Time to mix movie with imagination. Moreso than usual, anyway.

Enjoy!

"When I left Sanc five years ago, the trader ship on which I took passage was attacked. The Deathscythe is a strong ship, and fast. We never stood a chance of escaping," Quatre said as they clambered over thick, sickly-looking vines. "We all knew that Shinigami, the God of Death, might well opt to kill us all on a whim, and he would definitely kill us all if we resisted. So we surrendered."

"Good start, that," Duo nodded sagely. He seemed more content to roam through the tree-branches above than on the forest floor where the other two kept having to regularly dodge random blasts of fire. "So much easier when people don't fight back." He grinned impudently at Quatre, who returned the expression.

"I had something to bargain with, so I bought the safety of the rest of my ship by offering myself to Shinigami in recompense. What I told you before, about describing a man of integrity, that was true," Quatre continued. "Duo decided he'd never had a valet, it sounded like a good story, and I was valuable cargo anyway, so he spared me."

"Remember what I used to say at night, Cat?"

"Yes. 'Good night, Kitty. Good work. Might kill you tomorrow, so sweet dreams!'" Quatre shook his head bemusedly. "It never really bothered me. I knew you didn't mean it."

"Kitty?" Heero asked, incredulous. Quatre turned to him, eyes laughing.

"That's...just how he is. Anyway," he moved on swiftly, "It was a fine time for me. I was learning to fence, fight, anything anyone would teach me. Duo and I eventually became friends."

"Plus you had more than a little to give me in return," Duo said, dangling upside down from a thick branch like a grinning spider. "Worked out good for both of us."

"Well, yes," Quatre acknowledged. "But it was a few years before we could make use of it."

"Okay, enough!" Heero stopped and crossed his arms. "Quatre, you're being cryptic. What, exactly, did you bargain with? You had nothing when you left Sanc."

"Sit down," Quatre sighed. "It's a longer story than you think."

Heero found a moss-covered log and settled himself while Quatre began to pace nervously before him. Duo sat at the other end of the log, face still and serious for once.

"My full name is Quatre Raberba Winner," Quatre said after a moment. "You won't recognize it because you've never gone far enough to the East, but Duo had. I am, or was, anyway, the exiled son of, well, not a king exactly, but something close to that in our lands. I was the heir once, but I left Weiland long ago. That's how I ended up your valet. And no," he looked up with a forbidding expression, "that's not part of this story. Maybe another day."

Heero nodded.

"When Shinigami – Duo – attacked the ship I was on, I told him my name so he could take me hostage. It was a risk, because there was no telling if my father would give him anything for me since we didn't part on good terms. But it bought me a chance, and in the end, it didn't matter. By the time we reached my ancestral lands, Duo had decided he liked me too well to kill me, and it turned out that my father had died anyway."

"Quatre," Heero breathed, reaching out with a hand, "I'm so sorry." He remembered all in a rush the pain of losing his own father so many years ago.

Quatre took the hand and smiled a little wetly. "Thank you. It's all right. I've had lots of time to get used to the idea. Anyway. My eldest sister and her husband had succeeded him, even though technically the title should have fallen to me, but I wasn't there to accept it. Iria had always been kind to me, so she was willing to compensate Duo fairly for my safe return as well as lifting the exile decree against me."

"Not to mention that she shouted at me," Duo said ruefully. "Since by the time we turned up, Cat was half pirate himself! She was mad."

"But she paid, so my debt to Duo was cleared," Quatre continued. "I didn't want to take her place in our homeland, though. All I wanted was to come back for you, Heero," he looked at him blazingly, "but I couldn't. Not yet."

"Why not?" Heero found himself asking.

"By then, I'd been gone more than two years, and all I had to show for it was a few fencing tricks and a good set of sea legs. I hadn't mastered myself and I hadn't yet become your equal." Quatre met his eyes unflinchingly. "I didn't yet have anything to offer you that was worthy. I had no skill, no honor."

"Quatre," Heero got to his feet, tugging on the hand he held to bring him closer, "I didn't need any of that. I never wanted that from you. And I...I would have wanted to know you were alive."

"I didn't know you had been told I was dead, though I should have guessed," Quatre hung his head. "I'm so sorry for that part. But I just couldn't have come back to you with nothing. I told you when we parted that I needed to find a place for myself so that I could stand at your side as an equal. It took me two more years to find it."

"And what did you find?"

"Besides a whole lot of treasure from looted ships and your family?" Duo put in. "Not to mention all those guys?"

