Between Love and Hate
Disclaimer – I do not own Gundam Wing; that should be simple enough for you.
Chapter twelve: Unfathomable descent
Relena woke up with a start, bolting up, and gasping unceremoniously for air. Her heart was hammering heavily in her chest and pounding blood vigorously to her head, causing her to feel light-headed and weak. Wiping the warm tears from her cheeks and eyes, Relena scanned the unfamiliar and darkened perimeters around her.
She swept her hair out of her eyes and immediately noted the cold sweat plastered to her forehead, breathing heavily; she tried to get a controlled hold of her mind.
"It was only a dream…" she reassured herself aloud, "…only a dream…" Sighing deeply, she struggled to free her small form from the twisted covers and sheets and stepped into the cool interior atmosphere of the bedroom.
"I'm never going to get back to sleep," she told herself whilst walking towards one of the hotel-room windows. She hauled open the curtains and found herself staring into a clear nights sky. The clouds from earlier had dissipated and the stars that lay behind them now twinkled with a blissful glow. The full moon had made its way to its highest point and shed a gleaming radiance across the beautiful, ethereal gardens.
Gazing wearily out into the open, Relena noted the watery shimmer, cast upon one of the back walls and was reminded of the same glimmer that she had seen earlier.
It was bound to be a pool… or a lake even…
Relena rushed to change into her two-piece swimsuit and grabbing her towel and card-key she headed down to the grounds, which her window overlooked.
As she walked, hastily, past the secretary at the hotel's front desk, she eyed her with suspicion and curiosity, her prying eyes following Relena's small frame through the reception.
Once out into the cold night's fresh air, Relena wallowed in the ambience, and danced under the moons calming rays, over to the back gardens. Upon reaching her destination, Relena gasped and froze on the spot staring out in front of her.
Her cerulean blue eyes captured the view in front of her with an alluring appeal as she studied the sparkling black lake ahead, which was glistening, iridescently in the light and drifting serenely back and forth upon the banks.
Tall grass grew upon the banks, swaying gently in the light breeze, and in the background, many trees lingered steadily, their luscious green leaves rustling quietly in the engulfing silence. The moon reflected beautifully off the dark lake, shimmering with each movement of the water below and beckoning her towards it with a tantalising charm.
Relena pushed her draped gown off her shoulders and let it slip elegantly down her body, resting in a silken puddle at her pale feet.
Scanning the lake, once again, she was stunned to see that she wasn't alone on her midnight bathe. Hastily, picking up her gown, Relena threw it across her shoulders as the figure before her emerged from the vast blackness and walked steadily towards her.
"Well, well, well, look who decided to join me," Heero said casually, strolling towards the honey-blond girl.
He shook his head, and his unruly, damp hair, fell charmingly over his Prussian blue eyes.
"The water's nice, but cold, I thought that I should warn you…" He told her, grabbing his towel from a boulder and drying off his upper torso.
Glancing at Relena from the side of one eye, he caught her gaping at him, mouth dropped open and eyes widened. He turned to face her, raising his eyebrows blatantly in question and returning to drying himself, but not before noticing the slight blush that reached the young women's cheeks.
"I- uh, - who said that I was going into the water?" she asked him, placing her hands on her hips and staring at him, waiting for a response.
"Well," Heero started, throwing his towel back down and staring back at her, stoically, "You happen to be wearing you're swimming costume, and unless you usually wander around, at the edges of lakes, in your swimwear; I figured that you were thinking of taking a dip. I apologize if I'm wrong."
Relena stared at him, with a strange look of shock on her face. Heero had just apologized. "Hmph, fine sparky, I admit that I was going to go for a swim, however, now that you're here, I've decided to change my mind."
"No, don't let me stop you, I'm happy to watch from here," Heero told her, with a ghost of a smirk crossing his lips.
Relena glared at him, "Suit yourself," and depriving her body of the warmth of her gown, she walked past him toward the large lake.
Heero watched her, with an amused smile on his face, from the top of the boulder, where he had positioned himself. The determined girl walked straight to the banks, and without much hesitation, placed one pale foot into the black water before jumping out in surprise. Her light squeal reached his ears from where he was sitting and he chuckled humorously, laughing at her quirky antics.
She glared back at him from where she stood before strolling straight into the water, waist-deep and ducking under.
Heero had to admit, she was brave, in a stubborn, childish sort of way.
She swam a few times around the outskirts of the pool, nearest to him, before he decided to join her.
