2: Gravity Zero
Inside Heero's apartment the sounds of drawers shutting and closing could be heard outside the door, it began to disturb his next-door neighbors. Heero's room was in a shambles, clothes were all over the floor amongst torn paper and other useless objects.
Heero stepped over them with very little ease as he headed over to his bed where his suitcase resided. The square object was half way full of the clothes he had gotten over the time he had bought during and between the time he was on earth and the L1 colony. His wardrobe had grown considerably since then and Heero bought larger suitcase's for everything he had from shoes, books/novels to all of his clothes.
He put the last of his wardrobe into the suitcase and clamped the top down on the mountain. He tightly secured the locks in their place before picking the suitcase up. He was done with fearing his emotions, he would go back to Earth where he felt his heart truly belonged.
Everything he knew was on Earth whereas everything he wanted to put behind him was on the L1 colony. Sighing Heero leaned over and with his free hand grabbed his duffle bag and bulky suitcase equipped with wheels then made his way over to the door. If he was to truly become human and disinherit himself from be known as the Perfect Soldier he was going to have to face his fears. Dropping his suit case he unlocked his door then opened it.
The Japanese teenager made his way out of the room down the hall with an uneasy feeling in his stomach that hadn't left since he had fallen asleep. He just couldn't shake it. Its' probably pre-travel jitters, Heero thought to himself pressing the down button on the elevator panel. There was a long moment of waiting for the elevator to come up to top where he was which left him alone with his thoughts and an empty hallway.
"Hn..." Heero looked around the art-deco halls, his Prussian blue eyes wondered why there were never any skylights in the ceiling to ward off the shinny feeling given off by the track lights in the walls. He always did find it annoying the track lighting. A far off ding from the elevator brought him back to reality and Heero stepped into the elevator. His shuttle left in two-hours and he had to move fast if he wanted to get to earth before the weekend.
Relena waved to her adoring audience as she walked off stage. The European girl slipped through the curtains feeling more tired than she had ever did in the last two years, she was only eighteen yet she felt like she forty years old. Running her hands through her hair Relena headed toward the backstage exit where Pegan was waiting for her in the limo. She stepped through the door without being noticed by the media and made her way over to the limo.
As she trotted down the stairs Relena noticed someone beside the limo. The young woman blinked in confusion as to who it was but made no sound as she came up to the limo. "Yes, may I help you?" Relena asked hesitantly. The woman who looked to be in her mid-forties with a full head of flaming red hair and sunglasses hiding her brown eyes. She stared up the Vice Foreign Minister with a business like smile on her face. "How do you do," The woman began grabbing Relena's hand giving a firm shake. "My name is Margaret Cypher Miss......?" Relena realized the elderly woman was looking for her name, blushing in embarrassment Relena shook her hand with a nervous smile.
"Relena Darlain," She said. Margaret's head raised upward in confirmation before releasing the young woman's hand and folded her arms across her chest. "This may be a bit forthcoming coming from me but, I work for a prestigious company that funds Orphanages for War Orphans and I was wondering if you had seen this young boy. He's been missing for quite awhile," Cypher handed Relena a worn picture of a young boy with strangest eyes she had ever seen in her life. Relena studied the picture for a while longer before looking up at the elderly woman before with a creased brow.
"Has he done something wrong?" The European teenager asked. Margaret shrugged pushing her sunglasses back up on the bridge of her nose. "Besides running away upon his arrival to Earth, I'm not sure. Rumor has it that he was apart of the rebel organization that the preventers put a stop to. We've rounded up his friends and taken them to an orphanage where they'll be safe but he still remains at large. Have you see him?" Margaret stared intently at Relena's confused face. Relena stared at this woman with suspicion reflecting her eyes. "No, no I haven't," She said quickly returning the picture to the woman. Margaret raised her hands up indicating she wanted the Vice Foreign Minister to keep the picture.
"You'll need that incase you see the boy. My work and home number is on the back, keep in touch," Margaret waved to the teenager and walked away from the limo. Relena watched her leave then stared at the picture of the young boy. His hair was as wild as Heero's and he had the rest of his hair in a braid much like Duo's but much shorter and his eyes had a haunted look in them despite their beauty.
