Episode 5: Thoughts
Heero stepped into the dark room and dropped to one knee, bowing his head.
The room before him was completely dark, lit only by the scattered stars
outside and the moon, which was merely a slit in the sky. Nothing could be
seen in the room, save for one figure sitting upon an ornate wooden chair.
He held a shinning glass of wine, only half full.
"Master Treize."
The man tipped the glass slightly, as if to study the liquid inside, then
took a small sip. He stood up and set the glass on a table near his chair.
"What do you have to report to me, my young 'prince'." The word prince
seemed almost to be said in a mocking fashion, yet it wasn't.
"Duo has won the duels again. And he shows no signs of giving up."
Zechs stepped out of the shadows from behind the chair, his hair slightly
disheveled and hanging in front of his face. "It seems your carefully laid
plan with Quatre are now laid to waste."
Treize shook his head, the slightest of movements. "Not at all. I
completely expected Duo to win against Quatre once again. It was all
merely a test to see how much these 'duels' meant to him. And now I know.
He will stop at nothing to win."
"It seems that reminds me of someone else, from before." Zechs glanced at
Heero who didn't respond, his head still bowed. Yet a nod from Treize and
the young boy stood, waiting for his next orders. Zechs looked back to
Treize, straightening his shirt. "So, what now? If your plans are going
so perfectly what do you intend to do about that boy?"
"I'll let him win. That's simple enough."
Zechs frowned in thought. "You'll let him win? Surely… would not Trowa or
Wufei be a better selection. It seems to me they are closer to what we
want…"
Treize walked back over to the table and took a drink from the glass,
emptying it. "You misunderstand, old friend. True, the other two are very
close to being what we wish. Yet this one, Duo, shows true potential.
Once he is broken he will become better then the current prince. The more
one values life, the more power they have when they are shown that life
means absolutely nothing." Treize looked back to Heero. "Continue with
your previous orders. Report to me at any change."
"As you wish, Treize-sama." Heero made a short bow and headed for the door.
"Heero."
He paused as Zechs' voice called out. "I saw you during the duel, you
aren't having second thoughts toward the boy are you?"
Heero shrugged. "He is no different then the others. Why should it make a
difference to me who wins the duels?" Then Heero stepped back on to the
elevator and out of the student council room. As the elevator doors closed
behind him a single shape could be seen darting from one shadow to another.
Treize and Zechs paid it no heed. They had other matters to… discuss.
*
Wufei dropped down into the empty elevator from the emergency door and
silently closed the hatch. With stealthy footsteps he left the elevator
and raced across the campus courtyard toward the dorms. His mind whirled
with thoughts, thoughts and hatred.
Treize was at it again. Hosting his horrible duels and trying to awaken the
gundams. It had to be stopped this time! He knew the outcome; he knew the
price of participating in the duels. He knew the outcome would never
change. He also knew what would happen if Treize awoke the gundams. He
had once before, for a few mere seconds and it had spelled catastrophe for
all in the area. The other students, the ones who weren't even duelist,
were only cannon fodder to that man. Where was the justice in such an
action? Using mere children to accomplish a suicide mission. How dare he
play god with others' lives! How dare he play god as he had done with
Meilan!
Wufei shut the door to his room and clenched his fists tightly. For what
seemed like an eternity anger surged through his body, then it slowly faded
and he settled into just simply glaring at the wall. This time he wouldn't
let it finish. This time he would make Treize pay for Meilan. This time
Treize would pay!
Opening the closet doors he pulled out the old student council uniform, the
one with the badge fastened to the right breast pocket. He laid it across
the back of a chair and sat down at the desk. His eyes wandered to the
picture frame at the corner. It was a fancy one, much too frilly for his
normal tastes. But she had given it to him, which made it worth more then
his own life. Surrounded by a boarder of silver and gold stars was a
picture of him and a smiling girl with long black pigtails. She smiled
broadly as she had her hands wrapped around his neck, her chin resting on
his shoulder. Behind them the sakura trees were in full bloom, that time
of the year when you could smell fall coming, summer a breath away from the
fall of snow. She had been so happy then… They both had…
"Nataku."
