Chapter 4 – Sarian's Ninjas

You stand at the head of your group for morning role call.  Instead of the usual calling out of group letters and calling back, "Present!" the head of Delta Compound, General McCarthy, stands before the groups.

"Last night, X213H of C group escaped the grounds.  He had a loaded handgun and food he had stolen from the kitchens.  He killed three guards and destroyed half a barracks block with a hand grenade before scaling the perimeter wall, landing, and running into the surrounding woods," he announced calmly, but you could plainly see the anger in his eyes.  "C group captain X235L!"

"Yes, sir!"  The tall seven year old saluted the general.

"You allowed one of your men to escape!  Explain!"

"With all due respect, sir," the boy wasn't fazed by being yelled at by the general, "he left in the middle of he night when the rest of us were asleep.  We had no idea . . ."

"You should have!  You and your group are a disgrace to this compound!"  The general spits out the last word.  "Terminate them!  The rest may be rebellious!"

"General, please!" X235L shouts, but it does no good.

You watch in horror as the entire group jumps suddenly.  Then, one by one, they fall to their knees, gagging and clutching at their throats.  Falling to the ground, the group starts twitching, eyes rolling into the back of their heads.

Raising his head, X235L raises his fist and shouts, "Go to hell, you bastards!  Long live the people's revolution!"

In one swift movement, general takes out his pistol, unlocks the safety, and shoots the boy in the head.

"Let this be a lesson," General McCarthy shouts, "to all of you!  Group A!  Remove the bodies and take them to the mortuary."

Sarian bolted up from the couch in the living room, breathing heavily.

"Why am I tortured by these dreams?" Sarian thought, wiping the sweat from her forehead.  It was the middle of the afternoon on Sunday.  She had been watching an anime (she had never known exactly what it was) with Heero when she had fallen asleep.  Now, Heero was gone, and the TV was off.

Duo walked in and sat down on the couch next to Sarian's head.  "You sure sleep a lot," he said, smiling once again.

"I need at least ten hours of sleep a day.  It's one of the cons to being a genetically engineered soldier, you have to reboot longer without Manna."

"What's that?" Duo asked.

"Medicine.  Without it, I have to be careful about what I do." Sarian got up from the couch and started towards the hallway.

"Where're you going?"  Duo looked at her expectantly.

"My room."  She walked out.

"I'll join you!"  Duo got up and followed Sarian to the stairs.

Luckily, Sarian was spared.  "Duo!  Get in here!" Wufei called from the kitchen.  Duo walked in the now repaired kitchen, and Sarian followed.  Trowa, Heero, Wufei, and Quatre were seated around the table.  In the middle of the table there was a circular disk with an arrow that could move around on its fixed point in the center.  It was split into sections like a pie, and these sections were different colors and had different chores written in them with permanent marker: The Chore Wheel.  Duo and Sarian sat down in two empty seats.

"Okay," Heero was presiding. "As you all know, the Cherry Blossom Spring Ball is in two weeks, and we all need dates or Sally will murder us. I'm taking Relena *grimace*, and Quatre's taking Mika. Now, Sarian needs a date."

"I'll do it!" Duo cried.

"No, Duo," Wufei said grumpily. "We need you to take her to a dance, not a hotel room!" Duo's face fell, and he glared at Wufei.

"Now, then," Heero glared at both of them, "I've come up with a rational and fair way to do this. Every free man will pick a chore to be. Whichever chore the arrow lands on, that man will take Sarian to the dance."

"Doesn't Sarian have a choice in this matter?" Trowa asked. "It's her date after all."

"I really don't care," Sarian said as she tied back her hair with a tie.

"Hey, Maxwell," Wufei grinned.  "You can be 'Take Out the Trash'!"

Duo smiled at Wufei, "Sure! And you can be 'Scrub the Toilets!"

"Men, please!" Heero was getting exasperated. "Duo, you're 'Dust the Living Room', Wufei, you're 'Take Out the Trash', and Trowa, you're 'Water the Garden'".  They all sighed heavily.  As Heero spun the arrow, Sarian looked at everyone's faces.  Heero looked bored with his arms crossed, Quatre looked expectant and excited, Wufei looked ready to mutilate the wheel if it landed on his chore, Duo was watching the wheel nervously, and Trowa seemed calm, but Sarian could tell he was more nervous than Duo.

The arrow slowed down.  Time even seemed to slow down as the arrow went slower and slower.  Everyone, even Wufei, leaned in expectantly as the arrow stopped.

