X
Chapter 11:
Lost
Lea? Lea, get up! You've got to get up!
"No, X. I don't know where I am, I don't know who I am anymore. Why am I here? I'm lost, and I give up. I totally give up."
But you can't! You can't just give up!
The deluge of rain completely drenched Lea, from head to toe. She was shaking, shivering, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to get up again.
"You don't understand... no one does! This pain that I feel, it's what others have done to me... Because I'm too weak to do anything for myself..."
I do understand...
"No, you don't! So stop saying that, okay!"
No, Lea, now you listen to me! I am trapped in this suit... I probably will be forever. But you... you are not. You're body is free, yet you continually live as if you were in a suit also! If you dwell on the past, does that make it go away? If you kill a person, will that bring back another person? Answer me!
Lea's eyes were wide, and tears were streaming down her face. "...No..."
That's right, so stop living in the past and concentrate on what happening right now.
"But... Heero he... he killed my brother!"
X, far back in the hangar, fell silent.
"Heero was asleep... he was having a nightmare, and when I tried to wake him up... he started talking. He said... he said he was sorry, that he had killed Damon..."
The rain slowed down, and then stopped. It was already nighttime.
"LEA! LEA!"
Lea closed her eyes. She felt her body fading away, as if she was never even there. The bushes rustled loudly and the dead leaves cracked and Heero appeared.
"Lea!" he dropped down by her side and stared at her face. Lea was already asleep. Heero lightly brushed a lock of her hair away from her face and lifted her up off the cold, hard ground. "Lea..." he whispered as he took her back to the hangar. "I'm sorry..."
The cargo plane arrived the next day on time, and completely filled with all the supplies the pilots would need. Lea stared up at the behemoth of an aircraft and thought back to exactly what had happened the other night, after Heero had brought Lea back to the hangar.
Heero sat on Lea's bed, his hands clasped. Every now and again he would glance at her, making sure she was alright.
"What happened?" he asked quietly. Lea turned her head and faced her half-open window.
"I felt... lost."
"No, tell me what really happened." Heero's gaze was firm, but also very worried. Lea closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"You were having a nightmare, and I tried to wake you up, and you said..." Lea paused and opened up her eyes. "You said... that you had killed Damon."
The room fell quiet, and Heero took his eyes off of Lea, and instead rested his gaze on his clasped hands.
"...Heero... did you? Did you kill him?"
"I did."
"I see..." she said quietly. Heero instantly stood up, But Lea grabbed his arm. "No... please stay. I have a right to know... everything."
Heero looked surprised, but he sat back down. Lea coughed slightly. It would appear that she had caught a cold from being soaked. Heero sighed and told Lea the whole story.
"Lea?" Quatre asked hesitantly. Lea turned her head.
"Yes?"
"Oh, I was just wondering... if you were all right. You've been really quiet really..."
"Hn." she said and turned her gaze once again to the plane. X was just starting to be loaded.
"Hey, kiddo! What say you, me, Quatre, Trowa, Heero and the Wu-man go into town for a while? You know, while all our stuff is being loaded..."
"But... Sakio..."
"Oh, you worry to much! We've already scoped out the area, and it's looks safe, and fun! They've got an ice cream parlor and a small amusement park! Doesn't that sound like fun?"
Lea sighed loudly. "Not really, no."
Duo's entire face fell. "Aww, come on! Heero already said it was okay..."
"I'll be staying here, of course. And so will Heero." Wufei said and starlted Duo. "And don't call me that."
"Okay, so it's just the four of us." Duo said happily and grabbed Lea's arm and led her into the jeep. "You'll feel better afterwards, I promise!"
And with that, Trowa and Quatre piled in and they sped off in the direction of the town.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to let them go into town like that?" Wufei said, pulling out a clipboard and checking off some items.
"Yeah..." Heero said quietly.
Lea stared out at all the passerby's. They were walking, talking, seemingly without a care in the world. It was a little past lunchtime when they had reached the town, which appeared to be more of a city to Lea. Duo was absolutely glowing at the tall buildings and busy people. Shops were bustling, birds were flying overhead. The jeep stopped and turned into a parking lot. Duo paid the man and the four were off. Lea looked left, right, up and down, taking it all in.
"Well?" Duo asked, and took a deep breath. "What do you think?"
Lea was quiet for a while, but then she smiled slightly and said, "It's really kinda nice."
"Wow! That's the most I've heard you say in at least 24 hours..." Duo said. "Oh! Look! Hot dogs! Anyone hungry?"
"I am." Quatre said, smiling. Why shouldn't he be? He knew he'd end up paying anyway. Duo beamed and held out his hand for some money. Quatre obliged, and Duo ran off towards the hot dog stand.
