All right! The next chapter of Gundam Wing: Fake or Real? is up! YAY! Sorry
for taking
so damn long, but I was preoccupied for a while . . . you know how it is -.- Anyways,
you all must thank Lorim for her support and if it weren't for her, I might not have
written this much more. Hee hee, but now, I have the rest of this planned out, and I
assure you, it will be great!!! BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! Um, yeaaaaaah . . . okies,
anyways, I'll let you guys in on a little secret; actually, I SMELL a sequel for this. Heh
heh, sorry, I've been playing waaay too much Grandia 2 lately, and now I'm starting to
sound like Mareg . . . heh heh, not good. So anyways, enjoy, and this next chapter is
dedicated to my faithful reviewer, Lorim!!!
----
Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own Gundam Wing, and neither do
you.
Wasn't that great? Oh yeah, I don't own Barbies, Ferris Wheels, The House of Mirrors,
Yami No Matsuei, or Grandia 2 . . . eh heh, well, anyways, enjoy!
----
"Catherine! Late again?! This isn't acceptable!" Master scolded, his eyes narrowing
and glaring at me.
"Uh, sorry…" I apologized with a sarcastic tone, and slightly rolled my eyes. I walked
into the dressing room. No Trowa. Where was he?
I grabbed my costume off the hook on the wall, and pulled the green curtain closed.
First, the leggings. Next, the dress. God, this is annoying, why does Catherine have to
wear so much in the show?! After all, I'm the one who has to put up with it now… After
I was finished dressing, I looked at myself in the mirror. I would never wear anything
like this . . . ever. How does she pull this off every episode?
I pulled the curtain open and walked out into the make-up room and began applying
everything I needed to make my "features show up" as the circus master claims.
Having to make myself up like this everyday, well, it kind of makes me feel like a
frigging Barbie!!! As I was brushing some dark brown mascara on my eyelashes, I
began to worry about Trowa. Why wasn't he in here putting on his costume?
"Um, where's Trowa?" I asked, a bit disappointed. Where was that hot clown when you
had the desire to check him out? Ooh I'm such a naughty girl, heh heh heh. ^_~
"He's out back, probably looking up at the sunset like he always does, weird kid. Tell
him to hurry up, because he's up soon!" The circus master ordered, as he pointed his
stubby index finger in the direction of the curtain leading outside.
"Sure."
As I pulled back the curtain, the wind blew fiercely and my hair danced around my
shoulders. I looked up at the sky, and sure enough, there was a beautiful sunrise. The
once clear blue sky had started to evolve into a mixture of deep reds, purples,
yellows, and oranges that blended together beautifully, and the sun was slowly
setting, and yet still strongly burning its golden light through the mixture of colors. I
scanned the area for Trowa, but he wasn't in sight. I just followed a thin dirt path
down past another tent. Eventually, I ended up at the bottom of a small hill, and
there he was, hands in his jean pockets, leaning up against a huge rectangular object
that was draped in a heavy cloth. Was that . . . ?
"Heavyarms?" I blurted out; I mean it was quite obvious, what else would be back here
draped in a huge cloth? There's not really much backstage at the circus since it moves
from place to place so frequently.
"Huh?! Cathy, you scared me! What was that you were saying?" Trowa asked,
suspicious, his eyes widening. Oh, you're really in for it now, Cathy . . .
"Oh, um, nothing. Just . . . just saying how heavy my arms feel when I-uh- well-let
them hang down . . . ANYWAYS! I gotta run, so, uh, bye!" I replied, blushing. Oh my
God, that was so stupid. My heavy arms? What the hell was I thinking? I could win an
award for being the person who makes up the worst excuses.
Everyday it was becoming more difficult to pretend we had no clue about each of the
boys being Gundam pilots, and to not mention our knowing. That time, I barely
slipped by. This incident led me to think about how Becky did almost the same exact
thing at school before . . .
We all were standing around in our little group, around Quatre's locker right after our
last block of the day, just talking about random things like we always do, until . . .
"Hey, Quatre! Wazzup?" Becky asked, waving her hand around.
"Oh, uh, nothing much . . . " Quatre sighed; he looked tired. Maybe he was on a sugar-low.
He had his first soda today, which eventually led to fifty million more in that same
lunch block; he was practically bouncing off the walls then.
"Right . . . how's Sandrock?! (realizing what she had just said) Uh, I mean the sand and
rocks in my locker! But-uh-why would you know? Well, um, I gotta go get the sand and
rocks out of my locker, so uh, bye!" Becky stammered, quickly spinning around and
running down the hall in the direction of her locker.
"Ummm . . . what was that all about?" Quatre wondered, a puzzled look plastered
across his face. One of his eyebrows was raised; it was quite a funny expression.
"Uh . . . no idea . . . heh, heh . . . " I replied, putting my hand behind my back. That
was waaaaay too close, nice cover up Becky . . . well, kinda.
After being spaced-out thinking about previous events that had occurred during the
day, I snapped back to reality and remembered what I had come out here for. I turned
around while yelling, "Trowa! Master wants you to get ready, because your act is
coming up soon!"
"Kay, Cathy!" he replied, his lips curling up into a gentle smile, his emerald eyes
shining as they reflected the sun.
I knew it was Heavyarms, I just knew it . . . but how would I tell him? And how was I
supposed to tell him that I knew practically everything about him?
Following the dirt path I had come from before, I jogged back towards the opening in
the tent that led into the make-up room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Trowa
getting off of Heavyarms, and beginning to walk back to the tent. Once I averted my
eyes from the dreamy clown, and focused on getting back inside. As I was hurrying
along on the path, something caught my eye. I saw a luminous purple light shining
through the bright fabric of the animal tent to my left. Well, that's a little weird; are
they installing new lights?
I turned down a dark alley between the tents, and pulled back the smooth fabric,
revealing a glowing swirl of pearly colors. It was almost as if it was floating there, and
I highly doubted it was real. Was my mind playing tricks on me, am I going completely
nuts?
