AN: Hello once again. For those of you who have checked to see if I've updated constantly, I reward you with this chapter. Thank you again for all your lovely reviews, even the ones that nag me to update. They actually do work and get me to write. Anywho, on to the show. Like I've said before, have fun reading…
A Rose Among the Thorns
Chapter 21
Challenges
Wufei allowed Tracy to pull him along, to what end, Wufei did not know. She was eager, and quite frankly, so was he, but still, he was a man of caution. She ushered him into her car and off they went into the end of night. Where was she taking him, he thought. He wanted to stop and ask her. That is what his old self would have done—get all the facts first before forging ahead, but in order for him to change, he'd have to be willing to trust her without reservation. Quite frankly, trust was something Wufei rarely gave freely.
He gave his trust to no one because trust only lead to one thing—betrayal. Everyone he had ever trusted had deceived him in one way or another: Meiran who defied him and died before he had a chance to prove himself to her, Master O who sacrificed himself in the conflagration of their home colony, and Mariemaia Kushrenada with her promises of freedom and a world separate from the ESUN.
But most of all, the deepest cut came from a double-edged sword in Treize's hand. They understood each other, and if nothing else, that was enough for Wufei to believe in the once glorious colonel. Treize was the epitome of honor, a great warrior with unrivaled skill and superior cunning. Not once had Wufei thought that in their last battle he would be the victor. Treize misled him to believe that their Gundam duel was fair; however, the events certainly reflect the opposite effect. Treize did not die because Wufei killed him—Treize died because Wufei was coerced into killing him. There was no valor, no sense of glory; only the feeling of loss remained.
Wufei could still feel the impact as his triton gored through the metallic-blue flesh of the Tallgeese II, the unearthly sound of metal grating through metal swallowed by the nothingness of space. Within a heartbeat, blast from the Tallgeese engulfed Nataku in a blaze of brilliant oranges and yellows so bright that Wufei had to shield his eyes. Then, Treize was gone.
Tears. Wufei could remember that there were plenty of tears. It was the first time Wufei had cried after killing someone. Treize was the only person Wufei had ever felt any remorse for. Wufei had taken the lives of countless other mortals but no other had made him feel so weak and unworthy.
It should have been me, Wufei kept thinking as the pieces of Treize's torn Gundam cooled before his eyes. It should have been me.
"Are you okay," Tracy asked him.
Wufei blinked away the past. "I'm fine." Without his noticing, they had made it to the edge of the Altera Kingdom to the shores of the Azure River, far from the lights of the streets and buildings. There on the side of the road she parked, took out a couple of blankets and a couple of flashlights from her trunk, and ushered Wufei up the cliff of a short hill.
"Are you sure it's safe to climb when it's dark?" Wufei asked, as he braced himself against the face of the rocks.
"Yes. You're not afraid, are you," she asked.
He huffed. "Of course not, I was just worried about you slipping and falling." Just as he finished his sentence, Wufei stumbled over a loose rock, but regained his balance in an instant.
"You mean like that?" she teased him between her giggles. Wufei growled something under this breath that she couldn't quite make out. "Don't worry, Wufei. I've been up here every week for the past three months. Councilman Riginal showed it to Relena and me when we first came here. He said, 'When the world seems to be falling apart around me, I come here to sit and recollect myself.' I took his words to heart and that's what I've been doing these past months. It's beautiful here during the day, but at night," she told Wufei as she made the last step up onto the summit, "it's breathtaking."
Wufei was at her side within the next moment, and he stared out at the view ahead of them. Out into the distance, the lights of the city glistened like faceted diamonds in the sky. The sound of the wind rushing through the trees and the murmuring of the river blended with the smell of wild flowers and pine. He felt a calmness take over him at that instant.
"Feels like standing among the stars, doesn't it," Tracy softly commented. "You feel weightless and free, almost as if nothing is wrong with the world."
"So you're a poet as well," Wufei said.
"Only when it suits me." She smiled and told him to put the two blankets down by one of the trees.
They went searching for some firewood and lit a fire once they had enough. Soon they were lying on their blankets and looking up at the sky with the flames burning warmly beside them. A comforting silence settled between them in the breathing night.
