1 Bravest Eyes
1.1 Chapter 12: Don't Bury Me in the Lost Yesterdays
Kattie
Note: coughs ano… I would prefer it if people would please stop condemning me to hell in reviews ^^*. As mean as my cliffhangers are they do have a purpose. I warn you in advance this is a truly sinister cliffhanger but I've had it planned since the beginning so there's nothing you can do to stop me. (Also- it's kind of pointless to condemn Kattie to hell considering she doesn't BELIEVE in hell ^^*) You can continue to ano… threaten me at penpoint, kidnap me and make me write ^^*, etc. But please do not write violent or hell-sending reviews. Thank you.
Another note: Though most of you probably know this, there are some people who only have knowledge of the dub. Shinigami translates in English to "God of Death". Shinigami was dubbed into the name "The Great Destroyer". I like Shinigami better and so I leave it the same. ^_^
Disclaimer: No… at the present time as I write this on my lonely keyboard, alone in my house… I own nothing but my own heart and soul… But when I take over the world! BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHHAH. coughs (hmm.. Kattie's stealing past disclaimers from other fanfics that have never been put on ff dot net ^^* see how desperate she is?)
In the halls of the "Lost Hunter"
There was a constant tap of Hiiro's shoes hitting the cold cement. He walked quickly toward where their modest ship had connected to the "Lost Hunter" in the same space dock Suki had left from. Still motionless, Quatre was being carried limply in Hiiro's arms. Although Hiiro had obviously never held his blonde comrade before, he could tell that Quatre had lost a lot of weight.
Hiiro held no guilt for killing Kei. He had acted on his emotions at that time and they told him to shoot Kei before Kei shot Quatre. So what if he went to hell for it? Looking down at Quatre's face, Hiiro was sure it was worth condemnation. Sure, Quatre's face was cut and bruised, and his nose was covered with dry blood, but he was alive. As far as Hiiro was concerned, Quatre's life was easily worth eternity in hell. Quatre was alive.
For now.
It seemed as if with every breath, Quatre breathed out more and more of his life. With every deep, painful breath. Even in his unconscious state, Quatre clutched his chest in pain. His face was contorted into one of a thousand emotions, all negative. Hurt, sadness, anger: almost every mirthless emotion possible was painted on his features.
And yet, Quatre was free. There would be no more torture. He would never have to endure the abduction with the million sadistic pains of Kei and his crew ever again. Quatre was free. Now all he had to do was survive, so that he could feel the bliss of making that torment behind him. Leaving it in the past.
Forever.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
On another part of the ship
"A darkly dressed soldier slipped stealthily around each corner, showing great agility and skill. His head was covered with a black baseball cap with his brown, dazzling hair slipping out the end in a trendy braid. His name was: Duo Maxwell, the Shinigami."
At this point in the monologue, Wufei proceeded to smack Duo on the head. "What the hell are you doing?"
Looking somehow like a cat drenched in water, Duo glared over at Wufei. "You stole my 15 minutes of fame."
"I'm the only one here, you idiot!" Wufei snapped. "Now be quiet. We don't know if Hiiro was successful or not."
"Why did you have to come with me?" Duo asked. "Trowa's a lot nicer."
"Trowa didn't trust himself to let any of the captors live," Wufei explained, in a much quieter tone than Duo's, "He was sure he would kill them all."
"So?" Leaning against a wall, Duo stared up at Wufei, "I'd like to kill them too."
"We all would," The Chinese boy pointed out, "But I know I can hold myself back as can Hiiro."
There was a moment of silence as Duo thought this over. He got a serious expression before glaring at Wufei again. "Hey… what about me?"
"You," Wufei grinned slightly, "Probably don't have the self-control. But I'm confident that if the situation comes up, I can easily render you unable to complete the execution."
"…No you couldn't. But it doesn't matter, because I do have the self- contr-"
Wufei clamped a hand over Duo's mouth before he could complete his sentence. There was the obvious sound of footsteps coming down the hallway. One person, walking more fast-paced than anyone normally would. Whoever it was, they were right around the corner, coming fast.
