Part Eighty: Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
I woke up feeling lazy and slug-like; wonder why?
I also woke up alone. I didn't panic, although I was a little confused. Heero doesn't usually get out of bed without at least kissing me good morning.
But, okay; I have to admit that I was probably comatose whenever he awoke. What a day! I felt like the whole bloody world had been sitting on my shoulders the previous day! And now I knew that his family accepted me and I had no reason to be scared and wibbly.
You think that'll stop me when I get stressed? Ha!
I pushed the comforter down from where it had been over my head and looked around the room. Looked like morning still; it would be just a little embarrassing to sleep past noon. Everyone would be wondering what the hell was wrong with me.
Except... Hm. Well, I tried to keep it down, but in the heat of the moment... I somehow don't think anybody in the house missed our little midnight romp. I suppose the best I can hope is that Wyverns aren't anymore straitlaced than any other Magical Creature.
A sound outside drew me around; the outside wall panel was sliding open. Heero peeked around it and smiled.
"Ah, awake at last!"
I snorted. "What do you mean, 'at last'? It's before noon."
"By half an hour," he grinned coming into the room.
Even with my jaw dropping, a small part of me recognized how gorgeous he is when he smiles. I'm kind of torn on that smile. On the one hand, he *is* gorgeous when he smiles, but on the other, I'm not sure I want other people noticing that. Right now, it's kind of exclusive to me. Not sure I could stand to share much...
Man, this guy just conflicts the *hell* out of me, on so many levels!
"Ah, crap! Why did you let me sleep so late, Heero?" I began digging out from under the comforter.
"You were tired; you had a long day." He sat on the edge of the futon and leaned in to kiss me lightly.
"I can survive a little sleep dep," I grumbled. "I used to sleep on the streets, remember?"
He growled and that righteous glimmer came into his eyes. It's the one he always gets when he thinks about my Clan. The one that says he itches to go there and pound on someone.
"And you do not sleep on the streets anymore," he rumbled. "Therefore, you can afford to sleep in when you need to."
I gave up on that subject. I'm awake now and arguing the point is silly. I turned instead to what was rapidly becoming my favorite subject among these people. "Food? When is lunch?"
He chuckled and pulled me in close. "Whenever you feel like getting dressed. Giniro and I had breakfast at dawn with Kikai and Tulip."
Okay, I'd almost forgotten Heero's half-brother and sister. Shouldn't they have been at dinner last night? Or was that some kind of parent-child thing? So much to learn about these people! So little time! I really wanted to know why on earth Heero's mother named Tulip, Tulip.
"Ten minutes?" I kissed him and climbed over him to find my clothes. "Did you have a chance to talk with them without all my nonsense going on?"
He snorted and smacked my bare butt lightly. "Your "nonsense' was pretty much the whole topic. If there is anyone in the Clan who hasn't seen that coat yet, it's only because they aren't here."
I stopped and turned, mouth hanging open. That just... made my day. Maybe even my whole year; it's early yet. "She really likes it? And it's not... painful or anything?" I really don't know what possessed me to make that coat. It's light-years more elaborate than anything I've made so far. I wasn't even sure I could manage all the color changes and keep the strands where they belonged. That's why I knitted a lining for it; so the stranding would be hidden.
"She loves it. Everyone loves it. Kikai almost cried when she saw it, and Kikai cries less than Giniro. Tulip was absolutely speechless. I think Faiesa wants to adopt you. Either that, or chain you in her house and make you knit forever. She was talking commissions last I heard."
Okay; the hanging-open mouth thing has got to stop. It does nothing for my worldly debonair image. This means that these people have got to stop adoring me quite so openly.
It's early; I don't have to make sense yet.
"Heero, you're about to give me brain-lock," I pleaded. "Can we forget my alleged perfection for a while?"
He appeared to give it some thought. "Oh, I suppose; if I must..."
At that point, I would take what I could get.
"So, did you have a lot of catching up with Kikai and Tulip?" Even saying that name makes me want to giggle.
"Yes," he said slowly. "Yes, we did."
I was pulling on clothing. "You don't sound all that sure." I glanced his way.
"I suppose I'm not."
I turned to look at him, jeans dangling from my fingers. Heero Yuy, Wyvern extraordinaire, is never uncertain. I wondered if I should laugh or take his temperature. "You're not?" I echoed instead.
