Chapter 1
AN: I want to thank my good friends Lady and Hilde for helping me out on this sequel. Hilde deserves the credit for all the wedding plans and details and Lady helped out with Catrina’s appearance, disappearance, and part of the parrot idea. Please send me comments at catrina_winner@sailormoon.com!!!
Six Months Later
People all over the nation were turning their televisions to the international news report. An overly happy reporter came on, his fake smile lighting up millions of screens around the world.
“On our top story tonight, one of the colonies hero’s, Gundam pilot of 02, will be wed at the restored Maxwell Church on colony L2. Duo Maxwell and Hilde Schbeiker are two of the few people that helped end the war single-handedly. Duo Maxwell was adopted and raised in the original Maxwell Church by Father Maxwell and Sister Helen. Sadly, the Church, and his home, was destroyed by the Alliance in AC 187. Today, we see…” The camera panned out to a view of the beautiful church. The reporter’s voice continued on, speaking about the background of the Maxwell Church and its history. However, at the Maxwell Church, no one was paying any heed.
“Quatre! If you make my tie any tighter, you’ll kill me!” Duo hollered. “Ouch!”
“Sorry, Duo, but you want to look good for Hilde, don’t you?” Quatre asked sweetly.
“What?!? Of course I do! What kind of a question is that?” Duo grumbled.
“Weakling!” Wufei muttered from a corner.
“HEY! I don’t see you getting married here!” Duo gasped as Quatre again pulled the tie too tight. “Quatre…can’t breathe….Thanks…” Duo said as Quatre loosened his grip. “So anyway…Wufei, when ya going to ask Sally? You know you want to…”
“QUEIT MAXWELL!! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU MESSING AROUND IN MY PERSONAL LIFE!!” Wufei yelled rather loudly.
“So…it’s personal is it?” Duo asked, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. Wufei did a serious blush and turned to face the wall. Duo would have burst out laughing, if Quatre wasn’t trying to fix Duo’s tie again.
*********
“Where’s the bouquet?”
“Hem adjustment! Hem adjustment!"
“Hey, those shoes don’t match!”
“Where are the rose petals? We need the rose petals!”
Hilde rolled her eyes. These ladies were nuts. She glanced over at Sally Po who looked down and met her gaze.
“Remind me not to hire these ladies for my wedding,” she said to Hilde.
“Oh? Planning on a wedding soon, then?” Hilde grinned.
“You bet. Wufei’s close to cracking. You can see it in the twitch of his eyes.”
Hilde giggled, “Well, good luck.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Sally smiled mischievously. “Sometimes, hon, it takes more then ‘good luck’ to get Wufei to do something.” Hilde couldn’t stop laughing. Catherine scurried by quickly. She waved as she ran past them. Hilde raised a hand in acknowledgment when several indistinct blurs of color tore past her.
“Flower girls!!”
“Rose petals cannot just walk away!! Where are they?”
“Camera’s! Over here!”
“Media, media, media, media, media…”
“Where’s the bride?”
At this last remark, Hilde gulped and slid into the shadows. They probably wanted to stick her full of pins again. Sally stepped towards them, hiding Hilde behind her and pointed down the hall.
"The bride went down there just a few minutes ago.”
“Thank you!” the coordinator said breathlessly. She and her minions ran off down the winding hallway.
“Baka’s…” Sally mumbled. Hilde nodded in agreement.
“Thanks. I find that those ladies are remarkably like the ancient dinosaur, the Raptor.”
“I agree. Anyway, it wasn’t any problem,” Sally returned, waving her hands in the air. Lady Une marched up to them. Her hair was hanging down about her shoulders and her bridesmaid’s dress swirled about her knees.
“Hello, Lady. How are you?” Hilde said.
“We…I mean…I’m fine…” she replied slowly. “Do you know where Master Treize is?”
“Of course. He should be down the hall with the other men, helping Duo get ready,” Sally informed her.
“Thank you very much. He forgot his rose and I would see him without it. You understand, don’t you?” she asked, smiling. Sally and Hilde blinked and nodded, though they had no idea what Une was talking about.
“Oh, and by the way, have you seen my glasses anywhere?” Sally and Hilde sweatdropped.
“Er…nope, sorry…”
“Oh, well. Master Treize probably has them anyway…” Lady Une turned and walked down the hall, her high heels clicking smartly on the tiled floor. At that exact moment someone began to yell about business from the room Duo was in.
“That sounded a lot Wufei,” Hilde observed. “I wonder what Duo has done now?”
“Well, if I’m not mistaken, he’s probably teasing him over the wedding,” Sally replied.
“Yes, you’re most likely right. Maybe one of us should go check on them.”
“I’ll go,” Sally volunteered. “Will you be all right?”
“Sure, I’ll be fine.”
“Good. And remember, if any of those ladies come after you with a pin or scissors…run for you’re life.” Smiling, Sally made her way to the door that Lady Une just entered.
Hilde grinned and leaned back against a doorway to watch the Church being displayed on every channel. Funny, watching your own wedding on television, she thought to herself. Then, she turned to find her shoes and begin the happiest moments of her life.
*********
Soft strains of music began to play. Everyone’s eyes were glued to where the bride was to emerge. Duo fidgeted nervously. Mariemaia came out and began to toss flowers. Then, the bridesmaids marched happily up the aisle. Each one was wearing a knee-high, light blue dress, and a blue flower beret in her hair. The men all wore the traditional black suits and looked exceedingly uncomfortable in them. Heero watched Duo from beneath his bangs as he escorted Sally up the aisle. He was not happy, because for the past hour, hairdressers had been trying to comb his hair back, with no luck. Heero, in the end, had told each stylist individually that he would kill them, and left.
Hilde finally emerged from the back with Treize at her arm and started up the aisle. Duo’s mouth fell open. Hilde looks hot, he thought happily. Her dress clung to her perfectly, complementing her well-formed curves. A petite bow hung from its back and a thin white veil hid her blushing face from Duo. In her hands, she clutched a bouquet of roses. They finally reached the altar and Duo. Duo reached out his hands for Hilde’s.
The priest began. As Hilde and Duo said their vows, they both glowed with a positive happiness and contentment that could be matched by no one else in the room. They gazed into each other’s eyes, each filled with a joy neither could explain.
“You may now kiss the bride,” the priest’s voice broke their thoughts. Duo flung back the veil and pulled Hilde towards him. Rose petals drifted from the ceiling to land all around them. The forty Maguanacs cheered. Quatre’s present twenty-nine sisters began to cry. Lady Une sniffled and looked over at Treize who was…stuffing rose petals into his pockets.
“Treize?! What are you doing?” she whispered to him. Treize winced when he realized that he had been caught and shrugged cutely.
“Um…free bath scent?” he replied. Lady had to struggle to not burst out laughing. Senna and Zechs were staring at Duo and Hilde, who were still kissing.
“Don’t they have to come up for air?” Noin asked. Zechs just kept staring.
“Disgusting…” he finally muttered.
*********
The reception was beautiful. People danced under the swirling lights of The Plaza’s roof. Hilde was basking in the complements and Duo was eyeing the cake and gifts. Soon the time came for dinner. Duo gladly ate everything within reach and then some, while Hilde just watched him. The time came to cut the cake and Duo began to grin evilly at Hilde.
“Here you go, sir,” one of the waiters said as they handed Duo a small slice of chocolate cake. Duo’s grin widened and he swiftly squished the cake into Hilde’s face.
“DUO!!!” she squealed.
“Hil…Hilde y…you should h…ha…have s…seen the l…l…..loo, on your face…w…when…MRMPH!!” Duo’s laughter was smothered by a rather large piece of cake being smashed into his face. “HEY!” Hilde just laughed as her little chocolate-covered Shinigami sputtered.
“Stupid onna,” Wufei muttered from his seated position. “I cannot believe that they are married and going to have l…little…ch…children…” Wufei’s eyes dilated and he began to drink glasses of wine in rapid succession. Sally grabbed the wine away from him when he finished the second bottle in less then thirty seconds and reached for a third.
“WOMEN! YOU WILL GIVE THAT BACK TO ME!” he hollered. Sally leaned over and began to whisper in his ear. Wufei’s eyes grew rather large and unfocused as she continued to talk. Sally smiled and leaned back. Her job was done.
*********
The party continued until Hilde decided that it was time to throw the bouquet and garter into the crowds. Duo took extreme pleasure in the garter-getting business, while Hilde just blushed the entire time. Duo then stood at the front of the room and waited while all the single men gathered behind him. Heero was the only one who didn’t move from his seat.
