Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Sea in I ❯ IX ( Chapter 9 )

Unbeta'd
Italics ~ thoughts
Warnings: Q-ball torture, MXM goodiness, nudity, suggestive content
Pairings: eventual 1x2/2x1, and the pen dabbles around a bit

Input/feedback much appreciated.

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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the sexies in Gundam Wing AC, I just love to help them live a little.
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IX

 

He opened his eyes to a dark room and moved around with ease, pulling off his clothes before slipping into his well worn robe. He tripped and smiled to himself before kicking the clothes Duo had worn back toward the bed. He considered telling the carpenter that there was little need to hurry in making Duo's bed. His guest was messy but he made him smile and laugh even though it hurt.

 

Quatre had no explanation for it except he agreed with Duo's term for describing their relationship… He chuckled to himself. He was the first person Quatre had seriously considered having one with but what they had was friendship and that was definitely different. There were no false pretenses between them. It was the good kind of different because in the week that Duo had been in his company, he actually had the chance to live instead of existing for a purpose.

 

And now he was being mischievous.

 

He snuck out of his room quietly, slipping past his guards who stood at both ends of the hall. Guards, he knew were in place to ensure that he stayed in his room since Thecla found it even harder to track his whereabouts nowadays.

 

Disguises. He smirked, and almost gave himself away when a laugh tried to slip out. With Duo's help, they escaped out from under Wu Fei and Thecla's vigilant watch and had fun doing it. The people of Acai even helped on a few occasions.

 

Wu Fei's not so bad, Duo and he actually intended to include Wu Fei in one of their escapes.

 

Thecla. Quatre shook his head, she tried so hard to be everything for him but all he could do was thank her.

 

He slipped into the hidden corridor that led to a down slopping walkway. He was tired of resting. He didn't want to sleep anymore. He doubted he could, even if he wanted to. He felt the tingle of warmth beneath his eyes then lighting over several areas of his body. He knew Thecla had healed him while he slept, repairing the damage his wielding gift was having on him. This, in itself, explained Duo's absence. Quatre felt a little guilty for not telling him how bad off he was and for not being able to stay conscious long enough to diffuse some of Thecla's ire the night before.

 

The most visible damage was the dark circles under his eyes and the bruises on his body where blood vessels had burst or muscles had torn under his skin from the strain. Those things she could heal but not his eyes.

 

He was but one person, yet he held the power of thousands. The great maker had never meant for just one person to wield and he was wearing away because of it.

 

Quatre came to the bathing chamber where the lichen or `glow fuzz,' Duo had said once as many of the children called them, filled the place with light. The murmur of his people at play and relaxing in the baths filled his ears. He took a vacant side alcove, in need of a little privacy. Once inside, he let his robe fall to the floor, revealing his thin muscled body with tracery lines from fading dark bruises on various places of his body. He was the height of a twenty year old man.

 

He was a twenty year old man and had to remind himself for he heard the whispers all too often. He was as tall as Heero but many of his people referred to his as their boy king, the wind child because of his innocent face. It mattered very little to him because he'd decided long go he'd protect his people until there was nothing left of him.

 

Yet things were not so bleak, Relena's brother carried in him a wind wielder. He'd felt it! Quatre smiled as he stepped into the waist deep, warm and turbulent water. He wouldn't wish the same sightless fate on the child. He would try to live as long as he could so the child could at least see when it was born.

 

He sighed and sank down into the water until he felt it ripple beneath his chin. It would be hard for him to keep that promise without his bonded. Thecla had offered. Many had offered but none of them would be able to hold what he had to give them alone. And he didn't intend to have multiple people bonded to him...

 

It would be like they were providing a service, but still the very idea of doing something like that bothered him. Quatre's bonded would be almost like a vessel, able to wield Quatre's element to a small degree and in part, diffuse what he'd called forth in excess. Then he'd be stable, balanced so his body wouldn't be struggling with his ability while it tried to heal.

 

There was no one like that.

 

Thecla was close but if he let her, let anyone be bound to him, try to balance him, they would die.

 

Quatre blew bubbles into the water, staring at the faintly glowing presences of the lichen that lit many crevices of Acai.

 

Water was abundant in Acai but Duo was afraid of it.

 

Quatre didn't mind his company in this private alcove. He welcomed Duo's nonjudgmental, undemanding presence. The more Duo became familiar with the city, the more relaxed and carefree he became. He was a relief as well as a concern. Even though Duo tried to cover up his fear with cheerful banter, Quatre could still feel it.

