The Petite Rebel 7/12
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 11:04 am
CHAPTER SEVEN: SHINIGAMI SHOWS AND ANOTHER PIECE TO THE PUZZLE
She awoke hours later, finding her head cradled by a warm body. She abruptly sat up discovering the braided fool fitfully sleeping with his head propped up against the wall that the bed was against. She hissed inwardly and backed up. She noticed that the room she was in now was a great bedroom, with many beautiful decorations adorning the walls, pictures and tapestries of sorts and a large white carpet on the floor. She and Duo sat in a huge comfortable canopy bed with a bedside table on one side and a chest of drawers on the other.
She looked at the boy who was whimpering in his sleep; his brow creased deep with something unfathomable. She rolled her eyes and dragged him under the covers, placing them on top of him and got up. Again she had been detained far to long. Each minute here put these people in danger! But this being the third time trying to leave she probably would be caught again. She went to the door of the room and cracked it a bit to peer out. Her nose crinkled when she saw that the stoic boy with messy hair was standing guard right outside. She went to the window, and looking down out of it discovered the boy with incredibly long bangs was keeping a vigilant watch below her.
?Shit fucker on a stick.? She hissed and went to the bathroom instead. She needed a shower anyway, she?d figure out how to dispose of the two vigilantes while hot water coursed down her.
Duo woke to the soothing sound of a shower running. His eyes slid open to find that the little mouse that had been there when he dosed off was gone. He yawned-it not clicking quite yet-and stretched. In mid-stretch he stopped and spun to look at the empty spot beside him, and he panicked.
?Hilde?! Hilde?!? He searched the blankets as if she could fold up flat and disappear in them. ?Hilde where are you?? He shot up off of the bed, not even noticing that the shower had been switched off and that someone was leaning on the bathroom doorframe watching him fly into hysterics for no reason she could fathom. ?Hilde!?
A sigh, a flick of the wrist, the light in the bathroom off and an exasperated tone from her made Duo spin around so fast he fell. ?I?m here, oh braided-wonder.? She replied monotone.
?Hilde...don?t go doing that on me! I thought you?d left or been stolen again.? He said awkwardly, and just as awkwardly picking himself up off the floor.
?I went to take a shower. I?m sure you heard the water running. And anyway, if I had left or been stolen again don?t you think one of your two watchdogs sitting around would have come to tell you or something?? She indicated the door and window where Heero and Trowa were sitting outside each. Duo just looked at her now and said nothing. She sighed, irritated. ?Anyway, I really have to get out of here. Now. So if you don?t mind I?d like to get dressed, so you can leave and take your pilot friends with you if you don?t mind so I don?t have to crack any heads when I do go.?
Duo frowned and stood his ground. ?No, you are not leaving.? He said with finality to his voice few had heard.
?You dare tell me I can?t leave? I?m trying to save your puny lives by leaving you dolt.? She said vehemently.
He walked up to her then and grabbed her arm again and pulled her to look him in the face. ?No.? He repeated. ?We can handle them-fend them off if need be, but you are not leaving again. Do you know what kind of anguish I-we all went through when you were abducted? How long we?ve been searching for you? How many nights I?ve laid awake praying you?d come back safe and sound and then when you do-and you try to leave again?? He shook his head. ?Not this time Hilde-girl. You?re not putting your life on the line for anyone or me again. We will win this...together if need be.?
Hilde stared at the boy in front of her holding her arm. Never since she first heard of Rodney?s plans for her had she heard so much conviction and determination in a man?s voice. She shuddered slightly at the thought of Rodney. He continued again, breaking her train of thought and bringing her attentions back to him.
?I told Heero of what you and Wufei did this morning-he?s convinced more then ever that you would prove to be a great asset in the battle we?re facing against the new White Fang. I told him I didn?t want you anywhere in it, but he insists...he wants to test your mobile suit skills...? He finished facing away from her now, letting her see how very apparent it was he did not want her in this war at all. Yet, why would he care? She didn?t know him...did she?
Feeling overwhelmed and confused she sat on the bed and thanked the lord that another memory attack didn?t hit her. She pursed her lips and looked at him. ?Heero wants me to help your side doesn?t he?? She asked flipping her white bangs from her green eyes.
Duo nodded bleakly in response turning back to face her. He was about to say something but she cut him off with a murderous grin. ?I?ll do it. I?ll show him how I do in a mobile suit. I suppose he wants to test me against his skills huh?? Again Duo nodded in reply and again attempted to say something but again was cut off by her. ?Yea, I?ll do it. I don?t want this war any more than you do. I was trained as the highest of the high and was made to be the first and most faultless Ultimate Soldier...This would give me the perfect chance to actually test that theory and see if I truly am what Rodney Lewis said I was.?
?But you can?t!? Duo finally managed to blurt out. ?I don?t want you dead! You can?t do it Hilde! I forbid it!?
