Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Elements ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: Neither Gundam Wing nor its characters are mine. They are the property of their respective owners. Rhys (when he shows up) is not mine. He is the property of Laurel K. Hamilton.

Pairings: 2x1 (eventually), 6+1, 5+1, implied 3+4, others to be named Rating: NC-17, probably Warnings: AU, OOC, probably lemon, semi Duo-bastardization (don't worry, he gets over it)

The Elements Chapter 5

Heero awoke at twelve on the dot, after having already been woken up twice already -- once by a tall guy with funny hair looking for Duo at 10:30, and once by Milliardo doing room checks at 11:00. Heero got out of bed, and went to check on Duo. The older boy was having a nightmare, one involving himself, his father, and a closet.

With a heavy heart, Heero ignored Duo's pain; he didn't have enough time to deal with it right then. Instead, he went to the window. He kneeled on his bed* and lifted the pane. He put his hands on the sill, and peered into the darkness. His brothers weren't there yet.

Heero sighed and closed in his eyes in concentration. He delved into the earth, looking for...something. Finally, he found it -- seeds. Heero concentrated on one seed and imagined it growing, growing, growing. The yellow tulip burst forth from the ground, steadily growing to an impossible height.

Heero felt when the flower reached its maximum adult height, and pushed it to grow more, taller. The tulip passed the first story window, the second, and finally stopped at the third. Heero let go of the psychic grip he had on the proportionally correct, three story high flower.

He opened his eyes and stepped onto the ledge. Wearing only pajama bottoms and a tank top, he jumped from it and landed on a huge petal. Heero closed his eyes and shrunk the flower, for once glad of his low body weight. If he had weighed any more, the petal he was on would have dropped him before he could safely step off. Heero stopped shrinking the flower when it was normal-sized, so he could find it when he returned.

Heero heard voices, and walked toward them. He saw that it was Rafe, Leif, and Eric coming to get him, and he ran toward them. Suddenly, he wanted to be as far away from his room as possible. Heero glomped onto Rafe, and nodded a greeting at the other two.

Rafe pried Heero from him, and the four brothers set off into the woods surrounding the school, looking for the doorway.

***

Troaw snuck out of the room that he shared with Quatre -- his beloved, though the blond didn't know it -- by means of a rope ladder. He climbed out the window and down the ladder. Once he was on the ground, he pulled on the rope, causing his escape method to fall down after him. He folded it up and laid it in the hollow of a nearby tree -- though not his own tree.

Trowa set off on the path that would take him to *his* tree, almost running into four boys. Luckily, they didn't see him, and he hid behind one of the elms placed sporadically around the school grounds. Trowa could feel the power of the boys -- especially the little one's -- and was compelled to follow them. He stalked behind them, blending into the shadows, as they entered the forest.

***

Heero and his brothers had been walking over two hours when, suddenly, they came upon it -- a grove big enough to house the portal. It wasn't yet time to do anything, wasn't the darkest part of the night, so Heero sat on a tree stump, wincing at the pain it had felt when it died.

Rafe came over to him, and caressed the bandage over Heero's eyebrow. "So," he said, "are you going to tell us what happened, or do we have to assume the worst?"

"Did somebody hurt you?" Leif demanded.

"'Cause if they did, we'll kill 'em," Eric said, punching one fist into the palm of his other hand.

"No, no," Heero replied, trying to calm his brothers. "It was nothing like that. I just fell, after taking a shower. You know, I dripped water all over the place, and then slipped on it. You guys know how clumsy I am."

Rafe, Leif, and Eric agreed with him on that. Heero could be quite clumsy sometimes -- at least, that's what he let them think. People seemed to like hitting him for some reason.

Heero heard a twig snap, and looked up. "You can come out now," he said. When no one emerged form the trees, Heero rose from the stump and walked to where he had heard the sound.

At first, he didn't see anyone, but on closer inspection, he found the boy with the funny hair from earlier. He was curled up on the ground, crying. "Melanie, Melanie, Melanie," he sobbed. "Oh, Goddess, Melanie. Why her? Why Melanie?"

Heero sunk to the ground beside the boy his mind identified as Trowa, and pulled him into his arms. He tried to soothe the grieving boy as his brothers stood over them. Heero stroked the boy's hair, becoming more comfortable in his mind at each pass.

Trowa was a half-human/half-tree nymph hybrid. He had been coming into the forest to check on his tree -- all tree nymphs had one tree that they had to protect -- when he saw Heero, Rafe, Leif, and Eric. Curious and a bit suspicious, Trowa had followed the brothers into the forest. When they reached the grove, Trowa had been afraid that they were going to harm his tree, a big majestic elm whose care he had taken over when its previous protector had passed on.

Then he saw the tree stump. It had been one of his cousin's -- Melanie's. He had fallen to the ground, grieving at his lost friend, because when a tree died, so did its nymph.

Heero broke free from Trowa's mind, and held him closer. The poor nymph's cousin had died; he needed as much comfort as Heero could give him.

***

Trowa felt himself be embraced by a warm presence. He opened his eyes and found himself looking into the warm blue eyes of Duo's roommate.

The boy -- Trowa couldn't remember his name -- smiled down at him. He looked paler than he had earlier, but still had the bandages on his face. "Are you okay?" he asked Trowa, and Trowa nodded. "Good. Listen, we're going to need to know why you followed us."

'Us?' Trowa thought, then he remembered the other three.

"Umm, I'm Heero Yuy," the boy said, "and this is Rafael -- call him Rafe -- and Leif, and Eric. Now, why were you following us?"

"Not them, just you," Trowa replied. "I don't know why, but I was drawn to follow you. I *had* to."

Trowa saw the boy chew his lip, which already had a cut on it. "Okay," Heero said. "I'll take that. After all, you're a tree nymph. Makes sense. Okay."

One of Heero's brothers came up behind them. "It's almost three, we have to get started." Trowa saw and felt when Heero nodded his head. The boy got up and laid Trowa's head back on the ground, leaving him to wonder how Heero knew he was a nymph, and why it would make sense for him to be drawn to Heero

Selling

*his bed was right under the window, remember?