Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Elements ❯ Chapter 24 ( Chapter 24 )

Author's Note: Sorry that it took me so long to update this time. I've been really sick this last month. Thanks to everybody who reviewed Chapter 23. Hopefully it won't take me so long to get the next chapter out.

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. The Sidhe, the way I use them, are Laurel K. Hamilton's interpretation of the faeries from mythology. If I use Hands of Power, which I might, they are the creation of Laurel K. Hamilton, too.

Pairings: 2x1 (eventually), 6+1, 5+1, implied 3+4, R+H, H+9+H, others to be named Rating: NC-17, probably Warnings: AU, OOC, probably lemon, semi Duo- bastardization (don't worry, he gets over it), I should probably add angst, NICE RELENA Chapter 18, 3x1 lemon, but don't worry, it's just sex.

//blah// denotes thought

Archived in full at: fandomination.net, gundam-wing-universe.net, efanfiction.net, and adultfanfiction.net

Archived partially at : mediaminer.org

R version archived at: fanfiction.net

The Elements

Chapter 24

Trowa took a deep breath. In and out. In and out. Just like they had been taught in first aid--in order to stave off panic, one had to regulate one's breathing. And unlike some people, Trowa actually listened in class. Trowa had three things to figure out before he could talk to that man--he *knew he had met him before, somewhere--and in order to do that, he needed to be calm.

First, his tree was dead. There was no doubt about it in Trowa's mind; other than the fact that he had seen it charred worse than a hamburger on a broken electrical grill, there was also the fact that he could no longer feel his tree. The comforting presence in the back of his mind was no longer there. Instead, it felt as though someone (the not-Heero) had taken a blow torch to his brain. It left him feeling oddly empty inside.

The second thing, of course, was that he *should* be dead. It was Dryad physiology, it was their history, their entire reason for being. A tree-nymph lived to protect his tree. When he failed to do so, or the tree was simply too old to continue living, he died. For a Dryad to live after his tree was dead was unheard of. Not only that, it was unthinkable. But obviously not impossible.

Which brought Trowa to the third and final thing. He was *not* dead. And his tree *was*. How could that be? How could Trowa Barton, protector of the tree Heavyarms (named for its especially big branches), Half-Nymph Extraordinaire, live while his tree died? And that, of course, was the answer. Half. Trowa was *half* nymph and *half* human. His human side must have canceled out his nymph side, leaving him feeling as though he was half a person. Or maybe that was more accurate. Maybe he was half a person. Maybe his nymph side *had* died, and he only his human side remained. Either way, Trowa was alive.

"--Kid? Are you all right?" the strange man with the eye patch asked. It was then that Trowa realized he had been staring off into space, probably for a good five minutes.

"Trowa. My name is Trowa," Trowa said, "and I'm okay. Just spaced out for a minute there, but I'm fine now. And you are...?" He was sure that he knew the man's name, that he had met him before, but he couldn't place it.

"Rhys," the man answered. "Official Sidhe bodyguard of the princes Leif, Eric, Rafe, and Heero." Rhys's chest puffed out a little at that, in pride. "Anyway, back to the matter at hand. You know something about what happened with Heero. You tell me all you know about what happened, and I'll tell you all I know. Deal?"

Rhys stretched out his hand in a universal gesture, and Trowa shook it.

"Deal," he said. "Though I don't know exactly how it'll help."

"I'm not exactly sure yet myself, kid--Trowas," Rhys said, sighing, "but maybe whatever you tell me will help me figure out the whys and what-fors. Also, anything's gotta be better than sitting here in this room, waiting for them to start killing again."

Again? Had they killed already? Trowa didn't know, but he suspected that Rhys would tell him eventually, after he told what he knew.

"Well, I was looking for Heero because I knew he'd be upset. I looked for him everywhere, then realized that he would probably be in the clearing. He seemed to like it--"

"Why was he upset?" Rhys interrupted.

Trowa was startled at the question. Didn't Rhys know about Heero and Wufei? //Well, obviously not, or he wouldn't have asked,// Trowa thought. //I don't know *what* he knows about Heero's last few days. After all, he hasn't been here.//

"I didn't realize that you didn't know the whole story," Trowa said. "I supposed I should start at the beginning."

Trowa settled back into his bed--he wanted to be comfortable if he was going to tell a long tale.

"Heero and his brother's got to school on Friday," Trowa said. "I didn't see any of them until supper, when Heero came in with Milliardo Winner, the juniors' R. A. When he came in the room, a friend of mine, Duo Maxwell, told me, in a not-so-nice way, that Heero was his roommate. He made quite clear to those of us sitting at the table with him that he didn't like Heero at all, at which point Wufei Chang told us that he had kissed Heero. He--"

"I remember him," Rhys interrupted, again. "He's the little pedophile that forced himself on poor, little, innocent Heero when he was at camp one year. I remember Leif telling me about it when I picked them up. So, what did he do to Heero this time?"

