OUT OF TUNE
Chapter Eighteen: The Imposing Atmosphere
I know, I know, I promised Chap. 18 would be out soon, but there's been some difficulties, certain things came up and I was pulled off on other projects. However, this'll be the last chapter and the epilogue will be out shortly after. So don't worry, I've got a whole week off from my classes so this should be done within the month of August. So thanks for being patient!!
Also, thanks to those who noticed the typo I made with the numbers of the flights; I kind of screwed some of them up. It wasn't my fault though, it was the moose. And a special shout out goes to for remembering who Sony was!
In case anyone was planning to ask, I don't plan on writing a sequel to Out Of Tune. I have many other projects after this to pursue and that's sort of what kicked start me to sit down and finish this!! Hope those who are HP fans will check out the Harry/Hermione fic that I'll be starting shortly after this! Ciao!
Although Trowa was tired, and his body cried for rest, he couldn't let himself relax. He had gotten a shuttle to Earth but that was only the first step to getting to Dorothy. He still had to find where Quatre had taken her and get her out of his grasp. Then there came the hardest part; keeping Dorothy safe. He didn't think it would do any good to contact Une and tell her what Quatre was doing, she always had a soft spot when it came to the Winner boy. So he wouldn't get any help from her. Heero would be too busy protecting Relena, although the two of them might be able to find Trowa and Dorothy a place to live in peace on Earth. Going back to the colonies was out of the question; although it was Quatre who'd come up with the idea of cutting off transportation, he had to agree that it was a good plan for catching this New Faction.
He sighed, letting his head fall against the thick window of the shuttle. Part of him felt like screaming in frustration, part of him felt like hurting something, someone, or maybe himself, and smaller parts voiced their own frustrations and worries. He just couldn't focus on any one thing except for Dorothy; which was his major hindrance considering that he needed to come up with an effective plan to keep them both safe. His brain was askew with thoughts that wouldn't connect themselves and scenarios in which Dorothy wouldn't come back to him, or she couldn't because she was hurt, or… Trowa shook his head, closing his eyes shut, blocking out the gruesome possibilities. He needed to rest, he rationalized with himself. He leaned back against the soft seat and let out a long breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"If only Dorothy was here," he whispered softly, soft enough that it was only he who heard it. As what could only be described as nightmares of what could possibly happening to her at that moment surged into his head, so did a semblance of a restless sleep.
Sleeping is how Heero found Trowa. He figured he'd find him holding the captain hostage and driving the shuttle himself however, he now had to give him some credit for having some self control and letting himself rest before pursuing Dorothy. Lord knows, Heero wouldn't be able to sleep if he thought Relena was being hauled off away from him.
He excused himself as he pushed his way down the row towards the empty seat next to Trowa. He sat down on the warm leather seat and set a hand on the pilot's forearm.
"Trowa?" he said louder than he wanted as he shook the figure. With a start, Heavyarms master awoke and grabbed Heero's arm in a vice-like grip. With his emerald eyes slightly dazed with fatigue and sleep, he slowly focused in on Heero's face.
"Heero?" he questioned groggily. Heero nodded and pulled Trowa to his feet and began to pull him towards the back entrance without explanation. Although it would have been the friendly thing to do and let Trowa get some rest, he knew that he needed to get Trowa back to Earth before transportation docks closed. However, it seemed Trowa had other ideas in mind.
"Stop!" he cried as he pulled his arm away from Heero. Heero slid to a stop and whipped around, his Prussian blue eyes frustrated already. "Heero, what are you doing here?!"
Heero growled as he reached for Trowa's arm again but it evaded him. Trowa responded to his growl with a dazed look of confusion, mixed with anger and frustration.
"We don't have time for this!" Heero snarled as he reached yet again for the other pilot. Trowa retreated down the aisle.
"You're right Heero, we don't! What in the hell do you think you're doing here!?" he demanded. Heero breathed in and out heavily, calming himself.
"Trowa," he began calmly, "you've been deceived-"
"I know that already damn it!! But why are you here?!" he yelled. He couldn't explain why he was becoming so frantic, but instinct seemed to dull his reasoning. He felt like a cornered animal for some reason, his train of thought suddenly derailed from its one track of logic.
"Trowa, Dorothy isn't going to Earth. She's safe, at the same hospital Sally Po heads. I've come to stop you from making a terrible mis-"
"You lie!" he screamed. "How much is he paying you, Heero?!" Trowa demanded, taking a long, bold step towards his friend. He jabbed him in the chest and repeated the question, his voice laced with malice.
"I don't know what you're talking-"
"Shut up!! You know damn well what I'm talking about! How much is Quatre paying you to do this? Is it enough to take Relena to nice restaurant, Heero?! Is it?! I hope so, you should at least get something out of betraying you friend!!" he cried, pushing Heero back and away from him as hard as he could. Heero was dumbfounded as he stumbled back and landed heavily on the plush red carpet, as was the rest of the passengers on the flight. A young nervous flight attendant watched on in horror as Trowa advanced on Heero again, his eyes almost feral.
