Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Essential Elements ❯ Over the River and Through the Cave ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The boys decide to go on a camping trip, but an adventure into a mysterious cave turns everything upside down. (Actual story is better, I promise!)

Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Shounen / Comedy / Adventure / Action / Hentai / Fantasy | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 10.03.2006 | Pages: 5 | Words: 11.3K | Visits: 617 | Status: Work In Progress

Warnings: AU-ish, yaoi, language, Duo's POV

Pairings: 2x1/1x2, 3x4, 5xS (waaaay later in the story)

Disclaimer: No, I don't own the G-boys, a fact that makes me cry to this day. I do, however, own everyone in this fic who's not in GW. Go me!

Chapter 1: Over the River and Through the Cave

“MAXWELL!”

Yup, that's me! Maxwell's the name, killing's the game. …Err, well, it was the game, `til the war ended. After two-and-a half years of trying to “attain peace,” having spent the majority of our youth fighting and killing people and blowing shit up, we Gundam boys could finally enjoy what was left of our adolescence. Notice, I said adolescence.

I don't call it a childhood anymore.

Yes, we won, Relena Peacecraft was Queen of The World, or whatever the hell it was that she was titled, everybody loved everybody else (yeah, right), and so-on and so-forth, yadda, yadda, yadda, blah, blah, blah.

Tch, whatever.

Well, like I said before, the five of us were congratulated, thanked, and then more or less left to our own devices. We all decided to go our separate ways, and for a while, it wasn't so bad. I mean, the government compensated us pretty nicely, so we didn't have to work or anything. But, despite that, we noticed that something seemed to be missing.

Trowa tried returning to the circus, in an attempt to fill the void in his life with seriously dangerous, totally cool, death-defying, kick-ass stunts. Quatre went back to one too-big mansion or another, managed WEI and used his zillions of dollars as bathwater. Wufei and Heero went to work for the Preventers and I stayed in the salvage yard with Hilde.

Yeah, life wasn't so bad. …Except something in the back of our minds gnawed at us. Something was missing. Something, something, something….

We kinda figured out what that something was when we noticed we were getting a little too excited when one of the others sent us anything. …Well, me and Quat admitted we got really excited, though I've got a sneaking suspicion that Wufei might have been happier than he let on. And I know Trowa had to have gotten excited when he got anything from Quaaatre. They're both so stupid when it comes to love. They don't realize they were made for each other, and they don't realize that I, Shinigami, know and see all.

…And maybe I've read a few select pages of Quat's diary….

By the by, that kid's way more perverted than anyone would think to give him credit for. And talk about kinky! I mean, wow, if only you knew some of the fantasies he's written out in there whoo, I tell ya! Makes me hot just thinkin' about it!

Oh, yeah. You. Sorry for getting distracted, I have a tendency to do that, Heero tells me.

Mmmm… Heero…. ….

See what I mean?

Anyway, as I was saying, we figured out that, despite the fact that, we weren't in a constant combat situation anymore, we still needed each other. We needed someone to talk to when we were down, someone who wouldn't judge us for what we were, what we'd been. Needed someone to comfort us after we woke up, drenched in sweat and screaming due the aftereffects of some nightmare or another. We needed someone we could trust with our dirty secrets, our tainted souls. (Yeah, I know that sounds cheesy coming from me, but it was true.) There was nobody we could really turn to when the really hard times came around. I mean, don't get me wrong, Hilde was great, but since she started seeing Whatshisfuck she'd been so happy… and I got tired of upsetting her with my problems all the time. Just because my life sucked didn't mean I had to drag hers down with me, did it? No, of course not.

So, after Quatre and I diagnosed the problem, we started having weekly get-togethers over the weekends. In the very beginning, it was just the two of us, really, as the others were either socially retarded (Heero) or sociopathic (Heero and Trowa) or they were Wufei. We'd go clubbing or partying, and we had a blast, but we really wanted it to be everyone.

And what the two of us wanted, the two of us got.

Gradually, the others allowed us to coerce them into joining our little outings. Each week, we took turns deciding what we were going to do. So far, we've done everything from sitting at the park and meditating on “the meaning of life and our existence” (Wufei, duh!), to rappelling (Trowa), to sky diving (Yuy) to playing outside in during a rainstorm (which was a helluva lot more fun than I thought it would be) (Quat), to spelunking (I rock).

