NOTE TO READERS: Um…some time has passed since her birthday and yes, I know, this is a rather short training. I'm sorry. Right now, I'm trying to get the maps finished and completed for the next chapter. The following chapter(s) is/are going to be rather HUGE when I put the maps in. I may have to split it up into multiple chapters, and I was thinking of having it a story of its own…but I don't know just yet. I'm going to get it all down first then decide what I'm going to do. I got to find a way to get the maps to fit in this thing without loosing its proportions.
(Notice as of Sept. 22, 2004: Maps are all finished. You may view them at my portal; my HOMEPAGE link is on my bio page. Maps are on the bottom right column - you can't miss it)
Duo's Child
Chapter 20
It was an early Sunday morning on the start of Uno's winter vacation; the first day off from school. The wheather was chilly, the trees were dead…and she was cold for the first time in five months. The worse thing Uno was worried about for winter vacation…was having to train again.
She yawned and stretched as she sat up that morning. Eight in the morning and amazingly she couldn't sleep anymore. Shrugging, she pulled herself out of bed and went downstairs to the living room.
"Quatre! I'd rather die before I let her take Uno for a week!"
"But Duo, it will be for Uno's own good."
"Why? So she can forget about everything we've taught her? So she can become a Relena's Barbie Doll? So Relena can act like she has a child of her own—cuz, heh, we both know, Quatre, Heero ain't giving her any."
"Duo?" Uno stepped up to him.
"Uno…go in the kictchen, will ya'?" Duo looked down at her. "Quatre and I have to talk."
He looked pissed, but Uno still wanted to see him. Sighing, she went into the kitchen.
"Duo, please."
"No!"
"Why not?!"
"Quatre-"
"Why not Duo?" Quatre was persistent and Duo felt he had no way out.
"She'll change Uno entirely!"
Quatre sighed. "Then what, Duo? Then what will you do? Continue training her? I thought you wanted everybody to teach her."
"I do," Duo paused, "But why Relena?"
"Why not Dorothy?" Quatre asked; Duo nodded. "Because Dorothy is to be taught to her afterwards. Uno doesn't know war from peace; let her learn peace first form the pacifists point of view then over to a-"
"Blood-loving lunatic?" Duo smirked. "I see why you agree in that order, but not…now!" Duo shouted and threw his arms down.
Quatre sighed. "Very well, Duo. Then who would teach her for this week?"
Uno was walking down the sidewalk with Theresa, who was humming and swaying her head from side to side. Uno was kicking rocks and pine cones out of the way. Both girls were slowly walking towards the nearest park.
"Duo let's you walk alone?" Theresa asked, stopping her song to ask a question.
Uno nodded, "He doesn't think I'll get hurt."
"Wow…my parents were skeptical about letting me go to the park, even with you."
Uno shrugged and looked up when the park came into view.
"Well, we made it, didn't we?"
Theresa looked up and smiled. She then faced Uno and as if words were spoken silently, they both sprinted into a run towards the park. Uno leaped over the tiny fencing and stopped without even a heavy breath. She turned to see Theresa, who was trying to catch her breath.
"I win again."
"Yeah…I…I know." Theresa glared Uno. Both girls walked up to the swings and sat down. Immediately, a heavy hispanic boy stepped up to them.
"Hey idiots!" Both Uno and Theresa looked up to glare him. "Did I say you could sit down on my swings?!"
Theresa snapped her face over to Uno, who, unamazingly, just stared back in return and replied unemotionaly.
"No."
"So then get up!"
Theresa looked down and was about to get up when Uno replied in the argument.
"Why? Do you own this park? Do you own this city? Do you own the United Earth Shere Alliance? Do you own the Universe? Do you own humanity?"
"Man, whatever. Just get up or else I'm gunna' fucking kill you!"
Theresa stood and backed away from the boy. Uno stood up and stayed where she was. He looked at her and screamed again.
"Didn't you hear me, bitch?!"
"No, sorry…someone was yelling and made me deaf. Could you repeat that a bit louder?" Uno smirked.
