Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Mistaken Words ❯ The Brand of the Phoenix ( Chapter 58 )

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

Mistaken Words

AN: Alright so it's not a double chapter but it's basically on time (smiles) so that's something to be happy about!

My thanks to morgansgirl and Pious Knight (glad you're back!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing!

The Brand of the Phoenix

Heero rolled onto his side, his mind waking ahead of his body as was usual, what wasn't usual was Heero's wish that he hadn't woke up at all. His body curled into a tight ball, he felt terrible. He hadn't felt this bad since he had been on that drug. His head felt full, his thoughts clouded by cotton, and a steady pounding—which he was sure matched his heart—had settled into his head along with the normal ache behind his eye. Heero suppressed a groan as he forced himself to sit up, taking a few deep breaths he hoped his head would clear. But it didn't, he had been feeling a little like this for the last few days, just off, now it all came crashing in.

Standing Heero felt the world spin around him, and he quickly dropped back down lowering his head into his hands. He breathed slowly for several minutes waiting for the nausea to pass. As it did, Heero glanced at his watch, wondering what time it was. He had remained away from the dojo until very late not wanting to see Jay and face the inevitable questions. He shifted on the edge of the bed feeling his shirt catch on the rough brand, it was nearing on ten o'clock in the morning, later than Heero had slept in a very long time. Though sleep had been hard for him to find during the night.

He heard a soft knock on his door, “Odin, you awake?”

“Yeah,” he replied after a moment seriously hoping Jay wouldn't try to come into the room.

“I didn't hear you come in last night, you alright?” concern was evident in his voice but Heero didn't hear him try the door thankfully.

“I'm fine,” he lied.

“Do you want something to eat?” Jay offered.

Heero shuddered at the thought, “No,” he answered after a moment and hoped Jay would leave it at that and just let him be.

“Alright, I have some paperwork to do, if you need anything I'll be down in my office,” the concern didn't fully leave his voice but Heero did hear him walk away from the door, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Waiting several minutes not just to be sure that Jay was gone, but to also give himself a few more moments to fully wake, Heero finally got to his feet again and this time was able to remain there. He looked around his room carefully, wincing when his eyes passed over his window, with the curtains drawn as they were he right eye still ached. He seriously hoped this would pass soon as it had yesterday, though he hadn't felt nearly this bad then. Gathering clean cloths Heero crossed from his room to the bathroom and proceeded to take a shower.

It became easier to breathe as the steam began to fill the room, and he started to feel a little better, at least functional. He spent a little extra time just standing in the bathroom breathing in the humid air, before he finally left. Dressed in a warm sweater and jeans, Heero made his way slowly into the living room glad to see that Jay still wasn't there. He doubted he'd be able to avoid the sensei until class, but that was his goal for the day. What happened yesterday still bothered Heero, but more for the fact he knew Jay was going to ask him about it, and that was a subject he didn't want to discuss for any reason.

WMWMWMW

Jay sat in his office, the radio playing in the background as he tried to keep his thoughts focused on the paperwork he actually had to get done. It was an effort; his thoughts kept drifting to Odin and what he had learned the night before from Wufei. He wanted to ask the young man directly about the brand, but had seen the concern in Wufei's face when he had mentioned how touchy the subject could be. Jay didn't want to drive Odin away, and considering how he had taken off the day before without a word that seemed to be a likely possibility if he was pushed too far.

His eyes left the papers spread on his desk and moved to the computer screen to his left, he had taken some time to research branding. He was curious to see how it was done, and he winced at the thought. Jay hadn't been surprised at the amount of information he had found on it, a year or so back he had heard a brief report on the news that branding had become a popular fad in a bunch of underground cults. “Whatever happened to a tattoo?” he asked the room around him. It was certainly less painful, but it wasn't all that hard to get rid of, a brand was far more permanent.

Shaking his head Jay refocused his attention on the task at hand, he hadn't seen Odin yet today but he had felt even through the door to his room, that Odin had needed some space. This was partly why he had come down here, forcing himself to do what he had been putting off for several days now. He didn't want to avoid Odin, despite how his guest might feel Jay knew that wasn't going to make things better. In fact it might only make Odin suspicious, so Jay was seriously hoping to see the young man come down for class, until then Jay would give him a little space, with any luck that would improve his mood.

