Okay, things didn't exactly pull together, did they? Well for all you Quatre fans… more to come. Still I hope this fic is good enough to get some more reviews. I've decided to finish this one before finishing my other Gundam W ones. Any objections? Not that I have and fans… just Windy, thanx windy, love ya. Oh, and I don own Gundam Wing.

Just one other thing! To make up for how long i didn't post, this chapter is really long. ^.^

"So, let me get this straight… Aldaarania is a world… without tea?" Relena asked, "And I'm a slave?"
Quatre pops up, "No tea?" he added, "That's barbaric!"
"Injustice!" -Wufei
"I agree," Relena said, "Slavery is horrible."
"No tea…" Wufei said disdainfully to Quatre, "It's a shame, no green tea either?" He asked MaraJadeblu.
"Um… Relena, I think they're talking bout the tea. And I know, it's a pity, but no green tea either."
Wufei: :pout:
Relena: :glare:


Dragon Wars part 7


Quatre looked at her with shock and disbelief, she didn't, couldn't expect him to take her seriously, "I'm no mage," he said with a hint of panicked amusement; she was holding a dagger to his throat after all. Yes, he thought to himself, that's why my heart's going a mile a minute.
Claudine showed no amusement at all in contrast, she narrowed her eyes and looked ready to spit. "Don't bother arguing with me about it, I *know* you are a mage," she growled at him.
Quatre gave up being polite, "That's impossible, because I'm not," he answered defiantly.
Claudine glared at him, she loved to argue, especially when she knew she was right but his blind determination was annoying. "You are too."
"I am not," Quatre stated shortly.
"Are too," she answered, a little shocked that he would continue the argument when they both knew she was right.
"I am not," Quatre glared at her, who does she think she is?
"Are too," Claudine answered with a little more anger, what a waste of time, why does he even bother? Who does he think he is?
"Am not," Quatre stated with less disbelief and more of a childish lilt.
"Are too," Claudine stopped crouching in a ready stance and put one hand on her hip, the other hand still holding the dagger close to Quatre's throat.
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Am not," Quatre said louder.
"Are too," Claudine said loudly, with an impatient and childish edge.
"Am not."
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"I. Am. Not."
"You. Are. Too."
"Am not!!"
Claudine lost all patience, "Why are you even arguing?! I can see your aura! I know!" She eyed him wildly, throwing up one of her hands in an exasperated gesture.
Quatre paused and let that sink in, he wasn't a mage… but if she could see his aura then… "You can see my aura?" He asked slowly.
She looked at him angrily, "Yes! That's what I've been saying! I know- oh crap." She lifted her free hand up to cover her mouth. "You didn't hear that," said her muffled voice.
"So…" Quatre pieced together, "If, and that's only and IF, I am a mage, and you can see my aura that means that you must be… another mage?!" He took a step back. Quatre had never been in the presence of a mage; they were all dead.
"No!" Claudine yelled haughtily, "I'm NOT a mage," she made a sound of disregard. She rolled her eyes then realized she had made another mistake, "Oh man…" she said to herself.
Quatre's eyes widened, "Not a mage," he looked at the girl who had begun to yell at herself about how stupid that was silently and whipped up her head at the sound of his voice, "Any magickal creature, not just mages, can sense the aura of another magickal creature." He looked over her again, and she returned a worried glance.
Damn, he's figuring it out! Claudine lunged toward him and closed the gap to his throat to distract him, but she knew it wouldn't last long.
Her skin color was like none other that Quatre had seen, there were the light, and the very dark but he had never seen her welcoming tan color before in a human. There were nymphs… but nymphs never had that color, they were blue, green, dark brown, sometimes pale peach but never tan. Dwarves didn't look like that either; besides, she was much too short to be a dwarf, too thin as well… and Dwarves were not creatures of magick.
