CHAPTER III-In which things are explained, a bet is made, and Heero makes a midnight visit that has an unexpected result.

A/N: Long chapter! Long chapter! Ra! Ra! Ra! Thank you guys for the wonderful reviews so far ::Moonkitty feels very encouraged:: I believe that we HYxRP fans need some more romantic comedies. Please, sit back, relax, and enjoy- and afterwards please tell me what you think.

Mr. Noventa stabbed at his food, "Not that Heero Yuy, Relena. 'Heero Yuy' is the codename for that goddamned pilot of Gundam 01."

Mrs. Noventa turned her head sharply to her husband, "Boris! Watch your language!"

Relena's new father stood up suddenly, jerking the table with his thick bulk, "Anastasia, now is not the time to plague me," he began to pace in front of his dinner, "Heero Yuy killed my father by accident during the Eve Wars. That filthy bolschtik* then went to every person in my father's immediate family, offering that we take his life in payment."

Relena hid her smiled between her cup as she sipped a glass of water, "So, did you kill him?"

This infuriated Boris even more. He slammed his fists on the table, upsetting his wife's wineglass.

"As a politician promoting pacifism, I could not without destroying my career." He smashed his hands together, "But I would have if I could have. I would have coated the ground with his blood!"

Sylvia wiped her mouth with her napkin, "That and the fact he was really, really cute. Oh, his eyes were so intense and beautiful. I felt like I was drowning in an ocean of cold blue when I looked at him..."

At this, Mr. Noventa stormed out of the room.

Duo turned to his friend, "Ha! Chicks do fall for the cold and silent type! I wouldn't have guessed!"

"Shut up," our grumpy pilot growled, his blushing face hidden in the darkness of the outside.

"Oh dear," Mrs, Noventa said nervously, "You'll have to forgive Boris, Relena," The three women heard a mutter of cursing just beyond the door, "he tends to get…worked up over certain subjects."

"I noticed," Relena stood up and smiled at the two nobles, "Thank you for having me, Mrs. Noventa, Sylvia."

The matronly woman shook her head, "You're part of the family now. Call me Anastasia. Sylvia will show you to your room. I would rather have family give you a tour instead of servants, don't you?"

Relena nodded absently, brushing her hair from her face. Sylvia stood up and took her hand eagerly, "This is going to be so much fun! I always wanted a sister!"

Relena almost said 'Funny, I didn't' but she caught herself just in time.

She was dragged out of the room.

"Oo-hoo! The bedroom scene!" Duo jeered, "I've been waiting for this part."

Heero shook his head, "I installed only listening devices in that room. Relena's privacy must be kept intact."

Duo leaned forward eagerly, "Isn't listening to everything she says invading her privacy as well?"

"Not if it's for protection purposes."

"You are full of shit."

Heero's eyes narrowed into slits of piercing blue, "Aren't you supposed to be a priest?"

"Hell no! I wear this," he yanked at the collar, "for mourning. Nah, priesthood is for those who haven't sinned…and for those without girlfriends."

"As I recall, Hilde dumped you. You haven't gotten her back-"

"-Yet." The boy inserted smugly.

Heero shrugged carelessly, "Sure."

"Are you saying I can't do it?!" Duo growled menacingly, disliking his sarcastic tone.

Heero did not reply.

The braided boy's eyes widened, "Okay, if you want me to prove it to you, I will. One hundred lunar credits says I can get Hilde before you can get Relena."

"The vice foreign minister is not interested in-"

"Well unbraid my hair and call me a nun, you're scared of her!" Duo crowed triumphantly, "Just because she doesn't know it yet doesn't mean she doesn't like you!"

Heero cradled his head in his hands.

"She's not sure what love is. She probably thinks about you as a friend. You've got to make the first move, pal, get her interested in you in a different way-"

Heero mumbled something.

"Chicken! You're a chicken!" Duo caterwauled, "You must have used up all your guts during the war!"

Duo leaped up and began flapping his arms around, "Boc! Boc! Boc!"

"Lower your voice! Are you trying to get us caught, baka?"

"Baka? What does that mean?"

