Author: Aja Golde

For summary, disclaimer and mild warnings, see chapters one and two.

Author's Notes: If anyone is interested, the soundtracks I listen to while I write this are: "Sahra" by Khaled, and "Muso Ko" by Habib Koite (with band Bamada). I'm not affiliated with them, either. I just like to groove to their tunes :).

Chapter 3

Day 1 12:30 PM

They stood in line for the Everest ride for the second time, only now they were in the Fast-Pass line, and within ten minutes they were already once again requesting the front row. While waiting, Duo was constantly craning his neck to look for the handsome employee he had seen last time.

"Where is he? Do you think I should ask around?"

"You'll do no such thing," Quatre grabbed Duo's shoulder, half afraid he'd run off.

"But I need to see him!"

"Come on Duo, we're next."

"He's not there! He's not with the microphone – this is your fault Quatre. I'll never see him ever again!"

"The world has not ended. Here comes the coaster."

Duo was too busy glaring at the new man who held the microphone. In return, the man had turned an unhealthy shade of pale. When the gates opened and Quatre stepped into the coaster, it took a while for Duo to even follow. He was surveying the rest of the crew on the loading deck, trying to pick out that mop of brown hair.

"Duo," he hissed and at last his braided companion sunk into the seat next to him. Quatre pulled back his blond bangs, rubbing his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

"How hard would it be to track him down? We could interrogate the rest of the Everest employees. You know, just some casual questions, and then if they don't cooperate I bet we could drag them off somewhere. Where do you think a good interrogation room would be? We'll have to do some scouting. And we could come back tomorrow, same time, to check if he's here, but we'll have make sure to get his name-"

"Welcome, foolish travelers," said a drawling voice over the speakers. Duo perked up, and sure enough, the Disney cast member he had been obsessing over was back with the microphone.

"It must be his shift again," Duo whispered into Quatre's ear, "we are so lucky!"

We? Quatre scoffed mentally.

"-and that's if you survive. I highly doubt any of you will escape the Yeti," the employee was finishing up his cheesy spiel on the microphone.

"Yeah? And what's the reward if we do come out alive?" Duo shouted.

The employee snorted, "I'll give you a free stuffed animal."

"How about your name and phone number?" Duo crowed and Quatre slapped a hand over his eyes, mortified.

But the employee just smirked, "The name is Heero, the number is 867-5309."

And with that Heero pressed a button and the coaster zoomed off, Duo cackling as the wind blew in their faces. Once the ride was coming to a halt, Quatre decided to inform his friend that what Heero had given him was in fact not a real number.

"It's a number from an old song," Quatre said.

"Aw man," Duo pouted.

"You were really going to call it?!"

Duo just shrugged, "But I got his name, didn't I?" Duo's eyes narrowed, "That wasn't from the song too, was it?"

"No."

"Good," Duo jumped out of the coaster, "now I have to get back in line."

"Why?"

"Well, I have to remind Heero that he owes me a stuffed animal."

And so they ended up back in line again. Quatre felt as if he was caught in a time loop, but he knew ways to make Duo pay. Another visit to the petting yard might suffice. Of course, there was also that show Trowa mentioned. If Quatre made Duo feel guilty enough, he might get to go to both. Then again, there was the safari ride he had seen on the map. And unlike Duo, Quatre was not so hung up on a guy that he couldn't enjoy the rest of the park. He had finally snuck out from under his father's nose, and he was planning on enjoying his freedom and not starting a distracting fling. Of course, Quatre was also terribly shy; he was not like Duo, who could strike up friendships and romance whenever he saw fit. So even though Trowa was extremely attractive, Quatre had no idea how to approach him. He could never be so bold. Escaping for a singular week had nearly caused him a heart attack. Anything else might kill him.

They again requested the front row and this time as they waited for the coaster by the gates, Duo began a conversation with Heero.

"I survived the Yeti," Duo grinned.

"You're back again?"