Hilde looked at him again and gave him what appeared to be a soft, reassuring smile. ?You can?t forbid me, Duo. You don?t run my life, I don?t even remember you and you say we?ve met before...So why should I listen? Plus, if the whole Ultimate Soldier thing is true, I can?t loose to Heero Yuy.?
?That?s not it Hilde.? He admonished. ?I have no doubt you could beat Heero, but Heero is only one, and if you join us you will fight more than many and that?s where I?m afraid I?ll loose you again.?
She smirked again jumping up and going to the bathroom to change quickly. ?Then I?ll fight you all one at a time and slowly move up to fight all of you. You are supposedly the best of the best, and I believe that if I beat all of you-I?ll have no problem with the new White Fang!?
?But-? That?s all Duo got out before she rushed out of the bathroom and to the door flinging it open and closed as she immediately began speaking with Heero. Duo sighed again.?She always was headstrong and stubborn...? he thought, peering out the window and watching Relena walk in among the flowers in the court yard, talking quietly to Trowa. ?But, even if she can beat all of us together-that doesn?t mean she has a chance alone against all of the new White Fang and the other ?Ultimate Soldiers.??
~*~
She began her tests with Heero that day. Heero wanted to wait, to have her train up-he didn?t really believe that she was better than him-but she insisted on that day, so that she could leave the Sanq faster and be over and done with this all.
Leap, twist, thrusters, extended beam saber, smash, twist again, fly up, slam down, quick spin, slice, fire, slice, twist, thrusters, slamming slice...the battle went on like this for a while, things were on the even side for a long time. Hilde seemed to be Heero?s equivalent for a time, till Hilde did a move Heero had never dreamed of making, proving Hilde to be the better soldier. She was facing the Taurus they were using for training, waiting patiently for Heero to make his move-when he did, he came barreling at her saber raised ready to strike like a cobra. Expecting a move like this Hilde stood her ground and extended her saber at the near last minute, running the laser-beam straight through the torso of the suit. She then took the blade and quickly shimmied to the side with it still lodged in the suit, slicing it nearly in half. Then removing the saber as fast as lightning she moved it to the head and cut that straight off, driving the tip of the blade straight down the now severed neck of the mobile suit. Heero gasped as all this happened faster than he could comprehend. He quickly got the gist that his suit would explode in a matter of a few precious seconds and dislodged himself from the cockpit leaping to safety.
Hilde?s Taurus just stood there as the opposing suit disintegrated to nothing in front of them. Inside the control tower Trowa watched her facial features carefully. Her face half hidden in shadow did not look pleasant, by all means it looked wildly evil. Her eye color had shot from a sharp lime green to a hollow shaded pink. She stared at the burning suit and a twisted smile appeared on her lips, her shoulders heaved slightly and her face seemed to glow with an insanity even Heero had not possessed. Trowa made a note of this-somewhere. It may have been a backfire of the serum that Rodney had not counted on...Insanity...It had happened to Heero-maybe with the new serum that side effect was increased ten-fold.
Duo and Quatre hadn?t taken any notice; Duo sat monitoring the suit?s stability and moves. Quatre was taking note on the different tactics used during the battle. Wufei was just watching the fight with a small smirk on his lips.
?I think she should be removed from the suit now...? He motioned to her Taurus. ?I have a bad feeling that if she remains in it, she will loose all conscious moral thought and kill Heero.?
Wufei looked at her on the screen. ?Hnm-Get her out!? He ordered and people went to the suit and shut it down. Hilde came out-but by the time she stepped down she had green eyes once again and seemed perfectly rational.
?Well, how piteous.? She said, ?the perfect soldier down. Guess I take that rank now.? She smirked and walked off the premises. Heero followed quickly at her heels.
?Hilde...? He said catching up with her, she moved quickly. She turned to look at him her bright eyes penetrating places that Relena?s had never seen, and probably never will. ?You have proved yourself a far better pilot then any of us could have hoped...We could really use you on the Sanq?s forces-will you join us??
Hilde?s brow quirked. She let no emotion show, her face was completely blank now and her face was cold, uncaring and hard. ?Maybe.?
Heero let a little air slip between his lips. ?Think about it-it?s all I ask.? He turned quickly and walked in the other direction.
Something in the back of her mind prompted her to follow-but she ignored it. Something, somewhere told her she had known him, longer then Duo claimed he?d known her. But not wanting to start convulsions of a memory attack again she quickly shoved it from her mind and turned to walk out again.
Duo awaited her just inside the doorway. As soon as she entered he pulled her aside roughly by the arm. She let out a slight gasp of surprise but didn?t have time to object as he pulled her from the doorway to a side door in the vast hall and into a library of sorts. Once inside she yanked her arm from the boy?s grasp and stared at him with ice in her face. ?What do you think you are doing?? She hissed.
He turned to her with a hollow empty look to his purple-azure eyes. ?You are staying.? He said without giving a second thought to her question.
?I?m not making any promises.?
?I?m not asking you to, I?m telling you, and you are. You belong here! With us.?
