Eternal Void
By sprinklescake67
Warning: A little bit of OOC ness. I tried to keep them in character, but I'm using the liberty as an author to exercise my right for change.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon, though I do want to own Hiiro and the boys. My little Hii-ko.
Chapter 3—Decisions
Serenity sipped her tea slowly, allowing the warm liquid to slide down her parched throat and pool in her stomach. She sat on a couch in the middle of the living room of the house. Correction: Quatre Winner's huge mansion. Serenity glanced around the room and quickly averted her gaze back to her tea cup. They were sill staring at her, criticizing her with their glares, judging her before confrontation.
The one sitting in the corner with his laptop was introduced as Hiiro Yui. With his wild chocolate brown hair and artic blue eyes, he looked like a teenager the girls would all swoon over. Unfortunately, his attitude was just as cold as his gaze. He pierced her with an empty stare and a grunt before returning to typing. 'He reminds me of Ami before I met her; cold and dedicated to working. And a little bit of Setsuna's mystical demeanor.'
In an armchair beside Hiiro, a teenager of Asian descent sat cleaning his katana. Wufiei Chang made an impression not easily forgotten with his fathomless onyx eyes and shiny, coal black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. He glowed with an exotic aura of importance and discipline. Serenity gave a small grin. 'Rei-chan and he have so much in common. Especially their temper. I even see a little bit of Makoto in there. Tough exteriors with a soft inside. Not that he would show his emotional side.'
Serenity moved her thoughts to the figure leaning against the wall. One vibrant green eye glowed beside light brown unibangs. Add a tall, lithe form mostly cloaked by shadows, and Trowa Barton could be called an enigma. 'Kinda like Haruka, he is a natural fighter with unnatural feline agility, but also with a little of Hotaru's dark attribute of destructive power.'
Quatre moved to refill her cup and Serenity switched her attention to the young millionaire. He looked innocent with his white-blonde hair, but his eyes radiated hidden torment with just a speck of defiance and a hint of natural leadership. His baby blue eyes were so similar to Minako's, that Serenity half expected a bubbly personality to sprout. Instead she was greeted with the graceful attributes of the senshi of the seas. Serenity stifled a giggle at the mental image of the beauteous Michiru mixed with Minako's ditziness and boy-crazy traits. A smile tugged at the corners of Serenity's lips. 'I bet he even plays the violin.'
The impulse to smile died when Quatre moved and her eyes settled on the fifth and final member of the male quintet. Their eyes met in a silent war in which Serenity consented first, dropping her gaze to her tea once more. A shiver involuntarily ran down her back as the severe violet gaze seemingly intensified on her hunched form. Since they had met in the forest and exchanged a few...words, Duo Maxwell had taken an extreme dislike to her. She guessed from his American accent and flamboyant poses that he was an outgoing boy who loved to fool around, but the depths of his soul protested a dark past full of torture and endless amounts of pain that still would not end.
Just like her.
He reminded her of her younger self so much, it was like looking into a mirror that reflected the past. He would whine and complain, but get the job done. He would laze around as much as possible, but the work would still be completed. He would annoy his fellow comrades to the point of insanity, but in the end, they would be grateful for his cheerful and laid-back disposition for it would reduce the tense atmosphere to a comfortable level. Even now, the other boys gave him side glances that showed they expected him to do something.
Instead, he sat there and glowered at her. Serenity never had anyone truly hate her before. Extreme dislike for her alter ego, perhaps; true disgust for her as herself, no. she didn't want to look up from the trembling cup in her hands to look at him, at any of them. It would remind her of how much pain and suffering her failures caused. The voices of it still hummed in the back of her mind.
"Who are you?" A dark voice asked suddenly.
Serenity's head snapped up to look at the braided man who spoke. She expected such harshness from him, but it did not lessen the hurt. His cold words seemed to catch his friends' attention as well. They stared at him before turning to her once more.
"You already know my name. I am Serenity." She replied in a soft voice.
Duo cursed. "That doesn't tell us shit."
With that said, he stormed out of the room, leaving the impregnable silence in his wake. No sound was made for another period of time, until Quatre gave a small smile.
