Star's Gaze
Chapter 12: Freedom in the Sky
Kattie
Disclaimer: Kattie: holds up neko I own neko. Is this correct?
Lawyer: nods
Kattie: holds up pen I own pen, right?
Lawyer: nod nod
Kattie: holds up Gundam Wing lunch box I own, yes? (We're getting close now)
Lawyer: Yup.
Kattie: holds up Gundam Wing Mine?
Lawyer: In your dreams! Grr
Kattie: ;_; I don't own Gundam Wing. huggles lunch box
Note: I'm sorry if I didn't make it clear what happened to Hiiro. Here's a brief explanation.
Chapter 9: Hiiro leaves to sell laptop, notices Naihu's presence. Chapter 10: Hiiro catches Naihu, the laptop is probably in their car. Chapter 11: Hiiro leaves the apartment and sells his laptop.
Sorry that wasn't clear bows Gomen!
Last Note: This chapter is basically trying to tie things together. It's not very angst-ish or dramatic at all ^^*. There'll be enough of that in the next one, but I hope you can live through this one. (I tried to make it funny so you wouldn't die of boredom.)
**The Next Day**
Hiiro and Trowa had to help Duo walk through the shuttleport. He had gotten a little bit better but he still complaining of a pounding headache and muscle pain. He wasn't entirely conscious of what was going on, but knew that he needed to walk. After all, the other pilots kept telling him this, and they were in far better a mental state than he.
Quatre was openly avoiding eye contact with Hiiro, and seemed to be in an alternate universe. His eyes were focused straight ahead of him, but not really on anything at all. Every couple minutes he'd shiver and come back into reality, before looking around and going back to the other world.
Iria, who was the only one oblivious to the whole situation, just kept watching Duo like he was a time bomb. "We really should have gotten him a wheelchair." She said, for what seemed like the millionth time.
"That would have attracted to much attention." Trowa explained.
"And me being lugged around by you two doesn't?" Duo questioned, tripping over a crack in the floor tiles.
Neither Trowa nor Hiiro seemed to notice that they were carrying all of Duo's weight on their shoulders, even if it was for only a few seconds.
"No one's said anything yet." Hiiro offered lamely.
When they reached the ticket counter, Iria looked up at the prices. "Five children and one adult, please."
"WHAT?!" Duo asked, barely being held back by his two companions. "Five CHILDREN?"
Iria gave him a confused look. "Well, yes. You're all under 18, right?"
Duo stared at her blankly, "Yeah... but... We're not 'children'!"
Sighing, Iria shook her head and barely suppressed a grin. "You're technically a child, Duo. At least it makes your ticket cheaper, right?"
Sniffling, Duo hung his head.
"Finally," Wufei said, deciding that just because Duo was sick, didn't mean he was unable to be harassed, "A ticket that matches his mental capacity."
"If you hadn't noticed," Duo said calmly, though he was shaking with anger, "We're getting the SAME ticket. That means you're at LEAST as dumb at me!"
"That will be 2,781 Colonial Tokens, please." The young woman/cashier interrupted, smiling sweetly as she said it.
Attempting to ignore the two arguing boys, Iria took out her wallet and handed the tokens to her. "Sorry about the noise." She apologized with a sigh.
"Don't worry about it," The cashier grinned. "Boys will be boys."
"You can't talk to me like that," Duo snapped at Wufei, "I have a headache!"
"I think all of us do, with you yelling so loud." Wufei retorted.
"Here's your change," The cashier continued, reaching over the register to hand the money to Iria, "Thank you for using-" Her smile faltered as she noticed Quatre. For a moment she seemed frozen in place.
"Miss?" Iria questioned. Being a doctor, she began listing all the applicable medical conditions in her head.
And then, the moment was over. "OH MY GOD!" The woman squealed, dropping the coins onto the floor, "YOU'RE QUATRE WINNER! 'TEEN SPOTS' MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR OF THE YEAR!"
Quatre blinked back into reality. "Pardon?"
"It IS you!" She screamed, nearly falling down from excitement. "My name's Molly! Will you marry me?"
Now very confused, Quatre shifted his gaze to look at Iria. "What happened?"
"I'm not really sure. something about 'Eligible Bachelor', I think." Iria explained.
"HEY GUYS!" Molly screamed to the other cashiers. "It's Quatre! Here!"
"THE QUATRE?"
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?"
