I'm sorry for the looooooooooooooooooong wait. Please forgive me. Blame Toonami! They got me in a Kurama mood! And Froniter got me in a digimon mood, then I saw the new beyblade commercials and I got in a beyblade mood. They are so cute and chibi! I wanna watch em!

Anyway, I'd like to introduce my co-author, Bright Anarchy. She's gonna help me. She's the only one kind enough to answer my plea. *hugs Bright* On with the fic!

Phoenix- Ch 2

Quatre sighed as he walked along the dirt path following the four boys. They all had left that morning, Mr. Winner nowhere in sight. He hadn't even joined Irea and Rashid in bidding him farewell. Quatre recalled what happened when his father had entered his room.

~*~

Quatre sat still, afraid what his father would say. Mr. Winner had spent years unhappy with Quatre for being unable to control his powers until Mr. H came along. It had been nice since then. There had only been a few arguments.

Mr. Winner stepped forward and touched the wings. "Quatre, what's going on?" He knelt down so he was eye level with his son after signaling everyone to leave.

Quatre relaxed slightly at the soft tone of his voice. "I don't really know, Father. I was walking home when I had another attack. It was worse than normal. I felt like I was in an inferno. It was so hot. Before I passed out, I felt a shearing pain in my back. I woke up to find these." He gestured absently to the wings.

A moment passed in silence as Mr. Winner absorbed the information. He wrapped his arms around his son and held him. "It's going to be okay, Quatre. We'll get Mr. H over here right away and he'll help get rid of these wings."

"But, Father, those boys said that I was the Phoenix. And I need to help them."

"Quatre, you are too trusting. Half of them aren't even human! They are probably just tricking you. Just forget about them."

~*~

But Quatre couldn't forget. And after talking to Irea, he gathers his courage and confronted his father.

~*~

"Father?" Quatre peeked into his father's room after knocking. His heart was pounding. He struggled to keep his calm. He was breathing hard and wondering if those boys really did need him, a coward who was afraid to speak to his father. Unknowingly Quatre wrapped his wings around his small frame in comfort.

"Come in, Quatre." said Mr. Winner.

The blonde took a deep breath and stepped inside.

"What is it, Quatre?"

"Um…" Quatre ran a hand over his left wing. This was just too hard!

"If it's about the wings, don't worry. I sent a letter to Dr. H. He is going to arrive tomorrow. He'll help get rid of those blasted things."

"That's…not exactly what I wanted to talk about."

"Oh? Then what is it?"

Quatre took another deep breath. He was close to shaking. His father would be furious. He continued to stroke his wings.

"I'm going."

"What?"

"I'm going with them. They need my help and I can't just stay here. I'm leaving with or without your permission." Quatre held his breath. His father would be angry.

Mr. Winner stood from his chair and walked over to Quatre. "Don't listen to them Quatre. They just want you for their own gain. Who knows what they'll-"

"It's my choice. Besides, it can't just be a coincidence that they appeared when the wings came. Please, Father, I have to do this."

"Quatre, if you leave with those boys, I will disown you."

Quatre stared at the ground in silence. Mr. Winner smiled. He had won. He was shocked when the blonde boy looked up, defiance in his eyes.

"Then goodbye, Mr. Winner." Quatre turned and left the room.

~*~

Quatre shook his head, not wanting to remember. He felt his father's feeling during the whole ordeal. The emotions that fell on him were hard to bear.

A hand gently squeezed his shoulder. Quatre turned his head to the braided imp.

"You okay, Quatre?"

Quatre offered a small smile. "I'm fine. I just wish my father understood."

"Don't worry. It'll be okay." Duo draped his arm across the smaller boy's shoulders. "Just you wait. When we save the world he'll wish he wasn't so mean ta ya, Kat."

"Kat?"

"A nickname. You're Kat, Wufei's Wu-man, Trowa's Tro, and Heero's Hee-chan."

Quatre giggled at the hyper imp. "And what's yours?"

"Me? I'm Shigami! The God of Death."

"And an annoying baka." The two boys jumped to see Wufei behind them.

"Geeze, Wu-man? You almost gave me a heart attack." Duo clutched his chest.

"Humph. That wouldn't have been a bad thing. And DON'T call me Wu-man!"

"Yeah, yeah. You said it before."

"But you never listen. Maybe if I cut of that braid you'd hear better."

"Eepp!" Duo clutched his braid and backed away from Wufei. He turned and ran past Heero and Trowa, who were ahead of the group. Wufei summoned his wings and flew after the imp.

