Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or anything to do with them. Although I do own a Yu-Gi-Oh! CD now. Very good stuff. Rating: G Warnings: Transformations, possibly an insane Duo. A/N: Yeah, this chapter soooo got away from me. Was gonna be this cute little scene to make fun of the three crossdressers of the fic, then got into complete sap. Had to spice it up and volia! Chaos.

Italics: telepathy

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New Territory

Chapter 2 - Changes

Shortly after the six arrived home from the confirmation of the mission with Lady Une, the package of equipment from HQ arrived at their loft. They all gathered in the spacious living room to inspect and distribute the new equipment. Heero, Wufei, and Quatre were somewhat hesitant upon investigating the contents.

It was Trowa who took the lead in distributing the materials. At first, it appeared to just be the usual standard equipment -- money, guns, ammunition, cuffs, etc. -- but when that was done, out came the specialized equipment. Chiron assisted Trowa in the circulation of various sized boxes containing the school's uniform. Duo and Chiron both visibly showed difficulty at holding in the mirth that silently racked their bodies. Wufei and Heero scowled openly in disgust while Trowa and Quatre had blank looks on their faces.

At the very bottom of the package, Trowa discovered six small rectangular blue velvet jewelry boxes. Puzzled, he took one out for further examination. The exterior was soft and cool to the touch. A silver coloured hinge connected the lid and base. Engrained on the top of the lid was a name of one of the agents. This particular box turned out to belong to Chiron. The name, to Trowa, looked so elegant with it's smoothly flowing letters. With a small smile, Trowa ran his index finger slowly over each letter, spelling out Chiron Onassis most reverently.

A faint blush rose to Trowa's cheeks as he realized the others were silently watching him. Deep understanding and adoring love filled Heero, Wufei, and Chiron's eyes with the recognition to what Trowa was feeling. Duo and Quatre, having never truly gone through the emotions, sat in awe at the admiration radiating from the other four people of their group.

Silently Trowa handed Chiron the small jewelry box. Just as quietly, the others waited to be handed their box, which seemed to be handed out just as reverently. Once everybody had been given theirs, as one they opened the boxes. All six had been given a silver pendant attached to a smooth black linked chain. Each boy had a different object on the pendant. Chiron's had a horse that seemed as real as life itself. The texture of the metal even made the horse's fur seem true to life. Duo, the little imp that he is, got a small furry animal. Small round little ears posed close to the head and a narrow blunt nose were the main features of the life-like ferret's head. The bushy tail and flexible tiny paws added to the lithe form of the thin form of the ferret. A person could practically see the mischief in it's little beady eyes. Trowa uncovered a beautifully formed puma. It sat regally with its ears posed as if listening for it's awaiting prey. Heero and Wufei looked at theirs together. A predatory gleam shown in their eyes as they shared a proud look. A shaggy wolf in the middle of a ferocious snarl was upon Heero's, while a falcon with it's wings spread wide and beak open in a cry of triumph covered Wufei's.

Quatre, who had only peeked at his felt . . . insulted. All the others had received animals that truly complemented them. //A damn fluffy bunny would have been better than this!!// An unpleasant frown creased his angelic little face.

"What's up Quat? You look a little flustered there. Bad tea??" Duo's bright smile slightly lightened Quatre's sudden poor mood. "What animal did you get Quat? I bet it's a fox; you're a sly little guy. Heh, heh, heh. That's it, isn't it? I'm good at guessing these things. Well come on, what'd you get?"

Before Quatre could blink, Duo's nimble fingers snatched the small jewelry box. Quatre couldn't even object before Duo opened the velvety box. Duo's enormous smile froze and slowly began to fade. Puzzlement filled his eyes as he looked up at Quatre, back to the pendant, up to Quatre, and back down to the pendant one final time. Duo's perk little nose scrunched up as he drilled his gaze into the little box. Quatre absent-mindedly began to ring the hem of his vest as he waited for the outrageously loud outburst of mockery from Duo.

But it never came. With his forefinger scratching at his scalp, Duo passed the box onto Chiron. There was a sparkle of disbelief in Chiron's eyes as he peered into the small box. He looked up at Quatre, a look of absolute scrutiny was shot at him. "Old friend, you do know what this means right?" Chiron turned the open box around to face Quatre. "You do know what all of these mean right? These are our shapes. We can take on these forms. But yours, yours is a special one. The unicorn is a magical creature. And with that magic, you can take on the form of any living being. You should be very proud you can take this form friend."

