Standard disclaimers apply.

My goal in life is to watch the whole Hikaru no Go series and Full Metal Alchemist series. My best friend said the latter was angsty. Whee!

Rambles: See 9tails talk to the little green men on her windowsill. See 9tails giggling while listening to Beautiful Alone (ending song of Weiss Kreuz). See 9tails stare for hours on end at the speck on her wall, wondering about the consistency of the sugar on the coffee she drank yesterday. See 9tails wonder why she isn't straightjacketed yet. Gah, I'm starting to have a love-hate relationship with this fic.

Out of the Sea

By Ninetails

Love

is really like that

I have been devoured by

Love

it's really like that

Blissful

translated chorus of the song "Masaya" by Bamboo

Chapter 5

Down, deep down, in the bowels of the ocean, Trowa and Duo swam. Trowa smiled as he watched Duo flit around the sunken ship. Duo shone bright against the darkness of the wreckage. His glowing hair reflected against his silver scales and made it easy for Trowa to keep an eye on him.

Trowa smiled at his antics. His brother was only a year younger than he was, the youngest of the siblings, but he felt much older. Duo was fearless and full of passion, never hesitating to pursue what he wanted. Trowa admired his joy. For years his own heart had been too heavy to allow him to play.

Always uncannily quick to sense his feelings, Duo turned to him. "You're thinking of Raberba again," he accused in a soft voice.

Raberba had been gone for years, but the sound of his name still sent ripples of pain through him. He nodded slowly. "Someone has to."

With a flick of his tail, Duo was at his side. "He has not been forgotten, brother."

"I wish I could believe that," Trowa answered bitterly.

"It's just, the world of Merkin cannot mourn forever. We need to move on with our lives. What you're doing, it's not good."

"I am not mourning," Trowa almost snapped, his voice tight and strained. "You only mourn the dead. He is alive. I can feel it. And I will never stop searching for him."

Duo flipped his tail in frustration. Trowa couldn't say he blamed his brother. It had been years since everyone else had given up Raberba for dead. He couldn't even speak with his parents anymore about his quest for him.

He sighed deeply, and bubbles formed in the water. Duo giggled and poked at them. Trowa envied him. Nothing could keep his spirit somber for long.

Duo flipped over and smacked him playfully with his tail. Suddenly he shivered, and spines rose up along his back. A merfolk's spines, ordinarily hidden in the smooth skin of his/her back, only rose for one of two reasons: fear or a premonition.

Trowa glanced around uneasily but could neither see nor sense anything in the water, at least nothing that would elicit that reaction from his brother.

"What do you feel?" he asked in hushed tones. Mermaids were especially keen with this reflex, honed by centuries of watching out for the safety of merchildren. As near as Trowa could understand how it worked, they received strong feelings that told them when they needed to do something. The premonitions seemed to be uncontrollable. For most merfolk, the sensation was so mild, it only pierced the subconscious. For a few, though – Duo included – the sensation was much stronger.

"We should go to the surface," Duo answered just as quietly.

Trowa shuddered as though his scales had been rubbed the wrong way, and he fought the reflexive rising of his own spines. He did not want to go. He had only been to the surface twice, both within days after Raberba's disappearance. It was an experience he had hoped never to repeat. He knew better though, than to ignore one of Duo's premonitions.

He took a deep breath, and sucked in the water through his mouth. The gills on his throat flared widely for a moment as carbon dioxide was pushed out. "Let's go, then."

A flick of his tail sent him soaring upward through the water. A moment later Duo was back by his side. Trowa whipped his tail back and forth and exhilarated at the feeling of the water rushing past his face and flowing over his body. Beside him, Duo kept up until they were flying up through the water.

As they neared the surface, beams of light began to stream downward, illuminating the darkness. As it grew brighter, Trowa began to squint and his green eyes burned. He movements began to slow, schooling himself to be more cautious. Near him, he could feel Duo's trepidation.

