Fire Dragon "Welcome to ch9!!! I'm sorry that this took so long, but I had a serious case of writers block ;-; but it's all on the past now ^-^"

Water Dragon "Yeah, all in the past, just like your brain."

Fire Dragon "Hey, it's not like you helped or anything! Anyway, here goes nothing, now enjoy.

Warnings: Shounen Ai (finally), silliness, some bad language (shame on me ^-^v), and bad comments.



Dragon Quest Ch 9 -The Quest Begins-

By Fire Dragon






"Ok, first we have to get horses and go to the Temples to get the Dragon Tears." Rei counted. "Then, we have to-"

"Wait! You have to do what?" Cyaran looked at her wide eyed.

"We have to go to the Temples to get the Dragon Tears." Rei said slowly, as if trying to explain something to a child.

"That will be impossible!!!" The messenger exclaimed.

"Of course we can, we have to get them to get the Dragons." Makoto simply said.

"No, no, no, no, you don't understand you can't do that!" Cyaran shook his head. "There has been several attempts of robbing them in the last two centuries, the Dragon Tears are guarded by the sects and bolted on huge safes guarded at all hours. The priests are very jealous of them, and won't let you get them even if you tell them that you are going to save the world with them!" Cyaran almost yelled.

"But if we tell them that we are the Dragon Knights?" Quatre said.

This time the messenger shook his head. "Do you have any idea of how many have tried that? The last time that somebody tried that to get the Dragon Tear, was burned in the stake by the Fire Dragon's priest." He said seriously, making everybody wince.

"Well then, we'll just have to get into the Temples and steal them." Duo smirked.

"Nothing and nobody can get close to it without being noticed." Cyaran said.

"Oh, but you haven't seen me on the job. I bet I can get them in a snap." Duo's smirk widened.

"Infiltrate into the compound, and retrieving the target within the minimum time possible without being discovered." Heero nodded. "Easy enough."

Cyaran shook his head while rubbing his forehead with his hand, tiredly he sat down heavily on the chair. "Well, I guess you're the experts." He said before being interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in." A page came in holding another four messages, all of them with the same kind of seals as the two over the table.

"Another three messengers brought this, your Holiness." The page bowed, handing the messages to Cyaran.

"Thank you boy." He said before the page turned and closed the door behind him. Giving a long look at the seals, Cyaran turned to see them. "I'll see that you have all the necessary for your journey, horses, provisions, and an escort to guide you to the temples." He said.

"No, we can get there ourselves." Mamoru said. "We'll only need a map and the horses. You already have enough to worry about and I don't think you'll be able to spare men." He pointed at the messages. "You have you're hands full without us imposing. We can find our way; it wouldn't be the first time. Right guys?" Mamoru smiled.

"That's right, remember when we had to find where Beryl's base was?" Makoto said.

"Yup, Ami found it really quickly." Minako patted Ami's shoulder, making her blush.

"It was only a matter of following the energy." Ami said modestly.

"Well, I guess we'll make use of the experience of those long camping trips without real food and no radio. Dear Shinigami! this is going to be tedious." Duo said dramatically.

Wufei blinked several times before a grin appeared over his face. "What? none of that god forsaken music in this whole trip? Somebody up there must really like me." He smirked cockily.

"Oh shut up Wu-man." Duo snapped while mumbling something under his breath as the rest tried to ignore him.


~~~*~~~*~~~

"First stop is…the Water Temple." Trowa said looking down at the map. "It's the closest from here. About 300 kilometers Southwest from where we stand." Trowa pointed.

"300 kilometers? What's that?" Duo asked.

"That's about 120 or some miles." Rei answered.

Quatre nodded, "And, let's say that we hurry the horses without exhausting them to death, we can make a good 50 miles a day just stopping to sleep and eat the necessary time. That we'll take us…"

"About 3 days to reach the Water Temple. Dear goddess, this is going to be a very long camping trip!" Usagi shook his head.

"And that's only the first stop." Rei groaned.

"Well, it could be worst, we could be walking there." Makoto said in dismay.

"Here we go." Mamoru and Heero appeared from behind the building followed by two pages and six horses.

"This one's a fine lad." One of the pages said handing the rains of the pack horse to Usagi. "'tis docile as a kitten, an' won't bolt like that brown one." He nodded to the big brown horse that stood biting the mouth piece.

"Thank you." She smiled, looking at the horse and patting it on one of the flanks. Looking behind her, she saw that almost everybody was already mounting their horses. Wufei (who had ended up with the brown horse) tried to get the reins without being bitten by the animal until he was able to get on it without being thrown off.

"Everybody ready?" Mamoru said while tying the rope of the pack horse to the pommel of his saddle.

"Umm…wait, I'm missing something." Wufei frowned. "Oh goddamnit! Has anybody seen Nataku?" He growled.

"Saw her flying somewhere over there." Duo pointed holding with one hand the pommel of the saddle, trying not to fall down.

"Nataku!" Wufei yelled. Instantly, Nataku's face emerged from behind a rock. A tail of something small appeared from her beak before swallowing it with a swift more. Chirping once, she flew to Wufei, landing on his arm. "Ok, we can go now." He said while impaling the heel of his boot into the horse's ribs making it jump forward.

"Was that a-?" Minako blinked.

"Don't even say it." Rei said before urging her own horse into a canter behind Wufei.

