California or Bust! - Chapter Eighteen: Last Dance
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AN: Another chapter. Let's see if I can do three in one day! Though I may not post this one for a little longer. We'll see.
DISCLAIMER: Shit, been forgetting this again, haven't I? I don't own Gundam Wing, any board games mentioned, or anything else either. All original characters are property of their real life personas. Thank you. D'oh! XD
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"That was a great dinner babe!" called Duo, gently patting his full stomach.
"Everyone helped..." mumbled Mia, slightly embarassed at the compliment.
"But no one makes a stir-fry like Mia!" yelled Rebi, stuffing the last of her food into her mouth. "Yum..."
Li yawned deeply. "That was good... Now I'm tired."
Mia blinked and sat up straight. "Someone move the tables out of the living room! I've got an idea!" she yelled, runningn off down the hall.
Kio and Rebi looked confused but dragged the tables out of the large living room.
Kio looked down the hallway, hearing a loud 'thud'. "What the hell are you doing Mia?!"
The next thing they knew, Mia was dragging her mattress down the hallway. "This," she said, dropping it in the middle of the living room, "is what I'm doing! Go get the other mattresses!" she ordered, and everyone set out.
Soon, they had five mattresses piled with blankets, taking up the entire floor space of the living room.
Mia jumped onto the new 'nest', stretching leisurely. "It's a big bed! Like having a sleepover 'til the guys leave..."
"But... they're more like five separate beds..." mumbled Li, looking around the room.
"That's 'cause I ain't sleeping anywhere NEAR Rebi! She practically mauls you in her sleep!" Mia proclaimed.
Trowa laughed and hugged Rebi. "I don't mind. I'll sleep with her." Rebi blushed and grinned at him.
"And everyone else is sleeping like this!" called Mia sternly. "Li and Quatre, Kio and Heero, Em and Wufei, and myself and Duo! No arguments!"
Everyone sighed and nodded, knowing by now that they couldn't argue with Mia, and were too tired to try otherwise.
Eventually, everyone was so tired that they decided to finally go to slepe, around eleven o'clock.
Kio yawned, flopping down on one of the mattresses near a wall. "I'm so tired... How about you Hee-chan?"
Heero turned to her, stripping off his shirt and pants, leaving him in only a pair of boxers. "Yes..." he yawned, sliding beneath the covers.
Kio grinned widely and joined him beneath the blankets. "I love you Hee-chan..." she muttered before falling into a deep sleep.
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Duo jumped under the covers, only in his boxers. He patted the empty space beside him. "Come on Mia-babe. Time for sleep."
Mia smiled before yawning and crawling into bed beside Duo. "Yeah yeah. 'Night, love ya baby..." she muttered, snuggling closer to Duo before closing her eyes.
Duo smiled into Mia's hair as she pulled her closer so her back was against his chest and his arms were around her waist. "Goodnight Mia."
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Rebi giggled profusely, hugging Trowa around the neck, causing them both to collapse onto the mattress behind them. "Oops! Sorry Trowa!"
Trowa smiled, trying to regain his composure. "It's alright Rebi, don't worry about it."
Rebi grinned widely, snuggling into Trowa's chest. "Okay... G'night then. I love you Trowa..." she mumbled before falling into the deep pit that is sleep.
Trowa smiled to himself, hugging Rebi and closing his own eyes. "I love you too..."
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Li giggled. "I wonder how long it will take them to realize we stole one of their blankets."
Quatre snickered. "Let's steal a pillow!"
Li nodded and the two, giggling the entire time, swiped Mia and Duo's pillows out from under their heads. They quickly ran back to their own mattress, hiding under the covers like little children, still giggling.
"Hey!" screeched Mia, storming over to their mattress. "Give me back my pillow!"
"Mine too!" yelled Duo.
Mia then noticed the giant giggling lump with two voices and raised an eyebrow. "Get a room guys," she grumbled, snatching a pillow from their mattress and returning to her own. Duo promptly followed.
