Hehe This chapter is longer than I thought it would be. Too many speeches by characters. Well, hope they don't bore you to death but I was trying to add some depth to some pretty much *ahem* non-existent relationships between two characters. Still……I think I need to try and develop some of the relationships a bit more, but once on earth the plot will pick up and there won't be much room for that.  -_-; I'll try though.

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    Eyes snapped open as Keiko sat up stiffly. A tingling sensation ran down her arms and legs popping goose-bumps up all over. She could have sworn that she heard something……

    She sighed. "Paranoid," she muttered to herself, glancing at her clock which flaunted that it was two in the morning. Keiko groaned softly and flopped back down into her fluffy pillow, sleep already beginning to reclaim her.

    Crick.

    There it was again! She hadn't been hearing things in her sleep after all! Creamy legs swung out from the bed sheets and she silently got to her feet and tiptoed to her door, not bothering with a robe or anything.

    Crick

    What's making that noise? One of the guys? She thought, and then remembered the time. No. None of them have ever been awake this early……er, late? Whatever.

    She may be living in a rather nice neighborhood, but everyone within a five mile radius knew who she was and that she lived here, making her more prone to burglary. Was that what it was? A burglar?

    Anger flared up in her insides. She wouldn't be taken advantage of. Not again. No siree. This was her house and no one had the right to take any of her things.

    Keiko opened the door and padded noiselessly down the hallway until she reached the top of the stairs. The bottom floor was completely dark so it couldn't be one of the guys. She could hear noises coming from below more clearly now-heavy footsteps on her wooden floor and soft murmurings.

    "Should have. . . sooner," muttered the masculine voice. "Didn't . . . going. . ."

    Keiko leaned forward, straining to hear, but the man had moved to the room.

    "Dirty asshole," she hissed under her breath, ready to wake the boys so they could beat the crap outta the person. Keiko turned and collided with someone who had been standing less than an inch behind her. A soft cry broke from her lips a second before Trowa's hand clamped down on her mouth. Still holding her, he dragged her back.

    "Quiet," he growled coming to a stop next to one of the doors. "Stop struggling- it's only me." He used his free hand to open it and closed it quickly once they were in.

    "God Trowa don't do that! You scared the bejezus out of me!" she snarled once he had let her go.

    "What? Standing that close behind you," he asked. "Or perhaps saving you from revealing yourself to a potentially dangerous person?"

    ". . .Em,jer, guh-The last one!" she retorted, flabbergasted.

    "Um, mind telling me what you're talking about?"

    Heero blinked at them with a mildly surprised and confused look etched on his face.

    "Someone broke in," Trowa stated. Heero sat up calmly and began rummaging in his suitcase.

    "Why am I the only one spazzing out?" Keiko asked the two.

    "Because we've had worse than to be frightened- Ah there it is," Heero replied vaguely, pulling up a slim metallic object from a hidden pouch.  He held it up and examined it. "It's not loaded. Trowa will you help me find the cartridge?"

    "Since when do you have a gun?!" she hissed.

    He said nothing as Trowa smiled and helped dig into the pile of clothes. " Heero's always had a gun- it's like it's attached to him. I'm surprised you didn't have it stashed in your boxers."

    "Yeah, well, the one time I don't have it loaded or on my person."

    "God, I……Just, whoa. Whoa. That's all I can say."

    "Where is the guy?" Heero asked, shoving aside shirts.

    "Downstairs last we saw-"

    "Where specifically?"

    "I don't know! Maybe the hallway or the kitchen. I didn't go down there-"

    "Shhh!" Trowa's head snapped up, he glanced at the door, then to Heero. " Did you hear that?" Heero nodded as his glare turned to stone.

    "Heard what?" Keiko asked. "Guys?"

    "Keiko, be quiet!" Heero whispered, pulling her down to him and Trowa. Now she could hear it too. Heavy, slow thudding steps going down hall towards Keiko's room.

All three sat tensely on the floor, waiting for the footsteps to pass them by. When they heard the door to Keiko's room open and close, the guys let out a sigh of relief.

    Heero noticed Keiko's fingers trembling. Poor thing, she doesn't know how to handle this. I wish I could make her feel more protected- But, that first day, in the parlor, Duo fell in love with that sword……

    "Heero, I'm scared," she whispered softly. "Can't you find your bullets?"

    He tried to give her a comforting look, but he wasn't sure if he was successful or not because her body language didn't change, though she did give a weak smile. "I know you are love. As of now, the cartridge is misplaced-"

    "But what if she comes in here?" she asked, her voice rising slightly. "If he's armed then we're helpless!"