?And how are you going to stop me from leaving??
?I have my ways, girl.?
Hilde gave a short-lived chuckle and her brow shot up. ?I just defeated the so-called ?Perfect Soldier?, earlier I defeated that Chinese boy in his own game of swords-how do you propose to stop me??
Duo?s face still held the look of empty death as he regarded her with a quick upsweep of his eyes across her tiny body. Again he didn?t answer her question; instead he advanced on her slowly. Not really perturbed Hilde stood her ground and looked at him with a cool indifference, her hand placed languidly on her left hip she shifted her body weight to that foot. Duo took absolutely no notice of this as he got closer. He stopped inches from her face; she looked up at him with a straight face-he brought his closer till their noses touched. This freaked her out at last and she snapped her head away and tried to jerk away from him. But he caught her by the arm and held her in his grasp so tight that she began to loose feeling in it. Then he spoke in a harsh, undertone face to face with her again.
?Scared aren?t you?? He hissed.
Hilde had no idea what to think of this...He was way to close she could feel his breath, his heart beating rapidly against her chest-what the fuck was this weird feeling creeping up her spine as he forced her to look into his soulless but intense eyes? She didn?t move. Instinct told her that a predator was far to close and she stood stalk stone still.
Duo?s mouth curved into a malicious smirk. ?I told you I had my ways, girl...You will not leave that is an order.?
Hilde?s breath caught in her throat-what the hell was happening here? Usually she hated being told what to do-and anyone beyond her superior that told her what to do was dead within hours-well she hated him telling her what to do-but it some how felt different. She found her voice-and to her shock it was weak and trembling ever so slightly, but she managed to make an audible-threatening hiss: ?You can?t tell me what to do. I am not your slave, I?m not under your jurisdiction, and you are by far no means my superior-I will decide if I go or not.?
Duo did not seem to like this answer. He growled maliciously-and swung her around slamming her into a bookshelf. ?You are [I[not[/I] leaving here again! You hear me woman??
Hilde gasped as her head slammed into a shelf jutting out and hit painfully. She made no verbal reply to what Duo said. Instead she turned her face and spat into his. ?I will leave if I choose. You cannot keep me here-I do not know you.?
This seemed to break all resolve in Duo and nothing could have prepared her for what he did next. Shoving her small frame into the bookshelf behind her he brought his face dangerously close to hers-warning alarms went off in every direction in her head but to late. She stared at him with no idea what he was doing when he pressed his lips into hers and let out all and any pent up passion, longing and fear he had stored for the two years she had gone missing. Things went into that kiss he never knew had existed in him before.
Hilde had no idea what to do-she was shocked and stood stark still because of it. She had never known anything like this before, nothing from the past two years and if she had had any life before that, nothing that felt like this resurfaced now. It felt euphoric-and she couldn?t make heads or tails of it.
Suddenly, just as quickly as it had begun, it stopped. Duo pulled back breathing fast and looked like a demon. ?You will not go through with this.? He rasped out and let go of her and stormed out of the library leaving Hilde against the book shelf gasping and stunned out of her mind.
?What the hell was that?!? She asked herself sliding to the floor and covering her face with her hand. Regaining herself slightly she wondered if that was what fear was. She?d never felt it-it was Earth shattering. She stumbled quietly out of the library.
Another hand grabbed her as she came out. She screamed. Whoever the hand belonged to let go and she heard them step back in surprise, and then grab her shoulders.
?Hilde...it?s Trowa.? Said a soft voice in her ear. Hilde caught her breath then sighed and turned around to face the banged and mysterious pilot. He seemed familiar too...What the hell was all this? Trowa looked at her with a brow slightly arched. ?Hilde, what happened in there? You look as white as a ghost.? He asked in his soft, quiet voice.
She straightened up at this, fixed her mussed hair and looked at Trowa. ?Nothing happened Trowa, absolutely nothing.?
Trowa looked skeptical. ?Something happened. You can?t lie to me. I can see it-? He reached out his hand to caress her cheek-but Hilde flinched and stepped back. ?I can see it in your actions, your face, your eyes. You can tell me what happened.? He dropped his hand.
Hilde stared at the boy and suddenly she felt something hot and wet on her cheeks. She put her hand up to feel; it was water...she was in tears. She gasped pulling back her hand and looking at it as if it were blood. She?d never in two years cried. What about these people made her so-so what? Then she felt arms around her. Comforting arms placed around her shoulders, drawing her close to their body?s heat. Her mind whirled again and the tears came harder. Trowa?s voice penetrated the dark hold these new feelings created and she focused on it. ?Come on, I?ll take you to your room. You don?t have to tell me.?
He started to lead her away but she stood her ground. ?No-I don?t want to go to my room...I have to get out of here Trowa.? He looked at her his mouth slightly open in surprise. ?I must leave, the New White Fang is on to me, and the longer I stay here the more danger I put you all in! Rodney Lewis is out after me, and if he gets to me that?s it, this whole place is done for. I won?t be human anymore.?
