Chapter Fifteen

Sunny Days and Daisies

Tai knocked on Relena's apartment door and a disgruntled Ianthe answered. But this time she only glared at him–that was quite an improvement over the last couple days.

"Deirdre's on the couch," she told him, vaguely motioning toward the couch.

Tai walked in, Huy behind him and found her quietly reading. "Tai!" She smiled and sat up straighter, as she couldn't actually stand up yet.

"I came by to say goodbye'."

"Oh." Deirdre's smile wilted a little. "Well, it's been nice to have you here! You've been so much help."

"I did promise I'd always be here." Tai could feel something pulling inside him, not that it mattered. He had to get back to school.

Deirdre looked down a minute and then looked back up with a fresh smiled. "You did promise, and you kept it. Thank you." Then she looked beyond him to Huy. "And thank you too. Say hi' to Kieko for me!"

Huy nodded and grinned. "Of course!"

Then Tai smiled at her. "Well" he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. People in his family always hugged goodbye–but did you do that with friends too? Huy prodded him in the back, so he took that as a yes and bent over and pulled Deirdre into a quick, gruff hug. "Call me if you need anything."

"I will." She smiled at him with glassy eyes, but Tai tried to ignore them–it hurt to leave her when she got that look.

Then Tai turned and walked away before he decided to stay longer. He strode briskly to the car, Huy chasing after him. "You think you can slow down a bit, or are you afraid that you'll be pulled back in by her and be unable to leave?"

Tai stopped long enough to glare back he brother, then he pulled out the car keys and got in.

"Okay, okay. I get the message. I'm sorry. I just think it's silly that you guys don't get together."

"Just drop it Huy." Tai kept his eyes carefully on the road. He didn't want to look at Huy.

"Whatever." Huy slouched down into his seat and switched on the radio. Tai kept looking ahead.

The shuttle was on time and Kieko was there to pick them up, as usual and Tai looked politely away as his brother and Kieko had there little hello' kiss.

"You're awfully quiet!" Kieko told him from the driver's seat in the car. "Well, quieter than usual anyway."

Tai shrugged. "I've got a lot to do. I'm a little stressed."

Kieko's eyebrows flattened out. "Right." Then Huy whispered something Tai couldn't hear and Kieko didn't say anything else. When they arrived at him, Tai climbed out and Huy told him to go on up.

Tai sighed as he slung his bag into his apartment and plugged in his laptop. Might as well get started on everything he'd missed. The first thing he noticed was a message on his computer. It was Zechs.

Dialing up, Tai tried to think of anything that Zechs could possibly have to say to him. There could really be only one of two things–he needed military help of some sort or it was about Relena.

"Iwasato." Zechs greeted abruptly, as usual. "Nice to see you are well."

"Same to you. What did you want?"

"A little birdie told me that you have been speaking with Relena. Is she okay?"

"Why wouldn't she be okay?" Tai was a little suspicious. Zechs, ever the evasive, was dancing around his true concerns, but Tai wasn't sure what those concerns may be.

"I was just worried that perhaps finding out that you are truly alive after so long may have been a bit much for her." Zechs face was still unreadable.

Tai thought quickly, trying to analyze the situation and decide what to tell. "She was surprised and upset, but she was fine. She should still be fully capable mentally and emotionally to take over her position once more, so you have no need too worry."

Zechs nodded gravely. "Iwasato, I just want to make it abundantly clear that the political situation is very delicate currently"

"As it always is," Tai interrupted.

"Thus," Zechs continued, ignoring Tai, "I would appreciate it if you would not stress her overmuch."

Tai breathed in deeply. "I understand." And they hung up. Tai did understand very well–"stay away from my sister and don't screw around with her brain you blithering idiot!" Well, Tai would make sure he stayed out of the way. He was her friend, and nothing more. He would help her along and take care of her. It would be fine.

