Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Loving A Stranger ❯ Cousins! ^_^ ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3

Greetings from the chicken house! I am you're host, Mother Hen! Lol! O.o

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. I own myself, and Ethan is mine! You can't have him! So there…

Loving a Stranger

A small flashing box signified to Heero that he had mail. Unenthusiastically clicking it open, he was surprised to see that Hotaru had answered. His eyes scanned the paper.

"Dear Heero, hi! It's nice to meet you. I am glad that you have a liking to the books that I used to own. They are my personal favorites, but since I have read them so many times, I now have them memorized. Perhaps when you are done, you could donate them back to the used bookstore, so that others could read it, if it isn't too much trouble for you. I never got to personally thank you for returning my purse. Thank you. I don't really know what to write, so I'll just go now. Besides, my roommate and I have a performance next week, and we need to practice. Thanks again, ~Hotaru"

Heero stared blankly at the screen. Thoughts were being processed at a very high speed, and his mind was whirling. Wondering what he should do now, he made up his mind, before he could change it. Hopefully, he wouldn't regret it. Stepping into the kitchen, where Duo was happily eating ramen noodles, Heero cleared his throat. The pilot of gundam 02 swiveled around in his chair, so that he faced the perfect soldier.

"Hey Heero." Duo acknowledged, mouth full of food.

"I need your help."

Ten minutes later, Duo was sitting in Heero's chair, grumbling underneath his breath, as he typed out the email.

"Stupid Heero…can't even type an email to a girl…doesn't even know what to say…why can't he do his own work? I don't even get anything…and if I refuse, he won't be very happy. Geez, I can't even get a break!" Finishing after another twenty minutes, Duo got up and stretched, restless.

"I am officially exhausted." Alishia moaned, while collapsing on her bed. Hotaru dropped her shopping bags on the floor and fell onto the small sofa.

(A/N: With all their stuff, I doubt that they could fit a sofa in their dorm room, but hey! This is fiction!) Hotaru's stomach growled, causing Alishia to giggle.

"Hungry?" She questioned. Letting her hand fall over the side of the bed, she groped around for her backpack. When it was found, she extracted a granola bar and threw it over to Hotaru.

"I'm going to take my shower." The dark brown-haired dancer announced. Looking at the clock, Hotaru figured that Michiru and Haruka were asleep, so calling them was out of the question. Lifting herself up from her comfortable position, she grabbed a few pillows and piled them on the chair, while turning the laptop on. Going through the inner scout's mail, she smiled softly, glad that her friends were doing well. As she was about to shut it down, the bathroom door opened, revealing Alishia with her hair still wet, and in her pajamas. Stifling a yawn, the brown-eyed girl walked over to Hotaru's laptop.

"You missed one." She observed. As Hotaru made a double take, her roommate had begun to slip on some faux fur slippers, to soothe her aching feet, after putting lotion on them.

"So…What's the email about?" Motioning for Alishia to read, Hotaru scooted to the side.

"Yo! I'm Duo, Heero's friend. He's busy at the moment, so I'm helping with his fan mail! ^ ^ Oh wait! Let me get the form… `Dear fan, Thank you so much for your letter. I am very busy seeing how I'm one of the most sought after men in the world. I also get 5000 fan letters a day and I don't have time to write to each fan personally. I would have more time; however, if I didn't spend forever making sure that my hair fell the right way, and gave off the messy, uncombed, and wild look. So I write up this form letter that has all my personal history that everyone has read countless times. I also don't answer any one of your questions. As soon as a letter arrives, I look at the return address and copy it onto an envelope. I then send the lucky fan, you, this form letter and an autographed photo from about 5 years ago. Sincerely yours, Heero Yuy.' By the way, Hotaru, the fan thing is a joke, and I would appreciate it if you didn't mention it to Heero…he doesn't have my sense of humor. ^ ^ He wanted to tell you to break a leg at your performance, and I say that too. By the way, are you single? ~Duo"

(A/N: The "fan letter" was something that I helped my friend write a year ago for one of her own stories. She posted it on ff.net too.)

The two girls cracked up.

"Is he serious? You have got to reply!" Alishia questioned, astonished by his blunt way of saying things. Hotaru nodded and hit the reply button.

