Disclaimer: I don't own Sailormoon or Gundam Wing
Chapter Three
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I stared at my reflection as I finished putting on my other earring. Their sparkle bounced off the mirror for a mere second as it dangled from my earlobe then settled into place half hidden within my curled hair. I hoped I looked nice and briefly glanced down at myself. I was wrapped in a black chiffon dress. Strapless silk hugged my skin. I had been saving this dress for me and Heero's anniversary, but obviously there had been a change in plans. This dress cost me a fortune, but there was no way Heero was going to ruin me wearing it I decided. But I couldn't help the tug at my heart. What would Heero of thought of it, would he have liked me in it? I frowned, 'stop thinking about Heero' I mentally berated myself. You do not love cheaters, therefore you do not love Heero.
End of story.
On to other topics... Now you all may be wondering where I'm going all dressed up? well the answer was simple. Quatre was holding a business gala. Pretty much Winner Corps. biggest event of the year. If there was a rich successful businessman, he would be at the gala. Once a year, held in July, this was the event to trump all events. I had lost count of the number of cool calculating conversations between men and women as they struck casual business deals. In short, it was a big deal.
And I was invited. If I were anyone else I would feel flattered and awestruck to think I was important enough to be even considered on the guest list. But I was one of Quatre's good friends and it certainly had it's benefits. It was amazing how many people stuttered when they met him. Quatre certainly wasn't imposing or even proper outside of the business world so it was hard matching him to some of the descriptions his co-workers gave him.
"Hey, you ready?" Rei's voice cut through my thoughts as she glided into the room.
I glanced up to take in her appearance. Dressed in a satin red dress that looked practically glued to her with matching red high heels. I inwardly deflated. How was I going to compete with that? I couldn't help the twinge of jealousy that swept through me. Wait, rewind. Me jealous of Rei? Was I out of it? She was my bestfriend. The girl who was there with me through thick and thin and I was jealous of her. 'is that so hard to believe' my conscience asked.
I guess, in truth, it wasn't. Rei always managed to keep her head above water, no matter how tough the circumstances, something I always had trouble with. Anyone would have the right to be a little jealous of someone who had looks, smarts, and sense. I inwardly sighed, stood up and smiled brightly. or at least as brightly as I could manage.
Man, I needed to get out of this slump. It felt like a month ago, but in actuality it was only a week ago that the night at the club happened. I hadn't talked to Duo since but just because I hadn't hear from him didn't convince me he had given up his mission to bring me and Heero back together. Weirdly though, I was slightly disappointed that he hadn't tried to contact me. I mean we hadn't seen each other in a year.
That's a pretty long time in my book. Probably too busy screwing Hilde I thought harshly. That girl really got on my nerves. And the strange part is that I have no evidence to would put her to blame for anything. Just the fact that she constantly intruded on Duo's life. Couldn't she just move on?
"Hey, you alright? You look like you're ready to kill someone" Rei's voice once again sliced through my temperamental thoughts. My face twisted to surprised. I had almost forgotten Rei was there I was so deep in my thoughts. Rei laugh rang throughout my small bedroom, leaving no corner or crevice untouched.
"Don't laugh at me, I was busy trying to figure out the answer to the universe. And now I've lost it. Thanks Rei, I could have solved global warming." I retorted, rightly embarrassed.
"Awww well we'll survive just fine without your genius brain at work. Don't you worry" She teased. "Now are you ready to go? We're going to be late"
"Fine, just let me get my shoes" I murmured and searched the room quickly for them. "aha! there you are!" I announced loudly as I dragged them out from underneath some jeans. Slipping them on I followed Rei down the stairs and out the door.
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the chatter of over a eight hundred people bombarded my ears as Rei and I entered the ballroom. I quickly scanned the room but to no avail, couldn't find Quatre.
"Damn, it's a freaking maze of people in here" I muttered angrily.
