Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Of Princesses and Harems ❯ Rebellion ( Chapter 2 )

Of Princesses and Harems

Author: Mara202 (nanashi202@yahoo.co.uk)

Archive: ff.net, my own website (see profile page)

Category: Drama?

Warnings/classifications: angst, AU, bastardised Relena, implied NCS, shonen-ai

Pairings: 1plus2plus1, the other pairings are a surprise

Disclaimer: To own or not to own, that's the question. As for me, the answer is 'not to own'… Too bad… -.-;

Summary: About half a year after the Revolution, Duo and Heero are contemplating their past lives as… members of a certain person's harem?!?

Author's notes: I finally managed to finish chapter 2! YAY! And that while I already had almost 2500 words at the time I uploaded chapter 1… -.-;

Thanks to Shattered Dreams, Zeenat Khatun, Tieyra (do I spell that correctly?), unicorn_144, fancyfigures, warewah, D.D, Garen Ruy Maxwell, linniepin, darkdragon91, Nic, Evyl, Biene, Solanum Dulcamara and . (nice name :P ) for reviewing chapter 1! I really appreciate it! ::smiles:: I'd never ever would've thought that so many people would review this! ::dances happily through her room:: ::throws chocolate chip cookies at the reviewers::

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Part 2: Rebellion

"You know, I think that was the moment our bond began to form; the moment that she dumped you and chose me. After all, she never chose one of the other boys, at least not before…" Duo hesitated, "the incident."

Heero nodded affirmatively, and said, a bit absent-mindedly: "Yeah, the fact that we could understand what the other was going through -- or had gone through in my case -- while the other boys had no idea whatsoever, has certainly made us grow closer to each other."

"Hmm-mm, but while we grew closer, the other boys turned away from us. Almost like they were thinking that associating with us increased the chance that Relena would choose them sometime."

"Fear can cloud one's vision," Heero said wisely. "I didn't really mind though; I never was a people's person anyway. But you…"

"Yeah, until Relena decided that I should replace you, since you," he punched Heero good-naturedly, "didn't meet the princess's wishes, I was good friends with the other boys. After that, they dropped me like a brick[1]." The disappointment in Duo's voice was audible, although he was trying to hide it.

------

The next morning, Duo returned to the quarters of Relena's harem. It was still early, and most boys were still asleep, since they didn't have anything to do anyway. The only one who was awake, and thus able to hear the suppressed sobs of the braided boy, was Heero. He knew how Duo would be feeling now, and had set his internal alarm to wake him up early, so that he could comfort the boy, might he be in need of that.

"Duo…" he whispered, trying not to wake the other boys, for this was none of their business.

The violet-eyed boy looked in his direction, at the verge of tears, but not really crying. Then he walked towards the place where Heero was sitting. The latter however, quietly got off his bed and motioned Duo to go with him to one of the other rooms that was designated for the harem's use.

As soon as they got in the room -- a Relena-styled one and thus its main colour being pink, in different shades -- Duo collapsed. The blue-eyed boy was just in time to prevent him from downright falling on the ground. He wasn't used to socialising, but he felt that he was the only person capable of helping the braided boy right now, for he was the only one who knew what he had gone through. So, in an attempt to comfort the other, he put his arms around the other boy, awkwardly, but nevertheless a comforting gesture.

"Boys don't cry, boys don't cry," Duo softly murmured, his head resting against Heero's shoulder.

They stayed like that for a while, Heero stroking the long braid of his friend, the silent sobs that shook Duo's body slowly decreasing. Eventually, the braided boy slowly pulled back, his eyes shimmering with tears that had remained unshed.

"I… I'm sorry, Heero," he finally managed to whisper.

The blue-eyed boy, very uncharacteristically, blinked. Sorry for what? "Sorry for what?" he voiced his thought.

"For being such a weakling… You're probably disgusted of me right now…" Duo said, staring at the ground, looking like a beaten puppy.

Duo thought he was weak? Where did he get that from? And disgusted of him? Never. Again Heero verbalised his thoughts: "I could never be disgusted by anything you'd ever do. And I absolutely don't think you're weak. In fact, I think you're one of the strongest persons I've ever met! No one gets out of Relena's room unharmed."

"But you…"

But Heero cut off Duo's words immediately. "Do you think it didn't affect me? The only thing that kept me from jumping out of the window, ending it all, like more than half of the current queen's harem did, was your presence, your cheerfulness made me keep going on. That's why I wanted to be here for you in return." His expression softened.

"R-really?" Duo managed a small, shaky smile.

"Really," he affirmed.

