Wufei had sat there in the cock pit of the Gundam brushing the misplaced hair back off Niki's face while thinking of the last time he had seen her , he had been angry that she's charged head long into a situation that she had no idea about , and without even telling him about it which once again reminded him about the last time that had happened.
That was back when things were easier , before he had given every ounce of his internal peace to bring a greater peace. She had thought he was a coward and had gone out on her own but truth be told he was not willing to risk it all for something so trivial as who was in control of the colony, but he refused to let her go alone into battle.
Of course she had thought herself the strongest , and of heart she was , she had set out to fight for those who would destroy the colony but with the wrong idea and for the wrong reasons. Putting the fate of all those that lived here upon her own shoulders instead of working together with others , all in the name of justice , but one person is not strong enough to bring justice for all and it took her death before she had realized it , what was it going to take Nikita to learn the same lesson.
Niki stirred , moving her head towards the warmth of Wufei's hand , in his musings he had left it to dangle by her cheek and was startled when her breath brushed by the finger tips. Her face was so peaceful as she lay there , he had lost one already to such recklessness and he had no idea how she had narrowly missed earning the same fate.
"Wufei ..." comes the voice in the dark from below his lowered face as a pair of grey eyes search his face in the dim light.
"It's okay ... your okay" he reassures her with a soft smile , of course the words were more for his own benefit then for her reassurance.
"This is the most uncomfortable bed I have ever laid on" she smiled back weakly , trying to move before realizing she was still belted into her seat.
Wufei quickly unfastened her and gently picked her up from the seat she had been laying in quietly since they'd returned. "You are unharmed right?" he questioned.
"Nothing a hot bath wouldn't cure I'm sure" she replied , nuzzling her face into his chest. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop them , but I did try"
"No ..." again she had just struck that nerve , the note of finality that Merian had left before she said no more , and he was not about to go through that again. " ... don't you ever apologize for doing your best , we're going to find your friend , I am not going to lose another warrior to this madness"
With that he crawled up out of the cockpit , trying to keep from jostling the small form of Niki that rested against his chest , the fear of his past repeating itself over riding anything he had done to keep himself calm up to this point.
Niki was not use to this kind of treatment , other then the concern she had received at the hands of her own group it had been some time since anyone had cared for her , when she had moved to the city she had no one but her instructor , even Trel had seemed distant some of the time leaving her to fend for herself and now Wufei was acting like she was the most important thing on base ... it was a new feeling to be wanted and guarded at the same time.
"I'm not going anywhere , at least not for a short time , I can be sure that we aren't going anywhere till all the other Gundam's are caught" she smiled reassuringly back at his concerned face.
Wufei stopped and looked down into her eyes , she seemed so sure of herself that it left him to wonder what his hurry was. "I am sorry , it seems I have had very little time for you and losing you as I did made that unforgivable" he had spent most of this time thinking about how he had almost lost her and it had just now hit him how little attention he had even paid her since her return.
"It doesn't matter , that is the past and no matter how we try to change it there is no going back , all we can do is try to do better in the future" she lectured him , she didn't regret anything she had ever done as it would have been something that had made her stronger along the way , and to wish any different would change things she was not willing to give up.
Heero had walked Amy back to her room , waiting till he knew she was on her bed before leaving but at the lack of hearing a second door open she was once again at the door watching silently after him as he left the hall. She followed to see exactly what it was that he had in mind but found he had gone to the core of the base and sat in the closest seat but what puzzled her was that there was nothing around the chair.
His head dropped as he sat there , the picture of Tenshi no Namida turned and its weapons trained on them , what would have happened had their little plan failed and she had once again gone Zero ... would he have been able to fire on her knowing it was her.
"Heero ...?" Amy quietly called from across the room , sure he was usually quiet but it seemed he was never inactive let alone the type to sit in a dark room with nothing to do.
"Amy , I thought you were going back to bed" he quickly replied as he stood up and turned towards her , not wanting to explain the situation he had just been caught in.
"Well you didn't go to bed , I just wanted to make sure you were alright" she said slowly , weighing her words carefully as she walked closer to him.
"I'm fine , but you should really rest , no saying what tomorrow will bring" he smiled , but it was more a gesture then something he felt as it never reached his eyes.
Amy looked up at the ceiling that was concealed by the darkness , not being able to keep her thoughts when she was lost in his gaze. "I know you don't like to talk much let alone to express yourself but I am a good listener you know ... if something was bothering you"
" A lot of things bother me , not all which am I willing to share" he said as he watched her , it wasn't that he didn't want to tell her but how she would react that kept him from sharing , sure he hadn't lied to her but not telling her how worried he was really had him at odds with himself.
