This is thanks to my imoto-chan. If she is reading this, thanks and sorry
if I haven't gotten through to you. My Internet finally gave out on the old
computer. I just now have gotten it up on my new one.
That also goes for the others who have emailed me. Thank you for the reviews. I am now working on new chapters and hope to have something up loaded soon.
You may wonder what is going on. My imoto-chan is revising my story for me as I go. This is the first three chapters done by her. I was amazed when I read what she had done.
Thanks Cassie-imoto-chan
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Lightning tore across the sky. She wanted to cringe, but couldn't make her body move. How she hated the sound that followed! The thunder rolled, its deep, rumbling growl shaking her bones. This time she jerked in fright, sending pain throughout her battered body. She was covered in gashes and burns. She wasn't certain, but she thought she even had a few broken bones. But none of that compared to the pain of trying to breathe. Burn marks around her neck came from a chain that had held her while they attacked. A chain that once fought for peace and love.
The angry skies opened and rain began to pour down upon her, but she didn't care. Maybe she would drown and be taken from the world that turned from her. She couldn't believe it. They had betrayed her. Her friends. Her lover. They had left her for dead, sealing their betrayal with abandonment. Let me leave here, please. I can't stand it any more. Everyone has turned on me. Please... let me just die... She pleaded in her head. Odd that a phrase from the Bible should come to her head. As a son had hung nailed to a wooden cross, he had cried out, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" The girl's eyes shimmered with fresh tears. Yes, why? You did this, Mother, you sent me here. Why couldn't I have just died? I want real love, real friends, a real life. Slowly, her vision began to fade. She welcomed the darkness. A solitary tear ran down her bloodied cheek. It was the only tear she had shed that night. Her eyes closed; a small, sweet smile stole across her face.
A slivery dust settled around the girl, glowing faintly in the torrential rain. A sorrowful voice rang out from it like the mournful peal of a silver bell. "If I had known, my little one, I would not have done it. I would have sent you where you truly belong." A flash of lighting sliced across the sky, and in the space of the flash, both the battered girl and the misty apparition were gone.
* * *
A solitary figure leaned heavily upon her staff, tears stinging her eyes as she watched. When the girl disappeared, she stood upright, squared her shoulders, and nodded curtly. "Time to wake the Outers once again." With a quick tap of her staff, she too disappeared in a swirl of green and garnet smoke.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The pounding was giving him a headache. There wasn't any construction that he knew of anywhere near the house, so what the hell was going on? Finally coming out of his sleep, a boy with unruly chestnut hair realized that someone was pounding like crazy on his bedroom door. Jumping out of bed, he cursed himself for his unsoldier-like behavior. He was at the door with his gun drawn in a matter of seconds. Opening the door, he aimed for the forehead of whoever it was.
"Omae--" he began, but the person who was banging on the door was not paying him any attention, and simply kept right on knocking... hitting him in the forehead. The new boy stopped and looked at him, then glanced back over his shoulder, slinging his long braid hitting himself in the face. He was just in time to see a Chinese boy jump in the air, katana raised high, shouting a battle cry. The other boy let out a loud "Eep!" before pushing his way into the first boy's room and slamming the door shut. The katana splintered through the door at the same time a loud thump hit it.
" Braided baka!" screamed the engraged Chinese boy.
The other boy tuned around to see the barrel of a gun pointing at him. "Great! I get away from Wu-man just to have you show up with your gun and shoot me." He plastered a grin on his face. "Good morning, Hiiro. Looks like you just decided to get up. How unsoldier-like," the braided boy teased with an impish grin. Hiiro gave him his usual death glare before raising an eyebrow at the door as the katana was wrenched free, then faced the braided boy once more. Said braided boy threw up his hands in a gesture of innocence. "Don't look at me! I didn't do anything this time, I swear! I was eating my Fruit Loops when Wu-man busted in screaming injustice and waving his katana like a mad man. He split the table in half before I realized he was after me."
"Hnn."
"I think I'll sit here for a bit," said the fugitive, plopping himself down on Hiiro's bed. Hiiro tried to fry the boy on sight with his glare, but, as usual, nothing happened. Hiiro trudged to his bathroom with a sigh.
Upon coming out he found the braided boy sitting crosslegged on his bed, watching the ceiling fan spin. Hiiro could never understand how the boy found it in any way entertaining to get dizzy and fall off of whatever piece of furniture he happened to be perched on. If he could have, he would have rolled his eyes. He settled for just ignoring the boy and got dressed in his normal green shirt and blue jeans. After tucking his gun into the back of his waist band, he heard a knock at the door. What is this, party-in-Hiiro's-room day? he thought grumpily. Opening the door revealed a platinum blond boy dressed in his usual kaki's shirt and vest.
"Good morning, Hiiro. Is Duo in there with you?"
"Hnn."
"Could you bring him with you? We have a mission."
"Hnn." Hiiro began to walk out of the room after the boy when he realized that Duo was still in his room, staring up at the ceiling fan. Spinning on his heel, he went back to his room, grabbed a rather dizzy Duo by the braid, and pulled him off the bed. Duo gave one yelp when his braid was pulled and another when he landed on the floor. He jumped up and jogged to catch up to Hiiro, who was about to descend the stairs.
"What the hell was that for?! It hurt you know."
"Hnn."
"You sure are a grumpy one when you get up in the morning." Hiiro sent Duo another one of his death glares.
When they entered the room the platinum blond boy was sitting on the couch smiling. Another boy stood behind him, leaning against the wall. He had light chestnut hair with one bang hanging over one of his eyes. Next to the couch and facing the door was the Chinese boy. He had black hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was shooting a death glare that could rival Hiiro's at Duo. Duo ignored him, bounced in the room, and sat next to the blonde boy.
"Mornin', Quatre."
"Good morning, Duo," Quatre replied a bit sheepishly, not looking up at Duo. Hiiro noticed a slight blush cross the blond's face, but ignored it and slipped it into his memory for use at a later date. A large television screen in front of them flickered on. Dr. J's ugly fa-- err, face came up.
"Pilots, good to see you healthy. There is a new mission. You are to return to the 'Kingdom' once again. Once there, more information will be given, though you will not have to be there for another three months. Use your time wisely and prepare yourselves." The screen flickered off.
"Yeah, prepare ourselves to listen to the psycho again. I swear she teaches the same exact lessons every time we have to be there," Dou rambled on.
"Duo, shut up," came a monotone voice behind him. Duo turned around to look over to the boy with one bang.
