Cherish walked down the street trying to figure out who the slight, blonde haired young man she was following reminded her of. He wore a clothing style she had not seen on this particular colony.
“He can’t be Quatre Winner. There’s no way I could have that kind of luck.” She said to herself.
Suddenly, she noticed a rather large, burly man approaching. She looked about and quickly melted into the shadows, hoping she hadn’t been seen.
The man walked up to the blonde, who turned to face him. Cherish gasped. It was Quatre Winner! She could hardly believe it.
The two held a dialogue she couldn’t hear, but she could tell that Quatre wasn’t about to fight, though that appeared to be what the burly man wanted.
Without warning and before Quatre could defend himself, the burly man let loose a tirade of punches. Quatre went down quickly and the man kicked his prone body a few times and lumbered off, chuckling.
Cherish ran to Quatre’s side, disregarding her own safety. She knelt beside him and visually examined him. He was battered and bruised. She methodically checked for broken bones.
“This would be so much easier if you were conscious, y’know.” She said to the unconscious pilot. She sighed as she checked his neck for broken vertebrae. When she found none, she took a chance. She gently and carefully rolled him onto his stomach and checked his spine.
Satisfied he had only a few seriously bruised ribs and no broken bones, Cherish pulled him to the shadows. She sat down beside him and placed his head in her lap. She waited patiently, watching the occasional person pass, not noticing anything. Soon, Cherish fell into a light slumber.
She was awake in an instant when Quatre moved and groaned. She watched with both amusement and concern as his eyes opened and he reached up to touch her shadowed face.
“Are you an angel?” he whispered raspily. Cherish nearly laughed but simply shook her head and smiled down at him.
“No. Far from it. My name Is Cherish. Cherish DevAngel. I saw what happened to you. When he left, I immediately came to see if anything was broken …or if you were dead.” She laid her finger on his lips as he opened them to speak. “Nothing’s broken. Don’t speak, it saves energy. We need to get you outta here and home.” She looked around. “Do you think you could walk if I helped?” He nodded slightly and grimaced.
She helped him stand up, placing one of his arms about her shoulders. She tried to take most of his weight, but he seemed determined to try to support himself. She let him guide them to his house and up to the front door. Then, he fainted.
She attempted to balance his weight on her small frame while she kicked at the door, hoping someone was here and that he didn’t live alone. She heard a faint “We don’t want any!” from somewhere behind the door.
‘Good.’ She thought to herself. ‘At least someone’s here. Now if they’d just open the frickin’ door!’ She continued to kick at it till she heard footsteps and the door opened.
“Yeah, yeah, what do yo—Quatre!” The young man reached out and lifted Quatre into his arms, to Cherish’s thankfulness. He glanced at the small young woman in front of him, sizing her up. Satisfied she couldn’t have caused this harm, he nodded her in.
She entered the house gratefully and followed him silently to one of the bedrooms where he laid Quatre on the bed. He turned to her, his long braid whipping with the motion. She felt the weight of the gaze coming from his amethyst eyes. She did a double take. Amethyst eyes?!?
“Stay here for a moment. I need to go get Trowa.” She nodded, slightly bemused, as the Braided One left the room. She sat down slowly on the edge of the bed, facing Quatre, her eyes on the floor.
“Amethyst eyes! My Goddess! I only know of one other person who has amethyst eyes!” she said softly to herself. She nearly hit the ceiling when Quatre whispered “Who?”
He was looking at her, his eyes half closed and swollen. The bruises were really starting to show. She felt his pain and was amazed at his strength.
“My si—“ she started when BOOM! A tall young man with gravity defying bangs rushed into the room, the braided one on his heels, and two others not far behind. Trowa’s usually expressionless eyes grew wide at the sight of Quatre. They traveled to the slight woman who had sprung defensive at their entrance. His eyes narrowed.
“What have you done to him?” Trowa’s monotonistic voice was menacing. Cherish narrowed her eyes and faced Trowa, as if daring him to come at her.
“Not a damn thing.” She hissed. She firmly stood her ground, facing Trowa. She didn’t even flinch when Quatre’s voice caused the rest of them to jump.
“Trowa, she—she rescued me.” Trowa glanced at her. She didn’t move a muscle. He gracefully stalked past Cherish, not bothering to even knock her out of the way, to Quatre’s side. She didn’t flinch or jump when she felt Trowa approach her from behind. He was the most dangerous of them all at the moment, but she didn’t let her fear take over.
“Tell me exactly what happened.” He whisper-hissed into her ear. Her eyes had been sizing up the three at the door, but they locked with obsidian as she began to speak.
‘Goddess help me, but he’s got gorgeous eyes.’ She thought to herself before she began.
“I had been walking a ways behind Mr. Winner when I noticed a large, burly man approaching. Thinking the man might be looking for me, I looked around and ducked into the shadows to watch. The large man approached him and the two began talking. I was too far away to hear what was being said, but I recognized the peaceful gestures Mr. Winner was using. However, the man apparently did not like what he was being told and, before either of us could react, struck Mr. Winner. The man then proceeded to beat the crap out of Mr. Winner who quickly fell to the ground. The man kicked him a few times, then left him for dead.
“I ran to Quatre’s side as soon as the man disappeared. I checked him for broken bones, of which I found none. Since he was unconscious, I did the only thing I could: I pulled him into the shadows and sat with him till he regained enough consciousness to lead me here, while I tried to support as much of his weight as possible” She paused, her eyes never leaving Wufei’s. She felt Trowa right behind her, though he wasn’t as tense towards her as he had been. She spoke again.
“I hope none of you ever feel that sense of helplessness that I felt as I watched that man strike Mr. Winner.” She concluded softly.
‘Though I’m sure you already have.’ She thought
~~
Quatre’s voice rang from behind her and she no longer felt Trowa’s presence at her back.
“Trowa – guys – I’ll be fine. I’ll heal. At least I’m not dead.” His voice of reason cut through all reveries. Duo shook his head, snapping to the present, and noticed Wufei’s eyes locked with Cherish’s.
“Hey, ‘fei. Let’s make some food to feed the heroine here, she looks like I used to.” He grinned as the Chinese shook his head clear and glared at him. He nearly jumped when he heard Cherish at his elbow whisper “Thank you, but I need to get back to my sister.”
Duo turned in surprise as she stepped back and shrugged. “Besides, she’s probably worried about me.” Heero pushed between Duo and Wufei.
“You two escort her home. I’ll stay here with Trowa and Quatre.” The two nodded and led Cherish from the house.
