Only Time
By: Zarabeth McGregor
Chapter: 14
Disclaimer: Must I? Okay, just so I won't get my ass sued…I don't own Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing. And just for the record, Ami's swimsuit belongs to Victoria's Secret.
Okay, my apologies to Amanda and Oldestof3, I posted up before I checked my reviews, so I obviously didn't see your reviews, so I'll answer your comments here. Oh, and it might me this chapter or the next one…but anyways, I won't be updating for a few days, maybe a few weeks. I don't know, so keep checking.
Q or C and A:
Amanda: Aren't you enjoying the wait? *Innocent smile*
Oldestof3: Bad ending? What'd I do to deserve that? Oh, and remember my notice in the last chapter.
MysticalNymph: I'm glad you do!
Katty: Thank you. Are they going out?
Mercury Ice Storm: I finally read and reviewed your fic. Update, please!!!
Kaiya: Yes you will! I'm glad you know me so well! T-bone…well, I'll have to train her not to eat from strangers then…she's a very obedient dog, too!
IL195: *Raises brow, folds arms, smirks* So what if I made it Ami/Heero? What do have against it?
Silver Star: Of course I do! Ami's definitely one of my favorite scouts now.
Arella Hallo: Yeah, it's been a while since I saw you. Don't worry, if I want to live to see graduation, I will. There are some very evil peeps out there that I know will be after my head I don't keep at it. Are you one of them? *narrows eyes suspiciously*
Jchild: She should defend it with her life! I would…yeah, anyways, well, she seems to think it's working, can't blame her for getting over confident. But then again, you're right, she hardly knows these people and what goes through their twisted minds…yeah, we're all going through it at the moment, I can't even go on the computer as much as I want to…damned studies! Oh well, it's for the best.
Crystal Dragon: Mine melted when I wrote that. Too bad there aren't many guys who would say sweet things like that…Oh, it's quite alright.
ChibiTenshi: Wicked cool, huh? Glad you like it!
Za Kaze no Nisou: Ah, well…so you aren't ready to kill me over the suspense and cliffhangers huh? *Hopeful smile*
Jessica: Oh, you do? The other pilots, not in this fic…*winks* and as for the scouts…well, I'll explain that later.
Aurora: I'm glad you liked Ami's words to Relena; I thought it was too melodramatic, really. Yeah, I wanted to get that contrast out and maybe lighten Heero up a bit…*grunts* anyway, I'm happy that you love this fic. Have you written any of your own, or are you considering it?
Meio-chan: Long time no see. And yes he did! Oh, it gets better!
Angel Anne: Thank you for the compliments! I look forward to hearing from you.
Minimerc: Long time no…hear? *frowns* I haven't been to the beach once for the whole summer…and it's just a ten minute drive away! *pouts* I haven't heard his Japanese voice yet, but I'm totally in love with his English voice…*sigh*…Well, I'll get off my soapbox now…
~*~
His eyes were still locked on to mine long after he finished his heart melting statement, as were mine to his. They were calm and placid, the deep blue hue looking strangely shimmery. There was something in them, something I couldn't identify. I felt that same drowning sensation I felt when I first looked into them nearly a week ago. Slowly sinking, going under, under…
"Heero," I whispered, knowing my voice would shake if it were any higher. "It would seem to be an innocent, if not a bit naïve belief, but it's the truth." I tried to pry my eyes from his, but they held me fast, like a butterfly trapped in a spider's web. "The world isn't all bad. Trust me, I know."
"The world isn't all good either, trust me, I know," he replied as softly as I had. I finally managed to take my eyes from his. I looked down and sighed deeply, trying to regain control.
"That's not a good enough reason to think the world should be destroyed." I whispered. More confident now, I looked back at him. "Just a while ago, you said you hoped there isn't another war. That means you care," I said excitedly. Heero immediately shook his head.
"No it doesn't," he said quietly. "It's a selfish prayer on my part; I don't think I could handle fighting in another war." He was looking in my direction, but not at me. It was more over my shoulder, at something I couldn't see. And something potentially disturbing. "I know I'm considered the Perfect Soldier, but I'm human too; I can only take so much." He wasn't talking to me now; Heero was in his own little world.
