Petra: Okay, I'm sorry this is late, see all excuses at the bottom. Anyway, I just want to do a quick shout out to my friend, Iris-chan, who I have managed to drag into my love of Gundam Wing yaoi with and who listens to many of my ramblings.
Kati: Poor Iris...
Petra: *sticks tongue out*
DEDICATED: To everyone who lives for someone other than themselves.
WARNING: Shonen-ai and Shojo-ai. Don't like it. Deal with it. It's who I am and I like to experiment. Oh yeah, and cussing... Suprise?
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing
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CHAPTER SEVEN: SCHOOL, REVELATIOINS, AND RELENA
"When you truly care for someone, you don't look for faults, you don't look for answers, you don't look for mistakes. Instead, you fight the mistakes, you accept the faults, and you overlook excuses." -Sorceress Fantasia; Mr. Agony (GW)
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Duo sighed and looked through half-lidded eyes at the teacher who was trying to teach them about mechanics... 'I already know everything there is to KNOW about mechanics, why do I have to be here?' In truth, though, he was grateful that he was here. When the mission to infiltrate an American school that taught the children of OZ's highest ranking officials had come up, he and his fellow comrades had jumped at the chance to get out the cave they had been calling home for a week. Everyone but Wufei was uncomfortable around the four immortal, extremely powerful women, though a person tended to forget that in the easy banter and the comradeship between the four women.
He had talked with all of them but, in the end, he had found he preferred the company of the small, slight one named Hotaru. He found peace in the quiet way she hid in the background until something important needed to be said, or feelings needed to be smoothed. There was a pain in her eyes that was unlike that of the others; a look that Duo could connect with because it was the pain of losing all that you had loved.
He closed his eyes completely as he remembered the day he had asked her why she was so sad most of the time. She had turned frozen eyes to him, but they had quickly thawed as he stumbled over his apology, mumbling that she didn't have to tell him, he'd just wondered. She had sighed then, and gave him the story of how, when she was but a child, her mother had died in a fire from her father's lab. Mortally wounded, her life hanging on by a thread, her father used machines to bring her back to life and, when she awoke, she was no longer human, she was cyborg. Her father was soon taken over by a demon that had been planted inside him by the dark force that had started the fire and, it was later revealed, he had also planted the demon called Mistress Nine inside her. Duo, who had heard the story when the other Senshi had told it, now listened with interest as Hotaru went into more detail, explaining how Mistress Nine had taken her over, slowly but surely. When Mistress Nine had fully taken over, Sailor Saturn had finally awakened, but was not in control of the body. After Mistress Nine had been fully destroyed, Sailor Saturn took full control and Hotaru was no more. After destroying the evil and the world, she disappeared but Super Sailor Moon was not ready to give up that easily and went after her, restoring the world.
Sailor Moon had reappeared, but this time holding a small child in her arms. Hotaru...
Duo opened his eyes as a loud, sharp knock echoed through the classroom and in stepped the principal. The door loudly banged shut behind him and he turned around with a start, causing giggles to course through the classroom. The principal looked up and glared at the students before opening the door again, poking his head out the door, and saying something to someone. He fully opened the door again, holding it open as a girl with shoulder length dark black hair walked into the classroom, her head down.
"Class," the principal said, "This is your new classmate, Hotaru Tomoe, from Japan." Duo's eyes widened as Hotaru looked up, smiling timidly at the class, before looking back at her feet. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Heero, looking just as shocked as he was. Hotaru, known as Sailor Saturn, looked up at Duo and Said, {Surprised to see me, Maxy-kun?} As she sat down she let our a small smirk Saying, {You can not get rid of us that easily!}
'US?! That means...' the loud ringing of the bell, interrupting his thoughts, signaled that the mechanics class had ended. Dou stood up quickly, almost tripping in his haste to go and talk to Hotaru, but stopped as he saw that all the girls, and many of the boys, had surrounded the new student. 'I don't blame them, it's not everyday that you see a female that good looking.'
A chuckle sounded through his mind and he blushed as a chiding voice Said, {You should not flatter a girl, I will get a big head!}
Duo watched as Hotaru walked out of the classroom, followed by a large crowd of admirers, both male and female. He Felt a presence behind him and knew instinctively that it was Heero. He turned with a smile but the smile fell as he noticed something strange... a red string wrapped around the boy known as Heero Yuy, and then flowed toward Duo. Duo raised his own hand and let out a small gasp as he saw the red string that circled around his hand.
"Duo?" Duo blinked in surprise, and it was gone, leaving the pilot of Deathscythe trembling and out of breath. "Duo?" Heero asked again, "You alright?"
Duo took a deep breath and said, with an overly bright smile, "Just fine, koi!" That caused a glare from the Japanese boy, making the American smile brighter, this time for real.
Duo winked at the boy and then, grabbing his books, walked toward the hallway. As he stepped out he bumped into another person, his books flying from his grip, and his body flying back into Heero who had been following the braided boy. Heero dropped his books quickly, catching hold of Duo and then pushed him onto the floor, scowling.
"Sorry about that, man!" a voice that Duo recognized said, and he looked up in surprise to see Haruka standing next to Michiru, the taller woman's arm around the aqua one's waist.
Heero was the first to say anything, surprisingly, and stuttered out, "H-Haruka?"
