Silent Waltz      by Comet~Princess

Disclaimer: If I owned either Sailormoon or Gundam Wing, Wufei would have a sore throat from the times I´ve made him yell out "Maxwell."

AN: *gasp* It´s another chapter! And guess what? More insight to Heero and Usagi´s past! There´s two flashbacks in here! They´re in italics, and should be pretty easy to identify. ^_^ Methinks you´ll like the second better than the first. I do. ^_~ Happy Chinese New Year to all those who celebrate out there! And a happy Valentine´s Day to everyone! ^_^

Warnings: Mamoru-bashing? I prefer OOC, but I know some people would consider it bashing.

Ken-chan: No. I´ll give that much away. I try to be original in my plots. If you´ve seem something done more than 3 times already, chances are, I won´t have that in my plot.

Purr-chan: It wasn´t that long a wait. . . ^^""" And you shall get your answer in this chapter!

Mei-chan: It´ll clear up as you keep reading, though I wasn´t trying to confuse you there. ^^"""

Midnight Lady: In all honestly, I don´t hate Mamoru. I actually like him in the manga. I´m indifferent to him in the anime though. And, as I told Himiko-chan, my goal in this story is not so that you´ll hate Mamoru. In fact, I want to portray him such that you can come out of this story NOT hating Mamoru, despite the fact that he may play the bad guy. There have been instances, when characterization is done well, that the viewer doesn´t hate the bad guy, like Sephiroth in Final Fantasy 7 and Zechs in Gundam Wing. I´ve read many fics where Mamoru is a wimpy bad guy who lusts after Usagi and her power, and I´m determined to break that cliché. I know that probably wasn´t a satisfying answer, and the only thing I can say without giving the rest of the plot away is that this will be different from what you´ve seen in other fics. If you want a story where Mamoru is nice, then *warning: shameless self-promotion* you can try Crystal Fantasy. It´s still Heero/Usagi, but Mamoru will be nice in it.

Thanks to Himiko-chan for prereading, SilverRay-chan and Purr-chan for their constant encouragement, and Chibi Tenshi-chan for our many yaps and talks. ^_^

Timeframe: Bah, I don´t remember anymore.

You´re probably ready to kill me for all that talking now. So, here´s the fic before you do kill me. ^^"""

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Chapter 6 - Visitors

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Heero walked up the front steps of his tiny cottage, located away from the town. He carried with him a bag of groceries that he had just gotten on his trip into the town. Glancing up briefly, he noticed an envelope tucked between the door and the doorframe. He yanked the envelope loose, and with his free hand, opened the door.

As he put the groceries in the cabinet of his kitchen, Heero examined the envelope. He got an uneasy feeling just looking at it. It was blank, with no writing and no address. That meant that it was most likely delivered to his door. But no one knew where he had gone after the war. And the people he had met in this town were few and far in between. The only person who could logically had left it for him was Usagi, and he knew she was in school between the time he left and the time he came back.

After staring at the envelope for another couple of minutes, Heero finally moved to open it. It was a simple note, but it sent chills down Heero´s spine and made him want to grab the gun he always kept on him.

"Heero Yuy,

How are you, Gundam pilot 01? I hope you do not have plans for tonight. I would like to meet you at Twin Peak tonight at midnight."

The note was unsigned. Not only that, but the sender knew his name and that he was a Gundam pilot. It was also typed, so Heero had no way of identifying the handwriting. He considered not going, because his feeling of dread was growing by the minute, but his training as a soldier was screaming that he needed to eliminate the one who knew his identity.

"Mission accepted," Heero stated, crumbling the note in one simple movement as he left to arm himself.

~*~

The darkness of the night spread its arms across the sky. The blanket seemed to be extremely thick tonight, as not even the stars were visible. Twin Peak, a small hill in northern end of the town, stood tall and regal against the vast expanse of blackness.

A dark figure with tousled hair tried to keep a low profile as he approached the designated meeting place. His hand was kept at his waist, where one of his many guns was located.

