Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Search for Happiness ❯ Showtime ( Chapter 15 )

The next morning I awoke with the sun shining in my face. Smelling the arousing aroma of food, I turned over and saw Trowa in the kitchen making breakfast. Not feeling in the mood to get up yet, I closed my eyes again. I then heard footsteps come over and stop right in front of me. Just great, I thought, maybe if he thinks I'm asleep, he'll leave me alone.

"I know you're awake," Trowa said.

Damn. I opened one eye and looked at him.

"Come on, get up," Trowa said as he smiled.

I sat up stretching and shrugged. "Well, I tried."

"Breakfast is on the table."

"For once you should let me make a meal."

"Really? You would make a meal for me?"

"Well of course!" I exclaimed, wondering why he'd be so amazed that I was offering to cook for him.

"Well. . .I could go for a steak for dinner," he teased.

I crossed my arms and raised a brow. "Trowa, get real." He chuckled slightly. "So what's for breakfast?"

"Blueberry pancakes."

"Mmm. This is great! You should be a chef or something."

"I don't think so, I'll stick to being a clown for now."

Then we heard a knock at the door. Dabbing my mouth with a napkin, I got up and answered it to see Catherine.

"Good morning, Catherine," I greeted.

"Morning Rei! Listen, Boss wants you two out here when you're finished with breakfast."

"All right."

"Also, I know you probably don't want to wear Trowa's clothes all the time, so here are some of my clothes. They should fit you." She handed me some shorts and shirts.

"Thank you Catherine. I really appreciate this."

"No problem. I'll see you later!" She turned and left.

"Was that Catherine?" Trowa asked.

"Yeah, she says to go on out after breakfast. She also let me have some of her clothes."

"Why? You have mine."

"Come on Trowa."

"What's so wrong about my clothes?" he asked with a wink.

"You know, you sure have been acting impish lately. I don't know what's gotten into you."

"You really wanna know?" he asked slyly.

"Yeah. . .sure," I said sarcastically. I headed towards the bathroom before he could see my cheeks turn pink. "I'll be back in a sec."

Once inside I looked through the clothes. There were quite a bit of shorts, and the shirts were all spagetti strap. I figure it's okay, because it does get a bit hot around here. So I changed into black shorts and a blue shirt. I also noticed there were a pair of sandals. I really needed shoes.

When I finished, Trowa and I walked out to the tent. Boss was already busy giving out orders for performers and their acts.

"Ah, glad you could make it," said Boss. "I wanted to see if Catherine could still throw those knives at you, Trowa."

"Catherine! You still going on about that?" Trowa asked, a slight tinge of annoyance in his voice.

"Maybe," she replied with a wink.

So Catherine got her knives and Trowa stood against the dartboard, though the expression on his face showed he wasn't thrilled about it. She threw them at him one by one, the knives whistling through the air before they hit the dartboard. One missed his knee, and one missed his head, and watching them didn't make me feel so good. What if she accidentally hit him?

Then I remembered what Trowa said to me the night before. "Like you don't worry about me," was what he said. After they were done they came back over.

"I can still do it," said Catherine with glee.

"That was very good," Boss said. "However, I want to try something different. I'd like to have Rei throw her fire arrows at Trowa."

"What?" I shrieked, backing away. "I could never do that!"

"Of course you could. You'd be great! If you practice hard enough, you'll be ready for tonight's show. Start practicing!" He then walked off.

"Wait! But I! . . how could. ..Oh, god. I can't do this!" I shouted. I turned frantically towards Trowa. "Is he insane?! What if I hit you!?"

"You won't hit me. I trust you. Remember, you control the fire. Wherever you want it to go, it'll go."

"Yeah, I know but-!"

"Here, start practicing with a test dummy. Let me know how you do. I'll be practicing my stunts."

He dropped the limp doll in my arms, and I just stared at it with my mouth hanging open in shock. Not having much of a choice I took the dummy and pinned it to the board. After getting another box to conjure my fire, I started practicing. To my suprise I did pretty good. I knew, though, that Boss would want me to get my aim closer. I was being suceesful, and began to feel relaxed. When I threw the next one, it hit the dummy straight in the head, engulfing the entire doll in flames. Looking around frantically I doused the flames with a bucket of water. I was stunned, and noticed Catherine watching me.

"I'm glad this is only practice," I said with a laugh that hid my nervousness. "Catherine? Got any tips?"

"Relax."

"Relax? That's what I just did and look what happened!"

"Why don't you go take a break."

"That's a good idea. I'll come back later."

I headed back to the trailer and looked at the clock and saw it was noon. I had been practicing all morning! Does time ever fly! Walking over to the refrigerator I grabbed a soda, and sat on what I guess was the porch with a chair. It was really hot outside, but the breeze was a little cool, blowing my hair gently in it. I was so tired, and nervous about my new act, but tried to relax and closed my eyes to rest. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, and jumped up in surprise.

"Hey, it's only me."

