Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not and will never belong to me.
Opening Doors
The seats were all filled. Everyone in town it seemed was there to see the show. It was the first time the circus had been performing here. A girl of about seventeen squeezed through the third row. Her newly permed blond hair fell just past her shoulders. This whole past week had been a shock to her. She was amazed at what she could now afford, the perm, these tickets. It was just one burst of luck after another since the war; her father got a job, everyone was healthy, they had a nice home to go home to, and her brothers could go to school and play like normal children. It wasn't just being here for the mere enjoyment, it was the fact she could. Things were going right for once. And now she just had to take care of one last thing, which had been eating away at her for the past few years.
She took her seat next to a good-looking blonde young man about her age. He smiled at her. She didn't return his smile. Things were going good, but she was still wary of others. After what she had done to a friend, she didn't think anyone could be trusted. She sneaked a glance at him. His blue eyes were shining. They were focused on the rings. He was waiting, for more than just the show to start, it seemed to her. He looked so much sweeter than anyone else she had met did and trustworthy, too, even though he was a stranger. She had only known one person like that. And she was here to know that person again. Her heart pounded with anticipation, or was it with nervousness? She took a deep breath. It'll be okay, she thought to herself. The worst thing that could happen is… She choked back a sob.
"Are you all right?" The man next to her asked. She was taken aback. Not many people showed concern for her, least of all a stranger. But, oddly enough, he sounded sincere. The least she could do was answer.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you."
He didn't look like he believed her, but he said nothing more about it. "Is this the first time you've been to the circus?"
She nodded. "I've never been able to go before. I've always wanted to though."
"Oh, I've never really been that much of a fan," he said. "But I had to come anyway." He held out his hand to her. "My name is Quatre. Quatre Raberba Winner."
Her eyes grew wide. She knew that name. He was one of the richest men in space and on earth. Her recent wealth was nothing compared to what he had. "Nice to meet you," she said. "I'm Midii Une."
He raised his eyebrow. "Une? Any relation to Lady Une?"
"No, who's that?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Never mind."
"How come you had to come? If you don't mind my asking."
"I was the one who got them here in the first place." He glanced briefly at the stage again. "My friends in the Maguanac Corps really wanted to see it. There around here somewhere." He chuckled. "I think they just wanted to see Catherine. She's one of the stars here."
"Good connections, huh?" she blurted out, before she could stop herself. She turned bright red. She practically called him a spoiled rich kid. But he shrugged it off good-naturedly.
"My best friend is in it. You'll see him later. Catherine will be throwing knives at him. The only way I could convince him to do the show was to come myself. Although I probably would've come to see him anyway. It's been awhile."
Midii nodded understandingly. "I know how that feels." She hesitated. "I'm hoping to visit an old friend here myself. I haven't seen him in years, and I didn't know where he was until I saw his picture in the paper. I want to try to talk to him tonight, if I can." She couldn't believe herself, telling her story to a total stranger.
He nodded. "You can come with me when I see my friend."
Her eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Sure, why not?"
"Oh, thank you," she gushed, but then she stopped. She raised her eyebrow at him. "What's the catch?"
He looked at her strangely. "No catch."
"Oh, well, thanks." She quickly wiped away the slight smile that appeared on her face. She wasn't used to doing such a thing; even when she heard the good news from her father, she didn't smile. Besides, he wouldn't recognize her if she were smiling, just like she wouldn't recognize him if he did so.
* * * * * *
"Great show tonight, huh, Trowa?" Catherine said cheerfully. "I think your friends really liked it." She wiped some of the make-up off her face. "I saw Quatre in the audience," she added.
Trowa nodded and pulled off his clown shoes. "Yeah, he should be here in a minute."
"Catherine! Trowa!" The manager called from outside. "Are you going to feed these animals, or are they going to starve tonight?"
Catherine rolled her eyes. "I'll be right there." She turned to Trowa. "I'll take care of it tonight. You spend some time with your friend."
"Thanks, Catherine," he said gratefully.
She shrugged off his thanks. "Well, don't expect me to help you tomorrow," she joked. "But, if he thinks things went well, maybe he'll be merciful and give both of us the day off."
He nodded, but showed no excitement whatsoever. Catherine didn't mind. She was used to it. She walked out of the tent.
