Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Magicians of Gundam Wing ❯ Warm Desert Nights ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3: Warm Desert Nights

Quatre and Roku sped across the desert in a small plane, skimming just above the sand dunes. Roku stared out the window excitedly.

“It's just sand, Mama!” Roku exclaimed. “Look at how much of it! Is it hot?”

“Yes, Roku, it can get pretty hot, especially in the sun like this. One has to be very careful in the desert, or it can kill you.”

“Wow!” Roku stared with round eyes. “Does anything live there?”

“Quite a lot of things live in the desert,” Quatre replied, “but they have adapted to life there.”

“People, too?”

“Yes, people too!” Quatre chuckled. “That's who we're going to see. They are friends of mine who live in the desert.”

“Do I have to stay a boy all the time?”

“Well, it would be better if you didn't change in front of people, but I suppose you'd enjoy exploring the desert more as a tiger.”

Roku grinned. “Thank you, Mama.”

Quatre pointed ahead. “We're almost there.”

A fortified town rose up out of the desert with a large airfield on one side. Quatre angled in for a landing on the airfield.

“Mama, can I fly the plane when we go back?”

“I'll think about it.”

As they landed, several men, many with beards, appeared out of a large hanger adjacent to the airfield. They began to point excitedly and call out to one another as Quatre rolled to a halt and shut off the engines.

“Come on, Roku,” Quatre said, “I want to introduce you to the Maganac Corps. These men have helped me and saved my life many times.”

They climbed out of the plane and started across the tarmac.

“Master Quatre!”

“Welcome back!”

“We heard you disappeared!”

The men dashed forward eagerly to surround Quatre and Roku.

“It was just a small accident,” Quatre said quickly. “Everything's fine.”

“Who is this?” Abdul asked, patting Roku on the head.

“This is my son, Roku.” Quatre put his arm around Roku's shoulders. “I brought him back from our excursion.”

“Your son?!” Everyone stared in amazement.

“Master Quatre,” Rashid spoke from the shadow of the hanger doors. “I did not know you had planned to have a family. Congratulations! Although that seems a bit belated.” He gazed at Roku with open curiosity.

Quatre smiled brightly. “Well, I didn't exactly plan to have a family, but when Roku came along, I couldn't have been happier.”

“We are all very happy for you, Master Quatre.”

“Thank you.” Quatre spoke to Roku. “Roku, say hello to Rashid. He is the leader of the Maganac Corps.”

“Hello Rashid,” Roku said politely. “I am happy to meet you.”

“How do you do, Roku?” Rashid shook Roku's hand gravely.

Roku stared curiously past Rashid into the cavernous depths of the hanger. “Mr. Rashid, what are those?” He pointed at several covered shapes that bore a striking resemblance to mobile suits.

The Maganac Corps were no longer supposed to have any mobile suits.

Quatre lifted an eyebrow at Rashid.

Rashid shrugged slightly, looking faintly sheepish. “We were planning to scrap them, Master Quatre. We just haven't quite gotten around to it.”

“It's been a year,” Quatre remarked.

“Well, you know how busy things get, sometimes…”

“Rashid…”

Rashid hung his head. “Of course, Master Quatre. We'll do it right away.”

“If you're just going to throw them out, may I have one?” Roku asked.

Quatre stared at him. “Just what do you plan on doing with a mobile suit?”

“Well…” Roku tipped his head to one side and studied the nearest suit speculatively.

Quatre's eyes went wide. “You will NOT try to put that thing in your storage place!”

“It might fit,” Roku said thoughtfully, “if I shrink it a little…”

“No!”

“I might have to rearrange things…”

“Absolutely not!”

“I could give back some of Papa Duo's stuff…”

“Roku!”

“Yes, Mama?”

“I forbid you to put a mobile suit in your storage place, no matter how small you can make it.”

Roku looked disappointed. “Oh, all right.”

Rashid and the others exchanged confused looks.

Quatre shook his head. “Never mind,” he told them. “You don't want to know.”

“How long can you stay, Master Quatre?” Abdul asked.

“About a week, then I want to go see my sisters. It's been a while.”

“I thought you went home last month, Master Quatre?”

Quatre flushed. “Yes, well, um, that's true, but Roku hasn't met his aunts yet.”

“He hasn't? But wasn't he born on your family's resource satellite?”

“Ah, no, Roku was born elsewhere.” Quatre smiled another bright, innocent smile. “Why don't we go in and show Roku around?”

“Of course,” Rashid said. “But did I hear correctly when Roku addressed you as `Mama', Master Quatre?”

Quatre flushed. “Oh, well, yes, you did. The way Roku was born sort of, well, made me his mother, you see, so, well, he tends to address me as Mama, that's all.”

Rashid looked very confused. “I see,” he said.

