Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and never will
Authoresses Note: I humbly apologize for updating so slow--my only excuse is two words: Student Teaching. BUT to make up for it, here's a ridiculously long chapter! Sorry if it has a few errors, I just really wanted to post it before I went to sleep tonight--if there's anything significant, I'll go back later and fix it up
To those who have reviewed so far, THANK YOU for being so patient with my slow updating--you're still all so wonderful, giving me the inspiration to keep going. This story will be finished pretty soon! Within two chapters I'm estimating!
Hope you enjoy
When his eyes blinked open, he had to concentrate for a moment to remember where he was. Quatre yawned and sat up once he realized he was in Passus's home—not in the woods or in a cell. His boots were off and he was covered by a blanket. He hadn't actually remembered falling asleep, but he could easily imagine that Passus's pain medication tea had a mild sedative in it as well.
Dinner had been good—soup and fresh bread. He was relieved he actually felt hungry and didn't feel the usual nausea after eating. However, once he had started yawning, Passus had told him to go lie down. He must've fallen asleep at that point.
Looking to both sides of him, he could see the others fast asleep as well in the other four beds. Trowa was of course in the bed directly next to him.
By the height of the moon and the way it bathed the room in its rays, Quatre judged it to be nearer to midnight than dawn. His eyes were already getting heavy, urging him to fall back asleep.
Quatre however pushed his covers aside and let his bare feet hit the smooth wooden floor. He took the three or so steps to Trowa's bedside and tenderly pulled the covers that had slipped down to Trowa's stomach back up to the sleeping teenagers shoulders. Brushing Trowa's bangs away from his face, Quatre pressed a kiss to his forehead.
'I'm so grateful for all you've been doing for me. I pray the spirits decide soon enough is enough from our short lives and just let us happily live our lives,' Quatre thought ferverently.
Giving another yawn, he returned to his own bed. Lying down, he immediately felt himself become warm and comfortable. Sleep followed quickly.
"So how come he hasn't woken up yet?" Duo asked in a loud whisper. He stood next to Quatre's bed, looking down on the teenager who had slept through breakfast and now lunch.
Passus looked up from the paperwork he was completing on his desk. He put down his pen and addressed Duo.
"He was completely exhausted. He needs to catch up on some of his energy. You don't need to worry—he has no fever, nothing else seems to be wrong—he's simply sleeping," Passus explained. He picked up his pen again, but then thought of something else.
"Where did the others go by the way? I haven't heard anything in awhile," Passus glanced at Duo again.
Duo watched Quatre sleep for another moment before looking up at Passus. "Chances are Wufei is meditating somewhere outside, and Heero is probably doing some target practice with those arrows of his."
"I sincerely hope he's not practicing on anything living," Passus muttered under his breath, turning his attention once again to the papers. "Trowa only left about 10 minutes ago—I had to do even more persuading with him that Quatre was all right. Know what he's up to?"
Duo had crossed over to the window and was peering out. "Yep," Duo pointed out and looked back to Passus. "Talking with Lowan."
"Lowan? You know someone in the village? I've never met anyone with that name?" Passus leaned back in his chair and was surprised to see the red tailed hawk perched on Trowa's left arm.
"He has a pet hawk?" the healer asked incredulously.
"That bird is definitely not a pet," Duo responded. "Trowa just has a special way with animals—always has. Lowan is more of a friend—a partner. Saved our butts more than once I might add."
Passus laughed. "If anyone else said something like that, I'd say they were nuts, but with you boys, I wouldn't put anything past you. I've only known you five for less than 24 hours, but I already sense something very different and unusual from all of you."
Passus's smile didn't leave his face at Duo's indignant expression. He held up his hands in defense. "That wasn't meant in a bad way."
"Why don't you go out and join your friends. He looks like he'll stay asleep for awhile," Passus suggested and gestured toward Quatre.
"Nah. They're all doing their own thing. I'm actually pretty tired myself. We're all growing boys," Duo declined with a somewhat exaggerated stretch above his head. He flopped on his bed from the night before—two away from Quatre's—put his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes.
Shaking his head, Passus turned back to his work. He had an inkling the braided teenager in actuality wasn't tired. Not once since their arrival had Passus been in the room alone with Quatre. One of them had always made an excuse to be there as well. For instance, once Trowa had left, that was when Duo had come back inside, claiming to be hungry and now he claimed to be tired.
Now distracted from his work, Passus tried to figure out just why the others were protecting his patient so much. It wasn't as if he were younger than them, as if he was a much younger brother. He hadn't been brought in seriously injured. It wasn't unusual for close friends of badly injured patients to sit with them for awhile, but that didn't seem the case with Quatre.