This weekend marked the ten-week anniversary of our doing stuff together and Wufei shocked everyone by deciding that we'd go on a three-day camping trip. He told us he knew some awesome, secluded forest area that stretched for miles and was great for meditating and cleansing the spirit and finding your balance, and all that jazz. So, we all packed, met up at Q's house (estate, mansion, palace, whatever you want to call it), and hit the road.

Six hours later, we were out looking for the field Wufei claimed to have been in when he'd come before. Only problem was that `Fei had the directional common sense of a lemming.

:ooooo:

“Damn it, guys!” I growled, pointing downward accusatorily. “I know I've passed this rock before, I remember it! I'm tellin' ya we're goin' in circles!” A chorus of sighs met this statement.

Yup, that's me, baby: Duo Maxwell, Mr. Exasperating at your service!

“Maxwell, how do you know that we've passed this particular rock before?” Wufei asked without turning. “Recognize it as, what? A relative, maybe?” I sighed, and turned to him.

“Come on, Wu, do you really have to be so harsh? So cruel, as to insinuate that I, Duo Maxwell, Shinigami, am related to a common, garden-variety rock?” I stepped closer to him, looking deep into his coal-black eyes. “It could have at least been a mountain, or somethin'. Fuffles, why do you constantly chip the delicate edges of our porcelain friendship, saw at the fraying rope of our trust, weather the boulder of our insubstantial-”

“Maxwell! First of all, my name is Wufei. Wu. Fei. Not Wu, not Fuffles, not `Fei-Fei, not Wuffie. Wufei. Secondly, shut up. Some of us are trying to actually get to the campsite before nightfall. Your incessant babbling is not only distracting, but-”

“Injustice?” I supplied helpfully. He scowled and I waved dismissively at him. “Shove it, Wu-bear. First of all,” I started, throwing his own words back at him, “The real problem here's the fact that you couldn't give someone directions out of an open cardboard box. Second, I'll stop givin' you nicknames when you start calling me Duo. Third, I'm hungry. And tired. And I gotta pee. Can we stop and take a break now? Pretty please? Thanks to Captain I-Have-No-Idea-Where-The-Hell-I'm-Going-But-I'm-Gonna-Pretend-Like-I-Do, we've been walkin' for hours. Break? Please?” I looked around at my walking companions with puppy dog eyes, cause I really wanted to stop and rest-

“Duo, why don't we keep going until we find a good spot and just set up camp early?” I send Quatre a look that all but screamed “Traitor!” and he winced smiling sheepishly. “Come on, Duo, I can see a nice spot from here. It shouldn't be that far a walk at all, maybe a mile at the most.” Rolling my eyes, I stomped past him, trying to ignore my floating eyeballs.

“Fine, yeah, okay, we'll keep goin', but when my bladder explodes and my spleen ruptures and I die a slow, painful death by internal bleeding, I hope everyone will kindly remember who it was that killed me,” I grumbled. Trowa chuckled softly from somewhere behind us.

“Drama queen,” Quatre muttered.

“Bitch,” I shot back. I immediately regretted the comment; Quatre shrieked indignantly, and began chasing me, murder written all over his face.

I ran for my life, and needless to say, the two of us reached the designated campsite in record time, winded and drained. With one last enraged cry, he launched himself at me and effectively bowled me over.

As we lay panting and laughing on the leaf-strewn forest floor, waiting for the others, I felt a twinge in my belly and thought of something. (Me, thinking. Scary notion, eh?) “Hey, Quat?” I called over my shoulder. He rolled over, brows knitted, probably concerned about my suddenly serious tone.

“Duo? What is it?” I rolled over, too, to face him.

“Uh… Quat, do… do you know if, uh….” My friend smiled softly.

“Duo, you know you can ask me anything. What's bothering you?” I shook my head.

“It's nothin' like that, Q-man, it's just that… well, I was wonderin' if you maybe brought any toilet paper?” Blank stare. “I think those chicken nuggets I had are at war with my colon. And my colon's losing.” Another twinge. “Bad.”

