Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 1 Blood on the Window ❯ Knockin' on Heaven's Door ( Chapter 27 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

"Did Santa come?"

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking at the ceiling. For a moment I couldn't figure out why I was on the floor, but when I heard Miguel whisper something, the night's events came back to me. I sighed, rolling onto my side as Wufei whispered back.

"Did he, Daddy?" it was Lea.

"Apa?" Alex's voice was tired, "Is it Christmas?"

"It is." Trowa replied heavily, "I hope Santa came."

Lea squeaked, and a moment later there was the sound of two six year olds barreling down the stairs as fast as their legs would allow them.

"You can't open anything until everyone is up." Quatre reminded them loudly-for our benefit.

I rolled onto my back.

"Duo is at the foot of the bed," Wufei whispered suddenly, "And there's no way in hell he's still sleeping."

Miguel laughed a naughty little laugh, "So?"

"Miguel!"

Miguel started laughing.

I jumped at the sudden loud pounding on the door, "Did you hear that, boys?" Trowa demanded.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" I returned, sighing and sitting up, glancing to my right and giving Wufei a look.

The fact that he was blushing slightly made me wonder what Miguel had just done.

There was a loud thud from somewhere in the vicinity of Heero's room, followed by Relena reprimanding Heero as Quatre and Trowa joked to each other about us sleeping in, their voices fading out as they moved down the stairs.

I sighed, using the end of the bed as a brace for a moment before ripping the blankets off the top of Wufei and Miguel.

"Duo!" Wufei shrieked, sitting up instantly as Miguel lay back on the bed, starting to laugh.

"Don't keep the girls waiting." I said to Wufei, smirking at him, then moved silently out the door-throwing a wink to Miguel over my shoulder.

.

"He's here!" Relena squeaked, jumping from her seat and dodging out the front door as a car-door closed. She'd left the door open, so we all heard her next shout of, "Milliardo!" followed by a muffled thud and female laughter.

"I really hope she didn't just knock her brother to the ground." I muttered with a smirk to Jesse, who was sitting at the end of the love seat with huge and disbelieving eyes. I followed my girlfriend from the house.

Relena hadn't actually knocked him to the ground, though he was now leaning against his truck.

"You're all here!" Lucratzia Marquise-Peacecraft was wrapped in a warm winter jacket, her hands in gloves as she stood from the SUV she and Zechs had been in, she'd spotted me…and the others were behind me.

I laughed as she jumped into my arms, causing me to spin so we didn't fall-this made her giggle before she showered my cheek with kisses and was gone.

I was by no-means surprised by this greeting, seeing as it was repeated every Christmas or holiday where she and Zechs could get away from the palace in secret.

"Heero."

I looked up to Zechs, who had Relena's left hand held up by the wrist, displaying to me the ring-less ring finger.

I laughed nervously, feeling the weight of the ring I'd actually bought her in my pocket, "Oh yeah."

His expression turned outraged for a moment before he laughed and pushed himself away from the side of the vehicle.

Relena was smiling evilly at me.

I shook Zechs' hand, allowing him to pull me into a brief hug before turning my head slightly, "I've got the ring." I muttered.

He pulled back casually-almost too casually, meeting my eyes, "Am I to understand you were waiting?"

"We need to talk." I agreed, glancing at the woman as she moved across the snow to hug Lucratzia.

"Inside, boys!" Hilde muttered, hopping up and down in her spot, "I'm freezing!"

Zechs flashed me a smile, following Hilde and his sister toward the house, Duo and Trowa a step behind him.

Lucratzia fell into step next to me, "Why aren't you engaged yet?" she demanded.

"Because I'm afraid of commitment." I lied glibly, giving her a look.

She giggled, "Which is why you're still with her after three years of living together and how many of being together?"

"Six, I think." I muttered, thinking about that.

She stopped, blinking at me, "You know?"

I snorted, "I'm not your stereotypical male, majesty."

She broke into giggles, "Actually, I'm just a lady if we get technical."

I winked at her, offering my arm.

.

I was amused to see how quickly Jesse rose to his feet when I followed Zechs into the house, his mouth opened very briefly before he snapped it shut and ducked his head.

"What's this?" Zechs asked, blinking at the guy-then Miguel, who was just staring at him.

