Title: Mirrors
Author: Daine Artillo
E-mail: atia@crosswinds.net
Rating: high PG (violence - no more than what is in the show)

Part Six: Premonition of the Tempest

Wufei woke up breathing heavily. The room had chilled during the night, and his short breaths came out in puffy white clouds. He shivered slightly at the changed atmosphere and looked out the window. Everything that had been outside during the night was now coated in a thick layer of ice.

The Chinese boy scanned his memory, and remembered some crackling and other sharp noises that he had heard during the night. Also plaguing his memory were thoughts of the nightmares he had dreamt. The very mention of them in his mind caused him to shake slightly.

All his dreams, all had been of Melian.

All because of that blasted occurrence last night, he thought. Wufei had no idea what had caused his strange behavior the previous evening and could not remember anything during that moment of time, but it had apparently been enough to cause Duo to worry. When he had started to be aware of his surroundings, Duo had been wounded.

Wish I could have seen that. Wufei thought in a somewhat amused manner. He had Duo were friends, though both loathed admitting it at times. However, that did not stop the fact that Wufei would like to sometimes beat the crud out of the American.

His thoughts once again began to turn to his dead wife, but he pushed them aside. Melian, or rather, Nataku's memory would live on. He had nicknamed his Gundam "Nataku" after all.

Wufei pushed the bed covers to one side and pulled his bathrobe on to go downstairs to breakfast.

¤¤¤¤¤

During breakfast, Trowa, Relena, Heero, and Duo were doing their best not to fall asleep. And, many of them were failing.

Duo heaved another huge yawn that made it look like his head would split apart from the strain.

Must…not…sleep…

Duo's head fell into his breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. Quatre glanced over in a slightly disgusted manner as Duo's snoring could be heard even through his food. Everyone else in the room simply either laughed or ignored the American's current predicament.

Trowa and Heero were also feeling the effects of last nights meeting. Heero glanced over to see if Relena was nodding off as well, but instead saw her downing cup after cup of coffee. Heero resolutely again tried to eat his eggs and ignore Duo's loud snoring, but felt like he was nodding off himself.

Relena glanced over to see Heero frozen with his usual posture and glare.

"Hey, Heero," she said, touching his arm slightly. She sweatdropped and pulled away when she realized he had fallen asleep with his eyes open.

Catherine was having a similar experience with Trowa. He had crossed his arms and closed his eyes. It was the position he was usually seen in, but every so often, she heard him snoring lightly. She too decided to leave him alone.

¤¤¤¤¤

After breakfast, everyone once again piled into the library. Because of the conditions outside, they had decided to spend another day in that particular room. Dorothy was on the floor looking at a particularly antique globe. The names and locations were very different from the modern world, but that was what made it so interesting to look at.

Everyone had once again found something to do, many of them were once again reading books on a wide range of subjects. The only ones who did not seem to be reading were Wufei, Quatre, and Dorothy herself. Quatre seemed to be thinking while sitting on one of the couches on the room and sipping his tea from breakfast. Wufei was staring at the ice-covered landscape, also seeming to be deep in thought.

The martial artist had his arms crossed with a slight frown upon his features. "I feel sorry for this Aunt Marie of yours, Hilde. There seems to have been quite a lot of destruction while we're here. With the weight of the ice from last night, those new saplings in the garden look too weak to maintain that burden for long."

Quatre jerked his head up at this comment. He seemed to slam his teacup on the saucer on the table before stalking darkly out of the room. Everyone looked up in surprise at the actions of normally quiet Quatre. Outside one of the fragile tree trunks snapped as they broke in two.

¤¤¤¤¤

Catherine, Dorothy, and Relena were cooking in the kitchen. After spending two days at the house, they had all decided that it would make it easier on all of them if they shared the cooking work. When asking Hilde to help them she had laughed slightly and declined, saying she would be more harm than help if she were to work with then.

The air in the kitchen was warm and cozy. Wafts of different scents lingered in the atmosphere, blending together to form a mixture of unique flavors.

After the hectic midnight run, Relena was half-asleep in the drowsy warmth with the effects of her morning coffee(s) wearing off. She sat at the table with one of her arms supporting her very heavy head. The tired girl fluttered her eyes open every once in a while in an effort to stay awake. Why is it all the important meetings are held during the latest hours of the night? She thought lethargically.

