Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Wing and the Gods of Thunder ❯ Getting Back to Normal ( Chapter 14 )

Chapter 14: Getting Back to Normal

“Will someone shut that laughing idiot up?” Odin grumbled.

Loki, still seated on the rock with Fenrir, kept falling into fresh gales of laughter every time he looked around.

“Oh come on, Odin,” Loki laughed. “Cheer up. You have to admit this is pretty funny. Look at Freya's dress.”

Freya regarded Loki with an expression that would have chilled an ice giant's behind.

“And look at the bright side. You're all male again.”

Odin's cheeks grew red. “By order of the mighty Odin,” he declared to no one in particular, “that incident never happened and will never be discussed again.”

“By Odin's command,” the gods echoed, but there wasn't a lot of sincerity to be heard.

“So how about it, Odin?” Quatre squatted down in front of the sulking Father of the gods. “Do you want Roku to fix Asgard or not?”

“What would be the point?” Odin said morosely. “The Rainbow Bridge is gone. How will Asgard and Midgard be properly connected again?”

“I can make a portal, like the one that used to connect Sleetcold to Asgard,” Roku said. “I liked that magic.”

Odin perked up. “In truth? The portal to Sleetcold and the Rainbow Bridge were created at the same time as the cosmos. It is very ancient magic.”

Roku nodded. “And we can stick Jotunheim on top of that big mountain range that Jormangand made so the ice giants can stay nice and cool. They wouldn't be able to reach Asgard anymore, so there shouldn't be another Ragnarok.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” said Trowa.

“But I like visiting the ice giants,” Loki protested.

“I'm sure you'll still find a way to get there,” Odin said sourly.

“Can I borrow your magic, Mr. Odin? I can do it faster if I use magic connected to Asgard.”

“Of course.” Odin inclined his head graciously.

Roku put a paw on Odin's knee and spoke a long, long Latin phrase, with what sounded like phrases of ancient Norse thrown in. The scattered chunks of Asgard started coalescing even as the snowballs that were all that was left of Jotunheim fell toward the Earth, along with the remaining ice giants. Then the Earth and blackness of space disappeared and a beautiful blue sky formed over their heads.

“What happened to the Earth?” Duo asked curiously.

“I turned Asgard out of phase with the Earth,” Roku said with a slight wrinkle between his brows. “So they're in the same place but not. Does that make sense?”

“It sounds like you shoved us into your storage space.”

Roku grinned.

“Somehow, I think I'm glad he didn't answer that,” Heero muttered.

Wu-Fei nodded silently.

Odin stood up and looked around. “Where is Valhalla?”

“I thought you'd want to rebuild that yourself. Remember, Fenrir had kind of chewed it up.”

“That's right!” Odin looked around. “Just where are Fenrir and Loki?”

Loki and Fenrir were nowhere in sight.

“You know Loki,” Heimdall said. “He has a preternatural awareness of the onset of work. He no doubt had a premonition that Valhalla and all our homes would have to be rebuilt, so he will probably remain in hiding until everything is done.”

“I am not lifting a finger until someone finds me a clean dress!” Freya complained. She sat primly on a rock with her arms crossed looking completely offended.

Roku pulled a satiny smooth blue dress from behind his shoulder. Trowa retrieved it and offered it to Freya. She looked slightly mollified as she scurried off behind a tree to change.

“You keep dresses in there, too?” Treize asked Roku curiously.

“Nah, I just made that so Miss Freya would feel better.”

Treize frowned. “Tell me Roku: what's the difference between getting something out of your storage space and just making it on the spot?”

Roku blinked thoughtfully. “Well…”

“Don't answer that!” Duo and Thor shouted in unison. “I don't want to know!”

“But…” Roku tried again.

“It's probably better to let it stay a mystery, Roku,” Quatre said.

Roku shrugged.

Various people began straggling across the plains toward them. Heroes, servants and minor gods who had survived Ragnarok slowly gathered around them, waiting for Odin to tell them what to do. Orders were issued and soon enough, using a combination of magic and plain old back-breaking labor, Valhalla rose again from the Asgard plains and the homes of the gods were remade. Herds were gathered back together and folks settled down to resume their idyllic lives.