"You!" He pointed at her, she glared at him in annoyance that he had figured it out, "You're… an elf?" He glanced at her ears, they were only slightly pointy, but not enough to be noticeable, her eyes were almond shaped, but a lot of humans had that feature.
She glared at him and then turned away, wistfully saying, "Half-Elf, no… more than that, mostly Elf." She looked back at him proudly.
He tilted his head to one side cutely and looked at her closer. From one side, then another. She glared at him with half lidded eyes, after he continued to look at her like some strange lump of mass she got more than a little annoyed, "Will you stop that?!" For more of an effect she reminded him that she had a sharp piece of steel pressed to one of his most vital vessels.
He backed off immediately, "I'm so sorry, I've just never seen one," he squinted at her in the dark of the alley.
"Oi, quit it," she reached up and put her hand across his eyes, blocking his vision effectively. He was so surprised that he was still until there was no need to panic. Well, except the fact that Claudine was being way too casual with the dagger that held his life.
She sighed and looked to the side thoughtfully, enjoying the moment, "Now, mage, my question-"
"I'm not a-"
She twirled the dagger a little and growled out, "MY question…" through gritted teeth.
Quatre gulped, "All ears…"
She took a deep breath, finally expecting an answer, "Who are you?"
Quatre paused, thinking about the answer that would best please her but still sticking to the truth. He had read in his studies that Elves could tell when someone was lying. Slowly he annunciated, as his throat moved the dagger grazed it as a reminder, "Quatre Rebarba Winner."
Claudine's eyes snapped open, then she blinked. She let go of his face and switched her hold to Quatre's collar to yank him close enough that their noses almost touched. She searched through his eyes for the truth; it was not one of her best-developed skills. She wasn't sure what truth looked like, actually, but she found no lies, which was good enough. In one fluid movement she pulled the dagger away from Quatre and thrust him back for the first time.
Quatre staggered and regained his balance, then found room in the cramped alley to put his hands on his knees and breath heavily, he muttered to himself, "Scary," in between pants.
Claudine sheathed her dagger quickly and thought hard, after a moment she looked back to the boy, who she had basically just tortured for information, and felt a little guilty. He was just so nice. But then she looked up in shock and amazement, wondering out loud, "Winner's boy is a mage…"
Quatre stood at this and faced her once again, he realized that she really did not want to hurt him but he didn't understand. That was okay for him, he still had a smile on his face because whatever this girl was, he was sure that they weren't enemies. "I'm still not a mage," he said in a friendly manner.
"I still see your aura," Claudine said amiably.
They paused looking at each other, and then smiles started to spread across their faces. It didn't matter anymore about who was actually right. Slowly they both snickered, and then broke out into relieved laughter at their childishness. Claudine had leaned against the wall for support; it was just so funny that a scene, so serious that they were both still unclenching muscles from, was interrupted by their childish quarrel.
As he was laughing, Quatre winced and brought his hand up to his throat, which was bleeding slightly. Claudine's eyes shot open, "Oh! I'm really sorry!" She walked over to him and looked at the wound. After a second she pulled out a clean cloth from her pocket and dabbed at the blood on his neck.
He winced again, "Really, it's okay. I ran into you first. Sorry about that."
When she was done she looked back at him and pocketed the cloth, "Sorry," she repeated. They looked each other in the eyes for a moment; Claudine seemed to be considering something. After the pause, with the two only inches apart, Claudine sighed. "You're Winner's son, and you want to know the people's opinion about allying with Zodiac? I see why you didn't need to attend the meeting, you could just ask your father."
Quatre simply nodded.
Claudine casually walked passed Quatre in the narrow alley into the open once again. She beckoned him to follow. "Then, I have something important to show you." She began to walk down the sub-ally away from the fountain into another alley; bare of people, and not nearly as narrow.
Quatre smiled thankfully and followed, the pain in his neck diminishing. "Thank you, I guess I got lucky." He followed his new friend at a trot.