As Deirdre watched him go, she felt as if another part of her had died. He was gone again. He turned and looked back at her for a second, Huy the faithful watch pup by his side. The corners of his mouth flicked up for a second and a semblance of a smile, then he was gone.

She lay back and closed her eyes, willing the pain away. Why did it have to be like this? Never telling him a thing, always watching his back as he walked away. She wished there could be a time when she didn't have to say goodbye, but it was impossible anyway.

The happy, yellow centered flowers smiled at her from their little glass home on the nightstand. She reached out to touch one of the delicate petals. If felt like velvet, but lighter.

Tai had walked into her room and declared that they were going out and transferred her to a wheelchair. He was surprisingly strong for someone so slight of frame and seemed to know what he was doing. She felt no pain in her midriff from the sudden movement. That's when she learned of his working in hospitals at home during breaks. Of course he'd transferred patients many times.

The nurse at the desk had looked surprised as he told her what they were doing. It was clear that no asking would be taking place. There was a cab out front and Tai tucked her in, and folded up the wheel chair beside her. The driver dropped them off at a little park she recognized, not too far from her apartment.

It was sunny and warm despite the chilly March winds. The grass was just starting to grow again and the ground would be soggy soon with April rains. Tai had parked her under a tree and then picked her up delicately. But she started to protest at this.

"I want to show you something I found. But the wheel chair can't go there," he told her simply. So she relaxed and enjoyed the ride'.

Daisies in March. They were beautiful growing around a little pond full of slick little ducks and chirping birds. It was there that they ate and talked. She fell asleep against him for the second time, but this time, when she awoke, he wasn't looking embarrassed, but happy, content.

She could not forget his hand on her face, flicking a lock of hair from her eyes. He looked so contentif only they could have stayed like that forever. She wouldn't have to say anything to him, just bask in his smile.

But it couldn't happen like that. Not for now. And she turned to her pillow, refusing the tears access.

Julie slammed down the phone and Kieko jumped visibly at the sound as she walked in. "What on earth was that about!"

"OhI just broke up with Jordan."

Kieko nodded. They'd started dating right after finals, and it had looked fun, but Kieko had always had her private doubts so she wasn't surprised at all. "I'm sorry it didn't work out."

Julie shrugged and tried very hard to plaster a smile on her face. "Yah well that's life." She sat down at the table and pulled out a textbook. Kieko watched her out of the corner of her eye as she fixed herself dinner. Julie shifted her weight around and kept tapping her pencil on the table.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kieko finally asked.

Julie scrunched up her mouth into a small round prune shape. "No I don't know!"

Kieko rushed to the table and sat across from her roommate. "Okay, what happened?"

Julie groaned and buried her face in her arms. "I don't know" she said in a muffled voice. "It just felt kind of wrong to begin with. He was nice and interesting and liked me and that NEVER happens. ButI just don't know anything anymore!"

Kieko pat her arm soothingly. "Dating's annoying. But it's okay because at least you were smart and ended things while it was still okay."

"It wouldn't be nearly so bad except that he took it so hard! I've never heard him get mad like that! He almost started to call me names. I could tell. You know when people get that tight sound in their voices?"

Kieko nodded to the now sitting up Julie. "But you didn't break up with him OVER the phone, did you?"

"No, no. I talked to him earlier. But he was just calling to try and talk things through and got mad and it was a mess."

"Well, you were dating for three months."

"But I did break up with him before finals so I couldn't distract him!" Kieko cocked an eyebrow. "Okay, I know, dumb excuse," Julie admitted.

Kieko nodded again. "But it sounds like you did the right thing so everything should be just fine!"

Julie sighed. "I'm taking a walk."

"Okay. Be back before it gets too late! You don't want to get attacked or anything!"

"Right" Julie said sarcastically. "See you later."

Kieko sighed and looked down at her ramen as she heard the door close behind her roommate and the apartment was quiet again. It was rare that Kieko was totally alone. Either Julie or Huy one were home when she was, usually. It was kind of nice. She slumped over and breathed in again.

