19: The short way up, the long way down
His eyes were devoid of any emotion as his mind played back everything in slow motion. The last thing he had heard was Margaret telling him 'I hope you happy in the afterlife', then she pulled the trigger or at least he thought she pulled the trigger. The next thing he felt was a violent gust of wind blowing over the rooftop the snow blew against his unprotected areas of his skin sending chills down his spine. Before he had really had the chance to turn around to investigate the mysterious power behind the wind the sound of a gun being fired filled his senses.
Jin trembled from the first initial bang of the gun, he certainty should not of had any reason to be afraid of dying but he was. The sheer thought of being shot by someone he used to know and love frightened him to no end and he began to wonder where the cold emotionless version of himself had drifted off to now that he had shown what was really hiding inside him for several years of his current life. There he lay in the snow her scream echoing inside his mind drumming inside his soul like her wicked laughter.
He watched Margaret fall back onto her ground, she had been shot in the chest nearest to her heart, she had screamed just like that haunting figure in his nightmares when she was shot. Margaret hit the ground hard headfirst onto the rooftop dropping her gun. The 44-year-old woman clutched her chest howling like a wounded animal Jin's limbs were frozen he was unable to will himself to get off the ground, as his senses returned to him Jin recognized the deafening sound behind him as helicopter rotors.
Fighting against the temptation of endless slumber Jin pulled himself off the ground in more swift push of his hands against the ground. He turned around and to his great surprise found Lady Une standing upon the landing gear of the helicopter hunched slightly, one arm outstretched, the other gripping a handle inside the flying machine. Jin couldn't help but glare at her but mentally thanked her for rescuing him. Margaret on the other hand was down to her last grain of tolerance for interference. Groaning the woman sat herself in an upright position careful not to make her presence known to either Jin or Une.
Her eyes narrowed in sheer rage at the abnormally tall 13-year-old boy before her. "Jin...," She sneered, contempt dripping in her voice. Her hand pawed the ground for her gun turning around she spotted an inch away from her finger tips, Margaret grinned demonically dragging the gun across the ground and into her grasp. The helicopter moved closer to the rooftop so Une could climb onto the building the German woman readied herself to climb onto the roof Jin stepped back giving the woman space to land upon, Une watched him while concentrating on balancing herself on the edge of the building. Jin extended his battered hand toward her Une gratefully grasped his hand letting herself be pulled onto the roof by his strong grip, the helicopter veered away from the building.
Jin released her hand as quickly as he had grasped it turning expecting to gaze upon the fallen body of Margaret but instead found himself staring at bloodstained snow where she used to reside. His onyx blue eyes widened in disbelief darting from left to right searching for her presence. Une noticed her absence as well. "Get behind me," She ordered shoving him backward. Jin stumbled slightly but did not argue with the woman knowing he was as good as dead without a weapon to protect himself against her.
Une slowly step forward her hands grasping her pistol tightly as she listened for labored breathing of any kind her footsteps were silent against the icy snow as she progressed further across the rooftop. Une knew Margaret couldn't have gotten no further than a hiding space in this area with the gunshot wound she sustained, she would bleed to death if she even thought about running. Jin watched the woman he believed disliked him walk slowly across the rooftop silently wondering where Margaret could've gone off to in such a hurry without him hearing her; it puzzled him to say the least and he didn't like it, not one bit.
He brushed his bangs out of his line of sight shifting them to the left; she wasn't hiding near the door that was a little too obvious of a hiding place, his eyes shifted to the right. Across from him he spotted a stand of red hair peering over the hiding place he once hid. His eyes widened then lowered surprised she'd use such a place to hide, especially since Une was heading in her direction. Never bothering to alert Une of his discovery Jin bolted from his place heading over to the wall he hid behind, once he was close enough he brought himself to a halt. Jin almost swallowed his tongue when he discovered that it was only a considerable amount of her hair hacked from her head hooked upon a damaged part of the wall kneeling down he removed the incredibly soft hair from its resting place examining it with sense of nostalgia, completely unaware of the presence behind him.