"You owe me a stuffed animal Mister Heero-Fake-Phone-Number."

"What's your hotel and room number?"

That statement caught Duo off guard, a rare feat, and Quatre had to chuckle as Duo stood gaping for a few seconds, "Hotel and Room Number? My, don't we move quickly. Maybe I like things slow and thorough," Duo winked, taking a step closer to the Disney employee.

Heero merely stared at him, "I was going to have the stuffed animal delivered to your hotel."

Duo's jaw went slack, "No shit. You're really going to give me one? Well, I want the biggest of whatever you have."

Quatre was pretty sure that last line contained some sexual innuendo, but Heero gave no hint that he had heard anything unusual.

"We have some pretty big stuffed animals. Hope your suitcase is large enough."

But by that time the coaster was already pulling up and Duo gave Heero a cheery wave as he stepped into the ride, "The hotel is All Star Sports. Name is Duo Maxwell. Room is 207. Do you do in-person deliveries?"

"For you? Never," Heero said, smirking all the while.

"I'm sure I could reward you for your trouble."

Heero picked up the microphone, now completely ignoring Duo, "Welcome, foolish travelers…"

Duo, meanwhile, was whispering things in Quatre's ear, "Do you think I've got a big enough suitcase to take him home in?"

"I don't think they do exchanges, so you're stuck with the stuffed animal."

"I can't believe he's going to send the toy to our hotel. Can you even do that?"

"I don't know," Quatre sighed as the coaster began its long haul up to the top of the orange mountain, "but are you sure you know what you're doing? It seems like he's got absolutely no libido."

"Nah, just dazzled witless by the Maxwell charm."

Day 1 2:00 PM

After they had leapt off the Everest ride for the third time, Quatre was ready to pull Duo back to Africa -not to see Trowa, though, as Quatre didn't want to seem like a stalker. Instead, Quatre wanted to go on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride.

"More animals?" Duo had moaned as Quatre dragged him all the way to the other side of the park.

But once they were in line, Duo started to cheer up. He had gotten a glance at the large jeeps they would be in.

"This is kind of cool," Duo admitted, mostly to make it up to Quatre who was getting annoyed with his bad attitude, "I mean, with those jeeps and those animals, real animals, not those goats you were petting earlier, it's bound to be a pretty exciting ride."

"I wonder if any of animals have ever attacked a jeep." Quatre said as he watched the television hanging above the line playing a video about the safari ride; apparently they would see lions, elephants, rhinos and more on the tour.

They were finally ushered to a huge rumbling jeep, the sound of it deafening to Quatre's ears. They climbed aboard and the sound lessened to a nice hum, and it spiked a small adrenaline rush in Quatre's system. The jeep was decorated realistically enough, beat up as if it had braved the real African savannahs, and decked out as if it had enough supplies to sustain them for weeks.

"Welcome!" said their driver as soon as she climbed up the steps.

She was slightly older than them, but her countenance was no less cheery. Her blond hair was parted down the middle, and two braids lay over each of her shoulders. She was a tall woman with an athletic frame that still held onto its curves, and she had a motherly look to her as she gazed at the visitors with pale blue eyes. While she was dressed in the same rugged clothing as the rest of the crew, she wore dark red lipstick, almost as if trying to stand out.

"My name is Sally and I'm about to take you brave souls on a journey through the African pride lands, but first you need to buckle up. I'm the best driver around, if I do say so myself, but things get pretty bumpy out there. The roads in the pride lands are NOT paved, people," she winked at them, chortling at her own joke, "Though goodness knows I've tried to change that."

Her audience laughed weakly with her, but a man up in the front snorted and Quatre realized he was taking notes on a clipboard. He was not dressed as a visitor; instead he wore the same uniform as the others who worked in Animal Kingdom, but didn't seem nearly as friendly as the rest of the employees. His dark hair was pulled into a small, tight ponytail that didn't strike Quatre as hip at all; rather, the look seemed to shout ass hole.

