Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing, nor am I making money from this,
but I sure wouldn’t mind either…
Author’s Note: I’ve been thinking. Maybe I should term it authoresses
note? Whatever. Anyways, I hope you have enjoyed the story so far.
Remember, flames, and especially compliments, are always welcome. And
let me just say that Duo rocks, and anybody that doesn’t think so – I
feel really bad for you.
Part 4
Hilde ran.
She choked back tears as she ran, tears of a horrid burning guilt, a
fiery rage that built in her chest and now seemed to demand to burst
forth…her breath caught in her throat and she stumbled on the street
corner. It jolted her awake, and she immediately asked herself the
question of ‘where was she?’ Somewhere on L2. Well. That was helpful.
She shook her head with aggravation. Her inner self was torn. Worry
for Duo clamored loudly inside, and a sudden want made itself clear. It
was all so disturbing! It was like the universe in general strived to
make no sense whatsoever.
Her body shaking, she grabbed onto a street lamp for support. The fake
sunlight flashed in the dome-like colony – Hilde may as well have been
covered in a dense fog. She heaved a sigh and unshed tears burned at
her eyes, then she made her way over to a phone booth. Once inside she
collapsed on the seat, and groped for the phone. Then she began to
dial.
She did not have the number of the Preventers. Duo did, but he…she
wiped back tears and punched in the numbers of the one thing she did
have. None other than the number of the estate of Quatre Raberba
Winner.
“Hello, you have reached the Winner Estate,” drawled a secretary,
confirming Hilde’s call. “Is it a business related call?”
“No. I need to speak to Quatre Winner, please.”
“He’s out at the moment, madam. Is it important?”
Hilde paused. Would Winner consider it important? She had only met
him once, briefly, on Libra… No, of course it was important! Duo had
spoke very well of him, describing him as a good friend and ally. “Yes,”
she said finally, her tone level.
If the secretary was suspicious of Hilde, she did not show it. “Then
you can reach him at this number,” she advised pointedly. “He is
currently at the L4 General Hospital.”
Hilde fought to memorize the array of numbers that the woman dictated
to her, but it was hard. L4 General Hospital! Then she was right,
Quatre would be able to help her…
Fiercely Hilde ended the call. In moments she was connected with the
hospital, and then moments after that they had contacted Winner, all
leading up to the moment that she heard Quatre’s voice. He was, of
course, confused.
“Hello?”
She sighed, and her free hand felt her cheek. It was wet. She
grimaced. “Hi.” Her voice was quiet. “Do you know anything about Duo’s
condition?”
“Who are you?”
Though he could not see it, Hilde grinned sheepishly. “Oh. Sorry. I
live with him, you see…I think we met once.”
“You were that girl on Libra!” Quatre recognized her, and Hilde tasted
the bitter irony. The girl on Libra. Was that all she would ever be?
“Yes. Well, he’s alive. Did Une contact you?”
“No. I saw it on the news.”
“Ah. His condition is bad…it’s hard. None of us thought this would
happen…” Hilde knew by ‘us’ he meant Gundam pilots. “Look,” A pause. “I
can arrange for a shuttle to get you here. You’re on L2?”
“Yes.”
“Then…then go to the main transport area and it should be there within
the hour.”
Hilde nodded silently, and she felt her hand shake on the receiver.
“Thank you.” And with nothing else to be said they ended the
conversation and the connection. Therefore Hilde was isolated with her
guilt and her questions.
Black. Black. More black. Never ending void, never ending terror,
never ending regret for what could have been…Duo tried to shiver, but
his body, broken beyond repair, would not comply. Voices in the
distance, murmuring echoes distantly spoke out to him. Behind them
existed the black, and memories, replaying his defeat, as if to taunt
him…
A whirr of engines. A silent scream caught in his throat. A pain
beyond pains. And then there was a vision, a vision of her. It was the
one pure thing in all the chaos, the image of her face. It calmed him.