"I haven't seen them in a very long time; you don't just catch up years in a few minutes." He turned away to smooth his hand over the decorative kimono hanging on the wall beside him. "It's hard... to know where to begin... "How have you been?' seems... silly... "Why did you go?' seems childish... And... and "do you care about me?' is just..." He shook his head.
Oh, goddess... He was hurting... And I didn't have a clue how to help. I just didn't have any words to take the sting out of abandonment. Believe me, I've been there; I know. Instead, I pulled on my jeans and went to wrap my arms around his waist. His arms came up to embrace me.
"I feel... very young, right now," he murmured.
"That's... not a bad thing... sometimes," I replied softly, looking deep into his blue eyes. "You know, I'm not the only one who doesn't do leaning very well..."
There was a rather lengthy silence, before he said; "You think?"
"I'll try if you will," I offered.
"It is not in my nature to lean."
"Hey! Are you calling me a wimp?"
He snorted and that weird, scary moment was gone.
And I was torn somewhere between relief, because I really have no idea how I could make anything better for him, and indignation that his siblings had first left him for so long and second seemed to have no idea of how much he had needed them. Dragons! I snorted to myself. They're impossible!
Having known Heero for almost a year now, nothing about the obstinate and innately protective creatures could possibly surprise me.
...Until we walked into the main room and I spotted the new... art piece. The coat I had knitted for Giniro was displayed as free-floating artwork; hung on a long pole, just as the kimono in Heero's bedroom was displayed, the coat turned lazily in a place of pride in the center of the room. At first I thought it was held up by magic, but then I spotted the nearly-invisible wire that attached the pole to the ceiling beam.
"I couldn't bear to put it against a wall," murmured the IchiBan from the kitchen. "I would have had to choose which side to display. This way, I have it all." The tall female came to embrace me and I hugged her back a little more fiercely than I intended. "Thank you, little Banshee. I will treasure this gift for the rest of my life. And when I die, you will take it back and wear it for yourself." It was not a suggestion or a request. I nodded.
"And if I should die before you," I whispered, "It should go to Heero's daughter."
Her expression told me I'd said the correct thing. Damn, sometimes I really do have instincts.
Lunch was much more relaxed than breakfast or dinner had been. We didn't have to do the question and answer thing this time, so we just talked. Giniro told me stories about various Clan members and teased Heero that she would wait until his back was turned and tell me stories about him. My Wyvern blushed and growled but never told her not to. It was quite amusing. I told her about Teal and Shar and Dael and some of the others of my Clan who hadn't been rotten to me.
And I told her more about my life before the Castle. She was elegantly appalled at some of the things I had done; sleeping on the streets and in parks, eating from garbage cans, using my magical skills to steal when I had no other choices.
"It is a wonder you were not killed!" she exclaimed at one point. "Humans tend to be very cruel to those they consider a nuisance."
I could only shrug. "I didn't really think about consequences," I explained. "I just did the minimum necessary and kept moving so that there was never a pattern for them to get hold of. Humans like patterns," I repeated thoughtfully. I'd never actually thought about that before, but they did all seem to love their patterns. Get up at the same time, go to work at the same time, go home, have dinner, go to bed... They made appointments and schedules and lists and had timetables glaring seemingly endlessly back at them.
Magical Creatures have patterns also, but seldom so rigid. Most of us are more closely attuned to the seasons and the phases of the Moon; to dawn and dusk, to the rhythms of the earth, our Lady Mother. Hours, minutes and seconds are a bit of micromanagement that we seldom have patience for.
But I learned to note the passage of time in the Human world, and to follow their examples in order to be safe. Even in the Magical world of the Castle there are schedules and appointments, though less so in our office.
"I cannot," said Heero quietly, and I realised that he had been talking for a few minutes to Giniro while I was drifting; "Imagine any other Magical Creature being so adept at infiltrating the Human world."
"That is because we seldom interact with them before our maturity, and when we do, we are generally strong, confident individuals with a rock-solid grasp of our own Self," she replied. "We have had the leisure of growing out of our adolescent uncertainty without the added stress of simply surviving." She took a sip from her teacup. "Heero, you are probably the only Wyvern in recent memory that has been required to deal with Humans while still essentially a child." My Wyvern raised a questioning eyebrow. "Darling," said his grandmother with a hint of asperity, "You *did* go off to school at the age of eleven."
