Duo slowly made his way towards the door of Heero's bedroom. Heero had said
he had wanted to talk to him and Wufei, Quatre was left out of this
meeting. Trowa had disappeared some time ago, which explained why he was
not invited, and Quatre was still upset about it. Quatre would not talk to
anyone else but Heero, Duo, and Wufei. It seemed like he didn't trust
anyone else but them either.
Duo sighed and stopped at the door of Heero's room, it felt so different without Trowa. 'Or Quatre's personality for that matter', he thought. Of course they were all because of Trowa's disappearance, but Quatre was hit worse out of all four of them. They all knew Quatre had cared deeply for him, maybe even more then just `friends'. It seemed Trowa had never known or noticed.
Duo closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. He slowly opened the door and walked into Heero's room, being careful to lock the door behind him. Heero was sitting on his bed, typing away on his laptop. Wufei sat on the floor, polishing his sword.
Duo smiled faintly and jumped onto the bed next to his boyfriend, throwing his arms around him and giving him a gift of a light kiss on the cheek. "Hey Hee-chan!" He said happily. Heero sighed, closed his laptop and looked at his Duo's smiling face. Wufei looked up for a moment from his sword polishing.
"At least someone is happy around here", Wufei said, before returning to his work. Duo stuck his tongue out at Wufei and kissed Heero on the cheek once more, sitting down next to him.
Heero grunted before stroking the braided-boy's hair. He looked at the grinning boy who called himself Shinigami.
"Well Hee-chan, you called us for something", said Duo. Heero nodded and looked at Duo and Wufei, who had stopped polishing his sword. "We have got to do something about Quatre", he said. "This is starting to become ridiculous."
Duo blinked as he got a quizzical look on his face. He seemed a little confused, even if what Heero had said was such a simple thing to comprehend. "About what?" He asked. "About Trowa's disappearance you baka", Wufei snapped. "...Oh..."
Duo whimpered softly and laid down next to Heero. The brunette sitting next to him continued to talk. "I know none of us can stand to see him so sad and... un-lifelike. That's why we have to either comfort him and hope Trowa comes back or actually LOOK for him", said Heero.
"We haven't LOOKED for him yet?", asked Duo, exasperated. The two boys groaned. "You called it off remember", groaned Wufei, not believing Duo's idiocy. Duo blushed. "Oh...yeah".
Heero and Wufei sighed and Duo looked around sheepishly. 'I just thought he would come back', Duo thought sadly. Heero opened his laptop again. Duo sat in Heero's lap and rested his head against Heero's shoulder. Wufei didn't do anything at this showing of affection. He had gotten better at accepting the two showing signs of affection around the house, though he was still a little iffy at it being shown in public. Besides, all of the Gundam Boys were gay, besides him. `Well, possibly excluding Trowa, he never showed any real affection of the sort towards Quatre or any other male.' Wufei thought, rubbing furiously at one spot on his sword that refused to cooperate with him.
Heero typed away on his laptop before bringing up a file that was curiously tilted. "Here, I found a little of a lead to where he might be", said Heero. Duo lifted his head up from Heero's shoulder and looked at the mentioned laptop. Wufei climbed up onto the bed and looked at the laptop alongside Duo. Duo tilted his head to the side and a trickle of blood dropped out of Wufei's nose as they looked at the screen. Wufei gulped and calmly took his place on the floor, now completely engrossed with cleaning his sword. If it had been skin the sword would have been clean down to the bone by now, he as rubbing so hard.
Duo pointed to the screen as Heero's attention was else where. "Uh Heero.... that's a picture of me naked", said Duo. Heero quickly looked at the picture and blushed. He quickly closed up the picture and brought up the correct file. "Hn."
Duo motioned for Wufei to look at the laptop and the teen obligied. The arrow on the computer highlighted some words and the three looked at them. "It's a letter", said Wufei.
"I have gone away on a mission.
A mission of suicide.
A mission showing my love for Catherine.
A mission that will bring death on the ones who love me.
A mission I will never come back from.
A mission I will die on.
A mission I must do.
Trowa Barton".
Duo blinked as Heero read the letter. ".... ......" His `words' said it all. All three of them knew that was not something Trowa would write. He was a talented writer and could easily have thought up something that was more tasteful then what was sitting in front of them.
