Author: Bunny-chan
Email: Bunny_chan85@hotmail.com
1/13/01
Christmas Love
Ossu! This idea just occured to me, and I thought I would type it out before
I lost it. This is kinda mushy love stuff, and late for the holiday. But who cares!
^_^ Enjoy!
Just a few notes before we start...
=....= means a person is talking over a phone or a commmunicator.
********** means a scene change, or a passage of time.
'.....' thinking
"....." speaking
Shorty-chan didn't preread for me this time cause I thought I'd give her a break, and
use this chapter as sort of a late birthday present. So, Happy Birthday Shorty-chan!!
I hope you got some cool stuff, and had fun.
Usagi sighed. It had to have been the fifth time she did in less than 30
seconds. 'I can be happy with the fact that I've broken some kind of record.' She
thought grimly.
Usagi Tsukino was 18 years old and very bored at the present moment. Her tea
sat untouched on the coffee table, an old photo album lay open near the tea. Usagi's
eyes went unfocused and she stared straight ahead of her. She had been doing that
alot lately.
Usagi was crouched next to the table, apparently, she had been sitting there
looking through some photos.
Then, for no reason at all, her eyes started to tear up. 'Kassan, tousan, I
miss you so much. Even you, little Shingo.' She looked around her apartment, she
didn't want to put any decorations up. They reminded her so much of her family, and
all the fun times she had with them.
When she was younger, she loved Christmas. But not now. 'How long has it been?
Only a year and a few weeks... Why'd you have to leave me alone?'
She grabbed the book and stared at one photo. It was a picture of her and her
family. In the photo, Usagi appeared to have been at least 15. They had went to an
amusment park that day, and had done lots of fun stuff too. The picture had shown all
four of them smiling.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Usagi was so startled that she spilled her tea
all over the pictures. Her eyes watered more at the sight. She fumbled for some some
napkins to salvage her treasures.
The doorbell rang again, and a deep voice yelled through the door, "Usagi-chan!
Open up! These things are heavy!" The voice sighed, rather loudly and said, "I'll
use the spare key!"
Another voice sounded, "Shut-up! You damned kids are so damned loud!!"
The first voice yelled back, "Quiet you old hag! I'll be quiet once I get inside,
so keep your panties on!"
The door to Usagi's apartment opened and a man holding several packages waddled
inside, his long chestnut colored braid swinging behind him. His face was covered by the
boxes. He set them down by the door and looked into the main room. His face contorted
with worry.
"Usagi-chan? Daijoubu?" He asked walking over to the crying Usagi.
"Duo-chan... The tea spilled all over the photos..." She sniffled.
Duo went in to the kitchen and came back with some towels and tissues. He wiped
up the rest of the spilled tea and kneeled down next to Usagi. He smiled, "It's ok,
Usagi-chan. Here," He brought the tissue to her eyes and lightly dabbed them, "There's
no use in crying over spilled milk, or in this case, spilled tea." He joked, trying to
make Usagi smile. She did, even if it was only a ghost of a smile.
Duo looked at the pictures that were drying, he frowned. 'You always dwell, don't
you Bunny?' "Usagi-chan? You weren't crying over just the tea were you?"
Usagi blew her nose, "No, I miss them so much, Duo-chan." She stated sadly.
Duo sighed and enveloped her in a hug. "How long have we known eachother?"
Usagi hesiatated, startled by the unexpected question, "Since we were eight years
old. Ten years, why?"
"What have I always promised you?"
"I..."
"I said I would always be there for you, and protect you. Please don't forget that
Bunny." He smiled and looked into her blue eyes, "Now, have I got a surprise for you!"
He got up and brought the boxes over to her and sat down. "This one's for you...
for you... for you! Wow! You got so many! There's this one for you and another! Santa
must like you! You got five presents!" He smiled and joked.
Usagi smiled back. Duo could always make her smile and laugh. 'My best guy, my
best friend, Duo-chan' "I take it you want to exchange presents now?"
He shook his head vigorously. She laughed and walked in to her bedroom. Moments
later she emerged with boxes and packages too. She sat down and counted them off just
like Duo had.
"One for Duo... Two for Duo... Three for Duo! Wow! Four and five and... Six!
Santa sure likes the Shinigami this year!" She laughed and used Duo's nickname.
Usagi and Duo exchanged their first presents. Usagi opened up a small box and
looked a bit confused at it's contents. She held up a gravy boat and looked at Duo,
confusion written on her face.
He smiled, "It's to replace the one I broke at Thanksgiving."
"Oh? I thought it was Wufei-kun's fault it broke."
"You thought that? Heh heh... um, you might be right about that. Blame it on
Wu-chan." Duo excused himself from the blame nervously.
"Uh huh. Thank you, Duo-chan."
"No prob." Duo opened his present and his smile grew very wide. "Thanks,
Usagi-chan! I love them!" He held up a black dress shirt and black pants.
"It's not hard to shop for you considering your color." She said, indicating Duo's
love for black clothes.
They opened the rest of their presents. Duo got Usagi a yellow crescent moon
neclace and matching bracelet and two paintings of the ocean. Usagi got Duo a hair
managing kit, a joke kit (box including all sorts of things to annoy a person), a book,
Talking with Dragons, a necklace with a cross, and a poster of his favorite rock group.
"Duo-chan, you sure know how to shop. I hope you got alot of good things for
Hilde-chan too."
"Uh..." Duo struggled for words.
"Duo-chan? What happened? Did you and Hilde-chan break up again?"
"Well, I didn't get alot of things for Hilde. I got her one thing..." Duo said,
carefully forming his words.
"One!?" Usagi yelled astonished that her best friend would only get his four-year
flame one thing for Christmas.
"Usagi-chan! It's really important! I'll show you what I mean." He dug his hand
in his pocket and pulled out a small red box. "I want to do this on New Years."
"Duo-chan!! Are you really?!" She asked excitedly.
Duo only nodded confirmation.
"Oh this is wonderful!! You're going to propose to Hilde-chan!!"
"Usagi-chan! Not so loud, your landlady might hear you and start screaming at us
again."
Usagi stoppped screaming and giggling and looked at Duo with a solumn face, "If
I remember correctly Duo Maxwell, you were the one who was really loud."
"Well, whoever it was, I just don't want that old hag to yell. She might throw
you out one of these days."
"Hmmm..."
Usagi fell silent. Obviously not thinking about her landlady.
"Usagi-chan? What are you doing for New Years? You know, me and Hilde would love
to have you over. Besides, we're having a party anyway. Everyone's going to be there!
You remember Hiiro, right? He'll be there and Wufei, and Quatre and... Hey! You haven't
met Quatre or Trowa yet have you?"
Usagi was only half listening to Duo ramble on about his party.
Duo frowned and waved his hands on front of Usagi's eyes. She looked up confused.
"Uh... yeah?"
"You weren't listening!"
"Oh, gomen ne, Duo-chan."
Duo sighed. 'You've been acting like this more and more. What's bothering you?'
"Well, are you going to come or not?"
"Come to what?" She asked, still not listening completely.
"To my New Years party, Usagi-chan!!! You weren't listening at all!!!"
A voice came through the wall, slightly muffled, "Quiet you damned kids!! Why can't
I get some quiet in my building?!?!"
Duo yelled in the direction of where the voice originated, "You be quiet, you old
hag! You're the one who's making all the noise!!"
"Duo-chan... You say I'm loud. I'll come to your party. When should I be there?"
"You'll come? Great! Come over at around six o'clock, ok?" Duo got up from his
seat on the floor, gathered his things, and walked to the front door.
"Thanks again for the presents, Usagi-chan. I'll see you soon!" He smiled and
walked out the door.
Usagi sighed. 'Alone again.' To keep herself busy she cleaned up the livingroom,
washed her dishes, and sat down on the couch and tried to watch television. She sighed
again, nothing on. At least nothing that wasn't so idiotic it would make you want to kill
yourself.
She shook her head and got up from the couch. "This won't do." Usagi put on her
coat, grabbed her wallet and keys, and left her apartment.
As Usagi walked out into the cold December air, she pulled her coat tighter around
herself. She looked down at her black boots. The salt on the roads had stained them. She
frowned. As she was walking, head down, she didn't notice the body that she had run into.
Usagi fell back with a startled cry. She saw the man in front of her trying to
gather the parcels he had just dropped. Usagi went over and handed him one of the parcels.
"Gomen nasai. I wasn't paying attention."
The man took the offered package from her hand and said, "It's alright. I wasn't
looking either. My mind was... else-where." The man looked up to meet her face and he gave
a small smile.
Usagi inwardly gasped when he looked up at her. He had beautiful eyes. One of the
green orbs was shrouded by his reddish-brown hair.
Usagi held out her gloved hand, "Watashi wa Tsukino Usagi."
The man took her hand, "My friends call me Trowa. Trowa Barton."
"Trowa-kun!!" Trowa turned his head to the owner of the voice. Some feet away was
another man. He had blonde hair and was yelling for his friend.
Trowa bowed to Usagi, "Gomen, Tsukino-san. My friend is waiting for me."
Usagi smiled at his politness, "That's fine. But please, you may call me Usagi.
Sorry again for bumping into you."
"Yes. Sayonara, Usagi-san." Then Trowa walked off to meet his friend.
Usagi looked on as Trowa walked away. She smiled, 'He sure is cute.' She giggled
to herself about thinking such things and walked off.
Trowa looked back just as Usagi was walking away. 'Something about her. I can't
describe...'
The blonde man ran up to him. "Trowa-kun! Where were you?"
"Don't worry, Quatre-kun. I was coming from the store and I bumped in to someone.
I think you worry too much."
"How can you expect me not to worry? I don't know what goes on in your mind half
the time, I'm worried you might do something to yourself because of Catherine." Quatre
said, exasperated.
"....."
Quatre sighed. Of course he wasn't expecting an answer, but it would've been nice.
Catherine had passed on about six months ago, and ever since then, Trowa had been even more
reserved and stotic.
Trowa looked down at his blonde companion, "Quatre-kun, you know I wouldn't do
anything like that."
"Yeah, I know. But I can't help worrying sometimes." The two stayed silent for
awhile, just walking to their homes. Then Quatre spoke.
"Are you going to come to Duo and Hilde's party next week?"
