The Petite Rebel 5/12
Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 2:04 pm
CHAPTER FIVE: HILDE?S RETURN
Duo moved as fast as his legs would carry him. He ignored anything in his way, the gate to the palace for instance. He only had one thing on his mind getting this tiny girl to Sally. He busted in the front doors and shook his face, letting the wetness fall off and leaving the doors open sped off to the infirmary.
He burst in the door and tossed his bangs up over his violet pools and his brows furrowed scrutinizing the room. Sally was working quietly on a patient who was asleep-or at least appeared to be. As he came in she spun around her sandy pigtails whirling and pulled off her paper mask to stare at him. ?Duo!? She hissed. ?It?s two A.M. in the morning what are you-? She stopped and gasped as she saw the slight girl wrapped up in his arms protectively. ?Oh dear lord!? She quickly shut her mouth and motioned for him to place her on one of the beds. He did it with out hesitation and as he removed his hands from under her stared at them blindly. They were covered in a sickly deep shade of red. ?Duo! What happened? How did this occur?? Sally asked him.
Duo just stared at her blankly for a moment processing what she had just asked him. ?I-I don?t know what happened to her...She fell into me on the side walk...? He trailed off and looked at her white face, and his eyes became widened with slight fear. ?Sally-do you know who this is?? He asked out of the blue trailing his finger along the girl?s hair leaving a slight red line along her face.
?No...? She answered shortly. ?Duo, go clean your hands then tell me what happened! This girl was shot and has lost a lot of blood!?
He snapped out of his trance just enough to go wash his hands.
?Hurry Duo, I?ll need help-she needs an operation to get the bullet out immediately.? Sally commended him.
He made his way back and helped out best he could suddenly going back into a frantic mode. ?She-I-I was sitting and she tripped over me and landed beside me? He began to say as he helped Sally prep things. ?I had no idea she had been shot-I mean she looked pale and everything but, look at her hair and eyes...One would believe that was natural! I told her I was ok and that she reminded me strongly of Hilde. But I didn?t say Hilde?s name...She told me she had just run away from the New White Fang compound...?
Sally stopped and stared at him, again slowly pulling down her paper mask. ?What?? She said.
?That?s what I thought too-so I pulled her into an abandoned warehouse so she could possibly tell me where the base was-but she said she had no idea where she was so she couldn?t tell me where she?d come from. I didn?t know whether or not to believe that till she asked me what Hilde?s name was, and I wanted to know why. Had she seen her? Was she ok? But all she did was say ?Hilde? That was her name?? And she collapsed on me. I ran to catch her and when I looked at her it hit me...? He stopped and bit his lip hard.
?What hit you Duo? Tell me.? Sally prodded gently.
He looked up into Sally?s warm aquamarine eyes and then away quickly, frustrated. He wiped the left over rain off his face furiously and answered. ?She-she is my Hilde...? He said in a little less than a whisper.
Sally dropped her scalpel and it clanged to the floor. She snapped her head to look at the white haired girl that lay motionless in the hospital bed below her fingers. ?You mean-?? She indicated the girl with a nod of her head. Duo nodded slowly, rubbing his head. ?Oh good God...Hilde...What did they do to you? You look so wrong!? She said as she stared at her.
Duo broke down completely but he was smiling sort of. ?My Hilde...I found her again...She came back to me.?
Sally shook her head and regained herself. ?Oh! But she won?t be back for long if I don?t do this! Duo-you should leave...This obviously will have a major effect on you. I?ll call someone real fast to escort you back to your room. I?ll let you know something about her as soon as I know myself all right??
?No!? He said ?I haven?t seen her in two years...I want to watch and know for myself that she?ll be ok!?
?Duo! You can?t stay!? Sally said. She picked up a phone and dialed something. Duo held Hilde?s hand tightly as she did and he looked at her.
?I?m staying Sally...? He said in a final voice.
Sally looked at Duo and hung up the phone. ?Duo, hon., I know you want to be here when she wakes up-when the thing is over, but you?ll just be an obstruction. I can?t let you.?
Duo glared at her but didn?t have anything to say. The doors to the infirmary opened and Heero walked in with Trowa. ?What is the problem?? Heero asked blankly.
Duo whirled around. ?You sent for him?? He snarled.
Heero took in the site before him. ?Who is that?? He said and pointed to the girl on the bed behind the braided boy.
Duo wiped his eyes again. ?Hilde.? He said very tersely.
Trowa and Heero?s eyes grew wide and they stared at her. ?Hilde?? Heero asked disbelievingly.
Duo nodded. ?I know...I know what your thinking-It doesn?t look like her at all. Well it?s been two years since any of us has seen her-people change. On top of that you said the serum that she was supposed to be given you didn?t even know the effects of it. It could have done this to her.?
Sally frowned. ?She has changed very much-But I asked you, Heero, down here to escort Duo away so he won?t become an obstruction to an operation I must perform on her.?
Heero nodded and took Duo by the arm. As he helped Duo out the door he mused on the raging and conflicting emotions inside him at the moment at Hilde?s sudden return. He was happy because she came back, mortified because he?d have to face her again and glad because if he was right, the New White Fang had just lost their best and top ultimate soldier. They had her now therefore handing Earth and the Sanq the upper hand in the battle, providing they didn?t find her and try to take her back. He noticed that Duo was resisting him now and he was tugging on him and telling him to ?come on.?
?Duo! Move!? He hissed.
?No! I told you, I?m staying in here to see for myself if she?s ok! Heero I haven?t seen her for two years! I thought she was dead! I-I-? His face broke again.
Trowa looked at Heero; Heero knew and nodded. He held Duo fast as Trowa got a tranquilizer and stabbed Duo with it. Duo cried out, but within a minute he collapsed onto Heero. Heero lifted the slightly shorter boy up in his arms and without a word left the infirmary, his conflicting emotions battling inside his head behind his indifferent mask.
Trowa watched calmly then turned to Sally. ?Why was I called?? He asked looking at Hilde.
?I need you to help me with this-and to go and tell Heero or Duo when something happens...I?ll do my best to work quickly on her and get it over with and keep her alive.? She said reassuringly putting a hand on Trowa?s shoulder. Trowa nodded and they got down to business.