Wufei found himself actually enjoying himself on this excursion. It reminded him of the times on L5 when he would escape the confines of his stifling life into the bamboo forests. He would often retreat there and sit alone among the bamboo stalk, meditating on the past, present, and future until there was nothing left to think about. Solitude was key. It was the most at peace he would feel in a time when everything felt out of order. Now, as he lay next to Tracy, it was like returning back to that time.
He turned to her then and watched the fire cast shadows across her face. Funny, he thought, but she seems to make me calmer. Embarrassed at the thought, he turned away quickly. In order to cover up his unease, he broke the quiet, "What are we doing up here?"
"We're here to get to know each other a little better."
"For what purpose?"
"If we are going to work together to help you, I think that knowing each other will benefit us in the end. It's like you going into a battle; you need to gather as many facts about the situations so that you can better gage the outcome."
It made sense, Wufei thought. "I already told you about my wife. It's your turn to share something."
"All right. You see that star up there, the big one right next to Pegasus," Tracy murmured into the dark as she pointed straight up into the blanket of night.
Wufei followed her finger and searched for the star in question. "The yellowish one?"
"The one just above it. The blue one that's winking at us."
"Yes, I see it."
"That's my star."
"Your star?" Wufei asked with skepticism.
"Yup, my star. When I was a very young girl, my father would sometimes sneak me out of bed in the middle of the night. We'd climb up to the roof of our house and lie there watching the moon travel across the sky and counting the stars. And we'd stay up there until the faintest light of morning painted the heavens in purples and reds. My mother would always scold us in the morning when she found our beds empty." She stopped as if caught up in the memory.
"I don't see how this explains that star being yours," Wufei blurted out.
She turned to him and said, "Have you ever heard of the proverb 'patience is a virtue'?"
He looked at her with slight irritation. "Let me rephrase that. I don't see how the hell this explains that star being yours."
"Are you trying to be funny, cuz it's not working," Tracy stated with mock exasperation. She glared at him, sending needles in her gaze.
He stared back in a contest of sorts, not willing to yield just yet. He was just toying with her because he liked seeing her pout. It made him feel he had some control over her, even though he had no control in his own life. He sighed.
"I was impolite. Please continue your story," Wufei said through gritted teeth.
"That didn't sound very sincere."
"Well, that's as sincere as I'm going to get."
She looked at him skeptically, then continued her story. "As I was saying, on one of those nights, my father told me about the day I was born. He said that he had a dream that my mother was going to give birth to me that night. My father was always superstitious and believed that it was a vision given to him by our ancestors. So in the middle of the night on the coldest day in autumn he set out into the dark with fierce determination written on his face.
"Along the way, a storm began to brew in the sky above and in his haste he lost his way. He searched through the shadows of the trees trying to find the path that lead home, but hours later, when the chill of the wind and the rain had settled into his bones, he feared that he would not make it through the night let alone see the birth of his first child. Alone and freezing, he found shelter in a small cave. As he waited for the storm to pass, he thought of my mother struggling to bring me into this world. At that moment, he closed his eyes and prayed that there was some way for him to reach her. The second he finished his prayer, he heard the noise of the rain stop and he rushed out of his shelter to see the clouds disperse.
"Then he saw what he said was a miracle—One of the stars started to fall out of the sky straight towards him. It stopped right before his eyes. Astonished and confused, he watched it float in circles and spirals until he realized that it wanted him to follow it. It led him through the forest and back to our village, and when it had done its job, it returned to the night sky. A few minutes later, I was born and he took me outside to see the star that had brought him there as he held me safe in his arms. Every night since then, I've always made sure I could find my star." She ended with a dreamy look in her eyes, her star seeming to shimmer as if it knew she has spoken of it.
"Where are your parents now?" Wufei wondered.
She blinked back to reality, and turned to face him. "They're dead." She paused a second. "They died when I was five in a guerrilla raid of our village. They massacred my people, hunted them down like animals, and when they were done, they strung them up on the power lines or nailed them to trees as a warning to other villages who dared to declare their neutrality from the war. I was the only one who survived," she spat out the words like venom.