"I suppose I should. I wasn't planning on doing anything on that day anyhow."
Quatre nodded, "I heard Duo is going to propose to her."
"Oh? Where did you hear that?" Trowa asked, raising an eyebrow.
Quatre laughed, "From Duo. He came over yesterday and told me. It seemed as though
he was really excited. I'm happy for him."
Soon, the two men came to the point of parting ways.
"Ja, Trowa-kun. I'll see you later at the party, or maybe before that." Quatre said.
Trowa sighed, "I'm not a baby, Quatre-kun. You don't have to visit me everyday just
to make sure I haven't done something to myself. You should have a little faith in me."
Quatre stood shocked, Trowa had just said more in that speech than he had in a
month.
Trowa sighed again. "Ja, Quatre-kun. I'll see you at the party." Then the tall
man walked off in the direction of his home.
"Gomen, Trowa-kun. I just worry about you." Quatre said quietly. Then, he walked
off to his home.
************
Usagi sat in the restuarant booth, sipping her soda. 'Trowa. Trowa Barton. It has
a nice ring to it, but it's also kinda of sad at the same time. I wonder why?'
She so engrossed with her thoughts that she didn't hear her name being called from a
young male standing next to her.
Hiiro frowned. 'What's wrong with her? Is this what Duo meant when he said he was
worried?' He sighed and tapped her on her shoulder.
Startled from her thoughts, Usagi began to choke on her straw. Hiiro sighed again
and pat her on the back to help. Once she stopped coughing, he took the seat across from
her and sat down.
"Hiiro-kun? Hey! What's the big idea? Do you want to kill me or something?!" She
yelled angrily.
Hiiro didn't respond and instead turned his attention to the waitress who had just
appeared. "I'll have a medium Pepsi and a hamburger, thanks."
The waitress nodded and left to make his order.
"So what brings you down here?" Usagi asked.
"I was hungry, you?"
"Trying to keep myself entertained, actually." She sighed. "So, what's the real
reason you're here? Is Ririna-san following you again?"
Hiiro chuckled. "That's not entirely the reason, but part of it. I just got hungry
on the way of avoiding her."
Usagi smiled, "That's funny. Not for you, of course. Why does she do it?"
Hiiro shrugged, "I have no idea."
"Well, I think it's a childish crush that she needs to get over." She said. Usagi
gulped her drink down and slammed the cup on the table for effect. She laughed, it felt
good to do so.
The waitress came by and gave Hiiro his food. He mumbled a 'Thanks.' and began to
eat.
Usagi put her money on the table. "I'm gonna get home. I'll see you later,
Hiiro-kun." Usagi was about to turn and leave when Hiiro's gruff voice stopped her.
"Are you coming to Duo's party?"
"Yeah. He wouldn't stop whining 'till I said yes. I think my landlady would like
to take her cane and bash Duo over the head a couple of times."
Hiiro nodded his head, "Yeah, he can do that to a person. Ja, Usagi-kun."
"Ja mata ne, Hiiro-kun." Then Usagi went out throught the two swinging doors of the
Resturant.
Minutes later, "Hiiiiiirrrrrrrrooooooo!!! I found you!!!!" A girl with sandy-blonde
hair ran into the resturant.
Hiiro clenched his fist, "Kuso!" Then everyone around them sweatdropped.
*************
Trowa walked out of his apartment door and into the cold air. It had been a half an
hour since Trowa and left Quatre, and already he was bored.
He sighed, partly disgusted with himself. He wasn't supposed to feel so idle, but
here he was, feeling as if nothing exciting happened right then, he would kill himself. And
then the heavens opened, and gave him a little excitement. For the second time that day, he
bumped into someone.
He would've just kept walking but he looked at the person who he bumped into. He
smiled, "So we meet again, unexpected, Usagi-san."
Usagi looked up. "Trowa-san? Yeah, unexpected. Gomen ne, I've got this thing where
I don't pay attention to where I'm going."
"You too, huh?" He said with a small smile.
Seconds passed in silence. Usagi began to get nervous and said quickly, "I should
be getting home. It was a pleasure to see you again, Trowa-san."
"Same here, Usagi-san. Sayonara." He said, his green eyes blazing.
"Sayonara." Usagi quickly turned and walked home, not once looking back.
Trowa stood in his spot, looking at her retreating form. Something tinged in his
heart. Something he couldn't explain. 'She's very beautiful...' His cheeks flushed with the
slightest hint of pink. "What am I saying?"
Right then, he could've hit himself. 'I must be going insane! I'm talking to myself!'
Then he did smack himself. "I'm doing it again..." He shook his head and sighed.
He was going to walk home when some commotion ahead caught his attention. Curious,
he walked up towards a resturant where a few people were screaming at eachother. He walked
a few more feet, and that was when he got a good look. I mean a REALLY good look at what
was going on.
His saw a man about his age, which was 19, running away from a girl with sandy-blonde
hair... 'Wait a sec... Hiiro-kun?'
Hiiro whipped around and faced Ririna, his eyes becoming as cold as a corpse in the
middle of a snow storm. "Would you stop following me already? Kuso! Get a life, you
damned pacifist!"
"But Hiiro! Fighting doesn't solve anything. Pacifism is good. Now, let's get
something to eat. Together." She said, latching onto his arm.
That did it. He could handle her following him. He could handle not being able to
inflict any pain or suffering on her. But he couldn't handle her touching him. Not only
that, but also implying that they eat. Together, no less!
"Kuso!" Then Hiiro ran away as fast as he could. It was actually the only thing he
could do at the moment. Hiiro spotted Trowa and ran towards him.
"Trowa-kun! Help... Please!"
Trowa inwardly sighed. A trained assassin was running away from a pacifist. There
was too much irony in it.
"Ririna-sama!" Trowa called, getting the sandy-blonde's attention.
"Yes, Trowa-san?"
"I was wondering if you would mind enlighting me with your views on pacifism. I'm
considering joining your cause."
Ririna's eyes lit up. "Oh really! That's wonderful! Well, let's start with why
we should not have any military weapons..."
Trowa sighed as he listened to her rattle on about her favorite subject. 'It's
going to be one LONG night...'
***************
The days passed slowly for Usagi as she waited for the day Duo would propose to Hilde.
She was mostly looking forward to that event, not as much for the party. When she was little,
she loved going to parties and conversing with people and having fun. But nowadays, she
stayed away from the spotlight, just content to watch people interact with one another.
It was seven thirty on the morning of December 31st that Usagi was woken up by a
phone call. She grumbled incoherently about making sure the person who called her recieved a
very bloody and gory death.
"Moshi moshi?" She yawned.
=Ohayo, Usagi-chan!!= Duo's voice came loudly through the phone.
Usagi growled, "Duo, what do you want? You had better have a plausible excuse, or I
swear..."
Duo gulped. He had learned in the past not to provoke Usagi when she was mad. He
rubbed his head in remembrance. =Easy, Usagi-chan. I just wanted to make sure you were still
coming tonight.=
"Is that all?" She sighed. "You could've called later in the day or something. You
should know by now I'm not an early riser."
=Yeah, yeah. I know. But me and Hilde are gonna be out getting some last minute
stuff for the party done. I figured that I should call you and the others when I had some
time...=
"What do you mean 'others'? Planning on annoying as many people as you can before the
year is up?"
=I wasn't planning on annoying them, it just sort of happened... I called Hiiro-chan
first this morning.= He said with a laugh
Usagi grinned. The Perfect Soldier was probably planning Duo's death right about now.
"When did you call Hiiro-kun, pray tell?"
=Oh, at about six thirty. He sounds funny when he's just waking up. Anyway, you're
still coming, right?=
"Yeah, I wanna see Hilde's face when you do it. Ja, Duo."
=Ok. Ja, Usagi-chan!= Then both parties hung up their phones.
Usagi sighed and wrapped herself in her covers. 'Why is it so damn cold? Oh I know,
because it's the middle of winter.' Usagi growled. 'Figures.' Usagi curled into a ball to
keep herself warm.
Usagi layed in bed for about 20 minutes, trying to fall back asleep. She sighed, 'Damn
it, Duo. I'm going to kill you later.'
She got up from her bed and walked into the bathroom to get dressed, brush teeth, you
know, morning things. She came out of the bathroom wearing gray sweats and a white tank top.
She dug through her closet and retrieved a few boxes. Christmas presents she was
planning on delivering at the party. A few for Hilde, Hiiro, and Wufei. Those were three of
Duo's friends whom she had met and had become close to.
Hiiro, because she could easily get along with him. They often shared the same views
on wanting to inflict pain upon Duo when he was being annoying as hell.
Wufei, even though when she first met him, she was referred as a weak onna, she got
along with him, surprisingly. She showed him not all women were weak, and she got his respect
for that.
And Hilde. The two of them just clicked. When they had first met, Hilde was a bit
jealous because she saw Usagi as a beautiful girl who was a potential threat to her
relationship with Duo. But when the two got to talking, they acted like old friends who had
just met up after a long time apart.
Usagi took their presents in to the living room so she wouldn't forget them later.
She made herself some breakfast and then turned on her radio. The station she was listening
to was playing Christmas songs. She promtly turned off her radio when it was playing "White
Christmas".
"'kassan, 'tousan, Shingo. I miss you so." She whispered, dejectedly.
Usagi sat at the table and her eyes became unfosused as she thought back to the day she
found out she had no more family.
*Flashback*
Usagi opened the door to her parents' house. She had moved out when she was 16 to
study early at a college in Kyoto. She stayed at a dorm there and was only too happy to come
home and stay for Christmas break.
Whe she stepped inside the house, she could smell the cookies her mother was making
for her arrival. She smiled. It was good to be home.
Usagi took off her shoes, and grinned. "'Kassan!! I'm home!!" She yelled, like many
times she did before when she came home from school.
"Usagi! Welcome home, sweetheart! We've missed you so much!"
"Speak for yourself, 'kassan. I didn't miss Odango." Shingo said while standing in the
stairwell.
"Ossu, Shingo-kun. How are you?" A 17 year old Usagi asked her 14 year old brother.
"I'm doing ok. How about you?" He asked. He had grown up alot. She remembered when
she was 14 and he was 11. He was a brat. But now, he was maturing, and the signs of it were
showing on his face.
