AN: WWAAAIIII!!! I LOVED WRITING THIS CHAPTER!!!! ENJOY PEOPLE!!!! ^____^ Please review!!

Chapter 8: "Heero, help!!" she cried.

Blaze continued to not speak to Heero for that entire day. She kept silent around him as she thought of what to do. Still, Heero didn't know this. All Heero was able to notice was that she wouldn't look at him or talk to him. The Perfect Soldier attempted to ignore it as well, but it still nagged in the back of his mind. Heero attempted to keep his attention away from her, and onto more important matters.

As Heero sat on the chest of Wing, laptop open, he looked at the long list of Preventers bases that were being overtaken by Hampshire. They didn't have long. The pilots had to find a new safe house, and quick. The base they were currently at would be taken over all too soon. The people here wouldn't give away their position. Most of them were either from a colony or had family in a colony, and all of them were going to be forced into fighting for Hampshire and ESUN. That was a weakness that Hampshire seemed to ignore. An unwilling force wasn't a very reliable one.

Heero pondered their current predicament. They couldn't buy a mobile suit base, because all of them were run down. The only ones that weren't run down were the ones that Hampshire had reopened. Opening a base that wasn't a part of ESUN would be detected immediately. They needed privacy. One that would sustain throughout this war.

Heero just wished the kill the bastard, and be done with it. He was more than positive that Relena would be able to re-talk ESUN back into peace. After all, no one really wanted to have any blood shed. Still, an assassination would cause an uproar. No good would come from it. Despite the fact that Heero was brought up to kill without any concern (as is a soldier is meant to be), he still didn't really enjoy it. He only did what he had to do in order to defend and win. As he felt his existence was acknowledged more in a war, it still didn't make him exactly giddy with excitement that this war has started. To think he would have tried peace! Heero laughed despite himself.

Heero mentally smacked himself for letting his mind wander. He pushed himself to focus on the task at hand. Where could they go? Dr. J. and the others had refused to house the pilots. It took too much of a risk. If they were tracked back to their base, then there would be no back up. The pilots and their masters would be caught. Everything would fall apart. Aside from that, Heero suspected that their mentors were working on something, something important. The pilots couldn't afford to be an inconvenience. Whatever Dr. J. and the others were doing, it was for the good of the colonies. So where would they be able to stay? Who could they trust?

Quatre showed up and greeted Heero. "Hello Heero. How are you?" he asked with his usual boyish smile.

Perfect.

"We need a place to stay, Quatre. Have anything in mind?" Heero replied, eyeing his comrade. "The Maguanacs perhaps?"

Quatre's eyes lit up at this. He enjoyed being with his large party of forty burly men. They were good men and watched him ever since he was young. Not to mention Quatre always lit up any time he could be of some serious help in a serious and difficult situation.

"Of course!" Quatre exclaimed. "They have plenty of different underground places, and a few on the colonies."

"Whichever one has the least civilians would be our best choice." Heero replied. Heero recalled through Quatre and Duo's story of how OZ had infiltrated an underground base they were in, which threatened the lives of many people that lived there as well. Innocent lives, but that didn't seem to matter in a war.

"I agree. I'll inform Rashid immediately. He keeps track of their different locations a lot better than I do. He'll give me the best suggestion." Quatre replied.

"Find out as soon as possible." Heero replied. "The longer we stay here, the more we jeopardize everyone working here and ourselves."

"Sure thing!" Quatre replied, and ran off to make his call.

Heero thought refreshingly of once again having his own room. He wouldn't have to deal with Blaze and her back talking, music, and constant control of the bathroom. Not to mention she can snore occasionally.

That night, Blaze sat on her bed quietly brushing her hair. As her right hand brushed, her left clenched and unclenched the end of her nightgown. What should she do? She focused on Trowa's words immensely. Probably more than she should. It gave her a headache, and gave her more anxiety than she ever needed. Heero wasn't in the room with her. Instead he was downstairs, working on his gundam. In fact, all of the pilots were. They each touched up their respectable mobile suit, preparing for their leave tomorrow. She didn't know where they were going, they wouldn't tell her. Her mind wandered to earlier.

