The Unseen Pathway- Ch.2 (TB x HS)

[Silent Moon Sphinx]

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

First Semester

Chapter Two
Have you seen our view??


~*~*~*~

She gulped. Loosening the collar of her snug turtleneck, Hilde squirmed in her seat as the shuttle landed on Earth.

"Nervous?" Sally Po asked with a smirk.

Her sudden comment only caused Hilde to jump.

"You didn't have to accompany me, you know," the girl told the Preventers' Agent.

"I thought I would act as the overprotective mother-type figure sending her precious baby off to her first year of college," Sally told her with an amused grin.

"That's nice," Hilde murmured, slipping off into a paralyzed dream world once again. Her head was spinning with questions, and worry was evident in her face.

'What if it's too hard? What if I don't like my roommate? What if she doesn't like me? What if I can't make any friends? What if my brain turns into a gelatinous mix of goo and I forget everything. WHAT THEN?'

Hilde sat stunned and numb, eyes glazed over with fear like a deer caught in the headlights.

"We're here." Sally broke through the girl's seemingly comatose state. Hilde had been about as responsive as a vegetable the whole trip.

"Already?" Hilde woke up from her dreamland, realizing that somewhere along the span of her worrisome questions, she and Sally had gotten off the shuttle, caught a taxi at the airport and arrived at European University. She was now standing in front of an intimidating stone building that looked gothic in appearance.

"So this is my dorm for the next year? I'm going to be living in a castle," Hilde stated.

"Let's just hope it has all of the modern conviences," Sally chuckled as she helped Hilde carry her bags up to the forth floor.

After a couple of trips, and a lot of sweat, the two women had finally managed to get all of Hilde's belongings up the old flight of stairs.

"You'd think they could afford an elevator," Hilde grumbled.

Finally entering the room that she would call home, Hilde saw it was already occupied. Sitting on one of the beds was who she assumed to be her roommate.

Hilde had always been a social girl, and when it came to meeting new people, she tended to be a bit bubbly. Perhaps that was how she made friends so easily.

Wasting no time, Hilde approached the girl cheerily. She was nervous on the inside as her stomach did some impressive flips and turns, but then she remembered some advice from a friend. No one will ever know you're scared if you put on a smile, Duo had once told her.

So, taking in a deep breath, Hilde was the first one to speak.

"Hi, I'm Hilde," she introduced herself, holding out her hand.

With that, the other girl brightened and returned the handshake. In a soft voice, she spoke, "I'm Sariah, it's nice to finally meet you."

Just from their first meeting, Hilde knew she and her roommate were going to get along just fine.

Her own extroverted nature seemed to complement the girl's introverted character. Sariah appeared to be everything polite and gentile, with a bit of an artistic flare. Her face was like a doll's, with big bright eyes, creamy fair skin and small, yet plump lips. Her hairstyle was quite unique, however. She had beautiful, wavy white-gold hair. But two sections of locks framing her face were longer then the others, intriguing because of their notable teal color. But it was a pretty sort of teal, Hilde admired, possessing a pastel hue that matched the color of the girl's eyes.

Sally had helped Hilde settle in, confident she would be okay after meeting Sariah and, with a hug, left to return back to Headquarters. Hilde was now completely on her own.

"She seemed nice," Sariah noted of Sally as she disappeared out the door. "Is she your sister or your aunt or something?"

"Just a friend," Hilde softly replied while unpacking her things.

"Oh," Sariah said gently. "My parents just left before you got here, always on the run, those two. So, would you like some help getting settled?"

"Yes, thank you." Hilde then continued to ask questions about Sariah, trying to take the focus off of herself.

Hilde learned that Sariah's father was a businessman, although the girl shied away from the subject. She preferred to speak of her hobbies, which had to do with anything artsy. In fact, wherever she went, the girl wore a cute little homemade flap of fabric that tied around her waste and had pockets for her notepaper, pencils, pens and paintbrushes, just in case she was suddenly inspired.

"So do you plan to take art while you're here?" Hilde asked Sariah.

"Oh, no!" the girl exclaimed. "Father would never let me. He says it would be a waste of his money. I'm in the business school. How about you?"

"Engineering," Hilde responded. ?I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship to come here. You know, they?re always trying to get more girls involved in engineering.?

"Wow, good for you. Any reason you chose that area?"