"This is Jesse." I replied, moving past the guy to grab Jesse's arm, "Act normal," I muttered to the guy without moving my lips.

Jesse glanced at me before raising his head and laughing nervously, "Hi…um…"

"This is my brother," Relena swept in happily, her expression beyond beaming, "Zechs Marquise. Zechs, this is one of Duo's friends…well, he's all of our friend now, but we met him through Duo."

"Any friend of Duo is a friend of mine." Zechs replied, offering a hand.

Jesse licked his lips nervously, glancing at me, then extended his hand.

Relena giggled, leaning to her brother's ear and whispering something.

"Oh really?" Zechs studied Jesse a long moment with slightly narrowed eyes, then nodded.

"This is my brother-in-law…and Wufei's current boyfriend." Trowa said happily, pulling Miguel up to the guy, "Miguel Juerez."

"Nice…to...meet you…" Miguel stuttered, staring fully into Zechs' eyes.

Zechs chuckled, shaking his hand, "You're taken," he winked, "Don't look at me like that."

Miguel blushed furiously, ducking his head.

"Zechs." Wufei muttered in reprimand, moving up from where he'd been standing at the door.

"Ah, you've caught one to keep this time…if only because Tro'd kick your ass." Zechs informed him.

Miguel blushed even more, moving behind Trowa slightly.

Wufei rolled his eyes, "Same pain in my ass as normal, I see." he muttered dismissively, offering his left hand to Zechs.

Zechs laughed, hugging him, "Of course I am…would you have me any other way?"

Wufei laughed evilly, "Should I really answer that?"

"Not with me in the room." Lucratzia replied easily.

Wufei laughed, then noticed that Zechs was still holding his hand, studying it, "Um?" he muttered, pulling at it.

"What's this?" Zechs asked, meeting his eyes.

"A ring." Wufei muttered quickly, removing his hand firmly from Zechs' grasp. His tone stated that it wasn't what Zechs was thinking and that the matter should be dropped.

So…what? Miguel didn't know I'd given it to him? I'd thought that was one of the reasons he was so convinced I'd been leading Wufei on.

I studied Zechs a long moment, amused to note that his jeans had been ironed so there was a crease down the back of his leg. He ignored me while he pulled off his jacket, passing that to Heero as Relena helped his wife off with hers. Zechs' white-blond hair was pulled into a tight pony-tail at the nape of his neck, and hung quite far down his back. He was wearing a normal long-sleeve shirt. His shoes looked like a pair I'd wear to church.

"What?" he asked me, blinking.

"I was just seeing what the oh-so protected king of Sanq would wear to visit the peasantry."

He laughed, flicking his hand at my face before looking around, "Okay, where are the girls?"

Quatre blinked, looking around the living room.

"Alex?" Trowa called up the stairs, "Lea?"

"Yeah, Apa?"

"Yeah, Uncle?"

"Come down here."

"Do you think they'll remember me?" Zechs appealed to me as the pair came down the stairs.

Before I could answer, however, there was a squeal, "Tio Zechs!" Alex darted across the room to wrap her arms around his legs.

Lea looked at him a long moment as Zechs' expression registered pleasure, then she looked to Lucratzia, smiling and moving to the woman, offering her arms.

"You're so big!" Lucratzia muttered, lifting the girl, "Oofta, you're heavy!"

Lea giggled, "I'm a big girl now, Auntie."

"Yeah, I think they'll remember you." I muttered to Zechs.

He grinned at me, laughing slightly as he set her down so she could run to Lucratzia, lifting Marlea to study her, "You're not supposed to grow up!"

Lea started giggling.

.

"I just made a total ass of myself." Miguel muttered quietly to Duo, "God, I'm embarrassed…"

"Don't worry about it," Duo reassured him, patting his shoulder, "He gets it all the time."

Miguel looked up to him, his expression registering shock.

Duo laughed an evil laugh, moving across the kitchen to start draining whatever he held over the sink.

Miguel moved to me, staring into my eyes almost accusingly, "You didn't tell me he was coming."

I laughed, kissing him, "You didn't ask me who'd all show up." I mimicked, "So I didn't think to tell you that Relena's brother would show up."

He tsked at me, hitting me in the arm, "Kyate…"

"Don't tell me to shut-up," I warned him, grinning, "I might have to do something about it."

