Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Violets, Braids, and Space Pirates? ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

Violets, Braids, and Space Pirates? (1 of ?)

Nightseer

Email: nightseer12@yahoo.com

Archive: fanfiction.net and mediaminer.org

Category: Romance, Au-Tenchi Universe

Pairings: Just friends for now, eventually 1x2x1, maybe 3+4

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: a few curse words

Spoilers: For Gundam Wing, not a one. For Tenchi Universe, oh yeah

Feedback: This is my first story and I am without a beta. So feedback is most defiantly wanted. Suggestions, comments, ideas, and even grammar and spelling corrections are all very, very welcome.

Author's note: This is just a revised version of the first three chapters that I originally posted. If you've read those you don't really need to read this but there are a few things added and changed around here and there.

"speech"

'thought'

Chapter One: Memories and Meetings

It was a quiet spring day at the Yuy household, almost too quiet for Heero. Over the past six months he had gotten used to the fights, explosions, and the occasional glomping by one of his affectionate housemates. But they were gone now and the house was quiet once more. He hated to admit it but he missed them. He even missed the fights between the baka and the pink menace, although it was nice to longer need to dive for cover when the two fought. It didn't help that every morning he saw Hilde's African Violet in that horrible pink pot sitting on the kitchen table.

To Heero that plant was a living reminder of Duo and Relena. It first glance the colors of the deep purple flowers and the pale pink base clashed. But after looking at it a while it just seemed to work; just like their fiery friendship. Fiery was a good description of that relationship, especially since fighting, explosions, and competition were their idea of communication.

Heero looked up from studying the plant and realized he was late. He quickly threw his dishes in the sink and grabbed his school bag. As he left yelled his goodbyes to his father and grandfather. Running out the gate and down the hillside towards the stairs of the shrine he almost expected to hear Hilde running after him with his lunch or to see Yagami take off from the lake. Unfortunately none of this happened. It had been two weeks since his vacation from normalcy had ended and he missed it. As he reached the halfway point on the stairs he stopped out of habit. For a brief moment he hoped Duo would appear just like always and offer him a lift to school.

Heero shook his head to clear his mind of the memories. As he started to turn and head the rest of the way down he heard a small mew. Once again he got lost in the memories and expected to see Ryo-Ohki but instead of the little brown cabbit it was just a small black and white kitten. Heero had a soft, sad smile on his face as he watched the kitten jump off the rock and race into woods. He really missed his friends, especially Duo. He could almost hear Duo's voice with that strange mix of sadness and laughter that it always seemed to hold when he spoke

'It's like a carnival Heero. Something new and exciting everyday, ya know? Never knowing what will happen next. Sometimes I wish this could last forever, don't you Heero?'

Heero's expression became a little more melancholy as he glanced towards the sky. 'It almost seems like the last six months were a dream. It's hard to believe so much has happened since I saw Ryo-Ohki crash that day…'

Six months earlier…

Above Earth a battle was taking place between two ships. One ship was plant shaped. The top part had four brown spikes coming out of a maroon dome in the center while the bottom had silver root like structures. The other ship was a pale blue-gray with the front being tubular in shape and at the end it branched out where two engines were located. The two ships skimmed the atmosphere of the small planet as they exchanged fire. Finally the brown ship got in a lucky shot and hit the engines of its foe. As its pilot lost control and began a crash course towards the little planet below he fired one last shot and struck one of the spikes on the brown ship causing it to crash as well.

Down on Earth seventeen year old Heero was rushing out the door for school as he attempted to eat his toast, put on his shoes and check his bag to make sure he remembered his laptop. As soon as his normal Monday routine of hop, skip, jump, and chew was finished he took off at a full run down the hill and towards the stairs. Halfway down the stairs he heard a shrill whistle like sound coming from above. Shoving his messy brown hair out of the way he looked up to see what appeared to be a shooting star. His cobalt eyes widened in shock as the star split in two and crashed into the hillside.

