Title:  The Key To Her Heart

Author: Liewe (liewe@hotmail.com)

Disclaimer:  standard apply I do not own Gundam Wing, wish I did, so please don't sue me, I have no money

 

The pilots, the soldiers, the rebels, the scientists, everyone had gained a somewhat normal life, everyone but the one person who yearned for that normality with every fiber of her body, of her soul.  At the end of the conflict, during the reconstruction people had turned to her, asking her to offer them guidance and hope, to lead them through the peace which they had just acquired.  Those people continued to ask that of her, to keep on giving and giving her all to them while receiving nothing in return.  Relena Dorlian Peacecraft was burning out; she was becoming an empty shell because she had never been given anything to replace what was taken.  Her life was just give, give, give, as if she were good old Saint Nic handing out presents to the children, greedy children at that.  The young woman who now held the position of the Foreign Minister was not the young woman who had held it after the war ended, the young woman who held it now was ragged, her spark gone, erased by the pressures put on her by the greed of mankind.  Her eyes once so full of life and defiant just stared at you dully; the vibrancy, which used to surround her, was gone.  Every morning her team of servants would glob layer upon layer of makeup on her young face concealing the lines of fatigue, the full load of luggage under her eyes.  That was why that afternoon she had made a rash move, one that would change her life, she had ended this chapter but she hoped to move on, no one knew what she had done, but tomorrow they would find out.

At the end of each meeting Relena would retire to her suit of rooms, the corner of the mansion she could call her own.  Her rooms contained nothing that would reveal the true Relena Peacecraft to you, her identity almost completely erased from her haven.  The only aspect of the lavish rooms, which even gave you a hint of the tortured girl hidden under the mask of the powerful politician, was a portrait.  Not just any portrait, though, it was a portrait of the Peacecraft painting, painted just before the kingdom was destroyed by the alliance.  In the portrait, a younger Relena was held protectively by her mother, a vibrant woman, and her brother standing at attention beside her mother, her father holding her mother and brother protectively.  That portrait was her only link to who she truly was, and no one ever saw it, no one other than the maids.  The rest of the room was luxurious and extravagant, silk curtains, silk sheets, silk everything, the rooms were a silken prison, designed to keep her caged from the real world, to keep her locked away like a precious songbird. 

"Miss Relena, Miss Relena," came the ever-insistent voice of an over zealous maid intent on falling into the ex-Queen's good graces.

"Yes," was the diplomatic reply, as she tried to hide the disgust she felt creeping over her at the look in the maid's eyes.  The way she was trying to get in her good graces, the way the maid only saw her for her title and not the woman she was.

"The balls going to start in two hours, Miss Relena," was the maid's saucy reply, her tone conveying what she truly thought of the young woman in her charge but her inbreed instincts to suck up to nobility vainly tried to cover her true feelings. 

"Oh, yes the ball, thank you," Relena said showing a small and insincere smile at the news.  Yes the ball, she thought, another excuse for those scrawny, pencil pushing nobody's with ideas of aristocracy to try and paw her, to gain her favor, a smidgen of a smile, to try and use her to their advantage as if she were a mindless twit, a mere figurehead. Something to be shown off at an endless parade of parties, to be bragged about, and then to be tossed away like a rag doll once someone younger, fresher, more influential came along.  Then she would be out like yesterday's trash, just left to sit and rot on the side of the road.  Yes, she knew them well, for the past four years every single male worth his salt in the nobility, the aristocracy, and the political world, knew who she was.  They knew every move she made from what time she clambered out of bed in the morning to what time she took her evening shower.  They knew her like a well read book, from the first page to the last, comprehending what was thrown at them at it's face value, never bothering to dig deeper to find the woman she truly was.  The Gundam pilots had been the only people even remotely interested in the woman she was behind the mask, the woman who tried to remain strong through the taxing façade, which she endured day after day.  They hadn't even cared to stick around after all was said and done, they had gone out into the world and claimed lives for them to live, claimed little corners of the world to call their own.  Not that she could begrudge them that; they deserved that after all they had sacrificed to bring peace into the world. 

She moved like a robot to her closet, atomically going through her dresses, tossing dresses out, picking them apart with her critical mind, the list of rejections continued on and on until finally her eyes settled on a dress which had arrived by mail for her from an unknown source.  The dress was unlike anything she had ever owned before; its classic lines screaming elegance in every form and manner.  The dress it's self was a soft periwinkle blue, almost reminiscent of the sky on a cloudless day.  The dress had an empire waist, which was beaded with snowdrop pearls perfect in size and color, then from the pearls it feel to the ground in rolling waves of silk and blue.  The sleeves, which were made of the same material as the rest of the dress belled out, flowing from the shoulders to the wrists, not hindered by anything.  The dress was affectionately dubbed the princess dress in Relena's mind, and she had yet to wear it, the dress was going to be perfect for the ball, which was to be, held that night.