Quatre continued to stare at me and I became more and more aware of the growing unease in my stomach. Damn stupid appealing-looking fast-food signs! As Quatre watched the `Duo's Uncomfortable and it's Apparently Amusing Show' play out across my face, the corners of his perfect Cupid's bow mouth began twitching. Then, he grinned. The grin quickly progressed to laughter, and within seconds, the two of us were at it again, cracking up, rolling around in the dirt and fallen foliage.

“You know, I think we really need to stop allowing the two of them to have caffeine, Yuy.” Heero snorted agreement at the speaker's comment and I lifted my head to see amusement in Trowa's bottle-green eyes. …Err, well, that bottle green eye. Man, his hair was crazy. Even after four years, his bangs still managed to do that wierd, gravity-defying thing. Nope, nothing different there.

Truth was, none of us had changed all that much. Trowa was still the tallest at 6'2, and had gained as much muscle as height. It was discovered that Trowa, or Triton, if you want to go by his “real” name (which I don't, because, let's face it, it sucks), is also the oldest of us, at 20. And though he was still more or less the strong, silent type, he'd opened up much more, relying less and less on ellipses language.

Especially when the topic of conversation was a certain blue-eyed blond trillionaire.

Then, there's Fei-babe. I watched him begin to unpack all the essential camping crap, noting that, nope, he hadn't changed very much either. 5'10 and 19 years old, he was still the same old Wufei, hair pulled back into that crazy-tight ponytail, though I'd managed to convince him to let his hair grow out a little, and those white Chinese pants-things. Yep, he was still the lawyer, the judge, and the jury. Still snapped at every little thing, still got nosebleeds of you said the word `cock' with the right inflection in your voice… Had to remember to do that soon….

Q-ball was the littlest, at 5'7, and the sweetest and the nicest and the youngest (I had him beat by a couple of months) at 19, but he'd lost a lot of his “cute little boy” appearance. At some point in time, he'd taken to dyeing his hair outrageous colors, and at the moment, it was a pretty silvery blue, but that'd probably change within the next few days. He also got both ears pierced and a really cool Arab-inspired design tattooed on his right hipbone.

Ah, kids and their impulses.

`Course, an ear piercing, a tongue stud, and two tattoos later, I couldn't say much of anything about Q's impulses, seeing as how I was the one to suggest them, but, I was pretty much the same, too. I was 5'9 so I grew a little, though not as much as I would have liked, (and dammit, I blame you, stupid malnourished childhood, for getting in the way of my development). My hair had grown longer and now I have to move it out of the way if I don't want to end up sitting on it. I was still the jester, the wild child, the unpredictable one; I could be Shinigami when the occasion called for it. I was still the same loveable Duo, everybody's favorite.

So maybe I'm overconfident, sue me. Besides, I wasn't my own favorite. Oh, no. Not by a long shot, Mr. Yuy.

Heero had filled out. And before you start in on me, I am fully aware that's usually a phrase used to describe girls, but that's the only thing I can think of. Like Trowa, he'd gotten more muscular. Sexier. Like Trowa, he was 20; he was taller (6 foot), leaner and more sinuous. His hair still had that oh-so-sexy tousled look that just screamed “come-fuck-me-back-into-the-bed-I-just-crawled-out-of-Duo-Maxwell.” Damn sexy bastard. I think out of all of us, Heero changed the most. He'd allowed me and Quat to bully him into letting his hair grow out some (and man, it was better than ever!), he'd gotten some ink done, and had opened up, talking, laughing, and joking with the rest of us. (Oh, his smile just kills me!) He lets me flirt with him, an allowance I take full advantage of every chance I get, and never seems to be bothered by it. (Score one for Shinigami!) In fact, I was pretty sure he liked me back, (I am, after all, irresistible) but I wasn't 100 percent positive we wanted me. He was still really good at being silent and mysterious.

Which, to me, only served to make him even more dead sexy.

And that dead sexiness was one of the reasons I was staring so very intently at that scrumptiously hot, deliciously firm ass of his as he helped Wufei and Trowa pitch the tent, the three of them bitching and moaning how tired they were.

Pansies.

I let my mind wander back to Heero, imagining all the things I could do to that magnificent rear-end… and the things I'd let him do to mine….

