead of getting better, she was getting worse. And despite his assurances to her brother, he wasn\'t entirely sure he could help her.

He sighed and turned off the bedside lamp. The only thing the cabin could boast was having its own generator and running water. Still, it was far away from the real world Relena desperately needed to escape. Heero wasn\'t sure if she had been aware of it before they left, but the papers were having a field day. The pacifist killer. His fist tightened. The vultures were out.

It was up to him to protect her. And to find out the truth about what happened that afternoon behind the stands of the polo field. She needed his help. But this time it wasn\'t to defend her dreams or her country. She needed him to defend her at a time when she was in no shape to defend herself.

Heero closed his eyes. The next thing he was aware of was Relena screaming. He bolted to his feet; a quick glance at his watch told him he had been asleep for a long time. She screamed again and he took off down the hallway. Her door was locked, but a quick kick sent it caving in.

In the moonlight, he could see her in her bed. Her body was tormented by some horrible dream; the sheets were twisted around her legs as she flailed. Her screams turned into low moans...a plea for help that not even the Perfect Soldier could deny. Heero ran a hand through his hair and went to her.

He took a loose hold on her wrists, trying to calm her. \"Relena...Relena, wake up.\" With her eyes still closed and mind still lost to the nightmare, she fought against him. He increased the pressure of his hold on her. \"Wake up, Relena.\"

Suddenly, her eyes flew open, letting loose a torrent of tears. They spilled down her cheeks and were absorbed by the tangled hair spread around her face. She blinked several times; her chest still heaved with exertion. Without thinking, he looked down. Her breasts rose and fell with each breath.

Heero shook his head to clear away the image and the warm feelings it invoked. It was not the time or the place. \"Relena....it\'s all right. It was just a dream.\"

Her face crumpled as she began to sob. Heero blanked out a for a moment, unsure of what to do. Before he quite realized it, he had gathered her against his chest. Awkward from a life deprived of loving contact, he ran his fingers through her hair. It was soft and silky. He repeated the motion, stroking her soothingly. She continued to cry against his chest, wetting his white cotton shirth heh her tears.

When her sobs began to quiet, Heero spoke. \"You killed him. Didn\'t you?\" She nodded. \"Tell me how, Relena. What happened?\"

She shook her head. \"I killed him.\"

\"Relena...\" He pulled her away from his body to look in her watery blue eyes. \"I want to help you. But I need you to talk to me. You\'re never going to get better if you don\'t. You know that, right?\" She nodded once more. \"Just talk.\" He touched her hair.

Relena stared back into his eyes. There was sincerity there, urging her to trust him. Taking a breath, she opened her mouth and began to speak in a voice Heero had to strain to hear. \"Alexander invited me to his polo match. I went...because I wanted to make you mad. After he was done playing...his team lost...he asked me if I wanted to get ice cream.\" She looked back up at him with the innocence of a child. \"Why don\'t you ever take me to get ice cream?\" He blinked. \"When you like someone, you ask them out. You like me, don\'t you, Heero?\"

He swallowed. \"I\'m your bodyguard. I...watch you...keep you safe.\"

\"But do you like me?\"

Heero cleared his throat. \"Tell me what happened next, Relena.\"

She looked down and fiddled with the white satin ribbon holding her nightgown closed at her throat. \"We were leaving the polo field...when this old man came up to us. I thought he was homeless....I was going to give him money.\" She stopped for a long minute; her shoulders started trembling. Heero took her chin and lifted it up. Her chin wobbled as fresh tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. \"He...he grabbed me...and started...touching me. Alex tried to get him off, but he...he pulled a gun from his coat....\"

\"Go on,\" Heero urged.