A team of maids assaulted Relena before she had time to relax, to breathe in the scent of the roses on the cool night breeze.  They attacked her with combs and brushes, pins and needles, taking pride in their work of artfully sculpting the hair of the woman they so admired.  The end result was a work of art, Relena's long wheat hair, securely fastened on top of her head with a few loose tendrils hanging round her face, accentuating her noble lines. 

She stepped into the ballroom only to be assaulted by those she despised most in her world, the brown nosers, the stuck up, snobs who felt that they were god's gift to society.  The men who would gladly wait a millennia to gain even a simple smile, even if it were insincere, from her.  She never saw anyone worthwhile at those balls, no the worthwhile people wouldn't be caught in the company of so many political vultures.  Only her once ever-present bodyguard and adviser Lucrezia Noin ever attended but lately she had skipped the balls, her job at the Preventer organization pulling her away from Relena's small circle of the world.  Relena stopped to chat with various nobles on her trek through the throngs to her table, something that could provide her with an inkling of sanctuary from the eager masses.  With a fake smile plastered to her face, the likes of which pleased those who didn't know her personally, but worried those who did, which there were a precious few who did, she took her seat.  She tried in vain to halt the advancement of her many worshippers, the young pups barely out of their mother's clutches, trying to take their first steps in the real world, latching onto her image, trying to steal the strength they believed her to hold. 

One young man, sent there by his superior, by his heart watched the procession of all the young peacocks with a fire in his eyes, how dare they so publicly fawn all over her.  Had they no shame, where was there sense of decency, he thought, while trying to resist the urge to commit several murders that night.  He was dressed in the customary penguin suit, except for the fact that the suit was missing the touches of white; the color of purity, his suit consisted entirely of red and black making him look like a dark angel, sent from the powers that be.  His stance was defiant as he continued to watch the young diplomat with the eyes of a hawk, desperately fighting the urge to rescue her from the pack of dogs that called themselves her supporters.  The final offence was when a man, a scavenger, a vulture, really, he could barely be thought of as a man decided he would not take her simple refusals.  He was going to get closer to the diplomat, one Relena Dorlian Peacecraft, if it rested on what could be called his honor.  He stuck like a bur to her side, never giving her a moment's peace from his incessant chatter, like a chipmunk, he continued to nitter away but unlike the cute furry animals, he resembled a pig in appearance. His nose crushed, his eyes beady, and his middle a round tire, his greasy hair shone like a beacon in the ballroom, making him easy to spot even without the crown jewel traveling through the crowd near to him. 

Duo, the man who had watched, Relena Peacecraft with the eyes of a hawk, weaved his way through the crowd to reach his goal.  He self-control had cracked, her needed to get to her, to save her from the unwanted attentions of the masses, his braid swung behind him as he weaved his way to her.  His eyes never leaving his goal, her presence a drug to him, something he couldn’t get enough of, no matter how hard her tried.  He wound his way around the crowd avoiding near mishaps by agile steps, darting this way and that.  Until finally, Relena looked up and the missing flame in her eyes, rekindled when she saw a familiar face in the crowd... A handsome face, not boyish as she remembered, but that of a strong and confidant man, a man she had not seen in years.  He came towards her, his violet eyes holding hers as he found his way to her side.  No words were needed for her, but the pig man as she had so adequately dubbed the Duke of Ramon, the man who had been a thorn in her side for eons always trying to get her attention refused to budge.  Duo turned to him, his eyes dancing with challenge and fire as a sadistic smile formed upon his lips.

"Miss Relena, would you care to dance," he questioned her, his eyes holding promise and emotion she could not fathom, but which she mirrored in her own.

"I'd love to," she answered a sincere smile forming, a smile which had been vacant for years, and one that could blind you with its brilliance.

"Excuse us," Duo said to the Duke of Ramon as he shoved his and Relena's glasses of champagne into the furious mans hands as he whisked his angel away.  Delight was dancing in Relena's eyes at what had transpired it had been a small act on Duo's part, but the first taste of excitement she had felt in her droll life. 

"Duo," she breathed as he expertly guided her through the simple steps of the waltz holding her slight figure against his own stronger one. 

