Silent Waltz by Comet~Princess

Disclaimer: If you think I actually owned Gundam Wing or Sailormoon, I should just let you, since you obviously don´t have the mental capacity to win a court case anyway. =P

AN: Holy geez! You people are persistent when you want to be! So, here I am, slaving over another chapter of this fic, as SilverRay-chan calls it. ^_^ I got a lot of questions about how Usagi and Heero met before, and I´ll tell you now that I´m not answering them!! At least, not yet. I´ve been dropping hints about their past in these chapters and I´ll continue to do so. If you piece it together, good for you! If you don´t, then you´ll just have to wait until I feel like telling. *smiles sweetly*

Warnings: I´m kind of mean to Wufei in this chapter. *wince* Gomen ne, I don´t mean any harm. He was just an easy target with his overreactions and all that. It´s all meant to be funny, so please don´t take any offense. Onegai! Oh yea, Heero´s OOC.

Poll Results: Duo won by a vote at the time I started writing this chapter, so Duo/Minako it is! I promise the next fic will be Minako/Quatre! So, please don´t be mad. It looks like Mamoru will be bastardized, since everyone who voted wanted it that way, except for one reviewer. Midnight Lady, I know Mamoru was portrayed better in the manga, so to make up for it, he´ll be nice in my next fic. ^_^

Himiko-chan: Whoo-hoo! Another one of your chapters! Everyone, you can thank Himiko-chan for this chapter. We made a deal. Oh yes, and go read her story!

Seeking Serenity: Don´t worry, I didn´t take it personally. I was just having fun with you guys´ comments. ^_^

SilverRay-chan: Ah! Don´t die! You have to finish your fics still!! And how am I supposed to explain to Wufei-kun that you died? He´ll be mad! Not that he isn´t already after everything I´ve put him through, ne?

Timeframe: Same as before.

And now, brought to you unedited by my wild imagination. . .well, not really, if it was unedited, you´d have Duo get attacked by wild animals, Wufei falling out of the sky, etc.

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Chapter 3 - Training

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When Heero didn´t say anything at her comment, Usagi smiled to herself. "I didn´t think you´d have anything to say," she stated softly.

"Why?" Heero asked in his usual monotone.

"Why what?" Usagi returned, bemused. She knew what he meant, but she didn´t want to answer him right away.

"Why contact me?" Heero clarified. "And why through the Preventers?"

Usagi shrugged. "Duo made a bet that he´ll be a slave for the person who finds you for a week," she answered. "And if not through the Preventers, would you have shown up?"

Heero didn´t reply to her question. She was right. If he didn´t fear for another war, he wouldn´t have shown up. Instead, he said, "Then why didn´t you admit that you found me back in there?"

"I didn´t feel like it," Usagi muttered.

"If you weren´t going to take credit for it, then why contact me?" Heero persisted.

Usagi was silent for a minute before she slowly turned around to face him. When her eyes met his, she felt her tears springing up. The reunion and his indifferent façade was too much for her. Slowly, she drowned in the sea of Prussian blue. His eyes were cold, emotionless, and unreadable. "Couldn´t I just have missed you?" she finally choked out.

Heero tore his gaze away. "Why would you?" he bit out harshly.

Usagi felt the tears she´s been trying to hold back spilling from her eyes. She ran down the hall to him, clunging to the front of his jacket with her hands and burying her face into his chest. Something tugged at Heero´s heart, and he found himself holding her close to him to comfort her. Mentally, he swore at himself. Six months away from her, and he still couldn´t stop himself from caring. Gently, he tipped her face up to see the pain in her crystalline eyes. Unable to stop himself, he laid a soft kiss in the corner of her eye, where her tears started. Usagi´s eyelids fluttered shut, and Heero continued to lay butterfly kisses along the trail of tears on her face, ending it by brushing his lips lightly across hers. He pushed her away lightly, and Usagi opened her eyes.

"Don´t cry for me," Heero whispered. "I told you before. I´m not worth it."

Usagi merely stared at him. "I know you still care for me," she said softly.