Heero clicked on the tool bar and the letter started to print out. He ripped the printed copy off of the printer and pointed to the lettering. "Look, that is not Trowa's handwriting. It is a good replica, but the slanting is off", said Heero. Wufei and Duo looked at the printed copy of the letter. "How can you tell? Looks the same as always to me", said Duo, grabbing the letter out of Heero's hands. He tilted it to the side and made a face. "See? I still can't read it!"
Wufei snorted as he too grabbed the paper out of Duo's hands. "Who ever wrote the letter must have Trowa or has done something with him", said Heero. "It could be Catherine", suggested Duo. Heero shook his head, snorting at the ridiculous thought.
"She wouldn't have done something like this. She knows Quatre loves Trowa and she would never do anything to harm him. In fact, she would probably be the one trying to push them together if Trowa showed any signs of returning that love."
"It does look like Catherine's handwriting though", pointed out Wufei. Heero nodded, that it did. "Except she usually does not writing in print and she writes her Ts to look like Fs", said Heero. Duo shook his head and Wufei passed him the letter. He looked at the letter closely and shook his head. Now that it was pointed it could not be Catherine's handwriting he had not a single clue. "I don't recognize the handwriting", he said.
"Me either", said Heero and Wufei. Duo thought for a moment, he had gotten pretty close to Trowa through the time he had known him. "He wouldn't do something like this for Catherine. She's only a good friend of his, plus he isn't like Perfect Soldier over here. He wouldn't kill himself for nothing".
Heero glared at Duo for the remark and went back to studying the writing. Wufei thought about what Duo said, he hated to admit it but the braided idiot was right. "It's to late to do anything about it, we can look tomorrow". Wufei grabbed his sword and polish, jumped off the bed and walked out the door, only saying one word to the two of them. "Night."
Heero and Duo looked at each other. "Can I sleep in your room...? It is um...to dark for me to roam around the halls", said Duo. "You are the worst at lying, Duo." "I can always try!" Heero growled, closed the door to his room and locked it. "What happened to your policy about `I run, I hide, but I never lie?" Duo looked down at the comforter he was sitting on. Heero had him there. He did have a policy about that, in fact it was even his motto. "Maybe that explains why I suck at it so much."
When Heero got into his bed he was greeted by Duo. Duo's fingers latched themselves onto the collar of the other's shirt, pulling the fabric down that covered Heero's neck. Heero pushed Duo's hands away before Duo could try and tempt him. His actions said it all. Heero was not up for any play tonight. With a slight whimper he nodded and snuggled under the covers.
"To tired for even a good night kiss?" Duo asked, hope dancing in his eyes. Just as Duo hoped, Heero rolled over and softly kissed Duo on the lips. The braided-haired boy took this as an opening and pulled Heero under the covers. "I thought I said I was to tired?" "Well I ain't, so pucker up Heero."
~~~~~
Quatre lay in his bed looking up at the ceiling. The longer he looked the more the plaster took on a familiar shape. Quatre choked and buried his head in his pillow as he realized what shape it had begun to look like. He slowly turned his head so he was looking out the window, hoping to find comfort in the scenery. That comfort was never found.
It was a dark, stormy, and lonely night. Quatre winced at the thunder and lightning, closing his eyes tightly shut. These were nights were Trowa would come and comfort him. That was the one reason he loved storms like this. It was the one time Trowa would return his affections. Even if to some it just looked like a friend comforting a friend.
Trowa would hold him and stroke his hair until either he fell asleep or the storm moved on. Sometimes Trowa would stay even when the storms did stop. Always holding Quatre and stroking his hair, whispering words of comfort into his ear. Strong, warm arms wrapped around his shivering body.
Quatre choked back tears as he remembered all those nights. He imagined those strong, warm arms embraced around him and he almost choked to death from sadness. He sat up and hugged his pillow. He stared out the window as lighting danced across the sky. Stared at the pathway that came to his house. Hoping that, just maybe just maybe, his silent god would be walking up that pathway to him.
Returning to him.
Returning to the one who loved him.
'Loved, past tense'.
'But if it is a past tense...how come I can't stop loving him', thought Quatre. Quatre watched the lighting flash across the sky again. The blonde shut his eyes tightly and hugged the pillow in his arms. He hated storms. They were horrible, nasty things that only filled fear in the hearts of small children.
