Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters or other stuff. . .the only thing I do claim is that Rachel can BBQ. . .it's true, I've had some of the goods, yummy. . . Uh, yeah, I also don't own any Latin recording labels so don't sue me for the phat salsa beats that I never mentioned lyrics of. . .hehe. .
Chapter 23
"Heero, what are you looking at? Doesn't look like me. . ." Relena joked, sitting behind Heero on his bed and wrapping her arms around his neck, looking over his shoulder at the laptop screen glowing in front of him. He smiled and said, "The news. I just found out that there's a battle wave of OZ troops heading across the lands destroying and conquering anything and everything in its wake. Rumors say the attack's being led by one of their Lieutenants called 'The Lightning Count', with another Lieutenant in second command. I wonder if this is the same one I met. . ."
"You met?" Relena looked at his face, leaning her cheek on his shoulder.
"Lieutenant Zechs Merquise, he caught me one time. . ." Relena sat back and said, "Really? Someone caught you?" He glanced at her and said, "Yes, I would have escaped."
"But?"
"But. . .Rachel came and saved me before I got the chance. . ." Heero looked embarrassed.
"Well then I'll have to thank her, I wouldn't have you in my arms right now if it weren't for her." Relena hugged his neck and he grinned. Putting down his laptop, he turned and pulled Relena into his arms, saying, "And I wouldn't be doing this. . ." He pulled her into a kiss. She ran her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer into the kiss as he ran his hands down her back. A knock came at the door and Heero let out an exasperated sigh as he said, "Go away!" Relena whacked him for being so rude and said as she tried to sit up, "Who is it?"
"Well, it was Rachel but I'm guessing I'm gone now. . ." Came a voice from the other side of the door.
"Yes."
"No! Come in." Relena giggled as Rachel peeked open the door, taking a glance before opening the door all the way. She stepped into the doorway, putting a hand on her hip, "Am I interrupting something?" Relena cupped her hands over Heero's mouth and he flailed as he fell back into her.
"Not at all! What is it?"
"I just wanted to know about this rumble I keep hearing now and then, since there's fairly clear skies out." Rachel asked. Heero looked at her, finally getting serious. Relena let him go as he sat up and took his laptop, saying, "I don't think it's thunder, it could be this battle wave sweeping across the continent with some 'Lightning Count' leading it. Do you know who that is?"
"Lightning Count. . .that's Zechs! But why would he lead that. . ." Rachel mused, her brows furrowed.
"I thought it was. It also mentions another lieutenant as his second-in-command."
"That would most likely be Noin, she's always his aid. . .does it mention why they're attacking?"
"No, there's not much information on it."
"Perhaps they're after me?" Relena suggested.
"If that's the case, then they can't have you." Heero said. Relena blushed and Rachel said, "Well. . .I wish I could help some but things have changed drastically from how they were suppose to happen, nothing's the same now."
"I know one way you can help. . ." Heero had a half grin on his face. Relena plastered her hands over his mouth again and said, "Heero!" He licked the palms of her hands and she pulled away, saying, "EW! Why'd you lick me!"
"Well, I'd rather lick something else but not with someone watching. . ." Relena looked blankly at him as Rachel's eye twitched, thinking, Oh gosh. . .he's so blunt and she's so naïve. . .this is awkward. . .
"Heero, that's just nasty, since you're not married but that's just my standards so fine, do whatever kinky thing you want to but don't tell me about it. . ." Rachel waved her hand at them and Relena finally understood. With a gasp, she jumped up and ran after Rachel. Heero fell back on the bed and said, "Relena, wait!"
"You're sick!" Relena said, running out the door. Rachel blinked and Heero growl/sighed into his hands, grumbling, "Why'd you have to go and tip her off. . ."
"Not my fault; I think the licking comment was all your fault. . ." Rachel said, rolling her eyes. She closed the door and went back to her room to find Relena curled up on her bed. Rachel sighed and sat next to her, saying, "Relena, what's wrong?" She shot up and said, "He wanted to have sex, didn't he!" Rachel blinked, sweating a little from her bluntness.
"Um. . .well, I think he wanted to do something to lead into it. . .maybe. . ." Rachel seemed uncomfortable about talking about that. Relena looked angry as she said, "That pig! He only said those things to get me into bed! Well I don't do that, I'm a good girl, I have standards!"
"Relena, calm down! Look, he probably just misunderstood your body language. Just tell him you're not ready and I'm sure he'll understand. . ."
"What does God say about that?" Rachel looked surprised by Relena's religious question, saying, "Oh, well. . .it is one of the Ten Commandments, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery', which is sex outside of marriage."
