Moments of Haven Part 6
Excerpts from A Christmas Party (Towards the End, At Least)

AC 196 Late December Earth

Relena sat at her ergonomically designed chair behind an imposing oaken desk in her spacious office, which failed miserably to mimic all the comforts of home. On her desk were three neat stacks of paper, a testament to the flurry of business that had crossed her desk in the last few weeks.

"...And the meeting with Supervisor Ennias about the terraforming project has been postponed until the new year due to a unforeseen number of people taking their vacations before the year runs out...."

Relena nodded her head absently in acknowledgment to her secretary's droning recitation of the pertinent facts of her schedule as Foreign Vice Minister. It was a position that she had held almost since the war ended a year ago. The position had been something of a sinecure, given to her because of the role she had played in the war, a role which had persisted past the war's end. Relena, however, unsatisfied with the token duties they had given her initially, had offered to take on more responsibilities, and the adminstrators of the nascent world government had gladly shifted more tasks onto her petite shoulders.

She continued to sort through the mail that had accumulated in her inbox for the last week while her secretary carried on with her soliloquy. Relena had already spent much of the end of year holiday catching up on paperwork and end of year reports. Finally she made it to what appeared to be the last bit of busywork she needed to sift through before leaving the office for the day. The latest missive before her was a formal complaint by the head of the foreign ministry's office on Colony X18999 about the amount of pollen in the colony's air system. Reading the man's suspicions about a conspiracy on the part of the natives to incapacitate him with a runny nose and eyes, since he appeared to be the only one suffering from the terrible malady, Relena quickly typed up a response with vague assurances that she would send someone to look into it, and best wishes for his improved health.

Having reached the last letter at long last, Relena took a moment to look curiously at the header of the unpresumptuous e-mail. The sending address was not one she recognized, and she noted that the place of origin of the letter was L4. With a weary sigh, she remembered that L4 was the location of the regional colony environmental control bureau, an office led by a man with nothing but contempt for the poor bureaucrat who worked X18999. Briefly Relena wondered if perhaps Yoshida was right about there being a conspiracy against him as she opened the letter.

As she reviewed the contents of the short note, she felt her spirits begin to rise once more.

"And the President has invited you to the gala event he has planned, of course, so I'll RSVP your acceptance for you and decline all of those little offers you've been getting from the colonies --"

"No."

"-- you've got much more important -- excuse me, ma'am?"

"I said 'no'. Extend my deepest apologies to the president, but please inform him that I will be unable to attend this year's festivities."

"...But, ma'am! This is the president's --"

"I'm well aware of that, Chris," Relena replied placidly, as she began typing out her reply to the letter. "Please let him know that I'll be attending a private party instead."

Her secretary would have protested further, but noticed the small smile on the young girl's face, as she responded to the message with more alacrity than Chris had witnessed from the overworked Relena in the last two weeks. Smiling indulgently and privately resolving to herself that she would make sure that Relena got more rest in the new year, she murmured a brief "Very well, ma'am" before withdrawing, leaving behind a relatively cheered Relena who, after hitting the send button, finally had the opportunity to take advantage of her contoured seat, leaning back and feeling the stress of the day seep out.

Suddenly, she sat bolt upright.

"Fudge! I have to find gifts!"

A once more frenzied Relena swiftly gathered her things and dashed out the door. But this was frenzied in a good way.

*****

AC 196 Late December Some Other Part of Earth

"Duo-niichan!"

Duo surveyed the small crowd of children seated at his feet, looking for the little one who called his name. He was proud of each and every one of them, survivors of the long war. Some of them were orphans, and some of them were not, but all of them were treated equally here in the little informal schoolhouse, which was really more of a day-care center for the younger ones.

Homes had been the first priority of the reconstruction project that Heero and Duo had joined shortly after their graduation. In the six months since they had arrived, they had helped to build many of the simple but stout houses, but after the initial burst of construction that had been hurried to be completed before the winter came was finished, the volunteers took their turns in helping out around the community as the less urgent matters were taken care of.

Today, it was Duo's afternoon to keep the children occupied. Technically, he was also supposed to be doing a little teaching, but Duo being Duo, often times he was easily sidetracked by the boisterous children and their whimsical ways.

Duo's gaze swept through the gathering and alighted upon a little girl, about seven years old, with two perky dark brown pigtails tied with bright yellow ribbons.

"Yes, Ami-chan?"

"I was wondering, like, why we're havin' such a big party on Christmas Eve this year, 'cuz, like, we never did before and they're all makin' such a big fuss 'bout it, momma and the others are, and it's like it's Christmas on Christmas Eve and I was jus' wonderin' 'bout that."

Duo blinked, taking a moment to parse the sentence that had been thrown at him in a single breath. He wondered in passing if that was how he himself sounded during his more enthusiastic moments, but answered the question swiftly, knowing full well that Ami would shortly pester him with youthful energy if he failed to respond in accordance with her liking.

