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Story Time With Trowa or Once Upon A Cross Dresser
Chapter Sixteen

Trowa woke despite his best efforts. The bed was warm and comfortable, Duo and Quatre were cuddled at his side still blissfully unconscious, and he was still incredibly tired. He had stayed awake far longer than the other two and still somehow managed to wake up at...

Trowa pulled open his sleep heavy eyes and glanced at the clock. He read 7:23 with an inner groan.He couldn't have slept more than three and a half hours but he was sure that he would not be able to fall asleep again, even if he tried.

His body sore and heavy, Trowa detangled himself from Duo's legs and Quatre's arms with sleepy moans of complaint from both. When he was free, he stretched and scratched at his shoulder—more to wake up his skin than to relieve any kind of itch. He glanced back to the bed and smiled. Duo and Quatre already clung to each other in his absence without either waking up. He regretted leaving their comfort so quickly, but it would be impossible to go back now. He leaned over to place a light kiss to each of their heads and left them to their innocent slumber.

As Trowa's hand fell on his door knob the memory of the other night came back as sharp as the bitter cold of the metal in his warm palm. 'Wufei...' Despite the nervous twist in his stomach, he opened the door.

On the floor, right outside, lay Chang Wufei. Trowa, standing in the sliver of space between his sleeping guest and the door way, closed the door with out a thought to do it softly. Wufei's eyes shot open with an inaudible gasp. His eyes flicked up to Trowa and the lightest of pinks tinged his cheeks.

"I..." he started as he sat up, disturbing Kobi who had previously been sleeping in the crook of Wufei's arm. The little cat glared and batted harmlessly at Wufei's leg before scampering off. Wufei jumped to his feet, his eyes turned away as he searched for the rest of his sentence.

Trowa was watching him, still trapped in silence by his uncertainty. The whole situation was awkward and confusing. He considered himself a good friend of Wufei's. With his closest friends, Trowa could make vague predictions of how they would act in various situations. But this was not making any sense. Wufei's behavior was not fitting the mental image Trowa had.

He could have stood there wondering as Wufei tried to say something, anything to excuse his sleeping at Trowa's door, or he could do the only rational thing his shocked mind he could come up with.

"Do you want some coffee?" Trowa asked, his voice still gruff from sleep.

Wufei attempted to pull together a little dignity and nodded.

Trowa stared intently at the coffee maker and moved around some things on the counter, trying to appear to be busy. Wufei sat at the table behind him—stiff and upright in his chair and unnervingly silent. Trowa wondered how long he could stay there without it being obvious that he was avoiding Wufei.

It was all embarrassing really, knowing that Wufei heard at least a little of the story Trowa created around him. Oh who was he kidding? How long ago was it that he noticed the hall light missing from his door? Trowa stopped turning the mug in his hand and with bravery he wasn't sure he had, walked over and sat at the table. He slid the mug over to Wufei with a tense, "it should be done in a minute."

Wufei wouldn't look at him. He nodded and stared at the mug in front of him, which had taken the place of his previous staring spot: a small nick in the wooden table.

The coffee began to drip into its glass container, hissing as it hit the bottom until enough collected to unite against the hotplate beneath it. The hissing, then the dripping, was the only sound Trowa heard beyond his own pulse in his ears. He knew he had to say something, but what could he say? It wasn't you but the other Wufei I was talking about? That he...

"I didn't mean anything by it." Trowa said, the first thing spoken in what seemed like hours. "They were bored one day and they wanted me to tell them a story... Your name came to mind."

Wufei didn't speak, didn't move, didn't make any acknowledgement that Trowa had even spoken.

"I'm sorry. I'll tell them it's over tonight." Trowa offered.

Wufei breathed deeply and to Trowa's great relief, twitched his lips in a faded version of his signature smirk. "Do you really think they will accept that?"

Trowa smiled faintly but didn't answer.

"No." Wufei said firmly. "They wont...and I wont." He held the mug between his palms, his short caramel colored fingers curling around the base and turning it slowly. "Continue the story. Say what you want. It has no resemblance to me anyway." He stood, mug in hand, and strolled over to the coffee maker. As he poured the dark and fragrant liquid into his mug he spoke again, with less confidence this time. "I do have one question..." he put the decanter back into its cradle. He stirred at his coffee, though he hadn't added anything to stir. "Why Heero?"

