Disclaimers: I do not own any of the characters of Harry Potter or Gundam Wing. They all belong to their respective owner and studio, J. K. Rowling and Sunrise. However I claim ownership over a few OC's and any similarities these may have to other works are completely accidental and unintentional from my part.

Summary: HP/GW Crossover. SLASH. No longer a lost and hunted teenager; Harry Potter has grown into a young man attending the University of Cambridge in England. He expects to live out the rest of his life like any other person, peacefully. However that is soon going to change. But will it be for the better or the worse?

Pairings: Harry/Trowa/Harry, Ron/Hermione, OC/OC.

Warnings: Well, first of all there is SLASH in this story so if you don't like that then don't read it.If there's anyone affiliated with Cambridge University I would like to ask in beforehand to not be irritated at any facts I get wrong or misinterpret. Please see it as the free artistic will of a poor author. Nothing explicit or anything of that sort yet. I do beg for forgiveness for any inaccuracies concerning different facts though when it comes to both fandoms.

Author's Note: It's been a while hasn't it? Sorry for the wait but I had some personal things pop up that I had to take care of before even thinking of writing anything. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

I Make my Own Story

Chapter 9

~*~

"We make war that we may live in peace."

Aristotle 384 - 322 BC.

~*~

"Say what?" Replied a stunned Duo after hearing that last sentence coming out of the other's mouth and halted himself in his actions.

Try as he may, he really did want to try, Duo could not bring himself to make a joke out of the lame naming of an enemy (the Dark Lord!) when he saw the raw emotions swirling beneath the tense exterior of the raven haired male. He'd probably do it eventually, all in due time, just not now.

Then again, he thought, wasn't it themselves that actually had somewhat weird names for the Gundams they had during the war? Well, he told himself, his Gundam's name was cool and he'd have anyone's head (preferably on a Gundamium platter) if they dared state the opposite… But back to the present.

"What exactly is, a 'Dark Lord', as you put it?" Wufei asked, eyeing the other and clearly showing by the disdain in his eyes what he thought about the title.

"To sum it all up?" Harry said nonchalantly despite the rigidness in his body. "It's an insane, loony, demented wizard that spent the majority of his life learning the dark arts and how to use it to eradicate all of the muggle born witches and wizards just because he had a bad childhood." The young male carried on in a sarcastic tone, flicking his hand in a dismissive motion.

"Oh, and let's not forget the little prophecy an incompetent and stupid Divination Professor made before my birth about the chosen one that was supposed to defeat this Dark Lord, making said Dark Lord search for and try to kill this chosen one. But he wouldn't have been the chosen one, had he, if he would just up and die right? So his father dies protecting his family, his mother sacrifices herself for her one-year-old child, who somehow survives the infamous killing curse, earning him the name of the Boy-Who-Lived."

He sank into the furniture, burying his face in one hand and the motion ruffled his fringe into an even wilder state than before. He rubbed it furiously against his forehead, eyes clamped shut and awaiting the others reactions.

His small tirade seemed to have put them all in shock. That someone would actually have a similar background like them was astounding, theirs was quite unique, and imagine that they've never even heard of the other and what he had done.

A small dose of pity amongst others feelings surged forward but they knew, as former soldiers of war themselves, that pity wasn't what Harry wanted and neither would he appreciate it. You could sympathize with his background and wonder about the incredulity of it all and be amazed, but pity was seldom appreciated amongst people with their kind of background.

As it was, neither could muster up any condolences; it didn't feel right. It was obvious he didn't enjoy talking about his history and they shared the sentiment.

Giving him time to calm himself down seemed like the most appropriate thing to do at the moment and that's what they did. Eventually the heavy breathing of the other male had calmed down to a more normal one and those emerald eyes opened carefully, staring into his lap and a lone hand tugging at a lose thread of the shirt he was wearing.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Quatre asked carefully, mindful of the obvious distress the other must be feeling when remembering everything.

"Yeah… I'm fine. Just bad memories, that's all. I'll be fine."