"Well, there are a couple of reasons why we're holding this big party on Christmas Eve," Duo stalled. Ami scowled comically at him when he showed no indication of immediately finishing what he had started. Duo chuckled and continued. "For starters, I'm sorry, kids, really really sorry, but Heero and I can't be here with you guys on Christmas Day."

A loud chorus of childish protest sprang up at the announcement. Duo had known that it would disappoint the children, but he was glad that no one had yet started crying. He was also warmed to know that the two of them had made such an impact on the children's lives, that they would miss them so much.

Duo felt a small hand tug at his pants, and looked down to see Brian looking up at him with large blue eyes and a sniffle. Brian, at the tender age of three, had begun to grow his hair out because he wanted a neat braid like Duo-niichan, and it was just long enough to put into a short braid. Duo thought it was fortuitous indeed that the child had chosen to imitate Duo-niichan, rather than Heero-niichan. That could have been disastrous, even given the fact that the children didn't know nearly as much about Heero as Duo did.

Duo reached down to pick the child up and settled him in his lap. Brian immediately latched onto Duo's braid as a plaything. "What can I do for you, Brian?" Duo inquired, trying not to wince as the child gave the braid a particularly sharp tug. The other children slowly quieted in anticipation of the question.

Brian was distracted from his toy long enough to drop a "Why?" into the silence, and then he returned to his plaything.

Duo was relieved the question was an easy one. Brian, in all of his childish naïveté, had been known to ask some pretty odd questions that Duo couldn't answer. Well, as children go, most of the time his question was simply, "Why?", but he had questioned everything from why God loved His people to why people were always fighting.

"Well, kid," Duo explained, "Heero and I consider you guys like a little family, and we'd love to spend all of the Christmas holiday with you guys, but we've got another little family somewhere else that we're going to be spending Christmas Day with."

A hand shot up in the mass of children, accompanied by another "Duo!"

"Yes, Jen?" Jenny was another precocious child with the propensity for asking questions. Armed with a thick pair of glasses before her hazel eyes, and short floofy hair held neatly back with her favorite green headband, the girl's appearance reflected her intelligence (9).

"Does that mean that you like them better than us?" the girl demanded to know.

Luckily, Duo had already considered this as a potential response to the announcement, and had an answer prepared. "Of course not, Jen. One of the other reasons we're having this big bash on Christmas Eve is so that we can have a community celebration together, but still have smaller, personal celebrations on Christmas, with our families or closer friends." Duo paused and surveyed his crowd to make sure they were with him before continuing. Some of the older kids were offering hesitant nods. "So we're staying for the big party for everyone, 'cuz we're proud to be a part of this community, and then while you guys have your own little parties, Heero and I are going to be off at our own little party. So you see, even if we were in town on Christmas, you probably wouldn't have seen us anyways."

It was a solemn bunch of children that tried to process that information. Charity spoke up first, her forehead scrunched up in concentration. "You're like family to us. You could come to my family's party on Christmas. I'm sure Mommy wouldn't mind!" Soon the rest of the kids began to throw their invitations at him, and Duo was speechless. It was all he could do to listen to their outpouring of support and not grin like a fool. He doubted the children even knew how much their unconditional acceptance meant to him, and Heero, probably as well, but that made it none the less sincere and more than welcome.

Duo held his hand up for attention, and the children fell silent, eager to hear an acceptance of their invitations. Duo smiled gently at them all. "I'm sorry, guys, but we already have plans. I'd like to accept all of your invitations, and I'm sure it would mean just as much to Heero as it does to me, but... we'll be here for the pre-Christmas bash. We'll have more fun than we could have had, even on Christmas!" Duo wasn't getting too many looks of disappointment and disapproval with this line, so he kept going, trying to infuse his voice with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. "It's getting late, so why don't you all head on home to your folks and help them make this the best party of the year!" Some of the kids cheered as they vacated the old building, because of the party or because school was out, who can say, but most of them appeared to have gotten over the disappointment.

Duo fondly watched them go. His own childhood had never been filled with the sort of hope and carefree happiness that he tried so hard to instill in the children that were under his care. More than one of the parents in the community thought that Duo must have grown up with lots of little brothers and sisters, to have such remarkable skill with the children. Heero insisted it was because Duo was a child himself.

Some of the people in the community knew that Heero and Duo had been in the war, and some of them even knew that they had been rebellious and dangerous Gundam pilots. When they had first come to this community, they had decided that it was only fair to let the people know just whom they were accepting. In the beginning, there had been a few suspicions of their motives and the influence they might possibly have on the community. Some of the parents were concerned that the boys would influence their children towards liking violence, but it quickly became clear that although they themselves had killed many people during the war, the ex-pilots did not condone or promote violence. It also soon became apparent that the pair was simply trying to find a little peace, and that they were volunteering out of a genuine desire to help rather than for the positive publicity they might receive, or because they didn't have anything better to do, or any of the multitude of insincere reasons that they might have to come to a small, middle-of-nowhere town to do manual labor. After that, they were embraced as members of the community.

Despite their pasts, the community had decided to accept them as they were, and for that, Duo was intensely grateful. In return, he gave his all to this town and was determined to help them move on in whatever way he possibly could.

"Duo-niichan."

