|Chapter Two|
"There is this cutie staring at you from the bar," Minako Aino's voice purred in Makoto's ear, leaning in so the brunette could hear her over the loud music. Gazing at the grinning blond, Makoto followed the bright blue eyes' direction to the bar trying to scope out this 'cutie'. This hadn't been the first encounter of the night; with seven beautiful women gathered dancing, doing shots, and celebrating Usagi's bachelorette party, attention was thrown to their side of the bar. Before Makoto could protest or get a good look, Minako shoved a stack of cash into her hand. "Slide up next to him and buy us another round of drinks, my treat!"
Giving a weary smile, Makoto strode carefully through the crowded dance floor while keeping her calm and sliding up to the bar like Minako had suggested. Flashing the bartender a quick smile, Makoto waited patiently for her turn at the busy bar. Giving a glance over her shoulder, Makoto watched Minako give a thumb's up before jabbing her thumb to the right in a suggestive manner for her to look. Suddenly, Minako quickly turned as Makoto heard a soft chuckle to her right. Dreading to look, Makoto's curiosity got the best of her as she took the leap and found herself swimming in the deep, dark, playful Persian gems. Her breath felt taken away at the warm smirk, and she had to resist wanting to run her fingers through his dark chocolate locks.
"What are you having?" asked the bartender suddenly, pulling Makoto from her darkening thoughts. Sliding the cash across the bar, Makoto tried to put on her best flirtatious smile in hopes the bartender would pour strong.
"Seven shots of Jägermeister please," Makoto requested, watching the bartender grin and get to work.
"Make that fifteen and add it to my tab," spoke a deep male voice to her right, jerking her attention suddenly as Makoto gazed at him curiously. Makoto watched the man give another charming smile that made her cheeks flush. "I heard your friend is getting married, congratulations and may she have a blessed union."
Raising his own glass in a toast fashion, Makoto found an extra shot of Jägermeister placed in front of her; feeling rude, she pushed up a smile and clinked the shot with his glass before swallowing it in one large gulp.
"Thank you, but please let me at least pay for half," Makoto asked, disliking the notion of some stranger buying such a large amount of drinks for their table.
"How about you save me the next slow dance instead and we'll call it even?" he asked, that charming smile making her flushed once more. Makoto felt speechless and found herself dumbly nodding. "Heero Yuy."
Gripping the warm, strong, offered hand, Makoto felt a shiver pass through her as she quickly blurted, "Makoto Kino."
"I look forward to seeing you soon," purred Heero, slowly sliding his hand from hers. Dumbfounded, Makoto could only smile and leave to follow the bartender holding a tray of shots. With each step across the dance floor, Makoto noticed how she began to sink through the quicksand planks as she wrestled and struggled to get out. Calling their names, Makoto felt frustrated as the sand engulfed her and threw her falling through darkness. She tried to scream but felt something blocking her voice until she landed on the something hard and cold with a loud 'thump'. Shoving her eyes open, Makoto squinted against the bright rays of the sun streaming through her opened shutters. Disoriented for a moment, it took Makoto a minute to remember where she was. Her body was tangled in the sheets as she assessed her fall from the bed, a headache pushing up the moment she lifted her head. A soft tapping of shoes brought her eyes to greet a curious and worried Trowa standing near the end of the bed holding a glass of water.
"Are you alright Makoto?" asked Trowa, pulling out a small bottle of Advil. With a sluggish nod, Makoto felt her heart sink the moment she realized it was just a dream and this was where she was at in her life; dealing with the end of their relationship by 'death do we part'. Pushing out a sigh and managing to get out of the sheets, Makoto wobbly pushed to her feet and took a seat on the side of the bed. "Here, this will help."
Thankfully taking the offered Advil and water, Makoto pieced together the night before. They had drinks at the bar, and a rather wild time if she remembered right. Quatre kept the drinks coming all night, and even when they all stumbled back to her place, they tried to play some games but ended up laughing over old stories instead. All the stories were heartwarming memories about Heero and had lifted her spirits. Still in her heart, soul, and mind she didn't want to believe he was gone and would continue trying to look for him. It was just like Heero to not be finished with a mission and continue until the end, even if he needed his friends and family to believe he had passed in an explosion.
"Thank you," Makoto muttered, feeling a chill push through her as she pulled her robe off the edge of the bed and pulled it around her shoulders. "Did you sleep well?"
"It was a bit hard with Duo's heavy snoring, but I managed," Trowa admitted, pushing up a grin.
"I can make breakfast if you'd like," Makoto began, trying to find something to busy her thought-filled mind.