"What the hell? Trowa! Is it national pick-on-Duo day?" he bellowed. "First I wake up at four AM-- FOUR AM!-- with three, count 'em, three alarm clocks going off around me. Then at breakfast I find someone switched all my cereals around! Then Chang charges in like a madman with his damn sword, trying to decapitate me, so I run to Hiiro's room-- and end up with a gun in my face!"
Duo was standing by this time, screaming at the top of his lungs. Wufei's jaw had dropped when Duo had first started, and fell to his ankles when he was called by his last name and not "Wu-man." Trowa's one visible eye was wide open, and a slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Hiiro... was Hiiro. But he did notice that the little Arabian was blushing quite profusely by now, wasn't looking up at Duo, and seemed to want to sink into the couch. Then it hit him: Quatre had done it all, though he didn't know what the blond had done to Wufei yet. This could get good.
Wufei snapped out of his stupor. "At least you have a backbone, braided baka. But you shouldn't be weak by lying."
Duo spun on him, confused. " Huh? What is your problem? I haven't done anything to you yet!" Hiiro noted the stressed "yet," as did the others. The impossible happened, and Wufei became even angrier.
"You know perfectly well what you did! You placed glue in the shampoo bottle, perfume in the after-shave, and in the conditioner was HAIR DIE-- PINK, OF ALL COLORS. That is just for starters."
Trowa's shoulders were shaking from trying to hold in laughter. Hiiro allowed both eyebrows to be raised; Quatre was the reddest a human could go. Hiiro swore he saw a smile and something that looked like pride cross Quatre's features. He suppressed a smirk. Well, well, well, little Quatre can be quite the little devil.
"WHAT?!" Duo screeched. " I didn't do that! I was planning on doing that, but not for a while ye--"
"You admit it! Injustice!" Wufei proclaimed, drawing his katana once again. He slashed it down from above his head, but to the astonishment to everyone, Duo caught the blade, yanked it from Wufei, and pressed the edge up against the Chinese boy's throat.
"I never lie," Duo said in a cold, calm voice. "I did not do it, and I don't have patience to play with you."
"Stop."
Everyone turned to the little Arabian. Hiiro quickly checked himself. He had let his mouth hang slightly open in surprise, as had Trowa. "Wufei, Duo didn't do it. I did." The blade clanked to the floor. "It was all meant for Duo. I thought he would shower before anyone else." Quatre finally looked up, trying to keep his face straight. No one couldn't believe it. What they had mistaken for Quatre's normal blushing was in fact the opposite-- he was laughing.
"Wow, good one, Q-man," Duo said, coming back to his normal perky self. Everyone face faulted. "I guess this is to get me back for the stripper, right?" Everyone looked at the two confused.
"Stripper?" Hiiro asked.
Duo scratched the back of his head. "Uh... yeah, his sisters were throwing him a birthday party and wanted my help on something to make it a surprise and a little embarrassing. I got the dates mixed up, and the chick was sent to Q-man during an important business meeting." Duo stopped and let imagination continue in his place. Surprisingly, Trowa and Wufei broke out into fits of laughter, both collapsing to the floor. Hiiro just shook his head. Duo mumbled something about going to the garage and working on his Gunadam and left the room. Quatre then broke out into laughter.
After a few moments he stopped dead, eyes wide with fear. "W... wh- where did Duo go?"
"Gunadam," was all Hiiro said before a bolt of gold hair rocketed past him, screaming for Duo not to go. Those left in the room looked at each other in confusion until they heard a blood-curdling scream. Guns pulled, they rushed to the hangar to find Duo on his knees, horror- stricken, and Quatre rolling on the floor laughing and wheezing while trying to apologize. They were surrounded by five mighty Gundams, each one's personal deadly weapon. Behind them stood Duo's mighty Deathscythe Hell. A nauseatingly pink Deathscythe Hell.
They finally got Duo to his feet and into the kitchen. They were still trying to calm him down, all smiling with shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Well, of course, all but two-- Duo was pissed off, of course, and saw no humor in the situation, while Hiiro's face was graced with slightest of smirks.
"Duo, I'm sorry. It washes off. I thought it would have gone well with what was supposed to be your new hair color."
"But PINK?! MY BABY IS PINK! And not just ANY PINK, PEACECRAFT PINK!" With that, laughter broke out again all around Duo as Hiiro handed him a cup of black coffee.
* * *
Quatre strolled slowly through his private garden. No one came here but the gardeners. This garden was one of the only things left to him by his mother. He only came when deeply troubled-- and today was no exception.
It's been almost a month since I pulled that stunt on Duo. He disappeared, and no one can find him. He's worse than Hiiro. At least Hiiro's trying to hunt Duo down. I'll make it up to him, I swear. Quatre looked back towards the house and to the garage that hid the underground hangar for the five Gundams. Faint echoes of machinery could barely be heard above the chirping of the early spring birds. After Duo's disappearance and Hiiro's following after him, then the others leaving to prepare for the upcoming mission, Quatre had called Dr. J and asked him to come to the mansion to upgrade the Deathscythe, as well as the other Gundams, all expenses paid by Quatre. Not to mention a new paint job. Quatra had misread the label on the dye he used for his notorious prank and had bought permanent instead of washable dye.
Quatre sighed and walked to the back of the garden, toward the woods. Looking up to the sky, he noticed a sliver of pale moon fading into the clear blue sky. Blue moon, he thought, slightly spacing out as he gazed at it. A twinkling silver light caught his eye. Turning to his right, he saw a most breathtaking apparition. A tenshi stood not ten feet before him. She was very petite, hardly taller than the boy. Quatre's eyes widened at her translucent wings, and her long hair-- it reached the ground in two soft lavender streamers from what looked like two buns on either side of her head. She wore a dress whose bodice seemed to wrap itself just above her chest, upon which he saw a silver crescent moon that matched the pale gold one on her forehead. Blue eyes smiled sadly back at the boy.
Quatre finally found his voice. "Can I help you. Tenshi?" The lady smiled at him, turned around, and began to walk away, seeming to float on the shimmering air. She stopped and looked back, arching her brows over hopeful eyes. He realized she wanted him to follow her. With out thinking, he found his feet following her. Quatre was getting very curious. She was leading him to the very heart of the garden, toward the large fountain his mother had so loved. Ahead of her he noticed an odd .something... lying in the path. The tenshi reached it and stooped down, lightly touching the thing as though it were very delicate. As he got closer, it finally clicked what it was: A girl, and in very bad condition. She was covered in cuts, burns, and blood. Barely clinging to her were the remains of what looked like a schoolgirl's uniform. The tenshi stroked the girl's cheek as a mother would. She then looked up at him with pleading, teary eyes, clasping her dainty hands in a gesture of begging. Love and remorse seemed to radiate from those dark, troubled blue eyes.