Right now it was just a mystery. He could only hope that when his daughter Alia arrived, the boys would be more willing to discuss exactly what had been happening.
Sitting back in his chair, he rubbed his hands over his face. A moment later, he heard a familiar, distinct feminine voice in his mind.
"Duo, if you're not too tired," Passus said with a bit of amused sarcasm, "you can collect your friends. Alia is just finishing tending to her horse at the stable and she'll be here in about 10 minutes."
Duo sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He looked uncertain for a moment—uncertain if he should leave the room even for a few minutes.
'Duo, you can trust Passus—he has a good heart.'
Duo started for a moment at Quatre's sleepy telepathic voice sounding in his head.
"Geez, I'm going to have to get used to that again," Duo stated out loud, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Used to what?" Passus asked, confused.
Duo tapped his temple with a finger and then pointed to Quatre. "He's awake now," he remarked.
"Good, that will make it easier for Alia. Good afternoon," Passus first spoke to Duo then to Quatre.
"I can't believe I slept this long," Quatre groaned, sitting up and rubbing his face with both hands.
"Longer than me—congratulations," Duo smirked, heading toward the door. "I'll be back in a sec."
Passus watched Duo leave via the front door down the hall and then turned back to the one occupied bed. He furrowed his brow and pushed his chair away from his paper strewn desk.
"You lost that color you gained back last night. How are you feeling?" Passus asked as he crossed to the bed and stood in front of the blonde teenager.
"The headache is starting to come back," Quatre quietly admitted.
Passus frowned and placed the back of his hand to Quatre's forehead. "No fever. Like usual—at least that's a positive sign. Well," Passus continued, dropping his hands to his sides, "Alia will be here very soon and hopefully shed some light on how to help you."
He flashed Quatre a reassuring smile. "Let me go get you something to eat."
Still groggy from just waking up after such a long sleep, Quatre looked longingly down at his pillow, but then back out the window. It was after lunchtime—it was about time to get out of bed.
It didn't take but a few minutes to pull on his boots and cinch his belt around the waist of his tunic. After moving and getting his blood circulating, he was beginning to feel more awake already.
When he began moving down the hallway, Quatre intercepted Passus.
"Heading outside?" the healer asked. After Quatre nodded, he held out the plate of food he had to Quatre. "Take this with you." It was a thick slice of bread covered in raspberry jam.
"If you want more, feel free to help yourself," Passus offered.
"Thank you," Quatre answered, eyeing the food hungrily. He was already eating it while walking outside.
"How's Lowan?" Quatre asked crossing over to Trowa first, taking another bite of his breakfast/lunch directly after asking his question. The brunette looked up from his conversation with the hawk. The relieved expression might not have plastered itself on Trowa's face, but it was definitely evident in his eyes.
"Could you express my thanks for his help during the battle with the Sentinels? I don't think we ever would have won without him and his help," Quatre finished.
"That's actually what I've just been telling him. He says you're very welcome," Trowa gave Quatre a small smile.
Quatre would've answered 'good', but at that moment, his mouth was full of food—he settled for a nod.
Finishing his satisfying meal, he used the edge of the sleeve on his tunic to wipe any remnants of bread off his mouth. He held on to the plate but dropped his hand to his side afterwards.
Unexpectantly, Quatre noticeably tensed up and turned fully around to look intently at the direction he had just come from. The plate dropped from his fingers on to the grass.
"What's the matter?" Trowa asked, lifting his arm up as Lowan ascended into the open blue sky with a screech. He had noticed the lightning quick change of Quatre's posture from relaxed to extremely defensive.
"There's someone coming—but it's not Passus," Quatre answered tersely, his voice low. He watched the gate separating the front and back yards fiercely, although Trowa couldn't see the expression with his front facing Quatre's back.
"Who's there? Whoever you are, you better stop now," Quatre growled dangerously, his voice getting louder toward the end. He backed up slowly, getting closer to Trowa. His eyes narrowed fiercely. Trowa was startled by this sudden change of behavior, but before he could move forward a young woman followed by Passus entered the back yard. The young woman looked stricken.
"I apologize," she said earnestly. "My intentions were not to startle you." The clear soprano voice had a pleasant lilt to it.
Quatre, with still wary eyes, assessed the telepathic woman standing before him. Apologetic crystal green eyes were off set by red hair in tight curls, pulled into a low ponytail behind her, ending in the middle of her back. A green cloak from her shoulders to her ankles was parted in the middle, revealing the darker green dress she wore with light gold trim around the bottom. She held out her hands slightly in front of her in apology.