    "I know," he answered, touching her face. "That's why I need you to go downstairs and get that sword from the parlor. If you can, bring it back up here before the man comes downstairs. If not, hide somewhere, it doesn't seem like he's turning the place inside out in order to find whatever he wants. Can you do that for me while we try to find the ammunition?" Keiko swallowed the large lump in her throat and nodded. "Thank you. And don't worry, I'll protect you."

    The next thing she new, she was out of the Blue Room and going down the stairs. Hey, third stair from the bottom creaks, third from the bottom, the voice in her head reminded her indifferently. Her feet descended on the stair for a second before she quickly hopped down to the next one and ran into the parlor. The damage had already been done. Those threatening, heavy footsteps were thudding away from her room and down the hallway.

    She dashed into the parlor, stumbled and nearly fell as she flew across the room and climbed up onto the stuffed chair so she could reach the sword.

    Her heart was pounding in her ears so loudly the man must surely have heard it. Her violently trembling fingers worked at the tiny gold knob in vain. Footsteps from the stairs. . . now the entry way; he was heading towards the parlor.

    "Shit," she muttered, still fumbling to get the case open. How freaking long does it take to find his bullets- the one time he doesn't have his gun loaded.

    "So there you are."

    Keiko fought the urge not to turn and run as she froze. Fight or flight, fight or flight. Her mind said flight but her heart said fight. With a wrench the case lid flew open; she grabbed the weapon inside it and spun around to face her attacker, sword in hand.

    He had been walking toward her, now it was his turn to freeze. A dark ski mask covered all but his eyes and the tip of his nose and the rest of his body was also covered in dark clothing, right down to the gloves he wore. In a light voice, so obviously not his normal tone for a man of his stature, he said, "Now, now let's not be hasty."

    Keiko lowered herself down from the chair, keeping the sword between them both. "Get out," she returned. "Of my house."

    The man took a step forward, deranged laughter filling the room. " I don't think so. There's something I want first."

    "I mean it, get out." Keiko's words went unheard and the man was getting closer. She felt a wall against her back and realized to her horror that she unconsciously backed away. She had a sword dammit, she should have to back down. Rage boiled and bubbled, drowning out all of her senses.

    In a lightning quick moment she lunged at the man, sword raised above her head. "You're not welcome here!" she screamed. The man hadn't been expecting her to move so suddenly, but his reflexes were quick enough that he jumped back. The blade sliced down his torso, tearing the shirt and leaving a gash down his chest, rather than plunging into his shoulder.

    Keiko scurried past him toward the doorway just as Heero and Trowa appeared- Heero with his gun in his hands. Behind her, she heard the man roar, and then he lunged at Keiko the moment his initial shock wore off. Heero raised his gun and Keiko fell to the floor so he could have a clear shot. The second she ducked he pulled the trigger; Keiko felt the bullet zoom over where her head had been less than a second before.

    It hit him. The man lurched backward as the bullet lodged into his shoulder. He swore loudly, and clawed at his shoulder in vain. Keiko looked up at the man from the floor, frozen in shock and surprise, and their eyes met. A primal snarl came from him as he swung his leg forward and connected with the unprotected area of her torso, flinging the light woman against the entryway. She rolled over onto her hands in knees in an instant, retching from the blow. On the fourth or so heave, something came up, even in the dim light it looked horribly like blood. There was a curse from Heero and another shot fired that joined the one his shoulder.

    Blood was dripping down from his multiple wounds, mainly from the long cut on his chest, and he seemed to sense he had entered a no-win situation. With another snarl he threw himself at the window and disappeared outside. Trowa grabbed Heero's gun and ran to the broken window and fired once more at the retreating burglar.

    "Damn, missed," he murmured and turned back to his friends.

    Keiko was curled up on her knees on the floor, trembling and laying partially in her own crimson vomit. Heero knelt down beside her and tried to take her into his arms.

    "No!" she gasped, pushing at his chest roughly. There was a wild, scared look in her eyes that he had never been seen before. Something was missing from those eyes, they were different than they had been a second ago.

    "What the hell is going on?" Duo's alarmed voice cried as he, Quatre and Wufei thumped down the stairs. "Here we are, nice and asleep, when freaking gunfire wakes us up!"

    Trowa glanced up from Heero and Keiko's huddled forms and replied calmly, "Someone broke in. He tried to get to her so we had no other choice."

