Heyla
minna-san! This is the first time I ever wrote a TQ fic so I hope it measures
up. And er, WK peeps? I'm working on my other fics, I really am! ^^
Author: Swythangel
Email: swythangel@hotmail.com
Title: To Heed the Heart's Desire
Rating: PG (for shounen ai content)
Warnings: Strong Language, Slash,
Fantasy AU
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is owned by
Bandai and a passel of other people I never bothered to find out about.
It just depresses me to see all those bishies as someone else's property.
Archive: [Blinks]You'd seriously consider
archiving this? >. Just tell me then ^^
To Heed the Heart's Desire
Part 1
The sea was an emerald jewel, forever
changing and moving. If one were to scoop up a handful of its cool waters
again and again, one would never be able to capture the same handful on
the second dip. Such was the sea, almost ephemeral in its elusive quality.
/And such a mystery to us humans./
Trowa mused, as he stared out at the undulating waves with eyes the same
emerald as the sea. There was just something about it that called to him,
called to his soul and calmed his restless spirit. It had ever been thus
with him, even while he had been a lad of young years. It was as if the
sea was his second home.
His father would have called it foolishness,
an imagination run wild. But then, his father had been a staid, traditional
man much inclined to pragmatic thinking than youthful fancies.
Not that Trowa was much better. He
wasn't really a dreamer. In truth, he was quite the opposite. He was as
staid and pragmatic as his father was. Even as a child Trowa was reserved
and silent most of the time. It was only the sea that evoked such feelings
in him that could make him wax lyrical thoughts at all. A fact that his
father did not appreciate. Ever had his father and he been at odds with
their views in this and much time had been spent in companionable argument.
Arguments that Trowa missed as his
father had passed away years ago, as had his mother. A regent ruled the
country until the time Trowa turned seventeen.
And today, Trowa was officially seventeen.
As a gift, the regent gave him this magnificent ship on which to sail the
vastness of any ocean as King of Astoria.
Trowa should have been thrilled. He
was now King, he had a wonderful country to rule and he had this magnificent
vessel in which to sail with on his free time.
But he was not. And he didn't know
why.
It was just this niggling feeling that
something was dreadfully missing in his life, something he could not put
a finger to…
/Oh, Do not be so whimsical, Trowa.
It must be nothing./Trowa dismissed the feeling and turned back to
the crew who were feasting on board in honor of his natal day.
***
"Do not go so fast, my Prince! You
might figure in an accident." The normally low bass voice was high and
shrill in panic as he strove to catch up with an overenthusiastic royal.
"Oh, don't be such a dry blanket, Abdul!"
A golden-haired merboy laughed back at one of his guardians, not slowing
down in the least to accommodate the 40 odd mermans swimming after him.
"Prince Quatre!" The head of his guardians'
big voice boomed out in the green depths of the ocean as Rashid flipped
his powerful iridescent tail to catch up with the slight merboy. A reproving
gare was set firmly on his face. "You will slow down this instant and we
will proceed at a more sedate pace."
"But, Rashid!" Quatre's expressive
aquamarine eyes pleaded as his own iridescent tail swished in barely controlled
excitement. "Today is the day I'm finally old enough to be allowed to go
to the surface. I want to see so many things!
"If we don't hurry, we'll never make
it before the sun sets. And I want to see this wondrous globe everyone
keeps raving about."
Rashid's granite face softened, unable
to resist the pleading blue-green orbs that danced with golden lights in
their excitement.
"Alright…but not too…"
Even before Rashid could finished his
sentence, the golden Prince was off like a hyperactive dolphin, whizzing
past the other Maguanacs and up towards the ocean's surface.
Rashid shook his head. /He is going
to be the death of me./ With a glare at the other Maguanacs who were standing
dazed, he barked out commands. "What are you all standing goggle-eyed like
useless goldfishes?"
The Maguanacs transferred their stares
to him. And Rashid's face grew livid.
"Follow him!" He roared.
In the next instant, all 40 of the
merman corps pledged to protect one little merboy zoomed up into the briny
blue surface, following in the wake of the royal Prince of the Seven Seas
who had just turned seventeen.
