And now for part 3
Beauty and the Beast
A Yuu Yuu Hakushou/Gundam Wing Fic
By
Sakura
Part 3
Quatre appeared
in front of the small cabin the gundam pilots had been shacking in. The blond
nervously brushed a hand through his hair, then carefully made his way to the
door. 'I hope I don't scare them too much,' he thought as he raised his hand
and knocked. There was no answer. 'Funny. I'm sure this is where the others are
so why is no one here. I thought Hiro was sick.'
Quatre tested the
door and it opened slowly. "Hello? Anyone here?" he called softly.
"Duo? Wufei? Hiro? It's me, Quatre. I'm back." Still no answer.
Inside the cabin
was a room with a fireplace, a fire long burnt out in it. Off to the side were
two other rooms, a kitchen and a bedroom. In the dim evening light, Quatre
could just make out the form of a sleeping boy on an old worn out sofa before
the fire.
"Duo? No Wufei." He thought of waking the Chinese boy,
but decided against it. "I guess Duo's out getting supplies or something.
They wouldn't leave Hiro here alone."
He carefully
tiptoed past Wufei and actually managed to sneak past the Chinese pilot.
Cautiously checking over his shoulder to see if he had woken the other boy, he
nervously put his hand on the doorknob and silently pushed the door open.
Inside the meager
bedroom was a bed, a small desk and one night table beside the bed. On the
night stand were two bowls, one with water and one with barely eaten soup.
"Oh Hiro,
I'm so sorry. I did this to you. Forgive me!" He flung himself on Hiro's
sleeping body and began to cry uncontrollably.
Hiro woke up
feeling a weight on his chest and the sound of someone crying. Through his
blurred vision he was barely able to make out a blond head. Believing he was
dreaming, Hiro closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but the sound of
crying would not stop. Opening his eyes again he saw the same golden head as
before and it was shaking from the crying its owner was doing.
"Quatre?" Hiro weakly asked praying he was dreaming and not
losing his mind. "Is that you?"
Quatre stopped
his crying at the sound of the boy's weak voice. He slowly raised his head and
saw Hiro was awake. "Hiro? I'm sorry. It's all my fault!" Quatre
started to cry again. Hiro struggled to sit up and managed to do so and gently
pulled Quatre to him, holding him tight.
"It isn't
your fault Quatre. It's my own stupid fault for falling for that trap. I was
worried about you." Hiro smiled as he stroked Quatre's hair causing the
smaller boy to calm down.
"Aren't you going to ask where I've been?" Quatre asked
unconsciously wrapping his arms around Hiro.
"Iie. I know
better than to pry into someone's personal business. If you don't want to tell
me what happened to you, it's all right."
"Thank you,
Hiro. I have to tell you I can't stay long. You see, I sort of promised someone
I'd come back after you're better."
"Ryoukai."
Hiro said letting go of Quatre.
"Hiro?"
the blond asked confused.
"You came to
visit me, ne?" Quatre nodded. "But you have to go back to wherever
you've been?" Again a nod. Quatre turned his head away ashamed, but Hiro
gently turned the blond head back until he was looking Quatre right in the
face. "I understand. You made a promise to someone and you wish to keep
it. I won't be angry if you leave again, little one. Just say goodbye this
time."
The blond pilot
blushed and hugged Hiro once more. "Thank you for understanding Hiro. It
means so much to me." Hiro pulled him in for another hug, and felt
something hard press against him.
"What's that?"
he asked reaching for the pocket of Quatre's shirt. Hiro eyed the unusual
outfit Quatre was wearing. 'Where did he get that? He looks like one of those
American pioneers.' Hiro silently chuckled.
Noticing his
interest in his clothes, Quatre turned bright red. "What's this?"
came Hiro's voice again snapping him back to reality. The brown haired boy was
holding a small vial.
"Be careful with that!" Quatre quickly grabbed the vial
and placed it on the night table beside the bowl of water. "It's medicine.
For your fever."