"Well when you do want to share you know where I am " she sighed , she had hoped he'd outgrown the untrusting attitude he once had.
"Leaving without hearing what I am willing to share?" he asked , his eyes softened , knowing he was crazy but it seemed that the more that got dumped on him the more he expected to explode under the strain , and it went against everything he had been taught.
She smiled , maybe she had broken through to him after all. "I wouldn't dream of leaving"
It hadn't exactly been what he expected to hear from her but he was glad she'd put it that way , even if it wasn't a guarantee that she'd never leave. "I'd been thinking about how everything keeps changing , just when you get use to one thing it all changes"
"Tell me about it , just when you think things are finally getting back to normal there is a new thing to deal with" she confirmed knowingly , she'd lived most of her life like that right up till tonight.
"Yeah ... and sometimes you face things that you never expected , like the wrong end of a gun ..." he was trying to make a point but didn't know exactly how to spit it out.
"I haven't been doing this long enough for that" she tried to ease his tension , not sure what he was trying to say but knowing it was important to him.
"When you left before ... it was like a big void was all I had so I tried to hide it , then today when once again I was face to face with death and the only thing I could think about was how I'd lost you again , at least that was how it seemed ..." he was finally pulling it out and it wasn't getting any easier. " ... I'm tired , tired of feeling nothing just so I don't feel the pain that comes every time you leave"
Amy couldn't help herself , she'd filled the hole with her brothers but it hadn't made it any easier , that was why they all had worked so hard to get back here and even though she knew her friends had all felt about the same way it was more comforting coming from him. "Yeah , tired of trying to forget just so you can remember how to live again"
'Why had she thrown a punch at me , she's never done that before even when I've pinned her to the ground , and she was so angry , I don't think I was the only one that noticed either' mused Duo , he had left the hanger to try and find her , not that he wanted to face off with her but to try and understand what exactly had happened , knowing he must have missed something.
He had looked but was starting to feel like he'd have better chances of finding a pin then catching up with Trel. He had tried where he'd found her the last time but to no avail , that was when he realized a small draft now blew where he was sure none had before. In the darkness he found another hallway , but this one led out into the fresh air.
He followed it to it's end only to find it had indeed been one of the hidden entrances into the base , having come out right under an old tree but he held off walking out until he was sure Trel was no where in sight. Upon his exit from the base he noticed the area looking like a small wooded area and noticed the prints in the dew soaked ground which led him up to a small incline where she lay looking over the stars.
He walked up and laid down beside her , his usual comedy act put off to the side in favor of a quick get away if it was needed.
"What ... have you got me bugged or something now as well ?" she scoffed , still extremely upset at him from earlier.
"Nope , just thought I would come out and watch the sun come up after all it must be close now , that is unless you have a problem with that cause I can always leave , find a different place you know ..." Duo was playing it cool , that
was the best way to work around things.
was the best approach in this situation.
"I was just leaving anyway so do as you'd like" she replied , sitting up and was almost ready to get up when he pounced on her , trying to keep her from leaving. "Duo , get off me"
"Sorry but I can't , this time your going to tell me what is wrong instead of pushing me away like that" he said , he had spent many years as part of a group and knew sometimes you had to push to get anywhere in it.
"What does it matter , when this is all over we get pulled away again so don't act like it's a forever kind of issue" she preached , turning her head away and tried to get up from under him without making her side hurt any worse then it already did.
"Maybe we can change that , it's not like we didn't make it to your world once now , your acting like you gave up already" his face dropped as he said it , he hadn't given up and couldn't understand why anyone would while they had exactly what they wanted.
"Your living a 15 year olds dream , not all fairy tales end happily ever after and that is all this seems to be" she sighed , it was true in her mind , she'd seen happily ever after end up being more harmful when it's not all it was cracked up to be.
"No , but if you let it stop you then you've given up on life , I've lost enough things that I could have given up long ago but I didn't so you can't either" he'd recalled , having lost his parents , his best friend as a child , the only place he knew as home and the family that they'd made plus his partner once , with all of that gone he had still found a way to carry on.
"I know , and now your asking me to put one more thing in there that can be lost , why?" maybe if she put the shoe on the other foot she might get the answers that she needed , hoping he'd have an answer that would make it look better then she saw it.
"Cause it makes tomorrow look just that much better , see we never know when things will end or start but if you don't take the chance then you never will know just how much better it can be , make any sense to you?" he moved , getting up off her chest and sitting on the ground beside her.
"No , but you seem to believe it" she smiled a little back at him , still trying to figure out how this was going to fix her problem , sure he was right but how could she apply that to what was really bothering her now.