In the scant handful of weeks that this took, Alexa started walking.

“She's growing up rather fast, wouldn't you say?” Zechs remarked.

“Extremely fast,” Treize agreed.

“It's a side-effect of accelerated pregnancy,” Quatre said.

“She eats almost as much as Roku,” Zechs said.

“She needs to in order to grow that fast.” Quatre studied Alexa clinically. “But I think she might be slowing down a little.”

“How can you tell?”

“Well…”

“You're guessing.”

“I'm standing by my scientific opinion. I think she'll slow to a normal growth rate sooner than Roku did.”

“Roku grew to the age of nine in less than a year.”

“She's slowing down.”

“Says you.”

“Trust me.”

“It's never good when he starts quoting Duo,” Treize said absently.

“Hey!” Duo exclaimed.

“She certainly gets along well with Roku,” Trowa noted.

Alexa tottered along behind Roku, giggling wildly as she tried to catch his tail, which he held just out of reach. Long brown curls tumbled over her shoulders and framed her adorable face. Her big, deep blue eyes were rimmed with long, thick lashes. Dimples formed in her rosy cheeks whenever she smiled, which was most of the time.

“She looks just like Zechs, only prettier,” Duo said.

“You can certainly tell she's his daughter,” Trowa agreed.

“But she has Treize's determination,” Wu-Fei noted as Alexa made a sudden lunge in a serious attempt to catch the tip of Roku's tail.

Roku allowed her to succeed and she collapsed into gleeful squeals, waving the tail clutched in her fist. Zechs scooped her up and blew on her tummy. She grabbed handfuls of his silver hair and giggled, kicking her little feet.

“Mama!” Alexa squealed.

Zechs stared at her in surprise.

Quatre sighed wistfully. “That was Roku's first word!”

Alexa held out her arms toward Treize and when he stepped within reach, she grabbed his nose.

“Papa!”

“And that was Roku's second!” Quatre sighed again. “How sweet! It makes me kind of nostalgic for when Roku was just a cub.”

“I'm sure Trowa would be happy to knock you up again,” Duo chuckled.

“I'm not going to let you ruin my good mood.”

Frey appeared. “Odin has invited everyone to a grand feast to celebrate the completion of Valhalla.”

“Won't it seem kind of empty?” Wu-Fei asked. “A lot of heroes were killed during Ragnarok.”

“True,” said Frey, “but Odin had the Valkyries round up some of the people who died on Midgard when it broke up, so we should have a pretty full house.”

“But what does he still need heroes for?” asked Heero. “Now that Ragnarok has passed they have nothing to train for.”

Frey shrugged. “They're just fun to have around I guess.”

“A grand feast sounds like a great idea!” Duo said. “Maybe there will be gambling, too!”

“Sheesh!” Heero muttered.

“And afterward,” Duo looped an arm through Heero's, “you and me and Wu-Fei can have a little private time.” Then he grinned. “Unless you'd rather do it with Freya again?”

Heero went pale. “Let's not bring that up.”

Duo chuckled. “Let's go eat!”

The whole party marched across the plains toward the new Valhalla, whose towering walls gleamed with gold decorations.

“I wonder how long those will last.” Wu-Fei muttered. “Fenrir seems to have a taste for gold.”

“I wouldn't mention Fenrir in Odin's presence,” Frey suggested. “He's still feeling a little sensitive about the mess he made of the old hall.”

They met Heimdall in front of the great doors.

“As I suspected,” Heimdall reported, “Loki made his appearance the very instant the last nail was driven into the doorframe.”

“Good timing,” Duo said admiringly. “I can appreciate a man who's polished laziness to a fine art.”

“That would be Loki.”

They entered Valhalla to find it filled with men and women already feasting at the vast wooden tables. Even the high table was filled with chattering gods seated on either side of Odin, who was looking happier than he had for a while.

“I don't recognize all the gods sitting with Odin,” Wu-Fei said.

“They're just random minor gods,” Frey replied. “Since we lost a few of our peers to Ragnarok, there were vacancies.” He winked at them. “Despite our low reproduction rate, after thousands upon thousands of years, immortals do tend to accumulate. In truth, we probably need a good Ragnarok every millennium or so to cut down our numbers.”