Hiro eyed the
vial suspiciously and nodded.
"Honto ni!
He wouldn't lie to me! Kura-" Quatre stopped realizing he almost slipped.
He hadn't intended to tell anyone about the fox demon who had kept him prisoner
for so long. Especially Hiro. No telling what the semi-insane pilot would do.
"Kura? Is
this the person you promised to return to?"
Quatre lowered
his head and nodded.
"I
understand. Does this Kura treat you well?"
"Yes."
"Do you love
him?" Hiro stared at the other boy intently trying to read what was going
on in his mind.
Quatre looked
absolutely stunned and red as a lobster. "I-I, that is... um..."
"You don't
have to answer. Thank you for coming back," Hiro said tiredly and sank
back on the bed.
Seeing his friend
lying back on the bed, Quatre gently lifted him so he could fluff out the
pillows for him. "Arigatou, Quatre." Hiro managed to smile and the
blond boy smiled back at him.
"I'll let
you get some more rest. I'll give you the medicine later, all right?" Hiro
nodded. "Sleep well Hiro," Quatre said rising to leave.
Hiro quickly
snatched the boy's hand and said, "Matte Quatre."
"Yes,
Hiro?"
Hiro began to
blush as the question formed itself on the gundam pilot's lips. "Would you
stay with me. I know you have to be tired and that idiot Maxwell's probably
hogging the couch."
Quatre had to laugh. Hiro confused at the blond's sudden laughter
asked, "Nani?"
"Gomen ne
Hiro. Actually Wufei's the one sleeping on the sofa," he giggled.
"Oh."
"I can't
possibly stay with you Hiro, there's no chair and only one bed." Quatre's
cheeks were turning red again.
"There is
room for two on the bed, Quatre. Please."
Quatre had never
heard the word please come from Hiro's mouth. It had always been 'Quatre, I
need this' or 'Quatre get me that' never had the pilot of Wing Zero begged
anyone for anything. Touched by Hiro's sudden need for his company, Quatre
carefully shut the door and got on the bed beside him.
"All right
Hiro. But just for tonight." Quatre carefully wrapped the sheets around
them and tried to fall asleep.
"Arigatou
Quatre. You don't know how much this means to me." Hiro rolled onto his
side and wrapped his arms around the blond boy.
"I think I
do." Quatre shyly replied, letting himself snuggle closer to the brown
haired boy. It was definitely going to be a long night. "Oyasumi,
Hiro."
"Oyasumi,
little one," Hiro whispered back daring to place a feather light kiss on
Quatre's cheek.
"Oyasumi,
little one," he heard whispered as he was starting to drift. He felt Hiro
kiss his cheek and found himself wishing it was the silver haired demon holding
him and not the friend he had so desperately wanted to see.
Moments later,
Quatre was asleep, dreaming of a silver haired fox in a human form.
Duo had returned
but decided not wake the sleeping Chinese boy and went immediately to sleep on
the cot he put out in the kitchen after putting away the supplies he
'acquired.' Little did either of the pilots know they had a visitor that night.
*****
"Ohayo
Hiii-ro! How ya feelin' today?" Duo called opening the bedroom door. The
longhaired boy's draw dropped to the floor when he saw the blond form sleeping
in Hiro's bed.
"Oi what's
wrong Maxwell? Don't stand there like an idiot go and check on him," said
a rather sleepy Wufei. Sleeping on an old worn out sofa did not go well with
him. He had been having an uneasy night, dreaming Quatre had returned with his
Nataku as ghosts.
"I-it's a
ghost!! Hiro's dead and now he's come back for him!" Duo promptly fainted.
Wufei surprised
at the Shinigami pilot's sudden fainting spell, went over to the room and
blinked. In the bed were Hiro and Quatre, their arms wrapped around each other.
After the initial shock had worn off, Wufei went over to them and carefully
checked for pulses. "Baka," he said smiling. Both boys were alive and
only sleeping.
