August 14 1999
The medicines had the predictable effect of forcing Ryoga to sleep, in spite of his struggles to keep his eyes open long enough to give Wufei a baleful glare. It seemed only a few minutes later that Wufei woke him and ordered him to eat some of the hot, thick soup the Chinese pilot had prepared.
"No, thank you," Ryoga said, turning his head away.
"You need it," Wufei said, starting to frown ominously. Ryoga scowled at him, determined that he was not going to be spoon-fed by anyone.
"I don't want it," he gritted out through clenched teeth.
"You're going to eat it," Wufei snarled. Ryoga pressed his lips together and glared his defiance. With a stifled oath, the Chinese boy set the bowl down on the nightstand and stalked away. Ryoga lay back on the pillows and closed his eyes, too weary to even think about gloating. He didn't notice until it was too late that Wufei had brought the handcuffs with him. Ryoga's eyes snapped open in shock as the cuffs pinned his wrists behind his back in a frighteningly quick motion. Wufei smirked at him, piled pillows up to force Ryoga to sit and picked up the bowl again.
"You can't make m-" Ryoga's statement was interrupted by a spoonful of soup as Wufei crammed it into his mouth. "That's no fair, y-" Wufei was grinning now, just daring him to try to speak again, and Ryoga couldn't bear it.
"Bully!" he managed to say before Wufei could stop him. The Chinese boy scowled.
"Because you are sick, I'll overlook that this time," he said, feeding his unwilling patient several more spoonfuls of the thick soup.
"If you didn't act like a bully-" Ryoga began, then swallowed the next spoonful quickly.
"I suggest you stop talking that way," Wufei said ominously, but Ryoga was reckless in his drugged, humiliated state.
"I wouldn't call you one if it wasn't true!" It was the last straw. Wufei set the bowl down with a loud clatter and flipped Ryoga over onto his stomach with no difficulty.
"You keep your hands off me, Wufei," Ryoga cried, a tone of fear creeping into his voice.
"If you persist in using that term, I'll be forced to punish you, sick or not," Wufei said quietly.
"You mean you'll be forced to bully me." Ryoga gasped in outrage as Wufei tore his boxer shorts off in one swift tug. "You stop it, Wufei! You wouldn't dare!"
Wufei dared. His hand rose and fell on the Lost Boy's exposed bottom with a series of resounding thwacks. Ryoga cried out in shock, his voice cracking hoarsely as he struggled in vain against the handcuffs and Wufei's hand planted in the small of his back. His feet kicked uselessly and he whimpered into the pillow as Wufei spanked him thoroughly, only stopping when the round, taut cheeks of his buttocks were a bright shade of pink.
Wufei stopped, glancing down at Ryoga's punished bottom with some satisfaction. He had had that coming for a while now... Suddenly, Wufei realized that the Lost Boy was crying, his shoulders shaking as he sobbed into the pillows.
"Please don't be mad at me..." he was whispering. Wufei pulled the shorts back into place and released the handcuffs, then turned Ryoga back over. His eyes were tightly shut, but tears leaked out, soaking his long, dark eyelashes. "Please don't hate me anymore," Ryoga whimpered. Wufei brushed at Ryoga's wet lashes, then for some reason he couldn't understand, he bent and kissed the boy's soft lips. Ryoga mumbled in confusion, then suddenly opened up to the kiss, responding with a warmth that left Wufei's heart racing. Wufei kissed him for long, long minutes, ravishing the responsive lips with his own, inwardly delighted at Ryoga's passionate moans. Wufei pulled away, taking a deep breath and trying to bring his body's needs back under control.
"Akane..." Ryoga mumbled. Wufei stared at him in wounded shock, suddenly realizing how far out of it Ryoga was. He hadn't even known who he was kissing, or that it was real. Shaken, Wufei took the rest of the soup and went about washing up in the kitchen. When he was done, he had regained some measure of his self-control. He went through the motions of checking Ryoga's temperature, forcing him to swallow the medicines, alternately washing him with cold cloths or allowing him to bundle up in the blankets... and all the while his mind kept replaying that kiss, and the name of the dead girl spoken so reverently.
By the next morning, Wufei was starting to worry. Ryoga's temperature steadily rose, and his too-bright eyes glittered above fever-flushed cheeks without seeing anything. He carried on conversations with the long-dead Ranma and Akane, and seemed oblivious to anything Wufei said or did. Even the icy bath failed to drag him from his hallucinations, and his fever was now barely kept in check by frequent treatments.
