Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, that even my Author's Note had to be updated...this still is un-beta-ed chapter my beta is busy with work and since it was my birthday yesterday i thought I could just you know upload it for your sake. So forgive the grammar errors, this chapter will be really long and i'll be giving my replies to the prev and this new chapter's review in a few days thanks...
I think for once I've got nothing to say…so I guess we'll be cutting this short. Oh no wait now I have something to say, here you'll see something about the curse that I mentioned in the summary, which some of you had mentioned in your review. Oh and I'll have to warn you guys this will be a looooooooooong one. Hope you like it!
Legend: "speech" 'thought' dreaming
Warning: You might find Dorothy and Trowa too OOC here for you to imagine even in an Alternate Universe, but it's funny! Besides that's the purpose of AU to use an animé's characters' physical attributes and build your own characters' emotional and psychological aspects from scratch and make it justifiable! And I love a good challenge!
Chapter 7: Secret Fears
Dorothy was currently sitting in her chair, her elbow propped up on the table supporting her chin, and she was looking out the window where she had a wonderful view of the school's main entrance. And there she could see the one person she had expected to see, and she smiled as he entered the gates wearing a white and blue pinstriped polo and jeans.
'Right on time.'
"Well isn't this a surprising sight." Hilde interrupted as she sat on the chair in front of her accompanied by Relena who took the seat to Hilde's left.
"What?" The blonde asked giving her friends a curious look, placing her arm down to rest on the table to give them her usual formal look..
"This." Hilde answered pointing at the once famous man-hater of the school. Relena just giggled.
"Don't mind her Dorothy, she's just teasing. I mean I have to admit that Quatre is really changing you, look at you! You used to treat guys like a disease, but now you're waiting for him to come here and smile at the sight of him."
Dorothy could only lower her head to hide her blush and busied herself by fixing her desk. "I-I…"
"You like him, don't you?" Hilde whispered, but no matter how low her voice was it was still loud enough for the young girl to hear.
The question took her by surprise, sure she has been asking herself that same question but she didn't expect someone else to ask her that! "I-I'm not sure…"
"What do you mean you're not sure? How can you not be sure?" the blue-haired girl asked, completely upset by her answer. How can anyone not be sure of what they felt? Was that even possible? Maybe for other people it was but not for Dorothy, never for Dorothy. But then again, Dorothy's action was proving her wrong.
"I-I don't know…I mean I guess I like him…as a friend. And I enjoy his company, and I really feel happy around him so I guess I like him…"
"But you're not sure if you like him in a romantic manner?" Trust Relena to be able to read between the lines, and to decode Dorothy's words and she truly appreciated it. At least she didn't need to spell things out so she just nodded.
"I mean how do you know [1?"
"My dear friend, you are asking an age-old question to which no one knows the answer to." Hilde laughed as she patted her friend's shoulder and took her leave. "Anyway I have to get going; I have to prepare dinner for tonight!"
After bidding their farewell Dorothy was left with Relena, she looked at her inquisitively as if begging for an answer to her question. After all Relena was an expert when it came to matters of the heart such as this, but she only got a smile. "Even I don't know the answer to that one. But I think you'd better get going, after all your ride's here."
Dorothy just sighed as she got up, "I'll have to let you know Relena, I was really disappointed that not even you could answer that one."
"Well why don't YOU tell me." She shouted back at her retreating form.
As Dorothy walked along the hall, her heartbeat kept going faster and louder, the closer she got to him, the faster her heart went. 'Why am I so excited at the prospect of seeing him, I always see him, so why is my heart going so fast? Why do I want to see him so badly all of a sudden?'
With so much blood and adrenaline pumping through her body Dorothy picked up her pace and started to run down the hall. She was going to see him soon and she wanted to get there as fast as she could! She didn't know why, but she felt as if he was calling out to her, beckoning for her to come to him. So she ran as fast as her light feet could carry her.
Everyone she passed in the hall would turn their heads probably wondering what has gotten her so worked up. What was so important that she needed to get there fast? Dorothy didn't know, all she knew was that no matter how fast she tried to run, she didn't seem to be going fast enough.
And as she got closer, she could already see his form from afar did she start calling out his name. She watched as the boy turned to look at the person shouting at his name, and Dorothy felt a smile tug at her lips when she saw him smile at the sight of her.
"Quatre!" She cried one last time, stopping herself right in front of him; for a second there from her running she felt like she would just jump into his arms but she had immediately stopped herself from doing so. Once her feet were finally firmly planted on the ground, she noticed how much air she lost from running, making her pant a little.
"Are you okay? You seem breathless…"
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine, I'm just a little bit tired from running."
"Well why were you running?" he asked innocently as he took her bags and led her to his car- a car which Dorothy noted was yet another new model.
Dorothy stopped dead in her tracks when the question came, what was she going to say? She knew why she ran, but she didn't want to tell him why she ran, it would embarrass her!
"Oh-I ran coz um- I- I…I…"
"Ah I see…" he answered with a smile effectively dropping the subject when he noticed her hesitation, and escorted her inside. Once she was inside, as Quatre walked around the front to get to the driver's side, Dorothy answered his question.
"Because I wanted to see you so badly."
As Quatre got inside, he settled himself, put on his seatbelt and started the engine, "By the way, do you mind if I brought the guys with me?"
'Guys?'
Dorothy turned to look behind her and was shocked to see four grinning guys sitting at the backseat. Well the guy with the braided hair was obviously holding back a laugh, the Chinese guy was coughing, the guy with half his face being covered with his hair was actually the one grinning, while the last one just evaded her gaze. From that moment on she just wanted to die!
'They all heard! They heard what I said!'
"Of course let me introduce you, you do remember them right? They were with me when I sang that song for you. Dorothy this is Duo, Wu Fei, Trowa and Heero. Guys this is Dorothy." Quatre introduced with a cheerful smile on his face, completely unaware of the secret shared by the five other occupants in the car.
But Dorothy didn't hear a word that he said, all she kept thinking about was the fact that they all heard her answer! Not to mention they were giving her the look. Though Quatre didn't feel the tension in the air, he could feel that there was something off with Dorothy.
"Dorothy, are you sure you're okay?"
"Huh? Yeah, yeah I'm okay! I'm great!"
Quatre looked at her with concerned eyes, Dorothy was acting a bit strange, and she was a bit jumpy. After giving it some thought he unbuckled his seatbelt, "Trowa why don't you drive yourselves home, Dorothy and I will walk."
Dorothy followed without a word, and before she knew it they were already a few blocks away from the school. The car had sped off, and Dorothy was walking with Quatre who was carrying her things. All throughout the walk she couldn't help but feel really embarrassed by what she said! She didn't want him to hear, and he didn't, but his friends did! And she couldn't erase the look of their faces when she realized that she wasn't alone in the car.
