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 Two- Emotions Within
She had been warmly accepted into the Winner Mansion by all of the inhabitants. Every morning, Quatre joined her for her morning jogs, often taking her down different routes as to learn the bustling city. She noticed that within the first week of jogging, Quatre often finished short of breath and exhausted, but within the second week, he had managed to build a slightly stronger stamina. Almost every other night, around one in the morning, she found herself shaken out of her slumber by horrible nightmares. Her night terrors sent her to the indoor olympic-sized pool, wrapping waterproof weights around each ankle, each forearm and around her waist before pulling herself through the cool waters.
Within the month she had been at the mansion, she had found her favorite room of all, the music room. After learning about her ear for music; mostly strings, Quatre told her the piano and guitars were free to her use. Her second escape from reality was the library, her reality melting away as she drowned in the pages of literature.
"Rai," the older voice pulled the ebony-haired girl from her book.
She looked up at Rashid, who had finally dropped the formality of her person and called her by her requested title, "Good afternoon, Rashid. Is there something you need?"
Rashid glanced at the book, noting the French text, "I did not know you could read French?"
"Oui, in fact, I have managed to read all forms of Dutch, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and I think I have a firm grasp of ancient Latin and Greek text," Kurai replied, smiling softly, "It feels weird, seeing such odd words, but understanding them. I don't remember learning languages, but it just seemed to register, like math and reading."
"I came to let you know Master Quatre wishes to see you in his study. He says it is rather important," Rashid stated.
Kurai uncurled herself from the overstuffed chair and followed the taller man through the halls of the mansion. Arriving to the study, she entered and inwardly sighed at the mounds of papers on Quatre's desk. Sneaking behind him, she read over the invoice.
"Bad idea," Kurai whispered, giggling when Quatre lept in his seat, "There are irregularities in the finances that oozes bad business. Stuff you probably don't want your company being involved with."
"You need to stop sneaking up on me," Quatre huffed, his blue eyes glaring at her playfully, "What are you up to?"
"Rashid said you wanted to see me?" Kurai insisted.
Quatre nodded and pulled the drawer to his desk open, taking out a folder of paper and setting it out for her to take. Kurai quirked an eyebrow at the blonde's nervous disposition before opening the folder. Reading over the document, she felt her eyes widen as shock filled her. He couldn't be serious.
"It isn't final yet. This is a rough draft. I...wanted to run it by you, as to not step on your toes or cross a line of some sort," Quatre nervously muttered, looking into the shocked green eyes.
In her hands was an adoption form, claiming her as Kurai Winner. Her hands clenched into fists before she abruptly stood, knocking her chair over. Racing out of the study, she ignored Quatre's shout as she seemed to fly through the front door in a blur of black and green. Ignoring the horrible weather, the heavy down pour immediately soaking her to the bone, she pushed herself forward.
Why was she running? She knew nothing of her past, and something about the way she arrived in Quatre's care seemed to be only a warning. She knew nothing of how to be a family, her family having been gone for so long it was hard to think of. Finding her coffee shop, she entered, seeing her favorite barista at work.
"Afternoon, Rai, what will it be today?" Karista greeted.
Kurai smiled at the red-head, "Straight, four sugars, no cream."
"What's wrong? Karista asked, seeing the confliction in the ebony-haired girl's eyes.
"Quatre wants to adopt me into the family," Kurai started, seeing Karista quirk an eyebrow in confusion, "I don't know how to be in a family. My family was lost to me so long ago, I don't know how."
"Being a family isn't about how. You just have to care about the person to the point that you'd die for them," she replied, handing Kurai a cup of hot coffee, "Family is there through the easy and the hard parts. Look, I've seen you with Quatre, and you two are so good to each other. He cares about you, and if he wants to bring you in the family, don't you think it's a good idea. This accident that you had, it may have stripped you of your memories and everything you've ever known, but it led you to Quatre. That's a good thing."
