AC 201

The cool interior of the restaurant was a relief after being out in the unusually warm weather. Zechs soaked in the cool air, as he waited for the maitre d' to show him to his table. Too bad, Heero couldn't come. Zechs thought, I wonder what was so important that he'd turn down lunch at Sebastian's?

"Ah, your grace! It is a pleasure to see you again." the maitre d' said, as he approached the tall blonde. "I have your favorite table waiting for you. If you will just follow me." The elegantly clad man turned and led Zechs through a richly appointed dining room and up a flight of stairs to a small balcony shaded by palms, which overlooked the diners below.

"I trust you will find everything to your liking, your grace." said the man, as he seated Zechs with perfection. "I'm sure I shall, Renato." Renato smiled and beckoned a waiter forward. That worthy passed his superior a menu; who suavely presented it to Zechs.

Taking the menu, Zechs nodded as Renato bowed and excused himself. After glancing over the menu, Zechs gave the hovering waiter his order. While he was waiting for his fillet of sole, Zechs sipped at his glass of excellent wine and watched the people below. He particularly liked this table-because he could observe without being seen.

He was just standing to leave, when he spotted Heero and Relena walking in. Renato led them to a table on the main dining floor near where he was sitting. He watched as the maitre d' seated Relena and Heero took his seat. He ducked back, when Renato indicated the balcony. Relena and Heero both looked up, then when they didn't see anyone, they turned their attention back to the menus being handed to them.

"I'll have the scampi alfredo." Relena said, as she closed her menu. "The same." Heero told the waiter, and handed him his menu. Bowing, the waiter left and Relena smiled excitedly at the young man across from her.

"Well, what did the doctor say? Am I going to be an Aunt?" She demanded breathlessly, reaching out to seize Heero's hand.

"Hn." Heero nodded a soft look of wonder in his blue eyes. Relena squealed, leapt to her feet and flung herself at him. Heero's arms went around her automatically, as she kissed him soundly.

Shattered, Zechs didn't stay to see anymore. So, that's why he couldn't come to lunch. He thought, his heart beating painfully loud in his ears, as he went down the backstairs and left the restaurant.

The sun was lowering when Heero returned to the mansion. He had spent the day, first with at the clinic, to see if his implant had taken, then he had to tell Relena. Now, he wanted to share the good news with Zechs.

"Good evening, Doyle. Is his grace home, yet?" Heero inquired, as he passed the man holding the door open.

"He was, Mr. Heero, but he only stayed long enough to pack and then leave again. He left you a note in the library."

"Hn."

A premonition of disaster swept over the ex-pilot as he walked into the library. This was Zechs favorite room, and it reflected the young aristocrat's tastes – simple, but elegant. The walls were white, and there was a thick blue carpet on the floor. The books were shelved neatly in bookcases made of cloned oak. In the middle of the room was a small ornate table, on it was a square of powder blue paper. Heero hesitated for a moment, before picking up the envelope lying on the table. Opening it, he read in Zechs precise script.

Heero,

The mansion is yours. I'm leaving. I confess I don't understand what I've done to make you stop loving me, but I hope you and Relena will be happy.

M

"Zechs" Heero breathed, tears streaming down his cheeks.

A howl of despair echoed throughout the mansion, scaring the staff. It sent several running to see what was wrong. Doyle flung open the library doors to find Heero lying on the floor - clutching the note and curled in on himself-sobbing.

The crowd in the doorway was horrified, Doyle quietly ordered someone to fetch the doctor, before he went in to render whatever aid, or comfort he could.

AC 205

A scrawny figure in Bermuda shorts walked into a busy combination warehouse and hanger. His eyes behind their screen of sunglasses searched for a few moments before spotting the person, he was looking for. A well-rounded butt was sticking up in the air, while the rest of the torso was stuffed into the front of a airplane.

"Hey! Zechs!"

A blonde head popped up and called, "What is it, Howard?"

"Come over to shuttle three, I need your opinion on something."

"Be there in a moment."

Zechs wiped the oil staining his hands off on a cloth that had been used for the same purpose so many times, that its original color was forever lost, putting it away, he climbed from plane engine he'd been tuning and headed for the shuttle. Walking into the shuttle, he turned in surprise when the door hissed shut behind him.

"Don't worry, Millardo. Howard will let us out, after you and I talk." Zechs spun back around to find Relena gazing at him from the row of seats facing the hatchway. She motioned for him to come and sit by her, but Zechs shook his head.

"So, you found me, I'm surprised you bothered." The blonde leaned against the wall and eyed his sister. It had been four years, since he'd last seen her, she hadn't changed much, except there was a hardness about her eyes that hadn't been there before.

Relena raised an eyebrow at his tone and sighed. "Bother? Why shouldn't I bother. I've been looking for you since Heero called me and said you'd walked out on him. Quatre and I've joined resources and we've had people searching for the last four years, Zechs. I think you owe everyone an explanation."

