All I Want For Christmas Is You

*Title*: All I Want For Christmas Is You
*Author*: WhipOfLightHeartOfSword
*Rating*: PG (Sorry guys, no lemon this time around. Just WAFF. The juicy, naughty stuff's being saved for the sequel. ^_~)
*Feedback*: Of course!! Constructive criticiscm only, though. NO FLAMES.

A/N: Oh gosh guys, I'm so sorry. I was so eghausted when I got home last night I literally fell asleep on my sister's comp while doing the final once-over on this chapter. Anyway, here it is, and I won't delay you anymore with my senseless rambling. Enjoy!


~*~Part 2~*~


Treize sighed as he watched Zechs and Noin put up the last of the ornaments on their tree. He’d helped with some of them, but once it came down to only their special and most personal ornaments that still needed to be put up, he left them to finish it. After all, it was their tree. Even after staying with the couple for the last few years, he still felt almost like an intruder in their lives, though they would forever deny it.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, Treize Kushrenada had survived. Horribly injured, and rendered comatose for a year, he’d woken up to find himself in the care of Sally Po, his best friend, Zechs Merquise, and his then-fiance, the former Lieutenant Lucretia Noin. Who despite being married still demanded of everyone except her husband that she be referred to by her maiden name, citing that she liked 'Noin' much better than 'Lucretia', and that after all the years she spent in the military it just felt more natural.

They’d been amazing, all of them. Sally’d respected his wishes and kept his continued existence a secret, citing ‘patient confidentiality’ a suitable excuse for not telling her superiors. And Zechs and Noin had been with him every step of the way throughout his long and painful recovery and rehabilitation.

Now he was absolutely fine and more than physically ready should he wish to make his reentry into the world.

But there was that one thing that held him back. One person, whose semi-unknown fate kept him up at night, wondering.

Chang Wufei.

He knew the five Gundam pilots had all survived the war. Knew that they’d all joined the Preventers. What he didn’t know, that scared him the most, was what else had become of his beloved since that time.

The Gundam pilots all thought him dead, from what Zechs had told him. And Sally, working with the Preventers and seeing the pilots on a regular basis, had confirmed it.

Bearing that in mind, what kind of life outside of missions did Wufei have? Sally said he still kept much to himself, and having himself had a secret relationship with the beautiful oriental pilot, her statement that he didn’t have a current significant other didn’t necessarily mean much.

For all he knew, Wufei could have someone else, and just not want to let others in on it yet. He was a very private young man, and it wouldn’t surprise Treize in the least if he woke up tomorrow to find out he had moved on with his life and found someone new to share it with.

After all, you couldn’t expect someone who was only—what, 23?—to keep pining over a ‘dead’ lover who had never technically been his lover for the rest of his life.

But Treize could still pine over Wufei.

He still loved that fiery dragon. Sally had shown him pictures of the pilots taken over the years since he’d seen them last, and oh but his Wufei was even more stunning now than he’d been during the war, if that was even possible.

The promise they’d made that December night three years ago still burned bright in his heart, and he still wanted more than ever to make good on it.

But the fear that Wufei might not feel the same twisted like a knife in his gut. He just couldn’t make himself pick up that phone and blow his cover. After all this the hope, however foolish, that Wufei might still want him gave him a reason to continue on. Without it, he had no further reason to exist in this world.

His world was Wufei. He’d survived and overcome what no human should be able to overcome. All to get back to Wufei.

Only to chicken out in the end.

The couch cushion next to him compressed as a weight settled down on it, startling him out of his musings.

Zechs gave his former superior officer a wry smile. “You need to just call him.”

“Call who?” Treize tried to play dumb, even though he fully realized how futile it was.

“05. You need to call him, and get this whole stupid thing over with.”

