ABOUT ONE MONTH BEFORE THE REST OF OUR STORY BEGINS:
Trowa glanced at his watch. 5:30pm.
"Shit," he declared, to no one in particular, "They're gonna kill me. I told them I'd be back by quarter to five, and here I am, still stuck in this dump of a place."
He surveyed his surroundings. Again. This was not the nicest part of the colony, so to speak, and he had been wandering in circles (or squares or triangles or whatever shape you please) for the better part of three hours.
"Need some help?" A voice inquired.
"AH!!!" Trowa screamed. It was a high pitched, girly sort of scream, he thought.
"Let's try that again." Trowa turned slowly until he could see that the voice belonged to a woman who looked to be about twenty or so. Just his age. She had long, wavy, coppery-red hair that was held back by a bright blue bandana. Her green eyes sparkled and her lips were curved into an easy, nonchalant smile. She wore a dusty black backpack, torn and faded blue jeans and a light grey hoodie.
Oh my gosh, Trowa thought, his heart skipping a beat, I think I'm in love.
"Uh, dude? You okay?" The woman asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh... er... I..." Much to his chagrin, Trowa felt a blush rise in his cheeks.
The woman giggled and offered him a hand, "Name's Alley, by the way."
Trowa took the had and shook it, "I'm Trowa. Trowa Barton."
"Anything I can help you find, Trowa?"
"Yeah. I'm lost. I'm trying to find a way home. My address is..."
LATERAlley unlocked the door to her house. "I have a map of the colony that we can look over."
Trowa looked around at the house. The paint was peeling off the walls and there were strange, brownish stains on the carpet.
Alley saw the look on his face and said, "I know it's not the best of places-"
"Oh - No - that's not what I was trying to imply at all."
"Hey, you know it, I know it. I'd move out of here if I had somewhere to go. This used to be a headquarters for drug dealer, y'know."
"Er... so where's that map?"
LATER STILLTrowa got home at 7:00pm. Oops. He was accosted from all sides.
"Why are you so late?" Duo asked, "I'm hungry."
"Sorry. I got lost. Geez."
"And you didn't get the groceries."
"Sorry."
"And you missed Hilde's wonderful monologue about how (and why) she was breaking up with you."
"Sor- wait. Did you say 'break up'?"
"Yeah. But-"
"YAHOO!!!!"
"Well, ya could show SOME regret," Hilde walked in, clamped to Wu Fei's arm.
Trowa's eyes increase in diameter by about two inches.
"Yeah.. er... help!" Wu Fei cried.
*insert Hilde's evil laugh here*
1 MONTH LATER:
Trowa had gone out with Alley multiple times and had finally gotten up the courage to ask her to come to the potluck dinner that the group was to be having. To his surprise, he didn't even have to tell them who he was inviting. (A/N Very Suspicious >_
The day of the dinner arrived. Trowa paced around the house.
"Calm down, Trowa. You're gonna have a nervous breakdown. And you're wearing the carpet threadbare," Quatre implored. Then, as an afterthought, he added, "Just who did you invite?"
"You'll see," was all Trowa would say to anyone, even when Duo annoyed him so much that Trowa dumped his friend out the window into a pile of dirt in the flower garden.
Duo climbed back in through the window, glared at Trowa for the whole morning, and then glared at Yoshiko for laughing at him.
Finally, the doorbell rang.
"That's either Hilde or Trowa's friend," Clare called from the kitchen, "so either Wu Fei or Trowa can get it."
It turned out to be Hilde. She immediately clamped herself to Wu Fei's arm and wouldn't let go.
"HELP!!!!!!"
Trowa laughed.
Alley walked along the side of the road, kicking up dust with her old black sneakers. She tossed a large watermelon between her hands. As she walked, she reviewed Trowa's descriptions of all his friends.
"Hmm. There's Duo... annoying, long braid, annoying, blue eyes... annoying... I think that's it. Heero. Smaller, short brown hair... quiet. Is that it? I think that's it. Quatre. Blond, caffeine freak. Yoshiko... Duo's girlfriend... long, black hair, black eyes, smaller... Clare... Long, dark brown hair... blue eyes.. Quatre's girlfriend... Relena is Heero's girlfriend, very moody... constant PMS, I think he said... Brown hair... Hilde. Now what did Trowa say about her?" She couldn't quite remember, as he had said it really fast and in one breath. It sounded kind of like:"Crazypsychopathicalb****fromh***ihateherihatehershehadacrushonmewouldn'tleavemealone...etc..."
