Mischief and Magic

In the world of Gundam, the lands were divided into several kingdoms: Yuy, Barton, Winner, Sanq, Kushrenada, and the wild lands.

The land of Yuy was ruled by a young king, Heero. His family had been killed while he was away. In order to prevent himself more pain, Heero sealed up his heart and emotions and passed the time by getting revenge on those who caused harm. Yuy was very prosperous under his control. But against his will, Heero was promised and married to Princess Relena of Dorlin.

Barton was also very prosperous, especially in the performance arts and the military. Ruled by Trowa, Barton allied with both Yuy and Winner. Trowa first became friends with the king of Winner, then lovers.

Winner was ruled by the gentle, yet brilliant, Quatre. This compassionate king allied with Barton and Yuy out of need and the desire for friendship. Also prosperous, this kingdom excelled in the musical arts and educational values.

Sanq was the combination of the lands of Peacecraft, once ruled by Milliardo, Relena's brother, and Dorlin, which Relena ruled over. Relena was a very peaceful women and she was intent on keeping the tentative peace. Sanq had been formed when Milliardo turned over his kingdom to Relena when he ran away to be with Treize, Ruler of the Kushrenada Empire.

The Wild Lands are where most of the magic wielders live. Magic creatures also dwell in those forbidden lands. Wizards such as High Wizard Wufei, travel between the Wild Lands and kingdoms, where his friends and allies are.

It was on the border of Barton and Winner where Wufeim Trowa, and Quatre were discussing a very important matter…

***

Wufei laughed so hard he had to lean on his walking stick. Trowa and Quatre looked on patiently as the wizard tried to regain his composure. When Wufei managed to get himself under control, he examined his friends closely. "I can't believe you are serious!" He exploded suddenly when he could find no trace of amusement on either man. "I can't so that! If anyone found out, it would be our heads!"

"But that's why we came to you. We couldn’t trust anyone but our closest friends!" Quatre explained. "And you are one of our closest! You know that!"

"What you are asking could cause a lot of trouble, do you realize that?"

"We know. We've thought out all the details." Trowa explained to the magic user.

"Well, do you think it will help?" Wufei asked, already crumbling under Quatre's puppy dog eyes.

"We really think so!" Quatre laughed, realizing he'd already won. He pulled an unresisting Wufei towards the building where they were staying for the week of vacation.

"What am I getting myself into?" Wufei asked the wind as he was pulled inside. An hour later a sudden explosion blew out all the windows. Smoke poured out as a loud 'KISAMA!!' echoed throughout the area.

---------end part 1----------------

King Heero of Yuy paced the room. His closest friends and favorite allies were two hours late. He was just about to don his armor when a knock on his door interrrupted him.

"WHAT?!" Heero snapped.

"E-e-excuse m-m-me m-my l-lord k-kings T-T-Trowa and Q-Quatre h-h-have arrived. They a-a-await y-y-you d-downstairs in your l-library..." The servant managed to spit out his message before Heero disappeared down the corodor and out of sight.

Heero slipped into the room silently. Quatre turned around when he heard a soft noise behind him. He yelped and jumped into Trowa's arms.

"You still know how to make an enterance," Wufei said from the wall. He pushed off it and approached the other man. "Happy Birthday."

"Happy Birthday!" Quatre and Trowa chorused.

"Hn." Heero replied to the birthday wishes. "Arigato."

After some polite conversation... Quatre began carefully, "So, where's Relena?"

Heero avoided the question by closely examining the sword on his lap.

"You didn't tell her today was your birthday, did you?" Wufei pried.

"No." Heero said quietly, after a pause.

"Oh, that's a good one Heero!" Quatre laughed. "All the better for us."

"Nani?"

Ignoring the interruption, Quatre continued, "When is she back?"

"Tomorrow night." Heero said warily. "Why?"

"We got you a present." Trowa said, smirking.

"A...present?"

"Hai!" Quatre nodded. "Wufei, if you would please."

Wufei nodded and whispered a few magic words. A very small explosion let out a poof of black smoke. When the smoke cleared, Heero could see a person around his age of undeterminable sex, with long hair and... violet eyes?!!

After a yawn and stretch, the fey beauty blinked large eyes to adjust them to the light. Violet eyes scanned the room, taking in everyone and everything, before quickly settling on Heero and taking on a strange light.

Seeing the boy's eyes brighten, Trowa quickly retrieved Heero's sword from the lax hands as Quatre relieved the cobalt-eyed boy's daggers. Before Heero could blink, he was being glomped by his present, which began to talk, rapidly, definitely male.

Heero stared at the others like they were insane for bringing him such a person. Heero quickly covered the boy's mouth with a large hand. Oddly enough, he felt something long dormant in him awaken and protectiveness surged through him. Heero caught Duo's eyes with his own.

"His name is Duo." Quatre said in the sudden silence.

"Duo?" Heero questioned. Duo began to nod his head quickly.

"He talks enough for two." Trowa smirked.

"I see. What part did you have in all this Wufei?"

"I created him."

"What am /I/ supposed to do with him?"

"Keep him out of Relena's sight and let him keep you company." Quatre advised. "You are by yourself so mych with Relena travelling and keeping the peace and all. He'll be good company, I promise."

"Quatre used his uuchu no koroko to help make him a nearly perfect match for you. He knows how to protect both himself and you, plus Wufei added some surprises." Trowa said.

"Yes, you don't need to worry much about him." Wufei smirked.

"With friends like you, who needs enemies?" Heero grumbled, looking down at the flailing Duo. Realizing that the boy wasn't getting much air, Heero released him.

Duo fell to the floor inhaling deeply. He glanced at Heero before jumping to his feet. Well, trying to, anyway. Duo ended up tripping on his long hair and falling forward. He was saved from smashing into the floor by Heero, who caught him gently.

"Arigato..." Duo trailed off looking to Quatre for help.

"Oh, forgive my manners!" Quatre drew Duo away from Heero, noticing the regret hidden deeply in the king's eyes. "I never introduced you two." Quatre cleared his throat. "Duo, this is Heero. Heero, Duo." Duo nodded his thanks.

Heero turned to Wufei. "Why such long hair?" Wufei shrugged.

"Do you like it?" Duo asked. Heero glared at Duo, but Duo didn't flinch away like everyone else normally did. "Well? Do you?" Duo pestered.

The dark haired king ignored the question. Quatre frowned at the flash of disappointment on Duo's face. But it was gone as quickly as it had come as Duo bounced after Heero who had left to get drinks, hair falling around him like a curtain of chestnut silk, nearly tripping him again.

Heero growled at Duo, sending him scurrying out of the way as he returned with the refreshments. He had brought five drinks instead of the normal four. Each man took a seat. Trowa and Quatre sat together on one couch, Wufei in a seperate chair, while Heero sat on a couch opposite the others. Duo circled the room until finally, he plopped down next to Heero.

Heero thrust a drink in Duo's direction before eaching for his own. Duo stared at the drink, unsure of what to do. He watched Heero up-end his while the other three carefully sipped at theirs.

"Heero," Wufei began, seeing Duo's problem. "Duo knows as much about alcohol as a two year...old." Wufei trailed off as Duo finished off the last of his drink. Quatre and Trowa looked surprised, Wufei was shocked, but Heero only poured Duo another one.

Much to their dismay, Duo became more talkative with more alcohol. But as the night progressed, the conversation quieted. Duo was sleeply, which was to be expected after the amount of alcohol he had consumed, and the quiet murmur of voices wasn't helping him stay awake. He slipped into slumber quickly, resting comfortably on Heero's shoulder.

Heero glared at the sleeping boy, as if it would wake him or remove the head from his shoulder. Finally, he sighed and decided he really didn't want Duo to move. Shifting to get more comfortable, Heero settled into the late night conversation with his friends. Quatre finished off his drink and decided to retire for the night.

Heero called out for two servants to light the way and lead Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei to their usual rooms. As soon as the halls were clear of people, Heero picked up his slumbering present and carried him up to his own chambers, not wanting any of Relena's 'ladies-in-waiting' to get information to her about the gift and unsure of what else to do with him.

After climbing into the bed next to Duo, Heero pulled up the covers and tried to fall asleep. He was almost there when Duo tossed an arm over Heero's chest and curling up against him, shocking the other awake. But after a minute, the warmth felt good and Heero fell asleep peacefully, for the first time in a while. Wufei, Quatre, and Trowa smiled at each other from behind the door as they snuck back to their own rooms.

-------------end part 2---------------

When Heero awoke, Duo was sitting silently next to him, trying to brush out his hair, while at the same time, trying not to wake the other boy. Heero sat up, startling the chestnut haired boy and gently took the brush. After twenty minutes of softly spoken words from Duo, Heero had finally rid the silky hair of tangles.

Neither knew what to do with the mess of hair after that. Pulling up the few times he had seen the women of the castle do their hair, Heero put together the basic steps of a braid. Carefully seperating the curtain of hair into three pieces, he twisted them while listening to Duo's one sided conversation.

"So, are you always this quiet? Guess so. You know, you really seem nice, and although you proabaly aren't even listening to me I still think that this is very nice of you. And on top of that, you are getting this hunk of hair out of my face so I can see. By the way, who's Relena and why should I be kept out of her sight? Is she your wife? Do you own the castle and everything here? You must be really rich to afford all this..."

"Duo," Heero interrupted. "Hand me that ribbon. There all done." Heero watched happily as Duo rushed to the polished bronze that served as a mirror.

"It's perfect!Thank you!" Duo rushed up and hugged Heero.

Heero felt a surge of that foreign emotion again. He quickly pried Duo off carefully. "Duo, I need you to listen very carefully to me." Heero waited for Duo's nod of confirmation before continuing. "I am the king of the lands surrounding this castle, the lands of Yuy. Relena is my wife by arranged marriage," Duo heard the dislike in the word 'wife', "and because she is both Queen here and of her own lands and because she is psychotically possissive, you have to avoid her. Unfortunately, she is the one that is keeping the peace and we have to appease her to keep it. As long as she is happy, everyone is safe. Thankfully, she is gone with her 'ladies-in-waiting' for most of the time, leaving me to the solitude that I am used to."

Duo couldn't believe that Heero had said so much! According to Quatre, Heero rarely spoke unless it was very important. "Alright Heero, I'll stay out of her way." Duo said softly, touching Heero's arm lightly. He made it look comforting, but he really just wanted an excuse to touch the cobalt-eyed boy.