Heero, being curious and looking for a reason to skip an hour long bus ride, went to check it out. As he approached the scene of the first crash all he saw were a few busted up trees and what looked like giant shards of brown crystal streaked with black soot. Looking through the settling dust he noticed a body by the lake. Dropping his backpack he quickly climbed over the wreckage and headed to the lake. As he knelt down he noticed the body had a three foot long chestnut braid and that it was wearing what looked like a black turtle neck tank with black bands on the wrists instead of sleeves, black baggy cargo style pants, and black combat boots. As he turned the body over he realized two things; one, it was a guy about his age and two, he had a pulse. After checking him over and seeing no obvious injuries, Heero decided the best thing to do would be to take him back up to the house and call an ambulance. He had barely picked him up when the young man's violet eyes started to open.

As the young man regained consciousness he blushed when he realized he was being carried around like a baby. 'Then again after that crash into the lake being carried around might be a good thing.' Out loud however, "As nice as this is do you think you could tell me who you are and maybe put me down?"

After almost dropping the other boy from the shock of hearing him speak Heero slowly picked his way across the wreckage to a large rock and sat his passenger down. As he moved to sit beside him he finally answered his question. "My name is Heero Yuy. Would you mind telling me your name? And maybe what the hell that is or was?" gesturing towards the crash site.

"Well Heero, nice to meet ya." Duo replied. With one leg hanging over the edge of the rock, he put his head on the knee of the leg he was hugging to his chest. Giving his new companion an impish grin he continued. "My name is Duo Maxwell and that is what's left of Ryo-Ohki, my ship. But she'll hatch out of an egg in a few days so that's not a problem." Noticing that Heero's eyes had widened in shock Duo's thoughts became a little alarmed. 'Please don't tell me…If I'm right I'm going to be in deep shit with Cat.' "I take it that having a spaceship crash around here isn't all that common huh?"

Heero, still reeling from the fact that this was an E.T. moment, gave into that babbling urge he had been repressing. "Um…no, spaceships do not normally crash here; especially two in one day." Dropping his head into his hands he started muttering. "All I wanted was to miss the bus, catch a ride with my dad, sit through class and maybe, just maybe, get to stare at the hot new teacher. Now I'm sitting here talking to an alien who just happens to mention that his ship, which is in pieces, is going to be a mommy?!"

Snickering, Duo tried to respond to his companion's mutterings. "Actually the egg will just be Ryo-Ohki reborn. She does that anytime something like this happens. It's kinda cool. But back to the other thing." Duo said as he jumped off the rock. Noticing Heero's blank look he rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. "You know, you said two ships, right? Could you show me where the other ship crashed? It might be a good idea to go see if Cat's alright."

Heero climbed off the rock and the two began the trek towards the other smoking crash site. "You know the pilot of the other ship?" Heero asked.

"Well I think I do. I mean, no one else at the Galaxy Police besides Quatre is ballsy enough to chase after me. Usually they just send Dorothy and Ken-Ohki after me. Although that ship didn't really look like Yagami so I'm not too sure if it's Cat or not but my nickname seems to scare most of them off. Though how the hell a thief got the name Shinigami is beyond me. Maybe it's all the black. What do you think Hee…?" Turning to get the other teen's opinion on the matter he noticed that he had stopped some ways back and was giving him the oddest look. It was somewhere between confused, shocked and stupefied. Duo just sighed, grabbed his hand and started back towards the crash site again.

While Heero didn't stop walking again, he did yank his hand out of Duo's grasp. "Let me get this straight, you're a thief on the run from the police and you're on a first name basis with the cop after you?" At Duo's nod Heero had to ask. "Why?"

"Quatre and I go way back. We first met when we were kids. Hell, even then we played Cops and Robbers. We were good friends for the longest time. Well, anyways, about three years ago he got accepted into the academy and ever since we've sort of been playing tag." Duo snickered softly. "The only difference is that he's always it no matter how many times he catches me." When Duo's explanation ended they could hear a muffled voice coming from nearby. At first Heero couldn't make it out but as they got closer he could tell it was someone cursing.

"Goddamn it Duo! When I get my hands on you I'm gonna kick your ass to Jurai and back. Then I'm gonna shave that braid of yours off and feed it to Ryo-Ohki!" Upon hearing that Duo's face broke out into a huge grin and he started racing towards the sound. As Heero tried to catch up with him, he heard a loud clang, like someone had kicked a car. As he heard the chant of "shit, shit, shit." he realized the pilot had kicked his ship. Suddenly, Duo, who was a good thirty feet in front of him, let out a loud war cry and jumped into the air.