"Dear Heero, thank you for wishing us well on our performance. I enjoyed Duo's lively email, and it gave me a much-needed laugh. The weather here is dreary…full of gray clouds that cover up the sun. I wish I could just fly through them and return back home. Anyway, thanks for replying. It was sweet of you. ~Hotaru"

"Dear Hotaru, Sorry about having Duo answer my mail. I hope he didn't say anything stupid. I just wanted to say that every gray cloud has a silver lining. You just have to know where to find it. ~Heero"

***Time gap***

The small beeping noise awoke two sleepers at four in the morning. Thankful for her glow in the dark stars, Alishia pushed back her covers and stumbled over to where her cell phone lay on the counter.

"Why me?" She asked, voice slurred and tired. "Who is this?" A few minutes passed, and then she began rapidly talking into the phone, suddenly very awake. "I understand, Delphinus. Send my regards to Aquila." She sent a quick glance to Hotaru, who was sitting straight in her bed. After hanging up, she grabbed her coat and opened the door. "I'll be back as soon as I can." She vaguely mentioned. The door closed behind her.

By the time Hotaru's roommate got back to the dorm, it was already 7 at night. Hotaru was at the table, checking her email again.

Out of the corner of her eye, Alishia watched Hotaru open her letter from Heero. It was obvious to her that Hotaru had a thing with Heero, whether they were friends or not. After seeing her face light up, she walked over to the table, where Hotaru was typing out her thanks for the flowers that he ordered her online so that she could pick them up without revealing her address.

***Further into the future***

"Are you sure you're going to be okay? I mean, it can get pretty boring after a while, having no one around. It's not too late to get you a ticket!" Alishia mentioned, while packing her bags. Hotaru shook her head no.

"This is your vacation. I don't want to be a burden. By the way, you can stay at my parent's house if you wish. Granted, Ethan knows how to behave himself." The last part was added as a joke, as Hotaru had witnessed upon numerous occasions Ethan's manners.

"It's alright, Hotaru. Ethan has a cousin in California. I'll visit Haruka and Michiru to deliver your letter, though."

***In California*** (The boys are still there. They have been getting a lot of stuff to do.)

"Get the door, please, Duo!" Quatre's voice rang out. Though his voice was faint, considering how he was upstairs, Duo heard and complied.

"Are you sure we're at the right place?" Alishia questioned, while looking at the paper that Ethan held. As the three stared at each other, Quatre's head popped up.

"You're supposed to be dead!" Quatre exclaimed, shocking Duo and Alishia.

"Wha-?" Duo started to ask, but was shoved out of the way as Quatre ushered the couple inside.

"We can talk later." Ethan assured, as he helped his girlfriend with her bags. Quatre led the small group into the living room, where Wufei, Trowa, and Heero were watching the news channel.

"Maybe we should introduce ourselves." Quatre began. "I am Quatre R. Winner."

"Wufei Chang."

"Trowa Barton."

"Duo Maxwell." At that, one of Alishia's eyebrows shot up.

"Heero Yuy." The other eyebrow shot up as well. "Could it be them?" She thought.

"Alishia Henderson." (A/N: My last name is not Henderson. It is kind of an inside joke, just like how my nickname is Alishia.)

"Ethan Holt." Quatre nodded, and then offered tea to Alishia and Ethan, who politely refused.

"I guess you're wondering how I survived." At that, the blonde Arabian nodded enthusiastically. Sighing, the boy with the chocolate colored hair continued.

"When the house blew up, I was outside in the backyard with Jacob. I was 14 when we got adopted, but our foster parents died from old age soon after. We took up their last name so that no one would be able to find us."

"So who are you?" Duo questioned, still not understanding.

"He's my cousin." Quatre explained. The boy with braided hair remarked, "You don't look alike." At that, Alishia took out her purse and fished around, before taking out a picture of a 10-year-old boy. His dirty blonde hair was gelled, and his bright green eyes matched his shirt. She gave the picture to Duo, who held it up near Quatre's face.

"That's Jacob. He's Ethan's little brother." Alishia explained. Seeing the confused look on Duo's face, Ethan added, "My dad had brown hair and brown eyes. My mom had blonde hair and green eyes. She was the sister of Quatre's mom. Quat's mom had blue eyes though. Recessive genes or something…"

A sudden movement of the animal carrier stole everyone's attention.