Curiously, I reached out my hand and let it hover slightly above the mysterious
floating swirl. I felt a sort of sucking at the palm of my hand, almost as if I was being
pulled in.
Feeling courageous, I ruthlessly stretched out my entire left arm into the colors, and
then found myself being devoured by the luminescent oval of colors. For a couple
seconds, there was just this bright light, until it faded into the normal scenery I had
been surrounded by just moments before. It was almost as if nothing had happened at
all.
I shrugged and just decided to get on with tonight's show. Feeling slightly baffled, I
walked back towards the opening in the tent, and walked inside.
"Huh? Young lady! What are you doing here?" The circus master asked. This was
strange, he did not look anything like the master from Gundam Wing. I was
completely mystified. This man was older, with wisps of gray and white hair lying on
his forehead, fierce blue eyes, quite noticeable cheekbones, and wrinkles . . . lots of
'em.
"I-I'm . . . er, going now!" I stammered, as I did a 180 degree turn and headed for the
opposite exit.
"Who?!" he questioned. "Look, girl, just get out!"
Who was that man? And where was Trowa?
I ran all the way home to my house; when I walked into the bathroom, I shrieked. The
face that stared back at me in the mirror was just my normal, everyday face, not
Catherine from the show. Had I suddenly morphed into my normal self again?
~~~
I woke up the next morning, assuming everything that I had imagined, the whole world
of Gundam Wing, was a dream. Of course it had been, how else could I have almost
kissed Trowa???!
I got ready for school, and my mom drove me off and dropped me by the front door,
of course, Becky was waiting there.
"Hey, Goddess of Death!" I smiled as I greeted her, trying to figure out if she had any
idea about what was going on.
"Hey, Cathy!" Becky replied. "Gosh, I really do wish they were real . . . "
"Heh, uh, yeah . . . um . . . " I mumbled. I had almost blurted out that they were!
All of a sudden, Evan came walking up behind us.
"Ya think he'll ask you to the prom?" Becky whispered in my ear.
"I dunno . . . " I answered. I had really forgotten about the prom, and Evan, since the
'punching' incident. But that really didn't happen, at least I didn't think, so maybe he
really isn't as stupid as he was in my 'dream.'
"Hi, Catherine!" Oh God, why was he talking to me? He had never called me Cathy in
real life . . . that was only in my 'dream.' Err! If only that part was real . . . (sigh)
"Uh, Cathy?" Becky asked, waving her hand back and forth in front of my eyes. I
snapped out of my daze.
"Wuh?" I blurted out. Becky chuckled, and said, "C'mon, stop drooling over Evan and
get to class!"
The day crawled by, and I realized how boring my real life actually was, the same
routine over and over again each day. Eventually, it came time for lunch.
Becky and I were sitting at our favorite table, which was closest to the windows, with
the best view out onto the field. I wondered what Trowa would be doing at this time
of the day. I sighed, remembering he was completely fictional after all.
"Hey, hey, buddy, what's up?" Becky nagged, trying to pry into my feelings.
"Er, nothing really. I'm just a little tired, you know how it is . . . " I lied. Why didn't
she know? If she did, would she talk about it? Was that world real? Or did I just think
it all up in my head?
"Ahhh, I see it now. PMS, huh?" Becky joked. I almost choked on my sandwich after
hearing her say this; eventually, I forced the chewed up sandwich down my throat the
right way. At least, I thought she wasn't being serious. She's a hard person to figure
out.
"Eh heh, not exactly, my friend. More like a heart ache," I explained, without really
paying attention to the words that were coming out of my mouth. "I-I mean, heart
burn!" That was a sorry excuse for . . . well, an excuse.
"Don't think I didn't hear you say that! Aww, little Cathy's gone and gotten her heart
broken. C'mon, spill!" Man, she was pissing me off.
" . . . " I stole Trowa's line. I was thinking about him way more than I ought to. I
couldn't help it; I missed him.
~~~
The bell resounded in my ears as I walked into English class. Great, time for another
completely boring speech from Ms. Grandia. I resented not having more caffeine with
my lunch.
I decided to take the seat that Trowa had sat in during my "dream." Eww, it was still
warm from the last person who sat down in it last block.
"Okay, class, today, we're learning about sensory imagery!" Ms. Grandia explained. I
tried to suppress a giggle, it was pretty damn hard. I remembered how I had
previously fantasized over Trowa when he walked in during the 'sensory imagery
lesson.' Those were some pretty grand images I was getting in my head.
"Sensory imagery is when you use your five senses . . . "
Before I could order it to stop, my mind began to play my fantasies of Trowa in my
head; not like I'd like it to stop. If I could, I'd watch them over and over and over
again until I couldn't bear to see him anymore, as if that was ever going to happen!
~~~
Through the sea of bodies swarming through the busy halls of the high school, I
miraculously located the front doors. I pushed the left one open, and just stood
outside for a moment, letting the sun warm me up with its golden light.
"Hey, Catherine! Wait up!" a voice called, which was way too masculine sounding to
be Becky's. Well, you never know . . . she could be drunk.
I whipped my head around, my hair tickling the side of my cheek. Evan stood before
me, with his dirty blonde hair covering part of his left eye, messed up from hurrying
through the halls after me. I laughed inside; his hair covering his left eye reminded
me of Trowa.
"So, uh, you know, there's a carnival tonight . . . I was wondering if you wanted to tag
along with me?" Evan suggested.
"Oh, um, sure!" I happily accepted his invitation. I tried to smile, but I could sense
how fake it must of looked. It didn't make sense, the boy whom I've worshipped for
half of my life suddenly asks me out, and I can't even feel any sort of emotion; what's
wrong with me?!
"Okay, it's by the circus. I'll meet you at the ticket booth at six. See ya!" he explained,
and ran off. I just stood there, watching him run away, his backpack swinging back
and forth as he ran; Trowa could definitely run faster than him.
~~~
After I finished applying my make-up, I grabbed some money off of my parent's
dresser (hey, I always pay them back . . . sometimes), and ran off to (sigh) the circus
. . . I wished that Trowa would be there . . .
