27 Jan 2000
Hello, mina -
Here is the next installment in my Charm School series. There are warnings for yaoi and angst with this. Any comments you care to send would be greatly appreciated.
As with any Charm School fic, this one makes more sense if you've read Beautiful Stranger, which you can find at http://www.shinigami.org/beautiful.html You can also find the earlier fics in this series at http://www.shinigami.org/charm_school.html
Thanks for reading -
kumiko
ZnM
DISCLAIMER: All Gundam Wing characters are property of Sunrise, Bandai Visuals, Sotsu Agency, and Asahi TV. This work is not written for profit, but for entertainment purposes only.
WARNINGS: Contains shounen-ai and lemonish yaoi scenes. Do not continue if you are under 18 years of age and/or uncomfortable with male-male romantic or sexual relationships.
This fic contains scenes that may be disturbing to some readers.
Key for punctuation:
"..." - character dialogue
/.../ - character thoughts
Winner Estate 01 - The Algerian Sahara
"Master Quatre? We've found him and the comm link is established."
Quatre looked up from a supplier's quote and smiled. "Rashid that's wonderful. Thank you so much."
The large Manguanac simply nodded and replied, "It's not hard to trace someone who looks the way he does *and* has a government ID."
"Yes, yes - I suppose... well," Quatre was suddenly nervous. He stood and crossed to the window of the office, drinking in the calm of the huge Eastern Erg that sprawled away to the south. This might well be a difficult conversation, and he would need to be supportive of what his long-time friend was feeling as they talked. /And let him know how much I really want to see him, and find out from him what happened./ He gave a small nod of determination, ran a hand through golden blond hair, and said to Rashid as hit the converse key, "Well, here we go!"
Hotel Tesoro del Lago, Mallorca, Spain
The boy in the bed was moving, wriggling actually, and making soft sounds of pleasure. "Nnnnnn... oh, yeah... mmmmm..."
He stretched his full length against his lover's long, golden body, sighed in a loud, contented way, rolled over, and panted softly into the man's ear.
"Pancakes..."
The man being addressed cracked open one ice-blue eye and considered the view. Two bright, indigo-colored eyes, masses of silky brown hair, and a grin that should have accompanied a lustful proposition but seemed, instead, to be demanding breakfast.
"There are *other* appetites to be satisfied..." he growled suggestively at the boy.
Luck, however, seemed not to be with him.
It's true, the boy did move closer to him, and pressed his lips lightly against the man's fevered ones. But instead of murmuring an assent to be taken, he whispered, "Butter... maple syrup... *bacon*..."
Zechs Merquise let out a huff and raised himself on one elbow, one hand under his head, the other clutching a hank of chestnut silk. "Duo, you are a master at killing a mood," he informed the grinning boy beside him.
Duo's grin instantly turned from mischievous to seductive. He wriggled down into the sheets, pulling his lover on top of him and arching his back so that they were pressed together along the entire length of their bodies. "Oh, but bunny," he breathed "I'm also pretty darn good at bringing one back to life..."
Breakfast plans were, not surprisingly, put on hold.
***
The two were completely coupled, Zechs' slow, deep thrusts bringing moans of pleasure from Duo, when the comm unit next to the bed chimed.
"H-huh??" Zechs panted, his brain not fully functional at that particular moment.
Duo wrapped strong, slender arms around his neck and pulled him down for a fierce kiss. "Don't stop, Zechs... oh, gods, please don't stop..." he whispered against the blond man's lips.
More thrusting, faster, and breath coming quicker now. Each movement brought moans from Zechs, and whimpers from Duo, who whispered, "Faster... faster... aaah...faster!"
The comm unit chimed again. Whoever it was did not want to leave a message. The caller was being persistent.
In great frustration, Duo reached over and brought his hand down on the answer bar. "Whoever this is, you've got lousy timing -" he yelled, panting, "so you'll just have to wait!" He tried, then, to tap the hold key, but, due to a particularly well-aimed thrust by Zechs, ended up clutching his lover's upper arms instead. The feeling was too intense, and he gave a loud cry of pleasure that was surely heard in the rooms on either side of them.