"Trowa! You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry. You shouldn't be so tense, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"I know that you're nervous about your act tonight, and you shouldn't be. I felt your shoulder and your muscles are tightened. Relax." He gently moved aside my hair and massaged my shoulders. "You really think I'll be okay?" I asked trying to ignore the wierd feeling I was getting from his soothing hands.

"I know you'll be great," he said confindently.

"Just to let you know that while I was practicing, I began to feel relaxed. The result was that I hit the dummy in the head, and the whole thing litterally blew up." He stopped his massage, and came around from behind me and stood there.

"Rei, stop being so negative. Listen to me for once; it'll be all right."

"Okay okay," I sighed, knowing this argument would be futile. "I'm going to have lunch. See you later."

I went back inside and fixed myself a sandwich. After eating, I went back out and continued practicing for the rest of the afternoon. I began to get even better than this morning. In the middle of my excercise I heard a voice.

"Hey Rei, we got to go."

"Trowa? Is that you?"

"Yeah. This is my clown outfit." He was wearing wide green overalls, a checkered white and blue shirt with no sleeves, a ruffled collar, white gloves, and a mask that covered half his face.

"Where're we going?" I asked trying not to laugh.

"To the tent of course!" he said. "The show's about to start!"

"I've been practicing that long?!" I gasped. We ran towards the tent. Boss was waiting for us.

"It's about time you got here Rei," he said.

"I apologize," I said. "I didn't realize that the time went by so quickly."

"She's been concentrating on her act all day," said Catherine.

"Well," Boss said, "you won't be up for a while, so you can concentrate some more."

"Thank you sir."

Trowa had to go on stage so I headed back stage. I went over to the lion's cage. I sat by it, but the lion did not growl at me. I suppose when he saw me with Trowa, he knows that I could be trusted. He came over to me and purred loudly. I stroked his mane gently and smiled. I stopped and continue to worry about my act. Was I ready? The lion sensed that I was uneasy and laid down next to me and let out a loud sigh. Seeing him have concern for me reminded me of my two black birds back at the colony. I wonder how they're doing.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Hi Trowa. Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes and stop-"

"Worrying about you so much, right? I keep on telling you, that's my job."

"You're quite stubborn aren't you?"

"Look who's talking."

"Very funny."

"Hey you two," called Catherine, "Boss wants you over here." We followed her.

"Here's the scoop, Rei," Boss said. "You'll be doing your regular act; the one you auditioned for. After that, will be the act with your fire arrows. Got it?"

"Got it," I said. "I'm going to do a little something different for my intro. It'll be great."

"All right, the bigger the better. Go!"

I went over to the special effects stage and pretended to fiddle around with the equipment, telling the crew not to touch anything since it would all be on a timer of which I would activate with a small remote. They all agreed and had no idea that I was doing nothing to the equipment, but that my flames would come from me. But all was well, it wouldn't arouse suspicion

"Ladies and gentleman," announced Boss. "Tonight we have a whole brand new act for you to enjoy. This is the first time that this young lady has preformed. This act is really hot! Please welcome, Miss Hino!"

The entire arena was completely dark, and the audience began to murmer among themselves as to what was going on. Then in the middle of the arena, a small flame appeared about the size of a candlelight. The flame grew suddenly into an inferno and when the flames vanished, I was revealed in its place. The fanfare sounded as I was flooded in the spotlights. The crowd cheered with suprise and amazement as I took a bow. The stunts I did next was what I basically did when I was auditioning. The crowd loved it and clapped none stop.

"Our next performance will be by Miss Hino and a young clown!"

Trowa then stepped into the spotlight and bowed before going over to the dartboard and standing very still. I took a deep breath as I started to make five fire arrows within the box that was placed beside me on a stool. Once they were made, I began throwing them at him. One missed his head, two his arms, and two at his legs. I knew that Boss wouldn't be satisfied with just five arrows being thrown, so I decided to use my celestial fire. I got pretty tense and very nervous. I knew that with so many rings of fire heading towards him, he'd be hit for sure, I did it anyway, knowing that Trowa had complete trust in me. I pulled up a handful of flaming rings and hurled them at Trowa. When they landed on the dartboard, it made a perfect outline of his body. I was very relieved and let out a noticable sigh of relief.

We stepped into the spotlight and bowed, then turned back and headed backstage.

"That was amazing!" exclaimed Boss. "I knew you could do it! That's all for tonight, so you can go if you'd like."

"No thank you," I said. "I'll stick around and watch the rest of the show."

Trowa and I sat on a wooden crate and watched the show.

"Trowa, I appreciate your encouragement for helping me. It really helped."

"You're welcome. I tell you, I didn't expect those rings of fire coming at me."

"I'm sorry. I could sense that Boss wouldn't be happy if I only threw five arrows at you. So I added something else."

"Yeah, I understand. Boss has to have an outstanding act for the show."

"Trowa, how long will we be staying here?"

"I don't know. We really don't have anywhere else to go. I really don't want to head back to another school so I guess we'll be staying quite a while."

"I'm so tired after that act," I said as I yawned.

