"Germ Warfare"

A soft brittle sound caught his attention as he padded silently down the portrait lined halls of palace. He had no business being here. The reception room where his father and the other dignitaries met was in an entirely different wing. Treize knew wandering about unaccompanied while a guest in another's home was the height of impropriety and he would not have appreciated it if someone were to take the same liberties while visiting château Kushrenada. But the various ambassadors had done nothing but exchange pleasantries and dance around one another trying not to offend for hours accomplishing nothing. He had been raised to enjoy the workings of politics as a child at his father's knee. But now, as a pre-teen, he was quite honestly, bored out of his mind. So he had set out to investigate. And presently, that meant finding the origin of that sound. It was quiet and intermittent, strained and raspy. As he neared his destination it became clear the noise was human in origin, a soft whimper confirmed the fact before lapsing once more into painfully dry coughs.

The door was slightly ajar and the room within was apparently a child's bedroom, white with accents of green and gold. But anything beyond that was difficult to tell since the room was largely eclipsed in shadow, the curtains drawn to bar the light of the day. Even that wasn't particularly in any great supply. The clouds hung heavy and low this day and Rain drummed ceaselessly against the window panes. Another pathetic whimper encouraged Treize to stop loitering about the threshold and find out whom was within. He hadn't been able to see much of the bed from the door but it was a large canopied affair. Ensconced within a plethora of pillows and comforters was a boy. Hair of spun gold lay limp, skin of porcelain flushed with fever and bleary blue-eyes had yet to register his presence. It looked as if it took tremendous effort for the youth just to raise a hand to shield his mouth when he coughed. Treize found it difficult to watch that slim body as it hunched, wracked with spasms. Treize's eyes fell on a pitcher of water and empty glass on the bedside table and he moved to pour the boy a drink.

"Here," He offered once the fit had passed. A shaking hand extended toward the glass but the elder boy thought it best if he did not risk having it spill in the bed linens. "I'll help you," He directed as he sat carefully on the edge of the bed and leaned in, not fully surrendering the weight of the glass to the other boy. The boy nodded sipping the liquid slowly, carefully a clear testament to the rawness of his throat.

"Thank you." The words of gratitude were delivered in the barest of whispers.

"Happy to be of help," Treize tried to sound encouraging as he returned the glass to the table. "I'm Treize, by the way. I'm probably not supposed to be here."

"I'm Mirri, and I wish I wasn't." the boy sniffed than clarified, "Here I mean."

"You don't seem well." Treize stated the obvious. "Shouldn't someone be looking after you? Your parents?"

"Too busy." The boy shrugged weakly "The servants come by to check, but never stay long. They don't want to get sick too. You'd best not get too close either."

"I read that a person is most contagious before the symptoms show. After initial contact germs have the element of surprise. By now the battle is underway your antibodies are on the alert and your natural defenses have rallied to drive off the invaders. I'm sure they are too engaged with fighting to prepare any sort of consentrated offensive against me. You might feel bad at the moment but it is only a matter of time before your immune system routs the enemy and brings you back to full health.

"But, I'm supposed to be a pacifist." The boy whimpered, rubbing his nose on a delicately embroidered handkerchief.

Treize's sapphire eyes widened at the small coat of arms emblazoned along the hem; that paired with the blonds words added up to one thing; 'Mirri' his new friend was none other than, Milliardo Peacecraft, Crown Prince of the Sanc kingdom.

Anyone who has watched the english version of gundam wing has likely taken note of that distinctively husky voice that is so very Zechs, Subtly, like a brick wrapped in velvet. I thought it might be nice to do a short piece about how zechs may have come by that particular trait. So this story is dedicated to the tremendously gifted voice actors Brian Drummond and David Kaye. I hope you enjoyed it. Please take the time to review. Thanks ~wraith