Wufei saw the pain in her features and the tears about to fall from her eyes. He didn't know what to say or do. This is why he always avoided situations where emotions and sentimentality came into play. He just sat there like a lump of coal, wishing he were invisible so he wouldn't have to deal with it. But he did have to deal with it. And then he thought that maybe it was a test, maybe she was seeing how he dealt with these types of scene, and if that were the case, he'd be failing at it. If there was one thing Wufei hated, it was being a failure. But what am I supposed to do, he thought. What would Sally do? There were two possible choices he came up with: comfort her or distract her. He was never one for supportive talk and soothing words, so that left distraction.
"I never knew my parents," Wufei started, "I never had the chance. I was abandoned as a baby, left at the gates of my master's compound. There was no note explaining why I was left, just a blanket with my name embroidered in black characters. I haven't found out who they are and I don't feel it necessary that I do so."
Tracy looked encouragingly at him, her thoughts of the past fading into the chill night air. "Were you angry when you found out the truth," she questioned him.
"Yes, I was furious. I was irate at the world, at my parents for leaving me, at my master for keeping it from me, and at the others of my clan from lying to me, but mostly I was angry at myself for falling for their deception and not seeking out the truth in the first place. This is part of the reason I became an avid scholar. I wanted to learn everything I could so that no one could ever mislead me again. But, as I gained more knowledge, I began to realize that holding a grudge would never solve anything, and so I let it go."
"You almost sound grateful."
"I am. If I hadn't been left in Master Po's care, I would most likely be six feet under ground in an unmarked grave right now. The war would have claimed my life, and if not the war, then some other force would have. But growing up the way I have has taught me to be strong—I'm a fighter. I've survived many battles, and I intend to outlive the one that I see just beyond the horizon."
"What do you mean?"
"This whole situation with Prince Alexander and Eris is amounting into something more than any of us are willing to admit."
"You don't think that it'll turn into another war, do you?"
Wufei shook his head. "No, if anything, it'll just turn into another Mariemaia incident. But still, there could be catastrophic consequences. I feel something ominous on the wind." He looked out into the sky, as if he could find the answer written in the stars.
"We should go. It's getting late," she said.
Wufei agreed, and they packed up their things, put out the fire, and carefully headed back to the car.
For the rest of the night, Wufei found himself drawn to her. He would glance at her in the car, and when he realized what he was doing, he would quickly turned away. And later that night, when he was in bed, his thoughts would bring him back to his time with Tracy. All of it was unexpected and confusing; however, he wasn't annoyed by any of it. He didn't know what was wrong with him. As he fell asleep that night, the last image on his mind was of Tracy smiling up at her star.
…………………………………………………….
The digital clock read 8:43 pm in bright red florescence. Quatre had been staring at it for the past thirteen minutes, ever since Dorothy had left him in confusion and doubt.
8:44.
Her words echoed in his head and he could think of nothing else. He replayed the scene in his mind in an attempt to discover something he didn't realize the first, second, or third time.
After ending their meeting with Cole Santiago, Quatre, Trowa, and Dorothy drove together back to the hotel that the Preventers had booked for them. The ride was wrapped in silence and tension. Quatre had wanted to ask her what she had promised Cole in exchange for the vital information about Eris, but he didn't know how to approach the subject without seeming too pushy. Once they entered their suite, Quatre had had enough of being left in the dark.
As Trowa laid the keys on the glass surface of their coffee table and as Dorothy took a seat on the suede-covered loveseat, Quatre spoke his mind. "I don't want to seem meddlesome, but I need to know, Dorothy. What is the agreement you made with Santiago?"
Dorothy just closed her eyes in response and leaned further into the sofa. Quatre looked over at Trowa but he had taken his usual position against a wall, his arms crossed over his chest as if to keep himself guarded from the conversation.
"Did you hear, Dorothy?" Quatre questioned.
"Hm," she mumbled, without even stirring.
"Then why aren't you answering me? We are supposed to be working together, and that means sharing information with each other." Quatre was beginning to show his frustration in the tone of his voice and Dorothy was beginning to get annoyed with his persistence.
She let out a heavy sight, sat back up, and opened her eyes to look at him. "I already told you that it's nothing of consequence. Now I'm going to my room to sleep before my meeting. I would appreciate it if you would not disturb me." And with that she got up and closed the doors to her room, leaving Quatre to stare at the white paint on the doors.
