He was furious and Shane knew it. He had killed many of them for messing up
before, and deep inside Shane was afraid he'd kill him as well.
"How…could you let them…escape?" the shadow growled through clenched teeth. His voice was controlled; it was taking a lot of self control not to break the neck of the boy in front of him.
"They were protected by gundams" Shane replied shakily in his defense.
"I know that, you fool!" he bellowed and slammed his fist on the desk, cracking the wood. His control on his anger was slipping. "The most significant part of the plan is going as intended. We'll attack soon"
"But-" he opened his mouth, but decided not to push his luck "Yes, sir"
* * *
Confusion clouded her brain when Trin woke up the following day. She remembered falling asleep in Wing Zero's cockpit and a slight memory of waking up when Heero carried her out of the gundam lingered as well. But as far as she could tell, she was in neither of those places anymore. Sitting up and looking around the room, she noticed it had another bed alongside the other wall, and upon seeing Heero's backpack next to it, she guessed he was her roommate. 'That's strange' she thought 'why on earth would they pair me with Heero?' She had a feeling Acire had something to do with this.
Her right shoulder was sour and when she turned to look at it, she realized with surprise that she was wearing a jacket. With a closer look, she saw that it was Heero's. She blinked in bewilderment and blushed slightly. It had kept her from freezing, but she did realize how it must have looked. To Acire anyway.
With a faint smile nevertheless, she pulled it off. When she examined her shoulder she saw that a bruise was spreading over her skin where Heero had grabbed it last night. It looked like an ugly purple flower blooming on her shoulder. Here and there were red spots where the skin was damaged especially bad. She frowned in irritation. This would raise unwanted questions.
Clearing the thoughts out of her head for the time being, she crawled out of bed. Realizing she had no idea as to what time it was, she looked out the window. The sun was well on its way down, so it must have been late afternoon.
After looking through the clothes she had time to pack, she chose a pair of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt that covered her shoulder where it was hurt. Then after slipping on a pair of flip-flops, she walked out of the room and made her way downstairs.
The house was quiet and the hallway was already slightly dim. It looked deserted. Just as she thought that, she walked into the living room and found Heero typing on his laptop as usual.
"Hey" she said quietly as she dug her hands into her pockets uneasily.
"Hi" he replied, his expression stoic as usual; but as he looked up he noted that she was wearing a pretty conserved shirt for a warm day such as this.
"So where is everyone?" Trin asked after a moment of silence.
"They went down to the beach" Heero replied without taking his eyes off the computer screen.
"Oh"
She stood for a moment then started toward the door. Seeing this, Heero groaned in frustration and after closing the laptop stood up, following her.
They made their way out of the house and down the dirt path toward the beach; Trin taking off her shoes as they stepped onto the sand. The view was gorgeous. The setting sun colored the tips of the clouds pink and orange; even the ocean had a golden glow to it. The water was calm and the waves splashed onto the shore lazily.
On the sand, not far from the water, was a blanket. Acire and Duo were sitting on it, an open picnic basket next to them. Quatre and Trowa were throwing a Frisbee back and forth, and Wufei could be seen walking the shoreline in the distance. They all looked so normal.
Duo waved to them as she and Heero approached, and Trin waved back halfheartedly. Things have been tense between her and Duo since that day when she had asked him about Heero.
As they reached the blanked, Trin sat down next to Acire and snatched a handful of chips from her plate as the girl protested.
"Hey, get your own!" she huffed.
"I'm hungry!" Trin said defensively and noticed Heero watching her as she put a chip in her mouth, "What, I can't eat now?"
"Hn" was the usual reply.
She rolled her eyes, knowing perfectly well what he was thinking. Junk food wasn't healthy, it wouldn't help her any with training; same as usual.
Ignoring it, she swallowed another chip. It wasn't like she lived on them.
"So, you slept well?" Duo asked, a grin on his face.
"Yeah, fine" she answered as she grabbed a Pepsi from the cooler and opened it. Only then did she become aware of his mischievous expression.
"What?" she inquired.
"Nothing" the American shook his head and proceeded with eating his sandwich.
Trin looked up at Heero who was looming over them.
"Sit down. You're making me nervous" she said and he complied, sitting down next to her.
In seconds, Duo pulled out a camera.
"Maxwell…" Heero growled.
"Aw come on, Hee-man. One picture" Duo whined.
Heero was about to answer, but thought better of it. If he didn't argue, he wouldn't have to listen to Duo's whining.
"Fine..." he mumbled and Duo grinned.