~~~*~~~*~~~


"We should look for a shelter." Trowa said while reining his horse.

"Why do you say..." Makoto said while reining besides him and looking at the setting sun. "We should go look for a clearance before it gets too late" She said while hurrying her horse into a run.

Trowa nodded, looking back at Quatre who was too engrossed into a conversation with Ami to notice. Shrugging, Trowa hurried his hose after Makoto. In that instant, Quatre lifted his head just to see Trowa riding after Makoto. A pang of…something hit Quatre making him uncomfortable with the notion of Trowa and Makoto being alone.

Duo looked at the two retreating figures "Hey, Heero! Where are they going?" He asked Heero who was besides him.

"Hn."

"They are looking for shelter." Wufei responded from behind them while taking Nataku's tale and pulling it not so gently. The dragonling was making the already skittish horse nervous, threatening to throw Wufei to the ground.

Feeling a little hurt for Heero's dismissal, Duo just brushed aside and grinned. "Heh, Trowa took the pretty lady with him huh?" He whistled slyly, looking at Quatre who turned to give him a Zero system induced glare. "Ok…" Duo blinked and decided to shut up.

Blinking, Minako turned to see Usagi. "They're weird." She whispered.

"What do you mean by 'they're weird'?" Usagi frowned.

"Well, look at them. They have too many mixed emotions on them! I can't make them out, maybe Rei could, but I doubt it." Minako shook her head.

Just then, Makoto and Trowa came back riding towards them. "We found a place to camp you guys, but we have to hurry if we want to get there by sundown." She said turning her horse. Again, Trowa and her took the lead of the caravan making Heero and Duo fall back a little.

~~*~~

Mamoru, Heero and Duo had put their tents up while the girls were grooming the horses (since it didn't take much effort) making Wufei and Rei go look for wood. On the other side, Trowa and Quatre looked into the bags for the necessary things to make supper.

"Is this one the one you want?" Quatre said lifting a shallow pot.

"No, the other one." Trowa said looking down at the supplies.

"Umm…this one?" Quatre lifted yet another pot.

"No." Trowa carried several carrots that he had taken out of the bag.

"Lets see…umm…"

"This one." Makoto said approaching him and taking the right one. "Hey, I bet I can cook a great meal with this stuff." Makoto smirked.

"You can cook?" Trowa looked at her doubtful.

"Of course I can, I'm strong and can cook." She said gloating. Trowa nodded while handing her the carrots.

"Quatre, why don't you go get some water from the brook?" Trowa said pointing at the bucket near him.

Quatre blinked several times, and with a sharp intake he bent to pick up the bucket and turned on his heel, walking briskly to the brook.

"Here, I hope this is enough." Rei let her armload of wood down next to where Makoto and Trowa were cooking, behind her, Wufei came with more wood and Nataku riding over it while Wufei tried not to trip over anything. Putting the wood down, Wufei started to make a small place where to start a fire.

"Now, why don't you do something instead of just looking at us." Wufei said taking Nataku by her wings. With a loud chirp, Nataku let go of a jet of fire incinerating the small amount of wood. With another snarl, Nataku turned her head and spat a small amount of fire towards Wufei but he dodged it. "See, it wasn't very hard, wasn't it?" He said letting her go not before she chirped indignantly.

