Well, time for chapter 8! This is so exciting! Anyway, enough of that. When we left off, Wufei had just told Quatre how he'd travelled with Aria and she'd taught him most of the spells he knows. (meaning that he isn't fully trained yet. Neither is Quatre, but the others are.) Ok, so I guess if you're reading this you've already read the other chapters. I posted the last one yesterday, so I don't think that you could have forgotten already. But if you have, you can just go and scan over it to refresh your memory right? Yeah, anyway, I'm gonna stop the "what happened last time" right now.

Disclaimer-I don't own gundam wing. And I didn't get Duo or Heero for Christmas. Phooey. I also don't own the idea of the dragon Nataku, that belongs to KC, who wrote about her in the "willing slave".

Please don't forget to leave a review so I know what you think!

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Chapter 8 The Unknown Mage

*~* In Quatre's House (time is frozen)*~*

Aria rolled her eyes at Wufei. "Anyway Quatre." She said. He nodded to inform her that he was listening. "You are a fire mage in need of training, are you not? She demanded. Upon receiving another nod from the blonde she continued. "Well, today's your lucky day, because I've been sent here to train you, and to help the dragon."

"Croik!"

"Yes, Nataku. I'm here to help you as well. Some weather spells just can't be taught by dragons, and you know that I'm very experienced in that field." Aria said. She then found herself at sword point, Wufei's shining katana dangerously close to the side of her neck.

"Wufei......." Aria said in a warning voice.

"My dragon does not need your help, weak onna." He growled.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me weak!" A gust of wind appeared out of nowhere and threw Wufei to the other side of the room. He dropped his sword mid-flight and Aria caught it expertly. She gripped it easily in her hands, and lowered it to the side of his throat.

The tables had turned.

"Hn." Heero grunted. He glanced at Duo, who shrugged.

"I guess they don't get along very well." The braided boy said.

Quatre looked worried. "Um, Aria?" He said questioningly.

"Yes Quatre?" She replied, handing Wufei back his sword and offering a hand to Wufei, to help him off his feet.

The weather mage bluntly refused the offer of friendship. He grabbed his Katana and sheathed it. "Nataku, we're leaving." He said, as he turned and headed out of the room.

"Croik!" came the dragon's reluctant reply as she took off after a fuming Wufei.

"Alright, well, now that that's settled." Aria returned to her cheery self. "Quatre, I've been sent here to train you to be the best fire mage that ever walked the surface of the earth."

"Who sent you?" Heero growled.

"It doesn't concern you. So, Quatre, I froze time to ask you if you're ready to take on the challenge. It won't be easy, and from the looks of it, your parents aren't going to be too happy."

Quatre nodded. "I'll do it." He said.

"Good!" Aria exclaimed. "How are you going to tell your parents?" she asked.

"I don't know yet, but it'll come to me." He paused. "Will you treat me as a friend instead of a student?" he asked.

"Whatever you say, friend Quatre." Aria replied with an amused look in her eyes. She bowed slightly, and they both smiled, then burst out laughing. "Alright, let's get this over with." Another two snaps of Aria's fingers, and time resumed at it's normal pace.

Duo and Heero exchanged a look of question. They were both fully trained mages, and therefore, they knew that if Quatre was going to be "The best mage that ever walked the surface of the earth" then he would need a teacher that knew what he, or she, was talking about.

"What did you mean when you said that he wasn't ordinary?" Mrs. Winner asked.

Aria gave Quatre a 'helpful' shove towards his parents.

"Do you love me?" he asked.

Aria gulped. She really hoped for Quatre's sake, that they would accept what he was.

"Of course we love you Quatre" his mother exclaimed, but the look in his father's eyes said differently.

"Will you love me always?" He asked, not daring to look into their eyes. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Aria standing there.

"Will you love him always, no matter what the circumstance?" she demanded to his parents. His mother nodded her head. "Even if, even if he was dressed....." She whispered, her sentence trailed off as a deafening silence filled the room.

Quatre felt the grip on his shoulder tighten slightly. He gazed into the green eyes until they snapped shut.

"I call upon the light." Aria's voice was just barely a whisper. "Of spirits, soaring free" Quatre's eyes widened as he felt a gust of wind encircling himself and Aria. "you see my wish" the volume of her voice was increasing, though just barely. There was now a whirlwind of air engulfing the two involved in the spell. "now release it unto me" Aria's voice dropped back down to a whisper as she concluded the spell. The maddening wind died slowly. Aria was breathing heavily, but she quickly composed herself before the wind died completely and she surveyed her work.

"Even if he was dressed.......dressed like us." She finished her sentence.

Quatre looked down at his clothes. He was wearing a red top made of some type of material that he didn't recognize. It was very light. His pants were of the same substance, although they were a bit heavier, more durable.

He looked at Aria. "thank you." He said. When she didn't acknowledge it, he noticed that she had a far away look in her eyes.

Duo had been having a light conversation with Heero while Quatre and Aria had been confronting his parents. They had been speaking in whispers, discussing the 'new arrival'. However, when Aria had started her spell, they had both turned to stare.

"The summoning spell." Heero mumbled.

"The spell of the spirit mages." Duo turned to Heero. "She's a spirit mage." He said.

"Yellow." Heero replied. Duo nodded, then turned to watch the spell spin it's course. When it had finished, Aria had met Duo's gaze. Duo had seen sorrow and pain in her green eyes. Then, something totally out of his grasp had happened. Aria's eyes had turned a green so dark it was almost black. They had filled with an evil so great that he had had to turn his violet eyes away.

"Aria, are you ok?" Quatre asked.

Aria blinked. "Yeah, I'm fine Quatre." She said. "Red suits you."

Quatre smiled. It was true. He looked amazing in the red shirt. His blue eyes stood out perfectly and the red made his blond hair almost glow. His smile quickly disappeared as he turned to face his parents.

"Heero." Duo muttered. "there's something not quite right about her."

Heero nodded. "I know."

Mrs. Winner stared at her son in disbelief. "You're a mage?" her voice was just below a whisper.

Quatre nodded slowly.

His father then stepped forward. "If you really are a mage, then I will not have anything more to do with you. I do not need to take on the demands of your 'training' and such events. Nor your mistakes. You can go and get yourself killed for all I care. You are no longer a Winner." And with that, he turned and left the room.

Mrs. Winner glanced at Quatre, then quickly followed her husband. She did not have a say in these events, but it was clear that she was proud of her son. She followed her husband out of the room.........away from Quatre.........never to see her son again.

Aria placed a hand on Quatre's shoulder. A single tear ran down his cheek as he turned to look at her. She was easily half a foot shorter than he was. Quatre smiled, then turned to Duo.

"You said something about a place on the king's council, did you not?" he asked sadly.

"Yes, and we must get going. I don't think the king will be happy if we keep him waiting." Duo replied, and he led the way out of the house.

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and the plot starts to get started. Interesting............

yeah, anyway, let me know what you think, please!

Aria