Disclaimers: Don't own any part of Gundam Wing nor it's characters. Merely borrowing them for a little torture.

Warnings: Shounen-ai (because I suck at yaoi) , major A.U, some OOC I think, mpreg (mentioned, implied, so on)

Reflections of the Past

Part 17

"We are Spirit Shifters," Quatre announced.

Trowa was watching Duo carefully. They had been more than shocked by the story Quatre had told them about Duo's loss of memory and the spell he was placed under by the sorcerer Dorothy who was Duo's bastard brother's lover. For someone whose life had been turned upside down a while ago, Duo was extremely calm and accepting of the current situation. He wasn't even panicking, which, in this situation was highly unusual. Trowa wondered how long this would last. Duo, prior to having his mind meddled with had probably one of the most quicksilver personalities of all his friends. Trowa could only hope that hadn't changed. He stared at Duo's short hair and felt a pang, which was reflected in Heero's eyes every time he looked at his mate. He could only imagine how badly it hurt for Heero to have his love forget all about him. Still, Duo seemed to enjoy touching Heero, albeit unconsciously. Although he spoke oddly now, using phrases he can only assume were common to the tongue of Man, there was a lingering part of Duo's personality in all this, such as the way he was able to find humour in all situations as well as the subtle sarcastic wit he had in wicked abundance. One more thing that remained was Duo Maxwell's stubborn attitude. He looked unwilling to move unless everything was explained to him, and right now, Duo wanted to know what it was that moved within him.

Now, Duo started to panic. "You have to be shitting me!" His chest started heaving, trying to draw breath into his lungs. Trowa thought maybe now he would be able to start believing and remembering. "You guys actually believe in that stupid legend so much that you actually think you are them?"

It was then Trowa realised that Duo was actually laughing. He couldn't believe Duo. What was wrong with him? He barely came through the encounter with the dark sorcerer and there he sat, laughing, no mocking them. If Gee hadn't given them some sort of protective talisman, which the old Healer had yet to explain where he learned to combat sorcery. They had been concerned when Zechs had Heard an odd conflict in the Forest and then Heero and Quatre had disappeared. Unsure of what to expect, a group of warriors had been dispatched with Zechs at the fore. The talisman was nothing more than an odd looking collection of yarn but from what Trowa gathered from Quatre, it probably had something to do with the sorcerer turning tail. Right now, all he wanted was to gather Quatre into his arms before yelling until his mate's ears dropped off. He came so close to losing his mate tonight, and he roughly knew how Heero felt, the desolation and the hollow feeling in his heart.

Trowa's patience was at its end as a low growl started deep within his throat. He was done with all this talking and sitting out in the open. He just wanted to get Quatre and the rest of them back to the tribe village where he and the Forest would protect them from all these Humans.

Duo swung frightened amethyst orbs towards Trowa, as did his mate and Heero. "I'm sick and tired of this. You aren't in the least bit afraid and yet you remain unwilling to believe what we tell you? Do you enjoy mocking us?"

"Trowa," Heero warned, feeling his mate edge closer to him unconsciously for protection from Trowa's rage.

Trowa ignored his chief. "What would make you believe that we are the legends of the Forbidden Forest? This?" Without another word, he Shifted into a mountain lion, right in front of Duo's fearful eyes.

Now, Duo panicked. He shot to his feet in a flash and backed away from all of them. He stared at the mountain lion and seemed to be looking for his knives but they lay too far away from him. Quatre shot his mate an angry glare as he got up as well and began the long process of calming Duo.

"Get away from me!" Duo was yelling at them, backing himself into a tree.

"Trowa!" Heero snarled but after that one warning, he ignored his warrior for his panicking mate. The rest of the Shifters turned to see what the fuss was and was alarmed to find their formerly fearless Healer trying to get away from Trowa, Quatre and his own mate. They understood that he wasn't in full facilities of his memories at the moment, but this was almost frightening to them. If the sorcerer could reduce Duo Maxwell to this, where would they stand against her?

"Duo…" Quatre started.

