Fire Mated Part 3

"I'm home!"

The old woman perked up in her chair and smiled at Quatre as he stepped in through the front door and slid off his shoes. Turning the fabric over in her hands she began stitching on the next shape in the large quilt. "Welcome back, have a good day at school?"

Quatre nodded. "And I started reading the book you gave me. I'm almost half way done. You were right, though, it was a struggle not to read it during class. I'm having trouble putting it down."

The old woman chuckled merrily. "It ends far too soon. I hope he has more books soon, it's like waiting on pins and needles to see when they come in."

Quatre raised an eyebrow and paused in slipping off his coat. "What do you mean by come in?"

"Didn't I tell you? Oh, dear me, I guess not." She pulled a needle out of the fabric and paused to think, then went back to sewing as Quatre hung up his jacket. "The library, the one at your school. That's where you get copies of his books. Just go up to the nice young lady behind the desk with blond hair and tell her which ones you want. I can't remember her name though..."

"You mean Sylvia? She was the one working there today." Quatre was trying his best not to let his eyes go wide and brighten up so much that they glowed. What awesome luck! Another lead to follow up on and he hadn't even begun the search seriously yet!

"Yes, that's her. Just talk to her and she can get you copies of his other books. Sadly enough Lucrezia, down the street, borrowed all my others and lost them. I swear her house just eats his work, she keeps losing it. But you should be able to get copies of your own from Sylvia. Oh, and before I forget, there's a letter for you from the mail today. I believe it's from someone named Kush..."

"Treize Kushrenada?!"

The old woman nodded.

"He's my uncle. Thanks so much!" Quatre grabbed the letter from the table and raced up to his room, ripping open the envelope as he ran, nearly tearing the letter with it. Throwing open his door he dropped down on his bed and hurriedly opened the letter, letting the extra piece of paper fall into his lap until he was finished reading.

Dear nephew,

Let me first say that I am delighted you convinced your father to let you travel and study at the school of your choice for the next year. I trust you did your best to convince him and knowing you, you probably did it without any of the 'strange' information I gave you. I swear my brother thinks I'm warping your fragile young mind for my own nefarious purposes, but then again I suppose I am. You don't mind do you? No, of course not.

But on to business. Given you've had not even a week to settle in I suspect you haven't even started looking, which is fine; we are not in a rush by any means. However, I thought of a few more places you might want to try and dig up his name that could give you a few leads. The library in the city, if not the one attached to your school, should have a record of gravestones in the area, which will probably be your best bet. Not to mention census records, though those are harder to get a hold of. You might try asking around, though be careful not to draw attention. We don't want to make your new home uncomfortable, now do we?

At any rate I've enclosed an old sketch. It might be of some use to you in your search, though I doubt the location exists anymore in real life. I'll leave this small little clue up to your instincts.

Good luck to you. I can't wait to hear how things are going and to hear about what you may have found. Be sure to write me about your progress and I will help as much as I can.

Treize.

Quatre set down the letter, after rereading it, and took the other sheet of paper which had fallen into his lap. Unfolding it carefully he found it was a photocopy of a very intricate pencil sketch. The photocopied edges were ripped and the paper was smudged but he could still make out the sketch and most of the details. The thin black lines came together to form a stretch in the forest, a small clearing. The plants were drawn in perfect detail, creating a perfect rendition of a circle shaped garden surrounded by ornate wooden carved poles. Quatre let his eyes move over the plants, vaguely recognizing some of the plants as native to his current area.

Carefully folding up the letter and the sketch he placed them in the folder in his chest with the other letters. Then he grabbed a sweater and headed down the stairs.

"I'm going to go for a walk," he said politely to the old lady, who still sat in her rocking chair, working on the quilt.

"Will you be back for dinner?"

Quatre thought for a moment then shook his head. "Naw, don't worry about it. If I get hungry I'll pick something up. I just want to have a look around town."

