Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ By The Light... ❯ wounded ( Chapter 23 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By The Light…

A Fanfic by Lady Lye

Chapter Twenty-Three: wounded

Copyright 2001

Idea suggested and consulting/editing by Mako-chan

Disclaimer: Don't own GW *sob* Don't own SM *sob again* but I do own- KATAKU! My keyboard!! BWAHAHA! *laughs in Wufei's face* Take THAT annoying Justice Boy!!

Note: I scramble names a tad… Japanese- English- what's the dif? Some of each all mixed together to create MY Universe…

Other Note: SM time; after Super S but before Stars since the manga's not all out. ^__^ GW time; um, we're gonna mess with this A LOT. They're comrades living together w/ the Winner's I dunno if they have gundam but it remains to be seen… Just go with the flow, k? All will be revealed eventually…



XXIII

Few noises filtered in from the living room, creating a soft background presence, that was quickly covered by local noises.

Clack. Scrape. Clink. Water filling the sink.

Lita narrowed her vision until all she could see was the task at hand, systematically taking plates from the pile, scraping them off into the garbage, and then stacking them up in the soapy water to soak. She didn't want to think about what was happening; that he was right here in the room with her- alone. Her heart was beating rapidly, and her breathing had become shallow, fight or flight instincts pumping her full of adrenaline.

It wasn't right. It wasn't natural. Humans didn't belong in dim rooms alone with vampires.

… She had known vampires would be here- Hell, she had decided to come here BECAUSE they would be here. She had just cooked for them, and ate with them- real food, not blood-, and had joked around with them.

It wasn't safe.

What was safe these days?

Being in a room with many of them and Mina, her friend, -and even Heero, who wasn't a vampire; was almost a friend, via Mina- was very, very different to having her back turned to a single one, completely isolated from the rest in the thick-walled and sparsely lit kitchen.

Why couldn't she have turned the lights back on?! Stupid…

Something moved in the shadows and she flinched away, jumpy already. Seeing him as he moved into the light and the hurt look on his face made it worse- on two counts. Biting her lip, and choking down the need to cry, she turned back to the sink and sped up her efforts. The faster she did this, the sooner she could get out of here and back to lights, back to people, and finally back home.

She reached into the pool of soapy water for a glass and her finger slid smoothly along the knife's sharp edge. With a hissed curse, she yanked it out, and blood welled from the cut as she stared at it. Her immediate reaction was to scowl and reprimand herself for being so clumsy- and then she felt that chilling presence at her back.

"Here," Trowa handed her a towel, frowning slightly in concern. She stared at him and at it stupidly, finding herself unable to move; all but for her heart that fluttered wildly. "Dry your hands and wash it. There are bandages in the cupboard. I'll finish washing up." She numbly moved aside to let him at the sink, and stared a moment more as he methodically began to wash. The muscles of his back and shoulders worked smoothly, and the water didn't seem to affect his skin in any way, despite his being- undead, as it were. The slightly yellowed light from the single ceiling lamp over the sink cast a warm golden glow across his features, or what she could see of them.

The maelstrom slowed a little, taking all this in… not understanding any of it- why his large, gently calloused hands' easy way with the dishes was almost comforting, how she could almost imagine he was human- and in the same breath, be terrified of what he really was.

With a shuddered breath, she turned away, patting her hands dry, careful not to get blood on the towel. She slipped out of the room and into the hallway, lit only by what came from the living room that seemed miles away. When she found the bathroom, she locked the door and steadied herself against the basin before turning the tap. She cleaned the cut expertly, and toweled her hands off enough to reach into the cabinet and find the Band-Aids. As she pulled off the tabs and wrapped it firmly around her finger, she leaned against the sink, letting memory wash over her.

I hope I'll see you again soon…

I'd like that…

A rainy day. A boy loaning his umbrella to a girl caught in the rain. It was much like the romance novels she liked to indulge in… often… But romantic heroines were never scared to death of their lovers, were they?