Roku scampered ahead to peek under the cover of one of the mobile suits. “It's a big machine!” he exclaimed. “Do you know how to drive one of these, too, Mama?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Will you teach me? It looks like fun.”

“I don't know…” Quatre began.

“It would do no harm, Master Quatre,” Rashid interrupted. “Although we have procrastinated on destroying them, the weapons have all been removed.”

“I suppose it would be all right then.”

“Oh, boy!” Roku dashed ahead to look at another mobile suit.

“I'll keep an eye on him,” Abdul said and he trotted after Roku, followed by a few of the others.

“He is very energetic,” Rashid remarked.

“And very curious,” Quatre added.

“So just when did you have him, Master Quatre?” Rashid said, a little too casually. He was clearly trying to hold raging curiosity in check. “He appears to be nearly half your age.”

“Roku is younger than he looks.”

“I imagine he would have to be.”

“A lot younger.”

“I daresay.”

“It's science,” Quatre said with finality in his voice.

“Your family has indeed made some marvelous advancements in reproductive science,” Rashid agreed.

“Why don't we join the others?” Quatre suggested and he hurried to catch up with Roku and Abdul.

Some of the men were removing a cover from one of the mobile suits so Roku could get a good look at it.

“You might be a little small to pilot it, Master Roku,” Abdul was saying. “You may have trouble reaching some of the controls.”

“But that's mostly the weaponry,” someone said, “and we already removed all of that.”

“That's true,” Abdul nodded. “Want to get in?”

“Sure!” Roku hopped up and down excitedly.

Quatre folded his arms across his chest. “Don't you want to eat first? It's been a while since breakfast.”

“In a minute,” Roku said. He pointed at the mobile suit. “I want to try this.”

Abdul brought a lift over and he and Roku rode up to the cockpit door. Everyone watched as Abdul opened the door and helped Roku inside. Abdul leaned in, explaining the controls to Roku. Then he stood back and looked over the side of the lift.

“This is one bright kid,” Abdul said. “He's picking it up really fast.”

“Tell him I said that's enough for now,” Quatre answered. “He can pilot the mobile suit later. It's time for lunch.”

Abdul spoke into the cockpit and a moment later Roku hopped out. As soon as the lift was more or less close to the ground, he leaped down and bounded over to Quatre with a wide grin.

“I like it, Mama! Are you sure I can't have one? Maybe just a little one? Please?”

Quatre couldn't help smiling. “And just what are you going to do with a mobile suit, young man?”

“Drive it around the desert and make big footprints.”

“Tell you what; I'll let the Maganac Corps keep one or two mobile suits around and you can pilot them when you visit, ok?”

“Yippee!” Roku hugged Quatre tightly. “Thank you, Mama!” He bounded back over to Abdul. “Did you hear that? Mama said you can keep one for me. He's such a good Mama.”

Quatre shook his head. “I'm a terrible mother. I'm too indulgent. I spoil him.”

Rashid smiled broadly. “He seems none the worse for it, Master Quatre. He is a very sweet child.”

“He is,” Quatre agreed, “but I think it is all his own doing. We wouldn't mind a little lunch now, though, if it's no trouble.”

“Your visits are our pleasure, Master Quatre. We will be happy to prepare a meal for you.”

Roku was delighted to discover that desert people sat on the floor for meals and many tended to eat with their hands, with the occasional assist from a belt knife. He sat cross-legged on the floor and shoved food into his mouth with both hands.

“I like this food,” Roku mumbled around a mouthful, “it's really good.”

Quatre sighed mournfully as Roku got food all over his hands and face. “Do you think you could manage to get more of it in your mouth and less of it on you?”

“He eats well,” said Rashid.

“Yeah,” Quatre agreed, “it's too bad he learned his table manners from Duo.”

“He is still young.”

“I suppose.”

“Are you planning to have other children, Master Quatre?”

“I haven't really thought about it,” Quatre said quickly. “Raising Roku has kept me pretty well occupied.”

“You are a good parent,” Rashid said approvingly. “You should consider it.”

Quatre blushed. “Well, yes, I'll think about it.”

After lunch, Quatre regarded Roku with some dismay. “You need a bath.”

Roku looked down at himself. “It's not that bad.”

“You can't see your face.”

Roku licked his cheeks, although his human tongue was less than adequate for the spread of food on them. “May I bathe later? I want to go play in the sand.”

“You'll get sand stuck all over your face.”

“I'll get sand all over me anyway.”

Quatre sighed. “Good point. All right. You may go play, but come back before dark.”

“Ok!”

“I'll show you the quickest way out, Master Roku.”

“Thank you, Abdul.”

As Abdul and Roku trotted away, Rashid said, “Is it safe to let him go out by himself? He might get lost.”

Quatre smiled. “Roku will be fine. He's very resourceful. Why don't we sit somewhere and talk? I'd like you to refresh my memory of what's been happening over the past few months.”