____Meilan raised the sword and glared at her opponent. Wufei watched from
the student council balcony, holding his breath. Then she charged, her
black pigtails flying out as she darted forward. But her opponent was
faster; he stepped out of the way and swung around, slicing his sword at
her chest. The rose shattered like glass and all around them light blazed
from the eyes of the many gundams. Wufei cried out as the opponent didn't
stop. He'd won the duel, why? Why didn't he stop? But Meilan's opponent
swung at her once more, his body glowing with the power of the gundams.
Meilan's scream rang out as the sword plunged home. Somewhere in the
distance Wufei could hear Treize's voice.
"The gundams have awakened!"____
Wufei slammed his fist into the desk, causing the frame to fall forward,
hiding the photo. No, he wouldn't let it happen again. This time he was in
the duels. This time he would kill Treize for what he did. This time
things wouldn't turn out as before. And if that meant killing the current
champion duelist then so be it.
This time Meilan would have justice!
*
Quatre sat silently in the courtyard, listening to the birds in the trees
above and the sound of the wind dancing among the roses. He seemed to
really like this place lately; in fact he'd spent too much time in this
garden as of late. Everything happened here. He'd seen Trowa on the very
same bench he sat on now. He'd challenged Duo here, and he and Duo had
agreed to be friends again here. But now all he could think of was Trowa.
How could he have been so stupid as to yell that while they were dueling,
while everyone was watching? Now everyone knew. Now he'd never be able to
see Trowa again. He was sure that Trowa couldn't even stand to look at
him after that. After all, it was unheard of for a boy to love another of
his own gender. No one accepted that. Quatre closed his eyes; he should
have fought him. He should have kept his mouth shut and just lost.
But I couldn't have done that, he thought. I couldn't have fought Trowa.
Quatre sighed and shook his head slowly. He'd ruined it all. All those
times he'd spent in the windows above, just watching Trowa sit in the
courtyard, fingering his locket. Even all those times in the student
council room where he'd tried to hide that he couldn't take his eyes off of
Trowa. Now Trowa knew. And now Trowa hated him. He'd ruined it all, he
was sure of it.
He didn't even think he could show up at the student council again. Not
only had he ruined a possible friendship but he had also destroyed whatever
chance he'd had to see who was in that locket. It was something that had
bugged him ever since he'd seen it and how much Trowa cared for it. Who
was in the locket? Who could be that important to him? Quatre wished he
knew. Just that one thing and he would have been happy. But now his
curiosity would continue to haunt him and he'd never know.
Beside him on the bench he heard someone sit down. Quatre quickly wiped his
eyes, hoping whoever it was hadn't seen he'd almost been crying. Opening
his eyes he looked up, Quatre gasped as he saw who it was.
"Trowa-senpai?!"
Trowa offered only a small smile, nothing more. For a long moment the two
just sat there watching each other. Quatre was afraid to move, afraid to
breathe; afraid he would shatter the moment. Why was Trowa here? This
wasn't possible, it couldn't be. Quatre reminded himself to breathe as
Trowa reached down the front of his own shirt and pulled on the golden
chain. A second later the locket emerged. Trowa reached behind his neck
and unclasped the chain, dropping the locket into Quatre's hands. With the
softest of touched he closed Quatre's trembling fingers around the cool
metal.
"Nani…"
"Open it," Trowa said quietly.
Quatre looked down at the locket, his hands still trembling. Slowly he
opened his fingers and fumbled at the metal. He was so afraid of breaking
it he almost dropped it, finally it opened and his throat went dry. The
picture inside was quite small yet had perfect detail. It had been clipped
from a class photo. The face in the picture was smiling brightly, his
blond hair and blue eyes gleaming. The smile seemed to consume the entire
photo, a smile that would lighten even the darkest of days. Quatre
swallowed slowly as he stared at his own face enclosed within Trowa's
locket.
