Part Five:
It was dark.
I could see the moon from my dorm window, and the dim beams lit up my room just enough so that I could pull on a pair of jeans and a shirt without banging into things. It wasn't even midnight yet, but lights had been called about an hour before.
I pulled open the door and crept out into the hallway. Everything was quiet. Good. There was the low creak of floorboards as I stepped onto the first stair, but the creak came from behind me, not from under me. I whipped around, my braid hitting against my chest as I did. Nothing. I continued down the stairs.
I had spent all of my free hour and dinner in the library, reading from a huge reference book on human psychology. There was a huge section on dreams, and how matters in a person's life could affect their sleeping patterns and their dreams. It was actually kind of interesting. The guys had found me in the library after dinner, and practically had to drag me out of there. Quatre had actually thought to bring me food, a ham sandwich, a bag of chips, and a can of soda, and I had just stashed it in a drawer, for later.
The library was big, and had rows upon rows of books, most of them books I doubted anyone actually read. The book I had been looking through was covered with dust when I had first found it, and was pretty nasty, both in appearance and scent.
I had left it on the desk, so I could get back to it later. It was later enough, I thought, as I flicked on the overhead lights. The library was empty, and the book was still there. I sat down at the table, and began to read again.
Around four-thirty, I realized that I should be retreating back up to my dorm before wake-up began. But I wasn't even a quarter of the way through the dreams chapter. I stood up, and thought about bringing the book back upstairs with me. No one would ever know, and I could get a lot more research done that way. So I picked up the book and left the library, turning the lights off and heading back up the stairs.
When I passed Wufei's room, I paused for a minute. He was usually awake early, to do whatever he did that early in the morning, but I wasn't sure just how early. Before I ever woke up, I knew. With any luck, not until five or so. I could still hear him snoring inside, so I assumed it was safe and went on to my room, shutting the door quietly behind me. I put the book under the bed and decided to try to get a little sleep. Just a little.
I had another nightmare, but this one was different. It was just me, locked in a tiny room, with a box. I was trying to rip the box apart, to find out what was inside of it, but it was stiff, and I couldn't get a good grip on it. I finally took out my crucifix off from around my neck and stabbed into it, and was hailed by the sound of cardboard ripping. And then came the screams of a thousand people all screaming in pain and fury, all at once. It made my blood run cold with fear, and with dread.
"Nous mouons!" That was French. I shouldn't have known that, I had never taken a French lesson in my life, but somehow I knew. And I knew exactly what was going to be said next. The translation.
"We are dying." And that was Heero's voice, calm and monotone as usual, and that scared me a Hell of a lot more than the screams. That was the voice of the Heero I had befriended such a long time before. This was the voice of the Heero I had yelled at, the voice of the Heero I had made fun of. This was the voice of the Heero I had lost. Of the Heero who was my best friend. Of the Heero I had loved.
I woke up with a start, falling out of my bed. I landed on my side with a hard thump, and I groaned. That was going to bruise. That was going to bruise badly. It already hurt like Hell.
I just lay there for a while, trying to remember the last time I had fallen out of bed. Not since I was really little, I guess, because I couldn't think of such a time. When I finally got up, the first thing I did was look at the clock hanging on the wall between the two beds. It was just past five in the morning, the sun hadn't even come up yet. Wufei would be up though, probably.
I already had on my old pair of black jeans on, so I just pulled on my old gray tank top and my sneakers and walked out the door. My hair wasn't braided, so I fastened it as I walked. I'd have to redo it later, I knew.
Wufei was already out in the hallway when I approached. He gave me his twisted smile, and he came towards me. "What are you doing awake?" he asked, eyes glistening. I got the feeling Wufei was getting tired of always being the solitary dragon; everyone needs company once in awhile. I just grinned at him.
"Nightmares," I said. Wufei grunted. "So, where are you going?"
"Jogging."
You jog?" I was a bit surprised. I didn't know Wufei was into that sort of thing. I did know, however, that he usually spent a few hours in the weight room every weekend, when the student body had two days of free time. He nodded. "Mind if I join you?"
He raised an eyebrow. "If you can keep up."
I snorted. "It's just jogging, not an all out run. Besides, I haven't been off campus since we got here. I need a change of scenery."
"Very well. Come on." He led me out the door and out into the street, where I noticed his outfit. It wasn't his usual white pants-dark top combo, or the navy school uniform we were all forced to wear, but a pair of jeans and a really loose gray sweatshirt. He looked pretty cool, although all the regalities and formalities and authority that was usually in his expression kind of left with the outfit. I decided I liked this affect better in the long run. It had a more relaxed feel to it, like you could actually be friends with this guy.
And it was a long run. A good six miles, around the town. I enjoyed it; I hadn't had a work out like that since I started piloting Deathscythe, and I told Wufei so. He kind of blinked at me, like he couldn't believe I was telling him this, and kept on running. I was pretty spent by then, and I could tell he was too. I couldn't let Wufei best me. I'd never live it down! So I kept running.
When we were finally done, about an hour later, sweat was pouring down both our faces, and we were pretty tired. We slowed down as we approached the school, and Wufei was breathing pretty hard. He exhaled deeply and looked over at me.
"This is more remunerative with a partner," he said between pants. "It makes me try arduously than usual."
"Yeah, well. Whatever. Me too." I stopped and bent over, resting my hands on my knees. "That was almost fun." Wufei stopped beside me, and we watched the golden rays of the sun as it rose. It was sometime around late December, but neither of us were cold. Just hot, and sweaty, and tired. And we were watching the sky turn from a gloomy nave to a blast of pink and purple, and orange, even a little green. "Same time tomorrow?"
Wufei raised an eyebrow. "Can you take it?"
