Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Tidal Whims ❯ Shooting Star ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: If I owned them I would not share.

Pairings: You'll see later. ;)

Constructive feedback welcomed and encouraged! Plus it make smy muse happy and makes him take note. ;)


~*~*~*~ signifies a change in time/place.

"______" signifies speech

'______' signifies thoughts




~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Years passed and the students changed but the stories were always popular in Miss Helen's class. And the two little urchin boys had stayed too.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Alright class, sit down and I'll tell you the next part. Now, what did I leave off with yesterday?”

“The black and green ones rescued the prince!”

“Yes, that's right isn't it.”

She smiled at the group of enraptured children, making sure her little wayward ones were listening as well before speaking.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The blue mer huffed. Why did everyone react to him like that?

“My apologies. I just wasn't expecting to see you, let alone any other mer, out here in that situation.”

The green tailed one nodded in agreement.

“What are you doing out here anyway?”

“I wanted to get away. I hate being cooped up and having to go to those functions.”

The two wild mers had a hard time stifling their laughter at the pout that crossed the prince's face.

“Well, at least your family cares about you.”

The younger one gave a small, reluctant, nod.

“Where are your families?”

The faces of the two others fell.

“We… we are each other's family. Brother by choice if not by blood.”

The young prince hesitated before giving a small smile and nodding.

The rest of the day was spent in the antics those of the sea loved, riding currents, playing with the creatures of the water and wrestling on the sandy bottom.

The young prince was very surprised when Trowa called out a pair of seal pups to play with them. Their mother watched sternly, but let them tussle about. He had called out others to play with them. The prince was delighted.

A pair of sailfish swam past, spinning in a fill array of their colors, daring one of them to race. Wufei flashed his tail and tore off with the large fish, beating them by a tail's length.

Even Trowa looked surprised at that.

Alas, as all good things must, the day came to an end. And the Prince needed to get home before the royal guards went into war-mode.

Poseidon forbid.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Heero couldn't help but notice that his two new friends were getting more and more nervous as they came closer to the city.

“What is it?”

“We… we're not supposed to get too close.”

“What? Why?”

“Old Law banished us.”

“WHAT!?”

“They don't understand us. They fear what they don't understand. And therefore they fear us.”

“That's stupid! I'll overrule it!”

“You can try.”

The sad look Trowa gave him nearly broke his heart.

“It's the wilds! They have the prince!”

Trowa and Wufei's heads snapped up at the sight of the guards swimming fast for them. They kept coming even as the prince swam forward and tried to stop them, yelling at them to stand down.

Only the fact that Wufei was faster than any of them could ever hope to be saved the brothers as they latched to each other and escaped.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The children looked up, confused as sad as Miss Helen paused.

“Why would they try to hurt them? It's mean.”

Miss Helen looked at the questioning child, eyes still showing sadness.

“Because they didn't understand.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The price was livid that the guards would ignore him and treat his new friends so poorly.

“But Prince!”

“NO! They saved my life. They treated me kindly. Not ONCE did they try to cause me harm.”

“But they are Wild!”

“SO WHAT!?”

Rarely had the court witnessed the prince loosing his temper so badly.

“They were ordered away for our protection! For centuries there have been warnings about allowing those with pure ebony or emerald tails within the city. It would bring ruin!”

“Who's proclamation was that?”

No one had an answer for the prince. And try as he might he could not get the ancient ruling overturned.

Still the prince did what he could. The two Wild mers were declared his brothers, if not in blood than spirit, declaring that attacking them would be akin to attacking the royal family. It stopped some of the abuse to the two when they came close, but not all.

Many of the subjects complained about the prince's ruling, saying he would bring the wrath of the seas down upon them all.

But the prince would hear none of it. He would regularly leave the city walls to visit the two, spending hours simply enjoying the lack of constrictions.

This is how things passed for the years. Under the rule of the Prince come King their city was peaceful and well tended in ways it had not been in years. He was just in his rulings, fair in his decisions, and considerate in his manners. Still, the crown weighted on him, causing him to stifle outward feelings so that only his brothers could tell his worries.

But still, they lived, and lived well for many years.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The two boys headed back to their secret place that night. They had grown and the path was trickier now that they were bigger, but they still managed to wriggle through.

They walked to the statue, curling up on their favorite spots. Strange how years of wind and weather had not worn the bodies nor stained them with corrosion. They were just as beautiful now as when the two little boys had found them.

“I feel so bad for them.”

“Yeah, me too. I mean, at least we don't get shoved out of places unless we make trouble.”

“Yeah, but they got shoved out just because they were different.”

“That just sucks.”

A soft silence fell over them as they ate a bit of the food the teacher had left for them.

“Hey Duo?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you ever miss your parents?”

“Can miss what you never knew.”

“Oh.”

“It's ok.”

“Do you miss yours?”

“Yeah, a lot. I wish nothing had ever happened to them. Not that accident or my aunt just showing up and taking me. She was mean. It was good to run away.”

“I'm sorry Quat. Not even a dog deserves to be treated like that.”

The small blonde boy leaned up and hugged the violet-eyed one, reaching over top of the sculpted body he was leaning against.

“Hey Duo?”

“Yeah?”

“If my parents were still alive I think they'd adopt you too.”

The braided boy smiled, petting the baby soft hair of his friend.

“Maybe.”

“I wish they were.”

They fell into an easy sleep. Overhead the stars were twinkling in the clear night sky.

A shooting star streaked across the skyline.

And somewhere a wish was being heard.