Duo stared at Sally and then to Thomas, and then let out a sigh as he took Thomas' hand. He knew Heero wasn't in the mood for the orphan, so Duo stepped out of the room and closed the door. Sally let go of the boy's arm and then left without even waiting to hear what Duo had to say for himself.

"Ms. Sally isn't really nice, is she?" The boy pouted and tried to look the part of the victim, but Duo wasn't so easily fooled.

"Thomas, I thought I told you to stay with Ms. Hilde. I told you not to go around the castle by yourself, and you deliberately disobeyed me." The half-vampire had never disciplined anyone, and he'd never been disciplined either. Actually, the closest thing to a punishment Duo had ever experienced was being caught while stealing. "Ms. Sally only did what she had to do in order to keep you under control, and you know that. You have to stay in your room for the rest of the afternoon until dinner."

Maybe that wasn't a real punishment, but what else could he do? There was nothing to take away from him to show he'd been wrong, and it wasn't like he could actually make the boy do any chores since they were always done by the servants. Even though the half-vampire had expected the orphan to just shrug it off as nothing, Thomas obviously considered it serious.

His lip quivered as a few tears started streaming down his cheeks, but Duo knew not to let his sympathy get the best of his authority.

"I'm sorry! I just wanted to see you Daddy, but Ms. Hilde wouldn't take me so I went by myself." Thomas looked genuinely remorseful of his actions, but Duo still couldn't allow him off the hook. "I promise I won't do it again! I really won't!"

"You have to remember Thomas; I only have your safety in mind when I told you not to go off by yourself. This is one of the most important rules for living here, and you broke it intentionally so I can't allow you to go unpunished." Duo began leading the boy towards his room, "It's only for a day so I'm sure you can bear that much."

As they were walking down the corridor Duo felt he boy's hand go somewhat limp, and it made him wander if he was acting too harsh. Then again, the boy was a great actor when it came to gaining pity, so maybe this was all just an act? Duo just made sure not to look back at the child, because he knew he'd go soft as soon as he did so.

Upon reaching the room, Duo opened the door for Thomas and then followed him inside. He decided the best way to make sure Thomas did as he was told was to just keep a close eye on the child himself. That and already he was taking Heero's words to heart, and trying to be a parent for Thomas.

Thomas almost immediately went for the bed and didn't even look back at his father. Duo decided to read a book Quatre had recommended for him a few weeks ago, and sat down at the desk in the corner of the room. Silence gave the room an uncomfortable feeling as they didn't say even one word to each other for the next couple of hours. In reality the only sounds that was made was the turning of pages in the book Duo was reading and the occasional sniffle from Thomas.

----

Already she knew she wasn't going to like having that orphan around all day, but that's when Sally got a brilliant idea. Perhaps the boy didn't have to be around all day. He would just have to act like a normal child would and go to the small school in town for a few hours of each day. Sally wasn't sure how Duo was going to react to her idea, but first she decided it would be best to try it out on Heero.

Surely if Heero was to agree to it, then Duo would eventually have to. The half-vampire hardly ever disagreed with Heero when it came to decisions such as this, and there wasn't any loophole that Duo would be capable of using to prevent Thomas from going to school. Yet now wasn't the time to talk with the vampire master as he was just getting back to sleep from Duo's disturbance.

Instead Sally went back to the library to find Quatre, and see if he thought Heero would like the plan. Politely, she knocked on the door before opening it to see an empty library.

"Quatre?" Without thinking she called out to him, even knowing that if he wasn't sitting at that specific table by the door then he wasn't in there. "Did a stack of books fall over and crush you?"

She stepped into the room and was careful to avoid some books on the floor as she made her way towards the table. As she was approaching there was a book that immediately caught her eye, and without thinking she tripped on another pile of books.

Her hastiness caused her to hit her arm hard on the table's edge and ended up leaving a huge bruise on her forearm. Scolding herself silently for being so impulsive, the vampire used the table to pick herself up off the floor. After dusting herself off, Sally then turned back towards the book that had grabbed her attention.

It looked like an ordinary book, but the title gave away its uniqueness. "Reversing the Curse... What curse would Quatre be trying to fix?"

After pondering it for another minute, the blonde vampire just grabbed the book under her arm and cautiously made her way out of the library. Later she would have more time to look at the book and read some of it as well. Right now she was still going to find Quatre to ask his opinion.

----

Finally Thomas thought he had waited out his entire punishment when Duo got up out of his chair. Instead the half-vampire went towards the bathroom and stopped briefly before going inside. Thomas took that as a hint that he shouldn't think of trying to leave.

He didn't dare to anger his father anymore than he already had, and even though most normal children wouldn't consider this a real punishment... Thomas certainly did. One of the worst things he felt he could do to a person is disappoint them, and he'd done exactly that to a person he really liked.

