ºDeceiving Fateº
CHAPTER IX:
The girls ran up the stairs, passing Duo on the way. "Where are you two off to in such a hurry?" he asked.
"We're going SWIMMING!!" Courtney yelled without looking back.
Duo's face lit up. "Really?"
Lizz turned around as Courtney flew past her. "Yeah. Wanna come?" Duo grinned.
"I was hoping you'd ask." He jogged up the stairs behind Lizz and ran to his room. He opened the door, and before stepping inside, he turned around. "I'll wait here for you guys, ok?" Lizz nodded in agreement.
"Sure." She went into her room as Courtney stepped out of the bathroom in her new bathing suit. It was a one-piece, but it suit her well. It was a completely black halter, and over it, she wore a sarong of light, white material around her waist. A pair of black jelly sandals adorned her feet, and her head was covered with a white straw hat. Instead of her regular glasses, she wore a pair of blue-tinted sunglasses.
"I'm ready to go!" she said. "Oh, and the sunscreen's in the bathroom," Courtney told her friend, who was searching through the many drawers of her side of the dresser for her own bathing suit. "45 SPF," she added. Lizz pulled out her bathing suit.
"45!? Good grief! …oh, well I suppose you DO burn with that light skin of yours… Ok Court," she said, heading for the bathroom. She stopped herself before closing the door. "Oh, guess what?" she added in an excited tone.
"What?" Lizz grinned.
"Duo's coming with us!!!" Courtney giggled.
"Oh beautiful," she said in sarcasm. "Duo, shirtless. Just what we need around you." Lizz continued grinning.
"I know, isn't it wonderful?" Courtney laughed.
"Yeah yeah, now hurry up so we can go!" Lizz giggled.
"Oh, alright. I'll meet you guys in the hall."
"Ok, Lizz. See ya out there."
Duo was waiting anxiously in the hall, already dressed in his orange swim trunks and a tee shirt, when Courtney stepped out of the bedroom. "Hey Court. Nice outfit." Courtney grinned.
"I thought so, too. Thanks." Duo smiled.
"Anytime. Say, you wouldn't mind if ALL the guys tagged along, would you?" Court shrugged.
"I don't mind, but I dunno about Lizz." Duo thought it over for a minute.
"I don't think she'd mind TOO much…"
"Mind what?" Lizz asked as she stepped out of her room. She was wearing a crimson red bikini, with a maroon sarong and leather sandals.
"If the guys come too." Lizz thought it over for a moment.
"I dunno…" Duo put on his best abandoned-puppy eyes and pleaded:
"PLEASE?" Lizz laughed.
"Alright, alright, fine. But don't force them to if they don't want to." Duo smiled.
"Ok." He ran off down the stairs. "I'll go get 'em," he called. Lizz laughed again.
"How can I resist the great Shinigami?" she asked. "He's just irresistible." It was Courtney's turn to laugh.
"Yeah yeah. Come on, missy." And with that, she dragged Lizz down the stairs.
Duo was trying to talk Wufei into a bit of swimming when the girls entered the living room. "Oh c'mon, it'll be fun!" Duo was saying.
"No. Absolutely not."
"Why not? You'd swim any other time." Wufei paused for a minute.
"It's of no concern of yours, Maxwell, whether I choose to swim or not," he said finally, his face flushed with growing annoyance.
"Fine, but you don't know what you're missing!!!" Duo said in a singsong voice. He ran off into the kitchen to try and con Heero and Trowa into going. Lizz shook her head, smiling.
"Silly Duo," she said. Lizz sighed. "He'll never learn." Courtney shrugged and walked over to the door. Wufei looked up from whatever he was working on.
"And where do you think YOU'RE going?" He asked.
"Swimming," she replied coolly.
"Yep. We both are," Lizz said before Wufei could say something smart.
"Good, as long as you're out of my sight." Lizz clinched her fists.
"Why you nasty little-" Courtney opened the door and grabbed Lizz's arm. She started to pull Lizz out the door.
"C'mon," she said, "no need to let Mr. Know-it-all over there ruin our day."
"Know-it-all? Is that the best you can do? That's pretty lame," Wufei said. Courtney stopped, her back still turned away from him.