Haruka smiled as she caught sight of Heero and the walked, clasping her hand around his. "Heero-kun!" she said in Japanese, "They believe that I am male, do not blow my cover!" Then she switched to English saying, "Guys, this is that guy, Heero Yuy, that I met on the plane over here! Remember I told you about him!" The older guys all nodded, looking Heero up and down and then smiling as what they saw pleased them. "Oi, Heero! This is Michiru Kaioh, my new girlfriend," Haruka said, motioning toward the girl who stepped forward, holding out her hand. Heero took it, still slightly in a daze, when he was suddenly thrown out of it by Duo, who had been ignored, standing up and clapping Heero on the back harshly saying, "Heero! Who's your friend?"
Not giving Heero a chance to say anything Haruka smiled widely at him, held out her hand, and said, "Haruka Tenou! Nice to meet you! You a friend of Heero's?"
"Yeah! Duo Maxwell's the name," Duo said with a bright smile, shaking Haruka's hand.
"Well, listen, we have to get to class, but see you around!" Haruka said, slipping her hand around Michiru's waist and steering her away from the two boys. 'That means Setsuna's around here somewhere...'
{Playing nurse to all you stupid kids, to be precise!} Setsuna Said with a chuckle. {You know, I have got to teach you how to shield your mind, I can hear you all the way across the building!}
'Sorry!' Duo smirked at Heero who simply scowled, walking toward his locker. "Ya know, Heero! It's amazin' how they can just make it sound like they're talkin' normal even while they don't shorten anything!" Duo commented, following Heero. A chorus of {Thank you!} followed that and Duo smiled.
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Michiru moved her shoulders, vainly trying to relax the muscles that tensed in the middle of her back. It wasn't working... She sighed and watched as Heero and Duo leaned against the tree, talking quietly, unaware that she was watching them from a discrete distance. She had known Heero for only a few days, but she could already tell that, while Wufei had gotten his powers first and was probably stronger than even Rei, Heero would be stronger than any of them had ever imagined!
Michiru smiled as she realized that he was a born leader, just like his mother and father. After she had gotten to known all the boys better there hadn't been a doubt in her mind just who their parents were. Duo had the bright and happy personality of Minako, but could be just as quiet and reserved as Kunzite when he chose to be. His eyes obviously came from the Lunarian blood that coursed through his veins, for they were a vivid violet that no human blood could ever make. He had the speed and agility of Minako but the level-headedness that was all Kunzite. Heero, though, went much more after his father, serious and focused to the point of addiction. He was cold and it was hard to get past the shield that both had wrapped around themselves, harder still to get out of the shield once you were past it. Michiru let a small, humorless smile grace her lips as she thought of all the hearts that had been lost to Mamoru and, probably, to his son, Heero. 'Those dark blue eyes can capture a heart faster than you can realize what color they actually are...'
'Setsuna...' the name came unbidden to her mind at those thoughts, and the humorless smile turned quickly into a frown. There was some speculation that Setsuna was in love with Endymion... Michiru leaned forward, placing her chin in her hands, and licked her dry lips. Setsuna had never actually said that she was in love with Endymion but, more importantly, she had never said she WASN'T in love with Endymion, which meant, to the people that knew her well, she most probably was. Setsuna was a realist though, and knew that they weren't soulmates, but that doesn't stop people from falling in love. 'The heart has a mind of its own...' Setsuna knew better than to steal people away from their true loves, and was also the type of person who wanted to wait for her OWN soulmate before starting a real relationship.
Michiru stood up and stretched, watching Heero and Duo out of the corner of her eye, before slowly walking over to lean against a tree by the two young men. She opened her mouth to say something, but no one would ever know what, as suddenly an annoyingly high-pitched and squeaky voice yelled out, "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
There was a flash of blond and pink before a girl attached herself to Heero's arm, hanging onto it like a leech. Michiru studied this new person with interest, as she Felt the tenseness coming from Heero; not to mention the nervousness and touch of jealousy, coming from Duo. 'Jealousy...? Oh... this girl has a crush on Heero, and Duo can't do anything about it...'
It had not escaped the notice of four women how Heero and Duo never physically touched in public, in fact, if they had not seen the red strings of fate tying them together, they never would have guessed. While Quatre and Trowa were indeed still distant, if you had been around lovers enough, you could tell what they were by the way they moved and the way they looked at each other. Michiru couldn't help but wince as she remembered one of the arguments that Duo and Heero had gotten into. Apparently, Duo hated having to act as if there were nothing between them while other people were in the room and this was, according to the other pilots, the only thing the two lovers fought about. Once Heero had successfully dragged Duo off to their room, they had listen tensely as Duo had yelled something that had made everything go quiet, until the four women had relaxed, Feeling the soothing tones emanating from the room. Ever since then, though, the women had been able to feel the underlining feelings of uneasiness between the two soulmates, something that lay under whatever happiness they found... something that keep them from true happiness until it was solved...
{And you think that this small girl might be one of the reasons that current is there.} Haruka's mocking voice filled her head and Michiru let out a small Laugh.