"I think I'll know her when I see her," Alley had told him.
"Yeah. I just hope that she's over Trowa..."
She stopped. In front of her rose a house. The Christmas lights still ran around the outside in a tangled mess.
"Hmm... I guess Christmas lights tangle up no matter what you do…"
She looked down at the watermelon in her hands and then back up at the house. She grinned wickedly and started up the walk.
The doorbell rang again and Heero went to answer it. A woman about his age stood on the doorstep. She smiled and held up a watermelon.
In a rather fake Russian/Swedish/who-the-heck-knows-what accent, she said, "Would you like to buy a watermelon?"
Heero raised an eyebrow, or rather, both eyebrows, as he had not yet mastered the raising of one; "Er... um... not really..."
He started to close the door. Suddenly, he was flung against the wall.
"Get in here," Trowa whispered urgently to Alley, "What have you to say for yourself?"
"...er..."
"Trowa, relax. She did NOT steal the pop tarts," Heero muttered from where he sat uncomfortably against the closet doors where Trowa had pushed him. He slowly opened his eyes.
"ARGH! Trowa's multiplying!!!!"
"You might want to see a doctor about that..."
Trowa noticed that Heero was staring at him and the woman beside him.
"Er... this is Alley," he explained, "She's my.... girlfriend..."
At the exact moment that Trowa said the last word, Clare came out of the kitchen, beating Quatre ferociously over the head with a broom.
"I told you to STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN!"
They stopped running just long enough to meet Alley. Then Quatre was off again with Clare in hot pursuit.
"Sorry about this," Trowa apologized to Alley. "They usually aren't this high strung."
"It's okay," Alley smiled. "At least they're having fun."
"Mmm hmm... d'you want to come in farther? Supper won't be ready for about half an hour, but there is coffee... if Quatre hasn't drunk it all already."
"Okay. Er... I brought a watermelon..."
"I like watermelon," a new voice joined in.
"Duo, you like anything edible."
"I don't like green olives."
"Sure, sure. Remind me to remind you next time you're stuffing your face with them when you think no one's looking."
"Shuddup. Hey, who's that?"
"I'm Alley. Trowa n' I hooked up about a month ago."
"Good job, Trowa! You got yourself a girl! (Excepting Hilde of course.)"
"Shush, you."
"I'm Duo," he turned to Alley, completely ignoring Trowa.
"I see. Interesting name."
"Mmm hmm..." he assumed a far away look.
"Don't mention that around Duo," Trowa whispered. "It's kind of an emotional subject."
"Sorry... I didn't know."
"It's okay. Hey Trowa, I'll show your," he smirked, "girlfriend to the living room while you go get the coffee."
"Why don't YOU get the coffee while I-"
"I'll buy you pop tarts!"
"OKAY!!"
Trowa bounced off to the kitchen. Alley's eyes followed him.
"Can I take that?" Duo asked.
"Oh - huh - what?"
"Can I take that watermelon," he repeated.
"Oh. Sure," Alley passed him the watermelon, which he nearly dropped.
"The living room's over here," he beckoned.
As soon as Alley got settled into a couch, Duo quickly ran to the kitchen to deposit the large fruit.
While she was alone, Alley picked up a picture frame that sat on the table next to her.
The original picture was slightly faded, but the smiles on the faces of the five young men hadn't aged. Alley recognized them as Duo, Heero, Trowa, Quatre and another teenager whom she assumed to be Wu Fei. Another faded photograph was taped to the edge where the matting was. It was a cut out of a slender girl with short, black hair and cool, black eyes.
That must be Yoshiko, she thought, and then smiled. Three other, smaller cut outs that were relatively new were also stuck there. There was Clare, her hand stretched out in front of her, forefinger and middle finger held in a peace sign, and tongue stuck out to the camera. The others were also of women. The first one had very short, black hair and a cheerful smile. The other was of a woman whom Alley knew to be the Queen of the Earthsphere Unified Nations. Relena.