~*~
Upstairs after Heero had laid the 02 Gundam pilot down he left the room immediately traveling to Relena?s office where she was frequently, pacing back and forth pondering the problem at present. He rapped lightly on the great oak doors and the sweet undertones of her muffled voice drifted out through them and to his ears with a tired ?Come in...?
He slid the door open and silently slipped inside. He stood there resting his weight on his left foot surveying the room. Relena stood bent half way over the front of her desk studying something on it?s surface. She stood and turned as she heard the oak doors shut. Her eyes opened a little more and she looked at him. ?Heero.? She greeted.
He grunted a little. ?Relena.? He returned.
She closed whatever she had been studying on her desktop and turned completely to face him. ?What are you doing here and up at this time of morning?? She asked trying to sound pleasant and keep the exhaustion from showing in her voice.
Heero just stared at her. ?What are you doing here and up at this time of morning, Miss Darlian?? He asked gruffly.
Relena smiled tiredly at him and turned to walk behind her desk and sit. She sighed. ?Touch?, Heero. You?ve got me there...I could be doing all this during the day.? She said and pushed aside some papers. ?Well, you came in here for some reason...so out with it.? She said waving her hand at a chair in front of the desk.
He ignored the friendly gesture to sit and remained standing as he said in his usual monotone tongue ?Hilde has been found.?
Relena dropped the glass she had picked up not caring that it had fallen and shattered on the marble floor. ?She what?! She?s been found? Are you quite sure, Heero?? She asked.
Heero closed his Prussian blue eyes letting a small breath escape the confinements of his lips and nodded, opening them again. ?She?s in the infirmary, with Sally being operated on as we speak. Trowa is with them.?
Relena stood up quickly. ?What happened to her?? She asked rather frantically.
?I have yet to know...? Heero answered. ?I did not see fit to ask. I was called down there to escort a hysterical Duo from the room so Sally could operate in peace.?
?Oh gods! Duo knows she?s back??
?Yes. He?s the one who brought her in. I had to put a tranquilizer in him to get him out however, so don?t expect to go ask him anything in his present state.?
?I wouldn?t want to, poor Duo...Do you think I could go see her??
Heero shook his head. ?Not till I get word that she is okay.?
Relena sat down in her chair again and propped her forehead up in her palms. ?Oh gods above...She?s back...She?s alive and back...? She looked up at Heero. ?Does this mean that the New White Fang-?
Heero nodded slowly. ?Does not have their best ultimate soldier and we now will have the upper hand of the battle.? He finished for her.
Relena sat silently letting the information sink in and wondering what moves she was open to make now. Heero watched her for a little bit then made an excuse to go check on Duo and left the office. Relena watched him leave and sighed. ?I hope she gets better soon. I must speak with her.?
Heero hurried down the hall to Duo?s room and peeked inside. He was still out. He would be for a couple hours. Those tranquilizers were no joke. But Heero knew Duo needed it, he knew he hadn?t slept correctly in the two years after Hilde had been stolen away. He knew because he hadn?t either. As Heero turned around Quatre came up to him.
?What?s all the ruckus about Heero?? He asked rubbing his eyes.
Heero looked at Quatre with a silent disposition for a moment, then very quickly he answered ?Hilde has been found.? Just as he had answered Relena.
Quatre?s eyes also went wide. ?She has?! That?s wonderful news! Where is she? How is She? Does Duo know?!? He asked quickly.
He was answered by the soft melancholy voice of Trowa as he ascended the stairs behind them. ?She?s in the infirmary right now Quatre, I am sorry to say she is not doing to well. She lost a lot of blood before she came here and she needs a blood transfusion. Sally is checking her blood type and looking for a match as I speak. Yes, Duo does know...He brought her in from the rain at two ten. But Duo had to be put down with a tranquilizer because he was becoming frantic.?
Quatre?s eyes grew wider. ?Oh dear...that?s not good at all...?
?It gets worse.? Heero said very quietly.
?How?s that?? Quatre asked turning back to Heero.
?Her colors are all wrong...and she has malnutrition. She hasn?t eaten correctly in a while and is very thin.?
?Her colors are wrong? What on Earth do you mean by that?? Quatre asked.
?Her hair-is pure white.? Heero answered.
Trowa nodded at this. ?Her eyes are also lime green...Sally checked them.? Heero and Quatre stared at Trowa as he said this. ?I just came up her to deliver the news of how she is. I must return now and get further information on her condition.? He said and turned to walk back downstairs.
Heero watched him go and inclined his head to look at Duo?s door. Quatre followed his line of vision and realized what he was thinking. ?Heero, I?ll stay in there with him and confront him when he wakes up.? He offered.
Heero?s face turned stoically back to consider Quatre for a moment then looked off down the hall. He nodded. ?Do that.? He said and turned to walk off.
Quatre nodded slightly and went to sit in Duo?s room and await him to wake up.
~*~
Quatre had been sitting in the room for a little less than an hour when Trowa knocked quietly at the door. He got up and opened it letting the taller boy in. ?Well?? Quatre asked.
?She will be fine, physically.? Trowa answered.
Quatre nodded. ?Good, Sally found the right type of blood??
Trowa nodded. ?She has an IV and its feeding her body nutrients it lost in the past week. She had been emaciated for lack of food.?
There was a groan from the bed and Quatre and Trowa turned to witness Duo raise himself up on his hands and hold his head. Quatre walked over to him. ?Duo-your awake...How do you feel??
?Like a shit hole..? Duo groaned. ?What the fuck happened?? He asked sitting on his knees his hands propped on the mattress. Then as if answering his own question his head shot up straight. ?Where?s Hilde?!? He said.
?The same place you left her, Duo.? The sound of Wufei?s voice echoed into the room as the door was subtly pushed open by the Chinese pilot.
All three turned to look up at him. ?Heero told you she was found I guess.? Quatre said, making a statement more then a question.
Wufei nodded. ?Yes, he told me.?
Duo shot up off the bed. ?Well take me to her! I want to see her! Where is she??
?Hold up Duo!? Wufei said shoving his hand up to stop the boy from busting out the door. ?She?s not in a good predicament right now to be seen by visitors.?
?I don?t care Wufei. I must see her...? He growled lowly. ?Get out of my way.? With that he pushed past Wufei and went off down the stairs.
