This
is a scenario for Dorothy’s true feelings about Quatre to be revealed at last….
Come on….
Quatre
urged himself to keep running, putting on a burst of speed. Dorothy followed close behind him; the two
were running for the shuttle bay. They
had completed their mission. Now they
just had to escape – with their lives.
Shouts
echoed down the corridor, and bullets suddenly showered the air around
them. Quatre rolled against the wall
and pulled out his gun. Dorothy
crouched behind him. Quatre fired back
down the hall until the bullets coming at them stopped. He tossed his gun away; he was out of ammo.
Quatre
took Dorothy’s hand and pulled her to her feet. They would just have to hope they didn’t run into any more
soldiers before they got to the shuttle bay.
The two of them dashed off together, hand in hand.
As
they prepared to round the next corner, though, a soldier stepped out into the
corridor, his gun drawn. He smirked at
the teenagers standing before him, and leveled the gun at Quatre’s head.
Quatre
stared at the gun pointed between his eyes, and an icy fear seeped into his
stomach.
The
soldier narrowed his eyes and tightened his finger on the trigger –
But
as the gun fired, Dorothy cried out and pushed herself in front of Quatre. The bullet caught her in the chest, and she
collapsed into Quatre’s arms. He caught
her numbly, staring, shocked, at the blood drenching his arms and pooling on
the floor. He slowly lowered her to the
ground.
The
soldier snarled and raised the gun. But
Quatre was suddenly filled with a fiery rage, and before the man could take
aim, Quatre launched himself at him.
The two men toppled to the ground.
The soldier, stunned by Quatre’s sudden attack, had dropped his
gun. Quatre retrieved it and scrambled
to his feet, bringing it to bear on the soldier lying sprawled in front of
him. He took aim –
–
and
pulled the trigger.
Quatre
stood panting for a moment longer before he let the gun drop from his trembling
fingers. It his the ground with a dull
thunk.
Then
he turned to Dorothy, who was lying on the ground struggling to breath.
Quatre
fell to his knees beside her and took her head in his hands. He whispered her name, watching her face
frantically for any signs of life.
Dorothy’s
eyes flickered open slowly. “Quatre…”
she murmured. She closed her eyes again
and nuzzled her face against his hands.
Quatre
settled himself beside her, cradling her head in his lap. He stroked her cheek reassurringly. “Don’t worry,” he comforted her softly. “Everything’s going to be okay, just hold
on. I’ll contact the others to get
help.” He began to take out his
comm-unit. He knew the enemy soldiers
would be able to track the signal and find him, but he didn’t care. He needed to get Dorothy help.
“No…”
Dorothy whispered. “Don’t risk yourself
for me.” Her voice was hoarse,
pained. “It’s too late anyway….”
“No!”
Quatre cried. It wasn’t too late! She couldn’t die, not now – not now that
they were engaged. Not now that they
had planned a life together! “You can’t
die! I’ll get help, just hold on a
little longer!”
“Please
don’t, Quatre. You know there’s no
hope… just look at me.”
“Dorothy….”
Quatre began. He didn’t want to believe
it, couldn’t bear the thought of losing her….
He hung his head, choking back a sob of anguish and frustration. It
can’t be…. No!
“I
used to hate you, Quatre,” Dorothy whispered.
She sighed and rested her head against him. “Long ago, during the war.
I… I guess it was because you were so much stronger than me.”
Quatre
looked up at her, tears shining in his eyes.
“Me… stronger than you?”
“Yes,”
she said. “We both went through the
same terrible pain, the same ordeals – and you were the one who came through it
all with a pure heart. I gave into my
pain, felt sorry for myself, allowed myself to become violent and cold.” She paused for breath, then continued. “And then I saw you, saw how I could have
been if I’d been stronger. And I hated
you for it. I hated you… because I
respected and admired you. But I
couldn’t admit it to myself.”
She
sighed, a soft, sad sound. “And then…
on Libra…. You know why I did what I
did? Because I finally realized that I
loved you. And I couldn’t accept
it. I couldn’t forgive myself for being
so soft. So I thought that if I got rid
of you, I’d be strong again.”
Dorothy
paused. Quatre looked into her face,
and saw that she was crying.
“But
once it was done,” she said softly through her tears, “I knew I’d been
wrong. You showed me that I was
wrong. And more importantly….” Here she smiled, and suddenly the weight of
the pain she had borne throughout the war seemed to lift from her
shoulders. “More importantly, you
showed me that it wasn’t too late to save me – that I wasn’t beyond hope. And that’s what I loved you for above
everything else. Because you wanted to
help me, even when everyone else spat on me and shunned me. And you didn’t do it out of pity… you did it
out of respect. And understanding. You loved me, despite all that I’d done, all
that I was.”
Here
Dorothy stopped, for her strength was failing quickly now. Quatre rocked back and forth gently, silent
tears flowing down his cheeks.
Dorothy took a deep breath. “You saved me, Quatre,” she whispered. “I’m sorry we couldn’t have had a life together… we would have been happy.” She closed her eyes and smiled. “Ever since I met you, you have given me both hope and the strength to live. Thank you.”
Quatre
looked at her face through his tears.
“Oh, Dorothy,” he whispered He
gently touched her lips with the tips of his fingers. “I love you.”
Dorothy
kissed his fingers softly. Then he felt
a final breath escape her lips, and her head weighed heavily in his arms.
Quatre
bowed his head and gathered Dorothy close to him. His tears flowed down his cheeks and onto the floor, mixing with
her blood there.
His
broken sobs were the only sound in the long hallway.
~~~~~~End~~~~~~