Trowa frowned at Wufei's bare back, turned purposely to him. "Why?" Trowa thought a moment. Why did he choose Heero of all people? He had been random, just as Wufei had...hadn't he? "I don't know..." he said honestly. "I didn't want to use Duo, Quatre or myself... and I guess it didn't seem improbable."

Wufei tensed. "Why do you say that?"

It all so suddenly became clear in that moment. It was as though he had always looked at Wufei through a filter, and that it was suddenly taken away. His friend for so many years suddenly seemed so much different. "Wufei..."

Wufei turned and looked straight at Trowa, his endlessly black eyes were solid with defiance, daring him to say one word out of line.

"It's only a fairy tale. Fiction." Trowa said evenly. "You said it yourself; it has no resemblance to you."

Wufei nodded and sat down across from Trowa at the table.

After that, the only sound in the kitchen was the occasional clink of Wufei's spoon against the lip of his mug.

That night Trowa was hunched over his bed, his hands moving across the sheets to smooth out any wrinkles. His body was moving on autopilot as he made his bed, as his mind was turned inward to heavy thoughts and worries about Wufei. Though things had become considerably clearer, he had a very limited understanding. It was like reading one page of a book—you may have some idea of what was going on, but there are chapters of information missing.

Somewhere in the midst of his ponderings came the sound of his door opening. His mind snapped to attention instantly and a cold calm fled through his body. It wasn't the act of the door opening, but the fact that it was opened carefully and someone had attempted to muffle the tell-tale click. Already bent over, Trowa slowly and as naturally as possible, reached for the gun under his pillow. It wasn't loaded, but the intruder didn't know-

A snort of laughter and an amused, "it's me Tro'" identified the intruder as Duo.

Trowa looked at his hand, frozen halfway in the invisible trail to his gun, with a mix of embarrassment and annoyance.

Duo was laughing behind him. "Quatre! Trowa's tryin' ta kill me!" he whined in a sing-song voice.

Trowa retracted his guilty hand and went back to making his bed with a forced calm. "It wasn't loaded." He informed Duo after a moment.

Duo laughed and wrapped his arms around Trowa's waist from behind as he bent to secure his sheets under the mattress. "I know." Trowa could feel him smirk against his back as Duo whispered: "Neither is mine." Then the smile dropped as he added, "don't tell Quatre," in a deathly serious tone.

"If you don't tell him about mine." Trowa muttered.

Duo let go of Trowa with a nervous chuckle. "Deal."

Quatre walked in just as Duo spoke. He looked from Duo to Trowa with innocent curiosity. "Hm?"

"Nothing." Both Duo and Trowa said quickly with fake and overly happy smiles, Trowa's looking the most unnatural...frightening, even.

"Alright..." Quatre accepted with a hint of suspicion.

"Trowa is gonna tell more Cross Dresser is all." Duo said quickly.

Trowa's stomach dropped.

Quatre's whole face lit up. "Oh great!" he ran over to Duo and grabbed his hand, swinging it a little in his excitement. "Right now?"

"Of course now! Right Tro'?" Duo smiled up at Trowa with an undercurrent of mischief.

Trowa looked from Duo's slightly veiled smugness to Quatre's hopeful anticipation with heavy dread. Just like the day he began his story, and nearly every day since then, there was no way out of the story. The knowledge that Wufei not only knew about the story, but had listened to it on more than one occasion lay heavily in the pit of Trowa's stomach. What if Wufei was listening this time? Could he go on knowing that was highly possible?

Duo's smile faltered. "Um...right Trowa?"

Just like the day he started the story. "Alright..." Trowa conceded despite his doubts.

Quatre smiled and Duo looked relived as they scrambled onto the bed, disheveling everything that Trowa had just done. He wasn't paying attention however.

"I thought you didn't lie." Trowa murmured to Duo when Quatre was busy making himself comfortable.

"As long as you do it, there isn't a problem. You don't want to make a liar out of me, do you?" Duo replied smoothly.

Even if Trowa had a reply to that, he didn't have a chance to speak before Quatre was ready and looking at him expectantly.

