Watch Over Her: Part Two
I do not own Gundam Wing in any way, shape or form.
Lisa came to visit Quatre often, mostly in his sleep. She made sure that he was sleeping peacefully. Sometimes she would hear him moaning and thrashing around because of nightmares. She stayed by his side all the time. This was one of the nights he was having another nightmare.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he mumbled in his sleep, "I didn't mean it…I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
"Quatre," she whispered, brushing his golden blond hair with her finger. "Shhh. It's okay." She wondered what he could be sorry about. What did he do wrong?
Her soothing voice calmed him almost immediately. He sighed in his sleep.
Lisa smiled and leaned her face close to his, "Quatre…I love you." She was about to kiss him as his chest heaved and a dreamy smile came on his face.
"Dorothy," he whispered. "I love you too."
Lisa blinked and stumbled back. Dorothy? Who could that be? Lisa thought. Someone from his past? No, no. It's a dream. He's dreaming… Lisa quickly forgot what he said and kissed his forehead. You can't let Paula know about this, Lisa, or you'll lose Quatre forever.
She watched the blond handsome man smile again in his sleep and hug his pillow. She smiled and almost laughed. He looks so peaceful. Whatever it was that scared him so, I have to make sure it doesn't come back to him again. I can't risk losing him. He's better off here. She yawned and scooted the chair close to his bedside. Taking one last look at Quatre's peaceful, innocent, handsome face, she folded her arms, laid them over Quatre's chest, followed by her head and fell asleep.
Dorothy was coping with the loss of Quatre slowly but surely. It was hard but it got easier day by day. Get a hold of yourself, Dorothy. Quatre wouldn't want you to greive forever, she told herself silently, he's in a better place now. He's safe.
She sniffed and picked up a picture of him from her dresser. Still, you didn't deserve to die, Quatre. There was a knock on her door and she wiped her eyes, "who is it?" she asked, projecting her voice to get through the door.
"It's Trowa Barton," Trowa's voice answered.
"Just a minute!" she put the picture away and took a moment to get her bearings and wipe her eyes again. She looked in her mirror and brushed her hair and put some more maskara on to replace what she lost during her moment of saddness. She went to the door and opened it with a fake smile and greeting, "Trowa, what a pleasant surprise!"
"What took you so long to answer the door?" he asked. He walked inside.
"I don't know what you mean," she mumbled as she closed the door. Her smile disapeared.
He looked at the picture of Quatre, "you don't have to hide anything from me, Dorothy. You're still grieving, aren't you?"
"What are you talking about?" she asked, "it's been a month since, since Quatre's death. I'm over it. Way over it."
"No you're not," he said. "Quatre was very important to you. It would take you more than just a month to deal with his death. He was important to me and I'm still dealing with it."
"He wouldn't want us to greive too long," she sighed. "I want to remember Quatre with a smile, not tears." She plastered on a fake smile again.
"You're not convincing me," Trowa placed his hands on her shoulders, "you can open up to me, Dorothy. Don't hide your feelings. Here, sit down." He led her to her bed and sat her down, "let's talk about Quatre."
"I don't think we should."
"Why not? He was special to you, wasn't he?"
"Of course he was!" she snapped.
Trowa looked at the floor and back at her.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to get angry at you," she took his hand. "I just feel awkward, talking about this."
"You have to talk about it. You can't keep it all bottled up inside."
"Look who's talking," she crossed her arms, "you never opened up to anyone, why are you suddenly opening up to me?"
Trowa smiled, "You got me there. I had a pretty hard life but I was able to keep on going. I was a soldier for as long as I could remember. I was alone all the time."
"How sad," she whispered.
"That all changed when I met Quatre and the other pilots. We became a family."
"And now…?"
"Now?" he sighed, "I feel even more alone than before."
"Me too." She placed her hand over his and looked down at it. "Oh." She started to pull her hand away but Trowa turned his hand around and took hers. He rubbed his thumb over the top of her hand. "Trowa, I…."
"Now tell me," Trowa said, "how do you feel?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, "isn't it obvious?"
"You look like you're holding a lot of sorrow inside you. Let it out."
"I'm lonely," she whispered, "without Quatre. I'm so lonely and I feel guilty."
"Guilty?"
"Yeah, that I never told him how wonderful I thought he was. I didn't get to say goodbye."
"Hey, he knew," he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she laid her head on his sturdy shoulder, "he knew. Neither of us got to say goodbye."
"It's not fair. He didn't deserve to die." She sniffed and began to cry softly as Trowa turned her closer to him and held her.
"I'm going to help you, okay?" he whispered in her ear, "we both loved Quatre and his loss was great, but we'll get through this together."
"You don't have to do that."
