Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Shot at Normalcy: University Life? ❯ Friends ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: - I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the other anime series. I write this purely for my amusement and for the entertainment of others. I earn just about $0 every time some one reads this. ^_^

Author's note: Hey guys, I am back again! Yes, it's me not Devil. She is taking a break. Says she is too busy. Who knows? Anyways, I was supposed to write this chapter anyway. It was part of the deal for me beta-ing her writing. So I get to write without having to worry about keeping on going till the end. Neat, eh? She beta's this for me. She'll probably put in a lil note at the bottom. Well anyways, back to the story.

Chapter 9: Friends

We now shift our time line to approximately 6 months after the last incident. (Author's note: After great discussion over the matter me and Devil have decided that we cannot go into every little aspect of the character's lives. This story goes on over a period of 5 years, for God's sakes. So please forgive us if you were expecting a day to day account. Now back to the story)

So as I was saying, we now shift our time line six months after the last incident. Life is going as usual. Dorothy and Quatre have finally made their relation official. They are officially girlfriend and boyfriend. What's more, they are getting really serious. Duo and Hilde are two happy people. Trowa still has his girlfriend, Jade is happy and Heero is his usual unemotional self.

Duo, Heero and Quatre haunted Trowa and Jade's room during meal times. Though Duo and Heero's kitchen was fixed a long time back, all of them had grown accustomed to the arrangement and Jade didn't mind cooking for five people provided that she didn't have to buy the supplies. She had become a close friend of the Gundam pilots and Dorothy and Hilde. Trowa's girlfriend, Sonia however was not that big a hit with the group. Quatre was the only one who made a serious effort to actually befriend the girl but his efforts were not being reciprocated. Duo was his usual self around her and he really liked to annoy her and no one, other than Trowa said anything about it. Jade was always civil with everyone so I doubt if that counted as something. Heero found it intriguing that Jade continued to be civil while Sonia became more and more hostile toward her. He asked her once:

"Why do you act so nice to her, even when she is so mean?"

Jade had looked at him for a while and then replied, "I don't think anything annoys her more. And what's more, no one can accuse me of being annoying. I'm absolutely polite."

He had caught the mischievous, evil glint in her eyes and smiled, his own eyes mirroring hers. They had just looked at each other and nodded. He had understood her tactic and nodded.

"Psychology helps," She had told him.

He wondered if he should have taken psychology too, but then thought better of it. He himself tried Jade's technique of subtle mental torture, but since he was usually a reserved individual, it did not work that effectively when he used it. He finally decided to watch Duo and Jade torture the red haired bimbo.

There was just something in torturing Sonia McDonald. She was annoying and she did not fit in with the group. What's more she made no effort to fit in either. She had almost taken Trowa away from them, but he had managed to return to his friends and bring his annoying girl friend with him. More fun for the G-Boys!

Heero and Jade had become really close friends and were seen together most of the time. It was funny, because when they were together, neither of them spoke, but they were contented all the same. Duo had even asked if they communicated telepathically or something of that sort. Heero had started laughing at this and Jade had just nodded. Then the two of them had left leaving a very confused Duo behind.

________________________________________________________________ ___

"Hey Heero. Watcha doing?" Duo asked him.

"Working."

"You work?"

"Yes."

"I update people's computer security. The people that I work with allow me to work from home."

"Where did you find the job? When did you start?" Duo asked in a really shocked way.

"I found the job, thanks to Jade, and I have been working for a really long time now."

"Wow! And you never even told me."

"You did not need to know."

"That's a nice way to treat your best friend," Duo said sarcastically.

"Who said you were my best friend?" Heero asked him finally looking at him.

Duo was speechless. He just stared at Heero for a while before he noticed the humour in his eyes. And then he let out the breath that he was unconsciously holding. Heero let out a small chuckle at the sight before him.

"Don't do that buddy. You'll give me a heart attack one day."

"Hn." Heero resumed working. Duo just stood there staring at him. It started to get a bit irritating after a while and Heero asked, "Why did you come here for?"

"Oh! Yes, I forgot. We are planning to go out for a picnic sort of thing. Everyone is coming."

"So?"

"So? So you come too."

"Why should I come?"

"Because all your friends are going."

"Who is 'all'?"

"Well, all of us including Jade and Trowa and his annoying lady friend."

"I'll come," Heero said with a grin. The prospect of watching Duo and Jade annoy Trowa's girlfriend was too tempting. He would go. Oh yes, he would.