Heero crept through the tall grass, and upon reaching the highest ledge of the lake, he glanced down; the water rippled a few feet below him due to Relena's constant splashing, and the grass around his feet careened back and forth in the breeze, tickling his feet with serrated edges. In the distance, he could see Relena floating on top of the lake, her arms paddling at her sides to keep her afloat and her gaze drifting up to the blazing stars, millions of miles away.
Smirking, Heero positioned himself quickly and jumped off the ledge in a deviating arc, soaring through the cold night's air, his trunks flapping against his skin, and posing himself to dive into the icy, bitter water beneath, he aeronautically glided down with elegance.
He broke through the freezing, cold layer of liquid, quickly and silently, with only a few rippling currents breaking the almost calm surface, and he coursed freely through the lake with agility and poise.
Breaking back through the surface again, quietly, he inhaled deeply and descending once again, he swam underwater towards the floating girl.
Grabbing her thin shimmering ankle, he heard the vibrations of her startled cry and brought his head to the top, grinning at the distressed blonde.
"Heero! That was not funny. God, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Relena exclaimed, glaring daggers at him, her light eyes narrowing venomously.
Heero laughed in response, almost losing his cool balance, and having to paddle to keep floating.
"So, why are you out here anyway?" Heero asked, gaining his composure again, "Is this your usual nightly routine?"
"No," Relena answered coldly, "I couldn't sleep."
"Bad dreams?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"No," Relena responded, rather too promptly, Heero eyed her suspiciously before she added, "I'm just not tired."
"That's because you slept long enough on the way down here."
"Ugh, you're such a jerk… you know that?" she asked him, swimming over to the edge to grab onto a rock, which was protruding from the bank, in order to hold her stability.
Heero swam past her, lifting himself back onto the banks with a swift effort and turning back around to face her, his eyebrows furrowing into a frown.
"I'm leaving, it's okay princess, I won't scare you anymore…" he said before stumbling back up the hill to grab his towel.
'Hello Princess…' The words from her previous dream echoed through her head violently, ricocheting in her mind and thundering loudly in her ears.
Panicking, Relena pushed herself away from the boulder, in her haste to lose the chilling voice.
Blood-spattered black chains… clicking heavily against the misty ground… cold, icy hands…
Relena closed her eyes… trying to drown out her thoughts, but only being able to half drown herself.
Hands… hundreds of hands clasping cold, bitter fingers around her fragile body and torturing her tired mind… pulling, tugging her deeper…
She couldn't breathe… why couldn't she breathe? Slowly opening her eyes, Relena realized the reason; she was underwater… deep under.
'Be careful… promise me… sweetheart?' A biting chill crept through her body… caressing her with openly callous arms…
Heero looked back over his shoulder instinctively, checking that the hotheaded girl was okay, and was shocked to find, that in actual fact, she wasn't.
"Relena?" he called out to the dark and eerily silent lake. Dashing to the edge of the banks, he noticed the bubbles and ripples that submerged up to the surface and the faintly pale body, growing further away from him by the minute. "Shit," he muttered to himself, diving into the water again without hesitation, the sub-zero water pricking his skin with ice cold needles and the pressure ripping at his eardrums as he slid further below the façade.
'It's dangerous…' a long dark corridor… leading to her downfall… summoning her fascination…
Relena struggled against the feeling… but she was captivated, bound to strict movements… and suffocating.
Blindingly, bright lights… 'Hello Princess…'
His malicious voice tore at her heart as she wrestled to keep her consciousness.
'Miss me?'
She was fading into the background… dying. Soon, her thrashing ceased and she grew still; listening to the last, slow and unsteady beats of her pounding heart. The scene was growing darker, numbed with a callous shadow… until eventually there was… nothing.
'See doll? You're all mine…'
Heero fought against the current; pushing his way, swiftly, through the dark liquid that hindered him from reaching his goal.
'Relena…' his mind was racing, wildly, 'please be okay.' He pushed his way towards her flaccid corpse, which was drifting through the dark water, lifelessly.
Grabbing hold of her limp body, he thrust his legs heavily off the water beneath him, propelling himself and her to the surface, and once breaking through, he gasped for air, letting the stale breath that he had been holding escape from his lips to mingle with nature.
Hauling her fragile body onto the grassy grounds of the banks, he dropped to his knees, grabbing Relena's wrist and checking frantically for a pulse.
"Shit…"
'Don't… walk into the light angel…' Matthew's distant voice called to her from between the overwhelming twilight.
