7: The watcher
Mariemaia ventured outside the cabin after giving Hilde a brief explanation of why she was doing so. She needed to find Jin and set things right with him, they simply couldn't avoid each other on this trip and they certantly couldn't ignore each other, being in the same room proved that to be quite a problem.
She trudged through the snow following his trail through the once flawless snow amazed at the distance he traveled, it was almost eleven at night and she wanted to head back and soon. "Does his legs know no bounds??" Mariemaia grumbled, annoyed. Mariemaia had never seen anyone who could walk as long he did besides the track team that visited the school grounds every so often.
Her legs began to grow stiff as she went deeper into the forest, she pulled her hood up over her head to protect it from snow falling off the tree branches. He should really consider joining the track team if he can walk this far out, She though taking notice of the cliff ahead. Her mouth hung open in fear; had she driven him to commit suicide?! With newfound strength from her fear and regret of her words Mariemaia dashed through the snow as fast as her legs could carry her. The 10-year-old came out into the open and ran toward the cliff but something she presumed to be a rock tripped her bringing her down onto the cold ground.
She groaned as she pressed her hands against something soft pausing her attempt to get to her feet, using two of her fingers she brushed the snow away from the soft object, a pair of pants! "Oh my God!!" She cried just as the object bottled into an upright position. Mariemaia gasped involuntarily as she was thrown forward back first, she looked up from her awkward position at the hooded figure brushing himself off sniffling. He sneezed violently but thought nothing of it as he climbed up onto his feet. Mariemaia gazed upon the towering figure that shook its head at her. "Come to bother me some more, miss needy?" The familiar voice caused Mariemaia to grow red with anger.
She flipped herself over and stood onto her feet ready to punch Jin in the face. "No, I came out here to come and get you!" Mariemaia snapped. "What we're you doing on the ground ... in the snow no less!" Jin shrugged pulling his hood from off his head, Mariemaia reframed from gasping at the condition his face mirrored. His lips were blue, his eyes were bloodshot and his face was red, possibly warm with fever. Mariemaia's anger melted away. She reached up to touch his face to check his temperature but he jumped away before she had the chance.
"Don't touch me," He sneered. Mariemaia was taken aback by his response but she laughed instead of shouting at him. Jin blinked in confusion before walking off leaving Mariemaia behind. "Jin!" He turned around and was bombarded by Mariemaia, he grunted as he felt her hands cup his face. His heart jumped but he made no move to remove it from her warm touch. "You've got a fever," Mariemaia whispered pressing her nose against his. Jin blushed through his anger, he felt the vibrations of Mariemaia's giggles on his face. He instantly brought himself out his trance and pulled back.
Mariemaia flinched when she saw the angry look on his face. He restrained himself from hitting her, his arm trembled with the urge to do so but he kept in check. "I told you...... don't ... touch me," He managed to get out. Mariemaia arched an eyebrow in question. "Why not?" She asked indignantly. Jin smiled, it wasn't a kind smile, it was a smile he usually brought to the surface when Tomeki threatened to cut his braid off.
He turned his back to the 10-year-old once more and began to walk away. "Because, your just touching my facade. Your not touching me...," Jin replied. The wind blew more aggressively as though it were mirroring Jin's ominous mood, Mariemaia could the feel the gap between growing by the minute. She followed after him but stayed far behind him, speechless and buried in her thoughts.
Heero and Duo were the first ones up the next day; they were accompanied by Trowa, Wufei, and Quater an hour later. Trowa had troubles getting down the stairs without waking Catherine who happened to a light sleeper and could recongize his walking pattern. The five of them sat at the table in the second part of the house, the dinning room with pondering expressions on their faces.
Heero had his laptop opened beside him searching for any information on Ryuusei and the mysterious Margaret Cypher. In the meantime they sat and waited carrying on theoretic conversation about their current crisis that hadn't escalated past being a small threat, easily dealt with. Duo's fingers wrapped against the table as he tried to bring his mind off ice skating with Hilde. Heero stared at the encoded data scrolling up his screen, his Prussian blue eyes seemed to glow with the presence of oncoming danger he and the other ex-pilots would be unable to prevent.
