Disclaimer: If they're not mine by now, wishing will not make them so.

Author's Notes: "The end is pretty seriously nigh." Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Great show. Thank you all for the continued, incredible support. It means very, very much to me.

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To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky
by Kristen Elizabeth

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"Dancing is the last word in life." -Jean Dubuffet

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"All right, Relena. You can move now." The X-ray technician came back around the glass partition as Relena eased herself off the cold, metal table. "The results should be back in an hour or so. I'll have them sent up to the surgical floor. That's where you'll be, right? Until then..." He handed her the crutches a nurse had given her down in the ER. "Put as little pressure on that knee as possible."

She nodded listlessly and fitted the padded arms of the crutches under her own. "Thank you."

Quatre and Trowa were waiting for her. "What did the doctor say?" Quatre asked as she made her way over to them.

"I do not see the need for these." Relena handed Trowa the crutches and tried not to wince as she put all her weight on the knee in question. "I am fine."

He handed them back to her. "Only a fool would injure themselves further for the sake of their pride. You are not a fool."

Relena looked down at the white tiled floor. "How is it fair, Trowa? Crutches can fix me. But Heero...he might never be fixed."

"It is not fair, cher." Quatre pulled her into his arms for a comforting hug. But Relena had no more desire to be comforted. As gently as possible, she pulled away from him.

"I need to get back upstairs. The surgery could be over at any time."

The elevator carried them back up to the fourteenth floor of St. Luke's, where Duo and Hilde were waiting, keeping up an eight hour vigil that Relena had been forced to break to have her own injuries checked out. They waited with as much calm patience as possible for any news of Heero's surgery, good or bad.

"Princess." Duo jogged over to them as the trio came into the surgical waiting area. "No one's come out to say anything yet. But your brother is looking for you."

"Millardo is here?"

He nodded and pointed to the bank of phones several yards away. "He's over there with Ms. Noin."

Relena followed his finger until she could see her brother and his fiancee. Millardo was bent over in a plastic chair, his head buried in his hands. Lucrezia had her arms around him, rubbing his back. Relena swallowed. "What did he want?" she asked Duo.

"To talk to you," Hilde replied for her boyfriend. "He didn't say what about though."

Every inner voice she possessed told her to stay right where she was, but Relena forced herself to nod again. Re-adjusting her grip on her crutches, she started towards her family members.

Duo watched her approach them. He couldn't hear anything; they were too far away. Millardo and Lucrezia looked up at Relena. After what Duo assumed was a greeting, the company director began to speak to his little sister.

A minute later, Relena fainted.

****

The first thing he was aware of was pain. It was nothing compared to the initial pain of being stabbed, but it was strong enough to rouse him out of the darkness. His entire lower back throbbed with enough pressure to bring moisture to his eyes. Eyes that he opened a moment later.

Another pair of eyes stared back at him. They, too, were wet with tears. Relena's eyes, weeping over him. He tried to speak, to say her name, but there was something lodged in his throat. His brow furred.

"Heero." Her fingers were cool against his cheek; for a moment, he forgot all about the pain. "It's all right. Someone's coming to take that out; it was helping you breathe during surgery."

Surgery. He must have been in the darkness for a long time. The last clear memory he had was of her telling him not to close his eyes. He hadn't won that fight, apparently.

"You're in the hospital," she continued, although her voice barely made it above a whisper. "Do you remember...everything that happened in the locker room?"

He nodded as much as he could. Relena looked as though she were about to go on, but just then a doctor entered the room.

"Heero," the unfamiliar man said, leaning over him. "Good to see you back with us. I have a lot to tell you, but first, let's get rid of this thing." With quick, expert movements, he detached the blue tube that lead to the intubation device from the mouthpiece. There was a rush of air. "Okay..." The man grasped the mouthpiece. "On my count, exhale. One...two...three." He yanked on the tube, pulling it out of Heero's throat.

