Paradise Lost
Summary:
It's been two years since the peace fell over Earth and the Space Colonies. The five infamous Gundam Pilot turned to find lives outside of the death and destruction. Duo, returned to the scrap yard, living the carefree lifestyle he always persued. Quatre returned to running the Winner Corporation. WuFei and Heero both returned to Preventers, hoping to continue to preserve the peace the world settled into. Trowa returned to the circus with his sister, Catherine.
It was just another beautiful day, when Quatre stumbled upon the beaten, bruised form of a young woman. Bringing her back to her full health and accepting her into his home, he doesn't know just how much danger he brought to the Pilots.
Chapter One, Part One- Getting Settled In
Quatre Winner, although young, was one of the most influencial, philanthropist within the entire Earth's Sphere. His soft blue eyes often sought out the good in each and every person, and while he had been raised amongst a family of strict, radical pacifists, those same eyes have seen true horrors. Death. Destruction. Innocent blood being spilt upon the battleground. Betrayal and even the near death of a few of his own comrades.
Smoothing out the dark green vest he had thrown over the white button-down shirt, Quatre stood from his desk, wanting to escape the towering piles of manuscripts and invoices needing checked. Deciding to take a walk amongst the maze of beautiful flowers along his courtyard, he smiled as he passed some of the servants as he made his way toward the beautifully decorated vegetation. Walking through the maze of flowers, his gaze turned toward the blue sky, his blonde bangs casting a shadow over his eyes. He often wondered how the others were dealing with the time of peace. There was always a threat, so he was sure Heero and WuFei often kept busy, but the others. Did they worry about him as much as he worried about them?
His thoughts left his mind quickly as his face connected with the lush green grass. Pushing himself to his hands and knees, he wondered silently how he managed to lose his balance. Glancing behind him, he felt his heart jump into his throat at the sight of the young woman lying on the ground. Rushing to her side, he took note of the mess of black hair, filth and blood coating the strands. Her pale, round face covered with bruises, a cut along the edge of her left eye which would probably leave a scar. The baggy pants seemed two sizes too big for her lithe, petite frame, torn and near shreads, leaving little to the imagination. The oversized shirt thrown over her torso seemed to be missing an entire sleeve, the collar of the shirt torn, causing it to hang off of one shoulder, and her entire ribcage was exposed as the bottom of the shirt was ripped off. Shifting her carefully, he noted a make-shift bandage around her upper arm, realizing that's probably where the bottom of her shirt had gone to.
Carefully lifting her into his arms, he quickly made his way toward the mansion, calling for Rashid the moment he passed through the threshold of the mansion door. Kicking open the door to the nearest guest room, he hurriedly placed her on the bed. In a matter of moments, Rashid had rushed into the room and ushered him out to give the girl some privacy. The blonde-haired multi-billionaire sighed as he leaned against the wall just outside of the room, the adrenaline leaving his body causing him to slide down to sit on the floor, elbows resting on the top of his knees.
"Master Quatre," the blonde's head popped up from its resting place on his folded arms, blue eyes gazing up at his loyal companion, "She will be alright, but there was an extremely harsh blow to the back of her head, and we won't know who she is or how she came to us until she awakens."
"Thank you, Rashid," the young Master whispered, moving to his feet.
A loud crash echoed through the mansion, causing Quatre to quickly snap out of his concentration, the tower of papers falling over as he literally jumped from his chair. The blonde raced down the hall as more crashes sounded, quickly followed by the shattering of glass. Kicking in the door, he immediately caught sight of the shattered window and a shadow slipping over the railing of the balcony. Rushing to the edge of the balcony, he vaulted his body over the railing and landed on the ground below, catching sight of the figure stumbling through grounds.
"Wait! Miss!"
Quatre barely caught her movement as she swiftly turned to face him, her left fist connecting with his cheek. Catching his balance, he raised his hands to show he was unarmed, his blue eyes clashing with confused, eerie green eyes. It seemed like hours before she relaxed her tense body, moving to stand straighter. Oddly, Quatre seemed to tower over her by at least three inches, and out of him and the other pilots, he was the shortest.
"My name is Quatre Winner. I found you in the garden maze, injured, and took you inside for some medical attention," the blonde stated softly.
