But I promise you that my other fics will be really good once I start typing them!
Disclaimer: Do you really think that if I owned Gundam Wing you'd see THAT ß word there? Heck, no!
Legend: "speech", 'though'
Chibi Heero: Yay! A GW fic! It's about me, isn't it!
Kawaii Authoress: Uh... Yeah...sweatdrops
Chibi Quatre
Dorothy strolled towards Quatre's house, her head lowered in dejection. She loved Quatre with all of her heart, but sometimes, she couldn't help but wish he wasn't so serious. For a Gundam pilot, she expected Quatre to be aggressive, like an adrenaline junkie, but as Quatre grew older, he only grew that much more mature and serious.
Then again, she couldn't blame Quatre. Inheriting the Winner fortune and business was an enormous responsibility and not to be taken lightly.
Dorothy scuffed her feet against the ground as she moved, clutching the box of chocolates in her arms. Chocolates she had made especially for Quatre.
"He'll probably be too busy with paperwork to even look at me," she whispered. "For once, I wish I had a NORMAL BOYFRIEND!" She bellowed, drawing the attention of the crowd around her. One icy, infuriated glare from her had them all ignoring her. Save one.
"You know, dearie, I think I have something that might help you," a shaky voice called to her.
Dorothy turned to see an elderly woman standing just a few feet away. Behind the woman seemed to be a store.
"Really?" snapped the blonde, annoyed by the intervention of a stranger. "You don't even know what my problem is!"
"Oh, but I do," the old woman chuckled, her eyes gleaming. "You see, I'm happen to be what you youngsters would call a gypsy. I've foreseen your troubles, girl, so I prepared a potion for you." From her pocket she drew a beaker. Inside was a gleaming, ginger colored liquid.
"Get him to drink this and he will return to the years when he was most aggressive," she explained shortly. Stooping, she rolled it across the ground until it hit Dorothy's shoes with a small clink. "It's odorless and tasteless, and for heaven's sake don't drink it yourself!"
With those parting words, she spun – surprisingly spry for a woman of her age – and slammed the door of the shop behind her.
Dorothy remained still, blinking for several seconds before she looked down at the vial. In the new, brighter light, it appeared to be a tangerine color. 'I can't just leave it here,' she thought and heaved a sigh. 'What if someone else picked it up?'
Sighing once more, she knelt and scooped up the little glass object before hurrying on her way to Quatre's.
Quatre leaned back in his chair and rubbed first his eyes, then his temples. He was getting a headache from all this paperwork.
"Dorothy was right," he muttered. "I need to take more breaks."
"Excuse me, Master Quatre. Dorothy is here and she wants to see you, sir. Should I let her in?"
"Of course, Rishid," he replied as he sat up, eager for the interruption of work in favor of his girlfriend
. The instant Dorothy's lithe form had completely entered his office; the heir of the Winner household stood up and wrapped his arms around her tightly.
"I...take it that... you missed me?" she breathed, laying her on Quatre's shoulder as he inhaled her sweet scent and relaxed.
"Yes. I feel like I haven't seen you for days!"
"That's because you haven't, silly," she replied lightly as he released her. "You're always too busy with your work," she added as Quatre took his seat back to his desk. "Aren't we even going out?"
"Why would we?" he asked, startled. "What's so important about today?"
Dorothy's mouth dropped open in surprise. For several seconds, she stared at him in silence before fury sparked in her eyes. "Tell me you're not serious! How long has it been since you looked outside, Quatre! Today is Valentine's Day!" "W-what?" he stuttered.
Dorothy ducked her head and sighed. Stepping forward, she laid the box in his hand. "Here. Happy Valentines Day, Quatre," she whispered, tone mournful. Turning her back to him, she began to prepare some tea.
Quatre looked at Dorothy's slumped shoulders and felt even worse than before she had come. Valentine's Day was also their anniversary, and he had forgotten about both occasions.
'What kind of a boyfriend am I?' he wondered guilty as he opened the box.
'I bet... That Dorothy baked these... For me...' He set the box down on the desk, regarding the chocolates. Some of them were slightly misshapen, which only made them all the more special. Guilt overwhelmed him.
Meanwhile, Dorothy tried her best not to dissolve into tears. She knew Quatre did not like it when she cried. As she poured tea into a cup, the memory of her meeting with the woman on the way over struck her.
'Surely the potion won't harm him,' she decided. 'Besides, even if it doesn't work I won't have lost anything. And if it DOES work, then I'll have gotten the boyfriend I want.'
"He will return to the years when he was most aggressive."
With the words of that woman floating through her mind, she uncapped the vial and poured a few drops of the shining fluid into Quatre's cup. Picking up a spoon with her opposite hand, she stirred the tea just in case.