Trowa glanced self-consciously to the doorway, but the hall light was off.

After his trek through the palace, Wufei slept for what felt to him like lifetimes, but amounted to almost over a day. He half-awoke several times in those hours, his dreams blending into what he thought was reality. At one point he was sure he was having a conversation with his mother when she suddenly turned into Heero. He looked shocked and disgusted before fading into another hallucination. Finally the dreams seemed to dissipate, and his sleep was heavy as though it were drug induced.

When he did regain consciousness, it was slowly. He first became aware of the soreness in his limbs, then the intense brightness against his eyelids, then finally the clarity with which he noticed these things. Wufei's eyes shot open, which was mistake that was made more embarrassing by the fact that had known it was bright. As he blinked away the fog that covered his vision he assessed his condition. His head no longer ached, even when he turned it gently on the pillow; he seemed to have some energy, although he suspected that he was still weak from being bed-ridden for so long; and most shockingly yet, his stomach rumbled with an appetite he had long been without.

His vision returned and his confidence boosted by his recovery, Wufei attempted to sit up. His stomach clenched and his arms strained as he pushed himself up with muscles too long neglected.

"Wufei!" His mother, who he hadn't noticed he was awake before then, exclaimed and rushed to his bed.

Wufei pushed his way up to sitting, pleased that he had done it with relatively little exertion. He held up his hand to his mother when she tried to help him and opened his mouth. His heart raced and he took a deep breath. He was going to speak. He had to speak... Now!

He moved his lips...but nothing came out. It was as though something were missing between his brain and his throat, a connection was broken or a link was missing.

"I don't understand..." His mother spoke with puzzled concern. "Your throat is fine. I've checked while you slept. Even the palace doctors checked. You don't cough and your throat isn't sore, is it?" When Wufei shook his head she went on. "Why can't you speak?" She didn't ask him, but posed the question to space, the room, the palace...the deity she kept a small figure of in her room back in the family's little cottage. She asked everyone, anyone who could answer why her son's voice refused to work.

Wufei held his throat as he stared at the covers of his borrowed bed. He wanted to speak...didn't he?

His mother turned from the bed and immediately Wufei felt more than saw her become rigid. He looked over just in time to see her try to block something from his vision. Wufei's brow wrinkled in silent questioning but his mother pretended not to notice.

"Are you hungry?" She asked.

Wufei nodded as his stomach growled at the thought of food.

His mother smiled wearily. "That is good to hear..." she turned and pretended to get something from near a small table Wufei had noticed earlier on in his stay, all the while moving in the same small area as she obviously tried to block something. She bent over and Wufei could hear something rustle. When she turned, Wufei yawned to cover his interest. "I will go fetch something from the kitchens." She announced. Then with one last glance to that spot, she left.

Once she was gone, Wufei waited all of three seconds before he scrambled out of bed. When he stood for the first time in what felt like ages, he was pleased to find that his dizziness was gone, but discouraged by the weakness in his legs. He had to brace himself on the bed for the first few steps, but after that he gained more confidence and was able to get to the table without support.

The table had held something, he was sure, but his mother had hid whatever it was. He frowned and looked around but quickly smiled as he realized that a corner of a honey-colored wooden box stuck out from under the table's brocade cover. Wufei guessed that his mother thought he was too sick to get out of bed. Wufei bent and slid the box out from under the table, picked it up by the brass handles on its sides, and hoisted it onto the table. He was once again pleased at his condition, finding it less a strain than he expected.

'So all I needed was bed rest? I will never live that down...' he thought with bitter amusement.

He looked at the simple but sturdy box with interest, but his curiosity didn't leave much time to inspect the outside of it. He quickly undid the latch, his pulse quickening. He remembered feeling this way as a child when he would sneak a candle from his mother's room to read late into the night—the exhilaration of doing something bad and fear of getting caught. His skin prickled with childish anticipation as the pushed back the lid and his eyes fell on the modest looking contents. A thick black mound of fabric topped unceremoniously by a scrap of ink-dotted paper with scribbled writing. Wufei was disappointed for a few seconds before the note caught his attention, for at the bottom of it was the scribbled name "Heero."