"I'm good. I'm glad to be home. Where's 'tousan?"
"He went to the store to pick up a few things for 'kassan. You're actually early. I
never thought I'd see the day when you'd be early for anything else except a free buffet."
Usagi walked over and ruffled his hair. "I'll get you later for that one, spore." she
said, a smile tugging on her lips.
"No problem, Odango atama." He said, grinning. "Oh, by the way, this guy came over a
couple of times for you. He had the funniest hair. I didn't know guys were feminists these
days!"
"Feminists? Where'd you learn that?" She asked, surprised.
Shingo glared. "I'm alot smarter than you think, Odango!"
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Usagi heard her mother sigh, "Not again!"
Shingo sighed as well, "It's probably that guy again, he said he would come back."
Confused, Usagi opened the door. When she saw who it was, she smiled. "Duo-chan!"
Duo rushed forward and hugged Usagi. "Usagi-chan! Where have you been? I've been
coming to your house annoying your folks to no end. I think they want to kill me now,
especially your dad. Boy, he could make the Shinigami curl in fear from his glare and shotgun
wielding abilities!"
Shingo looked disgusted at the scene, "Usagi-baka. You had better not let 'tousan
see you guys do that. He'd have a fit."
"Let me see what?" A deep voice asked. Kenji Tsukino glared at the boy with the
braid. "What are you doing back here?"
Fortunatly, or rather, unfortunatly(which ever way you look at it.), his glare didn't
intimidate Duo. "I came here to see Usagi-chan."
The three teens saw steam come from Kenji's ears, "Usagi-CHAN?!?"
Just then, Ikuko came and saved the day. "Honey, you remember Usagi's friend, Duo.
They've been friends since they were eight years old." She said, trying to calm him down.
"Oh, yes. The Maxwell kid. I don't approve of him calling her Usagi-chan though..."
He said as Ikuko dragged him out of the room.
Duo wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead. "Whew! That crisis adverted."
Duo and Usagi laughed as Shingo shook his head, wondering why he was stuck with these
psychopaths.
******* A few hours later....*******
'Kassan? Where are you going?" Usagi asked at seeing her, mother, father and brother
head out the door.
She heard Shingo sigh in annoyance.
"Usagi, we have to pick up something. To tell you the truth, it's a surprise for you
and we need two people to bring it. Shingo wanted to come along-"
"No, I didn't." He said, moping.
"Anyway, honey," Her father cut in. "We'll be back shortly. Ja, Usagi!"
"Ja, minna!" She said, waving.
Usagi went over and sat on the couch to watch tv. She methodically flipped through
channels, seemingly making herself even more bored as she did it. It seemed like hours since
her family left. Usagi stole a glance at the clock. He eyes widened in surprise. It WAS
hours since they had left.
"They left at 3:30. It's 7:47 now. They said that they would be back shortly...."
Her voice trailed off as her mind began thinking of explainations of their tardiness.
**Bring!!!!*
Usagi gasped as the phone rang. She walked in to the kitchen and picked up the
receiver, "Moshi moshi?"
=Hello? Is this Tsukino Usagi?= A burly, unfamiliar voice asked.
"Hai. May I ask who this is?"
=I'm afraid I have some bad news. Your family was in a car accident. There were no
survivors. You have my deepest sympathies, Tsukino-san.=
Usagi's eyes welled up in tears as she dropped the receiver on the floor. She gave a
strangled cry and wrapped her arms around herself.
******* Early morning, the next day.********
Morning found Usagi laying on the floor, the phone making a beeping noise. The blonde
girl made no move to stop it.
The front door of the house opened and a young man with a long braid stepped into the
kitchen cautiously.
"Usagi-chan?" He asked.
"Duo-chan...." Her voice was barely audiable.
Duo knelt down to the floor and brushed away a whisp of hair from her face. "Please,
be ok, Usagi-chan. It'll be ok, all of it." he whispered in a soothing voice.
"I'm alone, Duo-chan. They're gone. I'll never ever see them again." Her voice
started as a whisper, but then grew louder with each word. "'Kassan! 'Tousan! Shingo-kun!
They're gone!" Her eyes flooded with fresh tears as she cried with heart-wrenching sobs.
Duo picked her up off of the floor and held her, rocking back and forth. Taking a
risk, he began to sing. "Daijoubu Kitto ok..."
***********End Flashback*********
Usagi's eyes focused once again. She looked at the clock. '1:00. Five more hours.
It's so boring. I probably won't last that long.' She got up from the table and started to
clean her breakfast mess.
************ Somewhere in the city....
Wufei walked the streets of Tokyo(This is where thay all live, ok?). He wore jeans,
a white shirt, and a leather jacket. He remembered why he was walking around the city searching
for something. Duo-baka had called him earlier reminding him to come to the party. He didn't
need to call him, he was going to come anyway. 'Now Maxwell, you've sealed your death. Calling
me at 7:00 this morning was stupid. You will die.' He looked in a store window. Why hadn't
he done this earlier? Shopping was for the weak. 'Maxwell? Why did you have to make me do
this? I hate shopping. Especially when it's for a weak woman!'
Wufei spotted a store across the street and ran over to it. He smiled, "Yes!!"
Wufei emerged moments later from the store carrying katana swords. "Who new they
sold swords with ten character ingraving capabilities these days..." He said as he began his
trek through the shopping district.
************
Trowa flipped through the clothes in his closet. Usually he wouldn't care to dress up
for one of Duo's parties, but it seemed like a good idea to do so. He picked out kahki pants,
boots, and a white dress shirt. He looked at the clock located on his endtable. '5:13. It
takes 20 minutes to walk there...' Trowa dressed and got ready to leave with time to spare.
************
Usagi gathered her things from her room and headed into the livingroom. She wore black
dress pants, black boots, and a red sweater over a black shirt. Usagi wore her hair in its
usual buns.
She looked in her apartment to make sure everything was off. Set. She situated the
packages in her arms and headed out the door.
On her way out of the building she passed by her landlady's apartment. The door opened
suddenly.
"Tsukino-san!!!" Her voice screeched. The woman was very short. Shorter than Usagi.
Her hair was in haircurlers under a hairnet. She had a long crooked nose and thick black
glasses. She was wearing a house coat over a moomoo and slippers. All in all, she looked very
landladyish.
"Hai, Tanaka-san?" She asked, confused.
"Where are you going?!" Her eyes were piercing.
"I'm going out. Why do you ask?"
Tanaka-san glared. "Don't sass me yound lady! I don't want to be treading through my
building at all hours of the night. And tell your crossdresser friend with the long braid to
stop yelling in my building and get some female clothes soon!"
Usagi stiffled a giggle. Tanaka-san glared and Usagi composed herself. "Tanaka-san.
Duo-chan is a guy. The one with the braid."
Tanaka-san's eyes widened. "Well! That young man should learn to cut his hair! What
in the world are you damned kids coming to that you let your hair grow to such lengths! Why
look at you! Your hair almost reaches the floor! You damned kids are so damned disrepectful
and sloppy! Why in my day, we didn't grow our hair that long. Sure we would dye it different
colors...."
Usagi couldn't help laughing at the old woman, and that earned a glare from said
woman. "Ja, Tanaka-san. I'll try and be quiet when I come in tonight."
"You better!! You kids are so damned loud!" She sneered.
Usagi quickly exited the building. "Duo's right," She said once she was outside. "She
is very scary."
*************
Usagi walked up the steps that led to Duo's house. She rang the bell and waited. She
could hear the sounds of the party in full swing. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her.
She turned around to see who it was. Usagi smiled.
"Konban wa, Wufei-kun. Ogenki desu ka?" She asked.
"Konban wa, Usagi-kun. Genki desu. Did Maxwell whine at you to come as well?" He said
in his usual tone.
"No, more like pleading. He had the nerve to call at 7:30 this morning."
Wufei scoffed. "You were lucky, onna. He called me at 7:00. I could bust his..."
Wufei couldn't finish the sentence as he was interupted by the door opening.
"Ossu, Usagi-chan, Wufei-kun! Come in you two!" Hilde said, welcoming then with a
big smile and a hug each. Usagi returned the hug, while Wufei stood there looking slightly
violated.
One inside, Usagi handed a package to Hilde. "Miri Kirisumasu, Hilde-chan." Usagi
also handed a package Wufei. "Miri Kirisumasu."
Hilde smiled. "Thank you, Usagi-chan. I have one for you too." Hilde then walked out
of the room to retrieve her present for Usagi.
Wufei looked at the package oddly. Usagi noticed and held her head up. "Yeah, so what
if I'm not the best Christmas wrapper. It's the thought that counts!"
Wufei smirked. "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Usagi-kun." He pulled a medium sized box from
somewhere and handed it to her. "Merry Christmas."
Usagi smiled. "Arigato, Wufei-kun."
Wufei opened the package. He recieved a shirt with a gold dragon on it and also a small
dragon on a chain that had a ruby for its eye.
Usagi recieved a small jewelry box that had a dragon on it. It was a finished wood and
looked very pretty.
Usagi laughed, "I guess we both have fettishes for dragons."
Suddenly, Duo bounded out of no where and hugged them both. Usagi looked shocked at not
expecting it, and Wufei looked like he wanted to murder him. Take out his new Katana sword
and just kill him. Wufei smirked. 'Yes. Maxwell will never know what hit him. Heh heh.'
"I see you guys made it to the party! That's great. Usagi, you have to meet some
people. You know, get along with them like I know you're capable of. Socializing never hurt
anyone. Well, maybe except that guy I saw trying to get a date from this one chick today.
Whooo boy. I bet his head's still hurting! So c'mon Usagi!" He said, rambling on.
During that, Wufei had been whispering "Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up now Maxwell
you baka." He sighed in relief as he pulled Usagi away to meet 'people'.
Duo dragged Usagi to a man with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes. "Hey Quatre, my
man. How's it going?"
Quatre smiled, obviously used to Duo's informal behavior. "Hey, Duo. How are you."
Duo grinned. "Man! I'm really happy you all came. This is Usagi, the one I always
talk about."
Usagi extended her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Same here, Usagi-san. Duo does talk about you all the time."
Duo smiled at his handy work. Quatre was a great person to help Usagi get out of her
shell, and it wouldn't too bad if they got together.
