1.1 Chapter Four: There's Good News and There's Bad News
Quatre and Anna could barely suppress grins as they ordered from the outdoor café menu for lunch. As soon as the waiter left they began laughing.
"I can't believe it. You've been here a year, I support your products in my classroom, I buy one of your own palm planner thingies and I don't even know it's you! You were here all along!" Anna exclaimed.
Quatre laughed. "And don't think it's been easy. It was Heero's idea to go ahead and get a foot in this world. As soon as we found out OWN had at least two militia groups already formed here we got here as soon as possible. It had to be subtle at first, but we grew quickly."
Anna waved the spoon from her iced tea at him. "Tell me about it. You know I own stock in this little nest egg of yours?"
He laughed again. "Seriously? I can give you a bonus addition if you like."
"Oh, yeah. That hits the tabloids. Big executive in cohorts with part time teacher." She made a face. "That would go over big."
He smiled. "I missed you guys."
"We missed you too. Never stopped thinking about you, although we haven' t talked about it in years." She sighed.
"Really? How come?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I really don't know. We talked about it for a while, and then, it was like we couldn't anymore. Maybe it hurt to much."
"That I can understand. You can't believe how awkward it was a week after Duo and Heero came back. It was like now we had nothing to do or say. So we all went our separate ways. We wrote, but it wasn't like before."
Anna nodded. "It wasn't easy going through high school a thousand miles away from the only person who understood you. Chase and I stuck together all the way through college till today. The Jaws of Life couldn't get us apart."
"They never could." Quatre grinned.
She chuckled. "No kidding." She paused, and let the smile slip off her face. "Quatre, Dorothy mentioned something about Wufei and Trowa. What was that about?"
The already fair man paled. "Heero didn't tell you?"
Anna shook her head. "We haven't had all the time in the world for ten years of catching up."
"He should have told you. You deserve to hear this from him."
"I'd rather hear it from you." Anna said quietly.
He sighed. "Trowa…Well, Trowa is Trowa. I didn't think much of it when he disappeared with the circus one day. We kept it touch now and then, but about two years ago it tapered off completely. The last know correspondence I got from him was from south France. I haven't heard from him since."
She blinked in quiet shock. "Oh, Quatre. That's not like him, to cut off all ties with you. You don't think he's…"
"No, Anna. Trowa is very much alive, wherever he is." Quatre assured her.
She nodded. "Maybe Heero knows where he is and isn't saying?"
"It's possible. Contact with anybody besides Dorothy hasn't been really possible since I took on Lucky Vincent."
"I'll have to ask him. What about Wufei?" she asked. She half expected the same thing. The justice-craving soldier was known for his disappearing acts so he could meditate.
"Anna…" Quatre sighed.
Suddenly she felt she was wrong. "Nani? Quatre? What happened to him?"
"Anna, Wufei died four months ago, here in this world." He said softly and sadly.
She thought she was going to be sick. "Here? Wufei was here?"
He nodded. "It was unexpected, to say the least. It wasn't even an attack by OWN, which threw us. It was just an accident."
"Where? How?" she whispered.
"In Chicago." He said with a quiet sigh.
The feeling intensified. "Oh, no. Oh, heaven no. Tell me it wasn't an L accident."
He cocked his head to the side. "Yes, it was. Why do you say that?"
"I was there. There was a crowd, someone called for a doctor and I stepped forward. I could see instantly that there wasn't much to be done but I did all I could. He even woke up and looked at me. I never even recognized him. I watched him die. After all we'd been through and I didn't even know." She answered in a horrified whisper. "I just thought it was another poor helpless guy who got caught on the rail."
Quatre's eyes had widened continuously throughout her description. "Oh, Anna. Gomen ne. None of us knew." He reached over and squeezed her hand.
She brought herself back from her flashback and forced a smile. "The twists fate throws to our paths, ne, Quatre-chan?"
"Hai, Anna-chan. There are many indeed." He smiled gently. "It will be okay. We'll win like we always do."
