God POV

The sun was high over the horizon when Treize and Wufei first unveiled there plans to adopt Chase to their supportive friends. Chase, shy because of his soon-to-be title of prince, sat somberly, awaiting some kind of refusal. A refusal that was far from everyone's mind as they happily congratulated the new fathers and welcomed Chase into the group.

"I'm a bit relieved," commented Une, "this will hopefully support your family-man look now that your sexual preferences have been revealed to the troops."

"How have they taken it? I know my linking with Wufei isn't truly a wedding, but I also know that most of them thought that you and I would eventually... But never mind. I just need to know if they've lost all respect in me."

"Quite the contrary," Sally giggled, "They still see you as a great leader, they just see Une here as a little more... on their level."

"What do you mean?" asked Treize. Une sighed.

"Well, it seems that, now that you've taken Wufei as your partner, word got out of my relationship with Sally." Une sighed in disgust. "Since I have the same sexual preference for women that a majority of my troops have, they now feel as though they can come to me any time they like with their relationship problems and I'll be able to fix them because I am a woman and I like women."

Sally broke out in a fit of laughter. "Duo suggested we should let Une have her own "Love Help Line." We could give her an office and everything, but Une didn't think it was funny..."

"It was not not funny enough to throw me into the pond, Une-chan!" Duo yelled from the other side of the table.

"No," Heero put in, "But you must admit, that was very funny."

"And I believe you left the fish with quite an impression, losing you pants and all," Trowa commented, his quiet humor showing through as he slowly relaxed around his new family. And, of course, his lover beside him helped to make sure everything was going smoothly.

"On a more serious note, Une, have you managed to find whoever it was that leaked the information to those traitors?" Treize asked.

"As a matter of fact, I have," Une said, a slight note of pride in her voice. "Once my soldiers found out what had happened, they quickly investigated and found one of the merchants that frequents here to be the culprit. He's being executed along with the other traitors as we speak."

"I wonder if he actually knew what he was doing, or if it wasn't just an accident..." said Quatre, a bit of sadness in his eyes. Trowa wrapped an arm around him, he knew how much executions bothered his lover.

"Oh, he knew alright. He's was bragging about it in a bar when my soldiers found him. That's how they found him, actually, prideful bastard."

"I'm glad that's settled. In that case, I'd like to schedule a coronation for Chase next month."

"Isn't that a little early?" Relena asked. Though he lover had already left, it spoke volumes of her progress that she felt comfortable enough to give friendly advice without her supportive and protective lover around. "I mean, you have to invite as many royals as you possibly can, lest one of them feels miffed and supports a faction that tries to overthrow Chase. It's a precarious position he'll be in when he takes the crown, the more support he has, the better of he'll be."

"I suppose you're right," Treize sighed, "I'd just like to get this over as soon as possible. Remember, there's still the possibility of war on the horizon."

The table grew quiet, brooding, all thinking of what might happen if a war did begin. Chase had to stop himself from thinking too hard or he knew he'd start crying, thinking he might lose his new family.

"Well," Master O said after a long silence, "I think that's enough brooding for one day. I think I'll go get some rest."

Wufei frowned, thinking it odd that his teacher had begun taking so many naps all of a sudden. Wufei tried to shrug it off, but he was a bit worried. Ever since O had finally taught him the spell that he used to keep the volcanoes under Haven dormant he had been unusually tired.

Concerned, Wufei sent a feeling of worry over his link to Treize. Treize immediately responded with a feeling a reassurance, trying to tell him not to worry, and reenforced it by giving Wufei a small smile.

"Chase," Sally said looking at the clock, "Don't you have a fencing lesson right now?"

"Crap!" Chase said, standing so quickly that his chair fell over, "Dorothy's going to kill me!" Chase said as he rushed out of the room and bolted down the hall like he was on fire. The rest of the table shared a little laugh, but slowly began to disperse.

"I'd better make sure he's alright," commented Relena with a small smile, "Dorothy's a bit too serious about Chase learning to fence. I just hope she doesn't turn him into a pin cushion."