"No! I told you, I'm not this Duo you keep calling me. I'm a human being, not a freak of nature. I'm not pregnant and I want to be left alone!" Duo's breathing was getting laboured as he tried to keep anyone from touching him.

Trowa realised his mistake then. Duo didn't look good, his complexion the colour of ashes and his breathing was quickened from the panic that Trowa accused him of not having. It was clear that the night's events were finally catching up to him and his body was not taking the stress well. Unwilling to frighten his chief's mate anymore, Trowa Shifted back into his human form.

"Keiran," Quatre tried again. "Calm down, we need to get you back home, our home, your home. We'll help you."

"Du… Keiran, please, you have to calm down," Heero spoke directly to Duo for the first time in a long while. Trowa could see his hands itching to pull his mate into a comforting embrace.

"I don't need help!" Duo gasped, the feeling of being trapped enhanced when all the warriors started gathering around him. He was slightly hunched over, his arm curled around his side. "I want to go back to my home. Dorothy wasn't trying to kill me, she wasn't. She WASN'T!" His tone escalated and finally his knees buckled, his eyes rolling into the back of his head, fainting dead away.

Heero lowered his mate to the ground, turning him over in the process. "Quatre," he ordered shortly, withdrawing into the expressionless mask Trowa had hope died with the birth of Odin three years previously.

After a moment, Quatre looked up at Heero, assuring him that Duo was fine, and was now finally asleep. "We have to get him back into the Forest and see what Gee is able to do about reversing this spell."

Heero merely nodded, taking Duo from Quatre, gathering his mate gently into his arms. He placed a tender kiss on Duo's brow before turning away from them and started his long trek home, uncaring of who followed him. Zechs and Wufei, silent through the entire exchange followed Heero silently, the rest of the warriors falling in line. If they kept a steady pace, they would be able to get home before the sun rose.

Trowa hugged Quatre from behind, correctly interpreting the slump of his mate's shoulders. "I'm sorry," he apologised. "Duo always manages to rub me the wrong way on some things. That hasn't changed even after someone pulled all the memories from his mind."

"Tro, how am I going to convince him of who he really is?" Quatre leaned into Trowa, accepting the comfort his mate was providing. "That bitch stole everything from him. Duo believes totally that he is Keiran Walker, the human doctor. He has lost everything, even his Healer tattoo." The blond broke down then, tears coursing down his porcelain cheeks. "He doesn't remember you or me, and the worst thing is, I am certain he doesn't even remember Odin. Oh Ancient, Heero hurts. He was so desolate when Duo looked at him like he was his enemy He also needs to take care of himself better. He's pushing himself too hard."

"Too hard?"

"He seemed more fatigued than normal because he thinks he is a normal Man, with normal responsibilities. He is doing things that he shouldn't be doing, such as running like the devil is on his tail. The twins he is carrying is causing his body more stress than normal and I'm afraid… I'm afraid…"

"Gee seems to know what to do," Trowa soothed. "Maybe he can do something for Duo." He was shocked at the normally placid Quatre cursing.

Quatre shook his head vehemently but allowed himself to be prodded into a slow walk behind the rest of the group. He maintained a tight grip on Trowa's hand. He seemed almost afraid at the loss of contact between them. "I've felt the wall inside Duo's mind. It is a horrible darkness, it's like a decaying illness coating his mind. I'm afraid if we don't get Duo back fast we may never get him back again."

XXxxXX

Keiran woke long before anyone knew he was actually awake. He lay limp in the arms that were carrying him oh so gently. It was a familiar feeling, one that made him feel important, loved and cherished but when he chased after where he had felt it, the headache that had become a part of his life so far began with renewed vigour. He took a deep breath and slowly pushed the thoughts out of him mind, his hand going to the one source of comfort in cases where Dorothy wasn't around to help him chase the pain away, his cross. It was given to him by Solo at his tenth birthday and he had never gone without it since. But… something wasn't right about that memory, something was screwing with his brain, he was sure of that now, it was only the question of what.