"I don't know what kind of luck you have, meeting me like this." Claudine stopped in front of an old building with chipping orange paint, and steps leading to the cellar entrance. There was a sliding peep space that was closed near the top. Claudine looked around casually and tapped the door in a specific rhythm. Given the clue, Quatre attempted to look casual.
The smaller door slid open and eyes looked up at Claudine, who still looked away. "Claudine," a gruff voice said surprisingly quietly, "Even though I know you, you know the drill. Pass?" The man had creepy orange eyes that looked dirty enough to match the chipped paint.
"Goblins feet taste great with olive oil," Claudine smirked at the wall opposite her, then turned her eyes to Quatre, "Doncha think?" She grinned. Quatre smiled politely and tried not to laugh; he was being casual. Casual.
"Who's the brat?" Casual, Quatre thought, he willed himself not to turn and face the man who insulted him angrily.
"Watch you're mouth, Daisy, he's with me." Claudine backed up just enough for the door to open and raised an eyebrow at Quatre.
Quatre followed but looked at her questionably and mumbled, "Daisy?"
As they headed inside Claudine chuckled, "It's a nickname, hi daisy!" She waved at a tall, wide, extremely muscular man. He had bushy black hair and a beard on his square chin. On his head was a red cap. Plates of armor and the two swords strapped to his hip covered his clothes. 'Daisy' tipped his head to Claudine and glared at Quatre, who bowed slightly.
(Always bow to the guy with the weapons.)
Daisy shook his finger in front of Claudine's face and tsked, "Uh uh uh. You know the deal, check the weapons. All of them." He held out his hand. The light was dimmer but Quatre could see behind him a pile of weapons as well as racks on the walls, full of weapons.
Quatre gulped and pointed, "Carried weapons are forbidden by the council…"
"Nothing done here is allowed by the council," Daisy said absently. Daisy saw that he wasn't giving any weapons and began to pat him down. Quatre's eyes widened to the point of being as round as saucers. He was not expecting that at all. "Clean," Daisy stated. He tapped Quatre's head with just enough force to push him forward.
"I could have told you that," Quatre muttered, feeling more than a little insulted.
"Sorry, I forgot," Claudine said cheerfully before pulling out five other concealed weapons that he swore couldn't have possible been concealed, there wasn't enough room, and handing them to Daisy. She leaned toward Quatre and whispered, "Trick is to bring at least one good weapon, so that they don't search you." She mock saluted to Daisy and continued on, next to Quatre.
They were in a tavern environment. Dim cup shaped lights hung from the ceiling. To the right was a bar, filled with drinks of every kind on the walls, with glowing signs with, Quatre blushed, girls on them. The bar was packed to the brim, every stool filled, both bartenders busy. Drinking was not allowed by the council in public. Liquor was not supposed to drunk in the place it was bought, only in the home. "I see what he meant by nothing done here is allowed…"
"You ain't seen nothing yet." They continued walking. Quatre avoided bumping into the irritated drunk men and barmaids. There were half-walls separating booths that created a cubical maze, which Claudine was easily navigating. They were heading to the back of the tavern. Quatre briefly wondered why this girl was always leading him somewhere dark…
"Excuse me," Quatre began saying every five seconds as their slow course led them closer to the bar and to a small corner that was made of stone, not wood, with spiraling downward steps. They reached the stairway and started to head down. Through the course of the trip Quatre had once again fallen a few steps behind Claudine.
His curiosity fueled him to follow her. He wondered what was so well hidden, so important, that Claudine was letting him see it? Her boots made a clacking noise down the stairs, but that was their only conversation. None.
After doing a few full circles on the curving staircase they finally came to the end, where the steps flattened out to dirt and the light suddenly became a lot dimmer. From inside the darkened area Quatre could hear the clanging of metal and the sound of authoritative voices distributing orders. He squinted against the darkness and briefly wondered what it was he was about to shown.
They stepped into what was a large cavern, hand dug underneath the bar he had just visited. Around him on the walls hundreds of weapons hung of all sorts. One section had a variety of axes; another held swords. In addition there were spears, bows and arrows and various specialized weapons.