 

Quatre gazed at the glowing presence of his hands, feeling the ripples he made in the water but not seeing any movement. He watched his fingers move and felt the water rolling over and parting around them. He smiled, no one could tell that he couldn't see normally not with the sight, his empathy and inflections he picked up from people's voices helping him balance out the illusion.

 

But Duo could. Possibly Heero and Relena too but they were not so sure about me.

 

A puzzle this Duo was and along with what Quatre could see of his presence. Duo's presence was as bright as his own which meant he was a wielder but it was different, augmented somehow.

 

Quatre recalled that Duo had mentioning something about the tours in Maheran and how they stole peoples' memories but he hadn't been a part of it. Duo certainly didn't know about the power he possessed or at least didn't remember. Quatre shrugged, closing his eyes; there were a lot of ways one could lose their memories. He decided that Duo would come with them to the mountains, and he'd help him if he needed it as his memories came back.

 

Quatre sank beneath the surface letting the jet of water that fed the small pool massage his back. He relaxed, enjoying the tingles the water jet sent down his legs as it rushed past them and back out a similar shoot at the bottom of the pool. He opened his eyes beneath the water and saw the fractured presence of someone - a man in the alcove watching him.

 

Quatre calmly surfaced, his hair in face, hiding that his eyes were narrowly open as he sat in the water and watched his watcher. He'd forgotten that one way to get to the bathing chamber was through this alcove but it wasn't used often. From the direction the man was moving, he had come from that direction. He had to work to keep his face calm because he felt nothing from this man. Unlike Heero who was mute to Quatre until he agitated him and Wu Fei who was to a degree muffled from him, this man gave off nothing.

 

There was no one like that in Acai.

 

Quatre quickly sat up feigning surprise when the man's foot shifted across the floor.

 

Intentional. He knew that the movement had to be, for whatever purpose, this man wanted him to know that he was there.

 

“Sorry, was I too long?” Quatre pushed the hair out of his face and opted to stare off to the left of the man before he reached for his robe. It would be useless to act like he could see with this one. It troubled him that one of Heero's men could have gotten into his city without the notice of anyone.

 

“No.” He heard the man say but it held a question in it. “I can just come back.”

 

“No, no. Please stay so you can have your turn, I was leaving anyway just a little lost in thought.” He offered a smile that turned troubled when his robe was not where he'd left it.

 

“It's not here?” He whispered to himself, turning his back fully to the man. He ran his hands over the stony surface of the floor, unconcerned that the water hardly covered the swell of his buttocks.

 

Quatre stopped his search when a tinge of amused interest drifted to him but it wasn't coming from the direction of the man. That was when he realized that he was bending over out of the pool and nearly on his knees on the floor. He dropped back down into the water, a hot blush coloring his face.

 

“You-”

 

“Here you go.” Startled, Quatre felt the soft fabric of his robe brush across his face. He remembered the man being at his left, where should still be because he hadn't heard him move. Quatre's bottom lip snuck out, he couldn't really recall how far from the pool he'd left his robe.

 

“Thank you.” He muttered, what else could he say? He hadn't seen him move it. He hadn't seen him move at all!

 

Why would he do such a thing? But he was sure the man had, to ensure he carried no weapons. Quatre stood and walked out of the water, forcing the man to continue to hold the robe in front of him and step back to accommodate him as he stepped forward. Quatre smirked to himself at the curl of surprise he picked up, and it was from the man of that he was certain now. He felt a little confused by the tracery wisps of emotions that he could barely feel just beneath his calm exterior. It enticed him, drew him and he couldn't stop himself from moving forward. His body urged him closer.

 

Proximity. The word whispered through his mind and he understood why he hadn't felt him before. The man still had the robe in his hands when Quatre, drawn to him, forced his hands back. The robe rested across Quatre's toned chest, the man holding it in place but that mattered little. Quatre was more interested in the curl of feelings he could almost read from the man. It was curiosity. It was longing, desire.

 

Completion...

 

The man's verdant eyes looked back into Quatre's half open ones and Tamien forgot about what he had come there for. The aquamarine eyes held his attention so much that he wasn't aware of the air stirring around them, shifting his bang over both his eyes.

 

Quatre leaned in closer and instead of moving back, Tamien stayed still. Neither of them aware that the only thing separating them from Quatre's wet body was the robe Tamien still held for him. Quatre tilted his head up toward Tamien and watched his presence flicker before his eyes, it was not so strange that he didn't look like any other person but he couldn't look away. They were so close that they shared breathes.

 

Quatre drifted toward that pull. It was the first time that everything in him was calmed without Thecla having to suppress it back. Even that had required some kind of contact from her.

 

Suppressor. A body knew what it needed and he felt helpless but to follow, the pull was so strong.

