Uh, yeah. Read the note at the bottom of the page.

Disclaimer: Hah. Yeah. Keep hoping, you money-hungry fools.

Warning: Nope.

Quote of the Day: "I don't scream out words, I scream out sounds."—SW (about volleyball ).

To Woo A Princess

Oblivious

By CM

It was one thing making a speech. You were ready, you had your papers in order, you knew exactly what you wanted to say. In fact, it wasn't that nerve-wracking after a while. It was easy to get your point across.

However, Relena realized quickly, it was a whole thing altogether listening to the speech of someone else and not being interested in the least.

She slumped only slightly in her seat and had to press her lips together to keep from yawning. Each side of her were seated diplomats apparently fascinated by the results of Mr. Kinley's missions on Earth, meeting about all sorts of things.

Relena came from Earth. She already knew what her own people thought. This was such a waste of time. She could actually be working on something worthwhile. Like . . . paperwork.

She couldn't help her sigh. So . . . boring. Knowing the usual length of these meetings, she wouldn't be out before another two hours or so. In her mind, a little plan was forming. She hardly ever used it, but this time . . . it would be worth it.

And so, Relena stood, right in the middle of a sentence, and walked out, smiling apologetically to her neighbors.

"Miss Darlian, what is going on?"

Relena turned to Mr. Kinley, an embarrassed smile on her face. "I'm sorry, sir, I . . . well, I must go to the ladies' room."

A series of chuckles erupted from the men-only assembly. Relena felt her cheeks redden. She hated dealing only with men. They were so . . . blind and one track minded.

With hardly a curtsy, she left the room. As soon as the meeting room doors closed behind her, she sighed in relief, right before feeling his presence.

Heero was watching her, a disapproving look on his face. She stuck out her tongue at him and walked past the ladies room and straight to her office. Heero followed her closely.

"You shouldn't have lied."

"I know, I know. I'll repent once I get a minute. Mint?" She asked him casually, offering him a pack of Ice Beads. She didn't even know where it had come from, since she was pretty sure she'd left it home, but it was on her desk, so she plopped one into her mouth. Heero watched it disappear between her lips, licking his own without thought, but looked away. Relena extended the pack heartily, relieved to be out of the conference room.

"I didn't know you ate mints."

His voice was carefully guarded. She smiled, sitting and placing the pack on her desk, picking her agenda up and flipping through pages.

"You wouldn't want a minister with bad breath, would you?"

Heero snorted, his quiet form of laughter, and she smiled softly. He sat across from her, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She glanced up after a few minutes, as though it finally struck her as odd.

"Uh, Heero, I don't mean to sound rude, but why are you still here? Don't you have work to do?"

Heero shrugged, sitting back in his office chair. Relena put down her pen, watching him worriedly.

"You're not sick, are you?" At his glare, she exhaled in relief, before tensing up again. "You didn't get fired, right?"

"No."

Relena closed her eyes, doing a swift up-down motion, joining her middle finger and thumb as though to calm herself. Heero watched her amusedly. She closed her appointment book and crossed her arms on top, leaning forward to meet his gaze. He had to keep his eyes away from her blouse which was now gaping in a most interesting way. She was frowning, determined to figure out on her own why in the world he was wasting time in her office.

"Duo put wet toilet paper all over your desk again, didn't he?" She asked, squinting one eye inquisitively. Heero scowled at the memory but shook his head, letting her take another guess. She placed her chin in her palm and looked to the side, thoughtful.

"Your office was taken over by the secret Preventer female association because they disagree with the utterly boring choice of color?"

Heero glanced at her, an eyebrow furrowed.

"That's new."

Relena laughed. "No, I'm making it up. I mean, there's no such thing as a secret Preventer female association. If there were, trust me, I'd be its leader."

Somehow, judging by the twinkle in her eye, Heero had a doubt that the association really did exist but was an all-girl secret and had to be preserved at all costs from being revealed to the male population. Alright, so that was ludicrous, but you were just never sure. She might have been the leader of some secret female support group for all he knew.

"Hm, so if it's not any of that . . . Oh!" She giggled. "Lady Une told you to get out of your office because they wanted to make sure you weren't hiding a sleeping bag of some sort in there."

Heero looked a bit curious as to what she meant. She brushed it off. "You spend so much time there, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd made it your permanent residence."

"Hn."

Relena became serious again. Heero smirked. After a minute or two of silence, he spoke in low tones, making her look up.

"I'm surprised you don't remember something so crucial."

His choice of words immediately made her panic. She looked alarmed.

"Crucial? Is there a meeting you have to escort me to? But I have nothing on my agenda for today aside from that conference I just escaped from! Oh, did I forget about a minister's call? Do I have to revise something important for today? Oh no, if I forgot, what am I gonna do?" She looked completely terrified that she could have missed something that Heero would qualify as crucial. She was in trouble.

Instead of glaring at her for forgetting something or looking at her contemptuously, Heero chuckled. Relena shot him a sharp look. He had the nerve to smirk right at her face in response.

"Well," Relena prompted him with an encouraging wave of her hand, "I give up, what did I omit?"

"Today, Relena. What day are we today?"

"AC 199, in May . . . the . . ." She opened her agenda to the present day, finding the sheet desperately void of any useful information. "The― wait."

Her eyes snapped up to see Heero standing, hands in his pockets. Realization dawned on her. She felt truly foolish for not remembering. She'd been so busy and worried lately, she'd completely forgotten. Heero was staring off into the distance, a few steps in front of her desk, and she felt particularly stupid: he'd remembered something that should have been so insignificant to a soldier and so important to her, when she had completely forgotten about it.

"I spoke to the Foreign Minister," he said, business-like again. "You get the afternoon off."

"I do?"

Heero glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Yes. I said so."

