Disclaimer: I own Jared, Varie and the supposedly simple plot which I managed to make complex. As for the rest, they're not mine.

With the way chapter 1 was written, I doubt you would believe me when I say that I intended this fic to be a romantic comedy, mixing ironic humor (which is my favorite kind of comedy) with romance and action. Well, I originally planned for this to be a one shot deal, having the irony kick in at the end so it's safe to assume that since this will be the last chapter you'll be able to confirm whether or not I fulfilled my promise of twists and ironies. For comments, suggestions or reviews you can email me at raizenheero@aol.com .

The next day

It was already sunset when Quatre's private shuttle arrived at the Sanc Kingdom. Having partied all night, the whole gang woke up late, thereby delaying their departure. Aside from that, they had to wait for Jared to go home, pack his things and rearrange his schedule for the next two weeks when he and Varie accepted Relena's invitation for them to join her cotillion de honor. Speaking of the debut, they finished preparing most of the things with regards to the party months before but they had to put off those that concern Relena and her escort for later, like the rehearsals and the cotillion practice. Now that she had an escort, everything would be finalized and they could start practicing in earnest. But they only had less than 2 weeks left and they still had so much to do. Relena hoped that they would be able to finish things on schedule. If only they found Heero sooner they wouldn't have to rush. But he's here now, Relena told herself, and that's all that matters.

"Hi, Pagan," Relena greeted as Pagan opened the door of the Palace. The twelve of them trooped in.

"Miss Relena, we have special guests. They arrived just an hour ago," Pagan told her. As if on cue, two figures emerged from the drawing room and headed to greet them.

"Milliardo! Noin! What a pleasant surprise!" Relena exclaimed as she hugged the only family she had.

"Do you think that we'll pass the opportunity to be here on your debut?" Zechs told her, kissing her on the forehead.

Relena smiled in response. The two of them hadn't gotten the chance of really knowing each other, having been separated for a long time. They were once reunited but in a very unlikely circumstance during the war, then he disappeared with the destruction of Libra leaving everybody to surmise that he was dead. He reappeared during the Marimeia incident and disappeared again, this time with Noin. But even with all these hindrances, their sibling bond was just as strong as if they grew up together. Relena knew that her brother would always be there for her, and she would always be there for him.

Relena then turned to her sister-in-law. The two women managed to hug one another even with Noin's protruding belly. "Wow. I'm going to be an aunt. How many months are you along the way, Noin?"

"Six. And we're planning to have the baby here," Noin answered. She glanced at the others. "Hi, guys. It's good to see you all again. And this time, without any threat of wars overshadowing our reunion,"Noin jested as only those who fought at the Eve Wars and the Marimeia incident could understand.

Quatre, Dorothy, Duo, Sally, Trowa smiled their agreement while Wufei just nodded. A chorus of "Hi, Noin. Hi, Zechs" ensued. Zechs turned his head and looked at his ex-rival. So he's here. Good, he said to himself. Relena would be safer with him around. "Heero."

"Zechs," Heero acknowledged.

Relena then remembered Hilde, Catherine, Jared and Varie. "Milliardo, Noin, I want you to meet Catherine Bloom, Trowa's older sister."

Zechs and Noin were surprised. Trowa had a sister? But they managed to smile at Catherine. "Hi, Catherine. It's nice to meet you," Noin greeted.

"Same here," Catherine responded with a smile.

"And you remember Hilde, right?" Relena asked.

Noin nodded and smiled at Hilde. Zechs just frowned. "She was the one who stole Libra's blueprints and gave them to the pilots during the Eve Wars," Noin informed him.

"Oh, so that's you," Zechs said.

Hilde grinned. "Yeah. That's me alright."

"And she was the one who told us that Relena was onboard Libra that's why Heero went there to rescue her," Quatre added. Relena blushed.

"Is that so? And here I thought Heero went there to defeat me," Zechs replied, his face deadpan. Everybody laughed.

"But Hilde's resume doesn't stop there. She'll also be the future Mrs. Maxwell," Duo proudly announced.

"Really? Congratulations," Noin beamed.