"Please forgive our friend, Miss Serenity. He seems to not be himself today." The blonde spoke without confidence. "We are going through a troublesome time."
"...I know."
"Excuse me?"
"I know. I know about your pain and everything else. I can feel it radiating from you in masses."
Quatre looked genuinely startled. "You have empathy like me?"
Serenity gave him a confused look. "Empathy? As in feeling others emotions?" She shook her head. "No."
At Quatre's disappointed face, Serenity gave a sad smile. "Empathy implies that you hear and feel what others do within your heart. I am a soul reader."
"A soul-reader?" This time Trowa posed the question.
"A soul-reader hears more than empaths. Where an empath can hear only what the person is feeling, a soul-reader has the power to know what they feel deep inside. Someone may hide behind a mask of another type of emotion..." Here Serenity paused to glance at Wufei.
"...Or they may try to hide from the rest of the world by withdrawing themselves into the core of their inner self." Her gaze transferred to Hiiro who just glared openly at his beloved computer. The only sign he was even listening was his clenched fists. "Empaths can only read what is on the surface or, if the person is good at controlling his or her emotions, what the person wants them to know. Soul-readers pick up on every detail. The souls of each of you cry with an inner guilt and pain beyond anything I've ever felt before. It tells me of a dark past in which your innocence was stripped away before it had time to flourish. I feel secrets that have never been told and some that should never have been exposed--"
Her sentence cut off quickly when a katana was pressed to her throat and two clicks of safety catches. In front of her, Wufei stood tensed and ready to deliver the fatal blow. To either side, Hiiro and Trowa's had guns trained on her temples. Only Quatre was the only one without a weapon, but his steely blue eyes showed no mercy toward her.
"How much do you know of us, onna?" Wufei asked in a slightly strained voice.
"Enough to know you will not kill me." Serenity replied. "Your souls speak far more than your actions, Wufei Chang."
"Then tell me. What does it say?"
"It tells me of confusion, of sorrow, of pain. It tells me you feel guilt about your actions in the past when you fought for everything you know and love. Your hands may be stained with blood of your enemies, but that is not the point."
Serenity sat up straighter as her words became more forceful, more powerful, and a regal tone slipped into her voice; her eyes held a fierce belief in her words. "There is a difference between a true killer, a murderer, and someone who kills because they must. All of you did not kill by choice, just for a cause, a dream you wanted to become reality. You regret killing, you regret spilling blood of hundreds. That gives you a conscious. It makes you normal. It makes you human. You. Are. Human."
Serenity's eyes flashed with a tint of silver at the end of her speech. None dared to meet her eyes in fear of the truth that would be in their depths, contradicting the lies they were told throughout the years, the lies they themselves believed. Serenity continued to stare at all of them, and it seemed she was illuminated by a soft light that sheered away the darkness of the past, erased questions about their lives and actions, and whispered words of comfort to their broken hearts.
Then Serenity slumped in her chair as if defeated, her will drained away, and the darkness surged back to reclaim the space the light briefly occupied. "But you should not have to doubt your own humanity, to live in fear everyday awaiting the consequences of your actions, and to harbor the burdens of the world on your shoulders. I'm sorry; I'm so sorry."
"Why are you sorry?" Hiiro asked softly. He felt like he was swimming in a foggy daze that weighted down his limbs and mind. Hiiro tried to blink away the haze so as to look at the girl, but it sill hovered at the edges of his vision.
"I'm sorry because you were put through so much pain. I'm sorry because I'm not strong enough to help. I'm sorry for being a coward. I'm sorry because I couldn't save you. I'm sorry because for whom I am and what I've caused. I'm sorry because it's my entire fault. It's all my fault." The tea cup clattered to the carpeted floor, spilling the liquid substance, as Serenity hugged herself. Two tears journeyed down her cheeks and joined the brown stain on the ground, but no more fell. She refused to cry anymore. Not for earth, not for humanity, not for them. She would be strong; she would not fall.
A pair of sturdy arms encircled her frame and a wave of deja-vou swept through Serenity. Quatre had once more shattered the prism of numbing cold Serenity had confined herself to and entrapped her in an area of warmth. Serenity clung to him like he was her only support in her crumbling world. And perhaps he was the only one who could rescue her from her dark heart.
