Standard Generic Disclaimer: I do not, and never will own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon!
Author's Notes: Hey minna-chan! Thanks for all your wonderful reviews! They do keep me going you know. I loved all the titles that you suggested but unfortunately, since I'm more ahead with my writing than what you're reading, I felt that the titles didn't really suit what I had in mind. Having said that, I came up with a title of sorts. It's mildly cheesy, and I could've sworn I've seen it somewhere else. If I accidentally took it from someone, please let me know since I do have a back-up title in mind! Anyway, you know the usual drill. Review = good = happy Chibi Tenshi = more writings! (Once exams are over anyway) And just to warn you all, tonight will probably be my last posting till sometime mid next week. I'll try to give you as much as I can and hopefully that'll do for now.
Warning: Contains curse words in Japanese (and maybe English).
Side Notes: (because I can) I just wanted to clarify why Usagi wailed in Chapter 3. She saw her reflection (scratches everywhere – even on her face, and blood in her pretty hair) which is why she reacted the way she did! Gomen! I didn't mean for any confusion. Having said that, I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it! *audience cheers as Chibi Tenshi shuts up*
Again, italics indicate thoughts! Okay, now I'm shutting up. *zip*
Chapter 4: Close Encounters
Usagi flung herself into the shower, feeling the heat from the water seep into her weary muscles and relaxing them. As the water beat down her face, she felt herself get teary-eyed again. Holding back a sob, she concentrated on getting the blood out of her hair. She felt so frustrated. How was it that she could not remember a single thing? It was as if her memories were wiped clean. She remembered nothing. As she stared at all the bruises and wounds on her body, her eyes widened in dismay. She really was in bad shape, although something was odd about this whole scenario. From what Heero had told her, she shouldn't even be alive, much less worried about how she looked. Heero. Her expression softened when she thought of the handsome young man who had saved her life. Dark brown hair, beautiful deep blue eyes, and a tall, lean athletic frame (AN: He's 18 by now. I figured he grew. grin) summarized the physical characteristics of Yuy Heero. She didn't know how but she somehow knew that he was someone not used to displaying emotions. She knew that he was acting out of character. She could tell by how he would get this look on his face, like he was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. She turned the shower off and reached for the towel. Matte, do I have a change of clothes? She felt herself flush with embarrassment. She opened the bathroom door slowly and peered into the bedroom. She found the bedroom door closed, and a fresh change of clothes lying on top of the bed. She smiled to herself despite her current circumstances. Whoever she was, she was pretty lucky at the moment.
Heero sat at the kitchen table after having reheated the meal. He had pulled out his gun to clean it while Usagi had been taking a shower. All of a sudden, the doorbell rang repeatedly, followed by a pounding on the door. Duo. Damnit, of all the timing… He got up reluctantly and opened the door.
"Maxwell?" He asked of his friend, and his vision took in the rest of the group.
All four men pushed by him and settled themselves on the couch. He sighed wearily, put away his gun, and closed the door. The guys were talking excitedly about the mission that they had completed for the day.
"Heard about the uhhh problem you had yesterday, Heero." Duo Maxwell, or Shinigami as he was sometimes known, smirked. Heero merely gave one of his patented death stares.
"Well, we didn't have any specs on the new OZ units. He can't be faulted for that," Quatre Winner said logically.
"He's the perfect soldier though," Duo grinned, unable to resist making fun of Heero.
It was so rare that Heero would make a mistake that Duo had to seize his opportunities while he could. Trowa Barton looked around the room speculatively. Wufei Chang merely snorted in the corner. Heero cringed inwardly. Usagi had been in the shower for a while now, and though he didn't know how long girls took in the shower, he sensed that she would not be in there for much longer. He heard the shower stop running, the telltale creak of his bathroom door, and an unnoticeable smile formed on his lips. He had placed his oldest pants and T-shirt on the bed for her. The soldier in him screamed in protest over his behaviour for the past day. The man in him welcomed him back to the human race. He knew his time was running out to get them out of his apartment. There were some questions about his life he was not prepared to answer yet.
