Dusty Memories
    “Oh, mothers let's go down, come on down, don't you wanna go down? Oh mothers let's go down, down to the river to pray…”
    “You're starting to sound like Duo,” Hilde informed Trowa, who was semi-waltzing across the kitchen to a song that Duo would have liked…if he weren't in Italy, anyway.
    Trowa grinned at Hilde in return before grinning even more at Relena. “It came on earlier when I was in the car, so sue me.”
    “If only I could…for disrupting peace?” Hilde appealed to Relena.
    Relena giggled and rolled her eyes.
    Trowa laughed, taking a single flower from the bouquet Relena had brought with her, presenting it to her with a bow. “My lady.”
    Relena giggled even more, taking the flower from him and putting it back where he'd gotten it from.
    “Don't you just…love the way it finishes the piece?” he asked, gesturing to the thing as if it were a piece of art. “I saw it, and I thought of you immediately…”
    “Oh, Trowa, stop!” Relena muttered, batting at him.
    Trowa laughed happily, turning back to the stove. “Oh, sinners let's go down…come on down, don't you wanna go down…oh, sinners let's go down, down to the river to pray,” he disappeared into the living room.
    “He's…remarkably bright this morning,” Relena muttered, blinking after him.
    “I think he got back together with his…” Hilde trailed off, realizing that Relena didn't know Trowa had a boyfriend. Let alone know that he'd broken up with him.
    “With his what?” Relena asked curiously.
    “…hand…” Hilde finished lamely.
    Trowa started laughing from the living room. “For the record, darlin', me and my hand just had a bit of a dalliance.”
    “Trowa!” Relena was aghast and slightly embarrassed.
    “That's horrible!” Hilde agreed.
    Trowa popped his head back into the kitchen to look at the ladies. “My hand doesn't think so.”

- -

    “So…how are you this morning?” Trowa was studying Duo on the screen, taking in as many details of the other's face as he could.
    “I'm great, Trowa, I'm wonderful.”
    Trowa frowned slightly. “What's the matter?”
    “I'm not bored out of my fucking mind or horny like an old man on viagra, if that's what you're implying,” Duo grumped, turning his back on the screen and walking across the room to lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
    “You're the one who opened Pandora's box,” Trowa muttered, raising an eyebrow. “You knew this would happen when you went, so don't even try bitching.”
    “I'm not bitching, Trowa. If you remember, I said I'm not those things.”
    Trowa snorted.
    “Shut-up.”
    “Dude,” Trowa muttered, raising an eyebrow at the screen himself. “Where's Q?”
    “At one of those damn meetings. They keep him almost all day, we spend the evening out, the night in bed, then he goes away again. It's driving me mad. This isn't my ideal vacation…well, it's not bad, but…” he trailed off, staring at the ceiling a moment. “You know?”
    “Yeah, I know,” Trowa muttered, grinning slightly and pulling himself up onto the counter. He took a bite of the red apple he'd been holding and studied what he could see of his ex a long moment. “Has Heero called you?”
    “No, I called him,” Duo muttered.
    Trowa took another bite, the sound crisp in the quiet kitchen. “And?”
    “And what?”
    “Did you hear the news?”
    “There's news?” Duo demanded, focusing on the screen and studying Trowa with avid curiosity.
    “About Relena, I mean.”
    “What? She's not taking Hilde?” Duo sat up, situating himself to see the screen better.
    “No, she and Hilde are still leaving, but I mean…” Trowa took another bite, enjoying that he had a piece of information that Duo didn't. “Did you talk to Wufei at all?”
    “Of course I did, Relena didn't come up,” Duo stood and moved back across the room to sit in front of the vid. “Tell me, Trowa.”
    Trowa grinned, taking another bite and indicating his mouth, meaning he couldn't talk with his mouth full…not that he hadn't been already, mind, but that didn't need pointing out.
    “You're killin' me already!” Duo protested, rising to his feet and pacing in a small circle, as Trowa took yet another bite. “I mean…I'm…” he sat firmly in front of the vid again, glaring at Trowa.
    Trowa laughed, swallowing. “They're together.”
    “Who is?” Duo asked, his expression blank.
