We Belong

Author: Alexa

Disclaimer: Not mine, yaddah yaddah yaddah; poor student, blah blah blah; you've heard it. I hope.

Author's Notes: Math class is a wonderful thing. And hey, guess what! I found out what the difference between a songfic and a vidclip is today! Yay! All hail Alexa, who has the great ability to be confused by simple things like that! Yay! Ok, I'm done now.

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A very pretty brunette walked into the diner, followed by a sallow blonde man in a too-big black trench coat. They sat on cracking pink plastic seats and leaned on a sticky formica table, over in the corner. For a few minutes, they looked at equally-sticky menus and having a conversation over the rough laminated slips.

"What the hell is going on?!" Quatre hissed, keeping his voice low but vehement.

"Hang on!" Calypso whispered back with equal vehemency, beckoning a huge thug over. Quatre began to stand, wondering if he could make it out alive in his weakened state. Why the hell did I trust her? Quatre asked himself, his mind slow. He was tired. So tired. All he wanted was some food. Scratch that. He wanted a lot of food. And a nap. And a shower. Food, a nap, and a shower...was that so much? He wondered to himself, then forced himself to focus on Calypso's words. "Sit down!" she ordered. "You're making a scene!" Quatre, to his great surprise, found himself following the command. The thug also came over and sat down.

Quatre examined him carefully over the top of the menu. He was a big man, about six foot seven, and heavy. He was clearly all muscle, with thick brown hair half hiding a meaty face. His dark eyes were deep set, like raisins in cookie dough. His nose was bulbous and his mouth an almost inexistant line.

"Evening, Calypso," he said, his voice a low growl, like a car engine leaping to life. He nodded his huge head to Quatre, who idly wondered if it was going to fall off and roll across the table.

"Grant, we need passage," Calypso whispered. "This is the pilot. The one I turned in?" Grant, the thug, nodded. "We need to get him back to Earth. Will you help?"

"Wait a minute..." Quatre murmered. "'Turned me in'? Why was I wanted in the first place?" He asked, a quizzical look on his face.

"You blew up a colony, remember?"

"Yeah, but that was...years ago. And why is your colony so angry about it?"

"The leader of my colony was a family member of one of the people you kil-"

"Hold on here," the thug said. "YOU blew up a colony?" He asked Quatre in a disbelieving manner. Quatre grinned inwardly, deciding to have a bit of fun with this man.

"Yeah..." he said, looking dazed. "It went BOOM!" He cried, laughing somewhat maniacally while thinking to himself about how much Dorothy had rubbed off on hi--Dorothy. The thought of her brought the false smile off his face and he smiled for real, thinking of her hair, like golden silk, her eyes like sapphires...how he missed her. He closed his eyes, as if he could see her in front of him and the sight was too dazzling. When he opened them, he saw Grant edging away and Calypso stifling a giggle.

"So, can you help us?" Calypso asked the giant.

"Yeah, sure. I can smuggle you in my shipment to the L3965-4982 colony next month. From there, Leon can get you to Earth. That'll take a few months, though. Those carriers are old and really slow."

"That's great!" Calypso gushed, turning back to the menu. "Now, about eating..."

Dorothy arrived late for the reading of the will. It had taken months for Quatre's will to be found, and it was finally time to read it and divide the estate. She settled down, Tobias on her lap, smiling at the golden head. Soon, my child, she thought. Soon, you and I will go and find your father! She smiled as the boy reached a chubby arm up, trying to reach one of his mother's eyebrows. A month old already, she thought. A whole month! Tears clouded her vision as her child looked up at her with big blue eyes. Big, blue as the sea. Innocent. Like Quatre's. Always innocent, always pure. The Winner family lawyer stepped up to the lectern, removing his glasses from his pocket and placing them on his thin nose. Clearing his throat with a heavy, wet noise, he opened the will slowly.

"Just read the damn will already!" Mirei yelled from the front row. The lawyer looked down his long nose at her in a disapproving manner, then began speaking.