"Trowa, I'm not trying to betray you, if you'd only listen to me and stop this-"
"Get out," Trowa replied, his breath coming in heaves. He towered over the Japanese man, his whole stance radiating with anger. Heero growled and pushed himself up, standing only inches away from his comrade. Despite his heritage, he came up to Trowa's chin and from his stance could look Trowa square in the eye.
"Trowa, I'm sorry I have to do this," he said as calmly as he could. Faster than any of the passengers could follow, his hand came up and down in a swift motion, aiming for a vital pressure point. But Trowa had seen the move too many times before and Heero had, unfortunately, given him enough warning. He grabbed the other pilot's wrist, nanoseconds before it made contact with his own neck. And while holding his arm like his hand was a shark's jaw, he used his opposite elbow to sucker punch Heero in the stomach, knocking him to his knees and effectively ridding him of his supply of oxygen, long enough to keep him off his back.
"Now, get out of here Heero. I'm going to Earth, and I WILL be with Dorothy again. Go back to Quatre and tell him that. Tell him that when I find him, I'll kill him for taking her away from me, understand?" he ordered, his voice low and menacing. Heero coughed, a trickle of blood dribbling down his chin. He looked back up at his friend, trying to convey the mistake through his Prussian blue eyes but Trowa's own eyes were veiled by his determination, as bullheaded as it was.
Heero struggled to his feet and braced himself on one of the seats above him. Trowa watched him go, his mind slowly coming down from the adrenaline kick. A part of him felt evil for doing that to his friend, like it had been he who had betrayed their friend and not the other way around. However, he pushed those feelings aside in the same manner that he pushed the crowd aside as he returned to his seat.
Heero was in more pain than he was letting on but he'd be damned if he let anyone see that as he stumbled back to the mobile suit. He rolled his eyes as the guard that was supposed to stop the fight between himself and Trowa finally had the courage to stop him.
"Was that the passenger with the wrong ticket?" he inquired, his eyes smug despite his fear of confronting the two. "Seems to me he knew what flight he wanted to be on."
"You'll do better to keep your nose out of this," Heero replied, his eyes telling the other man not to even think about arguing. Heero pushed his way past him and into the hanger that was housed inside the airplane and held the mobile suit he'd taken. As he pulled himself into the cockpit again, he stretched the cramping muscles of his stomach, trying to relieve the pain Trowa had caused. He wiped the blood from his mouth and stared at it for a moment before wiping it on his pants. He never was a very friendly person but as he moved on in his life with the men and women that had fought with him on the various battlefields he had grown closer to them to the point where it hurt again to hear someone else's problems, where he could feel sympathy and love and friendship again. And the fight with Trowa, and being called a liar hurt. He had never realized how much the Heavyarms pilot had gotten under his skin but now it stung more than the bruises he'd received from the other pilot.
But he couldn't let Trowa do this. He wanted his friends to be happy, because it didn't strike him as fair that he'd be happy with Relena while Trowa and Dorothy were miserable. Making quick work out of his mission, he turned on the built in vid-phone of the mobile suit, deciding to contact Relena and have the one person who could convince Trowa to come back vid-phone him.
Pagan had never seen Miss Relena as nervous as she was now before. After years of being her personal attendant, he had noticed some of her habits when nervous. One was to twirl her hair on each finger in turn and another was to bite her lip hard enough to make the skin go white. However, he wasn't particularly worried. He was the optimistic sort of person and he knew that Miss Relena was only so nervous because her friends were involved in something that was causing them to act stranger than usual, particularly Mr. Yuy.
"Miss Relena, would you like me to bring you some hot chocolate?" he asked, hoping to distract her from her thoughts. She looked up at him and smiled, her eyes softening.
"That would be lovely Pagan," she replied, finally letting go of her honey-blonde hair. Pagan smiled in return and gave her a small bow, before heading off towards the kitchen to make her cocoa. She sighed at the sound of the swinging doors that led to the kitchen clacking together before slumping down in the plush armchair next to the vid-phone. It was amazing how relieved one could be by a simple vid-phone call one moment and the next be thrown into a load of new worries the next.
She was so busy replaying her conversation between Heero earlier that she almost missed the ringing of the vid-phone next to her. Her hands clumsy from haste, she finally opened up the device and nearly began to cry at the sight of her boyfriend looking back at her, looking fairly unharmed.
"Heero?" she began, her voice cracking and preventing her from continuing. He tried to give her a smile but it only ended up in a wince. She started towards the screen before remembering that there were thousands of miles between them and she couldn't hold him at that particular moment.
"Relena, I need you to contact Dorothy at that hospital, the one Sally Po works at," he said, not giving her a chance to finish voicing her worries and concerns. She snapped her mouth shut and processed the information, parts of her mind already trying to remember the number that Sally had given her in case she ever needed to speak with her at the hospital.
"Why? Heero, what's going on?" she began in a rush, trying to keep her questions to only the bare minimum. Heero sighed roughly and looked off screen, his eyes looking almost hurt.
