Adventures In Tokyo
Disclaimer: No matter how many times I'd like to convince myself, Gundam Wing and all respective characters do not belong to me.
Relena rolled over on her back, then her front, then back again, tossing relentlessly in her sleep. Her breath came in short, broken gasps, as though breathing was a thing she had to remember to do. A crown of cold sweat clung to her forehead, which was coincidentally burning up with fever. And still, she dreamed, or rather, was caught in a nightmare.
** In her dream, Relena found herself standing in a dark, cramped hallway, the air around her hovering like a blanket, threatening to smother her. It damp in there, with the smell of raw fish stuck permanently in the air. She had never been here before, but every night for the past week she had dreamt of this place. And tonight was no exception. The sounds of prisoners moaning filled the air like an alarm, their voices rising and falling with different tones of agony, but never fading away. Behind their tortured cries came the monotonous drip of water that seemed to pound into her brain. Despite the unbearable heat, Relena shivered, out of fear.
She knew what was coming next. The same vision that came to haunt her every night. She could already hear them approaching, hard as steel heavy boots pounding and echoing on the stone floor below, the faint clink of metal on metal as their machine guns hit the buckles on their belts with every step they took. But the sound that accompanied the arrival of these soldiers was much worse. It was a continuous sound, a shuffling, grating noise barraging her ears with relentlessness. The sound of someone being dragged across the floor.
Now the soldiers were so close, she could see them as well as hear them, their faces hard and set in an interminable scowl. Their arms were linked behind them, dragging a third person into view. And although she'd seen it night after night, she could feel her heart skip a beat before plummeting down to her stomach as they passed. There was no mistaking him. That unruly brown hair that was matted down now with dirt and blood. Those prussian blue eyes that were fluttering open and closed, slipping in and out of consciousness. That calm collected voice that was now moaning with the effort of staying alive. Heero.
She clenched and unclenched her fists as his captors silenced his efforts with a quick blow to the head with the butt of their rifles. She watched in a brutal state of helplessness as his head slumped defeated against his shoulder, surrendering to the endless darkness that the comatose world of the unconscious provided. And just like every night, she lunged at the soldiers, tearing away at the arms that dragged Heero along like a worthless doll, kicked at the legs that were slowly propelling him to an ominous future. But her hands slid right through theirs, and their eyes never once made contact with hers. She was nothing but a ghost, invisible to this bleak future that her dreams foretold. And there was nothing she could do to stop what was coming. The soldiers reached the end of the hall and stopped at a bolted door. One of them typed in an entry code, ironically shielding it from Relena's view, and the door slid open.
Once inside the room, Relena could clearly see it was meant for interrogation. And was prepared to use any methods of getting whatever information it wanted. The only furniture in the room was a black metal chair in the center, complete with arm, leg and head restraints. That and an ugly silver metal table in the corner, covered with knives, scalpels, needles and syringes. Relena shivered again and watched in horror as the men forced Heero into the cold black chair and strapped him down. They left the room quickly, as though they were afraid of who would come in next.
Then, just as it always did, the dream began to get fuzzy. The edges of Relena's vision blurred, not from her tears, but from some unseen force. Her vision was coming to an end. "NO!" Relena cried out, trying to run towards the still unconscious Heero, her every movement feeling as though she were treading through molasses. "I have to know what happens. I have to know how to save him!" Even as she spoke, her world began to close in around her. Blackness and color ran together forming blurry and fuzzy shapes moving in front of her eyes. She tried to scream out to him, but found her lungs seemed to be smothered. But the interrogation room was still there. Unfocussed and barely visible, but still there. Relena strained with every ounce of strength she owned to see who had just entered the room. But all she could see was an outline of a figure. All she could hear was Heero's painful moan. Then everything went black. **
"No!" Relena screamed and sat bolt upright in bed. Her blonde hair was matted down against her face, and her eyes were wide in fear. "Heero," she mumbled, stumbling out of bed. "I have to find Heero." She exited her room, stumbling through the darkened hallway of the Maxwell home, not bothering to turn on a light. She had to find him, to see him and reassure herself that he was okay. To comfort herself in the fact that the terrible future that plagued her every night had not come to pass.
She stumbled blindly down the stairs, managing to trip over Duo's pogo stick and half fell, half trip, all the way to the bottom. When she had righted herself and made sure she didn't break any bones, Relena headed to the kitchen, where the usual hum of the refrigerator was accompanied by the yellow light that emitted from it when it was open.
As she entered the kitchen she saw Heero bending over and investigating the contents of the fridge, trying to be as noiseless as possible as he rummaged around through the crisper.
"Heero?"