Dorothy and Catherine were behind her at the counter stirring together the ingredients for banana nut bread, and preparing the crust for a cherry pie. When Aunt Marie had said she had stocked up for their arrival, she had been a little too modest in her description. The cupboards were still stocked full with different editable items; it appeared that barely anything had been eaten even though they had been there for two days.

Dorothy turned with a batter-covered spoon in one hand, and a bowl full of bread mixture in the other. The oven timer had just gone off, signaling that it was time to take out the apple pie they had stuck in earlier. In her hurry, Dorothy accidentally spilled some of the bread dough on the tiled floor.

"Miss Relena! Can you get the pie?"

Relena jumped slightly and rubbed her eyes. She yawned as she said, "Sorry, what was that?"

"Get the pie, Miss Relena, please!"

Relena nodded, still somewhat asleep as she pulled out that night's desert from the oven, using a cooking mitt. However, being half-asleep, she didn't notice how close her hand was to the still scorching hot pie pan. She did realize it half a second later as she yelped.

Dorothy looked up from her position on the floor. She got up quickly and pulled Relena over to the sink where she stuck her friend's burnt hand under a current of rushing, cold, facet water. Now fully, awake, Relena sat there and grimaced slightly at the discomfort her hand was feeling.

Catherine looked at Relena's hand when they were done bathing it in cold water. Relena touched the red festering area on her hand, and cringed. Her hand seemed to be throbbing with each heartbeat. Catherine shook her head slightly. "If it's not one of the boys getting injured, it has to be one of the girls. C'mon, I've got some aloe cream upstairs in my first aid bag. It should help with the pain."

As the two girls turned to head upstairs, Dorothy yelled at them on their way out, "Send in the first person you see to help me with the plates and food!"

The two girls passed the doorways of the dining room and library, and saw Quatre walking briskly out with a book under his hand. Catherine gave him one of her heart-warming smiles. "Quatre, Dorothy needs your help in the kitchen. Would you mind?"

Instead of Quatre's usual corresponding smile, he stared at them stonily before turning and walking briskly into the kitchen. Relena and Catherine stared at him quizzically before continuing on toward Catherine's room.

¤¤¤¤¤

Dorothy once again looked up from her position on the floor, as the much-needed help entered the door.

It was Quatre.

Well, that was good, Quatre was always willing to lend a helping hand.

"Hi, Quatre," Dorothy said as she smiled and got up off the floor. "I guess that Relena and Catherine bugged you to come in and help me."

"What do you need to be done?"

Dorothy was taken aback. This isn't like Quatre, she thought, looking at the boy's all too serious face. He usually isn't that abrupt.

"Um… well, I was finishing up the cooking for today, so I guess you could carry the china out to the dining room and set up there."

Quatre simply nodded as He began to hunt around in the many cupboards for the plates. Dorothy set the bowl of batter on the counter and pointed to the counter on the boy's left. "It's that one, Quatre." Quatre grasped the metal handle on the wooden cupboard door, and pulled it open. He quickly braced his hands against the large pile of plates as they threatened to tumble down and break. Dorothy headed quickly over to help him.

While Quatre continued to hold the plates in place, Dorothy swiftly took a handful of the plates down and set them on the counter top.

Once the plates were neatly stacked again in the cupboard, Quatre took nine of the plates and prepared to carry them out to the dining room table.

"Be careful, Quatre," Dorothy called out. "We don't want any other accidents this morning." Like Miss Relena's hand, she thought. "Especially since those plates look somewhat brittle."

Dorothy returned to the task of stirring the remaining batter in the bowl as Quatre glared at her briefly before leaving the kitchen. She paused from stirring when she noticed the book that Quatre had left on the counter. She picked it up and looked at it.

Jumping slightly, Dorothy thought, The History of War and Conflicts?!

¤¤¤¤¤

Trowa and Heero had challenged each other to a chess match after dinner. Since it had begun to storm again, the guests had to be confined to activities indoors. Much like the last two days, a chess match between two of the Gundam pilots was the most excitement that was going on at the moment.

Wufei watched with great interest, as did Quatre. During one point in the game, one of Heero's knights was in a position where it was going to be captured by Trowa's bishop. If Heero moved that piece, his king would be in check. Wufei observed the current situation on the board and shook his head slowly.

"It seems that your knight is going to bring you destruction, Yuy. It's much like the weak link in a chain."

Quatre, who was leaning against the left side of the fireplace's mantle, regarded his three comrades. As he stood to apparently leave the room, the knuckles on his hands were turning white from him clenching them so tightly.