"You´re my mission," Heero answered, his voice back to its normal monotone, pointedly ignoring her comment. "Why do you need a bodyguard anyway?"

Usagi looked away. "They don´t know, that´s why," she snapped. "And why do you care?"

Heero winced slightly at her tone, but she didn´t notice. "Get cleaned up," he commanded. "They´ll ask questions."

Usagi nodded and went into the bathroom. As soon as she was out of earshot, Heero let out a sigh. He was the Perfect Soldier, so why did she have that kind of control over him?

~*~*~*~*~

"Aren´t those conditions the same for every protection mission?" Duo asked Lady Une after she finished reading Kenji´s instructions to them. "Basically, no harm comes to the subject type thing."

Une smiled. "I suppose, although there is one more," she added.

"What is it?" Quatre questioned.

Une gave them an amused smile. "It´s an unusual one, and I´d say it´s addressed more to Duo," she answered.

"What?" Wufei muttered. "No three foot braids?"

"That´s mean of you, Wu-man!" Duo replied, feigning hurt.

Before Wufei could bring out his katana and threaten Duo again, Quatre jumped in, "Lady Une, what is the last condition?"

"To quote Kenji," Une began, "it´d be hands off his daughter and niece."

Minako suppressed an exasperated groan and ran around the room, giving each guy a hug, her way of telling them to ignore her uncle´s last command. Duo heartily returned it. Trowa stood there like a statue. Quatre turned as red as a cherry. And Wufei pushed Minako away. "Get off me, you weak onna!" he shouted.

Out of nowhere, a fist came flying at Wufei´s face, knocking him to the ground. "Oouf," Wufei grunted. He glared up to see Usagi´s furious sapphire blue eyes glaring back down at him.

"I told you to watch what you say," she reminded him.

All other occupants in the room except for Heero stared at her in shock. The two had obviously come back in time to see Minako´s round of hugs and hear Wufei´s comment.

Duo was the first to acknowledge what had happened. He laughed loudly, pointing at Wufei. "You go, Usagi! Ha ha! Wu-man got beaten by a girl!" he yelled in glee.

"Maxwell, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me Wu-man?!" Wufei screamed. He got off the floor and chased Duo around the room with his katana.

"What´s the briefing for this mission?" Heero asked Une, completely ignoring the two running around the room.

Une sighed. "You don´t change, do you, Heero?" she asked with a small smile. "Always straight to the point."

Heero glared at her, and she chuckled. "Just your normal protect mission," she stated, "with an extra command from Kenji to keep your hands off his daughter and niece."

Usagi rolled her eyes. Too late, she and Heero both thought at the same time.

~*~*~*~*~

"Could you teach us martial arts or something?" Minako spoke up at breakfast a couple of days later.

Everyone else froze at the question. "Why do you want to learn?" Quatre asked kindly.

Minako shrugged. "I don´t even know how to defend myself," she admitted. "And I´m honestly getting sick of being followed everywhere I go. I mean, I know you´re supposed to protect me and all, but you won´t be around to babysit us all the time."

Trowa nodded. "Valid point," he commented.

"According to what Lady Une said, you don´t either, right Usagi?" Quatre questioned.

Usagi blinked. "Yea," she lied. She could feel Heero´s stare almost burning a hole in the side of her head, but she ignored him. Since their first reunion when he´d actually shown some kind of emotion towards her, he´d been completely aloof, much like when she first met him. Well, if he could pretend he had no feelings for her, she could too. And that meant blocking out all the times they ever spent together.

"Alright!" Duo cheered. "Training session after breakfast!"

After helping Quatre clean up all the dishes, the group made their way to the training room in the basement. "Do you mind if I go finish a few things for the Winner Corporation?" Quatre asked apologetically when they got there.

"No problem, Q-man!" Duo answered. "Heero´s here now, so we could take shifts or something with this bodyguard thing."

Quatre turned to Heero questioningly, who gave him a nod, indicating that he didn´t mind Quatre leaving for a bit. "Okay," Quatre replied with a smile. "Don´t be too hard on them with the training." He gave a wave and left the room.