Opening the limo door Relena jumped inside with a flustered sigh. Pegan stared at her worriedly through the rearview mirror. "Are you all right miss Relena? Was that woman troubling you?" He asked. Relena shook her head quickly and rested it against the back of the chair with a sigh. "No Pegan she wasn't troubling me at all, just wondering if I had seen a young Orphan that's all," Relena replied. Pegan nodded briefly before staring the car up. Relena stared into space as the limo pulled away from the curb, she began to wonder where she had seen the young boy's face before if she had seen it at all.
Mariemaia shifted on the comfy bed as she stared at her strange friend with interest as he flipped the page of his book. She marveled the strange siting position he mad managed to get himself into on the window seat of his bedroom: His leg was underneath the other which was bent and in upward position. He wore nothing but his plaid boxers and worn gray T-shirt, in other words he hadn't even made it to the bathroom to bathe.
His hair was in a complete utter mess; his shoulder length hair was sticking out in everywhich way while his abnormal unruly hair was as normal as it could be. He looked up from his book briefly to find her staring at him with intent eyes. Closing his book, Jin rose from his window seat and made his way out of the bedroom and headed toward the bathroom feeling absolutely uncomfortable with Mariemaia staring at him. "What?" He muttered in question. Mariemaia smiled and shrugged innocently.
Running his hands through his hair he ignored the glances he got from many girls twice his age and entered the bathroom. He absolutely hated being very girl's object of desire. It was down right uncomfortable. It was a good thing there were extra towels and soap inside the bathroom because he had left his back in his room.
Locking the bathroom door he headed over the curtain less showers (much like the ones on a beach), he undressed himself and tossed his clothes in a pile on the floor across from the showers. Turning both the hot & cold water in sync with eachother Jin grabbed a bar of unused soap and stepped underneath the running water proceeding to wash himself up. His onyx blue eyes stared at the falling water with a nostalgic expression shadowing his tired face, he fiddled with the bar of soap in his hand, wet strands of hair fell obscuring his vision.
Jin began to wonder if he was going to tagalong with Mariemaia on this so-called ski-trip of Relena Darlains, it was a nice way of escaping the many gazes of the female population in the school not to mention a good way to escape his Math tutor, an annoying old man one of the nuns signed him up with because of his flunking mathematics. Scowling he decided to just follow the orange-red haired girl for the sake of getting away from the school despite that it would mean revealing himself to many people allied with the Preventers if they were going to be there.
He knew Une, Mariemaia's surrogate mother was probably going to be the one to take her to the Sanc kingdom which mean trouble for him. I could be sent off to jail with the rest of the rebels, which would suck. I'm well on my way to becoming a straight A student. Jin thought haughtily rubbing the soap into his hair. Which would also suck. I'm no genius, and don't want to be regarded as one. Sighing the boy dropped the bar of soap into the tray attached to the wall and began to washing his hair. He would just have to figure out how to fix this problem.
Outside Mariemaia remained on Jin's bed with a shocked expression on her face. He left without taking notice of her. He didn't even say hello to her when he awoke from his sleep he just climbed out of the bed as though she wasn't even there although he did glance at her but it was more of a reflex than him actually acknowledging her presence.
Pulling her hair behind her ear the 10-year-old climbed off the bed and made her way out of the room with a look of hurt on her face. Mariemaia's friend Dido watched the young girl pass her continuing down the hall with the grace of a ghost. Dido being empathic could feel the gut wrenching pain from her friend and tried her best not to fall over when a wave a nausea hit her. She stared down the hall with a look of disappointment. She had do something about that insensitive boy Mariemaia was so taken with.
Elsewhere on the edge of the city inside a tall towering Company building by the name of Sansever, Margaret Cypher sat in a leather spinning chair inside her large semi-empty office with a creased brow. There was something about the way Relena reacted to the picture of Toshino's child that puzzled her making her wonder if the Vice Foreign Minster was lying to her about never seeing the child.
Yes, she upheld the peace, but there was no guarantee that she wouldn't lie just to protect someone she knew and cared for dearly. Blowing air up into her bangs she removed her glasses and placed them on the desk and rose from her chair making her way over to the huge window of her office. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she racked her brain for the many possibilities that would give Relena a reason distrust her. She was hiding her true motives but that was besides the point. "Perhaps I'm asking the wrong people," Margaret whispered to herself.
The sound of her office door being opened brought the elderly woman out of her thoughts causing her to turn toward the door. A blonde head peered inside the room with a hesitant look on her face before noticing Cypher in front of the window. "Excuse me, Miss Cypher....?" Came the timid voice. Margaret smiled at the girl and welcomed her inside, the long haired blond entered the room with a folder in her hand. "Yes, what is it, Chris?" Cypher asked arching an eyebrow.
