Hello again!
I love you all! I got the 7 reviews in just 2 days, and then 3 more since then! You have no idea just how happy I am!
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Because of the rapid response, I'm trying really hard to update faster. Unfortunately, that isn't really working…
Good News! I have a vague idea of where this story is going! (Finally…)
Disclaimer: I OWN THE WORLD! (But not Gundam Wing. Unfortunately.)
Please read, enjoy, and review!
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Shinigami
A young girl of about nine years with long silver hair flowing down her back and bright blue eyes was standing in front of Duo. They were both wearing the same thing – brown pants and shirts. She had a mischievous look in her eyes as she giggled at something he had said.
"Come on Duo! Lets cause as much trouble as we can before they stop us!" Even as she said this, her hair was turning brown and braiding itself. Making her an almost exact copy of himself. She winked at him, and then ran off in one direction, while he took off in the other; a nine year old and an eleven year old trying to cause mischief.
The alarm clock woke Duo up.
"What on Earth or Colonies was that?" He asked himself.
An idea formed in his mind. When the girl's hair had turned brown, she had looked a lot like a very young Shina.
But that just caused even more questions. Such as why was he dreaming of a woman he had met a grand total of once in his life? And why were they both so young in it?
Could this dream be real somehow? A memory? But he grew up on the streets, with no family. Didn't he?
Flashback
Shina smiled slightly, but then her eyes unfocused, as though she was talking to someone else, far away. "We have to go." She said finally. "Now."
"Yes, Lady." Both Ferrana and Alan said in unison, bowing slightly to her, before disappearing.
Shina turned and looked at Duo. "Stay safe, brother."
End Flashback.
She had called him brother. Why?
(Space)
Duo sat at the table, staring at his cereal as it became soggy, thinking about his dream. That was the state Quatre found him in as he came to get his own breakfast.
Quatre stared at Duo. Was something wrong? He had never seen Duo look so unhappy.
"Duo?"
No response.
"Duo?"
Again, no response.
Quatre put his hand on Duo's shoulder and shook him a little.
"Duo? Are you alright?"
Duo blinked and looked up at Quatre. Instantly the jesters mask was beck in place as he grinned at Quatre and began to shovel food into his mouth.
"Hey Q! I didn't see you there! Good morning!" He said in between mouthfuls.
Quatre just stared at Duo as he began inhaling his food. Then he used his empathy, just a little… Duo was trying to fool him. He sensed confusion and slight depression from the teen, not the cheery feelings he would have gotten if Duo had actually been happy.
"Duo…" he sighed. "You know that I'm not fooled. Why do you bother?"
Duo shrugged, finishing his breakfast. "There's a first time for everything?" He tried, grinning a little foolishly. The mask dropped completely. "What do you know about the truth of dreams? Is it possible to dream of a past you don't remember?"
Quatre sat down across from Duo at the table. "Fortune tellers sometimes tell you details about yourself, and some of the better ones are said to know more about your past than you do, but is any of it true? I don't know." He paused, looking at Duo. "What did you dream?"
"I – I'm not sure, really. I was with this girl – she's nine, I'm about eleven – but then she changed to look like Shina, just really young. She said something about causing trouble, and then we both ran in opposite directions. Then I woke up." Wow, Duo thought. That sounded really corny. "And as time passes, I forget a little more."
Quatre frowned. That meant that that probably wasn't all of it. Well, there was one way to find out, he just wasn't sure if it would work. Sometimes he could pick up what others were dreaming. But if it was a memory of a dream that might be a memory…
"Focus on it. I want to try something." Quatre said.
Duo did as he was told, and watched as Quatre shut his eyes. A few moments later, his eyes opened.
"Did you get it?" Duo asked.
"Yes, I did." He murmured quietly. Something hadn't been quite right with that dream… and he had noticed something Duo might have missed…
"You know that when her hair color shifts, she makes her self look a lot like you." He sated.
Duo's head snapped up. "That's odd. I thought she looked a lot like Shina."
"Shina looked lot like you." Both Duo and Quatre turned to look at the door, where Heero was leaning. "I noticed something else, too. When she introduced the others, she gave first and last names. But when she introduced herself, she simply said 'Lady Shina'."
"Why would she omit her last name?" Quatre asked, sounding puzzled.
"Another thing," Heero continued. "She said something to you, Duo, right before she left. What was it?"
Duo looked away. He still hadn't told them what she had said.
"Duo?"
He looked at Quatre, then out the window. "She said 'Stay safe, brother.'"
Dead silence.
Finally Quatre said, "It would make sense – why she looks like you and all that."
Duo shrugged, he didn't know what to think anymore. Heero was silent as well. Duo got up.
"I'm going out for a while." He said, before going into the hallway. The other two watched after him until they heard the front door shut.
Heero looked at Quatre, who said apologetically, "I'm sorry. I don't have any answers."
Heero turned around and left the room without another word, leaving Quatre to have his breakfast.
(Space)
Shina sighed sadly, watching the image in the water disappear. They had been so close this time! She stood up from her seat on the ground next to the crystal lake. Duo was so confused, and she really couldn't blame him. It was, after all, her who had sent the dream, and there would be others that would follow. Eventually, what she had set in motion would continue without her interference. She would have rather not done it at all, but events were being set in motion, and Duo would need to remember everything soon.
Because the Shinigami, her children, were going to be lacking a leader soon.
