Hiya, everybody! *("Gasp! It's August Sere!! She's not dead, decapitated or
disemboweled!!")*
I'm soooo sorry for not having this chapter out sooner... but... Well, I won't
say it's writer's
block, but I've been really busy these past few weeks, mainly with school.
Gomen, I'll try
not to be so long in between chapters in the times to follow. As always,
PLEASEEEEEE review!!
Lots of hugs and thanks to everyone who has reviewed previous chapters! Without
you, this story
wouldn't be continued!
I have a feeling there are going to be some happy readers out there by the time
you finish
reading! Please review. Comments, suggestions, praise, and CONSTRUCTIVE critism
are all
appreciated. Anyway, have fun reading!
-August Sere.
P.S. I don't own SM or GW. Well, wasn't that a blow to everyone's minds!
(sarcastic).
P.P.S. LOOK!! It's... it's... longer than the last chapter! Yay!
-------------------------
I Know Who I Am: Chapter Five: The Meaning of August.
IKWIA: 5
-------------------------
Heero stepped out of the shower, quickly towel dried his hair and turned towards
the
bathroom door. Grabbing the handle, he pulled at the large piece of wood and
reentered
his temporary bedroom. Mr. Yuy quickly pulled on a green tanktop and blue pair
of boxers.
Only then did he look in the mirror.
Duo never knew what hit him. The pilot had simply been draped over a chair,
playing
some sort of ninja game on a playstation console. The poor boy. The poor, late,
boy.
Heero began his assault by grabbing his opponent's braid and pulling the
indigo-eyed
pilot to his feet.
"Duo... omaoe o korosu. I have pink hair... and I smell like bubble gum... like
Relena does...
Kisama!!"
Duo eyed Heero nervously as he ranted before his eyes cautiously flickered to
the hat atop
his advesary's head. Moving quickly, Duo had exposed Heero's hair in all of its
pink-spore
glory before the 'perfect soldier' had time to react. As a collective large gasp
was heard from
the three remaining pilots, Duo began to laugh hysterically, a few snickers came
from Wufei.
Trowa snapped a picture with his Triton-brand polaroid camera. (LOL)
Duo, taking Heero's rare moment of embarassment as an opportunity to run away,
quickly vaulted over
a nearby chair, gracefully crashing into the coffee table. As he flew through
the air, his
most present thought was to save the Playstation. With an acrobatic twist that
impressed even
Trowa, Duo avoided hitting the Playstation by mere inches, and landed -though
somewhat clumsily- on
both feet. He sighed audibly in relief.
Blinking once in a state of confusion, Heero sidestepped, quickly noting what
Duo had found
so important to save- the Playstation. *Click* went the gun. *GASP* went the
Duo.
"NO!! Don't do it, Heero!!"
For loss of a better expression there is the following phrase: Playstation go
boom. Duo watched
in traumatic slow motion as his precious console was defigured by several
bullets from
Heero's gun. As a piece was chucked unceremoniously at Duo's head, Heero glared
a vow of hatred
at Duo, and returned to his room.
-----
A few hours later...
As he typed in a message to Dr. J through the EncryptingRCQ system, Heero
frowned slightly, and
glared again at the mirror. 'As if glaring will change anything...' he thought
to himself, closing
his eyes. Knowing he wouldn't be able to retain sanity around Duo in his current
state, he sent
the message, and started an internet search for 'natural hair dyes'.
Five minutes following, the perfect soldier had discovered how to turn his hair
blue, red and blond,
but not brown. For all of his computer skills, he couldn't even find a hair dye.
'If Serena were
around she might know... nande kuso?? Why am I thinking of *that*... she's gone,
and because of
me...'Heero mentally cursed himself for thinking about her... and tried to
convince himself that
the failure of the mission, and not the loss of the girl, was the only thing
bothering him.
It was the only mission he had ever failed, after all. 'Yeah, that's it.' he
thought to himself,
lowering the lid to the computer, eliminating the phosporescence it cast about
the room.
Lying down on the bed, he closed his eyes, entering the realm of much deserved
sleep.
----
When Heero awoke, his clouded eyes caught something small and black next to his
head. Quickly
rolling himself into an upright, standing position, he glared suspiciously at
the object, which
he percieved to be of malicious intent towards his person. Upon closer
inspection, however, he
found it to be... a tape? His curiousity arose, and slightly confused, he rolled
across the bed
and, placing the tape in the player, pressed play. A few seconds later, the
following recording
began.