Grinning, the God of Death took careful aim and let the lacy garter fly. It was right on target. It smacked the unprepared Heero directly in the forehead and looped one of his bangs before falling into his lap. Heero shot Duo the famous Death Glare and proceeded to stuff the garter into his pocket. Duo’s smile widened. He didn’t kill me and he kept it! If only Catrina were here to catch the bouquet. Then we could have some real fun…
Every girl (single or not) took one look at Heero with the garter and decided that they would be the one to catch the bouquet. They clawed at each other, trying to get the best place to stand. Hilde swallowed. She would have to throw the bouquet far behind her unless she wanted those girls to attack her. A small hint of movement up in a balcony caught her attention. No way…
Smiling happily, Hilde tossed the bouquet the high into air. It soared over the heads of the drooling girls as they lunged and scrambled to reach it. Not one of them could have reached it. Higher and higher it flew, until it reached the doorway on the second floor. A slender hand clothed with a white glove slipped from the shadows and gracefully caught the rose bouquet in midair. Gasps sounded from around the room as the bouquet was drawn back into the dark, where the mysterious shadow turned and entered the room that was behind her. Hilde’s smile turned into a bit of a frown. Why didn’t she come down?
Heero, who had been waiting for his fate to be determined and trying to decide whether to run or simply self-destruct when it was, watched the hand catch the bouquet and the shadow disappear. Who could have caught that? he wondered. Very few that I know could do that…and they’re all down here with me. He continued to stare where the figure had once stood.
“Heero, you idiot! Go after her!” Duo yelled at him from somewhere across the room. Heero blinked. Duo obviously knew who the shadow was.
“HEERO, YOU BAKA!! GO AFTER HER!!” Duo hollered. Heero over at Duo for a long time.
“Who?” he asked. Duo facefaulted.
“CATRINA!!!” Heero looked as close to shocked as Heero can get.
“Why?”
“AHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Duo screamed.
“Fine.” Heero turned and began to make his way up the stairs. He swung open the door to the room Catrina had disappeared in to. No one was in the room, but the window was wide open. He climbed through and down the side of the hotel, ending in a large garden. There was no sign of Catrina anywhere.
Heero walked onward. The path curved around a large lilac bush and as he rounded it, he saw a breathtaking sight. Willow trees hung about an ordinate fountain. Rose bushes ringed the fountain and a single bench. And on that bench, Catrina sat. Her hair was down and blowing about her shoulders. It glistened in the soft moonlight. She wore a long, sleeveless dress that matched her emerald green eyes. White gloves covered her long, slender arms and stopped just above the elbow. She was smiling at him.
“Hello, Heero. How have you been?” she looked him up and down.
Heero just gave her a cold stare. “Where were you?”
“Why? Did you miss me?” she asked sweetly.
Heero blinked in surprise. Where did she get these ideas? he wondered. She just continued to smile at him.
C’mon Heero, aren’t you going to talk to me?” Catrina asked. “Come and sit by me,” she patted the bench next to her. Heero moved over and placed himself on the bench. He looked over at her. She looked beautiful in her dress with the moonlight haunting her features and her smooth hair.
“Where were you?” he asked again.
“I had to work. You know how that goes. Just another mission,” she waved a hand in the air, dismissing the subject.
“I just don’t want you to get hurt again,” Heero said.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I…quit the Preventors with a better future in mind,” she leaned over on his shoulder as she spoke. Without even realizing it, he slid an arm around her bare shoulders.
“Are you cold?” he asked her.
“No…” she mumbled. They sat together for a long while until Catrina sat up again and began to gaze at the stars. Her eyes shone darkly as the moonlight reflected off them, making them depthless pools of darkness. Heero watched her for a long time before deciding to speak again.
“Catrina…”
“Yes, Heero?” Heero knew that Hilde had probably told her everything that she knew about his past, but he still knew nothing about Catrina or the life she had led before he had met her.
“What was your past like?” he asked her.
“My past?” Heero nodded. “Well…My mother was Elizabeth Winner. She worked as an Emergency Response Doctor in a rebel camp. We lived together on the Earth in this camp. I was her only daughter. The rebel camp had been plotting to go against the United Earth Sphere Alliance for quite awhile. I grew up with soldiers and weapons all around me. My mother was a sweet woman and made sure that I never wanted anything. We were very close. Then one day, right after I had turned six, the UESA discovered the camp and sent mobile suits to stop us. They killed several of our group. I had been outside the camp at the time. I saw the mobile suits come and go, watched my home be destroyed. When I was able to reenter the camp, no one was there. Most were dead. It took me a long time to find my mother. She was injured beyond help and was dying. She told me…before she died, that I was a very special girl and would always be loved, no matter where I went. Then she gave me her bracelet. I haven’t taken it off since she put it in my hand,” Catrina halted for a moment and held up her arm. The bracelet that dangled from it was interlocking chain link made from pure sliver. A single charm dangled from it. It was in the shape of a tear, with an emerald inset in the shape of the tear. “After she handed this to me…she…” Catrina stopped speaking again. Heero touched her face lightly. She looked over at him.
“I left the base then and went to live among the street children in the Florence City. Most of my days were spent looking for food. At night, I would hide out in the library until it had closed, and then I would eat whatever food I had. That was how I got an education. I had to teach myself everything with the books that they had there. Luckily, I enjoyed reading and found it was a good way to pass the long nights. I had no home until I turned eight. That was when I was finally caught reading late at night by a guard. The guard took pity on me and brought me home. He fed me and allowed me to stay the next few weeks at his home. He got me a job with his company as a nighttime guard at the library. My employers were never told how young I was. That way I got to continue my studies and get paid for doing it. I began to save up my money that I earned from the job so I could take a DNA test and see if I had any living relatives anywhere. The city I had been living in was targeted for destruction by the UESA because they thought there was another rebel group forming within it when I was about nine or ten. I had to move again. The town I ended up in wasn’t a very busy town. I found a job at their local library, in hopes of finishing my education. I really liked the new town that I was in…I think it was called Black Raven. It was the prefect town for me to live, because no one knew about it at the time. The colonies and the UESA just left us alone because there was no threat to either side in the war. Some people there started a runaway shelter for people that had had their families destroyed. Like me. Runaways from all over came to Black Raven and our sleepy little town was beginning to be noticed by the UESA. They decided to mobilize their troops there before they went into space. I left the town, knowing that all civilians would be forced to leave soon, anyway. I was thirteen at the time. After that, I moved from town to town, never staying in the same place for very long. When the war ended, I was sixteen. Then I went to the Preventor Headquarters, in hopes of getting a job there,” Heero looked at her.
“Why the Preventors?” he asked.
“Well, for one thing I didn’t have a lot of money for the DNA test that I wanted to take as soon as I could. Working in libraries, waiting on tables, stuff like that really doesn’t bring in a lot of money. I had heard that the Preventors paid their members well. I was excepted at the age of sixteen and was just finishing my training when Endless Waltz began. Two years later, I had enough money to have the test done. Can you imagine my surprise when I discovered, after years of living below the poverty line and barely being able to afford my next meal, I was part of the richest and most influential family in the known universe. Thanks to the people at the institute and Quatre, we were able to figure out the final pieces of my past,” Catrina halted for a moment. She sighed.
“I was named after Quatrine, Quatre’s mother. She was Master Winner’s favorite wife. (AN: Arabic men can take up to four wives at a time.) My mother, Elizabeth was his second wife. Quatrine was the first in command of the children and the house. She was very kind, beautiful, and righteous. My mother and Quatrine became best friends, and for three years stayed that way. My mother left for Earth a while later to aid the people there with her medical expertise. Nine months later she had me. She didn’t want to communicate with her husband because she was afraid to give away the rebel’s location. She was going to tell the Winner family until she heard about Quatrine’s death in childbirth, when she had Quatre, several months before I had been born. My mother decided that she couldn’t tell them about me, since Quatrine had so recently died and I was named after her. It might bring out a lot of unhappiness. So they were never informed about me. Once the base was destroyed, the Winner family was told of my mother’s death, but not about me. Not one person knew that I was Elizabeth’s child, except for the soldiers that died. Moreover, I had no idea who I was because I was never told about my past and was only six, so I couldn’t remember anything either. I didn’t know anything for thirteen years. Finally, I had a family, not to mention a rich one, and thirty older siblings. When Quatre discovered that I was his little sister, he was overjoyed not to be the youngest of his family anymore. We became good friends. Then he invited me to the party to meet his friends. So, I came and met everyone, and you,” she finished.
“So that’s my history. Hilde told me what she knew of yours. I hope you don’t mind.” Heero shook his head. He knew that it was easier this way. He looked down at her.
