10-Apr-2001
Title: Chasing the Crown, an Extended Family Fic
ExFam Authors:
RavynFyre - ravynfyre@hotmail.com
Diane Davis - fenwyck@radiks.net
von - sablexo1@yahoo.com
bonnejeanne - bonnejeanne@yahoo.com
*Special Guest Writer! Nixie the Pixie!*
Nixers - Nixerchan@aol.com
Category: yaoi, AU
Rating: NC-17 for now, that will change
Pairings: 1x2, 3+4
Spoilers: Series, Endless Waltz, Mission: Arcadia
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters and universe are the property of the copyright owners.
Kenny, Duan, Wufan, Tryan, Carter, Jack and the Ripper, and everything relating to Rip & Jack's universe are ours. No money being made here.
Feedback: Any and all comments, feedback, critiques welcome, be they short or long.
Please feel free to direct feedback to any or all of the authors!
WARNINGS: AU (Alternate Universe), Original Characters, LEMON in some sections. Kiddie-Angst.
Sorry for the long hiatus, been battling health issues, and posting the last CoF, but now back to our regularly scheduled mayhem.... ^__~
The large van arrived at its destination after a drive through some well tended countryside. The kids spent the time looking out the windows - the area around Arcadia was wild and quite a bit different from this parklike European setting.
At the front entrance was a huge ornate gate. Duan's eyes rounded as saw the men in military wear move to attention. Beyond the gate, was a huge estate with carefully manicured lawns and a wide drive. Craning his neck, Duan saw the drive curve around, until it was obscured by trees, and then continue towards the mansion.
He looked at Zechs. "How big is this base? " he asked.
Zechs half turned again in his seat, "It's not a base so much. The guards are just for the guests' safety." He did some mental adding quickly. "There's about four floors, and 150 rooms all in all."
"How many stationed at each floor?" Wufan asked.
Kenny turned and focused on Zechs. This was his kind of conversation.
"Most on the first and second," Zechs started, feeling vaguely as if he was being asked mission parameters than information about his sisters house. "Where you'll be staying, the guest quarters on the third, there won't be many, if that's what you're concerned about."
"Any protection from air infiltration?" Kenny asked.
"Yeah, what are your armaments? Do you have patrols and what are the shifts?" Duan queried.
Both golden eyebrows raised at that. "Relena may be quite important, but it's a celebration not a coup."
"But shouldn't she be protected? I know she's important and it's a celebration, but you can't do anything without perimeters being guarded. Someone or some things might come in." Duan said.
"Hn," remarked Kenny. He glanced at Duan and touched his arm with his own just briefly.
"Lady Une herself is in attendance, if the invitation list I saw was up to date," Zechs said, pushing his bangs out of his face briefly. "The estate should be well protected. The Lady is most fanatical in her tasks sometimes."
"Who's Lady Une?" Carter asked.... Wufan.
"She is the current leader of the Preventers. She was also an officer under General Treize Khushrenada during the war. He was the leader of OZ or the Organization of the Zodiac. He was Colonel Zechs' commanding officer. Is that correct, sir?" Wufan asked.
Zechs nodded quietly, finding no comment to that.
"Will we meet him too?" Carter asked, watching the tall blond man with wide, sensitive eyes.
Turning back to the window Zechs said, "Not.. in this life, I don't imagine."
Wufan touched Carter's arm. "The General died in the war," he said, softly.
Carter blinked. "But I thought..." then he closed his mouth and became very still.
Wufan glanced up at Wufei briefly.
Wufan had not turned his attention quick enough. The Chinese pilot was looking out the window with a blank expression.
"This is more like our house on L2 than the base," Heero said. "It overlooks the ocean but there aren't any creatures in it like you guys knew. It would be considered ninety-five percent secured. That's pretty high during peace-time."
Kenny glanced at Heero, accepting it since it came from him, but reserving his own assessment for later.
In the rear view mirror, the blond haired man looks back at Heero. "Creatures?" he asked slowly.
Prussian blue eyes looked back directly. "Reptilian in nature," he answered, then glanced at Duo.
Duo sat with his chin propped in his hand, watching the children's reactions with amusement. He met Heero's glance for a moment before turning his gaze to meet Zechs' eyes in the mirror.