Suddenly, a huge and massive fist struck Uno on the cheak and threw her onto the ground. Eyes as huge as saucers and mouth gaping wildly, Uno placed her hand on her abused cheak and looked up at the boy. Fright took over in her eyes.
"Now get the fuck out of my park, bitch!"
"You hit me…" Uno dazed out some.
"Get out!"
Uno scrambled to her feet and ran off with Theresa. From behind, she could hear him yelling back at her.
"And don't you fucking come back! You stupid prick!"
By the time Uno made it back to the gates of the mansion, she was spent. She and Theresa ran all the way over to Theresa's big house and Uno had to run all the way back. The lights were turning on and the streets were getting dark; plus it was getting colder out. She was hoping nobody would be home so she could make it up the stairs to her room without anyone seeing the red bruise on her face.
She opened the front door and heard nothing. When she turned around to shut it, she found a note. It read:
Uno, gone to the store with Quatre. Trowa went back to the Circus to practice. Heero's out somewhere. Be back later. Don't stay up too late. –Duo
Uno sighed and smiled. She trashed the paper, ran up the stairs, and looked in the mirror in her bathroom. The mark was big and it stung when she touched it. She shut her eyes and left the bathroom. She went downstairs, grumbling about needing to learn how to fight, and went to the PS2 in the living room. She withdrew her Tekken games and popped in the latest one.
Going to the practice mode and turning on the manual replay, she began doing combos and watching the replay. A few times, she tried to copy them. They kicked; she kicked, They punched; she punched. They did a jumping drop kick, she tried and fell. They did a couple throws; she tried to get the hang of the motions they used.
She heard a smirked sounding behind her and Uno spun around to see Wufei standing there, watching her. She reddened in the face and stood still.
"A boy hit me today…" She mumbled.
Wufei looked at her then around her to the television showing the game. She looked back at her.
"You did the move wrong. Put more of the strength into your arm and less in your shoulder. Otherwise, you have a higher chance of displacing your joints."
Wufei stepped up to her and lifted her arms in the position they were meant to be.
"Now stay steady and balanced, when they strike, you will then loop around them and grab them from behind…" Wufei did a slow replay to show Uno. "See?"
Uno nodded.
"Why are you learning anyways? Have Duo go down to the park tomorrow."
"I want to kick his ass."
Wufei shook his head and looked into her eyes. "Don't say that word."
"The boy did."
"That boy also struck you. The weakest kind hits a woman because a woman is naturally weaker than the man."
"Duo doesn't believe you."
"Duo is also an idiot."
Uno giggled. Wufei smirked. He then sighed.
"Uno…how intent are you on learning?"
"Duo wants me to be Shinimegami!" Uno smiled up at him.
"Yeah, I know. I will teach you the ways of the art of fighting and on being honorable, but you have to pay attention and take it all with open arms. I won't teach if you don't want to learn."
"No!" Uno stammered her foot down and threw her fists to her sides. "I want to kick his…butt!"
"Alright…continue what you're doing so you have some slight background. If you need me, I'll be in the library reading."
"What ya' gonna' read?"
"Earth History, 4060 AD to FC 60." Uno blinked at him. "The history of this planet before and after the colonies were built."
"How many colonies are there?"
Wufei looked off in though for a moment then returned to her. "About a dozen hundred. The older ones, used when the colonies were first created, are not to be used for civilians anymore."
"Why not?"
"Because they are old technology and out of date. It's a very dangerous place for anyone because at any moment, the systems can shut down or explode."
"What's it like?"
Wufei smirked. Uno was a little devil when it came to history.
"Well, nothing like the colonies now. There was no wheather patterns, no skies that had clouds. Pretty much, like a space ship."
"What do they look like now?"
"Like another Earth but you see land on top of you." Wufei looked down at her big sparkling eyes and smiled. "I'm pretty sure Duo'll take you there one day."
"Really?"
Wufei nodded. "Train."
Duo submerged through the front door with three bags in his arms and Quatre stumbling in behind with over a dozen more, straining his muscles and harming his arms. Quatre just barely managed to shut the door behind him before a bag ripped from its handle and fell to the floor. Duo spun around and looked at him.