Wufei curiously took the note and read:

Mrs. Chang,
If Wufei wakes up have her wear this tonight.
This is extremely important.
-Heero

Wufei smiled at his brusqueness for a moment before icy fear struck him. Tonight? When was this? Wufei glanced quickly around the room, hoping for some sign or hint at when it was... but even if he knew the date, "tonight" could be any day. Wufei inspected the outside of the box with no luck, and then in a last desperate effort he tore back the mound of black fabric inside it. But it wasn't a mound. The first layer came off easily and Wufei dropped it in surprise.

Hiding beneath was the softest fabric he had ever touched. Wufei pulled it out slowly, the rich fabric unfolding like butterfly wings from the cocoon of its plain wooden box. It was a dress made from an unbelievably plush fabric. Wufei had never seen anything like it before. It felt almost like fur, but much shorter and almost softer. It also looked more...elegant than fur. It was a black deeper than any died cotton and more inviting than any silk. It was small on the top, but flowed out impossibly from the waist and the bell-shaped sleeves. Red stitching like curling vines snaked and twisted across the front in an intricate pattern. The dress was of simple design, but it more beautiful than anything he had ever seen before. Wufei touched the fabric in gentle awe. He felt that he was holding something so rare and delicate that it could never have been made on earth.

"Wufei!"

Wufei turned quickly. His heart jolted with fear and he dropped the gown into its box.

His mother stood in the doorway, a small ceramic pot in her hands and anxiety in her eyes. "You found it..."

Wufei's fingers sought out the beautiful fabric once more, afraid it would disappear. 'Did I miss it?' he thought, trying with all he had to convey it to his mother.

Mrs. Chang paid no attention. "Put it down and get back into bed. I brought you some broth."

Wufei didn't move but held up the dress to his mother.

Mrs. Chang put the crock of soup on the nightstand beside the bed and went about serving it. "He brought it by while you were sleeping." She said quietly.

Wufei snatched the note and took it to his mother. He pointed out "tonight" on the splotched paper and thrust it in her line of vision, his stomach tightening as he waited for her to say it was days ago, that he slept through Heero's "extremely important" event.

Mrs. Chang was silent for a long while. When she spoke, her lip and voice quivered. "You shouldn't go."

Wufei was so relieved that he found himself smiling. He went quickly to the dress, ignoring the taboo it symbolized and took a moment to enjoy the rich feel against his palms.

"You aren't well." His mother protested, her voice cracking.

Wufei ignored her and let the dress drop. He went to the pitcher and bowl next to the lavatory and began to wash his face and hair.

"Don't you know what this party is about?" His mother whispered to herself, unheard by her son.

'This is it.' Wufei thought, his whole body tight with nervousness determination. 'I have to tell him tonight.'

Heero watched as the sun drifted into the arms of the horizon, beaming a red-orange as it met its lover and settled in for the night. He adjusted his jacket for the ninth time and glanced at the wall mirror for the tenth. He had used that mirror more in the last ten minutes than he had his entire life. Truthfully, he hadn't known it was there until he met Wufei.

There was a sharp rap at the door and Heero jumped. He took a deep breath, glanced at his newfound mirror once more, and steeled himself. This was it.

Quinze waited for him outside his door, looking as stiff and unpleasant as ever. Heero nodded to him coldly and they walked together down the long stone hallways. He listened to the rhythmic tapping of their shoes against the flagstone as he went over how he was going to ask Wufei to be his wife, his Queen. He had tried to ask so many times before, but the question never made it past his fear of her leaving him, and Wufei's sickness just gave him an excuse to delay further. She had to say yes, he could never become king without her there with him. He could never live again without her living with him.

Quinze came to a stop before a pair of intricately carved wooden doors. He looked at Heero, who nodded in return. Two guards stationed at either end pulled the heavy doors open, their bulk being just enough for the job. Beyond the doors, the large ballroom went silent. Every giggling courtier stopped short, every instrument stopped its vibrations, and all eyes turned toward the wooden doors at the top of a golden staircase.

Quinze stepped forward, his face alight with haughty importance. His voice rose to echo across the impossible expanse of the ballroom. "I present his royal highness, Prince Heero." Simple but effective, just as Heero requested. Quinze stepped aside, his waist bent and his eyes downcast in a rare gesture of respect.

