AN And here is the next chapter. I have nothing further to say.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Under Pressure
Chapter 9
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Under the cover of darkness Wufei and Heero hastened themselves through the woods. Wufei
silently cursed the dry twigs and branches on te ground. They made too much noise. They had left
the Preventer encampment at dusk. Now they were an hour away from it and closing in the enemy's
camp.
The edge of the forest loomed ahead of them and they slowed their pace. Carefully they
crept between the last trees and looked out over the small buildings in the middle of their gaze.
They were darkened and from what Wufei could make out in the scarce moonlight, they were a dark
green and greenery covered the roofs. It would be very difficult to spot them on a satellite photo.
He looked around for signs of guards or other security measures. One sprang out immediately.
It was very close to his face, right in front of it actually. A tripwire. He guessed it ran all the
way around the open field. No-one could near this place easily. Unpracticed soldiers would barge
right through it. He poked his friend in the shoulder and pointed at the wire in front of him.
Heero nodded to show he had already seen it.
Slowly the two got to their feet and crossed the edge of the woods without touching the wire.
Then, quick as the wind, they made their way across the grass and halted against the wall of one of
the buildings. It was higher than it looked like from afar. That didn't matter though. They had
brought climbing rope with a small grappling iron attached to it. It easily caught on the edge.
Swiftly Wufei climbed up first. Crouched low between the plants he waited until his friend made
it to the top. They rolled up the rope and hid it in a bush. It would only get in the way if they
brought it with them.
Silently they crept over the roof. Suddenly Heero grabbed Wufei's sleeve startling him. He
saw his friend point at the ground underneath his feet. Wufei looked closely and saw what the other
meant. The were standing on the grit of a ventilation shaft. Pulling out their tools they quickly
had dislodged it. They lowered themselves in the vertical shaft, until Wufei felt his feet reaching
horizontal footing. He lowered himself in the tunnel and waited for Heero to be there too.
They silently agreed to take the northern tunnel. For a while they just made their way through
the ventilation system, taking several turns, passing several different rooms. From what Wufei could
see, it was a fairly organized camp. Through several grits in a row they had a clear view on what
looked like a large dormitory. In the faint light coming from a glow above the door on the far end
there were about forty bunks in the dorm. That meant about eighty people were sleeping there. He
hoped this was the only dorm. Unfortunately, it wasn't. They passed at least three more of them,
until they decided to turn right towards what looked like the mess and the officers's quarters.
He froze when voices reached his ear. He looked around at Heero behind him and pointed in
the direction from where he thought the sound were coming. Heero nodded in agreement and they set
out to find the owners of the voices.
It didn't take them long. Within two minutes they were looking through a grit in what looked
like a conference room. Wufei wasn't sure if it was at the same place Zechs had pointed at, but it
didn't matter.
In the room seated around a table were seven people. There uniforms were quite plain except
for the decorations on their right shoulder, indicating their rank. Currently the man on the left
side of the commanding officer was speaking. "... don't know their whereabouts. They've laid low
for the past five years. Nobody even knows their identity, except for a select few."
"But how do we know, they won't step in?" a man on the other end of the table asked.
"We don't," the first answered. "That's why we have to act fast. The Preventers are already
on to us. God knows how they found us, though. We have been very careful."
"Apparently, not careful enough," the commander bit. "I don't want our past five years of effort
be wasted by some upstart Preventer commander."
Wufei stiffened. They were insulting his Sally. Wait a minute. My Sally? What am I thinking?!
He directed his attention back towards the room below him.
"... assure you, commander," the man on the right side of the commander said, "that our
precautions taken in this matter will prevent any intervention from anyone." He suddenly grinned
maliciously. "They won't know what hit them."
"They'd better not," the commander said threateningly. "I don't want those annoying brats
meddling in this. Is the team ready?"
"Yes, sir, they are awaiting your command," the woman at the far end of the table said.
"Then hand them the order."
"Yes, sir." The woman stood up and left the room.
The commander turned his attention back to the remaining people. "That team had better be good.
I don't want them screwing up."
"There is no reason to worry. They can easily evade the security around minister Darlian," a
woman in the middle of the left side of the table said.
"They have been trained especially for this assassination job. Within a day the minister is
history."