He reached out his arms and took his brother's hand and together they broke the surface with a gasp. Out of the water his cheeks stung and his eyes felt dry and scratchy. His lungs began to burn, and he eased his mouth back down into the water, chiding himself for forgetting to hold his breath in the foreign air.

He was about to ask Duo what they should do next when he sensed a change in the motion of the water as it moved around him. Turning his head to the left, he spied a small boat.

It was tiny compared with the ones he had seen at the bottom of the ocean. It bobbed up and down on the water as it slowly moved toward them.

They've seen us! he thought. A moment later he realized that it wasn't so, because the two humans in the boat seemed to be looking only at each other. He slipped below the surface of the water and pulled Duo down with him. Together they moved closer to the boat, circling it warily. At last, the vessel stood still. A minute passed and nothing happened. Slowly they let their heads break the surface once again.

He could hear the people speaking before he could catch a sight of them. The sounds seemed sharp and indistinct to him and he could not glean any meaning from them. At last he could see the speakers clearly, his distance and the angle of the boat most effective for him to do so. There was a brown-haired man leaning close to what he first thought of to be a woman. The man had hair the color of silt found in the deeper ocean beds. He seemed to be speaking quite earnestly, but Trowa could not understand his words.

He turned to look at the other occupant of the boat.. And blinked. The woman he thought who was with the man was in fact a man. He should've known better. Human women wore bulky cloths around their waists that often reached to the ground. The other man had a long braid where a few wisps of golden locks escaped to be played with by the wind. He blinked again. Blonde? He floated a few inches more toward the boat, suddenly eager to catch a glimpse of the other man's face. When he did, he felt his heart stop. Raberba! His soul knew him and cried out in such a mixture of joy and sorrow as he had never felt in his life.

He turned to Duo to tell him. The young merman was staring at the human with dark hair with rapt attention. His brother's eyes were wide, and he was drifting closer to the boat as though drawn to it. He reached out his hand to touch it.

"Duo!" Trowa hissed.

Duo whirled, startled, and his spines raised. One of them hit the bottom of the boat, puncturing it. Moments later the dark-haired man stood up in the boat and both Trowa and Duo hastily plunged back into the water.

"Did you see?" Trowa asked, gripping his brother's arm.

"Yes, he was so beautiful."

"No, not him, the other one, it was Raberba!"

"What?"

"It was Raberba, in the boat!"

"But that's impossible! Are you sure?" Duo asked, his face agape in complete astonishment.

"It was Raberba. I felt him."

"But… how?"

The boat began to move away, and Trowa turned to follow it stealthily. He had spent years searching for Raberba, and he wasn't about to lose him now. Duo swam beside him.

After a short distance the boat stopped again. What are they doing? Slowly, carefully, Trowa lifted his head out of the water. Raberba and the other man were both standing up. Suddenly, Raberba jumped overboard. The other man jumped as well, but his foot got tangled in something that looked like seaweed in the bottom of the boat. He fell into the water, hitting his head with a dull thud against the side of the boat.

Raberba was swimming on top of the water. Trowa noted that he was moving and splashing with wasted motions, as though he were an infant. His legs flailed about uselessly, poor substitutes for the glorious tail he had once had. Trowa moved to intercept him, but a motion he saw from the corner of his eye stopped him.

The dark-haired man had sunk, unmoving, below the surface of the water. Duo reached out for him and before Trowa could stop him, he clasped the human around the chest and hauled him back to the surface.

His brother coughed and spluttered as he struggled to keep his mouth below water and the human's above it. Trowa moved to help him, but Duo waved him off.

"Make sure Raberba makes it."

For a moment Trowa was torn between following Raberba or helping his brother. At least Duo is not in any real danger as long as he takes a breath of water from time to time, he told himself. With a flick of his tail he was off after Raberba.

