PRE-FIC RAMBLINGS: Sorry for the wait! I'll get going with the story! (my msg will be on the "post-fic ramblings") HAPPY READING!

WAIT! I'm dedicating this to Swallow-chan, who had so effectively kicked my ass into gear. -__-;; (I would've gotten this done sooner, but I had a few drawings I needed to finish... gomen ne!)

NOTE: Thoughts will be expressed like 'so.'

Complications of a Simple Mission

Part III: The Herald of the Beginning

"I'm sorry, but you can't go in right now," the nurse said with an understanding smile.

"What do you mean we can't go in?? Did something happened to the patient?" Duo asked frantically.

Wufei had been asked to leave Heero's room when the doctor saw the Japanese's condition, so he took the chance to go tell the others about what happened. Duo's responses were a bit unfitting for his condition, but was somewhat expected. What was surprising was Duo's determination in insisting that he go see Heero immediately.

"Mr. Yuy is okay. You don't have to worry, Mr. Maxwell," Dr. Assiel interjected. "Go on ahead with your duties, Junko-san, I'll take care of these gentlemen here."

Nurse Junko left with a nod of her head, leaving Dr. Assiel with the four Gundam pilots.

"Dr. Assiel, how is our friend?" Quatre asked.

"Don't worry about him," she smiled reassuringly, "he's alright. I understand that he was coughing before he lost consciousness... the blood was from that."

"Yes we know that, but why?" Duo asked in that same frantic tone.

"His throat was already parched dry from the fire, plus he hasn't had any kind of liquid down his throat. Considering that a person's cough sends a strong gust of breath out of the lungs at high speed, what do you think several consecutive coughs will do to his throat?" the doctor finished with a friendly smile.

Trowa mirrored her smile ((::gasps:: Trowa? smile? rare!... hey.. must be a streak for me when writing about Trowa...)), "We understand now."

"Speak for yourself!" Duo snapped. His mind is already usually slow at this type of 'guess-the-rest-of-the-sentence' games, and in his half-drugged and fully concussed state, it's even worst.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

With the combined efforts of four pilots and one doctor, they managed to convince Duo that Heero really *is* okay, and that he should return to his own room to rest.

"Duo, go to sleep!" Quatre repeated again.

"Demo--"

"We can't visit Heero right now anyways!" Trowa interjected.

"..."

"We'll all go see Heero tomorrow morning," Wufei reassured.

Finally, Duo fell asleep, and the rest of them could finally rest.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hey! Hee~ro~~~! You ready yet?" Duo hollered across the hallway (lengthwise -__-;;..).

The two injured pilots had recovered at a surprising rate, Duo had left the hospital three days after he had awakened and Heero about a week after Duo's discharge. The doctors, though reluctant to let Heero go, found no excuse to keep him... not like Heero would allow himself to be persuaded either.

"Hee---!" Duo called out again, but was cut off when he felt Heero's death glare all the way from across the hall.

"..."

"^^;;; erm... ready to go yet?"

Heero sent another shriveling glare towards Duo before brushing past the bubbly pilot.

'Eep!' thought Duo as he followed Heero out the door, suddenly thinking that the outing they...or more like he... planned wasn't such a good idea after all. 'Think positive Duo, the outing is a good idea!' And Duo repeated that sentence to himself like a mantra and had even began to believe it, that is until he heard Quatre's greeting towards the Japanese pilot had somehow ended abruptly unfinished, followed by uncomfortable silence. '...Maybe not...'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Quatre sweatdropped at the ridiculous sight in front of him. Trowa looked amused. Wufei was the epitome of impatience. And Heero... Heero was just Heero. Quatre briefly wondered how Duo had managed to control a Gundam when he couldn't even mount a horse.

The four mounted Gundam pilots waited 'patiently' for the Shinigami to mount:

"Duo.. have you ever rode a horse before?" Quatre asked, sweatdropping all the while.

"Or maybe we should ask if you've ever been near a horse before?" Trowa added nonchalantly.

"Why'd you suggest horseback riding when you can't even mount one?" Wufei demanded, not even bothering to conceal his annoyed tone.