This voice was considerably lower and smoother than the last that had called his name. Duo turned around to find Heero smirking at him, his hand negligently raised to ask a question.

"Yes, Hee-chan?" came the response, uttered in the same tone he used with the children, but this with a raised eyebrow and an amused little twist of the lips when Heero just barely twitched at the name.

"How you can have so much patience with the little creatures when you seem to have no patience for anything else?"

Duo smiled wryly. It was his opinion that Heero had an even greater patience for the little ones than he did. It had been surprising at first, watching Heero interact with the children. He didn't do so well when it came to just "hanging out" with them, but when he was instructing the children, he had the patience of a saint, gently pointing out their mistakes and clearly explaining things multiple times if necessary. Duo supposed it might have been because as a child, Heero himself had never received that same sort of patience and caring attention. Or it might have simply been that it made sense to Heero to do it in such a manner. Heero was funny that way.

Heero's demeanor didn't seem to indicate that he really expected an answer, so with a snort and a shake of the head, Duo casually patted him on the back and led them out into the fading sunlight.

"Wow, sun's going down already, huh?" Duo stopped just outside the creaky old doorway, expecting it to still be light outside. "I hadn't realized it was so late already."

Heero turned his gaze towards the incipient sunset as well. "It's not really that late, actually," he pointed out. "It's just about winter solstice. Shortest day of the year."

Duo blinked in surprise. "Eh? Already? I hadn't realized it was so late already." Pausing, he nearly smacked himself as he realized that he had already said that, so he added, "Late in the year, that is." He nearly smacked himself again. "I mean, I know we've been preparing for Christmas and all," he hastily appended. "And that's obviously end of year, but... wow. I mean, it's just been a long time, hasn't it?" he concluded quietly.

Luckily, Heero knew what Duo was trying to convey with his confused speech. He felt the same way. They had only been here for six short months, yet in that half a year, it seemed as if they had had the experience of a whole new life, the sort of life that they had missed out on. But at the same time, they both knew that this was just the tip of the iceberg, that while it was grand that they had had so much time and success in trying to figure out what and who they were, in putting the past behind them, they still had much more in life to discover.

"It'll be great to see the guys again, won't it?" He disturbed Heero from his silent reverie with a soft voice that seemed fitting as they watched the setting of the sun together. Duo shivered in the chill of the early evening hours as the sunlight departed. He was always cold. His younger years on the street dealing with insufficient nutrition had left him in the permanent state of bony and thin, as well as short, much to his annoyance. His frame was covered with muscle rather than fat, so he didn't appear to be too gaunt, but the excess from his metabolism tended to go towards hyperactivity rather than body heat or storage fat. He gravitated towards Heero's side for warmth, and Heero obligingly held still for him to lean against.

"Aa," Heero acknowledged.

They stood in companionable silence watching the beauty of the earth's sunset before making their way back to the cozy little home they shared.

*****

AC 196 Christmas L4 Spacedock

The shuttle from Earth docked without any problems. The hatch opened and the first one out the door was Duo, bouncing down the steps and into the artificial light of the space colony, braid hopping in time with each step. Trowa watched as Heero followed Duo down the stairs in a much more sedate fashion. When Duo spotted Trowa, he raised his hand in a wild leaping, waving greeting and turned back to Heero when he saw Trowa acknowledge and begin to move towards them, waiting impatiently for Heero to catch up.

Trowa wasn't surprised that Duo was such a hyperball of activity, even this early in the morning, considering he had been cooped up in the shuttle for the commute from Earth to L4. Duo had never been one for confined spaces. Most of their trip had taken place during the night, however, so Trowa would have expected Duo to have been sleeping during the majority of the trip, but then it was Christmas, and Duo, like many children the night before Christmas, probably had difficulty sleeping, in anticipation of both the gifts and the reunion with old friends.

"Yo! Trowa, man, how's it going? Long time no see!" He gave Trowa a hearty slap on the back while Heero nodded in greeting. "Brrr, it's cold here."

"It's winter. The colony's environmental controls simulate weather appropriate to the seasons," Trowa explained briefly.

"Well, yeah," Duo protested. "But why did they have to make it so fricken cold when they have a choice? How far to the car?"

"A bit. Busy day today."

Duo rolled his eyes at Trowa's laconic response. "Fine then. Hold up a sec, would you guys?" Duo stopped and rummaged around in his carry-on for a while before pulling out what he was looking for, a cheery black and red jester's hat with bells hanging off the ends, and a rich blue scarf. He carefully arranged the hat on his head and the scarf about his neck before rezipping his bag and announcing that he was ready to continue.

Trowa eyed the headpiece critically before deciding, "It fits."

Duo grinned cheekily. "That's what Heero thought, too. That's why he bought it for me. It was my Christmas present. Come on, let's go."

Duo set off enthusiastically again, this time, his bells ringing in time with each step. The other two trailed behind, and Trowa glanced at Heero out of the corner of his eye. "Little early, don't you think?"

Heero returned the glance. "There was a big community Christmas party last night, so we all exchanged presents then."