"But you…"
Quatre's voice dropped off as Trowa's hand lightly touched the side of his
face. Quatre looked up and met Trowa's deep brown eyes. Those eyes seemed
to say everything and yet nothing. Trowa's face drifted closer and then
their lips touched. Quatre's first thought was to pull away in surprise,
but he didn't. Instead he closed his eyes and offered no resistance. The
locket slid from his hand to the ground, among the many roses, but neither
cared. The kiss was the only thing that filled their minds. Hands wrapped
around each other and both forgot they sat in the middle of the campus
garden. The world could have ended and neither would have noticed.
The moment was all they cared about. The kiss was all that mattered.
Fulfillment of a dream that neither had ever dared to wish was true. And
now the wish had come true, and it was better then either had ever
dreamed.
*
Duo glanced up as Heero entered the room. He grinned widely and made the
motion of blowing a kiss. "Ohiyo He-ko." Then he burst into snickers.
Heero schooled his expression and kept his hands still, but that one
comment made him want to kill the boy. It took a few seconds but his
temper eventually melted away with Duo's laughter. Heero noted that
amazingly the American's homework was spread across the small table and he
actually seemed to be working on it. Both stared at each other, waiting
for the other to break the silence. Finally Heero walked over to the table
and dropped the large box on top of Duo's books, causing a small amount of
loose-leaf papers to drift onto the floor. Duo ignored them and gave
Heero a puzzled look, then he grinned.
"Aww, Heero, you got me birthday gift. You shouldn't have."
"Hn." Heero glared and walked over to the window, leaning against the sill
with his arms crossed. Was that one ever serious? Most likely not, he
acted as if seriousness was a fatal disease.
Duo ignored the angry boy in the corner and eagerly ripped the package open,
hardly able to contain his curiosity. He lifted away the top and gave a
low whistle. Before him, folded expertly, was a student council uniform.
Ornate black embroidery wove around the boarder of the pure white jacket.
Besides the jacket there were a set of pants, white boots, a white vest and
white dress shirt. Duo pulled each out carefully, his grin growing larger
as he spotted each piece. After inspecting each one to make sure they
weren't figments of his imagination he stood up and glanced at Heero.
"Am I a member of the Student Council now?"
Heero shrugged. "I don't decide these things."
"Is that a yes or a no?" Duo asked, but then he turned away from Heero and
started to change into the new uniform, forgetting the question. To his
surprise the uniform fit perfectly and it was one of the most comfortable
things he'd ever worn. He turned back and forth in the mirror, examining
the uniform with a wide grin on his face. Finally he turned to look at
Heero.
"Pretty good looking, ne?"
Heero narrowed his eyes and looked away.
A knock sounded at the door and both turned toward it in unison. Duo walked
over and opened the door. Heero's eyes widened as he saw who stood at the
door.
Wufei glared back, dressed in his purple student council uniform. For a
moment the two just stared at each other, Wufei's hatred becoming an almost
tangible thing. Duo broke the silence quickly, as if he hadn't even
noticed the silent exchange between the two. Heero was pretty sure he
hadn't noticed.
"Wufei, right? You were at Quatre's." Heero noticed Duo's grin had faded,
then he had noticed the boys' reactions. It was obvious Duo didn't like
this. But at the sound of his voice Wufei looked back and met his eyes.
He reached forward and handed a purple rose to Duo.
"Tomorrow night, justice will be done."
Duo frowned and took the rose. "We'll see."
And then Wufei was gone.
That night Heero tossed and turned in bed, loud thoughts haunting him from
years ago...
A smiling face.
A swing of a sword.
A scream from the face.
A scream from above.
A flash of bright light.
Heero's eyes snapped open, a silent yell on his lips. But the images were
gone. He didn't know what had awoken him so violently. Somewhere deep
inside himself he felt cold anger. Cold anger ready to strike out, but at
who? Heero ran a hand through his hair and laid his head back on the
pillow, closing his eyes once more. It didn't matter. Whatever it was
wasn't important if he couldn't remember it. Yet as he drifted off to
sleep a face burned into his mind, the figures of the gundams glowing
behind it.
Below him Duo slept on, unawares.
