Disclaimer: This story is in no way mine. The basic outline is by Rumiko Takahashi (Yes, the one who wrote Ranma ½, Inu-Yasha and Maison Ikkoku). I merely took the gundam boys and stuck them in it. I have added a few things but not much. If you would like the original then read "Mermaid's Scar" by Rumiko Takahashi.
Oh, and since a lot of my friends found this story confusing they would like me to tell you that time jump numbers 6, 8, 10 and the last one are flashbacks. Also says so in the little "~~~~~~~~~~" thing so you aren't confused and don't have to count.
Almost forgot! I made Heero taller than Duo…just works better that way.
Thanx for understanding!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Mermaid's Curse
Heero walked down the street. His eyes firm and set on his destination.
"We're visiting a stupid grave?" Duo asked looking up at his stiff companion.
Heero nodded. "But I'm not so sure," he said softly. "There is one to visit."
"Who's?" he inquired out of idle curiosity.
Heero shook his head. "That is not important."
Duo heaved a sigh as the two of them entered the police station.
"Are there any prewar graves for Raroni Village?" Heero asked hopefully, laying a hand on the countertop.
"Well," the man said scratching the back of his head. He dug out some papers. "Raroni Village, huh?"
Heero nodded affirmatively.
"There aren't any villages left around but..," the man trailed off. "Ah! I think this is it!" He stood and waved his hand. "Here, let me show you." He walked out to the door and pointed as Heero and Duo followed. "Do you see the hill with the apartment building on top?"
Heero nodded.
"Right below that is the only prewar graveyard that's still around."
Heero nodded again and headed in that direction.
Duo started after him but turned around. 'Thanks!" he called back to the officer.
The man tipped his hat and headed back inside.
Duo smiled and ran to catch up with Heero.
"Jesus," Heero swore as he neared the tombs. "The only thing that hasn't changed around here are these damned noisy birds."
Duo sighed as the gulls screeched to their delight. "It's all right, I guess," he said.
Heero glared at him and stopped at the graveyard. He pulled out some incense from his pack as Duo looked out beyond the nearby cliff. He set down the jar on the Winner Family Memorial Stone and lit the solid fragrance. "I shouldn't be surprised," he told himself. "After all, it's been sixty years." The words echoed in his mind, 'Take me with you. Promise.'
Duo turned around and kneeled beside his companion. "Heero, who's grave is it?" he asked.
Heero looked over to the longhaired boy and then back to the tomb. "It's the grave of a man," he said softly. "A man named Quatre."
"Quatre..," Duo trailed off.
"A long time ago,' Heero started out. "I lived in this area for a while." He looked at the carved stone sadly. "He was very kind to me while I was here. He was sweet and he was cute." Heero ran his fingers just beyond the lettering. "This must be boring for you," he said sadly.
Duo returned from his daydream. "Yes, it is," he replied curtly. He swiftly got up and took off.
"Hey, Duo!" Heero called after him.
"I'm going to walk around a bit," he replied swiftly.
"Don't go too far," Heero warned.
Duo waved his hand indicating he'd be all right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duo wondered into the construction site by the graveyard. He laid low and watched what played out before him.
A man in black grabbed a blonde boy. "You're a real pain in the ass, you know that?" he shouted as he turned the boy to face him. "Run away like that again and I'll kill you!" The man smacked him across the face hard. He did it again and again.
The boy sat there and took it with no protests. His face slid whichever way the blow came.
Duo couldn't take it anymore. Swiftly he ran from his hiding place and grabbed the man around the waist. "Stop it!" he yelled pulling his away from the boy.
The man turned his attention to Duo. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded as he smacked Duo just as he had the blonde one.
Above the gulls screeched and cried, circling the area.
The boy fell to his knees and covered his ears, shaking.
"Get lost, brat,' the man ordered smacking Duo once more.
Something came down in a blur swiftly and there as a thunk as the man fell lip in Duo's arms, blood dribbling down his head.
Duo let the man flump to the ground as he looked to the one responsible.
There, not two feet away stood the boy, a bloody rock in his hands. "Are you all right?" asked the blonde, his bright blue eyes looking at Duo.
'Yes," Duo said nodding. "But this man is dead." As the words were said a car pulled up beside the two boys.
"Master!" a man called exiting the black vehicle. Another brutish looking man garbed in black followed him.
The boy turned his head in their direction.