“Heero? How long have we been out here?” she asked suddenly.
“An hour and a half,” he responded.
“Don’t you think that we should be getting back to the party? Don’t you think that they’ll start missing us soon?” Heero leaned closer to her. Catrina’s breath caught in her throat.
“I’m happy that you came back,” he whispered.
“Heero…” The kiss was so perfectly sweet that Catrina felt as if she was in heaven. Heero leaned back and stared into her eyes. They were glowing softly in the dark.
“Heero…you…you…” Heero smirked slightly at her confusion before he kissed her again. It was at this moment that Duo, sent out by his wife to find them, stumbled upon their loving moment. Amazed, he stared at his two friends kissing under the moon, before silently slipping back into the shadows and heading back inside, bursting with the news.
After the Reception
“Wow. That was a beautiful wedding,” Catrina said. She looked over at her brother.
“Did you watch the entire thing?” Quatre asked.
“Well, yeah.” Catrina shrugged. “I loved the rose petals.”
“Why didn’t you come down? We would have been happy to see you. Why did you have such a dramatic entrance?”
“Actually, I didn’t plan that. I think Hilde saw me on the balcony and decided to aid in my reappearance. Sure did make everything more interesting, though.”
“Duo told me that he saw you and Heero in the garden.”
“Did he really? I don’t remember seeing him.”
“He said that you were a bit distracted.”
“Oh?”
“From Duo’s exact words you two were sitting outside making out.”
Catrina choked. “What?! We weren’t…we didn’t…I…Heero…”
Quatre laughed. “I thought so… Anyway, it doesn’t matter, as long as you’re happy.”
“Yeah…I’m happy around here. I was wondering if I could live with you in awhile.”
“I’d love if you stayed with us.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Do you know when you’ll have to leave again?”
“Actually, I’m not leaving anymore,” she answered. “I quit.”
“You…quit…the Preventors?” Quatre gaped.
“Yep.”
“But…why? I thought you loved working with them!”
“I did…found something a bit more interesting to pursue, something more worthwhile.” she gave a lazy stretch and yawned. “Well, I should leave now.” Catrina pushed herself off the wall and began to walk away.
“Wait!” Quatre called. “Why don’t you stay?”
“I’d love to, but I’ve got a couple of loose ends to tie up before I am officially out of the Preventors. Don’t worry, though, I’ll be back in a few weeks to take you up on your extension of hospitality.”
“Okay...I guess I’ll see you soon, then…” Quatre said slowly.
“Don’t worry,” Catrina said. She walked over to him and gave him a small hug before turning and walking out into the darkness.
*********
A Year Later-Spring
Quatre sighed and looked out the window. Duo and Hilde had arrived earlier that very day, Wufei and Sally had been auguring ever since they had had walked in the door a week earlier, Trowa was his usual stoic self, and Heero hadn’t been seen much since Catrina had disappeared. It had taken a lot of tracking down and persuasion to get him out to the mansion in the first place. Quatre sighed again. If Catrina didn’t return sometime soon, Heero would probably disappear himself.
“Why so sad, Quatre?” a voice asked from behind him. He swung around to see Catrina leaning in the doorway, wearing short blue shorts, a white sweater, and her black combat boots, with her hair in the usual ponytail.
“Catrina!” Quatre exclaimed and ran over to her to embrace her in a hearty hug. Quatre smiled.
“How’ve ya been?”
“What took you so long? I hardly think that a year qualifies as a couple of weeks.”
“Yeah, I know, know…those loose ends I had to tie up took longer then I thought they would. I’m really sorry. So is everybody really here?” Catrina asked.
“Yeah,” Quatre answered.
“Ah…so where are they?”
“Well, Trowa is upstairs sleeping, Duo and Hilde are out shopping, Wufei and Sally went downtown to kick box after a particularly bad argument involving lampshades and paper clips, and Heero went into the forest down by the ocean early this morning on Kudo and no one’s seen him since.”
“Kudo? When did you get Kudo? I thought that Ash was the last horse you were going to buy. Quatre, you can’t save every poor animal you come across.”
“I know. However, Heero really liked Kudo and he seems to be the only horse that is suitable for him. All the others were to slow. Oh, and by the way, Ash is here. I hoped that you would show up and I had him brought to the stables,” Quatre explained.
“Really. Well, since Ash is here, I think I’ll go on a little ride. See you later.” Cat spun around and was down the stairs before Quatre could say anything.
“Oh boy,” he mumbled to himself. The door slammed downstairs and Quatre could Sally and Wufei downstairs. Well, there goes the quiet…he thought to himself.
“Stupid onna! It’s an injustice to be beaten you…” Wufei yelled.
“Hey! It isn’t my fault that you are so horrible at kick boxing!” Sally retorted. A choking noise floated up the steps.
“B…bad at…kick boxing? FOOLISH ONNA!!! CHANG WUFEI OF THE DRAGON CLAN IS NEVER BAD AT ANYTHING!!!” he yelled. Quatre winced.
“QUIET!!!!” Sally screamed back. Quatre whimpered. They were too loud for their own good. “If you don’t stop in ten seconds, I will not give you the gift I bought for you.”
“YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THAT CHANG WUFEI IS NOT TO BE….gift?” Wufei asked. Sally laughed.
“Yes, Wufei, I bought you a gift. It’s upstairs right now. If you hang on a minute, I’ll go and get it. You stay here. I’ll be right back…” Quatre could hear Sally’s footsteps on the stairs. This he had to see. Quatre ran downstairs and encountered an impatient Wufei.
“Where is that stupid onna, anyway? It is not as if I have a lot of time! We have things to do!” he grumbled.
“Hello, Wufei. Is something the matter?” Quatre asked.
“Yes! That ignorant onna left me down here when she went to get a ‘gift.’ It is an injustice to be forced to wait for that…that…ONNA!!” Wufei sputtered.
“Eh…Wufei? She said that she would be right back. Why don’t you sit down in the living room?” Quatre suggested.
“What?!? Sit? Why should I sit?” Wufei stormed.
“Well, you could wait for Sally there. It would be more comfortable then standing here and waiting,” Quatre finished.
“Fine…” Wufei mumbled. Quatre followed him into the living room and sat down on his leather recliner.
“Wait…you’re staying here too?” Wufei demanded.
“Of course! I want to see what Sally is giving to you. Is that all right with you?” Quatre looked over at Wufei.
“Hmph. It makes no difference to me. Weaklings…” Wufei trailed off, talking under his breath to himself. Sally entered the room at that moment carrying a rather large and bulky object covered in a sheet.
“Well, Wufei, here it is. Sorry it took me so long…” she trailed off as she saw Quatre. “Hello, Quatre. And how are you today?” She put the gift on the table before her and motioned Wufei to uncover it. Wufei walked over and pulled the sheet away from a large, wire cage.
“It’s…it’s a…” Wufei stared.
“Bird, Wufei. Bird. It’s called a parrot. And it talks too, see?” Sally leaned in towards the brightly-colored bird. “Hello…” she said to it. The bird’s head swung out of its wing to reveal bright green and red feathers.
“Hello,” it said. Wufei looked at it warily.
“It will learn anything you want it to say, as long as you say it often enough around him,” Sally explained.
“Interesting gift, onna,” he said.
“Well, Wufei, what are you going to call it?” Sally asked.
“Call it?” Sally sighed.
“Yes, Wufei. It does need a name, you know.”
“What about Buttercup?” Quatre put in.
“BUTTERCUP?!? What kind of a weakling name is that?!?” Wufei burst out.
“Well, I liked it,” Quatre began to sniffle.
“I like it too. And you can’t seem to come up with anything better, Wufei,” Sally said.
“What?! I have already picked a name for it. And, it is not a weak name like you two would call it. It is a name that is only worthy of certain objects that belong to me!” he finished.
“Really? So what is it?” Quatre grinned.
“Nataku.”
“WHAT?!? WUFEI!!!!” Sally screamed. Quatre’s mouth fell open.
“Wufei…you aren’t actually going to name it…Nataku are you?” Quatre asked.
“Of course I am! Weak fools. Shut your mouth, onna. I am now going to take Nataku upstairs and work,” with that said, Wufei picked up the cage and headed up the stairs. “I will see you at dinner,” he said over his shoulder.
*********
Catrina mounted Ash and rode out into the forest. She rode along for about an hour without seeing any signs of Heero’s passing. How could he ride that huge horse through here and not break even one branch? she wondered to herself.
