Disclaimer: yawn I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters and I am not responsible for retardedness of writing due to the hour I am up writing this. looks at clock that says 4:09 AM Oo passes out
Chapter 33
"He's. . .older. . ." Heero finished Relena's sentence, also equally shocked. Noin ran over to Zechs, saying, "Zechs, no, you'll-"
"It's okay, I think it only worked on Quatre, what ever it was." Zechs said, rolling over the older, taller boy laying on the floor unconscious.
"Is this really happening?" Relena asked.
"I don't know. . .but this is weirder than I'd like it to be."
Slowly, Rachel sat up and groggily rubbed her eyes, trying to remember what had happened. It took a second for the memories to come back as she looked around in a daze, seeing a man sitting a ways from her, wings arced over his head, slowly stretching and flapping in an exercising motion. Blinking, she stared harder at the blonde haired figure as she thought, Who's that? He looks. . .familiar. . .could it be-
"Quatre?" She whispered. The wings paused as the man slowly turned, his sad green eyes glaring into her eyes. She blinked in surprise.
"What have you done to me?" Quatre asked. His voice was lower, but still had his familiar friendly tone in it. Rachel looked him over. He was definitely older, there was no doubt about that. He raised a hand to his nose length blonde bangs, brushing a few back futilely as they fell back into his face. Standing, Rachel walked toward him, saying in a cautious voice, "You. . .you're. . ."
"Older? So are you, if you haven't noticed yet." Quatre said, looking her over as she had just done to him.
"What?" She formed a reflective surface in the air and stared at herself, her eyes wide in surprise. She touched her cheek, saying softly, "I am older. But. . .how?"
"I was hoping you'd know, since I also seem to have grown wings." Quatre flapped his wings up and down, looking at them loathingly. She looked down at his wings and then at her own back, noticing a pair of her own being present.
"I don't understand, why do you have wings? What happened?"
"I have no idea but I can also do this." Quatre raised his palm to show her a sphere of water in his hand, rolling around and floating up and down then vanishing as he balled his hand into a fist.
"You have powers!" Rachel exclaimed, sitting next to Quatre on the cot, touching his hand. Quatre looked down at her hand, whispering, "I'm glad my shirt was too big for me so I fit in it now, but the pants are a different story. I had to pull the cuff at the bottom out so they weren't so short." Rachel noticed how tight his pants looked and quickly looked away, blushing a bit.
"I'm sorry, this must be my fault. If I can figure out what went wrong, I can fix it." Rachel said. Quatre gently cupped her cheek in his hand and pulled her face back to him, saying, "I don't think there's anything you can do to change this. Besides, I don't think it was your fault."
"What. . .do you mean?" Rachel looked into his eyes, still feeling dazed as she swooned a bit. Quatre held onto her, looking deep into her eyes as he said, "It was my fault, because Duo caught me kissing you."
"No, it's my fault, you don't really love me, Quatre." Rachel shook her head slowly, still staring into his eyes.
"I'm suppose to be the one to be in denial about my feelings, not you. . ." Quatre leaned toward her to kiss her but heard a throat clearing. He looked up to see Heero staring down at him.
"Back off, Quatre, she's not yours." Heero said. Quatre's eyes narrowed and he said, "What do you want?"
"Nothing from you, I would like to speak to Rachel, if I can pull her away from your horny lips for a few minutes." Heero grunted. Rachel gently pushed Quatre away and stood up, wobbling as she walked toward Heero. She stumbled into Heero's arms and moaned, her eyes closed as the world began to spin. Quatre glared at them and said, "Right, you just want her for yourself. Does Relena know about this?"
"Shutup, I don't care if you're out of your freakin' mind, I won't go easy on you if you say things like that to me." Heero walked away with Rachel and went to the far side of the tent, sitting down on his cot with her and letting her lean on his shoulder.
"Heero, what have I done. . ." Rachel muttered weakly.
"Nothing, at least not on purpose."
"What are you talking about?"
"I think this was all an accident. Trowa told me about how he felt after you had healed him all those times, the Goosebumps and chills he got off and on. You've healed Quatre a lot too, he may be responding to it like Trowa was."
"No, Trowa didn't want to do what he did, he told me so, it was subconscious. Quatre doesn't seem to realize he's acting strange or feeling different."
"He may be responding to it differently than Trowa had. Trowa doesn't understand love so he probably didn't know what it was he was feeling, but Quatre's different. He's more. . .in touch with his feelings."
"Possibly the side affects personified his feelings, causing them to turn from a friendly concern for a friend into a hormone driven desire for sex."
"Something like that. Whatever you did to Trowa I suggest you do to Quatre and Zechs soon before they start at each other's throats again." Heero said, glancing over at Quatre who was watching Zechs talk to Noin.
"You know about that?"
"Trowa told me."
"Trowa told you a lot, huh?"
"We had a long talk, yes."
"But I don't understand, I've only healed Zechs once, how could the affects have grown so rapidly?"
