Part Five:

 It was dark.

 I could see the moon from my dorm window, and the dim beams lit up my room
just enough so that I could pull on a pair of jeans and a shirt without
banging into things.  It wasn't even midnight yet, but lights had been
called about an hour before.

 I pulled open the door and crept out into the hallway.  Everything was
quiet.  Good.  There was the low creak of floorboards as I stepped onto the
first stair, but the creak came from behind me, not from under me.  I
whipped around, my braid hitting against my chest as I did.  Nothing.  I
continued down the stairs.

 I had spent all of my free hour and dinner in the library, reading from a
huge reference book on human psychology.  There was a huge section on
dreams, and how matters in a person's life could affect their sleeping
patterns and their dreams.  It was actually kind of interesting. The guys
had found me in the library after dinner, and practically had to drag me
out of there.  Quatre had actually thought to bring me food, a ham
sandwich, a bag of chips, and a can of soda, and I had just stashed it in a
drawer, for later.

 The library was big, and had rows upon rows of books, most of them books I
doubted anyone actually read.  The book I had been looking through was
covered with dust when I had first found it, and was pretty nasty, both in
appearance and scent.

 I had left it on the desk, so I could get back to it later.  It was later
enough, I thought, as I flicked on the overhead lights.  The library was
empty, and the book was still there.  I sat down at the table, and began to
read again.

 Around four-thirty, I realized that I should be retreating back up to my
dorm before wake-up began.  But I wasn't even a quarter of the way through
the dreams chapter.  I stood up, and thought about bringing the book back
upstairs with me.  No one would ever know, and I could get a lot more
research done that way.  So I picked up the book and left the library,
turning the lights off and heading back up the stairs.

 When I passed Wufei's room, I paused for a minute.  He was usually awake
early, to do whatever he did that early in the morning, but I wasn't sure
just how early.  Before I ever woke up, I knew.  With any luck, not until
five or so.  I could still hear him snoring inside, so I assumed it was
safe and went on to my room, shutting the door quietly behind me.  I put
the book under the bed and decided to try to get a little sleep.  Just alittle.

 I had another nightmare, but this one was different.  It was just me,
locked in a tiny room, with a box.  I was trying to rip the box apart, to
find out what was inside of it, but it was stiff, and I couldn't get a goodgrip
on it.  I finally took out my crucifix off from around my neck and
stabbed into it, and was hailed by the sound of cardboard ripping.  And
then came the screams of a thousand people all screaming in pain and fury,
all at once.  It made my blood run cold with fear, and with dread.

 "Nous mouons!"  That was French.  I shouldn't have known that, I had never
taken a French lesson in my life, but somehow I knew.  And I knew exactly
what was going to be said next.  The translation.

 "We are dying."  And that was Heero's voice, calm and monotone as usual,
and that scared me a Hell of a lot more than the screams.  That was the
voice of the Heero I had befriended such a long time before.  This was the
voice of the Heero I had yelled out, the voice of the Heero I had made fun
of.  This was the voice of the Heero I had lost.  Of the Heero who was my
best friend.  Of the Heero I had loved.

 I woke up with a start, falling out of my bed.  I landed on my side with a
hard thump, and I groaned.  That was going to bruise.  That was going to
bruise badly.  It already hurt like Hell.

 I just lay there for awhile, trying to remember the last time I had fallen
out of bed.  Not since I was really little, I guess, because I couldn't
think of such a time.  When I finally got up, the first thing I did was
look at the clock hanging on the wall between the two beds.  It was just
past five in the morning, the sun hadn't even come up yet.  Wufei would be
up though, probably.

 I already had on my old pair of black jeans on, so I just pulled on my old
gray tank top and my sneakers and walked out the door.  My hair wasn't
braided, so I fastened it as I walked.  I'd have to redo it later, I knew.

 Wufei was already out in the hallway when I approached.  He gave me his
twisted smile, and he came towards me.  "What are you doing awake?" he
asked, eyes glistening.  I got the feeling Wufei was getting tired of
always being the solitary dragon; everyone needs company once in awhile.  I
just grinned at him.

 "Nightmares," I said.

Wufei grunted.

 "So, where are you going?"

"Jogging."

 "You jog?"  I was a bit surprised.  I didn't know Wufei was into that sort
of thing.  I did know, however, that he usually spent a few hours in the
weight room every weekend, when the student body had two days of free time. He
nodded.  "Mind if I join you?"