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Em was jumping up and down on the huge pile of blankets happily. "Yay!" she stopped jumping when she noticed Wufei glaring. "What's up Wu?"
Wufei continued to glare. "You expect me to share a bed with an onna?!"
Mia sighed as she snuggled up beside Duo. "Oh great, here comes the whole pride system."
Em returned Wufei's glare. "Wufei, for once in your life, stop being an asshole. All the people here know all about you so get over it!"
Wufei stared at Em for a long time before smiling and sliding into bed next to her. He kisses her lightly on the cheek. "Gomen nasai. Thank you."
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The gang just decided to lay low and hang around the house for the next two days. But... six games of Monopoly, twenty-three games of checkers and eighty two card games later, they decided they needed something to do. So out came the good ol' newspaper to look for activities.
"Hey! Guys! Look at this!" Mia exclaimed, pointing to an add she had highlighted. "It's an opening for a new beach-side restaurant! They're having a huge opening with music and stuff!"
"Sounds good," said Kio. "When is it?"
"Three pm this afternoon," replied Rebi, reading over Mia's shoulder.
Li checked her watch. "It's one now, so we should start getting ready. This place is on the other side of town."
Everyone nodded, leaving to get ready.
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"Thank you for riding with kick-ass taxi service. Please exit through the door to your left," Mia commanded, stopping the van.
"I cannot believe we let you drive!" exclaimed Kio, attempting to un-frizz her hair.
Mia huffed. "Least I'm not a crazy Vegas dirver!"
"May as well be," retorted Kio. Mia twitched.
"Come on guys," Li stepped in. "No fighting, remember? We're here to have fun."
Mia sighed and gave Li a grin. "Yes boss. I'll be good," with that she saluted and marched off.
Kio grumbled. "Fine." And they all headed into the restaurant.
"Wow! It's huge!" shouted Rebi before she was 'shushed' by her friends.
"Jeeze, not so loud Rebi. You'll wake the undead!" yelled Em.
Mia blinked, confused. "But I'm already awake!" she protested.
Em rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."
"I know, I just like to bug you," grinned Mia.
Em fwapped her on the side of the head as a waiter came up to them. "Hello. I will be your waiter this afternoon. Would you like to eat inside or outside?"
"Outside!" shouted Rebi. Everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Very well," replied their waiter. "Follow me please."
The gang all followed the waiter onto the enormus patio outside. "Would you like two tables of five or five tables of two?" asked the waiter.
Mia answered before the others could. "Five tables of two please."
"Alright. This way please," the waiter responded, leading them all to their tables which were shaded by big moss-green umbrellas.
Everyone ordered drinks only, knowing they would need them if they were to be dancing and also because they had eaten lunch before they arrived.
As 'Tango Shoes' by Biff Naked began to play, the girls promptly dragged the guys off to dance. This, being a fast song, brought everyone back to their tables for a quick drink before the next song began to play.
Heero wrapped his arms lightly around Kio's waist as the song became recognizable as 'Beautiful Goodbye' by Amanda Marshall.
Kio grinned up at him, tears slowly filling her eyes as she knew this would be the last of the days she looked at his face.
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Duo and Mia began to dance slowly, smiling at the moment. Mia moved so she was nestled into Duo's chest. Duo returned the action by hugging her around the waist and drawing her closer.
Mia smiled, even though she knew he couldn't see it. "This is nice... But it's going to make me cry..." she sniffled as she said this.
"Why?" questioned Duo, slightly worried.
Mia smiled again, this time looking at him. "Because tomorrow you leave..." Just as she said this, her voice faultered and tears welled up in her eyes.
Duo wiped away the tears. "Listen, don't talk like that. Enjoy today, ignore tomorrow. We'll be back so don't worry so much."
Mia nodded, surpressing any further tears and just enjoying the moment.