She smiled and nodded to him. Slipping on his shoes he stepped outside and pulled the sweater on over his head. Pausing on the front steps he looked left and then right, trying to decide.

So... where was the nearest graveyard?

Remembering the train ride to the city he mentally pinpointed its location. Left. Slipping his hands in his pockets he started down the road toward his destination.

~*~

Trowa sat down at the table and picked up one of the chess pawns in his hand. Turning it over with his long fingers he examined the detailed design. A siren, sitting on a rock playing a song on her harp as beautifully carved wings and long trestles of hair blew in the wind. He remembered reading somewhere that the first siren was a woman who had lost her love at sea and forever sang for him to come back. Lost her love? How fitting.

Sighing he set down the piece and leaned back in the chair. Upon leaning back his eyes caught the door and found Duo standing there silently, just watching him. Trowa paused and bit his lower lip, not sure what to do. How long had Duo been standing there?

"Hey," Duo said, offering a timid smile.

"Hey," Trowa echoed.

Duo took a step forward, letting the door close behind him. "Trowa, I-"

Trowa held up his hand, causing Duo to pause in his words. "Don't. It's ok, you don't need to explain."

Duo shook his head and walked forward, sitting down in the chair across from Trowa, just where they had sat for the chess game the night before. Once again Trowa thought it was fitting. Duo had him in checkmate, and it was time for him to lay down his king and give an explanation.

"I shouldn't have said anything about it." He murmured.

Duo frowned. "And what? Let it swim around in your head until the thoughts threatened to burst out? That wouldn't have made it any better, or any easier." Duo's voice dropped and he glanced away. "And you know it."

"Yeah, you're right." Trowa admitted softly.

"How's your cheek?"

The end of Trowa's lips tilted slightly in a small smile. "Better."

"I shouldn't have hit you, I didn't mean to. It was just the words came right out of the blue and I... I shouldn't have hit you. Sorry about that, but you caught me off guard. Those were the last words I expected to hear from you and I wasn't prepared."

Trowa nodded in understanding. "And now?"

"And now..." Duo sighed and let his eyes wander the room, as if searching for the words to say. "And now I'm not sure." His eyes settled back on Trowa. "I think of you as a brother. A brother who took care of me after my parents died, a brother and a true friend. But..." Duo let his arms drop at his sides in a helpless gesture.

"It doesn't go beyond that, does it?"

"No, I'm sorry Trowa, but it doesn't."

Trowa nodded, accepting the words for what they were. The harsh and honest truth. Duo didn't love him back and it hurt. But in reality he wasn't too surprised. He'd suspected it might be the case, he just wasn't prepared for it to hurt so much when his fears were confirmed. Still, on the bright side, at least Duo wasn't screaming and cursing at him. He could accept Duo's honestly, but to possibly be hated by him would have been too painful to bear.

"So what now?" Duo murmured. Idly he picked up one of the chess pieces, much as Trowa had only a few minutes earlier. He turned it over in his hands without even noticing what the design was. He didn't really care; he just needed something to occupy his attention so it didn't feel so awkward in the room.

"Nothing I guess," Trowa said with a shrug. "We both know how we feel and we can leave it at that. Unless..." he let the other possibility hang in the air, unsaid. Unless it made Duo uncomfortable. Unless Duo wanted to leave now that he knew the truth.

Duo met his eyes, setting down the chess piece back on the board. "Do you... do you want me to leave?"

Trowa's eyes widened in surprise, he opened his mouth but the words failed him. No! He never wanted that!

"I mean, I just turned eighteen. If it makes you feel uncomfortable I can get a job and move out into one of the homes that rents out places for students. I know how to work and the city knows me, shouldn't be too hard for me to live on my own if you-"

Duo stopped as he realized that Trowa was no longer sitting in his chair. In the moments that he'd been talking Trowa had stood up and crossed the space between them, wrapping his arms around Duo from behind the chair and holding him in a light embrace, one that he could have easily broken out of had he been uncomfortable with it. He chose not to move.

