“Quick, Relena, go to him—I’ll handle this.”
The Vice Foreign Minister just barely caught the rushed whisper of Dorothy Catalonia as the blonde heiress made her loud entrance into the small group of ministers and their wives and partners surrounding Relena, nearly shoving the former princess out of the way as she threw her arms up comically.
“Isn’t this just a lovely Christmas party! Oh, Mrs Darlian always has such wonderful fruit cake!”
Her outburst was just distracting—and somehow charming—enough to allow Relena to slip away from the group towards the direction of the door to the basement of the Darlian Estate, and she sighed with some relief as Pagan guarded her from the guests’ prying eyes, ushering her silently through the doorway with a determined look about him.
“Is he still here?” She asked almost breathlessly, and the faithful butler nodded, gesturing to the staircase below as he opened the door just wide enough for her to pass through. She gave the older man an appreciative peck on the cheek for his help before taking a long breath, patting down her formal green dress and straightening her pearl necklace as she began her descent.
As the door closed behind her, she seized up a little, the thought of what was to come hitting her like a ton of bricks.
He’s leaving.
She followed the light and the sound of him packing away his belongings as she carefully descended, doing her best to remain calm and collected.
Will I see him again?
Her heart betrayed her moment of reassurance as she reached the last step, seeing his back turned to her as he laid his spare clothes and weapons down in his suitcase. A flood of memories of the past six months with him ran rampant across her mind’s eye in a moment; one memory, in particular, made her heart clench to even think of it.
It hasn’t been the same since then.
She recalled it merely as ‘the incident’ in her own, private thoughts, though she often wondered what Heero would call it if he were to dwell on such sentimental things. It seemed that since it had occurred only two months before, everything about him had changed . . . as had the very nature of their relationship.
The trust in each other that they had built, the respect, even the small hint of affection—everything was different now.
And in that moment, seeing the Preventers’ jacket on his back and sensing his tension at her presence, she wished it had never happened.
“You’ve been assigned to Manila Base, I hear.”
He paused only for a brief moment as her voice broke through the wall of unease between them in the brightly lit, central security office of the estate, though he continued packing shortly afterward.
“Yes.”
The answer was so curt as to make Relena feel a little hurt by it, though she knew that was not its intended effect. She kept a small smile on her lips even as he continued to keep his back turned away from her, forcing herself to remain cordial.
“Will it be a long mission?”
He unloaded and took apart one of the larger guns on the table beside him.
“I expect to be stationed there for at least a year. However, considering the situation on the ground,” he elaborated, “it is doubtful that the mission will be accomplished in that period.”
Relena swallowed her urge to cry.
“Will any of the others be there?”
He repeated the process with another gun.
“Agent Chang is already at the base.”
She smiled, wiping any trace of tears away from the corners of her eyes.
“Ah, you won’t be by yourself then. That’s good.”
He didn’t bother replying to her, taking her statement as a throwaway comment. She, however, was not about to let the conversation wither away, and she stepped closer to him, standing at the next table over. When he did not move away, she felt somewhat emboldened.
“It’s a shame, though, that you’re leaving tonight,” she said a little more brightly. “You should really stay until New Year’s, at least.”
“You know that’s not possible, Miss Darlian.”
His immediate, blunt answer—combined with his formal address—made her face burn with embarrassment, if not a bit of anger. He hadn’t called her by her first name in months, and his persistence in this behaviour—to refuse to say it then, even on the very night of his departure from her service—rattled her.
She watched in silence as he shut the suitcases and zipped up his duffel bag, signalling his readiness to leave, though she was unsure of what to say.
“Goodbye, Vice Foreign Minister.”
“Wait!”
Her courage returned to her as he bowed his head a little in farewell, and she closed the gap between them, standing directly behind him as he paused at her command. She paused for a little while as they stood in that way, her blue eyes searching for his.
“You told me once that I ‘had to be protected’,” she said softly, “so—why are you leaving?”
There was only a short pause this time before his reply came, its iciness as evident as before.
“I was only assigned to act as your temporary personal detail,” he said succinctly, “and today marks the end of that assignment.”
Her brow furrowed, and she frowned.
“Your original assignment was for a year,” she corrected him. “The only reason it is ending today is due to your personal request for a transfer.”
He finally caught her narrow look at the terse remark, though his eyes were strikingly hollow in comparison to hers.
“You know that is of no consequence now, Miss Darlian,” he said plainly, “especially since everything is already arranged for the transfer to Manila.”
She reddened, her voice rising as her eyes became locked with his.
“And would you have arranged for all of this if—”
Relena cut herself short, touching her cheek lightly as if to remind herself of the current situation. It was clear, however, as she allowed her gaze to meet his, that he knew what she had been trying to ask—and that the unspoken question had broken down his cold, stoic front.
He looked away before replying, and though his words were hardly comforting, she noticed how much softer his tone had become.
“I am sorry for my indiscretion during that time, and my inappropriate behaviour towards you, Miss Darlian. However,” he continued, his voice hardening with conviction, “I can assure you that nothing which has passed between us would have had any impact on my decision to leave.”
It was the answer she had expected, but not the one she wanted.
“Heero,” she said softly, catching the edge of his jacket sleeve with a gloved hand.
His eyes seemed to waver a little as he watched tears begin to dribble down her cheeks in uneven patterns, and her face redden from the deep sadness that his departure had engendered.
Seeing her so distraught, he did not move away—nor did he return her affectionate gesture, instead choosing to simply hold her gaze.
Her fingers gripped his sleeve a little tighter.
“Heero, promise me—promise me you’ll come back?”
The pause was so long as to crush the very air from her lungs as she awaited his reply; but as he pulled himself away from her, slinging his bags and suitcases over his shoulders, she knew what he would say.
“Goodbye, Relena.”
YOU ARE READING
Slow Burn
Fanfiction[Gundam Wing A/C; a 1xR series of vignettes post-Endless Waltz.] He had always been conscious of the fact that she—Relena Darlian Peacecraft, Queen of the World—loved him, and him alone. And yet that was the problem, since he could never give her wh...
