Symbol of Honor
Chapter 9
By Lady Saffir
DISCLAIMER: me no own...*sniff*

AN-For those of you who asked, I'm going on the episode where Relena shoots the rose from Lady Une's uniform. Remember how she calls that man grandfather? Well, I've been thinking about it, and I recalled how the Marquis Wayridge called her Katrina - which I'm guessing is her real mother's name. So what if Katrina Peacecraft and Helen Dorlain were sisters? That would explain how Relena looks so much like her adopted mother. But those are just my thoughts on the subject, and how I'm using it in this story.

"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story."
-George Orson Wells

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Relena turned as Heero did, unable to keep the gasp from escaping her lips. Standing between the massive pillars at the back of the church was someone she had never thought she would see again.

"Richard," she breathed, unable to believe that he would do this to her. At St. Gabriel's he had hounded and followed her, determined to win her over. The memory caused everything to fall in place.

"You...you were the one that's been following me, hurting me, tormenting me, haven't you?" Relena questioned, taking a step forward. The quiet murmurs that had swept through the congregation rose, people twisting to see who would dare interrupt the ceremony.

Richard ignored everyone but the woman standing at the alter, striding towards her confidently.

"I had to help you realize how much you meant to me, Relena. I couldn't stand the thought of you lowering yourself to marry a vagabond, a man that can't fully appreciate the responsibility that we nobles have to live with. I just couldn't," he pleaded, stopping ten feet away from her. "I love you."

Milliardo stepped forward, moving so that he could stand on Relena's other side. Eyeing the intruder warily, he saw the other pilots moving in his peripheral vision, spreading out to flank Heero.

"Do you have a complaint with this wedding?" Milliardo asked coolly.

Richard made an impatient sound, not even bothering to look at who had spoken.

"I just told you that I did. The fact that you would allow your sister to marry such a person is incomprehensible."

"I hate to tell you this, pal, but just because you have issues with the groom doesn't give you the right to hurt and torment Relena," Duo spoke up, starting to reach for his gun. Something about this psycho had the warning bells going off in his head.

In one fluid movement Richard drew his gun, pointing it directly at Relena. Each man pulled his own gun, training it on the blonde haired man before them.

"I would suggest you drop your weapons, gentlemen. If I so much as think you're going to pull the trigger, I will not hesitate to shoot Relena."

"Why, Richard? You say that you love me, but why did you harm me? Why not just come to me and tell me?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't believe me. He's brainwashed you, Relena. I had to show you that I would follow you anywhere. Even into Death."

A cold chill swept through Relena at his words. She would forget about her scar until something pressed against her left hand too hard and caused a pain to shoot through her arm. Staring down at the still pink scar tissue, she spoke.

"I do not wish to sound harsh, Richard, but this has only shown me how little you care for me. True love would not allow you to harm me in anyway, or attack anyone that was dear to me. You have done both with horrible results and for that I will never forgive you. Please leave now, before you are forced to."

Richard's eyes hardened, his finger beginning to squeeze the trigger even more. "Then I guess this is good-bye, Relena. I can't stand by and watch this mockery of a ceremony continue."

"Wait."

Pausing, Richard looked over to Heero.

"Yes, peasant? Are you going to beg for me not to do it?"

Heero shrugged, careful to make no other sudden moves.

"No, but it doesn't make sense to shoot the person you're in love with. I think you'd want to shoot the person that stole her from you," he suggested calmly, ignoring Relena's sound of protest.

"True, but I'd rather you suffer with knowing you caused this. You stood in the way of our relationship from the very beginning. If you hadn't appeared, I would have won her over - and you knew that! But you just had to show off and save her life, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?!"

Screaming, Richard swung the gun around, firing. Heero's body jerked from the force of the shot.

Relena screamed as Heero started to fall, trying to rush to his side, only to be pulled down by Milliardo. Almost simultaneously six shots fired, the deafening sound ripping through the air. Guests began screaming, falling to the floor to stay safe.


Relena shoved at Milliardo, trying to push his dead weight from her body.

"Let me up! Heero's been shot! Please, please," she begged, tears streaming down her face.

Milliardo looked around, noting that Richard lay face down several feet away, an ever-growing pool of blood spreading from beneath his body. He moved off of Relena's body, allowing her to scramble ungracefully over to Heero.

"Heero! Please Heero, open your eyes," Relena said, trying to pull his jacket off to staunch the wound. Gentle hands covered her own and she looked up to see Duo there, jacket already off.

"Duo..."

Duo flashed a worried smile in her direction, ripping Heero shirt off to inspect the wound. "Lena, I need to you talk to him, make him try and open his eyes. Can you do that for me?"

Relena took a deep breath, shoving the hysterics that threatened to bubble up deep within her. Now was not the time; later, when Heero was taken care of, she would loose them.

"Heero? Heero, can you hear me? Please, I need you to let me know if you can hear me," she murmured, bending over to smooth a lock of hair away.