Relena grinned ruefully. "You didn't actually ask him, did you, Heero?"

He avoided her gaze, answering her question without words. She smiled gently.

"Thank you. I swear it completely left my mind."

He shrugged, outstretching his hand in a rather un-Heero-like show of gallantry. She accepted his offer anyway and stood.

"Heero?"

"Hn?" They were walking out of the office, holding hands like the good friends they were known to be.

"Where are you taking me?"

"The restaurant." After a brief second of thought, he added, "Italian restaurant."

"Oh," she whispered, pleased, "you know me too well."

And they kept silent the rest of the way down the street. The restaurant itself was only a few blocks away, and though Heero was a bit fidgety at them walking together so exposed, he was reassured to know that she was safe with him. He would keep her safe.

"I don't suppose," she whispered, "that you've been planning this in advance?"

Heero cleared his throat, though he didn't answer. Relena joined her hands in her back, strolling lazily by him. She enjoyed his silence. It was sweet to be at his side today.

Especially today.

How could she forget, she wondered? This day was more important to her than to him, and yet . . . She supposed it was his way to show he cared. Perhaps simply a proof of his efficiency. It meant a lot to her. She'd prove it, one day. She'd return the favor.

Heero paused at the front of the restaurant, turning to her with what could only be described as a kind Heero smile. One that only slightly relaxed his features, and really shone only through his eyes. She loved that expression. It was Heero at his best. It was merely a light upturning of his lips. He was so human then, she felt her heart beat in her chest. He truly was gentle, if he wished to.

Heero pulled open the doors, snapping Relena out of her stupor.

As she stepped into the cozy lobby, she looked around.

"This way," Heero murmured, startling her. She laughed nervously as it suddenly dawned on her that Heero was taking her to dinner. He'd placed a hand to the small of her back, gently guiding her between the tables. Relena blinked as they reached a back room, which he pushed open.

Relena blinked as sound erupted loudly, like an explosion of cries and squeals.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Shell-shocked, Relena could only stumble backwards into Heero, who held back a smirk. The group had done big efforts to decorate the reserved room with balloons and confetti.

From one of the corners, Hilde hopped over, cheerful as ever, closely followed by Duo. The pair engulfed Relena in a huge hug. Relena was laughing, and was soon swarmed by another dozen of friends, leaving Heero to the side. The young man, suddenly feeling slightly weirded out in the show of affection, walked over to one of the corners, where he found a straight backed chair, and he sat there. His job was over. He'd taken Relena to the party.

---

It was late into the evening when Relena realized, as Catherine was speaking to her, that Heero had disappeared. She'd been so absorbed by all her friends and their gifts that Heero's absence had gone completely unnoticed. She glanced around the room fleetingly, hoping to spot him in a darker corner. To no avail. He was completely absent.

As Hilde interrupted Catherine to talk to her and directed her attention elsewhere, Relena leant over to Duo, who was still stuffing his face with pasta, and murmured, "Duo, have you seen Heero?"

Duo blinked, looking at the door, before turning back to her. "Yeah, half-an-hour ago, he said that he was going back to headquarters to finish a report. He didn't want to ruin the mood, so he asked me to keep it quiet." With a good-humored grin, Duo patted her shoulder and whispered, "But I guess my large trap just couldn't help it. If you want, I'll cover for you."

Relena smiled, hugging Duo. He then returned to his pasta. She excused herself, though hardly anyone noticed, and walked out, pretending she had to go to the restrooms. It was a working excuse today.

Though instead of walking to the restrooms, she walked directly out of the restaurant into the chilly evening. Bracing herself against the cold breeze, she quickly made her way down the block to Preventer Headquarters, where the security guard let her in without question.

Hurrying up the stairs, she reached the darkened hallways, since long deserted by the usual workers, and came to Heero's office. His door was shut, but she could guess a light glow coming from under it. He was still working.

She softly knocked on the pane, and after a silence, heard a grunt. Taking it as an offer to come in, she opened the door. Heero gazed up, his face lit by the computer screen. She smiled.

"Relena."

"Good evening. Did you think you could leave without being noticed?"

"Is the party over?"

"No. I just wanted to come by and say thank you."

A long silence hung in the air, and Heero sighed, turning the monitor off, plunging them into darkness.

"You should have stayed over there."

Relena shrugged, hugging herself as she came to sit in front of his desk. They both kept their eyes averted from each other. No matter the fact that they were known to be friends in daylight. When they were in the dark, something else beat inside.

"I have . . . something for you," Heero suddenly said.

Both their hearts beat in time, though they hardly were aware of it.

"Really? What is it?"

An uncomfortable shuffle.

"Open it."

Relena took the little box from him, flipping the lid off. Inside, amidst rumpled paper, sat a small jewellery box. She carefully took it out, opening it.

And gasped as Heero fingers grazed her shoulders. She hadn't noticed him move around his desk to come stand behind her.

And gasped again as she saw what sat in her hand.

Heero picked the delicate diamond band from the box, gently clasping it around her neck. She held her breath, reaching up to touch the fine work, and then turned to Heero, who was still blank faced.

And she slowly reached out to pull him to her, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you."

"You're beautiful."

She smiled in his warm button down shirt. "Thank you."

"Can I kiss you?"

"Yes."

And it was as simple as that. Natural. As though they had never been embarrassed. He tilted her chin up and pressed his lips to hers.

"Happy birthday," he muttered against her lips. As a response, she only smiled, closing the gap.

Her day was turning out less boring than expected. And the mints had served their purpose. Thank God.

---

Yeah. How . . . average.

I'll do better some other time.

NOTE: I'll be taking some time off of TWaP, since I have other projects and since I'm starting to feel like I've tried everything I could think of here. I may take it up again, but for now, consider it halted.

Please keep supporting HxR!

Love,

-CM