Title: With Death Comes Sadness
Author: Cheska
Chapter 14
Pg - 13
Disclaimer: Don't own Sailor Moon and/or
Gundam Wing!
Author's Notes: Arigatou
to those who have been reviewing despite my tardiness. I've been trying to improve in my school
work, but alas…all is in vain. However,
I've signed up for SAT I already and now all I have to do is take it this
Saturday. Gahh.. .;; Dec. 7th, 2002.
~.~.~.~
It had only been two days since the small moment shared between Serena
and Heero. It made the small blonde girl quite
glad to find out that her and 01's friendship hadn't been broken at all.
Now she can rest a little easy than before, knowing that she can still act the
same around the 'Perfect Soldier'. However, even though their friendship
was still in tact, she couldn't help but notice that 01's actions toward her
was still a bit distant, although a lot closer than before.
"I'm glad we're friends again, 01…I really am," Serena
muttered out from the balcony as she gazed out at the distant trees and
buildings.
She held her hands around her cherished broach while her thoughts
drifted off. As she thought back into the recent past, she couldn't help
but brood over the fact that her dear friend was still distant towards her.
(I can't help but wonder….why is it that you still act….the way you do?)
Serena's brows furrowed together and her grip on the broach tightened.
As she thought of this a far away light came closer to the mansion from
the eastern side. Her recent broodings diminished as she placed all her
attention towards the light, wondering what was going on. Her head turned
slightly to the side and she placed her broach away into her pocket alongside
her locket.
The light came closer until it disappeared from her view, after a little
while she saw the light turn on again and come back into view, heading for the
exit of the mansion.
(A car came in and out….someone must have arrived at the Winner
mansion.) Serena thought as she tugged a strand of hair in back of her ear and
decided to find out in the morning. Right now, she felt no need to spend
all her energy at the moment when it was so late into the night and fell to the
bed and immediately fell asleep.
~.~.~.~.~
Earth:
~.~.~.~.~
The raven haired priestess was once again facing the Great Fire, her
brows furrowed together in concentration as she tried to find the answers to
her unrelenting questions over the shadowed figures that danced before her in
the flames.
"Show me…the enemy!" Rei demanded
with such force that the fire ignited toward the ceiling and then lowered into
a much lower flame than it originally was.
In response to the Great Fire's apparent anger, Rei
concentrated harder than before with small murmurs and gestures of her hands
that showed her apology and great need. Slowly, the flames began to pick
up a clearer view of the shadowed images as the flames built up in its size
once more.
After what appeared to be hours, the Great Fire now began to lighten up
the shadings of the shadowed figures.
(There are two figures instead of one after all. One has to be Jedite from what the Great Fire told me, hopefully I can
find out the second figure. From the way the darkness places itself, it's
a female. Who could it be?) Rei wondered to
herself as her eyes narrowed down with beads of sweat rolling down from her
brows.
Time passed much more longer as each minute seemed to be an hour
before the shadings around the people's façade lightened up to allow the young
Shinto Priestess the honor of revealing the faces of those who dared oppose the
infamous Gundam Pilots and her friend.
"Show me…." Rei weakly uttered
toward the fire as the time came when the fire would be capable of revealing
the second person's features.
As more time spent on, the shadow slowly unveiled and the features were
finally revealed.
Rei's eyes widened slightly at the face but
then lowered to slight confusion.
(That face….I know it…but from where?) Rei
wondered to herself as the flames danced before her alongside the two faces
that clearly shone.
Rei's hands collapsed to her side as she
leaned back, pondering over the faces. With time, though, the Great Fire
lowered down in volume and the pictures disappeared from sight and into the
ashes from whence the flames came.
~.~.~.~
Colony L4
~.~.~.~
Morning apparently came too early for the blonde haired teen as the
sun's rays fell on her face from the open window panes. As the rays
touched her, a small protest of a groan could be heard followed by a shifting
to the side. However, no mater how much she tried to not wake up, it was
all in vain as she finally relented and threw open an eyelid to gaze around the
large room.
(Just great, morning….) Serena inwardly groaned as she shut her eyes
tightly for a brief moment before opening them once more.
"OWWWWW!!" a loud shout came out not too far away from her
door followed by a loud thump and a bang.
(What was that?) Serena's eyes widened at the amount of activity coming
from outside her bedroom door.
A loud clamor and a grunt followed suit right after her thoughts drifted
out, only adding to her confusion.
Deciding it was safe to probably ignore that at the moment; Serena threw
off her covers and directly went into her private bathroom.
"What could that be about?" Serena silently pondered in her
mind as she clicked the door shut and turned on the showers.