Duo attempted to sneak up on Blaze, but she was aware of his presence. "Hey, Duo." she said, making sure she got the first word.

"Hey, how'd you know I was here?" Duo questioned.

"You're not very good at stealth…" Blaze grinned.

Duo put his hands on his hips in an offended gesture. "I resent that remark!"

Blaze took her attention away from the dishes that she was washing, and looked at him. Duo grinned back, the typical American that he was. "Yeah, I can tell." she joked.

"Are you going to come with us?" Duo asked, as he grabbed an apple from the fruit basket.

"I don't know…" she confessed. "I sort of want to, but then again I'm not sure. I mean, you people are the only ones that I know. I'd be pretty lonely here, ya know?"

"No friend should ever be alone!" Duo commented. "I'll take you with us."

"Nah, I don't want to be an inconvenience…" Blaze replied. "But I'll think about it." she added.

Her thoughts returned. If she agreed to let Heero train her, then she could go with them and not be an inconvenience. Besides, they seemed to enjoy her company… or at least most of them… Yep. She'll end up going with them. If she's going to start a new life, then it might as well be one that would have some significant meaning. It'll be ironic that her present and future are connected to her past. Blaze was immediately one to believe in not looking back on the past. Quite suiting for one who has amnesia.

Blaze didn't bother getting up to go and inform Heero of her decision. She was still upset with him, and wouldn't give him the satisfaction of going out of her way to tell him anything. She decided to wait for Heero to come up when he was done. Of course that may be a while.

Blaze turned on the radio and listened to the music as she lay there aimlessly. She tapped her foot to the beat, enjoying her private space (which she hardly got). Blaze thought curiously, 'when we do leave… we won't have to share a room again, will we? But if there are limited rooms again, would I be shoved with Heero again?' The thought wasn't exactly appealing, and yet… it partially was. Blaze still had yet to try and figure out why. Why, in the name of sanity, would she want to share a room with Heero? 'He generally hates me, I always bug him… I'll be having enough of him when he's going to start training me… but… I'm not intimidated by him. Not in the least. But he doesn't like me. But I don't seem to care.'

This made no sense, and Blaze couldn't find any way to make it logical, and couldn't find the rhyme to her reason. 'I suppose I don't really care how he treats me, because he's cold to everyone. Maybe that's it…' Then Blaze remembered when Heero had put that blanket over her, and when Heero had comforted her after her nightmare… A grin spread across her face. "I think I'll figure out Heero Yuy sooner than you may think, Trowa…"

Heero dragged his tired feet up the stairs as if they were blocks of lead. What time was it? It felt like three in the morning! He had to get up in four hours. Oh well. Better to have a little sleep than no sleep. He stretched his arms, hopeful to crawl into his bed and let dreamless darkness overtake him. He heard music coming from inside the room. Heero narrowed his eyes.

"Damn it! She's awake…" Heero muttered to himself. He listened carefully, to make sure.

"…I don't know how….Because maybe….You're gonna be the one that saves me? And after all you're my wonderwall!" sang Blaze. Her voice came clearly through the door, and Heero rubbed his temples in aggravation. This was the last straw.

Heero opened the door and entered the room, and his jaw dropped at the sight before him. Blaze was up of course, singing, and… bouncing on her bed? Heero was too tired to handle this.

"What are you doing?" he hissed as he glared at her especially hard.

Blaze jumped off of her bed by doing as somersault in the air and landing on her feet. She immediately fell onto her shriveled covers and misplaced pillows. Her hair partially covered her face, but she smiled at him anyway. "I was waiting for you to come back. I was running out of ideas, and I need to stay awake!" She turned down the volume on the radio.

"Why were you waiting for me?"

Blaze shuffled her feet and sat on her hands. "Well…" she started. "I've been thinking…."

Heero sat down on the side of his bed, facing her. He leaned on his knees with his elbows. "Well? What is it?"

