A/N: A bit longer than the previous chapters - is it weird I already know how this story is going to climax and end? Oh well, even if it is, enjoy!
"BWAH!" I shrieked, being rudely awakened by a large pile of something being dumped in my lap; I whipped my head up to drink in the sight of none other than Duo, looking far from happy, staring down at me.
Self-consciously, I grabbed my blankets and yanked them to my chin - I'd never been overly partial to people I'm not familiar with seeing me in my pajamas, and the fact that mine happened to be a backless hospital gown made my discomfort grow tenfold; the fact that person in question also happened to be not only a boy, but the subject to my embarrassing crush from two years ago only made it even worse.
"You sure are full of interesting sounds." Duo snorted, a tiny hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, momentarily forgetting his displeasure.
I glanced down to see what he'd dropped on me - books...not just books, but text books; I felt my eyes grow wide as I raised my head to gape at the Deathscythe pilot.
"D...does this mean that...that I'm...?" I couldn't even finish; I could bring myself to hope that these paranoid, war scarred boys would ever consider letting me resume my schooling.
Duo nodded his head, and apparently could help but smile now, "You start in three weeks, and you have a lot of catching up to dWAH!"
I had grabbed him by the lapels and was violently throttling him before my brain had full registered what I was doing.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" I screeched, shaking him with strength I didn't know I possessed, "Don't lie to me! Is this real!?"
"YES! NOW STOP SHAKING ME!" Duo yelped, eyes wide with surprise as I hopped off the bed and started spinning in circles joyfully; fortunately I remembered the fact I was still wearing my hospital garb and stopped short, flouncing happily back on the bad and hugging several of the text books to my chest.
"Sheeeesh...simple girl simple pleasures I guess." Duo muttered under his breath, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "And here I thought teenagers dreaded the thought of going to school."
"Oh I do, I'm not simple, and last I checked you're a teenager too." I fired back, narrowing my eyes at him as I flipped open the math book, "I never said that I liked school, just that I wanted to finish it; its a goal...MY mission if you will."
"Oh yeah? Care to expand on that?" Duo asked, grabbing Sally's exam chair and flipping it backwards, taking a casual seat and resting his chin on the shoulder rest.
"Think about it; it isn't too hard to understand." I replied vaguely, trying to make sense of the equations in front of me using mental math, "You spend twelve years in public education. That is a good chunk of your life gone all in the pursuit of knowledge and a certificate that says so; a dumb piece of paper that holds power over your future and determines how much more you can expect on your salary. I'm sure it sounds silly, but I can't rest until that stupid diploma is in my hand."
"How'd it go?" Trowa inquired politely as Duo walked into the mess hall, taking in the unreadable expression on his fellow pilot's face.
"She was thrilled." Duo replied, taking an empty tray from the stack as he moved to the hot line, "She actually smiled; I've never seen her make that expression before. I'm used to her being horrified, ready to puke, or-"
"We get it - no need to elaborate, Maxwell." Wufei groaned, moving his own tray out of the way to avoid the braided boy's elbow knocking his bottle of orange juice over his food as the mischievous pilot reached over him to grab a roll.
"Do you still doubt her motives, Duo?" Quatre asked, already seated at their reserved table with Sally, spearing a piece of chicken with his fork, and looking over Duo's face inquisitively, "You seem troubled."
"Hm? Oh...no." Duo replied, walking over and taking the empty seat next to Sally, "I believe her when she says she wants to continue her education...its...well..."
"Spit it out, Duo." Heero said tersely, burning holes into his fellow pilot's forehead with his gaze, "You're putting me off my meal with these histrionics."
"Well...I'm just wondering what exactly we should do next." Duo replied, scooping up some peas into his spoon and taking a bite, "Will it really be okay letting her go to that school by herself? What if its attacked and she defects to OZ out of fear?"
"I don't think you'll have to worry much about that." Sally answered, raising an eyebrow out of annoyance at the pilot talking with his mouth full of food, "I have no doubt of where her loyalties lie."