"Morning everyone!" Serena chirped
happily as she entered the breakfast room after a rewarding hot shower.
Her hair was still damp but that didn't deter her from getting to
breakfast on time, despite that everyone was already there. As she gazed
around the room, she noticed there were additional guests: Relena and Milliardo.
"Ohayo, Relena…Milliardo.
I guess that you two were those night time visitors in the car I saw last
night, am I right?" Serena greeted as she sat down beside Quatre.
"Good morning Serena. You're right, we didn't arrive late
last night," Relena greeted with a smile.
"Oh, are you two visiting then?" Serena asked as she proceeded
to eat her hearty morning meal.
A long period of silence stilled in the air at her innocent yet
dangerous question.
"Ah, no, Serena. Relena
and Milliardo are here to stay for the time
being," Quatre quietly answered for the duo.
(Staying?) Serena's mind whirled at the thought; it was already revealed
to her that with Relena being her it would only cause
havoc. There was too many mistrust and dangerous rumors going on about
who the spy could be. With Relena's arrival it
would only prove to cause more danger for everyone, especially Relena herself.
Then again a sudden thought came to her mind after much
deliberation.
"It can't be…" Serena softly uttered out as her head whipped
to steely gaze upon her dear friend, Quatre.
Quatre refused to stare at her after her small
utterance, it hurt him too much and he could feel her feelings towards all of
them with his strong empathy abilities.
"Quat-chan, iie,"
Serena whispered out after seeing that he wouldn't…couldn't look at her
straight in the eye and answer her silent questions.
"Serena, it's all right. There's no need for protests…it's
the only way," Relena assured the girl with a
small smile.
Serena turned to regard the sandy blonde haired, cornflower blue eyed
girl. Seeing her sparkling eyes and small smile, she couldn't help but
trust her in her words.
Taking a look around the room, she noticed that all of them were staring
in their own private ways. Heero would
occasionally, but discretely stare at her from the side of his eyes. Trowa would pick up his utensils and take a casual glance
her way before eating while Duo openly stare at her while…what appeared to
be…glaring at Wufei? And speaking of which, Wufei was only glimpsing her way ever now and then before
muttering and eating and then meeting Duo's glare.
Serena stopped in shock and laid down her utensils before revealing her
thoughts to them.
"By the way…" Serena took a quick gulp of her juice before
continuing on.
"What is it, Serena?" Quatre urged
her on.
"What's wrong with you two?" Serena regarded Duo and Wufei who continuously glared at one another.
"They're angry at each other," Relena
waved it off.
"I'd never have thought Duo could actually glare, what's with
them?" Serena continued to ask.
"There was…a problem this morning," Quatre
tried to answer, yet avoid the question.
"It's all his fault!" Duo accused as
he stood up from his chair and pointed a finger at Wufei.
This produced an outcry of rage from the dark haired man as he got up,
toppling his chair over from in back of him.
"MY FAULT?!?!" Wufei
cried out in protest, his eyes flashing with anger but a faint hint of regret.
"Hmph, don't you dare TRY to hide
it. You know it's your fault, CHANG!" Duo glared pure anger as his
once cheery indigo eyes were now like steel ice as they regarded the Gundam Pilot of Altron/Natauku.
(Wow, I'd never have thought I'd ever see Duo angry at Wufei. Whatever happened, Duo didn't like it…at all!)
Serena stared at the scene with open shock.
"Wha-What happened?" Serena faintly
whispered out her question and all turned to the two, wanting to know as well.
Apparently, whatever went on hasn't been revealed to them as of yet.
"Hmph," Duo refused to say as he sat
back down and dug into his unfinished meal.
Wufei gazed silently at the stubborn, self-proclaimed
"God of Death" and picked up his toppled chair.
"Hnh." Heero scoffed at the sight that greeted him, he knew what
happened and if they wouldn't say…it wasn't his concern either.
Unfortunately, Serena noticed Heero's eyes
regard the two as he awaited their decision over whether to tell or not.
From the way he stared at the two, it seemed that he suppressed a hidden secret
that none of others with the exception of a select few had known.
"Do you care to tell, 01?" Serena smirked as she turned her
attention from Maxwell and Chang to the silent, soldier.
"Hnh." Heero stared at the girl and fixed her with a cold, hard
glare.
"That won't work; I want to know what happened between those two
that would cause Duo himself into a rage. His braid seems to be in tact
so what could it be?" Serena questioned openly and apparently without
fear.
"NO way am I going to have Hee-man tell
my story!" Duo protested openly.