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Rebi and Trowa were dancing slowly, Rebi snuggling into Trowa's chest.
Rebi sighed deeply. "This almost seems like a fairy tale... Only with a sadder ending..."
Trowa smiled at her. "Hey, cheer up. We don't have to leave without saying goodbye, and we'll always have memories... So don't get so sad..."
"Okay..." Rebi nodded, falling silent and simply letting the tears fall unchecked down her face.
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Li and Quatre were dancing elegantly in the middle of the dance floor. They were smiling at eachother, tears filling both pairs of eyes.
Quatre spoke first. "This is simply more of a 'see you later' then 'goodbye'..." he mumbled.
Li nodded, grinning widely. "Yeah... We'll see you later... But how long?"
"Well..." Quatre sighed. "I'm not really sure exactly... But as soon as we can, I promise we'll find our way back here someday..."
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"Watch my feet 'Fei!" Em grumbled.
Wufei blushed. "Sorry... I'm not used to slow dances..."
Em sighed. "Okay...just relax, and you'll be fine."
Wufei nodded. Em grinned. "Hey! That's better! Why so quiet 'Fei?"
"Aren't you at ALL upset about us leaving?" Wufei asked.
Em knew he meant himself leaving; he was just adding in the others to keep himself from being TOO embarassed. She sighed. "Of course I am... I'm just trying to forget it for the time being... I'll save the goodbyes for tomorrow..." Wufei nodded and held her closer.
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The gang headed home, with all their maoning and grumbling, they managed to drag themselves to bed around ten, promptly falling asleep. Well, for the most part.
"FIG!" screeched Lisi before really falling asleep.
/END CHAPTER EIGHTEEN/
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AN: WOW! I'm done another one! Look at me go! Only one chapter left, and then the epilogue (which will have a VERY long author's note at the end explaining everything that I would like clarified). Thank you so much for reading and reviewing and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If you did, click the little button and review, flame, chatter like a squirrel, I don't care! Just put something!
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AN: Another chapter. Let's see if I can do three in one day! Though I may not post this one for a little longer. We'll see.
DISCLAIMER: Shit, been forgetting this again, haven't I? I don't own Gundam Wing, any board games mentioned, or anything else either. All original characters are property of their real life personas. Thank you. D'oh! XD
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"That was a great dinner babe!" called Duo, gently patting his full stomach.
"Everyone helped..." mumbled Mia, slightly embarassed at the compliment.
"But no one makes a stir-fry like Mia!" yelled Rebi, stuffing the last of her food into her mouth. "Yum..."
Li yawned deeply. "That was good... Now I'm tired."
Mia blinked and sat up straight. "Someone move the tables out of the living room! I've got an idea!" she yelled, runningn off down the hall.
Kio and Rebi looked confused but dragged the tables out of the large living room.
Kio looked down the hallway, hearing a loud 'thud'. "What the hell are you doing Mia?!"
The next thing they knew, Mia was dragging her mattress down the hallway. "This," she said, dropping it in the middle of the living room, "is what I'm doing! Go get the other mattresses!" she ordered, and everyone set out.
Soon, they had five mattresses piled with blankets, taking up the entire floor space of the living room.
Mia jumped onto the new 'nest', stretching leisurely. "It's a big bed! Like having a sleepover 'til the guys leave..."
"But... they're more like five separate beds..." mumbled Li, looking around the room.
"That's 'cause I ain't sleeping anywhere NEAR Rebi! She practically mauls you in her sleep!" Mia proclaimed.
Trowa laughed and hugged Rebi. "I don't mind. I'll sleep with her." Rebi blushed and grinned at him.
"And everyone else is sleeping like this!" called Mia sternly. "Li and Quatre, Kio and Heero, Em and Wufei, and myself and Duo! No arguments!"
Everyone sighed and nodded, knowing by now that they couldn't argue with Mia, and were too tired to try otherwise.