"Oh," he muttered as if just remembering. "I'd hardly compare that to Duo's time in the Human world."
"Nevertheless, you were required to deal with their world. You just had your own unique way of doing so." From the tiny smirk on her lips, I sensed a veritable goldmine full of stories, but I also had the feeling that I would not be hearing them any time soon.
I glanced at Heero as he was examining his own teacup. "So they used to tell me," he smirked.
"So when do I get to hear about your unique take on school life?" I asked lightly.
"Mm... Maybe later," he rumbled, and I snickered.
We moved on then to my knitting skill and a general discussion of my hobbies and activities. Giniro laughed with delight when I described learning to skate while living in a particular foster home. I was thirteen at the time, and spent more time on my butt than upright on wheels for at least a month, but once I figured out where my body belonged in relation to those sneaky wheels, I soon got the hang of it.
"I don't suppose you'd care to demonstrate?" she asked slyly.
"I didn't bring my skates with," I countered. "And anyway, I never was into doing stunts; they were just transportation." She didn't have to say it; I *would* be bringing my skates the next time I visited. "Yes, ma'am," I replied to that look.
At that point, Kikai and Tulip arrived.
And I apparently lost my mind.
My half-siblings arrived as we were finishing our lunch. They each gave me a warm hug and settled in with tea and a few words about what their contemporaries were up to.
I had worked myself out of the slightly lost mood I had been in earlier and was more than ready to put the past behind us. Unfortunately, I had reckoned without the highly vocal and protective in his own way Banshee.
I was speaking to the IchiBan and missed the beginning of Duo's expression of disapproval to my siblings. He was already giving off sparks when I realised what was going on.
"At least I always knew that my aunt and my cousin cared for me; we exchanged mail regularly. I never doubted their love for me," he said rather tightly. I looked up at his tone, but the danger was too slow in dawning and he spoke before I could head him off. "You two, on the other hand, just disappeared out of Heero's life. What was it; six, seven years between your mother's death and him going off to school? Not a word or a visit in that time? Not like you didn't know where to find him," he growled testily. "And how many years from then until now? That's pretty cold, even for Dragons," he snapped.
My grandmother and my brother and sister gaped at him, clearly startled at his combative tone. I started to speak, to cut him off, but he was on a roll, and rolled right over me. Truth be told, I may not have wanted to stop him...
"And to use the "trauma' as an excuse? Oh, please!" He rolled his eyes dramatically. "He needed all of you then! God! Can you imagine how scared he was? Only five years old and an orphan!"
There was more, much more, but I barely noticed it, so caught up was I with his angry flashing eyes and his sharp, exasperated gestures. I had never dwelt on how I may have felt back then; it remained a time of empty days and nights devoid of any real emotion. I knew only that my parents were gone and they were never coming back. My mother would never hold me again; my father would never sing to me again; they would not share any part of my life from that time forward. I would not lean on them ever again. There would be no adolescent arguments, no hormonal dramas, and no embarrassment at their pride in me. A lump grew in my throat, threatening to choke me.
Tulip was trying to get a word in edgewise of Duo's rant when I suddenly spoke up.
"Why *did* you leave me?" I demanded, inwardly appalled at the pain in my voice. "I remembered you; both of you. And you left me, just like they did!" The IchiBan laid her hand on my arm, but I ignored it. "I thought you blamed me!" I had never realised that before, but I knew it was true at the time, the painful memories unfolding now like some long-dormant exotic flower. Their mother wouldn't be dead, I had reasoned, if she hadn't fallen in love with my father. As a child, it seemed perfectly logical. Of course, my siblings would not want anything to do with me. It seemed unbelievable that my grandmother didn't hate or blame me as well. "I needed you!" I snarled helplessly.
"Heero," began Tulip, "We thought..."
"But you never *asked*!" Duo snapped. "You never asked him if he wanted you to stay, or if he was lonely or scared. Even a five-year-old knows what they want. You think I didn't want my mother? You think I wasn't acutely aware of being different to my Clan? Heero's half-Banshee; don't even try to tell me that was never brought up! Kids know what's going on, what's being said behind their backs!" He suddenly rounded on me. "People did talk, didn't they?"
"Y-yes..." I stammered automatically, more than a little in awe of his protectiveness on my behalf. Why had I ever thought he needed protection from his Clan? "Sometimes... Never to my face, but I heard things..."