{This is the only person I have not seen shy away from Heero's death glare.} Michiru let out a small sigh and watched as a mask quickly slipped over both Heero and Duo, the girl rambling about 'finding him, like he had wanted her too' despite the fact that it was obvious he didn't want to be found, especially her. {What do you think I should do?}
{The truth is often the best path to take. Truth can rarely take you on the wrong path and, when it does, it is oft for the best.}
{Heero and Duo do not want her to know, obviously, and I do not know if I should be the one to take the first step.}
{But Heero will not, and Duo will not either, for he would do anything to keep Heero happy... You must, if you truly care for them, take the first step in this.}
Michiru sighed; not looking at all happy but stood up already and said, "Um... who is this? Heero-kun? Duo-kun?" She deliberately used the affectionate term and, as she thought, got a surprised and curious look from the girl hanging from Heero's arm.
"This is Relena Peacecraft," Duo said, a little too cheerfully, motioning with a too bright smile to the blue-eyed blond.
"But..." Michiru put a slightly blank but curious look on her face. "Why is she hanging off Heero like that? It seems very shameless and undignified for a queen... especially when the guy she is hanging off of is already taken."
Heero instantly became nervous and realized her plan, trying desperately to release Relena from his arm in hopes of stopping her. Duo just stood there, nervous but hidden joy emanating from him, and Michiru couldn't help but smile.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Relena said, looking at Heero with surprise and betrayal, who was trying desperately to extract himself from her death-grip.
{Duo, what do you wish for most in the world?} Michiru Asked.
Before he could stop himself he thought, 'To be able to love Heero even when everyone is watching. To touch him and hug him and kiss him.'
{Duo... wishes were meant to come true...} She smiled as she Felt the numbness fill Duo, the same kind of numbness that fills people when they realize something important is about to happen, something that is making them very happy, too happy to even express their joy.
{Great...} She stared at Relena in confusion and asked, "You did not know that..."
Heero opened his mouth, ready to stop her, when he suddenly found himself not able to talk. {Cat got your tongue, Heero? ...Or perhaps Neptune?} she Asked him even as she completed her other sentence, "-Duo and Heero are soulmates?"
Apparently this wasn't what any of them thought she was going to say, as Heero's and Duo's faces also filled with shock. "Th-this can't be true..." Relena said, her eyes quickly filling with tears and her lips began to tremble.
Michiru glanced at Heero before replying, "I would not have said anything except that the way you act with Heero is causing rips in the strings of fate and causing Duo great pain. You see, Heero and Duo are soulmates, two halves of a whole meant to be together for all eternity. Soulmates are a pure bond, a bond that can transcend time, death, space, and sex. Nothing can come between them." She said this not for Relena, but for the two shocked lovers, who were staring at her with wide eyes and gaping jaws.
"Heero..." Relena tugged at his shirt like an impatient child and Michiru realized that's what she was, a spoiled child, use to having everything she wanted handed to her on a silver platter and, when it wasn't, she acted like the brat she was, clinging to it and crying. "Tell me that it isn't true!" Her voice was high and whiny, causing even the battle hardened Michiru to flinch, the demand in her voice very obvious.
Heero was completely oblivious to her, as he stared deep into Duo's eyes, which had widened in sudden realization of something he had known all along. "HHHHHHHEEEEEEERRRRRRRRROOOOOOOO!!!" Heero turned toward her, his eyes dazed, to stare stupidly at her face. "TELL ME IT ISN'T TRUE!!!!"
He stared blankly at her for a minute before detaching himself from the blond and walking over to Duo. "It's true, Relena-sama. Duo and I are meant to be together and I'll be glad to spend all eternity with him." Relena stared at Heero in shock and fury, while Duo stared at him in shock and joy.
"Do you mean it?" the whispered question made Heero turn to Duo, Relena already forgotten, with a smile that Michiru had never seen before on the man's face. The change that it made to the young man's usually hard face was surprising, and there were no words to describe it. As she saw the smile she suddenly realized WHY Duo was in love with the Heero, for that simple action spoke more than words ever could. 'If I was not already in love with Haruka I think that I could fall in love with wearer of that smile...' Even as she thought this an answering smile came to her lips as she watched the two young men share a passionate embrace and then turned away, though the red-faced Relena couldn't seem to turn away and stared on in horror.
{I am hurt! Am I not good enough for you?!} The voice of her own soulmate was filled with laughter and joy, joy that the young men's two-souls-made-one were finally and completely at peace.
{I said IF I were not already in love with you.} Michiru Said, grabbing the upper part of the utterly still Relena's arm, pulling her away from the couple. {Now, I think we should give them a little privacy...} "Come on, Relena-san," Michiru said, almost carrying the blonde. {Love, do you think that you could put a spell over them so that people will pretty much just ignore them?}
{Sure.} Michiru pushed Relena down into a chair and, pulling a bottle of water out of nowhere, handed it to the blond, who was too shocked to notice.
"Relena-san, I know that this might come as a surprise to you, but they are true soulmates. Your interference was causing ripples in fate that, at this point in time, do not need to be made," Michiru said and then pointed toward the water in her hand. "Drink."
Relena did so without a thought, before turning her blue eyes to Michiru, the dazed look slowly leaving their depths filled by very real hurt. "I... I don't understand... I love him so much and I've tried to do everything for him..." 'Maybe she really DOES love him... it is too bad she fell in love with someone who was not her soulmate...'