"Relena, it's so hard to explain, so much has happened in such a short period of time. But in short, Trowa's making a big mistake; he thinks Dorothy's on Earth and he's trying to get there now. But she's in the hospital on L-3," he tried to explain as quickly as he could. Relena gasped and tried to let the information sink in but there were still so many gaps for her imagination to fill that she couldn't fit it all inside herself. "Relena? I need you to get in contact with Dorothy and have her vid-phone this phone hear. Can you do that for me, Rel?" His softened voice, concerned eyes, and the use of her favorite nickname snapped her out of her reverie and pulled her back into his eyes.
"Yes," she said, "Yes, Heero, I can. What's the number?"
Wufei stroked the back of Sally's hand with his thumb as he held it. He turned towards her when he felt her eyes on him and gave her a reassuring smile. The group had been sitting silently inside Dorothy's room, waiting for Duo to return with Trowa and for life to pick up where it had left off, as hard as it would without their, now, ex-friend Quatre. However, Duo had returned without Trowa but with news. Dorothy's eyes still looked broken as she picked at her blanket and tried to repress tears, sobs, and the like.
Only recently they had gotten a phone call from Relena, saying that Heero needed Dorothy to vid-phone them and it was now only a matter of waiting for a vid-phone to arrive. Relena had had no idea as to why Heero needed Dorothy to call him, but her tone sounded worried, as though Heero's actions had made her concerned. Sally had ordered a vid-phone be brought to their room and was now becoming impatient with its lack of arrival. Wufei pulled her hand up and kissed it twice, succeeding in calming and distracting the woman.
Duo's face was etched with worry for his friends and was beginning to feel guilty. Guilty that he couldn't stop Trowa and guilty because now his pregnant soon-to-be wife had to comfort him instead of him being strong for her. Hilde had untied and unbraided and braided and tied and repeated the process three times now in an effort to soothe the pilot. The feel of her fingers running through his long, chestnut locks was comforting but it seemed like nothing would put him at ease unless Trowa walked through that hospital door.
Dorothy didn't let on but she was secretly watching the two couples on either side of her. Although they had all expressed their concern for her, they were much too busy comforting each other to lend a shoulder to her. However, she couldn't be mad for the overwhelming emotion, or rather, lack of emotion inside of her that was eating her up was too big to let anger intrude. The worry of never seeing Trowa again that had fed upon her the night he chased after the android was nothing to what she felt now. She needed him in her life. And when…if…she ever saw him again, she vowed to herself that she would make sure he knew that.
"I'm sorry I took so long, Dr. Po. We couldn't find any available-" the nursing assistant paused as she entered the room, a suppressing feeling of mourning seemed to fill her lungs faster than oxygen could. Out of habit, she glanced at the bed but was surprised to see the patient was still alive.
"Thank you, Ms. Jones, if you'll just set it on the over-bed table and we'll take it from there," Sally said, her voice softer than Ms. Jones was used to hearing. She nodded and set it down harder than she'd wanted on the table and almost ran out of the room to escape the odd feeling that the room gave her. Sally pushed away from her chair hastily and made quick work out of setting up the vid-phone. She gave Dorothy a quick, reassuring smile as she typed in the number Relena had given her.
"Here you are, Dorothy," she said, turning the phone in the younger girl's direction.
"Thank you," Dorothy whispered, her voice weaker than the group had ever heard it. Apprehension filled the room as the blue screen turned blue. The group unconsciously moved their chairs closer to the bed in order to hear what was being said.
Heero sighed in relief as he picked up the vid-phone. The mechanics that worked in the hangar that housed his mobile suit were beginning to give him odd looks and each moment that ticked past brought him and Trowa closer to Earth and farther away from the colonies.
"Hello Dorothy," Heero said as he picked up the connection.
"Hello," she replied. "Where's Trowa?"
Heero winced at the sound of his friend's name, sending chills of dread up Dorothy's spine. She resisted the urge to ask if Trowa was alright so that she could get an answer to her first question.
"Dorothy, I'm on the shuttle that he's on but he won't believe me. He thinks that I'm working for Quatre," he answered. At the sound of Quatre's name the men in the room seemed to bristle with anger.
"Oh, so why did you call me?" she asked, her mind not really putting the pieces of this puzzle together.
"I need you to convince him to come home with me. It'll be hard, he'll try to convince himself that we're all tricking him, but it's the only thing I can think of and we're running out of time. I overheard some mechanics say we're going to enter Earth's atmosphere in half an hour…" Heero explained, his voice trailing off. Duo and Wufei's eyes connected across Dorothy's bed and the same thought ran through their minds.
'As soon as the enter the atmosphere, there's no turning back.'
"Then connect me to him Heero," Dorothy ordered, her voice slowly gaining back its strength. Sally watched the girl carefully as Heero took the vid-phone towards the area Trowa was sitting. She didn't know what this sort of emotional strain this might have on her condition and she wrestled with herself over if it was worth it. However, she concluded, as she tightened her grip on Wufei's hand, love was worth hurting yourself…as long as it was in moderation.