As I was walking to the circus, I had the sudden urge to turn around, and just leave
him a message telling him I'd fallen ill. It was a lame thing to do, I decided, but it
might've been better than going to the circus and reminding myself even more of
Trowa. I quickly shook off the idea; that would just be a cruel thing to do to Evan, in
this life, he was definitely not the same jerk that was in the other world. Reluctantly,
I sped up my "slow-as-a-turtle" pace and eventually arrived at the circus. I made my
way over to the ticket booth, and spotted Evan. He was dressed in a navy blue
sweater and khaki pants, I'd much rather be going out with a certain guy wearing a
blue turtleneck and white jeans, but I decided to ignore my longings for Trowa on
such a night . . . damn, it sure was hard to, though!
"Hey! I'll buy us some tickets, you go save us a spot at the Ferris wheel, ok?" He asked,
his brown eyes sparkling.
"'Kay!" I complied, and ran off, but took a minute to examine the scenery first. The
circus tents and rides were covered in shimmering neon lights of all colors, and there
seemed to be a few interesting looking rides scattered about the field. It certainly
was busy tonight, since it was opening night. I located the Ferris wheel, and looked up
at the people swinging back and forth slightly, staring up into the sky. It wasn't a nice
night for the carnival; there weren't many stars in the sky.
I waited alone in the deformed line for a while, until Evan ran up to me; Evan's skin
was shimmering pink and green as he stood under the lights of the towering wheel.
We cut ahead of all these stupid people who didn't even notice, and eventually got a
seat on the ride. A jolly man with a curly mustache and a crinkly smile locked us in,
and we began to go up. After we had been around the wheel once, Evan reached out
for my hand and said, "Wow, this is nice, don't you think?"
"Yeah . . . " I whispered. No, I didn't think. Well, at least, not about him. My thoughts
were still focused completely on Trowa, it was driving me crazy, and yet, I was
enjoying it at the same time. I only wished that Evan could have asked me out when I
had actually liked him, now, as I sat there with him, I felt nothing, I wasn't even
embarrassed like you should be on a first date.
Evan smiled, and put his arm around me. It was quite an awkward feeling, at least for
me. My once obsessive crush was permanently lost somewhere deep under all my
thoughts of Trowa.
We did about ten more circles around the wheel, until we were near the top. All of a
sudden, the ride began to swing a bit, unsteady, as Evan turned towards me. The ride
began to move a bit down and stopped. We were almost at the bottom, just a little
bit more . . . please, somebody save me! Evan closed his eyes, and his hand gripped
onto my cheek and turned my whole head towards him. Uh oh, not good . . . His lips
were quivering a bit, and they were almost on mine. Trowa's lips would never quiver,
he was so manly . . . so . . . perfect. Evan, however, was so close, and I could feel his
short, nervous breaths; I grimaced. Kissing him seemed gross now, especially
compared to what I could have with Trowa. This was it, Evan was going to kiss me. His
lips almost touched mine when I turned away. I couldn't do it, not with my mind only
on Trowa and no one else. Evan looked disappointed, and a little confused.
CLICK! "You're done!" the guy running the wheel exclaimed. When I got off, for some
reason, I felt relieved. Deep down I really wished it was Trowa I was here with . . .
"Time to go watch the acts!" Evan exclaimed, excitedly. I, however, was not so
excited.
"Hey, uh, I'm gonna go to the bathroom, okay?" I asked. "Don't worry, I'll be back in
time for the acts!"
"Sure, I'll meet you at the cotton candy stand and we can walk from there." Evan
replied, and walked off, his shoulders sagging down and his arms being pulled
aimlessly along with him by his sides. He looked like some weird cave man.
I ran over to the big circus tent, and pulled open the curtain, going backstage to the
changing room. Since everyone was out performing, no one was there to catch me. I
walked out to the back, and discovered that there was no Gundam and no Trowa.
Disappointed, I began to walk back to my horrible date, until I realized something.
What about that weird portal thing that brought me here in the first place? That had
to still be here! I ran back through the dark alley, lifted up the colorful striped cloth
that covered it before, and there it was, glowing and spinning its colors slowly around
in circles.
"Okay, here goes . . . " I thought to myself, I had no other choice. I had to get out of
there for a while. Without hesitation, I jumped right through.
~~~
CRASH! My eyesight went blurry for a moment. Once it cleared, I found that I was
surrounded by shiny black walls with white squares scattered about on them, in no
particular pattern. On the walls, there were hundreds of t.v.'s, each one, surprisingly,
displaying common places where the Gundam boys hung out. Where the hell was I?
I shakily stood up on my wobbling legs, which eventually became stable. My head
began to throb, and all I could do was rub it helplessly with my hand.
Geez, my butt hurt, too. I knew that I was going to get a monster bruise the next day.
I walked about, not really knowing where I was going. After turning a couple corners, I
found I was in a huge maze of mirrors. It kind of reminded me of the House of Mirrors
at one of those big amusement parks my parents used to take me to when I was a lot
younger.
It was sort of freaky, being surrounded by hundreds of mirrors, and millions of
pictures of myself. Every now and then, I bumped into a mirror; I guess you can say
that I don't exactly have the best sense of direction in the world . . . it was strange,
bumping into reflections of myself.
After about ten minutes, I could tell I was very close to the center of the maze of
mirrors. On the corner, there were five TVs, each one tracking all of one of the pilot's
moves. Displayed on the screen of the TV in the middle with a number three marked
on it, I was happily surprised to see Trowa getting dressed. He was in his boxer
shorts!!! KYAHHHHHH! He was so hot! I could see each one of his muscles as he moved
across the room to open his dresser to find a fresh turtleneck and pair of jeans. On
the TV screen next to it, I watched an almost naked Duo (he was wearing boxers,
man, Becky would pay good money to see this stuff . . . any way I could steal a tape?)
grin evilly and stuff Trowa's usual costume of aqua turtlenecks and white jeans into
his own drawers. Uh oh, this wasn't good. All of a sudden, Trowa turned bright red on
his screen, and boy, he looked angry. Instead of aqua turtle necks, there were just a
bunch of green tank tops. Bad boy, Duo, bad boy.
