26-Jun-2000
This is a long fic. And yes, it's YAOI, OOC and
humour. Have fun!
Forewarnings: This story in set in the same world as
the 'Kiss and Tell' and 'A Kiss is just a Kiss'. I
thought that after all the madness they went through,
I'd give them a little break to sort of reintroduce
them in a more calm state at the start, that's what
the interlude is about really. Then we get into 'It
had to be you', this one is supposed to be a
standalone though there are a few glancing references
to the two earlier fics. Basically in this world,
Heero and Duo drive everyone crazy as they try to
figure out what love is and if they love each other.
Me, I'm a sucker for a romantic ending but I warn you,
the ending may be a little unexpected.
A blond young man smiled cheerfully as he poured himself a cup of tea from the delicate flower patterned tea set, while a man with long, heavy reddish bang hanging over half his face waited politely on the opposite couch. At their feet sat yet another bishonen, with an outrageously long and thick chest nut braid swinging behind him as he very carefully cut the mud cake in front of him into five, rather uneven sized slices, making sure to keep the one with the only strawberry by his side as he distributed the others to his friends. Next to him, a serious looking young man concentrated hard, his tongue sticking out a little at the corner of his mouth, as he precisely and exactly measured each scoop of the vanilla ice cream he added to the side of the chocolate cake as they were passed to him, making certain that each scoop was exactly the same, no more or less. Ignoring all this activity, another young man was sprawled untidily over the rug, cushions scattered, below and around him as he concentrated on his book, giggling every now and then as he turned the pages.
'Yo, Wufei, come over here and get your cake. The ice cream is starting to melt.' The young man dealing out the cakes glared at the lazing figure who continued to ignore him, his entire attention focused on the crispy pages. 'Ungrateful toad.' Duo muttered sourly as Heero wordlessly took the small plate and simply placed it next to Wufei. 'You shouldn't have done that, he'll get spoiled, you'll see.'
Wufei spared his attention just long enough to rearrange his loose limbs so that he could tuck the plate under his chin as he stayed riveted on the black print, then stopped and blinked, his attention taken by the thin dark slice sitting on his plate as the white lump of cold sweetness slowly melted at it side.
'Why is it so small?' He looked up accusingly, his black eyes fixing coldly on the significantly larger triangular shape sitting on Duo's lap, noticing that it was getting smaller by each large bite. 'You let him divide the cake again.' He glared at the blond, who nodded happily, his mouth full of cake and ice cream to be able to respond verbally. 'I told you not to let him at the cake, look at the size of my slice, you rats.'
'You better eat fast before all the ice cream melts.' Came a quiet reminder as Trowa finished his last morsel of cake with obvious enjoyment.
Wufei scowled blackly but turned back to his plate with resignation, he knew from bitter experience that it was better not to keep arguing, especially when the others had almost finished their pieces and were likely to start demanding that he share what little he got. He looked at Duo who made a big show of enjoying his cake, savouring the strawberry and narrowed his eyes. He thought that it was way past time someone taught that irresponsible, greedy baka a lesson about sharing.
'When I fall in love, it will be forever.'
Heero winced painfully as Duo's voice squeaked loudly at the end of the phrase. He looked at Quatre accusingly and the blond blushed guiltily and started to twiddle his fingers nervously.
'You, again.'
Heero sighed deeply, shaking his unruly hair out of his eyes in resignation. Next to him sat a very pale looking Wufei with dark circles under his eyes, looking ready to snap while Trowa sat by his side, a scowl evident on his face, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. Quatre thought about filling his eyes with tears, trying to make himself look more pitiful, a useful little trick that he always used when in trouble but one look at the three sets of cold and angry eyes confronting him made him change his mind.
'Oh come on.' He tried at last, thinking that maybe he could try bluffing his way out. 'All I did was to see an old movie with him. How could I know that.'
'That all those mushy musicals would addle that teeny, tiny brain, again, and convince him that the way to true love is to sing me to death?' Heero's voice slightly at the end, his nerves fraying further as yet another rendition of 'Unforgettable' started to wobble its way into his already grated eardrums.
'Never mind you.' Wufei spat out crossly, 'what I want to know if why he keeps on insisting singing to Heero in the middle of the night? Loudly. From outside the house. I haven't been able to a decent night's sleep for the past week.'
Quatre quivered at the belligerent tone in Wufei's voice, though he did feel sorry for his haggard appearance, he thought that Wufei should have been more sensible like the rest of them, and just sleep with earplugs. Still, he didn't think that saying that would be of any use in this situation. So, he decided that it was past time that he changed the situation a little and decided that the best line of defence was to go on the attack.
