by Deirdre Blair
Disclaimer: I claim absolutely no rights to Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon, or any of their respective likenesses and characters. This fanfic was written and published for entertainment purposes only, and the authoress does not intend to make money off of it. Any copyright or trademark infringement is unintended. Any similarities between any persons, dead or alive, is purely coincidental. No animals or persons were harmed during the making of this fic. (Wufei: -sneers- Stupid lying onna.... -is wheeled away in a hospital bed with bandages around his head, eye, legs, arms, and mid-section-)
Oh! However, I do own Eagle and Ghost. So...don't take them, all right? They are characters made up by me for the purpose of this fic. That's it. Okay? And...the other characters you don't recognise...I own them too.
Summary: It's AC 200, three years after the last light of war. Earth and the five colonies are at peace, and mobile suits have all but disappeared. However, when a power-hungry and war-loving ruler decides to end all peace and take over all five colonies and Earth, the ex-Gundam pilots are forced out of retirement and into the strangest war mankind has ever witnessed.
Author's Note: Yay! Chapter two is here! I've looked into the future of this fic and I've seen that parts of it will seem to be drawn out very slowly while at other times, things will be happening very quickly. But don't hate me for it! I intended it to be like that. Also, I'd like to thank the following people for their wonderful reviews.
Nyneve, Marie, Black Aura-Sama, and Nerv Death!!!
-glomps- You guys rock!!! This is for you! (P.S. "Rara Avis," the title of this chapter, translates literally in Latin as "rare bird" but means "an uncommon or exceptional person.")
Rating: PG-13 (Warning, offensive language is used in this chapter.)
Genre: Angst/Drama
Pairings: Hotaru/Heero
Implied Pairings: Eagle/Ghost, Heero/Relena (one-sided)
Rara Avis
'Cause everything that
You thought I would be
Has fallen apart
Right in front of you...
-- Linkin Park "Numb"
"It's the third time this month."
Dr. Harold Turner and a man fairly taller than him stood on opposite sides of the hospital bed in which Shadow slept upon. A heart moniter calculated her heartbeats in slow, rhythmic beeps.
"Do you think it's a reaction to the lack of the 'Catalyst'?" the man in shadow asked, his voice measured and cold.
Turner turned and grabbed a clipboard and then handed it to the other man. "Her records show that it has nothing to do with the 'Catalyst.' In fact, even when she had been under Project Perennis, she had been having these symptoms, although to a milder extent. It seems the seizures get more violent with each passing day. Pretty soon, she just won't wake up. I give it...three months at most."
There was a momentary silence as clear grey eyes glistened like diamonds. "Then she is of no use to us. You know what to do." With that, he walked out of the hospital wing.
-
"Mr. Pheterman, you were the head of Project Perennis, were you not?"
Relena Peacecraft sat in her office, behind her great mahogany desk, wearing a formal but not stiff outfit. Her honey-blond hair fell upon her shoulders in long layers. Opposite her, in a cushioned chair, was Riley Pheterman, in an uncomfortably formal suit.
"Yes, Vice Foreign Minister, I was in charge of it."
Relena smiled, blushing somewhat. "Please, call me Relena. There is no need for such formality. I am hardly your superior." She thought for a moment, a frown replacing her sweet grin. "And had you told them, the World Unified Nation, that it was a bad idea to kill off the remaining sixteen trainees?"
"Yes, Vice -- I mean, Relena. I feared a day like this would come, where at least one, if not sixteen, trainees were not on our side. However, they are my superiors and I must follow orders -- or I face being dishonourably discharged."
Relena nodded. "Hm, I understand completely. And I agree that they should not have been disposed of. So," she leaned forward in her chair and fixed him with a critical stare. "Do you have any ideas at all on how we should go about getting rid of this whole mess before it gets out of control?"
Riley resisted the urge to run a hand through his hair, thus mussing it up in front of one of the most important people in the World Unified Nation. It would have been, in his opinion, a blatant sign of disrespect. Instead, he opted for sighing. "I'm afraid that it is already out of our control. At this point, I don't have any ideas at all on how to go about this. But I'm working on it -- day and night, I'm working on it. Some of my best men, those who were on Project Perennis, are working on it too. We're close, I can feel it, but we still have not grasped a plan. I hope you understand."
Relena smiled again, her eyes very kind. "Don't worry, Mr. Pheterman. I understand very well. This is a very tricky situation we have here and it can only be handled with the best of care. But if you do ever decide on something, please call me first. I've been left out of the loop for too long."
