Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Is there really such a thing as Dreaming? ❯ Chapter 6

Title: Is there really such a thing as Dreaming?

Author: Skeren Dreamera

Archive: http://www.gundam-wing-fanfiction.net/

Category: Yaoi/Shounen Ai, Fantasy, and Partially AU

Pairings: R+1, 1x2, 4x3, 5+6, mystery stabber+2. All pairings are subject to be thrown up in the air and be shuffled. Be aware!

Rating: R until further notice.

Warnings: Supernatural, crossdressing

Spoilers: None

Feedback: Mickeofas@yahoo.com

Disclaimers: I do not own any of the Gundam Wing cast! I own only those characters and situations that I myself created. Otherwise, suffer in silence.

Notes: MarieMaea, Kt, thank you both dear people, you have made my day. Of course I have plans for Zechs! And eventually I will make all clear as to the Gundam boys.. Err... inner conflicts? Such as the cross-dressing and aggression and the like. Eventually all noble titles will be made clear. Maybe. ::grins:: Enjoy! {Thoughts} ~mental speech~

It had taken a good hour before Quatre's little brother decided he had better things to do then entertain the same crowd all night. The almost tangible relief that Wufei expressed as the one complete stranger among them left was almost amusing. It really would have been if the little dragon at his side did not literally have her eyes flash with fire at them like that. Moving everyone into an empty room that was deeper into the castle, and making sure they were not followed, allowed Wufei to finally relax slightly.

The moment the door closed behind him, Wufei gave them all one long look and ducked his head, letting loose with a very non-characteristic string of words that only Duo seemed to be able to understand.

Eyes growing progressively wider as the Sorcerer pilot told them how very sorry he was for all this and he didn't know what was right, and he just didn't know what to do... Well, Duo approached him, taking the China-man into his arms and started to hush him, stroking the hair that was loose around his face. "Hey Fei, Fei, nobody is understanding you man, calm down."

The very fact that he found himself being comforted was enough to pull Wufei from the edge of hysteria he had been hovering at during the most unexpected moments since he realized he was 'stuck'. Clearing his throat a little, Wufei restarted his explanation, the well hidden presence on the other side of one of the panels not escaping Quatre's notice, but he decided after a moment of hearing his thoughts that he needed to know as much as anyone.

"Once more. I fiddled with a spell that I thought would have rather disagreeable side affects. The aim of the spell was to take away all dreams and alternate realities, rather like meshing them all together. I disliked this plan, but having you all know who you were here appealed to me, so I tampered slightly with the spell, thinking to nullify the majority of the effects of the spell while allowing you all to remember what was going on in your dream lives... Apparently the spell didn't go as it was supposed to for me or the caster and... I umm..." Wufei trailed off for a moment, focusing more fully on a patch of carpet. "I got us all... umm... Stuck here. I really have no idea of how to fix it. Truthfully, I'm not sure if I should fix it. Are we even needed anymore back in our home?" Wufei finally looked up, his eyes pleading for their understanding. "Are we needed back there anymore? Do we all want to go back to those lives, where our goals are quite likely being met as we speak? I don't really want to leave, because I'm not sure I'd be able to come back again this time... But I must do the honorable thing. It is in your hands while I try and make amends."

Duo tilted his head to the side, noting that Wufei was so flustered he hadn't even pushed Duo away, though the tug on some of his long hair did that easily enough, making him release Wufei and fall into the easy clasp of Heero's arms in the same movement.

There was a deep resounding silence before a wall behind them all opened up, none other than one Zechs Merquise stepped through the portal, his head tilted as though in consideration. "I didn't miss anything too terribly important did I?" He moved on light feet across the room, coming up along side Wufei and patting him on the shoulder. "Secret meeting little dragon? Really, you know you should trust that I should be included in more." Turning around to face the other pilots, Zechs grinned, making no motion to remove his hand from Wufei's person. Though he was blushing ever so slightly, Wufei pretended to ignore him.

Turning his onyx gaze towards the golden creature that was hovering over him, Wufei scowled. "Is there something you needed?"