"Don't you guys have anything better to do?" He remarked, hoping that they would take the hint and leave.
Trowa looked up after listening intently, floppy brown hair obscuring his dark green eyes, and asked, "Is someone in the shower?"
"Uh… no. Errr… I mean…" Heero cursed himself as he fumbled around for words.
Duo jumped up upon noticing the table setting and pointed at it. "Dinner for two, Heero?" He said while fluttering his eyelashes. "How dreamy."
The other guys sweatdropped. Duo was as good as dead.
"Omae o kuroso," Heero announced and was prepared to do just that when the bedroom door opened.
The five men turned around to stare at the vision that stepped into the room. Heero felt as if all the air had been knocked out of him. Wet silvery blond hair hung down her back, showing the evidence of her having been the one in the shower. Her crystal blue eyes widened at the sight of the five men in the living room. A black T-shirt, which was a few sizes too big for her petite frame, should have looked ridiculous but instead emphasized her femininity. The pants were obviously too long for her and had been rolled several times at the hem in an attempt to get them to fit. Despite all this, she still looked like a goddess. The four newcomers gasped as they noticed the bruises that marred her complexion and the cuts and bruises that were on her arms. Details had finally sunk into their brains. They turned around to glare at Heero, protective instincts in full force.
"I didn't do it, you bakas." He growled.
Usagi, upon seeing all this, rushed forward to defend Heero, but one of the hems chose to unroll at the moment causing her to trip. (AN: Return of Usagi!) She let out a feminine squeal, and closed her eyes, fully expecting to fall face first onto the nice hardwood floor. She missed the five guys rushing to their feet to help her, and Heero (AN: Perfect soldier that he is) was the first to get to her. Strong arms caught her and her eyes flew open to meet Heero's.
"Daijoubu ka?" He inquired softly.
She blushed and quickly moved out of his arms. "Daijoubu. Doomo arigatoo."
The three men (minus Wufei) grinned.
"Weak woman," Wufei muttered under his breath. (AN: You knew it was coming!)
Usagi's eyes narrowed and looked at the Chinese man, dressed entirely in black, his long hair in a single pigtail. "Did you say what I think you just said?"
Wufei simply shrugged. "I see no need to explain myself to a weak woman."
Usagi, for the life of her, could not predict her next action, or how she was able to do what she did. With a speed that astounded everyone, she threw a punch at Wufei, her fist stopping just centimeters from his face. "If a weak woman was able to do that to you without you avoiding it, what does that make you?" The four men (minus Heero, who merely smirked) exploded in laughter, with Wufei's face red with embarrassment.
"INJUSTICE!!!"
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"The future timelines are unraveling." A mysterious voice whispered. "How is it that she can move so fast?"
"It seems that time has dimmed your memories of the past. You forget, my daughter is no mere mortal." Queen Serenity said softly.
"True, but as Tsukino Usagi, she was frequently tripping over her own feet."
Queen Serenity laughed. "My little girl was just growing into her body. She has power, a whole lot more than you and I put together. When she reaches her full potential, she will be far stronger than Sailor Saturn."
The other figure gasped out loud. "How is it possible? I thought only Sailor Saturn had that level of power."
"I think you've been guarding the gates of time for far too long, Setsuna. Did you forget that her father is a Super Saiyajin?"
Queen Serenity walked away from Setsuna, Sailor Pluto. Her eyes appeared to be saddened by memories. My child, your powers are revealing itself now, just like I knew it would. And soon, your real memories will resurface without my interference. You will become one of the most powerful being in the universe, just as you were destined to be. She let out a soft sigh. I pray you'll forgive me, my child, for distorting the truth as I did. There were reasons, reasons that will become apparent soon.