WMWMWMW

Heero suppressed a sigh, his right hand massaging at his eye for what had to have been the hundredth time that day. He didn't feel as terrible as he had when he had first woke in the late morning, but at the same time he didn't feel particularly good either. He felt as though he should be focusing himself on something, not just sitting around trying to clear his head. But as it was Heero had been unable to focus, still he had made it through the day, or at least to his class. He made his way slowly down the carpeted stairs finding himself hanging close to the wall a hand gliding down the rail. His balance still felt off, and he had found himself feeling light headed more than once, the moments had always passed quickly and he was determined to make it through the class. Heero wanted to feel like he had at least done something with his day.

The younger students were already gone, Heero had waited to be sure, so that he could slip into the change room without having to stand around and speak with Jay for a few minutes. He carried his gi coat in his hand, now cleaned and dried, he was grateful to have it back. Walking towards the door Heero saw Jay through the corner of one eye but moved on quickly and was glad to see that Jay just watched him. The former pilot changed as quickly as he could but he didn't trust his balance and that slowed him a little as he leaned against the lockers. Finally ready Heero ran a hand through his hair and blinked back the fog that still floated around his mind.

He pulled open the door just as a group of students were making their way in, their conversation died off when they saw Heero but he just moved past. Bowing himself onto the mat Heero began working through a kata, determined to clear his mind, or at the very least prove to himself that he could remain sure on his feet. He could feel Jay watching him but the sensei kept his distance until Heero had finished drawing himself up, feeling pleased.

“Don't think I've ever seen that one,” Jay spoke finally coming over.

Heero looked up, dark eyes focusing on Jay's face, and he shrugged his right shoulder, “Made it up…” he had done it without thinking. He had just wanted to work his muscles and coordination it hadn't mattered with what.

Jay laughed, and oddly enough Heero found it to be a welcoming sound, the sensei was relaxed around him, perhaps what had happened yesterday hadn't affected him. “Don't suppose you'd be able to do it again?” he sounded hopeful.

“Probably…” he returned not committing himself. He hadn't really been paying all that much attention, if his head was clearer he knew it wouldn't be a problem, but he hoped Jay wouldn't ask for another demonstration now.

“That's great, maybe you could show it to the class one of these days, they always like learning something new.” Heero nodded silently noting that the students were coming out onto the floor their playful chatter filling the room, “Alright,” Jay slapped his hands together stepping away from Heero and directing his attention to the rest of the room. “Let's get warmed up, I want to work on curriculum for the first part of class, and then I thought as a treat we'd take a run through the gauntlet.”

There were more than a few cheers at the announcement and the excitement in the room seemed to double. Heero had been amazed by the attitudes of these young men and women, so carefree, he actually found himself wondering what it would have been like to be one of them. Being around them for an extended period of time he almost found himself relaxing right along with them, the corners of his lips twitching up at their jokes. He might not have laughed along with them, but he felt his spirits lift a little, they were loving life every minute it offered them, it was something Heero wasn't so familiar with. He knew so many more things than these students but in some cases he knew he was all but clueless.

Jay was watching Heero's face, “I think you'll like the gauntlet, I'll explain it to you when the time comes,” he smiled as he moved to the head of the class, Heero only nodded in response and took up his position.

WMWMWMW

“Okay, line up,” Jay called to the class, and Heero watched from where he stood as the students moved, it was clear they had done this before. “Odin why don't you take the spot between Chris and Josh,” he said right hand indicating the two student's he had named. Heero walked towards them taking position between, and watched as the line of students across from him staggered themselves in relation to the line he stood in. “So this is how it works, Josh will start us off, He'll come to me, I'll attack he has to block, he can block me anyway he wants and counter. He'll then come to you, on your side of the line he'll attack and you get to block, it goes back and forth down the line and once he's done I'll do same thing until everyone's cycled through. You got that?”

Heero nodded his head, feeling tired and winded from the beginning of class, he had found his breath kept leaving him with less effort put out. It had actually been a challenge for him to keep up with Jay as the class wore on, and he appreciated the moments rest that he got standing here waiting for Josh to attack him. The moment came quickly enough and Heero felt as though his muscles were sluggish to respond, though he was able to block easily enough. He chose his counter instantly, a wristlock which had Josh dropping to his knees on the floor.