"Oh…" I breathed softly. I could feel the pain radiating from him, like I could feel Relena's earlier that day. My little utterance seemed to have brought Heero back to earth, because he immediately 'snapped out of it' and looked back at me. His eyes were flat and tranquil once again. For some reason, I think I was the first person to hear him say this.
"Well, since you didn't convince me last time, I'll give you another chance," he announced, his voice just as calm. It unnerved me the way he could switch emotions. "Give me another reason why the world is so precious." He stared at me, waiting for an answer. He did have to wait long, though. I didn't think, I just answered.
"Love," I heard myself say. Heero raised a brow.
"Love?" he repeated. Not mockingly, but quite interested. I nodded, realizing I couldn't back out of this one. Not that I wanted to.
"Yes," while looking off for inspiration, I spied two people. "Like that couple over there." I said nodding at them. Heero turned to look at them. A few hundred yards away, a woman was sitting on the beach, her long auburn hair skimming the sand, snuggled close to a man with sandy blond hair. He had his arms wrapped around her shoulders and her head was on his chest.
"Cute couple," he muttered. I nodded.
"Exactly," I replied. "The last thing on their minds right now would be war and the destruction it brings. They're too engrossed with each other. They probably have a wealth of plans for the future; their future." I was watching them too, my heart sort of aching as I did. How long did I have to wait until I'd feel that way?
"Too bad it won't last," Heero said darkly. I glanced over at him, slightly annoyed.
"Really Heero; you must learn how to look at the bright side of things." I chastised. Heero grunted. I rolled my eyes and continued. "But that's besides that point, whether they last or not. They obviously think they will and that's all that matters." I sighed wistfully. "They're probably dreaming about their wedding day, if they aren't married already, living in their own house with…three of their own beautiful children. "Their births, their first words, first steps, first loves and heartaches…"
"The pride of seeing them grow up to be successful people," Heero added thoughtfully, surprising me. I looked over at him and nodded.
"Yeah," I said with a smile. "We have to protect people like them so they can fulfill their dreams." I noticed Heero didn't comment on my classifying the both of us in the same boat. "The real innocent ones." Heero did raise his brow at this, though.
"The 'real' innocent ones," he repeated with a small smile. "Explain." I shrugged.
"I'm just assuming, but I bet they haven't been touched by war directly. Sure, they might've lost relatives and friends, but they aren't caught up in the midst of battle. They didn't have to fight in those wars." Heero by now was giving a very strange look. I laughed at his expression. "Let's just say I've dealt with war in my own unique way," I said smiling. Heero nodded in understanding. He didn't press the issue.
"Point taken," he replied. His expression was flat and indifferent as he looked out onto the sea.
~*~
The next morning I was at work, still thinking about my conversation with Heero. We didn't talk after that, we couldn't if we wanted to anyway. See, shortly after we ended it, Relena and Duo came up behind of us and drenched us with their water guns. Heero spent the rest of the time chasing Duo while Relena and I sat on the shore and laughed at them. But our talk still planted itself firmly on my mind. I could understand some of what Heero was feeling; I realized that we fought two completely different wars, though it was for the same objective. I could understand his frustration and his 'to hell with it' attitude. I won't even begin to try and remember the amount times I felt that way.
But I was able to be optimistic because I knew my job was done, that I wouldn't have to fight any more of the wars I was involved in. I knew it was possible to attain perfect peace. Heero, on the other hand, had to live with the fact that he could be called back to fight at any possible time. And from his expression when he thought about that possibility, I could see it wasn't a pleasant experience. With a sigh, I walked into my office. After I put down my bag, I went to fill my makeshift vase with water. I stopped short as I picked it up. Yesterday, there were two roses in it; now there were three. I picked up the freshest looking white rose, looking as immaculate as usual. I opened the note and read the neat script.
Love is a haunting melody
That I have never mastered
And I fear I never will
I frowned. It was sweet and all, but there was something tickling me at the back of my mind, but I couldn't figure out what it was.
"Hey, Ames," Relena sauntered into my office at that exact moment and the sensation immediately disappeared. I sighed dejectedly and looked up at her. "Ooh, what's wrong?" she asked with a frown. I shook my head.
"Nothing," I replied. "I got another rose." Relena smiled and walked over to me. I showed it to her and she sighed.
"I swear to God, you are the luckiest girl I know," she said. "Anyway, that brings me to one of my reasons for bugging you so early. Heero invited me dancing tomorrow night, and I wanted to know if you would be interested." I shook my head.