He finally seemed to find his own rhythm of flailing to stay atop the water. It was awkward looking, but it seemed to be working. Trowa swam just behind and below him, keeping a watchful eye.

All the time, his thoughts were racing. He didn't know which was harder to believe: that he had finally found him, or that he had been turned into a human. He needed to make contact with him, and find a way to turn him back into a merman.

Raberba faltered in the water and Trowa surged forward, ready to buoy him up if he needed it. He picked up his own rhythm, though, and pressed on.

The closer they came to shore, the more relieved he became regarding Raberba's safety and the greater he worried about his own. He came to a stop and Trowa waited. He watched him as he treaded the water above him. The pull of the ocean toward the shore had grown strong, and he had to start putting energy into keeping himself from letting its force carry him forward.

Raberba started swimming again, and moments later a wave picked him up and carried him to dry land. Trowa lifted his head out of the water, watching as he lay on the sand, coughing. Slowly he climbed to his feet, and Trowa breathed a sigh of relief. Raberba didn't seem to be hurt.

He began shouting and then turned and ran up the beach. He was probably looking for the human. Trowa turned and searched the water for Duo. His brother was out past the waves, still supporting the human. Trowa moved to help him.

"We have to get him up onto the shore without Raberba seeing us," Trowa stated with deep pain in his voice.

"Why? If it is truly Raberba, why should it matter if he sees us?" Duo gasped, his voice sounding unnaturally loud and piercing to him as he spoke into the air.

"He has been turned into a human. Who knows if he has memory of who he is? I need time to think how best to approach him."

"Trowa, you worry too much," Duo informed him with a wide grin.

They watched as Raberba raced down the beach in the other direction, still shouting. He turned and began to walk, half-stumbling back to the beach again.

"All right, now," Trowa said.

"How will we get him up on the sand?"

"Let a wave carry him in."

Duo shook his head fiercely, his long tresses glistening in the blistering sun. "If he remains unconscious with his head in the water, he'll die."

"We can't risk getting closer to the shore."

"I didn't bring him this far to let him drown. We're awake, so we have a better chance of helping him get to land without hurting ourselves than he has of getting there carried by the tides."

Trowa knew his brother was right. They had to keep the human's head above the water. "I have an idea. When I say so, start swimming, on top of the water. We want the waves to lift us up on the sand. Remember to take a deep breath and hold it."

Duo nodded, violet eyes wide.

Trowa turned and studied the waves. A large one was rolling toward them. "Ready. Now!"

He took a deep breath, turned, and grabbed hold of the man. The wave caught the three of them and lifted them up onto the sand. Trowa lay for a moment, stunned. Involuntarily, he gasped. As the air rushed into him, he began to suffocate. He flipped over on his stomach, beating at the sand and began dragging his body back to the water. He started to grow faint. His lungs were burning, and his vision was blurring. Just when he thought he was going to collapse, a wave splashed up higher than the others and flooded his mouth with water. He breathed in with a long gasp and used the last of his strength to propel his body into the water, where he drifted for a moment, gathering his strength.

He heard a sound beside him and turned to see Duo doing the same thing. "Will he live?" Trowa asked him.

"I don't know. I think so," his brother answered.

Trowa nodded. "Time for us to go." He dragged himself a few more feet into the water before he could get his tail clear from the low level of the ground. Then he shot forward several yards and turned when he felt himself a safe distance from the sand.

Duo was still at the edge of the water, and Trowa grew alarmed. Did he not have the strength to drag himself into the water? Duo stirred then, and Trowa could not believe his eyes. His brother was dragging himself back to the man's side!

Duo bent low over him, and Trowa watched in disbelief as his brother kissed the still figure. Then he jerked his head up as though startled and quickly pulled himself back to the water. Within moments he had cleared the sand. He glided up to Trowa with a guilty look on his face. "He's alive," he confirmed.

"Did he see you?"

Duo dropped his eyes. "Yes," he whispered.