“Excellent!” Jay exclaimed, “Feel free to use wristlocks even take downs if you're comfortable but do it slowly since we don't have the padding out.”

Josh continued on down the line a smile on his face and now a buzz had developed in the room, laughter right along with it. For his part Heero found his mind wandering as the fog over his thoughts thickened and he began to feel hot. He was tired, but determined to finished the class, he was not about to show weakness here. The pounding in his head had increased during class and it had been hard not to wince, but at least the sunlight wasn't spilling into the room which made it all bearable. His attention left Josh as a roar rose up in his ears, and he found fighting to keep his attention on the room, his mind kept wandering, the heat burning away all thought.

Heero's mind snapped back to attention when he felt the unknown attacker enter his personal space. The fist seemed to come out of the fog and he reacted taking hold of it and using his attacker's momentum to throw him to the ground. He knew it wouldn't be enough, he was on top immediately, around him he could feel movement hear voices though he couldn't make out what they were saying. They only drove him to finish off his enemy and move on, “Odin!” a voice shouted. Heero blinked the heat and fog parting so he was looking clearly into Jay's stunned face.

His fist had come to a sudden stop only inches from Jay's face, and horror filled Heero, as he slowly released the grip his other hand had found around Jay's neck. Heero jumped back though it was more of a stumble, unable to believe what he had almost done. He could feel the rest of the class standing in stunned silence around him, no one moved a muscle. Heero's body trembled and he shook his head taking off towards the change room, not looking back.

WMWMWMW

Jay's entire body felt frozen for what seemed like ages after Odin had walked away, the look he had seen in that young man's eyes was frightening. He had been looking directly at Jay's face, but there hadn't been an ounce of recognition. Groaning as he pushed himself up Jay looked around at his students stunned and somewhat frightened faces. “Alan,” he called his senior most student while rubbing at the back of his head, Odin had thrown him before he had even seen it coming, he wasn't hurt but it had been one hell of a shock. “Will you take over the class? I need to speak with Odin,” he looked towards the change room where the young man had disappeared.

Alan nodded his head still looking a little dumfounded, it had brought the class to a screeching halt, but Jay hoped they'd be able to move on. “Why don't you just spar or work on some katas, whatever the class likes,” the sensei patted his student on the shoulder as he walked past and bowed himself off the mat. The class was still scattered but Alan was working on bringing their focus back when Jay pushed his way into the change room. He pressed the door closed securely behind him effectively shutting out the sounds of confused chatter that had begun to spring up.

He turned looking down the row of lockers to where Odin stood. He had stripped himself of both coat and shirt and stood leaning heavily against the closed locker beside his. Jay found himself staring in horror at what he could now see of Odin's body, innumerable scars covered his exposed flesh. Both old and new, though Jay couldn't say how old the newest ones actually were, they were vicious looking, one in particular on Odin's right arm. It looked as though his arm had been punctured by something - the skin was puckered and red. He wanted to move closer to get a better look, but was concerned about startling his guest again.

But why was Odin unaware of his presence right now? Why had he been caught off guard back out in the class? Those were two questions Jay didn't have an answer too. Odin had always been so aware, he would have even gone so far as to say on edge, so this behavior jumped out at him as very odd. Odin shifted then a rough sigh escaping him as he reached into his locker twisting further away from Jay.

And that was when he saw it, the brand he had felt the day before, all the questions came rushing back in a jumble and he stepped forward despite himself. It looked like a phoenix, every line in perfect detail, it stood out sharply against even Odin's scarred flesh. He winced at the thought but still had to appreciate the art of it, “Odin, that's--”

“Don't say anything!” the young man barked ripping his sweater from the locker and shrugging quickly into it, “There's nothing good about it.”

Jay was stunned again, he hadn't even been sure what he was going to say, but he had to admit it would have been something nice, he wouldn't have known what else too say. “You regret doing it?” he asked calmly reminding himself in a moment of blessed clarity that he couldn't let Odin know that he had known anything about this.

Odin looked over his shoulder a dark glare on his face, “It was done against my will,” he ground the words out.

That was phrased a little different than Wufei had told him, “Against your will?” he repeated, having no difficulty sounding surprised having yet to fully shake off the shock of being thrown by his guest. “How did that happen?”