"Yes, Relena," he queried his violet eyes searching her own aquamarine ones, searching the depths of her soul, trying to figure out the enigma that was the woman, Relena Peacecraft.  He remembered when the war had raged and the girl who had become the woman, who now stood before him, had braved death threats and assassination attempts to bring peace to the world and to the soul of one Heero Yuy.  Heero a man who she had long since forgotten when he roughly destroyed all her hopes and broke her heart, he was happy now, his soul had been repaired by someone no one would have ever expected Sylvia Noventa.   Duo remembered that, the night when Heero destroyed Relena, Noin had contacted him asking him to take her place for a time, saying she had personal matters to attend.  Months later he had received another call from the ex-Oz lieutenant, saying that he had her deepest thanks, she was in great debt to him.  It turned out that for a time Relena had quit functioning, her system had gone into shock, her fragile heart had lain shattered around, the pieces further breaking as time passed, it had gotten to the point where she had tried to end her life.  The vision that appeared in his mind of Relena, dainty, fragile, angelic Relena holding a knife to her delicate ivory skin, her blood surrounding her, had kept him up for months, worrying over her sanity, cursing and thanking Heero at the same time.  Those months had been hellish for the young man he had become, his comrades fellow Preventers had worried for his health, he had been brought back to his senses by the ever-persistent Quatre one of his closest friends, and now he was here to see his angel.

"Thank you," she whispered  quietly her eyes not meeting his, as she pretended to be absorbed with the intricate pattern of the marble floor.

"Your welcome, princess," he said also staring at the floor, the way the gold veins intertwined with the black catching his eye, leaving him unprepared for her cold fury.

"Please don't call me that," she gritted out, her eyes taking on a look of steel, some of her old fire evident once more, dancing in the background teasing him, making him want to egg her on if only to see he be who she truly was. 

"Why, that's what you are," he continued to tease, his answer glib.  He was playing with fire he knew that, but she needed to lose control, be free of her gilded cage, and he was intent on doing that for her, he loved her, he knew that, he'd known that from the first day he saw her.   Everything about her had caught his attention, forever searing her image, her essence into his heart and soul, he needed her, but could he admit it.  Admit that his other half, his soul mate, was Relena Peacecraft, the very antithesis of everything he was, everything he stood for, she was an angel sent from heaven and he was Shinigami, tainted, evil.

"No it's not, it's not the true me," she replied acidly, not noticing that he had deftly maneuvered them from the public eye, away from the press, and those who could destroy her future in her confined world.  He had moved them to a secluded part of the garden, hidden from view and public knowledge, it was overgrown, the roses growing over every available surface, smothering the other flowers in the garden, growing like weeds.

"You sure," he replied taunting her, his heart bleeding at the hurt he was causing her, the blatant hate in her eyes. 

"I am sure, I am," she whispered her face turned towards the moon, her tears, crystals falling from the sky, made silent trails down her delicate cheekbones.

"Relena," he croaked his heart plummeting to the ground at the site of her tears, her makeup, a job, which must have taken hours, running at the silent waterworks.

"Oh Duo, why must everything be so hard, why," she questioned him her back still turned, the dress he had sent her hugging every curve, adding to the elusion that she was a fallen angel. 

"I don't know, wish I did," he said the jokers mask for once on vacation, his true self, his tortured soul shining through speaking to Relena, telling her it would all work out for the best.

"Oh Duo," she cried once more, before rushing into his open arms, her face buried in the soft silk of his shirt, her tears continuing to fall faster and faster.  Duo continued to hold her, his arms warm and safe, offering all the comfort he could, his heart leaping at the chance to be so close to something he always thought unattainable.  He whispered words of comfort, love and promise to her weeping form, desperately trying to help her through this rough spot in her help, desperately trying to help her find her way back to her destiny, her path in life.  He led her to a bench, carved from the same marble, which was used to decorate the ballroom, intricate carvings of roses marking its surface.

"Duo why did you come," she managed to ask through the waterfall of tears her clear blue eyes looking into his, searching for answers he found hard to give her.

"For you," he finally managed to articulate, his heart rejoicing at the admission, his brain logically pointing out the flaws in this course of action, she didn't anything like this from him, not now.  Maybe in time, she would be ready for this but not now, how could she ever feel anything like this for you, continued to argue the logical part of his mind.  While the romantic part, a part, which often hid in the depths, lurking, observing, offered words of encouragement, his world stopped when he heard her next words.

"I'm glad you came," was her soft reply, a load of emotions weighing down the words, pushing to light the true meaning of the simple phrase.