"The Maganacs are a group of men who traditionally serve as royal guards and allies for my family line," Quatre explained. "When they learned I was alive, they decided to split into two groups – one to stay with Iria in Weiland and one to come with me. So now I have something of an entourage, and Duo has a well-crewed ship. And yes, I did acquire quite a bit of inheritance as well as our takes from our adventures. But that isn't what I wanted."

The gleam in Quatre's eye told Heero what he meant. "You learned to fight."

"He was relentless," Duo commented cheerfully. "Me, the Maganac leader Rashid, anybody who could hold a weapon and some people who can't. Day and night it seemed like he trained with whoever he could talk into giving him the time. He's as good as me now, and better sometimes."

"Better?" Heero looked at the wicked curve to Duo's smile.

"Oh, yeah," the pirate's grin widened. "He's super smart, so he can usually take somebody down by out-thinking them, but that's not what I really mean. He's got a whole other kind of advantage when he bothers to use it. He says it isn't fair and he's all about being fair, but when he has reason to cheat..."

Suddenly the world spun and Heero was unbelievably dizzy. He staggered into Quatre, who caught him. Then, a moment later, the sensation disappeared. In it's place, he felt clarity, like the world stood out in sharp relief, every branch and blade of grass as defined as if he had gained the eyes of a falcon. This, too, faded. And then Heero felt himself begin to grow dizzy again, but this time from the overwhelming emotion that wrapped around him like falling into water. He was held and loved and cherished and the sense of it was infinite and unbreakable.

Quatre's words filtered into the haze in his mind. "This is what I really am, Heero. Your people call us witches, but we are taught that sometimes there are those born that carry an unusual ability. I can sense and project feelings and intentions, and I can affect the mind to a certain extent as well. The people of Weiland tend towards simpler gifts, but my family is typically very strong. Of all my sisters, only I manifested empathy, and it seems I got all their potential as well as my own."

"The first time he showed me," Duo spoke into the warm cloud that embraced Heero, "I about passed out. I'd met a couple of travelers with weird little talents, but there's no empath stronger than Cat anywhere I've ever been."

"Quatre," Heero felt things ease away from him and the world was again as it always had been. But Quatre was looking at their feet.

"I fell in love with you when I was still untrained and uncontrolled. I could read your heart every minute of the day, Heero," he spoke softly. "I knew all the things you never said, never admitted to anyone. I couldn't return to you until I was certain I could stop myself from listening again if you didn't wish me to."

"Quatre..."

"You should have the choice, Heero," he said firmly. "I have no right to listen to your heart without permission. I couldn't stop myself before – it was like you were screaming at me all the time. Now I know how to close my heart to it, if you wish it. I didn't...I couldn't tell you the truth of myself until I could offer you full control, full insulation from my gift if needed."

"You would cut that part of yourself off, mute what you can hear, if I asked you to?"

"Yes, Heero," Quatre finally met his eyes once more. "You're a private person. I cannot do you the dishonor of not allowing you to keep your privacy even from me."

"Quatre, you're being foolish," Heero shook his head, beginning to smile. "Listen to my heart now and see what it tells you."

Quatre didn't even close his eyes, he just stilled for a moment before he smiled blindingly. Heero leaned in to kiss him, his own heart filling. His Quatre, his wonderful Quatre had wanted to be worthy of him, when Heero considered himself little more than a common soldier. But his Quatre had moved the earth, become a warrior, mastered a power beyond imagining, all so that he could give everything up if Heero asked it of him. If it were anyone else, Heero would have been very uneasy having his heart read. But it was Quatre – he had said it before when he thought he'd been speaking with Shinigami that Quatre was his heart. There was no one else he wished to have it.

After a long moment of contentment, they parted. Quatre was flushed, and Duo winked at them, and Heero felt his ears redden slightly.

"So what happened? Why did you come back?"

"It was you," Quatre said. "Two days ago, we were sailing not far from Sanc and I suddenly knew something terrible had happened to you. I begged Duo to bring me here, to find out what had happened."

"Two days ago?" Heero thought. "Oh. Prince Zechs's tournament. The betrothal."

"I thought it was you being abducted, but same thing, I suppose. You were upset and I couldn't stand it. After we caught up with you on the water, I just followed you, and Duo followed me. You know the rest."

"Wait," Heero tipped his head. "How could you know I was in trouble? You were fathoms away."