Riley furrowed his eyebrows. "You mean, they didn't tell you about it?"
Relena shook her head. "In their eyes, I am quite naïve in the ways of the world -- even though I've been through this for nearly five years. They believe I'm still a child, even though I turned twenty four months ago." She rubbed her temples. "It's frustrating, trying to get them to trust me with the cold, hard facts."
Riley indulged himself in a kind, gentle smile before replying, "I believe you've grown up considerably since that last incident -- your kidnapping."
Relena blushed and tried not to remember it. The whole thing was a rather painful experience for personal reasons. It had been the day after when she had confessed to Heero her love for him -- and when he had replied that he could not love her even if he wanted to. He hadn't been "programmed" to love; he hardly understood what it meant.
Noticing her unease, Riley quickly changed the subject. "Do the Gundam pilots know what happened? Were they let in on the little secret?"
"No, they still have no idea," she answered solemnly. "Part of me hopes that we can win this fight without involving them. They've already done so much for peace, fought in so many wars, given up so many things. It wouldn't seem fair, somehow, to involve them." She paused. "However, the other part of me knows that without them, we would certainly fail. That they are vital allies -- without them, we'll surely perish. So, you can see that I'm torn in my decision."
"Don't worry, Relena, you'll make the right decision," he encouraged.
-
"What do you fucking mean 'she's dead'?" snapped Eagle, who was sitting next to Ghost in a long, leather sofa. They had been called to the Commander's office the very day after they had found Shadow screaming in her room.
The Commander sat in his tall leather chair. Due to the extreme sunlight behind him, they could only discern clear-grey eyes. Everywhere else was drenched in pitch black shadow. "She died last night, due to a severe seizure. She stopped, and then went cold. There was nothing we could do for her."
"Bollocks!!! She's not dead!" Eagle cried, lunging at the Commander. His bodyguards grabbed their guns while Ghost grabbed Eagle. "She's not dead," he continued to scream. "You're fucking lying!!!"
"I'm afraid, Eagle, that I am not lying," informed the Commander, his voice rising higher to be heard over Eagle's insistant screaming. "You can check with Dr. Turner if you'd like."
"Yes, sir, we will. Thank you," thanked Ghost hurriedly, as he ushered the hysterical Eagle out of the room. He shut the door behind him and shoved Eagle up against the wall. "What are you doing?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Eagle looked up at him, his eyes brimming over with tears. His lower lip was quivering. "She's not dead, Ghost. She can't be... She's not!"
Sympathy replaced anger completely in Ghost's eyes as he released his hold on Eagle, who fell into him. One arm remained at his side, his other hand on Ghost's chest, next to his bowed head. Ghost hesitantly placed a firm hand on his shoulder. He could feel rather than hear Eagle's sobs.
"How can she be dead, Ghost? How? Just yesterday she was laughing and smiling -- a bright-eyed angel, full of life!" Eagle clenched his fist, taking some of Ghost's shirt in his clenched fingers. "It doesn't make sense."
Ghost shook his head solemnly. "No, it doesn't. It doesn't at all." He felt an unfamiliar tightness in his chest, and he fought the strange lump in his throat, and the tears that threatened to reach the surface. He had to be strong, for Eagle. If he fell apart, then neither of them would stand a chance.
Eagle let out a strangled sob, and grabbed Ghost with such force, it knocked him back a few steps. He buried his head in Ghost's shoulder and held onto him for dear life. Ghost didn't know what to do; so he stood there awkwardly, looking around to make sure nobody was nearing them.
Then tentatively, he linked his own arms around Eagle's shoulders and held him reassuringly.
"She's dead, Ghost," Eagle finally mumbled defeatedly. "She's gone."
Ghost said nothing. To speak would've been too hard at the moment, and the hitch in his own voice would've caused Eagle to burst into hysterics again.
-
It was midnight when Relena finally came "home" that night. She had been with Riley Pheterman and his assistants trying to see what they had come up with so far, to see if she could help with any of it. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to think of anything that they already hadn't.
Relena looked around, her violet eyes weary with everything that had been going on as of late. It had only been two days, but to her, it felt like two months. Somehow it all seemed quite surreal at the moment. She had only just begun to grasp the seriousness of the situation. And now that she was, her days as an innocent, carefree girl were sorely missed.
