Well, here goes—my pride and joy! This fanfic was written several months ago (mostly during my Japanese History class!) and it's been revised about five times since. By now, it's really a collaboration between myself and my sister/editor, Space Pirate Ryoko (Ang-chan).
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing isn't mine, it belongs to people
who are richer and happier and have better things to do with their time that
write fanfics and obsess over Quatre. Please don't sure me—I'm a starving student who owns practically
nothing.
Pairings: Primarily 3x4
Warnings: All right, this is the big one. If you hate Relena, read it with
caution. I like her, and I needed her
to make this plot happen. She's not in
it a lot, but she's crucial to the development of the story. Other than that, be prepared for lots of
shounen ai, yaoi actions and implications, lemon-scented goodness, and a
reasonable dose of angst for several of the guys. They may be out of character—it takes place six years later, and
they've changed somewhat. Heero gets
kind of mean, but I think that's fairly reasonable. ^_^
What's Meant to Be
I stood outside the parliamentary
building with Duo and WuFei, wishing I'd thought to bring a jacket. It was only September, but the evenings were
already becoming chilly.
"What time is it?" I asked
WuFei.
"Twenty minutes after
eight," he answered. "Yuy
said he'd be here at eight-thirty."
Ten minutes? I rubbed my hands up and down my arms. I hoped he would be early.
"I wonder what this is
about," Duo sighed. We'd been
asked to meet him because he had important news—but he hadn't given us a clue.
Things had changed a lot over the
past four years, since the war ended. Heero was the Secretary of the Interior, in charge of internal security
for the World Nation and Colonial Alliance. He seemed to enjoy his political life, too, despite the media rumors
that surrounded him whenever he was seen with Relena. They'd been together since the last uprising. We didn't see much of him socially,
though.
Normally we kept in touch through
Relena. WuFei was an ambassador,
representing the L5 cluster. I had been
made the Minister of Defense three years before. Duo was the head of the Imperial Guard. So we saw Relena on a regular basis, since she had finally
accepted the role of the imperial representative for the Alliance, and that
kept us informed of Heero's well-being and whereabouts.
Trowa, on the other hand, had not been to earth in three years. He'd joined the Preventers temporarily, and then went back to the circus for a while. After that we heard nothing of him. I sometimes suspected that Heero had kept contact with him, but there was no evidence either way. The last time I'd seen Trowa was when I moved into my apartment after joining Relena's cabinet—we moved my stuff to the new place together. It was the last time the five of us had spent time in the same room. We all missed him, when the rest of us got together, but I hadn't really paid much attention to his whereabouts. We'd grown apart. Sometimes I missed the close friendship we'd shared so long ago, but in his absence I was able to forge even stronger relationships with WuFei and Duo. Duo had become my very best friend, and WuFei was our number one drinking buddy.
"What time is it now?" Duo
whined to WuFei, shivering in the cold. Like me, he apparently hadn't considered bringing a jacket.
"It's eight-twenty-two,"
WuFei stated with a glare. He tossed
Duo his sweatshirt.
"Thanks." Duo graced him with a lopsided grin.
We'd all changed a lot, both
mentally and physically. Though Duo was
still as talkative as ever, he had become more mature and more sensitive over
the years. And he had grown at least
twenty-two centimeters, dwarfing the rest of us. Most of his free time was spent at clubs, searching for new
meaningless relationships, or with WuFei or me, trying to recover from his most
recent bout of lovesickness. WuFei had
become a lot less serious—he had finally let go of the ghosts of his
childhood. He would never be as
rambunctious as Duo, but he was certainly a lot of fun to be with. Physically he hadn't changed much. He wasn't very tall, and he hadn't put on a
whole lot of weight, either. He was
still heavier than me, though. I hadn't
changed much either, physically, except perhaps the hair, which I now wore
longer, and pulled back into a loose ponytail. Maybe it was evidence of the influence Duo and WuFei had over me. My personality, I'm sure, was much altered
during the six-year span since we'd met. I felt more carefree than I had in years, and I was finally happy with
my job. Being a defense minister was a
lot better for me than being a soldier.
"Trowa!" Duo's cry cut
through my thoughts. I looked up to see
Trowa walking toward us with Heero and Relena.
