Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any its characters; however, I do own this story, so please ask permission before posting it elsewhere. Thank you.

Title: Pacify That!

Author: Madame Adieu

Chapter 1

I suppose you could call this an experiment. I've never written any Gundam Wing stories before, so this will be a first for me. I hope it doesn't suck much.

The streets of the city were packed with people and the once-white snow was now brown mush as it was trampled on by millions of dirty boots. Sounds of laughter and shrieks of excited children surrounded the square of tiny stores. Christmas was only three weeks away.

It was a cloudy evening, but a man in a black coat and pants insisted on wearing sunglasses, for whatever reason. His long braid swished behind him like a pendulum, catching tiny flakes of snow. He smiled as families with dozens of presents passed him by. If only his violet eyes were visible, one could see that they were guarded, as if he had spent years watching his back.

"It is now official."

The man turned his attention to a nearby electronic store where selections of different televisions were showing the latest news.

"Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian, the former Queen and heir to the kingdom of Sanc, has been spotted with an infant after her visit to colony 139 to negotiate a peace between warring ethnic groups." A picture of an adult Relena appeared on the screen, clutching a small body with a dark head of hair in her arms. "The child appears to be of Asian decent, and our sources say it is yet another orphan of the colony's ongoing civil war. It is not known how the Vice Foreign Minister received this child, or if it is meant as any sort of peace agreement for colony 139 in the near future."

The screen went black before immediately switching to a commercial. The long haired man sat in a daze, emitting a long and low whistle. "What are you up to now princess?"

Quatre sat silently on the large beige couch as he sipped at his tea. It was getting late, and Trowa had not yet returned from the circus. The blonde knew that he should not have been worried, but he couldn't help it. The former pilot of Heavyarms was a close friend –something he had very little of. Since the end of the war three years ago, he had seen little of Heero, Duo or Wufei. Trowa was all he had left.

Quatre leaned into the cushions, his head rolling slightly to one side. The news would be on now, not that he was really interested in world affairs. His business kept him in the political circle, so he couldn't be ignorant to what was going on around him. That would be a luxury – to be ignorant. Ironically, it was the only one he couldn't afford.

"Master Quatre."

The blonde looked up to see one of his older servants in the doorway. "Yes?"

"The Vice Foreign Minister has returned from colony 139."

Relena. Quatre had not seen her directly for quite some time, but he saved the newspaper clippings. She was always in the headlines, fighting for peace as she once had. He had been slightly surprised when Trowa informed him that Heero had not stayed to protect her, and was even more surprised when Relena showed absolutely no emotion when he left. Quatre sympathized with the former queen. He seemed to be the only pilot that did.

"Master Quatre?"

The blonde sighed, stretching his fingers around the warm tea cup. "Yes?"

"She's on the news, sir."

That had not surprised him. "Yes, well she usually is, isn't she?"

The older gentleman did not know how else to tell his master, knowing the relationship he had with Minister Darlian, so he grabbed the remote and turned to the closest news station. "I beg your pardon, but it is different this time, sir."

Quatre raised an eyebrow. "Different?" What could be meant by that? His servant had left before her received an answer, so the only choice he had was to watch the screen in front of him and find out for himself. He only hoped that she was not hurt.

"The Vice Foreign Minister has just landed her flight from colony 139." The woman in a blue suit faded out to show a picture of Relena, a little rumpled from her flight but with a grand smile, holding something tightly to her chest.

Quatre felt the cushion next to him dip with a sudden weight, but he hardly noticed.

"So you've seen it then?"

Quatre was startled. "Trowa? When did you get here?"

The green-eyed man ignored the question and pointed to the television. "You've seen it. The baby. Everyone's talking about it."

Quatre's eyes widened. Baby? Sure enough, the tiny bundle in the Minister's arms had dark hair and tiny hands that escaped the confines of a thick blanket. A baby. "How-? When did she-? Trowa?"