A grunt was her answer as Heero's eyes shot open, his hand automatically going for the injury. Grimacing in pain, he looked over to see Duo and Wufei placing a makeshift bandage over his left shoulder. Looking up, he saw Relena's worried blue eyes staring at him. He reached up to touch her cheek, gasping at the pain that shot through his body.

"I...forgot how much...it hurts," he gritted out, teeth grinding together.

Paramedics rushed forward to check the injury, then began loading Heero onto a gurney. They were finished in minutes, wheeling Heero away before Relena could scramble to her feet. About to follow, Relena was stopped when Lady Une stepped into her path.

"Relena, let him go. We'll follow behind, but if you go with him, he'll be more worried about you than himself. He's going to be fine, but we need to let the professionals do their job."

Biting her lip, Relena reluctantly agreed, waiting for everyone to join her before trying to exit the church. The sight that greeted her eyes sent her blood boiling. The media was surrounding the paramedics who were trying to reach the ambulance, stopping them to ask questions about Heero.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"Who was the mystery man?"

"Mr. Yuy! Can we..."

Silence fell as a gunshot sounded, everyone turning to face a gun wielding Lady Une, who was wearing full Preventer regalia.

"If that man dies, or has any complications that the doctors say could have been prevented by earlier medical treatment, I will personally make sure that each one of you lose your media license and privileges throughout Earth Sphere Unified Nations. This is a political terrorist act, and I am allowed to act as I see fit by the President of ESUN," she explained calmly, making sure to meet everyone's gaze.

Murmurs of protest sounded, but each news group quickly backed off, allowing two very relieved paramedics to finish loading the ambulance.



Relena paced the hallway, unable to sit. The press, afraid that Une would follow through on her threat, had left the wedding party alone, not even following them to the hospital. Her wedding dress, stained with Heero's blood, had been replaced with a simple pair of pants and one of Heero's dress shirts.

Ten paces, turn, ten paces turn...by now Relena had memorized the tile flooring of the Preventer medical center. Early on her friends had taken turns trying to get her to eat or drink something, finally giving up when she unleashed her own death glare on them.

The sound of a door opening filtered through her consciousness, causing her head to snap up. In an instant Relena was at Iria's side, taking in the woman's exhausted face.

"Is he all right? When can I see him?"

Smiling tiredly, Iria filled the waiting people in on Heero's condition. "The bullet missed his heart and lungs, but he lost a bit of blood. His collarbone was partially shattered from the force, so it took a while to piece it together. We've got him in ICU until we're sure that nothing will go wrong.

"He's asking to see you, Relena. He refuses to let me give him something for the pain until he talks to you, so if you can, make it quick."

Nodding, Relena followed Iria through the doors of the ICU, pausing to look in through the large glass window. Tubes were running in and out of his body, his entire left side bandaged with white gauze.

Blinking back tears, Relena entered the room, gently taking Heero's hand as she sat. She had never seen him so pale, not even during the Mariemaea incident. When he opened his eyes, she couldn't help the sob that broke through.

"I thought he had killed you," she cried, suddenly afraid this was a good-bye.

"No, never," Heero soothed, trying to cover up the spasm of pain that shot through his body. "I am not leaving you until you tell me to, Relena. I promise."

"But you can't promise that! Nobody can promise that, nobody. Just promise not to draw attention to yourself like that again. I'm getting tired of worrying if you're going to get yourself killed over me," Relena whispered, touching his face hesitantly, afraid of hurting him.

Heero tried to laugh then settled on smiling when the laughter jarred his wound. "I can take getting shot; after all, I've had worse. Just ask Trowa - he'll tell you. But," he raised a hand to halt her protests, "I can't promise I won't get hurt again. Not only is it my job to protect you, it's...more personal than that. I don't think I could stand knowing you were hurt when I could have done something. So I'll keep jumping in front of you, and you can keep trying to knock some sense into me. Is it a deal?"

Relena laughed, tapping his head gently. "I should start now while you can't go anywhere, so maybe you'll remember better."

Heero smiled, reaching up to cup her cheek. "I'm not going anywhere, except maybe to sleep. I promise I'll be good as new in a few days and you can start then."

Catching Iria's eye, Heero nodded, allowing her to finally inject the pain relievers into his IV. His eyes stayed on Relena's, unable to look away.

"Stay with me until I'm asleep?" He asked quietly, feeling the drugs beginning to take affect.

Relena nodded, taking his hand more tightly into her grasp, watching as her husband's eyes began to close.

"I love you," he whispered, drifting off into healing sleep.

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One week later found Relena facing the same set of massive pillars once more. This time however, the only emotions to be found were the happier ones. Richard was no longer a threat, Milliardo and Heero were getting along extremely well - even Sally's morning sickness had been quiet these past few days. The future was definitely looking up. Iria hadn't wanted to let Heero go through with the ceremony just yet, but short of tying him down, she couldn't see any way to stop him. His shoulder still gave him slight spasms and was sore to the touch, but he insisted on finishing what had been started one week ago.