Wufei felt Heero next to him stiffen. He chanced a glance to his side and saw the man's widened
eyes, a hint of panic in them. Before he would make a sound Wufei placed his hand over the other man's
mouth and signaled to the shaft behind them. They had to get out of here and fast. Even though the team
after Relena had just left it would take them an hour or two to get back to the Preventers's camp. And
their plane was not the fastest.
As fast as they could afford without making any noise they went back the way they came. In about
half an hour they crouched low on the rooftop. They didn't bother to search for the rope they had hidden.
Instead they jumped down and began to run back to the edge of the wood. Heero was making a lot more speed
than Wufei.
The tripwire! Wufei jumped at his friend to stop him from barging between the trees. When Heero
looked around at him in anger he pointed to the ground. "The tripwire," he whispered. Heero actually
looked embarrassed.
They made it back to the camp in record time. Out of breath they barged into the barn.
"Where is Zechs?" Heero demanded.
"The colonel left for Preventer headquarters about three hours ago," a lieutenant answered them.
"Orders from Lady Une."
"Great," Heero muttered.
"What's going on?" Sally voice sounded behind Wufei, making him nearly jump.
Hiding his uneasiness, he turned to face her. "We spied on a meeting of the commanding officers.
They just send out a team to assassinate Relena."
Silence rang in the barn. Maybe he should not have said that so loud.
"Ready the jet!" Sally called out. "We're leaving at once! Captain Johnson, ready the men. You
are to take over the base and arrest anyone in sight. Don't be nice, we're dealing with a dangerous
group here."
The captain saluted and started barking orders. Wufei had to hand it to the man, he knew his
job. But he couldn't let them do this. They were with too few to be able to handle all that many people.
"Don't do it. You don't have enough men. I estimate the count up to two hundred and fifty, maybe
even three hundred. As soon as we leave start gathering your men and get out of her. They know you're
here, so as soon as they know with how few you are, they'll attack."
The captain had paled and looked at his Commander.
Sally took one look at Wufei and then nodded at the captain. "Do what he says. He knows what
he's talking about. Evacuate base immediately!" she ordered loudly. "Leave what you can't carry. We take
the plane."
She dragged the two Gundam pilots outside and around the barn. A smaller one Wufei had not
noticed before stood there, the front removed. A plane was being towed out, the engineers were running
around. Heero spurted towards it and jumped inside.
"Wow, he sure is impatient, isn't he," Sally murmured. "How long ago did the team leave for Cinq?"
"About an hour and a half."
She hissed. "That gives them to much of a head start."
Wufei agreed with her. He also agreed with Heero not to let that head start get any bigger. He
dragged Sally along to the plane when the engines began revving up. When they entered the cockpit, they
saw Heero already seated and buckled in the pilot's chair. Wufei quickly slipped in the co-pilot's seat
and Sally sat down behind him. They barely had time to buckle up before Heero pushed the handles and the
plane began rolling forward, scattering people all over.
Wufei glanced sideways and took in Heero's determined features. His face stood grim and his
eyes... Well, they weren't cold anymore, they were ablaze with hatred, and anxiety. Wufei silently
wondered how long it would take before Heero realized he loved Relena. Then again, he wasn't allowed
speaking. He knew he loved Sally, but he stubbornly refused to give in to his heart. And he even knew
he was being stubborn. Why was his life so confusing?
~~~~~~
Quatre strolled along the hallway, deep in thought. He hadn't heard anything from Heero, just
that he had arrived, and even that message had not come from the man himself. Relena had contacted him
some time ago, a week, maybe longer, to tell him that Heero was back to his old self and that he and
Wufei had buried themselves in some work she didn't know much about.
Quatre smiled. That sounded like Heero. That smile became somewhat forced as he recalled how
stubborn Heero had been after the doctors had allowed him to train to build up some stamina again. Heero
had just wanted to storm around the colony for a bit of a warming up and then probably spend an hour or
two lifting too much weight and then cool down with running the same laps in the other direction.
The man was terrible. He was a menace to his own health. Quatre had sometimes had to restrain
him physically to stop him from doing himself bodily harm. He just hoped Relena could stop Heero from
killing himself.
Suddenly he froze. Soft notes were drifting through the hallway. For a moment he was at a loss
as to where they came from. Then he realized he was close to the music room.