"So, what first?" Minako asked eagerly.

"How about using a gun?" Duo suggested. "It´ll probably be your fastest way out of a dangerous situation."

He took out his gun and handed it to Minako, who picked it up and stared at it blankly. "Um. . .how do you use this?" she asked sheepishly.

"Well, first," Duo began, trying hard not to laugh, "you don´t hold it like you´re the Queen of the World who´s just been handed a raw fish."

Minako blushed, and Duo proceeded to show her how to use it. "Then, you press the trigger and a bullet comes out," he finished.

"Oh, like this?" Minako questioned, pushing the trigger.

A bullet flew out and whizzed by Wufei´s head, missing by only a few inches. "Watch where you shoot that thing, weak onna!" he shouted, waving a fist at Minako.

"Oops, sorry," Minako apologized.

"Maybe we should practice accuracy with paintball guns first," Trowa suggested from his position by the door. (AN: Quatre is rich. He has lots of equipment. Oh yea, I don´t really know how paintball guns work, so just pretend I know what I´m talking about. ^_^)

"Good idea," Usagi agreed. "Wouldn´t want someone to get hurt."

Trowa handed the two girls each a paintball gun. Duo continued to instruct them how to aim and shoot accurately. Usagi tuned him out after the second sentence. She had the urge to just show them she knew exactly how to shoot properly, but if she did, they´d definitely ask about her past. And that was something she didn´t want to share.

"Now, try aiming at that target board," Duo commanded, pointing to the board Wufei was standing next to.

"Okay," Minako said and pushed the trigger. The paintball flew straight for Wufei, who ducked just in time to avoid getting hit in the face.

"Onna!" he shouted when he stood up.

"Note to self, don´t stand next to the person Minako´s aiming for," Duo joked.

Minako swatted him in the arm. "Excuse me if I´ve never touched a gun before," she said indignantly.

"Sorry, sorry," Duo replied, patting the girl on the back. "You´ll get better, trust me."

"Really?" Minako asked hopefully, looking at Duo.

"Yea," Duo assured her. "I mean, practice makes perfect, right?"

Minako nodded her agreement. "Hey Usagi!" she called. "Your turn to try."

Usagi stepped up to where Minako was standing. "Want a recap, gorgeous?" Duo asked.

Usagi shook her head, instead debating whether or not to hit the target board dead center. Wufei snorted. "That weak onna probably couldn´t hit the broad side of a barn," he commented.

Decision made, Usagi thought furiously. She took aim and let the paintball fire straight at Wufei, hitting him in the face.

"Injustice!" Wufei yelled, his face splattered with paint.

"Oopsies, Wufei," Usagi said innocently. "Guess bad aim runs in the family." She dared to shoot a look at Heero, who merely raised an eyebrow at her. She smirked in return.

"Why don´t you go get cleaned up, Wufei?" Trowa proposed.

Wufei grumbled a few curses and left the room. When he was out of earshot, Duo burst into laughter, and Minako and Usagi giggled.

"Don´t stand next to the person Usagi´s aiming for either," Duo commented once he got himself under control again.

"So what´s next?" Usagi asked, putting the paintball gun down.

"How about evasion lessons?" Trowa spoke up.

"Sure!" Duo complied. "Okay, you girls stand over there and we´ll stand over here. We´ll shoot from the paintball guns and you try to avoid being hit."

Minako wrinkled her nose. "Won´t we get dirty if we get hit?" she questioned.

"Then don´t get hit," Heero commented in monotone, picking up one of the paintball guns.

"Don´t worry, Minako," Duo assured with a wink. "You´ll still be beautiful even if you´re covered in paint."

Minako smiled brightly while Trowa, Heero, and Usagi all resisted the urge to roll their eyes at the corniness of the comment. Everyone got into their positions and the guys took aim to fire. Wufei chose this moment to come back into the room. As the paintballs came flying at the two girls, Usagi quickly ran and ducked behind one of the shelves that held the training equipments. Minako let out a yelp and ran behind Wufei, which resulted in the Chinese boy being hit with about five paintballs.