"Really now - done a bit of female bonding have we, mother hen?" Wufei retorted, uncapping his juice and taking a sip, ducking quickly to avoid the back of the former Alliance major's hand.
"I agree with Sally." Quatre jumped in, blue eyes stormy at the disrespect the Chinese pilot displayed, "In all honestly, she probably has the least amount of reasons to ever betray our trust of anyone on planet Earth."
"Mind elaborating on that, Winner?" Heero asked, narrowly saving his teriyaki bowl from being pilfered by Duo as he shifted it quickly towards the safety of his elbow and closed his arm around it.
"Tch...so stingy." Pilot 02 pouted, returning his attention to his own plate.
"Not at all." Quatre replied coolly, taking a long sip of water before continuing, "I've been over her records several times - she has no living relatives. Her parents were the only children to their respective families, and Sidra the sole child born to her parents. After her murder, they never had another child - most likely out of fear and grief; the people here at this base? We're the only familiar faces she has. Not even in a personal sense - you've seen her memories, the ones of us from the fictional cartoon from her dimension? Well right now we are quite literally everything she has - the only familiar thing she has to cling to. Betraying us would be far more detrimental to her than anything because if she ever were to, she knows too well that she would be all alone and left to her own devices."
A heaviness filled the air at the weight of the Arab's words of truth; Wufei didn't lift his head for the rest of the meal and the group cleared their plates and left the mess hall in silence.
I walked through the hallway cautiously and peered nervously around the corner; this was my first time leaving the confines of my room and honestly, I had no clue where I was going.
It was stupid, I know, but I had to attempt to find help in some form - I didn't have much time and I knew it.
Biting my lip, I approached a door that I sincerely hoped would contain someone who would be knowledgeable enough to assist me with my quandary, and knocked softly.
"You may enter." a laughing voice replied, the doors sliding open to reveal all five doctors, hard at work on modifications to their respective ward's mobile suits on wall sized monitors.
"Well, if it isn't the little traveler." Instructor H remarked, tearing his eyes away from his work to approach me, "This is a pleasant surprise indeed."
"Its very nice to meet you, sirs." I replied meekly, squeezing the book in my arms a bit more tightly out of nerves, "I'm Sidra..."
"You may call me Instructor H." the man replied, twisting his thin mustache between his forefinger and thumb, "If your memory files serve, you're already aware of me and my associates though, so really, introductions are purely a formality."
"I suppose...um...so...I was wondering..." I said slowly, fingering the bindings of the math book in my arms uncomfortably.
"When we could send you back?" Master O interrupted me, causing me to look up in surprise.
"Um...yes...and no?" I replied awkwardly, noting five expressions of surprise.
"No?" Doctor S inquired, taking a few steps closer to peer at me; it was then that I finally noticed that his nose was a prosthesis and what I had pawned off for years as odd whiskers were actually elasticized strings holding it in place.
"W...well, I assumed that even if it IS possible to send me back, that it would take quite awhile to create something that could." I said tentatively, glancing around at them, "Not too mention due to the war, that it wouldn't be your first priority?"
"...well deduced." Professor G remarked with a smile, stroking his thick mustache, "You're quite correct, but then...what could you have come here for?"
"Well, I was wondering...ifoneofyouwouldn'tmindtooterriblyexplainingth eseformulastomeplease?" I rushed, gluing my eyes to the floor, feeling myself blush; I couldn't ever imagine them possibly agreeing to, so I completely missed the feral, hungry gleam manifesting in their eyes.
"Why certainly!" they all answered jovially causing my head to rocket back up so quickly I was amazed I didn't get whiplash; I brushed a thick amount of red curls from my eyes, unable to stop the relief from filling my face.
"R-really?! Thank you so so much!"
Sally walked towards Sidra's room, trying to shut Quatre's words from her mind; the last thing the poor girl needed was negativity while she was trying to recover.
She had barely raised her fingers to open the door when several excitedly chattering voices reached her ears from the opposite direction.