"When's the wedding?" Zechs asked.

"Next month," Hilde answered. "We hope that you'll be able to attend. The whole gang will be there. Relena will be my maid of honor."

"And Heero just agreed to be my best man. I'm glad that he showed himself at the right time. The wedding invitations can now be printed so we can distribute them on Relena's birthday," Duo told them. He then grinned. "It'll be the first time Heero would say something nice about me in front of everyone. It'll be a real treat."

"Who said that I'm going to say nice things about you?" Heero asked.

Duo looked at his so-called best friend with puppy-dog eyes. "You wouldn't dare say bad things about me during my wedding, would you? Heero 'ol buddy?" All of them laughed again.

"If you put it that way, we'll definitely going to be there," Noin chuckled.

Relena continued with the introductions. "And this is Varie, Quatre's sister," she said, pointing at the direction of a tall girl with long, curly, brown hair and brown eyes. "Last but not the least, this is Jared Bentley."

Varie and Jared smiled at the older couple. Noin smiled back while Zechs just nodded at Varie and eyed Jared warily.

Jared inwardly flinched at Zechs' scrutiny. There was something similar about how Zechs and Heero regarded him, as if he was the enemy. Well, he should be happy. If they were suspicious about him that only means that their plan worked and that his acting was that realistic. But he should be careful too. From what he heard about those two, nobody in their right minds would want to get on either Heero or Zechs' bad side.

Jared extended a hand to Zechs. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Zechs. Or would you rather be called Milliardo? I've heard so much about you."

Zechs shook hands with him. "You can call me Zechs. I'm more used to that name and Relena is the only one who insists on calling me Milliardo," he said, sneaking a glance at Relena. Relena pouted at him. "I heard that you saved my sister's life. For that, I want to thank you."

"You don't need to thank me. I care for Relena and I wouldn't let anything happen to her." Jared didn't miss the glare Heero threw his way. "Besides, Heero was the one who saved her last night."

So that's why Heero showed himself. There was another attempt on Relena last night, Zechs thought as he nodded his thanks at Heero's direction.

Their conversation was interrupted when Pagan announced, "Dinner is served, Miss Relena."

"Thanks, Pagan. Come on guys, let's eat," Relena told them. Murmurs of ascent were heard as fourteen hungry people followed Pagan to the dining room.

One day before the debut

The past 11 days were a blast, even Heero couldn't dispute that fact. He hadn't had this much fun since --- well, he hadn't had this much fun period. It was not like he had room for fun when he was growing up. This was the first time he had friends, or spent time with a group of people and enjoyed their company for that matter. Though there was definitely some tension between him and Jared (who, according to his opinion, was acting too cozy around Relena than he deems necessary) and more often than not, the topic of conversation reverts to him and Relena 'getting together' (as Duo fondly puts it) which always lead to much teasing, they all managed to have a great time together. Even the arduous practices and activities they were subjected to in preparation for the debut were fun. Being with them was like a long-awaited ray of sunshine after a heavy downfall of rain, casting a warm glow over him. Especially being with Relena.

To be honest, they hadn't talked about their relationship yet. They hadn't even kissed again since that last time during the Peace Gala (which was nothing unusual considering the interval of time between their first kiss in an abandoned colony [Blind Target] and that second kiss). They were taking it one day at a time, talking, smiling, getting to know one another. There was no need to rush, and even if there was nothing official about them yet, he was happy just to be here with her.

But happy or not, he still had a mission to complete. He was not the kind of person who would leave a mission half-done, he always make it a point to follow through. He was not called the Perfect Soldier for nothing. That was why it was not surprising to find him typing away in the wee hours of the morning, trying to find some clues to these mysterious attempts on Relena's life.

