Sorry to keep you waiting for two weeks, but I *grumbling* had writers' block.
It's what a lot of you have been waiting for! Hotaru and Duo meet!
Disclaimer: Lawyers SUCK!
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Chapter 10: New Faces, New Places
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"Wait, you did WHAT?" asked Setsuna, glaring hard. Cosmos smiled. "I told the pilots where we were and that they could come over to get Wufei." Setsuna let out a huge sigh. "Princess, you do realize that they will kill first, ask questions later?" she asked, reaching the end of her usually unlimited patience. Cosmos simply grinned and nodded before heading back to Wufei's temporary room. Haruka simply shook her head, letting a small smile play her mouth. 'That girl..." she murmured. Setsuna turned to her and warned her with her eyes not to push her. Michiru simply sighed and went back to the kitchen. "I guess I'll put a few more pancakes in the pan." she threw over her shoulder. Hotaru slipped away back to her room to play solitaire.
Cosmos peeked into the disgruntle boy's room and smiled when she saw he was asleep. Stealthily, she tip-toed to his bedside. She quickly took note of the pitcher of water that Michiru must have given him and grinned evilly. 'Should I or shouldn't I? Aw what the hell.' Still grinning, she grabbed the glass and positioned it over his head, letting a droplet fall. Right as she was about to take the plunge, Wufei's eyes shot open, staring past her, then slowly focusing into her eyes.
Wufei drifted in and out of sleep, almost afraid he would see that dream again, with the woman that looked startlingly like Cosmos. He gently closed his weary eyes and began a slow thought process about these strange onnas that can see into his soul. *Drop*. His mind twitched. 'What the hell was that? Figures these weak onnas would have a leaky roof.' He peeked open his eyes and saw...impossibly deep blue eyes? Groan. It was her again. What was it about her that allowed him to want to keep talking to her. If she were any other woman, he would ignore her, like that stalker psycho onna Relena. It was all he could do to keep from taking his katana and slashing her annoying body into pieces and then feeding them to the fishes, then killing the fishes and so on and so on. But no, not her. Her aura radiated something so akin to his own, he was drawn like a moth to the passionate flame. Pain, loss, and yet, a strong sense of justice. It was unfathomable how similar they both were! Inconceivable, yet real....
"What are you doing here onna?" she heard him ask her. A slight sweat beaded
his forehead and she squashed the urge to wipe it away. What was wrong
with her?! 'I traveled all this way to get away from an unfaithful lover,
and here I am, wanting to wipe a boy I barely know's sweat off! I swear
I've been knocked in the head a few too many times over the years.' she
thought, removing her uncomfortable gaze from him. "I just wanted to tell
you that your friends are on their way, coming to rescue you from this
awful place." she said with a small smirk at her sarcasm. Wufei mearly
grunted and continued to stare at her face. 'Oh God, do I have food on
my face?' she thought, wishing she could look in a mirror. "Um, I also
wanted to check on your wound. I don't want it to get infected." she said,
pushing the slight waver in her voice down. "What do you care?" he asked,
still looking into her eyes. She felt her face flush unwittingly.
'Damn'. "Because I don't want your friends to think I'm slowly killing
you." she heard herself say. 'Oh, yeah Cosmos, that wasn't lame' She heard
him sigh and flip the covers. Her face flushed ever more, much to her disappointment,
when she for the first time got a good look at his perfect washboard stomach.
Muscles rippled under his goldenly olive skin. "*Ahem* Wait while I go
get some supplies and don't move." She got up quickly and exited the room
to get the first aid kit from the medicine cabinet.
****************
Quatre looked over the e-mail that was shoved under his nose by Heero.
'Never one for subtly' he thought wryly. "Are you sure this isn't some
elaborate scheme?" he asked, turning to the others, also reading. "I don't
know Q-man. How many people would hack into Heero's e-mail, let alone even
know it, just for a trap? And we're not counting the obviously suicidal
people here." Duo asked, tossing the e-mail over his shoulder. "I believe
we should take it seriously. Duo's actually right, for once." Trowa said,
ignoring the nasty look thrown to him by The Braid, as Wufei had called
him vocationally. They all looked to Heero, who had yet to say anything.
"We're on a search and rescue mission." They all nodded and left to their
own quarters to prepare.
****************
He watched as she returned with the promised medical aid. He was glad,
his wound was starting to ache. "I'm sorry it took so long to re-dress
your wound. Guess we kinda forgot." she said, slightly embarrassed. Trying
her damnedest not to blush, she very carefully cut away at the old bandage
and gasped when she saw the bullet hole, still slightly bleeding, even
two days later. Wufei bit his tongue at the feeling of having air on his
wound. "You are very honorable not to have said anything Wufei." she said
gently, using small, soft ministrations to rub a bactine ointment
over the sides of it. He hissed slightly at the burning sensation of alcohol
on the raw skin. "I'm sorry." she murmured, patting it faintly to let the
skin absorb the medicine. "Don't worry about it. I've had worse pains then
this." he said, trying not to sound weak. As if reading his mind, she said
" Don't worry Wufei, I don't think you're weak." Cosmos quickly patched
on a new bandage and left him to his own misapprehended thoughts.