Kurai was about to respond when the door jingled, a cold feeling wafting over Kurai as two sets of solid footsteps landed with confidence and pride. Karista wandered away to take the orders and Kurai carefully took in the sight of the men. Something felt familiar about the men and immediately, she stood from her seat and tossed down a few bills.
"See ya, Rai!" Karista bellowed as the door swung shut behind her.
It didn't take long for her to feel the familiar sensation of someone spying on her, causing her to sneak a glance in the reflection of a nearby car. Seeing the two men following from a distance, causing her to turn into a nearby alley.
"Where do you think you're going, Kaosu," one of the voices stopped her in the middle of the alley, " You know, there's a pretty hefty sum of money for your return."
"Over my dead body," Kurai replied, her voice growing cold and empty.
"They never said you had to be kept alive, or perfectly intact as you are now."
The innuendo smeered within the words, caused her to smirk coldly, eyes sliding shut, "I have no idea what you speak of, but I assure you, I have no plans of going with you weaklings."
"If it's a fight you want."
Her eyelids snapped open, turning to gaze upon the two muscled masses, her green eyes gaining a large gold tint. Ducking beneath a well-aimed punch, her own left fist connected with an open mid-section. Twisting around the mildly stunned body, her leg extended, foot connecting with the side of the other man's head. Seeing him drop to the ground, she shifted to the left only slightly as another fist flew over her shoulder. Reaching up with her right hand, Kurai gripped the guy's wrist tightly, seeing his face constrict.
"Who are you people?"
"Cut the act, Kaosu," the man sputtered.
Kurai didn't look away from the man as her body shifted, the twisting of the man's arm bringing him to his knee. As her body tilted forward, her foot snapped out viciously behind her, connecting with the other man's chin. Without a bother to find out anything else, her gaze turned on the man on his knees, her left foot connecting with the back of his elbow. A sickening crack filled the wet atmosphere, quickly followed by silence as a second snap followed.
Releasing the man's throat, Kurai turned on the other man, cocking her right arm back. A sickening crack and a howl filled the alley as Kurai felt the bones of his ribs shatter upon impact. Jumping on the man's back, she hooked her arm around his throat and out of survival instincts, the man slammed both of them into the wall. A grunt rumbled in her throat as her back hit the rough stone wall before she quickly reached around with her other arm and gripped his chin tightly. With a quick pull, a final sickening crack pierced the air, the body holding her against the wall crumbling to the floor.
Inhaling deeply, the gold tint slowly filtered back into the starburst around her pupil. Blinking three times, Kurai looked around at the two bodies and a sense of confusion filtered through her mind. They recognized her, but called her by a different name. They tried to kill her. Checking their pockets for identification and other things, she put the items on the inside pocket of her jacket before heading back to the mansion.
"Kurai!" Quatre's worried voice caused her to look up as she stepped into the foyer, "I was worried sick about you. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she replied, instantly warmed at his worried behavior, "I was a little confused and I'm sorry for taking off like I did."
"It's alright. Perhaps, my offer came a bit too soon," Quatre explained, giving her a weak smile.
Silence fell over the pair, Quatre's body tensing as the girl stared at him blankly. Never had he seen someone look at him in such a fashion, not even Heero could pull off such an obviously blank stare.
As her gaze settled on his face, she slowly took notice of the genuine worry within his eyes, the confusion placing a small kink in his brow, and the truly joyful expression of seeing her here caused a strange feeling to flutter in the pit of her stomach. As she stared him down, she realized she wouldn't give up her life for him. No.
She would kill for him. She would massacare anyone in her way, if it meant to keep him safe. She would give her own freedom, her own life, just as long as he remained alive and happy.
"Rai," she broke the silence, seeing confusion flicker within his eyes, "My name on the paper. Put it as Rai."
"What?"
She gave him a smile, "Kurai, it is in the past, something I can't fully grasp and remember. Holding onto it will do me no good. So, I accept, so long as you place my name as Rai Winner."
Two arms wrapped around her and her face became buried in the soft chest of the blonde. She felt content. Happy. Relaxed.
She felt at home.
