AC208, 10 years after the wars, the world is still at peace. A fragile peace, that is maintained by the constant vigilance of Une's Preventers, among whom are Wufei and Trowa who have been partners since they joined up together after some convincing by Sally who is second in command.

Zechs never returned from Mars although Noin has been back to visit Earth a few times.

Quatre divides his time between L4, Earth and Mars where Winner Enterprises has major holdings. It's a matter of avid speculation among his friends that his visits to Earth often coincide with Noin's. They are often either arriving from Mars together or going back there together after arriving separately.

The Queen of Cinq, Relena Peacecraft insists on maintaining the image of non-aggression hence the absence of any security personnel in her entourage. Only her "buddy", Duo Maxwell, is her constant companion and the happy-go-lucky "hanger-on" is as unthreatening as they come. (Secretly though, Duo has been Relena's self-appointed personal bodyguard since AC199.) With Pargan's retirement, he has taken over the task of chauffeur although they race around in a sleek black (Gundanium) custom-made sports car instead of a pink limousine.

Heero disappeared in AC 198 and has remained hidden until... today.

Ten years, a decade, an eternity or so it's seemed. It's certainly a long time to take to find my heart. Ten years since I walked away from the two most important people in my life, my best friend and a princess I thought I loved. How could a single act have been so wrong and yet so right at the same time? Why has it taken me this long to realise it?

The years have been good to you, my friend. It's given you height and breadth, added such depth to your beauty that even a blind man would call you handsome. I'm sure no one has mistaken you for a girl for some years now despite that braid you still wear. You're standing there, so casually waiting, across this vast ballroom. You've seen me, I know you have. You smiled, winked and raised your champaign glass to me, but why haven't you made a move to come over? The boy I remember would have bounced his way across the dance-floor to my side. You're not that boy anymore, just as I'm not who I was then. Will you like who I am now? I think you might. I hope you will.

I've faced down battalions of mobile suits with a calmer heart than the one pounding in my chest as I take this first step. You don't look like you're going anywhere, but I haven't asked you anything yet. I have so many questions... will you even want to know?

As I weave my way to you among these enthusiastic dancers I wonder; //would you dance if I asked you to dance? Or would you run and never look back?// I can only try, but not yet. I have to find out if we can still be friends after all these years of silence. The risk of chasing you away is too great. The odds are not acceptable. Small steps, one at a time, that's how I'll do this, my mission plan is a good one. There's no need to deviate, yet.

"Hello, Stranger," you say as I reach your side. Your eyes smile at me as your lips twitch and the knot in my stomach loosens. Might you be glad to see me, too? "Where the hell have you been all these years?" you ask in all seriousness.

"On Mars," I reply softly, observing your eyes widening in surprise.

"What were you doing there?" I can almost see the speculations swirling in those deep pools of violet.

"I initially followed a ghost," I tell you with a smirk I cannot hide.

"Oh, did you now?" The teasing tone you use is unmistakable. "Here I was, thinking you had a thing for little Miss Perfect-Peace and you go running off after her brother!" Your chuckle is quite infectious. "Figures," you grumble.

"Do you mind?" I ask.

"Mind what?"

"That I'm not attracted to women," I clarify for you.

"You sure seemed attracted to Relena way back when." You counter my claim with a nudge into my ribs and a wink.

"There's attracted and there's attracted," I say, nudging back. "Zechs explained it to me," I confess and your grin falters, becoming so false that it looks painful. I should explain; it's not what you're probably thinking. "He compared what I feel for Relena to what he feels for Noin." O-oh... you're not even trying to grin anymore. "I liked her, maybe even loved her, I just didn't want her in that way." I've put my foot in it somehow. I know you're close to her. Are you more than friends? Could I have been wrong about what I thought you felt for me? The sudden ache in my chest steals all my words away.

"Did Quatre know?" you ask after a long, awkward silence. "He never mentioned meeting you. He hangs out on Mars all the time." You've got your eyes on Relena where she is conversing with dignitaries across the ballroom. Do you regret the years you've spent being just her friend?

I'm so sorry. I hoped that you might have been waiting for me. "No, Zechs never told Noin about my being there." Now I realise how conceited that must have been.

"So, are Noin and Quatre really an item? I mean she won't say and he's too much of a gentleman to kiss and tell." Your voice has an odd toneless quality to it that I've never heard before. How could I have been so wrong about us? Did you hold back from approaching her just because you thought she was your best friend's girlfriend? Is that what's wrong? "If anyone would know, Zechs would, right?" you ask quietly, holding your breath. Why is this important?