Three hours later, Dorothy had emerged from her room looking refreshed. She had on the same waistcoat wrapped tightly around her body. Before Quatre could say a word, she announced, "I am going to see Cole. Do not bother waiting up for me. I will see you both tomorrow morning with the information we need," and closed the door before her.
8:45.
Quatre shuffled restlessly in his seat. Trowa was beside him on the sofa, watching the news on the television.
Quatre had had enough. "Trowa, I know you know what Dorothy is giving Santiago. You need to tell me or I am going to go there myself to find out."
"Dorothy had her reasons for not telling you."
"What reasons?"
"To spare your feelings, and to keep you from stopping her."
Quatre felt an ominous cloud drift into the hotel room, looming over him like a dark shadow. Why would his feelings need to be spared? Why would he stop her, unless she was going there to do something he did not agree with? Would she put her life in danger, would she do something she would regret, would she…and then it hit him.
His eyes flashed, and his body tensed as he gripped Trowa by the shoulders. Trowa was taken off guard at the quickness and strength of Quatre's hold.
"Tell me," Quatre ordered with enough intimidation to make Trowa flinch, "what exactly is Dorothy giving Santiago?"
Trowa had enough sense not to upset Quatre further and proceeded, saying, "I can only guess what she would offer him. But from what I have observed, Santiago has a particular liking to Dorothy. She also left with only her waistcoat. If you noticed, she did not have her red top on, and I can only assume what she had left under the coat. By all indications, she would be giving Santiago…" Before he could finish, Quatre had grabbed the car keys off the table and ran out the door.
Quatre could barely breathe through his anger and worry, as he dashed through the hallway and leapt down stairs. He could not believe that Dorothy would let someone violate her in any way. She was a lady of honor and virtue. It was absurd that she would betray that, yet all clues led to that conclusion. By all accounts, Trowa was right. Quatre felt a fire within him seethe and grow in fury. He would not let anyone touch Dorothy, not even to save Earth.
He pictured Santiago lay his hand on Dorothy's bare shoulder and he nearly punched the wall in the staircase in rage. He shook his head to clear the image from his mind and to calm his senses down. Never before had he been filled with such wrathful craze. He could feel it boiling within him, and he did not know why he felt so disconcerted.
Soon, he was opening his car door, but before he could slide into the driver's seat, Trowa had grabbed his left arm to keep him from getting in. Before Quatre could help himself, he flung a fist at his friend. Trowa dodged it without any effort and caught it with his free hand.
"Don't try to stop me, Trowa."
"I'm not, but you are in no condition to be driving," Trowa said, and took the keys out of Quatre's grip and slid into the driver's seat and turned on the ignition in one fluid motion.
Not in any mood to argue, Quatre quickly got into the passenger seat and off they went in pursuit of Dorothy. Before the car had even stopped, Quatre was bolting for the door to the back entrance. He knocked three, two, and two times as Dorothy had done before, and when the person on the other side opened the slit to see who was there, Quatre kicked the door and the doorman down in one step. The man groaned into unconsciousness.
Three other guards at the door quickly went into defense mode, but before they could unlock their rifles, Quatre had swiftly removed them of their weapons and knocked them to the ground to join the doorman. Five more guards rushed onto the scene with their guns firing at the Gundam pilot. In a flash, he grabbed the rifle of the unconscious guard and took cover behind a corner. Without Quatre knowing, Trowa was beside him, a rifle in his hands as well.
"On three we go," Trowa instructed Quatre. Quatre nodded. Trowa signaled one, two, and on three they abandoned their cover and fired on their assailants. Within seconds, all five were out of commission. Quatre ran down the stairs, with Trowa watching his back. Along the way, they took out three more guards. At the bottom of the stairs, Quatre shot through the door lock and kicked the door.
Once inside, ten more men were waiting in the proceeding hallways. He shot three before running out of rounds and Trowa added five more bodies to the count. With two opponents left, Trowa snatched the knife that was concealed in his shoe and threw it at one of his enemies while Quatre nimbly punched the last guard in the stomach and took his weapon.
