Part 7
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.
Warning: Shounen ai, Nasty language, Major AU, some violence and knowing
me lots of fluff.
Description: In a land of great poverty a group of young warriors must
become saviors despite the obstacles they must overcome on
their journey.
~~~~~
"Quatre!!"
Duo watched as the small blonde was glomped by what seemed to be an energetic pick blur.
As the pick blur stopped it was revealed that the said blur was a girl in her mid-teens with long honey coloured hair.
"It's nice to see someone happy to see me," Quatre smiled at the girl. "How have you been Relena?"
The girl pulled away, grinning at her cousin. "Wonderful. I can't understand how you could just give up your position so easily."
"I wanted to help people. Besides, we both know that you're better suited to the job. Now," Quatre turned the girl around to face both Duo and Heero. "This is Duo Maxwell, and You've met Heero Yuy."
Relena smiled at them. "I'm sorry for my behavior. It's just been so long since I saw my cousin. It's nice to meet you Duo, and wonderful to see you again, Heero."]
Heero nodded an acknowledgment as Duo grinned at her. "You have no idea how wild this is. Just two months ago I was livin' on the streets. Now I can honestly say I've met a prince and princess."
"Don't forget a king as well" Quatre told him. "You'll meet my father eventually."
Duo's eyes widened. "You mean I'm gonna meet the king of Sank?"
"Yes, Duo," the small blonde smiled affectionately at his friend. "You shouldn't feel inferior. I'd rather spend time with you than any number of nobles."
"Any friend of Quat's is a friend of mine!" Relena put in.
Duo flushed with pleasure. Both a prince and a princess thought of him as a friend. Him! A petty thief! He'd figured they'd have thrown him out the moment he had stepped inside the grounds. In fact they probably would have if Quatre hadn't have told them that he was with him.
Relena grabbed Quatre's hand, turning suddenly serious. "Your father has started tp bring suitors to the palace. I'm afraid that he will soon force me to marry, whether with my consent of with out."
The blonde sighed. "We both knew this was going to happen sooner or later. I was only ten when I left and father was already starting to bring some of the courtiers daughters to my play time and diner. He has given you a lot of leeway in this. Either you'll have to chose a husband, let father chose one for you or give up your position. You'd make a great queen Relena, but I'm not sure if you could be a wife."
"I know that, Quat," she sounded miserable. "I can't be dependent on someone. I'd be expected to be the simpering queen who spends more time preening than handling politics. Besides, there's this rumor that one of my possible husbands is Odin Lowe's son. I don't know what to do about all of this."
Duo felt Heero stiffen beside him and looked up to see the boy standing ram-rod-still, his hands clenched into fists and eyes narrowed. He instinctively rested his hand against Heero's arm, trying to make the boy feel better. He may not know what was going through Heero's mind, but he was sure as hell going to try to help out.
Heero looked up at his, cobalt eyes showing his surprise at the gesture..
He turned bake to the two cousins as he felt Heero relaxed. Quatre was still holding Relena's hand, he could sense the slight soothing vibrations that Quatre was giving off in the air. The blonde was using his empathy to calm his cousin's panic.
"You'll figure out something 'Lena. You always do." Quatre told her.
"I do, don't I?" Relena smiled at Quatre, throwing off the mood as if it were nothing more than a cloak. She tugged at the small blondes hands. "Besides Quat, there's someone you have to see. He's been asking about you since you first left." She took off leaving Duo and Heero nothing to do but follow.
They were led through the out grounds to a small stable, obviously only used private.
"Hey! Uni-bang boy! I brought some people to see you!" Relena called as they came to a stop.
There was some rattling from inside the stable, followed by "You're always bringing people to see me 'Lena. What would be the difference in today's visit?"
"You'll have to come out and find out for yourself!" Relena called back.
"I'm coming. I'm coming," The male voice was slightly annoyed but contained a great deal of affection.
There was a brief pause as the occupant of the stable finished whatever it was he was doing. The teen stepped out of the deep shadows, revealing a tall, lean figure. Light brown hair fell in front of his face, hiding one emerald eye from view.
Quatre stepped forward, eyes wide with surprise. "Trowa?"
The other boys eyes widened as he stared at the blonde boy. "Quatre? What are you doing here?" He blushed as he realized just what he had said. "I mean...you never sent word. I just wasn't expecting...."
The blonde boy smiled sadly at the taller boy. "There wasn't enough time to send a message or anything. The House of Healing was attacked and we had to leave rather quickly or risk capture."