The lightly quivering voice was slightly disturbing for even Wufei and Heero, after having witnessed yet another bewildering revelation about their new charge they were beginning to feel less alienated from him than what they had initially felt at their first meeting. Unbelievably enough.

It puzzled them that a person that they had barely gotten to know in a few days could pull them from their usual neutral disposition of outsiders.

That said though, Wufei still thought Harry was a brat (stubborn one isn't he?), if only for his behavior that was painfully similar to his worst nightmare, Duo (how'd you guess?), and it would take him a long while before he got past his pig headedness on that one. At least he were on the right path.

"Sometimes…"

The silence was broken again as the raven haired spoke softly, the tenor of his voice carrying through the air of the room with almost borderline uncomfortable clarity.

"Sometimes I can still hear him laughing with that cold and simply vindictive voice… He might be dead, but I guess I never really got rid of him completely." Harry trailed off in a weak voice.

The others frowned at the statement; thinking back to what Harry had said earlier on.

"How so?"

The rest of the former pilots turned to look at Trowa. The pilot had become so quiet that they were a bit startled at first at hearing the soft spoken male speak. The taller one, on the other hand, had all of his attention focused on the raven haired youth, moss green eyes shining with a hidden spark they had never seen before in their depths.

Harry let his hand fall still in his lap, a quiet sigh slipping past his lips.

"First you have to understand that while magic can seem all powerful; our society isn't that dissimilar from yours when it comes to the simple saying 'the strongest one survives'. Magic works in many different ways and Voldemort, that's what he called himself, had an affinity for the dark arts and was always in the search for immortality."

"Immortality?" Wufei frowned darkly. "Don't tell me there is a way for one to achieve that?"

"There are ways of prolonging your life or keeping you from dying, but mostly all of those involve gruesome acts. A unicorn's blood can keep you from dying even when you're on the brink of death and one wizard actually accomplished to make a stone capable of producing a liquid that when drunk regularly prolonged your life, otherwise known as the philosopher's stone."

"Amazing… just like the legends!" Duo replied awed.

"The third way I know of is when you split your soul into various items and artifacts, even living beings, and as long as even one of those were intact the owner would never really die. The Dark Lord had split his soul into seven separate items and beings. One of those was me, done at the time when he first tried to kill me, though it was accidental."

Quatre looked highly disturbed at the thought of an innocent child, a mere baby, being put through such an ordeal. His complexion became a shade paler.

Trowa tightened his hand against the couch.

They had all been amazed at the knowledge of knowing that magic was real, still were, but it obviously wasn't as sunny as the children's books made it out to be. Harry's past was certainly not sunny, that was for sure.

But, hold on.

"You said you defeated him? However you also said that as long as one item was intact then he wouldn't be able to die." Heero pointed out, looking at Harry with a miniscule frown. The information Harry had given them didn't add up. From what he said, shouldn't he be dead now? But here he was, in the flesh and very much alive.

"I'm not all too sure about what really happened myself," Harry creased his eyebrows together in thought, thinking about how to explain it. "But for Voldemort to die, then I had to die too. That's what I believed and what my deceased headmaster told me, so I let him kill me after we had collected and destroyed all of the other pieces of his soul. All in order to finally being able to end the war."

"Let him kill you? But you're still here...right?" Duo gave him a weird look, his eyes looking him over like he expected Harry to turn into a ghost or something.

Harry chuckled a bit when the long haired pilot reached over and prodded Harry's knee with a finger. Wufei rolled his eyes at the simple action.

"That's what I'm not too sure about. Somehow, I guess, I got a second chance or something according to my headmaster, whom I met while I was 'dead'. Supposedly, I was granted this second chance because I had willingly come to die."

"Whoa, is this difficult to grasp or what." Duo muttered, shaking his head. "Talk about drastic change of perspectives."

Trowa didn't like that thought; the thought of Harry actually having 'died' once and the chance of him never getting to meet the young male. At this point in time, it was hard to imagine how his life would have been without him. He'd told himself this before, but he would make sure that Harry stayed safe from whoever was after them. All the while try and stay friends with him. Yes, he already counted him as a friend, even after this short of a time together he felt himself growing closer to the other. Without much time, Harry might very well become as close a friend like the others, if not more judging from how much Trowa opened up to him.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat." Duo suddenly cut in, effectively disarming the tense atmosphere and stretched his arms above his head while giving a big yawn.

