The Broken Road
Chapter 4: Toasted Marshmallows and Cell Phones
Relena sat in the warm sand, happily admiring their work. These men really were amazing. They'd pitched two tents, cleared the campsite, and started a fire all in record time. Of course, they had all been trained for camp-outs, and Trowa didhave experience with tents, but she was still impressed. Their site was nestled within the edge of the forest, just beyond the dunes. Relena was glad they wouldn't be sleeping in sand for three nights.
She vaguely caught the sound of Heero's voice drifting towards her across the sandy hills. Gloria had called for the third time in a matter of hours. Heero was less than ecstatic.
"Heero told us that your boyfriend is an honorable man," Wufei said, dropping himself to sit next to Relena.
"Did he?" she laughed. "Yes, Hale is honorable, but he is a lawyer. A good one."
She let the beautiful sand sift through her fingers, a comforting feeling. They sat in silence, both regarding the other, both watching the quiet campsite and its lazy activity. Duo was asleep in a hammock, Hilde was managing the food they'd packed. Dorothy and Quatre had gone to the beach to walk along the water (during the bus ride they'd discovered the joys of one anther's company), Trowa was sitting next to the fire- reading contentedly. The only person not relaxing was Heero.
"Gloria, I'm going to-" Heero cut himself off and took a deep breath. No. He'd vowed not to kill anymore. He was over-reacting. "I will talk to you later."
Relena jumped as a cell phone went whistling past her head and crashed into the fire pit, sending ash flying into the air. Heero sat calmly next to her. Wufei smirked.
"What if it rings, Heero?" Relena asked.
"The only way to live a good life is to act on your emotions," Heero justified. The phone would be fine. Irretrievable until the fire went out, but fine. Unfortunately, cell phones had become almost as indestructible as Gundams over the years. Relena looked at him skeptically. "It's on silent," he assured her. She relaxed.
"Throw hers in, too," came Dorothy's voice. She and Quatre had returned from their walk along the beach. Relena made a show of looking offended. Heero held out his hand, offering to oblige. She shook her head, laughing.
"Let's all go to the beach! It's simply beautiful there. The light is sparkling off the water like a million diamonds and I just can't bear how poetic it is," Dorothy sang.
Wufei stood in compliance- he spent most of his meditations near water. He wordlessly made his way over the dunes.
"Hilde! We're going to the water! Bring the monkey!" Dorothy called. Hilde laughed and gave the hammock a light push, capsizing Duo, then gave Dorothy a thumbs up. Trowa stayed to read, more partial to the lake after the sun went down, anyhow.
A light breeze came beckoning from the water, teasing their hair and enticing them. They turned expectantly into the wind, ready to explore the waterfront that awaited on the other side of the dunes. Relena gave Dorothy a challenging look, sizing her up, then grinned fiendishly.
"Race you!" she shouted and took off towards the dunes, sand flying from beneath her bare feet. Dorothy gasped indignantly and chased after the vice foreign minister. Quatre just shook his head, smiling in that bittersweet way of his.
"We all had to grow up too quickly, didn't we?" Quatre said softly. Heero rested a hand on Quatre's shoulder.
"We did what had to be done. Let's just enjoy the peace, now." Heero watched the girls stumbling over the slopes of the dunes with a smirk. They were struggling to conquer the sand that slid out from under their feet as they climbed.
"We could still beat them," Quatre noted. Heero's smirk turned into a smile.
"Shouldn't we give them a head start?" Quatre laughed, noting that the girls would be out of sight after they topped the next dune.
"They'll be sore losers either way." With a chuckle, Heero bounded forward, choosing to weave in and out of the dunes instead of clambering up and down the tallest points. Quatre was right behind him. They both laughed out loud when they heard the horrified shouts of the girls that they quickly over took, a cloud of dust in their wake.
Just enjoy the peace.
Heero lay back in the sand, lazily calculating how much time he'd have to spend getting the sand out of his hair. He lifted his head just barely as a shadow fell across his face, then dropped it back against the sand. He didn't bother to react as Relena wrung her hair out on his chest. He'd known she'd want a personal revenge, but as he was already soaked to the bone, it didn't matter.
"Quatre predicted that you'd be a sore loser," Heero commented, his voice like black coffee, deep and rich, as always. Relena dropped to the sand at his side.
"You cheated," Relena huffed. Grains of sand clung to her wet legs and shorts.
"We gave you a hundred meter head start," Heero corrected. She sighed dramatically.