Heero stepped forward into the blinding light of the ballroom. The gold railings of the stairs, the massive jeweled chandeliers, the nobles in all their pompous glory, all sparkled and shone with brightness that was usually overwhelming to Heero. But today it was different. Today he would take his place. With the woman he loved at his side he would announce their union. Heero took confident strides down the steps and passed his bowing guests to the dais where his family sat, and Wufei...

Heero's steps faltered as his eyes failed to find Wufei. She should have been standing nearby. He clenched his fists and continued on, his eyes still flicking across the room in search of Wufei. He was still searching when he stepped onto the dais and sat down at his throne beside Hilde. His sister was pale and nervous, though Heero didn't look at her long enough to notice this.

"Heero." Hilde whispered as the music started again and people began dancing. When he didn't answer, she tried again. "Heero!"

"Not now." Heero growled, still fruitlessly searching for Wufei.

"It's important!" Hilde persisted.

"I doubt it. Has Wufei come yet?" He demanded.

"No..." she recoiled at Wufei's name. "Heero I really need to-"

Heero stood quickly and walked off the dais, waving at the musicians to continue when they faltered.

It was possible she was too sick to come, or had yet to wake. If that was the case he should go to her, it could be serious. Deciding on this, he threaded his way through the crowd, trying to get to the door and out to check on Wufei.

He was in the middle of the floor making his way out when suddenly the entire ballroom went silent.

Wufei stood outside a pair of large red painted doors, waiting for admittance into Heero's party. The guards stationed at the entrance were muttering to each other, but Wufei could clearly hear what was being said.

"She looks suspicious... You ever seen anyone look like that?" As he spoke, the guard looked at Wufei with obvious distrust.

"I'm tellin' ya, it's that girl! The one the prince 'as been seein'." The other guard protested.

"She's supposed to be some tall blonde with big...you know." He cupped his hands in front of his chest. "That's what I heard, anyway."

"Really? I heard a curvy red-head with a..." The guard shook his head sharply. "But no! I mean look at 'er dress! Don't you remember the captain sayin' somethin' 'bout a girl in a black and red velvet dress? You seen one yet?"

The hesitant guard was silent a moment. "Oh yeah..."

"This is why we're still guards instead of soldiers."

"The captain said it was because of my rugged good looks!"

"The captain was being sarcastic you numbskull!"

Wufei listened to this with silent annoyance. 'Numbskull? People actually use that word?'

The guards returned with feigned confidence, unaware that Wufei had heard—or understood—their conversation.

"You can go in." The slightly more intelligent one informed him.

"Uh...the herald is already at the party so we can't introduce you..." the slightly dumber one said. "So uh...just go in."

Wufei swallowed hard to keep from harming the idiot guards and nodded.

They opened the doors to a brilliantly lit room that he only vaguely remembered from his first appearance. With a deep breath, Wufei stepped through the doors.

The room went silent.

Wufei looked around in panic as the band stopped playing and every face turned toward him in silence. Wufei was struck with sudden and almost crippling self-doubt. What were they staring at? Had he come the wrong way? Done the wrong thing? These thoughts multiplied and grew more frantic as the silence stretched on and the blank stares of hundreds of nobles seared his flesh.

Then like a beacon in the field of the hundreds of guests in their fluff and sparkle, out of every silent figure, every intense stare, he found the only one that mattered. The one person he could understand; the one who looked at him with amazement and appreciation, instead of blank silence; the one who saw him and was joyous instead of completely void.

Wufei lifted his chin and walked down the stairs, his dress pulled barely past his mother's best silk shoes. He walked passed all the guests as they stared and whispered. He walked through the crowd as it parted to stare from a distance. He walked until he came to his destination, his One.

Heero's eyes traveled across Wufei's entire body when he stopped in front of him, coming to a stop at his eyes. His lip twitched and he stepped closer. His hand came to a rest at Wufei's hip and he leaned closer. "You are beautiful." He stated. Then Heero closed the remaining inches and gently kissed him.

The crowd around them erupted in hushed speech, everyone whispering and covertly pointing at the couple. The crowd surged and shifted as disbelieving courtiers tried to see what was happening.