"Tell me about it." He put an arm around my shoulder and I rested my head on his shoulder.

I sighed with exhaustion and I was too tired to realize what I was doing. I again remembered what I had thought before.. . I had felt a feeling. Because of that feeling I wouldn't get involved with any sort of relationships. But I was very tired so perhaps I'll let it go just this once. I couldn't hurt. . .

Then, there was an explosion that knocked me and Trowa off the crate. I hit my head on another crate and couldn't get up.

"Rei! Are you all right?" He helped me off the ground.

"I'm fine," I said as I rubbed the side of my head. "What the hell happened?"

As if to answer my question, the circus tent ripped apart from the roof. The tent fell to the ground while people were panicking and running for cover. We looked up and saw Aires and Leo mobile suits.

"Trowa," I said, "better get your Gundam. I'll keep them away as much as possible."

"Right. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, he turned and ran off.

"Everyone, listen up!" called a voice from an Aries. "We seek the one named Sailor Mars! We know she's here! Resistance is futile!"

"I'm right here!" I called, now fully transformed. "What do you want?!"

"We have come to take revenge for Master Treize's and Colonel Zech's death! We understand that you were staying at their base when the accident happened. Prepare to die."

"You wish!" Again, getting a slip of paper, I threw it into the air. The slip became many. "Mars Fireballs charge!" The slips attached themselves to the enemy, blowing up about 20 mobile suits.

"That girl's strong!" exclaimed a soldier in shock.

"My death ticket hasn't come yet!" I called. "Yours, on the otherhand, has!"

Suddenly, missiles came flying towards the area blowing everything up. The ground below us trembled violently, and I hid behind a rock for cover. I got up and saw Trowa's mobile suit walking towards here.

"Having all the fun without me?" he asked.

"Never! Watch the explosives next time, though."

"Sorry about that."

Then we were surrounded by more mobile suits than ever before. We started fighting, and did the best we could. Our best, though, wasn't good enough. We were seriously losing the battle.

"Sailor Mars! Move farther away! I've got an idea!"

"All right!" I called. I started jumping into the air, trying to dodge the shots being fired at me. One came to close for comfort and I landed with a thump on the ground. I hoped that Trowa's idea would work. What was he planning to do?

I looked up and saw him shooting his bullets everywhere. Then, he ran out. For a while, he used his extensive knife, but then stopped. His Gundam stopped moving. It just stood there while more shots were being fired at him, he showed no signs of retaliation. What the hell was he doing? With a gasp and a growl of anger I realized what he was up to.

I ran up closer and shouted, "Trowa! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Get away from here! I don't want you to get hurt!"

"Are you going to get hurt?" I asked, dodging attacks and sending walls of flame towards the enemy. "You're not planning to self-detonate, are you?" I received no answer and still Heavyarms did nothing. "Trowa!"

"I didn't want to tell you," he said faintly.

"You can't! I did that before, don't make the same mistake I did!"

"It's the only way we'll be able to get rid of them all!"

I became very angry starring at his suit with eyes filled with hurt. I stood there with clenched fists and gritted teeth, becoming so furious that fire began to build up all around me. It circulated faster and faster, and my power level was getting higher with every second. Finally, in frustration, I threw my hands up in the air and let out a great cry. The fire that surrounded me exploded and burned up all the remaining mobile suits. They were all decintegrated, without a trace of one. The only thing that remained was me and Trowa's mobile suit surrounded by flames.

"Trowa, I lost you once, and I refuse to lose you again." With that I turned and walked away. As I left, the flames parted from me before they diminished from behind. I walked back to the trailer and changing into my normal clothes, I sat on the sofa with tears in my eyes, but refusing to let them fall. The door opened, and Trowa walked in.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It was the only thing that I could do at the moment."

"You are nuts," I said crying. "You're absolutely nuts! You didn't think about the people you'd leave behind! What if you self-detonated, but some mobile suits still went on untouched? I'd have to go on doing battle and lose my life anyway!" I then thought about what I had just said. I had once tried to take my life as well. "That's the mistake I made," I continued. "I'm sure glad that things didn't go the way I'd intended. You and I were about to make the biggest mistake of our lives. People who cared about us, though, saved us."

"I only wanted to protect you."

"There are other means of protection!!!" I exclaimed, the tears now sliding down my cheeks. "What good would it have done if you died?!! You wouldn't be alive anymore to continue do so!!! Protect me in life, Trowa, not in death!!!"

"Please, don't cry anymore."

"I'm sorry. It's just that the war is over with Oz, but I still feel no peace. Sure there is peace world wide now, but not with me. My search for happiness continues."

"I know exactly how you feel. For now, let's make the most of it with what we have here."

"You're right. Let's get some rest."

"All right. Goodnight." He rose up from beside me and gave me a kiss on my forehead before heading towards the room to sleep. Blushing slightly I hid my face in my pillow not to hide it, but to hide the tears that still fell from my face.

I almost lost you. . .please Trowa . . .don't leave me.

**********

~*~Lady Pheonix~*~