Once the girls had caught up to their speedier comrades, they'd attacked. Heero and Quatre were trained fighters, though, and they had both learned the advantages of sacrifice. So they'd each slung a girl over their shoulder, waded out into the lake, and tossed them into the water. Sure, they had to get a little wet in the process, but the mission had been accomplished, and a soldier never complained.
Complained? No. Heero and Quatre had laughed. Hard. Then sprinted back to shore before a revenge mission could be executed. Sprinting through waist-deep water seemed to have more damaging effects than an escape seemed to warrant, as they were mostly soaked by the time they reached the shore. They were happy, though. How often did ex-Gundam pilots get to act like typical youths?
Wufei stayed far from the madness. He had muttered something about disturbing the tranquility and integrity of nature, then wandered off alone along the shore.
Dorothy and Relena had come after Quatre and Heero immediately, but the two women were no match for ex-Gundam pilots in peak physical condition. When Hilde and Duo had caught up, Duo wasted no time in throwing Hilde into the lake as well, just to be fair. Unfortunately, while he stood laughing on the shore, she launched a surprise attack, yanking him into the water by his braid. Against such tactics, even the God of Death was powerless.
"Not the braid, Hilde!"
An all-out war had broken loose, and Dorothy, unable to remain on one side for very long, had made the battles confusing. At first she was helping Relena to attack Quatre, but the second Quatre was soaked, Dorothy turned on Relena and knocked her over into the waves, too. Such actions continued for as long as the war raged on.
It had been a brutal match, one filled with treason and foul-play. In the end, Dorothy, Relena, Hilde, Duo, and Quatre teamed up in order to knock Heero under. Although he wasn't really dry at that point, they took their victory as a huge accomplishment.
Now they all lay stretched out on the beach, recovering from the struggle and taking in the last warm rays of the sun. Dorothy and Quatre discussed stocks and entrepreneurship. Duo explained his theory about gills to Hilde. Relena and Heero just lay there, taking several minutes to simply enjoy one another's presence. No words were needed.
By the time the sun was setting, Wufei was returning from whatever spiritual journey he'd embarked on along the shore. He sat with them while the shadows lengthened. When the reds bled back into blues, the group all made the journey back to campsite, hoping Trowa had started dinner.
Trowa did not disappoint. A feast of roasted hot dogs and campfire potatoes greeted the battered warriors upon their return. Completely satisfied, they sat back and humored Duo by listening to his scary stories as evening matured into night. He went on about phantoms and psycho killers for a good two hours, at least, then Relena's head began to droop against Heero's shoulder. Heero caught the look Dorothy was giving them and gently shook his friend to wake her.
"How sweet," Dorothy murmured. Her eyes glistened by the light of the campfire.
"Dorothy, they don't want that kind of relationship, leave them be," Quatre reprimanded softly. They thought their words hidden beneath the mad ravings of Duo Maxwell, but Heero could read lips. His eyes narrowed, wary of Dorothy's intentions.
"Hmm?" Relena mumbled incoherently. Her eyes were blurry with sleep. Heero smiled at her, putting his misgivings at the back of his mind.
"Why don't you get into bed?" he suggested. She stood, unsteadily, and stumbled towards the tent. He watched her go with a smirk.
"What's so funny?" Trowa wondered, not listening to a word Duo said. Heero just held out his hand to reveal Relena's cell phone. He tossed it into the fire before any of the others caught on. Of course, Dorothy saw, but she wouldn't be the one to tell.
As one by one they retired to bed, the wheels in Dorothy's head kept turning. She just knewHeero and Relena were in love, but the pair denied it adamantly. Well, this would not do at all. She was going to see them together if it was the last thing she did.
Dorothy picked her way through the sleeping bags in the girl's tent, a wriggling worm pinched between her forefinger and thumb. Holding back a devilish snicker, she crept towards Relena and plucked forward the collar of her sleeping friend's shirt, depositing her captive. A moment and then...
"Yeeee!" Relena rocketed out of bed... almost. Halfway there, she became entangled in her sleeping bag and kept screaming in her panic to escape. Quatre rushed into the tent, ready to beat down some assassin, only to find Relena hopping in circles, scrubbing herself furiously with her hands, and Dorothy rolling on the floor with laughter.
"Miss Relena?" he asked uncertainly. She continued her antics until she stepped on her teddy bear, lost balance, and landed in a most undignified way on her rear. Realizing she was now closer to the poor worm again, she snatched her bear up and nearly knocked Quatre over as she flung herself towards him for aid.
Dorothy howled with laughter. Duo burst into the tent as well, Hilde at his side.
"Whatis going on?" Duo cried. Relena glanced at them and then at Quatre, whom she was wrapped rather tightly around, and blushed crimson with embarrassment. Spotting Dorothy, Duo decided to nail the perpetrator. "What did you do?"
