Disclaimers: I've contracted some guy named Doctor Draken to steal the boys. It's part of his mad scheme to take over the world. Nifty, huh?
Pairings: 3x4, 1x2 already established
Warnings: AU, violence, language, supernaturalness, LEMON, yaoi, etc.
Spoilers: nada
Author's Insane Ramblings: Okay, this is the result of watching too much Inuyasha. I was sick, and to keep myself entertained, I bounced back and forth between watching Inuyasha and writing GW fanfiction. This...is the result.

Magic, Mischief, and Miracles
by Honor A De'Mandoren

"Just once, will you ask for help! Geez! It won't kill you!"

"I can do it on my own," was the hard response, spoken in the softest of tones.

"Yeah, and get killed trying! Look, I know you feel responsible, and maybe you are in a way, but you didn't know, okay?! It wasn't your responsibility in the first place, and in your case you weren't even told much about it, so it can hardly be your fault that Terandl has it!"

There was no reply to this, and Duo sighed. "Look, I have to get Heero back on his feet first. He got hit pretty hard, it's gonna take a while. Are you willing to wait?"

"No."

"Yeah, didn't think so." Staring up at the ceiling, the young clairvoyant thought it through. "Tell you what, why don't I do a mirror reading? Maybe that way I can at least tell you where he's heading."

"...fine."

It wasn't easy to do a mirror reading. It had taken years of practice for Duo to get really comfortable with it. And even after all that practice, half the time he had no idea why he got the results that he did.

He glanced at his friend, still brooding in the shadows. The demon was just as closed off as usual, but moodier. Having Vox stolen from his family holdings was making him anxious.

Hell, having that kind of thing in the hands of a bad guy was making Duo rather anxious.

Clearing all of his thoughts from his head, he placed his hands just above the surface of the mirror in front of him. The thing was large -- a present from his lover, actually. It took up a whole corner of their house, not that Duo cared. He took in a breath, and exhaled it.

The mirror started to glow, ever so slightly, and the surface became like liquid. The glow was yellow -- odd, it was usually pure white. Duo focused more, the same line being said steadily under his breath. "The location of Terandl, give me the direction of Terandl." He felt a tug against his power and flinched. Ow! That hurt!

Another tug, harder than the last. Duo had to wrench himself backwards, or be sucked into his mirror. "Tell me where Terandl is!"

The mirror shimmered, then solidified into an image.

A boy.

He was Duo's height, clear blue eyes and fair hair. He was staring at Duo in fascination, and bewilderment. Duo blinked. Okay, he was rather used to his readings being a little vague, but how was this supposed to help? "Tell me the location of Terandl."

The boy stepped out of the mirror.

Part 1

The first thing that really penetrated in Quatre's mind was when he tripped over the edge of the mirror and landed on his knees. The wooden floor under him was not very forgiving. Wincing, he looked up again at the man standing in front of him.

He was very attractive, and the amethyst eyes were especially eye catching. Quatre wasn't sure if it was because of their color or because of the soft glow in them. His sense, usually erratic, was much stronger today for some reason and was telling him that this person was a powerhouse of energy. Strange.

The stranger extended a hand, which he took, and climbed onto his feet. He stretched his sense out, hoping it would last a little longer. There were two other people here -- even stronger than the person in front of him. One was to his side, in the corner. Another was muted, probably hurt, located in the back of the house. He rubbed at his forehead absently, feeling it ache a little. Using power like this was strange to him. "Who are you?"

"Duo. Why did you come through the mirror?"

Quatre opened his mouth to respond, and closed it again. "I'm not sure. I just glanced at it, and saw you. It was so strange to see someone else instead of my reflection, I touched it to see if it was a picture or something."

Duo's confusion eased. "Ah. You touched it. Well, that explains how you came through. You used my power to get here. I'm not quite sure why my search gave me you, though...what power do you have?"

"Eh?"

"Power, power! You must have some kind of ability; otherwise I wouldn't have found you."

Quatre was becoming more confused, not less. "Well, uh, I can feel people."

"Just people?"

"What do you mean, 'just people'? I can't feel animals very well, if that's what you mean."

"No! I mean, how do you fair with demons?"

Quatre shook his head. "Demons don't exist."

Duo abruptly started laughing. Turning to the person in the corner he grinned. "Hey, you don't exist!"

"This was a waste of time," the figure in the corner grumbled.

Duo stopped laughing. "Naw, I don't think so. The kid's got enough power to light the house up. Tell you what, blondie, why don't you sit down and I'll explain the situation. Then maybe we can figure out why you're here."

That sounded like an excellent idea to him.

Quatre had one hand on his forehead to keep his head from splitting apart, and the other one was up to forestall the rest of Duo's faster-than-light explanation. "Wait. Let me get this straight. I've been pulled into a parallel world, that doesn't necessarily follow the same rules as my world, and whatever natural ability I have is enhanced here. Demons do exist -- so do dragons, ogres, and evil sorcerers and one of these demons is a friend of yours and you called me to help him."

"Well, I didn't mean to call you. I was just trying to figure out where Terandl went so I could tell him where to start looking."

Quatre blew out a breath. "Okay. Why is he looking for this person?"

"Terandl stole something -- a rather destructive family heirloom. Now, it's been gone for a while, but he was told that it was being kept safe by someone, so he didn't worry about it. It wasn't until Terandl did some damage with it that he realized he was lied to. So now he wants to hunt it down."

"Ah." /And why should I involve myself in this?/ Granted, his life at home wasn't all sunshine and daisies, but it was better than being in an unknown land, surrounded by strangers, with the possibility of running into dangerous creatures...wasn't it? "How destructive is this thing?"

"Depends on the wielder. Terandl took out a village with it."

Quatre stood up, pacing the length of the room, in deep thought. As Duo had explained it, when he did a mirror reading, it told him what he wanted to know or it gave him a means to find out the information for himself. Duo had asked a question...and the reading gave him Quatre. Why...? "Duo. On my world, I had the talent of feeling people. Not necessarily their emotions, although it was that to a degree, but just knowing they were there even if I wasn't in the same room with them. It was erratic, there. It's much stronger here."

"That's gotta be it," Duo agreed, snapping his fingers. "That's gotta be why the mirror showed me you. If you can just sense where Terandl is, then it doesn't matter where he goes, you'll know."

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Quatre grumbled. What were the facts, really? He had the ability to save lives, here, or at least help save lives. And on his world...he went to school. Right now, getting an education did not balance out to human life in his mind. Besides, this wasn't a long term deal anyway. Once he was done helping them, he could go back... "Duo, I can go back, right?"

"Yeah, anytime."

No problem, then. /I must be insane for agreeing to this./ "Okay, I'll help."

"Cool." Duo turned expectantly to the very silent spectator leaning on the wall. "He's all yours. Try to be nice to the kid, he is helping you out."

"Hn." There was a brief beckoning motion to Quatre. "Follow."

The blond gave Duo an uncertain glance. Duo shooed him out the door. "It'll be fine. He's not much on talking, that's all. Actually, his people skills suck. But you'll be safe with him. I'll catch up with you guys in a week, when Heero is feeling better."

There wasn't any other option. Quatre had already said he would help, he was committed now. He hurried out the door and down the path, catching up with the tall figure walking without apparent hurry.

/What have I gotten myself into?/

Now, on a normal basis, Quatre was rather fond of quiet. With a family full of sisters, he rather craved it at times. However, there were instances when quiet was just a little too...absolute.

Like now.

After two hours of walking behind the demon, Quatre was more than ready for conversation, especially since he knew nothing of this world. He'd been polite at first just because this person was in a Bad Mood and he didn't want to ruffle feathers, but enough was enough. Quickening his stride, he caught up to the demon's side.

It was hard to tell he was a demon, from the outside. His ears were slightly pointed, and there was a mark of power on his cheeks, but other than that he could have been human. Delectably human. "Um...what's your name?"

Without looking at him, the demon replied flatly, "Nanashi."

He really wasn't in the mood to talk...tough. "Where are we going?"

"..."

Growling, he spun in front of him. "Look, I don't read minds! Is it too much to ask where we're going?"

Nanashi almost seemed to look through him. "Terandl struck near here not long ago."

"Oh. You think we can pick up the trail from there?" He turned so that he was walking alongside the demon again.

"Yes."

Seeing that he had probably used up Nanashi's allotment of words for the day, Quatre went back to thinking. It was a beautiful day, and beautiful countryside. Rolling green hills, fluffy white clouds, trees along the road...it was a shame the person next to him was spoiling the scenery. An hour later, there was a change in the air. Quatre was ready to crawl out of his skin, the feeling was so uncomfortable. He stopped abruptly, looking around in alarm.

Nanashi stopped and looked at him.

"It's...revolting," Quatre offered, briskly rubbing his arms. "This feeling...what is it?"

"Terandl."

Quatre swallowed hard. "We're chasing something this evil?"

"Yes."

"Gods help us," the blond breathed. "I would know this feeling anywhere, Nanashi. We don't have to get closer to where ever he had been. Can we move on?"

Without a word, he turned and walked away.

Quatre didn't breathe until they were a good distance away. Then he relaxed with a sigh. He still felt like taking a bath, and scrubbing off a layer of skin, but at least he could breathe now without having the urge to vomit. Bringing his sense to the fore, he probed the area to see if he could find that feeling and aura again. There was a unique red tinge to the area Terandl had touched, almost like footprints but not quite. "Nanashi? We're heading in the wrong direction."

The demon stopped, looking at him. "I chased him this way."

Quatre spread his hands in a shrug. "Maybe it was a decoy or something, I can't explain that. All I know is that the evil aura goes toward the left." He sighed when the demon simply changed directions and followed where Quatre had pointed.

This was going to be a very long journey.

They traveled all day, stopping late in the evening. Nanashi took care of dinner -- in other words, he caught a raw fish with a simple swipe of his hand from the small brook next to their 'campsite' and tossed it at Quatre.

With a mutter about home cooked meals, the blond called upon all of his expertise as a Boy Scout and started up a fire. He didn't have any fancy equipment, but he remembered the rudiments well enough. After a day of walking, even the no-salt, no-ketchup fish tasted divine.

He huddled into his blue jean jacket, thanking his lucky stars that he'd been something of a bum today when he was dressing. It was a Saturday, so he'd forgone his usual method of dress and chosen a pair of army fatigues, long sleeved black shirt, and a blue jean jacket. Maybe a little mismatched, but at least it was warm. Curling into a tight ball, he closed his eyes.

The fire burned down some, and Quatre started awake with a violent shiver. Couldn't they have stayed in an inn or something? Or was that against demon policy? He shifted around, a little closer to the fire. When that didn't work, he scrunched up tighter into a ball. Ah screw it, he'd have to build up the fire again. Of course, that meant he'd have to go find some more firewood -- in the dark. Maybe he should just forgo sleeping.

Nanashi was resting with his back against a tree, eyes closed. When Quatre rose to his feet he asked quietly, "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Because I'm freezing!" Quatre's usually even temper snapped. "Maybe you don't feel the cold, but if you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly covered in excess weight so I feel it when it gets cold! I don't have anything to sleep with to keep me warm, and I'm tired and irritable from putting up with your surly company all day, doing something that I don't have to do in the first place!"

Nanashi's eyes opened and looked at him calmly. "Come here."

"Why? So you can cold-clock me and put me out of your misery?"

"Come here."

Giving up, Quatre walked to him. The demon caught his wrist when he was close and pulled him down. Quatre squawked as he landed on the demon's lap, about to protest the manhandling. The dark cloak that had been covering Nanashi's body flipped over the both of them. Quatre twisted to stare at the demon with wide eyes.

"Go to sleep." Nanashi's eyes were already closed again.

Sleep? Up close Quatre realized with absolute embarrassment that Nanashi was gorgeous -- in a really supernatural, kinda dangerous don't-touch-me-and-live way, but gorgeous nonetheless. He was curled up to that body, and next to a person he wasn't entirely sure he could ever trust, and the demon wanted him to sleep?! Was he kidding?

Quatre yawned and let his head rest against that very firm chest. Granted, he was much warmer, but the idea that he could ever -- geez, why was he yawning like this? -- be comfortable enough to...actually sleep...damn, he smelt good...

A pair of green eyes studied the young human curled up in his arms, sleeping so peacefully. There might have been a slight softening to them before they closed again, but if so, no one witnessed it.

If Quatre had possessed any aspirations that the demon would treat him better because they'd slept next to each other the night before, the hope was immediately dashed upon waking.

They started walking without breakfast, early when the sun had risen. Animals had better sense than to be up at that time of the morning. Quatre's stomach started rumbling after an hour of travel, which Nanashi ignored. Fortunately for the blond, there was an apple orchard alongside the road. He turned toward it without a word to his silent companion.

"Quatre?"

"If you won't feed me, I'll have to feed myself." The lowest branches had enough fruit on them so that he didn't have to hop up and down to get something. Three apples in hand, he strode back to the road, munching as he went.

Nanashi watched him, then walked on without saying a word.

Once he had a little food in his stomach, Quatre's disposition improved drastically. He matched his pace with his companion's. "So tell me more about Terandl."

"You know what you need to."

Frowning at him, the blond shook his head stubbornly. "No, I don't. What does he look like? Is he a mind player? Does he like to set traps or does he face his opponents face to face? Does he have lots of henchmen we have to keep an eye out for? Is he after the world, or is he just a power hungry loon? How did he steal your family heirloom without you knowing about it? Why --"

Nanashi growled slightly. "Enough. You've made your point."