"Quatre made me promise."
"That's the only reason why you are here," she said, pulling back to wipe her tears. She stood up. "You're not here because you want to, you're here because Quatre told you to!"
"He just wanted to make sure that--"
"Shut up!" she snapped, "I don't need you! I can hold my own. I don't care if Quatre asked you to do it. You can't replace him."
"Of course I can't!" he stood up. "I'm well aware of that, Dorothy!"
"Get out!" she yelled, pointing at the door, "I don't need your pity and I don't need you."
He stayed there and crossed his arms, "I'm not leaving."
"I said get out!"
Trowa stayed right where he stood.
This made Dorothy more the angrier. "Trowa Barton, you, you, stubborn, ignorant, crazy…" She clenched her fists and held them up across her chest.
Watching her badmouth him, Trowa couldn't help but smile, "what's that, Dorothy?"
"Argh!" she stepped back and turned around. She looked at her feet and she felt Trowa take her hand and whip her around. "Wha?"
Trowa pressed her against him while he kissed her long and passionate on her lips. She melted in his embrace, slowly closing her eyes.
She blinked, "what was that for?"
"I wanted to prove to you that I'm not just here because Quatre asked me to. " He explained, "I'm here because I want to, Dorothy and I care about you."
She smiled, "really? You're not just saying that?"
"I mean it," he touched her cheek, "do you remember when I came for Quatre and he asked me to forget about him and take you with me?"
"You would have done that? For Quatre?"
"Not just for Quatre, for you. But I couldn't just leave him there to die."
"Of course you couldn't," she agreed.
"Dorothy, for the longest time, I always thought highly of you. Although you nearly killed my best friend and you started dating him, through him, I started to feel for you."
"I had no idea."
"Nobody did. I told no one, not even Quatre."
"But why?" she asked, "why did you start feelign this way? I thought you didn't give me the time of day."
"I didn't want everyone to know how I really felt about you so I pretended like I didn't even care." He sighed, "it was hard." He looked at the ground.
"I'm glad you told me," she put her finger beneath his chin and pulled it up. "Thank you, Trowa. It means a lot." She smiled and the smile turned to a shy laugh, "you know, I felt about you the same way. I liked you, but I didn't want Quatre to know."
"How 'bout now?" he asked.
"I'm not sure," she mumbled, "everything's happing kind of fast. But I appreciate you being here with me. It means a lot."
"Come here," he pulled her in his arms and stroked her hair. He put his chin atop of her head. "Everything's going to be alright."
********************************
"Don't worry, Quatre," Lisa said to Quatre, who just woke up from having a nightmare, "everything's going to be alright."
He put his hand to his forehead, "it was a dream. Thank god." He leaned back into the pillow, "but it seemed…so…real."
"Could you tell me what it was about?" she asked. "It might make you feel better."
"Lisa, I don't think I can."
"Sure you can. Try. You can trust me."
"It's not that I don't trust you, Lisa," Quatre smiled. "I trust you completely. You're the best thing htat ever happened to me. If you didn't find me out there, I don't know what would happen to me. I'm very grateful to you."
"I just couldn't leave you out there," she said, blushing. "So why can't you tell me?"
"I'm not sure what my dream was about. It's confusing and I don't know how I can tell you. It seemed so real, but it was like a blur at the same time. I can't put it into perspective. I kept seeing faces and I kept hearing noises."
"And you don't know what they were?"
He shook his head.
"You didn't recognize any of the faces?"
He shook his head again. "None of them."
"Hi Quatre!" Paula came in carrying a tray of food. "I brought you some breakfast."
"Thank you, Paula," he smiled, "I was feeling pretty hungry."
She set the tray over him. The tray had a plate of pancakes with toast and milk. "You look a little pale, are you alright?" she put her hand on his forehead.
"I'm fine, just had a bad dream." He replied, "Maybe this breakfast you made me will make me feel better." He picked up his fork and began to cut his first pancake.
"After that, maybe you could use some sun." She suggested, "and some fresh air. That will do you good."
"I'd love that!" he cried, bringing his fork to his mouth.
"Wait, Paula, I don't think that's such a good idea!" Lisa interjected.
"Why not?" Paula demanded.
"Yeah, why not?" Quatre echoed, his mouth full with pancake.
"Quatre, don't you know shouldn't talk with your mouth full?" Lisa demanded with a smile and she giggled.
"Oh, sorry," he smiled and swallowed and tried again, "why not?"
"Because I think you should get some more rest." She said.
"Lisa, he was in a coma for four whole weeks!" Paula yelled.
Quatre was drinking milk and when he heard what Paula said, he choked on it and sprayed milk all over his lap. "I was asleep that long?!" Quatre shouted.