Heero passed the guard that had stopped him earlier, carrying the vid-phone as though it were a holy item. The flight attendants cowered away from him and he noticed that as one of them, further up the aisle, served dinner, she also avoided Trowa.
"Trowa, I'm going to prove to you I'm not in cahoots with Quatre," Heero said as he flipped down Trowa's in-flight table and set the vid-phone down in front of him. For the first time in a long, strenuous 24 hours, Trowa's green eyes connected with Dorothy's soft blue-gray ones. Her pale face lit up and she smiled the most brilliant smile she'd ever given him. Her eyes brimmed with tears and her eyes sparkled.
"Dorothy?" Trowa began, his voice failing him. He looked from his friend's face to her's, before keeping his gaze locked with hers. He reached out as though to touch her face and Dorothy did the same.
"It's me Trowa," she replied. His heart ached as his fingers met only the tough, cold plastic screen of the vid-phone instead of Dorothy's smooth, soft skin.
"Are you alright? Is Quatre treating you well? Of course he isn't, the bastard! Don't worry Dorothy, I'm on my way to get you out of there, okay?" he gushed, his mission returning to him. Dorothy's smile diminished however, instead of brightening like he'd thought it would.
"Trowa, I'm not on Earth," she explained. Wufei looked down at his watch; the trip from the hangar to where Trowa was sitting had taken them close to 15 minutes and they only had a safe 10 minutes left. However, before he could point this out to Dorothy, Sally put a hand on his arm and gave it a soft squeeze.
"Dorothy, don't worry. I know how it works; I'm coming to get you no matter how many times they force you to tell me not to! You just tell them that I can see right through their plot, okay?" he answered, his voice low and determined. Dorothy's heart began to sink. She closed her eyes and two crystalline tears fell down her cheeks.
"Don't cry Dorothy, you have to be strong…Dorothy, what are you doing?"
The same question haunted the group in the hospital room as Dorothy pulled off the blankets that hid her still mildly frostbitten legs. Although they were healing fast, she had been told not to walk. Hilde rushed up to help her lie back down but Dorothy waved her away. Unsteadily, she picked up the vid-phone and began walking towards the window. As she did, her eyes fixed on Trowa.
"Trowa Barton, you listen to me right now. Do you love me?" she questioned, her voice stronger than it should be considering her state. Trowa was dumbfounded, what could she possibly be getting at.
"Yes, you know I do, that's why I'm-"
"Do you trust me?" she asked, her voice coming closer and closer to failing her. The rest of the group watched in amazement as she pushed her body to move her towards the window. She set the vid-phone against the window sill and paused to regain some of her strength.
"Of course, Dorothy, what's all-"
"Then trust me now Trowa. Put your love to the test and trust me; Trowa, your friends aren't trying to trick you and neither am I. I'm still in the colonies," she said, her voice beginning to break from strain and threatening tears. She spun the vid-phone around and pointed it's camera out onto the view the window had to offer.
Trowa gasped as he saw the colony spread out before him. The artificial blizzard had left it full of snow, looking pure and like crystal. In the distance, he could see the colony wall, abuzz with lights and signals that kept the colony as livable as it was.
"Trowa, that's the colony we live in, L-3," said Dorothy's voice. "Trowa, over there, just beyond that big building where they keep the grocery store provisions is our apartment. And way over there is the book store where we…" her voice failed her finally and the tears got the best of her. Trowa could hear a choked sob and wanted desperately to tell Dorothy to turn the vid-phone around so he could see her but he was too dumbfounded to speak. The fight with Duo, the fist fight with Heero, the idiot he'd made himself out to be; all of these memories, thoughts, and accusations came flying back at him. As if in a dream, he felt Heero's hand on his shoulder, giving him a friendly squeeze. Again, he wanted to speak, to tell his friend how sorry he was…but he couldn't.
Dorothy seemed to read his mind and turned the vid-phone around to face her. Behind her he could make out the figures of his friends; Duo, Hilde, Wufei, and Sally.
"That's the bookstore where we really truly met," he finally said, his voice returning to him. Dorothy held back a sob again but it hit her hard and Trowa berated himself for not being there to comfort her. But he would be, and soon.
"Come home Trowa, please…" she finally said. Wufei, so caught up in the events, finally pulled himself out of his daze and looked at his watch. There was only 5 minutes or so before the shuttle would enter the atmosphere; the safe 10 minutes was up. However, before he could say anything, he was stopped again, this time by a ominous voice that came from the vid-phone.
"All passengers, please fasten your seat belts. We'll be entering the Earth's atmosphere in 5 minutes."
"Trowa?" Dorothy questioned, her eyes filling with more tears.
"Dorothy, I'll be-"
"All electronic devices shall be turned off at this time." And before Trowa could tell Dorothy not to worry, that he would be coming home, the vid-phone shut off, leaving him separated from his love.
Dun, dun, dun, dun…
Hmm, IS this really the last chapter? Or is there another one on the way? Or will it all be explained in the epilogue?