Zechs glared. "If I chose to disappear for four years, that's my business. Besides, I would think that you and Heero would be happy that I was out of the way." He said, bitterly.

Relena's jaw dropped: why in the world? "Zechs, what are you talking about? I'll admit at one time, I entertained thoughts of marrying Heero, but when the two of you got together, I shelved those fantasies."

She watched concerned, as her brother turned pale as milk and groped his way blindly to a seat beside her. She reached out and gripped his hand. He ignored her..

"Zechs! What's wrong? Was it something I said?" She asked, worriedly.

Speaking more to himself then to her, Zechs muttered, "Was I wrong? Dear god, did I get it wrong?"

Relena loudly demanded, as she forced her brother to look at her. "Get what wrong? Zechs, tell me what you're talking about!"

He continued in that dreamy sort of voice, "I saw you and Heero at Sebastian's that day – the day I left. I thought Heero was meeting you in secret, because he didn't want to tell me that we were through. I should have known better, that wouldn't be Heero's way. He'd just come out and say it."

Relena blinked, released Zechs hand and leapt to her feet. She started pacing as his words sank in. Whirling around, she pointed a finger at him and growled, "You idiot! Zechs, how could you have been so stupid! Why didn't you ask?"

"I told you," he began.

"Shut up!" She commanded. Zechs had never seen his sister so angry, she looked ready to break something, so he wisely kept silent- in case she decided to start with him. Relena glared at him, then she sighed.

"Millardo," he stared, "I wish you had asked, it would have save us all a lot of heartache." She paused, then continued in a very gentle voice, "Heero and I were together at Sebastian's because we had been planning a very special surprise for you."

"A surprise?"

A nod, "Yes. Heero wanted to give you something that would truly show you how he felt. So, he contacted me and we discussed it, and I agreed to do it."

"Do what?" Zechs was getting more perplexed by the minute. "Just tell me, Relena."

"Very well, Heero wanted to give you a child."

Millardo was stunned. He couldn't quite grasp what she was saying, then it flooded in on him. A child! Heero wanted to have his child!

Relena watched the emotions flitting across her brother's face. "I donated some of my eggs to Heero, and the doctor used his sperm, and one of the eggs `took'. Heero went in and became officially pregnant. The day you saw us, he'd gone in for a check-up.

"A child." Crystal blue eyes met cornflower-blue ones, and Zechs forced the words pass his lips, "Boy or girl?" Relena sat back down and lifted up her purse, she opened it and fished out a small packet of pictures, handing them to her brother: she leaned back in the seat and watched his face carefully.

Zechs struggled to control the trembling of his hands, as he stared down at the picture of a blue-eyed, blonde haired little girl with an infectious smile. Each picture was more precious than the one before. In one, she was blowing the fluff off a dandelion, in another Heero was holding her around the waist as she sat beaming on the back of a little pinto pony.

"What is her name?" He whispered; as he savored each picture, an ache growing in his heart that he had missed so much of his little girl's life already.

"Orianna." Relena answered, "she knows about you. Heero has told her stories about you all her life." A harsh sob interrupted her, compassionately she reached out and laid a hand on Zechs arm. "Its time to go home, Millardo, Heero says, that before he tucks her in at night, Orianna always says her prayers, and in them she prays her daddy will come home."

Rising, Relena made her way to the hatch and gave it a thump, as it opened, she looked back at her brother sitting forlorn and abandoned in his seat. "Keep the pictures, Millardo, may they show you the right path to take. If you decide to return to Earth, I'm leaving in two hours, my shuttle is at the spaceport." Then she turned, and walked away.

Howard met her at the foot of the stairs. She sighed and shook her head slightly at the questioning tilt of his head. Howard frowned, he had half been expecting to see Zechs follow his sister out. He couldn't be that foolish- to throw this chance away; could he?

Relena stared out the window of the shuttle, staring at the wistful reflection that looked back at her, she had been hoping Millardo would show up, but it looked like he wasn't going to.

"Going my way?"

She gasped and whipped her head around, standing in the aisle was Zechs, a grip in his hand. Tears rose in her eyes, as she smiled and held out a hand, "Why yes, I believe we are." She pulled him into an embrace and kissed him on the cheek. "Welcome home!" she whispered.

Not yet, Relena, Zechs thought as he sat beside his sister, let's see what Heero has to say, first.

"No, that's all right! I'll be fine, I can find my way from here, thank you!" Zechs waved the cab driver away, and stood staring at the mansion. He had deliberately not informed anyone at the house that he was coming, and he had gotten Relena to promise to not tell anyone, either.

With an air of trepidation, he leaned down, picked up his bag, and began walking towards the gleaming marble building at the end of the driveway, and a meeting that would either remake, or destroy him. As he walked, Millardo breathed in the scent of early spring roses, freshly cut grass, and the wet worm smell of newly turned earth. To the north, not far away, a dog growled.

