Unbreakable


Duo laughed uproariosly, throwing a ball up in the air, tossing it to his friends..

"You sure showed him, didn't you Duo?" his friend laughed.

"Hey, just because I didn't get to finish pummeling him, you think it wasn't true?"

"He has a point," said another of his friends. "If Duo were making this up, he would have killed the guy."

Duo shrugged. "Or maybe I'm lying and he's dead right now, and I don't want you arses to know about it and snitch!"

They all shared a moment of laughter and a few more jokes before Duo punched one of them in the shoulder to get his attention. "Look, that's him."

The other boys looked up to see Trowa Barton walking the rim of the third class deck. His hair fell over his dark eyes and he seemed to be staring out into the ocean, but at the same time keeping an eagle eye watch on everyone on deck.

"He's a frightening looking bloke, ain't he?" commented one friend.

"All I'm saying is I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alleyway," Duo commented, clutching his cross and holding it out.


Nightfall


"...And I told her, 'Darling, that isn't becoming of you in the least'!"

The table roared in laughter, tipping their wine glasses at each other, sharing the laughter.

I stared down at my plate of food, the steam begining to dissapear as I let it cool. I didn't feel like eating at all. But my stomach felt empty. I felt so empty, it hurt. I looked at the people around me. Happy, smiling people. I didn't belong here, even if the smiles were fake. I made my decision right then. I really didn't belong there. I had to leave. Leave now.

I let myself be excused, denying the company of Rashid and composing myself as well as I could bring myself to be. I walked out, tipping my head kindly to the company my aunt had introduced me to and trying to look like I was just walking out to go somewhere, anywhere but where I was thinking of goin. I barely made it up the stairs without breaking down, surrendering to my emotions. Until I reached a part of the ship where the passangers were scarce.

At first I found myself sniffling and walking a little fast. But as I picked up the pace, so did my tears. I found myself running, the tears flowing like salty rivers. I became blind, but my mind knew exactly where I wanted to go. My legs pumped away faster than I thought they would go, and three decks later, there I was. I ran into the railing, my body slamming up against it, my mind not quite registering that I had gotten there. I looked down at the choppy waters below. There it was, my salvation. It was like my body wasn't there anymore, I just picked up my feet and swung my legs over the edge. So easy. Leaning out a little more, I barely hung onto the edge with my fingertips.

"Stop!"

My barely loose fingertips suddenly gripped onto the railing with white knuckles, the voice coming out of nowhere on the empty deck.

"I'm going to do it. Just let me die!" I screamed, tasting my tears in my mouth.

"Don't be foolish," said the voice, trying to calm me down.

I paused, and the sound of the voice grounded me, letting a little bit of reality sink into me. I just noticed how far the water was from where I was.

I could hear his footsteps coming closer to me. "Please, don't come any closer," I said, shaking from the cold, but mostly fear.

"I can't just do that," The low voice said. I heard the sound of something hitting the floor.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"Getting ready for if you jump," the voice said. It was so calm, it was unnerving. "It'll help not to have excess weight on after I jump in after you."

His words struck me like a hammer. Jump in after me? He'd die! And he doesn't even know me. "No, you wouldn't. You can't!"

"You won't be able to stop me," the voice said, tossing something heavy across the deck floor that clanged on the railing when it hit. I slowly turned my head to see what it was. His pistol. I turned away quickly, memories invading my thoughts.

"You won't jump," I said, quivering, saying so more for me than for him.

"I'm afraid I will," he said, coming closer to me. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to make the reality go away so I could just do it. "You don't know me. You don't know what I'm going through."

"I might," the voice said. "Give me a chance before throwing your life away."

I shook my head furiously, trying not to listen to him. For a moment, all I heard were his soft, almost silent footsteps, stalking towards me.

I could feel his presence right at my back, his steamy breath blowing by my face. "It's really cold down there," he said.

"So?" I snapped. "...How cold?"

"You sure you want to know?" he asked.

I stayed silent, hoping he wouldn't tell me.

"Basically, when you hit it, it feels like your skin's been shredded."

"Shredded?" I repeated, wide-eyed, terrified at the thought.

"Yeah, it'll be slow too. Freezing to death isn't pretty. And drowning is only marginally better."

I gripped at my chest in terror, thinking about what it would be like to die like that.

"Come on back over," he said, extending his hand out so I could see it. "It's probably warmer in first class."

Something about that last commend made me grind my teeth together. I was just a first class citizen to this guy. I wasn't a person, I was a job responsibility. I let him know it.

"You're just doing this because it's your job."

"You think maybe it's my job because I don't like seeing other people get hurt?"

I hadn't expected that. It took an edge away from my anger, from my despair.

I slowly considered the options I had. For one, I could jump into the freezing water and I'd be dead in no time like I wanted. But then again, I didn't really know how long it would take me to die, and no matter how short it was, I knew it would be painful. "Shredded." I shuddered.

My shaky hand reached out and folded itself into his. I was surprised to find they were rough and callused, even though they loked soft and almost delicate. He put his hand on my waist to keep me from falling, guiding me across with the other hand. Breathing raggedly, I lifted my leg over the railing and set it on the other side, followed by the other. The one thing going through my mind was how stupid I must look, a fair first class boy, crying as he was talked out of something. I just tried to push that thought out of my mind and hopped off the rail, back onto the deck. Standing in front of the body that voice belonged too, the first thing I noticed was that he was taller than I was. I only came up to his chest. I looked up and I was immediately grasped by those dark eyes that peered out through his long brown bangs. It was like they were as deep as the sea itself, but I completely dismissed the thought that he was as dangerous. Held in his arms, I felt comforted and safe for the first time in what seemed like forever.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

I felt my face flush. "Uh...Yeah. I'm..." I knew that wasn't true. I gritted my teeth and looked at the floor, the tears beginning to flow again. The fact was that I felt stupid, irresponsible and worst of all, spoiled. "I'm fine. I..."