Wufei watched him and smirked. ?He?s not going to like what he finds down there.? He said half to himself.
?Why? What?s wrong?? Quatre asked coming up behind Wufei to look as well.
?She doesn?t remember a damn thing.? Wufei said loosing his smirk and following the braided pilot to the infirmary.
Quatre looked at Trowa who looked calmly back and they turned to follow the two other men. ?Wufei, what do you mean she doesn?t remember a thing?? Quatre asked catching up to the Chinese boy.
?Just what I said.? Wufei answered smartly. ?She doesn?t remember us, him or anything else prior to her kidnapping two years ago. At all. Of course she?s been slipping in and out of consciousness so we do not have a clear idea of what she really does or does not remember.?
?That sounds terrible...? Quatre said.
?It gets worse.? He responded.
?How?? Trowa asked curious now himself.
?The serum the New White Fang gave her is what we think is the cause for her amnesia, and there?s no known cure. She might be stuck not remembering her real past for the rest of her life.? Wufei said as they reached the infirmary.
They entered and spied Duo quietly sitting beside the girl?s bed, his face a vivid blank expression, chin resting on the top of his hands watching the tiny girl under furrowed brows. Relena and Heero were there too, on the other side of the bed watching also with quiet intensity and expectancy. By her head a heart monitor throbbed and beeped a normal pulse sound and an IV linked her vein to the bag holding the replacement blood. Wufei and Trowa took respective places along the length of the wall and Quatre stepped up to stand beside Duo and wait for her to awaken.
A half hour past and there was a slight movement on the blankets. Her shoulders wiggled, her eyes scrunched up and Duo sat up straight watching. ?She?s waking up!? He said to alert the others.
Trowa?s head lifted from his seeming fascination with the tiled floor. Heero turned from staring blindly out the window. Relena put her paper down. Quatre sat up straighter leaving off his fiddling with a hospital instrument and Wufei turned sharply with his freshly poured coffee in hand and presently sneered, ?At last...I was going to put her out of her misery if she didn?t soon.?
Duo shot him a look as Hilde?s eyes suddenly flew open of their own accord to reveal the stunningly, unnatural, lime green irises below the lids of her petite face. She sat up quickly, abruptly, ripping the IV from her arm as she did so with purpose. Duo stood up and stepped back a bit startled by her sudden reflexes. Her eyes traveled silently around the room surveying the company within it. Everyone bit back a gasp as they saw those unusually bright emerald eyes, taking turns to stop and look at each person with a certain distrust and question etched into them. ?Who are you, and where am I?? Her voice was low, a hiss almost, dripping in admonition. Her eyes narrowed at the few who stood apart nonchalantly watching her, making the green depths sparkle with reproach.
A boy with a long toffee colored rope of hair came to her side, slowly-warily, his azure-violet orbs set to look into hers. Her memory scanned recent events because she some how she remembered the face and body that he presented to her now. Her mind came to rest on last night. ?You...? She muttered cagily.
He smiled at her, an enchanting, rich but sad smile, apparently happy that she recalled who he was. ?Yes, me...? He said slowly, his voice young but with a rough smoothness to it.
?Who are you? Why did you bring me here? Who are these people?? She responded scornfully watching as his smile died away somewhat at her questions.
?You don?t remember?? He said pushing his spiky soft bangs from his eyes. ?Hilde-you don?t remember me??
She stared at the boy before her. ?Oh sure I remember you, from last night. What did you do to me? What did any of you do to me last night?? She glanced around the room with strong suspicion wafting into her face.
Duo sat back a little shocked and unable to answer. ?She-she doesn?t-she doesn?t remember...?
Another boy, this one with well defined arms and upper body, longish, spiky, wild hair and the most gorgeous blue eyes came up behind the braided boy and looked down upon her with a pasty glare of no human feeling. She stared up at him wearing the exact same look he gave her. ?Hilde...? He said in a deep, monotonous voice.
?How do you know my name? Who are you?? She asked in the same tone of voice that made the braided boy and another boy, a platinum blonde with pretty blue-green eyes, flinch.
?Do you remember anything?? He asked ignoring her the question for the third time. Hilde was getting pissed, but seeing as there were six of them compared to the one of her and she felt incredibly weak, she did not let it show. Weak? She suddenly remembered the wound she had received from the White Fang special officers who had been hunting her down since her escape. Ignoring the bishounen in front of her she reached her hand down to feel at her gunshot wound. Her eyes widened as she found it bandaged up and bleeding little.
?Did you do this?? She pointed at her abdomen, bandaged up as she stared up at the boy in front of her. He shook his head, then pursed his lips.
?Sally did.? He answered her flatly.
?Sally? Who is Sally?? She growled looking back down and poking at her bandage.
?Do you?? He repeated bringing her back to where she was. Her eyes narrowed again.
?Do I what??
?Remember Hilde. Do you remember anything??
?I remember the last two years, beyond that I have no recollection of anything. As well I shouldn?t, I am a drone used for war and was made only for that purpose. I had nothing before my two years of training.? She growled. ?And now if you please, I have answered your question, answer my questions! Who are you and where am I??
The boy?s eyes grew hard and even more unfeeling than before, if it were possible, as they bore down on her. The braided boy stifled a gasp, and the woman with honey colored hair and aquamarine eyes approached him to put a hand on his shoulder.
?Should I know you?? She asked then harshly.
A fourth boy stepped forward from the back holding a cup of coffee. He was lean, lithe and well built as well. His almond shaped ebony eyes scanned her and his perfectly black hair was swept back in a tight, short ponytail in the back of his head, obviously oriental. He looked over at the blue-eyed boy and he gave a short irritated side glance back. The oriental boy turned back to face her and bowed slightly. ?I am Chang Wufei. These morons do not know how to be formal, especially with a lady.?
There was a feral growl that arose from her left, where the braided boy had sat down again with quiet persistence of the honey blonde. She ignored it and nodded at Chang. ?All right, that?s one.? She said regarding the rest of the assembly with a tight look.
