Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. I do not own Lord of the Rings.

Chapter 3:

Trowa woke up early the next morning as he always did. The blinds just had a way of sitting so the sun managed to squeeze right through and land upon his face. Waking up at dawn had become a habit now, so if the sun simply disappeared from the sky, he still would have been awoken when it should have been there.

Trowa glanced over at Quatre, who had rolled over in his sleep so he was at the far edge of the bed, risking disaster and a personal meeting with the floor. Trowa pulled himself from the bed and studied him a moment before coming to the conclusion of letting him lie. Instead, after checking that Quatre's head wouldn't strike the night stand if he did slip off, Trowa laid his pillow down on the floor to help Quatre's potential fall. He then pulled the cushions from the nearby chairs and placed them strategically around the landing zone.

Once done, Trowa dressed himself in a pair of jeans and a white button-up shirt. He left the room barefoot and found his slippers down the hall where they had been carelessly tossed. He padded down the stairs and into the kitchen to find that Wufei had not risen yet. Wufei normally beat him to the kitchen and had breakfast started. It seems the everyone had fallen into routines since they all moved in together. It had barely been two months, yet he couldn't help but wonder why Wufei hadn't come down yet.

Trowa opted for starting breakfast himself instead of investigating and started making pancakes. Trowa knew they were Duo's favorite and he thought it would help smooth some things over in a subtle manner. The affair had sharpen a lot of edges around here and things would be a bit tougher to handle, but Trowa hoped everything would turn out fine in the end. Trowa couldn't remember for the life of him why he and Heero let what happen take place, nor could he figure out why they let it continue. They both knew it would only bring trouble. It seemed rather obvious that Duo and Heero didn't make up. The fact that Heero left a few minutes after Wufei went upstairs had been a sign that things hadn't been pretty. Heero might not come back, and he was sure that Wufei had talked to Duo at some point, for Trowa had glanced around upstairs to find Duo nowhere, meaning he was with Wufei. That might be why Wufei hadn't been downstairs yet. Trowa always wondered the extent of Duo and Wufei's relationship. Trowa, being no expert on emotions, had heard from Quatre that he suspected that the two were closer than their bickering let on. Trowa was better at picking up sexual tension. Trowa thought Wufei wanted Duo. Whether there were emotions there or not, he wasn't sure.

Trowa found himself with a hefty pile of pancakes before Wufei finally surfaced. Wufei gave him a nodded and gave assistance by dividing the pile up.

"Heero's gone, so don't bother giving him any," Trowa tossed over his shoulder, "He left last night, and he's car isn't here now."

Wufei nodded after the briefest of pauses and continued to divide the pancakes.

"Quatre still sleeping?" Wufei asked, after placing two pancakes upon Quatre's plate.

"Yep. You'll be signaled by a thud if that changes."

Wufei gave him a funny look before placing four pancakes on Duo's plate. Trowa finished off the last pancake and him and Wufei had three apiece. Wufei finished setting the table and sat down in front of his plate.

"Duo's dozing, he'll be down in a second."

No sooner than the words left his mouth, Duo's stomping was heard overhead. He seemed to wonder from one side of the house to another before appearing in the kitchen and setting down before his plate, already knowing which was his.

"Morning, Quatre asleep?"

Duo and Wufei glanced up when a thud came from upstairs. Trowa sipped on his coffee.

"Not anymore."

Duo started eating as Wufei just stared at Trowa. A few minutes later a ruffle-haired Quatre entered wearing pajama bottoms and one of Trowa's shirts. He seemed slightly out of it as he sat down at the table beside Trowa. Trowa lifted Quatre's plate from one side to the other so Quatre could eat. He then slid Quatre a cup of hot tea.

"'Morning." Trowa said.

Quatre sipped the tea and nodded, "Thanks for the pillow."

Wufei and Duo gave Quatre confused looks before deciding not to question. Some mornings Quatre just wasn't in the same world they were in. They all finished breakfast and left the dishes for Duo to do. Duo did them quickly as he could and still be efficient before had sprung into the living room to sit with Quatre so they could watch the morning cartoons as they did every morning.