The shadows began to lengthen around the estate as she continued to look for Heero. It must be seven o’clock at least. I wonder where he could have gone…Catrina sighed. Maybe he had already left. Oh, well, I’m sure that he’ll show up tonight. She spun Ash around and gave him his head. Ash bolted off towards the mansion. Catrina leaned over his back and enjoyed the rush of wind over her. They arrived back at the mansion just before the sun set.
After giving Ash to one of Quatre’s stable hands, Catrina entered a large garden near the side of the house. She climbed into one of the large oak trees and leaned back against its rough bark, watching the last trailers of the sun fade into the night.
Later
“Catrina? Are you out here?” Quatre called into the darkness. “Dinner’s ready!” He glanced about. The garden was pitch black. But then, Catrina liked the dark. Heero still hadn’t come back and Quatre was beginning to worry that he had left. Wouldn’t that be an odd twist of fate, he thought. He moved deeper into the black, continuing to call for his sister.
“Catrina? Where are you? Catrina?” A soft thump came from behind him.
“What Quatre?” Catrina’s voice asked.
“Catrina?” Quatre asked while turning. She was bathed in the moonlight and you could see her obvious displeasure at being disturbed in the very way that she held herself.
“What is it? I’m busy,” she said.
“Dinner is ready,” Quatre said.
“I’m not hungry.” Catrina leapt up and disappeared into the trees above.
“What? Hey! Catrina! Come back down here!” Quatre called up to the sky. His only answer was a soft rustling of leaves and needles.
“Quatre?” He turned around and saw Trowa standing in the doorway.
“Over here, Trowa!” he called. Trowa walked over.
“Did you find her?” he asked.
“Yes. Sort of. She said she wasn’t hungry and left,” Quatre explained.
“Has Heero come back yet?”
“No. Do you think that he’s left?”
“Maybe. We’ll see soon.” Trowa turned back and made his way to the door. Quatre followed him slowly, looking back in hopes that his sister would change her mind and come inside the house for dinner after all. But he had no such luck.
*********
Morning (One A.M.)
Duo crept from the bedroom that he and Hilde shared into the room across the hall. Wufei’s room.
Wufei had showed them all the parrot earlier after dinner. Catrina never showed. Sally refused to come down to watch. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Wufei had named the parrot Nataku. Duo had liked the parrot immediately. Too bad that all Wufei had planned for it was a lifetime of justice rants. He opened the door to the room and whistled softly.
“Here birdy…” ‘Nataku’ flew over to Duo and they left the room. Duo headed down the hall to a vacated room.
“Injustice! On the grave of the great Nataku I will have revenge! Weak onna. Awk! Weak. Awk. Weak.”
“Shut up you! Wufei sure doesn’t waste any time. I wonder how many rants he’s taught you already,” Duo mumbled aloud.
“KISAMA MAXWELL!!” the bird cried. Duo jumped.
“Shut up!!! Geez, Wufei taught you to hate me too? I’m touched. Now, then, we need to repay Wufei for this gracious favor,” Duo said and swung open the door to the empty room.
*********
Quatre yawned and walked into the dining room. The cook was finishing breakfast in the other room and the others should be down soon. He had heard Catrina come in sometime late last night, but hadn’t heard Heero return.
Upstairs the others were stirring. Well, most of the others.
“Duo…wake up!” Hilde yelled at her husband. Duo snored on. “Fine,” she mumbled. Walking into the bathroom, she got a glass of ice water. “This oughta wake him up.” Hilde moved over to the bed. “Last chance, Duo. Wake up.”
Hilde shrugged. “Oh, well. I tried,” she said before pouring the cold water over Duo’s head. Duo let out a loud shriek.
“HILDE!! What was that for?” he asked a laughing Hilde. “That was cold.”
“Yes, but if I hadn’t done that, you would have missed breakfast and I know that you would never want to miss breakfast. Even if you did have to have a bit of a cold shower,” Hilde smiled. “I’m right though, aren’t I? Now, if you don’t hurry and get dressed, there’ll be no food left for us downstairs.”
“Food? What time is it anyway?” Duo asked. “Have the others already gone downstairs?” I hope Wufei hasn’t asked his parrot anything today, Duo thought. I want to see him when he discovers that I taught his parrot some new words…
As Duo and Hilde left their room, they saw Catrina exiting her room.
“Hey Catrina! How’re you this morning?” Duo called over to her. Catrina barely looked up. “Well?” She sighed.
“Fine, Duo,” she sighed again. “Just fine.”
“I think that she misses Heero,” Duo whispered to Hilde.
“Obviously. If only there was something we could do to cheer her up,” Hilde mused.
“I’ve got something…” Duo said, “Hey Catrina! You seem down in the dumps, but I have a favor to ask of you,” Duo called to the retreating Catrina.
“What?”
“Would you come with me and Hilde to Wufei’s room? I have to talk to him.”
“Why not? I have nothing else to do,” she mumbled before following him to his door. Duo began to knock on the door.
“Wufei? Um…breakfast is ready! Can we come in?” he yelled through the wood.
“Quiet, Maxwell,” Wufei’s angry voice called from the other side.
“Why Wu-man? Sally in there?” Duo teased.
"NO! Nataku won’t talk today….” Wufei said. Duo snickered.
“Let me come in and see it. I’m sure that I know what is wrong with it!” Duo smiled.
“Fine. I say this against my better judgment, though.” Wufei opened the door. Duo marched inside. Catrina stayed behind Hilde, looking at Heero’s door. So much that she didn’t even notice the parrot. When she did turn around she still couldn’t see it because Duo’s body now blocked it.
“Time to shine,” Duo whispered to the bird. “Well, Wufei, all you have to do is say ‘hello’ and everything will be fine again,” he pronounced.
“Hello,” Wufei said to the bird.
“Hey Wufei, wanna shake the cage?” the bird squawked back. Wufei blanched. Catrina stared. Duo crumpled onto the floor in laughter. Hilde watched Duo thoughtfully, wondering how to save his life after Wufei got over the initial shock.
“No….NO!!!” Catrina yelled, leaping backward. Heero decided to reappear at that exact moment in Wufei’s doorway, causing Catrina to tumble into him and knock them both to the floor, Catrina on top of Heero. Catrina, who appeared to be terrified of the brightly colored bird, hung on to Heero for dear life. Heero, for his part, seemed hardly surprised.
“Wufei, put the bird away. Catrina is scared of parrots,” Heero said in a dull voice. He picked the terrified Catrina up. “She had a bad experience with one when she was younger.” He looked down at her. She had cuddled up into his chest, hiding her face from the brightly-colored bird. Wufei hadn’t moved, still staring at Nataku. Duo was laughing head off and Hilde was staring at Heero and Catrina.
Downstairs – Dinner
“Where’s the food?” Quatre asked.
“Here it is. Sorry for the delay, Master Quarter,” a young maid placed the platter on the table and served each person. Trowa eyed his plate, then began to eat without looking up again. Duo and Hilde burst into giggles.
“We’ll have salad,” they said in between fits of laughter. Heero, who was sitting next to a still distraught Catrina, watched Duo and Hilde then looked at the meant. Duo and Hilde then the meat. Duo and Hilde then the meat. Duo. Hilde. Meat. Duo. Hilde. Meat. And then he looked up.
“I’ll also have a salad,” he said. Catrina poked at the meat with her fork for a moment.
“What is this?” she asked Heero.
“You don’t want to know. Here.” He pushed his salad closer to her.
“Thanks,” Catrina said, and began to eat.
“Hey this is really good! What is it?” Quatre asked the maid.
“Oh…it is a rare and mysterious bird that can only be found in…” she trailed off as Quatre began turning green.
“WUFEI, YOU DIDN’T!!!” Sally yelled. Wufei looked slowly down at his salad. Heero and Catrina looked at each other, shrugged, and continued to eat Heero’s salad together.
“That poor birdy…he never did anything to us,” Quatre sniffled.
“It’s all right, Quatre,” Trowa said, patting his friend on the shoulder.
“Yeah, Quatre. He went to a better place. By now, there must be a separate heaven for Nataku’s. And the bird will go there and eat seeds with Shenlong and fly around the world with Altron and…” Duo continued on. Quatre burst into tears.
“It’ll be okay,” Trowa said. Then he held up his plate. “Seconds?”
Wufei, dressed in the traditional Chinese mourning outfit, bowed his head towards the grave. Sally, who had been drinking hard liqueur since Wufei had given Nataku to the cook, watched Wufei for a moment before bursting into giggles. He began to mumble in Chinese about the great Nataku.
He looks so sad… Maybe I should cheer him up! Sally thought. She walked over towards him, stumbled on her outfit, (which was also traditional), and landed on Wufei’s shoulder. He looked over at her, clearly confused and angry at the interruption in the ceremony.