"That's right. . .I almost forgot. Oh Rachel, I could have. . .what do I do?" Relena sounded desperate as she grabbed onto Rachel's arm. Rachel smiled and patted Relena's hand, saying, "If you don't want to do it, tell him. If he really loves you he'll understand and realize he'd risk losing you if he tried that. As long as you have a limit as to how far you'll go, he'll be good."
"Do you really think so?"
"Absolutely, just tell him no and he should listen. If not, glare at him and he'll get the idea." Rachel winked and Relena smiled a little.
"Thank you, Rachel, you're a good friend." Relena said with a kind smile. They stood and Relena said, "I think I'll go tell Heero now, see ya later?"
"Yeah, good luck." Relena waved and walked out the door.
Don't be a jerk, Heero, I can only cover for you so many times. . .Rachel thought as she sighed and flopped onto her bed to take a nap. As she began to drift off to sleep, she heard a soft thump on the roof of her hut. She opened her eyes and peered at the door. A shadow appeared under the crack and she held her breath. The door quickly swung open and in dashed Trowa, quietly closing the door behind him. Rachel leapt to her feet, standing on the bed and putting up her fists. Trowa stared at her, wide eyed as she said, "Hey, you're not suppose to be out! Get out! Or I'll scream! And this time, someone will hear me." Trowa put up his hands and said, "Calm down, I'm not here for that. I just wanted to apologize without a crowd glaring at me!" Rachel didn't put down her defenses as she said, "Fine, say it and leave." Trowa sighed and walked slowly over to Relena's bed, sitting down. He looked at his feet shamefully and said, "I'm. . .sorry for being so brash with my feelings. I can't explain why I did that, I don't even understand it myself. . ." Rachel slowly lowered her hands and plopped down into an Indian style sitting position as she said, "What do you mean! Are you trying to say the Devil made you do it?"
"No." He looked up at her, looking a bit uncomfortable and restless. She felt a chill run up her back.
Why does he have to look at me like that. . .Rachel thought as she rubbed her arm slowly.
"Then. . .what the heck was your problem?"
"When you healed my burns. . .I felt like your hands were all over me, touching my body and. . .it felt awkward. . ." He crossed his arms, hugging himself slightly. Rachel swallowed hard and said, "Really? So. . .what does that have to do with what you did?"
"The night before I talked to you, I couldn't sleep. I had really asked Chang if I could take his shift at keeping watch cause I didn't want to sleep, I kept having dreams about you every time I closed my eyes to sleep, and they weren't kosher, if you get the idea. . ."
"Um, yeah. . ." Rachel grit her teeth, becoming extremely uncomfortable being there alone with Trowa.
"So I tried to stay up and get my mind off of you. But the chills kept coming back like you were there again, your hands touching my skin and. . .I couldn't take it anymore, I was going out of my mind. I thought that. . .maybe if I. . .I'm sorry, I just didn't want to tell you that I had been having inappropriate dreams about you."
"So you thought that maybe if you ran your hands all over me you'd feel better? That makes sense. . ."
"I'm sorry, okay? When I kissed you. . .I don't know, it's like my hands had a mind of their own. I couldn't stop them, something else kept them moving. I never intended to. . ." He looked like he wanted to jump over the railing as he scrunched up, his hands clenched tightly around his arms, digging into his skin. He closed his eyes and said in a whisper through clenched teeth, "I want to claw my skin off, I hate this feeling. . .it's driving me insane and I can't tolerate it anymore! I've. . .I've never felt like this. . .please, make it stop. . ." Rachel looked sympathetic as she said, "Trowa. . .I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"I can't look at you without getting chills. . .I. . .can't. . .take it. . ." He shivered as chills ran up and down his spine, causing him to moan in displeasure. Standing, Rachel walked over to him and said, "Maybe I can do something to help. . .if I made it happen in the first place, perhaps I can reverse it."
"P. . .please. . ." Trowa looked up pleadingly, his eyes wide with fear. His gaze stunned her, her own eyes growing large.
What have I done to him! This is freaking him out, just because I tried to help him! Maybe I shouldn't do that anymore. . .oh gosh, what if Quatre's feeling the same way? Rachel knelt in front of Trowa, saying, "Trowa, I don't know what to do about this. . ." Rachel looked sadly into his desperate eyes as he reached down and took her hands, startling her slightly. He pulled her hands up to his chest, resting them against his pounding heart. She didn't take her eyes off of him and him likewise as he said, "Just do as your heart leads you to, I don't care what you have to do, just make it stop."
"Well, okay then. Lay back." Rachel said. Trowa obeyed and slowly reclined onto the bed, stretching out his body as he let out a sigh. Rachel swallowed and slowly lifted his shirt, touching his stomach. His muscles trembled under her hand.
His body's ripped. . .wait, gotta focus here. . .Rachel closed her eyes, feeling the slow breathing movements as Trowa took sharp breaths nervously. Her hands slowly moved up his abdomen across his rib cage that seemed to jerk when she floated past it to his chest. She stopped over his heart and said, "Tell me, Trowa, do you have any hidden feelings or emotions perhaps?" He glanced down at her and said in a low, uneasy voice, "What do you mean. . ."