"We shouldn´t need weapons between us, should we, Heero?" a clear voice came suddenly from the shadows.

Heero whirled around and trained his gun on the exact spot where the voice had come from. "Who are you and who do you work for?" he asked in monotone, his training returning to him.

The voice from the shadows laughed. "I see Dr. J trained his Perfect Soldier well," it replied.

Although Heero didn´t let his surprise show at the comment, he bristled slightly on the inside. Whoever this man was, he knew Dr. J and he knew Heero´s nickname as well. "Who are you?" he repeated.

"I thought you would certainly remember me," the voice answered with amusement.

The shadow stepped out of his hiding place, and Heero´s eyes widened a fraction of an inch. "Mamoru Chiba," the Perfect Soldier answered himself.

Mamoru chuckled. "You see? You do remember," he said nonchalantly.

"What do you want?" Heero asked coldly, not dropping his guard.

"Nothing," Mamoru replied with a smirk, "at least, nothing right now."

Heero narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn´t do anything for nothing," he answered.

"Your opinion of me?" Mamoru returned coolly. "It was certainly the bumbling doctor´s as well."

"And rightly so," Heero answered, releasing the safety on his gun. "I´m going to finish what should have been completed years ago."

Mamoru dodged the bullet that came from Heero´s gun. "You may want to stop that," he suggested, his voice as cold as Heero´s had been during the Eve Wars. "After all, your girlfriend is not as used to pain as you and I."

Heero froze in his position. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded.

"I see I have your attention now," Mamoru replied, his voice returning to its normal tone. "Well, you were wondering what I wanted, so I feel that it would be. . .courteous, shall we say, to answer an old friend." He made a slight gesture at Heero, and the Perfect Soldier slowly lowered his gun, understanding that he would get nothing unless he complied.

"I only wanted to comment that you´ve worked so hard to keep peace. Wouldn´t it be a shame if war was to come back? You´d have to leave what has become your home, and possibly the only person who has cared for you. Ah wait, is that care for you or love you?" Mamoru recited thoughtfully, his lips curling into a smirk again.

"None of your business," Heero gritted out.

Mamoru laughed. "Who said I gave a damn?" he asked with amusement lacing through his voice. "I´d watch the little bunny  if I were you though. After all, J´s Perfect Soldier has many enemies, made both in his training years and during the war."

Heero pointed his gun at Mamoru and shot again, but once more, Mamoru dodged the bullet. This time, he disappeared into the shadows, the same as when Heero had first arrived on Twin Peak.

"Good seeing you again, Heero," Mamoru´s voice rang out, sarcasm dripping heavily from it. "Consider that. . .piece of advice, a gift, from an old friend."

The presence of discomfort that Heero had felt earlier slowly dissipated, and he knew Mamoru had left the area. However, that did not help to ease his lack of comfort. If anything, the situation was worse. Heero closed his eyes for a brief moment. He knew Usagi would be good enough against most people, but Mamoru was not "most people." Even Heero himself did not have absolute confidence that he could take out the black-haired man in a one-on-one fight.

So, everything had gone back to the question that plagued him when he had first gotten involved with the little bunny. Happiness? Or duty? 

Heero clenched the fist that was not holding on to the white rose as he replayed that moment in his mind. He had thought that he had dealt with that question when he had decided to leave the town. But of course, life just had to throw a wrench into his already painful life.

First, he had found plans for some kind of satellite cannon when he was keeping track of world events. Soon after making a copy of them for himself to analyze, he had received an email from Lady Une, saying that there was a "mission." Afraid that a new war would break out, he had immediately traveled to the Preventers´ Headquarters, only to find out that the "mission" was to protect Usagi, the girl he had tried to protect by leaving her side in the first place, and that it was she who had sent the email.

Letting out a sigh because no one was there to see him do it, the Perfect Soldier carefully tucked the rose back into the journal and placed the book into the little compartment in his laptop again.

To most people, flowers symbolized life and the good things in life. To him, those two flowers were his two mistakes in life.