Sally checked their seatbelts before going back to the front of the jeep, "Please do not remove your seatbelt, stand or jump during the duration of the safari. Unless I tell you to, do NOT exit the vehicle. The animals we are about to encounter are real and dangerous, but not as dangerous as I will be if someone breaks these rules, you hear?"

Duo, who was near the driver's seat, asked her, "Have you ever hit an animal before?"

"Have I ever-? Have I ever-? Didn't you hear me? I'm the best driver around. The only thing I've ever hit was a squirrel. And that I did on purpose."

At this the employee with the pony tail began to scribble furiously.

"Hold your hats to your heads ladies and gentlemen, because HERE. WE. GO!" And with that, Sally barreled onto the path, but then she gradually slowed and grinned up at them through the rearview mirror, "Just kidding, folks. You want fast thrills, go bother the Yeti; we're here to look at animals."

Duo could be heard audibly groaning in disappointment. The man in the front, though, was writing so fast and so hard that his pen went through the paper.

Sally took them on the tour, commenting on all the animals they passed, and giving a jaunty wave to the lions, "Sorry, boys, not this truckload of passengers. I promise the next tour I bring out will be all yours. Poor, hungry chaps."

A woman looked a little distressed at this comment, but Quatre thought it was pretty obvious Sally was just having fun. Apparently, the man at the front did not think Sally's comment was in good taste. As a matter of fact, Quatre could read the words he wrote in all capitals: DO NOT THREATEN PASSENGERS WITH DEATH BY LION.

Duo, however, seemed to be in love with her. If they hadn't met Heero first, Quatre wondered if Duo would be obsessing over Sally instead.

"Well knock me out and shoot me down, it looks like poachers have arrived on the scene. Watch out folks, these men are as nasty and as greasy as they come. Kind of like that hamburger I had last night. But now is not the time for chitchat, let's roll on outta here!" Sally accelerated, much like she had when they began the tour.

"As far as I can tell, we've got two options. We can either hightail it out of here and cut the safari short or we can catch those poachers and save the animals," Sally paused, "Save our own skins, right? I mean a few animal skins aren't worth losing our own over, am I right or am I right?"

"WRONG!" Duo shouted, playing along, "You're wrong. We need to save the animals. Come on, you're woman enough."

"Question is: are you man enough?"

"Sure I am, but if I'm not, then I've got Watson here to back me up. Right, Watson?"

Quatre blushed, "Yeah."

"See? Let's do it!"

And with that, Sally began chasing down the poachers.

When the safari ride was over, Sally still had a few jokes to crack as she drove them back to the loading deck, "So, the lions are hungry. Recession means we cut back on the food, you know; anyone want to stick around for my next safari run? I promise to give you a real good tour of the inside of a lion's mouth. Call it Sally's Special Safari Edition."

"Sally," the man up front groaned, speaking for the first time.

"What, are you finally talking to me now? Your pen run out of ink?"

The man blushed and Quatre had to take that as a yes.

"You can't joke around; you have a script to follow, you know that. And the way you drive this jeep – you're not four wheeling!"

"Aw you never let me have any fun Wufei," Sally pouted, "and besides, the passengers love it when I throw in some jokes."

As they exited the jeep, Duo stopped to talk to Sally, aware that Wufei was watching him the entire time.

"Hey Sally, thanks for the awesome ride. I was sure this was going to be boring, but with your commentary, I could barely stop laughing. Thanks for the entertainment and keeping me tuned in. Watson here would never forgive me if I fell asleep on one of his favorite rides."

Quatre huffed, not liking being talked about as if he wasn't there. And Duo talked about him as if he was three years old. Honestly, he wouldn't have minded if Duo had fallen asleep. It wouldn't have hurt his feelings. Besides, a break from Duo's incessant chatter would probably have done them both wonders.

"Well thank you," Sally smiled. Wufei's eyebrow was twitching.

"And I know your overseer here-"

"Ride manager," Wufei cut in.

