Shopping at Wal-Mart

By Starling

 

                Quatre and Nari walked through the automatic doors at Wal-Mart.  

                "Do we need a cart?"  Quatre asked her.

                Nari shook her head.  "No, I just need to pick up one thing."

                Quatre took her hand and smiled at her.  "K.  Where to?"

                Nari pointed to the right.  "Um, the cosmetics?"

                "Whatever you want."  Quatre led her in that direction.  "Think we'll see any of the others here?"

                Nari gave him a puzzled look.  "It's almost ten at night, Quatre.  I'm guessing not."

                "Hmm...." Quatre passed the electronics department.  "I needed to talk to Trowa about something..."

                "Just call him when we get back home."

                "Yeah, I guess you're right."

 

                Trowa sighed as Triniti rifled through a few sweaters hanging on the clearance rank.  Triniti held up a blue sweater to her face.

                "Do you think this is my color?"  She asked, a slight frown touching her delicate features.

                Trowa nodded.  "You look beautiful in any color, Triniti."

                Triniti chuckled and tapped her husband on the shoulder.  "You're a great liar, Trowa."

                "Huh?"  Trowa blinked.

 

                Arys and Heero leaned against the counter, both talking at the same time as they studied the guns hanging on the wall.  The clerk was having a hard time trying to answer their questions.  Finally, Heero and Arys pointed to the same gun and asked to see it at the same time.  Glad that the couple had finally decided on the same gun, the clerk hurriedly pulled the gun down and set it on the counter.  Then, he walked away, leaving the couple alone to discuss the gun.  He had a feeling they would not need his help on discovering the specialties of the rifle.

                "It's pretty heavy," Arys said, picking up the rifle to look through the scope.

                Heero took it from her and took his own peek through the scope.  He turned to look toward the aisle behind him to see how the range was on the scope.

                Ding!  Ding!  A braided boy on a bicycle rode by.  He waved at Heero with a cocky grin that was too familiar.  Heero lowered the gun and glanced at Arys.

                "Did you see that?"  He asked, disbelieving.

                Arys nodded.  "Looked like Duo."

                Heero waved the clerk over.   There was a wicked grin on his face.  "Do you have any bullets for this thing?  And would I be able to test it on anything of my choosing?"

                The clerk shook his head, looking a little surprised at the question. "Sorry, sir.  We have the bullets but I can't let you walk around the store with a loaded gun."  Heero had to hand it to the guy.  He acted like the question was one he got everyday.

                Heero shrugged and glanced at Arys. "It was worth a try."

 

 

                Hilde chased her husband around the store, wishing she had a better form of transportation than her own two feet.  Duo was taking each bicycle in the store on a "test drive" as he put it. 

                "Duo Maxwell!  Come back here!"    Hilde yelled at him as he rode into the electronics section.

                Duo slid to a stop at the video shelves.  He scanned each video until he came to the one he was looking for.  "Hey, Hilde!  They've got Dragonball Z here!  I've been looking for these!" 

                Hilde ignored Duo's excited words and grabbed the bike.  She hauled it out of the electronics section.  The cashier watched her, confused.  He glanced back at Duo. 

                "Hey, man!  She just took your bike!"

                Duo looked up at him.  He waved off the cashier's warning.  "Huh?  Oh, that's okay.  Wasn't mine."  Duo went back to studying the backs of the Dragonball videos.

 

                "Mei!"  Arys waved to her friend from the aisle to the gun counter.  Behind her, Heero carried the newest addition to their gun collection, a hunting rifle.   "Great to see you!"

                Mei turned from where she and Wufei had been looking at paint colors to see Arys walking toward her.  "Hi, Arys!  I didn't think we'd run into you here."

                Arys smiled at Mei.  "Heero finally got us a hunting rifle.  I can't wait to try it out."

                Mei laughed.  "You're the only woman I know who can get excited about a new weapon, Arys."

                "That's why she's the perfect match for Heero," Wufei said as he nodded to Heero.  "Hi, Heero."

                Heero nodded back.  "Wufei."

                Arys gave Mei a conspiratorial glance.  "Hey, Mei.  You want to help me find something?"

                "Sure, what is it?"

                “Scissors.  There’s a certain long-haired young man around here who could use a trim.”

                Mei smiled.  “Hmm… sounds fun.”

                Heero and Wufei glanced at each other.  They sighed. 

                “Women…” Wufei said.

               

                Duo was contentedly hunched down by the Dragonball videos when he felt a yank on his braid.

                “Oh, Duo…”

                Duo heard the sound of scissors sliding open and closed behind him. He whirled, video in hand and pointed it at his assailants. 

                “DO NOT TOUCH THE BRAID!” 

                Mei stared at the video, shaking her head.  She pointed at it, giggling.  “Uh, Duo, that isn’t your scythe, you know.”

                Arys held up the scissors.  “We weren’t really going to cut off your braid, Duo.”  She crossed her fingers behind her back.  “We just wanted to see your reaction.”

                “Sure…”  Duo eyed them warily before putting the video back and walking away.  “I’m going to go find, Hilde.”

                “You do that,” Mei said.  She looked over at her friend to see that Arys was disappointed.  The dark-haired pilot suddenly perked up. 

