Author: Keiran

Title: A World in a Grain of Sand 2/?

Pairings: 1+2, minor 4x5x4 and 3xD (don't ask .)

Rating: It probably doesn't deserve an R, but let it be so. Just to be safe and all.

Genre: There'll be romance, mild angst, now it's just historical sort of fantasy.

Warnings: Shounen-ai. Mild bastardisation of the pilots minus Duo. Okay, in this chapter it isn't so mild. Not a happy part. shakes had

Archive: my site: the URL is on my profile page. If you want it, drop me a line. ^_^

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Heero woke up screaming. Quatre ran to him immediately, attempting to soothe, but the general brushed him off. He jumped from his bed and started to dress instead.

"Heero! The healer said you should lie down for a while!"

"I'm going to him."

"He… doesn't… I mean we told him to come and see you, but he refused…"

Heero paused. Something undefined flashed through his eyes.

"Which is why I'm going to see him," the general answered with a note of finality in his voice and finished putting his clothes on.

***

Two days had passed since the Sanq army came to the temple of the Goddess. Most of the soldiers had already left, leaving behind only those who were not yet fit to travel. They and those who decided to remain behind were living in tents scattered across the valley, in which the temple was located.

Heero marched briskly through the field. Quatre managed only to withhold him long enough to make him drink the potion Kirei had left. As Heero walked, he noticed a girl exiting one of the tents, carrying dirty linens and herbs. He remembered her – it was the girl Kirei had addressed when treating his wound.

"Wait!" he commanded. The girl – Hilde – stopped and looked at him curiously.

"What ails you, my lord?"

"Where's Kirei?"

Hilde blinked surprised.

"I beg your pardon, who are you seeking?"

"Ki… The healer, who was dressing my wound," Heero caught himself. He remembered that Kirei had a different name now.

"Oh, you mean Duo? His name is Duo Maxwell, my lord. He is now looking after the children, he ought to be in the inner gardens." Quatre, having alarmed Wufei and Trowa, caught up to Heero. "Should I call him?"

"No, thank you."

The girl curtsied and left, leaving four men looking at each other. Or rather, three men looking at the fourth and the fourth staring intently at the temple, towards the mentioned gardens.

"I'm going there," Heero announced, disregarding the beads of sweat flowing down his face. His injury hadn't healed yet.

"Wait!" Quatre yelled and followed, accompanied by the others. They entered the outer circle of the temple, listening for the sounds of children playing. There weren't any, but they could hear a soft, male voice speaking. Heero seemed to be certain that the voice belonged to his Kirei. He was right – the four nobles walked into a section of the gardens shaped like a forest clearing, where a group of about twenty children sat paying attention to whatever the young healer was reading to them.

"Ever be sure of that — and I,
And one extremely tiny bird,
Tándaradéi,
Who will, I think, not say a word," Duo ended softly.

"Do you know the original version?" one of the children asked.

"Yes." The healer closed his eyes and started to recite.

"Under der linden
an der heide,
dâ unser zweier bette was,
dâ muget ir vinden
schône beide
gebrochen bluomen unde gras.
Vor dem walde in einem tal,
tandaradei,
schône sanc diu nahtegal.

"That was the first stanza." Duo paused and smiled at the children. His smile, however, vanished when he noticed four men watching him intently. "Now you may go and play outside."

The group got up and bowed respectfully to their teacher, the youngest running forward to hug him briefly before following the other children out of the garden.

"Is your shoulder better, general?" he asked curtly.

"Kirei…"

"My name is not Kirei. Is there a problem with your shoulder?"

"No, it heals fine," Heero replied.

"I'm glad to hear it," he said, although the healer didn't really sound concerned. "You shouldn't be straining it – it would be better if you sleep more the next few days."

"I will go to sleep, once you're with me."

"Then I hope someone taught you how to live without sleeping. Excuse me," Duo said rather coolly. Heero felt something he didn't know up until then: what it meant to be rejected.

Of course, Duo had never been jumping willingly into his arms, but he had never had a choice before. Slaves didn't have free will. But this… now he held no claim over the young man. Even if he proved that this person had indeed been his property once, he was now a healer.

Healers were untouchable.

The reasoning barely registered in Heero's mind – all he knew was that he wanted his Kirei back, and that he wanted him now. It was his right, Kirei belonged to him, only to him.

With that thought ebbed firmly in his mind he caught the slender wrist and pulled the struggling man close.

"You're mine," he whispered. "You belong to me, do you understand?"

Duo flinched, feeling the general's breath blowing lightly into his ear. He was afraid, but he didn't panic. He was outnumbered, but he was a healer. No noble would dare to force himself on a healer, he hoped.

His hopes were quenched, however, when the taller man started to kiss him passionately. Duo's eyes went wide with fury. He drew his fist back and punched the general's stomach.

Heero doubled over in pain, however, Duo paid him no heed. He stepped back and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

"I told you not to touch me," he said, his voice wavering slightly. "I am not your property."

The general's friends glared at the young man. Healer or not, he was not allowed to hit his former master. Wufei stepped forward quickly and gripped Duo's arms tightly, forcing him to his knees.

"Give me your scarf, Quatre," Wufei commanded tightly.

"You can't do that!" the violet-eyed man exclaimed.

"Watch me."

Quatre meanwhile took off his scarf and proceeded to bind the slender wrists of the healer.

Tears started to form in Duo's eyes. It wasn't right, he was supposed to be safe here, in the temple. They weren't supposed to come. They shouldn't be allowed to hurt him. Why was it happening? He didn't want to be a slave again.

"Let him go."

The men started. Standing behind them was an old priest, one they recognized as a master healer.

"It is a personal matter, master," Trowa told the man. "It is of no concern to you, nor the temple."

"Let him go. No matter what you have against him, the boy is a healer. You are not allowed to harm him, in any way," the priest told them firmly.

Heero was somehow relieved to see that his Kirei had stopped shaking, but at the same time he couldn't help feeling hurt when he saw relief in those violet eyes.

'Well,' he thought to himself, 'another five years worth of nightmares'.

Albeit reluctantly, the other nobles released their captive. Duo all but ran to his savior, passing him and going into the inner circle of the temple.

"You will leave tonight," the master continued. "I can see you are hurt, general, but I don't think that your wound would hinder your departure."

"Master, that man is a slave. He belongs to the general. We have the right to take him back." Quatre straightened proudly, trying to intimidate the elderly priest.

"Duo is not a slave. He might have been enslaved, but he is not a slave. And even if he was, he now is a healer," the priest answered calmly. Heero wasn't really surprised. He had heard Duo talking, he had seen him reading various things. He slowly hauled himself to his feet, clutching his stomach.

"We will leave," he said with authority. His friends turned their surprised faces to him. "But you will promise me something," Heero added to the old man.

"It depends," the man responded, sceptically.

"I want to be informed should anything happen to Ki… Duo."

The priest arched a brow.

"And I should oblige, because?"

"No reason. I just want to know that he's safe."

"If an occasion arises to send a message, you will be informed. He is quite safe here," the man replied, turning around and following Duo into the temple, while the four nobles made their way out.

**TBC**
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