"What… did you… call me…?" She stuttered finally.
"Lame. You and your insults are lame." Courtney's fists began to shake. She whirled around to face the over-confident young man with a new fury.
"You want lame? I'll give you lame! Just go look in that mirror down the hall and you'll see some pretty pathetic things. Namely, YOU. Now if you want to insult me again, I suggest that you think twice because you don't want to see me mad- I'll knock the crap right out of you before you can say 'ouch' and believe me, I will not hesitate to do it!" And with that, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the house, leaving a surprised Wufei alone with Lizz staring after her.
"Courtney, you ok?" Lizz jogged after her friend, trying to catch up.
"I'm FINE." Courtney said, fists still clinched.
"You sure?" Lizz asked.
"Yep. Just PEACHY." Courtney threw down her hat on the nearest lounge chair and started to take off her sandals and sarong.
"…Ok," Lizz said warily. Courtney finally broke down.
"I'm just tired of everyone looking down on me, thinking they can push me around, and I've had it! I can't take it anymore!" She took a deep breath and looked at the pool. "Aw heck," she said, "I need a swim." With that, she jumped into the deeper end of the pool. She swam around underwater for a while, then came up for air, smiling. "Ah," she said, "much better." She brushed the hair out of her face and took a dive. It was Lizz's turn to jump in. Instead of jumping off the side, as Courtney had done, she walked over to the diving board and jumped off. Both girls went up for air as Duo came around the corner, followed only by Trowa (who was wearing green swim trunks) (a/n: detaily, aren't we? ….ah, Duo… Orange is SO your color.. .besides black ^_^;; *Lizz: SMACK!* OW…. _). Lizz looked at him questioningly, about to ask where the others were, but, as if reading her mind, answered before she could say anything.
"Heero's got stuff to do, I can't find Quatre, and Wufei's being a stubborn idiot," he said quickly. Lizz laughed.
"As usual." Duo smiled.
"Yep. So Trowa's the only one free." Courtney smiled, though in her heart she was a bit disappointed.
"That's ok, we can have fun without them. It's their loss, not ours." Trowa nodded and jumped into the pool.
"Jeronimo!!!" Duo cannonballed into the pool, splashing everyone near (a/n: not that it mattered, they were wet anyway… _). Lizz laughed as Duo came up for air. "Hey, you know what?"
"What?" Lizz asked.
"I'm gonna do that AGAIN!" And he was out of the pool before anyone could stop him.
"Run away, run away!!" Courtney screamed in mock fear as she swam to the other end of the pool.
"Girl, you've been watching WAY too much Monty Python…" Lizz said as she swam behind Courtney. Trowa followed, half because he didn't care for being splashed much, and half because he didn't want to be left alone at one end of the pool.
"WAHOOOOO!!!!" Duo jumped in again, and the "shock" waves splashed hard against the concrete sides of the swimming pool.
"Talk about a tidal wave…" Courtney muttered under her breath. Lizz elbowed her. "Ow! Hey, I was just joking!" Lizz grinned.
"Don't poke fun at Dupo," she said firmly. Courtney crossed her arms.
"I can if I want to," she said.
"Nuh uh."
"Yeah huh." Duo got out of the pool, unbeknownst to anyone besides Trowa, and hopped back into the pool holding a large inflated beach ball.
"Pool volleyball, anyone?"
Quatre watched their game from his room, which (a/n: conveniently ^_^) happened to face the pool. He sighed. They're having so much fun… Just look at them. Bet they don't even notice I'm gone… Quatre sighed again. Oh well… Maybe I'll go out later… I just don't want to make a fool out of myself in front of the girls… Man, I'm such an idiot! I should be out, having fun, and here I am, moping around, feeling sorry for myself, and for no good reason, too! "Ugh," he said audibly. "That's it. I'm going out there, whether I might make a fool of myself or not."
"Where are YOU going?" Heero asked as Quatre stepped out into the hall, wearing his baby blue swim trunks and a tee shirt (a/n: baby blue… to match his eyes… *dreamy sigh*).
"Swimming," Quatre answered matter-of-factly. Heero grunted in disgust.
