Disclaimer: nothing is mine, don't sue.
Note: I don't know what this is-it's serious, which is a style I generally don't use in fanfiction, so this is a little odd for me. I hope you like it, though....Oh yeah, I'm not really sure why I made Heero speak in Japanese through the entire thing-I need practice I suppose (just learning the language) plus I felt like it. For people who don't speak Japanese, don't worry, he doesn't say anything really important. For people to do, my grammer and vocab isn't great, I know-as I said, I'm learning. BTW, if you can think of a better title, tell me, k?

Snowstorm



Quatre woke up to a great deal of muffled shouting. He sat up in bed slowly, dragging the blankets along with him and looked around, slightly disoriented. Something seemed a little odd....Trowa had gotten up before him, and Quatre hadn't even noticed-that was unusual, but that wasn't it. The noise from downstairs wasn't too usual, though when all five Gundam pilots stayed in one place it wasn't UNusual, either, so that wasn't it.....Quatre looked around the room-and saw a layer of white on the window cill.

The blond pilot let the blanket fall from his shoulders and rushed to the window. There was snow outside! Quatre's face broke into a boyish grin. Snow! He'd never actually seen snow before, except in a few old photographs, but he knew of it. He never thought it'd be so pretty, blanketing the world with it's sparkling splendor......it was gorgeous!

Turning away from the window, Quatre hurridly got dressed and headed downstairs. He found the other pilots in the kitchen. Heero was standing, glaring at everything, his face flushed with anger; Duo sat on the counter, head down somewhat; Wufei was leaning against the wall, scowling at the window while Trowa stood silently in a corner watching it all.

"Furikomeru!" Heero was shouting loudly. "Baka ooyuki! Baka yuki! Baka furikomeru!"

"Just chill, man," Duo said with a sigh, resting his head in the palm of his hand.

"Urusai, baka," Heero growled, giving Duo his patented death glare. "Omae o korosu-demo hajimeni yuki o korosu."

Duo backed up slightly. "Chill," he repeated. "You talking so fast I can barely understand you," Heero scowled and turned away from the long haired young man.

"Your not missing much," Trowa put in quietly, surprising all in the room, especially Quatre, who hesitated unnoticed near the doorway. "Heeros just bitching about the snow."

"So you guys did see that," Quatre chose that moment to make his entrance. Everyone turned to look at the smiling arabic as he headed over to stand beside his lover. "Isn't it great!"

"Baka." Heero muttered, and turned away. Trowa put a hand on Quatre's shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.

Quatre's great smile faultered as he saw all the unhappy faces in the room. "What is it?" He asked.

"The snow stranded us here," Duo replied with a slight wave of his hand and a sigh. "Cut out the phone lines, took out the driveway-we're real lucky that you've got the generator, Quatre, or we wouldn't have power and heat either."

"Oh," Quatre responded sullenly. Dispite it all, he still felt a little joy at the prospect of snow, but he hid it-the others were all too gloomy or, in Heero's and probably Wufei's case, too pissed for Quatre's optimistic view to be safely spoken.

There was an awkward silence, or near silence (Heero, who was still scowling, continued to mutter "ooyuki baka, baka yuki" under his breath, but no one really payed attention to him) which was finally broken by Duo. "So," he said with a grin that was bound to piss Heero off even more. "Are we gonna do somethin', or what?"

Heero and Wufei looked at him like he had flipped.

"What?" Duo asked, not understanding why their glares were directed at him.

"Do something?" Wufei practically growled. "I'm stuck in this house with you weaklings, and your talking 'do something?' This is an injustice!" He turned on his heel and stalked away, leaving Duo staring blankly at his back.

"What?" Duo repeated.

"I think we should go outside," Quatre put in watching Duo's confused expression. "Take advantage of this beautiful snow!"

Heero rolled his eyes. "Baka osage tiin'eeja, baka okama. Ganrou yuki." He snorted and headed to the kitchen door. "Kaki ganrou."

"What?" Duo asked again as Heero left, heading upstairs. Quatre shrugged.

Trowa watched the Japanese pilot leave. "I'm not so sure I like that playing with guns part," he muttered softly, getting brief look from Quatre and Duo.

"So are you two gonna leave me now, too?" Duo asked in annoyance.

