Wufei POV
My first days at Haven were... not as I expected. It was not on my agenda to be insulted by one of Treize's closest friends the minute I got there, nor had I planned to return the favor. I was relieved when Treize was not angry at me for the outburst, but also a bit angry that he didn't defend me.
Though, from what I soon learned from the staff about this Duo, I wasn't so sure that his words were spiteful in nature. From what the doting, but somewhat terrified staff told me of him he was merely a harmless prankster that liked to tease and play practical jokes but rarely lost his temper.
I, it seemed, was one of the few people to truly make him angry.
A part of me, the part that desperately wanted friendship and acceptance in this new, foreign place, wanted to apologize for my behavior and possible misconception. Again it was my pride that thwarted me, convincing me that I had done no wrong and that the last member of the Chang clan could not possibly stoop to apologizing to a cur like him. I didn't need his friendship, I would be fine with Treize at my side.
Unfortunately, Treize was not at my side nearly as much as I would have liked. Unlike at the imperial palace, where he was practically on holiday, Treize worked long and hard at Haven and had to leave me for the most part of the day. It was alright the first two days, but after I had explored everywhere and met many of the people in Haven I began to long for a companion. Not to say that Treize neglected me, the quite mornings and evenings we spent together were what kept me from madness, but I had much more free time than he did and not much to do with it. I was lonely and bored.
On the second day of my stay in Haven I began to do my katanas in the underground garden before lunch. Even while I worked at the imperial library I had kept up with my training, feeling invigorated every time I pushed my body to the limit. Plus, the magic cast by Treize's sorcerer invigorated me also and I had more energy that needed burned than usual.
It was on the fourth day of my stay at Haven that I met up with Duo again. His partner, Heero, was strangely absent that day. I had seen Heero on several occasions and, though I could not imagine how he put up with a menace like Duo, he seemed extremely more tolerable than his braided counterpart. I had abstained from speaking with him, though, afraid he would harbor a grudge against me because of my quarrel with Duo. I also saw Duo most places Heero was, being a general nuisance of some kind or another. It boggled my mind why the staff didn't refuse to work for him, or why he was so close to Treize. Even more confusing was, though the staff was always on the lookout for his annoying pranks, they talked about him with a strange affection that one would have for a close friend or distant family member. Regardless of the nuisance he made of himself, they seemed to favor him.
I'm ashamed to say it made me jealous and angry. I was working hard to win their respect and acceptance, while the baka seemed to have gained it without trying at all.
I didn't hear him approach. To this day I'm not sure if was because I was so involved in letting go of my problems through my katanas or if he was just being quiet so that I didn't hear him. Duo can be surprisingly quite when he wants to be, something I learned much later.
"Hey," he called, startling me so much that I dropped my sword and turned to defend myself.
"What do you want?" I growled, angered at myself more than him.
"I just wanted to say that you looked pretty good with that sword. Jeeze."
"And what would you know of Chinese fighting?" I asked before I could rein in my tongue. I instantly regretted my words, I didn't want to make our feud any worse than it already was but my tongue just couldn't seem to stay in check. Luckily for me, he didn't take insult as I thought he would.
"Nothing, but I know fighting in general. I'm a bit of an expert in street fighting."
"You mean randomly trying to hit your enemy, managing to do so only by luck or stupidity?" I asked. Duo smirked at me.
"Would you like to find out?" he challenged and I moved into a fighting stance without even thinking. I had never been one to turn down a challenge.
Though Duo went with my prediction and did not get into any known fighting stance, he didn't tense up as I had thought he would. Instead, he kept loose, his arms at his sides, watching and waiting for me to make the first move. For a moment we stood, each weighing and measuring the other. Then I, impatient to end the fight, charged him. My sword lay forgotten on the ground, so I aimed a punch at his stomach. He surprised me by being much faster than I had expected, dodging to the right as my momentum carried me past. Once my back was to him he kicked at my ribs, but I managed to turn enough to grab his foot and throw him onto the ground. He landed hard as I turned back to him but used the force of my push to roll onto his stomach and jump back to his feet. This time he wasted no time attacking me, crouching down to bring a kick around to try to knock me off my feet. I easily evaded this blow by jumping and kicked him in the chest while I was at it, knocking him over. Unfortunately for me he managed to bring his hands up to catch my foot, pulling me to fall with him. We landed in a tangle of limbs and were at a stalemate while we untangled ourselves.
