The Good, the Bad, and the
Goofy
By: R Gurl
Standard Disclaimers apply
for anything that might appear.
(AN's: This little fic takes
place in the year After Colony 199, I failed to mention that in the main story.
The entire fic is in the OC's P.O.V., which is first person. The original
character is the star. ^_^ Oh yeah, it's also a PWP)
(Key: *action * 'thought'
"speech" (obviously. ^^;;))
Rating: G
Warning: MAJOR mush content
toward the end. Those who have little or no imagination should not read this.
Also, Zechs x Noin fans, you have been warned. ^^;;;;
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
The morning had seemed to start like any other day, get
up, go to practice, eat lunch, go home….but ….today differed.
"Hey! Want to race again?" asked one of my good friends
and teammate, Jeremy.
"Yeah! Come on
Kate! One more, please?" that was my friend Kylie.
"Oh alright…one
more couldn't hurt." I hesitantly complied.
"On your marks,
get set, GO!" screamed the coach.
'Oh well, at least
this is the last round, I'm getting really tired' I thought as we sped along
the track at a breakneck pace. It was all going fine, until I was literally
eating dust. I had fallen pretty
badly.
"Kate! Kate! Are you alright??" I heard Jeremy say from
what had seemed like a mile away.
"Ugghh…yeah, I think so.." that was pretty much all I
could say after that. After a moment
there were two slightly taller figures looming over me.
"Are you alright?" said a rather deep voice.
'What the- where
did they come from?' "Ummm… yeah, *cough * I think."
"Here, let me
help," said the voice again as he stuck out his hand.
"Appreciate it"
Was all I could choke out, because, standing over me, was none other than an
old friend and classmate, Zechs Merquise; and standing not far behind was
Lucrezia Noin. "What the heck are you
two doing here?!?" I practically yelled, I was so excited, and frustrated at
the same time.
"Well…we heard
that you had been accepted onto one of the local track teams, so we, um…. came
to cheer you on?" squeaked a sweatdropping Zechs. He couldn't seem to get any
more out, so Noin took over from there.
"Yeah, that's
about…right." Noin appeared very nervous too.
'Oh give me a break'
"I don't buy that for a second, what's the real reason you're here?
I haven't seen or heard from you in two years, and you decide to drop by now?!"
"Oh alright, we were sent here to give you a package. Please don't ask what's in it, because I
have no idea. And we honestly wanted to watch the practice when we got here!"
Noin bit her lip.
"*sigh * Guess I
could buy that…for now." I noticed
Zechs sigh in some sort of relief.
"Uhm…that's all
fine & dandy, but we still have no idea who they are!"
squealed an exasperated Jeremy.
"Oh yeah! Sorry
Jeremy! *sweatdrop *. This is Zechs, and this is Noin. I went to school with
them at the Lake Victoria Academy. I
was also with them during the Eve Wars, and the Mariemaia incident as well." I
proudly stated.
"WOW! You mean
you're a soldier?!"
"Yes, I was at one
point. All of my instructors said that I had amazing abilities as a Newtype
pilot, but I never made it past the simulation field."
"Why not?" I could
tell he was curious now...
"Well, I had to go take care of my family. That's more
important than battles, right?"
"Right," replied
an incredibly concentrated Jeremy.
"Um, Noin?" I asked.
"Yes, what is it Kate?"
"Didn't you have
some sort of package for me?"
"Ah yes, shall we go get it?"
"Yes, I'll
accompany you."
"That would be
just fine."
"Err…can I come
too?" Jeremy asked like a little child.
"Of course, come
on." replied Zechs.
"Gee thanks!" he yelled as he proceeded to bounce off in
the direction we were headed. Since I
thought it was kind of difficult to walk beside them and talk at the same time,
I decided to walk backwards and face them instead.
"Where exactly did
you park anyway?"
"Over there" Noin
said as she pointed to a large empty field.
"You sure? Because I don't see anything but five miles of
dead grass…"
"Exactly." Was her
wry response; she pushed a button on what looked like a remote control, and her
trademark white Taurus appeared out of nowhere.
"Oh wow! I never
thought I'd get to actually see one of those things up close!" exclaimed an
unnecessarily excited Jeremy.
"Yes, but weren't
all the mobile suits destroyed after the war?"
"They were indeed,
but, I managed to keep this one intact. For travel purposes only, of course."
