Land of the Rising

Pairing: 13x3/3x3

Part: 2/4

Completed: 3/4

Author's note: I'm not an old Japanese guy so I don't own GW. This fic has many references to historical Chinese and Japanese culture.

The air was different. The strange smells that dissolved over the sea became even more apparent as the brothers stood at the port, waiting for an escort to their new home. Wufei's mind pushed over the new smells like water over a large rock in the middle of a dam. The thing that allowed them movement was even different here. 'How can I do this when everything is so different? At least I have Trowa.' He looked over to Trowa who silently took in the experience of his new home. 'Something had happened while he was sleeping a couple days ago,' he pondered. 'He normally doesn't sleep so long into the day as he has been since then. Maybe it was the kimono,' he reflected staring down at his longer kimono. He was too short for it. 'How can they practice in these things?' he fidgeted.

"Wu," he tapped his brother's shoulder and motioned toward a manservant approaching them.

The man had long blonde hair and a sleek figure. The kimono he wore was a bit thicker than any other they'd seen in the box. "Forgive me for being so late," he apologized. "Sirs, if you'd follow me, we have a long trip ahead of us."

Hesitantly, the pair followed the man toward an open carriage with pillows for them to sit on. After the crew loaded up the carriage, they waved their good-byes and headed into an even more obtuse realm.

Half a day away another set of brothers waited anxiously for their mates to arrive. Heero settled his anticipation by studying his movements with the katana. On the other side of the mansion, Treize sat in the lush garden underneath a healthy Sakura tree, inhaling and exhaling slowly. 'Soon,' he thought, 'even the air will smell differently, with the passing season and I still haven't heard anything of my fiancée. Are they near? Are they still at sea? I must not try to rush eternity.'

The dreary carriage ride was endless. The brothers rested against each other after the fifth hour. The manservant insisted on taking back roads the whole way there. Bobbing up and down in the rickety carriage, Trowa turned to and, as if to keep secret a part of himself, quietly asked, "Wufei, is it possible to miss someone you haven't met yet?"

He moaned back, not wanting to talk about the entire situation.

Resorting to the other silent companion, Trowa sat closer to the driver. "Sir, what do you know about the Kuyuma?"

"Sir, you may call me Zechs. The Kuyuma are a respectable family with a long lineage dating back to near the beginning of our nation," he said proudly.

"Are you a Kuyuma?"

"No, no, Sir. In the last war my family lost all of our money in the blood bath. Blood soaked our farmland. Finding the family after the war, Master Kuyuma brought all of us in and gave us jobs. He is very good to his friends."

"So everyone is nice in the family? There aren't any big family problems? No big secrets?" he inquired.

Zechs thought for a moment. "Like any family, there are a few unaccepting individuals. Lots of the elders protested against the youngest sons marrying other men. Aside from a little conflict in marriage matters and fights over money, the family is very stable. When they need to rally together for anything, they are unstoppable."

Coughing a little in nervousness, he finally asked, "What of Master Treize? Is anything of interest happening around him? What is he like?"

Smirking, Zechs replied, "I don't think my master would like me to answer that. Sorry, sir."

"I understand. But, if I may ask, do you know if he's been acting differently in the past couple weeks?"

"He's been a bit more day dreamy. I think my master is just as anxious to see you as you are to see him."

"Zechs, I hope I get to work with you in the future."

"Thank you, sir."

A few hours later, the brothers brushed themselves off and nearly beat each other in anticipation. Wufei had resorted to counting the leaves that passed by. Trowa caught onto what he was doing made him start from the beginning in Japanese. After the two-thousandth leaf, Zechs warned them they were approaching the manor. The brothers scooted to the edges of the carriage to watch the branches fall back to show them their future home.