Silence was his answer for many minutes, and Jay did not allow himself to believe he'd get an answer, but to his utter surprise one came of sorts, “Does that matter now?”

“Obviously,” Jay was fast to return, “Why else could you not stand to have it touched?”

“Forget you saw it!”

“Is that how you deal with it?” he didn't understand why he said that, why he was pressing the issue when it was clearly something Odin wanted to avoid. The young man said nothing but tore his eyes away, “You run away from it?”

That struck a nerve, “Go to hell.”

Jay shook his head, “That's childish Odin, and you know it,” he folded his arms across his chest feeling secure in the knowledge that he didn't think the young man would attack him. Of course there was no way to be sure, but the look of horror Jay had seen in his eyes earlier on reassured him quite a bit. “Is that what you've been running from all along?” he asked gesturing with a slight turn of a wrist.

Odin slammed the door of his locker with a crash, the metal bouncing back open again, “Just leave it!” he was really agitated now, but he remained leaning against the row of lockers, again it seemed off to Jay but it just wasn't important enough to deal with.

“Why does it bother you so much?” he continued on, “You can't even see it.”

“I know it's there!”

“It bothers you that much?” he truly wanted to understand. Odin shook his head, right fist clenching tightly at his side as he fought to keep a firm reign on his anger. But that was not answering Jay's questions, nor was it facing the problems, “Why?” he asked again a littler more firmly, he wanted an answer.

“Because I didn't want it!” he growled, “Because of what it means!” he shook his head, the last a venomous hiss, “Because I didn't know it had happened…” Odin's head came up a cold fire in those intense eyes, “Take your pick!” he spat the words.

Jay felt stunned again, what Odin had just said didn't seem to fit with what Wufei had told him, “How could you not know it happened?” the words slipped out before he could stop himself. The glare Odin directed his way went right through him and he shivered, that wasn't a question he was going to be getting an answer to anytime soon, but that didn't deter him immediately. It was becoming increasingly clear to him that Odin had been avoiding this for a while now, perhaps this was why he only ever seemed to shrug his right shoulder. “Why'd they do it to you?” he tried, it was an effort to keep his voice calm, but he managed it.

Odin's eyes narrowed further, “Because they could!” it didn't sound to Jay like he had really given it much thought.

Drawing in a calming breath Jay thought quickly, this wasn't getting him anywhere and he didn't want to drive Odin off before he had managed to understand a little more, so he quickly switched gears. “What does it mean?” he hoped at least Odin would offer him something.

“It means I betrayed my friends,” he flared though his voice never raised.

Alarms went off in Jay's head, “Do they see it that way?” he couldn't see how that would be the case, if Wufei was a friend of his—which he certainly seemed to be—he definitely didn't act betrayed.

“That's not the point!”

“Is it why you ran away from them?” again before he could think better of it. Jay regretted that immediately, it was getting to close to revealing that he had made contact with someone who might be looking for Odin.

“Back off!” Odin warned darkly, thankfully appearing to have not noticed Jay's near slip.

Jay put out his hands in a sign of peace, “Look Odin, I'm not trying to judge you here, but it's obvious this bothers you and ignoring it isn't going to make it go away.”

“Neither is talking about it,” he fired back.

It was true and Jay nodded his head, a tattoo could be removed, but nothing - not even time was going to lesson the appearance of that brand. “I just think it would be better for you if you tired to accept it,” he doubted that would go over well, and wasn't disappointed.

“What the hell do you know about me!”

“Not much, I'll admit,” Jay shrugged, “It's only a suggestion, but if there's one thing I've learned since the war, it's that scars can be seen as a mark of survival.” Odin's eyes narrowed dangerously, “I know this is not exactly like that, but there has to be a different way for you to look at this…”

Odin turned from him then, opening the locker door wider, nothing about him relaxed but at least he hadn't flared up again. Jay wasn't about to let himself hope that he was getting through to him.

“Are you going to come back out?” he asked then after a moments silence, and watched as Odin began removing his things from the locker, “What are you doing?”

“Leaving.”

“Running from me too?” it was a careful line to walk but he kept his tone light hoping not to provoke.

“I almost killed you,” there was no heat behind it, it was just a statement.