"Who are you?" Heero's dangerous voice broke the silence. Quatre looked up to see Heero pointing his bow and notched arrow directly at this newcomer. He had seemingly appeared from nowhere.
"Calm down all of you!" Passus finally chimed in. He swiftly placed himself in front of the young woman, between her and Heero's lethal arrow.
"Who are you?" Heero repeated in the same low voice.
"Heero, this is my daughter Alia. She didn't do any harm," Passus answered, still maintaining his position protecting his daughter.
"He's right, Heero," Quatre stated, his voice sounding a little shaky, now that his adrenaline rush had worn off. His eyes no longer looked defensive, but weary once again. "I was startled. She was searching for which one of us was telepathic. I wasn't expecting the touch to my mind."
Heero didn't look convinced, yet he still slowly lowered his bow and arrow. "How come you didn't sense her coming," Heero queried in a suspicious voice, his eyes piercing Passus and Alia behind him. He slipped his unused arrow into his quiver and slung his bow over his shoulder as he asked.
"She has some strong defense shields up," Quatre answered.
"You can't be too careful," Alia gave a sad smile. "I am so sorry you have a poor first impression of me. I truly am here to help you—not scare you."
"The last time I was spoken to by an unknown telepath, things didn't end well," his voice regained its conviction.
Alia's sympathetic crystal eyes watched Quatre's face. "I know. Why don't we go into the house? My father has filled me in on some of the smaller details, but there is still much missing." She gestured with her hand back to the house.
"We heard yelling. Is everything all right?" Duo asked as he and Wufei came from the front yard through the side gate.
"Yes," Heero responded, wariness still apparent in his voice.
"Then why do you have that look on your face like you're about to shoot someone?" Duo questioned, eyeing Heero carefully, before eyeing the newcomer with as much care. Strangers weren't very welcome in their small circle at the moment.
"Don't worry about it, Duo," Quatre answered, embarrassed he was so taken off guard by the young woman. "This is Alia, Passus's daughter. She arrived here moments ago."
Duo appraised the woman. "It's nice to meet all of you," she greeted.
"Think you can help him out?" Duo asked, not bothering with pretenses.
"Once I find the problem, I'll do all I can. Come inside, Quatre," she requested and started moving toward the house. She turned around. "I would prefer if the rest of you can stay here—it gets crowded quite easily in this house." She didn't miss the uneasy, frowning faces made by the four young men asked to stay outside.
She then cocked her head slightly toward Trowa for a moment. "But I'll make an exception for you. Why don't you come in with us? To calm down both of you," she gave a sweet knowing smile.
Quatre followed Passus and Alia obediently into the house while Trowa kept close behind.
'Passus has no telepathic shields—he definitely loves this girl as if she were a daughter,' Quatre tried to reason with himself, but he still couldn't read through her shields. Was she worth trusting? He felt very disconcerted by the fact she was close to unreadable—he had just regained his telepathy and didn't want that feeling again of not being able to tell someone's true intentions--as he had been forced to go through for the past month.
'How do I know I should actually trust you?' he projected out, not dancing around the point. He purposely telepathically asked the question even though he knew this woman could read his thoughts without him actively projecting.
Alia stopped walking once they reached the room with the beds. Purposefully, she turned back to Quatre and for a moment, carefully assessed him. He could feel her very gently in a non-threatening way, probe his mind. Keeping the eye contact she had initiated, she placed both of her cool, smooth hands on each side of Quatre's face.
"You're right. I'm expecting you to trust me, but giving you nothing in return. If it's all right with you, I'd like to change that," Alia offered. Quatre nodded.
"Are you ready?" she asked, raising her eyebrows with the seriousness of the question. With touch, telepathic projections were intensified. She knew what she was about to offer might be somewhat shocking.
He felt a shield being projected around the two of them. Passus and Trowa also could observe visually, the light silver color of her shield start from over Quatre and Alia's heads' and shimmer down until it was touching the ground—looking like half a sphere.
She was still shy to leave her mind completely devoid of shields—reassuring Quatre telepathically would require her dropping the shields around her mind, so she placed them around her, in this case, both their bodies. This shield would protect both of them. Quatre felt more comfortable with the extra shielding—with the burnout he had undergone, his defense shields were nearly non-existent.
When she deemed him ready, she dropped all defenses she kept around her mind and left herself open for Quatre to see. It slightly jolted him—the contact of her hands on his face made it more intense. In a flash, a matter of seconds, he saw key points of her childhood, the dreams she had for the future, the love she had for her family and friends, the skill she had for healing, and finally the intentions she had for Quatre—the intentions she had to try and help him the best she could.