You'll have to stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of…
Out of Tune!!! Love to all - MadameHotaru.of.87
Chapter Eighteen: The Imposing Atmosphere
I know, I know, I promised Chap. 18 would be out soon, but there's been some difficulties, certain things came up and I was pulled off on other projects. However, this'll be the last chapter and the epilogue will be out shortly after. So don't worry, I've got a whole week off from my classes so this should be done within the month of August. So thanks for being patient!!
Also, thanks to those who noticed the typo I made with the numbers of the flights; I kind of screwed some of them up. It wasn't my fault though, it was the moose. And a special shout out goes to for remembering who Sony was!
In case anyone was planning to ask, I don't plan on writing a sequel to Out Of Tune. I have many other projects after this to pursue and that's sort of what kicked start me to sit down and finish this!! Hope those who are HP fans will check out the Harry/Hermione fic that I'll be starting shortly after this! Ciao!
Although Trowa was tired, and his body cried for rest, he couldn't let himself relax. He had gotten a shuttle to Earth but that was only the first step to getting to Dorothy. He still had to find where Quatre had taken her and get her out of his grasp. Then there came the hardest part; keeping Dorothy safe. He didn't think it would do any good to contact Une and tell her what Quatre was doing, she always had a soft spot when it came to the Winner boy. So he wouldn't get any help from her. Heero would be too busy protecting Relena, although the two of them might be able to find Trowa and Dorothy a place to live in peace on Earth. Going back to the colonies was out of the question; although it was Quatre who'd come up with the idea of cutting off transportation, he had to agree that it was a good plan for catching this New Faction.
He sighed, letting his head fall against the thick window of the shuttle. Part of him felt like screaming in frustration, part of him felt like hurting something, someone, or maybe himself, and smaller parts voiced their own frustrations and worries. He just couldn't focus on any one thing except for Dorothy; which was his major hindrance considering that he needed to come up with an effective plan to keep them both safe. His brain was askew with thoughts that wouldn't connect themselves and scenarios in which Dorothy wouldn't come back to him, or she couldn't because she was hurt, or… Trowa shook his head, closing his eyes shut, blocking out the gruesome possibilities. He needed to rest, he rationalized with himself. He leaned back against the soft seat and let out a long breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"If only Dorothy was here," he whispered softly, soft enough that it was only he who heard it. As what could only be described as nightmares of what could possibly happening to her at that moment surged into his head, so did a semblance of a restless sleep.
Sleeping is how Heero found Trowa. He figured he'd find him holding the captain hostage and driving the shuttle himself however, he now had to give him some credit for having some self control and letting himself rest before pursuing Dorothy. Lord knows, Heero wouldn't be able to sleep if he thought Relena was being hauled off away from him.
He excused himself as he pushed his way down the row towards the empty seat next to Trowa. He sat down on the warm leather seat and set a hand on the pilot's forearm.
"Trowa?" he said louder than he wanted as he shook the figure. With a start, Heavyarms master awoke and grabbed Heero's arm in a vice-like grip. With his emerald eyes slightly dazed with fatigue and sleep, he slowly focused in on Heero's face.
"Heero?" he questioned groggily. Heero nodded and pulled Trowa to his feet and began to pull him towards the back entrance without explanation. Although it would have been the friendly thing to do and let Trowa get some rest, he knew that he needed to get Trowa back to Earth before transportation docks closed. However, it seemed Trowa had other ideas in mind.
"Stop!" he cried as he pulled his arm away from Heero. Heero slid to a stop and whipped around, his Prussian blue eyes frustrated already. "Heero, what are you doing here?!"
Heero growled as he reached for Trowa's arm again but it evaded him. Trowa responded to his growl with a dazed look of confusion, mixed with anger and frustration.
"We don't have time for this!" Heero snarled as he reached yet again for the other pilot. Trowa retreated down the aisle.
"You're right Heero, we don't! What in the hell do you think you're doing here!?" he demanded. Heero breathed in and out heavily, calming himself.
"Trowa," he began calmly, "you've been deceived-"
"I know that already damn it!! But why are you here?!" he yelled. He couldn't explain why he was becoming so frantic, but instinct seemed to dull his reasoning. He felt like a cornered animal for some reason, his train of thought suddenly derailed from its one track of logic.
"Trowa, Dorothy isn't going to Earth. She's safe, at the same hospital Sally Po heads. I've come to stop you from making a terrible mis-"
"You lie!" he screamed. "How much is he paying you, Heero?!" Trowa demanded, taking a long, bold step towards his friend. He jabbed him in the chest and repeated the question, his voice laced with malice.
"I don't know what you're talking-"
"Shut up!! You know damn well what I'm talking about! How much is Quatre paying you to do this? Is it enough to take Relena to nice restaurant, Heero?! Is it?! I hope so, you should at least get something out of betraying you friend!!" he cried, pushing Heero back and away from him as hard as he could. Heero was dumbfounded as he stumbled back and landed heavily on the plush red carpet, as was the rest of the passengers on the flight. A young nervous flight attendant watched on in horror as Trowa advanced on Heero again, his eyes almost feral.