She wants me to help this girl? He rushed to the girl's side and knelt near her head, assessing her face and her injuries. She's so small, but she seems to be around my age. He checked for a pulse and found one, though it was very faint and fluttery. Looking up, he found the tenshi had disappeared. He looked back at the girl. How did you get here? Who would do this to you? Quickly coming to a decision, he picked up the girl and ran as smoothly as he could back to his mansion. He called out to a couple of the Maganacs to get a doctor before blazing past them and into the house. He had set her down on a bed and gotten her somewhat comfortable by the time the doctors had come in, including Dr. J.
"What have you found this time, Quatre?" asked Dr. J.
Quatre stopped his pacing in the hall long enough to answer. "A young girl was in my private garden. I don't know how she got there, but she's in pretty bad shape." He began pacing again. Dr. J. nodded and walked into the room to see this mysterious girl for himself.
After three hours the doctor finally came out. Quatre had nearly worn a groove in the rug from pacing. To the Doctor's surprise, nearly all the Maganacs were also standing in the hall to find out about this girl. They simply couldn't understand how someone could be cruel enough to inflict the painful injuries their master had described to them.
"Master Quatre," the doctor began slowly. "I have good news and bad. The girl will live, amazingly enough. Had she lain outside any longer, I am sure she would have bled to death. We are perplexed as to how some of the injuries were made, though. Some of the cuts have traces of ice and frostbite; others seem to be laser-like, while still others are knife-like. She has electrical and fire burns, but what has us the most confused is that it seems she was tied down by a heated chain that burned into her skin. This chain seems to have been wrapped most tightly around her throat, causing major damage to her larynx and vocal cords."
"Get to the point," Quatre snapped, causing everyone to jump. They had never heard him sound so impatient, not even with the braided fool.
The doctor cleared her throat. "She will recover, but I doubt that she will ever talk again. The damage is too extensive. I don't like the thought, but Dr. J. said he may possibly have a solution or two, but he has agreed to wait til the girl is awake and can judge coherently before he gives her the choice."
Abdul, one of the Maganacs, stepped forward. "How much longer til she wakes?"
"Three days to a week or so. The pain drugs will keep her asleep to lessen her discomfort; also, her high amount of blood loss will have her exhausted for a few days."
Quatre thanked the doctor and went into see the patient. No longer was she the hunched-up little ball of blood and grime he had found earlier. She had machines hooked to her to help her breathe and to monitor her vital signs, but he saw past that. Looking at her face, he noticed she was actually beautiful. She had long, silver-blond hair that seemed be made of moonbeams themselves. Though she was still pale, the color was coming back to her face, staining her high cheek bones with a warm and vital pink. Her beauty served to enrage him more-- how could anyone dare to torture someone so heavenly? He already knew she was no enemy beacause of his little gift of seeing someone's feelings and knowing them to be good or evil. And besides, why would a tenshi ask for his help to take care of her if she was dangerous?
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
"Venus Lovely Chain!" a voice cried out.
They had caught her.
The chain of hearts wrapped tightly around her body, barely letting her breathe. They sauntered up to her, five girls dressed in different color schemes of the same style fuku. The one clad in yellow and orange held the chain and gave it a cruel yank, sending the girl tumbling to the mud. The faces that once were her friends leered at her in disgust, pain, and anger.
"Let's end this now! Get her out of our lives!" the blue haired one hissed venomously. She couldn't believe it; nothing resembling that tone had ever come from the mouth of Mercury.
"No, let's let her die... slowly. Like they did," suggested a raven- haired girl. The others nodded, wicked smiles crossing their faces at the thought. The clack of formal shoes and the swish of a cape announced the arrival of another.
My savior, she thought. But when she locked eyes with, him she saw only hatred. Her eyes grew wide as he stalked closer to her. A swift kick to the stomach sent her gasping for the breath she was already lacking.
"Do it, and do it painfully. I don't want to see the slut's face ever again." With that he walked over to a tree and casually leaned back to watch. Her eyes widened with fear as the other five turned their attention back to her. Energy rivaling that of the the lightningstorm crackled in the air as five soldiers forsook their duty.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The household decided to dub the mystery child Chibi Tenshi. To everyone's amazement, the girl's injuries healed at an unusually accelerated rate. After a mere week, life began to stir once again in Chibi Tenshi. She was able to breathe on her own, though they still needed to monitor her vital signs and they left the IV trailing to the the back of her hand, all other machinery was removed by the shocked doctors. The Maganacs had declared her another under their care, and Quatre had silently but clearly adopted the chibi one as a sister. Even his true sisters came to help care for the girl. Finally, during Quatre's "watch," as he called it, she began to wake.
Upon first opening her eyes, she saw nothing but painful bright white. She could hear a constant, annoying beep that had haunted her already frightful nightmares. After slowly opening her eyes and blinking a few times, she was able to see. She was in a large bed, in a large room, hooked to a heart monitor and an IV. Turning her head to look around, utter pain ripped through her. It finally hit her: she was alive.
"Iie," she screamed to herself. "Iie, iie. I am supposed to be dead!" Why did the world have to be so cruel to her once again? Fate and Destiny had once again ripped her hope of peace to shreds and tossed her back into the torrents of the world. She cursed everything that she could think of; her mother for sending her to this fate, Fate and Destiny, the dastardly twins who tortured her; finally, the one who had brought her back out of the darkness she wanted to embrace. That thought filled her with an anger she had felt only once. She ripped the IV from her arm, wincing a little. She slowly and painfully sat up and noticed that something was wrapped around her throat. Raising a shaky hand, she felt he bandage. "Nani.?" she began to say-- only her mouth moved, and no noise came forth. She became frightened. Her body still hurt. She concentrated, causing a light shimmer of silver surrounded her. After a moment the pain went away, but something else dawned on her: she still had no voice. She was more angry than frightened. Snapping her head up, she noticed a yellow blur in the corner. Her vision still a little fuzzy, she stared at it until it became clear, vowing as it did to do some... not nice things to it. When she finally had a clear picture of the sleeping Quatre, all anger fled and she was hit with a hanyaan fit. How could she stay angry with something so cute and innocent?