She put the picture down hurriedly as she heard footsteps approaching.
A tall, young woman with long, black hair and dark eyes walked into the room, one hand clamped tightly around Duo's braid.
"Let go," The latter pummeled her with his fists and made a face as she only gripped harder.
"I TOLD you. Stay Out Of My Cookie J-" She stopped, dropped the braid and walked over to where Alley sat. Sinking down beside Alley, the woman offered her hand.
"I'm Yoshiko. My friends call me Yoshi."
"I'm Alley."
"You must be Trowa's girlfriend." Yoshiko said it without that suspicious look on her face that all the others had had. "Watch out for Relena when she comes," she whispered, "I heard she's in a bad mood today."
"Oh. Okay."
Trowa walked in with two cups of coffee. He offered one to Alley and gave up the other to Yoshiko when she gave him her most fearsome evil eye.
As Trowa stalked back to the kitchen to get himself a coffee, Duo and Yoshiko stayed behind to talk.
"So, where are you from?" Yoshiko asked Alley.
"Oh. I came from Canada, back on Earth."
Duo leapt to his feet.
"Um. What's wrong with him?" Alley asked Yoshiko.
"He thinks he's American."
"I do not THINK-"
"Tell us something we don't know," Yoshiko interrupted cooly.
"Ahem. I do not THINK. I KNOW!" Duo declared, glaring at his girlfriend.
"Duo, you don't know who your parents were and you don't even know if you were born on that colony."
"I grew up as an American, therefore I AM American."
Yoshiko sighed and seized his hand, forcibly pulling him down into his chair.
Duo refused to talk to Alley or Yoshiko. When Trowa came in, Duo channeled his anger onto him.
"TRAITOR!" He yelled.
"Huh? What did I do?" Trowa looked bewildered.
"YOU are DATING the ENEMY!!!"
"Sorry."
"Gr- OW!" Yoshiko cuffed Duo across the back of his head.
"Be nice," she hissed, "and in any case, historically, I'm dating the enemy too, considering the U.S. bombed the crap out of Japan in WWII."
"But that was so long ago."
"That's why I'm forgiving you."
Alley giggled nervously. Trowa entered at about the same time and reassured her that the whole thing was normal procedure.
"Where the hell is Relena?" Heero yelled from some room or other.
All the friends looked at each other.
"Um... Did anyone remember to tell her the times?" Trowa asked nervously.
The whole house rang with, 'I thought you did it!' Alley thought Duo looked kind of guilty.
"It's alright." Clare walked in, depositing a disgruntled Quatre on the carpet. "I phoned her. She's not gonna be here for another fifteen minutes or so."
Alley noticed a look of almost pure joy enter all the faces in the room. For a moment, it almost made Duo forget that he was glaring at Alley.
Finally, Relena arrived, and Alley began to realize that the look of pure joy had been because they had had fifteen more Relena-free minutes, and not, as she had assumed, because they knew she was coming.
Perhaps it was that TOM (I assume all the ladies out there know what I mean) because everyone seemed more scared of her that Trowa had implied to Alley, but Trowa assured her that this was also normal procedure.
Supper came and went without too many mishaps, excepting Quatre's burnt black forest cake.
AFTER EVERYONE IS GONE AND EVERYONE ELSE IS IN BED
Duo sat at the kitchen table. A dim light was on overhead and the clock read 2:00am. He held a pair of scissors in his right hand and a photo in his left. He carefully clipped a shape from the photo and stuck it onto the larger picture in front of him with clear tape. He looked at it and smile. Slipping the picture back into its frame and carefully throwing out any leftover scraps, he set the frame upright in the center of the table. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he turned off the light and slipped upstairs to his room.
Yoshiko waited until Duo was all the way in his room before stepping out of hers and going downstairs. She flicked the light on. She walked over to the table and picked up the picture frame. A smile crept onto her face. Squished into a corner of the already crowded picture was a cutout of a young woman with curly red hair and a bright blue bandana.
Good? Yeah... I'm gonna be taking a break from this for awhile. Try to finish Hiroko DarkAngel, work on Rune Mates some more and do all the rest of that stuff. I hope you have enjoyed this so far.