He watched her go, than took something off his neck. It was a cross. He still wore it, even after all this time. Quatre entered the tent, followed at a distance by a strangely familiar looking girl.
Trowa grinned when he saw his best friend. He'd missed him a lot since he last saw him, even though he had trouble expressing his feelings aloud.
Quatre greeted him with a big hug. He hugged back self-consciously. Over his shoulder, he could see the girl clearly. She was biting her lip nervously and blushed furiously when she caught him looking at her. He studied her carefully, but he couldn't remember. At a loss for what to do, she gave him a weak smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. She fiddled with something hanging from her neck. At that instant, he knew.
* * * * * *
Quatre released him from his hug and finally became aware that they were staring at each other. "Oh, um, Trowa, this is Midii, I hope you don't mind that she came with me, she said she knew someone…"
Trowa cut him off with a curt nod. "I never expected to see you again."
"I didn't either," she replied, "Trowa." It felt strange to give a name to his face. He would always be Nanashi to her.
"Oh, you two know each other, how silly of me." Quatre looked back and forth between them. Sensing something was going on, he reluctantly said, "I'm going to go say hi to Catherine."
Trowa gave a small wave, but didn't take his eyes off her. Her serious expression matched his own. But there was fear in her eyes. He didn't know why she was afraid of him. There was no reason for her to be.
"So," she began casually. "You finally found someone to come home to."
He nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
She took a deep breath and gazed at her shoes. "Nan- er, Trowa…"
He shrugged. "It doesn't matter."
"Oh, okay. Anyway… I just wanted to say…"
He stopped her again. "You don't have to say anything. I understand."
She looked at him in surprise. "Y-you do?'
"I know you did what you had to do. I… well; I envied you I suppose. But I guess you knew that already." He grew silent.
"Yeah, I guess." She gathered up all her courage. "If you're going to be around, maybe we can go have coffee or something."
"Sure, I might be off tomorrow anyway."
"Really?" He nodded. She smiled at him, this time a real genuine smile.
* * * * * *
Quatre leaned against the bars of the cage behind him. He then jumped back, realizing what lay inside it.
Catherine laughed. "Scaredy-cat."
"Yeah, that is a scary cat." He looked into the lion's brown eyes and shuddered. "I would not want that thing as a pet."
"Good cause you can't have one." She reached in and patted it on the head. It purred as if it were a kitten. "Poor thing doesn't like strangers, do you?" she cooed.
"Is he knew?" Quatre asked. He had visited the circus enough times to know that the lions there were pretty friendly.
Catherine nodded. "Trowa named him Nanashi. Well, he sort of named him."
Quatre laughed. He knew Nanashi meant "No Name" and it wasn't a surprise that Trowa gave the lion that name. Now that Trowa had an identity, and a home and family and friends to come back to, he didn't need to be Nanashi anymore.
"So," Catherine said nonchalantly. "What's the story with that girl?"
Quatre shrugged and slid to the ground, leaning against the cage of one of the friendlier lions, who proceeded to begin rubbing his head against his neck. "I guess she's an old friend of Trowa's. I only know two things about her: she hasn't seen him in years, and she was extremely nervous."
Catherine opened her mouth to say something but stopped. Her gaze wandered behind him. Quatre turned around. He saw Trowa and Midii come out of the tent. She handed him something, and walked away. He waved and went back inside.
Quatre sighed and glanced at his watch. "I'd better go."
"Don't you want to hang out with us awhile?" Catherine asked, noting the sad look on his face.
He shook his head. "I can't."
"How long are you going to be around her?'
"A week at the most. Then I'll go back into space."
"Oh. Well, we'll be off tomorrow, so why don't you come back then?" Catherine felt bad for him. The two best friends almost never got to see each other now that the war was over. And their chance tonight was lost. Catherine still resented him a little, but she'd grown to like Quatre. He was too nice to be allowed to be sad. And something told her that what the two boys had was more than simple friendship. That made her almost of protective of his feelings as she was of her own brother's, for in away protecting him was almost the same as protecting Trowa.
"I guess I could try," he said hesitantly. Then he smiled. "Sure, why not?"
"Great! You could have lunch with us. I'll make my famous soup."