?Heero Yuy,? He said pointing at the stoic blue-eyed boy behind the braided one. ?That is Quatre Rabarba Winner,? He indicated the blonde boy ?Trowa Barton,? He nodded toward a boy who was elegantly tall with a silky, sheet of chestnut bangs covering one of his exquisite lush green eyes. Then extending his hand slightly to indicate the woman behind the braided boy he said, ?This is Relena Peacecraft.?
Hilde gasped slightly. ?Relena Peacecraft? The very one who was Queen of the world and leads the United Earth Sphere Alliance, and the one White Fang wishes to topple and take over Earth and space in doing so??
Relena nodded her mouth slightly agape at Hilde?s knowledge. ?Yes I am, but I thought you knew nothing of years before the past two?? She asked speaking for the first time, her voice like sugary candy.
?That is true Miss Peacecraft.? Hilde responded her eyes growing dark as she peered at Relena over her lashes. ?However, in the two years I, of course, have been taught much, a great deal about the enemy I was bound to kill with my own hands and gain back the power and rule for White Fang.?
Relena gasped quietly and staved off a bit from the bed side.
Hilde then ignored the woman who had backed away into Heero and turned her attention to the violet eyed boy who sat stunned and staring at her, his mouth barely open in fixation. ?Now, could you tell me who the demon creature is who was obviously the one who brought me to where ever I am?? She asked huskily, roughly, staring at him as if searing his soul with her impaling, shimmering, green gaze.
Duo?s face grew taught and hard looking then. ?My name is Duo Maxwell.? He said suddenly brash and raw in his tone. ?And yours, we know all to well is Hilde Schibecker.? His indigo-violets giving her a back stare to challenge her own. Cleaving through her own soul with the intensity of thousands of purple stars burning in the sky.
?I know my name.? She retorted sadistically. ?And it is quite apparent you all know it as well.? She tore her eye lock with Duo to spare a glance around the room. ?How you know it is beyond me, however. I have never met any of you before in my short span of life.?
Duo groaned and her eyes snapped back to him. ?Hilde how can you not remember? I-we have searched for you for two long years that feels like a millennia-then when we finally find you again-you don?t even know who I am.? His eyes closed and his head drooped to rest on an extended hand that was resting on his knee.
Hilde frowned at this. ?Should I know any of you?? She asked suddenly unsure of herself.
All around there were nods and small ?yeses? to accompany them. She moved up on the mattress to lean against the pillow as she stared confused and vacant at the people in the strange room with her. Quatre stepped forward and sat on the end of the bed. ?Hilde-we were your best friends before two years ago. You knew us, trusted us and loved us...can you at least try to remember?? He lay a hand on her leg, as that was the closest part of her to him, to help her decide.
Heero nodded his assent to what Quatre just said. ?Yes, Hilde. Do try to remember-if not for the sake of us, than the sake of yourself.?
?We could use you now in any case.? Wufei said shortly. ?With your new training and your ?ultimate? soldier capabilities we could crush the new White Fang and end this blasted thing.?
Duo?s eyes flicked about his friends as Trowa and Relena joined in to ask her to try and remember her true past, her friends. He looked at her forlornly as her eyes swiveled here and there as more pleas for her to try were asked of her. Her unnatural, lime greens finally found his indigo-violets and stared deep into them, creating a spell of entrancement and a twisted feeling in his stomach that he had never felt before. The twisting feeling grew sharper and flew to his heart and head as she continued to stare at him, making him feel things he had never felt before. His voice suddenly fell out of his partly opened lips in unison with the others asking her to remember.
As Hilde stared at Duo watching things pass over his face that she had never seen before her head began to swim. When he began speaking as well her mind seemed to single out his voice alone. Suddenly a wave of pictures flew into her mind. Pictures and emotions, feelings, faces, places, people, things, ideas-bombarding her head mercilessly. She shut her eyes at suddenly the searing pain and screeched instinctively bringing her hands to her head and clutching at it tightly. The others stopped and watched as her lively eyes again grew pink and as she did this she hardly noticed. Her head hurt and she made it clear. ?-I--I can?t!? She strained out through clenched teeth the pain overwhelming her senses completely. ?-I-I c-can?t-re-remember...It hurts-Oh god it hurts... Please stop...? She whimpered and cried out feebly, gasping as the pictures sliced her head to pieces.
Duo was quick in motion and grabbed her pain-wracked body holding her tightly and securely in his arms. He placed his chin on her white head and hugged tightly, caressing her back and rocking her back and forth soothing her troubled mind with his soft voice. Eventually her mind slowly came to a halt and all the visions were gone, her mind empty and free once more. She instinctively clutched at whatever had wrapped around her and just lay there her eyes wide with passionate pain still etched lightly across her face.
The others stood aghast at what they had just witnessed, slowly waking up from the evilness of it. Sally had come in at the screeching noise that had emanated from Hilde?s tiny larynx. ?What happened?? She asked her eyes wide.
?Hilde tried to remember her past and it backfired apparently.? Trowa said his calm voice deceiving the look of pure surprise in his face.
Hilde listened none to carefully to the hum of conversation around her-her mind tired and wanting to shut off for a while from trying to remember so much. She rested limply in whatever or whoever held her in the tight, warm embrace her eyes hazy and half-open in the twilight stage of sleep.
Duo watched and listened as Sally reprimanded them all for trying to do that. But his attention was drawn from Sally as Hilde began to breathe evenly and shallowly in his arms. He looked down at her to find she was asleep. He gave a tiny wan smile as he caressed her cheek softly, Sally and the others voices drifting away so that some how he felt it was just him and her. His heart, mind and stomach twisted into a hard knot again as he watched her quietly, again feeling the strange emotions he had never felt looking at her before.
Her head shifted in his arms so that her face was facing his and her mouth slightly parted as she took in each breath. Her eyes closed delicately over her eyes. Without thinking, and a seemingly mere reflex he slowly bent his head. He had no idea what he was doing-till suddenly: ?Maxwell! Are you listening to me??
His head sharply arose a rosy hue to his cheeks now as he realized what he was about to do. ?Yes Sally ma?am.? He said and gingerly put Hilde down into her coverlets and stood up.
?Then get your butt out with the rest of you and let me take care of the girl.? She said pointing at the door.
The party of six nodded and slowly exited the door, Duo last taking a last look at the girl he?d been searching for, for two years instantly forgetting what he had just tried to do, and slipped out with the rest.