As Heero arrived at the crash site he saw Duo and a blonde boy hugging one another while laughing. Behind the two teens was what Heero could only assume was once a ship. Now it was just a giant hunk of twisted metal. While wondering how the blonde had survived, Heero began sliding down the small crater created by the crash. As he got nearer to the teens he could over hear their conversation.

"Damn Cat, what were you thinking earlier? You woke me up from my nap damn it!"

"Well, I wanted to win this little game of tag Duo. Did you know that the betting pool at Headquarters on when I'll finally catch you and you staying caught is now larger than the bounty on your wanted poster?"

"No shit?! Damn I didn't think you actually did shit like that. Gambling being a big no-no for Jurai royal types and all."

"I didn't say I had any money in the pool just that it's getting damn big. And Duo?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't remind me that I'm related to 'Lena."

"Oops, forgot." Duo scratched his head and tried to look innocent. "Forgive me?"

"Of course Duo." Looking over his friend's shoulder Quatre finally spotted Heero just standing there looking slightly uncomfortable and out of place. "Um Duo, are you going to introduce me?"

Turning around Duo grabbed Heero's hand and pulled him forward. "Quatre, this is Heero Yuy. Heero, this is Detective First Class Quatre Winner; the Galaxy Police Academy's brightest pupil and star detective."

As the two shook hands Quatre looked Heero over. Dressed in a black school uniform, Heero looked to be about six feet tall with a trim yet muscular figure. He had a feeling that his face normally didn't wear the confused expression it was displaying, but maybe something more serious and studious. Quatre smiled and decided he liked him on sight. Heero, on the other hand, was a little more wary. It was hard to match the angelic looking blonde with blue-green eyes in blue jeans and a hunter green sweater with his mental image of what a cop, let alone a cop from out space, should look like. Then he remembered that this same blonde had survived a crash where his ship ended up looking like a giant crumbled ball of tinfoil. He returned the blonde's smile with a small one of his own.

With that done Quatre turned back to Duo. "Since my ship is out of it, do you think I could use Ryo-Ohki to send off a distress signal for me?"

Duo shook his head. "No can do, at least not yet. I crashed too, remember? It'll be a few days before Ryo-Ohki's up for that."

When Quatre looked like he was going to start cursing again Heero decided to speak up. "How about this, until Ryo-Ohki hatches…" Heero's face twitched at the idea of a ship coming out of an egg. "…the two of you can stay with me and my family." The two teens looked at each other and shrugged. Duo, being Duo, decided to get the lecture he knew was coming out of the way.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea? I mean, you did say spaceships making crash landings weren't a common occurrence on this planet. Hell, just by your reaction I have a feeling space travel isn't all that common either. I don't want to freak your family out or anything."

Quatre, to Duo's surprise, just sighed and shook his head. "Duo's right. That might be a problem. Close your mouth Duo. I'm not going to chew you out. This is as much my fault as it is yours."

Because of Heero's puzzled expression Duo decided to explain. "There is this nice little law about coming in contact with races that have yet to reach a certain level of technology. Something about corrupting the natural evolution, the exchange of advanced technology and all that rot."

Heero smiled at that. "Unless you plan on exchanging interplanetary architecture ideas with my father or new ideas on how to sweep up the leaves at the shrine with my granddad I think we'll be okay. Besides they're pretty easy going guys. So if there are no other objections?" Both Duo and Quatre shook their heads. "Well then, let's head back to my house."

As the three boys were helping each other climb out of the crater Duo spoke up. "Hey do you think we can swing by the lake where I crashed? I need to pick up Ryo-Ohki. She should be done forming the egg by now."

Heero almost fell back in before Quatre caught him. Quickly recovering his footing he nodded his thanks to the blonde and he replied. "Sure. I need to pick up my backpack too." After dusting themselves off, the three teens made their way back to Duo's crash site. As Duo and Quatre talked, Heero wondered what had possessed him to invite them back to his house. He didn't even invite his friends from school out to his house. 'But' he realized 'most of my friends don't live this far out either.' As they got closer to the lake he sighed and accepted the fact that he was stuck with them. When they reached the wreckage Heero went for his bag while Quatre and Duo looked around for Ryo-Ohki's egg. After grabbing his bag and checking to see if his laptop was still in one piece, Heero walked over to where the other two were standing by the shore of the small lake.