Relena bit her lip as Heero coughed for a long minute. "What..." His attempt to speak came out as a wheeze. "What happened?"

"You came in late last night with a very deep stab wound to your lower back. You had lost a lot of blood. Fortunately we were able to get you into surgery in time to repair the damage to your liver. But..." The doctor hesitated. "I'm sorry to say we weren't able to save your spleen which took the brunt of the attack."

Heero closed his eyes. "Relena...are you all right?"

He could feel her fingers entwine with his. "Thanks to you, I'm just..." Her throat closed up. "...fine. I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"We're going to keep you here in the ICU for another twenty-four hours, Heero." The doctor picked up his chart which hung from the end of the bed. "And then we'll move you into another room for probably about a week, depending on how quickly you heal. I have to tell you, there is a possibility that there could be complications from the surgery. Embolisms, bowel obstructions, hernias. But that's why we're going to monitor you very carefully for awhile."

"Thank you, Doctor," Relena said. "Can we have a few minutes alone?"

The man replaced the chart after scribbling something onto it. "You're lucky, Heero. Not many of my patients have a guardian angel who is as pretty as yours." He smiled. "I'll be back to check on you in a few hours."

Once the doctor was gone, Relena let her tears fall freely. "Heero...I was so afraid that I was going to lose you..."

He wanted to put his arms around her and hold her until the end of time, but the pain was too great to even move his arms. "Tell me...everything."

When she had finished recounting the events of the fourteen hours he had missed, Heero had only one question. "The French bastard?"

"The police have him," she said softly. "He...we won't be bothered by him ever again."

He frowned. "There's something...you're not telling me."

Relena looked away for a long minute. "He killed my mother."

"Relena..." She glanced back at him upon hearing her name. His eyes, though burdened by his own pain, held so much sympathy and compassion. "I'm sorry."

"There's no reason for you to be," Relena whispered, stroking his cheek again. "He'll pay for everything. For what he did to my mother....for what he almost did to you."

"And what he tried to do to you." Heero closed his eyes as the pain overthrew his mental block.

She reached for the call button on his bed. "Let me get a nurse to give you more pain medication." He didn't refuse the offer. "Heero, is there a way to get in touch with your father?"

"I have...a number." He gritted his teeth. "He won't come."

"Heero..."

"I don't care," her boyfriend continued, opening his eyes. "I...have you."

Relena's eyes watered. "Forever," she whispered. "I almost lost you tonight, Heero. And I nearly died imagining my life without you."

"I'll never...leave you."

She smiled through her tears. "I know that now." Relena leaned forward, brushing her lips against his. "By the way...we made the company."

The tight corners of Heero's mouth turned up. "Of course we...did. We're...the best."

The nurse who entered awhile later with a hypodermic of Demerol had to pause a moment to take in the scene before her. The young blonde girl with a brace on her knee was lying as gently as possible next to the dark-haired surgical patient. Their fingers were laced together, their foreheads touched as they both indulged in a few moments of sleep after their hellish night. The woman sighed to herself. To have found that sort of love so young...

Some people had all the luck.

****

After a stop at Hilde's place in Brooklyn to pick up a change of clothing, she and Duo arrived at his parent's apartment. His mother met them at the door in a state of near panic. Once Duo had assured both her and his father that he was alright, despite the four stitches on his arm, the teenagers took turns retelling the entire story, as much as they themselves knew.

Sarah, who was on the one hand relieved to the point of tears that her son wasn't injured, and on the other, overwhelmed by the tragedies that had befallen his friends, immediately set about preparing a huge amount of food. The only thing she was able to control was making sure Duo and his girlfriend were properly fed. Although eventually she would have to find out how it had come about that Hilde was back in their lives, holding Duo's hand like he was her life-preserver. Not that she or Robert minded. In spite of everything that had happened, their son looked more alive than he had in weeks.