    Duo made several cute noises as he tried to comprehend it all. "Bu- But this is Keiko's house!" he returned loudly. "Why would anyone……oh, wait."

    Trowa nodded. "That's exactly why. At least, that's why I think it happened."

    The four of them grew silent, looking down at Heero and Keiko. Her big green eyes stared blankly at Heero's chin as he murmured to her, hands placed gently on her shoulders. His face was burning with the intensity of his

    "……You're ok. He won't be back, I promise. We're leaving tomorrow anyways and there's no way this will ever happen to you again while we're at Quatre's."

    Tears spilled down her face when she blinked, washing away the blank look and letting a new emotion take over. Not tears of happiness or sadness, but of despair. " It's my fault," she whispered, turning her head away from them all. "It's my fault he got in."

    "Oh, Keiko, no. No it's not," Heero replied scooting closer to her and softly manipulating her head back to where she was facing him straight. "It's not. Don't ever think that."

    She still has that look, he thought. That look that I have never seen before in her. What is it? There's somewhere else that I've seen it- but where?

    "Yes it is!" she jerked her head away and stared at the ground, struggling to keep her voice steady. "I've always been childishly naïve, thinking that nothing could ever hurt me. I had this silly little notion in my head that I lived in a perfect world and there was no way I would face any danger. Those kinds of things don't happen to me, it may to other girls but not me. Then Rykoshi ……," her tone lost its bitterness and tears rolled faster from her eyes. For a moment she didn't continue, then, when she spoke again, her gently voice was devoid of everything. She sounded awfully like Heero, the four standing men noted. Heero must have realized it too because his face turned pale and the hands on her shoulders tightened for an instant before falling limply to his sides.

    "Rykoshi happened. Yeah, sure, something bad happened. But I got my two cents in- kicked the bastard hard enough to land him in the hospital for stitches. Yeah, that took all the fear out of the moment seeing him shrivel like that. So I recovered, still believing I was unbreakable. But tonight, tonight taught me that I'm not untouchable. Someone could kill me at anytime and never get caught." Keiko looked up into Heero's eyes and tried to manage a smile through her tears, failing miserably.

    "I'm just another weak woman who was too stupid to realize the danger I've put myself in. I'm just a weak woman," she repeated. Then, she broke. She simply fell forward, her head on Heero's chest- the rest of her not touching anything- and broke down sobbing.

    Quatre, Trowa, Duo and Heero couldn't think of anything to say that would console Keiko. Heero started to reach for a hand that was crossed tightly over her chest, then stopped.

    Wufei moved and was standing over Keiko, glaring down at her with his obsidian eyes. "Listen to me," he ordered sharply. "I may call some women weak or cowardly and it might appear that I loathe them. Often times that's true. Women thrive more on emotions and feelings than men do, making them much more sensitive. That makes a crappy soldier. But there have been several female soldiers I've met that I have a very high respect for because, while they do live off their emotions, they don't let them get in the way. There are very few women I know that I respect for just being their normal selves-" he stooped down to one knee and lifted her tear streaked face up-" and you are one of them," Wufei continued in a gentler voice. " You are not weak. Don't hand yourself a self-fulfilling prophesy. You've suffered through so much-granted, not as much as some but still more than many- and you had fire raging in your eyes until a moment ago. If you shatter now, I swear, I will lose what respect I have recently gained for you."

    Keiko looked up at Wufei; tears trickling out of her large doe eyes, at his man who had never seemed to care about anyone except for himself. How was it that he was suddenly motivating her? She swallowed, more tears spilling down her cheeks.

    "C'mon, give me a smile Keiko," he urged. " So long as all of us are here, no harm will come to you. Heero will die before he lets you get hurt, I know that for a fact and I'll be around to help too. So don't get this "oh poor me I'm so helpless" thinking, because it will eventually drive us all insane. Now are you going to smile and shape up, or are you going to stay a whining woman?"

    All her tears forgotten, Keiko sat staring, mouth hanging open, into the dead serious charcoal eyes of the Chinese man, speaking to her totally unabashed.

    "You……You have no right to……," she said, a frown furrowing across her brows.

    "Smile."

    "No."

    "Smile," he laughed, poking her ribs.

    "No," she repeated, the firmness in her voice gone as she tried to keep from laughing. "Jeez, fine! There! I smiled! Are you happy?"

