Candle On The Water
                                                        *Serendipity*

     ~Disclaimer~
(Okay. I don’t own any of these characters. None of them. Or the song. Thank you.)

 Relena Peacecraft brushed aside the thick velvet curtains from her window and gazed out at the night sky. A flash of light caught her eye and she drew in her breath when she recognized it as a falling star. She remembered the last time she’d thought she had seen one. But it wasn’t a shooting star at all, but a mobile suit, a Gundam. And its pilot was the most intriguing boy she’d ever known. Heero Yuy.
                               
                                I’ll be your candle on the water
                              My love for you will always burn

 Perhaps, she thought, he wasn’t going to be coming again. After all, it had been months since she’d seen him last, and that wasn’t under the best of circumstances. A kidnapping, an attempt to overthrow the government, and with the Gundams being sent into the sun, it seemed hopeless.
 She still didn’t know how they had managed to retrieve them, but she remembered how her heart had soared after seeing the first glimpse of hem on the monitor. Heero had come for her, had come to save her. She still remembered the look on his face when he held out his gun and pointed at Maremeia. Like a lost, confused child. “ I will never kill anybody again.” he had said.

                            I know you’re lost and drifting
                            But the clouds are lifting

 Afterwards, he had fallen, exhausted into her arms. It was over. Or so she had thought.
In the end, he had returned to space. She had heard that he had become a Preventer, although when she asked Noin about it, she had said that she didn’t know.
 But sometimes, during speeches to colony representatives, she would have a strange feeling, like she was being watched. One time, she had dared to look, but saw nothing but the curtain, though it fluttered as if someone had moved quickly behind it.

                      I’ll be your candle on the water
               ‘Til every wave is warm and bright

 


 Pushing the curtains back to cover the window, she went to lay on her bed.
On the pillow was the teddy Heero had given her, just before he left. Smiling, she remembered ripping up the note, and telling him that next time, he should give it to her in person. She realized then, how situationally funny that was, for the first time they had met, he had ripped up a note of hers.

                       My soul is there beside you
                      Let this candle guide you
                      Soon you’ll see a golden stream of light

 Relena remembered her birthday that year, the beginning of a sequence of events that had changed her life as she knew it. It started normally enough, her friends arrived, although her father had left early. And then one of her classmates came in. He said that he thought he saw Heero driving an ambulance, headed towards the marina. She remembered him driving off in an ambulance that night they’d first met! She was positive it was him, and she ran out of the party, telling Pagan to drive her to the marina. She had ignored his questions, and ran out of the limo as  soon as they arrived..finding Heero preparing to launch nuclear missiles. She had asked him who he was, and in answer he held a gun to her head and told her he would kill her. But his face displayed such conflicting emotions.

                    A cold and friendless tide has found you
                  Don’t let the stormy darkness hold you down

 She still believed that he wouldn’t have done it, even if Duo had never interfered. He shot him, in the arm and leg, and she had rushed out to protect him. “ Stop that! What do you want to shoot him for?” Another smile graced her lips, as she remembered the look of confusion on Duo’s face. “ When did I become the bad guy?” The look of amazement on Heero’s face as she ripped fabric off her expensive blue dress to bandage his wounds. What happened next she could barely remember, but she did recall taking Heero to the hospital, although she was half in a daze with all the shock of what had happened in the span of 10 minutes, tops.

                     I’ll paint a ray of hope around you

 Another memory, when she turned her head to the second bear on her bed. At least a month before Maremeia, she met with three of the Gundam pilots, Trowa, Quatre, and Duo. Although she was glad to see them, she felt a slight twinge of disappointment at not seeing Heero among them. He’s busy, she told herself, he probably didn’t  have time to see me.
 After they left, she decided to take a little walk through the garden, but she didn’t realize how tired she actually was.
 Well, I had reason enough to be tired, she thought. She was the Vice-Foreign Minister, after all. She got precious little rest. It was so much work, and it took up all her time, but it was worth it, for such an important goal.
 So as she had  walked through the garden, she wasn’t paying attention, and soon found herself on the ground, her ankle swelling painfully. Tears sprang up, unbidden to her eyes. “ Well, at least  there’s nobody here to see me.” She had thought. And how surprised she had been to see Heero come up to her, and ask her if her ankle was hurt.

                    Circling in the air
                  Lighted by a prayer

 He treated her  ankle gently while she watched, half surprised, and half ready to burst with joy
.
               I’ll be your candle on the water

“ Were you crying? I thought you were stronger than that.”
“ I’m human too!”
 
              This pain inside of me will go

 She asked him to be around more often, leaning against him. She was so tired, she fell asleep almost instantly. But she thought she had heardhim say, as he lifted her up. “ As you wish..”
 Upon waking, she found that he had carried her all the way to her bedroom.

           Keep holding on, you’ll make it
          Here’s my hand, so take it

 She hugged the teddy a bit closer to her, remembering their first kiss.

         Look for me reaching out to show
        As sure as riversflow

Him brushing the tears from her eyes.

         I’ll never let you go..

Leaning towards her, a gentle smile on his face, even apparent through the helmet he wore. “ Believe in me.”

        I’ll never let you go..

“ Heero..”
  
    I’ll never let you go..


~Owari~