------

"You were so nice to me then," Duo said, snuggling closer to the other boy, who in return put his arm around the braided boy's shoulders. "I don't know if I would've survived without you."

"It was the least I could do for you; after all, you helped me too when I didn't see a way out anymore." Heero placed a soft kiss on Duo's head.

------

"How did you survive?" Duo wondered aloud, "I mean, I'm already having trouble after only two times of being summoned to Relena's room; you had to go through that for months!"

The two boys were sitting in one of the many gardens of the palace, this one for the use of the princess's harem only. None of the other members of Relena's harem were there at the moment, though the weather was very nice and the garden very beautiful, with its wide variety of flowers and its fountains and small cascades.

The braided boy, who had just spoken, was standing in the shadow of a huge apple tree, leaning against its trunk. Another boy, dark-haired with amazing blue eyes, was sitting on the grass, gazing at a nearby pond, some young ducks and their mother floating on the water-surface.

Heero answered, not taking his eyes of what he had been looking at: "The first few times are the worst. After that, you'll learn to protect yourself, to seclude yourself from her. When you're able to do that, she can't hurt you anymore." He turned and looked at the violet-eyed boy, then smiled almost unnoticeable. "I can't even remember what happened most of the times I was…" His voice trailed off.

"How did you do that?" Duo asked after a moment of silence. "Shutting Relena out, I mean."

Heero seemed to think this over for a while, then said: "Well, it didn't happen intentionally, I think it's more of a natural reaction to… bad things. At some point, I just couldn't take it anymore, I was on the verge of just giving up and kill myself… But I couldn't…" He went silent, probably reliving those dark times. "I couldn't just end it, that would've been the easy way out. Too easy," he added.

"So, I just went on and on, and then… I just… didn't care anymore. I was so tired of everything, I just didn't have enough energy left to even remotely care about what happened to me. That was when it started: one day, when Relena kicked me out of her room after… you know… I couldn't remember what she'd done to me, had made me do. And after that, I went into 'amnesia-mode' every time she summoned me. I can't remember a thing of what happened those times."

He shivered, although it was certainly not cold that day. "I'm not exactly sure if it's a good thing that I don't remember; I mean, I usually like to know what I'm doing… but then again, if it's as horrible as I think it was, it's better this way…"

Duo nodded. "Yeah, I'd give almost everything to not remember what happened. But, if I understood correctly, it could take a while before that happens, right?" As the other one replied affirmatively, he continued: "Is there anything I can do to accelerate that?"

"I'm not sure…" Heero answered. "I think you'll just have to wait, difficult as that might be." But whatever might happen, I'll be there for you, Heero added silently.

------

"Fortunately for me, not long after that I learned how to shut Relena out," Duo said. "After that, it wasn't as horrible as before when she summoned me to her room. I just… lived my life as harem-member -- which wasn't all that bad for the most part -- and went into apathy-mode when she summoned me."

Heero smiled at the memory. He then sighed. "I would've given anything to take your place, to spare you the horrors, but Relena… I don't know. As much as she liked me when we were both very young, she somehow didn't seem interested in me anymore."

"She was under control of that blond girl, I think," Duo said. "Sometimes she had this predatory look when she watched me, I'm sure she made Relena choose me."

The blue-eyed boy tilted his head a bit, a concerned look on his usually expressionless face. "She… she didn't…?" He didn't finish his sentence, but Duo knew what he had wanted to ask. He shrugged feigned-nonchalantly and answered: "Well, I actually don't know. I can't remember anything of that sort, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen…"

"Oh Duo…" Heero sighed, squeezing the braided boy's shoulder gently.

Duo sighed too. "Well, seems like I haven't really got over it yet." Then he flashed a grin at his boyfriend, his mood seemed to have brightened suddenly. "Remember that time when Relena wanted us to attend dinner with some high-placed people so she could show us off?"

------

The door of the harem's quarters opened and revealed a familiar face, namely that of a girl named Hilde, one of Relena's friends. Heero and Duo looked up from where they were sitting. To their surprise the girl motioned at them and said: "Heero, Duo; Princess Relena wants you two to accompany her to this evening's dinner. Very many high-placed guests will attend too. You know the dress-code I presume?"

The two boys nodded, hardly paying any attention to what had been said. After all, it wasn't like this was the first time they'd have to have dinner with Relena and her guests.

That evening the two boys left their quarters and walked towards the large dining-room. Large was actually not the right word: the place was huge. It was lit by lots of electric lamps; more than most people would see during their entire lives. But this was the Palace.

