Chapter 39

Thomas groaned, and opened one eye sleepily. "Man...I'm so tired...Hey! How did I end up
on the floor?" he wondered, glancing confusedly at his surroundings. Blinking furiously,
he stood up to take in better his surroundings. "Geez, this isn't even my room! Do I
sleep walk or something-OH!" he suddenly sputtered, remembering the previous night's
experience. "Oh great, I seriously fucked up last night," he groaned.

Elsewhere, Clare stood dumbly in the shower. "I'm such a whore," she whispered, hiding her
face in her hands as she fell to her knees. "Why, why, WHY did I do that?"

Outside, Thomas was hastily gathering his clothes when he suddenly stopped. "Clare?" he
wondered.

clare?

Clare's eyes snapped open. "Did I...Did I just hear...?"

Thomas frowned, more confused than before. He couldn't really understand it, but he could
have sworn he had just felt feelings of shame, and then feelings of shock. He stood there
for a moment, lost in thought, before shrugging. "Damn...I must need some serious sleep,"
he sighed, running a hand distractedly through his hair. Opening the door, he glanced
back at the closed bathroom door. "Feel better soon, Clare," he said softly, before
exiting.

"NO!" Clare wailed, realization hitting her. Beating her fists against the tiled
wall of the shower, she whispered frantically, "No, no, I'm NORMAL! Please, no, no..."
she whimpered. "What have I DONE?" she moaned in despair. Even now, she could see clearly,
Thomas, heading to his room, Thomas stepping into the bathroom, Thomas brushing his
teeth...Every action, every thought, she could feel as clearly as her own. Leaning against
the wall in shame and despair, she wearily shut the water off. "Why me?" she whispered
before stepping out of the shower.

elsewhere...

Mariko stared with despair at the sight before her. She had gotten up early in the morning
and had headed over to the infirmary to see how Rayan was holding up. But as she looked
at the sight before her, she really wished that she was anywhere but there.

Rayan sat on a bed, with his knees curled up to his chest. His arms were wrapped around
his legs, and he sat there, rocking back and forth and whimpering to himself. Occasionally,
a sob would make its way from his throat, but other than that, he did and said absolutely
nothing.

Riko sighed and moved to run her hand through her hair, a habit she had picked up through
the years, but then stopped as her hand encountered a silk scarf instead. "Oh, that's
right," she said to herself, blushing as she remembered how Will had clumsily given it to
her.

Riko stayed in Rayan's doorway a little longer before she finally screwed up the courage to
go in. Tentatively stepping over the threshold, she made her way over to the bed. "Rayan,"
she began, sitting down on the bed.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" he shrieked, glancing up with wild eyes before burrowing his face
in his knees again. Riko started, jumping up from the bed in reflex before catching
herself. Flushing with shame, she looked at Rayan to see if she had hurt his feelings, but
then reasoned grimly that he probably didn't have any feelings to hurt at the moment.

"You'd better go," Quatre called wearily, coming in. His eyes were red and bleary,
and his usually neat hair was sticking up all over the place. "He...he doesn't want
anyone making contact with him."

Riko nodded. "I see," she whispered, backing away slowly. "How long do the doctors think
it will be before he comes to his senses?"

Quatre shook his head in grief. "No one knows," he admitted. Glancing at her, he said,
"You know...that he's an empath like me?"

"Tousan mentioned it to me, but I never understood what it meant," she admitted.
"Does it mean he can feel the emotions of others?"

"That's right...but right now, I can't even reach him. His mind has closed, even
to me," he whispered, closing his eyes in pain.

"I...I'm sorry," Riko said meekly, not wanting to see her parents' good friend in
pain. Quatre smiled at her wearily. "It's not your fault, Riko," he said gently. "Don't
apologize for something you don't need to."

Riko nodded, and turned to go. On her way out, she glanced over at one of the adjoining
rooms and paused. "Quatre-sama, who's that?"

Quatre followed her gaze, then smiled thinly. "Oh, her? She's a little girl we found in
a lab after the Neo-Rommefeller had fled. She was strapped to a chair and unconscious."

"Strapped...to a...chair?" Riko whispered, eyes widening in realization. "Quatre-
sama! Is she-?"

"-the one who was controlling the dolls? Yes," he finished, answering her
question. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "How she did it is beyond me, but we are sure
of two things: one, she was probably experimented on, and two, she was the one that Rayan
heard in his mind."

"So there WAS a little girl screaming," Riko said, closing her eyes in grief.
"Poor child..."

a few minutes later...

Will and Giselle ran down the hallway, glad to be able to get away from their dishes, if
only for a few minutes. Even after the battle, Lady Une had sent them marching back to the
kitchen, and it was only through fifteen minutes of begging, groveling, and puppy dog eyes
that she had relented and allowed them thirty minutes of vacation time to go visit Rayan.

"Ha! Even after all this time, I've still got my charm!" Will crowed, puffing out
his chest in pride.

"Ew! Will, you pervert, Lady Une's twice your age!" Giselle retorted, hoping to
crush his ego a little.

"Well, someone had to do it! YOU certainly weren't any help-"

"Me?! Excuse me, if it weren't for ME, we wouldn't have-Look out!"

"Huh? OW!"

"HEY!" Riko yelped before Will crashed headlong into her. Giselle groaned and hid
her face in her hands. "Just where did my father's grace disappear off to in you?" she
muttered. "Either your mother had two left feet, or you're just a klutz."

"I resent that!" Will said furiously, getting to his feet. Holding out his hand,
he said, "Sorry Riko-RIKO?! Wha...What are YOU doing here?!"

"Certainly not getting run over by idiots like you!" she said angrily, slapping
away his hand and standing up. "Can't you watch where you're going?"

Giselle smirked. "Charm, eh? Can't say I see it!" Laughing at the angry scowl on Will's
face, she tilted her head and frowned. "Hey, Riko. Cute scarf! Where'd you get it?"

"Um, well, er," she stuttered, trying not the look at Will. Glancing around
frantically, she sputtered, "Oh whoops! Look at the time! Best be going now!" and she
hurridly made her escape.

Giselle blinked. "Will-?"

"Ah who me? Why of course not! What scarf? I didn't give her no scarf! Oh...
crap..." he groaned, smacking himself on the head.

Too late. A huge grin appeared on Giselle's face. "Ooh...Someone likes someone!" she
sang.

"Shut up!" he snarled, lunging at her, but she danced nimbly out of the way.
Still grinning, she said, "So, just how much are you gonna pay me to keep quiet?"

"I don't owe you nothin'!"

"Reeeaally...Oh, good morning Heero-sama!" she called cheerfully, waving.

Will paled. "Heero...sama?" he said weakly, turning around. Sure enough, there Heero was,
and he was heading their way. "Good morning," Heero said.

Giselle's smile grew even bigger. "Hey, Heero-sama, guess what! Will-"

"Okay okay! I give in! I'll give you anything! Just don't tell...YOU know," Will
groveled, throwing himself at Giselle's feet. "He'll kill me!"

Giselle smiled triumphantly. "Oh, sorry, Heero-sama. Never mind!" she finished before
cheerfully bouncing down the hallway, Will sullenly dragging his feet after her.

Heero just shook his head. "I must really be getting old," he muttered.