He treasured that room. He loved making music. The piano and the violin were his favorite instruments,
but he also kept a harp, two clarinets, a modern cello and the baroque version of one, a flauto traverso
and a harpsichord. He still had to replace the flute he had given Trowa, but he hadn't found any time to
do that, so far.
He recognized the music that reached his ear. Prelude from the first cello suite of Bach. The clear
and happy notes graced the air. Whoever was playing this was a very good musician. His technic was good
enough to bring out the full beauty of the cello. He played with the tempi and the dynamics and made it
sound like it was easy to play, while Quatre knew for a fact that it wasn't.
He tiptoed to the door of the music room. His hand hovered above the doorknob. He decided not to
open the door. He didn't want to disturb the man. Yet he was curious to who was playing. He couldn't think
of anyone who had access to this room that could play the cello.
The music reached its climax and ended with a tremolo. Quatre waited for a few seconds and then
silently opened the door. The sight that met him was quite unsuspected.
It was Dorothy. She sat on a piano stool, her back towards him. He could just make out the
music-stand in front of her. Apparently she had found some music in one of the cabinets along the wall
that suited her.
He looked as her delicate fingers flicked through the pages and pulled something different to the
front. He was just about to say something, when she cut him of with music, oblivious to his presence. He
knew this music very well. The first cello sonata from Vivaldi, for cello and harpsichord. He listened to
the first few lines and then noiselessly walked to his harpsichord. He bared the keys and prayed it was
still tuned.
It was and soon the dry tones of the harpsichords mixed with the cello. Dorothy faltered for a
moment and she glanced at him. He just cocked an eyebrow, silently encouraging her to continue. She did.
For some time they just made music.
Quatre remembered when Trowa had stayed with him for a little while when the war had just begun.
He and Trowa had just met and he had invited Trowa to stay for a some time, while his Gundam was being
repaired. He had been playing the violin a little, his favorite piece even. Suddenly the soft tones of
the flute had joined his violin. He was surprised to find the emotionless Trowa capable of making such
rich music. Those few minutes of music had taught him more of Trowa then the days before, when Trowa was
his guest.
Trowa was not as emotionless as people thought him to be. He was able to disconnect himself from
them completely whenever he thought it necessary. And in his life that had happened a lot. After so many
years he was just unable to live properly to his emotions.
Quatre was glad the man had met Catherine who had adopted him as her brother. She was kind and
caring and had given Trowa something invaluable. A home.
That was exactly what he had told Dorothy, from what Quatre could remember. Trowa didn't value
his life very much, he had said, but he had something to return to, what made him want to live.
It was partly because of that memory that Quatre had decided to take Dorothy in and give her a
job. She didn't have a home. So he had given her one.
"Hello, earth to Quatre. Come in, Quatre." A hand moved in front of his eyes.
He looked up to find Dorothy looking at him in concern. "Sorry, I was just thinking."
"Well, you were miles away. Anyway, I wanted to apologize for using your music room without
your permission. I'm sorry."
He smiled. "Hey, don't worry. I didn't even know you played. You're really very good. And this
room is always open. I don't mind."
She sighed in relief. "Well I'm not that good. I'm a little stiff and out of practice. It's
been years since I last played. If you had come an hour earlier, all you would have heard was screeching."
"Doesn't matter," he shrugged. "Playing an instrument is like riding a bicycle. Once you know
how it's done, you never unlearn, now matter how out of practice you get."
"You want to play some more?" she asked with a smile.
"Yeah." He got up and walked to one of the oak cabinets lining the wall. Everything in the
room was wood, the floor, the covering of the walls, the ceiling. The acoustics of the room were
exceptionally good, for an indoor room. The ceiling was twice as high as a normal room and the
size was that of a small concert hall. There was no room for an audience, though. The instruments
and the music-filled cabinets took in a lot of space.
He opened the cabinet and pulled out some a few sheets of music. "This is a sonata for
cello and violin, from Williams. Do you know him?"
"Sure, he lived from 78 to 151AC, right? His music is a bit unconventional for his time.
He was obviously inspired by the eighteenth and nineteenth century AD composers."
"You think you can play this?" He placed the music on the music stand she had been using.
She shot him a look that said, 'are you kidding me, of course I can'.