Trowa gasped as Wufei snorted. The manor was twice as big as their home in China. The outer edges of the manor were lined in varieties of Bonsai as well as foreign shrubbery. The colors ranged for the sky to the thick mountain bark, every sect accounted for. The architecture was older Japanese style. So different for their home it hurt. So simple, impersonal. The dead building housed their future, so Trowa looked to the best of the manor, the gardens, while Wufei scoffed at the rough, plain house. Wait. That was a cough. "Wufei, are you well?"

"Yes, yes. I'm (cough, wheeze) fine," he smiled weakly.

"No you're not," he retorted. He took note, "You're shivering! Zechs as soon as you get in, can you call for the doctor?"

"Yes sir," he said.

"Really, Trowa, I don't need a . . ."

Trowa leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Yes, you do."

Blushing, Wufei crossed his arms and sighed. 'I hate it when he does that.'

After a couple minutes of customary silence and a few coughs, they arrived at the back entrance of the manor. Several servants scampered to the scene, taking their bags helping them out of the carriage with smiles. 'Back at home we would have gotten hugs,' Wufei protested with a mournful sigh and a wheeze, 'But I wouldn't have let them know I enjoyed it anyway.'

Zechs had disappeared without notice as the brothers took in all the new faces and smells on sensory overload. The many servant girls, burly butlers, twiggy bushes, late fall weather, were new but old. Before they knew it, they were escorted into their own rooms, but Trowa refused to stay in his new room with his brother sick. While the girls unpacked his items, he walked to the next hall to see his ill brother. Meanwhile, he felt a pair of eyes on him. Feeling unsafe, he quickened his pace to the room.

An older man hovered over his bluffing brother. "Breathe," Trowa mouthed to his brother who in turn coughed and wheezed all over the doctor. Zechs walked over to the boy to shoo him out in fear of his infection as well. Trowa shook his head and closed the door behind him.

"Young master, you must prepare for your meeting with Master Treize."

"No. We will not meet with the other family until my brother is well. And I will not part with him until he is healthy," he declared.

"But, sir, I have orders to get you ready."

"Go tell your master of a change in plans. The brothers are not to meet with us until he is better."

Zechs bit his tongue and nodded in compliance. Then, he turned to do as Trowa bid.

The doctor smiled at the two and told them he would be okay with bed rest. He could only guess how long it would take to him recover. "Two days."

Wufei shot up. "I can't be in bed for two days! We have so much to do; I have to train!"

"Calm down, Wufei. The more you act like that the longer you'll be sick."

The doctor left with only herbs as medicine. The servants led them to the heated bathing facilities. Still refusing to leave his brother, the older brother dismissed the servants and bathed with his brother. The large heated house outside the main house fumed to the ceiling. Thick layers of stream billowed from the coals in the center of the room, teasing Wufei's sickness out. Small hacks and coughs oozed out of Wufei as he moved at his brother's will. "Lift your arm," Trowa said.

"Hai," he mocked at lifted his arm for his brother to scrub. "Why don't they bathe IN the bath like normal people?"

Smiling, he replied. "Then the water would be soapy."

"Isn't that the point?" he coughed.

"Ssshhhh," he cooed into his brother's ear as he reached for his brother's dirty feet. As he started to scrub the caked dirt from it, Wufei laughed a little.

"That tickles! Don't scrub so hard. Trowa, stop. STOP IT! St. .it! (Cough)," he laughed. Then he started to hack and wheeze uncontrollably so Trowa whipped him around and held him in fear. Feeling the harsh vibrations against his chest, he began to panic after a while. The younger one shivered and stopped coughing slowly. From behind him, Trowa pulled the dirty foot toward him and scrubbed lightly. "That better?" he asked.

"Uh-huh," he leaned sleepily against him, enjoying the moment.

Trowa smiled at him and kissed the top of his head. "Let's put you in the bath."

Wufei practically leapt into the warm water and howled when he felt the warmth. "It's hot!"

Trowa just sat at the side of the bath with his feet dangling in the water as he watched his brother leap around before him. "Baka."