Quatre hurried to the other two boys. "Shouldn't we stop them?"

Trowa shook his head. "Wufei knows he can't kill Duo. He's needed for this mission."

"Oh." Quatre watched as Wufei flew after Duo. He wondered if he could fly with his wings. Slowing down so he was behind the quieter members of their group, he stretched out his wings.

"Have Wufei teach you to fly." Quatre jumped when Heero spoke. He didn't even know the other was watching him. "Wufei," Heero called. The dragon reluctantly turned away from his prey and landed in front of Heero. "Fly ahead and find a good place were you can teach Quatre to fly. We'll stop and set up camp there."

Wufei nodded and flew off, glaring at Duo who stuck out his tongue in childish victory. Quatre shook his head. With these people…. His life was sure going to get interesting.

In the trees above, red eyes watched the group, attention mostly drawn to the golden haired boy.

~*~

He looked in the pond, seeing what his minion saw through his eyes. He looked up at his companions. "He has awakened."

"We must bring him to her at once!"

"He's a human!"

"The phoenix always had strange taste."

"What if he doesn't agree?"

"We'll make him!"

"Turn him into a full beast!"

"Let's capture him now!"

"His 'protectors' are of no threat."

"Enough!" They all turned to the one gazing at the pool. "He has awakened, yet he is weak. Let us leave him be for a while. Have him grow stronger. As he is now, he won't stand the transformation into full beast. Once he is ready, we will bring him here. To the Haven."

~*~

Quatre gulped as he looked down from the branch he was balanced on. A wide river ran underneath him from far in the air. He was lucky Wufei hadn't chosen a cliff for his flying lessons.

"Flap you're wings," ordered Wufei from where he hovered in the air. Quatre obeyed. "Now jump, towards the river."

Taking a deep breath, Quatre bent his knees and jumped. He flapped his wings hard, trying to get airborne. He landed in the water.

"Perfect 10!" shouted Duo. He got hit in the head with a rock, courtesy of Wufei.

Quatre climbed back to the shore. He groaned. "I'll never get it!"

"If that's your attitude you never will." The blonde looked up at the dragon who landed before him. "Unlike dragons, birds must practice flying. You'll get it eventually."

"I just hope i learn soon. I'm getting tired of falling in water." Quatre stood and squeezed his shirt, trying to get rid of some water.

"We'll take a break and try again." Wufei said. He took seat on a nearby rock.

Quatre, uncomfortable with the silence, turned to Wufei. "Wufei, how'd you met the others?"

"I was looking for them. My clan knew of the legend of the Phoenix and I knew I was a part of it. Heero and Trowa were already together when I found them. They were fighting against a Beast dragon. I helped them defeat it and saved the village it was attacking."

"Beast dragon? I don't understand."

"When the beasts starting turning on the humans, some dragons chose to side with the beasts. They disliked humans because humans were slaying them. While I'm saddened at the deaths of those of my kind, I knew they deserved it. The dragon's unjust treatment of the humans, resulted in the dragon slayings. Those dragons that joined the beasts became known as beast dragons.

"I am a dragon hybrid. The dragons that continued to protect humans were gifted with the ability to take on human form whenever they wish. That way we can eat human food to gather energy to protect the humans. When we change to dragon form, we don't need to steal livestock to feed ourselves."

"That's interesting. What about Duo? How'd you met him?"

Wufei snorted. "That braided baka stole my money when we went into Luwa. When we caught up to him we found him fighting an Armaill. As we watched we realized that he was the last protector. Once he finished the beast, I took back my money and Trowa and Heero dragged Duo back to our hotel. We explained the situation and Duo gladly joined us. He's been a thorn in my side ever since."

"He can't be that bad."

"If it wasn't for the fact that he's needed, I'd have killed him a long time ago." Wufei stood. "Now, it's time to learn to fly."

Quatre groaned and started climbing the tree once again. He balanced himself and walked out on the branch. Taking a deep breath he jumped and flapped his wings. His eyes shut tight; he waited for the drop into the running river. It never came. Opening his eyes he found himself flying.

"Wufei! Look! I'm flying!" He did a few circles in the air.

"Great job, Quatre! I want you to stay up in the sky as long as you can or until dinner's done. Whichever comes first." With that order Wufei walked away. Quatre groaned again. He couldn't have decided to teach him to land instead?



That's it. I know, kinda short for the long wait you had to go through. It will get better. I have help! Let's thank applesauce once again! *hugs*