Chris Kurt stepped further into the room until she came within two inches of her employer, she then handed the woman the thick brown folder. Margaret removed the folder from her hand with a look of interest when she opened it and began to look through it. Chris noticed Margaret's mouth was curling into her usual smile that gave many of the people who worked for orphanages reasons to distrust and dislike her. "So our little Toshino has been hiding out in the St. Gabriel institute, and with Une's daughter no doubt. I'm quiet surprised. My hat's off to Ralph, really does a fine job." The woman of British decent chuckled.
Chris just nodded hesitantly. She began to wonder why Ralph even decided to work for this company building that was obviously up to no good. "Ma'am may I ask why your so bent on catching this boy? He looks as though he's found a home and people to call his family," Chris pointed out. Margaret turned to meet the fearful gaze of the blonde before handing her the folder again. "Because, he has something I want. Something his mother would never tell me because she feared I would give the information to the Romafeller Foundation," Margaret muttered darkly.
Chris' unoccupied hand balled into a trembling fist. "But he was probably only a small child, he couldn't possible know of anything his mother was working on. How could he possibly be of help to you or your boss?" Chris said sternly. Margaret scowled displeased by the sound of the blonde's tone of voice and slapped her hard in the face, Chris fell to the ground with a cry of pain.
"For you information Chris, he suffers from Amnesia caused by length of time he spent floating through space with hardly any life-support!! I may be able to uncover this information once I get a hold of him. And if he truly doesn't know anything concerning what his mother kept from me, then I will kill him just like I killed his friends!!! And I will kill you if you question my motives again, do you understand Chris!!!!??" Chris trembled at the sound of her demonic voice and nodded before climbing off the floor. "Now, leave me," She bellowed angrily.
Chris ran out of the room on shaky legs and a stinging cheek. Ralph Kurt had just come out of the elevator and was ready to head over to his office when he was knocked off of his feet and thrown onto the floor. He grunted in pain as he rose from the ground the person clinging to his waist like a life preserver. "What the---- Chris, what's wrong?" He blurted in surprise. Chris looked up at the man with tears brimming in her eyes. "Sh---she hit me!" She exclaimed bursting into tears. Ralph climbed onto his feet pulling Chris up with him and sighed.
"C'mon, let's go to my office," He said rubbing her back. Chris continued to cry but followed him. Ralph stared at the wide open door to his boss' office before he opened his and ushered his sister inside. "Now what happened?" He asked worriedly. Chris could hear the concern in his voice as she flopped down on the couch beside the door way, she shook her head.
"I--- I don't know, it happened so fast. All I did was protest against what she was doing to these young boys with so much life ahead of them and the next thing I knew she hit me," The blonde pointed to the red sore on her face. Ralph winced at the very sight of it. "Well, --- I don't know what I can do, Chris besides get fired," He said. Chris scoffed at his attitude before rising from the couch. "You could quit. I'm only here because you asked me," She said, her voice becoming harder.
Ralph nodded in defeat. Chris made her way over to the door but stopped in mid step her back facing his. "You know if this boy doesn't have what she wants, she'll kill him," Chris pointed out. "You have to stop her. Or find someone who can.This boy's mother died for what she knew. Don't let him share the same fate as his parents." Ralph's words were caught in his throat as he heard Chris leave the room slamming the door behind her. His fists shook in disgust as tears ran down his face. He thought of his friend -- or former friend Trowa and wondered if he would let this go on. What've I gotten myself into......?
"C'mon Duo hurry up!!" Hilde cried out in sheer excitement as she dashed down the stairs of the house leaving an enthusiastic Duo in the dust. The American watched his friend run down the sidewalk until she reached the end of the block near the bus stop.
He followed behind her in a walking pace but managed to catch up with her just as the bus came rolling past her, Hilde shifted her eyes to the right surprised to find Duo beside her with a thoughtful expression on his face. She said nothing but decided if they were going to get the Park before the rain blew in she was going to have to pull him along because he was obviously not in the mood to be chipper. Grabbing his wrist the German girl zoomed across the street as fast as she could dragging a surprised and bewildered Duo behind her.