I grinned at him. "I can take anything. The question is, can you?" Wufei laughed, and it was a good sound to hear, really refreshing. I hadn't heard a laugh like that in awhile, from anyone. Not even from myself. It was one of those laughs that you can't fake. A real, pure, almost pious laugh.
Wufei stopped laughing and smiled at me. "It's time to go in, if we don't want to be late for the first meal."
"Why don't you just call it breakfast, like everyone else?" I asked, getting up and opening the solid oak door that sealed off the school from the rest of the world.
Wufei shrugged. "Maybe because I am not like everyone else."
"Well, you got that part right." We sprinted up the stairs, to our separate rooms, to shower. We were pretty gross looking, and my braid had already come undone. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. And then I'm blinded by a thick chestnut cloak of hair and I remember pretty darn quick. I practically leaped into the hot shower water, grateful that it was so easy to wash off sweat and dirt.
I got out of the shower when the hot water ran out and my skin was starting to prune. Pruny skin is a nightmare. The clothes I had been wearing were dirty, so I didn't want to put them back on. I wrapped a towel around myself instead. It was one of the towels that I'd stolen from a hotel that I'd raided one night. Hey, they'd left their doors unlocked. And one of the maids had left her little cart sitting out in the middle of the hall. It was like an invitation. That particular little expedition had kept me supplied with soap and shampoo for quite some time, as well as providing all my towels.
Human stupidity is a blessing to thieves and prowlers.
I redressed in my school uniform, the navy monstrosity, with the slacks, the white collared-button up shirt, the navy tie, the matching jacket, and the crappy shoes. When we first came here, I didn't even bother sometimes, and would go down to class wearing my pajamas. After a few detentions, a near suspension, and a scolding from the guidance counselor, that had stopped. But I was still pushing boundaries, with my hair, for instance, which wasn't supposed to be at such a long length, and sometimes I'd go to class wearing the slacks, the tie, jacket, even the shoes, but not the shirt.
Most of the teachers had gotten used to this and had stopped caring. Kind of like my homework. Anyway, today I actually wore the whole outfit and I went down to breakfast about fifteen minutes late. Wufei was already there, and I felt a wave of combativeness wash over me, but quickly brushed it aside. After all, he didn't have a braid approximately three feet long to slow him down, just his little ponytail.
Quatre had his tray loaded up with food, everything from the boxes of cereal to sticky pancakes to cups of hot tea. I don't know how he manages to eat so much and stay so thin. If that old saying was true, and you are what you eat, Quatre would be a full-blown supermarket with extra large tea aisle and dairy section. The boy has an appetite to rival mine. I grabbed a cup of coffee from the makeshift buffet and joined them. I wasn't much for eating in the morning. A cup of coffee would do me just fine.
Trowa had a bowl of cereal, something really sugary by the looks of it, and it got me wondering how he could stay so calm with such a high intake of sugar every morning. Wufei had toast. Typical of him. When I sat down, he was grumbling about injustice and burnt toast. I didn't quite follow, but I just took a big gulp of coffee. I only like it black on the first taste. Then I add more cream and sugar then they usually provide. Trowa had noticed this and gotten into the habit of stealing little packets of sugar and cream during lunch and dinner, to satisfy my needs.
Quatre greeted me with a smile, then went back to shoveling food in his mouth. Trowa actually took the time to speak.
"Why are you so late? Usually you're the first one here," the uni-banged boy said, handing over the confectioneries he had in his pocket. I ripped open the sugar and cream and dumped them all into my coffee, watching with fascination as the color changed to a light brown.
"Exercise. Can't get enough, you know." I grinned at Trowa, taking another swallow of my hot coffee. There is truly nothing that smells as great as this hot beverage, except maybe pine trees. I love the smell of pine trees.
Quatre smiled, stopping his food rampage. "You might have to take up long-distance running. Relena's here."
I almost dropped my coffee cup. Just almost. I'd never let coffee go to waste like that. "What? Relena?!"
"Yes. She and her fiancé just joined. I hear the fiancé will be rooming with you, Duo." Quatre picked up his fork. "So you'll be seeing Relena more often than ever. And she is still cold about...." Quatre's voice caught in his throat. Or Wufei kicked him from underneath the table. I couldn't be sure. It didn't matter, because Quatre started cramming pancakes into his mouth at a speed faster than light.
"About Heero. I know." Just weeks before Heero 'died', he had forced Relena into agreeing to leave him alone. He threatened to get a court order and everything. And Relena agreed, after a lot of persuasion. I had heard on the radio that she was getting married, to some soldier who got her mind off of Heero. But for some reason, she still blamed me for the separation. Like I had anything to do with it. Heero had just gotten sick of her. I hadn't even been there, I didn't know what was said, but Relena just couldn't stand it.
"What an odd coincidence, that she is once again coming after us, even after Heero's disappearance," Trowa said thoughtfully. "One could suppose that she is making sure we aren't hiding him anywhere."
"Yeah right." I rolled my eyes. "She just wants to be able to hate me in person."
"Maybe," Wufei agreed. "Or it truly is such a coincidence."
The rest of breakfast was uneventful, with no more disturbing news, but I felt a lingering sense of dread. Was I really so unlucky as to have to room with Relena's fiancé? Anyone crazy enough to marry Relena was too crazy for my tastes. What was this guy's name again? I had heard it before, but it really wasn't one of those memorable names.
Anyway, after breakfast, there was a fifteen-minute break for all those people who hadn't yet gotten dressed in the navy monstrosity or gathered together their books. So I went back upstairs and made my bed, for a change. If I really was rooming with the crazy soldier, I wanted it to look fairly decent. The guy would only be there for a week or so anyway. That was the longest anyone had been able to stand rooming with me, with just one exception.
Heero.
~tbc