Takeo – Hello Minna!
WuFei – Shh. I’m trying to not wake Duo up.
Takeo – Wu, he’s been awake for a while, waiting for me to put him in the fic.
WuFei – Oh no, this is going to be angst; I can see it in your eyes.
Takeo – Well yeah, got inspired and well, let’s see the end results.
WuFei – Very well. There’s lime and angst. There’s mention of 2x3, 3x4. Takeo doesn’t own GW, so don’t sue. She’s entertaining herself and many others, so she’s doing something good, I think.
Takeo – Thank you Fei-kun. Wait, ok, about the AU thing. It’s set in the GW universe, but without the whole " Gundam" thing. L5 however was destroyed in a meteor barge. Thoughts are in italics.

Desert Rose 2: The Road to Nowhere.

WuFei sat silently as he nursed his feet like he always did after every performance, washing them clean and put on a pair of black loafers. He pulled some of his hair back into its ponytail, letting the few last strands wave freely in the wind. He kept thinking about the words of Duo’s song, the way he had sung them, almost as if he was going through the same thing. WuFei sighed.

He had been working with Duo and Heero for a year now, it was certainly fun seeing all these places, but now, he wanted to just settle somewhere peaceful and live out the rest of his days. I’m only sixteen, and I sound like I’m an old man. WuFei laughed in spite of himself.

" Hey WuFei, great show. This place is a lot bigger than I remember it." Duo said as he sat next to WuFei, dressed in his traditionally priest outfit, a cheery smile on his face.

" Well, they certainly did a good job restoring this town to what it was. It was one of those achievements by archaeologists." WuFei said as he stood up and headed to change his clothes. Duo sat silently as he knotted his fingers together. You seem lost WuFei, what’s on your mind, you’ve probably figured out what I was trying to say with the song, it speaks about how I feel about you, do you feel it too? Duo smiled sadly, he didn’t want to come back to Arabia, back to see Trowa, but WuFei had never been here so, here they were.

Trowa was following behind Quatre as they made their way to where the caravan was stationed. He couldn’t believe that after all this time, that Duo had come back. It’s was just one night, he said that I wouldn’t remember him, that it meant nothing, Gods, it meant so much to me, to have his beauty bath me, and now he’s back, and a rarer beauty in his hold, will he even remember me?

" Trowa, are you alright?" Quatre asked. His friend had a pained expression in those emerald orbs.

" It’s nothing your Highness. Let us be quick in case the caravan leaves." Trowa said and they quickened their steps.

WuFei undressed slowly, thankful for the few moments that he got of peace and quiet. He folded his costume, and put on his navy blue tank top, slipped on his white pants, which he secured with a black sash. He washed off the makeup from his face and put away the trinkets. Gone was Fei the gypsy. In her place was WuFei, a boy far away from what he called home.

There was a knock at the door. And I thought that I was going to be left alone. WuFei thought dryly as he opened the door, to reveal the blond boy and his brown haired companion.

"It’s you. What are you doing here?" WuFei asked. Quatre held up the scarf, even in more awe of WuFei’s beauty in his normal self. WuFei made an " oh" sound as he realized that he wasn’t the only one who at least had a vague idea of what the lyrics meant.

"I’m Quatre, and this is my friend Trowa." Quatre said as he pushed his friend forward.

"Nice to meet you both. I’m WuFei. And as for the veil, you should ask Duo; he’s the one that wrote the song. "WuFei said in an amused tone.

"Duo’s been here before, and you weren’t with him that time, so you’re new right?" Quatre asked, as Trowa wandered off.

"I’ve been doing this for a year. I’m thinking of not doing it anymore, I’ve found what I was looking for." WuFei said.

"What you were looking for?" Quatre asked.