"Trowa, I'm not trying to betray you, if you'd only listen to me and stop this-"
"Get out," Trowa replied, his breath coming in heaves. He towered over the Japanese man, his whole stance radiating with anger. Heero growled and pushed himself up, standing only inches away from his comrade. Despite his heritage, he came up to Trowa's chin and from his stance could look Trowa square in the eye.
"Trowa, I'm sorry I have to do this," he said as calmly as he could. Faster than any of the passengers could follow, his hand came up and down in a swift motion, aiming for a vital pressure point. But Trowa had seen the move too many times before and Heero had, unfortunately, given him enough warning. He grabbed the other pilot's wrist, nanoseconds before it made contact with his own neck. And while holding his arm like his hand was a shark's jaw, he used his opposite elbow to sucker punch Heero in the stomach, knocking him to his knees and effectively ridding him of his supply of oxygen, long enough to keep him off his back.
"Now, get out of here Heero. I'm going to Earth, and I WILL be with Dorothy again. Go back to Quatre and tell him that. Tell him that when I find him, I'll kill him for taking her away from me, understand?" he ordered, his voice low and menacing. Heero coughed, a trickle of blood dribbling down his chin. He looked back up at his friend, trying to convey the mistake through his Prussian blue eyes but Trowa's own eyes were veiled by his determination, as bullheaded as it was.
Heero struggled to his feet and braced himself on one of the seats above him. Trowa watched him go, his mind slowly coming down from the adrenaline kick. A part of him felt evil for doing that to his friend, like it had been he who had betrayed their friend and not the other way around. However, he pushed those feelings aside in the same manner that he pushed the crowd aside as he returned to his seat.
Heero was in more pain than he was letting on but he'd be damned if he let anyone see that as he stumbled back to the mobile suit. He rolled his eyes as the guard that was supposed to stop the fight between himself and Trowa finally had the courage to stop him.
"Was that the passenger with the wrong ticket?" he inquired, his eyes smug despite his fear of confronting the two. "Seems to me he knew what flight he wanted to be on."
"You'll do better to keep your nose out of this," Heero replied, his eyes telling the other man not to even think about arguing. Heero pushed his way past him and into the hanger that was housed inside the airplane and held the mobile suit he'd taken. As he pulled himself into the cockpit again, he stretched the cramping muscles of his stomach, trying to relieve the pain Trowa had caused. He wiped the blood from his mouth and stared at it for a moment before wiping it on his pants. He never was a very friendly person but as he moved on in his life with the men and women that had fought with him on the various battlefields he had grown closer to them to the point where it hurt again to hear someone else's problems, where he could feel sympathy and love and friendship again. And the fight with Trowa, and being called a liar hurt. He had never realized how much the Heavyarms pilot had gotten under his skin but now it stung more than the bruises he'd received from the other pilot.
But he couldn't let Trowa do this. He wanted his friends to be happy, because it didn't strike him as fair that he'd be happy with Relena while Trowa and Dorothy were miserable. Making quick work out of his mission, he turned on the built in vid-phone of the mobile suit, deciding to contact Relena and have the one person who could convince Trowa to come back vid-phone him.
Pagan had never seen Miss Relena as nervous as she was now before. After years of being her personal attendant, he had noticed some of her habits when nervous. One was to twirl her hair on each finger in turn and another was to bite her lip hard enough to make the skin go white. However, he wasn't particularly worried. He was the optimistic sort of person and he knew that Miss Relena was only so nervous because her friends were involved in something that was causing them to act stranger than usual, particularly Mr. Yuy.
"Miss Relena, would you like me to bring you some hot chocolate?" he asked, hoping to distract her from her thoughts. She looked up at him and smiled, her eyes softening.
"That would be lovely Pagan," she replied, finally letting go of her honey-blonde hair. Pagan smiled in return and gave her a small bow, before heading off towards the kitchen to make her cocoa. She sighed at the sound of the swinging doors that led to the kitchen clacking together before slumping down in the plush armchair next to the vid-phone. It was amazing how relieved one could be by a simple vid-phone call one moment and the next be thrown into a load of new worries the next.
She was so busy replaying her conversation between Heero earlier that she almost missed the ringing of the vid-phone next to her. Her hands clumsy from haste, she finally opened up the device and nearly began to cry at the sight of her boyfriend looking back at her, looking fairly unharmed.
"Heero?" she began, her voice cracking and preventing her from continuing. He tried to give her a smile but it only ended up in a wince. She started towards the screen before remembering that there were thousands of miles between them and she couldn't hold him at that particular moment.
"Relena, I need you to contact Dorothy at that hospital, the one Sally Po works at," he said, not giving her a chance to finish voicing her worries and concerns. She snapped her mouth shut and processed the information, parts of her mind already trying to remember the number that Sally had given her in case she ever needed to speak with her at the hospital.
"Why? Heero, what's going on?" she began in a rush, trying to keep her questions to only the bare minimum. Heero sighed roughly and looked off screen, his eyes looking almost hurt.