I had never fought so crudely before. A disgraceful displace such as pulling your opponent to land on you would never have been allowed in the rigid society of Chinese fighting, but I had to admit that it was effective. Duo didn't have the military precision I had come to respect int Treize, but he was a skilled fighter none the less. His moves, though crude, were agile and well planned. He had lasted much longer than most of my opponents.
But I would not let him win. Up until that time I had just been testing him, not yet serious about the fight. Now, I wanted to end it. Using the speed the my slight build lent me, I ran toward Duo, dodged around the fist that tried to stop me, and used one of the easier techniques I knew to punch him in the side of the head. I was again surprised by Duo's agility, as he turned his head and managed to somewhat cradle my blow. The force of it knocked him down, but it didn't knock him out like I had intended. He rose easily, a grin on his face.
I was so startled I didn't see his muscles bunch just before he attacked. I was too late with my block and he punched me in the gut, sending me flying through the air and knocking the wind out of me. I lay on my stomach and tried to get air back into my lungs as Duo came up behind me and pressed a foot to the back of my neck, showing me that, had he wanted, he could have snapped my neck and killed me. Then, as quickly as he done it, he backed away and allowed me to roll over and catch my breath.
The duel was over. Again I had lost.
I sat up and coughed, getting breath back into my lungs and feeling the soreness over my body. I hadn't had a workout like that in a long time, it felt good, though it was disappointing to have lost. I was not worthy of the name Chang. I was weak.
I stared at the hand that had been placed in front of me, startled and confused. It was only when I looked up at Duo's smiling face, not the smug grin he had worn earlier but a real smile, that I realized he was offering to help me up. Even my pride could not override my manners which told me that it would be insulting not accept the help of a worthy opponent. I took Duo's thin but strong hand and he pulled me to my feet.
"You fought well," I told him, my eyes on the ground.
"Eh, you weren't so bad yourself. I'm gonna have a nice shiner here tomorrow," he paused and I saw his smile fade. He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said when you got here. I wasn't trying to be mean or anything, you know? I was just teasing, I do it with everyone, I just figured you wouldn't mind. I won't do it again, okay?" he asked.
I was shocked. I hadn't expected him to apologize. Then again, I hadn't expected a lot of things about Duo. Looking back, I could barely remember what Duo had said that had gotten me so mad. Just a vague notion of being called a stray and an insinuation of using my body to pay Treize for passage. The first one wasn't really that insulting and the second I had really provoked. I began to feel guilty about my own harsh words.
"I... was wrong too. I shouldn't have gotten so mad about something so little and I shouldn't have said those things. Though I still think your second insult was a bit harsh."
Duo laughed, turning to me with that damnable smile back on his face. I was beginning to se why everyone loved him so much.
"Yeah, I guess I was a little more stung by your comment than I should have been. It... hit kinda close to home."
"I don't understand."
"Well I used to be a thief and a streetrat. I guess I just don't like people talking about thieves and street kids like they're some kind of plague. You don't have any idea what ti's like out there," he told me, his smile gone again and his eyes far away. I was tempted to be angry again, that he had insinuated my life had been easy, but I decided against it.
"I understand a bit. I'm an orphan now too, you know."
"Yeah," he said, the smile coming back like someone hd hit a switch, "but you're lucky. My parent kick the bucket and I'm out on the street. Yours die and you go home with one of the most powerful men in the world. Not to mention gorgeous! Have you seen his butt yet? Man, does he have a tight ass!"
"You... were intimate with Treize?" I asked, appalled to think that I was simply here to replace his lover in bed. Duo simply laughed harder.
"Me and Treize? No way! Ya see, we actually managed to get him drunk this one time in a bar near the big river, I don't remember it's name, and we convinced him to go skinny dipping in the middle of winter. He took off all his clothes, marched through the middle of the town, and dove right into the river! Millardo and I had to fish him out and take him back to the hotel. It took him a week to unshrivel his..."
"Duo!" Treize called, making the braided boy jump, "What kind of stories are you poisoning my dragon's head with? Don't you have anything better to do?"
"No, not really. Besides, I was just getting to the good part."