~*~Chap. 5 fin.~*~
Duo moved as fast as his legs would carry him. He ignored anything in his way, the gate to the palace for instance. He only had one thing on his mind getting this tiny girl to Sally. He busted in the front doors and shook his face, letting the wetness fall off and leaving the doors open sped off to the infirmary.
He burst in the door and tossed his bangs up over his violet pools and his brows furrowed scrutinizing the room. Sally was working quietly on a patient who was asleep-or at least appeared to be. As he came in she spun around her sandy pigtails whirling and pulled off her paper mask to stare at him. ?Duo!? She hissed. ?It?s two A.M. in the morning what are you-? She stopped and gasped as she saw the slight girl wrapped up in his arms protectively. ?Oh dear lord!? She quickly shut her mouth and motioned for him to place her on one of the beds. He did it with out hesitation and as he removed his hands from under her stared at them blindly. They were covered in a sickly deep shade of red. ?Duo! What happened? How did this occur?? Sally asked him.
Duo just stared at her blankly for a moment processing what she had just asked him. ?I-I don?t know what happened to her...She fell into me on the side walk...? He trailed off and looked at her white face, and his eyes became widened with slight fear. ?Sally-do you know who this is?? He asked out of the blue trailing his finger along the girl?s hair leaving a slight red line along her face.
?No...? She answered shortly. ?Duo, go clean your hands then tell me what happened! This girl was shot and has lost a lot of blood!?
He snapped out of his trance just enough to go wash his hands.
?Hurry Duo, I?ll need help-she needs an operation to get the bullet out immediately.? Sally commended him.
He made his way back and helped out best he could suddenly going back into a frantic mode. ?She-I-I was sitting and she tripped over me and landed beside me? He began to say as he helped Sally prep things. ?I had no idea she had been shot-I mean she looked pale and everything but, look at her hair and eyes...One would believe that was natural! I told her I was ok and that she reminded me strongly of Hilde. But I didn?t say Hilde?s name...She told me she had just run away from the New White Fang compound...?
Sally stopped and stared at him, again slowly pulling down her paper mask. ?What?? She said.
?That?s what I thought too-so I pulled her into an abandoned warehouse so she could possibly tell me where the base was-but she said she had no idea where she was so she couldn?t tell me where she?d come from. I didn?t know whether or not to believe that till she asked me what Hilde?s name was, and I wanted to know why. Had she seen her? Was she ok? But all she did was say ?Hilde? That was her name?? And she collapsed on me. I ran to catch her and when I looked at her it hit me...? He stopped and bit his lip hard.
?What hit you Duo? Tell me.? Sally prodded gently.
He looked up into Sally?s warm aquamarine eyes and then away quickly, frustrated. He wiped the left over rain off his face furiously and answered. ?She-she is my Hilde...? He said in a little less than a whisper.
Sally dropped her scalpel and it clanged to the floor. She snapped her head to look at the white haired girl that lay motionless in the hospital bed below her fingers. ?You mean-?? She indicated the girl with a nod of her head. Duo nodded slowly, rubbing his head. ?Oh good God...Hilde...What did they do to you? You look so wrong!? She said as she stared at her.
Duo broke down completely but he was smiling sort of. ?My Hilde...I found her again...She came back to me.?
Sally shook her head and regained herself. ?Oh! But she won?t be back for long if I don?t do this! Duo-you should leave...This obviously will have a major effect on you. I?ll call someone real fast to escort you back to your room. I?ll let you know something about her as soon as I know myself all right??
?No!? He said ?I haven?t seen her in two years...I want to watch and know for myself that she?ll be ok!?
?Duo! You can?t stay!? Sally said. She picked up a phone and dialed something. Duo held Hilde?s hand tightly as she did and he looked at her.
?I?m staying Sally...? He said in a final voice.
Sally looked at Duo and hung up the phone. ?Duo, hon., I know you want to be here when she wakes up-when the thing is over, but you?ll just be an obstruction. I can?t let you.?
Duo glared at her but didn?t have anything to say. The doors to the infirmary opened and Heero walked in with Trowa. ?What is the problem?? Heero asked blankly.
Duo whirled around. ?You sent for him?? He snarled.
Heero took in the site before him. ?Who is that?? He said and pointed to the girl on the bed behind the braided boy.
Duo wiped his eyes again. ?Hilde.? He said very tersely.
Trowa and Heero?s eyes grew wide and they stared at her. ?Hilde?? Heero asked disbelievingly.
Duo nodded. ?I know...I know what your thinking-It doesn?t look like her at all. Well it?s been two years since any of us has seen her-people change. On top of that you said the serum that she was supposed to be given you didn?t even know the effects of it. It could have done this to her.?
Sally frowned. ?She has changed very much-But I asked you, Heero, down here to escort Duo away so he won?t become an obstruction to an operation I must perform on her.?
Heero nodded and took Duo by the arm. As he helped Duo out the door he mused on the raging and conflicting emotions inside him at the moment at Hilde?s sudden return. He was happy because she came back, mortified because he?d have to face her again and glad because if he was right, the New White Fang had just lost their best and top ultimate soldier. They had her now therefore handing Earth and the Sanq the upper hand in the battle, providing they didn?t find her and try to take her back. He noticed that Duo was resisting him now and he was tugging on him and telling him to ?come on.?
?Duo! Move!? He hissed.
?No! I told you, I?m staying in here to see for myself if she?s ok! Heero I haven?t seen her for two years! I thought she was dead! I-I-? His face broke again.
Trowa looked at Heero; Heero knew and nodded. He held Duo fast as Trowa got a tranquilizer and stabbed Duo with it. Duo cried out, but within a minute he collapsed onto Heero. Heero lifted the slightly shorter boy up in his arms and without a word left the infirmary, his conflicting emotions battling inside his head behind his indifferent mask.
Trowa watched calmly then turned to Sally. ?Why was I called?? He asked looking at Hilde.
?I need you to help me with this-and to go and tell Heero or Duo when something happens...I?ll do my best to work quickly on her and get it over with and keep her alive.? She said reassuringly putting a hand on Trowa?s shoulder. Trowa nodded and they got down to business.