"Noin, you never
cease to amaze me."
"It really isn't that big of a deal, you know…um, Zechs?"
"Yes?"
"Could you go back
a little ways and check if anyone decided to follow us?"
"Sure thing," he
said as he started off in the other direction.
After a few minutes later I could see him coming back, huffing and puffing,
with the news. But before he could make
it Noin stuck out her foot and he fell…on top of me. Our lips met in the barest
of hesitant brushes. When our brains had processed what had happened, we both
turned a brighter shade of red than either of us thought possible.
'Oh my God…that
did not just happen!'
"Sorry…" we had somehow managed to mumble at the same
time. Jeremy had stopped bouncing just
long enough to see the entire thing.
'Nice timing. Ugh.'
"Umm…Zechs?"
"Yes Kate?"
"Would you mind
getting off me?"
"*sweatdrop * Oh,
so sorry. Of course." The weight shifted and we both stood up rather
shakily…still fazed from falling.
"Wha-"
"Don't ask
Jeremy…please." I quickly interrupted.
"*sweatdrop *
Uhh…sure, no problem there." At that
moment, the sky began to darken, and rain started falling in big drops from the
sky.
'Suddenly I feel
like Charlie Brown.' "Greeeat." We all
said at the same time.
"Come on, I have
some extra umbrellas in my Taurus." At the time we arrived at the big white
suit, not one of us wasn't sopping wet.
"I think it might
be a little late for the umbrellas." Said Jeremy sarcastically.
"Maybe, but we do
have the walk back to consider." Declared Noin as she rummaged through the storage
compartment. "Here, you and Zechs can
share an umbrella" she said as she handed us one. "Here you go Jeremy, and I'll
take this one."
"Let's go back
now, the storm's getting worse." Said Zechs.
"Good idea." We
all agreed.
We took a shortcut across the field to save time; all the
while each one of us were huddled up inside of our umbrellas, searching for
warmth. When we did finally come to the other side, we found the rest of the
team huddled together talking among themselves. Even after arriving at the other end of the field, we still
remained huddled up inside of the umbrellas.
"Hey! Hey! Kate!" yelled an ecstatic Marlayna. "What's up? Haven't seen you around too
much!"
"Yeah, sure has been a long time, huh?" I said.
"Hmm…maybe I'm
delirious or something, but you do look awful familiar to me…" she said,
looking at Zechs.
"Zechs Merquise…pleasure." Thud. Marlayna had
fainted before she could even utter his name.
"Wonder what's
eating her?" Jeremy inquired.
"I have no idea,
but I'll ask questions later, let's just get her out of the rain." I said as
murmurs of agreement spread throughout the rest of the team. But, before anyone
could even make an attempt at moving her, a sharp yell could be heard in the
distance.
"Hilde babe!" came
the scream.
"Uh o-" Thud.
"Duoooo! I swear!!"
"Hey Hilde!"
"Maxwell! For the last time, I'M NOT HILDE!!!!"
"*blink blink
* Oh. Then, who are you?"
"I can't believe you
don't remember me Duo, I saw you last week!! I'm Kate…remember?!"
"Oh yeah! Sorry
Kate! Eh…would you happen to know where Hilde is? *sweatdrop *"
"I think she
showed up for practice today…check with the coach over there."
"O-kees." Everyone
watched in complete shock as Duo bounced off to find the coach.
"Okay…now that that's over, who drove themselves to
practice today?" Silence. "Okaaay
then…guess I might be able to fit all of us into my truck. Let's go." I said.
"I can drive myself, but here's the address list for all
the members of the team." Spoke up the once silent coach.
"Alrighty. Let's go!
The rain's getting worse!" Everyone piled into the truck, and it was a
little more squished than originally intended. Noin took Marlayna with her into
the front seat, along with Zechs and me too.
Most of the trip was spent in that awful suspenseful silence, with the
exception of Noin reading off the addresses of the team members. At last…the
last houses… 'That took longer than I thought it would…' "Noin, what's the last address?"
"It's Marlayna's, but…um…she's still unconscious, and
she's not on the team, so that's a problem."
"Maybe I can remember where she lives…. ah, here!" I
exclaimed as I pointed to a dot on the map.
After several wrong turns and arguments later, we made it to her
house. "Here, I'll take her up, come
along if you want." I said.