She returned the honest grin. "Yeah. The good guys always win." She looked at her watch. "Oh, Quatre, my flight leaves soon. I've got to get going."
"Here, I'll take you myself. Let's go."
They paid the bill and headed out.
The reunited friends hugged one last time at the gate.
"Gosh, Quatre, I wish I had more time." Anna sighed.
"I know, but you'll come back to New York, and I'll be out to Chicago for business meetings. Now that we know each other's there, we won't lose contact this time. Right?" he asked.
"Right. No way am I losing all you guys all over again. I missed ya, Quatre."
"I missed you too. When you can, give my regards to Chase."
"I will. See you soon, Quatre. Good luck."
"See you. Good luck to you too, Anna."
She waved from the airport tunnel, and vanished from Quatre's sight into the plane.
"Be careful, Anna. These could be dangerous times for all of us." He sighed to himself. His cell phone rang.
"Hey, Dorothy, yeah. It went well. It's like old times again. Yes, I'm on my way back to the office. What do you say to dinner?"
Anna wound up with no one sitting next to her the whole flight home. It was a mixed blessing. It gave her room to think, but she secretly wished for a distraction. She got to O'Hare safely and took a taxi to the street outside the townhouse complex. She paid the man, noting he wasn't as friendly as Bing, and walked down to the Chinese Park by the river.
She sat sullenly on a bench in the temple look-a-like and tried not to cry. "Shouldn't have come here, of all places." She muttered. She looked over to the playground and narrowed her eyes. There was a man sitting on a swing. He had a canvas bag next to him. He swayed, looked miserable, and looked like Heero. She got up and walked back around the path that led into the playground area. She plopped on a swing next to him.
"Hey. Whatcha doing out here?" she asked softly.
He sat, just watching the twilight of sunset before he answered. "I don' t know. I just couldn't go back without you there. I was afraid that she'd be there."
She nodded.
"How'd it go with Quatre?" he asked.
"Good. It was nice to catch up with him." She replied.
"You know about Trowa and Wufei."
She blanched. "Yeah."
"Hn. Good."
"You could have warned me." She said.
"Quatre's better at explaining stuff like that." He responded.
"I see."
"Hn."
"Some things never change. Let's go home." She said.
"Okay."
They walked along until the reached the gate to the complex. Anna entered her code and led him past the garages and up to the courtyards. They walked on the concrete path past all the downstairs townhouses until they got to Chase and Anna's. She frowned.
"Did you leave a light on inside?" she asked.
"Iie."
A shadow appeared on the blinds in the form of a girl. She pulled them back and half-turned. Anna recognized her.
Heero tilted his head as he studied the strawberry blonde hair and slight form from the ground. "Who's that?" he asked.
Anna glanced at him. "Heero Yuy, I present to you, your wife."
"So when's Anna suppose to be home?" Duo asked.
"I don't know," Chase responded, pacing back and forth. "She's usually home by this time."
Duo arched an eyebrow. "She'll be home soon, then. She probably just stopped off for something."
"Does this OWN group know about us?"
Duo's eyes dropped. "Hai, Chase. Sort of, anyway. They know the two girls that piloted the Gundams 06 and 07 are in this world, living here. I don't know how much else they know."
Chase nodded and heard the door unlock. Her head spun towards it and she grinned. "And she's here."
"Be right back," Duo said as he disappeared down the hallway.
The door opened and Anna stepped through. "Konban wa," she said, using the familiar Japanese word. "Where've you been?"
Anna smiled. "Somewhere. I have a surprise for you." She stepped all the way in and was followed by a man.
Chase looked him over. He wore a dark shirt and jeans. He was tall, but his eyes looked familiar. The young woman took a quick intake of air and began to shake slightly.
"Konban wa, Chase," Heero said. "It's been a while."
Suddenly her knees felt weak and they gave way. Chase tumbled to the floor; unable to stop herself in the state of shock she was in. Heero rushed over and picked her up gently. "Chase?"