Quatre yelped as lighting filled his room. Quatre dove under the covers, laying there under the covers, shivering like a small helpless child. 'I wish I had those strong arms wrapped around me now'.
~~~~~
After a good half hour he slowly peeked out from under the covers, face to face with a picture on his dresser. The picture had him and Trowa in it. Quatre was in Trowa's arms. Trowa was swinging Quatre in his arms. Both laughing.
Both smiling.
Both doing something that now they could not do anymore, thanks to recent events.
Quatre stared at the picture, at Trowa's smile and he just broke in pieces. "Trowa", he cried.
He broke down and cried the tears he hadn't cried in all the time Trowa had been gone. "Trowa."
~~~~~
Wufei was down in the kitchen, making breakfast. He used to be the only one that didn't make breakfast, besides Duo. But since Quatre was to depressed to fix breakfast, Duo couldn't make breakfast without blowing up the kitchen, and Heero. Well, let's just say the only person he cared to cook for was Duo. Now Wufei was stuck with the one of the most unmanly things he could think of, cooking.
Wufei flipped the pancake and caught it neatly on the pan again. He sprinkled some salt onto the eggs and put all of the food on the breakfast table. He poured orange juice and milk and set them out neatly on the table.
Footsteps were heard coming down the stairs and Wufei could tell by the sound exactly who it was. "Duo and Heero", he whispered. Duo came sliding down the handrail of the stairs.He slid off the handrail and landed gracefully in front of Wufei. He looked quiet proud of something a little child could accomplish without much difficulty. "Tadaaaa!!"
"Bravo, bravo now get your sorry ass over to the kitchen table and eat", said Wufei. Duo pouted as he walked over to the table and sat at his usual chair near the window. "You're no fun anymore, Wufei." "Good, I was not trying to be." Duo hmphed and started to eat the food. "Just for that I won't help clean up the food!" Like he ever did, except for on the nights of a big meal.
A growl emitted from Wufei's throat as he muttered about injustice to the working people. Heero came walking down the stairs and sat down next to the garbage disposal known as Duo.
Wufei grabbed some food for him and some for Quatre. He put Quatre's food on a separate plate and set that aside, then settled down to his own food.
~~~~~
Quatre had been up long before the other pilots. He was wearing his traditional pink t-shirt and purple vest, but the colors were different. They were darker then they had been before. Maybe the wash had not been done yet. Maybe he had just recently bought the clothes so the color had not faded yet, who knew but him.
Quatre was sitting out in his garden. He came out here a lot now, staring at the flowers and the pond with ducks in it. Quatre sat by the pond, feet dipped in the water. One of the ducks quacked and waddled out of the pond to greet him. The duck waddled over to the blonde young man and quacked a hello.
*Quack!* Quatre looked at the duck and patted it on the head. The duck closed its eyes and quacked contently. *Quack* Quatre stroked the ducks head and feathers. The duck quacked sleepily and settled down in the human's lap, plopping its wet little body down on the warmth known as Quatre. Quatre smiled faintly as he stroked his new friend's head.
~~~~~
Quatre looked at the pond as the duck slept in his lap, almost lulled off to sleep as well. "Quatre", a voice whispered. Quatre turned his head toward the sound calling his name.
Quatre looked at where the sound had come from, it sounded like Trowa calling him. "Trowa?" Quatre questioned.
Quatre stared at the spot for a moment then turned his attention back to the lake. He gasped when he saw the familiar brown uni-bang and the familiar face and deep green eyes in the reflection of the lake.
"Trowa?" Quatre questioned again. The reflection smiled and waved at Quatre. Quatre smiled.
"Trowa!" Quatre quickly stood up, knocking his duck friend to the ground. He ran into the lake and the reflection disappeared. Quatre stood in the lake, sopping wet, looking for the man he so desperately had been hoping for.
"Trowa...." Quatre blinked back the threatning tears. "Trowa!!" Quatre collapsed in the lake, crying his little body to near exhaustion. The water splashed around him as he cried for the one he loved. Cried for Trowa.
The duck waddled back into the lake and swam towards Quatre. The little duckling poked at the crying teenager with its beak. Quatre looked up at the duck. The duck gazed at Quatre, actually looking worried.