"Good." Heero laid his hand over Duo's before rising to stand. "I'd better show you where everything is." Heero did just that, showing the braided boy where all the secret passages were, the hidden rooms, and the secret armory where Heero trained by himself.

As Heero led Duo down an old hall, Duo accidently kicked up some dust and sneezed. Both men were shocked as two, large black wings burst from Duo's shoulders. Heero recovered from his shock first when Duo began to panic and tried to calm the other. Covering Duo's mouth, Heero drug him back to the armory.

"Stay here and stay quiet, I'll be right back with Wufei. I promise." Heero released Duo and slipped out of the room.

Duo nodded as Heero walked out the door. When he was gone, Duo shifted the wings, carefully folding them against his back. A few minutes later, there were some quiet shuffles outside the door. Duo stiffened, before snatching the nearest sword and poised it for either attack or defense.

With infinite slowness, the door creaked open, and Quatre peeked his blonde head through. He motioned for Duo to be silent as Trowa and Wufei crept into the room behind him. Quatre waited behind the door, leaving it open wide enough for a single person to squeeze in. Moments later, Heero slid through the door and into the room, the door closing right as his feet barely were inside.

Duo hadn't moved from his position, sword raised, until the others were able to defend themselves if there was cause, and were ready and on their feet, in Heero's case. Duo lowered the sword and tugged on Wufei's sleeve.

Wufei glanced up and at the wings, but remained silent, as footsteps raced down the hall above them. Heero's relived sigh set off a flurry of motion.

"Quiet!" Heero hissed, silencing all the commotion. "Now, Wufei, what can you do to fix this...occurance?"

"I can't do anything, but Duo can."

"What do you mean? I'm not the wizard, you are!"

"True, but those are your wings. Just concentrate. Imagine them into... a cloak."

Violet eyes flashed with disbelief before sliding shut as Duo took a deep breath. The wings quivered slightly before melting into a black cover. Duo's eyes snapped open, his face nearly splitting in two with the smile that he offered as he looked to Heero.

Heero nodded once in approval before holding his hand out for the forgotten sword. Duo quickly gave it to him, eager for his lord's approval.

"Nice job with the hair." Quatre complimented.

"Isn't it great? Heero did it for me this morning." Duo answered when it was obvious that Heero wouldn't. "Umm, by the way, why were you guys sneaking around outside?"

"Relena came back early." Trowa answered with a frown, obviously annoyed at the change in plans.

"So now what are you guys going to do?"

"Shhhh!" Wufei ordered, pushing his ear against the door. Everyone was silent, listening.

"Heeeee~rooooo!" The name echoed through the room. Duo covered his ears, trying not to cry out at the pain revertebrating in his head. Heero quickly covered Duo's mouth with one hand, pulling the other against his chest while pressing agaisnt the other ear to help muffle the sound to a dull roar. Heero's face went blank as Quatre clung to Trowa, who also took it stotically, and Wufei blocked the door with a piece of timber.

"Heeeeeee~~rooooooo!!! Where are you? Oh, Sally, hace you seen Heero? No? Do you know where he went? No!? His 'friends' are here, aren't they? I thought so. Get out of my way!"

The speaker stomped away, followed by a tentative knock on the door. Wufei unbarred the door and the door slid open slightly, admitting a young blonde woman with blond curly hair. She closed the door tightly behind her.

"Heero-sama, Queen Relena is home and she is looking for you." She smiled as Heero glared at her. The blonde's gaze trailed over to Duo and her eyes widened slightly. Duo's wings had unfolded during the previous event.

Duio stepped forward and extended his hand. "My name is Duo, it's a pleasure to meet you Ms...."

"Sally." She took his hand carefully.

-------------end part 3----------------

"Ms. Sally." Duo kissed her hand lightly then released it, flashing a disarming smile.

"Sally is the resident doctor here." Wufei explained, his eyes never leaving Sally's

"Uh-huh." Duo was watching them carefully. "So are you two tying the knot anytime soon, or what?"

Both Sally and Wufei blushed furiously, while Quatre laughed quietly into his hand and Trowa and Heero merely smirked. "Injustice! Don't do that again or I'll…turn you into a toad!" Wufei hissed only slightly upset.

Duo laughed and pranced over to hide behind Heero. Carefully wrapping his wings around himself, he recreated the cloak. He peeked over Heero's shoulder and stuck out his tongue. "Heero won't let you, will you Heero?"

"Hn."

"See? He said no." Duo leaned against Heero, before moving away. Heero silently cursed the loss.

"Really? I thought 'hn' meant yes." Wufei growled playfully, stepping around Heero to chase Duo. The others, unlike Duo, knew Wufei was teasing so they let Wufei chase Duo around the large room for a short while until Duo fled back to Heero for protection, violet eyes wide with fear.

"Wufei, enough." Wufei immediately stopped and moved back next to Sally, away from the braided boy.

"Back to other matters," Quatre interrupted, "What is going to happen to Duo?"

"Happen to me? What do you mean?"

"Where will you sleep etc. while Relena is here with her floozies."

"Oh."

"There are several spare bedrooms in my corridor that no one ever goes into." Heero stated.

"You have threatened them enough." Trowa reminded softly.

"True. Relena never goes in there either, so he should be safe enough from prying eyes."

"But you'll still have to be careful. Relena might make arriving home early a habit." Sally added.

While the old friends were discussing the details, Duo was examining the rest of Heero's armory. He was especially interested in the wicked looking swords and daggers. He was so absorbed in his activity, that he was completely unaware of the pause in the conversation behind him. Trowa poked Wufei, who shook his head negative. Quatre gave his puppy dog eyes to Sally, who in turn gave the same look to Wufei. He immediately consented.

Heero was so absorbed watching Duo, that he didn't catch the conversation. So he was slightly startled when Wufei's aura began to glow red and he formed something.

Duo whipped around and placed himself between the threat and Heero. He glared at Wufei until the magic stopped. Duo glanced around quickly but there were no visible changes in the room, except for the dark colored staff that the magician held.

"Here." Wufei tossed the staff at Duo. Duo caught it warily with one hand, unsure of what to do with it. He looked to Heero, who shot a questioning glance at Wufei. "It's a weapon. He's supposed to help protect you." At the questioning glances, he continued, "Heero, step back, Duo twist the handle."

Heero stepped back a safe distance without a question. Duo looked sceptical, but twisted the staff. A huge blade slid out of the wood. "Yosh!" Duo whirled the scythe in an expert move.

"How did he do that?" Sally whispered.

"When I created him, I gave him all the knowledge of the weapons that I was familiar with and the experience to control them so he wouldn't accidentally kill anyone. The scythe seemed to fit him the best, and he certainly seems to like it."

Duo was smiling broadly as he pestered Heero, trying to get the other boy some sort of answer other than 'hn.' Duo finally left him alone and skipped over to Wufei. "How do I make it go back? Just re-twist it?" Wufei nodded. "Yosh! This is so cool!" Duo glomped Wufei. "Thanks Wu!" Duo slipped back next to Heero, fiddling with his new weapon, unaware of the gigantic rise in tension.

Heero glared coldly at Wufei, who put his hands up and backed up away from the king. Trowa pulled Sally back against the wall as Quatre tried, in vain, to defuse the situation. Duo looked up from his scythe and immediately took in the situation, sensing the disturbance. Setting down his scythe, he edged up to Heero and placed his hand on the other boy's shoulder.

"Heero?" Duo made the name a question. When he got no response, Duo moved around in front of Heero. Placing on hand on Heero's chest, he waved the other hand in front of Heero's eyes. Heero batted the hand away and continued to send death threats through his glare. Duo frantically ran through the last few minutes mentally. He quickly realized that glomping Wufei must have caused the problem and he mentally kicked himself, hard. Heero was jealous.

"Heero?" Duo uncurled Heero's fists and wrapped the tense arms around himself. Heero was jerked out of his anger and he looked down at the boy in his arms. Worried violet eyes gazed into his. "Daijoubu?" Duo whispered.

"Hai, daijoubu."

"Gomen ne. I didn't mean to make you upset." Duo sniffled.

"Iie. I overreacted. It's not your fault." He reassured the chestnut haired boy. His eyes softened more at the brilliant smile that Duo offered him. "Should we try and sneak up to my wing without Relena seeing us?"

"Yeah!" Duo glanced around at the others as Heero moved towards the door. Wufei was smirking at him, obviously used to being on the receiving end of Heero's glares. Quatre winked at him, Trowa nodded, and Sally smiled. Everyone quietly snuck out of the room and down the hall. Sally left them to go down the opposite hall back to her office. The five boys made it all the way to the hallway right before Heero's wing unseen, until disaster struck.

"Heero! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Relena rushed up and latched onto Heero's arm. The emotions faded from the cobalt-eyed boy's face and he became very silent.

Duo faded back into the meager shadows as best he could, moving silently and slowly behind Trowa, using the taller boy as a shield. It was working until a group of Relena's followers rushed into the hall, spotting the slightly darker spot.

"Hey! Who's that?" One shouted.

Duo cringed. Trowa jumped, not knowing Duo was behind him. Heero sighed, Wufei shook his head and Quatre tried to get out of Relena's line of sight.

"Heero, who is that?" Heero remained silent. "Quatre."

"Um, well, you see, he's, um…"

"My bodyguard." Heero suddenly spit out. Everybody stared at him

"Yes, that's right, he's Heero's new bodyguard. You always say that he gets into too much trouble. His new bodyguard will help protect him and keep him out of trouble." Wufei grabbed the lie and ran with it. " He was inspecting the castle for any assassins before you arrived, so no one would hurt either you or Heero."

"How…nice. Heero, why didn't you tell me?"

"…"

"If you'll excuse us, we really must be going. It's such a long ride back. Lady Relena, Lord Heero." Quatre bowed slightly, apologizing to Heero with his eyes, before walking quickly from the hall. Trowa nodded his acknowledgements and followed Quatre.

Wufei bowed and disappeared, leaving Heero and Duo alone with Relena and her 'ladies-in-waiting'.

Heero tried, unsuccessfully, to disentangle his arm. Relena dismissed the girls, who slowly left, staring at the shadows.

"Heero, are you going to have your bodyguard come out and introduce himself?"

"No."