"No," Quatre said, allowing himself to smile once again. "I don't think so," he glanced back at Trowa who's expression didn't change in the least.

"Good," Duo grinned and leaned back, his hands gripping the edge of the counter, his legs swinging slightly. "Lets find something to do,"

"I still think we should go out in the snow," Quatre said softly, looking out the window from afar at the marvolous white blanket that covered the earth.

Duo shuddered. "No way," he said, his heels hitting the cabinets below the counter. "Too cold-I don't want to be cold right now. Lets...." The American appeared to be thinking. "Lets eat!"

Quatre and Trowa just stared at Duo. How like him to want to eat rather than enjoy the snow, Quatre thought ruefully. He sighed. But there was no stopping Duo....

Trowa glanced at Quatre, who shrugged. "I guess," Trowa said at last. Duo's grin widened even further.

"I think I will go outside later, though," Quatre said, his eyes still fixed on the window. "I've never been in snow before, I really want to take a walk in it." Duo's face fell slightly. Quatre glanced back at Trowa. "Do you want to come with me, Trowa?" He asked softly.

Trowa shook his head. "Sorry, Quatre, I think I just want to curl up with a book by the fireplace for a while. I'm nearly finished with Nuremberg." Duo's face fell even further.

"If you want," Quatre continued to Trowa, even though he saw Duo's disapointment. "When your done with that, I just finished Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography, 'The Story of my experiements with truth,' if you'd like to read it...."

Trowa nodded. "Thanks, Quatre, koibito, I'll think I'll read that next."

"What about me?" Duo whined. "You guys said you weren't gonna leave me," He pouted in hopes that either Quatre or Duo would take pity on him and stay around.

Quatre glanced back at Duo. "Since neither Trowa or I are gonna be in our room, you can play the Sega system in there,"

Duo brightened immediatly. "Really?" he asked, recieving solumn nods from both Trowa and Quatre. "Cool beans!" He hopped off the counter and ran out of the kitchen, leaving Trowa and Quatre alone in his wake.

"Well," Trowa said, stepping away from the corner that he and Quatre had been in. "I guess everyone is busy,"

"Yeah," Quatre smiled and gave his lover a little kiss. "But I was serious about going for a walk, I don't want to miss the snow."

"And I was serious about finishing Nuremberg-it's a really good book." Trowa finished, as the two left the kitchen. "Have fun outside," Quatre and him parted-Trowa headed into the living room with his book, while Quatre headed up stairs to their room to change-ignoring Duo who was already engrossed in a game.

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After changing, Quatre headed outside. The snow was indeed cold, but it was so beautiful! It covered the ground completely, and sparkled with little ice crystals where the sun hit it. He walked away from the house, his footsteps crunching softly and leaving prints where he'd walked. He walked into the forest where the snow covered the still green branches of evergreens, and the barren branches of the other trees. Little animals' footprints riddled the ground, and Quatre spent some time marveling at the small toe prints, with the miniscule claws. It was too bad that the animals themselves were out of site.

After some time, it started snowing again. The flakes were big and fell sloftly to the ground, creating a light veil around Quatre. It was so beautful.....Ignoring the cold snow beneath him, the young arabian sat down against the trunk of a large fur tree that smelled strongly of sap, and watched the snow fall.

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Back at the mansion, Trowa finished his book. It was good, though somewhat sad. So many deaths caused by so few......He sat up from his fetal position in front of the dying fire, and streched, feeling several bones pop as he did. He threw another two logs on the fire, then checked his watch. He had been reading for about an hour-it seemed like a much shorter time span.

Trowa stood and headed upstairs, the book he had just finished in hand. Upstairs, in the room he shared with Quatre, Duo was still engrossed in the game he'd been playing.

Trowa tossed the Nuremberg onto the bed beside where Duo (who was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed) was resting his head, then crouched down beside the bookcase searching for the Gandhi Autobiography that Quatre had mentioned.

"Hello, Duo," Trowa greeted the American as he searched. "Having fun?"

"Hell yeah!" Duo grinned, twisting the controller he was holding to the side as though that would help his preformance in the game.

Trowa found the book he was looking for, and pulled it out. "I don't suppose Quatre's back, is he?" he asked, straightening, and looking down at Duo.