***
/So this is the surface!/ Quatre thought
to himself as he stared wonderingly up at the sky and the surrounding sea.
/Its…beautiful! Everything is as I thought they would be. Or at least…most
of the things….but I thought the sky was suppose to be blue?/
A green-haired head erupted from his
right, followed by a protesting voice. "Prince Quatre!!!" A heavy note
of censure was in the panting voice, winded from the exertion of swimming
at a very fast pace.
Quatre ignored the Maguanac and searched
the skies, a roiling mass of gray-black clouds moving at a very agitated
pace, for the one thing he had been anticipating.
"There's no sun is there, Abdul?" Quatre
asked the Maguanac who had popped up beside him and now bobbed in the vast
ocean's surface. Disappointment flared in the lambent blue-green eyes of
the merboy as he flipped fine gold hair out of his face with one pale hand.
"No, my Prince. I think there's a storm
brewing. That's why there isn't any sun." Abdul replied, surprised that
the Prince even remembered his name among the 40 Maguanacs. Of course,
it probably helped that he was the only one beside the Prince right now,
being the only Maguanac fast enough to catch up with the fast-swimming
Prince.
Abdul would have been surprised to
know that Quatre knew each of the Maguanacs' names. He might act like the
carefree Prince who did not know better but in truth, Quatre was more perceptive
and intelligent than anyone gave him credit for. He knew that Abdul, among
all the Maguanacs, was immediately distinguishable by the odd black markings
over both of his eyes and the big stripe of velvet red in his iridescent
tail…much like a carp would look like.
There were many things the merpeople
never knew about Quatre. For instance, they never knew how much of a brilliant
strategist their little Prince was. He could even discuss mer-battle tactics
with his father or play Game of the Mer-Generals *and* win.
It was because he was constantly overshadowed
by his 29 sisters. The chance of being noticed amidst a sea of golden-haired,
aquamarine-eyed replica of one's self was, however beautiful or intelligent
one was, next to nil. Quatre had learned a long time ago not to try.
Not that he hated his sisters for it,
because he did not. He loved them dearly and they loved him back. So he
contented himself with doing his own thing unnoticed. Sometimes though,
he thought it would be nice to be noticed for his accomplishments too.
It was not worth quibbling about. He
didn't have time for such a thought as he looked on with disappointment
at the angry sky. His first day on the surface! He couldn't understand
why the sun could not oblige him and show its face for him. He grouched.
"I'm sure there will be other days
my Prince! The weather is a changeable thing…" Abdul was droning on and
on to an unlistening Quatre who was even now swimming away to find new
curiosities to stare at. "Hoy! My Prince! Wait for me."
/By the soul of Moby Dick! The boy
is fast!/ Abdul thought as he swam after his Prince. By this time, the
blond was a mere pinpoint in the horizon.
/Where are Rashid and the others?/
Abdul panted as he reached the excitable young merboy who had apparently
seen something of interest now because the princeling was waving his hand
frantically at Abdul. /I am a guard! Born to protect and fight, not to
serve as a babysitter to a headstrong Prince!/
"Look, Abdul!" Quatre said as soon
as the Maguanac reached him. "What wondrous curiosity is that?"
Abdul blinked and followed the merboy's
delighted gaze to a vast ship. His eyes widened in alarm. "It is a *human*
ship, my Prince. Quick, we must submerge. You know it is forbidden to let
human eyes look upon our forms."
Abdul should have just kept his mouth
shut for all the heed Quatre took of his warning. Even now, the precocious
merboy was swimming to the ship in entranced fascination.
/Why me?/ Abdul followed Quatre with
a woebegone expression on his face. /O Poseidon! Why me?/ At this time,
Abdul was too tired and he followed at a slower pace.
/A ship!/ Quatre fairly crooned with
delight as he stared in fascination at the huge…*mass* in front of him,
bobbing in the water. He had heard of such a curiosity from his sisters'
stories and had seen sunken too-worn replicas at the ocean bottom but it
was the first time he had ever beheld it whole and working. /Oh what treasures
this must contain!/
He swam faster until he was at the
ship's hull. He ran his hands on the material, marveling at the texture
when he heard something emanating from the top.
