Notes: AU - Set in the English countryside just before the war against Napoleon.  Bitchy heiresses, arrogant suitors, sexy servants, betrayal, love, death, and humor.  Pairings of all kinds appear and characters from many animes will be making appearances.  There will of course be some OOCness, but that is expected with an AU fic. R/R appreciated.

Disclaimer:  I do not own Gundam Wing or Samurai Troopers or any other anime contained herein.
 
 

“Relena.”

“Yes, Father?” She laid down the quill pen and gave her stepfather her complete attention. Relena watched with a small frown as he paced the study. Being a foreign ambassador, he dealt with people in very high stress issues everyday. So often that he was seldom home, and she was enjoying having him around for a change. He had allowed them to attend a few business dinners while in London. While conversing about the possibility of war he seemed completely unflustered, but here he was walking about the room in what she could only describe as a nervous manner. “What is it, Father? Are you going to have to leave again?”

“Yes, Relena, but that isn’t what I need to speak to you about.” Not looking at her he began to speak running his fingers over the well-worn volumes lining the shelves. “As you know, your parents were my very dear friends, and we love you and raised you as our own after their deaths. This house, the land, and their fortune have been put in trust until your wedding.”

“Yes.” She had heard all this before. In fact she couldn’t be happier. Most of the girls she knew had to marry for position and money, but she had the unique opportunity to marry for love. Her parents had left her enough money to last her and her children the rest of their lives. A dreamy look entered her eyes as she thought about her seventeenth birthday only a month away. That was the date she picked to tell her adopted family the name of the boy she had fallen in love with.

“You have become a young woman now, and it is time for you to meet the boy you’re going to marry.”

“I have.”

Mr. Darlian spun to face his stepdaughter in shock. “What do you mean? When did you meet him?”

A blush stained her cheeks and she played with the paper lying in front of her. “A long time ago. I’ve loved him since he first helped me conjugate a verb. I was planning to tell you about Touma in a few weeks.”

“Touma? Dr. Hashiba’s son?”

“Yes, I know you are going to love him too. He’s very intelligent and is planning to go to medical school. He can’t afford it now, but after we’re married he’ll be able to attend any school he wishes. No one will turn away the Duke of Peacecraft.”

“Relena, you can’t marry Touma.”

The sound of tearing paper filled the silence. “What? Ww... why?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.

“I’m sorry, Relena. I should have told you sooner, but the time never seemed right.”

“Told me what?” Her calm voice belied the tears gathering in her throat and the sinking feeling in her gut.

“You were betrothed to Heero Yuy at the age of four. Heero was shipped off to a military academy when his parents died in a carriage accident. You will meet him at the Khushrenada ball this weekend.”

Relena stared at the flowing lines of her handwriting on the torn paper lying on the desk. She could feel the jagged edges of her shattered dreams as they fell around. They dug into her heart and ripped gaping wounds from which her happiness flowed leaving her empty.

“What if I choose not to marry him?” she asked in a hollow voice.

“Then your fortune will go back to the throne along with the title. You will have nothing left. I’m sorry.” Unable to bear the empty look in Relena’s eyes, Mr. Darlian escaped the study without another word.

As the door shut with a soft click, Relena watched the loving words in her diary blur together.

“Touma.”