Duo and Hilde escaped to his room a couple of hours later. They were alone in the apartment; Robert had taken his wife out for a much-needed distraction. There was an art show in Central Park, he claimed. Also, he could tell that what his son needed was a moment alone with his girlfriend to come to terms with the past evening, not the well-intentioned smothering he was receiving from his mother.

"Did you ever meet Relena's mother?" Hilde asked, sitting on the edge of Duo's neatly-made bed, obviously his mother's doing.

"Just saw her across the lobby at the gala," he replied with a sigh. "Seems like a fucking lifetime ago."

"It does, yeah." She glanced down at her hands. "It's so sad, though. And I still don't get why that guy...why he tried to destroy...everyone!"

Duo leaned awkwardly against his desk. "I think that guy...raped Relena. Or tried to. Something like that. Back in Paris. Remember how she used to freak out when I'd touch her?"

Hilde nodded. "God...we were so mean to her! I was....such a bitch. I didn't realize..."

"I guess Heero must have known. It pretty much explains everything." He rubbed his forehead. "So, the fucker came here to New York and I guess he tried it again last night. He must really hate Relena...how can anyone hate Relena, especially that much?! I just don't understand!" His fist balled up; he slammed it down onto a stack of textbooks.

"I don't think it was hate," Hilde whispered, remembering the French man's desperate cries for Relena. "Love, maybe. Obsession, definitely." She shook her head. "Scary..."

"Yeah." Duo relaxed his fist. "At least Heero's gonna be all right."

Hilde nodded. "And you..." Her smile was soft. "Congratulations on making the company."

Her boyfriend's sculpted shoulders lifted in casual indifference. "It doesn't seem to matter much anymore. Actually, it never really mattered all that much. To me, anyways."

"What do you mean?" She tilted her head to the side. "Duo, dancing is such a big part of your life. It's the future we always talked about having together. And now it's here for you. How can you say it doesn't matter?"

"I love dancing, yeah. But if you think I've stuck with it all these years just for the thrill of wearing tights, you're wrong." He met her gaze. "Hilde, I danced because you danced. It's what brought us together."

Hilde licked her lips. "And now I can't dance. Not like I used to. My therapist says my ankle is getting stronger every day, but it'll never be able to support me like that again." She stood up. "But Duo...that shouldn't stop you."

"I don't have the heart for it anymore, babe." He smiled brightly. "Without you, it's just a hobby."

"So...you're going to..."

"Turn down the offer."

She stared at him. "Just like that?"

"I have a back-up plan," he said, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out a single sheet of folded paper. "NYU, babe. They want me like a junkie wants a hit." After a moment of silence, Hilde began to laugh. Duo frowned. "What? They do! They keep sending me orientation packets and housing shit."

"I'm not laughing at you, Duo," she managed to get out between her giggles. "It's just..." She took a breath to calm herself. "They want me just as bad."

He double blinked. Twice. "You're going to NYU?"

Hilde nodded. "I must've gotten my acceptance letter around the time you got yours. It makes sense. We applied together, remember?"

"Oh...yeah! I do remember that." Duo broke into a wide grin. "We're going to NYU, babe. Together!" In his excitement, he pulled her into his arms for a huge hug.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you, Duo." Thinking of Heero hanging onto his life by a thread and Relena by his side through it all, Hilde buried her face in her boyfriend's shoulder. "I'm not ever going to be stupid enough to pull away from you again. I swear."

Duo closed his eyes, savoring the feeling of her lithe body in his arms. There had to be a god up there somewhere and it had to be a good one. It was a miracle that she was back in his life. "Good. 'Cause if there's ever a next time, I don't plan on letting you go."

Hilde lifted her head. "How long do you think your parents are going to be gone?"

"Couple of hours, I guess." His eyes grew wide from the myriad of dirty thoughts that suddenly plagued him. "Why?"

"I can't do much until I get this cast off." She stared up at him from behind thick, black lashes. "But I have missed touching you..."

Duo cleared his throat. "And I've missed...touching...being touched....in a good way! Missed the bad way, too...."