Eventually, each of the boys arrived in the hallway, staring in disbelief at each other.
On Heero's monitor, it showed Heero wearing a pink shirt, purple vest and khaki
pants.
I burst out laughing. "Pink doesn't suit me. Omae o korosu, Duo." Threatened Heero.
On Duo's screen, Duo was modeling Trowa's turtleneck and tight jeans. He also had his
hair gelled over the left side of his face, so long that it went all the way down to his
waist. "Hey guys, lookie, I'm Trowa!" Duo joked, doing a complete turn so everyone
could see.
"I-I feel like . . . these pants are slipping down . . . " Quatre worried, staring down at
himself, dressed in Wufei's outfit.
"SO I HAVEN'T WATCHED MY WEIGHT IN A WHILE!!! SUE ME, WEAKLING!" Wufei fumed
on his TV, as he modeled Duo's tight black pants, priest's collar, and black shirt; he
looked beyond ridiculous.
There was a loud 'rip' sound as Wufei turned around, and you could see boxers with
little Nataku's printed on them.
"Hey, watch it, don't rip my pants, fatty!" Duo screeched, mourning over the loss
" . . . " Trowa was silent, what else is new? He looked pretty hot in a muscle shirt, and
the green matched his eyes. But the spandex . . . well, I don't know about that.
"So, you like clowns, do you?" A nasal voice teased from in front of me. Confused, I
passed the TVs and walked into the middle of the maze. Sure enough, the owner of
the nasal voice was sitting at a thin glass table, along with four other men. Take a
guess who they were.
I felt my cheeks burning as the doctors laughed with a couple of snorts thrown in. This
was pure torture.
"I-uh, was just, um, looking," I stammered, staring at my feet.
"You know, Catherine, we've summoned you here for a certain reason . . . " Dr. J
began, pushing his glasses up farther on the bridge of his nose, doing a pathetic Yami
No Matsuei imitation. (Muraki is so much cooler when he does it! And creepier,
too . . . oops, wrong anime!)
"Where the hell am I, you creeps?" I screeched, pounding my fists on the table. Dr. O
jumped in his seat, startled.
"Actually, you're in the portal between times," Dr. H stated. "You can come here
whenever you enter one of those portals, except-"
"The portals . . . " I trailed off, getting lost in my thoughts. They were confusing me,
and I hoped I would understand what was happening to me by the end of this.
"Yes, we've called you here to talk to you about just that. The problem is, the portals
are closing up in exactly one month. So that would be the sixteenth of November.
However, there is a mission you must accomplish before you finally choose what
world you want to be in." Dr. G blabbed on and on, his voice beginning to irritate the
heck out of me. I tried not to stare at his nose, but man, was it huge! I broke out into
hysterical laughter. The doctors exchanged nervous glances, and whispered quietly to
each other. Once I settled down, they continued to explain.
"Something is bound to happen when the boys are in such a place where anyone can
see them. There is a chance that OZ might find them . . . " Dr. O's expression became
quite grave. OZ . . . just what exactly would they try to do?
"As always, OZ can be quite unpredictable, so you'll just have to watch your back, and
stay alert. Okay, back on topic, though. You need to tell each of the boys, not just
Quatre and Duo, about you and Becky both knowing their pasts and about the
Gundams," Dr. S lectured.
"Say what, old man?!" I couldn't believe my ears. Great, I'd have to have a chat with
Wufei, this was turning out just lovely. She could just imagine him rambling on about
justice, weak onnas, and weaklings.
"You must tell them, it matters not how you do it, just as you get it done with," Dr. J
said, almost as if he could read my mind.
"I understand," I replied. But . . .
"You must form a deep bond with these pilots, and you must be able to trust each
other. You might just end up helping them in great ways," Dr. G explained, as he
stroked the stray hairs of his silvery mustache. I nodded.
"Once you accomplish your mission in their world, their jobs will be over and they will
be able to live in peace, and have normal lives. It will be a good change for them . .
." Dr. J smiled, thinking of the boys living happily.
"Is there any way the portal will reappear?" I asked. Would this be the last, and only
time I ever got to see Trowa? I sighed sadly.
"Well, once your mission is done in their world, you must choose the world you want
to live in forever. It will probably best to let them forget about you, and their
memories of you will most likely be erased once the portal closes. However, if you
fall in love, say, with a certain pilot, and he loves you and can see through your body
as Catherine Bloom and into your actual soul that stays with you always, then there is
a chance his memory of you will never be erased, and that the portal may reappear.
But this only happens if the boy is yearning for you and missing you dearly," Explained
Dr. G. I blushed. Maybe there was a chance that . . . that, Trowa would be her pilot in
this case? She bashfully put her hands behind her back.
"Why am I trapped in . . . in her body?" I asked, looking down at myself, in Catherine
Bloom's body.
"Because, you too are much alike. You both share the same admiration and love for
Trowa. You watch over him, and are some how destined to protect him. It is all very
complicated, however, we cannot waste any more time. We must return you to their
world . . . " Dr. S informed me. Before I could say anything in response, my eyesight
became a bit blurry and I let out a small gasp. Before I could even realize it, I was
standing outside the tents, right by the blended colors of the portal.
I looked up at the sky; it was still the same sunset! Trowa was nearby, I could sense
him, and ever fiber of my being began to stir with excitement. My heart pumped
furiously and my fingers trembled slightly. I began to run down the path, and into the
changing room without asking first. Trowa was there, staring at me with his
shimmering emerald eyes, which searched deep inside mine, he was shirtless, and he
looked hot! Tears of joy slid down my cheeks, this was my new home, and oh how
good it felt to finally be home!