Heero stepped into the dark room and dropped to one knee, bowing his head.
The room before him was completely dark, lit only by the scattered stars
outside and the moon, which was merely a slit in the sky. Nothing could be
seen in the room, save for one figure sitting upon an ornate wooden chair.
He held a shinning glass of wine, only half full.
"Master Treize."
The man tipped the glass slightly, as if to study the liquid inside, then
took a small sip. He stood up and set the glass on a table near his chair.
"What do you have to report to me, my young 'prince'." The word prince
seemed almost to be said in a mocking fashion, yet it wasn't.
"Duo has won the duels again. And he shows no signs of giving up."
Zechs stepped out of the shadows from behind the chair, his hair slightly
disheveled and hanging in front of his face. "It seems your carefully laid
plan with Quatre are now laid to waste."
Treize shook his head, the slightest of movements. "Not at all. I
completely expected Duo to win against Quatre once again. It was all
merely a test to see how much these 'duels' meant to him. And now I know.
He will stop at nothing to win."
"It seems that reminds me of someone else, from before." Zechs glanced at
Heero who didn't respond, his head still bowed. Yet a nod from Treize and
the young boy stood, waiting for his next orders. Zechs looked back to
Treize, straightening his shirt. "So, what now? If your plans are going
so perfectly what do you intend to do about that boy?"
"I'll let him win. That's simple enough."
Zechs frowned in thought. "You'll let him win? Surely… would not Trowa or
Wufei be a better selection. It seems to me they are closer to what we
want…"
Treize walked back over to the table and took a drink from the glass,
emptying it. "You misunderstand, old friend. True, the other two are very
close to being what we wish. Yet this one, Duo, shows true potential.
Once he is broken he will become better then the current prince. The more
one values life, the more power they have when they are shown that life
means absolutely nothing." Treize looked back to Heero. "Continue with
your previous orders. Report to me at any change."
"As you wish, Treize-sama." Heero made a short bow and headed for the door.
"Heero."
He paused as Zechs' voice called out. "I saw you during the duel, you
aren't having second thoughts toward the boy are you?"
Heero shrugged. "He is no different then the others. Why should it make a
difference to me who wins the duels?" Then Heero stepped back on to the
elevator and out of the student council room. As the elevator doors closed
behind him a single shape could be seen darting from one shadow to another.
Treize and Zechs paid it no heed. They had other matters to… discuss.
*
Wufei dropped down into the empty elevator from the emergency door and
silently closed the hatch. With stealthy footsteps he left the elevator
and raced across the campus courtyard toward the dorms. His mind whirled
with thoughts, thoughts and hatred.
Treize was at it again. Hosting his horrible duels and trying to awaken the
gundams. It had to be stopped this time! He knew the outcome; he knew the
price of participating in the duels. He knew the outcome would never
change. He also knew what would happen if Treize awoke the gundams. He
had once before, for a few mere seconds and it had spelled catastrophe for
all in the area. The other students, the ones who weren't even duelist,
were only cannon fodder to that man. Where was the justice in such an
action? Using mere children to accomplish a suicide mission. How dare he
play god with others' lives! How dare he play god as he had done with
Meilan!
Wufei shut the door to his room and clenched his fists tightly. For what
seemed like an eternity anger surged through his body, then it slowly faded
and he settled into just simply glaring at the wall. This time he wouldn't
let it finish. This time he would make Treize pay for Meilan. This time
Treize would pay!
Opening the closet doors he pulled out the old student council uniform, the
one with the badge fastened to the right breast pocket. He laid it across
the back of a chair and sat down at the desk. His eyes wandered to the
picture frame at the corner. It was a fancy one, much too frilly for his
normal tastes. But she had given it to him, which made it worth more then
his own life. Surrounded by a boarder of silver and gold stars was a
picture of him and a smiling girl with long black pigtails. She smiled
broadly as she had her hands wrapped around his neck, her chin resting on
his shoulder. Behind them the sakura trees were in full bloom, that time
of the year when you could smell fall coming, summer a breath away from the
fall of snow. She had been so happy then… They both had…
"Nataku."