"Didn't you check up on me Wufei? Remember, you have to take All the pilots into consideration for this."

-_______________-

There was a long moment of silence while the various people in the room registered the comment. Of course, the first sound that managed to make itself known was Duo's snickering. This did not please Wufei, who immediately started glaring, his eyes narrowed on the offender as he leaned back on Heero.

"So, we got one suprize, who else didn't you tell us about Wu-man?" Duo grinned widely; not caring that what he was laughing over really wasn't that funny. It made him feel better to laugh.

Quatre shook his head, a faint smile creeping onto his lips as he watched Duo loose his balance into the volley of laughter, his gaze then turning to Wufei.

Wufei was busy when Quatre turned back to him, staring at Zechs as he plucked his hand from his shoulder, resisting the urge to hold it longer than needed. He was trying to make his mind comprehend the idea of spending time in public with Zechs when he knew who he was. He just couldn't accept that as being anything that could be good.

Trowa moved up closer to Quatre, resting his hand on his shoulder as he watched the others, a faint smile touching his lips briefly as he watched Duo laugh his head off.

Heero looked down at Duo, and snuggled the laughing boy closer to his chest, looking back at Wufei. "He does have a point. Who else should we be looking for Wufei?" Heero made his voice sound slightly condescending with that statement. He then allowed a faint smile crossing his face as he looked back to Duo and shook his head.

Zechs rested his hand firmly back on Wufei's shoulder and leaned down to murmur in his ear. "Yes Wufei, who else did you manage to ambush into coming here?"

Wufei shot Zechs a glare, then sighed, reluctant to answer. "I have no idea."

Relena moved forward, her eyes wide and hands on hips. "What do you mean 'you have no idea'? You don't know how you got us here, and now you say you don't even know who you brought? You have to be joking!!"

Heero turned a glare at the angry girl, then reached past Duo, smacking her upside the head, completely ignoring Duo's attempt to stop him. His powers flaring slightly in his mind as he allowed himself the indulgence. Controlling his emotions in this place had been wearing on him badly. "Now is not the time Relena."

Duo and Zechs turned a pair of glares on Heero, and Quatre gasped. Relena bowed her head for a moment and stepped back. "Sorry Heero."

Nodding to himself, Heero then looked back to Wufei. Wufei didn't seem to know weather to laugh or be angry with Heero, so after a moment he just shook his head, looking down to Nataku.

Nataku looked back at Wufei before moving around the room, examining each person closely. Duo didn't know what to make of the dragon, so he voiced his curiosity. "Wu-man, what is your dragon doing?" Said dragon met her orange eyes with Duo's violet, causing him to gasp in suprize. "Oh... Ok."

Nodding, Nataku came back to Wufei's side, looking up to him. "You know that wasn't very nice Nataku, he didn't know you could answer for yourself."

Duo quirked his lips a little. "Sorry Nataku. Nataku? Hey, isn't that what you call your Gundam Wufei?"

Wufei sighed, looking towards Zechs pointedly, only to see the annoying man who was perched on his shoulder smirk. He then looked back to Duo. "Yes."

Nataku looked around the room again then seemed to sigh. "I know how many people there ought to be here. You are all part of a web of elements. Should I explain?"

Wufei looked at Nataku in confusion for a long moment. "I think I would like for you to explain this to me. It is not something I can see as having a connection to the people here."

Nataku merely shook her head, then started talking. "Very well then. There are seven of you here. You are missing the other six of you. One more male, and five more females. I can sense you all through your connections to each other. It is strange for a web of elements to be together like this, because I have only heard of them being all in the same place like this once in my entire life. That was centuries ago however, and not in these lands." Nataku shook off her puzzlement, and quirked her lips. "Each of you has title for your element, be it major, or a melding of two or many of the pure elements. There are Thirteen in all, but the primary six are Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Spirit, and Time. The melded elements are Dust, which stands between Earth and Air. Smoke, that stands between Air and Fire. Steam, that stands between Fire and Water. Mud, that stands between Water and Earth. Lava, that stands between Earth and Fire. Fog, that stands between Air and water. And Self, which stands among them all, but is placed between Spirit and Time. Each of you bears one of these mantles, and the power that comes with them." Nataku sighed, shaking her head a little as she waited for questions.