"Giant soul sucking snake fish from the black lagoon," he quipped almost cheerfully, "Wasn't that like a movie or something back in the 20th century, Sallah?"
Sallah looked at Duo with a vaguely confused expression on her face. Then she shrugged, "Xena is about all I can describe from that time period, I think."
Carter suddenly changed seats, crawling into Duo's lap. "You mean you don't have em," he asked softly. "Greenies..."
Duo hugged the small blond tightly. "One hundred percent Greenie free here, kiddo. 'Cept the make believe ones on the vids."
Carter nodded, but he looked up at Duo seriously, his expression a little shadowed. "Maybe," he said. "Maybe you just don't know about 'em yet. That's the good thing about the Colonies, see? You have somewhere to go if they come out of the trench in the ocean like they did before."
Duo's eyes narrowed thoughtfully as his arms tightened a little around Carter for a moment. "Then we'll have to see if we can break It before that happens, now, won't we?" he asked very softly.
Carter nodded seriously, clinging to Duo tightly. "Uh huh," he said softly. "We didn't have anywhere to go... I like the colony," he said, smiling with a sudden determination not to appear to be afraid.
"Me too," Duo replied, "No more greenies in the head. I promise," he said firmly as he kissed the tumble of bright gold curls tickling his chin.
Carter snuggled under Duo's chin. Then he said in a very concerned voice, "But... Then I could warn you, Duo..."
"Let's worry about that just a little later, okay? We'll work it out," the braided pilot answered, his amethyst eyes softening a little, "Maybe after a hot fudge sundae to get our strength up, huh?" He winked at the boy reassuringly.
Carter smiled.
Heero frowned slightly, but said nothing.
Kenny turned in his seat to regard Carter. He didn't say anything but met the other boy's eyes steadily. Carter nodded and Kenny sat back down.
Duan looked over the seat at Carter and smiled at him. "Strawberry shortcake," he said, with a grin.
Carter ducked his head and grinned, his cheeks going slightly pink.
Wufan and Tryan both giggled, remembering the reference.
Soon, the van pulled to a stop in front of the mansion. A well dressed man opened the doors and stood to one side as the passengers debarked. He nodded slightly to Zechs in deference to his status.
"Good afternoon, sir," the man said.
Zechs stepped down from his seat and swept his gaze across the small retinue at the doors. "Afternoon," he answered. Stopping a few feet from the vehicle, he waited until all of the children and former pilots seemed to be accounted for.
The kids debarked and waited politely, or cautiously, on the steps for the adults, their adults that is, to give the okay to advance.
Duo hopped out of the van and strode up to the waiting children, scooping Carter back into his arms, and waited for their guide to lead them in. He gave Carter's leg a quick squeeze, taking as much comfort from having the boy on his shoulders as he hoped he was able to give them all.
Carter beamed happily from his perch and hugged Duo sweetly as he settled down.
Heero sighed deeply as he looked up at the mansion. As he moved to the steps, he recalled another time. Glancing over at Sallah, he made sure she was all right as well.
Hands clasped behind her back, Sallah stared up at the mansion. She shook her head slightly and gave a low whistle. "It's huge," she said to Wufan. "It's still strange to see a place with so many windows..."
Wufan followed his mother's glance up at the mansion. "Yes, but the Hyatt in Arcadia had more windows. It was also more compactly designed and not as vulnerable," he said, taking Sallah's hand. "Have you seen a place like this before?"
"Not quite like this..." she replied, clasping his hand and giving it a slight squeeze. "The Hyatt did have more windows...I guess I just didn't really notice at the time." She looked down at her son, smiling softly. "This should be a most interesting experience, I think."
Wufan nodded, then pushed his glasses back up on his nose. "But I bet it's really hard to clean and they probably use up a lot of resources too," he said privately to Sallah.
"Mr. Pargan will meet you inside, sir," the attendant informed Zechs. "He will be most pleased that the children seem so well behaved."
"The children might be, but I give no guarantees about me," Duo replied darkly, his eyes narrowed dangerously.
Zechs shook of the slightly blank look he'd fallen into during the odd conversations. The thing about greenies could be argued off as the typical sadistic bedtime stories told to kids that age, but now they sounded like they'd never even seen a Colony skyscraper, something much bigger and with far more windows than the estate could ever hope to manage. Latching onto the more regular seeming conversation quickly, he warned, "We'll know where to bill the damages."
