A sister for Christmas
Summary: It's Christmas and seeing all the little kids with parents Trowa is feeling nostalgic and sad. Quatre has a plan; a possibly dangerous plan and is very distracted by it causing no end of confusion.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's.
Trowa smiled sadly as he watched a small boy with hair of similar color to his own hug a tall man and tell him all about what Santa had gotten him. A while down the road there were two identical twin girls skipping happily on either side of a tall woman and talking animatedly. A teen boy across the street yelled at his supposed sister for treating him like a child. Every time he saw happy families he felt a small tug, but during the December month and especially around Christmas that tug seemed to turn into a dull hollow throbbing in his chest. Seeing the happy families all around him and especially seeing all those happy children reminded him of what he never had.
"You miss it?" Quatre asked always quick to notice Trowa's moods.
"Silly isn't it? I miss something I never had…" Trowa murmured quietly.
"Nah, it's normal. You didn't have that, but you wanted to have it." Quatre said quietly. Trowa nodded and smiled at his lover.
"Let's go. You've a lot of shopping to do yet." he said trying to distract his petit lover so he would stop worrying over something that couldn't be fixed. Quatre nodded and dropped the subject.
Quatre knew Trowa missed the family he lost before he was old enough to know what loss meant. He knew that seeing happy families made him long for his own family. Quatre knew that right now he could do little to help Trowa, but he was working on it. Oh yes, he was working on it and hopefully on Christmas day he'd have what he needed. It would be the best gift he could give his lover and with any luck it would also be the best gift for another person as well.
It hadn't been easy to keep Trowa from finding out his little Christmas plan and it'd been even harder not to let Cathy find out, but thanks to the owner of the circus Quatre managed to get his hands on some of Cathy's hair without her or Trowa finding out. Getting hair from Trowa was easy, but making sure he wouldn't find out what Quatre was up to was all the harder. Quatre wanted nothing more than to tell his lover what he was doing, but he knew that the risk was just too big for him to tell Trowa unless he'd gotten it confirmed first. Between meetings and other WEI related business Quatre managed to get in touch with a doctor that would do a DNA cross reference test on the hairs Quatre had collected and give Quatre the results without him needing to bring Trowa or Cathy. The man had listened to Quatre's explanation quite patiently and agreed readily to help when Quatre finished his explanation. It'd be another day still though before the results were in on the matter and Quatre just had to hold out this one more day.
"I have another meeting tomorrow morning love. I should be able to make it home in time for the big Christmas performance though. I can't wait to see you and Cathy perform again." Quatre said as he and Trowa put away the shopping items they'd bought. Trowa just smiled and went to prepare dinner. Quatre felt his heart twinge at this. He hated lying to Trowa, but he couldn't risk Trowa finding out just yet. Not until he had the results and knew for certain if he was right.
OEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
"Trowa? What's wrong? It's Christmas, why the long face?" Cathy asked when she found Trowa staring at his own sad face in the mirror of the grime tent.
"It's nothing really…Quatre had to work today…I…it's nothing." Trowa said quietly. Cathy heard the hesitance in his voice though and saw the flicker of emotion in his one visible eye just before Trowa put on his mask.
"It's not nothing Trowa. I've known you long enough to be able to tell when something bothers you. Now tell your big sis what's wrong." she said calmly sitting down with him and putting on her own make-up for the big show.
"It's just…I feel lonely I guess…and with Quatre so busy…I don't now…it feel like he's being so distant and I guess I miss him a little now he has to work on our big Christmas performance day is all." Trowa said before getting up to give Cathy her space.
Cathy was great and definitely the big sister he never had, but it wasn't fair to bother her with his selfish feelings of loneliness or his insecurities. Quatre had promised after all to return on time for the big show and lately Trowa himself hadn't exactly been good company either always quiet and brooding and it was no wonder that Quatre had become more distant. Trowa shook his head to clear it and headed to the main tent to prepare for his first number.
Cathy shook her head and silently vowed to give Quatre a piece of her mind later on the matter. How dare he ignore her Trowa over work! First though she had the Christmas performance to attend, but after that the blond's ass was toast. She'd make sure he'd never dare hurt Trowa again. Yes she'd see to it that he'd remember that while Trowa didn't have any real relatives he had a sister at the circus who wouldn't shy away from performing amateur plastic surgery on the blond should he hurt Trowa. With that thought firmly in mind she hurried to the main tent knowing she was running late.
OEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
Quatre grunted as he was knocked over by the person exiting the grime tent at the same time as he entered it.
"Ow, oh Catherine! Is Trowa inside or did he already go to the main tent?" Quatre said smiling very brightly at the brunette knife act star.
"He's at the main tent. I have to go there too. I'm already late. Don't leave after the show. I have a bone to pick with you Mister Winner." Cathy said giving Quatre a look that promised pain should he decide to leave early. Quatre blinked confusedly and nodded as he helped Cathy up.
"Of course…I have to wait for Trowa anyways." he said confusedly.
As Cathy ran toward the main tent Quatre scratched his head and looked around himself quickly. It took him no time at all to locate his precious envelope.
'Can't lose this or all my hard work was for naught.' he thought pressing it to his chest before running after Cathy toward the main tent. Once there he found himself a nice spot from where to see the show and forgot all about Cathy's request/threat and the envelope he held in an almost crushing grip. He simply enjoyed the show and watched as his lover handled the wild animals like a true master.
OEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
When the show was over Quatre ran toward the grime tent where he knew Trowa and Cathy would be removing their make-up from the show and putting away their costumes that were kept in the same tent.