---

(AN: Spit is a card game (may also be known as Speed) that's very popular in my area. (I'm damn good at it, too!) I did some web surfing and found some pages with good instructions. Next time you're bored, I suggest learning it- it's muy fun! Any other questions, just ask me. I'd be happy to explain. )

Duo groaned as he scooped together his stack of cards. Catcalls met his ears, and he scowled into the gleeful smirk of a blond goddess boasting but two cards. She was too goddam FAST. No matter what he did, she managed to slap the smaller pile first. How the hell was she managing it?! He was a vampire! His skills and reflexes should surpass a human's EASILY.

Unless she wasn't human, which was ridiculous.

He growled, cutting off his friends and laid out fifteen cards, slamming his Spit Pile down in the space between them. "Spit," he ground out.

Mina smirked and put down her two cards in a mockery of his fifteen. Though she appeared confident, she knew that this was actually a very tricky part of the game for her. If Duo never laid down the cards she needed, she could potentially end up stuck with a mammoth pile of cards. Not a pleasant image. She smiled sweetly and looked up at him again. "Oh my, it seems I don't have enough cards- lend me a Spit Card?"

He glared at her and Quatre quickly fished the Joker out of the box, laying it down in the space between their setups, parallel to Duo's Spit Pile. He quickly drew back, as though the tension in the air were tangible enough to bite him.

(AN: Around here, a house rule is that when you no longer have enough cards, you place a Joker or some other marker in place of your Spit Pile. Whoever slaps it receives no cards. If that's the person with no cards, and they manage to get rid of their other cards before slapping it, they've won. If it's the other person, they get to sit back smugly while she-who-formerly-had-no-cards resentfully takes the big pile.)

"One, two, three, SPIT!"

Heero watched with slightly amused boredom from the couch as Duo moved like a whirlwind to stack his cards onto the center pile. Mina watched, ready to pounce the moment the opportunity to lay down her two cards and slap the Joker, and win victory came. It really was amusing. Looking around the room saw Quatre watching from a small stool in awe, and Wufei, having returned from his phone call a short while ago, following Duo's strategy and nodding along.

Strategy?

Heero refocused on the game and saw that Duo had indeed employed new tactics to defend his honor. Mina had a two, and a three. Thus, Duo put down all but his aces, twos, threes and fours. They rested in neat piles to the side, waiting for the final play. From the angry tilt of Mina's eyes, Heero cheerfully saw that she knew it too, and it was pissing her off.

Duo played his last king, and settled back in his seat to look his opponent in the eye. She was not amused. His face split into a crooked grin, "Something wrong, princess? You haven't played a single card, all round."

"Just play the damn card already."

"As you wish…" Duo fingered his Aces, and gently laid them down. In the time it took Mina to hurl her cards onto the pile, he had a two, two threes, and a four on the pile- and a five. She pulled up short- uncomprehending, having blinked and missed the quick turn over a card hidden beneath the fours; a risk, but a lucky one.

SLAP.

"Whooo!" Duo crowed, and waved the Joker in her face. "Gotcha!"

Her jaw dropped and she stared at him as he bounced in his seat happily. "Wh- how-?!"

"Oh yeah! Lay some skin on me, Q! Who's the man!?"

"Baka, that phrase went out with your ridiculous pants."

"Aw, you know you love me, Wu-man!" Duo was too elated to care and bounced around some more.

Mina tried valiantly to block him out and figure out what the hell had gone wrong. Smiling slightly, Heero sat up and leaned in towards her. "Vampires have enhanced abilities; he could circle this house and all you would see is a blur til you turned around and he was there without ever breaking a sweat."

"Enhanced abilities?!" she whirled on the braided child of night. "You cheat! You didn't tell me you could move that fast!"

"Eh-?" Duo stopped in his tracks to finally look at her again. His face fell. He had seen that look before. That was the last thing you saw before you were brutally murdered and your body cut into so many little pieces they never found them all. "Heh- good game?"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!"

---

Lita and Trowa both glanced up, Lita pushing open the kitchen door to reenter, as Mina's call echoed down the hall. Squabbling immediately broke out, and Lita hesitated- it would be a good excuse to get away…

A tsking smile made her look up, and Trowa leaned against the sink, facing her, but he was smiling beneath his large forelock. He looked up to meet her eye, still smiling, and she found it was infectious. "Can't take them anywhere," he said softly. She returned the gentle smile and worked up the nerve to come right the way in. "How's your finger?"