Quatre opened his violin chest and took out his Amati. He was very proud of his instrument.
It was a beautiful violin. The cello Dorothy was holding was a Stradivarius, one of the most beautiful
celli in the world. His alto was an Amati as well. For the violins he preferred the Amatis. The sound
was much rounder and fuller, to his ears at least. But the Stradivarius cello was his pride. To bad he
wasn't as good at playing the cello as he was at playing the violin.
Strangely enough the two instruments, though of different making, sounded very well together.
Because the cello sounded lower, louder and more dominating than a violin, the Amati violin with its
rich sound intertwined wonderfully with the cello.
Quatre closed his eyes and simply enjoyed the richness of the Williams's sonata.
~~~~~~
Heero jolted awake at te beeping noise. For a moment he wanted to slam his hand on the
alarmclock beside his bed, but then he realized he was sitting in a pilot's chair and the plane
was telling him it was time to land. He turned off the autopilot and grabbed the controls. He
hardly registered Wufei and Sally waking up.
He sent the plane in a dive too steep for sanity, but he didn't care. He just wanted
to get down on the ground as soon as possible. The terrorist group could not have landed on
the private runway of the palace. Only registered planes and Preventer planes were allowed
to do so. He knew the wings and tail of this plane bore the Preventers's insignia.
The landing gear hit the runway and he hit the breaks. Screeching the plane came to a
halt. He chanced a look out of the cockpit window and saw everything looked pretty normal. The
palace looked intact. No sirens were heard and no police cars, ambulances or the like were
visible. The only thing he saw were a jeep and a van driving at the base of the hill, skimming
the city. Maybe they were still on time. Maybe they could still save her.
He clung on to that thought as he clambered out of the cockpit and jumped out of
the airplane door. Again he barely noticed Wufei and Sally, who had followed him. He began
running down the runway towards the palace. Footsteps caught up with him. 'Please, let me be
on time. Please don't let me be late!'
Suddenly the ground shook as an earsplitting roar breached through the silent air.
He blinked and wondered what he was doing on the ground. He worked himself up on his knees
and gasped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN grins evilly Ha, my first cliffie! Don't worry folks, next chapter's coming up soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Under Pressure
Chapter 9
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Under the cover of darkness Wufei and Heero hastened themselves through the woods. Wufei
silently cursed the dry twigs and branches on te ground. They made too much noise. They had left
the Preventer encampment at dusk. Now they were an hour away from it and closing in the enemy's
camp.
The edge of the forest loomed ahead of them and they slowed their pace. Carefully they
crept between the last trees and looked out over the small buildings in the middle of their gaze.
They were darkened and from what Wufei could make out in the scarce moonlight, they were a dark
green and greenery covered the roofs. It would be very difficult to spot them on a satellite photo.
He looked around for signs of guards or other security measures. One sprang out immediately.
It was very close to his face, right in front of it actually. A tripwire. He guessed it ran all the
way around the open field. No-one could near this place easily. Unpracticed soldiers would barge
right through it. He poked his friend in the shoulder and pointed at the wire in front of him.
Heero nodded to show he had already seen it.
Slowly the two got to their feet and crossed the edge of the woods without touching the wire.
Then, quick as the wind, they made their way across the grass and halted against the wall of one of
the buildings. It was higher than it looked like from afar. That didn't matter though. They had
brought climbing rope with a small grappling iron attached to it. It easily caught on the edge.
Swiftly Wufei climbed up first. Crouched low between the plants he waited until his friend made
it to the top. They rolled up the rope and hid it in a bush. It would only get in the way if they
brought it with them.
Silently they crept over the roof. Suddenly Heero grabbed Wufei's sleeve startling him. He
saw his friend point at the ground underneath his feet. Wufei looked closely and saw what the other
meant. The were standing on the grit of a ventilation shaft. Pulling out their tools they quickly
had dislodged it. They lowered themselves in the vertical shaft, until Wufei felt his feet reaching
horizontal footing. He lowered himself in the tunnel and waited for Heero to be there too.