Giniro gasped; could it be possible that there was something my grandmother *didn't* know? She leaned forward, eyes gleaming. "Who, Heero? Who would say cruel things behind your back?"
Terrific. I couldn't lie to the IchiBan. Someone was going to lose hide before the day was out; I knew it. With a sigh, I named a few who had been the most cruel, "Vocar, Haichin, Toshinma; others. I don't remember, really. I ignored it as... as jealousy." I shot Duo a sour look and was startled by the look of ferocity in his sparking eyes. He was not going to back down or apologize over this.
A hand fell on my arm and Kikai said quietly, "He's right, you know. We did walk away, using feeble reasoning to excuse us from our duties to you and to Mother. But we were required to leave, and it seemed so much easier to just go and not remind you of the bad days." She glared at Tulip and he pulled his head down between his shoulders. "Neither of us raised our own children... I can't speak for Tulip, but I know I was afraid to have the responsibility of you. And Tori's people wanted you to come there..." She looked up at Giniro. "I'm sorry, Sobo. What you said to me back then, you were right, though I denied it."
Tulip looked like he wanted to say something, but just couldn't get it out past the embarrassment of having his sister hanging him out to dry as she had.
"Why were you required to leave?" I asked, having just processed that statement.
"The Dragons," she said as if that explained everything. At my perplexed look, she elaborated. "We are liaisons between the Great Dragons and the Human and Magical worlds. We have to be where they are. We were allowed a visit, but we couldn't stay, Heero."
"We would have had to renounce our positions," said Tulip quietly, "To remain here." He looked at me warily. "I like my job, Heero; I didn't want to give it up. I thought we would visit you occasionally." He suddenly looked very uncomfortable and I realised I was Glaring at him. How interesting; I can even Glare down a half-dragon.
"But you didn't," I growled. Giniro sat with a hand covering half her face, staring into her teacup. I wondered how she liked riding the Banshee-coaster...
Tulip borrowed Duo's spontaneous combustion trick, and muttered something too low for me to hear. Kikai whacked him on the shoulder. "Louder!" she snapped.
"We... we... lost track of time," he said finally. "Well, we did!" he cried into the stunned silence that followed.
"What?" snapped Duo, "Dragons don't wear watches?!"
A snort erupted from my grandmother's direction. Duo looked at her, blinking, and his angry expression changed, melting into one of wide-eyed astonishment. Apparently he had only just realised what he was saying, and to whom.
I snickered. Tulip and Kikai left off staring at the IchiBan and stared at me.
I snorted. Duo turned worried eyes my way.
I snerked. And began to laugh. I laughed until my ribs hurt and I was sprawled across the table wincing, still chuckling painfully.
Have you ever had one of those twisted, sick-making moments when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you've just put a figurative gun to your head and pulled the trigger? Yeah, that's the one...
The IchiBan snorted and I turned to tear into her... and realized - goddess only knows *how* - that I had just been yelling at Dragons... Large, long-toothed, semi-cranky Dragons. Yelling about something that was not my business, something that was in the past, something that was beyond recall or mending.
And then Heero made a noise. Made several noises, actually. We all turned in his direction. The look on his face... I had an awful disconnected feeling that he was going to cry. And if *Heero* cried, I was as good as dead...
Instead, he began to laugh. It was almost hysterical and totally out of control, but at least there were no tears. And we all sat there like rocks and let him go.
The IchiBan snickered a little, but she had pretty good control. The siblings just stared, wide-eyed and nonplused, as if they'd never seen him laugh before. Okay, I've never heard Heero laugh like that before either, but I guess I've always believed he *could* if the occasion arose. Apparently, they'd never considered the idea before.
Me? What was I doing while my Wyvern was laughing himself literally sick? And don't ask me what he was laughing about; I don't remember there being anything funny happening just before.
I just sat there and waited for him to wind down, and eventually he did. When he was down to strangled chuckles, I dared to scoot closer and lay my arm across his shoulders.
"Um..." I began hesitantly, barely above a whisper. "Sorry...?"
He rose up enough to wrap arms around me and pull me against him.
"My Banshee," he growled and kissed me hard.
All right! He didn't hate me!
"Don't even think," he growled over my head at his relatives, "of being angry with him. Thank the Great Dragons that someone around here has the balls to speak the truth!"