'Basically, all our problems are Heero's fault.' He started smoothly, gaining confidence as Wufei's mouth fell open in shock and Heero choked with indignation. 'Lets review what's been happening, shall we? One,' he started to count off on his left hand as he spoke, 'we all know that Duo's been driving us crazy.' Reluctantly, the other three nodded, though Heero was looking rather suspicious. 'Two, the reason for Duo's behaviour is simple. Unrequited love. He's driving us nuts, while he tries to convince Heero that they belong together. Am I right?' He asked smugly, even as Heero bit his lips as the other two turned to each other and nodded in complete agreement. 'So, we come to three. The solution.' He grinned wickedly as he held their undivided attention.
'Omae o korosu.' Heero muttered involuntarily as the sudden silence was breached by an attempt as 'love me tender' and a dog howled in the distance in protest. Wufei put out a shaking hand and poured himself a cup of tea, making a face when he realized that it had gone cold. Trowa closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to withstand the agonising pangs when shot through him when he heard the way Duo's voice wandered frantically trying to hit the right notes. Quatre felt his eyes watering from sheer sympathy when the cacophony finally drew to an end as the singer started to cough and hack from his efforts.
'No.' He shook his head regretfully, 'we can't kill Duo. Not even in self defence.' He sighed sadly at Heero who definitely began to look more and more nervous as he stared at him. 'I'm afraid that our only solution is,' he paused dramatically, enjoying the way he once again held their attention. 'To sacrifice Heero.' Quatre ignored the sudden squeal of outrage from Heero and turned to Wufei and Trowa, who began to nod as he continued to speak. 'I think that once we let Duo marry Heero, he'll probably feel more secure and no longer drive us mad with these frantic attempt to capture Heero's interest. So what we'll do, and preferably before he starts singing again,' Quatre added thoughtfully, 'is to get Duo and tell him to set a wedding date. And we'll all live happily ever after.' He beamed happily as Trowa and Wufei nodded slowly, hypnotized by his voice.
'No. Uh uh. No way. Nothing doing. I'm not getting married. I'm not even sure if I love Duo. I don't want to get married yet. Are you listening to me? Don't you dare tell him that I'll marry him. I'll run away. I warn you. No. Please. Oh come on you guys. This is not fair.'
Heero looked from one set of determined eyes to another, his voice dying in his throat as he realized that there was no way out for him. He pouted sullenly as Quatre and Trowa jumped to their feet and started to run for the door, desperate to tell Duo the good news before he got started on the next song. He sniffed dismally as Wufei picked up his hand and started to pat it consolingly.
'It's not that bad. I'm sure you'll get used to it. These arranged marriages can work out for the best you know.'
Heero glared at Wufei from under his fringe and snatched his hand back.
'You can't force me to marry him.'
Wufei glared back at Heero, the dark circles under his eyes accentuated by the pallor of his cheeks.
'Oh yes, you bloody well are.' He shouted hoarsely, shaking his finger under Heero's nose. 'I've had my hair coloured and permed, as well as my fingernails polished and decorated on, because of you. (1) I haven't been able to sleep for days, listening that caterwauling he calls a love serenade, because of you. If marrying you will cure Duo from behaving like a lunatic, then marry you he will, if I have to personally drag you to the altar and hand you over.'
Heero widened his eyes as Wufei drove his face closer to his, with each word. He leaned back, his heart hammering rapidly as on the last word, Wufei froze, his eyes fixed on Heero's, their noses almost touching, close enough to feel the soft warm breath from his mouth on his face. Wufei blinked, then sort of shuffled slowly backwards, feeling a warm flush stain his cheeks as he did so.
'Anyway, so there.' Wufei concluded weakly, feeling somewhat warm inside as Heero continued to stare at him with those huge dark blue eyes. 'I'll just help Quatre and Trowa with Duo.' He muttered hastily as he fled from the room.
Heero narrowed his eyes as he thought about the way Wufei had reacted. Now that he thought back, he remembered that his friend had always looked a bit uncomfortable whenever they were in close proximity. He cracked his knuckles and grinned, 'a weakness', he thought smugly, and decided that whatever the other three thought, he wasn't going to go out of his way to make it easy for them to 'sacrifice' him.
Duo looked at Quatre with a confused look on his face as he stood with his mouth gaping open, his hand frozen on the guitar that he had managed to find somewhere.
'Marry?' He managed at last, feeling definitely out of kilter, 'me and Heero?' He smiled unsteadily as the other two beamed and nodded, each taking one hand and pumping it energetically in congratulations. 'Oh my.' He sat down suddenly, his legs feeling very wobbly all of a sudden. 'Heero's going to marry me.' He repeated blankly, 'I'm going to marry Heero.' He jumped up and grabbed hold of Quatre by the collar, shouting in his face, 'I'm marrying Heero. Me, Duo. Heero and me. Married.'