"I'd like that, if you don't mind a hand," Trowa offered, watching her nod. Tying her silky green robe loosely, Makoto lead down the hall and began to feel her morning routine. Opening the curtains to welcome the sunshine, Makoto checked her plants healthily growing on her porch. Thankful they were still alive, she took to the kitchen with Trowa. Quietly they managed to work chopping vegetables, heating pans, and putting the coffee on. The motions were automatic as Makoto seasoned and stirred, sautéing the potatoes before adding the fresh herbs and vegetables. Looking around the apartment, she couldn't help but feel every moment she stood in here was suffocating. This was their home they had built together, waiting until the time Crystal Tokyo was formed and for Heero to retire before starting a family. After this last mission, they were going to work on having a family and Makoto already started the process of getting off her birth control for when he came home.
Planning and waiting for him to come home, she had gone shopping with Minako and Rei for something special; a nice laced little thing that would do the trick of showing Heero how much she wanted him home and in her arms again. Every day she waited to hear his soft knock on the door, fling it open, and gaze at his warm smile before almost barreling into him with excitement. It was still held inside of her while her body waited and itched to feel his warm embrace. Feeling a hand touch her shoulder, Makoto jolted and nearly flung the pan off the stove.
"Are you alright? You spaced out for a moment," Trowa's soft baritone jolted her back to reality once more. Makoto gave small nod as she continued cooking.
"I'm fine, just thinking about all I need to do," Makoto lied. Giving her shoulder a soft squeeze, Trowa nodded before pouring Makoto some fresh coffee. Putting the pan on simmer until the rest awoke, Makoto slowly drank her coffee quietly as Trowa watched her movements. No matter how many times he met Makoto, she always pushed up a strong front and for the first time he was able to see her weakness. The disorder of her hair, jaw firmly clenched as she seemed to swallow back a creeping sad smile, and dull distant stare. She was off in a world of her own, perhaps in memory, and he could tell this was taking more than a toll. The funeral for Heero would be in a few days, and Quatre had managed to pull some strings to make sure all of her friends would be able to be there for her. From talking with Duo, Makoto had closed everyone out while her friends gave her the space she needed.
"Please feel free to call on us if you need anything," Trowa offered once more and watched Makoto pull up a fake smile.
"All of you have been so kind and helped more than enough," Makoto quipped taking another slow drink. "What is the status on Mr. Chang's situation?"
"I am unsure," began Trowa, carefully eying her posture. "I would rather not move him to another location since he doesn't like change. I may rent a place for a short time until Wufei is recovered enough to go back to his place."
"I can take care of it," Makoto suddenly answered, her eyes still looking across the bar to gaze out the sliding door. "I live in the vicinity and have more than enough time to focus on helping Wufei through his healing."
"That is a very kind offer Makoto but-" Trowa felt his words turned off by her sharp look suddenly on him. There was something in her eyes that made him want to take back his words.
"This is something I need to do." Giving a firm nod, Trowa couldn't help but feel he had to agree. The apartment began to stir to life as Duo awoke next and disappeared into the bathroom to shower. Settled in on the couch, Trowa and Makoto watched the news as the last two missing took seats groggily in the living room.
"Are you sure you two drank as much as I did?" asked Duo, leaning his head back against the couch cushion and kicking his feet up.
"I guess you've never seen my friends and I party," Makoto retorted with a sly smile. Duo couldn't help but chuckle thinking about all her friends out partying. He was sure out of all of them Ami would be the wildest; it was always the quiet types he found.
"I apologize if we were too out of hand last night," Quatre began as Makoto handed out coffee.
"I think last night was much needed by all of us, this has been a stressful time," her soft voice seemed to comfort. Quatre couldn't help but give her another warm smile before she moved back into the kitchen. Once the lid was pulled off the breakfast, mouths salivated as Makoto moved into her hostess role of serving her guests. Although she expected them to eat where they were in the living room, they all politely moved to the dining table.
"This looks wonderful, thank you," Quatre spoke before starting on the meal. Makoto watched from her head of the table feeling at ease while her mind continued to work on the plans. With the funeral a few days away, she felt like never giving up hope. Heero had promised to return, but she would play the role of the dutiful wife and wait for a year. When talking to Heero about his choice of career and how dangerous it could be, they agreed if he needed to disappear for a mission he wouldn't let it go over a year before getting into contact. After all the sadness and emotion of being told he was, Makoto was thankful to remember such conversations. It would be hard to wait a year until Heero came back, but she wouldn't change anything about their apartment. Everything would remain the same until the one year mark was up. Until then, she would find something to distract her mind from it like helping Wufei to get better after the accident.
The touch of a hand warmly on her wrist brought her mind back to see the curious and worried glances.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" asked Makoto, checking each guest to see who had asked her a question.
"Trowa was telling us how you wanted to help with Wufei," Quatre reiterated. Feeling confident, Makoto gave a swift nod.