Unfortunately, it was also heard through the comm unit in the offices of Quatre Raberba Winner, across the Strait of Gibraltar, in Algeria.
The sound, and it's obvious cause, made Quatre jump. Rashid was turning a bright shade of brick red. He mumbled something Quatre couldn't understand, excused himself, and all but ran from the room.
Quatre put his head in his hands and turned the volume on his unit down just a bit. He had to listen to determine when Duo was, "free", to speak, but he didn't have to listen to those low growls and soft, rhythmic whimpers at full volume. He tried, very earnestly, to put his mind on the architect's drawings for a new factory while Duo and his lover finished up.
About 10 minutes later, he heard Duo's voice saying, "I just want to stretch a bit - I'll be in with you in a couple of minutes."
"Duo?" Quatre ventured. Then louder, "Duo? Are you there?"
One more moment's hesitation and then the familiar face appeared on Quatre's vid screen, looking somewhat disbelieving and more than a little sheepish. "Uh... Quatre? Heh heh... Was - was that you calling... awhile back? Like, several minutes ago?"
"Um, yes Duo."
"And, uh - you've been on hold all this time?"
"No... not on hold... but waiting for you."
Duo blinked and turned bright red, then started to giggle. "I'm - I'm sorry Quatre!" he said, the giggles turning into legitimate laughs. "Oh man, that must have been... really... it's a good thing I hadn't hit the vid switch 'cause - hahhahhahhahahahahahahah!!!!" The rest of the sentence was drowned in hysterical laughter as Duo fell back on the bed and put a pillow over his face, contemplating the plight of sweet and gentle Quatre having not only to listen to the noise he and Zechs made, but see it all, too.
In a minute or so he sat up, wiping his eyes and looking up as the bathroom door opened. A blond head poked out and Zechs looked at Duo in puzzlement. "Everything all right out here, kitten?"
Duo kept the pillow over the lower part of his face, hiding a huge grin, and nodded vigorously.
"Very well. I'll start the bath, shall I?"
Another set of nods and the door closed again. Duo turned back to the comm unit.
"Quatre, man! It's great to hear your voice! Where're you calling from? How'd you know I was here? You know what I did yesterday? I got to pilot a *speedboat* all around the bay! It was *so* cool! Not quite as good as Deathscythe, but *damn* close! Oh, and *tomorrow* we're gonna -"
"Duo?" Quatre interrupted.
"Huh?" The long-haired boy blinked several times, seemingly unaware of his own chatter.
"I... need to talk to you about something. Something important."
Duo drew his knees up to his chin, hugging the pillow to his chest, and sobered instantly.
"Is someone hurt? Is it Trowa? What's up? Tell me."
"No, it's nothing like that. And Trowa's fine, as far as I know. He's on L3 with Cathrine. No, Duo - this is something else... about... well, it's about you and Heero."
Duo pulled back from the vid screen as if he's been stung. "There is no me and Heero anymore, Quatre. We broke up - about 3 weeks ago."
"I... I know that, Duo... You see, Heero is here at my place in Algeria."
Stiffening somewhat, Duo said, "Oh. Oh he is. Well, then I'm sure he's told you everything. About how I dumped him for some other guy and how ... " He looked away from the kind face on the screen, fighting back tears. /Boys don't cry./
"He's told me almost nothing, Duo. He's said about 10 words since he's been here, which is three weeks now. I thought I could get the story out of him, but you know Heero - he doesn't talk much at the best of times."
"Yeah, well, that's something I'd like to *forget*, thank you," Duo muttered.
Quatre took a deep breath. "I wanted to know... that is, I wondered... whether you would agree to meet with me... about this..."
Duo raised a doubtful eyebrow. "Quatre, you sound like you're trying to negotiate some sort of trade agreement."