"Relena-san, sometimes its more than that. They are fated to be together, nothing you could have done would have changed that."
"B-but why HIM?!" Relena said, giving Michiru a hopeless look.
"Sometimes when you share things you cannot help but become closer. Relena-san, they have killed, you have not. They have had to destroy buildings, knowing in their hearts of hearts that they were killing innocents. They have done things that you have never done, nor will ever be able to do. When something like that touches your life, you have to share your fate with someone who has been through the same things you have, shared the same feelings, whether they be guilt, joy, pain, fear, or emptiness. As much as it may sound cruel, you would never be able to understand Heero to the point that Duo understands him, because you have not gone through the things that they have. You live in a world that they can only dream of, a world without war, without guilt, without killing. You have something that they can only crave... a normal life..."
"But after the war they can have that too!" Relena cried, trying desperately to prove something wrong in Michiru's solid logic.
"No... Relena-san, after the war they will disappear and return to the world that they were born into. Then, their true duty will start and, more than ever, they will not have a normal life, far from it. Relena," Michiru caught Relena's attention. "Relena-san... they will never live for themselves. They live for someone else. Can you say that you live for someone else, that if you had a choice between love and duty, you would choose duty? If you can even say you have choice, then you do not know what it is like.
"Relena-san, my whole life, all of my lives, I have lived for one person, and one person alone. My queen and my princess, my savior and my condemner, my angel and my demon, my Serenity. I live only for her. I live not even for my own soulmate and, if I had to make the choice between my soulmate's life and my queen's life, I would save my queen without a second thought. She holds my life, like you hold that bottle." Michiru paused, joy and sorrow flashing across deep, sea blue eyes. "My life, it is not my own, it never has been."
"But that's impossible!" Relena cried again, trying desperately to keep the understanding from flooding her, and Michiru could tell it was. Maybe not such a child after all...
"Relena-san, do you believe in magic?" Michiru asked.
"What?" This question was apparently unexpected as she looked at Michiru in confusion and surprise.
"Do you believe in magic?" the aqua haired girl repeated her question.
"I never really thought about it... but... I guess... No. Everyone knows that magic is only in fairy tales!"
"Maybe in this dimension, on this world, but where I come from magic is everywhere. My world is formed around, for, and by magic. Watch..." Michiru held out her hand and watery globe formed. "Touch it, it is just water." Relena's shaky hand reached out to touch and then she jerked back in surprise, as it was indeed, water. The globe began to glow the same aqua color as the older woman's hair, the light reflecting off the shocked girl's face. The light began to form small pictures and, in a flash of light, a picture of Crystal Tokyo was reflected form the globe. "This is my Kingdom, under the rule of Neo-Queen Serenity and Neo-King Endymion. This is the world I come from, and this is the world to which Heero and Duo belong. Heero is the crown Prince Endymion, oldest and only son of their majesties. We were sent from that time to come here and get him and the other princes, all of whom we believed dead." There was a long pause. "Relena-san, can you truly say that you could leave all this, all you know, to travel to a distant land where everything you thought was true was not and everything that you thought not, was? Relena-san, there is someone out there for you. Whether you will find him in this lifetime I do not know, but there IS someone, somewhere, who is waiting for you. Perhaps even he has fallen in love with someone and that someone has been soulmated to another also. Mayhap, you will meet, so that both your hearts can share that pain, and turn it into joy..." The bubble popped.
Relena looked up at Michiru and Michiru couldn't help but smile. The understanding was there on her face for all to see, and Michiru knew instantly that this was a good person at heart, if a little annoying and spoiled. "If you had been born in our world, Relena-san, you would surely be a Senshi." And, with that mysterious but definitely complimentary note, she left Relena to find another, taller, older, blond. A blond with eyes of the sky, that smelt of the wind, and that calmed Michiru's soul, like no other living person could. Michiru went to find her soulmate...
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IMPORTANT NOTE: For those of you that wish it, DUE TO MY SPORADIC postings, I am offering you, the readers, A MAILING LIST to sign up to. When I finally UPDATE, I will SEND OUT AN EMAIL informing those of you that are on the list that I have finally updated. I need you to EMAIL me, telling that you wish to sign up, and whether it's for ORIGINAL FICTION or FANFICTION. I WILL NOT accept those people that ask to be up on it in a review because I can't be sure that email is real. The mailing list will ALSO OFFER the TITLES of those works that I am posting, the COUPLES (if any) that are in it, which FANDOM it is from, and whether it is a SEQUEL to anything.
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Petra: Okay.... I know that this has taken a while to get out but, this time I do have a good excuses: 1) I have been so busy with school that you can not believe it and 2) my computer crashed a week ago and it took me the whole weekend to get the damn thing working again. *kicks computer* Piece of crap...
Kati: Anyway... thanks for reading and thanks to:
Meio-chan: *giggle* Sometimes the best praises are the one worded ones, ne?
Princess Raye Fire: Well... it's being continued but, sorry, I already told you that no Senshi would be getting together with an Pilots... They would be cute together, though... *sigh*
Za Kaze no Nisou: I hope so too! *laugh* Well... seeing as how this is the second to last chapter... at least I believe it will be, there won't be that much more but... *shrug* Oh well...
"I dream of a day when I can open my eyes, and my dreams won't disappear."
