**Author's Note: Ok, I promised myself I would never do this...but sigh...I did. I wasn't too comfortable with the other Chapter 11, so I changed it lol. It still starts off like the other one did...but it branches off and ends differently. I can work with this version of the chapter better than I could the last lol. Sorry for the inconvenience. I'm sorry if you wanted the bearers of the other armors to be a secret....but I wasn't really planning on making it a big mystery anyway lol. Hope you like this chapter please review and tell me if it works better for you too.**





Chapter 11

"Checkmate," Trowa pulled away from the table, leaving Rowen to gawk dumbfounded at the chessboard.

"He...he beat me..." Rowen stammered, eyes burning with incredulity. "My gods... we have to play again. Nobody beats me... Chess is my game."

"He's such a sore loser!" Cye complained to Quatre who'd been watching the match avidly, and looked amused at Rowen's indignation. He and Trowa were evenly matched at the game of strategy. The game really could have gone either way. He glanced up at the clock showing them the late hour. They had arrived around 8, to relieve Heero, but found out he was off with Ryo, bonding. They were surprised to find Duo still there... surely Heero would have taken him home by then. The braided imp was clearly in need of his bed, he was currently curled at Sage's side sleeping peacefully, while Sage read from one of the novels Quatre had stocked Cye's room with.

"I think we're going to have to go and extract Heero, before he overstays his welcome," Quatre said thoughtfully. He gazed at Duo on the bed, "I know Duo's surely outstayed his."

"He's fine," Sage glanced up from the book. Quatre was a little startled that Sage had been able to hear him. His senses were very keen. "He can stay here for the night."

"Sage, you can't invite people to stay in Cye's room man," Kento laughed, though he was very up on the idea of Duo staying there with them for the night. He'd definitely be bunking in Cye's room if he thought it was where Duo was going to sleep.

Sage gave a light smile, "He can stay in mine. It shouldn't be too hard to move him."

"Oh no," Cye objected, "he can stay right where he is. He looks to be quite comfortable. I'll stay elsewhere."

Quatre blinked at the way the other boys were worrying over Duo…it reminded him of he, Trowa, Heero, and Wufei. "It's ok guys. He needs to go home, and get a shower. He'll be so mad if he wakes up here in the morning where Sally can get to him."

Trowa and Quatre exchanged sly glances at one another, trying not to chuckle at Duo's reaction of waking up to Sally Po trying to draw blood.

"I'm being discharged in the morning," Cye said thoughtfully.

"Lucky," Kento grumbled. "But then, you're not going anywhere. Didn't you say you were going to stay here until we all got sprung?"

Cye nodded.

"You sure are crazy, Cye! I'd be outside living it up as soon as possible," Kento looked dreamy as he gazed out of the window into the gloom of night. "You guys party a lot, huh?"

Quatre blinked, "Um…no, not really. We actually keep quite busy. Duo and surprisingly Wufei used to go places, but that was before Heero and Duo got together. I swear ever since that horrible mission we've been 5 times as busy. It's like…everyone's going crazy all of a sudden. The wars end, peace is established…and every radical ever born decides now's the time to try to take over the world. Duo's really excited about it though…means they'll take him off the injured list early."

"Shinigami wants to come out and play…" Duo's low voice purred lazily. Heads turned to the bed where the braided imp was slowly moving into a sitting position and stretching his arms and legs. He looked at Sage with a devilish smile, "Gods it sure is nice waking up to you."

Sage rolled his eyes and went back to his book. "Where's Hee-chan? He said we were going home at… oh shit, would look at the time! Is Heero still with Ryo?"

Cye nodded.

"Damn, Heero never stays around me for that long. What's Ryo got that I don't? Eh, all I know is he better not be putting the moves on my Heero. Shinigami's vengeful."

"He bites," Trowa elaborated, and Duo bared his teeth viciously then laughed. Rowan was the only one in the room who didn't seem even mildly amused.

"Seriously, we should go get him. Cye's gonna want his bed back soon, and if we stay longer, I'm stripping and going to bed here."

"Whoo hoo!" Kento cheered enthusiastically, he leered at Duo as if waiting for him to begin the strip show. Duo, not one to disappoint, stood up on the bed. "I need music for this!"

