CHAPTER XIV- The Confession.

Relena looked at the gun in his hand. He always had large hands, but they were also gentle. Gentle when he brushed away a stray tear from her cheek, gentle when he touched her face reverently as he kissed her for the first time. (A/N: In BLIND TARGET, the manga. Find a copy of it somewhere and read it. It's there.)

She remembered that kiss very well. She had been leaving him, right before the incident with Mariemeia, and he had grabbed her hand. She had thought: He has such a gentle touch. And then, with careful veneration he had leaned over and brushed his lips against hers, so cautious, as if he were handling something too precious for him to hold.

Then, without another word, he had left.

She was reminded of him on the roof of the conference building, holding her close as she tried to make some sense out of her loss. Their kiss then...it had been so electric, like fire coursing through veins, threatening to kill her.

She looked upon him and she remembered that, citing to herself his considerate nature, for the Heero Yuy she looked upon now was none of those things.

"You're dead. Are you trying to taunt me?" he growled, his voice rough and...pained?

It took her a moment to remember that she was being regarded as dead, "No, Heero, it was a set-up. I'm alive." She held out a hand to him, "Touch me. Touch me and see that I'm real."

"No." he snarled, and the safety catch on his gun clicked, "I must kill you."

"Why?"

"Because...the others...these other people want to kill you," He said, stumbling on his words. Relena walked towards him slowly, and was shocked to see his eyes were glazed and that he was shaking slightly, as if he had far too much energy than he needed, and was fit to explode, "and I will be the only one to kill you. So, I had better do it now, even if you are a ghost."

"Heero..."

"I can't touch you, Relena, because then you'll disappear," He finished lamely, "and you can't disappear until I've killed you."

"I swear I won't go anywhere." What was wrong with him?

He went on as if he didn't hear her, with cold gray glints of anger flickering in his eyes, "And I'll kill them as well- the ones who hurt you. I swear."

The field was awash in moonlight. The lunar brilliance wove its way through everything, casting a cold nocturnal glow upon both of them, and making the field look like it was made of silver.

"I know you wouldn't have wanted it, Relena, but I couldn't help myself." He said suddenly, making no sense. He brought a hand to his forehead distractedly and then brought it down again, as if he didn't quite know what to do with himself," I just wanted to feel complete one more time."

She was only several inches away from him, but he still had the gun cocked and ready to fire. She looked up at his face, and then, with slow, graceful movements, reached up and took the gun away from him. She couldn't explain what she was doing, she was merely acting on impulse. She laced her fingers through his and relished in the touch. He was watching her carefully, as if he cared more about her reactions, rather than his own.

"You've touched me, and I'm still here." She whispered lovingly, "I won't ever leave you unless you want me to. What's wrong?"

He embraced her fiercely, drawing support from her as she had drawn from him time and time again. He was shaking violently now, but he wasn't crying. She thought it was rather ironic that they were both clinging to each other even if they were both trembling.

"Sally hugged me like this," he murmured into her hair, "when we realized you were gone."

She felt a delicious sensation course through her, the same feeling one feels every time they realize somebody cares for them.

She looked up at him carefully. He was still wracked with shudders, "Heero? What wrong?"

"Go away, Relena," he snarled, pushing her out of his arms, "It's not safe for you to be near me rightnow."

She looked at him fearfully, "What's wrong, Heero?"

He was silent, glaring at her with pure anger.

"What's wrong?" she repeated.

"You don't want to know."

She tried to touch him, but he turned away.

"I didn't believe in you, Relena. You believed in me, but I couldn't believe in you."

"Heero, you thought I was dead! Don't beat yourself up over that!"

"No, I did something so horrible-"

And that was when Relena realized fully and completely that she loved him. It was like an epiphany of understanding had went off like fireworks in her head.

She would had done anything, whether it be dragging herself through broken glass or facing the horrors she had recently encountered all over again, anything at all to prevent him from feeling the guilt that was tearing him apart.

"She said she saw her go this way," came a grumble from the foliage, and suddenly sounds of rustling filled the chilled air.

Heero looked up, senses heightened even more than normal, "Don't move, Relena." He commanded, and drew his gun.

He moved in a full circle, firing in an almost random fashion.

Six shots. Six fell dead.

"Heero-"

"There are four more." He said, in his lifeless monotone, and he threw aside the gun.

The guards pounced upon them, but in a flurry of fists and feet, they were no more.

"My God, Heero, what happened to you?"

"Is everyone out okay?" Quatre asked concernedly, eyeing the group with his usual empathic consideration. They were standing amongst the rubble of the motel, looking out over the smoldering debris with confusion and relief.

Trowa picked shrapnel out of a cut on his arm with disgust, "We all made it, Quatre, and that's all that counts. But who would have wanted us dead?"

Sally chose this moment to intervene, "Well, Wufei and I were talking to the receptionist-"

"Why? What about?" Hilde interrupted.

Sally grinned, "Getting a double room."

"But aren't you and Wufei married?"

She laughed, "We are, but Mr. High and Mighty here doesn't like any distractions' from his missions!"

Wufei kept a stiff face as the others laughed at him, glad for a release from the tension, "Sally, you're embarrassing me..."

"Anyway," Sally continued, "After a little persuasion, he admitted that an organization called Kheft' was running things and wanted us dead."

Duo leaned against a bar, loosening his priest's collar as he thought, "Funny how Une wanted all of us out on this mission, even the relief personnel, like Quatre and me, and Trowa, even though he only does reconnaissance nowadays."

Sally and Hilde looked ready to spit fire, "That's what we had been trying to tell you before!" The scary thing about that was that they said it completely in unison.

Wufei shook his head, "That doesn't make sense. Une is an honorable woman. She would never change sides."

"Unless they had a hold over her." Trowa finished quietly, "Anyway, we had better not mention our survival to Preventer headquarters anytime soon."

Heero dropped to his knees, breathing heavily, "Relena...I couldn't..."

She ignored her own pain, she ignored her own fear at what had happened. She knelt down beside him, "Heero...whatever you say or do, you can never turn me away, because I...because I love you."