Everyone watched him leave in a puzzled manner, much like they had that morning.

Relena looked at Heero, who was still at the chessboard, with a grim look on her face. They knew who was the next victim.

¤¤¤¤¤

Quatre plopped himself angrily on his bed. Weak. That was what the others had always thought of him. The weak pilot; the one who needed assistance or saving. He stared resolutely at his bag and smiled eerily. They had always thought of him as a pacifist, well…

The dresser across the room that sported the mirror reflected Quatre. The image in the mirror matched Quatre's smile.

¤¤¤¤¤

Duo looked out the doorway that Quatre had just exited out of. He was not sure about the others, but he knew what would be coming next. And since it seemed that each switching got worse, who knew what would happen this time. He got up as well and headed toward the upstairs where the bedrooms were. He barely noticed when Trowa, Heero, and Relena followed him.

The others remaining in the room looked around uncomfortably at the fact that more of their comrades had left, but did not seem to move from their positions around the room. Wufei shrugged slightly. "Maxwell probably pulled some prank in one of the rooms."

¤¤¤¤¤

Quatre lifted his head at the sounds of feet on the floorboards. They were coming. He smiled slightly as the shadows in the room hid most of his features. Clutching something to his chest, he stood up and hid himself on the right side of the door so they would not see him upon entering.

¤¤¤¤¤

Not really caring about etiquette or manners, Duo barged into Quatre's room. Everyone else who had accompanied him up the stairs soon followed. However, Quatre was no where in sight.

Duo looked around quizzically. Where'd he go? Heero, who was the next one in the room, also looked around. A slight click to the right of them answered their question.

¤¤¤¤¤

Relena stopped abruptly at what she saw. Quatre was holding a semi-automatic handgun. And he was pointing it at them. She knew he would do something unexpected, but she had not ever thought Quatre would ever do something like this.

"Quatre! What are you…"

Quatre's figure was still shrouded by shadow as he said, "I know what you think, 'Better be careful, Quatre might not be able to handle this. Send one of the others.' 'Quatre's so weak, he wouldn't be able to do this mission correctly.' Well, I'll show you I'm not weak!"

"No, Quatre," Trowa interrupted quietly. "That's not what we think at all."

"Quiet!" Quatre fired the gun off at Trowa. The taller boy barely managed to dodge the bullet. Not much sound was heard because of the silencer the gun sported. Heero reached for his own gun, but was quickly stopped by the smoking barrel of Quatre's gun pointed at him.

"Don't even think about it, Heero," Quatre said coldly. His tone of voice reminded Heero slightly of when the Arabian had first experienced the ZERO system.

¤¤¤¤¤

Hilde looked into the mirror in the library. For a brief moment, the images in it seemed to become blurred, forming a whole new image. It stayed that way for a moment before the reflection of the library quickly returned. Hilde looked back down at her book in a satisfied manner.

¤¤¤¤¤

Trowa slowly picked himself off the ground as he prepared himself to deal with this latest threat.

"Quatre…" Trowa looked up and saw Relena walking slowly toward the other boy. Heero grabbed her left wrist and tried to pull her back, but the look Relena gave him caused the soldier to let her go.

"You know that we have never thought you were weak," she said to Quatre.

He shifted his aim toward the slowly advancing girl. "Better not do that Miss Relena," Quatre said in an almost amused manner. "I know that you're not stupid enough to do this."

Relena seemed to ignore him. "We all have our bad sides, Quatre, our negative emotions. Whether we realize it or not. We just need to learn how to deal with them."

The gun started to shake slightly as Quatre's blank eyes never left Relena. The girl shuttered slightly at the sight, but never faltered. She continued to slowly walk one step at a time, her heart beating loudly in her ears, and her sweaty hands clenched.

"Please, Quatre, don't let you're bad side control you. You know that you are much stronger than that."

Quatre's hands began to tremble even more. Relena smiled slightly at him. "You were strong enough to master the ZERO system, right? No 'weak' person could ever manage to do that."

The gun lowered as Quatre seemed to stare at the ground. Heero wasted no time and rammed into his comrade in a mad struggle for the weapon. The blond's eyes seem to flicker, reflecting the light, then swallowing it as he fought Heero.

A line of blood streaked across Heero shoulder as the silencer quieted all sounds that the handgun would make. Quatre blinked suddenly, his eyes bright, and clutched his head as a massive wave of pain erupted through his mind. Heero unloaded the gun and wiped the drops of blood of his shoulder.