Quatre reeled back from the overpowering minty breath as Duo screamed in his face. He felt a bit of a rat but continued to nod reassuringly. He grinned weakly at Trowa who shook his head and looked doubtful as Duo got more and more excited by the minute. 'This was a good idea.' Quatre told himself silently as he saw the tears of happiness run down Duo's cheeks. 'Heero and Duo belong together. And hopefully, they'll move out. To live some place far, far away.' He prayed in his mind as Duo clutched onto his neck and started to sob into his expensive watered silk shirt. 'Damn. It's not supposed to get wet.' Quatre thought in irritation, as Duo dripped thick warm tears of gratitude all over his favourite pink shirt.
Trowa watched the two uneasily, he couldn't help thinking that maybe he had made a terrible mistake in listening to Quatre, again. It was just that he could be so persuasive sometimes. He turned as he saw Wufei arrive at his side, looking a bit flushed and shrugged in explanation when the other man pointed to the hugging couple on the lawn.
'We told him.' Trowa offered simply.
Wufei eyed the sobbing man in Quatre's arms with deep misgivings. Somehow he couldn't help feeling that they had all forgotten something in this equation. None of the men on the lawn noticed the blazing cobalt eyes staring out from the window of the house behind them.
'I'm not wearing a dress.'
'You can't expect me to wear the dress. I'm the guy remember?'
'What the hell do you mean by that? I'm a guy too, remember?'
'Yeah but,' Duo smiled coyly, 'I told you that I wanted to be the alpha male in our relationship.'
'Not if I have to wear a skirt you don't.' Heero answered shortly in a voice that brooked no dissent.
'But you'll look so pretty in a dress.' Duo wheedled sweetly, totally missing the frantic signals from Quatre who was standing behind Heero. 'And it's a wedding. You have to wear a dress or you're not going to match with the wedding cake, see Heero? A guy and another guy wearing a dress.'
Heero looked carefully at the little mannequins decorating the top of the huge, gleaming white cake and set his teeth. 'That's a guy and a woman. I'm a man. I'm not wearing a dress. If you want to have a dress so badly you're going to have to wear it, but count me out.'
Quatre hastily trotted into the room as he saw the tell tale tremble in Duo's lips and took the little dolls from his hands. 'I can get the dolls changed for two men in tuxes. No problem.' He smiled smoothly as Heero looked daggers at him.
Duo sulked but finally agreed to drop the subject though he continued to look wistfully at the open catalogue of bridle gown on the table. He then held up the stack of invitation cards and started to count them out, giving Heero 5 cards, while he took a few dozen, and passing the remaining 450 cards to Quatre. 'I think we should divide our labour, so Heero, you invite Relena, Millard, Sally, Noin and Dorothy, while I take care of our old friends.'
'And me?' Quatre asked acidly as he started at the tall stack of cards in his hands.
'Well, it's your reception so I'll let you choose the rest of our guests.' Duo said airily as he started to hum happily under his breath, while he carefully chose five different coloured pens from the stand and stood up with his pile. 'Don't forget that you promised me a big bash, okay? Just make sure to invite all the really wealthy, important and good looking people that you know.'
Quatre stared crossly at Duo as he disappeared out of the room and then turned to Heero imploringly when the other also stood up, having already finished writing the names on the envelopes. 'Aren't you going to help me?' He asked pleadingly as Heero started to walk away.
Heero raised his eyebrow pointed as he held up one of the ivory and gold trimmed cards and replied coldly. 'Help you with what? This was all your idea remember? You promised Duo a wedding that he'll never forget. Well, you better get started on the guest list. It takes time to write 450 cards.' Quatre waited until he was certain that Heero was out of earshot, then when he thought he was safely alone, he started to mutter under his breath as he dug out his address book and started to copy down the names.
'This is about the dress. I know it is. You're so petty, you and Duo deserve each other. You should thank me for forcing you to marry him, instead of being so ungrateful.'
'Excuse me?'
Quatre looked up and blushed deeply when he saw Wufei standing in front of him with a tall vase filled with flowers.