"Did you find it yet?" Heero asked.

"Ryo-Ohki is a she, not an it. And no, we haven't found her yet." Duo was a little put out by Heero's description of his ship and friend. "I think she formed the egg in the lake. Be right back guys." Heero's eyes almost popped out of his head as he and Quatre watched Duo calmly walk out to the center of the lake. As Duo walked around the top of the lake looking for Ryo-Ohki, Heero turned to Quatre raising one eyebrow, as if asking 'This is normal?' Quatre smiled. "He's not really walking on water, you know. He's actually floating."

"Floating?"

"Yes, Duo can float, fly actually. He's a powerful telekinetic. It's easy to forget though. He doesn't like to show off."

Heero grunted. 'If this isn't showing off, what is?'

When the two boys turned back to check on Duo, they saw him sink beneath the water. Before Heero could ask Quatre explained. "He's shielding. He can create a shield with some air enclosed for a short while. He can also shield himself for protection. How did you think he survived the crash? Hell, how did you think I survived?"

"You're a telekinetic?"

"A weak one, but I can shield for protection and I'm an empath."

Heero's eyebrow twitched again as he tried to process the information. "An empath?" His voice sounded more like a mouse squeaking than his normal tone. 'Too much information, way too damned fast.' He thought.

"I can sense other people's emotions. It's not very reliable because people can repress their emotions, but it can come in handy every once in a while." Quatre frowned as a pale faced Heero went to sit down. He was slightly puzzled at the boy's confusion over things that to him seemed quite normal. 'This is probably why that damned Species Interaction law exists.' he thought. Shrugging, he looked back towards the lake. He saw Duo rise and begin to stroll back. As Duo got closer he could see that he was carrying a brown egg that was roughly the size of a child's teddy bear. Once Duo was close enough he could hear him muttering something that sounded like "about bloody time I found you" and that Ryo-Ohki was "being a pain in the ass, hiding like that." Snickering, Quatre interrupted his friend's lecture of the not yet hatched Ryo-Ohki. "Where was she?"

"She was at the bottom of the damn lake in the middle of a bunch of underwater shrubbery. Sometimes I think she reforms in the crappiest places just to piss me off."

"Oh, she's done something like this before?" Quatre asked his friend while trying for an innocent expression. Mentally however, 'Bitching shall commence in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…'

"Hell yeah! You remember that time Dorothy shot me down over Catamac? She reformed while buried under ten fucking feet of sand. It took me four hours to dig her out. Did you know that Catamac is mostly made up of deserts?"

"So, your point is…?"

Duo, who was getting into his little rant, decided to elaborate. "Quatre, Catamac is nothing but a shit load of sand, hot as hell temperatures, no shade, and no fucking water!" He held his braid up while cradling Ryo-Ohki's egg in the other arm. "By the time I got her out even my braid was sweating. Plus there was that time when we were kids on Jurai when she transformed for the first time…."

When Quatre started to laugh while listening to Duo rant and rave about all the times he had to dig up, fish out, or in one case steal back Ryo-Ohki in her egg form, Heero tuned them out to try and make sense of his day so far. 'Okay, let's go through this again. One, Duo and Quatre are not of this world. Two, Duo's a thief. Three, his ship is an egg.' Looking up to check out the egg Duo was carrying, he added to that last thought. 'How can something that small be a ship? Never mind, deal with it later. Four, he's friends with Quatre, a police officer who is currently trying to arrest him. Five, his ship is an egg. Six, he and Quatre are psychics. Seven, his ship is an egg. Eight, I invited them to stay with me until Ryo-Ohki hatches and someone can come rescue Quatre. Nine, Duo's ship is an egg. Okay, I can deal with everything else but not the fact that that egg is a ship.' His mind stuck on that one thought, Heero yelled out "How the fuck does that egg turn into a ship?! What can hatch out of an egg and be capable of space flight?"