"About what had happened…" Blaze started. She averted her eyes to him. "I'll let you train me."

Heero was completely taken by surprise. "I thought you didn't want to…"

"Well, then you thought wrong." she replied. Then she corrected, "I wasn't angry really about that. I was angry about the fact that you can't trust me, and didn't let me find out about my past on my own."

Heero looked at his hands in a silent apology.

"Of course…" she continued. "That experience with Dr. J. doesn't really hold any meaning for me, because I don't have any recollection of it. It's your faith in me which is thwarted."

There was a long silence before Heero replied, "My faith in you is not let down. That's why I need you to fight with us. For the colonies."

"I won't be very cooperative."

"That can be changed."

"Oh really?"

"Yes."

"That's what you think…" she grinned. "This won't be easy, Heero."

"Good." Heero replied.

There was more silence, and Blaze lied down on her bed correctly, after straightening her pillows. "Do you think I'll get to do another mission like before?"

"Probably. But not with me." Heero replied coldly.

"Hey! Why not?" Blaze demanded. Then it came back to her. "Ah, yeah… never mind… now I remember. I kissed you last time!"

Heero kept himself from blushing. How could she mention it so casually??

"Don't worry…" she continued. "It won't happen again…"

"It most certainly won't."

"Shut up, Heero. You enjoyed it." she accused playfully.

Heero narrowed his eyes at her, but she didn't waver with her stare (nor her grin). Heero replied through clenched teeth, "I do not wish to be kissed without my permission!"

"Okay then." she replied. A moment of silence. "May I have your permission to kiss you then?"

"NO!" Heero shouted, completely appalled.

Blaze laughed at his response. "Just kidding, Heero. By the way, you're blushing."

Heero immediately lied down on his bed with his back to her. He roughly beat his pillow to give it fluff, and then buried his head in it. How the hell was he going to achieve training Blaze?! She was unpredictable! He was use to a routine… He usually knew what to expect from the people around him, but not with her. His tired mind forced him to let go of his aggravation with Blaze, and he let himself fall asleep.

Blaze smiled to herself. The more she pushed, the looser Heero will become. She reflected on what she had said a moment ago, and wondered why Heero blushed. Did he like being kissed? Well that's a stupid question… anyone likes to be kissed. But kissed by her? Of course it was an experience that Blaze preferred to forget. Laughing over was just her way of releasing the tension, and burying the embarrassment. Blaze turned off the light, and fixed her covers, snuggling deep into her bed. It was about time she could go to sleep… what time were they going to have to wake up tomorrow? The thought made her groan.

Blaze squirmed in her bed uncomfortably. Who was breathing so hard? Heero? She wanted them to shut up. Ragged breath echoed around her behind her eyelids. She peaked an eye open, but darkness greeted just the same. The breathing didn't stop. It was heavy, fearful. Who was it? Blaze began to feel anxious, and opened her throat to speak. She couldn't. Her words choked, stopped in her throat. She put her hand to her throat and swallowed. What was going on??

Suddenly something bit into her neck, digging into her skin, choking her. She gasped for air, to scream, but it tightened. Her hand clawed at her throat. Rope. The frayed bits dug into her, breaking the skin and starting to draw blood. She could feel it start to run down her chest.

She moved to get up, but found herself against a cold wall. More ropes came out of the mystic nowhere and bound her hands, wrapping her arms tightly against her chest. The tightness put pressure on her lungs, and dug into her wrists. Hot tears stung her eyes in pain. She kicked her legs to break free or to harm whatever or whoever was doing this to her, but suddenly she felt suspended! Her feet dangled, no ground beneath her.

'No…' she thought. 'Not another nightmare, please!'

Ropes bound her legs and feet together, and panic began to fill her.

'Wake up Blaze, come on! You're the one with the control! You're doing this to yourself! You have to WAKE UP!' she screamed to herself mentally.

But the bite of the ropes and the sting from its burns told her otherwise. The rope tightened around her neck like a noose. She swallowed painfully, and gasped and choked for air.