Heero's eyes narrowed as he analyzed the security video of the last ESUN Council meeting where the first assassination attempt on Relena was made. There was something odd about that video. Aside from the fact that someone went to a lot of effort in making sure that nobody would know or see the video, it looked like the assassin didn't really want to kill Relena. He let himself be seen by Jared, letting the delegate shove Relena down first before firing. The bullet was never found, which was another strange thing. It seemed like someone was trying to hide all the evidence. And he was pretty sure there was only one assassin then whereas in the Peace Gala there were two. As if they're expecting me to show up. Speaking of the Peace Gala, there was something odd about that too. Why would the other assassin aim for his gun when he could easily fire at him? Not that he wouldn't be able to dodge on time. And they could easily kill both of them when he and Relena were sprawled on the floor, defenseless. Why didn't they finish their job?

Come to think of it, there was something strange about this whole scenario. He punched some keys and immediately, all information about Jared Bentley was displayed on the screen. He skimmed through the file and found nothing unusual. Except for the fact that Jared and Varie were betrothed since infancy though Varie suddenly and without explanation broke off the engagement last year. Irrelevant, Heero said to himself, a little disappointed. Jared was the new one in the group and it seemed like he was always there when trouble arises so it was not really surprising if he would be suspicious of him. But Heero knew that he couldn't just heap accusations at Jared just because there was something about the guy that unnerved him, even if he wanted him to be the bad guy in this case. He had always acted on his emotions but he never was ruled by them. Besides, he had always prided himself in being logical and objective, he wouldn't start being biased now. He then glanced at the bullet casing he he had recovered. It was the one that hit his gun during the Peace Gala. It was a blank. As far as he knew, no assassin in his right mind would use blank bullets during a mission. And after running a ballistics test on it, he found out that it was registered in the Preventer organization. An inside job, Heero deduced. Maybe that's why there's something familiar about the movements of the assassin I fired at when he dodged. I might have met him before.The security video was the last evidence he examined and after careful analysis of the data he had gathered, he had reasons to suspect that Relena was not the actual target --- he was. Relena was just used as a bait. But why? And by whom?

His reverie was interrupted when he heard a knock on his door. Heero glanced at the clock. 5 am. Who among his so-called friends had a deathwish that will lead him to knock at his door this early in the morning? "Who's there?" Heero called out gruffly.

"Zechs."

Zechs? Heero went to the door and opened it. "What do you want?"

"Can I come in?" Zechs asked, meeting his glare head-on.

This is interesting. "Hn." Zechs entered and Heero closed the door.

Zechs looked around Heero's room, his eyes finally settling on the open laptop on top of the table. "So, what did you find out?"

Heero eyed him carefully first before replying. "I have reasons to believe that Relena was just a bait to lure me out."

"I see." Zechs stared right into his eyes. "You felt it too, didn't you? There's something weird about this situation." He saw Heero nod. "That's why I made a little digging of my own. And guess what I found." Zechs pulled out something from his pocket. "I found this from Sally's things a day before yesterday. It's the bullet that was fired at Trowa."

Heero frowned. "Sally told us that Trowa's wound was just a graze and that they didn't recover the bullet. Why would she hide that fact from us? We could have used the bullet to track down the assassins."

"I already ran a ballistics test on it. Unfortunately, I couldn't trace the owner. And that's strange considering all guns manufactured and used in the ESUN nowadays were registered. It seems like this bullet was from an old model which is kinda familiar. And since yesterday, I'm pretty sure I already know from whose gun this was from. See for yourself," Zechs said as he tossed the bullet at him.

Heero caught it with his right hand. His eyes narrowed as he studied the bullet, the final piece of the puzzle falling into place. He didn't need any ballistics test to confirm whose gun the bullet came from, he already knew. It was his.

7 am

Because Relena would be busy the entire morning with last minute fittings of her ball gowns aside from the unscheduled meeting with some Earth Aristocrats who arrived unexpectedly in the Palace at 6:30 in the morning, the rehearsal was moved in the afternoon, giving everyone a chance to sleep in all morning. That's why Duo was a little annoyed when he heard a knock on their bedroom door. Untangling himself from Hilde, he stood up and went to the door.

"Oi, Heero," Duo greeted, surprised to see his grim friend framed by the doorway. "What can I do for you this early in the morning?" he asked, putting emphasis on the word 'early'.

"I need a favor. Can you protect Relena for me while I'm gone?"