“As you wish, Master Quatre.”

Roku returned at sunset, dusty, tired and smiling. “I like the desert, Mama!” he announced. “The sand is slippery, and there are bugs everywhere, and I found three different kinds of lizards, and I found a lizardy-thing that I don't know what is, and I found a bush with pretty pink flowers on it, and another bush with pretty white flowers, and a bush with little prickly spines all over it, and I dug a hole and it filled up with water so I drank it, and I found another bush with these pear-like things on it that birds were eating so I ate one and it was good, and oh, yeah, I saw a whole bunch of birds, and I saw this big giant spider that lived in a hole but I couldn't catch it.”

Quatre, Rashid and Abdul stared at Roku with their mouths hanging open.

“Wait a minute,” Quatre said. “You couldn't catch the spider? Does that mean you did catch other things?”

“Oh, yeah!” Roku said. “Look at this!” And he produced a bright green lizard out of nowhere. The lizard flicked out a long tongue. “It looks kind of like Gift, doesn't it?”

Quatre put a hand over his face. “What else did you catch?”

“Just a couple more lizards and that lizardy-thing that I don't know what is.”

“Roku…”

“I'll put them back tomorrow.”

“Good.”

“Do you want to see the lizardy-thing?”

“Maybe after dinner.”

“Ok.”

“You'd best keep those creatures out of sight, little master,” Abdul said with a grin. “Some of the ladies don't care for slithery beasties.”

“I will,” Roku promised. “They can't get out of the storage place.”

“The storage place?” Rashid asked.

“Where I put stuff,” Roku answered and he dropped the lizard over his shoulder. It disappeared.

Rashid and Abdul stared.

Quatre put both hands over his face. “Perhaps I should have mentioned that you might not want to show people your storage place.”

“Oops,” said Roku.

“Never mind.” Quatre looked at the others. “Roku has a special talent, but it would be better not to talk about it. I don't want people to gossip about him.”

“Of course, Master Quatre.”

“Good. Now, I think Roku could use a bath before dinner.”

In the bathroom, Quatre started filling the tub with warm water while he looked for soap and a washcloth. “We're going to have to wash your clothes as well,” Quatre said. “You got food all over your shirt.”

“If I change, they'll get clean when you wash me,” Roku replied.

Quatre sat back on his heels. “Tell me how that works, please.”

“Well…” Roku scratched his head. “When I change, my clothes sort of become part of my fur, if I'm wearing any, so when we wash my fur, the clothes get clean.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Quatre said. “I never really thought about where my clothes go when I shape-shift. Go ahead and change then. I'd just as soon get everything washed at once anyway.”

Roku shifted into his tiger form and leaped into the tub. A wave of water splashed into Quatre's face. Roku hung his head over the side with a soggy grin.

“Sorry, Mama.”

“I'm sure you are,” Quatre replied sternly, but then he smiled. “Let's get you washed before someone catches us.”

As usual, Quatre got almost as wet and soapy as Roku as the bath progressed. There was also a great deal of wrestling, growling, shouting and laughing. In fact, they were making so much noise that neither of them noticed when the door opened and Rashid and Abdul poked their heads in.

“Master Quatre,” said Rashid, “is everything… all… right…?” His voice trailed off and he stared at Roku in astonishment.

“Master Quatre,” exclaimed Abdul, “where did you get a tiger? I thought you were bathing Roku.”

Quatre turned bright red. “Um… Yes… Well… This is… Roku…”

“Huh?”

Quatre hung his head. “I am so bad at keeping secrets,” he mumbled. He looked at Rashid and Abdul. “Roku can shape-shift. Most of the time, he is a tiger, but he can be a little boy.”

Rashid and Abdul stared.

“A shape-shifter?” Rashid said. “I did not know such talent ran in your family, Master Quatre.”

“It's a recently discovered ability.”

“Can you shape-shift, too, Master Quatre?” Abdul asked.

“Um…”

“I learned it from watching Mama,” Roku said.

Quatre hung his head again. “I would rather that no one knew about this.”

“Of course, Master Quatre,” Rashid said. “We will not speak of this to anyone.”

“Thank you.”

“Perhaps you should keep the door locked when Roku changes shape.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Dinner will be served shortly.”

“Very well. I'll just get Roku dried off and we'll be right there.”

Rashid and Abdul backed out and closed the door. Quatre immediately stepped over and locked it. He turned to Roku.

“At the rate we're going, everyone's going to know everything about us,” Quatre said with a mournful sigh.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“I don't know.” Quatre got a towel and held it out. Roku scrambled over the side and Quatre began rubbing him dry. “I'm just worried someone will try to take you from me to study you.”

“I wouldn't go,” Roku said. “I belong with my Mama.”

Quatre hugged him. “That's right, Roku. You belong with your Mama.”