Author: Keiran

Title: A World in a Grain of Sand 11/?

Pairings: 1+2, mentioned past 1x2

Rating: R overall, although it probably doesn't deserve that much. This part in particular.

Genre: Romance, mild angst, historical sort of fantasy.

Warnings: Shounen-ai, fluff. WAFF

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

Big thanks to Sundaire, for betaing this fic. bows

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Even a bright, normal sunny day was always mysterious in the forest. The light didn't just shine there, it cleared through the delicate leaves from the upper parts of the trees caressing the ground with transparent, glowing pillars. The remains of snow, remains that would seem dirty in any other place, in the depths of the wood were like mirrors, reflecting the shine of the sun, adding elusiveness to the scenery.

Duo closed his eyes briefly and inhaled deeply. There was nothing like the smell of fresh earth after a long winter – not that the winter didn't have its good sides – but he missed the green. There was only so much white a man could take. The group of men was moving steadily through the forest, marking their way and cutting the trees which they'd take on their way back.

"We will rest here," said one of the men, the unofficial leader, roughly a week after they left the temple. They were standing in a small clearing, surrounded mostly by trees no older than four to five years.

"We've been here before, five years ago. Probably a lightening bolt hit here, since the clearing was burned to the ground," Duo whispered in Heero's general direction. "We will go from here only a little further tomorrow, then we will be going back."

The general nodded with half a smile. He had always found it rather amusing that people would never talk loudly in the forest. There was something in the air that made it uncomfortable, as if one was destroying something sacred.

As if one was forcing a man, barely out of his childhood years, to become a pleasure slave. Heero stomped on the forest floor angrily. He would not think about that! It was not something he needed to remember now! Especially not since at night he was sleeping right next to the slender, long-haired healer. Well, 'right next to' in this case meant 'no closer than a meter.' Not that he would expect much more.

Not when nights still haunted him with images of Kirei, lying helplessly beneath him on their bed. The bed the general ceased to think of as his own, ever since the beautiful elf spent his first night there. The images wouldn't leave his head, making him crazy with both desire and a feeling of hopelessness. But what was even worse was meeting Duo in bright sunlight, smiling, cheerful and full of life – seeing him and knowing that he couldn't reach far enough to grasp him.

Heero set to work preparing his sleeping place for the night, all the while observing as Duo fumbled with the fire. As the healer, the men assumed he would know how to cook better than any of them, therefore his schedule for the day consisted of cooking and instructing the general. The last task especially brought a slight smile to Heero's lips. He learned to judge people based on what he saw, and the moments when Duo shed most of his clothing, save for a shirt, to take up an axe and try to explain just how it was similar to a fight... Those short moments when he could see Duo free of his mask, absorbed in a task that seemed to fill his whole word – those moments were what his days resolved around.

"General!" he heard. Heero turned his head immediately. Sure enough, there was Duo, slightly annoyed at being ignored for a long moment.

"Yes?"

"I thought since you weren't exactly doing anything we might go with Mr. Tsubarov and help him with the trees he chose," Duo explained patiently.

Heero blinked, surprised. His mind provided him with an image of a man carrying a rather big cauldron full of water for Duo, who hung it over a fire expertly and proceeded to make soup.

"But I thought you were cooking?"

The first day Duo was cooking Heero felt inclined to kill somebody. Preferably all of his companions. He was asked to tend to the horses and when he came back all of the men (twenty in total) were sitting around Duo, drooling. Almost. It took him a moment to realize that they were not drooling at Duo but at the delicious smells coming from the cauldron the healer was working at. Although it was only when Duo turned around and immediately looked away with a dark blush gracing his features that Heero realized he was almost drooling too. He surprised himself with the realization that it was the smell of food that made his mouth water.

"The stew should brew for an hour or so. Someone else can watch it for me," Duo said, shrugging carelessly.

Heero sighed but got up, brushing twigs from his breeches. "Lead on then," the general said, feigning resignation, smirking when Duo's eyes sparkled when he recognized the taunt for what it really was.

"I was rather hoping you would refrain from putting up a fight, general," the healer replied. "If you'd be as kind as to follow me?"

"With pleasure," Heero replied, bowing slightly and moving to follow. His eyes traveled unbidden to Duo's lower regions, making the statement more and more true with every passing second.

Duo started to itch. He sighed wearily – it could only mean one thing.

"Could you please stop staring at my back, general? It's unnerving."

Heero was sorely tempted to correct the healer, but decided not to after all.

"As you wish," he replied, speeding up so that he could walk side by side with the healer. He could hear one of the younger man snicker at their exchange, and for once being snickered at didn't bother him. It gave him a warm, happy feeling, to know that Duo was blushing because he was associated with him so easily. They walked for a few minutes until they reached their chosen trees.