~~*~~

'And now, why did I come to do this again?' Quatre thought, balancing the bucket trying not to drop any more water. "Oh, yeah. I remember now." Quatre said grimly. As he approached the camp, he heard something that surprised him wordlessly. Trowa was laughing wholeheartedly to something that Makoto had said. *Laughing? He is laughing to something she said?* Quatre blinked. In all these years he had tried to make the tall, silent boy laugh and the only thing that he had gotten was a small, almost shy chuckle from him, and now this total stranger had made him laugh? Gritting his teeth, Quatre deposited, or more like threw the bucket almost on their feet and cleared his throat rather loudly.

"Oh, just what we were waiting for." Makoto said and with a grin, she lifted the bucket easily and busied herself with the cooking. Trowa tanked Quatre and followed Makoto to where the food was cooking, leaving a fuming Quatre behind. He had always wanted for Trowa to be more sociable and maybe make a friend or two, but he didn't like the feeling of being ignored. Besides, Trowa could try and make friends with the rest of the girls, not just with her!!! Shaking his head he tried to calm himself *This is very unbecoming* he thought, *and Trowa has the right to find someone that he loves and loves him back* With that last thought, his stomach clenched and he felt ill. Why did the thought hurt so much? He wanted Trowa to be happy, actually, Quatre wanted to make Trowa happy, he just…he was cut out of his thoughts when he bumped into someone. Mumbling an apology, he looked up to find sparkling blue eyes looking back at him.

"Hey, no need to be sorry," Minako said while still holding him, "because I'm sure not." She let him go and continued. "It is not everyday that I bump into a cute guy." She winked.

Quatre blushed and then blinked surprised. Was she flirting with him? Well, that was unexpected. Probably Duo would have felt flattered by this, but not him. He felt uncomfortable, yet he smiled politely to Minako and answered truthfully, but still trying to humor Minako. "And I don't bump into beautiful girls like you everyday either." He smiled slyly, remembering all of Duo's antics.

Minako glowed, and taking his hand, she dragged him to where the rest were setting up. Trowa, having witnessed the whole interchange, followed them with his eyes to where they were heading. He could see how Duo was giving Quatre two thumbs up for his accomplishments. Trowa was nodding now to whatever Makoto was saying, however, his head whirled with thoughts, very much like the ones that Quatre had had previously.

*So he likes blonds* He thought grimly, *well, she is what he needs, someone alive and beautiful like him. Yet…* He snapped out of it when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I said if you were okay?" Makoto asked him worriedly.

"Yes, just thinking about everything that has happened" he lied.

"Well, don't worry. We are going to get out of this one way or another." She said, and with a smile, she turned her attention back to the food.

Trowa and Makoto moved to where everybody was settled and started distributing the food. Duo was one of the first to get up and get his food, along with Usagi. He got his and Heero's share and with a huge grin he went to join the other boy who was still checking what was inside the bags. Handing Heero his plate, he sat besides the stoic boy. Mechanically, Heero took it and set it on the ground. Sitting besides Heero, Duo looked at the group. The girl with the funny hairdo, Usagi, was seated almost in the lap of her boyfriend Mamoru, who was blushing and trying not to appear so.

*Great, another one to tease* Duo grinned mentally. Then he turned to see Ami, Minako, and Quatre. He could see that Ami was the smart of the group. She was very quiet and shy, somewhat reminding him of Quatre. *No wonder why they got paired up in the trial.* That thought struck him like lightning. He turned to see where Rei and Wufei were. They were fighting about something, both ranting to themselves as Nataku just yawned from her post by their feet, trying not to get her tail stepped on. *So fiery* He turned to the group before *Ami and Quatre are so calm, but I guess they can be very aggressive…like water.* He glanced to where Makoto was helping Trowa with the pans *So centered and strong, someone on which you can depend on…like earth.* The girl Minako, he had learned during the trials that she was more than she appeared. *Just like me* He knew that behind that bubbling personality there was a different side, *Our personalities are more fleeing, volatile, it changes…like the wind.* He glanced down to his untouched food, *Usagi is a burst of light, and Heero…yeah, I can see him as a chaotic person. Yet Mamoru…* He lifted his eyes to where he was snuggling with Usagi. He looked slightly flushed because of her display, yet he complied. *So unlike Heero* Duo sighed before looking at his food, no longer hungry.

"Duo, eat." Duo's head shot up straight and look at his partner.

"What?"