\"Alex...lunged for him...and the gun fell out of his hand. Then they started...fighting. The guy had...had Alex on the ground. He was punching him...over and over again.\" Relena closed her eyes. \"I never saw so much blood, Heero...\"

\"What did you do?\"

Relena pointed as though werewere back at the scene of the crime. \"His gun was on the ground. He wouldn\'t stop hitting Alex....he was going to kill him, Heero. And then...then he was going to kill me.\" She bit her lip. \"I...picked up the gun and I shot him.... I killed him.\" Her chin dropped back to her chest. \"I\'m a murderer, Heero. I\'m no better than...\"

\"Me?\"

Her head lifted. \"I didn\'t want to kill him, Heero. But I had to.\"

\"People don\'t always kill because they want to, Relena.\" He touched her hair again; he was rapidly becoming addicted to the way it felt on his fingertips. \"Sometimes a death is necessary. And it doesn\'t make you a murderer.\"

\"What does it make me then?\"

He thought for a minute. \"A woman who places human life above politics. You could have sat back and done nothing....preserved your ideal. But when it came down to it, you chose to save one person by taking another\'s life. And it\'s the hardest choice you\'ll ever have to make. I know.\"

\"So...I did the right thing?\" Her voice pleaded with him not for reassurance, but for the truth.

\"There is no right or wrong. It\'s not that simple. It can\'t be that simple. T\'s \'s only good and bad. And you...you\'re the good. Nothing can ever change that.\" Heero touched her cheek. \"It\'s why I do what I do.\"

Relena looked at him with frank curiosity. \"Why you pull away from me? Why you don\'t take me for ice cream? Why you order meund und without listenin wha what I want?\"

Her words bit, but they were her truth to him. \"I try to do what\'s best for you, Relena.\"

\"What if what\'s best for me is just you...loving me?

Heero sucked in a breath. \"I think I liked it better when you were catatonic,\" he muttered.

She tilted her head to the side; hair cascaded over her shoulder. \"Is that too much to ask of you? For you to want me?\"

\"Desire and love are two different...\" He stopped when she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He stared at her. \"Why did you do that?\"

\"I wanted to. Because I need you.\" She kissed his other cheek just as sweetly. \"Desire you.\" She touched her mouth to his forehead. \"And love you.\" Her lips found his. Their first kiss was chaste, ending a moment later when she pulled back.

Heero opened his eyes. \"I can\'t...do this.\"

Hurt flooded her pretty features. \"Why not?\"

\"You...you\'ve had a rough night, Relena. And I...\" He looked away. \"You should do that with someone special.\"

\"I am,\" she whispered.

He shook his head. \"You should be with someone better. Someone who hasn\'t...\" He hesitated. \"...killed.\"

Relena stared at him. \"You\'re not the only one with bloodstained hands now, Heero. My hands are bloody, too. I\'ve killed. I\'m not anyone\'s angel anymore.\"

\"Don\'t be so sure.\"

Her fingers trembled as she pulled on her nightgown\'s ribbon. The bow unfolded and the gown fell open, baring the creamy flesh of her throat and outlined curves of her breasts. \"Am I still your angel, Heero?\" She reached for the hem of the gown and quickly pulled it over her head. The night air touched her skin and she shivered. She sat in front of him as exposed as she couldsiblsibly be. After a moment, Relena lay back against the twisted sheets. Her hair spread around her body like the halo she claimed she no longer had. \"Could you make love to your angel?\"

The Perfect Soldier would have told her to sit up, get dressed, go back to sleep. The Gundam pilot would have declined the mission and left her sid
B
But Heero Yuy acted on his emotions.

He carefully laid his body next to hers. Side by side. Face to face. He touched her soft cheek. Her expressions had never held anything back from him. Never lied to him. The one she wore as his hands wandered down her body told him he had made the right choice. For them both.

She sought his mouth again. This time, their kiss was carnal...a prelude to what their bodies most wanted. Heero explored her mouth, learning its contours. Her tongue melted against his as her fingers fumbled for the bottom of his shirt. Together, they pulled the garment off and tossed it aside. He took her against his chest again...heated skin on heated skin. Soft and hard. He lehe whe warmth of her mouth and worked kisses down her cheek to her jaw and throat. Nuzzling the sensitive flesh made her whimper with desire. He liked the sound.