"Duo, these are heavy. Would you mind helping me some?" Quatre winced.
Duo grabbed a couple bags from Quatre's bruised arm and lifted them up. He smirked and nodded to his friend then turned to go to the kitchen. When he walked by the living room, he saw Tekken 3 in the training mode without a character being played. He blinked at it, but continued into the kitchen. Quatre came in behind him.
"Where's Uno?" Quatre asked, placing a bag on the counter and dropping the loose items on the table.
Duo put the five bags on the floor and wondered as well.
"I don't know. I'll go look; be back soon."
"Thanks."
Duo spun back around to face Quatre before exiting the kitchen. "Huh?"
"For going food shopping with me. Thanks; I really appreciate it."
"Oh, yeah sure. I figured I could pay you back for all the times I spoil my dinner." Duo winked and turned to leave the room.
He paused behind the couch and thought a few times. "Now where would I be if I were Uno? Where would she go in the middle of a training mode, not even paused?" Duo thought. "The bathroom?"
He walked to the powder room bathroom on the first floor and opened it. The unlocked door told him she wasn't there to begin with so he figured to check up stairs. Still, he found no Uno. Still wondering where she could have gone, he traveled down the second floor hallway to the gameroom, looked inside, and found the room empty of life. He returned downstairs and stood in front of the television to think. He looked down the other hallway opposite of the one he took and began heading that direction. When he came to the first door on his right, he checked and found no body but an old empty office. He traveled a little more ways to the door near the end of the hall on the left, and found the training room black. He ran down the hallway, ignoring the gym and the first floor game room to the library, expecting her to have forgotten the game was on and search for another book. He flew open the door and scanned the room. All that was in there was the desk lamp turned on, sitting on the only table in the room. It shined down upon an old history text book.
Duo stepped up to the book and turned it around to take a good look at it. He could tell Wufei was home; Uno had no clue about the colonies.
Lucky her.
He looked around and sighed, then left the room by the same door he came from. He figured to at least try the gym and when he opened it, found the light on and Wufei standing besides an arm-flailing Uno. He blinked and stepped into the room.
"Slow down, slow down. You don't want to get hasty when you train; you'll throw your entire bone structure out of ordinary…good."
Duo stepped up to Wufei. "Hey."
"She's got a pretty decent force down."
"Huh?" Duo looked at Uno, who was slowly shifting to different stances of Chinese Martial Arts.
"Her moves; she's only practicing, but she's got a hefty force for a light move."
"So you're going to train her? Why all of a sudden?" Duo stood besides Wufei and watched Uno train with her eyes shut.
"A boy struck her face when she was at the park. She vowed not to tell you for fear you would intersect her fight." Wufei spoke without taking his eyes off her.
"He hit her? Who? At the park?" Duo slowly became ecstatic.
"Duo, please. The last thing Uno needs in training is an outsider entering the war without any knowledge to the battle." Duo sweat-dropped. "Go ahead and leave. I won't keep her up too late. She needs her sleep if I am to train her for the next two weeks."
"Two weeks?! Why so long?!"
"You can't learn martial arts in a single day. Even a week, it'll take more than a month to become professional enough to be a beginner."
"So it's two weeks?" Wufei nodded. Duo dropped his head and forced his hands in his pockets. "Just don't weaken her. She's going to Relena's as soon as you're finished with her."
Wufei smirked and watched Duo walk away. "Your call?"
Duo spun around and walked out backwards. "No-hers. But I can't say no. If I do, I'll get more hell than we had with OZ."
Wufei smirked and looked back at Uno when Duo finished off.
"Good, now stop and take a rest. Watch me, I'm going to show you how to do a spinning drop kick."
Duo looked up at Heero as he entered the living room. Heero had on a movie and wasn't even paying any attention to it. Duo sat on the back of the couch and looked at the television.
"Attention span not large enough to reach the television?"
"Hn."