So she punished herself for accidentally revealing herself to his friends by chewing on her lip.
"Don't do that." Quatre ordered as he eased the lip from Dorothy's bite, the two stopped in shock by the fact that Quatre was touching her lips and though she already released it from her bite his fingers were still on them.
Quatre, himself was shocked with what he was doing, he knew he could pull back his hand now, but he just wouldn't. And his eyes were glued on them along with his fingers, they were so soft to the touch, they were like rose petals and he couldn't stop himself from running his finger from one side to another. The act made her lips part slightly as if inviting him to come closer and feel the softness and smoothness of those lips against his own. But somehow he was just glued to that position.
Dorothy on the other hand kept feeling jolts of electricity run through her entire body the moment his fingers touched her lips. She couldn't help but feel awkward under his gaze, he wasn't giving her a criticizing gaze, but instead the look he was giving her was of awe. And when he ran his fingers on her lips lightly, she felt her chest constrict and her breathing rasping making her part her lips.
But before he could lose his self-control he felt her place her on his wrist pulling his hand away from her lips.
"Sorry…" he muttered and he resumed his walking, allowing some distance to grow between them then stopped and turned his head to look at her again. "You shouldn't bite your lip like that…it might get wounded…"
Dorothy's entire body froze at his words, her lips still tingling from his touch, "I wasn't biting that hard…"
Once again there was another awkward silence so Quatre did the only thing he could do, walk. And Dorothy followed. Side by side they walked, both trying to think of a way to break the silence, anything to take away the awkwardness.
To be honest they were a bit used to them being like this with each other, lately they've been a little bit unsure around one another. They started doing and saying things they never thought they'd say and do all because they started feeling something they never thought they'd feel.
Quatre wanted to scold himself, like always he had a plan to woo Dorothy for the day but the moment he saw her run out of school just to meet him; the blush on her face, the panting from her slightly parted lips, the glazed tired look on her eyes made the plan go out the window. And unfortunately spontaneity was not something Quatre was good at; he always needed to have a plan, a tactic before any attack. After all if love is very much like war, shouldn't you only go into battle armed? But it seems that when it comes to love, you lose your armaments the moment you step in.
As for Dorothy, she was completely unsure of her feelings and how she should act towards them. Whenever she was with him she'd always feel comfortable and awkward at the same time. Whenever she looked at him she'd feel warm and secure, but at the same time she can't help but feel light-headed and giddy, her stomach doing flips and her heart rate going faster than normal.
'What's going on with me?' Dorothy thought, she couldn't help but steal glances toward her silent companion. She would look at his gentle face that looked confused at the moment. The blonde couldn't help but giggle at the cuteness of his expression, but immediately suppressed it with her knuckles. Quatre had looked like a kid who didn't know what to do!
"What's so funny?" he asked, a bit relieved that the tension between them was gone, but a bit irritated that Dorothy found something that he didn't know about.
"Nothing…nothing." She answered waving a hand and continued walking, not realizing that they had stopped. But when she noticed that Quatre wasn't following, she turned and almost doubled over at seeing her suitor with a pout on his face!
Quatre hated being left out, and Dorothy was leaving him out! It was even harder because how can anyone be left out if it's just a conversation between two people! He felt ridiculous, so he pouted. It was a trait he carried until his teenage years, sure he knew it was childish, but it always worked wonders for him. So for the first time ever since he got back, he was going to use it on Dorothy.
And though Dorothy found the pout funny at first, Quatre prolonging it almost had her coo at the cuteness. He already had childish features, and now with the pout he looked more like a kid- a really, really tall kid. Dorothy just shook her head, smiling she walked closer to him and pecked a kiss on his cheek, grabbed his hand and pulled.
'Works all the time.' Quatre thought with Cheshire cat's grin on his face as he walked hand in hand with his fiancée, his left cheek still tingling from the kiss. So maybe it wasn't what he wanted, but the kiss was far better. Plus they were walking hand-in-hand like real couples do, so this must mean that they have just taken a step up from being just friends. Or at least somewhere close to it.
"So do you have any plans for tonight?" Dorothy asked, a light blush tinting her face.
'Plans?' The question had caught him off guard, and his happy grin was quickly replaced by a grim look, he didn't have plans but there was something he needed to do. But Dorothy had not noticed, and took the silence as a chance to continue.
"I-I was thinking if maybe you wanted to go with me to this place, I hear it's very nice. It's a little restaurant by the beach they have this gig that lets the customers cook their own meal with chefs just telling them what they need to do." Dorothy continued with a rush, she also made sure to avert her eyes from Quatre she didn't want him to see how nervous she was or the blush that was on her face.
"I-I know it's weird to you know, have to cook your own meal on a date, but I hear it's really fun and I wanted to check it out. So do you want to go?" She finished, after gasping for lost air the girl inwardly slapped her forehead when she realized that she had stuttered! She never stuttered, stuttering is a weakness; it means that a person lacks confidence or is anxious. And Dorothy had never felt unconfident with herself or anxiety until now. She had been nervous because it was her first time to ask someone out, but Quatre wasn't just anybody to her now, Quatre now held a special place in her heart and it scared her to death if he would turn her down on her first ask.
A few minutes had gone by and Dorothy had realized that Quatre still hasn't answered her question, and though it was her first time, she knew that his silence didn't mean anything good. Not to mention she realized that they had stopped their walking once again, so she turned only to meet his apologetic smile.
Had Dorothy been an irrational person she would immediately get offended considering she had just made a great effort to ask him out only to be turned down! She would also think that Quatre's smile was just a kind way of getting out of something he really doesn't want to and categorize his excuse as a lie.
But since she wasn't an irrational person she simply tried to calm herself and waited for his reason. After all why would Quatre pass up a chance to be with her, when he was the one who would always ask Dorothy out at least three times a week! And so Dorothy felt like applauding herself at keeping her cool demeanor, so that she would seem unfazed by his refusal. Not to mention for the past few weeks she had thought she had lost all sense of rationality in her, but it seems that she still had it and had presented itself at the right moment. So as any rational person would do, she waited for his reason.
"I can't, today's the 15th, remember? My sisters need me at home for the ceremony."
"Oh yeah…I forgot about that." Dorothy nodded, as they resumed their walk. Though she didn't know exactly what the ceremony was and what it was for Quatre had explained to her long ago that on the 15th he was always needed to stay at home for it. It was a tradition that he just couldn't explain to her, because it was a secret kept by the Winner family.
But there was one thing that troubled her about it though. It was that the day after the ceremony Quatre would always seem tired, dazed, and he would even be injured- and she couldn't help but worry for his safety since it was going to happen again.