"Better be careful , you smiled ... someone might think your in a good mood if you keep that up" he joked , he had always been the one to bring a smile , and he knew no one could really argue his logic , even Father Maxwell had proved that long ago.
"How do you have so much faith in something that you don't understand and can't control?" it was a question that had perplexed her , this was the same one that had said he didn't believe in God because he had never seen a miracle and yet he was asking her to believe in something almost as elusive.
"Don't understand you , nor do I control you but I've had a lot of faith in you ... does that count?" he shrugged , laughing at her as she shook her head at him.
"Duo , that isn't what I meant and you know it ... sometimes I am sure your crazy" she laughed after him , it was almost impossible to try and stay anything but happy around him , it was when he wasn't around that she doubted any of it was real.
"Hmm ... but you love me anyway" he smirked as he dropped down to kiss her forehead.
"Yeah , wouldn't change you ... hey , who said anything about love here?" she sat up and looked at him , his words finally registering in her mind.
Duo ducked his head , giving her one of those sad puppy-eyed looks. "Awh , you wouldn't take it back now , would you ... after all I've been in your room"
"You what ... no way , Niki wouldn't let you in my room" her eyes grew wide , sure it wasn't well decorated but all the things in there even Niki hadn't seen.
Duo pulls the CD out from his pocket , the one he had been listening to in her CD player. "Oh really , should we see what's on this one ?" he grinned evilly back at her as he flashed the label which read 'Karaoke Hits'.
Trel closed her eyes knowing she'd just been caught , that was her CD , the one she'd made singing the songs in a novelty shop back home. "You wouldn't ... "
"Why not , been listening to it since I borrowed it from your room , funny though it doesn't sound like you gave up on it though ..." he laughed at her , for someone who wasn't shy to sing them she sure seemed different when she knew who had it.
"Okay , I give , just don't play it to anyone else , I'd made it but it never came the second time we made it back , was suppose to be a present sort of" she remembered the CD , she'd made it not long after their first return but had no way to get it to him so it had been her reminder of him.
"Guess you can't quit believing now so come on , say it" he stretched , the CD still in one of his hands.
Trel leaned over and kissed him , letting him be shocked for once as he was right , they hadn't given up till now and they had been here three times , plus the others had been to their world so she couldn't give up when there was a better chance now then ever before.
Jason had grabbed Quatre after leaving the main bay , he wanted to know what he had missed but really hadn't been expecting all that he'd heard.
"This thing is getting more dangerous , now instead of dropping them they start a gun fight with their own friends , not to mention blowing things up and bringing them to fisted-cuffs when they're face to face ... we have got to get these things out before it gets worse" Jason started , sure he wasn't to amused about the whole situation as it stood but now it was worse.
"I don't know if it is the receivers that are doing it , the whole Zero system had that effect , aggression was just one of them" said Quatre , he had been effected the worst by the system but it wasn't like it was something that could be easily controlled.
"Yeah , and they have a direct line , even the bat phone wasn't that dangerous" Jason sighed , what good was being a strategist if he couldn't come up with a plan to fix things like this.
"Well it's not like we can't take it out , just that it may be hard to get them all to agree , I doubt it was put there under their own will" Quatre added in , trying to help figure it out.
"The interesting part is that they didn't change much , or if they do it is for short periods of time , Savanna did the exact maneuver we used on Saddam when we went against him , giving him the first official beating , Amy used a lot of moves we did in outer space , training against any kind of space junk that floated our way and Trel ... maybe a bad action movie , but most of them were moves we used at one point or another" he analyzed , trying to figure the connection out.
"It's not like they acted much different either , well most of the time anyway" Quatre offered , catching on to Jason's line of though.
"We can use that to our advantage , the system is unsound so we should be able to help out if we keep trying to figure it out , I'm not about to let my best friends do this alone" he had been impossible to separate from Savanna as long as he could remember and then the others came making them a group and now not just one was in a bad way but the number had likely just risen to four.
"Maybe if we analyzed the material we could find a way to break it down to it's components?" thought Quatre , the main worry about how to get the dangerous parts un-entwined so it could be removed.
"Or direct blast with a precise laser , they fix eyes like that back home" Jason shrugged , glad he had grabbed Quatre as it seemed he had a good head on his shoulders.
"Well I'm not a doctor but I could see if maybe one of my sisters could figure something out , of course Sally could have the answer already for all we know ... maybe we should invite her over tomorrow and run a few ideas by her , she's closest after all"
Jason laughed at Quatre and how he still talked like they were rooming out at the Ritz or some fancy resort instead of a half destroyed base. "Man , when we invite her should we have it catered or just stick to coffee and cookies?"
