Disclaimer: don't own GundamW characters or anything other then this fanfic.

Chapter 8:
The Sun and the Moon

Mariemaia giggled as she clasped onto Quatre's hand and began to lead him down the hallway. For the first time since getting to know the young girl, Quatre could honestly say that she was acting like the small, innocent child that she is. He paused his mind for a moment. No, she wasn't innocent, she just looked it. Even at her young age she was sly, calculating, and on occasions manipulative. He shrugged these thoughts out of his mind as he watched a smile fan from one end of her thin lips to the other. On other occasions she could be the sweet, innocent child that people believed her to be. Today seemed to be one of those days. It kind of made him feel happy for once to see her like this.

"Where are you taking me?" he questioned.

Mariemaia only turned her head slightly to look at him with her brilliant smile. "You'll see!"

Quatre didn't know whether to be glad or be terrified for his life. For the last few days the young girl had been nice to him. Sure his guilt trip was probably what triggered her cheery disposition and recent acts of kindness, but there was still this lingering suspicion at the back of his mind that made him not want to trust her.

"Cover your eyes!" Mariemaia exclaimed in a shrill little voice.

Quatre pulled his hand out of hers and looked down at the young girl suspiciously. There was nothing in this world that was going to make him shut his eyes when she was leading him anywhere.

The young girl looked up at him surprise. A hurt look in her crystalline eyes as her tiny smile turned into a frown. "Please Quatre!" she reached for his hand again.

The young Arab man studied the little girl for a moment as her tiny figures wrapped around his much larger hand. She tugged at him, pleading. "Oh, please, Quatre! Just for a moment! I promise it's nothing bad!" Quatre hesitated. The young girl took a step back, straightening herself up and placing her right hand over her heart she began, "I swear to you on my name, as a Krushrenada, that I will not do anything awful to you at all."

Quatre continued to procrastinate. If she was anything like her father, then she would be true to her word no matter what the situation. But the simple fact was that she had been raised by her grandfather, thus having no association with her father in the whole of her short life. The young man thought back to a few months prior when he had last seen Preventer's Director Lady Une. She had been in charge of caring for the small girl since her grandfather's death. Miss Une had praised the small girl and even gone as far as suggesting that Mariemaia was the spitting image of her father, regardless of the fact that they had never once meet.

The thought was reassuring enough. Slowly he stretched his hand out to her again as he closed and covered his eyes with his other hand. He felt her tiny fingers wrap around his hand and then a tug as the little girl continued to lead him down the long hallway of the palace. He heard a pair of doors slide open and then shut behind him. Finally, Mariemaia came to a stop and released his hand.

"You may look now!" she exclaimed happily.

Quatre brought his hand down and opened his soft eyes. Before him lay an array of what looked to be luggage and chests. He gazed down at them, scanning them briefly before his attention was caught by a piece of paper resting on one of the chests. He looked over at the young girl. She simply smiled at him warmly and urged him forward.

Quatre reached down and unfolded the parchment, scanning its contents. "What does all this mean?" he questioned rather confused.

Mariemaia joyfully came around and took the paper from him. "It's a map."

"I can see that."

"Here," she pointed at the map.

Quatre studied the location she pointed at. "What about it?"

"We're taking a road trip!" Mariemaia's smile widened.

###

Quatre shifted a bit uncomfortable in the carriage. As comfortable as it had first appeared, he now found his gilded cage to be annoying. The pair of gods had been traveling for days now over a vast span of land. He himself did not know where they were heading, but trusted the small girl, as scary as the thought was to his sane self. The carriage had been built especially for the two god's traveling pleasure. At first glance it had looked like a wagon with a beautiful, high canopy top and heavy curtains draping over the sides. The inside was lavishly furnished with fine pillows and cushions of silk for their comfort. All in all, the procession of servants and armed warriors reminded the young man of old Arab illustrations of royal caravans crossing the dessert.

"Hey, Mariemaia," the blonde man turned his attention to the fiery haired girl who sat across from him. "Don't you find it rather odd that these people still think that we're gods? All we did was just show up." He paused for a moment watching the scenery pass them by. "We haven't done anything godly."

The small girl giggled. "You haven't figured it out?" she brought her hands up to her thin lips. The blonde shook his head. "You can be quite the interesting person, Quatre." Scooting in closer to the older youth she produced a scroll from beneath the cascade of fabric that enveloped her small body.