He forced his mind to leave the pointless void and to concentrate on
the one thing that seemed to satisfy him. He groped outwards, his eyes
resting on hers. Dark hair, short and wavy, moving with her as she
turned to face him. The shape of her face was perfect in every aspect.
There was only one error, and that was her eyes, lovely violet pools,
were crying…
The voices seemed to become louder. He cursed them silently. They
must let him reflect on the one thing that sustained him, damn it! But
no, one of them, speaking loudly and clearly – he forced himself to
listen to it’s beautiful tones.
“Duo…I’m so sorry. Really I am. I didn’t mean…” It cut off here, and
a short sob was emitted. “Look, if you want to fight, that’s fine with
me. I really don’t care. And I want you to get better, because…I need
you to get better…” A pause. She was searching for the right words.
But Duo couldn’t care less what she said. Her beautiful melody… “I’ll
bake you more of those mint cookies you love when you recover. And you
can have that new racing game, if you want. Just please keep fighting.
The doctor says that you’re going to be fine,” A lie. Duo could hear
the lie, but he didn’t care.
“Please, Duo.”
Three weeks later…
Hilde stumbled into the hotel room clumsily. She had been by Duo’s
side constantly, until the one called Wufei Chang had insisted she go
sleep. His exact word’s chimed in her head now.
‘“Don’t be foolish. You need rest.”’
Hilde snorted. In her mind, that was the very last thing she needed.
Besides, who had made him so high and mighty all of a sudden? She shook
her head, realizing that she was being petty. Chang was more valuable
than she could ever understand, and he deserved respect. She had
learned that these pilots were more important then they appeared, and
she had learned this the hard way.
Her body ached with fatigue. Wincing slightly, she dragged herself to
her bed, and collapsed on it. Her head reeled. She sucked in her
breath sharply, and then blew it out, all the time burrowing her face
into the pillow.
The doctors had said that things were looking up. They said it was a
miracle that he had survived this long. Nether of these facts comforted
her much. She doubted far too much…then again, one had noted that
recovery was going very fast. She had noted that if he lived, he would
probably be out in two months. If he lived. Jesus. She brought her
fist to the yellow pillow angrily.
To her annoyance, the buzz of the phone commenced. It developed into
confusion, and then worry, however, as she realized that the only people
who knew she was here was the other pilots. And Wufei was the only
pilot currently in the building with Duo.
‘“Woman, I’ll call you if anything drastic happens.”’
Hilde bit her lip for a moment, and with a shaking hand, lifted herself
up and accepted the call.
“Hello?”
“Hilde?”
Hilde nearly fainted. It was not Wufei, nor was it any of the other
pilots.
“Ricardo!” her voice shook. “How’d you get this number?!”
The reply on the other end was one dripping with a dark sarcasm. Hilde
shivered. It made her uncomfortable. “It took me a while. I’ve been
trying for two weeks.” He informed her. “I had to go through a million
calls or so. What the hell are you doing in L4?”
Now wait a minute. Hilde hissed to herself. How is it his business?
“Duo got involved in a car accident.” She stammered, using the fake
alibi Une had issued.
“That idiot. Far too clumsy. He –”
Hilde’s eyes flashed and she would hear no more. The phone
conversation, to Ricardo’s dismay, cut off with a slam, and Hilde rolled
back onto the bed, clutching the pillow firmly to her bosom. The phone
rang again, but she would not answer it.
One month after that…
The air was crisp as Hilde got out of the limo. The colony was
simulating fall at the moment, and there was a definite chill. She
grimaced, and pulled her coat tight around her.
Winner had been very supportive, paying for her time at the motel and
for all transportation and food. But at times his taste tended to outdo
hers. And she could not find a polite way to discourage the use of a
limo on her daily visits to the hospital.
She climbed up the long set of stairs to the entrance, enjoying the
smack sound of her shoes against the pavement. Her walk had more bounce
to it – her back was straight and her spirits considerably better. Duo
had begun to show the first signs of real recovery in the past week or
so, indeed they had shared a much-enjoyed conversation.