"Sorry!," the blond-haired boy smiled weakly, "I don't mean it in that way. I'm just trying to understand. Heero... well, Heero's not doing too well with all this. I'm trying to find a way to help and its hard, not knowing anything... not knowing how *you* feel about *him* now."
Duo stared down at the pillow he was hugging, then looked up through long lashes at Quatre's image on the screen. "Quatre - you must know how I feel. I wouldn't be here with Zechs if I still..." His voice trailed off and he frowned down at the sheets.
Quatre felt his heart sink a bit. Perhaps there really *was* no hope for Heero. He seemed to have gotten it into his head (at last?) that Duo was who he belonged with and nothing would persuade him otherwise. But Duo had found another man to be with, a man who seemed to be making him happy. /Do I really want to ask him to give that up? He tried for so long with Heero and only got grief for it. Why should I be trying to get him away from Zechs if Zechs is who he wants?
And yet... Heero is hurting so badly... even if I can't get them together again, I need to know more if I'm going to help him.../
"Please, Duo!" Quatre pleaded. "It wouldn't be very far. We could meet in Algiers - it's right across the strait from where you are. Just for a few hours - to talk. It'd just be me, I promise. Duo... please."
Quatre's blue-green eyes looked huge across the vid screen and Duo knew he was weakening. They had been such good friends. Their talks had sometimes lasted until daybreak and Quatre had always been there after Duo had gone through one of Heero's beatings.
He pounded the pillow once with his fist and then said, "Oh, all right. Where should I meet you and when?"
Winner Estate 01 - The Algerian Sahara
Quatre pushed the disconnect key and leaned back in his chair. His chest felt ten times lighter. He would get to talk to Duo and find out *his* side in all of this. And that *had* to be the key to helping Heero. Maybe there was hope for the Japanese boy after all.
"Rashid?" he called into the intercom system. "I need to get packed for a trip to Algiers!"
Hotel Tesoro del Lago, Mallorca, Spain
Duo slumped his chin into the pillow and lightly tapped the disconnect key."What the hell have I agreed to?" he asked himself softly. "I mean, seriously Maxwell, *what* are you thinking? You're on a gorgeous island in the Mediterranean with a drop-dead gorgeous man whose idea of fun is making you scream with pleasure all day and all night. So *of course* you're going to go off and leave him here with all those predatory beach boys to go and talk to Quatre about your ex-lover. Oh yeah, that makes *perfect* sense..."
He had rolled over onto his back now, and was wondering how to get out of the whole thing when the ceiling tiles were obscured by wheat-colored hair and ice-blue eyes. "What makes perfect sense?" Zechs purred, and then lowered his head to Duo's neck and began to nuzzle.
Duo shivered at the sparks those lips caused. All the way through him, even from the slightest touch. "It's nothing, really. Just talkin' to myself like I always do when there's no one around."
Zechs drew back and gave Duo a dubious look. "Well, kitten - if you're ever in need of conversation, please," and here he brushed the boy's lips with his own, "don't hesitate to ask..." He pressed forward then, and took Duo's mouth hungrily, humming with pleasure to feel the American yielding under him.
"Nnnnn... more, my love... I need more..."
Duo let himself be pressed back into the warmth of the bed, amazed at how, on the one hand, Zechs' touch was growing so familiar and, on the other hand, it seemed more arousing now than it had been in Sank. "Somehow I think my pancakes are gonna turn into a hamburger..." he murmured just before the tall blond skillfully rendered him speechless.
Winner Estate 01 - The Algerian Sahara
The slender blond approached the figure in the window with some trepidation. Since the episode where they had both had such bad dreams, and had ended up in bed together, Heero had either stayed in his room alone, or sat here, in front of the large window in the main living area, looking out at the dunes that surrounded the house to the south. He had said hardly anything. The silence had grown so intractable that Quatre had decided to call Duo, and now was heading out to a plane for Algiers, 25 minutes to the north.
"I'm... going to be gone for the day, Heero. I have some business in Algiers and won't be back until later tonight. Rashid will be here so if you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. All right?"
Silence from the boy at the window.