Duo turned to see as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Duo!" Heero yelled walking down the street. "Duo!" He stopped and looked down the other side of the road. "He's probably off playing somewhere."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Rest in peace, kid," said the skinnier man. "You were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's nothing personal." He looked into the hole they had dug. "That should be good enough," he observed and the two of them threw Duo's limp and lifeless body in the pit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The blonde boy stood at the window, hands up against the glass. He stared endlessly at something just beyond.
'"Quatre, don't let it bother you," came the voice of the old man in the living room. "There's nothing I won't do to keep you from harm." He rested his chin on his hands that held his cane. He sat watching Quatre intensely with his emerald eyes. "So plead, please don't go outside.'
The blonde looked up into the sky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was already night and Heero still hadn't found Duo. He was at a loss. "Duo-o-o-o-o!" he tried again but no one answered. Heero dropped his pack, panting. "Damn! Where can he be?"
"You there!" called somebody shining a flashlight in his face. "What are you doing?"
"I'm looking for somebody," Heero told the truth raising his hand to block the light.
The oriental man looked at him a moment. "Heero?"
"Wha-?"
~~~~~Flashback~~~~~
"They say you're looking for a mermaid," said the blonde looking up at him. He giggled. "What are you going to do once you find one? They say that if you eat the flesh of a mermaid you'll live forever. Do you really want to live that long?"
Heero looked to him. "Just the reverse."
The boy looked at him contently., his bright blue eyes gazing upwards to his.
"I'm looking for a mermaid so I can return to normal," he said. "But you probably don't believe me, do you?"
"Oh but I do believe you," he protested
Heero nodded his head, not really believing him.
"As it happens." The blonde turned to leave. "I know a little about mermaids myself."
"What?" Heero asked abandoning his work. "Hey!"
"I won't tell you now," he said as he walked away. "Hmmmm…when I'm ready I'll have Wufei come for you. He's the child of one of our servants. He's a good boy and knows how to keep a secret."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heero sat in a doorway of the man's apartment. "You're that little kid?" he asked.
"I have to make sure that you really are that Heero," Wufei said as he pulled out a knife. "The one that ate the mermaid's flesh." He pointed the blade in the brunet's face. "Cut yourself."
"Are you serious? Why should I-" Heero was cut short.
"Please."
Heero glared at Wufei as he grabbed the knife from him. "Do I look like a sideshow act?" he inquired as she ran the blade along his arm. "See?" He lifted the already healing wound to the old man.
"The cut's healing," Wufei gasped. "You're really him." He sat down in a chair and looked at his old friend. "Heero, I want you to answer a question."
He nodded.
"Sixty years ago, did you take Master Quatre and run away?" he inquired.
"Wha-what are you talking about?" Heero demanded. 'Take me with you,' the words echoed in his mind. 'Promise…'
~~~~~Flashback~~~~~
"I can't take you, Quatre," Heero protested as he looked to the door of the shack. "I'm not a normal human and besides you already have-"
"Quatre! Quatre!" a voiced interrupted Heero from outside.
"You already have Trowa," finished as Quatre clung to him and he wrapped his arms around the soft blonde.
"Yes, and he's very sweet, too," Quatre said. "But that's all. I wish I could live forever, too." He rested his head on Heero's chest. "I want to go with you, Heero."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"But, Wufei," Heero protested looking at the man sternly. "You saw me off yourself."
The oriental man shifted uncomfortably.
~~~~~Flashback~~~~~
"Thanks for everything, Wufei," Heero said as he turned to leave.
"Heero!" the boy called after him. "Aren't you going to take Master Quatre with you?"
He turned back to him.
"He said he'd be waiting for you in Red Valley."
Heero began to walk off. "I can't take him with me. You understand don't you?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A few years later," Heero continued the story. "When I happened to pass through this aria, I heard that he had died."
Wufei looked at his square in the eye. "What would you say if I told you Master Quatre was still alive?"
"What?" Heero asked abashed.
"The day you left the village Master Quatre disappeared too, without a trace," Wufei said. "The whole village was in an uproar. They were saying that you and Master Quatre had run away together, but Trowa would not have it. The whole village searched for him. They looked everywhere they possibly could. They concluded that he must have been spirited off. They had a funeral without a body but that same Master Quatre is alive today, looking exactly as he had sixty years ago."
Heero looked at the old man in disbelief. "Wha-?"
"That's master Quatre all right," Wufei continued. "In body at least."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quatre walked out into the night, the breeze ruffling his hair.
"Master Quatre!" someone called from behind. "Where are you going?"
The blonde found himself where he had been earlier that day as a hand touched his shoulder.
"Come now," said it's owner. "I'll take you back to your room."
A sound was heard to his right and Quatre turned to see the source of the noise.
