Hardships
By Zach RendarThe year is AC 200. Five years since the Gundams saved the Earth and the colonies from White Fang. Now on lives the spirit of the five pilots that made a difference. But Quatre’s younger brother is still unsure of the safety of Quatre.
* * *
"Well, I still think that she is extremely dangerous," I said to Quatre. "I mean the whole stabbing thing makes me a bit nauseous," Quatre continued to straighten his bow tie.
"I know Dorothy makes you a bit queasy but still we have resolved our differences."
"Five years is long enough to resolve differences," I muttered under my breath.
"Besides, I have a little surprise for Dorothy." Quatre added.
"A kick in the shins?" I asked sarcastically. "No, not exactly." Quatre replied. He put his hand on my shoulder.
"When I get home you’ll understand,"
"For heavens sake Quatre, I’m 13! You can tell me now!" "Not now." Quatre said. He walked out of the room leaving me by myself.
I wandered the halls for a while until Trowa found me. "Hey? What’s wrong?"
"Quatre’s off with Dorothy again," I answered.
"Well, you can’t expect him not to after what I saw happen between them on Libra. Some sort of spark arose between them." He paused to catch his breath. "Anyway, don’t worry Dorothy is all right. I’m sure she won’t be killing him anytime soon,"
"Well…" I trailed off "I still don’t trust her," I said.
"First seeing your brother being rushed to the ER after being stabbed by what soon would be his girlfriend would make anyone nervous." Trowa said. "I guess your right," I muttered.
"Well I’m off to my room," Trowa stood up. "If you see Catherine tell her I said hi okay?"
"Alright" I answered. I walked off to my room to practice my flute.
When I woke up the next morning I went to the dining room. Quatre was basically bouncing all over the place. "What’s going on Quatre? You’re usually never this excited until you’ve had your coffee," I said groggily
"Who cares about coffee! I’m getting married!" That statement tore me in two. It felt like Quatre tore out my brain and hit it with a sledgehammer. I ran off yelling to my room. And I slammed the door.
* * *
With the marriage planned to be six months from now there was nothing I could do to stop it. Then the big day arrived. I found myself sitting in the pew watching the ceremony-taking place. I tried to move but couldn’t. So I yelled out "Quatre!!! Don’t marry that piece of pond scum! Dad hid me from you so you’d be more careful with your life and this is what you do?" Quatre did nothing. Instead, Dorothy turned to me and just stared at me with those big, empty, blue eyes. Those eyes scare me. Suddenly she turned around and stabbed Quatre with a hidden saber. Then she started to walk towards me. I still couldn’t move. Silently she walked toward me. Everyone else started running to the exits. No one gave a rat’s rear that Dorothy was heading for me. She raised the saber above my chest and slammed down hard.
I awoke with a jump. I looked down at myself. No saber protruding from me, no Dorothy, Quatre was fine. I crawled from the sweat soaked sheets to my bathroom. I combed my tousled hair and got dressed. I looked at my schedule for the day. No marriages planned for today. "Thank goodness" I whispered. I decided to take my problem to one of Quatre’s best friends, Relena Darlian Peacecraft.
I always felt safe talking to Relena. She has some kind of invisible aura around her that make you feel at peace.
"So what’s wrong?" Relena asked me.
"Well, I’m sure you’ve heard about Quatre’s wedding." I said.
"Why yes I have, I’ve noticed you object to it." She answered. "Well…I do..." I shifted in the seat. Nobody had noticed the way I felt before like that.
"What should I do?" I asked. "Well, let me say this first I know just how you feel." Relena answered. "When Lady Une killed my father I promised that she would die before the day was over. But then a few months later I found we becoming allies. All you have to do is forgive Dorothy for what she did. Quatre found it in his heart to do so and I’m sure you will to after you think about it."
After she dismissed me I wandered the market for a while. All I could think about was the horrible scar across Quatre’s stomach. I found myself at the garage where Sandrock was kept. Then before I knew it, I was talking to Sandrock. "What should I do Sandrock? You have seen Quatre’s many emotions. And you must also know about how I feel about the wedding…What should I do? I’m so confused…" Sandrock just stared at me with those cold, lifeless, green eyes.
Then it hit me. If Quatre was going to marry Dorothy and vice versa. Dorothy would have to feel the same way about Quatre as he did for her. And if she didn’t…well I could make up infinite outcomes to that… So I decided to get some help from my friends. Before I left the garage. I turned around a said "Thank you Sandrock. I will never forget this!"
"Tip tap tippity tap" My computer made that sound as I transferred words from every single one of Dorothy’s recorded speeches. I replayed the words I had shaped and reshaped. "So, how is it going with Quatre?" My recorded voice asked.
"The kid is doing okay for being him." Dorothy’s warped voice said, it was the different tones from different speeches. I was going to have to change the tones.
"What do you mean just ‘Okay’?" My voice asked again.
"Oh, I’m just marrying him because I need the money" Dorothy’s voice said.
"You need the money?" I asked
"Yeah, the kid is cute but I’m just in it for the money, I need some donations so I can move to a large complex on my own colonies." I’m going to have to change that to ‘colony’ I thought to myself
"Um, I got to go" I said. The "recording" ended there.
I worked into the night. Improving, reinstating, and modifying.
The next day I walked sadly up to Quatre. "What’s wrong little guy?" He asked. I pretended to be nervous and glanced at the recorded CD I had in my hand. "Oh, you bought a new CD and it really stinks doesn’t it?" Quatre said.
I shook my head "No Quatre I think you should listen to this in private."
As soon as I saw the "Line busy" light on the phone come up I silently yet quickly picked up the receiver and listened in.
"Hello?" Dorothy asked.
"Hi, sweetie" Quatre said
"Oh! Hi Qua—" Dorothy was cut off
"Dorothy we need to end this." Quatre said blankly. Very bold I thought
"…What do you mean?" A confused Dorothy asked.
"My money, you could have just asked." Quatre said
"Quatre?" A very confused Dorothy said.
"I thought we were close enough to trust each other with something as simple as money." Quatre said. I could tell he was choking up.
"But why Quatre? Why?" Dorothy cried.
"It’s just over." Quatre said as he hung up. Upstairs I heard him ask Rashid to block all incoming calls from the Catalonia residence.
Just then I realized what I had done. I had made Quatre no longer trusting. I had also -as much as I hate to admit it- reduced the adamant Dorothy Catalonia to tears. It wasn’t the beautiful dream I had envisioned. It was a hellish nightmare.
I had it that very night.
I walked through the mist and I heard the faint sound of crying. I ran to where I hoped the sound was coming from. That’s when I saw Quatre. "Quatre!" I called "Do you not hear it? The sound of Dorothy’s tears?" Quatre pushed me away and asked,
"Are you doing this to get my money to?" He shoved me to the ground and disappeared. Then I saw what I had done. It was an old Quatre, living in a shack in the middle of the tundra counting his money, exclaiming "Nobody can get you now!" All the while the crying was getting louder, louder, Louder, LOUDER, LOUDER!!!
I woke up with a scream.
It was not Dorothy’s crying I was hearing. It was my own.
I knew what I had to do.
I sat in the pew watching the ceremony taking place. The bishop pronounced my dear brother, Quatre, and my new friend, Dorothy, husband and wife. To my surprise and everyone else’s. I applauded when they kissed. I thought that the good times would never end.
They never did.
~Zach Rendar (Author, not narrator)