Wufei POV

I know I must have missed something, because the next time I awoke I was completely naked and being put into a bathtub full of cool water by Treize and a man I had never seen before.

"What the hell? Kisama! Let me go you bastards!" I ranted as the two held me in the tub.

"Of course he would wake up now," the strange man drawled unhappily.

"Wufei! Calm down, no one is going to hurt you!" Treize barked and I stopped fighting against the two. "You can go now, Orin. Tell the cook to send some broth up with one of the crew and then get some sleep. I think I'll be able to handle him by myself from here on out."

The man, Orin, let go of me and backed away with a frown on his face.

"You call me if he starts wigging out again," Orin said seriously as he left the room. I relaxed against the tub as soon as the door had shut behind him, my mind overfilled with questions.

"What the hell is going on, Treize?" I asked harshly. Treize set to work cooling me with a washcloth before answering with a question of his own.

"How much do you remember?"

"I remember that boy taking me to the carriage, then you arriving. Before that it's a little fuzzy, and after that there's nothing."

Treize sighed as he continued to rub the cool water up and down my arms.

"The rain held our carriage up yesterday, so we were late getting to my ship. Stupid means of transportation, I should have just flown us to the ship in the first place, but I couldn't fly in the rain with you in that thin blanket, so we had to wait. Your medicine was in one of the carriages that didn't get stuck in the mud and you missed a dose. After that your fever skyrocketed. This is your fourth bath today. You began having nightmares and fought against me, I had to call Orin to help hold you down and get you to take your medicine. You haven't been able to keep anything other than that down and your voice was becoming sore from screaming. They must have been horrible nightmares. Do you want to talk about them?" he asked. I wracked my brain, but couldn't come up with more than a handful of images I had seen in my sleep, all of them gruesome but seemingly unconnected to a dream.

"I really don't remember having any nightmares," I told him. Treize nodded and seemed to understand.

"I'm not surprised, your fever was extremely high and that medicine you were given is a rather potent brew. Come on," he said, lifting me from the tub, "let's get you dried and into bed."

"What time is it?" I asked as Treize helped me into bed.

"Nearly three in the morning," he replied, tucking me in and giving me another spoonful of that loathsome medicine. "Once your fever breaks you'll only have to take it once a day," Treize soothed, smiling as I made a face, "Now get some sleep, dragon, it's late."

"Why d'you call me that?" I asked, the medicine already starting to kick in.

"What? Dragon? Oh, I don't know, it just seemed to fit."

"M' grandfather called me that. He said there was a dragon sleeping under our castle and I was one of its descendants... but he's dead now..."

"Wufei, what do you mean, a dragon under your castle? Wufei?" Treize asked, but I was already too far gone to answer. In another second, I was asleep.

The next time I awoke, Treize was gone and that man, Orin, was sitting next to my bed.

"So, you're awake," he said with a smile, "You had us worried there for a while, you've slept all day with your fever going up and down. We thought you weren't going to wake up. Treize just about had a heart attack. So how are you feeling?"

"Fine," I replied without really thinking about it. Orin gave a bark of harsh laughter.

"Well, you look like shit. Speaking of shit, it's about time you took your medicine," he said, getting up and retrieving the bottle. Though I didn't like his analogy, I couldn't help but see the similarities between that horrible concoction and shit. As I took it, I actually wondered if eating shit wouldn't taste better.

"So," he said after the medicine was in me, "how did someone like you end up with Treize?" he asked, seemingly unconcerned with the rudeness of prying into other people's affairs. Eventually, I forced myself to answer him.

"I was given to lord Treize by the emperor. I am his slave and Treize is my master," I told him gravely. Orin laughed hard and I looked at him in astonishment.

"Well," he said after his laughter had calmed a bit, "Aren't you a lucky devil?"

"And just what is so lucky about being someone's slave?" I ground out.

"What? Can't you see it? Not only is Treize a king and a great person, he's head over heels for you!"

"What?" I asked him. I didn't understand. Sure Treize showed me some affection, but most of it came out of pity, not love.