"I've had some experience working with machines when I lived on the colonies," Hilde said vaguely. Even though she already trusted Sariah, Hilde was not about to reveal she had once been a soldier, knew how to pilot and repair a mobile suit, was at the final battle with Libra, and had worked for the Sweepers after the war. It would only lead to more questions, and she had rather put that part of her past behind her. Noin had actually offered her a spot at Lake Victoria Academy. The military school had quite a bit of a curriculum change after the destruction of mobile dolls in the era of peacetime, however it still trained cadets in the name of protecting the established peace. But Hilde, having experienced her full of the military, not to mention seeing enough bloodshed for one lifetime, Hilde had gracefully declined.

Sariah was extremely good at reading people and her quiet nature enabled her to be a great listener. Therefore, she immediately understood that Hilde was uncomfortable when speaking about her past. A noticeable sadness welled up in the girl's deep blue eyes and she seemed to get lost in thought. So as not to bring up any painful memories, Sariah switched to another topic.

"Have you seen our view yet?" she asked in her soft voice, which never seemed to go above a whisper. Her aqua eyes sparkled with laughter.

Hilde eyed the girl strangely, wondering what could be so special.

"Whoa." Hilde's eyes grew wide as about fifty, sweaty, utterly delicious, athletic males did sprints on the field below them.

"We have the men's lacrosse team's practice field right in our back yard." Sariah smiled like she had swallowed a canary.

"I like it here already," Hilde commented as the two girls giggled and reluctantly went back to setting up their room.

~~~~~~~~~~

Going to classes had been frightening at first, but soon Hilde found that she was comfortable with the material being taught. Many had warned her that teachers tried to "weed out" the students in the engineering school the first year, wanting to separate the truly serious and passionate students from ones who didn't care all that much. Hilde seemed on the right track to passing this test. Her previous knowledge gained from working for OZ and the Sweepers had definitely come in handy when working with machines. But the general textbook knowledge of chemistry, physics and mathematics was still a healthy struggle for her, so Hilde knew she could not afford to slack off.

Sticking with Sariah, both girls had met some new friends, but Hilde couldn't believe how unaware her classmates seemed. Most students at EU were from well-off backgrounds and very sheltered. Of course they all were intelligent, but a book couldn't teach them of what Hilde had experienced during wartime. Many of the students took too many things for granted, one of them being the Earth they lived on.

'We'd all be on an iceberg if Heero hadn't destroyed Libra,' Hilde thought to herself. She often wondered how all of the Gundam pilots were doing. Their bravery, kindness, and courage was unsurpassable, truly a rarity for people their age. Hilde had discovered that they were still the best men she had ever known. No one at EU could compare.

"Being in the presence of men so great has left me with a very high standard," Hilde sighed to herself, but still, she yearned for someone to fill the emptiness in her heart she had been feeling ever since Duo went away. Perhaps when she finally felt settled in, she would begin her search.

[Beck]

"Have you seen our view yet?" she asked in her soft voice, which never seemed to go above a whisper. Her aqua eyes sparkled with laughter.

Hilde eyed the girl strangely, wondering what could be so special.

"Whoa." Hilde's eyes grew wide as about fifty, sweaty, utterly delicious, athletic males did sprints on the field below them.

"We have the men's lacrosse team's practice field right in our back yard." Sariah smiled like she had swallowed a canary.

"I like it here already," Hilde commented as the two girls giggled and reluctantly went back to setting up their room.

Mmmmm....... *drools* that sounds like a GRRRRRRRRRREAT view!!! Was this part of your real life experience or something that you wished you had seen? Either way, those girls are lucky

[Silent Moon Sphinx]

BECK!!!!

*sigh* I wish having the men's lacrosse team in my backyard was from real life experience. Lax guys are so high on the drool factor. But next year, I'm living in an on-campus apartment with a practice field as my view and I have often seen the men's rugby team pummeling away out there. SOoooooo....I should be expecting some very nice eye candy in the near future. Yuuuuuuum.

Thanks so much for reading!!!!!!!!!!

~Sphinx

[Kanya Barton]

Great, great, humongously great story! I'm lovin' it! I can't wait for the TrowaxHilde pairing gets goin' though! Good job! Keep up the good work! Peace out!

[Cinthya_Dee]

Still here and ready to go to the next chapter. I like your writing style. you get into enough detail as not to be too long and boring but straight to the point.

Cinthya_Dee