On the other side of the manor, the other brothers listened to their father scoff. "They're doing what?" he asked Zechs.

"The younger brother has fallen ill from travel, sir. Master Trowa has firmly stated he will stay with his brother until he is well. He also said they will not meet with the Kuyuma until the younger brother is healthy, sir,"

"Why are they being so difficult? The family said the younger one was the troublesome one."

Treize mulled over the news for a flaw in his father's logic. "Ah, Father, maybe the brother doesn't want to spread the illness into our family."

Heero looked to his brother in surprise. 'Why is he defending a person he doesn't even know?'

"Oh, Thank you Treize. Zechs tell the Chun-Mixu that we appreciate the gesture and will hold the celebratory dinner another date. Anything that will aid his brother in recovery we will provide."

The brothers were bid leave. In the hallway leading to the garden, Heero caught up with his dazed older brother. "Aniki."

"Hai?"

"Why did you say that?" he walked with him wishing to listen to the sound of his feet rather than his brother's voice.

"Doesn't it make sense?" he asked.

"Hai. Demo, You don't even know him yet and you're preserving his reputation. It's odd."

"Not all men are out to do you harm you, Heero-san. Especially your own fiancée. You have to trust."

"Demo, you don't even know him," he insisted.

"I do know him, Heero-san. And I trust him."

"Shhhh," he hushed his mumbling, sleepy brother with a soft hum of a homeland hymn. His back was to the door and anything that could ever hurt his brother. As long they were together, he would feel safe; his past, his identity, were secure anywhere. The sweet, longing melody could be heard down the hall only by the most trained ears.

The brothers headed toward their rooms after a long draining dinner keeping their thoughts from their fiancées. Their feet patted against the lacquered wooden floors past the garden and the royal room. Then halfway to their rooms, a strange sound could be heard from an unused room in the manor. They stalked to the tightly shut door in sync with each other's every move. When at the door, Heero nodded to his brother and slowly opened the door. Gradually, Heero slid the door to reveal two boys in a humid room. Treize held his breath as he tucked his head around the corner. Shocked, he let out his breath. One of the boys held the other in his lap, humming some foreign thing at his sleeping body, swaying to an unheard beat. His robe fell off of one shoulder to reveal Caucasian skin. His back was facing them, so he could not see the taller one's face. His wet hair was pushed back on his head, swept back with a silky shine. He felt the urge to reach out and touch it. Just then the other boy coughed. His stealthy head moved out of range. Still hearing the unbroken hymn, the crazed Chinese mumbling, the melody rang true in his ears. 'Who is this boy? The other one's sick. Are these boys our mates?' In turn, Heero turned his body to see the boys. The sick boy sat up a little to expose a uniquely flushed Chinese face. He sneezed, then wheezed in a small fit of expulsion. Gasping for air, he crashed back into the taller boy's arms. "Fuck," he muttered into the other boy's chest, curling up after catching his breath.

"Shhh," he continued to hum. "It'll be okay."

"I know, but it hurts, Trowa."

"Sleep will help. So be quiet and sleep."

"I'm sorry for messing the plans up."

"They'll wait. They have to. Once you get better, it will solve itself."

"Then we'll have to meet them. Will . . ."

"Quiet. Don't think about it, not now."

The smaller boy sighed softly and snuggled up against the other boy's lap. "I miss him, too."

Hidden to the brothers, Trowa smiled.

Heero retracted and closed the door. They headed to the nightly garden in silence. Finally against the stone ledge, Heero asked, "Those are them aren't they?"

"I think so."

"So the sick one is Wufei?"

"Aa."

"So the other boy is yours."

"Aa," he replied in an even deeper voice.

"I feel as if I cheated," he lamented.

"Aa. I do also."

"They had to give up everything didn't they?" he asked.

"Aa," he turned to a withering flower.

"Is that all you're going to say, Aniki? Do you have anything else to say?"

"He is beautiful," he said to no one in particular.