"Okay, get up. You too Trin"
"Hm?" the girl asked confused, but before she knew what was happening, Acire pulled her up and practically shoved her into Heero. She lost her balance, but Heero caught her just in time and then restrained her as she lunged for her friend.
"Okay, Trin move closer" Duo commanded as he looked through the camera's lens.
Grumbling something under her breath, she pulled out of Heero's grasp and did as told. After a few more adjustments, the shot was finally ready. In the end, they ended up standing extremely close to each other with the ocean behind them. Trin smiled sweetly, while Heero remained stoic. To a stranger, they would appear an odd couple.
Finally happy with the shot, Duo snapped two pictures.
"You said one picture" Heero glowered at Duo as the two photographs slid out of the camera.
"Oh get over it" Trin told him as she took one of the pictures from Duo. Heero glared at her, and Duo edged away to play with a spare Frisbee with Acire.
Trin sat back down on the blanket and after a moment, and so did Heero. She looked at the picture as it developed in the light and tucked it away into her back pocket.
Suddenly as she reached for her soda, something hard hit her in the back of the head. She saw colors and when she looked up; she saw a shadow behind Heero. It had a knife in its hand. She was about to cry out to him, when the image swirled and she saw more shadows. But the next second her vision returned to normal and she whirled around and glared at a sheepish looking Duo.
"Heh…sorry!" he called as she jumped to her feet.
"Maxwell!!!" she bellowed and chased after him. It was hard running in the sand, but it was worth it.
Duo yelped and took off as well, all while Acire was nearly on the ground in fits of laughter.
Heero watched with amusement as Trin chased down Duo. He also noted with satisfaction that her speed and agility have improved. He continued watching as she tackled him and rubbed his nose in the sand, the American screaming protests as his precious braid fell into the water.
* * *
That evening the weather had changed drastically. The skies were dark and the rain poured non-stop. The wind howled, and hurled water against the windows, threatening to break them.
Everyone was gathered in the living room in front of the TV, except for Heero who was fixing up his laptop in the kitchen. Suddenly the lights flickered and went out. Outside, lightning flashed and thunder boomed.
"Oh this is just great" Trin sighed.
Acire, who was in the process of switching seats with Trowa, tripped over his leg and fell onto Trin. The girl hissed in pain as Acire's elbow pressed into her hurt shoulder painfully.
"Baka!" she swore as she pushed her friend off of her roughly.
Acire glared at her in the darkness.
"Heero, stop teaching her these words before she chokes on one" she growled.
"Hn?" Heero inquired as he walked into the room.
"No, better I choke you" Trin snapped as she stood up and headed up the stairs to her room.
When Heero walked into their room about half an hour later, he was surprised to find the entire room covered with lit candles. Trin sat on her bed leaning against the wall and sketched something in a notebook. She looked up as he entered.
"The power's out, remember" she explained as she saw him looking around the room, and he nodded silently.
"What are you doing?" he asked and she looked up with surprise.
"Sketching"
"I can see that. Sketching what?" he said as he walked up closer.
Trin blushed faintly, but handed him the sketchpad nonetheless.
Heero's eyes widened as he saw the drawing was of himself at his laptop. The picture looked incredibly lifelike.
"I started it the other the day at the base," she explained awkwardly "I was bored"
He nodded and after another moment handed her back the sketchpad.
"It's very good"
"Thanks" she smiled and watched as he walked to his bed and pulled off his shirt, then grabbed a towel from the closet. She looked away in embarrassment as she caught herself admiring his highly developed muscles. Heero walked out of the room and headed for the shower.
When he returned, Trin was still working on her drawing, but she had changed into her pajamas. Her pajama top was spaghetti strapped, and revealed her injured shoulder. Heero's heart sank as he realized he must've done that when he grabbed her last night on the deck. Looking away, he walked to his bed.
As he was putting away his laptop he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around. Trin was standing in front of him. She pressed his jacket into his hands. He looked at it in confusion at first, he had completely forgotten she still had it.
"Thanks" she said and walked back to her bed. She was just pulling back the covers when Heero spoke again.
"Why did you ask Duo about me?"
She froze. Her blood seemed to chill and she thought her heart had stopped.
"How did you know?" her voice was hoarse and she hoped it didn't betray her inward panic.
"Don't avoid the question"
She winced inwardly at the coldness of his voice.
"Because you wouldn't tell me" came the surprisingly calm answer.
The next thing she knew, she was slammed into the wall roughly. She gasped as she tried to catch her breath.
