I would've never guessed that peace was supposed to be like this. It was something that could never be described, only felt. The feeling here was something I wish could exist among the living, but I don't think that would ever be possible. Not this kind anyway. Many things were proven to me that I would've never expected. I learned that our minds were capable of so much. If we knew all of the possibilities our heads would explode. Here, in this realm, my body proved not to be a source of strength, but a hindrance. Spiritually, we were almost invincible. That was both an exciting and scary fact thrown in my face.
But it seemed to be my doing. Ever since I've been here, the plane seemed to be in an utopian state. Krahe said it was because of me. Without me, the plane was in darkness. That darkness frightened the crows and him to the point where they wandered the living world, even though it was painful for them. They couldn't rest. My presence illuminated the plane so much that it brought peace. Comfort even.
In other words I was a really, really bright nightlight.
I haven't decided whether or not I should be flattered.
Aside from that, what I noticed the most was that the dead did not exactly sleep. The crows (well, Krahe at least) didn't sleep. They rested. They had the feel of something that was sleeping, but they were conscious of the things around them at all times. It was a concept that I had a hard time accepting. The mind was asleep, but still alert and aware. I found that I had been doing the same thing. There was a mild snowstorm yesterday, a baby crow fell out of its nest, breaking its wing, and Trowa was on his way.
I didn't know how I knew the last one, but I figured if I knew that, Krahe did too. Something was going to happen and soon. That much was obvious. The crows really weren't moving around, but they seemed to form out of the haze as if preparing for a tiny war. There was a current of trepidation underneath our utopia that even I couldn't completely cover. I was also being watched. So many eyes were boring into me I felt like I was on fire. But the biggest hint was that Krahe wasn't around. Anywhere. In fact I hadn't seen him for days. I didn't need to see him though. He hadn't left through the portal, so he was still on this side. But with me being in a space literally infinity big, the chances of bumping into him were painfully small.
Besides, I thought it was funny how he was afraid of Trowa. Well, terrified actually, and he had every reason to be. Why? It could be from the way Duo had suffered when he wandered aimlessly from the mansion until the Frankfurt police found him. Either Krahe had been foolish or careless when he abducted Duo in front of Dorothy as they were planning my rescue. I guess she contacted Trowa who had any police station fifty miles of us find him. Or it could be from the way Trowa's eyes narrowed when he saw Duo's injuries, or the way they were ablaze when he was told of what I had done to myself. Or it might be from the way he promised the sky that he would bring me back or die trying. That Krahe would never return from where he was going to send him.
Yeah, that last one got me too.
Plus Krahe knew he couldn't trust me anymore. He knew I was still upset about the coordinates, and that I felt he forced me into making the decisions I made to save the others. Because of that, he also knew I would leave at the first opportunity presented to me, and it was going to be hell on earth to stop me. So I tried to ‘shine' as brightly as possible, sending waves of reassurance to the crows that we would be okay, that no one was going to hurt me, and that we all were going to be left alone. It has been working on them, although I couldn't say the same thing about Krahe.
A wisp of air circled around me, and I concentrated on focusing all of my positive energy to soothe the crow. He back away from me, but didn't leave me altogether. I guess he was following orders from you know who. Oh well. Didn't really matter. It would still be a week or so before Trowa arrived. I have no other choice but to wait and play the innocent for now.
***
He's here.
I kept calm despite the fact that I wanted to bolt out of here. But Trowa still needed some time to infiltrate the house before he could even begin to look for me, so I had to be patient. I also didn't want to alarm the crows. They were still sleeping, seemingly oblivious to what was happening outside. I wasn't going to complain though. Whatever was in my benefit was just fine with me. Besides, I wasn't going to sit here and wait like a damsel in distress, so I started to back my way to the portal. As I was doing so, I emitted as much energy as I could in order to keep the crows unaware of what was going on.
I finally reached the portal, where I tried to back my way through. Nothing. Okay, nothing to panic about yet. So moved forward a bit and backed into the portal again to force my way through. Still nothing. Alright. This time I moved a few feet away and ran into it, using my weight as leverage to push me through. That didn't work either. Huh. Oh no! I forgot! Krahe opened the door the first time. It was still locked. Crap!
Even though I didn't want to, I decided that I would try teleporting out of here. I never tried it before, but I was almost certain that it wouldn't work. Not only that, it was...dangerous. I wasn't sure why I thought that or how I knew, I just did. It was like a rule that you knew in the back of your mind, but you didn't know where it came from or who told it to you. You just knew it. Regardless, I was going to try. I didn't have any other options. So I relaxed my mind, thought about how wonderful it would be to be in Wufei's apartment, and let myself go...
...where I was thrown sharply back against the portal door, gasping from the worst pain I had ever felt in my entire life. The only thing that compared to it was when Heero had self destructed in his gundam, and that didn't even come close to this. My mind reeled from the sensation. I thought I was being ripped apart. Worse yet, that was my last favorable option. The only other way out of here would be to get to the next portal. With the portals being placed pretty randomly, it would take me years to find the next one. Years! I couldn't ask that of Trowa, to look for me for years. I couldn't bare the thought of him being hopeful for all of that time. I'd rather he lived on. With someone else.
Before my thoughts could get worse, a...sensation came over me that started to chip away at my doubt and fear. I felt soothed. It was going to be okay. I didn't need to be upset. Don't worry, it said. It will be fine. I'll take care of everything.