She had asked him about it before, the first time it happened, but all he said was that it was nothing she should worry about and promised he'd tell her at the right time. Unfortunately, the right time has not come and Dorothy still has no idea what this ceremony was, but she trusted Quatre would tell her so she waited as patiently as she could.
As Dorothy worried over her unofficial fiancé's (2) well-being, and as the ceremony piqued her curiosity she was brought out of her musings because of Quatre snapping his fingers.
"Dorothy you were spacing out again…you've been doing that all day. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah…I was just a little bit sad that we'll have to miss it. Tonight's their last night…"
"I'm really sorry, it's really important that I do this. Everyone's expecting me to do this and there's no way out of it."
"I understand." She nodded as she took his hand slowly into hers, slowly pulling it closer to her so she could lean on him. She wasn't going to lie, the thought of the ceremony was eating at her, fear and worry filling her entire body.
"Just be careful, okay." Was the only thing she could say as she tried to find comfort in his presence.
"Hai.'
Had Dorothy looked into the eyes of her companion she would have seen fear written all over them, and had she seen it maybe she wouldn't let go of his arm. Because his tightened hold on her hands in his palm had obviously not wanted to let go anytime soon even as they got closer to her house.
DQDQDQDQDQ
Quatre lay on his bed thinking about what had happened earlier, it was only now that he realized the effort it took Dorothy to ask him out and it was only now did he feel excited by the fact that she asked him out. Because of course it only meant that his persistence was finally being rewarded. But sadly she had asked him on the day of the ceremony and as much as he wanted to grant her request, he just couldn't.
Quatre has long come into terms that he was serious about courting Dorothy, and by now he was sure how he really felt about her. Surprising as it may sound, this little known fact had somehow confused things more for Quatre than help him at all.
Sighing Quatre got off the bed and walked over to his desk where a framed picture of him and Dorothy lay. It was their first picture together, and Dorothy wasn't even smiling, instead the Dorothy in the picture stood shocked beside a smiling Quatre. Sitting himself on the edge of his desk he smiled as he remembered the memory; absent-mindedly he fingered her lower lip- the lip that she had chewed on earlier. And though it was only a picture, he could still feel what it was really like; the memory was etched on his finger and mind forever.
The blonde's musings were quickly interrupted though when an angry Trowa had barged into his room. "What's this I hear that you're not going to go with the plan anymore?" he more like demanded than ask
Quatre immediately returned the frame on his table and turned towards his best friend, Trowa was panting, which Quatre assumed from running from Noin's office to his room. After all he was sure that only Noin could have the guts to tell the bad news to Trowa.
"I decided I won't ever tell her about it." He answered calmly, facing his best friend with usual calm smile. A smile which Trowa knew was not real.
"What? Why not? Rina told me that she asked you out a while ago! So that must mean she's fallen in love with you …just as we planned…okay maybe we're not sure if she loves you yet, but we're obviously getting there!"
"I fell in love with her, that's 'why not'!" He reasoned as calmly as he could, he didn't want to get so worked up by anything, especially not today. He needed all the energy he had, not that it ever helped though..
"Shouldn't that be a good thing? I mean consider it a bonus that you're both in love with each other, this will make things easier. Once the curse is broken you two can finally be together to live happily ever after!"
Quatre gave Trowa a look of disbelief; did his best friend really think that things were that simple?
"This isn't a fairy tale, Trowa!" he answered rising from the desk walking closer to Trowa, so he could stare him in the eyes. How could Trowa think that things were as easy as a fairy tale? Nothing is easy, especially when love is involved.
"Trowa did you ever wonder how come my parents never got to break the curse?" his voice mellowed, saddened by the memory of his parents.
When Trowa said nothing, Quatre took it as a sign to continue, but not before sitting down on his bed. "They were in love weren't they? And true love was the only way to break the curse. But how come my father still died? How come I have the curse now if they really loved each other?"
"You know why, because he pushed her away! So don't do the same mistake your father did! She might be our only hope but if you push her away, you'll die!"
"Did my dad really made a mistake with pushing her away? When I was young I never really understood why he did that, I would read mama's journal and it was always filled with so many loving words for him, so why didn't he think that they could break it? But now, I think I know why he did that, and I think he did the right thing."
"So you're telling me that you're planning to do exactly the same thing as your father did? You're going to push her away! You're just going to throw everything we've worked hard for away!"
"I'm not going to push her away! I just won't let her know about this other part of me! Don't you get it Trowa she's only in love with a part of me, but what happens when she sees the truth? Can she still love me?" Quatre cried, getting off the bed, facing his best friend once again.
"Obviously I don't get it. I don't understand why you're so willing to throw everything we've worked hard for! It took us YEARS to find the girl who can help you, and now that we've found her you'll just let everything that we've worked hard for go just because you fell in love!" he cried shaking Quatre's shoulders hoping to shake some sense into him.
"But what if we're wrong? Why can't you understand, Trowa? I'm scared…" he admitted in a soft voice, the fear in his voice had somehow clamed the brunette down making him release his hold on the other boy.
"Quatre…we're all scared. But you need to know, that there's nothing to be afraid of because you're not alone in this. You have us, your friends and there's absolutely no way we'll let you die…we're all here, we're in this together. You shouldn't have to suffer alone…I won't let you die!"
Quatre only shook his head, it seems that Trowa had misunderstood him again. "That's not what I'm afraid of…to be honest Trowa I've long accepted death, in fact sometimes I just wish this thing will take over and kill me as soon as possible, that way I don't have to suffer like this anymore. It's not dying I'm afraid of, it's worst…"
Trowa had simply taken a few steps backward, a little bit shocked by a painful realization that he didn't understand what his best friend was talking about. Could it be that what he feared was somewhat connected to this girl? What had this girl done that changed Quatre to a point that even his own best friend could not understand his disposition? 'Or maybe I just really don't understand people in love'
Nodding, he turned and left the room. 'Looks like I'll have to see it for myself…What is it about you Dorothy Catalonia that's changing my best friend?'
Quatre was sitting on his desk, an hour had passed since Trowa's visit and he hasn't received any visitors since. But the object of his thoughts were immediately transferred from his best friend to the girl that has somehow pried her way into his life and into his heart and seemed to have taken residence.
All his life he had searched for someone who was strong enough to break it, not just him but everyone in his family and their advisers. He wasn't looking for anyone who could love him, because they had long accepted that no one could really love someone like him. So they searched the world for someone who was strong, courageous, someone who could hold her ground.
He had been going around the world being paired off to many girls who might have a chance at breaking the curse but with just one look he was sure that they could never help him that they didn't have what he was looking for. They all say that they'll learn to love him, but Quatre never believed it because they've never seen his other side so he rejected them all.