"Swimming, huh? Well, you can tell Duo that if he EVER tries to pull that again he'll be dead before he can even blink." Quatre looked at him questioningly. "He'll know what I mean," Heero explained. Quatre shrugged and headed for the door. Whatever, Heero…
"…So you've fallen victim to their evil ways as well, eh Winner?" Wufei leaned on the arm of the couch.
"They're not evil, Wufei."
"That's what you think." Quatre rolled his eyes, annoyed, and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.
"That's the SECOND person I've ticked off in 10 minutes. It's a new record," Wufei said, jotting it down on a piece of paper.
"You and your stupid records…" Heero shook his head and walked back into the kitchen.
"…Make that three….."
"Hey guys, am I interrupting something?" Quatre had reached the pool. His sudden presence caused Courtney to miss the ball, giving Trowa and Duo yet ANOTHER point.
"Ha ha! Another point! We're gonna win, we're gonna win!!" Duo gloated over their imminent victory. Court didn't care. All she could really think about was Quatre.
"Oh, hey…" she managed to whisper. No one seemed to notice, though.
"No, you're not interrupting anything, not really. We were just getting ready to take a break," Lizz said.
"Hey, that's not fair! Just when we were about to win! Cheaters!!!" Duo continued yelling. However, he wasn't really mad. He was just being his usual teasing self. Lizz was already out of the pool.
"Sorry, Duo. Maybe next time," she said, grinning.
"Shoot!" Duo slammed his fist into the water, splashing the un-expectant Trowa. He muttered something as he, too, exited the pool, followed by Courtney and Duo. Courtney sat down on one of the lounge chairs and sighed.
"That was a pretty good game. I enjoyed it," she said.
"Even though you were LOSING?" Duo teased.
"We weren't losing!" Lizz defended. "…Not too bad….." Duo smiled.
"That's ok, you can't do much against two big strong men like us, eh Trowa?" Trowa didn't answer.
"Strong?! You're the weakest bunch of sorry losers I have ever seen!" Lizz joked.
"…Yeah, well, if they beat us, doesn't that make us even weaker than they are…?" Courtney said, working out the logic in it. Lizz merely looked at Courtney.
"You're supposed to be on my side," she said. Courtney shrugged.
"I just figured you'd like to know," she said, grinning.
"I'd hush before I throw YOU in the pool," Lizz warned. Courtney threw up her hands in surrender.
"Ok, ok, I won't make you look any worse than you already are."
"WHAT?!" Quatre and Duo both laughed.
"Ok, ok, enough already. As much as I enjoy watching you two annoy each other, it's not too healthy and I don't recommend it. How 'bout I go get some lemonade? I just squeezed some this morning. Who wants some?" Four hands rose, by accompanied 'Me!' "Ok then, I'll go get some, since I seem to be the only one NOT WET." He ran off around the corner before anyone could object.
"That was nice of him," Lizz pointed out. Duo shrugged.
"He always does stuff like that. It's in his blood." Lizz laughed.
"Yeah, well, it doesn't hurt to be nice once in a while," she teased.
"Are you saying I can't be polite? I can be nice too, ya know," Duo said, acting hurt.
"I know, I was just saying-"
"Sure, that's what they always say. But no one ever MEANS it, NO. 'Oh look at poor Quatre. He does all the stuff around the house. And he VOLUNTEERS for it too. Oh, isn't that nice? Now DUO on the other hand- that boy needs to straighten himself out. He couldn't be courteous if his life depended on it.'"
"Now that's not true," Courtney said. "You're very nice, Duo." Duo shot her a look. "Honest!" she added.
"Yeah, you're VERY sweet, Duo, you just don't always get the credit for it like Quatre."
"See?! Another thing: No one pays any attention to me!"
"WE DO TOO!" both girls said in unison.
"Do not. No one ever pays attention to little Duo…" He sniffed in mock-sadness. "I think I'll go drown myself now…" He walked over to the edge of the pool slowly and dropped in. Lizz shook her head.
"That boy…" Duo's head popped out of the water.
"Just kidding!" he said with a smile. Just then, Quatre came back with a tray of glasses full to the brim with ice-cold lemonade.