For ten blissful seconds, neither Wufei nor Heero noticed or even cared about what was happening around them. It was a perfect moment, but only moment. Heero pulled away with a miniscule smile and Wufei had to get his bearings back.

"I have something to tell you...to do." Heero said, his voice oddly tight. He took Wufei's hand and began to lead him toward the Royalty's dais.

Wufei allowed himself to be taken away a few steps before his resolve kicked in and he stopped walking. When Heero turned to see what the problem was, Wufei gently tugged his arm and tilted his head toward the door. He had a pen and small sheaf of paper hidden in his dress. It was not his first choice for confession but the only one available at the moment.

Heero shook his head. "We have to do this now. We can go right after."

Something about his tone, the nervousness in his posture or the general feel of the crowd around him itched at Wufei's mind. Something was tugging at his sleeve... He shook his head and pulled at Heero's arm, gesturing again toward the door.

Heero pulled Wufei's hand up to brush against his lips. "After, I promise." He didn't wait but began his way back to the dais.

Before Wufei could protest further they were there, standing before the stern and intimidating King Odin and the beaming yet professionally calm Queen Heather. On Heather's left sat an empty throne, and next to that on the smallest throne sat a nervous and oddly silent Hilde.

Wufei bowed his head, hindered slightly by Heero who had his arm held uncomfortably tight.

King Odin stood slowly, his strong frame imposing utter importance and severity. He folded his heavily robed arms across his chest and stared down at them with an intensity that Wufei had only seen before in Heero while they sparred, and only rarely. "Announce to our people who you bring before us." He spoke to Heero but his voice boomed and echoed across the deathly silent ballroom.

Heero did not falter. He stared straight as his father, as proud and unyielding as the man he spoke to. "Wufei of the Chang family." Heero spoke just as loudly and calmly as his father, but neither his voice nor his words held the pretentious embellishment his father's did.

"For what reason do you bring her before us?" Odin asked, his voice a little colder.

Heero hesitated and Wufei could feel him shift nervously beside him. Wufei looked over to his prince, wondering why himself. What was going on?

"To..." Heero began, swallowed hard and continued. "To introduce the new Queen, my wife to be."

Time stopped.

The crowd stayed silent, but the mass shuddered as people glanced at friends and lovers in disbelief. The King and Queen were silent as well. The King was challenging Heero with a heavy stare and the Queen was beaming brighter by the second. Heero was silent, his breath held as he kept his father's gaze with defiance.

And Wufei...

'Wife? Queen?' the words repeated themselves over and over in Wufei's head, trying to make sense. He was sure he once knew what they meant, but in that moment he could not process... Wife? Marriage? Was he asking Wufei to be... QUEEN?!

Wufei slowly turned to Heero, his eyes wide in shock. Heero didn't look at him, his eyes still fixed on his father.

King Odin opened his mouth to be the one to break the silence, but he was robbed of that by a desperate cry of "NO!"

Every eye turned to the right end of the dais where Hilde now stood, her chest heaving and her eyes narrowed. "This can't happen!"

Heero glared at his sister. "Hilde, this is not the time."

"Listen to me!" Hilde yelled, her voice cracked and unstable.

"Enough Hilde!" King Odin barked, turning away from his daughter. "I, King Odin VI hereby accept-"

Time stopped once more, heralded by Hilde screaming once more. This pause didn't last, but when it started again it was moving faster than Wufei could follow. Everything seemed to happen in less than a second, and Wufei could only watch as though he was stuck in the pause.

Suddenly Hilde was in front of Wufei with tears in her wild eyes.

There was a flash of silver.

Then a mix of gasps and screams from the crowd behind them.

As the first grains of sand hit the cold stone floor, Wufei's trance was broken. He looked down and watched in horror as his breasts spilled out of his beautiful velvet dress from the gash Hilde cut with a small silver dagger. He was frozen in his terror. He could not move to cover himself or to explain to Heero...all he could do was watch as his lie bled from his heart to fall before his love, his prince, his One.

King Odin was the one to break the silence this time. "What is this?" He bellowed at Heero.

Wufei looked up, his stomach twisting painfully as his eyes met Heero's.

The Prince only stared at him with utter confusion.

"Wufei is a man." Hilde answered her father with a mix of disgust and arrogance. "I tried to tell you before. He's been lying to Heero!"