"You controlled his mind, that might have made his mind weaker and more susceptible to your powers."
"Possibly. . .well, I don't know what I could do now, I'm so disoriented I can't risk getting close to either of them for fear that they may take advantage of my weakened state and. . .well. . ."
"You need your rest so you can take care of them, but don't delay it too long, Quatre has an edge over us with his new found abilities and he might get it in his head that he can use them for whatever he wants."
"True. Perhaps. . .you can stay with me while I rest. . .just to keep me safe?"
"I don't have anything else to do, but maybe you should ask Duo to protect you, he may prefer to be your guardian."
"But. . .he's. . ."
"Sorry?" Rachel looked up to see Duo standing in front of her, looking sad. She sat up and said, "Duo, I'm sorry!"
"No, it's not your fault, I need to stop jumping to conclusions and trust you more. I should be the one apologizing for leaving you with him." Duo said, kneeling down in front of her and taking her hands in his.
"Duo. . .I. . ."
"I won't let him touch you again, okay? You'll be safe with me."
"Duo. . ." Rachel leaned forward into Duo's arms, hugging him as tears welled up in her eyes. Heero stood up and began to walk away.
"Heero, keep an eye on them, make sure they don't get anywhere near each other." Duo said over Rachel's shoulder. He nodded and walked on, searching for Relena. Duo got up and sat next to Rachel, letting her lay her head in his lap, gently stroking her long golden hair off her face, saying, "You're beautiful, no matter how old you are."
"But I'm older than you now. . .doesn't that bother you?"
"Well, I guess you'll have to do whatever you did again so I can get older too." Duo grinned softly, resting his left hand on the cot and leaning on it, tilting his head to the side and smiling down at his girlfriend's face as he softly ran his fingers through her hair.
"I don't know if I can but I'll try. . ." Rachel said, smiling as well as she drifted off to sleep again.
Rachel woke to the sounds of feuding people somewhere nearby, feet scuffling around and banging sounds emanating from somewhere close. She opened her eyes and raised her head to see Zechs and Quatre going at it again with Heero desperately trying to separate the two.
"Oh no, not again!" Rachel said, jumping to her feet. She ran to the battle and yelled at them to stop, but they didn't listen. Quatre started using fireballs to attack Zechs and fend off Heero, wildly flapping his wings as he began to hover over the men.
"Rachel, I can't stop him, do something!" Heero yelled, finally getting smacked in the face by one of Quatre's wings. He tumbled to the ground and barely dodged an attack from flying flames. Rachel raised her hands to Quatre and screamed, "Stop this, NOW!" Suddenly, he froze, falling from the air and hitting the ground hard. Quickly, Rachel ran to him and grabbed his head with her hands, going through his mind to return him to normal as he screamed and writhed to get away. Finally, he stopped fighting as she let go and said, "Quatre, how do you feel now?" He stared blankly at her, a little shaken up as he said, "W. . .where am I? What's going on?"
"Zechs is running." Heero said bluntly as he watched the tall man take off away from the group. Rachel didn't waste her time explaining things to Quatre as she bolted after Zechs, quickly tackling him and reaching deep into his mind to fix it. But he struggled and threw her off as he screamed, "Stay out of my mind!"
"Zechs, please, let her help you!" Noin called out as she ran up to him. She tried to grab his arm to stop him but he swung back and knocked her to the ground. She painfully winced, her gaze downcast in shame. Pausing, Zechs stared at Noin.
"Noin. . .I. . ." He realized what he had just done, quickly stooping down to help Noin up.
"Zechs. . ." Noin looked up pleadingly into his eyes and he paled, seeing through the fear in her eyes that something was wrong with him and it was affecting more than just himself. His head began to pound and he clenched his jaw, grabbing his head and hunching over, groaning and saying, "My head. . .it feels like. . .it's going to explode. . ." Gently touching his shoulder, Noin said in a caring voice, "Let Rachel help you, she can make the pain go away."
"No, she caused this pain to come in the first place! moan I don't trust her. . ."
"It wasn't intentional, she never meant to harm you and I'm sure if she knew this would happen she would have been more careful."
"Yes, I am sorry about what happened, I had no idea this would happen. If you would let me right my wrong, you'll be free of this torment in no time, I promise." Rachel said, stepping forward with her hand out in sincerity and a look of regret on her face. Zechs shook his head as he moaned.
"Please, I can't watch you hurt like this, Zechs." Noin begged, looking close to tears. Zechs looked into her eyes, seeing her pain caused by his refusal to be healed and began to think.
Noin's being hurt more than I am because of my stubbornness, why? I. . .I can't make her suffer, I can't do that to her. . .not her. . .
"Do it quickly, before I change my mind. . ." Zechs grumbled, conceding to his defeat. Rachel reached down and touched his head, reaching deep into his subconscious to free it of her power hold. With a groan of agony, Zechs tried to pull away. Noin gently put her hands on his chest to stop him from running and he froze, staring into her eyes.
