A/N: Standard disclaimers apply.
I decided to rewrite the story due to time constraints, and I think it is unfair to leave all of you waiting in the dark for so long. Thank you for your patience. Please ignore the prior chapters two through four, if you read them already. Enjoy!
FALLING STARS
The storm raged on for three days now. She swore she could hear the tiny ice crystals tap against the window pane, as the winds circled about. On her table, she saw her calendar and specific date circled in red. It was today, December 12th. She hoped this storm would move away entirely and wreak havoc somewhere else. This was an unexpected early Christmas present.
She continued to watch the white fall from the heavens. There was something about the snowfall that lured her into the season. Perhaps it was the season to allow her imagination to run wild. Ever since she was little, she made snow angels and built fortresses of snow with help from Millardo. She also remembered the family gatherings around the campfire especially when pine cones were thrown into the amber flames. They glowed, adding an extra wintery feeling to the merriment.
The crackling from the fireplace brought her back to the current situation. The house was quiet for this December day minus Pegan's shuffling in the lower floors. She continued to watch the snowfall and hoped that it would cease soon enough. She couldn't let one storm dampen her plans for tonight.
Six hours and twenty minutes later, she got the break she was looking for.
The chilly air was heavy with the first sign of winter already tinged with it. The clouds thankfully dispersed in time, as she drudged through the fresh layer. Armed with a steel canister of hot chocolate she wasn't letting any other storm stop her… come hell or high water she was determined to see the show tonight. They were predicting a better outcome than in previous years.
She followed up the narrow footpath, hearing crunching sounds underneath her boots. Soon another set of tracks became visible to her eyes. The deep footprints marred the pristine surface, and there was only one other person that knew.
He did find it after all.
She trudged up the hill and out of the blue, several doe ran out from the clusters of pine trees. The startled group darted to the other side of the forest, and disappeared in the naked branches. Not once did they turn their petite, brown heads to the new stranger that stumbled upon them in the first place, disturbing their quiet sanctuary.
The blond continued to walk up the footpath, using the set of tracks that were already laid before her. She had heard whispers that he had returned, but she didn't dare to come running to greet him. He would come on his own time that was how she remembered him from her past.
"You're late." A familiar voice resonated in crisp, night air.
Before responding, she plopped herself down next to him, "I think you're early."
"Hn." He continued to stare up in the vast expanse, searching for a needle in the haystack.
"Did you bring the marshmallows?" A bag of the white fluff was thrown at her. Relena poured the sweet liquid from its sealed container into one of the mugs she carried along with her. "Did you see any yet?"
"No."
"That's why I said you came too early." She sipped from her own cup, allowing its warm content to flow through her. "They say it will be a good show tonight."
"You sure?" he turned towards her and saw her looking up at the night sky already.
For the next few minutes, the pair watched the heavens above hoping to catch a meteor or two. "They say we should be able to see them in the eastern horizon."
"Hn," he adjusted his jacket. "You keep telling yourself that."
By this time, they both scooted together, each viewing their section of designated sky. "You better not be sleeping on my watch, Mr. Yuy." It was just like old times, she thought, but she tried to hide those feelings from resurfacing. If it wasn't so dark, Heero might be able see the frustration on her face.
"The same to you."
Both of their eyes adjusted to the increasing darkness, and Gemini soon rose above the horizon. Two hours lapsed and they remained quiet, just staring in the open night. Taking in each other's company with no questions asked. It felt like old times all over again.
Relena stole a quick glance to her former astronomy buddy. She could never peg him into a category. He was complicated period. A boy with limited amount of words, but she found herself a challenge. She remembered the second time Heero Yuy captured her attention. It was at this very spot they were at tonight. She told no one, not even her own brother. It was her secret escape from the world, and it was in her own element, the night.
It was a summer's night, and the fireflies were out in full force in the heavy laden fields of wild violets and foxtails. She was stargazing, and getting lost in her own dreamland. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone walking up the hill. At first it was his unruly hair that gave him away, and she froze.
