California or Bust! - Chapter Sixteen: Carnival Terrific!
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AN: Well! I'm still alive, just thought I'd let you know. We have the old computer set up and cleaned out now, so my brother can play the Sims(TM) on it. But... I have to re-borrow the expansion packs still, so I'm currently on the old computer while he's on mine, typing up fanfiction for you guys. This thing doesn't have internet access, so that's all it's good for to me. I hopefully will be able to get you guys a lot of new chapters before I go off to the land of the flat (Saskatchewan) for a wedding. I will be there from the 15th to the 19th, and maybe more. I might be getting a job soon too, so that will eat some time, but not that much. Anyway, enough of my talking. On with the fanfiction! (Oh yes, reviews are VERY much appreciated).
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Everyone woke up at roughly eight am the next morning, Saturday. Quatre, Li, Heero, Em, Trowa, Wufei, and Rebi were all gathered in the kitchen. The other three were still asleep.
"So why hasn't anyone been going to school or work recently?" Quatre asked, trying to make conversation as he helped Li serve breakfast.
"We have a break," replied Em, speaking for those who had school.
"And we took a break," spoke Rebi for people who were working. "We've had these two-weeks of vacation planned for some time."
Li sat down after she finished placing the food on the table. "So what's scheduled for today anyhow Rebi?"
Rebi pondered on this for a minute and then suddenly gasped. "CARNIVAL!!!"
That outburst rendered two loud 'thuds' from down the hall. Em sipped her coffee calmly. "Sounds like somebody's awake."
"Or two somebodys," added Wufei as a groggy Mia and Duo dragged themselves into the kitchen and over to the coffee pot.
"Not getting enough sleep Mia?" grinned Rebi.
Mia yawned widely, putting a hand over her mouth as she did so. "Shu'up..."
Rebi grinned even wider. "And why would THAT be?" Mia stuck her tongue out at Rebi angrily but Rebi just as quickly came up with another comeback. "You sure that wasn't for Duo?"
Mia opened her mouth as if to say something but decided against it and sat down at the table, glaring at Rebi.
Duo grinned, blushing slightly. "So what was that yelling about?"
"oh, Rebi was just announcing that we were going to the carnival today," replied Li.
Duo and Mia's ears perked at this. "Carnival?" They asked in unison.
"As in games, rides, and shows?" Mia questioned excitedly. Rebi nodded.
"And cotton candy, popcorn, and soft pretzles?" Duo asked and again Rebi nodded.
"ALL RIGHT!!!" Mia and Duo both yelled as another 'thud' was heard from downstairs.
"Kio-chan's up," Rebi sang.
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After everyone had eaten breakfast and were ready to go, it had already progressed to be ten am, and they decided to head out.
Quatre smiled. "I'm glad everyone's gone back to acting normal." He looked over and saw Rebi and Mia having a vicious thumb war in the back seat of the van, laughing insanely. "Well, as normal as this group ever was."
"We figured we may as well enjoy our last week here, and we can't very well do that when we're all moping," spoke Trowa, saying the most he'd said in a long while.
Rebi snuggled closer to Trowa as Li slowed the vehical. "OK!" Li yelled, over the noise of everyone chatting excitedly. "Pile out!"
The gang headed into the crowded carnival, arguing over what to do first.
"Rides!"
"Games!"
"COTTON CANDY!!!"
Mia whistled. "Guys! Shut up for a second!"
"Wow Mia," said Em. "I didn't know you could whistle!"
Mia shrugged. "I can't. Oh well! Anyhow, we need to figure out what we're doing here, not just sit around yelling at eachother."
"So, 'almighty master-planner', what do you suggest we do?" Kio retorted sarcastically.
Mia closed her eyes to think for a minute. "I've got it!" Mia yelled suddenly, startling passerbys. "We just split up and meet back at the front gates by say... eight?"
"What a stupid idea," said Kio. "Let's do it."
So the gang split up and went their separate ways. Kio and Heero, Mia and Duo, Rebi and Trowa, Quatre and Li, and Em and Wufei.
"Where are we going anyway?" questioned a very confused Heero.
Kio grinned evilly. "A shootout!" Heero gulped. Somehow, the thought of Kio with a gun, a very LARGE gun, did NOT comfort him in the least.
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Mia and Duo had ran as quickly as they could to the only roller coaster at the carnival.
"I hate this part..." Mia mumbled as the car began the climb to the top of a huge drop.
