Chapter 2 Mistaken Bliss
((Again I do not own gundam wing)))
Catherine woke up the next morning trying to rid her of the guilt she was feeling for asking for time off. 'I just hope that this illness will go away.' Grabbing some clothes she went to take a shower and get ready for the day. Looking up at the showerhead she closed her eyes letting the luke warm water envelop her face and wash away her fears. The water always seemed to calm her even though she would feel the fears taking over her after she stepped out. Sighing she massaged the shampoo into her scalp and let the water rinse it out. "Maybe some window shopping will cheer me up, mother always took me shopping with her when I was a child." She blinked away the bad memories of when her family was brutality taken away from her at such a young age. Humming to herself was her way of cooping with the problems, and she had been doing a lot of humming. 'My sight has returned for now, maybe it was a temporary thing, maybe I was mistaken to think that it would last.' She smiled at her own thoughts feeling like the world had been taken off her shoulders. Cathy grabbed one of her daggers and hid it inside her purse for safekeeping. 'You can never be too careful, even though the gundams gave us peace, it may break at any moment. Peace will only last as long as people are willing it to.' With that thought in mind she left her apartment and locked her door behind her, tossing her keys into her purse.
Trowa woke up with his arm over his eyes and heaved a sigh of boredom. He was bored with just sitting around and doing nothing. At least at the circus he had something to do, feed the lions, help Catherine practice, anything but this utter boredom. Standing up proved to be out of the question since he had just woken up. He had grown used to Catherine knocking loudly on his door, yelling at him to wake up, that otherwise the lions would go hungry. Trowa was the only one with enough guts to feed them. The lion tamers before him would almost get killed and then they would run off. He had fed them enough for a week, and would go back within a week's time to give them the rest of it. They depended on him and he respected them, though they really did not care. They just wanted their food and they would leave people alone. Trowa got up finally when he heard Catherine's door open and close. 'What no wake up call?' He thought in his head and smirked, somewhat missing the yelling he would get for sleeping in late. 'I'm not used to this vacation thing.' With that he threw his blanket aside and stretched, his fingertips almost touching the ceiling. "I guess I have nothing better to do then go shopping." He pulled some pants out of his suitcase and a button up shirt, which he had never worn because he rarely wore anything besides his clown costume. He got dressed and left his apartment deciding to get some soap and shampoo first since his room was out. 'Wonder where Catherine went?' The minute he thought of it he dismissed it from his mind. 'Am I actually starting to care for her more?' He left the building trying to sort things out.
Catherine smelled the sweet scents the minute she went into the store and smiled to herself. Candle stores always had a good feeling to them that she loved. She picked up a candle of hunter wood and inhaled the scent wincing a little at the bitter smell. Setting that one aside she picked up a green one and smelled it. The smell of pines came out and she smiled. 'Wonder what that one reminds me of?' She smirked as she read one called forget-me-not. Picking it up she walked over to the store counter and purchased the two candles along with some lotions. She left the store and looked at the things she had bought. Two candles, one bottle of lotion, and a new shirt. 'I have done a very good damage to my banking account.' She turned and looked to see if there were any other stores to go through. The wind blew and she brushed her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. 'Despite the fact that this is a city, it is pretty quiet.' Making sure that her purse was securely on her shoulder she turned to go and get something to eat for lunch. She kept her eyes downcast, watching where she was going. Without realizing it she bumped into some one and winced as she felt her shoulder dig into something sharp. "I'm sorry, I was trying to make sure that I did not trip." She was glad she had not gotten the class candles, since her bags had fallen onto the ground and had been scattered. Looking up she shivered as she realized who it was. "Like I told you before, if you are going to stalk someone tell them before so they can be careful not to run into you." She put her finger on Trowa's chest accusingly, jabbing him with it. "Next time warn me." She kneeled down to pick up her bags. Everything went black and she froze. 'Not now, not in front of him.' She slowly slid her hand over the ground and found one of her bags and bit her lip hoping that he would not notice her behavior. 'Of all times' She could feel her ears turning red and was glad that her hair had become dislodged from behind her ears, which was in turn covering them. Her hand touched something warm and she jerked it back and could hear him chuckle.
