Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Ultimate Sacrifice ❯ Friendship, Or Possibly More ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I don't own GW, or Fahrenheit 451…

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The Ultimate Sacrifice - Chapter III

"Quatre?" Dorothy asked, as they lay on the bed, tangled in each other's arms.

"Yes?" He took his arm off of her and propped himself on his elbow to look at her.

"I've been pondering over something for a very long time..."

"And?"

"I know it's really none of my business--" She paused for a moment, closing her eyes, hoping that she wouldn't make a big mistake with what she was doing. She was just too inquisitive, and she dreaded being one of those rumor mongers who spend the whole day chatting carelessly about gossip and scandals.

He stroked her hair from her face gently. "If it's bothering you, then just tell me. It can't be that bad."

"Has Trowa had any love interests, any girlfriends or anything of that sort at all?" She asked.

Relieved, he sighed softly, beaming at her. He expected something more critical. "Is that all?"

She raised an eyebrow, then nodded. 'He's smiling about it, thank goodness he doesn't have a clue.'

"You two seem to have an oddball relationship, and now you're interested with his love affairs? That's really odd."

"It just puzzled me somehow…that's all…" She replied earnestly.

"I really can't quite tell, Trowa is a very discreet person, I think he's had clandestine flings before, but he's never gotten that seriously involved with someone before. I don't tend to pry in his love affairs. It's none of my business, and it's too dull, even for me. Why are you so curious all of a sudden? Don't tell me he confided something to you that he didn't tell me!"

She looked at him nervously. What Trowa told her rang in her head.

"I can only dream and wish that I was him and you were mine can't I?" She shifted her eyes away from his gaze.

He looked at her skeptically. "What did Trowa tell you Dorothy?" He asked curiously.

"It's been bothering me how all of the pilots except him are either married or settled down. Relena and Heero, Duo and Hilde, Sally and--"

"Dorothy, would you stop beating around the bush? Just tell me what happened and I'll stop pestering you about it."

"Oh Quatre, really, it's nothing crucial. I never should have brought it up, now its making you think of such unspeakable things. You know as well as I do we need some sleep! "She patted her pillow.

"You never know until you tell me."

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"What did Trowa tell you?"

She looked sheepishly at him.

"Tell me Dorothy, please..." He pleaded.

"Alright then...if you insist…"

"I do insist..."

"He told me..." She hoped for a miracle of some sort.

"Go on...Don't tell me he killed some guy because he was in love with his wife or anything of that sort..." She looked at him with great fear, thinking he knew something.

"What did you say Quatre?"

"Nevermind what I said, just go on…"

"He, he told me..." She trailed off anxiously.

She shook her head desperately. She couldn't say it.

She buried her face on the crook of his neck, her heavy panting making contact with his skin. "He told you what?" He asked, dazed, and confused, as he ran his fingers up soothingly and down her bare back. 'I wonder how she can laugh about it one second then have a hard time saying it the next.'

Just as she was about to speak, she heard a muffled cry that came from down the hall.

"It must be one of the children..." She said as she pulled away from Quatre.

"I have to see what's wrong..."

She jumped off the bed, hastily grabbed a robe, and ran out of the door, giving a silent prayer of thanks that she got herself untangled from the mess she made.

'He can't know the truth...not yet at least.'

Careful not to wake the others, she walked down the hall, Quatre trailing behind her.

"Dorothy, wait!" She heard him say, but walked on and ignored him.

She pried open the door from which the sudden cries came from, Garin's room.

"Garin?" She called out as she came in. She heard her son crying, and she thought he needed something or woke up from a bad dream.

She carried him up from his bed, and tried to hush him.

"Darling, it's alright. Mommy is here. It will be alright, I promise." She whispered in his soft blonde hair, and kissing it softly, and closed her eyes.

"Is he ill?" Quatre asked as he came up behind her.

"Garin just had a bad dream...or wants some company…" She replied quietly, as she lulled Garin back to sleep.

"You go back to sleep, I think I'll stay here."

He looked at her blankly, his aquamarine pools begging her to creep back under the covers with him, and murmur sweet things in her ear, bury his face on her silken mass of hair, and with that, other things. He also desperately wanted to know what she has tried so hard to keep from telling him. He wondered why she was so reserved lately, and what secret was she keeping from him. 'What could it be she's keeping from me?' He thought naively, having no such clue about what it really was about.

"Alright then...I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning." He considered the fact that he now had to share his wife with three other members of the family, and Garin needed her more than he did. 'I love you…' He kissed her gently, almost pleadingly, then slowly walked up to the door and exited.

She breathed a sigh of relief. 'Even though he doesn't know it right now, how am I supposed to tell him later? What if he thinks we cheated on him together?'

She heard Garin's chest softly rising and falling, and she assumed he was asleep.

'How am I supposed to get myself out of this? Now it's too much to handle?'

