Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Thin Red Line ❯ Epilogue ( Epilogue )

Thin Red Line (7/7)

by Anne Olsen

Rating : This fic has been rated in accordance with the approved TTFF rating system.

OK (Oz/Kiwi spelling/grammar etc) - PG - Action, drama, angst, romance.

Author's notes: This story is part of the 'Triunity' canon based arc, which is a joint project with my partner in crime, Sakura Rose. For further information please visit the series archive at http://www.angelfire.com/ab7/shadesandechoes/triunity/triunity.html

The writing soundtrack for TRL is 'Thin Red Line' by Glass Tiger.

Pairings: 3x4, 1xR, 2x5

Summary: The shuttle transporting Relena, Quatre and Trowa to a political conference is hijacked in an endeavour to reveal the identity, and exact revenge, on a specific Gundam pilot. But it's five years after the Eve Wars, and people change. Or did they always have a predilection for attempting stupidly heroic things in the name of love and friendship?

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing belongs to Bandai, Sunrise and Sotsu Agency. I promise to return the boys and Relena in one piece, more or less, when I'm finished, but hold no liability for any broken bones or psychological trauma sustained by them in my fiction.

Thanks: To Sakura for many hours of plottage conversations, beta reading, the summary and the soundtrack. To Bast for beta reading, encouraging the … evil, and suggesting wonderful bloody solutions to certain problems. And to Anon, Gina and Hex for their support, and input.

Comments to: anneo @ paradise.net.nz

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Epilogue

~ Three months later ~

Relena pulled at her wedding dress, stared at herself in the mirror again, and sighed. "I look pregnant," she complained.

"You /are/ pregnant," Milliardo commented, ducking when Noin whacked him over the head playfully. "Well she is." He glared at his wife. "And most people get married first, then have children. But I guess Heero Yuy doesn't believe in doing things the usual way."

"You look beautiful, Relena, just ignore him." Noin reassured her. She returned her husband's glare. "Do I sense an overabundance of testosterone in the air? My mobile suit is bigger than your mobile suit. Just because your sister is marrying a Gundam pilot…"

"She's not just marrying a Gundam pilot," Milliardo protested. "She's marrying Heero!"

"Milliardo, please!" Relena was the only person who called him by that name. To everyone else he was Zechs Merquise. He was too ashamed of having blood on his hands to take on the Peacecraft name, he'd told her, but as far as she was concerned, he was still her brother. They all had blood on their hands, whether directly or indirectly. The war had seen to that.

"I have every right to be concerned," Milliardo said. "I arrive back on Earth, only to find out that…" He counted off on his fingers. "One - my sister had been kidnapped, and no one had told me…"

"You were on Mars," Relena reminded him. "There was no way you could have returned in time to do anything, even if you'd known. We decided that it was better not to worry you."

"We?" Milliardo raised an eyebrow. "On second thought, don't answer that. I suspect I already know the answer and I'd prefer not to hear it." He cleared his throat. "Two - my sister is pregnant with Heero Yuy's baby."

"And I'm pregnant with /your/ baby," Noin said, twirling one long lock of his blond hair around her finger. Milliardo made a strange noise deep in his throat, and Noin winked at her sister-in-law. "And your point is?"

"We're married." Milliardo pulled away. "And we're somewhat older than Relena."

"I'm not a child any more," Relena snorted. "Heero and I have survived a war; I think we're mature enough to know our own minds about getting married." Relena gave her dress one last tug. Although Catherine and Hilde had reassured her that the empire waistline would hide a multitude of sins when they'd helped her choose it, she could still see the telltale bulge of a five month pregnancy. She'd enjoyed the girls' day out, despite the stories Catherine had told about her three-month-old twins. Her baby would be well behaved, Relena had decided. And strong willed like his father. The girls had then envisioned a tiny baby engaging in a glaring match with Heero and giggled.

"I just want to be sure you know what you're doing." Milliardo sighed. He gave her a hug after Noin nudged him. "You're my baby sister; surely I'm allowed to play the protective big brother?"