"Why?" Duo questioned, attempting to look at her but unable to see through the shoulder resraints. He thought about it for a second, seeing as she didn't answer, and replied with his own question. "'Cause it makes you feel like you have to go to the bathroom?"
Mia paused and began laughing. "Yeah! You're ri-IIIIIIIIGHT!"
(AN: Am I the only on that feels like that on the incline to a roller coaster? XD)
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Rebi was watching a circus preformance in the main tent, starry-eyed. "Wow! Isn't it neat Trowa? ...Trowa?" Rebi looked to where he was sitting a moment before, only to find it empty, excluding the stuffed lion sitting on the chair that he had won for her earlier. "Uh oh..." she mumbled, deciding that staying where she was, was probably the best at the moment, seeing as the show was currently about to start.
As Rebi sat down, she heard the ringmaster announce something that made her want the Earth to open up and swallow her whole. "And now, we have a guest from the audience who works for another circus troupe, show us how it's done where THEY come from!"
"Oh no..." Rebi mumbled as she saw a familiar silhouette walk into the ring.
"Introducing... Noname!"
Rebi sighed, he was smart enough not to use his real name. That was a relief. Rebi watched intently as Trowa preformed a variation of the act he had preformed travelling with the circus group on L3. Needless to say, he outshone every other acrobat artist in the show.
She ran down to the ring after the show had finished, and flung her arms around Trowa's neck. She giggled. "Ew... You're all sweaty! And where did you get your costume?"
Trowa looked down at his usual clown outfit and half-mask. "I keep them with me, just in case. Water ride next?" he practically pleaded, boiling in the heat of the tent.
"Sure thing!" yelled Rebi. "Let's go!"
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Quatre and Li had decided to start out with a calm ride. They gazed at the ground from their seats on the ferris wheel, Li clinging to Quatre's arm.
"Don't like heights tenshi?" Quatre asked. Li replied by shaking her head vigorously. "Don't worry, we'll be moving again soon," he reassured her. Sure enough, they once again began to move and Li relaxed.
"Thank you..." she mumbled.
"Not a problem," Quatre replied with a smile, kissing Li gently on the forehead.
"What am I going to do when you leave?" Li asked, her voice quivering with worry.
Quatre hugged her closer to him. "Don't worry so much. As I said before, and as Trowa has been saying to me for a while, we WILL find a way back here! This is the greatest time we've ever had and I know that if I can't come back to you here, I won't be leaving. But if we got here once, there's no reason we can't come here again!" Quatre spoke with confidence. Li nodded in agreement and they rode out the rest of their ride in silence.
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Em and Wufei walked through the 'house of mirrors' cautiously, trying to decipher what may be a mirror and what may be an actual passageway.
"Dammit! Why do they clean the mirrors so well?!" Em cursed, running her hands along the mirrors to try and find the passage.
Wufei, on the other hand, was getting very peeved. "That's it! This way!" he yelled, running foreward and, unfortunately, right into one of the nicely cleaned mirrors, face-first.
"Shit! Wu! Did you break it?!" Em yelled, pulling him away from the mirror.
"Well... I don't THINK it's broken..." Wufei muttered, gingerly touching his now bleeding nose.
Em ran her hands over the mirror's surface. "Nope! Not even a scratch!" Wufei glared at her and Em turned to look at him. "Shit Wu! Look at your nose! Come on! We're going to the infirmary. Now!" Em declared, dragging Wufei off before he could even argue.
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Heero and Kio were standing in one of the longest que lines in the park.
"What are we in line FOR anyway?" questioned Heero curiously.
Kio grinned widely. "The zipper."
"The what?" asked Heero.
"the zipper! It's basically where you sit in a box thingy and a conveyor goes around vertically while the box thingy spins. It's a very dizzy ride," Kio explained.
"I see..." muttered Heero, still having no idea what she was talking about, as the ride finally came into view. "Oh k'so..."
(AN: In real-life, Kio-chan actually dragged me on that sucker. Damn, I felt dizzy for about an hour afterwards...)
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Duo and Mia were walking through the millions of stands of games when they ran into Lisi and Quatre.
"Hey guys! What have you two been up to?" Mia asked enthusiastically.
Li shrugged. "Nothing much, but we DID go on the ferris wheel and stuff."
"And now we're just going to play some games until eight," added Quatre, noting that the time was now seven thirty pm.
"Bet I can beat you at the ballon pop Quat!" challenged Duo.
Quatre grinned. "You're on!"
Mia and Li sighed before turning to eachother and shrugged. "Boys."
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Before the gang knew it, it was eight o'clock.
