Author:  pulsar (pulsar03@juno.com)
Title:  For Your Honor
Category:  Romance
Warnings: yaoi and het (1+2+1, 5+R+5).  Sap.  Some coarse language. 
(Just like all my favorite TV shows!)
Archive:  Many places.  If you need to know where, just ask.  If you'd
like to archive this (or any of my work), just ask.
Disclaimer:  GW is not mine.  Neither is the movie _Ghost_ or _Teen
Magazine_.
Author's notes:  I have noticed that my works are getting less
humorous/violent/perverted and more sappy these days.  I blame my
boyfriend.  Damn him, I've stopped being cynical and evil!  Well, not
completely.  ^_^  Betad by Raya, who is wonderful.  The title (and the
line in the fic it is derived from) is from a conversation I had ages ago
with Gracie, to whom I have dedicated this fic.  If you liked this fic, I
highly encourage you to join the 5xRML
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/5xRML).  And as always, feedback
is craved!

Dedication:  To Gracie, who inspires me.  You're like the sister I always
wanted.  You mean the world to me.  I love you.  Don't ever forget that.

_Italics_

For Your Honor

        Relena was heading for the exit of Preventer Headquarters when
she was stopped by a voice. A very familiar voice. One she was, quite
frankly, a bit weary of hearing. She stopped and turned. "Yes Duo? What
do you want?" She tried not to let her weariness show. It had been an
incredibly long day and she just wanted to go home and collapse.

        Duo grinned at her and she forced a smile in return, hoping it
didn’t look too fake. "Well, uh, I’ve got some important news for you!"
His grin widened, if it was possible, and he handed her an envelope. She
looked at it, then back up at Duo.

        "What is this, Duo?" she asked.

        "Open it and see!" Duo was practically bouncing. Relena tore open
the envelope and pulled out the card. Her heart stopped beating.
Oblivious, Duo continued. "Isn’t it great? He finally proposed! We really
hope you’ll come! It would mean a lot to us to have you there!" Relena
stared at Duo expressionlessly, then looked at the wedding invitation in
her hand. She felt something inside her die. Her fake smile was long
since gone. Taking its place was a pinched, hurt look. Duo stopped
rambling and looked at her. "Are you okay Relena?"

        She looked into his eyes. He didn’t like what he saw there. Never
breaking eye contact, she did what Heero had done to her over five years
ago. Relena had never known how truly satisfying a sound it made when one
ripped up an invitation, and with it, someone’s feelings. She released
both halves of the ruined invitation and let them fall, still holding
Duo’s gaze. He was stunned. "Relena…" he began, trailing off. She said
nothing in return. Instead, she slapped him. She found that that too made
a pleasing noise. Relena turned and left, leaving a speechless Duo
behind, rubbing his face where her hand had left its imprint.

        Relena did not go to Preventer Headquarters again for the next
two weeks, even though her diplomatic presence was requested several
times. She refused to leave her home, or even her bedroom. At first she
had refused to eat, but when the staff threatened to break down her door
unless she ate, she agreed to, though she didn’t eat much, and what she
did eat was difficult to keep down.

        On her sixteenth day of self-imposed lock-down, a visitor came to
see her. "GO AWAY!!!" she screamed to the man at her door. "I don’t want
to see you! I don’t want to see anyone!!!"

        "That’s too goddamn bad, Relena, because you don’t have a choice
in the matter," answered Wufei, picking the lock to her door.
Unfortunately, it was an intricate lock, and lockpicking was Duo’s forte,
not his. "Relena, if you don’t unlock this door, I’ll break it down."

        "FUCK YOU!!!" Relena screamed.

        "I hardly think we know each other well enough for that," Wufei
replied calmly. He kicked the door beside the lock. The door shook
slightly.

        "It’s solid oak!" Relena called triumphantly.

        "So I noticed." Wufei rubbed his now sore foot. "Fine. If I can’t
come through the door, I’ll find another way in."

        "Oh yeah? How?"

        "Windows are known to break under very little pressure. Much less
pressure than it would take to break a solid oak door."

        Relena glanced at her bay windows. "If you come through the
window, you’ll get cut!"

        Wufei shrugged. "Cuts heal. I’m prepared to do what I have to."

        Wufei’s calm attitude was getting to her. "Why won’t you go
away?!!!" she shouted, sounding almost hysterical.

        "Because I need to talk to you."

        "So talk!"

        Wufei sighed. "Let me in Relena. I promise I’ll leave after I’ve
said what I have to say."

        "You can say it from out there."

        "Please Relena. Just give me five minutes and I’ll go."

        "And if I don’t?"

        Wufei took a deep breath and began belting out the most annoying
song he knew. "I’m Henry the eighth, I am, I am," and was cut off by the
door suddenly opening.

        "_Ghost_ is my favorite movie," Relena said quietly.

        "I know. I read your scintillating interview with _Teen
Magazine_."

        In spite of herself, Relena smiled slightly, though her smile
quickly faded. "If you’re coming in, then come in." Wufei nodded and
entered, closing the door behind him. "Have a seat," Relena offered,
sitting at the foot of her bed and gesturing to a number of chairs
nearby. Wufei ignored her gesture and sat at the head of her bed, which
was closer to her than the chairs, closer to her than she’d like. She
wanted the distance between them so she could ignore him better. But with
both of them sitting o the bed, he was too close to ignore. She could see
him out of the corner of her eye. She could hear him breathing. She could
smell his cologne. She imagined she could even feel the heat radiating
off his body, he was so undesirably close.