“No. I’d rather live with the possibility that he’d still want me than the knowledge he’s moved on and doesn’t feel that way about me anymore,” Treize looked away. Zechs had noticed early on after he’d woken up from his coma that Treize seemed almost constantly distracted, and way too interested in Chang Wufei whenever the Gundam pilots were brought into a conversation. So he’d confronted him about it. Treize, not about to lie to one of his dearest friends, had confessed to having had a secret relationship with Chang during the war. Needless to say Zechs had found it amusingly ironic that the two arch-rivals had fallen in love. Noin had reacted much the same.

“If you keep waiting, that’s going to become a reality. What if he still wants you now, but you say nothing and someone comes along to make him want to move on? Then you’ll have lost him for no good reason,” Zechs reasoned.

“What he’s trying to say,” Noin put in, as she joined them, three steaming cups of tea in her hand, which she handed out to the two men. “Is that by waiting you’re only sabotaging yourself. You need to talk to Wufei before he has a chance to fall in love with someone else.”

“But what if he already has?” Treize asked softly.

“Then it wasn’t meant to be,” Noin replied gently. “And there’s someone else out there who’s meant for you. At least then you’ll know and be able to get on with your life. An amazing guy like you really has no business depriving the world of your presence, Treize. It‘s been four years, at least get some closure already.”

“You’d just like to have sex without me overhearing you all the time,” Treize quipped.

“Damn straight. And you need to go get your little Shenlong pilot boyfriend and get laid. Both of you need it bad, if Chang’s still as uptight as Sally says he is.” Zechs grinned.

Noin glared at them and rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. Men. Everything was always about sex. Bottom line. Poor Wufei, if Treize ever did hook up with him. That man had supposedly gone without sex since he’d started dating the pilot, and said pilot was going to bear the brunt of that pent-up energy should the two of them ever get around to sleeping together.

Deciding enough was enough; she got up and left the room for a moment, returning with the portable vidphone and the number and extension code to reach the pilots at Preventer headquarters. Sally’d given it to her, should Treize ever get the guts to contact Wufei.

“Here,” she dialed the number and put in the extension for Wufei’s office line. “Cut the crap, and call him right now. Get this over with, and if you want, invite him over for Christmas. Hell, invite them all over if you want, just talk to him.”

Treize looked down at the vidphone in horror. Oh shit. What if he picked up? The ex-soldier’s heart threatened to cease beating altogether, when across the screen flashed a message, and an electronic voice repeated it from the speaker.

“I’m sorry, but the agent you have requested is not in his or her office at this time. Please try your call again at a later time, or press 1 to leave a message.”

“Okay, then let’s try Heero’s,” Noin said, taking the v‘phone and dialing the number again before Treize could stop her, this time with the 01 pilot’s extension.

“No,” Treize said, “I am not talking to Yuy about me and Wufei! What if he doesn’t know and I get Wufei in trouble with the other pilots?”

“Well you’ll just have to take that chance,” Noin replied. Treize looked to Zechs for help, but the blonde man just put his arms up in the air in surrender. He wasn’t going to get thrown out of bed for the night because he’d gotten in his wife’s way when she had her mind set on something for one, and for another he happened to agree with her that the game was up. It was time to end the charade.

The time for argument ended abruptly, as the call connected and Heero Yuy’s face appeared on the screen.

“Heero Yuy here. Wait, Noin? What are you calling here for?” the ex-Wing pilot was a bit stunned to see the woman again, after not hearing anything from her other than the news of her marriage to Zechs Merquise.

“Hello Heero,” Noin smiled. “I’m actually trying to track down Chang; do you know where I might reach him?”

“What do you need to speak with him about?” Heero asked.

“Well, it’s a long story, but I’ve got someone here who would very much like to see him again, so if you could tell us where we can find him, I’d really appreciate it.”

“I’m not telling you anything unless you tell me who wants to speak with him,” Yuy replied coolly.

“He does,” Noin said simply, and thrust the phone into Treize’s hands.

Treize’s composure was there in less than a moment, years of being a commanding officer coming into play subconsciously. “Hello, Yuy.”

“You…” Heero whispered, for a split second looking pale and shaken as though he’d seen a ghost. Then his voice came back to normal volume. “You died.”