“DUO!” I was snapped out of my reverie by a sharp voice.

“Huh?” I answered stupidly. I turned, only to see the others staring at me. I realized that Quatre had been calling me for a while, and had therefore probably been watching me the whole time with that stupid knowing smirk on his face. Grinning even wider, he held up a roll of toilet paper.

“Still need your bathroom break, Duo?” His voice was way too sweet. Damned stupid empath. Growling, embarassed, I stormed over to him, snatched the toilet paper out of his hands and made my way to the bathr… woods.

A few trees over, well out of the way of our campsite, I finished my business, only to hear an out-of-place rustle in the bushes behind me. Tensed and ready to spring, I waited for any form of attack. (Oh, shut up, you try being a Gundam pilot for most of your life and see how relaxed you are when you hear an out-of-place rustle while you're completely vulnerable!)

“You done yet?” Quatre's perfect blond head popped up and I sighed in relief.

“Whaddya mean, am I done?” I demanded, brandishing the toilet paper mock-threateningly. “Don't I look done to you?” Quatre grinned and raised his hands placatingly.

“Hey, hey, hey, I didn't mean anything by it. I was just going to suggest that if you're done, maybe we can look around the forest, see what's around our campsite… talk about this Japanese ex-Gundam pilot I met the other day, with the most amazing blue eyes….” He batted his eyelashes at me and I smiled. Well, Quatre, two can play that game. I winked back, turning as I did so.

“Oh, I dunno,” I started coyly, heading back towards the camp. Damn, I was hungry again! “I was thinking more along the lines of a certain green-eyed circus acrobat. You know, I've heard he can bend his body in all sorts of fascinating ways….” Q got a kick out of that, and the two of us joked all the way back to the site.

Did I ever mention that Quatre was my best friend? Well, he was. I mean, it's not like I wasn't close to the others, `cause sharing a bed with a guy'll do that to ya. But me and Quat just fit, yanno? We did everything together: went shopping, talked about food, guys, politics, guys, movies, money (or frequent lack thereof, in my case), clothes, guys. Guys. Men.

Did I mention we were gay?

Not that you couldn't tell, seeing as how we were crushing on T and Heero, but yeah. We kind of figured it out together. And not like that, you perverts! I could never see Q as a potential boyfriend. (Not to say that I don't find him attractive, `cause he is. With that immaculate blond hair and those aquamarine eyes, Q's pretty damn pretty. But we're way too much alike, and too close of friends to be ever be compatible in that way. That and the fact that I'd want my man to totally own my wild ass, and I just couldn't imagine Q dominating me. …Or Q dominating anyone, for that matter…. And yes, I did just go off on an irrelevant ranting tangent. Bite me.) We simply discovered that we were attracted to a beautiful, well-built male body together.

So, we talked about guys (coughHeeroandTrowacoughcough) relatively often. And we'd talk about how we were going to go about seducing said men fairly frequently as well. Too bad neither of us had the balls to go about our plans the way we describe to each other that we will, huh? Ah, well, it was fun just thinking up strategies.

As we approached the camp, I was treated with another astral view of Heero's delectable backside, as he was bent over, arranging logs for the fire. Dear God, he was gorgeous, those shorts (no, not spandex… unfortunately…) clinging to every curve of his lovely backside, those long, muscular, sun-bronzed legs, taunting me, teasing me, just begging me to-

“Dammit Duo, I'm talking to you!”

Whoops, foiled again! I scuttled over to Quat where he was standing with his hands on his hips, near the food. Mmmm. I'd love a Heero sandwich….

:ooooo:

“So, I take it `cha still haven't found the nerve to tell Tro you're hot for him, eh, Q?” He kicked a few leaves at me as we walked farther and farther from the campsite, enjoying each other's company and taking in the sights around us.

And bitching about life. Our usual.

“Oh, shush! I'm not as rash as you, you maniac, I'm not just going to out myself to him like that, we've been over this. Besides, I really don't think Trowa's gay, Duo.” I growled. I hate repeating myself!