~~~
Um, yeah! You're done reading this chapter. I've already almost finished the second
one, so that'll be up here soon, too! *Imagining Trowa shirtless* ANYways . . . I kept
writing and not actually posting, so, that's really what took me so long . . . eh
heh . . . Okay, please review!!! I hope you guys liked it!
so damn long, but I was preoccupied for a while . . . you know how it is -.- Anyways,
you all must thank Lorim for her support and if it weren't for her, I might not have
written this much more. Hee hee, but now, I have the rest of this planned out, and I
assure you, it will be great!!! BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! Um, yeaaaaaah . . . okies,
anyways, I'll let you guys in on a little secret; actually, I SMELL a sequel for this. Heh
heh, sorry, I've been playing waaay too much Grandia 2 lately, and now I'm starting to
sound like Mareg . . . heh heh, not good. So anyways, enjoy, and this next chapter is
dedicated to my faithful reviewer, Lorim!!!
----
Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own Gundam Wing, and neither do
you.
Wasn't that great? Oh yeah, I don't own Barbies, Ferris Wheels, The House of Mirrors,
Yami No Matsuei, or Grandia 2 . . . eh heh, well, anyways, enjoy!
----
"Catherine! Late again?! This isn't acceptable!" Master scolded, his eyes narrowing
and glaring at me.
"Uh, sorry…" I apologized with a sarcastic tone, and slightly rolled my eyes. I walked
into the dressing room. No Trowa. Where was he?
I grabbed my costume off the hook on the wall, and pulled the green curtain closed.
First, the leggings. Next, the dress. God, this is annoying, why does Catherine have to
wear so much in the show?! After all, I'm the one who has to put up with it now… After
I was finished dressing, I looked at myself in the mirror. I would never wear anything
like this . . . ever. How does she pull this off every episode?
I pulled the curtain open and walked out into the make-up room and began applying
everything I needed to make my "features show up" as the circus master claims.
Having to make myself up like this everyday, well, it kind of makes me feel like a
frigging Barbie!!! As I was brushing some dark brown mascara on my eyelashes, I
began to worry about Trowa. Why wasn't he in here putting on his costume?
"Um, where's Trowa?" I asked, a bit disappointed. Where was that hot clown when you
had the desire to check him out? Ooh I'm such a naughty girl, heh heh heh. ^_~
"He's out back, probably looking up at the sunset like he always does, weird kid. Tell
him to hurry up, because he's up soon!" The circus master ordered, as he pointed his
stubby index finger in the direction of the curtain leading outside.
"Sure."
As I pulled back the curtain, the wind blew fiercely and my hair danced around my
shoulders. I looked up at the sky, and sure enough, there was a beautiful sunrise. The
once clear blue sky had started to evolve into a mixture of deep reds, purples,
yellows, and oranges that blended together beautifully, and the sun was slowly
setting, and yet still strongly burning its golden light through the mixture of colors. I
scanned the area for Trowa, but he wasn't in sight. I just followed a thin dirt path
down past another tent. Eventually, I ended up at the bottom of a small hill, and
there he was, hands in his jean pockets, leaning up against a huge rectangular object
that was draped in a heavy cloth. Was that . . . ?
"Heavyarms?" I blurted out; I mean it was quite obvious, what else would be back here
draped in a huge cloth? There's not really much backstage at the circus since it moves
from place to place so frequently.
"Huh?! Cathy, you scared me! What was that you were saying?" Trowa asked,
suspicious, his eyes widening. Oh, you're really in for it now, Cathy . . .
"Oh, um, nothing. Just . . . just saying how heavy my arms feel when I-uh- well-let
them hang down . . . ANYWAYS! I gotta run, so, uh, bye!" I replied, blushing. Oh my
God, that was so stupid. My heavy arms? What the hell was I thinking? I could win an
award for being the person who makes up the worst excuses.
Everyday it was becoming more difficult to pretend we had no clue about each of the
boys being Gundam pilots, and to not mention our knowing. That time, I barely
slipped by. This incident led me to think about how Becky did almost the same exact
thing at school before . . .
We all were standing around in our little group, around Quatre's locker right after our
last block of the day, just talking about random things like we always do, until . . .
"Hey, Quatre! Wazzup?" Becky asked, waving her hand around.
"Oh, uh, nothing much . . . " Quatre sighed; he looked tired. Maybe he was on a sugar-low.
He had his first soda today, which eventually led to fifty million more in that same
lunch block; he was practically bouncing off the walls then.
"Right . . . how's Sandrock?! (realizing what she had just said) Uh, I mean the sand and
rocks in my locker! But-uh-why would you know? Well, um, I gotta go get the sand and
rocks out of my locker, so uh, bye!" Becky stammered, quickly spinning around and
running down the hall in the direction of her locker.
"Ummm . . . what was that all about?" Quatre wondered, a puzzled look plastered
across his face. One of his eyebrows was raised; it was quite a funny expression.
"Uh . . . no idea . . . heh, heh . . . " I replied, putting my hand behind my back. That
was waaaaay too close, nice cover up Becky . . . well, kinda.
After being spaced-out thinking about previous events that had occurred during the
day, I snapped back to reality and remembered what I had come out here for. I turned
around while yelling, "Trowa! Master wants you to get ready, because your act is
coming up soon!"
"Kay, Cathy!" he replied, his lips curling up into a gentle smile, his emerald eyes
shining as they reflected the sun.
I knew it was Heavyarms, I just knew it . . . but how would I tell him? And how was I
supposed to tell him that I knew practically everything about him?
Following the dirt path I had come from before, I jogged back towards the opening in
the tent that led into the make-up room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Trowa
getting off of Heavyarms, and beginning to walk back to the tent. Once I averted my
eyes from the dreamy clown, and focused on getting back inside. As I was hurrying
along on the path, something caught my eye. I saw a luminous purple light shining
through the bright fabric of the animal tent to my left. Well, that's a little weird; are
they installing new lights?
I turned down a dark alley between the tents, and pulled back the smooth fabric,
revealing a glowing swirl of pearly colors. It was almost as if it was floating there, and
I highly doubted it was real. Was my mind playing tricks on me, am I going completely
nuts?
Curiously, I reached out my hand and let it hover slightly above the mysterious
floating swirl. I felt a sort of sucking at the palm of my hand, almost as if I was being
pulled in.
