WARNING—This story is going to touch heavily on controversial issues such as war, race, religion, and homosexuality. No single person, religion, or race is going to be insulted or put down. I do not know all the religious practices of Judaism or Islam, as I practice neither, and I will try to be as fair to them as I can. If you cannot read with an open mind, do NOT read this story.
A/N—This story takes place in present-day US in an area near Washington DC.
December 7th, 2004, Part I
7:05 AM—ON THE ROAD TO SCHOOL
Duo Maxwell was on his skateboard. Upside-down. He balanced himself on the palm of one hand, his legs titled at perfect balancing angles, his other hand sporting a battered CD player that he had held in his possession for over 2 years. He had had to fix it multiple times over the course of his ownership, each time taking a bit of the sound quality with it, but Duo managed.
"Another loser anthem/whoa-oh/Another loser anthem/whoa-oh…" He sang along with his CD player. The Good Charlotte CD was the last one he'd bought, well over a year ago, and it was his favorite by far, given how many times he's had to clean it.
Suddenly, a foot appeared out of nowhere, propped up on its heel. Before Duo could stop himself, the foot had stopped his skateboard and reared it up. Duo teetered precariously on the edge of his skateboard until it dropped back down to he sidewalk. Duo twisted his arms and dropped his legs behind him until he was sitting on the sidewalk, Indian-style. He looked up and into the face of Heero Yuy, the local killjoy.
"Oh, hey, Heero!" Duo said, waving cheerily and yanking the headphones off his ears so they draped around his neck. "Didn't see you there."
"…Idiot." Heero turned away and walked off. Duo stuck his tongue out at his leaving back.
"That's really attractive, Duo," a voice said from behind him.
"Beauty's in the eye of the beer holder, Wufei," Duo responded.
"That's "beholder", you moron," Heero said from down the street as Wufei passed Duo.
"Jeez, you try to make a funny, and they all rag on you," Duo muttered, shaking his head. He looked up to see an unfamiliar sight. Trowa was walking down the street next to a young woman. She was just slightly older than him, with curly, dark red hair down to her chin and almost clear crystal-blue eyes. She was laughing and talking about something, and Trowa was smiling lightly, staring off into the distance.
"Trowa, who's your lady friend?" he called over, standing up. "She's cute. Not as cute as my Hilde, but then, who is?" He grinned impishly, showing he was teasing.
Both Trowa and the young woman stopped to stare at him. The woman was flushing deep red in the face.
"Duo," Trowa said, his soft voice carrying across the empty street, "this is my sister."
"Your what?" Duo kicked his skateboard into the air and caught it, then ran across the street.
"My sister," Trowa reiterated as Duo approached.
"Since when do you have a sister?" Duo asked, blinking in surprise.
"Since we had a DNA test done," Trowa answered simply.
"Well…well, that's great, man," Duo said, a little taken aback. From what few words they had been able to pry from Trowa, he'd been born in Greece, orphaned at the age of one, sent to an orphanage in France for three years, and was adopted by an army captain when he was four years old. After that, Trowa became tight-lipped and stopped talking. He never let on how he came to be in America, or what had happened to the captain. "Does anyone else know?"
"Quatre does," Trowa answered. It figured that Quatre would know first; Trowa and Quatre had become friends almost simultaneously with meeting each other. It had been Quatre who managed to drag the small part of Trowa's history they knew out of him. Duo also suspected that Quatre knew the rest of Trowa's story.
"Well, time for introductions!" Duo said, sticking his hand out to Cathy. "My name's Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide but I never tell a lie. Sorry for that little crack about you not being as cute as my Hilde, but she's my girlfriend so she'll like to know that I find her the most attractive."
"Why, do you report to her?" the woman asked, laughing, as she took Duo's hand and shook it. "I'm Cathy Bloom."
"Sometimes," Duo answered with playful seriousness. "You have two different last names?"
"Trowa won't change his name back," Cathy said, glaring at her brother.