As if on cue, Harry mimicked the long haired pilot in yawning himself. Unbeknownst to Harry his limbs had grown heavy with tiredness which he'd only started to notice now.

"I believe it's time that we all get a good night's rest. " Quatre stated and stood up. He patted down any wrinkled in his clothes.

The sun had long disappeared and the last rays were just like a small island in the far distance. They'd been talking for quite some time.

The whole party emptied the room and started for their separate bedrooms (Duo made a quick visit to the kitchen for a late night snack before bed). Heero and Wufei didn't offer much in saying good night but for a nod while Duo patted Harry once on the shoulder and wished him good night together with Quatre.

Harry watched them disappear into their rooms one by one and he was, strangely, at peace. Apparently divulging his past to other people outside of his family had been good for him. The simple act of talking hadn't seemed that useful to him until now.

Standing alone in the hallway with Trowa, Harry cast another short glance down the straight pathway. He twisted his head back to the other. Standing about 4 inches taller than Harry, the shorter of the two tilted his head slightly to get a better look at the other's facial features.

They stared at each other for what seemed like a minute but really was only a few seconds.

Trowa was the one to break the silence.

"I hope you will sleep well." He said.

"You too." Harry offered back.

"Then…" Trowa said before crossing the hallway.

He crossed the hall while managing to somehow keep Harry in his line of sight.

Apparently he had the bedroom opposites of Harry's and whether that was a conscious choice or not, Harry did not know. Some small part seemed to wish that that was the case.

Only until the other had closed his door did he open and enter his borrowed bedroom. His eyes lingering on the wooden frame before gently shutting his own closed.

~*~

The world as it was today was not adequate. It was not acceptable. Far from it and it had only gone downhill ever since the war had come to an end. It was simply not satisfactory.

So, of course, something had to be done about that. His respected predecessor had been on the right track but unable to finish his work for the reason that of bothersome hindrances that interfered with his plans. It was up to him, though, to follow in the other's footsteps and see to it that the world veered from its destructible course.

Human beings had always been foolish, all the way back in history, and incapable of seeing what was best for them. Only a few was grazed with the light and enlighten; as a result it was up to them to insure the future they were heading for was the correct one.

Unfortunately everyone else had been wiped out by these ignorant human beings who were all blind to their true needs. It was up to him, as the last one standing, to take the role of their shepherd and take the ever heavy responsibility upon his own shoulders.

He had gone from being an avid and loyal supporter to having to take on this life's mission. With the earth and heaven as his witnesses he would save them all from their insanity and bring order to the chaos. He would abandon his own personal needs to become their graceful and humbled savior. What else could he do? Abandon them he could not.

He would become the beacon of life and statue of rightfulness. He would become a savior worthy of the Earth and beyond.

~*~

Among all the personnel currently in the building; Lady Une was the only one that didn't belong to the night staff. The reason that she was still in her office was simply that she couldn't sleep. You could say that it was because of various different causes but they all concerned NOZ in one way or another.

Of course it bothered her. It bothered her greatly actually and she was happy that she was 'herself' now and didn't divert into her more, not so reasonable past self anymore. Living through a war could give a special kind of clarity that you couldn't attain through other means.

While not proud of the people whose deaths she had caused; she was proud of having known and liked to think that she had been close to Treize Kushrenada. His goals might have been clouded and hidden at first but they had somewhat come to light in the end and with it finally ended the war.

It were at these times, alone in her office in the late evening and night, that she could go back to those times and revel about them. Think about them without showing her subordinates a side of her that she'd rather keep private. Whether it had been official or not; Treize still inhabited a special place inside of her. All the more for those rare moments that she truly felt that they were connected in mind and soul, although she never really got to realize those emotions for the older male. Sometimes she even thought that they had just been a passing fascination she had had for the male.