"Then why won't you answer my question?" Serena calmly shot
back.
"Fine, I'll tell you! Chang here wanted to play a sick trick
on me early this morning or late last night," Duo told her in a succinct
manner.
"Not fair, that's not the whole story," Serena complained.
"I'll tell her," Wufei sighed and
leaned against his chair while fingering his kitana
openly.
Duo glared at him before getting up and leaving the room, not wanting to
hear the story. Serena stared at Wufei and
noticed a small smirk that played on his face.
"I went to his room early this morning in hopes of getting back at
Maxwell for all his tricks. So I decided to play my way of serving my
choice of restore justice back since that braided baka
had gotten away from my wrath all those times.
Therefore I went to his room and managed to not awaken him as I pulled
him out of bed." Wufei paused and smirked as the
memory of what happened not too long ago played itself in his mind.
At this point, Relena excused herself
alongside her brother, Milliardo.
Shrugging as to why those two left without a word, all eyes turned
themselves back on to the still smirking Wufei who
placed his kitana back in its sheathe.
"What did you do with him?" Serena pressed onwards, with
innocent curiosity.
"Well on my way down the hall near my bedroom I came up with a new
idea and dropped Duo's still dormant body in the empty bed. I left it
there and went further down the hall near the stairs and came upon a new guest
who actually agreed with my plan," Wufei smirked
at this as all eyes that were trained upon him dawned with new realization.
"How'd that happen?" Quartre
couldn't help but blurt out his question.
"Easy, he was actually bordering from restlessness, worry, and
boredom. At that point Milliardo wasn't really
in the right mind until much later when what happened dawned on him," Wufei couldn't help but chuckle awhile.
"Milliardo…wow," Serena murmured
outwardly as her mind whirled back, picturing all of this occurring.
"Milliardo led me to Relena's
room and he managed to lift her up from the bed and down the hall to the
awaiting guest room where Duo rested. We put them side by side.
From that point, Milliardo left and went to his own
room while I continued on with my plan. I went over and grabbed pictures
of Relena that Duo hid under the bed that hid his
sick plans on his idea of jokes that he used to play on Heero
or me.
Well you could probably guess what happened afterwards," Wufei casually ended as he leaned forward and grabbed a
bagel that lay untouched on the table and began to eat it.
"So you mean to say that when Duo woke up…."Serena pictured
what happened after the pictures.
(Wufei must've scattered the pictures around
the room and when Duo woke up, he saw Relena's
face….) Serena thought over the information that was given to all of them.
"How would that explain the bangs and scrambles and that entire
racket?" Serena asked.
"Hnh, Duo banged his head on the ceiling
when he jumped up from the bed in fright at what greeted him in the
morning," Heero couldn't help but let in a faint
smirk as he recalled seeing him get up in the morning.
He saw Wufei exit the guest room early in the
morning and decided to check it out, which Wufei let
him see. He had leaned in the darkest corner, waiting for the two to wake
up. Luckily enough it wasn't long before Duo woke up followed by Relena. Duo had jumped out of the covers, seeing
pictures of the pacifist all over the room and he yelped out as his head hit
the ceiling when he jumped so far up.
"And I take it that Duo ran out of the room, scrambling for a way
out of all of this?" Serena followed suit.
"Hnh," Heero
grunted in response.
"What's with the grunt and all those noise?" Serena asked.
"Lucky for me, I ran into the one behind all of this…"Duo
ended as he came back into the room with a scowl on his face while Wufei simply smirked.
"I see…you started to chase him,"
Serena nodded her head in silent understanding.
"It's a sick, sick joke!" Duo growled out.
"You deserved it," Wufei smirked
before getting up from his seat and leaving the room without another word.
~.~.~.~
"Serena?" Quatre had decided to
follow the blonde girl out of the breakfast room when she left not too long
after Wufei.
"Hai, Quat-chan?" Serena turned around with a soft
smile on her face.
"*sigh* Come with me?" Quatre requested as he turned to a nearby door that she
hadn't notice that had been there before.
As soon as she stepped in, she faced a small table with a dim light
hanging from the ceiling. There were piles of boxed around the room with
dust gathering in all sides.
"What is…this place?" Serena scrunched up her face from the
sight that greeted her as she closed the door in back of her with a small
click.
"It's a storage room, not many people go here so it should be safe
to tell you what I have to say," Quatre said.
"What is it?" Serena gazed questioningly at her platinum
haired boy as she leaned back on the door.
"Tonight we're going to start up the mission to find out who the
assassin is and possibly, who the spy may be," Quatre
related to her.