Duo looked down at the laptop on Heero's lap and at the screen. He blinked at the encrypted DOS message Heero was typing out.
"What are you doing?"
As if he stumbled across secret enemy plans, Heero sprang up from his seat, spun around and stared into Duo's wonderous eyes.
"What did you see?" He demanded.
"Um…a DOS encryption. Who are you messaging to this time? The scientists are dead."
Heero's eyes slowly narrowed and he closed the laptop together.
"When you get older, I'll explain."
Heero passed by Duo without another word and went into the hallway.
"Sheeze. You can't even speak to the man without getting offended."
A giggle behind him made Duo turn around to see Quatre sipping on wine.
"He's had a rough day."
"Doing what? Internet searching?"
Quatre sipped his wine and shook his head. "Emmhm, no. Relena was with him."
Duo rolled his eyes. "Oh, that."
Quatre giggled, smiled, and nodded.
Duo blinked at him. "You drink alcohol?"
"A little wine each day is good for the body. It cleanses the system and revives your immune system."
"I didn't know that."
"It's part of keeping yourself in good shape." Quatre walked by him to sit on the couch.
"No, I meant about you drinking. I didn't know." Duo slid over the backside of the couch and sat on the cushions. "Does Trowa know about it?"
"Duo, you're making it sound like I'm an alcoholic; yes he knows. He drinks it with me."
"…"
Quatre giggled.
"I'm gonna' go walk around some." Duo stood and walked around the couch towards the library. "You have fun watching your porno movie."
"What?!" Quatre snapped his head back to the television screen to see a couple getting it on. Quickly, he grabbed the remote control and switched the station, then turn it off. He sat back and sighed.
"Since when did Heero watch porno?"
Duo was laughing his butt off when he was walking away from the living room. He knew Heero looked at porn but he didn't know it was supposed to be kept a secret. He was still laughing when he turned the corner and stepped up to the library door. When he stepped inside, he nearly choked out on his laughter as he saw Heero sitting and skimming through some history books on the table.
"I didn't know you liked porno!" Heero snapped his face up at Duo.
Duo shut the door behind him. "Quatre just found out about the movie too!"
"Kuso. Baka, get out!" Heero growled and looked back down to the books. "And leave me alone; I'm busy."
"So…Relena know about your Hentai fetish?" Duo leaned on the table grinning.
"I'm warning you, get out."
"Maybe I should tell her."
"That's it!" Heero sprang to his feet and Duo's face went white. "I've had it with you and your wild mouth! Will you shut up for once?!"
Duo backed away from Heero and down one of the make-shift bookcase hallways. He lifted his hands into the air.
"Heero, calm down buddy. I'm only joking with ya'. It's just a shock that you like to see porno. I mean, I knew about your magazines, but videos? It's just a shock, that's all man. I mean, come on, buddy. Everybody looks at that type of shit once in their life." Duo turned around the back corner, staying away from Heero as best as he could.
"Baka." Heero growled beneath his breath. "You don't know the half of what's going on! Just shut up and get out!"
"Heero, please. Mind yourself. Remember, we're in-" Duo's back hit an empty bookcase and he paused.
"Get out." Heero growled.
"Heero." Duo stepped forward one step but Heero grabbed his shirt collar and pinned him against another empty bookcase on the side where the far back wall is.
Duo gasped and grabbed Heero's wrists.
"H-hey buddy! Calm down! Please! I'm only trying to cheer you up! Come on! Please?!" Duo whimpered.
Heero leaned closer and glared at him. "Get out, then."
Heero forcefully pushed Duo back against the bookcase. He backed away slowly and Duo regained his balance. He adjusted his clothing and sighed. Unfortunately, that sigh tipped Heero off the top of the charts and sent his reeling towards Duo in a violent rush. Duo fell back into the bookcase with Heero head in his gut. His hands grabbed the back of Heero's shirt and gripped tightly while he brought up his knees to meet with Heero's stomach. Heero grunted several times as the impact left him feeling uneasy. He pushed back and Duo grabbed his shirt collar, balled his fist, and swung at him. Heero's face burned with the multiple hits and he fought back. Duo's face reddened with the punches, but he was able to stay awake this time. Duo ran towards Heero and tried tackling him, but only squashed him in between himself and another empty bookcase. The fight went on for a few minutes until Heero finally managed to grab the back of Duo's head and jab his kneecaps into Duo's face many times. Duo grumbled loudly and pushed away from Heero. He stumbled back a few feet and smirked.