Quatre smiled faintly as the duck dove under the water and came back up with seaweed, then handed it to him. Quatre wiped away his tears and graciously accepted the seaweed from the duck. The duck quacked a few words of comfort in only the way a duck can and nuzzled Quatre. Quatre picked up the duck and staggered out of the water. The duck nuzzled into Quatre's arms as Quatre sat down.
"I thought it was Trowa..." Tears ran down Quatre's eyes again as he held the duck. The duck lovingly nuzzled Quatre's arm. Quatre forced a smile and looked down at the duck before crying again.
~~~~~
Duo slowly started to creep away from the breakfast table. Wufei grabbed Duo's shirt.
"Nuh-uh.You are going to take Quatre his breakfast. I did it Thursday and Heero did it yesterday", said Wufei. Duo pouted while Wufei handed him the plate he had prepared earlier.
Duo stood there with a pouty face as he held the plate. Wufei tried to push him out of the room, but Duo had a firm grip on the wall. "You can't make me! Not even the fuzzy slippers of Kingdom Fuzzy can make me go!"
Heero looked up from his pancakes. "Go Duo or you don't get any tonight", said Heero.
Duo's eyes widened with fear. "I'm off!" Like he said Duo was off and running.
Wufei shook his head, looking after the retreating figure with shock. "It is amazing what you can do to that boy with such a small threat, Heero", he said. "Not like I wouldn't give him any, any way", said Heero shrugging. "I HEARD THAT HEERO YUY!!"
Heero ducked his head under the table as a lamp went straight for his head. "Tempermental", Wufei commented. Heero brought his head back up. "And you are telling me this?"
~~~~~
Duo had already been to Quatre's room, but no luck had been found there. Now he was wandering around the halls of the Winner mansion. He sighed and looked at the plate with the tempting food. He gulped and thought 'one bite won't hurt'. He picked up a piece of food and put it close to his mouth.... "DON'T YOU DARE MAXWELL!" Duo dropped the food back onto the plate. "Wow...Wu-man sure has great sensing powers or somethin' ", whispered Duo.
"DON'T CALL ME WU-MAN".
"See..."
Duo shrugged and sat down by a window. He looked out at window and saw a blonde haired boy cuddling a...duck? "Winner?..." Duo sat there for a moment then ran down the halls and out the door.
~~~~~
"Quatre!" Quatre sniffed, wiping at his tears and slowly lifted his head up. He saw Duo running towards him, plate in hand. He could not help but laugh a little as he saw the next sight. Duo tripped over a rock and almost lost the food. Amazingly he caught it on the plate and continued running towards Quatre.
Luck was not with him that day for Duo slipped and started to slide towards Quatre. Quatre yelped as Duo sped towards him on his belly. Duo stopped sliding in front of Quatre food still on the plate. He held the plate up to Quatre's face with a stupid grin on his face. "Hungry?"
Quatre blinked and carefully lifted the plate off of Duo's hand. He set it on the ground and the duck started to peck at it. Duo looked at the soaked, tear-faced boy. He tilted his head to one side. "You ok Quatre". Quatre looked at Duo and shook his head. "Wanna tell Duo about it".
Quatre thought about this then slowly nodded, a little unsure of what he was agreeing with. Duo smiled and stared at Quatre. Quatre blinked and looked at him confused. "If you want to tell me you have to speak", said Duo. Quatre grinned sheepishly and nodded.
Quatre closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "I thought I saw...Trowa", Quatre said slowly. Duo blinked and looked at Quatre. Well, this was sounding interesting. "I heard a voice calling me...it...sounded like Trowa's. Then I thought I saw his reflection in the water. I ran in the water, thinking it was him, then as soon as I entered his...image disappeared". Quatre looked ready to cry. "I fell down crying and the duck swam over and comforted me, then I guess you could say it coaxed me back to the shore. When I got to the shore I couldn't hold it back, I cried and the duck stayed by me, comforting me".
Quatre lowered his head. "I thought it was him Duo, I thought it was him." Quatre brought his head back up and Duo could see tears running down his face. He broke down crying again, the sobs wrecking through his small body. Duo put his arms around Quatre and held him close.