"I said, eat." Heero repeated in the same monotonous voice. "Even when you are thinking you are noisy."

Duo grinned sheepishly at him and started eating. *Well, at least he notices me.* His grin widened, but then it changed into a grim one, *And I get like a flustered schoolgirl just because of that…I am such a pathetic loser*

"What are those?" asked Quatre. He moved from where he sat with Ami and Minako, and stood next to Heero, who was taking some bundles out of the traveling bags.

"Weapons." Everybody turned to look to where the two boys and now an excited Duo stood opening the packages.

"Wow" Duo said awed. "That is so cool!" He whistled low when Quatre lifted a pair of beautifully crafted twin swords. "Hey, what else is in there?" He said taking a bundled like it was a christmas present. By now, all of the rest were hovering over the packages.

"Why did they gave us weapons, and why where they hidden in those bags?" Usagi said in a rush.

"The weapons…to protect ourselves" Answered Mamoru, then frowned and continued, "The concealment…who knows."

Before the things were laid out, five weapons presumably for the boys, yet there were six of them and only five bundles to choose from. Duo was the first to speak.

"Can I choose? Can I choose?" He said excitedly.

"Go ahead and knock yourself out." Mamoru shrugged. Duo tried to reach for one of the swords just to snap his hand back as if it had bit him.

"What on Earth!?!?" He said cradling his hand. Then he just hovered his hand on top of them until his hand was over a strange looking sword which was rigged and on the tip a small hook ended the fine craftsmanship that promised a slow and painful death. Taking it and the scabbard that came with the sword, Duo lifted it admiring the symbols that suddenly disappeared and returned seconds later but now the inscription read 'Wind Knight' on the shiny surface.

"Wow, I guess this one's mine." Duo grinned as he put it in the scabbard and tied it around his waist. "So," he said perking up, "Who's next?"

Heero, who was besides him, reached for one of the black swords and without any hesitation, he lifted it. "Hn." Was all that came from him as he looked at it critically. "Efficient and light." He commented while retrieving the scabbard.

"Well, that narrows it." Quatre said picking up the twin swords that he was holding before. He turned expectantly to Trowa who just nodded and took a crossbow and the arrows that came with it. Behind him, Wufei frowned.

"I already have a weapon." He looked at his Katana and then at the remaining sword. "And besides, doesn't it look just like Yuy's sword?" Wufei pointed the sword lying on the ground.

"Why yes it does!" Minako exclaimed.

"Why don't you give it a try?" Quatre nodded to Mamoru.

Shrugging, Mamoru bent to pick it up, hesitating just over it before gripping it's hilt and straitening himself.

"Guess that settles it!" Duo grinned.

Nodding once again, Mamoru held the sword in front of him, and as it had done Duo's sword, the manuscript on his sword changed to 'Chaos Knight'. Looking transfixed at it, he ran his thumb on the edge of the sword pulling it back as a single drop of blood lingered on the sharp edge.

"Mamo-chan?" Usagi looked as Mamoru watched almost hypnotized as the sword absorbed his blood while his wound healed without even leaving a scar. Wide-eyed, he blinked looking at everyone else.

Heero frowned at what he saw, still incredulous, he pulled his sword and raised his left arm, making an incision on his arm. Seconds later, everybody watched fascinated as the sword absorbed the blood and healed Heero's arm. For the first time that they remembered, the girls saw something akin to awe on Heero's eyes while he raised his eyes looking at the rest of the guys.

"Incredible!" Quatre breathed.

"Now that's creepy." Everybody turned to see Wufei. "What?!?! It is!!!" Wufei defended himself, besides him, Nataku chirped and nodded her head.

"Wonder if all of our weapons do the same." Trowa thought out loud while Quatre and Duo shook their heads.

"Hell no, I'm not cutting myself just to see if this thing works!!!" Duo shook his head vigorously.

"That's weird, though." Everybody turned to see Ami with a questioning gaze. "I mean, why would they hide them, and why did it see as if they already 'belonged' to the guys?" Ami reasoned.

