.. Well, I finally got all the reviews I wanted, so here's the next chapter! ^_^ This time I have no reason to apologize, as I warned you that It takes a lot to get me to update before I get ten or more reviews! I stick to my word very well, thank you.

^_^ Misty H: I don't think I've ever been so flattered in my life! Thank you, and you're absolutely right, I do really care about what I write; it's like putting my thoughts, feelings, and imagination into words. And though it's emotionally and physically draining at times, its reviewers like you who keep me writing. Thanks again.

Disclaimer: same old, same old. No matter how much I beg an plead with the anime gods, they still won't grant me ownership of my beloved shows, so unless you are an anime god and hear my plea, I do not own GW or SM or DBZ. T_T Yet, anyway.

ATTENTION: -_- As much as I hate to quit my whole, dragging-it-out thing, This chapter is what you've all been waiting for. Kind of. But not quite. (T_T) I feel such a sense of loss! Well, I don't know about how good of a scene it will be, but bear with me, I'm not very comfortable with such stuff.

~*~~*~~*~ ~*~~*~~*~ ~*~~*~~*~

Quatre wondered where Hiiro was; he usually was up far earlier than he and the rest of the pilots. Duo had some hare-brained idea that Hiiro had stolen the circus right out from under Trowa, and ran away with it. Sometimes he had to wonder at that boy's logic, or, more accurately, lack thereof. So, he set to searching his expansive estate for his comrade, quite a daunting task, admittedly, but with the Maguanacs and his other friends, he would find Hiiro, though it might take quite some time. Now that he thought of it, Usagi was gone, too, but he didn't know her well enough to judge whether or not such a thing was normal for her.

Meeting in the last wing left unsearched, He, Trowa and Duo were checking rooms when they finally hit the right door. Duo looked as if Christmas had come early, and opened his mouth to make a loud, and likely rude, comment that would surely wake such a light sleeper as Hiiro. Quatre quickly clapped a hand over Duo's mouth, but drew back in disgust a split-second later. "You *licked* me!" he hissed, shaking his hand as if it were on fire. Duo grinned stuck his tongue out before running.

"I bet you don't mind when Trowa does it!" He shot back as he dashed out the door, Leaving Quatre to blush insanely, and Trowa to look absolutely mortified before he regained his ever-present grace and composure, marred only by a murderous glint to his eyes. Shortly thereafter, they gave chase on the Braided One.

After they left, Hiiro groaned minutely. He would *never* be able to get Duo to shut up about this one.

~*~~*~~*~

It was rather like trying to swim in concrete, Usagi's process of waking up. She slowly struggled into consciousness, but it was several moments before she could fully force her eyes open and blinking, she flinched at the glare of light from her window. Within seconds, her vision panned to Hiiro, awake next to her, arms around her waist, just staring at her. Despite her best efforts, a faint blush rose to Usagi's cheeks, causing her friend to smirk smugly. She dimly remembered the fever that had engulfed her in the middle of the night, after nearly freezing to death, and she had become so delirious that she completely spilled her guts to Hiiro, admitting everything.

"So... Were you just really out of it, or was there a grain of truth somewhere in your confession?" He asked, as if he already knew the answer, which he probably did.

~~Flashback~~

Hiiro awoke with a start at the sound of a pained moan next to him. Usagi looked flushed, and she was sweating, but shivering at the same time. He briefly touched his lips to her forehead, but jerked away, startled, when he felt that she was burning up. At his touch her eyes opened, glassy with fever. "Hii-chan?"

"Hai, Usa, I'm here." He soothed, rubbing her back. She snuggled closer to him, making small sounds of contentment.

"Can you see the pretty colors?" She asked as innocently as a child. He nearly fell out of the bed.

"Colors?"

"Mm-hmm.. They're all over the place, so pretty." At this statement, Hiiro knew that her fever was higher than he had thought, and tried to pull away briefly to get her some medicine, put she whimpered pitifully and shivered with cold, so he laid still, hesitant, to not get her something that would help, but unwilling to upset her. So they remained silent for several more moments, and before Usagi drifted off to sleep again, she mumbled something, slurred with exhaustion and fever, but soundly suspiciously like something he'd wanted her to say for quite some time. "Aishiteru." He shot wide-awake at that, having been in a hazy state of comfortable haziness until then, and remained that way for the rest of the night, or morning, as it were, trying to decide what to do with this revelation.

~~End Flashback~~

"Umm.. Well, you see.." She started, before giving up entirely and nodding. "Yeah. it was true."

"There, now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" He semi-joked. He sobered when he saw her biting her lip, not meeting his eyes. He had left her vulnerable, he saw, having exposed probably her sorest secret, and he had laughed. "Hey." he started, but she didn't let him finish.

"I've gotta go." She said, and wrenched herself from his grasp and ran as fast as she could out of the room.

