Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Loving You Against My Will ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

A/N - Okay. I know it's been a while. I've been busy.

Disclaimer- It's not mine, never was. The characters do not belong to me, neither do the rights to the song. I'm just doing this.....well, because I can.

Loving You Against My Will - Epilogue

The New Year's Eve party-bash at Preventor's Headquarters a week later was the biggest party on the block, and even Relena and Heero had showed up to join in the festivities. When they entered into the huge hall usually used for meetings of Preventor brass, Heero pulled Relena closer to him and gave her a weak grin. He really hated these things, but Relena had said ti would be a good way to bring in the New Year. So, he'd relented and now here they were.

The once Gundam pilot scanned the room quickly before they were surrounded by the other Preventors. There were people all over the place. Most of them were Preventors, out of their uniforms and relaxing with their co-workers. Heero spotted Duo over in a corner with someone he did not know. And it did not take much of a once over to see that the Deathscythe pilot was more than inebriated. Duo noticed the two new comers and waved like mad, then gave Heero a cheeky grin and a thumbs up signal before talking to the guy standing in front of him.

The change in the relationship between the world's peace keeper, and the ex-Gundam pilot-turned-Preventor was obvious to any and all who took one good look at them. Relena was positively glowing the entire night, and Heero even cracked a grin at some of Duo's inebriated antics later on that night. They were attached at the hip most of the night. Even when Relena did stray away from her ever faithful protector, Heero would quickly close the distance, wrapping his arm securely around her waist and keeping her close by and safe. The pilot was still worried about Relena's safety, even though it felt better for him to be able to protect her without having to hide behind the guise of the Head of Security.

Unfortunately, the threats to Relena had not died down. In fact, they seemed to be increasing the closer the time came for the next Peace Summit Meeting which was scheduled to take place in North America. Heero, not willing to try his luck with another disappearing act to go find the perpetrator himself, decided to take over as Relena's personal body guard, a position she happily granted him. Now, the two were content to be with each other.

Of course there were the ones who were not in favor of the new happy couple. Relena's older brother, Milliardo Peacecraft -also known as the feared Lightning Baron Zechs Merquise - had a hard time accepting the change due to the fact that Heero and himself had tried to kill each other on numerous occasions in the past. He was partially responsible for Heero coming back to Earth, to begin with. And he did not like the fact that Relena was so close to the former assassin. Zech's original plan had been to keep Heero around as the Security Head until the threats subsided, then send him on his way. Of course he had banked on two variables that lead to the downfall of his meticulously sketched out plan.

He had banked on Relena not finding out that Heero was back, at least until the ex-pilot was already gone. He had also gambled on Heero's constant avoidance and ignorance of his feelings of Relena.

Needless to say, once Relena had found out that Heero was back, the plan started to go downhill, until finally both critical factors in the plan had been wiped out. When Zechs had voiced his opposition to the couple, Relena and Lucrezia Noin (Zech's own better half) had quickly put him in his place as Heero sat back and watched. Seeing the most feared soldier of the wars being shamelessly berated by both his usually peaceful sister, and stubborn ex-lieutenant girlfriend, was more than amusing to Heero. Zechs never stood a chance in his arguments. By the end of 'that' particular meeting, a smirking Heero had left the room, accompanied by a very satisfied Relena Dorlian-Peacecraft. Relena had later told him that Noin had given Zechs another lecture after they had left, which put the Gundam pilot in an even better mood.

After that, not another word had been said from the elder Peacecraft. Anytime Heero and Relena appeared together and Relena would catch her brother's icy gaze, she would match it with one of her own. The glares had gotten less abrasive lately, since it seemed Milliardo had figured out that no matter what he said or did - short of murdering the Wing Zero pilot-, Relena was not going to listen to him. This theory was solidified in Heero's mind when Relena told him that Zechs told Noin that he was truly happy for the couple, because he knew that Heero would keep Relena happy and safe.

Perhaps the most joyous person with their relationship had been none other than Duo Maxwell. Even though he had just broken it off with long-time girlfriend Hilde Schbeiker, Duo seemed genuinely happy that Relena had finally snagged the stubborn, stoic young man into staying around for a while. Unfortunately, Duo had found out that the two had made amends seconds into his watch shift over Relena on Christmas morning.