No one was supposed to know about this.
Panic first set in, and she was about to bolt until he was face to face with her. The next thing was perplexing to her, and she saw Heero lying down next to her, and stared up at the same black canvas. No words were exchanged, but he remained with her.
It was only a month from the fateful meeting when she was first kissed by the sun. A wish she still could be granted again, but she knew it was dangerous, and that it could kill her one day if she continued to toy with it.
Her voice broke the ice between them, "You know my brother is going to kill you one of these days."
"Whatever." He shrugged his shoulders with no care to her statement. "So why can't you go outside like normal kids?"
"Mommy and daddy say I have something that makes me sick when I go outside in the daytime." Her eyes honed in on Pegasus. "You know that square up there is Pegasus."
He looked at her skeptically, "How can that be Pegasus?"
"You need some imagination."
Seeing that his stargazing skills were lacking, he decided to switch topics, "So you have to be a vampire then?"
She was surprised by that question. Heero has at least one funny bone. A smile traced on her small face, "No, I can come out when the sun is goes down." She stuck a tongue out at him. "Nighttime is the safest for me."
"I can see that," he said in his monotone voice.
"I heard my mommy say that I'm one of the children of the moon… or something like that." Her eyes darted off to find any planets that the night revealed.
"Interesting." His eyes continued to roam, the non-sense pattern of stars. "This is so boring."
Relena stifled a laugh, "You need patience," and looked at him, and caught him rolling his eyes.
"Hn."
"I'll teach you," and she poked him in his right shoulder. And so it began. Her tiny fingers traced the invisible patterns before his eyes. "I think you might like this."
"Whatever." He continued to amuse her by following her small fingers.
Then there was a third time Heero stood out in her memory. Her parents hosted a Fourth of July party mixed with relatives and some of her closest friends. Tensions still ran high when he showed up, even though it had been seven years ago. It was something that the majority of the Peacecraft household held.
The quiet teen meandered to the backyard where everyone else was. He found her sitting in a swing set.
"Hey stranger, I'm glad you could make it," her voice chirped.
Heero could feel pairs of eyes staring on him. "They're doing it again."
"Yeah," she leaned into her seat, "They'll warm up eventually."
"The key word is eventually." He leaned against the pole, trying to find other ways to further their conversation. Everything he did was being watched. He felt like he was walking in a ticking mine field.
"I bet you're starving." She got up from her seat. "Let's go, there should still be some food left."
"I ate earlier."
"Oh," she stopped in her tracks, "if you get hungry, there should be some leftovers."
In the distance, Duo and Hilde spotted the pair, and they waved to them. The two were amused by the show that Solo was putting on with his electric guitar.
The blond took her seat back on the swing set. "He sure can play. Those rifts are amazing."
"Yeah," Heero took the one right beside her.
Their conversation came to a halt. It was that familiar gap of silence. Relena was about to say something, but the skies exploded with the annual fireworks show that came from a nearby town. The two sat in silence watching the multitude of colors being splayed across the clear summer's night.
Her voice raised in a higher tone, trying to fight off the louder booms, "You know, those remind me of a meteor shower." She pointed to the golden shower of sparks that rained in front of them.
"I guess they do."
The two continued to watch the show, as a couple of more rockets were launched.
"So there you two love birds are." Duo meandered his way through the small crowd. Hilde and Solo trailed behind him. "Didn't want to come to the stage eh?"
Heero gripped the chains of his swing a little tighter, "Stop it Maxwell. It's not like that."
"Well, it's not what others think. I overheard several people whispering how you two make a cute couple," he sipped on his lemonade. "Am I right Hilde?"
"That's right," she quipped back with some enthusiasm.
"Well you got it all wrong, and so do they," Heero maintained his ground.
Solo rested on the metal pole, "You're in denial, Yuy."
"Hn."
She sat quietly, just being amused at the gossip being generated at her family's party. Maybe it was a time for change.