"I have a hunch that this will tell us." Usagi brought up the pack where the weapons were, and extracted a piece of parchment that had the Valle's Dragon Seal on it. Opening it, she began to read out loud so everybody could hear:

To the Dragon Knights:

These weapons are the legendary 'Peace and War Arms'. Each

one of them have special powers which will aid you in your

quest. You must be wondering why they were inconspicuously

'smuggled' into your packs, am I right? Well, everybody on this

world knows about the prophecy, therefore if somebody knew that the

'Pease and War Arms' are missing from their sleeping chamber,

word would be out that the Dragon Knights or more precise,

that the end of this world is near. I am sorry, I once again have

put a burden over your shoulders, but I must beg of you not to

say a word to anybody.

I have sent a messenger to Keno so the priest from the Dragon

Temple there knows you when you arrive.

The future of our world rest on your hands, Dragon Knights.

Make Great Kali show you the way and see you safe in you

journey.

Cyaran.

"Well, at least that explains some things." Rei said. "Anyway, we should be getting ready to go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day." She shook her head, taking her sleeping bag and putting it close to the fire.

"We should have somebody take the first watch." Makoto said from where she was picking up her pallet.

"I will." Mamoru stood up while tying his sword around his hip.

And with that everybody started to make their beds. Moving to a side, Trowa left a space between him and a tree knowing very well that Quatre would come sleep by his side. However, to his surprise, Quatre snatched his things and dropped them unceremoniously by Wufei who blinked twice, looked at Trowa and shrugged.

Oblivious to this, and giving a mischievous grin, Usagi stood up and dusted herself, making her way to where Mamoru was.

"Mamoru, Wait!" Usagi stopped him before he left.

"And where do you think you're going?" Rei frowned.

"I'm taking a walk." She smiled cockily.

"A walk? Just a walk?" Makoto grinned.

"I don't think that'll be ok, Usagi." Mamoru sighed.

"Oh, c'mon Mamo-chan! Do you see Luna here?" Usagi asked, watching as the others shook their heads. "Do you see my dad here?" Usagi watched them smile and shake their heads.

"Nope, I don't see any guns or rifles for about fifty miles radius." Rei's grin widened.

"My point exactly!" Usagi giggled and walked towards Mamoru, grapping her slender arms over his; she dragged him away from the group. Of course, none of the girls missed Mamoru's smirk nor Usagi's sly look.

"Wahoo! Now that's my girl!" Minako hooted after them.

The boys watched curiously to the scene in front of them. Shaking his head, Heero looked at Duo who lay just inches besides him, however, a noise made him look up. Trowa stood, giving a last look at where Quatre had put his bed, he shook his head, giving a glance at Heero who nodded and then disappeared into the woods.

"Hey, where is he going?" Makoto asked.

"He's going to do the first watch." Heero said before throwing the covers over himself not bothering to see as Makoto made a small 'o', and tried to sleep.

~*~

Before Quatre opened his eyes, he knew that something was definitely wrong. For starters, he was lying on the ground, instead of being on his comfortable bed. Second, rustling sounds were heard from behind him. Quatre panicked, thinking that maybe he and the other Gundam pilots had been captured by Oz. However, Rei's voice made him remember where he was, making him relax and open his eyes.

"C'mon Usagi, it's time to wake up!" Rei yelled exasperated as the blond mumbled something and tightened her sleeping bag around her.

Quatre watched amused at the two girls until Makoto appeared besides Rei, putting a hand over her shoulder. Quatre's eyes darkened as he saw her shake her head and moved besides Trowa, who was already cooking something to eat. Makoto turned to see Rei and smiled at her while mouthing 'watch and learn'.

"BREAKFAST IS READY!!!" Makoto yelled as three blurs darted to where she and Trowa where. Usagi, Minako and Duo stood there, drooling over the two pots that where on the fire. "See Rei, told ya." Makoto laughed while Trowa smiled and shook his head before turning again to the food.

*That's it, I can't take it anymore!* Quatre's eyes narrowed, and if it could, steam would have been coming out of his ears. How could she make him smile so easily when it had taken him two years to become close to the tall pilot? And here she had accomplished this feat in just two days?!?! Calm down, he had to calm down, this wasn't good at all.

After taking a deep breath, Quatre lifted his plate (which he didn't remember getting) and started eating with the rest, trying to make some sense of what was going on with him, Trowa, and Makoto. Looking down at his now empty plate, Quatre sighed once again before standing up and heading where Ami and Minako washed theirs, however, once he got to where they were, he noticed that Makoto, Usagi and Rei were washing theirs as well. Giving a long, deep breath, Quatre lowered his head and moved besides Minako and Ami, trying his best not to look at the others while he tried to wash his plate.