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Usagi sat in the living room, laughing at the actions of Duo. They cheered her up heartily. For some reason, she felt as if she had met them before. There wasn't the usual awkwardness that strangers had upon meeting each other. All four of them had bonded immediately, behaving much like siblings would. Of course, Wufei was still a tough customer but he'd come around. Usagi grinned mischievously. Wufei was such a sexist pig, but she knew somehow that it was a front, much like Heero.
Unbeknownst to Usagi, Duo had been watching her intently. So had the rest of the Gundam pilots. Wary by nature, their behaviour had been reinforced by their way of life. When the four had stormed towards Heero's apartment, they had seen a bright white light coming in that direction. Unable to trace anything, and praying that the power source had thankfully been too fast for OZ's radars to pick up anything, they had raced over as fast as they could. When Heero had opened the door, all four of them had breathed an inward sigh of relief. As much as they taunted each other, or threatened to kill each other (especially in Heero's case), there was a powerful bond between the pilots. Then, Duo had noticed Heero's unusual behaviour. The normally emotionless pilot seemed anxious for them to leave. Two aspects of this amazed Duo. First, Heero had emotions. Secondly, he wanted them to leave, which meant someone or something was there or was going to be there.
Then, the bedroom door had opened, and in stepped this beautiful girl with silvery blond hair and blue eyes that seemed to light up the room. Duo knew he had gawked at the girl, but let's face it. It wasn't every day that such a stunning woman crossed your path. Even more amazing was Heero's unconscious reaction to the woman's presence. At first, it was agitation that had crossed his face. He must be annoyed that his secret had been revealed. Then it softened into something akin to tenderness. This girl brought out so much in all of them. She had managed to draw Trowa out of shell. The boy was talking so much now that the rest of the pilots were forced to gag him. The same went with Quatre. Wufei was just Wufei, but she had almost punched him out, which would offend Wufei's chauvinistic mind. But Duo knew that from that moment on, Usagi had forever won Wufei's respect. As for himself, he sensed a level of mischief from her that would rival his own. The most amazing part of it all was what she had done to the perfect soldier. She had made him human.
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All right, I was *almost* going to end this here but I did promise a longer chapter. Here on end it's not too exciting but I thought I'd throw it in anyway.
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Usagi let out a soft sigh in the midst of the guys' conversation. They'd been taunting each other. Well, Duo had been taunting Wufei, causing Wufei to try to hurt him. Quatre and Trowa were having a heated debate about various forms of music, while Heero was glaring at them as if wanting them all to leave. Suddenly, all five eyes flew towards her, having caught her sigh. She froze and looked back at them, with strong emotions in her eyes.
"What's wrong, Usagi-san?" Trowa asked, a look of concern echoing the expression on the other men's faces.
"I thought I told you to call me Usagi. It just sounds weird when people call me Usagi-san," she chided gently.
"Quit changing the subject, woman." Wufei growled. Heero nodded in agreement (minus the woman part).
"It's just weird. I mean, how often do you wake up and find yourself completely devoid of memories? And all the incidents that happened before I lost my memories? Why was I hurt? How did I end up in that alley?" The look on her face was one mixed with sadness and curiosity all at the same time.
"We'll find out somehow," Heero promised.
"We won't let anything happen to you Usagi," Quatre added as the other men nodded in assent.
"I need to do something in the meantime though. I think I'll go stir-crazy if I just sit around."
"Well, you don't strike me as the sit-down-silently type." Trowa commented with a chuckle as the rest of his friends stared at him in amazement. "What??" He asked indignantly.
"Nothing, Barton." Duo smirked.
"You seem to know some martial arts, Usagi. Why don't you get Wufei to help you out?" Heero said.
"Yeah, Wu-man?" Duo grinned, bent on taunting Wufei.
"MY NAME IS WUFEI! NOT WU-MAN!" Wufei yelled out.
"Although judging by how Usagi almost beat you earlier…" Duo smirked.