"I still want all of those questions answered," Quatre stated with a stubborn light in his eyes.

The demon gave a soft sigh. "Terandl has many faces -- I have only seen him once. We cannot go by appearance."

"I doubt we have to worry about it," Quatre reflected thoughtfully. "I'll know instantly if it's him or not. Okay, so maybe that first question wasn't necessary."

Nanashi snorted. "As for the other questions, I know little of him. From what I've seen, he discards people easily. I doubt anyone is loyal to him."

"And the weapon you're trying to get back?"

"Trivoxor. Most know it as Vox. It was sealed -- he broke the seal and stole it."

"Who lied to you about it? Duo said you thought it was in a safe place."

Nanashi remained silent.

"Okay, fine, I won't ask about that. So is Terandl a sneaky enemy or does he like confrontations?"

"Both."

"An unpredictable enemy," Quatre sighed. "Great." Inwardly, he was delighted to see that the demon was actually talking to him. He wasn't giving him irritated glances anymore, either. Maybe he was getting used to an inquisitive blond as his traveling companion. "Can I ask a more personal question?" When there was no response, he decided to forge ahead regardless. "Can you change forms?"

"Yes."

"Ah. You've got to be a really big cat when you do switch."

Nanashi stopped, tilting his head to search his face intently. "No one told you what I am."

"That you were a cat demon? Well, no but your spirit looks like a cat, so I kinda jumped to conclusions."

"It is an unusual Sight you have."

"I didn't used to," Quatre grumbled. "Like I said, my ability has really enhanced ever since I came here."

Accepting this, he moved forward again. Quatre, resigned to the fact that the demon would be quiet for a while, followed without another word.

Part 2

Quatre was so grateful to see signs of civilization, however limited, that he could have cheered. He'd noticed just from seeing Duo's house that he appeared to be in a different time than his own. This world was apparently more in a Renaissance era, judging by how things looked. At least it wasn't something like the Dark Ages.

The village they went through was mostly comprised of wooden huts. People in loose shirts and pants went around on their own business, talking to each other as they went. Or they did, until they caught sight of Nanashi. Then they quieted, and shrunk away in fear.

Moving closer, Quatre whispered, "Are they afraid because it's you, or because you're a demon?"

"Both."

Well that certainly answered the question. "You've been here before, then?"

"I fought someone here."

"Ah." Nanashi fighting someone must be a fearsome sight, if the watching faces were anything to go by.

Someone that was probably the head speaker for the village, and another man that was undoubtedly a priest, in that kind of a black robe, approached them. Nanashi hesitated, eyes narrowing as they approached.

"What business do you have here, demon?"

Quatre hid an internal wince -- the priest's voice was really annoying to listen to. Stepping in front of Nanashi, he held up his hands placatingly. "We're just passing through. We have no intention to harm anyone."

The priest scooted closer, peering at Quatre's face. "You look human."

"I am human."

"You'd best stay away from this demon, boy. He's dangerous."

And about as communicative as a brick, and gorgeous, and...he really needed to focus on the immediate situation. "Most demons are. It's their nature. Regardless, we will not harm you. Please let us pass."

The priest turned his staff in his hand, leveling it at them. "Move away from him, boy."

"Now just a minute --"

Nanashi put a restraining hand on Quatre's shoulder, halting the rant. "Leave it alone."

"But --" Quatre jumped in surprise when the demon put an arm around his waist. Slowly his feet left the ground, a shimmering cloud of soft grey circling around their feet. Quatre threw both arms around Nanashi's waist as they rose into the air. There was no way he was going to fall, and if he did, the demon was coming down with him. The outraged yells of the priest faded as they went over his head and away from the village. Quatre looked around in wonder. He had no idea Nanashi could do something like this. "Why were we walking if you can fly like this?"

No response.

Just because he didn't answer that question, didn't mean that he wouldn't answer any question, Quatre reminded himself. "Are we going to get that kind of response wherever we go?"

"Possibly."

Ah ha! An answer! Quatre was starting to keep a mental tally of how often he could get Nanashi to say something. "Hm. They're probably not going to believe any declaration of innocence on our part either, judging from the last guy."

This comment was ignored. Nanashi's eyes were completely trained ahead, not even glancing at the person in his arms. "Why did you defend me?"

Quatre's eyes nearly fell out of his head. He'd actually been asked a question?! Miracles never ceased. "Well, I didn't want a confrontation if I could avoid it. And you didn't have any intention of going on a rampage, right?"

"No."

"There you go. I'd hate for you to be hurt just because they're paranoid."

Nanashi didn't offer a response to this. Quatre hadn't really expected one. It was something of a divine occurrence that he'd even asked a question. His eyes went back to the scenery passing beneath them -- beautiful country. Much better than living in a city like he did.

"Why are you helping me?"

/Well knock me down with a feather, I get two questions in a day?/ "I've always believed that problems should be solved by the people who have the power to do so. And, well, it's not like my life is more important than other people's. If I can help prevent more deaths, then I should."

"Most would not agree with you."

"Most people are selfish," Quatre parried with a shrug.

"Yes." The response was so soft Quatre wasn't sure if he heard him.

"Nanashi, does flying like this take power? I mean I don't --" His head jerked around. "This...it looks so odd..."

"What is it?"

"It's something like Terandl...but at the same time, it's different. Put us down." Quatre's feet were still a foot off the ground when he pulled away and dropped the rest of the way. They were near another village, this one a little older than the last one. What he was detecting was very weird -- it was definitely Terandl's signature, and yet it was mixed up with something very pure.

He fell into a jog, weaving his way forward. He could almost see it in front of him, like a red light. Nanashi was right behind him as they stopped in front of a hut near the local shrine. Quatre knocked slightly on the door frame, then moved past the blanket in front of him and stepped inside.

An older man looked up as he came in. "Who are you?"

"My name is Quatre," the blond replied absently. There was a child lying on a straw mattress, obviously burning with fever. And he was beginning to see why. Her soul was tangled up with some kind of life force of Terandl's, at least, that's what it looked like. Turning to his silent companion, he scowled. "He's been here. That little girl's soul is tangled up with some of his life energy."

Nanashi's eyes narrowed.

"Who are you people?!"

Quatre ignored the question. "Are you a doctor or a priest?"

The man hesitantly answered, eyes narrowed. "A priest and the local healer. My name is Cloun."

"Alright, Cloun, can you see the trace of red light in this child?"

"No. I can sense that something is wrong, but...what is this Terandl that you speak of?"

Quatre groaned. This...wasn't going to be easy. He wasn't sure how to fix this problem. If he could somehow remove Terandl's energy from her, she'd be fine, but how was he supposed to do that? He could only see the problem!

"Quatre. Let's go."

Quatre spun to his feet, and his hand cut the idea in two. "No! I told you, didn't I? Problems should be solved by those who have the ability to do so."

Nanashi cocked an eyebrow, an nth degree. "You don't."

Quatre's jaw set stubbornly. "Cloun, is there any way you know of to purify that evil energy?"

"...yes, but it would take years."

Growling under his breath, he looked back to the little girl. They didn't have that kind of time. Well, his power had changed so radically in the past two days, maybe it was possible for him to draw it out of her. He wouldn't know until he tried. Dropping to his knees, he put his hands on her chest and pulled. "Come."

The girl shook, hard tremors that made her rise off the pallet. But the energy within her had split, part of it heeding Quatre's call. Seeing the progress, Quatre gritted his teeth and put more strength behind the order. "Come!"

She wrenched upwards with a cry, and the red light rose to hover in the air above them. Quatre took hold of it, sweat starting to bead his forehead at the strain this was taking. Spiritual matter was not easy to hold onto. "Cloun, I need to put this somewhere."

The priest was watching him with wide eyes. When his request penetrated, he nodded vigorously and scrambled across the room. After a bit of routing in a wicker basket, he brought a wooden figurine forward. "Will this do?"

Quatre had no idea. Would it? "Put it on the floor." He was rasping for breath by this point. Once Cloun was clear, he wrangled the light toward the figurine and pushed. It fought him, wriggling about like a snake, making it even more difficult to hold onto it.

Nanashi watched silently as the seemingly frail human held onto an energy that was so evil it made his hair stand on end. He hadn't expected Quatre to be able to do anything, but he was...at great cost. The blond was shaking in strain, teeth clenched tightly. With excruciating slowness, he fought the light into the statue.

The demon stepped forward and put a hand over the figurine, spelling a seal on it.

Quatre flashed him a smile of gratitude, tinted with exhaustion. He slumped forward, catching himself on his hands. "The girl?"

"She's well," Cloun assured him in a reverent tone.

Effortlessly, the demon lifted Quatre into his arms, arranging it so that the blond was supported completely on one arm before standing. Quatre was so tired that he let him, closing his eyes and nearly falling asleep.

"W-wait! He should stay here, and rest."

The demon went back out of the building, not heeding the man. Quatre wouldn't get any rest near that sealed figurine. His eyes went to the teen in his arms, and he frowned. Why had he done that? How had he done that? Quatre had no training in his abilities, he'd said so himself. So how had he known what to do?

"Nanashi?"

His eyes weren't even open. "What?"

"Thank you for letting me help her."

Snorting, the demon decided to ignore such a ridiculous statement.

When Quatre woke, it was twilight. He could barely see the sky from his position inside the cave. It took a second before he realized he was wrapped up in Nanashi's dark cloak, so warm and comfortable that even thinking about moving was a sin.

"Quatre."

Darn, he couldn't just lay there. Sighing, he pushed himself up into a sitting position. "I'm awake."

Nanashi was leaning casually near the entrance. He reached inside his coat and pulled free a kerchief bundle, which he tossed at Quatre. "Eat."

With understandable suspicion, he unwrapped the bundle. Warm bread, a huge hunk of cheese, and a slab of something that smelled like beef. This was a VAST improvement over his dinner last night. He scarfed it down without hesitation. When he was done he looked up with a genuine smile. "Thank you."

There was no response, as usual. Quatre was almost used to it by now. He stood up, taking the very warm cloak with him. Had they wandered off course while he was sleeping? Cautiously he extended his sense -- it was still weird to have control over it, and be able to use it at will -- and 'looked'. "We're still on course. Terandl's presence is becoming...sharper."

Dark green eyes cut over in his direction. "He was here recently."

"Well, 'recently' probably isn't the right word. I'm not really used to discerning age when it comes to this kind of thing, but I'm guessing it's been a few days."

"Hn."

"Is Heero a demon?" That had been bothering him a while.

Nanashi's brow arched slightly. "Yes."

"Ah. He must have been the wounded person in the back of Duo's house. How badly was he hurt?"

"Badly."

"Well, that was informative." Was that a smile on the demon's face? No...trick of the dying sunlight, surely. "What do you plan to do once you catch up with Terandl?"

"Kill him."

"...I was hoping for a more elaborate plan of attack."

"No battle plan survives contact with your enemy."

Quatre blinked at him. "Have you ever heard of Sun Tzu?"

The demon gave him a blank look.

"Never mind," Quatre sighed. "Let's get some sleep, alright?"

It was downright awkward and embarrassing curling up next to Nanashi in order to go to sleep, but Quatre was not going to sleep without that cloak. He'd freeze without it, and he wasn't about to steal it when it was the only covering. Nanashi needed it too. He laid facing away from the demon, closing his eyes and trying to ignore the body behind his. The very warm body behind his. The very warm, appealing body behind his.

/Why am I always attracted to the tall, silent types?/

His eyes flew open when an arm was settled around his waist, tucking him into Nanashi's body. He was about to protest this, after all it wasn't necessary for them to be this close just to stay warm...he really did smell good and he felt marvelous, all of that hard muscle and male strength pressed up against his back. Screw it, if it didn't bother the demon, then he wasn't going to make a fuss about it.

Closing his eyes again, he tried to put himself into the right mindset for sleep.

And went out like a light.

Footnote: For those of you not familiar with The Art of War, written by General Sun Tzu, what Quatre is referring to is this; "According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans." Wellington also made a reference to this idea. On the eve of the battle of Waterloo, Lord Uxbridge, commanding the cavalry, went to the Duke of Wellington in order to learn what his plans and calculations were for the morrow, because, as he explained, he might suddenly find himself Commander-in-chief and would be unable to frame new plans in a critical moment. The Duke listened quietly and then said: "Who will attack the first tomorrow -- I or Bonaparte?" "Bonaparte," replied Lord Uxbridge. "Well," continued the Duke, "Bonaparte has not given me any idea of his projects; and as my plans will depend upon his, how can you expect me to tell you what mine are?" There, that's your history lesson for the day. Going back to the story now...

Part 3

Quatre couldn't even get an acknowledgement from Nanashi the next morning. /We're back to not talking, it looks like./ Why was he putting up with this? Normally, he wouldn't associate with someone so...snobbish. Well, okay, maybe that wasn't the right word. Maybe Nanashi was just...disconnected. Whatever it was, Quatre was fast coming to the point of boxing the demon's ears, he didn't care how hot he was.

By mid-morning, he just couldn't handle the oppressive silence anymore. Spinning around, he caught Nanashi's face between his hands and glared as darkly as he knew how. "Look! I can't take this every morning! You won't even look at me, never mind speaking! Are you not a morning person, or is it that you are embarrassed by sleeping next to me? What?!"

Nanashi blinked, then scowled as he lifted his head free of Quatre's hold. "It's not your concern."