It took mere seconds. Putting his hands up to hers, he gently pulled them down from his face. He felt the shield around the two of them gradually dissipate and the telepathic defenses once more surround only her mind. Quatre would be lying if he didn't admit he felt a little bereft at the loss of the shielding, but that emotion was fleeting.
"Thank you," he said sincerely. Either she was extremely good at hiding the fact that she was lying or she was simply being truthful in her intentions.
"Now that we're through that, we have something else to attend to. Sit here," Alia smiled. She gestured towards his bed.
Quatre sat, but turned an eye to Trowa—the brunette looked increasingly uncomfortable. He had no idea what had previously transpired and he wasn't too incredibly keen about trusting Quatre's mind and life to a complete and utter stranger.
'Trowa I'm sorry to ask you to put so much faith in a stranger, but it will be all right,' he privately spoke to Trowa. He got a small nod, but the discomfort Trowa was exuding barely decreased. Quatre sighed internally, frustrated at being at a loss on how to comfort the brunette.
Taking off her cloak, Alia draped it over the chair by the window. Her below knee length green linen dress was cinched around the waist by a lighter green belt. The boots she wore were a light soft tan and came halfway up to her knees. She smoothed down her dress with her palms before stepping over to the bed and telepathically pulled a chair beside her.
"My father has told me that your telepathy has been manipulated—tell me more about that please?" Alia asked, getting down to business. She sat cross legged on her chair, with her head cocked slightly to the side, ready to listen.
Quatre took a deep breath and released it in a sigh—he really didn't feel like launching into a discussion of his capture, but he knew the consequences if he didn't. Alia wouldn't be able to help him because of her lack of information. Then whatever was happening to his telepathy to make it so 'out of whack' and making him physically ill would continue for possibly the rest of his life—which might not even be too long at this rate.
"About a month ago I was taken hostage. It was at this point that they somehow managed to take away my telepathy. I escaped before they had a chance to erase my memory of what they had done. They came after me however," Quatre paused for a moment.
"It's all right," Alia coaxed, sensing his discomfort retelling the traumatizing experience. "I know about the wound on your chest. I felt that the moment I met you."
"Wait, a wound on his chest? Is it healed?" Passus suddenly broke in, wondering if his patient was in danger due to a physical wound he had overlooked.
"Yes, it's healed, Father," Alia reassured. "Please continue Quatre."
"You're telepathic," Trowa interrupted this time. "If you're telepathic, you can simply read his thoughts. Why are you making him relive these memories?" Trowa narrowed his eyes.
"I could, but I would prefer to hear it from him," Alia said, turning toward Trowa momentarily. "For people who have gone through a trauma, especially with a telepath because it is the mind involved, I've found if they speak of it, it helps them better cope with it. If I gave my patients the option of just passing it telepathically to me, I would get the same information, but they would be doing it the easy way and perhaps not fully dealing with the situation," she explained wisely.
"I have fully dealt with the situation, trust me. Could I please not be made to speak of this out loud?" Quatre asked earnestly after thinking about it for a moment.
With a disapproving look on her otherwise pleasant face, she finally nodded. "All right. It does seem as if you've had a few 'revelations' involving your telepathy and for awhile lack thereof," she stated. A smile spread across her face, crinkling the skin around her eyes slightly. "You do have some wonderful friends."
"I do," Quatre replied, meaning it sincerely. His glance flickered to Trowa for a moment, before returning to Alia's crystal green eyes.
Pulling her chair purposefully closer, she sat with knees touching to Quatre. Leaning forward she put her hands gently on Quatre's face, cupping his face. She knew Quatre knew her intentions, he had read them, but she felt Trowa was at a loss.
"The easiest way to read someone's mind is to be in close proximity and even better, to have physical contact. It uses the littlest amount of energy," she mentioned aloud as she allowed her eyes to take on a slightly faraway look as she concentrated on Quatre's mind.
It took her a few moments before she quietly sat back. The surprised expression on her features didn't escape Trowa.
"Oh my," was the first thing out of her mouth.
"Could you give us a little more information than that?" Trowa stood up from his chair, his posture becoming impatient for answers.
"I can. Sit down, Trowa," Alia gently suggested. "Multiple things have been happening to you at once," Alia shook her head in astonishment. "That collapse you had on the front lawn during that thunderstorm? Before you were taken captive? You Trowa, remember that more vividly than he does."
Trowa nodded, waiting expectantly for more information.
