Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, nor do I claim that Rachel is a psychiatrist for Relena. I also don't own the game "Hide and Seek" so don't sue me if I find that fun to play! runs off to hop in her gundam and play, yelling "Here I come!"
Chapter 18
"So. . .Relena. . ." Rachel said after a while, walking across the hut to sit on the bed with Relena, plopping down in front of her, "I hear something's been 'happening' lately with you and Heero. Any truth to the rumors?" Relena blushed and said, "Heero and me? Oh I hardly think things have been happening. I mean, yes, I did fall asleep on him but I hardly count that as something."
"Are you kidding! With him that's a miracle in itself that he'd let you do that!" Rachel exclaimed.
"Do you think so?"
"Definitely. So. . .how was it?"
"How was what?" Relena asked, looking confused.
"Sleeping on him, was it like resting on a cloud or a big rock?"
"Oh, well. . .he was actually quite comfortable. . .and warm." Relena said, pulling her knees up and hugging them as a chill ran up her spine. Rachel grinned and bounced a little cheerfully.
"Do you like him?"
"Heero? No!. . .Well. . ." She blushed as she whispered, "Don't tell anyone but. . .I kind of do have a little crush on him."
"Who wouldn't, he's got good looks and a great body, the personality and such leaves a bit to be desired but hey, with time that could change. With the right person I'm sure he'll grow out of that shell of his, and I think you're just the girl for him!"
"Do you really think so?" Relena looked almost hopeful.
"Sure! He probably likes you back but you know those soldiers, can't show their emotions, makes them look soft." Rachel said in a mocking tone. Relena nodded sadly and said, "I think he's started to show feelings for me but stops himself and acts rude and mean. . .I get so confused when I talk to him, he makes no sense half the time."
"Yeah, he didn't really have training when it comes to talking to pretty girls, not an essential in war I'm afraid."
"So. . .he likes me but doesn't want to admit it?"
"Probably doesn't even want to admit it to himself, knowing Heero. Don't worry, all he needs is a little time to get to know you and I'm sure he'll say something. But don't hang around him all the time, that just gives him the idea that you're clingy and he'll never talk to you that way. Be nice, say hello and all that junk, start some idle chat when the moment's right but don't do anything to embarrass him or he'll go retreating back into his shell again and you'll have to start all over again."
"I see. You sure know a lot about Heero, do you have a crush on him too?" Rachel blinked and said, "Heck no, I'm with Duo. Heero. . .well, he gets on my nerves a lot. He's just not my type."
"Yeah, suicidal tendencies and a mind set on war tends to turn off a girl. . ." Relena giggled. Rachel laughed and sighed, saying, "Yeah but you gotta love him, he's a real softie at heart but it makes him feel weak to show it. He'll come around some day, you'll see."
"I hope so." Relena said with a sigh.
"Well, we should get some sleep, who knows what the morning will bring!" Rachel said, hopping over to her own bed and snuggling under the covers. Relena did the same and they said their goodnights.
"Hey Quatre, I'm sorry about what I said to you. . ." Duo said calmly from his bed. Quatre rolled over to face Duo and said in a sleepy voice, "Huh? What are you talking about, Duo?" Sitting up, Duo said, "About calling you an S.O.B., minus the B. I was convinced you had done something with Rachel cause you were talking to her about something but you never gave a clue about what it was."
"Oh. . .I was talking about her teleporting the planes! I guess I should state what I'm talking about next time, in case you're listening at the door again." Quatre said sarcastically.
"Yeah yeah, I know. But. . .you didn't do anything in there besides sleep, did you?" Quatre didn't want to tell him about his heart attack but also didn't want to lie to his friend.
"Well. . .I'm not sure if I want to tell you, you may kill me."
"Tell me and maybe I won't."
"Well, if you put it that way," Quatre said with an eye roll, "She wore my shirt." Duo blinked and said, "Before I think about that too much more, care to explain why?"
"She was uncomfortable in her bodysuit so I offered her my shirt to wear the night. It's really long, honest, so I couldn't see a thing if I wanted to, which I didn't!"
"Okay. Anything else?"
"Why are you being so nosy, it was just one night. . ."
"Because I want to know everything so my mind doesn't have anything to imagine about."
"Fine. Her foot got a cramp so. . .I massaged it for her. But that's all I did, okay? Nothing else happened, we went to sleep."