"You can say that again", Rei murmured in agreeance. In the center of the room various couples danced to the music being played by a large group of violinists and a pianist who stood in the corner, dedicated to their music despite the level of chatter surrounding them. On one side of the room were over a dozen large round tables decorated with centerpieces and gleaming silverware. The other the food was set up, just ready to be brought over for when dinner commenced. Politely we pushed our way through numerous small groups of people deep in conversation. You'd think Rei and I would be belles of the ball, having taken over three hours getting ready. But in reality, what we wore was just the norm among the high socialites of the city. Versace, Vera Wang, Ralph Lauren. All common household names here folks. Disgusting I know.
After what seemed the longest time, and browsing the crowd for Quatre's familiar golden head, I stopped dead in my tracks as I spotted him not fifty feet from where we were standing. But it wasn't necessarily spotting Quatre that had me superglued to the floor. It was the man standing next to him.
Heero Yui.
My heart clenched involuntarily. Shit, I didn't expect this. What was he doing here?! my thoughts screamed. Panic made itself at home as my heart beat erratically. And to top it all off, There was Hilde not two feet away grabbing onto Duo like he was her life support. I felt ready to collapse into a dead heap onto the floor.
"Hey, you found him." Rei said happily. She saw my expression then followed my gaze. "oh no.. I wasn't expecting this" Rei muttered, concern practically dripping off her lips.
"Um.. it's ok. I think I'm going to go freshen up" I managed to croak out. 'Don't you dare cry Usagi'.
"Hey, I'll come with"
"No that's ok. I'll be right back" I said hurriedly and pushed my way through the crowd in the opposite direction. I fought tears as I made my way onto the balcony. The chatter of strangers muted as I walked out onto the stone platform. The sky was cloudy and not a star was in sight, the air was thick of humidity and I could already feel my skin start to moisten. So much for a starry night I thought bitterly. Wasn't that how it was in the movies. I was supposed to be staring at the stars shivering as I longed for my knight in shining armour to come outside in all his glory and say-- "Out here all alone?" a masculine voice teased from behind me. I screamed.
His laugh rang through the air, sounding strangely more intimate since there was nothing for it to bounce off of. I twisted my body around and glared with all my strength. "If you ever scare me like that again Duo.."I warned.
He just smiled, "You'll what? Kill me with that glare of yours? Just to let you know, it's not working." He teased, he spread his arms casually to prove his point."All in one piece". "Whatever Duo. All I'm saying is be careful the next time you start your car." I said nonchalantly. He laughed as if I was kidding. huh, well I'll show him. Well maybe I wouldn't but he didn't have to know that.
"So, what are you doing out here all alone?" His grin now reduced itself to a small smile as he walked up and settled himself beside me.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Just enjoying the night out I suppose" I replied. Now his smile turned into a frown. what? why did he have to look at me as if I were lying. 'maybe because you are lying' my conscience happily informed me. ok so maybe I was lying, it was none of his business.
"Or you're just avoiding Heero" He said.
"Oh, he's here? I didn't notice" I said.
"Uh huh" Duo replied like he wasn't convinced.
"What are you doing out there. Shouldn't you be inside making out with Hilde" I asked, sarcasm making it's home in my words. Duo's eyes darkened and if possible, his frown deepened some more. "Back to hating Hilde I see" he replied with blatant disapproval. I shifted in my stance as his eyes bore into mine.
"Correction, I've always hated Hilde".
"Why?" he asked.
And I was caught off guard. why? even I didn't really know. "I don't know." I bit out. "I just do ok? But it's not like my opinion matters anyway".
Duo sighed, leaned his hip against the railing and crossed his arms as he looked down at me. "Of course it does Usagi. I just don't understand why you two can't get along." Duo explained. "Would it hurt you to be at least a little nicer to her?" He asked. I looked up into his face and suddenly I couldn't refuse what he asked me so endearingly to do. Damnit. Stupid Duo.