Wufei came out of his trance of preoccupation long enough to favor Zechs with a sour look.
Heero turned to Zechs and lowered his head fractionally. He took a small breath as his eyes locked onto the tall blond man. "That's a pretty bold statement from the man who blew a hole in the earth," he said, quietly.
Wufei, fractionally, smiled.
The attendant's eyes widened, but he kept them firmly on the ground and prayed that he wouldn't pass out.
Carter looked at Zechs wide-eyed.
Kenny regarded the tall blond with curiosity and a touch more interest than before.
Tryan folded his arms across his chest and looked from the blond man to Heero and back. This was getting interesting.
"Cool," Duan said, as his estimation of Zechs rose.
Wufan clasped a hand over his mouth, a distressful expression clouding his features.
"Now, now, kids... It's a little early in the visit for me to be needing to drag out the ice water pistols... Let's all play nice in the pool together," Duo said smoothly, trying to defuse the tension before someone got even more hurt.
"What did I say?" Duan said, shrugging.
"I was talking to the big kids, kiddo," Duo replied, reaching down to ruffle Duan's bangs.
The entire exchange was watched with a completely shuttered expression, the neutrality in the posture of the former Lightning Count bordered on dangerously icy. "Touche," the quiet response to Heero before giving a curt nod to Duo. With that he took a step backwards before turning towards the doors, ignoring the still pale attendants. "I'll show you the guest quarters."
Sallah looked down at Wufan and frowned. Reaching down, she picked him up and rested him on her hip, holding him in a slightly protective manner. Glancing over at Heero and Zechs, she scowled just a bit.
Kenny followed Zechs with remarkable readiness. The exchange had heightened his interest in the tall man. With Duan at his side, he managed to keep up with the blond's long strikes without appearing to make a great effort.
"You guys know each other from way back, dontcha?" he said calmly to the tall ex-soldier.
Zechs looked down at Kenny keeping pace at his side, the long pace he'd been keeping slowing instinctively. "Quite well, and from more than one perspective," he said, a slightly self-mocking turn of the lips at the last addendum.
Kenny raised an eyebrow in a rather mature expression. "Then ya knew making a crack about Duo was gonna get an answer, didn't you?" he said calmly.
"Knew? Probably. I just didn't expect it." Zechs replied.
"Hn," Kenny said, shrugging. Miscalculation, buddy, happens to the best of us, his expression seemed to say.
Reading it, the wry half smile returned again and he nodded slightly to the boy.
"Don't worry about it," Duan said, patting Zechs' arm. "You were lucky. You didn't get a second crack from Duo. Looked like he was geared up for it though."
"It will come later no doubt. Duo was always famous for sneak attacks."
Kenny smiled slightly. "Yeah. Cool, huh?"
"Stealth, the only way to go," Duan said, then handed Zechs his wallet back. "Here... just keeping in practice."
Wufan looked down at Sallah. From where he was, he gave her a hug. "I'm ok now," he said. "It's just I was shocked. He was a General and I was impressed. I have to remember that he's just a person too, right?"
Hugging Wufan back, Sallah nodded. "Exactly. Nobody is perfect...not even me!" she grinned, setting the boy back down.
"Yes you are!" Wufan called over his shoulder. "You're my Ma!" he added dashing off to catch up to the others.
Sallah laughed, shaking her head.
Turning the wallet over in his hand, Zechs nodded to Duan, before pocketing it again without bothering to double check the contents. He knew nothing would be missing. "I've always agreed more with Heero's style, a little more to my taste."
"That's because you are both very direct," Wufan said, slightly winded. "Not that Duo's not direct. But his specialty is stealth."
"Since you like direct, you might ought to know that if you say anything bad about either of them again, we aren't gonna like it," Kenny mentioned, his expression innocent.
Wufan nodded in agreement, noting Tryan walking directly behind Zechs. "We love them," he offered. "Which means that we look out for their well-being."
"And we know a lot about explosives," Tryan added.
Rubbing the side of his face at the temple in an unconscious gesture Zechs replied, "I'll keep it in mind."
"That's best," Duan added.
Duo sidled up behind the gathered children in time to catch Duan's last comment. He shook his head, opting not to ask as he grinned down at the braided boy.