Duo had trusted him to obey the rules even though the half-vampire knew it would be hard for the orphan. And yet Thomas hadn't really thought about his father's feelings at all, and just went ahead with what he felt like doing. Now he was regretting it tenfold as he had to sit in the same room with Duo, and yet was unable to say a single apology.

Without actually realizing it, Thomas had gotten out of the bed and wandered over to the bathroom door. He heard Duo drawing a bath and saw his father sitting on the edge just casually dragging his hand limply across the surface of the water. Duo stopped once the boy stepped all the way into the bathroom, and immediately the half-vampire smiled.

"I think you've had enough of a punishment for today, so go ahead and clean up. Then we'll head downstairs to have dinner with Heero." Thomas noticed Duo's expression became even softer once he mentioned the name Heero. "Relax in here and I'm going to be right back. Please don't leave the room, okay?"

The boy waited until he heard Duo leave the room before he started to undress and slip into the bath. Somehow the water was just the right temperature, leaving nothing to complain about whatsoever. Yet now he was curious of where his father had gone.

"Don't be stupid... Daddy asked you to stay here and that's just what you're going to do!" Thomas told himself as he tried to enjoy he bath as much as possible. "I'm just glad Daddy doesn't seem angry anymore. As long as he's happy, Daddy Duo will keep me around and I won't be left alone again."

Duo suddenly appeared in the bathroom with a hurt look and then went over to the bathtub. "Thomas, don't think I'll abandon you just because I get a little frustrated. I promised you that I wouldn't leave you and that's why I wouldn't have any right to throw you out just for breaking one rule."

"But I thought you said it's a really important rule that I broke... Every time I did that in town I always got yelled at by people."

"I'm not saying you can go around constantly getting into mischief, but I know that nobody's perfect. Every person on this planet has screwed up at least once, so it's not my place to decide that you should lose your home because of something so minor." Duo ruffled Thomas' wet hair before turning towards the door. "Just promise me to always do what you believe is right. Don't be fooled by everyone else telling you it's wrong, and don't give Ms. Sally any more migraines."

----

Sitting at the table across from the glaring orphan didn't make Heero feel any better about his decision to keep the boy. Duo had constantly tried to make polite conversation in hopes of starting a real conversation between them. Instead Thomas had just continued to glower at the vampire, and made Heero even more annoyed.

Heero stirred the blood in his glass and noticed Thomas suddenly get a look of suspicion mixed in with scrutiny, and finally the vampire could take it no more. He pushed away from the table and excused himself as he began to walk to the front door.

Already he was late for his nightly rounds as Duo had made him stay a little later for that stupid dinner that had obviously failed. Just as he was about to leave Duo came out of the dining room and grabbed tightly onto Heero's arm.

"Please don't give up on him yet Heero... you have to understand he's not going to open up so quickly to everyone." Duo had a disappointed look which made the vampire hesitate for a moment.

He pulled Duo close to him and gave him a quick kiss, but then quickly broke away from the half-vampire. "It's obvious to me that he likes you, and don't think that I'll kick him out just because I don't like him. I told you he could stay, and I meant it. That doesn't mean I have to like him, do I?"

"Heero! He's just a child who needs parents, not a parent."

"Believe me, he has a mother and a father in you. Besides, you can love a family member, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to like them." Heero turned away from his lover and went out the door into the glorious night.

The crisp air was enough to revive him from the long day of disturbed street and heavy burdens. Just being out of the castle allowed him to feel alive again, as ironic as that is. He stepped down the front steps and walked down the stone pathway towards the large gates surrounding the garden and castle.

"The town looks more lively tonight than it has in a long time..." Heero could see people outside on the streets, and then he heard the music. The music of those traveling freak shows where people just laughed at others for having the misfortune of being born deformed. "Perhaps I should go take a look myself..."

In only a split second he was before the edge of the town, and now was able to hear the music and laughter of townspeople clearly. Just as he'd predicted there was a 'carnival' as the owners would call them, and the closest cage to him contained some woman who they claimed was half-lizard.

Obviously she wasn't anything but a normal woman with very expertly painted scales, but whoever had made her up had done a decent job. She was even a great actress as she acted offended and afraid of the peoples' attention. Heero didn't linger long at her cage as he decided to take a glimpse at the so-called vampire the next tent down.

As he entered a deep man's voice was just announcing the start of the show, and Heero decided to watch since he was curious to see what his kind looked like to humans. Much to his surprise there was a normal looking young woman in the spotlight, and she seemed genuinely frightened.

Then the vampire understood why as a taller man emerged silently from the shadows. "She's the bait..."

Her large sapphire eyes were trying to seek out the predator as he casually stalked her around the lit area. Though he couldn't explain why, Heero knew that man was a true vampire and would truly kill that innocent woman for no reason other than some extra cash.

None of the other people dared to breathe much less move to help her as he lunged. He could never figure out why he'd pushed through the stunned pedestrians and grabbed her away from the vampire's clutches at the last second.