~*~
Upstairs after Heero had laid the 02 Gundam pilot down he left the room immediately traveling to Relena?s office where she was frequently, pacing back and forth pondering the problem at present. He rapped lightly on the great oak doors and the sweet undertones of her muffled voice drifted out through them and to his ears with a tired ?Come in...?
He slid the door open and silently slipped inside. He stood there resting his weight on his left foot surveying the room. Relena stood bent half way over the front of her desk studying something on it?s surface. She stood and turned as she heard the oak doors shut. Her eyes opened a little more and she looked at him. ?Heero.? She greeted.
He grunted a little. ?Relena.? He returned.
She closed whatever she had been studying on her desktop and turned completely to face him. ?What are you doing here and up at this time of morning?? She asked trying to sound pleasant and keep the exhaustion from showing in her voice.
Heero just stared at her. ?What are you doing here and up at this time of morning, Miss Darlian?? He asked gruffly.
Relena smiled tiredly at him and turned to walk behind her desk and sit. She sighed. ?Touch?, Heero. You?ve got me there...I could be doing all this during the day.? She said and pushed aside some papers. ?Well, you came in here for some reason...so out with it.? She said waving her hand at a chair in front of the desk.
He ignored the friendly gesture to sit and remained standing as he said in his usual monotone tongue ?Hilde has been found.?
Relena dropped the glass she had picked up not caring that it had fallen and shattered on the marble floor. ?She what?! She?s been found? Are you quite sure, Heero?? She asked.
Heero closed his Prussian blue eyes letting a small breath escape the confinements of his lips and nodded, opening them again. ?She?s in the infirmary, with Sally being operated on as we speak. Trowa is with them.?
Relena stood up quickly. ?What happened to her?? She asked rather frantically.
?I have yet to know...? Heero answered. ?I did not see fit to ask. I was called down there to escort a hysterical Duo from the room so Sally could operate in peace.?
?Oh gods! Duo knows she?s back??
?Yes. He?s the one who brought her in. I had to put a tranquilizer in him to get him out however, so don?t expect to go ask him anything in his present state.?
?I wouldn?t want to, poor Duo...Do you think I could go see her??
Heero shook his head. ?Not till I get word that she is okay.?
Relena sat down in her chair again and propped her forehead up in her palms. ?Oh gods above...She?s back...She?s alive and back...? She looked up at Heero. ?Does this mean that the New White Fang-?
Heero nodded slowly. ?Does not have their best ultimate soldier and we now will have the upper hand of the battle.? He finished for her.
Relena sat silently letting the information sink in and wondering what moves she was open to make now. Heero watched her for a little bit then made an excuse to go check on Duo and left the office. Relena watched him leave and sighed. ?I hope she gets better soon. I must speak with her.?
Heero hurried down the hall to Duo?s room and peeked inside. He was still out. He would be for a couple hours. Those tranquilizers were no joke. But Heero knew Duo needed it, he knew he hadn?t slept correctly in the two years after Hilde had been stolen away. He knew because he hadn?t either. As Heero turned around Quatre came up to him.
?What?s all the ruckus about Heero?? He asked rubbing his eyes.
Heero looked at Quatre with a silent disposition for a moment, then very quickly he answered ?Hilde has been found.? Just as he had answered Relena.
Quatre?s eyes also went wide. ?She has?! That?s wonderful news! Where is she? How is She? Does Duo know?!? He asked quickly.
He was answered by the soft melancholy voice of Trowa as he ascended the stairs behind them. ?She?s in the infirmary right now Quatre, I am sorry to say she is not doing to well. She lost a lot of blood before she came here and she needs a blood transfusion. Sally is checking her blood type and looking for a match as I speak. Yes, Duo does know...He brought her in from the rain at two ten. But Duo had to be put down with a tranquilizer because he was becoming frantic.?
Quatre?s eyes grew wider. ?Oh dear...that?s not good at all...?
?It gets worse.? Heero said very quietly.
?How?s that?? Quatre asked turning back to Heero.
?Her colors are all wrong...and she has malnutrition. She hasn?t eaten correctly in a while and is very thin.?
?Her colors are wrong? What on Earth do you mean by that?? Quatre asked.
?Her hair-is pure white.? Heero answered.
Trowa nodded at this. ?Her eyes are also lime green...Sally checked them.? Heero and Quatre stared at Trowa as he said this. ?I just came up her to deliver the news of how she is. I must return now and get further information on her condition.? He said and turned to walk back downstairs.
Heero watched him go and inclined his head to look at Duo?s door. Quatre followed his line of vision and realized what he was thinking. ?Heero, I?ll stay in there with him and confront him when he wakes up.? He offered.
Heero?s face turned stoically back to consider Quatre for a moment then looked off down the hall. He nodded. ?Do that.? He said and turned to walk off.
Quatre nodded slightly and went to sit in Duo?s room and await him to wake up.
~*~
Quatre had been sitting in the room for a little less than an hour when Trowa knocked quietly at the door. He got up and opened it letting the taller boy in. ?Well?? Quatre asked.
?She will be fine, physically.? Trowa answered.
Quatre nodded. ?Good, Sally found the right type of blood??
Trowa nodded. ?She has an IV and its feeding her body nutrients it lost in the past week. She had been emaciated for lack of food.?
There was a groan from the bed and Quatre and Trowa turned to witness Duo raise himself up on his hands and hold his head. Quatre walked over to him. ?Duo-your awake...How do you feel??
?Like a shit hole..? Duo groaned. ?What the fuck happened?? He asked sitting on his knees his hands propped on the mattress. Then as if answering his own question his head shot up straight. ?Where?s Hilde?!? He said.
?The same place you left her, Duo.? The sound of Wufei?s voice echoed into the room as the door was subtly pushed open by the Chinese pilot.
All three turned to look up at him. ?Heero told you she was found I guess.? Quatre said, making a statement more then a question.
Wufei nodded. ?Yes, he told me.?
Duo shot up off the bed. ?Well take me to her! I want to see her! Where is she??
?Hold up Duo!? Wufei said shoving his hand up to stop the boy from busting out the door. ?She?s not in a good predicament right now to be seen by visitors.?
?I don?t care Wufei. I must see her...? He growled lowly. ?Get out of my way.? With that he pushed past Wufei and went off down the stairs.