Quatre and Duo, who had forgotten Heero was just sitting there, turned to look at him. Quatre was useless since he was still snickering and one look at Heero's red, pissy face set off his laughter again. Duo, on the other hand, just smirked and stroked the big brown egg. "Just wait two or three days. By then she'll have hatched and be ready to take flight. Hell, if you want I'll even give you a ride. It would be the least we could do for you since you're letting us stay with you. It's great. Flying with Ryo-Ohki is like nothing else. You've gotta try it at least once. No other ship out there can match her speed or maneuverability."

Before Duo could start praising his baby's greatness, Quatre intervened. "Speaking of that don't you think we should head back to your house? I mean, won't your family be worried if you aren't back soon?"

"Yeah they're gonna be worried." Heero muttered looking down at his watch. 'I was supposed to be in my first class an hour ago.' "We better get back before the school calls. It's this way. Come on." Heero stood up and led the way back through the woods towards the path back to his house. For a while the strange little trio walked in silence, but once they reached the stairs Duo's curiosity got the better of him.

"So, you're still in school? Is it near here?"

"Yes and No."

"Is that outfit your school's uniform?"

"Yes."

"Damn, I thought I had finally found someone who liked black as much as me."

"Hn."

"Let me guess, now that the shock is over, you aren't going to talk much?"

"Not unless I have something to say."

Quatre reached around Heero and gently pulled Duo's braid. "Not everyone talks as much as you do. Don't bug him."

"Not the hair. Never the hair." Moving a little farther away from Quatre to keep his braid safe, Duo continued. "I'm just curious. Besides, the more I know the risk of my accidentally ticking someone off goes down drastically. So is there anything we should know about living with you?"

"Two things. One, when my door is shut I'm studying, so don't bother me. Two, don't ever touch my laptop without my permission."

"That's it? Door shut, quiet, Laptop, no-no. Well that should be easy to remember." Duo paused as they reached a little plateau on the stairway and followed Heero when he turned left on to a dirt path. "Umm, just one question. What's a laptop?"

Heero snorted and looked at the two boys. Both looked a little confused. "Do you know what a computer is?" They nodded. "Well, a laptop is a portable computer. It's about a foot long and I guess eight inches wide. It opens up like a book and runs off a battery."

Quatre pulled what looked like a long silvery blue pen to Heero out of his pocket. Looking from the pen to Heero and back to the pen again Quatre asked "You mean that your computers are that big?"

"Actually most are larger than that. Laptops are just portable computers. Why?"

"Because that stick Cat's holding is his computer." Duo replied snickering at Heero's shocked expression.

Shaking his head in amusement, Quatre muttered to himself "How do people carry things like that around. It's a waste of space."

Heero's eyes lit up with an idea. "Quatre, do you think I could look at your computer later? I won't try to take it a part or anything. I just want to see it work."

"Uh I don't think…"

"Why not Quatre? He said he wouldn't try to figure out how it works. Hell, do you even know how it works?" When Quatre blushed and shook his head no Duo continued attempting to appeal to the blonde's generous nature. "It would be a nice thing to do considering he's letting us stay with him and all." When that didn't work Duo decided to use the puppy eyes. Even Heero had a pitiful look on his face.

Quatre looked at his friend and Heero. Sighing, he accepted the inevitable. "Fine you can look at it later while I'm typing up my report. But that's it. No touching. The last thing I need is to get an ass chewing from my superiors because I let someone from this planet play with advanced technology."

"Thank you, Quatre." Heero said with a small smile. His smile faded, however, as he saw his grandfather wearing a less than pleased expression standing by the fence surrounding the house. Heero ran up to him to try to explain why he wasn't in school.

"Busted." Duo whispered. He recognized that look. He'd seen it one to many times as a child. Quatre shot Duo an amused look as they continued walking over to where Heero was trying to explain why he wasn't at school.

"Um granddad, did you hear that explosion a while ago?"

"Actually I heard two."

"Well, that was…" Turning to face the other boys with him "How do I explain this? Especially that." waving his hand at the egg in Duo's arms.

"Still stuck Ryo-Ohki being an egg, huh? And for the last time Ryo-Ohki's a she not an it or a that!"

"Well, Heero you could try introducing your friends and perhaps inviting them in for starters." His granddad replied, cutting off the braided boy's rant.

