Disclaimer: Not ONE review of the last chapter? I knew it was bad, but not THAT bad! I feel a little guilty writing a new chapter even though the last one hasn't received any reviews yet, but I simply HAD to write this chapter!!! Trust me, it is an AMAZING CHAPTER for this story! This is when the story gets a lot more dramatic, because now that you all have a pretty good idea of Areina's personality, it's time to see some events fold as the other roommates react even MORE to her actions! With that summary said, I hope you enjoy this new chapter, and remember that Areina isn't just a sexy feminist who beats up whoever she can, but that she is also a very scared spirit in a new world that gives little acceptance to her (no, I DON'T mean to her being Canadian, but to her being new to this world). And I'm warning you, if you haven't been paying attention to the story or haven't read the other chapters in a while (or at all!) then go back now to read at least from chapter 3 and past. And trust me, from now on you'll need to pay close attention to the plotline and each character's dilemmas. Keep those eyes open! O.O





Heart and Soul

"Areina," a gentle, familiar voice whispered quietly, waking her from her slumbers. "Areina," the voice whispered again, this time with a mischievous urgency as a warm hand shook the green-haired girl's shoulder tenderly.

Areina mumbled as her eyes opened to see a blurry vision of a blonde boy kneeling at her bedside. She rubbed her eyes vigorously and shook her head as she yawned like a cat just waking from her nap on the windowsill. She sighed lightly, and her vision cleared to reveal the form of Quatre, holding her left shoulder grinning excitedly like a child on Christmas morning.

"Areina, get up," Quatre whispered enthusiastically, standing up and jumping up and down energetically. Wearing only his boxers, he removed Areina's covers, and the sunlight from the large window nearby flickered upon her dark blue robe, made of cheap corduroy.

Areina smiled at the bouncing Quatre, who now urged her continuously to stand up. She couldn't help but be slightly attracted to this gleeful youth, even though he was gay...and blonde...and handsome...

It was his pure child-like sensitivity that attracted her to the blonde Arabian. He was so gentle and considerate, it almost made Areina want to laugh and cry at the same time.

Rising from her bed, the Canadian chook off these thoughts and followed a sprinting Quatre through the piles of Relena's clothing on the bedroom floor. Quatre turned a corner, entering a small room to the left.

In the room was a large case with a clear glass window at the center so that one could see inside it. Within the case were dozens of instruments, from the flute to the violin to the piccolo to the horn, and countless others. At the very depths of the case were classical music CDs, with composers like Mozart and Beethoven. She loved all music, and to see this wide variety of instruments and CDs made her feel like a kid gazing through the window of a toyshop.

She glanced back at Quatre, who was sitting on a bench in front of a large piano that was at the back of the room, in front of the window patio that overlooked the streets below.

The piano was a silky wooden black, and the sunlight from the window flashed against its surface. Quatre motioned for Areina to come and sit to his right, and she placed herself on the bench, sitting about half a foot from the grinning boy at the piano.

"I want to teach you a piano song," Quatre said with his genuine liveliness. "Put your hands on top of those keys there, like this." Quatre changed the position of his own hands to show Areina, who caught on quickly and imitated the blue-eyed boy.

Quatre sat at the deeper octave end of the piano, and changed his hand position back to the way it had been. "Now, play this," Quatre's hands practically glided across the keys as he played a small, charming little tune that had a distinctive rhythm that went like this:

Bup-bup-bup, ba-dop-da-dop-da-da Bup-bup-bup, ba-doo-da-dop-da-da Dun, Dun, Da-dum-da-dum-dum-dum, Ba-dum, ba-dum ba-dum ba-Bup.

Quatre's hand hopped from the piano as though it were very easy. He grinned at Areina with anticipation. Areina began an attempt to imitate his hands movements, and began mimicking what he had just played in the higher octave:

Bup-bup-bup, ba-dop-da-dop-da-da Bup-bup-bup, ba-doo-da-dop-da-da PLING!

A sharp note rang out and echoed through the room. Both Quatre and Areina winced, and Quatre peered at the girl's finger, which still lay on the white key she had hit.

Quatre shook his head. "No, hit the black key next to that one," he said like a tutor. Areina hit the next black key up, making an even sharper note erupt from the piano, as though the instrument were crying out in anger and pain.

"No, no, like this," Quatre replied to the sharp note.

He placed his hand on hers to show her how to correct the note. But suddenly, he and Areina realized where his hand landed - on hers. She blushed lightly, and Quatre smiled nervously. He placed his finger on top of hers, and used it to move her hand to the right position and tap the correct black key. He nodded to her, and then helped her play through the song.

Bup-bup-bup, ba-dop-da-dop-da-da Bup-bup-bup, ba-doo-da-dop-da-da Dun, Dun, Da-dum-da-dum-dum-dum, Ba-dum, ba-dum ba-dum ba-Bup

"And then you just repeat it all over again," Quatre said as he smiled and brought his hand back to its original place. "While I play this," he affirmed as he began a harmony to the song:

Dum-da-dum-da Bum-da-dum-da Dum-da-dum-da Dum-da-dum-da

Areina nodded as Quatre's eyes widened with joy. They began playing the piano together, Areina playing her higher melody while Quatre played his lower harmony. They both bobbed their heads to the song, glancing at each other with happy smiles on their faces. The sun's rays played upon their hands, and would then drop down to the keys. Their hands made swift shadows upon the piano's black and white keys while the sunshine seemed to give life to the instrument. The simple tune continued as both of them enjoyed themselves.