He laughed, leaning down to kiss me again before frowning across the room at Duo, "He looks better in person."

"Should I be jealous?" I teased him.

He flashed me a look that was both amused and upset.

I laughed, "He does. I love his eyes."

"My ears are burning." Zechs muttered, coming into the kitchen to look at us with a raised eyebrow.

"You know I love your eyes," I informed him happily, "So don't get your panties up in a wad."

He laughed, opening the fridge and pulling out a soda, smiling at Miguel before giving me a look, "One of these days, Wufei…"

"Yeah," I agreed sardonically, "When Lucratzia's dead and you're a sad and lonely man. I won't hold my breath."

He laughed delightedly, moving from the room.

"What was that?" Miguel muttered, giving me a shocked look.

"Something in the way of a game." I returned, smiling at him and stirring the flour into the dough again, "I had a crush on him for a while when we were younger. When I finally got over it he started to tease me about it-so I teased back. One of these days he's gonna fuck me like I wouldn't believe and I'll never leave his side…something like that, anyway."

Miguel laughed, "Should I be jealous?"

I laughed evilly, "Not of Zechs."

Duo snorted.

.

Watching Jesse stare at the ruling sovereign of our nation was one of the most amusing things I'd ever seen. Zechs was making no move to exclude him front the conversation he, Quatre, and Heero were having, but the guy wasn't speaking up-much like I had nothing to say.

Zechs was pretty much ranting about some petty bureaucrat who thought he should take immediate steps to head off any more syndicate expansion. He was going on and on about how he'd need a completely new police force for syndicates alone and he had no way of…

"So, Zechs," I muttered before he could give away something that might be a state secret. It was all well and good that he knew we were going to be taking control of his kingdom some day, but I had a sick feeling that Jesse would end up as an enemy and didn't want to place him in a compromising position, "Is it nice to be able to speak freely about anything?"

He blinked at me.

Jesse met my eyes a long moment, then looked away.

"Oh…" Zechs seemed to suddenly realize we were in mixed company, then stuck his tongue out at me, "I was venting, dammit!"

I laughed, "You can vent after supper."

He sighed, "Oh fine."

"Come on," Heero muttered, rising to his feet, "I wanted to ask you something."

Quatre stared after them in amazement when the started up the stairs, then looked at me, "What was that?"

"I'm not sure." I returned, listening as the door to Duo's room shut.

"The ladies are in Heero's room?"

"Yeah. Lucratzia had Relena pick up her present for Zechs…so they're in there wrapping it or something. I'm sure there's a fair amount of gossip going on since Hilde's in there, too."

Quatre nodded, then grinned, looking to Jesse, "How are you?"

"A bit light-headed, actually," he muttered, "I was about to tell him to stop talking about it near me."

I shook my head, "Don't tell him who you are. He'll figure it out on his own-but he can't know or he'll have to take steps."

Jesse blinked.

"He knows Heero's an assassin," Quatre muttered quietly, "But if anyone actually told him-anyone who he couldn't doubt, then he'd have to take steps…you know, that kind of thing."

Jesse nodded slowly.

Quatre tilted his head suddenly, listening.

I realized that it was quiet.

"What?" Jesse asked.

"It's too quiet." Quatre muttered, standing slowly.

"I dunno…it's kinda nice…"

"No," I muttered, rising as well, "The girls are up to something."

"Huh?"

I met his eyes, "You can hear a kid when they're being a kid, even when they're being quiet…when they're silent is when they're up to something."

"Ah…" he muttered, nodding.

I winked at him, "We'll be back."

.

I moved up to the door to Trowa's room, which was closed, listening.

"No, just…like this." Alex was whispering, "Only a little bit of tape."

I stopped Trowa before he could open the door.

"But then it gets stuck to your fingers," Lea protested, also whispering, "And then it won't stick." I could almost hear her concentrating.

Trowa gave me a confused look.

"I hope Daddy likes this," Lea whispered.

"He will. Quatre is nice."

Trowa smiled at me.

"And my daddy will love his, too…because he loves everything I give him."

I smiled back, pulling away from the door.

Lea squeaked, "The movie's over!"

"Uh-oh…hide it!" Alex whispered.

I heard the sound of rustling paper and met Trowa's eyes.