“Nataku went to a good use,” she hiccuped. “It was real yummy.”
“ONNA!!!” Wufei yelled. “Do not talk about the great and honorable Nataku in such a way!” He looked at her more carefully. “Onna, are you drunk?” Sally didn’t answer. She just stared straight ahead.
“It was a pretty birdy, wasn’t it?” she asked suddenly.
“Quiet, onna!” Behind the arguing couple, Quatre looked over at Trowa.
“This is really sad!” he exclaimed. Trowa patted his shoulder.
“Are they almost done? I’m hungry!” Duo complained.
“Here,” Hilde said and handed her husband a candy bar.
“Thanks, Hilde-babe….” Duo said before directing his energy towards the food. Heero and Catrina stood farthest away from the group.
“I am really bored,” Catrina grumbled. “It’s cold outside, Wufei is sticking an empty casket in the ground because Trowa ate the entire bird, and I don’t even understand what he’s saying because I don’t know Chinese.” Heero put his coat around her shoulders.
“Thanks, Heero,” Catrina said. The wind blew, sending rain into their faces. “He sure picked a fine day to hold a funeral, didn’t he?” She shivered.
“Let’s go,” Heero monotoned.
“But…what about Wufei? And the ceremony?” Cat asked.
“Do you really want to stay?”
“Um…no, not really. But what about the others?”
“They can fend for themselves.”
“Yes, I suppose so,” Catrina said. They turned and began to walk away. They got about ten feet before Duo finished his candy bar and began to focus on the others again.
“HEY!! They’re trying to escape! And they’re leaving us behind!” Duo yelled. Two bullets brushed past either side of his head.
“Duo, honey, don’t provoke them. Especially when they are trying to go somewhere,” Hilde said, tugging Duo towards her and away from Heero and Catrina.
Next Day
“This place is sooo boring!” Duo groaned, while hanging over the side of the couch. “No offense, Quatre….”
“None taken. Besides, I agree. We should go out and do something today,” Quatre stated.
“What, though? The nearest town is…” Duo blinked and began to count on his fingers. “Er…really, really far,” he finished.
“We could take my helicopter,” suggested Quatre.
“I heard that a new ice rink has opened. It’s in the mall,” Sally put in.
“And I do need a new pair of shoes,” Hilde looked at her tattered sneakers.
“Yeah, and I need a new vest,” Quatre said. “So it’s decided! I’ll go get Rashid to and have him prepare the helicopter.”
At the Mall
“Well, we’re here!” Quatre said happily.
“Thank god…” Wufei muttered. The helicopter had been so small that no one could fit in it comfortably. Wufei and Duo had argued the entire time. Catrina and Heero just watched. Sally and Hilde were engaged in an interesting conversation about gundanium, which Quatre joined eventually. Trowa just glared at Wufei and Duo from one eye.
“What shall we do first?” Quatre asked to no one in particular. That started a long, complicated argument that would take too long to repeat but was ended when Trowa finally spoke.
“Why don’t we all just do what we want and meet somewhere later?” Dead silence.
“Er…good idea…” Duo finally said. Quatre looked around their rather large group.
“Where will we meet?” he asked.
“What about the ice rink at five?” Sally suggested.
“Okay…so, that’s it, then?” Quatre asked.
“Yep,” Hilde said. The group dispersed. Duo left for the food court, while Hilde went with Quatre and Sally to the clothing stores. Trowa went towards the stylist’s shop. Wufei was walking with Heero and Catrina until they walked past the pet store where they had a large display of parrots up. Catrina gulped and ran to the other side of the aisle way, Heero followed her, and Wufei just sorta stopped. He stood staring at birds. Catrina and Heero didn’t bother to stick around. They had an ice cream café to visit.
Ice Cream Café
“What are we going to get, Heero?” Catrina asked.
“Whatever you want.”
“Okay…” The waitress walked over and looked at them.
“What’d want?” she asked.
“A chocolate ice cream,” Catrina answered. The waitress waved her arm in the air.
“What about you?” she asked Heero. He pointed at Catrina, signaling that he wanted the same thing as her. The waitress must have been either really bored or suicidal because she asked Heero,
“What? You want her?” Heero, who was not amused by this comment, calmly reached into his jacket and pulled a gun loose. He aimed it at the waitress’s head.
“Same,” he said. Catrina stared at him for a moment.
“HEERO! You are not allowed to shoot civilians for any reason! We discussed this already!” she said, trying to pull the gun away from Heero. The waitress, who we now know to be unstable, began to talk again.
“Isn’t that cute? The girl wants his gun.” Catrina didn’t hesitate a moment before pulling her own gun out of her jacket.
“OMAE O KOROSU, BAKA!!!” she yelled, leveling the gun. She probably would have killed the girl, had Heero not decided that they didn’t want a scene, especially since they didn’t have their ice cream yet. He stopped Catrina just as she was about to pull the trigger. He then looked at the terrified waitress, who had finally got some sense and scurried off.
“Can’t you wait until after we have the food?” he asked her.
“Only this once. And only because you asked,” she responded and put the gun back in her coat. Then they sat back and awaited their ice cream.
Five O’clock
“Where is everybody? I thought that we were supposed to meet here at five,” Catrina said and looked over at Heero.
“I left good food so that we could meet nobody?” Duo complained.
“We will have to find them,” Heero commented.
“Not another ‘mission,’” Duo sighed to Catrina.
“We have to find them anyway. Let’s go,” Catrina pulled Heero in the direction of the stores. “We’ll just start walking and hope that we find them. There are only two levels here and the others might even be heading this way now. We’ll probably run into them on the way,” she said. The three started off. They passed several stores before they neared the pet shop. Catrina swallowed and walked towards the other side. That was until they saw a familiar figure standing in front of the parrot display.
“Is that Wufei? Didn’t we leave him there three hours ago?” Catrina asked. Heero nodded and Duo began to giggle. He ran ahead and leaned over Wufei’s shoulder. Catrina and Heero stayed their distance, afraid that Wufei wouldn’t appreciate Duo’s antics. Duo, however, had no such worries.
“WU-MAN!!” he yelled into Wufei’s ear. Wufei apparently didn’t notice. He was watching the employees take the parrots into the back for the night.
“Nataku…” he said quietly. Duo walked around him. Wufei seemed to be in serious trance-mode. After all the parrots had put away, Wufei turned and came face to face with Duo.
“AHHHH!! KISAMA MAXWELL!!!!” he bellowed in Duo’s face, acting on an instinct. Duo blinked and smoothed his hair back down.
“We were waiting for you,” he said as he motioned to the others. Wufei stared.
“Where is everyone else?” he asked.
“We don’t know, but we are looking for them now,” Catrina explained.
“Oh.” Wufei joined the group and began to walk.
“If we could find Trowa…” Catrina began. Heero pointed behind them. Trowa was walking along silently, glancing at the shops.
“Oh…okay…” The group moved down the wide hallway. The mall would be closing soon and they had to hurry and find the others. Well, they had to find Quatre at least so they had transportation. The band moved into a shoe store where Sally, Quatre, and Hilde had started off in. They all entered the small, modest looking store. The three were no where to be seen. Duo began to wander up and down the aisles of the store, looking like a lost puppy dog. Heero and Catrina walked up to the clerk on duty.
“Have you seen a two girls come by here? One had bluish hair and the other had a kind of honey brown hair in twists. They were with a blond male.” The clerk stared.
“Well, sorta. I saw three girls in here. One had blue hair; the other had twists, and was a blond. But the blond was a girl and not a guy. Sorry,” the clerk cracked her gum. Catrina began to look slightly angry.
“Did you talk to the blond “girl” at all?” she asked slowly.
“Hm? Oh, nope. She only talked to another one of our floor managers,” she said. Catrina sighed.
“Where did they go when they left?”
“I think they went to the right…” Catrina turned to Heero.
“I think that we found Quatre and the others,” she glared at the clerk, who was busy examining her fingernails. “That blond was a guy. You do realize this, don’t you?” she said.
“Naw, I’m sure that it was a girl.”
“That was my brother…I think that I would know whether he’s a guy or not.” Catrina was on the verge of losing it. Heero stepped in.
“Quatre is a guy,” he told her.
“You two are really weird. I know another girl when I see her. As for being your brother…I don’t think so. You too don’t even looking like. I mean, everyone…” the clerk trailed off, staring down the barrel of a handgun.
“Quatre is a boy…” Catrina hissed. The clerk swallowed her gum.
“Of course sh…he is a boy…I was only…j…joking…” the clerk said, trying to cover her mistake.