____Meilan raised the sword and glared at her opponent. Wufei watched from
the student council balcony, holding his breath. Then she charged, her
black pigtails flying out as she darted forward. But her opponent was
faster; he stepped out of the way and swung around, slicing his sword at
her chest. The rose shattered like glass and all around them light blazed
from the eyes of the many gundams. Wufei cried out as the opponent didn't
stop. He'd won the duel, why? Why didn't he stop? But Meilan's opponent
swung at her once more, his body glowing with the power of the gundams.
Meilan's scream rang out as the sword plunged home. Somewhere in the
distance Wufei could hear Treize's voice.
"The gundams have awakened!"____
Wufei slammed his fist into the desk, causing the frame to fall forward,
hiding the photo. No, he wouldn't let it happen again. This time he was in
the duels. This time he would kill Treize for what he did. This time
things wouldn't turn out as before. And if that meant killing the current
champion duelist then so be it.
This time Meilan would have justice!
*
Quatre sat silently in the courtyard, listening to the birds in the trees
above and the sound of the wind dancing among the roses. He seemed to
really like this place lately; in fact he'd spent too much time in this
garden as of late. Everything happened here. He'd seen Trowa on the very
same bench he sat on now. He'd challenged Duo here, and he and Duo had
agreed to be friends again here. But now all he could think of was Trowa.
How could he have been so stupid as to yell that while they were dueling,
while everyone was watching? Now everyone knew. Now he'd never be able to
see Trowa again. He was sure that Trowa couldn't even stand to look at
him after that. After all, it was unheard of for a boy to love another of
his own gender. No one accepted that. Quatre closed his eyes; he should
have fought him. He should have kept his mouth shut and just lost.
But I couldn't have done that, he thought. I couldn't have fought Trowa.
Quatre sighed and shook his head slowly. He'd ruined it all. All those
times he'd spent in the windows above, just watching Trowa sit in the
courtyard, fingering his locket. Even all those times in the student
council room where he'd tried to hide that he couldn't take his eyes off of
Trowa. Now Trowa knew. And now Trowa hated him. He'd ruined it all, he
was sure of it.
He didn't even think he could show up at the student council again. Not
only had he ruined a possible friendship but he had also destroyed whatever
chance he'd had to see who was in that locket. It was something that had
bugged him ever since he'd seen it and how much Trowa cared for it. Who
was in the locket? Who could be that important to him? Quatre wished he
knew. Just that one thing and he would have been happy. But now his
curiosity would continue to haunt him and he'd never know.
Beside him on the bench he heard someone sit down. Quatre quickly wiped his
eyes, hoping whoever it was hadn't seen he'd almost been crying. Opening
his eyes he looked up, Quatre gasped as he saw who it was.
"Trowa-senpai?!"
Trowa offered only a small smile, nothing more. For a long moment the two
just sat there watching each other. Quatre was afraid to move, afraid to
breathe; afraid he would shatter the moment. Why was Trowa here? This
wasn't possible, it couldn't be. Quatre reminded himself to breathe as
Trowa reached down the front of his own shirt and pulled on the golden
chain. A second later the locket emerged. Trowa reached behind his neck
and unclasped the chain, dropping the locket into Quatre's hands. With the
softest of touched he closed Quatre's trembling fingers around the cool
metal.
"Nani…"
"Open it," Trowa said quietly.
Quatre looked down at the locket, his hands still trembling. Slowly he
opened his fingers and fumbled at the metal. He was so afraid of breaking
it he almost dropped it, finally it opened and his throat went dry. The
picture inside was quite small yet had perfect detail. It had been clipped
from a class photo. The face in the picture was smiling brightly, his
blond hair and blue eyes gleaming. The smile seemed to consume the entire
photo, a smile that would lighten even the darkest of days. Quatre
swallowed slowly as he stared at his own face enclosed within Trowa's
locket.