“Well you know what I say about `almost'” Jay smiled, and was met with a blank look, “Almost only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, nuclear bombs and the occasional skunk,” he laughed outright when the expression on Odin's face became more perplexed, but at least he had stopped moving. “I don't want you to up and leave over this,” he said more seriously, Odin seemed to struggle with it, as he slowly shook his head.

Jay took a cautious step towards the young man, “From now on I'll just make sure I have your attention.” He tried his best to gage what Odin was thinking in that moment truly hoping his guest wasn't actually going to take off. But he could see nothing in the hard face to tell him what Odin was thinking. “I'll see you later?” he asked.

A moment passed between them, Odin leaning against the lockers with his head down. He looked tired, he said nothing - didn't even turn around, but finally his head nodded. Jay breathed a sigh of relief, though he was reluctant to leave Odin, it didn't feel right. Still he knew there was nothing more he could say at the moment. Nothing was going to make this situation feel any better, he was just going to have to hope for the best. With one last look over his shoulder Jay walked back out to his class, the incident hadn't been forgotten but at least things were moving again, the laughter having returned albeit subdued.

WMWMWMW

Once again Jay tried his best to keep an eye open for Odin, he wanted to see his guest leave the change room and go upstairs. He wanted to know for sure that Odin wasn't going to run away. But he saw nothing in what was left of the class. It ran long as many of his students tried to understand what had happened, what was wrong with Odin. He answered them as best he could outright lying for the most part. What else could he really say?

When finally he did make it upstairs he noted immediately that Odin's coat and shoes were gone. He didn't immediately jump to any conclusions, but walked down the hall to check the guest room. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Odin's case was still resting on the floor beside the bed. Closing the door Jay decided the best thing he could do was get on with his evening and wait for Odin to return, like the day before, he'd show, but tonight Jay wasn't going to turn in until he had.

He went to his room and changed before making himself a quick dinner and settling down in his living room to watch the evening news. Jay attempted to focus on the news and not worry, but it was an effort. He kept replaying the event of the class in his head, over and over again trying to see something new to come to an understanding, to put it all straight in his head. He wondered if there had been a better way to approach Odin? If there had been something more he could have said to convince the young man it was alright.

The sound of someone coming up the stairs caught Jay's attention and his eyes flickered to the clock to see what time it was, it was going on eight. He shifted to the edge of his seat and turned to see Odin walk up, he couldn't remember ever being able to hear the young man approach before. “Hey Odin,” Jay greeted with a smile, “Where you been?”

“Out,” Odin replied keeping his head down as he removed his coat and shoes, he had been doing that a lot today, Jay noted. His movements also seemed slower than normal, as though he were not as sure of himself. That leapt out at the sensei, Odin had always appeared to be a very sure young man.

“You want something to eat?” he offered knowing his guest had hardly touched food all day.

Odin just slowly shook his head and walked past, head down eyes hidden behind a curtain of unruly hair. Jay didn't settle back in his chair but watched Odin closely, something wasn't right. Odin's steps faulted as he neared the hall, and his hand shot out as though to support himself against the wall, but he was too far from it. Jay jumped to his feet and crossed the distance in two strides offering his arm to the smaller man for support. Odin's hand gripped him tightly and he could feel a tremor run through him.

“Odin, are you alright?” he asked now very concerned.

For a time Odin didn't answer but kept his head down, his right hand massaging at his eyes slowly. But when he did look up his body stiffened and he released Jay's arm, “I'm fine,” he said the words convincingly but Jay didn't believe.

“Are you sure?” he pressed, “Cause you've been acting kind of odd…”

“Just let it go!” Odin's head came up sharply his cobalt eyes defensive, “I said I was fine!”

He found himself looking more closely at Odin's face, able to see it better now that he was close. The young man had been acting strange all day, but Jay hadn't been able to guess why. Now he thought he might know, “Do you have a fever?” he asked reaching out a hand to Odin's flushed features before he could think better of it. Odin jerked back with a glare but not before Jay's hand brushed across his forehead, “You do!” he was surprised, but suddenly everything else made sense, Odin was sick, no wonder he had been acting oddly all day.

“I'm fine!” Odin growled firmly and increased the distance between himself and Jay.

