Akina's Notes: Well, once again it has gone far to long since I have even sat down at my computer and attempted to type another chapter of this. I'm extremely sorry to those of you who where hoping for a quick coming out of this chapter. My schedule is slowing down now though so hopefully I'll have more time to spend on this story. Please review if you read this! I can't get any better or more motivated if I don't get feed back from readers!
You Remind Me
Chapter 2: Learning consequences
It had been a couple weeks since Rei had first began her work as a priestess at the temple. She wasn't really an official priestess since she was going through her training still, but most of what grandpa had taught her was sinking in quickly. In fact, Rei fit into the temple life well. It was a little weird since she was the only female on the temple grounds, but then again considering that there were only three other people working here besides her and grandpa, it wasn't such an odd thing after all.
One of the guys, Yuuichirou, was really friendly. He was always talking to Rei and helping her with things she needed an extra hand with or explaining how to do something she didn't understand. She could always count on him to be there for her if she needed him. His shoulder had caught more than a few of her tears over the last couple weeks. He probably thought Rei to be a little annoying, but he never complained or hinted for her to leave her alone, so she counted him as her closest friend. It was a little strange since she normally didn't get extremely close to people until she knew them better and she never really confined in people. She didn't want to have to add her troubles to their problems.
One of Rei's favorite pastimes now was gazing into the fire. Grandpa had shown her how to see visions in the fire and she had been working hard at it ever since. Most of the time all the visions showed were strange and confused images, few pieces of a puzzle, if it showed her anything at all. But the visions were getting stronger and she was slowly learning how to interpret them. Grandpa seemed surprised at her dedication to this hobby, but he didn't understand what it could do for her if she could harness this power. Rei had not really much of a desire to look into the future, that didn't bother her. The future didn't cause her to wake with a start and cold sweat in the night. It was the past she was interested in, and the only way to find out the truth to what happened was these visions since the only person who could help her with it was Heero, and he kept wall as thick as a castle gates up around him at all times.
Heero was always so distant and cruel to Rei. Yet he was the one person who seemed to live in Rei's thoughts almost every waking minute. It mad no sense! Still, whenever she saw him Rei felt her heart skip a beat and her stomach clench tight. She hated the way that she reacted around him. Even more, she hated the way he always ignored her. It frustrated her to no end that he couldn't even afford to give her the time of day! If two people shared a dramatic experience, if they ever saw each other again they normally would at least probably hold a short conversation. What was about this boy that had her so attracted and bound him when he frustrated her so? Maybe it was the way his dark hair fell into his eyes in just the right way to make him look a little rugged, but not unkempt. Or maybe it was the way his muscles seemed to be perfectly developed. Though these were pluses in his favor it wasn't either of those that held sway over her. It was his eyes. Those cold blue eyes that she sometimes thought to be made out of ice, the orbs that reveled next to nothing, and yet to her they revealed everything, that was what drew her to him. They told her that there was a reason he pushed everything away, a secret to horrible to let anyone find out about. It explained to her his actions and lack of words. Why else would a person allow himself to be so cut off from human contact? Even the orneriest old man talked to people, even if was just to yell at them.
On a particular morning, Rei was a little late to get up since she had sat long at the fire and stayed up well past midnight. In her rush to try and finish what she was supposed to accomplish Rei ran into Heero. "Gomen Heero-san," she said apologetically with a short bow she started to hurry off again when she caught the look in his eyes. It was still cold and unfriendly, but there seemed to be more so then usual. Instead of walking off as he normally did, Heero stood his ground and just glared at her. Rei was beginning to feel a little bit uncomfortable, "what is it? I said I was sorry!" The words sounded like she was on a short temper. She didn't mean for them to sound so harsh, but then again why should he care?
"I know what you're trying to do," stated Heero his voice as icy as his eyes. "Don't." With that he stalked off, but before he got to far off he turned again and said, "if you continue with your search to find out more about that night, I'll kill you." Rei was glad he turned back to the direction he was walking immediately so that he couldn't see how taken aback she was. Once she recovered, she returned the glare he had given her. How dare he talk to her in that way! If he kept it up, the boy was going to have a lot of hell to pay. Unlike his probable belief that she couldn't fight, she'd be able to beat him down faster than he could count to five.
For the rest of the morning, Rei was put into a bad mood. After her chores, she managed to find some spare time before her training began. She didn't really feel like trying to read the fire, besides with the mood she was in she probably wouldn't get much out of it anyway. It seemed that visions came easier when she could relax. So, she decided to take a walk. The paths near the temple were beautiful along with the ones she decided to make on her own. The region was near the foot of a small mountain range so the air was fresh and had the scent of pine needles. The weather was right for a walk anyway, a nice summer day with the sunny shining merrily from behind a cloud.