Only a month and a half until the wedding. A month and a half until she would be Mrs. Huy Iwasato. That sounded so weird. She'd have to get used to signing a different name. She looked down at her hand and let the diamond on her finger reflect silver shadows on the wall. It was so pretty, still. A little dirty though–she needed to get it cleaned.

And Tai would be starting med school in the fall. He took his MCAT and aced it, naturally. He was accepted to all the schools he applied to, naturally. He even got a government grant to help pay for it all so he wouldn't have such horrendous debts once he got out, only medium debts. Huy was so proud of his brother.

That had been a relief too–Huy had done well on his GRE and managed to get accepted at a couple different graduate schools. They had decided on one near the colony Huy's parents lived on. Kieko could finish school out there and Huy could work on his PhD and they'd be near some family in case they needed help, and Kieko would rather live near Huy's family than her own. Not that she didn't love her family, but it just wouldn't work–she could barely stand to be in the same room as her mother for more than two minutes at a time.

Someone knocked on the door and interrupted Kieko's rolling thoughts. "Come in!"

Huy burst through the door with his usually huge grin. "He-llo!"

"Someone's in a good mood!"

Huy came in behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her cheeks. "I'm always in a good mood when I see you!"

Kieko pat his arm. "Well, it's not five yet and we need to get you fit for your tuxedo."

"Arg!"

Tai had all of his books spread over the entire room. He was exhausted but he still had more too do–several papers and all his finals. Huy kept reminding him that he'd already made it into medical school, so what did it matter, but Tai still maintained that he had some pride in himself. Besides, it would be horrible to flunk his last couple classes just because he got lazy at the last minute.

But Tai had been going for five hours straight and decided he needed a short break. He climbed into the desk chair and dialed Deirdre's number. He'd been wanted to check on her anyway. She'd gotten much better and her therapy was going reasonably well, but she was still far from well. And since she was going back to work in September, she really needed to recover a little faster. Zechs would flip if he found out.

It rang three times before one of the girls picked up and gave the phone to Deirdre.

"Tai?"

"Hi! I was just calling to see how you were doing." The first time he'd made a call like this to her, it had been a little awkward, but now he was used to it and it was no big deal.

"I'm fine! How's the studying going?"

"I'll survive. Yachi sent Huy and I an anti-stress kit."

"Oh?" Deirdre laughed. "What's that include?"

"Um little bottles of anti-stress pills,' otherwise known as M&M's, and an anti-stress kid–it was a bull's eye with the words bang head here'. Then there were a couple comic books, a rolling-pin, and a small stuffed owl and elephant, the note said, because owls were wise and elephants knew a lot. Huy laughed a lot over it."

"Why a rolling pin?"

"I have no idea. I'm going to ask Yachi that next time I talk to her."

"Your family sounds so funny! I wish I could meet them all."

"But you are going to meet them–you're coming to Huy and Kieko's wedding, aren't you?"

"Well, I didn't know I was invited!"

"What! They sent you an invitation–maybe it got lost in the mail." Tai was a little annoyed, but glad that he's mentioned that or else she never would have come.

"Well, if I get another one with an all-important picture included, I'll come. Are they nervous?"

"Huy's jumpy but Kieko seems fine. I personally thought it should be the other way around, seeing as Kieko's the one taking a risk in marrying Huy and not the other way around."

"That's not very nice!"

"I'm just kidding!"

The phone was silent for a minute. Then Deirdre said happily, "Of courseIt's just.I'm still getting accustomed to you having a sense of humor."

"Yah"

Several hours later, Tai got off the phone and pulled out his text books again. He kneaded his temples and intoned to himself "Just a few more weeks, just a few more weeks"

Someone knocked on his door and he threw his things up into the air in exasperation. As his pencil landed with a soft "clunk," he called out "come in!"