Wufei watched him and smirked. ?He?s not going to like what he finds down there.? He said half to himself.
?Why? What?s wrong?? Quatre asked coming up behind Wufei to look as well.
?She doesn?t remember a damn thing.? Wufei said loosing his smirk and following the braided pilot to the infirmary.
Quatre looked at Trowa who looked calmly back and they turned to follow the two other men. ?Wufei, what do you mean she doesn?t remember a thing?? Quatre asked catching up to the Chinese boy.
?Just what I said.? Wufei answered smartly. ?She doesn?t remember us, him or anything else prior to her kidnapping two years ago. At all. Of course she?s been slipping in and out of consciousness so we do not have a clear idea of what she really does or does not remember.?
?That sounds terrible...? Quatre said.
?It gets worse.? He responded.
?How?? Trowa asked curious now himself.
?The serum the New White Fang gave her is what we think is the cause for her amnesia, and there?s no known cure. She might be stuck not remembering her real past for the rest of her life.? Wufei said as they reached the infirmary.
They entered and spied Duo quietly sitting beside the girl?s bed, his face a vivid blank expression, chin resting on the top of his hands watching the tiny girl under furrowed brows. Relena and Heero were there too, on the other side of the bed watching also with quiet intensity and expectancy. By her head a heart monitor throbbed and beeped a normal pulse sound and an IV linked her vein to the bag holding the replacement blood. Wufei and Trowa took respective places along the length of the wall and Quatre stepped up to stand beside Duo and wait for her to awaken.
A half hour past and there was a slight movement on the blankets. Her shoulders wiggled, her eyes scrunched up and Duo sat up straight watching. ?She?s waking up!? He said to alert the others.
Trowa?s head lifted from his seeming fascination with the tiled floor. Heero turned from staring blindly out the window. Relena put her paper down. Quatre sat up straighter leaving off his fiddling with a hospital instrument and Wufei turned sharply with his freshly poured coffee in hand and presently sneered, ?At last...I was going to put her out of her misery if she didn?t soon.?
Duo shot him a look as Hilde?s eyes suddenly flew open of their own accord to reveal the stunningly, unnatural, lime green irises below the lids of her petite face. She sat up quickly, abruptly, ripping the IV from her arm as she did so with purpose. Duo stood up and stepped back a bit startled by her sudden reflexes. Her eyes traveled silently around the room surveying the company within it. Everyone bit back a gasp as they saw those unusually bright emerald eyes, taking turns to stop and look at each person with a certain distrust and question etched into them. ?Who are you, and where am I?? Her voice was low, a hiss almost, dripping in admonition. Her eyes narrowed at the few who stood apart nonchalantly watching her, making the green depths sparkle with reproach.
A boy with a long toffee colored rope of hair came to her side, slowly-warily, his azure-violet orbs set to look into hers. Her memory scanned recent events because she some how she remembered the face and body that he presented to her now. Her mind came to rest on last night. ?You...? She muttered cagily.
He smiled at her, an enchanting, rich but sad smile, apparently happy that she recalled who he was. ?Yes, me...? He said slowly, his voice young but with a rough smoothness to it.
?Who are you? Why did you bring me here? Who are these people?? She responded scornfully watching as his smile died away somewhat at her questions.
?You don?t remember?? He said pushing his spiky soft bangs from his eyes. ?Hilde-you don?t remember me??
She stared at the boy before her. ?Oh sure I remember you, from last night. What did you do to me? What did any of you do to me last night?? She glanced around the room with strong suspicion wafting into her face.
Duo sat back a little shocked and unable to answer. ?She-she doesn?t-she doesn?t remember...?
Another boy, this one with well defined arms and upper body, longish, spiky, wild hair and the most gorgeous blue eyes came up behind the braided boy and looked down upon her with a pasty glare of no human feeling. She stared up at him wearing the exact same look he gave her. ?Hilde...? He said in a deep, monotonous voice.
?How do you know my name? Who are you?? She asked in the same tone of voice that made the braided boy and another boy, a platinum blonde with pretty blue-green eyes, flinch.
?Do you remember anything?? He asked ignoring her the question for the third time. Hilde was getting pissed, but seeing as there were six of them compared to the one of her and she felt incredibly weak, she did not let it show. Weak? She suddenly remembered the wound she had received from the White Fang special officers who had been hunting her down since her escape. Ignoring the bishounen in front of her she reached her hand down to feel at her gunshot wound. Her eyes widened as she found it bandaged up and bleeding little.
?Did you do this?? She pointed at her abdomen, bandaged up as she stared up at the boy in front of her. He shook his head, then pursed his lips.
?Sally did.? He answered her flatly.
?Sally? Who is Sally?? She growled looking back down and poking at her bandage.
?Do you?? He repeated bringing her back to where she was. Her eyes narrowed again.
?Do I what??
?Remember Hilde. Do you remember anything??
?I remember the last two years, beyond that I have no recollection of anything. As well I shouldn?t, I am a drone used for war and was made only for that purpose. I had nothing before my two years of training.? She growled. ?And now if you please, I have answered your question, answer my questions! Who are you and where am I??
The boy?s eyes grew hard and even more unfeeling than before, if it were possible, as they bore down on her. The braided boy stifled a gasp, and the woman with honey colored hair and aquamarine eyes approached him to put a hand on his shoulder.
?Should I know you?? She asked then harshly.
A fourth boy stepped forward from the back holding a cup of coffee. He was lean, lithe and well built as well. His almond shaped ebony eyes scanned her and his perfectly black hair was swept back in a tight, short ponytail in the back of his head, obviously oriental. He looked over at the blue-eyed boy and he gave a short irritated side glance back. The oriental boy turned back to face her and bowed slightly. ?I am Chang Wufei. These morons do not know how to be formal, especially with a lady.?
There was a feral growl that arose from her left, where the braided boy had sat down again with quiet persistence of the honey blonde. She ignored it and nodded at Chang. ?All right, that?s one.? She said regarding the rest of the assembly with a tight look.
?Heero Yuy,? He said pointing at the stoic blue-eyed boy behind the braided one. ?That is Quatre Rabarba Winner,? He indicated the blonde boy ?Trowa Barton,? He nodded toward a boy who was elegantly tall with a silky, sheet of chestnut bangs covering one of his exquisite lush green eyes. Then extending his hand slightly to indicate the woman behind the braided boy he said, ?This is Relena Peacecraft.?
