Part one:

The Dragon Prince's Jade Doors

***

I can hear him calling me. He will come for me soon.

***


In the darkness of the cell they shared Trowa opened his green eyes and focused on the boy sitting across from him. He had never seen him sleep and has never actually heard his voice.

And having nothing but the four walls of his prison to talk to for the last hundred years, he found himself at a lost at the new addition. He had his companion for the last year and still he did not know his name.

The brown haired boy was definitely human and he was beautiful, it was no surprise that the Prince asked for him as much as he asked for Trowa, his favorite. He closed his eyes once more. Another day in this dungeon where time does not matter. It could be morning or midnight outside and it still would not make a difference to the ones rotting away inside the harem's jade doors.

Heh, rotting is too harsh.

The truth is, they were in the Prince's collection and they were treated very well and lived in luxury but all contact to the outside world was forbidden. True they could talk to each other, but Trowa was not much on talking and he preferred his solitude, for being an elf whose life span surpassed those around him, he made it a point never to get attached to anyone. It made losing them easier. Perhaps today he would be summoned, or perhaps he would be rescued and perhaps he would be able to see the sky once more. He no longer cared.

"Trowa, his highness calls on you." he looked at the guard, nodded and left his cushions.

***

The dimly lit room was filled with candles and roses. The faint smell of incense wafted in the air and in the middle of the room curtains were hung to cover the Prince's cushions.

"Trowa is that you?" he heard his soft voice coming from the center of the lush red pillows.

"Yes." He answered.

"Come here." He did as he was told and approached him. He drew the curtains aside and saw the Prince lying with his hands cradling his head.

"Hold me." He whimpered, his tear-stained eyes pleading with him.

"What is the matter my Prince?" he asked enfolding the boy in his arms.

"I like hearing you say that." A faint smile crept on the Prince's face his blue eyes lighting up. "Trowa, you have been with me for so long I don't know what I'd do if you left me." he said after sometime. "Promise you won't leave me?"

"What caused your tears?" he asked evading the question.

"I dreamt that you left me and I couldn't bear it!" he buried his head in Trowa's shoulder but the other just looked at him. "You are mine forever right? You are my friend and would never leave me right? Promise me."

Trowa sighed, he had been with the Prince for close to a hundred years now and yet he could not understand the cause of his frailty. "I promise." He whispered finally.

The Prince fell asleep in Trowa's arms his deft hands stroking his blonde hair. He looked at the boy he held in his arms. Prince Quatre was from the dragon clan; he had dragon blood in him that was why this seemingly seventeen year-old boy was actually four hundred years old. He was but a boy compared to Trowa who was three hundred years older but he still could not understand how a boy so fragile could be the ruthless monarch he truly was. He murdered his own father in order to succeed the throne and he committed genocide to make the remaining two or three he decided to add to his collection even more rare.

Trowa was not part of a dying race, and their failure to save him stemmed from them not knowing of his capture. The bracelets he wore on his wrists prevented him from using his own magic and calling for his brethren. He would disappear for centuries before anyone ever saw him again, his salvation rested on only one and even he was not sure if the other had survived.

Prince Quatre stirred in his sleep and Trowa was brought out of his reverie. This was the boy that killed so many on a whim, who had murdered his own blood, who had wept in his arms countless of times, who had made love to him when he felt alone. He was also his captor and Prince Quatre's love for him was his prison.

***

Heero heard the other one enter the room a couple of hours later. He looked tired. He knew the elf was a favorite too. He had been in that harem for most of his life and the only thing that kept him alive was his looks and his heritage. For he was only half human and his demon blood kept him eternally young, but not immortal. Sure he would die his human mother promised him that. But he would live to see another hundred years and if he was lucky perhaps two.

His days were spent trying to keep the Dragon Prince happy. Prince Quatre held his life in the palm of his hand and he could not escape the feeling that he would die in that harem. Amid the barely clad bodies and the scent of incense.

He stared at his hands, escape had crossed his mind but he had nothing to return to now. The Dragon Prince made sure of that. He would rather not face the reality that he was alone now and that everything he held dear was gone. This illusion of having something to live for kept him where he was.

What was the use of freedom to a man whose life meant nothing to him?

He heard the other's soft breathing and knew he was asleep. Tomorrow it would be the same, perhaps it would be the elf, perhaps him, perhaps one of the others…perhaps tomorrow he would die and his misery would end. Perhaps.


***

A soft hum woke him up from his sleep. His blue eyes adjusted to what little light there was and he saw the silhouette moving towards him.

"Trowa?" it whispered.

"No." he answered the soft voice.

"Duo?" he heard the elf stand up. "Is that you?"

"Trowa!" the figure turned around and revealed great wings.

An angel! Heero looked at the back now turned to him and he found that he could not erase the angel's beautiful face from his mind.

"We don't have much time, I have not fully awakened yet!" it whispered to the elf.

"Let us leave then." Trowa muttered. He held out his wrists to the angel who traced strange symbols on the bracelets with his long fingernails. He muttered an incantation and blue light emanated from the symbols before the bracelets opened and dropped to the floor.

"What of the boy?" Duo asked looking back at Heero. Trowa shrugged.

"I offer you freedom child, but freedom in a different sense." He came closer to him. "If you take my hand now you are eternally bound to me until the day you die. Mortals must pay a price for a service given to them by my kind." He stared at his violet eyes.

"It is your choice." He looked at Trowa who stared impassively at him.

"I am sick of this place." Was all he said and he stood up. He has a beautiful voice Trowa noted.

Duo traced a circle on the floor and muttered another incantation. As the blue light began to shine he motioned for Heero to join them inside the cylinder of light. In a blinding moment their cell melted away and they found themselves in a different place.

"Let us leave." Duo whispered.

They turned to go but Trowa stood rooted in his place, his face turned to the midnight sky. Duo approached him.

"Trowa?"

"It has been a hundred years since I saw the twin moons, let me greet them for a moment." He said. Duo came closer to the taller boy and wrapped his arms around the elf's waist. Trowa tore his eyes from the sky and smiled at Duo before wrapping him in his arms and kissing him gently. They broke apart and turned their faces back up towards the full moons once more.

And in the shadows blue eyes looked on, never leaving the face of the angel in the elf's arms.

***

"NOOOO!" Prince Quatre wailed as he saw the burnt circle in Trowa's cell. "He promised me! He promised me!" he broke down crying.


"I smell angel magic." A voice said as the Dragon Prince looked up. It was Wufei his mage.

"It seems Duo has wakened from his sleep, I never thought the angel would survive." The Prince said wiping his eyes.

"He is still weak."

"I know. There is only one place they can go to regain their powers. And we will hunt them down." He said as something in his eyes flickered.

"But your highness, it would not do that you leave the palace. Let me choose someone to accompany me instead."

"Oh no Wufei, this hunt deserves the best hunters we have. And this time its personal." He said his eyes narrowing. "Before the new moons arise I will have Trowa back and I will have an angel's heart beating in my hands."

***