Duo waltzed into the room and planted himself down on the end of Tai's bed. "Hi!"

Tai sat Indian-style and rested an elbow on a knee and looked up at him in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, that's a sweet way to greet your best friend!" Duo was grinning at him. Tai continued to look quietly up at him. "I came to tell you that I will be at the wedding and that IT'S A BOY!!!"

Tai felt a grin spread over his face. "Why didn't you just call me!"

"Well, I had some business to take care of so I thought I'd sabotage your studying and tell you the news. So come on! Come get a drink with me!"

"Duoyou know I don't."

"Yah, yah, I know. Mr. Goody-two-shoes."

"NoMr. I-want-to-live-to-at-least-fifty-and-preferably-not-kill-anyone-as-a-result-of-erratic-behavior."

"That's a long mister.'"

"I'm a complicated fellow."

Duo grinned again. "Okay, come on. Get up. My treat, and it won't be a bar."

The two walked down the street talking cheerfully. "I really should be studying. I have exams in a week!"

"Yah, well, what are friends for!"

Tai gave him a withering glance. "I got a call from Zechs the other day."

Duo cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? What'd he have to say?"

"Basically that he knows that Relena knows I'm alive. And that I'm not to worry her in any way about anything, mostly because she'll have much of the fate of the world back on her shoulders in a couple months."

"Wow..I can't believe it's almost time for her to come back. Time sure flies sometimes. Can you believe that only seven years ago we were innocent boys–well, as innocent as we ever were? I mean, since then, we've fought in a war, thus killed people, committed almost every atrocity known to man in that war, and in my case at least, gotten married and even had a child! How crazy is that? I'm hardly an adult myself, and I'm already having kids!"

"Look out world! The cursed Duo-spawn attacks"

Duo laughed and shook his head. "No! I'm serious! Just look at everything that's happened to you since then–you have a family and a future respectable career. Seven years ago, no one would have thought anything of you except street rat and future drug lord."

"I actually don't give it too much thought." Tai watched the street signs as they walked. It was a nice spring night–he wondered if it hurt Deirdre to walk still. She wasn't one to complain.

"I doI get pretty freaked whenever I do, though."

Tai looked over at him, a little surprised. "You don't seem to be one to say if only, if only' or what might've could've'."

"I'm not. It's the kid doing it to me. I want to make sure he has a good life, not what I had, or even Hilde. I mean, she had a decent childhood, but she lost it when she was a teenager–all her family just gone, at once! Some psychos just come and destroy her colony and she happened to be away from home–dumb luck, or dumb bad luck. I'm scared for the little tyke. I don't want to leave him alone in that big world out there."

Tai stepped over a large puddle as he thought. "There is going to be a war again, isn't there." It was more rhetorical than an actual question, but Duo nodded slightly. "Zechshe's worried, isn't he?" Again, Duo nodded. "Well, I'd say you've served your time."

They walked into a fast food joint and stopped talking till they got their food and sat down. Duo started playing with his wilted fries. "Why thank you Mr. Potato. This is a new hat!" he said as he dumped ketsup all over one fry. "But you know, Tai. If I don't fight, who will?"

"Lots of people. They have too."

"But if I'm not willing to take that responsibility, why should I expect anyone else to. I mean"

"You already have Duo!" Tai felt something in him lash out. It wouldn't be right, his heart thumped. It wouldn't be right. Duo had a wife and a kid, what if something happened to him! And he'd already fought once, didn't he deserve peace? He'd lived all his life in the streets, orphaned, then he helped determine the world's fate; didn't he deserve a break? Was Tai the only one who was so sick of all this that he honestly felt like he was going crazy from it all? Or was he just the weak one?

"Maybe, but now I'm experienced and I can do better this time. I can work harder and faster."

"You won't have your friend anymore."

Duo caught on to what he meant–Deathscythe was gone. "Yah, he's gone, but I can still fight." Duo looked curiously at Tai. "Will you fight again?"