A maid by the name of Debbie hurriedly walked over to Relena. "You look very worn, miss. Would you like me to fix you some tea?"
Relena gave a thankful smile. "Yes, that would be lovely. Thank you." She looked around at the empty foyer. "Where are the boys?" she asked, referring to the five ex-pilots whom she had been sharing the mansion with for over two years. It was so close to Preventers head-quarters, that it only seemed natural that she stay with them. And, she had received an invitation from the owner of the estate, Quatre Raberba Winner.
"Oh, Mr. Winner is in his study, Mr. Barton is in the library, Mr. Maxwell is sleeping, Mr. Chang has just gone to bed, and Mr. Yuy is...." She gave a confused look. "Well, actually, I'm not sure where Mr. Yuy is. I haven't seen him since dinner."
"Thank you again, Debbie. I have a feeling I know where it is. I'll take my tea in my room." With that, she walked away from the maid and to the ballroom balcony, the largest balcony in the entire mansion. Heero was always there, it seemed, staring into space as if it held the infinite knowledge of the universe.
It was there she found him, standing guardedly, his eyes emotionless as always; although this time, they held great distance as well. She walked over to him and stood beside him. She tried to see what he saw, but all she could see in her naïve, superficial mind were a bunch of lights trapped in a black velvet blanket. "Staring into space again, Heero?"
He didn't jump, and she knew he wouldn't. He always knew when she walked into a room, when anyone walked into a room. His guards were constantly up. Doing that all of the time must be exhausting to a person after a while, she had always thought. But then again, Heero wasn't an ordinary person. He did, however, have the grace to acknowledge her presence with a simple nod.
"You miss it, don't you? The fighting, the excitement of war, and being able to see what the moon sees when it looks upon us from the heavens...," she asked with slight hesitation. She honestly did not know how he would react to her mentioning war again.
"That wouldn't be logical," he replied monotonously. His eyes betrayed nothing.
Relena placed her elbows on the balcony ledge and settled her chin in the palms of her hands. "You're not logical, Heero Yuy," she informed with a teasing voice. "You're the only person I know who can hold up his guards for eternity without breaking a sweat, who seems to have much more to him than meets the eye -- much more than anyone else and that's saying something -- and who stays up all night just to look at the stars."
"Looking at stars isn't abnormal," came his even retort.
Relena indulged in a lazy smile. "True, people often look up at the stars. But with you, it's different. The others, when they look at the stars, they have either a look of relief, or a fondness of memories. But you, when you look up at them, you have this intense longing in your eyes -- a yearning of almost unsuppressable desire." She paused to look at him, her tone a little more serious than before. His demeanour still had not changed. "You'll never be happy until you're fighting again, will you? Until you can fight in space."
He looked at her and said nothing; his eyebrows knitted together was the only sign of inner emotion.
Relena sighed. "You belong in space. That's where your heart is. You know love, Heero Yuy." She tenderly placed a hand on his cheek. "I know you know love because every time I look at you, I see it. And do you know what you love?" There was a pause; he said nothing and she just looked into his eyes. Slowly, with pain glistening in her amethyst stare, she turned his head towards the heavens. "You love space. It is the only thing that will ever make you happy." She let go of his face and began to walk away.
"Relena...," he started to say.
She stopped, tears brimming the surface of her eyes. She turned halfway and looked at him with reluctance.
"You know nothing has changed. I still can't love you like you want me to."
She nodded, closing her eyes. "Yes, Heero. I hadn't a doubt in my mind."
"But...." He paused as if trying to think of what words to use to express the thoughts flowing through his mind. "You are important to me. Like Duo, Wufei, Quatre, and Trowa, you are my comrade. That's all I can give you."
She smiled genuinely, her eyes glistening. "And that's more than I could ever want. Good night, Heero." With that, she walked away without waiting for a response for she knew one would never come. Heero never said good-bye, good night, good morning, or any greetings that would pass so easily between friends.
But that's what she and Heero were; they were friends. She knew this without him telling her, but him actually stating it made a part of her heart very warm and she felt as if perhaps her own longing could be beared.
-
Darkness surrounded her in an engulfing shadow. She could see nothing, hear everything, and couldn't move a single muscle, and that scared her. Perhaps she had been blinded and paralysed? Biting back a sob of panic, she took a couple of calming breaths before realising something.
She hadn't opened her eyes yet.