While Heero stuttered, Duo walked forward and handed him the egg and hissed "Don't drop her." Turning to face Heero's grandfather, he shook his hand and introduced himself. "Hello sir. My name is Duo Maxwell and this here is Quatre Winner." Quatre had to duck as Duo's hand swung towards him and almost whacked him right in the face. "It's very nice to meet you sir." While Quatre shook the old man's hand Duo took Ryo-Ohki back from Heero. "Thanks for not dropping her."

"It's very nice to meet you both. My name is Katsuhito Masaki. Let's head inside and perhaps my grandson can explain himself." As he walked to the front door he called over his shoulder. "Heero?"

"Yes sir?"

"It had better be good young man."

As the three teens followed him into the house Katsuhito went straight down the hall and turned right through a door. Heero was about follow when Duo grabbed his arm.

"Do you think I could have a blanket for Ryo-Ohki?"

Heero snorted and turned to climb the stairs instead. He motioned to where the old man had gone, "You might as well join granddad and I'll bring you the blanket." As he went upstairs the other two looked at each other, shrugged, and went down the hall to where they had seen the old man go.

As Duo passed the living room he noticed that there was a large oak entertainment center that had a T.V., a VCR and a DVD player on one side with closed cabinets on the other. 'Probably full of vid discs' he thought. There were two large dark purple couches in the room. While one was against a wall the other's back was to the hallway as if was separating the two rooms. In the center of the room was a large white rug placed on the golden hardwood floors. And in the center of the rug was an oak table with a small bowl full of colored, glass balls. In the summer he imagined there might be flowers instead. The room appeared to be quite welcoming and homey. 'It looks lived in.'

Heero's grandfather smiled when he saw the two teens peering around the open kitchen door. "Go ahead and sit down at the table boys. I'm going to make some tea, would you like anything?"

As he walked in Quatre noticed that the kitchen was quite large and open. All of the appliances except for the stove were white as were the cabinets and other woodwork. The stove, however, was a large stainless steel monstrosity, like what you might find in a restaurant. The floor was white linoleum with a pale blue box pattern. The table and chairs were wood but instead of them being solid white like the cabinets, they were stained with a semi clear white stain allowing one to see the grain of the wood. 'It looks like it was designed by a chef. Too bad I can't cook but it might be fun to try in here.' "Tea sounds wonderful. Duo?" Quatre asked as he took a seat.

"Yeah tea sounds fine." said Duo, who wasn't paying them a bit of attention as he looked over the egg in his lap.

"If you don't mind me asking, what about that egg of yours has my grandson so flustered?"

"Heero just can't get over the fact that Ryo-Ohki here will hatch soon." Quatre snorted his opinion of Duo's evasion.

"That's all? I highly doubt that would get his kickers twist." Pausing in his hunt for mugs, he looked at Quatre, "What did your friend here leave out?"

"He forgot to mention the fact that two days after she hatches, Ryo-Ohki will be able to transform."

"Transform into what?"

Duo's face lit up with pride. "She'll be able to transform into a ship. A really sweet ship."

"Really? Well now, won't that be interesting to see." Katsuhito poured four cups of tea and handed two to the boys at the table. He placed a third cup in front of the empty chair in front of Duo. Carrying his cup he sat down in the chair across from Quatre. "Do you think I could see her change?"

"Sure, I bet she'd love to show off for ya. You know, you're taking this a lot better than Heero did sir."

"Boys when you reach my age you've seen some fairly strange things. Besides I have a feeling seeing my family's reaction to that will be a real pleasure."

Heero stalked into the kitchen and dropped a small blanket in front of Duo with a grunt. Duo smiled at him. "Thanks man." Duo replied as he wrapped the blanket in a diaper like fashion around the egg. Sitting down, Heero pushed his tea away and buried his head in his hands. "What do you want to know granddad?"

"Um, what should I ask first? Ah, I know. What were those explosions earlier?"

"I'll take this one. That was Duo and I. Our ships crashed on the hill below."

"I see. And just why did you two boys crash in our front yard?"

"Mine." Duo grinned. "Well Quatre decided to try and arrest me again." Duo stuck his tongue out at Quatre's snort. "Anyways, our little fire fight ended when we shot each other down and whammy Ryo-Ohki and I landed head first in a lake and I think Cat took out a couple trees."

"Again?" he asked. "Just how many times have you two done this?"