“That’s what I thought,” Catrina turned and left the store.
*********
“CATRINA!! DON’T KILL HIM!! HE DIDN’T KNOW ANY BETTER!!” Duo dove over to the counter, where Catrina was presently preparing to attack the eighteenth clerk in a row. Between the entire group, they had just managed to save everyone. Each time, however, it was closer and closer. Duo knocked the gun away from the terrified man.
“Quatre is a guy,” she said again. She had been saying the same thing for the past hour as the group had gone in to various clothing stores and shoes stores. Heero stood behind her.
“Where did they go?” he asked the clerk, who was now staring at Catrina, who was glaring at Duo, who was unloading the bullets from the gun, which he was sure he had done already. The clerk, who appeared too scared to answer, simply pointed right. The same direction they had been heading in for the past hour.
As they left the store and began to walk again, Duo leaned over and whispered to Heero, “We had better find them soon. That last one was too close a call for me.” Heero nodded. Duo sighed. He then proceeded to stub his toe on the edge of a tile and fall flat on his face.
“Ow… HIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!” Duo screamed in his squeaky voice. (The one in the episode where Deathscythe was destroyed by Trowa.) Everybody winced and covered their ears. When they opened their eyes again, they saw Hilde emerge from the clothing store next to them.
“What is it, Duo?” she asked worriedly. Duo opened one eye.
“Hilde? HILDE!!” Duo launched himself of the floor and onto Hilde. They both tumbled backward.
“If Hilde is out here, then that means Sally and Quatre must be in the store!” Catrina said. She rushed into the store, with Heero following close behind.
“I don’t see anyone…” Catrina scanned the room with her huge green eyes again. “They have to be here somewhere!” She was about to turn and leave when Sally and Quatre emerged from the back, paid for something at the front, then called over to a young man and pointed towards the exit. Suddenly, several people came out, their knees buckling with heavy packages. They trouped outside.
“Quatre!” Catrina called. Her brother looked up and walked over to her.
“Hello,” he said.
“Oh!” Sally said. “Is it almost five?”
“Sally…it’s almost eight…” Catrina showed Sally her watch.
“Oh dear, well…I guess we should leave, then.” She looked around.
“Did you guys find Wufei anywhere?”
“Yeah. He’s outside the store waiting for us,” Catrina said. “We should leave now. All the shops are closing and it will only be a matter of time before we’d get kicked out.”
OUTSIDE
The clerks walked outside and began to wander to their normal meeting place. They met outside the mall’s backdoor every night to talk about customers and boast about profitable sales. However, tonight they all seemed to be skittish and afraid of they’re very shadows. The only clerk who wasn’t the least bit jumpy was the Gap manager who had a store at the end of the mall. A place where the Gundam Wing crew had never reached.
“What’s wrong with all of you? Of wait, I know. None of you reached the profit line and you’re all scared that you’ll be fired when you tell your bosses, right?” the Gap guy said. The clerk from Payless Shoe Source stepped slowly forward.
“We were all the victims of a terrorist attack,” she said. The others nodded. “These weirdo’s came in and asked us about these people. I’m not sure what happened, but the next thing we know, the people are threatening us with our very lives,” she sniffled.
“I think that they’re still in the mall,” said another.
“We should teach them a lesson!” another voice chipped in.
“Yeah! They should never mess with us clerks!” They all raised their voices in agreement. Then they huddled in the classic planning circle and began to talk.
BACK INSIDE
“Hurry, or we’ll get kicked out!” Quatre began to walk towards the entrance.
“Finally…” Wufei mumbled. Suddenly, the Mission Impossible theme began to play over every speaker in the store.
“What’s going on?” Duo screamed. All around them, metal grates began to slide over the shop fronts. Titanium sheeting began to close over the front doors as the music played on.
“NOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Duo screamed. “YOU’LL NEVER TAKE US ALIVE!!” But, he was too late. The last sheet slammed down inches from them as they were sealed away from the outside world forever.
*********
“We’ll never get out of here…” Wufei said.
“I’m sooooo hungry…They must be planning to starve us!” Duo announced.
“It has only been ten minutes since they sealed us off, Duo,” Trowa pointed out.
“I’m kinda hungry too, though. We haven’t eaten since…awhile…” Hilde said.
“Are you really hungry?” Duo asked.
“Yeah…” she answered.
“Then I will save us all!” Duo stood up and bolted away.
“Should we stop him?” Heero asked, looking after Duo.
“No. Where there’s food involved, you can always count on Duo,” Trowa said.
In the Main Security Room
“Since when did locks become so hard to pick?” grumbled Duo as he stared at the ruined lock pick in his hand. “Oh, well. At least I’m in. Now all I have to do is figure out how to hack into the computer and I can unlock the front door,” Duo sat down on a chair and began to work.
Back with the Others
Catrina yawned. Wufei was pacing in front of them. Sally was watching Wufei (as she so often did.) Trowa and Quatre was looking over at the front doors, willing them to open with their powerful brain waves. They had no luck. Hilde was waiting patiently for Duo to return. Heero was silently leaning against one of the metal doors that separated him from a large clothing store.
“Where did Duo go?” Hilde asked. The others shrugged. Suddenly, music began to play from the speakers.
“What in the…” Wufei began.
“AHHHHHHHH!!!” Duo’s voice pronounced loudly. “What did I…AHHH! WHAT THE…” the screaming abruptly stopped. Catrina motioned Heero over to her.
“What?” Heero asked.
“Nothing,” Catrina replied.
“Then why did you call me over?”
“I think that Duo is in the main control room. I think that it would be dangerous to stay near anything that has an electric current right now. Don’t you…” he words were drowned out as Rhythm Emotion began to blare from the speaker directly over their heads. Everyone cringed and covered their ears. Abruptly, silence encased them and everyone looked about, preparing themselves for anything. Catrina and Heero backed into the middle of the aisle, trying to join the others before anything exploded. Suddenly, all of the store’s protective metal grates began to slide upward. All the stores were now open. The front door remained closed. All the alarms were off. Everything was available to them. Duo came running from around the corner.
“IT WORKED!!” he shouted. “Now, you can eat, Hilde.”
“Thanks, Duo,” Hilde replied. “How did you do it?”
“Well, I saw several clerks leaving the mall and I thought that it might be their fault that we were trapped in here. I mean, Catrina and Heero weren’t all that nice to everyone when we were looking for Quatre and the others. So, I decided that I wasn’t going to let them do that to us and hacked into their main computer system. An easy task for the God of Death, of course,” he bowed. “And I opened all the doors. With very little difficulty. See…” his voice faded as he and Hilde went up the escalator towards the food court.
“Well, now that everything is open, we can do whatever we want,” Quatre observed. Trowa nodded.
“Ya know, I really wanted to go ice skating today,” Sally said. “But, I never like to skate alone…Wufei?” She looked over at a grumpy Wufei in the corner.
“What, onna?” he asked. Sally sighed and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him off in the direction of the ice rink. His screams could be heard from the other side of the mall.
“ONNA! STOP!! WEAK ONNA!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” he yelled. Catrina stared.
“Um…so what are we going to do?” she asked Heero. Heero didn’t move. “And what do you mean by that?” Heero still remained unresponsive. Catrina sighed and began to walk away, hoping to find something that interested her. After a bit of walking, she finally found her way to Radio Shack. Walking in, she glanced back over her shoulder to see Heero patiently waiting for her to enter the store.
“Heero?” she questioned. Heero didn’t even blink. “This is becoming very annoying… Are you even listening to me?” Heero continued to stare at some point above her head. “Fine, but if you aren’t going to talk, what are you going to do?” Heero didn’t make a move. Catrina watched him for a moment before taking a step forward. Heero followed her. She stopped. Heero stopped.
“What are you, my shadow!?” she walked around him. He didn’t move. Catrina sighed. “You’re acting like Relena would,” she said. Heero immediately turned and walked off the other way. “HEY! I was only kidding! Heero!!” Catrina chased after him.
*********
Catrina was wandering about the store when she passed a clothing store full of beautiful dresses. She paused to stare at them. Slowly, a sinister plot began to form in her mind. Hilde walked up next to her at that moment. Catrina pointed to the dresses. Hilde nodded. Both smiled evilly. Sally stepped up next to them. She looked at their matching grins. The two women pointed to the dresses. Understanding dawned in Sally’s eyes. The three disappeared into the store, cackling dangerously.