"Forgive my rudeness, your majesty, but my name and face are unimportant and insignificant. I prefer to stay hidden so no would be attackers would see me before it is too late. For his highness' safety, I assure you."

"For Heero's safety, I will allow this, but do not cross me."

"Of course not, Lady Relena, I would never dream of such a thing. My only purpose is to protect His Majesty's life." Duo replied smoothly.

Relena huffed slightly and began to leave, but paused. "I'm leaving later this afternoon, Heero. I'll be back next week. I'll miss you." Relena left, turning the corner.

Heero motioned for Duo to stay in the shadows and silent as they walked toward his room. Heero turned once to make sure Duo was still following. When they entered Heero's corridor, Duo slipped from the shadows, draping his arm across Heero's shoulders. Heero slipped his own arm around Duo's waist.

"Great save Heero. That gives me permission to follow you around now. So do you think that she'll really leave this afternoon?"

"Hai." Heero pushed open the door in front of them. "This will be your room. This is the only other room set up. My room is across the hall.

Duo nodded and followed Heero across the hall. He took in all the details. Big bed on the left, desk on the right, dresser and a wardrobe against the wall, door to the bathing room, open windows, and even the papers that were neatly stacked on the desk.

Duo pulled open the wardrobe door. It revealed several robes, tunics, and other articles of clothing. At the bottom, there was a bundle wrapped in silk. Duo glanced at Heero for permission before pulling the bundle out and unwrapping it.

Shiny armor peeked out from under the cloth. Duo pulled it free and realized it was Heero's. The emblem on the shield was a pair of black wings on the right and a pair of white wings on the left with a sword in the middle. "It's beautiful." Duo breathed. "Do you still use it?"

Heero gazed at the armor over Duo's shoulder. "Not really. Not since Relena has gotten the peace she wanted."

"That's a pity. It's too nice to be locked away in here."

Heero nodded and walked over to the window, watching Relena leave with most of her 'ladies'. Nodding, Heero looked back to Duo.

"Duo you know how to ride?"

-------------------end part 4--------------------

"Let me get this straight, you want me to get on that animal and do what?" Duo stared at the black horse in front of him.

"Ride. It's not that hard." Heero huffed from his perch on his white stallion, Wing.

"'Ride' he says. 'It's not hard' he says. This coming from a gut who has ridden all his life!" Duo mumbled, glaring at the horse. "Well, if you can do it, so can I." Duo grabbed hold of the horse's mane and hauled himself up. Just as he was seated, the horse got an evil gleam in its eye and took off at top speed. "Stop! Stop! Halt! Hold it! Nononononono! Bad horse! Heero! Help!!"

Heero watched in semi-shock as the horse flew over the ground, dragging the poor boy with it. Spurring his own horse forward, he urged it as fast as it could go. Wing slowly caught up with the other animal and it's flailing rider. As he reached for the reins, the horses stumbled to a quick stop at a cliff, throwing both boys over the edge. When the dark haired boy realized he wasn't falling, he carefully opened his eyes, and then he was only reassured that he wasn't dead by the pair of strong arms that were wrapped around him. He wasn't falling in fact he was floating. Glancing down, the king spotted both the horses and the ground. Dragging his eyes up, Heero's eyes widened as his mind finally comprehended the situation. He was being by Duo, more precisely, by Duo with wings, many feet above the ground, in the air.

Duo was smiling broadly as he glided down to land gently on the ground, forming the cloak from folded wings. "That was fun." He drawled before turning serious, "Are you alright?"

Heero nodded dumbly as Duo ran violet eyes over his form in order to check for injuries. "Well, you look okay. Can we try to ride again?" At Heero's nod, Duo ran up to the black horse as Heero calmly approached Wing. "So what's his name?" Duo mounted carefully.

"Shinigami." Heero answered as he mounted.

"Shinigami, huh? Fits him perfect-lyyyyyyyy"

Heero watched in silence as Shinigami bolted. Shaking his head, he spurred his horse forward, "After them Wing!"
--------------

Sally smiled as Heero fussed over his braided companion. Duo had fallen off his horse, again, so Heero had hauled him to her office to be patched up, again.

"Alright Duo, have a seat on the table." She ordered.

"I can't. My ass hurts to much." Duo complained.

"Stand then. Riding doesn't seem to agree with you." Sally observed as she the bandaged his cuts. "Stand still."

"Riding agrees with me, it's my horse that doesn’t" Duo snorted.

"There, all done." Sally announced, securing the bandage over one cheek.

"Arigato!" Duo bounced over to Heero. "I'm starved! Let's eat! Bye Sal!"

Shaking his head, Heero followed the boy out of the room. "Thank you."

Sally watched them leave, smiling sadly. She had noticed that some of Relena's ladies had been following the pair. It wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that Heero and Duo had grown closer over the past few days, almost never separated. Sally nearly had a heart attack when she saw Heero *smile * when Duo cracked a joke.

She had told Heero about the shadows and he had nodded, answering with a quick "I know."

Sally turned back into the room, closing the door. "Wufei." Said boy stepped out from the shadows, opening his arms to hold her gently. She relaxed in his embrace. "They're going to be in a lot of trouble when Relena's finds out."

"True. But they'll manage. Send a message to Quatre and Trowa and inform them of when Relena comes back. It's best for anyone when the Prophecy comes to a close."

"Prophecy? What prophecy?"

"Before I tell you this, I need a vow never to tell anyone else, at all. Do you swear it?"

"Yes. I give you my oath on my life that I will never utter a word of this to anyone."

"Very well. In some of the ancient scrolls, it states, 'When the ruler of Silence and ruler of Strength find their true soul mates, the Prophecy shall begin. One king's queen will shatter the faux peace and war shall threaten the world. Only when the two rulers' soul mates join them and are completely accepted, will the five find the true peace.'"

"Who is the fifth?"

"It doesn't say..."

Wufei and Sally were oblivious to the shadowy presence that slipped silently away with an evil grin on its face.

----------------end part 5---------------------

"So, a prophecy? Humph. What a load of bull shit." Relena growled.

"What would you have us do?" the females surrounding her asked.

"Get rid of Heero's bodyguard, for good."

"Yes my queen." The girls backed out, bowing as they passed through the door.

"Soon Heero will be mine alone, forever. Bwahaha!" Relena's maniacal laughter faded into bone chilling giggles.

-----------

Duo clung to the wall above Heero's window; his wings outspread as he tried valiantly to withhold his laughter. Heero was trying to scare away a dozen of Relena's handmaidens. They were trying to use sheer numbers to force him to comply with the tailor Relena had sent. Of course, a death glare easily took care of them all. They went running from the room so quickly that Heero had blinked twice before he realized they had left.

"Alright Duo, you can come in now."

"Yosh! Boy Heero, I've never seen anyone split that fast." Duo peeked carefully out the door before closing it behind him and glomping the blue-eyed boy, kissing him chastely on the lips. "So can we go riding now?"

"Sure, let's go." Heero followed the bouncing boy carefully down the halls, smirking happily.

------------------

Duo curled up next to Heero, snoring softly. Heero gently stroked the soft chestnut hair as he relaxed in his lover's loose embrace, smirking slightly when Duo nuzzled him, he smiled contently, falling asleep listening to his partner's heartbeat.

A soft noise roused the blue-eyed king from his peaceful slumber. A shadowy figure froze as he jumped out of bed reaching for is sword. Before he reached the handle, Heero was hit in the face with a strong smelling powder. Duo called frantically to him as sleep forcefully took over his consciousness. Nearly screaming in anger, Heero made one last lunge for the figure moving toward Duo, falling short and unconscious with Duo's cried echoing in his head.

"Heero! Help me!"

---------------

The same powder that took down the powerful king easily subdued Duo. The attacker pulled off the black mask, revealing one of Relena's many followers. She whistled softly, alerting the others, who entered and between all of them, picked up Duo and struggled out the door before anyone arrived in the corridor.

They dropped the braided boy into a horse drawn cart and headed out of the castle. One drove while the other tightly bound the captive in ropes and sheets, until there was no possible way for him to escape, before tossing him into the swift river that flowed out into the Wild Lands. The women watched as the bundle floated and bobbed out of sight before turning and riding back to their beds with no one the wiser.

------------------

'Heero! Help me!'

"Duo!" Heero leapt into consciousness, jumping up off the bed he had been on, glancing around wildly.

"Heero, relax! It's Sally, you're safe in my office."

"Where's Duo?"

"He's gone." She frowned. "I found traces of a strong sleeping powder both on you and throughout your room. Duo was already gone when I got there. No one saw or heard anything until Duo shouted."

"What do you mean?"

"The only thing that even your loyal guards heard all night was 'Heero! Help me!' No one heard anything else besides that."

"A silence spell?"

"I think so. It would explain why you didn't hear anything until it was too late."

"Shit."

"My sentiments exactly."

----------------

Noin! What's that? Une! Come over here!

"Be careful Hilde." Une cautioned.

"Hand me your knife, please." Slicing the ropes away, the shorthaired girl gasped.

"Hilde, what is it?"

"It is a boy, and he's alive!"

"We should get him patched up then. Noin, get his legs. Hilde, run a head and turn down a bed and make sure you prop the doors open for us. We need to get him dry, maybe he'll survive."

"On three. One, two, three." The two women lifted the boy and carried him back to their house.

-----------

Pain. So tired, want to sleep forever, but can't. I'm forgetting something, but what? Does it matter? Need to open eyes, need to find what I'm missing…but so tired…weak. Weak? Never! I need to open my eyes…oh, boy! That's bright. Try again…

-----------

"Une, Noin! He's coming around." Hilde called through the door to the other two women. All three watched silently as the boy's eyes fluttered momentarily before being squeezed tightly shut, then completely opening, very slowly. Squinting violet eyes scanned the room, landing on the three women.

"Who're you? Where am I?" The slightly musical voice broke the silence. He struggled to sit up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"I'm Une, this is Noin and Hilde." Une motioned to each woman in turn. "You're safe here."

"Where's here?"

"In the Wild Lands, near the Kushrenada kingdom, in our house."

"Oh."

"So, what’s your name?" Noin asked brushing her long bangs from her eyes.

The braided boy was so caught up in the seemingly familiar fall of hair that he nearly missed the question. Violet eyes widened slightly. "I'm…not sure. Who am I? I can't remember."