"I'm only going to say this once. This is none of your concern" Heero hissed, his features dark in the candlelight.
This time she was angry. She was tired of him pushing her around. Hurting her. She was only worried about him, that's all. It's because of consequences like this that she never really got close to anyone. Didn't want to care as to what happened to anyone or what they did. But with Heero it was different. She couldn't help but care.
With strength she didn't know she had she pushed him away from her and he staggered back in surprise.
"Don't touch me," she sputtered. "Don't ever touch me"
Nothingness was gone from Heero's eyes and replaced by surprise, with a trace of anger lingering as well.
Trin glared at him, her face twisted with fury. His eyes wondered to her shoulder again and that same sinking feeling returned.
"Why can't you just accept that I only wanted to help you? God knows why, because you sure don't deserve it!" she spat as she glared at him.
With that she stormed past him and after hastily blowing out all the candles, crawled into bed and turned her back to him. Her anger was already fading and she felt remorse. It hurt her to say that to him, but that's how she felt deep down. Curling up into a ball, she tried to sleep.
Heero was left standing in the dark. After a few minutes, he snapped out of his daze and heavily walked to his bed. He had lost it again and he didn't want to admit it, but what she said had actually touched a nerve.
* * *
Trin didn't know how long she's been drifting in and out of sleep, but by his even breathing she could tell Heero was asleep. She was angry, upset and confused all at once. On top of it all, she was cold. She didn't dare to look around the room, because every time she did she saw shadows reaching for her. Or at least, she thought she did.
That caught her attention and she paused to think about it. Her brain has been playing tricks on her ever since they began living with the pilots. Was she really going insane, or did Wufei poison her? She mentally smacked herself for thinking stupid thoughts. They might've had their differences, but he wouldn't go as far as killing her. Just yet, anyway.
It had happened three times, she realized as she thought back. The very first time, after she's had the dream about Heero. Again the morning after she fell asleep in his room; and finally, today on the beach. So far it had happened with only Heero, but she wondered if it would happen with the others as well. She hoped it didn't. Heero could protect himself the best out of all of them, but if it happened with Acire she could kill her.
The smart thing to do was probably to tell the others, then again, she was never the one to do the 'smart' thing. It was probably only her imagination and wasn't worth to bother them, she tried to convince herself.
As a bolt of lightning lit up the sky she unintentionally opened her eyes. Her mouth opened and a long, blood-curling scream escaped her throat.
A shadow stood over her, a gun in its hand pointing directly to her head. As lightning flashed once more, she saw that it was Heero.
* * *
Heero was jolted awake by a loud scream. He knew it was Trin immediately and in a flash he was next to her bed. She pushed away from him as he tried to grab her shoulders.
"Don't hurt me," she whispered. "I'm sorry I went behind your back and talked to Duo. Just don't kill me"
His eyes widened.
"Trin, what are you talking about?"
He saw her hands grip the blanket so tightly her nails tore holes in the fabric.
Several pairs of feet pounded down the hall and someone knocked on the door heavily.
"What's going on?" he heard Acire ask anxiously.
"Are you guys alright?" Quatre called through the door.
"Fine. You can leave" Heero called back. He wanted to deal with this himself.
There was grumbling and then the voices faded. When he turned back to Trin, he saw her trembling in the corner of her bed.
She watched him through her hair that fell over her face as he walked closer. When he was inches from her, she suddenly leaped off the bed in a catlike motion and tackled him to the ground. He grabbed her wrists just as she was about to attack him. Her fingers were curled inward, her long nails ready to assail. She struggled in his grasp, but he held her firmly.
Suddenly lightning flashed once again and she froze. Her auburn eyes stared at him in confusion. When she realized what position they were in, confusion was replaced by anger once again and she ripped her hands out of his.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she hissed as she climbed to her feet "What part of "Don't ever touch me" did you not understand?"
He glared at her as he stood up as well and grabbed her elbow as she turned to leave.
"Trin, what's going on?" he demanded as he spun her around to face him.
"I don't know" she said plainly and kept her eyes on the floor.
He stared at her skeptically.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you" she added quietly.
His fingers let go of her arm and his hand fell to his side limply. He then did something only Heero could do at a time like this. He went back to bed.
"Go back to sleep" he said over his shoulder.
Trin watched as he got under the covers and turned his head so that he wasn't facing her. She wasn't sure exactly of what she did, and it frightened her. She recalled seeing a shadow standing over her and then her mind was blank. The next memory was of her and Heero on the floor; him restraining her.