"It is all right Quatre, cry it out just cry it out", whispered Duo, stroking Quatre blonde hair. Quatre buried his face in Duo's chest, crying it all out. The duck quacked sadly and waddled over to the two. The small duckling climbed up onto Duo's lap so he could get to where Quatre was. He settled down underneath Quatre's crying head and cuddled into him. "I thought...it...was him..." End Chapter One
Duo sighed and stopped at the door of Heero's room, it felt so different without Trowa. 'Or Quatre's personality for that matter', he thought. Of course they were all because of Trowa's disappearance, but Quatre was hit worse out of all four of them. They all knew Quatre had cared deeply for him, maybe even more then just `friends'. It seemed Trowa had never known or noticed.
Duo closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. He slowly opened the door and walked into Heero's room, being careful to lock the door behind him. Heero was sitting on his bed, typing away on his laptop. Wufei sat on the floor, polishing his sword.
Duo smiled faintly and jumped onto the bed next to his boyfriend, throwing his arms around him and giving him a gift of a light kiss on the cheek. "Hey Hee-chan!" He said happily. Heero sighed, closed his laptop and looked at his Duo's smiling face. Wufei looked up for a moment from his sword polishing.
"At least someone is happy around here", Wufei said, before returning to his work. Duo stuck his tongue out at Wufei and kissed Heero on the cheek once more, sitting down next to him.
Heero grunted before stroking the braided-boy's hair. He looked at the grinning boy who called himself Shinigami.
"Well Hee-chan, you called us for something", said Duo. Heero nodded and looked at Duo and Wufei, who had stopped polishing his sword. "We have got to do something about Quatre", he said. "This is starting to become ridiculous."
Duo blinked as he got a quizzical look on his face. He seemed a little confused, even if what Heero had said was such a simple thing to comprehend. "About what?" He asked. "About Trowa's disappearance you baka", Wufei snapped. "...Oh..."
Duo whimpered softly and laid down next to Heero. The brunette sitting next to him continued to talk. "I know none of us can stand to see him so sad and... un-lifelike. That's why we have to either comfort him and hope Trowa comes back or actually LOOK for him", said Heero.
"We haven't LOOKED for him yet?", asked Duo, exasperated. The two boys groaned. "You called it off remember", groaned Wufei, not believing Duo's idiocy. Duo blushed. "Oh...yeah".
Heero and Wufei sighed and Duo looked around sheepishly. 'I just thought he would come back', Duo thought sadly. Heero opened his laptop again. Duo sat in Heero's lap and rested his head against Heero's shoulder. Wufei didn't do anything at this showing of affection. He had gotten better at accepting the two showing signs of affection around the house, though he was still a little iffy at it being shown in public. Besides, all of the Gundam Boys were gay, besides him. `Well, possibly excluding Trowa, he never showed any real affection of the sort towards Quatre or any other male.' Wufei thought, rubbing furiously at one spot on his sword that refused to cooperate with him.
Heero typed away on his laptop before bringing up a file that was curiously tilted. "Here, I found a little of a lead to where he might be", said Heero. Duo lifted his head up from Heero's shoulder and looked at the mentioned laptop. Wufei climbed up onto the bed and looked at the laptop alongside Duo. Duo tilted his head to the side and a trickle of blood dropped out of Wufei's nose as they looked at the screen. Wufei gulped and calmly took his place on the floor, now completely engrossed with cleaning his sword. If it had been skin the sword would have been clean down to the bone by now, he as rubbing so hard.
Duo pointed to the screen as Heero's attention was else where. "Uh Heero.... that's a picture of me naked", said Duo. Heero quickly looked at the picture and blushed. He quickly closed up the picture and brought up the correct file. "Hn."
Duo motioned for Wufei to look at the laptop and the teen obligied. The arrow on the computer highlighted some words and the three looked at them. "It's a letter", said Wufei.
"I have gone away on a mission.
A mission of suicide.
A mission showing my love for Catherine.
A mission that will bring death on the ones who love me.
A mission I will never come back from.
A mission I will die on.
A mission I must do.
Trowa Barton".
Duo blinked as Heero read the letter. ".... ......" His `words' said it all. All three of them knew that was not something Trowa would write. He was a talented writer and could easily have thought up something that was more tasteful then what was sitting in front of them.