"I've been chasing Duo around for about two years now but we've never crashed before, at least not at the same time." Quatre sighed and put his head down mirroring Heero's position. "My partner at Headquarters is never going to let me live this down."

Katsuhito reached over and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry young man. Things are never as bad as they seem. Heero, can I assume the reason you aren't in school is because you went to see what happened?"

"Yeah, I went to go check it out, found him…" without looking up, he waved a hand in Duo's general direction. "…found out that he's an alien, went and picked up another alien…" he waved his hand at Quatre. "…went to the lake for the egg, saw that baka walk on water…" Duo blew a raspberry at Heero when he heard the 'baka'. "…found out they're psychics, he got that egg thing out of the lake and we came back here. End of story."

Quatre quickly put his hand over Duo's mouth. Leaning over he whispered in Duo's ear. "Defend Ryo-Ohki later. For now please be polite. They're our hosts."

Over hearing Quatre Katsuhito raised an eyebrow at his grandson. "I also invited them stay here for a while."

Quatre smiled nervously at the old man. "We really appreciate his offer, especially since we don't know anyone else on this planet. But if it's too much trouble we can find somewhere else to stay. I mean, it shouldn't be to hard…"

Katsuhito cut the blonde off with a gentle smile. "It's not a problem. The two of you are welcome to stay here as long as you wish. Besides if you left I would miss the chance to see Ryo-Ohki's transformation." Placing his tea on the table, he sighed. "I suppose this justifies the family emergency excuse I gave your homeroom teacher when he called."

Heero looked up at him, shocked. "That's it?! No other questions?"

Katsuhito stood up and placed his cup in the sink. "None at all. Now Heero, Mr. Walker told me he had your friend Zechs email you the assignments for today. Why don't you go work on those while I show these young men around and where they'll be staying, alright?" Noticing that Heero was just sitting there, he reached over and pulled the dazed young man up, gently pushing him towards the door. "I'll call you down for lunch when we're done." Heero nodded as he made his way silently out of the kitchen.

Duo and Quatre looked over the half wall that divided the kitchen and the living room to watch Heero walk off. 'He's acting kinda weird. I wonder if he's gonna be okay?' Duo wondered. Quatre had felt Heero's confusion and frustration, 'Bet that's about Ryo-Ohki.' Voicing his thoughts, he asked "He's being awfully quiet. Is he going to be okay?"

Sighing, the old man replied "He's been like that since my daughter, his mother, died, so quiet and serious. That's one of the reasons I said you boys could stay here. This is the first time in quite a while that Heero's done something spontaneous. If we're lucky you boys might snap him out of it and get him to loosen up." 'If I'm really lucky they'll actually get him away from that computer.' Katsuhito thought to himself. Moving towards the door he looked back at the boys. "If you're done with your tea we might as well get the tour started."

Quatre held his cup up and asked "What would you like us to do with these, sir?"

"Just place them in the sink and follow me."

The two teens quickly placed their cups in the sink and trotted after him. Instead of turning left and back towards the living room, he turned right. Right next to the kitchen door there was another door. Pointing to it Katsuhito started the tour.

"That is the downstairs bathroom. It only has a toilet and a sink. Now down here on the left is my son-in-law's study. Basically it's where he hides his porn but I'm not supposed to know that." Winking at the two teens, he continued down the hall and opened the last door on the right. "This is the laundry room. Speaking of laundry we need to get you boys some more clothes. We'll deal with that when Odin gets home tonight." Walking into the room he opened up a door to the outside and motioned for the teens to follow him.

The two teens walked out into what looked like a small private flower garden with a small patio. But because it was fall nothing was in bloom yet it looked neat and you could see it was prepared for the coming cold weather. "This is my late wife's garden. If you two stick around until spring you'll get to see it in its' full glory. With all the flowers in bloom it's quite a sight." As he looked around Quatre was amazed at the love and care it would take to maintain the small garden in the summer. 'He must have loved his wife quite a bit to keep looking after it.'

"Well boys lets get back in and I'll show you the rest." As the trio made their way back to the house Duo tried to imagine the garden at the height of summer. However anytime he did he kept picturing Ryo-Ohki exploring or playing in the flowers. 'I hope I'm actually here to see that. It would be nice to get a chance to sketch her out here.' Realizing he had fallen behind, he quickened his pace to catch up with the pair in the hallway. Seeing a small door under that stairs he stopped Katsuhito.