'Nothing.' He answered quickly, and dropped his eyes back on the cards, feeling the back of his ears turn red with embarrassment. He wrote silently as Wufei placed the vase, harrumphed as he took in the tall overly elaborate white cake with the ribbon, pearl drops and sugar roses all over, and left. His hand started to ache from the unaccustomed writing as he wrote card after card, not even bothering to think about who he was inviting anymore, only wishing to make the cards disappear from his sight. Quatre looked at the still remaining small stack of cards with desperation as he scratched in the last name in his address book. He wondered how he was supposed to get the rest, though at least his sisters had been good for over 80 cards, counting all their current partners and major friends. Quatre thought about asking Wufei for help but discarded that notion when he remembered the huge fight they had after Duo asked him to be the best man and Wufei to be the maid of honour. At least Trowa had been a little more co operative, Quatre mused sullenly, as he remembered the look of exasperation on the tall auburn haired pilot's face as he finally broke down and agreed to give the bride away. As it was, if Relena hadn't volunteered, smothering her giggles behind a handkerchief when he had rather red facedly explained his predicament, there would be no maid of honour or bridesmaids. Quatre hadn't quite dared to tell Heero about that little detail yet.
Quatre drummed his fingers as he stared at the small stack of empty cards in front of him. He thought about throwing them away but Duo was quite capable of demanding a count if he took it into his head, Quatre knew, so he sighed and dragged them closer and started to count them, hoping that he might think of a way to get rid of them somehow. Fifty. Quatre blinked as he sat up straight and looked at the list of names he had made of the invites. He knew where he could get hold of fifty men. A huge grin blossomed on his face as he pulled the phone to him and started to dial. It was past time that Rashid came home after all.
Trowa smiled a little as he stood at the top of the stairs and heard the loud arguments coming from below. He rested his head in cupped hands as he leant against the banister and watched the two men screaming at each other with bemused admiration. A tall blond man was waving his arms wildly as he exchanged heated words with a tall brunette who was waving a photograph in his face.
'What's going on?'
Trowa turned his head slightly, then grinned and moved aside a little to allow Wufei to see the furore below. The Chinese pilot wrinkled his brow as he heard some of the words being thrown back and forth then heaved a deep sigh as he asked, 'I'm afraid to ask what happened.'
Trowa shrugged, his attention still riveted on the two, as they started throw more than just words at each other. He pursed his lips as he saw a crystal vase pass narrowly near Duo's head, and shatter loudly on the pristine wall behind him.
'Duo found out about Heero and Quatre.'
Wufei jumped and turned to the absorbed redhead in wide-eyed alarm.
'What? What do you mean Heero and Quatre.'
Trowa didn't answer at first, since he was too busy leaning over to see if the returning missile by Duo, a lovely porcelain figurine of a young girl had managed to hit Quatre and involuntarily began clapping as the blond adroitly avoided being hit, while simultaneously managing the save the figurine from hitting the ground. Then winced painfully as the figurine was dropped to the ground, shattering into small pieces as Duo managed to grab the rug under Quatre's feet and pulled it, dragging the blond man to the ground.
'They are really getting into it.'
Both Trowa and Wufei turned around in amazement and saw Heero, who had just arrived, looking down at the debacle with keen interest.
'You two timer.' Wufei reddened with outrage as Heero just stood with one hand resting lightly on the banister, his eyes glued on the two combatants below. 'How dare you! It's your fault they are fighting.'
Heero snorted scornfully as he turned his attention on the indignant man glaring at him.
'Don't over react Wufei. I suppose that Trowa told you about the photograph.' Heero's tone was airy and quite casual, betraying no tension or embarrassment.
Wufei went purple at the frank admission and took a step forward. 'Photograph. What's this about a photograph?'
Heero looked at the excited young man in front of him and smiled, quite wickedly. 'It's a photograph of me and Quatre. Back when we were still guests of Relena. She thought that we looked cute together and asked us to pose in that fluffy outfit she made us wear when we stayed in Sanc Kingdom. I just doctored the photo a little to make it look as if we were standing even closer than we were. There's nothing all that incriminating. Duo just went ballistic. Though,' his tone turned sly, 'that might have something to do with the little letter that he found with the photo.'
Wufei blinked, feeling very bewildered. 'Letter? What letter? Heero, what do you think you're doing?' He asked in desperation as both Trowa and Heero turned their attention to the fray below, momentarily distracted by the loud yell, then the resulting thump and crash. Both men winced in concert as they saw the state of the blond man after he survived being battered with the wedding cake, unfortunately, the cake did not survive the experience.
'I'm just trying to teach someone a lesson. Well, two some ones actually.' Heero replied absently, his attention too caught up by the destructive havoc being wreaked below to notice the sudden tiredness in Wufei's voice. 'Use me as a sacrifice will he?' Heero muttered viciously as he gleefully noticed that the battle was still raging strong, though both men were now out of sight, as they ran out of ammunition and moved their field of action into the adjoining rooms. 'Do you think that we'll be safe if we went below to see how they're doing?' He asked Trowa, as he leaned perilously over the banister in an attempt to try to keep the two in his line of sight.
Trowa considered the situation carefully then regretfully shook his head. 'I wouldn't.' He advised sagely, 'they have a tendency to drag anyone else in the vicinity into their little fights. Going near them is too dangerous.'