"Yes, he would." This can't be what you really want to talk about. "And yes, they are." It can't be. Why do you look as if your heart might be breaking? It's not too late to tell her you love her, Duo. I just hope we can remain friends after this. "Do you mind?" I ask again.

"Huh?" You almost turn to me. I can see it in the twitch of your neck muscles. But you don't. Your lips move soundlessly and I follow your gaze to see her staring at us.

I almost expect Relena to call out to us... me... her lips form my name. Thankfully, I don't hear it ringing across the ballroom. I look away. Please don't come over.

"Mind what?" you mumble, shaking your head slightly.

"That I'm..."

"No, of course I don't mind," you snap, cutting me off, as if the rest of the question might have been offensive. Did you think I'd like you any less if you did?

I wouldn't. I think I love you and I will always be your friend, no matter whom you love or how you feel about me. I should tell you that. "I'm still your friend," I say.

The sigh seems to deflate your entire body as you finally turn back to me. "Friends don't just disappear for years without..." You fill your lungs and here it comes. "Do you have any idea how worried I was? I looked for a while. I looked everywhere I could think of. I even started hanging out with Relena, thinking that you'd show up eventually."

"I did," I remind you.

"Ten years later!" Your shout rings out across the dance-floor.

Everyone stares. I can feel their eyes on me but I don't look away. You do. You turn to Relena. My heart falls with my gaze to the floor, shattering into a million pieces. //Would you cry if you saw me crying?// I think I might soon. I know you don't cry, but a person can wish... I've been around those two sentimental idiots for too long.

"Fuck!" I hear you swear under your breath as you grab my wrist and drag me through the french doors onto the balcony. "Why are you really here?" you ask, pushing me down onto the seat. You stand there, towering over me with your hands behind your back. I'm sure your braid will be firmly grasped in them.

The truth, you will only accept the truth. "I came to see you," I say, trying to find a way to salvage this situation. Friends, we can still be friends, I hope. This mission hasn't failed yet. "I..."

"You what?" you growl when I pause to think. "I'll throw up if you say you missed me. I've been here all along, so you can't say you didn't know how to get in touch with me."

"I needed time," I interject when you stop for a breath. "I had to find myself before I could think about wanting someone else. I'm sorry I took so long to come back." I rush on before you can gather your thoughts. "For a long time, I considered it best for everyone concerned if I stayed hidden with the ghosts on Mars. Zechs convinced me otherwise. It took him three years, but he finally came up with a good enough excuse."

"Why would he bother?" you ask softly, puzzlement furrowing your brow. "He obviously knows you're not coming back for his sister." You open your mouth to say more. I know you want to, but you don't. Instead you wait for me. Why are Zechs's motives so important to you? Or is this your way of avoiding something else? Ten years ago nothing could have stopped you from speaking your mind.

"He cares about me," is all I can think to say.

You turn away so abruptly that your braid lashes me across the face. It feels like a slap. My cheek stings and it hurts more than any injury I remember sustaining in both wars.

"So, what's the brilliant excuse?" you ask, pausing in your pacing of the balcony.

"The wedding," I answer with a whisper. Suddenly I'm not so sure if this was such a great plan after all.

"Wedding?" you squeak.

"He thought I should invite you before Relena did. He'll be sending out invitations within the week." This is coming out all wrong. I shouldn't be doing it like this. It's a disaster...

"Why?" You lean against the balustrade, with your braid in your hands looking at me as if I'd just murdered your puppy. I didn't mean to hurt you by coming to see you.

All I can do now is plough on. "Because I'm his best man and he wanted to invite Relena and since she doesn't go anywhere without you, he gave me advance notice so that I could ask you first if you'll be my date to the wedding." I blurt it out as fast as I can, keeping my eyes on my clenched fists in my lap. "I'll understand if you'll prefer to go with Relena," I add as I remember why this is such a disaster.

I almost fall off the bench when you appear beside me. "If you're the best man, who's the bride?" you whisper with such emotion in your voice that I turn to you.

"The ghost I followed to Mars," I reply. Have I missed something in this conversation?

"You didn't follow Zechs?" There is such hope in your violet gaze; it stops my pounding heart.

"No." I lean close and whisper into your ear, "Treize." Your scent intoxicates me. I don't want to pull away yet. "I had to be sure he wasn't up to his old tricks, that he wasn't starting again, rebuilding his army there. By the time I was satisfied with his motives, it seemed like a good place to stay, start over and try to be something other than a soldier. I think those two saved my sanity." //And would you save my soul tonight?//

"Oh? I thought they were the crazy ones," you mutter under your breath.

