The Perfect Soldier
Chapter 7: Chasing After
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Taki opened her eyes, her dream still fresh in her mind. She'd had it before, several times, actually. And it was always the same. She was in a large, underground room, looking up and up and up and finally into the face of a mecha suit unlike any other. She had the feeling that it had been built for her or to protect her, but she could never be sure. All she knew was that she felt loyal to it. It was all very odd.
She reached for her backpack, which was less than an inch away from her arm and sat up. She had to draw the suit. She'd never seen another suit like it and, somehow, she knew that it was important that she remember, that she record it. It didn't matter that she had hundreds of other sketches of the thing. She was compelled to draw it, to honor it.
Her brow furrowed as she continued to dig through her bag but was unable to find her antique mechanical drawing tool. She turned the bag upside down and began dumping the contents onto her bed. She shook the bag and then put it aside. Taki sifted through the amazing variety of items, but was unable to identify the one object she sought.
"Damn damn damn," she chanted under her breath. "What?" She stopped when her fingers uncovered an unfamiliar diskette. It was simply labeled with the name: "Taki Daemon," but the handwriting was immediately familiar.
"Heero... you didn't stand me up after all." Momentarily forgetting about the missing drawing tool, she inserted the disk into her laptop and began to read.
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"Good morning, Trowa."
A pair of green eyes stared, unexpressive, at the image on the monitor. His sister smiled even though she was smiling at a recorder.
My sister.
A muscle twitched near his eye and his expression softened a fraction.
"I hope that you're enjoying your vacation. When you get back I hope you'll tell me about it. Oh, please say 'hello' to everyone for me." She seemed to gather herself for the real purpose of her message. "The manager has just informed us that our schedule is changing. Apparently, L6490 has postponed our visit there due to some technical difficulties with the colony's weather system. So we're bound for L2. I hope this message finds you before you decide to come back to work because, well, we're leaving immediately."
The sounds of men loading tucks and dismantling tents filtered into the message even through the trailer walls, confirming Katherine's declaration.
"The manager's told me that if you give the space port manager your name when you get to L2 he'll make sure you're admitted inside immediately. It seems you've got quite the audience on L2. They'd be disappointed if you didn't come."
At this moment, the door to the trailer opened and a voice interrupted Kathy. It was too low for Trowa to make out any of the words. In fact, it was too low for him to decide if it belonged to a man or woman. His sister turned toward the voice and grinned. Immediately, he wondered who it was and what had been said to coax delight onto her face.
"Yeah," she was saying to the newcomer, "I promise I'll jump ship before they pack me onto the carrier with this thing." She glanced back at the monitor and then at the door which was starting to close. "Hey, wait a minute, Yokaze. Come and say 'hello' to Trowa."
Yokaze said, "I don't go near electronic equipment, Kathy. You saw what happened yesterday..."
Kathy laughed. "But you fixed it again. The cattle prod is as good as new now."
An indistinct grunt reached the microphone before the door closed. Firmly.
Katherine turned her attention back to the recorder. "She's new. Got hired just a few days ago." A thoughtful frown pulled at Kathy's smooth brow. "She's so like you. So quiet, Trowa. The two of you will probably get along famously." She smiled. "See you on L2."
The message terminated.
The door to Trowa's room slammed shut.
The laptop glowed in the vacant bedroom.
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Feeling more than a little bit unsteady, Taki wandered through the Darlian estate. The story she'd just read on the disk was fresh in her mind. It was incredible, really. It couldn't be true. There was no way that Taki's true identity could be so... extreme. That was the stuff of fairy tales, not post-wars. What in the hell was Heero thinking, concocting a story like that. If it was supposed to be a practical joke, it was not funny.
Taki's hands fisted. Heero, I've got three words for you: Payback's a BITCH!
Unfortunately, Taki was more than a little sure that Heero would never toy with her like this. The data had to be accurate; Heero never joked around with people's pasts. But, if the tale was true, then that meant... that meant that Heero was saying good-bye in her most eloquent way. Heero was the sort of person who paid her debts, and she was also the type to see friendship as a favor to be repaid.
She's given me my past. What a sucky way to tell me good-bye. How dare she just dump me like this, the bitch. She is going to be so sorry when I find her. And I will find her. She can't hide forever. And even if she can, well, I'll just live forever plus one. That'll piss her off. I can just picture her face—!
Taki started when she smacked squarely into Wufei, who had, ironically, chosen that exact moment to exit the library. She stumbled back a step and glared at her obstacle. When she recognized him, her apology died on her lips. "Oh. It's you. Cured your hemorrhoids yet?"
He glowered at her and bent to pick up the object he dropped. Taki watched him, her eyes growing wide when she recognized the drawing tool in his hand.
"Hey! That's mine! Give it to me!" She snatched it out of his hands before he could react. "What do you think you were doing?"
"Returning it—"
"You didn't ask to borrow this. For your information this is my favorite pencil."
"—to you. You left it—"
"This thing is my soul mate. I go where it goes. Don't touch it again unless you want to lose an arm."
"—in the library."
"And I may not look like a vicious killer, but let me tell you a thing or two."
"Calm—"
"I've learned more from Heero than you'd think. The stuff I know would keep you awake at night!"
"—down—"
"How would you like to wake up to a smelly gym sock hanging over your nose, huh?"
"—it's just a pencil."
