Interlude 1: Forever
In 10 parts

Relative disclaimers apply.

2-2-02 to 3-10-02

It was one of the most historic moments of all time.

All of the rulers of Earth and Space sat in various auditoriums throughout Earth and Space with their left forefingers raised above their touch-screen laptops.

On the large-screen monitors installed in the auditoriums and in various locations in the streets outside, and in countless homes and rooms throughout Earth and Space, Foreign Minister Relena Dorlian, standing behind a podium on a small stage and the subject of popping flashlights, zooming-in video cameras and impatient, bobbing microphones, quietly prepared to give the most important speech of her life.

The audience behind the mediapeople was too large to be accurately counted. But Relena would have been happy if only one person had shown up to see her.

This is it. It. The moment we've all been waiting for. Wish me luck, everyone.

It seemed as though an eternity had gone by since she had taken on her late adoptive father's responsibilities. And the path to peace had been full of difficulties and traps. But it had all been worth it.

The proof of that was both surrounding her and waiting for her to speak.

They can wait just one moment more...please, wait. I'm not quite ready yet.

Billions upon billions of people were watching her, but the six that were the most important to her were out of view. Just as they were meant to be, for now. Still, they deserved top honors, and she planned to indirectly mention five of them in her speech.

Forgive me. But you deserve to be up here as much as I do.

A baby suddenly made its presense known: He or she cried out loud somewhere in the audience, as though to hurry Relena along.

She smiled.

I hear you.

But she couldn't stop herself from briefly thinking about her own baby, the child she shared with Heero, who was close to her in virtually all senses of the word.

Heero...

It wouldn't do to be distracted. She cleared her throat and looked at the bright blue sky.

"It has been a long, difficult path for us all. But we have finally reached our goal. Throughout Earth and Space, on this day, the most important one since man colonized space, all of the governments are willing and able to perform the one act that will cement the peace that we all have fought for."

She lowered her head to look at the audience, seeking no one in particular but wondering where a certain four were.

"Those who have fought the hardest for this moment should feel especially proud. If not for their courage, the rest of us would not have paths to follow or hands or words to guide us."

That should do it. Forgive me for not being more specific. But that's the closest I will dare to come to pointing you out.

"This treaty is as much for them as it is for us."

This part of the moment was all hers. She could speak all day if she wanted to. But it wasn't about her. She had only negotiated many opinions into becoming one.

"Don't let their sacrifices be in vain, nor your own. We must make this treaty live in our hearts forever. It is your treaty. Never forget that."

She raised her left palm.

The crowd roared.

Wincing at the decibels, she hesitated, then folded her fingers into a fist and sniffled.

I'm crying...

The noise level from the crowd was beyond deafening. But she remained where she was, too proud to speak any more.

On the bottom center of all of the monitors, including big-screen, in-store and in households, throughout Earth and Space, a little black window appeared and the off-white text on it rapidly scrolled through the names, ranks and positive votes of all of the people that had touched their laptop screens in the appropriate areas.

Five percent....twelve percent....

Relena wanted to high-five the stars. She thought that she was dreaming. The governments could not all be in agreement. Did anyone realize how many people were confirming their desire for peace?

Fifteen percent...sixteen percent...

...the number of people who had lowered their left forefingers as soon as she had made the fist?

It was nearly overwhelming.

"Foreign Minister!" "Miss Relena!" "Minister!" "How does it feel?" "Anything more that you want to add? Any more comments?"

Someone stepped forwards to field the questions, which indeed did seem to be coming from all directions.

Twenty-five percent....

How were the votes being tallied? The amount of data had to be overwhelming as well.

Twenty-seven percent...

So many years...so many sacrifices...

"This is a dream come true for so, so many people..."

Thirty-one percent....

She wanted to leave. Heero and their son were waiting for her and besides, her work was done.

She smirked.

My mission is complete.

Thirty-five percent...

She would leave when the count was fifty percent. They didn't expect her to wait here all day, did they? She had been reduced to a symbol. It was time for the next interplanetary negotiator to step forth.

But one wasn't needed anymore. At least, Relena hoped so. This treaty was the absolute ultimate peace treaty. It had been worked on too hard for some fool to toy with it.

Yet she knew that some fool would, some day. Not everyone everywhere wanted peace. Hadn't the incident with Briggs Hawton taught many people that?

Her lip curled.

I should have killed him. But they would never have let me "take the fall" for that. I was too precious. Too needed. My reputation was supposed to be "unsoiled". Humph. I'm no more special than anyone else.