"I forgot it when I was a baby. I had no name for 13 years until I took this one. I'm not changing it back," Trowa said quietly, without looking at Duo or Cathy.
An uncomfortable silence settled on the small group of three. Cathy coughed into her hand and bit her lip, looking ready to scream or cry. Duo searched around for something else to say.
"Well, if you're interested, I could hook you up with somebody, Cathy."
Cathy snorted out a laugh. "No thanks, Duo, that might be considered pedophilia. I'm 19."
"Oh, shoot," Duo said jokingly, snapping his fingers. "Ah, well, Trowa, we have to get going."
"I'll see you later, okay?" Cathy said, turning to Trowa and giving him a hug.
"Okay." His tense frame relaxed for a moment and he leaned his head against hers.
"It's a Kodak moment," Duo commented.
Cathy laughed again. "'Bye, Trowa. Nice to meet you, Duo." She walked away, turned a corner, and disappeared.
"Mean to your sister, much?" Duo commented.
Trowa breathed sharply through his nose.
"Okay, okay, I'll back off," Duo said, placating, shaking his head. He dropped his skateboard and stepped on, placing his headphones back on his ears and going to the beginning of his CD. He kicked off his skateboard and coasted slowly down the street, Trowa keeping pace beside him.
7: 33 AM—FIRST PERIOD—FRENCH V
"Mademoiselle Darlian, ce raseur de classe vous?"
Relena blinked and looked up. Her eyes were dry and blurry from staying up late last night, helping her father revise legislation he was attempting to put through.
"Non, je suis juste fatigué. Je suis désolé," she answered in perfect French just to prove a point. Her French V class was thankfully one of her easiest classes as well as her first, so she could often sail through it with one eye closed.
"Bien, obtenir quelque plus de sommeil la nuit. Maintenant, comme je disais, nous avons un nouvel étudiant aujourd'hui. S'il vous plaît accueillir Mademoiselle Middie Une."
Relena blinked again to clear her eyes. A new student? Relena squinted up front. Standing next to her teacher was a girl she didn't recognize. The girl, Middie Une as she had been introduced, was smaller than Relena in height but equal in stature. Her hair was cornsilk blond and, in parts, clumped together to fall over her shoulders. Her eyes were an extremely dark blue, and they stared straight ahead nervously.
"Dire un morceau de vous, Middie," Relena's teacher prompted.
"Bonjour," the girl said, speaking in a soft Soprano voice. "Mon nom est Middie Une. J'étais né en France mais je pars quand j'étais environ 10 avec mon père et mes frères. J'habite avec mon cousin, Lady Une. Je planifie sur me spécialise dans photgraphy, et je prends cette classe si je peux comunicate avec les éditeurs de revue dans l'Europe dans ma langue de maison avant que je l'oublie. Agréable pour vous rencontrer tout."
"Très bon, Middie. Je ne pense pas il y a du danger de vous oubliant votre langue de maison. Prendre la place vide."
"Merci," Middie replied. She scanned the room for a seat. The only open one was to Relena's right. She walked through the aisles until she reached her empty seat, plopped her bookbag on the floor, and opened up her French text.
"Salut. Je suis Relena Darlian," Relena said, leaning over so Middie could hear her whispers.
"Salut," was the soft reply.
"Vous êtes de la France?"
"Oui."
"Je suis de l'Italie, me."
"Vraiment? L'Italie?"
"Oui. Ecouter, voudriez-vous vous asseoir avec moi et mes amis au déjeuner aujourd'hui? Nous sommes étés plus nombreux qu'avec cinq garçons à quatre filles, vous pourriez remplir il proprement."
"Sûr. Je ne sais personne dans cette école, de toute façon."
"Grand. Je vous introduirai alors."
"Mademoiselles Une et Darlian, je sais qu'il excite à avoir ou un nouvel étudiant est-il, mais vous plairiez faites l'attention?"
"Oui, monsieur," they answered simultaneously.
TRANSLATION
"Miss Darlian, does this class bore you?"
"No, I'm just tired. I'm sorry."
