Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Eternal Promises ❯ Part 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer : I've never claimed to own Gundam Wing, or it's affiliated characters, so you can't sue me for that. I'm mearly borrowing them for my entertainment, and shall return them upon compleation of this fic, . . . perhaps ^_^. I do however stake claim to all original characters I happen to throw in here, and to this particular story.

Eternal Promises

By Eden

Part 6

As he heard his name issued towards him, he knew that it could only be Relena who was looking at him through the screen and not some soul-less picture. He could feel himself relax a little bit when he saw that she looked fine, no bruises or marks on her face, or fearful look in her eyes.

Actually, she seemed more startled to see him than anything else.

`Of course she's surprised,' Heero scolded himself. `I haven't seen her for two years.'

He could feel everyone's eyes on him. It had been plainly obvious to everyone that the connection the two had a few years ago had not gotten weak with time. He was sure that they were all waiting for something else to be said, but what was he supposed to do? When it came to Relena, he had always found it hard to put his feelings into words, even to himself. That was one thing that time hadn't changed.

"Hey, Heero," Duo came and stood beside him and leaned closer to his ear, disrupting his train of thought. "What are you doing just standing their staring at her? Say something!"

Heero looked at the braided boy beside him for a moment, narrowing his eyes. What did he think he had been trying to do for the last minute?

Suddenly it sounded as though Relena had found her voice, as the speakers crackled to life with the sound of her speaking.

Everyone turned to look at the screen again.

Relena had all of a sudden begun to feel very nervous. It wasn't like this was the first time she had ever made a speech, and she had defiantly never felt like this before. `Goodness,' She thought wringing her hands in her lap, `What's wrong with me?'

Of course she knew even before she thought about it. It wasn't just the expectant faces of familiar people staring out of the screen at her. It was just one person's face.

He was looking at her, staring into her eyes as if there was something he wanted to say. Relena wanted to say something too, but her voice was caught in her throat, and stopped her from saying anything.

God, he had changed. Not that she minded of course, he had only gotten better looking. His face had matured with age, and no longer had the childish look to it. His jaw seemed more defined, and his eyes more piercing. She also noticed with a small inward smile that he still had the same wild, untamable dark brown hair, and serious expression on his beautiful mouth.

The more things changed, the more they stayed the same she supposed.

She could feel Reiko's eyes staring at her, boring holes in her. Nervously she swallowed, and watched the screen as Duo went up beside Heero and whispered something in his ear. When she saw Heero's eyes narrow and turn to stair at him, she saw her chance to start.

Taking a breath to calm herself, she started with the things Reiko had told her to say. Better to start simple then mess up.

"My name is Relena Darlian."

"I am not being held by a terrorist organization who wishes to disrupt peace between the colonies and Earth, nor does this group wish to kill me."

Heero watched as the voice of the Vice Foreign Minister came over the speakers. Her face looked the way that it did when he had watched her address the world about new peace policies, and when she had voiced her hatred of war.

Her honey colored hair was pushed back behind her ears, leaving her slender face free of it, her skin looked creamy smooth. The brilliant violet eyes of hers shone out from her face and looked up at him like two jewels in the light.

He could tell that she was trying to remain composed though this speech she was doing. She was trying to hold back with her mouth the questions he could see in her eyes.

"This group of people actually have no interest in me whatsoever, and have only taken me in order to get to some other individual. The identity of this individual has yet not been made known to me, but I have been told that they will be notified in some form within the next week."

As everyone in the room looked around at the people standing around them, each one wondering whom it could be, Heero narrowed his eyes a little more and continued to watch Relena. He didn't like the way this was going at all. Why would this group need to take someone as influential as Relena to draw a single person out? Especially since they obviously had exceptional skills and talents when it came to stealth, and covering evidence. They could have easily found any one of them and gotten them out of hiding without having to get her involved.

Of course, he thought, if her kidnapping had all been a ploy to get someone out of hiding, and hadn't been about her, all the better. At least she hadn't been hurt. It wasn't that he didn't care about the ploy; it was just that he was more concerned at the moment about getting Relena back safely.

"The last thing that I have been told to tell you is about my release. I have been informed that I will be left in a warehouse about fifteen kilometers east of the capital of Belgium. This is a drop off point only."

Heero noticed that she raised her eyebrows a little and looked over as if to confer with someone who was off to the side of the screen. When she looked back, she caught his eye again and continued, this time as if she was speaking to him alone.

"There will be no one else there, just me. It is not a trap of any kind. I'll be there tomorrow at noon. Any attempts to survey to area, or to set the group up will result in my continued abduction." She finished the speech with a sigh. Her eyes were pleading with Heero not to do anything. He could tell by looking at her that she wasn't scared, just concerned about what could happen if he did try anything.

He was too. These people may have told her what was going to happen, but that didn't mean it would go down as planned.