Immediately the crowd stirred wondering if it was part of the show, but when they heard the manager of the entire freak show yell at Heero to stop they all understood. Even knowing Heero was ruining the act, most of the crowd parted to allow him to get away with the girl. The two of them emerged out of the tent and immediately Heero picked her up and flitted to the outskirts of town.

As he came to a stop, he put the young woman down knowing he shouldn't have done that. Vampires weren't kind to people who stole their prey, especially from right under their noses.

"Thank you so much! I can't thank you enough! They kidnapped me from my hometown and told me I was now going to be part of the vampire act... How could I ever repay you?" The young woman threw herself upon Heero, and startled the vampire.

Heero immediately shoved her away and dusted himself off. "You don't need to thank me. Just go home to your parents like all the other spoiled brats do after they're saved. Besides if you don't like vampires, then you definitely won't like me."

For a few moments the young woman was silent and then turned away from Heero.

"You're one of those types, huh? The ones who pretend they hate the world when inside you love it just like the rest of us. I won't bother you though since you went through the trouble of doing what no one else in that audience would have bothered to do." She turned and smiled at Heero making the vampire glare at her. "My name is Relena Peacecraft, by the way. If you even need my help for anything I'm in the next town over."

The first thought that came to Heero's mind was that the name Peacecraft was incredibly familiar, but he couldn't remember from where. Instead sticking around when the vampire he'd stolen Relena from came looking for him; Heero decided to go back to the castle.

----

All of the things he wanted to bring with him on his search were now packed in a small bag he could easily carry around. Now the only thing he had to do was bring up the subject with Heero, but that could wait until tomorrow evening. Instead he decided to rest for a few extra hours when he got a knock on his door.

Quatre was planning on just ignoring the visitor at first, but when they began to continue persistently knocking he called them in. To his surprise it was actually Sally who entered the room and apparently skipping out on dinner.

"What's wrong? You look like you have something on your mind."

"Actually I think I've found the perfect arrangement for dealing with that orphan child. A way that he doesn't always have to be around and need to constantly be under our surveillance to ensure his safety." Sally looked genuinely proud of her idea as she finally told the curious blonde young man. "We should send him to school in town."

Sitting on the bed, Quatre began to contemplate the idea. What Sally was saying was a good thing not only for the vampires in the castle, but good for the orphan as well. Without any education the boy would never survive in the world of humans, and since they were able to afford this luxury...

"I'm not the one you should be telling this to. You should go talk with Heero and Duo since they're the ones who will decide how that boy lives around this deathtrap." He answered her already seeing the look of irritation that he disagreed with such an excellent idea. "Not to say that it isn't a good idea, but what if he tells people of us? If word got out that the rumors of vampires truly living here instead of just 'those weird people' then we would be in trouble."

Sally gave him a knowing smile and then answered him, "But we just need to stress the importance to Thomas that he must not tell anyone about what we are."

"That won't work Sally, children can't control their mouths and are always looking for some way of getting attention. There will be one time that he's talking and it just slips out and that's the end of it." Quatre got to his feet as he saw Sally heading for the door angry her idea had been completely shot down.

He caught her by the arm and held onto her with a firm grip not allowing her to leave. Sally closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning back towards Quatre. "Listen... Master Heero doesn't really need this extra burden on top of everything else he's dealing with. I know you can sense it as well... Duo can't be constantly distracted by that child when he has to make such a big decision to finally become a full-fledged vampire."

Quatre let go of Sally's arm and then went and sat back down on the bed. After a few seconds he lied down and didn't look at Sally as she left the room. This was just more proof that he shouldn't be so selfish and leave.

But then again, this was something he really needed to do. Living without Trowa just wasn't an option anymore for Quatre... Then he also knew that Heero and Duo were struggling with another naive person in the castle and with their relationship.

Just as Sally said, Quatre had been sensing Heero's conscious mind slowly detaching itself lately. Perhaps Duo just didn't have that kind of perception to realize that, but it was happening because Duo was too scared to take the plunge. The half-vampire had yet to realize love wasn't a safe thing, and there's going to be a moment that you're hanging in midair without any net to catch you.

But it shouldn't stop you from taking that leap. Not if you really wanted that person, and that rationalization Quatre knew he had to do the same. Even though times were hard for Heero and Duo, the blonde vampire had faith in their love for each other.

He was now ready to take that leap with Trowa as well.

----

Another chapter out! I hope this was another good chapter for reading. Just as a warning though, when November comes closer I'm probably going to go on a temporary hiatus for this story in order to participate in NanoWriMo. It won't be permanent, but there might not be any new chapters out for the month of November in order to focus on writing 50,000 words.

But for October I will continue to write as much as possible! Chapter five is already in the process of being written, so expect another chapter soon!

Shari Maxwell