I had to debate REAL HARD as to whether or not I wanted this story posted here because I know that later chapters will eventually have to be edited for content. I figured I'd leave this for those of you who have been patiently waiting for me to update Soul Mates. I will get to it I promise. And I will finish this one tooI just need to find a huge chunk of free time todo it.


Title: Mind, Body and Spirit

Author: Ah Hael

Genre: Alternate Universe, Fantasy, Romance

Rating: M (I will edit out the more risque parts in later chapters)

Pairings: 5x3x2 (yes that's right a threesome finally), 1x4+5 and 6x9xS

Spoilers: None

Summary: Wufei has a promising future as a priest of the Trinity until he encounters strange forest creatures.

Archives: http/ Nope, not mine. I checked, definitely not mine.

Mind, Body and Spirit – By Ah Hael

Wufei buckled the belt of his outer robe tightly. It looked to be getting colder outside, and he didn't particularly favor the idea of catching a chill.

As he was pulling up his hood there was a knock on his cell door, and he opened it to admit Heero and Quatre.

"Good morning, Wufei. Ready to go?" asked Quatre, who Wufei noticed was all pleasant smiles as usual. Such was the nature of a Spirit Priest, but he appeared to be particularly chipper this morning.

His partner and lover, Heero, also seemed to be happier than usual and graced Wufei with one of his rare warm smiles as well. Like most Priests of the Body, Heero wasn't big on people skills, but he didn't terrify Wufei like some of the other ones he had met. The first time he met Rashid, he nearly ran in the other direction, screaming from fear of the ominous looking giant. Of course, he was only a child then, but, at the time, he thought the man was going to eat him.

It was no mystery to him why the pair was so happier than normal this morning. Heero and Quatre were pleased that Wufei had asked them to accompany him while he went into the eastern wood and searched for some herbs for his studies. Several priests had been actively pursuing him as one of their third, and would have been equally happy to escort him. His favoritism was starting to show because he kept coming back to the blond Spirit and brunette Body priest.

He knew he would one day have to select a threesome, but it amazed him that so many would want him. Even Sally teased him about how many suitors he had, saying she was jealous no one chased her so. As if anyone would have been fool enough to challenge Zechs and Noin for her suit.

The main foundation of the Trinity order was that the mind, body and spirit needed to work in harmony to prosper. When young novices joined the order, they were trained in all aspects of it. In time, they selected the area that most suited them and joined the priesthood of that branch. Once a priest, that person would then join themselves with priests of the other two branches to create a trifectum. The three would then travel the world, teaching and aiding the people.

It was not necessary for a trio to be lovers, but it was so common, it was almost expected. After all, the vows of a Trifectum were just as binding as marriage vows and very difficult to break.

From the moment he came to the order, Wufei wanted to be a Priest of the Mind. He couldn't remember wanting any thing else. He loved learning and spent most of his time with his nose buried in a scroll or book. The days like today when he wasn't reading, he was doing something relating to learning. His insatiable thirst for knowledge had caught quite a bit of notice, but he paid little attention to comments about his potential to be the best Mind Priest of his generation.

He just didn't think selecting a matching spirit and body would be so difficult.

Over the past summer he had started to drift closer and closer to Heero and Quatre, but he still found himself holding back. He certainly got along with them well enough. Not to mention that if he was in need of physical companionship, they were definitely attractive enough, and had openly expressed their interest in him, but he was still unsure. Perhaps it was romantic foolishness on his part, but he'd always imagined that he would know when he met the right match the moment he saw them. The way he remembered it being for Heero and Quatre.

While they were still novices, Wufei and Heero along with several other novices were practicing their sword forms in the yard. Quatre was cutting across the yard his arms loaded down with scrolls when one got away from him and rolled straight to Heero's feet.

Normally, Heero would have been furious about outside interference and would have sent the interloper running with a very painful reminder not to bother him. That day, he was just lucky that he was practicing with a wooden sword so he didn't hack off his own foot when he dropped it.