"Dorothy," Quatre said in apology as he wrapped his arms around his love's waist.
"Quartre!" She exclaimed in shock, jumping. Her hand tipped by accident, and all of the beaker's contents fell into the cup.
"I am so sorry," Quatre whispered, closing his eyes and kissing her neck. "I promise I'll make it up to you."
"All right," Dorothy agreed, studying the tea. It looked no different. "But only if you agree to go out with me today and forget about your work."
"Dorothy... I ca – "
"Quatre!" She glanced over her shoulder into his eyes and narrowed her own.
He sighed. "All right."
Dorothy smiled and turned in his arms, holding his cup. "Here's your tea. I'll go to the bathroom and freshen up for our date. Then we can leave."
"Sure."
The moment the door closed behind her, Quatre set the cup down and sat down with another sigh. Staring into space absently, he took a sip of the tea.
"Quatre, I'm ready! Let's go. Quatre? Quatre, where are you?" Dorothy called, looking around. She saw no sign of her boyfriend, and frowned in confusion. Soft giggles and coos made her tense.
Hurriedly, she retrieved the fencing sword that hung above the fireplace and approached the desk with caution. Raising the sword above her head, she swung around the corner and froze.
A small, naked toddler was making bubbles with his mouth. When he caught sight of Dorothy, he beamed at her and waved his arms, laughing. The weird part was, the kid was seated on a pile of clothes that looked exactly like Quatre's business suit. A cup lay nearby, with the remains of tea splattered all over the floor. Most frightening of all was the fact that this kid looked like a younger version of Quatre.
It was not difficult for Dorothy to put two and two together and come up with, much to her distress, four.
"Q-Q-Quatre!"
Squealing madly, a nude five-year-old raced gleefully down the halls of the mansion. The maids stopped and stared as an older girl flew after him.
"Quatre, come back!" Dorothy screamed as she chased the child. She was getting tired, but Quatre still seemed to be as energetic as when they had started. Making a fast right, Dorothy stopped, panting, in time to see the baby enter the kitchen. A crash and loud wailing soon followed.
Frightened, she rushed forward and entered the room. Quatre stood in the middle of the room, covered in chocolate pudding from head to toe and shrieking, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Dorothy chuckled at the sight, but as it occurred to her that she would be the one who would have to clean him, she groaned.
Striding forward, she grasped the crying toddler under his armpits and swept him up onto her hip. Leaving the room, she headed upstairs. It didn't take Quatre long to figure out where they were headed.
"NOOOOOOOOOO! NO BATH! HATE BATH! NOOOO!" he howled, trying to free himself of Dorothy's hold.
"Quatre, stop being a baby! It's just a bath!"
"You take it!" he challenged.
"I don't need one!"
"NOOO!"
"What will it take to give you a bath?" Dorothy demanded, swinging open the door for the bathroom.
"Sing!"
"Okay... What song do you want me to sing?"
"Rub-a-dub-tub!" he proclaimed, clapping his hands as he reached for a rubber ducky that was sitting on the counter.
Half an hour and five bribes later, Quatre was finally finished with his bath. Once she had changed out of her own clothes, which were now covered with chocolate handprints, Dorothy took Quatre by the hand and went outside.
The first bribe had been a trip to the park. But first, she was determined to stop at that shop and demand a cure.
The gypsy was eating a bowl of rice at her customer table, enjoying the peaceful, sunny afternoon. She jumped when a fuming Dorothy slammed the door open, dropping said bowl of rice onto the floor.
"LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Dorothy shrieked, presenting a chubby blonde toddler with dirty knees to the woman.
"What happened?"
"I'm the one who should be asking you that! I gave him the potion and look! Look what happened!"
"Look, lady," the woman said, annoyed. "All I know is that the potion should return him to his teenage years! Those are the years when humans are usually most aggressive."
"Then why did he turn into a baby?"
"Well... If my guess is correct," the gypsy murmured, examining the toddler with great interest. Quatre looked up at this strange woman and happily yanked on her long, gray-streaked red hair.
"Ow! Let go, you little brat!"
"Serves you right," Dorothy muttered as she pried Quatre's hands away. "So, what's your guess?"
"It is possible that the years when this boy was most aggressive was when he was a young child. So... that was the age he reverted to."
"But... there is a cure, right?" she demanded desperately, stopping Quatre from eating a handful of the rice on the floor.
"There might be. I'll check the recipe book."
As the gypsy disappeared into the back room, Dorothy sighed and rolled her neck on her shoulders as she regarded the rather run-down shop. Evidently the woman did not receive much business.
At least it was peaceful and quiet.
Too quiet.
"QUATRE!"