"I'll go with you," said Treize, rising with her, "I've been meaning to watch Chase fence and see how he's doing."

"Id better get going too," Duo said, "Howard's got a box of puppies I've been dying to see. You comin', Heero?"

"If it's all the same to you, I've been meaning to speak with Wufei."

"Alright then, I'll see you later."

"Duo."

"Yes, love?"

"We are not getting a puppy."

"But-but-but..."

"Get a goldfish," Wufei suggested, "If he can take care of that you could think about graduating him to a puppy."

"We had a goldfish," Heero answered.

"That wasn't my fault Heero!" Duo defended. "How was I supposed to know that fish eat until they explode? He looked hungry!"

"You exploded your goldfish?" Wufei asked slowly, trying not to let his mind give him a picture of the scene.

"As I said," Heero told Duo, a stern glint in his eyes, "No puppies."

"...No puppies," Duo conceded reluctantly. "Guess that just means I'll have to spoil them at Howard's See ya!"

Duo headed off and Heero turned to Wufei, who was looking slightly confused but not showing any emotions to discourage Heero.

"Wufei? If' you have some spare time I'd like to speak with you."

"Of course. Why don't we go down to the gardens, it's quiet there."

Heero and Wufei both rose to leave, eventually followed by Quatre, who was scheduled to meet with a baron, now stripped of his title, who had grievances with the king, and Trowa, who was there to act as body guard. Sally and Une both had duties to get back to, but both wanted to enjoy some time together so were the last ones to leave the table.

In the garden, Heero and Wufei stopped at a small pond of koi, one of Wufei's favorite spots. Heero glanced around nervously, he wasn't sure how to ask Wufei his question. Wufei seemed to notice his anxiety and took pity on him.

"Was there something you wanted?" he questioned politely. Heero nodded, then paused.

"I was wondering... When Duo rescued me from Wing, he killed the lord that was in charge of it. He was told... he was told that I was to be a demon, but the lord there wanted me to look like a human, so he did something that would keep me from growing wings or a tail. I was wondering... if you could fix it."

There was silence for a minute as Wufei thought of what Heero had said.

"It depends," he answered slowly, "if whatever was done to you was done by magic or science. Magic I can deal with, but science might be a bit more difficult since I don't know exactly what was done. Do you know which was used?"

"Lord J was known for mixing science and magic, so it could be either, or a combination of both."

"The I suppose I won't know until I see what he did. Take off your shirt and turn around," Wufei instructed. Heero gave him a confused little look, but trusted Wufei enough to obey. There weren't any marks on Heero's back to indicate a spell, but there weren't any scars to indicate science either. Hoping to feel what had been done to Heero, Wufei laid both his hands on Heero's back. Instantly Wufei gasped and pulled back, as though burned. Heero turned around and looked at Wufei with puzzlement and concern.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Whoever put that spell on you was very powerful and very much alive."

"But that's impossible. Duo killed Lord J himself."

"Did it ever occur to the two of you," another voice chimed in, "that Lord J might not have done the spells on Heero?" asked Master O, coming out of the bushes.

"I thought you were taking a nap," said Wufei.

"I was. This is one of my favorite napping spots; it's quiet here, peaceful. When I heard the two of you speaking I thought I'd come over and ask you to keep it down a bit. I'm glad I did. Heero, why did you never mention this malady before?"

"I didn't think about it much. I had never thought of being anything but what I am, so it didn't seem all that important. Still, I want to be able to fly and..."

"And you felt more comfortable asking Wufei for help then me," O finished for him. Heero lowered his eyes, blushing. "I don't blame you, from what Duo's told me you had quiet a bit thrown at you all at once. Still, though my powers may be waning in my old age, I do have a little more experience that Wufei. Let me have a look."

Slowly, realizing that Heero was a little jumpy after having him appear out of nowhere like that, Master O laid his hands on Heero's back.

"Yep, the man that did this was definitely alive and definitely not J. Until we track down the wizard who did this or find the spell that he put on you, you're stuck this way. So, Wufei, it's your new assignment to find which spell this is. Here, get a feel for it, because I don't think Heero's going to want to come to the tower everyday to let you feel his back. So, what' the base element of the spell?"