"Ugh, you are incorrigible. And Heero is letting you tell these stories? Where is he anyway?"
"Oh, he signed up for an archery thing. He's really good with a bow, but he wouldn't let me play with the bow anymore when I shot an arrow through an apple."
"That doesn't sound so bad," I interjected.
"You're right," Treize said, "It doesn't. So what's the rest of the story, Duo?"
"Nothing."
"Duo."
"I don't see what the problem is. I mean, I didn't hit Une or anything."
"So she was carrying the apple?"
"Actually, she was eating it. You should have seen her face."
Treize rolled his eyes, but I cracked a smile. I had met Une a few days ago and I would have loved to have seen her face when Duo shot the arrow through her apple.
"I'm guessing you really weren't all that interested in archery then?"
"Nah. Besides, I figured Heero needed some time alone. I mean, he won't go down to the docks and play around with Howard and they guys anymore with me, so he should have something for himself too."
"Howard? That salvage man? I thought he ran a ship across the tundra."
"He did, but he's gettin' older, though he won't ever admit it. He's settled down a bit and now runs the salvage business out of his house."
"So you go down and entertain him by, what? Going to bars?"
"Yep, that's about it. I figure I could go to the bar with Howard and his apprentice, Hilde, while Heero goes to archery practice. He won't go to the bars with me since Hilde threw up on his shoes. I'll tell ya, that girl can't hold her liquor, but she can sure drink it! Just the other night she..."
"I'm sure this is a great story Duo, but Wufei and I have to go. We're late."
" Oh sure, always interrupting me when I get to the good parts. I'll bet you just want to get him back to the room while he's tired so you can..."
"Goodbye Duo."
"See ya, ya big pervert."
I was smirking as Treize led me away. I had to admit, Duo was not at all what I had thought he would be. He wasn't the refined sort of person I was used to, but that was even better in it's own way. While sophisticated people were nice to listen to they were often boring. While Duo's language wasn't pretty it had it's own flow and charm that I found intriguing.
"Where are we going?" I asked Treize as we headed down the halls toward a part of the castle I was not familiar with.
"You're going to have a tutor," Treize replied, shepherding me toward a flight of stairs. I immediately grew excited as we traveled up the stairs, my hunger for knowledge surfacing. I had hoped I would be able to learn more about Haven and Russia, but I hadn't wanted to bother Treize.
It seemed as though the steps went on forever, taking us higher and higher. At one point I wondered if we were above ground, but realized we could not be. Not even magic could hide things above the tree-line in Haven, a tower would certainly be suspicious.
When we finally came to the top of the stairs we were faced with a heavy, wooden door. Inside the door was a room stacked with books and odd herbs, jars and glass containers filled with an odd assortment of things.
A tall, bald Chinese man came out from behind the stacks of books. He wasn't as old as I had imagined, but almost everything else was as I had pictured. He was a bit taller than I had thought, but other than that he was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Wufei, this is your teacher, Master O. Master O, your new pupil, Chang Wufei."
Master O and I both bowed in customary Chinese greeting and I could see a pleased smile on his face as he appraised me.
"Well Wufei, I hope you are an apt student. I will not stand for laziness. In my class you will learn history, language, mathematics, chemistry, medicine, foreign affairs..."
I was so pleased with the list of new things I would learn I almost missed the one that surprised and appalled me.
"...and sorcery."
I froze. Sorcery? I couldn't learn sorcery! Sorcery was the source of all my problems, it was the thing responsible for the death of my entire family. I looked to Treize for reassurance, but he wasn't even looking at me. He was acting like nothing was wrong.
"Well," Master O said, shuffling back to his books, "It's too late to start now. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning, Wufei."
I was so shocked, I barely remember being pushed toward the door and out to the stairs. I didn't really get over the shock until we had reached the bottom of the steps.
"Treize," I hissed, "I can't take sorcery!" I told him. Treize stopped and turned to me.
"Why not?" Treize asked, a confused look on his face. I couldn't believe the man didn't know what I didn't want to learn more sorcery.
"It killed my entire family! It has been the cause of nothing but suffering for me my entire life! I want to forget it exists, not gain more of it!"
"Wufei, you need to learn to control it." Treize was fighting me about this? Why? Why did he want me to learn sorcery so badly? Why couldn't he just leave well enough alone?