Heero clicked on the tool bar and the letter started to print out. He ripped the printed copy off of the printer and pointed to the lettering. "Look, that is not Trowa's handwriting. It is a good replica, but the slanting is off", said Heero. Wufei and Duo looked at the printed copy of the letter. "How can you tell? Looks the same as always to me", said Duo, grabbing the letter out of Heero's hands. He tilted it to the side and made a face. "See? I still can't read it!"
Wufei snorted as he too grabbed the paper out of Duo's hands. "Who ever wrote the letter must have Trowa or has done something with him", said Heero. "It could be Catherine", suggested Duo. Heero shook his head, snorting at the ridiculous thought.
"She wouldn't have done something like this. She knows Quatre loves Trowa and she would never do anything to harm him. In fact, she would probably be the one trying to push them together if Trowa showed any signs of returning that love."
"It does look like Catherine's handwriting though", pointed out Wufei. Heero nodded, that it did. "Except she usually does not writing in print and she writes her Ts to look like Fs", said Heero. Duo shook his head and Wufei passed him the letter. He looked at the letter closely and shook his head. Now that it was pointed it could not be Catherine's handwriting he had not a single clue. "I don't recognize the handwriting", he said.
"Me either", said Heero and Wufei. Duo thought for a moment, he had gotten pretty close to Trowa through the time he had known him. "He wouldn't do something like this for Catherine. She's only a good friend of his, plus he isn't like Perfect Soldier over here. He wouldn't kill himself for nothing".
Heero glared at Duo for the remark and went back to studying the writing. Wufei thought about what Duo said, he hated to admit it but the braided idiot was right. "It's to late to do anything about it, we can look tomorrow". Wufei grabbed his sword and polish, jumped off the bed and walked out the door, only saying one word to the two of them. "Night."
Heero and Duo looked at each other. "Can I sleep in your room...? It is um...to dark for me to roam around the halls", said Duo. "You are the worst at lying, Duo." "I can always try!" Heero growled, closed the door to his room and locked it. "What happened to your policy about `I run, I hide, but I never lie?" Duo looked down at the comforter he was sitting on. Heero had him there. He did have a policy about that, in fact it was even his motto. "Maybe that explains why I suck at it so much."
When Heero got into his bed he was greeted by Duo. Duo's fingers latched themselves onto the collar of the other's shirt, pulling the fabric down that covered Heero's neck. Heero pushed Duo's hands away before Duo could try and tempt him. His actions said it all. Heero was not up for any play tonight. With a slight whimper he nodded and snuggled under the covers.
"To tired for even a good night kiss?" Duo asked, hope dancing in his eyes. Just as Duo hoped, Heero rolled over and softly kissed Duo on the lips. The braided-haired boy took this as an opening and pulled Heero under the covers. "I thought I said I was to tired?" "Well I ain't, so pucker up Heero."
~~~~~
Quatre lay in his bed looking up at the ceiling. The longer he looked the more the plaster took on a familiar shape. Quatre choked and buried his head in his pillow as he realized what shape it had begun to look like. He slowly turned his head so he was looking out the window, hoping to find comfort in the scenery. That comfort was never found.
It was a dark, stormy, and lonely night. Quatre winced at the thunder and lightning, closing his eyes tightly shut. These were nights were Trowa would come and comfort him. That was the one reason he loved storms like this. It was the one time Trowa would return his affections. Even if to some it just looked like a friend comforting a friend.
Trowa would hold him and stroke his hair until either he fell asleep or the storm moved on. Sometimes Trowa would stay even when the storms did stop. Always holding Quatre and stroking his hair, whispering words of comfort into his ear. Strong, warm arms wrapped around his shivering body.
Quatre choked back tears as he remembered all those nights. He imagined those strong, warm arms embraced around him and he almost choked to death from sadness. He sat up and hugged his pillow. He stared out the window as lighting danced across the sky. Stared at the pathway that came to his house. Hoping that, just maybe just maybe, his silent god would be walking up that pathway to him.
Returning to him.
Returning to the one who loved him.
'Loved, past tense'.
'But if it is a past tense...how come I can't stop loving him', thought Quatre. Quatre watched the lighting flash across the sky again. The blonde shut his eyes tightly and hugged the pillow in his arms. He hated storms. They were horrible, nasty things that only filled fear in the hearts of small children.
Quatre yelped as lighting filled his room. Quatre dove under the covers, laying there under the covers, shivering like a small helpless child. 'I wish I had those strong arms wrapped around me now'.
