Last Impression - A story by Mika Tsukino --- DISCLAIMER: I claim no ownership to the title nor to the song that inspired this fic, "Last Impression" by TWO-MIX. The song was used as the ending theme to the Endless Waltz movie, and with good reason. Please excuse any events that perhaps relate to the lyrics- although they are intentional I am not trying to steal TWO-MIX's work. NOTE: This takes place near the end of the Endless Waltz movie- after Relena is holding Heero but before the ending scenes in which everyone goes somewhere other than the battlefield. I was inspired to do this after reading the lyrics to the song I mentioned above- they seemed pretty pointless without a fic to back them up! If you have the "Last Impression" MP3, try listening to it as you read- it might give a cool effect to the story. If you don't have it, go download it NOW!!! It's the coolest song ever! Visit my Heero/Relena website! Shadows In Darkness- http://heerorelena.8m.com --- It was raining. Relena looked out the window of her room, her eyes full of sadness and unexpressed emotions as the rain poured down. Everything was at peace now...Marimeia had been taken to the hospital, her brother and Noin had gone off into space together, and Relena herself had been returned to her house. She knew that everything was supposed to be perfect because of this, but still... "Heero," she whispered softly. She sighed slightly, and was about to turn away from the window when she noticed a figure standing out in the rain, looking in her direction. He was far away from her, but Relena knew who it was standing there. Almost immeadiately she ran for the door of her room, not even caring if she forgot her coat. She ran down the stairs, apoligizing to Peagan when she nearly crashed into him, and then ran straight for the front door. Ignoring the chills of winter and the pouring rain, she flung it open and stepped outside, her eyes locked on the figure still standing there. He was becoming completely soaked by the heavy fall of precipitation, but he didn't try to get out of the rain. This was his last chance... "Heero!" Relena's yell echoed as she ran towards him, immeadiately becoming drenched by the rain but paying it no mind. Heero's eyes, usually a shade of cold, unforgiving blue, were softened, trained on the girl as she dashed towards him. He took a few steps forward, uncertain, then broke into a run towards her. They reached each other, and stood, gasping for breath, in the middle of the storm. Relena looked up into Heero's eyes; unsurprisingly, they were locked on hers. "Relena..." he said softly. "You're here," she whispered, nearly in relief. "I was so afraid we wouldn't get to say goodbye...just like last time..." "There was no way I could abandon you again," he replied. "There wasn't even a way I could get you out of my mind, Relena..." The two stood in silence for a few moments, their eyes still on each other, but neither finding words to say that would make up for what a year's seperation had done to them. Relena shivered slightly, looking away as the cold temperature began to take effect on her. A few moments later, quite unexpectedly, she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her and hug her close to an unusually warm body. Her eyes flew open, and she looked up at Heero in surprise, realizing that he was the one holding her. He allowed a flicker of a smile to cross his lips before he pressed them down onto Relena's own. It was the first time they had kissed. Relena was shocked at how Heero had gone from cold-blooded killer to an incredibly affectionate person in such a short time. Shivering again, this time not from the cold but from the sensation of Heero's lips on her own, she closed her eyes and stretched her arms up around his neck, holding them together in a close embrace. The rain pounded down on them, but neither took notice as they let their emotions take full control. A few seconds later Heero pulled away, sighing ever-so-slightly as he looked down on Relena's curious expression. "I have to tell you something," he said. "What?" she questioned, reaching up to move wet locks of hair away from her eyes. He caught her hand and stopped her, then did it himself, being as tender as possible. Their eyes met again, and she caught the hint of sadness in his eyes as he looked down on her. "Heero, please tell me...whatever it is, I want to know..." "I have to leave you." His voice strayed on the cold side, but she could tell he was struggling to be kind. "I have to leave you, and the other pilots, and everyone. It isn't right for me to stay around all of you any longer." She held herself back from gasping. "I should have expected this," she whispered, removing her arms from around his neck. He immeadiately took hold of her hands again, shaking his head slightly before speaking again. "Relena, I don't belong here. Something's calling me away from you and the others. I don't know what it is, but I can tell that you'd be better off without me around." "No!" Her voice was hoarse. "Heero, you can't leave! We need you! I...I need you...the most..." "Relena, I-" "NO!" She refused to let him reason with her. "Why would you want to abandon everything you've worked so hard for? How could you just desert the people who care about you?!" "Will you let me explain?!" He was close to anger, but he refused to let it show. "I want to be alone for a little while, just until I can sort out my emotions. I'm just asking you to let go of me so it won't be as painful when..." He shook his head. "I don't want you to hurt when I'm not around anymore." Tears began to fall from her eyes, intermingling with the rain as it slipped down her cheeks and onto her already soaked shirt. "I'm hurting now," she said quietly. "Can't you see that?" He closed his eyes painfully and looked away, and appeared to be close to breaking down