Almost against her will she walked over to his bed and sat on the edge gingerly.
"Heero, what's happening to me?"
He turned to face her. In the brief light of a lighting bolt he saw the inward fear that was radiating off of her. The fear of yourself; not knowing what you might do next.
He sat up as she spoke again.
"Will you make sure I don't hurt anyone? Please" her voice was calm, but she was terrified on the inside. She always liked being in control, and more often than not she was. It scared her not to have power over of her own body.
Heero nodded silently.
"Thank you" she whispered.
Heero then did something completely out of character. He wrapped his arms around her. The hug was awkward and unpracticed, but it comforted her. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. He made her feel safe and she appreciated that more than anything at the moment.
But when he hugged her, her body stiffened reflexively. She didn't notice, but Heero did. He lifted her head up and looked in her eyes, searching for some kind of answer. He noticed she would never as much as sit too close to someone, but this was new.
Tears burned her eyes for the first time in years and she blinked harshly trying to hold them back. A lone tear escaped and she didn't realize it until she felt Heero's rough hand brush across her cheek. Feeling him do this scared her more than anything else could have ever done. She felt her shaky hand slowly lead its way up to his and grab a hold of it tightly pulling it away from her face, yet feeling as if it wasn't her body moving. Heero's eyes widened for the moment, expecting her to attack him again. Afraid that he did something wrong. And to tell the truth, he wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing. He wasn't sure *what* he was doing.
She didn't make another move except for her eyes going wild, searching his face for something, even she didn't know what. So lost in her own thoughts, she didn't realize she was moving towards him until she felt his hot breath beating off her face. It was then that she came back to reality and saw his face was only a few inches away from hers; his Prussian eyes studying her face closely.
She immediately looked away, taking her hand with her, not believing what she was feeling.
Heero's hand reached up and touched her shoulder gently.
"I'm sorry," he whispered and she turned back to look at him.
"No, I'm sorry. For saying all that to you," she replied, her voice wavering as if she wasn't used to saying those words.
"I deserved it," he admitted and she smiled faintly.
"You did" she laughed quietly.
"Hey!" he seemed almost offended and it amused her.
"Be happy Mr. Yuy. You're the first person to receive an apology from yours truly," she said mischievously as she nudged his shoulder playfully.
"I'm honored" he replied as a corner of his mouth curled upward, resembling a shadow of a grin.
"What's this? Heero Yuy has a sense of humor?" she laughed as she smiled fully.
"There's a lot about me you don't know" he said darkly and her smile faded.
"Care to tell me?" she asked for what seemed like the millionth time. "No pressure"
He remained silent, but she noticed his eyes cloud over as if he was reliving a memory. His hand twitched slightly and she grasped it tightly.
"Is it about…Relena?" she asked softly. It was difficult to pronounce that name. She somehow felt that Relena had seen a side of Heero that she hadn't, and she was jealous. Pausing to think about it she realized that her thought was affirmative. She was jealous. Immediately she felt bad. Relena Peacecraft was dead and here she was, hating her.
"Yeah" Heero suddenly said.
Trin looked at him in surprise.
"Did you love her?" The question just slipped out and she covered her mouth quickly. But she didn't have a chance to take it back.
"I don't know" Heero said, his eyes still staring into space "I might have"
Even though she knew Relena was dead, hearing that hurt her. He said he might've loved her. Well, Trin wouldn't be surprised if he still did.
"She died because of me." he added bluntly. "I was supposed to be on the shuttle, but last second I had to leave. He was after me. That's why he crashed shuttle. But I wasn't on it, and Relena died instead"
Trin listened intently, not daring to interrupt. She suddenly understood why he didn't want to be called the "Perfect Soldier". It all made sense now.
Looking down, she realized she was still holding his hand, his fingers were clenching hers firmly.
"It wasn't your fault" she told him, when he fell silent. He didn't respond. "It wasn't your fault, Heero," she repeated as she kissed his hand and pressed against his chest, hoping to console him and relieve his pain.
Heero absently squeezed her hand. He was still reliving the nightmare.
A/N: Okay, that was my attempt at fluff people. I know I'm hopeless at it, but I tried. So tell me what you think, kay? Most importantly, I tried making it fluffy and still keeping Heero in character. Did I succeed? Because I'm thinking of revising it. Sarah, thanks so much again! ^.~ Oh and Alexia Goddess, you will never believe how happy I am I sent that chapter to you! ::hugs:: ^^; I'll explain later!