Trowa felt his insides numb. "Then we must go, quickly."

"I don't think he saw my tail."

"We can't take that risk. We must go now and we shall not speak of this to anyone."

As they dove beneath the waves, Trowa was afraid to think about what they had just done. They didn't speak until they had reached the sunken ship Duo had been exploring earlier.

Duo was the first to speak. "What could have turned Raberba into a human?"

Trowa grimaced. "I have my suspicions."

Duo nodded slowly. "It would have to be, wouldn't it? There's no other way this could have happened."

"None that I know of."

"So, can he be changed back?"

"I wish I knew," Trowa told him, his heart heavy with doubt. Just as a big problem as changing Raberba back would be telling him what he really was. Having watched him swim, Trowa was convinced Raberba could have no memory of who he really was. Then, provided he could convince Raberba of the truth and find a way to change him back, would he even want to return?

"Who do you think he was?"

Startled, he looked at Duo. "What?"

"The man, who do you think he was?"

Trowa shook his head. "I have no idea."

Duo sighed heavily. "He was so beautiful."

Trowa threw him a sharp glance. The tone in his brother's voice made him nervous. "Best to forget about him, Duo. Merkin and humans are not meant to interact. What happened today was an accident, and we must try and forget it even happened."

He recognized the fire that flashed in his brother's purple eyes. He had seen it there before and it had always meant trouble. Trowa was going to have to keep an eye on his little brother.


Trowa was worried. Duo had disappeared after dinner and now with the morning, it was apparent that he had never returned home. He never should have let his brother out of his sight, not with what he had said about the human and the look of defiance he had given him.

There is but one person who could have changed Raberba into a human, he thought. Duo knew that as well, and Trowa feared that he might have done something foolish in his desire to see the human male again. There was only one way to find out.

He had to visit the Sea Witch.


The Sea Witch lived outside the borders of the world of mer-kin, and though all knew how to reach her caves, all merkin were forbidden to have any contact with her. Violation of that law could result in banishment for the merkin foolish enough to speak with her.

Years before she had ruled over the kingdom of the dryads and had waged war against the merkin. Dryads were distant cousins to merkin; indeed, the two were often mistaken for one another by humans. Instead of tails, though, the dryads had bodies that more closely resembled sea serpents, long and slender. The Witch had risen to power among the dryads and eventually claimed that throne, killing many of her own kind in the process. During the great war that ensued, Trowa and Duo's ancestors had been instrumental in defeating the Witch and sending her into exile.

The Witch couldn't be killed – at least, that was the legend. The best their forefathers had been able to do was help her own people depose her. She lived in exile from her kind. No one knew how strong her magic was or from where it came.

Since he had seen Raberba as a human, there had been little doubt in his mind as to how he had gotten that way. The Sea Witch, an ancient, evil crone, was the only one capable of performing that kind of magic.

He shuddered as he thought about all the stories he had heard as a young merchild. Some said that the reason no one had been able to kill the Witch was because she was immortal and that she was actually thousands of years old and had been partly responsible for the destruction of ancient islands and civilizations. A cousin of one of his friends had wandered too near the Sea Witch's caves, and she had cursed him so that he died excruciatingly, his scales peeling off slowly and his internal organs shifting about on their own. They said, in the end, that he had coughed up his own heart.

Mother and Father will kill me if they hear I've come here, risking my life, breaking the law, disgracing my family… if the Witch doesn't kill me first.

As he neared the sea caves, he felt a change in the water; there was a chill that wasn't present elsewhere. All he could think about was the boy choking on his own heart. He pressed on, though everything in him was screaming to turn back.

At the entrance to the largest cave, he stopped. "Hello?" he called into the gloom.

"Come in," a silky voice whispered.

He floated in slowly, eyes adjusting to a dark that was greater than any he had ever known. The blackness was caused by more than the depth of the sea or lack of a light source; it was a darkness that seemed to emanate from the very walls of the cave. At last he came into a sort of room and saw her.

