Heero quickly tightened his grasp as Relena fainted in his arms. Before
she could hit the ground he reached down and swept her up into his arms.
She was nearly frozen in her shorts and t-shirt. He tested her warmth by
lightly placing his lips against her forehead. She was freezing! He
quickly made his way to the far side of the Ice Cage. He saw Duo sitting
against the wall and his mind was spinning with the possibilities when he
also saw Hilde in his lap, covered by his jacket. Ignoring these
irrelevant thoughts, he shot forward and knelt next to the couple. Hilde's
eyes widened at the sight of her friend. P
"What did you do to her?" she cried in outrage and leaped from Duo's arms
and warmth. She shivered lightly, but was immediately by Relena's side.
P
"Not what I did, but what your owner failed to do?" Hilde frowned and
placed a gently hand at her friend's cheek. P
"Relena? Relena, wake up. Come on." Relena's eyes fluttered for a
moment, her blue lips working slowly at first, then finally, she croaked
out some words. P
"Water." Hilde shot a look over her shoulder at Duo and he ran to get
some. Before he left Hilde grabbed his coat that he had picked up and laid
it over her friend's shivering frame. She sat down, resting her friend's
head on her lap. Heero laid out next to Relena and pulled her close to his
own body, trying to give her heat. He quickly removed his own coat and
placed the second layer over her legs. By now others were paying attention
to the commotion over by the wall. A few gathered and asked how she was
doing and if she was going to make it. What happened to her coat and
warmer clothing? Did one of the other slaves steal them? They would go
get the slave and make them give it back! It was the owner? Several
tongues made ticking noises against their teeth and knelt down to give a
sparing pat on Relena's shoulder, one or two even lent her their jackets,
for they wore sweatshirts underneath them and could spare them to her. One
brought forth a blanket and placed it over Heero and Relena. Her eyes were
tearing up at this point. P
"They can't be kind to me," she whispered into the layers of warmth as she
began to feel her legs and arms once again. It was painful, but not as
painful as to what these people were doing to her. Heero was keeping her
warm, giving her warmth. Then the tears fell free. Heero heard her
mumbling and placed a small kiss on the back of her neck and she shivered.
P
"They want to be kind to you," he whispered into her cold ears. P
"But, we're all against each other in this, don't they understand?" P
"Isn't this what you were talking about that day? How all of us had to
stay together?" She shook her head. P
"No, it wasn't. They don't understand. Their kindness is being wasted on
me. They don't understand. These efforts are not for me, it's for others.
They have to learn, like I did. They can't." Her tears fell in earnest
and everyone, seeing the tears thought they were of gratitude, backed off,
smiling, realizing they had helped Relena, possibly saving her life. P
At this time, Duo returned with the water and was confused when Hilde
backed him up, moving him away from the two on the floor. P
"She'll be fine. She just needs some time." Duo looked down at Hilde with
worried eyes. P
"She has some extra layers over there. You could borrow some yourself."
She smiled a little. P
"I don't know, I kind of liked the first arrangement." A grin spread over
his handsome features. P
"Well, I guess I can't argue with that. Let's see if we can't get you warm
again." P
P
P
"Team 135. Team 135 go to the gate at once. Team 135," came the
announcement over the PA system. P
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you," grumbled Cathy as she stood up from the crate she
sat next to Trowa. They had actually managed to have a nice conversation.
Cathy had to do most of it, but it was fine with her. She pulled the coat
Trowa had placed over her objecting shoulders and handed it back to him.
She began to turn when the second announcement came on. P
"Team 59. Team 59 go to the gate at once. Team59." She froze and slowly
turned to meet Trowa's eyes. P
"What team number were you again?" she asked in a croak. P
"59," he grumbled in a stoic voice. Shaking her head in denial, she spun
around and headed straight for the gate, not turning back. P
Cathy reached the gate breathless, her eyes slightly blurred. The others
all awaited her at the gate. As she stopped in front of them they all
stopped to look at her. P
"Hey Cat, what's wrong?" asked Hilde with concern. P
"We're going to play a game." P
"Yeah, and we'll beat the crap out of them just like always!" The others
gave whoops of the anticipated victories to come. P
"Come on, let's get out there!" cried Natria, feeling the excitement and
her blood rush. She was ready. P
"No, you guys don't understand." Before Cathy could finish the team they
were playing against stepped forward towards the gate. P
Cathy felt her entire team stiffen. There before them stood Quatre, Trowa,
Duo, Wufei, and Heero. No one could react, even if they wanted to they
couldn't because the guard came for them at that time. The girls were all
dragged in the opposite direction as the other team. The teams were
hustled into opposite ends of a large arena. The crowds cheered wildly for
the next game to begin. The faces of the crowd were filled with greedy
smiles and twinkling eyes in anticipation of what was to come. blood. They
thirsted for it. P
Relena let her gaze travel over the crowds and found Owner among the
ravenous people. His gaze was intensely set on her and the team. Her eyes
narrowed in fury. All of this misery was made even worse, into a living
hell, all because of that cocky bastard standing up there. Well, after
these championships were done, she would be away from here forever. A
small smile began to creep its way up her lips, but it quickly faded when
she realized that in order to win that freedom, she would have to abandon
someone else's freedom as well. Heero's. After this thought, she turned
abruptly and looked at the girls. Each of them seemed as if they were off
in their own world, all but Dorothy it seemed. Relena brought their
attention back when she huddled them up. P
"I know all of you are nervous about this next game, just remember, they
are going for our goal as well and we aren't going to give it to them.
Fight as if they were any other team, but be careful, I've heard things
about their team. They're good. very good." Natria's eyes hardened in
determination and nodded curtly. Cathy bit her lip for a moment in her
uncertain way, but it looked as if she had made a decision and her stance
stiffened. P
"It's their freedom or ours," she growled, clenching her fists. Relena
nodded in approval. P
"All right, let's get out there. Don't hesitate. Owner is watching us.
Don't screw up either. I'd rather come out of this unscathed." It was
then that the guards came for them and shoved them out into the ring. The
girls proceeded to stretch and do a few moves to warm up their frozen
muscles. Hilde's adrenaline was running high now and she thirsted for the
game. Her eyes ran over the other team. P
'They're only another team, they're only another team, another team,
another team." she kept on repeating. The boys were looking at them with
stone cold eyes and Cathy felt her resolve harden even more. Even Quatre
wore a look of a warrior as the crowd began to settle, awaiting the opening
to the game. They were just as prepared to fight as her and the rest of
the team. So be it, she would fight as fierce here as she had in the past.
P
Everyone took their positions as they picked someone to guard and the ball
was brought onto the court. The crowd immediately went into an uproar of
cheering and cat calling. There was not a pair of eyes on that court that
showed a weakness. They were all prepared for this battle. It was
inevitable. P
The ball was thrown straight into the air and the savage game began.