Tai shook his head. "I can't Duo. I just can't. I'll go crazy, orsomething," he finished lamely. "I just can't stand it anymore. The dreams, all the dreams. Every night I see their faces, Duo. I see all those I killed, over and over and over again. And every time I'm covered in blood that I can't wash off, and I hear a voice telling me that I had the choice and I chose to kill those people."

Duo rubbed his greasy fingers on a napkin. "You honestly think you're the only one to have those dreams? Do you think it doesn't bother all the rest of us too?"

Tai stopped for a second and looked curiously at his friend. "Then how do you all live with yourselves?" he asked incredulously.

"I don't know. A difference of opinion, different personalities. We all react to different things different ways. And some of us are more sensitive about certain things. It's just different people. Hey man, I'm not saying that you have no right to be so bothered by the past. I'm just saying that you aren't alone and we all have to choose what to do, we decided what we think is moral and good. I think it's immoral to have long wars that hurt people over time and never let them relax. I think it's immoral to let my child grow up in such a world. So I'm going to fight, and never give up until it's over. If I kill people, so be it–it would be more immoral to not kill them and let the war last forever. And right now, I'm not sure what you believe because you've changed so much. But you do what your conscience tells you to, and I'll do as mine instructs me. That's all we can do, and either way, it will be okay."

It was getting dark outside and Tai suddenly had a vision of his textbooks sprawled out on his floor. He knew his mind was trying to shut off, to avoid thinking about all of this again–self-defense mechanism kicking in. Logically, what Duo said made sense, and he agreed with the Machiavellian principles he talked about, but at the same time he didn't have the heart to do it. He was not cut out to be a leader. He had those dreams much less frequently, but he still had them. The little girl, he'd never forget that little girl.

"Hey, what're you thinkin' about?"

Tai looked over at his braided friend. One of the few people who knew most of his past sat before him, one who knew him better than most. If he didn't have Duo's respect, then none other mattered. "I was just thinking that this is all so stupid. And so funny–I just realized I'm living Relena's ideal and honestly believe in it, even though I told her to her face that she was a fool during the wars."

Duo chuckled. "Ironic, ain't it?"

"Yah"

"So what do you plan on doing?" Duo asked him, looking up, a straw held tight between his teeth.

"I don't know. I guess I'll just keep going to school. Maybe the war won't actually start for a couple more years. You know how rumors are, they go for years and years and by the time the war actually happens, nobody really can believe it." Duo nodded and waved his straw around. Tai tilted his head to see the Duo was writing words in the air with his straw. He tried to figure out what Duo was writing for a second, but then snapped back into his train of thought. "If I'm really needed, if Zechs gives me a call, I imagine I'll do whatever he asks."

"And if Relena is in trouble" Duo asked, the straw still in his mouth.

Tai sighed. "I'll probably come to save her of my own volition and be arrested for all the laws I've broken to do so."

"And Zechs will get you out and into the war. It looks to me buddy that you're going to end up in this thing whether you like it or not because one or both of those things are going to happen, you know they will."

"I know. But that doesn't mean I like it. I'm just so tired of fighting. And I can't–Duo, I'll never kill anyone ever again. I'll aim for knees, I'll fly a huge transporter, but I won't kill."

"Yah, but you'll be helping other people to kill others. What's the difference?"

Tai held his coarse napkin between his fingers and rolled it into a tight little tube and swatted Duo's straw with it. "I don't know. I thought I had everything figured out, Duo. I thought I was okay and understood something about life."

"She's wicked, ain't she? Just keeps on throwing those curves and you've got to rearrange your entire way of thinking. Try having a kid, then see how things change."

"I think I'll pass on that one"

"Unless she's a certain blond."

Tai rolled his eyes.

"You talked to her lately?"

"Today," Tai grudgingly admitted.

Duo raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how is she doing? How's her physical therapy going? The last update I had on her was just after the accident."