"Don't," Trowa whispered softly. He rested his head on top of Duo's and tightened the embrace just slightly. "Please don't leave."

Duo turned his head away and looked at the floor. "Won't it make you uncomfortable if I stay?"

"No, never. Despite feelings we're still brothers like you said. Only leave if you truly want to, but don't do it because you think you'll make me uncomfortable."

Duo smiled and clutched his hands over Trowa's, turning his head so Trowa could see his smile. "Yeah, brothers. I'll stay until you kick me out then."

Trowa smiled back at him. "I'd never do that."

Duo chuckled. "Don't make promises you can't keep, bro. You never know when I might get too annoying for you to stand."

Trowa just responded with a smile and pulled his arms away, letting Duo out of the embrace. He knew he could never banish the smiling boy from his home, no matter what he did. He knew it would be a little uncomfortable living in the same house as someone he cared for but was forbidden to touch, but he also knew that it was much better then not living together at all. He was lucky to have Duo as a friend and even luckier to have him as a brother. A brother he could live with and still be very close to. And in the end nothing had changed, except that now Duo knew the truth.

And Duo had no problem with it.

Trowa could have danced around happily at the joy he felt in his heart. But being that he was a quiet person he contented himself to a warm smile and was rewarded with an equally warm one from Duo.

That smile he could live with.

~*~

Duo slipped off to dreamland that night in a fairly good mood. Surprisingly he found it not the least bit uncomfortable to still live with Trowa in the same house and sleep in the same room. Only one small change had been made, he made sure to dress in the bathroom and wear boxers and a tee shirt to bed. It wasn't because he was uncomfortable but more for Trowa's sake. Now that he knew the truth he didn't want to make it any more uncomfortable for Trowa so he figured wearing clothes to bed and dressing out of sight was the least he could do.

Closing his eyes and opening the door for sleep to over take him happened simply and quickly. And not surprisingly enough he soon found himself standing in another dream, the air around him cold and uninviting.

Shivering he found he was back standing in the small clearing, surrounded by tall trees with a small cabin in the center. He noticed this time that a few parts of the dream were fuzzy, various areas fuzzed over with a strange kind of fog so he couldn't completely make out the details. Ignoring the strange detail he stepped toward the cabin, his bare feet crushing the frost covered grass. Reaching out to touch the door he found it swung open without his touch.

He found the inside of the cabin to be exactly the same as the last time. Roughly cut wood walls and a pretty empty space, save for the cot in the corner. Though this time he found the cot full once again, a thin figure sleeping there soundly.

Duo raced over to the cot and began trying to wake the boy. He didn't want this dream to be a repeat of the last night, and decided he needed to wake the boy up long before there was even a hint of fire. Though this time, instead of there being a salamander on the rock outside, there was the soft sounds of bird chirping and the dim light of the sun just starting on its daily path.

"Wake up!" Duo said, shaking the boy not so gently.

The figure stirred under his movement. Without opening his eyes the boy grumbled something incoherent and swatted blindly at Duo, then attempted to roll over and go back to sleep. Duo didn't give up, instead he kept shaking the boy.

There was a sharp sound behind him and Duo whirled to see a dark figure standing in the doorway of the cabin, the angle of the light shadowing the figure from sight. He blinked and found that the boy was no longer lying in bed. Instead he was sitting on the other side of the cabin on a small bench. In his hands he held a small blade and a small piece of wood. He was carving...

"Who are you?" Duo asked softly.

The boy didn't answer. Instead he just kept carving, his lips pursed together in concentration while his foot tapped to a silent beat in his head.

Duo cautiously approached the boy. He found it strange that the boy didn't even seem to notice him, he was just so intent on his carving.

"Excuse me..."

The boy didn't look up, instead he gave a light hiss as the knife in his hand slipped and sliced his thumb, blood dripping onto the carved piece of wood. Dropping the knife he immediately placed his cut finger in his mouth and sucked on the wound, wincing in pain. Angrily he tossed the carved piece of wood across the cabin. Duo watched the piece land in the corner by the door.