"You are," he asked quizzically, could his wildest dreams be coming true.  His expression was of pure wonder, he was a deer in the headlights, what with his wide eyes and gaping mouth.

"Yes, Duo I am, you saved me," she replied cryptically a smile appearing once more on her face, the same dazzling smile which had been blessed upon him earlier. 

"Oh yeah, your welcome," he replied while trying to place the jokers mask back in its proper place, his heart dropping at his sudden thought that no she could never love him, who could ever love him.  He brought death to all those who had ever cared for him, even if it had been just as a friend, like poor Hilde.  Her death had shaken him, but it had also made him realize his feelings for his angel.  She had been the one to comfort him in his time of need, she had been his shoulder to cry on, not someone else, but her, one of the busiest people in the world and she had taken some time off just to help him.

"Don't," she replied simply, command in her tone, confusing him.

"Don't what?"

"Put the mask back, Duo."

"How did you?"  he asked puzzled no one had ever really seen through the mask, or been observant enough to notice that he even wore one.

"I wear one all the time, I can recognize a mask when I see one, and yours is plainly visible to me," she replied calmly.

"Why?"

"Because I care," she replied calmly once more; though, this time there was a tremor in her voice, a tremor of fear, a fear of rejection.

"You do," he asked puzzled once more, she kept on springing surprises on him, turning him upside down, keeping him on his toes, dancing from foot to foot.

"I do, why is it such a surprise."

"Because you're you, the untouchable Princess, forever locked away in a golden tower, hidden from the world, only associating with the cream of the crop.  Why would you care about me when there are so many others clamoring for your attention," he answered her clearly perplexed at this change of events.  His original purpose for coming was to guard  her, to make sure with his own eyes that she was alive and well.  He had been shocked to see the dull expression in her eyes, the fire extinguished, but now in the last hour the fire was slowly coming back, the spark he had always remembered was making a last ditch effort at survival and it was winning.

"You are one of the only real people I know Duo, these people who surround me day and night who clamor for my attention only see me as a prize to be won, something to be paraded for all the world to see, they don't see who I am.  They don't see that this gilded cage is suffocating me, that I am a person, with feelings, and a heart, they don't see any of that Duo," she cried her face twisted into a smile of self-pity. 

"I never realized," he whispered softly while stretching his arms out to her once more taking her into his embrace, enjoying the feel of her body against his own.

"No one ever does," she replied her voice muffled by the silk of his shirt, her face hidden from view as she reveled in the feeling of being held, of being treated like a person.

"I heard," he said after her sobs had subsided, while cursing himself for his stupidity, he was ruining a perfect moment but he needed to know where he stood.

"About what?"

"Heero," he replied hatred dripping of the word, leaving the atmosphere heavy with guilt, regret, and something else, something unidentifiable to the two standing in each other's arms, closely together but a world apart.

"Oh," she replied she hadn't thought of him in ages, he heart had been broken at the time but everything had changed and now she was actually thankful to the stoic pilot, he had allowed her to realize that her heart was with someone else, it always had been.

"Huh," he uttered in surprise there was no longing in her voice, it was even, as if Heero had never mattered anything to her, almost allowing him to believe that she had no feelings for the Japanese man.

"What?"

"You sound indifferent about it," he replied evenly trying to keep the desperation from seeping into his voice, from filtering through his mask, his attempts were half-hearted at best.

"Why is that so surprising, it took a while but I finally got it through my thick skull that what I felt for Heero was nothing more that a schoolgirl crush," she answered amusement in her eyes.  It was funny keeping Duo off guard, she hadn't had this much fun in years if ever, the way his expression's changed was fascinating to her mind, the way his eyes flashed with emotions, stole a little more of her heart.  Adding to the depth of her love for the man who stood before her, a love she thought would never be realized.

"I never thought that, I always thought you were deeply in love with him," was his soft reply, his mind reeling with her admission.

"No Duo it was only infatuation, someone else holds the key to my heart," she said her eyes trying to communicate  something to him.  Her eyes were begging him to realize he was the one who held the key, the only one who could free her from the gilded cage, which was her world.

"Who," he questioned, his heart praying, hoping, his eyes glittering with tears, which refused to fall. 

"You Duo, you, you've always held the key to my heart, I just never realized it, I refused to," she whispered, her eyes looking directly into his, her soul touching his, begging for him to return her feelings.

"You do," he whispered as finally the tears, which had gathered in his eyes, finally fell, dripping from his long lashes, streaking his cheeks.