Wufei remembered the moment quite clearly. Two boys, standing there, staring at each other, completely oblivious to the jeers around them. One look and the two were lost to all others. It was a bit daunting to try and be a third to love like that. Maybe his love of learning could fill the gap between what they felt for him and what they felt for each other.

He didn't think so.

"Sally says we have to bring back some Tsaro root as well," Quatre added while the three of them headed off to the east gate.

"What? It's almost winter! I'll never be able to find it at this time of year!" Wufei ranted.

"She says there isn't enough in the medical supplies to last all winter. She figures there is going to be a lot of people coming down with the sniffles and wants to be prepared," the blond answered calmly.

"Then, she should have collected it last spring! By now, the animals have had all summer to eat away any traces of the plant!"

"Well perhaps we might get lucky," he suggested optimistically. Heero wisely chose to stay quiet.

Wufei looked at Quatre like he was deliberately being dense. "Quatre, Tsaro root is just that. A root. It's underground. The only way to pinpoint it is by its leaves and flower, which are very appealing to animals. What isn't dead and withered by the cold has probably already been eaten. The only way to find it now is to dig around and hope we find it," Wufei finished morosely. His day of studies just disappeared into a day of cold dirty work.

He wasn't wrong. His fingers were sore, cold and filthy by the time he decided to stop for his midday meal. The young priest scowled at the three puny, wrinkled roots he was able to find. Sally was just going to have to be happy with that, for he was certain his two companions hadn't done any better.

Wufei rolled his eyes. The three had supposedly separated to search, but it didn't take long for Quatre's cries to start echoing through the forest. That was probably the real reason they were so eager to join Wufei today. So they could make love in private. Well, almost private.

Collecting his meager findings, he packed them away into a pouch and stood up. Agrh, everything ached from being hunched over the ground all morning. He gave a back popping stretch and twisted his neck and shoulders a few times trying to work out the worst of the kinks.

"I'm going to get Sally for this," he promised himself, looking down in disgust at his dirty hands and nails. "Now then, wasn't there a stream this way?" he asked himself.

Walking cautiously in the direction his memory was telling him to go, he tried listening for the sounds of running water. Instead, the sound of scuffling and whimpering hit his ears.

Were Quatre and Heero at it again? Not wanting to intrude, but unable to resist his curiosity, he followed the sounds. When he saw movement, he hid behind a tree, unsure of what to do. It would not be right for him to watch them together. But they wanted him as their third, didn't they? His sense of propriety fought another small war with his curiosity and lost causing him to peek around to view the lovers.

He couldn't hold back the gasp of surprise even if he'd wanted to. Neither Quatre nor Heero were anywhere in sight. Instead, the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen was sitting on the ground wrestling with something on its leg. As soon as it heard his gasp, however, it stopped and looked at the trees around it cautiously, like an animal sniffing for a predator.

Immediately, Wufei hid behind his tree again, hoping he wasn't spotted. He gnawed on his bottom lip, debating whether to look again or not. He didn't want to scare it away. He only had a second to see it but his mind was quick to burn the sight into his memory.

It looked like a boy with unusually long hair, but easily more beautiful than any human boy or even girl for that matter, could ever be. His hair was the color of fallen leaves - a mixture of brown, red, and gold - and her eyes looked like the twilight sky. There was no way that was human.

His heart quickened, for he was certain he'd just been the first person in decades to see a sprite. It had been so long since anyone had seen one that many believed the fey people had died out, or had left for more remote forests.

Peering around the trunk again, his heart dropped to his feet when he saw the vision was gone.

Wufei pushed away from his hiding spot and walked around the tree fully. It was when he passed the tree he noticed a little brown rabbit sitting perfectly still and low to the ground watching him fearfully.

For a brief second, he'd wondered if maybe his eyes hadn't played tricks on him and it was a rabbit all along. Coming closer, he noticed the deep twilight blue eyes full of fear, and his heart started thundering in his chest.

So, that was how the fey hid themselves. They disguised themselves as animals and used charms to make people think their eyes were fooling them.