Quatre was slumped in a chair not too far from the bedpost. His head lay to the side, resting on his shoulder, mouth slightly open and drool seeping onto his vest. Under his eyes she could see the heavy black bags of stress and fatigue. She tried, but couldn't wake him up. She gave a silent giggle before something else caught her eye. Behind him was a full- length mirror. She stared at her reflection in disbelief. Yes, she was alive; and yes, there was a bandage around her neck. With speed that would have made the wind senshi blush, she tore away from the heart monitor and knelt in front of the mirror, hands up against her reflected hands. She looked herself over. There was no evidence left of the horror her nightmares played over and over-- the beating she received from four fuku- clad girls and a man in a tuxedo. Slowly, she focused on the bandage. With shaky hands she unwound the cloth. When she was down to the last of it, she closed her eyes and let the cloth drop to the floor. She didn't want to look, but felt she had no choice. Opening her eyes slow, she stared back at the lifeless eyes that once smiled no matter the situation. Looking down, she saw what she knew was there-- the only thing left of them. Physically left, that is. Around the front of her neck was a very light scar. She could only see it if she really looked; up close you could see that the scar was that of an intricate chain of hearts. The same chain that had plagued her dreams.
"VENUS LOVELY CHAIN!"
Her head snapped up; she could hear them. Taunting her, hurting her, telling her over and over how she had let the other three senshi-- her friends, protectors, the only family she knew-- die, and how she couldn't bring them back.
"They died protecting you!" the one in red screamed while repeatedly slamming her head into the ground. "You are weak! Uncaring! The biggest idiot I've ever known!" She remembered how the red goddess of war had ranted on and on. She hadn't cared; she just wanted to reach the darkness she felt coming closer, but then she remembered the last thing the red warrior yelling at her: "We are supposed to protect the worst person in the world! You are such a disgrace! Being in your presence taints us all! You bring no honor to this world or to us!"
That was it; the darkness came, but it quickly died away as a golden warmth came across her. The healing power of Earth. Mamoru! He had healed her just enough to bring her around to finish what he had called her punishment. The punishment from the female warriors she understood, but from him? He had no clue what had happened, yet he still participated in the thrashing. It tore her apart.
She snapped herself out of the nightmares. Hugging herself tightly, she let her head touch the mirror before she burst into silent tears.
* * *
Quatra finally woke, slowly reminding himself to shoot the person who was letting that annoying, high-pitched beep go unchecked. Snapping awake, he realized what it was. He mentally kicked his own ass for falling asleep. Looking at the bed, he realized why the heart monitor had gone off-- his little tenshi was gone. He jumped over to the machine and hit he off button, then quickly checked the door and window, only to see that they were closed. He dropped to his knees and flipped the covers over look under the bed. No Tenshi! he screamed to himself. Where was she? Had someone come in and taken her away as he slept? The whole time he told himself to make sure to have someone kick his ass for being so stupid. Then he heard the muffled sniffles and hiccups. Spinning around, he saw her crying in front of the mirror. He nearly had a heart attack. He wanted to tackle the girl to the ground and shake her for scaring him so. Slowly forcing himself to calm down, he rose and walked to her.
"Chibi Tenshi?"
She stopped rocking herself. She knew that voice; she had heard it in her dreams. It was one of the voices that had called out to her to help her run from the nightmares she no longer wanted to see. Quatre had stilled himself when she stopped rocking, and he now watched as she slowly brought her head up to face his reflection in the mirror. In her reflection he saw and felt pain. Her eyes were sapphires, but lifeless, bloodshot, and puffy from her crying. Her eyes flashed with terror when they focused on his reflection. She spun around and slammed herself against the wall next to the mirror, scrabbling desperately, trying to dig herself through the wall to get away from him.
His eyes widened in surprise at her reaction. She fears me? Why? Although... She's been through so much. I have to convince her that I won't hurt her. He dropped to one knee and offered a hand out to her. "Chibi Tenshi, please, I won't hurt you. You don't have to be afraid when I am around. Nothing will ever hurt you again. I will protect you, I swear it."
Eyes still wide, he watched her face as confusion flashed across it at the name he had called her, then reverted to fear. Taking a deep breath, he continued speaking words of comfort to her in soft tones, careful not to move closer to her or to make sudden movements. She slowly calmed down as he spoke to her. Next thing he knew, he had landed hard on his rear and the girl was clinging to his shirtfront, burying her face in his chest and sobbing. He put his arms around her and stroked her back, talking to her as softly as he would a small child. She finally stopped crying and simply sat there, leaning into his chest and hiccupping every once in a while as he rocked her back and forth. He helped her rise and managed to guide her back to the bed. He sat next to her as she rested against the backboard, covers tucked under her armpits.
"Chibi Tenshi, who are you? What happened to you?"
She looked down quickly, and he thought she was going to cry again. Then it hit him: She couldn't talk. He mentally smacked him self once again. She watched as he reached to a drawer in a table next to the bed. He pulled out a pad of paper and a pen and handed them to her with a smile. She returned his smile with a weak one of her own and quickly scribbled,
Watashi wa Tsukino Usagi. Call me Usagi or Usagi-chan. What do you mean Chibi Tenshi? Who are you?
He gave a slight blush, causing the girl to giggle-- or at least, he thought she was giggling. "My name is Quatre Raberba Winner. I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My household decided to call you Chibi Tenshi because a beautiful silver tenshi led me to you. I found you laying next to a fountain in my garden in rather bad shape. I rushed you inside. That was about a week ago."
Her eyes darkened at the word "week." Then they changed to that of a animal begging someone to kill it. She had the pad and was writing again.
Why? Why didn't you leave me there?
He was more than a little shocked at that statement. "I couldn't just leave you there! Not ever, that is not my nature. Whatever happened to you will have to be your secret til you tell me. Personally, I'd like to get my hands on the ones who did this to you." A smirk crossed her face. She gave him a look that seemed to say, Yeah, right, as if you could do anything. He raised an eyebrow at this, but continued. "I really hope you won't try to kill yourself. We have really looked forward to your awakening, and hope you will stay here with us."
* * *
Rashid had come to the sickroom to relieve his master of his watch and to announce dinner. When he opened the door, he nearly fainted at the sight before him. Chibi Tenshi was awake and talking to Quatre. Well, he was talking and she was writing on a small tablet. He watched for a moment, wondering why his master hadn't come out to tell anyone that she was awake. After watching for a short while, he came to the conclusion that Quatre didn't want to frighten the child. Closing the door softly behind him, he nearly skipped down the hall to tell the rest of the household the good news.