""Hey Heero!! It's me!"" Heero frowned, recognizing his voice as that of Duo. He
reached for
his gun. ""Ah-ah-ah! Don't go reaching for that gun! Not yet... not until you
hear what I have
to say."" Raising his eyebrows, the boy sat and stared at the wall as the
message continued.
"I figured you'd never sit still long enough for me to say this in person, so I
recorded it.
I think I'll be able to tell whether you've listened to it or not by the
ferocity of your glare.
Hahaha!"" Heero cringed. ""Anyway, the main point of this tape is to tell you to
get yourself
together. You can't keep blaming yourself for, you know, *her* death. I mean,
you've never
really shown any of us emotion, and here you are..."" The voice trailed off as
Heero glared
at the machine. ""Look, I don't know whether you need to be so cold and distant,
or want to
be... or..."" Duo's voice softened.""...or if you just are..."" Heero's eyes
widened as Duo's
voice went on. ""I just don't... just don't do anything stupid, okay, Heero??
It's okay for
you to be emotionless, it's okay for you to be distant. It's not okay for you to
be dead, or,
in a *funk*, yo!"" Duo's voice laughed, a forced laugh.
""So..."" Duo's voice was rough with emotion. ""Anyways, if you've listened this
far, you're
lucky, 'cause now I can tell you this: Look under your bed.""
Glancing 'round suspiciously, Heero, gun in hand, bent down to the floor and
peered into the
darkness under the bed. He could make out the faint outline of a box, and he
reached for it,
pulling it out from the abyss... It was... brown hair dye. He frowned as the
voice continued.
""By the way, that pink stuff is only temporary... REALLY temporary... All you
have to do
is wash it out with hydrogen peroxide and a few eggs. That's actually what's in
the box.""
Lifting the lid of the container, Heero confirmed Duo's admission, though he
cringed mentally
at the thought of eggs in his hair. ""Something--"" Duo's voice was cut off as
Heero pressed
the stop button, and shaking his head, took the contents of the box into the
bathroom.
------------------------------------------------------
The pilots left Quatre's mansion the next day on a mission.
On the way out, Heero grabbed Duo by the neck.
"Duo, ever do anything like that again, and you'll pay for it with your life."
Although he wondered whether Heero was referring to the hair incident or the
tape,
Duo nodded quickly in response, and was released. As the prussian-eyed pilot
turned away,
he grinned. Heero was out of his slump.
-----------
The month following included numerous missions, both in battle and espionage. A
particular mission
found Heero and Duo at a cafe, recounting the day's events. As Duo wolfed down a
sandwich, Heero
stared blankly at a disk he held in his hands.
"So, Heero..." The perfect soldier quickly pocketed the disk before responding.
"Hn?"
"Do ya know what's on the disk??" Duo leaned across the table in a
conspiratorial manner.
"No."
Duo's head fell forward.
"Welllll... don't you even *want* to know??"
"No."
"Oh, for the love of-"
Duo was cut off as a message flashed across both of their transcom devices. They
were to go
back to Quatre's mansion.
"Oh, great..." Duo groaned. "Gee, it was too warm here, anyway." he mumbled
sarcastically as he
signaled for the bill.
"Hn..." Heero raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, just shut up." Duo retorted, through slit eyes.
As the two left, they failed to notice a woman watching them covertly from
another table. As she
sipped a glass of tea, she frowned, and reached for her bill. 'Well, I guess
it's back to Asia,
then.' she thought to herself, smirking.
------------------
Flying their cloaked gundams (in aircraft-mode) through outer space later that
day, Duo was still
pondering the worth of the disks they had stolen. Rather than questioning Heero
more, he recalled
the disk which he himself had stolen, and pulled it out of his pocket. Rarely
were the pilots
instructed to retrieve information in the form of a disk, and Duo was curious.
He looked again at
the label. 'Project Angel Wing...' he thought. 'What the hell does that
mean...??'