The Witch was hideous in appearance. Her upper body was like a mermaid's, only twisted and disfigured. The rest of her body was that of a sea serpent. Coils of her tail lay draped over the bare stone and disappeared into the darkness, so that he had no idea of her true length. Hair like seaweed seemed to have a life of its own as it twisted around her. The only thing of beauty was a string of pearls she wore around her neck. Each pearl was huge and dark in color, glowing with a luster all its own.

The only light in the room came from a cage at one end, where a host of iridescent fish swam, trapped and helpless. He gulped, hoping that she wasn't using the fish for anything other than a light source. I heard she eats her own kind, the thought popped into his head. Aside from them, the room was empty and barren. He looked back at her and realized the blackness he had earlier thought had been coming from the very walls of the cave were instead coming from her. Like ink being sprayed by an octopus; her very skin seemed to give off some sort of black oil. Dark as her soul…

"What do you seek of the Sea Witch?" she hissed, her forked tongue flicking out between her fangs.

Faced with her, he knew that he had been foolish to think that he could come here to escape with his life. Even if he did manage to ask her about Raberba and Duo, she would never tell him – there was no gain in it for her. No, I'll just have to be clever. There must be some other way to find out if she changed them and how she did it.

Suddenly, he was speaking, and he was astonished at the words coming out of his mouth. "I wish to be human."

She cackled, and the sound sent chills up his spine. "And why would a prince of the merkin want that?"

He gasped. "You know who I am," he said with disbelieving certainty.

She laughed, and the sound frightened him more than any he had ever heard. "Of course I

know. I am, after all, me." She paused just long enough to let that sink in and to let him wonder what else she might know. "You are Trowa, and you are one of the royal princes of the merkin, descended from the line of Al' Thor, are you not?"

He refused to answer her, though she was right.

She smiled coyly, her fangs offsetting whatever humor there was to be found in the situation. "No need to answer, for I know the truth. Now tell me, Trowa of the merkin, why do you want to be human?"

"I have fallen in love with a human," he blurted, chastising himself for his disorientation.

"Yes, there seems to be a lot of that going around," she said with amusement.

Duo had been to see her, just as Trowa had feared. Duo, what have you done? The only way he could help his brother now, and speak with Raberba, was to follow. He took a deep steadying breath. "Can you change me?"

"Well, it isn't that easy, my young one. Nothing comes without a price. You say you would do this for love?"

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"And the human, does he love you?" she asked with a sly knowing smirk.

Trowa was stunned. She did know the truth. "I do not know, I hope so," he answered truthfully.

"Loving is always a risk, you know," she told him in a conversational tone. "You open up to someone and you risk rejection and ridicule. That's the risk everyone who loves takes. You, though, you seem to be willing to risk a bit more. You are willing to risk leaving your home and your family to travel to a strange and dangerous world where you might have to live out your days alone. Is that true?"

He nodded, his anxiety increasing with every word she spoke.

"My, my, that certainly is a lot to risk," she said as she circled him slowly. "Well, if you are willing to risk that much, then surely you will be willing to risk just a little bit more."

"What?" he whispered hoarsely.

She was behind him now and she put her lips close to his ear. Her tongue flicked out, tickling him. "Your life."

"NO!" he shouted, spinning around.

She pressed her finger against his lips. "Shhh. Wait until you hear the deal.

"I will turn you into a human. You will then have seven days to convince the young man to fall in love with you. By sunset on the seventh day, he must agree to be bonded to you. If he does, you will then live out your life with him, happily ever after."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then you will die and your soul will die with you."

He reeled back, aghast. Merkin believed that the soul lived on even after the body had died and that it went to a better place. They also believed that the souls of the dead watched out for their living descendants. Could the Witch actually kill the soul as well as the body? Looking into her eyes, he had no choice but to believe it, for he could see no soul within her.