"Relena, it's so hard to explain, so much has happened in such a short period of time. But in short, Trowa's making a big mistake; he thinks Dorothy's on Earth and he's trying to get there now. But she's in the hospital on L-3," he tried to explain as quickly as he could. Relena gasped and tried to let the information sink in but there were still so many gaps for her imagination to fill that she couldn't fit it all inside herself. "Relena? I need you to get in contact with Dorothy and have her vid-phone this phone hear. Can you do that for me, Rel?" His softened voice, concerned eyes, and the use of her favorite nickname snapped her out of her reverie and pulled her back into his eyes.
"Yes," she said, "Yes, Heero, I can. What's the number?"
Wufei stroked the back of Sally's hand with his thumb as he held it. He turned towards her when he felt her eyes on him and gave her a reassuring smile. The group had been sitting silently inside Dorothy's room, waiting for Duo to return with Trowa and for life to pick up where it had left off, as hard as it would without their, now, ex-friend Quatre. However, Duo had returned without Trowa but with news. Dorothy's eyes still looked broken as she picked at her blanket and tried to repress tears, sobs, and the like.
Only recently they had gotten a phone call from Relena, saying that Heero needed Dorothy to vid-phone them and it was now only a matter of waiting for a vid-phone to arrive. Relena had had no idea as to why Heero needed Dorothy to call him, but her tone sounded worried, as though Heero's actions had made her concerned. Sally had ordered a vid-phone be brought to their room and was now becoming impatient with its lack of arrival. Wufei pulled her hand up and kissed it twice, succeeding in calming and distracting the woman.
Duo's face was etched with worry for his friends and was beginning to feel guilty. Guilty that he couldn't stop Trowa and guilty because now his pregnant soon-to-be wife had to comfort him instead of him being strong for her. Hilde had untied and unbraided and braided and tied and repeated the process three times now in an effort to soothe the pilot. The feel of her fingers running through his long, chestnut locks was comforting but it seemed like nothing would put him at ease unless Trowa walked through that hospital door.
Dorothy didn't let on but she was secretly watching the two couples on either side of her. Although they had all expressed their concern for her, they were much too busy comforting each other to lend a shoulder to her. However, she couldn't be mad for the overwhelming emotion, or rather, lack of emotion inside of her that was eating her up was too big to let anger intrude. The worry of never seeing Trowa again that had fed upon her the night he chased after the android was nothing to what she felt now. She needed him in her life. And when…if…she ever saw him again, she vowed to herself that she would make sure he knew that.
"I'm sorry I took so long, Dr. Po. We couldn't find any available-" the nursing assistant paused as she entered the room, a suppressing feeling of mourning seemed to fill her lungs faster than oxygen could. Out of habit, she glanced at the bed but was surprised to see the patient was still alive.
"Thank you, Ms. Jones, if you'll just set it on the over-bed table and we'll take it from there," Sally said, her voice softer than Ms. Jones was used to hearing. She nodded and set it down harder than she'd wanted on the table and almost ran out of the room to escape the odd feeling that the room gave her. Sally pushed away from her chair hastily and made quick work out of setting up the vid-phone. She gave Dorothy a quick, reassuring smile as she typed in the number Relena had given her.
"Here you are, Dorothy," she said, turning the phone in the younger girl's direction.
"Thank you," Dorothy whispered, her voice weaker than the group had ever heard it. Apprehension filled the room as the blue screen turned blue. The group unconsciously moved their chairs closer to the bed in order to hear what was being said.
Heero sighed in relief as he picked up the vid-phone. The mechanics that worked in the hangar that housed his mobile suit were beginning to give him odd looks and each moment that ticked past brought him and Trowa closer to Earth and farther away from the colonies.
"Hello Dorothy," Heero said as he picked up the connection.
"Hello," she replied. "Where's Trowa?"
Heero winced at the sound of his friend's name, sending chills of dread up Dorothy's spine. She resisted the urge to ask if Trowa was alright so that she could get an answer to her first question.
"Dorothy, I'm on the shuttle that he's on but he won't believe me. He thinks that I'm working for Quatre," he answered. At the sound of Quatre's name the men in the room seemed to bristle with anger.
"Oh, so why did you call me?" she asked, her mind not really putting the pieces of this puzzle together.
"I need you to convince him to come home with me. It'll be hard, he'll try to convince himself that we're all tricking him, but it's the only thing I can think of and we're running out of time. I overheard some mechanics say we're going to enter Earth's atmosphere in half an hour…" Heero explained, his voice trailing off. Duo and Wufei's eyes connected across Dorothy's bed and the same thought ran through their minds.
'As soon as the enter the atmosphere, there's no turning back.'
"Then connect me to him Heero," Dorothy ordered, her voice slowly gaining back its strength. Sally watched the girl carefully as Heero took the vid-phone towards the area Trowa was sitting. She didn't know what this sort of emotional strain this might have on her condition and she wrestled with herself over if it was worth it. However, she concluded, as she tightened her grip on Wufei's hand, love was worth hurting yourself…as long as it was in moderation.