"Back!" He set his tray down on one of the tables and handed everyone glasses as Duo got back out of the pool. "Here's one for you, and one for you, and one for you, and one for you-" Courtney reached up to grab her glass. Her hand touched his, and he paused. He recovered quickly and sat down in the next chair. "-and one for me." He took a sip and leaned his head back, his eyes closed. He sighed. "It's such a nice day out."
"Yeah," Courtney agreed. "Nice day for swimming." Everyone seemed to agree. Courtney leaned back and sipped her lemonade. No one said anything for a while.
"I'm ready to go back in!" Duo said suddenly, sounding, as usual, very energetic. He stood up and loomed over Lizz, expecting her to do the same. Instead, Lizz groaned.
"Not now, Duo…" Quatre stood up.
"I'm ready for a go," he said. Trowa drained the rest of his glass and also stood.
"I suppose I'll come." Courtney shook her head.
"Not me. I'll just sit here for a while longer." Quatre shook his head with a smile.
"No you won't. You're coming swimming. I didn't come all the way out here to sit around all day, doing nothing," he said.
"Yeah, well come and make me," she teased. Quatre smiled craftily.
"If you insist." It took Courtney about 2 seconds to realize what he meant by that. Her eyes widened suddenly and she jumped out of her seat, about to make a run for it, but Quatre grabbed her and lifted her into the air.
"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" She screamed. "Put me down!"
"Your wish is my command." Courtney abruptly changed her mind, knowing what he was going to do.
"No no no! Pick me up, pick me up, pick me-" But Quatre threw her in anyway. She fell into the water with a splash, cutting off her screaming. She immediately surfaced. "You're going to pay for that, Quatre Winner!" she said, shaking her fist at him. Quatre laughed at her seemingly idle threat.
"Yeah yeah, I'd like to see you try!" he said, leaning over the pool.
"Oh really?" She made a grab for his ankle in an attempt to pull him in, but he was one step ahead of her.
"Ha ha, missed!" With his foot he pushed her head back under the water, laughing. Courtney, again, resurfaced.
"I'm going to get you!" She pulled herself up out of the pool and set off chasing him around the yard. The other three merely laughed at their antics and Lizz, deciding against being forced into the pool, chose to go along with the two remaining boys.
"Catch me if you can, slow-poke!" Quatre called to Courtney. He continued laughing at her, since he was obviously the faster of the two.
"Yeah, you won't be laughing when I catch you!!!" she yelled back. Lizz laughed and shook her head.
"She's never gonna catch him," she stated. Duo agreed.
"She'll get tired in a minute, then they'll stop," Trowa said. So they decided it would be best if they just jumped off the side and into the pool until Quatre and Courtney gave up their little squabble, occasionally jumping out of the way as the duo ran by, nearly knocking them into the water. As Trowa had predicted, Courtney soon tired and trudged back to her lounge chair. She collapsed into it and took a long swig of her lemonade. Quatre jogged up to her, still grinning.
"Ready for a swim?" he joked. Courtney merely glared and tried to catch her breath. Slowly, her breathing returned to normal.
"You have GOT to be kidding," she told him.
"Do I have to throw you in again?" he warned. She smiled.
"If you threw me in now I'd drown. I don't have any energy left!"
"Yeah, and we wouldn't want that, now, would we?" Lizz called from the pool.
"I'd shut your mouth if I were you!" Courtney yelled back.
"Yeah, and what are you gonna do?"
"Nothing, right now, except rest." With that, she leaned back and closed her eyes. Quatre sighed.
"Fine then. I'll just have to go in without you," he said, acting as if he was really hurt. He ran off the diving board and jumped into the pool, resurfacing in a few seconds. He swam over to the rest of the group and they started another volleyball game.
"And we win!" Lizz yelled, jumping in her joy. Quatre looked rather sullen.
"I'll have you know that's the first time I've ever lost a volleyball game…" he said.
"Aw, c'mon Quat. It's not that bad," Duo said. "You didn't lose by much!" Trowa nodded.
"And besides that, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I missed quite a few shots too, you know," he said.
"Yeah!" Courtney called from the sidelines. "Don't be such a poor sport!" Quatre shot her a mean look, surprising the young woman.