And when they thought they'd never find a girl like that in the world, Noin had decided that they return to Japan to claim the hand of the girl he first held hands with. She thought that as his deadline got closer it would probably be better if he settled down and start continuing their line. But when he visited the girl's house, after at least a week's worth of search, and the moment he laid eyes on Dorothy, the moment he saw her eyes he felt that she just might be the one…had hoped that she would be the one.
Her eyes shone with defiance and strength, she was stubborn and proud, and her aura demanded nothing but respect and caution; she was a force to be reckoned with. She had everything he had been looking for and more. And it was this that drew him to her, she was like a wild fire- attractive and dangerous, she can give warmth or she can burn you, she was the symbol of power, the epitome of a woman. Though Quatre never planned on falling for her, he did plan on making her fall for him, all for one purpose.
But one thing he had not counted on was when he realized that somewhere along the line he just stopped pretending. He didn't know how it started, but when he realized it did, things start to confuse him.
At first he had only planned on using her, it seemed that she might hold the key to his cure. But as the weeks flew by that he kept spending more time with her did he start losing focus on his ultimate goal. And unfortunately for him the moment he decided to call off his plan and leave Japan, he realized he was too late. He had gotten too close to her, he had allowed her in his life; and to walk out and leave without a word would just hurt her and him.
He was tangled in a web of his own doing. He had first wanted to use her; she was supposed to be a tool for him. But when he started caring for her did he decide to no longer pursue the plan, because he was afraid that when she finds out everything she might reject him- fear him.
'I won't let it happen…I promise.'
But his thinking was cut off when Duo, Heero and Wu Fei entered the room. Their faces were calm, but Quatre knew that deep down inside they were probably as annoyed, frustrated and frightened as he was.
"Let's go." Heero ordered.
Quatre complied without a word, he got off the table but before walking towards them he took the picture out of the frame and placed it in his pocket. He then walked towards Duo and Wu Fei and allowed his two trusted friends to cuff his wrist on his back then bind his body with a thick chain.
The three left the room without a word, with Quatre following behind like a prisoner bound in chains. With each step that Quatre took, his cheerful façade broke off piece by piece. The long silent walk towards the ceremonial grounds was dark, silent and depressing. His step was getting heavier and heavier, and his heart was feeling emptier and hollower as they got closer to their destination. The ceremony was about to begin.
Meanwhile Dorothy Catalonia was sitting in the passenger's seat next to Trowa. Just an hour ago Trowa had shown up at her door and had asked her to come with him telling her that it was important. In fact they had left so quickly that she didn't even get the chance to change, she was only able to get her bag that had her necessities and soon they had gone. And now they were in his car, the both of them not saying anything.
Dorothy had to admit that she was surprised by his behavior, just that afternoon he was grinning at her because she had accidentally slipped about wanting to see Quatre badly. But now that image of a grinning Trowa was no longer there, all she could see was a determined Trowa. What he was determined about, she didn't know, but she promised herself that she was going to find out. Hiding her slight interest, Dorothy sat as quietly and calmly as she could, without even sparing a glance at his direction.
A little while later the car came to a halt, and Dorothy was surprised to find that he had taken her to the restaurant she had planned to take Quatre to. She turned to Trowa as if demanding a reason from him. Trowa only smirked at her.
"Well didn't you want to cook? C'mon let's go pay these people so we can cook our own food for our date." He answered as he climbed out the car and left the blonde.
"Date?!" she called out, running after him. "In case you don't know I'm already dating Quatre. You're friend!"
"I know that," he answered, stopping to look her in the eyes; which had been a first for the entire evening. His eyes skimming up and down her lithe form, he had to admit that Dorothy was beautiful; she had an aura of wildness about her that seemed to challenge men. It was as if she was telling them that only those who can tame her, only those who can make her submit would ever win her heart. "I just want to get to know the woman that holds a special place in my best friend's heart. So that I can understand him..."
Dorothy raised a questioning brow at him, she was clearly not satisfied with his answer, but Trowa didn't really care. He simply pulled her by the hand and walked towards the big white tent, the restaurant was called El Mare.
The two couple- erm acquaintances were stationed in a counter filled with supplies and materials they'll need to prepare the dinner planned, it seems that they had arrived on time since the lecture has not begun. Actually it was more like a cooking class, however it was only opened to couples- it was kind of their gimmick so that they can cater to more audiences like the young couples and not just moms. (3)
The two worked in awkward silence, Dorothy watched the other pairs who were talking animatedly and probably romantically with each other and she envied them. She really wanted Quatre to be there with her, talking with her, trying to sneak a kiss now and then, but instead she got a quiet Trowa. As the two got to prepare the ingredients, Dorothy decided that it was just probably for the best that she enjoy their sort-of-date.
"Okay, now that we're done with preparing the vegetables, it's now time to prepare the chicken." And on the head chef's signal, the assisting chefs on each counter brought out a live chicken.
The couples in the beach restaurant gasped, even without the instructions from the chef they had an idea on what they needed to do next, and none of them were willing. The couples kept a worried look at the chicken on their counter, somewhat unsure what they could do next to avoid having to kill the poor chicken.
The assisting chefs had to hold back their laughter, and disguise their giggles as weird-sounding coughs. This was one of El Mare's favorite prank on the young couples, they loved scaring the teens with the challenge of having to kill the chicken and once they've had their fun, they'll bring out the real dead but fresh ingredient. And so far they were far from done and were still enjoying the look on the couples' faces.
Trowa and Dorothy had reacted just as everyone did the moment the chickens were brought in.
"We-we have to use th-that?!" Dorothy squeaked at Pierre, the chef assigned to assist them, pointing at the chicken who was looking at them with rather sad eyes.
"Of course, we always use fresh ingredients." the man answered with a smile, trying his best to hold back his laugh at the expression on their faces. It was really funny for him considering the two went in with rather intimidating auras, in fact for a moment Pierre had thought that these people couldn't smile and that they would remain unfazed with their little prank. But as it seems the two were not so intimidating anymore once faced with the task of killing a chicken.
"So how do we kill it?" Trowa asked, finally gaining enough strength to talk after the initial shock.
"You have to chop its head off."
Trowa merely nodded, his expression had returned to its normal stoic and bored expression, as he grabbed the cleaver then handed it to his date. "You do it."
"Wh-what? Why me? You're the guy!" she cried forcing the cleaver back into his hand.
"Don't used that 'you're the guy' thing with me, I thought you were all for female equality!" he retorted pushing the cleaver back. As the two continued their shove-of-war (tug-of-war in reverse) they gave each other reason why the other should do the decapitating.
"C'mon Dorothy, I need to hold the chicken down while you kill it!"
"I can do that! It's not like it's that hard for a girl! C'mon be a man! Besides you're gonna eat this too!"
