I can't even tell you what kind of writer's block I had with this fic! Seriously, it was really bad. I've apparently got this problem with starting new fics and then getting stuck on my old ones. Well, I'm going to try to finish this fic in about 5 or so chapters. I definitely don't want to start another epic fic like MSWG (one is quite enough!!). Anyway, I apologize profusely for being severely unmotivated in my writing/posting. I wrote this entire chapter yesterday. I dunno, I just sat down at the computer and started typing, and this is what I came up with. I hope it's at least semi-interesting. Oh, and do forgive any typos in this chap. I'm in no mood to proofread, so I'll fix em all later. Enjoy!
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"Give me a rum and coke, babe, and your phone number too."
A melodic laugh bubbled from her throat. "Koji, you're in here almost every night,
and you always ask for my number. Have I given it to you yet?"
The obviously drunk man thought about this for a few minutes. When she had
finally given up on getting a response from him, he answered, "No. That's why I keep
asking." And then he laughed, like he had just put together the most clever statement
that all mankind had ever heard.
"Sorry to break your heart again, honey, but you're not getting it tonight, either.
Now, say goodnight and go home in the cab waiting outside for you." She gently pried
the empty glass out of his unprotesting hands and gave him a gentle smile as he
stumbled out of the shady bar.
"I don't understand how you put up with him," Mamoru shook his head in partial
confusion, partial amazement. "You really are a saint."
"Oh yeah, that's me, Saint Usagi," the blonde woman chuckled as she refilled
Mamoru's soda. Then she sighed, leaning against the sticky counter. "Slow night,"
she nodded to the almost empty bar.
Following her gaze, Mamoru turned to survey the dimly lit bar. There were a few
people here and there, but it was pretty empty for a Saturday night. Now, Mamoru was
in the bar a good three or four nights a week. He wasn't a drinker, by any means. He
was just there to check up on Usagi. Why she accepted a job at such a dive, he didn't
know. She despised alcohol after getting drunk in her earlier years by accident. So
when she called to tell him where she had just found employment, he was more than
surprised. In fact, shocked stupor summed it up quite nicely.
But she really seemed to enjoy her job. She had to serve drinks, sure, but she
also got to talk to people, listen to their problems and help on occasion. Helping
people was what she did best. It was one of the things he loved about her.
Twisting back around to Usagi, he stood. "I hate to run, but I have a lot of patients
to see in the morning," he explained in an apologetic tone.
"No worries," Usagi smiled up at the taller man. "I'm only on for another hour or so,
and then I'm going to sleep all day."
"Sounds good. I'll call you later." Mamoru gave her a quick peck on the cheek and
then left the bar.
Usagi's eyes followed him in his departure. When the door closed noisily behind
him, she turned her gaze back to the remaining occupants of the bar. Most of them
were regulars that she knew by name. There were a couple of stragglers; there always
were, as Usagi quickly found out. Sometimes she preferred this, meeting people and
then never seeing them again. It showed her that oddball encounters happened all the
time and that they were nothing to get upset over.
Screwy logic, she knew, but it helped her work through her issues.
As the creak of the door announced another person's arrival, Usagi snapped out of
her momentary stupor and greeted the person that now occupied the barstool next to
Mamoru's empty one. "What can I get you?" she asked the dark-haired woman
pleasantly.
Her words obviously startled the woman, for she almost jumped right out of her
seat. "Oh. Um, I'll have a club soda, please," she answered quietly, as if she were
afraid people were listening.
"Coming right up." Grabbing a bottle of club soda and a clean glass, Usagi filled it
to the top and gave it to the other woman, who accepted it gratefully. Usagi noticed
that her eyes never left the top of the bar, and that her eyebrows were creased with
worry. Strange, she looked familiar. And her voice sounded familiar, too.
Then it hit her. She looked familiar because she was familiar! "Are you all right,
Miss Peacecraft?" Usagi asked the now-brunette in a low voice.
Relena inaudibly gasped. "How did you know?" she asked breathlessly, eyes wide
and mouth open in shock.