The reserved pilot of Heavyarms smiled lightly. "Yes. I was surprised too."

The desk of Preventer Sally Po was littered with medical files as she shuffled through them in search of a pencil. She was a little frazzled since she finished her over-the-phone conversation with Preventer Wind, or Zechs…Milliardo…whichever name he went by. Relena had decided to adopt, and her non-existent older brother was in the process of forming an ulcer because of it. Sally smiled, wondering when the man changed his mind about Relena being old enough to make her own decisions. She wished that he would have realized his brotherly affections earlier. It would have made the job of talking to Relena easier on her and Noin.

"What are you doing?"

Sally didn't need to look up at her doorway to see who was there. "Making a mess. What about you, Wufei?"

The Chinese man stared at her remaining silent.

"The usual then?" Sally smirked, receiving no reaction from her company. Their conversations always started that way. "Have you heard the news?"

Wufei hadn't, but wouldn't give Sally the satisfaction of knowing it, so he once again remained silent.

"The Vice Foreign Minister has just returned from colony 139 with a baby."

Sally never had been one to mince words, so Wufei expertly tried to hide his surprise. If the Vice Foreign Minister was still who he thought it was… it would mean that fanatical, peace-loving heir to the kingdom of Sanq. "They gave that woman a baby?"

Sally knew it was rude, but she couldn't help but chuckle at her partner's comment, even if it was at her friend's expense. "Now, Wufei…Relena has changed a lot since the war."

Relena. Wufei doubted he had ever said her name before, not that he would have ever needed to. He remembered the child, but had not yet encountered the "woman" Sally claimed her to be. He supposed he would have to meet her in person, in order to form a satisfactory opinion of this Minister Darlian.

Milliardo Peacecraft completed his fortieth walk to the kitchen of his small apartment. His fingers twitched as he reached to open the refrigerator door, now done out of habit. What was wrong with him? His sister was nineteen years old! An adult! Why should he care if she threw common sense out the window and decided to become a mother? He had never cared before…why now?

Because she's my sister…my only sister…my responsibility…

Milliardo slammed his hand against the counter top just as Noin entered with a bag of groceries.

"Zechs?"

The man looked at her with a dazed expression. Her form was blurring.

"Are you drunk?"

Milliardo shook his head. No, but he wished he was.

"Is it Relena then?" She set the groceries on the floor and walked up to her husband. "She's intelligent and capable, Zechs. You don't have to worry-"

"Of course I do!" His eyes tightened as his hand slammed against the counter again. He felt Noin's arms around him and relaxed slightly. "Of course I do."

Noin looked into his eyes and brushed back his long blonde hair with her fingers. She had seen him break down before, but never like this. "I know you care for her, Zechs. Despite what others may think, including Relena, I know that you want to be her brother." She smiled and led him to the couch. "You just don't know how."

"Vice Foreign Minister Darlian has just returned from colony 139-"

"Hey Heero? You here?" Duo could hear the television and knew it was playing the same report he has seen earlier in the town square. He brushed off his shoes on the welcome mat and walked into the small living room. He could see the top of a brown-haired head over the back of the couch. "Heero?"

"Hm."

Duo sat on the couch's arm. "So…I take it you know about Relena…"

The perfect soldier stared blankly at the screen as different pictures of the Vice Foreign Minister appeared. Relena appeared happy, but tired. She looked much older than nineteen. Something stirred within him, and he fought to keep it down. He wouldn't admit that he missed her. Never.

Duo watched silently as Heero's hand clenched and unclenched as he tugged at the loose fabric of his jeans. He knew that his friend was still contemplating his feelings for the girl, but Duo was afraid that Heero might have lost any chance he had with regaining the Vice Foreign Minister's trust. He did just up and leave her…without saying goodbye. We all left her. Duo still felt like a jerk when he thought about it, but had done nothing to rectify his mistake. He scratched the back of his head, staring at the telephone lying on the coffee table.

Until now.

"Hey…do you still know Quatre's number?"