"I guess I could try.."I murmured. Instantly Duo's face was enveloped in a radiant smile that not even the devil himself could not reciprocate. I felt my heart flutter unexpectedly because I knew that smile was directed at me and me only.
Between Heero and Duo I was surprised I hadn't had a heart attack yet.
Suddenly a question popped into my head, nagging at my curiosity until I couldn't stand it anymore. "Do you like Hilde?" I blurted out. shit, I did not just ask that. here comes the the awkward silence. you don't ask questions like that I scolded myself. I lowered my gaze and pretended to disappear. "Um sorry, forget I asked." I muttered. There was a silence for almost a minute.
His voice surprised me. "No. I don't" was his answer. I gazed up in surprise, his gaze was intent on mine. He continued, "Hey. let's go back inside." He said soothely. I felt panic at the thought of going back inside. "It's going to be alright. I got you. alright?" He said. I nodded weakly as he took hold of my arm and steered me towards the balcony doors.
I don't particularly remember walking over to our group of friends, just the fact that my heart felt ready to burst. It's thumping rhythm filling up all of my senses.
Quatre, Trowa, Rei, Wufei, Ami, Hilde, and...Heero stood in a loose circle. As we approached I refused to look at Heero then finally I turned my gaze towards everyone's shoes, studied them as if they were the most fascinating things in the room.
"Hey guys, glad you decided to grace us with your presence. Quatre here was starting to worry." Ami laughed. Duo laughed politely and looked over at me expectantly. I glanced up and I laughed also. If you could call it a laugh, more like a dying chuckle. My gaze was once again riveted to the floor. I refused to look up.
I would not look up. Wouldn't. I knew Heero was not four feet away from me. I wanted with my whole heart to look up and stare him down, to make him feel the pain he caused me. But I couldn't because that would show him that I was the weak one. A couple or more things were exchanged. But the tension quickly escalated as they noticed how mute Heero and I were.
"I'm going to go get a drink" I heard Heero abruptly say and watched his shoes disappear out of my line of vision. Finally I looked up my eyes followed him as he made his way over to the food area then into the worried faces of my friends.
"Well... that was fun" Rei joked and looked at me for my reaction. I frowned, then she frowned, probably realizing I didn't find it funny. Quatre coughed. And Trowa shuffled his feet.
I guess they were waiting for me to make it alright to talk again. "So, Quatre the place looks good, you've certainly outdone yourself this year" I smiled. Quatre jumped at the opportunity.
"Thanks. I've spent months on the preparations".
"Well it certainly shows" I replied.
"Hey, Wufei, let's go dance. I can hardly stand still anymore" Rei announced.
"Sure" Wufei replied curtly and the two went off onto the dance floor.
"Oh, it would be so nice to dance. I haven't danced in ages" Hilde exclaimed. I cringed. She was practically inviting Duo to ask her. Well I'd show her. "Duo, would you care for a dance?" I smiled and lifted my hand for him to take.
He grinned, "It would be my pleasure". I glanced over at Hilde to gauge her reaction and inwardly laughed. I could practically see the steam blowing out of her ears. Duo led me towards the dance floor and as soon as we were in the outer corners, encircled his arm around my waist and brought me closer to them.
"Now I hope you've improved on your dancing skills otherwise this is going to be a long song". I stomped on his foot and he cringed.
"Nope, can't say I have" I laughed.
"You little, I oughta..." he growled but he didn't finish, instead he pulled me closer to him, so close I could feel his breath on my face. "...kill you for that" he murmured. I looked up and stared into his eyes and fell. Fell into their depths until I forgot where we were, who we were, and why we were even there. His eyes darkened and I saw them briefly glance towards my parting lips. "Usagi.." he whispered.
"Yes?" I whispered.
Just now realizing how close our lips were, just a couple of more inches..."Sorry for the interruption, but can I dance with my ex-girlfriend", Heero's voice was like a splash of cold water over my entire body.
