Comatose
Author: Namiko Mercury
Email: pixelpixie@yahoo.com
Archive: Of course, especially to The Mistress of
the 91 Pairings ^_^
URL: http://fade.to/namiko
Pairings: 3xR
Warnings: Ummm... None ^_^
Feedback requested and gladly accepted!
Notes: This is for the 91 Pairings bit... It took
me a while to do this one because I really wanted
it to seem like this could have happened and not
disrupt the timeline... not sure if I
accomplished that, but at least it's
semi-plausible, ne? ^_^ And I'm starting to
really like Relena now, especially writing this
fic, so maybe writing a Hilde fic will help me
like her? Nah ^_^
Disclaimer: I *wish* I owned the G-boys. Then I
could make them do hentai things for my amusement
^_^ Mmmm... chocolate syrup...
Comatose Heart
--------------
Trowa looked up from his desk to try and find the
source of a strange sound. He had been hearing a
lot of strange sounds lately, but none of them
seemed to actually have a source. He was starting
to think he was going slightly batty. He checked
the small trailer, and all around it, but no-one
was there.
He decided to check on his "guest." The patient
had been here for almost two weeks now. Oddly
enough, it was about the time that Trowa had
brought the boy in that the noises had started.
But he was comatose, so it couldn't be him...
could it? Trowa looked in on the dark-haried boy
he had saved only a few days before.
Heero's wounds were not all that severe,
considering he had been thrown from a great
height by a blast intended to destroy a Gundanium
mobile suit, and the pilot inside as well. But he
had suffered a massive head wound, and there was
no telling when he would wake up. Trowa wished he
would wake up soon; he had a feeling this stoic,
suicidal Asian would be crucial in the coming
battles.
Trowa looked around the small room where Heero
lay. It was a plain room, with tattered curtains
worn from too many washings, and where all the
linens almost - but not quite - matched. There
was a vase on a dresser next to the window, with
a few wildflowers in it. His friend Catherine
really loved flowers. She felt more like a sister
to him than anything else, actually. He could
never quite put his finger on why. At any rate,
he was staying in her trailer, and he felt at
peace there. Thus, he felt this sunny, lived-in
room would be a good place to let the recovering
boy rest and, well, recover.
A soft thud caught his ear. This time, Trowa was
sure he wasn't imagining things. It had come from
outside, near the window. Probably one of the
many
circus lions was loose. He opened the windows and
peered outside cautiously.
He came face to face with a blond mane all right,
but it was no lion. It was not even close. A girl
smiled at him, a blush spreading across her
cheeks. She looked guilty, as if she had just
been caught doing something naughty. /She
probably has been,/ Trowa mused.
"Uh... hi," she said sheepishly.
Trowa sighed, closed the window, left the trailer
and went around to where the girl was. She looked
familiar. He tilted his head to the side and
looked at her, trying hard not to let his
annoyance show in his face. It came off as mild
sleepiness.
"I'm, aa, looking at - I mean, for - someone,"
she stammered, trying hard not to look in the
window. She ended up studying the details of a
blade of
grass quite intently.
Trowa dropped his apprehensiveness. He raised an
eyebrow as if to say, "Who?" This girl was
nothing to be afraid of, just a harmless
teenanger. /Then
again,/ he thought, /*I* look like a harmless
teenager./ He decided to keep his guard up just
in case.
"H-Heero Yuy." A smile spread across her lips and
she blushed faintly as she spoke his name. Trowa
could tell she wanted Heero, and wanted him bad,
just from that. Not talking gave one a much
better ear.
Trowa motioned for her to follow him. He lead her
through the modest hallway, really just a small
space to allow for doors and walls, into the room
where Heero lay. He waved his hand in Heero's
general direction.
The girl dashed over to Heero's side, calling his
name. /She's so screechy./ Trowa sighed to
himself, waiting for the inevitable. He hated
watching people face the prospect of someone they
loved never waking up.
"Why don't you answer, Heero? It's me, Relena!
You said you were going to kill me, so come on!
Wake up and kill me! Heero...?" Trowa shook his
head with pity for the girl, whoever she was.
Relena, that name sounded familiar. There was
something that told him he should know who this
girl is. He saw the tears start to fall from her
pretty dark blue eyes and down her smooth, pale
cheeks. /She is very pretty... Heero is lucky to
have someone like her in his life, someone who
would track him all the way here just to see if
he was all right./ She was still saying his name
softly, holding his hand in hers, kneeling by the
bedside and crying. Trowa felt a sudden impulse
go
through him, and he knelt down beside her and
hugged her.
She stopped crying from the shock, and turned to
face him, still sniffling a bit. He almost smiled
at her, she looked so funny with her little
upturned nose slightly reddish. He took his arms
off of her and smiled this time, a sort of
apology. She seemed to understand.