"Worm," was all Dorothy could manage through fits of giggles. Her eyes were streaming and her abdomen ached from laughter. Duo looked perplexed, but Hilde caught on immediately and snatched up Relena's sleeping bag. She shook it thoroughly until the tiny cause of all this chaos plopped innocently onto the floor of the tent. Taking pity, she scooped it up and carried it outside, where it could return to its simple life.
Relena flinched visibly as Hilde passed with the harmless animal. Quatre was trying to peel her off of himself, but she seemed too traumatized to realize it. Finally, Heero stuck his head through the tent, apparently having seen Hilde's passenger.
"Don't worry about it, Relena. Anyone would react like that to a worm," he stated in monotone. For a moment, the lack of emotion made it sound sincere. Just for a moment, though. Releasing Quatre, Relena stomped towards Heero, but he retracted his head and returned to the fire for breakfast.
"Heero Yuy! Just you wait! I'll pour a whole legion of worms into your pants when you least expect it!" she shouted after him. She waved her arms in the air, her teddy suffering from severe whip-lash.
"Really, Miss Relena, aren't you a bit old to be sleeping with a teddy bear?" Dorothy prodded.
"For your information, Ichi and I have a long history together. He was given to me at the end of the war and I consider him my personal peacekeeper," Relena told her loftily.
"Itchy? Does he have fleas?"
"I-CHI," Relena articulated, "Japanese for one."
"Like Heero!" Duo piped up. They all looked at him. "You know, pilot 01. Heero Yuy... one..."
"Gah!" Relena threw up her hands in frustration and left the tent. Dorothy just smirked. Wouldn't that be useful information?
Day two meant a canoe trip. Since the group consisted of eight, they split nicely into four canoes. There was some debate, however, over who would be pairing up with whom. Dorothy had split loyalties between Quatre and Relena. Duo and Hilde had no problems choosing the same canoe, both being strong and competitive, they considered one another worthy allies. Trowa and Wufei were both relatively indifferent, as was Heero. Relena just didn't want to get stuck with Dorothy.
"Miss Relena, after all we've been through together?" Dorothy moaned.
"Dorothy, if I'm in the canoe with you, I'll do all the rowing allday," Relena snipped. Quatre was about to intervene when Relena turned to Dorothy again. "Besides, you hid my cell phone!"
"Surely you're not angry about that!" Dorothy breathed, eyebrows raised. "Why, that Hank fellow has been calling you non-stop! I'd think you were glad to get rid of him."
"That settles it. I refuse to share a canoe with you!"
"Well," Quatre managed, "If you'll have me, Dorothy?"
Meanwhile...
"Why should I care?" Trowa asked. The three looked at one another hopelessly.
"Somebody has to make a choice," Heero pointed out matter-of-factly.
"As long as I'm not with somebody dishonorable, like Maxwell, I don't care," Wufei spat.
"We could play rock-paper-scissors," Trowa suggested. The ex-pilots glanced at one another, wondering if that was stooping too low. In silent agreement they held out their hands and began what should have been a quick determination of fate.
Back to Dorothy...
"Quatre, it's not that I mind your company at all," Dorothy explained, "I simply don't like the cold regard that Miss Relena is showing me. What have I done to earn such treatment?"
"There was the worm, this morning, and her cell phone, and you keep trying to set her up with Heero..."
"Those were favors. Alright, not the worm, but she still ought to be grateful! I found a centipede, too, but I opted for the worm."
Rock-Paper-Scissors...
"Wow, this is amazing!" Duo said, scratching his head. "I've never seen so many consecutive three-way ties in my life."
Dorothy...
"If you were a good friend, Quatre, you'd see how much they need one another!"
"They seem happy with their lives. Why must you push them in a different direction?"
"I just know they were made for one another!"
"Hello, I'm still here!" Relena reminded them.
Rock-Paper-Scissors...
"Hmm, and you say this has been going on for ten minutes, Duo?" Hilde asked, eyes wide.
"Yeah, isn't it incredible?"
"What's going on?"
"Oh, Relena, they're playing rock-paper-scissors to see who ends up in a canoe with you," Hilde murmured, mesmerized by the perfect unison of the pilot's pounding fists.
"What?! Don't I get a say in it?"
"Nope," Duo answered bluntly.
"Why not?"
"This is way too interesting."
Dorothy...
"Where did Miss Relena go?"
"I think she walked away a few minutes ago," Quatre sighed.
"To find Heero!" Dorothy predicted.