"You did need a vacation didn't you." Trowa had leaned down and picked up the remaining bags but kept watching her trying to read her moves. "Relax, it was only my hand." 'Why is she acting like this?' He handed her the bags and helped her stand up, feeling that she needed his help.
Catherine slowly stood up and held the bags as she waited for her eyesight to return. "Thanks Trowa." She smiled at him as everything began to come back into view. "What would I do with out you?" Patting him softly on the shoulder, she turned away and started to walk slowly towards her apartment building.
Trowa followed her. "Catherine I can tell something is bothering you. What is it? Just tell me before I find out on my own." He slowed down to her pace and shifted his bags to one shoulder.
Catherine groaned, "I am fine just leave me alone and stop following me." She let her eyesight come back and blinked trying to get used to it then started to run. "Vacation means solitude. Now go back to your room and enjoy the rest of the two weeks." Turning a corner she went into an ally and leaned against the wall hiding in shadow. Trowa ran by trying to catch up with her not realizing that she had ducked into an alley.
"Catherine wait up!" He yelled after her wishing he had just shut up for once.
Catherine sighed as she watched him run by and laughed. 'Me of all people, I was able to loose a gundam pilot.' She smirked. 'He will never be able to live this one down.' Looking around she tried to figure out where she was and how to get out. "I can't go out that way because he will see me." She backed away from the entrance and bumped into something hard. 'That hurt.' She rubbed the back of her leg and pulled it away, it had come away from her leg feeling somewhat sticky and wet. "Great, I'm bleeding." She pulled her purse to her front and dug through it until she got to her tissues.
"What a pity...such a waste." A voice said from down the alley.
Catherine turned around, thinking better then to walk down the alley but she had lost her sight again and could not tell which way was which. Frantically she dug into her purse for he dagger and sighed softly with relieve that she still had it. "Ok Buster, I'm warning you. I am armed and never miss my mark." She readied her hand. 'Unless I am blind of course.' She shook her head trying to get rid of the feeling of dread in her head. 'Come on think positive.' She extended her hand to one side, her bloody one clutched to her with the dagger in its clutches. Her fingers ran across the bricks and over the grim of the walls.
"Oh really, should I be worried? You can't even see in here let alone throw a dagger at a moving target. I would not give you that much credit. Besides I am trying to help you." The voice sounded closer then it was before.
Catherine jumped away from the voice, every hair on the back of her neck rising in fear of what was going to happen. "What would a man in a dark alley have that could help me?" She said her voice shaky from fear.
"Plenty of things, I could stop the bleeding on your leg for one thing." He sounded somewhat amused at her actions and laughed a little. "It is a worse cut then you think."
Catherine wished she could see, her eyesight had never went out this long which led her to believe that this time it might have gone for good. 'If I call for help then he will attack for sure. But if I don't then I will have to try and find my way out of here only by touch.' She hated both choices. Finally she decided on what she would do and she took a big breath reading herself to scream hoping that someone would hear her.
"That would not be a wise choice." She felt a cold hand clamp down on her mouth. "We would not want a hero coming in now would we."
Catherine's eyes widened but she still could not see and knew for certain that it was not going to come back. "Please just let me go. You can have anything, just let me go." She breathed deeply trying to calm down. Her hand still held the small dagger in it.
The man smiled. She could feel his breath next to her ear. "Well where would the fun be in that?" He asked and with his free hand grabbed at the dagger but cursed as the blade cut into him. Momentarily his grip loosened and she threw herself forward dropping everything besides her purse, which was on her shoulder and the knife. "You little wench."
Catherine lunged forward hitting the wall with her arms. She then headed towards the noises made by the many people. 'Please let someone help me.' She felt a sharp pain hit the back of her head and she lost all control of her body. She leaned forward loosing her balance and fell face first. Then everything blacked out, not just her sight.
