August 14 1999
Trowa burst through the front door at a run, followed by Heero.
"Is he Ok?" Trowa asked, scrambling up the ladder.
"Shh! They're both sleeping," Ryoga whispered urgently.
"We were afraid you might have wandered-uh!" Trowa said as Heero elbowed him in the ribs.
"It's Ok," Ryoga said with a sigh. "I was worried I might get lost, too. Are you going to be here long enough for me to take a nap?" Wufei had climbed the ladder while Ryoga was speaking, and silently felt the Lost Boy's forehead.
"You're not totally recovered, yourself," the pilot said solemnly. "Get in bed." Ryoga bristled at the commanding tone, but bit back a caustic reply and climbed into the only unoccupied bed with a weary sigh.
"We'll be here for a while," Trowa said, crossing the room to sit on the edge of the bed he shared with Quatre and gently ruffle the boy's pale hair. Trowa's long bangs hid his expression from view, and Ryoga averted his eyes out of respect. Heero unceremoniously pushed Duo to one side of his bed and climbed in with him, but didn't push him away when the long-haired boy snuggled up to him in his sleep.
"Heero..." Duo sighed, and Heero closed his eyes, his expression softening almost imperceptibly.
Ryoga yawned and tried not to let it bother him when Wufei climbed into the bed next to him. The Chinese pilot silently composed himself and appeared to sleep. Ryoga couldn't tell whether Wufei was shamming or not.
"Trowa, I forgot to mention..." Ryoga whispered hesitantly. The tall boy glanced over at him curiously. "I borrowed some of your conditioner for Duo. I'll buy you a new bottle."
"No problem," Trowa said easily.
"Duo doesn't have conditioner?" Heero asked, opening one eye.
"No. He really should. That hair is a lot of work."
"Hn," Heero said. "Go to sleep." And they did.
Ryoga had a partial relapse that week, and the three healthy pilots considered themselves very lucky that they weren't called in on any missions while their numbers were so low. In spite of his best efforts to be as patient as Quatre and cheerful as Duo, Ryoga couldn't help but snap at Wufei, who seemed to delight in having the opportunity to boss him around. The Chinese pilot also persisted in thumping Ryoga's ribs until his sides felt like they must be black and blue.
Heero, meanwhile, tended to Duo in his own brusque, commanding way. A simple request was met with instant compliance, but the moment Duo started to whine Heero's hearing apparently self-destructed - which resulted in endless whining. Everyone in the house was relieved when Duo was finally pronounced well enough to sit on the couch with Ryoga and watch TV. Duo's good humor started to return as soon as he was able to hobble around on his own, and he spent the last few days of his recovery cracking jokes with Ryoga about whatever was on TV at the time.
Quatre worried them all, however. Of the three victims of the plague, the little blond was the hardest hit. Ryoga credited his own speedy recovery to his strong constitution and ki manipulation, and Duo could truthfully claim to have survived plagues in his childhood that had decimated his colony's population. Quatre, on the other hand, had never suffered such an illness, and his body's defenses were strained by the effort. Trowa stayed by his side keeping anxious watch, and the rest of the team, even Ryoga and Duo once they were better, took turns watching over him. The entire household was attuned to his every breath right up until the day his fever broke and he looked up at his Trowa with clear eyes.
Within a week, Ryoga and Wufei began sparring regularly, each of them determined to teach the other respect and secretly enjoying having a worthy opponent. Ryoga also began spending hours off by himself, and carried on whispered conferences with several of his friends. Christmas was fast approaching, and Ryoga was determined that for once he would actually give his Christmas presents on Christmas Day. Duo cheerfully informed him of the Christmas traditions the five pilots had established, and it was a good thing. If Ryoga hadn't known that the long, red, footed pajamas with the back flap were a Christmas tradition, he would've decked Wufei when the Chinese pilot gave them to him. As it was, he managed a somewhat rueful smile and accepted them as gracefully as he possibly could.