"Heero," Quatre's whole face softened, "I will always know your heart. I truly finished mastering my gift after an intensive training a few months ago. Since then, I have always been aware of you, though this was the first time I could tell your feelings for what they were. Although now that we are together, I believe I shall always know what you feel, no matter the distance."

"It was scary," Duo piped up. "He keeled over right on the foredeck, clutching his chest and sweating like we'd been in the tropics again. Couldn't speak for an hour, and when he did it was just your name. He didn't need to do any begging – I was already putting up full sail in this direction before he got around to saying anything sensible."

"But why?" Heero asked.

Duo's eyes narrowed coldly. "Since the day I met him, Cat ain't asked me for anything but to spare lives not worth taking and to be myself. I owe him my life and my ship ten times over. And he's never ever been afraid of me. Name something I won't do for him – it's a short list with one word on it. Nothing."

"Same goes for me," Quatre said softly even as he curled back into Heero's arms to be held. "I still owe him the debt of my life. And even after that, Duo gave me more than I can ever repay, and believe me, I've tried. So you're getting something I didn't anticipate in this bargain, I'm afraid, love."

"It's okay," Heero said reflexively. Then he thought about it. "No, it really is. I've been alone my whole life, Quatre, and I know that isn't a good thing. If you had a friend to keep you safe, then I owe him my life, too, because you are my life. If you found safety, then I am safe too, because I am well if you are. If your friend will have me, I'll willingly join you in that debt you owe him." Heero looked over at the surprised flush on Duo's face.

"You got it, Hee-chan," he said after a moment's silence.

"Just get used to it," Quatre sighed. "He likes nicknames."

"I noticed."

"Everything all cleared up then?" Duo asked, rising. "We got the big story done."

"All but one thing – why did you pretend to be Shinigami when you came for me?" Heero asked, not releasing Quatre from his arms.

"That was my idea," Duo said. "Cat and I play that bait and switch a lot. He's good at pretending to be me, and with that empathy he can read people in a way I can only imagine. And I'm the best at hiding and sneaking the world has ever seen, so usually it works to make people think they're dealing with me while really I'm right behind them with a knife ready to stick in their backs. He can signal me if he wants me, and he can always tell what I want him to do."

"It was an advantage," Quatre added. "We were outnumbered and you were a prisoner. Also, if I had failed, Duo would have been there to save you in my place. We needed you and your captors to think I was Shinigami, not someone you recognized, to keep them off-balance."

"Your empathy...that's why I didn't notice your eyes. You made sure I didn't recognize you by bending my sight somehow," Heero realized.

Quatre nodded against him. "Yes, I tricked all of you for a while. I didn't want you to know it was me."

"But why?"

"I also didn't know if you still wanted me. Or if you had given up on living. If you had been dead inside, there would have been no hope for either of us. Your heart was so stonily empty when I found you, Heero. Also," he squirmed slightly, "I've made it a habit to pretend to be Shinigami completely, and I sort of got caught up in it. It's usually a good strategy!" he protested at the mockingly disapproving expression on Heero's face.

"You just get carried away," Duo nodded sagely.

"I am not surprised to learn you take to all things with dedication," Heero commented, "but do not fool me again."

"Of course not!"

Heero wondered if he should say anything about the cold deadness of his heart, to explain why he had been so willing to die, but felt the arms around him tighten. Of course Quatre could feel it. He probably understood Heero's heart better than he did.

"Any more questions, love?" Quatre finally stepped back fully and looked up into his eyes.

"No," Heero reached up and touched a hand to Quatre's cheek. "No, I think I'm satisfied now."

"Good!" Duo stretched. "Then let's get back to the plan. We're going to get to the Deathscythe and then you two can decide if you want to go back to Sanc and tell the Princess that she's out one betrothed brother, or we can just sail off into the sunset or to Weiland or wherever you want to go. I assume we want to keep avoiding Prince Pretty-Hair on the way."

"Sounds good," Heero nodded. He would be just as glad not to meet his betrothed again after all.

Quatre drew out the compass to check their direction before turning to continue. Duo sauntered to his feet to set off in the direction to which Quatre gestured.

And disappeared.

-==OOO==-

"...'Name something I won't do for him – it's a short list with one word on it. Nothing.'..."

"Um..."

"Yes?"

"That part...is it...?"

"Yes, I'd say that's the truth."

"No, I mean with you. With all of you. In real life."

"Obviously. And that goes for you, too, little one. We all carry that same short list for you."

"...I'm glad. It makes me feel safe."

"You are safe, child, more than you could ever know."