Relena stared at him anxiously, her heart was thumping brutally and painfully in her chest, as though someone was grabbing it and trying to rip it from her body… she was pretty sure that this was the doing's of Matthew.
'I've… got a heartbeat… I'm alive?' she swallowed and then stared down at her ghostly pale hands, which were glowing with a dim aura.
'Don't get your hopes up yet,' Matthew warned her, taking a step out of the darkness, and a step towards her, 'It's only an illusion…'
'You're lying…' she spat rancorously, 'what have you done?'
'No, Relena, the question is… what have you done?' Matthew recoiled, his leer lingering on her shivering body.
Relena spun around, staring curiously at the corridor ahead… wondering…
'Don't even think about it,' Matthew presaged, as if reading her thoughts, 'don't open the doors…'
'Why not?' Relena asked him, glaring at him with a burning hatred. What had he done to her? Where was she? And most importantly, how did she get here?
'You don't want to know… in fact, maybe you do, those doors lead to a different dimension; each door is a diverse portal, which will lead you to another realm of hell.'
'Huh? This is crazy,' Relena cried anxiously, running down the corridor and away from him
'Wait!' He called after her, Relena heard his thundering footsteps following her every movement, and without turning back, she forced herself to keep running, anywhere that would get her out of this… this… hell.
Tripping over an invisible object, Relena stumbled, and fell – not so graciously – to the floor with an echoing slam.
She unwillingly rolled over, as if somebody was forcing her with strong, assertive hands. Instantly she felt a drowning wash of frost sweep through her numb body, and she shuddered violently, jerking uneasily and choking on seemingly nothing.
"Relena…?"
Somebody was calling her… for a daunting moment she thought that Matthew had caught up to her, that in truth, she was actually his, and would be for eternity…
"Relena…"
It was louder this time, calling to her, beckoning her return… but to where?
"Damn it, Relena, breathe…"
Breathe? The word scrambled across her mind as she searched for comprehension… and then with a strangling thought she remembered… Pain…
"Don't do this to me, not now…"
Exerting and inhaling a cutting asphyxiated breath, she finally felt it… glorious fresh air, reaching her bursting lungs and oxygenating her heart with an excruciatingly cutting ache.
She choked and spluttered as Heero grabbed her – now responsive – body and twisted her to the side, ensuring that she wouldn't suffocate again on the water, which her lungs was trying to pump out.
"Oh, god…" He inhaled deeply, and exhaled as he watched her body struggle to take a grasp to life again.
Collapsing back down to the ground, Relena gasped in another few raspy and uneven breaths before slowly opening her eyes and consuming her surroundings with hungry eyes.
Heero peered down at her and a slow smile appeared on his face as she frowned up at him with confused eyes.
"I thought I'd lost you there… Thank god. What were you trying to do?" He asked, somewhat angrily.
"What? What do you mean? When? Heero, where am I?" Relena asked with a perplexed look gracing her pretty features.
"When you tried to drown yourself there now, in the lake… remember? I thought you said you weren't tired, and who sleeps while they're swimming anyway?" Heero replied, leaning his back against the base of a large tree but never faltering his gaze from hers.
"I drowned?" Relena asked enquiringly, a hint of disbelief tracing her voice and her head spinning slightly with the dizziness and lack of oxygen.
"Yes, you nearly drowned," Heero explained.
"I don't get it…" Relena said, her vision of Heero was blurry and making her feel ill, it was like going really fast on one of those rides at the funfairs that her father used to take her to when she was younger.
Suddenly it hit her, like a blow to the head, the pain, torturous, nightmarish visions, voices… and Matthew…
"If I hadn't pulled you out of the water and resuscitated you, let's face the facts, we would have lost you. Is that clear enough?" He asked with a slight smirk.
"Thanks," Relena said, grimacing faintly before recalling her thoughts. "Heero?" she asked somewhat frenetically.
"What?" He had regained his breath, and was now kneeling beside her, examining her body…
Scanning her body with careful hands and cautious eyes, Heero sighed in relief. There were no serious injuries, just a few minor grazes. He pulled a cloth from his pocket and dabbed her head with it.
"What are you doing?" Relena asked him, closing her eyes drowsily.
"Tending to your wounds, you're bleeding, I can't have you catching an infection," He clarified, "your brother would kill me… not that I couldn't deal with his wrath, I just couldn't be assed with it right now..."