As Christmas week arrived, everyone in the house started to catch the spirit. The whole group trekked out to find and chop a tree, each of them trying to keep an eye on Quatre without being too obvious about it. They hung mistletoe and holly and greens all around, and decorated the house with candles and lights and homemade ornaments that Duo swore had to have been crafted by somebody's mother. They made a gargantuan mess in the kitchen baking cookies and gingerbread, and Heero actually laughed at the sight of Duo trying to shake flour out of his long braid - the first time Duo had ever heard him really laugh. During the course of the week the floor beneath the tree collected a large pile of presents in bright paper.
On Christmas Eve, the boys gathered around the piano and sang carols along with the tinny notes Quatre was able to coax out of the ancient instrument, then they all went outside to look up at the stars.
"I wish for peace," Quatre said quietly, beginning the one solemn ritual amid all the frivolity.
"I wish for justice," Wufei said.
"I wish for joy," Trowa said.
"I wish for love," Heero said.
"I wish for..." Duo paused a moment. Had Heero really said love? "I wish for faith."
"I wish for hope," Ryoga said at last. The group stood staring at the stars and wishing silently for a long time, then slowly made their way back indoors.
"I wish for presents!" Duo cried, as soon as the door had closed. "Lots and lots of presents!"
"One tonight, and the rest in the morning," Trowa reminded quietly. "Ryoga, I want you to open your present from me first."
"You know, maybe you should all open your presents from me," Ryoga said, ducking his head to hide his face under a thick shock of bangs. "In my whole life, I've never actually been able to STAY anywhere for Christmas. I always get lost one way or another."
"Here, open it," Trowa urged, and Ryoga mustered a grateful smile and unwrapped the small box.
"Wow," Ryoga said, pulling a smooth gold watch out of its case. "Oh, wow..."
"It's a homing device, too!" Quatre announced. "See, if you ever get lost, just push this button and stay put. We can find you anywhere!"
"Really? You mean I'll... never...?" Tears choked off Ryoga's voice, so he silently hugged Trowa in thanks. First Wufei had cured his curse, and now this! To never have to worry about being lost again!
Ryoga's friends were all grinning at him when he finally let Trowa go, and he had to smile back. "This is already the best Christmas ever!" he said, wiping impatiently at his happy tears.
"And I haven't even opened any presents yet!" Duo answered with a wink.
"You can open your present from me, too," Trowa said, and Duo tore into the huge package with a grin. He was thrilled to find a huge supply of Trowa's favorite conditioner, as well as other hair care products.
"Aah! Thanks, Trowa!" he cried, giving the solemn pilot a quick hug.
"There's more in the back closet," Trowa said quietly. "It's a year's supply."
"Which ought to last you about a month," Quatre said with a wink.
"Heero?" Duo asked.
"I want you to open mine," Ryoga said, smiling as he handed the package over. "I hope you like it." Heero silently opened the package, carefully peeling the tape away and leaving the paper intact.
"Just rip it!" Duo cried, all but bouncing in impatience.
"I like to do it my way," Heero answered quietly, the tiniest ghost of what might be called a smile flitting across his face. "Oh..." the package contained a set of hand-carved chess figures, remarkably detailed.
"He made them himself!" Duo announced happily.
"Wow..." Heero said.
"You like them?" Ryoga asked anxiously, his eyes as pathetically hopeful as any puppy's.
"I like them very much," Heero said, lifting the dark queen and admiring her in the glow from the fireplace and twinkling Christmas lights. "You made these? You really did some beautiful work."
"I'm glad... I'm glad you like them," Ryoga said with a delighted blush. He had been so worried, after seeing some of the other gifts, that his small handmade tokens would be out of place... pitiful, poor offerings for his beloved friends.
"I like them very much," Heero said emphatically, and reached out to clap a friendly hand over Ryoga's shoulder - it was the most demonstrative he could be, outside of the bedroom. Ryoga grinned back at him.
