Tori: I always feel guilty when I leave cliffhangers… *smirk*
~*~*~*~
It wouldn't be the last time those rebels would surprise me.
A neat, cream colored sofa and love seat sectioned off the area of the brightly lit living room surrounding an average-sized TV to the left of the doorway. On the right was an oval wooden table set with clean dishes and glasses and a bowl of fruit in the middle. The upper left corner was the kitchen, set off by a partition. There was a stove, a refrigerator, sink and counter… Everything you would expect to find in a kitchen at home. In fact, it was all terribly normal. Spotlessly clean, brightly lit, homey and comfortable albeit sparsely decorated.
"Welcome home," Duo grinned and gestured for me to enter.
"It's…" I began, searching for words as I stepped inside, looking around.
"A mess. I know… I'm sorry. If I had known company was coming I'd have straightened up a bit." A black-haired girl poked her head around the kitchen doorway. She disappeared for a moment, then stepped out holding a wooden spoon and a large plastic bowl. A flowered apron was tied over the lavender tee-shirt and jeans that clung to her slight form, presenting her as one at the somewhat domestic end of the rebellion.
"No… That's not it at all! It's lovely!" I said, "I wasn't expecting this, is all."
Duo shut the door and walked up to the girl.
"Ooooo… What'cha makin, Hilde?" he smiled, peering into the bowl.
"Rice balls. They're gonna be a little sweet though because I had to put in a lot of sugar so the rice would stick. But forget this." She shoved the bowl with the spoon in it into his chest and he grabbed it involuntarily. "Let's see if we can clear you out a place" this directed at me as she untied her apron.
The door behind me opened and Trowa stepped quietly inside, followed by Quatre. Hilde tossed the taller boy her apron. "Perfect timing! The rice needed a rabbi."
"Oh, because a priest wasn't good enough?" Duo frowned, stirring the contents of the bowl. He was tactfully ignored.
Hilde snatched my hand and led me past the kitchen partition into the adjoining hallway. There were two doors on the left side, both bedrooms and one door on the right, Hilde's room. All the way at one end, over my left shoulder, was a small bathroom. At the other end, a narrow, cramped staircase led up to a low-ceilinged loft where four more rooms; a bedroom, larger bathroom, office, and a common room, were sectioned off with drywall partitions. All done very neatly and comfortably, mind you.
"I don't want to put anyone out. If you want, I can stay at a hotel or something," I offered.
"Don't be ridiculous!" she laughed. I liked her laugh. "Let's see… Wu Fei and Heero… Duo and Duet…" she mumbled as she pointed to each one, counting them off, working towards the staircase.
"Duet, is she…?"
"She'll be fine. She's asleep now."
"So that's her name?"
"As far as we're concerned…"
"Ah." I was beginning to understand how things worked around here. These people could live in this house forever and no one would really know anyone else unless that person chose to open up. There was no prying or interrogating; they were content just to see a friendly face.
"Really, the only space we have left is the half-room."
"Half-room?"
"In my room." Hilde opened the single door on the right side of the hallway and we walked in. Everything inside was a pleasant shade of yellow or rose.
"See, this room has an adjoining room. I've been using it mostly for storage, but I don't have much stuff so I can move it out no problem! As long as you don't mind coming through my room to get to yours! You'll have all the privacy you want."
"I don't mind at all. Thank you very much!" I bowed half-way, my private school manners catching up to me. The room was a blessing for my peace of mind. I mean, how was I supposed to know these guys wouldn't sneak in on me at night? Now they would have to go through Hilde first.
"I guess we should finish up the tour. C'mon upstairs! It's a little hot and stuffy up here right now, but it'll cool down when the lights go off outside."
I trailed her up the steps and found the mess I'd been looking for…sort of. The room at the top of the steps was a portrait of controlled chaos. In the far right corner there was what I still believe to be a stolen hotel mini-bar. Bean bag chairs were plopped unceremoniously about and all the cushions had been removed from the local couch to construct a clumsy pillow fort in the corner. A stereo hummed from somewhere underneath a heap of dirty shirts and pants.
The only neat thing in the room was the shelves of CDs, tapes, DVDs and comics next to the TV. Among the carefully-shelved items were home-recorded videos, some of shows off the television and others of their own design, a wide array of anime titles, and easily a hundred or more burned and purchased cds in jewel cases or stacked carefully in dusted corners.
"I really need to clean this place up," Hilde sighed, kicking an empty cola can out of her way. She trudged through the mess, her path testimony of a beige carpet beneath, towards the far left corner, which was actually a rectangular indent with doors on three sides, left, right, and straight ahead at the back.
"Left is Quatre and Trowa's room, this (she pointed in front of her) is the big bathroom where you can take a bath and stuff, and this-" she continued, opening the door to her right, "-is the office."
Hilde disappeared inside and I followed, peering around the doorframe.
"There's not a whole lot in here, but this is where the computer is. You can use it if you need to, but I'd suggest asking one of the pilots first. There's a lot of stuff here that's important to them and they guard the crap like their kill," she warned. I nodded, backing out of the space, and she stepped out again and shut the door.
"This is quite a place," I marveled as we tramped down the short stairs.
"It used to be my house…" Hilde sighed and grinned. These people grinned an awful lot.
It wasn't uncommon to see teenagers living on their own, orphaned during the war, but I never thought they'd be living so well. For a group of fifteen-year-olds in the slums of a poverty colony, they weren't too bad off.
"DINNER'S READY!"
I nearly jumped out of my skin. For such a tight space, noise sure carried.
"Hey! It's your chance to meet everyone! Let's go!" the black-haired girl cheered and burst out into the hallway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tori: This story has just begun! And don't worry, "Earning Their Wings" is also a top priority, so keep your eyes open for new posts! ^___~
Kegawa: But what about your other 74 incomplete chapteriffic stories?
Tori: Eh heh heh… *innocent grin* Their time will come…soon!