Well, Wufei wasn't fooled. He was thrilled. But he didn't want to scare it away, so he approached it quietly and slowly so as not to spook it.

"Hello there," he said lamely in as gentle a voice as he could.

As soon as he spoke, the animal tried to bolt, only to be flung onto its back by some unseen force.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Then, he wondered why he bothered. It wasn't as if the creature was going to blow its disguise and answer him. Coming closer, he saw that it was caught in a very odd looking snare. The rope was intricately woven and had a strange silvery glint to it.

"Got yourself caught did you? Well I think I can help," he said, pulling out his belt knife. The sight of the knife made the rabbit thrash even more.

"Shh. Easy. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to cut the rope, okay?"

He almost started to laugh when the rabbit stopped its wild kicking and gave him a dubious look. From his vantage point, the priest could see how badly it was trembling, but managed to hold still.

Wufei leaned in close and inspected the leg. It was raw and bleeding and he hissed in sympathy. He quickly cut the rope at the spot were it was anchored. Feeling much like the brave hero, he gently picked up the animal and carefully unwound its foot.

"We need to clean this," the priest told his little friend while looking at the wound closer.

As quickly as he dared, he walked in the direction he was sure the stream was in, being careful not to jostle the rabbit too much. He was keenly aware of the way his passenger was staring at him with a mixture of disbelief and curiosity.

This late in the year, the stream had narrowed down to a tiny trickle but he was relived to see the water was clean. Shuffling his hold on the animal so he could hold it with one hand and rinse with the other, he bent low to dip into the water. The icy cold of the water almost took his breath away, but he grit his teeth and cleaned his grimy hands before treating the wound.

"You're not going to like how cold this is, but it's better than getting an infection." The little ball of fur in his arms tried desperately to claw and kick its way free of the frigid water, but Wufei managed to keep a good grip on it long enough to wash it. As an extra precaution, he retrieved one of the other roots in his bag that he'd found while searching for Tsaro.

Rinsing and breaking it open he firmed his hold on the animal and brushed the raw end over the now clean wound. When boiled down, the root made a great antiseptic. It still worked good raw, but smelled terrible and burned like damnation.

"Easy, easy," he crooned while trying to wrestle thrashing feet. "All done now. It should heal clean now." He gently placed the rabbit on its feet and watched it scamper a safe distance away from him. When it was certain Wufei wasn't following it, it stopped and examined his foot. Sniffing at the wound, it sneezed three times in succession, and Wufei found himself smiling.

"Yes, I know it smells. Be thankful you don't have to stew it. It burns out your sense of smell for weeks." He had no idea why he was trying to keep up the one sided conversation with the creature, but he couldn't stop himself. He wanted the experience to last for as long as he could make it. His furry patient twitched his ears and whiskers at Wufei one last time, before bolting into the brush with an awkward limp.

Alone again, the young priest basked in the afterglow of what just happened. He was probably the only on of his generation who'd seen a Fey and knew it. Even though the sprite refused to leave its animal form, he felt like he'd been given a rare gift and knew he would cherish it always.

He had no idea how long he was standing there staring into nothingness, but he saw the sun was well past its zenith when Quatre and Heero found him.

"Wufei! There you are! We've been looking all over for you. Didn't you hear us calling?"

Watching the lovers approach with worried faces, he made the instant decision not to tell them about his encounter. For some reason he didn't feel like sharing the experience with anyone. And he definitely didn't want whoever set that snare hearing that they had almost caught themselves a sprite!

"I'm sorry. I must have wandered farther than I thought," he replied.

"You should be more careful. There are hunters and wild animals in this forest. We cannot aid you if you wander too far," Heero scolded. His tone was that of a wise adult to an errant child.

"I would not have found the need to put such distance between us if you and Quatre had been a little quieter in your 'searching'," he said pointedly. At least the pair had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.

No one said anything on the way back to the abbey, which was just fine for the mind priest. He was eager to get back to his room so he could try and sketch what he could remember.

A real live Fey. He wondered if he would ever be lucky enough to see his new friend again.