"They were as lost as I was except that they had each other," I explain. "They showed me that I could be more than a soldier. They showed me that Epyon was wrong. They showed me the value of companionship, the kind that goes beyond friendship and makes a man want forever. I have missed you, Duo. When I get lonely I think of you, no one else. But I am also very happy with my life as it is. The loneliness I can cope with. It was hard to decide to take that first step towards change and I knew that if I saw you again things would change, for better or worse they would change. So, one year became two, five, ten. I'm sorry I took so long to come back for you."

There's an expression on your face, a light in your eyes that I've never seen before. Yet you remain silent. //Would you tremble if I touched your lips? Or would you laugh?// Either way, I'll know if there's a chance for us. I hold your jaw in the palm of my hand and run my thumb over your lower lip. //Oh, please tell me this.// It trembles and you lean towards me. All is not lost.

If Mars is, //now,// a haven for dead soldiers, //would you die for the one you love?// I hope the answer is in the way your tongue is exploring my mouth. //Oh, hold me in your arms tonight.// You mould your body to mine, pushing me down to stretch out along the bench. Thank you... thank you... thank you...

//I can be your Heero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.//

"A-hem," a woman clears her throat behind me. Woman... I suppose it's inevitable. Relena.

You have your arms wrapped around me. My head is on your shoulder and your cheek is pressed against my temple. "Hey, Sweetness, look who's back." I hear the dreamy cheerfulness in your voice and sigh.

"I noticed." She doesn't sound impressed. I wonder if it's the nickname until I remember that she's had ten years to get used to your ways. What are you to each other?

"Relena," I say, turning around to look at her. She may not be impressed, but she doesn't seem upset, either.

"Heero." Somehow the way she says my name sounds different than how I remember it. "You finally come to one of my parties and I didn't even invite you." Your chuckle eases the tightness in my chest.

Was that a joke? "I didn't come to see you," I confess.

"I realise that," she mutters, moving towards the french doors. "I suppose I should be offended." She pauses on the threshold and turns back to us. "But I'm not," she says, blowing us a kiss before returning inside.

I can only stare at her retreating form. Was that for your benefit or mine?

"She's not the girl you used to know anymore," you say softly in my ear.

"Who is she now?" I find myself asking.

"My best friend," you whisper your answer, eyes wide and wary. "It's been an awfully long time since we were like this." You cross your fingers in front of me. "I thought we'd always be that way and then you disappeared. Besides, I not willing to settle for just being your best friend anymore, not if you're inviting me to a wedding as your date." You wink at me and my churning stomach calms.

Are you saying what I hope you're saying? //Would you swear that you'll always be mine? Or would you lie?// No, you don't lie. //Would you run and hide?// Please don't. I want you to come home with me. "What are you willing to settle for?"

"Everything," you breathe. The grinning façade disappears as you hold my gaze with your deadly serious violet one. "I'll only settle for everything, for always, or I don't want anything from you."

I am held, mesmerised by your intensity and your words. Can I give you everything? //Am I in too deep?// I hear myself saying, "Everything, for always. Everything I am and everything I have is yours." //Have I lost my mind? I don't care. You're here tonight.// And... You want me.

"Good," is all you say before you lower me to the bench, again. Your hands pull my shirt out of my pants as you undo the buttons on my shirt with your teeth and tongue. Once you bare my chest, I drag you up my body to invite your taste into my mouth. Oh, Duo...

//I can be your Heero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.//

"Are you hoping to pick up where you left off?" you ask, buttoning up my shirt and tucking it back into my pants. Your fingers linger as you drag up the zipper. I bite my lip to keep from whimpering.

My heart jumps into my throat when I realise what you've just asked. This is a trick question. Your casual demeanour contradicts your words and the way you are not looking at me. Did I hurt you that much when I left? No... "No," I say. "I'm hoping you'll give me a chance."

"To do what?" You do look at me this time. There's a gleam in your eyes that signals your curiosity.

To show you that this fool has found his way and knows what he wants... "To get to know you again," I say quietly. "To say I'm sorry I was such an idiot, all those years ago and to prove to you that I'm not just a soldier anymore." I want to, but I dare not touch you. When did I become such a craven coward?

You touch me instead. You take my face in your hands and lean into me. "We'll see," you breathe against my lips, licking off the blood before stealing my breath away.

//Oh, I just wanna hold you. I just wanna hold you, oh yeah.//

This chance is all I need. I find myself wrapped around you again, clinging to your lips, savouring your essence and feeling your heart pound against mine.

//Am I in too deep?
Have I lost my mind?
I don't care.
You're here tonight.//

We'll see. I can do this.

//I can be your Heero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.//

Thank you, Duo. I love you. When you're ready to hear it, I'll say these words, but in the meantime... I'm yours.

//You can take my breath away.
I can be your Heero.//