Heero squirmed in his bed uneasily. Blaze moved about every five seconds, keeping him awake. After an agonizing 2 minutes of this, he rolled over and glared at her. Her back was to him, but he still watched her move. "Blaze, go to sleep!" He demanded.

The ropes around her neck were not there to kill her. She knew that much. Still, that fact made it more unbearable for her. If she wasn't suppose to die, then what was happening? And why couldn't she wake herself up? The ragged breathing drowned out all sane train of thought, until her mind was merely screaming for it to stop, or to die.

The ropes around her chest vanished, and only the ropes on her wrists remained. Her arms were pulled above her head, and kept there, though nothing tangible moved them. Hot gusts of wind struck her, with each ragged breath. Someone, something, was breathing on her. Heavily. It was directly in front of her, and she waited, unsure of what to expect next.

A whip cracked in the darkness, striking her back like lightning and with the sting of a scorpion. She clenched her teeth, the pain throbbing inside her to be let out. She needed release! She needed to wake up! Another whip crack sent pain across her lower back. She cried out into the silence, and her cry was greeted with nothing.

Blaze cried out in her sleep, causing Heero to leap up from surprise. Heero turned and looked at her to see what was wrong, and noticed her stiffly asleep in her bed.

"Not again…" he said through clenched teeth. He threw the covers off of him, and grabbed her by her shoulders, shaking her to wake her up. "Blaze. Blaze!"

Rough hands grabbed her shoulders suddenly, although she couldn't see the dark form before her. The noose around her neck tightened, as she pulled at her restraints to fight back. A loud snap echoed in the darkness, and she immediately launched her hand at her attacker.

Heero fell back as she scratched him with her left hand. He looked down at his torn tank top, and then back at Blaze. Her eyes were clenched shut, and her teeth were bared. The moonlight filtered through, setting her in blue flame, giving an ethereal look. Her hands scraped the air, thrashing wildly with fingers poised. He roughly grabbed her wrists and pinned her to her bed.

Those same hands grabbed her wrists and pinned her, rendering her helpless. "NNNNOOO!!!!!" She screamed, moving her body to break free. "Heero, help!!" she cried, as tears fell from the corners of her eyes and into her hair.

"Heero, help!!" Blaze cried in her sleep, taking Heero's attention by surprise. He moved his hands into her hers, and twined his fingers with her own. Her struggling continued, but slackened slightly. Heero peered at her, to see what was wrong, and noticed that the collar of her night shirt was pulled up so high that it seemed to be choking her. He held both of her hands in his left hand, and used his right hand, to fix her shirt slightly. She struggled against this, obviously afraid and unable to distinguish nightmare from reality. Heero then put her hands around his neck, his hands still holding hers, and quietly whispered her name in her ear. "Blaze… sshh… come on, wake up, it's Heero."

To Blaze's surprise, Heero was huddled over her, with his fingers intertwined with hers around his neck, with his lips next to her ear. "Wha…" she choked out. "Heero?"

Heero pulled away and looked into her eyes, his own swirling with things that Blaze couldn't name or try to understand. What she did understand, was that there was a moment of peace between them, where defenses were down for both, and their shells of hostile exterior were thrown away. Blaze's lips trembled; whether it was from fear or from the sudden cold and emptiness that she felt, she couldn't tell. Although she was aware that Heero was watching her in her weakest state, she didn't care. All she wanted was for that painful void in her to be filled, and Heero's eyes seemed to offer that. She wrapped her arms completely around his neck, and buried her face into his chest.

Heero, unaccustomed to such closeness, stiffened involuntarily. Once he realized that Blaze was crying, he wrapped his arms around her in return. Whatever frightened her so much, he wanted to destroy. His protectiveness immediately came into play and he immediately found the role that was his, just as he had done with Relena. Still, Relena was explainable, since she kept the peace for two worlds. What was his reasoning for Blaze? He had to protect her, keep her alive. She was one of the pilots. Yes, that was it.

"What happened?" Heero whispered.