'You are right. Damn. What a shame.' Heero muttered sorrowfully. Then he looked around in confusion as he realized that Wufei had disappeared from their side. 'Where did he go?' He thought in brief puzzlement, before dismissing all thought of Wufei as a very, very angry looking blond started to climb the staircase. 'Uh oh. I'll see you later Trowa.' Heero spat out quickly as he turned and fled in the other direction. Trowa thought about following him but decided to stand his ground, though feeling a little shaky in his legs. He tried to look as sympathetic as possible, but it turned out to be a wasted effort.
'Where is he?' Quatre ground out forcefully, as he tried to scrape some more of the cake and icing from his face. 'Where is that Heero? When I get my hands on him, I'm going to.'
'You are not to go anywhere near my Heero, you blond floozy!' Came a loud scream from below and Trowa gasped involuntarily as he beheld a dripping apparition, with wildly flowing brown hair, and a bunch of wet flowers sitting on top of his head. 'I don't need you to hold a wedding for me! I know that this is all a plot to try to steal my Heero! Father Maxwell told me that blonds couldn't be trusted! Don't you dare ignore me Quatre! I won't be ignored! You hear me! Do you! Do you!'
'So the wedding's off.'
'I thought that it sounded strange when I got my invitation. Do you know that someone had written 'don't come you boring old metal bucket' on my card? I couldn't understand what was going on. I mean, Noin got the same card as me, but hers just said 'your presence is requested' bleah, bleah, bleah, the usual stuff. Did you get anything strange on your card?'
'Well, now that you mention it. When I opened my card, I found 'save me' written all over the inside but I thought it was just a joke or something you know? Anyway, it doesn't matter now. You don't need to come to Earth after all. Heero's not going to marry Duo.'
'I always thought that they weren't right for each other. Duo's so frivolous really. Not his type at all, I thought.'
'He's not that bad. I just wish that I could understand why he's suing Quatre though.'
'What? Duo's suing Quatre? For what?'
'Something about fraudulent promises. I'm not too sure. All I know is that Quatre's counter suing. For damages to personal property, as well as for libel. It's turned into a huge media fiasco though. It's kind of embarrassing. I thought I'd better warn you that the media might be coming after you as well.'
'Me? But why? I have nothing to do with anything.'
'You were mentioned, by name, as an involved party in both their suits apparently. By the way, have you seen Heero anywhere?'
'Heero? Why? He doesn't work for me any more remember? Noin fired him, after she found out about my nose ring.(2) She said that it was all his fault that I got arrested.'
'Well, he's missing. Duo's filed a missing person's report on him. He's telling everyone that Heero's been abducted.'
'You got to be kidding. Who and what for? Wait, I don't know if I want to know.'
'I know what you mean big brother. Basically, he's accusing Wufei. Since he's been missing as well. He accused Trowa first but then he turned up and filed a suit against Duo for libel and slander, so. '
'So, Heero's not with Trowa. And I suppose that Wufei is still missing as well?'
'Yeah. But that doesn't mean that they're together. I mean, I don't think I blame those two for running away. And Trowa probably would have stayed away if he weren't so angry over being called a kidnapper on CNN. Poor Quatre.'
'Why poor Quatre?'
'Well, Trowa filed a suit against him too. He said that this was all Quatre's doing. The suit is a group action, by Trowa and the Magnacs. Something about placing their lives and limbs in unnecessary jeopardy? I didn't really understand what that one's about.'
'It sounds like you've had a busy week there sis. I hope that you haven't been affected too badly by any of this. I mean, it couldn't have been that easy for you when you got asked to be Heero's maid of honour and all that. I just want you to know that I was proud of the way you handled yourself through all this.'
'It's not that big a deal. But unfortunately, I've been cited as a material witness, on both sides. So I'm afraid that I'm going to be stuck until all this is sorted through. Do you think that you could call me if you see Heero?'
'Sure. Not a problem. Would you like me to come down and give you some moral support?'
'Actually, I think you're going to have to come down anyway. As a witness. Just pray that you don't get cited in the suit against Quatre as an accomplice, that's what happened to Trowa when he filed that suit against Duo.'
'My god. I better go and see my lawyer. Look I'll call you again, Relena. Take care of yourself.'
'You too Millard. Bye.'
Heero panted as he ran after the receding figure going down the narrow track of the mountainside. He felt his heart thump wildly as he ran, and wondered why he felt this strange urge to stop Wufei before he disappeared from his sight, maybe forever. It wasn't as if he asked him to come and find him, Heero thought resentfully as Wufei showed no sign of slowing down. He had been completely thrown when he found Wufei standing at the doorway of the little temple, staring at him with. with what? Heero couldn't understand why he had felt so strange when he first saw Wufei. And then, when he refused, completely reasonably, to return to those lunatics, Wufei had just gotten up and left, without even giving him the chance to explain or to change his mind. Damn that stubborn Chinese. And now, here he was running madly after him and not having the faintest idea what he'd say if, when he did catch up to him.