Quatre eyed the item briefly before taking it in his hands and rolling it out. It was an exquisite painting in a style that the young Arab was not familiar with. His aqua eyes moved over the parchment slowly, absorbing every detail he could. "It's beautiful," he whispered in astonishment.

"They are two very important gods of this land," Mariemaia explained. "The Sun Goddess Amaterasu- Ōmikami and her brother Tsukuyomi no Mikoto, the Moon God. They lived together in harmony in the heavens until Tsukuyomi killed the Goddess Uke Mochi for making food in a disgusting manner. This caused Amaterasu to become very angry with him and thus, she never faced to look at her brother again. This is why the sun and moon are such polar opposites when they occupy the heavens."

Quatre had been listening attentively. "How strange," he commented. "The Moon is always associated with women while the Sun is always male in every culture that I can think of. This country seems to think of it the other way around. But that still didn't answer my question."

Mariemaia's smile widened. "I have convinced the young Lord that we are Amaterasu- Ōmikami and Tsukuyomi no Mikoto. We have descended from the heavens on our father's behalf to make sure that his lands are being well inherited by man. It took a while, but he eventually believed me. The fact that you are always awake late into the night helped very much." Her bubbly eyes gleamed up at him.

Quatre eyed the girl over. Ever since arriving in this country and being recognized as a god, he had spent many a night looking up at the starry sky quietly. He simply missed his home and felt that if he looked up at the night sky he might just catch a glimpse of a colony crossing the heavens. It never occurred to him that he might have been doing something that the small girl would misconstrue.

"I've also made sure that both you and I look our parts of those two gods," the young girl continued. "Your milky skin and hair are like the moon and your eyes are the color of the bright ring around the full moon. Most importantly, you are always wrapped in the night sky," she gestured to his outfit. The blond looked down at himself. He was wearing a fine, midnight blue kimono with a beautiful, deep, rich purple haori. It was clear to see now that he was indeed the personification of what one might imagine the Moon to look like.

The young man returned his attention to the girl sitting before him. She was dressed in bight, warm, sunny colors as usual. The bright yellows, oranges, and reds made her eyes leap from her ivory skin, resembling the clear, midday sky while her fiery red hair was just that, the color of the burning sun. It didn't take much to make the leap from small girl to Sun Goddess.

Yes, Quatre continued thinking to himself, this girl is deftly calculating and quite manipulative. He would have to keep his wits about her and make sure to remain on her good side.

The carriage shook violently, startling the two occupants.

"We have arrived in the capitol in the land of Kinai," the lead guard riding next to them announced before either of the gods could peek out at their surroundings.

Mariemaia's porcelain face lit up with excitement. She had always wanted to see the great castles of the Kansai region first hand. Now, she would be the inhabitant of one of these beautiful palaces. She inched herself closer to the one of the curtains of the carriage and pulled it back a bit. The excitement in her movements where not lost on her traveling companion as he too peered out.

###

Mariemaia's dazzling smile quickly turned to a frown as she looked up at the castle that her caravan was marching towards. Quatre's face peered down at the small girl as a half-smile lined his lips. He seemed to be trying to console the small girl before the two disappeared behind the curtain once more.

"Wow," Duo whistled. "They seem to be doing well, don't 'cha think?" he turned to his fellow olive eyed comrade.

Trowa simply continued to eye the caravan as it paraded down the boulevard from a distance. His eyes narrowed as he continued to study the line of servants and small army which proceeded toward their destination. If Quatre was with the small girl, then why wasn't he keeping her in check? Why was he allowing her to do as she wished? Why was he allowing her to build another army and try to conquer this land?

"What are you thinking?" Duo almost slurred the entire sentence together. He watched his friend's expression carefully, looking for any indication as to what was going on behind those emerald eyes. But that stoic face revealed nothing.

"I think we need to give those two a visit," Trowa finally answered.

A/N: Yes, this is actually a part of the original outline from when I started the story back in like 2007. Both Amaterasu- Ōmikami and Tsukiyomi no Mikoto are 2 of the 3 "Honored Siblings" in Shinto and Japanese mythology. I've never been able to find too much detailed information regarding the two gods (or any of the other Japanese gods), and thus am aiming to keeping any information on these gods on the light side.

As far as the land of Kinki goes, I've looked up what ancient names the Kansai region used to go by and came up with Kansai, Kinki, and Kinai. Apparently all three have been used interchangeably over history. I decided to use Kinki simply because that is the name of the plain where the present day cities of Kyoto and Osaka are.

Anywho, I hope you continue to enjoy.