-Rose Marie Ledam aka Selenay
~Petra Megami Assari~
*The Gentle Tiger Goddess*
Kati: Poor Iris...
Petra: *sticks tongue out*
DEDICATED: To everyone who lives for someone other than themselves.
WARNING: Shonen-ai and Shojo-ai. Don't like it. Deal with it. It's who I am and I like to experiment. Oh yeah, and cussing... Suprise?
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing
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CHAPTER SEVEN: SCHOOL, REVELATIOINS, AND RELENA
"When you truly care for someone, you don't look for faults, you don't look for answers, you don't look for mistakes. Instead, you fight the mistakes, you accept the faults, and you overlook excuses." -Sorceress Fantasia; Mr. Agony (GW)
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Duo sighed and looked through half-lidded eyes at the teacher who was trying to teach them about mechanics... 'I already know everything there is to KNOW about mechanics, why do I have to be here?' In truth, though, he was grateful that he was here. When the mission to infiltrate an American school that taught the children of OZ's highest ranking officials had come up, he and his fellow comrades had jumped at the chance to get out the cave they had been calling home for a week. Everyone but Wufei was uncomfortable around the four immortal, extremely powerful women, though a person tended to forget that in the easy banter and the comradeship between the four women.
He had talked with all of them but, in the end, he had found he preferred the company of the small, slight one named Hotaru. He found peace in the quiet way she hid in the background until something important needed to be said, or feelings needed to be smoothed. There was a pain in her eyes that was unlike that of the others; a look that Duo could connect with because it was the pain of losing all that you had loved.
He closed his eyes completely as he remembered the day he had asked her why she was so sad most of the time. She had turned frozen eyes to him, but they had quickly thawed as he stumbled over his apology, mumbling that she didn't have to tell him, he'd just wondered. She had sighed then, and gave him the story of how, when she was but a child, her mother had died in a fire from her father's lab. Mortally wounded, her life hanging on by a thread, her father used machines to bring her back to life and, when she awoke, she was no longer human, she was cyborg. Her father was soon taken over by a demon that had been planted inside him by the dark force that had started the fire and, it was later revealed, he had also planted the demon called Mistress Nine inside her. Duo, who had heard the story when the other Senshi had told it, now listened with interest as Hotaru went into more detail, explaining how Mistress Nine had taken her over, slowly but surely. When Mistress Nine had fully taken over, Sailor Saturn had finally awakened, but was not in control of the body. After Mistress Nine had been fully destroyed, Sailor Saturn took full control and Hotaru was no more. After destroying the evil and the world, she disappeared but Super Sailor Moon was not ready to give up that easily and went after her, restoring the world.
Sailor Moon had reappeared, but this time holding a small child in her arms. Hotaru...
Duo opened his eyes as a loud, sharp knock echoed through the classroom and in stepped the principal. The door loudly banged shut behind him and he turned around with a start, causing giggles to course through the classroom. The principal looked up and glared at the students before opening the door again, poking his head out the door, and saying something to someone. He fully opened the door again, holding it open as a girl with shoulder length dark black hair walked into the classroom, her head down.
"Class," the principal said, "This is your new classmate, Hotaru Tomoe, from Japan." Duo's eyes widened as Hotaru looked up, smiling timidly at the class, before looking back at her feet. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Heero, looking just as shocked as he was. Hotaru, known as Sailor Saturn, looked up at Duo and Said, {Surprised to see me, Maxy-kun?} As she sat down she let our a small smirk Saying, {You can not get rid of us that easily!}
'US?! That means...' the loud ringing of the bell, interrupting his thoughts, signaled that the mechanics class had ended. Dou stood up quickly, almost tripping in his haste to go and talk to Hotaru, but stopped as he saw that all the girls, and many of the boys, had surrounded the new student. 'I don't blame them, it's not everyday that you see a female that good looking.'
A chuckle sounded through his mind and he blushed as a chiding voice Said, {You should not flatter a girl, I will get a big head!}
Duo watched as Hotaru walked out of the classroom, followed by a large crowd of admirers, both male and female. He Felt a presence behind him and knew instinctively that it was Heero. He turned with a smile but the smile fell as he noticed something strange... a red string wrapped around the boy known as Heero Yuy, and then flowed toward Duo. Duo raised his own hand and let out a small gasp as he saw the red string that circled around his hand.
"Duo?" Duo blinked in surprise, and it was gone, leaving the pilot of Deathscythe trembling and out of breath. "Duo?" Heero asked again, "You alright?"
Duo took a deep breath and said, with an overly bright smile, "Just fine, koi!" That caused a glare from the Japanese boy, making the American smile brighter, this time for real.
Duo winked at the boy and then, grabbing his books, walked toward the hallway. As he stepped out he bumped into another person, his books flying from his grip, and his body flying back into Heero who had been following the braided boy. Heero dropped his books quickly, catching hold of Duo and then pushed him onto the floor, scowling.
"Sorry about that, man!" a voice that Duo recognized said, and he looked up in surprise to see Haruka standing next to Michiru, the taller woman's arm around the aqua one's waist.
Heero was the first to say anything, surprisingly, and stuttered out, "H-Haruka?"