_________________________________________________________________ __

"So are you coming too? Or is Sonia not ready to go?" Jade asked as she was packing the lunch.

"I'm coming and so is she."

"Why do you force her to come if she does not want to?"

"She wants to go where I go to keep 'an eye' on me," he said making little quotation marks with his fingers.

"…?" Jade gave him a questioning look.

"Don't bother about it. If she wants to keep me, then she lets me do what I want. She did not want me to go."

"So what happened?"

"Nothing. She didn't want me to come with you guys, but I wanted to so I said I was and then she said that she was coming too."

"Why do you treat her like an object to be used for something? Your pleasure in this case."

"She acts like one," he answered blandly.

She abruptly stopped packing the very big lunch basket and walked up to Trowa and grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around to face her. Man, she was strong! He was surprised for a while and he just looked at her, straight into her eyes. She was still holding him.

"Do me a favour Trowa. Don't play with somebody's feelings. Please." Her voice was almost a whisper and there was something in her eyes that he could not figure out; something intense and sad and full of emotion at the same time. Her voice clearly held a plea.

"Please Trowa, I beg you. Don't play with people's feelings."

Her fingers were now digging into his shoulder, but her hands felt good. He didn't mind the pain. Her eyes. Those dark pools that held so many mysteries. That was all that he could see. He heard her and he nodded. She then dropped her head to look down at the floor and then took off her hand from his shoulder as abruptly as she had placed it there.

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

"It's ok."

"Please."

"It's Ok. I won't."

"Thanks."

He wouldn't play with other's feelings. Not from now on at least. He liked his girlfriend. He did not love her. That was for sure. But she was a bit annoying sometimes. She liked to treat him as though he belonged to her. But they got on just fine. He wasn't playing with her feelings. But he wouldn't play with other's feelings either.

"I'll be leaving soon. So you and Sonia join us later?" she asked after a while, returning back to her old self.

"Yes," he answered. He was still looking at her. She hardly ever let anyone glimpse her life. She was so much like Duo. They hid themselves behind a cheerful attitude and niceness. But Duo was a fun lover; she was not like him in that respect. She was so intense. Her cheerful attitude and politeness didn't hide that. He doubted if people noticed but he did. He was confused. She was such a riddle, such a mystery. So much like the Gundam pilots. She confused him. She was saying something else too but he wasn't listening. He watched her walk up to him and snap her fingers in front of his eyes. He was snapped out of his trance like state and was now listening to her once again.

"Did you listen to what I was saying?"

"No."

"I figured, I felt you tune out. Well, anyways. I am leaving now. You know where to find us right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then. See you later." She walked to the door with the extra big lunch basket. She and Hilde were in charge of the refreshments. "With your fine friend," she added as an after thought.

He now had to go and pick up Sonia. She wanted him to accompany her. He would go and get her now. She lived in the town. He would walk to her place and make her walk with him. She could at least do that.

He left soon after Jade and made sure to lock the door after him. He didn't mind Duo torturing Sonia. He even enjoyed it sometimes. The only thing that he did not enjoy was Sonia bitching about it later. And unfortunately for him, he was the one who had to listen to her bitching. However he could not understand why she was so mean to Jade and why Jade was always so nice to everybody, including to Sonia who was always being mean. Well, now was not the time to be thinking about it. But then again, what was the time to be thinking about it anyways?

He reached his destination even before he knew. She was out there waiting for him. Somehow he found the sight of her irritating. That was weird. Didn't he like her? Wasn't she his girlfriend? He was going to be nice to her. He had promised. He had promised Jade. Sonia was on with her incessant chatter, but Trowa wasn't listening. What exactly had happened today? What? And how he wished she would stop complaining, for that was what she was doing.

"Are you even listening to me, Trowa?" she yelled at him.

"No."

"No? What do you mean 'no'? You don't listen to what I say and you have the nerve to tell me 'no'?"

"Yes. Now shut up and walk. I am not interested in your chatter."

"Psh. You are beginning to behave like Heero now. What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry Sonia, but I am not in the mood to talk or listen. I hope you understand."

"Okay. But remember, I am coming just for your sake."

His eyes widened momentarily. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. What was the girl thinking? She was doing him a favour by coming here? He had given her an option to not come. He was hoping even that she would have declined. A man needed some time to himself. He wouldn't even have persuaded her to come had she decided not to come. And here she was telling him that she was coming because of him. The nerve! But he would not say this out loud, because he knew it would hurt her. And he had promised Jade not to hurt anybody's feelings and he knew first hand that girls and women were easily hurt.