"That's good, I'll come and help you." Said Noin.
"Thank-you" I put
simply.
"I'll come along too, but maybe I should stand off in case
anyone else who lives there faints too."
"*laugh * He he. That's a good one!" Noin and I blurted
out simultaneously. "Wow…she seems a
lot heavier than she did a few minutes ago..." I said as we got back into the
truck.
"Okay Noin, guess it's
your turn. Where to?"
"Hmm…Cameron's expecting me soon, so you can just drop me
off at his place, if it's not too much trouble."
"Not at all, now…where does he live?"
She simply said "Here," as she pointed to a specific spot
on the map.
'Okay, now to get us there in one piece.' "Here we are Noin, take care!" We waved
good-bye to her, and went on our way. "So…um, where should I take you?" I said
to Zechs in a rather cautious tone.
"Oh, I'm at the old apartment building at the corner of 35th
and R Street, you know where that is, right?"
"Of course I do silly! I'll have us there in a jiff!"
'Almost there…. hum…' "This is it. Oh,
but um, before you go…"
"Hn?"
"Yeah, um. Here."
I said as I gave him a semi-folded piece of paper. 'Sure hope that wasn't a
mistake to do that' He opened up the piece of paper and simply smiled in
return. 'Whew' "Call me later, ok?"
"Can do." He said,
wearing the silliest grin on his face.
"See you later then?"
"Definitely" was
his straightforward answer. I waited
until he was in the building, and then drove off.
'Now, off to my
parents' house for a long overdue visit'.
After a few minutes I had arrived at my parents' house… 'Hasn't changed
a bit' I thought with a wry smile on my face.
I wanted to surprise them, so I came in through the back entrance.
"Hello? Hello? Hello?" 'Wow…what an
echo…' "Anyone he-oof! What the?" was all I could yell after I had been pinned
to the floor by several very big dogs.
"Huh? Oh. Quatre!!! Get your dogs offa me!!" I whined at the top of my
lungs.
"Hello? Oh sorry about that. Let me help"
"What are you doing here anyway?" was all I could say
after being at the bottom of the doggy-pile.
"I was here with Dorothy, but she told me to stay here while she went
to the store. She hasn't been back for a while."
"Um…alright. One more question though, why was Dorothy
here??"
"I dunno….she just….was?" *sweatdrop*
*sigh* "Alright. I've seen enough today to believe anything."
There was a large shriek that came form the main room a few moments later.
"WHAT was THAT?" I yelled.
"Oh, that's probably just Rashid and Abdul. They insisted
on coming along with me. But all they're doing is drinking beer and watching
TV" said Quatre, who was now in a huff because they weren't helping.
"*blinkblink* Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to go say
hi…"
"If you want…it's kinda like 'enter at your own risk' in
there."
"I get it, let's go anyway."
"*shrug*" I think
Quatre was at a loss for once. I was
not mentally prepared in any way for the sight before me now. Abdul and Rashid
were both completely drunk beyond drunk, and…watching football?!
'I didn't know they still played football…' "Hey Abdul,
Rashid."
"Oh hi Kate! But,
what are you *hic * doing *hic* in *hic* our house? *hic *"
"Um…yeah…ok…maybe I should leave now…" 'Quatre was right,
this place isn't much better than a mental institution!' The hallway down to my parents' room seemed
endless. 'Maybe it's because it's been so long.' "Hi mom….um…how've you been lately?"
"Why hello sweetie! Long-"
"I know, 'Long time no see', right?"
"How'd you know?"
"Trust me" was all
I could think of as I rolled my eyes back in my head.
"So…how've things been going for you?"
"Oh alright. Can you handle the full story?"
"Of course, I'm not going anywhere."
"Okay, here
goes…." I related every detail of my downright odd day to her. "By the way, did
you know that Quatre's still here?" I had said when I was done.
"He is? The poor boy…must still be waiting for Dorothy to
come back. He can stay as long as he likes, and you be sure to tell him that!
Oh, and, do you have any idea why she was here anyway?"
"Got me" 'Man this is getting weird…' "Yes ma'am." I
absentmindedly went back to old military customs. 'Oops…wonder if she'll
notice?' "Well…I'd better get going, the storm isn't going to wait for me to
finish. Good-bye!" I waved good-bye to my mom and went off to find Quatre.