"So what did he get you?"

Heero indicated his shirt. It was a fine quality prussian blue shirt that, with Duo's discerning attention to detail, coordinated perfectly with the color of his eyes. It hung loosely from his lanky frame without making him look too thin, and was tucked neatly into dark slacks that somehow managed to look pressed without that crisp line going down the middle. "Duo thought my wardrobe was abominable. Couldn't have me going to the get-together without looking my best, he said."

Trowa snorted. "I didn't think Duo was so fashion-conscious."

"Hn. We have matching scarves, too. The kids got them for us. Mine was supposed to be blue, his violet, but they got them messed up, and some of them were about cry, but Duo said it was just as well, since he couldn't have me wearing a blue shirt and a blue scarf at the same time. He claimed it would have been a fashion disaster."

Trowa almost cracked a smile at that.

"Hey, what's keeping you guys? Hurry up already!" Duo's voice reminded them of his bubbly presence and they moved forward with no more words to rein in the eager Duo before he blew something up to get their attention.

*****

AC 196 Christmas L4 Winner Mansion

Duo gave Quatre a big hug upon seeing the blond. The verbal greetings were earnest and cheerful, and Duo was glad to hear Quatre responding with actual words, rather than the mere nods exchanged by the quiet ones, Trowa and Heero. He was also glad to see Quatre in good health. He knew the Winner heir worked himself hard in order to manage his family's vast holdings, even with the aid of his sisters.

"Wow! Look at the size of this place!" Duo was currently observing the opulent Winner mansion, bouncing around like a kid on Christmas morning, which, oddly enough, he pretty much was. Despite Quatre's tendency towards simple and tasteful, the estate was still grand and could not be mistaken as anything but. Some of Quatre's men came to take Heero and Duo's luggage up to the rooms where they would be staying the night, while Heero smiled indulgently and Trowa watched amusedly as Quatre tried to keep Duo from hurting himself or any of the furnishings in his unbounded flight of discovery. Luckily, his job was aided with the addition of Wufei, Sally, and Lady Une, who had come together from the Preventer Headquarters, where they all now worked to maintain the peace they had all suffered so much to achieve. Lady Une had once been their enemy, but was now another one of the motley crew of friends that had survived the war.

Shortly after noon, Quatre offered everyone a light lunch. Over lunch and after lunch, the group sat around catching up on all the things that they had been doing since leaving each other. There was a lot to be caught up on, and it would probably continue on to tomorrow.

In the middle of the afternoon, three more guests arrived. Noin and Zechs had been on Mars assisting in the terraforming project, and Dorothy had been doing something that has yet to be specified by the author because she doesn't really care, and soon they joined in the large conversation.

Dinner was about to be announced when the doorbell rang one final time. Quatre excused himself to answer it.

"Quatre, sorry, I was held up by business, but I hope I'm not late." The door opened to reveal a charming young lady, wearing a dark gray overcoat to ward off the winter's chill and laden with a few small bags, out of the tops of which one could see flashes of bow ties and ribbons.

"Relena! I was afraid you wouldn't make it. Please, come in." Ever the gracious host, Quatre took Relena's coat, revealing a simple but elegant cream-colored dress.

"I'm sorry I didn't RSVP your invitation any sooner, but it just got shuffled into the rest of the paperwork and I just didn't even see it until --"

"Never you mind about that, Relena," Quatre interrupted. "There's no need to apologize. I know how busy business can get. I'm just glad you could join us."

"Did somebody say Relena?" Duo poked his head around the corner. "Someone did! Someone did!" A wide grin spread across his face as he turned back to the rest of the gathering, announcing Relena's arrival. He bounced up to Relena and took her hand, dragging her towards the rest. "Come on! Come on! Everyone's anxious to see you!"

Relena let out a small laugh of delight. Just being away from her office and the people she worked with on a day-to-day basis, not that she didn't like them, she felt as if the weight had been lifted from her shoulders. As she gave everyone her sincere greetings, and received them in turn, she slowly realized that this was what she had been missing from her work life. A huge bear hug from Duo, a chaste peck on the cheek for Heero, which she was vaguely surprised he accepted, a more sedate embrace from the brother she was only beginning to come to know, friendly nods and acknowledgement, human contact. She flushed internally with shame, realizing that over the last few months she had lost contact with the very people she claimed to love, her friends and family as well the people of the colonies and Earth. She was supposed to be representing them, and yet, with all of the bureaucratic red tape, she had been cut off from them instead. Relena decided resolutely that after her trip, she would take steps to remedy that.

The butler announced that dinner was ready, and they all moved towards the dinner table.

Dinner was an interesting affair, but we don't really care what happened there, cuz the after-dinner-party mingle is where all of the fun is about to occur. Finally. This whole fic has been for this. Look at the title, after all.

But oh yeah. First they exchanged gifts, it being Christmas and all.

*****

AC 196 Christmas L4 Winner Mansion After-Dinner Mingle

Relena looked across the floor. She felt something of an outsider to this group of people who seemed to her to be so tightly knit together by their shared experiences and occupations. She had mingled with high society ever since she was young, quite experienced in the way of the dinner party and the polite social nothings that accompanied it, but here she felt so hesitant to interrupt any of the small and refreshingly earnest discussions going on around the floor.