"Wait a sec!!" cried Duo. "You mean we can take on the form of our animal!! That's so cool. Can you show me how to do it? Is it easy? Does it hurt? Is it like when you turn into a centaur? Why does Quatre get to be the unicorn? Will I be half me, half ferret? Does a ferret have any magical powers? If I wear someone else's pendant, can I turn into their animal? How long does it last? What colour will I be? Will I shrink? Are there any physical side effects to this?"

"Duo!" interrupted Wufei as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Try to breathe a little, k?" Duo grinned sheepishly and took out his pendant. As Duo began to put it on, Chiron leaned forward watching Duo intensely.

Duo looked up at Chiron as the clasp on the end of the chain clicked closed. "What?" asked Duo casually. "I like it, why shouldn't I put it on now?" Chiron just smirked and uttered an inaudiable word.

Heero raised a suspicious eyebrow to Chiron. "What did you just do?"

With an almost innocent look, Chiron turned to face Heero. "Everybody put on their pendants." He paused to quickly look at all the others then going back to Heero. "Then we'll see now won't we? Of course, after you'll all have answers to all of your questions. Even Duo." There was a definite challenge in Chiron's general tone and appearance as he continued to stare at Heero.

Ever so slowly, Heero reached for the chainclasps. As soon as he had his securely on, everybody, including Chiron, put theirs on. "There, see? That wasn't so bad now was it?" asked Chiron with a smirk.

"Okay, now what did you do?" demanded Wufei. His scowl mirrored those of the others that were to lesser degrees.

"My friends, will you please relax? You're getting all worked up over nothing. Well, not really anything anyway." At the deadly look Heero shot him, he decided to get to the point. "All I did was seal the chains. They won't come off. You can't break'em, melt 'em, or unlock 'em. They're there for good." Looking about the room, a person could practically see the others itching to try and take off the chains.

Before any spoken speculations could be made, Trowa cut in. "Why don't you fill us in on the questions Duo asked?" Trowa's calm demeanor turned into an anchor for the others.

With everybodies full attention once again, Chiron continued. "Okay, which question to answer first? Well, it's painless and easy once you get the hang of it. You can only turn into your animal and be it's actual size. There will be no side effects and this has nothing to so with me being a centaur. I'm naturally a centaur after all. This human form is just a natural defence of a typical centuar. So don't worry, you won't be half animal. Your animal has something to so with what's inside. If you were meant to be a ferret, you were meant to be a ferret. No way around it. Quatre is a very special person to have the unicorn. And as for ferrets having magical powers . . . you'll never know until you try." Chiron took a deep breath and looked about the room.

"Well that's all good to know, but how do we change? Say some magical word or something?" Wufei was looking skeptically at his pendant around his neck. At the lack of response, Wufei looked up to see what the problem was. His eyes bulged as he looked to where Trowa was.

Everybody was gawking at Wufei's abrupt acceptance to the startling turn of events. Nobody, besides Wufei, had noticed the rather large, sleek puma sitting on the floor where Trowa had been sitting moments before. But Wufei's shocked look alerted the others that something was amiss.

Duo was the first to look over and with a "shit", he lunged over the back of the couch he was lounging on. Quatre, after dodging Duo's feet, sat back up and blinked repeatedly in utter disbelief. Heero's face was perfectly neutral as he stared at the large mountain lion sitting in the middle of the room. Chiron was looking on appraisingly at the puma. "Yes, it's fine." Chiron paused as if actully listening to some unheard conversation with the puma. "They can't hear or understand you because they don't know what to listen for my friend." After nodding in agreement with the puma, Chiron turned back to the others. "That, my friends, is how you turn into your animal form. You have to want to do it. If it helps, touch your hand to the pendant. Center all your will into becoming the animal. Don't worry about markings. They'll show up naturally. Well what are you waiting for? Go ahead." Chiron made a waving motion in the air as if to help encourage the others to try the transformation. As an afterthought, he turned to Quatre. "You might want to stand up and let the transformation guide you in the movements. Might be a little easier for you."