"Sure. Where are you going?"

"I got a lead regarding the assassins. I'm going after them," Heero answered.

"When are you going? I could come with you if you like."

"You can't. I'm leaving today."

"WHAT?! Have you forgotten that you agreed to be Relena's escort? What if you don't make it in time for tomorrow's party? Relena will get really sad and there's also that possibility of the assassins striking during the party. Did you ever thought of those facts first before planning to leave huh?" Duo asked, exasperated.

Heero's face hardened. "The only way I could secure Relena's well-being and happiness is to take down all of those who want to take her life. Have you noticed that there haven't been any attacks made against Relena since the last one during the Peace Gala? It's either they're afraid of me or they're planning to attack tomorrow. Whatever the reason is, I have to get to them first before they get to Relena."

Duo sighed. I was a typical Heero Yuy reasoning. "I understand. But you don't need to come after them. You could just stay here and wait for them to show up."

"Like a bait?"

Duo stiffened at his friend's tone of voice. "What I mean is, it'll be better if you just stay. Not only will you make Relena happy by fulfilling your promise to be her escort, you can also protect her and keep an eye out for the assassins. It's like killing two birds with one stone," he said as he crossed his fingers and fervently prayed that Heero would listen to his suggestion.

Heero stared at him for a moment before replying, "I don't know if I'm going to be here tomorrow that's why you should help Relena find another escort. And you better find another best man. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it on your wedding." He then turned around and started walking away.

Uh-oh. He really is leaving. I've got to do something. "Heero, wait!" Duo called out. Heero stopped walking and looked over his shoulder.

"I'll do everything you asked but you have to promise me to talk to Relena first before leaving. You have to tell it to her personally. I don't want to be the one to tell her that you bailed out on her."

"Hn," Heero consented. He barely managed to take one step when he heard Duo call out to him again. Whirling around, he asked, "What?"

"Umm, I'm just curious. What are you planning to do to the, uhh, assassins once you catch them?" Duo asked a little nervously.

"Do you still have to ask? You know what I do to my enemies, Duo," Heero replied with a slight smile. With that, he continued on his way.

Duo gulped as he stared at Heero's retreating back. There was no need to worry. The plan was carefully thought out and Heero wouldn't break his promise to Relena about not killing again, would he? Then again, one could never be sure about anything when it comes to Heero. He broke his promise to be Relena's escort just now so what would stop him from breaking his other promise? But there was no time to dwell on these thoughts. There were more pressing matters to attend to. He closed the door and immediately went to the bed.

"Hilde, babe, wake up," he said, shaking his fiance awake.

Hilde turned the other way. "Go. Away."

"Hilde!" Duo said again, this time more sternly.

Turning, Hilde opened her eyes and stared at him. "Don't tell me you want another round, Duo. I'm still exhausted from last night."

Duo grinned at the thought. Then his face grew serious. "Heero is leaving today."

Hilde jerked into a sitting position. "Huh?!"

"Yup, he's leaving. Get dressed. I'll wake up the guys, you wake up the girls. We have to come up with a plan."

A few minutes later

Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Catherine, Dorothy and Sally gathered in Duo and Hilde's room. As soon as the door closed, Duo immediately told them about his conversation with Heero.

"This sucks. After all the hard work we did in order to find him, he'll just leave like that?" Hilde commented.

"My sentiments exactly. But what I'm more puzzled about is Heero's statement. What did he mean when he said that he got a lead regarding the assassins?" Dorothy asked.

"I'm wondering about that too. How in the world would he get a lead about Trowa and Wufei?" Sally added.

"He might be on to us," Trowa pointed out.

"Or there really are assassins," Wufei amended.

Duo gave them a look. "Ok, ok, let's get this straight. Heero is not on to us nor are there any assassins, aside from our trusty fake ones. So stop thinking silly thoughts and just concentrate on coming up with a plan."

"What are we going to do now? How can we stop Heero from leaving?" Catherine inquired.

"I managed to buy us some time in extracting that promise from Heero. The earliest that he could talk to Relena is during the rehearsal this afternoon so he's not going anywhere anytime soon. We could use that to our advantage."

