A/N: First off, thank you to Alexa-Voultiri and Truish who put this on alerts. Thank you, both of you, you keep me writing! On a bit of an odd note, the soundtrack to this chapter was the song "Circus" by Britney Spears, and if you want to listen to it, it might enhance the chapter to you. If you don't though, that's ok too, no big deal.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, and I make no profit from this, but I do own Andie Rika Tru, so please ask if you want to use her, ok?
"Catherine's sick?" Trowa tried to peek around Andie and into Catherine's room. "We've got a show tonight."
"She wanted me to take over for the night." Andie gave a slight smile and a little shrug, as if to say, "What do you think about that?"
"Do you think you can do it?" Trowa wasn't sure what to think of this new development; after all, Andie had only gotten up to three knives in her practice. "And what's wrong with Catherine?"
"She has a fever and she's having trouble breathing." Andie glanced back at the door to Catherine's room. "She told me that it isn't uncommon and she just needs to rest for a day or two."
Trowa kept silent for a moment. One of two things were going to happen in his mind; either Catherine was going to come out of her room and say she could manage, or he was going to practice with Andie for the next two hours before the show to make sure she could get up to five knives and not kill an audience member. Or him for that matter.
He stared hard at the door, but it didn't open, and an all-too real cough came from inside.
"Come on." Trowa motioned for Andie to follow him. "We're going to make sure you can do this."
Catherine smirked to herself as she heard Trowa and Andie walk away. This hadn't been her plan, to get sick and have to bail, but it worked perfectly for her master plan of getting the two teenagers to trust each other. She coughed again and rolled over in her bed. As long as no one died, it would work, she was sure.
Andie held the knives in her hand, the way that Trowa had taught her in their 2-hour practice session. The crowd was silent, they'd never seen this girl before, and they didn't know what the outcome would be. She looked too young to be throwing knives.
Andie flashed Trowa her bright smile and threw the knives. They landed in the wood in a perfect outline of Trowa.
The crowd cheered, Andie smiled a little brighter, and Trowa couldn't help but smile a tiny smile.
"Is that my dress?" Catherine blinked as Andie walked into her room later that night.
"Sorry." Andie giggled slightly, for once she was happy. She had done something right. "I just wanted to let you know everything went perfectly. I didn't kill anyone, and Trowa didn't even get cut up a little bit."
"Good job, kiddo." Catherine sat up and hugged the younger girl tightly, being careful not to breathe on her. "You used all five knives?"
"Trowa helped." Andie smiled, her eyes brighter than they had ever been. "He made sure I could work with five knives before we actually had to do the show."
"I'm glad you two are getting along." Catherine turned away to cough.
"You get some rest." Andie tucked her best friend in and headed for the door. "I'll come check on you in the morning."
"Alright, thank you for telling me what happened." Catherine gave a little wave. "Goodnight, sweetie. Sweet dreams."
"Yes, goodnight." Andie waved back. "You too."
A/N: Just a sweet little thing of a chapter, but don't worry, you'll see a flashback of what happened in those two hours in the next chapter. Will you please tell me what you think? I love hearing from my readers!