"Well, get some more sleep at night. Now, as I was saying, we have a new student today. Please welcome Miss Middie Une. Say a bit about yourself, Middie."
"Hello. My name is Middie Une. I was born in France but I left when I was around 10 with my father and brothers. I live with my cousin, Lady Une. I plan on majoring in photography, and I take this class so I can communicate with editors in Europe in my home language before I forget it. Nice to meet you all."
"Very good, Middie. I don't think there's any danger of you forgetting your home language. Take any empty seat."
"Thank you."
"Hi, I'm Relena Darlian."
"Hi."
"You're from France?"
"Yes."
"I'm from Italy, myself."
"Really? Italy?"
"Yes. Listen, would you want to sit with me and my friends at lunch today? We're outnumbered with 5 boys to 4 girls, you could neatly fill it out."
"Sure. I don't know anyone in this school, anyway."
"Great. I'll introduce you then."
"Misses Une and Darlian, I know it's exciting to have or be a new student, but would you please pay attention?"
"Yes, sir."
8:29 AM—SECOND PERIOD—COMMUNITY ACTION—DOWNTOWN
"Freakin' Oz people," Nataku muttered, kicking the remains of a crumpled brick. It had once been part of a wall belonging to the town's historical courthouse, which had been half-destroyed the night before by students from a neighboring school before someone could call it in.
Oz High School and After Colony High School were frequently at loggerheads, having been traditional rivals since both their football teams had wiped out Alliance High School's own team. After Colony High was located in the middle of downtown Earth Sphere, the town that encompassed four high schools in: Alliance High, After Colony High, Oz High, and Romefeller High. Any delinquency done downtown was accredited mostly to Oz and Romefeller and occasionally to Alliance, but the recovering after acts of vandalism usually fell to After Colony High School's Community Action class.
Whose two prominent students were Nataku Long and Relena Darlian.
Relena sighed, knelt down, and began stacking bricks. "It's because the championship game is tonight. They're trying to psyche us out."
"We won't let that happen, though," Nataku said vehemently.
Relena sighed. "Our team's not that good this year," she reminded Nataku.
"So? We'll still beat them. And if not the team, our band is far and away the best out of all the schools."
"True," Relena allowed, with a smile on her face. "It should be, we've only been worked to death since June."
"Oh, you enjoyed it. Especially DMA."
"Okay, okay, yes, I did like it."
"Because of a certain brown-haired blue-eyed Japanese-Russian boy…"
Relena flushed bright scarlet and became suddenly busy with brushing dirt off the bricks.
"Oh, you don't deny it?" Nataku teased.
"You and Wufei."
"Ugh!" Nataku threw up her hands like a drama queen. "Now, why'd you have to go and remind me of that thing!"
"Be nice, Nataku," Relena admonished, but she was smiling. "You know, Nataku, I really think you could learn to like Wufei."
"Yes, I could like Wufei…if you switched his personality for Quatre's." Nataku began fitting some bricks back into place. "And even then I wouldn't want to marry him."
"You're sure there's no way to back out of it?" Relena asked.
"Unless I bolt on my 18th birthday, I really don't see any way. Grandfather is pretty set on us getting married. Get married or get disowned. That's the way it's been since our family started."
"Yeah, but your family left China in 1933," Relena said. "Do you really need to carry on the tradition?"
"Took the words right out of my mouth, Relena," Nataku said, snapping her fingers at her friend. "You'd think, after 71 years in this country, we'd lose some of the old traditions, but…" Nataku shrugged. "I'll just have to leave as soon as I'm legal."
"That's really horrible," Relena said softly.
Nataku shrugged again. "If it's what I have to do." She wiped her nose with her sleeve. "Now, let's get a move on, shall we?"
Relena began to layer cement onto the remaining bricks on the wall with a flat shovel. "There's a new student in my French class."
"What's her name?"
"Middie. She's actually from France."
"Then why's she in a French class?" Nataku asked.
"She left when she was 10. She says she wants to refresh her memory."