"Quatre?" nothing. "QUATRE!" Still nothing. 'Hmmm, wonder where he got to?' I
thought as I continued to search the house. As I came to the main room, I found
Quatre asleep on the couch, with Abdul and Rashid nearby dozing silently.
'He'll be alright' I thought with a smile.
I crept out the door to my truck as quietly as possible, so as if not to
disturb anyone. "Well, this has
certainly been one of the more interesting days I've had." I murmured out
loud.
The drive home seemed so much longer than normal. 'Maybe
it's because you're alone.' "Yeah, maybe" "Wow. Now I'm talking to myself…I
really must've lost it…" "Ah, home, finally. Wow it's been a long day.
*yawn*" I was so tired I almost didn't
make it all the way to my room. I was
in fact quite surprised when my answering machine was blinking red. "Huh? A
message? This late at night?" I looked at the clock… "Oh, it's only 4:30" I
shrugged it off. I was too tired to deal with it now anyway. Now, who could've called? *beep*
"Hi Kate, it's Zechs.
I was wondering if you would like to go out to dinner with me tonight…if
you're not sick from getting so wet earlier. *laugh* How does pizza sound? If
you don't have it already, my number's 531-6996. Call me back."
*beep* I had nearly fainted after hearing this. 'So
I gave him my number…but I didn't think he'd actually CALL it!' "What time is it?" I said to myself in a
hurried tone. "4:45, okay, I've got time, better call him back." I dialed his number, and not-so-patiently
waited for his voice to appear on the other end.
"Hello?" answered Zechs.
"Hi Zechs! It's me, Kate!"
"Oh hello Kate! I see you got my message?"
"Yes, I did, and I'd love to join you for dinner tonight!
Is eight alright? I might need some time…"
"Yeah, eight sounds great. See you then."
"Bye…" I barely got that last word out as I hung up the
phone. "Yeesss!! I don't believe this!"
I laughed. I looked back over at the
clock and yelled. "Yikes! Gotta get ready!!"
When 6:30 rolled around, I was basically ready to go, except for one
thing… "What to wear?!?" "Argh! Oh
wait" I exclaimed as a brilliant idea hit me. "I'll just call him back!"
*click * went the receiver when I had finished talking to
him. "So…just casual huh? Okay, I can do that." At 7:30, I was completely ready. I had decided to wear dark jeans
(dressier than normal jeans, mind you!), with a long sleeved turtleneck
sweater. "Okay, I think I finally got
it this time!" I exhaled loudly from
rushing around so much. Now it was
7:45, and I had pretty much worn out the Grand Canyon in my rug from pacing
back & forth so much. I sighed deeply and tried to calm my nerves, but to
no avail. "I might as well just sit
down and wait, I mean, pacing isn't doing me any good, and I don't think I can
say much for my rug either…" *ding dong*
I jumped a mile. "Yipes! Oh, It's
probably just him." 'Don't just sit
there! Answer it!' now my conscience is screaming at me! I opened the door, but it wasn't exactly who
I was expecting to see… "Hi Ze -oh hey Hilde! What're you doing here?"
"Err…" came her hesitant reply.
"Hmm…came to hide from the giant ball of energy that is
Duo?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Well, come on in if you want, but, I must tell you, one-
I'm leaving in a few minutes, and two- Duo knows where I live, and he's not
that stupid."
"Oh. Right. You do have a point there. Where are you
going?"
"Well…um…" was all I could mutter while trying not to turn
a very bright shade of red. "Zechsaskedmeoutonadate, ok?"
"English please"
"That was English"
"I'm not saying it again"
"Humph! Well, um… lemme think…." "!!!!!! Zechs asked you
out?!?!"
"Uh huh uh huh uh
huh!"
"Do you mean it?"
"Yes."
"Your totally
serious?"
"Yes!! Do you
think I would joke on something like that?"
"Yes."
"Ugh." *ding-dong* I was prepared for this one;
especially after the shock that Hilde gave me.
"That better be him this time."
"Uh-huh." Was all Hilde could say, because she wasn't
paying attention.
"You ready to go?"
"Oh hi. Yeah, sure, let's go." I managed to say as we
walked out to his car.
The entirety of the ride passed in almost complete
silence, mainly because we were both quite nervous. We did finally get there,
which had seemed like hours, I was very surprised when he came around and
opened my door for me.