"If you say so, I'll believe you. Thanks for being honest with me, Quatre. Goodnight." Duo rolled over and went to sleep, leaving Quatre wide-awake with memories of that night. He couldn't sleep so he got up quietly, walking out onto the walkway outside their hut. He leaned against the railing and sighed, feeling a slight breeze blowing by, taking away his sighs into the dead of night. It was fairly dark outside except for the faint glow of the moon showing through here and there. He glanced down toward where Trowa and Chang were sleeping to see a figure standing on the railing, leaning against the hut. The silhouette was all he could make out and figured it was Trowa, by the style of hair.
Must be on watch duty. Quatre assumed, turning to step back inside. He took one final deep breath and let it out before stepping back inside.
Looks like everything peaceful tonight, Quatre's the only other person out here. Trowa thought, glancing over his shoulder when he heard movement behind his back. He turned back to the forest view and sighed, looking up at the nearly full moon shining down on them from the dark blanket over the sky. Stars everywhere shimmered and flickered overhead in all sizes, some barely visible. A light breeze rustled the branches over his head and leaves flittered to the ground far below. One ran down his bare back and tickled him, causing him to sigh and flex his shoulder blades lazily. He decided to take a break and sat down on the railing, hanging a leg over the side to dangle there in the wind tickling his feet. He leaned his back against the hut and closed his eyes, resting his arms across his chest. He reached a hand up and slid it across his smooth pectoral muscles, looking down as he thought, I can almost feel the scars deep inside, and it feels like they're still there. Why do I keep having these chills all over like her hands are still on me. . .
"I really need to get some sleep." Trowa said to himself, shivering as a chilly breeze swept by him and across his almost naked body. He turned his head to take one last survey of the area before jumping down. He pulled his boxers up a little and walked into the hut, crawling into bed and laying there till dawn. Morning came quickly and the group woke it seemed all at once, emerging from their huts and stretching. Trowa decided to put some pants on before he went outside this time and found a nice branch overhead to practice some acts on. He did some flips and other acrobatic moves, slowly sliding into a split and stretching out his arms in front of himself.
"Wow, that must hurt." Trowa looked down to see Rachel staring up at him, her head cocked to the side with an eyebrow raised. He rolled over and hung off the branch by his legs, looking at her upside down.
"Good morning, I suppose you slept well?" Trowa asked, starting to do stomach crunches from his hanging spot.
"Yes, it was very nice, how about you?" Rachel asked, watching him curl and uncurl over and over.
"I had night watch duty, couldn't sleep."
"All night?"
"Yeah, Chang was really tired so I took the whole night." She reached up and grabbed his shoulders as he uncurled, startling him a little.
"Would you mind stopping that, I'm getting dizzy and you're going to pass out from all the blood rushing to your head." Rachel said. Trowa smiled at her and pulled up again, grabbing the branch and flipping down, landing in front of her. She blinked and said, "Thank you. Now, I don't know why you seem to have so much energy if you stayed up all night but okay."
"I didn't stay up all night, I took a few naps while it was quiet." He admitted. She glanced at his sweaty muscles for a brief second before looking away, saying, "Well, that's nice. I'm gonna go get dressed and see how the others are." She turned to go but Trowa grabbed her wrist, pulling her back and resting her hand on his chest over his heart. She stared at him in shock, feeling his heart barely beating fast.
"See, I'm fine, takes a lot to get my heart pounding. I could do upside down sit ups for hours before I get dizzy." Trowa said in a low voice. She swallowed and said, "That's nice." He slipped an arm around her silky waist, pulling her tight against his body, saying, "You say 'that's nice' too much, say something else."
What the heck is wrong with Trowa! Why is he holding me against his body! Rachel's mind was screaming to get away but she couldn't move.
"Let go?" She said, looking uncomfortable.
"If that's what you really want." Trowa whispered, looking into her eyes.
"Yes, it is." He released her and she quickly stepped back, saying, "Don't do that again, you hear me? I'm with Duo, no one else, I'm not up for grabs!" She turned and ran away back to her hut. He watched her go and thought, Her heart was pounding. . .I'll catch her later when she's not so spirited.
"So, what do you want to do today, Rach?" Duo asked his arm around her waist, standing next to her resting his head against her shoulder. She looked into his eyes as he tilted his head back to smile up at her.
"I don't know, not much to do in a forest in the middle of nowhere. We could play around in our Gundams."
"That's a waste of fuel, we might need them later." Duo stated.
"Oh, don't worry about that, I can fill them up if you get low on fuel! Come on, let's go play!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the elevator, jumping in and waiting for him to untie the rope from its post. Quatre ran up to them and said, "Wait, where are you going?"
"We're going to play in our Gundams, care to join us? We could play hide and seek in the forest." Rachel said with a wink.
"That sounds like fun! I'm in!" Relena walked out just then and said, "I'll watch from the balcony."