They silently agreed to take the northern tunnel. For a while they just made their way through
the ventilation system, taking several turns, passing several different rooms. From what Wufei could
see, it was a fairly organized camp. Through several grits in a row they had a clear view on what
looked like a large dormitory. In the faint light coming from a glow above the door on the far end
there were about forty bunks in the dorm. That meant about eighty people were sleeping there. He
hoped this was the only dorm. Unfortunately, it wasn't. They passed at least three more of them,
until they decided to turn right towards what looked like the mess and the officers's quarters.
He froze when voices reached his ear. He looked around at Heero behind him and pointed in
the direction from where he thought the sound were coming. Heero nodded in agreement and they set
out to find the owners of the voices.
It didn't take them long. Within two minutes they were looking through a grit in what looked
like a conference room. Wufei wasn't sure if it was at the same place Zechs had pointed at, but it
didn't matter.
In the room seated around a table were seven people. There uniforms were quite plain except
for the decorations on their right shoulder, indicating their rank. Currently the man on the left
side of the commanding officer was speaking. "... don't know their whereabouts. They've laid low
for the past five years. Nobody even knows their identity, except for a select few."
"But how do we know, they won't step in?" a man on the other end of the table asked.
"We don't," the first answered. "That's why we have to act fast. The Preventers are already
on to us. God knows how they found us, though. We have been very careful."
"Apparently, not careful enough," the commander bit. "I don't want our past five years of effort
be wasted by some upstart Preventer commander."
Wufei stiffened. They were insulting his Sally. Wait a minute. My Sally? What am I thinking?!
He directed his attention back towards the room below him.
"... assure you, commander," the man on the right side of the commander said, "that our
precautions taken in this matter will prevent any intervention from anyone." He suddenly grinned
maliciously. "They won't know what hit them."
"They'd better not," the commander said threateningly. "I don't want those annoying brats
meddling in this. Is the team ready?"
"Yes, sir, they are awaiting your command," the woman at the far end of the table said.
"Then hand them the order."
"Yes, sir." The woman stood up and left the room.
The commander turned his attention back to the remaining people. "That team had better be good.
I don't want them screwing up."
"There is no reason to worry. They can easily evade the security around minister Darlian," a
woman in the middle of the left side of the table said.
"They have been trained especially for this assassination job. Within a day the minister is
history."
Wufei felt Heero next to him stiffen. He chanced a glance to his side and saw the man's widened
eyes, a hint of panic in them. Before he would make a sound Wufei placed his hand over the other man's
mouth and signaled to the shaft behind them. They had to get out of here and fast. Even though the team
after Relena had just left it would take them an hour or two to get back to the Preventers's camp. And
their plane was not the fastest.
As fast as they could afford without making any noise they went back the way they came. In about
half an hour they crouched low on the rooftop. They didn't bother to search for the rope they had hidden.
Instead they jumped down and began to run back to the edge of the wood. Heero was making a lot more speed
than Wufei.
The tripwire! Wufei jumped at his friend to stop him from barging between the trees. When Heero
looked around at him in anger he pointed to the ground. "The tripwire," he whispered. Heero actually
looked embarrassed.
They made it back to the camp in record time. Out of breath they barged into the barn.
"Where is Zechs?" Heero demanded.
"The colonel left for Preventer headquarters about three hours ago," a lieutenant answered them.
"Orders from Lady Une."
"Great," Heero muttered.
"What's going on?" Sally voice sounded behind Wufei, making him nearly jump.
Hiding his uneasiness, he turned to face her. "We spied on a meeting of the commanding officers.
They just send out a team to assassinate Relena."
Silence rang in the barn. Maybe he should not have said that so loud.
"Ready the jet!" Sally called out. "We're leaving at once! Captain Johnson, ready the men. You
are to take over the base and arrest anyone in sight. Don't be nice, we're dealing with a dangerous
group here."
The captain saluted and started barking orders. Wufei had to hand it to the man, he knew his
job. But he couldn't let them do this. They were with too few to be able to handle all that many people.
"Don't do it. You don't have enough men. I estimate the count up to two hundred and fifty, maybe
even three hundred. As soon as we leave start gathering your men and get out of her. They know you're
here, so as soon as they know with how few you are, they'll attack."
The captain had paled and looked at his Commander.
Sally took one look at Wufei and then nodded at the captain. "Do what he says. He knows what
he's talking about. Evacuate base immediately!" she ordered loudly. "Leave what you can't carry. We take
the plane."