"I guess he's awake." Alishia commented, as Ethan rose from his seat to unlock the cage. Upon doing so, the door sprung open and a small kitten leapt onto his shoulder.

"Hey Toffee." Alishia cooed, as she petted his head. Taking her attention from the cat back towards the group, her eyes met cold blue ones. Cocking her head to the side, she asked, "Do you know Hotaru?" Taken aback by the sudden question, Heero blinked, regaining his composure.

"I'm her roommate." The dancer added.

"No way! WOW! You're way hotter than I though you would be!" Duo cried out, earning a glare from Ethan. Unfazed by the glare, Duo continued, while moving close to Alishia on the couch.

"I mean, when Heero asked me to write the letter to Hotaru, I knew she must have been a looker, to get an email from Heero. But I guess she doesn't compare to you, huh?!"

WHAM! A hard punch to the stomach rendered Duo immobile and Ethan quickly took back his place, sitting next to his girlfriend.

"Was that really necessary?" Alishia questioned, as Ethan put an arm around her waist. Nodding his head, he answered, "Sure was." Rolling her brown eyes, they once more clashed with blue.

"So, you really are the Heero that writes to Hotaru each day." Alishia noted. Wufei scoffed.

"Each day, Yuy? You write to her each day?" Throwing a glare at Wufei, he confirmed coldly, "Yes, I am Heero." A quick glance at the clock told Trowa that it was dinnertime, so he signaled to Quatre.

"You two can stay here for the remainder of our trip." The cousin offered. Taking a quick glance towards Ethan, Alishia replied, "Thank you, but I want to go back as soon as possible, to make sure that Hotaru has a place to live. I'm sure you heard of the bombing that happened this morning. We'll spend the night, though."

After dinner, Alishia locked the door in her temporary room. Setting her pajamas near the door of her bathroom, she entered the bathroom to take a shower.

"I'll go check up on her!" Duo volunteered, and he ran out of the room, towards the stairs. Ethan was fast at his heels, not trusting the blue-eyed boy. The others followed shortly.

***15 minutes later***

"Have you no honor?" Wufei exclaimed, furious at what his companion had done. By the time the other pilots arrived at Alishia's room, Duo was picking the lock while Ethan was trying to figure out what was the best way to kill him. The click of the door gave proof that he had successfully unlocked the door. Duo threw open the door, narrowly missing the well-aimed punch towards his neck, as the other boys walked into the room. Instantly, a scream erupted in the room, courtesy of Alishia. All the pilots ran back out, Quatre blushing madly, Wufei suffering from a nosebleed, Trowa wide-eyed, Heero's face impassive, and Duo rubbing his head at where Ethan punched him. Hastily, Ethan closed the door, his eyes, blazing in anger and fury.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL?!" Ethan yelled at Duo.

"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT SHE WAS CHANGING?!" He threw back. The door opened and a (now fully dressed) dancer emerged, eyes matching Ethan's.

SMACK! SMACK! The imprints of two hands now temporarily tattooed Duo's face, where Alishia had slapped him.

"You pervert!" Alishia cried, while Ethan's protective arm was wrapped around her waist.

While Ethan engaged himself in a full-scale war against Duo, Alishia spoke to Heero.

"If you are a bit as perverted as Duo, I'll make sure that Hotaru never speaks to you again." She threatened.

"I'm going to sleep." The girl announced to the others, dragging Ethan away from the beaten up body of Duo.

"You're hurt!" She gushed, as she examined his bloody lip. As she kissed his lips to stop the bleeding, Heero, Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre turned and walked away, giving the couple some privacy. Duo, however, was whining.

"Hey! I'm hurt too!" Ethan broke the kiss to knock out Duo again, and then resumed.

Downstairs, Heero accessed his email. Quickly opening the one sent from Hotaru, he scanned the letter.

"Dear Heero, If you haven't heard already, there was a bomb at the building, and our dorm room is completely wasted. I'm glad that our stuff was already packed and at the new apartment that we were going to move into. Anyway, if you are still in California, it would be nice to see you. My plane comes in at 5:30 P.M. The terminal is B23. Wear a red rose, I'll wear one too. ~Hotaru."

End