"The hell it isn't! Usually I'm even tempered, but this is driving me up the wall. If you're upset with me for some reason, just say so!"

Their eyes locked, but Quatre couldn't read what was going on in Nanashi's mind. The demon's eyes lifted toward the sky, something like a sigh coming from his mouth. "When we find Terandl, hide."

Quatre blinked. Hide? Is that what he had been thinking about all morning? "You're worrying about me?"

The look in those green eyes when they cut back to Quatre was quite expressive: I am a scary demon and I don't worry about anyone.

Quatre beamed back at him and went right back to following Terandl's tracks, almost skipping. Hell, if Nanashi was quiet just because he was worrying about him -- he could handle that.

"Out of curiosity, why are we walking when you can fly?"

Nanashi gave him a resigned glance as he answered. "It takes energy to fly. I don't wish to use up such power when I am in pursuit of an enemy."

"Oh. That certainly makes sense." Thinking that through, he remembered that Nanashi had carried him once he had collapsed yesterday. Memory said that he had flown, at least in the beginning. "Sorry. I must have been a burden to you yesterday."

"Separating power is a useful ability."

/Um...is it safe to translate that as 'no problem' or 'don't worry about it'?/ "Yeah, I suppose it is. I didn't really think I could do it but...it looked so real to me that I thought maybe I could grab it. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Spiritual power is...slippery."

"Hn."

/Okay, that wasn't exactly a response, but at least it was an acknowledgement that I said something. And why is he probing at this anyway?/ "Is it odd that I have such an ability?"

"Yes."

"How odd?"

"I did not think it was possible."

"In other words, you've never heard of anyone doing anything like that before."

"Yes."

"Weird," Quatre muttered. He wasn't sure if he liked the idea of being the one and only in anything. There were too many pitfalls, and no one to warn him about them. His head snapped up as the energy residue abruptly flared. He flinched from it without thinking, nose wrinkling. "I'm not sure what he did here, but it's..."

"I smell it," Nanashi murmured with eerie calm. "Demons were slayed here."

Every hair on Quatre's body was standing on end. Turning toward the demon, he looked up pleadingly. "I know it drains you a little, but can you fly us over just this part? It's giving me a migraine."

Nanashi's eyes flared a little. Quatre was...touching him, without any sign of discomfort. He'd never had a human trust him like the little blond did. Slowly he inclined his head in agreement, wrapping an arm around Quatre's waist and lifting into the sky. Quatre slid his arms around the demon in return, holding on tightly as they rose over the site of the battle and moving past it. When Nanashi could no longer smell blood, he settled back onto the ground.

"Thank you," Quatre gave him another blinding smile. "We need to go more west, now. He changed directions."

"Quatre."

"Yes?"

"It isn't that draining."

Quatre blinked. /Oh. I think he means it's alright to go around such places instead of through them, that he doesn't mind flying me around or over them. Geez, I need a translator for this guy./ "Okay."

Satisfied, Nanashi moved in the direction Quatre had indicated.

Quatre was watching the sunlight fade over a small river, eyes heavy. He was so tired...gods, he was worn out. In between using his power all day to track Terandl, and walking all over the place, he was about ready to collapse. Only problem was he hadn't eaten yet, and he didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night hungry. He just couldn't rustle up the energy to care right at that moment, but he was working on it.

The water shifted, slowly forming into the image of a lithe man with chestnut hair and brilliant violet eyes. [Testing, testing. Hey Q, you hear me?]

Either Quatre was so tired he was hallucinating, or... "Duo?"

[Ah, he can hear me! Hey, blondie. How's it going?]

"How are you doing this?"

[Well, I'm a clairvoyant, you know. My specialty is Reflections -- be it mirrors, water, or shiny surfaces. Mirrors work best, I have to admit. Is our favorite demon treating you alright? Or have you given into temptation and strangled him yet?]

Quatre rubbed his eyes wearily. "I'm not sure how to answer. Sometimes he's so considerate it's almost sweet, then there are times I can't even get him to look at me."

[Huh. That sounds like him. Look, Quatre, you're going to have to just deal with him. Long as I've known the guy, he's hated having to depend on anyone for any reason. Right now he's completely depending on you, and that's gotta grate on his nerves. Just smack him if he's being too obnoxious.]

"Right." He dredged up a smile for the other man.

[You look worn out, blondie. What's going on?]

"I'm not used to this, frankly. Using my ability all day is draining. And well...a few other things happened."

[Like what?]

"Duo...can anyone eavesdrop on this conversation?"

[Uh...you know, I'm not sure. It's possible, I guess.]

"Then I'll wait and tell you in person."

Duo's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. [Okay. Hopefully that will be soon. 'Ro's a lot better now. I think he'll be ready to rumble in a day or so. That's part of the reason why I called. Where can we meet up with you?]

"Um...I don't know the area well enough to give you directions. Let me call Nanashi." Quatre turned to call him over, completely missing the surprise on Duo's face. "Nanashi! Duo needs to talk to you."

The demon turned from his position near the fire and came forward, kneeling at the bank.

[You didn't tell him your real name?]

"Leave it, Duo."

[Now that's just wrong, man. He trusts you -- only enemies and other scraggly demons call you Nanashi. It's an insult.]

"Duo."

[Fine, be that way. Tell me where you're heading, and 'Ro and I will meet up with you.]

"That is not necessary."

[Not necessary. Right.] Duo glared at him. [Tell you what, I'll call Ro in and you can explain to him why helping his best friend from getting killed is 'not necessary'.]

Growling in the back of his throat, Nanashi returned the glare. "Terandl almost killed him."

[Yeah, and he's pipin' mad about it too. So am I. We want to get even with the bastard. Location, Tro. NOW.]

With another feral growl, the demon gave in. "We're at the base of Mount Heresy, heading west."

[Good. We'll meet you in a few days. Q, remember what I said. If he gets to be too much of a pain in the ass, just smack him.]

The image faded into the depths of the water, out of sight. Quatre was acutely aware of the silence between them, and sighed. "If you do not wish to tell me your name, it's alright."

"It's Trowa."

Quatre's head snapped around, eyes wide. Nan-Trowa returned his stare with a calm gaze, giving the blond no answers to the myriad of questions going in circles around his mind. "Why...is that name so important to you?"

"My name is an old one. If they knew of it, they would be able to trace my origins."

"...and you don't want your family involved?" Quatre hazarded.

"Yes."

Thinking this through, Quatre just couldn't feel that insulted. They barely knew each other, after all. "I can't blame you for keeping your name a secret. Is that why Duo called you by a nickname?"

"Duo gives everyone a nickname."

Quatre laughed softly when he thought over that last conversation. "Even me, apparently. So what's for dinner?"

The little blond was ready and waiting. If Trowa even thought about ignoring him this morning, he was prepared to smack him right in the back of the head.

Didn't happen.

Trowa didn't move until Quatre pointed the direction to go in. He was even considerate enough to stop briefly at a village so that Quatre could dart in and buy something for breakfast. Maybe hearing that his friend was nearly well again had improved his temperament. His human traveling companion certainly hoped so.

Quatre was enjoying the bright sunlight on his face, reveling in the sense of being warm and fed. It was such a beautiful day and...he frowned and stopped, turning to the right. "Something's approaching."

"Human?"

"I'm not sure. Something...like you. Only it looks wrong, off somehow."

Trowa growled, a feral sound that made Quatre jump in surprise. "Go near that tree and stay there."

"Trouble?"

"Demons are rarely friendly."

And that summed up the situation quite well, in Quatre's mind. He went to the tree, a fair distance from the road, and stayed put. He was unarmed, and human: his chance of surviving against a demon's attack wasn't very good.

Trowa stood still in the center of the road, cloak stirring softly around his legs. He could smell it now -- the scent of demon's blood. He didn't recognize the scent, but it hardly mattered. He could catch the hint of bloodlust. This demon was hunting something -- and demons in that mood usually destroyed whatever was in their path.

His eyes glanced off to the side, double checking that Quatre was where he was supposed to be. He couldn't risk the little human. Good, he was staying put. At least he had that much sense.

It wasn't a demon that appeared -- it was two. A juvenile oni with green skin and red eyes blazing with barely contained violence, and another smaller demon that shifted appearances so fast even Trowa's eyes could barely follow one face to the next. It was the smaller one that made Trowa's hackles rise -- geryon. He hated geryons. They were always hard to kill.

As expected, they stopped three feet away from him, grinning evilly. "We are Sashin and Deklar. You have a human with you --" the geryon's eyes shifted to Quatre, and a blue tongue flicked over his lips "-- yes?"

The oni's eyes were focusing entirely on Quatre. He was nearly shivering in excitement. "Sweet skin, soft flesh...Sashin! Want!"

Trowa raised a fist, his knuckles cracking loudly as he flexed them.

"Ooh! He wants to fight over it." Sashin spun in the air, long hair flying. "What is your name?"

"Nanashi."

"I'll have them put it on your grave!" Sashin launched himself at Trowa, then skidded to a stop when he realized that between one blink of the eye and the next, Trowa had moved.

Trowa spun on his back leg, aiming a claw of Shards at the demon.

Sashin jumped, hissing a little when one of those blades of burning power nicked his thigh. "Mmm, a challenge!" Laughing manically he darted forward again.

The oni wasn't going to wait for Nanashi to be defeated. He stalked forward, grinning evilly as he saw the human retreat a step in fear. Sweet human, defenseless, nowhere to run. Drool started to run down his chin as he imagined the taste of such meat.

Quatre could see that Trowa was very busy fighting that other weird demon, but he was in a bit of a pickle. He had an oni staring at him like he was an all you can eat buffet, and there wasn't anything on him that he could fight with. /This was really poor planning on my part. And I'm starting to regret being such an air head./ Thinking frantically, his mind flashed to when he had manipulated that ball of power four days ago. The Oni's power didn't look much different -- he could use that. Somehow?

/And do what with it? Just drain him so that he doesn't have the power to attack me?/

Okay, so it was a really rough plan and he didn't have a clue on what to do, but call for help -- no, that might distract Trowa and it was a bad idea to distract him just at that moment. He was on his own, gods help him.

The choice was taken out of his hands. Quatre tried to spin out of the demon's grasp, but the oni was faster than he looked and grabbed him. Quatre landed hard on his back, jarring his shoulder and knocking air out of his lungs. Gasping, he blocked that massive head from lowering with his forearm. Okay, so maybe he didn't have a better plan, but any plan was better than being eaten by this guy!

Trowa caught the predicament his human was in out of the corner of his eye and snarled. Swiping his claws at the geryon, he tried to jump free to help Quatre.

Sashin twisted around enough to shoot a hot arrow of power through Trowa's shoulder.

Stumbling slightly, the cat demon spun back around, ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder.

"You don't have time to worry about him! He's Deklar's lunch by now."

Roaring in rage, Trowa threw himself forward, hand extended. Sashin gasped in surprise as that hand went through his throat. Gurgling, he slowly slumped to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

Trowa lost no time in jumping over the corpse toward Quatre.

His aid wasn't necessary.

Quatre grasped the power boiling inside the oni with mental hands and pulled. The demon over him cried out in pain, hands tightening reflexively. Gritting his teeth, Quatre yanked harder until his physical hands touched that power. Then he threw it back into the demon's body so hard that it went right through him.

The oni shook like he was electrocuted, eyes rolling up into his head. Quatre pushed him off as soon as he felt the soul leave the body, then wrenched himself to his feet. Stumbling a little, he ran to Trowa. "Trowa! Are you alright?"

He...what did he do? The stink of death was evident over the oni's frame. Trowa nodded numbly, a little shocked that the frail human had found a way of protecting himself. "Fine."

Quatre caught sight of the blood slowly seeping through the dark clothing. "You're bleeding! That doesn't equal fine!" He pushed the heavy coat and white shirt aside, studying the round hole in Trowa's shoulder with a pinched face. It was black around the edges, and bleeding heavily. "We have to clean this out, and put a bandage on it. I wish I had a first aid kit..."

Trowa shrugged off the concern and turned back to the road. "Unnecessary. It will be healed by tomorrow morning."

"What do you mean 'unnecessary? You've got a freakin' hole in your chest the size of a tennis ball! Even if you do heal that fast, we need to clean it out."

"It's unnecessary," Trowa repeated with a little more force.

Quatre planted himself firmly in the demon's way. "Trowa, you've got two choices. You'll let me clean that out and put something on it to stop the blood, or I'll knock you unconscious and do it. Either way is fine by me."

Seeing that the 'frail' human was deadly serious, Trowa grudgingly nodded. It wasn't just that Quatre was probably capable of carrying out his threats...the obvious concern in those light blue eyes was a factor as well. He...liked Quatre worrying about him.

It was a bit of a walk before he found a well. Dragging a bucket of water up, he tore off his sleeves and did the best job he could with just water. Quatre wouldn't let Trowa get up until he'd washed the area thoroughly, and bandaged it somewhat crudely with the sleeves of his shirt. It wasn't a pretty job, but it would hold. As he tightened the last knot, Trowa's hand came up to brush against his knuckles. "Thank you."

Quatre's head snapped up to look at him. Was the demon feverish? Maybe that weird demon he'd fought had poison in its claws or something...no, Trowa's eyes were clear and steady as they looked back at him. Maybe he was just unthawing a little, finally getting used to the blond's presence. "Ah...you're welcome." Jerking himself roughly back into the present, he sat back on his heels. "Don't be too rough with it, I'm not sure if it'll hold. I really wish I had a first aid kit."