Blaze thought back, and was finally able to remember her nightmare. She wasn't able to do it before, but this time was different. "I couldn't see…" she mumbled into his shirt. "Someone bound me with ropes, and they cut into my skin, into my neck."

"You're shirt got pulled up to your throat." Heero explained. Then he asked quietly, "Do you know who it was?"

"No… I couldn't see them. Couldn't even feel them. They weren't tangible. But the whip was…" she whispered.

"There was a whip?" Heero asked looking down at her. She nodded her confirmation.

"It really hurt, Heero. I could feel it." she explained. "But I knew it was a nightmare. I couldn't wake up."

"I tried to wake you. You lashed out at me." Heero replied.

"Hands pinned me down when the ropes were loose. Was that you?" she asked.

"Yes." Heero replied. "I was trying to wake you up. You may have hurt yourself, and you attacked me."

"Are you alright?" Blaze pushed back a bit to look him over.

"You ripped my shirt…" Heero replied, sounding almost accusing.

Blaze looked at him, and he glared back as usual. Whatever was in his eyes before was shrouded behind ice. Blaze gave a small grin. "I'll get you a new one."

"You didn't here me call out to you?" Heero asked, curious as to her deafness to his cries to her.

"I only heard it that once." she replied. She smiled, almost shyly. "I knew it was you, and I was able to wake up."

Minutes of silence passed, and Heero watched Blaze as her eyes began to close and open. She was starting to fall asleep again, and Heero didn't blame her. He looked at the clock from his position on her bed. 5:30 a.m. He sighed in defeat. He wasn't going to get any sleep. He watched Blaze from the corner of his eye as she yawned.

"You should go back to sleep." Heero suggested quietly.

Blaze blinked a few times and looked at him through have closed eyelids, and shook her head. "I can't now. I still have remnants of the nightmare."

"You need your rest." Heero replied. "You won't have another nightmare." He stood up to return to his bed, but Blaze's hand steadied his action.

"Keep me company…" she whined.

"What??" Heero demanded, wide-eyed. Sleep in the same bed… with a girl? He could feel the heat rising into his cheeks.

"Please?" she begged, pulling on his hand slightly. He looked down into her pleading sleepy eyes. "Nothing will happen…"

Heero raised an eyebrow.

"Oh come on. Yeah, I teased you earlier, but I was just playing. Please?" She looked down at her lap, taking her hand from his. Then she said, quite shyly, "I feel safe with you…"

That comment gave Heero a slight sense of pride, and he inwardly beamed to himself. Still, he didn't let it show. He acknowledged how cute Blaze looked when she was shy. She hardly ever was, which made it all the more unique.

"Fine." He replied, his voice just barely above a whisper.

Blaze smiled, despite the flush that tinged her cheeks. She lied down, making room for Heero in the small twin-sized bed. Good thing they were both skinny, otherwise someone would find their way to the floor quite quickly. Heero had a feeling it would have been him.

"I hope you're not a bed hog, otherwise I'm changing my mind." Heero muttered. Blaze giggled in response, but didn't make much more of a comment.

Once the two were both under the covers, Blaze snuggled up to him, making Heero nowhere remotely close to comfortable.

"You okay?" Blaze asked sleepily. "Comfortable?"

"I'm fine." Heero lied, keeping his voice steady. Heero's sides told him that Blaze's hands were rather cold. 'Oh my God oh my God oh my God…' Heero thought to himself. 'how did I ever get myself into this predicament? I hope none of the guys walk in tomorrow morning.'

Blaze was completely unscathed by the odd turn of events, and quickly fell asleep. Once she did, Heero watched her intently, then slowly, very slowly, eased and found the cuddle quite comfortable. But of course he'd never admit that to anyone. He wrapped his arms around her, and rested his chin in her hair, as he listened to her even quiet breaths.

* * * * * * * * *

AN: WAI! KAWAII!! FLUFF!! *sighs in relief* I feel so much better after getting that out… so, was it TOO fluffy?? Ah well! ^_^ Sorry this is moving pretty slowly. I'll try to speed it up and make the chapters longer. THERE IS A PLOT, I SWEAR!!!!!