Margaret loomed over him like a bad omen, the blood running from her wound seemed to boil from the anger that heated her body shielding her from the cold. Extending her arm she pressed her pistol against the back Jin's head as hard as she could. She watched Jin's body go rigid and his hand clutch her hair tighter. "Get up," She hissed. Jin shifted in his place staring at what he could see of her in the corner of his eye, a long moment passed before he finally stood up his hands up in the air still clutching her cut hair. Margaret frowned glancing down at her hair that used to lay against her chest but was now hanging against her jaw. Averting her eyes toward Une who had just come from out behind the wall Jin had also hid behind, she ran tongue across her teeth. "Lady Une," She snapped catching the woman's attention. Une looked up spotting Margaret behind a very calm but rigid Jin.
Une didn't have to guess there was a gun behind Jin the only problem this posed was stopping Margaret with her gun and not getting Jin killed in the process. "Let him go, Cypher," Une said in a dangerously low voice. Margaret snorted unimpressed, slowly she pulled Jin over to the edge of the building. "If don't let him go, I'll kill you both. I have no qualms over doing so," Une informed. Margaret smiled nudging Jin in the head, the boy carefully stepped up onto the edge at the same time Margaret did. "Is that so, Une?" The red-haired taunted. Une's eyes glowered angrily at the calm expression on the boys face and the deadpan gleam in his eyes; she did not wish to kill him, but the look on his face was telling her to end his life. Jin was practically begging Une to kill him and the German 22-year-old knew it was either going to be her or Margaret to put an end to his short-lived existence. The question was; could either of them do it?
Catherine sighed in frustration as she paced the ground between the couch and coffee table, Ryuusei was still sleeping exhausted from everything that had happened that happened to her on this horrible mess of a winter break vacation. She turned to look at the small girl wrapped up in a down blanket looking so worn out even in her sleep Catherine wondered what had caused such an energetic girl to look so sad in her sleep. Pausing her pacing for a moment she listened out for anything out of the ordinary when she heard steps coming up onto the porch of the cabin. Slowly Catherine bent over picking up the gun unsure she wanted to hurt anyone with the dangerous weapon even if they wanted to hurt her, she didn't like the sight of blood or anyone in pain in need of help.
But her better judgment told her that killing was sometimes needed in order to survive. Jeeez, I'm beginning to think like Trowa, Catherine thought as she watched the outline of a person's head their neck hardly over the bottom of the screen get closer to the door. Soon the door knob turned and just as Catherine readied her finger to pull the trigger of the gun the door opened wide revealing a very pale and bewildered Mariemaia Kushrenada with a tear stained face that had dried long ago. "Oh my God, Mariemaia!" Catherine exclaimed dropping the gun on the floor. Mariemaia looked up at the brown haired woman as she brought herself to a halt kneeling down in front of the orange-red haired girl.
Mariemaia felt tears renewing in her eyes as Catherine felt her cold clammy skin. "You're so cold! Here this way," Standing up Catherine lead Mariemaia like she was baby incapable of walking herself over to the couch and forced her onto its soft cushions. The 19-year-old then helped her out her wet clothes then wrapped a heavy down blanket around her shoulders covering her long-johned body. Catherine rubbed Mariemaia's shoulders in an up and down motion in an attempt to warm her up. "That's enough thank you, I'm quite warm," Mariemaia said pulling away from the woman's hands.
Catherine was slightly taken aback by the coldness of her voice, nevertheless she stopped what she was doing and headed to the kitchen to make some herbal tea. Mariemaia watched Catherine's slender body vanish from sight behind her before pulling the down blanket tighter around her shaking body, Mariemaia turned around peering curiously at Ryuusei as if she had never seen the little girl before. I'm sorry, Mariemaia, I'm sorry Mariemaia, I'm sorry--- Mariemaia shook her head several times as if it would rid her of Jin's brooding voice. She clamp her eyes shut as her mind repeated that same phrase over and over again.
"Hey are you okay, Maia?" Catherine's voice chased away Jin's voice she looked up at Catherine wondering how long the older woman had been standing in front of her holding a steaming mug of herbal tea; tangerine flavored. Swallowing hard the 10-year-old reached up removing the semi-hot mug from Catherine's dry hands then brought it up to her lips taking a small gulp of the liquid, her entire body began to warm up as it traveled down her throat and beyond. "I'm fine, just--- colder than I thought I was," She replied quietly. "Oh?" Catherine inquired setting down beside the smaller girl. Mariemaia looked away from brown haired girl long enough to get herself together, Catherine had surprised more than she had let on almost causing her to break down. "Yes, please drop the subject," Mariemaia replied curtly. Catherine shrugged leaning back on the cushions of the couch unwilling to leave the young girl by herself, learning to trust her better judgment had the best thing she had done all her life excluding her meeting Trowa. Mariemaia quietly sipped away at her herbal tear wondering when Jin would come back for his mother's pendant. That way she could slap him for worrying her.