“We've been over that, too, dumbshit! I tol'ja, I've seen the way he stares at you, Q. Like he's… you when you look at food while you're doing that fasting thing, and there you are, a deli select sandwich with all his favorite toppings. Or like you're a big, juicy, well-marinated steak and he's a starving dog. Like a hungry fat man at a buffet. Like-”

“You're still hungry aren't you?” I grinned.

“Like he's a sex-addict and you're a cheap, horny hooker.” Quatre rolled his eyes, but smirked widely.

“You are so crude, Duo.” I stuck my pierced tongue out at him.

“Yeah, you love me. Besides, I call `em like I see `em. I'm tellin' ya, Quat, just throw yourself on him and kiss him senseless, and you'll be all set. He wants you, Q, believe me. He. Wants. You.” I punctuated each word of the last sentence with a playful punch to Quat's arm. He sighed, rubbing the offending limb ruefully.

“I dunno….” Waving my hand in disgusted dismissal, I turned to take in the sights

To say that the forest was beautiful would have been an understatement. Almost everything that wasn't brown was a crazy-bright shade of GREEN. One of those greens that made your eyes water, you know? Cutting through all the GREEN was a small stream, with water so clear you could see every rock and pebble at the bottom of it. I sighed, loving how gorgeous everything was. I glanced up at the sky to see that it was the most exquisite shade of blue that I had ever seen, the little Stay-Puff Marshmallow clouds lazily floating around, as if they didn't have a care in the world. …Oh. Right. They didn't. (Sorry, I had a blond moment.)

I looked back towards the ground at all the GREEN-ery, loving the way that the plants on the forest floor created a mosaic, the GREENs mixing with the BROWNs and the REDs and the-

“Oh, Duo, look!” Dammit! Why was it that MY reflections were always the ones that got interrupted! I turned, with every intention of glaring at the blond for disrupting my thoughts, but as I glanced in the direction he was pointing in, I kinda forgot that I had been thinking anything at all.

There, in the middle of a clearing, branching off from the brook we'd been walking beside, was a beautiful mineral spring. I gawked as I took in the view, noting that it was very big. Very, very big. I remembered the others' complaining from earlier. Oh, yes, plenty big enough for five ex-Gundam pilots to relax in, with room left over. We could relax and enjoy one another's company.

Hmmmm…. Maybe I could spend some time watching the play of muscle under skin of a certain messy-haired… ooohhhh, yeeesss….

I turned quickly to my friend, “Hey buddy. Whaddya say we gather the troops for a dip in the spring?” I was hoping he had been thinking what I had been thinking.

He had been.

:ooooo:

“C'mon guys, please? It'll be really fun! You can relax your muscles, take a nice, hot soak, and, oh, it'll be great, please? Please, pleasepleasepleaseplease?” I looked around, eyes pleading.

Then, I remembered the outcome of the last time I tried the pleading thing (that ended with me running a mile and Quatre tackling me into the ground) and reevaluated my strategy.

Make way for Duo the Dictator!

Glowering, I stomped my foot. “Dammit, guys, get off yer asses and go change! We leave in ten minutes.” Ignoring the perplexed stares of my friends, I turned on my heel, went to my tent, and began riffling through my duffle bag for something suitable to swim in.

“No, really Heero,” I heard Trowa stage whisper. “If it's going to contribute to his schizophrenia, no more caffeine for Duo.”

Precisely ten minutes later, the five us were standing trunks-clad around the campsite with our towels, getting ready to leave. Wufei began putting out the fire as “it would be unjust to risk setting a blaze in this, a place of such concentrated tranquility,” while I took the time to ogle Heero's righteous bod: those washboard abs, those delectable pecs, those perky nipples that were just waiting for the right mouth (mine, duh), those wonderfully powerful arms….

“Duo, you're drooling,” Quatre whispered into my ear, grinning. Pulling out of my dirty mindset, I refocused. “Right then,” Q announced loudly. “Are we ready?”

“Where exactly is this hot spring, Quatre?” My toes curled as I heard Heero's strong voice, and I struggled not to begin thinking lecherous thoughts with him so close to me, `cause my swim trunks weren't very thick.

“Not far at all, maybe a thirty-minute walk, that's it.” Trowa eyed me skeptically.

What did I do?

