WARNING: Oooooh, look at the nice lemonade...

CHAPTER TEN:

Water.

Where was the water?

Why was he sitting in the middle of a drained pool?

And the other pilots sitting with him, all sipping politely at china cups full of neon green tea.

There was a faceless waiter moving in constant endless circles around them, tossing sugar cookies shaped like Gundams into their laps until each boy was half-buried in them.

This had to be the strangest tea party he'd ever been to...

"Wufei..."

He woke up to warmth, and a gentle hand stroking his face. "Nightmare?"

"...no. Just... very strange."

"Want to talk about it?"

"I don't need to." He rolled over and pressed his face against warm, smooth skin. A chuckle sounded above him, and lean arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"I never figured you for a cuddler, Wu-chan."

"Shut up." Wufei growled against the skin, and it shuddered under the warmth of his breath.

A hand descended onto his back, rubbing soothing circles just above his waist in a caress that was now so familiar.

"It doesn't hurt anymore." Wufei felt the need to grumble, even though the gentle motion felt so good and he loved it. Never wanted it to stop.

"I know. But I like to do it anyway."

Wufei lifted eyes like deep, dark chocolate and gazed into pools of violet-blue.

He would never get used to waking up to Duo.

He wasn't sure he ever wanted to.

*

The first time he woke up, after falling unconscious in Heero's arms, he'd been in a hospital bed and Sally Po - damn onna, she drove him crazy with her fussing! - was hovering over him. He had known he was in the hospital and that he wouldn't be seeing the others until he was well enough to leave - they would be hiding in a new safehouse, they couldn't risk visiting him. He'd had borderline pneumonia and his lungs were severely strained, so he wore an oxygen mask and his back was one big throbbing ache.

Six hairline fractures of the vertebrae at the small of his back.

There was no damage to his spinal cord, for which he was very grateful. The rest of his injuries he had considered merely topical, just an irritant.

They'd healed quickly. He was a Gundam pilot, after all. His back had taken a bit longer.

He'd spent a few weeks in that bed, putting in good time terrorizing the nurses. It would have been too boring to exist, otherwise. The only interesting thing that happened was when he got a plain manila envelope in the mail, no return address and no letter but it was full of 8x10 pictures.

The first was of the shattered glass tank where he'd had such a fun experience. Duo and Trowa were standing in front of it, grinning at the camera. They must have stayed behind, after Heero carried him out.

The next picture was of the winch, with a certain fuming General tied to the hook by his feet, hanging upside down with his face turning an interesting shade of red.

Next was a picture of a pile of film canisters. There were at least two dozen.

Next was Trowa and Duo pulling the film out of the canisters in long strips, while the General was shouting at them in the background.

Then the two pilots were wrapping the General up like a mummy in those same filmstrips.

By this time Wufei was snickering almost uncontrollably.

There was also a sheet of newspaper; the front page of one of the most widely-read publications in existence. It was dated only a few days earlier, with a lovely close-up picture of the film-mummified General. The headlines and story were all about the 'respected Oz General' who had been found like this after an anonymous tip, with a box set below him - a box that contained thousands of pictures of underage boys in 'revealing costumes.' The General had been unable to deny they were his, since he'd had the poor judgement to pose with the boys in over half of them.

The man's career was ruined - half the world and colonies were disgusted with him.

The other half was laughing at him.

Wufei was quite sure the man would have preferred to be shot.

The dose of humor had helped him concentrate on his healing - within three weeks Sally had been forced to release him, giving an ecstatic Quatre, who had come to pick him up, strict orders to make him take it easy.

Quatre had cheerfully replied that it would be no problem, earning himself a glare from Wufei.

But the blond had been right - he hadn't been able to stir without a pilot glaring at him, watching over him like four hens with just one chick. It started with Duo opening the car door when they got to the new safehouse and helping him out like he was made of glass, and it hadn't stopped yet.

Even though it had been months.

The first time he'd woken in his own bed, Duo had been curled up next to him.

Very odd, because he'd gone to sleep alone.

But he wasn't going to complain.

When the violet eyes opened and the other boy smiled at him, Wufei had taken his heart in his hands and asked, "Doesn't Heero mind you being here?"