Ja all!
Luv,
~Arion~
"How…could you let them…escape?" the shadow growled through clenched teeth. His voice was controlled; it was taking a lot of self control not to break the neck of the boy in front of him.
"They were protected by gundams" Shane replied shakily in his defense.
"I know that, you fool!" he bellowed and slammed his fist on the desk, cracking the wood. His control on his anger was slipping. "The most significant part of the plan is going as intended. We'll attack soon"
"But-" he opened his mouth, but decided not to push his luck "Yes, sir"
* * *
Confusion clouded her brain when Trin woke up the following day. She remembered falling asleep in Wing Zero's cockpit and a slight memory of waking up when Heero carried her out of the gundam lingered as well. But as far as she could tell, she was in neither of those places anymore. Sitting up and looking around the room, she noticed it had another bed alongside the other wall, and upon seeing Heero's backpack next to it, she guessed he was her roommate. 'That's strange' she thought 'why on earth would they pair me with Heero?' She had a feeling Acire had something to do with this.
Her right shoulder was sour and when she turned to look at it, she realized with surprise that she was wearing a jacket. With a closer look, she saw that it was Heero's. She blinked in bewilderment and blushed slightly. It had kept her from freezing, but she did realize how it must have looked. To Acire anyway.
With a faint smile nevertheless, she pulled it off. When she examined her shoulder she saw that a bruise was spreading over her skin where Heero had grabbed it last night. It looked like an ugly purple flower blooming on her shoulder. Here and there were red spots where the skin was damaged especially bad. She frowned in irritation. This would raise unwanted questions.
Clearing the thoughts out of her head for the time being, she crawled out of bed. Realizing she had no idea as to what time it was, she looked out the window. The sun was well on its way down, so it must have been late afternoon.
After looking through the clothes she had time to pack, she chose a pair of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt that covered her shoulder where it was hurt. Then after slipping on a pair of flip-flops, she walked out of the room and made her way downstairs.
The house was quiet and the hallway was already slightly dim. It looked deserted. Just as she thought that, she walked into the living room and found Heero typing on his laptop as usual.
"Hey" she said quietly as she dug her hands into her pockets uneasily.
"Hi" he replied, his expression stoic as usual; but as he looked up he noted that she was wearing a pretty conserved shirt for a warm day such as this.
"So where is everyone?" Trin asked after a moment of silence.
"They went down to the beach" Heero replied without taking his eyes off the computer screen.
"Oh"
She stood for a moment then started toward the door. Seeing this, Heero groaned in frustration and after closing the laptop stood up, following her.
They made their way out of the house and down the dirt path toward the beach; Trin taking off her shoes as they stepped onto the sand. The view was gorgeous. The setting sun colored the tips of the clouds pink and orange; even the ocean had a golden glow to it. The water was calm and the waves splashed onto the shore lazily.
On the sand, not far from the water, was a blanket. Acire and Duo were sitting on it, an open picnic basket next to them. Quatre and Trowa were throwing a Frisbee back and forth, and Wufei could be seen walking the shoreline in the distance. They all looked so normal.
Duo waved to them as she and Heero approached, and Trin waved back halfheartedly. Things have been tense between her and Duo since that day when she had asked him about Heero.
As they reached the blanked, Trin sat down next to Acire and snatched a handful of chips from her plate as the girl protested.
"Hey, get your own!" she huffed.
"I'm hungry!" Trin said defensively and noticed Heero watching her as she put a chip in her mouth, "What, I can't eat now?"
"Hn" was the usual reply.
She rolled her eyes, knowing perfectly well what he was thinking. Junk food wasn't healthy, it wouldn't help her any with training; same as usual.
Ignoring it, she swallowed another chip. It wasn't like she lived on them.
"So, you slept well?" Duo asked, a grin on his face.
"Yeah, fine" she answered as she grabbed a Pepsi from the cooler and opened it. Only then did she become aware of his mischievous expression.
"What?" she inquired.
"Nothing" the American shook his head and proceeded with eating his sandwich.
Trin looked up at Heero who was looming over them.
"Sit down. You're making me nervous" she said and he complied, sitting down next to her.
In seconds, Duo pulled out a camera.
"Maxwell…" Heero growled.
"Aw come on, Hee-man. One picture" Duo whined.
Heero was about to answer, but thought better of it. If he didn't argue, he wouldn't have to listen to Duo's whining.
"Fine..." he mumbled and Duo grinned.
