Author: Becca W
Fanfic: Starting Over
Chapter: Ch.22
*Summary and pairings given*

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Disclaimer: *Races with Disclaimer* Usual applies.

FINALLY! IT IS DONE! Enjoy! ^_~

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As on any given rainy day, the air was a more personal presence to the people it passed by, closer, somehow intimate - but very quick in its intimacy, leaving a person standing as though stood up on a promised meeting, the warmth of its whisper still tickling their ears. Such was that day, although the rain drove the wind faster and harder, making it a more abusing being to its victims, its many passions, its lovers - namely, those out on the street, unprepared to meet with its touch.

Relena, in a half-crouch, stared into what was rightfully her house. The beforementioned draft pulled in, wafting towards her, curling around her small, drab frame, driving on ahead to lap at her unexpected visitor in the living room. A light given off only such days, those rainy, softly drizzling, aloof yet cloud-enclosed days, glowed from behind her in a soft, gray sheen. Rainy days usually had that strange glow; it did not outline any given object or being but rather, pulled around it to light on what lay ahead. Relena seemed a fuzzy dream-figure from where she was in that half-stance due to this lighting.

Her visitor, the tops of his shoes the only thing unshadowed, stood staring at her, unmoving.

She rose, knees creaking, her back popping once or twice. At least she had found the key; it hid in the palm of her hand, crushed into the skin by fingers tightly shutting it up. Then she walked forward, one uncertain foot to the next. She stumbled briefly, in slow-motion, it seemed, her steps halting awkwardly and throwing her body to the left against a short section of wall that jutted out, acting as a way for a tiny hall to form before giving out into the living room.

From there, she simply stared. It seemed bizarre, nearly surreal, to have him there. She found, somewhere within herself, underneath all the layers of the life she had created to separate this from what lay in Cinq, an ultimate confidence that should not have existed. She had let herself think that, just knowing the end of her stay was soon meant it would not necessarily come. Of course, she had been wrong, logic prevailed.

In a brief, disgruntled head shake her visitor took a few strides in her general direction. He passed her and shut the door roughly, uncaringly letting it slam into the doorframe, before turning his eyes on Relena. He seemed mildly curious, in a pleasant way, at what her reaction might be to his being there.

Relena, knowing that her hushed and wide-eyed expression did little to satisfy his thoughts, brought her arms to tightly lie against her sides, fists loosely held just below her hips. He was a little taller and she had to lift her face slightly to look into his. Her sweater, still having a dusting of rainwater over its textured surface, hung around her in an apologetic way, the sleeves weighed down past her fingertips and the hem to heavy to hold up any farther than her thighs.

She brought one hasty arm up to wipe at her forehead, strands of hair pushed away to the sides when she swiped the back of her and against the skin. She sniffled when a drop of rain ran from her forehead down her nose - it tickled.

She licked at the corner of her mouth hesitantly.

"Heero." She said, her tone clear. He watched her silently, eyes focused on hers intently. After a while his head leaned forward as well and she brought the same hand up to curl a wet strand of hair behind her ear; when his stare did not move the hand froze at the side of her face, although her expression was only one of surprise.

"So you're the one to escort me back." His eyebrows jerked together and he pulled back.

He nodded. With a little buddling around he managed to find a kleenex in one of his pockets and offered it to Relena. She took it, fingers clenched loosely around a fold of it, a little unbelieving. Not half a minute later she wiped her nose with it.

"Where were you?" He asked plainly. Relena set the tissue aside.

She shrugged musingly, eyes growing distant.

"Having a good time. In the rain." An eyebrow rose when she said that.

"In the rain?" She cocked her head at him, nodding happily.

"Yes." His shoulders jerked in a sudden heave, something that could pass as a cross between a heavy sigh and soundless chuckle, and gestured to her appearance.

"Well, you're wet now. Dry off." She glanced down at herself, arms spread out a little. True. She looked very wet; but she felt muggy as her clothes, now a little soaked, kept her bodyheat locked underneath the material only to let off steam. And having transferred from the outside to the exterior of a building had left her feeling a little cold, the steam cool against her skin under her clothes.

At this thought, the feeling came to the surface of her attention and she could not repress a tremble.

"I think you're right." He slid to the side in one large step, reaching for a small blanket hung across the back of the sofa. Handing it to her, he told her to put it around her shoulders. She did, tucking it in under her arms, feeling her sweater moisten it from the back. She smiled thankfully up at him before moving away from him, padding over in squashing shoes to the stairs.

She stopped at the bottom of the steps, faltering when a question came across her mind.

"When do we leave?"

Heero turned from staring at her back to the staring at the floor. His hands crept into his pockets and his shoulders hunched.

