Konnichiwa Minna-san! I'm still alive so don't worry. I've been c-r-a-z-y busy but it's spring break and I have nothing to do. I don't have much to say about this chapter so I'm gonna let you get started. I have the next three or so chapters written already so they won't take as long. So enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam 00 or it's characters but the plot and Devon are mine.
Happy Reading!
Chapter Ten: Shopping and Reminiscing
Tieria woke up the next day feeling better. It seemed as though he had finally gotten used to his weight on Earth and his side wasn't nearly as painful as it had been the night before. He slowly and carefully got dressed then went out into the kitchen where he found Feldt making breakfast.
"Good morning Feldt," He greeted.
"Good morning," She said, "How are you feeling this morning?"
"Better," Tieria said, "My side has stopped throbbing for now."
"That's good," Feldt said, "I was worried about you yesterday. Do you want something for breakfast? I was thinking that we could have a quick breakfast then head to the shopping center. The weather is supposed to get really bad later on so the earlier we go the better."
Tieria nodded and sat down at the table. "That sounds like a good idea," Tieria said wincing a bit as a sharp pain shot through his side. "I still want to take it easy."
"That's understandable," Feldt said as she put a plate of eggs in front of Tieria, "You must be hungry, you didn't eat anything for supper last night."
"I wasn't feeling very well," Tieria said, "I was feeling a bit nauseous and still a bit jet lagged."
"That's fine," She said, "And it didn't help that you didn't sleep all that well the night before as well. Saji-san gave us directions to the nearest shopping mall. It's only a ten minute walk from here, are you up to it?"
"Yeah," Tieria said, "My side isn't bothering me that much. I don't think it will be a problem to walk there."
"That's good," Feldt said, "We'll leave right after breakfast then."
The shopping trip was bound to be awkward from the start. Feldt hated shopping for clothes, she had plenty of it and didn't need any more. And Tieria didn't care what he wore as long as it was comfortable plus, he had never once been shopping.
"So where do you want to try first?" Feldt asked, "I think the best bet would be department store. You can get a larger selection of clothes there."
Tieria nodded, "You know this sort of thing better than I do," He said, "I don't know the first thing about clothes shopping."
"Well," Feldt said, "I don't know much about it either. I mean you can get the style of clothing you want. If you want to wear a blouse with a pair of khakis that's fine, but Sumeragi wants you to wear more masculine colors."
Tieria sighed, "She already told me," he said, "But I don't understand the whole thing about what color I wear."
"Men your age don't normally wear pink though," Feldt said knowing exactly what Tieria was going to respond with, "It's not really acceptable in society."
"I don't have an age though," Tieria said, "For some reason I don't age."
Feldt sighed, "Well you look as though you're an older teenager, maybe sixteen or seventeen," She said, "And teenaged boys who are around that age don't wear pink sweaters. Where did you get that thing anyway?"
"I was always cold when I started working at Krung Thep," Tieria said, "And aside from the uniform I didn't own any clothes. So one of the women who worked there, her name escapes me, took pity on me and gave me a few outfits. I always wore that because it was a gift, and it would have been rude of me not wear it."
"You're so kind," Feldt said, "But that bit you said about not aging, I don't think it's true. Sure in the time I've known you, you haven't changed very much but you've matured a lot. Aging doesn't have to be physical, granted most people think it's that way, but I don't think so. You may not age much physically but you've aged mentally." Feldt suddenly felt embarrassed, "I'm sorry if what I'm saying doesn't make much sense, it's just what I think…you don't really have to believe what I'm saying it's just…I don't know…"
"It's alright," Tieria said, "What you said does make sense. You're a very smart girl Feldt."
Feldt looked down and blushed, "You think so?" She asked softly.
"Of course I do," Tieria said, "You started working for us when you were fourteen years old. How many fourteen year old girls are smart enough to do what you did for us two years ago?"
"Thank you," Feldt said softly still blushing. She didn't have any feelings for the Meister. She looked up to him as an older brother but sometimes he did say things that made her blush and feel all giddy. "You really have changed," She said, "You were always so cold and distant but now you're really friendly and kind. It was odd at first but I think I've grown to like your new attitude."
Tieria sighed, "I know," He said softly, "Two years ago I didn't want to get too close to everyone because of…that incident. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt at my hands. Shortly after that I learned how hard goodbyes were and I didn't want to feel like that again…and yet…when I lost Veda I slipped and allowed myself to get closer to everyone else."
Feldt sighed. She knew of the incident that Tieria was talking about. It had taken place about five years before the third generation Meisters started their interventions. Tieria and another third generation Meister by the name of Grave Violento had been engaged in a mock battle when a third Meister by the name of Hixar Fermi took a heavy blow and was nearly killed. Then there was the incident that took place between Grave and Hixar where Grave had been shot several times. "You looked up to Grave-san didn't you, Tieria?" She asked.