But that was it wasn't it. It hadn't just been a fascination and it hadn't passed. It was still there deep inside her and probably would be for as long she lived.

So granted her current worries had a lot to do with NOZ and what it would bring to the world.

Lady Une took a sip out of her black coffee and leaned back into the swivel chair. The steam rose from the cup to slowly ascend in ghostlike swirls, while a hand stroked along the desk in gentle but sure movements.

Outside her window the world continued its never ending pace and she gladly shut them out just for these few quiet moments to herself. She would grant herself these moments to keep from burying herself beneath the dark side of humanity.

A report from Agent Wing just an hour ago had kept her busy, interested and felt not a small ounce of irritation. Agent Wing might think that he had her fooled, but she had sensed that something was off with his report. If she didn't know any better, she would've said that the pilot had been affected by something.

Or simply that he was hiding something from her.

Either way she was annoyed and minor frustrated, though she knew that the pilot wouldn't withhold information from her if it wasn't absolutely necessary. It could also mean that the information was of such importance that it could not be written down in a report and run the risk of being intercepted; however miniscule that risk was with Agent Wing.

She had to be wondering whether this had something to do with this Potter and if so, how would it affect the future? The young man had, with or without his consent, become a part of these new complications. What was of interest to her was whether how big of a role he would take in it.

~*~

The bed was soft beneath his worn body and he was, despite it all, able to relax. Harry spent the last minutes before sleep going through what had recently happened, and he really did stay true to trouble seeking him out and getting him into all these messes. It, was, getting tiring though. Who could blame him? With the life that he had lived, but then again, he wasn't exactly the only one here, or in this house with the experience.

He worried about the future though. He knew he also had a talent for involving and dragging other people into things. He really needed to stop that habit.

However he couldn't say that everything had been negative, far from it, and that was what had him confused.

He couldn't exactly pinpoint the positives, but it was there. It was definitively there and it all revolved around Trowa. It wasn't until now that he'd realized that he had stopped 'looking' for something. Whatever that was though he didn't know, but he had begun to look again; to hope again perhaps? That was the feeling that he got. Kind of. It was hard to explain and he never really was good with words and emotions mixed together. They were just there and as long as he could distinguish between anger, sorrow and happiness, then he was satisfied.

Or so he thought. Now he had begun wishing that he wasn't as inept in his emotionally understanding. He thought he knew the basics and that the advanced courses could wait until he got older. It would all come with time, but obviously he now wished that they'd come earlier to him. He acknowledged that you couldn't know everything. Though he was disturbed at how little he felt he actually knew and understood.

Was it care? Did he care about Trowa? Yes, he could somehow link those feelings to what he felt towards Ron and Hermione. They were his friends. Trowa was his friend.

But why then did something feel off? There was that prickling sensation in the back of his mind telling him that he'd missed out on something. Something important… but what?

Obviously it was something that he never had encountered before. They say you learn from experience and maybe that was why he also felt scared at this new prospect. He didn't know what lay ahead of him and what it would bring along with it. It was the unknown that scared him and always had, although at the same time it acted as a point of excitement.

Harry told himself that it would all work out. It all worked out in the end.

He would make it work out.

~*~

"Do you understand Miss Kristiansen? This is important matters that the University cannot ignore!" Professor McCarty's blue eyes, pale with age, bore into the young woman demanding answers.

"I've told you already that he's on a vacation for all I know." Anna sighed inwardly and prepared for another volley of words.

"Young lady! A student at Cambridge are not allowed to apply for a temporarily leave if it is not done personally. I cannot stand by and-"

"Janet, dear." A seemingly younger woman came walking up to them, a thoughtful eye on Anna as she came up to them. The woman's soft dark curls framing her slightly round face was a mirror opposite to Professor McCarty's straight grey hair put up in a bun in the back."Could I have a word with you Miss Kristiansen alone in my office?" The woman motioned with her hand for Anna to follow her.

"Vice Chancellor! I must-"

The woman dismissed any further inputs from Professor McCarty with a gentle but stern look at the other aged woman.

"Of course…" Anna replied a bit unsurely as to the meaning of these new developments.

