"What about you, Wufei?" Duo asked nonchalantly as he lounged on the couch with Heero. "Did Trowa tell you?"

" I already knew."

"What?" Duo sat up straighter. "Since when? Why the fuck didn't you say anything?"

"Months ago. Why? Because it was pure chance I ran into someone I know, and it was pure chance that Quatre ran into Trowa. If they hadn't known each other, do you really think they would have given each other even a second glance? No. It's stupid go around thinking it's the same, because it's not. The only reason I told Trowa was to make sure it wasn't just me and because I knew he was smart enough not to mix the worlds up either - at least, before Quatre found him. But that couldn't be helped."

"So... wait. Who did you meet?" Duo asked.

"No one you know," Wufei bristled.

"Fine, whatever. But what about Trowa? Have you met him there?"

"No, and I don't intend to. I said, they shouldn't be mixed, but if you want to that's your business," he replied curtly.

"But do you know who he is, at least? I mean, like Heero's a mercenary, and Quatre's a healer..." Duo said.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Wufei shot back. "I already said it, but I guess you weren't listening so I'll say it again - we shouldn't mix them up."

"You believe whatever you want," Duo replied. "And we'll do things our own way. Heero's glad he met me there... aren't you?" Duo asked with grin, mussing Heero's hair. "Okay, happier here, at least. But you'll get used to it, I promise," he added with a kiss on Heero's cheek.

"I don't need to know the details of your personal life - here or there," Wufei said indignantly, then glanced up as Quatre came down the stairs.

"Hey, Quatre - did you know that Trowa already knew before he ran into you?" Duo asked him.

"What? Oh, yes... he told me."

"And you're not pissed about it?"

"No, why would I be?" Quatre asked as he came over to sit down. "We found each other anyway, and I found out about it and told you guys, so it's fine, isn't it?"

"Shouldn't have told Duo," Wufei mumbled, but his comment was ignored by the braided pilot.

"Apparently, Wufei knew about the other world months ago but didn't tell us," Duo said, stressing his words in mock anger.

"I told Trowa," Wufei shot back.

"But you told him not to tell anybody else, didn't you?"

"Well, yes, but -"

"See! I told you!" Duo interrupted him triumphantly.

"I'm sure Wufei has his own reasons for not talking about it, Duo," Quatre chastised him gently. "We all know now, so what does it matter?"

"What's the matter? You look upset," Treize commented as he sipped his coffee over breakfast while Wufei pushed his food around on his plate in discontent.

"Nothing," he replied, and sighed and straightened up in his chair. "It's nothing."

"Don't give me that. Tell me. Did something happen?"

"No. Yes. But it doesn't have anything to do with you."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Then can I talk to you about something else?" Treize asked, and put his glass down. "Are you done? Let's go to the library."

Wufei nodded, and they left their plates for the housekeeper to clean up and retired to the library, where they sat together on the couch there.

"I know you don't like me to bring it up, but since you're in a bad mood today anyway, I don't think I can make it any worse," Treize said humorously, but failed to get more than a "hmph" out of his lover. "Look," he said with a sigh. "I love you, Wufei. You know that. And here, that's fine, but -"

"No," Wufei said angrily, and stood up. "No. Absolutely not. I'm not taking this into that world. It's fine here, and here is where it stays," he said.

Treize stood up and took his arm. "Please, hear me out... I understand the reason, but can we at least talk about it first? There's no harm in that, is there?" He pulled Wufei back down to sit on the couch, and into his arms. "I know, I shouldn't have brought it up... but it's really driving me crazy," he said as he buried his face in Wufei's neck and kissed him there. "I don't know how you can do it - maybe you don't - but I can't just love you here and not there. I think about you all the time. I'm not asking you to come see me. I just wanted you to know. I know you-"

"Stop. Just stop it," Wufei interrupted him. "I don't want to hear it."

"What are you afraid of, Wufei? That's what the problem is, isn't it? You're afraid of -"

"Stop it," he hissed, and pushed Treize away as he lashed out with fire. Treize put up his arm in defense, but did not try to stop it with his own magic. It hit his arm, burned him, and he flinched; but it served its intended purpose of calming Wufei down.

"Why didn't you stop it?"

"Should I have?" Treize asked as he nursed the burn, soothed it with water. "Maybe I was wrong - maybe you're not afraid. You're just confused and upset because you're trying too hard to keep things separate when you should be trying to reconcile them. You're confused because you're trying to hate me there and love me here, and it doesn't work like that. It can't. I know that forgiveness is a lot harder than revenge - but that's all I'm asking from you. So yes, I change my mind. I do want us to meet up there. I want you to confront me - and I either want you to kill me or forgive me. I don't know what will happen to me here if I die there; but ultimately, I think that's up to you."

Wufei stood there for a few moments, struggling with himself, and then finally turned and fled the room.

Treize closed his eyes and sighed. "I don't mean to force you into this, I don't mean to hurt you... but I think it's the only way to get you to see," he whispered to the empty room.

Wufei was not in a very good mood. What Treize had said had shaken him, but he stubbornly refused to accept it as truth. Instead, he decided to take it out - indirectly and in a very roundabout and twisted way - on Trowa. He felt like fucking shit up.

"Are you busy?" he asked, stepping into Quatre's room.

The blonde boy looked up from whatever he was working on. "No, not really. Why?"

"Good," Wufei said, and shut the door behind him. "I want to talk to you."

"Okay..." Quatre said as he brought his chair around to face Wufei as he sat down on the bed. "What's up?"

"Let me see... now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you're a healer there, right?"

"Right."

"And Trowa is a slave. Specifically, your slave. However that works out, I don't really care, but that's how it is, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, but... and how...?"

"Trowa told me some, and I inferred the rest. You bought his freedom and he refused it, right?"

"Yes," Quatre acknowledged. "I tried to talk to him about it here, but..."

"You can't talk to Trowa," Wufei said with a dismissive gesture. "Think about it. We're fundamentally the same people, aren't we?" He didn't pause to consider how hypocritical that statement was, considering his conversation with Treize, but continued: "You can't talk to him. You have to tell him how it's going to be. He can be stubborn, sure, but he'll still listen to you. Especially to you. Do you see what I'm getting at here?" he asked.

"I..."

"Let me spell it out for you: if you tell him to do something, he'll do it. And I'm not just talking about there - I'm talking about here. If you tell him you want him to kiss you, to fuck you - he'll be all over you in a heartbeat."

Quatre's shocked expression told him that he'd succeeded in his mission, and, smiling smugly to himself, he stood up and left Quatre some time to think about the implications about what he'd just said.

Trowa was in for a surprise.