Almost laughing out loud, Usagi answered, "To put it bluntly, a woman as beautiful
as yourself does not frequently inhabit bars."
"Look who's talking," Relena shot back with a tiny smile, causing Usagi's cheeks
to pinken slightly. Then her voice took on a serious tone. "You won't say anything, will
you?"
As Usagi locked eyes with the vice foreign minister, she saw fear, worry, and the
slightest hint of... trust? Usagi knew what it was like to need someone to trust. Oh,
she definitely knew. "Say anything? About what? A nice woman I happened to meet
at the bar where I work? I meet hundreds of people a week."
"Arigato," Relena breathed a sigh of relief as she took a sip of her club soda. Her
eyes took on a more vibrant cornflower color as she relaxed some. "So... interesting
place," she threw out casually as she allowed her eyes to wander around the room.
With a chuckle, Usagi shook her head. "I know it doesn't look like much, but it's a
great place to work. Now, why are you, of all people, in a place like this?"
A guilty look briefly paused on the other woman's features before it passed away.
"I've been staying with some friends in town, and I needed to get away for a while.
That's what happens when you are surrounded by males twenty-four hours a day. It's
enough to drive a person mad!"
"Well then, it's a good thing you stopped in here," Usagi agreed with a smile.
Hmm, when she had woken up this morning, she never would have imagined that she'd
be having a conversation with the world peace spokeswoman. It might turn into an
interesting day, after all.
"Most definitely good," Relena agreed, taking a sip of her club soda. She gave
Usagi a slight nod. "I'm only here for another couple of days. I'm just taking a much
-needed break from all of my meetings. You can only travel for so many days in a row
before it starts making you crazy."
"I can only imagine," Usagi murmured. She had been living in Tokyo for her entire
life. She had barely made it out of the city, much less traveled outside the country. It
was pretty sad. In all of her twenty-three years, she had not done anything that she
could consider great. She had been happy, once, but it only lasted for one night...
"Are you all right?" Relena reiterated the question that had been asked of her only
moments before. The blonde woman in front of her had this look on her face. Wistful,
almost sad.
"What? Oh. I'm fine. Sorry about that," Usagi chuckled nervously, grabbing a rag
and wiping the counter. She had been doing that a lot lately, spacing out. Not to
mention the fact that she had been thinking more and more about what had become of
her life. Well, it was about time she stopped. Bitterness never was a good shade on
her, anyway.
The door slammed open, startling both women. In the doorway stood two men,
both tall, dark and handsome. Their eyes scanned the room before landing on Relena,
and they started across the bar over to her.
"Do you know them, or should I call for help?" Usagi asked in a low voice, eyeing
the two approaching men suspiciously.
"You said you'd only be gone for fifteen minutes," said the shorter of the two men
as he addressed Relena. He tapped his watch for emphasis. The other man merely
stood there watching, nodding his head in silent agreement with his comrade.
"I know, but I was having a nice conversation with..." Relena's voice trailed off when
she realized that the blonde woman had never formally introduced herself. She glanced
at her in puzzlement.
"Tsukino Usagi," Usagi offered in the silence. "A pleasure." Even as she said this,
she was still debating the pleasant aspect of this meeting. The talking man was
glaring at her, while the other one remained impassive. "Your friends?" she nodded at
the men.
"That would be two of them. Usagi, this is Hiiro Yui and Trowa Barton."
At the introduction, Hiiro scowled. Since when did Relena give their names to total
strangers? And a bartender, at that! "Come on, Relena. It's time to get back to the
mansion." He grabbed her hand and pulled her gently off the barstool.
"Wait." Relena tugged her hand back as she turned to Usagi. "Thank you," she
said with genuine gratefulness.
"Absolutely. Enjoy the rest of your vacation."
With one last scowl, Hiiro once again took Relena's hand and led her out of the
bar. Just before the door closed, Trowa stuck his head back in and called out to Usagi,
"Nice meeting you." And then he was gone.
Usagi shook her head. What an interesting bunch. No wonder Relena needed to
get away for a while! She could only imagine what the woman's other friends were like.