"Capture," Relena cried. She looked wildly at the three, panic evident in baby blue eyes. "You were being pursued?! Your father is going to have a fit when he finds out. What if these people come into Sank?"
"They won't," Heero spoke with conviction. "Odin's too much of a coward to follow us here. He knows that this is a peaceful country."
"That man is unpredictable," Relena countered, hands on hips. "He could very well send every mage he has after you."
"I know him," Heero told the girl with a glint in his eyes. "I know that man better than I know myself. Yes, he may have more military strength than any other country, but the thought of being beaten frightens him. To loose power his country would be worse than dying to him. He knows that if he were to break the treaty with Sanq and step over the border with hostile intentions that he would have at least five other countries at his throat over it."
"Even if what your saying is true there's still the possibility that he could come here with the pretense of it being a completely safe visit. For example he could tell us he's bringing his son so that we can make some marriage arrangement or something like that," Relena pointed out.
"Odin doesn't work like that," Heero was firm. "Besides I know for a fact that Odin no longer ha control of his son. The heir ran from the palace and hasn't been seen since the death of his mother, the queen."
"How do you know all this?" the girl was suspicious. "No one knows what goes on with Odin's court unless they're part of it."
Heero's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I was there when the prince escaped."
Relena took a step back, shocked. "But they were all evil people! How could you have been there?!"
Heero's stiffened again, posture showing his anger. "Not everyone in Kaladar was evil. The Queen was a good and generous women, forced into a marriage because of her powers. She tried to be a good mother to her son. Tried to teach him to be the same, but he was being trained by his father. She had to get him out before the prince was turned into a copy of his father."
"And how do you work into this?"
"I knew the prince and I helped him escape," the cobalt eyed boy told her. "You don't have to worry about being forced to marry him. He wouldn't marry you even if his father tried to force him."
"Excuse me," The princess started indignantly. "I'll have you know-"
"It has nothing to do with you. The prince cannot marry you. It was prophesied that he would fall in love with a commoner and deny his position the same as Quatre did. His father of course was never told this or else he would have been killed"
"Oh...."
Heero just shook his head and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Duo, meanwhile, was just reeling with curiosity. Heero hadn't really talked about himself much and he had just found out more about the usually stoic boy in five minutes than he had in the past few months. Duo wanted to know more about his friend but daren't pry into the others life. It was hard enough to get one sentence out of him, but to try and get Heero to talk about his past was next to impossible. He just hoped that he'd be lucky and more of this mysterious boys past was brought up.
Relena looked around for a few moments before er eyes rested on the deepening shadows. "Jeez! It's getting late! We had better hurry up Quat, while your father still has some free time. He has small session with some of the court later and I think that you want to see him as soon as possible."
The blonde nodded, glad that she had changed the subject. "I doubt father would really appreciate me showing up at some ungodly hour. We had better head to his study," he turned to the tall boy still standing just outside their group. "It was very nice to see you agin Trowa. I hope that we have a chance to catch up while I'm still here." Quatre smiled at the boy, this one shyer than his usual kind and gentle one.
Trowa nodded a small smile of his own tugging at the corners of his eyes.
Duo nearly cheered at what he read in the two. 'Finally, a little romantic twist to our little escapade. God's know I haven't been goin' no where with Heero. Not that I've had much time...'
The small group was again led through the palace grounds. Duo was beginning to feel like a dog on a leash with all the times he had been pulled around without a clue of where he was going. It was not the most wonderful of sensations.
They entered the actual building and hurried down hall after hall, until Duo had no sense of direction left. Relena stopped in front of a small door, pressing her ear to it. Then she opened it and stepped inside, beckoning the rest to follow.
If Duo hadn't mended his ways, he'd have been in heaven. There were so many things in this small room that a thief could get his nimble fingers on. Most of the fixtures were gold platted and their were crystal vases sat on stands that lined the walls. The walls were a deep wine colour, reflecting the warmth of the fireplace at the far end of the room. Near the left side there was a desk. Piles and piles of paper were stacked here and there cluttering the surface, causing Duo to wonder how the person who worked there was able to do anything at all. In the middle of all this sat a many to appeared to be about fifty. He had greying sandy brown hair, and tired brown eyes.
"Father," Quatre spoke softly and the man looked up at them.
TBC....
~~~~~
Shade: I finally finished! I had to write this chapter four times. The
disk got screwed up or I forgot to save. Heero's a little OOC in how much
he talks but I needed that to explain some of the story. I'll have the
next chapter as soon as I can and while I was having problems with this
part I worked out some future plot problems. Anyway, the next G-boy in
the picture is Fei. I left him for last just to spite DS.