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Cathy heard the sound of Trowa'a motorcycle outside her trailer. She peered outside her bedroom curtain, and saw him take his helmet off. She knew he was over at Quatre's, she didn't know why he asked Trowa to stay over while he was away, and she wondered why he was home so early.

"Is that Trowa?" A female voice asked from outside her room.

"Yes, I don't know how he's home so soon, and why this early during the day." She said as she proceeded to open the door. As she opened the door, she saw a very troubled and distressed look that shadowed the face of the man she called her brother. He stepped inside slowly and shut the door behind him.

"Cathy…"

"Trowa…I-I…Why are you home so early? Is everything alright?" She asked worriedly. Never has she seen Trowa looking like that before, of course he's always been distant, but the look he had on his face, and the tone of his voice sounded tormented and disappointed.

"I just wanted to go home, Cathy." He said, pulling her to him and hugging her close. He felt like he was where he belonged again, the circus, the only family he remembered. Cathy always seemed to him like his mother and his sister all in one.

A young blonde woman turned around from the kitchen counter, and Trowa, looking surprised, stared at her. He pulled away from Cathy and looked at her, startled. She smiled at him, and she knew that they certainly have met before.

"Oh Trowa, I forgot, my friend-"

"I trust that we have met before…"

"Yes, of course we have…"

"Midii, how have you been these days?" He asked her, feeling his day has brightened up a bit. He thought he had lost her so long ago. She walked up to him, offering her hand. As their hands came into contact, he felt a slight tinge of electricity in it. He shook her hand anyway, and let his hand drop to his side.

"I've been well, and I was around the neighborhood and decided to pop in on Cathy, and you…God knows how it's been so long…" She replied, smiled cheerfully at him.

"Yes it has been…" He answered, thinking how she has blossomed so strikingly after all these long years.

He could remember being with her so long ago, when he had no name, no life…no reason to live.

He could recall that somehow in that little way of hers, she gave him a reason to live, until he found out that she was a spy.

"Are you hungry, Trowa?" I think I have something in the fridge for you to eat, and besides it's almost time to eat breakfast, so why not eat now?" Cathy asked, as she walked over to the fridge and opened it, breaking his sequence of reminiscences and bringing him back to the present time.

"No, I think a cup of coffee or tea would be fine." He looked back at Midii as he recollected the times when they were very young, and the times when he was with her, and he wanted to forget the real truth. Their friendship, no, something more than it was all that mattered to him at the moment.

The morning sun descended upon Midii's face and caused her cheeks to glow a bit as she strolled over to the table and took a seat, with Trowa eyeing her absentmindedly.

"Tell me, Midii, what do you do?" He asked, as he took a seat next to her.

"Well, I've done all sorts of jobs…I've been a receptionist once, a sales associate, a waitress, and I'm currently unemployed, and I came here partly because I wanted to ask Cathy if she could get me a job here, at the circus."

"I'm sure Cathy will find something…" He stood up before she could reply, and went to the kitchen to talk to Cathy.

"Sis, if you're planning on making breakfast, then include me as well." He went to one of the rooms, his room, and Midii saw him toss his leather jacket and his gloves aside. He ran his hand through his hair, and she chewed over on how incredibly gorgeous he looked with those brown locks of his and those mysterious emerald eyes. She could remind being in love with him once.

'Am I still in love with him after all these years? Was it really love I felt?'

"What are you thinking about, Midii? You seem so distant." Cathy called over to her, knocking her out of her reflections. She heard Cathy beating some eggs, and she could smell the sweet-smelling aroma of freshly brewed coffee in the air.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, I was just thinking of what life in the circus would be like, that's all…"

'Or rather, what it would be like to be in love with Trowa again…' She thought to herself.

"The circus is pretty much like your family, Midii, and it's an environment that's so easy to adapt to…people are just too friendly." Trowa chimed in for Cathy.

'You don't mind me living here at all, do you?"

"Of course not Midii! You're always welcome here. Anyway, how would you like your eggs? I like mine scrambled…" Cathy's statement was left ignored as Midii found herself staring at Trowa again.

"Um, Midii? Hello?" Cathy called out to her, waving her hand in front of her face.

"Oh what did you say?" Midii replied, snapping out of her reverie.

"I asked, how-would-you-like-your-eggs?" She answered, as if Midii was some sort of challenged preschooler.

"Oh, sorry, I think I'll have them sunny side up." She said. A faint smile tucked at the corners of her mouth and a bright red flushed her cheeks.

Trowa only looked at her, his eyes almost twinkling, for the first time, he wasn't thinking of the woman he loved.

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Midii sat on the grass, picking some of it and throwing it away. The sun was about to set, creating an almost dark orange and golden shade across the heavens. The grass was somewhat green, but since it was summer, parts of the field were a bit dry. A mellow breeze blew infrequently, and resting on the small hill that had an old tree, overlooking a flat meadow seemed relaxing to her.

"Mind if I join you?"

She looked back at him, smiling kindly and patting the crisp grass next to her.