The young dark-haired woman bowed, in a manner that reminded him of WuFei, "I apologize for hitting you, but I am confused."
"I don't blame you. What is your name?" Quatre asked, taking one step closer to the girl.
Her green eyes, decorated with a starburst of gold around the pupils, darkened with thought, "Kurai, I think. I...don't really remember much of what happened. I know that my parents have been dead since I was a child and my best friend died in a terrible accident, but a lot of my thoughts are in a haze."
Quatre gave her a soft smile, motioning toward the mansion, "You are more than welcome to stay until we figure out what happened to you."
Her oddly shaded green eyes glance up at the mansion, "Are you sure? I don't want to impose."
"You won't be. Having someone else in the house would be a welcomed distraction," Quatre comments with a shrug, "It's just me and a few house keepers in the house."
"If you're sure I won't be a bother," she agreed with a nod.
"When we get inside, why don't you take a bath, wash up and I'll have one of the servants leave clothes in the room for you and tomorrow we can go to the mall and get you some clothes," Quatre offered, giving the girl his arm to hold onto as he escorted her to the house.
Seeing the soft smile form on the girl's bruised face caused his heart to flutter. He didn't know why, but something about her called for his protective nature to come out. Leading her to her bedroom, she immediately went into the ensuite bathroom while he left to find her some of his old clothing. Instructing the chef to make a light, but delicious dinner for the two of them, he returned to his study.
An hour later, he found himself looking up from the delicious food, glancing over the table to the young woman across from him.
"So, Quatre, what do you do for a living?" she asked softly.
He realized they had been eating in silence for ten minutes and smiled warmly at her attempt to break the ice, "I am the CEO of Winner Corporation. It belonged to my father and after he died, I continued running it."
"What is your company about?" she inquired playing with her food.
"We fund the innovation of current technologies and medicinal sciences in the research for cures to illness and disease. We even fund scholarships for schools all across the Earth Sphere for several different areas of study," Quatre explained between his bites.
"So you live in this house by yourself? Don't you have any friends?" she asked innocently.
"I do, but like most friends, we each have our own lives that take us down different paths. We get together twice a year to get away from our lives and to enjoy each other's company," Quatre answered, smiling at the thought of his friends.
Dinner ran smoothly and Quatre found himself curious about the young woman. She couldn't be any older than himself, yet she spoke with a cultured intelligence. What little she spoke of herself- of the thing she could remember, he found himself interested. She enjoyed running, and said that she remembers taking morning runs during her years in school. Suggesting morning jogs for the both of them each day, he couldn't stop the warmth that flowed through him as a wide smile formed on her lips.
Now that she was no longer dirty, her beauty was subtle, yet her exotic eyes gave them the essense as if they glowed with a deeper sense. Even his slightly empathetic nature could not detect the emotions running within the woman. Escorting her back to her room, the two made plans to start their day tomorrow.
"Quatre," the blonde paused in his retreat, glancing at the girl half-way into the room, "I may not remember much, but thank you. I have a feeling you are the first to treat me as kindly as you do."
"Maybe I just want you to stay longer than you plan to," he replied with a grin.
As the door shut behind her, he felt the smile slide from his lips. From personal experience, shopping with women is always a hassle. Hopefully it wouldn't be too crazy. Entering his personal bedroom, he sighed as he began getting ready for bed.
The following morning, Quatre found himself exiting his ensuite bathroom, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist. Unlike the other Pilots, his muscles were softer, his life not fully thrown into hard labor. Getting dressed in a pair of khaki slacks, an off-white button-down shirt with a cream vest, the blonde gave himself a once-over glance in the mirror before leaving his room.
Half-way through a cup of coffee, Quatre looked up as the double doors to the courtyard swung open, Kurai's lithe frame entering the kitchen. Clad in a pair of basketball shorts and an old under-shirt of his, the young ebony-haired woman immediately chugged the remaining contents of her water bottle. A thin veil of sweat covered her skin, causing it to glisten in the early morning sunlight, and he realized she had gone on a morning jog.
"Good morning, Kurai," Quatre greeted warmly, watching as she carefully searched the cabnets for a coffee mug.
