A Glint in the Snow

By: Abby Ebon

AN: I own nothing!

Duo sighed and brushed back his sweat soaked bangs he'd been at this 'manipulating your spirit energy' thing for the past hour and all he had managed was- if he was lucky, a few purple or black sparks at the ends of his finger tips. While he personally thought that was awesome in it's self it wasn't his goal- the weird sphere of energy was.

Unfortunately he had quickly learned why Wufei had fled the training room as if the hounds of hell were after him. Duo had the familiar sinking feeling in his gut that often meant that a mission that was supposed to be easy enough for him to do in his sleep was harder then he'd imagined.

At least Yuusuke was slightly easier on him then he imagined Genkai was on Wufei as he had yet been held for practice for hours on end. Focusing again on the task on hand, a type of homework- as Duo thought of it, that Yuusuke had assigned for him to get better at their practices.

This never seemed to work though and Duo was getting annoyed with it -why couldn't he get it right? Why did it always seem he had the harder life? What purpose could he serve if he couldn't help his friends win the war? Duo hadn't noticed that the black sparks were coming from his fingers and his hand was glowing a purplish black- the sparks were flinging themselves to the floor only to leave burn marks.

Five loud and startling claps drew him out of his bout of self aghast Duo looked up to see Yuusuke who had a wide grin on his face. Duo looked down ashamed as he thought Yuusuke was goading him for losing his temper only to see the burnt marks and his head came up so fast it could have caused whip lash and he grinned only to find Yuusuke on his haunches in front of him.

"Good job Duo- it's different for everyone, but now that you've found your key, whatever it is- you can master that." Yuusuke nodded to Duo's still faintly glowing hand- Duo knew he had a long while to go before he could get the sphere but now he had a starting point and he could only get better.

"Thanks for everything Yuusuke." Duo said softly Yuusuke grinned again and rose from his crouched position and patting him on the back and left the room. Duo turned to his hand with new determination- he could do this and he would help protect his friends.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Trowa sighed as he brushed back his hair is seemed he had never spent so much time doing nothing at all. He was quickly becoming both bored and restless with the wait when they had gone he had assumed they would come here and be back in no time at all it all seemed to much like a game of hurry up and wait.

Trowa knew he wasn't the only one who thought the wait was taking much longer then was expected. Quatre he knew was often found either talking with one of Yuusuke's friends or handing out with Heero and him self.

Wufei and Duo at least seemed to be being learning something from there hosts. Becoming annoyed with this train of thought Trowa went in search of a way to side track himself perhaps a walk around the grounds which reminded him Hiei who had taken them shopping yesterday was still missing.

Now with a propose and self claimed mission Trowa left to explore the grounds –after all they knew so little about the surrounding area, and hopefully find Hiei.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Kurama was the one who first spotted Yukina as he walked around the premises still searching for Hiei. He had been amused when the annoyed looking human boy had left seemingly disappearing into the grounds. Turning on his heel Kurama went in search of Yuusuke by his energy signature.

Predictably Yuusuke, Genkai and the two humans- Wufei and Duo were eating in the kitchen. It didn't surprise him those who used their energy were often hungry and even training someone was tiring after all you had to keep them and yourself from releasing a dangerous amount of spirit energy.

"Kurama, what is it?" Genkai asked frowning at his solemn expression. The hidden worry in her voice caused Yuusuke to pay attention as well. While Duo seemed concerned only with eating as much as he could and Wufei's stomach argued its own hunger even when the site of Duo gobbling down his food caused Wufei to reconsider his stomach disagreed adamantly.

"I'm afraid Yukina is back." Both Genkai and Yuusuke paused in their meal glancing between each other Yuusuke stood and left- Wufei and Duo traded confused glances- Was Yukina their enemy? Genkai stayed but so they did as well but Kurama who had no wish to watch them eat and so had followed Yuusuke when he had left.