"Injustice!" Wufei shouted.

Usagi burst into laughter behind the shelf. "Maybe it´s not our accuracy that´s bad," she yelled out. "You´re just a good target, Wufei!"

Trowa twitched at Usagi´s comment, while Duo and Minako didn´t bother to hide their mirth. Heero kept his mask on his face, but he was smiling to himself inside. He found Usagi´s comment amusing, not to mention, he hadn´t heard her laughter for so long. It was nice. He noticed that she was still behind the shelf. He raised the paintball gun and slowly crept to where she was. Wufei, covered in paint again, stomped out of the room, muttering death threats under his breath.

"Evasion lesson one, Minako," Trowa started, "don´t hide behind people. You can get them hurt. Also, they move. It´s better to find an inanimate object, like Usagi did."

Minako nodded. "Nice job, U-" she began. At her pause, Trowa and Duo both followed her gaze to find Heero sneaking up to where Usagi was hiding.

Usagi noticed the pause as well. "What´s wrong, Minako?" she asked, looking up to find Heero´s paintball gun in her face.

"Lesson two," Heero stated. "Pay attention."

Usagi let out a slow smirk that Heero didn´t like. Swiftly, she kicked his feet out from under him and knocked the paintball gun out of his hands. He tumbled to the floor but did a quick flip so that he ended up crouching on the floor. What Heero didn´t expect was Usagi suddenly launching herself into him, making him fall backwards onto his back and pinning him down.

"Lesson three," she mocked him. "Don´t underestimate your opponents."

As quickly as she pinned him down, he flipped her back over and pinned her down, using his weight and superior strength as an advantage. "Lesson four, expect the unexpected," he returned, his face inches from hers. She could feel his warm breath against her skin, but he didn´t do anything else.

From his point of view, Trowa narrowed his eyes at Usagi´s skill. He made a mental note to talk to her later. There was definitely more to her than what everyone else thought.

Duo snickered. "Talk about chemistry," he commented loudly.

"Omae o korosu, Duo," Heero replied coldly, getting off the floor and hauling Usagi to her feet. She purposely stepped away from him and walked over to Minako.

"So?" Minako asked her cousin suggestively.

Usagi glared at her. "So what?" she countered, pretending not to know what Minako was talking about.

Minako sighed. She´ll drill Usagi after. "Okay guys, what next?" she said cheerily.

"I know!" Duo spoke up. "Let´s use the bobby trap training room next door." (AN: Quatre´s rich, okay? I don´t know why you´d have one of those.)

Minako looked at him blankly. "Huh?"

"It´s a room that is filled with traps. You try to get around from one end to the other without setting off anything. Kind of trains you to be cautious and to think carefully in dangerous situations," Duo explained.

Trowa and Heero led them in and the three guys stood off to one side. Usagi studied the room, noting the different coloured tiles and different shades of paint on the wall. Minako looked around and walked into the room, followed by Usagi.

Wufei walked into the room, after having cleaned up. "So you decided to let these two weak onnas use this room?" he asked.

"Hey! Stop with the weak stuff!" Minako shouted, spinning on her heels and accidentally stepping on a bright yellow tile on the floor.

A bucket of water fell from above the door, landing on Wufei. The Chinese boy let out a growl and unsheathed his katana. "Maxwell! I´m going to kill you!" he yelled, chasing after Duo.

"What?!" Duo cried out as he took off around the room. "But I didn´t do anything!"

"This is all your fault!" Wufei accused.

"Do I have a sign that says ‘blame me´ on my back or something?" Duo whined.

As he ran, the braided boy triggered a large, black tile, opening a trap door on the floor where the tile used to be. Wufei chose this moment to run across that spot. "Ahhhhh!" he screamed as he fell into a bed of feathers in the cellar in the second basement. "I´ll kill you when I get out!" he added.

Duo gulped and let out a nervous laugh. "Um. . .if anyone needs me, I´ll be in my room, cowering in deep fear," he announced.

"What does that mean?" Minako asked, confused as Duo dashed out of the room.