"Wufei next!" Duo chirped a little too loudly, and Heero pulled his hand away from Ryoga's shoulder almost guiltily.
"Open mine," Heero instructed, handing a long, flat package to the Chinese pilot. Wufei nodded and unwrapped the package in one swift motion, then opened the flat box and stared in admiration at the ornamental dagger inside before picking it up reverently.
"Thank you," Wufei said.
"You're welcome." Everyone stared at the two silent pilots for a moment longer, waiting, but that was the end of the exchange. Duo rolled his eyes, sighed, and turned to Quatre and Trowa, who were silently staring into each other's eyes.
"Ooh, what are you guys gonna open?" Duo asked facetiously. Quatre and Trowa handed each other a small box. Quatre smiled bemusedly and a similar expression flitted across Trowa's eyes as they saw that the boxes were the same size. At some unspoken signal, they peeled the wrapping away... and saw that a gold ring gleamed up from each box. Quatre and Trowa each smiled in surprise - and Duo tried not to stare, since he'd never seen Trowa smile before. The others watched quietly as Trowa and Quatre slid the rings onto each others' fingers. For a long, long moment, nobody moved... and then Quatre jumped to his feet, aware that he was the only one who could break the mood.
"Pajama time!" he announced cheerfully, and he gave Trowa one last lingering glance, which held all kinds of promises, before scrambling up the ladder after Duo. The others followed at a somewhat more leisurely pace, with Ryoga hanging back shyly. He really didn't want to do the pajama thing... but it seemed to be an important part of Christmas to his friends, and he was determined to be a good sport.
"What-?" Ryoga asked, confused as he reached the top of the ladder to find the pilots all holding more boxes. "I thought we were wearing the red-"
"No, those are for Christmas night," Duo explained. "Christmas Eve we try to embarrass each other with ridiculous PJ's."
"One of Quatre's sisters started it," Trowa added quietly. "She gave him a fuzzy kitty suit last year, and we made him model it for us."
"And I didn't want to be the only one embarrassed, so I decided to share the experience," Quatre said with a wink.
"So what did she give you this year?" Duo wanted to know. With a blush that was both pleased and embarrassed, Quatre opened the package and found a box full of fuzzy pink. Unfolded, it proved to be a bunny suit, complete with fuzzy ears and tail. The other pilots hooted with laughter, and wouldn't let him rest until he had trotted off to the bathroom to change into the suit.
"You're so cuuuuute!!!" Duo cried. "I wish I had a camera!"
"No pictures," Heero announced.
"Yeah, no blackmail material," Ryoga added, blushing in sympathy for Quatre.
"Your turn, Trowa," Quatre said, bouncing over to hand Trowa another box. The silent boy raised an eyebrow at his lover, then quickly opened the box and gaped in astonishment.
"Superman???" Trowa dashed into the bathroom to change and came racing back into the room, cape flying, and posed dramatically by Quatre.
"Never fear, fair... uh... bunny," Trowa said. "I'll rescue you!" Ryoga gaped at the normally stolid pilot. He wouldn't have thought Trowa had it in him to clown around... The others were beside themselves laughing as Trowa scooped the pink bunny-in-distress up into his arms and deposited him on the nearest bed, promising to do something really super at a later date.
"Your turn," Trowa finally said, handing the next box to Heero. Heero gazed at the plain white box suspiciously for a moment before opening it, and seemed more confused by the wolf pajamas than anything else. Without a word, he went to the bathroom, and came back out with the dark ears crooked and his bushy tail dragging behind him.
"Oh, my! What big teeth you have!" Duo cried in a falsetto, pressing his hands to his cheeks in an imitation of maidenly distress.
"The better to eat you with, my dear," Heero replied.
"Ooh, you promise?"
".... Your turn," Heero said. Ryoga wondered for a moment if that wasn't a blush darkening Heero's face... but it must just be a trick of the lighting.