“That is a dismayingly truthful way to put it,” Treize chuckled.

They found that the table just below the high table had been kept free for them, so they took their seats under Odin's paternal eye. Freya, however, immediately leaped to her feet and hurried to their table.

“Oh! She's just so adorable!” Freya squealed. She promptly appropriated Alexa from Zechs' arms. “You're such a pretty little girl!” she cooed, tickling Alexa's tummy. Alexa wriggled in Freya's arms and giggled. She clasped Freya's long blond curls and tugged them into disarray. Surprisingly, Freya didn't seem to mind. She nuzzled Alexa's neck. “Who's my little sweetheart?” she purred.

“You know,” said Duo, “she might actually be a good mother for your child, Heero.”

“She's not having my child!” Heero growled.

“Yes, I am,” Freya cooed. “I'm going to have a pretty little girl just like this one!” She kissed Alexa's cheek and then turned a seductive gaze on Heero. “Or maybe a handsome son like you. In Odin's name, your manliness is such that I would not be surprised to find you have planted twins in my womb.”

Heero turned beet red.

“He is certainly manly enough to do that,” Duo agreed. “It gets me all excited just thinking about it.”

“Would you please just shut up?” Heero muttered.

Duo grinned and Wu-Fei snickered.

“Why don't we all sit down?” Quatre suggested. His lips were twitching.

“Good idea,” Trowa agreed quickly. He took a seat and the others followed suit, although Heero was still muttering under his breath. Zechs retrieved Alexa from a reluctant Freya before sitting down.

When everyone was seated, Odin stood up. “My friends! I am glad to welcome you all inside the mighty walls of Valhalla! Through fire and tribulation, this mighty home of the gods has been reborn to once again host the finest flower of Asgard and Midgard.” He paused as a thunderous cheer rose up, shaking dust from the nearly invisible rafters over their heads. “Feast now and make merry! Tomorrow, life begins again. We must continue to prepare for an uncertain future. But I know that, with your strength and my guidance, we shall make it through again!” Another thunderous cheer rose up and then the eating and drinking began in earnest.

“He says that like he's not the one who caused Ragnarok!” Quatre grumbled.

“Well, to be perfectly honest,” Wu-Fei said, “we did kind of start it by encouraging the ice giants to invade Asgard.”

“We didn't encourage them,” Quatre said defensively. “And it wasn't an invasion!”

“Still…”

“Oh just drop it!”

“Indeed,” Treize said smoothly, “we should lay the matter to rest. The incident is in the past and no real harm has come of it. Let's just enjoy ourselves tonight. By the way, Quatre, is Roku free to baby-sit tonight?”

“Baby-sit?”

“Well,” Treize coughed delicately. “Zechs and I haven't had much time alone since Alexa was born, so I just thought…” He trailed off hopefully. Zechs favored him with a seductive smile that made Treize go pale. “Please?” Treize whispered hoarsely.

“I don't mind, Mama. I like looking after Alexa.”

“Very well.”

“Thank you!” Treize managed to recover his dignity and then he lost it again when Zechs leaned over and murmured something in his ear. Treize flushed and began to breathe rapidly.

Duo gasped and blinked several times. “Oh my!” He looked at Heero. “Could you please eat faster? I really need to step outside for an hour or two.” He turned to Wu-Fei. “You two. I'm going to need both of you.”

“Huh?” Wu-Fei said absently. For a change, he was actually eating the food without complaining.

“I want it from both sides!” Duo exclaimed. “Sandwiched! Book-ended! Pitching and catching! Do I need to get really explicit?”

“Not in front of the children!” Quatre said quickly.

“I wonder what Zechs said,” Trowa remarked casually. “The mental image seems to have gotten Duo quite worked up.” He grinned at Treize. “And Treize, too. He's still flushed.” He turned his smile on Quatre. “Of course, if Roku is baby-sitting, that means we have our room to ourselves, too.”

Quatre returned his smile. “Are you also having naughty thoughts?”

“Very naughty.”

Quatre tipped his head to one side and his smile became stunningly beautiful. “But I am much too innocent to engage in such behavior.”