That also goes for the others who have emailed me. Thank you for the reviews. I am now working on new chapters and hope to have something up loaded soon.
You may wonder what is going on. My imoto-chan is revising my story for me as I go. This is the first three chapters done by her. I was amazed when I read what she had done.
Thanks Cassie-imoto-chan
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Lightning tore across the sky. She wanted to cringe, but couldn't make her body move. How she hated the sound that followed! The thunder rolled, its deep, rumbling growl shaking her bones. This time she jerked in fright, sending pain throughout her battered body. She was covered in gashes and burns. She wasn't certain, but she thought she even had a few broken bones. But none of that compared to the pain of trying to breathe. Burn marks around her neck came from a chain that had held her while they attacked. A chain that once fought for peace and love.
The angry skies opened and rain began to pour down upon her, but she didn't care. Maybe she would drown and be taken from the world that turned from her. She couldn't believe it. They had betrayed her. Her friends. Her lover. They had left her for dead, sealing their betrayal with abandonment. Let me leave here, please. I can't stand it any more. Everyone has turned on me. Please... let me just die... She pleaded in her head. Odd that a phrase from the Bible should come to her head. As a son had hung nailed to a wooden cross, he had cried out, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" The girl's eyes shimmered with fresh tears. Yes, why? You did this, Mother, you sent me here. Why couldn't I have just died? I want real love, real friends, a real life. Slowly, her vision began to fade. She welcomed the darkness. A solitary tear ran down her bloodied cheek. It was the only tear she had shed that night. Her eyes closed; a small, sweet smile stole across her face.
A slivery dust settled around the girl, glowing faintly in the torrential rain. A sorrowful voice rang out from it like the mournful peal of a silver bell. "If I had known, my little one, I would not have done it. I would have sent you where you truly belong." A flash of lighting sliced across the sky, and in the space of the flash, both the battered girl and the misty apparition were gone.
* * *
A solitary figure leaned heavily upon her staff, tears stinging her eyes as she watched. When the girl disappeared, she stood upright, squared her shoulders, and nodded curtly. "Time to wake the Outers once again." With a quick tap of her staff, she too disappeared in a swirl of green and garnet smoke.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The pounding was giving him a headache. There wasn't any construction that he knew of anywhere near the house, so what the hell was going on? Finally coming out of his sleep, a boy with unruly chestnut hair realized that someone was pounding like crazy on his bedroom door. Jumping out of bed, he cursed himself for his unsoldier-like behavior. He was at the door with his gun drawn in a matter of seconds. Opening the door, he aimed for the forehead of whoever it was.
"Omae--" he began, but the person who was banging on the door was not paying him any attention, and simply kept right on knocking... hitting him in the forehead. The new boy stopped and looked at him, then glanced back over his shoulder, slinging his long braid hitting himself in the face. He was just in time to see a Chinese boy jump in the air, katana raised high, shouting a battle cry. The other boy let out a loud "Eep!" before pushing his way into the first boy's room and slamming the door shut. The katana splintered through the door at the same time a loud thump hit it.
" Braided baka!" screamed the engraged Chinese boy.
The other boy tuned around to see the barrel of a gun pointing at him. "Great! I get away from Wu-man just to have you show up with your gun and shoot me." He plastered a grin on his face. "Good morning, Hiiro. Looks like you just decided to get up. How unsoldier-like," the braided boy teased with an impish grin. Hiiro gave him his usual death glare before raising an eyebrow at the door as the katana was wrenched free, then faced the braided boy once more. Said braided boy threw up his hands in a gesture of innocence. "Don't look at me! I didn't do anything this time, I swear! I was eating my Fruit Loops when Wu-man busted in screaming injustice and waving his katana like a mad man. He split the table in half before I realized he was after me."
"Hnn."
"I think I'll sit here for a bit," said the fugitive, plopping himself down on Hiiro's bed. Hiiro tried to fry the boy on sight with his glare, but, as usual, nothing happened. Hiiro trudged to his bathroom with a sigh.
Upon coming out he found the braided boy sitting crosslegged on his bed, watching the ceiling fan spin. Hiiro could never understand how the boy found it in any way entertaining to get dizzy and fall off of whatever piece of furniture he happened to be perched on. If he could have, he would have rolled his eyes. He settled for just ignoring the boy and got dressed in his normal green shirt and blue jeans. After tucking his gun into the back of his waist band, he heard a knock at the door. What is this, party-in-Hiiro's-room day? he thought grumpily. Opening the door revealed a platinum blond boy dressed in his usual kaki's shirt and vest.
"Good morning, Hiiro. Is Duo in there with you?"
"Hnn."
"Could you bring him with you? We have a mission."
"Hnn." Hiiro began to walk out of the room after the boy when he realized that Duo was still in his room, staring up at the ceiling fan. Spinning on his heel, he went back to his room, grabbed a rather dizzy Duo by the braid, and pulled him off the bed. Duo gave one yelp when his braid was pulled and another when he landed on the floor. He jumped up and jogged to catch up to Hiiro, who was about to descend the stairs.
"What the hell was that for?! It hurt you know."
"Hnn."
"You sure are a grumpy one when you get up in the morning." Hiiro sent Duo another one of his death glares.
When they entered the room the platinum blond boy was sitting on the couch smiling. Another boy stood behind him, leaning against the wall. He had light chestnut hair with one bang hanging over one of his eyes. Next to the couch and facing the door was the Chinese boy. He had black hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was shooting a death glare that could rival Hiiro's at Duo. Duo ignored him, bounced in the room, and sat next to the blonde boy.
"Mornin', Quatre."
"Good morning, Duo," Quatre replied a bit sheepishly, not looking up at Duo. Hiiro noticed a slight blush cross the blond's face, but ignored it and slipped it into his memory for use at a later date. A large television screen in front of them flickered on. Dr. J's ugly fa-- err, face came up.
"Pilots, good to see you healthy. There is a new mission. You are to return to the 'Kingdom' once again. Once there, more information will be given, though you will not have to be there for another three months. Use your time wisely and prepare yourselves." The screen flickered off.
"Yeah, prepare ourselves to listen to the psycho again. I swear she teaches the same exact lessons every time we have to be there," Dou rambled on.
"Duo, shut up," came a monotone voice behind him. Duo turned around to look over to the boy with one bang.