Heero's surprise for Duo was a red pajama suit with small devil horns protruding from a detachable hood. Duo's eyes bugged out as he unfolded the suit and stared at the front, revealing the forked tail to the others. Cackling with laughter and blushing furiously, the pilot sauntered off to the bathroom, his braid switching coquettishly behind him. When he emerged, the other boys gaped as Duo struck a seductive pose, the words "Sexy Devil" clearly visible in yellow lettering across his chest.
"Why, Heero, I didn't think you'd noticed," Duo purred, grinning in almost malicious delight as Heero blushed furiously.
"That Rhonda..." Heero muttered.
"What?"
"That girl Rhonda picked up the suit and had it wrapped for me. I didn't realize she'd-"
"Oh, pooh," Duo said with a pout, his eyes twinkling in barely suppressed mirth at Heero's discomfiture. "And here I was thinking the whole thing was your idea."
"... Wufei's turn," Heero said, averting his gaze from Duo's eager eyes.
Duo sighed and offered Wufei his box. He had really thought for a minute there that Heero... but that was stupid. Better to just forget about it and enjoy Christmas. And Wufei was opening the box with the funniest look of apprehension on his face...
The Chinese pilot stared speechless at the green pajamas, then went to the bathroom without a word and came back out a few minutes later, dressed in a green dragon suit, complete with tail dragging the floor and flannel scales running down his back. His skin flushed a deep bronze shade as his fellow pilots roared with laughter. Ryoga merely looked puzzled.
"I'm from the Dragon clan," Wufei explained quietly, as he crossed the room to give Ryoga the last box. "The last surviving member."
"Aah," Ryoga answered, at a loss for any better response. He opened the box with some trepidation, hoping that he'd be able to take whatever it was Wufei had chosen to inflict on him with a laugh... and stared numbly at the white pajamas with little pink and black piglets dancing across them in a pattern. The pajamas boasted attached footies and a back flap, and pig-shaped buttons running down the front.
"Uh..." Ryoga said, unaccountably blushing before he remembered that he didn't turn into a pig anymore, and never would, and it was thanks to Wufei. He grinned good-humoredly as the other boys made pig jokes - he had heard them all before, and they no longer had the power to cut into him emotionally. At Duo's insistence, he dutifully trotted off to the bathroom and changed into the suit, still grinning.
"Aaaah, bedtime," Quatre yawned hugely, his eyes gleaming up at his Superman as the two of them made their way to the furthest bed, hand in hand. Duo grinned mischievously at Heero, who with great effort composed himself for sleep as though he hadn't noticed that he was sharing the bed with a Sexy Devil.
Ryoga grinned again as Wufei turned out the light and stumbled over the long dragon tail on his way to the bed in the dark, uttering a soft oath in irritation. Within a few minutes, Ryoga had fallen asleep, smiling as his dreams replayed the day over, singing carols and laughing with his friends. It had been one of the best days of his life.
Duo gazed up at the ceiling for a long, long time, stifling his sighs of frustration. All around him his friends breathed in the slow, soft rhythm of sleep, but he knew he himself wouldn't sleep for at least several more hours. Heero was either a heavy sleeper or a good faker, because Duo's tossing and turning didn't seem to bother him at all. Duo scowled grumpily at the boy's beautiful face, since he was a big part of the problem. It had been weeks now, weeks since Duo had touched and been touched... and his body was strung tight as a wire with unfulfilled need. With all his friends around him, he was completely unaccustomed to being this needy... but the Nerima Plague had put a serious crimp in everybody's love life. Then again, even Quatre had been completely recovered for more than a week now.
Trowa and Quatre had gone off alone several times during the last week, and Wufei always spent time by himself... and it seemed that every time Duo was anywhere near Ryoga, Heero was also there. He wondered if Heero was jealous. Maybe Heero wanted Ryoga for himself... better not to think about that. That hurt too much. And he couldn't help it that Heero was the one he really wanted, even though Heero never even seemed to notice him except in anger. But to be denied even a friendly outlet for all his need...
Duo stifled a groan and flopped over again, trying to close his eyes and be still long enough for sleep to find him. Next to him, the wolf smirked.