"Good idea." She began to fit bricks into the mold of the building. "So, did you manage to suppress your flypaper tendencies, or will she be sitting with us at lunch?"
"How could I resist taking in another friend?" Relena asked, laughing.
"Our International Clique just got a new member," Nataku commented. "Let's see, is anyone else in our clique French?"
"Quatre and Dorothy are part French, and Trowa lived in France for a bit," Relena said. "But he's Greek, right?"
"Yeah. Let's see." Nataku began to count off her fingers. "Heero's Japanese and Russian, you're Italian, Hilde's German, Trowa's Greek and I think Latino, Quatre's French and Arabian, Dorothy's Spanish and French, and Wufei and I are Chinese. Duo's the only born-and-bred American, isn't he?"
"Yep." Relena wiped a mix of cement and dirt off her nose, only succeeding in smudging it up more. "We're our own UN."
9:04 AM—THIRD PERIOD—ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENGINEERING AND DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
"Except that wouldn't work; it would crash because of the unequal weight distribution," Heero answered, dropping his raised arm.
"Right you are, Heero," the teacher affirmed, nodding her head. "And that ends our review for Monday's test. Get together in your groups and continue working on your projects."
Heero glanced over at Quatre, who smiled and waved him towards his seat. Heero got up, slung his bookbag over his shoulder, gathered his books in his arms, and moved towards the empty seat that another student had just vacated. Duo, Hilde, Trowa, Wufei, and Nataku were all following suite. Quatre was the male part of the nucleus around which everyone in theclique revolved, just as Relena was the female part. It was they who attracted everyone towards each other. It was through them that Wufei and Nataku could sit with each other without one of them going home in bandages and the other in trouble, it was they who got Heero and Trowa to string two words together in a comprehensible sentence. They were pivotal members of the clique—without them, theclique would not exist as it currently did.
"I thought we were finished with our project," Heerosaid as he sat down.
"Oh, we are," Quatre said cheerfully. "I just figured we should spend the rest of the period talking. It's better than sitting around waiting for the bell to ring."
"T'is true, t'is pity, and what t'is pity, t'is true," Duo recited, with a fake sigh.
"Where did you learn that?" Trowa asked, giving Duo a strange look.
"Sister Helen," Duo replied. "She used to say it all the time when I'd come home suspended for having another fight."
"You know, Duo, it's amazing that you haven't been expelled yet," Nataku commented. "To listen to you talk, you've beat up half the school."
"Three-quarters, to be exact," Duo said, with a wink and a grin. "Well, hey, is it my fault kids in elementary school have no concept of compassion or decency?"
"Figured you'd pound some sense into them, eh?" Wufei muttered.
"Yep!" Duo answered brightly. "'Neways, 'nuff about that. Hilde, did you get your parents to agree?"
"Yeah, Dad says you can come with us," Hilde replied.
"What's that about?" Nataku asked, glancing at the two of them.
"Duo asked to come to Temple with me tomorrow," Hilde explained. "We had to put it past my mom and dad, since Dad's the Rabbi."
"Already combining religions?" Trowa questioned, looking at them with a serious eye. "Big step."
"Oh, it's not that hard to do," Quatre offered. "My dad's Muslim and my mom's Catholic, remember?"
"Wow, according to the almighty force known as the STEREOTYPE, you and Hilde should be trying to bomb each other's brains out," Duo said, a sarcasm lacing his words.
"I'll take all the allies I can get when I'm Federal Government Enemy Number 1," Quatre said, humorously but suddenly allowing bitterness to conquer his voice.
"Let's see, your crimes have been the horrors of…" Duo began sarcastically, "…being French, being Arabian, being Muslim, and…how to put this in the politically correct terms…
""Being the most obvious flamer on the face of the planet", as someone once so eloquently told me," Quatre filled in.
"Ah, yes, that. Oh, and looking at a moose from a plane in Alaska, mustn't forget that."
"What!" everyone else said unanimously, giving him the strangest looks they could muster.
"It's a law in Alaska that it's illegal to look at a moose from inside a plane. High crime, that is. We're trying to put through a bill to make it punishable by lethal injection."