"Nevermind that, just stop it already!" Heero snapped. Duo grinned devilishly at the fact he was getting on his companion's nerves.

"I won't stop until you agree to the bet." Duo stopped and cupped his hands around his mouth, "COCKLE-DOODLE-DOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Heero muttered something else.

Duo leaned forward, "What did you say?"

Heero stood up and looked Duo straight in the eye, "I said, 'Fine, I'll do it.'"

The pilot of Deathscythe Hell immediately stopped and shoved his hands into his pockets, "That wasn't too hard, was it?"

And, for the second time that day, Heero lunged at Duo.

Sylvia flung open the doors to the balcony and let the fresh night air permeate the musty gloom of Relena's 'suite.'

"There! Doesn't that feel better?" she said cheerfully.

Relena smiled at her boisterous companion, "Yes, I suppose so."

"Don't let the folks scare you," Sylvia said softly, leaning forward onto the balcony's ledge and staring out to the starry sky, "they're just testy sometimes."

"I deal with people like that every day where I work."

"I guess you do," Sylvia agreed, the wind playing with her sparkling hair and the collar of her pale sundress, "I love the summer. It's mostly cold up here in Northern Europe, but for these couple of months, it's the most beautiful place I know."

Relena moved forward as well, "See over there, past those mountains? That's where the Sanc Kingdom used to be. I lived there."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that on some televid special. My dad says your family and my family used to be close allies."

"Yes, they were."

A malicious grin lit up Heero's face as he sat beside the now unconscious Duo. Hew leaned back on his bedroll and put a small earphone in his ear. Hopefully, Relena would go to sleep soon. He always slept better when he could listen to the sound of her breathing…

"Any cute guys at your 'Sanc Kingdom?" Sylvia ventured bravely.

Relena blushed lightly, "Yes."

Heero jerked up. Could she…?

"Really? Who do you like?"

"Oh, I don't really have time for that kind of thing."

Heero sank back down.

Sylvia blushed as well, "I like a guy, and I've only talked to him once. I think you know him…"

"Who?"

"Heero Yuy."

Relena's eyes widened. At the exact same moment, so did Heeros'. Who would have thought that Duo was, for once, actually right? "That must be nice."

"I heard that he stayed in the Sanc Kingdom for a while during the war."

"That's true…" Relena answered vaguely.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Did you meet him?" Relena turned to Sylvia, whose eyes were bright and full of adorable envy.

"Yes, we are…friends." She said after hesitating for a few moments.

Sylvia looked down at her hands, her face very red, "Would you mind…" she trailed off.

"What?"

"Would you mind…"

Sylvia turned away, "Oh, never mind, I'll ask you later. I'll be in the suite across from you if you need me."

Relena watched the girl rush out, deeply embarrassed.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Heero got up. He needed to see her. He needed to visually confirm that she was all right. Blame it on testosterone.

It wasn't hard to creep out of the maze and scale the wall of the mansion, and Relena was still on her balcony. Relena nearly bludgeoned him with a planter pot when he pulled himself up, but that was (luckily) avoided by a quick stop on Relena's part.

'Heero?" Relena said by way of question, putting down the plant.

"Relena."

"What are you doing here?"

"Ensuring your protection."

She laughed lightly at that, "I still say you should have joined the preventers. The pay would probably be better."

Heero shook his head, "Too much red tape."

She nodded hesitantly, "The Noventas hate you, you know."

"I gathered that."

"How'd you get hurt?" She asked, looking over his bruised face and scratched hands.

"Duo and I had a little fight…"

"Over what?"

"Nothing." he replied hastily.

"What's Duo doing here."

"Checking up on Hilde."

"Hilde…that name sounds familiar. Weren't they going out?"

"Yeah, but Duo screwed up," Heero stated, "So now she works for security here."

"Oh."

She sighed and sat up on the rail. He pulled her down, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

She was looking up at him with her wide, beautiful eyes, her mouth slightly parted. He couldn't help himself. They both moved forward slowly, eyes closing in expectation, when-

"Relena?" there was a tentative knock on the door.

"Shit!" Relena growled, and she grabbed Heero by the arm.