"What the hell? Trowa! Is it national pick-on-Duo day?" he bellowed. "First I wake up at four AM-- FOUR AM!-- with three, count 'em, three alarm clocks going off around me. Then at breakfast I find someone switched all my cereals around! Then Chang charges in like a madman with his damn sword, trying to decapitate me, so I run to Hiiro's room-- and end up with a gun in my face!"
Duo was standing by this time, screaming at the top of his lungs. Wufei's jaw had dropped when Duo had first started, and fell to his ankles when he was called by his last name and not "Wu-man." Trowa's one visible eye was wide open, and a slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Hiiro... was Hiiro. But he did notice that the little Arabian was blushing quite profusely by now, wasn't looking up at Duo, and seemed to want to sink into the couch. Then it hit him: Quatre had done it all, though he didn't know what the blond had done to Wufei yet. This could get good.
Wufei snapped out of his stupor. "At least you have a backbone, braided baka. But you shouldn't be weak by lying."
Duo spun on him, confused. " Huh? What is your problem? I haven't done anything to you yet!" Hiiro noted the stressed "yet," as did the others. The impossible happened, and Wufei became even angrier.
"You know perfectly well what you did! You placed glue in the shampoo bottle, perfume in the after-shave, and in the conditioner was HAIR DIE-- PINK, OF ALL COLORS. That is just for starters."
Trowa's shoulders were shaking from trying to hold in laughter. Hiiro allowed both eyebrows to be raised; Quatre was the reddest a human could go. Hiiro swore he saw a smile and something that looked like pride cross Quatre's features. He suppressed a smirk. Well, well, well, little Quatre can be quite the little devil.
"WHAT?!" Duo screeched. " I didn't do that! I was planning on doing that, but not for a while ye--"
"You admit it! Injustice!" Wufei proclaimed, drawing his katana once again. He slashed it down from above his head, but to the astonishment to everyone, Duo caught the blade, yanked it from Wufei, and pressed the edge up against the Chinese boy's throat.
"I never lie," Duo said in a cold, calm voice. "I did not do it, and I don't have patience to play with you."
"Stop."
Everyone turned to the little Arabian. Hiiro quickly checked himself. He had let his mouth hang slightly open in surprise, as had Trowa. "Wufei, Duo didn't do it. I did." The blade clanked to the floor. "It was all meant for Duo. I thought he would shower before anyone else." Quatre finally looked up, trying to keep his face straight. No one couldn't believe it. What they had mistaken for Quatre's normal blushing was in fact the opposite-- he was laughing.
"Wow, good one, Q-man," Duo said, coming back to his normal perky self. Everyone face faulted. "I guess this is to get me back for the stripper, right?" Everyone looked at the two confused.
"Stripper?" Hiiro asked.
Duo scratched the back of his head. "Uh... yeah, his sisters were throwing him a birthday party and wanted my help on something to make it a surprise and a little embarrassing. I got the dates mixed up, and the chick was sent to Q-man during an important business meeting." Duo stopped and let imagination continue in his place. Surprisingly, Trowa and Wufei broke out into fits of laughter, both collapsing to the floor. Hiiro just shook his head. Duo mumbled something about going to the garage and working on his Gunadam and left the room. Quatre then broke out into laughter.
After a few moments he stopped dead, eyes wide with fear. "W... wh- where did Duo go?"
"Gunadam," was all Hiiro said before a bolt of gold hair rocketed past him, screaming for Duo not to go. Those left in the room looked at each other in confusion until they heard a blood-curdling scream. Guns pulled, they rushed to the hangar to find Duo on his knees, horror- stricken, and Quatre rolling on the floor laughing and wheezing while trying to apologize. They were surrounded by five mighty Gundams, each one's personal deadly weapon. Behind them stood Duo's mighty Deathscythe Hell. A nauseatingly pink Deathscythe Hell.
They finally got Duo to his feet and into the kitchen. They were still trying to calm him down, all smiling with shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Well, of course, all but two-- Duo was pissed off, of course, and saw no humor in the situation, while Hiiro's face was graced with slightest of smirks.
"Duo, I'm sorry. It washes off. I thought it would have gone well with what was supposed to be your new hair color."
"But PINK?! MY BABY IS PINK! And not just ANY PINK, PEACECRAFT PINK!" With that, laughter broke out again all around Duo as Hiiro handed him a cup of black coffee.
* * *
Quatre strolled slowly through his private garden. No one came here but the gardeners. This garden was one of the only things left to him by his mother. He only came when deeply troubled-- and today was no exception.
It's been almost a month since I pulled that stunt on Duo. He disappeared, and no one can find him. He's worse than Hiiro. At least Hiiro's trying to hunt Duo down. I'll make it up to him, I swear. Quatre looked back towards the house and to the garage that hid the underground hangar for the five Gundams. Faint echoes of machinery could barely be heard above the chirping of the early spring birds. After Duo's disappearance and Hiiro's following after him, then the others leaving to prepare for the upcoming mission, Quatre had called Dr. J and asked him to come to the mansion to upgrade the Deathscythe, as well as the other Gundams, all expenses paid by Quatre. Not to mention a new paint job. Quatra had misread the label on the dye he used for his notorious prank and had bought permanent instead of washable dye.
Quatre sighed and walked to the back of the garden, toward the woods. Looking up to the sky, he noticed a sliver of pale moon fading into the clear blue sky. Blue moon, he thought, slightly spacing out as he gazed at it. A twinkling silver light caught his eye. Turning to his right, he saw a most breathtaking apparition. A tenshi stood not ten feet before him. She was very petite, hardly taller than the boy. Quatre's eyes widened at her translucent wings, and her long hair-- it reached the ground in two soft lavender streamers from what looked like two buns on either side of her head. She wore a dress whose bodice seemed to wrap itself just above her chest, upon which he saw a silver crescent moon that matched the pale gold one on her forehead. Blue eyes smiled sadly back at the boy.
Quatre finally found his voice. "Can I help you. Tenshi?" The lady smiled at him, turned around, and began to walk away, seeming to float on the shimmering air. She stopped and looked back, arching her brows over hopeful eyes. He realized she wanted him to follow her. With out thinking, he found his feet following her. Quatre was getting very curious. She was leading him to the very heart of the garden, toward the large fountain his mother had so loved. Ahead of her he noticed an odd .something... lying in the path. The tenshi reached it and stooped down, lightly touching the thing as though it were very delicate. As he got closer, it finally clicked what it was: A girl, and in very bad condition. She was covered in cuts, burns, and blood. Barely clinging to her were the remains of what looked like a schoolgirl's uniform. The tenshi stroked the girl's cheek as a mother would. She then looked up at him with pleading, teary eyes, clasping her dainty hands in a gesture of begging. Love and remorse seemed to radiate from those dark, troubled blue eyes.
