Braids and Waves

Parings: 1x2, 2x1 (eventual!) 3x4

Warnings: Slight OFC’s nudity and uh Heero getting into trouble hehe!

Notes: Writing this chapter was like pulling teeth. It took ages so I hope its ok. I don’t know why it was difficult. Hope it was worth it though. Was really bored so thought I would give you something to read. Oh and not a submarine in sight (to those who suggested it) That would make Heero’s life a little too easy don’t you think… not that I doubt the size of Quatre’s pocket though!

Thanks: To my little demons (my muses!) who would not let this story
lie.

Summary: Duo is living with Quatre and Trowa. But what no-one
realises is why. And what happens when they find out the truth,
especially Heero.

Enjoy

Chapter 13 – Hakuso (Searching Far and Wide)

A year later…

Heero had never expected to live through the war, let alone travel the Earth. But it was exactly what he had done. He could still remember that day out by the water in Florida, he called Duo’s name until his throat hurt just in case. He never got a reply but that didn’t stop him trying. The others had taken him back to the villa and he had got cleaned up from spending the night in the Jeep. The others had tip toed around him, still unsure what to really say to him. He had gone into Duo’s room and lay on the bed, looking out of the window for hours, hating himself for what he had done, what he had said. Finally he made his mind up. It was dark by the time he walked downstairs. Trowa was sitting on the sofa with Quatre’s head on his lap as the blonde lay across the rest of it. Both were watching a film on TV, volume on low. Wufei was sitting crossed legged on the arm chair, his nose in a book.

“Quatre?” His voice sliced through the quiet scene, making Quatre sit up promptly and nearly breaking Trowa’s nose in the process. After making sure his lover was alright, the Arabian turned to Heero. “I need a boat.”

“What sort of boat?” Quatre gave him a puzzled look.

“Just a small one, a yacht I think. Don’t want anything too fancy.”

“You’re seriously going to look for him, aren’t you?” Trowa asked, looking at Heero with mild surprise.

“I have to. I let him down. Now I have to make that right.” The sheer look of determination was enough to convince the Latin.

“When do you want the yacht?” Quatre continued practically.

“As soon as possible?”

“I can get one ready for you by morning. Just let me make the phone call.” Heero nodded and went to turn away, then paused.

“Thank you Quatre.”

“I know what he means to you Heero; I would do the same for Trowa.”

“And if I hadn’t been such an idiot, he would still be here. He really doesn’t lie; he ran and hid, just like he said. And I made him do it.” They could all hear the pain in his voice.

“Heero, don’t beat yourself up about this.” Wufei said without taking his eyes off his book.

“I will until he forgives me, not a moment before.” With that he turned and left.

He had made his own calls to Une saying that he needed to have extended leave. Une informed him that he could take leave for the rest of his life if he wished to do so for everything he had done. Heero was just relieved that he didn’t have to argue with the woman. She enquired how long this extended leave would take only for the stoic man to reply as long as it took.

Quatre had stayed true to his word. A yacht was waiting for him in the nearby harbour, not far from where they had found Duo’s clothes. It was a two man yacht and had been kitted out as such. Heero couldn’t suppress the smile, to see the effort his friend had gone to make sure he would be as comfortable as possible. Heero knew the provisions would last him a while and he would be able to stock up when he visited various places. But he could see Quatre had gone all out.

His friends came to see him off, offering their help in the search. Heero told them to keep an eye out above land, just in case he decided he could escape. They agreed but none of them liked it. All three waved goodbye to him from the harbour, he waited until he could no longer see their hopeful and sad faces before turning to the horizon to begin his journey.

-x-

It had been so long ago and yet it seemed like only yesterday. It was only the strong will in his heart that had kept him going. He had stayed fairly close to the coastlines when he could, knowing that if the need arose he could get ashore. He had found he had been an adept sailor, thanking his training. But that didn’t mean it hadn’t been hard. Everyday he hoped and everyday he had come up with nothing. He hadn’t expected to find anything straight away but as his search continued he became more desperate for a sign, something, anything.

He had seen more than an average human would have done, especially the colonists. He had seen dolphins jump and dance in the wake of the yacht. He had seen a pod of whales rise to the surface and spray water from their blow holes, giving him a salty shower. In clearer waters he had seen fish swimming about clearly not disturbed by his presence. He had touched the shell of a green turtle and got far too close to a rather large shark for his liking. But it all paled into a faded memory as none of it was shared with Duo.

The braided American should have been sitting beside him, laughing and joking, or standing at the prow of the boat in a cheesy Titanic moment shouting he was king of the world. Or perhaps letting his hair free to let the wind play with it; or even the pair of them making love beneath the stars out on deck. The images that he conjured in his mind were painful but kept him going on his search. Every day he wished instead of dolphins it was the half human, half fish creatures that Duo was one of. A sign of a lilac fish tail breaking the surface, some sign of any of his race, any mythical creature, but his search remained fruitless.