Walking over to it timidly he reached down to pick it up. He couldn't quite make out the shape since the carving wasn't finished. Wrapping his fingers around it he hissed in pain and dropped the piece, watching smoke emit from it as it landed on the ground. Before it had been a half carved piece of wood, now it was carved in beautiful detail to show two figures embracing, the blood stain curling down the back and just slightly visible. But it wasn't a perfect piece of wood anymore; it was burnt to a deep black. Duo took a step back in surprise as the smell of smoke rose above him.

The boy disappeared from his place in the corner and once again was lying in the cot as smoke seeped in under the closed door. Duo coughed and covered his mouth with his hand.

"No! Wake up! You're going to burn again!"

Voices echoed loudly around him, but the words were gibberish, he couldn't understand them. The yelling increased as the smoke grew thicker, a solid panic raising around him and almost trying to choke him like the smoke. Duo coughed and tried to race over to the boy but found himself frozen in place, just watching with wide eyes as the fire moved throughout the cabin, flickering dangerously over everything. Tears leaked from his eyes and his throat stung as he tried to yell at the sleeping boy.

"Wake up! Please!"

He dropped into a fit of coughing as the fire surrounded his feet and smoke became so thick he couldn't see. Screams echoed in his ears joined by his own as he felt his skin burn. No! Not again! Not like before!

"Help..." he choked out in a low voice. He could barely speak and he felt like he was drowning in the smoke. Sinking... burning... falling...

"Some...one..."

His eyes slipped shut and he blindly reached out, trying to find something to grasp onto. Out of the darkness hands slipped around his body in a comforting gesture. They were cautious and careful, yet comforting. Duo relaxed slightly, happy to feel the arms around him.

But that feeling didn't last as an unexplainable rage ripped through his body. Anger washed over him and he struck out at the person holding him, and struck out hard. There was a loud cry of pain and Duo was falling once again. But he felt safe, protected in the isolated dark. Dreamless sleep took over.

~*~

Trowa sat on the floor, his body wincing from the pain of being thrown backward and hitting his back on the corner of the bedside table. He bit his lip hard to keep from voicing the pain and tried to calm himself down. His back hurt from the sudden impact and the side of his face stung from the new marks.

Duo lay in bed in front of him, seemingly resting peacefully. But a moment before he'd been thrashing around in bed once more, yelling out in pain and coughing. Trowa knew he'd been burning again in his dreams and he tried to comfort him as usual. But this time Duo had struck out at him. Duo's nails had raked across his face, nearly missing his eye. He'd landed on the floor with a cry of surprise and pain.

Sitting up he winced at the pain and sat back on his own bed. Trowa sighed and crawled under his own covers, watching Duo through half closed and sleepy eyes.

Duo had never struck out at him before. Never, in fact the two had barely even fought before. But in the last few nights all of that had changed and this week just seemed to be a week of new things. The week of shattering old ideas.

Trowa rolled over, turning his back to Duo, and wrapped his arms tightly around his pillow. He honestly didn't know what to do. True, he and Duo had come to some means of compromise with the conversation earlier, but now all that seemed like a dream. He knew things never worked out that well. He also realized that no matter how much he wanted Duo to stay it was slowly going to kill him.

What was worse? Living with a person who you knew you could never have or not living with that person. No matter what his feelings were for Duo he knew it was only a matter of time before it would slowly kill him. Seeing Duo everyday would wear away at his resolve and someday he might cross the line of being brothers. And if he ever crossed that line, especially after they'd talked, he knew he'd get more then slapped.

But he didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to react in this situation.

Trowa curled tighter against his pillow and buried his face in the soft but worn fabric. He didn't know what to do about this and he had no idea who to ask.

In the end telling Duo his feelings hadn't changed anything. But rather it had only made things worse. He knew every time he saw Duo smile at someone else it would slowly kill him... but he didn't have an escape route out.

TBC...

 

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