"Just talk to me, tell me how you've been feeling about this mission ever since you joined us."
"I. . .I don't know about this. . ."
"Do you want to get better?" He sighed and said, "Well, when you spoke to me the first time we met, I really wasn't sure if I should believe you or shoot you in the head because you had followed me all the way back to the circus. But then I felt bad because I wouldn't believe you, then you healed my cheek and I was totally confused about you. Later when I was talking to Heero, he told me you knew about Catherine and then I began to wonder who in the world you were. Of course, then I attacked you in the plane and everything went crazy after that. I was so intrigued about you, being so generous with your life and forgiving me every time I did something to you like today. I. . .I don't know why I felt so compelled to stop you from burning those guards to death, even though I hurt myself in the process. And I stopped you from burning down the entire base by putting you out with a fire extinguisher and wrapping you in my shirt. I felt so. . .responsible for your life since you had saved mine before. I don't know if it was respect or fear that made me do it but I did. After you healed me, I felt worse then when I was barbecued alive. I couldn't sleep well, I felt strange every time I woke, like the energy was sucked out of me more when I rested. And. . .well, I lost my mind." He slowly looked up at the ceiling, saying, "I feel like my body wants you, but I don't even think of you that way. Well, I didn't, at least before you healed me. But now I can't make them go away, the thoughts. . .the images. . .it hurts now more than feeling good. Please, I can't go anywhere. . .make it stop."
"Okay." Trowa looked down at her in surprise and she smiled, saying, "Better?" He sat up, staring blankly at the wall while waiting for the chills to start up, but nothing happened. He touched his stomach and said in a low whisper, "It stopped." Rachel stood up and turned to walk to the door, saying, "I figured out that your mind was a little scrabbled still from when my Gundam went into your mind, it wasn't fully over the shock when I healed you so it took in all the feelings of the situation and took hold of them, like it was trying to find something to grasp so it didn't feel so lost. I just had to give it back its freedom to gather itself together again, so you should be able to sleep now without any trouble." She reached to open the door when she felt Trowa's body against hers, his arms wrapping around her tightly. She froze, startled by his sudden reaction.
"Thank you." Trowa whispered into her ear sincerely, holding her gently in his arms as he leaned his head against her shoulder, sighing contently. She felt a warm, damp feeling against her bare shoulder and smiled, saying, "Just keep your distance for a while, Duo's still peeved at you and might go at your throat with Wufei's katana." Trowa laughed and pulled away, saying, "Hopefully we can still be friends?" She faced him and nodded, her soft expression making Trowa sigh. She blinked and said, "Why the sigh?"
"I envy Duo, he's one lucky boy to have fallen in love with you. . .he better realize what he has." She blushed innocently and said in a meek voice, "I don't know if I'm that special. . .I'm no nicer than Relena!"
"No offense to her, but you are." She smiled and said, "I think you'd better go."
"Will you tell them that you're not mad at me anymore?" Trowa asked as he stepped to the door. She nodded and he smiled once more before disappearing up onto the roof, leaving behind a few loose leaves drifting down. Rachel stepped back inside and laid back down, curling up on her side as she drifted off to sleep finally.
"Hey, do you know where Trowa went?" Quatre asked as he walked up to Chang, who was relaxing on the railing with his coat off in the breeze.
"Hmm. . ." He didn't quite pay attention to the question as the wind played with his ponytail. Quatre cleared his throat and Chang finally looked at him, saying, "What!"
"I said do you know where Trowa went." Quatre repeated himself.
"Into the hut, didn't you see him walk off after Rachel and Duo left?" Chang said, talking to him as if he was a child.
"Yes, but he's not there, I just came from the empty hut to see if he had been out here for some reason."
"What! He's not in the hut! Why didn't you tell me sooner!" He jumped down and ran to the hut, leaving Quatre to roll his eyes and mutter about Chang's selective hearing as he strolled along behind him. Chang threw the door open and blinked as Trowa looked up at him in surprise. Quatre peeked around the corner and said, "Hey, there you are! Were you hiding or something?"
"Dope, look better next time before you interrupt my meditation!" Chang said with his eyes narrowed, bopping Quatre on the head before grumbling back to his spot on the railing. Quatre rubbed his head as he walked in, muttering over his shoulder, "He wasn't there a second ago. . ."
"What's going on?" Trowa asked as he innocently looked up at his guest. Quatre closed the door and sat down, saying, "Hey, I just wanted to check in on you to see if you needed anything."
"I'm fine. I thought you were on Duo's side, why care about me?" Trowa asked in a calm voice.