"No." Relena returned the hug. "I appreciate the thought, Mill, but I feel as though I'm being smothered. You have to trust my judgement." It was bad enough that Heero constantly hovered, or sent one of his friends to hover if he wasn't able to be there himself. The person behind the shuttle hijacking still hadn't been found, and Heero wanted to ensure that he or she wouldn't get a chance to try again.

"I trust /you/," Milliardo said, and then cleared his throat. "I have something for you…umm…" He picked up the box he'd placed on the side table when he'd arrived and opened it. In it was an exquisite diamond tiara. It was elegant yet didn't overstate. Relena reached out to touch it, her breath catching.

"Mill, it's beautiful."

"Our mother wore this on her wedding day." A touch of sadness flickered in his eyes. The loss of their parents, and of the Sanq kingdom, had affected him very deeply. "I thought that you…that you'd like to wear it on /your/ wedding day." He placed it on her head, over the circlet of her veil, and nodded. "Perfect."

"It /is/ perfect, thank you." Relena examined herself again in the mirror and then gave him another hug. "Thank you. This means a lot to me."

"You look lovely, Relena." Quatre's comment surprised her; she hadn't heard he and Trowa enter the room. "Sorry, we're late," he continued. "Triton threw up over Uncle Trowa."

Trowa had his suit jacket slung over one arm, and his hair was still damp. Relena eyed the jacket suspiciously. The light blue grey would show up any water stains and it was too late to get them out now.

"I hadn't got as far as getting changed yet, but the only way to get rid of the smell was to take a shower." Trowa gave a mock shudder. "I didn't realise just how far vomit can travel."

"Is Triton okay?" Noin asked. "I think Catherine is wonderful the way she handles those twins."

"He's fine," Quatre nodded. "Just drank his bottle too fast. Justin cleaned him up while Cathy finished feeding Megan. They're just taking their seats now." He grinned. "I saw Heero outside too. He looks…nervous."

"Maybe he's having second thoughts," Milliardo suggested helpfully. "It's not too late for either of you to change your mind, you know."

"Has he been like this the whole time?" Quatre asked, rolling his eyes.

"If Yuy wasn't marrying you, he'd be dead by now," Milliardo muttered under his breath.

"Zechs!" exclaimed Noin. "Real men are supposed to be sensitive to their sister's needs, and support their decisions, especially on her wedding day."

"But Noin," Trowa told her, "I thought you knew…All /real/ men are gay and taken."

Milliardo snorted the water he'd been sipping out through his nose.

"Are you okay?" Quatre asked innocently.

Attempting to hold back a giggle, Relena exchanged a glance with Noin…and began laughing. "Thank you," she said to Trowa, as she wiped her eyes. "I needed that."

"My pleasure," said Trowa. Quatre smirked and whispered something in his ear and Trowa blushed. They were a lot more relaxed, both in private and in public since the press conference three months ago. Hiding their relationship from everyone but their close friends and family had been taking more of a toll on them than they had been prepared to admit.

"You guys decent in there?" Duo popped his head around the door before waiting for an answer. "Wow," he said, catching sight of Relena. "You look gorgeous, babe; Heero's one lucky man. I almost wish I swung that way, but he'd kick my ass."

"So would Wufei," Relena reminded him. Duo looked very handsome in his dark suit; the colour brought out the blue of his eyes. "You two are going to be the only unmarried ones after this," she teased.

"Yeah," said Duo. "Hey Cat. Tro. All ready to do the bridesmaid thing?" Several people had commented on Relena's choice to have them in her wedding party instead of traditional bridesmaids, but it was her wedding and she wanted to share it with her closest friends. Those people had also commented on her decision to wear white.

"Attendants, Duo. Not Bridesmaids." Quatre glared at him. He finished fastening Trowa's bow tie, took a step back, and gave his husband a nod of approval. Relena agreed with him. The forest green they'd chosen complimented the suits, and brought out the colour of Trowa's eyes. The dark navy Milliardo was wearing separated him from the ex Gundam pilots, and was also very striking with his fair complexion and long blond hair. It wasn't everyday a girl was escorted down the aisle by three good-looking men - and into the waiting arms of another.