It was a cluster Heero wouldn't have given a second thought about normally. In his humble opinion, trees were tall things, brown at the bottom, green at the top, splendid for fires and aiming practices. Usually they came in packs, which in turn were good for making camps. But he knew these trees were important for something, so he calmly accepted the axe he was handed and concentrated on his work. Since he still could not be called an expert axeman, in no time at all he was soaked with sweat. 'And here I was thinking my form was good,' he thought to himself, swinging the huge axe in a horizontal arch to the tree's base. He noticed from the corner of his eye that Duo was standing not too far away with his own (considerably smaller) axe, working calmly while beads of sweat similar to those on Heero's face ran down his face and chest, making his shirt stick to his skin. The general looked away. 'Not a good idea to watch him like that,' he thought wryly. 'Not a good idea at all.'

His reverie was broken by a sharp cry. He noticed Duo immediately dropped his axe and rushed to one of the lumbermen who was lying on the forest floor, his leg trapped under a heavy branch.

"Move this branch," Duo commanded softly, kneeling next to the injured man, making sure nothing would be damaged. "Slowly." Heero moved forward, along with another man to move the piece of wood. It wasn't too heavy – one man probably could have managed it, but when it fell like that… "We have to move away from the trees," Duo said, looking up. "Walker should be okay. His right leg is broken, but it's nothing major," he added, seeing the dubious look on the men's faces.

"He looks awfully pale to me," Tsubarov said, more to wear the shock of the accident off, not to doubt the healer's opinion.

"A huge piece of wood fell on his legs, how calming can that be," Duo replied, somewhat amused. The older man's cheeks reddened slightly, which was truly amusing, since his skin was bronzed after countless days spent working in the sun. Walker moaned on the ground. "Let's move him," the healer said firmly this time. One of the men shed his cloak, which served as a stretcher to carry the injured lumberman to the camp. Duo immediately ordered to lay the man close to the fire and unpacked his bag. He made sure the bone was set correctly before wrapping it tightly adding a piece of wood in between layers to make sure it would heal straight. He laid his palm on the man's forehead.

"He has a slight fever," he announced, frowning. That meant that the man was ill. It wasn't really surprising, since at this time of the year people were prone to falling ill. Add to it sleeping on the ground with almost no chance of warming up properly for a few days, and a sickness was almost inevitable. The only good thing about the situation was that now the man would probably heal, since he would have to be kept warm. "Well, I'm afraid he will not be working anymore," the healer announced finally.

Tsubarov frowned. "Well, in this case we will not be moving tomorrow. You shall stay here with Walker," he said to the healer, making the statement sound half like a question, half like an order. Duo nodded. The man turned to his companions. "After supper we will go and finish with the trees we were working on. From now on we'll have to bring trees here right after cutting them." The group murmured softly in consent.

Heero sat down next to Duo. "This obviously isn't a good year," he remarked.

"But you are here," Duo answered absentmindedly. Heero blinked in shock. Then he grinned insanely, like he had never grinned before. Meanwhile, Duo's subconscious replayed his answer to him. "That's not what I meant!" he cried quickly. Heero blinked once again, this time slightly hurt. "I mean…," Duo paused. He glanced at the general, who looked away, his head hung dejectedly. He didn't look crestfallen, but Duo could tell what people were feeling. And he spent nearly a year in the man's company, even if he spent most of the time trying to ignore him. The healer sighed softly and laid a hand on the general's shoulder tenderly. "Heero…"

"I understand," the man said. He looked at his companion stonily. And then, suddenly, he smirked. "But I am still here," he said, nearing his face to Duo's. "And I will not leave." His breath flew lightly against the healer's cheek. Duo shuddered. But before he could tell the man to leave he withdrew, getting up and standing in line with a bowl.

The healer tried to concentrate. His cheeks flamed. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, and then he remembered the food. But before he could get up or call for anybody, a bowl of steaming stew was thrust before his eyes. He looked up, surprised. Sure enough, it was Heero.

"Thank you," Duo whispered, taking the dish. He turned around and helped Walker sit up, so that the man could eat. He felt slightly guilty. He knew that Heero probably brought the food for him, not for Walker, but his duties had to come first. But even knowing his duties didn't stop the guilt. He hated being rude to people. Especially to people who tried their best to be nice to him.

However, as soon as he finished with helping his charge, another bowl was thrust under his nose. Duo looked into Heero's eyes, surprised yet again. Heero raised a brow.

"You thought I wouldn't have realized?" he said with a slight smirk. He was rather pleased with himself. But that feeling dissipated, replaced by wonder, as soon as Duo's face rose and their eyes met.

The sweetest smile he had ever seen was curving the healer's mouth, making his eyes sparkle. 'That one smile,' Heero thought, 'Is well worth those past four months.' He smiled in return.

Duo, after making sure the injured man would sleep peacefully through the night, retired himself. He noted with not a small amount of surprise that his blankets were already carefully spread on the ground. He looked up and smiled at the general, who offered an almost shy answering smile in return.

"Thank you Heero," the healer said softly, laying down. It was alarming how easy it was now to smile at the man.

***TBC***