"Shit. I've really done it this time." He groaned, before punching the pillow.

~*~~*~~*~

Usagi, though clad only in her nightshirt, marched resolutely through the mansion, intent on getting out and finding some peace, where, she could think. Tears burned at her eyes, but she angrily brushed them away, refusing to allow herself to show weakness. A sharp ache filled her, mixed with both anger and depression. She stared at her feet, not watching where she was going, and so crashed into a grinning Duo, who grabbed her elbows and whisked her light frame into the music room easily. She could sense that they were all there, Duo, Quatre, Wufei, and Trowa.

"What is it?" she asked, just managing to keep her voice steady, surprising herself.

The first comment issued was, of course, from Wufei. "Onna, what are you doing walking around in.. that?!" He gestured to her thigh-length nightshirt, which Duo seemed to be raptly enjoying. Quatre sighed exasperatedly at Wufei's inherent rudeness.

"What we mean to ask, is: what's going on with you and Hiiro?"

"Yeah, Afterall, you don't find Ole Hii-man in bed with a pretty girl everyday!" Duo energetically crowed. She raised he head enough to meet their eyes, and this time her voice didn't prove steady.

"I--" her voice cracked "--I'd rather not talk about it." They could easily read the pain in her expression, and her expressive eyes didn't glitter with the usual happiness, but instead with tears. Quatre, at this point, became rather uncomfortable, but Duo, the most open and emotional of them all, understood, and patted her back.

"Do you want us to tar and feather him for ya?" He asked, attempting to cheer her up.

She gave a short, harsh, chuckle. "Though somewhat tempting, I think I'll have to decline that offer, Duo. But thanks for asking. Maybe some other time, but I'm not for revenge, just pranks." Duo wolf-whistled.

"Just my kind of woman! Hiiro really is fucked up to hurt a find like you! How'd he manage to get your affections, anyway? I could use some tips to attract gorgeous, funny, smart women. Man, some guys have all the luck and, of course, no sense to go with it!" This time he succeeded, and Usagi laughed, a silvery, musical sound that made them all want to hear it again. Then, spontaneously, she hugged Duo. "Whoa, what was that for, babe?"

Now smiling, with only a hint of her sadness in her eyes, she answered. "You remind me of someone I once knew. And, thanks for cheering me up." Then she winked. "Don't worry, I'm sure that you have plenty of gorgeous women drooling after you, especially since you sure can pay a girl a compliment!" Quatre smiled gently at the display, then asked an unusual, and shocking question for him.

"Are you sure you don't want us to tar and feather him? We can do worse, too, if you want!" Though, the rest of the pilots looked at him oddly, Usagi laughed again,, and declined.

"I'm sure. Afterall, it's not as if he *hates* me or something. I know that, deep down, somewhere, he cares for all of us. I've known him for 12 years, so I think I can be pretty accurate there. He just. doesn't care for me the way that I want him too. That's too bad, but there *are* other fish in the sea!"

"So, this person I remind you of, I hope it's not bad!" Duo commented light- heartedly.

"I dunno.. Afterall, he did pour paint on my head, but then, he apologized profusely and tried to make it up to me. And of course, I milked it for all it was worth! Duo, you remind me of Trunks, my onee-san's best friend. And my onee-san, too, sort of. So it's not bad."

"Whew! Well, that's a relief!" Duo sighed overdramatically.

"I was under the impression that you couldn't remember your family." Trowa said, unexpectedly.

"I couldn't until last night. I was stupid and fell asleep on the balcony, and though, luckily, Hiiro saved my ass, once again, I got sick, and had a nightmare, where I remembered all of my family and friends, but they were so far away... I can clearly see all their faces in my head now, and it's both a relief, and a pain to have the memories back. Because now I miss them, especially my Otou-san so much, that it almost makes me wish that I didn't remember."

"You should tell us about them sometime." Wufei added, so that nobody could accuse him of freezing the fragile girl out.

"I will, sometime. And maybe, if I, by some grace of god, get lucky enough to see them again, I'll introduce you in person. But I'll warn ya, they're a riot, and I somehow think that you and Uncle Veggie-chan would get along very well."

And with laughter and stories, the boys helped to dull the acute pain that she had felt only moments before. The joy of new friendships pushed the trouble with Hiiro to the back of her mind.

~*~~*~~*~ ~*~~*~~*~ ~*~~*~~*~ Well, I know that it wasn't exactly the declaration of love that you were hoping for, but this chapter, I was mainly focusing on building Usagi's friendship with the other boys. So don't kill me. Remember, I hate to be a bitch, but could I PLEASE get at least ten reviews for this chapter? You have no idea how much sleep I lost just in writing this thing, on a school night! It's 12:49, and I have to get up at 6! T_T Please?