"-doesn't appreciate some of your jokes. But honestly, what are you doing over in Africa anyway? You should be working in Asia," Duo smirked.

Quatre gasped, and wondered if they'd be banned from this amusement park too. Sure, Wufei looked Chinese, but that was no reason to suggest proper employment.

Sally, however, just chuckled, "Yeah, we tell him that all that time."

Wufei was gaping and Quatre felt a wave of sympathy.

"That was extremely rude Duo. You don't even know the man. You can't make suggestive comments like that. You'll get us banned from another theme park."

Wufei looked at him, and then sneered at Duo, "I suggest you listen to your friend. Between you, Sally and Watson, Watson's the only one with an ounce of sense. Sally, I'll be sending in a report on your behavior later today."

And with that Wufei marched off.

"Sorry," Sally shrugged, "Wufei's a bit of a stickler for rules."

"It was just in jest, you let him know that, all right?" For once, Duo looked guilty, shuffling his shoes against the pavement, "I mean, I was going to slap an arm over his shoulder, you know? Buddy like. Wasn't being serious, just kind of telling him to stop being so serious."

"It's his job," Sally shrugged again, "but I'll tell him."

They parted and Quatre was still fuming as they neared the bridge to Discovery Island.

"Duo, that was really in bad taste you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I went a little too far that time. I'm not racist or anything, you know that, don't you Quatre?"

Quatre sighed, "I think you should personally seek him out and apologize, but that's just me. You do whatever you do that helps you sleep at night; goodness knows you've got enough to keep you up as it is."

"Am I ruining your vacation?"

Quatre stopped and turned to his friend. They had been best friends since middle school, Duo attending a private school on scholarship and Quatre enrolled by his father. Duo was an amazing mechanic, great with numbers and equations, an aspiring engineer. His mouth ran away with him at times (his fists and temper did too, usually all at once), but it was that behavior that had saved Quatre a lot of trouble in his younger years. Duo had taught him how to defend himself, and when he couldn't, he faced down the bullies with him. Sometimes, that bully was Quatre's own father. He wasn't abusive, no, but was highly controlling. He drove Quatre to achieve perfection, perfection that Quatre wanted to attain so badly, and yet never could. Duo accepted him as he was. They loved each other because they accepted each other's imperfectness.

"No, Duo, there's no one else I would rather have with me on this vacation."

"But would you prefer to be alone?"

"No!" Quatre suddenly shouted, "It's only because of you that I got here in the first place. My father thinks I'm spending a week at your house, and in reality you slipped past him, his body guards, and all my sisters to get me down to Disneyworld. Duo, for one week, I have absolutely no surveillance. My father isn't judging me, my sisters aren't crowding me, I don't have body guards spying on me. You know he would have sent one of my sisters or guards along with us to report to him. I'm away from all that, because of you."

"So you didn't want to come with me just because I had a car?"

"No, Duo," Quatre smiled, though it was true that to take out one of the family cars he would have had to ask, and Quatre didn't want any sort of Winner-recognizable-material on him. And if he took a family car down to Disney, well, the wear on the car might have been obvious. They lived near the Georgia state line, so getting to Disney took around five hours. Using Duo's car was easier. It blended in better. It was old, fixed up by Duo himself.

"I wanted to come with you because you're my best friend, and because you've got spirit. Around you, I actually feel like I have a pair," Quatre continued.

"Aw come on, don't put yourself down like that."

"But it's true. When I get back home, they'll probably drop right back off, but for now, I actually feel eighteen and not twelve."

Duo gripped him in a brief hug, "Don't go all sentimental on me now."

"Can't help it," Quatre said gruffly, "here I feel like I'm Quatre, not Quatre Winner, son of Florida senator Mr. Winner."

"All right, all right, I get it. You feel like a man. 'I am Quatre, hear me roar'. I get it," Duo slung an arm over his shoulder, "Now, what does the lion, ruler of the pride lands, want to do next?"

"Well, speaking of lions, I heard there's this show…"