She glanced up and could not believe the sight she was seeing; all five doctors and the red head - still in her hospital gown no less - walking back toward's Sidra's room talking in intervals and explaining quadratic equations to the girl as she jotted down notes in her text books.
"This makes perfect sense now!" Sidra exclaimed, a relieved, happy expression filling her face as she broke into a huge smile and hugged all five elder men at once in a bear hug, "Thank you so much. I'm positive I'll be able to catch up now. Oh hi, Sally! Check up time again?"
"...not this time." Sally replied, regaining her composure and smiling at the girl as the doctors returned to the lab, waving over their shoulders at her, "What was that all about?"
"Oh...well...I needed help with my math - the level that I'm expected to know we wouldn't even touch til our second year of college in my time." She explained as her pale freckled face tinged pink from embarrassment, bringing the text book up to her nose to attempt to conceal the blush.
Sally chuckled, and opened the door, ushering the girl inside, "No check up this time. I'm here to take your measurements actually."
"Huh?" the red-head balked, setting the book down on the bed, her green eyes filled with confusion, "Why would you need those?"
"Well, if you're okay with going to school in that backless gown, I suppose I don't need to." Sally teased, giggling when the girl turned so red he face blended in to her hair.
"N-no...no...that's..well..." the teenager stammered, twisting her long curls around both hands and averting her green eyes to a corner of the room, "G-go ahead then."
Sally had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud; it was hard for her to believe that the pilots felt so threatened by such a harmless girl.
She made quick work of taking the girl's measurements and sent them out to have a selection of clothing arranged before clearing a space on the bed and taking a seat next to Sidra, whom had already resumed studying.
"Diligent, aren't you?" Sally remarked, watching her patient's bright green eyes flick across the page she was on.
"I have to be, don't I?" Sidra replied back absentmindedly, turning the page, "I mean...you're indulging my selfishness for whatever reason...last thing I want is to thank you all by blowing my cover."
Sally smiled and rose to her feet, "Just do your best - that's all we ask."
I shuffled nervously from foot to foot; the time had slipped by far too quickly - where had three weeks gone?
A safe house had been purchased within walking distance of Sky Valley High School and all five pilots and myself had been relocated to it - my room (shocker) was on the first floor, right next door to Quatre's, while the remaining boys roomed upstairs; I wasn't a hundred percent sure why all five were necessary to watch me, but they did as they saw fit; I had a hunch that they were probably on a mission and were simply choosing to leave me out of the group, though.
Trowa had escorted me to the school and back until he was completely satisfied I had learned the route by heart, meaning he'd made me walk to and from the school around three hundred times since our arrival.
He wasn't much for conversation either - at least not with me - which made the treks particularly uncomfortable as we paced to and from each location in absolute silence; I guess my unruly hair was truly a spectacle as when ever anyone passed by us, they would either gawk or whisper in hushed tones to whomever they were with - when I paused to think about it, the only other person I had ever noted in the series with even slightly curly hair was Trowa's own sister, Catherine.
Duo, Wufei and Heero had enrolled themselves in the private Brighton Academy the next city over - several children of high ranking OZ agents attended the silver spoon school so it would be a good for gathering information which made my theory of there being a mission I wasn't included in all the more likely.
Quatre and Trowa would be both minding the house, doing reconnaissance and intelligence work and with their combined skills, it would be an easy task no doubt; the pair had opted out from enrolling in any of the nearby schools as both were far too recognizable as the Winner Foundation heir and a internationally known circus star.
That morning had been my first walking to the campus alone, and I did so amidst a sea of babbling happy faces, regaling each other with tales of summer vacation and sights seen; I had to swallow hard to silence the wrenching pain in my chest - were I back at home...had the events that transpired not occurred, perhaps I would have been doing the same with Mina and Karli.
I had entered the building and found the office, nervously asking the friendly faced woman behind the desk for a map to locate my first class; she had handed it over with a smile.