To say me and Duo jumped in surprise was an understatement, we practically sprung apart. I turned my gaze to see Heero's livid face as he studied us two.
"Yeah, no problem man, I'm going to go get a breath of fresh air" He glanced over at me with a confused expression, and my eyes pleaded with him not to leave me. But he purposely didn't listen and walked away. I wanted to scream, yell, run as faraway as possible while I stared at Duo's retreating form.
I felt Heero's arm close around my waist as he twisted my body towards him and started to lead us through the music. I finally looked up into his gaze was surprised at the raw anger I saw in them. I automatically blushed and couldn't help but tense up.
"Enjoying yourself?" He demanded quietly. Here we go. Time to face the music. no pun intended.
I smiled sweetly, "Actually I am, thanks for asking. you?" He growled and pulled me closer to him, as he leaned over in whispered into my ear.
"Does it look like I am?" his breath caressed my skin and shivered as it sent tingles up my spine. Damnit I wanted to scream. He wasn't supposed to still be affecting me this way. I badly wanted to say yes, but didn't. When Heero was angry it was practical not to push him too far. Of course why did I even give a shit anymore?
"No" I gritted my teeth. Hey, I was trying. Heero seemed to relax at my answer and his face settled back into his everyday emotionless mask. I sighed as I absorbed my ex-lover's features. The hard plains of his face gave nothing away with his aristocratic features. It was only his eyes that held so much emotion and as I gazed into them and his into mine, I had the overwhelming urge to grab onto him and never let go. I felt tears rush up and didn't know how to stop them. Heero's eyes surprisingly softened and I felt his thumb wipe away the first trail of tears that made their way down my face.
"How's life with Relena?" I managed to choke out.
"There is nothing between me and Relena. Never has been, never will be." He uttered with a finality that held no openings for a retort. I scoffed loudly. Heero's next words crushed me. "Just because we aren't in love anymore doesn't mean I ever cheated on you Usagi". How could he even say that? How could he just simply say he didn't love me anymore. What kind of person was he I wanted to shout. Why did he come over here to just tell me once again that I was now nothing to him.
"Thanks for reminding me Heero. Now I know why I had decided to say goodbye all those months ago". His eyes flashed with hurt for a brief second before he spoke again. Like he had any right to be hurt, he was the one to said he didn't love me!
"Hilde was practically dying of heartbreak standing by herself in a corner, so I decided to pull Duo away from you. Good thing I did too". And suddenly his anger was back again. What was his problem?
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked angrily. He ignored my question and just frowned. We settled into a tension filled silence as our bodies moved to the music.
"How's work been going?" I decided to ask, desperate to break the ice, maybe to even just hear his voice, maybe..
"Fine, my boss has been pushing me real hard to get those papers in. Our company is in a real crunch right now" He explained. I nodded in sympathy. Heero worked very hard at the preventers. It wasn't easy being the engineer for all their buildings. Though he played a small part in a big picture, he was one of the backbones for the preventer's headquarters. It was funny though, I never pictured Heero as a designer. But whatever floats your boat I guess. Some people just had weird passions that didn't fit their personality at all, and I guess Heero was one of them. I nodded in understanding just as the song ended and I felt his arms leave my body.
"I..." I began but he cut me off.
"I'll see you around". And then he left.
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It was 12:35 A.M.and the gala was still in full swing. I glanced around the room and my eyes briefly fell upon Relena in the corner of the room. When had she arrived I wondered, a couple of seconds later I saw her leave the ballroom. Heero had long ago disappeared along with Duo, and Wufei. Where they went to was the question of the hour but I tried not to dwell on it too much, considering I was having so much fun with Rei and Ami.
Well maybe not so much fun, but their company was still filling my chest with laughter, mostly because Rei was wasted off of all the champagne. Ami and I laughed again as Rei almost tripped.