"Hasn't been in here," Duo answered, his attention not really wavering from the game in the least.

Trowa frowned-he shouldn't be worried, he reminded himself, glancing out the window. It had started snowing again. Quatre was probably out marvelling the snow still-the man certainly did appreciate things better than most people.....

"Well, thanks," Trowa said, stepping over Duo's outstreched legs and heading towards the door, with every inention of heading back downstairs to read some more.

"No prob," Duo muttered as Trowa left the room for the hallway, closing the door behind him.

Trowa headed downstairs, stoked up the fire a bit more then opened the book. Introduction......

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Quatre closed his eyes, a smile forming on his face, as he turned his head upward. He could feel the flakes of snow hitting his cheaks and nose and chin-cold at first, and then melting into a trickle of water, not unlike a tear. He stuck out his tongue, but the snowflakes were much harder to feel landing there, and contained so little water that they held no taste either.

He opened his eyes and watched his breath come out in puffs. This was the first time he'd ever been able to see his breath in such a way-what a remarkable thing....He smiled happily, closing his eyes again Earth was full of continued wonders.....

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Footsteps drew Trowa out of the story of Gandhi's school life and into the present reality of being trapped in a mansion with four other guys. Luckily for him, things had been fairly quiet. Both Wufei and Heero had kept to their rooms-with, thankfully, no gunshots or explosions sounding from the later's-while Duo played games and Quatre took his walk.

Heero stuck his head in the living room, his eyes locking on Trowa. "Konbanha, Trowa." What, no insults? Heero seemed to be in one of his rare good moods-thank any gods there were (not Duo, though, that'd just piss Heero off again).

"Hi Heero," Trowa responded with a small yawn. "Done playing with your guns?"

"Hai," Heero responded as Trowa marked his spot in the book and gained his feet. "Chotto. Haragaheru."

"Yeah, I can see why you'd be hungry," Trowa said, as Heero started towards the kitchen. Trowa followed, leaving the book lying on the carpet. "It's already," he checked his watch. Five in the evening? Had he really lost track of the time so badly? "Five," he muttered. He glanced out the window-it was growing dark outside....

"Hai," Heero nodded, as he opened the fridge and began rummaging through it.

"Hey Heero," Trowa said, still looking out the window, his mind drifting inavoidably towards Quatre. "Have you seen Quatre?"

Without really glancing at the king of hair gel, Heero shook his head. "Kesa bakkan. Nande?" No Heero looked back at Trowa, who had assumed a troubled expression.

"He decided to take a walk outside and I don't think he's come back yet..." He bit his lip and stared out the window, his concern showing plainly through the emotionless mask he wore much of the time.

Heero studied the pilot, and went over to give him an affectionate clap on the back. "Goshinpainaku." He said simply, then went back to looking for food.

Trowa glanced at the other pilot. Despite Heero's assurance, he was worried.

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Quatre opened his eyes and realized that it was growing dark and he was getting cold. He'd spent the majority of the day outside marveling at the snow, and so enraptured by it was he that he didn't even notice the day ending. He'd better be heading back to the mansion...

Quatre climbed to his feet, brushing snow off his shoulders. It really was cold.....He turned around, searching the ground for his footprints-but they had been covered up by snow. He searched for the lights of the mansion, but the trees of the woods blocked his sight. He wasn't sure where he was....

The young pilot shivered and started walking in the direction that he thought led back home. It was getting really cold out and the wetness of the snow had seeped through his clothing, chilling him further.

His teath started chatting and Quatre shoved his hands under his arms pits to keep them warm. The snow didn't seem quite so pretty just then.....

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Trowa anxiously checked his watch. It was nearly seven. It was completely dark outside and he was worried as hell 'bout Quatre. He was pacing by the front door, opening it to look outside every few minutes. It was obvious, now, that his instinct to worry had been well in place.

Heero had tried to cheer him up while he ate, but failing to do so, had retreated upstairs once again, to converse with Wufei about the situation. Duo had come down, bleary-eyed from so much game playing, about a half hour ago, searching for coffee and something to eat. When Trowa told him that Quatre was still out there, Duo opted to stay with Trowa-though he wasn't much of a help.