Seeing the door open, Dorothy sprinted outside and looked around frantically. A short distance away, a crowd had gathered around a tree. In the branches of the tree was Quatre, determinedly making his way upward. Dorothy very nearly had a heart attack.
"Quatre!" Dorothy shoved through the crowd watching and saw a man climbing the tree. He reached for the child and took Quatre into his arms before beginning the return to the ground. Applause began as the man backed away from the tree, holding Quatre safely. It was then that the toddler caught sight of Dorothy.
"Mama!"
Total silence ensued as everyone stared at her, examining her young features. Then the gossip began.
"Look at her! Isn't she too young to be a mother?"
"Probably a single parent."
"Kids these days..."
A reserved look coming over her face, Dorothy took the child with a word of thanks to the man and stalked into the park. She purchased and ice cream cone from a vendor and handed it to Quatre to keep him busy.
Dorothy relished the next few minutes of silence as she relaxed on the bench, secure in the knowledge that Quatre was safely beside her.
"I miss my less aggressive Quatre..." she whispered into the breeze.
"You want?" A chubby hand tugged at her sleeve, and a melting ice cream cone was thrust into her face when she looked at him.
Dorothy smiled despite her fatigue and shared the sweet treat with her boyfriend. She had always dreamed of this moment, only it was with an older, sexier Quatre, not a sticky little kid.
Once the ice cream was gone, she allowed the boy to use up all the sugar he had accumulated at the playground.
'The only place he can play in without my worrying,' she thought, watching as his small figure scrabbled up the front of the slide.
A soft, loving smile graced her features as she observed her boyfriend playing happily. For the first time in a long time, she saw Quatre without any worry, completely carefree. She wanted to let him play forever. But when saw the exhaustion on the child's face; she knew it was time to go home.
As she strolled back, shifting the sleeping baby in her arms every so often, she stopped by the store to see if a cure had been found.
"I'm so glad you're here! I found the recipe, but when I got to the antidote part it was gone. I am so sorry, but I don't think I can cure him."
"Y-You... mean Quatre will... stay a child forever?"
"I really am sorry."
Dorothy lay the sleeping child on Quatre's king sized bed and pulled the covers up over him. She turned to leave and felt a tug on her clothes. " Don't leave," he mumbled, his lips quivering as if the babe was about to cry.
The sight softened Dorothy's heart and she agreed to lie beside him until he fell asleep. Quatre snuggled closer to Dorothy's warmth and proceeded to fall back sleep within seconds.
Unhappy, tear-filled gray eyes watched her boyfriend – turned – chibi sleep. She recalled the words of the gypsy. Quatre was going to remain a toddler forever, and it was all her fault.
At that moment, everything she missed about Quatre hit her. How he always babied her for one. She missed being Quatre's baby. She missed Quatre being strict; she missed him looking into her eyes and saying 'I love you'. Most of all, she missed Quatre.
"I am so sorry, Quatre," she sobbed softly as she caressed his angelic face. "If only I wasn't so selfish; this wouldn't have happened to you. I love you so much. I love you for your seriousness, strictness... everything! But now – now…" she continued to cry helplessly, holding the toddler tightly and awakening him in the process.
Quatre wanted to ask why she was crying. Somehow, he felt like he should do something instead. So he did.
Dorothy stopped her crying when she felt a small, chubby hand cup her face. Looking up, she saw Quatre. "Everything will be okay," he said in a child-like voice and he kissed Dorothy's forehead.
Just the, a flash of light blinded Dorothy momentarily. As soon as the light died down, she looked to see where it had come from.
"What happened?"
'That voice! It sounds like – ' Dorothy's eyes grew wide as the old Quatre stared at her in confusion.
"Quatre!" she shrieked, throwing her arms around him. "I'm so glad you're back to normal! I love you so much!"
"It's all right. I guess I should be sorry too," he said, smoothing her hair back. "How about I take a day off tomorrow, okay?"
"That would be wonderful!"
"All right... But, Dorothy, can you excuse me for a moment? I need clothes," he said, blushing slightly.
"No problem," Dorothy said, blushing a little herself as she swung off of the bed. She paused before reaching the door and turned to look at him. "Quatre?"
"Yes?"
"If ever we get married, promise me that we won't have babies immediately."
- Owari-
Author's Note: Yeah, pretty simple. I just wanted to type something for practice. I promise things will get better!
Chibi Heero: I cannot believe you! You wrote a Quatre/Dorothy fic! The times I've been your muse and you DIDN'T EVEN WRITE ME A FIC! How DARE you?
Chibi Heero chases Kawaii Authoress, shooting his gun at her-
Kawaii Authoress: Waiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! STOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!
Chibi Quatre: Well Review! And Happy Valentines…well belated actually!