himself. "Yes," he finally responded. "I can. But just...for once in my life, I can feel something in my heart...but it hurts so bad to love you..." Her eyes widened as those words escaped into the air. They seemed to hang there for a few moments, until finally, Relena found her nerve to speak. "You love me?" "If this is what love is," he said, bringing her hand up to rest on his chest. She felt the throbbing of his heart and choked up slightly, her tears still falling at a steady pace. "Oh, Heero...I..." "I know." He pulled her into his arms again. "I could tell. The way you looked at me, Relena, I just couldn't...I couldn't bear to leave you unsatisfied with me, and that's when I realized that I loved you. It hurts, though, because this is exactly what I've been trained against." "Heero," she sobbed, unable to force out any other words. She buried her head in his chest and he closed his eyes painfully, gently stroking her hair as he held her. They stood there for a long time, holding each other in the rain, until Relena managed to control her emotions and pulled back. "I don't want you to go." He opened his eyes. If it hadn't been raining, one could have seen that they were filled with tears. It was the first time Heero Yuy had cried. "I've always wondered if this was what love was like," he told her, "if this was the thing everyone wanted to hold on to...if this was really something worth lasting forever..." She sniffed. "It is. Oh, Heero, please don't leave..." "Relena." He tilted her chin up in his hands. "Listen. I promise that I'll come back eventually. But it might be a while until I finally rid myself of all this confusion and agony, so I want you to realize that I will never abandon you." She stopped crying momentarily to listen as his words grew stronger. "There has not been one person on this planet besides you who has made this much of a difference in my life. When we're apart, I may be far away from you, but I will still hold you in my heart, Relena. No one will ever be able to replace you, and no one will even come close. I will never ever forget you, and when the day comes that I'm who I'm supposed to be, I'll come back to you." He leaned down close to her, their lips seperated by barely a whisper. "This is the only thing I can promise you, but it's a promise that's irreplacable." "Heero." She couldn't take the temptation any longer, and ended their seperation in a sweet kiss. Heero could feel her tremble under his touch, nervous as she was, and pulled away abruptly. "This is only going to make leaving you worse..." "Then don't go!" She looked up into his eyes hopefully. "Stay with me!" "No." He gently slipped out of her arms, sighing. "If I don't leave, I'll forever regret it. I already promised that I'd come back." She began to cry again, and Heero found it useless to try and resist holding her one last time. She clung to him as if he were her own life, sobbing at the cruelty of the person she loved. "Heero, I don't know how I'll go on without you...you're what gives me strength..." He brushed her tears away. "Just keep me in your heart, Relena, and I'll always be right by your side." He pulled away, letting his lips brush hers for the final time, and then turned and began to walk away. "Heero!" She called after him, but when he didn't stop, she chased after him. "Wait," she said, taking his hand and turning him around. "I...I just want to know for sure that you'll be back...that you won't desert me or the dream that I...that *we* have..." "Please try to trust me." He was doing all he could to face her without breaking down. "Just give me three years. I can only give you my promise. And Relena, I believe in your dream." The rain began to come down harder, but they both refused to move. "It's my dream too. All I want is for us to be together. But we need some time apart before anything can happen." "Just...one last thing." She reached beneath her shirt and pulled out a gold necklace. A cross dangled at the end of it, and as she unhooked the chain, it glinted in the raindrops. "No matter where you are, Heero, I want you to remember me, so take this." She put it into his hand, then looked up at him, managing a smile. "I'll smile because I know you'll come back to me one day. I don't want you to worry about me, no matter how far away we are from being together." He closed his hand, the chain and cross held tightly in his fist, then bent down and kissed her lips softly. "Don't cry, either," he whispered, "be strong like you always are. That will make me proud." She nodded, returning his kiss, then, fighting back tears, whispered a goodbye and turned away. Heero watched her retreating figure with mixed regret and sadness, but knew the time would soon come when he could be with her. He turned himself and went in the opposite direction, holding her necklace, and eventually dissappeared into the gray fog gathering in the rain. Relena couldn't watch him go; it was too painful for her. The last impression Heero had left on her was a loving one, but she couldn't help but think, with some sadness, that all she had to remember him by was a teddy bear. "But," she suddenly reprimanded herself, "I have more than that. I have his promise..." A slight smile lit up her face. She knew she would get to see him again. But for that moment, she treasured the faint taste of his kiss still on her lips, and the warmth she still felt from his embrace, before breaking into a run back to her house. She would smile for Heero- it was what he wanted. And that last impression was what they both had wanted more than anything. --- -End- (Did anybody out there cry when you were reading this? I cried like a baby writing it ^_^;;;;. I guess I'm a little emotional for really sappy stories...or maybe this was genuinely sad. Oh well...C and C appreciated! mikazuki_usagi@hotmail.com is the place to send it!)