Hilde suppressed a laugh by breathing loudly through her nose. Heero shook his head. Quatre giggled into his fist.
"Why tomorrow?" Nataku asked, looking at Hilde. "I thought tonight was the first day of Hanukah."
"Today's the eve of Hanukah, and that's a family-only thing," Hilde answered. "Hanukah's not really that big a deal anyway, but since it's Shabbat, Dad's going to give a service tomorrow morning. So I asked him to let Duo come tomorrow with me. Oh, and we're not total enemies, Quatre. In general, Reform Jews, like myself, support gay rights."
"Unfortunately, mine doesn't," Quatre replied, flipping his book open and closed with nervous energy. "And if I followed my mother's religion, that wouldn't change, anyway."
"And this is why I'm Atheist," Heero muttered.
"Now, now, Heero, don't blow off religions entirely," Duo admonished playfully. "There are plenty of good religious people out there. Oh, that reminds me. Remember how I swore that I'd sum up all religions into one simple sentence? I've finally figured out how, except for my own."
"What's Judaism?" Hilde threw at him playfully.
"Dehydrated Christianity," Duo promptly replied.
"And Islam?" Quatre asked, giving him a questioning look.
"Christianity on steroids."
Quatre laughed. "Well, if you think about it, that's kinda true, Duo."
"What's Buddhism, then?" Nataku offered, grinning.
"Heaven without God."
"Then what's Atheism?" Heero asked, giving Duo a semi-curious look.
"Life without God. What are you again, Trowa?"
"Agnostic."
"Wait-and-see," Duo filled in, self-satisfied.
"How did you get all this?" Quatre asked curiously.
"Sister Helen makes me study all the religions she can get a book on. Oh, and those religion tests you take on-line are pretty fun, too."
"You're such a pothead, Duo," Nataku said, shaking her head.
"Nope, not a pothead. Acidhead. There's a difference, you know. Mr. Bunny!" Duo crossed his eyes and starting rolling his head around as if watching an invisible rabbit. "Come back, Mr. Bunny!"
At this, Trowa had to laugh. Even Heero allowed a small smile to grace his usually stoic face. Hilde, however, gave him a small punch in the arm.
"Don't joke about that kind of stuff, Duo."
"Oh, we can talk religion, but we can't talk drugs," Duo mused, smiling.
"Yep," Hilde said with a nod.
Duo gave Hilde a long, hard glance, and then turned his attention back to the group. "And now for something completely different…Trowa, aren't you going to tell them about Cathy?"
"Who's Cathy?" was the reply from everyone else, excluding Quatre and Trowa.
"You have the worst timing, Duo," Trowa remarked placidly. "I am going to tell everyone at lunch."
"Oh, you'll tell Quatre immediately, but you won't tell us," Nataku said with a small pout.
"It's his business who and when he tells," Wufei hissed acidly.
"Oh, shut up," Nataku snapped agitatedly. "You want to know as much as I do. You're just trying to pick another fight with me…"
"Guys, please," Quatre interjected, weakly holding up his hand for peace. "She…" he jerked his head backwards toward the teacher, who was glaring at their group with a suspicious eye "…looks like she's going to kill us anyway. Don't start a fight here and now."
Wufei and Nataku gave identical snorts and sulkily folded their arms simultaneously.
"Uh-oh, they're already doing things in unison," Duo teased. "Break out the rice and old shoes. Hilde, you tie the tin cans to the bumper…"
"Will you shut up?" Nataku smacked Duo in the back of the head.
"Are you working?" the teacher snapped.
"Nope," Duo answered, leaning his head back so he was looking at her upside-down.
"Why not?"
"We finished our blueprint a week ago because Quatre made us do it as soon as we got the assignment," Duo said with a dismissive wave.
The teacher looked a little flustered. "W-well, if your fail your project, on your own heads be it!"
"We'll take that to heart," Duo said casually, bouncing his head back and settling it into an upright position. Hilde shook her head, and then leaned it onto Duo's shoulder.