Motioning for Duo to get behind him, Wufei moved right next to the bend in the wall where two met. He fell into fighting stance and listened careful as the person approached.
Three more steps… two… one.
"Hya!"
"Omae o korosu!"
Wufei abruptly stopped his karate chop as Hiiro's gun was placed firmly on his forehead. "Yuy…"
Looking very annoyed, Hiiro brought his gun down. "What the hell were you doing?"
"We came looking for you," Duo explained, "In case you needed help." His eyes dropped to Quatre's inactive body and widened. "Oh God… is… is he…?" Duo's voice trailed off. He couldn't finish the sentence.
"He's alive." Hiiro snapped, angrily. "Barely."
Quatre choked in his unconscious state and began gasping for air again. His fingers dug into his chest as if they were trying to rip his heart out. His eyes squeezed shut even more than they had previously been.
And then he fell silent. So silent, in fact, that he wasn't even breathing at all.
"Damnit!" Hiiro swore, setting him down on the floor.
Duo crossed himself and began praying as Hiiro began to do CPR. Wufei held Quatre's hands away from his chest with all his might, allowing Hiiro to press down on his chest. As Hiiro breathed his own air into Quatre's mouth a third time, Quatre began breathing again.
His breaths were wheezed, but he was breathing.
Wufei let go of Quatre's hands and stepped away. Quatre's arms stayed at his sides. They did not return his hands to his pained chest. Weakly, Quatre blinked a few times before squinting up at his fellow pilots. "Wh-what…?"
"Don't worry, Quatre," Duo grinned down at him with an artificial smile, "Everything's okay now." The smile didn't fool Quatre, for Duo's eyes were filled with tears
"Duo…" Quatre reached up and touched Duo's face. This caused the blonde boy to grin back, though this smile was genuine. "You're… real."
"Of course I'm real." The tears slid down his cheeks as Duo continued to smile his obviously fake smile.
Quatre laughed weakly. "I missed you… all of you." His eyes closed as his energy to remain conscious faded.
"Quatre?" Duo asked, biting his lip to hold back the approaching sobs.
"He's fine, Duo." Wufei replied, putting a hand on Duo's shoulder.
"Thanks…" Duo whispered. This was the first time Duo could recall that Wufei had called him by his first name.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
A small while later
Trowa said nothing when the pilots entered the shuttle with Hiiro carrying Quatre. He acted as if nothing was wrong. As if his mind wasn't screaming with a million different thoughts.
'Don't let them get away with doing this to Quatre. Get revenge, Trowa.'
'What are you waiting for? Go see how Quatre is.'
'This is your fault, you know.'
Dismissing the first two thoughts, Trowa concentrated on the last one. How was what happened to Quatre his fault? He hadn't inflicted any harm on Quatre. It had been the insanely cruel crew of the "Lost Hunter". They had hurt Quatre. They'd kidnapped him.
Then why did he still feel so much guilt?
Perhaps it wasn't what he did, but what he DIDN'T do that was haunting him. Trowa hadn't been able to protect his blonde friend from his captors. He'd allowed them to take Quatre. Allowed them to hurt him.
"Head for the nearest colony," Hiiro ordered, interrupting Trowa's musings, "We need to get him to a hospital."
Surprised, Trowa turned to look at Quatre. He hadn't noticed that his friend was unconscious. The guilt seemed to triple. How could he not have noticed? Staring at Quatre, Trowa felt incredibly useless. There was nothing he could do before. He might as well have not been there.
'But you can be useful now.'
In realization, Trowa looked back at the controls of the ship. 'If I hurry, he'll have a better chance of survival.' "Sit down." Trowa dictated. The ship shot into motion across the void of space.
Like a flame wandering across an unlit room.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Colony 04
It was strange that the colony closest was Quatre's home colony. They made very good time to get to Level 04 Colony Cluster. The ride hadn't taken even an hour. Trowa had drove the ship like a madman. Like a drunk in space. But he had piloted well, they were where they needed to be.
