Chapter Three

Chapter Three

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Heero paced back and forth in the Great Hall… his sword hung at his belt and he kept demanding to know what time it was. The harried servants were fidgeting nervously, the young prince's behavior was alarming them.

"Where the hell is he? He should have been back two hours ago… That's it! Long enough! Send out a search party! Trowa should have been back by now…" The servants scurried from the room, glad of an excuse to get out of the gaze of the irritable young prince. Heero wanted to go along with them but Wufei went instead. He was older than Heero. Heero had relented and stayed behind. He was angry though… If they had done anything to his brother… He clenched his fists.

A few hours later found Heero in the practice room. He had already worn down three of the guards and was fast wearing down a fourth one. His anger and his anxiety was fueling his aggressiveness. Finally he had defeated the fourth guard and was sufficiently worn out himself. A servant appeared somberly at the door.

"Excuse me My Prince… but…," the man hesitated.

"Out with it already!" Heero demanded.

"Perhaps it would be better if you just came to see yourself." He said bowing out of the room.

Heero sheathed his sword and pushed past the man rather irritated. What he saw next made him stop dead in his tracks. He dropped the towel he had been mopping his forehead with and stared. He felt as though he had a lead weight in the pit of his stomach. Wufei knelt with his head down beside the body of their brother. Heero could see tears rolling down his cheeks. Trowa lay pale and stained with crimson blood. Wufei looked up at him, his face pale and drawn.

"They killed him Heero… they killed him… and left him in the forest." Wufei looked down at his younger brother. His fists were clenched and his fine white tunic was stained with dried blood.

Heero fought with the impulse to run up to his older brother Trowa and shake him. "He… he can't be… no… it's." His whole body shook with rage and he felt heat flooding through him. He bellowed in anger and turned to punch the wall. Pain spread through his fist, white hot and real. Real in a time when he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Those bastards! I'll… I'll DAMN THEM TO HELL!" Heero turned and ran from the room. He'd never felt like this before… No one that he had really cared about had ever died before. His mother had died when he was born but he had never known her and had therefore never missed her. He felt tears dampening his cheeks as he ran through the halls. He stopped and leaned in the doorframe of his room… it was right across the hallway from Trowa's room. He slumped down just inside his room and hugged his knees to his chest. He buried his face in his arms and he felt sobs tearing through him. He fell asleep there and no one dared move him.

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Duo had gotten out of his room by the time the guards had returned with Prince Quatre. He ran out into the courtyard. He gasped as he saw his little brother staring blankly ahead of his… covered in blood,

"What happened?" Duo ran over to Quatre and pulled him down from the horse. Duo was alarmed. "Quatre are you hurt?" He looked him over holding him at arm length to examine him. He got no response from Quatre. "What the hell went on out there!?" He demanded the captain of the guards.

"The Prince is unharmed… the boy he was with was killed." The man said tersely. Duo understood at once… Quatre was in complete and total shock. Duo cursed under his breath. He picked up Quatre holding him like he might a small child and took him inside.

Duo stripped off Quatre's blood stained clothing and put him into something clean and then wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. Quatre was staring fixedly at the floor. Duo climbed up onto the bed and pulled his little brother close. He rocked him slightly… just as he had done when he was five years old… That was when Quatre was born. Gradually Quatre began to come around. He began to sniffle and then to sob outright. Quatre clung to Duo and cried until he had no more tears left to shed. Duo just held tight to him, stroking his hair back from his face and talking to him trying to calm him. When he finally managed to gain some level of coherence…

"I killed him Duo… I killed him… if it wasn't for me he'd still be alive…" Quatre wiped at his eyes with the tissue Duo had given him. "It's all my fault."

"Quatre its not your fault for following your heart… I'm just sorry that I couldn't understand… I'm sorry… it was my fault for not seeing."

"But now he's dead… I know I only knew him a short time Duo… but I loved him… I really did. He died because of me…" Quatre felt as though he had personally delivered Trowa's death sentence.

Duo just didn't know what to say, he wanted to just take the hurt away. "it's going to be alright Quatre… I promise somehow it will work out… I promise…"

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