It wasn't a long wait, as Duo piped up. "So, who is what, and what can they do? Do all of us do something special? Should we already know what to do with our powers? What's so special about being part of the web thingy-" Duo was then silenced by Heero's hand over his mouth.

"Let her answer, Baka!" Heero's admonishing growl was punctuated with a sharp nip to the ear.

Nataku stared at the pair for a much shorter time than some of the others, then shook her head. "It would be easier to point you all out if you were all here. Since most of the men are here, I can tell that, suprizingly, all the primaries are men, unusual by itself. I can also say that the women are the ones tying you all together, excluding, of course, the man among you who is Self." Nataku scrutinized them all again, figuring out who was who. She started with the one who asked the question, pointing at Duo. "Air." Then Heero, "Spirit." Relena, "Steam." Quatre, "Water." Trowa, "Earth." Wufei, "Fire." She then turned a bit, looking at Zechs, an amused expression on her face. "I'm rather certain you boys would not like to know who the king represents."

The tall blonde quirked his eyebrows at that. "Why not? I'm entitled to know aren't I?"

Sniggering slightly, Nataku worked out a way to inform him without inflating his ego. "You are the only man among the cross elements, you represent Self."

Duo started into a fit of giggles, suitably muffled by Heero as he had yet to remove his hand. Even Wufei found amusement in that, looking to Zechs and asking in a light, mock shocked tone. "Onna?" Thus allowing everyone else to understand the joke.

Relena let out a few giggles, followed by Quatre, even Heero and Trowa couldn't hide a set of amused grins. The look on Zechs' face was priceless. He just couldn't seem to come up with a comeback to that, his jaw working silently for a brief moment before he snapped it shut and glared at everyone in the room. This of course sent those that were laughing into a renewed fit and even inspired Wufei to chuckle for a moment before sobering.

"Who could be the other male then?" This comment came from Trowa, who, though amused, had not ceased thinking about the current topic.

Sobered by the return to their prior point of conversation, the various people in the room shook their head, but Zechs did not. "Treize. He's the only one it could be, right?"

No one seemed to know how to take that, and silence once again came over the room. It was a long hour while they discussed who the missing people could be. Their absence did not go unnoticed by the members of court.

-_________________-

In the end, they had a list of names that ranged from teachers, to servants, to military personnel. All in all, they really managed to do nothing more than prove that between the seven of them, they knew many people. It was almost a depressing thought. As the party reemerged from the back rooms, four separate groups descended on them. At the very front was Vier, his hand clasped in one very familiar Catherine's hand as he saw them. Her smile was radiant as she spotted Trowa, and she dipped her head slightly, following the small man who had her hand at a quick enough pace.

Nodding slightly as he got from Quatre that it was all right to call her Catherine, Trowa extended his hand to her, taking her free hand and placing a kiss on it. "Catherine, you've been well tonight?"

She looked at Trowa in silence for a moment, then looked at the man she had by her side as both her hands were released at once. "In a manner of speaking. You and I need to talk. Now." Without further comment, Trowa was pulled back the direction he had just come from, being led away even as Vier got Quatre's attention.

~You've been neglecting your admirers tonight brother.~ Vier gave Quatre a wide grin and bowed slightly, gesturing for him to proceed him into the crowd.

Sighing, Quatre gave a farewell gesture to the group, then moved into the crowd, trailed by Vier, who was smiling in a way to contrast Quatre, as though the two were a pair contrasting mirrors. It was interesting to watch, if a little unnerving to see Quatre with that chilled look in his eyes.

Before the pair was entirely out of sight, a second set of people approached, albeit at an incredibly slowed pace due to the sheer comedy factor of that the main person of the group was obviously trying to escape a group of men who would simply not leave her be. It took a long moment, but as the girl found her way to the group, she managed to dislodge the last of her determined suitors. It appeared that this little gathering was meant to be one full of familiar faces, as one Dorothy Catalonia made her way to Relena and grabbed her hand. She looked around the circle of pilots once, warily, before relaxing.