Anna let her be led along and through the hallways of the university; occasionally throwing a glance at who couldn't be any other than Margaret Rockford, the Vice Chancellor herself of Cambridge University. What she wanted to know though was what in the world did the woman want with her?

"I understand that you and Mr. Potter are acquaintances, yes?" The kind but definite voice of the elderly woman spoke up as they entered what must have been the woman's office from the telltale sign next to the door.

Anna felt herself frowning at the mention of Harry's name but she all the same gave a short nod in response to the woman's enquiry.

"I thought so, and he is on a…?" The woman asked casually.

"A vacation." Anna filled in.

"Ah. Did he inform you personally on this matter?" She carried on and moved into the large office.

"Over the phone." Anna offered again.

The woman made a humming noise as she deposited her jacket over a chair in the corner.

"Do you have any idea where he is on this, vacation?" She continued.

"No, he didn't tell me." Anna tried not to let her slight disappointment show in her voice. She crossed her arms across her chest.

The woman paused to sit down behind her desk and folded her hands to rest on the dark tinted wood.

"I see."

Dark brown eyes focused on the young woman and Anna shifted to lean on the other foot.

'"Well, I'm sure he's alright, he did say everything was fine?" Soft curls bounced as the woman smiled and bent down to rummage through one of her drawers.

"Yes." Anna answered.

"Be sure to let Mr. Potter know that I want him to contact me when he returns to the university." The Vice Chancellor retrieved a file from the drawer and opened it up on the desk as she started perusing it.

Seeing it as the sign for her to leave Anna silently stepped out of the office, shutting the door with a soft thud behind her.

Something about that woman's eyes had made her uncomfortable. She didn't know why; she had just not liked how the woman seemed to look straight through her.

Anna shook the feeling off her shoulders as she passed another corner on her way back to the auditorium to fetch her book bag.

~*~

Errant sunshine found its way to closed eyelids, making the person in question merely turn around and bury themselves deeper beneath the linens, still fast asleep. The rustling of the fabric quieted down and the room went back to its morning calm.

A low knock on the door went unnoticed by the room's occupant, who only stayed in the land of dreams, happily unaware of his visitor.

Without an answer to his knocks the door was gingerly opened to reveal a tall auburn haired young man; stealing a glance into the room with first cautious eyes until they spotted the sleeping bundle on the bed. The male made his way over to the bed, stopped by the side and peered down at the mop of raven hair peeking out.

He was a bit surprised when the owner decided to twist around; the bed covering coming off of the person's upper body to pool around his hips and hand thrown haphazardly out from the body in a careless manner. Light snoring could be heard coming from the slightly opened mouth in a serene looking face.

Trowa didn't know what came over him, but he reached out with a tender hand to slowly caress a creamy cheek; marveling over the softness of it. A sensation of déjà vu overcame him and he felt the slightest of heat growing in his own cheeks at the action but found himself unable to pull his hand back to himself again.

Moss green eyes became clouded as he traced the jaw line of the raven haired creature sleeping amongst bed linens and soft pillows. He halted before he could continue onto cherry lips.

"Harry! Are you awake yet!" Came the boisterous yell through the door.

Trowa pulled back his hand just in time as the bedroom door was dragged open by a flurry of braid and American excitement.

"Oh, hey Trowa, didn't know you'd gone to wake him." Duo said offhandedly, eyeing the averted eyes of Trowa and Harry's semi undressed state with a raised eyebrow.

"That's okay." Trowa said mutedly; his hands planted onto his thighs.

"Right."

Duo hid a grin as a newly awake and sleepy Harry rose tenderly into a sitting position; rubbing his eyes lazily with a hand. His usually wild hair stood on all ends and looked more like a spike mat on one side while being completely flat on the other.

"…is it… mornin' yet..?" Harry mumbled in-between a yawn.

Duo moved over to the window and pushed the curtains to the sides with a sweep from both hands. The sun struck the pair on the bed head on making the raven haired squint at Duo and the sudden light.

"What does it look like?" Duo said teasingly.

"Morning?" Harry offered and the braided male let out a laugh at the reply.