"Oh shit he's gonna strip!" Kento's eye bugged out of his head, he elbowed Rowen who smirked eyeing the long haired boy with interest as well. He was little and slight, but his body had a fine shape to it. Seeing it uncovered might be nice.

"Oh do sit down Duo, before you fall off of there!" Cye raised his eyes looking disgruntled.

"I'm not gonna fall. Now where's my music?" Duo tapped his foot impatiently.

"He's really gonna strip!" Kento crowed, "Somebody go find some damn music!"

"Duo will not strip! Get down now!" Quatre stood to approach the bed, but found Trowa was better for the job he wanted to do when the taller boy passed him. He walked to the bed and calmly, gripping Duo around the waist, pulling him from the bed and lowering him to the floor.

"Hey, no fair!" Duo was beginning to pout, but was interrupted by Sage's serene tone, "He's going to join us now."

"Huh?" Duo stared at the blond, who hadn't looked up at any of them.

"Who?" Rowen asked. Ryo? He would gladly leave if Sage was telling him Ryo was coming….but then he felt it again, the strange mental tugging. It was like static on a radio in his mind…a signal was trying to come in, but he just couldn't find the right position to leave the dial.

Cye gasped as he felt it to, and looked to Rowen, Kento, and finally Sage, "Sage, what's happening, the web, it's…"

"Expanding," Sage said simply. "He's joining us now."

"He who?" Kento blurted, but was suddenly assaulted by the presence of a new being in the web, and that being felt disturbing like… "Heero?"

"Wildfire's acknowledged him."

"If you guys don't mind me asking, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? And where's My Heero?" Duo sounded agitated. His eyes shifted from person to person around the room. He made eye contact with both Trowa and Quatre, and moved closer to Trowa.

"You guys…we have something we need to talk to you about," Cye began, looking at the wary looking teens edging toward the door. "We were going to save it for later, but now it seems the armor doesn't want to wait."

"The armor?" Quatre's eyes widened in recognition, he stepped forward in curiosity, ignoring the firm hand Trowa clamped down on his shoulder.

"That Ronin stuff?" Duo mused. He looked down at his feet, then up at Trowa, and to Quatre who looked rather excited. He supposed he should be excited too, the legend was interesting, and for all he knew was true. But what did it have to do with his Heero? That alone made him cautious.

The door opened behind them, causing all three moving bodies to jump. They turned to see Heero and Ryo entering, Heero with an odd look on his face.

"Heero!" Duo charged the stoic Japanese teen, taking him by surprise and nearly knocking him down. "You jerk! Where've you been?"

Heero blinked, staring down at his angry partner, "With Ryo."

"Guys, we need to talk, all of us, now," Ryo said seriously, his blue eyes grim. All eyes in the room were on him, Quatre, Trowa, and Duo blinking in surprise. Ryo's presence had an air to it that commanded their attention. They had known he was the leader of the band of boys they'd found and rescued, but until then they hadn't seen why.

"Where is Wufei?"

"At home," Quatre frowned. "This is something terribly important isn't it? Should I call him?"

"No."

"But.."

"We'll go to him."

"What?"

"We're leaving, right now, tonight. Everyone pack your things, we've got to be somewhere all together and out of the public eye. Your home is secluded?"

Quatre nodded, still dumbstruck.

"Then we go now," Ryo said, eyes begging for anyone to challenge his decision for the group.

Cye nodded abruptly, mouth set in a thin line and went to his closet to gather up the things that had been purchased for him. Kento gave a grunt of compliance and walked out of the room with Rowen, and Sage following.

The eyes of the ex-Gundam pilots all went to Heero…their leader, "Trowa, you and I will bring the cars around, and Quatre, you and Duo do what needs to be done to get them checked out."

Eyes blinked, then slowly feet began to move to follow the orders issued.