 

Fingers sent a shock of feeling to his senses. He'd felt fine without the need of physical touch, but this was so sharp that he could feel every bit of skin those fingers touched. They trailed along his right arm, from shoulder to elbow where a smattering of freckles swirled in no definitive shape to the passing eye but Quatre knew it was his birthmark.

 

It was his mark as a wielder and suddenly for an insane moment he saw everything in the alcove, the man with half a bang sweeping over one side of his handsome face and his vibrant green eyes. Tamien's head dipped forward and Quatre's eyes widen before he quickly pulled away, snatching his robe from him and everything went dark.

 

That can't be possible. Quatre looked down at his hands, and found he couldn't see anything but he could feel them shaking. He quickly slipped back into the sight, fisting the robe in one hand.

 

He could see!

 

He hadseen everything!

 

For a moment, he could see!

 

Quatre jerkily put the robe on, his face aflame as he looked over his shoulder at Tamien who he sensed was confused, his hand poised where Quatre's arm had been.

 

“You-” This time there was no accusation in it and Quatre found he didn't know what to say. He shakily pushed his mostly dry hair out his face before resting his face in his hand. He smiled bitterly, and with a shake of his head walked confidently toward the exit.

 

This man is working for Nartob. This man is an enemy but he's also with Heero.Quatre's lips pressed into a firm line, his expression grave. He wouldn't let that influence his decisions or let it dictate to him who he could trust.

 

I'll have the guards come and remove him. A hand grabbed his arm and jerked him around to face the green eyed man. “No more pretending.”

 

He's right. Quatre knew he had been to a degree, pretending. Quatre frowned up at the man and shrugged his arm free of his hand. “I'll send someone to take you to Heero.”

 

“No, it should be you.”

 

Quatre gave the man an innocent smile and felt the man's airy puzzlement. He knew that his smile threw people off about his intentions. It was the same with this man, the wind swirled around them before encircling Tamien alone. It blocked him when he reached out to grab Quatre and dumped the green eyed man into the pool.

 

Quatre's smile morphed into a true one as he tilted his head slightly to the green eyed man when he resurfaced. He watched Tamien struggle with the wind and surprisingly, the force behind it disappeared.

 

“Again, someone else will be here to escort you. My Apologies,” Quatre smirked at the drenched man as he started to climb out of the pool. Quatre twitched a pale brow and Tamien was thrown back into the water. “I must insist that you remain there for the time being.”

 

Tamien sputtered to the surface and laughed. He came to the edge of the pool and rested his head on his crossed arms.

 

“Fine. I'll do as you wish, moje milé.”

 

Quatre made a face at the unfamiliar words and only sensing more of Tamien's airy amusement with their use. Quatre wished he could see the expression on Tamien's face but he wasn't willing to risk someone, even a possible enemy, to temporarily have his sight back.

 

A warm prickling feeling from his nose drew his attention. He reached up to wipe it away and felt more of it drip across his mouth. He stumbled backward and caught himself on a wall as a wave of dizziness enveloped him. A metallic smell filled his nose and more warmth ran down his lips.

 

Blood. He realized as darkness took away his sight.

 

I was bleeding. He groaned the next moment, his body felt so tight and his head hurt from the flood of emotions from the people just beyond the wall of the alcove.

 

I broke her seal… Thecla… He needed to get to her.

 

As if in answer to his unspoken plea, he felt hands on his face, cold, wet hands. They were pinching his nose closed and tilting his head back. Quatre grimaced, opening his eyes and seeing Tamien's blurry presence above him. He tried to shake off his hands. He'd never liked the taste of blood in his mouth but it was no use, the man had a firm hold on his head. He could hear the wind, a part of it felt as if it was unfurling in his chest, making his back arch and his heart pound in a way that had only happened once before... when his mother had died.

 

It had been the same day he'd killed Rashid.

 

A sharp pain slashed across the upper half of his chest. It felt like his chest was going to burst open. Quatre spasmed on the floor as hands tried to still him. He gurgled a scream and coughed hard. It left a coppery tinge on his tongue.

 

“Thecla...” was all he could rasp out before his throat refused to work.

 

“Your bonded? Where is she?”

 

Quatre didn't hear Tamien. He was more concerned about how his voice had been swept away when it shouldn't have. Quatre realized then that the wind in his ears wasn't some imagining of his pain addled mind. He gritted his teeth and tried to regain control of the wind in the alcove. His people were just beyond its walls and they didn't deserve to suffer because he chose to be foolish and showy.

 

He tasted more blood but he pushed on, one eye slipping close and then the other. Tamien shook him, stopping him from slipping off. This time the green eyed man's emotions came to him clearly, slicing out all the others. He was angry with him and concerned.