After getting turned around twice, I finally located my homeroom class - history - and cautiously opened the door; the noisy chattering slowly grew silent as the classroom registered me and took the sight of me in with critical stares as I approached the teacher.
"Ah, you must be our transfer student." he said with a smile, reaching out and giving my hand a firm shake, "I'm Mr. Walker - pleasure to meet you."
He turned to address the class, "Class, this our transfer student, Sidra Baker. Sidra, why don't you take the empty seat by the window?"
I nodded and made my way to my chair, trying to shut out the whispers:
"Look at her hair...what did she do, make out with an electrical socket?"
"Look at how thin she is...ten bucks she's anorexic, dude."
"Nice clothes...if looking like you're fifty is in fashion."
"Nice to know somethings never change." I thought bitterly, taking my seat and pulling my text book from my bag, "Bleh...at least THIS is familiar."
I'd hoped the lesson would proceed relatively smoothly after that, but that would simply be far to convenient now would it?
Not even five minutes into the lesson about the first colonists to settle in outer space and the girl behind me was tweeking my curls, and she wasn't being particularly gentle either; I should be oblivious to it really - it tended to happen back at my own high school every year...but at least they had a gentler hand than this - it felt like she was trying to rip pout my hair a section at a time.
"Would you mind knocking that off?" I hissed between my teeth as quietly as I could, "If you're gonna scalp me at least do it all in one go rather than a strand at a time!"
"Oops! Sorry!" I was shocked, I hadn't expected a response; maybe an evil chuckle and the person to continue as they were with more force, "I'll try not to do it anymore, but it's gonna be hard...your hair is so...so...springy! So tuggable! I've never seen anything like it."
I had to stifle a laugh - she was sounding just like Luca when I first met her in elementary school.
"If you're a bit more gentle when you're pulling it, then I wont be bothered." I whispered back, a smile creeping over my face, "But in exchange, you have to show me the ropes around here."
"I can live with that - deal!" the girl behind me chirped happily, as I felt her fingers sift through my hair for another curl, "Like this?"
I just barely felt the pull this time, and nodded wordlessly; she appeared satisfied with this response and resumed her "activity" until the bell rang.
On the walk home, I was actually skipping - the day had gone far better than expected; I had made a new friend, whom I found out after class was named Rebecca, who had given me a full school tour, and introduced me to her group of friends - it turned out we had every other class together and shared the same lunch period, and we sat at their table.
Not even twenty feet from the school entrance, I felt a hand thwap me on the shoulder; turning, I smiled brightly at Quatre, "Come to walk me home I take it?"
"Mmhm - Trowa had some reservations of letting you walk alone." He replied, making my shoulders slag in exasperation; the action definitely wasn't lost on him either as he quickly replied, "Not that he doesn't believe you don't know the way or anything like that."
"I'm not even going to honor that sad attempt at lying with a response." I said lackadaisically, not even bothering to lift my head, "I don't know what I expected really...oh well, your guy's trust definitely isn't easily earned."
"Sidra, watch-!" Quatre's warning came a bit too late as I walked face first into a light pole, sending me into a string of curses and my hands flying to my face, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Quatre." I spat, feeling my face glow with an uncomfortable blush as I asked the million dollar question, "Please tell me no one was around to see that."
"Just me and a stray cat across the way." Quatre replied, placing a hand on my back and guiding me in the right direction towards the house, "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes, I'm sure." I sighied with relief as the heat dissipated from my cheeks, "The only thing that would have been injured is what little pride I have left."
"I'm going to take a look at it when we get home, regardless." Quatre said, removing the hand from my back as I raised my head, "No arguments."
I stopped walking and looked at him critically.
"What?" He asked nervously, raising an eyebrow.
"Quatre, you know that you boys are among the last people I would ever attempt to argue with." I responded, shaking my head as I continued down the path, "Color me strange, but I value my life."
Chuckling behind his hand, he sped up to match my pace.
A/N: Hazing, kitchen fires, and someone watching Sidra - ooooo...mysteryyy! See you next chapter!