Seeing Duo was one thing. It was strange, but it was completely different than seeing her dead husband. She pushed him away slightly and stood, glaring. "Ten years," she hissed.
Heero's eyes widened slightly as he realized what she meant, and how angry she was. "Chase-chan…"
"Ten years. Ten years that you were alive and you never came for me." Her voice was soft as her mind recalled Duo's story of what happened. He had never mentioned Heero being brought back, so she hadn't even hoped for it.
He reached his hand for her, trying to calm her down. She slapped it away. "You were alive ten years! Duo told me what happened and I didn't expect you to be alive. I thought that if you were you would have come for me! I KNEW you would have come for me!" Tears stung her eyes. She was thankful she wore glasses now because they hid tearstains. "So why didn't you?! Why are you here now? Did Relena finally leave you be so you thought about your wife?! Is that what happened?" She found herself against the wall, tears falling down her face.
"Chase, stop it," Anna demanded. "Stop acting like you don't want him here. I know you well enough to know that you do. You still love him, and don't act like you don't. You love him, and that's the reason you turned down those guys at the party the other night." She paused. "Did you say Duo?"
"Yes, she said my name." Duo appeared off the stairs and stood in the hall.
Anna felt time slow to an indefinite stop. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart constricted in her chest. She thought she'd been ready for this, ready to see him again. Ten years, ten decades, what did it matter? It mattered. She'd heard it from Heero and believed him, but now that her husband –very much alive- stood in front of her, the memories of the day he died flooded her mind.
"Oh my God." There was no irreverence in the whisper.
"Anna…" he said softly. He took a step forward.
She plastered herself against the door. She could now understand the fear, and the anger that Chase felt. "Duo, you- you're alive."
He nodded and took another step.
"I told you he was." Heero said.
She tried to control her breathing. "I know." She shook her head. "I don't believe it."
"You're not the only one." Chase murmured.
He was getting closer to her and the only thing Anna could think to do was run.
So she did.
And the sun fell below the horizon, leaving two pairs of torn lovers, each wondering what to do now.
Quatre and Anna could barely suppress grins as they ordered from the outdoor café menu for lunch. As soon as the waiter left they began laughing.
"I can't believe it. You've been here a year, I support your products in my classroom, I buy one of your own palm planner thingies and I don't even know it's you! You were here all along!" Anna exclaimed.
Quatre laughed. "And don't think it's been easy. It was Heero's idea to go ahead and get a foot in this world. As soon as we found out OWN had at least two militia groups already formed here we got here as soon as possible. It had to be subtle at first, but we grew quickly."
Anna waved the spoon from her iced tea at him. "Tell me about it. You know I own stock in this little nest egg of yours?"
He laughed again. "Seriously? I can give you a bonus addition if you like."
"Oh, yeah. That hits the tabloids. Big executive in cohorts with part time teacher." She made a face. "That would go over big."
He smiled. "I missed you guys."
"We missed you too. Never stopped thinking about you, although we haven' t talked about it in years." She sighed.
"Really? How come?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I really don't know. We talked about it for a while, and then, it was like we couldn't anymore. Maybe it hurt to much."
"That I can understand. You can't believe how awkward it was a week after Duo and Heero came back. It was like now we had nothing to do or say. So we all went our separate ways. We wrote, but it wasn't like before."
Anna nodded. "It wasn't easy going through high school a thousand miles away from the only person who understood you. Chase and I stuck together all the way through college till today. The Jaws of Life couldn't get us apart."
"They never could." Quatre grinned.
She chuckled. "No kidding." She paused, and let the smile slip off her face. "Quatre, Dorothy mentioned something about Wufei and Trowa. What was that about?"
The already fair man paled. "Heero didn't tell you?"
Anna shook her head. "We haven't had all the time in the world for ten years of catching up."
"He should have told you. You deserve to hear this from him."
"I'd rather hear it from you." Anna said quietly.