"I could always have something sent over , but I am not calling at this time of night ... check the vending machines yet?" Quatre couldn't help it , Jason was about as addictive as Duo could be , always with a joke or smile and just as impulsive in the end.
"I've been starving all night and we have vending machines ... awh man" Jason grimaced as they both walked out to find a bite to eat , most of his worry put off until they could get someone who had a clue what the scan meant to translate it before they got into any deep theories on just how to get it out.
Trowa had followed Savanna , letting her lead in the silence that he had become accustomed to while relating the similarities they both seemed to share. She seemed in good physical shape and although that was due to sports, but it wasn't any different then he had done over the years , although his wasn't so much a setting that one did with others. A hard one to crack as well, which she showed while under cover ... the old hag had been an interesting video to watch when he had found it. Plus she seemed happy to keep her opinion to herself unless it was vital , usually ending up much like the silent partner of the group that really only did something when it mattered but refrained from over reacting.
Then there were times where she could be pulled out of that too, like the water sports at the lake they had all participated in , or the ball where she'd actually shared something of herself with him before it all hit the fan. Making him wonder just how much he really didn't seem to know about her.
"Okay not that I am complaining about the company but is there a reason your following me around or is it just a ghost like thing?" Savanna finally asked , the silence was getting to her.
"Just not tired and you seemed to have a plan so I tagged along" he said with a matter of fact attitude.
"A plan ... biggest plan I had was to find something that could play music and see if I couldn't lull myself off to sleep , care to join me still?" she smirked , she knew she could try working out hoping to wear herself out but after the last hour and some the last thing she wanted to do was fight.
"Sure , what kind of music were you going to listen to ?" came his amused reply , he wasn't a 'something' but he knew how to play music , of course it would have been better if he had Quatre playing with him.
"Even a radio that hasn't lost all it's transistors would be nice right now" Savanna snorted , so far the closest she came was listening to snow on the TV.
"I've got an idea , that is if your willing to follow along." his mind going to his flute , it was a soft enough sound that it might fix her lack of music , or anything to play it on.
Savanna shrugged and followed him , she had only heard it once , it was in the show so she was not against having a personal audience while he played.
Trowa peeked into the vacant room before he retrieved his silver plated instrument , ushering her over to her own room and tucking her in before he even started but he had her full attention , she had lain on her side facing him and waiting. He really hadn't done this in front of many which made this a little more difficult on him but none the less he started in soft and low , keeping it slow to try and ebb her into a calmer state.
She listened intently , closing her eyes to concentrate on what he played and the colors and motions it brought to mind , smiling as he played for her alone. Most times he seemed so reserved that this was out of character for him but then if that were true when did he have time to learn the flute , this was a side she was sure few had ever seen or ever would as it took a lot for him to let his guard down this much , it was a comfort knowing he trusted her.
Matt had walked out the door , making sure not to disrupt the others as they left but he had moved slowly away from the door , part of him wanted to go and make sure Nikita was all right but it wasn't a wise thing to get in Wufei's way , and tracking Trel down was not the highest on his list of things to do at this moment , with his luck he wouldn't dodge quick enough and get hit in Duo's stead.
Relena stepped up behind him , putting her arms around his waist and laying her head against his back as she took both comfort and strength from the silence that surrounded them for a minute before saying anything.
"They are safe again and still you worry , I would suggest a hot bath but you'd stew yourself in there if I left you to think to long so tell me , how do I make you relax?"
Matt slumped a little , the shoulders slooping at her words , he was sure he stressed her out most when he was silent but with his own mind a whirl it was hard to think let alone find the answer to that kind of question. He put his arms atop of hers and tried to relax , after all it wasn't like she had been in any danger so he did have one worry less on his plate.
"I know , I'll beat you on your video game , how that relaxes you as you jump up and down yelling at the bad guys I will never know but at least then you smile" she giggled , she hadn't much practice with games but it was something he enjoyed so she hoped it was something that could be quickly learned.
"You are always thinking of things to try and quell a situation , but I'm not about to back down to a challenge" he grinned devilishly as he turned around in her arms , he wasn't sure if he was going to enjoy watching her finally let loose and try it more or if her bewilderment at how to work the controls would be his final downfall at keeping his usual cool composure.
"I hope not , wouldn't want you thinking that I haven't been practising while you've been away so pick away" she laughed , a glint in her eyes as she watched his whole demeanor change with just a simple thought.
Now he was worried , she had been practising and although he didn't know which ones she'd been working on he doubted anything would put them on even ground here , he was going to have to pick something he knew almost everything about or a game of sheer chance.