"What is a first aid kit?"

"Um...a convenient thing that's made on my world. It holds bandages, and antiseptics, and medicines."

Trowa nodded and stood. That was enough information for him. And he rather agreed with Quatre...it would be a nice thing to have, but it hardly mattered in his case whether they had it or not. He would be well by the next morning. "Let's go."

Quatre stood, toppling slightly as all of the blood in his head rushed southward. Trowa caught him with his good arm, steadying the human against his body. "Quatre? Quatre!"

"...sorry." Quatre kept his eyes closed so that the very nice landscape would stop spinning in mad circles. "I used...too much energy with that demon."

"Dammit, you shouldn't push yourself like this. I know that drains you."

"Had to make sure you were alright," Quatre gasped. Darkness was eating at his vision. An analytical part of his mind informed him that overusing his ability was very similar to significant blood loss. Oh, and he was going to faint.

"Idiot! I told you I'll be fine." Trowa didn't like this at all. Quatre was sheet white, and trembling against him. He was kicking himself for not noticing sooner. Quatre must have been running on adrenaline alone to see to him.

"Trowa --"

"What?"

"Going to pass out – sorry --"

Trowa hissed angrily when Quatre abruptly went lax in his arms. They were out in the open, with no cover. He couldn't ensure Quatre's safety like this. Carefully he gathered him up in his good arm, draping him carefully so that he was secure. He was growling as he lifted into the air and looked for a safe place to hide until they were both on their feet again.

Quatre was going to hear about this -- at length -- when he woke up.

Part 4

There was no need to look behind him -- the dark cloud hanging over Trowa's head was large enough that it was easily visible to Quatre. It had been visible ever since he woke up and had stayed that way throughout the morning. The blond's shoulders slumped. "Trowa, can't we drop this already? I said I was sorry."

"..."

Okay, enough was enough. Spinning around, he folded his arms over his chest and glared right back at the unhappy cat demon. "I can't help it if I blacked out! Or that I used up too much energy when fighting that demon! Stop being mad at me!"

"That isn't what I'm upset about."

"Then what?!"

"Caring for me is not necessary. You will cease to do so."

"Yeah, keep dreaming!" Quatre snapped back. "Even if I didn't like you, I'd still make sure your hide stayed intact. You're my only real means of protection out here. I wouldn't make it in this place -- I'm too much of a stranger to it. And -- why do you have that funny look on your face? Trowa?"

"You...like me?"

/What, hasn't anyone said that to him before?/ "Sure I like you. Sometimes I want to hit you for being an idiot, but the urge always goes away. Uh...Trowa? You look like a strong wind could knock you over."

The demon pulled a scowl back onto his face to cover that sudden surge of elation. Ridiculous. He shouldn't be happy that a human liked him. The blond was talking nonsense anyway. "Let's go."

Quatre threw up his hands in exasperation. "You can't just ignore everything because you don't feel comfortable with it."

Trowa glared at him.

Quatre glared back. "And while we're on the subject, how is your shoulder this morning?"

"I told you to stop worrying about me."

"And I told you to keep dreaming, I'll worry if I want to. Show me the shoulder."

"No."

"Don't make me hit you." Quatre darted in close to the demon and yanked the clothing out of the way. Unmarred skin met his eyes and he blinked in surprise. "Wow. You can't see even a hint of any injury. When you said demons healed fast, you weren't kidding were you?"

Resigned for the moment, Trowa just looked at him.

Righting the clothes, he stepped away and continued walking. "Let's go, we're burning daylight."

And now it was Quatre that was in a bad mood. As long as he lived, Trowa would never understand humans.

/The jerk. He's upset because I was worrying about him. What, is it a crime or something? Why am I even worrying about him in the first place? It's obvious that it isn't necessary, he apparently is Superman's twin brother or something. I'm not even sure why I like him, he's usually a complete pain in the neck./ His eyes were staring into the flames blindly. For once, he wasn't thinking of what to eat for dinner, or how tired he was or how close they were to Terandl.

He was more worried about the sleeping arrangements.

He'd slept next to Trowa every night that he had been on this world. It now felt natural to roll up next to that very attractive body and sleep. Tonight, however, he did not want to even look at Trowa, much less sleep next to him.

Quatre started as a large piece of heavy material landed over his head. Yanking it off, he realized it was Trowa's cloak. He twisted around so that he could look up at the demon in question.

"Sleep." Trowa turned away, heading toward the other edge of the clearing.

For some reason, the gesture made Quatre feel like the biggest heel on earth. After watching the demon lean against the tree, closing his eyes as if to sleep, he felt even worse. Standing, he hesitantly approached, kneeling beside the demon. He kept silent for a long moment, wondering just what to say. Nothing brilliant came to mind, unfortunately. "Why does it make you so uncomfortable? The idea of being my friend."

"Friend?"

Quatre gave him a half-smile. "Well, you're certainly not my enemy, Trowa."

"Hn."

"Why were you really upset with me?"

A pair of green eyes slowly opened and fastened on the blond. "...don't risk yourself for my sake."

Quatre blinked in confusion. /What does that mean? Surely he wasn't upset because I...waitaminute! He was worried about me? Is that what this is all about?/ "I can't promise that, Trowa. You put yourself at risk for me -- I'm allowed to do the same for you."

Trowa growled low in his throat. "I am not as easily damaged as a human."

/He WAS worrying!/ Smiling from ear to ear, Quatre clambered onto his lap and draped the cloak around them. Wriggling around until he was comfortable, he snuggled his head under Trowa's chin and let his eyes fall closed. "Good night, Trowa."

Quatre's sudden delight was confusing to Trowa, and his immediate snuggling even more so. Five seconds ago, the blond would have gladly strangled him...now he was cuddled up to him, sound asleep with a smile on his face.

He would NEVER understand humans.

Trowa was still just as confused the next morning, but he wasn't about to question the return of Quatre's good mood. The little human had been right, when he'd described himself as 'fairly even tempered'. It was pleasant traveling with him, for the most part. The only time he was truly upset was when he lost his temper with the demon. And Trowa's habitual silence didn't usually bother him, as long as the blond was sure that he wasn't being completely ignored. In the past week, Trowa had actually said more than he had in the past year, so maybe the blond's conversational ways were rubbing off a little.

There was something like a fleeting sense of regret, when they rounded the bend and saw Heero and Duo waiting for them. He wouldn't have minded having Quatre to himself for a little while longer. Duo must have cheated and Transported them here. Trowa sniffed carefully, but there was no hint of blood on either one of them -- Heero was completely healed, then. Good.

"Hey, it's about friggin' time!" Duo grinned in delight, jumping down from the boulder he had been sitting on.

Quatre lengthened his stride, waving slightly. "Hi."

"Hey. He's still alive, so Tro must have stopped being an idiot."

Quatre's grin was rueful. "Mostly." He winked at the demon beside him to take the sting out of the word.

Trowa just glared back, huffed, and gave up. Teasing, apparently, was a part of Quatre's personality and he was just going to have to get used to it. He noticed that Quatre was now staring at Heero in bafflement. In fact, his eyes were nearly crossed. "Quatre?"

He blinked rapidly as he came back to the real world. "Sorry. Uh, sorry if I'm being rude, but...Heero what kind of a demon are you?"

"Earth."

"Oh! Okay, now it makes sense."

Duo perked up, intrigued. "What makes sense?"

"His soul looks...weird. With you or Trowa, it's obvious what you are just by looking at your souls, but Heero's...um. It's like seeing mountains and water and air all jumbled together. It's strange to try and see all of that at once."

Duo nearly pounced on him. "Wait, are you telling me that you can see souls? Not just the energy signatures that people leave behind, but souls?"

"Oh, uh, we haven't talked about this yet have we?"

"Talk while walking," Heero and Trowa ordered.

The Look Duo gave them was torn between amusement and exasperation. "You've been around each other too long. Com'n Q, I want to hear more about this. And I really want to know what you did the other day that wore you out so bad."

While they talked of power, souls, energy, manipulation of said power, and how grumpy their respective demons could be, the two demons followed and had a conversation of their own.

"Can he fight?"

Trowa shrugged. "Yes and no. I didn't think he could -- but he killed an oni two days ago."

This obviously confused Heero, considering that he couldn't see any weapons on the little blond. "How?"

"He can manipulate souls -- I'll try to explain it the same way he did. He took the jyaki and soul of the oni, and threw it out of his body."

"...that would kill, yes."

Trowa clenched his teeth, eyes grim. "What I don't like is that he was very close to that demon before he managed to kill him. Someone wanting to kill him instead of eating him would have managed it before he could react."

Heero studied him carefully, weighing the tone and expression on his friend's face. Trowa was rarely attached to anything -- he was probably closer to Heero and Duo than anyone else. Even his own family was more a novelty to him than a source of affection. Heero could still vividly remember when he'd first met Duo, and how being near that charming human had finally softened his own heart. He'd fallen for him hard and fast, and years later he still couldn't regret it. Was Trowa following the same path -- falling in love with a human? That he was already protective of the blond spoke volumes. "Duo will train him. He'll know how."

Accepting this as the best course, Trowa nodded and looked ahead. Heero, also satisfied, went back to searching the surrounding countryside and keeping an eye on his braided lover.

Quatre had talked until his throat was dry then talked some more. Duo had been a fount of information and ideas and theories. Some of them were interesting, some of them were a little scary, and some of them were the stuff of fables...and he supposedly could do them all.

According to Duo, Quatre was a type of clairvoyant. A very rare type, that is. Duo claimed that no one like Quatre had existed for a few hundred years now. Lots of history had been written down, of course, but some of the records of those clairvoyants were...questionable. Quatre translated this as: we'll see what's true and what's legend. Great.

One of the things that he was supposed to be capable of was stealing other demon's energy in order to create weapons. This...almost sounded plausible. Of course, the only way of testing it was to ask a demon... Quatre approached Trowa when they stopped for the night, smiling gamely. They had settled into a half-moon cavity near a mountain stream, and he rather hoped it would shield them from unfriendly eyes in case his experimentations were bright and visible. "Um, Trowa?"

Trowa looked up, a little suspiciously. He had been contemplating taking a cat nap, since Heero was here to take first watch. "Yes?"

"Can I borrow you?"

"...for what?"

"Er...practice?"

Trowa's suspicions went into overdrive. Yup, the blond was definitely up to something. "Explain."

"Right...okay, the quick and dirty version of this is that I'm not the first kind of clairvoyant with these abilities. Duo's read a little about them, and apparently it should be possible for me to borrow a demon's energy and form a weapon to fight with."

"And you wish to test it?"

Quatre gave him a hopeful smile, eyebrows raised a little.

Well, he had hoped that Duo would find a way for Quatre to defend himself, using his strange abilities. He could only blame himself if he hadn't considered the full ramifications of that wish... "Fine. What do you need me to do?"

"Okay, in theory I need you to do something that exerts more power than you usually do." Humming slightly in thought, he re-ran the battle they'd had with the two demons. "That thing you did where your claws shot out pieces of power might do the trick."

"Shards," Trowa corrected as he stood.

"Huh?"

"It's called Shards. Ready?"

Quatre had no idea. Was he ready? He nodded anyway. Trowa's hand lifted, the knuckles cracking slightly, and Quatre could literally see the buildup of power in his hand right before it was released. Discs of raw power about the size of his fist shot out from Trowa's hand. He extended both hands and pulled, calling that power to him.

As Trowa watched, wide-eyed, Quatre took his power and melded it into an odd type of sword. It arched, narrow at the hilt and spreading into a broader shape at the edge. He could see it was just made of power -- the whole thing glowed. "How effective is it?"

"No idea," Quatre admitted softly. He couldn't seem to take his eyes from the blade in his hand. After a moment he shook himself and went to a nearby rock. With one hand he swung at it -- the rock hissed, and melted to either side.

Trowa swallowed. Damn, that was impressive. "...rather effective."

"It's surprisingly easy to hold, too," Quatre offered. He looked a little shaken at the damage he was capable of. "Usually it's difficult to hold onto energy of any sort. I wonder why this is different."

"You're using it -- not holding it."

The blond blinked at the simplicity of the explanation. Of course! Energy would be harder to store or hold, and easy to use. That followed the laws of physics to a tee. His smile at Trowa was delighted, and pleased. "I guess I'm not defenseless anymore. You won't have to worry about me."

Trowa snorted, dismissing that notion immediately.

"Ah? What was that?" Quatre let the power dissipate in his hands so that he could turn his full attention to teasing Trowa. "Are you suggesting that you're going to continue worrying about me even when it isn't necessary?"

"Go to sleep, Quatre."

"That's hardly fair you know," the blond wasn't about to be derailed now. Trowa was looking suspiciously pink, and that sort of reaction just couldn't be ignored. "If you get to worry about me for no good reason, then I get to worry about you."

"Quatre."

He beamed innocently. "Yes?"

"Go to sleep."

"Nope. It's more fun to tease you."

"..."

Part 5

It was early in the morning -- very early. Dew was still on the leaves and grass, and a fine mist hovered over the land. Duo rolled over, still half-asleep, trying to find a more comfortable position on the ground. As he turned, his braid caught underneath him. "Dammit," Duo grumbled as he winced, pulling himself up to pull the braid free and tossing it out again. Grumbling, he settled back down to sleep some more.

