Tragic Rain Part 12
Missing Memories and Secrets
By
Sailor Janus

Deidera wiped her mouth with the back of her bandaged hand. Sweat ran down her forehead and stung her eyes. Exhausted, she say back on her butt, pushing away from the toilet in disgust; the queasy sensation still lingered. She coughed a few times; choking on a sob. She hated vomiting. It wrenched at her stomach and made her want to cry.

What's wrong with me? She furiously thought wadding up the tissue in her hand. The only logical answer she could come up with was that it was the flu and a really bad headache. A loud yet gentle knock on the bathroom door broke her from confusion. She hesitated a moment before giving a reply. How long have I been in here anyway?

"Hey, uh you okay in there?" Duo's voice questioned on the other side. "Heero suggested that I come and check on you."

"Uh," Deidera stumbled up to her feet and gave the bowl a quick glance to make certain that it was clean. She dove into her pockets in search of gum and quickly shoved her remaining piece in her mouth. Just because she had to suffer didn't mean that others had to as well from the rank aftermath.

Duo jump back as the door swung open and the disheveled burgundy hared girl stepped out. She glanced at him then gave what resembled a tiny smile as she paused in the doorway.

"Sorry."

"No, I-" He frowned as he a scent caught his attention. "Winter Fresh?"

Deidera winced and shoved a curly strand of hair from her face as she tried to edge past him. She lowered her head before replying in a small barely audible voice, "I got sick."

Duo hesitated as pink tinted her pale cheeks. He reached out and grabbed her arm, then blinked as though unsure why he chose to. "Didn't mean to embarrass you. It's okay. It happens to everyone. As long as it's not on me or my bed it's not a problem." He gave her an encouraging grin which slowly faded as her green eyes began to glisten with unshed tears.

"I think I have the flu or something. I'm sorry. I better go and…" She chewed on her lip and froze as she glanced from one end of the hallway to the next. A whimper escaped her throat as she wrapped her arms around herself and began to shiver.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know where to go. The floor in my room is covered in glass… not sure how it got there. And well, actually it's not even my room but it's the room you guys put me in. I just feel like an emotional basketcase right now so if you don't mind I think I'll find somewhere to go even though I don't know where that is. Maybe I can just stay here or something. Although it's kind of cold out here and suddenly I'm freezing though I don't know why and now I'm crying because I don't know what I'm doing. I just keep babbling on and on and on and…damn it." Deidera found herself suddenly at a lost for words and instead sank to the floor and drew her knees to her chest as she hid her face in them.

Duo stared at her in complete confusion and bewilderment. She was clearly upset but how to help even if he could, was a huge question that he simply did not know the answer to. "Um, don't know, but it's okay. There's a ton of rooms here. I'm sure it'll be a piece of cake to find you another unoccupied one."

"You guys have done enough for us. I'll be fine. I just…" she sniffled and used the wall to help push herself to her shaky feet.

"Duo, how long does it take to deliver a simple mess-" Heero began as he walked in their direction then stopped as he took in Deidera's appearance. She was much too pale, almost as white as the wall she was braced against. Her long curly hair looked limp and dull, and shook terribly as she trembled. "You're not well."

"Gee, what was your first clue?" the young woman sucked in a breath, gave a pained chuckle and wrapped her arms around herself. "Sorry. I hate being sick."

"No one likes being sick," Duo said sympathetically.

"So, where's Hotaru? I would have thought that she would have checked up as well."

Heero shifted his gaze to Duo as he answered, "She seems to be ill as well. Different symptoms though."

"What?" Deidera nearly lost her balance but caught herself on the doorjamb. "What's wrong with her? Are you two okay? Is anyone else sick?"

"She's been having coughing fits and seems to have chest pain." He then addressed the darkly clothed pilot carefully. "Are you feeling alright?"

A grin spread across the braided haired teen's face as he folded his hands behind his head then paused. The cheerful expression faded as he caught Heero's eye. "Still a bit disoriented, slight shakiness, but it's nothing compared to Deidera and Hotaru from the sounds of it. You?"

"The same symptoms aside from the shakiness but with a mild headache."

"So I guess we should all be quarantined, huh." Deidera mumbled as she pushed off from the wall only to lose her balance. Duo moved to catch her, but as he did so, his legs gave out and they both collapsed to the floor.

"Ugh, that didn't go the way I planned," he grumbled as he stared at the ceiling. Almost as if pained he lifted a hand to his face and closed his eyes. "Why do I feel so weak?"

Deidera rolled over and groaned as she buried her face in the carpet. "What is wrong with us?"

"That's what I want to know," a drained sounding voice said from behind them.

"Hotaru?" the burgundy haired girl lifted her head at her fellow senshi who was leaning heavily against the wall.

The dark haired girl's glassy eyes, half hidden by bangs, closed briefly as she clutched a fist to her chest. Her pale skin was nearly translucent and sickly. She drew a sharp breath and held it a moment as though trying to fight off whatever ailed her. "I'll… be alright."

