When Hera had reached the monitor, she was greeted by his menacing voice, even before she could react to seeing him again after such a long time. Not that she wanted to see him or anything – or have to get used to it.
"Aah. How interesting. Why didn't anyone tell me Hera Yuy came to visit? I would have come over to say 'Hi.'" Dr J said, looking pointedly at Heero, as if willing him to get the idea. And he wasn't disappointed. Heero wasn't stupid.
Everyone in the room sucked in their breath, all thinking the same thoughts. Yuy? The tension in the atmosphere was rising every second that went by.
Dr. J continued despite Hera's silence. "Heero, what do you think of your sis-"
"Shut your mouth, J." Hera interrupted before he could get a chance to say anything else. She didn't want Heero to get the wrong idea about her, or even begin to trust Dr. J in any way.
Heero remained silent, his eyes glazing over, not showing any of the emotions he was feeling. He was confused. And with good reason. Yuy? he thought. So, did that make Hera his sister? And an actual member of his own family? It was all a little surreal, like something out of one of Catherine's soap operas.
Then again, it wasn't actually all that surprising. When he thought about it, he realised that Hera did resemble him in some ways: her eyes, her hair colour, and even her attitude. But no… there could be loads of people out there with the surname Yuy… right?
"My my, such bad manners. Didn't your father teach you anything? I really thought he might have taught you something in the way of politeness… all that brilliance, wasted because he didn't teach his children any manners…" Dr J said wistfully, annoyed at Hera's interruption.
Tori suddenly walked over, his eyes blazing with anger. "Don't you dare talk about Hera's father like that you son of a bitch!"
"Oh, look, Hera's fairy godmother to the rescue." Dr J said sarcastically. " Watch what you're saying boy." He spat.
"Dr. J, say what you want to say, and get lost." Hera said as politely as she could, before shoving her fist towards the screen; but before she could do any lasting damage to her brother's pride and joy (Heero always did get too attached to his laptops), Tori intercepted her move.
"Wait Hera, let's see what the 'J-man' has to say, and then, you can end transmission." Tori whispered calmly, meaningfully, his eyes not leaving the screen for a moment.
Hera nodded. "Whatever. Let's just get this over with." She said, sighing, not concentrating on what Tori was telling her anyway.
"You may have that attitude now, but I wonder how you will react tomorrow." Dr J grinned enigmatically.
"Tomorrow?" Asked Hera, puzzled by his words.
"Oh, have you forgotten already? It's the 26th of July tomorrow. Eight years since your father's death, exactly." Tori looked as though he was about to say something, but thought better of it, and Dr. J continued. "I swore to him we would settle out all our differences in battle, eight years from then, which is obviously now, but coincidentally, he died that very day. And since he is gone, and the only person other than his wife that was aware of his existence is you. And even better, you're his daughter. So naturally, I will fight you despite everything you say, do, or want. That's just the kind of person I am."
Hera laughed humourlessly. "Don't I know it? But seriously, J, there must be more to the story than that. I know you. That's not a good enough reason for you to take such action to make sure I fight you. So, go ahead, tell me." She said coolly.
He hesitated for a second before speaking again. "Very good… Your father has taught you well after all."
His mouth twitched into the most disturbing smile Hera had ever seen in her life… and even more disturbing than his smile were his eyes. He looked as though he was sorry for putting Hera through all of this, but like it was his destiny to do what he had to do. She laughed to herself, she thought she had seen something like some sort of caring attitude in his eyes but immediately turned away, unable to face him from her disgust at how horrible he could really be.
"Why would you specifically want to fight me? What's wrong with the other family member still alive apart from my mother?" Hera didn't mention Heero's name, she was still having trouble letting him in on the fact that he was family.
"Well, like I said, this is a 'family thing' and your brother is a simple target. He is not a challenge for me. You are the only worthy opponent I have." He replied in a detached voice. Hera raised an eyebrow.
Heero wasn't a challenge? Heero was always a challenge, always had been a challenge and always would be a challenge. To the best fighters. A seventy-something year old man wasn't going to change that. No, there was something else going on… "Surely you don't want me to fight him?"
Hera shook her head hurriedly – no, it was best if she took this responsibility on herself.
"I wouldn't have intended it this way Hera. I have no other choice." He whispered, and suddenly, as if he suddenly remembered who he was and whom he was talking to, he turned cold again.
"There's always another choice. But you choose not to take it." She replied, barely audible to anyone around her apart from Dr J.
But he continued as though he hadn't heard. "You must meet me tomorrow at 0800 hours in the clearing in the middle of the forest. You know the one… with your own Gundam… The Final Battle is about to begin. Tomorrow, we will make history, Princess…
With that, the transmission ended…
Everyone stood still.
"What just happened?" Duo asked loudly.
Hera turned her back to everyone. "It will all end tomorrow. All the pain, the suffering…" She reached for the door handle-
"Hera, wait." Heero whispered. Hera lifted her head, but didn't turn around.
"I'm sorry to have disappointed you… Heero… my brother." She added as to end any confusion about why her surname was Yuy.
And with that left and began running back to her room to collect her belongings and leave to get her Gundam. She wasn't planning on coming back. Whatever happened, if she lived, then she would go and live in the country, where no one could find her, and start a new life. With none of this pain.
Howard should have finished by now…
"Tori, why… why didn't she ever tell me?" Heero asked, curious, shocked and a little nervous at the same time. He'd never had any family before… how would he treat Hera? How would she treat him? More importantly, why hadn't Tori answered his question?
Tori sighed, "It was for your own protection, Heero. If you knew, then you would get involved with everything and Hera didn't want you getting hurt. She really cares about you, you know. " He said, adding under his breath, "Unfortunately." Whatever had just happened, he still really didn't like Heero.
Heero remained silent for a minute trying to take in everything that had happened in the last twenty minutes. How could his life change so dramatically in such little time? "So, what are we going to do about tomorrow? We – I – can't let her go on her own. I mean… I've just discovered I had a si… sis… family. I don't want to loose her, Tori…" He looked – up – at Tori, almost as if he was pleading for him to go and convince Hera not to go, knowing that he couldn't do it himself.
Tori smiled, putting aside their earlier rivalry for a minute. "Who said anything about loosing her? Never. I know Hera better than anyone else and I know nothing can change her mind about this. It's now her chance to change her life, and yours for the better. To rid your lives of this curse that Dr. J has put on you. She won't give up until she's finally rid of him…" He paused, thinking things over one last time to make the decision that was sure to change the rest of their lives. "Is your Gundam intact then?"
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Yay! Chapter 9 finally in… I'm sorry for taking so long as usual. I just don't have much time to write stuff anymore… anyway, I would be really happy if you would review and tell me what you thought of this story/chapter whatever. Thanks! Bye.