"Yes, well what I’m saying is that you looked very lonely, and my cousin Sally Po said that she was looking for someone who was lonely so that she could fill that emptiness. You’re perfect. Sally's nice, if you want I could call her and tell her that a patient awaits her." WuFei said, obsidian eyes serious. Quatre looked like someone had handed him the perfect present.

"I’ll take you up on your offer." Quatre said, eyes lit with excitement. WuFei smiled, this angel shouldn’t be sad.

"I’ll give you her number. Just tell her that you met me." WuFei said.

"I won’t forget. And I think this qualifies as a secret." Quatre said, a wink in his eye.

"And you, a Prince sneaking around in your own kingdom just to watch a dance." WuFei said, pointing to the royal talisman that dangled from a golden chain around Quatre’s neck. They both smiled and sat down to discuss literature.

"Trowa found Duo sitting under a tree, arms crossed around his neck.

"Hello Trowa, it’s been a while." Duo said, his violet eyes not meeting the emerald ones that gazed at him.

"How did you know that I was here?" Trowa asked.

"Well, I saw you and the Prince that first time, but I wasn’t really sure. From where I’m sitting, I saw you and Quatre talking to WuFei, and then you left. I know damn well that you wouldn’t leave the Prince alone, so I figured that you would come looking for me." Duo said. He gestured for Trowa to sit by him. Trowa looked to where Duo’s attention was on. Not to far off, WuFei and Quatre were sitting side by side and were laughing. The cobalt-eyed boy approached them.

"Quatre, this is Heero. He’s the technical engineer and all, and he does the music that goes with the songs." WuFei said. Heero nodded and turned to WuFei.

"Where’s Duo?" Heero asked.

"Maxwell? He’s probably under a tree somewhere, he takes naps." WuFei said. Heero nodded and headed off.

"He doesn’t talk much." Quatre said as he and WuFei resumed their conversation on books.

"Trowa looked at Duo. Duo eyes were still focused on the talkers, only snapping out of his gaze when Trowa spoke.

"You said that night didn’t matter, and yet, I can still remember every detail. Duo, at least stay for a while so that we can figure this out. You knew that I loved you and you thought that you were doing me a favor by sleeping with me. And now, I can’t get you out of my head." Trowa said, his face nothing but calm, his heart the opposite, racing like a cricket’s cry. Duo looked at him, violet eyes boring into Trowa. He sighed.

"Fine, if it means that much to you." Duo said. He returned his attention back to WuFei who was standing now, holding his sword that he always carried with him, demonstrating his katas for Quatre. Quatre wished that he had brought his; WuFei smiled and gave the blade to Quatre. Hands placed over Quatre’s, they moved the sword in a series of arcs. After going through a few, they switched positions and Quatre showed WuFei the art of fencing. WuFei’s cheeks were red at how close Quatre was to him, Quatre’s smile even wider.

"I won’t bite Fei-kun." Quatre said. WuFei laughed. He liked Quatre. No one had made him laugh so much and feel comfortable at the same time.

"Arigato Quatre. I feel like I’ve made a friend. "WuFei said as he faced Quatre.

"So have I." Quatre replied. They both smiled and returned to their seats.

"Duo smiled. How often have I dreamt of holding you so close Fei-chan? Once? Twice? From the day I met you, standing on that dock, I knew that there was something special about you. I’ve longed to tell you that I love you, but you’re so quiet, I’m never sure if my excessive chatter gets to you, but that song sure did, I’m crazy about you babe, all I need is courage… Duo stood up as both Quatre and WuFei approached he and Trowa.

"I’m ready to go Trowa. Hi Duo." Quatre said as he waved.

"Duo talks too much. Other than that he’s very nice." WuFei said as he wrapped his arms around his chest. Duo was sure that his mouth was wide open.

"You like me, you really like me" Duo exclaimed as he hugged the fleeting Chinese boy.

"Duo, emmh, let go, WuFei’s turning blue." Quatre said as he released his friend. WuFei breathed in relief. " We’re heading back to the palace. Rashid will send all 40 Aries guards on us, once he finds that we’re missing." Quatre said.