"Having someone rent a hotel in the area would be a waste since I already live here. Being close to the hospital, Wufei will still have the same doctors and if something goes wrong it's not that far away," Makoto replied and took a bite.
"Makoto, if you don't feel up to the task we can more than take care of Wufei," Quatre began as Makoto swallowed and felt thick lump in her throat. Did they think her incapable of taking care of Wufei? Feeling her defenses spring up, Makoto relaxed her muscles before responding.
"Quatre, I understand the important work you all do for the world. Although I may not know the details of the past mission, I would rather have you focus on the tasks ahead of you," Makoto explained. "Instead, think of me as a safe haven for your agents during their time of need. I am more than open to helping you in the future if anyone else is injured."
The silence was strange while Quatre seemed to take the lead on looking over at Trowa to receive a nod and then to Duo who also nodded.
"That is very kind of you Makoto, please let me know if there is anything you will need in return for assisting us," Quatre finalized, a warm smile pulling softly the corners of his mouth. Breakfast ended rather quickly as Duo began to pack his bags signifying the end of his watchful stay over Makoto. After seeing them off at the door, Makoto let out a sigh the moment she leaned against it and closed her eyes. It was so quiet in her apartment without the guests; only the soft hum of the refrigerator and warm summer breeze pulling at the blinds dared to disturb her home.
Feeling as if she needed to accomplish some strange feat, Makoto began to detail clean her house earlier than usual. Learning from her mother, she ritually cleaned every Sunday but now was the time. Basking in the silence of her routine, Makoto started with the bathrooms and scrubbed harder than usual to make sure the porcelain was pristine. Throwing the towels into the laundry heap, she replaced them with matching fresh towels from the hall closet. The next mission was the guest bedroom, tearing the bed apart and starting the wash of all the bedding including the comforter. If Wufei was going to be staying here, she wanted to make sure it was extra sanitary for his medical needs. Wiping all the surfaces with a disinfectant, she continued to the living with sweat beginning on her brow. It was barely after eleven and Makoto felt time ticking by slowly.
Wiping the surfaces in the living before neatly stacking her table magazines, she moved onto one of her last tasks. Before the dining room and kitchen, she switched the laundry. Through her tedious kitchen and continually glancing at the clock, the time continued to slowly tick.
11:10
11:11
11:12
11:13
11:14
11:15
"Damn it, why did someone have to do the dishes?" Makoto ruptured to no one in particular. Angrily she tried to vacuum as slowly as possible while her eyes kept away from the clock or from gazing at the front door. She'd memorized the sheer white paint with the slight tiny brush marks and wiggle from someone not having a steady hand, and the golden encompassed peep hole that would let her gaze upon a guest the moment they knocked. Putting the vacuum away, Makoto let out a sigh as her eyes glanced back to the clock.
11:20
The numbers seemed to make her blood boil as she tried to think of something to distract her mind. Quickly moving into the kitchen, her hands worked expertly fast as she steamed some rice, and pulled out a traditional box lunch set. Slicing through the vegetables after neatly packing the rice, Makoto still didn't feel at ease but did her best to quickly put together a box lunch with left-overs sent from her friends. Neatly packing it together, Makoto cleaned her mess before moving to get ready in black jogging pants, a blue tank top, and matching jogging jacket. Grabbing her keys and the boxed lunch, Makoto quickly left her apartment in a fast pace.
Looking up and carefully watching the crowd as she moved to the hospital, there were a few times she could have sworn to have seen Heero. But, when the person turned she distinctly knew they weren't him. Reluctantly entering the hospital, Makoto felt disappointed as moved toward Wufei's room and waited to try to perk-up before entering. Giving a soft knock, a grumble was her response as she slowly entered to look at Wufei leaning back in his bed staring out the window.
"I thought you could use a proper meal instead of pre-cooked," Makoto softly spoke and found Wufei's surprise attention quickly on her. His dark grey hues carefully calculated her slow but confident steps into the room. Wufei couldn't believe that Makoto was visiting again and thought surely after the last time he would have scared her off. For the rest of the evening and most of the morning he'd been brooding on how to quip an apology. His words and actions were brash, but it was hard. The guilt he felt of losing a fellow team member, and friend, was thickened when he gazed at Makoto knowing he had lost her husband. From meeting her previously, he could see the haggard change befalling her with the stick movements of unraveling the box lunch, the forced smile, and down to how comfortably she tried to sit.