******************************************************************************************************************************

Wufei was in his room reading the last of the Ronin files when he heard the beeping of the backdoor alarm alerting him that his roommates were home. He grunted, wondering how long it would take for Duo to burst in and bounce on his bed telling him about his day. He shook his head marveling at how fast Duo could talk. He smiled, looking forward to the visit he expected nightly whenever Duo was home. He'd had a particularly dreary day, school was abysmal, Une was unbearable, and to top it off, his ears kept ringing at the oddest of times…it was like static crackling from small speakers.

"Wuffie!!" There he was. The door to his room burst open, and Duo Maxwell stood looking winded and flushed. Strands freed from his long brown braid floated around his face in soft curls. Wufei fought to keep his expression neutral, "Group meeting downstairs now. They're all here, the babies are here!"

Wufei blinked, "Cye was not to be released until…"

"Eh, Quatre took care of that."

"But why…?"

Duo shrugged, his large purple eyes preoccupied, "I don't know, but we're about to find out now.. Come on Wuffles, they're waiting, and I'm getting impatient!"

Wufei snorted, "You're always impatient, what's new about that?"

"You wanna knuckle sandwich Wuffie, they taste like dirt, but you look hungry."

Wufei grinned and batted his lashes as Duo pretended to be offended, and huffed only serving to make himself look more desirable. "Come on Maxwell, as you said, they're waiting and you are impatient."

Duo scowled as Wufei walked passed, and moved behind him quickly to jump onto his back. Wufei let out a little gasp as a little wind was knocked out of him. "Maxwell… you're gaining weight."

"Good, maybe Sally will let me eat real food again."

"Cheetos and chocolate cereal are not real food."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"Ooh the almighty Wu-bear says… well I guess I better take note then."

"We're approaching the stairs Maxwell, I'll drop you."

"Then you gotta deal with Hee-chan."

"Right." Hee-chan… Wufei hid a scowl, "Can't upset him now can we?"

* In the words of Duo Maxwell, Says who?*

That's right...Says who?

Wufei smirked to himself as he maneuvered himself down the stairs careful of his precious cargo that seemed content on prodding his sides with his heels and hollering, "Mush! Mush!"

******************************************************************************************************************************

"Marbles? You got me all worked up over so called magic marbles?" Duo looked dubiously at the different colored marbles in the hands of each of the five Ronin Warriors.

"They are not marbles, Duo, they're kanji balls."

"Well that certainly sounds a hell of a lot better. Excuse me much... You got me all worked up over so-called magic kanji balls?" He batted his eyes devilishly at the impatient glares he received from Heero, Quatre, and Ryo.

"Duo, I thought you understood the legend. Weren't you the one assuring me it wasn't simply science that brought us back?"

"But magic ping pong balls...come on! I never believed in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, why would I believe in mystical spheres? And even better, that I can take the mystical sphere, like so..." he reached over Heero's lap to take Rowen's orb of power, "and...OW!! Shit, it bit me!" He dropped the ball like it was red hot back into Rowen's palm sucking the fingers that had come in contact with it.

"What happened?" Quatre jumped as he felt a small stirring of power in the room. He, Trowa, Duo, and Wufei looked warily at each other, at Heero, then at the Warriors. Static electricity seemed to crackle about them in the air...and that odd ringing noise in their ears was about to drive them insane...especially since they now had an inkling as to what it was.

"Strata just reacted to you," Rowen said to Duo, who was staring at his hand like a foreign body.

"Well I guess it doesn't like me much, huh?" Duo grumbled.

"It was just a little shock, it was trying to attune itself to your energy," Rowen said.

"To my energy huh? So any one of these things I touch is gonna shock me?"

"Only the one destined for you."

Duo blinked, and Trowa spoke up, "So Duo is the next bearer of Strata, as Heero is the bearer of Wildfire?"

"You believe this stuff Tro?"

"Duo, it's kind of hard not to..."

"I wanna see it."

"Duo!"

"Seeing is believing huh?" Duo rose to his full unimpressive height of 5'1 with his hands on his hips. "Show me this armor. I saw pictures, but who says you guys didn't go to a costume shop to get them? Five for one discounts are great."

"Duo..."

"No, he's right," Ryo interrupted Heero. "I didn't believe it either until the power was in my hands, and I saw with my own eyes what it could do. I'll call on it."

