Heero stared at the vast shimmering waters of the bay from his window and let out a bored sigh. He didn't see what was so important about this kingdom, nor why he should even care about protecting it.
Silently he stared back and tugged at the stuffy collar. People had strange taste in clothing.. Heero gagged and threw off the shirts, stretching slightly as the cool air hit his chest. Heero reached for a tank top, grateful to finally be out of the ugly thing called a 'uniform'. He slipped his gun back into his jeans pocket and slipped out of the room.
The 'school', if it could be called that was small and incredibly dull. Relena would go on about peace talks, then the students would walk around in the fresh air. There was the occasional fencing match but the only person he'd fought against had been a definite psychopath.
And they called him sadistic..
Flicking the safety off, he walked towards the small room across from him. Inside he heard a soft, almost inaudible whimpering coming from a corner.
Some part of him was oddly hesitant, but another part was filled with rage. This was for Trowa.. to avenge him, Heero kept repeating to himself as he stepped inside, clutching the gun against him. For Trowa..
The images he'd been dreaming about returned. Watching as the mobile suit exploded in space, creating a bright yellow spark.. and knowing that the one person who you'd thought wasn't irritable was in the midst of it.
But this was definitely not the same person he'd faced.
The blonde was sitting against the wall, his head buried deeply against his arms which were resting against his knees. Just as Heero reached the corner of the bed, Quatre looked up, almost as if he'd been expecting him.
In the small bit of moonlight that entered into the room, Quatre looked more like a child than a feared Gundam pilot. Tears were sliding down his cheeks, and his entire body was shivering. It was apparent, Heero began to notice, that he was both tired and hadn't eaten anything solid in quite a while.
Quatre stared for a moment longer, choking back the sobs that had been finding their way out of his throat for at least an hour. He was staring straight at the gun, and Heero had a distince impression that Quatre was asking him to use it.
For some odd reason, Heero set it back into his pocket and instead held out a hand to help the blonde back to his feet. After all.. he did owe him a little, didn't he?
Quatre stared confusedly and Heero slowly motioned again. "Get up. I'm getting something to eat."
Silently, Quatre nodded and stood up, quietly brushing back his tears and following Heero downstairs.
The kitchen area was reasonably small for their area, but it held an ample supply of meals. Heero shuffled around then pulled out a large pan and some cooking oil. Quatre came in a second later, sitting down at a small table and watching as Heero pulled out two eggs to fry.
"I can't feel him.. in my mind anymore.." Quatre finally admitted.
"Hn?" Heero answered as he quickly snapped the egg against the pan, watching as the shell cracked.
"Trowa." Quatre replied softly.
Heero's mind went back to the fight on the lunar base. He remembered vaguely someone tapping into his Zero-heightened mind and forcing him to stop.. and then that weird glow..
Quatre suddenly began to laugh softly, snapping him out of his reverie.
"What's so funny.." Heero growled with slight annoyance, thinking that this blonde was another Duo.
"It's just.. I've never seen anyone make scrambled eggs like that.."
Heero glanced down at the burning slabs of egg white and the abnormal amounts of yolk mixed in it.
So he wasn't a good cook..
"Here," Quatre said as he stood up and took the handle of the pan away from Heero. He slid the remains of the egg into the sink. Reaching into the kitchen he pulled out some more eggs and a few bottles of salt and pepper.
For just a few minutes the room was filled with only the soft crackling of the oil on the stove. Heero watched as Quatre slowly darted a slight bit of salt, then pepper into the mix. Cheese, then peppers, then other strange-looking things were tossed into the mix until it didn't even look recognizable.
Finally the work was done and out of the pan came two gourmet-looking omelettes. Quatre set them on the table, then reached for some forks.
"You know how to cook.." Heero said, though there was the slightest hint of amazement in his voice.
"I just picked it up.." Quatre admitted with a slight embarassment. "It came in handy when Duo stayed with me.."
Heero almost laughed. He could imagine the mess that the brunette could make if he was exposed to flour and any type of cooking utensil.
They sat there in silence, Heero almost feeling relaxed. He remembered the first time he'd run into Quatre.. they'd completely screwed up at New Edwards and he could still remember when the blonde had been giving directions in a calm, commanding tone. It was funny, he'd been expecting to see some type of warrior, more like Wu Fei or Trowa than the small, thin, childlike pilot that had dragged him back to Earth. It was both odd and sad to see a person like Quatre being thrown into a war, even if it was by choice.
Then again a battlefield was probably much better than sitting around listening to boring peace talks.
"You don't like it here.. do you?" Quatre finally asked.
"No." he replied calmly. "It's too quiet.."
"It's peaceful.." Quatre admitted with a slight sadness. "But.. something keeps telling me we don't belong here."
"Mm." Heero thought of the calmness that the place had brought, then his thoughts turned to Relena. She seemed to be especially loving the thought of him being there, although if she'd stop trying to badger him so much he'd feel better.
Quatre continued to eat, but his movements were becoming sluggish. The pilot was probably very tired, Heero hadn't seen him sleep since they'd reached the Earth. Between the fights and the running, they hadn't really been able to let their guard down..
"You should get some sleep,"
"Not yet.." Quatre tried to argue, his head almost drooping against his plate.
Heero grunted in response then tugged the blonde back up the stairs. Quatre began to murmur softly as Heero helped him back to his room. The young boy dropped against the bed without any argument and half closed his eyes.
He wondered vaguely to himself if Quatre had realized that he'd been the first person the Perfect Soldier had ever called a partner. If not, he certainly wasn't going to tell him.
I'm getting too soft.. Heero thought to himself grimly. All this pacifist crap is getting to me..
Taking one last look at his only trustworthy ally in the kingdom, he allowed a small smile to cross his face as he closed the door.
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Disclaimers: I don't own GW nor do I own anything in this story. It was just something thought up a while ago and I decided to write it.
---Thank my muses. They deserve it.