"It'll only be for the day, Heero and then I'll be back. Maybe we can plan to do something tomorrow. I've been wanting to take you out into the desert, it's really beautiful in its own way. How does that sound?"
Heero didn't turn around. "You don't need to entertain me, Quatre. I'll be fine. Go."
Quatre turned and then had a thought. "If you'd like to talk to Trowa, you can get him just by pushing '1' on the comm unit. He'd probably really like to hear from you."
No response.
The blond boy sighed and turned again, this time going out of the door and leaving the ex-pilot of Wing alone with his thoughts.
Beach front of the Hotel Tesoro del Lago, Mallorca, Spain
/I think we're having our first argument,/ Duo thought miserably. He was sitting on the sand, watching the sun turn the sea to a fiery gold color. The air was still warm, the wind smelled of salt, and the most beautiful man Duo had ever seen was by his side. /And I'm having an argument with him about going to chat with a friend about my ex. Makes sense. Sure it does. Uh huh./
He looked over at Zechs with a slight pout on his face. Slipping his arm through the man's he rested his chin on the blond's bicep and looked up at the stony profile. "Pleeeease, Zechs? Can't you just try to understand? Just this once? I really need to talk to Quatre. He needs help if he's going to help Heero, and -"
Zechs stood up abruptly, walking a few steps away and standing, hands on hips, with his back to Duo. He looked out at the sea for few moments and then said, "And you just have to help Heero, don't you? Heaven forbid that Heero would have to come to some kind of realization on his own about what a *beast* he's been to you. No, *you* have to help him!" Zechs spun around, his normally kind blue eyes glittering with anger. "And where was Heero when you needed help understanding why he left L2 without a word? Where was Heero when you were so torn up by what he and Relena did that you couldn't even stand up? Where was Heero that morning, after he brutalized you and left you alone? If anyone needed help it was you, then. Where was he Duo?"
Zechs spread his arms in a gesture of disbelief. "He wasn't there! He didn't give you the help you needed. Some of it help that only he could give. He gave you nothing but pain and humiliation and loneliness." He stared at Duo, more hurt in his eyes than anger now. "Why do you keep giving him everything, when it's clear he can't give anything back?"
Duo's bottom lip crumpled as he looked away. /Boys don't cry./ "Because he and I are a lot alike. Because he had a terrible childhood just like I did. My way of coping with it was to put on a mask - just like you did, Zechs." He looked up at the tall blond and something in the man's eyes seemed to soften a bit.
"But Heero had a different way of coping. He stuffed everything way down inside of him, so far that he forgot it was there. All those inconvenient feelings and hopes. He was *told* by everyone around him that those things were *weaknesses.* The only thing he was really allowed to feel was anger, because that helped with the mission, usually. So he became this really cold, isolated person and that worked for a long time. Now it's not working anymore. But he hasn't figured out a different way to be - it's just all anger. No matter what the emotion is that he's *really* feeling, it seems to come out as anger, or doesn't come out at all."
Duo put his chin down on his arms. "He has to learn how to let people know what he's feeling and he has to do it from scratch. Quatre's trying to help him, but... he needs to know more about Heero to do that. Guess I'm the world's expert."
Zechs didn't say anything right away. But after several minutes had gone by he sat down by Duo and cupped his hand around the braided boy's chin, tilting it up so that Duo's eyes met his. "And tell me this, Duo. When your friend finishes with him, and he's learned how to be civil, will you go back to him?"
Zechs' eyes were full of hurt and Duo wanted to ignore the question and just hold the man. But the question was *there.* It hung between the two of them, ugly and important and needing to be answered, so Duo did.
"I... I don't think so..."
Zechs looked as if someone had slapped him. He stood up very slowly and turned to walk down the beach. "Of course you can go, Duo. You don't need my permission, you're a free person, you can do what you want to do." He took a few steps then stopped and, with his back to Duo said, "But I'm going with you." The he broke into a run and headed off down the beach by himself.