Each of the countries he visited seemed to have their own tales of the fish folk. Some warning of their dangerous ways, others of their compassion but most told of their bewitching beauty. Heero had to agree with that, Duo had certainly bewitched him. Every time he moored up, he phoned Quatre to let him know he was alright. He knew the blonde would scream blue murder otherwise. Each time the blonde sounded hopeful, only for Heero to dash his hopes once more. As time went on even Quatre was sounding lost. He only asked Heero to give up once and had an earful so never tried again.

Heero travelled the world clockwise which seemed the most logical at the time. Following the coast as much as possible at first around South America then across the Pacific Ocean. Stopping in Hawaii, visiting New Zealand and skirting Australia before heading north to Japan, visiting many of the other islands and countries on the way. China, India, Africa, Spain, France and many others in between, flashed past making little indent in his mind. It had quickly dawned on Heero that the Earth was a big place. He decided that his last port of call would be the UK. There didn’t seem to be any point in going any further north. It was too cold for much to live in those regions, he wasn’t even sure if Duo could survive in such a climate. The UK was full of tales of fairy folk and like, it was possible that he could find something out there. If nothing happened on the little island then he would have to admit defeat and give up the search.

-x-

He sailed along the south coast of England, past Land’s End then turned north until he came to the Welsh coast. By this time the weather had turned miserable. He had been amazingly lucky with the weather, although he had hit a few storms he had managed to moor the yacht in a nearby harbour. It was a cold and grey day, the wind howling like a banshee and the water was as clear as mud. It made him long for the crystal waters of the tropics. At least he could see to the bottom. He looked at the coast, noticing the grey-black slate and how it curved into strange shapes, formed by the pressures of tectonic plates millions of years ago.

There seemed to be nothing special about this place, same as the others. He sighed heavily as he lowered the anchor. He might as well rest while he was there. He leaned against the side of the yacht, looking blankly at the empty beach. Did he really have to give up? His heart was screaming at him not to but his mind knew it was useless, it always had been. What chance did he have of finding one person, one singular being in such a vast place? He could feel tears prickling at his eyes and he brushed them away angrily. He couldn’t be weak. It was his own fault he was in this stupid situation anyway.

It was then that his ears caught a strange sound floating on the wind, an eerie tune that seemed to call to him. Then it was gone almost as soon as he had noticed it. He looked around, not seeing where the sound could have come from. He stared down into the water again, feeling worthless once more when he realised he was staring into a face. Three faces in fact. Each as beautiful as the other. The first had long red hair and eyes as deep as emeralds, which reminded unnervingly of Trowa. The second was a blonde with eyes as deep as midnight blue and a flirty smile. The third had short ebony hair with startlingly ruby red eyes. They each looked up at him almost hungrily.

“Are you lost?” The red head purred.

“We can help, I’m sure.” The blonde giggled.

“Ask us anything.” The black haired one sighed.

“Well… I … uh…” Heero forgot what he was going to say as he looked at the three beautiful creatures before him.

“Oh dear, poor thing, he seems to have forgotten.” The red sighed with a smile.

“What a darling.” The blonde smirked.

“But isn’t he handsome?” The black haired stated. The other two agreed with her. “Why don’t you join us beautiful one?” She held a pale, glistening hand up towards him. Heero vaguely noticed the singing, yes it was singing, had returned again. It filled his ears and made him forget everything but the three beautiful women in front of him.

“Yes, come to us, handsome boy.” The blonde lay on her back exposing her bare breasts and flicking a deep blue tail at him. Something in the back of his mind began to scream at him, but he couldn’t quite hear it, drowned out by the sweet, lilting singing.

“Join us in the water.” The red head added, her own emerald tail breaking the surface. Heero couldn’t resist and suddenly found himself in the cold, British sea. The temperature hardly registered however, he just wanted to be with the three beautiful women. They instantly surrounded him, stroking against his body and purring at him. Heero had never felt so enthralled in his life.

“Let him go!” A different voice commanded; Heero vaguely recognised it as being male. The girls seemed to pout and moan. “Now!” They quickly withdrew and the last Heero saw of them was green, blue and red tails sinking into the murky depths. He tried to go after them but was suddenly held back.

“Let me go! Let go of me!” He struggled as much as he could to no avail.

“Look at me Heero!” There was something in the voice that broke through his clouded mind and made him turn and in that instant the mermaids’ spell was broken.

-x-


Like the teeny bit of Japanese? It was all I could do, I’m not fluent in Japanese as in I know like… four words? So I thought I’d just keep it to the title! No I don’t know where the mermaids came from they just insisted they were in the fic. Not that I blame ‘em with Heero and Duo around hehe!