"Thank you," was all that he said and he said it in a tone that said that it was the end of the conversation.

__________________________________________________________ _________

"Hey there Jade!"

"Hey Hilde!"

"That's a big basket."

"I know. I figured that a backup could help. You never know what might happen. But you have a big basket too."

"Yeah, you know Duo."

"Oh yes I do, he helps finish my food supplies in half the time that they would normally last."

"He was going to attack my basket the moment he saw it. But I stopped him. He is sulking currently."

"So that's why you are not with him."

"Yeah. But he'll come round after a while. He always does."

"More FOOOOOOD! You will let me eat, right Jade?"

"Talk of the devil…" Jade muttered under her breath while Duo was trying to catch a glimpse of what was inside the huge picnic basket.

"Get away Duo. This is for later and you can eat all you want later and if you touch even one thing in here before anyone else does, you will lose your kitchen privileges for a week. No, two weeks."

Duo stopped midway and looked absolutely devastated. The look on his face made Hilde laugh out loud and even though Jade managed to keep a stern expression, she had to admit the expression was priceless.

"You can't be serious," Duo managed to say. No kitchen privileges to him were worse than a death sentence.

"Do I look like I am kidding Mr. Duo Maxwell?" she knew that the 'Mr.' and 'Maxwell' would have the desired effect on Duo. People called him that only when they were really mad.

"What's going on?"

"Ah! Heero. Jade is just telling Duo about the consequences that he will have to face if he touches the lunch basket," Hilde informed him.

"No kitchen privileges?" Heero asked.

"Uh-Huh, precisely."

And both of them started laughing. That made Duo turn.

"I knew it! I just knew it. It's a conspiracy. It's a conspiracy to starve me to death and all of you are in it together," Duo said.

"Shut up Duo and get back to doing what you were doing or I'll bring my gun out of retirement."

"You mean Sulking?"

"Where's Trowa, Jade?" Heero just ignored Duo and turned to Jade.

"Went to get his girl friend. And where are Quatre and Dorothy?"

"Quatre didn't come and Dorothy just left to get him."

"That figures."

"Are you really not going to give me any food Hilde?" Duo's voice reached their ears. Hilde finally gave in after about five minutes on pleading.

"Ok, just something little. No gorging on food. Promise?"

"Yay"

"Hey! Hello there!" Dorothy called out. She was practically dragging Quatre with her.

"Don't tell me all your friends are here!" this cry of despair came from somewhere behind them and Duo's face literally lit up with happiness. All of them turned round to see a really devastated red head and a really, really pissed off Trowa. Trowa normally did not exhibit his emotions but if you could see the way he felt almost immediately after looking at him, the n you could be sure that he was near his breaking point and it was not advisable to be there when that happened. And it seemed as though this was one of those times.

Trowa immediately shot Duo a warning look and she saw Duo's face fall. Heero also saw that. Jade managed to catch Heero's eye and he understood. He and Jade would have to distract Trowa and take him far, far away from where Duo was busy torturing his victim. He just gave her a small nod that indicated that he understood.

"Hello Sonia. Do come and join us," Jade said.

Sonia just glared at her and Jade just politely smiled back. Heero snorted and everyone turned to look at him. Jade walked away and when she passed Duo she whispered something in his ear and Duo practically jumped.

"You can't be serious?!?!" he exclaimed

"Very serious," she replied with a straight face.

"You are a life saver," Duo said grinning widely.

Heero did not know what they were talking about but knowing Duo and whatever he knew about his new and his really good friend, Jade, he could pretty much guess what they were talking about. Trowa managed to hazard a guess too, but he dismissed the thought. Jade would not be so cruel. She would not torture Sonia, or help in her torture. He did not know how wrong he was in assuming this. She would not directly torture Sonia, but helping her friend do it was very much all right. Heero in the meantime decided to lure Trowa away from the crowd, partially to give him a break and partially to give Duo the chance that he had been waiting for.

"Trowa, I have to talk to you."

"Sure thing."

Trowa readily followed Heero, he surely did not want to be there when Duo was torturing Sonia. And he also wanted to listen to what Heero wanted to say. He hardly talked. Heero led him far out of earshot of the group and positioned him so that Trowa's back was facing the group and Heero who was standing in front of Trowa could see what was going on in at the group. Even if he could not hear what they were saying, he could make out that the girl was as miserable as she could be and none of them were helping the situation.