Pointing the gun at the quivering guard, Quatre lifted him by his shirt and demanded, "Where is Dorothy Catalonia?"
"P- Please don't hurt me," the guard pleaded.
"Where is she?"
The guard swallowed to keep his fear in check. "Sh- she's in the bosses p- private quarters."
"Where is that?" Quatre shook him.
"The s- second door on the right in his office."
Quatre hit him on the back of the head and picked up the card key one of them held and opened the steel doors.
The casino room was empty. It was all that stood between them and Santiago's office. No one was there shuffling cards, throwing dice, or pulling handles. It was eerie for a casino to be void of patrons. Quatre surmised that the clients most likely had been filed out with the raucous they were causing. They wouldn't want any dead billionaires. Who would the casino steal money from then?
Quatre and Trowa cautiously made their way across the large floor. Before they could get halfway to the door to Santiago's office, guards from above and around them started hailing them with bullets.
"Go to Dorothy," Trowa said as a bullet skimmed past his head, "I'll take care of these guys."
Quatre nodded and shot his way to the office door. He knocked out the sentry guarding the door and used his key to open it. He closed the door behind him and all was silent in the room. The dim glow of the aquarium's blue-green water was the only light to brighten his way. He slowly found the door to Santiago's private room and opened the door. Inside the room were dozens of white candles burning and a large bed covered by thin curtains of sheer white material hanging from its posts.
He could see the silhouette of a body behind the curtains. His heart began to race. What if he came upon Dorothy and Santiago, together! He could hear his breathing deepen in harsh gasps. He lifted a hand to the curtain and hastily pulled back the material.
Dorothy was alone. Quatre let out a sigh of relief, and turned bright red when he saw she was only wearing her lacy underwear. Always the gentleman, he quickly closed his eyes and turned his head away.
"Quatre," Dorothy gasped in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
Still red as a strawberry, Quatre said, "I'm here to take you back to the hotel." He would have grabbed her then, but she was still scantily clad.
"I'm not going anywhere with you. Santiago will be here any second so get out of here," Dorothy ordered in a strict voice.
"I'm not leaving without you. I'm not letting any woman desecrate herself and do something she will regret," he paused and emphasized, "especially you."
Quatre waited for her to respond, but after thirty seconds of silence, he was beginning to wonder if she was still there.
"Quatre," Dorothy said in a calm, cool manner. She had stealthily made her way to stand in front of Quatre who still had his eyes closed. "Look at me."
Quatre was hesitant. Had she covered herself up or was she still nearly nude?
"It's ok, Quatre. Open your eyes."
He did so to stare into her sharp blue eyes that flared cobalt fire from their cores. They were all he saw of her; no notice was given to what she was wearing or what she was not. They commanded his presence and he felt he would be consumed by their flames, completely.
"I know what I am doing. I know that it is ethically against what morals we have. But this is a time of war. Sacrifices must be made. If I have to sacrifice a part of my dignity to save billions of lives, then it something I am willing to forfeit. If this is what I have to give to spare your fate, then I give it freely."
Quatre was spellbound by her words and her gaze. What did she mean by "your" fate? Was she doing this to spare him? He was easily perplexed. In the end, he surmised what she explained to him made sense, and he kept his conscience from tearing at his resolve. He nodded his head slightly in submission. She would do as she wished.
Dorothy kissed his softly on his cheek, and Quatre felt something stir in him like nothing he had ever felt before. He wasn't quite sure what the feeling was but he welcomed its foreign appeal. At that moment, he felt the urge to be with Dorothy, to hold her close and feel her next to him, to touch her skin and taste her lips. He was baffled by this revelation, but he could not deny his longing. Before he could, fulfill his overwhelming need, they were disappointingly interrupted.
"I'm afraid I have to interrupt your little tryst. You are trespassing on my property," shouted Santiago from the bedroom entrance. His face was twisted with anger and hatred. Two guards were behind him with Trowa securely in their grasp. A few more guards with guns were in the office room behind them waiting for the slightest chance to fill the Gundam pilots with bullet holes.