In the complete silence of the morning, the softest of sounds could be heard. At first, Duo was sure that it was his imagination. He was, after all, still mostly asleep. Cracking open an eye, he turned to look in the direction of that sound.

Trowa was on his side, one arm folded under his head and the other around Quatre's waist. The little blond was completely tucked against the demon, only his hair visible. They were so cute snuggling like that...there was that sound again. If Duo didn't know better he could swear that it was -- "Heero!" he hissed, poking his lover in the side.

"Baka," Heero grumbled, smacking the hand aside. "I'm sleeping."

"Listen," Duo ordered him while completely ignoring the protest.

"For what?"

"Just listen!"

Heero gave in, and tuned his ears into their surroundings. There was the usual quiet of dawn, nothing unusual...in...what was that? Opening his eyes, he propped himself up on one elbow and looked at the slumbering duo across the fire. "Is Trowa purring?"

"So I wasn't hallucinating!" Duo whispered in triumph.

The purring abruptly stopped. One green eye slitted open so that it could glare at the two lovers. "What are you two whispering about?"

Duo beamed at him, and snuggled back into Heero's arms. "I'm still sleepy."

Trowa grumbled something about nosy humans and demons, shifted Quatre closer to him, and went right back to sleep.

Duo had to clamp a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter when soft purring once again rumbled in the air.

Quatre had given up trying to find the reasoning behind Duo's smirks all morning. Even Heero was amused about something, and whatever it was made Trowa glare at them both. No one would explain the why of it, so he settled for ignorance and getting Duo drunk later.

The truly interesting part of his morning was when they had started out. Duo had climbed onto Heero's back, much like a piggy-back ride, and looked at him in expectation. After a bit of hemming and hawing, Trowa had motioned for him to curtly climb onto his back. It had been a little embarrassing, but that had lessened over the course of the day. Actually, riding like this was fun. He simply could not believe how fast Trowa could run. Heero was keeping up with him easily, too. Were all demons like this?

Quatre stopped them as the crested the top of the mountain. "Wait. Duo, how hard is it for you to transport?"

"Er...not very. It's a bit draining, but I'm as good as new the next morning. You scheming something?"

Quatre nodded to the small stream running next to them. "You said your ability is reflections -- do you need a mirror, or will any reflection do?"

"Mirror's the best, but anything works," Duo said slowly. He was beginning to see the blond's plan. There was the stream next to them, and on the horizon there was a lake sparkling in the noon sun. "You thinkin' about cutting down on some of the travel time?"

"Terandl went in that direction," Quatre confirmed. "It'll take us at least a day to cross that country -- unless we can find a way to cut that time out. I think we're already catching up with him, but if we do this we'll be that much closer."

"Let's do it," Heero agreed as he set Duo down.

Duo went over to the water, palms flat over the surface. Quatre could see white power flowing over him, and then building in the water. It was incredible to watch. "Duo, how does this work?"

"Er...it's really complicated and really simple and really hard to explain."

"...that was so informative, thank you for sharing."

Duo grinned back at him. "I'll try later. For now, just hop in."

Quatre approached, prayed fervently that he would land easier than he had the first time he'd been transported like this, and jumped in.

His wish was NOT granted.

When he came out, it was like an explosion. He shot up in the air, twisted, and landed on his hip on the bank. A rocky bank. One rock in particular dug right into his hip. "Owww."

He'd barely rolled out of the way before Trowa was thrown in the same direction -- the cat demon had better reflexes, however, and managed to land semi-on his feet. Quatre didn't think that was fair at all.

Trowa sighed. Transporting was never an easy prospect with Duo in control. Bending, he picked up Quatre and set him back on his feet. "Well?"

"Much closer," Quatre informed him after a moment. "I think I'm getting the hang of this -- we're probably about three days behind Terandl at this point."

Trowa let out a soft sigh of relief. Finally, he could see some visible progress. Heero flew out, but landed better than either of them had. He'd had more practice, after all. He turned and caught Duo neatly as he exploded out of the water.

Trowa went down on one knee, motioning for Quatre to get back on. Blushing a little, the human wrapped his arms around him, settling comfortably. Trowa wrapped both arms under Quatre, supporting him.

Heero did the same with Duo, catching Trowa's eye and nodding when he was ready.

Running at half speed, they took off again, Quatre's soft voice guiding Trowa as they raced to catch up with the enemy.

Night was stealing over the land when Quatre caught that sense of wrongness again. It was remarkably similar to the little girl -- and it was right off their path. "Trowa! Go right."

He did so, feet flying over the ground. "What is it?"

"Terandl's been doing something again. Someone else has a bit of his power tangled with their soul."

Heero caught up to ride beside them, nose twitching in distaste. "More than that."

Quatre turned to look at him. "Eh?"

"There's blood ahead," Trowa growled in agreement. "Lots of it."

That really didn't sound promising. They picked up their pace, heading through thick woods. Trowa skid to a halt inside a village running mad in chaos -- people were screaming, running in every possible direction, humans already dead or wounded on the ground. He dropped Quatre carefully to his feet, but made him stay close. This whole situation was unpredictable, and he didn't like what his nose was telling him.

Quatre hissed, and pointed to the other end of the square. "Up there."

Without a word Trowa ran alongside him as they dodged people, horses, and corpses. Heero and Duo were right behind them, eyes peeled for an attack from the rear.

A man stood, liberally splashed with blood, sword in hands. Even Trowa could see the red power in his eyes. "Jyaki."

"What?" Quatre risked a quick glance at the cat demon.

"He's full of jyaki."

"I don't know that word."

"Jyaki is evil energy, but it also means demonic power."

"Oh. In this case, you're right in both senses of the word. But...his soul was already corrupt, Trowa. It's nearly black, it's so bad. Adding Terandl's evil to it was like adding fuel to the fire."

Trowa's eyes cut to his. "Are you saying you won't try to save him?"

"I can't." Quatre's eyes were hard, and unforgiving. "He's beyond help."

"Then it's my turn." Trowa darted forward, claws crackling with energy. With no effort at all he threw Shards at the man.

The human dodged them, grinning evilly. "What's this? A demon? Well, it should be more fun than killing humans! They're no challenge at all." Slashing his katana once in the air, he charged forward with a yell.

Trowa dodged the swing easily, his hand smoothly slicing through the air and right through the man's neck. Gurgling, his opponent dropped to its knees, then fell over completely. "Pathetic."

Quatre's eyes widened. "Trowa, move away, now!"

Trowa leapt backwards, confused. Why had Quatre -- before his eyes the corpse twitched, then stumbled back up to its feet.

"Shit," Duo hissed. "Terandl's energy is healing him. He's a damn zombie."

Quatre grabbed Heero's arm. "Help him hold that man down. The only way to kill him is to remove Terandl's energy -- it won't take me long to separate it from his body."

Heero nodded once. Catching Trowa's eye he said, "Low."

Trowa returned the nod. "High."

"Heh." The human was grinning at Quatre, the gesture taut with sick pleasure. "You can see it, eh? Well, you can't do much about it. I think I'll kill you last -- it's been a while since I had a boy. You're a pretty little blond, and I've always liked blondes."

Trowa snarled at the implication and attacked, slamming the human to the ground so hard that bones broke at the impact. Heero was right behind him, putting all of his weight on the man's legs.

Quatre shook off the threat -- it was meaningless, Trowa would never allow for that to happen -- and sprinted the remaining distance. He forced himself to touch the man's back, calming so that he could focus. "Come."

The energy flinched, but stayed put. Damn, this wasn't going to be as easy as it had been with the little girl. Terandl's power was running in harmony with this soul. The only way to do this quickly was to take the man's soul out as well as the power. /So be it./ Readjusting his focus, he ignored the struggles and curses of the man and put more force behind his call. "COME!"

With a wrench, the soul flew into Quatre's hands. The body it had inhabited immediately stilled, and the two demons gratefully got off of it. Duo came around to see if he could help, wincing when he saw the blond's face. "Quatre?"

The blond was shaking with effort, teeth gritted. "It's...too...strong." Breathing hard, he looked at Trowa. "Anything! Give me anything I can put it into!"

They looked around frantically, but there were only corpses near them. Trowa tore out of the immediate area and looked frantically around him. People, houses, carts -- bucket? Grabbing it, he sped back to Quatre's side. "Will this do?"

Quatre nodded thankfully, and begin the difficult process of putting the jyaki and soul into the wood. It fought him viciously, and he nearly lost his hold on it several times, but he refused to give up. If this thing got loose, who knows who it would inhabit next and what damage it could do?

Heero was ready and waiting for the moment that Quatre had that thing in place. As soon as that happened he slapped a shield over it.

Quatre collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut. Trowa caught him, lifting him into his arms and frantically checking to make sure his heart was still beating. "Quatre?"

Duo leaned in closer, checking with his Sense. "He's okay, Tro. Worn out, but okay. Hell, I would be too after doing something like that. Blondie's tougher than he looks."

Trowa only allowed himself a nod of acknowledgement, but he wanted to do more than that. This time, Quatre had been in over his head and that wasn't something that he liked to think about. He couldn't have protected him if anything had gone wrong -- and that was something else that he didn't want to admit.

"Excuse me...sirs?" An elderly gentlemen stepped forward, dressed in priest robes. "Is he...dead?"

"Very dead," Duo announced cheerfully. "Nothing to worry about. Although...we do need to talk about the bucket."

The priest turned old eyes onto the bucket in question and nodded. "Yes. I can see the evil in it -- the young man who put it there is quite powerful. Come, I have places for you to sleep tonight. We can talk more comfortably there."

Duo gingerly picked up the bucket and followed him. Heero waited until Trowa was on his feet with Quatre in his arms before following along. Trowa barely noticed the neat wooden house that they entered -- he was torn between being irritated that Quatre had put himself recklessly in danger again and worry that he had collapsed so suddenly. Last time this had happened, he'd been able to stay awake for a while longer.

"Here," the priest murmured as he motioned to pallet near the wall.

Very gently he laid his burden down, covering him with a blanket. Left without anything more constructive to do, he knelt there and continued to worry.

Duo dropped the bucket as soon as he could and looked around. The unusual sight of seeing Trowa worrying over someone had Duo nearly falling over in a giggling fit, but he managed to restrain himself after being jabbed in the stomach by Heero. "Tro, he's fine. Tomorrow morning he'll be up and rummaging for food."

Trowa glared at him, and went right back to staring anxiously at Quatre's face.

Giving up, Duo turned back to the priest. "Thank you for the hospitality. I'm Duo, and this is Heero, Quatre, and Tro."

The priest nodded politely, perhaps a bit hesitant to welcome demons into his abode. Well, the man could hardly be blamed for being a little wary. "I am Aral, the priest for this village. I saw what Master Quatre did...I've only read of such ability."

"Yeah, Quat's really unusual," Duo agreed blithely. "It's kinda interesting seeing which parts of the records are true, and what was exaggerated. Which reminds me -- about that bucket. Heero put a seal on it, but if I were you, I'd put some kind of a shrine around that thing and make sure it gets purified."

"Purified?" Aral blinked, processing this. "But I thought it was a soul."

"It is...and isn't. I can't give you details, 'cause I couldn't really see everything that was going on. Q just mentioned pieces as he was trying to fix it. There was a source of jyaki tangled up with that soul -- granted, the soul was corrupt to begin with, but it was the jyaki that made him nearly indestructible. Anyway, if that jyaki gets loose again, it'll do some serious damage."

"I understand," Aral said slowly. "I'll see to it myself."

"Good. Trowa, cut it out!"

"He's never passed out cold like this," Trowa snapped back. "I don't like it."

Duo rubbed his temples. "Let me see if I can explain this so that you can understand. What Quatre just did was equivalent to you picking up a mountain. It's extremely difficult to manipulate a soul, especially if it's tangled up with jyaki. He did it twice in a row, first by taking it out of that guy and then putting it somewhere else. If I had tried to do something like that, I would have keeled over and stayed dead for three days."

"Duo," Heero muttered in exasperation, "that just makes us worry more."

"Look, my point is, he's a lot stronger than he looks. Let him sleep, he'll be fine in the morning."

Trowa still didn't like it, but he couldn't think of a way to help either. Grumbling, he took off his boots and daggers, then curled in around Quatre's side.

"Um, Master Trowa, I do have other beds --"

Trowa glared at him flatly.

Aral gulped audibly, backing up a pace.

"Tro, stop that. Sorry, Aral." Duo gave his own dark glare at his friend. "He's just really protective of Quatre. Let him sleep there, it'll be fine."

"...right. Um, I'll see to your beds then."

Trowa didn't care what they did. He brought Quatre up into his arms, smoothing both hands over his back. Even after the world had settled down, and the silence of the night had filtered into the house, he didn't go to sleep.

Footnotes: Jyaki: Sorry, I couldn't resist! 'Evil energy' just sounds so lame and redundant after a while... The Bucket: As I was writing this, I was trying to think of something that any village would have that's wood -- and that was the first thing my mind thought of. I blame it entirely on my absent muse.

"-- you can't tell me what to do!"

"What I'm saying is common sense! You can't exhaust yourself helping everyone in the countryside when we're going after someone as powerful as Terandl!"

"So you want me to just ignore it when mass murderers are loose?!"

Duo sighed, watching the two arguing. Trowa had been moody and silent all day, and ridiculously hovering over Quatre. Eventually, of course, it became too much and the blond had lost his temper. They had managed to scoot the quarreling duo off of the road, but that was about all they could manage. "How long have they been going at it?"