"I’ll go with you, if that’s alright. We’re staying in Arabia for a few days." Duo said, fiddling with his braid.

"Of course you can stay as my guests. Bring Heero along." Quatre said as he linked arms with WuFei. He already knew about what happened between Trowa and Duo, he wondered if WuFei knew.

"The next few days were blissful for Quatre and WuFei. They had called up Sally and had talked using a videophone. The two were close friends and they spent the day reading, and discussing politics. Quatre handed WuFei over to Rashid who showed him many of the herbal remedies that were still in practice. Heero spent the days watching the armies and their training methods. Duo couldn’t help but admire the change in WuFei. He laughed a lot more, even cracked a couple of jokes. Who knew that WuFei had a sense of humor?

Duo’s nights weren’t unpleasant either. In his sleep, all he saw was WuFei, smiling, obsidian eyes framed by dark eyelashes, ebony hair loose, wisping around that beautiful oval face. He had settled things with Trowa by prompting the two’s affection for one another. He wondered why the two hadn’t fallen in love a while ago, but he didn’t mention it. That night, Duo fell into a deep sleep, the first in those 4 days that he had spent in the palace.

WuFei stood outside the palace that night ready to leave. Quatre stood beside him and was saying a tearful goodbye.

"I’ll miss you Fei-kun, call me if you can" Quatre said.

"Ah, I’ll try. But Trowa will soon be yours." WuFei said as he slung his bag over his shoulder. The Prince blushed.

"Well, at least, you could have said goodbye to Duo." Quatre said. WuFei smiled sadly.

"I wish I could, but I don’t know, he might reject me, and I’ve seen proof in the year that I worked with him and Heero. Believe me Quatre, I love him like it’s not going to hurt, but he’s said that we’re friends, and I shall not cross that fine line that he has drawn. If I don’t leave, that line shall not exist, and I’ll lose a valuable friend. I have few friends, and the ones that I do have are very important to me. Please understand." WuFei said, his voice only a hushed whisper.

"I understand. Goodbye WuFei, I’ll won’t forget you.’ Quatre said as he hugged his friend. He had hired a car to take WuFei to the spaceport where he would depart from L4 and head to out to start his life.

The next morning, Duo woke up to a knock at his door.

"Come in." he called, yawning and stretching. Quatre came in and shut the door behind him. Duo immediately saw sadness in Quatre’s eyes.

"Duo, Heero’s said that he wants to stay here, join my guards actually. That means that, your troupe, it’s falling apart." Quatre said, constantly staring at the ground.

"Don’t worry about it. We knew that it would. It actually lasted longer than I thought. I’m going to start my own business soon enough. Maybe Wu-man might join me." Duo said as he swung his legs out of his bed.

"I’m afraid that WuFei can’t come. He’s already gone…I’m sorry Duo" Quatre said, eyes watching from any reaction from Duo.

 End ofChater Two.

Takeo - *sniff * Parting is such sweet sorrow…
WuFei – That was depressing, I hate this!
Takeo – Why must we dream in metaphors, trying to hold on to something that we couldn’t understand…
WuFei – Arrgh. Stop singing along with Seal. No wonder you’re writing me to a painful death.
Duo – Not even a single kiss, Will I get him or not?
Takeo – When we were young, and truth was paramount, we were older then, and we lived our life without any doubt, those memories they seem so long ago, what’s become of them, when you feel like me I want you to know, don’t cry my babe…
WuFei & Duo – ONNA! * They pull the plug on the music. *
Takeo - * takes off earphones * What? Don’t worry, you know my stories end nice and happy and I haven’t killed anyone yet, so simmer down now! And there’ll be lemon in it all right? * Writer puts earphones back in, mutters stuff about crazy bishounen and an explosion. *
WuFei – So that’s how to get to her…
Duo – I’m writing this down.