Till There Was You

Part 2: Knowledge

by Lady Scarlet-Une

    "What is your mission?"  Heero asked, his eyes aglow with zealous fire.

    "To bring peace to the earth and the colonies," I replied, a smile tugging at the corner of my lips.  He was so breathtaking when in 'soldier' mode.

    "Who is your enemy?"

    "The Earth Sphere Unified Nation."  I clutched my hands in my lap, forcibly restraining myself from reaching out and brushing that lock of hair out of his face.  Such displays of affection wouldn't be welcomed during one of our little 'sessions.'

    "And what must you do to accomplish this mission?"  All inclination to smile disappeared.

    "Eliminate all obstacles," I replied, my tone matching his.  Smiling slightly, he reached out and caressed my cheek softly.  I closed my eyes and, for a moment, blocked out everything  except his gentle touch.  My reward.

    "I've taught you everything I know, Relena," he breathed into my ear.  His soft breath set my nerves afire and I clutched at my hands even tighter.  I couldn't touch him, that was the rule.  Exercises in self-discipline can be practiced in a myriad of ways.  "Now is the time for the plan to be enacted.  Are you ready, Relena?"  He ever so gently nibbled on my earlobe.  I opened my eyes and turned my head until his face was in full view.  

    "Yes.  Mission accepted."  It was then that I knew the fire in his eyes was also a reflection of that found in mine. 

***

    Prime Minister Erikson was, above all other things, a man of habit.  For five years I had watched him set his notepad at exactly the same spot on the conference table and methodically arrange the water pitcher into just the perfect position at his right hand side.  For five years I had also half-listened to his boring diatribes on the benefits of exercise on one's constitution.  It was from all this crap that I learned of his daily morning routine.  Each morning, at precisely 5:45 am in any weather, the well-respected and much-revered Prime Minister would exit his house sans bodyguards and take a brisk forty-five minute walk in the woods surrounding his estate.  I had never thought much of his pattern till now.  After all, I had to read the damn blowhard's long-worded and rambling memos every day and be subjected to his grating voice for three hours every Saturday morning.  After a prolonged period of that sort of torture, mentally retreating to La-La Land whenever he talked was more than acceptable.  However, today was different.  Today, I would actually be taking him up on his advice and accompanying him on his stroll.  He just wouldn't know till it was too late, that's all.  

    I began by simply tailing him for a few minutes, letting him briskly make his way deeper into the woods and out of shouting distance to his home.  Heero glided along beside me, effortlessly silent.  After exactly fifteen minutes, he looked at me inquiringly and I nodded in return.  Picking up speed, Heero began to close the distance between himself and Erikson, noiselessly stalking his prey.  As if sensing his impending doom, Erikson picked up speed and began to nervously glance around, uneasily wringing his hands.  This went on for a few minutes until Erikson finally broke and reached for his communicator.

    "I don't think so."  Heero unceremoniously plucked the object out of Erikson's hands and flung it into the dense foliage.  Erikson spun around, shocked, and stared numbly at him.

    "What is the meaning of this?!" he sputtered.  I smirked in amusement from my hiding place as a lone bead of sweat dripped off his chin.  

    Heero's reply was a swift punch in the face.  

    Erikson toppled to the floor, still conscious but in deep pain.  Striving to maintain some semblance of dignity, he pushed himself onto one elbow and wiped the blood off his face with the back of his hand.  The look he shot in Heero's direction withered under the intensity of Heero's glare.  "What are you going to do with me?" he asked, his voice slightly cracking on the last syllable.  Heero said nothing.  "Well? Speak up, damn it!  If you think that you're going to extract any information out of me, young man, you are greatly mistaken! I will not break and, in the end, you will be the one to suffer the most. "  His voice rose an octave.  "And if you think that you can hold me hostage in exchange for money or some half-cocked demands, you are greatly mistaken yet again!"  He raised a finger and began brandishing it menacingly.  "You may kill me now, but mark my words, interloper, you WILL be destroyed in the end."  Heero kicked him in the ribs.

    "I didn't say I was going to kill you and you're not worth the bother of a kidnapping."  

    "Th--then, what are you going to do with me?" Erikson wheezed.

    "I didn't say you weren't going to die, either."  I watched Erikson's false bravado crack and fall away. 

