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Crimson Shards of Glass
By Yasashii Tsubasa
Disclaimer:
Part I
It was raining again.
Water pounded down on the streets, threatening to soak those who dared to walk there. The droplets were huge, and mixed with dirt, oil and chemicals that could prove dangerous to anything they touched. The hungry ground sucked up what it could of the rain, but the soil was too ruined for anything to grow there.
A lone seventeen-year-old boy walked quickly beneath the slanted roofs that shaded the fronts of shops and the street from the rainwater. His face was completely hidden by a hooded raincoat and he walked steadily, never quickening nor slowing his pace. To any passer-by, he looked like one of them: one of the unfortunates, just another survivor of the human race’s terrible mistake. However, to anyone who knew him, the lone boy was someone very special.
Heero Yuy stopped in front of a ramshackle structure that used to be an apartment building, reaching for his key. Unlocking the door, he walked into the only suit of rooms there was left of the building: it was where he lived. The rooms were dimly lit and had a sense of age to them, but at least it was a standing structure.
Heero hung his raincoat in the closet, careful to place it in the isolated, glass-bound area that was reserved for weather gear. Removing his gloves and then his boots, he heard talking coming from another room and knew that everyone else was home.
“ Heero?” a quiet voice sounded from the sitting room/living room. A young woman dressed in jeans and a heavy sweatshirt came into the hall, looking drowsy. Her golden hair was loose, falling to her mid-back softly. Blue eyes blinked sleepily as Heero wrapped her in a gentle embrace.
“
I’m back, Relena,” He said just as quietly,
releasing her. “ I got some food, too.”
He pulled a small package out from an inner pocket of his hooded sweatshirt—a box of pasta, enough to feed all of them. Relena smiled gently.
“ Arigatou Gozaimasu.” She whispered.
“
You’re welcome, very much.” Heero replied,
twining an arm around Relena’s waist. The two walked
into the living room to find six other young people collapsed on beat-up,
overstuffed couches and chairs that had once been fine furniture. They looked
up when Heero and Relena
entered, but only for a moment—they all were, like Relena,
exhausted.
Quatre looked at the package in Heero’s hand.
“ Did you get food?” he asked, knowing that the question was on everyone’s mind.
“ Hai. Whose turn to cook?”
Duo stood up slowly, flicking his bangs from his eyes.
“ Mine. Is there enough clean water left for dinner?”
Heero gave him the pasta and nodded.
“ Yes, there’s probably enough. I’ll go for more in the morning.”
The tiniest hint of a smile appeared on Relena’s face as she rested her head on Heero’s shoulder.
“ You do so much for us.” She murmured.
Heero kissed her hair gently.
“ I have to.” He replied before sitting down in a chair opposite Zechs. Looking at the state of the furniture in the room, Heero found it a bit hard to believe that, nine months ago, they had all been living happily, in what they had believed was a world of peace…
Hilde sighed, bringing Heero back to the present.
“ Was it hard to find, Heero?” she asked.
“ Iie, not really. I help one of the old shopkeepers and he gives me food, when he can.”
Heero looked at each of his comrades slowly. Zechs, Hilde and Noin were talking quietly, Quatre was sifting through a deck of ancient-looking playing cards and Dorothy was immersed in one of the few books that they owned, one of the few books that still existed. Relena sat beside Heero, her head on his shoulder. The girl yawned.
“ Gomenasai, I’m not very good company.” She whispered. Heero put his arm around her comfortingly.
“
Don’t apologize. Everyone gets tired once in a while, even me.”
He felt Relena sigh and shift slightly.
“ Heero, d’you think—do you think we’ll survive this?”
“ Hai, if we fight for it every day. That is what I believe. We are all in pretty good health and don’t take stupid risks. We have each other, Relena.”
As the girl fell
asleep against him, a small smile crept over Heero’s
face.
I will make sure
that you are protected, Relena, he thought. For
if you were dead, then surely by now I would be, too.
A/N: I know, Heero is OOC, but to
hell with it I can’t remember what his character is like! Besides, a lot can
change…read on.
Hilde got up and walked into the kitchen, where Duo was stirring something on the stove. It had taken them over a month to repair this place into something that could be lived in. The two-bedroom apartment had been almost completely destroyed when they had reached it, but by scavenging, buying and sometimes stealing the eight of them had fixed it so that they had somewhere to live. The were extremely lucky, because when the original building had been there the electricity and plumbing sources had been stored underground, and were run by solar power, so they hadn’t taken unfixable damage. Heero and Zechs had managed to collect eight mattresses for them to sleep on, plus an assortment of couches and stuffed chairs that made up what they had in their sitting room. Other than some stolen clothes and some books, they had nothing else of worth but each other.
“ Hey,” Hilde murmured and covered a yawn—because they had to board up all windows to keep the radiation out, they didn’t get any sunlight in the apartment either. A combination of this and not having enough to eat most days made everyone get tired much faster. Duo nodded.
“ Hey. Lucky that Heero got food, isn’t it?”
“ Hai,” Hilde checked her digital watch, which was the only way they had of telling time—the powerful radiation clouds had blocked the sun out. “ It’s early…god, I still can’t get used to being tired at six in the evening. In the old days, I used to go to bed at around ten.”
Duo nodded again and stirred the pasta.
“ A lot has changed, I agree. I just never imagined who would do such a thing, or that someone we know would have been so close to them at one point.”
Hilde smiled. The attack had been by White Fang rebels, but instead of ruling earth, as had been their original intention, they had destroyed it.
“ Why?” she wondered out loud. “ Why did they do it?”
Duo shrugged.
“ I honestly don’t know. I didn’t even know there were rebels, much less that they had the power and weapons that they did. It’s scary,” he said. “ To think that one group of people could do so much damage in a single morning…”
Hilde nodded, remembering that fateful day nine months ago that had changed their lives forever. It had been so sudden, and so unexpected, that Hilde had been certain that she was going to die…
* flashback*
She curled up as tight as she could, wedged against a wall between two slabs of concrete. More hardened cement fell, burying her completely in rubble.
If this is death, let it be quick…she thought, watching as her vision of the sun was blocked by grey concrete that threatened to crush her.
The giant slabs of rock stopped moving and she found that they had formed a sort of prison of concrete around her, and if she didn’t move or move the rocks she would be fine.
Not knowing what else to do, she began to pray, with no reason at all—she had never actually believed in God. Her voice echoed through the alley, with nobody to answer back. She had no idea how long she was in her cement prison, but she was aware when the slabs began moving. She bit off a scream when she saw Duo, pulling the concrete off of her. When he reached her, he pulled her up into a tight hug, which she returned. They didn’t let go of each other until a siren wailed, which was when they flew apart and began to run…
* end flashback*
Duo’s voice brought Hilde back from her memory.
“ I think this is almost done, will you get the bowls?” he asked her. Hilde nodded and gripped the eight bowls tightly as she took them from the single cupboard, her shaking hands threatening to drop what little dishes they had. Duo noticed this as she set the bowls on the counter and, without saying a word, wrapped Hilde in a tight and comforting hug. Her arms came up to return the embrace, but she still shook slightly from the memory of being trapped inside that cement prison.
“ Daijoubu, Hilde,” Duo murmured. “ It’s all right. I promise you, if you ever need me, I’ll be here…I promise.”
Hilde smiled through her tears and nodded as Duo released her. He put the cooked pasta into the bowls and indicated that Hilde set out forks, which she did.
“
Dinner!” Duo called. As he picked up two bowls, one for Hilde and one for himself, and
wrapped his arm around her shoulders as the two walked back to the sitting
room, Duo had to wonder if life would ever be the same for them again.