    Trowa gave him a look.
    The comprehension dawned slowly in the American's eyes before he actually met eyes with Trowa again. “You gotta be kiddin' me!”
    Trowa shook his head, grinning.
    Duo started laughing. “How the hell did that happen? When we were there, they were just friends…”
    “Well,” Trowa muttered, happy to have eased his friend's boredom. “The day they were heading out…” Trowa fell silent a long moment as his recollection touched on the fact that Zechs had slept with Hilde. He stared at Duo.
    “Well?” Duo demanded, gesturing for Trowa to go on.
    Trowa shook his head. “Yeah…she came…with Zechs…and…” he studied the guy as he went on. “He kissed her,” he added, starting to grin. “They hugged and he just…kissed her.”
    Duo started laughing. “Gods, I'd have given anything to see that! What did she do? Did she slap him?”
    Trowa shook his head, taking another bite of the apple.
    “Did Zechs jump him?”
    Trowa shook his head again.
    Duo realized that he wasn't going to randomly guess, and considering that the pair were actually a couple–as far as he'd gathered, it wouldn't be something he'd think of right off anyway. He decided to adlib. “All right,” he muttered after considering Trowa's face a moment and putting some thought into it. “Wufei kisses her and she steps back, staring in awe and wonder…because with an ego like that, he'd better be able to kiss,” Trowa grinned. Duo winked. “Anyway, she stares at him, and then declares her undying love for him…if he'd just fuck her quick-like. Zechs, however, steps in with his patented big-brother routine, and that's how Wufei got his black-eye, right?”
    “Wufei has a black-eye?” Trowa gave him a curious look.
    Duo started laughing. “It's a real beauty…”
    Trowa swallowed his bite and shook his head. “Actually, he kissed her and she kissed him back, then they sorta stared at each other before he hugged Hilde and went back for another kiss. As far as I can tell, he calls her every time he gets a chance.”
    Duo sniggered, shaking his head as he thought about it. “I'd never have thought…”
    “Yeah, me neither.”

- -

    Hilde had her eyes closed as she sat on the couch, praying to any god that would pay her mind that Trowa not mention to Duo that she'd slept with Zechs. That was something she wanted to talk to Duo about first.
    It was almost odd when they went quiet, almost like she could really hear them. She knew, however, that they…weren't real.
    She studied the rip in her jeans as she walked across the sun-drenched pit, wondering where the hell she had been going. She hated it when that happened, when she forgot…
    The day was probably going on ninety. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, though the wind was blowing fare-strong. She brushed her hair back, looking around the gravel pit and up to the store next to it. She could hear her friends babbling in the café, completely ignoring the fact that she'd walked out.
    She glared as she kicked up another stone, her hair being raised a bit by the wind again.
    “Hilde! Wait up!”
    She turned to see Frankie jogging across the lot behind her. He looked too hot in his dress shirt and church slacks. He'd been at church that morning. She hadn't been, she never went anymore.
    “You weren't in church,” he admonished, stopping next to her and studying her black tank-top with red trim for a long moment. “Why weren't you in church?” he added, meeting her eyes.
    “Because I don't have to go,” she replied happily, smiling at him.
    “Yeah…well, I don't have to go either, now, do I?”
    “Yes you do. Your mom would get embarrassed if you didn't show up like a good little-boy.”
    He snorted.
    “I want to go swimming,” she added, turning to face the shack again and flipping it off. “But everyone else is busy eating.”
    “Yeah, most people eat lunch,” he agreed, turning to join her in her walking backwards. “Some even eat breakfast.”
    “Some can afford to eat at the shack every fucking day of the week, but the rest of us go home and raid the cupboards.”
    “If you want to eat there,” he muttered, studying her eyes, “I'll pay your way…I mean…I've got Daddy's plastic and Mommy's folding change. It's not a problem. We don't even have to say anything about it to anyone…”
    “Listen to what you're saying, please,” she muttered, flashing him a look as he turned and started walking normal again.
    “Hilde…come on, it's just me and you. You know that no one can hear us…so why…”
    “Stop patronizing me,” she snapped, glaring at him…and falling backward over a rock she hadn't noticed in her last glance back.