A glass of sparkling cider appeared at her elbow. Relena glanced over to see Heero offering her the drink, his own glass lightly held in his other hand. She accepted with some murmured thanks and took a sip.

"You seem distracted tonight, Relena." Heero's soft voice interrupted the reverie she had begun to unconsciously fall back into. She looked up once more, this time meeting his piercing prussian eyes, and she smiled her apology.

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking.... Thinking how different this all is. How different we all are." She gestured vaguely at everyone with her glass.

Heero cocked his head in an inquisitive manner. "What do you mean?"

Relena gave herself a light shake of the head, trying to clear her mind of the distant haze that seemed to be blanketing her thoughts. Looking at Heero's face seemed to help her focus, as it always had. The smooth lines of his sharp face, defined without being harsh. The shock of dark hair, silky and tousled, to balance the strictness of his countenance. His eyes seemed to possess some sort of inner fire that hinted at something just beyond her grasp, always as if they contained some hidden knowledge. In their depths lay buried sorrow and more pain than was right for a single person to know, and yet he had surpassed it all with his indomitable spirit. They burnt with a determination and dedication which Relena had always felt she could partake of if he stood behind her.

During the war, she had needed such clarity of purpose. He had been her example, her guiding light through that turbulent time after her father's assassination and the assumption of her birthright. Through it all, what had helped her had been the memory of those eyes, cold, but once as innocent as her own, Dr. J had claimed. She had vowed that she would rid the world of the need to ever create soldiers such as Heero again. She had wished to create a world where he could lay down his arms and live in the peace they had all been struggling so hard to obtain. She had leaned upon the strength of the Gundam pilots as an example of people who stood up and fought for what they believed in, even if she hadn't approved of the method.

"I never thanked you, did I?" she said suddenly.

Heero's brow knit in mild confusion. "For what?"

"For, oh, I don't know. For being who you are. I would never have made it this far if it hadn't been for you." What a grand thing it was, to be able to speak impulsively, without having first to weigh each word carefully for their impact.

"Seems like a rather bizarre thing to be thanking someone for, don't you think?"

Relena chuckled. "I suppose so. I just don't know what I would have done without you, if I'd never met you." She fell silent for moment, reveling in Heero's strong presence beside her as she watched Duo's antics across the room, and her brother engaged in quiet conversation with Noin. She saw the way Noin looked at Milliard, and she silently wished them the best.

"I'm the same, you know." Relena looked up in surprise at Heero. He didn't look at her as he continued slowly in his deep, quiet voice, as if he were thinking aloud, or only just forming the thoughts as he spoke them. "I relied upon you, too. You.... you were everything that I was fighting for. For your peace. For your innocence. For your idealism. When I was first sent here, I had no clear idea what I was fighting for. But I found it in you."

*****

"What? You don't believe me? Of course I can dance!" Duo swooned dramatically under the false accusation. "I'll have you know that I've been taking lessons!"

"Lessons? What sort of lessons?" Sally asked suspiciously. "When would you have had opportunity to take lessons?"

"Wellll," Duo prevaricated. "They weren't really lessons..."

"Aha! I knew it couldn't be true!"

"Hey! I resent that! It just so happens that Ami-chan's mother did some ballroom dancing back in her younger days, and I work with her on dinner shift sometimes and she's taught me a thing or two."

"Ami-chan?" Dorothy gave Duo a poke in the ribs. "Is that some girlfriend that you've been hiding from us, Duo?"

"Ami? Ew, of course not! She's only seven years old, for God's sake!"

"You mean that would stop you?"

"Argh! It's so hard to get any respect these days!"

"That's because you don't deserve it." Though previously silent while the women were needling Duo, Wufei couldn't resist the opportunity to join in on the Duo-bashing.

"ARGH!"

*****

Relena followed his gaze, and saw it fixed, probably unconsciously, on one braided menace, who currently looked like he was on the losing end of a discussion. Relena returned her own eyes to Heero, a calculating look in her eye as she evaluated the ramifications of what she had seen. Satisfied with the results, a small smile of satisfaction bloomed on her lips.

"That means a lot to me, Heero." His eyes came back to her own. "To know that I've touched your life as you've touched mine. You're still out there, touching other people's lives, aren't you? I'm afraid I missed the overview of everyone's life when I came late. You'll have to tell me all about it."

Heero shrugged nonchalantly with one shoulder. "Not much to tell, really. Duo and I have been helping a community rebuild their town and their lives."

"And rebuilding your own lives in the process, right?"

Heero raised an eyebrow. "I suppose. Duo has discarded his warpaint. I've stopped courting death."

"And you're actually talking," Relena interrupted, giggling when Heero mock-scowled at her.

*****

Duo was at his wits' end on his side of the floor. It was obvious that everyone was against him, so he'd just have to do something outrageous to win back all of the ground he'd lost.

"Well, Sally, wanna dance? I'll prove it to you."