"Anytime." She glanced over her shoulder, puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

He rolled his shoulders while managing to keep his hands in their pockets. She, in turn, noticed how, at the shoulder, the of material of his shirt formed little tufts of extra - it was a tad too big on him, although the cuffs reached his wrists neatly enough. The slacks - slacks? - fit him, though, they must have been his size...

There had been plenty of surprises in the span of her life, as had been example moments before. And not many made it into the top ten. This did.

"Lena, hey, Lena! - open up!" One hand on the banister and a foot on the first step, Relena turned, once again, wide-eyed and slightly frightened, to where Heero stood. He was already at the door, one hand on the doorknob, splitting his attention between whoever was outside and his charge. He glanced at the door then back at Relena and she found he was as upset as she.

Hurrying back to the door she motioned for him to move aside, out of the way, hugged the blanket around herself securely and turned the knob. She looked outside through the crack between door and doorframe without any doubt as to who it was.

"Hi Denna." Relena said, her voice coming out as she exhaled, making the tone of her welcome quite breathy. Denna grinned down at her, a stand-out figure as her legs jutted out of what she wore milky-pale beneath a black, above the knee hem belonging to some skirt. Over it, she had a jacket, regardless of the weater being more than fair in temperature, really quite nice - minus the drippy setting.

The girl ushered Relena and the door aside and Relena found herself crowded between it and the wall. Her friend marched in, boots creating a loud stomp as she did so. While Relena closed the door yet again, her face slightly pale, mouth parted in anxiety and her eyes a little worried, Denna looked around to where the television stood on its little stand.

"It hasn't stopped raining, wouldn't you know - " She said, all the while swerving on the sharp heels of her snug boots, "Anyways - Lena!"

Relena's eyes immediately darted over to Heero. Her visitor, now leaning against the wall, glanced up from where he had his arms crossed over his chest, first to Relena, then at Denna. Slightly narrowing his eyes in frosty opposition, he continuously stared at her - all to the delight of her joy.

"Good God, Lena, I can't believe - " Relena passed a hand over her face feverishly.

"What are you saying, Denna?" She said, Denna raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"I mean, well, look at him - "

"Oh, no! You don't - "

"I mean, I can't believe! - "

"It's nothing like that, how - "

"This is great!"

" - can you - pardon, what do you mean?" Denna clapped her hands, easily excited.

"We have a date!" She crowed. Relena stared at her friend, inexplicably oblivious for the moment.

"Would you repeat that?" Denna waved her hands in the hair, hands, Relena found, that were gloved in lace. Her friend's voice had risen a few notches till she was hollering cheerily.

"This is so great, come on, we need to get you fixed up - " She said, grabbing at Relena's elbow and beginning to dragging her away, toward the stairs. As she passed by she looked over at Heero, eyebrows and the corners of her mouth working together to create a most unknowing, confused expression. He made a move to capture the other elbow but Denna jerked her along.

"Hurry up, why are you lagging? - "

"What are you planning?"

"As though you don't know!" Relena let herself omit a nervous, baffled chuckle.

"Really, I don't - "

"Watch that last step!"

Before she turned the corner to reach the upstairs level she threw her eyes down towards Heero, who stared up at her as well. He now stood rooted to the floor two feet from where he had last leaned against the wall, a musing, bewildered expression that mellowed quickly left on his face. She gave what could pass a shrug before stumbling up the last few steps.

Having herself thrown into the bathroom and a few orders to get undressed left with her, Relena asked herself if this was the price of her dawdling. Surely no one could keep her from -

Denna, fiddling with a zipper, came in and hung up a dress from Relena's closet on the shower curtain pole. At seeing Relena had not even removed her sweater she gave a noisy grunt and began pulling her own jacket off.

"Everyone's being very slow this evening..." Relena, grudgingly obeying the command, turned her back to her friend and pulled the thick, clingy material of her sweater up and over her head. Having left that one the edge of the bathtub to drip to the floor in separate puddles she began on the zipper of her pants. From behind she received dry underwear as Denna busied herself with something else.

Relena realized, shortly after having gotten dry, that the dress hanging next to her bent head was the one from Second Splits. Having adjusted the straps of her bra she swerved around, peering from the water flung from her hair at her turn at Denna's shoulders.

This little realization jolted her into blurting out a demand - whatever was Denna planning on doing?

With a tired sigh Denna answered, rather plaintively, it might be added.

"We're going to that fling at school, prom, is it?" Denna, still at work, waved a hand over her shoulder. "Now pull that thing, that was the only suitable piece in your closet - 'glad you bought it now, mmh?"

"I'm not sure." Relena mumbled, slightly cross, as she unfastened the little hooks on the inside of the dress, near the top of the zipper. Once she had it pulled up past her hips - perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her but the bodice was not as snug as it had been previously - and slung around her front she asked Denna to help her with zipping it closed.

Denna's hands were cold and made her jump forward with a flinch.

"Now, where'd you find him?" Relena squirmed.