The doctors had immediately taken Quatre to the Emergency Room. They couldn't tell what, but something was polluting his lungs like a poison. It swept over his respiratory system like a dark cloud, bringing coughing and lack of breath. Whatever this cloud was, it was killing Quatre. Unless they could figure out what it was, Quatre was going to die.
Mr. Winner had shown up with a few of Quatre's sisters. He had seemed distant and afraid but he spoke with a friendly tone. With forced happiness, he smiled at them and laughed at Duo's feeble attempt at joking to lighten the mood.
Cindy kept smiling up at Mr. Winner encouragingly and held his hand. "Are you okay, daddy?" She asked a few times.
Both times he had merely nodded.
'She shouldn't be worried about me,' Mr. Winner thought, looking at Quatre's fellow pilots, 'She should worry about them. They're taking this far harder than I am.'
It was true. Duo kept making jokes, and laughing, even though his eyes shone with the sadness inside. He tried to be happy as hard as he could, but everyone could see that he was failing. He had even tried drinking caffeinated coffee in hopes of getting hyper thus leading to false joy. When that failed, his depression was more obvious than ever.
Wufei was doing a wordsearch. He didn't look up at any of them. He just kept searching for the words, as if finding them would help the doctors find what was wrong with Quatre. Every time he found the word he was searching for, he'd circle it and sigh. The book was running out of puzzles, he'd completed almost all of them.
Hiiro paced the room, back and fourth, continuously. Every five minutes or so he'd ask the nurse at the counter if they'd found out what was wrong with Quatre. Every five minutes or so, he received the same melancholy answer, and continued pacing. As the minutes passed, his walking grew faster.
Trowa just stared at the door to the ER. Staring with his penetrating eyes. It seemed like he could see through the thick door and into the room where Quatre was being examined. He stared hard, never blinking. His eyes were narrow but focused. When they came out, he was the first to notice.
"Are any of you Duo?" The doctor asked.
Setting his fifth cup of coffee down, Duo stood up. "I'm Duo." He answered.
The doctor smiled at Duo with a friendly air. "He's delusional but he's awake. Mr. Winner keeps saying your name. Maybe if you see him, he'll be able to tell us what has happened to his lungs?"
Jealousy swept over the other pilots as Duo was ushered into the ER. Why hadn't Quatre called their names? Why was it Duo? Even as they mourned his condition, they wondered this. They watched Duo until he disappeared into the room.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
ER
"Duo is real." Quatre repeated, looking at the doctor nearest to him with a smile. "He is real."
Duo walked to the side of the bed and kneeled down by Quatre. "Hey, buddy. I'm right here."
"See," Quatre looked from the doctor to Duo, "Duo is real."
"I understand that, Quatre," the doctor replied, "Do you remember what happened? Why are your lungs hurting?"
"Duo said he was real and he was." Quatre said, ignoring the question in his delusional state.
"Of course I'm real," Duo grinned at Quatre, "Do you remember what happened to your lungs, Quatre?"
"It was a tank," Quatre answered, "The drowned me in the liquid. It smelled horrible. They laughed. But they weren't real. It never happened. Only Duo is real."
"Thank you, Mr. Maxwell," The doctor led Duo to the door, "That's all we need now."
That was it. His only time with Quatre. Nothing could have rattled his nerves more than seeing Quatre like that. Not even the 6th cup of coffee that was about to follow.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Hours Later
After working in the ER for hours, a doctor finally came out to speak with Quatre's friends and family. She walked slowly with a foreboding around her. No one knew if they wanted her to come or to stay away forever. It all depended on what she had to say. Was Quatre alright? Or was he…
She reached them and stopped. "Are you here with Quatre Winner?"
There were murmurs of "yes" and "yeah". Some of them merely nodded. It was a tense moment.
"I have the results of his surgery," She looked ahead, straight at Trowa, "Mr. Winner-"
End of Chapter
Whoa… midsentence and everything. Kattie can be so cruel. One fateful chapter remaining. Will Quatre survive? Or will there be even more suffering? How cruel is Kattie? Stay tuned for the next episode of… wait a second… I mean… Last chapter should be up soon. ^^ Hope you liked this one.
Reviews=Inspiration= sooner last chapter. Please review!