"Water the Plants!"  Heero announced.  "Congrats, Trowa, you're taking Miss Sarian here to the dance.  Let's get rid of this," he took the Chore Wheel, and tossed it into the open pantry door. "Glad that's over.  Who's hungry?"

"I'm going to my room," Sarian excused herself.

"I'll go with you," Trowa followed her out of the kitchen, and up the flights of stairs to her room.

Sarian went to the wardrobe, and took her utility belt from the hook on the door.  She sat down on the bed, and Trowa followed suit.

I better do this formally, Trowa thought. "Sarian, will you go to the Ball with me?"

Sarian fingered the pouches and holsters for various objects on her belt.  She had removed the gun, and placed it in the drawer of the nightstand by her bed.  The water bottle with its Delta Compound label was now in a cupboard in the kitchen.  Now, only a bottle of Manna, a knife, the pouch of lock picks, and a thick leather pouch remained. "Look at this belt, Trowa," Sarian said. "I got that knife when I was five and named Captain of my group.  The lock picks were a gift from my Guardian, Day, for my thirteenth birthday.  And these," Sarian took the thick leather pouch off of the belt, ", were an anonymous gift for my sixteenth birthday.  I never found out who gave them to me."

"What are they?" Trowa asked, pushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"Throwing stars," Sarian said as she gingerly took them out of their pouch.  They gleamed ferociously in the light through Sarian's window.  The five stars were polished silver with sharpened blades. "I had one year to perfect their use, and I did.  Why do you think I showed these things to you Trowa?"

Trowa moved a bit closer, "I think that you're looking for a person to understand you, someone you can relate to and, by doing so, you won't be lonely anymore.  You'll finally find that missing piece of your soul, and be whole again."

Sarian looked at him; he had read her completely. "It's just that, I'm starting a whole new life.  New people, clothes, school. . . a new home."  She looked away, and then back to Trowa's understanding face. "Military drills, training, and tactics were my life.  It's what it was centered upon, and it hasn't left me yet."  She fingered her ninja stars.

"You do speak with a monotone, kind of like Heero,"

"We had emotion stamped out of us when we were young,"

"But, you smile when Duo and Wufei fight.  You laughed with Sally, Mika, and Relena yesterday."  Trowa looked at her with a confused face.

"I had training in faked emotion. It was part of becoming a perfect spy. I was four when they stamped emotion out of me.  I can't remember what it feels like to be happy."

"Can I remind you?"  Trowa leaned into Sarian.

Sarian stood up abruptly. "I'm going down to the work out room," she said quickly.

"Why?" he brought her close to him.

"Don't look at me like that," Sarian said, pulling away to open the door.  How did he do that again?, she wondered.

"Why?" Trowa caught her arm as she opened the door.

"It makes me feel uncomfortable," Sarian pulled out of his grip.

"Sorry, Sarian," he mumbled as he watched her retreating form go down the stairs, ninja stars in tow.  "Trowa, you are such an idiot," he chided himself as he leaned against the wall.

* * *

An hour later Sarian had worked herself into a sweat.  After leaving Trowa, Sarian had found a piece of ply board with the help of Quatre.  They'd carried it downstairs to the workout room, and Sarian had hung it in a corner alcove using nails and a drill.  She had lifted weights while Quatre had painted the figure of a body on the board, complete with a happy face.

It's not going to be happy much longer, Sarian thought as she fired a star, it hit dead center.  She threw another one, and another one.  Again and Again she threw and retrieved her stars until her arms hurt.

"I could do that if a girl like you could," Wufei was standing near the stairs, leaning on the rail with his arms crossed.  He had been watching her for some time.  Wufei came over and tried to take the stars from Sarian, but she backed away.

"It's very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing," Sarian warned.

Wufei gave her an annoyed look. "Well, if you're so good then," he walked in front of the ply board and leaned against it, ", you won't hit me."

"Wufei, I don't want to hit you accidentally.  You could die!" Sarian protested.

"Scaredy cat!" Wufei mocked her. "Weak little girl! You probably couldn't hit this board if I helped you!  Weakling! Weakling who can't even punch!"

Sarian's face got red.  She threw back her arm, and threw all the stars at once.  Her hair fell in front of her face so she did not see where they flew, but she had a good idea.  Sarian tucked her hair behind her ears and looked up.

The stars were embedded halfway into the wood, and with them were Wufei's sleeves and pants.  There was one to each limb so that Wufei was pinned to the board.  The fifth star had caught his long ponytail, and chopped it off.

