FORGOTTEN SOUL Chapter 10

Sally Po winced as she woke up to the obnoxious beep of an incoming call. Pushing herself up on one elbow, she squinted blearily at the clock and let out a groan. Just as she suspected: three AM, and not two hours after she had finally crawled into bed. It never failed.

But when Releena's grim face filled the screen, she snapped fully awake. "Miss Releena?" Sally asked. "Has there been an emergency? Is everything all right?"

"Everything is fine, Sally," Releena assured her, keeping her voice little above a whisper. "Something has just come up that I need your help with. Can I meet you at your office tonight? It's important, and.....I'd rather not have my brother or Noin know about it quite yet."

Now Sally was concerned, but tried not to let it show. "Of course, Releena. I'll meet you in half an hour?"

"That would be fine." And the line went dead.

What was going on? she wondered. And why the secrecy from Noin and Zeches? Zeches, she could understand, but Noin was very reasonable and understanding. What was Releena hiding?

A half hour later, in her brightly lit office, she found out.

Releena entered first, taking a quick look around as if making sure her brother wasn't lurking in a corner somewhere. She had a shawl around her head so she wouldn't be easily recognizable, as the cameras were still recording everything that moved in the building.

A figure wearing a hooded jacket followed at her back, the hood pulled forward so Sally couldn't see his face. When he raised his head and stared at her with those cold blue eyes, she felt a sudden fear clench in the pit of her stomach.

Heero Yuy.

His glare was feral, uneasiness and distrust glittering in those sapphire orbs. If Releena hadn't been there, she was sure he would've attacked or bolted from the room, something she wasn't prepared to deal with tonight. Noin had told her about Heero Yuy's abnormal behavior; about what he had told Miss Releena, and suddenly knew why Releena didn't want Noin or her brother around. They thought Heero was the enemy. And, from what she was seeing now, they could very well be right.

Releena obviously noticed the tension between the two, for she took Sally's arm and drew her away to a corner. Heero watched them a moment, then dropped into a chair on the opposite wall, hiding his face in his hands.

Sally's eyes widened as Releena told her what had happened to Heero and why he'd been acting so strangely of late. "Brainwashed?" she finally whispered, shooting a quick glance at the figure in the corner. "And the others?"

"Most likely, the New Romefeller will try to recruit them like they did Heero," Releena replied, her blue-green eyes shining with outrage. "Heero is going to attempt a rescue, but we need to know if he's....mentally stable enough to do it. I...." She swallowed hard and looked at Heero, the anguish written all over her face. "I don't want to lose him again," she whispered.

Sally put a comforting hand on Releena's arm. "We won't." Turning to Heero, she called to him softly, earning herself a suspicious glare that she tried her best to ignore. "Heero, come with me. I want to run a few tests on you, just to make sure you're all right."

Warily, Heero followed her to an examination room. When he saw the metal hospital table, he visibally tensed. Only Releena's steady hand at his back kept him from bolting from the room.

Sally had him sit on the table while she checked him for wounds or other abnormalities. Heero sat passively enough, but Releena could see his eyes start to glaze over, a dangerous sign. When Sally suddenly approached with a needle and attempted to take his arm, Heero's hand shot out and clamped about her wrist, while the other flew to her throat, gripping it in a deadly vice. Sally froze as she stared into glassy blue eyes that held no spark of recognition.

"Heero!"

Heero flinched at the familiar voice, and his eyes suddenly lost their terrifying blankness. He blinked once, and slowly released his death grip on Sally. Sally collapsed against the wall, gasping, and with a tortured look at Releena, Heero fled from the room.

Both Sally and Releena exhaled at the same time.

"It's worse than I suspected," Sally gasped, watching Heero pace the hallway through the open door. "For a moment, I really thought he was going to kill me."

"I'm sorry," Releena said, as Heero stopped pacing and leaned heavilly against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. "I didn't mean to drag you into this, Sally."

Sally took a deep breath. "Do you think he'll be willing to try this again? We really need to find out what they did to him."

Releena nodded slowly. "Yes. I'll talk to him.." She glanced at the doctor in apology and turned toward the door. "It's...probably better if I do this alone."

Sally watched the determined girl leave the room and make her way over the the hunched figure against the wall. As she approached, Heero's dark head snapped up, and Sally was suddenly worried that the unstable pilot might lash out or hurt her unintentionally. There had been no recognition in those deep blue eyes when he had her by the throat, and Sally wondered what nightmares Heero had been seeing when he'd turned on her so suddenly.