                “I thought I saw Triniti and Trowa over in the women’s clothing.  Poor Trowa looked a little lost.  We can go say hi.”

                Arys grabbed Mei’s arm and dragged her away from the videos.  Mei was surprised to hear Arys string so many words together at once.  She had also been engrossed in looking at the Sailor Moon videos.  She couldn’t believe the outfits those girls on the cover wore.  Hana enjoyed watching the anime though.

                A few minutes later, Arys and Mei found Triniti and Trowa standing in the same spot they had been when Arys had seen them.  Trinit spotted them while she was holding up a green blouse for Trowa to approve of.  She dropped the blouse, Trowa managed to catch it before it hit the ground, and Triniti ran over to them, smiling widely.

                “I thought I saw you two pass a few minutes ago,” she said.  Trowa came up behind her, still holding the blouse.

                Arys handed the scissors to Mei.  “We were on a mission.”

                “You sound like Heero,” Trowa observed.

                Arys laughed.  “Oh, I wasn’t planning on killing anybody.  Heero’s the one with the hunting rifle.”

                “We failed anyway.” Mei shrugged.  “Duo wasn’t very cooperative.”  Arys and Mei glanced at each other, remembering Duo’s reaction at the same time.

                Triniti caught on right away.  “You tried to cut off Duo’s braid?”  She started laughing.

                Trowa looked even more lost.  “Huh?”

                “Hey!”  Nari and Quatre walked over, Nari waving madly. 

“We were about to leave when Quatre saw all of you,” Nari informed them happily. 

“Great!  A meeting of Gundam pilots and their wives in the women’s clothing department of Wal-Mart!”  Mei pointed out as Heero and Wufei walked up.  Both looked thoroughly bored.  Mei was surprised that the two pilots hadn’t killed each other yet. 

Arys eyed the hunting rifle in Heero’s hands and was glad to see that it was still intact.  He hadn’t had the urge to fire it at anyone. 

“All we’re missing are Duo and Hilde.”  Quatre scanned the area around the department, hoping to catch a glimpse of the second pilot and his wife.

“Here they come!”  Nari saw Hilde chasing Duo down.  He was heading straight for them.

“No, Duo Maxwell!  You can’t buy that!  It’s just a toy!”

Duo skidded to a stop beside Heero, holding something in his hand.  Heero looked down at it, frowning as he tried to figure out what it was.  Duo turned away before Heero could come to a decision.

“Hilde, it’s made for me!”  Duo turned back to the group.  “Guys, they’ve got action figures of our Gundams over in the toy section!”  Duo held up a small Deathscythe.  “See, here’s mine.  It even has a scythe that comes with it.”

Duo bent the figure’s arm back and forth, waving the scythe, his face filled with delight.  “Who would’ve thought we’d become so popular?”

Arys leaned forward, looking around Heero to grin at Duo.  “Duo, that’s your Gundam.  Not you.  Your Gundam is more popular than you are.”

Duo looked hurt.  “I don’t think so.  I was voted as most popular character in the manga, you know.”

“That was in the manga.  How ‘bout the anime?”

A wicked grin spread over Duo’s face.  “I don’t see you in the manga or the anime…”

Arys stepped up to him, eyes flashing.  “Yeah, so?  You wanna make something of it?”

“Oh boy…” Heero said.

“Duo, that was mean!”  Hilde tugged hard on his braid. 

“Well, it’s true!”  Duo insisted.  He looked around at the group and saw that Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei were glaring at him.  Heero was taking it all in stride.  Nari, Triniti, and Mei had shocked looks on their faces.  He looked down at Arys.  Behind the anger in her eyes, he saw that he had hurt her.

Duo waved his hands, trying to placate her.  “Look, Arys, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean it like that.  You SHOULD be in the anime and the manga.”

“Nothing can save you now, Duo,” Arys said softly, the Zero-crazed look in her eyes.  The scisssors were in her hand.  She glanced at Nari, Triniti, and Mei.  “Get him, girls.”

Duo found himself buried under a tussle of arms and legs and then he heard a loud snip.  His fellow pilots just looked on, glad that it wasn’t one of them.  Duo sat up, throwing the four girls off him.  He looked up to see that Arys held his braid in her hand.  The guys were staring at him, speechless.

Arys handed the braid to Hilde. “Here, you take this.”

Wufei was the first of the guys to speak.  “By Nataku, he looks like Heero!”

“Great,” Heero muttered.  “Hopefully, Arys won’t get us mixed up.”

Arys went around to Nari, Triniti, and Mei and shook their hands.  “Mission accomplished, girls. Let’s go.”

The four girls walked away, their husbands following behind, still in shock.

“MY BRAID! MY ONE UNIQUE FEATURE!  I WON”T BE THE MOST POPULAR PILOT ANYMORE!”  Duo wailed as he stared at the precious object resting in Hilde’s hands. 

Hilde looked down at the braid and back at Duo’s face.  She smiled.

“Actually, Duo, I like you without the braid.”

“Really?”  Duo recovered slightly.

“Yeah, Heero’s a cute guy, and now you look like him.  I can live with that.”

Duo sweatdropped and fell to the ground, swirly-eyed.

 

You found this coffee-induced fanfic at Gundam Wing: Alternate Universe.  Please visit again!