Eventually, everyone was so tired that they decided to finally go to slepe, around eleven o'clock.
Kio yawned, flopping down on one of the mattresses near a wall. "I'm so tired... How about you Hee-chan?"
Heero turned to her, stripping off his shirt and pants, leaving him in only a pair of boxers. "Yes..." he yawned, sliding beneath the covers.
Kio grinned widely and joined him beneath the blankets. "I love you Hee-chan..." she muttered before falling into a deep sleep.
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Duo jumped under the covers, only in his boxers. He patted the empty space beside him. "Come on Mia-babe. Time for sleep."
Mia smiled before yawning and crawling into bed beside Duo. "Yeah yeah. 'Night, love ya baby..." she muttered, snuggling closer to Duo before closing her eyes.
Duo smiled into Mia's hair as she pulled her closer so her back was against his chest and his arms were around her waist. "Goodnight Mia."
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Rebi giggled profusely, hugging Trowa around the neck, causing them both to collapse onto the mattress behind them. "Oops! Sorry Trowa!"
Trowa smiled, trying to regain his composure. "It's alright Rebi, don't worry about it."
Rebi grinned widely, snuggling into Trowa's chest. "Okay... G'night then. I love you Trowa..." she mumbled before falling into the deep pit that is sleep.
Trowa smiled to himself, hugging Rebi and closing his own eyes. "I love you too..."
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Li giggled. "I wonder how long it will take them to realize we stole one of their blankets."
Quatre snickered. "Let's steal a pillow!"
Li nodded and the two, giggling the entire time, swiped Mia and Duo's pillows out from under their heads. They quickly ran back to their own mattress, hiding under the covers like little children, still giggling.
"Hey!" screeched Mia, storming over to their mattress. "Give me back my pillow!"
"Mine too!" yelled Duo.
Mia then noticed the giant giggling lump with two voices and raised an eyebrow. "Get a room guys," she grumbled, snatching a pillow from their mattress and returning to her own. Duo promptly followed.
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Em was jumping up and down on the huge pile of blankets happily. "Yay!" she stopped jumping when she noticed Wufei glaring. "What's up Wu?"
Wufei continued to glare. "You expect me to share a bed with an onna?!"
Mia sighed as she snuggled up beside Duo. "Oh great, here comes the whole pride system."
Em returned Wufei's glare. "Wufei, for once in your life, stop being an asshole. All the people here know all about you so get over it!"
Wufei stared at Em for a long time before smiling and sliding into bed next to her. He kisses her lightly on the cheek. "Gomen nasai. Thank you."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The gang just decided to lay low and hang around the house for the next two days. But... six games of Monopoly, twenty-three games of checkers and eighty two card games later, they decided they needed something to do. So out came the good ol' newspaper to look for activities.
"Hey! Guys! Look at this!" Mia exclaimed, pointing to an add she had highlighted. "It's an opening for a new beach-side restaurant! They're having a huge opening with music and stuff!"
"Sounds good," said Kio. "When is it?"
"Three pm this afternoon," replied Rebi, reading over Mia's shoulder.
Li checked her watch. "It's one now, so we should start getting ready. This place is on the other side of town."
Everyone nodded, leaving to get ready.
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"Thank you for riding with kick-ass taxi service. Please exit through the door to your left," Mia commanded, stopping the van.
"I cannot believe we let you drive!" exclaimed Kio, attempting to un-frizz her hair.
Mia huffed. "Least I'm not a crazy Vegas dirver!"
"May as well be," retorted Kio. Mia twitched.
"Come on guys," Li stepped in. "No fighting, remember? We're here to have fun."
Mia sighed and gave Li a grin. "Yes boss. I'll be good," with that she saluted and marched off.
Kio grumbled. "Fine." And they all headed into the restaurant.
"Wow! It's huge!" shouted Rebi before she was 'shushed' by her friends.