"Okay, get up. You too Trin"
"Hm?" the girl asked confused, but before she knew what was happening, Acire pulled her up and practically shoved her into Heero. She lost her balance, but Heero caught her just in time and then restrained her as she lunged for her friend.
"Okay, Trin move closer" Duo commanded as he looked through the camera's lens.
Grumbling something under her breath, she pulled out of Heero's grasp and did as told. After a few more adjustments, the shot was finally ready. In the end, they ended up standing extremely close to each other with the ocean behind them. Trin smiled sweetly, while Heero remained stoic. To a stranger, they would appear an odd couple.
Finally happy with the shot, Duo snapped two pictures.
"You said one picture" Heero glowered at Duo as the two photographs slid out of the camera.
"Oh get over it" Trin told him as she took one of the pictures from Duo. Heero glared at her, and Duo edged away to play with a spare Frisbee with Acire.
Trin sat back down on the blanket and after a moment, and so did Heero. She looked at the picture as it developed in the light and tucked it away into her back pocket.
Suddenly as she reached for her soda, something hard hit her in the back of the head. She saw colors and when she looked up; she saw a shadow behind Heero. It had a knife in its hand. She was about to cry out to him, when the image swirled and she saw more shadows. But the next second her vision returned to normal and she whirled around and glared at a sheepish looking Duo.
"Heh…sorry!" he called as she jumped to her feet.
"Maxwell!!!" she bellowed and chased after him. It was hard running in the sand, but it was worth it.
Duo yelped and took off as well, all while Acire was nearly on the ground in fits of laughter.
Heero watched with amusement as Trin chased down Duo. He also noted with satisfaction that her speed and agility have improved. He continued watching as she tackled him and rubbed his nose in the sand, the American screaming protests as his precious braid fell into the water.
* * *
That evening the weather had changed drastically. The skies were dark and the rain poured non-stop. The wind howled, and hurled water against the windows, threatening to break them.
Everyone was gathered in the living room in front of the TV, except for Heero who was fixing up his laptop in the kitchen. Suddenly the lights flickered and went out. Outside, lightning flashed and thunder boomed.
"Oh this is just great" Trin sighed.
Acire, who was in the process of switching seats with Trowa, tripped over his leg and fell onto Trin. The girl hissed in pain as Acire's elbow pressed into her hurt shoulder painfully.
"Baka!" she swore as she pushed her friend off of her roughly.
Acire glared at her in the darkness.
"Heero, stop teaching her these words before she chokes on one" she growled.
"Hn?" Heero inquired as he walked into the room.
"No, better I choke you" Trin snapped as she stood up and headed up the stairs to her room.
When Heero walked into their room about half an hour later, he was surprised to find the entire room covered with lit candles. Trin sat on her bed leaning against the wall and sketched something in a notebook. She looked up as he entered.
"The power's out, remember" she explained as she saw him looking around the room, and he nodded silently.
"What are you doing?" he asked and she looked up with surprise.
"Sketching"
"I can see that. Sketching what?" he said as he walked up closer.
Trin blushed faintly, but handed him the sketchpad nonetheless.
Heero's eyes widened as he saw the drawing was of himself at his laptop. The picture looked incredibly lifelike.
"I started it the other the day at the base," she explained awkwardly "I was bored"
He nodded and after another moment handed her back the sketchpad.
"It's very good"
"Thanks" she smiled and watched as he walked to his bed and pulled off his shirt, then grabbed a towel from the closet. She looked away in embarrassment as she caught herself admiring his highly developed muscles. Heero walked out of the room and headed for the shower.
When he returned, Trin was still working on her drawing, but she had changed into her pajamas. Her pajama top was spaghetti strapped, and revealed her injured shoulder. Heero's heart sank as he realized he must've done that when he grabbed her last night on the deck. Looking away, he walked to his bed.
As he was putting away his laptop he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around. Trin was standing in front of him. She pressed his jacket into his hands. He looked at it in confusion at first, he had completely forgotten she still had it.
"Thanks" she said and walked back to her bed. She was just pulling back the covers when Heero spoke again.
"Why did you ask Duo about me?"
She froze. Her blood seemed to chill and she thought her heart had stopped.
"How did you know?" her voice was hoarse and she hoped it didn't betray her inward panic.
"Don't avoid the question"
She winced inwardly at the coldness of his voice.
"Because you wouldn't tell me" came the surprisingly calm answer.
The next thing she knew, she was slammed into the wall roughly. She gasped as she tried to catch her breath.