"Yeah," Tieria said, "I wanted model myself after him but I think I might have gone a bit too far."
"That's understandable," Feldt said, "It's so sad, what happened to him."
"I swear if I ever meet the bastard that forced Hixar to shoot Grave, I'll kill them," Tieria said, "I was devastated when I heard that Grave had died."
"And yet, you went to train with Virtue right after everyone heard," Feldt said, "Hanayo told me so."
"I needed to keep myself distracted," Tieria said, "And…I didn't want anyone to see me cry…So I vowed to distance myself from everyone else so I wouldn't have to deal with the loss of a comrade like that again…and yet it happened again."
"Yeah," Feldt said softly, "Lockon wasn't really someone you could easily distance yourself from. I was really upset when Lockon died but I felt really bad for you. You had just warmed up to everyone than that happened. Sumeragi told me about how sick you had gotten that day and yet you still went out to fight."
"I didn't want anyone else to get killed," Tieria said, "Neil once told me 'if something is to happen to me, I want you to take over the role of oniichan. Setsuna can change the world for me, but I want you to become the oniichan.'" Tieria sighed as he tried to compose himself, "So when we rebuild, I want to play that role…I don't want to go back to the way I was two years ago."
"I'm glad," Feldt said, "Now we really should find you some clothes before the storm hits. I don't want to walk home in the rain."
"Okay," Tieria said, "You lead the way. You know this sort of thing better than I do."
It took Tieria and Feldt about an hour and a half to find about seven outfits. Somehow Feldt had persuaded Tieria to buy two pairs of jeans and a pair of lounge pants.
"That wasn't so bad," Tieria said as they sat down for lunch, "I was expecting it to be worse."
"You've never been with Chris," She said, "She used to drag me to about fifty stores and make me try on then buy about fifteen outfits per store. But I have to admit, I miss it."
"Yeah," Tieria said, "But it seemed as though you had fun today."
"I did," Feldt said.
"I did too," Tieria said, "I just wish they had more choices that weren't loaded with monosodium glutamate or high-fructose corn syrup. There is nothing healthy here."
"Welcome to Earth Tieria," Feldt said, "It may not be very healthy but it tastes better than the stuff we've been eating for who knows how long."
"That's true," Tieria said as he unwrapped the sandwich he had ordered, "That was getting almost sickening."
"It was better when Allelujah would cook for all of us," Feldt said, "The food he made always tasted so good."
"Yeah I know," Tieria said softly, "I never admitted it but I always took about two times more than I could eat whenever he cooked just so that I could have some the next day or so."
"I think we all did that," Feldt said, "Which was why we never had any leftovers. Well we did, but we kept it from everyone."
"The cakes he made were amazing," Tieria said.
"But you never ate the cake," Feldt said, "You would always complain about how we needed to eat healthy and about how we couldn't be eating sweets. You would never eat any of it, unless...you took some when we weren't looking."
"I would sneak a piece when no one was around," Tieria said, "Then I would use Veda to erase the evidence."
"You little sneak!" Feldt exclaimed, "I guess cake is a weakness even for the health-conscious Tieria Erde. Wait until I tell Sumeragi and Ian-san!"
"Don't do that," Tieria said, "If you do I'll tell Sumeragi that you enjoyed going shopping."
"You enjoyed it too," Feldt shot back. She was having fun, she really was. She was seeing a softer, more open and friendly side of Tieria and she liked it. //I really hope he stays like this, I can get used to him being this way//
"Yeah I know," Tieria said. He liked this. He had never opened up to anyone like this before, except maybe Neil. But even Neil had never seen him like this. //Perhaps I should act like this more often. It's made Feldt happy//
"Are you done?" Feldt asked, "It's getting really cloudy out we should get back to the apartment before it starts raining."
"I agree," Tieria said as he gathered his things and stood up perhaps a bit to fast. A sharp pain shot through his side and was so bad that he had to sit back down.
"Are you alright?" Feldt asked as she grabbed the tray from Tieria.
"Yeah," Tieria said through clenched teeth, "Just give me a minute. I stood up too quickly."
"Excuse me," A young woman said. She had noticed the look of pain on Tieria's face and decided to help, "You look like you're in pain. I'm a nurse at a near-by medical center," She displayed her badge, "What's wrong? Do you have broken ribs or something?"
"Yeah," Tieria said as he held his left side, "I broke two ribs in an accident."
"Would you like something for the pain?" She asked as she took a sample size packet of pain reliever out of the pocket of her scrubs.
"No thank you," Tieria said as Feldt returned, "I'm allergic to most pain and fever reducers."
"You poor thing," The woman said, "Would you like me to tape your ribs up?"
"No thank you," Tieria said as he stood with a bit more success, "My sister and I are in a rush to get home before the rain comes, but I thank you for offering."