"Man, you really didn't see it! What, do you think he'd sit by your bed this whole time because there's no one else to do it? We nearly had to beat him to death to get him out of the room to eat something, and I bet he'll be back any..."

The door opened.

"...second. Well, it's good to see you back without the growling belly sir, though I doubt any of the crew members have ever seen you eat so fast."

"The members of this crew, though talented as they are, are not worried about manners in the least. You yourself are the spitting image of rudeness, harassing this poor boy while he is sick and unable to call for help."

"Sir, I do believe I am insulted that you would think such a thing. The boy and I were just sitting here discussing your love life when..."

"What!"

Orin started laughing and, I must say, I was unable to squelch a few laughs myself. I had seen the playful side of Treize several times before, but never so strongly or easily had he shown it. It was nice to see him being so relaxed and playful.

But, in the back of my mind, I was still worrying the thought that Treize was attracted to me. I had never thought of him that way before, at least, not passed thinking that at least the man that was to use me for sex wasn't fat and ugly.

I had never really known love before, not real love anyway. Even the love I had for my wife was platonic, not in any sexual way. So, I wasn't really sure whether I was falling for Treize, or if his falling for me was something to be concerned about. He had shown himself to be an honorable man and he had already promised not to take me, at least without my consent. All I really knew was that I could envision staying with Treize, talking with him like we had and sparring with him more. When I tried to envision myself without him... there was only emptiness. Loneliness. I didn't want to be alone.

Treize fed me some broth, took my temperature, and told me to sleep. I rested, but couldn't quite get to sleep until Treize, grudgingly, joined me to take his own nap a few minutes later. I could tell that he wasn't in the least bit tired, since it was still pretty early in the evening, but I was a little anxious about being in such a weak condition in such a new place and I wanted the safety that his arms made me feel. I instantly curled up in his arms and let my fever and the medicine take me away into what I hope would be a fitful sleep. What I hoped and what was were two very different things.

That night I had one of the most vivid and horrifying dreams I've ever had. It started out with the attack of my castle and the deaths of my family, a dream that I have lived through hundreds of times, but it continued passed where it had stopped before. It showed the ghosts of my family walking the Earth forever. Merian showed up, the gaping hole still in her stomach where they had sliced through her armor, and screamed at me to avenge them, calling me a coward and a traitor. I tried to tell her that I was doing everything I could and I would avenge her, but she just kept screaming and crying. Then she faded away and a tall man walked passed me into our castle. He was covered in shadows and I could not see him well, but there was no mistaking the aura of evil about him. He walked down into the dungeon and through a secret wall into what looked to be an ancient shrine. I rushed to get inside and see what he was doing, but in the next instant, the door shut and I was locked out. In the next minute, that castle began to shake and the floor cracked and broke open, allowing a huge dragon to rear its head. In my dream, the dragon flew out of the earth and burned every living thing on the planet.

I woke up screaming.

"Wufei! Wufei, it was just a dream! Just a dream, it's alright. You were having a nightmare," Treize soothed, pulling me into his arms. "You're fever spiked for a bit there, but it's finally broken. You had only been in fever-less sleep a few hours when this nightmare started, but I didn't want to wake you from the only real rest you've had in two days. Are you alright? Do you want to talk about it?"

And I couldn't seem to stop myself. I poured out the whole, horrible nightmare in all it's gory detail. Treize listened intently, never uttering a word until I was finished speaking. Still, even though he didn't say anything, talking about the nightmare and being wrapped in his arms helped me to stop shivering and calmed me. It was like I was relieving just a little bit of the tension that threatened to tear me apart.

"Wufei," Treize asked after we had sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments, "Was there really a legend about a dragon sleeping under your castle?"

"Mm-hm. My grandfather often told me that it had been sealed under the castle by an evil sorcerer and my family was chosen to protect it until it awakened. I looked for it often as a child, but only ever saw wild dragons."

"There were wild dragons near your home?"

"Oh yes, the wild dragons would often nest in the mountains just above our castle, but they never came close enough to hurt anyone."

"Where did you live? Where was your castle located?"

"Closer to the ocean than we are now. It was up, above Mongolia and bordering with Russia. It's northeast of the imperial palace, but I'm not sure where it is from here."