"..." was Heero's input.

"Thanks for the help, guys! I *really* appreciate it!" Duo snapped back, voice dripping with sarcasm. He never thought horseback riding would be this hard. Though reluctant to admit it even to himself, this really is his first time trying to ride a horse. The pilot of Deathscythe would have never suggested horseback riding if there were anything else that's 'fun' to do on this God forsaken colony!

"Come on!" Duo hissed under his breath, struggling to mount the poor horse. "Hold still!"

Having seen enough of Duo's clumsiness for one day, Heero dismounted from his black steed to help Duo.

"That's not how you do it," came the Japanese boy's slightly nasal voice.

"Oh *really*!" Duo retorted with a roll of his eyes.

Ignoring the long-haired pilot's tone, Heero continued, "Here, let me have the reigns."

Duo surrendered the reigns.

"Hold on to the saddle," Heero paused to let Duo complete the action. "Place your left foot into the stirrup, use that footing as leverage and pull yourself up, now swing your right leg over the saddle, sit, and place your right foot into the stirrup as well."

When Heero was sure Duo was settled in the saddle and the stirrups are shortened to the right length for him, he handed the reigns back to Duo and remounted his own horse. In that short amount of time, Duo's horse started to move a little on its own accord, causing Duo to release a nervous sound. Hearing that, Quatre came to the rescue of the American pilot.

"It's alright, Duo, don't have to be scared." Quatre said in a reassuring voice.

"Scared? Who's scared? Not me!" Duo squeaked out, but was too nervous to notice it.

Quatre chuckled good-naturedly, "Of course not. Maybe I should *remind* you how to use the reigns?"

"S-sure!" Duo stammered, the horse was showing signs of wanting to wander again.

"Pull the reigns to the right, if you want the horse to turn right, pull to the left if you want to move left, and pull back if you want it to stop, but not too hard or else the horse will turn around. Last but not least, dig your heels into the horse's sides if you want it to move: harder you dig; faster it goes. Got that?"

Duo nodded, but Quatre noticed his tension from how tight his gripped the reigns.

"I'll go slow to be near you, don't worry."

"Ready to go yet? Heero and Wufei already went ahead of us!" Trowa warned.

The scenery was quite beautiful. Though the colony was practically void of any activities that can be remotely labeled as fun, the rolling landscapes provided enough pleasantries. Whoever designed the artificial landscaping of this colony must have been an artist of some sort, and one that really studied the natural beauties of Earth. Mountains were scattered about the horizon with calculated randomness. Gurgling streams and vast grasslands, though an almost perfect imitation of Earth, was place strategically so unprepared 'travelers' would be relatively well taken care of by 'nature.'

The pilots have been riding for almost an hour now, enjoying the scenery, and basically having a great time. Even Duo had relaxed enough to return to his usual chatterbox self, once he's got the hang of controlling his horse. Once in awhile, laughter interrupted the pleasant conversation that struck up amongst the pilots, with the exception of Heero.

No one seemed to notice that Heero, who started off with the best riding posture of them all, suddenly seemed to be slouched over. Riding a little ahead of the rest of group, no one noticed the labored breathing, the beads of perspiration that rolled down his pained complexion, and the hand that gripped the front of his green tank top. Consequently, no one noticed how Heero's eyes became unfocused, and how his hand grew lax around the reigns as his eyes slid closed. No one noticed a thing until Heero slid off his horse, landing on the ground with a sickening thump.

"HEERO!"

TBC

POST-FIC RAMBLINGS: Mwahahahahahah! ).. sooooo Swallow-chan, how'd you like the ending? First Heero was bleeding for months (cuz it took me that long to get this part out) and now he fell off a horse! Awww.. my poor Hee-chan... ::sniffles:: D

Aaaaaanyways.. i gotta go now... it's 3:23 a.m. right now and my grandma just ordered me to go to bed so..

Ja ne!

~Kris

p.s.: Ne, Swallow-chan! you want the next part? E-mail Jpophelp about my mags! _!! (I want my Gaku-chan! ::bawls::) ::hugz::