standingalonechibi8 Standing Alone

Disclaimer: 1. Don't own 'em 2. Don't ask 3. Don't sue

Author's Notes: *hangs head* ;_; I feel so bad!!! All you nice people want different couples!!! I wanna keep everybody happy but I can't have Usagi jumping from one guy to the next... ^^() Well, I could but that would be just plain wrong. Right now I am thoroughly content with only one couple. And only two people know which couple that is. *points to M-chan and Miko no da Shinigami who are bound and gagged* And if they tell they won't get any birthday presents!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Erm... *cough cough* ^^() Anyway, I'm gonna try and please everybody (if that's possible...). That means you can't kill me! }: ) See, if you kill me then you don't get to see what I have planned! *pops grape Super Blowpop in mouth* ^^V *sticks out dark purple tongue*
P.S. This is to the Iron Duke & the Desert Fox: I changed Serena's name to Usagi because so many people suggested it. To tell ya the truth I like Usagi better but in the beginning of the fic I was thinking of the dubbies... ^^V

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Chapter Eight: Choosing Sides
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"You said you wouldn't swear!" Usagi whined.
"I that before I knew you had a talking cat!" Duo said raising his voice a bit. Luna walked to the door and shut it quietly.
"Sh! The door doesn't block out all noise!" Luna hissed.
"Oh boy. It can talk and it has a temper. I'm--" Duo started to whine.
"She's really strict too!" Usagi giggled.
"She has a temper and is strict?! I'm doomed!" Duo moaned as though this was an every day thing. Hotaru giggled, while Luna growled.
"You're as bad as Usagi!" Luna snapped. Duo hung his head.
"I know. She wears off on you! I'm not usually like this!" Duo told Luna.
"WHAT?!" Usagi shouted. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WEARS OFF ON PEOPLE!" she said yelling and laughing at the same. Hotaru threw a pillow at the now standing Usagi. Usagi was knocked back into her chair by the unsuspected object.
"Calm down," Hotaru said quietly.
Duo, slightly shocked, turned to Hotaru who was smiling. Duo grinned at the frail girl and grabbed some more pillows. Just as Usagi was standing up she was hit by a flurry of flying objects.
"GWAH!!!" she shouted as she was pinned momentarily under a mountain of pillows. "THAT'S IT!!!" she yelled breaking from her pillow mountain. As Usagi dived for Duo's braid, he dodged and grabbed Hotaru's hand.
"Run! If she catches you, there's no telling what she'll do to your hair!" Duo shouted while yanking the door open. Duo let go of Hotaru's hand so she could run on her own. When he looked back, he realized Hotaru wasn't as fast as him. He immediately grabbed her hand and dragged her around a corner. Duo turned a few more corners with hopes to get them lost.
'If we get lost, then we're less likely to be caught!' Duo's mind figured.
"Duo!" Hotaru said urgently. "Usagi's right behind us!" Duo sped up a bit and turned another corner. Hotaru panted as they ran down to a dead end. There were three doors facing them, and Usagi was coming down the hall next to theirs.
"Uh... What should we do?" Duo asked staring at the doors. Hotaru turned the knob to the door closest to her.
"It's locked!" she gasped. Duo opened the door closest to him. It was an over stuff towel closet. He shut it immediately in order to avoid the falling towels. Hotaru was trying to open the third door. It was jammed. Duo grabbed Hotaru's hand as they heard Usagi move closer. He pulled her close as he opened the door and shut it quickly behind them. A large heavy bath towel fell on the two. Hotaru, already extremely exhausted, collapsed under the extra weight. Duo decided to sit down at the exact moment. Hotaru fell onto Duo's lap.
"Oof!" he exclaimed. Hotaru said nothing, but continued panting while trying to get enough oxygen. She laid her head on Duo's shoulder and tried to relax. Duo tried to make the best of the situation. "Comfortable? Warn me next time you want to fall into my lap ok?" he said grinning in the dark.
"I-I'm sorry!" Hotaru whisper heavily into Duo's shoulder. "I can't handle much physical exercise."
"Sorry for pushin' you so much, but Usagi has done some pretty bad stuff to my hair before." Hotaru felt a shudder run through Duo's body. She giggled lightly as soon as she was able to breathe evenly.
"So... Where are we? And where is Usagi?" Hotaru asked taking her first look at their surroundings.
"We're in a towel closet. And I'm guessing--and this guess is 99% accurate--Usagi is lost," Duo said while leaning back against a tower of towels. His arms grazed the base of the tower as he put them behind his head. Soon all 27 towels came down upon them. Hotaru was thrown forward because most of them fell on her. Duo, who was supported by the towels, fell backwards. Hotaru's eyes widened as their lips met. Blue-violet clashed with violet as Duo's sparkling eyes watched her. He slowly closed his eyes and pulled Hotaru closer to him. Hotaru shivered slightly as she felt his fingers running up her spine. When Duo broke the kiss he was panting slightly. Hotaru took a deep breath and Duo kissed her nose.
"Let's go find Usagi before she klutzes out," he said while trying to catch his breath. Duo sat up as soon as Hotaru got off of him. She sat to his left and laid her head on his shoulder. Both were blinded momentarily as the door swung open.
"Hello lovebirds!" a voice rang out. "You know while you're here making out, Usagi's in a room with four suspicious pilots, one angry princess, and two guards," Hilde declared from the door way. Duo's eyes widen. He jumped up and dashed out the door. Hotaru, who had been leaning on Duo for support, started to topple over. Hilde stepped in and grabbed Hotaru's hand. She smiled as she helped the frail girl up.
"That was abrupt..." Hotaru murmured softly. Hilde laughed.
"That's Duo for ya!" Hotaru looked up at the older girl.
"You're not mad? I mean we never meant to do that, but Duo kinda took the situation into his own hands..." Hilde raised an eyebrow.
"Mad? Why? Duo and I are just friends," she said smiling, "I wouldn't be mad at anything or one that made him happy! By the way... what did you do in there?" Hotaru turned crimson.