/What the…/Quatre blinked and as the
sounds filtered into his mind, he realized what they were. /Music! It is
music! I didn't know humans made music!/
Quatre loved music. In fact, next to
his strategy lessons and family, it was the one thing that ruled his life.
And the sounds coming from above were the kind he loved the most…light
airy pieces that evolved into a complex explosion of sensations and emotions.
He laughed a delighted laugh, reminiscent
of tinkling bells as he moved about in the water in time with the music,
twirling and circling, and dipping gracefully in time with the wondrous
sounds. So lost was he in the music that he did not notice the moment he
opened his mouth and sang softly in time with the music.
***
Trowa was *resting* in one of the ship's
lifeboats, away from the festivities on board. No, he wasn't hiding, he
was resting. After all, it would be bad form for the celebrator of the
party to sneak off, even more so when he was the monarch. So Trowa wasn't
hiding, he was resting.
After all, surely being at the party
for an hour or so and enduring the presentation of a statue of himself
was good enough to assure that he had discharge his duty as grateful birthday
boy.
It was not his subjects' fault if he
was the tiniest bit anti-social or that he did not want to indulge in festivities.
So he had silently crept away when no one was paying attention to him and
found this little haven.
/Besides, it isn't as if I am not enjoying
the music they're playing for me./ Trowa rationalized as he closed his
eyes, appreciating the pieces the musicians were playing. He loved those
pieces, which was why the musicians chose to play them.
/They're quite good, I must say./ Trowa
thought. He wished he had his flute with him so he could play with the
musicians. But he had forgotten to bring it with him. /More's the pity./
He sighed.
He was about to recline on the hard
wooden lifeboat when he heard a strange yet sweetly familiar sound…
/Like violins…but I swear I did not
see any of the musicians with violins…and,/ Trowa swung his head around,
straining to hear the ghostly strains,/it is coming from the sea./
It was unlike any violin playing he
had ever heard. The sweet violin strains reverberated inside his very bones,
inflamed his blood and touched his heart. He had to know who was responsible
for it.
/Perhaps a wandering minstrel on his
own small craft? I must see. It is the most exquisite playing I have ever
encountered./
He crept up on the lifeboat's edge
to peer down into the water only to find nothing. /Dolt! It was coming
from the other side!/ He cursed himself and clambered out of the lifeboat
surreptitiously to avoid discovery by his crew when the violin strains
stopped abruptly.
Trowa felt bereft, cast aside. There
was a feeling of loss inside of him so deep he couldn't explain it, even
to himself…
***
"Prince!" Abdul finally caught up with
Quatre only to be scandalized with what the merboy was doing.
He was crooning. Poseidon's trident!
Crooning!
"Desist at once, Prince Quatre! The
humans might hear you."
Without further warning, he cuffed
the semi-oblivious boy on the neck and glared at him, his fear of being
discovered by humans overriding any fear of being punished at cuffing a
royal member of Triton's household.
Quatre blinked, dazed. When his eyes
finally focused, he realized his error and apologized to Abdul. "I am sorry.
I got carried away by the music." He hung his head in embarrassment.
/Good, he knows what he has done is
wrong. Maybe he still has hope./
But as quick as a tadpole flicked its
tail, Quatre recovered, bobbing up and down in excitement. "Oh, but the
music, Abdul, the music! It was exquisite."
Abdul sighed. /He is hopeless./
Thunder cracked in the distance and
lightning lit the darkened sky even before Abdul could say a word.
Quatre started at the unnaturally loud
sound. "What was that?"
"Thunder, My Prince and the light that
preceded it was lightning. We had better go to somewhere safer. A storm
is coming."
"But…"
"No buts. If you wish to watch the
ship, then we do so in a place safer than this or we go back now." Abdul
searched the horizon and found a small formation of rocks. "There. You
can watch from that fair distance and be safe."
Quatre complied, more from the threat
of going back home so early in the day rather than the practicality of
the suggestion.
The two mermen reached the safety of
the rocks just in time as the wind picked up and a sudden squall hit the
ocean, buffeting the massive ship into suddenly angry undulating waves
and punishing winds.
***