"Shh... it's okay," he said, bending over to meet me at eye-level. "But I need you to tell me your name first."

"Qua...Quatre," I said, voice shakey. He stared at me for a while and then I realized that he wanted my whole name. "Quatre Rababera-Winner."

He nodded. "Let's get you back to your parents," he said. He began to stand up, but I tugged on his sleeve and he bent back over. "What is it?"

I shook my head and wiped away the tears on my face with my sleeve. "I don't have any parents," I said.

"Then who takes care of you?"

"My Aunt Francis. I don't want to see her right now."

He rubbed his hand effectionatley through my hair. "Well, I have to hand you over to her. I'm afraid I can't keep you."

"I just don't want to go back to them," I said, motioning to first class.

He smiled very slightly. "You do seem too kind to be a first class passenger," he said. I smiled and laughed, wiping more tears from my face.

He stood up and let go of my hand. He walked back over to the railing and picked up his gun, holstering it and then walking back over to where his jacket was.

"You were really going to jump in after me?" I asked.

He slipped on his jacket, buttoning it up before answering me. The pause before his answer unnerved me and I began twisting the cloth of my jacket in my hand.

"Yes, I was," he said straighforoward. I stared up at him wide-eyed, amazed anyone would do that for me. My heart swelled and I felt like it was going to burst right out of my chest.

"Th...Thank you... Um. What is your name?"

He paused again. "Trowa Barton."

I smiled brightly and held my hand over my chest, lest it pop out. "Trowa. Thank you."


Above Trowa and Quatre, a figure stood at the balcony of the first class deck, sipping from a wine glass little by little. The old woman sneered at the golden haired boy that was her nephew, dissapointed that the young securtiy officer with unruly hair had convinced him to get off the end of the boat.

"Pity," Francis said to herself. "Now I have to do all the work myself."

The two figures began walking back towards the stairs and she took another sip of her wine before heading back to her room, alone.


Trowa stared at the gaping figure in the room, to the cabin number and then to his ticket. "God must be punishing me..."

"You're one of my cabin-mates?!" Duo exclaimed.

"Good god," one of Duo's friends exclaimed. "What a small world."

Trowa didn't give a reaction, but tossed his one small bag on the empty bunk below Duo's.

"Hey, nobody said you could sleep there!" Duo yelled.

"Where else will I sleep?" Trowa asked, glaring up at Duo who hung over the side of his top bunk.

Duo sneered and rolled over on his back. "Augh! This is just great! You're gonna keep me up aaaall night, telling me not to do this and that, just because you're a security officer!" Duo rolled back over, hanging off of the edge, "You know you..."

Duo raised a brow at his bunkmate when he found Trowa had already pulled his hat over his face and drifted off to sleep.

"Weird guy."

"I heard that."


Thursday, April 12, 1912

I sipped at my juice to keep my aunt happy, but I still wouldn't touch my food. Drinking the juice constantly kept her off the idea that I wasn't eating. Besides, she wasn't the most observant of people. She barely likes to look at me. I took in a deep breath an stared down at my plate. Yesterday I wouldn't eat because I already felt dead and I was one step away from finishing the job. But now...

"Darling, if you don't eat your food, you'll starve," Francis said, eating a little bit of sausage herself. "And you don't want to go looking like a street urchin, do you?"

I sighed heavily and pushed my food around with my fork.

"Don't do that!" She screamed at me, of course it was in the most ladylike voice she could conjure. "You are not an animal."

"Yeah," I said, before 'properly' eating my breakfast. My thoughts wandered again to the boy who saved me the night before. Trowa. I hadn't seen him at all yesterday. Was he just some phantom? Trowa. His name rang through my head like an echo in a canyon. It was those eyes. I'd never seen eyes like that before in my life. And the way he looked at me, it was like he could see right into me. The real me.

"Quatre, please put your food in your mouth, don't just let it hand on your fork for half an hour," Francis said.

I blinked out of the place I was in, and blushing, started eating again.


Relena Dorlian sat in front of her dresser, combing her hair with the fine-bristled brush, staring at herself in the mirror. She put the brush down and sat up straight. Holding out her hand, she asked the mirror: "Would you care to dance with me tonight Quatre? Oh no, the pleasure is all mine." Standing, she curtsied in front of her reflection, and looping her hand over the arm of an imaginary Quatre, she began spinning throughout the room, waltzing to music that was only in her head.

"My Quatre, you dance marvelously," she complimented with her best smile.

Suddenly, she stopped, taking her hand from her imaginary dancing partner. "Quatre, what are you saying?"

She followed an invisible Quatre as he got down on his knees.

"Marriage?" She exclaimed with bright eyes. "Why Quatre. I don't know what to say," she said, covering up her flushing cheeks. "Yes. My answer is yes. Oh, you've made me so happy."

She began to giggle girlishly. Then, her voice changed. The little giggle became insane laughter. "Love? Love dear boy? Love has nothing to do with marriage. It's a business acquisition. And I plan on being the inheiritant of your fortune." She pointed an imaginary pistol at the imaginary head of her fake love. "Darling..."

She pulled her arm back, simulating her imaginary husbands death and began laughing again. This time, it was a girlish giggle, and only trained ears could tell the difference between the innocent one of a small girl, and this sinister one compared only to that of a vampire.