Disclaimer: The same…

Shattered Wings

Chapter 1

~*~

Hilde Schbeiker sat on the cold gray concrete floor working on an old motorcycle engine. This was her job, this was were she worked. It was a repair shop. A simple all repair shop. Hilde's personal expertise was in motorcycles, cars, MS's and computers.

When she had left L2 almost three years she had come here, to Earth. She'd never really lived on the planet before, even though she knew that she had been born in Germany. So when she decided to leave, to start a new life for herself she came to a place she's never been before. Now, Okinawa Japan was home. The city just appealed to her.

"Hil, do you have that motorcycle done yet?" Joe's booming voice asked over her loud rock music playing from the radio on the garage wall.

"Yeah, give me a sec. I just need to put this new spark plug in and it should run fine. Why? Is the guy here to pick it up already?"

"You did tell me that it would be done by today kid."

"Well, I had to debug that Preventors computer remember?" Hilde shouted a little, aggravated at being reminded at her tardiness.

"Yeah, yeah. Look, is it done or not?"

"Joe, just send the guy back here and he can test it."

Frustrated Hilde grabbed her wrench and started to screw a bolt back into place.

~*~

That's how Heero found her. Hilde was busily trying to finish fixing his bike, with her hair pulled back into a messy bun and a few strands hanging loosely around her face. She looked good so naturally, sitting there in a blue mechanics suit, the top part down and tied around her waist and a simple white tank top. He really hadn't expected to see her again. Two weeks ago, on one of the worst night of his life, he had saw her, standing in the middle of the street while the pouring rain feel on both of them. He had saw the hurt in her eyes that he also saw in his eyes later that night when he returned home and looked in the mirror. She had walked away from him then. Would she do it again? He was about to find out.

"Hilde."

~*~

She froze. She hadn't heard that voice in years but she knew it anywhere. It was like Duo's voice. She could recognize his voice almost anywhere.

Afraid to look up Hilde answered him, "Heero."

'So she was afraid,' Heero thought.

"I should be done in a minute. Sorry for the wait but I've been busy." Hilde said nonchalantly, as if she didn't know whom she was speaking to.

"Hn."

Feeling the butterflies in her stomach Hilde swallowed and wiped the sweat from her brow. She didn't know what to say to him. She couldn't understand how after two years of being by herself and not having any contact with any of the people that new her as Duo's girl, now, Heero Yuy of all people was showing up in her life. And not just once, twice. Trying desperately not to concentrate on all the difficult thoughts swimming through her mind Hilde spoke.

"Nice bike."

~*~

Now it was time for Heero to freeze. He had been contemplating on how to handle the situation. In all reality he didn't know what to think. He had left also, those two almost three years ago, and disappeared into the night. He actually traveled during one of the years, seeing the beauty of the whole Earth Sphere. After he buried the hurt he felt for Relena he joined back up with the Preventors. As much as he didn't want to kill anymore, he did want to defend what he had worked for. Just recently though, Lady Une decided he needed to be reassigned, bringing him here, to Japan. He hadn't even been here a month but he was seriously considering to leave. He couldn't stay here while Hilde was here. She reminded so much, with her gorgeous blue eyes that were so unlike Relena's soft sea green ones.

"Heero?"

Startled, Heero looked down, still with the mask upon his face, always hiding his feelings, and stared at Hilde. She was looking up at him with an emotion he saw as understanding but then she lowered her gaze, also hiding away what she was really feeling.

"Sorry again for the wait. I haven't tested it yet but I'm sure you won't mind."

Not replying, Heero straddled the bike and started it up. He smirked as it roared, purring underneath him. Looking toward Hilde again he watched as she smiled triumphantly with her hands on her curved hips.

Stopping the bike Heero kicked out the kickstand and propped it back up so he could pay for the service.

"Heero?"

"Hn?"

"I was just going to say, go easy on the throttle for the first few days. I emptied a lot of water out of that engine. It should be fine but I'm not guaranteeing anything with just an old model."

"Thanks."

~*~

She tried not to watch him pull away, tried not to notice how extremely good he looked in his Preventors uniform, his new found height and slight bulk being foreshadowed by it. She didn't know what the hell she wanted to do. He hadn't said anything else to her but she hadn't really tried to start a conversation with him. Feeling suddenly depressed Hilde went and sat down in her office. Laying her head back on the armrest of her small couch Hilde stared up at the ceiling.

Sure, Heero had changed. His body had matured, as had hers, but the eyes, the same deep blue eyes she remembered about him was the same. He still carried the same disposition, but now he carried even more hurt.

"Heero. What does this mean? I can't look at you without remembering Duo and his deist but… you understand. You understand how much it hurts." Hilde said the last line between sobs.

Even after all these years the ache in her heart still killed her. The thought or remembrance of that faithful day still pained her. Maybe she would never get over this.

~*~

Heero sped away on his newly fixed bike and thought about Hilde. For some reason he couldn't stop seeing her. She was different. Sure, he'd always been cold, more indifferent, but she used to be happy, caring. Now, she had locked that part of herself away, like he had years ago. He didn't really blame her though. He had been there. He saw exactly what she saw, something that no lover should ever have to witness. Now, she was mature, independent, and somehow, still Hilde. One thing for sure, she understood. She understood the pain he had gone through. Maybe he would see her again.