"I think we should just tell him the truth," Quatre suggested. "I'm pretty sure he'll understand. He might even find it funny."

"Have you been using the Zero system lately, Quatre? Heero wouldn't take making a fool at lightly," Duo told him.

"But it would be better for him to know it straight from us than having to find it out on his own. You don't think he'll never find out about this scheme, do you?"

"I know that he'll find out sooner or later. But what matters now is to make him stay. If we tell the truth, he might get mad and leave. We'll tell him eventually but not today. Nor next month. He might get mad at me and not come to my wedding," Duo said, a little sheepishly. "Maybe we should do that stunt we pulled during the Peace Gala. While Heero is talking to Relena at the rehearsal, Trowa and Wufei could try to assassinate her again."

"Why would another fake assassination attempt keep Heero from leaving?" Hilde queried.

"Well, if the assassins show themselves Heero wouldn't have to go after them."

"You want Heero to capture and/or kill Trowa and myself?" Wufei asked incredulously.

"No. We'll do everything the same, keeping Heero from firing at you two and from going after you when you escape. When he sees how close the assassins are in getting to Relena, he wouldn't dream of leaving her side even for a second."

Trowa smiled wryly. "I don't like the sound of 'doing everything the same'. I might get shot at again. Wufei really did a good job in keeping Heero from firing at me," Trowa said with slight sarcasm. "It's a good thing I managed to dodge or else I'm dead. We all know about Heero's aim being legendary."

"He moved too fast. But I managed to save you from the second shot, didn't I? Besides, you're a Gundam Pilot, a soldier and an acrobat for christsake. You should know how to move your body to avoid getting hit in a critical area," Wufei retorted.

"So, is this the plan? Do we all agree with this?" Dorothy asked them. Everybody nodded.

"What about Relena? She should know that we're planning to stage another phony assassination attempt against her. She might freak out when she sees two hooded figures aiming a gun at her," Sally voiced out.

"That means you girls have to make sure to get to her first before Heero talks to her. Drag her to the ladies' room or something before the rehearsal," Duo told them.

"What about Jared and Varie? They might panic too, you know," Catherine said.

"Well, Quatre should talk to them. Right, Quatre?"

"Ok," Quatre replied. "Hey, don't forget about Zechs and Noin."

Duo groaned. He forgot about those two. Zechs was just as hard to control as Heero. "Umm, ok. Those who'll be left will make sure that Heero, Zechs or Noin wouldn't go after Trowa and Wufei. Let's just hope that they rather stick with Relena to protect her than go after the assassins. That's it. Questions?"

Everyone shook their heads. "Now that everything is settled, let's get some breakfast. I'm starving."

Palace Ballroom (1pm)

The debut coordinator and choreographer, an energetic fat guy who called himself as Madame Bouvier, had this rule that while he (or she, as he wanted to be referred to) was not yet there for the rehearsal, the couples should start practicing and polishing their dance routine. But because Trowa, Wufei, Zechs and Relena were not there yet, only Duo and Hilde, Quatre and Dorothy, Jared and Varie were practicing. Sally, Catherine and Noin sat on the nearby chairs while Heero remained standing as he leaned on a wall. Zechs and Noin were not really members of the cotillion de honor, Noin being 6 months pregnant, but they had a small part at the end, sort of like a special appearance so they were required to attend practice too. Sally and Catherine alternately shift their glance from the dancing couples to the door, patiently waiting for Relena to arrive. They had to talk to her first before Heero does.

"Hi guys," Relena greeted as she entered the ballroom, heading straight to where Sally, Catherine, Noin and Heero were. Jared and the rest left the dance floor to join them.

"Relena, I---" Catherine was about to say when after surveying the whole ballroom, Relena suddenly asked, "Where are the others?"

"Zechs is talking with Lady Une. As for Trowa and Wufei, I don't know," Noin answered.

Sally was about to open her mouth when they heard Heero speak. "Relena, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Blast! He beat me to it, Sally thought. Relena looked at Heero and replied, "Sure." The two of them walked a few feet away from the group.