Haruka smiled as she caught sight of Heero and the walked, clasping her hand around his. "Heero-kun!" she said in Japanese, "They believe that I am male, do not blow my cover!" Then she switched to English saying, "Guys, this is that guy, Heero Yuy, that I met on the plane over here! Remember I told you about him!" The older guys all nodded, looking Heero up and down and then smiling as what they saw pleased them. "Oi, Heero! This is Michiru Kaioh, my new girlfriend," Haruka said, motioning toward the girl who stepped forward, holding out her hand. Heero took it, still slightly in a daze, when he was suddenly thrown out of it by Duo, who had been ignored, standing up and clapping Heero on the back harshly saying, "Heero! Who's your friend?"
Not giving Heero a chance to say anything Haruka smiled widely at him, held out her hand, and said, "Haruka Tenou! Nice to meet you! You a friend of Heero's?"
"Yeah! Duo Maxwell's the name," Duo said with a bright smile, shaking Haruka's hand.
"Well, listen, we have to get to class, but see you around!" Haruka said, slipping her hand around Michiru's waist and steering her away from the two boys. 'That means Setsuna's around here somewhere...'
{Playing nurse to all you stupid kids, to be precise!} Setsuna Said with a chuckle. {You know, I have got to teach you how to shield your mind, I can hear you all the way across the building!}
'Sorry!' Duo smirked at Heero who simply scowled, walking toward his locker. "Ya know, Heero! It's amazin' how they can just make it sound like they're talkin' normal even while they don't shorten anything!" Duo commented, following Heero. A chorus of {Thank you!} followed that and Duo smiled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Michiru moved her shoulders, vainly trying to relax the muscles that tensed in the middle of her back. It wasn't working... She sighed and watched as Heero and Duo leaned against the tree, talking quietly, unaware that she was watching them from a discrete distance. She had known Heero for only a few days, but she could already tell that, while Wufei had gotten his powers first and was probably stronger than even Rei, Heero would be stronger than any of them had ever imagined!
Michiru smiled as she realized that he was a born leader, just like his mother and father. After she had gotten to known all the boys better there hadn't been a doubt in her mind just who their parents were. Duo had the bright and happy personality of Minako, but could be just as quiet and reserved as Kunzite when he chose to be. His eyes obviously came from the Lunarian blood that coursed through his veins, for they were a vivid violet that no human blood could ever make. He had the speed and agility of Minako but the level-headedness that was all Kunzite. Heero, though, went much more after his father, serious and focused to the point of addiction. He was cold and it was hard to get past the shield that both had wrapped around themselves, harder still to get out of the shield once you were past it. Michiru let a small, humorless smile grace her lips as she thought of all the hearts that had been lost to Mamoru and, probably, to his son, Heero. 'Those dark blue eyes can capture a heart faster than you can realize what color they actually are...'
'Setsuna...' the name came unbidden to her mind at those thoughts, and the humorless smile turned quickly into a frown. There was some speculation that Setsuna was in love with Endymion... Michiru leaned forward, placing her chin in her hands, and licked her dry lips. Setsuna had never actually said that she was in love with Endymion but, more importantly, she had never said she WASN'T in love with Endymion, which meant, to the people that knew her well, she most probably was. Setsuna was a realist though, and knew that they weren't soulmates, but that doesn't stop people from falling in love. 'The heart has a mind of its own...' Setsuna knew better than to steal people away from their true loves, and was also the type of person who wanted to wait for her OWN soulmate before starting a real relationship.
Michiru stood up and stretched, watching Heero and Duo out of the corner of her eye, before slowly walking over to lean against a tree by the two young men. She opened her mouth to say something, but no one would ever know what, as suddenly an annoyingly high-pitched and squeaky voice yelled out, "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
There was a flash of blond and pink before a girl attached herself to Heero's arm, hanging onto it like a leech. Michiru studied this new person with interest, as she Felt the tenseness coming from Heero; not to mention the nervousness and touch of jealousy, coming from Duo. 'Jealousy...? Oh... this girl has a crush on Heero, and Duo can't do anything about it...'
It had not escaped the notice of four women how Heero and Duo never physically touched in public, in fact, if they had not seen the red strings of fate tying them together, they never would have guessed. While Quatre and Trowa were indeed still distant, if you had been around lovers enough, you could tell what they were by the way they moved and the way they looked at each other. Michiru couldn't help but wince as she remembered one of the arguments that Duo and Heero had gotten into. Apparently, Duo hated having to act as if there were nothing between them while other people were in the room and this was, according to the other pilots, the only thing the two lovers fought about. Once Heero had successfully dragged Duo off to their room, they had listen tensely as Duo had yelled something that had made everything go quiet, until the four women had relaxed, Feeling the soothing tones emanating from the room. Ever since then, though, the women had been able to feel the underlining feelings of uneasiness between the two soulmates, something that lay under whatever happiness they found... something that keep them from true happiness until it was solved...
{And you think that this small girl might be one of the reasons that current is there.} Haruka's mocking voice filled her head and Michiru let out a small Laugh.
