Part II

 

A/N: Oh my god, 7 people reviewed! Here’s part 2, and for those who were wondering what happened to Trowa, Wufei and Sally, all I can tell you now without spoiling the story is that they are not dead. Also, part 1 is edited and revised (just some minor stuff) so read from the beginning so to clear away any confusion.

 

 Dorothy looked at her digital watch and shut her book, sighing quietly as she finished her pasta. She had read the novel many times, as it had been a favourite of hers since childhood—the full Chronicles of Narnia in a single book. She had managed to save it and a few other books when she had been forced to escape, and they were her personal treasures.

 

 “ Bored?” a quiet voice asked. Dorothy looked up to see Quatre, who was also just finishing his dinner. She shrugged.

 

 “ I could probably read them blindfolded, if that’s saying anything. I haven’t really done anything else but read, steal, eat and sleep in the last nine months.”

 The blond boy nodded.

 

 “ I understand. It’s hard to live with the barest of essentials after taking everything for granted your entire life.”

 

 Dorothy looked at him oddly.

 

 “ How did you survive, Quatre?” she asked, setting her bowl aside. Quatre shrugged.

 “ I was alone on earth—the Magnacs were in the colonies. I had planned on taking a short vacation, alone, and perhaps organizing a reunion of the pilots. My house collapsed,” he said, shuffling the cards and dealing a game of solitaire. “ I couldn’t save anything.”

 

 “ And all your instruments…your violin…” Dorothy murmured sympathetically.

 

 “ …Gone. I went down to the underground passages that led to the mobile suit hanger, which was empty. The passages were collapsing, and the hanger itself was actually beginning to fall, so I hid in a cellar that was designed for earthquakes—it was deep into the ground and had ventilation shafts. I had no way of knowing what was happening or when it was over, but just as I emerged from the shelter Heero appeared and told me to run, so I did. And this is where I stopped running.” He finished, indicating the apartment. He began his game of solitaire.

 

 “ What were you running from?” Dorothy wanted to know. Quatre looked back up at her seriously.

 

 “ Men with guns. They were out to slaughter anyone they hadn’t already killed.”

 

 “ Arigatou, for telling me—it probably took a lot of courage,” Dorothy said, sitting down beside Quatre and looking at his game. “ And if you play that eight you leave a free space for the king, just to say.”

 

 Quatre smiled and made the move she had indicated.

 

 “ Thanks, I must have missed that. You didn’t tell me how you got here, though. Zechs found you, did he not?”

 

 Dorothy looked away.

 

 “ I don’t want to talk about it.”

 

 “ Gomenasai, I probably shouldn’t have asked.”

 

 “ Daijoubu, you didn’t know. Did you know what was happening at the time?”

 

 Quatre shook his head as he turned over a card.

 

 “ Iie, I had no clue. Not until I climbed out of the cellar and saw what had happened to my home did I know that the inevitable had happened. Then, when Heero and I came here, we hid until the soldiers ran past. We found Duo and Hilde in an alley—she had been buried by falling cement and could hardly stand—and met up with Noin while she was looking for you and Zechs. You two were easy,” he said. “ Noin knew he’d go back to their house, which was completely gone. And…you know what happens from then on.” He finished, giving Dorothy the impression that he, too, no longer wished to discuss the subject. She sat back, thinking.

 

 It’s so like him to apologize…and yet he answered my questions, and he was perfectly fine about it. God…am I the only one who was impacted seriously by this attack? Even Quatre, the understanding one, seems to be unaffected by it…it still frightens me, and in truth I want to tell him. I want to, but I am afraid to do it…if I do, will I react as badly as I did the first time?

 

Duo ate slowly, trying to relish every morsel of his food. He was thinking hard as he ate, watching Quatre and Dorothy in quiet conversation together.

 

 We’re together now…all but two of us…god, I can’t believe it’s been nine months without hearing from either of them, he thought. Wufei and Trowa…are they even still alive? Where are they? What are they doing? They weren’t on earth when the attack came, that’s for sure.

 

 Hilde rested her head on Duo’s shoulder sleepily.