"No! You need to learn it more than I do because Quatre likes chicken!"
"You're not making any sense! I can cook chicken, and very good too, especially when I'm not the one who's killing them!" she shouted shoving the cleaver and walking far from him so that he couldn't hand it to her anymore to finalize the argument.
Trowa huffed, he had to admit his arguments were pretty flawed, no wonder he lost the debate. Breathing deeply, to calm himself, he tightened his grip on the knife as he approached the counter.
"I can do this!" he cheered himself, "I can kill a chicken just as easily as I've eaten them."
As he walked closer, everyone in the restaurant had stopped to watch him for he was the first one to actually make an attempt to kill the poultry. Trowa had kept eye contact with the poultry on the table, the chicken holding his killer's glare. They weren't backing down, both knew that this was a battle that had started centuries ago between man and poultry- and someone needed to come out as a winner tonight. The chicken held its ground, but he knew that it probably wasn't the smartest idea and that he should've had just ran away when he had the chance.
Pierre was beginning to signal the Head Chef asking for permission to stop the boy, after all their goal was to freak their customers not really get them to kill the chicken, but the Head Chef had denied him, he was somewhat interested how the boy would handle it.
It had only been a short walk to the counter, just mere inches, but it was the longest walk of Trowa's life. His heart pounding loudly against his chest, everything was so quiet that he could even hear his watch ticking the seconds away!
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and kill it!" Dorothy scolded, breaking the boy's concentration thus adding to his frustration, and making him glare at the source of interruption.
"What? You were taking so long with your staring contest with the chicken! What were you trying to do, BORE it to death?"
"No, I was trying to- forget it! Just shut up and let me do this, okay!"
"Fine, just hurry it up!"
Completely annoyed at losing his momentum and focus, Trowa had quickly grabbed the chicken by the neck forcing its body down on the chopping board but as he raised his hand all of his anger had vanished allowing him to remember that he was just about to kill an innocent living creature. And this creature was looking him straight in the eye, even in its own death! Some of the girls gasped and some had looked away not wanting to see what a decapitated chicken looks like, but there were still a few who were brave or too scared to move or blink away. Turning his head to the side and closing his eyes he immediately brought the knife down!
Just as she was about to scold Trowa to not shut his eyes, her eyes caught sight of something with the color blue and yellow, underneath the chicken. And the moment she realized what that thing was she had immediately shouted at the boy to "STOP!"
But it was too late! The cleaver had come down hard, and a round figure came flying through the air and into the saucepan of the pair beside them. At seeing the blonde head bob in the sauce the guy paled and fainted right then and there. The ice was immediately broken when a clucking sound was heard, not to mention this clucking sound had come from Trowa's and Dorothy's counter.
"Then who's head was that?" A girl squealed, asking her boyfriend.
Wondering the same thing, Trowa had looked down into his hand to find that he had chopped not the chicken's head but the head of what seemed to be a doll of some sort. It seems that he had missed the chicken's head and his fingers by mere centimeters, but he couldn't say the same for the toy. Picking the thing up to observe it, at the same time releasing the chicken, he found that it was a keychain attached to Dorothy's bag. Waving the beheaded toy at the girl, who just stood there in shock, "Is this yours?"
Her gray eyes sadly followed its every move, the key chain has only been with her for such a short time but she's only heard its message one or three times and now she'll never hear it.Sure it wasn't the real Quatre saying those things, but the real Quatre had never once said those words. She knew that the recorded message was not meant; after all how could Quatre say that he loved her when he didn't know anything about her yet, but she still learned to treasure the toy just as she's learned to treasure the giver of the gift. Not because of its message but because it meant that wherever she was, as long as she took the toy with her, Quatre would always be with her.
But now the toy was headless, and the sight of it drained all the blood and color from her face and possibly her body. After getting over the initial shock, Dorothy was filled with a whole different emotion, one she was very familiar with.
"You just chopped off Quatre's head!"
Somewhere in the Winner Manor, Quatre's 39 sisters, Noin, Rashid (4), the Maguanacs along with Heero, Duo and Wu Fei were standing outside a room. But this room was no ordinary room; its walls were made of Gundamium alloy the strongest metal on earth. If someone were to see the room they would've thought that the reason for using Gundamium was to keep the person inside safe from attackers like thieves, but its sole purpose was not to protect those inside. Its sole purpose was to protect those outside the room by keeping the danger inside of it.
The girls were huddled together closely, comforting each other and praying that Quatre would come out alive and safe, but they knew that it wasn't going to happen. The others stood surrounding the room armed with a tranquilizer gun ready to shoot in case things turned ugly. As for Quatre, Quatre was inside the room, bound and waiting for it to begin and hoping for everything to end soon.
Everything was silent; all that could be heard were their ragged breathing and the sound of the clock ticking away. But they didn't need to look at the clock to know what time it was, because they were all aware how close it was to the dreaded hour. The ceremony was about to begin, all they had to do now was wait. And waiting was something they all hated. Because all throughout the entire ceremony that was the only thing could do. Wait for it to begin and once it has started they would then wait for it to end. There was nothing they could do to help the person inside who was suffering.
As the sound of the clock's filled the mansion to signal the new hour, everyone had only one thing in mind. Their bodies had tensed to prepare themselves for the coming of what they have been waiting for.
In the middle of the room Quatre felt the surge of power enter his body, it burning him from the inside. It was like a flame eating him from the inside working its way out. He could no longer hold it back. His body started convulsing, the chains were rattling as he struggled to get out, whatever it was that was attacking him; his body was doing its best to fight it. But fighting is futile, it wouldn't be long before it took complete hold of his control.
A piercing scream echoed through the halls, filling the silent air of the night.
'It's coming.'
"What's coming?" Trowa looked up, surprised by Dorothy's question. When he didn't answer, Dorothy asked him again. "You said that it was coming, so what's coming?"
He had been looking at his watch, the moment the minute hand reached twelve, and the hour hand pointed to nine Trowa knew that it had begun. And for a brief moment he felt like he was there with them in the chamber room right now, helping them. But here he was with the one person who can really help Quatre trying to find out why Quatre chooses not to ask for her help.
"Nothing, listen I'm really sorry about beheading your Quatre doll.."
"It's okay…but I think it's Quatre you should really apologize to. After all it was his head." She joked, and she was surprised to hear a tenor rumble of laughter come out of her date. 'At least I know he can laugh…'
Dorothy just smiled, shaking her head and went back to topping the pie with the dough, while they waited for the chefs to finish cooking the chicken they had started preparing the dessert for the evening. Which was a hot steamy and delicious apple pie; Trowa not liking the fact that she was doing all the work, offered his help to press the dough firmly in place.