"What made you hook up with that kind of a girl?"

"Huh?"

"I asked…"

"I heard"

"so?"

"I am beginning to think about it. Was I in my right mind when I asked her out?"

"So why do you think you did such a thing?"

"I was running away most probably." Trowa said this more to himself than to Heero.

"From whom?"

"I don't know." He was now looking at some point behind Heero.

"From Jade?"

Trowa abruptly turned away and was that a blush colouring his cheeks? Heero found that amusing and inspite of himself, smiled a bit.

"It seems like I have gone somewhere that I should not have gone." Heero was indirectly grilling Trowa.

"No, She is just my room mate," Trowa replied, still looking anywhere but at Heero. He himself did not know if it was the whole the truth.

"Liar," Heero muttered.

"What?" this time, Trowa looked right at Heero.

"Nothing, let's go. We're done talking."

"No we are not." Trowa was going to get back at Heero. He would bring up the subject of Relena.

"What happened to Relena?" Trowa asked Heero. Heero stopped midway.

"What about her?" He tried to talk in his usual manner, but Trowa caught the hint of worry in his voice and something else that was not quite characteristic of Heero. He smiled to himself.

"Heard from her?"

"No, not once since the last time I met her." He seemed almost sad when he said it, but it was always difficult to tell what he was feeling.

"So? You in love?" Trowa asked. Forgetting to be tactful on purpose.

"What are you talking about?" Heero asked, glaring at him.

Fortunately for Trowa and unfortunately for Heero, the famous 'death-glare' had no effect on the clown.

"You know perfectly well what I am talking about. You miss her, don't you?"

It was now Heero's turn to look away and was he blushing too? Hard to tell. His face was turned away.

"That's enough. Let's leave," he said gruffly.

"Hn," Trowa smiled to himself. So the perfect soldier was in love.

The two of them walked back to the group.

"Trowa Barton, take me back immediately. Right this minute, I can't stand it any longer."

"You can leave yourself," he told her coolly. Why did he/ why had he put up with her?

"We have to talk. Sort a few things out and we will do it now. You are taking me home," Sonia practically yelled at him. She was fuming.

"Fine, Let's go." He took her hand and dragged her along with him without saying good byes to any one. Everyone just looked at the two retreating figures. It was Duo who broke the silence.

"Hey Jade?"

"Yes?"

"What did you say that ticked her off so bad?"

"I just asked her to try being a bit nicer to people. I told her then people would like her and not bother her."

"You just said that?"

"Yes."

"And that ticked her off?"

"Apparently."

"Funny. I wonder what Trowa is going to say about it?"

"He'll be depressed for a while but he'll snap out of it," Quatre told them.

"What makes you say so?" Hilde asked.

"Sonia seemed almost determined to have a something like a showdown."

"You mean she is going to dump him?" Duo asked

"I think so."

"Yay!"

"Why are you so happy about?" Quatre asked.

"Don't you get it Q-man? When he gets dumped, we will get our friend back."

"But we can't have him all to ourselves, can we?" Quatre said, trying to make Duo see reason and logic.

"Yeah, I know that. But he can at least choose someone better, someone more like us."

"He will learn from his mistakes." Jade told him.

"He'd better. Why in the world did he have to get himself a girlfriend like Sonia when there is someone like Jade living with him?"

Quatre turned red, Jade choked on a sandwich that she was eating, Heero just smiled at Duo and Duo got a slap on the back of his head from both Hilde and Dorothy. He at least had the decency to blush when he realised what he had said.

"Sorry Jade. Didn't know you were listening," he said shyly.

"Don't worry, atleast now I know what you were thinking," She said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. But her eyes did not look angry, just intense and they were burning with something that no one could quite make out. She and Quatre looked at each other and nodded. They were both empaths and open to emotions and feelings and the two could almost communicate without words.

"Now, if you will please excuse me," Jade said and began to leave.

Duo was going to stop and Heero was planning to follow her, but Quatre stopped them both and then turned to Jade.

"I understand Jade. I'll take care of things here," Quatre told her.

"Thanks," and the relief and gratitude showed in her eyes.

"I am leaving the basket here, finish it off and then return it. Duo it has an apple pie in it. I know you like it. You can have it." And before anybody could say anything she left.