'Wufei! Wait! Stop. Please, Wufei.'
Heero gasped and stopped as the black haired man halted his rapid strides and turned around, a quizzical look on his face.
'Heero.' Wufei bowed his head politely as he stared at the slender man wearing only a light shirt and jeans, feeling a gentle breeze tickle his cheek. 'Was there something that you wanted?'
Heero flushed and looked away, lost for a moment in the dark greenness of the woods spreading below his feet, then turned and searched the inscrutable black eyes holding his gaze. 'I. that is.' Heero hesitated a moment longer than suddenly came to a decision and looked at Wufei steadily as breaking into a warming smile as he did. 'Don't leave Wufei. If you want me to come with you, I will.'
Wufei felt his heart thump wildly and stop, as his entire world suddenly compressed into a pair of glorious blue eyes staring out of a thick thatch of brown hair. He couldn't breath so he simply nodded and slowly, hesitantly, began to smile back. 'I want you to come with me.' He blurted out loud at last as he held out his hands as though he could warm himself in the blinding smile that he saw. Wufei lost all track of why he had come, or what was happening anywhere else as Heero stepped forward and took his hands.
Rashid looked at the angry young man in front of him and resisted the urge to pick him up and shake him till his teeth rattled.
'You're going to have to settle. Quatre-sama.' Rashid tried to keep his voice calm and low as the blond man stubbornly shook his head again. 'All this publicity has been disastrous for your holdings, and Winner Inc. public image has been damaged badly, maybe even irretrievably. You have a responsibility, not just to yourself but to those who work for you. You have to settle this now. You can't afford to be dragged into the courts.'
'I'll go to hell before I lose to that rattle brained twit. If he wants to take me to court, then so be it. Duo's going to regret the day that he decided to take me on.'
Rashid shook his head sadly as he looked into the enraged green eyes of the young man he used to work for. He had hoped that when he and the Magnacs had joined Trowa in filing an action suit against Quatre that it might finally shake him and show him that he couldn't just use people without having to deal with the fallout but unfortunately all they had achieved in the end had been to make Quatre, angrier than ever. And now, no one could reason with him, not even Ms Peacecraft, though she had tried her best to make peace between two old friends. He couldn't really blame Quatre for being so angry though, Duo had really lost control and in his bid to raise enough funds to wage his legal battle against Quatre, he had sold his story to every rag and print in the business. The last straw had been the publishing of the forged letter with the photograph in the Sunday Telegraph. According to Quatre-sama, he hadn't written the letter, which publicly declared his unrequited love for Heero Yuy and after he read the drivel in its contents, Rashid had to admit that he was probably telling the truth, though he had, had his misgivings when he first heard of the letter. After all, there had been that little scene in Tehran when he had walked in on Quatre-sama and Heero-san one evening. Still, he thought, that even if the letter had been genuine, Duo-san had totally broken all bounds of gentlemanly behaviour by having it published. Especially with the accompanying interview where he alleged that Quatre-sama had been at the bottom of all his romantic mishaps with Heero-san, in order to deliberately break the two up.
Rashid looked pleadingly at the tall man leaning against the doorway, his brown eyes begging the man for help. After a long moment, Trowa finally stirred himself and came to Quatre's side.
'Look, if you drop your suit against Duo and give him the settlement. I've agreed to drop my suits against both him and you. It's too late to keep this between us but we don't have to drag each other into the courtroom okay? What do you say Quatre? He's also agreed to drop his request to have Wufei arrested for kidnapping, even if he and Heero don't turn up. Lets just end this. Come on Quatre.'
Quatre set his mouth stubbornly as he glared at the two men in front of him. He hated not being in control of the situation but for the life of him he couldn't think of a way to resolve it without following their instructions. He swallowed angrily and barely managed to nod frostily at last. He set brooding as Rashid broke into a relived shout and started to thank Trowa, happily pumping his hand and patting his shoulder. Quatre chewed his lower lip as he tasted the awful bitterness of defeat and his head churned with plans of how he could make Duo pay for placing him in this humiliating position. His eyes narrowed coldly as he remembered that there was one person who could drive Duo crazy, absolutely guaranteed. All he had to do was to find him. Then, he'd make him pay. They'd all pay. Quatre swore to himself as he signed the settlement papers Rashid placed in front of him. Starting with the rotten rat who framed him with that pathetic photograph and letter.