"Well," Duo said. "I'm ready for another break, how 'bout you guys?" he asked. Everyone nodded and got out of the pool. Without anyone noticing, Courtney slipped her sunglasses under her chair and stood up, as if to stretch from sitting down so long.
"I'm going in, I suppose. I might as well swim while the pool's free," she said. She jumped off the diving board and into the deep end. She swam underwater as far as she could and came up for air. Courtney shook her head to get the hair out of her face. "I feel better," she said cheerfully. Courtney laid back on her back and floated for a while, staring up at the sky.
"Hey Court," Lizz called, trying to get her attention.
"Yeah?" came the answer.
"LOOK OUT!" she said, landing in the water next to her. Courtney sat up straight, coughing. Lizz came up for air. "Are you ok?" she asked.
"Yeah," Courtney said, coughing a bit between words. "I'm- *cough cough* fine! Just swallowed a bit of- *cough* water, that's *cough cough cough* all." Courtney, still coughing, swam over to the nearest ladder and began to climb up. Quatre was waiting at the top, his hand outstretched.
"Here, lemme help," he said. Courtney took his hand, glad for the help, and stepped out of the pool. She sat back down, coughed a bit more, and took a sip of her lemonade. Lizz had followed her out.
"Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yeah," Courtney said, feeling much better now.
"I'm SO sorry, Court. I wasn't thinking."
"Hey, it's OK," Courtney reassured her.
"You sure?"
"YES."
"Ok then…" Lizz sat down next to her, still a little worried. Courtney watched her out of the corner of her eye.
"Lizz, I'm not going to DIE anytime soon, so GO SWIM!" she said finally. Lizz grinned sheepishly.
"Oh, right. Sorry." Lizz got up and walked over to the pool. She stopped about halfway and turned around.
"Are you sur-"
"GO!" Lizz grinned.
"Just joking," she said. Shaking her head, she leapt into the pool. Duo laughed.
"Just what's so funny?" Courtney asked, slightly annoyed.
"You two," he replied. "It's just kinda funny, ya know?" Quatre laughed too.
"Yeah, I suppose it is rather amusing," he said. Courtney crossed her arms.
"I don't see what's so funny." Quatre nudged her with his elbow.
"C'mon, lighten up," he told her. "Don't be so up-tight." Courtney relaxed for a moment.
"I suppose you're right." Courtney reached for her sunglasses. When her hand felt nothing, she sat up and began looking around. "NOW where'd they go?!" All three boys watched her in amusement. "They were here a second ago!"
"What were?" Trowa asked.
"My sunglasses!" she exclaimed. "I can't find them!" Courtney began pacing around the edge of the pool, searching the ground with her eyes. Her eyes fell on the pool and they widened. "Oh no!"
"What?" Quatre asked.
"My sunglasses are at the bottom of the pool!" she cried.
"WHERE?!" Duo and Quatre stood up and ran to the edge of the pool immediately. Lizz giggled.
"There! Right there!" she said, pointing.
"Where? I don't see them," Quatre said. Courtney sighed, sounding exasperated.
"Of course you don't see them! They're made of BLUE GLASS!!! Right THERE," she said, coming around behind the two boys.
"I still don't see them," Duo said.
"Me neither," said Quatre.
"Well let me give you a closer look!" Courtney pushed Quatre from behind, causing him to lose his balance.
"WHOA!!!" he cried. Quatre tried to grab something, ANYTHING, that would help him regain his balance, but to no avail. His arms flailing, Quatre hit the water with a splash. When he resurfaced for air, everyone was laughing at him.
"Oops, sorry Quatre," Courtney said in a sly tone. "Clumsy me." She walked over to her chair, and looked down, pretending to have just spotted her sunglasses. "Oh, look! Here they are! Sorry, my mistake," she said in the same tone. Laughing, she sat back down on her chair and watched as a very embarrassed Quatre climbed out of the pool. "Told ya I'd get you back," she said as he sat down next to her. He smiled, trying to hide what his mind was thinking.
"Yeah, you did." But what you don't know is that this isn't over just yet…
"Heads up!" Lizz yelled as she spiked the ball over their makeshift net of string. The ball hit Duo right in the face. Duo blinked, crossed-eyed for a moment. He shook his head rapidly, then rubbed his sore nose.