"And you said it bordered with Russia?"

"Yes, why? What are you thinking?"

"Nothing. I'm not sure yet but..."

"But what?"

"But I think that our enemies are one in the same, and I think that they might have shown themselves too early in the game. You must tell me about how your family was killed today," he paused and smiled kindly at the anxious look on my face, "But not right now. Let's get some breakfast, then we can talk. I think it would be better to get you a bit more comfortable in your surroundings before I bombard you with questions. Come on, shower and get dressed and it should be time for breakfast."

So I got up and washed, feeling much better after my shower, but had to rest once I was dressed. I was amazed at how little strength I had and how much simple things taxed me. Treize had to help me to the galley for breakfast and I had to have a nap after that.

I was a little anxious about talking to Treize about my family, but, oddly, not as worried as I should have been. I had been through so much with Treize, I had told him so much about myself, that I wasn't really worried. Even after the way Treize had used our link to force me to tell him my family had died, he had only forced me to tell him the minimal he needed to know, and he had asked me countless times to tell him what had happened. Though, I must admit, the thing that most made forgive him was the undeniable feelings of regret and sorry I got from him before he forced me to sleep. I know that he didn't want to hurt me, and I was used to "tough love" from my own family, who had been very strict in my upbringing.

So, when Treize woke me and lead me out onto a balcony so we could talk in private, I had no qualms about telling him all that I knew. Treize started out easy, asking me questions of happier times. I answered him, but my answers were short and to the point, I wanted to get to the hard part and get it over with. Eventually, he asked me the question I had been waiting for.

"What happened to your family?"

"Everything happened quickly," I said, the memories surfacing almost of their own will. I had kept them bottled up for too long, they would be reckoned with now. "A strange ship sailed up the river late in the night. We assumed it was a Mongolian fishing boat, but set extra watches just to be safe. It wasn't the right season for sea fishing, and the winter cold would freeze the river if the boat tried to go for trading purposes. I knew something was off about it, I knew, but I thought I was just being suspicious and didn't say anything.

"The next morning... The next morning there was a group of almost a hundred men outside the castle walls. I sneered at them. I had over two hundred warriors, an endless supply of weapons, and a castle that could take a siege of more than three years. There were just under six hundred people behind that castle wall, all of them distantly related to me and ready to defend their home with their lives. I didn't take such a small fighting force seriously.

"My wife knew better. She had always had a mind for battle and, while I was more interested in books, she would read of old battle and talk with the wise men of their younger battles. She knew something was wrong and she tried to tell me not to be so rash, but I wouldn't listen. I wanted to make those men pay for daring to threaten my family and home, so I sent out all of my warriors to fight them.

"I was wounded early in the battle," absently I ran my hand across the scar on my stomach. Treize saw my action and seemed to realize what wound I was talking about, because he nodded in understanding. "I would have continued fighting, but one of my soldiers, against my harsh words otherwise, took me back to the shelter of the castle to be treated. It was only after the soldier had left that I saw the bandana wrapped around my hand and realized the soldier who forced me back had been my wife, whom I had commanded not to fight. She never did listen to me. She was, after all, one of the best fighters we had. I was three years older than her when we were married, so I easily overpowered her by sheer size and skill, but she continued to grow as a warrior until she was any man's rival, even mine.

"Hours passed and some of the warriors returned, exhausted. Other, older and younger warriors went out to replace them, but I knew that we were in a bad position then. There was no reason we should have been defeated, not in a two to one battle. The men that returned reported that several of my warriors had already died, and no matter how many of the enemy they killed they never seemed to make a dent in their numbers. It was like they couldn't be killed.

"It was the same story all through the night. No matter how many died, there never seemed to be any less of them. The replacements of my warriors tired and replacements went out for them. Some trainee warriors, some long retired warriors, and even some of the skilled women warriors went out, but nothing changed. More and more warriors went out and didn't return. Eventually, I was forced to call my warriors to retreat and we closed all entrances into the castle.

