Cold Sweat: Chapter
One
By Trianna
Disclaimer
I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters, blah,
blah, blah. But I do own this storyline and Tria. Don't take any of my ideas;
please.
Also, you might want to know that I'm American so I have
only seen the three-episode version of Endless Waltz (which doesn't have
Dorothy in it as a character and that's why her character might seem funky to
you) and the cut regular-season version. Also, stuff I don't know about all
came from my friends, so the information might not be reliable. Please, pretty
please, e-mail me at perky2k1@hotmail.com and tell me what you think.
Prologue
This
is set after the Endless Waltz episode version. The pilots and their
sidekicks/girls are eighteen years old. Everyone has gone separate ways and
sort of lost contact with each other.
Heero
Yuy- Preventer in the L1 Cluster, who hasn't seen or spoken with any of the
other characters in a long time
Relena Peacecraft- Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian
Duo
Maxwell- scrap-yard manager (and yes he is living
with Hilde, so get your mind out of the gutter)
Hilde Schbeiker- scrap-yard manager with Duo
Trowa Barton- circus clown
Catherine Bloom- circus act with Trowa
Quatre Rababa Winner- inherited his father's business but working as an
intern at a hospital
Dorothy
Catalonia- most isolated of the original characters (she moved away)
Chang
Wufei- Preventer in L5 Cluster with Sally (and yes, you can say they are a
couple)
Sally Po- Preventer in L5 Cluster with Wufei
Mariemaia Barton- living with Une on Earth
Lady Une- lead Preventer
Milliardo Peacecraft-
working on Mars in the terra-firming project with Noin
Lucrezia Noin- working on Mars in the
terra-firming project with Milliardo
*****
Relena woke up in a cold sweat. It had been that same dream
again. She had just stood there as he had turned and walked away. Holding onto
the last thread of consciousness, she whispered, "Heero, where have you gone?"
Her thoughts fluttered out into blackness as a cold cloth was placed on her forehead.
*****
Outside the room, the nurse met one of her co-workers.
"Miss Darlian is starting to worry me. Her condition doesn't seem to be
improving…" glancing back into the room, her brow creased into a frown. "She's
starting to hallucinate. Just a moment ago she was saying something about a
hero, or was it Heero? I really don't know."
A young intern passing by started in surprise. "Excuse me,
did you say Heero?" The nurses looked down into the bluest, brightest eyes
they'd ever seen. The intern shook his head causing his blonde bangs to shake
furiously. "I'm sorry for startling you, but what were you saying about Heero?"
The nurses couldn't resist the temptation of gossip. "Well
this patient here," gesturing into the dark room, "Miss Darlian-" They never
got to finish, as the intern rushed past them into the room.
*****
The shock was just beginning
to wear off. Flopping off the bed he disentangled himself from the sheets.
Pulling on his customary green tank top and blue jeans, he walked over to his
dresser. Pulling the newspaper clipping out of the frame, he traced her lovely
face. His mind started running in the familiar track. I love Relena, yet that
dream had been so real. She was falling further and further: Although I reach
for her she never comes any closer.
Pulling on his sneakers, Heero stalked out of the room. The
annoying maid waved flirtatiously. He barely noticed, although he gave her one
of his best "I will kill you" glares. She ignored it and gave him a wink. She
must be getting used to it.
Out on the street, he went into one of its many tourist
shops. He bought the most cliché postcard in the shop. Back on the street, he
felt the early morning light on his shoulders, and watched the people bustle
about their lives.
Going over to the nearby park, he sat back in the shade of
a tree and he let his thoughts drift as he watched children play. Going through
the past years he brought up long forgotten feelings. Although he would never
tell Duo it but Heero missed Duo's humor. He missed Trowa's calm demeanor,
Quatre understanding words and Wufei's anti-women comments. They were his
comrades and friends. And Relena; not a day goes by that he didn't think of
her. Yet how could it work out?
Shaking his head angrily, Heero looked down at the postcard
lying forgotten in his lap. Writing tiny he began, "To my dearest Relena." With
that the words flowed easily.
When the sun had started to sink behind the horizon Heero
sat up. Stuffing the postcard into his
back pocket, beside five others, he got up and walked into the sunset.