- - -

Trowa woke up to the sound of "Heart and Soul" playing on the piano. He fondly thought of all the times Quatre had played this, Trowa's favorite song. He smiled to himself as he closed his eyes again and cuddled up to his lover's warm body in bed.

"Huh," Trowa said to his love mischievously. "You're getting plump there, Quatre. Care to work off some of those pounds by -"

Trowa opened his eyes and stopped suddenly to find that he wasn't holding Quatre close to his body, but a large pillow instead! He quickly sprung out of bed and ran toward the sound of the piano. He came out into the main room to see Hiro, Duo, Wufei, Hilde, and Relena huddled around the door to the Piano Room, each of them trying to climb over the others and peek inside. Trowa made his way through the crowd and squeezed through the door, the other five following him with equal curiosity.

- - -

Areina heard the door creak open, and turned to her right while playing to see Trowa standing and looking at the two of them worriedly, but then, upon taking in his sights, eased his expression and smiled at Quatre's playfulness. The other roommates were standing behind him with equally adoring smiles on their faces, tapping their feet to the hopping beat of the tune. All except Hiro, of course, whose face was as expressionless as it always had was.

"Up early as always, just to get a piece of that piano," Trowa joked with a smirk as he nodded to the large instrument. "Sometimes I think that you love that thing more than me!"

Quatre responded with an embarrassed smile. Trowa walked over to the blonde youth and bent down to give him a quick yet romantic kiss on the lips.

Areina wasn't sure if this kiss was a way of Trowa saying, "Back of, ho, he's mine!" or "I love you so much," and not knowing made her a bit uncomfortable. She smiled nervously and stopped playing, as had Quatre, who stood up with his arm around his lover's waist.

- - -

"Why? That's all I want to know, why," Duo said in a voice that was very stern for him.

"Is it so horrible that I lied about an insignificant thing like taste in men?" Areina argued sharply.

"No, but it's the principle of the thing," Duo replied with more firmness. He was still quite angry that she had lied to them, and so early on in their relationship as fellow roommates! He was not about to give up on this debate. "Just apologize and everything will be fine!"

"I am not about to apologize for something so trivial!" He could tell that Areina was feeling equally stubborn about the issue, but he wasn't about to give in. "If anyone else is angry at me right now, then please tell me so we can get this cleared up!"

Everyone sat perfectly still, not about to get involved in this. Then, Wufei's hand slowly came up, followed by Hiro's, then Hilde's, Relena's, and Trowa's. Duo raised his hand as well, and glared at Areina viciously. He may have found her quite appealing, but not when she acted so hateful and stubborn.

Areina threw up her hands in a surly anguish. "What about you?"

"Me?" Duo yelled back angrily.

"Yes, you, Mr. Let's-Sell-Our-New-Roommate-To-Some-Horny-Cop-Just-So- We'll- Stay-Out-Of-Prison!" Areina spat back.

"Well, maybe if you hadn't LIED to us, I wouldn't have done that!" Duo barked back, a side of him showing that even he didn't see much.

Areina scoffed and walked into her room with a gleam of anger in her eyes. But something else had also been there. A sense of loneliness seemed to lurk in her pupils as she slammed the door to the bedroom she shared with Relena.

- - -

Areina sat on her bed, holding herself and looking out the window in frustration. Why does he have to be such a jerk? She thought quietly. Why can't he just give me a moment's peace?

She lay down on the bed and shoved her face into her pillow. She could feel soft tears sneaking their way out of her eyes but she wouldn't allow it. She sucked the tears back in with a loud sniff, and then lost all control.

The tears burst from her eyes like a river that finally breaks through a dam. She sobbed silently to her pillow, knowing that her first impression had been a sour one. They were all angry with her now, and she'd probably never get their friendships back, at least not for a while.

She hated herself when she cried, and even more so when a man had made her cry. She held the pillow, her only friend in this strange new place, to her face longingly. She had never had someone that she could call her own, and so she hugged the pillow. She hugged it until she was sure that, if it were living, it would be suffocating right now.

The telephone next to her rang, and her head jolted up, tears mixed with snot that ran down her face, and snatched the phone.

She sniffed loudly into the speaker, and, with a broken voice, said, "Hello?"

"Hello, may I speak to a Ms... Areina Sitshonen?" a whiny, feminine voice blared through the speaker. (Yeah, I know, a bad attempt at an anime- sounding last name, but it has a certain ring to it! Okay, so maybe I couldn't come up with anything else...)

"This is she," Areina replied as she wiped her face with a nearby tissue.

"Yes, I'm calling from the Midnight Horizon regarding certain inexcusable behavior on your part. Do you recall going there recently?"

Areina tensed with fear as she remembered the club from the night before. She recalled a sign in front of the club with the words "Midnight Horizon" printed on it in bold. With the memory of her little...erm..."Dance of Destruction" to the song "Objection," she groaned with fear.

"Yes, I do, and I'm sorry," Areina replied finally. "I'll pay for whatever damage was caused, I promise."

"Hm? Damage....?" the voice responded with skepticism. "We were only calling because we wanted to offer you a job!"

"What?" Areina exclaimed as her voice cracked once again from the tears.

"We enjoyed the little performance you gave so much that we've decided to offer you a singing job at the club. The hours are from 7:30 PM to 1:30 AM, and the pay is $10.00 an hour. You'll need to bring in your own songs to sing, and we'd be very pleased if you could accept this offer. Benefits include..."

But Areina had stopped listening. She whooped very loudly for joy and started bouncing up and down on her bed, overjoyed at this sign that her dreams may have finally begun to happen.