She wants me to help this girl? He rushed to the girl's side and knelt near her head, assessing her face and her injuries. She's so small, but she seems to be around my age. He checked for a pulse and found one, though it was very faint and fluttery. Looking up, he found the tenshi had disappeared. He looked back at the girl. How did you get here? Who would do this to you? Quickly coming to a decision, he picked up the girl and ran as smoothly as he could back to his mansion. He called out to a couple of the Maganacs to get a doctor before blazing past them and into the house. He had set her down on a bed and gotten her somewhat comfortable by the time the doctors had come in, including Dr. J.
"What have you found this time, Quatre?" asked Dr. J.
Quatre stopped his pacing in the hall long enough to answer. "A young girl was in my private garden. I don't know how she got there, but she's in pretty bad shape." He began pacing again. Dr. J. nodded and walked into the room to see this mysterious girl for himself.
After three hours the doctor finally came out. Quatre had nearly worn a groove in the rug from pacing. To the Doctor's surprise, nearly all the Maganacs were also standing in the hall to find out about this girl. They simply couldn't understand how someone could be cruel enough to inflict the painful injuries their master had described to them.
"Master Quatre," the doctor began slowly. "I have good news and bad. The girl will live, amazingly enough. Had she lain outside any longer, I am sure she would have bled to death. We are perplexed as to how some of the injuries were made, though. Some of the cuts have traces of ice and frostbite; others seem to be laser-like, while still others are knife-like. She has electrical and fire burns, but what has us the most confused is that it seems she was tied down by a heated chain that burned into her skin. This chain seems to have been wrapped most tightly around her throat, causing major damage to her larynx and vocal cords."
"Get to the point," Quatre snapped, causing everyone to jump. They had never heard him sound so impatient, not even with the braided fool.
The doctor cleared her throat. "She will recover, but I doubt that she will ever talk again. The damage is too extensive. I don't like the thought, but Dr. J. said he may possibly have a solution or two, but he has agreed to wait til the girl is awake and can judge coherently before he gives her the choice."
Abdul, one of the Maganacs, stepped forward. "How much longer til she wakes?"
"Three days to a week or so. The pain drugs will keep her asleep to lessen her discomfort; also, her high amount of blood loss will have her exhausted for a few days."
Quatre thanked the doctor and went into see the patient. No longer was she the hunched-up little ball of blood and grime he had found earlier. She had machines hooked to her to help her breathe and to monitor her vital signs, but he saw past that. Looking at her face, he noticed she was actually beautiful. She had long, silver-blond hair that seemed be made of moonbeams themselves. Though she was still pale, the color was coming back to her face, staining her high cheek bones with a warm and vital pink. Her beauty served to enrage him more-- how could anyone dare to torture someone so heavenly? He already knew she was no enemy beacause of his little gift of seeing someone's feelings and knowing them to be good or evil. And besides, why would a tenshi ask for his help to take care of her if she was dangerous?
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
"Venus Lovely Chain!" a voice cried out.
They had caught her.
The chain of hearts wrapped tightly around her body, barely letting her breathe. They sauntered up to her, five girls dressed in different color schemes of the same style fuku. The one clad in yellow and orange held the chain and gave it a cruel yank, sending the girl tumbling to the mud. The faces that once were her friends leered at her in disgust, pain, and anger.
"Let's end this now! Get her out of our lives!" the blue haired one hissed venomously. She couldn't believe it; nothing resembling that tone had ever come from the mouth of Mercury.
"No, let's let her die... slowly. Like they did," suggested a raven- haired girl. The others nodded, wicked smiles crossing their faces at the thought. The clack of formal shoes and the swish of a cape announced the arrival of another.
My savior, she thought. But when she locked eyes with, him she saw only hatred. Her eyes grew wide as he stalked closer to her. A swift kick to the stomach sent her gasping for the breath she was already lacking.
"Do it, and do it painfully. I don't want to see the slut's face ever again." With that he walked over to a tree and casually leaned back to watch. Her eyes widened with fear as the other five turned their attention back to her. Energy rivaling that of the the lightningstorm crackled in the air as five soldiers forsook their duty.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The household decided to dub the mystery child Chibi Tenshi. To everyone's amazement, the girl's injuries healed at an unusually accelerated rate. After a mere week, life began to stir once again in Chibi Tenshi. She was able to breathe on her own, though they still needed to monitor her vital signs and they left the IV trailing to the the back of her hand, all other machinery was removed by the shocked doctors. The Maganacs had declared her another under their care, and Quatre had silently but clearly adopted the chibi one as a sister. Even his true sisters came to help care for the girl. Finally, during Quatre's "watch," as he called it, she began to wake.
Upon first opening her eyes, she saw nothing but painful bright white. She could hear a constant, annoying beep that had haunted her already frightful nightmares. After slowly opening her eyes and blinking a few times, she was able to see. She was in a large bed, in a large room, hooked to a heart monitor and an IV. Turning her head to look around, utter pain ripped through her. It finally hit her: she was alive.
"Iie," she screamed to herself. "Iie, iie. I am supposed to be dead!" Why did the world have to be so cruel to her once again? Fate and Destiny had once again ripped her hope of peace to shreds and tossed her back into the torrents of the world. She cursed everything that she could think of; her mother for sending her to this fate, Fate and Destiny, the dastardly twins who tortured her; finally, the one who had brought her back out of the darkness she wanted to embrace. That thought filled her with an anger she had felt only once. She ripped the IV from her arm, wincing a little. She slowly and painfully sat up and noticed that something was wrapped around her throat. Raising a shaky hand, she felt he bandage. "Nani.?" she began to say-- only her mouth moved, and no noise came forth. She became frightened. Her body still hurt. She concentrated, causing a light shimmer of silver surrounded her. After a moment the pain went away, but something else dawned on her: she still had no voice. She was more angry than frightened. Snapping her head up, she noticed a yellow blur in the corner. Her vision still a little fuzzy, she stared at it until it became clear, vowing as it did to do some... not nice things to it. When she finally had a clear picture of the sleeping Quatre, all anger fled and she was hit with a hanyaan fit. How could she stay angry with something so cute and innocent?