Quatre had witnessed the petite blonde boldly stand against his fellow pilots even with the threat of death hanging a breath away to be carried out with not so much as a blink of an eye. He saw the conviction of which she spoke her beliefs in. In some ways she was similar to the pacifist princess of the Sanc Kingdom, Relena Peacecraft, in her ideals, but rather they came from personal experience and heartbreak, than from education and observation. Within Serenity, Quatre saw understanding, not just the knowledge of bloodshed, but actual understanding of what killing was and how it affected the lives of individuals. And for a moment if that long, the ache in his heart subsided, and for the first time he felt at peace with himself and his bloody past.
It came rushing back full-force though, when Serenity began to withdraw into her own suffering. He didn't know how or why, but during that speech, filled with such emotions deeper than imagined, the strange girl had won a place in Quatre's heart, and he would be the others felt a slight connection even if they did not believe it or placed it to wistful thinking. Thus, he did the only thing he could; he comforted her and shared the troubles of her heart with her. Looking down at the golden head buried in his chest, a lone thought skittered across his brain and disappeared before full comprehension could be grasped. 'Duo should be here. He needs a girl like this more than any of us.'
Serenity pulled back from Quatre's embrace and flashed him a weak smile which he returned. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."
"It's quite alright, Miss Serenity. If I may be so bold, please tell me what is your fault, and why?"
Serenity pulled completely away from Quatre. "Everyone keeps secrets that should never be told. We'll just say my past is one of them."
"Unfortunately, onna, that would not be okay, seeing how you know our secrets."
She glared slightly at the chauvinistic teen. "If you had finished listening to my explanation before jumping at a chance to cut my head off, you would know that is not true. Yes, I said I saw secrets, but those secrets come in the form of feelings and flashes of colors. I know your pasts were ones of destruction and war, but other than that, I am clueless. It's is up to you whether you would like to share those secrets that are hidden in the interior of you soul or to shelter them with a mask of indifference. As Quatre can probably tell you, it is important to build a type of barrier around oneself when one is...extra sensitive to one's surroundings. The only way I could tell of your feelings was because they were strong enough to penetrate even my defenses."
A quick glance to Quatre confirmed her theory. "Very well." Hirro stated. "If you do not tell us of your past, neither shall we."
"No, it is not that I do not wish to tell you my history. It's just that it is hard to pinpoint it and I do not remember it well."
"Amnesia?" Trowa asked.
"I wish sometimes that was the case, but again no. It's just that my past is best left unknown. For all our sakes."
"Then do you have a last name so we may contact your family?" Hiiro's fingers were poised above the keyboard of his laptop, ready to put the beloved electronic to reasonable use, however briefly. Serenity paused before replying "I have no family."
Silence permeated the air once more, and then Quatre clapped his hands and began to list off things in a brisk manner. "Then you can stay here with us. Now, we'll have to fix a room for you to stay in, and there is shopping to do for your new wardrobe. The clothes we found you in were atrocious. We had to throw them out. And of-course, we won't clothe you in my sister's hand-me-downs. Don't worry about money either; I'm not one of the riches men of planet or colonies for nothing you know. Let's go find Rashid, shall we..."
Quatre steered Serenity through the doorway into the entry hall regardless of the glares he received from the other three. He correctly interpreted them into 'What do you mean she's staying here?!', 'We don't know if we can trust her!', and 'What are you up to, Quatre?' He only smiled at them, and threw an innocent look in Trowa's direction, as he escorted Serenity to her new room.
They weren't the only ones who could have ulterior motives, and he was once a Gundam pilot as well. Quatre controlled a snicker. He had great plans that involved the golden-haired girl and a certain violet-eyed, death scythe pilot.
Hehe and they said Dorothy Catalonia and her insane plan to kill the Gundam pilots were bad.
---- I know I've been off the market lately, but all my school work and other activities have been piling up quickly. To all my reviewers, I'm sorry I don't have a chance to respond, I'm on a school computer. To everyone now reading, Thanks and stay turned...only 2 more weeks till Fall Break.
Hearts, sprinklescake67