Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

onpeitou: I'm sadly already catching up to everything I already had pre-written before I started posting, and having some trouble getting through the next bits. (Largely because I already thought up how Hell works but not so much about Heaven, so I'm trying to work that out still). So unless I get a better burst of inspiration than my lazy muse has been giving me, updates may start slowing down around chapter 15 or so. Not sure, but I thought I'd give the warning. And what the hey, if anyone has things they'd like to see happen, feel free to say so - it may give me ideas to throw in after all!

Much luffles again to snowdragon ::offer pocky:: As for Quatre, they are symtoms of something but you'll see what in a few more chapters n.n

Apocryphal Reality: Another Secret

The petit blonde didn't spend very much time at the library, or at least not so much as he seemed to have planned. The sky wasn't even dark enough to be considered evening when he exited the building and began his trek home. He remained quiet and withdrawn as he walked along the semi-crowded streets, eyes cloudy and distracted and a faint frown marring the innocent beauty of his face. Duo half-worried that he would walk into oncoming traffic without noticing and was sure to keep a close eye on the depressed looking boy. Heero, also, seemed to watch Quatre with sharp, calculating eyes as they walked. As with earlier in the day, the journey home was made in silence, on the parts of both living and nonliving.

Duo tried to focus on simply watching for danger to Quatre and to not think on anything else. Not Quatre and Heero's strange behavior, not Trowa's unexpected involvement, not his confusion, and most definitely not his feelings on the matters, shoving it all to the back of his mind where it could be adamantly ignored and then forgotten. Another glance at the blonde, after quickly scanning the vicinity for any possible danger, made something in his gut feel suddenly heavy. The closer he looked, the heavier the feeling became.

Quatre was walking quickly but his feet moved in a shuffling, weighted kind of way that would not be so out of place on most other people, but on the cheerful boy it was mildly distressing to see. Moreover, he walked with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, aquamarine eyes focused fixedly on the concrete a small distance before his feet. His shoulders were hunched tightly, so much so that Duo could almost imagine angry red lines of stress screaming across his back; he looked as though he were expecting pain to come at any moment. Duo frowned and thought desperately for what the cause might be. All for naught, he could come up with no explanation.

By the time the trio reached the young Winner household, Duo himself felt tense and stressed. Between Quatre's exceedingly odd behavior and the strained silence stretched between himself and the angel, only pride and vanity kept Duo from screaming and tearing at his hair. Good thing it's in a braid or the temptation would probably get to me, was his bitter thought as he climbed the couple steps and followed his charge into the manor-like home. The lack of lights surprised him out of his thoughts, much the same way as it seemed to have Quatre. The blonde was slowly putting his keys away in his satchel, eyes wide and still, no doubt waiting to acclimate to the new darkness. To this other side, Heero's wings were about the only easily visible thing in the hall. Duo's own devil's eyes did not have to adjust much, as he was sure Heero's didn't either, so after a moment he just stood, waiting for Quatre to make a move of some sort.

"Onee-san?" Quatre called lightly, turning on a small light, blinking his eyes rapidly as his eyes once again readjusted, and slipping off his shoes before continuing further into the hall. His hands placed themselves harmlessly around the strap of his bag "Iria?" he called again when no answer was forthcoming. Duo heard nothing but the vague sounds of a tv coming from the family room. As they walked, Quatre seemed to pick up on the sounds because after a few moments he smiled gently and walked with sure steps towards the direction of the sound. "'nee-san, I'm home. I'm not feeling too well so I –" Whatever else the blonde had intended to say died on his tongue as he rounded the corner. Standing where he was behind the youth, Duo could not see what it was that froze the boy where he stood.

"Quatre!" Iria's gentle voice, sounding suspiciously like a yelp of surprise, broke the tranquility that had permeated the house moments before. Another voice, much quieter, followed but Duo could not make out the words. "What are you doing home so early? I wasn't expecting you 'til later!" Iria's voice was somewhat quieter but still relatively loud, sounding strangely panicked and accusatory.

"I –" Quatre began, but seemed unable to finish whatever it was he planned to say, if he even knew what he was going to say in the first place. By the thick tension suddenly filling the area, Duo wouldn't have been surprised find Quatre in a mild state of shock. Curiosity getting the better of him, Duo edged his way past Quatre into the room, his chest just barely gliding through the boy's arm. Body tense and already trembling, Quatre shivered and pulled his left arm up to clutch at his right tightly where Duo had passed him. "I…I –" he stuttered but nothing seemed to come out, all coherency lost.

Duo numbly noticed that Heero was now standing near him in the room, but he was staring, wide-eyed and shocked, at the scene unfolding before him. It wasn't particularly difficult to guess just what it was his charge had walked in on. Iria was lying along the length of the couch, head and shoulders supported by several couch pillows propped against the armrest. On the couch with her was the pair's dear family friend, Catherine, laying practically on top of the other woman, arms around each other and legs intertwined. Judging by the fact that several of the buttons on Iria's blouse were undone and Catherine's shirt had ridden considerably far up her midriff, not to mention the rather unsubtle placement of some hands, the scene was all too clear. Though, the dark kiss-bruised lips and almost equally dark flushes staining their faces was possibly even more obvious that the two were considerably more than just best friends.