Slowly, eyelids fluttered open. Everything was still dark, but she could make out indistinct figures -- one being Dr. Harold Turner. He was grinning at her in a frightening sort of way. She attempted to back away when it suddenly dawned on her that the reason she couldn't move was because she had been bound tightly in ropes. She tried to shake her light-headedness away, but it only resulted in a sickening wave of vertigo. She closed her eyes and reopened them.
"What...what's going on?" she asked weakly, talking taking more effort than usual.
"Don't worry, Shadow, it'll all be over in a moment. In fact, we're here already."
She didn't like his tone. It foretold something sinister in his intentions. But before she could ask again, she was hoisted violently out of the van she hadn't even known she'd been in. Judging by the highness of the moon, it was near midnight. Just what was happening?
It was then she saw, or rather heard, her whereabouts. She was at a harbour that would more than likely lead into the Mediterranean Sea. Her eyes widened in shock as she began to struggle and scream. The man clapsed a hand firmly over her mouth. He quickened his pace and practically threw her into the harbour.
She felt the current pull her under and away as she tried to break free from her bondages and gasp for air. The third time she bobbed up, she had inhaled a mouthful of water. She began to choke and cough, but it was difficult for she was underwater. She felt as if her lungs were about to explode. The final current pulled her under so deep, that she quickly became disoriented and forgot which way was up.
It was then she felt ready to pass out from lack of oxygen. She could hold her breath for up to three minutes when not in a state of panic, but since she had already wasted so much energy in losing control of herself, she knew that her survival time had drastically decreased.
And then, starting from the corners of her vision, she felt and saw a blackness, a darkness creeping in. She let out a final breath as she lost all consciousness; cloudy blue water faded into desolate black abyss.
-
Ring. Ring. Ring.
"Ms. Relena, you have a phone call," informed Debbie.
Relena opened her eyes a bit before becoming aware of being conscious. "Um, I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"The phone, Ms. Relena, it's for you."
Relena looked about her room, her mind slowly realising coherent thought. "Oh, of course. I'll take it in here, thank you."
Debbie nodded and stepped out while Relena wiped the sleep from her eyes and picked up the receiver. It was an ordinary phone, as Relena didn't like people looking in on her room. "Hello?" she greeted unsurely.
"Relena, it's Riley Pheterman," said the voice on the other line. "Did I wake you?"
"Oh, no, I was already up," she lied brightly. "Is something the matter?"
"Remember how you asked me to tell you first if something came up?"
Relena nodded, and then gave herself a silent reprimand on momentary stupidity. "Yes, yes, of course I remember."
"Well..."
"Should I come down?"
"Yes, that would be good," he replied with relief.
"All right, I'll be there within the hour." She hung up the phone and sped away to get dressed and cleaned.
-
"What's going on?" Relena asked as Riley escorted her into the laboratory, where the whole place was in an uproar.
Riley said nothing, but led her over to a small hospital-like bed. She blinked and gazed upon the girl on top of it. She was barely breathing, her skin as pale and sickly as a vampire's, and her heart rate abnormally slow. "Who is this?" she asked with curiosity.
"Well," Riley explained, "This morning, two shipman found this girl tied and bound tightly, lying on the beach. They were worried and called the ambulance. At the hospital, they ran a search on her but found absolutely no information on her identity. So, they called us for they were suspicious of her. We brought her in about two hours ago and realised something."
Relena tore her gaze away from the girl and looked up at Riley. "What?"
"Do you remember those photographs I showed you the other day? In my office?"
Relena nodded.
"Does she look familiar to you?"
Relena looked back down at the girl and studied her looks. Short, about five feet total, a small frame, ghostly pale skin, Japanese origin, dark violet hair.... Her eyes widened. "You mean...this is her? She is Shadow?"
Riley nodded. "They are one in the same. I ran her fingerprints and DNA through the system, and they came back as a one-hundred percent match."
"And she just showed up out of the blue a couple of days after the war-threat?" she asked, highly suspicious.
"Yes, and that's not the only strange part. We believe someone tried to kill her. It's obvious from our tests that she's still been kept healthy and has been on the 'Catalyst' substitute for as many days as she's been missing. However, it seems they've decided to...dispose of her. It's probably that man's fault -- the one who made the threat," he informed.
"But why would he do that?"