"That was your gift naturally growing—you had suspected correctly. When you were taken, they placed powerful shields around your telepathy. It is impossible for even the strongest telepath to take away someone's telepathy—it's a power that can't be taken away. It can however, be shielded away as yours was and then while those shields were in place, they lied to you, making you believe your telepathy was forever gone."
Passus, listening carefully, realizing the explanation was going to be somewhat long, took a place on the bed behind Quatre's bed. From his position, he could see Quatre's back and his daughter's face, since she was looking Quatre in the eyes.
"Once the Sentinels blocked it off, they caused a greater problem. Your naturally growing telepathy—telepathy that was growing at an already astonishing rate—had nowhere to go. They too were influencing the rate at which your telepathy grew. That was their objective—for your telepathy to become trapped behind a shield and then your telepathy having nowhere to go. Sooner or later it would shatter and the resulting shock would overwhelm the person—the Sentinels intentions were to kill you. Your trapped telepathy is what caused the seizure in the forest. It was trying to force its way out."
"Why is he still having issues now that his telepathy is unblocked?" Trowa asked, too impatient for Alia to continue her explanation. She only gave a small smile of understanding.
"You saw yourself—during that battle, the shields were dissolved too quickly. Shattered too violently. Picture water trickling through a dam, but when it suddenly breaks, the water floods everything and causes a tremendous amount of destruction," Alia leaned in closer. "To tell you the truth," she started gently. "You shouldn't be here with us right now."
"I had a feeling you'd say that," Quatre whispered. "So why then? Why did I survive?"
Alia leaned back, her wooden chair creaking slightly as her back touched it. Her hands settled on to her lap. "Because I've seen what the Sentinels saw in you. You have far more potential than I've seen in anyone else—more power hidden within you than even you know. That power, even though you can't utilize it, is what gave you the strength to survive during that intense ordeal—anyone else would've been killed immediately."
Quatre pushed his hand through his hair before speaking. "I've never been what one would call an exceptional telepath—what do you mean I have some sort of power?"
"Your family technique was never revealed to you," Alia began. "Your friend, Wufei, was quite wise and observant. He once remarked how each time something unusual occurred concerning you since this ordeal began, a storm of some sort would soon follow."
"He did?" Quatre asked, not remembering.
"It was directly after the battle. You were unconscious," Trowa filled in quietly.
"Oh," Quatre responded.
"You, my young telepath, have the incredibly rare ability to control the weather. You're a Weather Mage," Alia concluded.
Since Quatre had never heard of such a thing, the news didn't come as a shock to him. Alia was saying it like it was something spectacular, but truth be told, Quatre was completely at a loss. So many thoughts were running through his mind and his headache wasn't making it any easier to sort through them all.
Alia leaned in closer, her chair creaking again but because her back lost contact with it this time. "There has not been a true Weather Mage in over one thousand years."
"Then how can that be my family's special technique? My father would have to be a Weather Mage to be able to teach me," Quatre asked skeptically, after thinking of it momentarily. He broke eye contact with Alia to take a quick glance at Trowa—Trowa was outwardly looking calm, but underneath he was so confused—and afraid as well.
"In rare cases like these, a child of a telepath can be born with the power that not even the parent has, but somehow, not even I know how, the parent has the knowledge of that ability even though they don't possess the power to utilize it. Your father would have still been able to teach you—just not perform the things you can," Alia explained.
"So…now what does this mean for me? I don't have anyone left to teach me how to control these new powers?" Quatre shrugged using his hands for emphasis. 'Even if I am a rare Weather Mage, if I don't figure out how to control this, I'm not going to be around here much longer,' he though morbidly to himself, feeling hopelessness creep in. What she had told him was basically that there was no one out there that could possibly help him.
Quatre broke from his thoughts when he felt Alia's sudden uncertainty. He looked at her quizzically and she bit her lower lip for a moment, not keeping eye contact. She finally looked up, but now he could read the uncertainty in her eyes.
"I can help," Alia finally announced.
"You don't seem so certain about that," Quatre stated warily. She was deliberately hiding her idea from him.
"It would require me putting shields around your mind," Alia began, immediately noting the look of discomfort and reluctance pass Quatre's features.
"They would be strong, but once you mastered each level of training, the shield would dissolve—they'd merely be there for protection. Now I know nothing of being a Weather Mage except from what I've read in history books so that would be something you would have to try to research on your own—I could help you as much as I can," Alia continued.
"But what else is wrong?" Trowa asked, noting by the tone of her voice that she wasn't finished speaking yet.
"Putting shields like this around your mind won't be very comfortable," Alia finished, her face sympathetic.
