Disclaimer: Nopes.
AN: See, it seems like everybody's confused. Actually, that was what I was
trying to do the whole time. Nope, nobody missed a chapter or nothing, and
everybody is now confused. My only response: this is where suspense and
supernatural come in as genres.
To Anrui Shino: Well… that was what I
was trying to do, getting everyone confused… but I don't think anything will be
cleared up in this chapter… heh, yeah, I forget my passwords easily, having so
many of them…
Hououza: Well, who says he'll every
find out? Goodie, you're confused too. I was hoping for that… oh, and I'm
actually 13. Heh, well that clears up how easily I get hyper, ne?
The Fic Critic: No, Aki doesn't have
a disease, and no, you did not skip a chapter. This is part of the suspense I
stuck in here, so be prepared not to find out what's going on until I'm
practically done with the fic. And, also, I'll probably make a prequel to this
story about Aki and Ari, but you'll need to wait a few months before that comes
out. What? It's not like it the first idea on hold...
Dragon Faere: Ooh… I suppose she
is, but be assured, she won't completely get there. If she did, I wouldn't be
so certain most of you will be out to kill me by the end of the fic…
Well, I have some things to do now… so
enjoy the chapter. And don't forget the R&R, I love getting your reviews!
Black Hair and Gray Eyes
Chapter 20
Aki fidgeted a little bit nervously as
she waited for everyone to arrive for Christmas; she couldn't wait to see
Chantelle again. And the rest of the pilots were going to be there: Duo with a
very pregnant Hilde, Trowa with his new wife, Midii and Chantelle, Wufei with
his 'partner' Sally, and Quatre with his fiancée, Dorothy. Oh, and of course,
her Uncle, Milliardo, with his wife, Lucrezia, and their adopted baby from the
orphanage.
That was the family she had been brought
into, and she wasn't looking forward to trying to place faces with names for a
whole three weeks. But then again, she was a fast learner. And then there was
the fact that she had met all of them before, even if only for a bit. Yep, that
was going to be her whole Christmas, and then
there was the fact that the little gang/group after her was to be discussed
after Christmas, but, they were amateurs, who probably weren't that big of a
deal.
'There's time to feel free and normal,'
Aki thought, while her mind seemed to go right back to that Friday… at lunch.
Lee's kiss was quick and soft, making her marvel at how such a great guy had
crossed her paths. He was all a girl dreamt of. 'But I won't get to stay too
long…' It was true, and her death was almost inevitable. There was almost no
chance of her making it out alive, except for some kind of miracle.
Flipping open her locket, Aki traced the
outside of it, which was lined with black. The other side, which held Arika's
picture, was beginning to line with a peculiar white. This, she had not known
about. What did that mean?
A dark blue minivan pulled up to the
house, distracting Aki as it went out of sight, hidden behind the bar of the
window. All that she could still see of it was the very back, which was blurred
slightly by her breath and the thick snow falling outside.
"Someone's here!! It's a blue minivan!"
She called towards the stairs, meanwhile never moving from her spot on the
couch, her black hair spilling over the edge as she rested her head on the top
of the couch, reminding everyone else of a bored dog. Of course, Aki knew that,
but it was comfortable, and she was bored. There was absolutely nothing to do…
Blonde hair flitted slightly in her view
as a girl opened up the trunk of the minivan, and picking up some presents that
were there. A man also came, his face obscured by a few bangs that hung over
one eye. Finally, a blonde woman also came, picking off the topmost smallest
present from the girl's pile so that she could see. The girl looked about ten.
"It's Trowa and Chantelle!" Aki cried, a
bit excited, as she bolted to the door to open it. Chantelle stood there,
trying to balance as she lifted a hand to try and ring the bell. Aki picked up
the pile the girl had in a hand as Chantelle gave a sheepish smile. This was
the Night-sky she knew alright.
"Well, Greyhound, it seemed like you
dressed up for our first encounter since… oh… four months?" Aki, a bit confused
at what she meant, looked down at the clothes she was wearing: dark grey khaki
pants and a grey, speckled wool turtle neck. She shrugged.
"The outfit seemed to jump out at me for
today. Besides, you shouldn't really talk." The younger of the two girls wore a
dark blue sweater with black jeans today. She shrugged too.
"Oh well, I thought it was appropriate.
Now let me in before I freeze out here because I forgot my jacket in the car!"
She tried to push Aki away, but even her slightly stronger than average
strength couldn't faze the older girl.
"Go get your jacket, you might need it
later." She made a face as she walked away, mumbling something about slave drivers.
"Stupid little…"
"Trowa and Midii are here?" Relena went
to lean out of the door, nearly pushing all of the gifts Aki had in her hand
into the snow below, but Heero had pulled the little raven-haired girl into the
house before coming up behind Relena. Aki heard her mother shout greetings at
the people in the driveway as she went to dump all the presents under the
gigantic Christmas tree. Well, there were a lot of presents there already, and
only two families out of the six were actually here.
"Whoa… jeez, you sure you got enough
space here?" Chantelle asked sarcastically as she entered the large living
room. Truly, it was huge, as it could fit a fire place, three couches around
that, two couches by a book case (an extremely large one), one couch and a side
table in front of a big screened TV, plus a small sofa and foot stool there
too, as well as a last couch right underneath the window. Oh, and who could
forget the Christmas tree?
"No, I think a few people will have to
stay in the main hallway." Chantelle laughed, causing Aki to smile; finally, a
familiar sound. "So… let's talk." She led the blonde up to her room, watching
as the girl's face widened in awe as she looked around.