"He's not Asian," he tried to hide a scoff.

"He's Chinese," he stated firmly. "Do not say otherwise."

"What were they talking about, Aniki?" Heero didn't understand their Chinese.

"They were talking about meeting us."

"Honto? What did they say?"

"The one sitting told the other one to sleep. The sick one said, 'I miss him, too.' I know not who they were talking about."

Treize walked back into the hall deep in thought.

Heero stood by himself, surprised by his brother's attitude. 'Aniki, why do you have such an attachment to him? You haven't even met him? Wufei, will you ever be attached to me like that? Curl into my arms like that?'

Night faded into morning, leaving Wufei's sickness behind, except for a few coughs. Trowa spent the night with his brother, never leaving his side, not even to stretch. Wufei awoke to Trowa's sleeping face hovering above him. Slightly parted lips, slowly breathing in and out to the beat of the morning sun. Moving swiftly, he pulled himself up and into a hearty stretch. 'It feels good to move without a –cough-. Damn it.'

He leaned over and kissed the top of Trowa's head to wake him up. 'Today we meet our mates.'

As if understanding, he slothed upward into a feline stretch across the floor. Hearing a knock on the door, Trowa opened it to see Zechs with two servant girls behind him. "What is it Zechs?"

"It is late in the day. Your brother and yourself are to meet the young masters in hours. Please let us prepare you."

Another bath and two kimono later, Trowa stood in the doorway facing the other gardens where a small speck with brown hair practiced with a katana. Trowa strained to identify the stranger instead of the characters in the book he held in his limp right hand. The gardens were just beginning to fade into magnificence, but the sun fell majestically against the skyline. The sunset spread against the sky in an awkward array of oranges and reds. Every moment ended with the pounding of his heart. Soon, he would meet the one he'd missed for such a long time. Life would again feel whole. But it was the death of his life shared with Wufei. The transcendence had begun.

The speck in the distance had vanished and his eyes tore from the sun to the book. With bland expression and apprehensive disposition, he walked to the door and slid it open before a familiar hand could knock. Surprised, Zechs stood dumbfounded by the young master's foresight. "The. . The court awaits for you, Master."

"You don't have to call me that, Zechs."

"Now I do, sir."

"I understand," he placed his book on the table and slid the door closed behind him. "Where is my brother?"

"He's already in the great hall with the court."

Trowa gulped. 'Poor Wufei. He's probably scared.' "Tell me, Zechs. How many are there?"

"Only about fifty court members, sir."

He nodded and remained silent in vain to stop his heart from pounding his body back and forth. The walk to the grand room was longer than hoped and slower than wished. 'What will he look like? Will he like me? Will this ache stop once I've seen him? Well, I must not look back now. This is the moment I've longed for.'

Zechs bowed and slid the larger door open to a noisy room full Japanese court members. As he walked to find his brother, people gawked at him. Faithful in his composure, he strode to his brother's side near the front of the room across from another groups of royalty. Wufei looked overwhelmed, but was coping well. With a nod, he stood beside his brother with rigid posture. Silence then hit the room and everyone sat on the provided pillows. The empty throne was filled with a long bearded man with long, luxurious kimono and a thick hapi coat. Beside him sat his two wives in equally rich appearance. Finally, two other royal members sat across from the brothers, one with slick hair and a taller stature, the other with shorter stature and raggedy dark locks. The two stared at them as if they knew who they were and why they came when the rest of the court chatted about them. The Chinese brothers looked to each other out of the corner of their eyes in confusion. They fought not to sweat under all the eyes pointed in their direction, but they kept their focus ahead and to the father of their mates.

"Fellow members of the court, family, and friends, we have gathered there to welcome two new members into our family. As you know my two sons Kuyuma Treize and Kuyuma Heero have chosen to wed. These ceremonies will take place later in the season. The new members of the Kuyuma family are Chun-Mixu Trowa and Chun-Mixu Wufei. They come from Beijing to wed my sons. Please make them feel welcome in our home as well as yours. Without further adieu, Chun-Mixu Trowa," the head said.

