The Disappearance of Relena
The year is After Colony 201. Deputy Foreign Minister Relena Darlian has finally achieved her goal: World Pacifism. The only weapons in use are the ones owned by the Preventers. And Relena has come to the conclusion that the world no longer needs her. She wants to live a private life out of the eyes of the world. But Relena knows that her family and friends will never let her go. So she runs away, without leaving a single trace. While away, Relena lives the life she always wanted. But back home, everyone misses her. While searching for her, the Preventers discover a very dangerous man obsessed with the former Queen of the World. Will Heero find her before this man will? Or will he be too late?
Characters (Current Age at Prologue & Chapter 1)
Relena Darlian/Peacecraft - 21
Heero Yuy - 21
Zechs Merquise/Milliardo Peacecraft - 25
Lucrezia Noin - 25
Duo Maxwell - 21
Hilde Schbeiker - 21
Trowa Barton/Triton Bloom - 21
Catherine Bloom - 23
Quatre Raberba Winner - 21
Christine Malcolm - 22
Wufei Chang - 21
Sally Po - 25
Lady Une - 25
Mariemeia Barton - 12
Laura Coville - 20
Children (So far born at time of Prologue & Chapter 1)
Sylvester Peacecraft 3 (AC 198)
Emily Peacecraft Infant (AC 201)
Avery Maxwell 2 (AC 199)
Alvin Maxwell 2 (AC 199)
Dominic Winner 2 (AC 199)
Andrew Coville 1 (AC 199)
Couples that will appear during this story (No yaoi/yuri):
Heero X Relena
Duo X Hilde
Trowa X Laura (OC)
Quatre X Christine (OC)
Wufei X Sally
Milliardo X Lucrezia
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or it's characters. I do own the original plot and the characters I created. This fanfic is not for profit. It's for enjoyment. Please e-mail me and let me know how I'm doing on my first fanfic. I welcome criticism and compliments!
Prologue
AC 201
Peace. Relena Darlian sighed as she watched the rain fall outside her window. It was strange to think that there was no longer a need for weapons. For battles. For death. They had been at war for so long. With peace achieved, there was really no need for her either. Her ideals had been established with the ESUN. There were others willing and able to fulfill her position.
Relena sighed again. This was her only chance, and time was wasting. If she really wanted to get away without Lady Une and the others insisting she take bodyguards and check in on her, she would have to run away and change her identity. It was the only way to begin a brand new life without any reminders of the past. Which also meant she had break off all contact with her friends and family. Sadness filled her heart as she though about leaving them. She was going to miss them all, even Wufei, especially after she had spent such a wonderful Christmas with everyone. Well, at least she would have those memories.
Turning from the window, Relena sat down at her desk and continued to write the letters she would leave behind, hoping that the words she wrote would convince them not to worry and not to look for her, after she was gone. They were just going to have to accept the fact that she could take care of herself and that she knew what she was doing. After all, she was twenty-one and no longer a foolhardy, pampered teenager.
Finishing the last letter, Relena sealed the envelopes, grabbed her duffel bag, (which was easier to carry than her fancy suitcases) and left the room to deliver the letters. It still surprised her how huge Quatre's mansion was. It had become a tradition each year, (started by Quatre Winner of course) for all the Gundam pilots and their friends to spend Christmas week at his estate in Arabia. A tradition that started a year after the Barton Coup, with Quatre sending them all engraved invitations, even to Heero Yuy, through Duo Maxwell, who was the only one Heero contacted.
Surprisingly enough, Heero went to that first reunion and still came back every year. And every year Duo pulled some big prank and every year Wufei threatened to not come back next year and every year Sally somehow managed to drag Wufei back. Relena was surprised that Wufei hadn't killed Duo yet. And she was surprised that somehow Quatre's mansion managed to survive through every disaster and every fight.
The place was so big, Quatre was able to fit everyone on the same floor while he, his wife Christine, and their two-year-old son Dominic stayed on another floor. Next door to her room on the left was Catherine's room and beyond was Sally's. To the right were Milliardo and Noin's room with a nursery for three-year-old Sylvester and Baby Emily next door. Across from theirs was Duo and Hilde's room with a connecting door to their two-year-old boys, Alvin and Avery. Heero was stationed across from her, with Trowa Barton (really Triton Bloom) across from his sister Catherine Bloom and Wufei Chang across from his partner Sally Po.