Heero and Duo weren't impressed and went to their seats. They had to sit next to Relena and her mother, who were both sitting on huge, throne-like chairs. The guests didn't pay them much attention; they were members of the princess's harem and thus of very low rank, not to mention that they were the princess's property. And the princess didn't want other people to touch her things, that was common knowledge.

And thus, dinner passed by very boringly, at least for the two boys. But then something unusual happened: the princess turned towards them and said: "Duo, Heero, would you like a drink? Some wine, perhaps?"

They looked at one another, astonished. Normally, they only got water or something else that was cheap. Then Duo shrugged slightly and accepted the offer: "I'd like that, Your Highness. Thank you."

Heero nodded. "Me too. Thank you, Your Highness."

That wasn't the last glass of wine they had that evening. And thus, when they finally were allowed to return to their quarters, they found themselves quite unstable on their feet. Relena hadn't summoned one of them to her room, this night. She probably was too tired or drunk to even think of that. Not that the two boys minded, of course.

Heero rose from his chair, and noticed that the worlds seemed to move. He watched this phenomenon curiously for some time, but was interrupted by Duo, who had also risen from his chair and also seemed to sway a bit, just like the room did. Heero blinked and looked at the longhaired boy. His words slurred as he made a comment about the walls, which seemed to be moving. Duo just stared at him dazedly.

They walked towards the harem's quarters. At first they'd tried to walk on their own, but after Heero had mistaken a wall for an open door and Duo had tripped over his own feet, they continued the rest of the way supporting the other.

They forgot, however, that the doorway was too narrow for the two of them to go through it at the same time. Duo managed to get in the room, but since he still had an arm around Heero's shoulders, he all but fell on the ground, pulling Heero with him.

Somehow, Heero ended up on top of Duo, their faces mere inches apart. Then Heero closed the gap -- on purpose or not, that wasn't to tell -- and their lips touched. The violet-eyed boy blinked at this sudden turn of events, but his current muzzy state of mind didn't allow him to think straight. His arms, which had been lying on the ground uselessly, now moved on their own account and were placed around Heero's neck.

It seemed like an eternity before the two finally broke away from each other, both gasping for breath. Heero appeared to have collected himself a bit, for the look on his face wasn't one of a drunken person. "W-what have I done?"

Duo had come to his senses a bit too, and said: "What just happened?"

They looked at each other and said simultaneously: "Oh no…"

"If Relena hears about this…"

"…it won't be pretty."

"No…"

"Let's just… go to sleep… We'll talk about this… later."

"Right."

------

"I still don't get why Relena all of a sudden gave us alcoholic drinks…" Heero said.

Duo's eyes widened. "I know!" he said, almost bouncing on the grass surrounding the tree. "It was a conspiracy to get us out of the way!"

Heero raised an eyebrow curiously. "Why would she do such a thing?"

The braided boy looked at him as if he was a huge moron. "Well, we know that you had disappointed her, and I guess I wasn't as interesting as before anymore, so she just decided to do something that would get us in jail so she could have fun when we'd be executed!"

He grinned. "OK, so maybe things didn't happen that way, but still… it's an interesting possibility, ne?"

Heero shook his head, amusedly. "Sometimes you can be a real idiot, Duo."

"But a very sweet idiot!" Duo said, grinning, which caused the blue-eyed boy to smack him on the head playfully.

------

Oh no…, was Heero's first thought when he woke up. How could he let that happen? Now his friendship with Duo was probably ruined… not to mention what would happen when Relena would find out about this…

At the same time, Duo was thinking almost the exact same things. How could he have been so stupid as to let Heero kiss him? A boy nonetheless! But far better looking than Relena, his traitorous mind supplied. And much nicer too. The braided boy groaned inwardly and hid his head beneath the pillow.

"Can we talk?" a voice interrupted his thoughts. He started, momentarily afraid that Relena had found out and was about to execute them, but almost immediately recognising Heero's voice. After a last dark thought about how their friendship would supposedly be over now, he got up and sat down on the edge of the bed, his eyes refusing to meet Heero's.

"Please, Duo." Weariness, forlornness and many other emotions Duo didn't recognise, sounded in his voice. He had no choice but to lift his head and look at the boy who was standing about a metre away. "Can I talk to you in private?"

The braided boy nodded and walked after him, lacking the enthusiasm that usually radiated from him. Relena hadn't been able to break him, to take his happiness from him -- although sometimes she'd come quite close to that -- but this… accident weighed heavily upon him.

When they reached the small room, the same -- pink -- room in which Heero had tried to comfort him that night when Relena had first summoned him to her room, they both sat down, uncomfortably and keeping their distance.