When they went out Yukina was already nearing the top set of stairs and Hiei had apparently dragged Trowa out of the forest grounds for they both were standing watching Yukina approach.

"Anyone got an idea what were going to do?" Yuusuke asked watching her approach cautiously. Hiei glanced out of the corner of his eye to Trowa.

"Go inside." He ordered, with a frown Trowa obeyed.

"In other words Yuusuke- no, we do not." Kurama spoke softly Yuusuke smirked.

"We'll see what she wants first alright? 'Sides what can she do against us?" Hiei snorted his arms crossed.

"Quite a lot Yuusuke do not underestimate her." Yuusuke shrugged but didn't seem to disagree with Hiei. Yukina finally reached the last step and gave her welcoming party a warm smile which none of them returned or reacted to.

"I'm sorry things got so out of hand- am I still welcome here?" Yukina asked softly, the three glanced between each other then Yuusuke shrugged- as if he had broken some invisible boundary for her Yukina side stepped them and they followed after her. Hiei was the only one to notice Kuwabara starting up the temple steps.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Around noon when things had finally quieted down the Gundam pilots gathered to discuss their host's strange reaction to Yukina's return. Duo shifted in his seat and it seemed to him no one wanted to speck first so he thought he might as well give it a go.

"Well I don't know about you guys but I don't like it." Duo started tugging on the end of his braid face pensive. Wufei nodded his arms folded and posture stiff as he leaned against the wall.

"I have to agree with Duo there is something that just doesn't feel right about her anymore." Quatre agreed, though he really couldn't put into words what he felt was 'wrong' about her but he knew something had changed somehow.

"The two demons and Yuusuke acted as if they were preparing for a fight when Hiei ordered me away." Trowa mused eyes closed as he thought back to that morning when he had first seen her she had seemed almost uncaring when greeted with Kuwabara's enthusiastic welcome which Trowa knew had hurt him.

"While our host's seem to accept her I don't think they quite trust her." Wufei intoned remembering the hard look in Genkai's eyes when Yukina had entered the kitchen while he and Duo were leaving.

"Then we won't either." Heero murmured into the silence they all knew they would be on guard now probably going everywhere in pairs or trios. No one voiced any complaints about the new arrangements.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Heero sat back in his computer chair watching the blank screen. What he hadn't told his fellow pilots yet was that he had gained access to a major bank's deposits just in case anything unseen were to happen they wouldn't be completely helpless.

While hacking in this world was so easy the people were nearly paranoid about viruses and bug crashing computers while in his world it had only been a inconvenience and wasn't a major threat to him- it still wasn't but it was another example of just how different the two worlds were.

Heero looked to the door now that he had the time to notice he was rather hungry, sighing he left the chair and shook Duo- who had fallen asleep waiting for Heero to finish so they could go eat, awake. Duo didn't make any noises his eyes snapping open and he automatically reached for a weapon he didn't have before he came fully awake and realized it was only Heero.

"Finally done, eh? What were you doing?" Duo as Heero was fully able to ask questions and think on his feet right after waking up he only pretended not too which made little sense to Heero but its wasn't something he really noticed anymore having accepted most of Duo's quirks and able to somewhat easily ignore the rest.

Duo had evidently memorized his way to the kitchen during their short stay here as he led Heero to it. They ate though neither paid attention to what they were eating- Heero because he was thinking of the similarities and differences between the two worlds and

Duo -because he'd already eaten a larger then normal meal and was only eating again because Quatre often insisted on three healthy meals a day. They finished about the same time and were on their way back when they passed Yukina.

Both boys watched her warily and she met both their eyes boldly but her curious gaze seemed to linger on both of them longer then either had seen her watch anyone else. When they made it back to their rooms Duo and Heero had silently decide not to tell their fellow pilots or their hosts of the encounter.

The three of them hadn't known that Yuusuke had watched their strange encounter from the training room as it had taken place just outside it.