"I know how long all her movies are," he whispered, "And come to change them about when they finish."

"All right, give'em a minute and then go in." I smiled even more, wondering at the cuteness of what I'd just heard.

"You do it." he muttered, "I think they're hiding the stuff under the bed. Just tell them to pick another movie."

I nodded and he backed up silently-I waited a moment longer as he made noise on the stairs, then tapped on the bedroom door.

"Just a second!" Alex said, whispering furiously.

"What are you ladies up to?" I asked, starting to turn the knob slowly.

"We're not up to anything, Daddy." Lea lied instantly, pulling the door only wide enough for her to stand there, "What's up?"

"I came to change the movie." I replied, studying her huge blue eyes. I almost dreaded her coming of age. Not only would she be the girl all the guys wanted, she'd be able to lie to me like nothing.

"'kay," Alex muttered.

Lea giggled, stepping out of my way, "Oh."

I looked the bed over as I moved to the television, trying not to actually look for what they'd been doing. I didn't want to spoil their surprise.

Alex, evidently, was a quick thinker. There were dolls and doll clothing on the bed.

I ejected the movie they'd been watching and looked over my shoulder at my daughter pointedly.

She'd been watching me almost nervously and now blinked, "Um…" she ran across the room and grabbed a box, "This one?" she asked Alex.

"No, this one." Alex mumbled, grabbing a different movie from the shelf without looking at me.

"Thank you." I muttered, taking the case from Marlea and opening it, putting the disc in the tray and waiting for it to load, hitting play and glancing at the back of the box to see how long it was supposed to be.

"Okay, Daddy." Lea muttered, moving up to my side and pushing at me, "We'll tell you when it's over."

I blinked at her, giving her a hurt and confused look, "You want me out?"

One marvelous thing about my little girl was the extent to which she didn't want my feelings hurt…ever. At my expression she gasped slightly and hugged me, "No!"

I laughed, hugging her back and giving her a kiss, "All right. So tell me when it's over if I forget." I stood, smiling at her, then at Alex.

Alexia smiled back quickly.

I had to laugh, though I did so quietly, shutting the door behind myself. Normally we wouldn't want the door shut, but when they were done being sneaky, they'd open it themselves.

And when a pair of six-year-olds are being sneaky, you don't want to interrupt.

.

Now, the fact that I knew Zechs wanted me to marry his sister didn't make asking him for her hand any easier. This was one of those things that would mean something to Relena some day, so the more romantic sounding I made it, the happier she'd be and the more she'd be able to gloat to her friends.

I took a deep breath, listening a moment as Quatre moved back downstairs-wondering why he and Trowa had been in the hall at all, "Okay." I said finally. I knew that my nervousness was something else Zechs could tell his sister for her pleasure, so I wasn't hiding it, just keeping it to a minimal.

"Could you sit down?" he asked me, grinning slightly, "You're starting to make me nervous."

I laughed, moving to sit next to him on the bed and rocking in my seat-I'd been pacing and couldn't keep still.

"Heero!" he muttered, laughing and resting his hands on my shoulders, "What's the matter with you?"

I flashed him a grin, then pulled the ring case from my pocket and offering it to him. I had no definite plan other than I wanted to ask her to marry me while her brother was here. That was as far as I'd thought it out, and now my stomach was beginning to tie itself in knots.

"Why, Heero…" he said, teasing me as he took it, "I'm married…"

I laughed, smacking him with Duo's pillow before folding that on my lap and starting to rock again-I'd been hoping my friend's scent would help calm me. It didn't seem to be working.

"Holy shit." Zechs breathed, all sincerity.

I glanced at him-he was looking at the ring with huge eyes.

"How did you get this?"

"I work." I muttered, "I get paid large lump sums."

"Fuck, Heero…" he muttered, taking the thing out and then focusing on the engraving I'd had done, "The once and always love…" he muttered, thinking about it.

"My once and always love." I corrected, tossing Duo's pillow toward the head of the bed again.

"You really love her, don't you?" Zechs asked, almost startled.

I met his eyes, blinking at him, "What?"

He shook his head, setting the ring back in its case and giving it back to me, smiling at me.

This was taking too long-becoming ridiculous.