"But you…"
Quatre's voice dropped off as Trowa's hand lightly touched the side of his
face. Quatre looked up and met Trowa's deep brown eyes. Those eyes seemed
to say everything and yet nothing. Trowa's face drifted closer and then
their lips touched. Quatre's first thought was to pull away in surprise,
but he didn't. Instead he closed his eyes and offered no resistance. The
locket slid from his hand to the ground, among the many roses, but neither
cared. The kiss was the only thing that filled their minds. Hands wrapped
around each other and both forgot they sat in the middle of the campus
garden. The world could have ended and neither would have noticed.
The moment was all they cared about. The kiss was all that mattered.
Fulfillment of a dream that neither had ever dared to wish was true. And
now the wish had come true, and it was better then either had ever
dreamed.
*
Duo glanced up as Heero entered the room. He grinned widely and made the
motion of blowing a kiss. "Ohiyo He-ko." Then he burst into snickers.
Heero schooled his expression and kept his hands still, but that one
comment made him want to kill the boy. It took a few seconds but his
temper eventually melted away with Duo's laughter. Heero noted that
amazingly the American's homework was spread across the small table and he
actually seemed to be working on it. Both stared at each other, waiting
for the other to break the silence. Finally Heero walked over to the table
and dropped the large box on top of Duo's books, causing a small amount of
loose-leaf papers to drift onto the floor. Duo ignored them and gave
Heero a puzzled look, then he grinned.
"Aww, Heero, you got me birthday gift. You shouldn't have."
"Hn." Heero glared and walked over to the window, leaning against the sill
with his arms crossed. Was that one ever serious? Most likely not, he
acted as if seriousness was a fatal disease.
Duo ignored the angry boy in the corner and eagerly ripped the package open,
hardly able to contain his curiosity. He lifted away the top and gave a
low whistle. Before him, folded expertly, was a student council uniform.
Ornate black embroidery wove around the boarder of the pure white jacket.
Besides the jacket there were a set of pants, white boots, a white vest and
white dress shirt. Duo pulled each out carefully, his grin growing larger
as he spotted each piece. After inspecting each one to make sure they
weren't figments of his imagination he stood up and glanced at Heero.
"Am I a member of the Student Council now?"
Heero shrugged. "I don't decide these things."
"Is that a yes or a no?" Duo asked, but then he turned away from Heero and
started to change into the new uniform, forgetting the question. To his
surprise the uniform fit perfectly and it was one of the most comfortable
things he'd ever worn. He turned back and forth in the mirror, examining
the uniform with a wide grin on his face. Finally he turned to look at
Heero.
"Pretty good looking, ne?"
Heero narrowed his eyes and looked away.
A knock sounded at the door and both turned toward it in unison. Duo walked
over and opened the door. Heero's eyes widened as he saw who stood at the
door.
Wufei glared back, dressed in his purple student council uniform. For a
moment the two just stared at each other, Wufei's hatred becoming an almost
tangible thing. Duo broke the silence quickly, as if he hadn't even
noticed the silent exchange between the two. Heero was pretty sure he
hadn't noticed.
"Wufei, right? You were at Quatre's." Heero noticed Duo's grin had faded,
then he had noticed the boys' reactions. It was obvious Duo didn't like
this. But at the sound of his voice Wufei looked back and met his eyes.
He reached forward and handed a purple rose to Duo.
"Tomorrow night, justice will be done."
Duo frowned and took the rose. "We'll see."
And then Wufei was gone.
That night Heero tossed and turned in bed, loud thoughts haunting him from
years ago...
A smiling face.
A swing of a sword.
A scream from the face.
A scream from above.
A flash of bright light.
Heero's eyes snapped open, a silent yell on his lips. But the images were
gone. He didn't know what had awoken him so violently. Somewhere deep
inside himself he felt cold anger. Cold anger ready to strike out, but at
who? Heero ran a hand through his hair and laid his head back on the
pillow, closing his eyes once more. It didn't matter. Whatever it was
wasn't important if he couldn't remember it. Yet as he drifted off to
sleep a face burned into his mind, the figures of the gundams glowing
behind it.
Below him Duo slept on, unawares.