Heero thought a moment. "About three hours, now."

"And you thought I was bad."

"I've never argued with you for three hours."

"It's hard arguing with you," Duo agreed with a smirk. "You just look too damn sexy when you're glaring at me. It's distracting."

Heero smirked back. "I know."

"You know what?! This entire conversation is ridiculous! I'm not talking about this anymore!" Quatre threw his hands in the air, eyes shooting daggers. Spinning on one heel, he stormed away.

"Quatre! Get back here, dammit!"

Heero choked. "Trowa actually cussed?"

Duo let out a soft whistle. "Whoa, never heard him do that before. Actually, I've never heard him raise his voice before either."

"Or lecture someone," Heero agreed thoughtfully. "Or say more than a sentence a year, period."

"Quatre's really been good for him."

Trowa snarled at them. "If you two aren't going to help, then either shut up or go away!"

Duo met his lover's eyes, brow cocked. Heero glanced at Trowa, shrugged, and sighed. Nodding in understanding, he went after the blond and left Trowa to Heero.

Quatre went straight to the banks of the peaceful river and dropped down onto the grass. He knew he was being a little childish, and that sulking made him look five years younger, but he didn't care. Trowa was being a jerk, and had completely ignored anything Quatre had to say. Fine, if he wasn't going to listen, then Quatre would remove himself from the idiot demon's presence.

The last time he'd pouted like this, he'd been twelve and Iria had just informed him that he couldn't go visit anyone as long as he was sick. What had that song been that he'd sung until he'd driven her crazy...? Ah yes. Softly, very softly so that he wouldn't be heard, he started singing under his breath. "Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll eat some worms. Little bitty skinny ones, great big juicy ones, itsy bitsy fuzzy wuzzy worms."

"Weird song," Duo noted from his position behind the blond.

Quatre blew out his breath. Okay, he hadn't been quiet enough. "Yeah, I know."

Duo dropped down beside him, expelling a noisy sigh. "So how does the rest of it go?"

Trowa groaned, eyes raised to the heavens as the song was repeated once again, at the top of Quatre's and Duo's voices.

"Nobody likes me
Everybody hates me
Guess I'll eat some worms!
Little bitty skinny ones,
Great big juicy ones,
Itsy bitsy fuzzy wuzzy worms!

I'll bite off their heads
And suck out the middle
Itsy bitsy fuzzy wuzzy worms!
Little bitty skinny ones,
Great big juicy ones,
Itsy bitsy fuzzy wuzzy worms!

Nobody hates me
Everybody likes me
Why'd I eat those worms?"

Heero gave his best friend a pointed Look. "I think you'd better go talk to him."

Trowa looked at the two on the riverbank and made a noise somewhere between a mewl and a growl.

"Now, Trowa. I'm going to have that stupid song stuck in my head as it is."

"He won't listen to me," Trowa snapped.

"You weren't listening to him," Heero shot back.

"He's putting himself in danger!"

"So are you."

"I'm supposed to do things that are dangerous! I'm resilient, I can handle it if something goes wrong, he can't."

Heero blew out a breath. "Trowa -- you aren't going to win this. I had the same arguments with Duo, when we first became lovers. I was worried sick about him, and he kept doing these rash stunts that made me age a hundred years. You're feeling the same way toward Quatre, but I can tell you right now that the best thing you can do is just to keep as close to him as possible and let him do what he needs to. It's the only way."

"I can't protect him from something I can't even see," Trowa snarled quietly.

"I know."

Trowa finally looked, really looked, at his friend. There had been so much helplessness in those two words. Even now, apparently, Heero worried about Duo. Both humans were tangled up in things that the demons could barely sense, much less do anything about. "Does...it get any easier?"

"Somewhat. I've learned to trust his judgment."

Trowa thought about that for a while. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of a brilliant way to convince Quatre the error of his thinking. In fact, he couldn't even think of a way to compromise. Sighing, he gave in and walked to the banks. Apparently the worm song was getting old, because Quatre was in the process of teaching Duo something else. He decided that it might be wise to step in now. "Quatre."

The blond glanced up at him, then turned away, jaw setting stubbornly. Aw hell, it would be really hard to talk to him in this kind of mood. Trowa jerked a thumb at Duo, and the braided human left with a knowing smile. At a loss, he just stood there for a long moment. What could he say?

Quatre finally snapped under the heavy silence. "Well?"

"...just don't be reckless."

Quatre twisted and stared at him in stupefaction. "You aren't going to argue about this anymore?"

Trowa shrugged unhappily. "It won't do any good."

He really did feel a pang of regret that he had worried Trowa so badly. Standing, he went to him and hugged him tightly. "Okay. I'll try to be cautious."

Slowly the cat demon's arms came up and folded the human against him. Trowa buried his face into soft blond hair and he inhaled deeply. He didn't really understand what was happening to him -- two weeks ago, he couldn't have cared less about most humans. Now, it physically hurt to see Quatre in any danger, like someone had a fist around his heart. Why did he care so much if Quatre was happy, and alive?

"Trowa --"

"What," he whispered softly.

"You have to promise me the same thing. Don't be reckless."

"I won't." He couldn't -- if he was hurt, or killed, then who would protect Quatre? The blond must be kept safe, at all costs.

"I'm sorry I fought with you."

Trowa hugged him harder, the best apology that he could make. He hated fighting with him, too.

"Aren't you two in the make-up stage yet?" Duo called plaintively. "I'm hungry!"

Laughing ruefully, Quatre pulled free. "Actually, so am I. Let's find a place to eat, and sleep."

Content, Trowa followed him away from the river. He'd just have to take one day at a time.

"Now that we're all in a rational mood," Duo started merrily as they continued traveling the next morning, "let's talk about something. Why is Terandl storing his energy in people?"

Quatre opened his mouth to comment, re-considered, and closed it again thoughtfully. "Actually, I'm not sure if that's what he's doing."

"So what is he doing?"

"Trowa, you said that he discards people easily, right?"

"Yes."

Quatre hummed, blue eyes narrowed. "I wonder...if he's trying to create minions or something."

Duo thought this through. "You know, that's a scarily possible idea."

Heero grunted. "He knows that we're after him -- he'd have to be stupid not to have noticed us. It's possible he's making more players for us to go against so he doesn't have to worry about us."

"They aren't very good distractions," Duo noted. "We've handled the ones we saw fairly easily."

"He's getting better at it," Trowa disagreed shortly. "The first one we saw was easy -- this last one was more challenging."

"It could just be an experiment," Quatre offered.

"An experiment for what?"

"Who knows? I'm just saying, we can't figure out his real purpose right now."

Duo growled. "Lovely. I just love that idea."

It started as a steady pressure -- like a pot of water heating up, slowly increasing in temperature until it was boiling. Quatre was able to ignore the jyaki for the first few hours, but it steadily increased in power until the very ground itself was saturated with it.

This wasn't missed by Trowa -- he kept an eye on the blond as they ran. He was paler than normal, and kept his eyes closed most of the time. Usually he was talking as they ran, comments here and there or a thought that he wanted to discuss. But he wasn't talking now. He kept swallowing convulsively, as if he were nauseated by something. "Quatre?"

"We're very close," Quatre murmured hoarsely. "It's so strong I can't block it out right now."

"Shut down your ability," Trowa ordered softly. "I can smell him now -- we don't have to depend on your sense."

"Okay." Quatre slammed mental blocks on it and sighed in relief. His queasiness abruptly abated, and his stomach forgave him his stubbornness and decided to stop pitching a fit.

Trowa turned to look at the demon running alongside him. "Heero?"

"I smell him," Heero acknowledged grimly.

They burst into a clearing and skidded to a stop. A tall man with raven black hair, wrapped in a shroud of white stood beside a gentle waterfall. He looked around at their entrance, revealing a beautifully crafted face set in cold lines. "You are?"

Trowa put Quatre down slowly, eyes never leaving his opponent. So this was his current appearance, eh? "Nanashi."

"Heh. I remember now -- we fought before, over Trivoxor. And the little earth demon too, with his blathering lover. I don't recognize the other human -- a new ally? Are you going to try again? How amusing."

"More than try," Heero growled back.

Duo grabbed Quatre's arm and they retreated to the edge of the clearing. This wasn't their fight -- their role was support, and it was time to stay out of the way. It sat ill with Quatre, he wanted to fight as well and guard Trowa's back but he was honest enough to recognize that he would be more hindrance than help.

On some silent signal, the two demons charges forward. Terandl smirked slightly, unsheathing the sword at his side. A blazing light of pure energy burst around the blade.

Quatre sucked in a breath at the sheer power of that weapon. He could almost see the path it would follow -- and his heart stopped when he realized it was aimed directly at Trowa. "TROWA! GET DOWN!"

The cat demon dropped to all fours without hesitation. He'd barely done so when a disc of raw power whizzed over his head. Heero dove sideways to avoid the edge of it, a wall of earth exploding upwards to protect him.

Terandl turned and studied the little blond in interest. "You can see it, eh? The path Trivoxor's power will take. Hm. A clairvoyant with such ability is...intriguing."

Every fiber of Trowa's being was revolted with the greed in Terandl's eyes as he looked at Quatre. Snarling softly he shot back up to his feet, his own long daggers in his hands.

Heero swore as Trowa charged forward. He threw his powers into the wind, calling up dust and hitting Terandl with it, hoping to blind him to his friend's position.

It was a futile attempt -- Terandl sliced the small tornado in half with Trivoxor, and it faded as if it had never been. "That won't work!" The blade in his hands lit up again, and he struck out at both of them.

Heero threw up another shield of earth. It almost protected him from the attack, only a piece of the power cutting through and slicing along his ribs. Grunting in pain, he rolled and ran to his enemy's back before he could attack again.

Trowa didn't fare as well. With his own power imbued in the daggers, he cut Trivoxor's attack. A piece of it still grazed his shoulders, slicing along the top on each side. Grimacing, he sank to one knee as pain nearly overwhelmed him, his hands shaking as he fought the urge to drop the daggers.

Quatre started praying as he saw blood liberally run from Trowa's arms. "Duo, they can't do this alone -- they're already seriously hurt and they haven't managed to get anywhere near Terandl."

The braided clairvoyant nodded grimly. "We're going to have to find a different way -- if they survive this."

Everything in Quatre told him to stop the fight now -- but he couldn't. Terandl wouldn't just let them go. They had to escape but how...?

Terandl wasn't bothering with surgical strikes anymore -- he was tossing his power around carelessly, letting his sword slice wherever it landed. During one of these swings, he decided to test a legend of the weapon in his hands. It was said that in the right hands, it could cleave souls...that earth demon was being a pain, why not test it on him?

Heero saw the massive power growing in the sword. Hearing Quatre's cry of warning, he threw up every shield he could and ducked as the full fury of the sword's power was unleashed.

It wasn't enough.

Trivoxor cut through those shields like they were paper and slammed into his body. Heero jerked upright, eyes widening as he felt his body start to fade.

Quatre had seen what the sword would do -- and reacted without thinking. He sprinted to where Heero was, yelling over his shoulder. "Duo, open up a Portal!"

Duo wrenched himself toward the lake, fighting every instinct to go to his lover. He was silently crying as he fell to his knees near the bank, slamming his hands into the water and opening a path at random. He spared little of his attention on what he was doing -- his eyes were on Heero.

The blond slid to a stop on his knees, gulping in air. Heero's soul was slowly leaving his body, although he was obviously fighting to stay in. "Oh no you don't!" Quatre took hold of the soul and shoved it back inside.

Trowa placed himself in between friends and enemy, daggers crossed in front of his chest in blatant challenge. "Quatre. Get him out of here."

Terandl shook his head, mockingly. "Like I'll let you!" Leveling the blade out to his side he ran forward.

Snarling, Trowa's daggers burst into flame as he rushed to meet the enemy. He wouldn't let Terandl near Quatre or Heero.

Quatre forced himself to focus on Heero, ignoring the part of his heart that screamed in terror for Trowa's sake. Gathering up the unconscious earth demon he ran forward and transferred him quickly to Duo's arms. "Go through!"

Duo turned and jumped into the portal without hesitation. Quatre whirled around to see Trowa crumple to his knees a few feet from Terandl. Swearing in panic, he rushed toward him.

Terandl was frowning slightly -- the sword in his hands was flickering, the power not quite stable. Apparently it did have a weakness. He shouldn't have been too surprised that Trowa knew the weakness, he was after all from the family that held Vox for generations. The bleeding gash in his chest he ignored. The cat demon might have managed to hurt him, but it would heal later.

Quatre risked a glance at Trowa as he placed himself as a living shield between him and Terandl. The cat demon was nearly comatose in pain, breathing ragged and strained. "Trowa, can you move?"

"Yes."

"Then move. Duo's holding it open."

"...can't...not without...you..."

"I'll be right behind you," Quatre assured him softly. He was getting anxious to get Trowa out of the vicinity -- who knew how long Terandl would take to get Vox back to its full power?

Grunting, he made it to his feet, swaying only slightly. Quatre backed up, matching Trowa's slow progress toward the portal. They were nearly there when Vox sprang back into life. Cursing their luck, Quatre pushed Trowa forward roughly.

Trowa stumbled slightly, losing his precarious balance and falling into the portal, disappearing from sight.

"Ah, now that was stupid." Terandl walked forward, eyes narrowed slightly. "You should have jumped first and left the cat demon. You would have survived that way."