1.1 Chapter 12: Don't Bury Me in the Lost Yesterdays
Kattie
Note: coughs ano… I would prefer it if people would please stop condemning me to hell in reviews ^^*. As mean as my cliffhangers are they do have a purpose. I warn you in advance this is a truly sinister cliffhanger but I've had it planned since the beginning so there's nothing you can do to stop me. (Also- it's kind of pointless to condemn Kattie to hell considering she doesn't BELIEVE in hell ^^*) You can continue to ano… threaten me at penpoint, kidnap me and make me write ^^*, etc. But please do not write violent or hell-sending reviews. Thank you.
Another note: Though most of you probably know this, there are some people who only have knowledge of the dub. Shinigami translates in English to "God of Death". Shinigami was dubbed into the name "The Great Destroyer". I like Shinigami better and so I leave it the same. ^_^
Disclaimer: No… at the present time as I write this on my lonely keyboard, alone in my house… I own nothing but my own heart and soul… But when I take over the world! BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHHAH. coughs (hmm.. Kattie's stealing past disclaimers from other fanfics that have never been put on ff dot net ^^* see how desperate she is?)
In the halls of the "Lost Hunter"
There was a constant tap of Hiiro's shoes hitting the cold cement. He walked quickly toward where their modest ship had connected to the "Lost Hunter" in the same space dock Suki had left from. Still motionless, Quatre was being carried limply in Hiiro's arms. Although Hiiro had obviously never held his blonde comrade before, he could tell that Quatre had lost a lot of weight.
Hiiro held no guilt for killing Kei. He had acted on his emotions at that time and they told him to shoot Kei before Kei shot Quatre. So what if he went to hell for it? Looking down at Quatre's face, Hiiro was sure it was worth condemnation. Sure, Quatre's face was cut and bruised, and his nose was covered with dry blood, but he was alive. As far as Hiiro was concerned, Quatre's life was easily worth eternity in hell. Quatre was alive.
For now.
It seemed as if with every breath, Quatre breathed out more and more of his life. With every deep, painful breath. Even in his unconscious state, Quatre clutched his chest in pain. His face was contorted into one of a thousand emotions, all negative. Hurt, sadness, anger: almost every mirthless emotion possible was painted on his features.
And yet, Quatre was free. There would be no more torture. He would never have to endure the abduction with the million sadistic pains of Kei and his crew ever again. Quatre was free. Now all he had to do was survive, so that he could feel the bliss of making that torment behind him. Leaving it in the past.
Forever.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
On another part of the ship
"A darkly dressed soldier slipped stealthily around each corner, showing great agility and skill. His head was covered with a black baseball cap with his brown, dazzling hair slipping out the end in a trendy braid. His name was: Duo Maxwell, the Shinigami."
At this point in the monologue, Wufei proceeded to smack Duo on the head. "What the hell are you doing?"
Looking somehow like a cat drenched in water, Duo glared over at Wufei. "You stole my 15 minutes of fame."
"I'm the only one here, you idiot!" Wufei snapped. "Now be quiet. We don't know if Hiiro was successful or not."
"Why did you have to come with me?" Duo asked. "Trowa's a lot nicer."
"Trowa didn't trust himself to let any of the captors live," Wufei explained, in a much quieter tone than Duo's, "He was sure he would kill them all."
"So?" Leaning against a wall, Duo stared up at Wufei, "I'd like to kill them too."
"We all would," The Chinese boy pointed out, "But I know I can hold myself back as can Hiiro."
There was a moment of silence as Duo thought this over. He got a serious expression before glaring at Wufei again. "Hey… what about me?"
"You," Wufei grinned slightly, "Probably don't have the self-control. But I'm confident that if the situation comes up, I can easily render you unable to complete the execution."
"…No you couldn't. But it doesn't matter, because I do have the self- contr-"
Wufei clamped a hand over Duo's mouth before he could complete his sentence. There was the obvious sound of footsteps coming down the hallway. One person, walking more fast-paced than anyone normally would. Whoever it was, they were right around the corner, coming fast.