"This is rediculous," Trowa sighed, staling out of the hallway to the closet where his coat was hanging. "Quatre's outside and I refuse to sit around any longer."

"Wait," Duo protested, standing up, donut crumbs falling from his lap as he did. "You can't go out there," But Trowa was already pulling his long winter coat on. "It's too dark and cold and you'll get lost too." Trowa ignored the unexpected voice of reason and pulled on his boots.

Duo watched him a moment longer, then sighed and reached for his own coat. "Okay, heres the deal-we aren't going into the forest, otherwise I'll get Heero down here to blow a hole through your foot so you can't walk anymore."

Trowa looked at Duo and said nothing, but Duo took that to be an answer as he grabbed a pair of gloves rightfully belonging to Wufei (apparently, the need for glaved didn't make him a "weakling", as Duo would have thought).

Together, the two gundam pilots went out the door and into the vast lawn covered in waist high snow. The snow was stilling falling, making it nearly impossible to see what they were looking for, dispite the house lights. Slwoly, they started wading through the snow, calling out Quatre's name as they went.

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Quatre gasped as he broke free of the forest-he'd had no idea how much the trees sheltered the ground from the snow! In the forest, the snow went to his knees at the highest-and that he'd been having trouble walking through, but here, he'd be lucky to swim through it! Maybe it was strong enough to support his weight...

The slim boy tried climbing atop the high snow that covered the world, but only sank through it's powdery wetness. It would be slow going....

"Quatre!!!"

What was that? Did he just hear his name? Quatre blinked into the snow, holding on icy hand over his eyes to keep the flakes that were still falling from obstructing his vision further. It could be his imagination, but there seemed to be a faint light in front of him....

With renewed vigour (though not too much of it-he was tired and freezing cold), the pilot started making his way further, panting with the effort. The snow made it nearly impossible to get anywhere, but the thought of returning to the warmth of the mansion-and Trowa-kept him goin.

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"Quatre!" Trowa called again, squinting as he scanned the yard for his lover. He and Duo had decided to split up, so as to cover more ground, but the snow made it so difficult! "Quatre!" He yelled again.

His eys roamed carefully looking for anything, a shadow, wome movement, anything that could be Quatre. "Quatre!" His voice was almost a whine this time. Where was he?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Trowa?" Quatre croaked, struggling through drifts of snow towards the faint lights. "Trowa?" He could have sworn he'd heard Trowa's voice.....

"Quatre!" A slim shadow was coming towards him, moving slowly through the snow, just as he was. "Quatre!" The familiar voice exclaimed again, and then gloved hands were on his arms half holding him up. He was tired....

"Duo, I found him!" Trowa called over his shoulder, as he engulfed Quatre in a quick hug. Quatre continued to shiver alarmingly as Trowa half-supported him back to the mansion-which was close by, but mostly obscured by the snow.

Duo met them near the door, and wrapped Quatre's free arm around his shoulder so that he and Trowa could help the pilot inside. "Quatre, that was a really stupid thing to do," Duo scoled the blond boy as they made their way in the door, shutting it behind them. "Don't you know that it is possbile to freeze to death? You shouldn't-"

"Baka!" Duo was interupted by Heero, who came storming into the entrance way, Wufei not far behind him. "Quatre baka! Hanshihanshou, amata baka! Amata-"

Trowa held up a hand. "Hold on guys, I want to get Quatre upstairs. You can bitch him in the morning." Both Heero and Duo hesitated, and Wufei opened his mouth as though to say something, but Trowa gave them all a commanding look worthy of anyone else, and they fell silent while Trowa carried his lover up to their room.

Trowa undressed Quatre, who was till shivering and so tired that he could barely do things himself, and helped him into warm clothes. Almost as soon as Quatre was in bad, heavy blankets wrapped around his thin form, the young man was asleep.

Trowa sat beside the bed, contemplating what nearly happened and what they had so narrowly avoided.





Um, yeah.....See? Don't know what it is. It was orignially gonna be a humor story )oh the horrors of being stranded together!) but it didn't really turn out that way. ::shrugs:: I'm thinking of continuing it, but Goddess only knows. Constructive critisizem is most welcome, but I'd appreciate it if people didn't flame this. thanks.