Jay shook his head, he wasn't, hadn't been all day and yet he insisted on saying it, “It's like a mantra to you, isn't it?” he called down the hall drawing Odin to a stop, “You think that if you say that enough it might actually be true?” Odin's eyes narrowed dangerously at that, but Jay wasn't going to be intimidated by this young man, “You don't always have to be fine Odin, you can't be invincible, you're human, why can't you admit that?”

Odin hesitated for a moment outside his door, right hand on the knob as he looked back down the hall to Jay. His dark eyes were impossible to read, and the set of his shoulders looked tense, “Old habits die hard…” he said softly, his expression going blank as he walked into his room closing the door behind him.

Jay stood there staring for several minutes, he didn't want to just shrug the matter aside and walk away. Couldn't pretend like none of this had happened; and not just because it seemed to be what Odin expected would happen. He shook his head, that wasn't what should happen, Odin shouldn't have to act like nothing was wrong. The young man was always pushing himself, like he had to be perfect. There was a fire in his eyes while he was training, a rock hard determination. Jay didn't get the impression that Odin was used to relaxing and that soft comment `Old habits die hard…' only confirmed it.

Jay turned from the hall then and made his way to the kitchen, turning on the kettle. He wanted to understand Odin's thinking, what drove him to fight for these standards, why he pushed away any help that was offered to him. And while he tried to get those answers there was absolutely no reason why the young man shouldn't be a little more comfortable, even if he didn't want to admit his discomfort in the first place. Jay took hold of the steaming mug and grabbed a bottle of pills from the cabinet before walking down the hall to Odin's room. Knocking on the wooden door he called out to the occupant, “Odin, you still up?”

He waited for a moment before the response came, “Yeah.”

Taking that as an invitation to come inside he opened the door a little awkwardly and walked into the dark room, light from the hall spilled in behind Jay and he searched about for a moment to find Odin. The small man was seated in the corner of his bed back pressed tight, knees drawn to his chest, eyes watching the door and now Jay's face. His expression was hard to read and not just because there was next to no lighting in the room, “I brought you this,” he said offering the bottle of pills first.

“What are they?” he asked not moving from his spot, a suspicious light entering into his dark eyes.

“Tylenol,” Jay replied simply, but when Odin still didn't move he felt the need to clarify, “It'll help bring down your fever.”

“No thanks,” Odin shook his head, and almost as an after thought added, “Don't need it.”

As if his flushed features weren't enough to say he did, but Jay shrugged and placed the bottle on the dresser behind him. He wasn't going to press the issue, it wasn't like this was life threatening and if possible he wanted to keep Odin in a relatively good mood. “Somehow I expected you'd say that, which is why I also brought you this,” he extended his other hand that held the steaming mug.

Again Odin's eyes took on a suspicious light, “And this would be?”

“Neocitrin,” he waited a moment to see if recognition would enter into Odin's eyes, when none came he explained, “It's a hot drink for when you have a cold, it'll help clear your head so you can sleep.” Jay hoped Odin would accept this, again it wasn't a huge problem, but he noted a slight shift in Odin's breathing that he had missed up until now that suggested the young man was congested. He wanted to see Odin accept this if only to have him admit that he wasn't perfectly fine.

Slowly, almost cautiously, Odin's hand reached out to take the hot mug from Jay's hand before pulling back. The sensei eased himself down onto a wooden chair across from the bed, for the moment at least feeling as though his presence was not unwelcome. He watched as Odin took a few tentative sips from the mug and smiles subtly to himself when he saw that the young man appeared to like it. “Odin,” he spoke his guests name into the silence between them knowing he wanted to ask him a question, but not actually sure how to put it into words. “Why don't you take a break?” that caused a raised eyebrow, as he continued to sip the steaming tea.

“Why do you always push yourself?” Jay continued having been wondering about that for a while now. He had never met such a determined man before, so driven to out do himself. Again he received no answer only a questioning look, “Why not give yourself a break every now and again?”

“And do what?” Odin returned finally sounding completely at a loss.

“I don't know,” Jay shrugged with a smile, “What ever you want to do.”

“I'm doing what I want.”

“Working yourself until you get sick?” he shot back, keeping his tone light not wanting to turn this into a fight, just trying to learn a little of how Odin thought.