"I think she was just tired of-"
"Come on, Quatre! We've got to spy on her!"
Rock-Paper-Scissors...
"Statistically, this isn't even possible," Relena commented, unhelpfully. The ex-pilots were deep in concentration: each wore their battle face. "Do you think it's because you all had the same training when you became Gundam pilots?"
"I don't know..." Duo admitted.
"I knew it!" Dorothy exclaimed as she entered the scene, dragging Quatre behind her. She stopped, unsure of what to make of the situation before her. "How long has this been going on?"
Duo glanced at his watch. "I've been watching for about fifteen minutes now."
"Incredible!" She moved forward, evil intent clear in her eyes. She leaned close to Heero and whispered something in his ear. His eyes narrowed and his fist came down once more. Everything stopped.
"You win," Wufei croaked, relief evident in his face. "It's finally over."
"So... what does that mean? Do you two have to keep going now?" Duo asked. The three exhausted warriors looked at one another and realized they hadn't decided.
"If the winner gets the canoe with Relena, then the other two left over will clearly be paired as well," Dorothy offered. Wufei and Trowa looked at one another, not wanting to continue the 'game' any further.
"So be it," Trowa said. Then he and Wufei got up and walked away, before anyone could come up with an argument.
"What did she say to you, man?" Duo asked Heero in wonderment.
"I'll take it to my grave," Heero said. He followed his friends' retreat towards the dock.
Heero's deft strokes went deep, sending a swarm of ripples in their wake. What Relena's strokes lacked in power, they made up for in grace. Their canoe eased down the river at a tranquil pace. Relena's blue eyes took in the many bullfrogs that lined the banks. She couldn't help but giggle as they all leapt into the water at the canoe's approach. A chorus of ploop! filled the warm air. They'd been on the river for an hour, now. Neither Heero nor Relena spoke many words. They were enjoying the sights, taking in the sounds, relishing the peace.
Their pace was languid, but it had to be if they wanted quiet. Ahead, Duo and Hilde were racing Dorothy and Quatre. Whenever one of their canoes came in too close, they dipped their paddles deep into the river and flung copious amounts of water at one another. Heero and Relena wanted no part of that madness. They were content to drift along at a noncompetitive pace and remain dry.
"Oh," Relena whispered, her paddle freezing, mid-stroke.
"A heron," Heero told her, quietly. "It comes here to eat the frogs."
They watched as the tall bird stalked along the shallows, then froze. As they got nearer, it launched itself into the air and fled downstream. Relena frowned, a little disappointed.
"We'll see it again," Heero assured her. Her face brightened. They continued to steer their canoe downstream, helped by the current.
Up ahead, Duo had called a truce with Dorothy. The two instigators had suffered the worst of the splashes and were feeling rather weighed down. They took their time catching their breath and wringing out their hair. Duo hailed Dorothy as she leaned over the side of her canoe, water dripping from her flaxen mane.
"Oy, blondie, what did you say to Heero?"
"Whatever do you mean? He's nowhere near here," Dorothy feigned innocence.
"You said something to him while they were facing-off in rock-paper-scissors," Duo insisted. He hated being left in the dark. Dorothy giggled and gathered her hair into a low ponytail.
"Oh, it was nothing," she lied. Quatre leaned forward in his seat to catch her attention.
"It was about Miss Relena, wasn't it?" he pressed, gently.
"That's possible," Dorothy admitted, pressing a finger to her temple and resting her chin on her thumb. "I'll never tell, though."
"What if I swore to join your cause?" Duo baited. Dorothy raised an eyebrow at his proposal.
"My cause?"
"Don't play dumb! We all know you're trying to set them up! You aren't exactly being subtle about it!"
"Hmmm..."
"Heero?"
"Hn."
"I'm sorry about Dorothy."
"That's not something you need to apologize for."
"I know, but I can't just let it lie."
"Hn."
"She's being terribly invasive, and I realize that she doesn't know Gloria or Hale, so she's biased, but it's still..."
"Relena, don't worry about Dorothy. She's not going to change my opinion of you."
"I just don't want things to become awkward between us because of Dorothy's plots."
"They won't. I've never had a friend like you. Our friendship is far too important to toss aside like that."
"Oh, Heero!" Relena stopped paddling in order to throw herself at her friend and wrap him in a hug. He didn't reprimand her for almost tipping the boat. He just hugged back. She really was his closest friend. No crazed girl's rants about love would threaten their relationship. Relena and Heero needed one another and he would defend that stance, it was as simple as that.
So, that's where I'm leaving chapter 4. I guess it's a little weighed down. I'll do better next time. More to come. :)
-Izzy