{This is the only person I have not seen shy away from Heero's death glare.} Michiru let out a small sigh and watched as a mask quickly slipped over both Heero and Duo, the girl rambling about 'finding him, like he had wanted her too' despite the fact that it was obvious he didn't want to be found, especially her. {What do you think I should do?}
{The truth is often the best path to take. Truth can rarely take you on the wrong path and, when it does, it is oft for the best.}
{Heero and Duo do not want her to know, obviously, and I do not know if I should be the one to take the first step.}
{But Heero will not, and Duo will not either, for he would do anything to keep Heero happy... You must, if you truly care for them, take the first step in this.}
Michiru sighed; not looking at all happy but stood up already and said, "Um... who is this? Heero-kun? Duo-kun?" She deliberately used the affectionate term and, as she thought, got a surprised and curious look from the girl hanging from Heero's arm.
"This is Relena Peacecraft," Duo said, a little too cheerfully, motioning with a too bright smile to the blue-eyed blond.
"But..." Michiru put a slightly blank but curious look on her face. "Why is she hanging off Heero like that? It seems very shameless and undignified for a queen... especially when the guy she is hanging off of is already taken."
Heero instantly became nervous and realized her plan, trying desperately to release Relena from his arm in hopes of stopping her. Duo just stood there, nervous but hidden joy emanating from him, and Michiru couldn't help but smile.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Relena said, looking at Heero with surprise and betrayal, who was trying desperately to extract himself from her death-grip.
{Duo, what do you wish for most in the world?} Michiru Asked.
Before he could stop himself he thought, 'To be able to love Heero even when everyone is watching. To touch him and hug him and kiss him.'
{Duo... wishes were meant to come true...} She smiled as she Felt the numbness fill Duo, the same kind of numbness that fills people when they realize something important is about to happen, something that is making them very happy, too happy to even express their joy.
{Great...} She stared at Relena in confusion and asked, "You did not know that..."
Heero opened his mouth, ready to stop her, when he suddenly found himself not able to talk. {Cat got your tongue, Heero? ...Or perhaps Neptune?} she Asked him even as she completed her other sentence, "-Duo and Heero are soulmates?"
Apparently this wasn't what any of them thought she was going to say, as Heero's and Duo's faces also filled with shock. "Th-this can't be true..." Relena said, her eyes quickly filling with tears and her lips began to tremble.
Michiru glanced at Heero before replying, "I would not have said anything except that the way you act with Heero is causing rips in the strings of fate and causing Duo great pain. You see, Heero and Duo are soulmates, two halves of a whole meant to be together for all eternity. Soulmates are a pure bond, a bond that can transcend time, death, space, and sex. Nothing can come between them." She said this not for Relena, but for the two shocked lovers, who were staring at her with wide eyes and gaping jaws.
"Heero..." Relena tugged at his shirt like an impatient child and Michiru realized that's what she was, a spoiled child, use to having everything she wanted handed to her on a silver platter and, when it wasn't, she acted like the brat she was, clinging to it and crying. "Tell me that it isn't true!" Her voice was high and whiny, causing even the battle hardened Michiru to flinch, the demand in her voice very obvious.
Heero was completely oblivious to her, as he stared deep into Duo's eyes, which had widened in sudden realization of something he had known all along. "HHHHHHHEEEEEEERRRRRRRRROOOOOOOO!!!" Heero turned toward her, his eyes dazed, to stare stupidly at her face. "TELL ME IT ISN'T TRUE!!!!"
He stared blankly at her for a minute before detaching himself from the blond and walking over to Duo. "It's true, Relena-sama. Duo and I are meant to be together and I'll be glad to spend all eternity with him." Relena stared at Heero in shock and fury, while Duo stared at him in shock and joy.
"Do you mean it?" the whispered question made Heero turn to Duo, Relena already forgotten, with a smile that Michiru had never seen before on the man's face. The change that it made to the young man's usually hard face was surprising, and there were no words to describe it. As she saw the smile she suddenly realized WHY Duo was in love with the Heero, for that simple action spoke more than words ever could. 'If I was not already in love with Haruka I think that I could fall in love with wearer of that smile...' Even as she thought this an answering smile came to her lips as she watched the two young men share a passionate embrace and then turned away, though the red-faced Relena couldn't seem to turn away and stared on in horror.
{I am hurt! Am I not good enough for you?!} The voice of her own soulmate was filled with laughter and joy, joy that the young men's two-souls-made-one were finally and completely at peace.
{I said IF I were not already in love with you.} Michiru Said, grabbing the upper part of the utterly still Relena's arm, pulling her away from the couple. {Now, I think we should give them a little privacy...} "Come on, Relena-san," Michiru said, almost carrying the blonde. {Love, do you think that you could put a spell over them so that people will pretty much just ignore them?}
{Sure.} Michiru pushed Relena down into a chair and, pulling a bottle of water out of nowhere, handed it to the blond, who was too shocked to notice.
"Relena-san, I know that this might come as a surprise to you, but they are true soulmates. Your interference was causing ripples in fate that, at this point in time, do not need to be made," Michiru said and then pointed toward the water in her hand. "Drink."
Relena did so without a thought, before turning her blue eyes to Michiru, the dazed look slowly leaving their depths filled by very real hurt. "I... I don't understand... I love him so much and I've tried to do everything for him..." 'Maybe she really DOES love him... it is too bad she fell in love with someone who was not her soulmate...'
"Relena-san, sometimes its more than that. They are fated to be together, nothing you could have done would have changed that."
"B-but why HIM?!" Relena said, giving Michiru a hopeless look.