 

“What are you doing?! Don't use your ability!” Quatre looked at Tamien's presence through blurry slits and wondered why it didn't work like earlier. He couldn't see him but the man was touching him?

 

Then it suddenly made sense to him. The seal was broken so whatever suppression the man could do just by proximity wasn't enough. Touching it seemed wouldn't come close to enough.

 

Quatre wondered if Thecla would miss him.

 

Tamien shook him again, “Listen to me, let me help you.” The man said earnestly.

 

Quatre looked to him, confusion plain on his face before the blurry presence pressed down on him and kissed him.

 

Quatre stared blankly up into the bright contours that defined the soldier's head. Thecla had seldom kissed him to balance him, only when he had lost consciousness a few times but still she preferred to touch him or hold him to take it into herself. And he'd make sure she never got to the point where the sharing got too intense for her. He could always tell by the intensity of her emotions, one in particular being arousal. She had told him once that her eyes dilated and told him not to worry but Quatre remembered.

 

He would never forget Rashid. Rashid had returned to them with news that his father had been killed and his mother a captive of Nartob. She had been killed years later before they could rescue her and Rashid had been there with him when his power grew because of it. Rashid had held him and took it into himself... more than he should have.

 

Quatre hadn't known what Rashid had done for him until he woke up. He found his own body calm, his abilities suppressed within manageable levels, but it was like the world was muffled. That was when he noticed Rashid. He was still, sitting upright in the chair, his arms half cradling him with all the color gone from his brown eyes, his pupils blown and his body lifeless.

 

Thecla had been there then and again when he lost his eyesight after stopping her from trying to do the very same thing. This all came to him now as the man kissed him, their mouths slightly open at the press of their lips as if they were sharing breath.

 

In a sense, Quatre guessed they were. The unfurling, pressure in his chest eased and his body still felt strained but not to the point that it was going to be ripped apart. Dread filled him in the wake of relief when he opened his eyes and saw the light that made up the sight flicker, becoming browns and grays - the alcove taking shape before his eyes.

 

He will die. He'll die. The thought came to him urgently and repeated itself in his head until he could lift his arms and push him back.

 

“Don't...” he couldn't get another word out, his throat was too dry and sore. Quatre's vision flickered back into the sight and he was stunned by the intensity of the concern Tamien had for him.

 

“It's ok. I wouldn't bind you to me.” Tamien said breathlessly, taking hold of Quatre's hand on his shoulder and squeezing it.

 

Quatre felt a sudden conflict within Tamien but with another squeeze to his hand, the conflict was gone.

 

“Although, your mark on me won't fade so easily...” Quatre could hear the smile in Tamien's voice. It made him wondered if he was a wielder. He dismissed the thought, sure that he would've sensed, seen it as he had in Duo.

 

Tamien's fingers sent little shocks across his senses as they trailed along his jaw teasing and soothing the knot in his chest. They were still connected, he was still drawing from him and suppressing but much slower than before.

 

Tamien didn't understand him. He wanted to warn him that being bound to someone was the least of Quatre's worries. Quatre just didn't want anyone else to die for him. He shook his head and his vision popped back in. For another heart thrilling moment he could see. He could see Tamien's eyes - the pupils were nearly blown, his cheeks flushed and his skin glistened with sweat.

 

“It's okay.” The fingers moved to the side of his temple, then wiping at the corners of his eyes. He was crying. It was strange that he would. This man was an enemy - even if he was with Heero that meant nothing. He had caused the death of one of this man's comrades and he wondered if he told him, if he said he could've done the same to him in a heartbeat would that stop him? If he told him that he would die if he kept helping him?

 

“See!” Tamien exclaimed, his voice quiet and intimate at Quatre's ear. Tamien sat up slightly on his stretched arm, his breath coming in short puffs against Quatre's ear and breaking into his thoughts. He stared down into Quatre's eyes and Quatre could see the tenderness in his eyes that he conveyed in the slow strokes of his hand into his hair. “The wind is calming, there's no need to overextend yourself.”

 

This man had a beautiful smile and was leaning into him again. “A little more and you should be ok.”

 

Tamien's kiss silenced anything he could've tried to utter in protest. This was not just the press of lips like before but a real kiss that made him feel it too. He arched into it, pulling the man closer instead of pushing him away like he intended. In a hot and blinding flash of feeling, Quatre's heart calmed and the pressure in his chest faded along with his consciousness.

 

The last feeling he had trailing on the tapering end of his consciousness was regret for not knowing the man's name.

 

Tbc…

 

* moje milé = my sweet or dear