"No, the price is too high." He shook his head, hoping the movement would shake him free of the hypnotic spell her voice was weaving around him.

"Suit yourself," the Witch said, and started to slither away. She glanced back over her shoulder. "You must not love him very much, though, if you're not willing to take the risk. Maybe other men of your species have all the courage. A young merman was in here just this morning, and he did not think the price too high."

Duo! He would be dead within a week if he could not win the love of the man he had saved. Trowa had to help him, to save him. He wouldn't be able to help him down here, though. "I… accept the risk."

The Witch slithered back toward him, an evil smile dancing across her face. "Let us get started then."

He allowed her to lead him into the darkest recesses of the cave. At her bidding, he sat in the center of a huge clamshell. She slithered around him and whispered words that he could not understand. She finally stopped before him, and he noticed the pearls around her neck were glowing. They grew brighter by the moment, and the Witch began rubbing the strand between her thumb and middle finger.

"Will I look like them?" he asked, hating the tremor in his voice.

"Yes."

"What about their garments?"

"I can provide you with something, if you wish, if you'll answer a question."

"Wh – what?"

"Your young man – has he seen you, heard your voice?"

"No."

"Have you heard his?"

"No," he replied, panicking now. "Will I be able to understand him, and will he understand me?"

"Yes," the Witch said with a casual wave of her hand. "So, how will you know him?"

"I have seen him."

"Ah. Is he handsome?"

"He is beautiful."

"Do you know where to find him or what name he is called by?"

"No, I do not," he said, realizing for the first time that he might not even go by the name Raberba.

"So, the only way you can find him is by seeing him?"

"Yes."

The Witch cackled with satisfaction. "Good luck in finding him, then… without your eyes!"

Trowa opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but blinding pain ripped through him and only a scream came out. His body felt as though it were being split in two. His vision began to fade, and the last things he saw before everything went black were the glowing pearls.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" her voice pierced the haze of his pain. "You didn't think I would extract some price for my services? You might be willing to gamble everything, but I am not."

"How am I to find him?" he shouted, raising his hands before him and groping for the wall.

"That is your problem to deal with, not mine," she said, her voice fading as though she were moving away from him.

"What could you possibly gain from my death?"

"Let's just say that the suffering of your kind is the prize I am seeking. I'm sure the death of one, or two, of their princes would bring quite a lot of suffering. Speaking of which, you have about five minutes before the transformation is complete and you can no longer breath water.

"If I were you, I'd start swimming."

"Help me!" he shouted in the darkness.

There was no answer. The Sea Witch was gone.

His lungs were starting to ache, and it was getting harder to breathe. He tried to push off from the clamshell, but his disintegrating tail failed him. Desperately, he flailed out with his arms as he had seen Raberba do when he was swimming for the shore.

He could feel himself moving forward through the water, but at an agonizingly slow rate. He bumped into the wall and, disoriented, he felt for the passage through which he had come. At last he found it and made his way back out of the cave.

He swam as fast as he could, heading for the surface, and eventually the water grew warmer around him, the cold of the Witch's lair fading behind him. His body was still changing, he could feel it, and the pain was unbearable. He was having a harder time with each breath he tried to draw, and desperation lent him strength. He kicked and splashed, swimming as fast as he could.

He began to choke and at the same time he could feel his tail split completely. The pain was wrenching. He fought hard to suppress the scream he would have let out if not for the fact that he was rapidly running out of something to breathe. He gave a mighty kick first with one half and then the other – no, my legs! he corrected himself – and his head broke the surface of the water.

He gasped, sucking in the air, drinking it as he had once breathed the water. He treaded the water for a moment, taking deep breaths and coughing up water. His new legs suddenly seemed heavier. He reached down to touch them with his hand. There seemed to be some sort of rough covering over them. The Witch had at least given him some clothing.

