This is an AU ficlet where Relena reigns as a tyranical queen and an obstacle to world peace. I wrote this a while back, thinking it would be part of a larger story. The larger story never materialized, so here's just this little bit.

Warning: death and angst.

Kill the Queen

by Sachie

He killed the last of the Queen's guards and burst through the heavy door.  Relena stood in the center of the room in full royal regalia.  Her long red train pooled about her feet like fresh blood.

"I knew it would be you," she said lifting her head.  There was no fear in her eyes.

Heero pointed the gun straight at Relena's heart.

Time seemed to stop..

Deja vu.  He hadn't been able to kill her, back when she was only a rich little schoolgirl who knew too much.  Now she was a ruthless tyrant and the agent of oppression, yet he still could not kill her.  Why?

The room they were standing in was a dancing hall.  He recalled their first and only dance.  He still didn't know how she had persuaded him to dance with her.  Was it her total lack of fear? Her odd persistence?  What kind of spell had she placed on him?  He remembered the way her body had felt, when she brushed against him.  The warmth of her fingers in his palm and on his shoulder.  He had dreams where she would rest her head on his shoulder, he would wrap both arms around her slight waist, and they would dance, uninterrupted by gunfire or explosions.

"You could step down as Queen of the world," he said.

"That will never work, Heero," she said.  "As long as I am alive, people will want to follow me.  T hey will want me to rule over them.  Even if I stepped down, the fighting will never stop.  That's what you want, isn't it? An end to all this war?"

Heero couldn't deny the truth of her words.  For the fighting to end, Relena had to die.  It was a conclusion that was reached long ago.  Now it was time to pay the consequences.  To face the queen and kill her.

Kill Relena. 

His eyes took in every detail of her form.  The upswept hair that exposed her graceful neck and made her appear so much older than her 15 years, the ornate dress that clung to her slender curves and set off her cerulean blue eyes.  The curve of her lips, the intensity of her gaze.  This was what he had to destroy.

"Don't wait too long, Heero," she said.  "Reinforcements are on their way.  They won't hesitate to gun me down, but I want it to be you.  You promised, remember?"

She smiled softly, like a girl reminding her boyfriend of an anniversary, not like a queen confronting her assassin.

"Shoot me, and I'll die with no regrets."

It was impossible to comply.  It was impossible to refuse.  But in the end, propelled by inevitability, he took one last look, committing it all to memory, before he closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger.

It must have been only minutes, but to him it felt like an eternity.  He found himself kneeling on the ground, cradling her body in his arms. A red stain spread across the front of her dress.  Her blood was on his hands and on his clothes.  The smell of blood filled his nostrils.  His throat felt raw.  There were hot tears streaking down his face.

It felt wrong that he should shed warm tears when she was so cold and growing colder.  Her face was very peaceful, as if she had simply closed her eyes and fallen asleep.  He ran a finger down her cheek, leaving behind a smudge of blood.

His gun was lying on the floor next to him.  He picked it up and held the barrel against his temple.  The war was over, and now he could do what he always wanted to do.

Be with Relena.

A slight but genuine smile curved his lips upward before he pulled the trigger.

-------------end---------------