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"You did what?!" a voice screeched loudly throughout the room.
"Calm down, Wufei. It's not a big deal," Relena insisted as she tried to curb the
rantings of the severely pissed off Chinese man.
"Not a big deal?" His already black eyes turned darker at this statement. "You
asked us to protect you. Hell; we're friends even! And then you go and talk to
complete strangers? In a bar, no less!"
While he said nothing, Hiiro stood nearby, listening to the entire conversation.
Personally, he agreed with Wufei. If they wanted the entire city to know that Relena
Peacecraft was in town, they would have posted their arrival flight on a billboard.
"I wasn't talking to strangers," Relena shot back in annoyance. "I was talking to
someONE, who happened to have recognized me. What was I supposed to do, deny
her assumptions?"
"Yes!"
"Well, I didn't, sorry. And I really don't think she's one to alert the media. She
didn't seem like that kind of person."
"Oh, because you and her became such good friends in your five-minute
conversation!"
"Ok, that's it!" Duo boomed out. He had been silently watching the heated
exchange of words, and frankly, he was quite sick of the bickering. "Now, here's what
we're going to do. For the next couple of days, we're going to keep an eye on our new
bartending friend. That way, we can see if she tells anyone that Relena is here."
"That's not a bad idea," Quatre put in quietly from his seat on the couch. Their
number one concern was Relena's safety. While he never did enjoy spying on people,
sometimes it was just necessary. "Who wants to take the first shift?"
"I'll do it," Duo volunteered, making all eyes look over to him in suspicion. Noticing
this, he said defensively, "No, I'm not going to drink! I just want to get out of the house
for a while!"
"Fine then," Hiiro gave in grudgingly, knowing that just killing the woman was out of
the question. The next best thing was keeping tabs on her whereabouts.
"Great. I'll see you later," Duo called as he left the mansion.
That woman had better not talk to anyone, if she knew what was good for her, Hiiro
thought darkly.
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This fic seems to have taken a different turn from where I originally had it going... However, I think this one would probly be better. Less long-winded and angsty. I dunno, that could be a good thing or a bad thing. We'll see. Anyway, what did you think? I'm trying to bring everyone together so the plot can progress. I hope I succeeded. Please review! It helps keep me motivated. Not just for this fic, but for all of em. I love you guys!
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"Give me a rum and coke, babe, and your phone number too."
A melodic laugh bubbled from her throat. "Koji, you're in here almost every night,
and you always ask for my number. Have I given it to you yet?"
The obviously drunk man thought about this for a few minutes. When she had
finally given up on getting a response from him, he answered, "No. That's why I keep
asking." And then he laughed, like he had just put together the most clever statement
that all mankind had ever heard.
"Sorry to break your heart again, honey, but you're not getting it tonight, either.
Now, say goodnight and go home in the cab waiting outside for you." She gently pried
the empty glass out of his unprotesting hands and gave him a gentle smile as he
stumbled out of the shady bar.
"I don't understand how you put up with him," Mamoru shook his head in partial
confusion, partial amazement. "You really are a saint."
"Oh yeah, that's me, Saint Usagi," the blonde woman chuckled as she refilled
Mamoru's soda. Then she sighed, leaning against the sticky counter. "Slow night,"
she nodded to the almost empty bar.
Following her gaze, Mamoru turned to survey the dimly lit bar. There were a few
people here and there, but it was pretty empty for a Saturday night. Now, Mamoru was
in the bar a good three or four nights a week. He wasn't a drinker, by any means. He
was just there to check up on Usagi. Why she accepted a job at such a dive, he didn't
know. She despised alcohol after getting drunk in her earlier years by accident. So
when she called to tell him where she had just found employment, he was more than
surprised. In fact, shocked stupor summed it up quite nicely.
But she really seemed to enjoy her job. She had to serve drinks, sure, but she
also got to talk to people, listen to their problems and help on occasion. Helping
people was what she did best. It was one of the things he loved about her.