Hotel President Liamine Zeroual, Algiers
Quatre paced the small private dining room. He and Duo had agreed to meet here, on neutral ground, and the clock had just struck 10am, the time they'd agreed to. He wasn't at all sure why he was feeling so nervous, but he was and he struggled to get a hold of himself and he heard voices outside.
A moment later, Duo bounced into the room, all sunburned cheeks and silky braid, a wide grin on his face. "Quatre! Howzit goin', man! It's great to see you again!" The American reached out and got a bear's hug grip on the other boy and they embraced for several moments before pulling away from each other, laughing. Quatre was just about to ask Duo to sit down when he noticed a tall figure just inside the doorway. He turned and tried not to jump at the sight of Zechs Merquise giving him an appraising look.
"Oh!" Duo said, "Let me introduce you. Zechs, this is Quatre Raberba Winner, he and I are old war buddies, and Quatre, this is Zechs Merquise," Duo took ahold of Zechs hand and squeezed. "But - you probably knew that, huh," he added sheepishly.
Zechs held out an elegant hand to Quatre and the younger blond shook it politely. "A pleasure to see you again, Mr. Winner. I've heard of you outside of wartime as well, of course."
"The pleasure is all mine, your highness," Quatre replied. "It - *is* your highness, isn't it?"
The tall man shook his head and said softly, "I don't use my title, but thank you. Zechs is fine." He turned to Duo. "I'll leave you to talk, but I won't go far. Just have me paged if you need me and - I'll check back in a couple of hours." He cast a sidelong glance at Quatre then kissed Duo briefly but firmly, and headed out the door, white-gold hair flying behind him.
Quatre watched him go and then said, "Tell me Duo, why is it that he seems to be wearing a cape even when he hasn't got one on?"
Duo grinned and closed the door, leaning back against it and looking at his old friend. "Because, Quatre my man, you can take the man off of the throne but you can't ever take the throne out of the man. He's royalty, first, last, and always. Took some getting used to but now, well, I gotta admit the whole dashing young prince thing is kinda cute. 'Specially since he doesn't even know he's doing it."
Quatre smiled. /Duo... you look so happy... why am I here? What am I hoping to accomplish...?/
"Please," he said graciously, "sit down. We have hot chocolate and pastries coming. I remember how you eat so I ordered lots." He smiled at the way Duo perked up at the promise of food. /Once a street kid always a street kid, eh, Duo?/
"That sounds great." Duo sat down and stretched his legs out on a neighboring chair. "So, Quatre - what is it you need from me that you couldn't get in a vid call? Not that I'm not really happy to see you, of course, but -"
"No, no - I understand," the blond replied. "It's as I told you. Heero really hasn't said much of anything. I know he and Relena were involved somehow and I know that he had left L2. And I know that you left him to be with..." The slender Arabian hesitated briefly.
"With Zechs," Duo finished for him. "Yes I did. We were all in Sank about three weeks or so ago, and I met Zechs there. Heero had left me to be with Relena and Zechs... well Zechs thought I was the coolest thing since underwater beam weapons and let me tell ya - finding someone like that at the same time someone else pretty much tells you that you're dog shit is a miraculous thing. If it hadn't have been for Zechs, I don't know what I would have done."
Quatre asked the next question carefully. "Well, I can certainly see why you would think well of him. It must have been wonderful to have that kind of support through the whole thing. And... perhaps what you're feeling for Zechs is more along the lines of, say, gratitude or something like that. What do you think, Duo? Could that be it?" He was staring up into the braided boy's long bangs, trying to catch his eye when Duo stood abruptly.
"You're trying to say I'm not really in love with Zechs, aren't you? That it just felt good getting his pity and that what we feel for each other doesn't amount to much else. Thanks, Quatre, for that statement of confidence in my ability to attract a decent man."
"Duo, please - I just want to make sure you know what you're doing in this. After all, it's... unusual, don't you think, to become lovers with a former enemy?"
"He's not my enemy, Quatre. A long time ago he was, but after what he did during that catastrophe with Mariemeia, I don't see him that way anymore. Not at all." Duo looked petulant and crossed his arms in front of him. "I thought you wanted to see me to get some insight into Heero, not to convince me to leave Zechs."