Relena ran her hands over his upper back and shoulders. Hard, toned muscles rippled under her eager hands. She wanted to learn every muscle, every scar, every inch of Heero. She pressed closer to him, surprised but delighted to feel a different sort of hardness against her lower belly. He did want her.

His pants were horribly uncomfortable, but he ignored his painful arousal. Instead, he worked his lips down her body. Her breasts were perfection defined. They fit in his hand as though they had been designed with him in mind. Heero gently squeezed the fleshy mound. Her nipples were the only hard thing about her. He brushed his fingertips across them making her jump with the unfamiliar sensation.

\"Oh!\" she gasped. Her eyes closed. She was unprepared for the next sensation. A wet toncharcharting a trail around one nipple. She looked down to see Heero nibbling at the underside of her breast. He licked his way back to her nipple and took it into his mouth, laving it with his tongue. When she thought she would go mad with the pleasure, he moved to her other nipple, giving it the same exquisite treatment.

There had been women before her. Meaningless sex. Girls at the bars Duo dragged him to. More than willing to let him do what he wanted with them. But that was the problem. He hadn\'t wanted them. They had been an escape...being with them, a way out.

He looked up at Relena. Her face was lax with the pleasure he was giving her. She ran her fingers through his hair lovingly. She offered her body and her soul. was was not an escape. Being with her was not a way out.

She was home. Being with her was finding his way back.

\"I *do* like you, Relena,\" he said before kissing her navel. \"Never doubt that I need you.e kie kissed his way to the very center of her body. Her heat surrounded him, intoxicating him. \"That I want you.\"

Primal instinct made her open herself to him. He kissed the inside of her thigh, tracing a little pattern with the tip of his tongue. She raised her hips, barely aware of what she was asking for. Heero knew; he lowered his mouth to her wet folds of flesh. Like he had with her mouth, he explored her, learning what brought her the most pleasure. The taste of her arousal burned into his memory. He never wanted to forget it, no matter where his ltooktook him, even if it was far away from her. He wanted to always be able to close his eyes and remember the way she tasted.

\"Heero...\" she moaned when he found the hard nub of her desire. He manipulated it with his mouth. She grabbed his hair, urging him on. He held her hips down as he lapped at her sweet center. His efforts became faster and harder as her passion rose. Finally, her entire body tightened and she screamed. Heero lifted his head and kissed his way back up her body. He took her lips again, letting her learn her flavor.

\"Heero,\" she whispered into his mouth. \"I want to know you. All of you...\"

He kissed her and took her hand, pressing it against the hard evidence of his own desire. His hand fell away as she cupped him. Relena pushed open the buttons on the fly of his jeans and peeled back the denim exposing a wedge of plaid boxer ss. Ss. She smiled at his choice of underwear. Her inquisitive fingers found the boxer\'s slit and slipped into it. Heero laid his head on her shoulder as she circled him. He wanted to curse, the pleasure was so overwhelming. Unaware and acting entirely on instinct, Relena slid her hand up and down his length. Virginal eagerness urged her on. She pulled her hand away and tugged his clothes down his body. Heero kicked them off the rest of the way and settled his body over hers. Propping himself on his elbows, he looked at her once again.

\"It will hurt.\"

\"I know.\" Her arms wound around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. \"Please do it, Heero...\" He pressed the wet tip of himself against her. Taking a deep breath, he started to slide himself into her body.

She was being stretched. Gasping, she reminded herself of what her sister in law had told her. *The pain will fade and after that...it\'ll be nothing but pleasure.* Heero pushed in further; she willed herself to relax. However, a little cry that escaped her lips gave away her discomfort.

\"It will be all right,\" he assured her, holding his body still deep within her. He twisted her hair around his fingers. \"I promise.\"

Relena nodded and chewed on her lower lip. After a moment, he continued until his entire length was buried inside her. The complete fullness was almost too much to bear. Her forehead pressed against his shoulder; moving her hips caused the strangest sensations. Pleasure mixed with the pain. She moved again, expentalntally.

\"Are you ready?\" he asked her. She wasn\'t entirely sure. Her hips lifted, pressing her groin into his. There was still pain, but it was tolerable. Heero took it as his answer. Besides, he had reached his boiling point.