    "For the time being," Wufei replied, promptly standing up and walking out of the room. "It's late, I was woken up, I observed, I did my part, I'm tired and now I'm going to bed. If any of you assholes wake me up earlier than I need to be-" He glared pointedly at Duo. " I will make your lives miserable all the way back to Earth."

    "He means it too," Duo muttered. " But at least he's back to normal. This sympathetic I-respect-special-women was freaking me out."

   Trowa poked his head in the doorway (A/N: He seems to do this a lot- random appearing/disappearing), his long hair looking even more comical than normal. "I found out how our friend got inside. It seems to me like he crawled in through the kitchen window."

    "Shit," Keiko muttered, getting to her feet. "I forgot to lock it yesterday evening."

    "I'm going to call the police and have them make a report," Quatre stated, heading for the living room. "I doubt they'll be able to do anything since we're leaving tomorrow- but I'll give them my phone number and address.

    "Thank you, Quatre-kun."

    He smiled, stifling a yawn. "You're welcome. Now, you get cleaned up. Tomorrow's your day."

* * *

    Each former gundam pilot- as well as Keiko- took advantage of the flight to Earth as a chance to catch up on the sleep they had been deprived of earlier that morning. Wufei had brought along his sleeping pills, but he could have taken 10 of them himself his sleep was so deep.

    Still, the flight didn't seem long enough and the six of them shuffled around the terminal puffy-eyed and conversing in grunts reminiscent of Neanderthals, getting stares from the surrounding adults, and looks of adoration from the tiny children.

    One pointed to the group and whispered loudly to her companion, " Whenever I do that my mommy always says that I'm not speaking right, but they can do it! I told you it was a right way to speak!"

    They shuffled leaving the terminal, they shuffled getting their baggage, and they even shuffled into the limo Quatre had arranged to pick them up and drive them to his estate. Once inside the limo, they promptly fell dozed again for the next hour and a half that it took to get to arrive. Finally, they gradually began to wake up and shake off their sleepiness

    "I'm just so ecstatic about being here," Keiko stated softly. "I've dreamed of coming to Earth for the longest time-" She stretched and closed her eyes-" Especially to have real sunlight. It doesn't seem too different at first, but this stuff gives you natural warm, calm warmth."

    Heero smiled and returned his eyes to the scenery flashing out of the window. "Oh, Keiko, we're nearly there. You can just barely see it through the trees." He placed a finger on the glass and pointed outside.

    Practically crawling on top of him she asked, "Where? I can't see- Ooh…..Quatre. Oh my God. You call that a house? It's gargantuan!"

    Quatre grinned, running a hand through his hair as a light blush crept up his face. "Yeah well……A lot of people assume that I'm a snob coming out of a. . . house. . . like that. What I mean is that it doesn't really reflect on who I am as a person, it just happens to be where I live."

    When they pulled into the long circular driveway and got out of the limo, a man came to take their baggage from the trunk. Keiko eyes him curiously, but none of the others seemed to notice him and they were all heading inside so she decided that she didn't need to help.  As she hurried to catch up, Keiko noticed Wufei was separate from the others and figured that now would be a good time to tell him something she had meant to say earlier.

    "Wufei?"

    The Chinese man turned around. "Hm?"

    Keiko smiled at the look of him in the sunset's crimson glow. It made his hair a beautiful raven black with red mixed in from the fading light and turned his white, loose outfit (yes the precedented white one) orangey in color. "Thank you Wufei. For the other day," she said, strode up to him and kissed him on the cheek.

    He was curiously unfazed by what she did, but it didn't matter much to her. Wufei returned her action with a small smile. "Don't mention it."

    Keiko giggled as she followed him inside Quatre's home. "Okay."

    "No. I mean it. Don't bring it up again," he said gruffly, looking over his shoulder at the beautiful woman standing in outside, made even more beautiful by the sunset. She caught the playful glint in his eyes, laughed and caught up with him.

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    Loves, Vela-chan . Hope you all enjoyed ^_^ I didn't manage to get Relena into this chapter, so, expect *her* to show up soon. Unpleasantly soon. Drop me a note whether it's just to say hi, yay/nay on the "new" Wufei or if you have any questions or suggestions. I love feedback J. Oh and I promise, this burglar guy wasn't just some excuse to help with the Keiko/Wufei relationship- it will be made clear- just trust me!

    P.S. I wasn't really sure what kind of gun Heero has…so I just made it a semiautomatic pistol. However, I know next to nothing about firearms so could someone tell me whether those have cartridges or plain bullets? And if anyone knows which form of gun he uses……I would love you to death ^_^ Thankies!