Motioning for Duo to get behind him, Wufei moved right next to the bend in the wall where two met. He fell into fighting stance and listened careful as the person approached.
Three more steps… two… one.
"Hya!"
"Omae o korosu!"
Wufei abruptly stopped his karate chop as Hiiro's gun was placed firmly on his forehead. "Yuy…"
Looking very annoyed, Hiiro brought his gun down. "What the hell were you doing?"
"We came looking for you," Duo explained, "In case you needed help." His eyes dropped to Quatre's inactive body and widened. "Oh God… is… is he…?" Duo's voice trailed off. He couldn't finish the sentence.
"He's alive." Hiiro snapped, angrily. "Barely."
Quatre choked in his unconscious state and began gasping for air again. His fingers dug into his chest as if they were trying to rip his heart out. His eyes squeezed shut even more than they had previously been.
And then he fell silent. So silent, in fact, that he wasn't even breathing at all.
"Damnit!" Hiiro swore, setting him down on the floor.
Duo crossed himself and began praying as Hiiro began to do CPR. Wufei held Quatre's hands away from his chest with all his might, allowing Hiiro to press down on his chest. As Hiiro breathed his own air into Quatre's mouth a third time, Quatre began breathing again.
His breaths were wheezed, but he was breathing.
Wufei let go of Quatre's hands and stepped away. Quatre's arms stayed at his sides. They did not return his hands to his pained chest. Weakly, Quatre blinked a few times before squinting up at his fellow pilots. "Wh-what…?"
"Don't worry, Quatre," Duo grinned down at him with an artificial smile, "Everything's okay now." The smile didn't fool Quatre, for Duo's eyes were filled with tears
"Duo…" Quatre reached up and touched Duo's face. This caused the blonde boy to grin back, though this smile was genuine. "You're… real."
"Of course I'm real." The tears slid down his cheeks as Duo continued to smile his obviously fake smile.
Quatre laughed weakly. "I missed you… all of you." His eyes closed as his energy to remain conscious faded.
"Quatre?" Duo asked, biting his lip to hold back the approaching sobs.
"He's fine, Duo." Wufei replied, putting a hand on Duo's shoulder.
"Thanks…" Duo whispered. This was the first time Duo could recall that Wufei had called him by his first name.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
A small while later
Trowa said nothing when the pilots entered the shuttle with Hiiro carrying Quatre. He acted as if nothing was wrong. As if his mind wasn't screaming with a million different thoughts.
'Don't let them get away with doing this to Quatre. Get revenge, Trowa.'
'What are you waiting for? Go see how Quatre is.'
'This is your fault, you know.'
Dismissing the first two thoughts, Trowa concentrated on the last one. How was what happened to Quatre his fault? He hadn't inflicted any harm on Quatre. It had been the insanely cruel crew of the "Lost Hunter". They had hurt Quatre. They'd kidnapped him.
Then why did he still feel so much guilt?
Perhaps it wasn't what he did, but what he DIDN'T do that was haunting him. Trowa hadn't been able to protect his blonde friend from his captors. He'd allowed them to take Quatre. Allowed them to hurt him.
"Head for the nearest colony," Hiiro ordered, interrupting Trowa's musings, "We need to get him to a hospital."
Surprised, Trowa turned to look at Quatre. He hadn't noticed that his friend was unconscious. The guilt seemed to triple. How could he not have noticed? Staring at Quatre, Trowa felt incredibly useless. There was nothing he could do before. He might as well have not been there.
'But you can be useful now.'
In realization, Trowa looked back at the controls of the ship. 'If I hurry, he'll have a better chance of survival.' "Sit down." Trowa dictated. The ship shot into motion across the void of space.
Like a flame wandering across an unlit room.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Colony 04
It was strange that the colony closest was Quatre's home colony. They made very good time to get to Level 04 Colony Cluster. The ride hadn't taken even an hour. Trowa had drove the ship like a madman. Like a drunk in space. But he had piloted well, they were where they needed to be.