"She's a tough girl. She's in pain and it's difficult to get around. She's got a wheelchair to cart her around campus. But she doesn't complain. I think she's getting better though. She told me she went to a park and swung on the swings for a while and that takes some leg power so she must be getting a little better. And she's not going back till September so she still has a while to build up her strength so no one will see her weakness."

"She can't afford to let anyone see how injured she is."

"Yah."

"Crazy that we all depend so much on one little girl, our age even!"

Tai looked down at his cup and swirled it to dislodge a couple ice cubes. "Crazy."

Deirdre pushed her arms down hard, making the wheels go. It wasn't so difficult on flat ground, but on the hills, it was near impossible. And she'd discovered that the floors in buildings are not as flat as one would think. She felt the muscles in her arms burning again. They were always on fire, but she just couldn't quite get around on her legs yet. She could crawl in her apartment, but she couldn't just crawl to campus.

Luckily most of her homework could be done at a computer, so she didn't have to move too much. Her therapist thought that was bad though, he thought she should push herself. But she was pushing herself as hard as she could go, and with school and her up-coming return, it was just too much to worry about right now.

"Deirdre!" Kiki called.

Deirdre struggled to turn and look at her roommate. "Hi!" she waved an arm, but regretted it as she started to roll down slightly. She caught herself and pushed her self up harder.

"Hold this," Kiki said impatiently, and pushed her up the rest of the hill.

Deirdre looked down at the papers in her hands–"What is this, Kiki? The Army? Are you thinking of joining the colony's militia?"

They were up the hill and Kiki roughly took the papers from Deirdre's hands. "No."

Deirdre looked at her suspiciously.

"But" she said slowly, looking sheepish, "I was thinking of becoming a Preventor."

Deirdre's mind screamed "NO! A war is on the way! You'll get killed! Besides, I thought you hated the army. You told me about your dad!" But she calmed herself and just asked, "Why?"

"Well, I still have a year or so of school left and I don't have much moneyand they pay for you to get through school and all"

"You're on scholarship. What do you need that for?"

"Iit just seemed like the smart thing to do. And I'll get paid in addition to getting through school."

"You only have a year left! Then you can go to graduate school and since you'll be doing research there for a professor they will be paying you then too! You don't need to"

"Don't you want me to protect the peace? I thought you were all for having them police the earth and colonies!" Kiki interrupted.

Deirdre changed tactics. "I thought you hated the army. I thought you hated your father and all that he was and what he did to your family."

Kiki flinched. "I do hate him, but I don't think it was the army that did it to him. I think he was just like that. And I won't ever become like him."

"What's this really about?" Deirdre asked.

"I told you"

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me. I just thought maybe you might want to talk about it. And I'm worried for youyou aren't a fighter, Kiki. Not really. And if there is a war, you'll have to fight. You'll have to kill people."

"And I can do that if I must. I realize that and I can do it."

Deirdre shook her head. "Okay, but make sure you keep tabs with me! Just because we won't be rooming together next year, I want to keep in touch. Okay?"

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend!" Deirdre looked up at Kiki in shock, a touch of hurt. "Why else?"

Kiki looked pained. "Oh" she forced out. "Why must you always look at me like that! It makes it impossible to be mean to you!"

"Do you want to be mean to me?" Deirdre asked, surprised.

"Not specifically to you, but to everyone."

"How can you live so alone?"

"I was pretty miserable," Kiki admitted.

"Was?"

"I told you, you are impossible to be mean to!"

Deirdre grinned. "Where are you walking to?"

"Home. I'm fed up with this place. I've been on campus all day."

"Great! Then you can push me over the speed bumps in that parking lot we cross to get home!"

Kiki grinned at her. "Okay." Then she got a sly look in her eye. "Sayyou were on the phone an awful long time the other day? Wasn't that Tai you were talking to?"

Deirdre got a sheepish grin. "Yes."