At the corner of his eye, Duo saw that Trowa and Wufei were in position. He glanced at the others, telling them to get ready with their little playacting. He then saw Heero whipped out his gun, as expected. But instead of aiming at the assassins, Heero aimed his gun at them.

"Heero! What's the big idea?! What the hell is going on here?!" Duo yelled, wide-eyed.

"Funny. That's the same thing we want to ask you," Noin said from behind the group. All of them looked back and saw Noin pointing a gun at them too.

"Miss Noin? Heero? Why?" Quatre asked, surprised and hurt.

"You tell us," Zechs told them as he point his gun at Trowa's back while going down the grand staircase, Lady Une doing the same to Wufei. They ushered Wufei and Trowa toward the group, Zechs and Lady Une positioning themselves on either side, Noin still holding the rear while Heero stood in front of them, their guns still aimed at the group.

Trowa and Wufei studied the faces of their captors. They were surrounded and by the looks of it, Heero and the others had prepared for this. So Heero leaving is just a hoax, Trowa thought at the same time Wufei was thinking, It was a set up. They were already on to us.

Standing behind Heero, Relena recovered from her initial shock and asked, "Heero, Milliardo, what's the meaning of this? Why are you pointing your guns at our friends?"

"These friends of ours betrayed us, Relena," Heero replied.

"HUH?!" is the collective response.

"Betrayed us? How?" Relena inquired incredulously.

"They're the ones behind the assassination attempts on your life," Lady Une informed her.

Relena was speechless. Not that she didn't already know that fact, hell, she had been with them from the very beginning. She was speechless because she didn't think that things would get this ugly.

"Wait. Hear us out first, " Dorothy began to say.

Zechs glared at them. "There's nothing you can say that will be able to justify your treachery. Did you really think that locking the security video of the last ESUN Council meeting and hiding the bullet that hit Trowa will prevent us from finding the truth?"

"Of all people, I didn't think that you were capable of this kind of betrayal," Noin told them, disappointment evident in her voice.

"I know that you're not really after Relena since you intentionally disregarded all the chances that were presented to you in order to kill her. You just used her to get to me, to lure me out. But you're not planning to kill me either. Like in Relena's case, you had several opportunities during the Peace Gala to kill me. What do you want from me then?" Heero asked evenly.

Before anyone in the group could answer, Relena said, "Heero, I---"

"Not now, Relena," he told her.

"But---"

"We know how you're feeling, Relena. We couldn't believe it ourselves. But we couldn't dispute the proofs we have gathered either," Lady Une remarked.

"You don't understand ---"

Zechs cut her off by addressing the group, "Now, answer Heero's question. Why do all of these?"

"They did it for me! I'm in conspiracy with them too!" Relena told them. Heero, Zechs, Noin and Lady Une looked at her disbelievingly. Relena met Heero's gaze head-on as she reached out to lower his gun. "I'm so sorry, Heero. We didn't mean to fool you. It was the only way we could think of to make you show yourself. We had been looking for you since the day you disappeared after the Marimeia incident but we just can't seem to find you. And when my birthday was just a month away, we pushed through with the plan. They knew that you're the only one whom I want to be my escort, and being such good and supportive friends they were willing to do anything just to find you. And you're also the only person whom Duo wants to be his best man," Relena explained.

"We're sorry if we caused so much trouble. Hope you can all forgive us," Sally told them.

"Yeah. We only wanted to find Heero to make Relena happy. And Duo too," Catherine amended.

Lady Une and Noin shook their heads, smiling as they lowered their guns. "That's it? You made this scheme because of those two petty reasons?" Zechs choked out, also lowering his gun.

"Simple reasons, Zechs. Not petty," Hilde corrected. "Petty sounds like... well, petty."

"Aside from the fact that we've missed Heero and we wanted to know what's going on with him," Quatre added.