Things had died down, the chefs finally decided that they've had enough laugh after another one of their customers fainted at the announcement of Quatre's beheading and had been kind enough to bring out the chicken. And as an apology the assigned chefs at the table helped majority in the cooking of the meal.
With silence reigning on them once more, Dorothy decided it was time to get to know the best friend more. After all Quatre had also gotten close with her best friends, it would only be fair if she was the same with his friends.
"So tell me how long have you known Quatre?"
"All my life…our families were very close friends."
Dorothy nodded, she had hoped that the question would lead to another topic, but as it seems Trowa was not like her talkative suitor. "I see…no wonder I thought it was so weird for him to befriend someone like you."
"What do you mean?" he asked arching a brow; it was actually the first time he's heard anyone say that out loud. He was aware that some people thought it weird that two unlike people would end up as best friends, but he has never met anyone who would say it outright and out loud at his face.
"Well I thought it would just be impossible if Quatre made friends with you recently, because well you're not exactly like him. But the fact that you've known each other for so long makes sense to your friendship. No offense, but at first glance, I don't think you two would have become friends if you'd only met each other just now…you're almost polar opposites."
"You're very frank…I guess that's one of the other things that Quatre likes about you."
Now it was Dorothy's turn to be silent, she had not expected Trowa to say that. "So tell me why did you invite Quatre into something like this?"
"Huh? Oh well…I just wanted to spend time with him that's all, besides they say it's fun…why? Didn't you have fun?"
Trowa nodded as he placed the pie into the oven, while they waited for the pie to finish, the chicken that they had prepared was served. The chefs had taken them in after they were cooked for garnishing.
"I'm having fun. Just too bad Quatre can't be here tonight because of the ceremony." At the word Dorothy stiffened, they were already seated at the counter ignoring Pierre as he prepared the dinner and filled their glasses with wine. Dorothy pondered on his words for a while, as Trowa started eating his dinner, he had to admit it was really good. And though he has eaten this food in a couple of occasions, it never quite tasted as good as this one.
Noticing her silence he turned to see that she held a curious look, and he smirked at the sight. Moving closer so only Dorothy could hear him, he decided to offer some enlightenment to the young girl.
"You're worried about him, aren't you? You're worried about what this ceremony is doing to him. You want to know what this ceremony is, don't you?" Dorothy only turned to him blankly, but she nodded carefully.
Yes she wanted to know, she wanted to know why it was so important that Quatre should never miss it. She wanted to know why it was performed always at the fifteenth of the month, and mostly she wanted to know why Quatre always came out injured the next day. The first time it happened he had told her not to worry, but when she realized that it kept going on like so every month did she begin to worry. Quatre was keeping it a secret from her, and the fact that he was keeping her out of a part of his life hurt her.
She wanted to know why wasn't she allowed to know, and what this secret really is that whenever it would come out in their discussion he would always seem frightened. What was it about this ceremony that scared Quatre? What do they do that would always result to Quatre being wounded or even injured?
"Do you want me to tell you?"
Noin tightened her embrace on the girls as more screams and pounding echoed, though they couldn't see what was going on inside they were sure that Quatre was struggling with the chains. It seemed that this time he was having a hard time getting out of them.
Quatre's body was on fire and it scared him, he wanted to get away from it, but how can you get away from something that is within you? His usual pale complexion was beginning to change to a purple hue, and he could feel an unknown power sweeping through his entire body. Suddenly he felt that he had enough strength to pulled at the chains, hoping to break free, but when the chain didn't break he pushed himself up and had started ramming himself to the door.
"STOP!" he had managed to scream as he felt the fire continue its way up, he didn't want this, he wanted this to stop. Every time this happened to him it seemed that it kept getting worse, and his contemplation of suicide became even more tempting. So he continued to ram himself towards the door, as his arms continued to try break free from its bondage, hoping that he would pass out or just die. Anything just so he won't turn into it again.
He tried to suppress it, hold it back, he did everything he could to stop it. But it seems that his body was getting stronger that ramming himself against the door was not enough to knock him out. By then blood was already dripping all over his face, his arms bleeding as the chains started giving way, their edges scratching his skin.
"No, I don't want to know." Dorothy answered as she decided to eat her food.
"Why not?"
"Because whatever it is, and no matter how much I want to know what it is and no matter how much I'm worrying about Quatre right now, I cannot violate his privacy like this. He told me that he'll tell me someday, just not now and I'm sure he has a good reason why he isn't telling it to me right now, so I'll believe him. I'll trust him. And I'll wait for him to tell me what it is when he is ready."
Needless to say he was pleased with her answer; he was beginning to see why Quatre had fallen for this girl. And he was soon beginning to understand just why Quatre acted the way he did earlier, he was beginning to see things the way Quatre saw them.
Now he understood why Quatre was so scared. There in front of him was the girl that had everything they had been looking for, but there was still no guarantee that she could break the curse because they needed someone who could love him not just someone who can face him.
'You may have what we're looking for, but are you really strong enough for something like this? Is that why Quatre doesn't want you to find out? Because he's afraid that if you can't do it, then it would mean that the woman he loved didn't love him back as much as he did.'
Trowa smiled, as he continued to watch Dorothy move her way around the restaurant getting ingredients for their pie. A sense of accomplishment and disappointment filled him. He was glad that he finally understood what Quatre meant, and it was because of that understanding that got him disappointed. He was disappointed because just like Quatre he knew that whatever the outcome was…it wouldn't be pretty. If Dorothy saw Quatre's other side, she'd be afraid of him and probably run out of Quatre's life. But if Dorothy didn't help, then the curse would take over and kill Quatre. It seemed that the answers he found had led to more questions.
But somehow looking at her made him feel that Dorothy might really be able to succeed. That she really was the only one who could help, and if she really was the one they were looking for he was sure that the risk of her getting hurt or injured would be minimal. 'I still think we should tell her.'
"You know Trowa it's rude to look, stop."
"STOOOOOOOP! MAKE IT STOP!" he shouted as his felt his entire body gone numb, and he knew what it meant. It had won him over again. The curse was taking over him again. And in an act of desperation, Quatre had bitten on his lip to hold back the scream that was threatening to come out of his mouth as he felt his entire body being ripped apart. Blood was dripping from his lips as a result of his bite, but the taste of his own blood had somehow made the curse stronger as it attacked his body faster that normal! But before his consciousness could slip into the oblivion, a vision entered his mind and it was of Dorothy.
Suddenly his turquoise eyes darkened as the curse enveloped his entire being.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
"Dorothy!" Trowa cried, all of a sudden just when everyone was peacefully eating their pie Dorothy had just started screaming and had backed away from the counter causing her to fall off her chair. "Dorothy, are you alright? What happened?"