The cavern was lit by torches every 5 meters or so. They hung on the walls above the weapons, which is why he looked there first. Not only were the walls covered in weapons, but also there were troops of people in the center of the cavern lined up in an orderly fashion. They, he realized, were being trained in what appeared to be a sort of hand-to-hand combat. There weren't as many people as there were weapons though.
In another corner across the entrance where he was there was a table with busy looking men hovering over it. Behind that, practically hidden in the shadows was a small group of guards armed with armor and spears. Quatre couldn't help but wonder what they were guarding and felt drawn towards it, to find out what it was. Involuntarily he took a step forward in that direction.
Claudine looked at Quatre questioningly and then with doubt, "I'm surprised, I thought you'd freak out much more than this."
The sound of her voice brought Quatre back to reality. This place, where he was, shouldn't by any means be there. It certainly wasn't the poorly developed army Cuatrica held… since Heero Yuy was very influential in this state; that only left the option of a revolutionary group in a country sworn for pacifism. It didn't seem right. He took about three seconds to fully realize that these things went against everything his father stood for… everything his country was supposed to be until, as Claudine predicted, he freaked.
"What in the world is this?!" He yelled after he spun to face Claudine. His voice echoes off the dirt walls of the cavern, which gave it a musty, soil-like smell. "Why are there weapons and troops here? In Cuatrica?" He got in her face immediately, which was a big mistake.
"Hey! Don't get into my face like that!" she yelled back, "You don't understand what's going on!"
"No, you're right, I don't get it, what is going on?" He took a step back when he realized he had actually kind of hurt her feelings.
She flipped her hair to the other side of her neck and sighed in the corner of her mouth. "We're here to protect Cuatrica from Zodiac. We would worried they would try and take us over with military force... but now their using politics." She made a sound of disgust, "So when they send in their troops to keep control, we plan on leading a revolution."
Quatre furrowed his brow, "Revolution?" Is that right? A revolution in Cuatrica… it would be very destructive-
"The people want it: we estimate up to forty percent of the population of Cuatrica, and that's not counting those that would join of their own accord." She crossed her arms and turned away from him breathing in deeply of the earthy smell and surveying her life. She closed her eyes sadly, why are there so many weapons in my life? At that she smiled and turned back to find Quatre deep in thought of his own.
He was a bit surprised at how the public was so willing for the revolution, all his memories of his hometown were peaceful, full of baskets of flowers, children playing, and his sisters singing together in a choir of relaxing serenity. However, this news brought him joy as well as regret. I traveled all the way south, risked my life, and worried my family for nothing. Everything I wanted to fight for was right here… in my hometown… handed to me on a platter… like everything else… His resolve reaffirmed, convinced that going off was perhaps the right thing to do… so he would have the courage to do what he was about to do.
"I want to join." He looked at Claudine with new eyes. She noticed that they looked a little more like an adult, at least to her. At first she had seen him as somewhat a child, adorable, untainted, until she realized he was a mage. Knowing that fact caused her to expect this from him, at the very least. That's why she had brought him down there.
She simply gave him a knowing look and said, "Alright, now I can tell you're serious. So cut the facade, show me your power."
He looked at her. His surprise and anger was completely gone. Now he had accepted he was a mage, but hadn't known it. It was a sad realization that his father had hidden it from him, but not surprising, and not something he was particularly proud of. A sad, confused smile appeared on his face, "I really don't know."
He didn't have to say it, Claudine could tell by the look on his face. She put her hand up to her chin to show she was thinking theatrically. "Can you use any weapons?"
Quatre looked around, he had participated in fencing for several years, but only as a sport and there were no fencing foils to be had in the underground stronghold. He shook his head, "Not really."
Claudine sighed, "Then I can't let you fight, you'd be killed."
"Then teach me," he asked simply yet in a demanding way.