"Sure is!" He chortled.

Harry pushed the bed coverings off of his body and stopped short when emerald met moss green with barely enough room to breathe in. Widened orbs looked into his eyes and Harry's mind went blank.

He wasn't aware that he had been holding his breath until a small puff of hair swept across his nose and lips as Trowa slowly let out his.

A not so discreet cough next, kind of loud actually, had him back pedaling and tripping onto half his back on the bed, his face flaming as it dangled off the other side. He blinked several times and breathed awkwardly at the strange angle of his airways.

Duo kneeled down in front of him and while upside down there was no mistaking that mad grin on the American's face.

"What're you doing Harry? Morning exercises?" He leaned in closer to whisper teasingly in his ear. "Do you have a fever? You're awfully red in the face."

Harry spluttered half indignantly and half embarrassedly; trying to get onto his feet but the action backfired. He miscalculated his balance and he went crashing into the padded floor with a yelp of surprise.

Duo jumped to the side to avoid the raven lump crashing into him. He bent over the winded and furiously blushing young male with a wink. His eyes pulled away as Trowa came around the bed, looking down on Harry with worried eyes and holding out a hand to him.

"Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine!" He squeaked out.

Harry righted and pulled himself up to his feet hurriedly. The other two made room for him; the other still a bit worried and the other, well of course, grinning like crazy. He sent a halfhearted glare at the braided one and avoided looking Trowa in the eye.

"Is there a shower around here?" He asked, crossing his arms across his chest becoming awfully aware of his bare upper body.

"About that." Duo said and held out a pair of forest green swim trunks towards Harry. "Put this on. We're taking a swim in Quatre's pool. I went to the store earlier to buy me a pair and thought I'd get you one too."

He pushed the raven haired towards a door that Harry had managed to not notice until now.

"Bathroom." The other said at the questioning glance, opening the door for him and giving him a last merry push through the door, all the while ignoring Harry's protests at the manhandling.

Duo stood there observing the closed door for a few seconds, humming under his breath as he turned around to the auburn haired male.

Trowa had an indistinguishable expression as he stared out at the sky outside the window, seemingly in deep thought and not looking in the direction of where Harry left. Duo tilted his head to the side; a wistful look upon his features. It was gone before the other had time to notice it though.

"You coming?" He said and went for the other door.

"… yes." Trowa cast a last lingering look on the closed bathroom door before following the other out of the room.

~*~

Harry's feet padded softly on the rug. Putting the piece of fabric onto the bathroom bench; Harry took a long look at himself in the mirror. His cheeks burned with the still fresh memory and he raised his fingertips to tap once softly against his lips. Eyes narrowed in thought and mild confusion.

What was that all about? He hadn't even detected Trowa sitting on the bed beside him until he had almost literally crashed into the other's face. Was it because he had just woken up that he had failed to notice him?

Shoving the thought in the back of his mind; he dully acknowledged the towels hanging on a rack before divesting himself of his trouser PJs and underwear and stepping into the shower. The water spilled over his lean frame and he stood there taking in the coolness over his heated skin, letting a deep sigh escape. The water felt wonderful and it was a long time since he had appreciated a simple shower this much as he did now. It did wonders for the last tension lingering in his muscles from the last couple of days.

He grabbed a shampoo bottle off the shelf; forgetting to check for it before and grateful that he didn't have to step out of the shower to look for one. He closed of his mind as he worked through his many tufts of hair with slow strokes. He scrubbed his body with a bar of soap, the water foaming around his feet and going down the drain.

Rinsing out his hair and body he turned off the water with a disappointed sound. He'd really want to stand in the shower much longer, but feared what Duo might do if he had to go and drag him out of there.

He dried himself off with a white towel; his hair still dripping a little as he pulled on the swim trunks over his hips with a short prayer of thanks sent above that Duo hadn't gotten him a pair of Speedos. Merlin forbid!

He grabbed the towel thinking he could use it again later and went in search of one errant and longhaired male.

~*~

"Mothers and children out of my way!" Duo hollered at the top of his lungs and did a magnificent impression of a cannonball and sending a crushing rolling wave onto the stone frame.

