Melting the Icy Heart

Disclaimer: I do not own the Gundam boys, nor do I claim to. Distribution of this fanfic is OK as long as it is left in this condition, including this disclaimer. This is also my first fanfic, so go easy on the judgement, OK?

Schala opened her eyes and tried to figure out where she was. All she remembered was that she had been walking to the Ice Cream Parlor to pick up a few essentials for the party she was supposed to be going to. Even now, her eyesight was hazy. When she looked at her hands, she saw a woman who was older than she thought she should be. Maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her… she picked up her head and looked about, not seeing anyone around her. She pondered whether or not the door was locked for a moment, but then decided it would be stupid for whoever lived here to leave it unlocked. She got up and walked to a chair, her sight becoming clearer by the minute, and, to her surprise, the door opened and a young man walked in.

“Oh, you’re up. That’s good. I found you a few days ago, lying on the sidewalk. You looked like you’d been beat up pretty badly, you know.”

“Huh? Beat up? I don’t know, all I remember is going to the ice cream parlor. I had a party to go to the 13^th… Then I woke up here.”

“Well, I don’t know, but I don’t live too far from the parlor. In fact, I was on my way there as well. Oh, excuse my rudeness! My name is Quatre, and you are…?”

“The 16^th, Schala. You’ve been sleeping for 4 days; I’m glad you’re up. Would you like to come down and have some breakfast? My sisters will be glad to know that you’re alright as well.”

“That would be nice. I am quite hungry.” Schala said, standing up. She allowed Quatre to lead her to an extremely large dining room, with enough food to feed her family, or what was left of it, 20 times over. “Do you always cook this much?” She asked, astounded.

“Usually. You see, I have 29 sisters, so it’s not that hard to eat this much. We also usually have friends over as well.” The doorbell rang. “There they are now!”

“I’ll get it!!!” A voice called from another room. A woman came running in and greeted the four boys that stood in the doorway.

“Hey Quatre,” a boy with a long braid said as he entered, then, seeing Schala, asked, “Whoa, who’s the babe?” Schala blushed and smiled.

“If you say so… anyway, this is Trowa,” he said, pointing at the slender quiet boy, “Heero and Wufei.” He pointed at the boy with Prussian blue eyes and the Chinese boy, standing in a perfectly erect position. Schala greeted them and sat at the table, unsure what to do next. The boys crowded around and Quatre’s sisters entered, taking designated seats. They ate breakfast in peace, while Schala contemplated the quality of what she remembered. In the middle of her thoughts, Duo asked Quatre, “So, where’d you pick her up?”

“She was lying on the sidewalk near the ice cream parlor, beaten badly, so I had my sisters help me bring her back here. She’s been sleeping the past 4 days.”

“Whoa. Didn’t realize you had taken a beating,” Duo said, with an apologetic look in the Cobalt blue eyes. For the first time since her hellos, she spoke.

“Actually, I’m not even sure what happened. All I remember is going on my way to the parlor. Then I woke up here.”

“Oh. Weird, though I remember one time that happened to me…” Duo carried on this conversation for the remainder of breakfast, not realizing when Schala began ignoring him. Wufei had warned her quietly to just ignore him if he got annoying, so she did. She looked at her hands again, and like magic, they looked just the way they were when she walked to the parlor. After they had finished, she asked Quatre where the bathroom was.

“There’s one on each floor, this one’s just to the left of the dining room. There’s a shower too, if you want to take one.”

“Thanks, I think I will.” She said as she walked to the bathroom. It was then that she realized her hair was put up in the bun she had had it in 4 days earlier. Well, I guess it was tight enough, she thought to herself and pulled it out, letting her hair fall to the floor. She brushed it out with one of the brushes that was in the room and got into the shower, turning it on warm enough to allow quick healing of any bruises that were left. Wrapping a towel around her hair and another around her body, she exited the shower and looked at her face in the mirror. What Quatre had said was true; she had quite a few bruises on and around her face and neck. After a little searching, she found a comb and a hairdryer and dried her hair, then smoothed and brushed it out. Her head throbbed a little, but it wasn’t a big problem. She found the clothes Quatre had told her his sisters would bring, which was a quite comfortable dress with a vest. After she had gotten everything on, she headed out of the bathroom, but not bothering to put her hair up even though she knew it’d get tangled.

Quatre saw her and looked at her hair in astonishment. When it had been up, it looked dark, maybe auburn color. Now it was a lavender purple, even her roots.

“I dye it, but only with washable color. I washed it all out in the shower. Don’t worry though, it won’t leave anything in the tub.”

“Actually, I wasn’t worried. It just astonishes me that your hair would naturally be lavender colored.” Schala smiled warmly.

“Sure, hang on,” Quatre left the room for a moment, and came back with a cell phone. “Here, you can use this.”

“Thanks.” Schala took the phone and dialed a number. “Hi Nadia, just needed to call to tell you I am OK, and that I’m sorry I missed the party. Could you tell my mom I’m OK when you get this? Oh, but please don’t tell her this number, OK? Thanks, bye.”

“Why don’t you want your mom to have this number?” Quatre asked, surprised that this seemably innocent girl wouldn’t trust her mother.

“It’s hard to explain… my mother is… well, overprotective. I should probably go home soon…” Schala said, looking out the window.

“I see. I won’t push it. Just tell me or one of my sisters when you want to go back, OK?” Quatre looked slightly worried.

“Yes, thank you. …Hey Quatre, are you and Duo good friends?” Quatre was startled by the question.