Trowa?s face-hardened very quickly at the mention of Rodney Lewis.
~*~Flashback~*~
?Nanashi...my boy. You, Odin, and the girl Hilderine we have worked so hard to create will be the best! Your training will be phenomenal...and so will you.?
?GET HIM! He hasn?t had the serum yet!?
*Pant* *pant* *pant* ?This way Nanashi...we?re almost out.?
?What about her??
?Gotcha!?
?ACK!?
?Got you both!?
?You two were very bad. But we will use you anyway; the commander wants this serum tested and tested it shall be. Bring them here.?
~*~End Flashback~*~
?Rodney Lewis...?
Hilde looked up at him and pushed away. ?You know of him??
Trowa gave Hilde a sharp look, and his face dropped down his eyes being shadowed out. ?Yes. I was one of his early experiments. Along with Heero-?
?Heero knows him too?? Trowa looked up at her as she asked this, stepping back away from him.
?And you...?
Hilde?s world crashed again. Pictures swirled in her mind and she couldn?t keep herself upright. Even screaming seemed impossible to do. She held her head gritted her teeth and rode it out, landing on the floor.
Trowa saw she was crashing again. Her eyes blazed a hot pink and her hands clutched at her head as it bowed forward and she fell. He caught her just as she nearly hit the floor. He leaned on the wall and held her there, on his knees. His face flashed up for an instant and when he saw nothing he quietly stood up with the limp girl in his long, strong arms and made his way up the grand staircase.
He opened the door to the room carefully. The lights were all off; he turned one on and placed the small body on the bed. He sat on a chair beside her and watched her. In the sleep she was in, she didn?t look mean, harsh, insane or stoic anymore. He brushed the tearstains still left on her cheeks away and drew back shaking his head. She had changed so much since he and Heero had known her in the Oz training base. But he loved her all the same, and he knew Heero did as well. She just accidentally came across Duo. But why had she stayed with Oz? Why hadn?t she come with the two of them when they made their escape? What about Duo made her change her mind all of a sudden years later? Why was she like this now? What had Rodney done to her? All these questions buzzed through his head as he waited for her to regain consciousness.
And she did. Quietly, slowly her eyes fluttered open, revealing their newfound lime green beauty, and she sat up to find a waiting Trowa by the bedside. She sat up on her elbows and rubbed her head. Trowa had an immediate answer for the question that had not quite crossed her mind yet. ?You had another memory attack.? He said in his placid voice.
She looked up at him abruptly. ?Oh, did I? Owooh...? She quickly placed her hand back on her forehead. ?I guess I did...?
Trowa allowed a small smile to grow on his lips, then it faded as she peered up at him again. He very quietly cleared his throat. ?Hilde, downstairs, in the library...?
Her green eyes flared at Trowa slightly. ?Still on about that?? Trowa nodded. She sighed in defeat. ?All right, I?ll tell you.? She looked down at her hands as she began to relate her terse run-in with Duo. He listened intently, although his docile manner showed no telltale sign of it. As she finished her hands shook. ?I don?t know what came over me...In all the months of training and actual fighting I?ve endured; I had never felt fear. And yet, something in Duo then struck a chord with me. Terrifying, intimidating, yet wholesomely overwhelming, in a good sense.? She looked up at Trowa then who had leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, head bent, eyes open still listening. ?I-I just don?t get it! I?m not supposed to feel fear!?
Trowa looked up sharply at that. ?Yes, you are. That?s a human trait. You are human, just like the rest of us. You?re supposed to feel love, fear, pain, hate, happiness even. It took Heero and I a long while before we learned to do these things again. For you, your lucky, I thought since the serum was a new and more improved prototype it would take longer for you to be human again...But it turns out your being here with all of us is returning your humanity quicker than expected.?
Hilde looked at him awed. ?You know, I think that?s the most I?ve ever heard you say in one sitting...?
Trowa let a very light chuckle go. ?I speak when it?s needed.?
?I see.?
?Hilde, you know Duo is half right...?
?What?!?
He put up his hands. ?Hear me out. He is half-right. You do belong here with us, with him, Heero, Quatre, Wufei, Relena everyone else and myself. You do not have to go running off just to protect us from the New White Fang?s wrath. We have dealt with them before and succeeded, your safe here, in the Sanq. Everyone is willing to give his or her lives to protect you, as you are all too obviously willing to give your life to protect us.?
?Hnm...?
?However, on the other hand, he shouldn?t be telling you whether you should fight or not. That is the soldier?s choice; to live or die in battle for one?s loved ones, that is his or her choice, no one else?s. He?s only trying to stop you to protect you. He loves you, Hilde. And I-as well as Heero, believe he has just come to grips with that, so he?s willing to do anything and everything in his power to stop you from fighting in this war.?
?He-what...??
?He does. I think I?ll leave you now, but think about Heero?s offer. We could really use you during this, and you do belong with your friends, not running from your past.? With that the tall boy got up, and placing a hand along her cheek left the room to herself.