~~~~~
After a good half hour he slowly peeked out from under the covers, face to face with a picture on his dresser. The picture had him and Trowa in it. Quatre was in Trowa's arms. Trowa was swinging Quatre in his arms. Both laughing.
Both smiling.
Both doing something that now they could not do anymore, thanks to recent events.
Quatre stared at the picture, at Trowa's smile and he just broke in pieces. "Trowa", he cried.
He broke down and cried the tears he hadn't cried in all the time Trowa had been gone. "Trowa."
~~~~~
Wufei was down in the kitchen, making breakfast. He used to be the only one that didn't make breakfast, besides Duo. But since Quatre was to depressed to fix breakfast, Duo couldn't make breakfast without blowing up the kitchen, and Heero. Well, let's just say the only person he cared to cook for was Duo. Now Wufei was stuck with the one of the most unmanly things he could think of, cooking.
Wufei flipped the pancake and caught it neatly on the pan again. He sprinkled some salt onto the eggs and put all of the food on the breakfast table. He poured orange juice and milk and set them out neatly on the table.
Footsteps were heard coming down the stairs and Wufei could tell by the sound exactly who it was. "Duo and Heero", he whispered. Duo came sliding down the handrail of the stairs.He slid off the handrail and landed gracefully in front of Wufei. He looked quiet proud of something a little child could accomplish without much difficulty. "Tadaaaa!!"
"Bravo, bravo now get your sorry ass over to the kitchen table and eat", said Wufei. Duo pouted as he walked over to the table and sat at his usual chair near the window. "You're no fun anymore, Wufei." "Good, I was not trying to be." Duo hmphed and started to eat the food. "Just for that I won't help clean up the food!" Like he ever did, except for on the nights of a big meal.
A growl emitted from Wufei's throat as he muttered about injustice to the working people. Heero came walking down the stairs and sat down next to the garbage disposal known as Duo.
Wufei grabbed some food for him and some for Quatre. He put Quatre's food on a separate plate and set that aside, then settled down to his own food.
~~~~~
Quatre had been up long before the other pilots. He was wearing his traditional pink t-shirt and purple vest, but the colors were different. They were darker then they had been before. Maybe the wash had not been done yet. Maybe he had just recently bought the clothes so the color had not faded yet, who knew but him.
Quatre was sitting out in his garden. He came out here a lot now, staring at the flowers and the pond with ducks in it. Quatre sat by the pond, feet dipped in the water. One of the ducks quacked and waddled out of the pond to greet him. The duck waddled over to the blonde young man and quacked a hello.
*Quack!* Quatre looked at the duck and patted it on the head. The duck closed its eyes and quacked contently. *Quack* Quatre stroked the ducks head and feathers. The duck quacked sleepily and settled down in the human's lap, plopping its wet little body down on the warmth known as Quatre. Quatre smiled faintly as he stroked his new friend's head.
~~~~~
Quatre looked at the pond as the duck slept in his lap, almost lulled off to sleep as well. "Quatre", a voice whispered. Quatre turned his head toward the sound calling his name.
Quatre looked at where the sound had come from, it sounded like Trowa calling him. "Trowa?" Quatre questioned.
Quatre stared at the spot for a moment then turned his attention back to the lake. He gasped when he saw the familiar brown uni-bang and the familiar face and deep green eyes in the reflection of the lake.
"Trowa?" Quatre questioned again. The reflection smiled and waved at Quatre. Quatre smiled.
"Trowa!" Quatre quickly stood up, knocking his duck friend to the ground. He ran into the lake and the reflection disappeared. Quatre stood in the lake, sopping wet, looking for the man he so desperately had been hoping for.
"Trowa...." Quatre blinked back the threatning tears. "Trowa!!" Quatre collapsed in the lake, crying his little body to near exhaustion. The water splashed around him as he cried for the one he loved. Cried for Trowa.
The duck waddled back into the lake and swam towards Quatre. The little duckling poked at the crying teenager with its beak. Quatre looked up at the duck. The duck gazed at Quatre, actually looking worried.
Quatre smiled faintly as the duck dove under the water and came back up with seaweed, then handed it to him. Quatre wiped away his tears and graciously accepted the seaweed from the duck. The duck quacked a few words of comfort in only the way a duck can and nuzzled Quatre. Quatre picked up the duck and staggered out of the water. The duck nuzzled into Quatre's arms as Quatre sat down.