"The enemies tried to scale the walls, but I had workers and warriors on top of the walls to pour hot oil on them and kill any who made it to the top. I thought we had beaten them and they would leave. And, for a time, it did seem like we had stopped them. There weren't any less of them, but none of them managed to make it up the wall. They didn't show any signs of giving up, though, they only seemed to get angrier. They seemed to be waiting for something, impatiently waiting. After a while they started throwing the limbs of our dead over the walls, making rudimentary catapults and throwing whole bodies over. I had come up onto the wall to see the damage when they threw Merian's body. Her head landed at my feet, her naked body fell just behind me, a hole the size of my fist through her stomach and crude words cut across her breasts.

"I... They say I went insane. I tried to jump off the wall, which stood twenty feet high, in my rage to get at Merian's killers. Someone told me that I had to be restrained and locked in my room for an hour. I don't remember. All I remember is seeing... seeing that and then waking up in my room. I called for a servant. They told me what had happened... leaving out the part about Merian. I put it out of my mind, buried it farther than my mind would go so that I could go out and do my duty, keep my family safe.

"I went back to the wall. I forced myself to, I had to see what was happening on the battle field so I could lead my people. When I got there, a strange man had entered the field. He wore a dark cape so that no one could see him, but it was easy to tell from the way he walked that he was the leader. He walked up to the wall and put his hand on it and stood perfectly still for a moment. His troops gathered around him in a semi-circle, waiting their commands. A minute later, he walked away form the wall, pointing at the spot he had stood while talking to one of his troops. About twenty troops lined up at the spot he had pointed to and pushed.

"I couldn't believe my eyes. They pushed the wall down. Twenty feet high and six feet thick, and they pushed a chunk of it to the ground with their bare hands.

"After that it was pandemonium. The enemy was inside the castle, killing everyone they saw. They left no chance for surrender. They even blocked the exits, leaving no chance for escape. Some of my relative managed to overpower me and hid me, on of my cousins had them take me to a secret tunnel that led miles away from our castle. He gave me the key to the massive door that blocked the tunnel entrance and made me promise go get help.

"I should have died. I should have fought beside my brethren and been killed honorably in battle, instead of running like a coward. But I did run. I ran for a day before I could managed to get a horse. After that I don't know how many days I rode before I reached the closest castle for help. The master of the castle had been a friend of my family and immediately sent men to help my family. I wanted to go, but my wound was infected and the lord of the castle insisted I stay and rest. When the men returned, they were grim. There was no one left alive at the castle and the enemy warriors were long gone.

"From there I was sent to the emperor to seek his help in exacting revenge for my family, but there was no way to tell who the warriors that attacked us were. I was put into service in the imperial library while the emperor's advisors tried to find away to help me exact my revenge and et me out of their hair. When I was charged with sorcery, my family's castle and all their belongings returned to the emperor and you know what happened from there.

"I don't... I don't know how I will avenge my family. I don't even know who my enemy is! Damn them! Damn them all to hell!" I raged, smashing my fist against the wall. Silently, Treize came up to me and put a hand on my cheek.

"Wufei," he called quietly, wiping a tear away with his thumb, "Do you even realize you've been crying for some time now? Let go, dragon, let it go. You're enemy will reveal himself, give it time. You aren't alone anymore. I'll help you, but you need to let go of this anger that's eating you alive."

"I can't," I heard myself whisper hoarsely.

And then I broke. My tears streamed down my face as I launched myself into Treize's waiting arms. He pulled me down to sit on the floor as I sobbed hysterically in his lap, holding me and crooning to me like a child. And I let him. I needed him, needed to know there was someone who still cared about more than I needed any damn pride. I needed his love.

And that thought alone brought me to a startling conclusion. Never had I let anyone see me in such a weakened state before, never had I trusted someone so much. Was it possible that I loved him? Could I give my heart to this man?

"Treize," I called, fighting to pause my sobs, "Do... do you love me?" I asked. He froze for a second, then tightened his hold in certainty.

"Yes, dragon, I do," he said. That was all I needed and I buried my head back in his chest, allowing my tears to continue leaking out. "Wufei, do you...?"

"What?"

"Do you return the affection?"

"I... I don't know," I told him honestly, a little afraid of telling him the truth that my heart was already telling me.