Trowa had turned around giving up on following Catherine since she would not tell him what was wrong. 'She has been so secretive since the end of the war.' He shook his head and yawned from sleeping in. 'Guess too much sleep is a bad thing.' He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. 'I know every war move ever made but when it comes to girls.... I am clueless.' He pulled some money out and bought an apple from a stand. He bit into the fruit as he looked ahead of him and saw a single female hand laying face up on the sidewalk. It's arm lead into an alley, the same one he had just run by. 'Happens all the time, some woman gets lured into an alley then mugged.' Something about the hand looked familiar to him yet he could not place it. Trowa placed his stuff on the ground beside the alley and went inside finding the woman curled up protectively in a ball. He saw the bruises and cuts from the assault that had happened. "Don't worry it will be ok." He kneeled down beside the woman and put his hand on her shoulder brushing away her curls to see her face. It was also cut up and wounded. His hand stilled as they rested on an earring worn on her left ear. It was star shaped and kind of big despite that it was an earring. Suddenly his heart leaped into his throat as he turned the woman's face and realized whom it was. His eyes traveled down her body and back up at her again. "Catherine... what have they done to you?" He put his fingers to the side of her throat and checked to see if she had a pulse. 'She's still breathing but faintly. I have to get her somewhere.' He picked her up and noticed that her purse had been ripped open everything was dumped out. Thankfully she never carried anything of value with her that would get stolen. 'I can't afford putting her in the hospital and she would hate to go back to the circus. Guess I have no choice.' Picking up the remains of her purse and found her dagger where her body had been. Trowa put her belongings in his bag and carried her out of the alley. "You'll be alright Cathy...." He said in a whisper, knowing that if she were awake she would not let herself be carried. Trowa looked at her face, her lips were bleeding and he could feel the bum on the back of her head. 'I just hope that bump is not too serious.' He started to run towards their apartment building with her in his arms.
((Again I do not own gundam wing)))
Catherine woke up the next morning trying to rid her of the guilt she was feeling for asking for time off. 'I just hope that this illness will go away.' Grabbing some clothes she went to take a shower and get ready for the day. Looking up at the showerhead she closed her eyes letting the luke warm water envelop her face and wash away her fears. The water always seemed to calm her even though she would feel the fears taking over her after she stepped out. Sighing she massaged the shampoo into her scalp and let the water rinse it out. "Maybe some window shopping will cheer me up, mother always took me shopping with her when I was a child." She blinked away the bad memories of when her family was brutality taken away from her at such a young age. Humming to herself was her way of cooping with the problems, and she had been doing a lot of humming. 'My sight has returned for now, maybe it was a temporary thing, maybe I was mistaken to think that it would last.' She smiled at her own thoughts feeling like the world had been taken off her shoulders. Cathy grabbed one of her daggers and hid it inside her purse for safekeeping. 'You can never be too careful, even though the gundams gave us peace, it may break at any moment. Peace will only last as long as people are willing it to.' With that thought in mind she left her apartment and locked her door behind her, tossing her keys into her purse.
Trowa woke up with his arm over his eyes and heaved a sigh of boredom. He was bored with just sitting around and doing nothing. At least at the circus he had something to do, feed the lions, help Catherine practice, anything but this utter boredom. Standing up proved to be out of the question since he had just woken up. He had grown used to Catherine knocking loudly on his door, yelling at him to wake up, that otherwise the lions would go hungry. Trowa was the only one with enough guts to feed them. The lion tamers before him would almost get killed and then they would run off. He had fed them enough for a week, and would go back within a week's time to give them the rest of it. They depended on him and he respected them, though they really did not care. They just wanted their food and they would leave people alone. Trowa got up finally when he heard Catherine's door open and close. 'What no wake up call?' He thought in his head and smirked, somewhat missing the yelling he would get for sleeping in late. 'I'm not used to this vacation thing.' With that he threw his blanket aside and stretched, his fingertips almost touching the ceiling. "I guess I have nothing better to do then go shopping." He pulled some pants out of his suitcase and a button up shirt, which he had never worn because he rarely wore anything besides his clown costume. He got dressed and left his apartment deciding to get some soap and shampoo first since his room was out. 'Wonder where Catherine went?' The minute he thought of it he dismissed it from his mind. 'Am I actually starting to care for her more?' He left the building trying to sort things out.