Ever since she had laid eyes on him, Mariemaia knew there was something special about him more so than herself along with anyone in the institute. He was rude, hardly spoke a word to any of his classmates unless it was to tell them to leave him alone for because his English teacher threatened to fail him despite his too-perfect performance on all subjects in her class, he spent most of his time alone in his bed or under a certain tree nearest to the building where the ocean could be seen over the green hill, and he kept his hair in a unkept order on Fridays when he didn't feel like braiding or brushing it.
Mariemaia had been the only one that attempted to get to know him, she followed on him whenever she could find him (Jin was accustomed to this, but perfered to hide in the thickest tree he could find when he wanted to be alone), she read aloud to him when he invited her into his bedroom which was seldom, Mariemaia did everything she could to get him to come out the shell he had retreated into. The probem was that more she tired the more defenses he put up which puzzled her a great deal. Jin was the most complex in his sleep; Mariemaia did not persay dislike thunderstorms but she hated to be alone in her room, she had snuck out of her dorm room and into Jin's dorm room lying herself in his bed, she slept at the bottom knowing she'd scare him if she laid beside him.
He was the most comfortable person she had felt since Une had come to visit her, Jin's heavy breathing was the only thing that had lulled her to sleep. Of course this sweet slumber did not last long: Mariemaia was jerked out of her sleep by a sharp kick in the shoulder blade courtesy of JIn Toshino. She did not move afraid she might wake up but after another moment passed Mariemaia was yet again kicked in the shoulder blade. Soon afterward, Jin began to walk as if he were awake. His voice was muffled, his words kept breaking apart and the fear was evident. 'You..... promise..... 'tousan.... 'kassan's... --- suffer, just want you to suffer, you little no-body..... Jin toshinio..... no one loves Jin, that's what---'
Mariemaia could not take it any longer, she bolted upward grabbing, Jin by the shoulders she hauled him into upright position only to discover that his eyes were wide open staring straight at her. And in that same moment Jin's pale face faltered and before Mariemaia knew it she found herself cradling a sobbing Jin in her warm embrace. It was one of the reasons Jin had avoided speaking to her that day in his bedroom, he felt as though he had been violated. "... Mariemaia!" Catherine's voice brought the orange-red-haired girl out of her train of thought back to the present. The 10-year-old glanced at a very worried Catherine then down at her moist lap, it was soaked with steaming hot herbal tea.
"Kami-sama, I'm sorry," She blurted standing up quickly. "No-no it's okay, you just spaced out is all, nothing to be worried about Mariemaia," Catherine said placing the girl back onto the couch. Mariemaia struggled against Catherine's firm hands against her shoulders but her struggles were quickly subdued by the unkind look on Catherine's face. "Now stay here, I'll be back with some clothes," With that said the circus performer trotted up the stairs vanishing from sight. Mariemaia released her breath after a moment had passed, she was thankful for Catherine's absence for the time being. Her eyes cast downward at her feezing toes before shifting her line of sight toward her chest where the pendant resided shimmering in the dim light of the living room. "What would do in this situation, father?" Mariemaia muttered looking skyward.
Quatre and Trowa followed the endless corridors going through room through room never once finding one sparse indication that Heero was ever in the area. As they continued onward despite the pleads from their aching legs they noticed the environment around them was rapidly changing from slightly neat and orderly to chaotic and disorderly, Trowa could smell smoke from an already burned out fire. Quatre noticed this as well his heart was throbbing painfully sensing the agony that had taken places in the halls they traveled down but he did his best to keep it concealed from his tall friend.
Several more minutes passed and the corridors became worse and worse, Quatre stared at the walls that they were passing spotting blood gradually growing from faint imprints to large uneven spots that drizzled down from the wall onto the ground, Trowa grimaced at the sight of the blood unsure if had come it had from several or just one person. "What happened here?" He wondered aloud. Quatre extended a hand his curiosity getting the better him slowly he let his fingers run across the drying blood. A cold feeling ran through his body rendering his limbs immobile Quatre fell to his knees, his hands shot up toward his chest clutching the left side as if he had been shot, he shivered at the abnormal chill that assaulted him.