But then Heero spoke, and didn't say anything Duo had expected him to say. No words of anger or regret… just five, simple words and yet with an enormous impact. "I think I love you," the blue-eyed boy said, softly but without doubt in his voice.

And Duo could just stare at him… Had he heard correctly? But… but…

The bottled-up emotions finally found their way out; he burst into tears. He was just able to see the shocked and confused look on Heero's face before the tears made his vision blur. The next thing he knew, was someone putting a tentative arm around his shoulders, hugging him, and whispering in his ear. "Just let go… you've gone through a lot, it's just natural…"

Finally, after what seemed like hours -- but in fact was only minutes -- the sobbing subsided. "I-I'm sorry… I don't know why -" But he was silenced by Heero, who had put a finger on his lips, thus effectively preventing him from talking.

"Don't apologise," he said softly. "Just act on your emotions, that's the only way to live a good life." [2]

Duo followed that advice. He rested his head on Heero's shoulder, and murmured: "Love you too, Ro." He realised that he truly did; from the moment the usually stoic boy had comforted him when he was in great, emotional pain, he had loved the other boy.

------

"We're lucky we lived to see the end of the Revolution," Duo said.

"We're lucky that we weren't executed," Heero corrected.

"That too." Duo grinned. "Well, actually we managed to keep our relationship a secret quite a long time."

"Yeah, and that while we were kinda… careless," Heero reminisced. "But it had to go wrong eventually…"

------

"And what do you two think you are doing?"

The two boys, standing in a dark corner of one of the rooms of the Palace that was hardly used, quickly broke away from each other at the sound of the voice. They hadn't heard the women approaching, so she must have been walking really quietly, or… they really hadn't been paying attention to their surroundings. The latter was the most probable explanation, since they'd been totally focused on each other.

Heero could kick himself for his not keeping track of what was happening around them. All these time, they had succeeded in keeping their relationship a secret, and now… they had become imprudent.

When he took a better look at the one who had caught them, he realised it was no one less than Lady Une herself. Now there was no hope whatsoever left. Someone else might have turned a blind eye to them -- after all, they knew what a torture life as one of the members of Relena's harem was -- but the Lady? No. No chance at all.

Lady Une raised one eyebrow, still waiting for an answer. "Well?"

As she didn't get her answer soon enough, in her opinion at least, she just dragged the boys with her. She took them directly to princess Relena's quarters, as the two boys realised as they were dragged along.

The Lady let go of Duo, so that she had one hand free to open the door. She didn't even knock but just slammed open it, revealing the horrible pinkness that was Relena's room. In it were Relena and her friends, looking quite shocked at the sudden intrusion of their privacy.

"Princess!" the Lady almost shouted. "This is unheard of! These two…"

She couldn't finish her sentence, for the princess herself interrupted, her voice cold as ice: "Lady Une. You'd better have a damned good reason to enter my room like that! Explain yourself."

Lady Une had calmed down a bit after Relena's cold words. "These two boys," she began, her words emphasising by glaring at the boys in question, "were found in one of the less used rooms of this Palace." She added a silence, so that her next words would have a bigger impact. "They were kissing like there is no tomorrow."

Now she had Relena's undivided attention. The princess jumped up from her chair and walked towards the three, ending just decimetres in front of Heero. "Is that true, Heero?" she asked on a tone that left no room for thinking she would have mercy if the answer were yes. The boy didn't answer, but just kept on gazing at the point he had been staring at since the moment they had entered the room.

"Duo?" the princess asked, for lack of an answer from the other boy. "Is this true?"

As he too didn't reply, she took the answer was yes. She was filled with rage, jealousy, and last but not least, her pride was hurt by this act of betrayal. "You! You are part of my harem, and therefore the only one who can claim you is me! You," she said, punctuating the last word, "are mine! Mine and no one else's!" She continued in a slightly calmer voice: "You disappoint me, Heero. When I first saw you, almost ten years ago, I knew you and I were destined to be together. And yet you still don't want to see that!" Her unwavering gaze turned to the boy with the long, chestnut braid. "I thought at least you would be loyal to me! You should be grateful that I gave someone as poor as you a chance to live in a wealthy environment like this, but I could have known: once scum, always scum, no matter the surroundings! And now you even took Heero, my Heero!" She stepped forward and hit him on his jaw, hard.