"I, Quatre Rebarba Winner, in the event of my death, do bequeath that my entire estate be divided into twenty-nine equal portions, to be distributed among my sisters," as the lawyer continued reading, Relena nervously took Dorothy's free hand, squeezing it hard, hoping. Dorothy had put all her money into their joint account. If she wasn't bequeathed anything, she would lose it all...but Quatre had always said he'd provide for her, didn't he? She prayed and Relena squeezed. The lawyer finally finished speaking. Dorothy hadn't heard her name at all. She stood slowly, after everyone else had left.

"He didn't keep his promise...he said..." she swallowed the lump in her throat. Without any money, how was she to provide for Tobias? Finish paying for the small house she had bought for her and her son by the sea? Go and look for Quatre?

"Dorothy..." Relena trailed off. "I'll give you money, if you need. Until you're on your feet again. I wasn't planning on giving you this until your birthday anyway, but now's as good a time as any," the brunette continued, removing an envelope from her purse. "This is the deed to your house. I finished paying for it for you."

"Thank you, Relena," Dorothy said. "But no thank you. I will not accept charity."

"It's not charity, Dorothy. It's what Quatre would've wanted." Dorothy nodded numbly, accepting the deed without further argument. She knew she wasn't in a position to argue.

"Thank you, Relena."

Months stretched by, but finally, Quatre and Calypso found themselves on Earth.

"It's so beautiful!" Calypso cried, twirling around with her arms stuck out, her coat flying behind her like wings. "Just look at the sky! It's never like this in the colonies!" Ignoring her, Quatre headed for the newsstand nearby, hoping to ask where he could find a taxi.

"Excuse me, sir?" He was interrupted by the voice on a radio.

"Other important things that occured this week in the past," the cheerful lady said. "Three years ago, Leona Campbell created Yúgas Cheese, and last year, Jeffery Rseznik, Marcos Ramirez, and Quatre Winner died in the fabled Icarus crash. Now, on to sports!"

"Yes, young man?" The emaciated old man who managed the kiosk asked, looking at him very strangely. "Are yo--"

"Yes, I a--I mean, no, I'm not," Quatre said, looking vaguely confused himself. "Can you tell me where there's a taxi stand around here?" He asked quickly.

"Yeah, sure, son," the man said, pointing down the street. "Right over there."

"Thank you," Quatre said, never failing to be polite. He grabbed Calypso and they hurried off down to the taxi stand.

Dorothy stood, ankle-deep in the water, looking at the sky. "Quatre..." she murmered, then looked back at the tiny bundle in her arms. "And then there's you," she said, smiling at the tiny boy she held. He reached around, finally getting a hand caught in her shirt. "You little pervert," she teased. "Stop that." She gently removed his hand, and looked back up at the sun. "I'll find you, Quatre...I will...Remember, we belong together. And we will be. Someday."

"Quatre?!" Duo gasped. "I...I..." he stopped talking. His mouth moved, but no sound came out, and, for the first time in over a year, Quatre laughed.

"It's me, Duo!" He cried. "Why are you moving your mouth like a fish?"

"But...you're dead?!"

"No he's not," Heero said, standing and walking over to where Quatre and Duo stood. "So how'd you get back?"

"Her," Quatre said, pulling Calypso out. She blushed slightly at the former pilots.

"I, um, hi," she finally said.

Duo let out a low whistle. "Quatre, you dog..."

"NO, no! It's not like that at all!" Quatre cried, blushing. "She just got me on Earth!"

Duo nodded and Heero just looked. Trowa was stoic. Wufei stood.

"A woman," he said softly. "You WEAKLING! You needed a woman to get back home?!"

"It's a long story, Wufei," Quatre said reassuringly. "Now, I just want to go home." Without even saying a goodbye, he headed for the door. The others looked after him.

"I guess I should, um, follow," Calypso said, pointing at Quatre's retreating figure and following.

"QUATRE?! Is it really you? It is you!!" Mirei cried, embracing her brother without restraint. She turned back to the rest of the house. "Hey girls! Quatre's home! He's alive! He's really alive!" Quatre blushed as he was swamped by eager, happy sisters.

"So, tell us what happened, little brother," Iria said.

"Well, it was like this," Quatre said, sitting down. Calypso slipped from the room silently.



Chapter 10