A short while later, Heero walked past the store, looking for something to do. A slight movement out of the corner of his eyes had him looking over at the glass display of the store. A most unexpected sight greeted him. Catrina was where the mannequins would normally reside. She had a huge smile across her face, and was looking right at Heero. Her usual outfit was gone and was replaced by a dress from the store. It was black and dark green, her two favorite colors. It was sleeveless and clung to her. The top was dark green and ended about mid-thigh. From there, a long, shiny black shirt fell past her feet and ended in pools on the floor. She was sitting with her legs folded close to her.
Glancing from side to side up the hall, Catrina smile became larger and she motioned Heero into the store. She stood up slowly, swinging the skirt around slightly. Heero watched her silently. Her grin disappeared for a moment, only to be replaced by a rather suggestive smile. Heero swallowed hard as she turned and walked slowly into the back of the store. Heero instantly stepped into the store’s front door. Catrina was there waiting for him. She leaned up into his face and Heero gulped.
“C…Catrina? Wha…?” She grinned evilly as she pushed him into a chair that just *happened* to be there and climbed up on his lap. The skirt covered both their legs. Catrina pressed herself up against him. Little did Heero know that she was actually reaching behind him towards Hilde, who was handing her rope. Heero was so absorbed that he didn’t notice her tying him up until she had almost finished. His eyes widened and he began to pull against her knots. Catrina swiftly placed her hand on Heero’s arm.
“Don’t do that, Heero. It’s no fun that way,” she said softly. Gracefully she placed her forehead on his.
“Please, Heero?”
Heero couldn’t say anything. Catrina knew instantly that their plan would work. Before he was able to recover, she finished her last knot.
“Thanks, Heero. You’re a real sweetheart.” She bent over and kissed him. Heero’s eyes widened and he shivered slightly. Pulling back, Catrina smiled again.
“Promise you won’t try and get away?” she asked. Heero could only nod.
“Good.” She stood up. “All right girls, I got him.” Sally and Hilde appeared out of the shadows and walked over to them. Catrina slid off Heero’s lap. Heero looked stunned. Catrina motioned behind her. Sally handed her a gag.
“Let’s see here…open your mouth, Heero.” Heero shut his mouth tight. Hilde leaned up and whispered something in Catrina’s ear. She nodded and put her finger on Heero’s lips. She ran her fingernail across his bottom lip and gave him a small smile. Then she leaned down and began to whisper in his ear. Heero visibly swallowed. As Catrina continued whatever she was doing, Heero’s mouth fell open. Giggling, Hilde placed the gag in his mouth and tied it. Heero immediately began to struggle.
“Heero…you promised…” Heero looked up into Catrina’s shining green eyes and slumped down, hanging his head. Catrina smiled and kissed the top of his head, ruffling his hair.
“Thanks. And don’t worry, Heero. I’ll make this whole thing worth your while. I promise.” Heero gave a slight nod. Catrina turned around to face the others.
“I feel kind of bad about this…”
“It was your idea in the first place...”
“Well, yeah…but…”
“Besides, it’ll be worth it in the end.”
“I guess…”
“Can you two talk about this later? We have our second victim coming down the hall now…Hilde…Catrina, places…”
A moment later Duo stepped by the store and glanced in. Hilde was sitting quietly on a chair, not moving much, just staring down at her hands. He walked closer.
“Hilde? Is something wrong? Can I do anything to help?” Hilde nodded slightly. She stood up and motioned him onto the chair. Duo plopped down. Hilde tied him up without any resistance from him at all and then broke into a huge smile. She stuck a gag in his mouth and patted his head.
“Duo, thanks to you, I am almost happy again.” She dramatically sighed. “However, the only thing that would make me truly happy is if you were to let me dress you up in a pretty dress.” Duo’s eyes widened.
“Umph…mrumph…ump…MUR!!!” He tried his hardest to pull away and escape, but Hilde was very good with knots, and, so…Duo was stuck whether he liked it or not. Sally and Catrina appeared next to him and grinned.
“Well, that’s two. Wufei’s next.” Duo glanced wildly around. He soon spotted Heero sitting in the corner, patiently waiting for his fate. He looked up when Duo turned his head over and nodded. Duo nodded back. Catrina and Hilde pulled Duo over next to Heero and left him there.
Wufei was angrily looking for Sally. He knew that she had gone down this hallway at some point or another.
*********
Everyone was in the food court after they had all wandered about for awhile. Catrina was sitting alone next to Hilde by the fountain.
“I wonder what the clerks will say when they realize we were able to hack into their computer systems and allow ourselves free everything,” Catrina mused. Hilde shifted.
“I don’t know. I wish I could see their faces, though, don’t you? Listen, I’m kinda hungry again, so…I’ll be right back,” Hilde said and stood up. Catrina watched her retreating back.
If Hilde keeps eating like this, she’ll get fat. Matter of fact, she does seem to be a little heavier then she was the other day. I wonder if…she glanced at Duo. No…Hilde wouldn’t be…she would have said something if…they wouldn’t have… Catrina glanced in Duo’s direction. He was tormenting Heero. Then she looked over at Hilde, who was rooting around in the back of a pizza place. Then at Duo. Then at Hilde. Duo, Hilde, Duo, Hilde, Duo, Hilde, Duo, Hilde… I’m getting a headache…they really wouldn’t have gotten Hilde…Back to Duo and then to Hilde again. I cannot believe it…With the realization of something that she should have foreseen a long time ago, Catrina stared, did a funny little gasping/choke noise, and promptly fell into the fountain.
Coughing, Catrina slowly pulled herself from the fountain and began to walk around to the other side of it. Great…now I’m soaking wet and I have no change of clothes. I guess that I’ll just have to “borrow” a pair until mine dry out. Glancing backwards, she saw everyone going about their normal duties and activities. Well, at lest no one noticed my little swim. This was the exact moment that she ran smack into Heero, who, for his part, looked as if he was run into by soaking wet girls in a deserted mall at eleven P.M. every night of his life.
“Heero?!” Catrina sputtered. Heero raised an eyebrow.
“Why are you all wet?” He glanced around behind her at the fountain and then looked at her a little oddly. “Where you in the fountain?”
“Yes…but only because I…well, I thought that…Hilde…oh, never mind…” she grumbled. Heero just continued to watch her.
“Are you cold?” Up to this point, Catrina had not felt even the least bit cold, but as soon as Heero asked, she felt the air conditioning blast frigid air upon her and she shivered. “You are cold.”
“Great observation,” she mumbled. Heero turned and tugged on her arm.
“Let’s go,” he said and began to walk away. “If you wear those wet clothes any longer, you could get sick.” Catrina watched his retreating back. He certainly has a nice way of walking, she thought. Then, as the air conditioner kicked in again, she was jolted back to reality and ran after him, in hopes of catching up.
However, as many of us should know, running when you’re wet on a tiled floor is not always the best idea in the entire world. You could fall and break your neck, hit a wall, or, as in Catrina’s case, run into Heero for the second time within two minutes, landing on top of him, therefore effectively soaking him and almost killing yourself.
“Sorry,” Catrina began when she looked at Heero. He looked so funny sprawled out on the floor of the mall that she began to laugh.
“What?” he growled.
“Nothing…” she managed to gasp between fits of laughter. Heero hadn’t been caught of guard for years and Catrina had just managed to not only do that, but to also get him soaking wet. Now they would both have to change their clothing. Heero looked extremely angry with her. But, then again, Heero was usually mad at someone. Normally it was Duo, but she supposed that they all got their chance to make Heero angry with them.
*********
Catrina walked silently out of the store, with Heero at her side. They had both changed in a matter of seconds and were now heading back to the rest of the group.
“Why did you fall into the fountain?” Heero asked her.
“Uh…no reason.” That got another strange look from Heero, but she couldn’t say anything until she was sure about Duo and Hilde.
*********
A short while later after Catrina and Heero had rejoined the group, everyone was gathered around several tables, preparing to eat several pizza’s that Catrina, Hilde, and Sally had all helped make. Duo attacked them first and finished off an entire pizza by himself before the others started to eat. Quatre looked around the table.
“I think that we need to figure out how we’re going to escape from here,” he said. The others nodded.
“Well, what’s today?” Hilde asked. “The mall is open on every day, except Sunday,” she finished. The others exchanged looks.
“Oh dear…It’s Saturday. That means…” Quatre began.
“WE’LL BE STUCK HERE FOREVER!” Duo cried out.
“Duo, we’ll just be here until the mall reopens on Monday. That isn’t so bad. It isn’t like we’re going to starve or anything,” Hilde said to her husband. Duo glanced up.
“Oh.”
“It’s getting late. Where should we sleep?” Quatre asked.
“I saw a store that sold mattresses and blankets on the way in. We could head over there and sleep in that place,” Sally put in. Everyone agreed. Soon, the entire troop was heading slowly towards the store.