At last his breathing evened out. He needed to make it to shore, though he wasn't sure how much longer he could swim. Without his eyes, he would have to find another way to locate the land. If he set off in the wrong direction, he wouldn't discover the mistake in time to save himself.

He heard the sound of the waves crashing on the beach. On his body he still felt the play of the water. The gentle waves moved in one direction while the undertow pulled in the opposite direction. He turned and began to swim with the tide.

TBC


Author's Notes:

Just think… merman Trowa and the sight of those amazing pecs… (drools) Has anyone seen the Johnnie Walker commercial? The one with the indistinct beings who were swimming in the sea then they go to land, and whoa, gorgeous men all around! Reminded me of this fic. Ehehehe…

Oh, gomen for my crappy translation of a very wonderful song. I took the liberty of translating "Masaya" which directly translates to "Happy" as "Blissful" 'coz it sounds much better. Why did I include it? Well, despite the title, it's a very, very sadmelancholic song. A good irony. Just like this fic.

Next chapter, unexpected meetings from some very strange guests, and Quatre and Heero gets confused. Ugh, I am getting crappier by the second.


Replies to Reviews: I'm gonna tone down a bit. I just realized that my babbling in everything here (except in the fic) contributes to the aching in my head (must be the extra brain cells needed to generate dribble). Thanks people, your reviews are inspiring!

Romie Well, Heero's back and yes, I (err, I mean anyone) would be lucky to have Quatre! Nyahaha! Hope you like this chapter and thanks for the review! (hands over a doughnut – flavor of your choice)

Nerb Err, now you know the answers to your questions, ne? (beams) As for the unanswered ones, I'll leave you to ponder on them for a while more. Waaah! I want that picture! (drools) No pressure though, I just can't get an apron-ed Wuffers outta my mind! Oh, I realized that I didn't tell you what Wufei wears as a servant. It's just the normal, liveried uniform of a high (and I mean very high)-ranking servant. Not sure as to what colors the livery is yet… Yeah, Tomoyo has a sick/strange mind. I like some of the outfits, though I can't remember which ones(shrugs). Oh no! Not the "Heero, come and kill me!" call! (frantically tries to find some shelter before Nerb shatters her eardrums) Nya, I wanna bring all the GW boys home too, but they prove too slippery for my possessive clutches(bawls). Maybe I shouldn't give you another cookie… (wags finger and hands over a sugarless graham cracker) Ehehehe, not! Here's a doughnut (flavor of your choice). Hope ya like it!

Meiran Chang (takes a very deep breath) Thanks for thinking that Heero is not OOC, I kinda wanted people to realize that there's more to him than his Soldier Boy façade. I do agree with you regarding Quatre's OOCness; I did make him too much of a weak-hearted guy and I promise to remedy that in the following chapters. (oh no! more work for me!) As for Wufei, well, his personality is subject for a lot of interpretation. It's an AU and his background is still a mystery so we're still not sure what his personality is supposed to be, ne? (oh no, now I have to work on Wufei's background story as well!) Still deciding whether to further the relationship of Treize and Wufei, but what they have going right now is cute. Vanyel "peacock" Ashkevron? The last herald mage with the silver eyes and black hair and who is totally in love with Tylendel? (well, until the other guy came along after he died snickers) Gomen, I had to think of a name and since "The Last Herald Mage" trilogy is subject for frustration for me, I decided to borrow his name, although Vanyel is nothing like the Vanyel in my fic. Why? I haven't read the books yet. My best friend told me about it around 5 years ago when her cousin let her borrow the 3 books and I was SO envious so I decided to scout for them. I finally found "Magic's Pawn" in a bookstore in Canada three years ago but I couldn't buy it 'coz I already spent my money at that time (with, yeah, books bawls). (sighs) Oh well… Oh, I kinda knew that Quaterina is really his mom, but thanks for verifying that for me. I remedied the mistake you pointed out, thanks by the way, and I would be ever grateful if you point out more. I am so embarrassed. (sighs) The pains of not having a beta (well, I do have one but she's too busy on my Weiss Kreuz fic so… I dare not bother her) You've added it to your C2! (does The Baka Dance until she can't dance no more) THANK YOU SO MUCH! You even added it to your rec list! Wai! Oh no, more pressure, augh! Don't worry, I update weekly (at least) and I'm gonna start picking up the pace soon 'cause I have to finish this before June. This is gonna be one of my last fics for a long time and I want it to be as good as I first envisioned it to be. Thanks for the (quite long) review and care for a doughnut? Flavor of your choice… you can add sprinkles/mallows/nuts too…