She glared at him slightly, but smiled brightly. "Alright," she looked him up and down with her hand on her chin once again, "for you… something light."
Quatre blushed.
"That requires skill, good eyes… strength… and is compatible with magickal ability to give you an edge." She winked, then furrowed her brow, then smiled again, triumphantly. "I got it! A bow!" She grabbed his wrist and dragged him across the room, closer to the dark area that was guarded. As they neared the bows on the wall just next to there the light flowed far enough to allow him to see a sliver of what was hidden.
He saw a glimmer of metal he had never seen before. It was huge and seemed impossible to conceive. He stopped in his tracks so suddenly Claudine lost her grip on his wrist. She turned to see what he was strarng at, and was not surprised in the least. "Oh, that," she sounded a little pissed. She sighed and led him closer so he could see more. She had to lead him because he was staring in awe.
"What is it?" he asked with wonder. Now he could see the complete size of it. It was like nothing he had ever seen. Like a huge creation of armor and it almost looked like a humanoid, kneeling before its spectator. The colors were comforting, white, and dark like shields, and sand. It was beautiful to him, even if he didn't understand why.
Claudine tapped her foot, trying to expel her urge to kick it, "It's a Dragon. It was used in the War of All against living Dragons… and they won too. That's how powerful the things were… are… refuse to be." She glared at the Dragon again.
"Wow," was all Quatre could get out.
Claudine crossed her arms and sighed angrily, "Yes, that was my initial reaction as well. Problem is, I cant get the thing to work," she stuck her tongue out at the machine then turned away and muttered, "If I had we would have attacked already."
It took Quatre a moment to realize what she said, "Attacked? I thought you were a defense group!" He turned to her angrily.They took a war where it didn't belong, they're going to start a war in my country!
Claudine looked at him stonily and didn't look away or blink. He could tell she strongly believed in what she was doing but now hw had to wonder, Are my people really eager to revolt, of has this group forced it upon them? "We have indeed sworn to guard this kingdom, however, we are actually a part of the South Republic military. We are a resistance group."
Quatre stared at her silently for a moment. She wasn't hiding, or trying to hide anything from him. "You're part of S.R.?" he asked bluntly.
"That is where we get our weapons and supplies." She gestured to the rest of the cavern, lined with weapons. The gesture also implied that she withheld nothing.
Quatre, after understanding that he had not been betrayed, became hopeful, "Are there other resistance groups everywhere?!" He smiled and stepped closer to Claudine.
The tension had passed and Claudine smiled at his enthusiasm, "Only where there is initial resistance. Because of the Winner family's own resistance to Zodiac it has allowed us to become one of the strongest." Quatre was about to say something about how his father would never allow this willingly when, "Also because of the Winner family's pacifistic ideas it has become hard to make allies within the state who neither deal with your father or with Zodiac." She sighed and looked back to the Dragon. She then suddenly remembered that she was supposed to get Quatre a bow and disappeared briefly as Quatre continued to stare at the Dragon.
He heard her call him from around the bend near the bows and he turned to go to her when he heard a noise like a great rumble in his head that made him stop. Slowly and curiously he turned back to look at the Dragon's 'face'. He stared for what seemed like minutes but nothing happened. Thinking that it was just his imagination his body moved to leave even though his eyes met the Dragon's and when his second step hit the earth the Dragon seemed to rock forward and it's eyes glowed with a sudden intensity that the light burned Quatre's eyes yet he could not look away.
"Ah!" Quatre jumped back and looked away. The cavern receded into darkness once again and everything went dim. For a moment Quatre thought that he had gone blind until he saw Claudine's head pop up from around the corner. He stumbled and stopped walking; deciding instead that waiting for her was best.
"What happened?" Claudine asked. She was alert and tense expecting an attack. When she looked around though, she saw nothing threatening. Only the Dragon, as it always had been. She looked back at Quatre expectantly.