"C'mon girl, spill it!" Minako squealed.

"Huh? spill what?" Makoto blinked.

"You know, tall, dark and handsome. You have been talking to him all day!" Minako winked at Makoto who tried her best not to blush. Besides her, Quatre tensed, grabbing his plate with more force than necessary.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Makoto defended herself.

"Hah, you two have been practically attached to the hip since you two came out of the trials room." Rei smirked.

"Well, I must admit that he is rather handsome." Ami smiled, getting stares from all the girls. "What?!?! And anyway, I do have Greg (FD: I'm sorry, but I can't remember his Japanese name) already!" Ami blushed bright red.

"He does remind me of my old boyfriend…" Makoto sighed while looking down at her plate as all the others rolled their eyes.

"Who doesn't Makoto, who doesn't." Rei shook her head while Usagi muffled a giggle.

"He seems like a nice guy, isn't he Quatre?" Minako tilted her head to one side, however, the blond boy didn't look as if he had heard her. "Quatre?"

In that moment Quatre blinked and focused on Minako who looked as if she had just asked him something, making him forget all about what he was pondering.

"Excuse me, what was that again?" Quatre blinked again. Damn, his musings had made him loose the string of conversation. Closing his eyes, Quatre heard his father's patented why-you-should-pay-attention-to-everything speech on his mind once again before opening his eyes again and looking at Minako who just smiled at him.

"I was just asking if Trowa's a nice guy?" Minako smiled again.

"Sure he is." Quatre looked down at his hands and smiled. "He's one of the best persons I know. He's my best friend and all, and we have been through a lot together." Quatre all but whispered. Looking up once again, he noticed that the girls looked at him funny, so clearing his throat, he forced a smile. "I…I hope that you two are happy together, make…make him happy will ya." Quatre bowed his head and began to walk away, leaving five stunned girls behind him.

He couldn't believe what he had just done. One second he had given everything to make Trowa happy, and the next he was handing him in a silver platter to Makoto. *Well, I'm doing just that. I'm making Trowa happy by letting him have Makoto.* He shook his head, but before he gave three steps, he turned and looked at Makoto in the eyes.

"I want you to make him happy…however, if you hurt him in any way," He narrowed his eyes, "I will make you regret the day you met us." He almost hissed. Anger raged thru his body like a jolt of electricity, which he barely contained.

"Quatre, are you ok?" Usagi almost ran to his side, blinking when she saw him shaking with anger, his face flushed to the roots of his blond hair. "Quatre, what's wrong?" She hugged him, getting the other girls' attention.

Ashamed of his conduct, Quatre's anger evaporated, leaving him with just an empty feeling on his heart to take its place. Shaking his head miserably, he leaned on Usagi's embrace. Sighing with exhaustion that he didn't know it was there, Quatre took a step back to look at Usagi.

"It's nothing, really." Quatre smiled weakly. Of course, none of the girls believed him.

"Quatre, honey, nobody gets angry at nothing." Minako smiled tenderly at him.

"You can tell us, we won't tell anybody, I swear." Rei said.

"Yeah, Senshis' honor." Ami nodded.

"C'mon Quatre, what's bothering you?" Makoto tilted her head to one side. "If it is about Trowa and me-"

"NO, I mean no, is not that…well, it is, but, I-I just don't know." Quatre shook his head, trying not to make eye contact with any of the girls. "I- I really don't know what's the matter with me." He sighed heavily, the burden on his chest adding another ten pounds to the already heavy weight.

"Oh my goddess, you like him." Minako smiled widely, clasping his shoulders and hugging him.

After Minako let go of him, Quatre couldn't raise his face. He couldn't, wouldn't see their faces after what she had said. He could only imagine their horror stricken, or disgusted faces, looking, judging. Quatre waited for the laughs, the pointy fingers, and the recrimination that for some reason failed to come. Biting his lip, he raised his head, just to be confronted with smiles, and some proud looks coming from the girls. Blinking in shock and disbelief, Quatre looked at Usagi who had one of the proud smiles on her face.

"So, it's true? Do you like him?" Usagi smiled.

"I, umm," Quatre stammered, blushing again but nodding silently.

"Of course he likes him! The guy has been drooling over Trowa for ages! And the worst part is that both of them don't even realize it!" A voice from above them laughed. Instantly after that, Duo jumped from the branch he had been perched on, landing besides the girls.