At the same time, Wufei was agonizingly aware that his friends needed him. Enemy reinforcements had apparently arrived during the night, and the Gundam pilots were having a hard time of it. Wufei clambered down the ladder, pulling on his jacket. He'd just have to end the battle and come back quickly.
"Curse you, Ranma!" Ryoga cried, and Wufei turned in alarm just in time to see the Lost Boy fling himself over the second-story rail and fall to the floor below with a sickening snap. With a panicked gasp, Wufei ran over to him.
"Rrrrranma..." Ryoga muttered, and Wufei snorted, realizing how lucky it was that he hadn't broken his neck. He turned Ryoga over and quickly checked him for injuries, trying not to notice that Quatre's voice over the radio was almost tearful with exhaustion.
Ryoga's left arm was broken, but other than that he didn't seem to be hurt. Wufei shook his head in amazement, then paused a moment to consider his options. He couldn't take Ryoga with him, and he couldn't carry him upstairs... and if he left him alone there was no telling what the boy might do in his delirium. Wufei quickly came to a decision and fastened handcuffs around Ryoga's wrists and ankles and carried him over to the couch. Just to be on the safe side, the pilot ran to the barn and came back with a long length of rope. He wound it around both Ryoga and the couch, crossing it over his shoulders and around each leg. There was no way the Lost Boy could wriggle out of that. Just for good measure, Wufei put all the ice they had into plastic bags and tucked them in among the ropes.
"Don't hate me anymore, Daddy," Ryoga pleaded. Wufei paused long enough to brush silky bangs out of Ryoga's eyes, then left at a run, wishing he could be two places at once.
Quatre was about to die. He knew this, because he was out of ammunition and dizzy with fatigue after all those hours of fighting, and the fresh enemy troops in their fully-loaded mechs had somehow cut him off from the other Gundams. He could hear Duo screaming his name as Sandrock reeled under the heavy fire, and Quatre closed his eyes for a moment, only a moment...
He opened his eyes and blinked. And blinked again. His vidscreen showed nothing but Shenlong's back.
"Wufei!" Quatre yelled, wiping a tear of pure relief from the corner of his eye.
"You were supposed to take care of Ryoga," Heero's dispassionate voice intoned over the radio.
"We weren't going to call you," Quatre added.
"Let's finish this!" Wufei yelled.
"Yeah!" Duo cried enthusiastically, swinging forward in Deathscythe with renewed vigor.
"Quatre, go home," Heero said.
"But..."
"You have no ammunition."
"Ryoga needs help," Wufei added, blasting one of the enemy mechs with a grim smile of satisfaction on his face. "His fever's worse."
"Go ahead, and we'll keep anyone from following you!" Duo cried, and Quatre left without another word. "Ha! Eat that, you dog!"
"You're having entirely too much fun," Heero deadpanned.
"Might as well enjoy what I do, since I have to do it anyway," Duo answered cheerfully. "Gotcha! Thought you could sneak up on me, did you?"
Wufei grinned at Heero's exasperated snort.
Quatre scrambled up the hill to the cabin, ignoring muscles aching with fatigue and the cold air searing his lungs in his haste to get to Ryoga. He found the Lost Boy near the couch, still attached to the heavy piece of furniture by one frayed coil of rope.
"Oh, Ryoga," the little blond breathed. He ran over to the unconscious boy, noting with relief that he was at least still breathing - though the sound of his breathing had progressed to a harsh, slow rattle deep in his chest.
"You don't sound so good," Quatre said. Ryoga didn't answer, and didn't react at all when Quatre dragged him back onto the couch with a series of massive heaves. Quatre sat back on his heels and panted for a while after having gotten the patient on the couch, then went about looking for the handcuff keys.
"I can't find them anywhere," he muttered to himself, since nobody else was listening. "I'm sorry I can't make you more comfortable, but at least I can get rid of these," and he picked up an armful of the plastic bags. "I wonder why Wufei left a bunch of water?" Shrugging the question off, Quatre carried the bags over to the sink and emptied them out. That was when he noticed the empty ice trays. Realization dawned, and Quatre quickly refilled the trays and ran back to Ryoga.
"You're so hot," he whispered, brushing Ryoga's thick bangs aside to feel his forehead. "And we don't have any more ice, and I can't put cold water on you, and oh, Ryoga, what am I supposed to do?" The question ended on a distressed wail as Quatre realized how few his options were. Just as he was getting ready to panic, he heard Wufei's voice over the radio, which had been left on.
"...mention about Ryoga - his curse is cured now."