She moved passed her reminiscing, and re-focused on the task at hand. She wondered why he decided to reappear. Years of silence fell between them. Her life was heading somewhere, and now here came the unexpected bend in the road she thought she left behind in her childhood. "You left without saying goodbye." She felt him tense at the line.
"It was easier that way." He didn't turn to look at her. "No strings."
"Figures you would say that." She crossed her arms. A meteor shot through her field of view. A faint flicker quickly evaporated in the obsidian skies. "Duo had a Freudian slip one day and mentioned about you."
"He did?" He played with a handful of snow, contemplating what to say next, wondering if his secret was out.
"Yeah, he did." Her gaze wandered over to him, "he quickly changed the subject though, but I'm not stupid. He was hiding something."
He remembered the day his house was filled with moving boxes. There was no warning, just a sudden upheaval of his life. His father was called for a consulting job overseas and if he was able to move quickly, there would be a hefty signing bonus. That was that. No one saw it coming, not even the rat pack, and not even himself.
It was his clean break he was looking for. Early on his life, he learned not to get too close. Nothing would last…things would come and go. It was probably because how his father moved the family from one location to another with his consulting jobs. The friends he made didn't matter.
There was never enough time.
Then there was the incident with Relena. How was he supposed to know that the suit was her lifeline to protect her from the outside world? He never told anyone about the nightmares that plagued his tiny mind for weeks, just hearing her scream from being burnt by the sun's rays. How her scarred arms would reach out for him to make the pain stop.
Ultimately, he blamed himself for hurting her still.
And he thought, by leaving, it would be easier on her. He would never have to hurt her. He never calculated the feeling that she was having now. All the equations that he calculated in theory were right, but somehow he left one rogue variable out. Love.
Then there was one outlier that came into being, Duo. He managed to somehow find Heero via the Internet, and they maintained some email exchanges infrequently. And as if by fate, his friend across the sea managed to set a trap for him to return home. A home that he thought he had abandoned for three years.
Heero remembered the night clearly. It was Relena's 16th birthday. "You set me up, Maxwell." The sentence was forced through his gritted teeth.
"Hush," he stood outside the dressing room. "I can't believe you forgot about the significance of today's date."
"You just told me we were going to…never mind. After tonight, I'm going to kill you." He looked at himself dressed in a penguin suit. He never did like the black and white tie ensemble.
"Been there before," he called from the other side of the door. "Time is being wasted; we're going to be late."
His monotone voice called out, "Fine by me."
Duo crossed his arms in frustration. If there was one trait he hated about Heero, it was his stubbornness.
"Not out yet?" Hilde swung by the department store and finished the last of her errands before she returned home to change. "At least, you were smart enough to drag him out to the mall early."
"Yeah." He banged on the door to speed up the process. "Come on." He turned back to Hilde, "Did you get it?"
"Yeah, but it was hard. She kept pacing back and forth in her room. Luckily, she told me where told the stash was a couple of days ago."
Heero continued to ignore the two outside. He adjusted the tie around his neck just to kill some time. The door shook again, and it was his warning to finish things up. "All right, I'm coming out."
"Don't you look dashing." Hilde was glad to see him here. "You have no idea how much she misses you."
"He could be the next 007," Duo snorted, and received a glare from his friend.
"You just keep pushing it, and the next thing will be a shiner in the morning."
"You two behave yourself," Hilde quipped. She pulled out something from her purse, "Here you'll need this to get in." Then she pulled out the black mask, "and this too. It's a masquerade ball."
"Terrific."
"Good luck, buddy," he winked. "We'll see you there."
An hour later, he stood in front of the building with white columns highlighted in lights. "Invitation please," the doorman held out his gloved hand. Heero gladly obliged by placing the star shaped token in the man's gloved palm. "Very well," the doorman gave the one inch token back to him.