~*~*~*~*~

"You did what?!" came the outburst from a man standing in front of the forever calm Lady Une´s desk.

Kenji Tsukino opened his mouth to say something else, but the words of his boss must have settled into his brain for a second time, for he snapped his mouth shut, and just gaped.

Une somehow managed to suppress the grin that threatened to appear on her face. She had expected as much from the man she employed as the Preventers´ weapon developer, but the reality of the situation was still amusing.

Kenji´s wife, Ikuko, however, didn´t bother to conceal her mirth. Her eyes twinkled with merriment, and for a brief moment, Une could see a shadow of the woman´s daughter in her.

"I said," Une repeated, "that I assigned five guys who are around nineteen to be their bodyguards."

Kenji continued to stare, and finally broke out of his trance when his wife slapped him hard in the back. "But you said you got them the best bodyguards you can find!" he argued.

"They are the best bodyguards in the world," Une replied with firmness.

"Five nineteen years old boys?!" Kenji practically screeched in disbelief. "I thought you were talking about fifty years old men who would take my command to keep their hands off my daughter and my niece!!!"

"Dear, I´m sure it´s not the situation you´re making it out to be," Ikuko tried to soothe her husband.

"What makes them so special anyway," Kenji muttered, still unable to believe he had left Usagi and Minako to the care of five boys for any amount of time.

Une cleared her throat. "Kenji, I assure you that they are honorable young men who have the ability to protect Usagi and Minako," she explained. "If you must know, they were trained for the war. They aren´t just five people I picked off the street."

"How come they were trained?" Kenji grumbled. He didn´t trust them for a moment, best at what they did or not.

"That´s not my story to tell," Une replied, shooting a meaningful look in her employee´s direction which clearly meant, if you want to know, you´d have to ask them yourself.

Ikuko´s mind went to work. During the Eve Wars, the boys would have been fifteen. Five of them so young, trained for war, the best in the art of protection missions. . . Her eyes widened and she turned to Lady Une. "Oh my! It can´t be!" she exclaimed.

Une gave the other woman a wry smile, nodding her head. Kenji may be so hard-headed that he refused to put the five men in any light but his own, but his wife certainly caught on quickly. Ikuko broke into a wide smile. "Dear, you have no need to worry at all," she told Kenji.

"I still don´t trust them with my two babies," he mumbled back. "I hope they´re all ugly."

This time, Une succumbed to her laughter. She may be too old herself for the five ex-Gundam pilots, but that didn´t mean she was blind. She just hoped Kenji wouldn´t be too disappointed with his prediction.

~*~*~*~*~

Usagi stared blankly at her own lap, replaying the events yesterday morning in her head. Since then, she hadn´t spoken to Heero. She saw him, sure, but his manner of talking was cold and indifferent. Even though the sharp sparks of attraction were still flying between them, and Duo never failed to make one comment or another on that, Heero continued to push her away. She didn´t know why though. In his eyes, she could see that he still cared, but if she tried to confront him, the masks would always be back.

The blond haired girl gave a soft sigh and felt for the gun he gave her, which was now kept at her waist.

I need to get out of this room before I go insane, she thought sardonically to herself.

She looked between the door to her temporary bedroom and the balcony. Quatre didn´t know about her ability to defend herself, so he was probably still waiting or guarding her door. That left her with choice two. She had asked for a balcony because she always felt a sense of comfort when she looked at the moon and stars. Why? Usagi closed her eyes.

"Heero!" Usagi whined as she was slowly dragged up what she thought was a hill. She didn´t know for sure because she was blindfolded, thanks to the Perfect Soldier.

"Aren´t we impatient?" came the teasing reply, a tiny bit of amusement in his usually emotionless voice. "It´s just a little more."

"This had better be worth it," she grumbled in reply.