Quatre was slumped in a chair not too far from the bedpost. His head lay to the side, resting on his shoulder, mouth slightly open and drool seeping onto his vest. Under his eyes she could see the heavy black bags of stress and fatigue. She tried, but couldn't wake him up. She gave a silent giggle before something else caught her eye. Behind him was a full- length mirror. She stared at her reflection in disbelief. Yes, she was alive; and yes, there was a bandage around her neck. With speed that would have made the wind senshi blush, she tore away from the heart monitor and knelt in front of the mirror, hands up against her reflected hands. She looked herself over. There was no evidence left of the horror her nightmares played over and over-- the beating she received from four fuku- clad girls and a man in a tuxedo. Slowly, she focused on the bandage. With shaky hands she unwound the cloth. When she was down to the last of it, she closed her eyes and let the cloth drop to the floor. She didn't want to look, but felt she had no choice. Opening her eyes slow, she stared back at the lifeless eyes that once smiled no matter the situation. Looking down, she saw what she knew was there-- the only thing left of them. Physically left, that is. Around the front of her neck was a very light scar. She could only see it if she really looked; up close you could see that the scar was that of an intricate chain of hearts. The same chain that had plagued her dreams.
"VENUS LOVELY CHAIN!"
Her head snapped up; she could hear them. Taunting her, hurting her, telling her over and over how she had let the other three senshi-- her friends, protectors, the only family she knew-- die, and how she couldn't bring them back.
"They died protecting you!" the one in red screamed while repeatedly slamming her head into the ground. "You are weak! Uncaring! The biggest idiot I've ever known!" She remembered how the red goddess of war had ranted on and on. She hadn't cared; she just wanted to reach the darkness she felt coming closer, but then she remembered the last thing the red warrior yelling at her: "We are supposed to protect the worst person in the world! You are such a disgrace! Being in your presence taints us all! You bring no honor to this world or to us!"
That was it; the darkness came, but it quickly died away as a golden warmth came across her. The healing power of Earth. Mamoru! He had healed her just enough to bring her around to finish what he had called her punishment. The punishment from the female warriors she understood, but from him? He had no clue what had happened, yet he still participated in the thrashing. It tore her apart.
She snapped herself out of the nightmares. Hugging herself tightly, she let her head touch the mirror before she burst into silent tears.
* * *
Quatra finally woke, slowly reminding himself to shoot the person who was letting that annoying, high-pitched beep go unchecked. Snapping awake, he realized what it was. He mentally kicked his own ass for falling asleep. Looking at the bed, he realized why the heart monitor had gone off-- his little tenshi was gone. He jumped over to the machine and hit he off button, then quickly checked the door and window, only to see that they were closed. He dropped to his knees and flipped the covers over look under the bed. No Tenshi! he screamed to himself. Where was she? Had someone come in and taken her away as he slept? The whole time he told himself to make sure to have someone kick his ass for being so stupid. Then he heard the muffled sniffles and hiccups. Spinning around, he saw her crying in front of the mirror. He nearly had a heart attack. He wanted to tackle the girl to the ground and shake her for scaring him so. Slowly forcing himself to calm down, he rose and walked to her.
"Chibi Tenshi?"
She stopped rocking herself. She knew that voice; she had heard it in her dreams. It was one of the voices that had called out to her to help her run from the nightmares she no longer wanted to see. Quatre had stilled himself when she stopped rocking, and he now watched as she slowly brought her head up to face his reflection in the mirror. In her reflection he saw and felt pain. Her eyes were sapphires, but lifeless, bloodshot, and puffy from her crying. Her eyes flashed with terror when they focused on his reflection. She spun around and slammed herself against the wall next to the mirror, scrabbling desperately, trying to dig herself through the wall to get away from him.
His eyes widened in surprise at her reaction. She fears me? Why? Although... She's been through so much. I have to convince her that I won't hurt her. He dropped to one knee and offered a hand out to her. "Chibi Tenshi, please, I won't hurt you. You don't have to be afraid when I am around. Nothing will ever hurt you again. I will protect you, I swear it."
Eyes still wide, he watched her face as confusion flashed across it at the name he had called her, then reverted to fear. Taking a deep breath, he continued speaking words of comfort to her in soft tones, careful not to move closer to her or to make sudden movements. She slowly calmed down as he spoke to her. Next thing he knew, he had landed hard on his rear and the girl was clinging to his shirtfront, burying her face in his chest and sobbing. He put his arms around her and stroked her back, talking to her as softly as he would a small child. She finally stopped crying and simply sat there, leaning into his chest and hiccupping every once in a while as he rocked her back and forth. He helped her rise and managed to guide her back to the bed. He sat next to her as she rested against the backboard, covers tucked under her armpits.
"Chibi Tenshi, who are you? What happened to you?"
She looked down quickly, and he thought she was going to cry again. Then it hit him: She couldn't talk. He mentally smacked him self once again. She watched as he reached to a drawer in a table next to the bed. He pulled out a pad of paper and a pen and handed them to her with a smile. She returned his smile with a weak one of her own and quickly scribbled,
Watashi wa Tsukino Usagi. Call me Usagi or Usagi-chan. What do you mean Chibi Tenshi? Who are you?
He gave a slight blush, causing the girl to giggle-- or at least, he thought she was giggling. "My name is Quatre Raberba Winner. I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My household decided to call you Chibi Tenshi because a beautiful silver tenshi led me to you. I found you laying next to a fountain in my garden in rather bad shape. I rushed you inside. That was about a week ago."
Her eyes darkened at the word "week." Then they changed to that of a animal begging someone to kill it. She had the pad and was writing again.
Why? Why didn't you leave me there?
He was more than a little shocked at that statement. "I couldn't just leave you there! Not ever, that is not my nature. Whatever happened to you will have to be your secret til you tell me. Personally, I'd like to get my hands on the ones who did this to you." A smirk crossed her face. She gave him a look that seemed to say, Yeah, right, as if you could do anything. He raised an eyebrow at this, but continued. "I really hope you won't try to kill yourself. We have really looked forward to your awakening, and hope you will stay here with us."
* * *
Rashid had come to the sickroom to relieve his master of his watch and to announce dinner. When he opened the door, he nearly fainted at the sight before him. Chibi Tenshi was awake and talking to Quatre. Well, he was talking and she was writing on a small tablet. He watched for a moment, wondering why his master hadn't come out to tell anyone that she was awake. After watching for a short while, he came to the conclusion that Quatre didn't want to frighten the child. Closing the door softly behind him, he nearly skipped down the hall to tell the rest of the household the good news.