Duo's less than happy tone of voice brought him out his engrossing thoughts. "So what's deal with this unknown company? What's it do beside fund orphanages?" The cold demeanor of his voice forced Heero to wonder as well. Trowa shrugged twirling the table cloth around his finger, he too wanted to know as well but couldn't seem to find an answer to the American's question. Heero shifted his eyes toward the laptop's screen and his eyes widened considerably. Heero placed his finger on the electronic touch pad of his portable computer and clicked on the paragraph Sansever and Gravitation inc. soon to be merged.
A window of information on the two soon to be merging companies appeared inciting Heero's curiosity. Trowa and Duo noticed the look in his eyes, the two of them arose from their seats and came up to beside him, they peered over his shoulder with interest. Wufei and Quatre remained in their seats and just awaited the news. Heero pulled out a small compact disk and placed it into his laptop, his computer automatically began to download the information he found on the disk.
"It says here Sansever is a big conglomerate for orphanages around the world that shelter children orphaned by the wars. They send out social workers around the world and previously suppressed colonies to find these children for the sole purpose of finding them a home and family," Heero paused for a moment to pull his disk out from his drive.
Trowa and Duo awaited him to continue, he did. "Gravitation inc. on the other hand is a sort of company that made itself on supplying the military weapons during and even after the war. Since the Earth Sphere unified nation was formed they've given out weapons in secrecy. On March twenty-fifth A.C. 196, Gravitation sent out a former mercenary by the name of Margaret Cypher to form a sort of alliance with Sansever under the pretense that they two wanted to help orphans find homes and families. The two are set to announce their merger on Christmas Day...... how ironic," Heero's lips formed a firm line.
"What could they gain by forming an allance with pacifists who help orphaned children?" Duo mttered. His eyes narrowed in sheer anger and disappointment, his teeth shifted against each other as he fought to control his tempter. "We've got a bigger problem on our hands then we originally thought," Trowa groaned unconsciously.
Wufei's look of indifference remained to his expression as his fingers intertwined with each other and he placed his elbows on the table resting his chin on his fingers. "This is truly no justice in this world," He proclaimed quietly. "It is clear no one can forget the past and move on." Quatre's eyes narrowed slightly as his determination began to swell. He balled his hands into fists. "That's partly true Wufei, but that's why we have the preventers now. We've gotta send this information to Une right away, maybe she can figure something out about all this," He said, his tone serious.
Duo shook his head as he leaned up from bending over Heero's shoulders, his eyes were set firmly on the picture of the redheaded woman dressed in an alliance military attire. "I'm not sure she can, if this Cypher is having us followed then its because of our abilities as soldiers, or Jin's abiltiy to pilot a gundam despite his poor knowledge of its system. Its either that or her employer's got some sort of vendetta planned," The 17-year-old scratched his head. Trowa and Wufei nodded in agreement. Heero closed his laptop with discouraged grunt, all four ex-pilots' eyes shifted in his direction. He met their gazes with one of his own. "There are no files on Ryuusei at all," He said rising from the table. "Its' like she doesn't exist."
"Or someone made sure she didn't exist," Trowa said barely above a whisper. "She can't be missed if she doesn't exist." They all nodded unaware of Relena and Catherine coming down the stairs. The two girl's entered the living room and spotted the boys in the dinning room with gloomy faces. Relena suspected it had something to do with what Heero had told her when he arrived with Ryuusei in his arms but said nothing to Catherine who was oblivious to the situation. "Hey you guy's why the long faces?" Catherine called out with a smile.
All five heads turned in the girl's direction with wide eyes. All five boys immediately feared the girls had overheard their conversation. Relena and Catherine watched as, Duo, Heero, Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre made a quick exit from the dinning room through the another entrance that lead back to the living room.
"Good morning girls, we'll go and wake the everyone else!" Quatre announced quickly following the others up the stairs. Relena's eyes narrowed knowing they were hiding something. Why else would they have all left at the same time? Catherine thought nothing of it and turned toward the kitchen. "I'll go make us all breakfast all right?" The circus performer sighed. Relena nodded in agreement before heading over to the couch. She sat down and pondered on the possibilities of the ex-pilot's behavior.