Hilde gasped slightly. ?Relena Peacecraft? The very one who was Queen of the world and leads the United Earth Sphere Alliance, and the one White Fang wishes to topple and take over Earth and space in doing so??
Relena nodded her mouth slightly agape at Hilde?s knowledge. ?Yes I am, but I thought you knew nothing of years before the past two?? She asked speaking for the first time, her voice like sugary candy.
?That is true Miss Peacecraft.? Hilde responded her eyes growing dark as she peered at Relena over her lashes. ?However, in the two years I, of course, have been taught much, a great deal about the enemy I was bound to kill with my own hands and gain back the power and rule for White Fang.?
Relena gasped quietly and staved off a bit from the bed side.
Hilde then ignored the woman who had backed away into Heero and turned her attention to the violet eyed boy who sat stunned and staring at her, his mouth barely open in fixation. ?Now, could you tell me who the demon creature is who was obviously the one who brought me to where ever I am?? She asked huskily, roughly, staring at him as if searing his soul with her impaling, shimmering, green gaze.
Duo?s face grew taught and hard looking then. ?My name is Duo Maxwell.? He said suddenly brash and raw in his tone. ?And yours, we know all to well is Hilde Schibecker.? His indigo-violets giving her a back stare to challenge her own. Cleaving through her own soul with the intensity of thousands of purple stars burning in the sky.
?I know my name.? She retorted sadistically. ?And it is quite apparent you all know it as well.? She tore her eye lock with Duo to spare a glance around the room. ?How you know it is beyond me, however. I have never met any of you before in my short span of life.?
Duo groaned and her eyes snapped back to him. ?Hilde how can you not remember? I-we have searched for you for two long years that feels like a millennia-then when we finally find you again-you don?t even know who I am.? His eyes closed and his head drooped to rest on an extended hand that was resting on his knee.
Hilde frowned at this. ?Should I know any of you?? She asked suddenly unsure of herself.
All around there were nods and small ?yeses? to accompany them. She moved up on the mattress to lean against the pillow as she stared confused and vacant at the people in the strange room with her. Quatre stepped forward and sat on the end of the bed. ?Hilde-we were your best friends before two years ago. You knew us, trusted us and loved us...can you at least try to remember?? He lay a hand on her leg, as that was the closest part of her to him, to help her decide.
Heero nodded his assent to what Quatre just said. ?Yes, Hilde. Do try to remember-if not for the sake of us, than the sake of yourself.?
?We could use you now in any case.? Wufei said shortly. ?With your new training and your ?ultimate? soldier capabilities we could crush the new White Fang and end this blasted thing.?
Duo?s eyes flicked about his friends as Trowa and Relena joined in to ask her to try and remember her true past, her friends. He looked at her forlornly as her eyes swiveled here and there as more pleas for her to try were asked of her. Her unnatural, lime greens finally found his indigo-violets and stared deep into them, creating a spell of entrancement and a twisted feeling in his stomach that he had never felt before. The twisting feeling grew sharper and flew to his heart and head as she continued to stare at him, making him feel things he had never felt before. His voice suddenly fell out of his partly opened lips in unison with the others asking her to remember.
As Hilde stared at Duo watching things pass over his face that she had never seen before her head began to swim. When he began speaking as well her mind seemed to single out his voice alone. Suddenly a wave of pictures flew into her mind. Pictures and emotions, feelings, faces, places, people, things, ideas-bombarding her head mercilessly. She shut her eyes at suddenly the searing pain and screeched instinctively bringing her hands to her head and clutching at it tightly. The others stopped and watched as her lively eyes again grew pink and as she did this she hardly noticed. Her head hurt and she made it clear. ?-I--I can?t!? She strained out through clenched teeth the pain overwhelming her senses completely. ?-I-I c-can?t-re-remember...It hurts-Oh god it hurts... Please stop...? She whimpered and cried out feebly, gasping as the pictures sliced her head to pieces.
Duo was quick in motion and grabbed her pain-wracked body holding her tightly and securely in his arms. He placed his chin on her white head and hugged tightly, caressing her back and rocking her back and forth soothing her troubled mind with his soft voice. Eventually her mind slowly came to a halt and all the visions were gone, her mind empty and free once more. She instinctively clutched at whatever had wrapped around her and just lay there her eyes wide with passionate pain still etched lightly across her face.
The others stood aghast at what they had just witnessed, slowly waking up from the evilness of it. Sally had come in at the screeching noise that had emanated from Hilde?s tiny larynx. ?What happened?? She asked her eyes wide.
?Hilde tried to remember her past and it backfired apparently.? Trowa said his calm voice deceiving the look of pure surprise in his face.
Hilde listened none to carefully to the hum of conversation around her-her mind tired and wanting to shut off for a while from trying to remember so much. She rested limply in whatever or whoever held her in the tight, warm embrace her eyes hazy and half-open in the twilight stage of sleep.
Duo watched and listened as Sally reprimanded them all for trying to do that. But his attention was drawn from Sally as Hilde began to breathe evenly and shallowly in his arms. He looked down at her to find she was asleep. He gave a tiny wan smile as he caressed her cheek softly, Sally and the others voices drifting away so that some how he felt it was just him and her. His heart, mind and stomach twisted into a hard knot again as he watched her quietly, again feeling the strange emotions he had never felt looking at her before.
Her head shifted in his arms so that her face was facing his and her mouth slightly parted as she took in each breath. Her eyes closed delicately over her eyes. Without thinking, and a seemingly mere reflex he slowly bent his head. He had no idea what he was doing-till suddenly: ?Maxwell! Are you listening to me??
His head sharply arose a rosy hue to his cheeks now as he realized what he was about to do. ?Yes Sally ma?am.? He said and gingerly put Hilde down into her coverlets and stood up.
?Then get your butt out with the rest of you and let me take care of the girl.? She said pointing at the door.
The party of six nodded and slowly exited the door, Duo last taking a last look at the girl he?d been searching for, for two years instantly forgetting what he had just tried to do, and slipped out with the rest.
~*~Chap. 5 fin.~*~