He remembered the panic the night before when he finally realised the cold hatred in Dorothy's voice. Dorothy hated him, and apparently lied to him about many things. So, could it be that these people were his real family? That he was one of these… Shifter things? His ever rational mind balked at the thought. He had no use for fairy tales but… the tall one had changed into an animal, or if could be the trick of the moonlight, only, there wasn't any moonlight the previous night. He knew he should be feeling intense fear, emotional pain, betrayal and loss but something was cocooning him from these powerful emotions and was leading him down the road to accepting whatever these strangers were telling him. It was only when he clasped his hands around the gold cross hanging around his neck, the sharp edges digging into his soft flesh that he was able to summon the logical part of his mind. There had to be some scientific explanation of what happened last night. It was not magic and it was not some kind of physical transformation. If it took for him to go to this village of theirs to prove them all a hoax, he would do it.

The Forbidden Forest was nothing more than a collection of trees and animal life. It was more forbidding than normal forests, probably due to its age. There was nothing inside it like the stories told.

The odd flutter was back and Keiran found his hand straying to touch his stomach. That was one worry he could argue against. He had been a doctor for a long time and at one or another had helped in the birth of children. The weird thing about it was he couldn't remember the faces of the mother as clearly as he could remember the faces of the babies and the young children the eventually grew into.

There was a definite tautness to his belly while a protrusion started just above his groin. He might have once believed himself getting fat but with the rest of his physique that was nothing by muscle and sinew, his conviction was slowly wavering. Could he be really pregnant as these people were saying? Was he going to be the medical miracle of the century?

He stifled an abrupt laugh at the thought. He was a man and they didn't have the proper equipment for child bearing in any case. He had heard of bards spinning wistful stories of men who had sexual inclinations out of the ordinary but he wasn't one of them. If the situation presented itself correctly, it would be that he was one of those men who took male lovers. That wasn't right, he wasn't like that. Sure, he hadn't found any woman that attracted him so far, but that doesn't mean that he desired men.

"You're awake," a soft familiar voice that Keiran could identify as Quatre jolted him.

Violet eyes peeked open cautiously as it took in the green landscape before him. The angle of the sun told him that it was mid morning and it filtered through the leaves, casting everything into a slightly greenish hue that was comforting to the eyes. No other forest Keiran had ever been in felt so soothing to the mind and soul, but that also meant one other thing, Keiran was within the Forbidden Forest!

It looked like they were far deeper inside the Forest than he was yesterday but he no signs of little pixies or ugly trolls or devious goblins or golliwogs and he relaxed a little more. So, the stories were just that, and had no ounce of truth in them. That meant this group of men were nothing more than role playing idiots, living out a fantasy. But that still didn't explain the semblance of life within him.

"Where are the rest of them?" Keiran asked, his voice a little husky from sleep and more than a little parched. He gratefully accepted the waterskin from Quatre and sucked a small amount of moisture to wet his throat. He noticed that there were only five of them left and Heero wasn't one of them. Surprisingly, he felt a slight pang of loss which was ruthlessly squashed and he passed it off as associating Heero with so form of weak security blanket.

"We are minutes away from the village but Quatre has impressed upon us that we need to speak with you," a tall almost platinum blond was resting under a tree not too far from him.

Keiran struggled to a sitting position, abruptly realising his some what loss of grace was directly related to the growing lump that was still the source of all his problems. He thanked Quatre graciously for his assistance and leaned back against the rough bark of a tree. As much as he felt like he had been kidnapped and brought here against his will, he would teach these young men a lesson in manners.

Handsome young men, his mind taunted. As much as he wanted to deny it, but he found these young men aesthetically pleasing but doesn't mean he wanted the attentions of a man in his bed, did it?

"Talk?" Keiran repeated. "About?"

Quatre stared at him solemnly. "Everything."

tbc…

Woo wooo… this one is for Keiran, who prodded me into updating.

Annie Maxwell, if you are reading this, please tell me if you are alright?

/releases a floating Keiran from the ceiling/