Iria moved to sit up, opening her mouth to speak, but it was the wrong move. Quatre stumbled back, turned, and ran away. The two women seemed stunned, frozen in place. Without waiting for them to come to their senses Duo bolted out of the room with Heero beside him and together they raced silently after the blonde boy until they reached his room just before the door slammed closed behind their tightly-furled wings. Prussian and cobalt settled silently on the shuddering body curled up on the cold bed, comforter giving way beneath the boy's light weight. The quiet sound of stifled sobs was the only sound within the room's walls. The devil was torn, his instinct screamed to offer comfort but his common sense warned him from interfering outside of a test – not to mention the fact he couldn't exactly give the boy a shoulder to cry on. The option was taken away from him as a soft knock sounded on the bedroom door a scant minute later. Not waiting for a response, the door clicked open slowly and the dusky blonde head of the elder lady Winner peeked inside, followed closely by her body.

"Quatre?" The voice was soft, hesitant, worry written clearly across the round face. "Kitty-Quat? Can I come in?" A sniffle was her only reply.

Pretty useless question, Duo thought with a purely mental snort, seeing as how you're already in the room. As she edged her way closer into the room, the devil stepped to the side until he was standing next to the rigid angel so that the woman wouldn't walk through him. Catherine, he noticed, was standing in the doorway, looking very unsure of herself. For a moment neither woman moved, and then Iria continued forward, seating herself on the edge of the bed and draping herself over the huddled blonde in an attempt to hug the smaller body. The boy's cries were heartrending and Duo curled both arms and wings about himself as he endured the scene. I'm sorry Trowa… I'm so sorry he ever has to endure this kind of pain.

"I'm sorry," Iria said over the cries, oddly echoing the devil's own thoughts. "I'm so sorry kitty. Please don't cry. Please. I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen, I never meant to hurt you. Please please don't cry." On and on for several minutes the elder sister continued to apologize and beg Quatre to stop crying while his broken sobs filled the room and out even through the house until every space was permeated with the sorrow. The few minutes it took for the boy to begin to calm felt like a minor eternity and both Duo and Heero who waited in silent respect until the blonde youth finally hiccupped, struggled beneath his sister's weight and moved into an awkward sitting position. The aqua eyes were bloodshot and puffy as he stared frankly at his sister.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he murmured, voice hoarse and thick from tears. He opened his mouth for a second as though to say more before clamping his jaw shut tightly and scrubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. Iria hesitated, and Duo would've been willing to bet that she was biting her lip indecisively, as she stared at her brother and dropped her now unoccupied hands into her lap. A quick glance to the doorway showed Catherine clutching the doorframe, half hiding behind it but stubbornly staying inside, even though her pained expression made it clear she'd rather run – whether away or into the room to comfort the siblings, Duo wasn't quite sure. Quatre sniffled on the bed, trying to regain control, and stared at his sister as he waited for the answer his watery ocean eyes demanded.

"I…" the elder Winner faltered, hands twitching idly and she lowered her gaze to stare at where they rested in her lap. "I was afraid to tell you." Iria admitted finally in a quiet, somewhat shameful voice. "I was afraid of what you'd think, how you'd react. You're everything to me little brother, but she… I don't think I could bear it if you didn't approve. I was afraid, and I just didn't know how to tell you. The time never seemed right. I'm so sorry, I should have told you. It shouldn't have happened this way." Her babble slowly began to die off as the shade of imminent tears began to color her voice. Quatre sat, immobile except to occasionally wipe away the stubborn tears that continued to fall. As far as the devil could tell, he didn't spare so much as a glance to the woman fidgeting in the doorway.

"How long?" Iria's head lifted once more at Quatre's choked question. If Duo was any judge of body language, she seemed even more uncomfortable as she hesitated once more.

"Eight months," she answered at last, "almost nine." She might have said more, but Quatre's eyes widened at the admission and a fresh set of tears fell unheeded down his cheeks.

"That's…"

His sister moved forward a little, made as though to touch him and pulled back with visible effort. "Not long after he… We were all upset kitty, you know that, and she was alone. I had to be there for her. For you, too. But she needed me and… I don't know exactly what happened. Something changed and we've been together since." Now she leaned forward, hands bracing her weight on the bed in front of her knees. "I swear I meant to tell you Quatre, I never wanted things to turn out like this, I never wanted to hurt you. Please believe me. I–"

"I do," the blonde interrupted before his sister could fall into another apologetic cycle. He brushed tears away again in another useless gesture as the saline continued to fall. "It's just," he stopped, hiccupped and met the elder sibling's eyes with a heart-wrenchingly sad expression, "It's just I miss him so much. Seeing you two, it reminded me… made me think…" he lowered his eyes and brushed the tears away with another hiccup. When he looked up again, his eyes went finally to the woman in the doorway, "I miss him."

Catherine sniffed, tears also slipping down her cheeks as she nodded sadly, "Me too," she whispered, barely audible. Then Quatre slipped back into his sobs, reaching forward to clutch at his sister with one last look at the other woman standing by the door. As Iria wrapped her arms around the slender form across her lap, Catherine hesitantly took the invitation that was offered and crawled carefully onto the bed, wrapping her arms around the two siblings – both of which shifted to hold her and include her in the embrace.

Duo continued to stand passively across the room with the angel standing closely to his side. For a long while he remained that way, silent and immobile for measures long past what most thought him capable of enduring, watching over the three bodies heaped in a tangled mass of mourning. He didn't even move to touch the silent tears that trickled slowly down his pale cheeks until they were swallowed by fabric around his neck.


konpeitou: Please review? I can take constuctive criticism too ::tries to subdue lazy muse for some more writing::