When Duo had come onto his shift Christmas morning, the morning after Relena and Heero had made amends, he found the two sitting on her balcony, watching the sun rise and huddled up in a big blanket. He had grinned and walked back out of the room silently, leaving them to their own devices. Later that day, when Relena and Heero finally appeared, Duo had greeted them with so much enthusiasm, even Relena had lost her patience. Heero was instantly suspicious of the braided pilot, but Duo had said nothing. They would later find out that Duo had called Preventor Headquarters to collect on the betting pool going on about whether Heero would be found by Relena before the end of the year. Needless to say, Duo had made a considerable profit with that bet.

In fact, said braided Preventor was now wobbling his way away from a very perturbed looking Lady Une, who had pulled him off the top of a table where he was trying to hula dance. Relena looked over at Heero and grinned. There was a small smile on his face as he listened to Une threaten Duo with a six months of paperwork if he did not calm down. Duo, ever the party guy, just shrugged and gave Une the cocky grin he had become famous for before disappearing into the crowd and out of her line of sight. Relena shook her head and turned to Heero.

"Heero, should we try to calm Duo down?" she asked. "He looks like he's had one too many." Heero grinned and shook his head.

"Maxwell will be fine. I'll make sure he gets back to his place in one piece tonight."

"I've never known Duo as one to get roaring drunk." Relena said as they walked around the room. "He's gotten a little tipsy before. He's even come to work hung-over once, but he's never done this before."

"That's Maxwell for you."

"What do you think made him get like this?" Relena asked. She was really worried what had made the normally cheerful (albeit at times morbid) Preventor get drunk. Her answer was short and to the point.

"Hilde."

"Hilde?" she questioned. "The black headed girl who works with the Preventors part time and runs the scavenger scrap business the rest of the time?"

"Yeah. That one."

"What's she got to do with it? I though she and Duo were good friends." Relena asked. "They had been dating the last time I heard."

"They aren't together anymore, and I think they're both struggling a bit." Heero answered, dodging another partying Preventor.

"It doesn't help that he sees her nearly everyday, either. Does it?" Relena sighed.

"Hn." Heero said. He was concerned about Duo's well being as well, even though he would never admit it. The braided pilot had been off-kilter for a few days, and Heero figured he and Hilde had fought again. 'They'll be back together before the night is over with.' he thought. 'Duo won't stay alone for long, never has.'

"Do you think it would be okay if I tried to get Duo assigned to te Preventor guard going with me to the peace summit next month." Relena asked suddenly, causing Heero to look at her, eyebrows furrowed.

"You want him to come?" he asked. "Maxwell?"

"Yes." Relena answered. "I think it will help him more if he's away from Hilde for a few weeks." Heero shrugged in indifference. He was going as Relena's guard next month to the North American Peace Summit, and he was only taking one other Preventor with him. He was not to sure if he wanted Duo to be that one other Preventor.

"I'll talk to Une about it. I'm sure she'll assign him to the team if you want it." Heero answered. "But you do realize that Maxwell and Schbeiker are probably going to be over their fight by next month." Relena shrugged and frowned.

"Even if they are, it will do Duo some good to get away from here for a while." She said. "Besides, it's only a three week trip."

"Whatever you want, Relena." Heero answered. "I'll talk to Une about it."

"Good." the young woman answered.

Heero was spared a reply because the huge clock on the wall began to beep, announcing the last ten seconds of the year. As everyone counted down into the new year, Heero held Relena tightly, thanking whatever higher power there was for his luck. And when the clock struck midnight, confetti flew, and noisemakers rattled, swirled, and honked, but Heero and Relena were oblivious to it all.....because they were locked in each other's arms, sharing their first kiss of the new year.

A/N - Okay, sappy ending. I couldn't help it. It just kind of wrote itself. Hope you guys enjoyed. I liked writing the story. Hope you guys liked reading it.

Later,

A.A.

Oh, one more thing.... I was thinking about doing a sequel to this story, focusing mainly on Duo. What do you guys think? Should I do it? It would involve an original character playing a major role in the storyline though. And it would be longer than this story, much longer. I really want to know what you guys think. Please tell me.

Later,

A.A.