"Just a pencil! Oh, I know I didn't hear you say that. This is oxygen!" She emphasized her point by waving the tool in front of Wufei's scowl. If she had been in full possession of her faculties, Taki would have been frankly surprised that the metal didn't melt—or at least bend—under the weight of his formidable expression.
Before Taki could launch into another tirade and before Wufei could incinerate the pencil with the irritation that practically steamed off of him, Trowa stepped between them, handing them each their coats and a space ticket. Startled, the arguing pair turned their full attentions on Trowa.
Having successfully distracted them, he said, "She's on L2. Let's go."
Taki blinked, comprehending an instant after Wufei started stuffing himself in his coat. With an angry motion, she dropped her backpack and shoved her arms into the sleeves of her black leather jacket. Muttering to herself all the while, "She's in so much trouble she better hope I never find her. God help her if I ever get my hands on her. The ungrateful slut. Pulling this on me now. How dare she just drop this bomb and LEAVE?!" She heaved the backpack onto her shoulders with jerky motions, heading for the door, which was held open by Quatre.
Duo—barefoot, clutching his boots, and in the middle of braiding his hair—was darting down the stairs yelling, "Hey, Heero! Have you got an extra pair of socks I can borrow? It's damn cold. Hey. Why am I asking you? All you ever pack is your godforsaken laptop."
From the bottom of the veranda steps, Heero ground out in his calm yet menacing way, "This 'godforsaken laptop' has saved your ass on more than one occasion."
Duo paused at the door and looked sheepish. "Why, Heero. I didn't know you cared."
"Get in the car."
"I just love it when you get all authoritative and homicidal-looking."
Quatre blinked. "Duo. You just used 'authoritative' in a sentence."
"That I did."
By way of explanation, Heero informed the Sandrock pilot, "He had six cups of Mocha Java Espresso this morning."
"Oh." Quatre didn't seem extremely relieved by that piece of information.
Taki, oblivious to all of this, marched out the door and down the steps. Relena was wishing everyone a safe and pleasant journey and to come back any time to visit. She apologized for being so busy and unable to be a proper hostess. Quatre, of course, was the one to assure her that everything had been just perfect. It was Duo who, in the midst of stuffing his feet into a pair of socks that he'd probably talked off of the limo driver, suggested more chocolate ice cream would be a nice revision upon their next visit. Trowa rather forcefully urged him into the car.
Wufei was almost to the threshold when something made him glance back over his shoulder. Where he and Taki had... confronted there was a flat, matte object resting lifelessly on the tiles. Curious, he crossed the few feet and retrieved the object. A disk. With the name Taki Daemon labeled on it. The handwriting looked like... His eyes narrowed.
"Hey, Wufei? You coming?"
"Thanks, Quatre. I'll ride my bike."
"Sure. See you at the spaceport."
The door closed.
Wufei tucked the disk into his pocket. Now to find his keys.
He patted his pockets.
The sound of a bike roaring out of the gravel drive assailed his ears. A muscle along his clenched jaw ticked reflexively.
If he wanted a ride to the port, he was going to have to catch the others before the limo left. He made a dash for the door.
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Relena stood on the veranda until the limo disappeared from her sight. She thought of Heero. She wished him well, she really did. It had become obvious to her that she could not fight his demons for him. That he would probably never be truly free of them. That he may never wish to be free.
That grieved her, but she accepted it, for that was Heero's way.
"Find happiness," she wished for him. She only hoped that it wasn't too late; that he would not feel pain if happiness found him.
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Taki gnashed her teeth together with anticipation. Soon, if luck was on her side, she'd be giving her friend a dose of her own medicine in the next 48 hours.
She ignored the other passengers around her, even Quatre who had been given the ticket for the seat beside hers. It was an unfortunate bit of bad luck for him, especially since his seatmate kept mumbling various statements under her breath, mentioning various instruments of mediaeval torture on a periodic basis.
Two rows behind the disgruntled artist/retired wealth-redistributor, a pair of black eyes were trained on the personal console set into the back of Heero's seat. The glow coming from the seat in front of Wufei indicated that not only he but also Heero was taking advantage of the service provided by all space flights.
Occasionally, Duo's voice broke the clicking of keys and soft beeps of error messages and screen changes. First there was: "You just can't leave it alone, can you?" Then: "Didn't anyone ever tell you that staring at anything for long periods of time causes your eyeballs to dry up and fall out?" Also: "Would ya look at that view... Heero! You're missing L1!" Finally: "I'm going to sleep. I hope my snoring makes you wish you'd actually stopped typing for five minutes and talked to me."
Trowa was sleeping. At least his eyes were closed, Wufei noted. Knowing that Taki would soon miss the disk and that it was related to the mysterious female 'twin,' he uploaded the information onto the personal console and saved it to one of his own disks. That accomplished, he took the liberty to read as much as he could before they landed on L2 and chaos returned.
What he read was the last thing he had expected to find on that disk. He had hoped for a message from 'Heero' indicating where she was or when she would be in contact next. Instead he found himself looking at a personnel file on Taki Daemon, who was also referred to as Zhih Luei, the last heir to the Dragon Clan. Wufei blinked. That was impossible. Zhih Luei had been missing since she was a young child. Missing and presumed dead. He knew. He remembered. He had, originally, been betrothed to her.
Scowl set on his young face, he suspended all judgment—and had to call upon years of discipline to do so—as he read the document. Knowing that the true heir had been marked by a tattoo of the legendary two-headed dragon on the back of her neck, Wufei believed nothing of what he read and wondered what 'Heero' was trying to accomplish.
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~End of Chapter 7~