__________________________________________________________________ _

Jade left all her stuff back with the others and went back to her room. This day did not go the way she had planned. First it was the thing in the morning with Trowa. What had gotten into her? Why did she have to react that way? And then it was Sonia, who got upset at the slightest thing that Jade said to her. And she did seem fit to explode when she left. If she dumped Trowa, it would be all her fault and though Trowa would try not to show it, she knew he would feel hurt. And it was all going to be her fault. And why did Duo say what he said? And the way Heero smiled when Duo said it. Why? These were the questions that were bothering her. She was doing everything mechanically. She didn't even pay attention to what she was doing. She only knew that she was doing something. She heard the door open, but she did not pay any attention. It must either be Duo or Heero. Trowa wouldn't be back so soon, and especially not if he got dumped. Suddenly, there was total silence other than the sounds that she was making and she had that feeling of being watched. She was in the kitchen and she knew just who would watch her that way.

"You are back early. Hadn't expected you to be back this early."

"Do you know how long I have been gone?"

"I dunno. Maybe half and hour?" She was determined not to appear a least bit out of normal.

"It's been almost two hours since I left you people to drop off Sonia back at her place," Trowa said matter of factly.

She was surprised, but she was determined not to let it show. But, inspite of herself, she tensed a bit when he said that. She resumed her composure immediately, but that little instant told Trowa that she was surprised. She probably hadn't realised that she had spent that much time, without realising it that it had been that long. She immediately put something in the refrigerator and rushed out of the kitchen and into the room. She grabbed her duffel bag and left, without saying goodbyes. He just stood there watching her leave. He wondered where she left everyday with her duffel bag at around six thirty every evening. He would talk to her after she got back and he needed to think a few things through before he actually talked with her.

He hadn't felt in the least bit upset when Sonia was fuming about how everyone treated her, but why did he feel that hint of anger when she blamed all her troubles on Jade? Though she hadn't dumped him, she was very much in the mood to do so. He could sense it. He had to hear many not so nice things about his friends but he ignored them as usual. He had just too many things on his mind right now.

Suddenly he heard the door open and he didn't need to see who the person was to know who had just barged in. The uninvited guest was Duo.

"So what did you two do?"

"Hn?"

"Did she dump you or did you dump her?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Duo."

"You mean you are still together?" Duo asked dejectedly.

"Yes. And what's up with you and Hilde?" Trowa asked trying to change the subject.

"Hil is fine."

"Hil?"

"Hilde. I call her Hil sometimes. We are getting along just fine."

"Do you love her?" Trowa asked seriously.

Duo blushed a bright red.

"So I take that blush as a yes?"

"I guess so. I don't know how that happened."

"When did you first realise that you loved her?"

"I dunno. I guess it was that time that she got us the information on Libra. I think that's when I realised how much I cared for her and how attached I was to her. I just did not want anything to happen to her."

"Did you tell her that you love her?"

"No. but, I guess she knows."

"Does she love you?"

"I don't know. I'm afraid to ask."

"Ask her. Go think about it."

That managed to get Duo thinking and he left Trowa alone. That was a weird conversation. Since when did Trowa start asking such questions and since when did he worry about feelings? Duo was confused. He left. But before he left he said,

"Do you know that Relena's coming?"

"Is she?"

"Yes, and they are having a ball in her honour. You know the tux and black tie one? A formal. She is a trustee and the vice foreign minister. And everyone is invited. You will be getting the invitations soon."

"How do you know this?"

"Blackwell told Hilde while we were coming up. She wanted to talk to him about something."

"Does Heero know about it?"

"Nah. Not planning to tell him either."

"Hn." But Trowa grinned all the same.

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Author's note: Hello guys! Long long time. And a long long chappie. I know, I know. Confusion and a cliffhanger of sorts. But I was writing this chapter because I wanted to write it and also partly because Devil said she needed a break, but it seems that I am no better. I had a lot of work to do too and hence this delay. But id o hope you like this chapter.

Devil's note: Hiya! I am beta-ing this chapter and I did not find too many mistakes though the author keeps claiming that he is worse than me at writing. I know this has taken a long time to come out and it is because we were both extremely busy and I love all you reviewers for all the splendid reviews. Keep reading and reviewing. The next chapter might take a bit longer because I am going to be writing it and I am really busy. But neither one of us is giving up on this fic. Keep reading! Love you all.