But Trowa's words fell on deaf ears; Dorothy continued crawling backwards until her back was pressed up against the counter of the couple behind them. She was looking around as if looking for someone; her eyes could no longer see El Mare or the people that was in there with her. All of a sudden her world had gotten dark, she couldn't see anyone, she couldn't hear anyone, and she didn't know where she was or what she was doing there.
Having the presence of mind, she tried to regulate her heart beat by breathing normally; once she had calmed herself down she tried to remember what had happened. Just then an overwhelming feeling swept over her body, she knew it couldn't have been the wind because her clothes or her hair didn't move, instead she knew that it was caused by a presence. And its presence scared her, it wasn't wind, but it was something strong.
Suddenly she felt something that made her blood run cold, she immediately turned to look around her, and she could feel that someone was looking at her, watching her every move. Just then a new feeling overcame her senses, and it was this feeling that she felt when she was in El Mare, it was what made her scream and fall off her chair. It was the feeling someone was calling out to her. Someone was calling out for her help; someone important to her was suffering and was calling out to her. Someone like…
"Quatre!"
Hurriedly Noin had pulled at Emily's running figure just in time before she could reach the door, "Emily don't you'll get hurt!"
"Let me go Noin!" she begged struggling to pull away from the woman, she couldn't stand it any longer her brother was in there crying for their help. He wanted to get out and if that was what he wanted, needed she was willing enough to give it to him! "Please! My brother needs help! Let me go!"
"I can't let you do this, if you open that door, if you let him out…" Noin cried as she choked back the tears that were threatening to fall; she wanted to help Quatre just as much as everyone did. She wanted to stop his suffering, none of them could bear it any longer, but she knew that the best way to help him and to keep the others safe was to keep him locked up inside.
"He isn't your brother right now!" Wu Fei shouted, hoping to talk some sense into the girl. He wasn't being mean or anything, he understood completely what Emily felt; he knew that they all felt the same thing. They all wanted to help, but they knew that there really wasn't much they could do. They knew that what they were doing might kill Quatre, but so far that was the best plan they had and they were sticking to it.
"Yes he still is! No matter how he looks like, he's still my brother! He hasn't changed!" She reasoned as she desperately tried to break free from Noin, Duo had approached the two helping Noin in keeping Emily as far away as possible from the room. The American then turned to his friend, his eyes telling Heero to do something!
"Yes he has! But there's nothing we can do about it. If you let him out he might kill anyone, he might even kill you! Do you want that on your brother's conscience?" Heero scolded his voice piercing through the girl's frantic shouts, his eyes glaring icily at the girl holding her firmly in place with his glare.
"I just wanted to help…" she whispered, her legs gave way, making her fall on her knees. From where she knelt she could hear his cries clearly, and it caused an unbearable ache in her heart to hear him cry like that.
"I know…we all want to help," Heero explained, his voice now gentle and his eyes understanding "But right now this is all that we can do to help."
Without any warning, Quatre had just stopped his screaming and the pounding noises had stopped altogether. But they knew all too well that this silence was not something they should take comfort in, the silence only meant that Quatre had changed. Quatre had once again lost to his curse.
Inside the dark room, with the moon from the skylight as the only form of illumination a huddled figure in the middle of the room could be seen. But this figure was not of Quatre's, in fact it was hard to believe that this creature was once Quatre.
Carefully the creature got up from its position on the ground, scanning the room, making himself aware of his surroundings. There scattered on the floor were pieces of cloth, then his eyes were drawn to what used to be his hands. Lifting his claws as if to examine them, admiring their deadliness and as time elapsed he could feel a new power coursing in his body, a strength that was practically limitless, a power that was sweet to the senses and a lust for blood.
This was his curse.
The creature, though off the ground was hunched, he was at least six times larger than Quatre. It had sand-colored skin, the texture was as rough as a rock's jagged surface. It had long legs that resembled a frog's hind legs, and long sharp bony claws for hands, his feet was very much like that as well. His face was elongated, and had long droopy ears that dropped at the sides of its head. Quatre's turquoise eyes were now replaced by green orbs that glowed with a malice that could not be compared to anything.
But his attention was immediately drawn to the smell of blood, which was undoubtedly his, that was falling from his wounded lips. Looking down he followed where the blood dripped only to find a slightly rumpled piece of glossy paper on the floor. Slowly he reached out to pick up the parchment that was covered in blood with his claws so that he could examine the paper at a closer distance.
Wiping the blood away the creature was able to make out a two figures standing side by side, the taller one had his arms around the smaller one's shoulder. For a brief moment the green orbs had returned to their original turquoise human eyes, as the creature traced the smaller figure's face. Somehow he knew this person, he could recognize it. And the person standing next to it was very familiar to it as well.
Without any warning, Quare's heart throbbed as his eyes lingered on the photo in his claws. The creature had never felt this kind of pain before when he was in this body and it alarmed him, scared him even. It was completely unfamiliar to him, somehow he felt his heart squeezing. Contracting and it was getting harder to breathe!
Immediately he placed his other palm over his chest to check if his heart was still there. Because with the pain that he was undergoing right now was making him feel as if his heart was very slowly being wrenched out of his chest…piece by painful piece. And when his eyes were once again drawn to the picture, the painful feeling of cold emptiness had intensified. And he knew that it was caused by the picture!
It angered him! Soon green orbs glowed into red orbs, he was mad, it was mad. Because now he knew what that painful feeling was- it was vulnerability. It was a weakness. And as a creature with a thirst for power, he despised weakness especially when it is in his vessel! And this weakness, allows it to see and feel what Quatre sees and feel.
'How can you love me when I'm a monster? Who can love someone like me?' Quatre's thought cried, overriding the beast's consciousness. The thought that Dorothy would fear him, flee him, scared him, hurt him…angered him. And it was this anger that surged into his body erasing all other emotions.
The monster could feel anger burst within his body, an anger that wasn't his, and he liked it. Quatre's anger tasted sweet to him, and intensified his power. This anger can be used to his advantage, because this anger would mix with his- and this would serve to unite him with his vessel.
Heero had silently approached the door, pressing his ear against the metal listening for the creature's movements.
"What's the matter?" Rashid asked noticing the troubled look on the boy's features.
"It's too quiet in there," Wu Fei answered knowing full well that Heero would not answer the question because he was too close to the door-and he didn't want to endanger himself by letting Quatre hear him, besides he was after all closer to Rashid. "Normally Quatre would be raging and pounding the door down, but now there's nothing, no noise at all."
Getting an idea, Amanda lifted her head up detaching herself from Noin, a glimmer of hope in her almond eyes. "Could it be that Quatre was able to control the curse?"
"I doubt it." Duo answered, not really looking at the young red-head, his eyes had remained glued to the door. Waiting, watching for any sudden movements, his gun ready in case he needed to take action, he stood there as if ready to attack and at the same time cautious with his movements so as not to alarm him. "We don't want to take any chances."