Wufei looked down at the tousled head resting on his shoulder and grinned happily. He had to stop himself from singing out loud from sheer happiness as he drove. He tapped the wheel in time with the music playing from the radio and mouthed the lyrics, always just one beat behind the singer. Heero stirred drowsily at his side and giggled, then sat up straighter and answered Wufei's questioning glance.
'You just reminded me of that awful singing of Duo's.'
Wufei made a face and turned his nose up in mock scorn.
'Gee thanks. Not. I didn't think I sounded that bad.'
Heero laughed at that, but then grew a bit more sombre as he admitted, 'you know, he wasn't really that bad either. It's just that his timing stank, I mean, the first time round he almost scared me to death, waking me up like that in the middle of the night. And he only sounded so bad because he kept on choosing songs not suitable for his voice or range.'
Wufei raised an eyebrow in feigned shock. 'Now you tell me. Why were you so mean about his singing then?'
Heero shrugged and stayed silent for a while. 'I guess, he made me feel embarrassed. I don't mean just about the singing. Duo's just so hyper all the time. He gets so carried away whenever he's excited by something. Look at what he did to the house when he was into redecorating!(3) Not to mention to you.' Heero chuckled under his breath as Wufei swore loudly and grimaced at the reminder of what his hair had been like a few months ago. 'He's so totally absorbed in whatever idea has hold of him at the time. I found that cute you know. To a point.' He added hastily as Wufei turned an alarmed face in his direction and motioned to him to keep his eyes on the road. 'It gets pretty wearing after a while. And I think that deep down, I always knew, that I didn't love him. Not in love with him that is. I do love Duo, like I love all you guys. You are the only family that I have.'
'Is that what you feel about me?' Wufei couldn't help asking in a wounded voice, 'just another member of your family?'
Heero grinned and shook his head vigorously. 'Nah. I don't think that kiss you gave me was from a member of my family.(4) It wouldn't be legal if we were just family. Quatre was right all along really. You know that?' He laughed as Wufei flushed again, but this time with anger, a low growl escaping his lips. 'He told me that I would know my true love, from a kiss. And I did. When you kissed me again, on the path. That I love you. That it had to be you. I wouldn't go back if I weren't certain.'
Wufei felt himself relaxing slightly though his ears were burning a bright red. 'I love you.' He whispered back under his breath, and felt the amused glance from Heero, even as he leaned his head back against his shoulder.
'I know.'
Wufei felt a broad grin split his face as he caught the soft smug words, just before Heero turned the volume up louder. He didn't care what Duo did or said any more, he knew that Heero belonged to him, and that they would be together. He started to hum lightly under his breath, knowing that Heero didn't really mind and concentrated on enjoying the best drive of his life.
The yellow convertible drove sedately down the freeway for another few miles then with a loud squeal from its tires, it screeched out of its lane, horrifying the other drivers, before slamming to a halt on the emergency gravelled lane.
'I'm going to kill that bastard!'
A loud scream split the air, then before the rattled drivers had a chance to collect their wits, the yellow car roared back into life and screeched back into lane, accelerating to over a hundred miles within a few minutes. The frightened motorists timidly continued down the freeway, all of the cars slowing down to a seventy miles of one accord, allowing the maniac in the yellow car to disappear in front of them. They were feeling too strained to pay much attention to a big advertisement board by the side of the road, with the picture of two men, one a dark haired handsome young man with an intense expression, the other, with black short ponytail pulled tightly behind him and large exotic looking black eyes. The caption above the second man said, 'have you see this man? He's a kidnapper. Please help rescue my beloved.'
'It's good to hear your voice again.'
'Yeah, you too. My hearing's going to be held next week. Hopefully, these charges will be dismissed and we can be together then.'
'Actually, I came to visit you because of the hearing. I've been called up as a witness. By the Prosecution.'
'What! They can't do that!'
'Calm down, please. Otherwise the guard will kick me out like last time.'
'I'm calm. Look see? My hands aren't even shaking. Damn. It's all that blond's idea isn't it?'
'He's a witness as well. For the Defence.'
'My god. I'm doomed. I'm going to go to jail for the rest of my life.'
'Please calm down. Don't cry. I'm still on your side. If I have to wait twenty years, so be it. So don't give up hope please.'
'How can I keep hoping when I know that the best years of my life is going to be spent inside ugly concrete walls! I want to be free! Do something about this, Heero! Please.'
'Try not to get so overwrought Wufei, you're beginning to sound like Duo. As it is, I have to leave in another twenty minutes, if I'm going to make it in time to see him before visiting time is over.'
'Why are you visiting him! This is all his fault! That lunatic. He framed me. He and the blond.'