Sarian was amused. This is too tempting, she thought.  She walked up to Wufei, who was struggling to be free, and slapped him across the face.  "You just got bitch-slapped by a girl.  How'd you like that?" She turned triumphantly, walked up the stairs, and turned off the basement light.

* * *

Duo sat slumped over at the table.  A shot glass and an empty bottle of tequila stood near his arms.  I really liked her, I did.  It wasn't that she was totally hot and sexy, she was . . . um, more tequila! He reached for the shot glass, and bottle, but found it empty.  When did that happen? It was full a minute ago; damn that girl!  He lifted his head and opened his bleary eyes.  The kitchen looked jumbled, and Duo struggled to bring everything into focus.

Duo did not know if this was an illusion from the alcohol, or real, but what he thought he saw was very funny in his drunken state.  A boy who looked like Wufei ran by from the basement wearing nothing but a pair of purple boxer shorts with little pink hearts on them.  But, it couldn't be Wufei, his ponytail was gone. Whoever it is, Duo thought, I'm glad it isn't me. His head fell down, and he began to snore.

* * *

Unlike Duo, Trowa was happy as can be.  He was reading one of his punk rock magazines, his back supported by his bed as he sat on the floor. I can't believe it, he thought. I'm taking a pretty girl to the Ball, I like her, she (hopefully) likes me, and I haven't heard a word out of Wufei all night.  Wonder what finally shut him up. As if on cue, there was a ripping sound, and then Wufei walked by Trowa's open door.  He was wearing only a pair of embarrassing boxer shorts, and looked ready to kill. I better follow him; see what's up. Trowa quietly followed Wufei up the stairs.

* * *

Sarian sat in wait for Wufei to walk up the third floor stairs. She had not expected he'd last this long without breaking through his clothes and escaping.  Sarian checked her watch; it was 10:30 p.m. She'd go to bed soon if he did not come up. Let him hang there all night.  He deserves it for what he said.

A few minutes later, Sarian heard footsteps coming up the stairs.  She sunk back into the darkness as Wufei came up the stairs and went to open her door. "I'm not in there," Sarian stood up.

"Weakling," Wufei said. "You have a lot of nerve to talk to me."

"You have a lot of nerve to say I'm weak, considering I pinned you to a wall." Sarian came out o the darkness, and stood before Wufei. She cracked a grin, "Finally got away from my ninjas, I see."

Wufei suddenly grabbed her shoulders and pushed Sarian up against the wall. "Women are not supposed to be in battle! They're weak! Their jobs are to cook, clean, and do laundry!  They're not supposed to be fighting!"

"Like your wife wasn't supposed to die in battle?" Sarian said softly.

"That's not the point," Wufei said, backing off.

"It's exactly the point!" Sarian followed him as he went for his bedroom door. "Meilan died in battle, and you couldn't stop it! That's why you think women belong in the kitchen! It's the only place they're supposedly safe!"

"SHUT UP!" Wufei spun around and punched Sarian in the face.  She did not stop him. She understood his pain. "You've never experienced losing someone you care about!"

"Oh, yeah?" Sarian dismissed her throbbing face. "During my life at the Compound, I saw fifteen of my generation brothers and sisters die! Whether by their own hand or that of the Compound, it didn't matter!  Saying it shouldn't have happened, or trying to come up with ways it could have been prevented doesn't help!"

"Shut up," Wufei mumbled, his voice trembling. "Just shut up." He went to his room and shut the door tightly.

Sarian stared at the place where Wufei had been for a few minutes, then sighed and went to her own room.

"What was that about?" Trowa wondered as he crept down the stairs.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  Hello again!  Just got back from Japan.  I didn't buy any Gundam Wing stuff when I was over there (though I did see models, the entire series and Endless Waltz on DVD, and a chibi Deathscythe model maker) because it was very, VERY expensive; about twice the cost.  The sights and country side over there is beautiful though.

The funny thing is, I saw a high school uniform over there that looks just like the uniforms in this fic!  Talk about creepy (and slightly frightening).

To anyone sending me e-mail about me reading and reviewing his or her stuff, I'm sorry if it doesn't seem like I'm actually reading (which I am; just not always reviewing).  On top of typing up my stories (I wrote the first six chapters of this fic on lined paper at school during Geography), I also read some fics everyday, lift weights, practice my karate, my sword (take lessons from a friend of my sensei), and my singing. All this is not including everything else in my life.  So, don't worry, I DO READ.

See yah next chapter. DAY has a new story up, a Yu Yu Hakusho fic.  Haven't read it yet since until 1:00 p.m. today, Fanfiction was being a bitch.

Bah bye!