"Me? Dance with you?" Sally scoffed. "Oh, no, my friend, I'm the challenger. You're going to have to find a neutral party to demonstrate these so-called skills of yours. I have to be able to stand back and judge."

"Neutral party, eh? Hmmm, how about you, Dorothy?"

She gave him a withering, but amused, glance as she took a delicate sip of her cider. "I think I'm a member of the challenging party, Maxwell. Besides, it'll be so much more fun observing."

"Hmpf. Fun for you, maybe." Not one to step down from a challenge, Duo scanned the room. His eyes fell on Noin. He figured she would be an agreeable dance partner, so he strode up to her and Zechs. "My lady Lucretia," he said, as he bowed extravagantly over her hand. "Would you be available to grace this humble and most unworthy man with a dance?"

Duo tried his best to ignore Wufei snickering at the "humble and unworthy" part.

Noin hated to hand the man another defeat, but she truthfully replied, "I'm flattered, Duo, really, I am. But I'm afraid that my hand is already reserved for this dance." She tossed a subtly adoring look back at her former commanding officer, and Duo couldn't help but submit gracefully. Of course, he muttered something about "damned lovebirds" as he tried to spot another available female.

Not seeing many choices, he warily approached Lady Une, who was quietly chatting with Quatre and Trowa about the security on intercolony trading lanes.

"My Lady Une, would you c--" Duo immediately choked on his words with a pointed look from Lady Une. Even in her kinder, gentler form, she was still an intimidating woman, which was part of the reason she was such an effective leader of the Preventers. "Right. Never mind." As he turned away, Duo caught Dorothy smirking at him, so he squared his shoulders and set out towards the last woman in the building. She looked to be having an intimate conversation with Heero, and he hated to disturb them, but it looked like he'd have to, just to save face.

*****

"I've been trying to reach out, too, with my work, only now I've realized that I haven't been reaching out at all. I've been so swamped with bureaucratic work that I barely even know whom I'm trying to reach out to anymore."

"Don't work yourself too hard, Relena. Take some time out for yourself. You deserve it." He half-smiled at her fondly, more like a big brother to her than her own brother by birth, Milliard.

"But there's just so much to be done," Relena protested.

Heero cut her off. "But surely you don't have to do it all alone? You can delegate some of the work that doesn't need your personal attention, hire some skilled assistants."

"Well," Relena wavered. "But it just seems like I'm slacking off on the job or something...."

Heero snorted. "Overachiever. Your job is to see that everything goes well, but the best way of doing things isn't always by doing it yourself." Relena hesitantly nodded, wanting so badly to be won over by his rational logic and yet holding back, as if needing more assurance that this was alright. But the voice of reason was coming from the man she would trust with her life and soul, whom she had trusted with her life on many occasions. What more should she need from him than his word?

"You're still taking those classes on the side, aren't you?" he asked. It was more a statement than a question. He wasn't surprised when she answered affirmatively in a small voice. He knew she wanted to get a degree in higher education, even if working on it part-time would take her much more than the standard four years. It had been a goal from before the war, and now she clung to it as a relic from her past, and as a chance to define herself outside of her chosen occupation. Heero shook his head chidingly at her.

"Take some time off," he advised, knowing he would be unable to convince her to dropping any activity entirely. "Spend some more time among the people. You can't do your job effectively if you can't identify with them, after all. And you can't do your job effectively if you're worn down to a thread, either. Travel a bit, visit the colonies. Get to know each of them personally." Heero thought it ironic that he was lecturing another on how to experience life. "Get a meditative hobby. Hire some competent help to lighten the load at work. Find yourself a man who will support you and make sure you take care of yourself when you're not working."

"Heero!" Relena blushed. She couldn't believe that she would be talking about this with Heero of all people. Sure, her secretary had more than once admonished her about finding a good husband, but that was her secretary.

"I'm serious, Relena," he continued inexorably. "You deserve it. You deserve a man who will love you and take care of you. Someone who can understand you and share your life with you."

Relena was glad for the interruption when Duo approached.

"Excuse me, my dear lady, but would you give me the fine pleasure of the next dance?" he asked with a flourish.

Relena might have accepted, just to get away from Heero if nothing else, except she saw Sally and Dorothy emphatically shaking their heads behind him. She didn't know what it was all about, but she figured she'd play along.

"I'm sorry, Duo," Relena began. She almost changed her mind when she saw Duo wince at hearing those words, but she had started, so she figured she might as well finish. "I'd be honored, but I'm... I'm... trying to cut down," she finished hurriedly. Dorothy buried her face in her hands in embarrassment at the poor excuse. She figured that Relena would have been better able to come up with a better refusal than that, considering how many polite refusals she probably had to tender for her job. But then again, maybe she was all polite-refusaled out. She did come here to get away from the rigors of her job, after all.

Duo paused, not quite sure how to handle the excuse. He'd never gotten that one before. He opened his mouth to try to argue it anyway, since obviously he was getting desperate, Relena being the last available option, but then he saw Heero concealing a smirk at his plight. To anyone else, maybe, it would have been well concealed, but Duo saw the laughter in Heero's eyes, and in his own eyes (1), a spark of mischief was struck.