"With respect, Mr...."

"Sidhe. Just call me Rhys Sidhe."

"Mr. Sidhe, Heero is neither poor nor innocent. Not if last night is any indication. Little, I will conced that one. He is a short, little thing."

"Yes, size-wise he does take more after King Legarion--elves are short like that. But his looks are all Ayiana's. Except for the ears. Anyway, continue your story."

"Okay, sir. Well, Milliardo had kind of marked Heero as his, as the one he was going to pursue, by walking him into the cafeteria. Wufei didn't care, and he asked Heero out on a date. They went out, and this morning there were posters all over the junior floor--apparently written by Wufei--saying that Heero was a slut who would fuck anything with a dick and a pulse, providing a few things were done. Then it went on to detail exactly how to get Heero into bed. There was also a grainy picture that indicated that they were having sex.

"I saw the poster and went looking for Heero. I looked everywhere in the dorm I could think of, Heero's room, the cafeteria, his brother's room--that's where I know you from!--and went back to Heero's room to check one more time if he was there. I didn't get to see, though, because Duo and Quatre Winner--Milliardo's brother--came out of it. I thought they might know something, so I followed Duo.

"He ended up at Milliardo's door, and they had words. I eavesdropped on them, and it turned out the Milliardo made the posters. He wanted Heero to dump Wufei, so he could swoop in and pick up the pieces. Be Heero's knight in shining armor, so to say.

:"I knew then that I definitely had to find Heero. I had to tell him that Wufei didn't do it. I went to the clearing--we met there Friday night--and he was there. I found out that he already knew about Milliardo. Looking back, of course he knew. He is Spirit, after all.

"I asked him why he did it then--why he dumped Wufei if he knew that Wufei had nothing to do with his humiliation. He-he looked at me then, and his eyes just seemed so dead. He was crying, but I don't think he realized it. He just seemed so *lost*.

"He told me--he said--that, for once, he wanted to do something for *himself*. He wanted to make *himself* happy. Wufei wasn't the One, he said, but He was close. Heero said that he could feel Him--his beloved, his soulmate, his meant-to-be--so nearby, but that some mysterious "she" wouldn't let him see who it was. All he knew was that it wasn't Wufei.

"Then, he told me about his sister, about Kali. He told me how she died, and how he absorbed her power. He told me how he could read the minds of everyone, even dead animals and plants. He told me how much it hurt him, to hear their thoughts and their screams. He wasn't meant to have that power, I don't think, not ever. I think it was slowly killing him, slowly driving him insane.

"He felt so horrible; I could feel it myself, his grief was so tangible. Something so beautiful--so *pure* and holy--should never be in so much pain. I told him something about myself, something I had never told anyone before. By the time I finished, we were both crying, and *he* was comforting *me* again.

"For some reason, he kissed me. It wasn't a romantic kiss, nor was it a just-friends kiss. It was, somehow, both in between the two and nothing like them. It was everything I never knew I always wanted. I don't know when, but somewhere along the line, the kiss changed. I became fiery, sexual. He was ripping at our clothes; I couldn't have said "no" even if I wanted to. And believe me, I didn't want to. If asked, I wouldn't have even been able to say a...certain *other* person's name. And *he's* all I think about. It was *that* passionate, like a drug. Heero was a drug that I couldn't get enough of.

"Then it was over--the kiss and what came after--and everything was different. *Heero* was different. He wasn't Heero anymore.

"I don't remember much after that, accept, of course, when Heero, or whoever he was, killed my tree. I will carry that memory to my death. Speaking of which, why am I not dead?"

"No," Rhys said. He looked down at his hands, folded in his lap. "But then again, I'm not exactly sure what you are. Maybe Fate was not ready for you to die?"

***

Quatre saw red. The words were in front of his eyes, dancing. Taunting him in a little singsong voice, "Heero fucked Trowa, Heero fucked Trowa." Over and over, it sang. Hero had sex with *Quatre's* Trowa. Everything else was moot--Sidhe, Spirit, mind-reading, all that other mumbo-jumbo Trowa had been talking about. All that was important was what Trowa had implied.

Quatre pushed Duo and Wufei out of the way and threw open the door to Trowa's room. He stalked in, not noticing the shocked looks on the faces of his friends. He walked up to Trowa, his left hand clenching convulsively, hoping to hit something--hoping to beat Heero.

"What the *fuck* is going on?" Quatre demanded, staring down into Trowa's eyes.

Selune