As if proving Duo right a strange roar echoed in the room, but this was different from all the others. They could tell that it wasn't his usual desperate angry bellow, somehow they could feel the sadness that lie underneath. And though none of them could really decipher what the beast had cried, they knew what Quatre had cried out.
Dorothy woke up in a place filled with darkness, her gray eyes searched for a way out or at least someway that would let her know where she was. A growing sense of panic made her run, she didn't know where she was and she was all alone.
"Trowa?" she called out, as she moved around the vast space. She was a little bit unsure that her running was taking her anywhere; all she knew was that her body was moving, running. As to where she was headed she had no idea.
"Dorothy"
'Quatre!' Dorothy turned to the direction of the voice, only to find that she was now standing face to face with the blonde boy smiling at her. A sense of relief washed over her body at his familiar smile, somehow just seeing his smile made her feel that everything will be alright.
"Quatre I'm so glad you're here! I don't know what happened, I was at El Mare with Trowa a while ago and now all of a sudden-" but her detailing was immediately interrupted when Quatre pressed two fingers on her lips, the touch causing her to blush.
Just as she was to protest, Quatre took a few steps backward his gentle smile still plastered on his serene face. "Good-bye."
The word echoed repeatedly in her head, wondering as to what Quatre meant, "Qua- Quatre, what are you doing? Where are you going?"
But Quatre only smiled at her waving good-bye as he turned his back on her and walked further away. Though she didn't know what was going on, somehow with every step he took further, she knew that it was a step further out of her life- and she didn't want that. Suddenly fear made its presence known as she felt her entire body go cold at the thought of him leaving her. "Quatre!"
Quatre didn't look back or even react to his name, as if he hadn't heard anyone and continued walking. The girl had wanted to run, to stop him, but she couldn't move! She was forced to watch the one man she ever learned to love walk out of her life, and for the first time in her life did she ever learn what it was like to get her heart broken.
'Is this suppose to hurt so much?' Tears begin to well up in her eyes, as she watched Quatre slowly disappear from her sight, and from her reach…forever. In a desperate attempt she reaches her hand out to him hoping for one last touch…
In a dark room a solitary figure lay on the bed, moaning and struggling underneath the midnight blue sheets; the figure stretched out its arm, reaching for something.
"Quatre…please don't leave me." Her strained voice begged. Two hands then later on enveloped the outstretched hand waking the person up in the process. Dorothy rose up, frightened and disoriented; squinting at the person holding her hand. "Who are you?"
"Ssshhh…it's me." His gentle voice assured, as he tucked a stray strand behind her ear.
"Quatre? Is it really-" she asked, not trusting her ears as of the moment. No, not until she saw his smiling face will she be all right. Squinting some more, she waited for her eyes to become accustomed to the lack of light. And as soon as Quatre's face finally came into view, she was no longer able to hold back. The memory of the dream still fresh in her mind, his smile, his back walking away from her…
"Quatre…" she gasped as she buried her face into his chest, sobbing like a lost little child. The usually collected girl for the first time had an outburst of tears in front of Quatre, something she never would have done in front of anyone- her pride just wouldn't let anyone see her weak. But she did, for once in her life she finally swallowed her pride and cried.
"Dorothy, what's the matter? Why are you crying?" he asked, worried and a bit stunned at the sudden show of emotion, not knowing what he should do to comfort the girl he awkwardly placed a hand on her head, feeling her warm tears soak through his shirt.
"Please…please don't leave me! Don't ever leave me!" she begged tightening her hold on his shirt. "Please, I don't know what I'll do if you walk away!"
Dorothy never felt this kind of fear before, the fear of losing the most important person in her life, the fear of feeling unloved-empty. She had never once feared those things, because she never loved anyone like this before. Ever since she was young she had concluded that the reason why so many people experience heartbreak, regret and sorrow is because they loved, so she promised herself that she would never fall in love. But it seems that she had broken this promise, because now she was feeling the fear that can only be experienced by a person in love.
"Dorothy…" he whispered as he stroked her soft locks, enjoying the feel of it against his skin, slowly he pushed her chin up so that she could look at his eyes. "I promise you…I'm not going anywhere, I won't ever leave you."
The sincerity in his turquoise eyes and in his voice had washed all the doubts and fears in her mind. Dorothy took his bandaged hand and placed it over her chest, Quatre nodded feeling her heart beating weakly. "It feels so empty…when you're not there."
"I promise I won't ever leave you, you won't ever have to be scared of being lonely. I'll always be here." Gently he pulled the girl into his arms once again, resting her head against his chest, his heartbeat lulling the girl back into sleep.
"Good…'coz you have no idea how scary it is to lose the one person that holds your heart…" she murmured as she was pulled into his warm comforting embrace. Feeling secure, she closed her eyes knowing that when she wakes up Quatre was still going to be there beside her.
'Yes…I do.' Carefully he laid her down on the bed, they stayed there like that, Dorothy sleeping peacefully on the mattress, and Quatre watching his angel sleep. Slowly he pulled her hand and pressed it against his cheek, drenching her pale hand with his warm tears
"That's why I won't ever let you know, because I don't ever want to see you to leave me."
Outside his room, Trowa stood beside his parted door, hearing everything. From the corner of his eye he could see Noin and Rashid approach him.
"Why did you bring her here?" Rashid asked, his voice toned down so as not to alert Quatre.
Trowa simply shook his head, pushing himself off the wall he walked past the two but was stopped by Noin's hand on his shoulder. "Listen I believe that she can cure this curse as much as you do, but you need to understand that Quatre is just scared."
"I understand completely, but you're the one who's not getting me! He's not going to die," he promised in a hiss, "I won't let him die…because if I let him die… it'll be my fault." He replied shoving the hand away from his shoulder as he walked away.
Noin and Rashid stood there, surprised by Trowa's parting words. Can anyone say who's going to die and who isn't? Did anyone ever really have an authority over death to promise such a thing?
"It was never your fault Trowa…" Noin whispered to his retreating figure, but because Trowa was already far, the blue-haired girl's words were unheard.
Author's Note: Wow! This is like my longest chapter ever! Woohoo! I must say I really had a hard time typing this one up…Do you guys remember the toy? If not, go back to chapter 3! (",)
Can you guys answer this question? Please I'd like to know what your answer to this question is; just out of curiosity, besides it will be fun! (",)
It's unofficial because Dorothy still hasn't agreed to it.
Kinda like in the movie Hitch with Will Smith and Eva Longoria, when they went out with her boss and his wife.
Thanks to Maddery for correcting me about Rashid's name, I'll be editing the former chapters when I get the time. But not yet though…I'll fix it soon enough.