"Is he... Is he dead?" she asked, as if she
didn't really want to know the answer.
Trowa chuckled to himself. /Yes, he's dead, I
keep corpses in my living room. You're not the
brightest crayon in the box, are you? But you
care about him, I see that./ "Comatose," was all
Trowa uttered.
"I see," she said, visibly relieved. "How long
has he been like this? Do you know when he'll
wake up? Have any doctors seen him?"
Trowa almost fell backwards at the flow rate of
her questions. Fortunately, Catherine had walked
into the room with the next batch of Things To
Take Care Of Heero. She laughed, and Trowa felt
like his whole world had just gotten brighter.
"Don't overwhelm poor Trowa!" Catherine set about
changing Heero's bandages and such. "I'll answer
all your questions about Heero's medical state,
but first answer one for me: what's your name?"
"Oh! I'm so sorry; I was so worried about Heero I
completely forgot my manners." Trowa watched in
fascination as this shy little girl transformed
almost instantly into a dignified stateswoman.
She stood up and brushed off
her knees. "I'm Relena Dorlian, pleased to meet
you." /Even her voice has changed. It's deeper
now,/ Trowa thought.
"Not the daughter of Vice Foreign Minister
Dorlian? Well, well, Trowa, you had a bonafide
aristocrat in the same room with you and I bet
you didn't even tell her your name! Be more
polite next time." Catherine grinned at Relena.
"I'm Catherine Bloom, and this stoic boy beside
me is Trowa Barton. Can't you bow or something,
Trowa?"
Trowa, not one to deny Catherine anything,
somehow managed a bow from his position on the
floor. The sight of this was so incredibly
strange it send
Relena into very un-stateswoman-like fits of
giggles. Even Catherine laughed a little at the
lanky teenager.
When Relena had quite recovered, Catherine
started answering her questions. "We've had Heero
since he went under, 'bout two weeks ago, on the
battlefield. Trowa won't tell me much - heck, he
never says much of anything - but I gather it was
quite a big scene. Anyway, he's been out of
it the whole time. I don't know when he'll wake
up, but most of his majour injuries are gone now.
It's really only this here head wound that
concerns me. And seein' how he's an undercover
solider or something, I don't think bringing in a
doctor would be a good idea."
"I see, thank you Miss Bloom." Relena's good mood
was slowly slipping away.
"Please, call me Catherine. And I don't know how
busy you are, but you're welcome to stay here
until he wakes up. I'm warning ya, though, it
could be a while."
"Really? Oh, thank you so much!" The girlishness
had come back into her voice now. "But is there
room for me? I don't want to impose..."
"Yeah, sure, if you don't mind sharing a room
with me. It'll be a bit of a squeeze, but hey,
small is just another word for cozy!"
Trowa felt a new emotion rush through him. /What
is this? Is this... excitement? For her? Hmm... I
must examine this further./ Trowa set himself
to determine exactly what this girl was doing to
cause all of this. He decided to busy himself
making tea.
Going through the motions helped him to clear his
head. More specifically, going through these
motions away from Relena helped him to clear his
head. He could think about her objectively. She
was pretty, yes. She seemed like a nice, caring
girl. She wasn't very smart, but she obviously
had other qualities that allowed her to serve in
her position. She was dignified - or could be,
when she chose. She was a lot like Catherine,
only closer to his age and without a hint of the
sisterly quality Catherine possessed. He began to
wonder, if Cathy had been his own age, would he
have thought of her as a sister or more like how
he was thinking of this girl Relena?
He finished the tea and brought it out to the
girls, who were already talking and laughing like
old friends. He supposed Catherine missed the
company of girls like herself. /I guess this will
be good for her, to have Relena around. Maybe
she'll teach Relena how to feed lions... Nah./
Try as he might, Trowa just could not picture
Relena feeding lions. He toyed for a bit with the
mental image of Relena in a clown suit as they
sipped their tea. /I really have to get her into
one of Catherine's outfits. Though with any luck,
Catherine will do it for me. Heh. Wait, where did
that thought come from? Oh no. This is not good.
And she's going to be here until Heero wakes up?
Damn. I can't move in on her; she'll be gone
with Heero. She's Heero's girl. I have to keep
reminding myself of that. She's Heero's girl...
She's Heero's girl.../
"Trowa, are you okay? You look a little pale."
Relena looking questioningly at the uni-banged
pilot. He nodded and took another drink from his
cup.
"Don't mind him, Rel dear, he always looks like
that when he's thinking secret thoughts. Right,
Tro-chan?" She winked at Trowa as he tried
fitfully to hide behind his hair. Catherine
stretched and yawned. "Well I'm going to go take
a little cat nap before tonight's performance.