What should she do? Shove him into the closet? Leave him in the bathroom? Disguise him as lamppost?

"Get in here!' she hissed, shoving Heero under the bed.

Relena straightened her clothes and opened the door, revealing Anastasia's wrinkled face. The woman reminded her of an overfed cat by her slit-like eyes, well-groomed silver hair, and thick waist that was disguised by cleverly cut clothing.

"Good evening, my dear, may I come in?"

Relena looked back to her bed and bit her lip, but she nodded and shut the door after the woman.

The matriarch looked around and then seated herself on the overstuffed bed.

Relena blanched, "Perhaps you'd like a chair, Mrs. Nov- I mean, Anastasia?"

Heero kept very quiet and very still, even though there were dust bunnies tickling his nose. It was quite unpleasant, and he was fighting the urge to sneeze.

"No, I like this bed."

"I see."

Anastasia folded her hands and readjusted her maroon skirt, "Relena, I just thought I'd come in here and officially welcome you to this family. I understand that it must be difficult for you, after living on your own for all this time, so we'll take it one step at a time."

Relena smiled congenially, but was seething on the inside. She didn't want to get to know these people! She didn't want to be close to anyone! She would never be close to anyone again because-

Anastasia stood up and the bed creaked in relief. She smiled faintly, "Welcome home."

Relena nodded and opened the door for her.

Mrs. Noventa walked out.

Relena closed the door and then rushed to the bed, "All clear!"

Heero was halfway out when the door knocked again. Relena jerked up in surprise, and then pushed Heero back under with her foot.

But this time, the main door wasn't knocking- it was her bathroom door. Intrigued, Relena walked up to the door and turned the crystal doorknob.

Syliva burst in, "Hello! I just thought I'd tell you that we share bathrooms. See?"

The excited girl pushed the door open wider and revealed a lovely washroom, bedecked in light blue tile and nicely renovated antique faucets and a tub with clawed feet. A circular shower was nested into one corner, and the toilet itself in the other. The tub was at the far end of the room between the two other bathroom necessities, right below at large bay window.

Relena frowned at the window, "Aren't you afraid people will peek?"

Sylvia shrugged, "We're two floors up and surrounded by gardens. Who would look?"

Relena shrugged, "Well, it's already ten o'clock. I guess I should call it a night."

Sylvia latched herself onto Relena's arm, "Well, actually, Relena, I was hoping you'd have a little bit of time for girl talk."

Relena suppressed the urge to scream as she was dragged back into her room. Sylvia threw herself onto the bed immediately, sand Relena could have sworn she'd her an angry 'ouff' above the squeal of ancient springs.

After ten minutes, Relena discovered that Sylvia's idea of 'girl talk' meant quizzing her on how she met and knew Heero Yuy. She had skipped over their death threat/ chasing each other days and told her random meaningless things about Heero's behavior and such.

Sylvia stared at her in ecstasy, absorbing every word like a very desperate sponge. After ten more minutes, Sylvia interrupted her, "Oh, isn't he the greatest? He's soooooo cute and those spandex pants hid nothing…."

"Sylvia!" Relena said, shocked.

"Come on, Relena, you must have noticed-"

"I don't think about him that way!" Relena sputtered, deeply embarrassed (especially considering the boy about whom they were speaking was hiding below them).

"Well, I guess, like you said, you don't have time to think about guys like that."

"Well…"

Heero couldn't take it anymore, the startled dust was making the urge to sneeze almost impossible to resist, no matter how much interest he may have had in the conversation.

He was a soldier! He had endure grueling training to-

"Kerchooo!"

Sylvia gave a nervous start, "What was that?"

Relena thought fast and bounced on the mattress, and a curious thumping sound resulted- but she didn't worry about that, the key was that the bed squeaked.

"Sorry, this bed is noisy."

"Oh, you know, it's getting kind of late. I'd better go." Sylvia said gently, "Let's continue this later."

Relena was incredibly relieved, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then."

Sylvia giggled and scurried off. When no one interrupted again, she looked under the bed.

What she saw was unnerving.

Heero was stretched out under the bed, knocked out cold.

How was she going to explain that?!