"I'm only going to say this once. This is none of your concern" Heero hissed, his features dark in the candlelight.
This time she was angry. She was tired of him pushing her around. Hurting her. She was only worried about him, that's all. It's because of consequences like this that she never really got close to anyone. Didn't want to care as to what happened to anyone or what they did. But with Heero it was different. She couldn't help but care.
With strength she didn't know she had she pushed him away from her and he staggered back in surprise.
"Don't touch me," she sputtered. "Don't ever touch me"
Nothingness was gone from Heero's eyes and replaced by surprise, with a trace of anger lingering as well.
Trin glared at him, her face twisted with fury. His eyes wondered to her shoulder again and that same sinking feeling returned.
"Why can't you just accept that I only wanted to help you? God knows why, because you sure don't deserve it!" she spat as she glared at him.
With that she stormed past him and after hastily blowing out all the candles, crawled into bed and turned her back to him. Her anger was already fading and she felt remorse. It hurt her to say that to him, but that's how she felt deep down. Curling up into a ball, she tried to sleep.
Heero was left standing in the dark. After a few minutes, he snapped out of his daze and heavily walked to his bed. He had lost it again and he didn't want to admit it, but what she said had actually touched a nerve.
* * *
Trin didn't know how long she's been drifting in and out of sleep, but by his even breathing she could tell Heero was asleep. She was angry, upset and confused all at once. On top of it all, she was cold. She didn't dare to look around the room, because every time she did she saw shadows reaching for her. Or at least, she thought she did.
That caught her attention and she paused to think about it. Her brain has been playing tricks on her ever since they began living with the pilots. Was she really going insane, or did Wufei poison her? She mentally smacked herself for thinking stupid thoughts. They might've had their differences, but he wouldn't go as far as killing her. Just yet, anyway.
It had happened three times, she realized as she thought back. The very first time, after she's had the dream about Heero. Again the morning after she fell asleep in his room; and finally, today on the beach. So far it had happened with only Heero, but she wondered if it would happen with the others as well. She hoped it didn't. Heero could protect himself the best out of all of them, but if it happened with Acire she could kill her.
The smart thing to do was probably to tell the others, then again, she was never the one to do the 'smart' thing. It was probably only her imagination and wasn't worth to bother them, she tried to convince herself.
As a bolt of lightning lit up the sky she unintentionally opened her eyes. Her mouth opened and a long, blood-curling scream escaped her throat.
A shadow stood over her, a gun in its hand pointing directly to her head. As lightning flashed once more, she saw that it was Heero.
* * *
Heero was jolted awake by a loud scream. He knew it was Trin immediately and in a flash he was next to her bed. She pushed away from him as he tried to grab her shoulders.
"Don't hurt me," she whispered. "I'm sorry I went behind your back and talked to Duo. Just don't kill me"
His eyes widened.
"Trin, what are you talking about?"
He saw her hands grip the blanket so tightly her nails tore holes in the fabric.
Several pairs of feet pounded down the hall and someone knocked on the door heavily.
"What's going on?" he heard Acire ask anxiously.
"Are you guys alright?" Quatre called through the door.
"Fine. You can leave" Heero called back. He wanted to deal with this himself.
There was grumbling and then the voices faded. When he turned back to Trin, he saw her trembling in the corner of her bed.
She watched him through her hair that fell over her face as he walked closer. When he was inches from her, she suddenly leaped off the bed in a catlike motion and tackled him to the ground. He grabbed her wrists just as she was about to attack him. Her fingers were curled inward, her long nails ready to assail. She struggled in his grasp, but he held her firmly.
Suddenly lightning flashed once again and she froze. Her auburn eyes stared at him in confusion. When she realized what position they were in, confusion was replaced by anger once again and she ripped her hands out of his.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she hissed as she climbed to her feet "What part of "Don't ever touch me" did you not understand?"
He glared at her as he stood up as well and grabbed her elbow as she turned to leave.
"Trin, what's going on?" he demanded as he spun her around to face him.
"I don't know" she said plainly and kept her eyes on the floor.
He stared at her skeptically.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you" she added quietly.
His fingers let go of her arm and his hand fell to his side limply. He then did something only Heero could do at a time like this. He went back to bed.
"Go back to sleep" he said over his shoulder.
Trin watched as he got under the covers and turned his head so that he wasn't facing her. She wasn't sure exactly of what she did, and it frightened her. She recalled seeing a shadow standing over her and then her mind was blank. The next memory was of her and Heero on the floor; him restraining her.