"Zechs. . ." She softly spoke in a slightly stern tone.
Why can't I fight her? I never can. . .her voice is entrancing and her ways are gentle and caring. My heart pounds with the very words she speaks to me, my lungs fill with the air of her sweet voice, my eyes drink in her beautiful smile like life-giving nourishment to my body, soul, and mind. . .I think I love her. . .
"You should feel better now, Zechs." Rachel muttered, standing and looking at the ground. Duo slowly walked up to her and watched as she began to wobble and fall to the side. He ran to her and caught her before she hit the hard rock ground, holding her tightly in his arms and stroking her hair out of her face.
"That's enough for you today, let's get you to bed so you can rest and get your strength back." Duo cooed, picking Rachel up and carrying her off to the tent area to lay her down. Zechs leaned into Noin's arms, feeling the pain in his head easing away as he sighed in relief. Shocked at first, Noin stared at him but she slowly put her arms around him and cradled his form in her lap.
"Rest, Zechs, you've been through a lot and deserve a long nap." Noin whispered to him.
"Thank you, Noin." Zechs whispered back.
"For what?" Noin blinked in surprise.
"For caring about me so much." She smiled and said, "Anything for my superior." Zechs sat up and took her chin in his cupped palm, staring deep into her eyes and saying, "We're no longer in OZ, you can call me. . .Milliardo now. . .we're equals." Wincing a bit, he fell forward again into her lap and passed out, leaving Noin to stare down at him with a soft expression on her face.
"Milliardo. . .so you're not hiding anymore. . ."
"So Quatre, um, how are you feeling?" Relena walked up to the morbid angel sitting on a cot farthest away from Rachel, staring at the ground. He had been sitting like that for almost an hour and Chang swore he hadn't blinked once. Without moving, Quatre said, "I want to die."
"Well too bad, we won't let you." Chang said from his guard spot a few feet away, his arms crossed over his chest as he relaxed against the side of the tent. Relena glared at him for a second before softening her face and saying kindly, "It will be okay now, Quatre, Rachel knows that you didn't mean what you did." Suddenly, Quatre flew up from his cot and glared angrily at Relena.
"It's NOT okay! I'm a freak of nature with wings coming out of my back that I can't make go away and powers that I have NO idea how to control and you try and tell me it's okay! How can it be!" Quatre yelled, tears brimming his sleep deprived eyes.
"Welcome to my world, Quatre." They all turned to see Rachel staring sympathetically at him, her eyes glistening with tears as well. Quatre looked ashamed and embarrassed as he said, "Rachel, I didn't mean to call you a-"
"A freak? It's quite alright, I've been called one before for being obsessed with Gundam Wing, everyone thinking it was odd that any person would want to waste their life watching an animated TV show, downloading picture after picture, writing stories about the series, dreaming of the characters, falling in love with them. . .it doesn't really bother me. I mean, what's a world without freaks? It's not like I'm alone in my obsession, there's plenty of others out there who are worse than I am. I suppose it was my strong desire to meet you in person, to actually bring you to life that brought me here, my deepest wishes to be with a guy like Duo came true through my ceaseless devotion to the series. . .and to him. If the only thing holding me back from being with my fantasy friends and family is being forced to live as a freak then I will gladly take whatever 'if', 'and', or 'buts' come with it if it means being with all of you for even just this week. One day would have been enough for me but this. . .this has truly been a blessing from God, he let me stay this long and who knows how much longer! I can only pray for one more second with you, one last breath of your air before I must return to my less than wonderful reality. I don't regret having to be this way for a second because I know that it doesn't make any difference to you whether I'm a freak or not. Right. . .guys?" She looked sheepishly down at the ground, wiping the tears from her eyes as everyone stared at her in surprise.
"Wow. . .I didn't know you cared that much about all of us! I'm so honored. . ." Relena said, blushing a bit.
"You care that much about all of us, even with what you've had to go through?" Quatre said, still looking unbelievably shocked. She laughed, saying, "Yes, despite the numerous threats to my life and 'interesting' moments I still wouldn't trade you guys in for anything."
"Not even for a nice, HUGE bowl of Pistachio ice cream?" Duo asked, hugging Rachel from behind. She giggled.
"No, not even for my most favoritest ice cream in the entire world! I can't hang out with a bowl of ice cream, ya know, it's gonna melt eventually." Rachel winked and grinned at Duo. He hugged her tighter and kissed her cheek as everyone smiled at her, feeling a small emptiness inside them being filled by her undying love for them. Even Chang couldn't help smiling at his newfound friend for life.
How someone can grow so attached to someone in less than a week is beyond me but. . .I guess anything's possible. Chang thought, shaking his head as Duo started tickling Rachel and making her let out quite a squeal, dashing off out of reach and keeping just out of arms length of Duo as they ran around the cavern, their friends happily laughing at them as they watched them, forgetting all about earlier mishaps.