"You guys have been talking lot lately, since the accident. You getting along any better?"

"Oh, we're great friends. I love talking to him."

"Uh-huh?"

"Don't say it like that! We're nothing more than friends!" Deirdre insisted.

"But you want to be," Kiki teased. The sidewalk widened so she could walk beside her friend.

"But I'm willing to be just friends. I'm happy that way. Besides, things would be too complicated any other way."

"Long distance is always difficult." Kiki misunderstood what Deirdre was talking about, not that Deirdre expected her to know. She hadn't told her who she really was. "You know, I think it's so funny how everyone was so against Tai, but then they met him and everything changed. He's not at all what I pictured. I imagined this huge, almost ape-like guy with big arms and grunting and all. And he had this glazed, druggy look in his eyes and could barely talk right."

Deirdre was laughing out loud now. "Do you honestly think I'd like someone like that?"

"Well, no. But that's why I thought it was so strange when you talked about him."

"I can see why, if that's what you thought." They were quiet a moment as they passed the elementary school. Deirdre watched the kids kicking a ball around, some were on the playground. She had a sudden mental image of the sky darkening and something flaming falling from the sky and landing in the middle of the front lawn. Children screaming and clinging to the chain-linked fence trying to climb over. The a bird overhead chirped loudly and she jumped back to the present. Kiki was looking oddly at her, and she hoped her thoughts hadn't been readable–her greatest fear. She glanced once more at the children and brought the conversation to life again.

"So then you approve of Tai?"

"Well," Kiki looked thoughtful. "He's dependable, and pretty good looking. It's kind of disconcerting how different he was from his brother, and I do think he's a little serious for you."

"He's not always that grave. He's been much more relaxed since then."

"Yah, I suppose he was pretty worried about you with the accident and all. But still, you'd never think they were related"

"Except they are identical twins."

Kiki grinned sheepishly. "Well, yah. There is that.I don't know. I guess I liked him. He seemed to really care about you and he didn't try to take advantage of you. He was dependable. Those are my biggest worries with people and he fit all that. What kind of doctor does he want to be?"

"He hasn't decided."

"He was a soldier, wasn't he?"

Deirdre jumped a little. "What makes you say that?"

Kiki looked at Deirdre suspiciously. "He told us. Marcus asked him if he had and he said yes. Why didn't you tell me? It's not like it's something to be ashamed of." She grabbed Deirdre's wheelchair and carefully pushed it over the bumps.

"Nobut, I just didn't know if he'd want people to know."

Kiki nodded. "I get it. Does heever talk about it?"

"Sometimes. But he doesn't have to talk to me about it too much because I was with him some of the time during the war."

"Oh. Do you think he knows anything about the Preventors?"

"Tai was never actually a Preventor, but I've got some friends who are. I'm sure I could arrange for you to talk to them if you want to!" Deirdre was a little concerned about this though. It would be odd just calling up Wufei. Maybe Sally would be better.

"Do you know if there are a lot of women in the Preventors?"

"There are some, I know. Not a lot though. I have a woman friend who's a Preventor. I could ask her some questions for you, if you'd like."

"Nahthat's not necessary"

Kiki and Deirdre stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "Why must we live on the third floor?" Kiki said in a false crying voice.

"You aren't the one in the chair!" But Deirdre wheeled over to the office and deposited her chair in the main room. They had agreed to let her keep it there. Kiki too her bags and Deirdre got her cruches and they limped up to their apartment.

Kiki opened the door and Deirdre swung herself into the room. "You must be getting some dang buff arms!"

"I don't know about that."

"Deirdre!" Ianthe yelled at her.

"Uh-huh!" Deirdre answered.

"A girl called Kieko called."

"Oh! That's Huy's fiancee! I wander what she wanted." Deirdre put down her crutches and limped over to the phone and dialed. "How long ago did she call?" she called to Ianthe, who was in the other room.