"C'mon babe! One more game! I almost beat him!" Duo whined about his losses to Quatre in the carnival games. "Who knew he was a carnival game junkie?!" Quatre grinned sheepishly at Duo's comment.
"Yeah yeah, sure you did. Just like the last eighteen times, eh?" Mia mumbled as they walked towards the front gate.
"Hey look! There's Kio and Heero!" Li exclaimed, pointing to the couple waiting at the front gate. Heero seemed a little woozy and Kio was attempting to comfort him.
"What's up?" questioned Mia as they got closer.
Kio shrugged. "We went on the zipper."
"Ah..." Mia muttered understandingly. "The infamous make you lose your lunch zipper."
"Shut up," growled Heero as best he could.
"Guys! Over here!" Rebi yelled, running towards them, dragging Trowa behind her.
"Hey! T-man! What happened to you?" Duo asked, seeing as both Trowa and Rebi were soaked from head to toe.
Rebi grinned widely. "We went on the waterslides next door."
"But... they're closed..." mumbled Mia.
"I know," Rebi grinned mischeviously.
"Ooohhh...." cooed Mia, smirking. "Nice Rebi!"
"Thank you, thank you," bowed Rebi. "Where are Em and Wu-man?"
Mia looked around. "Uh oh, better check the infirmary!"
Sure enough, when the group of eight entered the medical center, they heard the familiar voices of their two friends.
"Just keep the ice on it!" ordered Em.
"Fine," growled Wufei.
"Em, what did you do to poor Wufei?" questioned Rebi.
"Nothing!" protested Em. "He ran into a mirrored wall!"
Everyone, even Trowa, promptly broke into fits of laughted, and Wufei was yelling 'Shut up!' along with a variety of Chinese swears over the noise.
"Don't worry," said Em, after the laughter had died down. "I think he hurt his pride more than his nose."
This issued another fit of laughter before they finally calmed down and began to head home.
/END CHAPTER SIXTEEN/
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AN: There you have it! It only took me about an hour and a half to type this up! (It takes me that long?! O.O) Oh well... I went to Cirque du Soleil last night, and I am utterly exhausted, but it was BLOODY AMAZING! If you haven't seen it, I suggest going to it. Oh, and kids, don't try to sneak into closed water parks please. It IS illegal. Ja for now!
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AN: Well! I'm still alive, just thought I'd let you know. We have the old computer set up and cleaned out now, so my brother can play the Sims(TM) on it. But... I have to re-borrow the expansion packs still, so I'm currently on the old computer while he's on mine, typing up fanfiction for you guys. This thing doesn't have internet access, so that's all it's good for to me. I hopefully will be able to get you guys a lot of new chapters before I go off to the land of the flat (Saskatchewan) for a wedding. I will be there from the 15th to the 19th, and maybe more. I might be getting a job soon too, so that will eat some time, but not that much. Anyway, enough of my talking. On with the fanfiction! (Oh yes, reviews are VERY much appreciated).
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Everyone woke up at roughly eight am the next morning, Saturday. Quatre, Li, Heero, Em, Trowa, Wufei, and Rebi were all gathered in the kitchen. The other three were still asleep.
"So why hasn't anyone been going to school or work recently?" Quatre asked, trying to make conversation as he helped Li serve breakfast.
"We have a break," replied Em, speaking for those who had school.
"And we took a break," spoke Rebi for people who were working. "We've had these two-weeks of vacation planned for some time."
Li sat down after she finished placing the food on the table. "So what's scheduled for today anyhow Rebi?"
Rebi pondered on this for a minute and then suddenly gasped. "CARNIVAL!!!"
That outburst rendered two loud 'thuds' from down the hall. Em sipped her coffee calmly. "Sounds like somebody's awake."
"Or two somebodys," added Wufei as a groggy Mia and Duo dragged themselves into the kitchen and over to the coffee pot.
"Not getting enough sleep Mia?" grinned Rebi.
Mia yawned widely, putting a hand over her mouth as she did so. "Shu'up..."
Rebi grinned even wider. "And why would THAT be?" Mia stuck her tongue out at Rebi angrily but Rebi just as quickly came up with another comeback. "You sure that wasn't for Duo?"
Mia opened her mouth as if to say something but decided against it and sat down at the table, glaring at Rebi.
Duo grinned, blushing slightly. "So what was that yelling about?"
"oh, Rebi was just announcing that we were going to the carnival today," replied Li.
Duo and Mia's ears perked at this. "Carnival?" They asked in unison.