"Sometimes when you share things you cannot help but become closer. Relena-san, they have killed, you have not. They have had to destroy buildings, knowing in their hearts of hearts that they were killing innocents. They have done things that you have never done, nor will ever be able to do. When something like that touches your life, you have to share your fate with someone who has been through the same things you have, shared the same feelings, whether they be guilt, joy, pain, fear, or emptiness. As much as it may sound cruel, you would never be able to understand Heero to the point that Duo understands him, because you have not gone through the things that they have. You live in a world that they can only dream of, a world without war, without guilt, without killing. You have something that they can only crave... a normal life..."
"But after the war they can have that too!" Relena cried, trying desperately to prove something wrong in Michiru's solid logic.
"No... Relena-san, after the war they will disappear and return to the world that they were born into. Then, their true duty will start and, more than ever, they will not have a normal life, far from it. Relena," Michiru caught Relena's attention. "Relena-san... they will never live for themselves. They live for someone else. Can you say that you live for someone else, that if you had a choice between love and duty, you would choose duty? If you can even say you have choice, then you do not know what it is like.
"Relena-san, my whole life, all of my lives, I have lived for one person, and one person alone. My queen and my princess, my savior and my condemner, my angel and my demon, my Serenity. I live only for her. I live not even for my own soulmate and, if I had to make the choice between my soulmate's life and my queen's life, I would save my queen without a second thought. She holds my life, like you hold that bottle." Michiru paused, joy and sorrow flashing across deep, sea blue eyes. "My life, it is not my own, it never has been."
"But that's impossible!" Relena cried again, trying desperately to keep the understanding from flooding her, and Michiru could tell it was. Maybe not such a child after all...
"Relena-san, do you believe in magic?" Michiru asked.
"What?" This question was apparently unexpected as she looked at Michiru in confusion and surprise.
"Do you believe in magic?" the aqua haired girl repeated her question.
"I never really thought about it... but... I guess... No. Everyone knows that magic is only in fairy tales!"
"Maybe in this dimension, on this world, but where I come from magic is everywhere. My world is formed around, for, and by magic. Watch..." Michiru held out her hand and watery globe formed. "Touch it, it is just water." Relena's shaky hand reached out to touch and then she jerked back in surprise, as it was indeed, water. The globe began to glow the same aqua color as the older woman's hair, the light reflecting off the shocked girl's face. The light began to form small pictures and, in a flash of light, a picture of Crystal Tokyo was reflected form the globe. "This is my Kingdom, under the rule of Neo-Queen Serenity and Neo-King Endymion. This is the world I come from, and this is the world to which Heero and Duo belong. Heero is the crown Prince Endymion, oldest and only son of their majesties. We were sent from that time to come here and get him and the other princes, all of whom we believed dead." There was a long pause. "Relena-san, can you truly say that you could leave all this, all you know, to travel to a distant land where everything you thought was true was not and everything that you thought not, was? Relena-san, there is someone out there for you. Whether you will find him in this lifetime I do not know, but there IS someone, somewhere, who is waiting for you. Perhaps even he has fallen in love with someone and that someone has been soulmated to another also. Mayhap, you will meet, so that both your hearts can share that pain, and turn it into joy..." The bubble popped.
Relena looked up at Michiru and Michiru couldn't help but smile. The understanding was there on her face for all to see, and Michiru knew instantly that this was a good person at heart, if a little annoying and spoiled. "If you had been born in our world, Relena-san, you would surely be a Senshi." And, with that mysterious but definitely complimentary note, she left Relena to find another, taller, older, blond. A blond with eyes of the sky, that smelt of the wind, and that calmed Michiru's soul, like no other living person could. Michiru went to find her soulmate...
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IMPORTANT NOTE: For those of you that wish it, DUE TO MY SPORADIC postings, I am offering you, the readers, A MAILING LIST to sign up to. When I finally UPDATE, I will SEND OUT AN EMAIL informing those of you that are on the list that I have finally updated. I need you to EMAIL me, telling that you wish to sign up, and whether it's for ORIGINAL FICTION or FANFICTION. I WILL NOT accept those people that ask to be up on it in a review because I can't be sure that email is real. The mailing list will ALSO OFFER the TITLES of those works that I am posting, the COUPLES (if any) that are in it, which FANDOM it is from, and whether it is a SEQUEL to anything.
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Petra: Okay.... I know that this has taken a while to get out but, this time I do have a good excuses: 1) I have been so busy with school that you can not believe it and 2) my computer crashed a week ago and it took me the whole weekend to get the damn thing working again. *kicks computer* Piece of crap...
Kati: Anyway... thanks for reading and thanks to:
Meio-chan: *giggle* Sometimes the best praises are the one worded ones, ne?
Princess Raye Fire: Well... it's being continued but, sorry, I already told you that no Senshi would be getting together with an Pilots... They would be cute together, though... *sigh*
Za Kaze no Nisou: I hope so too! *laugh* Well... seeing as how this is the second to last chapter... at least I believe it will be, there won't be that much more but... *shrug* Oh well...
"I dream of a day when I can open my eyes, and my dreams won't disappear."
-Rose Marie Ledam aka Selenay
~Petra Megami Assari~
*The Gentle Tiger Goddess*