"Hm? Oh," she hid it in the folds of her uniform. A chilling thought had struck her just now… did he want to drink her blood? Had that cut maybe awakened a thirst in him that would otherwise have remained dormant? Had she, in her clumsiness, done herself in? Perhaps Heero was just a front man for the vampires to get their fresh food supplies and she and Mina would never leave this house again- not alive, anyway. Would Heero go after the other girls next? Her chest ached a bit to think of her friends. They didn't deserve something like that. Nor did anyone. But Trowa's smile was beckoning her forward, and she moved to dry the dishes he had already rinsed, careful not to bump her finger or get it wet. "I'm- fine," she murmured haltingly.

"Lita…" The smile had disappeared now, and his voice sounded a little tired when she glanced up to look at his face. He was studying a delicately painted mug, tracing its rim with his finger. It was wonderful that she had to look up to see him. Not many men were taller than she. "I- am not sure… what it is that's bothering you, but…"

She swallowed hard, around the sudden lump in her throat. The fears and the panic came creeping back and pounced on her. It became difficult to breathe. She mumbled something, and he leaned down to hear her better. "I'm- afraid…"

"Afraid?" He couldn't hide the shock in his tone, or his eyes.

"Of- of-" Of you… "Of-"

"Of me," Trowa turned and leant back against the counter, mind reeling with his body. Of course… why hadn't he understood that before? She was afraid of him… and why shouldn't she be? It was perfectly understandable… even if it did hurt, and it took more than one try to swallow.

"No- no, that's not what I meant," she shook her head and put her hands up to her ears, shaking her head. "That- that wasn't it-" Oh, how could this be coming out so wrong?

"Then what do you mean?" he croaked. He knew that in a moment, he would begin to lose control, and his voice would rise to a yell… he couldn't yell at her- just- couldn't. Frustration was welling up in him now, and anger that he was being judged on pretext. It was prejudice and it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair!

"I- I don't know," it sounded lame even to her as she struggled not to cry. What was she to say? What was she to do? She wanted to give him a chance- she really did. She actually liked what she had seen of him very much- If it were anyone else, anything else, she would have already been deep in a crush and hoping he would ask her out. But- but this-

The growl rumbled out before he could stop it, and he clenched his fist, slamming it back against the counter- it wasn't enough to release the anger. He stared at the floor, but still saw he flinch back, eyes widened with that terrible thing again- fear. It only made him angrier. All of his unnatural life, he had been cursed with this injustice. Humans feared vampires. All they knew of them was how to fear them. They didn't care that vampires were human beneath the fangs- all they saw was the fangs; all they feared was the fangs; all they hated was the fangs. It sucked. Literally.

He fought to control himself- the last thing he wanted to do now was give her a reason to fear him; to hate him. She had pressed herself against the back wall, crying silently, save a few choked sobs, her eyes riveted on him, like a trembling animal waiting to see which way the lion would leap.

He couldn't win this battle. Not now.

He pushed past her, and out of the kitchen. He ignored her small squeak as he came only inches from her, and went upstairs to lock himself in his room. He could not win a fight that was centuries old.

Lita stood frozen in the half-light for several minutes, catching her breath, trying to slow her heart beat. Fighting for control over her tears. Her breath caught in her throat and she sank to the floor, new wetness spilling down her cheeks. "I'm sorry…"



~~~%*%~~~

Hallo all- sorry it's taken so long between chps. Life's a bitch and then you die, right? Anyway, I'm warning you now, that that is about it for 3xL for a while... ACK! *ducks rabid 3xL fans* Hush, hush! It's not over yet, trust me!! There's more to this fic for sure! Uhm, lessee, what's next... probably more about our drifting friend, some introspective stuff, and delving into the past somewhat... yes the sphere is gonna widen... With that tantalizing teaser, I bid you adieu and happy holidays!

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Reveiw it!! PLEASE? *pleading eyes* Or hey, dude, click on the lil guestbook at the bottom of the page and leave it there!

-Lady

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