Being caught unaware, Heero lifted his head quickly and banged it on the closed freezer door. He quickly swore and closed the fridge. "Yeah?" he asked rubbing his sore head and vaguely wondering if his late night snacking woke everyone up.
Relena bit her lip. What was she supposed to say? Heero, I just had a dream where you were going to be tortured so I think that you should board yourself up in a box and not come out for a few years. Um, how about...no. She sighed and propped herself up on the kitchen table. "I was thinking," she began, glancing from him to the plate of salad he held in his hand. "Maybe we should go on a vacation."
Relena mentally bonked herself in the head, as Heero took a seat at the table, stabbing his salad absentmindedly. *Where did that come from?* she silently berated herself, not knowing the answer. *Do you actually believe that if you go on a vacation, those OZ creeps won't follow you?*
She looked over at Heero, who was slowly drizzling dressing all over his salad. He seemed more asleep than awake. "Hn. Where did you want to go?" It was impossible for anyone to look as clueless as Relena did at that moment.
"Um," she started, tossing the question around in her head. *Where could they go where no OZ activity had been reported, but would be fun too?*
"How about Japan? I've always wanted to go there, and you lived there for a year, didn't you?"
Heero looked up from his salad, considering this proposal. "Why all of a sudden?" he asked, consuming a fork full of lettuce. Relena shrugged and picked a piece of cabbage off his plate, popping it into her own mouth. "I dunno, I just figured a vacation would be nice." *Oh, real smooth. At least it sounded better than, "I'm afraid you're going to be killed if we stay here."*
Heero nodded and offered her a fork full of his salad. "Sounds reasonable. I guess I'll go look at the shuttle schedules in the morning."
Relena grinned, nodded, ate the salad, and hopped off the table in all less than 2 seconds. "Okay, great. Well, I guess we can talk more tomorrow." Heero nodded and got up to put the dish in the sink. As soon as he did so he found himself enveloped in a giant bear hug with Relena's head on his shoulder. He looked down at her. Something was bothering her, that much he could tell. But Heero Yuy wasn't one to press someone for details.
As if she sensed his worrying gaze Relena broke off the hug, not before giving his hand a squeeze as though to reassure herself he was there. "See you tomorrow!" she said, exiting the kitchen and starting up the stairs. "Yeah," Heero mumbled, mostly to himself, his gaze never softening from their worrying state. "Tomorrow."
Disclaimer: No matter how many times I'd like to convince myself, Gundam Wing and all respective characters do not belong to me.
Relena rolled over on her back, then her front, then back again, tossing relentlessly in her sleep. Her breath came in short, broken gasps, as though breathing was a thing she had to remember to do. A crown of cold sweat clung to her forehead, which was coincidentally burning up with fever. And still, she dreamed, or rather, was caught in a nightmare.
** In her dream, Relena found herself standing in a dark, cramped hallway, the air around her hovering like a blanket, threatening to smother her. It damp in there, with the smell of raw fish stuck permanently in the air. She had never been here before, but every night for the past week she had dreamt of this place. And tonight was no exception. The sounds of prisoners moaning filled the air like an alarm, their voices rising and falling with different tones of agony, but never fading away. Behind their tortured cries came the monotonous drip of water that seemed to pound into her brain. Despite the unbearable heat, Relena shivered, out of fear.
She knew what was coming next. The same vision that came to haunt her every night. She could already hear them approaching, hard as steel heavy boots pounding and echoing on the stone floor below, the faint clink of metal on metal as their machine guns hit the buckles on their belts with every step they took. But the sound that accompanied the arrival of these soldiers was much worse. It was a continuous sound, a shuffling, grating noise barraging her ears with relentlessness. The sound of someone being dragged across the floor.
Now the soldiers were so close, she could see them as well as hear them, their faces hard and set in an interminable scowl. Their arms were linked behind them, dragging a third person into view. And although she'd seen it night after night, she could feel her heart skip a beat before plummeting down to her stomach as they passed. There was no mistaking him. That unruly brown hair that was matted down now with dirt and blood. Those prussian blue eyes that were fluttering open and closed, slipping in and out of consciousness. That calm collected voice that was now moaning with the effort of staying alive. Heero.
She clenched and unclenched her fists as his captors silenced his efforts with a quick blow to the head with the butt of their rifles. She watched in a brutal state of helplessness as his head slumped defeated against his shoulder, surrendering to the endless darkness that the comatose world of the unconscious provided. And just like every night, she lunged at the soldiers, tearing away at the arms that dragged Heero along like a worthless doll, kicked at the legs that were slowly propelling him to an ominous future. But her hands slid right through theirs, and their eyes never once made contact with hers. She was nothing but a ghost, invisible to this bleak future that her dreams foretold. And there was nothing she could do to stop what was coming. The soldiers reached the end of the hall and stopped at a bolted door. One of them typed in an entry code, ironically shielding it from Relena's view, and the door slid open.