Quatre gauged the remaining distance. Could he make it...? Maybe. But Vox was aiming at him, now, and whatever attack launched at Quatre would follow him through the portal. He didn't know what kind of effect that might have, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't be a good one. "I'll survive regardless."

"Hmph."

Vox flared, and Quatre braced himself. /I hope I can do this --/ His hands came up as a beam of fierce power tore through the air at him. Using every ounce of ability, he called. The power slowed and formed into a globe right in front of his hands. Quatre was nearly panting at the effort to hold that much power, but it was worth it to see the stunned amazement on his enemy's face. With a deep breath, he reflected that power right back at Terandl.

The demon screamed in rage and pain when the globe hit him full in the face. Quatre barely noticed as he dove for the portal. He only hoped that it had killed the demon, or at least hurt him badly enough that they would have the time they needed to heal.

He landed just outside a small wooden shrine, fetching up hard against the side. Duo pounced on him as soon as he came to a landing. "You okay?"

Quatre raised tired eyes up to his friend's worried visage. "I'm okay. Heero? Trowa?"

"Banged up, but...whatever it is you did worked. He'll live. Trowa's in pretty bad shape too. I cleaned him up and bandaged the worst of it. You better get in there quick, he was threatening to go back and get you."

Quatre groaned and pushed himself to his feet, Duo catching his elbow and helping him up the rest of the way. They stumbled inside, Duo stopping at the door and turning back to put one final spell into place. The shrine was almost completely surrounded by water -- it should work well enough if he put a barrier up. It drained him quite a bit, but it was worth the effort. This way, they would be safe while everyone recuperated.

Trowa was indeed on his feet, ready to go back and get Quatre when the blond entered. He grabbed him by both shoulders, eyes scanning frantically over his body, but there was no sign of injury. Quatre closed in the remaining distance to wrap an arm around Trowa's waist and back as a support. "I'm fine! Lay back down before you fall down."

"Terandl?"

"Injured," Quatre answered as he helped Trowa to lie back down. "I'm not sure how badly. I reflected Vox's attack back on him, so he's probably crippled."

Trowa turned wide eyes on him as he sank back to the ground. "You...reflected the attack?"

"It's harder than it sounds," Quatre admitted. He was feeling light headed, and a little woozy. The symptoms were so familiar by this point that he knew he had only a few minutes before he passed out. "Which side isn't hurt?"

"Right."

Pulling the cloak free, he draped it over them before settling his head on Trowa's chest -- he wasn't about to put any weight on that injured shoulder -- and went out like a light.

Part 7

It took four days before they were healed enough to travel. Quatre slept for nearly two days straight. Fortunately, Trowa slept most of that time as well, so Duo didn't have to put up with his worrying tendencies. It was on the fourth day that Quatre mentioned Terandl's power signature was moving. All of them had hoped that the demon was too badly injured to really fight again -- the sign of his mobility wasn't met with enthusiasm. Gathering themselves up, they left the shrine and started to follow.

A day into traveling, Heero looked up at the sky with a frown. "It'll rain soon."

Duo was used to these predictions and looked over his shoulder to see his face. "How soon is 'soon'?"

"An hour or two."

"How long is it going to last?"

"A day...maybe more."

Trowa mewled in distaste. "We'll have to find shelter."

Heero inclined his head toward the mountain on their right. "I'm feeling several caves up near the top."

"That should work," Quatre agreed. "Lead the way."

Even inside the cave, the sounds of rain and lightning could be clearly heard. Quatre looked around him, turning a thought around in his mind. Heero was fast asleep, Trowa nearly so -- Duo was bored, and trying to wake up Heero by tickling him. Judging from the lack of reaction, Heero wasn't ticklish, but that apparently wasn't going to deter Duo... They had a small pool of water near the back of the cave, and time on their hands. Hm.

That last battle with Terandl had nearly done them all in, in one way or another. He'd felt the loss of his world's medicines very keenly. They hadn't had time to think about such things once they were on their feet again -- they'd moved out to chase after Terandl. But now they had the time. All day, to be precise. "Duo?"

Distracted from his fruitless efforts, Duo looked up. "Yeah?"

"How difficult would it be to send me back to my world?"

Trowa's eyes snapped open.

Duo's hand wavered a back and forth. "Not very. A good night's sleep and I'd be as good as ever. Why? You wanna go back?"

"No," Trowa growled immediately.

Quatre held up a hand to forestall the rest of the protest. "Wait. Just listen. Now, if that last battle was anything to judge by, we're going to get fairly banged up. I'd like to have some medicines from my world so that I can treat everyone better. And it would be nice to have another change of clothes, and a few other things. We've got the time now -- we can't go anywhere until that storm lets up. Why not let me take a quick trip back?"

"No," Trowa repeated with more force. "You have family there -- they'll stop you from coming back."

"No, they won't."

"Yes, they will."

"I'll sneak around," Quatre promised in exasperation. "Iria is the only one that was really around the house to begin with. Everyone else lives in different cities. It'll be easy to get what we need and then come back."

Trowa still didn't like it. There were too many factors that could go wrong, too many things he didn't understand about Quatre's world for him to fully feel comfortable with it. But he did trust Quatre -- and that left him with only one choice. "Fine. Five hours, no more."

Quatre smiled, and nodded firmly. "Five hours should be more than enough time."

His return to the other world was just as dramatically clumsy as every other time -- only this time he landed on all fours. "Damn, isn't this supposed to be easier with practice?"

Grumbling, he got up and snuck over to his bedroom door and paused, listening carefully. No sounds were evident. Good, maybe no one was home. He eased the door open and poked his head out. The house felt empty -- wait a minute. Focusing, he brought his second sight to bear and realized that his powers were still fully functional. Odd. They'd never worked on this world. Maybe practice had made perfect in this case.

At any rate, he was free to wander around and get into everything. He immediately went up into the attic and dug out a sturdy backpack he used for campouts and the like, as well as a sleeping bag. Then he went into Iria's room and grabbed as many first aid kits as he could find. Since she was studying medicine, there was quite the assortment. For some reason, she collected gauze and bandages the same way most girls collected fingernail polish.

He dumped armloads onto his bed and started sorting out what he needed and what he didn't. When she found how he'd ransacked her room, she would be pissed -- actually she'd just be confused. Iria had no idea where he was, after all. Hm. Pausing, he looked at his computer. There was a small camera attached to the monitor. He could record a message for her, explaining things -- well, at least some things -- while he was packing.

Darting over, he turned the machine on and went to his chest of drawers, digging out a few shirts, pants, underwear, socks and a better pair of shoes. After he had rolled all of that and scrunched it tightly in the bottom of the bag, he went back to the computer and booted up the program -- Audacity. His lips twitched at the name, he couldn't help it. He'd always found the name amusing. It was nice to see computer programmers with a sense of humor.

He started the program up, and hit the record button. "Okay, is this working properly -- yes it is. Hi, Iria. And whoever you show this to. Um...normally I'd just sit down and talk to you about where I've been and everything, but I'm really pushed for time right now so I'm going to be multi-tasking."

Spinning around, he went back to the bed and started cramming bandages, antiseptics, medicines, a small sewing kit, a few hygienic necessities and the like inside. "As you've no doubt noticed by now, Iria, yes I went through your room. Sorry, it was just the fastest way to get the supplies I need. I'll make up for it later -- I hope. Um...geez, Iria, don't you have more gauze than this? I hope this bottle of alcohol doesn't spill and ruin everything...Erk, getting sidetracked. Right, um...you're probably not going to believe this but I've been in another world and..." While his mouth ran, a part of Quatre's mind hoped that everything he was saying actually was semi-coherent, and not just babbling. He had a tendency to babble sometimes.

He had the bag packed, and the sleeping bag rolled up and ready to go. He went out of the camera's view to change clothes. It would be nice to have a hot shower, but he was getting dangerously close to being here for five hours already, and if he didn't come back on the dot Trowa was going to pitch a fit. Coming back into view he shrugged helplessly. "I wish I could tell you in person, but...anyway. Sorry, Iria. Love you. I'll try to come back when all this is done. You'll love Trowa -- and Duo and Heero. I might get them to come back to visit, or maybe bring you there. Anyway, I have to go. Trowa only let me come back for five hours and if I don't show up in the next five minutes I'll never hear the end of it."

He stopped the program, saved it, and then sent it to her email address before shutting down the computer. It was the only sure way he had of making certain that she saw it. He was just about to touch the mirror and call for Duo when his door burst open.

"QUATRE!"

Spinning around, he choked, "I-Iria?"

Sobbing, his sister fell against him and hugged him tightly. "You idiot! Where have you been?! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

And he had just spent the last two hours explaining everything, too. Hugging her back, he tried to find a way of explaining. "Iria -- I'm sorry I worried you so badly."

[Yo Q~! Lover boy over here is getting anxious, you ready to go -- oh crap.]

Quatre twisted around to see that Duo was in his standing mirror. Iria was only a second behind him, her eyes comically wide in her face. "H-he's in -- how is he -- Quatre, what by all that is holy is going on here?!"

Quatre gave her a big smile, which was only slightly strained. "I just recorded a two hour file telling you all about it."

"Well, you get to tell me about it now! And you can start by telling me who that is and how he's in your mirror!"

...he should have listened to Trowa. Apparently, the demon had a better idea of the laws of Murphy than he did. "Um...Iria, this is Duo. He's a clairvoyant -- he specializes in reflections. He's kinda using my mirror as a portal to communicate with me."

Iria glared at the mirror -- Duo was wincing -- then at her brother. "You have never in your life lied to me."

"And I'm not now!" Quatre resisted the urge to rub at his forehead. "Duo, can you call back later?"

[Sure, man, but I wasn't kidding about Tro. He's been pacing for three hours now, and Heero's about ready to strangle him or something. And that's only if he beats me to it.]

From somewhere in the background there was an irritable growl. [Why isn't he HERE yet?!]

Quatre gave Duo a sympathetic glance. "Sorry. Tell him to give me another hour."

[Q.]

"Yes?"

[You know that ain't gonna fly.]

"...you're right. Okay, let me talk to him."

While Duo called him over, Quatre tried to give Iria a quick explanation. "I've been on another world, Iria."

"...come again?"

"A world somewhat parallel to this one," he continued quickly. "It's hard to explain how and everything, but I stayed for a very good reason. There are people there that need my help. Lives -- a lot of lives -- are at stake. I'm the only one that can do it, and...er, hi Trowa."

Trowa glared at him. [You said five hours.]

"I'm all ready to go," Quatre protested a touch impatiently. "I didn't expect for Iria to show up. Look, give me an hour to explain everything to her."

[No. She won't let you go easily.]

"Damn right I'm not!" Iria inserted firmly.

Quatre turned the glare to her. "Sis, that isn't helping."

"He can't do much from where he's sitting," she shot back.

"Actually --"

Trowa growled in the back of his throat. [Duo. Is this completely open?]

[Uh, yeah.]

[Good.] Trowa's form disappeared, and the mirror started to glow a bright white. Recognizing the sign, Quatre shoved his sister out of the way and opened his arms. Trowa slammed into him a second later, and they both toppled to the floor.

"Quatre!" Trowa scrambled to his knees quickly. "Are you alright?"

"Ow." The blond cracked open an eye, but the room wasn't spinning in circles so he hadn't really injured himself, despite what his head was telling him. "Fine."

Trowa lifted him up easily, tilting his head to look at the back of Quatre's head. "Let me see."

"I'm fine! Stop fussing!"

He didn't, of course, and ran insistent fingers through blond hair. Quatre suffered this indignity and talked to Duo instead of acknowledging the demon who was, really, a worry-wart in disguise. "I have the feeling this might take longer than hour."

[More like three,] Duo agreed with a smirk. [Just call when you're ready.]

"Okay. Thanks, Duo."

[No prob, man. I can always play with Heero while I'm waiting.]

Poor Heero. Duo vanished, letting the mirror go back to normal. The silence hovering in the room was rather impressive, really. Trowa, satisfied that Quatre was fine, was standing right behind him and frowning slightly at the blonde woman trying to keep his Quatre. Iria, not at all satisfied by all of the things she couldn't explain, was outright scowling back at him.

"Quatre. I want that explanation." NOW her tone added.

Quatre waved her to his computer chair, and settled Trowa on the bed. As soon as the demon sat down, he pulled the blond into his lap. Quatre was close enough to get something of a reading on his emotions -- Trowa was highly irritated, a mass of confusion and doubt with something like anxiety mixed in. Great. Iria had an eyebrow raised at seeing her little brother wrapped up in another boy's arms, but she didn't say anything -- vocally.

This left Quatre smack in the middle of the two of them. This wasn't going to take an hour -- it was going to take Duo's predicted three. At least. "Okay, from the top."

The process of explaining was hampered a little by Iria. She kept stopping to ask questions. What her brother was telling her was fantastic, and she wouldn't have believed him if it weren't for that trick with the mirror or for the boy sitting there on the bed, holding him. Iria just knew by looking at him that he wasn't human. His ears were slanted, hands too similar to claws to belong to a human, and there were strange marks along his cheeks and arms -- there was just something about him that was otherworldly. Iria had never possessed the same sense with people that Quatre did, but she was sensitive enough and right now intuition told her that her brother was in over his head. When Quatre finally stopped, she felt like her head was splitting. "And you plan to go back? Despite how dangerous it is, and how badly you were all injured in this last fight with what's his name?"

"Terandl. Yes, I'm going back. We have to stop him, Iria. We're the only ones who have a prayer of doing it."