Usagi could swear she felt him smirk at her remark. Why had she let herself be blindfolded and dragged out here? . . .Oh right. She had accused him of not having a single romantic bone in his body, and he had decided to set out and prove her wrong. She couldn´t say she was sorry though. True, she had had to make sure that the rest of her family was busy so that he could actually pick her up, instead of having to go to his place wearing her current outfit, which consisted of a long, sleeveless, white Chinese-style dress with gold embroidery of dragons and long slits up both sides. It was matched with a pair of white high heels, white satin gloves, and a pair of gold bangles that her parents had given her on her sixteenth birthday. Her hair was in her usual odangoes, but decorated with barrettes. That ensemble, in itself, had taken her a good two hours to put together, but the really hard part had been convincing Minako to go to the school´s football game without her, since they usually went together. Her parents were at a dinner party, so they hadn´t been too hard to get out of the house. Despite all this preparation time though, the evening had been worth the effort. In fact, just the look on Heero´s face when she had opened the door had been worth it. While he himself didn´t look bad at all wearing a crisp, white shirt and navy blue pants and jacket that brought out the colour of his eyes, she knew he had spent at least five minutes staring at her. In fact, she was sure he would have spent longer than that if she hadn´t snapped him out of it.

Usagi suppressed a giggle as she remembered their evening so far. She wouldn´t say that she was wrong when she had made the accusation, but she had to admit that she wasn´t right either. The corrected statement would be that Heero Yuy didn´t have a romantic bone in his body. . .unless he wanted to have that bone.

She felt him stop and walk around her, gently reaching out to untie the blindfold he had insisted she put on. When she longer had the restrain around her eyes, she slowly blinked a few times, letting everything come into focus. When they finally did, she let out a gasp. Below her, the city twinkled and winked at her, its lights illuminating the night, creating an almost magical glow about it.

"Worth it?" she heard Heero´s voice ask her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on top of her head.

"Yes," Usagi replied softly. "It´s beautiful."

"Tell me that after you look up," he commanded.

Usagi obeyed and let her eyes leave the sight of the city lights. She was met with an uncountable number of sparkling stars above her, each gleaming more brightly than the last, as though they were trying to outshine the others. Usagi couldn´t say anything. She just stared.

"Well?" Heero prompted her.

"I. . .I don´t know what to say," Usagi admitted.

"That´s a first," Heero replied.

When she turned to glare at him, she caught his smirk. "Oh, you!" she grumbled, stomping her foot on the ground. She looked back up at the sky, and Heero caught a streak of sadness passing through her eyes.

"What´s wrong?" he asked.

"I´m just thinking," Usagi started, "don´t you think the stars are lonely? They´re all by themselves out there somewhere, very, very far away from all the other stars. I wouldn´t be able to be by myself for so long."

Heero looked thoughtful as he tried to provide an explanation for his angel. He wasn´t great at this romantic stuff, and he didn´t want to ruin the entire evening for her by saying something wrong. After a few minutes, he walked to her and gently lifted her chin up so that her eyes met his. "They´re not lonely," he stated. "Maybe they aren´t with each other in physical form, but they´re together in spirit. They have memories of each other to live on."

Usagi broke into a slow smile. "I didn´t know you can be so insightful," she teased him. "So, are you telling me that, if one day, we are millions of miles apart, that we will be together in spirit?"

Heero shrugged. "Maybe. But if one day, we are millions of miles apart, look at the stars. Somewhere out there, I´ll be looking at the same ones," he answered.

He leaned down and kissed her lips, tasting the sweet wine she had to offer. Her eyes closed, and she lost herself in his embrace, allowing the fire within them to take over. She would never forget that night, nor his words.

Usagi wiped away the tears that she hadn´t realized she had been shedding. From that night on, she had watched the stars from her balcony every night. Minako had found it to be a strange habit, but never asked for an elaboration. For that, Usagi was very grateful. She owed Minako a lot: her friendship, her understanding, her compassion. She´ll tell Minako everything someday, just not now.

Glancing at the door once more, Usagi turned and snuck out the balcony, climbing down the three stories. She walked towards the woods, needing fresh air and a little time to think. She knew there was more to Heero´s story than what he was telling her. He still loves her, that much she guessed, but what was keeping him away? What was he not telling her? It was the missing piece of the puzzle. It was the reason he had left those months ago, and the reason he was pushing her away now.