"Oh. Well, in that case, miss," he deftly freed Heero's hand of his wine glass and handed it off to Relena. "Would you please hold this for him?" Relena reflexively took the glass and Duo grabbed Heero's wrist and began hauling him off. Relena laughed in stunned delight as she began to realize Duo's demented plan. The incipient wide-eyed look of alarm on Heero's face was priceless as he muttered panicked protests against the sudden abduction.

As Duo smoothly maneuvered Heero into the beginning pose, Relena thought to herself, 'You deserve it, too, Heero.'

The two made a striking pair, with Heero's sapphire shirt and Duo's emerald green producing a bold color contrast. Watching the odd couple move across the floor, one being dragged, sort of, she noticed that Heero stumbled a bit at first as he continued his complaints, although they quickly began to lose force. He swiftly caught on to the game, however, and began his counter campaign against his kidnapper. 'And I think you were lying, too. You're still courting Death, even if you don't know it.'

Relena smiled and wished them the best, as well.

*****

"Duo! What do you think you're doing?" Heero protested, as Duo indicated to the laughing Quatre, who was closest to the CD player, that he was ready for his music.

"Duo!"

Duo ignored his protests as he dragged Heero into place in the middle of the floor, firmly positioning Heero's right hand on his waist and catching up his left hand with his own right and stretching them out to the side. He held Heero close as the music began (I'm thinking that song from True Lies) and struck a pose.

"Just shut up and dance."

Heero's eyes widened. "Duo, you've got to be kidding." He soon found out he wasn't, as Duo started the strut across the floor in the steps of the time-honored tango.

"Pay attention, Heero," Duo mildly reprimanded as they hit the end of the first pass and turned for the second. "You're ruining the look."

From pure reflex and natural talent, Heero soon got his footwork straightened out, but continued to express his displeasure. "Just what do you think you're doing?" he repeated in a heated whisper.

"Tangoing," came the placid reply. Duo was long used to enduring Heero's glares. "Suzuhara-san taught me that night when--"

"I know, I was there," Heero hissed.

"Oh good." Duo smiled as he twirled Heero around in a surprisingly graceful spin, and then caught him back in his arms again, gazing deeply into his eyes with a cocky grin on his face. "No wonder you seem to be doing so well."

Heero, at this point, seemed resigned to his fate as the dance continued. He could easily have escaped Duo's grasp, but he saw no reason to use even so mild a force against his partner. He supposed it would do little harm to indulge Duo in this tiny matter. They were surrounded by friends, and Heero had since learnt that one shouldn't have to worry about image before friends. Duo, at least, was obviously entertained by the situation. "The things I do for you," he muttered, as he shook his head ruefully. He raised his eyes towards the heavens and queried the gods, "Why me?" It was more rhetorical than not, but Duo answered anyway.

"Because no one else was willing to dance with me."

"Did I look willing to you?" Heero was almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Well, that's the great thing about you, Heero," Duo responded. "Willing or not, whatever you do, you'll do well."

Heero sighed. By now, he figured he might as well make the best of a bad situation. He called up the memory of the lesson in his mind. He never actively participated in the kitchen dancing. It was something that Duo and Ms. Suzuhara did to pass the time when the dishes were done and they were still waiting for the dinner which was to be given to the needy to finish baking.

On the nights when it was their turn to help out in the kitchen, Duo usually did the baking and Heero the cooking. Duo had been a disaster in the kitchen at first, until he had the epiphany that mixing ingredients together for a cake was little different from mixing ingredients for explosives, and after that he became rather fond of, and rather skilled in, baking. He didn't seem to have the patience for cooking, however, whereas Heero didn't have the patience for baking. It was a perfect arrangement.

Ms. Suzuhara was the experienced one assigned to the shift. And since they needed to begin the baking earlier than Heero needed to start cooking, thus began the impromptu dance lessons while Heero did his preparation work of cleaning and chopping.

Suzuhara-san liked to vocalize things as she taught, so Heero picked up on much more of the lessons than probably either of them expected. Therefore, after mentally running through what he could remember of the lesson, he became relatively skilled at the next pivot.

"Ah, you know more than you let on, little grasshopper." Duo saw the flash of challenge flitter through Heero's eyes. "Looks like the real fun's about to start." He could feel Heero begin to subtly fight for dominance as they glided across the floor. The others were in no position to mock them. It was skillfully enough performed that it wasn't comic, except for the fact that one of the dashing pair had been quite unwilling. But that didn't stop them from smirking, giggling behind their hands, admiring, envying, and outright staring.

"No, you don't, Heero. My dance, my lead." Heero almost had him on the last run, with some fancy footwork cleverly concealing his ultimate goal of wresting control away from the grinning maniac.

"Of course. Your dance. Your lead." Heero sounded a little bit too serene in that submission, and Duo knew immediately that something was up. The end of the song rapidly approached, and Heero made his move. With moves that Duo couldn't have countered without being obvious about it and destroying the flow of the dance, Heero smoothly gained control of the final steps.