Frowning, he glared down at her, "Relena, don't go to sleep."
Relena snapped her cerulean blue eyes open, and they glistened up at him in the moons graceful glow. "Huh?" she asked hazily, "Why not?"
"Because, you've hit your head, you may have a concussion, if you go to sleep, well, you may just end up like Trowa." He grimaced at his poor choice of words as he hoisted Relena's small form into his strong arms.
"Trowa…" Relena whispered, her eyes closing slightly, "I have to go to sleep, Trowa…" Heero frowned down at her in confusion, "I'm tired."
"I know you are; since I was the one to rescue your sleepy ass from an endless dream in the lake, and I'm Heero by the way," He grabbed their things and shoved them into Relena's hands, "Hold these."
Relena did as she was told without arguing, or even opening her eyes.
"I think we need to get you to the hospital, " He told her, whilst climbing the uneven lands and holding her drowsy body in his arms, "Oi, don't go to sleep," he growled, purposefully jerking her body, causing azure blue eyes to wrench open and stare at him, innocently.
"Yeah… the hospital," Relena moaned, as they traipsed through the hotel's plush gardens, imprinting heavy footprints with each of Heero's steps.
'Trowa's at the hospital…' she thought silently, as Heero shoved her small frame into the backseat of his silver BMW. 'I'll get to see him again at last…"
"Relena I mean it, don't go to sleep," Heero warned, glaring back at her from the driver's seat whilst thrusting the keys into the ignition and revving the car.
'What does it matter? We're going to the hospital…' Her mind rambled on deliriously as her body prepared itself for a long slumber.
"If you go to sleep, you may never wake up again… Relena please, listen-"
Relena's mind cut out the rest of Heero's rant as she shut her eyes, torpidly.
'I'm getting to see Trowa again, nothing else matters now…'
"Wake me when we get there," she groaned, almost incoherently, but Heero caught it.
Her mind began to shut down… she couldn't think straight anymore, but she could still here Heero faintly in the background…
"Relena," he called out to her, "I won't be able to-"
However, it was too late, her brain had already shut down, drowning out any further actions she may have done, sounds she might have heard and feelings that she might have felt.
'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance' – Fdr
A/N – Tadaa, so? Was I good? Please say I was lol. Anyway, I apologize for the long wait, as I have told some people, namely Rebecca, I have been cursed with a summer job and now I have hardly any time to actually think up plots etc. However, I still manage to set aside some time for myself, and I spend quite a lot of this time writing this, ahah I lie, I spent two days on this, actually, two parts of a day, I'd say about six hours, but that's long enough lol.
Long enough for you guys to BLESS me with LONG REVIEWS! Hehe, I loved the reviews last time, you guys rock more than uh… the greatest rock band out there (I will not say which, because we all have personal views, and I don't want you to hate me because of mine lol)
Anyway, important note: In the next chapter, I will be doing shout outs to each review. I will do this every so often to show you guys that I do, in fact, admire your views and opinions and to answer a few of your questions (ones which will not spoil the plot that is) so if you have anything you'd like to be replied to, do review with your thoughts etc.
Thanks! Below I broke a few verses out of one of my fave bands songs. The song is; a walk through hell by Say Anything. I feel that this is rather significant to this chapter, and I also thank 'Say Anything' for handing me inspiration for this specific chapter. (p.s. I cut out a few inappropriate verses) Love y'all, Allura...
And if I could swim
I'd swim out to you in the ocean,
Swim out to where you were
floating in the dark.
And if was blessed I walk on the water
you're breathing,
To lend you some air for that heaving sunken
chest.
And if I was brave
I'd climb up to you on the mountain,
They led you to drink from
their fountain, spouting lies.
And I'd slay the horrible beast
they commissioned,
To steer me away from my mission to your eyes.
And I'd stand
there like a soldier with my foot upon his chest.
With my grin
spread and my arms out in my bloodstained Sunday's best,
And
you'd hold me I'd remind you who you are under their shell.
I'd walk through
hell for you. Let it burn right through my shoes.
These soles are
useless without you.
Through hell for
you,
Let the torturing ensue. My soul is useless without you.
And if they sent
a whirlwind, I'd hug it like a harmless little tree.
Or an
earthquake, I'd calm it, and I'd bring you back to me,
And I'd
hold you in my weak arms like a first born.
Now, I've walked
through hell for you,
what's an adventurer to do
but rest
these feet at home with you
A Walk through Hell -- Say Anything