Trowa, when you're done your tea why don't you
show Miss Relena around while you get ready?
Don't want her getting bored, now do we?" She
waved at the two of them and went into her room,
pushing the door mostly closed behind her.
Relena put down her now-empty tea cup, and moved
to take it into the kitchen. Trowa, however, put
a hand out and shook his head. He took the cups
and saucers and put them in the sink. He looked
at the clock and realised he had better get
moving. He still had to feed the lions, check the
straps on the trapezists's gear, make sure
Catherine's knives were cleaned and sharpened,
and get into his clown outfit and makeup. He
walked back into the main room where Heero lay,
and where the table Relena was sitting at was
placed. Her hair seemed to catch the rays of the
late afternoon sun, filtered to a soft glow by
the yellow curtains. She was looking at Heero
again, and didn't notice Trowa as he stood there
for a minute. He went into his room, got a few
things, and went back into the main room. He
tapped Relena on the shoulder, and she nearly
fell off her chair.
"My goodness! You scared me half to death! You
don't make much noise at all, do you?" Relena
paused for a moment, taking in a few of the
things Trowa was carrying. "What are those?" She
pointed to some bizarre metal object that looked
as if it should be found in the wreckage of a
Leo, not in a circus.
Trowa beckoned Relena to follow. He led her
around the camp, to a tent near the edge. He
lifted the flap and waited for her to go in. He
followed suit, and turned on a light. Inside were
all manner of harnesses, belts, straps, buckles,
nets, and other assorted junk. He picked up a
harness and tugged on the strap. it broke, and he
sighed. He picked up another one, pulled on that
strap, and that too broke. He growled a little
and made a face.
Relena giggled, and Trowa looked up at her with
one eye. "Nothing... You just look so... funny!"
She blushed furiously as she said that, turning
her head away.
Trowa broke out in laughter along with her. The
next three harnesses he tried didn't break, so he
put them near the entrance to the tent. He then
led Relena to the lion cages.
He watched, amused, as a lion roared at her and
she ran behind him, clutching at his sleeve. He
smiled, then reached out and patted the lion.
Instantly, it quieted, and started to rub against
his hand. Relena watched with amazement as Trowa
fed every last lion, letting them eat right out
of his hand.
"Do you think.... do you think I could pet one?"
Relena asked apprehensively. Trowa nodded, and
led one of the tamer lions over to her. She
reached out slowly, and petted it slowly on the
nose. The lion was going to bite her, but a quick
pat from Trowa on its back and the lion became
docile. Fortunately, Relena noticed none of this.
She smiled, happy. "Wow, I petted a lion! The
girls at school are going to think I'm so
brave... But I couldn't have done it without you,
Trowa. Thank you." She stood up on her toes and
gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He stood
there, shocked, unable to move. Then the lion
made a noise, and the trance was broken as he
moved it back into its
cage.
He then went to Catherine's knives, and inspected
them. They looked good to him, and it was getting
late, so he decided to forego any sharpening. He
smiled at Relena, who was standing wide-mouthed
looking at all the knives, and led her back to
the trailer. He left her with Heero as he went to
go put on his clown outfit.
When he was done with his makeup, he came out to
see Relena and Catherine talking. Relena looked
up, surprised. "Wow! That's quite a change.
But... something doesn't seem right. Maybe your
makeup smudged?" Relena studied him intensely for
a minute.
"It's because he doesn't smile." Catherine was,
for once, serious. "He's a clown, he's supposed
to make people happy, and even though he does
such a
good job he's never happy himself."
They studied Trowa for a minute as he studied the
floor. The the clock struck, and Catherine jumped
up. "We're going to be late! Come on, guys! Rel,
we've got you a seat in the front row. I hope you
enjoy the show."
* * *
Relena was dazzled by the circus performance,
almost as if she were a little child again. The
acrobats and animal tamers and everyone else were
wonderful, and soon it came time for the
knife-throwing act. Trowa walked out in his clown
suit, juggling and doing flips. At the same time.
Relena watched, amazed, and caught his eye. She
smiled at him, clapping and cheering for her
silent clown.
Trowa noticed her, and how much she was enjoying
this. He remembered how she looked in the
sunlight earlier, how she petted the lion
unafraid, and that little kiss on the cheek. A
warmth came through him, and he felt himself
smile. He began performing not for the audience,
but for her.
The crowd went wild. Trowa going through the
motions was a wonderful sight to behold, but
Trowa performing with his whole heart and soul
was heavenly. When Catherine came out, the crowd
hollered and stamped their feet for the
brown-haired, violet-eyed beauty. She raised an
arm in the air as Trowa stood in front of the
target. Trowa positioned himself appropriately,
and faced the knives coming at him with no fear.