"Ice."

"Good. And the degree?"

"High."

"What about the secondary element?"

"...Sunlight."

"Wrong. It's fire."

"But that's impossible."

"No, just extremely difficult. Because ice isn't water in its truest form a fire element will mix with it, but it takes an extremely powerful wizard to do it, though the spell will never wear off or break if fire and ice are the main elements. The only way to stop it is to..."

"Kill the caster thus shutting off the energy supply to the spell, allowing it to dissipate."

"Very good."

"But fire and ice are prime elements, so what makes the characteristics of the spell?"

"Because the main elements are both prime, as many sub-elements as needed can be added. This makes the characteristics of the spell."

"Umm... excuse me. If I'm not needed anymore could you both remove your hands from my back so I can leave?"

"Oh, of course. And put your shirt on," Master O called as Heero started to walk away, "before you catch a chill!"

The castle slept that night feeling a little abnormal, still worried about war, but in a detached sort of way. The guards on duty chatted amongst themselves about the relationship between their captain and the doctor, usually happily, but always to relieve the nervous tension building inside them. There were very few that felt odd about the two's relationship, and those that did made sure not to voice their opinions around those that didn't. Either way, all had such a high respect for their commander that her personally life didn't have much affect on their opinion.

Through the rest of the castle, those that slept did it uneasily, and those that could not sleep found themselves fidgeting for no apparent reason. Down in the stables, the horses stomped restlessly. Even the small owl Master O kept caged high in his observatory fidgeted more restlessly than usually.

"It's almost time," said Master O, removing the owl and carrying it to the window, where he let it fly into the night, knowing it would return by morning. "Almost time," he repeated, wishfulness and sadness mixing in his voice. "I wish I had enough time to make just one trip home. I'll write them a letter, though, that will be enough. Still, I wish... Hmm," he sighed, "if wishes were stars they'd be brighter than the sun."

It wasn't long after that when the first troops were seen on the horizon. The shout went up and the commander woke, sitting straight up in bed, startling her lover, who had been sleeping soundly. Sally heard the call and felt her heart drop, as it did every time Une went to war. All Sally could do was to wait for her love to return to her, battered and bruised, in need of help for her body and her heart. All she could do was to wait and hope that her love came back to her at all and to pray that she did not see Une carried in under a blanket.

"Get to the medical wing," Une warned, jumping out of bed, "and don't leave until I come for you!" she said as she rushed out the door, casting one last worried glance at her lover, knowing how much worry the battles caused Sally and worrying a bit for her lover too. Sally had a tendency to be over-zealous about her job. Many a time Une found her on the fringes of the battles, helping wounded that had not been reached by the other medics. It made her stomach clench in fear, to see Sally on a battlefield without even a weapon to protect herself. Une never let on, but she worried just as much for Sally during a battle as her lover did for her.

In the other room, Treize and Wufei both lurched in each other's arms, untangling from each other and sitting up in one fluid motion, both ready to fight. They stood and dressed with a tense grace, both throwing articles of clothing at the other to speed the process along. Both knew well the other's skills, and trusted him not to get hurt. The worry would not fade completely, but the instinctive trust helped. They rushed to get their clothing on, knowing that precious moments would have to be spared getting Chase to a safe place. That would be Wufei's job. Though Wufei was a bit miffed about not being able to join in the real battle, he realized that he was most needed in the tower, which also happened to be one of the safest places in the palace due to Master O's magic. Wufei wasn't too upset, though, because it would be his first time using magic in a real battle situation.

In Relena's room, Dorothy woke quickly and pulled away from her sleeping lover. Quietly sliding across the room, she opened the door just a sliver and peered out, looking for immediate danger. When she saw none, she gently shook Relena awake and told her to dress. Unlike the others in that hall, her battle had already started. Until Relena was safe, Dorothy would bypass the battle, only to return when Relena was safe in her position or with a guard of skill.