The young blond hung his head. "I'm sorry, Duo. It's just that... well, it sounds ridiculous, I know, but somehow I thought we'd all stick together more than this. After the war was over and the gundams destroyed. But Trowa's off on L3, Wu Fei's in the Preventers and can't be found most of the time, and now you're with Zechs instead of Heero. I always thought you two would be together forever, despite all the fighting you did."
"That's a really nice thing to say, Quatre - it really is. But, that fighting was getting out of hand, and it wasn't just us yelling at each other anymore. You know what was going on..." Duo's voice grew perceptibly lower. "There were punches and kicks and slaps, constantly. And I really thought that I should be able to put up with that, if it meant having Heero love me. But you know what happened instead?"
Quatre looked very solemn and shook his head.
"It had been almost a year that he'd been with me on L2. I thought things were going pretty well, he seemed happy, as much as Heero could show it. So I went out after work one night to pick up some stuff to have a little anniversary party that weekend. I get home with all my supplies and find a note on the comm unit. It said, "Duo - I'm going back to Earth to be with Relena for awhile. Don't know when or if I'll be back. You can throw out my stuff - or sell it. H"
Duo waited and let the abruptness and finality of the letter sink in for Quatre. The Arabian frowned and said, "Are you sure that's all there was to it? It wasn't missing a page or something?"
"No, man, there was absolutely nothing else. One minute he was there, the next, he was gone. No 'sorry to do this to you', no 'thanks for the memories', *nuthin'* at all ! So I wait, and I wait. And I feel like a complete loser, just hanging around waiting for my man to call. See the trouble is, my man doesn't want me. Oh no, he'd rather have the princess. I think - he never did say for sure."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door and a server came in with a pot of hot chocolate and a tray of pastries. Setting them gracefully on the table in front of the two boys, the tall, thin man peered down at Quatre and asked if anything else was wanted. "Just privacy," he smiled back up at the man, who carried off a large tip and made sure the door was closed *completely.*
Duo dug into the pastries and Quatre poured hot chocolate for them both. When they'd settled in with their food, Duo resumed his story.
"Then one evening when I'd gotten home and was making dinner (well, barbecuing it actually, over the flames on the gas stove), I get another vid phone call. This one was from Relena, can you believe it? Relena? Calling *me*? As if she's ever acted like I exist before - hah! Anyway, she's all syrupy sweet about how much the two of them want me to come to Sank for the weekend and then at the very end of the message she says, "Heero and I have some wonderful news!"
Quatre leaned forward and put a hand on Duo's. "That must have been awful -you must have been imagining all kinds of things. Not a very friendly thing for Relena to do..."
"Yeah, it was awful and believe me, I was imagining the worst, which I've since realized is perfectly fine because the worst had happened. Anyway," he said stretching, "I got to the airport in Sank and Zechs was there. So he gave me a ride back to the palace and, well I wanted someone big and strong to stand behind when things got... weird with Heero."
Duo's voice had taken on a distracted tone. "Funny thing was, when things got really weird I ran away from him - from everyone. I was running and running and I'd had too much to drink and then I felt myself falling and -he was there." Duo shook his head a little at that. "He just gathered me all up in those big arms of his and carried me away from all that. I'll never forget how he did it... so gentle..." The American's voice drifted off and a soft smile came over his face, a faraway look in the wide violet eyes.
"What do you mean, Duo? You said 'when things got really weird.' What happened?"
"Didn't you hear? Relena made this announcement to all her guests that she and Heero were going to get married. Heero was up there with her, she had this death grip on his arm, too, but he went along with it... every bit." Duo was twisting the end of his braid in his fingers, his voice low. "I coulda sworn that some media guys woulda picked up on it."
"No - they didn't. I haven't heard a word of it."
The American laughed bitterly. "Probably just as well - Heero ended up breaking it off after... ah, I'm getting ahead of myself."