Heero passed the guard that had stopped him earlier, carrying the vid-phone as though it were a holy item. The flight attendants cowered away from him and he noticed that as one of them, further up the aisle, served dinner, she also avoided Trowa.
"Trowa, I'm going to prove to you I'm not in cahoots with Quatre," Heero said as he flipped down Trowa's in-flight table and set the vid-phone down in front of him. For the first time in a long, strenuous 24 hours, Trowa's green eyes connected with Dorothy's soft blue-gray ones. Her pale face lit up and she smiled the most brilliant smile she'd ever given him. Her eyes brimmed with tears and her eyes sparkled.
"Dorothy?" Trowa began, his voice failing him. He looked from his friend's face to her's, before keeping his gaze locked with hers. He reached out as though to touch her face and Dorothy did the same.
"It's me Trowa," she replied. His heart ached as his fingers met only the tough, cold plastic screen of the vid-phone instead of Dorothy's smooth, soft skin.
"Are you alright? Is Quatre treating you well? Of course he isn't, the bastard! Don't worry Dorothy, I'm on my way to get you out of there, okay?" he gushed, his mission returning to him. Dorothy's smile diminished however, instead of brightening like he'd thought it would.
"Trowa, I'm not on Earth," she explained. Wufei looked down at his watch; the trip from the hangar to where Trowa was sitting had taken them close to 15 minutes and they only had a safe 10 minutes left. However, before he could point this out to Dorothy, Sally put a hand on his arm and gave it a soft squeeze.
"Dorothy, don't worry. I know how it works; I'm coming to get you no matter how many times they force you to tell me not to! You just tell them that I can see right through their plot, okay?" he answered, his voice low and determined. Dorothy's heart began to sink. She closed her eyes and two crystalline tears fell down her cheeks.
"Don't cry Dorothy, you have to be strong…Dorothy, what are you doing?"
The same question haunted the group in the hospital room as Dorothy pulled off the blankets that hid her still mildly frostbitten legs. Although they were healing fast, she had been told not to walk. Hilde rushed up to help her lie back down but Dorothy waved her away. Unsteadily, she picked up the vid-phone and began walking towards the window. As she did, her eyes fixed on Trowa.
"Trowa Barton, you listen to me right now. Do you love me?" she questioned, her voice stronger than it should be considering her state. Trowa was dumbfounded, what could she possibly be getting at.
"Yes, you know I do, that's why I'm-"
"Do you trust me?" she asked, her voice coming closer and closer to failing her. The rest of the group watched in amazement as she pushed her body to move her towards the window. She set the vid-phone against the window sill and paused to regain some of her strength.
"Of course, Dorothy, what's all-"
"Then trust me now Trowa. Put your love to the test and trust me; Trowa, your friends aren't trying to trick you and neither am I. I'm still in the colonies," she said, her voice beginning to break from strain and threatening tears. She spun the vid-phone around and pointed it's camera out onto the view the window had to offer.
Trowa gasped as he saw the colony spread out before him. The artificial blizzard had left it full of snow, looking pure and like crystal. In the distance, he could see the colony wall, abuzz with lights and signals that kept the colony as livable as it was.
"Trowa, that's the colony we live in, L-3," said Dorothy's voice. "Trowa, over there, just beyond that big building where they keep the grocery store provisions is our apartment. And way over there is the book store where we…" her voice failed her finally and the tears got the best of her. Trowa could hear a choked sob and wanted desperately to tell Dorothy to turn the vid-phone around so he could see her but he was too dumbfounded to speak. The fight with Duo, the fist fight with Heero, the idiot he'd made himself out to be; all of these memories, thoughts, and accusations came flying back at him. As if in a dream, he felt Heero's hand on his shoulder, giving him a friendly squeeze. Again, he wanted to speak, to tell his friend how sorry he was…but he couldn't.
Dorothy seemed to read his mind and turned the vid-phone around to face her. Behind her he could make out the figures of his friends; Duo, Hilde, Wufei, and Sally.
"That's the bookstore where we really truly met," he finally said, his voice returning to him. Dorothy held back a sob again but it hit her hard and Trowa berated himself for not being there to comfort her. But he would be, and soon.
"Come home Trowa, please…" she finally said. Wufei, so caught up in the events, finally pulled himself out of his daze and looked at his watch. There was only 5 minutes or so before the shuttle would enter the atmosphere; the safe 10 minutes was up. However, before he could say anything, he was stopped again, this time by a ominous voice that came from the vid-phone.
"All passengers, please fasten your seat belts. We'll be entering the Earth's atmosphere in 5 minutes."
"Trowa?" Dorothy questioned, her eyes filling with more tears.
"Dorothy, I'll be-"
"All electronic devices shall be turned off at this time." And before Trowa could tell Dorothy not to worry, that he would be coming home, the vid-phone shut off, leaving him separated from his love.
Dun, dun, dun, dun…
Hmm, IS this really the last chapter? Or is there another one on the way? Or will it all be explained in the epilogue?
You'll have to stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of…
Out of Tune!!! Love to all - MadameHotaru.of.87