The real problem was that these people really held all of the cards at the moment. Nothing could be done without putting Relena in danger, and he would rather die before doing that.

A question had been running through his mind ever since she had begun taking though, and before he could open his mouth to ask her, Quatre spoke up.

"Are you alright, Miss Relena?"

Relena couldn't help but smile when the fellow politician asked her how she was. She had been thinking about anything else besides how she was herself.

"Yes," She said nodding her head. "I'm fine. I just want to go home."

She watched the group on the screen sigh, and then as her brother stepped forward. "Have they hurt you?"

"They have made it quite clear that they have no desire to hurt me, and they have lived up to this promise. They have not laid a hand on me in any way." She thought for a moment and then continued. "Of course, of things don't go the way they are supposed to go, I don't know what will happen to me."

Reiko tapped his wrist to indicate she was running out of time, and that she should hurry. She nodded at him, and then turned back to the people staring at her form the screen.

"I have to go now, they're telling me to wrap things up."

"Be careful, Relena." Milliardo looked at her, concern flashing in his eyes.

"And don't worry, Princess," Duo grinned, slinging an arm around Heero's shoulders. "We'll be there to pick you up at noon tomorrow."

A small smile turned up the corner of her mouth. "Thank you." She looked at all of them, her eyes coming to rest of Heero, who had by now pushed Duo's offending arm off his shoulder, and was meeting her gaze head on.

She slowly bowed her eyes down for a moment, and then locked eyes with him again. It was her confession to him. "I believe in you."

To Heero, the message she sent to him couldn't have been any clearer than if she had put it up with neon lights. Relena had just come out and told him her feelings for him as if they were the only two people their in the room.

His mind raced as he thought of all the implications this could have on his life. On the outside though, he still projected the calmness and coldness of a perfect soldier. He knew he should've tried to find a way to let her know she was not alone in her feelings, but the part of him that had always shied away from emotional attachment to people wouldn't allow it.

`It's safer this way.' He thought to himself, but somehow when he looked into her eyes, he realized that was the last thing he wanted to think about.

The most response he was able to give her was a nod. It was a way to let her know subtly that he understood the meaning behind her words.

She smiled at that, understanding what he was trying to tell her without words.

That was a relief that she understood him, because just as she did it the screen began to go dark, and her image began to fade from view. She faded to black and was gone in a matter of seconds. They wouldn't see her again until noon the following day.

Heero closed his eyes for a moment and bowed his head. When he raise it again it was to make a silent confession to Relena, weather or not she knew it. `I will come for you Relena,' He clenched one hand into a fist, `Because I believe in you too.'

As the screen faded to black before her eyes, the smile Relena had put on her face dropped off with a sigh. Seeing all those people, Sally, Noin, her brother Milliardo, and the Gundam pilots, had lifted her mood up at the time. Especially when they had shown obvious concern for her safety. But now that they were no longer there in front of her on the screen, she was alone again.

`Oh Heero,' She thought brushing away a few stray hairs off her face, `don't keep me waiting too long.'

Reiko was looking at her with his arms crossed across his chest. "You did well."

"Thank you." She didn't feel like being praised at the moment. She only wanted one thing and she didn't know how much longer she had to wait.

Suddenly she looked up at him. "When are we going to leave to go to the drop-off point?"

"Soon, we just have to wait for . . . Oh! There you are Sir." He looked towards the doorway, and straitened his posture.

Relena looked towards the doorway and saw whom she had been expecting to see. The blond hared young man stood their, one hand on his hip, surveying the room.

"Is it one already?" He asked, the corner of his mouth turning up in a lopsided smirk.

Reiko nodded his head. "Everything went according to the plan. They all understand the importance of doing what we ask, because of what the consequences could be."

The man nodded his head as he took a few steps into the room. "That's good, we don't want anyone doing anything stupid and then saying, and `You didn't tell me!'" He stopped beside Relena's chair and looked down at her. He seemed to expect some kind of response from her about his ill-mannered joke.

Relena did no more that glance up at him for a moment, showing no expression on her face, and then drop her head back down to stair at the black screen. She had no interest in encouraging his crude jokes; she was not in any kind of mood to put up with it.

He shifted around a bit beside her. "I see that seeing your friends did nothing for your mood."

She immediately stood up facing him. She was not about to let this man get the best of her, no matter how she felt. She put her most professional look on her face and looked right at him. "The only thing that has any effect on my mood is my anxiety to get home. You will excuses my though if I do not share your sense of humor when it comes to my friends."

He got a thoughtful look to his face. "I understand you care about your friends as much, or more than they care about you." What looked like an almost genuine smile flew to his lips, "You are a truly amazing person."

Relena couldn't have been more shocked than if he had tried to tell her that he was the pope.

Of course, it didn't last long, and almost as soon as it appeared it was gone. Their wasn't even a trace of it left on his face, it was like it had never been there.

