Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Ice Prince ❯ The Ice Prince: Chapter VI ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Title: The Ice Prince or Such a Marvelous Rose
Author: Meiran Chang ( bonking_bishies @ swirve.com )
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: DorlianXSylvia, 1+R, 6+2, 3+4, 5+Dorothy, 6x9, 2xH
Warnings: shonen ai, AU, fairy tale, angst, verrrrrrry mild self-insertion in, like, the last sentence. I made Dorlian a total OOC wuss >_<. Also, I've played fast and loose with family relationships and situations.
Comments: Ohhhhh pretty please? --> bonking_bishies @ swirve.com
Archive: 6X2ML Archive can have it. (that's at http://6x2ml.topcities.com) Otherwise, please email me, I don't bite.
Disclaimers: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters, they belong to Bandai and Sunrise and the American rights are owned by Cartoon Network. Please don't sue me, I'll just cry a lot. Also, the original story of "Beauty and the Beast" is by Mme Leprince de Beaumont and not mine either. I don't own anything except… the original portions of this piece of fiction…whatever they are.
Dedication: To the 6X2ML, because they're darlings all and the inspiration for this fic.

Dorlian let Wing set her own pace as they made their way back to the cottage. The only reason he'd even found Wing was because in the mare's hurry to flee, she'd gotten her reins tangled in a thorny bush just outside the manor. At least she still allowed him to ride. Dorlian's thoughts were glum.

He could see a small figure sitting in front of the cottage, watching the road, and from the way the setting sun glinted off the purely golden hair, it had to be Quatre. The youth waved vigorously and rushed inside, presumably to fetch his siblings. As Dorlian and his still-skittish mount approached the place, Relena and Duo both rushed out of the house to greet him, while Quatre helped him dismount and unobtrusively led Wing away.

Duo grabbed his father's hand and dragged him inside, talking animatedly the entire time about what he had missed when he'd been gone. Relena, far too dignified to indulge in such obvious excitement, forced a mug of hot drink into Dorlian's free hand. Duo sat his father down in the sitting room and he and Relena took turns telling Dorlian everything that had transpired while he'd been gone, though Dorlian found it difficult to concentrate. After a little while, Quatre returned and kissed his father in welcome before stepping back and surveying the man with worry in his clear turquoise eyes.

"Be quiet, Duo," Quatre told the younger boy sternly, cutting off Duo's excited chatter. "Give him a chance to talk. Can't you see that Father isn't well?"

"Oh? Pardon me, dear older brother," Duo huffed, shooting his sibling a mock-injured look that Quatre bore stoically. The boy then looked quizzically at his father, who had only slumped in his chair. "Father? Is... uh..." Duo faltered a little. "Is something really wrong?"

With a deep sigh, Dorlian handed his son the black rose that had brought him such grief. "Here is the rose you wanted, Duo. I have paid a terrible price for it."

As succinctly as possible the father told his children of the worthless cargo, the hidden manor and the Beast's impossible demand. The room was silent. Relena fidgeted nervously, Quatre bit his lip, and Duo was uncharacteristically still, looking down at the rose lying in his hands. His long bangs shadowed his eyes.

The young man touched a petal of one of the flowers, then looked up. "You don't have to die, Father," he said. A small black petal drifted down to the floor as Duo fixed his father with an unreadable expression. "I'm going in your place. Willingly. Happily. Tap-dancing, even. The Beast will love me." He cracked a tiny smile.

His father's jaw dropped open and Duo had the dubious pleasure of seeing his father sputter. "No -- most certainly not, Duo. You're my youngest son! You're only seventeen years old! How can I let you go into that evil monster's hands?" The man stood up and glared down at his son. "How can you even consider such a foolhardy thing? Throwing away your life for one foolish old man? Losing the last few years of my life won't -- "

"Father," Duo interrupted softly, leaning forward, "listen to me, and listen to me carefully. First of all, I have been an adult ever since I left White Fang and took on the responsibilities of a household; I think I'm pretty capable of making my own decisions. And second of all, you cannot and will not leave this house without me." He laughed a bit, as if the thought were ridiculous by virtue of existence. "If you try to leave at night, your noise will wake me, and I will follow you. I'll wake if you try to tie me up. I already rise with the dawn, so that option's out. Father, I will not allow you to be killed if I can do something about it, and from what I hear, I'm the only person who has any sort of power to change the outcome of this situation!"

Duo was clearly serious and his voice had risen with his conviction. As Dorlian knew from experience, Duo was unrelentingly obdurate when the mood seized him. His son stood up, the rose falling lightly to the floor, and took Dorlian's hands in his own. "You are my father," he said, voice low and intense. "I love you. I'd rather die at the Beast's hands than know my inaction doomed you to an early grave." Duo paused for a moment, then added, "I'm going tomorrow."

There was a beat of stricken silence before Quatre, Relena, and his father all began arguing with him at once, appealing to his good sense and playing shamelessly on the fear he had to be feeling. All their arguments were in vain. Duo refused to change his mind.

His father tucked Duo in and kissed him goodnight for the first time in nine years, and the family went to sleep that night with heavy hearts. Duo only lay in bed until dawn came, listening to the familiar sounds of his night like crickets chirping and Quatre snoring and trees crying in the wind.

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