And Duo had smiled and leaned closer, resting his forehead against Wufei's. "Heero and I aren't together. He's just my best friend. His interests lay... elsewhere. C'mon, Wu, you know me and Hee-chan would kill each other if we tried to have a relationship. Besides, he knows I love you. All of the others do."

And Wufei had been startled into silence.

Duo had grinned, and then kissed him.

He wasn't too startled to kiss back.

*

And he'd found out exactly where Heero's interests lay, when he'd moved his things into the same room as Quatre and Trowa.

Apparently the three boys shared some... interests.

Duo had smirked at him with an I-told-you-so look.

Wufei had just snickered.

*

So Wufei and Duo had shared a room, and held each other in the only truly loving embrace either of them had ever known, and Duo had rubbed Wufei's back gently when he thought the ache would drive him insane.

All the other pilots had watched over him carefully as he began to walk without the cane, as he started gingerly doing his exercises and his katas again, making sure he didn't hurt himself, making sure he took it slow.

Helping him when he needed it.

Quatre ruled over his medication and his diet with an iron hand.

Trowa found him staring at the small pond he'd discovered while out walking alone, and gently took his hand and led him away.

Heero calmly switched out the pilot's chair in Nataku with one he designed and built himself, with special padding and extra support that cradled his lower back. He'd been able to go on missions much sooner than anyone had expected.

Duo held him at night when his nightmares woke him, covered in cold sweat and shaking like a leaf in high winds.

And he returned the favor, when Duo woke up screaming for Wufei to breathe.

*

He stirred, pulling himself more firmly out of his sleepy memories.

Because Duo's hand had wandered a little lower than his back with those 'soothing' circles.

They weren't so soothing anymore.

"Duo..." he whispered, moving ever closer to the warmth of the other boy, his own hands coming up to stroke the lean, firm chest, to tweak a small rosy nipple.

Duo moaned softly and pulled him tight against him, bringing their groins into close contact.

They had yet to take this 'all the way', because Duo was terrified of hurting Wufei. The Chinese boy insisted he was fine until he was blue in the face, but Duo wouldn't budge.

That didn't mean they hadn't made love - just that no penetration had been involved and Duo insisted on doing most of the work.

Not that the braided boy minded. To Wufei's vast surprise, he hadn't seemed to be able to get enough of touching his bronze skin, of exploring his body, of bringing him to the peak of ecstasy with his hands and his mouth. Always carefully, holding slim hips in place with both hands or making his lover sit back against the headboard, in no real position to thrust.

With pillows behind his back like some crippled old grandpa...

Duo laughed when he said that. Told him that even though he grumbled like an old man, he didn't look much like one.

Wufei whacked him with one of the aforementioned pillows.

Even now, almost four months after the others had broken them out of that base, and two months after Wufei had started going on missions again, Duo made sure that Wufei was on top and pressed one hand firmly against the base of his spine.

After removing both of their boxers, of course.

Wufei spent a few glorious moments just enjoying the feeling of skin on skin, of being cradled in Duo's smooth warm thighs and strong arms. Enjoyed exploring the delicious body beneath him, searching out the spots that made his partner whimper in bliss. Enjoyed his lover's free hand, that was stroking his shoulder and playing with copper-colored nipples and dropping down to add more friction to both of their erections. Enjoyed the gentle thrusting his koi was *finally* allowing him to do, until that friction got to be too much and they both cried out in fulfillment.

And Duo tugged him down and tight against him, one hand fumbling for the moistened wipes they kept on the night stand and cleaning them both up.

Wufei let him, and wrapped his arms around his neck, silently vowing to take things further next time, to finally feel Duo inside him. To finally feel himself in Duo. To know that each fully belonged to the other...

Because he loved the crazy idiot. He didn't know why, and he didn't care.

But he never wanted to be away from him.

He fell back to sleep with a smile on his face.

*

Water.

Water all around him.

Black hair floating in a cloud around his face.

Flashes of light from the surface, so far above him.

A dark shadow moving toward him, and a familiar face smiling at him.

Hands grasping his, and his hands were free, not bloody and not bound.

Rising up through the water, towards those tantalizing flashes of sunlight and their promise of air.

And the water beneath was dark and deep and full of terror, and the sunlight above was so very far away.

But there was someone here now, helping him to swim up...

~owari~

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A/N: This story has a 10-chapter sequel. I'm debating whether to start posting it next or a new story.