"The Dragon… thing," he gained control of his breath and his nerves, "it came alive, with bright flashing eyes and pierced…" He touched his head, surprisingly to him still intact, and trailed off.
Claudine held back a smart-ass remark about Quatre's insanity and looked doubtingly at the Dragon, not at him. "That thing hasn't moved in all the time we've seen it. Why would it react to you?" she asked him directly as if he would know.
He shrugged, "It doesn't make sense to me either." He refrained from looking at the Dragon once again although he had a strange compulsion to do so. "Well, if you can teach me how to use a bow and arrow I would be very grateful." He smiled kindly at her and turned to leave the area, this time in peace. Claudine followed swiftly but not without glancing back at the Dragon.

So began Quatre's training. He did not yet attempt the battle of magick but only learned small tips that would help him apply his abilities to the use of the bow. Little by little it became more apparent to him that he was indeed a mage although his lineage was a mystery to him. As it stood, Claudine knew more about the use of offensive magick than he did by far although usually elves are healers an have powers of prophesies.
That actually turned out to be more of Quatre's area.
The first time he actively discovered a powerful magick on his own was in the use of healing. He and Claudine had been practicing basic swordplay, partly for fun, when he made a sweep at her shoulder that would have cut off her arm if used with enough force. Quatre did not yet have that ability anyway, but he would have severed her muscles if she had not blocked and slid in towards him. She could have blocked and flung his unstable arm out to give him a deadly wound but she was by far the better swordsman and it was her job to keep herself from getting hurt, as well as not hurting Quatre. Because she slid into the blow it did graze her arm and drew a shallow slash below her bicep. They disengaged immediately.
"Ow!" Claudine held her arm out to examine the laceration. As a half elf she was in no danger, the wound would soon heal but Quatre freaked out none the less.
"I'm so sorry! I'm terribly sorry! What a low move that was of me, let me get something to tie that with!" He looked around frantically while in the background Claudine asked him to calm down. When the blood seeped out of the wound and started to trace a line down her arm Quatre could take it no longer. He gently grasped Claudine's wrist and turned the wound towards him. Without realizing what he was doing Quatre put his other hand over the wound and closed his eyes tightly. Claudine could swear she heard what sounded like a spell, but that was impossible, since Quatre knew no spells. For a moment her arm burned at the cut and then Quatre took his hand away. The blood remained but the cut was gone.
Claudine did not stare in amazement as Quatre had. She knew exactly what had happened and in a way it frightened her. Quatre knew no spells… she was sure of it, yet as a mage he should only have healing powers through spells or someone to teach him how to use that ability. Claudine was his only teacher and most female elves were healers but she was not most female elves. As a half-elf she did not have a great healing ability and instead relied on her warrior ability. If Quatre could use a healing ability even she did not posses without knowing what he was doing he must have been a very powerful mage indeed, and that scared her.
She trusted Quatre, and they had become quite good friends but the thought of another powerful mage after the civil war was intimidating. Mages were part of the reason that elves no longer dealt with human in general and the relationship between elves, and humans and dwarves went sour. Elves didn't like mages, dwarves weren't fond of them either and humans didn't even like them so it did make her nervous that the student might surpass the teacher… it would also piss her off.
But at the same time she felt happiness and pity for Quatre. She watched as his face flickered the same emotions and fears she had just felt, but I must have been ten times worse for him. It could have been worse; he could have had a really powerful and dangerous destructive power.
She was also happy for him because he had discovered a power inside himself that could serve the cause he had chosen. He could make a difference and change the world. He was the hope, he was the future, and he looked really very displeased with himself.
Quatre stared in horror at his hand; it was trembling a little as thousands of thoughts sailed through his head. Some of those thoughts increased the falling sensation in his gut. The feeling that he was lost and something was terribly wrong and there was nothing he could do. He was a mage, and he had accepted that… But he was also now a danger to those around him. He didn't know how to act accordingly as a mage: their religion was dead. And there was always the superstition that mages were evil at heart and would eventually become more corrupt the more power they obtained… he furrowed his brow. He wanted none of these things!