What?
I looked around me, trying to find the source of that voice. I knew it wasn't something I was doing, and it certainly wasn't Krahe. This voice was too tender and soft. The only person I knew who had a voice like that was...
/Trowa!/ I shouted mentally.
Nothing.
/Trowa can you hear me? If you can, get the key. It's in the center room, I'm locked in./
Still nothing.
/Trowa! If you can hear me, get the key. I need the key./
....
/Trowa./
No response.
Feeling completely tired, I remained hovering over the portal, desperate and confused. I didn't understand how I could hear him but he couldn't hear me. Unless he was ignoring me. But why would he do that? And if that wasn't him, who was it? Did I imagine everything? Was I losing my mind?
As soon as I asked that last question a pain shot itself throughout my entire body. I screamed with a voice that couldn't pass through my mouth, and tried to clutch at myself with limbs that wouldn't move. I felt myself land heavily against another hard object that didn't give in, but I also stayed stationary and didn't bounce away like I would've in Krahe's plane. Not only that, there were very hot things around me, so hot that I thought I was going to melt.
That's when I realized I was out of the portal.
***
/I'm not in pain./
That was my first thought. I was comfortable, warm, and being watched over. But my eyelids didn't want to work. I might as well try to move the earth with my bare hands with all the effort it was taking me to open my eyes. They were heavy to the point where I needed a crane to help lift them. Hooray. As if I didn't have enough problems.
Then something soft, warm, but a little rough was placed on my left eyelid where it gently pulled it open. My right eye opened automatically, and I was treated to see that it was Trowa watching over me with a relieved smile on his face. I gave him a small smile back, even though I was sure my face would crack at any second.
He wasn't looking his best though. His hair was perfect like always, but he had severe bags under his eyes. His skin was very flaky, and the corners of his mouth were creased as if he had been frowning excessively. He appeared to be thinner than he already was, as if that was possible, and his body slumped towards me in fatigue. But I knew I looked ten times worse than he did, at the very least, so I definitely couldn't complain. I didn't want to either. The love of my life came and rescued me. As much as I wanted to run around and proclaim it to the world, I didn't have the energy. It'll just have to wait.
I opened my mouth to ask about the others when a slender finger was pressed against my lips. "Don't speak," he said. I closed my mouth. "Duo is at a hospital in Sanc recovering. Heero and Wufei are piloting, and Sally is here to help with your injuries." On cue, Sally entered where she checked my vitals on some monitor. Once she saw I was awake she gave me a chaste kiss on my lips before ruffling Trowa's hair on her way back out to what I assumed was the cockpit. Trowa continued. "We'll be taking off shortly for Sanc. Sally wanted to make sure you were stabilized before we took off. Rest now."
"I--"
"Don't talk!" he whispered fiercely, before looking at me apologetically. "Don't speak. You need to rest every muscle in your body." He was silent before he said, "I heard you, you know."
When I raised my eyebrows in question, he sighed. I guess he hoped I would know what he was talking about. "I heard you in my head. I thought I was imagining things, until you told me to get the key. Then when I found it, I knew it was you. I just didn't know how to answer."
Trowa had to pin my shoulders to the bed as the plane started to take off. It was obvious Heero was piloting. I tried to hold still as best as I could under his touch. I must've been in the portal a long time. I thought the heat from Trowa's hands would leave scorch marks on my skin because they were so hot. But as soon as the plane leveled out he released me, and we spent the next few minutes just staring at each other. I could tell he wanted to say something, but he kept looking away right before he opened his mouth. That was okay though. He could take all day if he wanted to.
"Quatre. I...well...that is to say...no."
Trowa suddenly got out of his chair and dropped to one knee, holding my bruised hand between both of his. "Quatre, will you marry me?"
I thought my heart would explode from sheer happiness. Trowa wanted to marry me! He was on his knee, asking for my hand in marriage. Here I was, lying helpless on a bed, looking like something that was digested in the intestines of an elephant and he was proposing to me. I didn't care what he said earlier. This question deserved a verbal answer.
I was shaking when I told him, "Yes."
The plane rocked violently from the explosion and Trowa was thrown backwards against the wall. He quickly slumped to a seated position on the floor, where a thick trail of blood marked his descent. I couldn't see his face, but I knew his eyes were closed. I needed to see his eyes.
"Trowa!" I called, even though I knew he couldn't hear me. "Trowa, get up!"
I was ripping those sticky tags off of my chest as Sally barged her way to Trowa. "Quatre, stay there!" She pulled him forward at just the right angle where I could see the blood collecting on the back of his head. It was turning his hair black. "Shit!"
The last tag was yanked off as I threw myself forward. Grabbing Trowa's wrist, I started dragging him to the cockpit. I could vaguely hear Sally screaming at me over the sound of the wind as the plane took a nosedive. She was asking what the hell I thought I was doing, even as she helped me drag Trowa. I couldn't answer her since another explosion rocked the plane again as we entered the cockpit, forcing me to drop to my knees. Through the windshield I could see the view of the mansion becoming clearer with each passing second.
We were going to crash into it.
Grabbing Sally's and Trowa's hand in my right, I grabbed Heero's and Wufei's in my left, ignoring the dirty looks they gave me. Closing my eyes, I focused every ounce of strength I had to cheat death.
There was this searing white light that shone behind my eyelids before I heard myself scream.