Hi! Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I worked on Part 5 as much as I could between family gatherings, so here you go.
Eternal thanks as always to all who have been faithfully reading and reviewing. Special thanks to Ilya for her great suggestion.
Please enjoy and let me know what you think! - Stella

Formalities: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of these characters, and I'm mad as all h**l about it.

Heero's Peace - Part5

'There is no moon tonight,' he thought as he stole a glance at the sky, 'even better.' He slipped through a side door as a few
nurses exited, quickly hiding under the stairwell while pulling out a long white lab coat and fake hospital ID badge. He smoothed
the coat and straightened the collar as he the proceeded up the stairs to the guarded ward where the Vice-Foreign Minister slept.
He pulled the door closed silently behind him as he entered the long hallway, eyeing the two guards sitting outside the door of
room #224, her room. One of the dark-skinned men looked up at him as he stopped at the desk area in the hall, grabbing some
charts and checking the computer to make himself seem more like a doctor. As he pretended to be reading one of the charts, the
imposter felt for the syringe in his coat pocket. "No one will ever know," he said to himself. "It will look as though she just slipped
away. This is my mission and I will not fail." He surveyed the hallway again and felt relieved that none of the night nurses were
anywhere to be found. He stood at the desk for the better part of twenty minutes, deliberating about what to do with the guards.

The answer presented itself when one of the men stood up, stretching and yawning, announcing to the other that he was going to
find some coffee. After the guard had left, the soldier made his move. 'That other guard looks almost asleep,' he thought to
himself as he walked towards the room, chart in hand. He quickly flashed the ID badge at the drowsy guard who waved him
through with a yawn.

Her room was dark, lit only with the flashing lights of the machines and monitors. There she lay helpless, covered with tubes and
bandages, but steadily breathing. He fixed his eyes on her face for a moment. 'It's a shame, she's awfully pretty,' he mused, but
he quickly took out the syringe and unsheathed the needle, giving the plunger a slight push and spurting out some of the lethal
liquid. He searched for the IV line, running his eyes from the bag on the pole and following the small tube to the needle in the
back of her hand. He held her hand up gently as he brought the syringe towards it. He was so very intent on his target that when
the girl in the bed sat up and pointed a gun at his head, all he could do was reel back in surprise.

"I think your time's up, doctor," she said as a half dozen men came charging through the doors to the hospital room and
surrounded him. One of the men went to help the girl off of the bed, releasing her from the tubes and monitors as a long brown
braid swung behind him.

"You all right, babe?" he asked, giving her a kiss as she removed the honey blond wig. She nodded, moving her eyes back to the
intruder, Hans Yahl.

Yahl eyed the rest of his captors nervously, especially the man with the long platinum blond hair and red jacket that stood
glowering at him. He recognized him at once and smirked. "Hello, Zechs," he said, trying to seem confident though he was actually
stunned. 'How had they known he was coming?' Zechs sniffed and nodded, and before Yahl could flinch, Zechs had rushed him,
slamming him against the wall with a hand squeezing his throat.

"Are you the only one?" Zechs demanded. When Hans Yahl made no attempt to speak, Zechs slammed his head against the wall
and growled through his teeth, "Is anyone else coming to kill my sister!" Again, Yahl said nothing. The man with the long braid
pushed a chair into the center of the room and Zechs threw Yahl into it, while a smaller fellow, also with platinum blond hair
flanked by his two guards and a soldier looked on. Zechs addressed him. "Quatre, will you please go and get Miss Noin? And I'm
sure Duo would want you to take Hilde to stay with Relena." Quatre nodded and Duo squeezed Hilde's hand before she joined
Quatre at the door. "Thank you, Hilde," Zechs said, his voice full of emotion. Casting a sideways glance at Yahl, Zechs added,

"Quatre, I'm certain that Heero - or - Odin Lowe will want to be present to question the prisoner as well." Yahl's eyes widened and
Quatre gave another understanding nod as he left, taking Hilde down the corridor. She had shown up last night, wanting to help
keep the vigil at Relena's bedside. Zechs and Noin had also just arrived when Duo and Quatre placed the frantic call, alerting them
that there was going to be another attempt on Relena's life at any time. They had devised this plan upon their arrival, using Hilde
as a decoy. Heero had insisted on guarding Relena personally in a room at the end of the hall, and he trusted the rest of them to
do what they had to do. Trowa had stayed to help him, as did Noin and Quatre's wife Luna.

Heero sat on the edge of Relena's bed, letting himself be as close to her as possible. Noin's heart was breaking for him; she'd
noticed that his eyes barely left Relena's face. Luna sat by the window with Trowa close by. The room was filled with an air of
apprehension, made worse by melancholy, and no one spoke or even attempted to try and lift it.