"Well, I'm gonna go and solcialize. See you both later!" Duo said.
"Later Duo-chan." Usagi said.
"See ya, Duo-kun." Quatre said, then continuing his conversation with Usagi.
Duo walked through the hall. Hilde was going to love tonight. Duo then knocked in to
a hard body and fell backwards.
"Itai! Hey! Watch where you're going, would'ya!" He yelled irritated. He looked up
and instead of seeing one body, he saw two. He recognized them immediatly. Duo gulped.
"Hey, Wu-chan. Hiiro-chan. What's up?" He asked nervously. He saw Wufei pull a long
sword out from behind him.
"As punishment, Maxwell..." Wufei started.
"For waking us up at the crack of dawn." Hiiro finished.
Duo backed up from his place on the floor. "You guys wouldn't! You don't want Hilde to
marry a corpse now, do you? Guys? Guys?! No!!!!!" Duo screamed as they closed in on him.
************
Trowa looked up from pouring himself a drink at the snack table. 'Did Duo just scream?
Had to be. Hiiro and Wufei are probably making him pay for this morning.' Trowa stiffled a
yawn. 'A wake up call from Duo was not what I wanted.'
"Not tired now are we? It's still early." A voice said.
Trowa looked over his shoulder and saw Hilde. "Duo-kun gave everyone a wake-up call this
morning."
"Ah. Well, try to stay awake, Trowa-san. Otherwise, you won't be able to see the ball
drop at midnight." She warned, teasingly.
"I'll try, Hilde-kun." He said, smiling a little.
Hilde walked into the main room and found Usagi sitting on the couch by herself.
She tsked, "Usagi-chan! What are you doing sitting here by yourself?"
Usagi looked up at Hilde. "You know me, I'm not the big party person."
Hilde sat down next to Usagi. "Well, I have something that'll cheer you up. It's a
little myth thing where if you kiss the one you love at midnight on New Years, you'll spend the
entire year with that person. And if you're lucky, the rest of your life! I want to kiss Duo
at midnight!" She swooned.
Usagi laughed. "But you've been together for four years last november. I don't know if
you have to kiss him then, but it would be nice to do it."
Hilde sighed. "Yeah it would." She looked at the clock on the wall. "Wow, it's 10:30
already. I didn't realize the time." She got up from her seat as an idea struck her. "I want
to introduce you to one of my friends. Stay here I'll be right back!" Then she was off.
Moments later, Hilde was seen dragging a man into the main room. "Come on! She won't
bite you!"
"Hilde-kun, please. At least let me go at my own pace!" A familiar deep voice said.
Hilde sighed. "Fine! Go at your own pace! But don't take all night!" Hilde stomped
off, hoping to make the young man feel guilty and go into the room faster. It worked. The
young man sighed and walked into the room, looking for a blonde girl sitting on a couch. His
voice caught in his throat. "U-usagi-san?"
Usagi looked up at the sound of her name being called. "Oh, Konban wa, Trowa-san."
"Konban wa, Usagi-san. Hilde-kun told me to come in here and talk with her cute blonde
friend. Would you by any chance be the cute blonde?" He asked nervously. 'Why am I acting
like this?!'
"I guess. I'm the only blonde in this room." She said, blushing at the cute part.
"I see that. How have you been since the last time we bumped into eachother, literally?"
He asked, trying to find a topic to talk about.
"I've been alright, and yourself?" She asked.
"Fine." Trowa sat down next to her and the two started talking.
Hilde looked on in silence. She smiled. 'I knew they would be perfect for eachother!'
Duo walked up behind Hilde, "Hilde-chan, where's the asprin?"
Hilde looked at Duo shocked. His hair was messed and out of the braid, his clothes were
roughed up and he looked a little disorientated. "Duo-chan! What happened?"
"Wufei and Hiiro." Duo noticed Trowa and Usagi sitting and talking together. "Hey,
where's Quatre? I was gonna set him and Usagi-chan up."
Hilde smiled, mischief in her eyes. "Don't set people up, Duo. You're not good at it.
Usagi and Trowa are a much better couple."
"Hmmm. Usagi-chan and Trowa-kun. I never thought of it before. Genius, Hilde,
genius. Now, let's get some asprin for my head."
Hilde giggled. "Awww, poor baby."
************
Wufei sat contentedly on the couch, polishing his sword. They hadn't hurt Maxwell.
Badly, that is. He smiled. 'He got what he deserved. Braided-baka. Waking me up that early.'
Wufei turned his head at the sound of laughter. If he didn't know better, that was
Trowa laughing. He got up from the couch and walked into the doorway of the other room. What
he saw shocked him a little.
Usagi and Trowa were talking and laughing. He never wouldv'e imagined seeing Trowa of
all people laugh. 'Usagi-kun's there. She could make the sun shine in the dark of night if
she wanted to...'
Wufei felt someone behind him. Hiiro.
"I heard Trowa laugh. I thought I would die." He said in monotone. Hiiro looked in
the room, a small smile tugging on his lips. 'I'm glad you're smiling again, Usagi. You don't
look right with a frown.'
Then both boys heard the one thing that could make the toughest criminals cringe with
fear, Ririna.
"Hiiiiiiirrrrrrrroooooooo!! Are you here, Hiiro?!?!" She yelled at the front door.
Hiiro clenched his fist. "Kisama! How does she do it!?"
Wufei shook his head. "You had better get lost. She might want to search the place."
Hiiro nodded and walked away. Very quickly, I might add.
Wufei watched as Hilde came to the door, muttering curses in German. "Ririna-san,
Hiiro-kun's not here, so please leave the vicinity. You smelling up the air."
"I know he's here, Hilde-san! Now let me in!"
"GO AWAY, you stupid pasifist! The man's not here so go and preach to someone who
gives a crap!" Hilde slammed the door and was awarded by a round of applause. She wiped
her brow and bowed.
*************
Trowa and Usagi were so caught up in their conversation that they barely heard Hilde
call for them. 'They're a cute pair, but now's not the time!'
"Hey you two! The ball's going to drop! Get out here!" She yelled, starting to get
annoyed.
The two nodded and went into another room where everyone was watching in the last
minutes of A.C. 198.
Usagi watched as Duo fumbled for something in his pocket. She smiled. 'Good luck,
Duo-chan.' she thought, hoping that he would hear her mental wish for him.
Duo glanced at Usagi and gave a reassuring smile, almost as if he had heard her.
Thirty seconds.
"Hilde?"
"Yeah, Duo?"
Twenty seconds.
"Would you... Um... would you-"
"What is it?" She asked
Thirteen seconds.
"Just ask her the damned question, Maxwell!" Wufei yelled.
Usagi smiled. 'You always know how to ruin the moment, or at least push it a little.'
"Hilde, I've loved you always. Marry me?" Duo asked.
Eight seconds.
Seven seconds.
Six seconds.
"Hilde?" He asked. 'This is not good. She's crying.'
Hilde flung her arms around Duo. "Of course, Duo! I've loved you forever, too!" The
two embraced eachother and kissed.
Three seconds.
Trowa looked down at Usagi. His emotions running wild. Usagi noticed him staring and
looked up.
Two seconds.
Their body's moved closer to eachother and so did their lips.
One second.
Their lips met as the new year rang in. Trowa moved his hands, one on her back and one
feeling her blonde hair.
Usagi ran her fingers through his hair. It was so soft. Their mouths opened and
deepened the kiss they had both been yearning for.
The people in the room cheered. Half for the new year, and the other half for the four
people who had decided to be together for at least this year. Who knew, maybe even the rest of
their lives.
Hiiro, Duo, Hilde, Wufei and Quatre looked on. All happy for the new couple.
Trowa and Usagi parted from the embrace. Immediatly, they both felt the warmth leave
them. Usagi's blue eyes were sparkling, as were Trowa's green.
Wanting the warmth again, the embraced. Their kiss more passionate than their first.
This was only a preview of more that was to come.
************* An Epilogue, of sorts. Time: three months later
Trowa was nervous. Duo really didn't need to say anything. Describing the feelings
he would have when he went through with it. Still, Duo didn't need to say anything. Nothing
at all. Not a word.
"Are you ok? It's not that bad. Duo puts more up than it really is."
"No. I'm fine, Usagi-chan." He answered.
Usagi nodded and opened the door. The two walked up the stairs and then they reached
Usagi's hall.
Usagi tip-toed and urged Trowa on after her. Quietly, they walked. But it was all
fruitless.
"Tsukino-san!!!!" A voice screeched. An old woman poked her head out of a door and
glared at the two people. "What are you doing treading through my building at 12:30?!?!?!?!
People have to sleep you know!!!!"
Usagi sighed. Caught by the old hag, as Duo loved to call her. "Hai hai, Tanaka-san
Gomen nasai, we'll be more quiet."
"Yes! You had better! Now who's your friend?! You damned kids and your damned
hair styles! You had better learn to cut yor hair, young man! Or you'll end up like that
feminist that Tsukino-san bums around with!!"
"Hai, Tanaka-san. Goodnight." Usagi said.
"Good Night, and Good Riddance, Tsukino-san!" The old woman croaked.
Once Trowa and Usagi were in her apartment, Trowa said. "Yeah, that wasn't so bad."
Usagi smiled. "I told you."
The two kissed and made their way to bed.
End.
Hey! Well, did you like it? I know it's terribly late for the holiday, but you know
how I can only get an hour on this baby! *Bunny-chan pats her computer* And I made it through
with only one crash! Good job, Bessy. *grinz* That's what I call my computer. Scary, huh?
Anyways, I just have a few things to say...
Duo: A few! Ha! What a laugh!
B-c: Oh be quiet for once Duo-kun. Usually, I would laugh at your lame humor, but now's not the
time.
Duo: Geez, touch-y!
Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I want to give a personal thank you to those people who have read
and reviewed my fics since the beginning so.... Thank you Samantha, MysticGohan, Ivory-san,
Angel-chan, Twilight, Jade Nova, Lady Squirt, Midnight of Shadows (Shorty-chan), Traci14,
Mystical Jade, Zpan Sven, LunarBard, Chika, Lady Mercury, and BunnyS. Thank you so much for
reviewing and writing encouraging words to me. They do mean alot.
So, please do it again! ^_^ Write a review for me and tell me how I did on this story.