As they lowered their gundams into the opened storage areas near Quatre's
mansion, Duo realized
that he was actually quite thirsty. And hungry, too. Forgetting for a moment the
disk, he grabbed
his small travel bag and, shouldering it, climbed up the ladder onto the bright
surface of the
desert vast. Though the day was not windy, the poor pilot was suddenly attacked
by an onslaught
of sand, which came, quite unexpectedly, flying into his eyes. He cursed,
finally understanding
why Quatre always had those weird goggles on hand...
As the one-less-than-a-trio approached the main entrance, Duo ran forward to
knock on the door.
Backing away, he waited beside Heero, until the door swung open a few seconds
later. Looking
at them was a young female, wrapped in traditional Arabian garb. Her hair tied
in a bun, she looked
at them curiously, blocking the entrance to the building. Heero glared as Duo
stepped forward.
"Um, may we come in, pretty lady??" The young woman blushed but did not move.
Duo was at a loss.
"Uhh...."
Heero was about to say something about the situation when the girl was quickly
moved aside by
an older woman. The woman smiled apologetically before greeting them.
"So very sorry. Please come in, comrades of master Quatre." The woman backed out
of the entrance,
gesturing them to come inside. The two men did so, and were soon greeted by
Quatre, who, as
most often, was well collected. Quatre opened the doors to the closest study,
Heero and Duo walked
towards it.
"Would your guests like some tea, Master Quatre?" Upon hearing this, Duo smiled
enthusiastically,
and Heero nodded. Taking their actions as affirmation, Quatre turned back
towards the older woman.
"Yes, tea would be very nice. Thank you, Miss Aria." The older woman smiled,
before turning to
the younger lady she had pulled away from the entrance. A muffled conversation
ensued. Before
the three men entered the opened study, they caught the young lady's distressed
cry of "But I don't
even know where the *kitchen* is...!" Duo looked baffled, as Heero's eyes
widened. That wasn't
something that you heard from from one of Quatre's servants every day... They
shut the doors of the
study behind them.
"So, Heero..." Duo began. "Does your disk involve "Project Angel Wing" as well?"
Heero looked up before nodding in affirmation. "Well, why don't you find out
what it is."
Duo tossed the disk to Heero, who caught it effortlessly.
After entering it into the computer and sending the information the disk
contained to the doctor,
Heero opened up a few of the main files. Scanning through them quickly, his eyes
narrowed.
"Just a bunch of legends... No plans... no mobil suit flaws... nothing."
Quickly pushing in his own disk, Heero frowned, realizing that the same was true
of both disks.
"Damn it... This is all useless."
Following a few moments of silence, Aria and her young charge entered. The young
girl carried a
tray of tea with her, along with four tea cups. Stopping hesitantly near the
pilots' positions,
the girl carefully set down the tray and stood. She smiled nervously at them,
hands folded in
front of her. Quatre looked up, confused, towards Aria. Aria stepped forward
towards Quatre.
"Master Quatre, you do not remember this girl??" Quatre looked at her for a long
moment, before
shaking his head, blushing in embarrassment. "Why, this is Mistress Augustus!
...Your cousin?"
Duo laughed. "You're kidding, right??" Aria looked confused.
"About what, Mr. Maxwell?"
"Hehe... Well, a month or so ago, as I remember it, Augustus was no more that a
week old!"
Heero glared his agreement.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken, Mr. Maxwell. How could she have been a week old
last month?? She's
been alive nearly sixteen years, sir." Smiling her approval, Aria moved to exit.
"Well, I'll just
be leaving now so that you two may catch up. You've always been so close."
"But-" Duo was cut off by Quatre.
"Thank you, Miss Aria." Quatre smiled, and, nodding, Aria closed the door behind
her. Augustus
sat down next to Quatre, looking at them all through crystalline eyes. Quatre
looked uncomfortable.
Heero anything but solved that problem by pointing his gun at the girl.
"Quatre doesn't have a cousin your age. Who are you??" Heero looked at her
intently.
The girl smirked. "I am Augustus."
"Cut the crap, lady." Duo was serious for once.
"I am Serene." Heero's eyes widened.
"What?"
"I am Serena. I am Princess Serenity. And I am about to get mad if you don't put
that gun down,
Heero."
*****************************************
Yays!!! Come on, how happy are ya?! Please review!! Anything you want to see
happen (except
changing the pairing), please tell me about. And, if you want a response to
whatever you write,
PLEASE leave your email address. Thanks, everybody!! If you have questions, I'd
be glad to answer
any that I can.
-August Sere