His grandmother smirked at us. "Do you see me arguing with him, Heero?" she chided. "He didn't say anything I haven't thought myself on occasion." She turned to her other grandchildren. "I've told you before, that was a pathetic excuse. And the only reason I let it go was because Heero wasn't clamoring to see you. I see now that I should have been a little less complacent on his behalf, a little less eager to leave things be. I should have kicked your butts around the bloody island, and *made* you come. I am equally to blame in this... this travesty."
Kikai and Tulip traded looks; neither of them looked very happy. Finally Tulip spoke up, getting to his feet before he did so.
"Heero, my brother, my mother's beloved son; can you possibly find the charity in your heart to forgive our neglect of you? We were fools and cowards too. If you choose to forgive us, we would like to be a part of your life now, hopefully to atone for the injury we have done you." He bowed very deeply.
Kikai also came to stand before Heero. "We are very sorry that your brother and sister are such idiots; you are surely entitled to much better. May we have a second chance to prove ourselves worthy of your kinship?" She also bowed low.
Heero blinked and looked at Giniro. She lifted her teacup and a single eyebrow. "I'd forgive them," she shrugged, "but only after a trial period." She glared at the pair. "'Lost track of time', my ass! Such a silly, pathetic, pitiful excuse deserves nothing more."
And then she turned to us again. "Well done, Duo. I rather think you do your mother proud," she smiled. "I think Heero has Chosen very well for himself."
Heero gave me a look of such heat and fire; I'm surprised he didn't set the room ablaze. "Mother would approve?" he demanded of the elder female.
"Without hesitation, my dear. Without hesitation."
He looked at Kikai and Tulip. "I think the IchiBan's suggestion is a good one. One year, beginning today."
They both bowed deeply again and resumed their places. "Is there anything we can say, any questions we can answer, to help?" asked Kikai.
I raised my hand, feeling oddly like I should do something to lessen the free-roaming anxiety in the room. It was kind of my fault, after all. All eyes turned my way. "Um... I have a question... Nothing to do with anything other than my nosy curiosity, though," I said hesitantly.
"Ask," said the IchiBan. "You cannot ask anything worse than Tori did at times."
::Wanna bet?::
I stiffened my spine and turned to Tulip. "Why did your mother name you "Tulip' anyway?"
Tulip blinked. Kikai blinked. Giniro blinked. Heero was behind me, but I think I felt him blink also.
"Um... Well... It's kind of silly..." Tulip blushed almost as pink as Tsutsuji's hair. Kikai poked him in the ribs.
"It's not silly!" she protested. "It was romantic." She glanced at me. "Well, as romantic as we get, I mean."
Tulip sighed and rolled his eyes at her. Obviously an old and on-going thing between them. "My father is something of a chivalrous Dragon; he courted Mother with flowers. Tulips..." he sighed again. "And she decided to... I don't know; remember the moment or something. So she named me "Tulip.'"
Giniro snickered behind her hand. "Nikko had a rather strange sense of humor sometimes..."
"You could have talked her out of it," Tulip said petulantly.
"Did you ever manage to talk your mother out of anything?"
Heero snickered and winced, clutching his side. "At least it's the European form; she could have named you "churippu'," he pointed out.
Tulip rolled his eyes again. "Fine words from someone with a normal name."
Kikai flashed a smug look. "I was her "golden opportunity'," she offered, obviously enjoying poking at her brother. "Tori chose your name," she said to Heero. "We assumed it was a Banshee name."
He looked at me; I shook my head. "Not within my Clan; maybe in the Old Country."
The IchiBan had a rather odd look on her face; I suddenly knew that she knew exactly what Heero's name meant, but she wasn't talking. Her gaze slid over to me and when no one was looking, she winked. Okay; I was going to take that as an invitation to ask sometime when Heero and his siblings were otherwise occupied. Maybe I would wait for our next visit.
I won't say that everything got all relaxed and uncomplicated after that, but I felt better for voicing my frustration at the half-Dragons' behavior, and Heero looked a lot less... fragile.
It turned out that the siblings (that's how I seem to be thinking of them now) had joined us at lunch because they were leaving shortly.
"We need to be back by nightfall," said Tulip with a sigh.
"Back where?" asked Heero with a suspicious frown. I knew that he was calculating time in the air and flight speed and coming up empty on a location. My Wyvern is so predictable sometimes.
"Um...."