 

 “ You’re thinking of them.” She murmured bluntly. Duo nodded.

 

 “ Hai, I am. They are my friends, Hilde,” he said. “ I can’t help but wonder if they’re all right.”

 

 The girl shivered and nestled closer, yawning.

 

 “ I’m glad they’re not here…too many people…so small a space…”

 

 Duo was surprised.

 

 “ What do you mean?”

 

 Hilde’s eyes went wide and she sat up quickly.

 

 “ Oh, nothing, I’m just tired. I think I’ll go to bed, and maybe if the weather’s better tomorrow I’ll go for a walk. Yeah.”

 

 As she kissed Duo quickly on the cheek and disappeared into one of the two bedrooms, Duo looked at Zechs, who had seen the whole thing.

 

 “ That was odd,” Zechs said bluntly. Duo nodded his agreement.

 

 “ Hai, it was. She never mentioned anything about small spaces before this, you know. And her memories…flashbacks, really…she still wakes up crying, I hear it sometimes. She was completely buried by rubble, with almost no space. Hilde—she had been praying, and that’s how I found her—following her voice—but by the time I reached the alley she was crying ‘let me out, I’ll be good’ over and over again. Something made her scared, Zechs,” he said. “ Something about being there for so long, when the world was virtually coming to an end…god, I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for her.”

 

 The man nodded sympathetically.

 

 “ Claustrophobia—the fear of small, enclosed spaces. I had it as a child, but I outgrew it when I began training,” a yawn hit him, and he stood. “ I’m also going to bed.”

 Duo smiled.

 

 “ ‘Night, Zechs. Take my bowl, will you?” he asked, holding out the dish to Zechs, who nodded and took it to the kitchen. Relena had fallen asleep with her head on Heero’s shoulder, and Dorothy was also putting her book away and going to girls’ bedroom.

 It’s been so long…will we ever see them again?

 

 Trowa opened his eyes slowly, squinting at the computer screen in front of him.

 I couldn’t have fallen asleep! He thought wearily as his watched beeped to midnight and the computer kept humming. Stupid…stupid…that was very stupid…

 

 “ So, you’re awake,” a voice behind him said. “ I was wondering when you’d snap out of it.”

 

 Trowa spun around in his computer chair to see Wufei, who was standing with his arms crossed against the wall. His Preventers jacket was hung over another computer chair. Trowa shook his head to clear the last of his sleepiness away.

 

 “ I can’t believe I did that—results might have come up, and I may have missed them. These are the world’s files, Wufei: it takes hours to find one person, let alone eight; if I missed it, who knows how long it’ll be before it comes up again?”

 Wufei shook his head.

 

 “ They didn’t come up. I checked when I found you asleep, and have been checking for the last three hours. You should really go to bed.” He said. Trowa looked shocked.

 

 “ Iie, no way! Not until I find them! They are my friends, Wufei! I thought that they were your friends, too! I will not rest until each and every one of them have been found, and taken out of that god-forsaken place. Gomenasai if that bothers you, but you’ll just have to either leave me alone or drag me to bed and tie me down!”

 Wufei grinned despite himself.

 

 “ That can be arranged, you know. I’ve heard that the strongman of your sister’s circus doesn’t like you.”

 

 Trowa stared at him.

 

 “ You wouldn’t.”

 

 “ Try me.” Wufei replied, meeting Trowa’s gaze with his own. This staring contest went on for the better part of five minutes before Trowa sighed.

 

 “ Fine, fine, I’ll go to bed. Good night.”

 

 As Trowa walked out of the room, he heard Wufei speak.

 

 “ And they are my friends, Trowa. My kouyuu with them was the best thing that happened to me.”

 

 Trowa stopped and turned, smiling at his friend.

 

 “ My friendship was the best thing, too. That’s why we’re going to find them.”

 Wufei nodded.

 

 “ Agreed, my friend; agreed.”

 

A/N: if anyone’s confused by the Japanese phrases, just say so, I think I’ve made it pretty clear. What did you think? I need reviews or I get writer’s block! Anything but flames, please.