"Well, I've been trying that whole forgiveness thing Rachel seems to be talking about all the time. It's hard to keep up but it gives you a better peace about things." Quatre smiled. Trowa looked across the room and said nonchalantly, "You don't have to, I don't mind."
"But it makes me feel better and everyone deserves a second chance, right? Well, I'm going to go see how Rachel is doing. Later!" Quatre stood up to go when Trowa whispered, "She's fine."
"Huh?"
"I hope she's fine." Trowa said louder. Quatre nodded and stepped out. Trowa sighed and laid back on his bed.
That was too close. . . Trowa thought to himself as he closed his eyes. He woke to the beat of music playing that he recognized the style of. Sitting up, he walked to his door and opened it, looking out to see the group on the dining deck, the furniture cleared to make a dance floor. Chang was watching Rachel teach Duo how to Latin dance and Relena and Heero watched from the side together while Quatre rocked back and forth happily to the beat. Trowa stepped out of the hut and slowly walked up, saying, "What's going on?" Duo accidentally stepped on Rachel's toe as Trowa spoke and she yelped.
"Ah! Sorry, Rach! What are you doing out?" Duo gave Trowa a glare.
"I'm teaching everyone how to Salsa dance, it's a little hard cause Duo's being a white boy with two left feet. . ." Rachel commented, giving Duo a side glance.
"Hey! You're just not dancing the way I'm used to!" Duo complained.
"I know how to salsa, it's not that hard." Trowa commented quietly. Everyone stared at him and Rachel smiled, saying, "Really? I didn't know that! You never dance on the show!"
"Catherine taught me a while ago for some class she was taking cause she needed a partner." Trowa said shyly, feeling uncomfortable under the gazes of all the pilots. Rachel walked over to him and said, "Then let's show the others how it's done, you up to it?" Duo looked shocked by how she was acting and Trowa looked unsure.
"Um, I don't know. . ." He stepped back a little.
"Awe, come on, just one dance!" She grabbed his hand before he could protest and she pulled him to the center of the deck, stopping as she said, "Um. . .I like this song, has a good beat to dance to!" Suddenly, the song changed out of nowhere and music began to play.
"Where is that coming from?" Trowa looked around as an invisible band played.
"It's playing on the wind. . .now, let's dance!" Rachel said. He nodded and placed his hand on her hip, taking her hand in his as she put her hand on his shoulder. They stepped to the beat, back and forth, one. . .two. . .cha cha cha, three. . .four. . .cha cha cha. Everyone looked on in amazement as they sped up with the music to step in time with it, spinning and moving in quick steps around each other. Duo was particularly glued to Rachel's oscillating, gyrating hips, swinging freely from her still torso. He tried not to drool. They kept up the beat through the whole song till the slowing ending, slowly stepping into a low dip as the song stopped. Trowa brought her back up as the group clapped in awe of their hidden talents, forgetting for a moment about previous incidents. Trowa looked into Rachel's eyes in surprise, slightly breathing hard as he said, "That was amazing, you dance better than Catherine does. Did you take classes?"
"One." She said with a grin.
"One! You can't be serious! With moves like that. . .no way!" Duo stammered as he walked up. Trowa let go of her and stepped back, trying to sneak back into the shadows. She grabbed his hand and pulled him back, saying, "Wait, we gotta teach the others! Come on, please?" He sighed and said, "Okay. . ." Relena and Heero stepped forward-well, Relena dragged Heero with her-and they joined the "class". She showed them some simple steps as they began to dance. Trowa danced with Quatre as a girl and felt a little awkward as he explained that Quatre didn't have to swivel his hips like the girls.
"But it's fun!" Quatre said, cheerfully getting into the groove.
"But it's gay. . ." Chang commented with his arms crossed.
"You're just jealous cause you can't move like this." Quatre said, shaking his hip at him. Chang's eye twitched as he said, "Is that a challenge?"
"You bet your booty!" Suddenly, Chang jumped down and whammed Quatre with his hip, sending him flying.
"WAH! That's not what I meant!" Quatre complained from the sprawl he assumed on the deck. Everyone burst out laughing and Rachel tried to stifle a snicker at her friend's misfortune. Chang proudly stuck his nose in the air, saying, "I win. And you have a bony hip, you know that?" Rubbing his side, Chang walked back over to his spot against the railing, crossing his arms again. As they danced on together, Duo got into the beat and danced better, dipping Rachel a lot with laughs and chuckles from both dancers. Heero surprised everyone with his ability to dance as he swept Relena off her feet. . .literally. Trowa and Quatre danced together, Quatre finally got control over his happy hips and danced like a man. Chang just watched and poked fun at Quatre's butt that had a tendency to stick out when he danced, making him blush. They danced on as the moon set over the tree tops and the darkness reigned over the night, leaving holes in the sky to light the midnight party.