"WHAT?" Duo's voice cried. Quatre listened, wide-eyed, as Wufei explained about the Nannichuan. With a grin and a sudden burst of energy, Quatre heaved the Lost Boy across his shoulders and staggered over to the downstairs bathroom, bent nearly double under the weight. Ryoga flopped heavily into the tub, and that was when Quatre noticed the odd angle of his left arm.
"Oh, no!" the little blond wailed. "I'm so sorry, I broke your arm!" There wasn't any time to worry over the arm, though, if Ryoga wasn't going to live long enough to heal. Quatre quickly started the cold water running in the tub.
"Cold," Ryoga mumbled, then his eyelashes slowly fluttered open for a brief moment. "Ranma?"
"No, Ranma's not here," Quatre answered gently.
"Oh, Quatre," Ryoga sighed. "Please don't let Wufei spank me any more."
"Wufei spanked you?"
"He hates me because I ate the bread."
"You ate the bread?"
"Ranma no baka."
"Ranma's not here," Quatre said reassuringly.
"Don't let Wufei..."
"Don't worry," Quatre said, struggling to hide a mischievous grin. "I'll protect you from Wufei while you're sick. Once you're better, you're on your own."
"Once I'm better, I'll beat the living daylights out of him," Ryoga said, then sank deeper into a faint.
"Hn," Wufei said from the doorway. "You can try." Quatre turned around to see Wufei, Trowa and Heero crowding in the doorway. Duo was jumping up and down behind them in his efforts to see, his braid flying wildly. Quatre smiled broadly at the sight of all of them safe and sound, and tried not to giggle at the thought of Wufei spanking Ryoga. He knew that Wufei had a proclivity for... certain types of play, and that meant that Wufei obviously had some strong feelings for Ryoga. Looking up at the Chinese pilot, Quatre wondered how much he had overheard of what Ryoga had been saying.
"He's saying all kinds of things," Quatre said. "I think he's delirious."
"Hn," Wufei said again.
"Time to sleep," Heero said. Trowa was nodding his agreement, and Quatre wanted to do what Trowa wanted... and yet...
"I want to stay up with him a while," Quatre said.
"You've been up for 48 hours," Trowa protested in his soft voice.
"But I'm not really tired," Quatre said, the slightest note of pleading creeping into his voice. "And I... I broke his arm..."
"You didn't break it. He threw himself over the railing," Wufei answered, moving out of the way to let Heero into the room. Duo quickly stepped into the vacated space, a little breathless from jumping.
"It's broken," Heero agreed. "Need the handcuff keys." Wufei handed the keys over, grumbling half-heartedly that Quatre shouldn't have gotten the cuffs wet. Heero quickly released the cuffs and reset the bone, ignoring the way the others winced, and bound the arm securely. Ryoga frowned slightly, but gave no other indication he had even felt the bone being snapped back into place.
"But I don't love Ukyo," he protested softly.
"Why would he throw himself over the railing?" Quatre wondered aloud.
"He's been dreaming about Ranma," Wufei answered. "At least one of us should stay up with him; there's no telling what he'll do."
"You should sleep," Trowa said, laying a gentle hand on Quatre's shoulder.
"Hey, I'll stay up," Duo said with a grin. "I can stay up for a whole week without any problem!"
"You're asleep on your feet," Heero argued, giving Duo's braid a slight tug as he rose to his feet. "The rest of you go to bed. I'll stay up with him." Heero's jaw was set, and the others knew there would be no arguing with him. Duo stayed downstairs long enough to help Heero pull the Lost Boy back out of the tub and get him settled on the couch again.
"You, too," the stern pilot said. Duo climbed the ladder to the loft, protesting all the way. Heero glowered in his direction until the upstairs light went off, then pulled a chair up next to the couch.
"I still say you should let me stay up with him," Duo's voice called softly from the darkness.
"Shut up and go to sleep. Now," Heero answered. There was no other sound but the slight pop and crackle of the fire, and Heero smiled the tiniest ghost of a smile. Dear Duo. He couldn't help but love him, undisciplined and goofy as he could be... but he couldn't afford to let Duo get too close to him.
"I just can't hurt him that way," Heero whispered to the unconscious Lost Boy. Ryoga sighed in his sleep, and Heero smiled a little more broadly. Ryoga knew all about feeling unworthy to even love someone from afar. Although... Ryoga didn't have anyone's blood on his hands. His soul was still untarnished, while Heero dreamed of his victims nearly every time he slept.