"Don't you ever ask easy questions?" laughed Kikai. Heero glared at her, still waiting for an answer. The female Wyvern looked away nervously. Amazing. Heero can even intimidate the half-Dragons. "It's not a "where' exactly," she said after a moment of thought. "I mean, it's a place, but it's not..." She looked at Tulip for help. "Accessible? Is that the word I want?"
Her brother shrugged. "How would I know? You're the smart one," he teased.
She snorted at him and turned her attention back to Heero. "It's sort of a different plane..."
Heero raised one eyebrow. "'Sort of'?"
Kikai huffed rather theatrically. "I've never had to explain it before, Heero. To us it's just where the Great Dragons live. It's not here, with Humans and other Magical Creatures; it's... above, beyond, beside..." Her eyes lit on my magical bag. "It's kind of like Duo's bag; bigger on the inside than on the outside. You step through an opening, like walking into a closet, but it's not a closet; it's a whole world."
"But where is this "closet'?" Heero persisted.
"Wherever they decide to put it," offered Tulip. "We fly to a particular heading and at some point along our route, the closet door opens and we fly through."
"It is a separate space," said the IchiBan softly. "Literally. Existence twists and turns and folds back upon itself and creates other spaces. Humans have similar concepts within their scientific disciplines. The Dragons control their space. They place it where they choose and enter and exit where they choose."
I almost started bouncing where I sat. Cool! Dragons have tesseracts!
"You'll come back soon?" Heero was going to hold them to their promise. Good; that meant I wouldn't have to do it. So far all my parts were still intact, but I didn't think much of my future chances if my mouth got away from me much more.
The siblings exchanged looks.
"We will explain to the Dragons that we have... um..." Kikai looked at her brother. "Screwed up royally."
Tulip sighed heavily and leaned back on his hands, staring up at the ceiling. "Father is going to Look at me..."
"Mine too," admitted Kikai. "But we made a mistake, and then we hid from it..."
"Come to the Castle," said Heero suddenly. The half-Dragons stared at him. "Three months, six months; whatever, but come to the Castle and see my life," he said firmly. "You said you were proud of me when I went away to school; prove to me that you are proud of what I am now."
Another exchange of looks, raised eyebrows and shrugs. The IchiBan narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips as if preparing to say something that wouldn't go over too well.
"I think... that would be very nice, Heero," said Kikai slowly. "I would like to see where you live and work. I would be honored to meet your friends... Sobo has mentioned some of them... The Were-Dragon and Were-Puma who visited here once, and that astonishing young Wizard who picked you to go to the School. I would very much like to meet them."
Tulip shrugged. "What she said. I'd be interested in meeting a Were-Dragon who doesn't have his head up his -"
"Tulip."
"Sorry, Sobo," he said, not sounding the least bit sorry. I had to stifle a giggle. Heero and Q had both mentioned the... rivalry between the two species.
Kikai nodded to Tulip. "Sometime within the next six months, then? It will depend on when we would be allowed to leave, but we will ask as soon as we return."
Heero nodded his acceptance.
The siblings slithered off soon after that. I got a hug from each of them and
a kiss from Kikai. I guess they weren't going to hold my mouth against me this
time. I made a pledge to myself that I would not do something like that again,
though. No sense in pushing my luck.
It turned out that Heero and I had been drafted to baby-sit that afternoon. Seems that Kohaku and Kiba were hoping for a little "alone time.' According to Heero, every time he visits the kids he winds up alone with them for a couple of hours while Kohaku and Kiba do some playing of their own. I couldn't begrudge them a couple of hours; I'd had my own turn yesterday. Or last night. Okay; both.
Kids being kids, I don't think I really need to belabor the next few hours. They were delighted to have us to play with for a while; or Heero anyway. Although I got my share of attention, in spite of the language thing. The playground had one of those go-around things, like a carousel without horses, and Tsutsuji planted herself on it and demanded that I push. I wound up, predictably, flat on my face in the grass before too long. So then it was my turn to ride while she pushed. I faked her out, though. I pretended to be dazed by the speed and snatched her up on my next pass and we both rode the thing until it finally stopped, both of us giggling like fools.
Heero and Komori were amusing themselves in a slightly more dignified manner; the little guy seemed to have a real attachment for the swings. He was still there, apparently content to have his father push him all day, while Tsutsuji and I worked our way from the go-round, to the see-saw, to the swings, to the rocking horse and back to the go-round.