Quatre then took note that Dorothy was still in her undergarments in front of a dozen on looking men; he quickly stood in front of her to block their view. His attempts were fruitless because Dorothy just popped back out, apathetic to anyone's stares.
"I am sorry for my friends' interruption, but I am here and ready to finish our transaction," Dorothy said.
Santiago let out a sarcastic laugh. "You think that pitiful apology will suffice for what has occurred here!? Your friends have killed nearly half of my forces, they drove out my clients, destroyed my casino, and lost me several millions of dollars. That I can replace, but they have offended me. They have made me look like a fool." He had begun to lose his control and took a moment to gather himself before continuing. "That I cannot forgive. I am only showing you mercy because I once called you friend, Dorothy. Take your friends and go. If I ever see any of you again, I will kill you." He motioned for his guards to release Trowa and stood aside for them to leave.
"That's fine with me. Grab your coat and let's go, Dorothy," Quatre said.
"No," Dorothy said, "We need the intel."
"I will not say this again. Get out or I will shoot you where you stand," Santiago nearly yelled.
"What if we offer you something more," Trowa chimed in. Santiago looked at him, intrigue written on his face. "What if we can replace everything you have lost?"
"I'm listening," Santiago said.
"You will gain Quatre and me. We can replace all your guards, we can repair the casino, we can give you the money you lost, and your clients will come back in time. You will have one of the most powerful individuals of under the palm of your hand," Trowa finished.
"Trowa…" Quatre began to protest, but Dorothy stopped him from continuing.
"In exchange, all we want is the information we asked for earlier."
"So I just give you the information and you give me all of that?"
"No, you're a gambling man. We make this a challenge," Trowa said.
"What sort of challenge?"
"Your daggers, they are not only for decoration, are they," Trowa stated as a fact. "You have used them in combat."
Santiago was surprised he had known this. "How did you know?"
"I saw the scar on your wrist when we first met."
"Very observant. I street fight with daggers often."
"And you are adept at it?"
"I haven't met anyone yet who can beat me," Santiago boasted.
"Then we will fight with daggers. First to concede will lose the bet," Trowa responded. "Are you interested?"
Santiago pondered it over in his mind for a second and said, "So long as I get to fight Señor Winner."
…………………………………………………….
AN: Well, that was the end of another chapter. So very sorry for the very long delay. I know I'm really bad about updating. I actually have a life now and don't have so much time to write. I hope all the faithful readers are still out there. I love all of you and don't forget that.
Anyways, you're probably thinking that Wufei was totally out of character, and I would have to say I agree with you on that. I'm sort of taking him on a very odd journey to finding himself. This wasn't my initial intention. Honestly, the story was supposed to just focus on Heero and Relena, but over the course of these few years of writing this fic, the story has taken on a mind of its own. And poof Wufei has a soft side. Some of you probably hate him like this and want the old one back, but this is my Wufei for now so you're just going to have to put up with him. I'm just ranting now. On to the review responses…until next time…
Review Responses:
LoneGothic: Glad you liked the whole 1xR scene. I can't wait to write the rest of them. Heero will get better; he is the hero after all, and as far as Ronin dying, you'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for your review…
Sanoske & Jaro: You're reviews always make me laugh. I agree with your insight into the characters. They are very complicated and I have the hardest time trying to write one let alone all the characters in my story. I hope to hear from you both again…
Captain Stu: Don't worry, I won't let this fic die. It might take me a few decades to finish, but it'll be done. Heero and Relena's relationship is very difficult to write about so I'm glad you think it fits. Anywho, I hope you write me again…
cherryheart: I'm happy to know my story is one of your favs. That is a huge compliment. And I know I don't update very often. I even forget what I wrote a lot more than I should. But I'll update as soon as I can. Thanks for your super nice words…
Crazy4Cocopuffs: Thank you very much for reviewing multiple chapters! It helps me get feedback on each one instead of just general ones that some people leave. And I appreciate all the kind words you had to say. As far as finding out what's going to happen to the characters, you'll just have to keep reading. I don't want to spoil it for you. I hope to hear from you again…
Lady MR1: I hope I didn't offend you or anything with my other review response. I really appreciate you taking the time to say anything to me at all. It's too bad that you couldn't have told me all the Odin stuff early in the story. If you had, I probably would have used it. And as for Heero's screwyness (it's a word now), you make total sense. I hadn't noticed that he hasn't done anything for himself. But isn't Heero like that? He puts himself last? But you're right and I'm going to do something about that. Heero will do something for himself, I just don't know what yet. You're comments about how Heero could have been more vague in his descriptions again make a lot of sense. I'm beginning to think that you should be writing my story (or at least editing it), haha. Thank you a bunch for all your comments. I'm sure you'll have more to say for this chapter…
Antares: Thanks for your comment. I try to give Relena more substance because I don't want her to come off as weak and irritating as she is sometimes portrayed. And, I'm so jealous that you have two guys after you (maybe not anymore cuz this review is old) but still, I have a hard enough time trying to find one guy, hehe. Well hope to hear from you again.