“You’re not the only one who can survive the destruction of your Gundam while you’re still in it, Heero,” Treize said simply.

“What do you want with Wufei?” Heero’s voice took on a cold edge, facial expression hardening. He remembered all too well the fierce battles fought between his fellow pilot and the former Oz leader. The last thing anyone needed was for Wufei to find out Treize was still alive and go off and start engaging the other soldier again.

“Pilot 05 and I made a promise to seek each other out if we both survived the war. I’m honoring that promise,” Treize said. It was the truth, if not the whole truth.

“No. You stay away from him, Kushrenada. Hasn’t Wufei been through enough already? He’s finally at peace; he’s got his life together. He doesn’t need you digging up old wounds and grudges. Leave him alone, he’s better off without you disrupting his life again. He’s gone through enough hurt; let him be so he can heal. Leave us all be, for that matter. He’s moved on now that the war’s done. You should too. Don’t call here again.”

With that, Heero terminated the call.

Unwittingly leaving Treize finding himself going tunnel-visioned as his world caved in on him.

He’d been right. Wufei’d moved on.

A tear rolled down his cheek before he could stop it from falling. Zechs’ heart went out to his friend, and he scooted closer, taking the older man into his arms. He stroked his hair and hushed him like he was a child. Never before had he ever seen Treize cry, but this was more than a good enough excuse.

“I’m sorry, my friend. So sorry.”

***

Heero was still thoroughly shocked and irritated when Duo walked into their shared office.

*‘How dare he? Hasn’t he done enough already? We’ve all had enough trouble adjusting to life without the war, why can’t he just leave well enough alone?’*

“Whoa. What’d ya shoot and miss something, Heero?” Duo asked, seeing the brooding look on his boyfriend’s face.

“Hn, more like caught it dead on, but it’s what I was ‘shooting’ at that’s bothering me.”

“Really. What happened?” Duo asked, wondering if it was something he needed to be concerned about.

“He’s alive,” Heero replied.

“Who?”

“Treize Kushrenada. He just called here asking about Wufei.”

“Treize Kushrenada’s alive?! How the fuck did he manage that?!” If it was anyone else telling him this Duo would have told them to go take a hike. But this was Heero, and Heero didn’t lie to him.

“I don’t know, but it’s not an issue. I told him to fuck off and leave us all alone, and if he persists I’ll let Lady Une take care of it,” Heero said with finality.

“Why’s he want Wufei though?” Duo wondered. They all knew about the rivalry between their friend and Treize, but with the war over it seemed a silly thing to go digging up now.

Heero shook his head. “He said Wufei and he made a promise to seek each other out if they both survived the war. He didn’t exactly say for what, but I’m not going to take any chances. Wufei’s finally settled into the idea of a life without war, and I don’t want a meeting with Treize to set him off. Lady Une will skin him alive if he tries to settle whatever old score he and Kushrenada have between them, if I don’t get to him and beat the shit out of him first.”

Duo nodded. “So we won’t tell him Treize’s alive then. But what about Quat and Trowa?”

“We’ll let them in on it, just to be fair, and so everyone has the same understanding with regards to Wufei. But unless it comes up or Wufei absolutely needs to know we won’t mention it.”

The former Deathscythe Hell pilot fully agreed with him. “We can fill them in on the way out. I’m done for the day.”

“As am I,” Heero said, packing his laptop into his bag and getting his coat and keys.

“Hey Heero?”

“What?” he looked at Duo, curious as to the strange look on the braided man’s face.

Duo sighed and crossed his arms. “Was it just me, or was there something funny about how Wufei reacted when we all said he needed to stop being single?”

A frown marred Heero’s face as he thought about it for a moment. “Hn, he did seem a little more offended than he usually does when someone tries to pry into his business. But then again maybe he’s just not comfortable enough yet to start thinking about dating. Between the war and holding so tight to the memory of Nataku and getting revenge for her, that might be something that’ll take longer for him to get into.”