"Mmh?"

"Him. Downstairs. The stocky one." Stocky?....

"I never..well, it depends on how you look at it." Denna picked at the straps of the dress intently.

"Fine. Where'd you meet?" Relena licked her bottom lip thoughtfully.

"The beach."

"Of course, romantics - " Denna made Relena turn around. "All too perfect. What do you call him?"

Denna pulled Relena's hair from behind her ears to hang around her face. Relena briefly wondered if any water would make a stain on the straps if her hair was still that wet.

"Heero."

"How pretty." Denna murmured, slightly absent-minded. With a handful of Relena's hair in one fist and a blowdryer in the other Denna stopped midway in the act, letting a hot blast of air knock into Relena's face most unkindly. "Wait. Is that the teddybear guy?"

Relena pawed at the hairdryer irritatingly, head jerking when Denna attempted to make accompanying hand motions following her remark.

"I guess so." She said in a blustery wa. Denna's expression brightened into true mirth.

"Oh my! This is fantastic!" The dry current of air moved onto to her scalp, concentrating on the hair lying against her head instead of the ends. "It was only a fly-by thought! You have really done it - "

Relena stared at her reflection in the mirror over the sink, the place were Denna had stationed her little set-up. Seeing as how she was now chewing on the inside of her cheek she glanced away and at her friend. Something seemed strange. Indeed, something was vaguely...off.

Denna looked quite polished, actually.

Relena cleared her throat, leaning forward a little when she lay the flat of her hands against the counter for added support.

"Is there a reason you're wearing black?" Her friend snorted mysteriously, moving on to the other side of Relena's head.

"My mother. Her complaints at my zealous clothes - this is her dress, wouldn't you know." Denna picked up a brush she had found in the one of the drawers. Relena, her head now pulled back a little at the quick brush strokes being applied, questioned further.

"But why?"

"She didn't want me to go the fling-thing in a flapper's costume. I think." Ah. Ah ha. Denna stepped back, brush held up ceremoniously in one hand and a sly expression settling into her eyes. "Elegant, no? Very minimalist."

"Very dapper."

"Only you would say that - and Lark." Relena's mouth formed an 'o'.

"Where is Lark, by the way? - wouldn't she have come?"

"Her ankle's too sore, I checked. She says we'll do something next time, when she's healed."

"Oh." Relena's voice was hollow but Denna remained untouched, faithful to her obliviousness as though it were a private religion.

She paused in her work, glancing at Relena's eyes through the mirror.

"You think this is good?"

"Yes. It looks very beautiful."

"Thanks. I never would have worn something without straps - no straps but tight. Feels weird." Relena smiled and gave her friend's arm a quick pat. "I mean, it holds itself up..."

"Therefore the jacket?" Denna nodded, picking up where she had left off.

"Hence the jacket." She reached for a tube of something. The waxy, blunted tackiness of lipstick appeared on Relena's lips. Little else was added make-up-wise; the rain had calmed any overly red patches of skin in her face for the night.

Without waiting for a comment or empty remark Denna twirled Relena around by the shoulders, causing the skirt of her dress to billow out around her legs and flutter against the side of the counter with the sound of feathers.

"Ready!" Relena smiled, at Denna, at herself, at this situation.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think - "

"We've left Teddy down there long enough - "

" - that we can go with you - "

"I hope he knows how to dance!"

" - will you listen to me?" Relena finished in a cry.

"Of course I will, but the cabdriver seems impatient so let's leave before he ditches us." Denna patted her on the shoulder and clattered down the stairs, sidestepping so she could do so quickly in her boots, and, at reaching the first floor, stumbled in her effort to present the oncoming Relena in the most fantastic way possible.

"And I present to you - Lena Burg!" She said boomingly, unintentionally projecting her voice to each available pocket of space on the second floor as well as the first. Lena, shaking her head pathetically at a sheepishly-grinning Denna, stepped down, let her handa off the head of the banister, and turned to face Heero.

Who did not move. Denna curiously raised an eyebrow at his inmobile position.

After a while, he walked to the door.

"There's a cab outside." Denna pulled on the black lace gloves again, pulling on her jacket thereafter.

"That's ours, let's pile in!"

She rushed ahead when Heero held the door open. Relena took a little more time, walking rather than jogging, testing to see if the shoes she had on still fit from there largel dormant state in the back of her closet. Stopping at the doorframe she looked out to where Denna had climbed into front seat of the cab, rocking from the high-heeled ends of her shoes to her toes to test comfortability.

Heero stepped next to her, about to shut the door.

"Well?" He asked her brusquely. She tilted her head in a shrug.

"I...can't really say no."

"Why not?"

"She's a friend. How would we explain this?" Heero regarded her carefully, eyebrows raised. She clasped her hands together.