'Wufei please. You know that Duo's getting help. He's not well. And anyway, it could be worse, at least Trowa's not dead yet. I'm sure that as soon as he gets out of the coma, that he'll be able to identify the real shooter and you will be cleared. Just try to be brave.'
'Brave! You try being in here instead of me and then talk about being brave! Damn it. I knew it was a mistake getting involved with you. You've been nothing but trouble from the moment I kissed you.'
'Hey! Don't do this Wufei. Don't turn this into a squabble over me. You're in jail because you couldn't control your temper. I told you we should never have come back and oh no, Mr Honourable insisted that we had to return. That we should confront the others and tell them that we love each other. This would never have happened if you ran away with me like I suggested.'
'That would have been dishonourable. And anyway, we wouldn't have gone very far with those blasted posters of us that Duo had spread all over. Me, a kidnapper. What a joke! I mean, why would I want to kidnap you anyway?'
'Well, thanks for nothing. And what about those kisses that you liked so much then? I should have known that you couldn't be trusted. After all, you were a married man, so all I was, was nothing more than a little fling right?'
'Will you stop getting yourself all twisted over the marriage stuff? I told you, it was an arranged marriage. And she's dead. D..E.A..D.. Dead. Like Duo will be if I ever get out of here.'
'Oh great. Now you've gone and put a death threat on record. That's really terrific. You've already been arrested for attempted murder and extortion. Why don't you just plead guilty and put an end to all our miseries?'
'Thank you so much for your vote of confidence. I should have known better than to believe that you could be capable of feeling true love for anyone. You just use people. You used Duo, then Trowa and me. What's next? You going to marry Quatre for his money!'
'Why you! How dare you insinuate that I would marry Quatre or anyone for money! I can't believe that I thought I loved you, you scumbag! I hope you rot in jail for the rest of your miserable lonely life! Don't expect to see me again, until the hearing!'
'I won't! And it's good riddance! You serial kisser! Don't come back here!'
The amber liquid sloshed gently as the two glasses met with a light clink. And tall bearded man leaned over and gave a kiss to the young girl with the short black hair, who beamed at him happily. The collected crowd burst into clapping as the two turned around and bowed.
'Here's to the future.'
Quatre beamed happily at Trowa who smiled sweetly back at him, glad to see his friend back in the land of the living. They saluted the happy couple who was the cause of the celebration in unison, their glasses held high.
'All's well that ends well, right?'
Wufei winked at Heero as he tucked a proprietary arm around his waist and handed him a glass of champagne. Heero grinned and leaned back into his embrace as he sipped the bubbly liquid happily.
'I wouldn't say that.'
The two men turned around to see the tall man who glared at them, a long chestnut braid falling behind him. They tensed for a minute then relaxed as a tall woman with light brown hair came by his side and grabbing hold of his ear, dragged him off protesting.
'You know, I really love Sally.' Wufei mused out loud, then grunted as Heero dug a sharp elbow into his ribs. 'Hey, what was that for?'
Heero gave him a mock glare. 'I thought I told you not to stray. Admiring someone else, male or female is strictly off limits.'
Wufei grinned back and pulled him down for a long, lingering kiss, ignoring the rising buzz around them as the others broke off their conversation and turned in their direction. 'You don't have to worry. And don't forget that you promised. You only kiss me. No one else. Right?'
Heero laughed as he dropped another light kiss on Wufei's nose. 'So, as long as I don't kiss them, it's okay?'
End
Katana: In case you're wondering, this is a 5x1. I think that's just about the rarest pairing you have in GW. And I've always rather liked Wufei. I did think briefly about Duo putting up more of a struggle at the end but I decided to give Wufei and Heero a break. As for what really happened near the end, well, I think that part of the fun is in giving you a little leeway to come up with your own theories about that but.. I don't mind giving a little help, so. Wufei was arrested for trying to kill Trowa, since he was found with a gun in his hand. Duo was also arrested because he was another suspect. Neither turned out to be guilty in the end. When Trowa came to, he remembered that he tried to stop Duo and Wufei from fighting and the gun went off accidentally. So, they all got off and yes, that was Hirde with Rashid. A bit unusual I know, but why not? And no, you never do find out exactly what happened in Tehran with Quatre, Heero and the Magnacs. Life's like that. You don't get all the answers to every little thing. Only enough to keep the story moving. I have to say though that in my opinion, I don't think Duo's going to ever give up on Heero. Poor Wufei. ^_~
And now for our references. The reference to 1) Wufei's hair and nails 2) Zech's nose ring and 3) Duo's house redecorating can be found in 'A Kiss is just a Kiss' 4) Wufei's first kiss with Heero is in 'Kiss and Tell'.
Katana
Please send comments to: Katana Rey