Once inside the room, Relena could clearly see it was meant for interrogation. And was prepared to use any methods of getting whatever information it wanted. The only furniture in the room was a black metal chair in the center, complete with arm, leg and head restraints. That and an ugly silver metal table in the corner, covered with knives, scalpels, needles and syringes. Relena shivered again and watched in horror as the men forced Heero into the cold black chair and strapped him down. They left the room quickly, as though they were afraid of who would come in next.
Then, just as it always did, the dream began to get fuzzy. The edges of Relena's vision blurred, not from her tears, but from some unseen force. Her vision was coming to an end. "NO!" Relena cried out, trying to run towards the still unconscious Heero, her every movement feeling as though she were treading through molasses. "I have to know what happens. I have to know how to save him!" Even as she spoke, her world began to close in around her. Blackness and color ran together forming blurry and fuzzy shapes moving in front of her eyes. She tried to scream out to him, but found her lungs seemed to be smothered. But the interrogation room was still there. Unfocussed and barely visible, but still there. Relena strained with every ounce of strength she owned to see who had just entered the room. But all she could see was an outline of a figure. All she could hear was Heero's painful moan. Then everything went black. **
"No!" Relena screamed and sat bolt upright in bed. Her blonde hair was matted down against her face, and her eyes were wide in fear. "Heero," she mumbled, stumbling out of bed. "I have to find Heero." She exited her room, stumbling through the darkened hallway of the Maxwell home, not bothering to turn on a light. She had to find him, to see him and reassure herself that he was okay. To comfort herself in the fact that the terrible future that plagued her every night had not come to pass.
She stumbled blindly down the stairs, managing to trip over Duo's pogo stick and half fell, half trip, all the way to the bottom. When she had righted herself and made sure she didn't break any bones, Relena headed to the kitchen, where the usual hum of the refrigerator was accompanied by the yellow light that emitted from it when it was open.
As she entered the kitchen she saw Heero bending over and investigating the contents of the fridge, trying to be as noiseless as possible as he rummaged around through the crisper.
"Heero?"
Being caught unaware, Heero lifted his head quickly and banged it on the closed freezer door. He quickly swore and closed the fridge. "Yeah?" he asked rubbing his sore head and vaguely wondering if his late night snacking woke everyone up.
Relena bit her lip. What was she supposed to say? Heero, I just had a dream where you were going to be tortured so I think that you should board yourself up in a box and not come out for a few years. Um, how about...no. She sighed and propped herself up on the kitchen table. "I was thinking," she began, glancing from him to the plate of salad he held in his hand. "Maybe we should go on a vacation."
Relena mentally bonked herself in the head, as Heero took a seat at the table, stabbing his salad absentmindedly. *Where did that come from?* she silently berated herself, not knowing the answer. *Do you actually believe that if you go on a vacation, those OZ creeps won't follow you?*
She looked over at Heero, who was slowly drizzling dressing all over his salad. He seemed more asleep than awake. "Hn. Where did you want to go?" It was impossible for anyone to look as clueless as Relena did at that moment.
"Um," she started, tossing the question around in her head. *Where could they go where no OZ activity had been reported, but would be fun too?*
"How about Japan? I've always wanted to go there, and you lived there for a year, didn't you?"
Heero looked up from his salad, considering this proposal. "Why all of a sudden?" he asked, consuming a fork full of lettuce. Relena shrugged and picked a piece of cabbage off his plate, popping it into her own mouth. "I dunno, I just figured a vacation would be nice." *Oh, real smooth. At least it sounded better than, "I'm afraid you're going to be killed if we stay here."*
Heero nodded and offered her a fork full of his salad. "Sounds reasonable. I guess I'll go look at the shuttle schedules in the morning."
Relena grinned, nodded, ate the salad, and hopped off the table in all less than 2 seconds. "Okay, great. Well, I guess we can talk more tomorrow." Heero nodded and got up to put the dish in the sink. As soon as he did so he found himself enveloped in a giant bear hug with Relena's head on his shoulder. He looked down at her. Something was bothering her, that much he could tell. But Heero Yuy wasn't one to press someone for details.
As if she sensed his worrying gaze Relena broke off the hug, not before giving his hand a squeeze as though to reassure herself he was there. "See you tomorrow!" she said, exiting the kitchen and starting up the stairs. "Yeah," Heero mumbled, mostly to himself, his gaze never softening from their worrying state. "Tomorrow."