“What happened to you being exhausted, Duo? I distinctly remember you asking one of us to carry you ten minutes after we parked the cars, because you didn't feel like walking anymore. And now, you're begging us to hike thirty minutes into the forest? A trip you've already taken twice?” His voice was dubious.

“By the way,” Wufei started, smirking broadly, “What happened to your endurance, Maxwell, your stamina? Out of shape so soon? And you call yourself a Gundam pilot. Pathetic.” I growled at him, preparing to hurl back a biting, witty comeback concerning his dismal sense of direction. But before I could get it out-

“You know, Duo, Wufei has a point.” Heero! And here I thought I was in love with you! He turned, smirking, laughter sparkling in his eyes.

Oh. That's right, I was.

“I remember there was a time when you claimed that you could outrun and outdistance any one of us in a race. Were you exaggerating, Duo? Laying it on thick because you never expected anyone to actually challenge you? Well, then, here's your chance to prove yourself.”

And with that, he took off.

Well, I'll be damned if it didn't seem like Heero “Ninmu Ryoukai” Yuy was just flirting with me! The incredulously amused look on Q's face told me I wasn't the only one who thought that might have been the case.

Hot damn!

“Oh, no you don't, Heero, ya dirty cheatin' bastard! You don't realize who yer dealin' with! Shinigami, loses to no one, Yuy! Yer gonna regret challengin' me, pal! I'm gonna kick yer sorry a-”

“Duo, you are well aware of the fact that you are losing right now, right?” Quatre called. I looked up to see all four of my friends racing ahead of me.

“Bastards!” And with that, I took off, determined to teach the four of them that nobody messes with….

Damn. Trowa was a lot faster than I thought.

:ooooo:

“See, isn't this nice, guys? Just relaxin and soakin and not worryin about anything? We told ya this was a great spot!” Looking around, I could tell that the others were in silent agreement.

Quatre had brought one of those float-y pool things and was gliding on his back, hands trailing in the water, smiling happily. Wufei was lying on a rock, meditating, I maybe, and Trowa and Heero were swimming laps. Yeah, that was too much exercise for me. I was sitting on an underwater rock shelf, up to my neck in the water with my braid floating snakelike beside me.

It was so nice. More than nice, in fact, as Heero stopped swimming and put his sexy self on display directly in front of me.

Heck. Yes.

Dripping wet, head thrown back, eyes closed and literally steaming, he was orgasm incarnate. God, he looked good enough to eat!

HA!

I finally mused without getting cut off.

All the relaxing was nice, but after a while, I got bored. Something was missing….

Oh, yeah. Fun.

“Think fast, Wu!” I cried as the Chinese boy was suddenly doused with a torrent of warm water. I grinned, pleased with myself, as he sputtered and cursed.

Then, he glared at me and there was silence.

Quatre sat up on his float, mouth open in mute horror. Trowa covered his mouth with his hand, wide-eyed. Heero gave me a look. “Oh, Duo, why did you have to go and do that?” I said. “You and I were supposed to hook up and have hot man-sex tonight, but now we can't, because Wufei's going to decapitate you.”

…Okay, so maybe it read more along the lines of “baka, he's going to waste you, and I plan to laugh while he does it,” but that's splitting hairs.

I looked back to Wufei, noting the utter and complete rage on his face, at my having disturbed his meditation, and decided that splashing him was not one of my smarter life choices.

“Hey, now. Wu, buddy,” I began conciliatorily, backing up in the water. He stalked towards me, murder written all over his face. “It was just a joke, man, I mean, come on, you were gonna get wet eventually, right?” He continued, wading deeper in towards me. “Hey, it coulda been cold, Wu! At least it wasn't cold right? And at least yer pants're thick, just imagine how bad that would have been! Would you really have wanted us to see you cold and wet, in thin white pants?” Wufei stopped his advance, confused, and I took advantage of his hesitation. “I don't think you'd want us to see you smaller than you already are, Wu-baby.”

I watched the play of emotions on his face, as the bewilderment turned into disgust, which turned into embarrassment, which changed back to rage.

It didn't help the situation at all when the others started cracking up.

“MAXWELL!”

And with that, I dove under the water, with the howls of the others following me.