Everybody then looked at Heero, gauging his reaction. To their amazement, Heero actually looked amused. Heero gave Relena a small smile before turning his attention to the group. "I'm flattered. But you could've just waited for me to show up. I was planning to come here to help in the preparation for Relena's birthday when I heard about the assassination attempt. I just finished my latest mission and I'm certain that I managed to clean up the remnants of OZ and White Fang for the past year or so that's why I immediately requested a transfer from Lady Une."

"WHAT?! You're a Preventer?" Duo asked.

"Yes," Heero confirmed. Duo, Hilde, Trowa, Catherine, Quatre and Dorothy then glared at their two full-time Preventer agent friends.

"Hey, don't blame us. You are Preventer agents too," Sally told them.

"We're only part-time agents. Unlike the two of you," Trowa answered.

"But Sally and I didn't find any file about Heero in the Preventer database! We couldn't have possibly known!" Wufei exclaimed defensively.

"Well, you shouldn't have. Heero is in-charge of covert operations, it is not wise to include him in the Preventer database. His mission is to round up leftover soldiers from OZ and White Fang who might start another war. He also has to infiltrate any insurgent group so that he could stop them before they could implement their plans. That's why his gun is not registered, we wouldn't want anybody tracing him to the Preventers," Lady Une explained. "Now that he's done with his mission, I'm transferring him to the Preventer base here. He'll be Relena's personal bodyguard from now on." Relena smiled with gratitude at the older woman then beamed at Heero.

"You mean to tell us that we didn't have to go to all that trouble in finding Heero? That we could just have waited or just asked Lady Une for Heero's whereabouts?" Dorothy said incredulously.

"I wouldn't exactly tell you where Heero is. I could just send a message telling him that you're looking for him. Then he could contact you."

"And I would have shown myself 2 weeks earlier if not for that fake assassination attempt," Heero told them.

"Geez. So, it was our fault then that you were delayed in being reunited with your girl," Duo said, rolling his eyes.

"But what is Jared's role in all of this? Was he just caught in the middle of this playacting when he saved Relena from the first assassination attempt?" Noin inquired.

"Not really. We asked him to be Relena's knight in shining armor to add a little spice to our operation. That way if the assassination attempt on Relena is not a sufficient reason for Heero to come out of hiding, maybe a little 'competition' may do the trick," Hilde said with a grin.

"And since we're already helping Relena fulfill her wish of having Heero as her escort, why not we also help Heero sort and admit his feelings for Relena? If he gets jealous then he might realize how he really feels for her," Catherine explained.

Relena blushed while Heero frowned. I've been played, he thought.

"So the rumors regarding an engagement that will be announced on Relena's birthaday are just that, rumors?" Zechs inquired.

"In Relena and Jared's case, yes. Kinda like another thing to spice up our plan. But there really is an engagement announcement --- Duo and Hilde's that is. But everything regarding Relena and Jared was just playacting," Dorothy replied.

"Well, it certainly didn't look like he's playacting to me," Zechs remarked. Heero agreed with him though only in his mind. Everybody (excluding Zechs, Noin, Heero and Lady Une) looked at each other then laughed. "What's so funny?" he asked, slightly irritated.

"You don't need to worry, Zechs. Jared doesn't have any 'bad' intentions against your sister, if that's what you're thinking," Varie told him. Zechs snorted. They all laughed again. "I assume you already did a background check on him. Aren't you wondering why I suddenly broke off our engagement?"

Zechs, Noin, Heero and Lady Une looked at her. To be honest, they were a bit curious since they discovered that little fact. Jared and Varie just seemed to be perfect for each other and there was no denying the affection between them. Their parents arranged the whole thing, true, but that wouldn't matter if you already learned to love one another, right?

"Why did you?" Noin asked, voicing out the question the other three couldn't seem to ask.

"Well, he loves me and all but he's not attracted to me."

"Oh," Noin replied. "That must have hurt."

"Oh, it's ok. I know that it's nothing personal," Varie said.

Lady Une was puzzled. "Nothing personal?"

"Varie is right. Me not being attracted to her is nothing personal. In fact, I'm not attracted to any girls," Jared told them.

Four pairs of eyes widened and four jaws dropped to the floor as realization dawned on them. "I think I have to sit down," Noin muttered. Zechs immediately helped her to a chair.