Twisting back around to Usagi, he stood. "I hate to run, but I have a lot of patients
to see in the morning," he explained in an apologetic tone.
"No worries," Usagi smiled up at the taller man. "I'm only on for another hour or so,
and then I'm going to sleep all day."
"Sounds good. I'll call you later." Mamoru gave her a quick peck on the cheek and
then left the bar.
Usagi's eyes followed him in his departure. When the door closed noisily behind
him, she turned her gaze back to the remaining occupants of the bar. Most of them
were regulars that she knew by name. There were a couple of stragglers; there always
were, as Usagi quickly found out. Sometimes she preferred this, meeting people and
then never seeing them again. It showed her that oddball encounters happened all the
time and that they were nothing to get upset over.
Screwy logic, she knew, but it helped her work through her issues.
As the creak of the door announced another person's arrival, Usagi snapped out of
her momentary stupor and greeted the person that now occupied the barstool next to
Mamoru's empty one. "What can I get you?" she asked the dark-haired woman
pleasantly.
Her words obviously startled the woman, for she almost jumped right out of her
seat. "Oh. Um, I'll have a club soda, please," she answered quietly, as if she were
afraid people were listening.
"Coming right up." Grabbing a bottle of club soda and a clean glass, Usagi filled it
to the top and gave it to the other woman, who accepted it gratefully. Usagi noticed
that her eyes never left the top of the bar, and that her eyebrows were creased with
worry. Strange, she looked familiar. And her voice sounded familiar, too.
Then it hit her. She looked familiar because she was familiar! "Are you all right,
Miss Peacecraft?" Usagi asked the now-brunette in a low voice.
Relena inaudibly gasped. "How did you know?" she asked breathlessly, eyes wide
and mouth open in shock.
Almost laughing out loud, Usagi answered, "To put it bluntly, a woman as beautiful
as yourself does not frequently inhabit bars."
"Look who's talking," Relena shot back with a tiny smile, causing Usagi's cheeks
to pinken slightly. Then her voice took on a serious tone. "You won't say anything, will
you?"
As Usagi locked eyes with the vice foreign minister, she saw fear, worry, and the
slightest hint of... trust? Usagi knew what it was like to need someone to trust. Oh,
she definitely knew. "Say anything? About what? A nice woman I happened to meet
at the bar where I work? I meet hundreds of people a week."
"Arigato," Relena breathed a sigh of relief as she took a sip of her club soda. Her
eyes took on a more vibrant cornflower color as she relaxed some. "So... interesting
place," she threw out casually as she allowed her eyes to wander around the room.
With a chuckle, Usagi shook her head. "I know it doesn't look like much, but it's a
great place to work. Now, why are you, of all people, in a place like this?"
A guilty look briefly paused on the other woman's features before it passed away.
"I've been staying with some friends in town, and I needed to get away for a while.
That's what happens when you are surrounded by males twenty-four hours a day. It's
enough to drive a person mad!"
"Well then, it's a good thing you stopped in here," Usagi agreed with a smile.
Hmm, when she had woken up this morning, she never would have imagined that she'd
be having a conversation with the world peace spokeswoman. It might turn into an
interesting day, after all.
"Most definitely good," Relena agreed, taking a sip of her club soda. She gave
Usagi a slight nod. "I'm only here for another couple of days. I'm just taking a much
-needed break from all of my meetings. You can only travel for so many days in a row
before it starts making you crazy."
"I can only imagine," Usagi murmured. She had been living in Tokyo for her entire
life. She had barely made it out of the city, much less traveled outside the country. It
was pretty sad. In all of her twenty-three years, she had not done anything that she
could consider great. She had been happy, once, but it only lasted for one night...
"Are you all right?" Relena reiterated the question that had been asked of her only
moments before. The blonde woman in front of her had this look on her face. Wistful,
almost sad.
"What? Oh. I'm fine. Sorry about that," Usagi chuckled nervously, grabbing a rag
and wiping the counter. She had been doing that a lot lately, spacing out. Not to
mention the fact that she had been thinking more and more about what had become of
her life. Well, it was about time she stopped. Bitterness never was a good shade on
her, anyway.