***************
Trowa sat in the passenger seat of one of Quatre's SUV's, white with tan
interior. 'I swear, that guy just radiates pureness' he thought, mentally
giving a small smile. "So where the hell is this place?" Duo asked from
the back, for the fifth time. Heero gripped the steering wheel a little
tighter, dying to hit him. "*Sigh* It's about twenty miles from here. We'll
be there in a few hours." Quatre answered, tapping into his patience void.
Duo grumbled and snuggled down into the seat, arms folded.
**************
Setsuna shuddered. "What's wrong?" asked Hotaru, placing a caring hand on her psuedo-mother's shoulder. "They're on their way." was the reply. "Should I break out the bullet-proof vests?" teased Haruka. Michiru only sighed and shook her head with a small smile gracing her lips. Setsuna looked around. "Where's Cosmos?" Haruka quickly snaked an arm around her lover's waist and shrugged. "Last I saw, she was toting around a huge first aid kit." Michiru looked thoughtful. "She's probably with Vie. I think they're starting to sense the old connection between them." she replied. Hotaru stayed quiet for a moment before saying anything. "What do you think will happen when they realize who each other truly is?" she finally asked. All of the women stayed silent. "Honestly, I think they will rekindle their love." Setsuna said, not noticing Cosmos had entered the rom. "Who will rekindle their love?" A collective 'meep' rose through their throats. Haruka glared at the supposedly all powerful time goddess. *Why the hell didn't you warn us she was coming?!* she asked telepathically. Setsuna looked sheepish. *I can't sense her like I could with Bunny. Her powers must cancel out my own.* Hotaru struggled to come up with a convincing answer, but was drawing a serious blank. *She's staring at us! Say something, anything!* she said anxiously to the others. "We were talking about a soap opera we were watching. This girl has amnesia and she can't remember her lover, while he doesn't recognize her. It's all very interesting." Michiru finally answered her princess. A collective sigh breathed through the room. Cosmos raised an unbelieving eyebrow, but simply left the room. Sestuna squirmed under the heated gazes she was receiving from her friends.
Cosmos returned to her room and quickly slipped into some gray sweat pants and a white top. As she passed the mirror, she groaned when she noticed the word 'princess' scripted over her behind. "Just what I need. Princess written on my ass." ruffling through her personal drawer, she returned to her bed with the brown envelope that contained her new identity. 'I better study this sucker cuz school starts soon.' She flipped open the folder and saw the picture that had at first disturbed her clipped to the front with her complete bio on the opposite side. It read:
Name: Autumn Maeve Rogers
Parents: Nolan and Sage Rogers
Birth date: August 2, A.C 179
Age: 16 and seven months
Origin: Mixed; Romanian/American
Eyes: Right eye green, Left eye gray
Hair: Black roots, yellow, orange, and ends red
Distinguishing marks: Diamond nose stud in left nostril
Country/Colony: Maine, America
Known Affiliates: Tiara Tojay
Mahogany Miller
Sara Vangil
Catherine (Kitty) Johanson
Cosmos looked at all the little school pictures next to each name and noticed
that they all too had rather distinguishing looks. 'Must be a group thing'
she thought, flipping to the next page. She got a look at where Autumn
previously lived. 'Ritzy neighborhood. Oh, it says her father is a diplomat
and her mother is a psychiatrist.' Next page contained information on the
accent and terms used most often by little miss Autumn. She had a slight
Romani accent, most likely her mother spoke it to her. Moving on, the next
page had a long list of dislikes and a rather short list of likes. 'Likes
shopping, dying her hair, making fun of other people, and fighting.
Hn, really really short list.' Her thoughts were cut short by a loud knock
on the front door. Cosmos closed her eyes. "They're here."
**************
Duo banged loudly on the bijou front door. Heero rested his hand on the
handle of his favorite gun and waited for the door to open. "Knock knock!
Anybody home?" Duo asked rather loudly, banging the door again. Going for
a third, he raised his arm. A soft click stopped him though. The most beautiful
girl he had ever seen had just opened his heart as well as the door. "Welcome.
I'm Hotaru Tome. Welcome to the end."
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Aren't I positively evil? I think this is one of the longer chapters, but since I'm sick and have nothing better to do, I decided to throw you a fricken bone people. (I love that movie) Anyways, read and review as always. Check out chapter 5 of the Martian Princess Chronicles!