“Watch him sometimes. When he thinks nobody’s looking at him, watch his expression.” Schala turned as she said this, and thought for a few moments. “He looks depressed, but he doesn’t want it to show in front of you guys.”

“Wow… I never would have imagined Duo being depressed, but then again, I don’t know one person who could stay happy like he does…” the phone rang and Quatre picked it up. “Hello? Oh, sure, hold on. Schala, it’s for you.” Schala picked up the phone.

“Hello? Oh, hi Nadia. Thanks for calling back. Did you tell ma that I’m OK? Thanks. Oh, she believed you? That’s good. OK, I’ll be home by 5 or so. Yeah, bye.” Schala clicked the phone off. “OK, it’s 4:00 now, so I need to be home within an hour.”

“Yeah, that way my mom can’t yell at me for going with a stranger in a car. Just don’t let her see you, or we’re both dead meat.”

“No problem.” They waited until 4:30 and left for her house. Schala thanked Quatre at the end of her driveway. “And Quatre, please take care of Duo, OK?”

“Yeah, maybe. Bye then.” Schala waved as she walked toward her house. “Mom, are you home? I’m sorry if I scared you! I got attacked!” she called into the house.

“Schala!! You’re home! I was soooooo worried about you!” her mother called from the kitchen.

In his apartment, Heero was typing furiously on his laptop. All things considered, I think I’m doing well, he thought to himself. He was entering codes for information on possible enemies (duh!!) and wasn’t having much trouble. Then he came to a screen with a little chibi on it, where the name of the person was entered, but not the password. “Schala, I’ve heard that somewhere…” He thought for a minute. “That girl, the one over at Quatre’s house!” Heero realized where he’d heard it. “What in the Hell could she work on, and what would her password be?” All of the sudden, the little chibi said,

“Welcome. If you are my master, Schala, please enter your password. If not, GET THE HELL OFF THIS PAGE!!” Its yelling startled Heero. He tried one password. “WRONG!! You are not Schala; therefore you will be booted off this network system. Thank you.” The chibi gave a wicked smile, and the laptop shut itself down.

“A few days! What are you going to do for a few days?!” Her mother asked her, confused.

“I need to make it up to Nadia for being gone during her party, and for the days after. Please?”

“Thanks mom!” she kissed her mother on the cheek. “You’re the best!” She ran up the stairs to get the things she needed. “Bye mom.” She said as she ran out the door. That girl is so weird sometimes, her mother thought. Schala ran to Nadia’s house. They had planned this out as soon as she had gotten home, because Schala promised to call. She knocked on the door. “Hi Nadia! I’m here!” she said as she hugged her friend.

“Glad you’re back, Schala! Let’s go to my room, OK?” Nadia said, a sly smile lighting up her face. When they got there, she asked, “So, who saved you? He sounded cute!”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Nadia said as Schala pulled out her laptop. She went to her login page to find her scanner beeping on an apartment building a few blocks away.

“…Nadia, looks like someone tried to crack my password. Let’s go see who.” Nadia agreed, and they followed the scanner to the apartments, then asked the owner if any rooms had computers or if any guests had laptops. He told them there was one on the 3^rd floor, so they headed up.

“Dammit!” Heero said to his blank screen. “What the hell does she do and what the hell’s her password!”

“Nothing you need to know about.” Came a voice from the doorway. Heero spun around, gun in his hand, to see Nadia standing in the doorway. Before he could do anything, Schala had drop kicked him in the stomach and kicked the gun out of his hands. “Who are you, and what the FUCK were you doing at my info login?!” Schala had the gun raised to Heero’s head. She’s good, he thought, but not good ENOUGH! He jumped up and kicked Schala in the hand. She jammed a fist into his rib as soon as he kicked, and he doubled over. “I ask again, who are you?” Heero raised his head to meet the face he had seen earlier. She recognized him as well. “You’re that boy, Quatre’s friend, aren’t you? What were you doing at my login?” Heero tried a few times to escape, then decided it was useless.

“Slowly. Don’t even think about trying anything. I will kill you.” Damn, this girl’s as ruthless as I am, maybe more. He stood up slowly.

“I suppose I have no choice but to tell you everything, eh? Heh heh, you’re pretty damn good for a woman. Though I would like to know your occupation.”

“I’ll grant you that. I’m a special agent, but I’m not from the government, nor the colonies. I’m employed to someone else. Who, I can’t say. Now, it’s your turn.”

“Alright. I’m Heero Yuy, pilot of Gundam Wing Zero. We pilots, you’ve met all of us, believe it or not. Quatre, Wufei, Trowa, Duo and myself, pilot the 5 Gundams. I’m well, a hacker, I suppose. I make sure to eliminate possible threats. The question being, are you a threat?”

“I wouldn’t even be here right now if not for you,” Schala pushed her hair back out of her face. “In fact, the only reason I’m employed is for the safety of Relena Peacecraft. She did not hire me, however. Funny, it would seem as it is, since the war ended, we both have the same mission. I hear you are supposed to keep an eye on Relena as well. This is the only reason I’m telling you anything.” Schala looked back at Nadia, who said they should go. “We have work to do. I’m almost sure I’ll see you again Heero.” They ran out the door. Heero sat, rubbing his stomach and ribs. I suppose I’ll believe those two. For now, at least. He went back to his laptop and restarted it. But I still have to wonder about her password; I used up most of the common ones…

Odessa: So, what’d you think? Good, Ok, Bad, Great? Tell me about it at Kid_2025@hotmail.com. I’ll be finishing it as soon as possible, but I don’t know how many parts there’ll be.