-----------------end part 6------------------------

In another part of the continent, a black horse screamed, breaking away from its handlers, and fled into the dense forest, loosing all pursuers.

-------

Quatre woke with a start, his hand pressing against his chest. Trowa opened one green eye sleepily, peering at his lover.

"What's wrong?" he murmured.

"Nothing. Just go back to sleep, I'll be back in a little while." Quatre slipped from the bed and walked out the door, down the silent halls, musing over the most recent events.

After receiving a carrier pigeon from Heero, he had all the known information about Duo's kidnapping. He was just about to rush immediately to help look for the boy when everything in his kingdom began to go wrong. Horses and other livestock became sick and everyone came to him about problems that were suddenly springing up all over the place. Worse off, Trowa was almost killed by some common thugs when he went to go to Heero.

Growling in frustration, Quatre reviewed his last thoughts again. These events were too closely related to be mere coincidences. His mind made up, the blonde king slipped back into his bedroom and grabbed a small bell from a drawer in his room, before walking into the stables and ringing the object.

Moments later, an extremely irate looking Wufei appeared. "Quatre, what's the emergency?" he growled, threatening a painful and violent death to whoever messed with the tired magician without a good excuse.

"I need a horse, a strong one, that is fast as well." Quatre nodded to himself. "Right away."

"You woke me up, for a horse?" Wufei asked, incredulously. "I'll make you one in the morning. Good ni…"

"No," the king interrupted, "I'm leaving within the hour. I need a horse now."

Wufei glanced at the determined blonde with an odd look before agreeing. "Alright, I'll give you a horse. What are you…?"

Quatre had started back to the castle, dragging the wizard behind him, pausing only to grab some saddlebags from the tack room.

"I told you. I'm going now." In the kitchen, Quatre began to pack one saddlebag with food and the other with weapons, flint, money, and other necessary equipment in the other.

"What about Trowa?" Wufei asked, following Quatre around.

Quatre stopped. "He’ll understand and you'll stay with him."

"What?" Wufei froze. "I am not staying with Barton." Quatre levelled him with a glare. "Alright, I'll stay here on two conditions…" Quatre glanced up from his packing. "You'll tell me where you are going and you keep the bell on you at all times."

"Deal. One, I'm going to look for Duo and the bell can stay in the pouch around my neck. So, where's my horse?"

Wufei shook his head and summoned his magic, forming a cream-colored stallion from some close materials. "His name is Sand Rock."

Quatre nodded, gently petting the horse's neck, before slipping on the bridal. "Tell Trowa that I'll be back soon and to take care the best he can."

"Good luck and may the spirits watch over you while you search." Wufei whispered as Quatre nudged the horse into a steady trot. The dark haired mage watched the blonde boy ride off on his quest before turning and entering the castle to try to figure out what to tell his banged friend.

----------

"Noin, have you see Christian?" Hilde called to the older woman.

"I think he's out thinking again. Did you look out by the lake?"

"Yes, and by the cliffs and by the cave, too."

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be back soon. He's always back for dinner."

Hilde nodded reluctantly, frowning as she decided to leave by herself for the orphanage that Christian and she always visited every other day.

----------

Christian sat tugging on his long braid, contemplating the little bit of past that he could remember, trying to match it with flashes of older memories. First, Noin's weird bangs seemed so familiar, but what he thought of was a brown-haired boy. Then there was Hilde and her gentle smiles, but what he saw in his mind's eye was a blonde. And there was Une, always guiding, always in control, but another memory hovered just out of his reach.

"Why do these women remind me of others that I know I should remember? Why can't I remember?" Christian shouted, a frown descending over his normally cheery features.

A snapped twig made him fling himself from his perch, spinning around, falling into a defensive position automatically. When his violet eyes focuses, Christian realized he was face to face with a large black horse.

"Gyahhhh!" he shouted, falling backwards, using his hands to scoot away. The horse snorted softly and edged forward to nip at the chestnut haired boy's shirt. "Umm, hello horse. You scared me. Have I seen you before?" Christian slowly reached out and gently rubbed the animal's nose.

The dark horse whickered quietly, nibbling on the boys' fingers and nuzzling his chest in both friendship and recognition.

Christian laughed joyously. "Maybe we have met." He glanced at the sky casually. "Oh, geez! I'm really late! Sorry, horse, I have to go. I promised to walk with Hilde to Father Maxwell's Church." Duo turned and walked back toward a well-worn path, breaking into a steady jog when he reached it.

Noticing an unfamiliar sound, the braided boy glanced behind, and then slowed to a stop. The horse he had just left, was following him! It trotted up and pushed against his back.

"Fine, you can come with me." Christian reached up, grabbed a small clump of mane, and pulled himself onto the horse's back. Just as he was seated, the black horse bolted forward.

"Whoa! Bad horse! Stop! Halt! Nonononono! Whoa~!" The shouted commands were ignored as the horse charged forward following both the trail and the boy's unconscious directions. Unnoticed to both horse and rider, two large black wings unfurled from the youth's back, trailing the pair.

Several minutes later, the horse jogged into house's yard, toting a very shocked and wind-mussed boy. Une glanced out the kitchen window at the odd sight, dropping her dishtowel and rushing outside. Absently noting the wings, the woman pried the boy's fingers from the black hair and pulled him off the horse. "Christian!"

Noin peeked around the corner when she heard the shouted name, before running over. She grabbed the braided boy's legs and helped Une cart him inside to the couch.

"Christian? Christian! Answer me! Noin waved her hand in front of the hazy violet eyes, which began to blink rapidly.

Christian reached up and gently snagged her hand from in front of his face. "Noin? Where?" He glanced around.

"You're safe at home. Where did you find that horse?" She questioned as Une checked him over for injuries, ignoring the wings.

"I think he's mine." Cocking his head sideways, Christian examined the pawing animal through the window.

"Umm, Christian?" Noin caught the boy's attention, "Where'd these come from?" She carefully caught the tip of one wing and pulled it forward into the boy's line of sight.

------------------end part 7------------------

"By the powers!" He yelped, leaping to his feet in panic. "Where? How? What? Shitshitshit!"

"Calm down!" Une barked. "Panicking will not help!"

Christian froze, his wings quivering with the strain of holding still.

"Magic?" Noin questioned from behind the winged boy.

"I'd assume so, but there's no residue from a recent spell. He's had them since before we found him."

"They seem natural enough." Noin and Une continued to talk over Christian's head, but he paid them no attention, focusing completely on his reflection in the tall mirror across the room, lost in partial memories and old feelings. Panic to calm, with warm arms that protect him from everything, love…Love? Where'd that come from?

Christian was shocked from his reverie by the front door slamming open.

"Une! Noin! Christian!" Hilde burst into the room, tears in her eyes, wailing, "The church is under attack!"

"What?" Three startled voices chorused.

"Father Maxwell's Church is under attack!!" She repeated, sobbing.

Christian was assaulted by a different wave of memories. Playing with the orphans at the church, laughing and sharing stories with them, eating dinner and spending the night there, learning about each child while learning new tasks from Sister Helen or helping Father Maxwell with some chores he couldn't do alone. He spent half his time at the church, the people there were part of his family!

The braided boy saw red as he rushed outside, not listening to the shouts of the women who tried to call him back. Letting out a piercing whistle, he vaulted onto the back of his black horse as it rushed to him.

He urged the horse into a full gallop, directing him toward the rising column of smoke that came from the location of the church. As he approached, aside from the smoke, he noticed that the surrounding area had been trampled flat by the feet of many men and horses.

As he entered the church clearing, Christian's anger was both fuelled and concealed. The horse moved forward, carefully picking it's footing through the destroyed church and burning wreckage. The smell of burning wood was underscored by the smell of burnt flesh and the metallic taint of blood.

Christian slid from his horse's back, stumbling past the fallen bell, which used to toll the services, then passing the shattered remains of one of the large stained glass windows, before falling to his knees in front of a slender form.

"Ch-Christian?" She coughed harshly.

"Sister Helen," he brushed away her bangs to see her eyes. " Just hang on, I'll go get some help and then we'll…"

"Christian," he instantly became silent. "You are a very *cough* good boy and both Father Maxwell and I care for you like a son, so you must promise me," She broke into a coughing fit. When she gathered her strength, she continued, "Promise me that you will live on and find your happiness and your soul mate that you lost and never let go. Promise me."

"I promise." He choked out.

"Good boy. I'm so very tired." A water drop hit her cheek and rolled down. She looked up at him. "Don't cry for us, Christian, we are going to be with God. I hope that you find the life you lost and get the peace you seek…"

Numb, Christian stared silently at the limp hand that he held tightly, ignoring the blood soaking into the knees of his pants and the fire around him, and the fact that the sky had opened up to pour out it's own grief.

"Sister? Sister Helen?" He whispered as if to wake her from a light sleep. "Noooo~oooo!!! Breaking into tears, which continued to flow despite his best efforts to wipe them away, he climbed onto his horse and growled hoarsely, "I swear that whoever did this will die!"

He was so caught up in tracking the killers that he never noticed a small blonde boy, silently crying and clutching his chest, following the braided boy on his own horse. The blonde urged his horse forward, past the wreckage and after his companion.

-----------end part 8--------------

Trowa glared at the wizard who was left as company for him. Wufei shifted uneasily under the intense green-eyed stare.

"Let me get this straight." Trowa began. "You were summoned by Quatre, asked to make a horse for him, then you just *allowed* him to leave without any guards or any type pf protection?"

"No." Wufei stepped back as the glare intensified. "He is armed and he has the bell. Besides, he knows how to take care of himself. And you know I can't say no to him, especially when he does that pouty look."

"I know. Why didn't you go with him?" Trowa's glare disappeared.

"He wanted me to take care of you. What was I supposed to do? He thinks you can't take care of yourself, you think that he can't take care of himself. Tell me what was I supposed to do?" Wufei grumbled in frustration, beginning to pace.

Just like he asked. Only he never told you to keep me here." Wufei stopped and glanced up sharply before slowly saying, "No, but he wanted you to watch over things here."

"I don't think he'll mind if we go check on Heero, though. Wufei, I need a horse."

"Not again!"

-------------------

Heero gazed silently out the window, contemplating how much pressure it would take to crush the snivelling little man's head in front of him. He'd been searching for Duo for weeks with no result. So he'd turned to the one man he's spent his childhood with, training to be a soldier and king. He was at his castle right now with some insignificant servant trying to tell him how great Treize Kushrenada and Zechs Merquise were.