The other Warriors stepped away from him, their faces void of expression. Ryo held the warm orb of Wildfire in his palm, and concentrated on its energy, drawing it into his own, "Armor of Wildfire!" He felt himself being bathed and cleansed with the petals of sakura blossoms. His body was encased and strengthened by a hard protective shell of sub-armor, then coated by the actual armor of Wildfire. He stood in the center of the large den flanked from head to toe in mystical red metal, in his eyes swirled the boiling passion of the fire in his veins. He extracted the swords of fervor, holding them out in a forward fighting stance, wielding the twin blades expertly.

"Holy shit..." Duo murmured.

"Proof enough for you, Duo?" Quatre asked, eyes wide in awe. He moved closer to the armor clad boy wanting to touch. Trowa snatched the tiny blond back before he could cut himself on one of the sharp blades of fervor.

"All of you can do this?" Wufei was admiring the fine blades himself, moving in close but not reaching to touch, mildly disturbed by the wild gaze in Ryo's deep blue eyes.

"Yes," Cye said. "But not all of us look quite as impressive as Ryo in our armor."

"Hell, calling magic metal out of the air is pretty damn impressive I don't care if it's pink!" Duo exclaimed, he did touch the armor. He laid his hand on Ryo's shoulder, just to see if it was real. "Youch! It's hot! I swear, none of this magic junk likes me."

"Can you give the orb to Heero, and see if he can call the armor, Ryo?" Quatre asked, his voice dripping with excitement.

Ryo blinked, sheathing his swords across his back once more, and taking off his helmet shaking black hair out of his eyes, "I don't know if it's possible. I think we actually have to be dead, for the armor to go to somebody else."

"The web has opened to them Ryo, meaning the yoroi has already called them."

"But that might not mean..."

"Well lets try it out!" Kento blurted. "I wanna see too!"

Ryo looked mildly annoyed. He was enjoying the feel of the armor, and the awesome strength it gave him. He was not in a hurry to take it off and feel...ordinary again.

*Why should you feel ordinary?*

You again? I thought you said you'd leave until I asked you back.

*I can't help but hear your pitiful thoughts. You have the power to shape any future for yourself you want...to be what you want.*

Yes, and...?

*You waste your time here.*

No, I'm going to save the world here.

*Save the world for whom?*

For everybody.

*Of this you are certain?*

Shouldn't I be?

*Not if you had to ask me, child.*

Go away.

*Gladly.*

He dispelled of Wildfire quickly. It troubled him how much clearer the voice had sounded when he was wrapped in the armor. "Here, try it Heero. Just take it, concentrate on it, and summon it by calling it by name. Armor of Wildfire."

Heero nodded, accepting the tiny orb.

"Hey, is this safe? I mean what if it rejects him, or gets mad cause he isn't supposed to try to put it on yet? Will it hurt him?" Duo was chewing his lower lip ready to knock the ball from Heero's hand.

"It won't hurt him," Ryo assured the hyper imp.

"Go on Heero," Kento egged him on, "I wanna see if you'll look better in the armor than ole Ryo here!"

"Really, is that all you ever think about Kento?"

"Pretty much..."Kento grinned deviously, "that, and food."

"Of course," Cye rolled his eyes, then turned his attention to Heero as he attempted to call on the armor.

A funny thing happened... though the kanji of Virtue glowed bright on his forehead, the armor appeared before him in a low side stance. "Hey cool, now I can try it on!" Duo chuckled, then looked from Heero to Ryo who wore matching symbols of red virtue. "Uhh... that wasn't supposed to happen huh?"

"I think the armor may be acknowledging you both, but confused on to whom its supposed to go to. Ryo, perhaps you're too close to it. If you are near and healthy, there is no reason why you shouldn't wear the armor."

Ryo stared at Sage oddly, "So you think if I was incapacitated or too far away to call to it, but Heero was not...he'd get it?"

Sage nodded, "It would make sense. Why else would they join our web if they cannot adorn the armor until we die? Heero, approach the armor, see what it does, and Ryo..step back."

Heero edged closer to the apparition, placing a hand on the shoulder, "It's cool."

"To anyone else it'd feel scorching hot," Ryo said.