"You really shouldn't give away your money to him like that, Quat. He needs to learn to be responsible."
"I know, but..." Quatre smiled as Duo was absolutely bouncing when he ordered the hot dogs.
"Here we go! I know you don't like ketchup, Lea, so I made sure the guy didn't put any on it." Duo said, smiling broadly as he handed Lea her hot dog.
"Thanks." she said quietly and nibbled on her lunch.
After they had all eaten, and Lea fed most of her lunch to the pigeons, they had started up again.
"Wow, they have a really nice museum up ahead..." Quatre said, and Trowa peered at his map.
"Booooriiiing!" Duo said loudly. "Come on, golden boy, can't you think of something more fun to do? I'm thinking, ice cream!"
And with that, Duo sped off, with the other three in tow, and before Lea even knew what was happening, Trowa had pushed her into a small, quaint ice cream parlor.
Duo was already ordering. "And I'll take one scoop of chocolate, one scoop of strawberry, one scoop of vanilla in the biggest cone you've got! Lea? What do you want?"
"Oh! Uhm..." Lea looked in front of her at all the ice cream types. "I'll have mint chocolate chip."
The cashier rung up the prices and again, Quatre paid for it all. The four walked outside and into the nearby park.
"Now, don't drop you're ice cream, Lea!" Duo said happily.
SPLAT!
Duo stopped cold and stared at the ground. His very top layer of ice cream, which was vanilla, was all over the ground.
"My... my ice cream! NO!"
Lea stared at Duo as he mourned the loss of his beloved ice cream, and she smiled, and then giggled, and the began to laugh.
Trowa, Quatre, and even Duo stared at her in amazement.
"Oh, that's very nice! We should give my vanilla a proper funeral..."
Lea laughed even harder, and then, slowly but surely, the other three began to laugh also. For the moment, Lea lost what it was that had made her heart feel so heavy.
"Come on, Duo! Cheer up! I'm sure Quatre will buy you some more ice cream." Lea said, barely stifling more laughter.
"Nah, Quatre already such a huge spender, I couldn't."
"Excuse me?" Quatre said, raising an eyebrow. Lea and Trowa burst out laughing again.
"I guess this means we won't be going to the amusement park?" Trowa said, sounding slightly hopeful.
"No way! I've never been to an amusement park!" Lea said, jumping up.
"Then to the amusement park!" Duo yelled and the four were off.
"Well, that's the last of it." Wufei said and checked off the last crate of supplies on his clipboard. Heero was already in the cockpit, fast asleep. Wufei sighed loudly. Heero jerked awake.
"Huh? What?" Heero said, looking around.
"We're done, so are you gonna go get the others?" Wufei asked.
"No, maybe you should."
"Alright, alright. I'm off then." And with that, Wufei left on one of the other two jeeps.
Heero sighed loudly and shut his eyes again. A figure moved soundlessly behind him, but Heero was half-asleep when the man hit him in the neck, knocking Heero out.
"I've got one of them, 01, I think." the man yelled loudly. About four or five more men appeared from the shadows and surrounded the unconcious Heero.
"Inform Ms. Kaori immediately." A tall man with hair and eyes the color of snow said, throwing the boy over his shoulder. Most of his white hair covered his face.
"Roger, Commander." another man said and turned on his heel and gasped.
"Inform me of what?" a woman with deep red hair and green eyes said, and then saw Heero slung over the shoulder of the Commander. "Ah, I see. Well done, Mr. Sumare."
Sumare nodded. "But Lea and the other four gundam pilots haven't yet been located."
"I'm surprised at you, Sumare. Not even able to find a little girl..."
"My apologies."
Kaori brushed off the apology as if it were nothing. "I'll inform Mr. Sakio. Meanwhile, you be sure to take care of yourself while you're around that boy, brother."
Again, Sumare nodded and walked out of the ship, Kaori in tow. Suddenly, his sister's interest went from the pilot to the giant robot being transported into a large truck.
"It looks... so similar... to Z, I mean." Kaori said quietly.
"Yes, but that one is the color of tainted sea water, not like the vibrant red that Z is painted."
Kaori nodded. "Where is Z, anyway?"
"She should still be with Sakio."
"I really wish you wouldn't call it 'she' as if it were human or something... it's really very sickening. Don't get too attached to that piece of scrap, okay?"
"Kaori, that piece of scrap is the only thing that will bring our parents back."
Kaori paused for a moment, but Sumare didn't notice. Another man, clad in heavy black, ran up to Sumare.
"Sumare, have you heard from Yuna at all?"
"No, I haven't. Is she not talking to you again, Kyo?"