"Nice hit," Duo said sarcastically.
"Yes. Too bad it wasn't a REAL volleyball or your nose might be broken," came a familiar voice from behind them.
"Ha ha, very funny, Wu-man," Duo shot back.
"Oh, Wufei. So you fell for their "evil ways" as well," Quatre said slyly.
"No, actually, I just figured I deserved a break. After all, I have been working all day. Unlike some people," he said, shooting a glance towards the girls.
"Yeah? Like what?"
"Like washing the dishes, which I believe was YOUR job, Maxwell?" Duo looked away.
"Forgot about that…" he said quietly.
"And I believe YOUR job was to clean off that desk, Wufei," came Heero's voice. Heero was also wearing swim trunks, so it was obvious that both boys were going swimming. He shook his head. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: don't make a mess if you don't intend to clean it up." Wufei shot him a dirty look.
"Yeah, and what have YOU been doing all day, Yuy?" The girls watched helplessly as the boys continued to bicker back and forth. Courtney sighed.
"We're never going to have any fun…" she complained to Lizz, who agreed.
"Let's go, they'll be in in a few minutes. They don't seem to need us, anyway." Both girls swam to the edge of the pool cautiously and began to get out when the sudden signs of movement caught Quatre's eye.
"Where are you two going?" he asked suddenly, startling them both so much that Lizz fell back into the pool.
"We were going back inside," Court said quietly. "You don't seem to need us anymore, after all." Duo looked sadly at the girls.
"Oh, we're sorry, girls," he said. "Guess we got a little carried away."
"WE?" Wufei asked.
"Yes, WE, as in you and the rest of them," Trowa said, since he was the only one who hadn't said anything at all.
"I suppose we owe you an apology," Quatre stated.
"No, that's ok. We fight a lot too," Lizz said.
"Not like us."
"Do too," Courtney said. "You should have seen us the other night. We were insulting each other for about 15 minutes!" Duo smiled.
"I find that hard to believe," he said. Court shrugged.
"Just shows how much you know us. Now are we gonna finish that volleyball game or not?"
"We win! We win!" Duo gloated over his team's victory. "Ha! Beat you again, Lizz!"
"Technically you didn't win the first game," she said, sticking her tongue out at him playfully. Duo shrugged.
"Who's counting, huh?"
"Alright, alright, enough already! Sheesh. You won, Duo, we get the picture," Courtney said, laughing.
"Hey, we helped too," Quatre said. Trowa nodded.
"Yes. Duo didn't do it all." Courtney sighed, exasperated.
"FINE. YOU GUYS won. There, better?" Quatre grinned.
"Much better." Courtney rolled her eyes.
"So what now?" she asked. Lizz shrugged.
"I'm getting kinda tired of volleyball," she admitted.
"Yeah, me too," Quatre agreed.
"I was as well," said Trowa. Duo frowned.
"Am I the only one who finds the true fun in volleyball? Hey Heero, Wufei, ya wanna have a go?" Heero lowered his sunglasses.
"Not right now, thanks…" he said, going back to sunbathing.
"Wufei?" Duo looked at him hopefully. Wufei shook his head.
"No thanks, Maxwell." Duo smiled wryly.
"What are you, chicken?" Wufei froze.
"No," Wufei said finally. "I just don't feel like it." Duo kept on.
"Wufei's a chicken! Wufei's a chicken!" Duo proceeded to cluck and flap his arms like wings. "Wufei's a chicken!" The Chinese boy's anger grew and grew. Finally…
"FINE! I'll do it AND beat you!" Wufei said, standing up. His fists clinched, he jumped off the diving board, swam over to the net, and grabbed the ball.
"Ha! Second win today!!" Duo smiled, holding up the ball. "I ROCK!" Duo danced around with the ball held above his head. "I beat Wufei, I beat Wufei!!" Both girls laughed at his crazy antics.
"He is SO full of it," Courtney said, shaking her head.
"Tell me about it," Lizz agreed. Duo made his way over to Quatre and high-fived him.
"I won!!! I won!!!" Wufei muttered something as he exited the pool, face red with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. He'd been beaten by about 12 points. Heero smirked at him as he sat down.