"You just said yourself, you know little about Weather Mages," Trowa began dangerously, "What makes you believe you can safely put shields around his mind? What if you do something wrong?"
"I cannot promise that I can do this correctly. I have a very good idea of how it would be done, but you are correct Trowa—I haven't ever placed shields in the mind of a Weather Mage; nonetheless an untrained and nearly completely unshielded Weather Mage," Alia tucked a strand of fly away red hair behind her ear.
"But you're my only hope," Quatre sighed. He looked down at the ground for a moment, bringing his thoughts together in his mind—calculating the risks of the procedure.
With another sigh, he stood up and walked to the chair Trowa was currently occupying. Trowa didn't stand up, but simply looked up at the one he loved.
Quatre held out his hand with a passive expression—an expression that gave away nothing of what he was feeling at the moment. Trowa placed his hand in the offered one and even though he concentrated on Quatre's face, Quatre seemed focused on Trowa's hand—staring at it for a few moments.
Finally his bright blue eyes captured Trowa's catlike green ones and Trowa noted the shimmering behind them.
"There's no choice," Quatre stated. "It's either this or we wait around for Elda's prediction to come true—for my telepathy to overwhelm me. At least this way there is a chance."
Trowa's emotions, the ones he kept hidden from his face because there were other people in the room, began to constrict his chest. Trowa had however reached the same conclusion, but he couldn't for the life of him find a way to make his lips say it out loud.
"I know," he croaked, and bowed his head, bringing the hand that wasn't holding Quatre's hand up to his own head.
Quatre suddenly kneeled in front of Trowa. "Trowa are you all right?" he asked, concern clearly evident in his tone. "Trowa?" both of Quatre's hands flew up to cup Trowa's face. He turned to the two healers in the room quickly. Alia was already up and closing the short distance to them.
"He's very dizzy. I think he might…" Quatre didn't have the time to say 'pass out' because at that moment, Trowa did.
With a surprised exclamation, Quatre pushed on Trowa's shoulders desperately trying to keep him in the chair and not on the hard ground. Passus was by Quatre's side immediately, before Quatre even could telepathically hold on to Trowa. The older, taller man was able to steady Trowa easily.
"Don't expend your remaining energy, Quatre," Alia warned, being at his side now, assessing Trowa's condition. She had seen that Quatre was about to telepathically hold Trowa up. "I can do it," she said, more gentle this time.
Alia telepathically kept Trowa in the chair and Passus was then able to take his hands off Trowa's shoulders. Holding his hands over Trowa's forehead, he went into a mild trance to seek out what was causing Trowa's ailment. Quatre remained riveted in his kneeling position in front of Trowa.
"He's all right," Passus finally replied, bringing his hands down. "Everything that has been happening has come crashing down on him all at once. Let's get him over to the bed. He's simply exhausted mentally and physically and just needs to sleep this off."
Quatre stood up and reached out his hands to help, but Passus halted him. "I'm sorry, but you're not strong enough yet. Alia and I can handle it," Passus warned.
Quatre's face immediately became set and stubborn. He could only watch helplessly as Trowa was laid carefully on the bed, but Quatre's thoughts were at the moment far away.
'It's all because of me. The anxiety, the exhaustion I've felt from him, being nearly sick with worry—all because of me,' Quatre's inner monologue became increasingly self loathing and angry. 'Because of my telepathy, because of the Sentinels. And now, when he needs my help, I can't do a damn thing. He traveled countless miles for me, faced four of the lands most powerful telepaths for me, then carried me through the forest after a grueling battle, but now, when he needs me, I can't even help him from a chair to a bed.'
Once Passus checked over the unconscious brunette once more, he turned back to Quatre. He was standing straight and rigid near the chair they had just moved Trowa from. The young blonde man had a faraway look in his eyes and a dark, frowning expression.
Creasing his eyebrows, Passus tilted his head to try and inspect Quatre. "Are you all right?" he finally asked gently.
Without a response, Quatre simply strode over to the side of Trowa's bed and Passus moved out of the way. He stood there, with his back towards Alia and Passus, staring down at the now sleeping brunette. Quatre slowly reached down and took one of Trowa's slack hands in his.
Passus immediately turned his head when he heard Alia give a shocked gasp. She made eye contact with her father and reached out a hand beckoning him to move away. "Father, come over here," her voice was pleading.
"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.
Once he had moved close enough to her, he glanced around as he suddenly realized Alia had erected a defense shield around them both. The silvery light encased them both.
"What are you doing?" he asked, a tinge of impatience coming out in his tone. He had two patients to take care of—one currently unconscious and the other nearing a telepathic collapse.
