Disclaimer: Sunrise owns Gundam Wing.
AN: I set this little tea party at sometime after Heero and Dorothy's duel but before Relena's visit with Duke Dermail.

Sunday Afternoon Tea
by Polka Dot

"You both came. I'm so glad." Relena stood up to greet her guests.

"Well I'm not one to pass up a good cup of tea." Quatre bowed slightly and sat down at the patio table. Heero followed his lead.

"I wanted to let you both know that I found your greeting speeches to be very informative and interesting. Most of the students only know about what is going on in the Colonies based upon the news reports. The media can be very misleading and we have no way of determining the feelings of the Colony citizens. So I was interested in your feelings towards OZ and the earth at this time." Relena handed both her guests a cup of tea. Sugar and honey were also presented.

"Well I think it's pretty obvious that neither Quatre nor I have much faith in OZ. We were prisoners of OZ both on the moon and here on earth."

"Yes that's true, but we can't ignore the fact that OZ has done nothing to injure the Colonies. At first I was skeptical of OZ's true intentions towards the Colonies, but they seem to be sincere in their desire to unite the Colonies in a peaceful manner." Quatre took a sip of his tea before continuing. "I'm afraid their intentions here on earth are much more aggressive. It's as though there exists two OZ organizations."

Heero shook his head. "OZ hasn't changed. My mission has always been to destroy OZ and I will complete my mission whether I fight here on the earth or in outer space. OZ is the enemy."

"What I don't understand is why you are both alive. I saw on the news that they were going to execute that other gundam pilot, what was his name?" Relena tapped her chin as she pictured the young man with the three foot braid whom she had met twice before.

"Duo." Heero answered.

"Yes Duo. He escaped though right?" Heero nodded. "But they did destroy his gundam."

"They broadcast that here on earth too? I didn't think that the earth wanted to see the gundams destroyed." Quatre recalled the footage that he had seen on video of Duo's gundam being blown away. At the time his heart went out to his fellow pilot, he thought of Sandrock's destruction and felt his heart ache.

"They didn't. OZ fulfilled the Colonies' wish for disassociation with the gundams by destroying Deathscythe, but they also were showing the resisting nations on the earth thier extreme military prowess by displaying the firepower of the Taurus mobile dolls." Heero explained.

"Yes that's true, but it had an even greater significance than that. For at least some people here on earth, the gundams have become a symbol of hope. By destroying the gundam they were trying to deliver a psychological blow to those nations resisting OZ's rule. Of course I didn't see it that way. I know that OZ is actually acting on the orders of the Romefeller foundation and I have been told that some of the members of Romefeller truly wish to acheive peace by disarmament."

"Who told you that?"

Relena thought she noted a hint of sarcasm in Heero's voice. "Duke Durmeil's granddaughter Dorothy Catalonia is attending this academy in an effort to learn about the ideals of the Peacecraft monarchy. Specifically our belief that peace will be acheived only when all armanments have been destroyed, forcing people to work out thier differences through dialogue."

Heero snorted slightly. "I've met Dorothy Catalonia and I think you should be careful around her Relena. She's more dangerous than you realize."

"Dorothy has been very honest and up front with me about her love of battles and wars, but I think that her being her is of great significance. She will see how misguided her ideas are when more nations side with the Cinq kingdom and its ideal of pacifism as opposed to Romefeller and its battles for superiority."

"I've been studying the Cinq kingdom for some time now Miss Relena and I believe you are correct. The people of the earth are tired of war. They don't want to fight anymore but they need a strong leader to guide them. I think you are capable of leading them. Romefeller can use military force to take over the earth's nations and provide the people with a strong leader, but they can't provide a compassionate one. You are both strong and compassionate..."

"And that makes you a threat to Romefeller. You have made your country defenseless and you are attracting OZ's attention by preaching pacifism to the other nations of the earth. You are an easy target Relena. You and your country will be destroyed if you can't fight back."

"That's not true Heero. If OZ were to attack the Cinq kingdom than we would fall, but they won't attack. OZ would lose all credibility with the people of both the earth and the Colonies if they attacked us. Since it is well known that the Cinq kingdom isn't a threat to anybody, an attack on our nation could only be the result of a brutal and aggressive entity."

"Romefeller would lose face and possibly economic and military backing." Quatre concluded.

"So you're relying on public opinion to save you. That's risky Relena. If you rely on others then you lose control over your own life. Think about it Relena. The public is fickle, they always have been. All Romefeller needs is an single excuse, one slip up on your part and they'll attack. OZ has changed historical records on the Colonies and they probably have control over information that the media can access. Besides they could always have you assassinated and blame it on some lunatic. You're too vulnerable right now."

"Perhaps that's true Heero, but I'm not afraid of Romefeller or OZ. I know that if I could talk to people who are willing to listen than I could make Romefeller see that their way to peace is full of unnecessary sacrifices. People will do what is right without someone else controlling them."

"You're a very persuasive person Miss Relena. I believe you could change Romefeller's mind if you were given a chance and I think that you might. Public opinion may be fickle but in the end people will do what is right and when everybody agrees then the public can not be ignored. There is nothing stronger than the will of the people. I believe that the public's growing faith in pacifism will force Romefeller to solicit your advice in the future."