"You have done well, grasshopper," he intoned seriously with a nod at Zechs' pocket, "But you must get faster. Snatch the hair-tie from my hand." He held out both hands, one of which held a tie that should have looked very familiar to the younger braided boy.
Duan went for it.
Duo's grin widened hugely as the deft boy managed to grab it from his fingers before he could stop him. He waited for the reaction with a secretive little grin teasing his lips.
"Hey!" Duan exclaimed. "That's great! That's mine! You switched ties... How'd you do that so fast, Duo?"
Duo grinned widely again, pulling a spare tie from his pocket and gravely accepting the tip of his braid from Carter to rebind. He winked up at the young blonde on his shoulders, thanking him for keeping it safe for the switch.
"Years of practice, m'boy. Years of practice."
Duan grinned and hugged Duo's waist.
"You're cool!" he said.
Duo smiled down at Duan, and then calmly held out his hand, quirking up an eyebrow sardonically at the boy.
"Yer pretty good... If I wasn't expecting it, I wouldn't have felt you nip it."
Duan slipped Duo's knife back in his pocket. "Thanks!" he said, happily.
An older man appeared in the hallway. He looked at Zechs, seeing him surrounded by a group of children, and smiled. "Ah, Master Miliardo. So good to see you. And what do we have here? Our guests..." Pargan the retainer said, pleased that life was returning to the mansion.
Zechs nodded, looking up at the familiar retainer.
Duan smiled up at the old man and said, "Hi," as he was being introduced.
Tryan nodded.
Wufan bowed. "It is an honor, sir," he said softly, then glanced up at Zechs.
"Hn," said Kenny, looking at the older gentleman curiously.
"How very nice to meet you," Pargan replied, looking at each boy in turn. He then peered towards the back and smiled. "So, good to see you again, Master Yuy," he said. "Duo Maxwell, Wufei Chang, welcome. And..." he concluded, glancing at Sallah.
"This is Sallah Po," Wufei said formally to the venerable retainer.
"It is a pleasure to meet you ma'am," Pargan said, grateful to Wufei for the introduction.
"Thank you," Sallah replied, with a slight nod. "And to meet you as well."
"Let me show you to your rooms. You will be on the same wing as Miss Relena and Master Milliardo, but a different hall. Master Yuy's suite will be right across the hall from yours Master Chang. Each suite has three bedrooms, a sitting room and baths. Should you require anything at all, there are communications systems with instructions in the suites. Now, if you will follow me, please," he said, leading the group to their rooms.
Standing against the wall he'd taken to, Zechs watched the large group depart, before turning in the opposite direction, intent on his own room.
"Ah, Master Milliardo," Pargan called from a short distance away.
"Pargan-san," he replied, half turning. "I don't suppose I will be able to beg off tonight's engagement?"
Pargan looked back with sympathy. "I am so sorry, sir," he said. "But, Miss Relena asked me to ask you if you wouldn't mind showing her guests the grounds. A short tour, perhaps."
Five small heads turned at the mention of a tour, with various expressions of curiosity, interest and even hope.
Zechs endeavored to chase off the weariness at the words. He returned with a schooled expression. "Did she leave a time?"
"Yes, some time before dinner. May I suggest a twenty minute refresh, then the tour?" Pargan said.
The tall blond nodded, turning it into a short bow to the retainer and his teacher. "Pragmatic as always." He turned to face the group who'd paused for the exchange. "Meet at the top of the stairs then?"
The boys all looked up to Heero, Duo and Sallah.
"Hai," Heero replied.
"You should go, too, Sallah. The grounds here are beautiful," Duo advised.
"And very historical too, Ma," Wufan added excitedly. He glanced over at Wufei.
Wufei met the boys look serenely but declined to comment.
"Then I *definitely* want to go," Sallah grinned, nodding at Wufan.
"Sugoi!" he exclaimed unable to hide his enthusiasm.
Duo grinned and then turned to follow Pargan, tossing a grin over his shoulder. "Twenty minutes it is. We'll have 'em there, Zechs. Go fortify yourself," he said with a wink.
Turning again to make what felt like a most temporary escape, Zechs mumbled under his breath, out of the range of the others' hearing, "I would if she hadn't hidden all of it."