"Help, papa, help!" A frightened voice cried. Zechs dropped his bag and raced off in the direction the cry came from.

Heero, who had been looking for his wayward daughter heard the scream and raced to the rescue.

Zechs rounded the corner of a box hedge and felt his heart lodge in his throat. Trying desperately to climb a wall covered with climbing roses was his little girl; cornered by a slowly advancing big gray dog. From where he was standing, Zechs could see the beast's teeth and the foam that flecked its lips. Rabies! Zechs' mind shrieked. All his training and a father's willingness to sacrifice all-burst like a comet with a tail of adrenaline into his bloodstream.

Cursing the fact, he didn't have a gun, Zechs ripped off his jacket and grabbed up a thick fallen tree limb. He darted forward, shouting and the deranged animal turned to face this strange creature that was running towards it. He managed to flip the jacket over the beast's head. The maddened dog howled and struggled to shake the cloth off. Zechs struck the animal with all his strength trying to knock it off its feet.

The dog staggered, and backed off, still shaking its head-the smell of its own blood a surprising thing. Partially ridding itself of the annoying cloth, the beast snarled its hate.

Behind him, Orianna sobbed, "Papa! Papa!"

Heero sprinted faster, spurred on by the sound of his daughter's cries and the sound of battle. He skidded to a halt, when he burst through a break in the hedge, paling he took in the horrific scene before him. Zechs was trying to beat off a dog with a jacket half obscuring its vision.

Orianna spotted him, "Papa! Help!" The child tried to run to the sure safety of her papa's arms, but she was cut off by the struggle going on in front of her.

Reading the situation like a tactical display, Heero ran to the end of the wall and leapt, running across the top of it, he dropped down by his little girl, grabbed her and boosted her up to the top. Orianna scrambled up and crouched down, a shivering featherless bird.

Zechs was aware of Heero in a tiny part of his mind, but all of his focus was on the damn dog that refused to die, or give up. The gray creature had managed to shake off the jacket and stared at Millardo with hate maddened eyes, it crouched, its powerful haunches preparing to launch at the thing that had denied it its prey and caused it pain.

Heero yanked his pistol from his waistband, a habit he had never lost from the war, and he was never so grateful for it. He raised the pistol and flicked off the safety, praying his reflexes hadn't deteriorated. "Zechs," he called, "When I give the word, drop."

"Right." Zechs panted, as he kept his eyes on the snarling animal. The faint quiver in its muscles told him that it was about to leap. He smiled grimly at the dog, "Come beast, let's end this." He brandished the limb, stepping forward at the same time

Seeing it's tormentor moving, the dog howled and went for Zechs's throat. All hell broke loose at once, Heero shouted, "Drop!" Zechs fell face first to the dirt. Overhead, the pistol barked and Zechs grunted as the heavy carcass of the heavy animal landed on his back, its hot blood spewing over his head and shoulders. Orianna screamed.

Holding the pistol ready, Heero advanced the few steps, it took to reach the pair on the ground. "Zechs," he asked anxiously, "Are you all right?"

"Fine." Zechs spat out a mouth full of grass, "Get this damn carcass off me." Heero put his pistol away and grabbed the body by both back legs and pulled. The dead dog slid from Zechs back, and the blonde rolled over, once he was free and slowly got to his feet, facing Heero.

Eternity waited in silence, as the two stared at each other. Finally, Heero broke the silence, "Zechs, where have you been?"

The blonde sighed, "A long story, Heero. One that begins the day I foolishly walked out on you. I'll tell you about it, if you will allow me to come to the house. I don't deserve it, but I would like the opportunity to beg for your forgiveness, and to get to know Orianna a little."

Heero heard the wistful tone, and gave Zechs his answer in the clearest way he could, turning he walked to the wall and reaching up, whispered, "Baby, come here. I've someone I want you to meet."

Zechs's heart and soul sank, when Heero turned from him. What did I expect, he mourned bitterly, I was a fool to come here. He went to retrieve his jacket; he'd leave and start anew somewhere, but . . .

"Zechs." Heero's quiet voice broke into his thoughts. The blonde tuned back, Heero was standing there, a torn look of pain and hope in his eyes. "Zechs, I want you to meet Orianna." Heero knelt by his baby and pressed his cheek to hers. "Orianna," he whispered, "This is your daddy. He's come home, at last."

Blue eyes stared up in wonder, and tiny rose bud lips asked, "Daddy?" Zechs went to his knees, and held out his arms, aching to hold the child just once. "Yes, sweetheart. Daddy has come home."

With the easy love of a child, Orianna broke from Heero's side and dashed forward. "Daddy!" she cried, catapulting herself into Zechs arms. With a shout of joy, Zechs snatched her close and buried his face in her soft neck, delighting in the flowery scent of her. He knew he'd never get enough of that smell.

Heero watched with a mounting sense of happiness, now all would be all right. Smiling, he rose to join Zechs and their daughter. "Welcome home, my love." he whispered.