“Maxwell, you coward, get back here and face justice!” I heard a splash as he dove in after me, and I swam faster, in a vain attempt to avoid the inevitable, ducking behind rocks and swimming low, causing sediment to cloud up behind me. Laughing to myself, I surfaced and swam like hell towards the first person I saw.

“Save me, Trowa!” I shouted, flinging myself at him. Still laughing, he disentangled himself from me.

“No way, Duo. You got yourself into this, don't ask to me to bail you out.” He pushed me back into the water, in the direction that the dreaded Wu-shark was circling underwater. Quatre giggled and I turned pleadingly to him. He shook his head.

“Oh, no, don't try and get me involved in your water-war, Duo. I don't feel like getting wet right now.” I smirked dangerously and swam towards him. He visibly paled. “Y-you stay away from me, Duo Maxwell,” he warned, back-pedaling on his float. I grinned wider and swam faster, vaguely aware of Wufei surfacing at the other end of the pond. Quatre was moving his hands furiously now, as I was only a few feet away from him. “Duo, I'm serious, you get the hell away from me, or by Allah I'll- AAAHHHH!”

Too late, Q-bean!

I laughed as I lunged at him, upsetting his precious float and sending him screaming him ass-over-ear into the water. Behind me, Heero and Trowa were roaring, both doubled over as far as they could get without drowning. But as Quatre resurfaced, the laughing slowed, quieted, and then stopped altogether. Seconds later it began anew, if possible even louder. Damn, it sounded like they were dying!

“Oh, shit,” I whispered before once again hauling butt through the water.

“Get back here, jackass!” The dripping apparition behind me snarled. I had no time to curse myself for forgetting about Wufei, as I was viciously dragged under the water. I swallowed a mouthful of hot, liquid doom and gagged, clawing my way to the surface, while at the same time trying to put as much distance between myself and those strong hands as I could.

“Duuuooo,” someone chimed sweetly. Too sweetly. I turned, horrified, to see both my bedraggled friends advancing on me. I yelped and ran (actually, can you really call it running when you're making such ungainly, ineffective movements in the water?) to Heero, as Trowa had been wise enough to move away. I flung myself at his chest. Mmmm… such a wonderful chest….

“H-Hee-chan, you'll protect me right? Y-ya won't let em hurt sweet lil' me, right? Right? H-hee-chan?” I gave him my best puppy-dog eyes and pouted. When he smiled down at me, I thought I was going to die of heart failure. God, why was he so hot!

“Oh, poor Duo,” he purred, leaning down. He wrapped both arms around me and picked me up. Dear sweet friggin' heavens, was this really happening! Was Heero “Walking Wet Dream” Yuy really HOLDING ME IN HIS ARMS! This was, like, my fourth-favorite fantasy!

We were so close, his lips inches from mine, and he was still smiling that dazzling smile, his blue eyes half-mast. He lifted me a little higher, smiled a little wider and I closed my eyes, willing this moment to never end when he… did the entirely predictable, totally evil thing of tossing me back into the water. Asshole.

I flew through the air and landed with a resounding splash in front of my two tormentors. Once again, spluttering, I came up for air, simply to be dunked back under.

“How's it taste, Duo?” Quatre demanded as I surfaced once again, only to be attacked from behind by Wufei. “Like REVENGE?” Fuck, I was gonna drown if they kept this up! (Hahaha, keep it up, Duo!)

That's when I remembered….

“I was just kiddin', `Fei, I'm sure you've got a huge, monster of a dick, and you wouldn't mind if we saw it at all, would you?”

That turned out to be just the edge I needed. Wufei cried out, and his face began in the most amazing fountain impersonation I've ever witnessed. With Wu's nose gushing blood, Quat grew concerned, rushing to his side, and thus freeing me of my captors.

“Hn, nice strategy, 02,” I heard in my ear. I whirled around to look into a pair of intense Prussian blue eyes. Eyes that normally would have had me completely captivated, but this time around….

SPLASH!

“Dammit, Yuy, you fuckwad, what're you doing!” I was ONCE AGAIN forced into the deliciously hot water, and most of it seemed to have gone up my nose and into my brain.

Phew!

I whirled around to face Heero, growling. “Why'd ya do that, you jerk!” He grinned lazily and stalked slowly towards me. I gulped at the effect that look had on my groin.