"I hope you're right Quatre." Relena smiled at him and poured herself another cup of tea.

"That's why you're in so much danger now. Romefeller must silence you before the public forces their hand. You are too careless. Remember that OZ killed your father. You're nothing but an obstacle to them."

"Oh that's right. You have my condolences Miss Relena. My father was killed by OZ supporters too. He refused to allow our resource satellite to be used for the manufacture of military weapons and was killed by people whom he had worked with for years. I never thought that I would lose my faith in people, but I've had a hard time fighting at all since then. I lost sight of what's I was fighting for." Quatre's hand shook and tea trickled over the side of his cup. His eyes filled with water. "I became a gundam pilot to stop the continued subjugation of the Colony citizens, but I ended up destroying a colony instead."

"Oh Quatre!"

"I can never forgive myself for what I've done. I came to earth because I've become a threat to outer space, my home and my people."

"Quatre you've got to stop thinking about that. I told you the best way to make up for your mistake is to continue fighting. At this time it is difficult to know who our enemies are, but after killing Marshall Noventa and the rest of the Alliance pacifists I realized that fighting for thier ideals was the only way to atone for my mistake. You destroyed a colony but you can make up for it by freeing the remaining colonies from OZ's control."

"But Heero the other colonies don't want us fighting for them."

"I know that's why I'll fight OZ here on earth for now."

"No Heero, you're wrong. Neither of you should be fighting. I know that you are sorry you destroyed that colony Quatre. I can never understand what you and Heero must feel when you are fighting, but surely these continued battles are what is responsible for your past mistakes. Kind hearts such as yours weren't meant for wars and killing. You don't need to seek forgiveness from anybody. The colony citizens should ask forgiveness from you for forcing you to fight on their behalf. By all of us accepting pacifism soldiers like you won't be necessary any longer. Kind hearted people such as yourselves won't be asked to fight anymore."

"Miss Relena you're kind to say such a thing, but no one asked me to fight. I chose to do so because I believed that I could help the colony citizens by destroying OZ."

"But Quatre it should not have been neccessary for you to make such a choice. If the pacifism that my father, King Peacecraft, preached so many years ago was accepted by the people at that time than the Alliance would never have succeeded in destroying the Cinq kingdom or severing communications between the Colonies."

"That may be true, but I think that you have too much faith in people Relena. Human beings have a desire to fight and they will fight regardless of the prize to be gained."

"No Heero they fight because historically they have never known a world without war. Well I believe that the time as come to show them that peace is possible, without weapons and without human sacrifices. Peace is something that people desire. They desire it now."

"Because they are at war."

"Because fighting destroys kind hearts. I believe their are enough kind hearts left in the world to seek peace through dialogue instead of battles."

"It sounds as if Miss Noin has had quite an influence on you."

"I would say that we've influenced each other." Relena smiled. "I wanted to talk about the feelings of the Colonies. It seems that the Colonies are happy with OZ and will manufacture the weapons that OZ has proposed to them."

"Yes the Lunar base was the first Mobile Doll plant but others are beginning to spring up." Quatre poured himself another cup of tea.

"If OZ can build up the Colonies forces than the earth will have a powerful force to deal with. The Colonies have a tactical advantage because they are so spread out. The earth won't be able to abandon its weapons once all the colony resources are shifted towards making weapons." Heero stared at Relena as she sipped her tea.

"That's sad. I always looked forward to visiting the Colonies because the people their were so kind and I felt safe there. The more the Colonies become like the earth, the less sympathy people here on earth will have for the hardships the Colony citizens face."

"So it's better for the colony citizens if they must endure a harsher way of life?"

"Not at all. It's just more difficult for the people of earth to consider the feelings of the Colony citizens. They are so far away that it is hard to remember there are people out there unless they make us remember by calling on us for aid..."

"Or threatening the earth with war..." Heero supplied.

"Or calling upon the earth for peace." Relena countered.

"Well it seems there are a lot of possibilities for the future. But I think this is a good sign the three of us sitting here together. Pacifist, soldier, colonist and earthling, all getting along." Quatre looked at Heero whose was glaring at Relena. He looked at Relena who was smiling at Heero. He tried to ignore the tension that was building between them. "Well the tea was wonderful, wasn't it Heero?" Quatre looked back at Heero and realized that his teacup was completely full and untouched. "Thanks for inviting us Miss Relena." He scooted away from the table and stood up. He noticed as he did so that Relena's shoes were beneath her chair and her feet weren't visible.

Relena turned away from Heero. "It was my pleasure Quatre. I hope we can do it again soon." She turned back to Heero. "I'm glad you both are here now. I hope that spending some time here in the Cinq kingdom will persuade you both that pacifism can ensure a peaceful future for everyone." Relena's smile brightened as she began to collect the teacups, spoons and other items scattered across the table.

Heero pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. As he walked away he stomped his right foot a little as though his shoe were loose. His right sock was also bunched around his ankle. Quatre stifled a chuckle and followed the stoic pilot inside. He thought that it was ironic; he had found the conversation stimulating and ended up totally missing out on the most invigorating part of the afternoon.

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