"See? We can't, not without inconspicous reason. Let's just play along." They started down the steps towards the cab. After a moment she added, thoughtfully, "Roleplay, Heero." He paused, his hand emerging from the pockets of his pants for the first time in a while.

"As your partner?" She smiled, her chin rising a little.

"Rather our date."

They were at the cab and she reached for the doorhandle. He made a grab for it, pulling the flap-like door to his side.

"Alright." He mumbled, helping her in by the elbow. "Mmmh..."

They made themselves comfortable in the backseat and Denna, dangling an arm around the back of the headrest of her seat, watched them with amusement.

The streetlights glinted off the driver and her in the strangest of ways, their outlined forms darkening with the sky as the sun fell, the shadows running together like dark, watery paints. From her position in the backseat, directly behind the driver, Relena thought Denna to be too complacent, too calm. Perhaps not her person but certainly the exterior of: she was no rainbow anymore.

No rainbow.

"Denna - is that a wig??" Relena coughed out. Denna gave a hooted laugh, cackling.

"No, this is my real hair color."

"But, how - "

"I've been dying it day-to-day colors so everything could fade out for the past year. Yesterday, that was a wig." Denna seemed to have succeeded a personal goal her grin was so wide. "Will everyone be as slow to notice, I wonder?"

Relena tapped the index finger against her mouth, astonished. Denna was auburn-haired, a dark, reddish-brown that, with a sidepart, seemed unusually neat and orderly. Ordinary, rather than orderly. A few wisps of it hung around the nape of her neck, everything was so straight, and it had no color in it other than what seemed natural.

Denna had begun reminiscing fondly.

"Lark noticed immediately, you should have heard her shriek." Relena shook her head, wagging it from side to side.

"You're terrible."

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The dance was held, as all others had been up to this point, in the largest of the two school gyms. Decorations, naturally, hung connected from wall to wall in a network that reached across the ceiling. The floor was heavily dusted with sparkly sand particles and tiny shapes, moons, hearts, clovers, with a colorfully metallic look to them. They entered through one of the doors to find refreshments being served at the corner to their left, music played through speakers set up in various locations around the gym for the full effect in the next and a few chairs in the last for those tired dancers and their companions.

Only the harsh lighting of the gym had been there before - all else had been recently added. People were already out, twisting and stomping. Some talked. Denna, having threaded her arm through the crook of Heero's right elbow, waved to a few people she was familiar with, trading obscene welcomes with them joyously. Relena, clasping Heero's left arm, peered at her with a peculiar, oddly amused look.

Denna parted from them once she saw someone she had to shock. Waving a teasing goodbye she raced as best she could over the littered floor. Relena and Heero glanced at each other, decidedly close together in the mad rush and going-ons around them. She was unsure; where to go?

Because of the music's volume they had to either shout or speak directly into each other's ears.

Relena cupped her hand around Heero's ear and asked him whether they could stay another hour.

He told her only two at most. She agreed.

With that, he left temporarily to find the drinkstand.

A few people came to talk to her, all of which she weakly appealed to. She had steeled herself for leaving, leaving without telling them anything, setting them behind her for her to inable herself to live in Cinq permanently. She had accepted that she would disappear. And now, she was to face everyone at the time she thought she would be, quite frankly, rid of them - although she liked them, any sort of relationship other than what had existed before was quite impossible.

She thankfully accepted the paper cup Heero handed her from behind. At seeing him, her school friends' kind chatter slowed. A few minutes later, they drifted, leaving behind warm hints and subtle teases that had Relena glowing slightly. Heero, though, only saw them talk and walk off.

He glanced around. Relena tapped him on the shoulder.

"Would you like to sit down?" She asked into his ear. He shrugged obligingly.

They then proceeded to walk around the densest mass of people to were a set of fold-out chairs had been stationed. From their position there they could view Denna swinging from the shoulders of two people, students that were as tall as her, who smiled, as they were used to her antics. She fussed with the hair of one, straightened the bowtie of another, and made them laugh.

Heero turned his ears from conversation to music. He stared at the headstation where it was being played off and the beginning notes of the next song, the first lyric, was familiar.

Heero's pupils decreased in size. His stare remained cold and directed at the DJ. It was the song Duo had used to teach him.

Without letting his sight unclip from the DJ he turned around to face Relena a little better.

This was the song Duo had taught him with...

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AHAHAHA! _FINALLY_!!! FINALLY, it is done, I had to start over, it was slow going, and it's DONE DONE DONE! Good grief, I never expected the next chapter to take this long.....so sorry, really. Thank you very much for reading, I appreciate it greatly! (Especially if you still are reading, rather than give up on my slowing updates).

By the way, as an FYI note: I've started a new fanfic. Unexpected in all possible ways but I'm finding it interesting to write. It's titled "Meat Hooks" - the only thing it has in common with "Starting Over" is that it involved a multitude of characters and pairings.

Again, thank you!