Ja! ~Bunny-chan
Email: Bunny_chan85@hotmail.com
1/13/01
Christmas Love
Ossu! This idea just occured to me, and I thought I would type it out before
I lost it. This is kinda mushy love stuff, and late for the holiday. But who cares!
^_^ Enjoy!
Just a few notes before we start...
=....= means a person is talking over a phone or a commmunicator.
********** means a scene change, or a passage of time.
'.....' thinking
"....." speaking
Shorty-chan didn't preread for me this time cause I thought I'd give her a break, and
use this chapter as sort of a late birthday present. So, Happy Birthday Shorty-chan!!
I hope you got some cool stuff, and had fun.
Usagi sighed. It had to have been the fifth time she did in less than 30
seconds. 'I can be happy with the fact that I've broken some kind of record.' She
thought grimly.
Usagi Tsukino was 18 years old and very bored at the present moment. Her tea
sat untouched on the coffee table, an old photo album lay open near the tea. Usagi's
eyes went unfocused and she stared straight ahead of her. She had been doing that
alot lately.
Usagi was crouched next to the table, apparently, she had been sitting there
looking through some photos.
Then, for no reason at all, her eyes started to tear up. 'Kassan, tousan, I
miss you so much. Even you, little Shingo.' She looked around her apartment, she
didn't want to put any decorations up. They reminded her so much of her family, and
all the fun times she had with them.
When she was younger, she loved Christmas. But not now. 'How long has it been?
Only a year and a few weeks... Why'd you have to leave me alone?'
She grabbed the book and stared at one photo. It was a picture of her and her
family. In the photo, Usagi appeared to have been at least 15. They had went to an
amusment park that day, and had done lots of fun stuff too. The picture had shown all
four of them smiling.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Usagi was so startled that she spilled her tea
all over the pictures. Her eyes watered more at the sight. She fumbled for some some
napkins to salvage her treasures.
The doorbell rang again, and a deep voice yelled through the door, "Usagi-chan!
Open up! These things are heavy!" The voice sighed, rather loudly and said, "I'll
use the spare key!"
Another voice sounded, "Shut-up! You damned kids are so damned loud!!"
The first voice yelled back, "Quiet you old hag! I'll be quiet once I get inside,
so keep your panties on!"
The door to Usagi's apartment opened and a man holding several packages waddled
inside, his long chestnut colored braid swinging behind him. His face was covered by the
boxes. He set them down by the door and looked into the main room. His face contorted
with worry.
"Usagi-chan? Daijoubu?" He asked walking over to the crying Usagi.
"Duo-chan... The tea spilled all over the photos..." She sniffled.
Duo went in to the kitchen and came back with some towels and tissues. He wiped
up the rest of the spilled tea and kneeled down next to Usagi. He smiled, "It's ok,
Usagi-chan. Here," He brought the tissue to her eyes and lightly dabbed them, "There's
no use in crying over spilled milk, or in this case, spilled tea." He joked, trying to
make Usagi smile. She did, even if it was only a ghost of a smile.
Duo looked at the pictures that were drying, he frowned. 'You always dwell, don't
you Bunny?' "Usagi-chan? You weren't crying over just the tea were you?"
Usagi blew her nose, "No, I miss them so much, Duo-chan." She stated sadly.
Duo sighed and enveloped her in a hug. "How long have we known eachother?"
Usagi hesiatated, startled by the unexpected question, "Since we were eight years
old. Ten years, why?"
"What have I always promised you?"
"I..."
"I said I would always be there for you, and protect you. Please don't forget that
Bunny." He smiled and looked into her blue eyes, "Now, have I got a surprise for you!"
He got up and brought the boxes over to her and sat down. "This one's for you...
for you... for you! Wow! You got so many! There's this one for you and another! Santa
must like you! You got five presents!" He smiled and joked.
Usagi smiled back. Duo could always make her smile and laugh. 'My best guy, my
best friend, Duo-chan' "I take it you want to exchange presents now?"
He shook his head vigorously. She laughed and walked in to her bedroom. Moments
later she emerged with boxes and packages too. She sat down and counted them off just
like Duo had.
"One for Duo... Two for Duo... Three for Duo! Wow! Four and five and... Six!
Santa sure likes the Shinigami this year!" She laughed and used Duo's nickname.
Usagi and Duo exchanged their first presents. Usagi opened up a small box and
looked a bit confused at it's contents. She held up a gravy boat and looked at Duo,
confusion written on her face.
He smiled, "It's to replace the one I broke at Thanksgiving."
"Oh? I thought it was Wufei-kun's fault it broke."
"You thought that? Heh heh... um, you might be right about that. Blame it on
Wu-chan." Duo excused himself from the blame nervously.
"Uh huh. Thank you, Duo-chan."
"No prob." Duo opened his present and his smile grew very wide. "Thanks,
Usagi-chan! I love them!" He held up a black dress shirt and black pants.
"It's not hard to shop for you considering your color." She said, indicating Duo's
love for black clothes.
They opened the rest of their presents. Duo got Usagi a yellow crescent moon
neclace and matching bracelet and two paintings of the ocean. Usagi got Duo a hair
managing kit, a joke kit (box including all sorts of things to annoy a person), a book,
Talking with Dragons, a necklace with a cross, and a poster of his favorite rock group.
"Duo-chan, you sure know how to shop. I hope you got alot of good things for
Hilde-chan too."
"Uh..." Duo struggled for words.
"Duo-chan? What happened? Did you and Hilde-chan break up again?"
"Well, I didn't get alot of things for Hilde. I got her one thing..." Duo said,
carefully forming his words.
"One!?" Usagi yelled astonished that her best friend would only get his four-year
flame one thing for Christmas.
"Usagi-chan! It's really important! I'll show you what I mean." He dug his hand
in his pocket and pulled out a small red box. "I want to do this on New Years."
"Duo-chan!! Are you really?!" She asked excitedly.
Duo only nodded confirmation.
"Oh this is wonderful!! You're going to propose to Hilde-chan!!"
"Usagi-chan! Not so loud, your landlady might hear you and start screaming at us
again."
Usagi stoppped screaming and giggling and looked at Duo with a solumn face, "If
I remember correctly Duo Maxwell, you were the one who was really loud."
"Well, whoever it was, I just don't want that old hag to yell. She might throw
you out one of these days."
"Hmmm..."
Usagi fell silent. Obviously not thinking about her landlady.
"Usagi-chan? What are you doing for New Years? You know, me and Hilde would love
to have you over. Besides, we're having a party anyway. Everyone's going to be there!
You remember Hiiro, right? He'll be there and Wufei, and Quatre and... Hey! You haven't
met Quatre or Trowa yet have you?"
Usagi was only half listening to Duo ramble on about his party.
Duo frowned and waved his hands on front of Usagi's eyes. She looked up confused.
"Uh... yeah?"
"You weren't listening!"
"Oh, gomen ne, Duo-chan."
Duo sighed. 'You've been acting like this more and more. What's bothering you?'
"Well, are you going to come or not?"
"Come to what?" She asked, still not listening completely.
"To my New Years party, Usagi-chan!!! You weren't listening at all!!!"
A voice came through the wall, slightly muffled, "Quiet you damned kids!! Why can't
I get some quiet in my building?!?!"
Duo yelled in the direction of where the voice originated, "You be quiet, you old
hag! You're the one who's making all the noise!!"
"Duo-chan... You say I'm loud. I'll come to your party. When should I be there?"
"You'll come? Great! Come over at around six o'clock, ok?" Duo got up from his
seat on the floor, gathered his things, and walked to the front door.
"Thanks again for the presents, Usagi-chan. I'll see you soon!" He smiled and
walked out the door.
Usagi sighed. 'Alone again.' To keep herself busy she cleaned up the livingroom,
washed her dishes, and sat down on the couch and tried to watch television. She sighed
again, nothing on. At least nothing that wasn't so idiotic it would make you want to kill
yourself.
She shook her head and got up from the couch. "This won't do." Usagi put on her
coat, grabbed her wallet and keys, and left her apartment.
As Usagi walked out into the cold December air, she pulled her coat tighter around
herself. She looked down at her black boots. The salt on the roads had stained them. She
frowned. As she was walking, head down, she didn't notice the body that she had run into.
Usagi fell back with a startled cry. She saw the man in front of her trying to
gather the parcels he had just dropped. Usagi went over and handed him one of the parcels.
"Gomen nasai. I wasn't paying attention."
The man took the offered package from her hand and said, "It's alright. I wasn't
looking either. My mind was... else-where." The man looked up to meet her face and he gave
a small smile.
Usagi inwardly gasped when he looked up at her. He had beautiful eyes. One of the
green orbs was shrouded by his reddish-brown hair.
Usagi held out her gloved hand, "Watashi wa Tsukino Usagi."
The man took her hand, "My friends call me Trowa. Trowa Barton."
"Trowa-kun!!" Trowa turned his head to the owner of the voice. Some feet away was
another man. He had blonde hair and was yelling for his friend.
Trowa bowed to Usagi, "Gomen, Tsukino-san. My friend is waiting for me."
Usagi smiled at his politness, "That's fine. But please, you may call me Usagi.
Sorry again for bumping into you."
"Yes. Sayonara, Usagi-san." Then Trowa walked off to meet his friend.
Usagi looked on as Trowa walked away. She smiled, 'He sure is cute.' She giggled
to herself about thinking such things and walked off.
Trowa looked back just as Usagi was walking away. 'Something about her. I can't
describe...'
The blonde man ran up to him. "Trowa-kun! Where were you?"
"Don't worry, Quatre-kun. I was coming from the store and I bumped in to someone.
I think you worry too much."
"How can you expect me not to worry? I don't know what goes on in your mind half
the time, I'm worried you might do something to yourself because of Catherine." Quatre
said, exasperated.
"....."
Quatre sighed. Of course he wasn't expecting an answer, but it would've been nice.
Catherine had passed on about six months ago, and ever since then, Trowa had been even more
reserved and stotic.
Trowa looked down at his blonde companion, "Quatre-kun, you know I wouldn't do
anything like that."
"Yeah, I know. But I can't help worrying sometimes." The two stayed silent for
awhile, just walking to their homes. Then Quatre spoke.
"Are you going to come to Duo and Hilde's party next week?"