"Duo!" Quatre paled until the girls thought he was going to pass out.

"Imagine, you can make a book out of this!" Duo laughed looking at Quatre. "Our dear little Quatre in love with a circus clown! Hah, what a laugh. Maybe if we throw in some songs, we can make it a musical like West Side Story, but instead of a gang, we can have Oz!" Duo continued mercilessly, not letting Quatre say nothing. "Just think about it, it's just like the beauty and the beast, but instead, it would be 'the beauty and the silent clown' the adventure to see if we can make Trowa talk!" He put his hands as if giving the title of a movie. Laughing again, Duo didn't see the hand coming his way, he only felt the imprint on his right side of his face as he fell on his butt to the ground.

"How dare you mock love!" Minako hissed from above him, Rei and Makoto holding her tightly to keep her from hurting him.

"Don't, Minako, please." Quatre smiled sadly at her, as she noticed that some color had returned to his cheeks.

"But, but what he said about you two!" Minako whined while Rei and Makoto held her in place so she wouldn't kill Duo.

"No, it wasn't about just me, you see." He smiled again looking down at Duo, who was sulking on the ground, cradling his reddened cheek.

"It's about his own little problem." He smirked mockingly at Duo.

"Little problem?" Usagi raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Yeah, you see, Duo here suffers of exactly the same thing that I." Quatre offered his hand to Duo to help him stand. The long haired youth surprised the girls by grabbing the offering hand and standing up.

"Excuse me, but is not the exact same thing." Duo said dusting himself off.

"Do you mean that Duo's in love with Trowa too?" Minako blinked as the others looked Duo and Quatre face vault.

"God no, no offence Quatre, but Trowa's not my type." Duo shook his head.

"Well then, who is it?" Makoto asked curiously.

All the girls leaned closer as Duo murmured something under his breath before putting his hands on his pockets.

"I'm sorry Duo, what was that? I couldn't hear you." Quatre smiled as Duo glared at him.

"Heero, ok, it's Heero. You happy now?" Duo hissed exasperated at his smiling friend.

"So, another not so tall, dark and handsome." Rei chuckled.

"Not to say quiet and completely unfeeling." Duo sighed and his shoulders slumped.

"Oh, c'mon is not that bad." Makoto patted him on the back. "Trowa's not unfeeling at all, and he's been chatting lately." She winked at Quatre.

"Yeah, but Trowa has never pointed a gun at my head." Quatre shrugged.

"Thank you Q-man, now I feel a whole lot better." Duo said sarcastically.

"C'mon you guys, we can make this work." Usagi smiled at the two cress fallen teens.

"Sure we can, I'm not called the senshi of love for nothing!" Minako smirked while the two boys gulped noticeably.

"Tell me, Quatre, when did you first noticed that you liked men?" Ami asked making them blush.

"I-I didn't know until now." Quatre said, while he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt.

"Ok then." The senshi of Ice and wisdom wrote it on her computer that had once again appeared from nowhere. "And you Duo?"

"I don't like men." Duo said with a face that said 'don't continue if you want to keep living'.

"But you just said that you like Heero." Usagi tilted her head to one side.

"I do, but I don't like men…I just like Heero." Duo said stubbornly as he brought his braid forward and began chewing the end of it.

*.* 0.0 *.* 0.0 Blinking several times, the girls stared at Duo while Quatre giggled.

"The Nile it's a river on Egypt you know." Quatre smiled at his friend.

"Har har, very funny Quatre. You can put your own stand up comedian act now." Duo rolled his eyes.

"So…Duo," Rei turned to see him, "Do you like to see him everyday?"

"Do you like to cuddle with him?" Usagi asked. (FD "How romantic" –sigh-)

"You want to spend time with him, like being always with him?" Ami leaned closer.

"Do you want to jump him and ravish him until you two fall exhausted?" (WD "who doesn't?" FD "0-o I thought you liked Mamoru" WD "So, I like both of them!" FD -.- "Never mind")

"MINAKO!!!!"

"Hehe, sorry you guys."

Blushing madly, Duo seemed to consider their questions. "Well, yes, definitely, I always do (although must of the times I get a gun pointed at my head), and, now that you mention it, well, yes." Duo shrugged while counting all his answers with his fingers.

"See, you do like men!" Minako smiled like the cat who just ate the canary.