*****
Quatre stood over the frail form of Relena. How different
she looked from when he last saw her. Then she had been blossoming and full of
energy. Now she was quaking with fever under the thin blanket. Quatre looked at
the IV tubes coming out of her arm and the heart monitor following Relena's
every heartbeat. His own started beating a bit faster out of fright. Someone's
got to tell Heero! Turning to the nurses, his face set, Quatre demanded
information.
*****
Sitting up groggily, Duo pulled his braid into alignment.
He picked up the phone. Mumbling hello, he managed to only slightly slur it.
The sleeping form beside him shifted lightly but remained asleep.
"Hello. Is this Duo? It's Quatre."
"Quatre, this is
Duo. But why are you calling me at two in the morning?" Walking to the kitchen
so as not to awake Hilde, he lounged on a stool.
"I'm really sorry about waking you. Just have something to
tell you that couldn't wait." There was a pause. "Relena is… dying."
Duo sat bolt upright blinking the sleep out of his eyes. He
managed not to gasp loudly but sat listening for a moment anyway to see if
Hilde awoke. Whispering to Quatre, he asked, "Why I mean… last time I saw her
she was the picture of health."
"Yes, that's what I thought when I first saw her. Right now
she's in a coma. The doctors are saying its cancer in the kidney." Quatre
shifted uneasily from foot to foot.
"But don't you have two? Right?" Duo tried to be
optimistic, but he knew what was coming next.
"Wrong." Whatever hopes Duo had tumbled. "She gave one away
to save Mariemaia."
"Then all we have to do is find a donor! Well…" holding his
breath Duo thought it over a second more, "I'll do it."
"I'm sorry but you're wrong again." Making a stab at humor,
he added, "You usually quicker that that." But his voice was unusually highly
pitched. "Here's my reasoning. She only got sick after Heero disappeared. And
she had a perfect diet."
"What are you saying?
You think she poisoned herself? Why would she do that? It's weird." Duo was
puzzled.
"I've never been more serious. She probably did it out of
loneliness or love."
Duo rubbed the back of his neck out of frustration. "She
really does love Heero. How that is possible is beyond me."
"Its not that
hard. You'll figure it out one day. On to more important matters. You've got to
contact Wufei and Trowa. Tell them about the circumstances and maybe they'll
help us find Heero." Quatre hung up with that.
Duo shook his head in
disbelief. He turned to open the refrigerator and noticed Hilde in the doorway.
Seeing her eyes well up with tears, he went to her. "Oh baby, everything's
going to be okay."
*****
Wufei had just been finishing his morning coffee and was running
out the door with Sally when the call came. It had been brief, but what Sally
had heard was enough.
As he turned to Sally, he seemed to see right through her.
Sally knew he was remembering when another loved one had died in his arms.
He turned to stalk out saying at the same time, "Come on or
we'll be really late to work." After
an afterthought, he added, "There we'll go through the database to se if a
Preventer Yuy can be found."
Although she couldn't bear the thought of Relena dying, a
smile stretched across Sally's face. "Oh, yes sir!"
*****
Catherine had found the phone message first. After hearing
it she practically ran screaming to Trowa. But as usual, he took it calmly.
"Something productive to do. Finally," he said.
Catherine wasn't so sure. "But what can we do? Hand out flyers that say 'Have
you seen me' with a picture of Heero? That's just dumb," she retorted.
"You're right about that. What would Heero do?" Trowa
pondered that question.
Pulling out Trowa's clown mask, Catherine simply said,
"We'll figure something out. We have to."
*****
Quatre had left himself the
hardest job: Telling Dorothy. He decided to do it in person, since it would be
more personal.
He couldn't understand it but after Mariemaia had gotten
better, Dorothy had moved away into a small house in a low-key neighborhood.
As he tapped lightly on the door he steeled himself for
what was to come next.
She opened the door and smiled openly at Quatre. Yet
something was lurking behind it. Other than that, Quatre noted that Dorothy
looked as beautiful as ever. Trying to cover his blush he said a bright hello.
Welcoming him in, Dorothy pondered the funny undertone of
his greeting. Glancing at his attire, she noticed and blushed at the same time at
his formal suit.