Her heart was pounding violently when Releena faced the pilot, standing just an arm's reach away. She heard Releena's soft murmur, although she couldn't hear what she was saying, and Heero shook his head in reply. His lips moved, but his answer was also too soft to be heard. As Sally watched, Releena moved closer, gently touching his arm, and Heero put a hand to his face, raking his fingers through his hair. Her quiet voice floated on the air again, and the look Heero gave her dissolved every doubt Sally had about Releena's safety. In the space of a few seconds, Heero's face had gone from his usual aloof mask, to something Sally had never seen in him. Complete trust and devotion; a feirce protectiveness that no one would dare rival, and a love that shone with such burning intensitiy, that Sally felt her throat close up as she watched them. This was a side of Heero only Releena had seen, and now she understood why the young foreign minister would do anything for the cold, surly gundam pilot. As Heero suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace, Sally turned away, leaving them to their private world. For just a moment, she had seen the extraodinary bond between the soldier of war and the soldier of peace, and it had left her with a bittersweet feeling in the pit of her stomach.

'Releena. You've done the impossible. Who would've thought the Perfect Soldier capable of trust; of love? But you've chosen such a difficult road to walk with Heero Yuy. How I wish you could both could lead normal, peaceful lives. But fate hasn't given you that luxurey.' She sighed and fought back a surge of melencholey at the injustice of it all. 'Heero would give his life for you and your cause, Releena. But, could you deal with the possibility, if it came to that one day? Would your heart survive, if he's suddenly taken from you?'

Resisting the urge to glance back at the young lovers, Sally Po sank into a chair and wondered.

"I'm sorry."

Releena pulled back from Heero's smothering embrace and looked him in the eye. "Heero, there's nothing for you to apologize for. You've been through something awful, and Sally doesn't hold it against you, any more than I do."

"I could've killed her, Releena." Heero's eyes were haunted again. "If you hadn't stopped me..." He shuddered as the memory of what the New Romefeller had done to him came rushing back. "I don't want to hurt anyone," he muttered, almost pleadingly. "I'm so afraid that some day I might lose control and..." He closed his eyes. "Releena, if anything happened to you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I swore I'd always protect you, but maybe it's better if you stay away, for your own safety."

"No," Releena said firmly. "No way, Heero. I won't leave you; not now, not ever. No matter what you've done in the past or what you'll do in the future, I won't ever stop loving you. And you'd better get that through that stubborn head of yours, because I'm going to keep pounding it in until you do."

He opened his eyes and stared at her. A tiny, barely discernable smile quirked the corners of his mouth. " I'm stuck with you then, huh?"

"Oh yes," Releena smiled back, brushing the bangs from his eyes. "So, you'd better get used to it, Heero Yuy. Beacuse I'm not ever going to let you go."

Heero drew her close and touched his lips to hers. After a moment, though, he pulled back slightly and stared into her eyes. "Promise me," he whispered, his breath warm on her face. "Promise me, Releena. Tell me I won't be alone anymore."

Releena tried not to cry at the desperate longing in Heero's eyes. She laid one hand on his cheek, carassing the smooth skin with her thumb. "Heero, even if you became the world enemy, I would still love you," she murmured, smiling through her tears. "As long as I'm alive, you'll never be alone again. I promise."

Heero kissed her again, passionately, locking her into his arms. Releena closed her eyes and surrendered to the emotions sweeping through her. For a moment, the New Romefeller; the other pilots, Heero's condition, all were forgotten, and the two young people couldn't think of anything but each other. In this one moment, there was only Heero Yuy and Releena Peacecraft, two souls melded into one.

Finally, Heero pulled back, still keeping his arms possesively around the girl. "Sally will want to see me again," he murmured, and Releena heard the faint trace of worry in his voice. "Maybe....I should be...restrained for this."

A tremor went through him, and Releena felt his hands clench tightly at her back. She carefully backed out of his embrace and took his hands.

"I trust you, Heero," she said quietly, attempting to lead him back to the room. "If you feel yourself slipping again, just focus on my voice, okay?"

Heero hesitated, then allowed himself to be dragged back to the examination room.

Sally was very careful around him now, but Heero kept his eyes on Releena and managed to sit through the entire process. He only showed signs of regression once, when Sally asked him to lie back on the table for a cat scan. Heero tensed, and he glared at her, but caught himself and lay back on his own. Sally did the scan as quickly as possible, then pulled them both aside for the results.

Releena blinked at the information Sally had just given them. "There's something implanted inside his head?" She looked at Heero in alarm, then back to Sally. "Is it dangerous? Will it hurt him?"

"As far as I know, it's not lifethreatening," Sally replied. "But I need to extract it as soon as possible. This probably has something to do with what Heero has been experiencing. Heero, we'll need to operate on you right away."

"No."

Both Sally and Releena stared at the gundam pilot in shock. "I have to go after the others," he explained calmly. I'm leaving tonight to bring them back."

Authors note

Okay, okay, so I lied about this being the last chapter. Waiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, don't kill me! Sorry everyone, it took longer than I expected. Gomen, gomen. Hopefully, the next chapter will be the ending. Hopefully. Arigato for everyone's patience.

Julie B.