She was so deep in thought that she never noticed the dark figure who held a tiny communicator following her, somehow having snuck past the front gates of Quatre´s well-protected mansion.

~*~*~*~*~

"Oh my!" Ikuko exclaimed as she stared at the large mansion in front of her. "And you thought they were being deprived, dear!"

If looks could kill, Quatre´s mansion would have burnt to a crisp under the glare Kenji was giving it. So far, his employer seemed to have made a perfect choice in picking bodyguards for his daughter and niece, and he was not liking it one bit.

The iron gates opened slowly when Lady Une informed Quatre that it was she who was at his door. The party of three drove up the long driveway in Une´s car, coming to a stop when they reached a circular part with a marble fountain in the middle. A large man with brown hair accompanied a younger man with platinum blond hair down the front steps to greet them.

"Lady Une," the blond haired one addressed politely. "What brings you here today?"

Une smiled and gestured to the two adults behind her. "Quatre, this is Kenji and Ikuko Tsukino, Usagi´s parents. Kenji, Ikuko, Quatre Rabarba Winner, one of the young man I assigned as a bodyguard for your daughter and niece," she introduced.

Quatre turned to the two with a smile. "It´s nice to meet you both, Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino," he greeted. "Please come in. I´m sure Usagi and Minako would be thrilled to see you."

He turned to lead them up the stairs, and Ikuko faced her husband. "I like him," she whispered. "He´s very polite and nice."

"He doesn´t look like he can protect my children," Kenji grumbled, determined to find something wrong with every single one of the boys.

Ikuko sighed. This was going to be a long day. Quatre led the two parents and Lady Une into a cozy sitting room and asked the maid to bring some tea and snacks in.

"I´ve sent the man with me earlier, Rashid, to get the rest of the guys, your daughter and your niece," Quatre informed Kenji and Ikuko with a kind smile. "They should-"

He was interrupted by a loud shout of "Maxwell! Onna!"

". . .be here really soon," Quatre finished with an exasperated sigh before standing up to open the door. As soon as he did, three blurs ran past him, a blond and orange one, a brown and black one, and a black and white one.

"Easy there, Wu-man," the braided boy said as he hid behind the armchair that Lady Une was sitting in. A girlish giggle followed his comment.

"I told you not to call me Wu-man! It´s Wufei! Wufei!" the Chinese boy yelled.

Quatre cleared his throat, drawing the three teenagers´ attention to him. "If you haven´t noticed," he reprimanded gently, "we have guests."

"Hey there, Lady Une!" Duo greeted heartily when he realized who was sitting in the armchair. The woman nodded at him, her eyes clearly showing her amusement at the predicament Duo had gotten himself into. "Yo, Mister and Madam!" Duo extended the greeting. "Do you know why the turkey crossed the road?"

Kenji glared at the jokester. Ikuko smiled, thinking that this was certainly a cheerful boy for an ex-Gundam pilot. Wufei snorted at the overused joke while Quatre buried his face in his hands in embarrassment. Meanwhile, Minako smacked Duo in the back of the head.

"Hey! What´d you do that for, Princess?" Duo complained, rubbing the back of his head.

"That´s my uncle and aunt!" she hissed.

"Oh. . ." Duo trailed off. He looked at the set of parents nervously. "Good day, Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino."

"Chang Wufei and Duo Maxwell," Une stated, pretending nothing unusual had happened.

Ikuko smiled, taking a liking to the cheerful boy who her niece seemed to like as well. Kenji, however, looked as though he was about to blow up. "What did you call my niece?" he demanded, growling under his breath.

"Uh. . .Princess?" Duo replied weakly. Now he knew why Minako and Usagi seemed to be immune to Heero´s death glares. Mr. Tsukino had one that easily matched up to the Perfect Soldier´s. As his mind went along that train of thought, he slowly broke into a maniacal grin. He looked impatiently at the door. If only Heero would get here.