"I suppose I should. I wasn't planning on doing anything on that day anyhow."
Quatre nodded, "I heard Duo is going to propose to her."
"Oh? Where did you hear that?" Trowa asked, raising an eyebrow.
Quatre laughed, "From Duo. He came over yesterday and told me. It seemed as though
he was really excited. I'm happy for him."
Soon, the two men came to the point of parting ways.
"Ja, Trowa-kun. I'll see you later at the party, or maybe before that." Quatre said.
Trowa sighed, "I'm not a baby, Quatre-kun. You don't have to visit me everyday just
to make sure I haven't done something to myself. You should have a little faith in me."
Quatre stood shocked, Trowa had just said more in that speech than he had in a
month.
Trowa sighed again. "Ja, Quatre-kun. I'll see you at the party." Then the tall
man walked off in the direction of his home.
"Gomen, Trowa-kun. I just worry about you." Quatre said quietly. Then, he walked
off to his home.
************
Usagi sat in the restuarant booth, sipping her soda. 'Trowa. Trowa Barton. It has
a nice ring to it, but it's also kinda of sad at the same time. I wonder why?'
She so engrossed with her thoughts that she didn't hear her name being called from a
young male standing next to her.
Hiiro frowned. 'What's wrong with her? Is this what Duo meant when he said he was
worried?' He sighed and tapped her on her shoulder.
Startled from her thoughts, Usagi began to choke on her straw. Hiiro sighed again
and pat her on the back to help. Once she stopped coughing, he took the seat across from
her and sat down.
"Hiiro-kun? Hey! What's the big idea? Do you want to kill me or something?!" She
yelled angrily.
Hiiro didn't respond and instead turned his attention to the waitress who had just
appeared. "I'll have a medium Pepsi and a hamburger, thanks."
The waitress nodded and left to make his order.
"So what brings you down here?" Usagi asked.
"I was hungry, you?"
"Trying to keep myself entertained, actually." She sighed. "So, what's the real
reason you're here? Is Ririna-san following you again?"
Hiiro chuckled. "That's not entirely the reason, but part of it. I just got hungry
on the way of avoiding her."
Usagi smiled, "That's funny. Not for you, of course. Why does she do it?"
Hiiro shrugged, "I have no idea."
"Well, I think it's a childish crush that she needs to get over." She said. Usagi
gulped her drink down and slammed the cup on the table for effect. She laughed, it felt
good to do so.
The waitress came by and gave Hiiro his food. He mumbled a 'Thanks.' and began to
eat.
Usagi put her money on the table. "I'm gonna get home. I'll see you later,
Hiiro-kun." Usagi was about to turn and leave when Hiiro's gruff voice stopped her.
"Are you coming to Duo's party?"
"Yeah. He wouldn't stop whining 'till I said yes. I think my landlady would like
to take her cane and bash Duo over the head a couple of times."
Hiiro nodded his head, "Yeah, he can do that to a person. Ja, Usagi-kun."
"Ja mata ne, Hiiro-kun." Then Usagi went out throught the two swinging doors of the
Resturant.
Minutes later, "Hiiiiiirrrrrrrrooooooo!!! I found you!!!!" A girl with sandy-blonde
hair ran into the resturant.
Hiiro clenched his fist, "Kuso!" Then everyone around them sweatdropped.
*************
Trowa walked out of his apartment door and into the cold air. It had been a half an
hour since Trowa and left Quatre, and already he was bored.
He sighed, partly disgusted with himself. He wasn't supposed to feel so idle, but
here he was, feeling as if nothing exciting happened right then, he would kill himself. And
then the heavens opened, and gave him a little excitement. For the second time that day, he
bumped into someone.
He would've just kept walking but he looked at the person who he bumped into. He
smiled, "So we meet again, unexpected, Usagi-san."
Usagi looked up. "Trowa-san? Yeah, unexpected. Gomen ne, I've got this thing where
I don't pay attention to where I'm going."
"You too, huh?" He said with a small smile.
Seconds passed in silence. Usagi began to get nervous and said quickly, "I should
be getting home. It was a pleasure to see you again, Trowa-san."
"Same here, Usagi-san. Sayonara." He said, his green eyes blazing.
"Sayonara." Usagi quickly turned and walked home, not once looking back.
Trowa stood in his spot, looking at her retreating form. Something tinged in his
heart. Something he couldn't explain. 'She's very beautiful...' His cheeks flushed with the
slightest hint of pink. "What am I saying?"
Right then, he could've hit himself. 'I must be going insane! I'm talking to myself!'
Then he did smack himself. "I'm doing it again..." He shook his head and sighed.
He was going to walk home when some commotion ahead caught his attention. Curious,
he walked up towards a resturant where a few people were screaming at eachother. He walked
a few more feet, and that was when he got a good look. I mean a REALLY good look at what
was going on.
His saw a man about his age, which was 19, running away from a girl with sandy-blonde
hair... 'Wait a sec... Hiiro-kun?'
Hiiro whipped around and faced Ririna, his eyes becoming as cold as a corpse in the
middle of a snow storm. "Would you stop following me already? Kuso! Get a life, you
damned pacifist!"
"But Hiiro! Fighting doesn't solve anything. Pacifism is good. Now, let's get
something to eat. Together." She said, latching onto his arm.
That did it. He could handle her following him. He could handle not being able to
inflict any pain or suffering on her. But he couldn't handle her touching him. Not only
that, but also implying that they eat. Together, no less!
"Kuso!" Then Hiiro ran away as fast as he could. It was actually the only thing he
could do at the moment. Hiiro spotted Trowa and ran towards him.
"Trowa-kun! Help... Please!"
Trowa inwardly sighed. A trained assassin was running away from a pacifist. There
was too much irony in it.
"Ririna-sama!" Trowa called, getting the sandy-blonde's attention.
"Yes, Trowa-san?"
"I was wondering if you would mind enlighting me with your views on pacifism. I'm
considering joining your cause."
Ririna's eyes lit up. "Oh really! That's wonderful! Well, let's start with why
we should not have any military weapons..."
Trowa sighed as he listened to her rattle on about her favorite subject. 'It's
going to be one LONG night...'
***************
The days passed slowly for Usagi as she waited for the day Duo would propose to Hilde.
She was mostly looking forward to that event, not as much for the party. When she was little,
she loved going to parties and conversing with people and having fun. But nowadays, she
stayed away from the spotlight, just content to watch people interact with one another.
It was seven thirty on the morning of December 31st that Usagi was woken up by a
phone call. She grumbled incoherently about making sure the person who called her recieved a
very bloody and gory death.
"Moshi moshi?" She yawned.
=Ohayo, Usagi-chan!!= Duo's voice came loudly through the phone.
Usagi growled, "Duo, what do you want? You had better have a plausible excuse, or I
swear..."
Duo gulped. He had learned in the past not to provoke Usagi when she was mad. He
rubbed his head in remembrance. =Easy, Usagi-chan. I just wanted to make sure you were still
coming tonight.=
"Is that all?" She sighed. "You could've called later in the day or something. You
should know by now I'm not an early riser."
=Yeah, yeah. I know. But me and Hilde are gonna be out getting some last minute
stuff for the party done. I figured that I should call you and the others when I had some
time...=
"What do you mean 'others'? Planning on annoying as many people as you can before the
year is up?"
=I wasn't planning on annoying them, it just sort of happened... I called Hiiro-chan
first this morning.= He said with a laugh
Usagi grinned. The Perfect Soldier was probably planning Duo's death right about now.
"When did you call Hiiro-kun, pray tell?"
=Oh, at about six thirty. He sounds funny when he's just waking up. Anyway, you're
still coming, right?=
"Yeah, I wanna see Hilde's face when you do it. Ja, Duo."
=Ok. Ja, Usagi-chan!= Then both parties hung up their phones.
Usagi sighed and wrapped herself in her covers. 'Why is it so damn cold? Oh I know,
because it's the middle of winter.' Usagi growled. 'Figures.' Usagi curled into a ball to
keep herself warm.
Usagi layed in bed for about 20 minutes, trying to fall back asleep. She sighed, 'Damn
it, Duo. I'm going to kill you later.'
She got up from her bed and walked into the bathroom to get dressed, brush teeth, you
know, morning things. She came out of the bathroom wearing gray sweats and a white tank top.
She dug through her closet and retrieved a few boxes. Christmas presents she was
planning on delivering at the party. A few for Hilde, Hiiro, and Wufei. Those were three of
Duo's friends whom she had met and had become close to.
Hiiro, because she could easily get along with him. They often shared the same views
on wanting to inflict pain upon Duo when he was being annoying as hell.
Wufei, even though when she first met him, she was referred as a weak onna, she got
along with him, surprisingly. She showed him not all women were weak, and she got his respect
for that.
And Hilde. The two of them just clicked. When they had first met, Hilde was a bit
jealous because she saw Usagi as a beautiful girl who was a potential threat to her
relationship with Duo. But when the two got to talking, they acted like old friends who had
just met up after a long time apart.
Usagi took their presents in to the living room so she wouldn't forget them later.
She made herself some breakfast and then turned on her radio. The station she was listening
to was playing Christmas songs. She promtly turned off her radio when it was playing "White
Christmas".
"'kassan, 'tousan, Shingo. I miss you so." She whispered, dejectedly.
Usagi sat at the table and her eyes became unfosused as she thought back to the day she
found out she had no more family.
*Flashback*
Usagi opened the door to her parents' house. She had moved out when she was 16 to
study early at a college in Kyoto. She stayed at a dorm there and was only too happy to come
home and stay for Christmas break.
Whe she stepped inside the house, she could smell the cookies her mother was making
for her arrival. She smiled. It was good to be home.
Usagi took off her shoes, and grinned. "'Kassan!! I'm home!!" She yelled, like many
times she did before when she came home from school.
"Usagi! Welcome home, sweetheart! We've missed you so much!"
"Speak for yourself, 'kassan. I didn't miss Odango." Shingo said while standing in the
stairwell.
"Ossu, Shingo-kun. How are you?" A 17 year old Usagi asked her 14 year old brother.
"I'm doing ok. How about you?" He asked. He had grown up alot. She remembered when
she was 14 and he was 11. He was a brat. But now, he was maturing, and the signs of it were
showing on his face.