Claudine felt as if she had to offer some sort of comfort, she thought hard but subtlety was not her strong point. Gently she place a hand over Quatre's. He looked up a little at her before…
She bawled the poor unexpecting boy over with a hug, which could be considered more of a glomp, by those that spoke the slang terms in Aldaraania.
"Ack!" Quatre managed. Claudine took that as a cue that he was comforted. She allowed Quatre to sit up and sat back on her calves. When he looked back at her with amusement and confusion she began speaking. "Look at it this way, you have two choices: use your powers for good, or use your powers selfishly. But think of all the good you can do! You can fight in this war and save the people from corruption, and when the war is over, you can heal people and make up for any mistakes." She said all this in the time of about five seconds.
Quatre smiled warmly at her, feeling much better and she repaid him with a manic grin. Claudine remembered her arm suddenly and glanced at it. The cut no longer hurt and she felt she was ready to continue. "Ready?" She asked.
Quatre nodded and they stood to par once more. "This time, you defend," Claudine said amiably yet suggestively all the same. She prepared to attack and waited until he was fully pulled together. Claudine was much faster than he was usually, being an elf and with years of practice, but this time Quatre seemed significantly more sluggish. Her parry drove him farther off balance and allowed an opening so wide she had to avoid using her sword and chose to see if he could block a kick instead.
Okay, maybe it was partly for revenge… but only partly!!
Quatre took the kick squarely in the stomach and was thrown back a few feet before hitting the ground harshly. Had he been his usual self Claudine was sure he would have at least softened that blow and slowed his fall so that it was less harmful.
He did neither. Claudine actually felt bad about how hard he took it when she heard the sound of his fall. She cringed as she heard a groan emit from the breathless boy. Usually she would not apologize for using violence when taking revenge but this time she knew it was wrong. She was practicing with him at her own risk and had made her own decision to take the cut, "Quatre?" She ran over to him. She really had kicked him far.
She stood over his body and then kneeled by his side, "Can you stand?" Quatre only held his stomach and took deep breaths in reply. She waited a minute for him while apologizing occasionally. When she finally helped him sit up she started to ask what he expected: "Why the hell didn't you dodge that?!"
Quatre smiled while breathing heavily, "Sorry, I'm feeling really tired," he said in between breathes.
Claudine considered this, but he was feeling fine before- oh! She realized that he had used all his energy when he had healed her arm. "It was because of your powers," she said to Quatre.
Quatre needed no explanation, he had guessed that was what it was. I'll have to use them sparingly… Wow, that really, really hurt. He tuned back in to find that Claudine was apologizing one last time. "Really, it's okay. But I think that we should end now," he regarded his stomach.
Claudine nodded, "Okay, so I'll see you for training… tomorrow?" Quatre paused. This had been the first time that him and Claudine had spent time together just to have fun, even if it had been the same thing they did when they 'weren't' having fun. But, he didn't want to part with her and go his separate way back home, just because they were done fighting… He didn't really want to part with her at all.
"Um," his voice stopped Claudine from rising, she thought it was to help him up. Once she had gotten them both gently off the ground she began to say goodbye. "You know," he blurted, "you should come to my house."
Claudine stopped dead for only a second, then yelled, "WHAT?!"
Quatre began to sweat and realized she had misunderstood, "I mean," he felt nervous as she loomed over him threateningly, "I'm inviting you to dinner. You could meet my family!"
"Oh," she stopped looming. Then she laughed nervously. "Sure, I'm free, why not?"


I know that I took a really long time to post chapters 6 and 7 but I had no time over the summer… and the first semester flew by so quickly. I plan on writing more often now, at least for this fic but I also have to relearn lines for a play in march, so have mercy. Reviews really do help me write, if they're nice they make me want to write, sometimes inspire, and if they're constructive criticism that's good too. FISH!