"Hilde--- stop!!" He cried as the girl dashed across a busy street. He did his best to dodge the cars that swerved into his direction while trying to yank his arm free of his friend's grasp. Hilde stopped abruptly when she reached the slender line of sidewalk that separated the lanes from eachother, however something rather unexpected happened. Duo's wrist fell from her grasp from the force of the stop throwing the braided American backward and into the street.
Hilde turned in horror as she watched a speeding red convertible rammed into her friend sending him flying over the hood of the vehicle then rolling into the street like a rag doll. The convertible stopped abruptly as Hilde dashed out into the street, the 18-year-old fell to her knees beside the still body of Duo's. She reached out of touch him when he bottled up in an upright position with a very dumbfounded expression on his face his right hand clutching his left arm. "D-Duo--!!" Hilde cried in relief.
Duo scanned his surrounding area with a bewildered look on his face replaced the dumbfounded one, Hilde watched him stand half-way up with a slight grunt. Carefully she wrapped an arm around his waist then helped him across the street. "Am I dead?" He whispered to himself. Hilde stared at him in confusion as he looked himself over and over again. Hilde shook her head as she straightened out his down jacket, he stared down at her with a strange expression she couldn't quite figure out but said nothing about his recent behavior. "Are you okay?" She asked brushing the snow off his jacket.
Duo nodded. "Good. I'm sorry about that. I was so eager to get the park I almost got you run over in the process, I'm really sorry Duo," Hilde apologized. Duo snapped himself out of his dazed state of mind before flinging an aching arm around her shoulder with the biggest smile he could muster (in order to hide the pain he felt). "I'm fine, Hilde!!" He acted as though nothing had happened.
"I just need some aspirin to stop the ringing in my ears." Hilde giggled at his attempt to brush the situation as he dragged her across the street. "I guess I am the God of death. I didn't die," He said simply. Hilde rolled her eyes; he was certainty boasting himself on that name she thought dryly. The two continued down the snowy sidewalk until they reached their desired destination. The park. Duo decided to sit down on one of the benches for a while until the pain in his body decided to cease and insisted Hilde go off and bother some of the local children while he did so.
Although she was reluctant Hilde did what he insisted. "I'll be right back with some Hot Chocolate Duo!" Hilde cried. Duo nodded halfheartedly and watched as the German teenager head over to one of the booths that sold piping hot Chocolate. He sighed in disbelief as he looked at his dirty black glove; he was really alive and it was all because of dumb luck. He chuckled to himself knowing that part himself was disappointed in the fact he was still alive while the other part rejoiced despite the minor injuries he sustained.
His tongue glided across the region of his teeth to make sure they were all still intact. "All there," He whispered to himself. He watched the children throw snowballs at eachother racing across the snow-covered ground with not a care in the world. I used to be like that, not a care in the world..., A smile was brought to his face when he noticed Hilde returning to where he was. "I'm back Duo," Hilde announced.
"So I noticed," Duo replied staring thirstily at the cut of steaming HC in her hand. He scooted over giving Hilde enough room to sit down beside him, the girl sat down beside him with a sigh before handing him his cup of Hot Chocolate. Duo took it from her before noticing something about Hilde's appearance; her cheeks were a rosy shade of pink, her purple sweater hat with covers for her ears almost made her look like a cartoon character and her knee length down jacket only made what little leg he could see seem weird.
Her stripe socks could be seen over the heavy snow boots she wore and her blue leggins were the most amusing thing he had ever seen her wear. She was what everyone called a fashion disaster, but he dare not say that to her though. Taking a sip of his Chocolate he stared into the sky with a weary grin on his face. "Was I really hit by a car?" He asked quietly. Hilde watched her braided friend in the corner of her eye, he stared into the sky dreamily with a look of disbelief.
"Hey Duo, tomorrow's Saturday so why don't we just head out to Sanc Kingdom a day early?" Hilde suggested blowing at her drink. Duo turned away from the clouded sky for a moment to stare at Hilde in question. Hilde simply returned the stare with a smile.
"Huh? How come Hilde?" Duo asked curious. Hilde shrugged innocently before gulping down the last of her steaming Hot Chocolate. Duo watched her toss the cup into the trash can and rise from the Bench with an expectant look on her face, in other words she awaiting his answer to her question.
Sighing Duo finished his drink and sat the cup down in the vacant spot Hilde once occupied. "Well, I guess so," He started tiredly. "But I wanna get some rest this cold is really making me sleepy, Hild." Hilde laughed in spite of the serious look on his face before she grabbed him by the arm and lead him across the snow-covered grass of the park.[TBC]