Shattered Hearts

Chapter 7 (type two) Honor

By: Liewe

Standard disclaimers apply… please don’t sue me…

Alonzo’s body fell to the floor with a boneless grace only the dead or dying can accomplish. His body lay crumpled at Midii’s feet the blood from the gaping hole in his chest marring her clothing. His eyes fluttered open in his struggle to maintain consciousness as savage heaves wracked his form.

"I’m sorry," Alonzo choked out, a bloodstained hand reaching up to grab the denim of Midii’s pant leg. A handprint, blood red, remained when Midii bent to take his hand in her own, bending closer to hear his words.

"I’m sorry I left you alone," he continued a small trickle of blood falling from the corner of his lips. "I… should… have… stayed… by… your… side," he wheezed.

"Shh, don’t speak," Midii, said a finger placed against Alonzo’s lips to silence him. "You’ll get better so I can beat the crap out of you," she said with a sad chuckle.

"Trigger happy?" Wufei asked Heero scorn in his voice as he stared at the emotional scene unfolding before them.

"She was going for a gun, I was attempting to neutralize the threat," Heero responded his voice emotionless as he looked upon the touching scene.

"Midii… remember… me…" Alonzo choked out before he shut his eyes one last time, and his body stilled as his soul went to a better place.

"Midii," Trowa asked softly as he stood behind her, a cautious hand reaching out to clasp her shoulder, offering comfort, as she stood tall and regal before the ex-Gundam pilots. She didn't shrug his hand off, she drew strength from him, as the last of her cocoon of ice shattered, and the heartbreak and loss hit her. She stood still, not allowing the weakness to show through in the face of her enemy's.

"LEAVE," she ordered, her own icy gaze leveling with Heero's as a hand moved out to stop Trowa, halting him. "Trowa, Damien, Christof, stay, the rest of you LEAVE," she ordered again, her gaze no nonsense and a gun appearing in her hand.

"If we don't," came Duo's smart-alec reply as he appeared behind Midii and her group, a gun targeted on her heart.

"I will kill you," she whispered, a silent signal sent to her brother, telling him to neutralize the threat without death, before her attention fully returned to Heero, daring him to defy her will.

"I accept orders from no one," was Heero's reply, his gaze accepting the challenge she had offered him. His body sailed through the air as her bullet made contact with his chest. A sudden thud was heard as Duo's body fell to the floor as well.

"Woman, face me," Wufei challenged his katana drawn and ready for blood, as he looked at the girl who stood before him with slight admiration in his eyes.

"No…"

"Are you a coward?"

"No, but I have things to take care of, tell your friends, that there is no Queen of the game," she said before motioning for Damien, Christof and Trowa to follow, a glance at Alonzo's body found the three men carrying the lifeless form.

Midii began to move past Wufei, his arm suddenly halting her progress as it darted into her path. She stepped back, a wary glint in her eyes as she eyed the Chinese man, the intent look in his eyes warning her. Wordlessly his extended his hand to her, an offering for a duel of honor in his hand. The ancient sword glistened like finely polished silver in the low lighting of the tavern, as two worlds clashed, the world of honor and the world of intrigue and deception.

“You are an honorable woman, despite your trade… But I am afraid I can not let you pass, we must duel if you wish to gain safe passage for yourself and your comrades,” he said his voice steady as his eyes remained in contact with hers.

“Fight me then,” she replied her voice matching in pitch and tone as a delicate hand moved to accept the offering.

He moved into a fighting stance, his sword drawn and waiting for the first taste of her blood as he waited for her to ready herself. She gazed at him calmly, her eyes holding his. She moved the ancient sword into the en guard position, her days of fencing coming back to her as she silently recounted those days in her mind.

Thrust… parry… parry… thrust… touch… parry… touch… the fight began both participants darting back and forth dodging deadly arcs of finely polished steel. Wufei ducked Midii’s blade swinging above his head slicing through the empty air, his eyes locked onto her as he brought his blade up between them.

“Better than I expected,” he said softly as he sprang his sword held confidently in his hands as he aimed it for her heart.

“Thank you,” Midii grunted as she parried the strength of his swing taking the toll on her injured body.

“Give up now woman,” he whispered in her ear as he broke away from the block.

“Not until we have reached an agreement. I will not leave here without my friends, you cannot stop me, your friend there deserved what he got,” she gasped as she danced around Wufei her sword striking out to intercept his sporadically.

“He is not my friend,” Wufei growled as he pushed her back into the stonewall of the establishment a sickening crunch sounding through the room. “I don’t know who he is anymore.”

“Then let us pass,” she asked softly a sliver of emotion entering her dove-gray eyes.

“Not until you have proven yourself,” he said his sword swing to take a lock of her pale gold hair, leaving behind a trail of blood in its wake.

Midii stared at him her eyes igniting with the fire, which burned in the recesses of her heart as he held her in place, the tip of his sword caressing the delicate skin of her throat. She could see the look in his eyes, the way he waited for her to admit defeat, she would never bow down to him and his chauvinistic views on women, never. She raised a hand to run it along the length of the blade slicing open her palm and watching idly as the droplets marred the blade staining it red. She smiled inwardly at the surprise look, which flashed across his face, the utter confusion at her actions.

“I am not weak, and I do not need to prove myself to you,” she said softly before kneeing him in the groin and watching as the proud Chinese man crumpled to the floor his hands protecting the injured region. “Never underestimate a woman, Wufei, we play by our own rules.”

“You are not honorable,” he wheezed through the haze of pain, which clouded his mind.

“I am not honorable, impressive, you know it’s like the kettle calling the pot black… In the war you fought against soldiers who were inferior to you, is that honorable,” she asked softly.

“That was war,” he retorted, stubbornly refusing to see her view.

“And what is this, we each fight our own personal wars, and we each fight by our own code of honor. Nothing can be set in stone, people will adapt it to best suit themselves, I have, so have you,” she said softly, a hand pushing back her cropped hair, a blood smear left in its wake.

“Leave,” he said his eyes averted staring at the polished surface of her boots. “You have proven yourself.”

“Thank you,” she threw over her shoulder as she led the small group from the tavern and out into the night.

-To Be Continued…