"I do believe that I, at some point, did something very wrong to be subjected to this!" There was quiet outrage in her voice, and she gestured back at the group of men she had just escaped, moving so that Relena was bodily in-between her and them. "Do you have any idea how I got myself into this situation?" She glanced at Heero, giving him a brief quizzical look before looking back to Relena.

Heero looked closely at Dorothy before looking back to Relena with a sigh. "Go explain what you were just told to her, because she is part of it."

Relena gave a wide smile to Heero, and stopped herself just short of glomping onto him. She then turned to Dorothy and gestured towards the back rooms, where Catherine had hauled Trowa off to.

As the two girls departed, Duo let out a little giggle. "Ok, who's next? I wanna see who else gets dragged away. And under what reasons."

Zechs smirked slightly; pointing off towards a figure that was approaching from Duo's right. "There is your patron now. Don't be too shocked, he might not even have a clue."

Duo gave Zechs a funny look before following the direction of his hand, and meeting gazes with none other than one Treize Khushrenada, the giggles dying in his throat. He stared at the man with a faintly worried expression until he realized what he was doing and smiled. {Remember Zechs' advice Duo. Remember the advice!} That in mind, Duo looked to Heero and made him let go of the grip he had around his waist.

Reaching the group, the red clad Treize looked around the rapidly shrinking group. He then sighed, resting his gaze firmly on Duo after giving Zechs a slightly longer look than the others, a faint smile quirking his lips. "You disappeared somewhere special this time I see. Since when did you dress up willingly Duest?"

Duo gave him a nervous smile, uncertain how to handle this situation. He couldn't look to the others for guidance, so he shrugged a little helplessly. "I felt the need to spend a little time in company... of... umm, well, I just felt like it." Duo winced, but just let the sad excuse just hang there.

Treize looked at Duo closely, head tilted to the side. He then looked to Zechs, a small smile crossing his face again. "You've no roses. Certainly there are a few blooms even during this time of year?"

Zechs nodded slightly, a wide grin showing on his lips. "I'll be sure to remember them next time. For now, you might want to talk to your ward, it could be an interesting conversation."

Duo gave them both a baffled glance, then looked to Zechs. "What?"

Zechs merely patted Duo's shoulder. "Go talk with your patron, our conversation would interest him."Finally reaching understanding Duo went, if reluctantly, with Treize into the crowd, glancing over his shoulder a couple times, but no one was volunteering to save him.

Heero looked at Zechs with annoyance, then to Wufei, who was saying not a word either. "Could I please have a reason for that?"

Suprizingly, it was Wufei who answered. "Easy, he's the other guy. That and Duo is, in this court, Treize's ward. I already knew that. Just as I already knew you here, even if only in the most shallow of senses. Calm down, he won't get himself killed."

Heero gave him a dubious look, then smirked, looking around the room. "Hey, I think you have company Wufei."

Unnerved by the pleased note in Heero's voice, Wufei turned around. He immediately regretted it as he spotted a group of his admirers, as well as some of Zechs' most recent additions to court headed their way. Apparently the lovely pair had been spotted, so they were now about to learn what it was like, again, to be adored. Wufei shot a glare over his shoulder as a woman pulled him onto the dance floor, digging his heels in the entire way and finding the effort useless. Wonderful. Zechs fared no better, choosing to try and escape to his comfy throne rather than dancing with anyone just now, he found himself herded into the seat.

Heero laughed, a low, wild sound of pure amusement that made heads turn and smiles appear on a few of the more reserved of the crowd's faces. He shook his head, finding himself entirely alone after the rush of people. He didn't mind, he had to go find Duo. Besides, they'd sorted out a few more people in their little magic group. He was right. This was fun. Heero then set off into the crowd, leaving one forgotten dragon to flit into the crowd to rescue her sorcerer.

To be continued.