Riley shrugged. "We don't know. Back when she was with us, she was every bit as capable as the others -- in fact, she was one of the best along with Eagle, Ghost, and another one named Ocean. However, she had a few problems. Though they were extremely mild, she did suffer from seizures. They were few and far in between, and would only last half of a minute -- and you could hardly tell she was having them. I can only assume that...," he paused.
"Go on," Relena encouraged.
He sighed. "I can only assume that they've been getting worse, especially since she's been off 'Catalyst' for so long. We're still running tests, but it's pretty safe to predict that she has gone beyond the stage of treatment."
Relena narrowed her eyes. "What does that mean?"
"She only has a few months left to live."
"Have you tried giving her the blasted drug? Maybe that would-"
"It'd do nothing. She was having them even when on the drug. We could try, but the results will be minimal -- if there even will be a result."
Relena clenched her fists, but the rest of her remained calm. "This is just great," she commented sarcastically. "We actually find one of them, and she's dying."
"Perhaps this would be a good time to let the ex-pilots in?"
Relena sighed. "Looks like we'll have to."
-
When Relena told them, she was a bit stunned to find out none of them were surprised in the least. Heero still stood, leaning against the wall, unmoved. Duo and Quatre still sat casually in their chairs. They were all the epitome of calm. And she was about to scream at them for it, even though she was secretly grateful.
"And any suggestions, any, please speak up because we're all at a loss on what to do," she finished.
Still, they said nothing. Finally, Duo seemed to come back from distant thought. "Is there anything more? Something you aren't telling us?"
Relena had left out the bit where they had found Shadow lying unconscious in the sea, and that she had a limited time to live, but that was about it. She wasn't too sure if she should tell them. She did, however, tell them of the other two, Eagle and Ghost, and how they were currently a formidable threat. As far as they were concerned, Shadow did not exist. "No, nothing," she lied easily. It wasn't important that they know anyhow. She would be detained upon re-awakening and she'd be kept absolutely secret. They didn't need to know about her.
"Do you have any suggestions?" she asked, prompting them for any input whatsoever. They were, after all, more trained in war than she could ever hope to be.
"How wonderful," Duo sighed as he wiped his face out of tiredness. "We've destroyed our obliterated them, and now they'll come in handy more than ever. Fate is so cruel!"
Relena shook her head gravely. "And I shouldn't be telling you this now, but we've been rebuilding your Gundams ever since this operation had taken effect. We figured, why not have back-up defences? They'll be finished within the week, with some upgrades as well."
They all stared at her in disbelief. "You've known about this for over a year and you haven't told us?" Wufei asked skeptically.
She nodded. "Yes...well, actually, I've only known about it for a couple of days. Lady Une, Noin, and Milliardo all knew for over a year. But we can't dwell on that right now."
"Do you know where this 'army' is at the moment?" Heero asked her.
"Due to recent...events, we believe they're located here on Earth. Somewhere on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea."
Trowa quirked an eyebrow. "That's oddly specific for only knowing about this threat for a few days."
Relena silently reprimanded herself for the second time that day on her sheer stupidity. That was completely foolish of her to let that slip. She was on the point of hitting her forehead with an open fist muttering, "Stupid, stupid, stupid," when Heero spoke up.
"There's something you're not telling us."
"It's not important," she replied with as much nonchalance as she could muster.
"Like Hell it's not important!" Duo cried.
Relena looked away, staring intensely at her phone -- as if she were trying to make it ring by just looking at it. Finally, she gave a sigh of defeat. "All right. There were actually three of the trainees, not two. Her name is Shadow." She then began telling them about how they had found her tied and bound, and how it was likely she wouldn't last the year.
Everyone was silent for a moment.
"Well, I didn't think it was important because she's really of no use to us. She's practically comatose as we speak," Relena defended nervously.
"We should go see her," Quatre suggested immediately, as if he hadn't heard what Relena just said.
Relena, weary of keeping secrets and having secrets kept from her, didn't feel she had the resolve to argue.
-
"This is Shadow?" Duo asked, a bit unbelieving.
They all stood around her. She looked a little better than this morning, Relena reflected, but not by much. "Well, I did say she was a girl..."
Duo shook his head. "That's not what I meant. Sally could probably kick my ass, and she's a girl too. What I mean is, she doesn't look like a soldier -- she's so frail, so fragile."
"She's quite strong, I assure you Mr. Maxwell," Riley spoke up. "In fact, she was one of our best. But we found her nearly drowned, and she has been suffering from seizures for a while now."