Whoohoo, down, boy!

“I dunno, I guess like the way you look when you're wet.” I groaned involuntarily as he pressed his body against mine, and my brain shut down. “When you're hot and wet….” He trailed off, smirked, and licked his lips. My breath caught in my throat and I blinked. This was the best thing to ever happen to me! …Except for maybe that time I got to straddle his lap to pick a lock in an interrogation room (I took foreeeever). Or during Quatre's yacht party (Ah, God). Or that time he let me sleep naked in his bed with him (GOD!). Oh, there was absolutely no way this could be happening, no way my life was this good….

DUNK!

“You are very gullible, 02.”

Nope. No way.

“Yuy, you fucking shit!”

:ooooo:

An hour later, as the five of us soggy, exhausted ex-pilots began heading back towards the campsite, I noticed a cave. It wasn't anything extraordinary, really, just your average, everyday, run-of-the-mill forest cave. But, I'd never had the chance to be in a cave like that one, and being the brash explorer (idiot!) that I was, I decided that “it'd be fun to see what's in it.”

Yeah. Go me.

: Twenty-five minutes into the cave:

“Maxwell, I don't believe this to be one of your better ideas. I have a bad feeling about this place.” I snorted.

“Oh, hush, `Fei. You had a bad feeling about that Mexican restaurant we went to last week, too.”

“Duo, need I remind you we all got food poisoning from there? …And I have to agree with Wufei, something's not right about this place.” I turned, frowning. Looking around, I couldn't see anything about the place that bothered me any. Other than the fact that the walls were all drippy. But we were pretty far into the cave, and that's what cave walls did, right? They dripped.

“Alright, Mr. Space-Heart, what do you find so wrong about it?” Quatre opened his mouth to speak but was cut off.

“Guys, come look at this.” Trowa's voice sounded distant and funny. He and Heero (why did the two of them always seem to be near each other?) were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, inspecting what appeared to be a small lagoon. I stood next to Heero (of course) and peered into the depression. The water, or whatever it was, was a nacreous (aha! didn't know I knew that word, did you?) grayish-blue. Weird.

“Duo, what the hell are you doing?” Heero asked as I knelt down near the edge. I looked up at him, rolling my eyes.

“What does it look like I'm doin', Heero, I'm lookin' at it.” I put my face close to the surface, and stared at my own reflection. The others followed, all kneeling and examining the surface of the water more carefully.

Yesss, I'm a trendsetter!

Bored with staring at the water, I was about to suggest we go ahead and go back when a streak of light shot beneath the surface of the water.

“What the hell?” Trowa started. Then I saw it again, a pulse of GREEN light, the same GREEN of the forest, flitted under the water.

“What a pretty blue,” Q breathed. I was too intrigued with the pool to notice that the poor kid couldn't distinguish colors anymore.

“Too weird,” I whispered. I reached my hand out, thinking stupidly that maybe if I touched the water, my hand would come out GREEN. Or something.

I honestly don't know what I was thinking.

“Duoyou idiot, don't touch it!” But it was too late. My fingers broke through, and ripples slowly swelled across the surface. The… “water”… felt odd, to say the least, more like a thick syrup than anything really liquid. I pulled my hand out slowly, then dipped it back in.

“Guys, check this out.” I began to move my hand around in the stuff, fascinated with the feel of it against my skin. The others looked at each other, and slowly, they all lowered their hands into the liquid.

“Damn it, that's hot!” Trowa said, grimacing.

“Allah, it's freezing!” Quatre gasped.

“'S weird. Feels like mud,” Heero said, frowning in confusion.

“It shocked me!” Wufei snarled.

“Feels like syrup, ne?” I asked.

Each of these five different takes on the stuff in the lagoon came out of five different mouths at the same time.

We had a moment to stare incredulously at each other before the water lit up again. Different colors of light surrounded each of our submerged hands: Quatre's hand was engulfed in ice-blue, Trowa's in a bright orange-red, Wufei's encased in neon yellow, Heero's in bright silver, and my own in Super-GREEN.

That GREEN exploding in my eyes, surrounding my entire body, was the last thing I saw before I landed hard on my back and blacked out.

TBC!

Please R&R!