The group was shown to the third floor, west wing, second hallway, by Pargan, and shown the two suites, across the hall from each other, where their luggage had already been installed. Pargan mentioned that "Master Quatre and Master Trowa" would be arriving that evening, and would be in their own suite just slightly further down the hall. With another assurance that he would be happy to see to their needs at any time, Pargan left the group to inspect their rooms and refresh themselves.
Duo bounced into their suite, making sure to jostle Carter on his shoulders playfully as he did so. As his gaze settled upon their luggage waiting patiently for them in the sitting room, he whistled appreciatively.
"Now *that's* service for ya! Whatcha say, kiddo?" he asked, swinging Carter down to the floor with a spin.
Carter giggled uncontrollably as he went swooshing through the air. He bounced up as soon as his feet touched the floor and nodded at Duo like a 'bobbing-head' dog. "Service!" he grinned. Then he went running from door to door in the sitting room, discovering the bedrooms and bath.
Tryan dashed for the bathroom right away.
Heero knelt down calling Duan over with a waggle of a finger.
The wide eyed young boy walked over. "Yeah, Heero?" he asked, hoping that he wasn't in trouble.
Heero slid an arm around Duan's waist and said, "When you go on the tour, make him take you down the elevator to the underground. It's where they hid some of the mobile suits during the war. The suits are probably gone, but the bays might still be up."
Duan nodded. "Ok," he said, with a smile. "That sounds like fun! Is that all?"
Heero looked into the violet eyes and nodded. "Yeah, what did you think I wanted?"
Duan shrugged. "Just hopin' I wasn't in trouble for picking Zech's pocket. Why did that man call him Milliardo?"
Heero sighed, then gave Duan a hug. "That's his name, though he doesn't use it anymore. And no, you aren't in any trouble... no trouble at all."
Duan grinned. Then he hugged Heero hard and scampered off.
"Hey the bathroom's free," he called, spotting Carter.
The little blond ran into the room in question, making zooming noises.
Duo grinned hugely as he walked over to the collection of luggage and snagged out his bags, heading for a random bedroom. "Chance to unpack a little before you head off on your tour if you want to," he called, vanishing into the bedroom.
Kenny checked out the suite and then went across the hall to help Wufan scope his out.
Tryan grabbed a bag and so did Duan and began unpacking thier things.
There were a few beats of silence then Duan and Tryan burst into the sitting room. Not seeing thier objective, they checked the other rooms until they found Duo and hugged on to whatever body part they could reach. "Thank you!" they chimed.
Duo smiled, kneeling down to hug them back. "You're welcome. Those came from my Gundam... What was left of it. To keep you safe," he said.
Kenny and Wufan appeared in the doorway, having discovered Wufan's then Kenny's upon looking for it.
"From Deathscythe?" Kenny said in a hushed voice, hearing the last words Duo had spoken.
Duo nodded solemnly, reaching behind him to pull out a larger version of the knives he'd tucked in each of their bags.
Kenny clutched the blue-pommelled knife in his fist and blinked several times. "Arigato," he whispered.
"Thank you..." Duo corrected, "For being my family." He opened his arms to invite the rest of them in on the hug.
Kenny dived for Duo's neck.
Carter came out of the bathroom and followed the waves of interesting feelings to the room where Duo and the other boys were.
"Wow!" he said, watching wide-eyed.
Wufan moved quickly to Duo and the others. "Xie Xie, Duo!" he said, hugging Duo as well.
Heero looked at the mass of humanity and nodded. "Hn," he remarked, carrying a couple of bags into the room.
Duo finally released his hold on the cluster of children and smiled. "Looks like the bathroom's free again," he remarked cheerfully, "Time to finish unpacking. Don't wanna miss your tour, now, do ya?"
"Nope!" Duan replied, heading to finish unpacking his things.
"Tryan, whatcha got?" Carter asked the other boy, as they left the room.
"Come on! You got one too! Look at mine. It looks like Sheba!" he said, leading the blond boy out.
"Wow!"
"That was pretty good, Duo," Heero remarked.
"There's a GPS tracking chip in each one," he replied as he stood and started pulling things from his bags again.
"Even better," Heero said, joining him to unpack.
He turned and wrapped his arms around Heero for a quick embrace and an equally quick kiss. 'Every once in a while, the ole brainpan comes up with a plan," he joked.