"Yeah right," Deidra scoffed, still lying helplessly on the floor. Her eyes flicked to the bandage poking through the arm of Hotaru's shirt then away again. "You look like death warmed over in a toaster oven. Frozen French fries have more color than you do."

Duo winced as he covered his mouth with a hand. "Please don't mention food. I'm starting to feel queasy."

"Sorry."

"But seriously. What the hell is wrong with us? As much as I hate to say it, maybe we should see a doc."

Hotaru shivered. "I'm note sure if that would do us any good. Something must have happened when we passed out."

Heero eyed her as he nodded slowly. "The question is what? And why only us."

"Maybe we were exposed to some radio active chemicals and our insides are disintegrating as we speak," Duo chuckled darkly which abruptly became a curse as Deidera burst into tears. "I was just kidding!"

"But what if we are dying?" She hiccupped as she rubbed at her wet eyes. "My head literally feels like it could explode. Maybe it actually will. It would definitely make headlines."

"Deidera, don't be silly. Your head is not going to explode," Hotaru groaned as she slid down the wall to the floor coughing heavily.

"How do you know? People can spontaneously combust!"

"Because it's just ridiculous."

"I'll bet those people thought the same exact thing until poof! There's nothing left but clumps of charred flesh…. Ugh why did I have to say that?" Deidera crumpled into a ball clutching at her stomach. "Pain, pain go away, and don't come again another day… Oh crap."

Without another word, the burgundy haired girl bolted her feet, scrambling for the bathroom.

Duo cringed, his own stomach turning, knowing exactly why she had to reach the bathroom so urgently. He hoped that he wouldn't need to do the same thing she did.

"Damn it." Hotaru coughed several more times, clutching her chest tightly. "Something is not right."

"Maybe it's just mono. I mean I haven't kissed anyone but you can get it other ways." He flicked his braid off his shoulder, took a shallow breath, and groaned. "I think my money is still on being drugged."

Heero narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Somehow I don't think it's that simple."

"I agree," Deidera slumped to the ground then half heartedly flipped her hair out of her face. She paused a moment as if regaining her breath then crawled to the dark haired girl. "Hotaru. We need to talk. Now."

"Please don't try to kill each other again. I don't even have enough energy to lift my pinkie," Duo grumbled. "Maybe we should start taking vitamins."

Deidera grabbed Hotaru's left arm, turned her wrist over and pushed the sleeve up revealing the bandage. She growled softly, knowing exactly what had happened to the senshi of Saturn who know avoided her gaze. "You're at it again. Damn it, Hotaru. Why are you even considering abusing your abilities at a time like this?"

"Not for the same reason why you broke the mirror if that's what you're referring to. When I say something is not right, I am dead serious." She stared coolly into Deidera's green eyes as she yanked her sleeve further up. Before anyone could say a thing, Hotaru sliced her fingernail into a fresher wound to force the blood to flow a new. Satisfied, she closed her eyes and hovered her hand over the cut then moved it away. The blood continued to drip down her arm towards the older injury.

"What the hell… you two are crazy!" Duo gaped as Deidera jumped back in horror with barely a squeak.

"Oh my God. Oh my God...What does this mean?" She pressed a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide with terror. They began to flood as another thought hit her. "Maybe we really are dying. Either that or you really did abuse your ability too much so it was somehow taken away."

"What is going on? You cut?" Heero frowned at Hotaru who glared back at him.

"It's much more serious than that. We just don't know how serious." She turned back to the panicking Deidera. "Calm down and think."

"I don't know! I'm scared! We're all alone in this strange place and everyone else is dead. You have lost your ability to heal and me, I can't come up with a poem to save my sorry ass! Setsuna could have probably helped but well…" She sobbed loudly as she buried her face in her hands.

"You idiot! Shut up!"

The two Preventers however and heard every single word. And were giving the two girls looks, which said that they had a lot of explaining to do.

"Talk." Heero said in a monotone as his drew out a gun. "And don't leave any details out."

Deidera winced. "Oh shit. Me and my big mouth." She and Hotaru exchanged glances as they debating on where exactly to begin.

*~*~*~*

Author's Notes: Finally a new update to this story. Looks like the girls have a lot more explaining to do than they planned on. Will they really tell the boys all the juicy details, or will they leave out a bit here and there? And just what is going on?

In other news if you didn't already know, I have a website for my original series. Hopefully someday they'll be published. That would be a dream come true. And yes, Deidra though the last name and history will be different, is going to be along for the ride. I'll let you know whenever the series will feature her. She appears in the latter years.

If anyone has any questions or comments, please let me know. Though I may not update my fanfiction as much as I used to, I still love talking about it and I hope whenever my series reaches the dream of being published that you'll enjoy it as much if not more. Three series is quite a LOT of work. Though it is nice to bounce around when I get stuck.

I'll share more information once I have it.

Until then…

SJ