Paula and Lisa laughed at his cute-ness. Any other man would look stupid spraying milk or talking while eating, but it was cute with Quatre did it. (Trust me, would it be cute if Heero did something like that?! Quatre could do no wrong!! He's just so cute!)
"What's so funny?" he demanded. When he opened his mouth, he had a chunk of pancake between his teeth. Paula and Lisa laughed again.
"Go on and finish your breakfast, Quatre," Paula said, "you can go on a walk after you're done." She walked out of the room. Quatre shrugged and began to finish his pancake. Lisa looked at Quatre for a second, smiled and started to walk out of the room.
"Lisa, where are you going?" Quatre asked, putting his fork down, "aren't you going to stay with me? You're going to come with me on my walk, won't you? I'll get lost all by myself."
"Oh, of course, sweetie," she went back to his bedside and sat on the edge. She patted his leg, "I just wanted to talk to Paula about something. Don't worry, I'll show you around. There's this beautiful park not too far away from here."
Quatre reached for Lisa's hand. "Thank you, Lisa."
"You already have thanked me," she whispered.
"I don't think I've thanked you enough," he said. "I can't remember anything before I came here and met you. You're my hero, Lisa."
Lisa smiled, "it's not every day I find handsome young men floating in outer space." She squeezed his hand and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "I'll be right back."
"Could you get me some clothes?" he asked.
"Sure," Lisa replied and walked down the hall to Paula's office. She opened the door and slammed it behind her, "what in the hell are you thinking, Paula?!" she demanded, "we have to keep him here!"
Paula's mouth dropped, "I beg your pardon?!"
"It's not safe for him out there," Lisa said, "someone might recognize him, like a reproter and then they'll run up and ask him questions and it will scare him!"
"Lisa, he's not a little boy!" Paula snapped, "he's a man. He may have lost his memory, but getting some fresh air won't kill him!"
"He needs to stay here," Lisa went on. "He can't go out there."
"He wants to go, Lisa," Paula told her, "he's our guest, not our prisoner. Let him go outside and get some fresh air."
"But Paula--" Lisa choked, "I--"
"I know how you feel about Quatre," Paula said, taking one of her hands. She patted it, "you're full of heart and I admire that. You couldn't have left him there but you can't keep him here forever, you know. You love him, but you can't forget there's others out there that love him too. If someone from his past does happen to see him, they'll be forever grateful to you that you found him. They might even reward you."
"I don't want money," she sniffed.
"That's funny," Paula said, "you used to do anything for some money. The man wants to go outside. You know better than anyone how this place can make someone nervous."
Lisa laughed, "yeah…"
"Let him go outside."
"Okay, but he wants me to go with him."
"Of course, you think I'd let him go out by himself!?" Paula demanded with a laugh, "it's alright to let a patient go outside, but they have to have someone with them."
"Thanks, Paula," Lisa said, "I'm going to get him some clothes."
"I think James or Gregory will lend some to you."
"Okay," Lisa walked to James' room. "Hey James," she knocked on his door, "can I come in?"
"Lisa?" he opened the door, "what are you doing here?"
"I'm talking Quatre outside and he needs some clothes. Do you have any that you can do with out?"
James smiled, "wow, I thought that guy would never leave."
"He's not leaving!" she cried, "we're just going for a walk in the park."
"I'm kidding, Lisa," he let her in. "But some of these clothes might be a bit big on him." James was more than a foot taller than Quatre. Gregory was the same size.
"We can go shopping."
"You really like this guy, don't you, Lisa?" James asked, pausing from reaching in his closet.
She nodded.
James pulled an orange turtleneck and a pair of jeans and some sneakers from his closet. Then he reached in and took a pair of socks. "I knew you liked him," James said. "You know, I like him too."
"Have you visited him any?"
He nodded, "seems like a pretty decent guy, even for a gundam pilot. To bad he doesn't remember a thing from his past."
"He's more than that. He's Quatre Rabera Winner. The deceased pacifist leader's son."
"No way!" James gasped, "you mean, he's the heir to the Winner fortune? And he doesn't even know?!"
She shook his head.
"You should tell him!" he told her, putting the articles of clothes in her arms. "He doesn't know how lucky he is!"
"I can't."
"Sure you can," James went on and picked up a pair of sunglasses and a baseball hat and added it to the pile in Lisa's arms, "if you don't, I will."
"No!" she almost dropped the pile of clothes onto her shoes.
"You can't keep a secret like this from him. Anyone would die to have what he has!" James' face lit up, "oh wow, it just dawned on me, Quatre Rabera Winner is staying at our base!! He's been here for a month and I didn't even know! And I'm letting him wear my clothes! Wow! I'm honored!"