"You really are something else, Duo."
"And that's why you love me."
9: 55 AM—FOURTH PERIOD—LUNCH
Dorothy set her bookbag on the table. She was the only one who brought her own lunch to school. She wasn't quite sure why; everyone agreed that the school food was detestable, the exception being the fries, and even they were questionable when the salt content exceeded the necessary amount. Dorothy chalked it up to another psychological discrepancy, a kind of mental irony.
"A mental irony," she muttered to herself, before smirking. That's what she could call herself sometimes. A flirt, but had never been on a date. A pro-war best friends with a pro-peace. She could barely remember all the debates she and Relena had had over the war in Iraq when it first broke out.
"Hi, Dorothy," a female voice said behind her. Dorothy turned around to see Relena, carrying a green lunch tray containing a plastic-wrapped Italian hoagie. Near her, almost invisible within her pale, waif-like frame, was a girl Dorothy did not know. She quickly scanned the girl up and down. Blond hair the exact same shade as Dorothy's, but much shorter and thicker. Blue eyes as well, though hers were ocean-blue and Dorothy's were crystal. Much shorter as well, and a little stockier, though not muscular or anywhere near fat.
"Who's your friend?" Dorothy asked.
"This is Middie Une. She just transferred into my French class. Middie, this is Dorothy Catalonia."
"Hi," Middie said, and Dorothy noticed how her small voice imitated her height.
Relena set down her tray, and Middie did the same. All three girls pulled out seats and sat down.
"Where'd you go before now?" Dorothy asked, eyeing Middie.
"Alliance High," Middie answered quietly.
"Are you always this mousy?"
"Dorothy!" Relena interjected indignantly.
But Middie smiled. She had a nice smile, shy and small, and it made her look much younger and more innocent than her 17 years. "Let me hang around for a while; I'll never shut up then."
"Who's this?"
"Heero, this is Middie," Relena said, as Heero sat down opposite to her. "She just transferred from Alliance. She's in my French class."
"It's a pleasure," Heero deadpanned, raising his own hoagie to his mouth.
"Same," Middie answered.
"And this would be…?" Nataku and Wufei were approaching, both a little red in the face and looking as if they'd been arguing beforehand and had just let off.
"Middie. New kid. Relena's French class," Heero filled in, and then took another bite, downing it with some canned Pepsi.
"Where are Duo and Hilde?" Relena asked. "They usually show up about now."
"They're fighting with Duo's locker," Wufei explained. "It jammed again."
"That thing hates him," Dorothy remarked.
"Hey!"
The group turned to face the vicinity of the voice. Middie saw what looked like a boy with blue hair and a girl with a long braid approaching, until they got near enough to realize that she'd had her genders mixed up. Unconsciously she blushed at her mistake. Dorothy noticed her flushed cheeks and raised her eyebrow in questioning.
"How did the fight end?" Nataku asked as the two pulled out seats and dropped their books and Hilde's purse on them.
"Duo kicked it, and it actually opened," Hilde answered, digging in her purse for her wallet. "Duo's not going to shut it ever again, is he, Duo?"
"Nope, Duo's not." He began rubbing the toe of his sneakers on the ground, trying to ease the pulsating pain that went from his toenails to the balls of his feet. "Duo doesn't care if everyone steals his things; it's not worth breaking his foot."
"Does Duo always refer to himself in the third person?" Wufei asked sarcastically.
"Duo will stop now." He cleared his throat and dug out his wallet. He flipped it open and pulled open the pocket. "Empty. Surprise, surprise. Ah, well. I'm getting paid today anyway."
"Duo, where do you work?" Heero asked, looking up from his hoagie.
"None'ya," Duo replied breezily, sticking out his tongue. "Who's the new girl?"
"Middie," Relena interjected. "She's in my French class; she just transferred in from Alliance."
"Why'd you leave?" Duo asked, peering at Middie intently.
"Got in a fight," Middie answered, looking just slightly uneasy.