He raised an eyebrow.  "If you can keep up."

 I snorted.  "It's just jogging, not an all out run.  Besides, I haven't
been off campus since we got here.  I need a change of scenery."

 "Very well.  Come on."  He lead me out the door and out into the street,
where I noticed his outfit.  It wasn't his usual white pants-dark top
combo, or the navy school uniform we were all forced to wear, but a pair of
jeans and a really loose gray sweat-shirt.  He looked pretty cool, although
all the regalities and formalities and authority that was usually in his
expression kind of left with the outfit.  I decided I liked this affect
better in the long run.  It had a more relaxed feel to it, like you could
actually be friends with this guy.

 And it was a long run.  A good six miles, around the town.  I enjoyed it;
I hadn't had a work out like that since I started piloting Deathscythe, and
I told Wufei so.  He kind of blinked at me, like he couldn't believe I was
telling him this, and kept on running.  I was pretty spent by then, and I
could tell he was too.  I couldn't let Wufei best me.  I'd never live it
down!  So I kept running.

 When we were finally done, about an hour later, sweat was pouring down
both our faces, and we were pretty tired.  We slowed down as we approached
the school, and Wufei was breathing pretty hard.  He exhaled deeply and
looked over at me.

 "This is more remunerative with a partner," he said between pants.  "It
makes me try arduously than usual."

 "Yeah, well.  Whatever.  Me too."  I stopped and bent over, resting my
hands on my knees.  "That was almost fun."  Wufei stopped beside me, and we
watched the golden rays of the sun as it rose.  It was sometime around late
December, but neither of us were cold.  Just hot, and sweaty, and tired.
And we were watching the sky turn from a gloomy nave to a blast of pink and
purple, and orange, even a little green.  "Same time tomorrow?"

 Wufei raised an eyebrow.  "Can you take it?"

 I grinned at him.  "I can take anything.  The question is, can you?"

Wufei laughed, and it was a good sound to hear, really refreshing.  I
hadn't heard a laugh like that in awhile, from anyone.  Not even from
myself.  It was one of those laughs that you can't fake.  A real, pure,
almost pious laugh.

 Wufei stopped laughing and smiled at me.  "It's time to go in, if we don't
want to be late for the first meal."

 "Why don't you just say breakfast, like everyone else?" I asked, getting up
and opening the solid oak door that sealed off the school from the rest of
the world.

Wufei shrugged.  "Maybe because I am not like everyone else."

 "Well, you got that part right."  We sprinted up the stairs, to our
separate rooms, to shower.  We were pretty gross looking, and my braid had
already come undone.  Sometimes I wonder why I even bother.  And then I'm
blinded by a thick chestnut cloak of hair and I remember pretty darn quick.

I practically leaped into the hot shower water, grateful that it was so
easy to wash off sweat and dirt.

 I got out of the shower when the hot water ran out and my skin was
starting to prune.  Pruny skin is a nightmare.  The clothes I had been
wearing were dirty, so I didn't want to put them back on.  I wrapped a
towel around myself instead.  It was one of the towels that I'd stolen from
a hotel that I'd raided one night.  Hey, they'd left their doors unlocked.

And one of the maids had left her little cart sitting out in the middle of
the hall.  It was like an invitation.  That particular little expedition
had kept me supplied with soap and shampoo for quite some time, as well as
providing all my towels. Human stupidity is a blessing to thieves and prowlers.

 I redressed in my school uniform, the navy monstrosity, with the slacks,
the white collared-button up shirt, the navy tie, the matching jacket, and
the crappy shoes.  When we first came here, I didn't even bother sometimes,and
would go down to class wearing my pajamas.  After a few detentions, a
near suspension, and a scolding from the guidance counselor, that had
stopped.  But I was still pushing boundaries, with my hair, for instance,
which wasn't supposed to be at such a long length, and sometimes I'd go to
class wearing the slacks, the tie, jacket, even the shoes, but not theshirt.

 Most of the teachers had gotten used to this and had stopped caring.  Kind
of like my homework.  Anyway, today I actually wore the whole outfit and I
went down to breakfast about fifteen minutes late.  Wufei was already
there, and I felt a wave of combativeness wash over me, but quickly brushed
it aside.  After all, he didn't have a braid approximately three feet long
to slow him down, just his little pony tail.