"NO! I told you I don't, I just like Heero!!!" Duo all but yelled.

"And Heero's a…" Makoto let it hanging.

"Man…" Duo seemed to ponder about it until his eyes widened. "Oh, shit, I am gay." Duo walked to a near by tree and proceeded to bang his head against the rough surface until his forehead was red.

"There, there Duo. It's not that bad. My friends Haruka and Michiru are both girls, and they love each other like there is no tomorrow." Usagi patted him on the back.

"Yup, never saw a girl so possessive either. Haruka would smash anyone's face for just looking at Michiru the wrong way." Makoto nodded.

"Anyway, don't worry, I'm gonna set you two up before you know it!" Minako winked at them.

"Umm…you guys, I think it is in our best interest to relocate our position. There are too many unwanted ears around here to keep the course of this conversation in this surroundings." Ami said, looking at her palmtop. However, when she received no answer, she raised her head just to be confronted with blank stares. Giving a deep breath she counted to ten. "We should move, or some one might hear what we're saying." She said with clenched teeth.

Receiving several 'oh's' and 'ok's' Ami shook her head while muttering to herself. "I don't know why do I even bother with you guys." She sighed while the rest tried to suppress their giggles.

"Great, lets go then! I don't want anybody eavesdropping and ruining everything before I set you two up." Said Minako, putting an arm over Duo's and Quatre's shoulders and hauling them back to the camp.

~~~$@ Back at the camp ~~~$@

While the girls had been talking at the creek, Wufei (with Nataku on the shoulder), Trowa, Heero, and Mamoru had been discussing the fastest way to get to the Water shrine, not even noticing that the girls, Duo and Quatre had been missing for the last fifteen minutes until they reappeared all at once. However, none of them were the least curious or suspicious about their being together. Lifting his head to where the noise was coming from, Mamoru smiled at Usagi.

"There you are Usako!" Mamoru lowered his head to give her a peck on the lips.

"Hi Mamo-chan!" Usagi wrapped her arms around her tall boyfriend.

"We better pack up, we'll be leaving soon." Heero said in monotone before turning to see the map again.

Nodding, the gang prepared themselves for a long trip on the road.





~~~$@~~~$@~~~$@~~~$@

Fire Dragon "Well, what do you think?"

Wufei "It stinks! How come everybody has a secret admirer but nobody loves me?!?!" –sniff-

Water Dragon –taking out an umbrella- "Oh no, waterworks!!!"

Fire Dragon "That's what you get for being the odd number of the group."

Treize –appearing from thin air, and patting Wufei on the back- "There, there, I love you."

Fire Dragon 0.o "And what are you doing here?"

Treize –shrugs- "You needed extras?"


Fire Dragon -.- "I need my Tylenol."

Water Dragon –handing FD a large bottle- "Here, you'll need it"

Fire Dragon o.0 "And why is that?"

Water Dragon "All those candy you gave Duo made him bounce over the bed, and your laptop fell from it's hidden place, and lets just say that Heero 'confiscated' it."

Fire Dragon "THEY DID WHAT?!?! My, my precious laptop wahhhhhh!!!!" ;.;

Water Dragon "But don't worry, I think we can bribe him with a gun."

Fire Dragon "No, no guns or he'll will kill me for what I'm doing with them. Wait, I know! Hey Hee~ro!!!!"

Heero "Hn."

Fire Dragon "Give me my laptop back or I'll make Relena appear." –Waves her author's magic wand threatenly-

Heero 0.0 "You wouldn't!"

Fire Dragon "Wanna bet?"

Heero –mumbling- "Fine!" –hands over the Laptop-

Fire Dragon "Good Heero, here." –gives him a Scooby snack.-

Water Dragon "Hey, where did you get that?"

Fire Dragon "For my Clue fic. Very handy little things." –pops one on her mouth-

Water Dragon -.- "Ewww. Never mind."

Fire Dragon "Anyway, please remember to review, and wait, what's this? –looks at her laptop screen- Ebay?"

Heero "Just purchasing some things for the trip?"

Fire Dragon "In the 'Guns R Us' section?" -.-;

Heero "Umm…bye!" –Runs out-

Fire Dragon –sigh- "Whatever, hey, where did Treize and Wufei go?"

Water Dragon "You don't wanna know."

Fire Dragon "-.-! *-* Anyway, until next time, Ja."
















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