~*~Chap. 7 fin.~*~
She awoke hours later, finding her head cradled by a warm body. She abruptly sat up discovering the braided fool fitfully sleeping with his head propped up against the wall that the bed was against. She hissed inwardly and backed up. She noticed that the room she was in now was a great bedroom, with many beautiful decorations adorning the walls, pictures and tapestries of sorts and a large white carpet on the floor. She and Duo sat in a huge comfortable canopy bed with a bedside table on one side and a chest of drawers on the other.
She looked at the boy who was whimpering in his sleep; his brow creased deep with something unfathomable. She rolled her eyes and dragged him under the covers, placing them on top of him and got up. Again she had been detained far to long. Each minute here put these people in danger! But this being the third time trying to leave she probably would be caught again. She went to the door of the room and cracked it a bit to peer out. Her nose crinkled when she saw that the stoic boy with messy hair was standing guard right outside. She went to the window, and looking down out of it discovered the boy with incredibly long bangs was keeping a vigilant watch below her.
?Shit fucker on a stick.? She hissed and went to the bathroom instead. She needed a shower anyway, she?d figure out how to dispose of the two vigilantes while hot water coursed down her.
Duo woke to the soothing sound of a shower running. His eyes slid open to find that the little mouse that had been there when he dosed off was gone. He yawned-it not clicking quite yet-and stretched. In mid-stretch he stopped and spun to look at the empty spot beside him, and he panicked.
?Hilde?! Hilde?!? He searched the blankets as if she could fold up flat and disappear in them. ?Hilde where are you?? He shot up off of the bed, not even noticing that the shower had been switched off and that someone was leaning on the bathroom doorframe watching him fly into hysterics for no reason she could fathom. ?Hilde!?
A sigh, a flick of the wrist, the light in the bathroom off and an exasperated tone from her made Duo spin around so fast he fell. ?I?m here, oh braided-wonder.? She replied monotone.
?Hilde...don?t go doing that on me! I thought you?d left or been stolen again.? He said awkwardly, and just as awkwardly picking himself up off the floor.
?I went to take a shower. I?m sure you heard the water running. And anyway, if I had left or been stolen again don?t you think one of your two watchdogs sitting around would have come to tell you or something?? She indicated the door and window where Heero and Trowa were sitting outside each. Duo just looked at her now and said nothing. She sighed, irritated. ?Anyway, I really have to get out of here. Now. So if you don?t mind I?d like to get dressed, so you can leave and take your pilot friends with you if you don?t mind so I don?t have to crack any heads when I do go.?
Duo frowned and stood his ground. ?No, you are not leaving.? He said with finality to his voice few had heard.
?You dare tell me I can?t leave? I?m trying to save your puny lives by leaving you dolt.? She said vehemently.
He walked up to her then and grabbed her arm again and pulled her to look him in the face. ?No.? He repeated. ?We can handle them-fend them off if need be, but you are not leaving again. Do you know what kind of anguish I-we all went through when you were abducted? How long we?ve been searching for you? How many nights I?ve laid awake praying you?d come back safe and sound and then when you do-and you try to leave again?? He shook his head. ?Not this time Hilde-girl. You?re not putting your life on the line for anyone or me again. We will win this...together if need be.?
Hilde stared at the boy in front of her holding her arm. Never since she first heard of Rodney?s plans for her had she heard so much conviction and determination in a man?s voice. She shuddered slightly at the thought of Rodney. He continued again, breaking her train of thought and bringing her attentions back to him.
?I told Heero of what you and Wufei did this morning-he?s convinced more then ever that you would prove to be a great asset in the battle we?re facing against the new White Fang. I told him I didn?t want you anywhere in it, but he insists...he wants to test your mobile suit skills...? He finished facing away from her now, letting her see how very apparent it was he did not want her in this war at all. Yet, why would he care? She didn?t know him...did she?
Feeling overwhelmed and confused she sat on the bed and thanked the lord that another memory attack didn?t hit her. She pursed her lips and looked at him. ?Heero wants me to help your side doesn?t he?? She asked flipping her white bangs from her green eyes.
Duo nodded bleakly in response turning back to face her. He was about to say something but she cut him off with a murderous grin. ?I?ll do it. I?ll show him how I do in a mobile suit. I suppose he wants to test me against his skills huh?? Again Duo nodded in reply and again attempted to say something but again was cut off by her. ?Yea, I?ll do it. I don?t want this war any more than you do. I was trained as the highest of the high and was made to be the first and most faultless Ultimate Soldier...This would give me the perfect chance to actually test that theory and see if I truly am what Rodney Lewis said I was.?
?But you can?t!? Duo finally managed to blurt out. ?I don?t want you dead! You can?t do it Hilde! I forbid it!?
Hilde looked at him again and gave him what appeared to be a soft, reassuring smile. ?You can?t forbid me, Duo. You don?t run my life, I don?t even remember you and you say we?ve met before...So why should I listen? Plus, if the whole Ultimate Soldier thing is true, I can?t loose to Heero Yuy.?