He laughed. "Okay. Thanks Catherine. I'll see you tomorrow than." He gave her a quick hug and left in a much better mood. Catherine waved, grinning. She wasn't sure who she was happier for, Quatre or Trowa. But she went inside feeling sure she had done something good.
* * * * * *
"YOU'RE WHAT?" Catherine boomed. Trowa backed away from her slightly. He'd seen her angry before, but this was really furious.
"I don't know what the problem is. It's no big deal. It's not like it's a really important date."
"What the problem is," she said, backing him farther into a corner, "is I invited Quatre to come over tomorrow, because he couldn't talk to you last night. And now you're ditching him again… for a GIRL!"
Trowa noticed the emphasis on the girl part, but he didn't say anything about it. He really wanted to be able to see Quatre, but he'd already promised her. It wasn't that he was that anxious to go on a date with her anyway. He honestly couldn't care less if something happened with them. A part of him didn't even think he wanted it to. But she was his friend, at least, and he did miss her.
"I can see Quatre another time," he said to his sister. "I already made plans."
"Well, so did I. What am I supposed to do, call him and cancel? Say 'I'm sorry, but Trowa's too busy now for you. You'll have to call and set up an appointment, so that it doesn't conflict with his dates!"
"Wow, calm down!" Trowa exclaimed. "You just said the other day that I should date."
"That was not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
She hesitated. "Never mind. Apparently, I was wrong. Well, I'm not canceling on him. You have to do it yourself."
"I can't," he replied. "I don't have his phone number."
"Well, then wait and tell him when he comes, because I don't want to see that heartbroken puppy-dog look on his face." She stormed out in a huff.
Trowa stood frozen in shock. It took him a few moments before he managed to thaw out. He raised his eyebrow. "Either she really needs a man, or she just has to cut it out with the caffeine." A thought occurred to him. "Maybe she and Quatre could…" He frowned. That was not something he wanted to happen. Not at all.
* * * * * *
Trowa and Midii walked down the busy streets. Little children ran around playing games while their mothers watched from the windows. Unlike when Quatre and Duo were there during the war, no celebrations were going on today. But the people were still busy and content.
Trowa watched as two little boys played tag. One of them had brown hair, which covered half of his face. The other was blonde and blue-eyed. He smiled as they laughed together happily. Then he saw another small figure coming towards them. It was a blonde girl with long curls. She went over to the brown haired boy and pulled him away from his friend. He waved good-bye, the cheerfulness gone from his face. Trowa felt a pang in his heart for that little boy. Some friend he is, Trowa thought, ditching his best friend for a girl. Something caught in his throat. That was what he did. And Quatre was a lot more than just his best friend, much more. He was a hundred times more important than she was. Suddenly, he thought he might know what Catherine had been talking about.
Midii was also watching the children. But she was more interested in the older kids. One pair, a boy and a girl of about ten years old or so, were standing together by a street-vender selling flowers. She saw the girl take one and give it to him, whispering something. He smiled at her. She glanced at Trowa wistfully. How she wished they could've been like that when they were children.
"Trowa," she began. "Remember when you found out…" She couldn't finish.
"Yeah. What about it?" he asked, tearing his teary eyes away from the kids.
"Well, you know how I said about not being able to tell someone how I feel?" He nodded. "Well, I…" She wrung her hands nervously.
Trowa nodded again. He understood perfectly. He wasn't sure he could give her what she wanted, but he could try something. It was the least he could do. Hesitantly, he leaned over and kissed her.
* * * * * *
They pulled apart a second later. She started to smile at him, but stopped when she saw the look on his face. "Something tells me you didn't enjoy this as much as I did," she said softly.
"I'm sorry," Trowa replied. He knew she was right. No sense in denying it.
"It's not your fault. I guess we just were never meant to be. I should've known that from the beginning. That's okay. I'm sure you have someone better anyway." She thought back to the people that she met last night. Catherine? No, she didn't think so. She seemed more like a sister than anything else. Then she remembered how his eyes lit up when she came, but not because of her. "Are… I mean, is…" Trowa shrugged. "Oh. Well, he seemed really nice." She turned away.
"Are you mad at me?" he asked, turning her face back to him.