She dragged the two Gundam pilots outside and around the barn. A smaller one Wufei had not
noticed before stood there, the front removed. A plane was being towed out, the engineers were running
around. Heero spurted towards it and jumped inside.
"Wow, he sure is impatient, isn't he," Sally murmured. "How long ago did the team leave for Cinq?"
"About an hour and a half."
She hissed. "That gives them to much of a head start."
Wufei agreed with her. He also agreed with Heero not to let that head start get any bigger. He
dragged Sally along to the plane when the engines began revving up. When they entered the cockpit, they
saw Heero already seated and buckled in the pilot's chair. Wufei quickly slipped in the co-pilot's seat
and Sally sat down behind him. They barely had time to buckle up before Heero pushed the handles and the
plane began rolling forward, scattering people all over.
Wufei glanced sideways and took in Heero's determined features. His face stood grim and his
eyes... Well, they weren't cold anymore, they were ablaze with hatred, and anxiety. Wufei silently
wondered how long it would take before Heero realized he loved Relena. Then again, he wasn't allowed
speaking. He knew he loved Sally, but he stubbornly refused to give in to his heart. And he even knew
he was being stubborn. Why was his life so confusing?
~~~~~~
Quatre strolled along the hallway, deep in thought. He hadn't heard anything from Heero, just
that he had arrived, and even that message had not come from the man himself. Relena had contacted him
some time ago, a week, maybe longer, to tell him that Heero was back to his old self and that he and
Wufei had buried themselves in some work she didn't know much about.
Quatre smiled. That sounded like Heero. That smile became somewhat forced as he recalled how
stubborn Heero had been after the doctors had allowed him to train to build up some stamina again. Heero
had just wanted to storm around the colony for a bit of a warming up and then probably spend an hour or
two lifting too much weight and then cool down with running the same laps in the other direction.
The man was terrible. He was a menace to his own health. Quatre had sometimes had to restrain
him physically to stop him from doing himself bodily harm. He just hoped Relena could stop Heero from
killing himself.
Suddenly he froze. Soft notes were drifting through the hallway. For a moment he was at a loss
as to where they came from. Then he realized he was close to the music room.
He treasured that room. He loved making music. The piano and the violin were his favorite instruments,
but he also kept a harp, two clarinets, a modern cello and the baroque version of one, a flauto traverso
and a harpsichord. He still had to replace the flute he had given Trowa, but he hadn't found any time to
do that, so far.
He recognized the music that reached his ear. Prelude from the first cello suite of Bach. The clear
and happy notes graced the air. Whoever was playing this was a very good musician. His technic was good
enough to bring out the full beauty of the cello. He played with the tempi and the dynamics and made it
sound like it was easy to play, while Quatre knew for a fact that it wasn't.
He tiptoed to the door of the music room. His hand hovered above the doorknob. He decided not to
open the door. He didn't want to disturb the man. Yet he was curious to who was playing. He couldn't think
of anyone who had access to this room that could play the cello.
The music reached its climax and ended with a tremolo. Quatre waited for a few seconds and then
silently opened the door. The sight that met him was quite unsuspected.
It was Dorothy. She sat on a piano stool, her back towards him. He could just make out the
music-stand in front of her. Apparently she had found some music in one of the cabinets along the wall
that suited her.
He looked as her delicate fingers flicked through the pages and pulled something different to the
front. He was just about to say something, when she cut him of with music, oblivious to his presence. He
knew this music very well. The first cello sonata from Vivaldi, for cello and harpsichord. He listened to
the first few lines and then noiselessly walked to his harpsichord. He bared the keys and prayed it was
still tuned.
It was and soon the dry tones of the harpsichords mixed with the cello. Dorothy faltered for a
moment and she glanced at him. He just cocked an eyebrow, silently encouraging her to continue. She did.
For some time they just made music.
Quatre remembered when Trowa had stayed with him for a little while when the war had just begun.
He and Trowa had just met and he had invited Trowa to stay for a some time, while his Gundam was being
repaired. He had been playing the violin a little, his favorite piece even. Suddenly the soft tones of
the flute had joined his violin. He was surprised to find the emotionless Trowa capable of making such
rich music. Those few minutes of music had taught him more of Trowa then the days before, when Trowa was
his guest.