"But... maybe?" he asked, his voice on the edge of hope and despair and I belatedly realized that he was asking me if I could ever love him. I realized that if I turned him away, it would hurt him and I didn't want to do that.

"Yeah... maybe," I replied cautiously and saw him smile, "I'm not really sure. Even with my wife, it was never real love. I saw her as a sister. When we failed to produce an heir, some people started spreading rumors that I was more attracted to the boys than the girls, but it wasn't really either. I've always seen the beauty of both sexes, male and female. So, yeah, I think I could love you."

"That's all I need. To know that there's hope," he told me, smiling, I smiled at him for a minute, but then my smile crumbled.

"What am I going to do? How can I avenge my family if I can't even find their killers?"

Treize frowned, but there was a look in his eyes that told me he knew something and he wasn't telling me what.

"Tell me how it was found that you are a sorcerer," Treize asked. I gave him a look.

"Why? What aren't you telling me?"

"It's just the suspicion of an overcautious mind. Now, you tell me about your arrest and I'll tell you my suspicion. After all, I asked first," he said, a playful smile on his face while his eyes remained serious. I made a face, but told him. After all, I had told him everything else.

"It was the strangest thing. I was working in the library of the imperial palace when a man walked in. There was quite a commotion because it was one of the emperor's advisors. I was busy at the time, but I let my curiosity get the best of me and went to have a look at him. I was only there for a second, but the instant Noventa saw me he pointed and shouted, "Sorcerer!" I was shocked and terrified. I simply stood there, too stunned to move, as guards came up behind Noventa and went to arrest me. The librarian came forward to defend me, saying that I was an honorable man and a hard worker. I know that my help saved him from many a sleepless night while working in the library, but I was still grateful he would defend me. They argued for a time, then Noventa pulled out a small bag of red chalk and smeared it across my forehead. I felt something tingle and then it started going read as fire right on my forehead. After that there was nothing anyone could do to defend me and they dragged me off to the dungeon."

A few seconds passed before I heard a sound coming from Treize that I didn't recognize at first. When it came again, I almost couldn't believe it. Treize was laughing!

"What's so damn funny?" I growled at him. He turned to me with a strange glimmer in his eye.

"I do believe we've found our enemy and, more than that, we know what he doesn't."

"I don't understand."

"Your powers aren't even refined enough to start candles, there's no way you could have possible caused that chalk to glow. Only another, more powerful sorcerer could have done it."

It was a second before what he was saying really donned on me. I was shocked.

"Noventa's a sorcerer!" I gasped. Treize nodded in assent.

"That, or he's in league with one. It's more likely that he's the sorcerer, though, because magic is hard to control over distances."

"But... why?"

"Do you know why I'm here Wufei? Why I made this trip?"

"I assumed it was a normal political trip."

"There was a tame dragon found in my country. It was stolen, we think the person who stole it might be trying to use the dragons to take of my country."

"Stole a dragon? But who would do such a thing? And what does that have to do with me?"

"Hang on dragon, I'm getting to that. The dragon was found by a special group of my agents and we believe that our enemy's operative was killed. However, we believe that the man who orchestrated this action is still at large and may be finding other ways of obtaining and using the dragons for war. If your castle is all you say it is, it would be the perfect place to launch an attack on Russia. Further more, with all the dragons around our enemy could possibly use them to his advantage."

"But what does that have to do with Noventa declaring me a sorcerer? My family was already dead, the men could have taken that castle if they wanted it."

"Yes, but that would have been suspicious. Instead, it would have been better to kill your family then send a distress signal or simply wait for someone to see the castle and report the carnage. Someone would have been sent but ultimately, with no one left to claim the castle, it would have been given to the emperor. He, having no use for it, could award it to, oh say, one of his advisors."

"Noventa!"

"Exactly. However, you managed to foil his plan by surviving. The only way to get the castle away from you without revealing himself was to..."

"Declare me a sorcerer! That bastard! I'll kill him!"

"Not yet, Wufei, but soon. Tomorrow we will arrive at Haven and begin to plan our course of action. However, I promise you, Wufei, that you will have your revenge."