Catching a particularly soft gaze from the blue-eyed son, Trowa stood in place and bowed. The cleared his throat and began a speech in Japanese that his brother hardly understood. "Doomo arigato gozaimashita, Kuyuma-sama. In Beijing, my brother and I enjoyed many simple things that our countrymen took for granted and others our fellows couldn't enjoy. Because of our status, we enjoyed education from all the finest teachers in our country, learning things only imagined in fairy-tales as fact. One particular legend was of a boy who happened upon the entrance to the land of the enlightened ones. When entering, the first enlightened one asked him how he could enjoy the vast gardens, silent hymns, and other unworldly pleasures without having been enlightened. He simply replied that because he was a child he could find pleasure in anything, even things he didn't understand. With that the man led him through the land of the satisfied, showing him every crevice of delight in the realm. When led back to the entrance, the boy walked out of his own accord when the man stopped him. 'Why do you not be to stay and live here?' 'Because,' he said, 'I want to be there.' With that, the child led the man out of the land of the enlightened. This tale is what brought me to Japan; the chance to enjoy the land. Every grain of sand, every flower, for this land I've only read about in books until just two days ago when I stood on the deck of a ship with my brother. Thank you for being a part of this land. I shall do my best to serve it as I've served my own country."

Trowa began to sit as a voice rang through the silence. "Why did the man also leave the land of the enlightened?" the honeysuckle tones filtered into his ears.

He rose again to the voice of his mate with a smile. 'I found him.' Gazing into the eyes of blue, he replied, "He left because he wanted the child to be there as well."

The court discussed the story quietly under the father's eyes. He saw how his son and the green-eyed Chinese boy never severed gaze. Pleased, he moved to the next Chinese boy. "Good, good. I'm very pleased, Chun-Mixu Trowa. Now Chun-Mixu Wufei, please introduce yourself to the court."

Wufei stood and with less eloquence than his brother replied to the court in Japanese, "Forgive my small voice for I have been sick and have not the breath to deliver a long speech. Doomo arigato gozaimashita, Kuyuma-sama. I am honored by the grace of this family. In China, I spent seven years in the company of an elderly man without sight. Without eyes, he showed me the beauty of the world I had ignored. Reflected upon his face, his glazed eyes, was the love for his fellow man and nation I have not seen in hundreds of soldiers. My hope is that I may serve this nation as I served mine, with eyes open to love my fellow man." He bowed and sat.

"The court is pleased as well as I am with the match. Now, please enjoy the feast," the father announced.

The Chinese brothers smiled at each other in victory. "No one was shocked by your hair," Trowa whispered to Wufei who exaggerated a sigh. "I'm going to take a walk. I have not the stomach to eat after that."

"I'm famished," Wufei countered. "I will see you after dinner."

Trowa nodded and headed out into the garden behind the manor proper. Quickly after finding a place to sit on a smooth bench, he noticed footfalls approaching. He knew who it was.

"The court was impressed, Trowa-san," the honeysuckle voice returned.

"Did I impress you?" he asked not wanting to turn around to look at him yet, afraid he'll find an imperfection in Trowa's appearance. Waiting, he held his breath.

"Hai. Totemo. Will you stay with me in this land?" he asked quietly, as if in secret.

That made Trowa turn to the tall man a few feet away from him timidly. He was a few inches taller than Trowa and held an air of honor. The masculine beauty in his form captured Trowa's eyes. Those same deep ocean blue eyes grazed upon him like a fat feather. The sensation drove him to gaze back. The air hung heavy and blue with light bugs luminating his way to stand. Slow to smile, he simply replied, "Yes."

Treize walked shyly toward Trowa. Elaited by the end of the torture, he hungered to be simply near the boy. Once a foot from the shorter brown-haired boy, he extended his hand grazing the side of Trowa's face.