"Did I make it in time for 'Fushigi Yuugi'?" Duo asked.

"Of course," Quatre smiled, much more awake.

Quatre picked up his remote and hit several buttons as he summoned the program. He had gathered a collection of animated programs from centuries back and had programmed them into his entertainment system. Quatre found new stuff all the time and when Duo moved in two months prior, he became addicted to them as well.

"What happened last episode?" Duo asked.

"Tasuki kidnapped Miaka right before Eiken could get her. Remember Hotohori and Nuriko busting in?"

"Oh yeah! I wonder if the Kouji guy will have a bigger role! I really liked him," Duo said his eyes glued to the screen.

"Why? He didn't help Miaka earlier when he should have!" Quatre asked.

"Ah, he was just following orders!" Duo responded.

Before they could continue, Wufei walked into the room and took the remote.

"Hey!" Duo shouted, "What are you doing?!"

"Starting your show so you'll be quiet! I can't concentrate with you guys arguing," Wufei said hitting the start button.

The opening theme of Fushigi Yuugi started and Quatre and Duo were in a trance. Wufei rolled his eyes as he left to return to his meditation when he heard the front door open. Wufei glanced back to see that Quatre and Duo were both oblivious before heading toward the door.

"Good thing Oz never heard of Fushigi Yuugi or we would have lost," Wufei mumbled as he caught sight of Heero heading up the stairs with a large book in his hand. Wufei pondered whether or not to follow and came to the conclusion now was a better time than later to ask his questions.

"Heero," Wufei called as he reached the top of the stairs. Heero stopped outside his room and glanced over at him.

Heero tossed the book upon his bed and called over his shoulder, "If you're asking for Duo, he's all yours."

Wufei contained his mild anger at how Heero so offhandedly tossed Duo aside so he could seem unbiased. "What's the matter with the two of you?"

Heero just looked at Wufei, clearly not having an answer. Wufei rolled his eyes and planted himself on the bed. He picked up the book and read the cover.

"The Lord of the Rings?" Wufei read aloud, "What's this?"

"It's an English book printed back in the A.D. period. It's some kind of fantasy adventure."

"What are you doing with it?"

"I needed something to take my mind off the situation," Heero said, sitting beside Wufei, "That's a long read."

"I can tell," Wufei said thumbing through the omnibus, "three-in-one?"

"Yep, I figure by the time I finish it off, Duo would have calmed down and would have decided what he wanted."

"What do you mean, 'what he wanted'?" Wufei asked, confused.

"Whether to be with me or you, of course," Heero said, wondering why Wufei didn't see it.

Wufei nearly dropped the book on the floor, "What on Earth are you going on about?"

"Oh come on," Heero said, taking the book back, "Duo has had the 'hots' for you for a while. He was gonna cheat on me soon."

"So you cheated first," Wufei stated.

"Yeah, something like that. Duo's confused and he needs a reason to turn on me," Heero explained, "Me being with Trowa was enough to end us."

"And you think I'll pick up the bait and Duo."

"Exactly, then Duo will have you like he wants, realize whether or not it's really what he wanted, and pick which of us he'd rather be with," Heero finished.

"You thought this out," Wufei said, "Does Trowa know?"

"No," Heero said, "I didn't consider that. I didn't really decide on who to cheat on him with. I originally thought I could seduce Quatre easily enough by playing on his 'maternal' instincts, but Trowa happened into my lap. We had a mission together that just went all wrong. We got stuck with one bed and it went from there."

Wufei nodded, "So why are you explaining this to me?"

"I don't know," Heero said, "I guess I needed to confess."

"You've talked more to me since I've walked into this room then our time during the war," Wufei noticed, "Why didn't you confess to Quatre? He's more understanding."

"But you came looking for answers," Heero said, "Quatre is content knowing he still has Trowa."

Wufei nodded and let Heero be. Heero sat on his bed gazing at the book in his hands. Wufei had a deadline. If Wufei could convince Duo that he was the better choice by the time this book was finished, Heero would back away. If not, he was going to try harder than before to make Duo his again.