"I couldn't…" I started when Relena held up a finger.
"If you don't come, I'm going to deduct it out of your pay," she said threateningly. "And besides, Duo already agreed." She smiled as I rolled my eyes. "No backing out."
"Fine," I said with a sigh. Relena grinned.
"Payback's a bitch, ain't it?" she said happily. Once again I rolled my eyes, but with a smile this time. "Tomorrow night at around 8."
"Whatever."
"You know you want to come," she said teasingly. "And the second reason I'm here is because we are going on a little trip." I looked around to her.
"Trip? Where?"
"Colony LXI314," she sighed. "The president called me last night and begged for me to come see them. So, we'll be leaving Tuesday morning at around six. I'll give you your ticket this afternoon." I nodded.
"Cool," I replied. Relena nodded.
"Okay, well, I'll leave you now. I have some paperwork to write up," she said. She started to saunter back out when she walked back in.
"Ami…thanks," she said, smiling softly. I understood her words and nodded. Then Relena walked out. As soon as she closed the door, I picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"Speak" was the groggy reply I got. I checked my watch. 9:00 AM.
"Are you still in bed, Duo?" I asked with a frown. I heard a muffled yawn.
"I didn't have any classes today, so I figured I might as well sleep in," he replied, his voice sounding slightly brighter. I giggled. He sounded kind of cute all sleepy and the like. I slapped myself mentally and very hard when I found myself wondering if he was shirtless.
"Uh," I started, trying to blink that image out of my mind. "So you heard we have a date tomorrow night…with Relena and Heero," I added the last part hastily.
"Uh huh," he said with a yawn. "Yeah, I'll pick you up at about 7:30."
"Sure," I agreed. Duo muffled another yawn, much to my amusement. "I will let you get back to sleep now."
"Yeah, you do that, babe," he said gratefully.
"See you tomorrow," I said.
"I'll be looking forward to it. See ya," he replied.
"Bye," I answered back and hung up.
~*~
The next night I was sitting next to Duo in his convertible, racing down the freeway. It was a clear beautiful night, slightly humid and a gentle breeze played at my loose, now wavy hair. Yeah, the curls were slowly coming out. I was dressed in a black spaghetti strapped dress that skimmed my knees and a pair of black, open-toe, high-heeled, sling backs. I was feeling particularly happy tonight.
"Things are working out between the two of them, huh?" I said indulgently. Duo sighed.
"I never though I'd see it happen," he looked across at me. "But yeah. It seems like they're making progress." I sighed contently and stretched my arms lazily.
"So, where are we going?" I asked.
"This new bar that opened up: El Mariachi," he replied. I raised a brow.
"A Spanish bar," I mused out loud. Lots of dance guaranteed. We pulled up outside a mid-sized building, Latino music blaring. A lot of people were milling around outside, not only from Spanish descent but also from other ethnic groups. We saw Heero and Relena immediately. Relena had her hair tied back into a low bun with a red flower behind her ear. She was wearing a red dress with long sleeves and a fair amount of cleavage that clung to her body, but flowed out at the knees in a large, tasteful flounce with a slit up the middle. She had a matching shawl over her shoulders and matching strappy shoes. Heero wore a simple white button up shirt and black pants. Relena waved at us as we got out of the car.
"Night," we greeted and Relena and I hugged. We walked in together. Inside was just overwhelming. A there were people, people and even more people. Couples, groups of friends, people coming alone were all occupying the seemingly small room. There was a dance floor in the middle of the establishment with the tables placed around it. We caught one right next to the floor. Several people were on the floor dancing to a fast, pulsing Latino song, most of the women dressed similar to Relena. There was a lot of talking and laughter that flowed over the music. I loved it instantly.
"Buenos Noches, senors y senoritas!" a cheerful yet sultry woman asked in perfect Spanish. She was naturally pretty, large brown eyes and a flawless olive complexion that stood out against her short black dress. Her dark auburn hair flowed in light curls over her shoulders to somewhere below her waist. "I'm Selena, your camarera for tonight. How may I help you?" Her English was flawless, yet she spoke with a heavy accent. We gave our orders to our waitress and she went off. It was then I noticed Duo took a clearly…evident liking to Selena. He was literally breaking his neck off trying to get a look at her as she walked off.