'She's so beautiful,' Heero thought. Had he ever given her a compliment? He didn't think so. He wanted to tell her all that had
happened to him; all that he had found out. This was a battle he knew he could not fight alone. He might have been the perfect
soldier in an actual war, but Relena was the perfect soldier of the political wars. Now he needed her strength if he was ever going to
be the head of a country. He took a deep breath. Everyone knew by now. Duo had told the story to Zechs and Noin and Hilde, who
stared back at him in disbelief until General Hydek showed them the DNA results. Heero was a bit surprised that he was actually
entertaining the thought of not running from Lowen and his birthright. Some mysterious force now comforted him since he had
come to the realization that first, he was the product of love. He had not been created to be the machine that Dr. J had turned him
into. After seeing those photographs of he and his parents and the love that shone in their eyes for him and for each other, it was
as if a vice had loosened around his heart. On top of that was the fact that he knew with all certainty that Relena loved and wanted
him, and that he loved her back. He glanced over at Trowa, remembering that long ago conversation they'd had, when he told
Trowa that the only way to lead a good life was to act on your emotions. Heero had felt Relena's love for a long time, but hadn't
recognized it as an emotion. To him, it had felt like an attack, so he bristled and fought it. Just then Noin walked over and put a
comforting hand on his shoulder. He didn't flinch or shrug away as they both stared at the girl in the bed. Their attentions turned
as Quatre and Hilde came through the doors.

"It's done," said Quatre, holding his arms out to his wife as she ran to embrace him. Noin and Trowa walked over to Hilde to ask if
she was all right as Quatre explained that the plan had gone smoothly. "Miss Noin, Zechs asked for you to go to him. Heero, he
thought you'd like to be present as well for the questioning. I'll stay with Relena." Heero dropped his head, fixing his gaze on
Relena's hand. He took it in his own and gave it a light squeeze as he got up to follow Lucrezia. As they entered room #224, they
saw Zechs administer a blow to the prisoner that almost knocked him out of the chair he was sitting in. Duo roughly sat him back
up, grabbing his hair and forcing him to look at Zechs, who turned around to acknowledge a taken-aback Noin and a scowling
Heero. Zechs only grinned and said, "Hans Yahl, meet Odin Lowe, Jr. Apparently your comrade was even less successful than you
were. He's dead." Yahl looked nervously at Heero, whose eyes betrayed absolutely nothing. Zechs turned back to the prisoner.

"Who sent you?"

Yahl only smirked again, blood dribbling from his split lip. "You know who sent me. You'll get nothing out of me." With that, Heero
flew at him, grabbing him by the side of the neck causing him to let out painful screech.

"The man asked you a question," Heero said placidly, tightening his grip slightly. Yahl squirmed and screeched again. Noin and
the other men in the room just watched, unsure of what Heero was doing but making no attempt to stop him. He twisted his hand
and tears started running down Yahl's cheeks. Finally he broke down.

"Tremen - he's in Lowen." Heero did not let up. Zechs gaped for a moment at the mention of Tremen's name, but quickly
tightened his mouth.

"And his objective?" Heero persisted, adding more pressure.

"To break down communications between the colonies and control the resource satellites so that the Lowen Faction would alone
have access to the materials for mobile suits. No one could fight us. Darlian was the main obstacle." Heero regarded Yahl, but was
still not satisfied.

"How many mobile suits does he have?" The prisoner shot Heero a pained, yet defiant look. Heero responded by twisting the
chunk of Yahl's neck in his hand, making the prisoner gasp and bug out his eyes. Duo thought Heero was killing the guy.

"Three dozen Aries, and the Morning Star," Yahl groaned. Heero did not let up.

"What's the Morning Star?"

"A gundam. Tremen built a gundam."

Heero let go, at which point Yahl clasped his neck and slid off the chair to his knees. Noin, Zechs and Duo were all looking
concerned. 'A gundam.' The thought resonated through all of their heads. Yahl stared at them all resentfully, knowing he had
failed and fell victim to his own cowardice and fear of death. Zechs ordered Quatre's guards to take Yahl to the holding cells
beneath the hospital, which used to be an old military base.

General Hydek spoke up. "So that's what Operation Morning Star was." He ran down the hall to get a communication to his
Lieutenant back in Lowen, leaving Heero, Zechs, Noin and Duo alone.

Heero looked up at Zechs and Noin, who silently nodded at him. Duo, looking bewildered at the silent communication between the
three of them, finally asked what they intended to do about this. "There's no easy way to destroy a gundam," he reminded them.

"With all of ours gone..." He trailed of as Heero looked directly at him. The light finally went on in Duo's mind as his whole face
betrayed his look of awe.