As the first chords of the wedding march floated through the warm summer air, the doors were thrown open. As one, the congregation rose, turning to get a glimpse of the bride. Passing by, Relena was able to catch snippets of conversation.

"Beautiful."

"A picture perfect bride!"

"Stunning."

Indeed, Relena was quite a sight to behold. The train, neither too long nor too short, whispered quietly as it passed over the marble flooring. A trail of beadwork wound its way throughout the material, curving over each arm to end at the wrist.

The main body of the gown was tucked to emphasize the slim waist, the bodice clinging like a second skin. The neckline was modest, barely curving below the collarbone. A string of diamonds had been sewn into the material, brilliantly catching any and all light that came near.

The arms of the dress were fitted to show off the slim and delicate looking wrists. Tapering to an end on the back of each hand, the sleeves were held in place by a single loop of elastic that encircled the middle fingers.

Heero had to forcibly work at keeping his jaw of the floor. He had thought last week's ceremony would serve as a preview of things to come, but it paled in comparison to the sight before his eyes. Her hair was pulled up and back to curl as it pleased, a few loose tendrils sweeping down the side of her face, the light golden tresses only serving to draw attention to the startling blue of her eyes.

Then she smiled at him, and Heero fell in love all over again. The way she looked at him made Heero feel as if he was the only man on earth, and her smile said she felt the same way.

Advancing slowly, Relena felt her pulse fluttering with every step she took. Unable to believe the day had finally come, she waited for the alarm clock to go off, or for an assassin to pop out of the woodwork. When nothing happened, her smile grew, her body wanting to dance down the aisle.

The processional finally stopped, leaving Relena next to Heero. Her grandfather, the Marquis Wayridge, kissed her cheek, then turned to shake Heero's hand.

At last, the couple turned to face the minister. The words heralding the approach of the wedding vows fell on deaf ears, as Heero and Relena simply stared at each other, content for once to let the world take care of itself.

When Catherine discreetly nudged her, Relena realized it was time to recite her vows. With a sudden rush of horror, Relena found herself blanking on the speech she had prepared. Frantically scrambling to find the words, her voice sounded hesitantly, gaining strength and conviction as bits and pieces came floating back.

"Our lives have never been easy. From the moment we first met, I felt as if I had been tossed into a chaotic storm. But you were there throughout everything, the one constant I could always depend on. You gave me your strength so that I could help others, and even in our disagreements, you gave me your support.

"You have taught me many things, both intentionally and not, and for each of those I thank you. We have shared dreams and heartaches, hope and despair. Many times I have felt as if I were lost in a sea of darkness, and each time you sensed that and became my beacon, my light back to myself. Whether it be simply gazing at the stars, or working together to deflect a major crisis, one thing will always remain the same, and I promise to stay by your side for all eternity.

"I love you."

The crowd sighed, a faint sound that reflected the happy emotions of the people. Silence reigned once more as the congregation waited to see how Heero could better that.

Heero turned to look at Relena fully, brushing his thumbs lightly across her knuckles before beginning to speak.

"For years now, I have watched over you, protecting you when you were reckless, defending you against all attacks. I have seen your determination, felt your desire to achieve all goals, and known your convictions to be true. I have tested your strength and your resolve many times; and each time I was able to trust in your purity and your belief that anything can be achieved.

"Even though I did not want to admit weakness, you found a way to show me that emotions are what make us truly strong. I have laughed with you, I have cried with you, I have mourned with you.

"We have taken the road less traveled by - and it has made all the difference. Our paths have been difficult, yet you placed your faith in me, which in turn allowed me to believe in myself, and in you, to follow wherever the path took us.

"Which is why I give you this, this symbol of my honor, that I will stand by your side in all that you do. I will protect you if the world goes crazy; I will support you when your strength isn't enough. I will cherish you and love you.

"Forever."

Heero felt tears beginning to form, trying to break free. For once, he openly allowed his tears to fall, allowing the world to know his happiness. Taking her left hand, he gently slid the plain gold band across her knuckle, raising her hand to kiss the ring. Looking up, he smiled, gently brushing her tears away with a gentle thumb.

The final words the minister spoke were lost to Relena, the only thing that held her attention standing before her. Mimicking Heero's gesture, she brushed his tears away, her gaze never leaving his. The two were lost in their own private world, wrapped in happiness and joy.

A small jab from Zechs brought Heero back to the moment. Glancing back, he saw his now brother-in-law making a small kissing faces. Grinning, Heero happily turned to his bride, pulling her close.

"Forever?" Relena whispered.

"Forever," Heero affirmed, capturing her lips with his own.

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Well, that's the end of Symbol. I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did writing it - when my muse would co-operate, of course. I already have the sequel in mind, but it might be a while, and I have so many other ideas as well. Let me know what you think.