While she walked, Rei listened to the birds chirping to one another in the trees. They all sounded so carefree. Continuing to listen, she heard a faint sound. It was so soft she would have missed almost didn't hear it even when she focused on it. She walked in the direction that she thought she heard it coming from. After a few moments, she stood to listen again and didn't hear anything. Shaking her head and telling herself she was crazy she turned to leave when she heard it again, only this time she knew vaguely what it was. If she was right there were to voices talking in hushed undertones and a soft mechanically noise that she couldn't name. Suspicious, she walked toward the sound as quietly as possible, it lead her to a small clearing.
Standing in the clearing was Heero talking to another boy with long brown hair. Unlike Heero, this boy seemed friendlier; it was just the way that he stood there casually with his hands on his hips. Heero always looked like he was going to pounce on you. Behind them were to large machines, halfway covered with leaves and branches made to look like a few fallen trees. Rei stifled a gasp at their immense size and amazing look of sheer power. She wondered what they were doing out here. Taking her eyes off the huge machines, she watched the two boys and began to listen to their conversation. She was thankful that they seemed intent making repairs to their machines and their conversation.
"If you think she's suspicious of you, why don't you leave? If you leave then she can't question you anymore." Asked the boy with the longer hair.
"I can't leave, that would be even more suspicious. Where would I go if I did, and where would we hid our Gundams? We can't leave them out here. Besides she doesn't even really talk to me. She used to try, but she gave up after a while. She seeks her answers a different way." Rei was shocked at his speech. This was the most she ever heard him say.
"We could find somewhere else to go, another city maybe."
"I thought you said you were happy here, Duo."
"I am, but if our mission's safety is in jeopardy then we have to find a different way to accomplish it, do we not? God, who would have thought that the world's Perfect Soldier would be the one to ruin us!" The last statement was a joke, but Heero didn't seem to think that it was very funny. Rei wondered what he was talking about.
"I couldn't let her go get the girl. I set the bomb to go off to close, I knew exactly where the little girl was and exits that were safer to leave from. I wasn't going to let another little girl die from my doing."
Rei recoiled as if she had been slapped. It had been Heero who had caused the fire. She must have made some sort of noise since both of the boys' heads snapped in her direction. Not sure if they had seen her, Rei fled back in the direction of the temple. If she made it to the temple before they found her she'd probably be fine, if she didn't make it, well she didn't want to think about that. She was sure that she could hear feet falling quickly behind her, they sounded like they were closing in. Rei tried to block out thoughts from her head. Suddenly the ground rose up to meet her and there was a sharp pain in her ankle. Blasted tree root sticking out of the ground. Trying to rise up, Rei looked over her shoulder and saw the two boys nearing where she was sprawled on the ground. It was almost pointless to try and get up, but she still tried.
"If you stay there I might not hurt you." Heero told her in a tone that proved he meant what he said. Rei tried desperately to calm her heart and slow her breathing. It was hard to do when you had the barrel of a gun starring you in the face.
"You are horrible!" she screamed at him. Rei became aware of the tears running down her cheeks. Her home, her life, all destroyed by this boy.
"I do what I must in order to carry out my missions." Heero's voice was monotone now, devoid of any emotion. "There were reasons I did what I did."
"You want to explain them maybe then? It was my home, I think I deserve one." Rei glared at Heero, daring him to try to justify what he did. She hated him now with the very core of her being.
"Sorry babe, but he can't do that and neither can I. If I could I would, but that would be hazardous to my health I do believe. You don't normally want too much information getting out about you when so many people want you dead. Which is precisely why you'll have to come with us," the boy's tone was cheerful but his grim features betrayed it and so did the words in which he tried to set that cheerfulness in.
"What, are you going to make me your prisoner?" scoffed Rei. Her ankle was still extremely painful and this was all beginning to be too much.
It was the boy that Heero called Duo that answered once again. "Essentially. Here, let me help you, it could be possible you broke something in that ankle." He offered out a hand, but Rei first tried to stand up on her own. When she failed miserably a few times, Duo grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet and supported her weight. With Heero's gun and her lack of the ability to walk on her own, Rei allowed herself to be lead in the opposite direction of the temple. All the while the thought that she lost two homes in one month was pretty unlucky kept running through her head. For, she doubted she would see Hikawa Jinja ever again.