"Hai," Heero replied.
On the other side of the hallway, Wufei politely asked Sallah to choose her room before selecting his.
The group waiting at the foot of the stairs was slightly smaller than the group that entered the house a short time earlier. The three former Gundam pilots had all been in the mansion before at one time or other, and chose, for various reasons, to take the opportunity to sit it out.
Any plans that Duo and Heero might have been thinking of having some quality time were snafued by the arrival of a messenger requesting Heero's attendance on the Vice Minister, which let Duo to his own devices.
Sallah and the five boys, however, were waiting in chairs around the foyer downstairs when Zechs arrived for his 'service'.
The tall ex-soldier looked slightly better for the reprieve he'd had, if not much more composed. He stopped in front of the small group with a greeting, before asking if there was anywhere in particular they needed or wanted to go first. "It would be easier to get those done first," he finished.
Wufan stood and retrieved the notepad from the chair he had been sitting on. Flipping the pages of the small spiral notebook, he removed the pen and nodded. "Yes, sir," he said, pushing the glasses back up on his nose quickly. "If you could take us to the West Wing sitting room. I believe there is a portrait of your father, King Peacecraft and a mural as well. We'd like to see that first, please," he said looking up at Zechs.
Zechs nodded at the request. "The painting might have been moved by now. Relena mentioned something about putting it in her office, but the mural will be there," he added.
"We'd also like to see the underground where Heero said they kept the mobile suits hidden. Are any of em still down there?" Duan asked.
Kenny, whose attention had wandered during the mention of murals and paintings, snapped his head around to get the answer.
A bemused half smile appeared at that request. "They told you about that already?" Zechs shook his head. "Unless there are passages that weren't discovered yet, Relena had all of them turned over to the authorities to be disassembled. Everything else is still intact for the time being though."
"Then we'd like to see the underground hangars as well," Wufan said. "Oh and any gun collections you might have, also." He then walked up and stood next to Zechs in anticipation of the tour beginning.
It wasn't a long wait; without the slightly hurried impression he'd had earlier that day, he angled the group in the general direction of the west wing.
Passing the deserted reception room and the ballroom that was just beginning to be set up for later that night, it was obvious that earlier assessments of the color schemes were not entirely far off. Shades of pinks and the rare white and silver piece practically swamped the rooms, from the napkins to pink roses that were artistically placed amongst the waiting centerpieces.
The rooms beyond held more of the previous owner's taste, though seemed mostly untouched. The study that Wufan had requested seemed to only have been ventured into by cleaning staff at most points, lacking any sort of a lived in feel to it.
Walking inside, Wufan looked all around, nodding to himself on occasion. Some things he had read were still there and the reality of it all was impressive.
Tryan tapped Zechs on the leg. "If your father was a King, does that make you a Prince?" he asked.
Zechs shook his head, glancing briefly at the section of wall where it was obvious the old painting had been, a slightly cleaner rectangle remaining despite the cleaning crew's best efforts to remove it. "Not anymore. Relena is the only royalty of our family."
Hearing this, Wufan turned to look up at the tall man. "That's not exactly correct, though," he said. "Even if you denounce, I think they call it, yourself as being a Prince, you are that by birthright. Besides, the Vice Minister did the same thing when she went back to being a Dorlain. But that's ok, though. I understand," he added, then scribbled a note in his notepad.
Zechs simply said, "By birth then, if not by right." Looking around the small study for some distraction he mentioned, "During the war, this house used to be occupied by a wealthy patron of Oz and rather high in the military ranks. Some of his journals might still be here," he offered.
"Hn," Wufan remarked, thinking hard. "Did he pilot a mobile suit?"
"No, simply housed some for backup and defensive purposes. General Baraquelle if I remember correctly."
Wufan shrugged. "I'd like to look at them sometime, but I'm more interested in you, actually," he said.
"This stuff is expensive huh?" Duan asked.
Blinking once at Wufan Zechs murmured, "There's not much to tell. You probably know most of it anyway." He smiled a bit at that. Turning his attention to the second voice he nodded to Duan. "To the right collector perhaps."
Duan nodded. "Ok, we don't spill on this stuff," he said to the others.