He came up the surface with an audible gasp and laughed merrily.

From one the sun chairs on the far side of the pool Quatre chuckled at the exuberant male. Heero ignored the disturbance for his computer which he had on a low table shielded by a cream colored parasol. Wufei abandoned any further tries at martial arts practice with a shake of the head. He took a seat opposite Heero as Trowa came walking across the lawn towards them in the braided one's wake.

"Harry?" Quatre asked the taller male when he sat down in the other sun chair.

"Shower."

"Ah."

Quatre went back to observing Duo in the pool making handstands.

"He's taking it rather well being cooped up, considering the situation. But then again with his past…"

He trailed of casting a glance in the corner of his eye at Trowa.

"Yeah…" Trowa seemed to hesitate at first. "Where do we go from here?"

"What do you mean?" Quatre turned o his friend with a slight frown.

"What if we never catch the terrorists and they keep targeting him? Who knows how long he will have to live like this hidden." Trowa said quietly.

Quatre took a few seconds to answer.

"I don't see any wrong in living like this…but I see what you mean." Quatre changed his sentence at the look from the other. "I could always offer him to stay at my estates. Most of them are equipped with the latest surveillance there is to this date." Quatre continued.

"Thank you Quatre, but that is no life for a young man, staying hidden from death threats and unable to fully live his life." Trowa smiled sadly which his old friend shared with him.

They entered a silent mode after that, only interrupted with the occasional shout from Duo and the splash of water on the bright southern France day.

"Harry!"

The slight rustle of fabric and shout from Duo had everyone's eyes turning to Harry standing by the beginning of the stone going around the whole pool. His hair was still wet and a few glistening droplets could be seen on his shoulders and chest.

"Nice muscles Har!" Duo called out to him.

Harry seemed mildly scandalized by the comment and the new nickname for a short moment, but opted for a no answer to that. He walked over to dump the towel in his hand on the backrest of a sun chair beside the light blonde, who smiled warmly at the raven haired.

Harry looked around him at the two Asians further up; meeting both of their eyes for a short moment each. Heero paid little attention as he went back to typing on his computer; uttering a comment here and there to his partner. Wufei gave Harry curt nod before giving a reply to the Japanese and continuing their small discussion.

Harry pulled a hand through his hair.

"Good morning." He offered; throwing a quick look at Trowa before focusing on Quatre again, who greeted him back. The blonde looked him up and down before speaking up again.

"The swim trunks are really bringing out the lovely color in your eyes." Quatre said smiling.

"Uh, thanks." Harry replied awkwardly, not used to receiving those kinds of compliments.

"Don't they? Made the perfect choice as always." Duo said smugly as he swam up and hefted his arms on the edge; splashing some water onto the ground in front of the others in the process.

He ignored the snort from the Chinese male for a small hand wave to signal Harry closer to him.

Harry eyed him warily in return at which Duo rolled his eyes exaggeratedly.

"What?" He asked innocently and pushed away from the edge a bit still. "The water's great." He added in a singsong voice.

Cautiously Harry stepped up to the edge and bent down to enter the water.

"Did you forget to bring a towel?" Duo asked suddenly.

Harry turned his head back to the sun chair; seeing the white towel laying on it.

"No, I di-"

Harry began to say annoyed but the rest was literally drowned out as Duo grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled him head first into the water.

His face broke the surface later and he spewed out water that threatened to get into his lungs.

"Bloody hell!" He cursed loudly.

Duo was laughing so hard he could barely stay afloat and gave a shout as Harry flew at him with a growl. He continued to laugh at Harry's futile attempts at catching him as the others watched them with blank stares and looks of mild amusement.

AN: I'm starting to twist my perceptions of who Treize Kushrenada really is and what his agenda was. I'm not good with politics and understanding it, therefore I will be using my artistic free will when it comes to that. Mainly; it's better to make something else up than to try and understand what already is there. :shrugs: The easy way out, I know, but I prefer this way than getting all of you confused because of my incompetence. XP Until next time! /Lin