Fed up, Heero levelled a glare at the man, who shrank back and fled the room. Moments later, Treize walked in the door, wineglass in hand.

'He still carries that damned wineglass with him,' Heero thought, before taking a cautious sniff. 'And it smells like he's still drinking red wine.'

"Heero!" Treize reached him in several large strides, enveloping the boy's hand in his own. "It's wonderful to see you again!"

"Treize." Heero greeted his mentor.

"How have you been? Are you feeling well? You look upset."

"I need a favor."

"Certainly, anything for you. Are you keeping up with the latest technological advances in weaponry?" Heero shook his head no. "Then I'll have to show you. I've acquired an interesting stash that you and your friends will like. By the way, where is your shadow, Duo?"

"That's the favor. I need your help to find him."

"Find him? He's missing? We'll send a search party out right away! Zechs! Come here, please!"

"What's wrong? Oh, hello Heero." Zechs smiled at the dark-haired boy.

"Zechs." Heero nodded to the tall blonde.

"Zechs, can you gather together some of our horses and men? We are going on a search for Duo."

"Duo? Why? What happened?"

"He was kidnapped by someone who knows both magic and potions. There was a silence spell around the room."

"Magic, huh?" Zechs was silent for a moment. "Relena knows."

"Yes." Heero watched amused as Zechs drew Treize aside.

"Treize, you don't think…?"

"I'm not sure yet. Horses?"

"I'll get everything together. You deal with him. But I have to say, I got the easier of the two jobs."

"I know. But I've known him for years, before he lost his family and changed so much. Duo's been good for him, opened him up some. We have to find him."

"We will." Zechs turned and walked out the door, shouting orders to servants hanging around. Treize coaxed Heero over to the couch to sit and play twenty questions to get all the answers and information about the kidnapping he could.

----------------------

Christian trailed the group of killers for two days, picking off the stragglers until he found their main camp. He sat on the hill, his wings folded into a cloak, watching their guards and the activities of the camp in general before deciding on a plan, which really wasn't a good one at all.

It was late in the night when Christian snuck down into the camp and knocked out a guard, taking his weapons before killing him and moving on. He had killed over a dozen guards that way before he was spotted and attacked head on. Christian cut down man after man as they attacked him. All to soon, the killers realized that one on one the braided boy was too much for them, so they ganged up on him.

Suddenly, his sword was twisted from his grasp by a lucky move, and the men surrounding him began to close in. Christian watched in anger as one man raised his sword for a killing blow when suddenly, the man was cut in half, the pieces falling to the ground. The ruffians all paused, giving the new figure time to cut down several more without resistance.

Violet eyes widened as a new weapon was thrust into the braided boy's hands before narrowing in concentration as Christian and his savior began to fight once again. Half way through the remaining men, Christian let his wings explode from his back, making some of the men back away, giving the two allies room to manuever. The rest of the men were quickly killed before they could flee. Soon, the two blood covered boys stood alone in the center of the enemy camp. Two horses cautiously approached the weary boys, receiving blood covered pats of welcome.

"So, why did you help me?" Christian asked, mounting his horse before glancing at the other, who was also mounting. Violet eyes watched blue, trying to read the other's soul. "I don't remember you."

"Well, it's the least I could do after what they did to that church."

"You saw?" Christian asked surprised, unsure of whether to be angry or not.

"Yes, but not only that, it's my job as one of your friends to help you whenever you need it."

"One of my…friends?"

"Yes, friends. I'm your friend, so are Trowa, Wufei, and Heero. We're all your friends. Can't you remember, Duo? Please try to remember!"

Christian clutched his head as memories swirled through his head. Black hair and eyes, magician, Wufei. Brown bang, green eye, and king, Trowa. Blonde hair, blue eyes, right in front of him, Quatre, Trowa's mate. Mate? My mate, messy chocolate brown hair, piercing cobalt blue eyes, Heero. Slowly, the winged boy met the curious blue stare.

"Quatre, I remember."

------------------end part 9-----------------

Heero looked on as Zechs and Treize argued whether or not to follow the trail leading away from the ruined church they had come across at the edge of Treize's lands. Zechs argued to search for Duo first, or split up into two groups while Treize wanted to hunt down the boarder ruffians first in order to prevent more carnage and loss of life.

The argument was halted when a woman walked up, her hair in tight braided buns. Two other women closely followed her; one with long bangs falling over one side of her face, resembling Trowa, and the second with short purple hair.

"Excuse me, Lord Treize."

"Lady Une, what a pleasure to see you again. Noin, Hilde, how are you all doing?"

"We're fine, but I must insist that we dispense with the pleasantries." Une frowned slightly.

"As you wish. What can I do for you ladies?" The ginger haired man asked.

"Aside from tracking down the ones who destroyed this church, we need your help finding out friend, Christian. He ran off as soon as Hilde reported the church was under attack."

"We assume he followed the men's trail and we are not able to take on such a large group alone."

"Of course we will help." Treize shot a look at Zechs who immediately closed his mouth, stopping his protest. "We'll set out immediately. What does your friend look like?"

"He's about Hilde's height, and he has violet eyes with long brown hair he keeps in a braid, and he recently sprouted wings. He's loud and has tons of energy…" Noin trailed off in her description as Heero, Treize, and Zechs suddenly turned to look at each other.

They said one word in unison, "Duo."

----------------------

"Ah-choo!"

"Bless you, Duo." Quatre looked over at his braided friend.

"Thanks Quatre. Someone must be talking about me." Duo turned violet eyes to the road further ahead. "Are we going left or right?"

"Left. We'll go to my place and send for Heero. It'll cut down on any surprise attacks and any unwelcome visits from Her."

"Gotcha." Duo turned his horse down the specified path, already talking about the life he had led and getting information on what he had missed.

----------------------

Trowa watched the wizard fume out of the corner of his eye. Wufei had been sulking almost the entire ride to Heero's castle. Finally, the green-eyed king had enough. "At least you'll get to see Sally again." He tried to cheer up the other, only receiving an evil glare as the response for his troubles. Trowa glanced up sharply when his horse suddenly stopped instead of passing over the drawbridge.

'Closed? Heero never closes the drawbridge during the day.' Trowa thought, glancing over at Wufei, who shrugged, obviously thinking the same thing.

"Who goes there?" A guard shouted down to them.

"King Trowa of Barton and High Wizard Wufei. We've come to meet with King Heero." Trowa called out to the man.

"He's not here." The guard called back before turning to his companion, who them disappeared from sight. "Wait until the Queen grants you permission to enter."

The horses shifted impatiently under the visitors as they waited in surprised silence, shocked that they didn't have immediate clearance to enter.

The quiet was broken by the sounds of the drawbridge being lowered. The riders cautiously entered the castle, relieved that the bridge was left open behind them.

When they entered the main courtyard, the horses slammed to a halt. Trowa and Wufei, who were instantly on guard, were shocked to find Relena of all people waiting with another woman in their path.

Recovering from his surprise, Trowa offered the standard acknowledge. "Greeting Queen Relena of Sank, wife of King Heero of Yuy, I thank you for your hospitality." Wufei echoed his greeting but Relena stayed eerily silent, as did her companion.

The two boys looked at each other in silent question before Wufei nodded, taking the next step that would set off a chain of events that no one would have predicted.

"Where did Heero go off to?"

"Heero? MY Heero went to look for that floozy of a 'bodyguard'." Wufei's eyes widened at the amount of hate Relena fit into that one word. "MY Heero is off chasing something that isn't royalty, and a BOY no less, instead of coming with me to the peace conferences." Relena's face twisted into a look of bitter jealousy. "He's mine! Dorothy!"

The girl beside Relena stepped forward and raised her hands. The horses danced nervously, trying to back away from the girl. Relena continued, "He's MINE and NO ONE can take him! Not you, not Quatre, not Treize and my brother, not a nobody street trash bodyguard! NO ONE!!"

A slight crackle of energy was all the warning they got. Wufei hastily threw together a shield, barely saving their lives. "Go! Run!" he yelled to Trowa, who was trying to control his horse. Giving up, Trowa just let the horse run out the gate, pausing only long enough to be certain that Wufei was next to him, Trowa forced his horse into its fastest pace. Wufei rode next to, grunting with exertion every time hit his shield. The horses were going as fast as they were able, as they raced away from the magic that they sensed as evil. Neither rider did anything to hinder the beasts, only urging them on until the attacks lessened then finally stopped, before allowing the exhausted horses to slow to a walk.

Slowly, Wufei turned to his friend. "Thank kami for magic horses. So now what?"

Trowa turned serious green eyes to meet worried black. "I'm not sure. We should probably find the others."

Wufei nodded and began to summon the rest of his energy for a travelling spell for two humans and their horses.

---------------------------

"Dorothy?" Relena turned blue eyes on the other girl.

"Yes?" The blonde turned her attention to the queen.

"Bring Heero to me."

"As you wish." Black power swirled around the blonde momentarily as she abandoned her attacks on the two fleeing the castle. A look of fierce concentration passed over her features for a moment, then Heero was suddenly in the middle of the courtyard, his horse, rearing up in fright.

"Relena? What the hell is going on?" Heero growled, dismounting, trying not to show how shaken he was at the sudden change in scenery.

"Dorothy," Blue eyes met blue. "My room, please."

"Of course."

"Relena? What…" Heero suddenly winked out of sight, reappearing in Relena's room, in the armor that he usually kept hidden in his room, and chained to the bed with impossibly strong chains.

"Thank you Dorothy."

"My pleasure, Relena-sama."

-----------------end part ten----------------------

Several days later, Treize’s party had arrived at their second site of a massive slaughter. They had obviously located what remained of the camp of the scum that had attacked the church. As the soldiers sifted through the remains for survivors, they checked each body for a long brown braid or violet eyes, before reporting to their king.

Treize and Heero were talking about their next course of action. Treize froze mid sentence when Heero suddenly disappeared. “Heero?” he glanced around quickly for the quiet boy, before calling out to the other members of the search party. “Did anyone see where Heero went?”

“Wasn’t he just talking to you?” Zechs asked confused.

“He was, until he vanished.”

Une glanced up at them. “Vanished? I thought we were shielded.”

“We are.” Noin replied, pointing to the still functioning wards around the camp.