"Ow!" Duo protested as I nudged him harder than I intended to in the ribs. "What was that for?"
"Just make it a tad bit more obvious, why don't you?" I said, my voice slight acid. Duo threw up his hands in defense.
"Hey, I'm a guy, I do those sort of things," he argued.
"Oh, don't go blaming your DNA, Duo," I retorted. "You're probably the only guy in here that will be needing a chiropractor just from checking out Selena." I didn't mean to spit her name out like that, but I did.
"Nuh uh!" Duo smiled as he took a quick glance around. Our waitress was coming back, and I saw I was wrong in my assumption about Duo being the only guy ogling. Every table she passed, the guys would stop what they were doing and stare. I could also see I wasn't the only female peeved by it. There were some very venomous looks going around. Selena didn't seem to notice or care. I rolled my eyes in defeat and slumped down in my chair. Only then did I notice that I was being watched. Relena looked like she was holding in some serious laughter while Heero had a slightly amused look on his face.
"There you go," Selena said as she approached our table. She rested our drinks in front of us; Relena and I ordered Sprites and Duo and Heero took cokes. As she sauntered off, the whiplash phenomenon started again.
"I give up," I groaned into my drink.
"What was that?" Duo asked, still straining his neck. If there was one time I felt like unleashing my full Sailor Scout powers on a guy, this was it. Why, would be the big question. Sighing, I continued to sip my drink.
An hour later, the amount of people present doubled. Nearly everyone was on the dance floor, moving to the hypnotic beat. I watched them as they danced, their movements holding me spellbound. Now on my second Sprite, I was feeling a little bubble of energy somewhere deep within me. I was tapped my feet to the rhythm and nodding my head as well. I looked back over at the others and I saw Heero and Relena were deep in conversation, though the din was so loud I couldn't hear what they were saying.
"Hey Ami," Duo whispered in my ear. Slightly startled, I turned to look at him. "Let's dance." I obliged happily. We excused ourselves and got up from our seats. As we approached, Duo spun me out onto the dance floor, where we started to do the Paso Doble, translated to mean the Two Step, which we were doing last Friday. While I was dancing, I took little glances to our table once every few seconds to see what the other two were doing.
"Ami," Duo said, turning my face gently to his one of the many, many times. "Don't make it look so obvious." I smiled sheepishly and nodded and we continued dancing. Okay, so I couldn't stop looking completely. I took some more glances, just that they were fewer and less conspicuous.
In the middle of the third song, a lively Samba beat, I noticed something. Heero and Relena were getting up from the table. I kept my eyes on them, though I figured they were going onto the dance floor, but I guessed wrong; they were moving towards the back of the building, towards the door. Curious to see if that's what they were really doing, I leaned back a bit. They were making a slow and steady movement in that direction, definitely. But I still wasn't sure. I leaned back even more. By now I was vaguely aware of Duo telling me something and trying to tug me back up gently, but I was too taken up to notice. Just a bit more…
*THUD*
Much to my surprise, I suddenly found myself lying flat on my back, a dull pain radiating from my shoulder blades…in the middle of the dance floor. It then dawned on me that I had just lost my balance and fell. And you think that was embarrassing? You only heard the half of it.
You see, Duo was trying to tell me to stop leaning back so much, and me being so stubborn, ignored him. Seeing as he was trying to pull me up, he was putting a good amount of his weight into it. So, basically, when I fell, he fell with me.
There I was in the middle of the floor, dozens of people staring, with Duo's face hovering a few inches above mine (see, he put out his hands in time, so he didn't fall directly on top of me…oh the shame…). We were both panting from surprise and exertion. And something strange happened, something I hardly expected…
I started to laugh. Hard. I was laughing lustily and loudly, and it wasn't just to cover up my embarrassment. It was out of honest amusement. After a few seconds, Duo joined in, then the whole bar did. Everyone was still laughing, include Duo, and myself when we got up. The other patrons eventually went back to dancing.
"Oh, God," I said between giggles, waving my hands around when Duo helped me up. "So sorry." Duo shrugged, still grinning.
"Do I look upset?" he asked. One look at his amused face and I started to laugh again.
"Come on, let's dance," I said, finally catching my senses. Duo spun me out again and as he did I looked around. Heero and Relena were gone.
Another long chapter…I typed like a demon. Nine pages, people! Okay, thanks for reading and don't forget to review!