"I thought it was Trowa..." Tears ran down Quatre's eyes again as he held the duck. The duck lovingly nuzzled Quatre's arm. Quatre forced a smile and looked down at the duck before crying again.
~~~~~
Duo slowly started to creep away from the breakfast table. Wufei grabbed Duo's shirt.
"Nuh-uh.You are going to take Quatre his breakfast. I did it Thursday and Heero did it yesterday", said Wufei. Duo pouted while Wufei handed him the plate he had prepared earlier.
Duo stood there with a pouty face as he held the plate. Wufei tried to push him out of the room, but Duo had a firm grip on the wall. "You can't make me! Not even the fuzzy slippers of Kingdom Fuzzy can make me go!"
Heero looked up from his pancakes. "Go Duo or you don't get any tonight", said Heero.
Duo's eyes widened with fear. "I'm off!" Like he said Duo was off and running.
Wufei shook his head, looking after the retreating figure with shock. "It is amazing what you can do to that boy with such a small threat, Heero", he said. "Not like I wouldn't give him any, any way", said Heero shrugging. "I HEARD THAT HEERO YUY!!"
Heero ducked his head under the table as a lamp went straight for his head. "Tempermental", Wufei commented. Heero brought his head back up. "And you are telling me this?"
~~~~~
Duo had already been to Quatre's room, but no luck had been found there. Now he was wandering around the halls of the Winner mansion. He sighed and looked at the plate with the tempting food. He gulped and thought 'one bite won't hurt'. He picked up a piece of food and put it close to his mouth.... "DON'T YOU DARE MAXWELL!" Duo dropped the food back onto the plate. "Wow...Wu-man sure has great sensing powers or somethin' ", whispered Duo.
"DON'T CALL ME WU-MAN".
"See..."
Duo shrugged and sat down by a window. He looked out at window and saw a blonde haired boy cuddling a...duck? "Winner?..." Duo sat there for a moment then ran down the halls and out the door.
~~~~~
"Quatre!" Quatre sniffed, wiping at his tears and slowly lifted his head up. He saw Duo running towards him, plate in hand. He could not help but laugh a little as he saw the next sight. Duo tripped over a rock and almost lost the food. Amazingly he caught it on the plate and continued running towards Quatre.
Luck was not with him that day for Duo slipped and started to slide towards Quatre. Quatre yelped as Duo sped towards him on his belly. Duo stopped sliding in front of Quatre food still on the plate. He held the plate up to Quatre's face with a stupid grin on his face. "Hungry?"
Quatre blinked and carefully lifted the plate off of Duo's hand. He set it on the ground and the duck started to peck at it. Duo looked at the soaked, tear-faced boy. He tilted his head to one side. "You ok Quatre". Quatre looked at Duo and shook his head. "Wanna tell Duo about it".
Quatre thought about this then slowly nodded, a little unsure of what he was agreeing with. Duo smiled and stared at Quatre. Quatre blinked and looked at him confused. "If you want to tell me you have to speak", said Duo. Quatre grinned sheepishly and nodded.
Quatre closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "I thought I saw...Trowa", Quatre said slowly. Duo blinked and looked at Quatre. Well, this was sounding interesting. "I heard a voice calling me...it...sounded like Trowa's. Then I thought I saw his reflection in the water. I ran in the water, thinking it was him, then as soon as I entered his...image disappeared". Quatre looked ready to cry. "I fell down crying and the duck swam over and comforted me, then I guess you could say it coaxed me back to the shore. When I got to the shore I couldn't hold it back, I cried and the duck stayed by me, comforting me".
Quatre lowered his head. "I thought it was him Duo, I thought it was him." Quatre brought his head back up and Duo could see tears running down his face. He broke down crying again, the sobs wrecking through his small body. Duo put his arms around Quatre and held him close.
"It is all right Quatre, cry it out just cry it out", whispered Duo, stroking Quatre blonde hair. Quatre buried his face in Duo's chest, crying it all out. The duck quacked sadly and waddled over to the two. The small duckling climbed up onto Duo's lap so he could get to where Quatre was. He settled down underneath Quatre's crying head and cuddled into him. "I thought...it...was him..." End Chapter One