"As in games, rides, and shows?" Mia questioned excitedly. Rebi nodded.
"And cotton candy, popcorn, and soft pretzles?" Duo asked and again Rebi nodded.
"ALL RIGHT!!!" Mia and Duo both yelled as another 'thud' was heard from downstairs.
"Kio-chan's up," Rebi sang.
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After everyone had eaten breakfast and were ready to go, it had already progressed to be ten am, and they decided to head out.
Quatre smiled. "I'm glad everyone's gone back to acting normal." He looked over and saw Rebi and Mia having a vicious thumb war in the back seat of the van, laughing insanely. "Well, as normal as this group ever was."
"We figured we may as well enjoy our last week here, and we can't very well do that when we're all moping," spoke Trowa, saying the most he'd said in a long while.
Rebi snuggled closer to Trowa as Li slowed the vehical. "OK!" Li yelled, over the noise of everyone chatting excitedly. "Pile out!"
The gang headed into the crowded carnival, arguing over what to do first.
"Rides!"
"Games!"
"COTTON CANDY!!!"
Mia whistled. "Guys! Shut up for a second!"
"Wow Mia," said Em. "I didn't know you could whistle!"
Mia shrugged. "I can't. Oh well! Anyhow, we need to figure out what we're doing here, not just sit around yelling at eachother."
"So, 'almighty master-planner', what do you suggest we do?" Kio retorted sarcastically.
Mia closed her eyes to think for a minute. "I've got it!" Mia yelled suddenly, startling passerbys. "We just split up and meet back at the front gates by say... eight?"
"What a stupid idea," said Kio. "Let's do it."
So the gang split up and went their separate ways. Kio and Heero, Mia and Duo, Rebi and Trowa, Quatre and Li, and Em and Wufei.
"Where are we going anyway?" questioned a very confused Heero.
Kio grinned evilly. "A shootout!" Heero gulped. Somehow, the thought of Kio with a gun, a very LARGE gun, did NOT comfort him in the least.
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Mia and Duo had ran as quickly as they could to the only roller coaster at the carnival.
"I hate this part..." Mia mumbled as the car began the climb to the top of a huge drop.
"Why?" Duo questioned, attempting to look at her but unable to see through the shoulder resraints. He thought about it for a second, seeing as she didn't answer, and replied with his own question. "'Cause it makes you feel like you have to go to the bathroom?"
Mia paused and began laughing. "Yeah! You're ri-IIIIIIIIGHT!"
(AN: Am I the only on that feels like that on the incline to a roller coaster? XD)
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Rebi was watching a circus preformance in the main tent, starry-eyed. "Wow! Isn't it neat Trowa? ...Trowa?" Rebi looked to where he was sitting a moment before, only to find it empty, excluding the stuffed lion sitting on the chair that he had won for her earlier. "Uh oh..." she mumbled, deciding that staying where she was, was probably the best at the moment, seeing as the show was currently about to start.
As Rebi sat down, she heard the ringmaster announce something that made her want the Earth to open up and swallow her whole. "And now, we have a guest from the audience who works for another circus troupe, show us how it's done where THEY come from!"
"Oh no..." Rebi mumbled as she saw a familiar silhouette walk into the ring.
"Introducing... Noname!"
Rebi sighed, he was smart enough not to use his real name. That was a relief. Rebi watched intently as Trowa preformed a variation of the act he had preformed travelling with the circus group on L3. Needless to say, he outshone every other acrobat artist in the show.
She ran down to the ring after the show had finished, and flung her arms around Trowa's neck. She giggled. "Ew... You're all sweaty! And where did you get your costume?"
Trowa looked down at his usual clown outfit and half-mask. "I keep them with me, just in case. Water ride next?" he practically pleaded, boiling in the heat of the tent.
"Sure thing!" yelled Rebi. "Let's go!"
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Quatre and Li had decided to start out with a calm ride. They gazed at the ground from their seats on the ferris wheel, Li clinging to Quatre's arm.
"Don't like heights tenshi?" Quatre asked. Li replied by shaking her head vigorously. "Don't worry, we'll be moving again soon," he reassured her. Sure enough, they once again began to move and Li relaxed.
"Thank you..." she mumbled.
"Not a problem," Quatre replied with a smile, kissing Li gently on the forehead.
"What am I going to do when you leave?" Li asked, her voice quivering with worry.