"Aki, my girl, have you ever considered
how much alike your life is to the musical 'Annie?'" A certain raven-hair girl
winced.
"What? Do you expect me to start singing
all of a sudden?" Chantelle laughed again.
"Well… go on…" Aki glared at her,
causing her to laugh again, only more whole heartedly. They went to the bed,
where Chantelle made herself right at home on the on it. Aki, on the other
hand, flipped a chair around and sat on it backwards.
"So… Chantelle, how has everything been
going since I left?" The girl, who had been commenting on how little pillows
she had (she only had two) for a rich kid, jumped a little at the question.
"Oh, uh…" she thought for a bit, trying
to remember what to say. "Oh! After you left, there was a bit of confusion
around the orphanage, especially with the gang, but Chris told us everything. She
was then adopted by a family too, and you should've seen their surprise when
they saw her lifting some stuff for the staff. Heh, it was so funny when she
said there had better be some physical work for her. Then, there's Cameron. Oh
boy, he's got quite a few girls after him, with all the blonde hair and 'boyish'
looks. He was practically hiding everyday for a while. Then, there was Sequin,
who seemed to be doing fine enough. You know how old habits die hard?" Only too
well… "He's sticking to the shadows most of the time, scaring some of the other
kids when he'd open his eyes, and all they'd see is a flash of silver in the
shadows." She laughed again as a memory obviously came back to her. "Then some
of the gang…"
That was how their one-sided
conversation went as down below them, everyone was arriving.
*~*~*~*~*
"Hilde!" Relena laughed out loud as the
sort-of-little woman went through the doors, a Duo practically bursting with
joy was almost completely holding her. They were the last of the guests, and probably
the most happy of them all. Hilde was placed on "Heero's" sofa and Duo
immediately went to gloat with the rest of the guys, who were in the Kitchen. The
women sat around Hilde, talking about her pregnancy and kids. All in all, it
was a pretty peaceful evening.
"So, heh, Heero, how'd Aki get to you so
well? I couldn't even do nothing!" Duo jabbed at Heero with his elbow as
Milliardo raised an eyebrow at the both of them. Now, Heero could only wish the
room wasn't so quiet…
"Hn." Duo laughed and hit him upside the
back of the head.
"So you don't wanna spill the beans, eh?
Well, I guess I'll just have to ask her how she got you and Relena together…"
He was teasing, he was annoying, he was getting him in deep with Relena's
brother, and the older man just, kind of, exploded.
"What??" Duo cringed, Quatre jumped,
Wufei turned away from the window to look at what was happening, Trowa raised
an eyebrow, but Heero was unfazed. At least, that was what he looked like. The
tall blonde walked right up the Heero and turned him around to face one another
in the face. He shoved a finger in his face as Heero did nothing.
"Y- You are… What??"
"Duo…"
"Eep."
"What is going on in here?" Thank the
lord Relena had heard her brother's outrage, and had the other women in tow.
Hilde was here too, after a few moments. "Milliardo, I want to know the meaning
of this." She pulled her brother away from Heero with a hand, using the other
to stop their glares. "Men."
Aki had walked down to the kitchen too,
at the sound of her Uncle, and looked at the peculiar sight. Well, for her at
least. She turned to Chantelle, who had followed down after her.
"You know… I have a feeling this could
take a while to clear up…
And it did.
They almost missed dinner, actually, if
Duo's stomach hadn't reminded everyone that it was about eight in the evening. Aki
thought of the child living inside of Hilde's abdomen and hoped that it didn't
get too many of his genes…
After dinner, the group had retired to the
living room around the fire, where Chantelle and Aki played with Aki's cousin, Yuki.
She was only a few months old, orphaned for unknown reasons. The child made Aki
remember her own past, and she prayed that Aiko wouldn't have to go through the
same thing. The girl black hair, which was tinted orange by the fire. Her eyes
were blue… which disturbed Aki every time she looked at her. She looked a lot
like Arika… But of course, Aki never said anything aloud.
"You know, I better go rest." Hilde
started to get up, but Duo was by her side in a second, not that he was very
far away anyways. Duo nodded enthusiastically as he gently fingered Hilde's
bulging abdomen.
"Yeah, got to have your rest." Relena
stood up to lead the two into their room as the people in the living room took
up their chatter again, Aki listening only a bit as she watched the little girl
played with Chantelle's fingers.
"So how's life?" Sally offered the group
as a means of talking, as Duo had left…
"Good, I guess…" Quatre muttered as the
room fell silent. The sounds in it were only the crackling of the fire, and the
slight rapping of Milliardo's fingernails against the side table. He was
obviously not pleased about his sister's relationship with her bodyguard.
"Wow, you guys are just bounding with
energy, aren't you?" Aki stood as she said that, earning a few chuckles from
the women. "I'm going to go get a drink." She started to, but only got to the
doorway when Duo came bounding in, bruised and scratched, and Relena came in
behind him, unharmed.
"Hilde's gone."
*~*~*~*~*
*Steps away ever so slowly, but is
dragged back by angry mob.* Hey, didn't I promise action/adventure?? And I
still didn't get to anything being revealed about Aki's locket, but maybe next
chapter. So the whole group's here, and Hilde's kidnapped. What's going to
happen? Wait for the next chapter and find out! *Mob, who doesn't like that
very much, drags Lei-chan off, chanting something about dogs* Uh oh, well, at
least I update pretty quick.