To Jadah Krayne- Frankly, I didn't see it coming, either, although I've probably been subconsciously planning for it. I hate it when my mind keeps secrets from me. Still working on sticking Trowa in properly, but I'm getting there.
To Vwolf Youjitsu- Yeah, I like that book, too, except for what happens to poor Larak. The Mrdinis are adorable for the most part. Have you read any of the other books in the series? Twist endings are fun for the whole family, ne? I'll get on chapter 3 ASAP.
To KokushibyouOni- That's a… unique name. I'm glad so many people like the Talents; I was sure it was a bad idea, but apparently not! I… I got extra-special author points? Wow! As for touchreading, Wufei doesn't know what it is either, so I'll leave that explanation to Duo, okay?
To Kira May Maxwell- You won't forgive me? Oh, well. Pity party! I haven't been forgiven! I'm thrilled Desi liked it, too! As for them all meeting, the fun part is that Trowa, Duo, and Wufei all know Heero and Quatre, but none of them know that the others do. I've got a few ideas to rectify that situation, though. Fei ain't goin' nowhere. Dramatic irony; you know that, I know that, the Pope knows that – okay, the Pope probably doesn't, but you get the picture – but they don't know that. And I could never give up now, not with such an overwhelming response to the first two chapters!
To Onigami Nanashi- Yeah, the bastards! Yes, that thing. As for Relena…. I thought that might be your reaction. But the story grabbed me by the throat, lifted me off the ground, and said in no uncertain terms that I was to pair Trowa and Relena. I'm trying to reason with it, but I'm not really getting anywhere.
"Interesting woman." Wufei commented when he and Duo hit the street some time later. "A good story-teller."
"Yup." Duo agreed, grinning. "She loves reading out loud. First time I heard her, she was testing out voices for a character in the library, and I bugged her until she agreed to tell me stories."
"Exactly how old are you?" Wufei demanded in exasperation, shaking his head. "No, don't answer that. Instead, tell me about your gift."
"My gift?" Duo repeated, waiting for Wufei's affirming nod before continuing. "Well, touchreading's kind of like a cross between empathy, hindsight, and mindreading. When I touch something, if there's a strong enough emotion attached to it, I can pick up on the emotion and any thoughts, memories, or images associated with that emotion. Thank God I was a late bloomer, because it took me years to learn how to shut it down, and it wasn't until I met Beki I really learned how to control it. You're lucky; you got what Beki calls a tool gift."
"Tool gift?"
"A gift that has to be invoked. Your training probably involved learning how to call fire and how to keep yourself from involuntarily calling it. Mine focused almost entirely on how to suppress my gift."
"How exactly did you meet Beki, if it's not prying to ask?"
"Now that's a story for the ages!" Duo exclaimed, startling some poor old lady into nearly dropping her purse. "See, I was in the park – you know, the one with all the fruit trees – going for a walk after school, and I heard someone yelling, so I went to check it out. And there was Beki, so pissed she was crying, kicking some guy in the shin. She probably would've been punching him, too, except he had her hands. But anyway, his buddy stands not five feet away, reading something, laughing his ass off.
"Well, it was pretty obvious who needed rescuing, so I jumped in and saved the day. After the thugs ran off, she started scrambling after the papers, and I went to help her. And you know what went into that story? A week straight of no sleep, on the computer every free minute, subsisting on soda and string cheese. She made at least a dozen false starts before she hit it. But all that work caught up to her, and she collapsed and slept for two days. She overshot the deadline, and her teacher failed her because she didn't have a doctor's note to prove that she'd been sick. If you ever wind up at the local university, take my advice and steer clear of the creative writing course. That teacher delights in failing students, I'm sure of it!"
"That was unkind of him." Wufei agreed, sighing. "I have things I have to do, and we're obviously not going to get anything done today; I'm going home."
"Whatever, dude." Duo said grinning. "See you tomorrow, then?"
"Yes; tomorrow."
"Trowa, are you home?" Beki called, knocking loudly on the door to room 207 and waiting impatiently for an answer.
"What do you want?" A voice sighed, and the door opened on a very disgruntled Trowa Barton. "I'm running late."
"My, don't we look snazzy." Beki commented. "Office work, I take it?"
"Yes." Trowa answered, sounding testy to the blond. "Now, make this quick; I'm leaving in five minutes, whether you're done talking or not."
Beki stuck her tongue out as soon as Trowa's back was turned and flounced over to the neatly-made bed. Everything in Trowa's room was put away in a precise place and order; even his CDs were alphabetized. It made a scary contrast to her own room, right above his.
"I met a firestarter today." Of course, now Trowa was paying attention, although the casual observer wouldn't be able to tell. "His name's Wufei, and he goes to Duo's school. I thought I'd fill you in before I forgot."
"Anything else? Think hard, Rebbekha." Trowa was the only person who called Beki by her full name, and it always annoyed her for some reason.
"Yeah- come clean my room. It's gotten to the point where I can't see the floor again."
"No way in hell. Your five minutes are up; out."
With a sigh, Beki did as she was told, pausing long enough to give Trowa a rib-crushing bear hug before scampering back upstairs, leaving him to go to his new job.
Quatre was pissed. Pissed was not a word one normally used to describe the blond Arabian, but it was the only suitable term now.
"Damn it all, what the hell do you have against me?" He demanded of the impassive speaker phone, wincing as his voice broke harshly into a sob. "What have I ever done to make you hate me like this?"
"I think you know, Mr. Winner." Vice Principal Dekim Barton answered coolly, not in the least disturbed by Quatre's outburst.
"Dammit, Wufei is my son! He might not have been born mine, but he is now, and if you think for one minute you can just waltz into our lives and steal him away, you're seriously mistaken!"
"Mr. Winner, I know it's the way of your kind to take offense easily, but this is too much. If you cared at all for the boy's welfare, you would agree that I am simply removing him from an unhealthy environment."
"How is his current environment unhealthy?" Quatre demanded, suddenly feeling very drained. "Has he complained about anything? Has his schoolwork been suffering? What possible reason could you have for thinking living with us is bad for Wufei?"
"This conversation is over, Mr. Winner." Without so much as a 'nice day,' Dekim hung up.
After a moment, Quatre severed his end of the connection, pillowed his head on his arms, and did the only thing he could do- cry.
Grrr… I hate it when my chapters are so short! And I still don't have a title for this thing! I think I'm gonna cry…