And so, the storm began.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Winner Manor
"Uh, sir," Wesley stepped in without even bothering to knock this time. After all, nothing would please him more than to be fired, "They found your son. Shuttle T-42. It leaves in exactly 48 minutes."
Mr. Winner nodded and stood up from his chair. It amazed Wesley how Mr. Winner could spend his whole life at a desk, and still be in good shape. 'He must have a fast metabolism.' Wesley told himself.
"Let's go, Wesley." Mr. Winner said, putting on a coat.
"Uh, sir?" Wesley questioned, unsure of what his employer/ex-employer meant.
"Well, we're going to have to hurry if we want to catch that shuttle." He explained.
Wesley sighed. "No, sir, I'm not going with you. I don't work for you anymore, remember? I quit this morning!"
"Yes, of course, you can quit as soon as we get Quatre." Mr. Winner answered. "Come along now."
Standing dumbfounded for a moment, Wesley tried to figure out how he could get out of this. "Sir, I don't want to go! I don't work for you! You can't tell me what to do!"
Poking his head back into the room, Mr. Winner asked, "Coming, Wesley?"
Wesley stared at the empty space he'd just yelled at. "Yes, sir." He grumbled, wondering what ever happened to his backbone. 'Must be a birth defect,' He thought, 'Couldn't I have been born without something else? A leg, maybe?'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Oz HQ
Suki's cellphone rang to the tune of "Ode to Joy" and vibrated to the melody. Suki hummed to it for a few minutes before answering. "Hiya!"
She listened as the voice on the other end gave her instructions.
"Okay!" Suki replied with enthusiasm. "I'll get there right away! Won't Daddy be surprised to see me?"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Elsewhere in Oz HQ
"Did you tape that phone call?" Colonel Itsa asked, pacing the room.
"Yes, sir!" Another man replied as he typed frantically on his computer.
"Where are they?!" Itsa yelled.
"The shuttleport, sir! Shuttle T-42!"
Itsa stopped suddenly and turned to face the other man. "When does it leave?"
"Thirty seven minutes, sir!"
"Then we'd best hurry!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
At the shuttleport
Naihu grinned as she looked over her paper at the Winner boy, trying desperately to calm a crowd of teenage girls. "Heh heh," She laughed sinisterly, "Gotcha."
"Hello," A woman said, stepping right in front of Naihu, "Mind if I sit here." She pointed at the seat to Naihu's left.
"Huh?" Naihu asked dumbly. "Oh yeah. In't got my name printed on it or nothing."
"Thank you."
Continuing her stalking quest, Naihu completely ignored the woman. "Whatcha gonna do now, Mr. Rich 'Un?"
"I assume he's going to get on his shuttle." The woman answered.
Glaring over at her, Naihu froze as she recognized the lady. "You... you're... I KNOW you!"
"Yes," The woman said simply, "You do."
"You were being on the "Lost Hunter" weren't you?" Naihu questioned.
"That I was. Don't tell me you've forgotten your old friend Lenore?" She asked, grinning slightly.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
"I could ask you the same, but that would be rather pointless, since I already know," Lenore slipped off her jacket and tied it around her waist, "I'm here to stop you."
"You can try, honey, but you ain't gonna succeed!" Naihu snapped.
Lenore shrugged. "If it pleases you to think so. I have few friends, Naihu. I'm not about to let you kill one of them."
A grin came to Naihu's lips as something occurred to her. "Well, I'll always be up for a challenge. It's more fun this way."
"You always thought playing God was a fun game."
"Shut your yapper. I liked you better when you didn't talk."
"Well, I liked you better when you weren't revenge-driven."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The place Naihu was watching
"No, he's not Quatre." Hiiro said, getting annoyed by the crowd of young women.
Duo, who didn't seem to mind them, flashed his most charming smile. "So, how do you know our friend Quatre?"
"He's going to marry me someday!" One girl explained.
"He's my fiancé!" Another answered.
"My psychic says we're meant to be!" Said a third.
"Really?" Duo asked, sounding interested. "But you can't ALL be destined for him. What about his poor friend Duo?"
"I won't settle for less than Quatre!"
"I would never cheat on my beloved!"
"It's in the STARS!"
"Well," Duo questioned, disappointment hinted in his tone, "What now?"
"Help!" Quatre's voice cried from the middle of the mob.
"...We might have to run." Trowa admitted.
"Yeah, but how do we get Quatre?"
Ignoring Duo's lack of faith, Hiiro plunged into the crowd.
"Do you think he'll make it?" Duo asked.
"... He has his gun."