Taking his warm hand in his Trowa felt his cheeks stain as he said, "I missed you."

"I missed you, too."

The sated brother scampered less then gracefully to the nearest secluded part of the manor to throw up. He bent over the wooden deck, slamming his knees into the wood and held in his inards. His head was light after the involuntary expulsion of protein. He sat near his puke on the deck and steadied his breath. 'That was smooth, Wu. Get it together.' Sweat beaded from his forehead in his palms.

Still irratically breathing, he heard a pattern of footsteps approaching his back. In his state, he didn't care if anyone saw him. He just needed to relax. Then the footsteps stopped and a boy sat beside him. "Are you still not well?" asked a rough voice.

"I will be okay," he muttered in Chinese.

"Pardon?" he asked.

"Oh," he looked over to his left to see a head of tossed brown hair and blue eyes. His cheeks were flushed as if he were running. "I will be fine. You're red."

He felt his cheeks get hotter. "Ano . . . I was running."

"Doushite?"

"I was looking for you," he looked at the grass.

"And you found me. Now what?" he asked. 'This is Heero, huh? He looks nice, but can I trust him?'

'This is Wufei. I will try and trust him, but can I love him?' He cleared his throat. "We're getting married in a month so I thought we could get to know each other."

"Aa. Trowa's handling this bit better than I am. Forgive me if I'm a little distant."

"I understand. Treize is handling this well, also. I think he loves your brother already."

"Ano, how? They don't even know each other."

"When we found out you wouldn't meet with us until you got better Father became angry. Then Treize suggested to Father that you were staying away so we wouldn't get sick. He defended your brother without having ever met him. I asked him later about it and he told me he trusted Trowa and knew him."

"Impossible. Trowa has been acting strangely also. On the way here he asked me if I could miss someone I'd never met."

"It's strange. I don't understand it."

"Are you happy, Heero-san?"

"I suppose. My brother makes life pretty hard, but I am content."

"Do you hate him?"

"No."

"Then neither do I."

'What?' Heero whirled around to look at his fiancee. 'What does he mean by that?'

"What are you looking at?" he curled his fingers around the ends of his hair. His chest sweeled with lingering thoughts of disapproval. 'Is it my hair? Does he know? I hope not. For some reason, this feeling in my heart won't let me breath when I'm close to him.'

Heero cleared his throat. "Betsuni."

In the uncomfortable silence, Wufei scooted closer to Heero and planted a chaste kiss upon his cheek. He stood and took in a deep breath. His brain felt like it would explode if he hadn't.

Willing himself to connect with the boy, leaving most of his inhibitions far away, he took Wufei's hand gently and tugged him in a southbound direction. They had walked for about a mile when Wufei prompted the silent youth. "Where are we going, Heero-san?"

Determined to keep it a secret he uttered, "Himitsu desu."

Prodding into his current Japanese lessons, he smiled, intriged with Heero's intentions. 'A secret, huh?'

Silent for the duration of the hike, their grip became more fragile, gentle the furthur they ventured. The tension from the beginning of the evening had dissapated with the fall of the sun. Harsh reds of the sky softened into dull blues and electric purples forcing Wufei to take notice of the change, while Heero thought only of the destination. Finding the end of the vouage, Heero let go of Wufei's hand and gazed at the expanse. The Chinese boy found the sky much wider than it was on the trip. The edge of this new cliff shone the vastness of Kuyuma's influence. Every tiny lamp lit, every street corner, every dirty crevice was theirs. "Do you like it?"

"Hai," he inhaled the scent of this place, sweet as lilies but clean like the ocean. All the flashing lights and moving people made him think of home. The few times he made it out of the palace, he marveled at all the people in one place. 'It's almost unreal that this many people exist.'