"Beaten again, eh Wufei?" Wufei merely glared at him in pure fury.
"Aw c'mon, Wufei! Don't be such a poor sport!" Lizz called from the pool.
"Yeah, c'mon! Join us!" Courtney agreed.
"I'd rather not, thanks." Quatre shrugged.
"Suit yourself," he said. Wufei grunted. Quatre got out of the pool and walked over to the diving board. He ran to the very edge and jumped as far as he could off the springing board, landing with a great splash in front of the girls. He came up for air.
"Quatre! That was rude!" Courtney said, wiping the water from her eyes.
"I thought it was funny," Lizz said.
"But he didn't come this close to kicking you in the face!" Courtney said, holding her fingers apart about an inch. Quatre laughed.
"Yeah, sorry 'bout that…" He grinned. Courtney stuck out her bottom lip and got out of the pool, heading for the diving board just as Duo jumped off.
"LOOK OUT!!!" he yelled, cannon-balling into the pool beside Quatre, knocking him under. Both boys came up coughing. "Whoa! Swallowed too much water!" Duo said, hitting himself in the chest. Courtney leaned over the edge of the pool.
"Quatre, you ok?" Quatre smiled.
"Yeah, but YOU'RE NOT!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into the water. She struggled to break free from his grip, but he was too strong for her. He finally let her up. As soon as her head broke the water, she gasped for air.
"What'd- you do- that for?" she asked between breaths.
"To get you back," he said simply. He dunked her under again, and let her up after a few seconds.
"Help!" Quatre dunked her yet again. This was more fun than he'd thought. Court came up, sputtering and coughing. "Eeee! Quatre, le-" Before she could finish, she was under the water again. Quatre let her go and got out of the pool in a hurry. Courtney came back up for air and glared at him. "I'm going to KILL YOU!" She pulled herself up out of the pool, not bothering to use the ladder, and chased after him. "You're not getting away this time!" Quatre just laughed at her.
"You can't catch me! Face it! You're SLOW!"
"I'm not slow!!!" Courtney put on an extra burst of speed in her frustration, nearly catching up with him. This caught him by surprise.
"Ah!" She made a grab for him, but missed by inches. "Help!" Courtney almost laughed in satisfaction.
"I've got you now!!" The rest of the group watched the two in amusement as Courtney continuously missed Quatre by a short distance. Lizz had an idea.
"Be right back!" She ran inside and searched through her bags until she found what she was looking for. "Ah, there you are!"
"Back!" Lizz called as she ran back outside. Courtney and Quatre were on the other side of the house. She could still hear Quatre's cries for help and Courtney's endless threats. When they came back around, Lizz threw her loaded squirt gun at Courtney. "Catch!" Courtney caught the gun with a grateful look.
"Thanks Lizz! You're the best!" Lizz smiled back.
"Just shoot him, already!" she called.
"Oh, right!" Courtney took off after Quatre again. "Hey Quatre! Look what I got!" Quatre looked over his shoulder.
"WHAT!? A SQUIRT GUN?! THAT'S NOT FAIR! Where'd you get it?!"
"Lizz. Now, it's pay-back time!" Courtney pumped up the gun and blasted Quatre with a stream of cold water. He squeaked in surprise.
"HELP!!!" Things had certainly turned around. It'd gone from a hopeless chase to a chaotic battle, with Courtney, at this point, winning.
"REVENGE! SWEET REVENGE!!" Courtney began to laugh hysterically as she continued to blast him. Suddenly, the stream stopped. "Hey! What gives?!" Courtney looked at her water bottle. "Oh man! Empty!" She walked over to the pool and unscrewed the bottle. Meanwhile, Duo motioned for Quatre to follow him.
"This hose'll reach around the house several times," he said, handing Quatre the nozzle. "When she comes at you again, blast her! For me," he added. Quatre nodded, an evil grin on his face.
"Don't worry, I'll get her. I'll get her good…" Still holding the nozzle, Quatre walked over behind Courtney and tapped her on the shoulder.
"WHAT?!" she exclaimed, slightly annoyed.
"Looks like the tables have turned," he said. Court turned around.