"I don't want to control it! I want it gone!"
"I can't cure sorcery for you, it's impossible. You'll just have to learn to live with it and use it to help others."
And then it hit me. Treize only wanted me here so that he could use my sorcery to defeat his enemies! How stupid I had been, to think that he would want me, an orphan with nothing to offer.
My pride wounded, I gave Treize a withering look and fled. He shouted for me as I went, confusion and worry coming over our link, but I ignored it.
It hurt. It hurt so bad to think that, finally, I was loved and needed. That I had finally found a place where I could belong. Even at my home I hadn't been truly accepted because I had always had to hide my magic and my preferences. I thought Treize had accepted me, but he only wanted to use me for his own benefit. How stupid I had been!
I wasn't consciously aware of where I was going, but some part of me led me back to the underground garden and I ended up sitting by one of the streams watching the little fish swim by. The sound of flowing water comforted me and made me feel more at peace, but it was unable to stifle the fear in my heart. I wondered what I would do now, in this strange land with no place to go back to. Hugging my knees, I was ashamed to feel tears tracking down my face. I wiped them away harshly, but more followed and I couldn't seem to get them to stop. A quiet sob stole from my throat and I was powerless to stop it. I bit my lip, hoping to muffle my cries, and curled into a ball on my side. It was all too strange, too... good. I didn't fit in, I would again be shunned and cast aside. I couldn't take it.
I didn't notice that someone had found me until they touched me on the shoulder. I jumped and turned quickly to find Duo looking at me, concern in his eyes. I turned my head, trying to hide my tears and my shame, but Duo would have none of it.
"Hey, come on. There's nothing to be ashamed of. What's the matter?"
"It's nothing," I denied.
"Didn't think you'd be cryin' in the weeds for nothing," Duo said, a half-smirk on his face as he pulled me to look at him. "What's wrong?"
"You wouldn't understand," I told him, hoping he'd give up and leave. I had no such luck.
"Of course not, you're the only one who's ever bawled his eyes out." Duo moved closer and put a hand on my shoulder. "Give up already, I'm not going away," he told me, and pulled my protesting body into his embrace. I tensed immediately. The only person who had even held me like this was Treize, and I was in love with him. Was Duo...? But I thought Heero and he were...
"Chill," Duo told me as I continued to stay tense, "This is called a friendly hug. I know you're not willing to give up Treize and, though you're cute, you're no Heero for me. Relax, we aren't doing anything wrong."
I slowly relaxed after that and finally managed to put my hands around Duo in a feeble attempt to return the favor. He had gotten to the crux of the problem with his last sentence. Though I desperately wanted to accept the comfort he was offering, I was afraid I would betray Treize by doing so. I wondered briefly how Duo could understand what I was thinking so well.
We sat there in silence for a few minutes. I had some vague notion that Duo was waiting for me to quiet my tears before questioning me again. I was both trying to get my emotions under control and trying to figure a way of escaping without revealing my problems to Duo.
I was afraid Duo would think I was being ungrateful and he would take me back to Treize. After all, if the positions had been reversed I would have thought I was being ungrateful and whiney. After all Treize had done for me, I wanted to deny him the one thing he asked of me. Guilt stabbed me, but I still could not bring myself to go apologize to Treize. Not after the disappointment of knowing I was being used.
I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn't hear the approach of another person until the bushes parted to reveal Heero. Duo found me because I was making noise, but I wondered how Heero had found us. I wasn't making nearly as much noise as I had been.
Heero looked surprised at seeing the two of us sitting like that and I wondered if he would be angry at Duo. Another stab of guilt hit me, I was just making trouble for everyone.
Heero surprised me, though, by simply sitting down beside where I was sitting, half thrown over Duo's lap.
"Jealous?" Duo asked Heero over the top of my head. Heero merely grunted in reply. "Don't be, you're the only one I'd ever lick strange fluids off of odd body parts for."
Heero put a placating hand up at the horrified look on my face.
"Ice-cream, on my nose, at lunch," he told me. I looked up at Duo to confirm this and found a grin on his face.
"What did you think I was talking about, Wuffie?" he asked. I gave him a sour look but didn't reply. Duo laughed and I could hear Heero chuckle.
"So," Heero asked once they had finished laughing, "What is all this about?"