"You're quite welcome," the woman said, "And if you change your mind my name is Sasaki Hotaru and I work at the medical center right next door."
"We'll keep that in mind," Tieria said as he bowed to the woman, "Thank you very much for your concern Sasaki-san."
"You're very welcome," She said with a bow, "Have a nice day."
"You as well," Tieria said as he followed Feldt, "I might lie down for a while when we get back."
"Your side is really painful isn't it?" Feldt asked.
"Yeah," Tieria said, "But it's something I can handle. It's not like the last time I broke ribs…that was absolutely unbearable."
"Well you broke every rib on your right side and punctured your lung in quite a few places," Feldt said, "They had to put you through about five hours of surgery before they put you in the medical capsule to remove several large bone fragments from your lung. We didn't think you were going to pull through…yet miraculously…three months later you woke up."
"I had a promise I had to uphold," Tieria said, "I couldn't let myself die knowing that there were people I needed to protect."
"Thank you Tieria…" Feldt said softly.
Tieria and Feldt had gotten about halfway to the apartment when it started pouring.
"Come on," Feldt called as she started running a bit, "We have to hurry. It's not that cold but it's not good to be out in rain this heavy!"
"Alright," Tieria called back. He started to run after the girl but after a few steps something happened and he found himself lying on the ground in almost severe pain.
"Tieria!" Feldt cried, "Are you alright!? I'm sorry I told you to hurry and you ended up fainting."
"I fainted?" Tieria asked as he sat up despite the pain.
"Yeah," Feldt said, "I'm so sorry!"
"Don't worry about it," Tieria said, "I'm alright. Come on we should get back."
"Are you sure?" Feldt asked as she helped Tieria stand.
"Yeah," Tieria said as he started walking in the direction of the apartment, "I can hold out until we get back."
"Okay," Feldt said, "Let me know if you need to take a break." She sighed, //His tolerance for pain is incredible// she thought. "Tieria stay near me just incase you faint again."
"I'm not going to faint again," Tieria said. He was still feeling faint but he needed to get Feldt out of the rain, "Come on."
When they finally got back to the apartment Tieria headed to his room. He needed to lie down, he was dizzy and his side was throbbing again. "Feldt," he said as she placed the now saturated bags on the floor, "Go take a warm shower. We've just been out in the rain and I don't need you to get sick."
"What about you Tieria?" Feldt asked.
"I'll take one later," Tieria said, "I just want to lie down until my side stops throbbing."
"Okay," Feldt said, "You should change your clothes first Tieria."
"I will," Tieria said tiredly, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
"Okay," Feldt said as she left the room.
Tieria sighed and shut his eyes.
"Tieria…Tieria…Tieria wake up!"
Tieria opened his eyes and came face to face with Feldt, "Feldt…" he muttered.
"You fell asleep in your wet clothes," She said sternly, "I want you to take a shower then get straight to bed. I can't believe you."
Tieria sighed as he sat up slowly. His side had stopped throbbing but it was still painful. "Alright, alright," He said as he got what he needed to take a shower, "Who are you, Sumeragi Li Noriega?"
"No," Feldt said, "But I'm next in line so you had better listen."
Tieria nodded and headed off to the washroom. He had to admit that the hot water felt good. He was rather cold from falling asleep in wet clothing and the hot water was also helping to alleviate some of the pain in his side. When he was finished he changed in to his pajamas and walked back to his room where Feldt had just finished changing the sheets. "Are you happy now?" he asked.
"Yes," Feldt said, "Now get into bed and call me if you need anything. I'll bring you supper in a little bit."
"You're not going to let me out of bed to eat?" He asked as he got into bed.
"Not a chance," Feldt said, "You're on bed rest for the rest of the night so relax."
"Call Sumeragi and make sure she's still alive," Tieria said, "You seem to be channeling her spirit."
"Very funny Tieria," Feldt said, "But she sent me a text message not too long ago so she's still alive."
"If you say so," Tieria said.
"Oh and if you catch a cold I'm going to kill you for falling asleep in wet clothing!" Feldt called.
Tieria sighed. He wasn't really upset about being confined to his bed for the night. The dizziness had progressed into a pounding headache, so he figured he would listen to Feldt, just for one night.
So Tieria has a weakness for cake, who would have guessed? And they talked a lot in that chapter didn't they? They both learned some about the other and it was a good bonding experience seeing as though they'll be spending the next month or so together. And it seems as though Feldt is channeling Christina's spirit a bit while Tieria was channeling Neil a little bit. So is Tieria going to catch a cold for being an idiot and falling asleep for three hours in wet clothes? Find out next time, minna-san!
Oh and Hixar Fermi, Grave Violento, and Hanayo are all from Gundam 00P. All of the events mentioned took place in the second season of that which took place in 2303 five years before Gundam 00.
Ex-Shark-V-005