"Forgive me, but I don't like the idea of you going back into a world filled with demons, mad sorcerers, and evil dudes with powerful weapons."

"He'll be safe," the weird boy assured her quietly.

"Maybe. Things aren't always in our control. I don't think you can really guarantee that. And what, precisely, are you? During this whole thing, my brother has been very careful to not mention how his friends are fighting the bad guy. And frankly, you don't look human."

Quatre wondered how his sister was going to take the explanation to that question. Then he wondered if he could make it to the mirror and have Duo grab him before she could stop him...probably not. "He's a cat demon."

"...cat demon." Iria repeated neutrally. "You're telling me that he's a demon, and that you trust this guy? More than trust, apparently, because you're sitting in his lap and he's been acting possessively toward you the entire time."

How could he diplomatically explain the complex relationship that he and Trowa shared? They weren't really boyfriends, weren't anywhere close to being lovers, in fact they hadn't even admitted that they liked each other, it had taken weeks worth of work on Quatre's part before Trowa showed any kind of affection at all, but he knew without a doubt that Trowa would always be there for him, and that he'd do anything to keep him safe -- no, there was no way to explain any of that without making it sound weird. "Yes, he's a demon, but not in the evil way that you're thinking. In his world, it means that his body is made differently -- that's all. Demons are rather like people, some are good, some are bad." And some were REALLY bad...he wasn't going to mention that last part.

"And I'm acting possessively," Trowa added acidly, "because Quatre is vital to me. I have no guarantees that you won't try to keep him here."

"Don't kid yourself, demon-boy. I am keeping him here," Iria growled back.

"The hell you will. He's mine."

"I'm going to hit both of you if you don't stop fighting over me," Quatre snapped at them. "I think I should decide which place I want to be."

"Quatre, you just told me that you're staying with these guys to hunt down someone so evil that they took out a village of people just to experiment with their new toy! There's no way I'm letting you go back there!"

"Iria," Quatre replied gently, "you don't have a choice. You cannot keep me here. For one thing, Trowa won't let you."

"I want you safe," she whispered brokenly.

"Safety doesn't exist. What I've found with Trowa, and Duo and Heero -- is hard to describe. But I'll risk everything for it. I love them, Iria. And I'll fight for that, to see them alive and happy. That is my right -- respect it, please."

"Keeping him here won't make him safe," Trowa said softly. His eyes were softened a little in compassion. He understood her desire to safeguard Quatre -- he felt the same way. "It will just cage him. I've learned the hard way that you can't do that."

Iria sank into her hands, feeling helpless. She'd dreamed about finding Quatre again, but this wasn't what she had envisioned. She knew her brother well enough to know that she couldn't hold him against his will. He'd find a way out, and back to them.

Quatre pulled free of her and touched her hands gently. "I'm sorry, sis. I must do this."

"I know." Standing, she pulled him into a hug and held him tightly. "I know. At least keep me posted, alright? Let me know you're still alive."

"I can do that," he whispered into her shoulder. Pulling free, he grinned. "And maybe when this is all over, you can come over yourself and see what its like."

"I think I will." Iria finally let him go.

Satisfied that things were settled, Trowa went to the mirror and touched the surface. "Duo."

...

"Duo!"

Quatre started laughing, a hint of pink on his cheeks. "Um, you don't think they got distracted...do you?"

"Lecherous human," Trowa grumbled under his breath. "DUO!"

[Whoa, hold your horses, I'm here!] Duo did appear slightly flushed, however, and his clothing was a little rumpled. [Okay, we're ready to go now, right?]

"Right," Quatre agreed cheerfully. "Here, catch." He tossed the backpack through the mirror. Iria was grumbling about 'that not being possible, dammit', but Quatre didn't bother trying to explain how the whole transportation thing worked. For one thing, it still didn't entirely make sense to him. Duo's explanations had a tendency to leave one confused. He bent to scoop up the sleeping bag next.

"Quatre, what is that?"

Quatre blinked at the navy blue roll in his hands. "Uh, it's a sleeping bag."

Trowa frowned, eyes narrowing. "We don't need it."

Why was Trowa hurt because of the sleeping bag? Quatre cocked a perplexed eyebrow at him. "Well, it's getting colder. I thought another layer between us and the ground would be a good thing. Think of it as padding."

Abruptly the hurt vanished, but the frown was still there. "It's bulky."

Now that was something Quatre hadn't considered. "Damn, you're right. I don't really have a good way of carrying it."

[I do!]

Quatre canted his head. "You do?"

[Yup. I can shrink things, so we'll just put it in that bag you threw at my head.]

"I told you to catch. I didn't know you could shrink things."

[Well, it's not something I really use that often. I don't have a need for it, most of the time. Anyway, it's really easy to do. Toss it through -- actually, if you have another one for me and 'Ro that would be really great.]

Quatre thought on that. Wasn't there another one upstairs...? "I think we do. Hold on a minute." He dashed back to the attic, grabbed the green bag, and then sprinted back downstairs. "Yup. Okay, catch." Quatre turned to give his sister another fierce hug. "I'll try to contact you once a week, alright?"

"Okay. I'll keep a mirror handy. Stay safe."

"Sure you betcha." With a wink, he dove into the mirror.

Trowa nodded to her before following the blond through. He was rather hoping for an easier landing than the last time, but as usual with Duo in control of the mirror, he landed hard. At least he didn't land on top of Quatre this time. Rolling to his feet, he gathered Quatre up off the floor.

"Ow." Quatre rubbed at his elbows gingerly. "Duo, is there a trick to this that I don't know?"

"Uh...roll with the landing?"

"In other words, there is no trick."

Duo shrugged sheepishly. "Pretty much, yeah. How does this sleeping bag thing work?"

"In a minute, I need to talk to Trowa first." Taking the demon by the arm, he dragged him toward the mouth of the cave. Satisfied that they couldn't be overheard, he turned to face him. "Why were you upset about the sleeping bag?"

Trowa's eyes lowered to the floor.

Quatre could only think of one reason, but it didn't mean it was the right one. When Trowa didn't say anything, he prodded him with it. "Was it because you thought I didn't want to sleep with you anymore?"

"...you only sleep with me because it's necessary."

"That was the original reason," Quatre admitted softly. Lifting his hand, he tilted Trowa's head up so that he could look in his eyes. "Now, it's mostly because I just like touching you. Trowa...you always look so uncertain and confused when I say something like that. Why is it so hard for you to believe that I want to be with you?"

Trowa wrapped both arms around the blond and pressed his face against his hair, caught without an answer. Resigned, Quatre hugged him back and let the matter drop. Apparently, he still had a lot of work to do where Trowa was concerned.

Part 8

It was still pouring rain when Trowa woke up the next morning. His eyes went to the person in his arms, softening as they took in the sleepy radiance of the face pressed against his chest. Quatre was so very beautiful -- in sunlight, by firelight, tired and dirty or sleeping, it didn't matter what the circumstance was, the blond could always take his breath away.

He still didn't understand why Quatre wanted to stay with him. He knew he'd hurt Quatre last night by doubting him, but that wasn't really the case -- it was himself he doubted. So often he was moody, withdrawn or silent; polar opposite of Quatre's own sunnier disposition. Surely someone more open would suit him, but Quatre certainly didn't seem to feel that way.

Why?

"Trowa?" A pair of sleepy blue eyes opened. "What is it?"

"Nothing. Go back to sleep."

Quatre grumbled irritably. "I can practically see you worrying. You're tense, too. So what is it?"

In spite of his attempts, the question seemed to drag its way free of his mouth. "...why do you stay?"

"Oh, Trowa," Quatre sighed. "You really don't understand, do you?"

Trowa held his eyes, silently urging him to explain, to give him a reason. /Please. Tell me.../

"Trowa. You're everything to me. You are what makes it all worthwhile. I can't explain why -- if I could explain it, I think it would lose its magic. It just simply is." Seeing that the confusion had gotten worse instead of better, Quatre took in a deep breath and clenched his courage firmly. "I love you. That's why."

Trowa's heart skipped a beat, and his body forgot how to breathe. He... /He's in love with me?/ He shouldn't love him -- there was nothing about Trowa to love. There was nothing in him to offer, but... "I love you, too."

Quatre lit up, a brilliant smile exploding over his face. He threw his hands up and around Trowa's neck, hugging him tightly. "I was so afraid you didn't --"

Trowa was at a loss at how to explain that he had fallen hard for the blond only days after meeting him. He just hugged him back instead, holding on fiercely. He still didn't understand why Quatre loved him -- but he did understand that the blond in his arms was his, and that was good enough. Better than that. Shyly he pressed a kiss against Quatre's temple.

Quatre grinned at the gesture, and pulled back enough to press a kiss against a soft and willing mouth. Trowa hesitantly returned it, eyes slowly closing as Quatre took his face in both hands and gently taught him how to kiss. Wrapping both arms around the human's back, he settled comfortably and just enjoyed the feel and taste of the person pressed against him.

It took a couple of seconds for the sound and slight vibration to penetrate, but when it did Quatre broke the kiss, fighting down a burst of laughter. "Excuse me, but...are you purring?"

Trowa blinked at the loss of contact then scowled. "I am not."

"I think you were."

"I wasn't."

"It's cute."

"..."

Smiling mischievously, he tugged Trowa back down again. "Let's see, shall we?"

"I wasn't -- mmph. Mmm."

On the other side of the cave, Duo cracked open an eye. He was delighted to see that Trowa was wrapped around his blond counterpart, apparently having a very...ah, in-depth discussion. "Heero."

Heero turned fuzzily to see what his lover was up to. "Hn?"

"Look."

It took a second, but Heero finally managed to get one eye to stay open long enough to see Trowa making out with Quatre. He also noticed something else. "Is he purring again?"

"Sounds like it."

They exchanged smirks before snuggling back in with each other, eyes closed. They'd tease Trowa about it later -- right now, the new couple needed a little time to themselves.

It might have been a little difficult confessing what he felt to Quatre, but Trowa quickly came to the realization that those moments of high-level stress were more than compensated. Quatre apparently felt authorized to act on every whim that crossed his mind -- be it hugging, kissing, a simple stroke along the cat demon's side, or a quick nibble along one ear whenever he was within range. Trowa was more than pleased with all of the attention, and sought to return it in equal measure.

The only downside was that Duo was teasing them mercilessly. Ah well. There had to be at least one bad thing to balance all the good ones.

Later that day they were walking down the mountain, occasionally sliding because of all the mud from the recent downpour. Quatre's head jerked around as they reached the base, upsetting his precarious balance on the trail. His feet slid out from underneath him, arms wind milling slightly to try and keep him from falling, but it wasn't working -- oh crap --

Trowa caught him deftly, lifting him up in his arms.

Giving him a quick smile, Quatre went right back to studying that really strange aura that had caught his attention. "I'm not sure, but I think there's some kind of a demon traveling in the same direction that Terandl went."

They all exchanged looks. "Bad demon or good demon?" Duo inquired.

"Um...good, I think. It's hard to tell at this distance, his soul has a really weird shape to it -- but it's glowing white."

Trowa inhaled deeply. "I've never smelt someone like this before. Heero?"

Heero mirrored Trowa's actions, then frowned. Where had he encountered this scent before? "It's familiar, but I can't remember where I've run across it before."

"So..." Quatre's eyebrows lifted slightly. "Does that mean he won't attack us for no good reason?"

"Probably," Trowa allowed. "Regardless, we can't just sit here and wait for him to pass."

Within short order they had reached the bottom of the mountain. Quatre kept his eye on that demon, trying to figure out just what he was almost seeing. He was so focused on figuring it out, that it took a few minutes before he realized that the demon wasn't moving. "Um, guys? He's not moving."

Trowa halted abruptly and looked at him. "He's not moving?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure if he's waiting for us or what, but...he's not moving."

That spelled trouble to Trowa, and he made sure Quatre stayed behind him as they walked around the last bend. If this demon did want to fight, for whatever reason, he didn't want his blond hurt.

Sitting on a boulder near the road was a slender demon with midnight hair and eyes. To Quatre, he looked Chinese, even though intellectually he knew that Chinese people didn't exist in this world. What really caught his attention, however, was the demon's soul.

It was a dragon.

A very complex, beautiful dragon. The form was slender, arched in powerful lines and folded up inside the human form the demon was presently in, in such a way that it held its form without looking cramped.

"Quatre," Trowa murmured. "You're staring."

"Huh? Oh, uh, sorry. It's just -- I've never seen a dragon before." He smiled by way of apology to the dragon in question.

The dragon arched an eyebrow. "You see souls?"

"Yes," Quatre confirmed softly. Aside, he murmured to Trowa, "I think we can trust him."

The dragon lightly leaped to his feet, offering a slight bow. "I am Chang Wufei, of the Dragon Clan. I have been hunting Terandl for many moons now -- and have come across your scent in doing so. I wish to know what attack you used when you fought him."

Quatre exchanged uncertain glances with Trowa. He didn't sense any nefarious intentions with the dragon -- Wufei. But he wasn't sure if it was wise broadcasting his abilities all over the place either. "It's not something I'm comfortable sharing with strangers. We don't even know why you're following Terandl."

Wufei snorted, jaw clenching. "I have no love for Terandl. Revenge is my motivation."

Quatre moved forward, fascinated by the brief flare of red in Wufei's soul. A deep hatred was there -- he could guess for whom. But why? "What did he do?" Quatre breathed.