"Go to him, but be careful. I'm going to keep the shield around you," Alia finally answered, her voice mildly fearful.
Passus sighed and strode over to the bed Trowa was lying on. He felt the slight tingle that symbolized Alia's shield was still around him although she wasn't telling him why.
Reaching out, he intended to check Trowa when he was stopped.
"Don't. Touch. Him," came a low menacing voice from Quatre.
Taken aback, Passus took his hand away. Passus looked at the young teen. Spidery blonde bangs covered the pale face and he wondered what had made Quatre so incredibly angry.
"Quatre?" he began to question.
"I said leave him alone!" Quatre whipped his head around and Passus was suddenly faced with a pair of illuminating lavender eyes.
"Dear spirits," he exclaimed breathlessly, quickly staggering back in surprise. He couldn't break eye contact however with the brightly colored glowing eyes.
The eye contact was only broken however when he heard his front door open and three pairs of feet come quickly down the hallway.
"Why'd she call us in?!" Duo questioned Passus, gesturing towards Alia. "Hey, what happened to Trowa?" he asked, not waiting for an answer to his previous question.
He began moving forward, towards Quatre and the seemingly sleeping Trowa, when he felt a strong grip land on his bicep.
Looking back, he met Heero's cold gaze. "Don't go near him. Alia has us under a defense shield, but his powers are too out of control. Even she wouldn't be able to protect us," he warned.
"What in the spirit's name are you talking about?" Duo asked impatiently, and wrenched his arm out of Heero's slackening grasp.
"He's talking about me."
Duo whirled around when he heard the flat voice speak from Trowa and Quatre's direction.
Quatre had turned to half face them, giving them a clear view of his eye's transformation.
"Dammit," Duo whispered angrily, seeing his friend's lavender eyes. "How did this happen?" he directed the question to Alia. "You said you were going to help him?! Put some shields up or something!"
"Wait, how did you know that?" Passus asked. "You weren't here while we were talking about that."
In light of the present situation, Alia gave a fleeting smile. "They were listening under the window the whole time. As for the situation, moments after Trowa's collapse…which happened because of stress, nothing else," she added quickly, "I felt an extreme self loathing from Quatre. He believes Trowa's state is directly the cause of him."
"Because it is," Quatre's once soft voice was cold and hard. Turning back fully to Trowa, turning his back on his friends, he slowly knelt down, still holding on to Trowa's hand.
"It's not and you know it," Duo shot back, angry that Quatre was still blaming himself for all of this. "How many times do we need to tell you none of this is your fault? Get it through your blonde head. He came after you because he loves you and he certainly doesn't regret his decision."
Quatre moved to face Duo. At first, Duo was concerned it was to challenge him, for angering Quatre further, but instead Duo suddenly saw the flicker in Quatre's eyes—the flicker symbolizing he was trying to gain control. Hope flared in Duo's heart. Ignoring the others protests, he cautiously moved closer to Quatre. As he knelt down, he nearly had to leap back as Quatre's eyes quickly returned lavender full force. Small jumps of static electricity sparked lightly off the blonde hair. Duo had obviously angered him by coming too close.
"Trowa needs you Quatre," Duo pleaded. "He needs you to get control of whatever this is, so we can all go home and just live our lives."
Duo locked eye contact with Quatre, no longer disconcerted that his eyes were completely the wrong color and he was angry and confused. His eyes widened with hope when he watched Quatre's face soften from hard and set to one of contemplation.
Passus watched with a look of sheer disbelief on his face. 'How in the world are they managing to get him under control?' Even though he hadn't meant to project his thoughts, he no sooner thought it when Alia's telepathic voice entered his mind.
'They are all silently begging for him to return. Even in his state, he still hears his friend's pleas. They are calling him back from whatever brink of madness he is on. It seems they are succeeding,' she projected, quietly hopeful.
Heero and Wufei waited anxiously near Alia, even though their exteriors showed none of their emotions. Each, unknown to the other, was sending their own thoughts to Quatre, hoping he would be cognizant enough to pick them up.
Duo watched as Quatre closed his eyes—thinking about everything swirling in his mind. When they opened once again, tired blue eyes stared back at Duo.
"Trowa needs me," he repeated back quietly. "And I need him."
Closing his blue eyes once again, he gave a sigh and slowly withered to the ground. Duo stretched out his arms to grab him.
"No! Don't touch him," Alia's sudden voice and telepathic shield stopped him. He glared up angrily as in the next second, Quatre hit the floor.