"Geez, what do you do, dance with the Zero System on your shoulder?" Duo lamented, as Heero twirled his partner out, held the pose for a picture perfect Kodak (TM) moment, and then pulled him back in to a dangerously low dip.

Applause erupted in the background, and Duo muttered, "Well, I'm glad someone's enjoying this. You going to let me up or what?" Duo was glad Heero was strong, for as low as the dramatic finale was, as long as it was, with Heero leaning over him, holding him captive with his laughing, smoldering eyes, Duo would never have been able to sustain it, had the roles been reversed.

Duo wasn't exactly disappointed with the way the game had turned out. In fact, it had turned out even better than he had expected. He had been prepared for a good slug to the gut for his impertinence, although he had expected more along the lines of a graceful escape and a cute little pouting glare on the part of Heero, even if he was the only one who would have thought it cute. But the game had still turned against him, and he admitted to himself that he had lost to a skilled opponent. "Well?"

"I dunno. You give up?"

"What do you mean, give up?"

"Say it. Tell me I won. You lost."

"Yuy, you are one demented little bastard, you know that?" Duo did his best to look disgruntled, but Heero showed no sign of letting him up. "Fine! Fine, you won." Duo straightened his shirt as Heero finally brought him to his feet. Duo was glad that Heero was so amused, hell, he was even smiling a real smile, despite the smirkiness of it, but he was damned if he was going to lose without any saving effort. "Fine. You won. But I didn't lose."

Heero was on guard immediately, thinking that Duo would take vengeance against him right then and there, but Duo instead stalked up to Dorothy and Sally, who were still laughing uncontrollably while still applauding with delight. "Well, ladies?" he proclaimed regally. "Do you see now you were wrong to doubt me? I run, I hide, but I never lie." He gave them a courtly bow, doffing an imaginary hat in their direction.

Sally calmed herself long enough to respond. "You're right, Duo. We should never have doubted your dancing prowess." She paused as Duo uttered a righteous "Uh-huh, that's right."

"I would never have guessed that Heero had it in him, though," Dorothy interjected, running an appraising look down the ex-pilot's form as he spoke with Relena.

*****

Relena walked up to Heero when their dance was complete and Duo had departed to gloat. "Heero, dahling, you were mahvelous!" she declared, in a fair imitation of the boring high-class dames she had often had to bear the company of during some official function.

Heero took one of her hands and brushed his lips over the back, keeping his sparkling eyes to hers. "Of course," he replied, with a perfectly serious expression, and Relena smacked him lightly with her free hand. His smirky quirk returned.

Relena sighed. As much fun as the night had been, she already had things she had to do the next day. "I'm glad I could stay long enough to watch your little performance, but I'm afraid I really have to get going."

"Already?" Quatre joined them, along with Zechs, Noin, and Trowa.

"It is Christmas, you know," Milliard admonished his little sister.

"I know it's Christmas, oniisama," Relena replied exasperatedly. "Which means that I'm scheduled to join in the post-Christmas celebration at L3 tomorrow afternoon. I was already expected to have attended the President's stuffy old Christmas party instead of coming here and having so much a better time -- " she smiled her gratitude at everyone. "-- so I really can't miss tomorrow's festivities."

Milliard shook his head. "Almost makes me guilty that I gave up the Peacecraft name. Almost. But you're just so much better at representing our family than I'd ever be, sister." She stuck her tongue out at him, indescribably happy at being able to act as she wished, rather than as the dictates of her office demanded. She truly wanted to stay, in this place where she was loved and welcomed for who she was, but duty was calling. She promised herself she'd follow Heero's advice about taking a load off, and made it her pre-New-Year's resolution.

She gave her good-byes to everyone, leaving Heero for last. She gave him a warm embrace and whispered thanks.

"Think about what I said, Relena." Concern radiated from his eyes, even though his face was otherwise, for the most part, impassive looking.

Relena smiled briefly. "You think about what you said, too."

She departed with Heero left trying to figure out her last mysterious statement.

OWARI

author's notes

(1) and mine as well! ^_-
(3) man, i wish i knew how to tango. don't blame me if i'm off with my depiction of it.
(4) yeah, i know i could plug in those parts of the story that i opted not to write, but it's really not important, you know? and they require too much thought.
(6) in terms of my timeline, endless waltz didn't happen. timewise, it would push the party back another year if it did happen. either it would happen while they were finishing their last of high school and it would push graduation back a year, although that would change the progress of their development a little, or else graduation would have happened on schedule and the insurrection would have happened while they were all separated, which makes a little more sense, oav-wise. plotwise, i would have had to have invited mariemeia too, probably, just to be nice, and that would have been inconvenient.
(7) ought i to point out that niichan means big brother? typically something a child would say.
(8) i should have invited catherine to the party. d'oh. forgot about her, and it'd be funny to just toss her in now. let's just say she was, oh, doing a special christmas performance, but she got the ringleader to let trowa go and convinced trowa himself to go.
(9) i know that isn't always the case. don't hit me.

 

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