The door slammed open, startling both women. In the doorway stood two men,
both tall, dark and handsome. Their eyes scanned the room before landing on Relena,
and they started across the bar over to her.
"Do you know them, or should I call for help?" Usagi asked in a low voice, eyeing
the two approaching men suspiciously.
"You said you'd only be gone for fifteen minutes," said the shorter of the two men
as he addressed Relena. He tapped his watch for emphasis. The other man merely
stood there watching, nodding his head in silent agreement with his comrade.
"I know, but I was having a nice conversation with..." Relena's voice trailed off when
she realized that the blonde woman had never formally introduced herself. She glanced
at her in puzzlement.
"Tsukino Usagi," Usagi offered in the silence. "A pleasure." Even as she said this,
she was still debating the pleasant aspect of this meeting. The talking man was
glaring at her, while the other one remained impassive. "Your friends?" she nodded at
the men.
"That would be two of them. Usagi, this is Hiiro Yui and Trowa Barton."
At the introduction, Hiiro scowled. Since when did Relena give their names to total
strangers? And a bartender, at that! "Come on, Relena. It's time to get back to the
mansion." He grabbed her hand and pulled her gently off the barstool.
"Wait." Relena tugged her hand back as she turned to Usagi. "Thank you," she
said with genuine gratefulness.
"Absolutely. Enjoy the rest of your vacation."
With one last scowl, Hiiro once again took Relena's hand and led her out of the
bar. Just before the door closed, Trowa stuck his head back in and called out to Usagi,
"Nice meeting you." And then he was gone.
Usagi shook her head. What an interesting bunch. No wonder Relena needed to
get away for a while! She could only imagine what the woman's other friends were like.
.
.
.
"You did what?!" a voice screeched loudly throughout the room.
"Calm down, Wufei. It's not a big deal," Relena insisted as she tried to curb the
rantings of the severely pissed off Chinese man.
"Not a big deal?" His already black eyes turned darker at this statement. "You
asked us to protect you. Hell; we're friends even! And then you go and talk to
complete strangers? In a bar, no less!"
While he said nothing, Hiiro stood nearby, listening to the entire conversation.
Personally, he agreed with Wufei. If they wanted the entire city to know that Relena
Peacecraft was in town, they would have posted their arrival flight on a billboard.
"I wasn't talking to strangers," Relena shot back in annoyance. "I was talking to
someONE, who happened to have recognized me. What was I supposed to do, deny
her assumptions?"
"Yes!"
"Well, I didn't, sorry. And I really don't think she's one to alert the media. She
didn't seem like that kind of person."
"Oh, because you and her became such good friends in your five-minute
conversation!"
"Ok, that's it!" Duo boomed out. He had been silently watching the heated
exchange of words, and frankly, he was quite sick of the bickering. "Now, here's what
we're going to do. For the next couple of days, we're going to keep an eye on our new
bartending friend. That way, we can see if she tells anyone that Relena is here."
"That's not a bad idea," Quatre put in quietly from his seat on the couch. Their
number one concern was Relena's safety. While he never did enjoy spying on people,
sometimes it was just necessary. "Who wants to take the first shift?"
"I'll do it," Duo volunteered, making all eyes look over to him in suspicion. Noticing
this, he said defensively, "No, I'm not going to drink! I just want to get out of the house
for a while!"
"Fine then," Hiiro gave in grudgingly, knowing that just killing the woman was out of
the question. The next best thing was keeping tabs on her whereabouts.
"Great. I'll see you later," Duo called as he left the mansion.
That woman had better not talk to anyone, if she knew what was good for her, Hiiro
thought darkly.
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.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
This fic seems to have taken a different turn from where I originally had it going... However, I think this one would probly be better. Less long-winded and angsty. I dunno, that could be a good thing or a bad thing. We'll see. Anyway, what did you think? I'm trying to bring everyone together so the plot can progress. I hope I succeeded. Please review! It helps keep me motivated. Not just for this fic, but for all of em. I love you guys!