 Quatre had his tray loaded up with food, everything from the boxes of
cereal to sticky pancakes to cups of hot tea.  I don't know how he manages
to eat so much and stay so thin.  If that old saying was true, and you are
what you eat, Quatre would be a full blown supermarket with extra large tea
aisle and dairy section.  The boy has an appetite to rival mine.  I grabbed
a cup of coffee from the make-shift buffet and joined them.  I wasn't much
for eating in the morning.  A cup of coffee would do me just fine.

 Trowa had a bowl of cereal, something really sugary by the looks of it,
and it got me wondering how he could stay so calm with such a high intake
of sugar every morning.  Wufei had toast.  Typical of him.  When I sat
down, he was grumbling about injustice and burnt toast.  I didn't quite
follow, but I just took a big gulp of coffee.  I only like it black on the
first taste.  Then I add more cream and sugar then they usually provide.
Trowa had noticed this and gotten into the habit of stealing little packets
of sugar and cream during lunch and dinner, to satisfy my needs.

 Quatre greeted me with a smile, then went back to shoveling food in his
mouth.  Trowa actually took the time to speak.

 "Why are you so late?  Usually you're the first one here," the uni-banged
boy said, handing over the confectioneries he had in his pocket.  I ripped
open the sugar and cream and dumped them all into my coffee, watching with
fascination as the color changed to a light brown.

 "Exercise.  Can't get enough, you know."  I grinned at Trowa, taking
another swallow of my hot coffee.  There is truly nothing that smells as
great as this hot beverage, except maybe pine trees.  I love the smell of
pine trees.

 Quatre smiled, stopping his food rampage.  "You might have to take up
long-distance running.  Relena's here."

 I almost dropped my coffee cup. Just almost. I'd never let coffee go to
waste like that.  "What?  Relena?!"

 "Yes.  She and her fiance just joined.  I hear the fiance will be rooming
with you, Duo."  Quatre picked up his fork.  "So you'll be seeing Relena
more often than ever.  And she is still cold about...." Quatre's voice
caught in his throat.  Or Wufei kicked him from underneath the table.  I
couldn't be sure.  It didn't matter, because Quatre started cramming
pancakes into his mouth at a speed faster than light.

 "About Heero.  I know."  Just weeks before Heero 'died', he had forced
Relena into agreeing to leave him alone.  He threatened to get a court
order and everything.  And Relena agreed, after a lot of persuasion.  I had
heard on the radio that she was getting married, to some soldier who got
her mind off of Heero.  But for some reason, she still blamed me for the
separation.  Like I had anything to do with it.  Heero had just gotten sick
of her.  I hadn't even been there, I didn't know what was said, but Relena
just couldn't stand it.

 "What an odd coincidence, that she is once again coming after us, even
after Heero's disappearance," Trowa said thoughtfully.  "One could suppose
that she is making sure we aren't hiding him anywhere."

 "Yeah right."  I rolled my eyes.  "She just want's to be able to hate me
in person."

"Maybe," Wufei agreed.  "Or it truly is such a coincidence."

 The rest of breakfast was uneventful, with no more disturbing news, but I
felt a lingering sense of dread.  Was I really so unlucky as to have to
room with Relena's fiance?  Anyone crazy enough to marry Relena was too
crazy for my tastes.  What was this guy's name again?  I had heard it
before, but it really wasn't one of those memorable names.

 Anyway, after breakfast, there was a fifteen minute break for all those
people who hadn't yet gotten dressed in the navy monstrosity or gathered
together their books.  So I went back upstairs and made my bed, for a
change.  If I really was rooming with the crazy soldier, I wanted it to
look fairly decent.  The guy would only be there for a week or so anyway.
That was the longest anyone had been able to stand rooming with me, with
just one exception. Heero.

I've gotten so many e-mails from you people telling me to make it a happy
ending!  Sorry, I have some not-so-good news.  I ALREADY DECIDED WHAT'S
GOING TO HAPPEN.  So there.  Don't worry, I have taken all your letters
into heart.  It won't be all that bad.  I promise.  I won't spoil the
ending for you all, and I know these past few chapters have been kind of
slow, but they will get better.  Trust me.  Hey, just remember that what I
write depends on what YOU say when you write to me!  And I'm sorry, but
part six may be a bit slow in coming.  Just be patient, it IS a virtue, you
know.  I'll be away for awhile, but flood that inbox, okay? Thanks!

~*Hawk*~