I was startled by his appearance; my
breath caught in my throat. It'd been
so very long since we'd last met. He
looked different, yet so similar. His
face, his eyes, his hair were all the same. He was taller, broader. And he
walked with a new sort of confidence. I
wondered if he, like WuFei, had managed to finally get rid of the demons of his
past.
Duo ran to him, giving him an
over-ecstatic hug. WuFei and I were
more reserved.
"When did you arrive? How long will you be here? How was your trip?" Duo was bombarding him with questions.
Trowa laughed—a rare
occurrence. "I landed four days
ago, I don't know how long, and my trip was great."
WuFei looked confused. "What are you going to do while you're
here? Is this a vacation?"
"Not exactly. I'm doing the same stuff I do
everywhere—work on military machinery or any other mechanical
things." I'd forgotten what a
mechanical genius Trowa was. He was
always the one who would rather spend time rummaging through the innards of a
mobile suit than at any political function.
I couldn't say half of the things I
wanted to say. I wanted to ask about
Catherine, life in the colonies, where he'd be staying—but I was rendered
speechless by a strange sensation, almost a fluttering in my stomach that
hadn't been present for years. At one
time, it dominated my interactions with him, but that had been ages ago; I'd
thought it was gone for good. Once I
recognized the familiar feeling, I fought to suppress it, as I had for as long
as I'd known him.
"So what's this meeting
about?" I asked Heero, concentrating on him instead.
"A new mission?" Duo
joked.
Heero smiled and shook his
head. "Actually, I wanted to tell
you all that I'm resigning from my post—in fact, I'm leaving the political
arena altogether."
"What?" WuFei's eyes were
wide with amazement. I'm sure they
mirrored my own.
Relena nodded, leaning closer to
Heero. "We realized that it
wouldn't sit well with the people if I married one of my cabinet members."
"Marry?" Duo's voice
cracked. His violet-blue eyes were wide
with surprise.
"Yes," Heero answered,
grinning for what could possibly be the first time of his life.
"When? Have you set a date?" I asked.
"We're not sure," Relena
said. "Since it has to be an
world-wide event, we must plan it carefully so it doesn't conflict with
anything. But we're kind of hoping for
April."
"So soon?" Duo had replaced his shock with a mask of
happiness, but it wasn't perfect. I
wondered if Heero could still read Duo's expressions as easily as he once
had.
"Not soon enough," Heero
murmured, pulling Relena closer to his side.
I watched Duo closely, wondering how
much he still cared for Heero. He
hadn't really said anything for a while now, but he wasn't exactly the type of
person who could toss his feelings aside.
I noticed that WuFei seemed to be
doing the exact same thing. He shook
his head suddenly, as if he was trying to expel the subject from his mind. "We should go celebrate," he said,
after congratulating Heero and Relena.
"Yeah," Trowa agreed.
Duo rubbed his stomach. "I could go for some food!"
"There's a great place just
down the street," Relena suggested. "We can walk, since it's so nice out."
"Lead the way," I said
with a sigh. I definitely should've
brought a jacket. I walked behind Duo,
letting him block the wind.
We headed down toward the street,
but we were stopped by Lucrezia Noin's voice.
"Relena! Wait!" She shouted, running down the
steps to catch up with us. "There's been an emergency—you need to come
quickly!"
"Is it my brother?" Relena's eyes grew wide.
Noin smiled gently. "He's fine—it's not that kind of
emergency. We really do need you,
though."
Relena turned to the five of us, her eyes
apologetic. "I'm really sorry—you
go ahead without me."
Heero shook his head. "No, we can wait, or I'll—"
"Yes," she insisted. "Go have fun with your friends. I'll call you as soon as I can get
free." She kissed him quickly and
followed Noin back into the building.
"She'll be fine," Trowa
said quietly to Heero.
"Ah, that's what you get for
marrying a monarch," Duo sighed, shaking his head.
Two hours later we were still sitting in a
corner booth at the restaurant, finishing our meals. Duo was already drunk—he'd probably had half a bottle of scotch
before the meal came. Heero was too
happy to be disturbed by him, either unaware of or ignoring the fact that Duo
was clearly trying to get under his skin. After the fifteenth embarrassing Heero-story, WuFei and I shared
concerned looks—we were both absolutely certain that Duo was upset about Heero.
"So, Heero," Duo
slurred. "Are you gonna have lots
o' babies and stuff?"