Catherine smelled the sweet scents the minute she went into the store and smiled to herself. Candle stores always had a good feeling to them that she loved. She picked up a candle of hunter wood and inhaled the scent wincing a little at the bitter smell. Setting that one aside she picked up a green one and smelled it. The smell of pines came out and she smiled. 'Wonder what that one reminds me of?' She smirked as she read one called forget-me-not. Picking it up she walked over to the store counter and purchased the two candles along with some lotions. She left the store and looked at the things she had bought. Two candles, one bottle of lotion, and a new shirt. 'I have done a very good damage to my banking account.' She turned and looked to see if there were any other stores to go through. The wind blew and she brushed her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. 'Despite the fact that this is a city, it is pretty quiet.' Making sure that her purse was securely on her shoulder she turned to go and get something to eat for lunch. She kept her eyes downcast, watching where she was going. Without realizing it she bumped into some one and winced as she felt her shoulder dig into something sharp. "I'm sorry, I was trying to make sure that I did not trip." She was glad she had not gotten the class candles, since her bags had fallen onto the ground and had been scattered. Looking up she shivered as she realized who it was. "Like I told you before, if you are going to stalk someone tell them before so they can be careful not to run into you." She put her finger on Trowa's chest accusingly, jabbing him with it. "Next time warn me." She kneeled down to pick up her bags. Everything went black and she froze. 'Not now, not in front of him.' She slowly slid her hand over the ground and found one of her bags and bit her lip hoping that he would not notice her behavior. 'Of all times' She could feel her ears turning red and was glad that her hair had become dislodged from behind her ears, which was in turn covering them. Her hand touched something warm and she jerked it back and could hear him chuckle.
"You did need a vacation didn't you." Trowa had leaned down and picked up the remaining bags but kept watching her trying to read her moves. "Relax, it was only my hand." 'Why is she acting like this?' He handed her the bags and helped her stand up, feeling that she needed his help.
Catherine slowly stood up and held the bags as she waited for her eyesight to return. "Thanks Trowa." She smiled at him as everything began to come back into view. "What would I do with out you?" Patting him softly on the shoulder, she turned away and started to walk slowly towards her apartment building.
Trowa followed her. "Catherine I can tell something is bothering you. What is it? Just tell me before I find out on my own." He slowed down to her pace and shifted his bags to one shoulder.
Catherine groaned, "I am fine just leave me alone and stop following me." She let her eyesight come back and blinked trying to get used to it then started to run. "Vacation means solitude. Now go back to your room and enjoy the rest of the two weeks." Turning a corner she went into an ally and leaned against the wall hiding in shadow. Trowa ran by trying to catch up with her not realizing that she had ducked into an alley.
"Catherine wait up!" He yelled after her wishing he had just shut up for once.
Catherine sighed as she watched him run by and laughed. 'Me of all people, I was able to loose a gundam pilot.' She smirked. 'He will never be able to live this one down.' Looking around she tried to figure out where she was and how to get out. "I can't go out that way because he will see me." She backed away from the entrance and bumped into something hard. 'That hurt.' She rubbed the back of her leg and pulled it away, it had come away from her leg feeling somewhat sticky and wet. "Great, I'm bleeding." She pulled her purse to her front and dug through it until she got to her tissues.
"What a pity...such a waste." A voice said from down the alley.