A few minutes later, Hiiro emerged from the mob, clutching Quatre's arm. "We're going." He stated.
Quatre was staring ahead with a look of horror. His hair was tousled and had been partially dyed by all the girls' lipstick. His vest was gone probably to be claimed by some lucky woman as commemorative item of this "wonderful" day. One of his pant legs had been ripped off and both of his shoes were untied. "H-have to... catch a... sh-shuttle." Quatre stuttered.
"Quatre sure is lucky." Duo said with a wistful sigh.
Iria plunged from the crowd and joined up with the five boys. "Those girls!" She said angrily. "Have they NO RESPECT for people just TRYING to get to a shuttle on time!?"
"Stupid women." Wufei snarled.
"THERE HE IS!" Someone screamed upon noticing Quatre's location.
Everything was a blur for next few moments, but one thing was sure. Somehow the five pilots and Iria managed to escape the swarm of 'Teen Spot' readers. The crowd of girls stood dumbfounded as they realized Quatre was gone.
"Damn it!" One cried. "How could we let them escape?"
"We were THIS close!"
"How could we be so stupid!?"
"Hey!" Molly yelled, silencing the rest of the women. "Don't worry! I know which flight they're on! We just have to follow them!"
Victory cheers echoed throughout the building.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
At the ticket counter
Mr. Winner rang the bell for service again, feeling very annoyed. "This is horrible service!" He commented. "If I ran my business like this, I'd be bankrupt."
"Yes, sir." Wesley muttered.
Somewhere in the background he could hear choruses of "Hallelujah!" and "We're back in business!". It didn't occur to him to wonder why he was hearing this.
End of Chapter
Two chapters left. I think I will do a sequel. One good part of living through my "boring" chapter is that you get two more instead of one, right? I hope, at least
Sorry for the shortness and humorousness. Maybe you were a little tired of angst? ^^* Well, don't worry, I'll get back to my torture sessions next chapter. (Then again, didn't I torture Quatre anyway?)
I leave you with a few questions:
1) What disease does Duo have?
2) Who was in Quatre's dream, and what was happening in it?
3) Will Mr. Winner ever get service?
4) Will you review? Please? looks all cute and innocent
Reviews=Inspiration=Quicker Chapters!
Chapter 12: Freedom in the Sky
Kattie
Disclaimer: Kattie: holds up neko I own neko. Is this correct?
Lawyer: nods
Kattie: holds up pen I own pen, right?
Lawyer: nod nod
Kattie: holds up Gundam Wing lunch box I own, yes? (We're getting close now)
Lawyer: Yup.
Kattie: holds up Gundam Wing Mine?
Lawyer: In your dreams! Grr
Kattie: ;_; I don't own Gundam Wing. huggles lunch box
Note: I'm sorry if I didn't make it clear what happened to Hiiro. Here's a brief explanation.
Chapter 9: Hiiro leaves to sell laptop, notices Naihu's presence. Chapter 10: Hiiro catches Naihu, the laptop is probably in their car. Chapter 11: Hiiro leaves the apartment and sells his laptop.
Sorry that wasn't clear bows Gomen!
Last Note: This chapter is basically trying to tie things together. It's not very angst-ish or dramatic at all ^^*. There'll be enough of that in the next one, but I hope you can live through this one. (I tried to make it funny so you wouldn't die of boredom.)
**The Next Day**
Hiiro and Trowa had to help Duo walk through the shuttleport. He had gotten a little bit better but he still complaining of a pounding headache and muscle pain. He wasn't entirely conscious of what was going on, but knew that he needed to walk. After all, the other pilots kept telling him this, and they were in far better a mental state than he.
Quatre was openly avoiding eye contact with Hiiro, and seemed to be in an alternate universe. His eyes were focused straight ahead of him, but not really on anything at all. Every couple minutes he'd shiver and come back into reality, before looking around and going back to the other world.
Iria, who was the only one oblivious to the whole situation, just kept watching Duo like he was a time bomb. "We really should have gotten him a wheelchair." She said, for what seemed like the millionth time.
"That would have attracted to much attention." Trowa explained.
"And me being lugged around by you two doesn't?" Duo questioned, tripping over a crack in the floor tiles.
Neither Trowa nor Hiiro seemed to notice that they were carrying all of Duo's weight on their shoulders, even if it was for only a few seconds.
"No one's said anything yet." Hiiro offered lamely.
When they reached the ticket counter, Iria looked up at the prices. "Five children and one adult, please."