* * * * *

Duo burst into the meeting room and immediately counted how many people were there. "All right. Who left before saying 'hi'?"

* * * * *

Hilde stopped walking and talking at the same time. "Uh... Hotaru... I gotta go do something..." Hilde said glancing behind her. Hotaru smiled and nodded.
"I understand." Hilde walked, well more like dashed, off. Hotaru continued to walk down the long, deserted hallways by herself. After a while, Hotaru watched her feet as she kept moving. At first she thought it was a good idea because it kept her mind from wandering, but her thoughts took a turn when she ran head long into someone. She dusted herself off as she stood up. Once she was uprighted and dusted off she bowed and apologized to the young woman standing in front of her.
"I'm sorry ma'am. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."
"It's all right. By chance do you know your way around here..." the woman trailed off waiting for a name.
"Hotaru. Hotaru Tomoe. No I'm not too sure of where I'm going either though..." Hotaru said blushing. "I've only been here for a couple days. Not long enough to learn my way." The woman nodded.
"I understand. My name is Dorothy Catalonia. I'm looking for the meeting room. I'm supposed to meet Miss Relena there," her silky, quiet voice explained. Hotaru's eyes narrowed. Dorothy blinked in confusion and watched Hotaru with interest. "I don't belong here. Miss Noin insisted I come along so I have something to do. Miss Relena and I often clash because of her ideals. I don't believe total pacifism will solve anything. And so far it hasn't," Dorothy said smiling sinisterly.
"I agree. Would you like to come with me since we're heading to the same place?" Hotaru asked. Dorothy nodded and followed her.