“No mage is powerful enough to snatch a person from within a warded area.” Hilde pointed out.

“A mage can’t,” Zechs agreed, “But a demon can.”

“Zechs, what are you thinking? No one has summoned a demon for hundreds of years! It’s a forgotten magic!” Treize took a deep breath to calm himself. “All right, tell me. Who do you think it is?”

“Relena.”

“Relena?” Noin gasped. “But she’s been working for peace for the last few years. Why would she want to destroy what she has worked for and built up?”

“Because jealousy does strange things to people.”

“Jealousy?”

“Over Heero. She’s so obsessed with him that nothing else matters. I remember a while ago, she was gathering all the information on spells that she could. I had no time to investigate because of the kingdom’s problems and I never bothered afterwards because she stopped.”

“But Relena?”

“She’s so possessive that she’s gone insane with the desire to have him all to herself.”

“If she /was/ able to summon a demon, then we are all in trouble.” Treize shook his head. “We need to get to the others...”

“Who? Us?”

Everyone looked up at the voice. Wufei brushed some loose black hair behind his ear as he and Trowa, who looked equally as frazzled, suddenly appeared.

“What happened to you?” Zechs questioned as Wufei collapsed into Trowa’s ready arms. Trowa lifted the exhausted wizard easily from his horse, carrying him over to where the small group was.

“We went to Heero’s castle to talk, only to find he wasn’t there. Instead, we were met by Relena and another blonde. Relena began ranting about Heero being hers and no one could take him from her then the other blonde attacked us. Wufei and I ran under heavy fire, his shields nearly failed but the attacked finally stopped. That’s when he transported us here to where Heero is and exhausted himself.” Trowa explained, shifting Wufei slightly, looking around for Heero.

“Well, you missed him by about five minutes. He’s disappeared, literally.” Treize informed him.

“...About the time the attacks stopped.” Wufei groaned. “Trowa, you can put me down now.” Wufei balanced himself carefully before continuing. “I think the best bet on Heero’s location is his own castle.”

“I know we’ll need more men to storm that castle. Heero built it from scratch. It’s nearly impenetrable.” Treize murmured.

“We’ll need more men, but only two.”

“Quatre and Duo.”

“Right.” Trowa nodded. “And if I’m not mistaken, Quatre will take Duo back to our castle and inform Heero of their location.”

“So, to Trowa’s.” Wufei ordered, stumbling back to his horse and mounting. “What are you people waiting for? An invitation? MOVE!”

Suddenly, the camp was a flurry of motion as everyone hurried to pack. Wufei slumped forward on his horse, trying to gather back his strength.

-------------------------

Quatre and Duo left their horses in Abdul’s competent care before they raced to the pigeon cages. Selecting a bird, Quatre tried a note on its leg, freeing it to complete its job. They watched happily as the white creature winged away to inform Heero of Duo’s safe recovery.

'Hee-chan. Come to Quatre's. ~D.'

"Where's Trowa?" Duo asked Quatre as they wandered the halls impatiently.

"I'm not sure, I left Wufei with him, so most likely, they went to visit Heero. Although, I'm surprised Wufei allowed it. But they'll come here with Heero, so I guess all we have to do is wait." The blonde boy took an involuntary step back at the mischief in the braided boy's eyes. 'Uh oh.'

"I guess we'll have to entertain ourselves until they get here. Come on, Quatre!"

Duo proceeded to drag Quatre all over the castle in games and exploration. Several hours later Rashid entered the room in which Quatre was resting, carrying a small bundle of cloth.

"Quatre-sama, I'm afraid I have some bad news." Rashid held out his hands, opening the cloth. Inside was the white pigeon that had flown away several hours ago. 'Was' being the key word. All that was left was the head, wings, and a leg, along with the original message with the word 'never' written in blood over the ink.

"Who could have done such a thing?" Quatre gasped, his hand automatically flying to his belt pouch, clutching something in his hand.

"Quatre?" Duo peered inside the pale hand at a small crystal bell.

The blonde king gently rang the bell, producing a sound so sweet and so beautiful that it could only be magic. After a few minutes of waiting, Wufei appeared looking exhausted.

"Quatre? What's wrong? Duo!?" Wufei allowed himself to be glomped by the until-recently-lost braided boy before turning to Quatre. "Trowa, Treize, and a small party of men and women are headed this way. They will arrive here in about an hour on horses. Could you have Rashid have the gate ready?"

"Of course I will." Quatre replied, motioning to Rashid.

"What happened to you? You look exhausted!" Duo asked the raven-haired wizard, worried.

"I'd rather wait and explain it when everyone gets here." Wufei yawned.

"Forgive my rude behavior. Rashid, will you show Wufei to a room and inform the cooks to prepare a meal for a large party that will need to be fed as soon as they get here."

"It will all be done. I will also station men at the gate to watch for them."

"Thank you Rashid." Quatre watched the large man squeeze through the door, followed by Wufei, before turning to face an upset Duo, before looking out the window.

"Quatre, why do I have the feeling that something is very wrong?" Duo whispered, latching onto his braid like a life line.

"Because, my friend, there is," Quatre replied, absently placing a hand over his heart. "Let's just hope that we can deal with whatever it is we have to face."

"Yeah, let's hope."

----------------end part 11------------------

A little over an hour later, Rashid appeared in the doorway to inform the blonde king that the expected party had arrived and was waiting for them in the great hall.

"Thank you, Rashid. Could you please wake Wufei and ask him to meet us there?"

"Of course, Quatre-sama." The large man bowed and walked away on his task.

Quatre hurried down to the great hall with Duo, both enthusiastically greeting the people in the party. Duo introduced Quatre to the women he had stayed with when he was 'absent' mentally. Wufei finally stumbled in. After everyone had been introduced and were settled throughout the room chatting, Duo cleared his throat just enough to get Wufei's attention.

"So, are you going to explain what is going on?"

Wufei looked to Trowa then to Treize before answering. "Well, Trowa and I had left to Yuy to check up on Heero, but he wasn't there, at the time he was with Treize, looking for you. We were met by Relena and another blonde woman, apparently named Dorothy, she had the strangest eyebrows…"

Trowa picked up the story. "Basically, Relena freaked out and went on a rant on Heero being hers that could compare to some of Wufei's best." Wufei snorted. "Relena had the other woman attack us. We barely escaped. Wufei exhausted himself on shields and transporting us to where Heero had been."

"Heero was pulled from a fully warded campsite while I was talking to him, just before Wufei and Trowa appeared." Taking a deep breath, Treize continued. "We believe that Relena has summoned a demon and has Heero right now at the castle."

"What?!" Duo shot out of his seat and started for the door. Une jumped up next to him, physically restraining him from moving.

"Christian!" She snapped and he paused, recognizing the tone, bitch Une. "I mean, Duo, Rushing off half-cocked won't help Heero. It will most likely hurt him. You have to be calm and have patience, please."

Duo's shoulders slumped in defeat as he slid back into his chair. "All right, then what do we do? Nothing?"

"I think I have a plan, but you have to be patient." Quatre said.

"Patience is a virtue I /loathe/."

---------------------------

Heero tugged at his bonds once again, ignoring the pain from his raw wrists. Nothing he had tried so far had even /scratched/ the chains. So for two and a half days he had been subjected to hours upon hours of Relena. Relena talking about nonsense, kids, hidden feeling, or something equally asinine.

Glancing out the window at the sunrise the mix of blues and purples reminded Heero of Duo's eyes when the morning's light first hit them when the braided boy woke up, right next to him.

"Duo," Heero breathed, emotions flickering across his face.

"Heero, I'm back. Did you miss me? What am I saying, of course you did. Now where were we?" Relena rambled on unaware of the sudden drain of emotion from Heero's face, leaving only a blank expression. She continued on as Heero turned back to the window to watch the end of the sunrise.

'Duo, where ever you are…HELP!'

-------------------------

Duo sneezed, offhandedly wondering who was talking about him, before turning his attention back to the horse in front of him. Checking over the tack once again, Duo deemed it safe and turned to quickly examine the rest of his odd rescue party.

Quatre and Trowa were helping the still exhausted and ever stubborn Wufei with his horse. Wufei had demanded to come along, claiming if some weak women were allowed to go, he should go to, if only to protect them. Of course, this caused a shouting match between Hilde and Wufei. Duo shook his head and continued his sweep. Treize and Zechs were helping the women with their horses, with the exception of Une, who was the personification of efficiency. Then there were some random guards that Rashid, who was ordered to stay and protect the castle since it was so close to Heero's, demanded they take in his stead.

Turning back to his horse, Duo calmly rubbed Shinigami's nose, reviewing the plan mentally. Sneak in, grab Heero, sneak out. Simple, right? Wrong. Not only was the castle nearly impenetrable, but magically guarded as well. Anyone who didn't pass through the front gate would trigger alarms, besides himself, because Heero had altered the spell for him alone. Plus, they had to deal with Dorothy's unknown powers.

Duo shook his head. If only he hadn't been kidnapped, if only Wufei hadn't lost so much energy to Dorothy's attacks, if only the wards were strong enough, if it were only Relena, if, if, if. Too many ifs. Mounting his horse, Duo turned to face the others, who were waiting silently.

"Let's go." Shinigami perked up his ears and headed out the gate without being asked, ready to battle.

After a full day's ride, their target was in sight. Nightfall would be their cover, possibly their only advantage, possibly a hinder. Waiting impatiently for sundown, a sudden thought popped into his head, ' 'Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly.' Well, it's time for the fly to kick the spider's ass.'

The sun had set. They moved.

-------------------------

Relena had left over an hour ago. Heero was thanking every deity he could think of. That blonde psycho had clung to him all day, talking in that screechy, annoying voice, until Heero was ready to kill her.

Growling in disgust, the trapped boy glanced out at the small crescent moon, just about to be covered in clouds. A movement caught his attention. He carefully made out several small figures on horses, just outside the wall that led into the castle courtyard. One with a very long braid visible. Then, it was too dark to see.

'Duo?'

Suddenly, all hell broke loose.

------------------------

It was insanely easy to slip past the outer defences; there were no guards. Duo motioned for everyone to stop just outside the second wall. "Don't relax, this is most likely a trap."

The others nodded agreement and they slipped silently past the second wall. Duo's violet eyes scanned every inch of the inner wall as they waited, again, it was lacking guards. Finally, clouds covered the slice of moon and they slipped through the wall. Quatre's horse shifted, ears perking up, staring intently at the shadows. Duo strained his eyes to see what the horse had heard.