Usagi couldn't help it. She giggled, a sound so full of merriment that it captured all the boys' attention. She finally controlled herself and looked up to find five gazes staring right at her.
"Umm… uhhh…" She became flustered and agitated. "Why are you looking at me?"
Immediately, five faces looked away in embarrassment.
"I think it's a great idea, Usagi. You'll need to learn to defend yourself." Quatre said.
"Especially when you live on this colony." Trowa added.
"Nani?" Usagi asked, slightly confused.
The guys let out a collective sigh. Kuso, this was going to be difficult. How were they going to decide what to tell her? And most of all, how much were they going to tell her? Their identities as Gundam pilots were top secret, and the fate of their world rested on their shoulders.
"This is a long story, Usagi. Why don't we leave it for tomorrow? It's been a long day for most of us." Heero said suddenly.
The four other men let out a breath of relief. One extra day to figure out what to do. They mouthed a "thank you" to Heero who nodded almost imperceptibly. Usagi was experiencing strange energy bursts within her. It was hard to describe what was going on. For example, when she had moved to punch Wufei, she had the thought in her head and within a blink of an eye, her body had followed suit. Now, she was receiving feelings that caused her nerve endings to tingle. Her eyes narrowed abruptly to the interaction between Heero and the rest of the guys. For the life of her, she could not figure out how she had known that. She knew that these guys were not who they appeared to be. They are nice guys, but they had secrets, she corrected. Those secrets would not be trivial either. But for some odd reason, she could empathize with their situation.
"If you'd like Usagi, I can bring some clothes for you." Quatre said as they made their way towards the door.
Her eyes brightened as she looked at Quatre gratefully.
"Are you going to raid your sisters' closets?" Trowa asked.
Duo chuckled, amused by an image of Quatre rampaging through all those closets. Usagi turned around to look at Duo questioningly.
"Quatre has 29 sisters." Duo explained.
Usagi's eyes widened as she waited for Duo to begin laughing. When none came forth, her eyebrow lifted in question, somewhat royally or so Heero thought.
"Test tube babies. Quatre's the only boy." Trowa said simply.
"Masaka. You're kidding right?" Usagi stared hard at the faces of the guys in front of her, looking for a sign that would reveal she was being played.
"Iie. They are not lying to you," Quatre said seriously.
Usagi closed her eyes briefly. For some reason, she could feel everyone's ki at the moment. Everyone felt normal, though Heero's ki was much more difficult to read. She also sensed that they were telling the truth. Satisfied, she opened her eyes and nodded at them.
"Promise you'll bring me back something pretty?" She pleaded.
The guys laughed at that.
"Usagi, we will train tomorrow morning if you're serious."
"Really, Wufei?" Usagi felt excitement race through her blood.
He nodded. "I will come by for you at 9 o'clock. Do not be late." (AN: Oh oh…)
"Doomo arigatoo!" Usagi squealed as she threw herself against him.
"Oooof! You crazy woman," Wufei muttered to himself as four pairs of eyes glared at him enviously. One in particular had a "Wufei you are so dead" look which caused him to fear for his life. (AN: I wonder who that was *grin* ) Quickly pushing Usagi aside and mumbling "Gomen gomen" repeatedly, he dragged his friends out the door.
"Sayoonara minna-chan!" Usagi said with a smile, while Heero nodded in their direction.
"Sayoonara Usagi-san!" The guys called out mischievously as they quickly shut the door, narrowly missing the cushions that thudded behind it.
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That's all for now minna-chan! I know the ending was much exciting this time but hey, I can't be expected to keep writing thrilling cliffhangers you know *giggles*. Does anyone find any part of this familiar? What on earth is Usagi experiencing with these new skills and all this talk about ki? Anyway, love it/hate it/wanna see some more? Let me know. And if you have any suggestions, please write! All right, that's it for now. Ja ne!!