The Japanese boy stared more at the Chinese boy than the land under them. 'What is he thinking?' "All this is my family's," he said mournfully. "And yet, it's like my power begins and ends right here on this patch of land." He sat on the edge letting his legs dangle over.

Wufei sat behind him, a bit afraid of the edge. Hunched over on his feet to keep his kimono clean, he exhaled. "Is it because of your brother?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Is it because of him you feel you have no power?" he asked sweetly into his ear.

"Aa. . Wait, no. I believe it is because of my father," he whispered as if ashamed of his discovery.

"Your father?" Wufei asked.

"Hai. When I was younger, I believe it was five years ago, I fell into the Black Eye. No one could get close enough to help me, I wouldn't let them."

"The Black Eye?"

"Aa, I felt sad, all the time, everyday. It was worse than the most consuming agony. Nothing I could do made the pain of existance go away. One day my father called me to him. He berated me for my poor performance in everything, how I'd never measure up to my brother, how I killed Mother. Then he told me I was a disgrace to the family, that I was better off dead. I soon fell even deeper into the Eye. I stopped everything. The steel bars of my cell had grown into walls that suffocated me. After days of not moving from my bed, lieing in a bed of rotten food and fecies, I walked to the garden with my katana," he laughed. "I tried to commit seppuku right there over the tiger lilies. I brought the blade to my gut," he opened his kimono to his fiancee. He touched the rippled skin of an old scar on his belly, not two finger's width over his bellybutton. "I'd like to think it was that day I died. That day I gave up everything to be feel of the sting of reality die. I imagined I'd spend eternity on the earth paining my father's eyes for his ignorance. Right when the blade punctured my skin I heard my name being screamed behind me. Startled I pushed the blade futher into my skin. The blood spilled out of me like blood spilled out of my enemies on the battlefield. Finally I was going to be free. Then my brother pulled the blade out of me and carried me back to the house gently. I don't remember much after that, but when I awoke my brother was above me. Even though I wasn't awake, he was at my side every moment I was in the darkness. He told me what I had done. If it hadn't been for the pain in my belly, I would have killed him for bringing me back right then. Kami-sama, I hated him from that day forth."

Stopping him from another word, his Chinese counterpart pulled his head to his chest, hard enough to hear his heart beat through his clothes immediately. Trying to hide the trickling tears behind his eyes, Wufei grasped the other body to him tightly. He raised his voice, "What the hell were you thinking, Heero-san! Nothing in the world is as horrible as being apart from the earth, from your family. Nothing is worth death! A family's disgrace is nothing compared to being dead! You'd be gone forever! You couldn't come back to the earth to live again if you killed yourself."

Heero was too shocked by this display to speak. The tears dripped onto his face that rested against the chest that spouted such words. 'Is he defending life? Is he defending my life?'

"Don't hate him for bringing you back. You should thank him!"

"Thank him? He's the reason I can't do anything right! He's the reason I'm a disgrace. Just because I can not compare I am nothing to them!" he argued against his chest.

His grip fading into a soft embrace, he added, "Then I will be thankful for the both of us. Heero-san."

Heero's head rose to face the gentle eyes above him. He stroked the soft short hair that adorned Wufei's head and whispered, "Aa." Wufei's visage glowed like the tips of tiger lilies in the dark. The soft dark eyes shrunk gently behind the tears he spilt only for him. Taking a chance on a second touch, he caressed the side of Wufei's face like a freshly plucked feather, soft and inviting. The same scarlet stains that had graced his face only an hour before were painted on their faces now. He stared at his lips, he needed them on his. He needed him, like he swore he would never need anyone again. Hesitantly and slowly, he led his lips closer and closer to Wufei's until they nearly met. Millimeters apart, he spoke, "Wufei, I. . .I'm starting to understand my brother's actions." Then he realized what how close he was to risking everything he'd worked for. He parted quickly, leaving a bewildered Wufei sitting in the grass.

He cleared his throat and held out his hand. "We should get back."

Part 3