"There is nothing funny about that name!" Kenji practically yelled. "You keep your hands to yourself! If you touch my niece, I will. . .I will. . . Ikuko, where´s my shotgun?"

"At home, dear," Ikuko replied sweetly. "It was too heavy to carry, so I took it out of the bag."

Minako stifled a giggle. She would have to remember to thank her aunt later. She looked up at the older woman, and blushed slightly when she winked. It was obvious that she knew Duo was more than just Minako´s bodyguard.

"Great, someone else who wants to shoot me. As if having Heero wanting to kill me every other hour isn´t bad enough," the loudmouthed Duo muttered.

Kenji heard this, and looked up from his own brooding. "Does this Heero have a gun?" he asked darkly.

"Yep," Wufei informed the man with a smirk. "Yuy has a gun every second of the day." Anyone who was willing to join his campaign in killing the braided pilot was a good man in his book.

Kenji nodded, and quieted down, although he was still unhappy about the arrangement. He thought that perhaps he would like this Heero fellow. He carried a gun, which meant that he would at least be able to protect his daughter and niece, to a certain extend. And if he wanted to kill the boy who was hitting on his niece, that was an additional bonus. (AN: *laughs* I love irony! ^_~)

It was then that the Perfect Soldier decided to make his appearance. He stalked into the room, glaring darkly at nothing in particular. He had not been in a good mood for the past couple of days. His eyes scanned the room quickly, and when they rested on Kenji and Ikuko, slight surprise showed in his eyes before he covered it up. No one in the room noticed. He acknowledged them with a nod, and internally smirked to himself. If Usagi knew how he was greeting her parents on their first meeting, she would either hit him or glare at him. Almost immediately, that thought was cleared from his mind. He had given her up. She was no longer his, and she would never be his again. Heero felt a sharp pain in his heart at that thought, but he quickly pushed that away. He was not selfish enough to put her in danger for his own happiness.

"These are Usagi´s parents, Heero," Quatre said.

Heero grunted and stood against the wall. Kenji examined this new addition to the group thoughtfully. He didn´t look like another one of those hormone-driven teenagers. No, in fact, this boy radiated ice, so cold that it was almost scary. Duo and Minako both watched this exchange in interest. They both knew that there were a lot of sparks between Heero and Usagi. In addition, Kenji seemed to have a fondness for his shotgun, and there was no need to say that Heero loved his own gun.

After a few minutes of silence, Kenji gave a slight nod. He wasn´t completely satisfied with the group, but for now, he´ll agree to having them as Usagi and Minako´s bodyguards.

"Well?" Une prompted her employee. "Do you still feel a need to replace them with fifty year old men, Kenji?"

"Hmp," Kenji grunted. "They were all supposed to be ugly, but I´ll overlook that. They´ll do for now."

All four guys raised their eyebrows at this comment. Ikuko and Une laughed heartily while Minako just stared in shock. She wasn´t quite sure whether to be grateful that her uncle wasn´t going to replace them, or horrified that he had wanted to get rid of these guys just because they weren´t hideous.

A knock on the door interrupted them. When the group looked up, a tall man with gravity-defying bangs was standing in the doorway. Quatre looked questioningly at him, but the young man merely walked up to Heero, handing him a white envelope that he had been carrying.

"She wasn´t in her room," the man with the bangs informed the Perfect Soldier. He didn´t fail to see the streak of worry that passed quickly through Heero´s eyes.

While everyone else looked on, Heero took the white envelope and examined it. He paled very slightly, a sudden flashback of a similar incident with an envelope hitting him dead on. He quickly turned the envelope over. On the front was typed For J´s Perfect Soldier.

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End of Chapter 6.

AN: Guess what? While I was talking to Chibi Tenshi, she mentioned something and I suddenly thought of a POSSIBLE (not definite) idea as a sequel to Angel in Disguise. ^_^ However, I´ll definitely finish up this fic and Crystal Fantasy first. Anywho, just so you know the latest development in my mind for fics. Now, REVIEW!!! Please and lots of thanks!