"Why sure, of course…"

"Cathy just talked to the Manager, and she told me there were a lot of job offerings here that you could choose from."

"That's great! When can I start?"

"I don't know yet. Cathy knows though."

A lingering silence came after that, the irregular breeze blowing softly, ruffling her hair. She raised a hand up to fix it.

"So, um, do you want to take a walk down that meadow?" She started first, standing up, and started walking away, not waiting for his response.

He stood up, and went after her, thinking of her, and that almost childlike innocence she had about her, and once again, comparing her to Dorothy.

She has changed, and if only he never knew her, he would assume the sins of war never cast its shadow upon her, but it did…

She was so young then, and it rid her of all the opportunities a normal child could have…

…Like it did him.

She looked back at him, his fixed look disturbing her a bit.

'What's bothering him?'

"Trowa, is anything wrong?" She asked unpretentiously.

Her voice broke him out of his reverie, and he realized that she must be feeling rather awkward catching him stare at her so fixedly like that.

"Oh nothing, I just realized, I stalked out of Quatre's house and I didn't even give him a reasonable excuse."

"And Quatre is?"

"He is one of the only real friends I ever knew. I knew him from the war."

"Oh." She turned her back at him, and started walking down the hill to the meadow, walking a bit too fast for him.

She stopped for a moment, looking at something and naturally picking it up. She sighed for a moment, holding it out on her face.

He walked quicker to catch her, to see what she picked up.

"What have you got there?" He asked, finally catching up with her.

She turned back around at him. "Oh this?" She replied, pointing out to the flower.

"It's a dandelion. They say you should rub a dandelion off of your chin when you see one. Look!" She traced the flower on her chin, grinning.

"Why do such a thing?" He asked.

"They say if it rubs off, it means you're in love. Is it yellow?" She asked raising her chin a bit.

He was inclined to look at her. "Yes over here you are." He replied, pointing at the exact spot.

"Do you want to try it?" She asked, clutching the dandelion in front of his face.

Before he could say anything or back away, she had already rubbed it on his face.

He tried to turn his face around, but she already tried to rub it.

"Don't move!" She giggled, looking for the yellow mark on his chin.

She examined his chin carefully, scowling a bit, biting her lip.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"What a shame…You're not in love." She replied.

"But I am in love! I am! He retorted.

"I can't see how…"

"I am very, much in love!" He repeated again, and tried to conjure up a fixed look to justify his words, but somehow it wouldn't work.

She pouted slightly. "Oh Trowa, that is really pathetic. You should see yourself."

He gawked at the dandelion. "You've used up the dandelion on yourself! That's the reason why it won't show up on me!"

"I'm sorry. I suppose you're right." She smiled back at him then she turned her head at the direction of the end of the field.

"I believe we should be getting back now. You probably still have some work to do…" She said as she dropped the dandelion on the grass.

"Yeah, I guess so." He replied quietly.

As she began to walk serenely through the grass, she stopped and turned to face him.

"You say you're in love. Care to tell me who she is?" She asked inquisitively, and resumed walking again.

"Well…I don't tell anyone about it…not even Cathy knows…She's elegant, she has wit, brains, breeding and beauty…" He paused for a bit.

"And her mouth can invoke the nastiest replies…" He finished for her.

Curious, she stopped, and looked at him, signaling for him to go on.

"But she loves the man I owe so much to… the closest friend I have…I never could believe how she loves him…when she loves, it is a very exceptional love…something she only gives to certain people, to those few people who can break that cold barrier…he practically saved her soul, Midii…I could only look at the way she loves him and merely wish it was me, not him…but I never hated him, I only hated myself…"

"Oh Trowa…" She sadly replied, realizing that Trowa was in love with this woman he could never have, and she was right there, under his nose…

"Why does life have to be unfair?" She asked, looking up at the sky, asking questions that she wanted answers to.

"But in a way, I am glad…she is happy with him, he loves her dearly, and takes care of her…"

"Midii, did you know that on their wedding day, I wanted to cry? It was my obligation to go, and even though she asked me to give her away, I refused, and let Millardo do it…I was too much of a coward to, I was afraid I would sweep her away and claim her as mine…" His stoic features saddened dramatically.

She looked at him in complete awe, feeling awfully sorry for him.

"Trowa…I should have never brought it up…I'm sorry…" She walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, and slid her hand down his arm to his hand and held it.

"I'm so used to it now…I felt like telling someone after all these years…" He smiled resentfully at the thought, squeezing her soft hand.

"They must be wondering where they are…"

"You're right, we should go, Midii…"

As they started to walk back, Midii mused on how he never told her that woman's name. She would find out later.

They walked back to civilization, holding each other's hands, Trowa finding comfort in her kind, considerate company, and looking up at the heavens silently, grateful for that day he could pour out his misery.

This was beginning to look a lot like the start of a long friendship, and possibly something more.

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Does the dandelion scene sound familiar? I got the idea from Fahrenheit 451. Nope, it's not mine!

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Craziereggie392@aol.com