Well, this is chapter 10. I guess that's two chapters now in the same day. YAY! Anyway, when we left off, well, you already know what happened because you've already read the other chapters. So, basically, they all agreed to work for the king. (or, our good friend Trowa.) anywho, duo and Heero are in the courtyard, "discussing" and Aria's knocking on Wufei's door, and Quatre's reading his book, and Trowa's at a meeting. There. Happy? You'd better be.

Disclaimer, I don't own gundam wing or the idea for the dragon Nataku. The idea belongs to KC from "willing slave" and yes, I do have permission.

Okie, on with the fic. *drum roll please......*

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Chapter 10 The Hidden Power

"knock knock knock"

Wufei glared at the door, hoping to make the sound go away. He knew who was there.

"knock knock knock"

"Nataku's not here." He called.

"Good for her. Let me in Wufei, I don't want to talk to the dragon." Came the annoyed reply.

"It's not locked." He growled.

The door creaked open, and Aria shut it behind her, locking it. She then turned to face Wufei. He was sitting cross legged on the king sized bed, polishing his beloved Katana.

"What do you want, onna?" he demanded harshly.

Aria smirked, noticing the absence of the word "weak". Then she realized that she had no real reason to want to see Wufei. She looked at him, his black eyes piercing into hers. Being a spirit mage, she could see a person's spirit, and she could tell what they were feeling. Wufei was glowing a light shade of blue.

"Well?" he asked, returning his attention to his Katana. Those green eyes were taking in every inch of him, he could feel their powerful gaze, but, unlike Duo, he was unable to see the darkness that was hidden within them.

"I, um, I came for....to see how far you've gotten in your studies." She said, still looking at him intently, almost drinking in the way he looked, what he was feeling. He was good at hiding it, but she was good at looking.

"How do you plan on finding that out?" he demanded.

Aria paused. She knew one spell, but it would drain most of her energy. She figured, however, that she would be able to make it back to her room before she collapsed. "Um, the spell I'm going to use will take a lot of power." She said. Was that a hint of concern in his eyes? If it was, it disappeared quickly. "And I'm going to need your cooperation."

Wufei scowled at the last comment. "Fine. Might as well get this over with." He growled, getting up and placing his Katana on the bed.

"Alright." Aria said, taking a deep breath. She crossed the room, and dragged Wufei to the centre. She held out her hands, and some flower petals appeared with a flash of silvery-green light. "Forgot them in my room." She muttered.

"Show off." Wufei thought, as he watched Aria spread them around in a circle that surrounded them. They gave off a pleasant smell.

"I don't ever want you to try this." She said. "If it's done by the wrong person, or with the wrong ingredients, you could get lost forever inside the other person. Do you understand?"

He nodded his head, rolling his eyes slightly.

Aria sighed. "Alright." She held out her hands, palms up. "place your hands on top of mine."

He obeyed, and noticed that she trembled slightly under his touch. He raised his eyebrow questioningly at her, and she blushed slightly, then closed her eyes.



"Soul gazing is an art for the bold.

Take this as warning you now have been told.

The only way to see the light

Is to enter and witness how bright

It shines telling the powers

Of a learning one who hides them well."

Aria chanted the old spell, and entered Wufei's mind.

The weather mage felt Aria's presence leave her body, and he felt her searching through him. He wasn't sure what she was looking for, but a full ten minutes later, he felt her leave. As Aria's body received it's soul, her eyes fluttered open. She blinked a couple of times, then looked at Wufei.

"Well?" he asked, noticing the exhausted look in her eyes. Her breathing was quite heavy as well.

"You're stronger than you show." She said. "Why do you hide your powers? Are you afraid to show them?"

Wufei shrugged, and removed his hands from hers. He noticed a deep wound in her left palm, and he looked at her questioningly.

Aria quickly lowered her hands. "It's nothing." She mumbled, lowering her gaze as well.

"Somehow, I don't believe that." He said, and turned to leave the circle, but Aria's hand flew out to stop him from stepping over the scented flower petals.

"You'd be cursed." She said, as she murmured something that sounded like "protect no more", then she bent down to scoop up the petals.

Wufei glanced at her, then bent down to help.

"That wound wasn't there before you performed the spell." He said.

"It's nothing." Was Aria's harsh reply. "And I don't want to hear you talking about it either."

"Aria...." he growled, only to find himself blown to the other side of the room. His back slammed against the hard rock wall and the wind was knocked out of him. He gasped for air, and when he caught his breath, he looked over at Aria, who had collapsed on the ground.

Wufei sighed. "stupid onna." He grumbled, but he knew it wasn't true. He picked her up gently, and placed her on his bed. "Nataku!" he called.

"Croik!" the dragon appeared moments later.

"Get Duo for me." Wufei said.

"Croik!" The dragon left, heading for the courtyard.

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Well, what did you think? Please let me know!

Sorry that the 1+2 wasn't here, but I decided to save that for the next chapter.

Aria