"What are you- EE!" Courtney had just enough time to scream before a rush of cold water washed over her body. She took off running, trying to get out of the reach of the garden hose, but to no avail. Quatre was chasing her before you could say "Jack rabbit." "NONONONONONONONONONONONONO!!! THIS ISN'T FAIR!!! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO FIGHT BACK!!!!" she screamed, running as fast as she could from Quatre's fury.
"Well, you wanted an UNFAIR fight," he called to her.
"QUATRE, STOP IT! THAT'S COLD!!!" Courtney kept whining at him threw her clinched teeth. "I'M SERIOUS! THAT WATER'S FREEZING!!!! STOP IT!!! QUATRE!!!" Lizz shook her head. The battle seemed hopeless. Then she had another idea.
"Duo," she said, "do you have any balloons?"
"Sure, in the hall closet, top shelf. Why?" But Lizz was already gone. She had a plan to help Court.
Inside the house, Lizz could still hear Courtney's pitiful screams. She shook her head and headed for the closet, where Duo said he stashed the balloons. Searching through a few shoeboxes, she finally found them and took them to the bathroom. Looking under the kitchen sink, she found two buckets. "Well, this was easy…" she said to herself. Once back in the bathroom, Lizz began to slowly, one by one, fill the balloons with water. She easily filled up both buckets, and, with some difficulty, carried them both outside. "Courtney, over here!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Courtney ran over to Lizz in a hurry, trying to get away from Quatre as long as she could. While Lizz was gone, Courtney had put a kink in the hose, and Quatre was currently trying to figure out why the water quit coming.
"What is it?" Courtney asked, out of breath. She shivered slightly from the cold water she was drenched in.
"Water balloons," Lizz said, smiling mischievously. Courtney smiled.
"Thanks, you're great!" Lizz smiled back.
"I know." Quatre was still tracing the hose back to the faucet.
"I don't get it…" he muttered to himself. "What happened?"
"Oh Quatre," Courtney said, tossing a water balloon into the air and catching it again. Uh oh… Quatre didn't like the tone she was using. Slowly he turned around to face the horror before him.
"Yeah?"
"ATTACK!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Both girls began bombarding him with the little water-bombs.
"HELP!!!" Quatre screamed. He ran back and forth across the yard, the girls chasing him with water balloons. A few hit him in the back of the head as he ran near the pool. "Help!" he cried again. He ran past Duo, who had to jump to the side to avoid getting run over. Lizz picked up another balloon and threw it. It went wide, missing Quatre. But it hit something; Duo Maxwell. She covered her mouth and gasped.
"Oh my gosh! Duo! I'm so sorry!!!" Duo picked a piece of orange balloon from his hair and stared at it for a moment. Then he looked at Lizz. She ran up to him. "I am SO sorry, Duo! I didn't mean to! It's just, Quatre, and-"
"I understand…" he said finally.
"You do?"
"I understand… that you're going to pay!!" Lizz's eyes widened in shock as Duo picked her up and threw her in the pool. Wufei snickered at her.
"Oh, you think it's funny, do you?" Courtney asked. She threw a water balloon and him straight in the face. Wufei shook his head to rid it of the excess water and glared at her.
"You'll pay, cocky little onna!" He grabbed a water balloon and threw it. He missed and hit Trowa instead. Wufei realized his mistake as soon as it hit and took off running. Trowa threw one and hit Wufei in the back as he retreated behind a table. Quatre took the opportunity to throw one at Courtney. However, he missed, and hit the only dry person left: Heero.
"Oh dear." Quatre ran away as fast as he could, but Heero hit him with a balloon anyway. Courtney giggled at him, but stopped when Wufei finally got his revenge, hitting her in the back of the head.
"Ow! You're gonna pay for that!" Soon, there was an all-out brawl between everyone, and the air was filled with flying water balloons. However, the supply quickly ran out, and everyone collapsed on the lawn, exhausted.
"Had- enough?" Lizz gasped, turning her head to Heero.
"I'm- just- getting- started," he breathed back. Courtney had barely caught her breath when Quatre leaned over her.
"You ok?" Courtney nodded.
"Just tired," she said. After a while, Duo jumped up.
"Anyone for volleyball?" Everyone groaned.