Quatre hugged her closer to him. "Don't worry so much. As I said before, and as Trowa has been saying to me for a while, we WILL find a way back here! This is the greatest time we've ever had and I know that if I can't come back to you here, I won't be leaving. But if we got here once, there's no reason we can't come here again!" Quatre spoke with confidence. Li nodded in agreement and they rode out the rest of their ride in silence.
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Em and Wufei walked through the 'house of mirrors' cautiously, trying to decipher what may be a mirror and what may be an actual passageway.
"Dammit! Why do they clean the mirrors so well?!" Em cursed, running her hands along the mirrors to try and find the passage.
Wufei, on the other hand, was getting very peeved. "That's it! This way!" he yelled, running foreward and, unfortunately, right into one of the nicely cleaned mirrors, face-first.
"Shit! Wu! Did you break it?!" Em yelled, pulling him away from the mirror.
"Well... I don't THINK it's broken..." Wufei muttered, gingerly touching his now bleeding nose.
Em ran her hands over the mirror's surface. "Nope! Not even a scratch!" Wufei glared at her and Em turned to look at him. "Shit Wu! Look at your nose! Come on! We're going to the infirmary. Now!" Em declared, dragging Wufei off before he could even argue.
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Heero and Kio were standing in one of the longest que lines in the park.
"What are we in line FOR anyway?" questioned Heero curiously.
Kio grinned widely. "The zipper."
"The what?" asked Heero.
"the zipper! It's basically where you sit in a box thingy and a conveyor goes around vertically while the box thingy spins. It's a very dizzy ride," Kio explained.
"I see..." muttered Heero, still having no idea what she was talking about, as the ride finally came into view. "Oh k'so..."
(AN: In real-life, Kio-chan actually dragged me on that sucker. Damn, I felt dizzy for about an hour afterwards...)
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Duo and Mia were walking through the millions of stands of games when they ran into Lisi and Quatre.
"Hey guys! What have you two been up to?" Mia asked enthusiastically.
Li shrugged. "Nothing much, but we DID go on the ferris wheel and stuff."
"And now we're just going to play some games until eight," added Quatre, noting that the time was now seven thirty pm.
"Bet I can beat you at the ballon pop Quat!" challenged Duo.
Quatre grinned. "You're on!"
Mia and Li sighed before turning to eachother and shrugged. "Boys."
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Before the gang knew it, it was eight o'clock.
"C'mon babe! One more game! I almost beat him!" Duo whined about his losses to Quatre in the carnival games. "Who knew he was a carnival game junkie?!" Quatre grinned sheepishly at Duo's comment.
"Yeah yeah, sure you did. Just like the last eighteen times, eh?" Mia mumbled as they walked towards the front gate.
"Hey look! There's Kio and Heero!" Li exclaimed, pointing to the couple waiting at the front gate. Heero seemed a little woozy and Kio was attempting to comfort him.
"What's up?" questioned Mia as they got closer.
Kio shrugged. "We went on the zipper."
"Ah..." Mia muttered understandingly. "The infamous make you lose your lunch zipper."
"Shut up," growled Heero as best he could.
"Guys! Over here!" Rebi yelled, running towards them, dragging Trowa behind her.
"Hey! T-man! What happened to you?" Duo asked, seeing as both Trowa and Rebi were soaked from head to toe.
Rebi grinned widely. "We went on the waterslides next door."
"But... they're closed..." mumbled Mia.
"I know," Rebi grinned mischeviously.
"Ooohhh...." cooed Mia, smirking. "Nice Rebi!"
"Thank you, thank you," bowed Rebi. "Where are Em and Wu-man?"
Mia looked around. "Uh oh, better check the infirmary!"
Sure enough, when the group of eight entered the medical center, they heard the familiar voices of their two friends.
"Just keep the ice on it!" ordered Em.
"Fine," growled Wufei.
"Em, what did you do to poor Wufei?" questioned Rebi.
"Nothing!" protested Em. "He ran into a mirrored wall!"
Everyone, even Trowa, promptly broke into fits of laughted, and Wufei was yelling 'Shut up!' along with a variety of Chinese swears over the noise.
"Don't worry," said Em, after the laughter had died down. "I think he hurt his pride more than his nose."
This issued another fit of laughter before they finally calmed down and began to head home.
/END CHAPTER SIXTEEN/
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AN: There you have it! It only took me about an hour and a half to type this up! (It takes me that long?! O.O) Oh well... I went to Cirque du Soleil last night, and I am utterly exhausted, but it was BLOODY AMAZING! If you haven't seen it, I suggest going to it. Oh, and kids, don't try to sneak into closed water parks please. It IS illegal. Ja for now!