Trowa swallowed and his eyes went round. “Don't do that!” he exclaimed breathlessly. “You know I can't resist that look!”

“What look?” Quatre's enormous blue eyes got even bigger and he blinked up at Trowa in wide-eyed innocence.

“That's it!” Trowa announced. He grabbed Quatre by the hand and hauled him to his feet. “If you'll please excuse us, I'm going to take Quatre home and fuck him until neither one of us can walk.”

“Trowa!”

But Quatre's protest fell on deaf ears. He was dragged unceremoniously from the hall.

Duo clutched the edge of the table, breathing hard. “Can't… take it… Need… sex…” Abruptly he jumped to his feet with a load groan. “It's no use! We have to go now! You can eat later!” He grabbed Heero and Wu-Fei each by the shoulder. “On your feet this instant or Wu-Fei's getting it right here on the table!”

Wu-Fei went pale and scrambled to his feet. “Come on, Heero! He sounds serious!”

Heero stood up more slowly, snagging a loaf of bread and a mutton roast. “He'll just complain later about being hungry,” he said with a shrug, and let Duo and Wu-Fei pull him away.

Treize watched the others leave with a pained expression on his face.

“You can go too, Mr. Treize,” Roku said. “I'll bring Alexa home with me.”

Zechs eyed him suspiciously. “You won't put her in your storage space, will you?”

“No,” Roku chuckled. “I'll walk home as a human and carry her.”

They all looked at Alexa, who was sitting on the table busily stuffing her face with bread that she was dipping in goat milk with one hand, while she scooped up berry preserves with the other and shoved it all into her mouth at once. Her face was rather liberally coated with milk-soaked crumbs and bright purple streaks of jam. Then she wiped both hands on her little shirt and reduced it to the same condition.

“I'll give her a bath, too,” Roku added. He leaned over and removed some of the mess from her face with long swipes of his tongue. Alexa giggled and squirmed away from him with a happy smile. Then she smeared more jam on her face.

“You'll wash her in a bathtub?” Zechs asked hopefully.

“Sure! I like taking baths.”

Zechs looked doubtful, but Treize took his hand. “Zechs, my beloved,” he murmured. “Remember what Duo said about Wu-Fei? I am having the same rather overwhelming desire. Unless you want everyone to see how utterly beautiful you are unclothed, I suggest we retire to someplace more private so I can ravish you with complete abandon.”

Zechs blinked at him.

“I trust Roku completely,” Treize said softly, “and you're about to get jumped right here.”

Zechs quickly stood up. “Thank you for baby-sitting, Roku. We'll see you in the morning.” He managed to plant a quick kiss on top of Alexa's curly head before he was also dragged away.

Heimdall, Frey and Freya came down to the table where Roku and Alexa now ate alone.

“Where have the others gone?” Heimdall asked. “Were they not enjoying the feast?”

“They went to be naughty,” Roku said matter-of-factly. “I'm baby-sitting.”

“Oh!” Freya exclaimed. “May I assist you?”

“Of course.” Roku eyed Alexa critically. “You can help me give her a bath.”

Freya clapped her hands. “I'd be delighted!”

Frey sighed. “In truth, the thought of a night's dalliance with the beautiful Zechs inspires a certain passion in me.”

Heimdall lifted an eyebrow at him. “Don't look at me.”

“Never fear!” Frey chuckled. “In fact, I have my eye on that pair of attractive Valkyries over there. Feel like double-dating?”

Heimdall pursed his lips. “That might be fun.”

Frey put his arm through Heimdall's. “Please excuse us, dear sister,” he said to Freya. “Since you have plans for the evening, Heimdall and I will be going about other business.”

“Yes, yes, go on,” Freya waved a hand at them, but she wasn't looking. She was happily offering tidbits of roast mutton to Alexa. “What say we go home as soon as Alexa's finished and give her a nice bath, Roku?”

“That sounds like a good idea, Miss Freya. May I take a bath, too?”

“Of course!” Freya beamed at him. “It will be fun.”

Roku grinned at her. “I'll try not to splash too much.”

“I'm sure you'll be no trouble at all.”