"I'm good. I'm glad to be home. Where's 'tousan?"
"He went to the store to pick up a few things for 'kassan. You're actually early. I
never thought I'd see the day when you'd be early for anything else except a free buffet."
Usagi walked over and ruffled his hair. "I'll get you later for that one, spore." she
said, a smile tugging on her lips.
"No problem, Odango atama." He said, grinning. "Oh, by the way, this guy came over a
couple of times for you. He had the funniest hair. I didn't know guys were feminists these
days!"
"Feminists? Where'd you learn that?" She asked, surprised.
Shingo glared. "I'm alot smarter than you think, Odango!"
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Usagi heard her mother sigh, "Not again!"
Shingo sighed as well, "It's probably that guy again, he said he would come back."
Confused, Usagi opened the door. When she saw who it was, she smiled. "Duo-chan!"
Duo rushed forward and hugged Usagi. "Usagi-chan! Where have you been? I've been
coming to your house annoying your folks to no end. I think they want to kill me now,
especially your dad. Boy, he could make the Shinigami curl in fear from his glare and shotgun
wielding abilities!"
Shingo looked disgusted at the scene, "Usagi-baka. You had better not let 'tousan
see you guys do that. He'd have a fit."
"Let me see what?" A deep voice asked. Kenji Tsukino glared at the boy with the
braid. "What are you doing back here?"
Fortunatly, or rather, unfortunatly(which ever way you look at it.), his glare didn't
intimidate Duo. "I came here to see Usagi-chan."
The three teens saw steam come from Kenji's ears, "Usagi-CHAN?!?"
Just then, Ikuko came and saved the day. "Honey, you remember Usagi's friend, Duo.
They've been friends since they were eight years old." She said, trying to calm him down.
"Oh, yes. The Maxwell kid. I don't approve of him calling her Usagi-chan though..."
He said as Ikuko dragged him out of the room.
Duo wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead. "Whew! That crisis adverted."
Duo and Usagi laughed as Shingo shook his head, wondering why he was stuck with these
psychopaths.
******* A few hours later....*******
'Kassan? Where are you going?" Usagi asked at seeing her, mother, father and brother
head out the door.
She heard Shingo sigh in annoyance.
"Usagi, we have to pick up something. To tell you the truth, it's a surprise for you
and we need two people to bring it. Shingo wanted to come along-"
"No, I didn't." He said, moping.
"Anyway, honey," Her father cut in. "We'll be back shortly. Ja, Usagi!"
"Ja, minna!" She said, waving.
Usagi went over and sat on the couch to watch tv. She methodically flipped through
channels, seemingly making herself even more bored as she did it. It seemed like hours since
her family left. Usagi stole a glance at the clock. He eyes widened in surprise. It WAS
hours since they had left.
"They left at 3:30. It's 7:47 now. They said that they would be back shortly...."
Her voice trailed off as her mind began thinking of explainations of their tardiness.
**Bring!!!!*
Usagi gasped as the phone rang. She walked in to the kitchen and picked up the
receiver, "Moshi moshi?"
=Hello? Is this Tsukino Usagi?= A burly, unfamiliar voice asked.
"Hai. May I ask who this is?"
=I'm afraid I have some bad news. Your family was in a car accident. There were no
survivors. You have my deepest sympathies, Tsukino-san.=
Usagi's eyes welled up in tears as she dropped the receiver on the floor. She gave a
strangled cry and wrapped her arms around herself.
******* Early morning, the next day.********
Morning found Usagi laying on the floor, the phone making a beeping noise. The blonde
girl made no move to stop it.
The front door of the house opened and a young man with a long braid stepped into the
kitchen cautiously.
"Usagi-chan?" He asked.
"Duo-chan...." Her voice was barely audiable.
Duo knelt down to the floor and brushed away a whisp of hair from her face. "Please,
be ok, Usagi-chan. It'll be ok, all of it." he whispered in a soothing voice.
"I'm alone, Duo-chan. They're gone. I'll never ever see them again." Her voice
started as a whisper, but then grew louder with each word. "'Kassan! 'Tousan! Shingo-kun!
They're gone!" Her eyes flooded with fresh tears as she cried with heart-wrenching sobs.
Duo picked her up off of the floor and held her, rocking back and forth. Taking a
risk, he began to sing. "Daijoubu Kitto ok..."
***********End Flashback*********
Usagi's eyes focused once again. She looked at the clock. '1:00. Five more hours.
It's so boring. I probably won't last that long.' She got up from the table and started to
clean her breakfast mess.
************ Somewhere in the city....
Wufei walked the streets of Tokyo(This is where thay all live, ok?). He wore jeans,
a white shirt, and a leather jacket. He remembered why he was walking around the city searching
for something. Duo-baka had called him earlier reminding him to come to the party. He didn't
need to call him, he was going to come anyway. 'Now Maxwell, you've sealed your death. Calling
me at 7:00 this morning was stupid. You will die.' He looked in a store window. Why hadn't
he done this earlier? Shopping was for the weak. 'Maxwell? Why did you have to make me do
this? I hate shopping. Especially when it's for a weak woman!'
Wufei spotted a store across the street and ran over to it. He smiled, "Yes!!"
Wufei emerged moments later from the store carrying katana swords. "Who new they
sold swords with ten character ingraving capabilities these days..." He said as he began his
trek through the shopping district.
************
Trowa flipped through the clothes in his closet. Usually he wouldn't care to dress up
for one of Duo's parties, but it seemed like a good idea to do so. He picked out kahki pants,
boots, and a white dress shirt. He looked at the clock located on his endtable. '5:13. It
takes 20 minutes to walk there...' Trowa dressed and got ready to leave with time to spare.
************
Usagi gathered her things from her room and headed into the livingroom. She wore black
dress pants, black boots, and a red sweater over a black shirt. Usagi wore her hair in its
usual buns.
She looked in her apartment to make sure everything was off. Set. She situated the
packages in her arms and headed out the door.
On her way out of the building she passed by her landlady's apartment. The door opened
suddenly.
"Tsukino-san!!!" Her voice screeched. The woman was very short. Shorter than Usagi.
Her hair was in haircurlers under a hairnet. She had a long crooked nose and thick black
glasses. She was wearing a house coat over a moomoo and slippers. All in all, she looked very
landladyish.
"Hai, Tanaka-san?" She asked, confused.
"Where are you going?!" Her eyes were piercing.
"I'm going out. Why do you ask?"
Tanaka-san glared. "Don't sass me yound lady! I don't want to be treading through my
building at all hours of the night. And tell your crossdresser friend with the long braid to
stop yelling in my building and get some female clothes soon!"
Usagi stiffled a giggle. Tanaka-san glared and Usagi composed herself. "Tanaka-san.
Duo-chan is a guy. The one with the braid."
Tanaka-san's eyes widened. "Well! That young man should learn to cut his hair! What
in the world are you damned kids coming to that you let your hair grow to such lengths! Why
look at you! Your hair almost reaches the floor! You damned kids are so damned disrepectful
and sloppy! Why in my day, we didn't grow our hair that long. Sure we would dye it different
colors...."
Usagi couldn't help laughing at the old woman, and that earned a glare from said
woman. "Ja, Tanaka-san. I'll try and be quiet when I come in tonight."
"You better!! You kids are so damned loud!" She sneered.
Usagi quickly exited the building. "Duo's right," She said once she was outside. "She
is very scary."
*************
Usagi walked up the steps that led to Duo's house. She rang the bell and waited. She
could hear the sounds of the party in full swing. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her.
She turned around to see who it was. Usagi smiled.
"Konban wa, Wufei-kun. Ogenki desu ka?" She asked.
"Konban wa, Usagi-kun. Genki desu. Did Maxwell whine at you to come as well?" He said
in his usual tone.
"No, more like pleading. He had the nerve to call at 7:30 this morning."
Wufei scoffed. "You were lucky, onna. He called me at 7:00. I could bust his..."
Wufei couldn't finish the sentence as he was interupted by the door opening.
"Ossu, Usagi-chan, Wufei-kun! Come in you two!" Hilde said, welcoming then with a
big smile and a hug each. Usagi returned the hug, while Wufei stood there looking slightly
violated.
One inside, Usagi handed a package to Hilde. "Miri Kirisumasu, Hilde-chan." Usagi
also handed a package Wufei. "Miri Kirisumasu."
Hilde smiled. "Thank you, Usagi-chan. I have one for you too." Hilde then walked out
of the room to retrieve her present for Usagi.
Wufei looked at the package oddly. Usagi noticed and held her head up. "Yeah, so what
if I'm not the best Christmas wrapper. It's the thought that counts!"
Wufei smirked. "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Usagi-kun." He pulled a medium sized box from
somewhere and handed it to her. "Merry Christmas."
Usagi smiled. "Arigato, Wufei-kun."
Wufei opened the package. He recieved a shirt with a gold dragon on it and also a small
dragon on a chain that had a ruby for its eye.
Usagi recieved a small jewelry box that had a dragon on it. It was a finished wood and
looked very pretty.
Usagi laughed, "I guess we both have fettishes for dragons."
Suddenly, Duo bounded out of no where and hugged them both. Usagi looked shocked at not
expecting it, and Wufei looked like he wanted to murder him. Take out his new Katana sword
and just kill him. Wufei smirked. 'Yes. Maxwell will never know what hit him. Heh heh.'
"I see you guys made it to the party! That's great. Usagi, you have to meet some
people. You know, get along with them like I know you're capable of. Socializing never hurt
anyone. Well, maybe except that guy I saw trying to get a date from this one chick today.
Whooo boy. I bet his head's still hurting! So c'mon Usagi!" He said, rambling on.
During that, Wufei had been whispering "Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up now Maxwell
you baka." He sighed in relief as he pulled Usagi away to meet 'people'.
Duo dragged Usagi to a man with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes. "Hey Quatre, my
man. How's it going?"
Quatre smiled, obviously used to Duo's informal behavior. "Hey, Duo. How are you."
Duo grinned. "Man! I'm really happy you all came. This is Usagi, the one I always
talk about."
Usagi extended her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Same here, Usagi-san. Duo does talk about you all the time."
Duo smiled at his handy work. Quatre was a great person to help Usagi get out of her
shell, and it wouldn't too bad if they got together.
"Well, I'm gonna go and solcialize. See you both later!" Duo said.