As she neared the door her eyes caught two familiar faces – that of
Heero Yuy, Trowa Barton, and Trowa’s sister, Catherine Bloom. They were
talking close together, trying to catch some warmth in the cold weather.
“Hya,” greeted Hilde. Catherine grinned at her, and Trowa acknowledged
her presence with a nod. Yuy said and did nothing, but that did not
faze her whatsoever. She had once remembered a remark from Duo about 01
being antisocial.
She cleared her throat uncomfortably. Something important was being
discussed here, and it seemed to be good news – Bloom was grinning like
a Cheshire cat.
“Hey, guess what, Hilde!” bounced out Catherine almost immediately.
“The doctors have said that Duo’s past the danger point!”
Hilde felt a warm bubble of hope develop in her chest. A smile broke
out. “Meaning –?”
“Duo will live.” Summarized the quiet and aloof Barton. Heero nodded,
and Hilde was positive that she detected a smidgen of a warm twinkle in
his eye.
Hilde let out a squeal equal of a schoolgirl that just received full
marks. And with that she ran in to report the dizzying news to Maxwell.
Duo ran a shaking hand through his long knotty brown hair. He had
retained consciousness, and it wasn’t pretty. It was like he was all
one big bandage. Both his right arm and leg sported a cast, a long gash
issued from one side of his forehead to the other, and above that, he
felt distant. Like some sort of a fog covered him, dimming his senses.
The fog could not, however, blot out the prospect of his lunch. He
stuck a tongue out at the bowl of fruity red porridge, and the nurse
lectured him on sassing. Duo followed this by plainly refusing to eat
it – the large nurse pouted and insisted on more tubes in his arms. Duo
made a racket over this, had to be contained by three nurses, and ten
minutes later was brooding, with a whole new array of nutrients running
into him. That was when Hilde burst in; grinning from ear to ear like
it was Christmas.
“Duo!” she cried, her violet eye’s flashing – and tearing with obvious
happiness, “You’re going to be okay!”
Duo nodded. “Yeah. But I have to stay and recover for a loong time.”
He smiled at her pep. “I’m more sorry than you could know, Hilde babe.
I really had you all going for a while, didn’t I?”
Hilde was forced to agree. “But everything is going to be great now,”
she assured him, while kneeling over by his bed. She placed her hand on
his, and he in turn, surprising her, raised her hand up to his cheek.
Hilde tried not to wince at its rough feel. So many bruises! She
shivered. “Yes,” she resolved, and then repeated, “Everything’s going to
be great now.”
Another month after that…
“I’m back home!” declared Duo loudly as he stumbled into the house on
his crutches.
He had made a full recovery except for his right leg, which seemed to
insist on a crutch. The doctors had termed it as nothing short of a
miracle when referring to his speedy recovery – then again, as a Gundam
pilot Duo tended to possess skills above normal. Now he lumbered about
as if nothing had happened, other than he was increasingly clumsy.
“Yes.” Noted Hilde quietly from her post at the doorway. “Its
wonderful.” She shut the door behind her. “So! Now that you’re back,
what is your plan of action?”
Duo faked an expression of extreme thought, leaning against the kitchen
counter. After a moment of what appeared to be a very taxing pondering,
he noted, “I seem to remember someone owes me some mint cookies and D-5
Racing.”
Hilde paled. “You heard me, Duo?” she asked quietly.
Duo nodded. “Every word of it.” He stared meaningfully into her eyes,
and a silent message was sent. Hilde grinned sheepishly back at him,
and fingered her locket delicately.
Last Word: Whew! That was actually kind of hard to write, believe it
or not! I’m not nearly done yet, however, there’s a Part 5 and 6 on the
way. I meant to have an epilogue, but I kind of got a writers block on
that one. Maybe I'll just have a sequl instead...
Part III