Silently, everyone reached for the weapons. A piercing howl ripped the suffocating silence in two as magic illuminated the large courtyard, revealing an army of monsters, thankfully the killable kind.

Before Duo had time to think, Shinigami screamed a challenge, charging toward the enemy. The braided rider raised his scythe and let out a war cry, fighting into the center of the army, killing left and right.

Quatre shrugged, raising his scimitars and charged after his companion, followed closely by the others. Wufei fought close to the women, holding his own. While he was fighting, he swore he heard Une mutter as she sliced down a creature, "Christian, how the hell do you manage to attract shit like this?"

After a short while, the rescue party fell back to surround Treize and the four boys. Although they had inflicted heavy damage, the boys had managed to break their primary weapons. Treize quickly tossed them each a bundle, two to Duo, that when opened revealed new weapons.

At the inquiring looks, Treize explained, "I acquired them recently, and Heero suggested I bring them along. They are made of the strongest metal available, gundanium. But," Treize stopped them from going back into battle, "You are not going to fight here with them. You are going to fight in there." He pointed to the castle. We'll take care of the ones out here. You are to get Heero out of there. That is an order."

Treize watched long enough to be sure the boys were headed inside before surging forward, slashing and hacking his way over to Zechs. He leaned over and whispered, "Milliardo, I say we show them how we really fight."

Zechs looked over, startled, before smiling, and nodding. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes as Treize called a momentary retreat. Taking Treize's offered hand, the man once called Milliardo, opened his eyes, lightning flashing in his blue orbs. White energy began to gather around the blonde man as he prepared his attack with Treize's help. The energy was suddenly released in the form of deadly lightning bolts that he called down from the skies, destroying the monsters, which were scattering at the furious attacks.

The flashes of lightning drew Duo's attention momentarily, "So that's why they call him 'the lightning count'," he mused before turning back to the steps he was running up, heading toward the throne room, where his destiny awaited him.

-----------------end part 12----------------------

Relena relaxed in Heero’s throne as she waited for Heero’s pet creature to come for *her * Heero, as Dorothy assured he would. Said demon sat in the queen’s throne next to her, watching the flashes of lightning outside, with little interest.

Glancing down, the former Peacecraft, once again trailed her eyes over the bracelet around her wrist. It was solid gold, with magic symbols carved painstakingly by hand into the sides. Relena remembered the years she had spent learning each symbol and how to control the bracelet’s power. Her brother, if he had suspected anything, had never mentioned her interest in magic.

Relena’s eyes moved over to watch the door when Dorothy stood slowly. The heavy wood that took two very strong guards or Heero to move swung open with enough force that they hit the castle walls.

In the open doorway, stood a slender boy with a long braid that must have been three feet in length. He was flanked by Heero’s other obnoxious friends. Relena restrained the urge to personally throw them out as she watched the braided boy glance around the throne room, looking for traps, guards, whatever, before he stepped cautiously inside, his violet gaze trained on the two women.

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Relena began. “Don’t you realize you are in royal company? Bow before me.”

“Screw you. No one who kidnaps another person is worthy of being royalty.” Duo spat. “What did you do to Heero? Let him go.”

“Ah, I suppose you are the one called Duo, are you not?” Dorothy stepped off the platform the thrones were on and circled Duo, looking him over. “You don’t seem like prophecy material, rather weak and scrawny.”

“What prophecy?” Duo questioned, ignoring the taunting remarks of weakness.

“Why don’t you ask your wizard friend? He knows, after all, it was his mistake that allowed me to find out.”

“How did you find out? Prophecies are kept strictly within trusted circles.” Wufei was pale, even thought he calmly stared down the demon girl.

“Some secrets aren’t as secret as they should be, are they?” The blonde taunted. “Besides, I always enjoy meddling in fate, it always produces the most interesting endings, usually the opposite of what was supposed to happen.”

Quatre took one look at Wufei. The wizard was obviously fighting his urge to throttle the woman. So, Quatre took the initiative, and stepped forward, addressing Relena. “Your majesty, from one ruler to another, I beseech you for a favor.” Relena looked shocked. She had expected fighting, but not reason, and especially not politics. She nodded slowly. “Allow Heero his freedom so we may all work together in keeping the peace you have worked so hard to create. He is needed to hunt down a band of murderers that are plaguing the borders of several countries.”

“If you are referring to the group that massacred a church to draw out Heero’s creature, then they’re all dead. You know that because you helped kill them all. No one is attacking our borders.”

“How…?”

“I’ve personally send them all, so I know what happened.” Dorothy laughed.

“DIE!!!!!” Duo leapt from where he was standing, lunging for the blonde demon, scythe pulled back for a fatal strike. A shimmer in the air gave Duo just enough time to halt his blade, resting on Heero’s neck. A blast of energy knocked Duo away back against a wall, dazed.

Trowa drew his weapons and attacked, trying to draw attention away from Duo and Wufei, who was currently working on a strong enough shield to protect the small group. Dorothy casually tossed Heero aside as she dodged Trowa’s attacks, forming identical weapons to fight back. Wufei tossed several energy balls at the demon to aid Trowa, making the blonde falter and nearly get stabbed.

Relena shouted, “Dorothy, use your super eyebrow attack!” (1)

Everyone looked at the blonde queen like she was insane, before turning to look at what the attack would do. They watched, shocked, as Dorothy wriggled her eyebrows, a flash of light accompanying her movement. She shape shifted into Trowa! While they fought, she moved around to confuse the people below her. The others weren’t able to tell who was who, therefore unable to assist the real Trowa. A blast of energy formed between the two banged boys flung one away.

The remaining Trowa changed back into Dorothy, barely blocking in time as Quatre, shouting his warning, dove into battle. Once again, Dorothy morphed to look identical to her opponent, rendering outside help useless. Wufei was supporting Duo, who was still wobbling from the knock to his head, as he stood. One look at Heero chained to Relena’s throne and the braided boy was determined to save him, his determination taking the place of his lack of energy. Duo slipped against the wall, out of sight, behind the thrones to try to free Heero. He could hear the metal blades of the scimitars hitting against one another as Quatre tried to fight off the fake Quatre.

Duo encountered a force field he couldn’t slip past. Heero noticed him and struggled harder, trying to reach him, trying to talk with him but nothing came out of his mouth. Heero finally shook his head and nodded his head back to the fight, indicating that Duo go back to Wufei. Cursing his luck, Duo made his way back over to Wufei, just in time to see Quatre flung back, his scimitars clattering to the ground.

“Is there anything in that prophecy that will help us right now?” Duo asked Wufei as they helped Quatre to his feet.

“No. Prophecies are very vague and since she tampered with it, of there had been anything that might have helped, it would be useless now, even turning back on us.” Wufei grumbled as a playful attack smashed his shields, causing the wizard to flinch in pain. “I’m not even sure if the prophecy holds true now, we’re completely on our own.”

“That’s reassuring.” Duo said before raising his voice to address Relena. “I’ll tell you again, let Heero go.”

“No. He’s MINE!!” Relena screeched. “Dorothy! Get him!”

Duo raised his scythe as the blonde attacked him, looking exactly like him, using the same weapons, moving exactly the same, mirroring him. Sparks flew as blade hit blade, both were determined but deadlocked. Dorothy could only use as much energy as the body she took on was able, and since Duo was giving the fight almost everything he had, they were equally matched. Still, Dorothy felt some unease, he was hiding something that would give him the advantage if she didn’t cheat. So, she’d cheat.

“Give it up.” Relena called out. “You can’t win. You aren’t human enough for Heero to love. He loves me. You’re not even real.”

“I’m more human than you are or ever will be!” Duo shouted, his black wings bursting from his back as he leapt away from a magical attack.

Flying up to the ceiling, Duo scanned the room, both blondes were frozen in shock, their mouths open and their guards down. Duo dropped down, bringing his weapon back to finish everything, only to be blasted back by Dorothy’s reflexes.

Duo dropped his scythe as he sprung upwards, his hands rubbing his midsection. Another attack followed his retreat. Duo sidestepped, flinging himself out the window, daring the fake to give chase. Dorothy growled and wings burst from her shoulders. She, too, left her weapon as she raced after the laughing boy. Dodging the lightning that was raining down around him, Duo attacked with power he didn’t know he could summon, tossing powerful balls of energy at his pursuer.

A lucky attack pushed Duo back through the window into the throne room. The attacks inside were equal in intensity and brightness to the lightning outside. Each time the attacks hit each other, everyone in the room would be temporarily blinded.

It was obvious that Dorothy had the advantage as one winged creature against the other, she had unlimited power and thousands of years of training to perfect her control, while Duo was fumbling along, and running out of energy, not used to the strain of spell casting.

He just happened to look at Heero at just the right moment, somehow understanding what he was trying to tell him. Relena.

------------------end part 13----------------------

Heero had spent an hour watching the battle unfold out beneath his window, worried for Duo, worried for his friends safety, worried the battle would be over before he could join in the fun, and only slightly worried about that particular thought. He watched anxiously as Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei fought their way into the castle, one hand automatically flying to shield his eyes when Treize and Zechs joined hands to attack.

He had just managed to stretch far enough to see the entire battlefield, when the captive king was teleported into the throne room, where Duo’s blade stopped directly on his neck. When Duo was blasted backwards, Heero frantically called out, only to find that he was spelled silent.

The blue eyed boy tugged at the chains around his wrists, now bound to his own throne, unable to get free, yet desperate to do so. He stared as his friends were knocked away by their look alike, battered nearly into unconsciousness. Forcefully pushing aside any personal feelings, Heero released the soldier in him, allowing it to survey the battles and locate the enemy’s weakness as she fought Duo.

His eyes unconsciously trailed over to Relena to see her reaction, landing on the odd gold bracelet she was clutching. On closer inspection, Heero could pick out several symbols that he recognized from Wufei’s attempts to teach him some spells, which, in fact, had failed but proved to be quite amusing, since Wufei’s hair had turned green.

As luck would have it, Heero managed to catch the real Duo’s eyes, not certain how he knew it was the real boy, but positive none the less, nodding at Relena while pointing to his own wrist. The bracelet.