Heero removed the helmet from its perch and tried it on for size. He and Ryo were about the same size, save he was a little more robust in the torso area. The helmet fit snug, and suddenly he was enveloped in power. He let out a small startled gasp as the heat of passion seized him smothering him in its embrace. Bearer of Wildfire... it whispered to him, its warm mental breath caressing him. Heaven help him, but he was getting off on it. Duo would be thoroughly amused by this development. Could a blush be detected thought the metal of the face guard?

"Heero!" Heero could hear Duo's gleeful exclamation, "Look at that! Turn around, turn around...this is even sexier than spandex shorts I tell you!"

Heero blinked away the red haze of fire, feeling his limbs cooling slightly, and gazed about the room. Duo was grinning at him, though his eyes seemed cloudy, Quatre's mouth was agape, Wufei stared with a flicker of envy in his eyes, and Trowa looked as impassive as ever.

He studied himself, feeling the ridiculous urge to want to check himself out in the full length mirrors that lined the walls of the dining room. He moved with subtle liquid grace in the armor, surprised at how light it felt, and how soundlessly he could change positions. Wasn't armor supposed to be loud and rather clumsy?

Gods, the power. He removed a single sword. He'd never been formally trained in the art of swordplay, but he felt as if he could take on just about anyone then. He replaced the blade and removed the helmet.

"May I see one of those swords, Yuy?" Wufei asked, and Heero obliged him a blade. Wufei took the pommel gently, grimacing at the heat and almost dropping it. "It's hot!"

"Told you so," Duo scoffed. He frowned looking from Heero to Ryo, he then gave appraising looks to everyone. "Ok...got a question. Heero and Ryo are near the same size, and I bet they can fit each others clothes, so fitting in the same armor is no problem for them. But uh... besides Trowa and Heero, some of you guys are bigger than us. Is this stuff gonna shrink if we ever needed to call on it?"

"That's something interesting to think about," Cye smirked...and of course Duo would think to ask about it. If Wufei was the one to wear his armor, he supposed it would fit alright... but Duo or Quatre?

"Lets try it! I want to see!"

"Duo, why don't you try on Strata, since it seems to like you," Quatre dimpled at the long haired boy, who glowered.

"It bit me!"

"Love nip."

"You try it on!"

Quatre laughed and reached for the small blue orb, frowning when it did nothing to him. "I didn't feel anything."

"Then it's not yours," Sage said.

"Oh," Quatre looked disappointed, then he brightened. "So everyone get out your orbs, and let me find mine!"

Trowa smirked at his Little One, watching him go from person to person inspecting their orbs looking for his match.

"How come when Quatre does stuff like that no goes 'Quatre!' in that scandalized way everyone says my name?" Duo asked dryly, and received a light smack on the top of his head from Wufei .

"Because Quatre's not annoying like you are."

"I'm not annoying," Duo complained.

Quatre went from warrior to warrior and frowned when he touched the last orb and nothing happened. "I....don't understand."

"I thought you guys said we are the ones you guys are passing your legacy on to? Why wouldn't one of those things react to Quatre?" Duo asked.

Eyes looked to Sage, since he usually seemed to be the one with the answers. Sage frowned and shrugged, "Maybe...he's not ready for it yet."

"Maybe we should all try," Trowa suggested.

Kento, Sage, and Cye laid their kanji balls on the dark brown coffee table. "Why don't you put yours down too Rowen," Duo said, "you never know."

Rowen raised an eyebrow at the braided bow, but complied and laid his ord down too.

Quatre stood back with a disheartened frown as Trowa and Wufei tried their luck on each orb, neither snatching their hands back with a yelp as Duo had. "Nothing."

Ryo blinked in confusion, and Sage and Rowen exchanged a wary glance. "Why wouldn't it work....Wildfire went to Heero, and Strata reacted to Duo... Duo, why don't you try to call Strata. Lets see if it'll come to you."

"I'm not touching that thing again," Duo folded his arms over his chest, his brow furrowed as he stared at the dull orbs on the table. "Hmm... you know, maybe there's been a mistake."

"They got the wrong people, you mean?" Quatre questioned his friend.