    "Then, what will happen?"  he whispered.

    "I will kill you."  I emerged from the trees and pointed my gun straight at his head.

    "Ms. Peacecraft!"

    "Ms. Darlian," I corrected, enunciating every syllable.  I cocked my gun.

    "What is the meaning of this?!" he shouted, his face blotched and red with confusion and fear.  I smiled prettily. 

    "Simple, oh great Prime Minister Erikson."  My smile widened.  "It's a revolution."

    That night, the news was filled with old press photos and polite grief over the recent murder of the once high and mighty Prime Minister.  I watched the flickering stream of scenes on the television emotionlessly, the video of his sobbing widow inspiring only mild interest.  Heero observed me from his seat across the room.

    "Regrets?" 

    I turned to him and watched the light from the television play across his features in the darkness for a few moments.  I stood and silently glided up to him.  His hair felt soft and smooth under my fingertips.  Smiling, I gently placed a kiss on his forehead.

    "No. None at all."

***

    The morning after Erikson's tragic demise in the woods, I sat in my office and busily prepared my arguments for the upcoming emergency cabinet meeting.  The Prime Minister's sudden death had, as anticipated, created a political vacuum.  Now each and every politician with delusions of grandeur was struggling to take the barely-cold Prime Minister's position.  Situations like this meant that important issues - even ones like the core doctrine of pacifism - would be put on the back burner.  Preservation of the self always trumps everything else despite all flowered phrases stating otherwise.  'Help those before you help yourself' my ass.  The vid-phone suddenly rang, jolting me out of the land of political jargon.  The face on the screen elicited a surprised look, but my mind was anything but.

    "Duo!" I exclaimed, my tone radiating excitement.  Smiling warmly, I leaned closer to the screen and began rambling off pointless pleasantries.  Duo was more than happy to reply to my inane inquiries, joyfully telling me about the recent antics of his young son and woefully lamenting Hilde's alleged physical and mental abuse on his poor being.  He eventually got the point of the conversation.

    "Listen, Relena, I've been talking to the guys and we're all kind of worried about this recent assassination."

    I nodded my head, a serious expression on my face.  "Yes, it is a major cause of concern, Duo.  He was the head of the government."  

    "Yes, but what really concerns us is the potential troubles that may stem from this."

    "That's understandable.  Erikson held a position of immense political power, and that position's sudden vacancy has set the political wolves into a frenzy."

    "Exactly!  Situations like this can easily lead to potential disorganization so extreme that major warfare would become a prime possibility for some reason or another.  That means mobilization."  For a second, something flashed in Duo's eyes.  He hid it well, but I knew what he was thinking.  War would mean rebuilding and returning to his Gundam, thus jeopardizing the serenity he had fought so hard to gain.  It was like that for all of them, except Heero.  He merely wanted to feel fulfilled again, this time with me at his side.  Self-preservation trumps all.  I nodded once more.

    "So what exactly are you asking of me, Duo?"  I smiled inwardly.  I already knew the answer.

    "I...no, we want to know if you think there's any likelihood of war breaking out."

    Bingo.  Smiling sadly, I gazed into his face earnestly, putting my best I'm-YOUR!-politician look on my face.  "I'm going to try to do my best to prevent such a likelihood, Duo.  What this world doesn't need is more upheavals.  We're still recovering from Mariemeia as it is and that was five years ago.  There are others who share my sentiments, Duo, and together we will do our best to preserve the integrity of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation.  I'm fairly confident that we'll succeed."

    "And if it doesn't work?"

    "Then I'll do my best to keep you guys out of fit."

    "You know that wouldn't be possible, Relena.  We would be too valuable and too dangerous to set aside.  Plus, the colonies would certainly be involved if something like that happened and we'd have to fight to protect them."

    "All you can do is hope for the best then, Duo," I replied, shrugging my shoulders helplessly.  Duo sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

    "I guess."

    The conversation ended a few moments later, but I didn't go back to my paperwork directly afterward.  Instead, I swiveled my chair and looked out the window.  The world looked so sunny and cheerful on the other side of the window pane, like nothing could ever really mar the unending beauty.  Smiling, I looked at the blank vid-phone one last time.  Yes.  One way or the other, I'd do my best to keep the Gundam pilots out of commission.