"I thought you, as the best man, would be up on the correct terminology," Trowa arched an eyebrow.

"Oh I am," Duo grinned. "I'm also up on the traditions side of things too." He reached into his pocket. "Even if you already have one of these, one more won't hurt." Duo grinned and twirled something around on the end of his finger. "There ya go. A blue garter belt." He winked. "You can wear it and remember me."

Trowa stared. "You're not going to tell me that you just happened to have one on hand, I hope."

"Hell, no! Fei and I aren't /that/ kinky." Duo blushed. "Well umm…we went shopping."

"Shopping?" Relena wasn't sure she wanted to know. The thought of Duo dragging Wufei into a bridal shop to buy a garter belt…"Thank you," she said finally, trying to keep a straight face. "That's very thoughtful of you." Relena took the garter from him, and paused. "Turn around," she said. "I'm sure Heero would love to know that you tried to get a good view of what's underneath my wedding dress."

"I'm gay," Duo said. "And so are Tro and Cat. Pull your dress up, we don't mind."

"Duo!" Quatre chastised. Duo grinned and the three of them turned their backs.

"That means you too, Mill," Relena told him.

"But I'm keeping an eye on them to make sure they don't peek," Milliardo said.

"Turn around. Now." Noin rolled her eyes. "They don't get any better with age or marriage," she told Relena.

"I had a feeling that was the case," Relena gave a mock sigh as she lowered her dress again. "You can look now…gentlemen."

"Trowa and I have something for you too, Relena." Quatre smiled. "You're supposed to have something new, something old, something borrowed and something blue, so we thought we'd give you something new." He pulled a small oblong box from his pocket and presented it to her. Inside was a single diamond pendent attached to a delicate gold chain. "May I?" Quatre asked, moving behind her. She nodded, and allowed him to fasten it around her neck.

"Thank you," Relena said. "That was very sweet of you."

"It was our pleasure," Quatre replied.

Duo glanced at his watch. "Time to get this show on the road, boys and girls. Heero's getting antsy and I'm not sure how long Wufei is going to be able to keep him nice and calm."

"She'll be out in a moment, Duo." Noin kissed Relena on the cheek. "This is your day, Relena. Make sure you enjoy it." She glanced at Milliardo. "If he gives you anymore trouble you have my permission to hit him over the head with your bouquet. Those roses have thorns remember, and they'll hurt like hell."

"I'll see you to your seat, Mrs Merquise," Duo held out his arm to Noin, "and leave your husband to the tender care of the big bad Gundam pilots." Stepping forward to meet her half way, he stopped to give Relena a kiss. "Go knock 'em dead, Rel."

Relena turned at the touch on her shoulder. "Shall we go, little sister?" Milliardo asked. "And Duo's right. You look absolutely stunning. Heero Yuy is a very lucky man."

"Thank you," Relena said, blushing. She placed her hand on his arm, and together they left the room, and crossed the corridor into what had once been the ballroom of the old house. Once they reached the entrance, Milliardo stopped and waited for Trowa and Quatre.

"Zechs is right," Quatre whispered, kissing her forehead after they caught up. "Heero's a very lucky man."

Trowa smiled. "Very lucky." The musicians began playing the opening trills of the Trumpet Voluntary. "I think that's our cue," he said.

Moving into position behind them, Relena watched her friends begin walking slowly down the aisle. Her dress was floor length, of simple design yet elegant, but didn't have a train. Allowing her friends to go first made more sense than her leading and them following. They'd blazed the trail during the war; they could do the same for her and Heero now.

"Are you sure about this?" Milliardo whispered.

Relena looked down the aisle, and at Heero waiting for her. He glanced up, and as their eyes met, he smiled. This was her future, their future. She was part of his family, and now he would be part of hers.

"Yes," she said firmly, taking a step forward. "I'm sure."

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~Fin~

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