Odin's eyes narrowed a little at that, “That's not what happened,” he defended, and Jay breathed a silent sigh of relief, there was no heat in his voice.

“Maybe not,” Jay rescinded quickly, “But shouldn't you know your limits?”

“I do,” Odin said seriously.

“Then back to my original question,” Jay chuckled, hoping this time to get on honest answer.

“Which was?”

“Why do you push yourself?”

“Limits are set to be broken,” he said it as though it should have been obvious.

Jay sat back slowly eyes studying Odin in the silence, “That's one way to look at it I guess…” he said slowly. In truth he had taught his students something along those lines but he had never meant for them to tackle the limits Odin seemed determined to achieve.

It was Odin's turn to look questioning, “What does any of this matter?”

“I just don't think its good for you,” Jay answered honestly.

Odin scoffed at that and shook his head finishing off the last of the neocitrin, “I don't understand…” he breathed, his cobalt eyes staring directly at Jay's.

“Understand what?” the sensei asked in return, a spark of excitement flickering within him, at the possibility that he might actually learn something.

The young man looked down at the mug he still held in his hand and turned it towards Jay, “I don't understand why people keep trying to help me,” he looked up then, “What do you expect to gain?”

Jay sat up straighter at that, stunned by the question and a little hurt as well. He had never once expected to gain anything from helping anyone, he'd always been happy to offer whatever he could. “Odin…” he didn't quite know what to say if this young man wasn't accustom to freely offered aid, “Not everyone expects something in return Odin.”

“Then why try to help?” it truly seemed to be a foreign concept to him.

Sighing, Jay tried to think of an answer that would make sense to Odin, if gang life was what this young man was used to Jay could understand why this might seem odd to him. “Because I thought you might need it, and I've always tried to help anyone in need,” he slid to the edge of his seat leaning forward trying to better see what was in Odin's eyes. “I've never had any strings attached, but sometimes people get something in return even if that's not what they're after. For me it's satisfaction, to know I helped someone. I don't need anything else.”

Odin appeared to mull this over and Jay wished he knew what the young man was thinking but even if the room had been brightly lit he knew Odin's features would be unreadable. Jay sighed softly, telling himself this was all he would get. Glancing at his watch before looking back to Odin, Jay realized it was time he let his guest get some sleep. Coming to his feet he reached out a hand for the empty mug Odin was still holding, “Try and get a good night sleep,” he said as he moved towards the door. He doubted that would be hard for Odin, he had looked drained most of the day. With one last glance back at his still mysterious guest Jay closed the door behind him.

Thanks for Reading!

34 Questions:

“Odin? Something wrong?” Jay asked stepping up beside him.

Heero blinked shaking his head slightly, “There's something I need to take care off…” he began walking away, “I'll be back,” he tossed back over his shoulder. Knowing Jay would be curious and no doubt try and see where Heero went, he was grateful that Sally continued to move away from the food court.

Trailing along behind Heero kept a careful distance until he could find an opportunity to speak with Sally alone. He saw that opening as Sally made her way towards the bathrooms, the crowds had thinned some but was not spars enough to give him away. Picking up his pace Heero closed the distance and he reached out to grab Sally's arm, “Relax,” he growled in low tones when she tensed and moved to pull away. She said nothing, obviously couldn't risk it where people were around to listen. He directed her towards a service door, eyes darting around he pushed his way through pulling Sally along with him.

Once safely on the other side Heero pushed the doctor away from him looking up at her with a dark expression, “What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded.

“I could ask you the same question,” she fired back quickly her stance firm expression resembling what he remembered from years back. “But to answer your question, I was shopping,” she raised the bags in her hands as if to prove it.

“And the others?” he felt wary, it had been a week he hadn't felt the need to look over his shoulder at every turn; but that didn't mean they had now got fed up with waiting and decided to retrieve him.

“They aren't here,” she assured.

Heero didn't feel entirely convinced, “You haven't been searching?”

“No,” she sighed shaking her head, “I wanted to,” Sally added, “But I was talked out of it.”

He didn't quite breathe a sigh of relief; it was what he had wanted to hear. It meant they had realised their mistake—not that he doubted they would—they were going to wait for him to decide to return. Though there was still the chance they'd get tired of waiting.

Morganeth Taren'drel