Relena slowly went and slipped each letter under her friends' doors. When she came to Duo and Hilde's, she smiled wryly as she thought of the New Year's morning of AC 199. They had all woken up to find Duo and Hilde missing. Later that day Quatre found them at a hotel with horrible hangovers. After Christine, who was Quatre's fiancée at the time, got some coffee into them, she discovered that while Duo and Hilde were drunk, they had gone and eloped. Christine was disgusted with them and warned them that such hastiness would get them in trouble one day. They were lucky that the cops hadn't caught them, since they were underage drinkers. But even Christine was shocked at the price they had to pay when a few weeks later, Hilde discovered that she was pregnant with twins.
At Milliardo and Noin's door, Relena paused to think about her brother and her sister-in-law. On Lucrezia Noin's twenty-second birthday, Relena had become so frustrated with how her brother's relationship with Noin was going, she had shocked everyone by blowing up at him. But Milliardo shocked them all the next day when he proposed to Noin. Relena sighed. She was going to miss her nephew and niece. She loved being an aunt.
She saved Heero's letter for last. She slipped it under his door as quietly as possible, so as not to disturb him if he was awake. You never knew, with Heero. She didn't want him to ruin her plans and keep her from leaving. He would probably yell at her, telling her she was being selfish and that she was shirking her duties. Well, he was just going to have face that fact. Ever since she had met him, her dreams had been put aside so she could try to stop the war. Her goal attained, she could now follow those dreams she had set aside.
But one dream Relena knew would never come true. Heero Yuy would never care for her, not in a million years. She couldn't understand why she still loved him. Maybe, after she got away for awhile, the feeling would fade. She knew it would never go away completely but she would like to be able to love someone else, in time. And she couldn't do it, if he was still watching over her and saving her life every time it was threatened.
Suddenly a hand clamped down on her shoulder. Relena whirled around, afraid that it might be Heero and that she had been caught. But it was only Catherine Bloom, gazing at her sadly, for she knew that Relena was leaving. Relena had enlisted the help of Catherine so that she would have someone to contact if she were in trouble or the other way around, if something had happened to her friends. She knew it would have to be someone who was connected to the pilots but not too involved as to be susceptible to confessing. And also someone not connected to the Preventers and therefore obligated to inform on her.
"Are you sure you still want to go through with this?" whispered Catherine, concerned. "I have to do this. It's the only way," Relena whispered back, resigned to her fate. "All right," replied Catherine. "Here's the ticket for the train. No one will connect it to you, since my cousin Laura bought it. She'll meet you at your stop. She agreed to let you stay until you get on your feet. But I should warn you, she has a baby boy."
"I don't mind. But ." Catherine cut her off. "I don't know where the father is. Laura won't tell me. But I have a feeling that the father probably ditched her when he found out about the baby."
"I'm sorry. Are you sure she won't mind?" asked Relena as she and Catherine headed down the stairs. "No. She said she wouldn't mind a roommate. And she promised she wouldn't tell anyone who you really are. She's told all her friends that you are her cousin and that you're coming to help her out with the baby and find a new job. That's all," finished Catherine as they reached the front hall.
Just before reaching the front door, Relena turned and exclaimed, "I almost forgot!"
"Forgot what?" asked Catherine as Relena raced back up the stairs. She ran to Quatre and Christine's room and slipped their letter under their door. Then she hurried back down the stairs to Catherine.
"I almost forgot to leave my letter to Quatre and Christine. I don't want to let them feel left out. Which reminds me-." Relena reached into her bag and pulled out a letter addressed to Catherine. "So they won't be suspicious of you," she explained when Catherine gave her a puzzled look.
"Don't worry about me. I can take care of them. They'll never suspect me of helping you get away," replied Catherine as she accepted the letter.
Before opening the door Relena turned and hugged Catherine. "Thank you so much, Cathy. How can I ever repay you?"
"Just make sure to call me regularly. If you miss a call, I'll assume something is wrong and tell everyone where you are," replied Catherine as she returned the hug. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen to me. I'm Reyna Pax now. Relena Darlian no longer exists." And with that, Relena left, leaving Catherine to wonder if she had done the right thing.