    “Are you all right?” he asked, all concern. He leaned down to see into her face as she stared at the palms of her hands and the dirt there-on, catching her breath.
    “I'm fine,” she snapped, casting him another dirty look and scrambling to her feet. “I'm going home.”
    “Hilde…” he started, taking a step to follow her, taking in her worn jeans and combat boots, then sighing. “Fine, I'll come over in about ten minutes. I ordered some lunch…then we can all head down to the lake, all right?”
    Hilde slowed, still rubbing her hands together as she turned to look at him. “That'd be cool,” she muttered, not quite meeting his eyes.
    He moved across the intervening space and leaned in so they were eye to eye. “I ordered you some lunch, too. I know what you have at home in the cupboards.”
    She looked away.
    “I'll tell everyone to meet us down there in an hour, all right?”
    Hilde nodded, starting away again and smiling slightly at her friend. “Thank you, Frankie.”
    “It's the least I can do,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair. “It's your letters that keep me sane up there.”
    She smiled slightly at him.
    He chuckled. “That's right, I haven't shown you yet,” his face split into a cheesy grin. “I got a picture of my cockpit. I think you'll appreciate it.”
    Hilde raised an eyebrow at him.
    Frankie winked, starting to jog back toward the shack.
    A grumble of hunger reminded here that she hadn't eaten since the morning before, and she tried to ignore it again as she had been, thankful that Frankie had bought her something. She knew he'd get her something filling, something she wouldn't be able to finish in one sitting so she'd have food later. He'd probably buy her food before he left as well.
    He always got her what she needed…
    “Hilde!”
    Hilde jumped awake, striking out at Trowa's face before she recognized either his voice or his features.
    He was laughing as he caught her wrist, studying her eyes. “Go to bed already,” he muttered, letting her go as she sat up slowly, thinking about that dream a long moment before focusing on Trowa again. “How long were you sleeping?”
    “You were talking to Duo,” she muttered, rubbing her eyes and pointing at the kitchen door, meaning the vid.
    “I talked to Duo for three hours,” Trowa muttered with a smirk.
    Hilde blinked. “You'd just told him about…” she thought of how to phrase it as she rubbed her hands over her face. “Relena…and Fei.”
    “Shit, that was only the beginning of the conversation.”
    Hilde grinned at him, propping herself up on her legs as she stared at the table. “Trowa…when you were with the militia, did you ever see the insides of their cockpits?”
    “Yeah,” he muttered with a frown. “Why?”
    “What did they look like?”
    Trowa frowned, thinking back and shrugging. “Cockpits.”
    She gave him a look.
    He laughed, shrugging. “I don't know what you're looking for, Hilde…they were normal.”
    “Pictures?”
    He nodded, smirking slightly.
    “Come here,” she muttered, rising to her feet and starting toward her room. She hadn't thought about Frankie in years…about being young and poor. She'd put that life behind her when she'd joined the military.
    “Why?” he slowed outside her bedroom door, giving her a wary look. He was very aware of the fact that other than Duo or Wufei, Hilde only took guys into her room for one reason.
    “Oh stop,” she muttered, grabbing his wrist and yanking him after her over the threshold.
    “You can hardly blame me,” he grumped, freeing himself. He took a moment to look over the scattered clothing and feminine articles that littered the room before watching as Hilde pulled a shoe-box from under her bed and toss the lid to the side.
    “What is that?”
    “My shoe-box,” she muttered distantly.
    “Yeah…of?”
    “Stuff,” Hilde muttered, turning to frown at him. “Every chick has a shoe-box of stuff somewhere.”
    He tilted his head at her.
    She brushed that away and pulled out a pile of photos.
    “Do I actually want to see these?” he asked her, smirking slightly as he moved next to her to sit on the bed.
    She gave him a look, then passed him a photo.
    Trowa blinked at her before focusing on it…and staring.
    It was obviously the wall of a cockpit. On it were several pictures of Hilde and some guy. In each of the pictures, they were smiling at the camera. There were also many pictures of Hilde by herself.
    That in and of itself just made the setting odd. “Why…is there a picture of pictures of you?” he asked, meeting her eyes.
