Don't tell me
disclaimer: I own nothing! NOTHING!
Part 2: Explanations
where we left off:
"Quatre, I'm a girl."
*****
His eyes widened and his jaw literally dropped open. He blinked a few times. I don't think I've seen anyone so utterly shocked in my entire life. Shocked the hell out of me too, I'd never told anyone the truth about my gender until now. Apparently I'd been a good guard to my secrets. Looking back, I think Quatre took it fairly well.
"You're...kidding right?" he asked, still gaping.
" 'm afraid not." I sighed and flopped despondantly down onto my mattress.
Quatre stared at me for a few more minutes and finally concluded, "Adam's apple."
"What?"I replied.
"Adam's apple, men have them, you don't." he repeated. My hand flew self-consciously to my throat. Quatre may seem like a harmless pushoverbut that guy is perceptive as hell. Trust Quat to instantly pick out the one thing G had missed in my disguise. " But how..." he trailed off, gesturing at my body in general.
"Hormone suppressants," I reached into my jockeys, and pulled out... "Sock." I finished.
Quatre shook his head. "What a pair we make. The queer and the crossdresser." I smirked.
We sat in comfortable silence, Quatre expertly brusing my hair. I think Quatre's the only one who's ever seen it down, come to think of it. All of a sudden, Quatre broke into a fit of hysterical giggles. "Uh oh." I thought, "That's it, he's finally lost it."
"Uhh... Quatre, you okay?" I asked when he had finally calmed down enough to breathe normally.
"Sorry..." he snickered, "I was just thinking about how Wufei would react to the fact that a 'weak onna' has beaten him in combat, and has saved his life on numerous occaisions."
I thought about it, then added, "And that a 'weak onna' saw him in the steam bath."
Quatre chuckled. "Priceless."
*****
Later, more painful memories, happier memories, and mostly forgotten memories flooded back to me. I discreetly wiped my eyes from behind my mirrored shades. Damn, I missed it. I missed the tears, I missed the laughter even if it was almost always mine, I missed the days we had, and all that followed after. I missed it, good and bad, everything. I just don't think I'm ready to deal with it again, but I have to be, I'm needed.
*****
Quatre shifted uneasily in the seat at the spaceport. His lover, Trowa, and Heero, his friend, were bound to arrive at any moment now. He was staring at the gate that Trowa and Heero would emerge from, when a stranger slammed into him. He felt a hand snake into his pocket and he tried to grab it. It was too fast though, and the stranger slipped quickly and seamlessly into the churning crowd.
Quatre reached into his pocket and found a folded slip of paper. Curious, he unfolded it.
It turned out to be a note which read:
Heya Quat-kun!
Lookin' good baby! Looks like Shinigami's needed again, so, I'll be in touch! Don't show this to 01, 03, or 05. I'll turn up soon enough!
Your favorite braided baka, Duette.
Quatre smiled at the mention of his previous private nickname for the braided pilot, then crushed the paper and tossed it into a nearby trash can, as he walked, smiling, to join his companions.
*****
Water is one of my favorite things in the world. Back on L2, there is never enough for everyone to drink, let alone wash with. I think that's why I truly appreciate a good shower. This shower was particularly heaven-sent. The cakey, thick self-tanner and plastic additions to my face that changed my features and race fell away in sticky globs in the heat of the shower. I hated the itchy, unnatural adjustments, but they were necessary. After all, the only thing keeping Heero and the others from finding me, is that Heero is looking for a skinny long-haired white boy, not a young melato woman. The temporary black dye washed out of my hair, finally freed from the painful cornrows that had taken hours to unbraid.
I stepped out of the shower, no longer a voluptuous racially mixed woman with sunglasses, loud clothes and a crooked grin, but instead I was all muscle and lean curves. A wiman of average height, 5'6", a good six inches taller than when I had began taking the suppressants. I had a fair peaches n' cream complexion that stubbornly refused to tan, a damp, thick golden-brown braid that now thumped heavily against the backs of my thighs, and huge, treacherous violet eyes that forced me to wear sunglasses so I wouldn't be recognized. I never realized how much of a trademark they had become.
As I stood in my shabby black bathrobe, in front of the duxty mirror in my motel room, I debated my outfit strategy. Most people, even women, don't realize the power of the right clothes. The right outfit can make all the difference. First impressions are everything.
I briefly debated wearing my old priest outfit for old-time's sake, but, fortunately, G knew his chemicals, and the suppressants merely stalled, not stopped certain changes. The outfit was skin tight in places it once had room to spare. I thought about wearing the old nun's habit I'd picked up somewhere along my travels as a joke. I considered the skimpy clubbing clothes I had from an old mission where I yet again had been chosen to 'pretend' to be a girl, for shock value, but I eventually settled on plain black leather pants and trenchcoat that was long enough to hide my current weapon of choice, a retractable scythe. I slipped on my battered black combat boots, and my shades. In case they didn't recognize me, I wore my silver crucifix, and a black top that had "Necrophilia means never having to say you're sorry" scrawled across it in red ink, in the grand tradition of Maxwell humor, for good measure.
I took a deep breath, smiled my old, fake cheery smile, and headed out the door before I lost my nerve. Inwardly, I smiled ironically. Shinigami, the god (or in this case goddess) of death, was going out to meet a war, but she was more afraid of her allies than her enemies.
****
Eek! Short again! The next chapter will be up this week though...so write reviews to make it good! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!
Next chapter: Duo goes to see the other pilots! Insanity insues.