I gathered myself and took a slow breath before meeting my future brother-in-law's eyes again, "I've loved Relena for…so long now." I muttered, thinking back-I couldn't even place when I realized I loved her, "I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

"Nothing would make her happier." Zechs muttered quietly.

Ah, so he'd picked up on the story-romance, good. Made it easier on me to be cheesy.

I met his eyes, "May I…have Relena's hand…in marriage?"

He smiled at me, studying me for a long moment before nodding once, "I willingly and exultantly consent."

I'd known he wouldn't refuse, but hearing him say it…I'd jumped across the bed to hug him before I could help myself, laughing as he laughed before looking way-embarrassed by my display of emotion as much as he was.

"Now," he muttered, clearing his throat slightly-I blinked at him, realizing that his eyes almost looked teary, "When does she get to know?"

"I don't know yet," I muttered, starting to feel jittery again.

"Heero!" he muttered.

I laughed, climbing off Duo's bed to look out the window and smile-for a moment, everything was right. Snow was falling lightly and I could see the white-dusted crowns of trees well beyond our block. My friends were all in attendance and the woman I loved was still plotting how to land me without knowing she had years before. …and I had permission to ask for her hand, and while that was an ancient ritual, it was one that I felt truly should be followed.

I smiled, meeting Zechs' eyes, "How about after presents?"

"And right before I leave." he pouted at me, "I wanted to see my sister shine, damn it."

"So stay the night…look," I pointed out the window, "It's snowing. Call your security team and tell them that-it doesn't matter if they know you're only staying because you want to. This is a valid reason."

He grinned, looking out the window a moment, then nodded, "I can't help but agree…" he started into the hall, "Zia!"

.

"Wait a moment, Jesse." Zechs muttered, half-rising to his feet.

Jesse, who was at the door with Duo, turned to blink at him, "Excuse me?"

"Wait a moment longer." Zechs muttered.

I frowned at him, looking to Zia a moment before meeting eyes with Heero.

Heero was frozen like a deer in the headlights.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, moving to his side to grab his hand.

He jumped away from him, focusing on me and becoming even more alarmed.

"I should really be going," Jesse started.

"Heero," Quatre muttered, his tone soothing-when I looked at him he had a grin of comprehension on his face.

Heero's chest was moving too fast for this to be normal breathing.

"What's the matter?" I asked Heero, concerned.

Zechs smiled at me, moving past me to the light-switches and flicking the ones on over our head before he moved back to sit next to his wife, watching Heero expectantly.

I looked back to Heero, hoping he would explain…

He met my eyes, one hand tucking into his pocket-before he sank to one knee.

Time stopped.

Heero grabbed my left hand, resting his other hand over the top of it as Hilde and Zia gasped, "Relena," he started, looking away from my eyes a moment before meeting them again, "I can't tell you when I realized I loved you," he said quietly, "I've always loved you, and I always will."

"I love you, too," I whispered, raising my free hand to my mouth as tears formed in my eyes.

Heero laughed slightly, more an exhalation as tears formed in his own eyes, "I…" he swallowed, "um…" he glanced down again, then met my eyes, rising to his feet to stand with my hand over his heart as he lifted a ring box into view, "Will you marry me?"

I could tell I wasn't the only one crying, though everyone else seemed far distant, "I will," I muttered with a small laugh that was more a sob-my brain had stopped working, all I could feel was the frantic beating of Heero's heart in his chest.

His hands were shaking as he pulled the ring from its box, and I actually focused on it-and gasped, "Oh, Heero…" I breathed as he slid it onto my finger. The thing looked almost to big for it's mounting, and I knew Heero enough to know that he wouldn't get me a fake diamond. That meant that he'd spent a fortune on it.

I could not remember a time when he'd had my finger sized-I couldn't even say I knew what size my ring finger was, but this ring fit perfectly, very slightly loose.

He smiled, meeting and studying my eyes, waiting for whatever happened next.

I wrapped my arms around his neck-and cried. I cried because I was happier than I'd been in my entire life. I cried because after three years of living together and six as a known couple, Heero had finally asked me to stay with him forever. I cried because none of my parents were here to see this, I cried because…because I could. Because when he and my brother had been laughing in Duo's bedroom I now knew why. I cried because I knew Heero understood-and that was all that mattered, wasn't it?