SpencerBrown Augh! Another one! I admit that Heero and Quatre make a rather sweet couple but… (shuts up) I'll see if I can add more 1x4 moments, but there's no guarantee of that though. I just hope you enjoy the following chapters. Thanks for the review! Here's a doughnut, flavor of your choice!

Crystal Ketchum Darklight Augh, my mind is currently shut off from all the thinking I do. My notes are scattered all over the house (I even wrote on my brother's report card, but that's beside the point), and I'm frantically trying to hide them 'coz I'm a closet yaoi fangirl and no one in this house should know! (gets a creepy gleam in her eyes…) Err, hope you like this chappie and thanks for the review! Here's a doughnut, and help yourself to any topping you want!

PATTY 40 Ehehehe, I'll try to update more and I hope you like this chappie! Thanks SO much for the review and here's a doughnut (flavor of your choice), enjoy!

Fairren Nyahaha! Glad you liked the cookie! I'm a good author! Wai, arigatou! (hugs Fairren to death) I hope you like this chappie and thanks for the review! Here's a doughnut for you! (flavor and topping of your choice)

Galyn Solo Oh yeah, the people with unbalanced limb/body sizes. I think they're the people who can't touch their toes or something (or maybe those are the people who don't have good flexibility shrugs) Um, thanks for the suggestion, and we'll see what really up with Quat's long legs in the next chapters, k? (beams) Squee! I have selective memory too! Or maybe I have selective amnesia, I dunno. I'm actually having trouble piecing up the story together 'cause I always forget what I have written in the previous chaps (and I'm too lazy to read them again) so… You wanna read the original book? Then you'll know the whole story! Noooo! I better shut you up permanently to avoid spoilers (gets a Heero Yuy 'ninmu kanryou" look) Nyahahaha! Err, gomen, I also have brief bouts of insanity (sweatdrops). Thanks for not rushing, I'm halfway through part 6 already and I'm currently stuck (sighs), but I'll do my best to continue this intriguing (rolls eyes) story. Thanks SO much for the review and here's a doughnut for you! Of course, flavor/sprinkles/toppings of your choice.

GundamPilot03 Nyahaha! Glad you like the cookie! Yeah, poor Hee-chan and Quats, though I hope this chappie justifies their sufferings. (blinks) Or not. You don't like Vanyel? Wonder why… ehehehe, hope you like this chappie. Put me through hell (and I swear I aged about 10 years), but it was worth it… I think. You've been dubbed Trowa Barton! Why! Is it the work of delusional minds? I wanna know! Nyahahaha! Or not, if it's too personal or something… Hope you like this next installment and I really hope you like doughnuts. (hands over a doughnut – flavor/toppings of your choice)

joyce (sighs) I admit that this could make a good 1x4 fic, if it weren't for this chappie. I still can't believe I made a potential 1x4! My secret love pair is actually 2x3! But they're brothers in this fic so I'm kinda sad. Oh well, I could make another fic where there's a potential 2x3, but my mind's kinda fried right now so… (bawls) Gomen for another cliffhanger but I think it's time for Quatre to hog the spotlight again in the next chapter, don't you think? Ehehehe… thanks for the review and here's a doughnut! (flavor/toppings of your choice)