"Thank you," Wufei murmured, giving a slight dip of his chin before finally tearing his gaze from Makoto. Cradling the chop sticks in his hand, Wufei took a testing bite and felt his pallet astonished by the flavor and authenticity of this meal. Ravenous and starving from barely touching the hospital food, Wufei felt his manners push to the side as his body begged for more nourishment. Emptying the three layered lunch box and following it with some brewed hot tea, Wufei couldn't have felt more relaxed after almost a week and a half of irritation. Deep down, memories began to flourish as he ironically thought of how much more satisfying Makoto's cooking was to his deceased wife.
"Next time I'll bring more," Makoto softly spoke. Wufei gazed at her startled that she would continue to visit. Wouldn't seeing him bring back the memories of Heero? Looking at her brought back his own disappointment of failing his mission, and getting one of his own team members killed in the process.
"Makoto, why are you here?" asked Wufei, feeling his courage build. Makoto was silent while she just stared at Wufei, feeling more discomfort the longer he looked. Should she be honest? Shifting uncomfortably, Makoto tried not to curl into herself.
"I...didn't want to be alone," Makoto answered, feeling a bit lighter she was able to admit it. Looking back to Wufei, she held back a new wave of emotion that hit her just by seeing him. "Can I stay here until Rei is available?"
Wufei almost couldn't breathe, seeing how she began to crumble in front of him. She had looked so confident before and in a quick second, made him feel horrible for even asking the question. Her soft emerald gems darkened as a fresh pool of tears clamored up. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Wufei gave a quick nod.
"Of course Makoto, you're more than welcome here," he nearly whispered, feeling a little better when a small smile started at the crook of her mouth.
"Thank you," she answered, her voice low and almost cracking. Quietly they sat there watching whatever quietly hummed on the television, neither bothering to mention changing it. Wufei mostly started at Makoto, seeing her drift off to sleep after fighting so hard. A twinge of jealousy hit Wufei while he tried not to think of how lucky Heero was to sleep next to her every night. She looked so peaceful, her soft mouth partially parted as she breathed, long lashes swept toward her cheek bones, and soft auburn curls cascading over her neck. Cursing himself, Wufei leaned back into his pillow and frowned for even daring to look at Makoto. He'd just got her husband killed and now he was sitting in a room staring at her, looking over her peaceful features. Heaving a sigh, Wufei looked over to the door to see Makoto's friend Rei had arrived and quietly didn't say a word.
"How long has she been out?" Rei Hino quietly whispered, looking rather disheveled herself. Her long ebony locks were pulled back into a thick braid, jeans were a bit wrinkled, and a t-shirt lazily pulled on. Wufei had never seen one of Makoto's friends looking disheveled since the women took a lot of pride in the way they looked, even going as far as having a day at the spa every week; least of all, being caught outside in jeans and a t-shirt. The only person he remembered seeing do that was Makoto when she was out gardening around Quatre's mansion during one of her visits there. He couldn't help but smile inwardly at the memory of her dirty, holding a spade and looking displeased at Quatre trying to talk her out of it. Instead, Makoto insisted on adding some color to the front of his mansion and ended up telling the gardeners later to leave them after they were displeased someone had ruined their landscaping.
"About a twenty minutes," Wufei answered, watching Rei let out a sigh and lean against the wall staring at her friend before turning those amethyst eyes on him.
"How are you feeling? I heard you were in and out of surgery," Rei commented, a little concern to her voice. Wufei never thought Rei would be so compassionate, especially since this was all his fault. He thought Makoto's friends would hate him, just as much as he hated himself.
"As good as I can. Hopefully I'll be able to walk again with therapy," Wufei revealed, starting to open up more now that he felt no one was going to blame him.
"You'll have a lot of support through your recovery. Makoto made the decision to have you stay with her," Rei leaked, and suddenly glared down at Wufei who was a bit in shock at hearing this for the first time. "I wouldn't protest if I were you. This is something Makoto needs to do, to help heal herself. By taking care of you, she will come to terms with this tragedy and feel better knowing she helped one of Heero's friends."
Wufei couldn't reply but nodded to Rei, agreeing to not protest. He couldn't help but look at Makoto differently, wondering why in the world someone would go such lengths. Thinking back on it, he knew he was never really nice to Makoto. There was the teasing, calling her a weak woman, and pushing her to the edge constantly. It was his way of dealing with one of his friends being 'taken away' from him, especially since his own wounds reopened at the sight. It wasn't that he was mad one of his friends was happy, but angry at himself that he couldn't move on. Wufei watched quietly as Rei collected a sleepy Makoto and left the hospital shortly. Dread built around him as Wufei knew the next few days would be difficult with Heero's funeral approaching.
AN: It's been a while and I finally was able to organize my files and get the stuff off my old hard drive. I purchased the wrong battery charger that in short, over charged my computer and caused my computer to short out all together. Luckily I could get all my word documents! Since I have two stories going on at once, I hope to alternate updates for each while on vacation. Thank you for the kind reviews and reading!