Margaret and Ralph sat at the counter of a quiet rundown diner, their hands cupped their steaming mugs of Java seeking its warmth. They were three miles from where the ex-pilots and Vice foreign minister resided, and with good reason. Margaret had decided that they should find a lodge close to their target's location but Ralph had thought it was all bit too obvious and they had to think on their toes if the mission was to be a success and told her of a old underground base that was used by OZ at one time and that they could stay there.
Margaret agreed after a long argument over authority. Ralph sat a chair away from her in order to think, he believed this woman was not all she was cracked up to be. She thought mercilessly and strategies were something she left for later on which brought him to worry about his and Chris' well-being. His eyes watched her from underneath his bangs with a suspicious gleam to them. The vibrations of cars pulling away from the diner shook the structure for a moment arousing Ralph from his thoughts just in time to take notice of the waitress coming up toward him.
She placed her hands onto the counter, his nails made a soft clicking noise as she did so. He smiled and she smiled back in return. "What can I get you handsome?" She said pulling out a pad along with a pencil. Ralph lifted his head up to meet her green eyes with his cocky smile. "Waffles if you have any....... Maggie," He replied calmly reading her name-tag. The waitress nodded sending a wink his direction as she headed back into the kitchen. Margaret said nothing when he turned to meet her dead eyes. He turned away from her and stared into his cup reflecting his image.
"War is necessary...," Ralph's head turned back over to the red haired woman in question. Was she trying to reassure herself over what she was doing? Margaret turned to meet Ralph's questioning gaze with a wicked smile. "War is necessary," She repeated. "Without war no one would be able to protect themselves, without weapons no one could stop a mad man like myself from killing off so many people, without war or weapons people become meek and useless to humanity's cause of survival." Margaret drank down her coffee, her face was regaining its color.
"Why are you telling me this?" Ralph asked abruptly. Margaret placed her mug onto the counter with a sigh. "You doubt me don't you, Ralph?" Margaret seemed to have read his mind. Ralph was silent, Margaret's beautiful features were over shadowed by an expression of anger. Ralph clutched the sides of his mug tightly unable to think in her presence any longer. "Yes," He finally answered. "I doubt you and your motives." Margaret smiled at the answer. "I knew you did," She said calmly, surprising the young man across from her.
Her smile vanished instantly replaced by her usual frown once more. "But know this; if you don't want me to kill your sister then you'll do as I say and never doubt me. Understand?" Ralph nodded slowly just as the waitress came back with his waffles, she sat them down in front of him wearing her best smile. Ralph murmured a simple thank you and handed her the money, the waitress handed him a receipt and her phone number before leaving to attend to other customers. Ralph fiddled with the paper in his hand. He was at a lost. He truly didn't know what do that couldn't have a terrible consequence that would land on his sister's head. He needed Trowa's help.
The sounds of several conversations going on at once filled the once peaceful atmosphere of the small locker room, children and their parents came in and out from the locker room holding their rented skates in their hands sweating from the joyous work out. Trowa sat on a bench tying his skates laces up obviously in a rush. Catherine stood outside the locker room door the blade of her skate tapping against the hard concrete floor, her arms were at her side while she waited diligently for her partner to come out of the locker room.
She poked her head inside the room with a huff, she noticed he had finished lacing up his skates but was staring into space with thoughtful green eyes. "Come on Trowa, hurry up!" She said. Trowa almost jumped out of his skin when he heard her, nervously he stood onto his feet and marched on his baldes toward her. Catherine smiled and took him by the hand leading him out to the ice ring. "You nervous?" Catherine asked softly stopping at the wall that separated the ice from the concrete covered in snow. Trowa shook his head slowly as he watched her step out onto the ice, he swallowed his pride and followed suit.