"Hey you two. Congratulations on a spectacular performance. Is it me or do you just keep getting better every time I come to watch the shows." he said brightly before kissing Trowa lovingly and giving Cathy a hug.
Cathy waited for her brother to announce that he would tend to the animals before they would head home for the night since he promised Arturo the stable hand that he'd help. Quatre made to follow his lover and stop him from leaving only to be yanked back by Cathy who pinned him to the grime table.
"I'm glad you enjoyed the show, now tell me what is this I hear about you ignoring Trowa?" Cathy said in a dangerously calm voice which had Quatre gulping wide eyed.
"W-what? I didn't…I wouldn't….I….ohhh…he thought…. but I….oh no!" Quatre stammered before it hit him that his attempts not to have Trowa find out his plan could have ended up making Trowa feel like Quatre was avoiding him.
"Quatre honey, use full sentences. I'm a knife thrower not a clairvoyant." Cathy said patiently as she realized there seemed to be some miscommunication.
"I…I might have done something stupid…I didn't want Trowa to find out about my gift for him…but he thought…I have to go find him and…" Quatre began, but Cathy stopped him.
"He'll come back here after tending to the animals. Arturo broke his leg earlier this week and Trowa promised to tend to the animals for tonight's show. Arturo can handle it normally, but during shows the animals need a lot of tending to so we spread Trowa's performances so he had enough time to prep all the animals that had to perform today and still prepare for his own show. Anyways why don't you wait for him here? In the meantime you can tell me what this is all about." Cathy said giving the blond a look that told him that this was no request but an order. Quatre nodded and sank into the chair behind him and stared at the envelope he still held in a strangle hold.
"I noticed long ago that Trowa gets so sad around Christmas. There are other times when he is sad, but during Christmas it seems worse. He looks at all the happy families and…well I know he never knew his and he wishes he had known them. I hate seeing him like that…so last year I decided that seeing him happy was worth possibly getting maimed by you…I…got the circus owner to help me get some of your hair and well getting Trowa's was no problem really. I took it to a doctor who would do the DNA tests no questions asked. That way I wouldn't have to tell Trowa or you just yet because…well if I was wrong about this…I just didn't want to risk you two getting your hopes up for nothing…at any rate. I tried to schedule meetings when I had to see the man so that Trowa wouldn't find out. I was so worried he'd find out before I knew for sure…and I forgot to think about what Trowa might think if I started to work a lot suddenly…I'm such a fool!" Quatre said. Cathy sighed and shook her head.
"You silly boy…if you'd just told me I would've given you the hairs and helped you keep Trowa from finding out. You make things so difficult for yourself by not wanting to hurt us. Blood relation or no Trowa will always be my little brother; he just has to figure that out himself." she said smiling. A noise at the tent entrance had the two turn.
"Quatre? What's this all about? Hairs? Seeing a man? What don't you want me to know?" Trowa asked as he walked over to the shocked two. Quatre stood up quickly and pulled Trowa into a tight embrace.
"It's nothing you need worry about. I just made a crucial mistake and ended up hurting you by trying to avoid hurting you. I'm so sorry for that." Quatre said quietly.
"Quatre please tell me?" Trowa begged quietly.
OEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
Tending to the animals had given Trowa time to calm down. He finished up and told Arturo goodnight before heading back to the grime tent knowing Cathy probably hadn't finished removing the layer of glitters from her face yet. When he returned though he was just in time to hear Quatre talk of visiting a man and his sister of giving Quatre hairs and Trowa being her brother regardless of blood relation. The first had his heart ache painfully and the latter had him confused beyond words and yet touched.
"Quatre? What's this all about? Hairs? Seeing a man? What don't you want me to know?" Trowa asked as he walked over to the shocked two. Quatre stood up quickly and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"It's nothing you need worry about. I just made a crucial mistake and ended up hurting you by trying to avoid hurting you. I'm so sorry for that." Quatre said quietly.
"Quatre please tell me?" Trowa begged quietly.
"Oh Trowa…I know you feel sad about never having had a family and I wanted to do something to make you feel better…I knew fairly certain that I was right, but I had to know for sure and I knew if I was right that it would make you very happy, but if I was wrong…I just couldn't…I wouldn't allow myself to hurt you like that…so I secretly took some of your and Cathy's hair to a doctor who ran the tests for me and well…here." Quatre said realizing he was making no sense and that the best way for his lover to make sense of things was for him to see the contents of the slightly crumpled envelope.
Trowa took the envelope and looked at Quatre as Cathy came to stand next to him.
"Open it dummy." Cathy said nudging him when he didn't move. Trowa slowly opened the envelope and pulled out the two pieces of paper from inside it. He quickly read the first and then looked at the graphics on the second before looking at Quatre uncertain.
"The letter explains about the tests run and the results of the cross matching. The DNA from your and Cathy's hair samples is Identical to a certain extend. Then lower it explains how they categorize it and that number there corresponds with the one here in this list and behind it there's an explanation. Matched first degree. That means you're blood related on the level of first generation; brother and sister. The graphics here are to show you the match and the matching parts have been highlighted." Quatre explained pointing out what he said as Cathy watched the two and patiently waited for her brother to realize what this all meant.
Trowa didn't disappoint he kissed Quatre passionately leaving the blond with a very happy, dazed and goofy grin on his face. He then hugged Cathy; the papers clutched tightly. The feeling of loneliness that had filled his chest for so long had become much less with the knowledge that he had a sister; a family.
Hope you enjoyed it!