The ground rumbled and out from the earth crawled the longhaired boy who had helped him earlier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trowa looked up from his paper to his servant. "Who is this filthy boy?" he asked.
"Um..," the lackey started as he tried to control the violet eyed boy. "Well, sir, I-"
Trowa returned to his paper.
"How dare you speak of me that way!" Duo yelled. "After killing me and burring me!"
"We disposed of his, sir, but-" he started but Duo quickly butted in.
"What am I?" he demanded trying to free himself. "A piece of garbage?" He turned to his captor. "Let me go! I'm going back to Heero!"
Trowa looked up swiftly. "What did you just say?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duo had been well taken care of. They had cleaned him and his clothes. Now he sat eating with the master of the house, Trowa.
"So," Trowa began. "He's come back, has he?"
"You know Heero?" Duo asked, as he looked up, actually pausing in his eating.
"I would prefer to forget him altogether," Trowa said clenching his hand into a fist. "If Quatre had never met that man he would not be in the condition he is today."
"Quatre," Duo repeated the name. 'It's the grave of a man named Quatre,' Heero's words came calling back into his mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What shall we do with the boy, sir?" asked Trowa's servant from behind him.
"That boy has eaten the flesh of a mermaid. He's immortal," Trowa replied. "He can only be killed by having his head chopped completely off."
"Sir?" he inquired.
"Didn't you hear me?"
"Yes, sir," the man said and left quickly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duo walked up to the railing of the balcony and leaned against it, looking up at the boy next to him. "Your name is Quatre?" he asked. "Really?"
The boy turned to look at him. "I-I don't know," he said softly.
"You're not Quatre?" Duo looked at him sideways, rather confused.
He looked up into the skies as his bright blue eyes saddened. "I don't know."
"Boy!" someone called from behind.
"Huh?" Duo turned to who had called.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Remember this path?" Wufei inquired as they trudged through the forest terrain. "It still leads to the mansion that used to belong to Master Quatre."
Heero looked to the man oddly. "Used to?" he asked.
"There's a new owner now," he explained. "And his name is Trowa."
Heero was almost knocked over with surprise.
"He ended up marrying the only daughter of a huge family trust in Tokyo. In the boom days of the war he expanded the business and then spent decades buying up every bit of land in this aria."
"Why?" he asked as they trudged on.
"I don't know," Wufei admitted. "But I know it has something to do with Master Quatre." He went down a bit of a slant in the earth and came out near the mansion. "Anyway," he concluded. "Go and have a look at him, but don't do anything careless. With the security systems and the guards this house is like a fortress."
"Heero-o-o-o-o-o!" someone called from within the house frantically.
"Duo?" Heero called. "Duo!" He jumped over the wall and into the yard.
"No!" Wufei hissed. "You baka!"
Heero ran down along the house searching for his violet-eyed companion. "Duo! Is that you? Where are you?"
"Heero!" his voice came loud and clear as Heero saw the longhaired boy's hand shoot through the glass, shattering it into pieces and sounding off and alarm.
"Turn off the alarm!" someone yelled. "It's going to frighten Master Quatre!"
Men grabbed Heero but he easily dispatched of them. "Get out of my way!" he yelled as he kicked one squarely in the jaw. Heero looked up to see a young man with a shard of glass in his hand, raised and ready to penetrate Heero's longhaired companion. "Duo-o-o-o-o!"
The blonde boy with the shard turned, his soft blue eyes looking to Heero.
The brunet stared as the boy looked just as shocked as Heero. "Quatre?"
That moment of distraction was fatal and a hand came squarely into Heero's neck, knocking him unconscious.
~~~~~Flashback~~~~~
"I'll tell you a story," Quatre had said. "About the mermaid's ashes."
"Mermaid's ashes?" Heero asked as they walked through a field of flowers.
"They say that a long time ago," Quatre started as every story did. "A traveling nun came to this town. Our ancestors were very kind to her so in return she gave them a strange powder. The ashes of a mermaid. They say it makes plants and trees grow. Well, you know what I did?" He looked up at Heero, his blue eyes sparkling. "I took a little of the ashes from the storehouse and sprinkled them on this field of flowers. And you know what?"
Heero shook his head.
"Ever since then these flowers never wilt, even in the dead of winter. The bloom bright red all year long." Quatre looked out at the mass of color. "So this is 'Red Valley,' my secret place." He turned back to Heero. "The only ones who know about it are Wufei and you, Heero."
Red…Valley…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow! I finally got the first chapter done!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!
Forever long, isn't it?
Next chapter is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much sorter!!!!!!!
