Peace, Empathy, and Baseball (sequel to Relena's New Obsession)

-----part 1-----

Quatre walked Relena home. "Hey, I don't mean to sound forward, and you have every right to refuse," he told her, "but some of the kids from the nearby colony are putting together something called a baseball game. I've read about them and seen some old video footage of them. They sound like a lot of fun. Would you like to go?"

"You mean watch a game?"

"I was thinking of us joining the game." Quatre suggested. "It'll be lots of fun, and good exercise."

Relena smiled. "It does sound like fun. I'd love to go."

"Excellent." Quatre said as they got to the gates of Relena's house. "I'll pick you up in a couple of hours. Oh, and you should wear something casual, you don't want to get your nice clothes all dirty or ripped."

Relena nodded. "Very thoughtful of you." She gave a little curtsy and headed into the mansion.

"I have a date in two hours." she told her retainer as she hunted through her clothes. "I need clothes for a baseball game."

"Your Highness," her servant told her. "With all respect. I object to your engaging in such mundane things."

"I don't get out with the common people enough." Relena pointed out. "I'm becoming as removed from them and their needs as the Alliance and OZ."

"But surely, we could set up a press conference and..."

"With controlled questions." Relena shook her head. "No. I want to know how people really feel."

She smiled as she found a polo outfit she wore sometimes. It wasn't exactly right, but it would do.

By the time Quatre knocked on the door, Relena was dressed and ready for their date.

"You look terrific." Quatre told her, simply because it was true. He offered his arm and Relena put her hand upon it.

"Thank you." Relena traded smiles with Quatre as he escorted her away from the place she'd come to think of as her home.

They got to the game a few minutes later. People were throwing a ball around and hitting it.

"They've already started." Relena sounded disappointed.

"No." Quatre's voice was reassuring. "It looks like they're just warming up. Shall we join them?"

One of the ballplayers turned to them. "Quatre!" he called. "Who's..." he stared at Relena in surprise, just as a ball beamed him. "OW!"

Quatre winced. "I'm sorry." he said. "Are you okay."

"I'm fine." the other boy smiled. "Just a bruise is all."

"Good thing your brain isn't in your head." another boy called from the field.

"Biiiiiidah!" the beamed boy stuck his tongue out and pulled down his eyelid at his companion.

Relena made a note of this gesture, in case it was needed someday.

-----part 2-----

Relena picked up a bat and held it in her hands.

"Okay, Relena," Quatre told her. He took a typical training stance behind her and put his arms around her, clasping his hands over hers. "That's good. But choke up on the bat."

"Choke?"

Quatre nodded. "Just an expression. It means you should move your hands higher up on the bat and hold it more tightly. If you don't grip it firmly you can injure your hand."

"Thank you for showing me, Quatre." Relena could feel her heart racing. He was so close, so wonderfully close. And did he know how badly she wanted him now. 

Yes, she could see it in his eyes. He knew exactly how she felt. And he seemed to feel the same 

Quatre did feel something. The stirring of new and exciting feelings throughout his young body. Relena was so pretty, and his body was so close to hers. And the faint perfume she wore was just so enticing. And her hair smelled like almonds after a morning rain. His heart raced, pit-a-pat, in his chest, as he showed her how to swing the bat. 

She snuggled back closer and Quatre's heart rate increased even further. He was almost purring now. It was so good to have her so close. He realized he wanted to kiss her. It was only their first date and he already wanted to kiss her.

//Be patient.// he scolded himself.

//But maybe she wouldn't mind a friendly kiss on the cheek.//

He leaned forward to bestow it upon her...

"You two gonna play or what?"

The annoyed voice of the other ballplayer shattered the moment. Quatre and Relena both sighed inwardly. The guy meant no harm. And perhaps, Quatre later reflected, he'd actually done some good.

"Sure!" Quatre said, cheerfully. "Relena, why don't you bat first?"

"Okay." Relena smiled as Quatre lead her to home plate. He showed her how to stand, then stepped back.

The ball sped from the pitcher's hand, traveling across the plate as Relena watched it go.

The next ball came, Relena swinging at it. The bat hit the ball at the tip. The ball went foul, heading over to the benches, where it struck Quatre in the side of the head.

"Quatre!" Relena dropped the bat and ran over to him. He was lying there, unconscious, a large and nasty bump on the side of his head. She looked up at the other ballplayers "Quick! Get help! He's hurt!"

Relena turned her attention back to Quatre. "It'll be okay." she told him. "Please let it be okay." 

Quatre opened his eyes and started to stand up. The world spun around him and he wondered when Relena had got a twin sister. He felt a wave of bile rise up in his throat and couldn't help vomiting. He felt really embarrassed doing this in front of Relena, but he couldn't help it.

"Don't try to move." Relena told him. "You have a head injury. It might be bad. I'm sorry, Quatre. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know." Quatre told her, wincing. His head was pounding.. The spinning world spun faster and a darkness began to creep in along the edges of his visit. He realized he was starting to pass out again.

Relena looked down at the limp form in her arms.

"Please, forgive me?" she asked, softly.

-----part 3-----

Quatre woke some time later in the hospital. His head was bandaged and Relena was sitting in a chair next to the bed.

"I'm sorry." she apologized 

"It's okay." Quatre smiled. "Really. Accidents happen."

"Hard, wasn't it?" Relena asked, after a long silence.

"Huh?!" Quatre blinked. Had Relena felt his arousal as they'd stood close, him teaching her how to hold a bat? It certainly sounded that way. 

"The way I hit that ball." Relena explained. "It was pretty hard."

"Oh!" Quatre pulled the blanket up to his nose, to hide the fact that he was blushing. "Um... yeah."

"What did you think I..." then it hit her. "Oh." she said, smiling softly. She leaned over and kissed Quatre on the forehead. "Maybe we will someday." she said, hopefully.

"It would have to be on our wedding night." Quatre replied. "It would be wrong to take you unwed."

"Just as it would be wrong for you to lose your purity before you claimed a wife." Relena agreed. "Was that a proposal, Quatre?"

"Not yet." Quatre admitted. "We're still too young, and there's a war on, as much as we both wish there wasn't. Lets wait and just enjoy what we have right now." 

"Yes, Sweet and free of complications. The way love should be." Relena agreed.

-----TBC-----