"I suppose that you would like to know then how much longer it will be until we leave, since your so anxious to get home."

"I was a little curious on that point, yes."

He pulled his blazer jacket away from his wrist and checked his watch. "We will be leaving fairly soon if we want to be their on time. Is there anything that you need to do before we get ready to leave?"

Relena shook her head, not wanting to delay this trip anymore than they had to.

The man motioned towards Reiko. "Lead the way, my good man. Let's get this show on the road without further delays."

Reiko nodded and moved towards the doorway.

As Relena looked at the young man, she saw that he had his arm extended, and gestured for her to go ahead of him. He had an amused look on his face.

"After you, Miss Relena."

They walked down the hallway in silence. Relena wasn't feeling up to making conversation. All she could think about was getting home so that she could talk with everyone about this situation. In truth, their was really only one person that she wanted to talk to, and she hoped that he would stay long enough after she was back so they could exchange a few unhurried words with one another. There were so many questions that she wanted to ask him . . .

Oh goodness! She had been so caught up with thinking about going home that she had almost forgotten the question that she wanted to ask this blond man! Suddenly as they were walking through the doorway she turned around and faced him.

He was a little surprised to see her whip around and stop him in the door way, she could tell by is face. Of course that didn't stop her from going on.

"I still do have one question to ask you that I didn't get a chance to ask before."

"Is that right?" He almost seemed like he was preoccupied with other things as he took her shoulders and turned her around to make her walk into the room. "Now, what could that be?"

Relena saw that this new room she was being lead into was about the same size as the other room they had been in earlier. The only difference between the two rooms was that instead of the main feature being a computer, it was a tall stretcher bed. Of course it made little difference to her what sort of features there were, ass long as she got an answer to her question.

"I wanted to know what your name is."

In truth she was expecting for him to just laugh and refuse to answer her question. It wasn't like it hadn't happened before, but she found that she was about to be surprised.

She felt him stop walking as they neared the stretcher, and a hand came up to gesture her to get on to it.

Reiko held it steady on the other side as she got up onto it, not asking why. She merely did as she was asked, and then looked up at the man's face.

His eyes were open wide with clear amusement, she could tell as he returned her gaze. "Your right, usually a person asks that question first, but I'm sure that you are not the first person who hasn't done that."

As he spoke, Relena watched as his hand slipped into his jacket pocket, and came out holding a new syringe and a small bottle of clear fluid.

He noticed her watching him remove the syringe from his pocket with growing nervousness, and held it up a little higher so she could get a better look. "Don't worry, it's just what we're going to use to put you to sleep."

She widened her eyes a little bit. "Is that really necessary? Couldn't you let me stay awake?"

"Unfortunately, it is a bit of a security issue. We cannot have you accidentally finding out our location, and then telling your friends. That would be rather embarrassing for us to allow something like that to happen when it can be so easily prevented." He had unwrapped the syringe and was using it to draw the liquid out of the little bottle.

Watching him, and getting a little nervous, Relena asked, "Isn't there any other way to do that? Don't you have a pill I can take, or gas?"

He pulled the needle from the bottle, and gently flicked it with his fingers to remove the air bubbles. "You don't have a problem with needles, do you?"

"No, no problem. I just prefer to avoid them if at all possible."

"Don't worry," He placed his hands on her shoulders, and made her turn and lay down across the stretcher. "It will be over in a minute, and I promise that it won't hurt."

Relena took in a deep breath, and prepared for the pinch that meant the needle had entered her skin.

"Close your eyes, and I'll answer your question for you."

She obediently did as she was told, and clenched her hands at her sides. She wanted the worst to be over.

"Now relax, it will hurt more if your tense."

With effort, she managed to unclench her hands and will her body to relax. Once she had, she felt his hand come to rest on the wrist closest to him. His fingers gently massaged the skin on the inside.

"Do you have any ideas about what my name is?"

Of course, she hadn't expected him to ask her anything like that. Keeping her eyes closed she spoke to him. "If I knew that, I wouldn't be-oww!"

While she had been talking, he had surprised her and stuck her with the needle. The pain was minimal, and had only lasted for a moment. She had really been more surprised than hurt.

Her eyes had popped open, almost like a reflex, but as she tried to sit up to look at her wrist, the young man pushed her back down. "It's a strong drug, you should be able to feel its effects soon."

He was right. Relena could feel her eyelids being weighed down like lead weights, and she couldn't hold them open no matter how hard she tried.

As she stopped struggling to stay awake, and began to give into unconsciousness, she could hear his voice speaking in her ear. It sounded like he was a million miles away, even though she knew he was right beside her.

"Now for my answer, Relena. My name is Ekin Lowe, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Lowe . . . that name seemed like it should mean something to her, but her sleepy brain couldn't figure it out. So Relena let go of all conscious thought and gently drifted into the waiting darkness.