"Seizures? Drowned? What?" Quatre asked, worried. He didn't know her, but that didn't sound like a good fate.
"Didn't Relena tell you?" Riley asked. But he didn't wait for an answer. "When we found her, we figured the people she's working for tried to kill her -- and as for the seizures, they were controlled with Catalyst, but since she's only been on the mediocre substitute for nearly a year, they've progressed past the stage of recooperation. We suspect she only has a few months left to live, they've gotten so bad. We also suspect that the seizures are the reason they attempted to kill her in the first place."
"So you've tried putting her back on it, then?" Relena asked, recalling their previous conversation.
Riley nodded gravely. "Yes, but we've only seen slight results. Her heartbeat is now regulated and some of her colour's returned. She hasn't woken up yet though."
-
Eagle sat, miserable, in the library with Ghost. His comrade was reading again, as if nothing had happened in the first place. He, however, was moping. What was worse, he was restless because the information Turner had given him had been so vague.
"How can you be so bloody calm?" Eagle shot at him.
Ghost turned the page. "Because fretting about it solves nothing," he replied smoothly.
"She was our friend, Ghost! Practically our sister, and you're going to let them get away with it?" he snapped, nonplussed.
Ghost glanced up at him. "Do you really think they had some part in her death?"
Eagle stood up and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't think, Ghost. I know they did it. I could see it in Turner's eyes -- he had that frightening frenzied, anxious look he gets when he's done something deplorable. And you heard Turner, she's been having these seizures more often. Maybe they, you know, offed her because she was getting weaker."
Ghost set his book down and quirked an eyebrow. "You're terribly suspicious, do you know that? A complete paranoid moron. You can't go around making accusations based on some look the doctor had."
"So you don't believe me then?" he asked, defeated.
Ghost shook his head and some of his dark brown locks fell into his face. He deftly pushed them away. "I didn't say that. It doesn't make sense, it's completely illogical, but at the same time, I have the feeling that there's something ominous about this whole thing."
"So what are we going to do?" asked Eagle, his voice lowering somewhat.
"Nothing," he replied calmly.
Eagle's jaw dropped. "N-nothing?!" he cried, his voice cracking somewhat. "They kill our sister and you've decided to do nothing?!"
"She wasn't our sister."
"She was the closest damn thing I had to a sister, so don't you dare say that, you insufferable prick!" he spat. "How can you do nothing?"
Ghost glared scornfully at his comrade. His mouth was a thin, tight line, and his knuckles were white as he clenched his fists. "If we do anything right now, it'd be foolish because we don't have a plan," he hissed. He usually didn't loose his temper; in fact, he was usually the epitome of calm. But he had never taken lightly to insults -- especially being called an "insufferable prick" by the metaphorical black pot. "So all we can do is sit, wait, and think. The worst plans are made when blinded by rage, you know this well."
Eagle looked away, gritted his teeth, and stormed out of the room. He knew Ghost was right, and that was what pissed him off so much. Being as fiercely independent as he was, he didn't like it when he had to admit to himself that without the level-headed Ghost, he'd voluntarily walk out into a mine-field just because the enemy had made an off-handed, albeit disparaging, comment about his mother.
Loathsome idiot... And for a moment, Eagle wondered whether he was talking about Ghost, or himself.
-
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Shadow's closed eyes clenched.
Beep beep. Beep beep. Beep beep.
Her breathing became irregular and her eyes flew open. She tried to move, but found that her wrists were bound. She let out weak cries as she struggled to break free.
Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep...
The doctors sprinted over to her and removed the mask. As soon as it was free from her face, Shadow let out a blood-curdling scream that seemed to last ages.
-
Author's Note: Oh, another cliffhanger. How do you like it so far? Are the characters pretty IC? Is my Relena believable? I hope I didn't make her too grown up...she's not a very grown up person. And I hope I made my Ghost believable too, because I hadn't a chance to in the last chapter. A relatively calm guy, but when deeply disturbed, he does display emotions. It's normal. Hey, I didn't want to make them all completely stoic -- that's Heero's job. It'd get a feeling of being over-done if I made Ghost like the Perfect Soldier.
-sigh- Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed it thus far. This chapter is definitely longer -- practically ten pages compared to chapter one's seven pages. Shadow didn't have a huge part in this chapter, but the next one is going to be all about her basically.
Well, please review! I look forward to it even if it's derogatory. Although, that'd probably upset me. Oh well!
-Deirdre Blair