Forty percent....

Everything worked out in the end. But it wasn't supposed to. I'm supposed to be in jail. It would have been worth it. How dare he try to take over the world the way he did? There's not enough money in the world for him to have succeeded. Not everyone is such a fool for money and power. He stood alone.

Forty-three percent...

She ached to hold her baby.

If only you could see! I would hold you up high, have you feel the excitement, the sheer joy of this moment.

Forty-five percent...

I never thought that this day would come. Now that it has, I don't quite know what to do with myself.

Going home and taking a nap sounded good. Yes, curled up in front of the fire, in Heero's arms and Little Heero's grip...

Except that Heero didn't come to her during the day, unless there was someplace "important" that she had to be, and even then he kept out of sight. And unless he told her where he was, or where he was going, she never knew where he was until any time between five and seven, when she would turn one way or another and he would be right there, seemingly out of nowhere.

Of course, Thomas didn't like this, and mentioned it to his mistress in one way or another every single day.

She usually found a way to convince him to keep his opinions to himself, but the one time he had called her a willing "hit and run" victim, he had nearly been the victim of a serious crime himself.

Heero had come along just in time to stop Relena from venting her full rage on the butler. Which meant that Thomas owed "the scruffy one" one. But he would never admit it.

Fifty-one percent...

He'll never leave us alone. But seeing my two babies play together, eat together, take naps together and laugh at the same things more than makes up for his nose-poking.

Fifty-five percent...

"Heero..."

Her lips barely moved. If she said his name too audibly there could be trouble.

I want us to be with our baby.

Fifty-eight percent...

His hands fell on her shoulders and he turned her around to face him.

"Relena."

She gasped despite herself, despite knowing that he'd been close by all along.

"Heero. Did you see..."

"Of course. I knew you could do it."

She beamed at him.

"We all did it. Every heart that hoped for peace."

He was surprised and pleased to see the pride he felt reflected back at him in her eyes.

Relena...

For a few seconds he ached to wrap himself around her, to be with her in the ways that only he could.

I always want to be touching you.

At the very least, he wanted to rest his head on her abdomen, or lie at her feet.

Tears stung her eyes.

"Heero..."

I need you so much...

He winced, suddenly remembering where they were. He removed his hands and grabbed one of hers.

"Let's go."

"But what about—"

"The flashes stopped popping at fifty percent."

Her face fell.

"Oh. I understand."

"Don't worry about it. They'll be banging on your door tomorrow morning."

She scowled.

"I won't be receiving them."

She looked at him hopefully.

Will you stay?

"Will I?"

His serious expression didn't change.

"Not if you don't want to."

That was good enough for her. She took one last look at the vote - which was sixty-three percent - and then let him lead her off the stage.

The estate was surrounded by cheerers and jeerers, and there was a massive block party going on.

Heero, sitting next to Relena in the back seat of the modified late-model sedan, shook his head slowly as the car slowed to a halt nearly a mile away from the combination mansion and Earth HEION base.

"Forget it. Let's go to my apartment."

The driver had driven Heero home before. He simply nodded, then pressed a button on the dashboard.

Relena, who had never seen the choice that he had made from the list of four "unlisted" apartments that she had shown him several months ago, had to grab her seatbelt to keep from fainting.

"Your...apartment?"

The button that the driver had pressed had basically sent a "Heero's apartment" signal to the main security stations of both HEION bases.

Baby Heero would be snuck out to the apartment within a minute, perhaps two, depending on whether he was going to be taken from helicopter to car or vice versa, depending on where Heero lived.

Relena didn't know how her staff did it. She was just very happy that they did.

Heero quirked an eyebrow at her.

"You got a problem with my apartment? Someone told you that all I got is take-out and a bunch of baby things?"

She shook her head to stop herself from chuckling.

"What happened to all the food that the chefs gave you for this week?"

He shrugged.

"I finished it."

She shook her head again, more slowly this time.

"Let's just go, already."

The driver nodded.

"Yes, madam."

Heero chuckled, leaned forwards and pushed the headrest in front of him.

The driver shook his head slowly as a two-inch thick, mirror-filmed, bullet-proof pane of glass seemed to shoot straight up from between the front and back seats and stopped when it reached the roof of the car.

He grimaced when the back seat creaked a few times.

"Oooo...Heero," Relena whispered.

"Ooooo," he teased her.

The driver rolled his eyes.

We each must celebrate this day in our own way.

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