Chapter Thirteen

"It certainly took you long enough to get here Kitty-Kat."

"D-chan!" Quatre ran into the room as soon as he heard that voice and launched himself at the bed and its occupant. "You're awake!"

"Of course — Itai!" Dorothy winced and Quatre leapt off her, horrified.

"Gomen nasai, D-chan, I forgot about your ribs."

"It's okay," she forgave him with a smile. "I'm so glad you're here, I've missed you so much." Tears formed in Dorothy's eyes.

Trowa took this as a signal to leave. He left the room and closed the door quietly so the two friends could have time to catch up, and so he could sort out his thoughts.

What was it about Quatre that stirred such strong feelings in him? He seemed so vulnerable, yet so strong at the same time, he was so innocent but still worldly. He was angelic and kind and friendly, and so filled with pain.

/Why do I feel so strongly about him? Why do I want to do nothing more than wrap my arms around him and protect him from his pain? Do I … could I possibly …?/

Trowa's eyes widened as he started to understand his thoughts and feelings.

"Do I love him?"

He looked at the closed door behind him and heard the sounds of laughter and merriment of two friends joined together once again.

/He sounds so happy, I wish I could make him happy and relieve his pain./

Trowa turned away from the door and walked away, to the rose garden where he had found Quatre before. He sat down on a bench and watched as the sun slowly started to sink to the horizon, sending its golden glow to dust the rainbow of roses in an ethereal glow.

/So beautiful,/ he thought. /Golden, like Quatre./ Trowa frowned at that last thought. / I can't think like that. Quatre obviously doesn't think of me in that way or he wouldn't have rejected me before./ Trowa winced thinking about how close he came to destroying his friendship with Quatre with one simple action.

/I won't hurt him like that, he obviously still has some issues with relationships and trust, so I won't do anything to destroy my friendship with him./ Trowa looked up at the almost set sun and sighed. /Why do I feel that I've made the wrong choice then?/

He got up from the bench, a bit sore from sitting there too long and walked back inside the hospital to Dorothy's room.

He was about to open the door, but thought better of it and sat down in a chair in a nearby waiting room, pulling his leg up and wrapping his arms around it and resting his head on his knee.

Trowa didn't realise that he'd drifted off to sleep until he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder waking him.

He looked up to see Quatre leaning over him with a worried look.

"Are you all right Trowa?"

"Yeah, just fine." Trowa managed a weak smile. "What time is it?"

"Six p.m. Are you sure you're all right? Why didn't you come back into the room?"

"I figured you and Dorothy would want to catch up a bit, so I left you alone."

Quatre smiled. "Thank you Trowa, that was very kind of you."

Trowa looked away, slightly embarrassed. "It was nothing really. So is she doing all right?"

Quatre grimaced. "She's back to her old self." Trowa laughed, he knew what that meant — Dorothy had a very active personality, one would almost call it hyperactive, but Dorothy wasn't really one to run around in circles because of boredom, she would find … other ways to amuse herself. One of the ways she did this was to meddle in her friends' lives. Quatre looked like he had gone through a serious session of Dorothy prying.

Trowa had heard of this before and had nothing but sympathy for the boy. Luckily, as a distant acquaintance, he had managed to avoid this, but as Trowa was now a bit closer to both Quatre and Dorothy, it wouldn't be long before he was subjected to the treatment himself.

"That's good to hear, I suppose. I'm going to get something to eat, did you want anything?"

"Iie, Aragato, I'm not hungry. Actually, I was going to call Wufei to pick us up. Visiting hours are going to be over soon."

"Okay. I'll be back." Trowa turned to leave.

"Trowa?" Trowa turned around again to see a curious expression on Quatre's face. "Dorothy said that you had something to give me from her?"

Trowa looked puzzled, then he remembered the last thing Dorothy said to him before he left the room and blushed. /Did she have to remember that?/ "Uh … right, that." Trowa moved closer to Quatre and kissed him on the cheek. "I was supposed to give you that when I found you, but I kinda forgot."

"Oh." Quatre was bright red. "I'm just going to find a payphone and call Wufei," he stammered, excusing himself. "I'll meet you back here in a bit Trowa." Quatre ran off, completely forgetting that he had a mobile phone with him.

"Damn," Trowa muttered quietly. "Now I've made it worse." He sighed and made his way to the cafeteria.

He arrived back at Dorothy's room first.

"Oh, Trowa," Dorothy called out as he closed the door behind him. Trowa gulped and turned around to face the sinisterly grinning Dorothy. "Is some of that chocolate for me?"

"You're not really supposed to be eating chocolate when you're recovering."

"That's bull, you just don't want to share."

"True, I don't want to share, but I'm in a generous mood tonight." He handed over a chocolate bar. "Just don't tell anyone I gave you that in case you're not supposed to eat it."

"You're my saviour Trowa, of course I'm not going to dob you in." Trowa let out a relieved breath. "That is," Trowa stiffened again at the smirking tone in her voice, "unless you follow my next piece of advice."

"Advice?"

"Do what you feel is right, not what you think. Thinking clouds your judgement."

Trowa stared at her quizzically. /That makes no sense whatsoever./ "What do you mean?"

"You'll know what I mean when you have to decide between your feelings and your thoughts." Dorothy chomped down on her chocolate bar, ending the discussion.

/What can she mean? My thoughts and feelings? Aren't they the same?/ The door opened and Quatre entered the room.

"Wufei will be here in a little bit." Trowa nodded.

Dorothy pouted at this. "Does that mean you're leaving me?"

Quatre turned his brilliant smile on her, his face willed with apology. "Gomen D-chan, visiting hours are almost up."

"Will you come back tomorrow?"

"I don't think we can. I sort of snuk out here with Trowa and didn't tell tousan or Iria where I was going. They found out and are on their way to pick me up again."

Tears started to form in Dorothy's eyes again. "I'm not going to see you for a while am I?"

Quatre shook his head. "Goman nasai."

Dorothy burst into tears and Quatre rushed to her side to comfort her, much like Trowa had him. "I promise I'll come back to see you again and you can come down for the winter break. Relena would be so glad to see you and Duo and Hilde too." Dorothy nodded and wiped her eyes.

"Promise me something else neko."

"Anything."

"I want you to get better. You can't move on if you're stuck in the past and you'll keep hurting if you don't take a risk."

Quatre looked down, tears in his eyes. "What if it's too big a risk?" he whispered.

"Your feelings are never wrong, trust them. Do you believe your kind hear could lead you astray?"

Quatre smiled. "Arigato D-chan."

Dorothy returned the smile. "I better see you before I come visit you for the winter." She looked at Trowa. "Both of you."

Trowa smiled at her. "I'll make sure of it. We may have to borrow the motorcycle again."

Quatre laughed and got up. "It'll be worth it." He placed a gentle kiss on Dorothy's cheek. "Sayonara Dorothy."

"Farewell Kitty-Kat." Dorothy returned the kiss.

"Bye Dorothy," Trowa waved to her as he left.

Dorothy looked at him with a strange gleam in her eye. "Goodbye koneko." She laughed at him as Trowa glared at her then closed the door.

Trowa looked at Quatre who was trying to keep a laugh in. "Did she just call me kitten?" Quatre could only nod then burst out laughing. Trowa hid his face in his hands and walked out of the building and waited in a bay for Wufei to finally arrive.