"I was just about to ask that same question myself," Duo declared looking expectantly at me.
I was surrounded. With Heero to my left, Duo to my right and the lake in front of me there was really no where I could go.
"Come on," Duo cajoled, "We're going to find out sooner or later anyway."
"I... I don't want to talk about it," I told them, hoping again they would just go away.
"Too bad," Heero told me. I sighed and supposed that they really weren't going to give me any other option.
"I think Treize only brought me here so he could use my skills as a... so he could use me," I said, trying to cover my slip.
"As a what?" Duo asked me, having noticed the slip in my speech.
"As a sorcerer," I told him, bracing myself for the appalled looks and harsh rejection. It never came. Neither of them seemed even fazed by my revelation.
"Why would you think he's using you?" Duo asked again. I wasn't surprised that Heero stayed silent, actually I was glad I only had to deal with one of them grilling me.
"He wants me to learn sorcery."
"Oh! The audacity!" Duo said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at me, "Is that all?"
"I don't want to learn sorcery! I hate sorcery! And he's going to make me learn it because that's the only reason he brought me here!" I shouted, surprising even myself with my vehemence. Duo nearly jumped with surprised and didn't make a grab for me as I rose to flee. Heero, however, was in no such state and grabbed my wrist before I could get out of reach, dragging me into his lap.
"Is that what you really think?" Heero asked quietly, "Do you really think Treize would do that to someone?"
I thought about it for a minute. Did I really believe Treize would use someone for his own purposes and nothing else? No, I didn't. Knowing Treize as well as I did I knew he was an honorable man and he wouldn't use anyone or force them to do anything they really didn't want to. However, my mind needed a reason, some dark, horrible reason that all these good things were happening to me so suddenly. I just couldn't get what I knew was true about Treize an what my logic was telling me to come together.
"No," I said quietly, "I don't think Treize would do that to anyone, but..."
"But you need a reason for being here, eh?" Duo said, having gotten over his shock and once again giving me a friendly hug. "I know how that is. When I first came to live here, I spent my first three months sneaking around and spying on people, completely paranoid that someone was planning to use me for evil or something. It took Quatre and Treize almost a year and about a week of nights spent bawling my eyes out to really convince me that I was wanted here."
"Even Duo and I have had some fights while I was trying to adjust," Heero told me, "One particular one that almost ended our relationship while we were still in Wing and several minor squabbles here because I was afraid I wouldn't be good enough. And because Duo's such a mother hen," Heero added.
"Hey!" Duo protested, "It's not my fault you have such a high pain tolerance. I bet you'd set your own leg if I allowed you."
"Heero," I called, the frightened edge to my voice attracting both their attentions, "Do you think I've ruined my relationship with Treize? Do you think he'll hate me?"
They both had the audacity to laugh.
"The way Treize has been tearing up the palace trying to find you? The only way you'll lose you're relationship with him is if he dies of a heart attack before he can find you," Heero told me.
"Then... I suppose I should get back to him," I said, pulling away from the two and feeling better than I had in a long time. I was about to leave when Duo grabbed my sleeve.
"Hey, I wanted to tell you one more thing," he said, his face taking a serious note, "Treize isn't going to back down about this sorcery thing. Not," he added quickly, "because he needs you to be his sorcerer or anything, but because it's dangerous for you to go untrained. Sorcery that's bottled up has a tendency to explode and kill both the wielder and the people around him. It's better to use your magic for little things so that so much doesn't get backed up. And think about becoming Treize's sorcerer. You may not know it, but Treize has scouts all over the place looking for a suitable sorcerer. Without magic Haven wouldn't be here and if Master O dies everyone in Haven will be killed. I'm not at liberty to tell you why, but magic is what keeps Haven going. We need someone to replace Master O and you're just really convenient. I won't tell you to do something you don't want to, but think about it. It would help us out a lot."
"I... will think about it," I told him and walked away from my two new friends. I needed to find, and apologize to, Treize. I also had to really consider whether or not I wanted to be Treize's sorcerer. I didn't like my magic, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I could put it to good use.
As I walked out the door I heard Heero whisper huskily to Duo, "Now what were you saying about licking odd body parts?" before I fled into the hall and pulled the door shut behind me. I could only hope the two of them were quiet until I was out of hearing range.