?That?s not it Hilde.? He admonished. ?I have no doubt you could beat Heero, but Heero is only one, and if you join us you will fight more than many and that?s where I?m afraid I?ll loose you again.?
She smirked again jumping up and going to the bathroom to change quickly. ?Then I?ll fight you all one at a time and slowly move up to fight all of you. You are supposedly the best of the best, and I believe that if I beat all of you-I?ll have no problem with the new White Fang!?
?But-? That?s all Duo got out before she rushed out of the bathroom and to the door flinging it open and closed as she immediately began speaking with Heero. Duo sighed again.?She always was headstrong and stubborn...? he thought, peering out the window and watching Relena walk in among the flowers in the court yard, talking quietly to Trowa. ?But, even if she can beat all of us together-that doesn?t mean she has a chance alone against all of the new White Fang and the other ?Ultimate Soldiers.??
~*~
She began her tests with Heero that day. Heero wanted to wait, to have her train up-he didn?t really believe that she was better than him-but she insisted on that day, so that she could leave the Sanq faster and be over and done with this all.
Leap, twist, thrusters, extended beam saber, smash, twist again, fly up, slam down, quick spin, slice, fire, slice, twist, thrusters, slamming slice...the battle went on like this for a while, things were on the even side for a long time. Hilde seemed to be Heero?s equivalent for a time, till Hilde did a move Heero had never dreamed of making, proving Hilde to be the better soldier. She was facing the Taurus they were using for training, waiting patiently for Heero to make his move-when he did, he came barreling at her saber raised ready to strike like a cobra. Expecting a move like this Hilde stood her ground and extended her saber at the near last minute, running the laser-beam straight through the torso of the suit. She then took the blade and quickly shimmied to the side with it still lodged in the suit, slicing it nearly in half. Then removing the saber as fast as lightning she moved it to the head and cut that straight off, driving the tip of the blade straight down the now severed neck of the mobile suit. Heero gasped as all this happened faster than he could comprehend. He quickly got the gist that his suit would explode in a matter of a few precious seconds and dislodged himself from the cockpit leaping to safety.
Hilde?s Taurus just stood there as the opposing suit disintegrated to nothing in front of them. Inside the control tower Trowa watched her facial features carefully. Her face half hidden in shadow did not look pleasant, by all means it looked wildly evil. Her eye color had shot from a sharp lime green to a hollow shaded pink. She stared at the burning suit and a twisted smile appeared on her lips, her shoulders heaved slightly and her face seemed to glow with an insanity even Heero had not possessed. Trowa made a note of this-somewhere. It may have been a backfire of the serum that Rodney had not counted on...Insanity...It had happened to Heero-maybe with the new serum that side effect was increased ten-fold.
Duo and Quatre hadn?t taken any notice; Duo sat monitoring the suit?s stability and moves. Quatre was taking note on the different tactics used during the battle. Wufei was just watching the fight with a small smirk on his lips.
?I think she should be removed from the suit now...? He motioned to her Taurus. ?I have a bad feeling that if she remains in it, she will loose all conscious moral thought and kill Heero.?
Wufei looked at her on the screen. ?Hnm-Get her out!? He ordered and people went to the suit and shut it down. Hilde came out-but by the time she stepped down she had green eyes once again and seemed perfectly rational.
?Well, how piteous.? She said, ?the perfect soldier down. Guess I take that rank now.? She smirked and walked off the premises. Heero followed quickly at her heels.
?Hilde...? He said catching up with her, she moved quickly. She turned to look at him her bright eyes penetrating places that Relena?s had never seen, and probably never will. ?You have proved yourself a far better pilot then any of us could have hoped...We could really use you on the Sanq?s forces-will you join us??
Hilde?s brow quirked. She let no emotion show, her face was completely blank now and her face was cold, uncaring and hard. ?Maybe.?
Heero let a little air slip between his lips. ?Think about it-it?s all I ask.? He turned quickly and walked in the other direction.
Something in the back of her mind prompted her to follow-but she ignored it. Something, somewhere told her she had known him, longer then Duo claimed he?d known her. But not wanting to start convulsions of a memory attack again she quickly shoved it from her mind and turned to walk out again.
Duo awaited her just inside the doorway. As soon as she entered he pulled her aside roughly by the arm. She let out a slight gasp of surprise but didn?t have time to object as he pulled her from the doorway to a side door in the vast hall and into a library of sorts. Once inside she yanked her arm from the boy?s grasp and stared at him with ice in her face. ?What do you think you are doing?? She hissed.
He turned to her with a hollow empty look to his purple-azure eyes. ?You are staying.? He said without giving a second thought to her question.
?I?m not making any promises.?
?I?m not asking you to, I?m telling you, and you are. You belong here! With us.?
?And how are you going to stop me from leaving??
?I have my ways, girl.?