Noin was the one to say it. She took a deep breath, "Wing Zero has been rebuilt. We thought it best as a precaution," she
announced, but quietly. "Relena knows nothing about it. I'm afraid that Zechs and I were just too jaded by the world to believe
that something like this wouldn't happen again." She paused for a moment, looking at Zechs. "I hate being right."

Duo narrowed his eyes, looking at Heero. "So that's what you were doing here all this year?" Heero nodded, thinking that Wing
Zero had not been the only reason he had stayed. Noin broke the silence.

"I'm going to get word to Sally and Wufei and tell them to check out any leads on Operation Morning Star." She brushed against
Zechs as she walked out of the room and he watched her leave. Duo followed her out, but when in the direction of Relena's room
to find Hilde, leaving Heero and Zechs alone.

Zechs silently regarded Heero for a moment. There had always been a strained but evident bond between them, and last night he
finally learned what that was. Their families and kingdoms had been destroyed by the same man, leaving them floundering in the
world to become the bloodstained soldiers that they were. Only he remembered what it had been like to be a prince, to be
Milliardo Peacecraft in those days before the invasion. Heero looked back at him, the unspoken vow to kill Tremen passing
between them. "Get some sleep," Zechs told Heero. "We'll wait here for the intelligence reports." Heero bowed his head and left
the room. He was in no mood to talk to anyone, so he retreated to the deserted waiting room. As much as he wanted to see
Relena, he knew that everyone was gathered in her room and he just wanted to be alone. He plopped down on a sofa and stared
blankly at the ceiling. Was he going to pilot the Wing Zero again tomorrow? He let himself feel the sense of freedom that always
washed over him when he was in his gundam, but his thought quickly drifted back to Relena. He closed his eyes, and dreamed
that same dream.

Relena was waiting for him, sitting in her garden all dressed in white. The same tears rolled down her cheeks, and Heero wiped
them away, just like last time. She continued to look at him, and finally leaned over to whisper in his ear. This time he heard her
words. "Please come back to me. I love you, Heero." Again she leaned back and gave him that questioning look, waiting for him
to reply. Again she looked sad and offered him the red rose she held, her eyes pleading with him. Heero stretched out his hand
and took the rose, seeing her smile.

"I love you, too," he told her.

"Awww, that's sweet buddy, but I'm already spoken for!" Heero sat bolt upright, coming face to face Duo, who could do nothing to
hide a wide grin that had overtaken his face. Anytime Heero displayed a form of emotion not connected to fighting, Duo took it as
a personal triumph, and this was too good. Heero gave him the dirtiest look he could muster, but Duo continued to grin at him
like an idiot. "By the way," he smiled, "I thought you might like to know that she's awake." Duo turned quickly, zinging Heero in
the face with the end of his long braid, and walked back down the hallway. Heero sat there stupidly for a moment holding his
stinging cheek until the words sunk in. He leapt off the sofa and chased down Duo, who had been walking away extra slowly.

"Is she alright?" Duo didn't answer at first. How is she, Duo?" Tried as he might, Duo still couldn't wipe the smile away.

"She woke up three hours ago. The nurses kicked us out, but I know that she can talk just fine. Hilde was just in with her. Says
Relena's just a little weak and sore, but otherwise..." Duo stopped talking when he suddenly realized he was walking alone. He
turned around to see Heero frozen in the middle of the hallway. 'Does he actually look scared?' Duo though to himself as he
walked back to his friend.

Heero stared right past Duo, looking at the door to Relena's room. "I can't..." he said. "Duo, I can't - she can't see... I'm not..."
Duo's smile disappeared. He'd had just about enough. He picked Heero up by his shirt and pushed him against the wall. "Look
here, pal-ee," he said. "I've watched this go on for almost four years. That girl loves you, sorry as you are, and you love her back.
Stop torturing yourself - and her. Just go in there. You're lucky she's still here. Now you better go and tell her what you feel."

Heero looked back at him hesitatingly. Duo reached behind his back. "Don't make me point my gun at you," he said, tapping it on
the wall by Heero's head and starting to smile once again. The look on Heero's face softened as well and Duo loosened his grip,
but not before positioning Heero in the direction of Relena's room.

He'd never felt as nervous as he did when he was opening that door. She looked over to see who had entered and her face froze
until she started shutting her eyes and reopening them, perhaps checking to see if she were dreaming. He just stood by the door,
taking her in. He would have to leave her in a few hours, get into Wing Zero and fight, but this time was different, and he knew
why. This time Heero Yuy cared whether he lived or died.

End Part 5 - Please look for Part 6 to find out how the battle goes and what happens between Heero and Relena, and with the
Kingdom of Lowen.