¤¤¤¤¤

"So you're saying that it's happened to everyone now?" Quatre asked from his position at the foot of the bed. After the latest incident, the four teenagers who had held their meeting last night decided that more input on the matter would help, and had told Quatre everything.

"Yeah, except me," Duo said. He glanced nervously at the mirror/dresser combination and looked back at the small group of people. "Could we… cover that up?"

Quatre nodded and tossed him one of his spare shirts. Securely covering the mirror, the braided boy rejoined the group.

Everyone silently thought over the information they had managed to gather. They knew Duo was the next, and last, target, but when?

Quatre broke the silence by yawning rather loudly. When everyone looked at him, he blushed slightly. "Sorry. All this chaos is wearing me out."

"And they thought we'd have a chance to unwind here," Heero snorted.

Something about that comment caused everyone to loosen up, and almost all of them started laughing. While everyone else was still chuckling, Trowa glanced at his wristwatch. It was 11:00.

¤¤¤¤¤

Duo tossed and turned. Before he had gone to bed, he had been sure to cover his own mirror. He and the others knew that he was the only one left, but they did not know when.

The sheets tangled him and rubbed against his skin, causing him to feel like he was tied to a blazing inferno. Over his bare arms and legs, a red flush could be seen from his discomfort.

All of them. Everyone had changed, all had been affected. But why? The tangled web of information that they had did not seem to connect properly. Who was behind this? What where their motives? And, more importantly, when would they strike next?

Hilde. It had all begun with Hilde. But, she could not be behind this. She was just affected like the rest of them… right? But why had she not changed back yet? All the others had changed back sooner or later, Quatre's switching being the longest.

Duo sighed. There were so many questions, and unsolved parts to this mystery. He knew he would not be able to sleep with the feeling that someone was out to get him, but he continued lying there. He did not even bother to untangle himself from the sheets.

His mind continued to spindle the jumbled thoughts like separate strands of delicate threads. There had to be a reason, a connection somewhere. All that was needed was the final thread.

He idly thought back to the very first day and all that had gone. Let's see, on the car ride up. Something happened… Hilde… I… I upset Hilde! Duo thought hard. It was that night he had found her in the mirror room. She had acted coldly toward him the rest of that day, but her behavior became abnormal after she had been in the mirror room.

Something Relena said popped into his mind. "We all have our bad sides, our negative emotions. Whether we realize it or not. We just need to learn how to deal with them."

Duo sat there for a moment and frowned. Why had he thought of that? It did not have anything to do with Hilde's strange behavior…

Then, his mind placed it together. The web work was complete.

¤¤¤¤¤

Duo's body jerked up in bed as if conducting lightning as he struggled to emerge from the captive sheets. He tumbled to the ground in the process, but was freed from the entangling material. A jarring, angry sting in his shoulder reminded him of his flesh wound as his bandaged arm scrapped roughly against the ground. Cursing softly, he got up and ran with blinding speed toward the mirror room.

¤¤¤¤¤

All the other guests in their respective rooms jerked awake. Something was going on, and they were needed. For a split second, they heard the sound of running echoing the hallway, and they wasted no time in leaving their rooms and following.

¤¤¤¤¤

Duo took no notice of the open door as he barged into the room of mirrors. His mind registered some surprise when he saw Hilde standing there, facing the doorway, but not much. Soon after, his other friends arrived in a jumbled, out of breath heap at the doorway.

Hilde's countenance now sported a mysterious smile. "You've finally come." She walked toward Duo who seemed rooted to the ground. Waving her hand like some unknown signal, the door shut and an eerie glow filled the room. It was the light of the candles, but none of them in the mirror room was lit. Only the reflections showed light. All the candles in the reflection except one on the right side of the door. In the mirror room, the candle on the right side of the door was the only one lit.

Duo turned around as if to ask for help from his other friends, but saw them banging on air with their mouths moving like they were speaking. Hilde did nothing as he walked over and put his hand out; he felt a solid barrier that was invisible, although there was no reasonable explanation for how it was there.

Whipping back around, he saw Hilde with the same expression on her face. "Now we can finish this."

The figure that this Hilde had so often conversed with entered the room. He was no longer covered in shadow.

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-Daine
Written 7-23-00

Disclaimer: All characters, trademarks, etc. of Gundam Wing are copyright of Sunrise, Sotsu Agency, Bandai and others. All story content is copyright of Daine. Please ask before using.