Almost against her will she walked over to his bed and sat on the edge gingerly.
"Heero, what's happening to me?"
He turned to face her. In the brief light of a lighting bolt he saw the inward fear that was radiating off of her. The fear of yourself; not knowing what you might do next.
He sat up as she spoke again.
"Will you make sure I don't hurt anyone? Please" her voice was calm, but she was terrified on the inside. She always liked being in control, and more often than not she was. It scared her not to have power over of her own body.
Heero nodded silently.
"Thank you" she whispered.
Heero then did something completely out of character. He wrapped his arms around her. The hug was awkward and unpracticed, but it comforted her. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. He made her feel safe and she appreciated that more than anything at the moment.
But when he hugged her, her body stiffened reflexively. She didn't notice, but Heero did. He lifted her head up and looked in her eyes, searching for some kind of answer. He noticed she would never as much as sit too close to someone, but this was new.
Tears burned her eyes for the first time in years and she blinked harshly trying to hold them back. A lone tear escaped and she didn't realize it until she felt Heero's rough hand brush across her cheek. Feeling him do this scared her more than anything else could have ever done. She felt her shaky hand slowly lead its way up to his and grab a hold of it tightly pulling it away from her face, yet feeling as if it wasn't her body moving. Heero's eyes widened for the moment, expecting her to attack him again. Afraid that he did something wrong. And to tell the truth, he wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing. He wasn't sure *what* he was doing.
She didn't make another move except for her eyes going wild, searching his face for something, even she didn't know what. So lost in her own thoughts, she didn't realize she was moving towards him until she felt his hot breath beating off her face. It was then that she came back to reality and saw his face was only a few inches away from hers; his Prussian eyes studying her face closely.
She immediately looked away, taking her hand with her, not believing what she was feeling.
Heero's hand reached up and touched her shoulder gently.
"I'm sorry," he whispered and she turned back to look at him.
"No, I'm sorry. For saying all that to you," she replied, her voice wavering as if she wasn't used to saying those words.
"I deserved it," he admitted and she smiled faintly.
"You did" she laughed quietly.
"Hey!" he seemed almost offended and it amused her.
"Be happy Mr. Yuy. You're the first person to receive an apology from yours truly," she said mischievously as she nudged his shoulder playfully.
"I'm honored" he replied as a corner of his mouth curled upward, resembling a shadow of a grin.
"What's this? Heero Yuy has a sense of humor?" she laughed as she smiled fully.
"There's a lot about me you don't know" he said darkly and her smile faded.
"Care to tell me?" she asked for what seemed like the millionth time. "No pressure"
He remained silent, but she noticed his eyes cloud over as if he was reliving a memory. His hand twitched slightly and she grasped it tightly.
"Is it about…Relena?" she asked softly. It was difficult to pronounce that name. She somehow felt that Relena had seen a side of Heero that she hadn't, and she was jealous. Pausing to think about it she realized that her thought was affirmative. She was jealous. Immediately she felt bad. Relena Peacecraft was dead and here she was, hating her.
"Yeah" Heero suddenly said.
Trin looked at him in surprise.
"Did you love her?" The question just slipped out and she covered her mouth quickly. But she didn't have a chance to take it back.
"I don't know" Heero said, his eyes still staring into space "I might have"
Even though she knew Relena was dead, hearing that hurt her. He said he might've loved her. Well, Trin wouldn't be surprised if he still did.
"She died because of me." he added bluntly. "I was supposed to be on the shuttle, but last second I had to leave. He was after me. That's why he crashed shuttle. But I wasn't on it, and Relena died instead"
Trin listened intently, not daring to interrupt. She suddenly understood why he didn't want to be called the "Perfect Soldier". It all made sense now.
Looking down, she realized she was still holding his hand, his fingers were clenching hers firmly.
"It wasn't your fault" she told him, when he fell silent. He didn't respond. "It wasn't your fault, Heero," she repeated as she kissed his hand and pressed against his chest, hoping to console him and relieve his pain.
Heero absently squeezed her hand. He was still reliving the nightmare.
A/N: Okay, that was my attempt at fluff people. I know I'm hopeless at it, but I tried. So tell me what you think, kay? Most importantly, I tried making it fluffy and still keeping Heero in character. Did I succeed? Because I'm thinking of revising it. Sarah, thanks so much again! ^.~ Oh and Alexia Goddess, you will never believe how happy I am I sent that chapter to you! ::hugs:: ^^; I'll explain later!
Ja all!
Luv,
~Arion~