Catherine's smile only grew bigger when he did, she pushed herself forward and glided across the ice with grace. Trowa watched her perform a flawless twirl and a jump before she vanished in the crowd. Slowly Trowa pushed himself forward away from the wall and glided through the crowd searching from Catherine, he felt a rush of excitement welling up inside him at the sheer feeling of skating on ice. He caught sight of her zooming around the ring at top speed. He headed after her.
He felt as though he were flying through mid air as he chased after the brunette haired girl, it was almost too good to be true. Happiness stirred within the usually silent Trowa as he came up to Catherine's side fighting back a smile. "Your pretty good for a beginner Trowa," Catherine exclaimed turning to face him. Trowa just smiled mysteriously and followed the girl around the ring. Catherine watched him in the corner of her eye with awe, Trowa wasn't a beginner gliding on the ice as if it came naturally to him, of that much she was certain.
The thing that puzzled her was his behavior around her, he never knew it but she noticed his face would turn automatically red if she touched him or surprised him when he was alone thinking. What could be bothering him? Catherine was engrossed in her thoughts that she never noticed she was coming up fast on Trowa himself who had gotten in front of her to search for Heero.
She crashed into him knocking his feet from under him, the both of them fell onto the ice in a tangled mess. Trowa groaned as he slid from underneath Catherine, his body hurt in several places and he wanted to get off the ice before he could further embarrass himself in front of so many people. "I'm sorry Trowa, I wasn't looking where I was going," Catherine blurted. "Its all right Cathy," Trowa replied calmly offering his hand to her. Catherine gratefully took a hold of his hand and he pulled her up from the cold ground. "Thank you Trowa," She sighed placing a hand over her chest. Trowa nodded stiffly and the two stepped off the ice to rest.
Relena sat on a bench with Ryuusei perched on her lap and Heero beside her. They sat in silence with the exception of Ryuusei singing an upbeat tune to herself. Relena's eyes shifted toward Heero's youthful face in awe as she tried to figure out what to talk to him about. She always found it impossible to talk to him when he was quiet and deep in his own thoughts away from the world. Brushing her hair back behind her ear Relena prepared to converse with him. "Heero," She said.
Heero turned in her direction with a questioning gaze on his face, she blushed lightly before speaking. "Is it all right if I go skiing with you and Wufei? I know you two will be snowboarding but I'll ski since I can't snowboard." Heero cracked a tiny smile before placing his hand on Ryuusei's. The small child began to play with his fingers, curiosity danced in her big gray eyes. "I don't mind," Heero replied finally. "Wufei wouldn't mind either. Besides, I would feel better with you near me." Relena's nervousness melted away and was replaced with a beaming smile. Heero nodded in acknowledgment and returned to his thoughts.
His Prussian blue eyes followed the movements of his young Korean friend and Mariemaia whom he had not since the they arrived. He noticed they were being followed by a tall man dressed inconspicuously in snowboarders gear but his body language certainly gave him away. He was up to no good. Heero noticed the two of them were heading back to the cabin looking very sullen, Jin's stride was slow and thoughtful which meant something was bothering him.
Heero patted his jacket, the feel of his gun in its holster reassured him as he rose from the bench. Relena watched Heero place two fingers into his mouth, she was confused by this but said nothing. A shrill whistling noise emitted from Heero's mouth, his eyes narrowed in satisfaction when he saw Jin look in his direction. The man stopped and headed in the other direction (opposite of the cabin) toward the ski slope.
Heero watched Jin make a gesture as though he were asking what Heero wanted. The Japanese teenager shook his head, Jin's shoulders slumped in annoyance as he continue on to the house. Heero sighed relieved for the moment before resting back on the bench beside Relena. "Was that Jin?" Relena asked. Heero shrugged and continued to stare out into space, Relena fell silent once just as Wufei returned with two snowboards his managed to rent.
Elsewhere, Duo, Hilde, Quatre, and Dorothy stood in line waiting their turn to get on the ski-lift. Duo for once was smiling for longer than two minutes, it made Hilde happy and all the more excited to have come on this trip. They needed a break from their job anyway. Duo had strapped their snowboards to their backs horizontally. He had decided after a short but mutual conversation with Hilde that it would be a lot more engaging to go snowboarding than ice-skating since Trowa and Catherine were doing that. Hilde agreed with him after a minute of thinking. Quatre and Dorothy followed agreed as well when Duo had told them about his idea but said they were going skiing.