Camigwen: Thanks for your review. I love when people love my work, hehe. Don't forget to review this chapter…
Baka-san517: Sorry to say this chapter took a long time, but I'm glad you liked the last chapter. And if you sick someone evil on me, that would just keep me from writing, so you might want to rethink that plan of action, hehe. I hope to hear from you again…
Kat-Tastrophe: I always love when people who have been reading this story forever write me a review. Thanks for keeping up and maybe I'll see another review from you this time…
Gecko Osco: Thank you for liking my portrayal of Heero. He's a very complicated character to write about. I try my best but that doesn't mean it's perfect. But anyways, I can't wait to read your review of this chapter…
Serendy: Ya, I agree that Ronin is nuts but he's supposed to be that way. And haha, I forgot Alex's eyes were green, but Relena's are blue so maybe her genes just won out. And I like Quatre with Dorothy—I think they match since Quatre is sort of calm and Dorothy is wild so they complement each other. Oh and yes, don't forget about the ring. It'll pop up again. And, Zechs won't have such a big role, I'm sorry to say. I just have so much going on with all the other characters that I don't have much time to focus on him. He will make more appearances I think. Anywho, thank you for you long review. Those are always the best. I hope to hear from you again…
lil ole gigi: Thank you for thinking it was a great chapter. And, don't give yourself so little credit on your writing skills. Writing is a never-ending process. There are very few people who are geniuses when it comes to writing. It takes practice. I'm sure you're better than you think. And I love the Heero and Relena scenes, I wish I could write more of them but there's other things in the story that need to be dealt with also. I'm looking forward to the Wufei/ Tracy thing too. There's a lot more couples in this story than I originally had planned. I loved your review. I hope you write me another one…
The Liquid Ice: It's nice to know I'm not the only procrastinator, hehe. And I will have more DuoxHilde so no worries there. And I'm not totally sure who is going to live and who is going to die so you'll have to wait and see at the end. And I'm glad my story evoked some kind of emotion with the assassin killing his daughter. I, myself, was almost in tears too writing it. And I love long reviews. It shows your thoughts and says more than it was good. Saying it's good doesn't really tell me anything, you know? I hope you write another long review….
Mitch: Hi! You're awesome for reviewing dude. And, as you can see, 20 is not the last chapter. I'm predicting at least 25 so there's a long way to go left. And you weren't being rude. And I love Gundam Wing too. I wish they had made more episodes, but I have fanfics to make up for that. Anyways, I hope to hear from you again…
Mini Nicka: Thanks for your review. I can't believe you would try to read this in one sitting. I wonder what the total time it took you to read it was. Anyways, I hope to hear from you again…
Rinelwin: Glad you think it's a great story. Hopefully you've stayed hooked to read this chapter. If you did, I hope you review this time…
TheEvilAshleyness: Love the name, haha. I updated so I hop you liked it. Maybe I'll get another review from you…
Airen2: I'm glad you reviewed. I know I'm just giving excuses when I say I was busy but I really am and I try to find time to write but I never seem to have it. Life is just getting in the way of my writing. Anyways, thanks for your review. I hope to hear from you again. It's nice to see old readers come back…
nikki: I don't think it's annoying to get reviews that bug me to update. They usually work and get me to write. I hate when people don't update but I'm doing to best I can. I will finish the story to no worries about that. Ok, don't be sorry, just keep reviewing…thanks…