Trowa was not as emotionless as people thought him to be. He was able to disconnect himself from
them completely whenever he thought it necessary. And in his life that had happened a lot. After so many
years he was just unable to live properly to his emotions.
Quatre was glad the man had met Catherine who had adopted him as her brother. She was kind and
caring and had given Trowa something invaluable. A home.
That was exactly what he had told Dorothy, from what Quatre could remember. Trowa didn't value
his life very much, he had said, but he had something to return to, what made him want to live.
It was partly because of that memory that Quatre had decided to take Dorothy in and give her a
job. She didn't have a home. So he had given her one.
"Hello, earth to Quatre. Come in, Quatre." A hand moved in front of his eyes.
He looked up to find Dorothy looking at him in concern. "Sorry, I was just thinking."
"Well, you were miles away. Anyway, I wanted to apologize for using your music room without
your permission. I'm sorry."
He smiled. "Hey, don't worry. I didn't even know you played. You're really very good. And this
room is always open. I don't mind."
She sighed in relief. "Well I'm not that good. I'm a little stiff and out of practice. It's
been years since I last played. If you had come an hour earlier, all you would have heard was screeching."
"Doesn't matter," he shrugged. "Playing an instrument is like riding a bicycle. Once you know
how it's done, you never unlearn, now matter how out of practice you get."
"You want to play some more?" she asked with a smile.
"Yeah." He got up and walked to one of the oak cabinets lining the wall. Everything in the
room was wood, the floor, the covering of the walls, the ceiling. The acoustics of the room were
exceptionally good, for an indoor room. The ceiling was twice as high as a normal room and the
size was that of a small concert hall. There was no room for an audience, though. The instruments
and the music-filled cabinets took in a lot of space.
He opened the cabinet and pulled out some a few sheets of music. "This is a sonata for
cello and violin, from Williams. Do you know him?"
"Sure, he lived from 78 to 151AC, right? His music is a bit unconventional for his time.
He was obviously inspired by the eighteenth and nineteenth century AD composers."
"You think you can play this?" He placed the music on the music stand she had been using.
She shot him a look that said, 'are you kidding me, of course I can'.
Quatre opened his violin chest and took out his Amati. He was very proud of his instrument.
It was a beautiful violin. The cello Dorothy was holding was a Stradivarius, one of the most beautiful
celli in the world. His alto was an Amati as well. For the violins he preferred the Amatis. The sound
was much rounder and fuller, to his ears at least. But the Stradivarius cello was his pride. To bad he
wasn't as good at playing the cello as he was at playing the violin.
Strangely enough the two instruments, though of different making, sounded very well together.
Because the cello sounded lower, louder and more dominating than a violin, the Amati violin with its
rich sound intertwined wonderfully with the cello.
Quatre closed his eyes and simply enjoyed the richness of the Williams's sonata.
~~~~~~
Heero jolted awake at te beeping noise. For a moment he wanted to slam his hand on the
alarmclock beside his bed, but then he realized he was sitting in a pilot's chair and the plane
was telling him it was time to land. He turned off the autopilot and grabbed the controls. He
hardly registered Wufei and Sally waking up.
He sent the plane in a dive too steep for sanity, but he didn't care. He just wanted
to get down on the ground as soon as possible. The terrorist group could not have landed on
the private runway of the palace. Only registered planes and Preventer planes were allowed
to do so. He knew the wings and tail of this plane bore the Preventers's insignia.
The landing gear hit the runway and he hit the breaks. Screeching the plane came to a
halt. He chanced a look out of the cockpit window and saw everything looked pretty normal. The
palace looked intact. No sirens were heard and no police cars, ambulances or the like were
visible. The only thing he saw were a jeep and a van driving at the base of the hill, skimming
the city. Maybe they were still on time. Maybe they could still save her.
He clung on to that thought as he clambered out of the cockpit and jumped out of
the airplane door. Again he barely noticed Wufei and Sally, who had followed him. He began
running down the runway towards the palace. Footsteps caught up with him. 'Please, let me be
on time. Please don't let me be late!'
Suddenly the ground shook as an earsplitting roar breached through the silent air.
He blinked and wondered what he was doing on the ground. He worked himself up on his knees
and gasped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN grins evilly Ha, my first cliffie! Don't worry folks, next chapter's coming up soon.