"WHAT?!" Duo asked, barely being held back by his two companions. "Five CHILDREN?"
Iria gave him a confused look. "Well, yes. You're all under 18, right?"
Duo stared at her blankly, "Yeah... but... We're not 'children'!"
Sighing, Iria shook her head and barely suppressed a grin. "You're technically a child, Duo. At least it makes your ticket cheaper, right?"
Sniffling, Duo hung his head.
"Finally," Wufei said, deciding that just because Duo was sick, didn't mean he was unable to be harassed, "A ticket that matches his mental capacity."
"If you hadn't noticed," Duo said calmly, though he was shaking with anger, "We're getting the SAME ticket. That means you're at LEAST as dumb at me!"
"That will be 2,781 Colonial Tokens, please." The young woman/cashier interrupted, smiling sweetly as she said it.
Attempting to ignore the two arguing boys, Iria took out her wallet and handed the tokens to her. "Sorry about the noise." She apologized with a sigh.
"Don't worry about it," The cashier grinned. "Boys will be boys."
"You can't talk to me like that," Duo snapped at Wufei, "I have a headache!"
"I think all of us do, with you yelling so loud." Wufei retorted.
"Here's your change," The cashier continued, reaching over the register to hand the money to Iria, "Thank you for using-" Her smile faltered as she noticed Quatre. For a moment she seemed frozen in place.
"Miss?" Iria questioned. Being a doctor, she began listing all the applicable medical conditions in her head.
And then, the moment was over. "OH MY GOD!" The woman squealed, dropping the coins onto the floor, "YOU'RE QUATRE WINNER! 'TEEN SPOTS' MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR OF THE YEAR!"
Quatre blinked back into reality. "Pardon?"
"It IS you!" She screamed, nearly falling down from excitement. "My name's Molly! Will you marry me?"
Now very confused, Quatre shifted his gaze to look at Iria. "What happened?"
"I'm not really sure. something about 'Eligible Bachelor', I think." Iria explained.
"HEY GUYS!" Molly screamed to the other cashiers. "It's Quatre! Here!"
"THE QUATRE?"
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?"
And so, the storm began.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Winner Manor
"Uh, sir," Wesley stepped in without even bothering to knock this time. After all, nothing would please him more than to be fired, "They found your son. Shuttle T-42. It leaves in exactly 48 minutes."
Mr. Winner nodded and stood up from his chair. It amazed Wesley how Mr. Winner could spend his whole life at a desk, and still be in good shape. 'He must have a fast metabolism.' Wesley told himself.
"Let's go, Wesley." Mr. Winner said, putting on a coat.
"Uh, sir?" Wesley questioned, unsure of what his employer/ex-employer meant.
"Well, we're going to have to hurry if we want to catch that shuttle." He explained.
Wesley sighed. "No, sir, I'm not going with you. I don't work for you anymore, remember? I quit this morning!"
"Yes, of course, you can quit as soon as we get Quatre." Mr. Winner answered. "Come along now."
Standing dumbfounded for a moment, Wesley tried to figure out how he could get out of this. "Sir, I don't want to go! I don't work for you! You can't tell me what to do!"
Poking his head back into the room, Mr. Winner asked, "Coming, Wesley?"
Wesley stared at the empty space he'd just yelled at. "Yes, sir." He grumbled, wondering what ever happened to his backbone. 'Must be a birth defect,' He thought, 'Couldn't I have been born without something else? A leg, maybe?'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Oz HQ
Suki's cellphone rang to the tune of "Ode to Joy" and vibrated to the melody. Suki hummed to it for a few minutes before answering. "Hiya!"
She listened as the voice on the other end gave her instructions.
"Okay!" Suki replied with enthusiasm. "I'll get there right away! Won't Daddy be surprised to see me?"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Elsewhere in Oz HQ
"Did you tape that phone call?" Colonel Itsa asked, pacing the room.
"Yes, sir!" Another man replied as he typed frantically on his computer.
"Where are they?!" Itsa yelled.
"The shuttleport, sir! Shuttle T-42!"
Itsa stopped suddenly and turned to face the other man. "When does it leave?"
"Thirty seven minutes, sir!"
"Then we'd best hurry!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
At the shuttleport
Naihu grinned as she looked over her paper at the Winner boy, trying desperately to calm a crowd of teenage girls. "Heh heh," She laughed sinisterly, "Gotcha."
