"Hel..lo"
She was beautiful.
They stared at each other for a few minutes, then she repeated, "Hello?..uhm...do you speak English?"
"Wha?" Quatre stammered, "Oh! I'm terribly sorry, my name is Quatre Rebarba Winner and you are currently in the medical facilities of my house..." he trailed off as she frowned.
"You have a hospital in your house?" Minako asked, wrinkling her nose in disbelief.
"Er...yes." Quatre said rather bluntly, all his mansions had a medical facility, for not only practical reasons, but because bringing the gundam pilots to a regular hospital was often impossible, and overly dangerous. As much as this girl's beauty had struck him, he wasn't inclined to share his secrets, especially when they weren't his alone to reveal.
"Oh." Minako replied, but thankfully she let the situation drop, "You must be pretty rich then." She grinned suddenly at him.
Quatre's heart nearly stopped under the force of her smile... "Uh..er..um...no...I mean...yeah..erm..maybe?"
Minako just giggled slightly, "Well, Quatre Rebarba Winner, how, exactly did I end up in your house?"
"Well Star, you were wounded pretty badly when Trowa's friends found you on the highway, but you have recovered with remarkable speed." Explained Quatre .
"Oh? How long was that?"
"Seven days, and six hours," Iria responded as she walked into the room. "You're a very lucky girl, Star, I expected you, even at the remarkable speed you've been healing at, to be in a coma for at least another month or two. My name is Iria Winner, I'm your doctor" She smiled kindly down at the confused girl. "Quatre could you get her some water, while I check her temperature?" She asked, politely.
When both Iria and Quatre had turned their backs, Minako mouthed "Star??"
Iria turned back toward Mina, thermometer in hand, chuckling slightly, "I can see by the confused expression on your face that your name isn't Star, do you care to share it with us so I can put in on your chart?"
Minako blushed, "It's Minako, Aino Minako."
"Well, Minako, it's a pleasure to meet you," she then turned to her younger brother, "Quatre, could you carry her down to the lab for me? I need to run some tests to make sure there's no infection."
Quatre nodded, and picked up a squirming Mina, chuckling as she protested, "I can walk, you know. How come she didn't ask ME if I wanted to go for some tests?"
"Yes, but we wouldn't want you to pull your stitches, would we? And she didn't ask you because you have no choice it's for your own good."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She complained half-heartedly. She didn't want to go for tests, in fact, she hated tests, they always seems to involve lots of unnecessary needles. As Quatre said, she didn't really have much of a choice, but if she was going to be prodded at , and used as a human pincushion, then at least she was getting carried there by a good looking blond guy. She was surprised that he had lifted her so easily, she had probably lost some weight in the past week, but there had to be some definite hidden strength in that slim form. He couldn't be more than an inch or two taller than her 5'2, and was only slightly wider. She leaned back into his arms, the scent of his expensive cologne surrounding her, and looked up at him, slightly dizzy at his closeness, "Why do you call me Star?"
He smiled down at the beautiful girl smiling up at him, "Well, Miss Minako, you were in a coma, we had to call you something. Besides," he added, " I like the name Star. It suits you."
She blushed, feeling guilty. Her friends had sacrificed themselves only a few days ago, and here she was, flirting! Her spirits plummeted and her eyes began to tear again, she looked away quickly, so Quatre would see her cry, and pry into the cause.
That was when she happened to glance out of the window, buildings were crumbled and over grown, the streets were in a sad state of disrepair, and the windows of some shops were smashed in. It was a wasteland, straight out of one of Usagi's futuristic manga. "Quatre," she asked weakly, "Just where is your estate?"
Quatre looked back at her astonished expression with wide, confused, aquamarine eyes, "Australia, why?"
"Australia wasn't like this in the world of Crystal Tokyo.." she realized silently, had things changed so much in the time she'd been unconscious? Or.. "Quatre," she continued tensely, not answering his question, "Does everywhere look like this?"
Quatre raised an eyebrow in one of those doubting expressions he pretends he doesn't have, "No...this is actually one of the less war-torn areas on earth." Didn't she about the war?
Minako gulped, but bravely ventured on, though her voice trembled slightly, "What-what year is it?"
Quatre looked at her quizzically, "O-kay, maybe she has a slight amnesia," He looked at her quizzically as he answered her question, "It's the year A.C. 196,"
Minako paled even further. Quatre was beginning to worry, "What does A.C. stand for?" she squeaked.
"After Colony."
"Colony?"
"Yes, the colonies in space."
"Space?"
"Are you just repeating the last word of everything I say?" he said, confused and more than a little frustrated at her odd behavior.
"No," Minako blushed further, "Just..one more thing, was there ever a giant crystal palace in Tokyo?"
"No, Miss Star, there wasn't."
"You're sure?"
"I'd remember a giant crystal palace, Miss Star."
"Oh," she said weakly, "Just wanted to make sure." She was silent for a few minutes then... "Quatre?"
"Yes Miss Star?"
"I think I'm going to be sick."