"Come on Heero, is that all you got?" He grinned while wiping the blood off his lip. Heero snorted some of the blood back up his nose and growled fiercely at him. Duo gained his balance this time and stood in an old football position, ready to take on Heero's rampage. Only this time, when Heero charged, it was with full force. Duo fell back against the empty bookcase roughly this time and fell forward, hitting the floor rather hard. It was a heavy force that even left the bookcase swaying back and forth in its position. Heero stepped back a few feet, waiting for Duo's next move in the little room they had. However, when Duo was slowly getting himself together and getting up, the bookcase tilted forwards and tipped a bit to far to sway backwards. It lost its balance and fell forward…directly on top of Duo.
Duo got knocked down to the floor with a big bang. He grumbled, sprawled his arms out in front of him for support, and groaned out loud.
"Ughn…that hurt."
Heero stood still and blinked. Duo leveled the bookcase on his back as his hands and feet supported his body up. He slowly got to his feet, still leaning forwards holding the bookcase on his back. He looked up at Heero who was standing in a complete dazed fashion.
"Um…not to get into another fight or anything, but would you mind helping me out?"
"There's a door behind that bookcase."
Duo blinked and tried to turn his head. "Where?"
"Behind that bookcase."
"Ah hell with it." Duo ran forward and into Heero, stumbling out and pinning him down to the ground. The bookcase fell to the floor behind and Duo looked backwards to the wall to a mysterious new door.
"Hey! I know that door! At least I think I do."
Heero poked his shoulder and Duo looked back down to below his face.
"Duo…get up."
"Ack! Sorry Heero." Duo stood and got up off Heero, then leant him a hand to help him up. Both boys stood there, staring at the door.
"Why would it be hiding behind a bookcase?" Duo mumbled.
"Somebody was trying to hide it." Heero mumbled as well.
Heero stepped up to the door on the back of the bookcase and tested the knob. It wouldn't even buldge.
"It's locked."
"Here, let me see it. Maybe I can fix it." Duo stepped onto the back of the bookcase.
"This shelf will break."
"No it won't. If it didn't break from us fighting and from the fall onto me, not to mention the ground afterwards, I doubt it will from us standing on it." Duo got down on his knees and peered through the keyhole. "Oh my God."
"What?"
"I can see through to the other side."
"What do you see?"
"Extreme elegance."
"Huh?" Heero looked down at Duo's backside in question.
"It's a long hallway with golden carpet, golden wallpaper, windows along the right side, a beautiful desk on the left right here to the door, I think I see a silk cushion desk chair for it, but I could be wrong…"
"Any doors?"
"Just one at the far end of the hall…it's too far to make out, but the door looks metallic from here."
Heero sighed. "My goodness."
"This is the locked area Quatre was telling me about." Duo sat back on his knees and looked up at Heero.
"Can you pick the lock?" Heero asked.
"Let me check again." Duo looked in the lock and sighed, then sat back again. "Nope; it's that old that I don't see any of the button mechanisms."
"I figured you knew how to unlock anything." Heero watched Duo stand and dust himself off.
"Yeah, I can." Duo stood up and faced Heero with a grin. "But I can't pick a lock that looks like it's from the early two millennia's."
"Where does this door take us too?"
"Quatre said it's the rest of the mansion. This is the added on section that was built on." Duo looked at Heero and slowly grinned.
"Time for an adventure, eh?"
"Duo, help me put this bookcase back up."
"Huh? Why?" Duo followed Heero off the bookcase and bend down to get a grip.
"If somebody blocked the passage way to the rest of the mansion, there's got to be a reason why they didn't want anybody else to access it."