The banquet hall was adorned with snowflake crystal chandeliers and bouquets of white lilies. Over in one part of the hall, small tables were scattered about with floating candles in clear bowls, adorning the tabletops. Laughter emanated from the main room where pairs dressed in 1700 fashions danced. Everyone wore a mask, and he was thankful Hilde found him one. It was the perfect disguise to hide him from everyone's prying eyes. No one guessed that it was him.
The lady of the hour he spotted after hearing her voice drift towards him. The sight he saw took his breath away momentarily. Her golden tresses were curled, and she stood in a corner welcoming the well wishes from her guests. She stood in a gold shoulder length gown adorned in a repeating flower pattern. Her face carried an air of sadness and disappointment, but it was masked with her smile. No one really knew she was hurting. She didn't fool him.
"May I have this dance?" He bowed with his right arm bent in front of his waist.
Before long, the two wove their way to the dance floor, gliding between couples to a familiar piano melody from Finding Neverland. The deep notes resonated within the hallow dance hall. He remembered the song after coming across Relena's iPod that she had left at one of Duo's movie nights.
No words were exchanged as she looked into the stranger's eyes. A hue she had seen before, but where? He looked back at her, as he continued to follow the music. "Have I seen you before?" She tilted her head…a feeling of déjà-vu washed over her for a brief second.
Heads turned as they saw the birthday girl dance with her prince charming. The stranger had captivated their attention as no one knew the identity of this mystery man. The song continued to play, and with the last few piano notes dying down, he whispered in her ear, "Happy Birthday."
He released her hand from his, and took away his other from her waist. Before she had a chance to come back to earth, she was swept into another dance with another male. Heero disappeared into the crowds and returned back to his life. And never once did he look back.
This was the one secret that Duo managed to keep from Relena for the past five years, and Heero thanked him for it. But no matter who he dated, somehow his thoughts came back to her. Once again that long forgotten variable called love was making its way to the surface. His defenses were failing, and slowly the wall he built around himself was crumbling. He knew he couldn't keep this up.
And now they were back to square one.
Maybe he had a purpose. Maybe it was fate that pulled him to her direction again and again…a north star for him to come back to. He looked up to the night sky and before him, meteors blazed across the black sea with their tails disappearing in seconds. They were bold enough to crash through the atmosphere just to be seen and soon forgotten. It was now or never, he had to try.
"I never told you this, but," his gloved hand dove into his right coat pocket, and concealed something in his palm. His hand reached out to hers and he placed the silver token into her gloved hand.
Her eyes focused in on the silver object and realized it immediately, "How?"
"You can thank Duo. He managed to set the whole thing up." He looked at her, "he even had Hilde on the scheme to get one star from you."
She looked back to the heavens to see several more streaks, "So they were all in on it."
"In truth, I had to make sure you were all right."
"So that's your secret," she laughed. "You came back after all."
A veil of silence fell between the pair. The new revelation came as a shock to her system. She could feel her heart come alive again from the infinite cold. If it weren't for so many layers, she could feel her heart jump right out of her chest. She was feeling like a teenager all over again, just like at the Fourth of July party. She thought she had lost her chance.
The ball was back in her court, and now what? She would have never guessed in her wild dreams it would turn out this way. Her eyes scanned the skies, and she watched the show in silence. She let out a sigh, and watched the heated mist crystallize against her frozen cheeks.
"Thank you for telling me, Heero." She smiled at him, and looked back up. Soon enough, she felt his right hand intertwine with her left, and she gave one soft squeeze in response. "I think the show is starting up."
"Hn."
In the distance, a clock tower clanged in another hour. Its metal bars reflected the eerie glow of green and blue from lights mounted at the base. The abstract tower could be seen from where they sat in the forest. With all the time wasted between them, time was finally on their side for this night.
And soon enough, he made his move. He caught her off her guard. The kiss was slow yet gentle. She dropped the star into the snow, and ran her gloved hands along the sides of his face. She smiled secretly as her wish came true, and looked into his Prussian eyes. Above them, the heaven's rained with stardust and the possibilities yet to come.
The End