"T-thank you." I choked out. 'Come on! That was pathetic!'
my conscience screamed at me, again; even though my simple thank-you was
greeted with a warm smile. "Shall we go in?" I said as I took his hand. He
squeezed mine tight as we walked through the doors.
"Oh gods I thought we'd never get seated!" sighed Zechs,
loudly.
"Yeah, and I don't think I could take any more people
staring at us like we're insane." I replied as I shook my head. "Oh well, at least the menus aren't too 'under-aged'."
I added to my last comment, which had seemed pretty silly to me. We ordered our food, and not long after it
came, we were paid a little visit from the Mad Hatter. 'What's this guy doing
at a pizza place? Now I've seen everything.' "Uh-oh, look who's headed this
way." I said to Zechs as I nodded in the Hatter's direction.
"Crap. There goes trying to keep a low profile."
"I know what you
mean- shhh! – here he comes!" I hissed regretfully.
"What was that you said? I didn't quite catch it!" yelled
the Hatter.
I let out a whimper that was only audible to those within
ten feet of me; that was pretty much everyone.
'Great, I just made us the number one source of entertainment for the
evening'.
"C'mon young lady! Spit it out! There'll be no secrets
here! Unless, of course, only he can hear it, huh?" he hissed as he
leaned his giant foam head in Zechs' direction. That got quite a few people laughing, and not to mention
whistling.
'Ughh…this is sooo
embarrassing!!' I mused to myself as the people continued laughing. "Would you like some tea?" He asked
me.
"No! No thanks!" 'I'm not that stupid…'
"Aww…come on! How
about a half-cup of tea?"
"Um….*gulp* alright. Half a cup couldn't hurt."
"That's the spirit!" he said as he took the pot of tea,
and instead of tea, this impish little green thing popped out, and well…landed
on my head. Even Zechs was laughing
this time, so I figured I could loosen up a little and laugh, too. "You most likely know who I am by now, so
how bout you tell us your names now?"
"Alright. You can call me Lieutenant Kate Riley." I caught a menacing glance from Zechs'
direction, and quickly corrected myself.
"Kate will do just fine."
"And what about you sir?"
"My name is
Colonel Zechs Merquise." I quickly
elbowed him. "Ow-you can call me Zechs, if you like." The mentioning of our names and previous military titles aroused
a disturbed murmur from the crowd.
"SO, why are you two here?" We both turned beet red, again; that seemed to be all the prompting
he needed. "Ah, I see. So you're here
on a date, are you?" Our faces got even redder, as we (very) slowly nodded our
heads yes. "Ha! I knew it! Hey
everyone! We've got a couple of lovebirds out on a date over here!" he yelled
at the top of his lungs.
'Now he's gone too
far!' I thought as Zechs and I both buried our heads in our hands to avoid the
obvious gazes of the people around us.
Some other groups started whispering something that sounded like a
secret, so The Hatter decided to go over there and bug them.
"Good grief…" I heard Zechs mutter under his breath.
"I feel just like
you…glad he's gone."
"Attention all customers:
Last dance of the evening! Anyone who would still like to dance please
head over to the center of the floor now." Boomed the loudspeaker.
"Odd… " I muttered.
"May I have this dance?" Zechs asked, offering me his
hand.
"But of course," I said, taking his hand and following him
over to the dance floor. The song they had chosen for the last dance was a slow
song called 'Here with Me'. 'I'm glad
it's slow; I don't think I have enough energy to deal with a faster one. This is so perfect.' I thought as I felt his strong arms wrap
around my waist. Just when the song had ended, he…kissed me?!?! It lasted only
but a few moments, but, during those moments, the only thing I could hear were
people cheering and whistling. 'Looks
like I was right after all.' We
eventually did break the kiss, and both of us were at a loss for words, but
that was okay, since there was no need for words now. The next thing we knew, the guards were ushering everyone off the
stage like little children. "Alright already, we're going." I mumbled under my
breath. I don't think anyone else heard
me, but that's probably good. We
returned to our seats, paid the tab, and headed home.
"That was one of the more interesting night's I've
had…"
"Yeah, same here" I laughed. "But, next time, how about bumper cars? I think they might be
safer…"
"Sounds like a good plan to me!" We both laughed as we drove the rest of the way home.
ENDé!
E-mail Me!
C&C Greatly appreciated. Argitou. ^___^