She smothered a giggle. "When the cast does come off, I want to make love with you, Duo. Until then..." Hilde bent her head to kiss his Adam's apple. "Bad touching?"

"Bad touching, good," Duo agreed, pausing only momentarily to lament the de-evolution of his language skills. "You... me..."

"On bed," Hilde finished for him. "But the Tarzan thing is a little kinky for me."

Duo scooped her up into his arms. "Don't worry, Jane. My lair has sheets from Bergdorf Goodman's."

She laughed as he deposited her onto his "lair." A moment later, he joined her, careful to hold himself up over her body. Hilde ran her fingers through his bangs. "It's a good thing I got to you first, Duo. A normal girl could never handle you."

He lowered his mouth to hers. Breaking for breath, he gave her a smile of pure love. "A normal girl would never hold my interest. Much less steal my whole heart and soul."

"Is that what I've done?" Her entire body tingled, not only from the passionate words, but from the delicious warmth he radiated.

"You know it." Duo kissed her again, taking his time to enjoy the warm taste of her lips. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Hilde closed her eyes; his kisses were moving down her jaw towards her throat. "No shame on me..."

****

It had taken a doctor, her brother, a gay French couple and Heero himself to convince Relena to leave the ICU for some much needed rest and rejuvenation. She hadn't been able to bear the thought of going back to the penthouse where her mother's body had been found, strangled to death. Quatre and Trowa had taken her back to their suite at the Plaza; the hotel's expensive clothing boutique had sent up a simple summer dress in her size at Quatre's request.

Once she had bathed, dressed, and forced down several bites of food she couldn't even taste, Relena wanted nothing more than to return to Heero's side. But a phone call from Millardo delayed that; she was expected at the police station to make a statement against Jean-Paul.

Her friends stayed with her through the ordeal at the station. As she finally told the entire story of the terror that had seized her life back in Paris, Relena could feel the past releasing her. With each word, Jean-Paul's power over her was broken. She had survived him. Heero had survived him. Her mother had not.

Her grief seemed to be on some sort of delay. Every time she pictured Helen, Relena's insides twisted up. She had been an alcoholic, obsessed with recapturing a non-existent past through her daughter, a fortune-hunter who had sucked both Relena and Millardo's fathers almost completely dry. And she had been a horrible judge of character. For that, she had paid the ultimate price.

Relena couldn't hate her. But neither could she stop living in order to mourn her.

Finally, the questions ended and she was free to go, to head back to the hospital. Heero needed her and she needed to see him as though to convince herself that he really was going to be just fine. She tapped her foot in extreme impatience as the elevator carried her up to the ICU floor.

She had made only one stop between the police station and the hospital. The cab had passed a costume shop on the way; she had made the cabbie wait while she ran inside to make a hasty purchase. Now, she clutched a shopping bag containing a fake mustache for Heero and a long black wig for herself.

If he thought they were Gomez and Morticia before, she couldn't wait to see his face when she dressed them both up.

She approached the ICU desk and smiled at the nurse. "Is it all right if I go in to see Heero Yuy?"

"Heero Yuy." The woman looked down at her charts. "Oh. I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you this."

A cold hand squeezed Relena's heart. "Tell me what?"

"About an hour ago...he threw a P.E. Pulmonary embolism. Blood clot in his lungs," she explained. "They took him back into surgery to try and fix it."

She couldn't make her own lungs work for a long moment. "Will he...will he be okay?"

"I wish I could tell you," the nurse replied, apologetically. "Complications are always harder to correct than the initial problem." She stood up upon seeing the blood literally drain out of the blonde girl's face. "Let me help you sit down."

Relena didn't protest and let the woman lead her back to the row of chairs where she had spent fourteen hours dying inside while Heero fought for his life. Just when she had been sure they had won, life had thrown them right back down.

The plastic bag slipped out of her hands and landed on the floor between her feet. The quiet hum of the hospital was shattered by her sudden, heart-wrenching scream.

****

To Be Continued