But perhaps she could still help him. Help him understand, if nothing else. Understand what was happening, and why. He had never had her foresight, but his intuition was amazing…
She would have to get close to him. To him and the others.
She smiled sadly. It had been their Choice.
And she wished with all her heart that they had Chosen differently.
(Space)
Duo walked down the streets of Tokyo. He wasn't sure what had made him go for a walk, but he had felt the need to go somewhere.
He found himself at the beach.
He walked down the beach; aware that he had been gone for several hours now, but since his cell phone hadn't rung, he was pretty sure the others weren't looking for him. He really just needed some time to think about this whole thing that had been going on. In his opinion, this whole thing had started when they met Damar – Death? – at the mall. Figures the god he nicknamed himself after would be the one to cause trouble in his life.
He continued down the beach for another hour or so, reflecting on how strange things had gotten.
His cell rang.
"Duo here." He said, wondering if it was one of the other pilots.
"Duo? Where have you been?" Came Quatre's voice. "You've been gone for over four hours. Where are you?"
"I'm fine Quatre. I'm at the beach. I just needed some time to think. It'll probably be another two hours before I get back, OK?" He replied cheerfully, hoping Quatre would get the hint and let him be for a little while longer.
"Alright Duo. Call if you need a ride or anything."
"I will, Q." Just then, he heard a scream from not to far away. "Quat, I really need to go right now. Call you later!" He yelped before hanging up on him. He shut off his cell phone and sprinted in the direction he had heard the scream.
He found himself at a very rocky part of the beach. The rocks were large and slippery, but that had never bothered him. He liked challenges.
He didn't hear anything else, though. Then, just as he was about to give up, he heard a muffled 'Ow' coming from a crevice.
Carefully, he made his way over, and looked in. A girl with long white hair and blue eyes looked back at him.
"It's you!" He cried out, shock evident in his voice. It was the girl from the –
A sad presence enveloped his mind. I'm sorry… came the soft whisper, and then he was falling…
He blinked, feeling as though he had had something, a piece of the puzzle he had been looking for, but it had escaped him.
"Umm, excuse me, but perhaps you can get me out of here?" The girl asked, interrupting his thoughts. "I sort of fell in, and I can't seem to get out." She looked at him hopefully. "Can you help?"
"Sure. Are you the person who screamed?" He asked, holding out his hand towards her. She reached up, but could barely touch it.
"Yeah, I screamed when I fell. Damn! I can't reach."
"Jump." He replied. She gave him an incredulous look. "No, really, jump. I'm stronger than I look. I'll pull you up."
She gave him a look that clearly said, I don't believe you, but jumped anyway. He caught her hand, and slowly pulled her up to the point where she could get herself out.
"Wow," she said. "I didn't think you would be able to do it. No offence, but you don't look very strong."
"Don't worry about it." He said, giving her a wry grin. "I get that all the time."
"Oh." She said, looking at him for a minute. "Well, thank you very much for your help. By the way, my name is Virginia."
"I'm Duo. I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie." He helped her to a standing position.
"That's cool. I don't lie, either. It gets in the way of things, in my opinion." She replied, taking a few steps and wincing when her weight fell on her left foot. "I think I injured my foot on my last solo attempt of escaping that pit." She muttered.
"Hold on a sec. I'll call a friend of mine, we'll see if we can help. He can be hear in half an hour if I call now, and it's probably going to take that long to get somewhere he can pick us up." He said pulling out his cell phone.
"That would be nice. I don't think I could make it if I tried to get out of here alone."
"Then it's settled." He replied, grinning, as he began to dial Quatre's number.
(Space)
"Duo, how do you get yourself into these messes?" Quatre asked exasperatedly. He and Trowa had driven out to meet Duo and Virginia at the beach, and had driven up just as Duo and Virginia made it to the parking lot.
"I swear, it's magnetically attracted to me. But I heard a scream!" He protested, seeing Quatre's eye role. "She could have been being murdered, or attacked, or – "
"We get the point, Duo." Trowa cut in.
"Come on. Lets get her back to the house." Quatre sighed. "Miss. Virginia, where are you staying?" He asked politely.
"Oh, no where in particular. I've been floating, as I don't have enough money to stay anywhere."
"You don't have any money?" Duo asked, shock written across his face.
"No, I don't."
"Why don't you stay with us while you heal, then?" Quatre asked. "I have plenty of space, so you can have all the space you'd like."
"I can't intrude on you that way!" She yelped. "Not after all you've done for me!"
"Well, you will." Trowa put in, smiling slightly. "Quatre is going to make you stay until you're fine."
"Well… If it's that important to you…"
"It is!" Duo laughed. "Quatre thinks he needs to help everyone, and you are in that category."
She sighed softly. "Well, then it seems like I have no choice. Alright, I accept."
"Cool!" Duo cheered. "We finally have a girl in the house!"
(Space)
Shina smiled softly to herself. Well, at least she knew what she was getting into, even if it included changing their memories slightly. They had recognized her from the dream, which she hadn't realized Quatre had seen, but she had fixed that. They would no longer connect her with the dream child.
Now, maybe, she could help all of them.
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Well, I hope you all liked it!
By the way, I don't know if there are any beaches like that in Tokyo, but in my story, there are.
PLEASE REVIEW!
You all did so well last chapter. Keep it up!
Later!
DarkLady