"Mousy thing like you?" Nataku reached over and began messing with Middie's cornsilk-blond tresses. She then smiled and flipped Middie's hair back. "I kid, I kid. Who won?"
"Me." Middie flipped her hair into place. "Got in a couple clean hits before the principal pulled me off."
"Why'd you fight her?" Dorothy queried.
"She insulted my little brother," Middie answered simply, in a way that closed the conversation. Relena pursed her lips and frowned, but made no attempt to admonish Middie. Her friends had all gotten into fights before; Relena was the only one among them who had never fought anyone in her life. Even Quatre had fought someone once. Given, he had been jumped, but Quatre had certainly held his own for being caught off-guard.
"Hi!"
Relena turned and smiled as Quatre approached them, holding a plastic-wrapped school sandwich in one hand and waving with the other. Trowa walked behind him, holding his own lunch.
"Hey, guys," Relena answered, also waving. Quatre and Trowa reached the table and set down their stuff. "Guys, this is Middie." She gestured to the new girl, who had suddenly stood up. "She just transferred in. Middie, this is Quatre and—"
"No-Name?"
Relena shut her mouth, and all eyes turned to Trowa. His browned, stoic face suddenly seemed stricken, and his emeralds for eyes had widened to an almost impossible length.
"Middie," Trowa said, the words barely passing over his lips. "What are you doing here?"
"I…I transferred in," Middie said, blood rushing to her face and sweat forming on her brow. "I didn't know you went here too…"
Trowa suddenly about-faced.
"No-Name, wait, please—"
"I'm not No-Name," Trowa said, barely intelligible but fiercely intimidating. None of the others had heard him speak that way before. "No-Name died with the Captain."
"No-Name, I had to!" Middie pushed back her chair and moved around the table. "You know I had to!"
"We're through, Middie. It's been over for a long time."
"We're not finished, No-Name!" Middie had reached him. Her hand shot forward and grabbed his shoulder. "You know we're not!"
Trowa whipped around, throwing her hand off him, and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her in closer so her face was almost touching his. "We're finished, Middie," he said, his voice flat and deadly. He threw her arm down and turned away. "I'll be outside for lunch," he announced over his shoulder to the others.
"No-Name!" Middie called. "Wait!"
"I'm not No-Name. The sooner you realize that, the easier this will be." Trowa shoved his hands in his pocket and walked away towards the double doors.
"It will never be easy!" Middie yelled after him. "Don't you dare run away from me again—!" She whirled around at the touch of a hand on her arm. Quatre had come up behind her and grabbed her forearm.
"What!" she snapped, her face now bright pink.
"I'll go talk to him," Quatre offered. "I think I can get him to come back."
"Did…did No-Name tell…?"
"He told me everything. Don't worry so much, he just didn't expect to see you again, that's all," he said, squeezing her arm reassuringly. "I'll try and get him to talk to you. You guys have a lot to work out."
"Thank you. So much." She let out a big sigh of air in a whoosh. "What was your name again?"
"Quatre Raberba-Winner," Quatre answered. "And "No-Name" is "Trowa Barton" now. Don't call him "No-Name" again. He really hates it."
Middie wiped sweat and tears her face with her arm. "Trowa Barton."
"I'll go now; I think I can catch up to him."
"Thank you again."
"It's not a problem. I'll meet up with you guys later!" Quatre called back at the others. He patted Middie's arm again, and then took off across the cafeteria and to the double doors that led to the football field.
"Middie, what was that—?" Relena started incredulously.
"No-N—Trowa's an old friend of mine."
"And…what just happened here?" Relena continued.
"Drop it," Heero suddenly ordered.
"But Heero—!" Relena gasped.
"If Trowa won't talk about it, we shouldn't make Middie talk about it either."
Relena opened her mouth to protest, but thought for a moment, and then shut it again. "All right. Middie, sit down, and we'll all try to eat."
"O-Okay," Middie replied shakily. Her quaking legs somehow carried her back to her seat, and she unceremoniously plopped into it. Nothing could induce her to eat, but being among Trowa's friends was enough.