Chapter 8 :: Welome Home to a Strange Land The month has passed and I'm finally able to leave this hospital. All the bandages are off, all the casts are gone, nothing but small scars and a dull headache remain. The doctors say the headache will go away after a few hours. I don't know where I'm going, but Duo said he was going to take me home. It's good to know I have a home. The doctors said someone should stay with me for a few days to help me adjust and make sure I don't get hurt again. Quatre and Trowa returned home a week ago leaving their sympathy and regret behind. Quatre owns the Winner Corporation and something happened there so he had to return. Trowa's job called him back too. You know, Trowa never told me what he did for a living. He must be a librarian or something considering how quiet he is. Wufei and his wife - whose name still escapes me - are remaining behind for as long as they can. Wufei has helped me a lot. He brought pictures from back in the war, telling me we fought together, teaching me how to work a gun and a computer. I have a feeling those should be an extension of my body...but I've forgotten why or how. His wife...she's a bit an enigma to me. She helps Wufei out as much as she can for someone who doesn't know me at all, but her eyes speak of secrets she's keeping from everyone including her husband. I suppose I'll never know about her. Duo...Duo's been doing everything. He's been here nearly everyday talking to me, laughing with me, teaching me. He's been amazing. He even said he cleaned up my apartment and offered to be the one to stay with me. I'm glad that we're friends. Truly I am...but I can't help this longing in my heart that says I want more. I should deny it...I really should. He said we were only friends and I don't want to be the one to push this warmth away. It's just that sometimes I can't stand it. When I look at him, it's so easy to drown in his eyes or disappear into his laughter and his voice. It'd be so easy... The cab ride over was relevantly quiet and I watched as the buildings slid past. I didn't expect any of them to look familiar, but there was something strange about these skyscrapers. When the car glided to a halt in front of a rather large, plush looking highrise I stepped out tentatively. Glancing around, my heart constricts - Duo's not here. Did I get the address wrong? I whirl around to find that the car has melded into the fast-paced blur of the city roads. What if I did get the wrong address? I don't even know my own phone number, let alone Duo's phone so I can call him. What did Quatre say to do? Stay still, think...do what I knew was right... I don't know anything though. I look around furtively, my heart beating faster and faster at every turn, at every unknown face. All these people are pressing in around me, closing off my routes of escape, closing in on me. What do I do? Instinct. Let instinct guide me. I calm my mind and stand there silently, ignoring the stares I feel boring into me. I have to find something in me, something Wufei said I learned a long time ago. Locate your position. I open my eyes and find a road sign down the street - Lexington Blvd. Check your data. I pull out a slip of paper and read the message scrawled on it. 1789 Lexington Blvd. Apartment 931, Heero Yui - or is it 1739? If data is incorrect... My mind goes blank and I blink. What do I do if the data is incorrect? I can't remember. Duo said he'd be waiting for me here... My eyes search the area only to come up empty. I'm in the wrong place...I know I am. Turning around, I start to hail a taxi when someone calls out to me. "Heero! Heero, wait!" "Duo!" He runs up and leans over, panting. "Sorry...Work...ran...late," he says between breaths. "Hope I didn't...worry you." "Uh...no. Not really." I'm such a liar. "Wanna go up?" I nod and we go inside. The apartment is huge - two bedrooms, two baths, joined kitchen and dining room, and a comfortable living room. A laptop is sitting on the dining room table next to a stack of manilla folders. It's not supposed to be familiar to me, but this just seems like a different planet entirely. The openess of it all strikes the wrong chord with me. Maybe my former self liked it though... Duo's worried voice breaks me out of my reverie. "Is something wrong?" I shake my head and run my hand over the kitchen counter. "Is...Is this really my home?" "Um...yeah! Of course it is, Heero!" He beams at me and I hesitantly smile back. I go over to the laptop and turn it on, ignoring the sound of a sharp intake of breath that Duo makes. "Password?" the unit chirps. . . . I input a random set of numbers and it returns as a negative. Sighing, I turn it off and open the manilla folders. These must be related to my work, whatever that is. Nothing but sets of numbers and nonsense letters and symbols. Great...whatever my work is I'll never be able to do it until I remember who I was. "I'm going to take a nap," I announce and walk back towards the bedroom. Duo nods and I can see him watching me until I close the door. Flopping down on the bed, I close my eyes and hug the pillow. I need to remember...I have to remember. I have to know who I was, what it is that all of them are hiding from me, what my life used to be. Even this bed is foreign to me. Wufei, Quatre, Trowa, Duo...they're all hiding something from me. The computer is hiding something...those files are hiding something. My own mind is clouded and hiding my thoughts and memories. I wish I knew the password to it all... But that is locked away within my mind as well. ~ "Ninmu...Ryoukai..." A button is pressed and bright lights flash all around me. I'm standing in something very big, something that used to be important to me. A name comes to mind - Zero One. An explosion suddenly rocks my body and I'm sent flying through the air, shrapnel embedding itself in my skin. The pain is intense and I hit the ground, skidding and tumbling along until inertia releases its hold on me. I know I'm bleeding because I can feel the hot, sticky liquid spreading out under me. My strength drains out of me and my vision blurs, then grows dim. I'm dying. I want to scream. I want to cry out for help. Instead... "Ninmu...kan..ryou..." ~ I wake up screaming from the nightmare and Duo rushes into the room, immediately hugging me close as I quiver in terror. The images disappear, but I'm left with this eerie feeling that I should have known what was going on. I should have known, but I don't. Those words...they're haunting me now. They should be familiar to me for some reason, but those four words leave nothing but fear and pain in their wake. Duo is still holding onto me, stroking my back, comforting me as one would comfort a child. "Shh...it'll be okay. It's all right... It was just a dream." His voice is soothing and melodic and I close my eyes again. I want to ask him to stay here with me, but I can't...I saw the clock and he needs to go to work tomorrow, as do I. I wonder what my work will be like. If it has anything to do with the files I saw I might need help. I suppose I could ask the boss. "Heero?" I cautiously raise my head and look at him. "Are you all right now?" I nod and climb back under the covers. He watches my every move and when I'm secured, he smiles at me. "I'm right in the other room if you need anything." "Hai." Suddenly, I don't even think he realizes it, he leans over and brushes his lips against my forehead. I'm thankful it's dark outside or he'd see me blushing like a madman. He pulls back and smiles at me while I stare back at him. Turning, he patters off to bed and almost slips, bumping into the wall. Damn, he's half-asleep. He won't remember that in the morning...but I sure will. "Oyasumi...Heero." "O-oyasumi, Duo." The door clicks shut and I squeeze my eyes shut, savoring the warmth that's quickly disappating on my skin. Why is my heart jumping this way? I suppose I'll never know. ---- Author Notes: Ninmu Ryoukai - Mission Accepted Ninmu Kanryou - Mission Completed Oyasumi - Good night Blargh.