"It was you wasn't it," she questioned, not needing to clarify her question, he knew what she wanted to know, he felt complete now, he had finally  found his other half.

"Yes, you're my angel, I wanted the world to see you as an angel, how I say you," he whispered while slowly moving his face closer and closer to her, until they were just barely millimeters apart.

"Thank you," she replied as she closed the gap to taste his lips, to drink in his essence, fireworks exploding in her head at the intensity of the kiss and the promise it held. Her held her tightly to him, not wanting to let go before he absolutely had to, his heart soaring, and his mind rejoicing.

"Duo, I want to be with you," she whispered her breath slowly returning to her from the place it had disappeared to with the end of the kiss.

"We can't Relena," he said rationally, they could never be together, it would not be appreciated by high society, he would never fit in with her life.

"Yes, we can, Duo, I love you, I'd do anything to be with you," she replied urgently.

"But what about society what would they say to the Vice Foreign Minister associating with a Preventer agent?"

"I don't care, we can work something out Duo, I love you and that's all that matters to me," she replied  clutching his hands in hers willing him to deny her.

"But Relena," he said her words finally sinking in, her declaration ringing  in his ears, "what did you say?"

"I love you Duo," she replied her heart jumping in her chest, trying to break free of its confines.

"I love you too," he replied, the tears threatening to fall once more.

"Love can overcome anything right," she queried the hope evident in her voice.

"Yeah it can," he replied his wits returning to him after their extended vacation from the evenings revelations. 

"Duo, I want to be with you, I don't want to be the Vice Foreign Minister anymore I only want to be belong to you."

"But the people they need you."

"No they don't, my job here is done, I resigned this afternoon, I don't know why I did but I did, Duo can I just be with you always."

"Of course, Relena, of course, I never thought that this would happen, you're making my dreams come true," he replied while turning to gaze at the moon Relena still held possessively in his arms.

"You're making mine come true too, Duo, I never thought anyone could love me, I guess I was wrong," she responded with a giggle as she rested her head against his chest, her fingers moving to trace his as they rested on her stomach.  They continued to stand there gazing at the moon, appreciating it's luminescent beauty, the vision it afforded them with, the way it seemed to hold so many secrets, the man which was said to live there smiling down at the happy couple.  Two people who had finally found their souls, their purpose in life, their mission.

A year later Duo and Relena stood once more in each other's arms gazing at the moon, enjoying it's otherworldly presence as they listened to the waves lap at the hull of the great ship and the wind whistled through their hair comforting and caressing them.

"The moon it's so beautiful from Earth," Relena whispered while further leaning into Duo's embrace, "it looks like a graveyard from space."

"It does, it does, but nothing can compare to your beauty," his whispered into her ear, a teasing grin slowly making its way across his face, lighting his features.

"Oh really, Mr. Maxwell," she responded playfully, used to his teases and flattery by now, her heart soaring as his grip tightened.

"Why of course Mrs. Maxwell," he responded as he nuzzled her ear, leaning in to steal a kiss, before returning his gaze to the heavens above.

"I can't believe how everything worked out," she said the sky, her new husband, but mostly to herself.

"Neither can I, Relena, neither can I." He stood there the wind whipping his hair, his body sheltering Relena's from the harsh tropical breeze.  The air smelt of coconuts and oil, the ship traveling towards the Caribbean the place they planned to spend their honeymoon, their wedding having taken place earlier in the day on the coast a small crowd in attendance.  Several of Duo's friends from the Preventers, Relena's brother, Noin, the pilots, and a few friends of Relena's form her bitch days as Duo had dubbed them.  The wedding had been closed to the public, only those with invitations were allowed to attend, the air had been magical, filled with wonder and excitement, a taste of new beginnings.  Relena was no longer the Vice Foreign Minister, she was enjoying life, her father had left her with a vast fortune, enough to support herself, Duo, and any little kiddies, which happened to come along for the rest of their lives.  Her dress was simple, a soft satin which clung to her curves, the simple cut had complimented her, fitting like a glove, the dress had sported an empire waist, similar to the dress which Duo had sent her when they danced around each other.  It was similar in style but the color, was the purest white blinding to the eye, very different to the pale blue of the original.  Duo as before was dressed in a tux, made for him by an expert hand, the color white completely missing from the ensemble, his braid for once let loose, his hair combed to perfection.  The wedding had been a fairy tale wedding right out of the happily ever after books, Relena, a modern day Princess had finally found her prince and now they were riding into the sunset together.

 

-The End

 

AN: This is the first Duo and Relena fic I've ever written, please tell me what you think, good, bad, did you hate it?