She turned to meet his sparkling cobolt blue eyes Duo wrapped his hand around hers with a sigh as they were the next to be taken up by the ski lift. They settled onto the seat and were taken up. "Whoa...," Duo exclaimed as the lift went higher up into the air. Hilde grabbed the bar in front of her fearfully as they were taken up higher, it reminded of a rollercoaster ride she had went on once with Duo when the fair was in town one time. She had fainted halfway through the ride when the rollercoaster came down a steep part of the ride, this happened because Duo had suggested to ride in the front.
Duo laughed when he saw the frightened look on her face, he placed his arm around her shoulders while his right hand held onto the bar. "Don't worry Hilde, we're not gonna fall," He assured her. Hilde believed him but it did nothing to cure of her fear of heights, she leaned into his protective arm with a shuddering sigh. Duo kept smiling but on the inside he worried about Hilde and her unconquerable fear of heights. She never seemed to be afraid when they headed out to space to get parts that couldn't be shipped to earth so he couldn't figure out why she was so scared of high places. His eyes bore into her Aquamarine ones when she turned to meet his gaze. Her eyes reflected fear but those fears were soon silenced when she stared into his.
Duo's eyes were full of reassurance and promise of protection from any danger that threatened to harm her. But everything else that bothered him was carefully hidden from her, she knew this to be a fact. Some say a person's eyes are a window to their soul ... maybe their right. Duo wouldn't let anything happen to be if he could help it..., Hilde's fearful expression melted into that of a relaxed one. "I'm okay Duo," Hilde sighed. Duo felt relief washing over him as he settled back and enjoyed the ride up to the slope.
Behind them Quatre and Dorothy sat a seat away with their ski's upon their laps. Dorothy fiddled with the ends of her hair as a way to hold her attention while Quatre sat beside her and admired the scenery. "This place is truly beautiful despite the modernism within its environment," He sighed. Dorothy nodded in response before actually taking a glance at the winter wonderland around her. It was beautiful she would admit to that. The snow amongst the trees reminded her of Christmas in her homeland when she was a child and had a family. She remembered Phareil would wake her early on Christmas Day, excited and curious of what her parents had gotten them.
Dorothy would indulge her enthusiasm only because she wanted her sister to be happy, she did not want to kill the joy of her sister by saying Christmas was just another day. Dorothy smiled at the bittersweet memory and brought herself out of her thoughts and back into the now. "Dorothy.....," Quatre's voice caught her by surprise, she had almost forgotten he was beside her. She turned to meet the Arabian teenager's mesmerizing eyes with a questioning look. "I was wondering if you'd......ahhh, if you----," Quatre paused. Dorothy's eyes narrowed in annoyance; if he had something to say to her then he should say it before she decided to ignore him. Another moment passed before Quatre found his voice.
"I was just wondering if ... you would accompany me back to L4 once more to celebrate Christmas with my family?" Quatre exhaled nervously. Dorothy stared at him baffled by his request, swallowing back her obvious surprise she gave him a coy smile. "I'd love to Quatre Winner, but I have to ask you something?" Quatre was so caught up in the moment after she had said 'yes' to his question that he didn't hear the second part of her sentence. "That's great Dorothy! Irea will be so pleased to see you!" He took her hands in his smiling brightly before his face faltered. "Uhh was there something you wanted to talk to me about Dorothy?" He asked uncertainly. Dorothy's joyous face mimicked his confused one before removing her hands with his grasp gently. "Why not at all, Quatre. Let's just enjoy the ride shall we? We're almost at the top of the slope," She said gripping the bars once more. Quatre obliged to her request and they rode silently to the top.