Feeling courageous, I ruthlessly stretched out my entire left arm into the colors, and
then found myself being devoured by the luminescent oval of colors. For a couple
seconds, there was just this bright light, until it faded into the normal scenery I had
been surrounded by just moments before. It was almost as if nothing had happened at
all.
I shrugged and just decided to get on with tonight's show. Feeling slightly baffled, I
walked back towards the opening in the tent, and walked inside.
"Huh? Young lady! What are you doing here?" The circus master asked. This was
strange, he did not look anything like the master from Gundam Wing. I was
completely mystified. This man was older, with wisps of gray and white hair lying on
his forehead, fierce blue eyes, quite noticeable cheekbones, and wrinkles . . . lots of
'em.
"I-I'm . . . er, going now!" I stammered, as I did a 180 degree turn and headed for the
opposite exit.
"Who?!" he questioned. "Look, girl, just get out!"
Who was that man? And where was Trowa?
I ran all the way home to my house; when I walked into the bathroom, I shrieked. The
face that stared back at me in the mirror was just my normal, everyday face, not
Catherine from the show. Had I suddenly morphed into my normal self again?
~~~
I woke up the next morning, assuming everything that I had imagined, the whole world
of Gundam Wing, was a dream. Of course it had been, how else could I have almost
kissed Trowa???!
I got ready for school, and my mom drove me off and dropped me by the front door,
of course, Becky was waiting there.
"Hey, Goddess of Death!" I smiled as I greeted her, trying to figure out if she had any
idea about what was going on.
"Hey, Cathy!" Becky replied. "Gosh, I really do wish they were real . . . "
"Heh, uh, yeah . . . um . . . " I mumbled. I had almost blurted out that they were!
All of a sudden, Evan came walking up behind us.
"Ya think he'll ask you to the prom?" Becky whispered in my ear.
"I dunno . . . " I answered. I had really forgotten about the prom, and Evan, since the
'punching' incident. But that really didn't happen, at least I didn't think, so maybe he
really isn't as stupid as he was in my 'dream.'
"Hi, Catherine!" Oh God, why was he talking to me? He had never called me Cathy in
real life . . . that was only in my 'dream.' Err! If only that part was real . . . (sigh)
"Uh, Cathy?" Becky asked, waving her hand back and forth in front of my eyes. I
snapped out of my daze.
"Wuh?" I blurted out. Becky chuckled, and said, "C'mon, stop drooling over Evan and
get to class!"
The day crawled by, and I realized how boring my real life actually was, the same
routine over and over again each day. Eventually, it came time for lunch.
Becky and I were sitting at our favorite table, which was closest to the windows, with
the best view out onto the field. I wondered what Trowa would be doing at this time
of the day. I sighed, remembering he was completely fictional after all.
"Hey, hey, buddy, what's up?" Becky nagged, trying to pry into my feelings.
"Er, nothing really. I'm just a little tired, you know how it is . . . " I lied. Why didn't
she know? If she did, would she talk about it? Was that world real? Or did I just think
it all up in my head?
"Ahhh, I see it now. PMS, huh?" Becky joked. I almost choked on my sandwich after
hearing her say this; eventually, I forced the chewed up sandwich down my throat the
right way. At least, I thought she wasn't being serious. She's a hard person to figure
out.
"Eh heh, not exactly, my friend. More like a heart ache," I explained, without really
paying attention to the words that were coming out of my mouth. "I-I mean, heart
burn!" That was a sorry excuse for . . . well, an excuse.
"Don't think I didn't hear you say that! Aww, little Cathy's gone and gotten her heart
broken. C'mon, spill!" Man, she was pissing me off.
" . . . " I stole Trowa's line. I was thinking about him way more than I ought to. I
couldn't help it; I missed him.
~~~
The bell resounded in my ears as I walked into English class. Great, time for another
completely boring speech from Ms. Grandia. I resented not having more caffeine with
my lunch.
I decided to take the seat that Trowa had sat in during my "dream." Eww, it was still
warm from the last person who sat down in it last block.
"Okay, class, today, we're learning about sensory imagery!" Ms. Grandia explained. I
tried to suppress a giggle, it was pretty damn hard. I remembered how I had
previously fantasized over Trowa when he walked in during the 'sensory imagery
lesson.' Those were some pretty grand images I was getting in my head.
"Sensory imagery is when you use your five senses . . . "
Before I could order it to stop, my mind began to play my fantasies of Trowa in my
head; not like I'd like it to stop. If I could, I'd watch them over and over and over
again until I couldn't bear to see him anymore, as if that was ever going to happen!
~~~
Through the sea of bodies swarming through the busy halls of the high school, I
miraculously located the front doors. I pushed the left one open, and just stood
outside for a moment, letting the sun warm me up with its golden light.
"Hey, Catherine! Wait up!" a voice called, which was way too masculine sounding to
be Becky's. Well, you never know . . . she could be drunk.
I whipped my head around, my hair tickling the side of my cheek. Evan stood before
me, with his dirty blonde hair covering part of his left eye, messed up from hurrying
through the halls after me. I laughed inside; his hair covering his left eye reminded
me of Trowa.
"So, uh, you know, there's a carnival tonight . . . I was wondering if you wanted to tag
along with me?" Evan suggested.
"Oh, um, sure!" I happily accepted his invitation. I tried to smile, but I could sense
how fake it must of looked. It didn't make sense, the boy whom I've worshipped for
half of my life suddenly asks me out, and I can't even feel any sort of emotion; what's
wrong with me?!
"Okay, it's by the circus. I'll meet you at the ticket booth at six. See ya!" he explained,
and ran off. I just stood there, watching him run away, his backpack swinging back
and forth as he ran; Trowa could definitely run faster than him.
~~~
After I finished applying my make-up, I grabbed some money off of my parent's
dresser (hey, I always pay them back . . . sometimes), and ran off to (sigh) the circus
. . . I wished that Trowa would be there . . .