"No... Think Quat. Heero and I were always in the plan to receive our Gundams back in the original Operation Meteor. Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei took their Gundams...each one of them had another pilot supposed to go in their place."

"What does that have to do with anything, obviously Fate wanted us all to meet, and end up in the same place to find..."

"But what if It didn't. What if your wife was supposed to be here instead of you Wufei? What if the real Trowa Barton should be standing before us, or even one of your sisters Quatre?"

"No!" Quatre shook his head, "It was supposed to me, it is supposed to be me here. Professor O designed Sandrock for me, I know he did! One of those orbs is mine! We just have to figure out what you and Heero did that we didn't."

"I notice Yuy had a symbol on his forehead, just like Sanada's."

"But Duo never had one... I've never seen it."

"Look," Rowen interrupted the argument. "Receiving the armor has nothing to do with what someone else did that you didn't. There is no ritual or performance you have to do. To get our armors, or rather when they chose us... we were...in our element. We all had come to a certain peace and understanding within ourselves."

"And you're telling us Maxwell did all of this?"

Rowen scratched his head, "Hey, I said it worked for us."

"Actually Wufei, Duo does know himself.... and Heero never pretends to be what he's not."

"Are you insinuating that we are superficial Winner?"

"No," Quatre frowned, "I just... I don't know. Maybe I want it too much, but I'm not really thinking about what it all means. Accepting these armors, and them accepting us, means we are volunteering to go off to war, again."

"We already are, with the Preventers."

"That's not war Wufei, it's traffic control compared to what this responsibility is. Heero and Duo are warriors until the end. Duo's always looking for excitement, and Heero's all about a mission. Maybe they're ready for this, and we aren't, and the armors know."

Trowa and Wufei blinked.

"Are you two telling me you're ready to dive head first into another war?"

"Are you telling me you think I am?" Duo exploded. He'd been quiet for long enough.

"Duo, you're always talking about..."

"Yeah, I talk a lot, don't I? Doesn't mean anything, never does..." his eyes were cold. "Thought you read me better than Quat."

"Why do I always have to read you Duo. Why can't you just be straight forward in..."

"We are not fighting over this now!" Duo tugged at the nape of his braid in frustration, "Our problem now is...is...ridiculous. You know what, I'm going to bed. If you guys figure out just what you think is going on, DON'T WAKE ME UP. I sleep with a gun, and I'm taking off the safety."

Duo stormed toward the stairs and took them by two's. "Well he's moody," Kento commented, he shot an odd look at Heero, "Does he really sleep with a gun?"

"Aa."

"It's better than the live grenades," Trowa muttered. He recalled a terrible incident when Duo was sharing the bed with he and Quatre, and he'd rolled over on one that had fought its way out of the elastic band of Duo's sweat pants. Locked in a war dream he'd pulled the plug on it. Luckily he snapped awake when his brain realized he'd really touched something in the physical world...and it was a little odd for a soda can to be in bed with them... He shot up holding the ticking grenade, and just had enough time to unlatch the window and toss it out. The whole house had woken at the small explosion in the front yard. Maguanacs were running left and right firing illegal semi-automatic weapons into the dark yard at invisible invaders.

It was a mess, and all Duo could say was, "Oops."

"Grenades?" Kento frowned, well that pretty much spoiled any romantic fantasy with Duo in bed he'd wanted to participate in. Romance and live ammunition didn't sound appealing to him. Kinky....but not appealing.

"Sadly to say, he's right," Cye said, getting everyone's attention back to the problem at hand. "We are being rather ridiculous. So Wildfire and Strata have chosen their next bearers and Torrent, Halo, and Hardrock have not. They will, soon. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. In the meantime, can we just be happy to be out of the hospital early? Quatre, you do have a lovely home, and I would love to get a tour of all of it."

Ryo's mouth dropped open, "Cye...."

"I told you Ryo, I'm not living this new life preparing to go off to war. I'm going to enjoy it for as long as I can, and I'm going to assume Torrent, by not acknowledging its new master now, is telling me to go ahead."

"We can't just.."