Quatre was the first to awaken on Christmas Day, to see the light of a cold dawn spilling in through the window. He wormed his way out from under Trowa's arm and scampered over to the window with fuzzy pink feet, and grinned in delight as he saw the ground covered in serene white, and more snow softly drifting down.
"Snow!" he crowed delightedly, and the others woke at the sound of his voice. Ryoga and Duo rushed over to see for themselves, and then Duo remembered.
"Hey, Merry Christmas!" he called. "Time for presents!" He led the way in a mad rush back down to the tree to open the rest of the gifts. Duo started the day off by opening his present from Ryoga, which proved to be a carved picture frame. The pilot thanked him profusely, not bothering to mention that he didn't have a picture to put in it. He'd get one somewhere.
Ryoga's gift to Wufei was a pendant carved into an Amazon luck symbol representing the Dragon clan, with "Nataku" etched on the reverse. Wufei actually hugged him in an effort to disguise the fact that he was too choked up to speak, and both boys blushed as they broke off the hug - a fact that was not lost on any of the others.
Heero gave Ryoga a backpack, and made it clear that he would be expected to use it only when they were camping or traveling - he'd never again have to worry about carrying his home on his back. Heero also gave Quatre and Trowa a pair of presents that looked suspiciously like music stands.
"I still don't know how you managed to wrap this!" Quatre said for the third time as he pulled the last of the paper from his new music stand.
"Heero does everything perfect," Trowa intoned quietly.
"Hn," Heero answered, all but shoving a gift into Duo's hands.
"From you?" Duo questioned, then tore into the paper eagerly. The box mostly held crumpled-up tissue paper... but at the bottom lay a single photograph of Heero and Duo together, Duo smirking at the camera while Heero slung an arm over his shoulders and glowered possessively.
"Aah!" Duo cried, delighted, and nothing would do but that he had to put the precious photo into the frame Ryoga had made right that minute. He didn't even remember having that picture done, and he privately wondered how long Heero had been holding onto it. "Thank you, Heero!" he said, hugging the stoic pilot enthusiastically, enjoying this rare opportunity to touch him without getting hit in return. His own gift for Heero was a chess board to go with the pieces Ryoga had carved, and Duo froze in astonishment when Heero hugged him back. Heero had actually touched him of his own volition!
"Christmas miracles really do happen!" Duo said aloud, then found himself unaccountably blushing as everyone stared at him. "Uh... Trowa and Quatre! Your turn!"
Duo gave Trowa and Quatre a gift certificate for two at a luxury hotel, which made Trowa almost smile while Quatre blushed and hugged the long-haired pilot. Not surprisingly, Duo and Wufei gave each other pajamas. Duo's gift to Wufei proved to be silk pajamas in a luscious shade of red, and Wufei's gift to Duo were flannel in a blue almost the same color as his eyes.
Quatre and Trowa opened their gifts from Ryoga simultaneously, and both stared at him in astonishment as they pulled the leaves of paper out of the boxes.
"You wrote us a song?" Quatre asked, his voice awed.
"A duet," Ryoga answered with a blush. "I, uh, hope you like it..."
"Let's play it now," Trowa suggested, and he and Quatre dashed away to get their instruments, placing the music on the new stands and playing in an impromptu concert. Ryoga blushed red as a beet as the violin and flute lifted their sweet notes in pure joy.
Duo sighed heavily when the song had finished, and clapped along with the others. The music had so suited them both, such a sweet tune to express their sweet union. A tune for himself and Heero would probably sound more torturous... like a dissonant headbanger song, maybe. Quatre and Trowa both thanked Ryoga profusely, the little blond hugging him impulsively and still looking at him in amazement.
"I had no idea you were so talented!" Quatre said, ignoring Ryoga's shy blush. "I think you'll like your gift from me!" He handed Ryoga a big package with an unmistakable shape.
End Part Eight
Yoiko ^__^
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