The doctors had immediately taken Quatre to the Emergency Room. They couldn't tell what, but something was polluting his lungs like a poison. It swept over his respiratory system like a dark cloud, bringing coughing and lack of breath. Whatever this cloud was, it was killing Quatre. Unless they could figure out what it was, Quatre was going to die.
Mr. Winner had shown up with a few of Quatre's sisters. He had seemed distant and afraid but he spoke with a friendly tone. With forced happiness, he smiled at them and laughed at Duo's feeble attempt at joking to lighten the mood.
Cindy kept smiling up at Mr. Winner encouragingly and held his hand. "Are you okay, daddy?" She asked a few times.
Both times he had merely nodded.
'She shouldn't be worried about me,' Mr. Winner thought, looking at Quatre's fellow pilots, 'She should worry about them. They're taking this far harder than I am.'
It was true. Duo kept making jokes, and laughing, even though his eyes shone with the sadness inside. He tried to be happy as hard as he could, but everyone could see that he was failing. He had even tried drinking caffeinated coffee in hopes of getting hyper thus leading to false joy. When that failed, his depression was more obvious than ever.
Wufei was doing a wordsearch. He didn't look up at any of them. He just kept searching for the words, as if finding them would help the doctors find what was wrong with Quatre. Every time he found the word he was searching for, he'd circle it and sigh. The book was running out of puzzles, he'd completed almost all of them.
Hiiro paced the room, back and fourth, continuously. Every five minutes or so he'd ask the nurse at the counter if they'd found out what was wrong with Quatre. Every five minutes or so, he received the same melancholy answer, and continued pacing. As the minutes passed, his walking grew faster.
Trowa just stared at the door to the ER. Staring with his penetrating eyes. It seemed like he could see through the thick door and into the room where Quatre was being examined. He stared hard, never blinking. His eyes were narrow but focused. When they came out, he was the first to notice.
"Are any of you Duo?" The doctor asked.
Setting his fifth cup of coffee down, Duo stood up. "I'm Duo." He answered.
The doctor smiled at Duo with a friendly air. "He's delusional but he's awake. Mr. Winner keeps saying your name. Maybe if you see him, he'll be able to tell us what has happened to his lungs?"
Jealousy swept over the other pilots as Duo was ushered into the ER. Why hadn't Quatre called their names? Why was it Duo? Even as they mourned his condition, they wondered this. They watched Duo until he disappeared into the room.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
ER
"Duo is real." Quatre repeated, looking at the doctor nearest to him with a smile. "He is real."
Duo walked to the side of the bed and kneeled down by Quatre. "Hey, buddy. I'm right here."
"See," Quatre looked from the doctor to Duo, "Duo is real."
"I understand that, Quatre," the doctor replied, "Do you remember what happened? Why are your lungs hurting?"
"Duo said he was real and he was." Quatre said, ignoring the question in his delusional state.
"Of course I'm real," Duo grinned at Quatre, "Do you remember what happened to your lungs, Quatre?"
"It was a tank," Quatre answered, "The drowned me in the liquid. It smelled horrible. They laughed. But they weren't real. It never happened. Only Duo is real."
"Thank you, Mr. Maxwell," The doctor led Duo to the door, "That's all we need now."
That was it. His only time with Quatre. Nothing could have rattled his nerves more than seeing Quatre like that. Not even the 6th cup of coffee that was about to follow.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Hours Later
After working in the ER for hours, a doctor finally came out to speak with Quatre's friends and family. She walked slowly with a foreboding around her. No one knew if they wanted her to come or to stay away forever. It all depended on what she had to say. Was Quatre alright? Or was he…
She reached them and stopped. "Are you here with Quatre Winner?"
There were murmurs of "yes" and "yeah". Some of them merely nodded. It was a tense moment.
"I have the results of his surgery," She looked ahead, straight at Trowa, "Mr. Winner-"
End of Chapter
Whoa… midsentence and everything. Kattie can be so cruel. One fateful chapter remaining. Will Quatre survive? Or will there be even more suffering? How cruel is Kattie? Stay tuned for the next episode of… wait a second… I mean… Last chapter should be up soon. ^^ Hope you liked this one.
Reviews=Inspiration= sooner last chapter. Please review!