“True,” Duo nodded.

“Let’s go,” Heero said.

He led the way to the office next door, which Quatre and Trowa occupied. The two were just putting their coats on; also ready to leave for the day.

“Hey, just came by to say see you on Wednesday, and to let you know that Treize called, apparently he’s not as dead as we thought,” Heero quipped.

Quatre, who had turned to return his goodbye, did a double take. “Okay. Wait, WHAT?!”

Duo laughed. “Yup, take note everyone. Heero Yuy actually has a sense of humor.”

“No, no, no! I meant about Treize! What do you mean he’s not as dead as we thought?” Quatre yelled.

“Hush,” Trowa tried to soothe him. “Let them explain before everyone else in the building hears you.”

Quatre nodded and looked expectantly to Heero for an explanation.

Heero, not wanting to risk another outbreak from the former Sandrock pilot, promptly told him about Treize’s call, and his request to see Wufei.

“Hmm, I think you’re right about not letting Wufei know,” Trowa said when he was finished.

“Yea, for all we know he’ll go out and do something stupid. Like try to duel him to the death or something,” Quatre added.

Heero nodded. “Which is why we’re not going to tell him unless it becomes necessary in the future."

“And while we’re at it, after this vacation’s over Lady Une should be informed as well,” Trowa said.

“I agree. At any rate, now that you two know Duo and I are going to head home.”

Heero left the room. Duo followed after waving goodnight to his friends. “See you Wednesday guys!”

“Bye!” Quatre responded cheerfully, though inside his mind was in turmoil. Noble as their intentions were, he just couldn’t shake the feeling that Wufei wasn’t going to remain in the dark about his rival’s survival for long. The possible consequences of that happening had him very worried.

A hand fell on his shoulder and he looked back to see his lover giving him a small but encouraging smile. “It’ll be okay, Quatre. If Wufei finds out then all we have to do is be there to keep an eye on him and talk some sense into him should he try anything stupid.”

“I know. I just worry about him. He’s had so much trouble adjusting. I’d hate to think what he’d be like if he hadn’t been given the job as a Preventer agent,” Quatre said. “What if he does something and this time we can’t get him out of it? Une would have a fit if he did anything against the law, or got hurt, or…”

Gently Trowa turned his lover so they were face-to-face. “Quatre, enough. I know how you feel. But there’s nothing we can do about that bridge if it isn’t even there to be crossed yet. Let it go for now, and let’s go home.”

Quatre sighed, still uneasy, but a kiss from the taller Heavyarms pilot had all of his worries flying to the back of his mind as he opened his teeth and let his tongue come out to play with his lover’s. After a few moments he found himself out of air, having been taken by surprise and not ready to have to hold his breath for any length of time.

Trowa was ready for this, and pulled away, gazing fondly at his smaller boyfriend. Quatre’s concerns weren’t unfounded, and mirrored not only his own, but he was certain Heero and Duo’s as well. But for now, there was nothing to be done for it, except to let it go and hope Wufei never found out his rival still lived.

“Let’s go home Quatre. I for one would like to get this little vacation started early. What do you think?” teasingly he let his fingers ghost down Quatre’s stomach and trace little patterns on and around his groin.

Quatre groaned, arousal hitting him at the suggestion those fingertips were whispering to him. “Ohhh, Trowa. I hope you plan on getting back home quick. Because there’s no way I’m going to let you leave me like this for long.”

His lover grinned, something only Quatre ever got to see on a regular basis, and wrapped his arm around the little Arab, steering him out the door, as he grabbed both keys and laptops off the desks on the way out, handing Quatre his. “Then I suggest we get going.”

~*~TBC...~*~

A/N: Well there you go. A little late, but I hope everyone evjoyed it.

To Kurai: Thank you. I'm glad this cheered you up and gave you some Christmassy (I know, I know, not a real word *grin*) joy to go along with your holiday.

Well, the review button's there, so let me know what you think. Next chapter will be up tomorrow.

~Whip~