That was something she'd better not have done, for Heero, his death-glare even more venomous than Duo had ever seen it, even after the most horrible night at Relena's room, broke away from Lady Une's grip on his sleeve, and before anyone could stop him he leaped towards Relena, wanting nothing but kicking the living daylights out of the princess. But before real harm was done, both Lady Une and Duo tried to pull the boy away from the princess, although their motives for doing so were very different. Duo wouldn't mind the least if Relena got beaten up, however, he didn't want Heero to get into even more trouble than he already was.

They managed to get Heero away from Relena, at least enough for her to get to a safer spot. Guards, who were always near in the Palace, were running from every direction towards them, immediately putting both Heero and Duo in irons.

"Throw them in jail!" Lady Une shouted.

------

Duo groaned. "That prison was so gross! Rats were crawling all over the place!" He shivered visibly and scratched his head. "It still makes me feel itchy all over, only thinking about it!"

"Hmmm-mm," Heero nodded vaguely.

His braided companion looked at him, a bit confused. "What 'hmmm-mm'?"

"Well, it could've been worse. They could've put us in separate cells, and the food was relatively good."

"That was thanks to that kind guard, what was his name again?"

"Trowa, Trowa Barton I think," Heero answered. "He said he could relate to us and thus wanted to help. He even helped us escape, risking his own life by doing so."

------

"Here's your breakfast," the weird-haired guard said, while pushing a tray with a couple of slices of bread, some cheese and a can of water through a small opening in the wall.

The two boys, who had been leaning against the back wall of the cell, both looked at the door of their prison as the guard spoke. The one with the long braid rose and walked towards the tray, a short distance, which he'd covered in less than three steps. He then took the tray with him to the small plank, attached to the wall, which functioned as a seat, where his companion was still sitting, a brooding expression in his dark blue eyes.

They ate their food in silence. But then the silence was broken by a gasp: "Look, Heero! The guard passed us a note!" the braided one whispered.

The eyes of the one referred to as Heero grew slightly wider at this remark, but he had himself under control again in no time. He quickly walked towards the door to check if anyone was spying on them, then walked towards Duo, curious what the note had to tell them. The braided boy unfolded the small paper, and both read the message that was on it, written in capital letters, so that the handwriting wouldn't be easy to recognise.

I'M GOING TO HELP YOU GET OUT OF HERE. THIS EVENING I WILL 'ACCIDENTALLY' DROP THE KEYS TO YOUR CELL. I'LL MEET YOU SHORTLY AFTER THAT. KEEP OUT OF TROUBLE UNTIL THEN.

"H-he's gonna help us escape?" The hope and surprise in Duo's voice was clearly audible.

Heero had a doubtful expression. "But why would he? And where can we go? Relena's spies are everywhere."

"Personally, I prefer the chance to escape, small as it may be, over a certain death," Duo said, a small smile forming on his face.

And Heero could do nothing but agree with this.

That evening, they were looking expectantly, although trying to do that in a way that wouldn't be suspicious, at the door of their prison. And indeed, at about six o'clock, the time their dinner usually was brought, the guard came, carrying the tray with their food. When the brown-haired young man rose, after retying his shoelaces, which had somehow gone loose, the clatter of falling keys was to be heard.

The guard looked in their direction, wearing an innocent expression. "Did you hear something?" he asked.

Heero remained silent and unmoving, but Duo answered the man with a nonchalant shrug and a "No, nothing, sir. Maybe it was a rat?"

After saying: "Yeah, you're probably right." the guard left again.

Duo had already moved towards the door, his right arm between the bars of the door, trying to reach the keys. "Only one more centimetre!" he said, trying to stretch his arm even further.

Meanwhile, Heero had risen and also walked towards the door, silently. And thus, Duo almost jumped when he heard a voice behind him. "Let me try. I'm a bit taller than you are."

After a couple of nerve-racking seconds later, Heero had managed to get hold of the keys. Both released their breath, which they had unconsciously held.

"Let's get out of here!" Duo said joyfully.

Heero just raised an eyebrow. "And what do you think we'd accomplish by that? This place is swarming with guards right now, not to mention the fact that we'll really attract attention would we try to escape in broad daylight."

The braided boy grinned sheepishly. "I guess I got carried away a bit. Fortunately you're here. So, what's your plan?"

End of part two

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Please tell me if you liked it! Or if you didn't, but please keep it polite then :P

I'm really sorry it took me so long to write this chapter… I just didn't have the time to do it… and that during the summer holidays! o.O ARGH! It's half past 12 now… and I finally finished it! YAY! Again, thanks to everyone who has reviewed (the names are at the A/N at the beginning of the chapter) and special thanks to Nic for helping me out! ::throws chocolate chip cookies::

[1] Heh, just couldn't resist putting this phrase into it :P