After the two of them reset the bookcase and placed it back firmly against the wall, Heero looked at Duo and shook his head.
"Don't tell Quatre until Trowa returns."
"Why?"
"He'll need support. And besides, like I said," Heero continued as he walked up to the desk and shut off the light. Duo opened the door. Both boys left to go down the hallway with the outside windows and the bedrooms.
"If the door was hidden, there's got to be a reason."
"You know what this reminds me of?" Duo began as they turned the corner to the rooms. "A Resident Evil game, live version."
Heero stopped and smirked at him. "You're life is a video game, Duo." He shook his head. "I'll remember to give you a couple guns if we ever go exploring."
Duo grinned and gave Heero a thumbs up. "Now you're talkin'!"
Uno managed to sneak around Duo without being noticed so she wouldn't be asked as to what she's been up to lately. She was hiding in a closet. When he was out of sight, she left the closet and ran upstairs. She made it to her room before she heard Duo yappin' away on the telephone to Hildie.
She sat on her bed and looked around her room with boredom. She didn't want to train anymore—not yet, at least—and she was almost done with her third book. Uno went to her bookshelf and removed the pink book Quatre was going to trash just a couple of months before and took it down. She never understood why it was so heavy; it was only a hard cover book with four hundred pages in it.
She opened it up to the front cover, to the middle, and then to the back. She blinked when shadows hit the inside back cover a bit funny. She traced her fingers around the cover and felt it a little bumpy. It felt like something was hiding in it.
She went to her desk that Quatre had bought for her and took out her pocket knife. She sat on her bed and opened the book to the back cover again, took the knife against the edge of the book's seal, and pried open a little bit of the cover. She managed to get the rest of the blade down into the paper and pealed away as carefully as possible from the binding. She realized it was an extra piece of paper covering the back binding that somebody must have added.
When she took the paper off, she found a golden key the size of the book itself. She blinked and withdrew it from the compartment it was hiding within. It was kind of heavy, pure gold with so many shines on it; she could see her own reflection in the metal. The emblem on the top was a blue gem and it was designed rather ornate looking; it was very expensive and must hold great value; then why was Quatre going to trash the book?
The next couple days, Uno was kickin' butt with Wufei in the training room nine hours per daylight times. When Duo wanted to go outside and play in the snow, Uno would rather train with Wufei. When Duo wanted to play Uno video games, she would prefer to fight realistically. When Duo tried to bribe Uno into buying her more puzzles if she went with him out to hang around and drive around, she'd beg for him to reconsider another day. Duo wanted to be with her as much as possible before Relena gets her way, and Uno's already finished the puzzle box twenty-four times since she first got it, but she'd rather stay and train for that boy.
It was dinner around the end of the second week and Uno was eating lighter than what she used to eat with Duo.
"Uno? Are you feeling well?" Duo asked, worriedly.
"Wufei told me to stop eating so much."
Duo rolled his eyes. "Wufei also doesn't know that our bodies can't handle the lack of food. You'll go hungry before you fall asleep tonight. So eat up."
Uno considered this for a moment then shrugged. She grabbed another turkey leg off the plate in front of her and dug in. Wufei rolled his eyes and mumbled beneath his breath. Quatre swallowed his bite and cleared his throat while he cut another piece of carrot.
"Trowa said he'll be coming back tomorrow. The circus was canceled due to a powerful snowstorm."
"On a colony?" Duo blinked. "How is that possible?"
Heero froze in deep thought and his eyes slowly got huge.
"He said something happened to the control system in the colony. Said the repairmen found some sort of malfunction going on with the switches. He said the temperature was actually reading below zero just last night."
"Below Zero?" Wufei grew a little skeptical. "How is that possible?"
"It isn't, unless somebody manually turned it down that low." Heero looked down slowly.
"Hey, it's a machine! They're bound to break at times. Yeah, these hold people on it, but still! Maybe a spark got out of hand in the control room and they had to lower the temperature down to cool off the smoke…or fire."
"Hm." Both Heero and Wufei said in union and continued eating their meal.
