five
Hilde walked in a bemused state through the space port. Heero guided her solely by the sight of the back of his moppy brown head carrying both his and her duffle bags. A carry on bag was strapped around her shoulder, but the sting of its weight was lost in the depth of her absent thoughts. Somewhere up in space, Midii was settling in on a colony, back in real time with the spinning world and living, breathing life. Heero paused to wait for Hilde to catch up, and when she almost walked clear past him, he locked his free arm around hers to lead her past the brunt of a large crowd uttering obscenities and muttering all out curses at the flight attendants explaining that their flight had been canceled.
Heero said, as they approached the bright glass revolving doors that would take them to Duo eventually, you sure you're okay?
His voice was steely and harsh, but a twinge of sympathy and true kindness was hiding somewhere, and Hilde's pale, torture numbed eyes met his, startling him. She'd gotten worse since he'd taken her away from Sweetwater. Her lips were parted, almost forming words, but betraying the truth behind them. She couldn't speak, she hadn't, not since their five hour trip had begun.
Retreating, are you? He wondered as they pushed into the revolving doors as a woman wearing a black business suit entered parallel to them. You can't give up. You're not so weak and you know it. Damn Duo for reducing you to this.
I wont let him get away with this, Hilde, he whispered.
Where you headed?
A taxi driver leaned against his yellow cab and flicked his cap up to see Heero, holding Hilde's hand like a small child to prevent her from wandering into traffic.
You might want to take a bus for that, sir. That's gonna be quite a charge for me to drive you there. There's a bus on the way that should be headed there. It'll probably be here in an hour or so.
Heero nodded at the man and walked over to a nearby bench, where Hilde reluctantly sat down. If the cars and the squawking women around them hadn't been so loud, Heero could have sworn that Hilde's bones would squeak like a hallway of rusty doors. She eased her bony body into the seat and took a deep breath. He sat down a good distance away and looked up into the sky past the overhang. Ominous gray clouds clotted the sky and melted into a swirl of black and charcoal that made the pedestrians and waiting travelers cringe and spit like pit vipers. What a day for it to rain.
A young lady that looked to be a year or two younger than him sat herself down on the other end and sprawled her feet out into the sidewalk. A banged up, green Eastpak book bag lay by one of them. Her hair was a ruddy sort of brown like barren red mud, cut into a lazy bob directly at her shoulders. Her sheepish face peered over at Heero before boldly speaking out. Likely to be a good drench today, don't you think?
Almost disregarding her completely, Heero's head bounced up a bit to reply in a feeble agreement. Hilde weakly pinched his thigh and finally spoke. I love the rain.
Heero gawked at her, his eyes wide. The girl next to him leaned forward to meet Hilde. Is this your first time to earth?
Hilde watched as a mother told her young child about some place called Greenville in another state. The words faded out of earshot. But she didn't really know for sure. She'd been around L2 for as long as she dared to remember. Any time before the age of eight was forgotten.
That girl had been listening to the mother too. She laughed strongly and made an exaggerated attempt at lightening the situation. Hilde's tense, shrouded demeanor was picked up on quickly. I live there. It's not as great as she says. She probably hasn't been there since before OZ took over.
We're on the way to Durham, Hilde told her. Have you been there?
Also picking up on the false tune Hilde was playing, she slowly lost her own quack persona and let a bit of hidden intelligence shine through her serious countenance. Nah. I'm new to North Carolina, actually. But I can tell that there's something there that you don't want to see.
She's very observant. Heero kept his eye on her. Beginning to pick at a diamond cross on a silver chain, the girl grinned a bit and stood up when sluggish droplets of water began dotting the asphalt. She picked up her book bag and slung it over her shoulder. I hope you find that what you're looking for isn't as bad as you think.
They took their eyes off of her when a woman with short chocolate colored hair began yelling at her husband that was laughing hard from his gut. She thumped his arm and screamed that she hated him, and when Heero tried to find the girl to his left, she was completely gone. Next to him on the bench CLBC 01 was carved in rough scrawl, new and lined with shavings. A discarded, mangled bobby pin lay in place at the bottom of the 1. He blinked once to make sure he had actually seen it.
Are you asleep?
Hilde nudged Heero a bit in his seat, arms crossed, eyes closed. He didn't make a move. The bus was fairly empty except for the same woman and husband from before sitting further back. They were a bit loud at times, but the angry cries and occasional rude, crude remark was all in jest and love. Hilde's stoned eyes strayed to the tinted window covering over the window. Beyond it was the fading light of a glowing sun on the horizon. She let a few tears roll down her cheeks before rubbing them away.
I can't do this, I can't see him. It's too hard, and he doesn't even need to be bothered by me or by Heero. He deserves a better life. The life I couldn't give him.
A few other passengers of the bus were nodding off, curling into their seats and nestling in for a night's sleep. Hilde hadn't slept since the flight, and she couldn't seem to find it. Sleep was what kept her from breaking at Sweetwater, but it seemed that it would become the reverse on earth. Perhaps if she let it fall over her eyes, she would wake up to the pain of Duo turning his back on her again. And this time she probably wouldn't make it to Sweetwater for the sleep that had allowed her to remember him as her protector and one real love.
I let it go, Dr. Wright, Dr. Roberts. I'm leaving it behind, nurse Beverly. Now let me go home, her voice trailed off into muffled weeping.
Sliding open his eyes, waking from blank slumber, Heero grit his teeth. It was an earnest effort to prevent him from reaching out. He'd gotten too close to her, and it would be fatal if he couldn't let her go. If anything happened, that is. He knew one thing for certain, and it was that Duo wouldn't find himself safe until he made penance for his horrible misjudgment and error. Even if he had to rip his own beating heart from his chest, he would make sure that Hilde's descent would be avenged.
The day went on as routinely as usual. Krista and Delilah went about a strangely watery brawl. Carly didn't burst into tune randomly, and Robin hid herself in the garden, perched in the willow tree. Iris was the only one that wasn't really affected in the circle of girls that had come to know Hilde in the year she'd been there. Nina and Samantha became quick friends, and Molly seated herself in a tub filled with water, in her old OZ uniform. Which had been the reason for her schizophrenia. In fact, everyone except Nina, Robin, and about half of the other residents weren't in Sweetwater for reasons of war. Delilah and Krista had been rising pilots, Iris was a medical assistant. Her frightening obsession with cleanliness had risen from her first hand view of a bloodbath. Molly had been the only survivor of a massacre in during Operation Nova.
The Sweetwater gang mourned for Hilde and moped more than usual with their faces downcast and their hearts on the floor.
All along the trip to Durham, Hilde kept her eyes open and her mind closed. If she let herself remember, if she allowed even one single memory to come to mind, she would snap right in the seat next to Heero. All the happy thoughts of a caring Duo teaching her how to watch baseball like a pro weren't brought up. The days spent working the small flower patch, or in the house doing something domestic, forgotten. Her crusade during the wars, the work they did on scraps; hours and hours of lighthearted talk and friendly chats over dinner on the stove, left behind, in space.
...to be continued...