"Later Duo-chan." Usagi said.
"See ya, Duo-kun." Quatre said, then continuing his conversation with Usagi.
Duo walked through the hall. Hilde was going to love tonight. Duo then knocked in to
a hard body and fell backwards.
"Itai! Hey! Watch where you're going, would'ya!" He yelled irritated. He looked up
and instead of seeing one body, he saw two. He recognized them immediatly. Duo gulped.
"Hey, Wu-chan. Hiiro-chan. What's up?" He asked nervously. He saw Wufei pull a long
sword out from behind him.
"As punishment, Maxwell..." Wufei started.
"For waking us up at the crack of dawn." Hiiro finished.
Duo backed up from his place on the floor. "You guys wouldn't! You don't want Hilde to
marry a corpse now, do you? Guys? Guys?! No!!!!!" Duo screamed as they closed in on him.
************
Trowa looked up from pouring himself a drink at the snack table. 'Did Duo just scream?
Had to be. Hiiro and Wufei are probably making him pay for this morning.' Trowa stiffled a
yawn. 'A wake up call from Duo was not what I wanted.'
"Not tired now are we? It's still early." A voice said.
Trowa looked over his shoulder and saw Hilde. "Duo-kun gave everyone a wake-up call this
morning."
"Ah. Well, try to stay awake, Trowa-san. Otherwise, you won't be able to see the ball
drop at midnight." She warned, teasingly.
"I'll try, Hilde-kun." He said, smiling a little.
Hilde walked into the main room and found Usagi sitting on the couch by herself.
She tsked, "Usagi-chan! What are you doing sitting here by yourself?"
Usagi looked up at Hilde. "You know me, I'm not the big party person."
Hilde sat down next to Usagi. "Well, I have something that'll cheer you up. It's a
little myth thing where if you kiss the one you love at midnight on New Years, you'll spend the
entire year with that person. And if you're lucky, the rest of your life! I want to kiss Duo
at midnight!" She swooned.
Usagi laughed. "But you've been together for four years last november. I don't know if
you have to kiss him then, but it would be nice to do it."
Hilde sighed. "Yeah it would." She looked at the clock on the wall. "Wow, it's 10:30
already. I didn't realize the time." She got up from her seat as an idea struck her. "I want
to introduce you to one of my friends. Stay here I'll be right back!" Then she was off.
Moments later, Hilde was seen dragging a man into the main room. "Come on! She won't
bite you!"
"Hilde-kun, please. At least let me go at my own pace!" A familiar deep voice said.
Hilde sighed. "Fine! Go at your own pace! But don't take all night!" Hilde stomped
off, hoping to make the young man feel guilty and go into the room faster. It worked. The
young man sighed and walked into the room, looking for a blonde girl sitting on a couch. His
voice caught in his throat. "U-usagi-san?"
Usagi looked up at the sound of her name being called. "Oh, Konban wa, Trowa-san."
"Konban wa, Usagi-san. Hilde-kun told me to come in here and talk with her cute blonde
friend. Would you by any chance be the cute blonde?" He asked nervously. 'Why am I acting
like this?!'
"I guess. I'm the only blonde in this room." She said, blushing at the cute part.
"I see that. How have you been since the last time we bumped into eachother, literally?"
He asked, trying to find a topic to talk about.
"I've been alright, and yourself?" She asked.
"Fine." Trowa sat down next to her and the two started talking.
Hilde looked on in silence. She smiled. 'I knew they would be perfect for eachother!'
Duo walked up behind Hilde, "Hilde-chan, where's the asprin?"
Hilde looked at Duo shocked. His hair was messed and out of the braid, his clothes were
roughed up and he looked a little disorientated. "Duo-chan! What happened?"
"Wufei and Hiiro." Duo noticed Trowa and Usagi sitting and talking together. "Hey,
where's Quatre? I was gonna set him and Usagi-chan up."
Hilde smiled, mischief in her eyes. "Don't set people up, Duo. You're not good at it.
Usagi and Trowa are a much better couple."
"Hmmm. Usagi-chan and Trowa-kun. I never thought of it before. Genius, Hilde,
genius. Now, let's get some asprin for my head."
Hilde giggled. "Awww, poor baby."
************
Wufei sat contentedly on the couch, polishing his sword. They hadn't hurt Maxwell.
Badly, that is. He smiled. 'He got what he deserved. Braided-baka. Waking me up that early.'
Wufei turned his head at the sound of laughter. If he didn't know better, that was
Trowa laughing. He got up from the couch and walked into the doorway of the other room. What
he saw shocked him a little.
Usagi and Trowa were talking and laughing. He never wouldv'e imagined seeing Trowa of
all people laugh. 'Usagi-kun's there. She could make the sun shine in the dark of night if
she wanted to...'
Wufei felt someone behind him. Hiiro.
"I heard Trowa laugh. I thought I would die." He said in monotone. Hiiro looked in
the room, a small smile tugging on his lips. 'I'm glad you're smiling again, Usagi. You don't
look right with a frown.'
Then both boys heard the one thing that could make the toughest criminals cringe with
fear, Ririna.
"Hiiiiiiirrrrrrrroooooooo!! Are you here, Hiiro?!?!" She yelled at the front door.
Hiiro clenched his fist. "Kisama! How does she do it!?"
Wufei shook his head. "You had better get lost. She might want to search the place."
Hiiro nodded and walked away. Very quickly, I might add.
Wufei watched as Hilde came to the door, muttering curses in German. "Ririna-san,
Hiiro-kun's not here, so please leave the vicinity. You smelling up the air."
"I know he's here, Hilde-san! Now let me in!"
"GO AWAY, you stupid pasifist! The man's not here so go and preach to someone who
gives a crap!" Hilde slammed the door and was awarded by a round of applause. She wiped
her brow and bowed.
*************
Trowa and Usagi were so caught up in their conversation that they barely heard Hilde
call for them. 'They're a cute pair, but now's not the time!'
"Hey you two! The ball's going to drop! Get out here!" She yelled, starting to get
annoyed.
The two nodded and went into another room where everyone was watching in the last
minutes of A.C. 198.
Usagi watched as Duo fumbled for something in his pocket. She smiled. 'Good luck,
Duo-chan.' she thought, hoping that he would hear her mental wish for him.
Duo glanced at Usagi and gave a reassuring smile, almost as if he had heard her.
Thirty seconds.
"Hilde?"
"Yeah, Duo?"
Twenty seconds.
"Would you... Um... would you-"
"What is it?" She asked
Thirteen seconds.
"Just ask her the damned question, Maxwell!" Wufei yelled.
Usagi smiled. 'You always know how to ruin the moment, or at least push it a little.'
"Hilde, I've loved you always. Marry me?" Duo asked.
Eight seconds.
Seven seconds.
Six seconds.
"Hilde?" He asked. 'This is not good. She's crying.'
Hilde flung her arms around Duo. "Of course, Duo! I've loved you forever, too!" The
two embraced eachother and kissed.
Three seconds.
Trowa looked down at Usagi. His emotions running wild. Usagi noticed him staring and
looked up.
Two seconds.
Their body's moved closer to eachother and so did their lips.
One second.
Their lips met as the new year rang in. Trowa moved his hands, one on her back and one
feeling her blonde hair.
Usagi ran her fingers through his hair. It was so soft. Their mouths opened and
deepened the kiss they had both been yearning for.
The people in the room cheered. Half for the new year, and the other half for the four
people who had decided to be together for at least this year. Who knew, maybe even the rest of
their lives.
Hiiro, Duo, Hilde, Wufei and Quatre looked on. All happy for the new couple.
Trowa and Usagi parted from the embrace. Immediatly, they both felt the warmth leave
them. Usagi's blue eyes were sparkling, as were Trowa's green.
Wanting the warmth again, the embraced. Their kiss more passionate than their first.
This was only a preview of more that was to come.
************* An Epilogue, of sorts. Time: three months later
Trowa was nervous. Duo really didn't need to say anything. Describing the feelings
he would have when he went through with it. Still, Duo didn't need to say anything. Nothing
at all. Not a word.
"Are you ok? It's not that bad. Duo puts more up than it really is."
"No. I'm fine, Usagi-chan." He answered.
Usagi nodded and opened the door. The two walked up the stairs and then they reached
Usagi's hall.
Usagi tip-toed and urged Trowa on after her. Quietly, they walked. But it was all
fruitless.
"Tsukino-san!!!!" A voice screeched. An old woman poked her head out of a door and
glared at the two people. "What are you doing treading through my building at 12:30?!?!?!?!
People have to sleep you know!!!!"
Usagi sighed. Caught by the old hag, as Duo loved to call her. "Hai hai, Tanaka-san
Gomen nasai, we'll be more quiet."
"Yes! You had better! Now who's your friend?! You damned kids and your damned
hair styles! You had better learn to cut yor hair, young man! Or you'll end up like that
feminist that Tsukino-san bums around with!!"
"Hai, Tanaka-san. Goodnight." Usagi said.
"Good Night, and Good Riddance, Tsukino-san!" The old woman croaked.
Once Trowa and Usagi were in her apartment, Trowa said. "Yeah, that wasn't so bad."
Usagi smiled. "I told you."
The two kissed and made their way to bed.
End.
Hey! Well, did you like it? I know it's terribly late for the holiday, but you know
how I can only get an hour on this baby! *Bunny-chan pats her computer* And I made it through
with only one crash! Good job, Bessy. *grinz* That's what I call my computer. Scary, huh?
Anyways, I just have a few things to say...
Duo: A few! Ha! What a laugh!
B-c: Oh be quiet for once Duo-kun. Usually, I would laugh at your lame humor, but now's not the
time.
Duo: Geez, touch-y!
Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I want to give a personal thank you to those people who have read
and reviewed my fics since the beginning so.... Thank you Samantha, MysticGohan, Ivory-san,
Angel-chan, Twilight, Jade Nova, Lady Squirt, Midnight of Shadows (Shorty-chan), Traci14,
Mystical Jade, Zpan Sven, LunarBard, Chika, Lady Mercury, and BunnyS. Thank you so much for
reviewing and writing encouraging words to me. They do mean alot.
So, please do it again! ^_^ Write a review for me and tell me how I did on this story.
Ja! ~Bunny-chan