As she poured the dark substence into the mug, she returned his smile with a small one of her own, "Good morning, Quatre."
The two ate a quick breakfast, Kurai consuming at least three more mugs of coffee, before she retreated to shower and get ready for the day. When she returned, he glanced up and felt a soft blush form on his cheeks at the sight of her small frame clothed in his slightly over-sized, pale pink button-down shirt and a pair of his old black slacks. She tugged at the shirt in disdain, and he did realize the pale color seemed to clash badly with her equally pale skin.
"Ready to go?" he asked, to which she nodded curtly.
Rashid drove the pair to the mall, and volunteered to come with them to carry their bags. As they entered the mall, the blonde watched as the young woman seemed to ponder each store with a curious gaze. After a moment, she found a store with beautiful, but simplicitic clothing. The two men watched as the woman shifted through the clothes, pulling out a few pairs of jeans, both in black and denim, several different tops and a few choice skirts and shorts, the girl immediately took off to the dressing room.
Forty-minutes later, Quatre watched as the girl looked at what seemed to be the last set of clothing. In these clothes, he was able to catch a glimpse of her soft curves and the lean muscle, the frame of a dancer or runner. He smiled as a genuine soft look appeared on the usually somber face of the girl.
"Do you only ever where business attire?" she asked, twirling slightly as the flowing purple skirt of the darkly shaded dress spun out around her thighs, the silver leggings and combat boots finishing the stragely placed together outfit.
"Business is usually all I do," Quatre responded with a blush.
Before he could react, she returned to the dressing room and came back out in the clothes she had borrowed from him. She moved to the men's section of the store and began tossing clothes over her shoulders, hitting him in the head and some landing on his shoulders. Without a word, she turned from the racks and shoved him toward the dressing room.
Five thousand and seventy-three dollars later, Rashid carried ten large bags as Kurai dragged the blonde out of the store and through the mall. Being pulled into another store, Quatre felt slightly confused when his gaze settled on the several different styled hats lining the walls of the store. Without glancing at Quatre, Kurai thanked the greeter as she took the small arm basket from her and began tossing different styled hats in the basket.
"May I help you, Miss?" another woman asked, Quatre feeling his eyebrows knit together as the woman gave Kurai's attire a look of disgust.
Kurai didn't even glance at her as she tossed a few more hats into the basket, "No. Can you size my friend's head over there? I need to know his size to get him some hats."
Quatre sighed as the thin, flexable measuring tape was wrapped around the circumfrence of his head. As the woman muttered a number, Kurai immediately tossed more hats into the masket before making her way toward the register. Four hundred dollars later and Quatre followed the girl through more stores, wearing a cream colored fedora, which matched his outfit perfectly.
Two hours later, the front doors to the Winner Mansion opened and Quatre and Kurai collapsed on the sofa, bags around their feet. Quatre managed to learn more about the girl. She didn't seem to have a single favorite color, but instead loved all colors, the majority of her clothing decorated in the darkest shade of each color of the color wheel. She prefered to keep her legs covered, leggings always worn beneath a skirt, or even shorts. She even got her hair cut, the short choppy hair windswept and hidden beneath an dark green army-styled hat. Her fringed bangs now sported a single, bold silver streak and, like Trowa's bangs, hid one of her eyes from sight. Her bottom lip now sported a single silver hoop, set off center to the left just a bit, her right eyebrow sporting double barbell piercings. Quatre, while not a fan of piercings, admired her beauty and not-care-attitude, almost reminding him of Duo. Her intelligent and respectful, but honorable, mannerisms reminded him of WuFei, while her calculating gaze reminded him of the always vigilant Heero.
As he stared at her, her own eyes shut, he felt a familiar feeling fill his chest with a tight feeling. She had lost everything, even her memories, and something more somber resided beneath her happy exterior. He knew it was too soon to feel such emotion toward another person, but the warmth within his heart caused his brain to whirl with turbulant thought.
Unfortunately it all came back to one perticular feeling.
Love.
The first chapter, both parts, are most likely going to be the shortest chapters, as I am giving you guy a brief look into the relationship between Quatre and Kurai. I usually try to stick away from OC's for anime series, but I can't get this story out of my head. Feel free to review.