"What's in there sir?"

"Nothing really. It's just an old store room. I believe that's everything down here. Let's head on upstairs." The three slowly made their way up the stairs and stopped when the reached the second floor. Walking straight to the first door on the right Katsuhito slammed the door open causing the teens to jump.

"Granddad!"

"As you can hear this is Heero's room, kingdom of Sir Grumpy." said Katsuhito. "Did Zechs send your assignments already?" Duo and Quatre crept closer and peered in. The walls were painted a dark blue and the carpet was a pale gray. Heero's bed was on the far wall under a large open window. On the left wall were a few anime posters, a book case, and a small dresser. On the right wall was a desk covered in photography supplies, a laptop, and a few school books. And one very pissed Heero sitting in a chair in front of the laptop.

Getting up from his desk he walked to the door and glared at the intruders. "Yes he sent me my work. Now if you'll excuse me." he growled and slammed the door in their faces.

Katsuhito snickered and turned back to face the teens. "Don't worry. He won't bite. Now this" he said while slapping the door on the left "is the bathroom. Don't worry about walking in on me or Odin. Our rooms have private baths. These two middle rooms are guestrooms." He opened the door on the left and the boys saw a room painted a pale pink with two twin beds covered in pink and white quilts. 'It looks a lot like the guest room mom keeps up for 'Lena' Quatre thought. Duo just made a yuck face at all the pink.

"Pink not your favorite color huh? Maybe you two will like this better." Said Katsuhito and opened the door on the right. In Duo's opinion this room was a huge improvement. The walls were a dark hunter green and the beds were covered in cream and green quilts that matched the walls. Even Quatre looked a little relived at the lack of pink.

"Let's keep moving huh? These two rooms here on the end are mine and Odin's. I don't think you boys need to see me and Odin's dirty underwear. Let's go on up to the third floor. There's only my daughter's old room so this should be quick."

At the top of the stairs he opened a door into what looked like a remodeled attic. It had three, large skylights that looked like they could be opened to get access to the roof and several windows on the walls. And while most of the floor had a thick black carpet, one corner had the same pale blue and white linoleum tile as the kitchen. Set up under a skylight in that corner was an old easel and a beat up, paint and clay splattered bookcase. The rest of the room looked like a normal bedroom with a twin bed underneath a wide picture window against one wall. Across from that in a corner there was a large wooden dresser painted a dark red with a radio on top and a bookcase filled with old text books and manga. Spread out among the room were a couple of beanbags and a few standing lamps. Duo loved it. He knew Ryo-Ohki would love it. He wanted to ask if they could stay here but he didn't want to be rude.

Seeing the teen's face Katsuhito smiled. 'Another teenage artist in the family' he thought. "Well Duo it looks like we found your room for while you're here."

"Sir I couldn't stay here. I mean this is…was your daughter's room and all. I...it wouldn't be right." Duo stammered.

"Nonsense, this is where you're staying. I'm sure if Achika were here she would say the same."

"If you're sure it's alright…"

"Of course I am. Now then, let's head down stairs and pick a room for Quatre and find some bed linens and blankets."

As Quatre went to follow the old man back down the stairs, he turned back to look at his old friend. Duo was starring out one of the many windows over looking the garden and telling Ryo-Ohki's egg all about their new room. Suddenly Quatre realized something. Duo fit here. Duo had never seemed to fit anywhere before. Not with his family, even though they had loved and welcomed the braided boy into their home. Nor did he fit with the thieves and outlaws he now ran with. But here Duo seemed comfortable, like this was his home. 'Maybe he's finally found a place where he can be himself.' With a small smile Quatre put his arm around Duo's shoulders and led him out. "Come on Duo. Let's head downstairs 'kay?"

A/N: I got this done a lot earlier than I thought I would. My World Civilization test took a lot less time then I had guesstimated. Thank God for online, open note, open book tests. Anyways, I should have the next chapter out by Friday maybe sooner. I'm sorry about all the room descriptions but I really wanted everyone to have a good mental picture of the house. Thanks for reading.

Kel