As I was walking to the circus, I had the sudden urge to turn around, and just leave
him a message telling him I'd fallen ill. It was a lame thing to do, I decided, but it
might've been better than going to the circus and reminding myself even more of
Trowa. I quickly shook off the idea; that would just be a cruel thing to do to Evan, in
this life, he was definitely not the same jerk that was in the other world. Reluctantly,
I sped up my "slow-as-a-turtle" pace and eventually arrived at the circus. I made my
way over to the ticket booth, and spotted Evan. He was dressed in a navy blue
sweater and khaki pants, I'd much rather be going out with a certain guy wearing a
blue turtleneck and white jeans, but I decided to ignore my longings for Trowa on
such a night . . . damn, it sure was hard to, though!
"Hey! I'll buy us some tickets, you go save us a spot at the Ferris wheel, ok?" He asked,
his brown eyes sparkling.
"'Kay!" I complied, and ran off, but took a minute to examine the scenery first. The
circus tents and rides were covered in shimmering neon lights of all colors, and there
seemed to be a few interesting looking rides scattered about the field. It certainly
was busy tonight, since it was opening night. I located the Ferris wheel, and looked up
at the people swinging back and forth slightly, staring up into the sky. It wasn't a nice
night for the carnival; there weren't many stars in the sky.
I waited alone in the deformed line for a while, until Evan ran up to me; Evan's skin
was shimmering pink and green as he stood under the lights of the towering wheel.
We cut ahead of all these stupid people who didn't even notice, and eventually got a
seat on the ride. A jolly man with a curly mustache and a crinkly smile locked us in,
and we began to go up. After we had been around the wheel once, Evan reached out
for my hand and said, "Wow, this is nice, don't you think?"
"Yeah . . . " I whispered. No, I didn't think. Well, at least, not about him. My thoughts
were still focused completely on Trowa, it was driving me crazy, and yet, I was
enjoying it at the same time. I only wished that Evan could have asked me out when I
had actually liked him, now, as I sat there with him, I felt nothing, I wasn't even
embarrassed like you should be on a first date.
Evan smiled, and put his arm around me. It was quite an awkward feeling, at least for
me. My once obsessive crush was permanently lost somewhere deep under all my
thoughts of Trowa.
We did about ten more circles around the wheel, until we were near the top. All of a
sudden, the ride began to swing a bit, unsteady, as Evan turned towards me. The ride
began to move a bit down and stopped. We were almost at the bottom, just a little
bit more . . . please, somebody save me! Evan closed his eyes, and his hand gripped
onto my cheek and turned my whole head towards him. Uh oh, not good . . . His lips
were quivering a bit, and they were almost on mine. Trowa's lips would never quiver,
he was so manly . . . so . . . perfect. Evan, however, was so close, and I could feel his
short, nervous breaths; I grimaced. Kissing him seemed gross now, especially
compared to what I could have with Trowa. This was it, Evan was going to kiss me. His
lips almost touched mine when I turned away. I couldn't do it, not with my mind only
on Trowa and no one else. Evan looked disappointed, and a little confused.
CLICK! "You're done!" the guy running the wheel exclaimed. When I got off, for some
reason, I felt relieved. Deep down I really wished it was Trowa I was here with . . .
"Time to go watch the acts!" Evan exclaimed, excitedly. I, however, was not so
excited.
"Hey, uh, I'm gonna go to the bathroom, okay?" I asked. "Don't worry, I'll be back in
time for the acts!"
"Sure, I'll meet you at the cotton candy stand and we can walk from there." Evan
replied, and walked off, his shoulders sagging down and his arms being pulled
aimlessly along with him by his sides. He looked like some weird cave man.
I ran over to the big circus tent, and pulled open the curtain, going backstage to the
changing room. Since everyone was out performing, no one was there to catch me. I
walked out to the back, and discovered that there was no Gundam and no Trowa.
Disappointed, I began to walk back to my horrible date, until I realized something.
What about that weird portal thing that brought me here in the first place? That had
to still be here! I ran back through the dark alley, lifted up the colorful striped cloth
that covered it before, and there it was, glowing and spinning its colors slowly around
in circles.
"Okay, here goes . . . " I thought to myself, I had no other choice. I had to get out of
there for a while. Without hesitation, I jumped right through.
~~~
CRASH! My eyesight went blurry for a moment. Once it cleared, I found that I was
surrounded by shiny black walls with white squares scattered about on them, in no
particular pattern. On the walls, there were hundreds of t.v.'s, each one, surprisingly,
displaying common places where the Gundam boys hung out. Where the hell was I?
I shakily stood up on my wobbling legs, which eventually became stable. My head
began to throb, and all I could do was rub it helplessly with my hand.
Geez, my butt hurt, too. I knew that I was going to get a monster bruise the next day.
I walked about, not really knowing where I was going. After turning a couple corners, I
found I was in a huge maze of mirrors. It kind of reminded me of the House of Mirrors
at one of those big amusement parks my parents used to take me to when I was a lot
younger.
It was sort of freaky, being surrounded by hundreds of mirrors, and millions of
pictures of myself. Every now and then, I bumped into a mirror; I guess you can say
that I don't exactly have the best sense of direction in the world . . . it was strange,
bumping into reflections of myself.
After about ten minutes, I could tell I was very close to the center of the maze of
mirrors. On the corner, there were five TVs, each one tracking all of one of the pilot's
moves. Displayed on the screen of the TV in the middle with a number three marked
on it, I was happily surprised to see Trowa getting dressed. He was in his boxer
shorts!!! KYAHHHHHH! He was so hot! I could see each one of his muscles as he moved
across the room to open his dresser to find a fresh turtleneck and pair of jeans. On
the TV screen next to it, I watched an almost naked Duo (he was wearing boxers,
man, Becky would pay good money to see this stuff . . . any way I could steal a tape?)
grin evilly and stuff Trowa's usual costume of aqua turtlenecks and white jeans into
his own drawers. Uh oh, this wasn't good. All of a sudden, Trowa turned bright red on
his screen, and boy, he looked angry. Instead of aqua turtle necks, there were just a
bunch of green tank tops. Bad boy, Duo, bad boy.