"Jeeze, not so loud Rebi. You'll wake the undead!" yelled Em.
Mia blinked, confused. "But I'm already awake!" she protested.
Em rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."
"I know, I just like to bug you," grinned Mia.
Em fwapped her on the side of the head as a waiter came up to them. "Hello. I will be your waiter this afternoon. Would you like to eat inside or outside?"
"Outside!" shouted Rebi. Everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Very well," replied their waiter. "Follow me please."
The gang all followed the waiter onto the enormus patio outside. "Would you like two tables of five or five tables of two?" asked the waiter.
Mia answered before the others could. "Five tables of two please."
"Alright. This way please," the waiter responded, leading them all to their tables which were shaded by big moss-green umbrellas.
Everyone ordered drinks only, knowing they would need them if they were to be dancing and also because they had eaten lunch before they arrived.
As 'Tango Shoes' by Biff Naked began to play, the girls promptly dragged the guys off to dance. This, being a fast song, brought everyone back to their tables for a quick drink before the next song began to play.
Heero wrapped his arms lightly around Kio's waist as the song became recognizable as 'Beautiful Goodbye' by Amanda Marshall.
Kio grinned up at him, tears slowly filling her eyes as she knew this would be the last of the days she looked at his face.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Duo and Mia began to dance slowly, smiling at the moment. Mia moved so she was nestled into Duo's chest. Duo returned the action by hugging her around the waist and drawing her closer.
Mia smiled, even though she knew he couldn't see it. "This is nice... But it's going to make me cry..." she sniffled as she said this.
"Why?" questioned Duo, slightly worried.
Mia smiled again, this time looking at him. "Because tomorrow you leave..." Just as she said this, her voice faultered and tears welled up in her eyes.
Duo wiped away the tears. "Listen, don't talk like that. Enjoy today, ignore tomorrow. We'll be back so don't worry so much."
Mia nodded, surpressing any further tears and just enjoying the moment.
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Rebi and Trowa were dancing slowly, Rebi snuggling into Trowa's chest.
Rebi sighed deeply. "This almost seems like a fairy tale... Only with a sadder ending..."
Trowa smiled at her. "Hey, cheer up. We don't have to leave without saying goodbye, and we'll always have memories... So don't get so sad..."
"Okay..." Rebi nodded, falling silent and simply letting the tears fall unchecked down her face.
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Li and Quatre were dancing elegantly in the middle of the dance floor. They were smiling at eachother, tears filling both pairs of eyes.
Quatre spoke first. "This is simply more of a 'see you later' then 'goodbye'..." he mumbled.
Li nodded, grinning widely. "Yeah... We'll see you later... But how long?"
"Well..." Quatre sighed. "I'm not really sure exactly... But as soon as we can, I promise we'll find our way back here someday..."
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"Watch my feet 'Fei!" Em grumbled.
Wufei blushed. "Sorry... I'm not used to slow dances..."
Em sighed. "Okay...just relax, and you'll be fine."
Wufei nodded. Em grinned. "Hey! That's better! Why so quiet 'Fei?"
"Aren't you at ALL upset about us leaving?" Wufei asked.
Em knew he meant himself leaving; he was just adding in the others to keep himself from being TOO embarassed. She sighed. "Of course I am... I'm just trying to forget it for the time being... I'll save the goodbyes for tomorrow..." Wufei nodded and held her closer.
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The gang headed home, with all their maoning and grumbling, they managed to drag themselves to bed around ten, promptly falling asleep. Well, for the most part.
"FIG!" screeched Lisi before really falling asleep.
/END CHAPTER EIGHTEEN/
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AN: WOW! I'm done another one! Look at me go! Only one chapter left, and then the epilogue (which will have a VERY long author's note at the end explaining everything that I would like clarified). Thank you so much for reading and reviewing and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If you did, click the little button and review, flame, chatter like a squirrel, I don't care! Just put something!