Kyo glared, his dark hair and eyes completely contrasted that of Sumare's. "She's a stubborn little brat who never listens..."
EXCUSE ME! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO NEVER LISTENS!
Sumare and Kyo both nearly fell over at the force of Yuna's screech.
"Y! DON'T DO THAT!"
Don't call me Y! Me name is Yuna!
"Yeah, whatever. Listen, Sumare, you've got to help me, Yuna's such a brat and..."
I AM NOT A BRAT! You're a jerk, Kyo!
Kyo sighed heavily. "Why me? Why me?"
Sumare chuckled to himself and Kaori glared at the two of them.
"There you two go again! Talking like they're human or something! You, Kyo, even gave yours a name!"
"It's not my fault! If I call her 'Y', she freaks out!"
"Maybe you should listen to her more often, Kyo..."
Kyo growled and hopped into a nearby jeep. "Yeah, whatever. How long are we supposed to be here, again?"
"We came to retrieve the last pilot, Lea. But it would seem she's not here right now..."
"Then what's that?" Kyo said, pointing to the X, which was almost completely loaded onto the cargo truck.
"X, Lea's robot. It would seem that he's not making a fuss or anything at the moment..."
"Yes, he's being very quiet right now..."
"I give up on you guys!" Kaori fumed and jumped into an empty jeep and sped away. Sumare joined Kyo in the jeep.
"Maybe we should stay behind so we can meet Lea in person." Sumare said, a hint of a smile on his lips. Kyo immediately shook his head.
"I can't control Y... Yuna... she's having a hissy fit right now so, now's not the best time. You go ahead, and I'll inform Sakio about it. He shouldn't have any problem with it..."
"Right. Later, then." Sumare said and jumped back out of the jeep as it sped off. "Then it'll just be you and me, Lea."
And me, sir!
"Of course, Z. I would never leave you out of a potential battle..."
Isn't this fun, X? Lea thought happily.
The four were at the amusement park, and had just gotten off the 13th ride that day. Duo was already planning on the 14th when Wufei appeared.
"Hey Wufei!" Quatre said and waved to the Chinese pilot. Wufei walked over.
"It's about time we left, all the packing's been done."
"Aww, but Wu-man!" Duo said and made puppy-dog eyes.
"No buts, Maxwell, and don't call me that."
I'm coming back now, okay X?
X didn't answer.
"X...?" Lea breathed. "Something's wrong."
"What?" Trowa said, watching Lea.
"X isn't answering me. Could... could something have happened to him?"
Everyone suddenly fell deathly quiet.
"We should go. Now." Trowa said finally, grabbing Lea's arm and leading her back to the jeep. The others followed and they all piled in.
X... what could have happened? Lea thought to herself. What else could go wrong?
Little did Lea know how much worse her situation was going to become...
TO BE CONTINUED
AN: Yay! I hope you all liked this chapter, it was really a lot of work and... wouldn't you believe it, I'm getting sick, just like Lea! (Life is just not fair... I really hate being sick... but at least I can really describe how Lea feels right now...) I really should be working on my homework right now, but heck, I think this is a bit more important than that right now. :)
PREVIEW FOR NEXT CHAPTER:
Duel! Lea vs. Sumare, pilot of the robot, Z! Are these new robots just like X? Will Lea be able to fend off Sumare in her present condition? Find out in my next chapter!
I'd just like to thank everyone for reviewing my story... I've never written so much, or gotten so many reviews before-tears of joy- I am soooo happy! This next little segment is just for you guys! Thank you! Mendel K.
FUN TIME #1: A Day At The Onsen
Mendel: Hoorah! Time to spend some quality time with my characters! Yay! (Of course, I have something evil planned for all of them...)
Heero-napping in the hot water-
Mendel-pulls out a cat and drops it on Heero- HAHA! Look at him go!
Heero-bleep- CAT! GET THE -bleeping- OFF ME!
Mendel: Oh Heero, so vulgar... ;-;
-MEANWHILE-
Wufei-bleep- it, Maxwell! Die already! DIE!
Mendel: Stop trying to drown Duo, Wufei!
Wufei-grumbles- He splashed me!
Duo-surfaces- Oh, you mean, like THIS?
-SPLASH-
Wufei: DIE! DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!
Mendel: (I'm gonna leave before I get involved...)
-MEANWHILE (again)-
X: Lea, I am not sure...
Lea: Come on in! Don't be shy!
Mendel: Uh, Lea? I don't think that's gonna work...
-X sticks his large robotic foot into the hot spring and sends a gigantic tidal wave over everything-
Mendel-drenched-sighs- Thus is the fate of my characters... Next time I'll do something with Kyo and Sumare...
All: NO!
FUN TIME #1: A Day At The Onsen - END