In Duo's room, Heero sat up immediately upon hearing the shout, coming instantly awake. Duo jumped, groaned, fell out of bed, and became tangled in the sheets. Heero smiled tenderly at his dazed lover before pulling on the sheet and rolling him out of the snare. Now was not the time for fun and games. Duo sat up and gained his bearings.

"Castle's under attack, eh?" he said, his face conveying the seriousness his face did not, "Guess we better get goin'. Hey... I... I don't wanna lose you," he said slowly, as though he had been prepared for this for a very long time. "I know I wouldn't stay out of the battle, so I won't even ask you... but... don't leave me, alright? I don't wanna lose you now that we finally..."

Heero shut him up with a kiss. When the parted, Heero looked directly into Duo's eyes.

"I know the risks of the battle, and I thank you for your trust. I will not let you down. I will not lose you now," Heero said, his message clear to Duo, though it remained unsaid.

What Duo could hear in the message, through Heero's eyes more than his voice, was: "I love you. I trust you. I won't leave you. Don't leave me."

For a moment, the two embraced and held each other in tight grips, as though they would be torn apart by the winds of fate, then they parted and dressed for battle.

In Quatre's room, Trowa was already out of bed and dressing before his blonde lover even fully awoke. Never one for words, Trowa deliberately tossed Quatre's clothes onto the blonde's head, waking him up quickly and forcing him to dress. Trowa donned his outfit, magically enhanced by Wufei so that it would not hinder him if he transformed into a wolf. It was a stunning armor that neither itched or cut into his skin, as it had when he had tried it on with the mercenaries. And the spell Wufei cast made it shift like water when he transformed so that it wold still protect him when he became a wolf.

But his new outfit was far from Trowa's mind at that time. Trowa was worried for Quatre, who always had a hard time when someone was in pain around him. Trowa feared the pain would over take him, even though he knew Quatre was a strong, capable fighter, and his blonde love would make some fatal mistake. The thought of losing Quatre preyed on his heart like nothing ever had before. Quatre was his love, his closest friend, and, since they had upped their links just recently, a part of his soul.

It was hard, sometimes, to be in love with Quatre. Trowa saw how in tune with each other Heero and Duo were and envied them a bit. He hoped that once their links were upped, he and Quatre would be able to communicate the same way. But the links were part of the problem. Quatre had spent so much of his life trying to block himself from the rest of the world, now that he wanted to let someone in he was finding it hard to. Because of the pain he felt every time he lower his barriers, his mind had connected lowering his barriers with pain so much that it was nearly impossible for him to fully lower his barriers.

Trowa knew, by the trickle of feelings that came from Quatre, that it was tearing his love up inside. That he wanted to be one with Trowa, but he couldn't. Trowa knew better that to say anything, knowing it would just hurt his lover more, but he also longed to be one with his soul-mate. As much as he didn't want to wait, he was also that much afraid that Quatre would do something drastic. Trowa would rather never have the links lowered than let Quatre hurt himself trying to do it.

On the other side of the room, Quatre was hastily pulling his clothes on. Quatre wasn't worried about the fighting really, since that wasn't his main duty in the battle. In an earlier discussion with Treize, it had been decided that Quatre would attempt to project a feeling of fear to the opposing soldiers. Trowa would be there to protect him, since he was a skilled warrior and Quatre's mate. Quatre wouldn't have even been allowed on the battlefield had he not needed to be close to the fighters to project his feelings.

Though Quatre knew Trowa's fighting background, and all the additions being a werewolf gave him, and how well Trowa fought, he still couldn't help but be a bit worried. He knew his fear had no real basis, but still couldn't stop himself. The one minute chance that something horrible might happen that would take Trowa away from him forever preyed on his heart. It was difficult for him not to ask Trowa to go somewhere safe and let someone else look after him, but Quatre knew how useless and unconfident that would make Trowa feel. Just because Trowa couldn't read his feelings didn't necessarily mean the opposite wouldn't work, and Quatre felt terrible for that, even before he realize how much Trowa wanted to be in tune with him. He wouldn't be able to look at himself if he did something to make Trowa feel worse. So he stayed silent, and worried in private.

Tensions were high as the castle prepared for battle, every person watching and waiting, praying that their loved ones stayed safe.