Several feelings of past and present events raced through his mind Quatre felt as though the entire temperature of the base dropped completely, his teeth chattered while he silently prayed for the feelings to leave his body. "....Can you hear me Quatre!?" Trowa's voice brought Quatre out of his nightmarish mid-set causing all the emotions that had thrown themselves onto him to vanish. The world around him grew warmer chasing the cold void of looniness away from the young blonde, slowly he looked up and gazed into the face of Trowa who was kneeled down in front of him his hands on his shoulders. "T-Trowa?" Quatre muttered exhaling roughly. Trowa sighed nodding. "What happened Quatre?" He asked helping his comrade onto his feet.
Quatre shook his head as if trying to rid himself of whatever was left of that mental assault. "I'm not sure, I just touched to wall and everything suddenly got very cold. I felt alone again, before I met you guys," He explained quietly. "Alone?" Trowa replied. Quatre nodded sheepishly unsure if he should be ashamed of himself for telling Trowa this or embarrassed, maybe both at the same time. He wasn't sure. "But the funny thing was ... it wasn't my feelings that I was feeling. It someone's else's......," Quatre's words trailed off, his eyes grew wide. Another emotion flashed through his mind, Quatre's breath stopped completely when the entire background changed to that of the top of the roof of the base they were inside. Jin stood on its edge the tip of his feet in mid-air while his heels remained on the hard concrete.
Quatre gasped feeling himself being jerked to side. He the image vanished and he met Trowa's deadpan expression. The blonde turned facing the blood stained wall having been struck with a disturbing realization. "....Its' Jin's... this is Jin's blood, his feelings!" Trowa's brow creased in confusion turning to stare the wall, he couldn't tell who's blood it was just by staring at it but he knew better than to misjudge Quatre when spaced out like he just did. He turned his attention back to Quatre who looked grief stricken over his discovery "Any idea where Heero might be?" Trowa asked. Quatre shook his head before looking down the corridor. "No. But I'm sure Duo and Wufei have found him. Right now we've got to get to Jin, he's on the top of this base," Quatre explained. Trowa stared at the blonde for a moment contemplating on their current situation before nodding. "Right. I think the entrance to the rooftop is somewhere down this hall. Follow me," Quatre nodded as Trowa bolted from his spot the young Arab boy followed after the tall Latin American hoping they weren't too late to help Jin.
"Have you got it Noin?" Zechs asked growing impatient. Noin grunted in annoyance wishing he'd leave her alone for one measly minute or more so she could unlock the door that prevented their venturing any further into the base, to be quite frank with herself Noin wasn't sure where they were going except the lower levels. They hadn't been able to find one operational elevator since they left the communications room; to Noin their search seemed hopeless and did nothing but shorten their chances of escape, her eyes shifted over to Zechs who was busy hacking into the computer system of the entire base downloading all the information they had and more.
Maybe, just maybe they would be able to put an end to this running out on constant missions. Noin knew Une along with entire Preventers force was growing tired of the nonstop threats to peace. "How's your job coming along?" Noin asked, bringing her eyes back to the electrical circuit. Zechs shrugged lazily as his fingers danced across the key board deciphering all the codes the information had been put in while downloading it at the same time. "Fine I guess. You?" He uttered. Noin groaned not really in the mood to humor him, Zechs turned and looked at her his fingers continued to do the typing.
"Milliardo..." Noin said in a warning tone of voice. The blonde cracked a smile, turing his attention back to the compact sized laptop (if you want to call it that), Noin breathed a mental sigh of relief thankful he didn't peruse her in answering his question, Zechs could be so childish at times. As she fiddled with the wires the sound that reminded her of a confirmation or acknowledgment of a code caused her ears to perk up in surprise. "Nani??" She uttered before the door retreated upward revealing the corridor they wished to travel down.
Zechs let out a small whistle clearly impressed. "Good work Noin," He spoke up removing the pug from the insertion device attached to one of the control panels on the wall. "Why thank you, Zechs," Noin mock-curtseyed. The two headed down the hall as quick as they could, Zechs could fell the air growing thick with the smell of smoke from a fire Noin noticed this as well and wondered if it was a really good idea to even had gone down this way. As they continued onward Noin found it hard to even see through the foggy smoke the further they went, as the two rounded a corner Zechs could see a flicker of light through the smoke the both of them picked up their pace until they were finally out, and that's when they spotted debris all across the floor.