"No, I just feel kind of stupid, not realizing it before. We can be friends, can't we?" she blurted out.
He gave her a small smile. "Yeah, keep in touch."
"I will," she promised. He hugged her. He may not have felt the way she did, but he still wanted her in his life.
"I'd better go home," she said.
"Yeah, I have something to do myself."
* * * * * *
Quatre stirred his soup aimlessly. The bowl was almost completely full.
"You don't like it?" Catherine asked.
"Oh, no, it's good," he said quickly. "I'm just not that hungry." He gazed into the bowl.
"I don't think those letters are going to tell you your future," she said wryly.
He laughed, in spite of himself. "Nah, I guess not."
"I'm sorry about what he did," she said seriously. "I never in a million years would have thought Trowa…"
Quatre shrugged. "Doesn't matter," he replied, even though he knew it did.
Catherine frowned at him. "You're an awful liar, you know that?"
Quatre forced himself to eat a spoonful to delay his reply. "What makes you say that?"
She sighed. "I'm not sure why, but I've always been able to… no, I'm giving myself too much credit. For such an awful liar, you really ought to be honest with yourself."
Quatre nearly choked on his spoon. "What do you mean?"
She looked at him seriously. "I think you know." He raised his eyebrow at her. "There's nothing to be ashamed about, I don't know why you're denying it."
Quatre stood up abruptly. "I'm not denying anything."
"You are right now." She put he arm around him. "If you admit it, I can help you," she said, in a teasing sort of tone.
"I've been on plenty of dates with girls," he lied.
Catherine put her hands on her hips. "Name one."
"Dorothy," he said smugly.
"And she totally agrees with me. If you're not, then why were you moping around like this."
"I…" he began. She punched him square in the face, knocking him down.
"Oh, grow up Quatre. Open the door and get out of that damn closet already."
Quatre started to get up and protest, but she stepped on his chest. "Admit it!"
"Fine. I'm gay, okay? Will you get off me now?"
"No, not until you admit the other thing."
"Catherine, I can't. That's different."
She pinned him to the ground. "Come on Quatre, I'm his sister, I'm perceptive, I know how you feel about him."
"He's my best friend, You know how he'd react if he found out? He'd probably never speak to me again."
"First of all, " Catherine began, not getting off him, "up until recently, I thought he felt the same way about you. And secondly, he's not that kind of person."
"Definitely not. I'll never be able to face him again," he whined.
"I promise I won't tell him, just admit it."
"Okay, I love Trowa. I admit it. But he's out with Midii now, and there's nothing I can do about it. So get the hell off me!"
Catherine was about to get off of him (whether it was because of that sudden outburst or she was planning to do it anyway) when Trowa walked in. He made a face. When I said that I totally did not mean for it to happen, he thought.
Catherine stood up abruptly. "Ouch!" "Sorry. I'll… leave you two alone."
Quatre gave her a glare that would have scared even Heero. She grinned and waved good-bye.
Trowa gave him a puzzled look. "What happened?"
"Long story." He reached out his hand and Trowa pulled him up. "How was your date?" he asked, trying to sound cool, but secretly hoping he had an awful time.
Trowa shrugged. "Okay, she's not really my type." He blushed slightly. "You really should put ice on that." He went to get some from the small cooler nearby.
What is your type? Quatre asked in his head. He took the ice Trowa handed to him. "Thanks." He looked his friend over and frowned. "You kissed her, didn't you?"
Trowa nodded. "Yeah, but it felt weird. I might as well have kissed Catherine, you know?"
Quatre laughed slightly. "Yeah, anytime I've been on a date, I've always worried that the girl is one of my sisters, I have so many. Well, once anyway," he admitted.
Trowa nodded. "It just didn't feel right to be kissing her. Or any girl I've kissed for that matter. " He glanced at Quatre, hoping he'd dropped a big enough hint.
"Well, who would feel right," Quatre asked nervously.
Trowa gazed at him intensely, causing him to drop the ice he held to his head.
* * * * * *
"Aw, that's so sweet," Catherine said, as she watched the two boys kiss. She folded her arms. "One thing perturbs me though, how come Trowa gets a guy but not me? Oh, well, I'll let him have his moment. The door is open and I'm happy about that. For both of them."