"You're using Relena as bait,"
Serena recalled what she had discovered.
"I'm sorry but it's the only plan we have so far," Quatre apologized with a trace of resentment.
"I understand what you all are doing, but still…being bait isn't
exactly…a safe way to go about," Serena recalled the time when the senshi had used her as bait to lure the Negaverse
to them so they may find a way where their hide-out was.
"It should prove to be safe, I can assure you that if everything
turns out fine," Quatre said with great assurance.
"How so if Relena is going to be out there on her own?" Serena skeptically interrogated.
"Lt. Noin has agreed with us on this if she can be the one hiding out in Relena's room alongside myself. We'll be there together to make sure she isn't hurt," Quatre answered with great calmness.
"*sigh* I believe in you Quat-chan, so I won't fight against this. Just please, be safe," Serena relented with the plan as well.
"I will…"Quatre nodded with a small smile and then regarded her with a knowing look that she knew so well.
"What is it?"
"I want you to stay away from this, Serena. I don't want you hurt like last time," Quatre murmured.
"Quat…" Serena was stopped by her friend when sounds of footsteps neared them.
For a time the footsteps drew closer and the two could only listen and wait. As they neared their door it stopped and waited.
Serena turned to her friend, seeing that something overcame the platinum haired youth as she gazed into his eyes. They were intense as he gazed at the closed door behind Serena. At the moment she looked into his eyes she immediately removed herself from the door she leaned against and stepped over to Quatre's side.
It seemed like forever for the two but, in fact, it was only a mere minute before a second pair of footsteps drew closer. And that was when voices came from just outside their door. Well, actually, not voices but more of a voice.
"How long have you been waiting?" a female questioned, and at that sound Serena faltered as her eyes grew wide but Quatre's only narrowed with a hint of betrayal.
"Hnh."
"I figured you wouldn't want to say anything. But I've received your notice. I'll be back tonight for the plan," the female said with a tinge of delight.
There was more silence before the girl spoke up once more.
"I see, so this is supposedly the time we get serious, ne? Well you won't regret this…" by that time two people had each gone in separate ways.
"That girl…she's the female assassin and the other…I don't know but his gruffness reminds me of someone…" Serena whispered softly and noticed that she was clutching on to Quatre's hand with a firm grip.
"It should be safe to go now, come on," Quatre steered her out of the storage room and into the hallway. His head turning this way and that, making sure that no one was around at the moment.
"Quat-chan, so I guess it starts tonight. So…remember to not get hurt when the time comes," Serena reminded him.
"I can't promise you that, you know what this job asks of me," Quatre shook his head, incapable of complying with her request.
"I know, but still…you'll try at least, ne?" Serena offered a small smile of comfort.
"Let's go."
Serena stood in her spot while Quatre started off but after awhile he noticed she didn't follow and turned to regard her with a questioning gaze.
"This reminds me…of the past…" Serena softly whispered and looked down to see that she had unintentionally taken out her broach.
"Sere…?" Quatre called out, "Aren't you coming?"
"Oh…hai, hai…" Serena hastily placed her broach back in her pocket and began to run after him.
But on the way she tripped and fell over the carpet and to the ground.
"What did you mean when you said this reminds you of the past?" Quatre questioned, recalling her whisper.
"You…heard?" Serena blinked in surprise, her form still on the ground with her legs sprawled.
"Well I've been out there in the war for a few years…" Quatre kindly reminded her and extended his arm out for her to grab.
"Arigatou, Quat-chan," Serena took his offered hand and was pulled up.
"I was just thinking back to the time you left. This was the same hallway you left from if you don't remember, but we stopped closer off to the door…" Serena didn't look in back of her as the two continued on off through the hallway and back to where the others were in eastern side of the house.
Unfortunately, our kind Serena should have turned around while she was reminiscing of her past with our dear Quatre. There on the carpeted floor of where Serena fell was her broach. Sitting idle, waiting to be picked up: it's circular form with golden tints and pink just lying there on the warm carpet. As the two vanished off to the distance a set of footsteps came closer until it stopped right in front of the broach.
Its boots onyx black and the pants were merely gray as it contrasted slightly in its color.
The figure stooped down and held out its hand towards the cherished piece of jewelry. Just before it touched it, the broach illuminated a dim light of yellow and white mixed together before being enclosed within the figure's hand and brought up.
"Hmm…what a find," the figure's deep voice held a small smirk before walking back from where he entered from.
To be continued…
~.~.~.~.~.~
Chapter 14 up and running! ^_^ Yeyz! Now I hope you'll review, won't you? *pleading look*