Quatre hesitantly rose as Duo circled around to the front of the couch. Chiron, Heero, and Wufei stood up and spread apart slightly. As Quatre, Heero, and Wufei shared, for them, an uneasy look of apprhension, Duo was caustiously approaching the Trowa puma. "Is that really you in there buddy?" He looked deeply into the puma's eyes and saw the emerald green awareness that he had become to recognize as Trowa. "Huh. Guess it really is you. This is so beyond bizarre." Absently, Duo flopped down beside Trowa and began scratching along Trowa's jawline. Getting over the realization that Duo was indeed petting him, Trowa gave over to his animalistic side and revelled in the attention he was receiving.

The others shook their heads in wonderment and began their attempts at the transformation. Hand on pendant, eyes closed, and face scrunched, Quatre began to gather his will, only to be interrupted by a loud caw and ferocious snarl. Next thing he knew, there was a red wolf (1) beautiful red and white markings ending with a jet black nose, a morgan grey stallion horse (2) with a healthy gleeming coat and wavy tail and mane, and a peregrine falcon (3) glinting a vibrant blue as the tip of it's beak and feet shone yellow in the living room looking at themselves in a very unanimalistic way.

Duo took one look at the others and started to laugh. "Well come on Quatre. Change! I want to see what you look like." He continued to grin impishly as Quatre turned to him.

"Why don't we change together? Or are you too scared to?" Quatre tanted.

Duo's eyes shifted as if looking for a way out. Finding no excuse not to try, he looked back at Quatre. "All right then. Lets do this."

After a couple of tries, there was one jet black unicorn and one sable coloured ferret with a braided tail. Heh, heh, heh! Maxwell you fool. Your tail's still braided!

Argh, don't you think I know that Wufei?!? It hurts like hell. Way too tight. Will the pain never end?!? cried Duo.

Heero looked at the squirming Duo ferret with an appearance that stated loudly that at times Duo was too dense to even be eaten for fear that it may be contagious. Then why don't you change back? Unbraid your hair, then change back again?

Duo stared blankly at Heero. Oh. came his only response before he changed. Duo quickly grasped his braid and snatched off his elastic at the end of the long rope and began undoing the braid. With braid half unravelled he paused. A confused look plastered on his face, he turned back to the others. "How is it that we could talk to each other even though we were animals? Oh Gawd! I'm loosing my mind." exasperated Duo as he grapped his head.

Trowa, with the grace of a natural cat, silently padded his way over to Duo. Gently budding his head, Trowa sat down and looked at Duo with calm, peaceful eyes. Duo's entire body seemed to loose it's tension as a hand, with a mind of it's own, strayed down to scratch behind Trowa's finely curved ear. Feel better now Duo? asked Trowa letting his assured nature seep through his mental words. Duo looked down at Trowa and blinked repeatedly. Seeing the question forming in Duo's mind, Trowa said it for him. How is it you can still hear me? You know what to listen for now. This is what Chiron was talking about earlier. You now hear and understand what we're saying. So come on, finish your hair and change back. you need to torment people and Quatre, Heero, and Wufei need to try on their new uniforms.

Duo shot a look at the others. Quatre not even trying to move around for fear of damaging the finish on the hardwood floors. Heero in a half snarl at the thought of crossdressing and Wufei all puffed up and flustered at the same thought. Chiron was standing off to the side looking at the group with his head cocked to the side analizing them yet again. With a laugh, Duo began to unravelling the rest of his braid. "You're right old buddy. Just imagine the things I can get into now!" Impish grin firmly back in place and braid undone, Duo stepped away from Trowa. "Here goes nothing."

As the others rolled their eyes, Duo scurried off to raise havoc. Quatre and Wufei changed back into humans. Gathering up their new school uniforms (Wufei also getting Heero's clothes), Quatre, Wufei, and Heero, padding along behind, went to go get changed.

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(1) - Red Wolf: for those who want a pic to see what this looks like: http://species.fws.gov/redwolf3.gif

(2) - Morgan Grey Stallion: here's a link to a pic of one: hhtp://www.pinemeadowfarm.com/StallionWoody.shtml

(3) - Peregrine Falcon: here's a link to a pic: hhtp://www.peregrine-falcon- foundation.ca/raptors/idf3.html

Cob: *scratches head* Where did the animal transformations come in to the story?

Connor: Good point, we weren't planning on having this in the story.

Creed: My bad! The three crossdressers were gonna get necklaces, I didn't want the others to feel left out.

Carolyn: That still doesn't explain how the chapter got away on us. I personally blame it on the bus rides to and from school. The Yu-Gi-Oh! soundtrack is just to distracting to pay attention to the plotline.