Zechs skidded to a halt upon heading something large shifting he looked up, his eyes grew wide at the sight he was staring at; across from them resided a headless Wing Zero sticking half-way out of the destroyed wall looking worse than it had the last time he had seen it. "I thought Wing Zero was destroyed?" He uttered in disbelief. "So did I. It's possible Heero was lying it us, or they rebuilt it. Endless possibilities with this thing," Noin grumbled before catching sight of something highly unusual.
Zero's unprotected arm that held its beam cannon was flexing it a sluggish way as if it were stuck in the small corner of the wall, slowly the dark-haired woman reached over tugging on Zechs' jacket sleeve. The blonde looked at her then where her finger was pointing at taking notice that Wing Zero's arm was moving rather sluggishly, he looked toward the cockpit. It was empty. "What the...?" He uttered just as it ripped its arm out of the wedge it had gotten it in. Wing Zero rose from its knees leaning to the side no longer able to balance itself with its legs seem to be holding more weight than they were originally meant to, the half-scrapped mobile suit stumbled backward dragging its beam cannon with it upon its arm that was gradually coming apart at the hinges Zechs watched for a minute longer before spotting an open door revealing their way down to the lower level.
"Zechs... I think its' best we get out of here," Noin mumbled watching Zero with suspicious eyes. "I don't think we could stop this base from exploding if we tried. The best thing we can do is get everyone in this area as far away from here as we can." Zechs stared at her for a moment unsure if she was just scared of what the half-functional gundam would do if they hung around any longer or if she was truly worried about the civilians well-being. After a moment of contemplating and weighing the two against each other Zechs gave in. "All right," He uttered with his eyes closed. "Let's move out." Noin straightened up saluting the blonde. "Yes, sir---!" Noin's salute was brought to a screeching halt when she felt Zechs' hand grasped hers bringing down between them. She blinked for a moment before feeling her hand being released. The solemn look on Zechs' face was enough to tell her that he didn't want her doing that with him any longer, swallowing hard the 22-year-old followed after Zechs toward the hole Zero stepped out of.
Duo felt as though he had been running for endless hours on end no matter how long of a break he had when they had found the girls, his legs begged for relief and as if to their message to the stubborn American the dull aching in his legs that he thought had left him returned once more, the pain assaulted his ankles causing him to fall to his knees. He watched the others ahead of him racing up the stairs thankful they hadn't heard him fall, groaning he pulled himself back onto his legs assisted by the railing of the stairs he looked noticing only one of them had stopped and that was Heero.
The Japanese teenager stared at him with an impassive expression his Prussian blue eyes reflecting that of nothing and something Duo just couldn't figure out. He blinked for a moment feeling his racing heart growing calmer, Duo rushed up the stairs with only half-of the will power he had, the will power that was slowly dwindling every moment that passed him by. He just wanted to go home and forget everything that happened on this stupid vacation. Just as he passed Heero he was brought to an abrupt halt when the stoic teen grabbed him by the arm.
Duo spun around to meet Heero's deadpan expression. "Heero?" Was all he could say. His head was starting to hurt. Heero examined Duo's external status coming to the conclusion that the boy was too worn out to ask him what he had in mind, mentally Heero wasn't sure. Duo was just as good as masking his emotions (no matter what his method was) as he was and he certainly wasn't going to pry his true feelings out of him. At least not right now. "Duo... I need you do me a favor," He began. Duo looked at the young man suspiciously, favors were not his forte for a good while now, Heero only proved this point when he punched him in the gut.
"I need you make sure Relena and the others get away from this base before it blows. Especially Relena, her death will most likely start a war." Duo's eyebrows raised in question as to what Heero was getting at with asking him this supposedly large favor, nevertheless the American nodded in agreement. "I'm going to try and disarm the largest bomb, I guessing it'll be the first to go off setting off all the others, like the ones in new Edward's...." Heero trailed off, his eyes cast downward at his feet. Duo felt his grip loosen on his arm, the 17-year-old knew Heero was doubting his own ability to survive if he was unable to disarm the large missile, putting on his facade Duo grasped Heero's hand with his own.