He sighed. "Trowa…Well, Trowa is Trowa. I didn't think much of it when he disappeared with the circus one day. We kept it touch now and then, but about two years ago it tapered off completely. The last know correspondence I got from him was from south France. I haven't heard from him since."
She blinked in quiet shock. "Oh, Quatre. That's not like him, to cut off all ties with you. You don't think he's…"
"No, Anna. Trowa is very much alive, wherever he is." Quatre assured her.
She nodded. "Maybe Heero knows where he is and isn't saying?"
"It's possible. Contact with anybody besides Dorothy hasn't been really possible since I took on Lucky Vincent."
"I'll have to ask him. What about Wufei?" she asked. She half expected the same thing. The justice-craving soldier was known for his disappearing acts so he could meditate.
"Anna…" Quatre sighed.
Suddenly she felt she was wrong. "Nani? Quatre? What happened to him?"
"Anna, Wufei died four months ago, here in this world." He said softly and sadly.
She thought she was going to be sick. "Here? Wufei was here?"
He nodded. "It was unexpected, to say the least. It wasn't even an attack by OWN, which threw us. It was just an accident."
"Where? How?" she whispered.
"In Chicago." He said with a quiet sigh.
The feeling intensified. "Oh, no. Oh, heaven no. Tell me it wasn't an L accident."
He cocked his head to the side. "Yes, it was. Why do you say that?"
"I was there. There was a crowd, someone called for a doctor and I stepped forward. I could see instantly that there wasn't much to be done but I did all I could. He even woke up and looked at me. I never even recognized him. I watched him die. After all we'd been through and I didn't even know." She answered in a horrified whisper. "I just thought it was another poor helpless guy who got caught on the rail."
Quatre's eyes had widened continuously throughout her description. "Oh, Anna. Gomen ne. None of us knew." He reached over and squeezed her hand.
She brought herself back from her flashback and forced a smile. "The twists fate throws to our paths, ne, Quatre-chan?"
"Hai, Anna-chan. There are many indeed." He smiled gently. "It will be okay. We'll win like we always do."
She returned the honest grin. "Yeah. The good guys always win." She looked at her watch. "Oh, Quatre, my flight leaves soon. I've got to get going."
"Here, I'll take you myself. Let's go."
They paid the bill and headed out.
The reunited friends hugged one last time at the gate.
"Gosh, Quatre, I wish I had more time." Anna sighed.
"I know, but you'll come back to New York, and I'll be out to Chicago for business meetings. Now that we know each other's there, we won't lose contact this time. Right?" he asked.
"Right. No way am I losing all you guys all over again. I missed ya, Quatre."
"I missed you too. When you can, give my regards to Chase."
"I will. See you soon, Quatre. Good luck."
"See you. Good luck to you too, Anna."
She waved from the airport tunnel, and vanished from Quatre's sight into the plane.
"Be careful, Anna. These could be dangerous times for all of us." He sighed to himself. His cell phone rang.
"Hey, Dorothy, yeah. It went well. It's like old times again. Yes, I'm on my way back to the office. What do you say to dinner?"
Anna wound up with no one sitting next to her the whole flight home. It was a mixed blessing. It gave her room to think, but she secretly wished for a distraction. She got to O'Hare safely and took a taxi to the street outside the townhouse complex. She paid the man, noting he wasn't as friendly as Bing, and walked down to the Chinese Park by the river.
She sat sullenly on a bench in the temple look-a-like and tried not to cry. "Shouldn't have come here, of all places." She muttered. She looked over to the playground and narrowed her eyes. There was a man sitting on a swing. He had a canvas bag next to him. He swayed, looked miserable, and looked like Heero. She got up and walked back around the path that led into the playground area. She plopped on a swing next to him.
"Hey. Whatcha doing out here?" she asked softly.
He sat, just watching the twilight of sunset before he answered. "I don' t know. I just couldn't go back without you there. I was afraid that she'd be there."
She nodded.
"How'd it go with Quatre?" he asked.
"Good. It was nice to catch up with him." She replied.
"You know about Trowa and Wufei."