Wufei's eyes never left Heero's as his love's expression turned from confusion to anger. He turned to his sister, frigid anger pouring from his lips. "This isn't a game Hilde."

Hilde's eyes widened in disbelief. "I'm not playing Heero! Look at him!"

"Hilde...if this is some kind of joke..." King Odin warned.

Hilde looked from her father to her brother. "I'm not..." Her face suddenly sharpened back to her former crazed arrogance. "Why don't you ask him?"

Wufei went cold as Heero turned his gaze back to him, the eyes he once saw as intense but captivating now looked distant and suspicious. "Wufei...? This isn't true..."

Wufei had nothing to say, even if he was able. He could think of no words to express his guilt, his sorrow, or his unwavering love. What could he say? What could he do? He could only stare back and hope something went through.

Heero's face dropped. "...is it?"

Everyone was silent.

Hours seemed to tick by, holding Wufei in a painful suspense.

"Guards!"

Wufei blinked as the word echoed throughout the hall, bellowed by King Odin to shatter that mind-searing silence. Two people tore him away from Heero before he could react, each heavily muscled guard holding one arm. But Wufei didn't react. He didn't struggle, he didn't shout out. He just stood there, his eyes locked on Heero's.

"What were you thinking, boy? This man could be a spy, an assassin!" King Odin raged to his blank and staring son. "Take him away!" He ordered the guards.

As the burly men dragged him back, Wufei snapped to attention. 'NO!' He tried to look at Heero, but his prince was turning away... he was turning his back...

The crowd parted before the guards, the nobles swelling back slightly to stare at the man who was almost Queen. They blocked Wufei's view of Heero and finally he started to struggle.

'No!' he mentally shouted as he tried stand still against the strength of the guards. 'I won't let this happen!'

The guards jerked him and they were moving again...

And the nobles parted and surged together with their sharp eyes and disgusted stares, their whispers and pointing fingers.

They were moving him away... Taking him away from...

"HEERO!"

The guards stopped, the courtiers stepped back in shock, the King and Queen looked appalled and Hilde looked proud of herself.

Wufei stood heaving, his arms held painfully back as his voice echoed back to him: loud, rough, and condemningly natural.

The courtiers pulled back from his prince, leaving a long empty path between the two lovers. Heero turned slowly and looked back at Wufei.

In that moment Wufei's life was gone.

There was no hate in Heero's eyes. No hurt, no love, no disgust, no anger...nothing. Heero looked back at Wufei, bound and headed for prison, with no emotion. He felt nothing.

"Take him away!" Odin repeated for the last time.

Heero turned away from Wufei for the last time.

When the guards began moving again, Wufei didn't resist.

Two pairs of eyes stared blankly at Trowa, shocked and lined with tears. Trowa himself felt odd and raw. It shocked him as well. Was it even in his control anymore?

"Wufei..." Quatre choked as his tears collected and fell across his baby soft cheeks. He slumped against Trowa, who numbly placed an arm around him, his eyes fixed on Duo.

Duo stared back, his eyes glittering with gathering tears. "Did ya have ta go and make it so real, Tro'?" he asked with a forced chuckle, but the façade quickly broke and he joined Quatre in Trowa's arms, his shoulders shaking in gentle sobs.

Trowa held them, tearless as always, and looked once more to the door with fruitless hope.

Just as he feared, Wufei sat on the floor just outside. He stared up at the ceiling, his arms resting on pulled up knees and his head against the door as he listened to the quiet sobbing of his friends.

Never before had he felt so alone.

To be continued...

Next Chapter:
In which dusk has fallen on this twisted fairy tale, and dawn seems impossibly far away.

Author's Note:
As you can maybe tell, I sent this without a beta reader. A bunch of things kept this chapter so long in coming, the largest of which was the fact that I started this whole thing just so I could write this chapter. The ballroom scene was the first thing I constructed in my head and the driving force for me to write. So I spent a little extra time on it hehe. I hope I got it right ;;

Anyway, sorry again for my failings bows thank you for sticking with me and I hope to have the next chapter out before Christmas '05 ;;;

Happy Holidays to those of you that are religious (whichever religion you resonate with) and have a blissfully unstressed week for those of you that aren't