"Ryo, Cye's right," Kento said. "We can't force the armors to choose, and we can't do anything until they do."

"We could be training them to fight. Do any of you have any martial arts training?"

Wufei glared at Ryo, "Would you like for me to train you, Ryo?"

Ryo's face reddened with indignation. "Have you ever had formal training with a sword Heero?" His spoke through his teeth, looking passed Wufei's smug expression.

"No," Heero said sheathing both swords. "I assume you're offering to begin instructing me?"

"Yes."

"Only if you want to Heero," Cye interjected. "I do believe Wildfire will assist you in your sword fighting technique. Kento, Rowen, and I never had any combat training before we wore our armors. The armor can provide skill..."

"But it doesn't hurt to have some training," Sage said gently. "You three were at a disadvantage compared to Ryo and I."

"I resent that, I was an excellent archer before I got Strata!"

"You were only good at long distances for a while, Ro."

"Until I started getting private lesson, hmm?" Rowen batted his eyes at Sage, who smirked at him.

"Grandfather used to ask me all the time when you were going to pay him for all of those lessons."

"And here I was thinking you two were talking about something dirty," Kento muttered.

Rowen and Sage rolled their eyes, "You would, you hentai."

Kento grinned at his title, then looked serious, "You know... I agree with Cye that maybe we should be trying to have some fun and maybe make lives for ourselves here...but Ryo's kinda right too. Maybe we need to come to the middle on this."

Cye, Rowen, Sage, and Ryo's eyes went wide at Kento trying to be the mediator. "Wh...what do you suggest, Kento?" Cye stammered, voice amazed.

"Well, maybe Sage, Ryo, and Wufei can start teaching these guys better martial arts skill. Whoever gets Halo will need sword training, Rowen can start showing Duo archery, and Cye and I can start teaching everyone how to fight with staffs. I mean it won't hurt to be a little prepared. We'll set a designated time for practice, maybe in the mornings for a few hours, or in the afternoons. You know, whenever everyone's free. And during the times we aren't practicing we can do normal stuff, like I don't know, catch up on the movies, video games, get some driver's licenses..." Kento's voice was raising with growing excitement, his eyes glistened as he mentally explored the possibilities.

"Get enrolled in school," Quatre perked up snapping his fingers. The darkness of disappointment dissipated from his aqua eyes, and a light sparked back into them. "Duo and I have already gotten the paperwork started. You can probably attend as soon as next week. The school curriculum really isn't all that different from before when you were in school. I mean there are some new subjects, and history, math, and science have changed a bit...but with tutoring you'll be fine. You'll be in some remedial classes first, until you catch up."

"Remedial?" Rowen raised an eyebrow. "Do we have to go straight to remedial, or can we try our luck in regular first? I've always been advanced. I don't think I'll have a problem catching up."

"Rowen, it's been a very long time..."

"I'm not taking remedial classes Dreamer. Don't they still have entrance exams?"

"Well yes, but we thought we'd spare you all that..."

"Then I'll do that. I'll have to study some first, of course. Do you think you could schedule one of those for me?" Rowen looked to Sage, "How about you, Sage, Cye? We were all honor students, and I don't think we belong in remedial classes. Hell, I don't even think Kento's remedial." He didn't say anything about Ryo, and a slight tension rose in the room as everyone quietly made note of that.

"If that's what you all want, I'm sure I can arrange it," Quatre said, looking uncomfortably from Rowen to Ryo and forcing himself not to say anything aloud about it.

"That's nice of you Quatre," Cye said. "Is there anything we can do, to help you? Now that we're here, and free to move around you don't have to feel so obligated to do so much for us anymore."

Quatre smiled sweetly, "Oh no, everything's taken care of. The only thing you guys can do is enjoy yourselves. Get acquainted with the house, and then....maybe we can go to the mall, some room stores, and you guys can get more clothes better suited to you, and buy things for your rooms."

"With your money? We should be looking into getting jobs, and.."

"No, no with the Preventers' money. You each have a personal account provided for you from the Agency. They actually gave us a large sum of money just to start buying the things you need."

"Though he and Duo exhausted the account a few days after it was opened to them, and have been using their own money," Trowa said.