Eventually, each of the boys arrived in the hallway, staring in disbelief at each other.
On Heero's monitor, it showed Heero wearing a pink shirt, purple vest and khaki
pants.
I burst out laughing. "Pink doesn't suit me. Omae o korosu, Duo." Threatened Heero.
On Duo's screen, Duo was modeling Trowa's turtleneck and tight jeans. He also had his
hair gelled over the left side of his face, so long that it went all the way down to his
waist. "Hey guys, lookie, I'm Trowa!" Duo joked, doing a complete turn so everyone
could see.
"I-I feel like . . . these pants are slipping down . . . " Quatre worried, staring down at
himself, dressed in Wufei's outfit.
"SO I HAVEN'T WATCHED MY WEIGHT IN A WHILE!!! SUE ME, WEAKLING!" Wufei fumed
on his TV, as he modeled Duo's tight black pants, priest's collar, and black shirt; he
looked beyond ridiculous.
There was a loud 'rip' sound as Wufei turned around, and you could see boxers with
little Nataku's printed on them.
"Hey, watch it, don't rip my pants, fatty!" Duo screeched, mourning over the loss
" . . . " Trowa was silent, what else is new? He looked pretty hot in a muscle shirt, and
the green matched his eyes. But the spandex . . . well, I don't know about that.
"So, you like clowns, do you?" A nasal voice teased from in front of me. Confused, I
passed the TVs and walked into the middle of the maze. Sure enough, the owner of
the nasal voice was sitting at a thin glass table, along with four other men. Take a
guess who they were.
I felt my cheeks burning as the doctors laughed with a couple of snorts thrown in. This
was pure torture.
"I-uh, was just, um, looking," I stammered, staring at my feet.
"You know, Catherine, we've summoned you here for a certain reason . . . " Dr. J
began, pushing his glasses up farther on the bridge of his nose, doing a pathetic Yami
No Matsuei imitation. (Muraki is so much cooler when he does it! And creepier,
too . . . oops, wrong anime!)
"Where the hell am I, you creeps?" I screeched, pounding my fists on the table. Dr. O
jumped in his seat, startled.
"Actually, you're in the portal between times," Dr. H stated. "You can come here
whenever you enter one of those portals, except-"
"The portals . . . " I trailed off, getting lost in my thoughts. They were confusing me,
and I hoped I would understand what was happening to me by the end of this.
"Yes, we've called you here to talk to you about just that. The problem is, the portals
are closing up in exactly one month. So that would be the sixteenth of November.
However, there is a mission you must accomplish before you finally choose what
world you want to be in." Dr. G blabbed on and on, his voice beginning to irritate the
heck out of me. I tried not to stare at his nose, but man, was it huge! I broke out into
hysterical laughter. The doctors exchanged nervous glances, and whispered quietly to
each other. Once I settled down, they continued to explain.
"Something is bound to happen when the boys are in such a place where anyone can
see them. There is a chance that OZ might find them . . . " Dr. O's expression became
quite grave. OZ . . . just what exactly would they try to do?
"As always, OZ can be quite unpredictable, so you'll just have to watch your back, and
stay alert. Okay, back on topic, though. You need to tell each of the boys, not just
Quatre and Duo, about you and Becky both knowing their pasts and about the
Gundams," Dr. S lectured.
"Say what, old man?!" I couldn't believe my ears. Great, I'd have to have a chat with
Wufei, this was turning out just lovely. She could just imagine him rambling on about
justice, weak onnas, and weaklings.
"You must tell them, it matters not how you do it, just as you get it done with," Dr. J
said, almost as if he could read my mind.
"I understand," I replied. But . . .
"You must form a deep bond with these pilots, and you must be able to trust each
other. You might just end up helping them in great ways," Dr. G explained, as he
stroked the stray hairs of his silvery mustache. I nodded.
"Once you accomplish your mission in their world, their jobs will be over and they will
be able to live in peace, and have normal lives. It will be a good change for them . .
." Dr. J smiled, thinking of the boys living happily.
"Is there any way the portal will reappear?" I asked. Would this be the last, and only
time I ever got to see Trowa? I sighed sadly.
"Well, once your mission is done in their world, you must choose the world you want
to live in forever. It will probably best to let them forget about you, and their
memories of you will most likely be erased once the portal closes. However, if you
fall in love, say, with a certain pilot, and he loves you and can see through your body
as Catherine Bloom and into your actual soul that stays with you always, then there is
a chance his memory of you will never be erased, and that the portal may reappear.
But this only happens if the boy is yearning for you and missing you dearly," Explained
Dr. G. I blushed. Maybe there was a chance that . . . that, Trowa would be her pilot in
this case? She bashfully put her hands behind her back.
"Why am I trapped in . . . in her body?" I asked, looking down at myself, in Catherine
Bloom's body.
"Because, you too are much alike. You both share the same admiration and love for
Trowa. You watch over him, and are some how destined to protect him. It is all very
complicated, however, we cannot waste any more time. We must return you to their
world . . . " Dr. S informed me. Before I could say anything in response, my eyesight
became a bit blurry and I let out a small gasp. Before I could even realize it, I was
standing outside the tents, right by the blended colors of the portal.
I looked up at the sky; it was still the same sunset! Trowa was nearby, I could sense
him, and ever fiber of my being began to stir with excitement. My heart pumped
furiously and my fingers trembled slightly. I began to run down the path, and into the
changing room without asking first. Trowa was there, staring at me with his
shimmering emerald eyes, which searched deep inside mine, he was shirtless, and he
looked hot! Tears of joy slid down my cheeks, this was my new home, and oh how
good it felt to finally be home!
~~~
Um, yeah! You're done reading this chapter. I've already almost finished the second
one, so that'll be up here soon, too! *Imagining Trowa shirtless* ANYways . . . I kept
writing and not actually posting, so, that's really what took me so long . . . eh
heh . . . Okay, please review!!! I hope you guys liked it!