Looking into Quatre eyes, Dorothy managed to catch sight of
the fear and anxiety before he looked away. Something was wrong. He would not
have dressed up and come all the way there without calling if everything was
right.
Pointing to her living room she invited him to sit down.
"I'll go make some tea," she offered.
Watching through the kitchen door, Dorothy saw Quatre sit
down on the sofa rather stiffly. All the while he was fingering some old
magazines on her coffee table.
She looked him over s she walked out of the kitchen with
the tea tray. Although he was as rigid as a board, she saw that he still had
tenderness and kindness flowing through him. With burning emotions she reached
out to him. "Sugar or milk?"
Distractedly Quatre answered, "Milk." Dorothy knew he hated
milk in his tea. And he wasn't looking Dorothy in the eye.
He couldn't look into Dorothy's eyes again. What he had
seen there chilled him to the bone; the blanketed pain and sorrow was too much.
Yet he could see that Dorothy wasn't buying the casual act.
Still shifting his eyes from Dorothy's blank stare he got
down to business. "I can see you aren't believing that I came all the way here
for tea and small talk," he said. At a loss, Dorothy bobbed her head. "I came
here to bring you news." Quatre let that statement hang for a moment before
continuing. "I don't know what happened between you and Relena but the silence must end!" His throat didn't seem to be
working as he swallowed uneasily. He shifted, exposing the maturity newly
nestled in the tallness of his limbs. Overall, he fit his body like a glove;
there was no gawkiness or adolescent awkwardness left.
Dorothy stopped fantasizing as she realized Quatre had
started talking again. "The reason I came, well it's because…" he paused trying
to swallow around the lump in his throat, "because Relena's dying of a type of
cancer."
Dorothy's mind went reeling, "No, it's not possible!" Her
body was numb. Barely she realized she was spilling tea all over her dress and
tumbling into Quatre's outstretched arms. She admitted one sob before the world
fell into darkness.
*****
Mariemaia was making her way back from visiting her
father's grave when a thought popped into her head. She hadn't checked on
Relena anytime lately.
Going up to the computer in her room, Mariemaia typed in a
search for Relena. Surprisingly, quite a few articles came up on the
Vice-Foreign Minister. Checking the first one, Mariemaia read:
"On the
first day of May, Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian of the Sanc Kingdom was
diagnosed with terminal cancer. It appears to have originated in her kidney but
luckily the doctors caught it before it could spread. The interesting thing was
that Miss Darlian was totally convinced she was healthy and was almost forced
to go for the check-up.
"Although
most people have two kidneys, Miss Darlian had given one away to save a young
girl's life…."
The article continued in the same strain for another few
paragraphs. Mariemaia looked at the rest, all about the progress of the cancer
in Relena. Yet Mariemaia never really read them. She touched her side where
her, no Relena's, kidney lay. Her vision blurred. Soundless, the tears dripped
onto the keyboard for it was already December 29th.
*****
When Dorothy awoke it was early morning. The dawning light
outside was brightening the room fast. Shifting her weight she realized she was
in her nightgown. Glancing around she saw her cleaned dress on the clothes
rack.
Smiling to herself she thought, Quatre must have carried me
to bed, got me out of that wet dress and into this nightgown, under the
blankets, and washed the tea stain
out of her dress. What a guy! Realizing she hadn't seen him in the room,
Dorothy sat up quickly. Walking quietly, she caught sight of him slumped over
in the armchair. Sleeping, he looked like a baby.
A number of emotions flowed through her as she padded
softly up to Quatre. Fingering his silky blonde hair, flashes of hot and cold
struck her. Then she traced the lines and contours of his face. Oh, how much
she loved him. Turning to go she decided when he awoke, she would tell him her
feelings.
Dorothy started walking
away. Quatre sat up. "Please, please don't stop. That felt really good."
Dorothy spun around to face those blue piercing eyes staring imploringly into
her own. Standing up he gathered her into his arms. Tilting Dorothy's face to
meet his own, he whispered, "I love you."
Gently he settled onto the
couch with Dorothy in his lap. Lightly he skimmed her lips with his own. All
her barriers gave way. Quatre's own feelings tumbled into the open. He felt his
shoulders weigh down as he took up Dorothy's burden. "I love you too," she
breathed.
*****
End
Chapter One