    “That was Frankie's cockpit.”
    Trowa stopped, looking up at her. “Who?”
    “Frankie,” she replied, shrugging before pointing at the thing. “Is that normal?”
    “Most boyfriends have pictures like that, yeah…” Trowa was kind of grinning.
    Hilde mouthed the word, looking up to her window and thinking of everything Frankie had done for her before shaking her head. “No, sister. I was like his little sister.”
    Trowa looked back to the picture, then up to her. “That would just be weird.”
    Hilde covered her mouth with her hand, tears coming to her eyes as she started to shake her head.
    “What's the matter?” he asked quickly, setting the picture on top of the others and rising to his feet, staring at her in confusion a moment before offering his arms uncertainly.
    Hilde clung to him, burying her face in his chest, clenching bits of his shirt in her balled fists.
    “It's all right…” he muttered, still uncertain. He'd never been overly comfortable with crying women. He had no idea what he should say. He ran a hand over her back to see if she'd protest. When she didn't, he continued, pulling her tighter against himself with the other hand, trying to meet her eyes. “Hilde?”
    “He disappeared, Trowa,” she muttered, pulling back to meet his eyes. “He was the reason I joined the military…he took care of me…he…” she swallowed thickly, trying to fight her tears as she studied Trowa's face for any expression, any explanation of his thoughts. “He always told me that my letters were what kept him sane. He bought me food every time he came down because…well, just because. He was always willing to do anything for me…”
    “What do you mean, disappeared?” he asked blankly, sitting on the bed.
    “M.I.A.”
    Trowa's eyes opened wider.
    “They found his machine with a letter to me in it, but no emergency supplies. They thought he may have been one of those hostages, but…” she shrugged, a helpless look on her face.
    “Do they…I mean…”
    “He has a grave,” she muttered quietly.
    He let out a breath, dropping back onto the bed. “That's harsh.”
    “Yeah,” she agreed, sitting next to him and putting the picture into the shoe-box, closing it and setting it on the floor. She shoved it wordlessly under the bed before meeting eyes with Trowa. “Is it silly of me…to think that he might really be alive?”
    Trowa focused on her, blinking. “That would be awkward, wouldn't it? I mean…with Zechs…and then us five…you're not the same girl you used to be.”
    She looked at the bed, thinking. “I don't know…it would just…be nice, you know?”
    “Yeah,” he muttered, sitting up and thinking about it. “Nice and weird.”
    “Brat,” she muttered, flicking him on the leg.
    He grinned at her, tilting his head. “When were you last in contact with his family?”
    Hilde met his eyes in something like shock, thinking back and shrugging. “I joined, he went M.I.A…they told me about the letter…they had me come to the funeral service…and then…we lost touch.”
    Trowa frowned, thinking still more, meeting her eyes after a long moment. “I want to know his name,” he decided, studying her eyes.
    “Franklin Peterson, why?” she asked, frowning again.
    He shrugged as he stood, starting for the door. “Because I'm your friend, and he was your friend.”
    “Trowa…” Hilde started, not sure how to phrase that she didn't want to be alone.
    Trowa turned and met her eyes, studying her a long moment before winking. “You'll forgive me if I call my hand over, won't you?”
    The serious moment was broken and Hilde broke into giggles, doubling forward to hide her blush.
    Trowa grinned, watching this.
    She straightened, standing and moving to follow him. “I won't mind if you don't mind.”
    One eyebrow rose in a wordless question.
    “Zechs,” she explained.
    Trowa made a face.
    “I know, he's hot and you can't have him, I'm a selfish bitch…and you'll call over to invite him.”
    Trowa was still gathering his thoughts around what she was saying, and at that final decision, he turned to face her in mild disbelief.
    “Please, Trowa?” she wheedled, grabbing one of his hands in both of hers.
    He looked away from her eyes. “Come on, Hilde…”
    “Please?”
    Trowa sighed, giving up. He knew a lost cause when he came upon one.
    She giggled, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. “You're the best!”
    Trowa couldn't help but smile some at that, shaking his head as he moved into the kitchen, dialing the white-blonde's number.

O Brother Where Art Thou