"Duo -" Quatre ventured, "Did you ever talk to Heero after the announcement? About how he felt?"
"Talk with him? Well, we did have a few more 'encounters' after that. Zechs had arranged... something that was designed to make Heero tell Relena that he didn't love her, that he loved me instead... and, well - it worked. He did tell her, supposedly, or at least that's what Zechs told me. I was unconscious at the time - yet another story for another time. He apparently did say it though, right to her face."
Duo frowned again and poured a fresh cup of hot chocolate for himself and Quatre. "Ya know," he said wistfully, "Maybe at that point it could've worked, going back to him. The idea that... he had finally admitted to Relena and, most of all, to himself what he really felt about me... that was incredible. I waited for over two years to hear that."
Quatre studied the braided boy's face. "So why wasn't that enough, Duo? If he was telling you everything you'd been waiting to hear, why wasn't it enough?"
Duo got up and paced the small room slowly, his hands shoved into the pocket of his jeans, braid twitching. His voice was soft. "Two reasons really. One you shook hands with this morning. By that time Zechs and I... well, we'd gotten really close, and I was falling in love with him. And then... something happened that gave me another reason." Duo's voice had suddenly gone shaky, and he looked as if he might be trembling. "It let me know that things don't change all that quickly, sometimes never."
The blond boy could sense the distress building in his friend. Without quite knowing why, he asked, "Duo? Would you like to talk to Zechs right now?"
The American boy had turned away, his hands over his eyes, but after a few moments nodded. Quatre dialed the hotel's concierge and had Zechs paged.
In three minutes the tall blond man was at their door. He went over to Duo and put his arms around him, looking down into his face with concern and speaking in a soft voice, so soft that Quatre couldn't hear what he said. Duo nodded and turned to face Zechs, throwing slender arms around his neck and burying his face in the broad shoulder.
Long slender fingers brushed across the dark chestnut braid and Zechs' long, white-gold hair fell around the two of them like a curtain, screening out the world. The embrace was deep and intimate and Quatre turned away, stepping out of the room to allow his friend some privacy.
/What happened...? Duo's a tough one, takes a lot to get to him. Oh Heero, what have you done.../
Winner Estate 01 - The Algerian Sahara
Several hundred miles to the south, a darkly handsome boy looked out on the huge dunes of sand stretching away from his window. He felt like sand now. Whatever had been holding the core of his being together had crumbled completely and he was scattered, blown anywhere the wind wanted to take him, no home, no identity, nothing solid to hold onto. Just drifting sand. That's all he was now...
He looked up at the clock and frowned. Several hours had gone by and he hadn't been aware of any of them. It was close to 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Shouldn't Quatre be back by now? The door to the room opened softly and the boy heard Rashid's voice. "Excuse me Master Heero, there is a visitor who wishes to see you." For one wild moment, the blowing sand coalesced into something warm and substantial. /Duo! It has to be Duo! I *knew* he'd come! He *always* comes after me - always. Duo, you baka, what took you so long-/
He turned around an intense look of hope on his face and said, "Duo! -"
Trowa Barton's dark green eyes gazed back at him with their usual unnatural calm. The tall boy raised an eyebrow at the emotion in Heero's voice, and on his face. "Sorry, not him. Heard you were here. Thought I'd visit, see how you are."
/Not him. Not him. It had to be him but... not Duo.../ Heero was blowing apart again, and feeling dizzy from the adrenaline shooting through his system with nowhere to go. He swayed a little bit and Trowa was suddenly there beside him, catching him as he fell and lowering him to the sofa by the window. The dazed Japanese boy stared up through long bangs, his face almost looking puzzled. "Quatre... didn't say you... were coming," he managed to say. The world was still swimming and he was still trying to sort it all out.
Trowa brushed dark bangs back from Heero's eyes and ran a finger lightly across his cheek. "Quatre doesn't know I'm here. I didn't tell him. He told me you'd come - and I knew I had to see you. You're as beautiful as ever... Heero..."
End part 1
(:./kumiko/2road3)