Hilde gave a short-lived chuckle and her brow shot up. ?I just defeated the so-called ?Perfect Soldier?, earlier I defeated that Chinese boy in his own game of swords-how do you propose to stop me??
Duo?s face still held the look of empty death as he regarded her with a quick upsweep of his eyes across her tiny body. Again he didn?t answer her question; instead he advanced on her slowly. Not really perturbed Hilde stood her ground and looked at him with a cool indifference, her hand placed languidly on her left hip she shifted her body weight to that foot. Duo took absolutely no notice of this as he got closer. He stopped inches from her face; she looked up at him with a straight face-he brought his closer till their noses touched. This freaked her out at last and she snapped her head away and tried to jerk away from him. But he caught her by the arm and held her in his grasp so tight that she began to loose feeling in it. Then he spoke in a harsh, undertone face to face with her again.
?Scared aren?t you?? He hissed.
Hilde had no idea what to think of this...He was way to close she could feel his breath, his heart beating rapidly against her chest-what the fuck was this weird feeling creeping up her spine as he forced her to look into his soulless but intense eyes? She didn?t move. Instinct told her that a predator was far to close and she stood stalk stone still.
Duo?s mouth curved into a malicious smirk. ?I told you I had my ways, girl...You will not leave that is an order.?
Hilde?s breath caught in her throat-what the hell was happening here? Usually she hated being told what to do-and anyone beyond her superior that told her what to do was dead within hours-well she hated him telling her what to do-but it some how felt different. She found her voice-and to her shock it was weak and trembling ever so slightly, but she managed to make an audible-threatening hiss: ?You can?t tell me what to do. I am not your slave, I?m not under your jurisdiction, and you are by far no means my superior-I will decide if I go or not.?
Duo did not seem to like this answer. He growled maliciously-and swung her around slamming her into a bookshelf. ?You are [I[not[/I] leaving here again! You hear me woman??
Hilde gasped as her head slammed into a shelf jutting out and hit painfully. She made no verbal reply to what Duo said. Instead she turned her face and spat into his. ?I will leave if I choose. You cannot keep me here-I do not know you.?
This seemed to break all resolve in Duo and nothing could have prepared her for what he did next. Shoving her small frame into the bookshelf behind her he brought his face dangerously close to hers-warning alarms went off in every direction in her head but to late. She stared at him with no idea what he was doing when he pressed his lips into hers and let out all and any pent up passion, longing and fear he had stored for the two years she had gone missing. Things went into that kiss he never knew had existed in him before.
Hilde had no idea what to do-she was shocked and stood stark still because of it. She had never known anything like this before, nothing from the past two years and if she had had any life before that, nothing that felt like this resurfaced now. It felt euphoric-and she couldn?t make heads or tails of it.
Suddenly, just as quickly as it had begun, it stopped. Duo pulled back breathing fast and looked like a demon. ?You will not go through with this.? He rasped out and let go of her and stormed out of the library leaving Hilde against the book shelf gasping and stunned out of her mind.
?What the hell was that?!? She asked herself sliding to the floor and covering her face with her hand. Regaining herself slightly she wondered if that was what fear was. She?d never felt it-it was Earth shattering. She stumbled quietly out of the library.
Another hand grabbed her as she came out. She screamed. Whoever the hand belonged to let go and she heard them step back in surprise, and then grab her shoulders.
?Hilde...it?s Trowa.? Said a soft voice in her ear. Hilde caught her breath then sighed and turned around to face the banged and mysterious pilot. He seemed familiar too...What the hell was all this? Trowa looked at her with a brow slightly arched. ?Hilde, what happened in there? You look as white as a ghost.? He asked in his soft, quiet voice.
She straightened up at this, fixed her mussed hair and looked at Trowa. ?Nothing happened Trowa, absolutely nothing.?
Trowa looked skeptical. ?Something happened. You can?t lie to me. I can see it-? He reached out his hand to caress her cheek-but Hilde flinched and stepped back. ?I can see it in your actions, your face, your eyes. You can tell me what happened.? He dropped his hand.
Hilde stared at the boy and suddenly she felt something hot and wet on her cheeks. She put her hand up to feel; it was water...she was in tears. She gasped pulling back her hand and looking at it as if it were blood. She?d never in two years cried. What about these people made her so-so what? Then she felt arms around her. Comforting arms placed around her shoulders, drawing her close to their body?s heat. Her mind whirled again and the tears came harder. Trowa?s voice penetrated the dark hold these new feelings created and she focused on it. ?Come on, I?ll take you to your room. You don?t have to tell me.?
He started to lead her away but she stood her ground. ?No-I don?t want to go to my room...I have to get out of here Trowa.? He looked at her his mouth slightly open in surprise. ?I must leave, the New White Fang is on to me, and the longer I stay here the more danger I put you all in! Rodney Lewis is out after me, and if he gets to me that?s it, this whole place is done for. I won?t be human anymore.?
Trowa?s face-hardened very quickly at the mention of Rodney Lewis.
