Title: Anything is Possible

Author: Moonkitty Liafle

Rating: PG-13

His dreams about Relena were different than real life. She would be dancing, dancing in the sky, made up entirely of flames. Her would be wings stretched out in the foreground, their brilliance enhanced by the blackness of space.

Her features were still the same though. She would look at him and smile every so gently, her blue eyes brimming with fiery tears.

And then she would dance delicately from star to star, smiling her sad smile and humming a melody he could not place.

Of course, he hadn't always had these dreams. No, they began only recently, every since her had left her that last time after the Barton coup d'état in A.C. 196, about the same time Relena had begun to grow more distantaround the time she had begun to disappear more frequently.

Of course he didn't understand it. He supposed it was his heart missing her, but who can ever understand the depths of the human soul?

He didn't know what to do when he got the letter that asked him to meet her in the park that day. Perhaps it was the gentle pleading between the lines that convinced him, or maybe the irrepressible urge to see her again.

He complied, which was why he was standing in the park at that moment beside a stone bench. Before him was Zen garden, a Japanese art form where patterns were etched into the sands like ripples in a pond. It showed beauty in barrenness, forcing the observer to appreciate the glory in the dappled colors of rocks and the silent perfection of simple grooves in grit.

"Hello, Heero."

He hadn't even heard her approach. Still, he pretended to be unperturbed as he turned and looked at her. She was thin and wraithlike, a husk of her former self. She was wearing a black wrap. He would always remember that wrap, and the way her long, delicately boned fingers would clasp it close to her body. Her pale hair tumbled over her shoulders and her blue eyes looked tired and fatigued.

He sat down on the bench and she did the same. He didn't even formally acknowledge her.

He had expected her to speak. She did not. She simply sat there, staring out across the rocky garden, her eyes slightly unfocused, as if she was contemplating greater mysteries.

An hour passed, maybe two. Heero did not want to admit the comfort that he felt in her presence.

When she stood up, Heero was very surprised. She seemed a great deal healthier, her skin was more golden, her eyes more bright. She was more substantial and far more beautiful.

"It was nice seeing you again, Heero."

He got up almost awkwardly, "Relena-"

She leaned forward and pressed a hand to his cheek, staring deeply into the disturbed eyes that lurked behind a mess of dark hair, "No words, Heero. We don't need any words. Could I meet you again at this time in three months?"

"Why?"

"You strengthen me. You are the reason I do everything."

She walked away, with that wrap disguising her beauty from everyone, her quiet footsteps tapping delicately out of his life one more time.

The news changed then, Relena was more active than ever, vibrant and loved by everyone. Heero watched this transformation with curiosity.

Did I do that?

Three months later was much the same. Relena wore her black wrap again, a selection that infuriated Heero. He had seen her on television, and in speeches. For the world she wore lovely light colors. Why did she only wear black for him?

She was there before him that time, just as sickly as before, and, afterwards, she left just as revitalized. But the next time, she not as energetic, and her face remained pale. Finally, after the fourth visit, their last one for that year, there was no change whatsoever.

Heero worked as a preventer, a job that required rationality and logic. He had never allowed those insensitive ways of thinking penetrate the peaceful magic of their visits. But now, seeing that the magic had disappeared, he returned to the cold reasoning he depended upon daily.

"Relena, what's wrong?" he growled before she could walk away, "Relena, what has been happening?"

She bowed her head, "I was foolish. I took my job too seriously. I liked it too much."

He frowned, "Fighting for peace is a good thing, though, and it's a very important thing. You are supposed to take it seriously."

"No, not that," she said softly, her voice more like autumn leaves in the wind than the silvery clarity that he was so used to.

She shut her eyes, savoring the breeze, "Did you ever wonder why I followed you around so much? Why I questioned you so often about what you wanted? I dared you to think. I dared you to be aware of the world around you."

"You made me the person I am now," he admitted.

"No, you made yourself the person you are now. I helped you along the way."

He was silent.

Her soft eyes were brilliant with tears, "And I liked you. I liked you a lot. I was supposed to help youbut I helped you too much. When you decided to pursue peace, I adopted the ideals and identity of a girl who had died in a fire by the name of Relena Peacecraft. I made your dream a reality because that is what you wished.

"But I didn't stop. I didn't want to stop, so I continued to pursue it. I wanted you to be happy. Was that wrong?"

"Relena, I don't understand."

"Of course you don't. You're not supposed to. I was supposed to flicker in and out of your life like a flame, but I couldn't stop. I didn't just want you to be happy, I wanted you too succeed in your dream."

A bird was singing softly in the trees, and, in the distance the sounds of laughter and conversation were evident even behind the layers of foliage that surrounded the garden. The tears slid down Relena's cheeks.

"I fell in love with you."

"What do you mean, Relena?"

"I can't live without you. Literally. I need to be in your presence occasionally to stay alive. But my time has been ending for quite sometime now. Not even your passionate heart can keep me alive anymore."

"He pressed a hand to her arm, "What are you saying?"

She was choking on her sobs, "I was your protector, your guardian angel, your spirit guide, whatever you want to call it. But I just couldn't leave you when it was time."

His dark blue eyes absorbed all of this with cold confusion, "It's not possible. Nothing like that is possible."

She smiled, "Then let this be my last lesson. It is possible. Anything is possible," She took his face firmly in both hands, "Just as it will be possible for you to move on. Just as it will be possible for you to embrace the world I have tried to create for you."

"No, Relena. You are here now. You cannot be anything else-"

She shrugged her shoulders and the wrap fell away, revealing fiery wings that burned flame-colored; brighter than the sun; brighter than anything.

"Anything is possible," she whispered, and then there was a profound silence, "This is the time between moments. This is when I leave."

Slowly, the rest of her clothes burned away and she was standing there, an angelic flame, her blue eyes the only remaining sign of her humanity. And the emptiness of sound was replace by a hauntingly familiar melody.

She was unclothed, but then, what clothes could she wear that would compare to her radiance?

She reached out to him, "I wish I could touch you one last time."

"Anything is possible," he repeated. Carefully, so she would see and comprehend what he was doing, he reached out, and she burned his fingertips with her own.

He ignored the pain.

"I love you," he told her with all his heart.

Did he say it out loud? He would never know if he said it, but Relena understood. Even years later, when his eyes were dull with age and his hands stained by age spots, he would still wonder if the precious words had left his mouth.

She lifted her beautiful wings and then the song was gone, leaving only the pulsing sound of wing beats.

A/N: Are you confused? Good.