"It means if anyone needs him, you´d better take care of Wufei first," Trowa translated.

"Oh," Minako said. "Poor Duo! And it wasn´t even his fault. I´ll go comfort him."

She followed Duo out of the room while Heero examined the trap door. "Too high to help him out from here," he stated.

"Isn´t it the cellar down there?" Usagi remarked, remembering what Quatre said from the tour on the first day. "Just get the cellar door open."

"We don´t have a key," Trowa replied.

"What?!" came Wufei´s voice from the cellar. "What the hell am I supposed to do until Quatre comes back then?"

"If I recall correctly, there should be a television and a VCR down there," Heero commented. (AN: Don´t ask.)

Usagi grinned evilly. "Give me a second," she said and carefully made her way out of the room.

"Just entertain yourself until Quatre comes back," Trowa stated.

"With what, Barton?" Wufei shouted. "The television down here doesn´t get any channels and there´s nothing but feathers and food supplies otherwise."

Usagi came back with a movie in her hand and dropped it into the trapdoor. "Here´s a movie! You can watch that while you wait," she told him.

"What movie is this?" Wufei mumbled. Catching sight of the cover, he let out a scream. "Not this again!"

Heero and Trowa glanced at Usagi. "What did you give him?" Heero asked.

"The Lion King," Usagi answered innocently.

Heero´s eyes puzzled over for a moment before he shrugged. (AN: Recall that he wasn´t around for all that singing and stuff.)

Trowa stood up. "I suggest we leave now," he stated.

Usagi stifled her laughter and followed the two boys out. From the open trap door, you can hear Wufei shouting "Injustice! I´ll kill you all!"

~*~*~*~*~

After having dinner, and letting Wufei out of the cellar, the Chinese boy had immediately announced that he was going to meditate in his room, after shooting looks that could kill at Duo, Minako, and Usagi. The rest of the group gathered to watch a movie in the den. (AN: Not the one Wufei watched. ^_^)

Minako snuggled up next to Duo in one of the large armchairs. Heero took the other, and Usagi sat between Trowa and Quatre on the couch. Fifteen minutes into the movie, Usagi couldn´t take Heero staring at her any longer. She let out a sigh, and stood up.

"I´m really tired," she declared. "I think I´ll just go to bed early." She walked out of the room.

Trowa and Quatre stood up to follow her, but Heero shook his head. He held Trowa back and nodded to Quatre. The Arabian sat back down, but Trowa stared hard at him. He had a feeling that Heero was a part of the puzzle that was Usagi. However, Trowa was smart enough to know that Heero wouldn´t give away anything he didn´t want to. He reluctantly sat back down, promising himself to question the girl tomorrow. Duo was about to open his mouth to make a comment to Heero, but Minako clamped his mouth shut with her hand. She smiled sweetly at him when he looked at her, hurt.

"I don´t want you dead," she whispered to him. "Besides, we can spy on them after."

Duo grinned. Great minds think alike.

Heero left the den and headed for Usagi´s bedroom. He gave a quick knock before walking in. Apparently, she hadn´t heard him, because she was sitting on her bed, staring at a gun in her hand.

"You kept it," he stated quietly.

His voice made her jump a foot into the air. "I didn´t even hear you come in," she replied. When he did nothing but stare at her questioningly, she added softly, "Of course I kept it, it was the only thing that you left me with, other than memories."

Heero looked away. He didn´t know what to say. The silence continued between them. Surprisingly, it was him who broke it. "I never asked you how you tracked me down," he stated, unable to think of anything else to say.

Usagi smiled weakly. "You forget who taught me?" she asked.

"I don´t think that´s possible," Heero responded, lifting his eyes to meet her gaze.

"Right," Usagi agreed. "How do you forget yourself?"

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End of Chapter 3.

AN: Talk about romantic tension! ^_^ So, here´s another chapter of this story. This would have been out earlier, but ff.net was down for a couple of days, sooooo I´m not to blame! Himiko-chan knows what I´m talking about. As always, review, and I´ll be motivated to continue this story. Ja ne!