"Hey, its no problem Heero. I understand, I'll do what you asked me," He said with a grin. "Just promise me you won't die or anything." Heero looked up at Duo through his thick bangs realizing the young man had put on his facade once more although his eyes betrayed his happy expression, giving his friend's hand a firm shake Heero replied; "Ronger that." Duo's false grin was replaced with a genuine one, without an another word spoken between them Duo rushed up the stairs leaving Heero alone with his thoughts, the stoic teenager watched his friends body until it vanished from sight. Knowing he had caught up with the others Heero dashed back down the stairs toward the control room of the missiles.
Relena paused in her steps letting Wufei and Hilde pass her by she spotted Duo rushing up the stairs but Heero was not behind him, she suddenly grew panicked. Relena could hear footsteps departing below them, she automatically knew those footsteps belonged to Heero Yuy. "...Heero!" She began to run down the stairs but Wufei grasped both her arms and hauled her up the stairs ignoring her pleads aimed at Duo to get Heero to come and follow them, Duo ignored her watching with a sulking expression as she thrown over Wufei's shoulder against her will.
Hilde paused letting the Chinese preventer pass her by ignoring Relena's cry of protest she looked down at Duo was coming up the stairs as if he had all the time in the world to spare but she knew they didn't. That's what bothered her; Duo's behavior was still off and the sulking expression wasn't helping his case against hers any, once he came up beside her he stopped to examine her dirty face. "...I'll explain later, let's go Hilde," He said as if he had read her mind. Hilde was taken aback slightly at his words but she nodded and followed after him. He'll tell me when the time is right... what bothers him so much during winter. Hilde told herself.
Une realized that Margaret was not going to budge from her position upon the edge of the roof. She too, after all had a gun and it was pressed against the back of the young boy's head. Margaret could kill Jin before she could even think of pulling her trigger. The long brown haired woman's eyes narrowed in frustration, Jin was still begging her to kill him; his eyes told her everything..... his strange colored eyes, she had never seen that type of tint before. No time to think like that Une, focus! Une shifted her sight from Jin to Maraget whom seemed to be losing her patience with either her or the silence lingering between the three of them, the German woman was unsure.
"Let him go, Cypher, I don't wish to spill innocent blood," She snarled. Margaret blinked and laughed. "I thought you said you had no qualms with killing this brat," The 44-year-old retorted. Une gripped her gun harder growing annoyed by the woman's rough silky voice, she truly had no pride nor dignity. Margaret was truly a solider lost in the blur of political manipulation and power. Swallowing hard Une said; "I have no problem with it, but if I can avoid it I will. Now let him go or I'll shoot you," Une threatened. Margaret grabbed Jin's braid as she lowered her gun she leaned him toward the edge Jin did his best to keep his keep his heels on the edge of the building.
He had a slight fear of heights that developed over the Christmas A.C. 196, Tomeki had tossed him over a bridge of a small town they wandered into after running from police who claimed they stole the radio from their car, because he objected to stealing from the police. He found waiting to hit the icy water beneath him was an unpleasant experience to feel. Margaret pulled him back upward slightly he breathed a silent sigh of relief, the woman could feel the tension that vibrated from his body fading ever-so slightly. Turning to Une Margaret yanked at Jin's braid in a taunting way. "Make me," She snapped. "Damn you," She hissed gripping her gun even tighter. Margaret knew Une wouldn't shoot her, the risk of either hitting Jin of causing her to go over the edge was too high. "Then allow me to motivate you...," Margaret chuckled, pressing her finger against her trigger. Une raised her gun toward Margaret's previously injured shoulder and fired her weapon.
Margaret, to say the least wasn't expecting that; the bullet embedded itself into Margaret's shoulder causing the woman to lose her footing, her grip on Jin's braid was like a vice when she fell from the roof, she pulled Jin down with her. Despite the fact that his back was turned to Une he managed to twist himself around in time watch his only chance to save his life. He closed his eyes awaiting sweet oblivion. I never thought I'd be dyin' like this..., He thought. Jin's wish to die however, was once more put on the back burner; he felt someone grab his wrists bringing his plummet to earth to a screeching halt. Margaret released his braid grabbed onto his pants that were held tight against his waist by his belt. The young man looked up and stared into the brown eyes of a woman he believed hated. "Une!" He whispered.
(TBC.........)