* * * * *

Duo counted people off with his fingers. "Four grouchy pilots," Wufei growled and Heero's hand went to his gun. "One pain-in-the-ass princess," Relena stood up with offended look on her face. "One bouncy rabbit," Usagi glared but didn't say anything.
"One over protective guard," Noin smiled. "Eh? Where's guard number two?" Duo asked looking around the room. Everyone turned to the door as it opened. Hotaru peeked around it. Relena cleared her throat.
"Excuse me but this is a private meeting..."
"She can stay!" Duo said firmly. Relena looked taken aback. Hotaru pushed the door all the way open as Dorothy stepped in.
"Miss Relena, Miss Noin," she said bowing to both. Hotaru walked silently over to Duo and Usagi.
"We're choosing sides... Aren't we?" Hotaru asked quietly. Usagi's eyes widened in realization.
"N-no! They're not going to be in this fight!" she whispered shakily. Relena cast a weary glance in Usagi's direction. Heero walked to the door and locked it. A minute later small meows and soft scratching were heard on the other side of the door. Heero went back to the door, unlocked it, and opened the door to let the blond haired figure and Luna in.
"Hate to barge in but I have orders that say I have to be here," the voice from outside the door told him. A blonde haired woman with strawberry colored lips walked in. "Well! Guess I'm late for the party," she said smiling. Wufei growled, but kept his mouth shut.
"Sally," Lt. Noin greeted.
"Lucretia! Haven't seen you for a while," she laughed. Wufei sighed in annoyance as Hotaru giggled and Duo snickered.
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Wufei barked. The soft argument between Dorothy and Relena ceased and the happy chatter between the others quieted. Duo put his arms behind his head.
"What was the point of this again?" he asked. Relena fidgeted as she eyed Usagi.
Sally sat down in a chair and put her feet on the table.
"Sorry Quatre," she said before turning to Usagi. Usagi swallowed the lump in her throat and waited for the confrontation.
"Usagi... Why does Hotaru have a death certificate when she's standing here?"
"Well she's very much alive! I can vouch for that!" Duo said grinning. Hotaru grabbed his braid and tugged on it.
"Ecchi," she murmured.
"OW! Hey!" Usagi blinked in confusion and looked at Sally.
"You're serious aren't you?" Sally nodded and gave her a copy of Hotaru's death certificate. Usagi swallowed with difficulty, "Well... I don't think... I think it was a mix up. You've probably got her mixed up for a different girl..."
Hotaru nodded and smiled.
"Why does she have a death certificate when she's alive?" Relena snapped. Hotaru's body tensed.
"You pilots received a mission a little while ago, I'm guessing. You're going to stop the new White Fang..." Usagi took a deep breath. "I want you to ignore it because you're not a part of this fight." Wufei, Trowa, and Heero each drew their guns.
"Who are you?" Heero growled.
Usagi pulled her knees up and hugged them. Her piercing blue eyes looked over the tops of her knees.
"I can't tell you," she swallowed and ignored the tears that had gathered. Duo kissed Hotaru's cheek and rocked her back and forwarth. Relena sat motionless at the opposite end of the table. Her eyes drifted off of Heero and towards Dorothy who had stepped from behind her. Dorothy silently walked to the other end of the table, stood next to Hotaru, and said, "I'll help you any way I can". Dorothy's glassy blue eyes watched Relena's every move and seemed to taunt and mock her. Quatre hesitantly walked over, followed by Trowa. Sally stood up. She glanced toward Relena then toward Usagi. She sat back down in her chair which was close to Relena. Noin followed Sally's example. Wufei stood in the dead center of the room as did Heero. Finally Wufei chose orders over his gut feeling and walked over and sat next to Sally. All eyes were on Heero as he stood watching the floor. Luna licked his cheek and jumped off of his shoulder. She sat at his feet and untied his shoe laces. She tugged on the untied laces with her teeth.
"Rrrarr!!! Meow meow meow!" she shouted at him trying to tug him in Usagi's direction. Heero pulled out his gun and pointed it at Luna. Luna dropped Heero's laces and looked up at him. She stuck her tongue out at him and blew a razzberry. Sally laughed. Wufei sighed. Wufei was more annoyed with his decision than with Sally. He knew Sally would rather go with Usagi than Relena but both had chosen duty over gut feelings. He continued to wonder why Lady Ann (Une) had made him report to Sally instead of straight to her. Wufei snapped out of his thoughts as Usagi got out of her chair. His hand went to his gun. She walked to Heero and stood looking him in the eyes. Relena's body tensed. She smiled and stooped down to pick Luna up. Luna jumped into Usagi's arms and meowed happily. Usagi smiled and held Luna up so she was face to face with Heero. Luna blinked in confusion before licking Heero's lips.
"Meow." Heero reached out and scratched Luna under the chin. Usagi lifted Luna up and let the small cat sit on the top of her head.
"You shouldn't try and force people to do things Luna," Usagi said looking upwards to try and catch a glimpse of the cat. Relena shifted uncomfortably.
"Excuse me but why are you talking to a cat? Do you expect it to reply?" she asked as though it was preposterous.
"I don't expect a reply because she only responds when she's in a good mood, which is very rarely," Usagi murmured. Luna hissed. Relena shook her head.
"Usagi... do you feel all right? I mean listen to yourself. You're not even speaking logically!" Relena exclaimed.
"Since when has logic had any part in this?" Heero asked. Relena stopped her protest and carefully chose her next words.
"Surely Heero... You don't believe this cat can talk... Do you?" Relena asked hesitantly. Heero said nothing. Instead he turned and walked out the door.

* * * * * 2 weeks later

"Hmmm..." Heero murmured while reading the computer screen.
"What is it?" Luna asked from her position on his bed.
"Yeah, what is it?" a shadowed figure asked from the doorway. Heero jumped up, pulled out his gun, and aimed in one fluid motion.
"Leave before I shoot."
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I know not that big of a cliff hanger. *sigh* This was a hard chapter to write!
I wrote it once then went back and changed some stuff. Then I re-read it and
it sucked just as bad as the first time so I went back and erased most of it. So
this is what I came up with. You know that this story is almost over. ^_^ I'm
absolutely serious. I've got a little idea for a sequel but I'm not sure I'm going
to do it. *shrugs* Duo and Hotaru together was a little abrupt but I look at it
this way: Hotaru knows his whole life. Everyone he loves and everything he's
been through. And Duo... Well Duo's just Duo. ^^() E~mail me sometime!
chibi-chan101@home.com
Bai bai!!!
~~ chibi-chan