Catherine turned around, thinking better then to walk down the alley but she had lost her sight again and could not tell which way was which. Frantically she dug into her purse for he dagger and sighed softly with relieve that she still had it. "Ok Buster, I'm warning you. I am armed and never miss my mark." She readied her hand. 'Unless I am blind of course.' She shook her head trying to get rid of the feeling of dread in her head. 'Come on think positive.' She extended her hand to one side, her bloody one clutched to her with the dagger in its clutches. Her fingers ran across the bricks and over the grim of the walls.
"Oh really, should I be worried? You can't even see in here let alone throw a dagger at a moving target. I would not give you that much credit. Besides I am trying to help you." The voice sounded closer then it was before.
Catherine jumped away from the voice, every hair on the back of her neck rising in fear of what was going to happen. "What would a man in a dark alley have that could help me?" She said her voice shaky from fear.
"Plenty of things, I could stop the bleeding on your leg for one thing." He sounded somewhat amused at her actions and laughed a little. "It is a worse cut then you think."
Catherine wished she could see, her eyesight had never went out this long which led her to believe that this time it might have gone for good. 'If I call for help then he will attack for sure. But if I don't then I will have to try and find my way out of here only by touch.' She hated both choices. Finally she decided on what she would do and she took a big breath reading herself to scream hoping that someone would hear her.
"That would not be a wise choice." She felt a cold hand clamp down on her mouth. "We would not want a hero coming in now would we."
Catherine's eyes widened but she still could not see and knew for certain that it was not going to come back. "Please just let me go. You can have anything, just let me go." She breathed deeply trying to calm down. Her hand still held the small dagger in it.
The man smiled. She could feel his breath next to her ear. "Well where would the fun be in that?" He asked and with his free hand grabbed at the dagger but cursed as the blade cut into him. Momentarily his grip loosened and she threw herself forward dropping everything besides her purse, which was on her shoulder and the knife. "You little wench."
Catherine lunged forward hitting the wall with her arms. She then headed towards the noises made by the many people. 'Please let someone help me.' She felt a sharp pain hit the back of her head and she lost all control of her body. She leaned forward loosing her balance and fell face first. Then everything blacked out, not just her sight.
Trowa had turned around giving up on following Catherine since she would not tell him what was wrong. 'She has been so secretive since the end of the war.' He shook his head and yawned from sleeping in. 'Guess too much sleep is a bad thing.' He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. 'I know every war move ever made but when it comes to girls.... I am clueless.' He pulled some money out and bought an apple from a stand. He bit into the fruit as he looked ahead of him and saw a single female hand laying face up on the sidewalk. It's arm lead into an alley, the same one he had just run by. 'Happens all the time, some woman gets lured into an alley then mugged.' Something about the hand looked familiar to him yet he could not place it. Trowa placed his stuff on the ground beside the alley and went inside finding the woman curled up protectively in a ball. He saw the bruises and cuts from the assault that had happened. "Don't worry it will be ok." He kneeled down beside the woman and put his hand on her shoulder brushing away her curls to see her face. It was also cut up and wounded. His hand stilled as they rested on an earring worn on her left ear. It was star shaped and kind of big despite that it was an earring. Suddenly his heart leaped into his throat as he turned the woman's face and realized whom it was. His eyes traveled down her body and back up at her again. "Catherine... what have they done to you?" He put his fingers to the side of her throat and checked to see if she had a pulse. 'She's still breathing but faintly. I have to get her somewhere.' He picked her up and noticed that her purse had been ripped open everything was dumped out. Thankfully she never carried anything of value with her that would get stolen. 'I can't afford putting her in the hospital and she would hate to go back to the circus. Guess I have no choice.' Picking up the remains of her purse and found her dagger where her body had been. Trowa put her belongings in his bag and carried her out of the alley. "You'll be alright Cathy...." He said in a whisper, knowing that if she were awake she would not let herself be carried. Trowa looked at her face, her lips were bleeding and he could feel the bum on the back of her head. 'I just hope that bump is not too serious.' He started to run towards their apartment building with her in his arms.