"I don't know. Maybe an hour or so."

Deirdre quit talking when she heard someone pick up on the line. "Hello?"

"Is Kieko there?"

"This is she."

"It's Deirdre. I heard you called."

"Yes! Thanks for calling me back. I need your help desperately!"

Deirdre was a little worried. "What's wrong?"

"I need another bridesmaid."

Deirdre sat stunned. She had just met her a few months ago. "You want me?"

"Yup."

"But don't you have family or someone."

"If you don't want to, it's okay. I'll figure something out. But you're almost family and I just thought."

"No, no! I would love to. I'm flattered. Just surprised. That's all." And she was.

"Great! I just need your measurements so that I can get your dress for you!"

"Do I need to be there for rehearsal or anything?"

"Well, the wedding's in about a month or so. If you could, come about a week before the wedding. You could stay with me and we could goof off! It'll be fun. And Huy and Tai will be there too. Actually their whole family will be there. We're having the wedding at their house. It's such a beautiful colony that they live on. And it's not too bad flying there."

"Aren't you staying with them at their house?"

"Well, they have a large family and all the siblings will be home. The oldest two are married with kids so it will be crowded. So I was going to stay in a hotel, despite Huy's arguments. But I think it's best that way. But this way I could have a fun roommate!"

"What about your family?"

"Oh, they'll be there the day of the wedding, but that's about it. They have to work and all."

"Okay. That sounds fun. I'll be there!"

"Great! Okay, I'm sorry but I've got to run. But I'll call you later and we can talk all about this. Bye!"

"Bye"

Deirdre sat down, stunned. She would be meeting Tai's entire family. And what did Kieko mean by, "But you're almost family"

She got up and crawled over to her crutches but her backpack was gone. Kiki must have been feeling nice and taken it to her room for her. She crawled to her bedroom and had to reach up fairly far to reach her doorknob. A girl giggling in the next room caught her attention. And a boy's voice. Deirdre recognized the boy's voice too. Marcus. She felt herself grinning a little. Marcus must have been with Celes again. They had been spending a lot of time together since the accident; he'd been such a help with her.

In her room, Deirdre pulled herself into her desk and booted up her laptop. She still had several papers to finish. Kiki was changing her clothes.

"Where are you off to?"

"I'm going to practice for my martial arts exam. It's coming up soon. I forgot that I needed to or else I would have stayed on campus."

"Okay, have fun!" Deirdre called to the closing door. Then she turned to her computer. She pulled out her notes and laid them all over the desk and stared at them as she typed away, her brain synthesizing all the information at once and letting the words flow to her fingers. She was fairly confident in her writing abilities. After two hours of typing she leaned back and cracked her back. She glanced at the clock. At four she had therapy. It was in fourty-five minutes.

Grudgingly she pulled herself up and put on her pack–sometimes she had to wait a while before the therapist could see her, so she always brought her homework. The apartment was quiet as she picked up her crutches. One dropped down on her foot. She grimaced but pulled it back up, clumsily, and limped out the door. The stairs were even more difficult to navigate going down than going up, but she managed, and only dropped her crutches twice. They clattered down one flight of stairs and that was difficult, but other than that, it was okay. The bus stop was down the street a little ways, but not too bad.

Just as she dragged herself up to the stop, a car pulled up beside her and honked. She looked over and Marcus was waving at her. He rolled down the window.

"Going my way?" he asked her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N I'm finally getting this thing moving! I decided that as much as I love all my characters, I just can't spend all this time writing about every one of them. I have to pick a few of them and stick to that. It's painful, so I'll probably write some off-shoots eventually, especially one for Kiki–I've got a massive story for her, but right now this is a Relena x Heero story so I shouldn't spend so much time on Kiki and her future counterpart (I'll tell who he is in this story, just not a lot about how they got together). Anyway, I am getting there. Thanks for the reviews! I love them!!!! Toodles for now, Tygerlilee