Disclaimer: Gundam Wing, and it characters, do not belong to me. If they did belong to me... Well, I'd be a lot richer!
If Only
Part VII
By: Penybright
Heero refused to come out of his room for the rest of that day. As much as everyone pleaded and begged him to, Heero refused to even open the door. Uncertainly, they had left him alone. Everyone was on edge and uneasy, as they expected Heero to try something. The only thing that issued from Heero's room was silence, though. That evening, before she went to bed, Relena cracked open Heero's door to check up on him. She was mildly surprised to find him curled up on the bed, soundly asleep.
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Quatre was surprised to see Heero walk in the kitchen the next afternoon. Heero ignored Quatre and shuffled over to a cupboard. Quatre was about to speak to Heero, then thought better of it. More than likely, it would be a one way conversation, and after yesterday's incident... Well, perhaps trying to strike up a conversation wasn't the best idea. Instead, Quatre resumed reading the paper spread out on the table before him.
Quatre's reading was interrupted by a gasp, followed by the sound of fracturing glass. His head immediately snapped up from the paper and glanced over to Heero. Quatre quickly stood up and took a step towards Heero, but he shrank away.
"Heero, are you okay?" Quatre asked, taking another step forward. Heero cringed further away, staring at the splinters of glass on the floor.
"I- I'm sorry..." Heero said, sounding like he was on the verge of tears. The shuffling of another pair of feet caused Heero's head to snap up and see Relena. Relena looked at Quatre, then Heero, and then at the glass on the floor. Heero followed Relena's gaze, and he seemed to shrink further away.
"I'm sorry... I should be punished," Heero whispered fearfully.
"It was only an accident," Quatre reassured him. "We only want to know if you're okay."
"I should be punished," Heero repeated, before dashing from the room. There was the sound of the front door being quickly opened and slammed shut.
"Oh no!" Relena cried racing from the kitchen. Reaching the door, she wrenched it open and stumbled outside. Heero was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh god no," she whispered anxiously, frantically searching for some sign of where Heero had gone.
"Why would he react like that?" Relena wondered. "He knows that we won't hurt him, doesn't he?" Relena asked Quatre. Quatre gathered Relena into his arms as she began to cry.
"I'm sure that Heero will be fine Miss Relena," Quatre replied soothingly. "He's a survivor."
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Heero ran, not knowing where he was going, and not really caring either. All he knew was that he had to get away. He didn't want to see her cry again... not because of him. Heero ran until his legs could carry him no further, slumping wearily to the ground. He leaned back against a brick wall, gulping in ragged gasps of air. He wasn't quite sure where he was, and the sky was beginning to darken. Instead of heading back, Heero pulled his knees up, wrapping his arms around his legs. He rested his forehead on his knees and began to rock back-and-forth. The motion was, to him, comforting.
"What have we here?" a gruff voiced asked, startling Heero. He looked up to see a group of thugs snickering at him. The group's leader appeared to be the one who had spoken.
"Poor little boy must have got lost," one of the men mocked.
"To bad for him," The leader smirked. Heero found himself hauled roughly to his feet by the scruff of his shirt, and then it began...
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When there was a knock at the door, Relena flew up from her seat and dashed to answer it. Flinging open the door, she found a bruised and bloody Heero. His injuries didn't appear to be life threatening, and his cuts looked as though they would, thankfully, not need stitches.
"What happened to you?" Duo exclaimed upon seeing Heero. Heero ignored him and walked through the door.
"I'm tired," Heero uttered, standing uncertainly at the foot of the stairs.
"I'm sure you are," Quatre commented, looking at the extent of Heero's wounds. His right eye was swollen shut, and there was a large cut on his left temple. Heero's left arm had a long cut running from his elbow to his wrist, and the right arm was scrapped raw. Numerous bruises were mottled across his skin, and many more were probably hidden from view by his shirt.
"I think," Relena began, "that you should go take a hot shower, and then I'll have a look at those scrapes. They don't look to deep, but they should be tended to."
Heero nodded and headed up to his room.
"Trowa, could you please get the ice packs out of the freezer for me while I raid the medicine cabinet?" Relena asked, as she to headed upstairs. Trowa nodded an headed for the kitchen. Relena turned back to look at Quatre and Duo.
"Could you two do something for me?"
"Sure, what is it?" Duo replied.
"I want you to see if you can find out whether or not Heero has any siblings."
"How?" Quatre asked, puzzled. "We don't even know his parents' names."
"They're names were Conrad and Sora Yuy," Relena replied as she continued to walk up the steps.
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It was about twenty minutes later when Relena walked into Heero's room, carrying an armful of bandages, ointments, and other medical supplies. Heero was sitting on the edge of his bed wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms. The accompanying shirt was lying beside him. Relena took one look at the bruises marring his skin, and winced. She quickly began to work, first smearing ointment on Heero's scrapes and cuts, and then bandaging his arms. When she was finished, Relena helped Heero into his shirt, and assisted him in lying down. Relena then placed an ice pack gently over Heero's right eye.
"Thank you," he mumbled wearily.
"You're welcome Heero. You know that the others and I will always be here if you need us." Relena paused, and then went on. "Heero, why did you run away?"
"I... didn't want to see you cry because of my mistake."
"Heero... What makes you think I would cry over a broken glass?"
"You cried when I broke the vase," he replied solemnly.
"I wasn't crying because you broke the vase. I was crying because of the pain and suffering you're feeling," Relena said with a soft smile.
"Thank you," Heero muttered again, looking into Relena's eyes. Relena's smile became brighter when she noticed that his gaze didn't look so dead. As small glint of the Heero she used to know was shinning through. Maybe he was going to beat this after all...
~ Um... Yeah, well... I'm not sure how much more there is to this. I've got a few other scenes figured out, and then I'm not sure where to go from there. Any suggestions?