"I'll, see ya later, James," she backed away to the door.
"Hey, when he gets his memory back," James said, "can I have his autograph? He can keep my sunglasses, he can keep whatever he wants!"
"We'll see, okay James?" she stumbled out of the room and down the hall, "gracious, I never seen James like that before." When she went to Quatre's room, he was already finished with his breakfast. He had it sitting on a dresser and he was out of bed and stretching his arms. "In a hurry, are we?"
"I can't remember the last time I felt the sun on my face," he said.
She put the clothes on his bed. "I'll let you get dressed. I'll be right out your door, okay?"
"Thanks." He took off the steril hospital gown and placed on the pair of pants. He looked at himself in the mirror as he reached for the turtleneck. He smiled and then he grunted as he felt some pain in his side. He dropped the shirt. "Huh?" he put his hand to a faint pink scar. "Where did this come from?" He felt like someone had stabbed him with a very long, thin sword. He grunted and grabbed his side again. "This pain…it's too much!" he clenched his teeth as he groaned, trying not to startle Lisa who stood next to the door. He tried to bear the pain and push it out of his mind as he continued to get dressed.
I'm making a big mistake taking him outside, Lisa thought to herself.
He opened the door and walked out, "I'm ready, Lisa." He announced, "so where's this park you told me about?"
Little did they know that Catherine and Trowa was with the circus over on L6. Trowa invited Dorothy to come with them. He thought it would be a good way to get her mind off of things.
Quatre and Lisa sat next to each other on a park bench. "I told you this park was really beautiful," Lisa said.
Quatre smiled and closed while breathing in the crisp, cool air. "Yeah."
"If you like, we can go buy you some new clothes."
"Sure," he opened his eyes and looked at her. "I'd like that."
Lisa stood up and held her hand out to him, "come along then."
He took her hand and gave it a little squeeze before he stood up. They went to a few clothes stores and bought him some clothes. He tried on a lot of vests and nice button up shirts.
"You sure like vests, Quatre," Lisa said.
"Yeah," he mumbled, "I don't know why though. It's strange, I feel like this was the kind of thing I wore all the time before I lost my memory." He turned his head, "oh wow, they have a sale on khaki pants!"
"I didn't know you like khakis."
"I didn't either until…now." He continued trying clothes on and he came out wearing a very light blue button shirt and a red vest and khaki pants and black shoes.
"You don't want to try anything else?" she asked. She touched a black leather jacket.
He shrugged, "well, I don't think it's me. But I'll try it."
"Trust me, Quatre, it is you!" she gave him the black leather jacket, matching leather pants and a red tank top. She couldn't wait to see what he looked like wearing it. When he came out, he looked like a rich, blond punk. She laughed, "oh, you look great!"
"Really?" he smiled, "I don't think this was the kind of things I wore."
"Quatre," she put her hand on her shoulder, "whoever you were back then doesn't exist anymore. You're a new person now. You can wear something different, be someone different. Do you want to know what kind of person you were?"
"I'm a little scared to find out," he admitted then shook his head. "No. I'm too afraid to think about it. I have nightmares about what my past was and I wake up and can't understand what I'm seeing. I don't want to know what my past is. Never."
Lisa was relieved. "Good. Anything else you would like?"
"Hmm?" he looked at a red bandana and wrapped it around his forehead. "Yeah. I think this is enough." He placed on James' shades. "How do I look?"
Lisa laughed, "I don't know rather I should give you my money or give you a hug, you look so, just so, amazing!" she went to the counter to pay for the clothes, "one punk rocker!" she joked and placed the rest of the clothes on the counter.
As the clerk rang up the sale and put the clothes away in a few bags, she smiled at Quatre. "You know, you remind me of someone." She looked at Lisa, "doesn't he look like Mr. Winner's son?"
"I don't think so, Mr. Winner's son didn't dress like this." Lisa said.
"Yeah, but he does look like him," the clerk lady said. "Too bad that fella died. My niece adored him."
"Who?" Quatre blinked.
"You haven't heard of the Winner family, young man?" the clerk laughed, "oh, you poor thing!"
Lisa put the money on the counter, "keep the change…uh, have a nice day!"
Quatre picked up some bags and even held the door for Lisa. They continued to walk down the street. "Well, we went to the park, got you some new clothes," Lisa said, "anything else you like to do?"
"Well," Quatre said, then he heard the music coming from the circus, "hey, do you hear that?"
"Sounds like a circus," Lisa said.
"Care to go with me?" he asked.
Lisa felt like she shouldn't, but she hadn't been to a circus in ages. She enjoyed being outside and spending time with Quatre. She smiled, "I'd love to!"
Dun, Dun, Dunnn! To be continued!!!