Duo’s eyes lit up in understanding as he continued to battle. Suddenly changing tactics to surprise his opponent, the braided boy flew up as high as he could and dove at the blonde, instead of fighting close. On one dive, he just dropped right from the air, landing next to Heero and the very startled Relena. Grabbing the bracelet, Duo pulled it free, tossing it to Wufei before anyone could form the thought of reacting. The raven haired wizard began chanting spells rapidly as soon as he caught the metal band.

Relena’s screams of fury were drowned out by Dorothy’s screams of pain. Everyone watched, surprised, as the blonde demon collapsed in a boneless heap before disappearing, a dozen feet from where Wufei stood panting.

“What happened?” Duo questioned, jumping onto the stone floor several feet away from the pile of clothes, crouching down to get a better look.

“I drained her energy.” Wufei replied evenly, tucking an escaped piece of hair behind his ear, as if he hadn’t just been draining a demon of all its energy.

“Where’d it go?” Quatre asked, leaning slightly against Trowa.

“I don’t know. I only had enough power to drain her, not control where it went...” Wufei’s sentence trailed off as he stared at Relena, who was beginning to chuckle evilly.

“Huh? What’s she so happy about, she just lost.” Duo grumbled.

“Wrong, creature, I just won. You four just gave me unlimited power by setting Dorothy’s power loose. I had planned for the possibility that you might figure out how I controlled her, so I changed the summoning spell.”

“What do you mean?” Wufei growled, staring at the now blackened bracelet in his hand, fearing the answer.

“When you set loose her power, I absorbed it all!” Wings burst from Relena’s back as she casually flung a fireball at the boys. Quatre and Trowa jumped to the side as Duo lifted Wufei into the air, above the attack. Depositing Wufei behind the thrones next to Heero, Duo swept up his scythe where it lay forgotten on the floor, charging the queen.

A small green energy ball whizzed by Duo’s face as he reacted out of reflex and dodged the attack. The resulting explosion rocked the room, blowing out part of the wall, and sending debris scattering to the floor. Violet eyes scanned the dust filled room, unable to see anything past the few inches beyond his own face, but knowing something was wrong. When the smoke screen settled, Duo picked out various people. Quatre, Trowa, Wufei and the demon girl.

“Where’s Heero?” Duo shouted, his voice betraying none of the fear clutching at his heart.

“There!” Trowa pointed out a rapidly retreating black spot, illuminated slightly by the moon.

“I’m going after her, follow me on the horses!” Duo shouted, already rushing out the hole in the wall, not waiting to see whether or not the others would follow.

Pushing his already exhausted body to its limits, Duo quickly caught up to Relena, who was having a very hard time holding onto Heero, who was struggling to escape. Violet met cobalt as Heero bit Relena’s hand. Duo dropped out of the sky catching the wingless boy as soon as the queen dropped him in pain, black wings opening to glide down to the ground. Setting Heero on the ground in a safe area, Duo led Relena away from the bound boy to protect him as the blonde threw fireballs at him.

Relena scowled at the boy she’d never seen before today, yet hated with every fiber in her body. Deciding to try a verbal attack, Relena aimed for what she thought would be a sensitive spot. “He doesn’t love you, you realize that, don’t you?”

“That doesn’t matter.” Duo grunted in pain as a fireball clipped his wing.

“I think it does, I’ve waited four years to consummate our marriage, to finalize it, but he’s never said the three words I’m waiting for, I’m still waiting to have the honeymoon.. If he can’t say them to me, what makes you think he’ll ever say them to you? You’re a thing, not even real, fake, not human,” Relena punctuated each word with an attack. “How could he ever love something that isn’t human, that isn’t normal? You’re a toy to him, something that when he gets tired of it, he’ll toss it away.”

Duo shook his head violently, trying to ignore the pain radiating from his wounds and the ones in his heart. “I don’t care! I love him and that is all that matters! It doesn’t matter if I’m not human, not acceptable to your standards. If Heero doesn’t want me, then I’ll leave him alone forever as long as I know he’s safe and happy. If he wants me just as a friend, so be it. Whatever he wants I’ll give it to him as long as I am able, if he wants the moon, then by god, he’ll get the whole damn thing!”

“You can’t give him what he needs, though. He needs someone real to really love him, to do what is in his best interests, to give him an heir.” Relena hissed back.

“How do you know what is in his best interests? Do you know what his past was like? The pain it causes him? Do you know that he hates lima beans and loves to ride horses just before sun rise? Do you know that he wants to do nothing more than protect the people of his country? He doesn’t want you to protect him, he’s capable of doing that himself.” Duo winced around his split lip, eyes searching out the form below him to assess his safety, happy that the others were almost there to help Heero.

Relena noticed where his gaze was and her evil smile turned ugly. “I think you underestimated my devotion to him. If I can’t have him, no one will!” Relena charged up her strongest attack and released it at Heero, who stood frozen in place, unable to escape the black energy even if he did run.

“NOOO!” Duo threw himself into the way, tossing Heero as far back as possible before letting loose a blast of purple energy to shield the king, before countering the attack. By the time he had raised enough energy, the attack hit.

Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and the rest of the rescue party watched in horror as the events unfolded before their eyes. The sky danced with lightning that neither Zechs nor Treize created. The two colliding powers warred with each other, the tiny speck of purple energy trying to hold it’s own against a dome of black.

“Wufei, can’t you do the same thing with the energy draining as you did with the demon?” Quatre asked, his mind racing for solutions.

“No, the bracelet’s burnt out. I can’t cast any more spells through it…” Wufei trailed off, looking thoughtful.

“Do something!” Une demanded as the purple gave way to the black. “He’s losing.”

“It might make it worse!” Wufei shouted at her over the sudden wind.

“Do it anyway, we don’t have any other options!” Quatre shouted back.

“Everyone step back! I need to destroy this!” Wufei summoned his most powerful spell, red energy crackled around his body as he softly chanted the words. The bracelet lit up with red energy before exploding into tiny dust particles, being blown away in the wind.

“Wha…? NOOOOO!” Relena screeched as the black energy turned back on her. “This can’t be happening!”

----------------

Heero stared in shock at Duo’s unmoving body a dozen yards away. He numbly moved forward, not registering the fact that the chains had fallen off, or that there were tears flowing down his face or that the silence spell had been broken and he was mumbling 'nonono'. Dropping to his knees, Heero carefully cradled Duo’s body to his chest, gently rocking him back and forth, hugging him tightly.

“Can’t breathe!” Duo gasped.

“Huh?” Heero peered into Duo’s face, surprised. “You’re dead.”

“No, but I will be if you keep cutting my oxygen off.” Duo replied, offering Heero a brilliant smile, before grimacing slightly as Heero squeezed his sore ribs again.

Gently rubbing the other boy’s back, Duo glanced around to take stock of everything. Heero was safe; Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and the others were safe; the castle was still standing, mostly; Dorothy was gone, Relena was a pile of clothes?

Focusing on the clothes, he saw something move and stiffened. Heero looked up, absently scrubbing the tear stains away. Following the braided boy’s gaze, Heero also stiffened. He stood and carefully pulled Duo to his feet as well, before both boys stumbled over to the pile of clothes. Using the very tip of his sword, Heero lifted the top layer of fabric to reveal…a worm.

“A worm?” Duo looked to Heero, then to Wufei, who held out his hand and revealed another worm. An absolutely evil grin spread over Duo’s face as he leaned toward the two worms. “Hey, is anyone up for a little fishing?”

The two worms clung to each other and screamed.

----------------------------

(1)--Phoenix's line.

-------------------end part 14--------------------

Duo turned to look at the door when it opened, a smile flowing across his features, washing away his concern. Heero entered stiffly, his footsteps heavy under the added weight of his armor. As he spotted his braided lover, a small smile twisted his lips.

"Heero!" Duo tackled the dark-haired boy, covering his face in kisses. "How was it? Did you win?"

"What?" Heero feigned innocence.

"Your battle! You know, the one that pulled you away from me a week ago?" Duo bounced to his face and began to pull Heero to his feet.

"Oh! That battle. It was fun." He started to peal off armor after stealing a kiss.

"You know, koi, you are the only person I know that calls a skirmish fun."

"Hn. How much time do we have?"

"Enough for a quick bath and a nap." Duo tossed over his shoulder as he walked into the bathroom. "Want to join me?"

Heero abandoned the armor on the bed and hurried after his teasing lover.

- - - - - - - - -

"Where are they?" Wufei paced back and forth, tugging at his clothes in nervous excitement.

"We’re right here," Duo called, entering the room dragging Heero behind him. "Stop fiddling with your clothes, you are going to mess them up." The braided boy straightened what Wufei had wrinkled.

"Is Sally ready?" Heero asked Lady Une as she poked her head inside the door.

"Yes. Everything is set to go, so get your butts inside the room so we can get started."

"Someone is wearing their braids too tight." Duo mumbled, stalking after her, pausing long enough to latch onto Wufei and Heero and haul them both behind him, ignoring their protests.

After depositing Wufei at the altar, Duo took his place between Heero and Trowa next to Wufei and Quatre. Leaning back, he winked at the four girls waiting on the other side for Sally.

As the music broke the silence, all eyes turned to the female doctor, who was dressed in a beautiful white wedding dress. Zechs led her up the aisle, handing her over to Wufei with a wink.

Treize cleared his throat and as Lord of the Castle, began, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…"

Wufei met Sally’s eyes and the words faded into the background, each answering only when reminded to do so. After the rings and the kiss, which was amazingly passionate, Duo ushered the newly weds into their carriage and as they drove off, shouted, "Have fun consummating the marriage!"

Heero tugged on his braid and began to make his way inside. Quatre glanced to Trowa as Duo practically tripped over himself to run after him.

"Where are you…?" Quatre started to ask.

Une hid a smile behind her hand as Hilde and Noin laughed at Quatre’s blush as Duo’s answer of something about a second honeymoon, handcuffs, and rabid weasels floated back to them.

"…"

"Hell yes! I want a second honeymoon, too!" Quatre jumped into Trowa’s arms and disappeared into the same door as Duo and Heero had moments before.

"How much do you want to bet that Treize and Zechs are going to go that exact way in less than five minutes?" Hilde asked, turning to face the Une, Noin, and Catherine.

"I’m not taking that bet, because there they go." Catherine pointed out.

"I swear, it must be contagious!" The girls broke out laughing as they moved out to enjoy the rest of they party.

OWARI