Relena sighed as she plopped down in her chair, relaxing once she'd heard the sound of the door to her office sliding shut behind Heero.
It seemed that she had just been through the millionth meeting that month trying to convince ESUN to give more generous loans to the colonies to upgrade their basic climate control infrastructure in an effort to build up the trust between the various governing bodies, but every meeting brought with it an even more determined resistance from all sides. Some colonies wanted the help, but the large majority were still bitter, preferring to self-finance the research and development needed for the upgrades. ESUN, meanwhile, was more than happy to acquiesce to the more stubborn colonies' demands for non-interference, being unenthused with the idea of loaning its former adversaries the large sums of money being called for.
It was an altogether frustrating experience, though nothing out of the ordinary given her generally exhausting tenure thus far as Vice Foreign Minister. Sometimes she wondered, had she kept the Peacecraft name, if people would take her ideas more seriously than they seemed to at present. Then again, she reminded herself somewhat remorsefully, she was the one who had agreed to be on the Loan Commission in the first place, being interested in the particular technology under discussion for possible future use in the Mars project.
Besides that was the influence of Milliardo, who, along with Lucrezia, lectured her from time to time via video transmission that she needed to know about the potential pitfalls and strengths of terraformation, given her position. Of course, they had their own motives—the space near Mars was their new home and served as the means by which Milliardo could escape the deeds of his past as Zechs Marquise relatively unscathed and start afresh. Needless to say, he hardly wanted to hear any suggestion on Relena's part that the project might be in jeopardy for lack of funds.
She looked up at her bodyguard with a weak smile as she shook herself free from her thoughts, leaning back tiredly.
"I wish I understood better all the technology and terminology related to the project," she mused, glancing down at the rows and rows of documents visible on her desk's tabletop projection system. Her eyes strained a little to see the text headings on some of them, and suddenly she wished that paper had not been phased out of official government use a few years ago.
Heero stared back at her with calm eyes, standing near the window.
"You will understand it in time," he said without a hint of doubt.
Relena smiled a little at his reassurance, happy to have his confidence. She swiped a finger across the top of the table, hiding all the documents for the time being as she leaned her elbows on the smooth glass, her chin resting in her hands.
"You're a great help to me," she said quietly, and then closed her eyes. "I can't believe you're only around until next May! What will I do without you around to stop me from embarrassing myself?"
The question was meant to be rhetorical—and the tone flippant—but neither came across that way, and a small silence settled over the pair.
After a moment, Heero only placed a hand on her shoulder, and his expression was softer than she'd seen it in a long while.
"If you need me, I'll be there."
He paused, and a heat entered his hand briefly before he brought it back to his side, turning away from her.
"You have to be protected, after all."
Relena's cheeks were hot at the comment. He had repeated it too many times to count over the course of the past few months, and yet—as sterile as it sounded—she knew it wasn't. The mere temperature of his hand burning through her silk shirt indicated as much, anyway.
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...