"I'll check in with Une tomorrow. I have to go back to the office anyways; she has more papers for me to mess with." Wufei reached over to the vegetable plate and picked up a couple more green beans.
"So, he said he'll be coming back in tomorrow. I'll pick him up at around one in the after noon and we'll probably be back here around three. If the weather holds up, that is."
"Heero?" Duo quirked his eyes up at Heero.
"Hn?"
"You gonna' tell him now or what?"
"Tell me what?" Quatre asked, taking a sip of his tea.
"Heero and I found a door in your library hidden behind a bookcase." Duo looked over to Quatre.
"Behind a bookcase? How did you find that out?"
"Well we um…uh…attacked…each other." Duo looked down and pushed around some of his peas.
"You mean you fought."
Duo nodded. "But when he pushed me I fell back against a bookcase and it went tumbling down with me to the floor. Heero and I found a door back there and when I looked through the key hole, the place looked magnificent. Like a palace, really."
"You found the secret passge." Quatre smiled. Wufei looked up and to everyone else.
"I can't pick the lock though. We can shoot it to get it!" Duo smiled at Quatre.
"Duo!"
"Well, we can't find the key!" Duo exclaimed.
Uno lowered her hands to her laps and bit her lips, remaining quiet.
"Duo, you can't go blasting away in my house like a raging monkey!" Duo blinked then chuckled some. "I mean, this place is older than my father!"
Duo sighed. "Well, I can't pick the lock. It's that old."
"Well then we'll need to find the key somehow." Quatre took another sip of his tea.
"I…I have the key." Uno mumbled out softly. Everybody snapped their faces in her direction. "I…I found it a couple hours ago in a book I think Quatre was about to throw away."
"Did you keep it?" Quatre asked. Uno nodded.
"It's in my room. I…I didn't tell anyone because I thought, maybe, Quatre didn't want it anymore if it was with the stack of books he was throwing away."
"So you hocked it?" Duo asked, grinning down at her. She nodded with a small pout.
"Well! I guess as soon as the weather clears up, we can all go and explore the new areas of the house." Quatre said with a cheery smile.
"Quatre…for the last time; this isn't a house! It's a mansion. Get it right." Duo joked.
"If the door was blocked, usually it means somebody didn't want it opened again." Stated Heero coldly.
"After my mother died, my father closed off that side of the mansion. That was his only reason, but I don't think there will be any wrong if I decided to open it back up again; do you?"
The following day Uno and Theresa were skipping down the sidewalk, humming to a tune both girls were coming up with. By the time they got to the park, they were alone. Theresa sat down on a swing and breathed out a long harsh breath.
"What are we going to do when that boy comes back?"
"Stand here." Uno looked down while she swung back and forth some.
"But…he'll hurt us again."
"No he won't." Uno stared at the ground while Theresa looked at her confused.
Both girls soon looked up to see a silhouette of the same boy appear in the mist, only this time he had some friends.
"Uno?" Theresa sounded worried.
Uno remained uncaring and unemotional and shut her eyes while she lowered her head.
"This could get bad."
Duo rounded the corner to the living room and smacked Heero outside the head. Heero snapped his head in the direction of Duo with a glare, only to get a glare in return. He blinked a few times.
"What?"
"Do you know where Uno is?" Duo asked, 'as a matter of factly.'
"At the park?" Heero felt like an idiot and he was loathing Duo for that.
"Uh huh; and I specifically told her not to go because the weather's getting so bad, Quatre's having trouble driving home. And that park is over a mile away."
Heero put the laptop down and stood up.
"She disobeyed your orders, I take it?"
Duo grumbled and stormed down the hallway to the coat stand. He grabbed his leather jacket and gloves and hat. Heero pulled on his coat and scarf and ear muffs. Duo looked at him and smirked.
"What?" Heero blinked.
"Nuthin'." Duo chuckled; he turned and walked out of the door. Heero followed behind.
"Your car?" He called out to Duo.
"Yeah. It's sturdy enough to go looking for them." Duo got in the car and let Heero in. When the two of them were seated and the heat was on, Duo turned on the defrost and let the engine sit for a moment.