"Gifts, all of it," Quatre shrugged. "I have more money than I know what to do with, and Duo really doesn't spend much on himself so he has plenty to give away."

"How do we access these accounts?" Ryo asked, he was standing near Heero touching the Wildfire armor experimentally.

"Oh....I have all of that information in my office. I can go over with you in the morning. Right now, it is kind of late. Maybe I could give Cye his tour of the house now, and if anyone else would like to accompany us, feel welcome."

Rowen, Sage, and Kento followed Quatre and Cye as they left the den to go into the next room.

"Are you going to take the armor off tonight Yuy, or are you going to sleep in it?" Wufei asked.

Heero glared at Wufei, "How do I take it off."

"Just will it away," Ryo said, his voice was tired. He stepped back as the Wildfire armor melted from Heero's body, and he accepted the orb numbly. He stuffed it into his pocket, and glanced at the discarded orbs on the table. He was literally the odd ball out.

"Are you alright Ryo?" Trowa asked, gazing at him. His green eyes speculative, and Ryo felt as if he were being put under a microscope. The boy would be reading his mind in a moment, he shuddered.

"I...I'm fine. Tired. I didn't plan on all of this happening today," Ryo stuttered. He shifted his weight from left to right and looked at his sneakers.

"You seem to be a little apart from your group Sanada. Why is that?"

Ryo raised his eyes to meet the black ones of the Chinese teen, "Why do you always refer to everyone by their last name?"

"It is respectful."

"It's very impersonal."

Wufei shrugged, "You didn't answer my question."

Ryo sighed, "We don't agree on some things going on right now. You know how it is, Heero, you're a leader. Sometimes you get a crazy notion about what's right in your head, and everyone else wants to think you're a jerk for it."

Heero blinked, he was being put on the spot. He opened his mouth, then closed it. "I...will check on Duo. He's upset about something, and it's not the armor."

Trowa stared, "He's not sleeping again, Heero."

"I know," Heero sighed. He looked up the stairs with a grimace. "Think maybe I should put the armor back on before I go up?"

"I would. Maxwell has this horrible habit of shooting first, asking later."

******************************************************************************************************************************

"You moved when it wasn't your turn!"

"You weren't paying attention."

"It was still my turn."

"Well, by not paying attention you forfeited your turn, and since you took her turn, it is now my turn."

"You haven't taken a turn in a while."

"I know, I've been getting him prepared. I think he's ready."

The long haired blond man glared at the tall dark haired woman who smiled at him graciously, "I'm about to take this game to the next level."

"Whatever you're going to do, do it soon. I'm getting bored, and I want my turn." The third player's face was hidden behind a veil, the voice asexual.

"All in good time..."

On the board a shadowy pawn slid diagonally across the squares stopping in front of a stone castle. "Time to knock down those walls..."

*If you really want something...*

******************************************************************************************************************************

Wufei sat up in bed gasping and sweating. He hastily peeled back his comforter and his sheet to climb out of bed. He stumbled in the dark to the bathroom and flipped the light switch, squinting as the bright light attacked his eyes. He ran cold water into the sink, and cupped his hands under it, bowing his head to splash his face. It was so hot...

Dreams of Duo Maxwell always did this to him.

*If you really want something....you should go after it.*

I know, but Heero is a friend..

*If he is a friend, he will understand.*

It's just not proper. Friends don't do things like that to one another. And Duo... what if he's not attracted to me? I'd lose my friendship with the both of them.

*You'd rather be miserable for the rest of your life than try to see what could happen?*

I'll find someone else.

*All for the sake of Heero Yuy? Is he really that important to you?*

Visions of Duo smiling at him, batting his lashes, feeding him ice cream fluttered passed, so real he reached out to touch the boy. Nothing.

*They don't have to be.*

No they don't.

*How important is Heero to you?*

Not as important as Duo, and he'll hate me for coming between them.

*He won't.*

How do you know?

*Because I'll help you.*

Why?

*Because I like you.*

What are you going to do?

*The question is, what are you going to do. Now listen to me carefully...*

And he did.

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Author's Note: Ok, so was that better lol? Please let me know. Take care!