Heero smiled slightly. "I have to secure the line of
succession. If Relena doesn't have an heir,
then the throne goes to any kids Zechs may have."
WuFei snorted. "That's a picture I never thought I'd
see--Yuy hanging out in a nursery with babies while his wife rules the
world."
I laughed too. "Can you see old Zechs ever letting his
guard down with Noin long enough to even suggest kids?"
Duo scooted closer to me, resting
his arm on the back of my chair so he could twist my hair around his
fingers. "And when are you gonna
settle down, Quatre?" he asked softly. I could feel his breath tickling my ear.
"Never," I said with a
blush. It never failed—whenever Duo got
drunk, he hit on every guy he saw, and I was usually the first victim. I couldn't begin to total the number of
indecent propositions I'd received from him over the years.
I caught WuFei's eye and he
wordlessly removed Duo's drink from the table. We were used to this kind of action from Duo, but when I glanced at
Heero and Trowa, I could tell by their shocked expressions that they were not.
"Is Relena going to take your
name, or keep Peacecraft?" Trowa asked, hurriedly shifting his eyes from
Duo and me.
Heero coughed. "Ah, we've decided that she's keeping
Peacecraft, since the family has always had the throne and all. It would be a shame to change the royal
family's name to one that isn't even originally mine. Our kids will be Peacecraft, too."
Trowa nodded silently, watching me
again. Duo was still pressed awfully
close to me. It was embarrassing. I wasn't aware of ever being this
self-conscious about it. I pulled away slightly
and Duo pouted.
"Fine," he shifted away
from me. "I'm gonna go get another
drink." He made his way over to
the bar.
"Damn, he's wasted," WuFei
commented dryly, watching him walk away. "I thought he'd be over it by now."
"Over what?" Heero asked.
Trowa looked at me, his eyes
widening. "You mean, he
still—?"
I nodded.
"Yeah," WuFei sighed. "He still has it pretty bad for
Heero." He glanced at me and I
shrugged. As much as I cared about Duo,
I'd never fully understood his infatuation. Six years was an awful long time to obsess over someone. But then again, it worked for Relena,
right? Too bad that meant it'd never work
for Duo.
I glanced at Heero. He was shaking his head in confusion. "But I thought—"
He was cut off by Duo's return. He had a drink in one hand and a slip of
paper in the other. He sat too close to
me, laughing.
"You see that guy at the bar?" he
asked, leaning his forehead against my own. "I got his number." He
waved a torn napkin under my nose.
"Here we go again," WuFei
muttered.
I took the napkin. "No, Duo," I said, my voice
low. The last time he'd picked up a man
while he was drunk it had led to so much trouble. I ripped the paper in half, throwing the pieces in the
ashtray. Duo made a grab for them, but I
blocked him. "Not this time,"
I growled.
Duo sat back, scowling at me. "You're so not fun."
"Does this happen often?" Heero
asked, looking strangely at Duo and me.
"Often enough that it gets old,"
WuFei said with rolling eyes. "I
can't stand it—luckily Quatre's patient, otherwise Duo would've been in deep
shit years ago."
I listened silently, watching the other
ex-pilots. It made me miss the years we
spent together. I hated the fact that
Heero and Trowa didn't know what Duo was like when he was drunk—that they
hadn't been there through all the breakups, all the celebrations. Now that we five were together again, I
began to feel uncomfortable—like Trowa and Heero didn't belong.
"I don't feel good," Duo moaned,
his head laying his head on the table, his long braid flipping into a bowl of
sauce.
"Do you want to take him home or
should I?" WuFei asked.
"I've got him—don't worry," I
said, standing. I pulled Duo up with
me, supporting him with a steady arm around the waist.
His head lolled backward and he stared up
at me with his big violet-blue eyes. "Can I stay at your place this weekend, Quatre?"
"Sure, whatever," I answered,
stepping away from the booth as I supported Duo.
"Do you need any help?" Trowa had stood and was watching us with a
strange expression.
"No, really, I'm used to
this." I tried to smile a thank
you, but Duo fell toward me. "Congratulations on your engagement, Heero, and Trowa—welcome back. We've missed you." My eyes locked with Trowa's, and again I
felt that old fluttery feeling. I shook
my head, willing it away, and led Duo out of the restaurant.