        "Why did you tear up the invitation?" he asked softly. His tone
surprised her. She had expected him to be angry, accusatory, but he was
gentle, concerned. She looked at him and saw that it wasn’t just his
tone. His facial expression, his body language showed that he wanted to
know why she did what she did but that he wasn’t going to be angry with
her. He just wanted to listen to her.

        She wanted to confess to him why she had been so childish, though
she was certain he already knew why. But she couldn’t bring herself to
say it. He already thought she was weak. Why prove it to him? She didn’t
need his judgment, let alone his pity. "Why do you care?" she shot back
defensively.

        "They are my friends. I wanted to know why you felt the need to
spit on their love and hurt their feelings. They wanted to include you,
to show that they think of you as a friend. Do you know how much it hurt
Duo to have someone he thought was his friend tear up his heart and not
give a damn how much it hurt him?"

        "Yes. Heero did the same thing to me once."

        "Heero tried to scare you off so you wouldn’t become a danger to
the mission and you know it. He didn’t rip up the invitation to hurt you.
He did it to save you. You tore up the invitation to hurt them."

        "Well if you already knew why I did it, why did you bother to
come here and ask me?" she asked angrily.

        "I hoped you would see how cruel you’d been and apologize. They
still want you to come to the wedding."

        "If I apologize and go to the damn wedding will you leave me
alone?"

        Wufei stood. "I’ll leave no matter what you do. If you do
apologize and go to the wedding, do it because you want to, because it’s
the right thing to do. Don’t do it because you think I want you to. Do it
for your honor, onna, not for me. This isn’t about what I want or what I
think. This is about what you know is the right thing to do."

        Relena looked away from him. "Please go now," she whispered.

        Wufei nodded. "Goodbye Relena." He opened the door and left,
closing it behind him. He never glanced back to her. She didn’t watch him
go. She knew that if she looked at him and he looked back, she would cry.
She didn’t want to cry in front of anyone, especially not him. As much as
he annoyed her, his opinion mattered greatly to her. She couldn’t let him
see her cry.

        Three months later, Heero and Duo were married. Most of the
Preventers attended. The ceremony was beautiful. There was scarcely a dry
eye in the cathedral. After the dinner and reception afterward, everyone
lined up to congratulate the couple before they left for Tahiti. After
what seemed like an eternity, the last person in line got in one last
good-natured joke about which one of them would be the bride. Their
smiles beginning to wear thin and their shoes beginning to pinch, Heero
and Duo headed for their limo. They stopped when a small blonde stepped
into their path.

        Relena smiled at them. "Congratulations. I know you’ll be very
happy together. And... I’m sorry for the way I’ve acted. I was being
childish."

        Duo grinned. "Water under the bridge. I’m glad you changed your
mind and came."

        "So am I," added Heero.

        "Me too," smiled Relena. "I... I got you a gift. I wasn’t sure
what
you needed, so… Well, I hope you like it, ‘cause I don’t think I can
return it." She handed Duo a folder.

        "What is this?" he asked, opening it and trying to read the first
page in the dim light.

        "It’s information about an orphanage on L2. The Maxwell-Yuy
orphanage, to be specific." Duo looked at her in amazement. "It’s fully
staffed, with doctors and teachers and members of the clergy. It’s safe
and clean and they all have lots of room. It’s a very nice place." She
smiled at them. "The last page is the deed to the orphanage."

        Duo’s eyes filled with tears and he hugged Relena fiercely. "You
don’t know how much this means to me."

        She hugged him back. "I’m glad you like it." They pulled away and
Relena looked at Heero. "I know this gift is sort of more for Duo than
you, but I didn’t know what to get you. You’re a hard man to shop for."

        Heero smiled and put his arm around Duo. "You came to our
wedding. You made Duo happy. That’s all I wanted."

        "Well, I’ll let you go now. Tahiti’s not going to wait for
you." She stepped aside to let them pass. Duo hugged her again and
climbed into the limo. Heero gave her a kiss on the cheek and followed
Duo. She waved as they drove away, though she doubted they were looking.

        "You came."

        Relena turned toward the voice and smiled. "Of course I came. 
They're my friends.  They were being kind
and I was being childish. I should have been thinking about their
feelings, not mine. Besides, who am I to stand in the way of their
happiness? They deserve each other, and I mean that in the good way. They
love each other. They belong together. I was wrong to think any
differently." They stood together in silence for a moment, looking down
the road after the limousine. "Thank you for talking to me that day."

        Wufei looked at her. "Relena, you would have realized you were
wrong without me."

        Relena shook her head, not looking at him. "But not as quickly. I
felt badly about what I had done, but if not for you, I would have just
stayed in my room sulking and wallowing in my grief. I needed someone to
do what you did for me. So thank you."

        "You’re welcome. I’m glad I could help you Relena."

        She glanced at him. "Why do you always say my name when you talk
to me?"

        Wufei pondered for a moment. "I don’t know. I didn’t even realize
that I do it." His eyes met hers. "Would you like me to stop it?"

        "No... I... like it. It sounds nice." Embarrassed, she looked
away,
silently berating herself for being so sappy. She waited for him to call
her a dumb onna or the like, but the insult never came. Instead, she felt
his hand gently tuck a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear. His hand
trailed along her jawline and he turned her chin so that she faced him.
He leaned down and kissed her, eyes sliding shut, hand gently caressing
her face.

        In the distance behind them, the party continued, even without
the wedded couple in attendance. Down the road in front of them, a limo
driver wished for earplugs and thanked the lord that he had put down seat
covers in the back. But the couple standing by the road didn’t realize
any of that. At that moment, nothing mattered to them except each other.


~The End~