~*~Flashback~*~
?Nanashi...my boy. You, Odin, and the girl Hilderine we have worked so hard to create will be the best! Your training will be phenomenal...and so will you.?
?GET HIM! He hasn?t had the serum yet!?
*Pant* *pant* *pant* ?This way Nanashi...we?re almost out.?
?What about her??
?Gotcha!?
?ACK!?
?Got you both!?
?You two were very bad. But we will use you anyway; the commander wants this serum tested and tested it shall be. Bring them here.?
~*~End Flashback~*~
?Rodney Lewis...?
Hilde looked up at him and pushed away. ?You know of him??
Trowa gave Hilde a sharp look, and his face dropped down his eyes being shadowed out. ?Yes. I was one of his early experiments. Along with Heero-?
?Heero knows him too?? Trowa looked up at her as she asked this, stepping back away from him.
?And you...?
Hilde?s world crashed again. Pictures swirled in her mind and she couldn?t keep herself upright. Even screaming seemed impossible to do. She held her head gritted her teeth and rode it out, landing on the floor.
Trowa saw she was crashing again. Her eyes blazed a hot pink and her hands clutched at her head as it bowed forward and she fell. He caught her just as she nearly hit the floor. He leaned on the wall and held her there, on his knees. His face flashed up for an instant and when he saw nothing he quietly stood up with the limp girl in his long, strong arms and made his way up the grand staircase.
He opened the door to the room carefully. The lights were all off; he turned one on and placed the small body on the bed. He sat on a chair beside her and watched her. In the sleep she was in, she didn?t look mean, harsh, insane or stoic anymore. He brushed the tearstains still left on her cheeks away and drew back shaking his head. She had changed so much since he and Heero had known her in the Oz training base. But he loved her all the same, and he knew Heero did as well. She just accidentally came across Duo. But why had she stayed with Oz? Why hadn?t she come with the two of them when they made their escape? What about Duo made her change her mind all of a sudden years later? Why was she like this now? What had Rodney done to her? All these questions buzzed through his head as he waited for her to regain consciousness.
And she did. Quietly, slowly her eyes fluttered open, revealing their newfound lime green beauty, and she sat up to find a waiting Trowa by the bedside. She sat up on her elbows and rubbed her head. Trowa had an immediate answer for the question that had not quite crossed her mind yet. ?You had another memory attack.? He said in his placid voice.
She looked up at him abruptly. ?Oh, did I? Owooh...? She quickly placed her hand back on her forehead. ?I guess I did...?
Trowa allowed a small smile to grow on his lips, then it faded as she peered up at him again. He very quietly cleared his throat. ?Hilde, downstairs, in the library...?
Her green eyes flared at Trowa slightly. ?Still on about that?? Trowa nodded. She sighed in defeat. ?All right, I?ll tell you.? She looked down at her hands as she began to relate her terse run-in with Duo. He listened intently, although his docile manner showed no telltale sign of it. As she finished her hands shook. ?I don?t know what came over me...In all the months of training and actual fighting I?ve endured; I had never felt fear. And yet, something in Duo then struck a chord with me. Terrifying, intimidating, yet wholesomely overwhelming, in a good sense.? She looked up at Trowa then who had leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, head bent, eyes open still listening. ?I-I just don?t get it! I?m not supposed to feel fear!?
Trowa looked up sharply at that. ?Yes, you are. That?s a human trait. You are human, just like the rest of us. You?re supposed to feel love, fear, pain, hate, happiness even. It took Heero and I a long while before we learned to do these things again. For you, your lucky, I thought since the serum was a new and more improved prototype it would take longer for you to be human again...But it turns out your being here with all of us is returning your humanity quicker than expected.?
Hilde looked at him awed. ?You know, I think that?s the most I?ve ever heard you say in one sitting...?
Trowa let a very light chuckle go. ?I speak when it?s needed.?
?I see.?
?Hilde, you know Duo is half right...?
?What?!?
He put up his hands. ?Hear me out. He is half-right. You do belong here with us, with him, Heero, Quatre, Wufei, Relena everyone else and myself. You do not have to go running off just to protect us from the New White Fang?s wrath. We have dealt with them before and succeeded, your safe here, in the Sanq. Everyone is willing to give his or her lives to protect you, as you are all too obviously willing to give your life to protect us.?
?Hnm...?
?However, on the other hand, he shouldn?t be telling you whether you should fight or not. That is the soldier?s choice; to live or die in battle for one?s loved ones, that is his or her choice, no one else?s. He?s only trying to stop you to protect you. He loves you, Hilde. And I-as well as Heero, believe he has just come to grips with that, so he?s willing to do anything and everything in his power to stop you from fighting in this war.?
?He-what...??
?He does. I think I?ll leave you now, but think about Heero?s offer. We could really use you during this, and you do belong with your friends, not running from your past.? With that the tall boy got up, and placing a hand along her cheek left the room to herself.
~*~Chap. 7 fin.~*~