Jin trudged through the snow and up the stairs of the cabin, he grabbed the door knob and opened the door. He looked back behind him to find Mariemaia standing at the stairs, her face appeared beaten from the long hours they stayed out in the forest. He shouldn't have taken that shortcut in an ill attempt to evade Mariemaia, he probably wouldn't be a cold as he was nor would his head be throbbing painfully than it was before. He stepped inside the house after kicking his wet boots off his feet, he heard Mariemaia enter silently, not a word was spoken between them since last night. They had trudged through the snow lost with no directions until the spotted the ice-ring. He tried to pretend her silence did not bother him as he traveled up the stairs.
He didn't go straight to his bedroom instead he entered Heero and Relena's bedroom. When he did, Jin stared quizzically at the set up of the room; it was a mixture of light and dark, Relena being the light and Heero being the dark. He smirked automatically and headed over to Relena's side. He sat down on the bed and looked around curiously. Jin stared down at her two bears tucked in a corner beside her pillow, unable to hold his curiosity back he leaned over gathering the first bear Heero had given her up into his hands. His onyx blue eyes studied the bear intently, nostalgia coming over him.
It had worn out spots on its sides indicating Relena had held it quite a lot over the time period she had it. He let out a shuddering sigh, his chest felt relieved but his heart felt weighted down by his sorrow. "She only want's to help me," Jin told himself placing the bear on the dresser. He placed his hands on his lap. So many people wanted to help him, to gain his trust and affection or maybe just his companionship. First Duo, then Heero, Sally Po, Trowa, Relena, and Mariemaia.
He swallowed hard as he stood up, Jin wanted nothing but to find peace within himself and push his demons aside, but the constant reminder of being unable to remember bits of his past kept bringing him back. Jin was unable to live in the now, he could only live the past. Shaking his head Jin to headed over to Heero's side of the room, maybe the silent teenager's spare gun would put his mind at rest. He stopped in front of the bedroom dresser hat the gun rested upon. Just as he reached for it, Jin's suicidal thoughts were interrupted by a shrill scream from down in the living room, he recognized it as Mariemaia's.
Dashing out of the bedroom Jin blindly leapt over the railing of the stairs and fell to the ground in the living room nearest to the stairs with a loud boom. He fell into a crouched position, his legs faltered and he fell over. Stupid move..., Jin groaned as he tried to move but his legs would not listen, the landing probably had shattered every bone in his legs. "Damn it," He hissed through his teeth as he lifted his head up from off his forearms.
Jin could hear Mariemaia struggling to escape her attacker as he came over to where he had landed, his watched with pained eyes as the man that unbeknownst to him was following him earlier on, came into view. He had his arm around Mariemaia's neck, his unoccupied arm's hand held a silencer. Jin managed to push his legs out from under him placing himself on his stomach. The man grinned devilishly as he aimed his silencer at Jin's head.
"No hard feelings kid, but my orders are simple; you either come with me or I kill you or vice versa," The man pointed his gun at Mariemaia's head. Jin narrowed his eyes as he watched the armed man laugh at his predicament. "Then get it over with, I have no intention on cooperating with my murderer," He said dryly as he fought to stand up.
Mariemaia's pale blue eyes widened in horror as she felt the man press the barrel of his silencer against Mariemaia's head. Was Jin just going to sit by and watch him kill her??! Did he hate her that much? She heard the man laugh and she closed her eyes awaiting pain and not-so-sweet oblivion to claim her. Jin watched the man's finger press against the trigger of the gun and noticed that the safety was still on. Not wanting to rely on the silencer's safety to delay Mariemaia's unplanned demise, Jin grabbed the man by the ankle and yanked his foot forward.
Mariemaia screamed as the man released his grip on her and fell to the ground, Jin grabbed the frightened girl by the wrist and pulled her over to him. He ordered her to stay where she was as he rushed over to the man. The assailant prepared to move but Jin slammed his foot onto the attacker's wrist causing him to release his grip on the silencer.
Jin bent over and picked up as fast as he could then aimed it directly at the man's chest. The man lay still under the heated gaze of the young Korean boy above him. Jin removed the safety from the gun with, his face held an impassive expression. The man swallowed fearfully. Kill me," He said, dramatically. The 13-year-old boy scoffed. "Frist things, first who are you?" Jin sneered.
[TBC]