Wufan walked up to Zechs and looked way up. "There has been a lot written about you, that is true," he said, "But no one can really come close to you as a real person. There has been a lot said about you, but not all of it is true. Only you can say what is true or not. Do you understand? It's like no one knows what a person thinks and feels."
Kenny said quietly, "Maybe he don't wanna talk about it, Wufan."
Wufan's eyes grew round behind the glasses. He bent his head and bowed deeply. "Forgive me, sir," he said, quickly. "I deeply apologize if I have offended you."
Regarding the boy closely for a moment, Zechs shook his head. In most cases he simply let people believe whatever truth they decided to. "If you desire, afterwards, maybe I can help answer a few questions?"
"Xie, xie," Wufan replied. "Um, thank you sir," he translated, then took a few steps back and was quiet.
Kenny frowned slightly and moved quietly behind Wufan. He opened his mouth and closed it, glanced at Duan, and then said, "You were doing great. Don't... shut up just because of what I said."
Wufan turned to Kenny and nodded. "Ok," he said, quietly. "But you were right. I didn't want to hurt his feelings."
Kenny shrugged, a little embarrassed, and nodded to Wufan. The minute the Chinese boy's attention shifted, Kenny ducked behind Duan, vowing privately to keep him mouth shut in the future, for at least an hour.
Wufan looked back up at Zechs to see if he'd even noticed.
Zechs had returned the look, having noticed more the movement of Kenny out of the corner of his eye than anything. He'd taken to studying a part of the mural in an attempt to give some semblance of privacy in the small room. A distracted sort of discomfort was covered as he turned to Sallah. "Before we go down to the sub-level was there anything you wanted to see?"
Standing with her hands clasped behind her back, also looking at the mural, Sallah shook her head. "Not at the moment. Later I'd like to walk the grounds some, but I think they're rather excited to see where the suits used to be," she said, inclining her head in the direction of the boys.
Duan raised his hand.
"Duan?" Zechs asked.
He looked up at Zechs and folded his arms across his chest. "I was just wondering a couple of things. First of all, if you're a prince, or you were a prince, where's your crown or did you have to sell it? And why did you blow a hole in the Earth? I mean, that seems kinda nuts to me, cause like the Earth is where you live and like the Colonies aren't able to support life without needing stuff...like dirt."
"If there was a crown, it was lost when the Peacecraft family ... declined," Zechs said, deliberately rephrasing it to keep away from less pleasant subjects. Not that the next would be any easier... Taking a breath he said, "It was perhaps 'nuts.' A show of how far a difference of opinion can go."
Wufan nodded. He glanced over at Kenny then back to Zechs. He felt he needed to try harder.
Zechs felt a presence next to him and a small hand taking his.
Looking down, he saw the blond head and wide teal eyes looking up, slightly shining. There was a depth of compassion and empathy in those eyes far disproportionate to the age of the boy looking up.
Zechs stared, a little longer than would be considered polite, completely stunned by the unaccustomed show of empathy before something in his mind twisted the interpretation into one of pity. Without withdrawing his hand, the taller man looked for a moment noticeably more reserved.
Carter sighed, giving the big man's hand a squeeze before letting his fingers slip away.
"No," Duan said, as a frown appeared on his face. Taking Kenny's hand in his, he moved closer to Zechs and looked up into ice blue eyes. "You don't have to do that. You don't have to go away. You're like us in a way, cause we... we don't have parents any more. We're lucky we got Sallah, Heero, Duo and Wufei. They treat us good. But, it's okay," he answered and patted Zechs' hand.
Zechs looked, for a moment, about to say something, then changed his mind. Starting again, and with something of an upward curve of the lips. "I'd think Heero and Duo would dispute that," he said, "The not having parents part."
"You guys all know each other from before. But I figure there would be no way that you, us and them would be in this place now if you were all bad," Tryan piped up. "You guys are a lot alike."
"They've just never tried their hand at landscaping yet," Zechs replied dryly.
"Okay, so what's that mean?" Duan asked.
Kenny gently patted the end of Duan's braid.
"Oh," Duan said, getting it, finally. "So, where's the underground?"
Zechs nodded, a slight relief for the subject change. Questions in that line tended to be ones he still didn't have all the answers for. "The entry's not far," he said, moving for the door.
The group followed in an orderly fashion. Kenny held the door for Sallah politely.
TBC
End of Part 13
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