“Here it is!” Sally said when they were in front of the store.
Hilde wandered over to the sheets and glanced around. She tilted her head back, looked at the ceiling for a moment, and then talked quietly with Duo for a few minutes, gesturing around the room. Then Duo nodded.
“Hey! Heero, Wufei! C’mere. Hilde thinks we should put some of the blankets up like…um…” Hilde whispered in her husband’s ear. “Like dividing walls so everyone can have some privacy!” Quatre and Trowa wandered over and began to pull mattresses around. Sally walked off, to find some flashlights and to hopefully manage to turn off the bright florescent lights of the mall. Hilde plopped down on a bench next to Catrina.
“Hey, Catrina,” she greeted.
“Hi, Hilde,” Catrina returned.
They both sat there for a while and watched Duo’s unsuccessful attempts to shove a blanket in the ceiling. He called Wufei over and was soon balancing on his shoulders, sticking the cloth underneath the plates. Heero handed up the sheets to the tottering pair and moved off to the side. A moment later Duo gave a shout of victory after managing to get one sheet up. This frightened Wufei, who jumped back. In the next moment, Wufei, Duo, and Heero were lying in a heap on the floor. Hilde and Catrina both burst out laughing. The pile glared at them.
“Wow…I wonder if we should tell them that there is a chair right behind them?” Catrina said.
“No, don’t. This way it’s far more amusing,” Hilde returned.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Catrina said as she watched the boys topple over again onto an unsuspecting Quatre and Trowa. They laughed.
“Hilde, I have a question that I’ve been wanting to ask you all night,” Catrina said suddenly.
“I think I know what it is, and, yes, I am, and, no, I haven’t told him yet.”
“Really? So…how far along are you?”
“Four months.”
“And Duo hasn’t noticed yet.”
“Nope.”
“Typical Duo. How are you going to break it to him?”
“I don’t know. That’s probably why I haven’t told him yet…”
“Oh.” The two fell silent again.
“So, Catrina, I noticed that you and Heero are spending a lot more time together.”
“Well, yes, I suppose that we are…” Catrina responded.
“You seem to have caught Heero’s eye,” Hilde told her. Catrina looked over at her face to make sure she wasn’t joking.
“Are you serious?” she asked.
"Of course I am! Anyone can tell that you have earned Heero’s affection.”
“Somehow I’m not convinced. It’s kind of hard to tell with Heero.”
“Well, I know a perfect way that you could test him,” Hilde began to grin evilly. “Yep, the perfect way to get the Perfect Solider to react.”
“How?” Catrina asked.
“It’s really quite simple. You don’t mind if Duo knows about you two, do you?”
“No. Personally, I don’t care who knows about us. Heero, however, will probably have different views. Why? What are you planning?”
“Nothing much…” Hilde signaled Catrina closer. They leaned their heads together and began to whisper.
Inside the store, Duo looked up and saw Hilde and Catrina begin plotting. He knew that look on Hilde’s face.
“Hey, Heero buddy,” he called over his shoulder.
“What, Duo?” Heero responded.
“C’mere a minute.” Heero appeared by his side.
“What do you want?”
“Look. See Hilde and Catrina over there?” Heero nodded. “Yeah, well, I’ve seen that look on Hilde’s face thousands of times and it normally means she’s plotting something. Because Catrina’s over there, I’d say either you or I will get it before this night is out. You understand me?”
“Duo, you’re just being paranoid. Catrina and Hilde aren’t going to do anything to either of us.” Heero moved off.
“Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Duo called after him.
*********
Sally had returned to the group bringing many flashlights and extra batteries. Then she left again. A moment later, the entire mall was plunged into darkness and everyone flipped the lights on. Duo and Heero sat down next to each other in Duo and Hilde’s sleeping quarters. Hilde strolled in and the three began to chat.
“So, Heero, how’ve ya been lately?” Hilde started.
“Fine.”
“You and Catrina seem to be getting along well.”
“Yes.”
“Well, that’s always good…Duo, do you have an extra flashlight?”
“Um…sure Hilde. Here.” He handed her a large one.
“Thanks. Now, everyone, turn off your flashlights and we’ll just leave this one on.” She set it in the middle of all of them and turned it on. The boys followed her instructions and turned off the other lights.
“Good. Now we won’t disturb the others.”
“Spooky, huh, guys?” Duo whispered. Hilde smacked him.
“Duo, you know very well that there isn’t anything even remotely scary about a flashlight.”
“Ow…sure Hilde…sure…”
They sat that way for a long while, relaxing, before Heero took some notice of the missing person.
“Where’s Catrina?” he asked suddenly.
“Hm? Oh, Catrina? I…” Duo began when Catrina popped out from behind the curtain. She exchanged glances with Hilde and grinned. Duo blanched. He had known this was coming…
“I’m right here. Why?” Heero just looked at her for a moment before turning back to the group.
“Heero…” Duo started. Hilde shot him a glare and he shut up.
“Heero? Why?” Catrina asked again. Duo just knew what was coming. Those two had planned the whole thing out. However, it was quickly proved that Duo actually had no idea whatsoever about what was about to happen. He felt a camera pressed into his palm by Hilde. Not saying anything, he took it.
“Heero?” Catrina questioned.
“No reason.”
Catrina looked over at Hilde, who smiled at her again.
“Did you miss me?” she asked Heero.
“No.”
“Were you worried about me?”
“No.”
“Are you lying?”
“…No…”
“HA! Moment’s hesitation. I thought so!” Catrina exclaimed and proceeded to sit herself on Heero’s lap and pull his head down close to hers. Heero looked slightly surprised, but not largely so. He remained that way until Catrina pulled his head even closer to her own, whispered something to him which Duo couldn’t catch, and kissed him softly. Duo’s mouth fell open. Hilde jabbed him with her elbow and Duo quickly to a picture of one surprised Heero and one very content Catrina.
*********
By the time everyone had finally curled up within their little tented cubicles, Duo and Hilde had managed to get the film developed. She had been planning to leave the picture under her pillow, but as soon as she pushed back the hanging sheet, she met with a sight quite unexpected. Heero was carefully pulling up a blanket over the already sleeping Catrina, and preparing to move back into his “bed.” However, Catrina began to make soft noises, as if she were having a nightmare. Heero bent down next to her and slowly stroked her cheek. Catrina’s eyes fluttered open and she stared up into his questioning eyes.
“I had that dream again…the one…about my mother…” she whispered. Heero nodded and held her to him. Hilde watched for a moment before stepping out. When she returned, Heero was fast asleep, holding Catrina is his arms. Catrina was using Heero’s chest as a pillow and was also fast asleep. Hilde grinned and slid the picture under Catrina’s arm. She was sure that, later on, Catrina would thank her.
*********
The next morning, the entire group gathered in the food court. Catrina and Hilde happily sat themselves together and began to talk excitedly.
“Thanks for the picture, Hilde,” Catrina said.
“It no problem,” Hilde replied.
They sat in silence for a moment before Hilde looked over at her.
“I saw that Heero decided to stay with you last night,” she said.
Catrina nodded. “He does that sometimes when I have…that dream…”
“What do you mean?” Hilde asked.
“I’ve always had this nightmare where I see my mother die over and over again. I’ve had it since the day the rebel base was attacked and destroyed. I’ve never been able to get rid of it, though now it’s coming around a lot less. Heero stays with me when I have that dream, so I know that I’m not alone.”
“I see…” Hilde responded.
They both stood up and walked over towards Sally and Wufei.
“Hey you two. Good morning!” Catrina greeted.
Wufei grumbled something and leaned back against a glass door leading out onto the mall’s patio. The next instant he was outside, lying on his back on the pavement.
“Wufei?! Are you all right?” Sally asked, coming to his aid. “It looks like…hey, wait…Wufei, you found a way out! Great going!” She hugged him.
“Everyone! Wufei found a way out! All we have to do is climb down the balcony!” Cheers reverberated throughout the food court. Duo helped Hilde down, Wufei reluctantly assisted Sally, Quatre and Trowa dropped themselves down, and, much to his surprise, Heero ended up catching Catrina.
They all crowded into the helicopter. Catrina, who ended up smashed between Heero and the door, spent ten minutes trying to get comfortable. Giving up, she whispered something in Heero’s ear. He nodded slowly and pulled Catrina onto his lap. Catrina smiled before snuggling into Heero’s shoulder and falling asleep. Heero looked happy, for his part. Duo looked over at Quatre.
“So, Quatre, what are we doing tomorrow?” Everyone sweatdropped.
“DUO!!!” Hilde whacked him with her purse.