"Hello," A woman said, stepping right in front of Naihu, "Mind if I sit here." She pointed at the seat to Naihu's left.
"Huh?" Naihu asked dumbly. "Oh yeah. In't got my name printed on it or nothing."
"Thank you."
Continuing her stalking quest, Naihu completely ignored the woman. "Whatcha gonna do now, Mr. Rich 'Un?"
"I assume he's going to get on his shuttle." The woman answered.
Glaring over at her, Naihu froze as she recognized the lady. "You... you're... I KNOW you!"
"Yes," The woman said simply, "You do."
"You were being on the "Lost Hunter" weren't you?" Naihu questioned.
"That I was. Don't tell me you've forgotten your old friend Lenore?" She asked, grinning slightly.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
"I could ask you the same, but that would be rather pointless, since I already know," Lenore slipped off her jacket and tied it around her waist, "I'm here to stop you."
"You can try, honey, but you ain't gonna succeed!" Naihu snapped.
Lenore shrugged. "If it pleases you to think so. I have few friends, Naihu. I'm not about to let you kill one of them."
A grin came to Naihu's lips as something occurred to her. "Well, I'll always be up for a challenge. It's more fun this way."
"You always thought playing God was a fun game."
"Shut your yapper. I liked you better when you didn't talk."
"Well, I liked you better when you weren't revenge-driven."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The place Naihu was watching
"No, he's not Quatre." Hiiro said, getting annoyed by the crowd of young women.
Duo, who didn't seem to mind them, flashed his most charming smile. "So, how do you know our friend Quatre?"
"He's going to marry me someday!" One girl explained.
"He's my fiancé!" Another answered.
"My psychic says we're meant to be!" Said a third.
"Really?" Duo asked, sounding interested. "But you can't ALL be destined for him. What about his poor friend Duo?"
"I won't settle for less than Quatre!"
"I would never cheat on my beloved!"
"It's in the STARS!"
"Well," Duo questioned, disappointment hinted in his tone, "What now?"
"Help!" Quatre's voice cried from the middle of the mob.
"...We might have to run." Trowa admitted.
"Yeah, but how do we get Quatre?"
Ignoring Duo's lack of faith, Hiiro plunged into the crowd.
"Do you think he'll make it?" Duo asked.
"... He has his gun."
A few minutes later, Hiiro emerged from the mob, clutching Quatre's arm. "We're going." He stated.
Quatre was staring ahead with a look of horror. His hair was tousled and had been partially dyed by all the girls' lipstick. His vest was gone probably to be claimed by some lucky woman as commemorative item of this "wonderful" day. One of his pant legs had been ripped off and both of his shoes were untied. "H-have to... catch a... sh-shuttle." Quatre stuttered.
"Quatre sure is lucky." Duo said with a wistful sigh.
Iria plunged from the crowd and joined up with the five boys. "Those girls!" She said angrily. "Have they NO RESPECT for people just TRYING to get to a shuttle on time!?"
"Stupid women." Wufei snarled.
"THERE HE IS!" Someone screamed upon noticing Quatre's location.
Everything was a blur for next few moments, but one thing was sure. Somehow the five pilots and Iria managed to escape the swarm of 'Teen Spot' readers. The crowd of girls stood dumbfounded as they realized Quatre was gone.
"Damn it!" One cried. "How could we let them escape?"
"We were THIS close!"
"How could we be so stupid!?"
"Hey!" Molly yelled, silencing the rest of the women. "Don't worry! I know which flight they're on! We just have to follow them!"
Victory cheers echoed throughout the building.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
At the ticket counter
Mr. Winner rang the bell for service again, feeling very annoyed. "This is horrible service!" He commented. "If I ran my business like this, I'd be bankrupt."
"Yes, sir." Wesley muttered.
Somewhere in the background he could hear choruses of "Hallelujah!" and "We're back in business!". It didn't occur to him to wonder why he was hearing this.
End of Chapter
Two chapters left. I think I will do a sequel. One good part of living through my "boring" chapter is that you get two more instead of one, right? I hope, at least
Sorry for the shortness and humorousness. Maybe you were a little tired of angst? ^^* Well, don't worry, I'll get back to my torture sessions next chapter. (Then again, didn't I torture Quatre anyway?)
I leave you with a few questions:
1) What disease does Duo have?
2) Who was in Quatre's dream, and what was happening in it?
3) Will Mr. Winner ever get service?
4) Will you review? Please? looks all cute and innocent
Reviews=Inspiration=Quicker Chapters!