"Okay, see ya later!" Duo said, waving goodbye as he lowered them to the ground. They ran off to find their Gundams, laughing and racing the whole way there. Trowa glanced over the railing at the noise and blinked in wonder.
"Where are they going?" Trowa asked as Relena ran over to his side of the encampment.
"They're going to play hide and seek in their Gundams!" Relena said, stopping against the railing to wait for them to start playing. Trowa joined her and said, "Isn't that a waste of energy?" Relena shrugged and they stared out across the trees, waiting for the first signs of the game beginning. Chang stepped out and said, "What are you two looking at?"
"Duo, Quatre, and Rachel are playing Hide and seek in their Gundams, wanna watch?" Relena said cheerfully.
"Maybe a little bit, but that's a stupid thing to do." Chang said, jumping up onto the railing to sit down to watch. Trowa glanced over at Chang and grinned, knowing he was secretly interested in the game.
"Look, they're starting!" Relena shouted, pointing out into the forest as Deathscythe flew out of the trees and went off to hide. Sandrock rushed by in a different direction and they guessed at whom was counting.
"6. . .7. . .8. . .9. . .10! Ready or not, here I come!" Rachel shouted, the comlink open so they could communicate while playing.
Remember not to use your radar, that's cheating. Duo commented as Rachel stalked off through the trees.
"I know, I'm not that bad. . ." Rachel replied. Verein walked around the trees, but found herself in a dead end of trees. Looking up to make sure she was clear for take off, she rocketed up and hovered in the air, looking around a little.
Hey, that's considered cheating too! Quatre shouted. She guessed he was close enough to see her so she landed and said, "I was stuck in a dead end, I had to do a little hop to get around it. You do know you just gave away that you're near by, Quatre. . ."
Uh. . .ACK! He shot out of the trees and rocketed toward the encampment. Rachel cut him off and tagged him out with her hand.
"HA, gotcha! I knew you'd panic!" Rachel teased. Quatre grumbled and landed under the treetops, stepping out to watch to see if Duo would make it.
"Hey, nice try, Quatre!" Relena shouted to him. He was pouting with his arms crossed as he said, "She cheated, not fair. . ."
"What's the rules of the game?" Trowa asked.
"You're not allowed to use radar so it's like regular hide and seek and this is base. She guessed my location when she popped up out of the forest." Quatre shouted back.
"I think it was your fault, she probably couldn't have found you otherwise." Chang commented. Quatre frowned and plopped down, sitting on the door in a bad mood.
"It's not my fault. . ." Quatre huffed. Heero stepped outside after hearing the commotion, wondering what was going on.
"Hey Heero, come watch with us!" Relena called to him. He walked over and said, "What are they doing?"
"They're playing hide and seek in their Gundams, it looks like fun!" Relena replied.
"Quatre made a break for base but got caught." Trowa commented. Heero grunted, finding that amusing as he decided to stay for a few minutes.
"I know you're out there somewhere, Duo, I can feel it." Rachel said, Verein slowly moving through the trees.
The only thing you're feeling is the branches smacking you in the face. Duo replied cockily. Kneeling, Deathscythe felt her footsteps drawing closer to his hiding spot. He waited till she was a little ways away before trying to sneak behind her back. But she heard his footsteps too and he made a break for it. As he sped over the treetops, hurrying for his life, Verein came up on his tail and almost caught him. He quickly rocketed up and stopped, watching her whiz past him. He flew off in a different direction as she turned quickly and went after him.
"Go, Duo! Run!" Relena cheered.
"The baka won't make it, her Gundam's faster than his." Chang commented.
"But is she as good at steering as him? That's what will decide the game." Trowa said.
"We'll see." Heero said. Relena glanced at him.
He looks like he's enjoying this, amazing. Better keep it cool, don't wanna scare him off. Relena thought to herself, remembering what Rachel had told her.
"Go, Rachel." Quatre said, watching them speed around through the air, darting back and forth and diving out of reach of each other.
"Duo, give it up, you won't win!" Rachel exclaimed, chasing him away from base.
NEVER! Duo yelled, diving out of the way of her hand. She kicked at him and almost caught him.
"Darn it, get back here!" She said, rocketing off after him. He started toward the base, gaining a lead and saying, I'm gonna make it! Suddenly, his gundam started beeping, a warning light popping on the fuel level. It was empty. As he slowly lost altitude, he shouted to Quatre, "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Quatre's eyes grew wide and he screamed, scrambling into his cockpit and closing the door just in time to be body slammed by the incoming Deathscythe. They went flying back and tumbled over each other, crashing into a nearby tree.
"DUO!" Rachel yelled as she watched the collision.