Heero quickly regained his expressionless facade but his mind was reeling. And all this time I was jealous of him? he thought, exasperated. I was jealous of a man who would rather go shopping with Relena and maybe do a little boy-watching with her than sweep her off her feet? This whole 'being in-love' thing has a stronger grip on me than I initially thought then. Well, it was true. His newly realized feelings for Relena was really making him more... shall we say normal. More human.

Zechs was also utterly dumbfounded with what he had heard so far. So that's why I felt that there's something peculiar about him. He seems so at ease with the girls, I thought he was just being suave and smooth, that he's just flirting. How did I become that stupid? he asked himself. And whenever I caught him looking at Relena and Heero and thought he's ogling Relena, he might have been checking out Heero, not Relena. God, am I stupid or what? "So, everything's a hoax? There are really no assassins who are after Relena?"

"No real assassins. Only Trowa and Wufei who were pretending to be assassins," Quatre assured him.

Suddenly, Heero and Zechs aimed their guns at the 2nd floor and fired. They saw two hooded figures drop to the first floor, blood oozing from their gunshot wounds and from the other wounds they received from the fall. Lady Une immediately radioed for Preventer agents to get the bodies and search the Palace grounds.

"Whoa. I assure you that's not part of our plan," Duo said.

So there really are assassins after me, Relena thought. Outloud, she asked, "How did those two get passed the Palace security, anyways?"

Everyone grinned sheepishly at her. "Since we came up with the plan, we kinda re-stationed them far away from here. We don't want them to accidentally be involved with the pursuit of the assassins making Trowa and Wufei get into more trouble," Sally explained.

"We did the same. When we planned to catch them in the act, we didn't want the other Preventer agents to know about their treachery. We want to deal with them ourselves," Heero stated.

"Oh," Relena responded. They then saw Preventer agents enter the ballroom and get the bodies. Some inspected every corner of the 1st and 2nd floors, looking for a bomb or some other unpleasant stuff. Relena then felt Heero's arm wrapped around her waist. Zechs watched them, mixed-emotions of pain and joy gnawing at his heart.

Heero looked at her, his eyes boring into hers though when he spoke, he addressed everyone. "No more fake assassins or fake boyfriends and engagements, ok? You see how dangerous pretending to have one's life in danger is. It's like playing with fire. Besides, there's no more need to lure me out. I'm here to stay."

Relena's heart jumped at his words. Heero leaned down and their faces were just inches apart when...

"What's going on here? Why are there so many people? Why aren't you practicing?" Madame Bouvier asked as he entered the ballroom. Heero and Relena jumped apart while everybody just jumped, shocked in hearing such a loud, booming voice. Madame Bouvier placed his hands on his waist then ordered, "I want all those who are not part of the cotillion de honor to leave the room, now!" Lady Une and the Preventer agents immediately scurried out of the room. Couldn't blame them though. An angry Madame Bouvier could scare even the toughest soldiers. That was why Heero, Duo, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei and Zechs just do whatever he wanted them to do without questions or complaints.

Madame Bouvier turned his attention to the group. "Places people!" The six pairs went to the dance floor and assumed their positions while Zechs and Noin remained seated, waiting for the part of the program where they come in. Relena looked up at Heero and smiled. Heero smiled back as he pulled her to him and captured her lips in a sweet kiss.

Madame Bouvier glanced at the couple wistfully. The kiss was not part of the program but he let them be. Oh well, I'm not the one to get in the way of true love, he sighed. He pushed a button and music started to fill the air. The six couples started to do their dance routine. As Heero twirled her, Relena cannot keep herself from smiling. Well, the operation was a success. She ensnared her Perfect Soldier afterall.

There! I'm finally done. Did I fulfill my promise of twists and ironies? Did I make a good blend of action, humor and romance? Hope I did. And I also hope that I didn't make this fic too mushy. If you want more juicy 1 x R moments, check out my other fics. I'm a 1 x R fan so all my fics revolve around them, even my semi-yaoi one. Thank you for reading. 'Til next time.