"He was still electrified. If you had touched him, he would have unintentionally injured you," Alia explained, without waiting for Duo's question.
"Then why didn't you telepathically grab him or something!" he replied indignantly.
"He's fine," she answered him calmly. "He was kneeling and it was not a far distance to fall—besides, I have shields up around all of you in case he lost total control. I didn't have the energy to grab him too," she admitted. At the mention of the shields, all of them slowly faded away from top to bottom.
"Can I touch him now?" Duo asked impatiently, looking back down at Quatre.
"Yes," Alia answered after a moment, studying Quatre to see if he was still electrified.
Shifting from kneeling to being in a crouched position, Duo reached down and put his hands on Quatre's arms. The blonde teenager was sprawled on his side. Another pair of hands joined Duo's and the braided boy looked up to see Heero's focused expression. Together, they gently lifted Quatre up onto his bed.
Pulling off his boots, Duo took the moment to carefully scrutinize his friend. He shook his head and released a sigh—the blonde was sickeningly pale and that only accented the slight dark circles around his eyes that had escaped Duo's vision before.
"Look, I don't even care what in the spirits name just caused that relapse, but can you please just do something for him? I mean look at him," Duo gestured with his hand, exasperated. "He can't handle much more of this!" His pleading, frustrated eyes went between Alia and Passus.
Alia looked over to her father. "I think it would best to keep Trowa asleep for a little while longer; let him build up some strength—do you agree?"
Passus nodded, and being close to Trowa's bed in the first place, took the few steps to be at the head of the bed, and carefully placed Trowa in a regenerative sleep phase.
Heero and Wufei watched Duo's expression become increasingly angered—he thought he had been blatantly ignored. He opened his mouth to express his anger when Alia interrupted before he began.
"Calm down," she raised a hand in placation. "Trowa needed to be dealt with first so I could give my full attention to Quatre."
Duo eyed her warily for a moment, but seemed to begrudgingly accept the answer since he didn't open his mouth.
"Is he going to be all right?" Duo asked, silently ashamed for not worrying about Trowa as well in the first place.
"He is simply sleeping," Alia reassured as she pulled a chair up to where Quatre was resting, leaving Trowa to her father's care. Resting her hand on his forehead, she shook her head with a sigh.
"What?" Wufei queried, saying his first words since he had entered the room with Heero and Duo only a few minutes earlier.
"He's been pushed back into the recesses of his mind. He won't come out of this state without assistance," she assessed.
"Boys, this is extremely important," she suddenly stated, looking intently at the three of them—they were once again standing side by side between the foots of Quatre's bed and Trowa's bed. "I would much prefer if you left during this, but from your minds I sense that you don't particularly care for that suggestion. If you stay, under no circumstances can you touch him or me. By touching one of us, your consciousness will have entered through that touch and tip the balance. This is a sensitive procedure and any distraction could completely ruin it—that could result in the death of him or me. Do you all understand?"
She could sense the shock from the three remaining boys, but she saw them also silently nod their heads.
"We'll wait outside—we do not wish to endanger either of you," Wufei answered for the other two.
Grabbing on to Duo's arm, Heero began nudging him toward the hallway leading to the front door.
"Please take care of him," Duo turned back for a moment and insisted. "He means a lot to us."
Alia gave the braided youth a reassuring smile, though the smile was still tight around the corners of her mouth considering the heaviness of the situation. "I'm going to try my very best, Duo."
With that said, Duo willingly followed Heero and Wufei down the hallway and outside.
Once Alia heard the click of the front door latching shut, signifying the boys had left, she felt the weight of her father's hand on her shoulder. She covered the larger hand with one of her smaller ones.
"This is going to be extremely difficult—are you sure you're able to do this?" Passus asked worriedly, concerned for the health of his daughter if she followed through with this.
"As healers, we took oaths to always try to help with all our ability. This boy needs me now more than anyone else I've ever met, or possibly will ever meet. He's teetering on the brink of life and death at this very moment—I'm his only chance," she responded. She turned to face her father's sad eyes.
"I will be fine," she smiled as she leaned up to kiss Passus's cheek. "Please let me do what I need to do."
"I completely trust your abilities, daughter," he smiled back. "But if you sense something going wrong, please pull back. I'll stay here to make sure nothing distracts you and if you need any help all right?"
"Thank you," she replied, before turning back to Quatre. "It's time to begin this."
Closing her eyes, her two small hands hovering over his forehead began to glow her signature silver…
Authoresses Note: I hope that didn't disappoint!! Please review if the spirit moves you to do so! And take care until next time (which hopefully won't be another 3 months from now )