Quatre finally
stirred and woke, brushing the sleep from his eyes. He stared at Hiro not sure
of where he was then remembered the previous night.
"Just where
have you been Quatre?" Wufei said like a parent who had caught their child
sneaking in late.
Quatre looked at
the Chinese boy shamefully, playing with the covers a little. "I'm so
sorry Wufei. I can't say where I've been because I really don't know myself,
but I can tell you that I'm really sorry for not letting everyone know I was
o.k."
"What you
did is dishonorable." Quatre hung his head in shame. "But if you were
a prisoner, then you couldn't get word to us. Am I right?"
"H-hai,"
Quatre still couldn't look him in the eye.
"It's all
right Quatre. You're back with us now." Wufei placed a hand on his
shoulder. "Come along, I'll get breakfast."
Quatre
reluctantly left Hiro's side and followed the Chinese pilot as Wufei deftly
stepped over the prone figure of Duo. "Don't worry about him, he just
fainted," Wufei said turning around. "Sweet Nataku! What are you
wearing?!" Quatre blushed as he nervously brushed his clothes. "Never
mind. Let's just get something to eat."
Quatre nodded and
followed Wufei into the kitchen.
After a rather
simple breakfast of instant oatmeal and reviving Duo, the two gundam pilots
began to endlessly question Quatre. They both wanted to know what happened to
him and where he'd been.
"Ya sure it
wasn't OZ?" Duo asked for the umpteenth time.
"Don't be a
fool Maxwell, he already said he doesn't know who it was," scolded Wufei.
"What the
hell happened to your clothes man?! Ya look like Davy Crockett!" Quatre
blushed, looking at his hands.
"I guess my
clothes got ruined when I was knocked out. These were all they could give
me." He felt guilty lying to his friends like this, but he couldn't tell
them about the fox demon. They would never believe him anyway. Quatre
unconsciously took out the rose Kurama had given him and began to twirl it.
Wufei cocked an
eyebrow when he saw the golden haired boy take out a perfect red rose.
"Quatre where did you get that?"
He stared at the
rose not realizing he had taken it out of his clothes. He had not intended to
pull it out until he got away from his two interrogators. "I, uh, found it
on the way here. I thought it would cheer Hiro up."
"Uh-huh."
Wufei knew his friend was hiding something but chose to ignore it for now.
"We'd better check on Hiro now." Quatre nodded glad to get away from
Wufei's piercing and suspecting stare.
"It's good
to have ya back Quatre. We were all worried 'bout ya, y'know," said Duo
following Wufei to Hiro's room.
Quatre got up and
went with the other two pilots to check on Hiro.
"Here you go
Hiro," Quatre said handing him Kurama's vial. "Don't drink to much of
it. Just take a few drops."
Hiro sniffed the
liquid suspiciously. "It smells."
"I'm sure
it's all right Hiro. Just go ahead and take it, you need to get better."
Hiro wasn't sure
if he should, but the look on Quatre's face left no room for arguing. Steeling
himself, Hiro lifted the vial and drank a few drops. Surprisingly, it tasted
better than it smelled, and he didn't feel as hot as before.
"Arigatou
Quatre." The blond pilot smiled taking back the vial and placing it on the
night stand beside Hiro's bowl of now cold oatmeal.
"Do you feel
like eating now?"
Hiro was about to
say no, but surprisingly he found himself actually hungry, the first time since
he'd fallen ill. "Hai."
"Good. I'll
make you some soup."
"You don't
have to."
"It's all
right Hiro. I don't mind," Quatre said heading for the door. "Oh I
forgot! Here this is for you." He reached into his shirt and pulled out
the rose he was holding earlier. Hiro stared at the flower not sure what to say
or do. "I'll get a vase for it. I'll be right back."
"Thank you
Quatre," Hiro said silently crying.
Did I say this
part was going to be longer? Gomen minna-san. I tried really hard on this part.
Honestly I did. But it's not easy getting past writer's block. Maybe next time.
Any C&C welcome at Hiei@prodigy.net.