All Heero could do was love Duo quietly, protect him as much as possible, hurt when he was hurt and be glad to see his happiness. He found that he jealously had to sleep with everyone who touched Duo, but he had never actually been alone with him, even though he wanted Duo so much he ached sometimes. And Duo, stubborn Duo, refused to accept things as they were. He was always pushing, always testing, always trying Heero's patience to the very limits... and so clearly jealous and hurt over Relena.
Relena... Heero still thought he ought to kill her someday. It infuriated him that he couldn't bring himself to just do it. His life would be so much easier without her hounding him... and Duo's worries would be laid to rest. Then again, that was probably part of the problem, aside from the fact that she was essential to the world's hopes for peace. He didn't want Duo to get any more ideas. If he got rid of Relena, there'd be no way, ever, to have peace from Duo... but at the same time he didn't want Duo to leave him.
"It's just a mess," Heero sighed softly. He stayed awake the whole night, monitoring Ryoga's temperature and glaring moodily into the flames as he contemplated his situation. He rarely had an opportunity like this, to just sit and think. There was always something more important to do or think about, some mission to accomplish. For now, though, there was nothing to fill the night but his own thoughts. Duo and Relena. What to do?
Wufei was the first to wake the next morning, silently pulling on his clothes and glancing at his fellow pilots. Quatre was snuggled up in Trowa's arms, slight shadows of weariness marring his pale face even after a full night's sleep. Trowa curled around the shorter boy possessively, protectively, his long bangs falling forward to reveal his face peaceful in sleep. As for Duo... the brash American was sprawled out over the entire middle bed, snoring loudly, his braid dangling over the edge of the mattress.
"Stay awake for a week at a time, huh?" Wufei whispered, then quickly climbed down the ladder. Heero was looking at him as he crossed the room, and with a terse nod he got up, leaving the chair vacant for Wufei. Wufei sat and watched Ryoga sleeping, hearing in the background the sounds of Heero running water in the bathroom, walking to the kitchen and rattling pots. In a short time, the scent of fresh coffee wafted through the room, and Heero returned with a cup for each of them. Wufei nodded his thanks, and the two sat in a more or less companionable silence and watched the sun rise over the edge of the trees.
"Akane," Ryoga sighed, and tears started to trickle from between his closed eyelids. Wufei watched him silently, trying to ignore the little stab of sympathetic pain. He knew what it was to grieve. Finishing the last bitter swallow of his coffee, Wufei set the mug aside and leaned in a little closer to Ryoga. That rattle in his chest was worse. Frowning, Wufei pulled Ryoga over onto his side and gave his ribs a solid thump.
"Uh!" Ryoga grunted, then coughed. Wufei thumped him a few more times, noticing with some satisfaction that the cough was a lot more productive now. Ryoga's eyes opened as Wufei continued to pound on him, and he flailed around in an effort to defend himself, hampered by the soft cushions swallowing him and the binding on his left arm.
"Wu-!" Ryoga started, but whatever he was going to say was cut off by his hacking cough. Heero silently helped Wufei turn Ryoga onto his other side, then sat back again as the Chinese boy treated this side the same way. Ryoga miserably waited for Wufei to stop and the coughing fit to end before he dragged himself up into a sitting position. His sides ached, and his left arm pained him sharply.
"You keep your hands off me," he rasped at last, and Wufei merely glared at him, picked up the coffee mug and left the room. Heero looked out the window, and Ryoga carefully pulled the thin blanket around his bare legs.
"What time is it?" he asked, and Heero looked at him at last.
"About 6 am," the pilot answered.
"Oh."
"Ryoga!" a soft whisper behind him alerted him to Quatre's presence.
"You shouldn't be up yet," Heero said with a glare.
"I couldn't sleep any more," Quatre shrugged, stepping around the couch to sit by Ryoga and pulling the ties to his robe closed. "Ryoga, I'm so glad you're awake!"
"Was I asleep for long?" Ryoga asked, confused.
"Two days," Heero answered. Ryoga gasped in shock, and Quatre smiled at him.
"We all took care of you," Quatre said, the sun's dawning light glowing across his delicate features. "Especially Wufei."
"Wufei did?" Ryoga asked, dumbfounded. "I thought he..."
"He found a cure to your curse, too," Quatre added.
"A... a cure?"
"Wanna see?" Quatre asked, and bounded over to the kitchen for a glass of cold water when Ryoga nodded. Ryoga swallowed hard before upturning the glass over his head... and sat there with cold water dripping off his bangs and a goofy grin on his face while Quatre laughed and Heero nearly smiled. Wufei stood in the doorway, his face an expressionless mask.
End Part Six
Yoiko ^__^
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