She wet and hot around him, gloving his body like nothing ever had. He sighed and drew his hips back, surging forward a second later. Relena gasped. Heero began a steady rhythm that he hoped would bring her to the edge of bliss again. Their foreheads touched as they made love to each other. Breath mingled. Bodies joined. Souls entwined.

He held off his pleasure until she was there with him. With one final thrust, he pushed them both off the edge. They fell together, crying out for each other as though the other person were not right there with them. When the pleasure faded, they held one another. The last two people on Earth, needing no one but each other.

The guilt he imagined a thousand times he would feel if he let himself be with her was non-existent. He kissed her swollen lips and waited for her to rejoin him. When she finally opened her eyes, she gave him a smile so genuine and pure that he forgot to breathe for a moment.

He hated to do it, but he slowly pulled himself out of her body. She moaned in protest until he enfolded her in a gentle embrace. She laid her cheek against his chest and listened to his heartbeat as it slowed down to a normal rate once more. He reached for her hair again, losing his fingers in the honeyed silk.

\"Heero?\"

\"Yeah?\"

\"Do you remember the first time you killed someone?\"

He took a long time to reply. \"Yes. It isn\'t something you ever forget.\" He kissed her forehead. \"It isn\'t something you\'re supposed to forget.\"

\"But I want to forget.\"

\"Forgetting is an escape.\" He traced her jaw. \"I don\'t escape anymore. I won\'t let you start.\"

Relena lowered her eyes before hugging his body to hers. \"Then...can we stay here forever? Or would that be an escape, too?\"

\"You can\'t make pain go away by ignoring it.\" He kissed her. \"Or by having continuous sex.\"

\"It\'d be fun to try,\" she pouted. He kisser aer again, and once more, she found herself reveling the softness of his tongue. \"Okay,\" she said, breaking the kiss. \"If we have to go back, let\'s take the bed back with us.\"

\"Why the bed?\"

\"Because...\" Relena smiled. \"We can\'t take the whole cabin.\"

****

Millardo greeted them in the driveway of the Peacecraft Manor. He looked as though he wanted to break down when Relena smiled and embraced him like her old self. He returned the hug, overjoyed to have his little sister back again. Body and spirit. He caught Heero\'s eye as the younger man grabbed Relena\'s suitcase from the back of the cab. It was a look of thanks that would never be given in words. Heero accepted it with a nod.

In the front hallway, Duo picked up Relena by the waist and swung her around. \"Princess!! Welcome back!\"

Relena kissed his cheek. \"It\'s good to be back. Finally.\" She moved to embrace her sister in law; the two women hugged for a long minute before Heero and Millardo joined them.

\"Let\'s take your things up to your room, Relena,\" Heero suggested.

\"Do you need some help?\" Duo offered. Heero shook his head and together, he and Relena started up the stairs.

Millardo opened his mouth to comment, but a loud honk from outside cut him off. Puzzled, he went out to investigate, Duo and Noin in his wake. In the driveway was a large delivery truck. The driver parked and jumped out.

\"This the...uh...Peacecraft place?\" the man asked.

\"Yes,\" Millardo replied. \"What\'s all this?\"

The man went around to the back of the truck, gesturing to the others to follow. He tucked his clipboard under his arm and pulled the truck\'s doors open. \"One Queen-sized bed to be delivered the Peacecraft house.\"

Millardo frowned. \"But I didn\'t order a bed.\"

\"Well...a Relena Peacecraft did. Said she wanted it picked up from her summer cabin and brought back here. Also said to be careful with it. It\'s special.\" The man shrugged. \"Look, I just deliver things.\"

Noin looked at her husband. His face was pale as he examined the now-familiar bed inside the truck. \"Thank you,\" he told the man, numbly. The delivery man nodded and started to get the bed down. Millardo\'s fists balled up. His glance turned upwards, to the windows of the second floor. \"What did he do to her?\" he asked through clenched teeth.

Duo grinned broadly. \"He fixed her.\"

****

The End