Uno fell back into the snow from another attack on the same cheek and automatically got to her feet. Wufei had taught her that the weak will always attack first and the weaker will attack without warning. She was letting them use their energy. Theresa was on the side, shaking in the cold, the fright, and the fear that she might have to walk back to the mansion alone without Uno besides her, and she was afraid of being alone…especially in a time like this where the weather was horrible.
Uno braced herself for another attack of impact and got severally blown to the side of the face with a heavy fist. She steadied her balance some and regained her position. She would not let these three guys win the fight. One of the boys charged at her and Uno stepped out of the way, spun around, and flung him into the snow, face first. Another made his way at her but Uno was prepared and grabbed at his shirt collar, pulled him downward as her feet held him above her, and kicked him over her body. She rolled back up and looked at the heavy Hispanic kid from two weeks ago.
"You fucking bitch! I said to get away from here! This is my turf!"
"Wild words for a stupid boy; can you back them up?" Uno stated.
The boy growled. "You fucking asshole!"
"Watch it; only pussies cuss." She stated again. The boy screamed and charged at her. He presumed to strike her a few times with kicks and punches, but each time Uno had blocked and dodged it, and delivered one of her own.
By the time she was almost finished with the fight, the two side-kicks had already been knocked out and the heavy Hispanic she was still fighting was about done with. He shot his fist to her face but she quickly dodged it, grabbed it with her own, and swung it right back into his face and returned with her own hands to send him a ravaging blow to the back of his head. He leant forward and tried to catch his breath, but instead of his own health he decided to wildly punch Uno in the gut. Uno stepped back a few feet to catch her breath as he stood and walked up to her. She glared and snarled at him, screamed, then the next he saw, she was flying in the air, spinning and sending a violent kick to the side of his face with her left boot. The boy landed in the snow in a heap of unconsciousness and Uno stood there, wiping a little blood of her lower lip with the back of her right hand.
She heard a little bit of clapping from behind her and she turned around to see Duo and Heero standing there, on the sides of Theresa, watching her. Uno felt as white as the snow for the second Duo had left her stating she were to not leave the house, she ran to get Theresa and run to the park.
She knew she was in for a yelling.
After they dropped Theresa back at her house and entered the mansion, Uno was very quiet. Duo saw Quatre and Trowa and just looked back to the coat stand. Heero stepped into the living room after hanging up his coat. Duo looked at Uno.
"Go to your room; I'll be there in a minute."
Uno nodded and did as told. She turned and walked upstairs, very calmly, knowing she was in deep trouble.
"What happened?" Quatre asked.
"She disobeyed my orders." Duo stated flatly. "I specifically said for her not to go to the park, the weather is getting bad. And what did she do? Go running to the park."
"Well, be easy on her. This is her first time disobeying you, don't forget."
"Oh I can't forget; if I hadn't wondered if she were still 'napping', I wouldn't have looked for her and found her at the park. The fog was so bad you couldn't even see your feet! And that's standing on something that didn't even have any snow!" Duo cleared his throat. "Say hi to Trowa for me; I'll be down in a bit."
Duo started up the stairs and Quatre looked back down the hall. He bit his lower lip then presumed down the hallway to the living room.
"What happened?" Quatre asked Heero as he sat down besides Trowa.
"I don't see how she could have fought in this weather." Wufei looked up from his book. "You couldn't really see anything in front of you, and she managed to beat up three heavy-set boys who were pretty strong looking."
"Even in this weather?" Trowa asked. Heero nodded.
"Well, it doesn't matter much. Relena's-"
"I forgot to tell Duo. She was called out for an emergency meeting in the L3 Colony. She called me earlier on my cell phone because nobody would pick up here—as I see now, you two were out looking for Uno and Wufei hadn't gotten' home from work yet. But it was a meeting about the damage of the colony's electrical power system." Quatre mentioned.
Heero nodded. "I wonder if they'll tell her the truth."
"Which is?" Trowa asked.
"Terrorists."