Well, maybe just a twinge of fear. /I've never
been afraid of dying at these knives, because I
never had much to live for. But now... Relena...
I will see her safely through the war./ With
that, he gritted his teeth into a smile for her,
and let the knives come.
When it was over with, the crowd stood on their
feet. With a deafing roar of clapping and
shouting, they proclaimed their approval. But to
Trowa, the loudest were the delicate claps and
smiles of Relena.
* * *
After the show, they had gone back to trailer.
Still in his clown suit but without the makeup,
Trowa helped himself to some cake that Catherine
had somehow managed to procure. The girl was
amazing. He munched thoughtfully, watching her.
Then he turned his gaze just slightly so that he
was looking at Relena. /She seems to be enjoying
herself, almost as if she's unaware of the man
lying on the bed near her, in a coma. I'm glad I
could help take some of the burden off her
shoulders./
Catherine got up and excused herself, saying it
was past her bedtime. "Whenever you want to come
to bed, Rel, just walk on in. I'm a pretty heavy
sleeper, so don't worry about disturbing me. That
is, if you decide to come to bed." She grinned
slyly and skipped into her room.
Trowa blushed and quickly bolted into his room,
shutting the door behind him. Relena was now left
with the unconscious Heero. Trowa felt bad, but
he just couldn't face her alone. Especially not
in a clown suit. /I must look ridiculous,/ he
said. Indeed he did, because he actually had some
frosting on the tip of his nose. He wiped it off
quickly after spying it in the mirror. He
stripped out of the puffy pants and
multi-coloured shirt, opting for a pair of grey
sweatpants instead. He stepped out of the room,
to find Relena talking to Heero.
"I know you can't hear me, but I can't help
thinking somehow you can. I just want you to know
that I care, no matter how annoying I may be. I
know you think I'm just a spoiled little rich
girl, but I'm a lot more. If you stop threatening
to kill me for just one minute and talked to me,
you might learn that. I will keep trying, Heero,
to make you talk to me, because I know you need
it. I know that if I don't reach you, there's a
good chance no one else will ever try. Even if
it's only to make you pull a trigger, at least I
reached you, and you can know for real whether
you are a true soldier or just a cold-blooded
killer."
Trowa could feel the love in those words, and
instantly he knew that Heero did not deserve it.
Not yet. He would make sure that when Heero woke
up, he would understand that lives are to be
cherished. But now, there was the problem of
Relena. He could see her shaking, ready to break
down. He got behind her and encircled her with
his lean, powerful arms. She turned around and
started sobbing into his bare chest, clutching at
his arms. "It's not fair... It's not fair... why
did an angel like Heero have this happen to him?"
She slowly calmed down, and realised what she was
doing. "Oh! I- I-" she stuttered. But then she
realised that Trowa wasn't pushing her away. He
was holding her, cradling her. "You heard the
whole thing, didn't you?" Trowa nodded. She
sighed.
/She's so beautiful... and strong. So strong. I
wonder why Heero won't give her the dignity she
deserves. Well, if he won't, then I will./ He
leaned down, and touched his nose to hers.
/Perfect.../ She looked a little startled, then
reached up and kissed him gently. They smiled at
one another, and Trowa kissed her again. And
again. And again. They both came out of it
panting for air.
"You have seen my heart, Sad Clown. Let me see
yours. Take me to your room." Trowa picked her up
and carried her into his room, shutting the door
with one graceful foot. He laid her down on the
bed and propped himself up over her. He reached
down and unbuttoned the top button of her blouse,
then looked at her face. She nodded.
* * *
As Relena prepared to leave the next day, Trowa
stood idly by, watching Catherine give her
reassurances about Heero's condition.
"I'm not worried, Catherine. Heero's in the best
of hands here." She smiled at them, and hugged
Catherine. Then she hugged Trowa, and he planted
a little kiss on her forehead. Relena stepped
into her limo, and waved until she was out of
sight.
"Don't worry, I won't tell Heero," said
Catherine, and then walked into the house. Trowa
smiled after the departing girl, and vowed that
Heero would never know this until Relena told
him. Instead, he would look after Heero the best
he could. /I promise you, Relena, if I can't be
around to protect you, then at least he will. I
make sure he knows what a wondeful person you
are./
Relena, in her limosine, thought about the events
that had just transpired between her and Trowa
Barton. She understood so much about him, now.
Then she suddenly realised that he hadn't spoken
a single word to her since she'd arrived.
No, wait, he had. It described his emotional
state, her mental state, and Heero's physical
state. It said everything important about the
three of them.
Comatose.
But now they had woken up.
=====
~Heero no Miko~
~Alielle no Miko~
Ruler of the Chibi Nation of Kesmai, with the muse of sudden midnight inspiration Stryker by her side.
http://fade.to/namiko