She blanched. "Yeah."
"Hn. Good."
"You could have warned me." She said.
"Quatre's better at explaining stuff like that." He responded.
"I see."
"Hn."
"Some things never change. Let's go home." She said.
"Okay."
They walked along until the reached the gate to the complex. Anna entered her code and led him past the garages and up to the courtyards. They walked on the concrete path past all the downstairs townhouses until they got to Chase and Anna's. She frowned.
"Did you leave a light on inside?" she asked.
"Iie."
A shadow appeared on the blinds in the form of a girl. She pulled them back and half-turned. Anna recognized her.
Heero tilted his head as he studied the strawberry blonde hair and slight form from the ground. "Who's that?" he asked.
Anna glanced at him. "Heero Yuy, I present to you, your wife."
"So when's Anna suppose to be home?" Duo asked.
"I don't know," Chase responded, pacing back and forth. "She's usually home by this time."
Duo arched an eyebrow. "She'll be home soon, then. She probably just stopped off for something."
"Does this OWN group know about us?"
Duo's eyes dropped. "Hai, Chase. Sort of, anyway. They know the two girls that piloted the Gundams 06 and 07 are in this world, living here. I don't know how much else they know."
Chase nodded and heard the door unlock. Her head spun towards it and she grinned. "And she's here."
"Be right back," Duo said as he disappeared down the hallway.
The door opened and Anna stepped through. "Konban wa," she said, using the familiar Japanese word. "Where've you been?"
Anna smiled. "Somewhere. I have a surprise for you." She stepped all the way in and was followed by a man.
Chase looked him over. He wore a dark shirt and jeans. He was tall, but his eyes looked familiar. The young woman took a quick intake of air and began to shake slightly.
"Konban wa, Chase," Heero said. "It's been a while."
Suddenly her knees felt weak and they gave way. Chase tumbled to the floor; unable to stop herself in the state of shock she was in. Heero rushed over and picked her up gently. "Chase?"
Seeing Duo was one thing. It was strange, but it was completely different than seeing her dead husband. She pushed him away slightly and stood, glaring. "Ten years," she hissed.
Heero's eyes widened slightly as he realized what she meant, and how angry she was. "Chase-chan…"
"Ten years. Ten years that you were alive and you never came for me." Her voice was soft as her mind recalled Duo's story of what happened. He had never mentioned Heero being brought back, so she hadn't even hoped for it.
He reached his hand for her, trying to calm her down. She slapped it away. "You were alive ten years! Duo told me what happened and I didn't expect you to be alive. I thought that if you were you would have come for me! I KNEW you would have come for me!" Tears stung her eyes. She was thankful she wore glasses now because they hid tearstains. "So why didn't you?! Why are you here now? Did Relena finally leave you be so you thought about your wife?! Is that what happened?" She found herself against the wall, tears falling down her face.
"Chase, stop it," Anna demanded. "Stop acting like you don't want him here. I know you well enough to know that you do. You still love him, and don't act like you don't. You love him, and that's the reason you turned down those guys at the party the other night." She paused. "Did you say Duo?"
"Yes, she said my name." Duo appeared off the stairs and stood in the hall.
Anna felt time slow to an indefinite stop. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart constricted in her chest. She thought she'd been ready for this, ready to see him again. Ten years, ten decades, what did it matter? It mattered. She'd heard it from Heero and believed him, but now that her husband –very much alive- stood in front of her, the memories of the day he died flooded her mind.
"Oh my God." There was no irreverence in the whisper.
"Anna…" he said softly. He took a step forward.
She plastered herself against the door. She could now understand the fear, and the anger that Chase felt. "Duo, you- you're alive."
He nodded and took another step.
"I told you he was." Heero said.
She tried to control her breathing. "I know." She shook her head. "I don't believe it."
"You're not the only one." Chase murmured.
He was getting closer to her and the only thing Anna could think to do was run.
So she did.
And the sun fell below the horizon, leaving two pairs of torn lovers, each wondering what to do now.