"Ok guys, I need to take a bathroom break. I'll be back" I said that last part in my shoddy Arnold Schwarzenegger accent.
Rei giggled, "Asta la vista" and made a gun with her finger, narrowed one eye on my form and shot her imaginary bullet complete with sound effects.
Ami laughed, "I think it's almost your bedtime Rei"
"Shut up!" Rei retorted. I laughed and walked away.
Again I swerved through the crowd until I came upon the double doors leading into the halls. I turned the handle and stepped out, the door closing behind with a resounding bang.
All noise was abruptly cut off and I was left in silence, my only company was the click click of my heels on the marble tiles. Now where was the bathroom again? God this place was huge. I glanced upon each door as I passed, yet still no sign. Maybe I was going the wrong wa--a muffled scream penetrated the silence and my body went shock still.
I stopped walking. My heart pounded as I strained my ears for anymore noise. There was none. Maybe I was imagining things. No one screamed, because that was just crazy, nothing bad happens in deserted hallways. right. I tried to continue walking, but I found my legs couldn't move.
'Move damn you!' I ordered my feet, but they stood their ground, not cooperating. I sighed and leaned against the wall. I felt my shoulder blades press against hard marble wall and tried to relax, closing my eyes and concentrating on my breathing.
'It was nothing Usagi, just your imagination'. I felt my heart beat slow down as finally felt my composure return. I opened my eyes, and glanced around the hall in both directions. Still nobody. I pushed myself off the wall but before I took one step further, I leaned down and plucked off both my high heels. No way was I making any noise letting know anyone where I was. I took hesitant steps in the direction I was heading. As soon as I came upon a corner I stopped and slowly poked my head out.
Nothing.
I released a breath I realized I had been holding. I looked and almost laughed with relief. A glowing restroom sign stood above two doors. I made my way over, and shook my head. I was really losing it. I continued to laugh to myself until I felt something stick to the bottom of my right foot. Stupid people and their gum. no not gum, something slick though. I lifted up my foot to look at the mystery substance and stumbled back, landing on the floor. red. whatever it was, was red. blood. no, it couldn't be. I scrambled onto my hands and knees and leaned close to the ground.
A small puddle, hardly even noticeable unless you happened to be barefoot and step in it. I hesitantly dipped a finger into it, brought it to my nose and sniffed. a metallic odor penetrated deep into my nostrils. I gagged and pushed the finger away. There was no if's, it was certainly blood. I suddenly wanted to be anywhere but where I was. And the distinct muffled scream drifted back into my memory. Until the smell of the blood and the sound of that scream swam around in my head. I glanced farther along and found something. A lipstick.I reached to pick it up but decided against it. The sick feeling in my stomach hadn't left. I stood shakily to the ground. Something wrong happened. It had to have. What other reason could there be?
"Miss, is there something wrong?" I nearly screamed as a man dressed in a suit had come around the corner.
"Blood..there's blood?" I murmured and pointed to the spot. He look confused but followed my gaze. He laughed. My mouth dropped open.
"Right lady, blood". "you don't believe me? I think I know what blood looks like". He just smirked, "too much champagne huh?" I just frowned.
This jerk was really getting on my nerves. "Well if it isn't blood then what is it?".
He shrugged, "Look, it could be blood, I did see a girl bust her lip back in the ball room, maybe some of it got on the floor on the way to the bathroom".
I looked at him then back at the blood. There was barely any there. Maybe... finally I laughed, "Man, I'm paranoid tonight".
He smiled, "Hey, it happens to the best of us" he replied, "now if you excuse I really have to use the men's room" I finally noticed I was blocking the door and blushed.
"Sorry about that." I mumbled and stepped out of the way. He smiled in response and walked past me into the men's room.
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Ok not really a cliffhanger or anything. I almost made the chapter longer but decided against it. Sorry for any grammar mistakes, didn't really go into major editing or anything. Well hope you review, tell me what you think, and I'll try to update sooner :-)