Relena pushed a long strand of honey-colored hair over her shoulder before pudgy fingers could grasp it. "No, no, Lixue." She smiled as she placed the baby on her knee, bouncing lightly as she held the tiny hands in hers. "I bet your getting hungry, huh?" The baby gurgled and Relena was about to comment when a small cough interrupted her.

"Uh…Minister Darlian? We still need your input on the crisis of Colony 139."

Relena glanced around the table of stuffy diplomats. Oh yes, she still had to finish the meeting. "Well, right now they're still fighting over territory. I don't know how I can help that, since they haven't been listening the last year anyway. It's just unfortunate, that so many children become orphaned due to a silly feud." Relena gently brushed her adopted daughter's hair with her fingers. She had saved one, but there were still so many.

"Minister Darlian?"

Relena blinked back tears. "Yes?"

It was obvious that Senator Wryer was becoming irritated. "What do you suggest we do? That is why we called this meeting, or have you forgotten?"

Relena felt the burn of anger wash across her face and rise in her throat. The men around her still thought of her as a fifteen year old girl! If they were so concerned about her doing her job, why didn't they just do it themselves? Relena cleared her throat and smoothed her expression. Rule #1 in politics – Only show emotion when it benefits your position. If she let her company know she was angry, it would only further support their opinion of her as a child. "I suggest that for right now we leave it alone. There is nothing we can do to stop them. If we continue to meddle in their affairs, they might declare war on us as well." Nervousness passed over the table. Relena bit back a cynical smile. "I would rather maintain the peace of the other colonies and Earth, than risk all out war."

The rest of the delegates were silent, thinking of ways to argue her decision, or so Relena supposed. As far as she was concerned, there was little left for her to say, so the meeting was over. She wanted to go home. "Discuss it amongst yourselves. I have another appointment in five minutes. If you have any further questions, call my office." Relena stood and placed Lixue on her hip, walking at a fast pace toward the door. In the process, a strand of her hair had fallen over her shoulder, and Lixue grabbed it to stick it in her mouth. Relena decided to ignore it.

"Minister Darlian? Your limo is waiting downstairs." A man slightly taller than Relena said, pointing down the long stairway.

"Thank you, Jeffrey." She smiled lightly, grabbing her coat from his arm. "Let's go home, Lixue." She wrapped the baby in a blanket and put a small knit hat on her head, tying it under the baby's chin. Lixue didn't seem too happy about it, her bottom lip protruding as she tried to pull it off. Relena laughed. "No, no honey…leave it on." The baby complied as her mother held her to her chest, prepared for the harsh winter weather they were about to step into.

The air was brisk and tiny flakes floated on the wind. Lixue reached out to grab one, letting go of her mother's hair for a moment. Relena smiled and walked pass her limo, deciding that she and Lixue needed a bit of fresh air anyway.

"Qu-man! How's it goin'?"

Quatre pulled the telephone from his ear, stared at it strangely, and then put it back. "Duo?"

"Of course! Who else calls you Qu-man?"

The blonde chuckled, having gotten over his initial surprise. "I wasn't expecting you to call." He noticed Trowa walk into the kitchen and open the refrigerator. "How have you been? It's been quite a long time."

There was a sigh. "Ah, I'm all right. Heero's driving me crazy-"

Quatre could hear some kind of scuffle in the background, followed by the sound of glass breaking. "Duo?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm here." He was out of breath. "Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, I was wondering if we could have a sort of reunion. You know, get all us guys back together again."

Quatre ignored the inquisitive glance Trowa was sending him. "That's a great idea! What date did you have in mind?"

"Uh, I don't know…soon? I sort of just thought about it today." Duo was silent for a moment. "And maybe while we're all together, we could pay someone else a visit…"

Someone else? Quatre frowned. "Who did you have in mind?"

Duo sighed again into the receiver, making a static-like noise. "Relena."

So what do you think? Should the story crash and burn?

R & R

Please!