I now know that it takes less than an hour for a - what; five, six year old - kid to utterly exhaust me. I might have been embarrassed if I hadn't been concentrating on catching my breath. I was flopped out on the ground with Tsutsuji tugging at my arm and giggling when Heero and Komori joined us. Komori chose to interpret my supine form as a just-for-him sofa and plopped down on me. I squawked and I thought Heero was going to hurt something, he laughed so hard. I think Tsutsuji was planning on joining Komori, but Heero thankfully stopped her with a few quiet words and she sat down on the grass instead. After a look around at the surrounding area, Heero joined us.
I patted Komori's head and he graced me with a somewhat suspicious glare; I snickered. "So, is this how you spend your visits, Heero?" I smirked. "No wonder you come back all worn out."
He smiled and ruffled his daughter's hair, and she tilted over to rest her head on his leg. "I don't get to see them every time," he explained. "They don't live here; they live at Clan Tombo, Kiba's Clan."
That seemed kind of unfair... "They couldn't live here?" I wondered. Maybe it was like some of the Human cultures, where a wife had to leave her family and go to her husband's family. Most Magical Creatures are matrilineal, so you don't see a lot of that kind of thing in our side of the world.
"They could have, but both Kiba and Kohaku have work in the north, so it made more sense for them to stay there. They come back every few weeks, just not always when I'm here. But I do go there sometimes."
He got this odd look on his face then, like he was remembering something, and I poked him in the ribs. "What?"
He shrugged. "Just... wondering if I'll ever get a chance to take you there."
Well, that sounded odd. I opened my mouth to call him on it, but was forestalled by a shout from the path. It turned out to be Cousin Rigel. The kids scrambled up, obviously acquainted with the blue-haired Wyvern by the way they glomped onto him. He laughed and hugged them both before turning his attention to Heero.
"I know you guys are leaving soon; I wanted to say goodbye."
"Actually," Heero began, "We're leaving tomorrow morning..."
"Well, that's pretty soon," Rigel grinned. I could feel a bear hug coming and sure enough, he grabbed Heero, crushing him to his chest. "I have to leave pretty soon too." He looked a lot less... scattered than he had the day before. Maybe he wasn't as ditzy as he seemed. "Wish we could have spent some time together," he said wistfully. "Maybe next time." He swung around, dragging Heero with him before my Wyvern could open his mouth. "And I'm really glad to have met you, Duo. I can tell that you're just what Heero needed."
"Oh. Um... Thanks, Rigel," I managed to say. I never know how to respond to compliments that aren't obvious. Tell me you like my boots or my clothes or my hair or my work and I know what to say. Tell me I'm "good for someone' and I'm left wondering "how?'
While I was blinking, Heero managed to get himself out of Rigel's grip and was regarding his cousin from a safer distance. "I'm sorry," he said; "I didn't know you wanted to see me, Rigel. Perhaps next time we can coordinate better." It wasn't quite the formal, all-business tone he uses at work, but it was damn close.
Rigel grinned anyway and scuffled his boots in the grass. "Well, I tried to get here before, but you were kind of hit-and-run those times. And I didn't have enough notice to make arrangements." He gave a wistful sigh then. "It's just that I haven't seen you in ages; I really miss spending time with you, you know? Hey, remember that little tea house in Akita? The one with the sculpture of the IchiBan in the garden? The Humans have declared it some kind of historical thing. Imagine that! Our spot is historical!" He laughed raucously. Heero looked oddly embarrassed.
"Have you mentioned that to Giniro?" he said.
"Uh... You don't think she'll mind?"
"Of course not; she will probably find it mildly flattering," Heero said crisply. I couldn't help being curious; Heero's tone bordered on rude. What had Rigel done this time to deserve that?
"Oh, the statue; right..." He looked down at his boots again, maybe speaking to them as well. "We had some good times there, Heero..."
Heero sighed. "Yes, Rigel..."
"I was kind of hoping... but then IchiBan told me about you finding a Banshee, so I figured that was that." He looked up and his grin lit up again. "I've still never met anyone like you, Heero. You're the greatest, you know?"
Okay. Call me paranoid and suspicious, but Rigel's words sounded awfully... former lover-ish. I looked at Heero. My cool, collected, always-in-control Wyvern looked flustered.
"Rigel, this really isn't -"
"Oh, yeah; sure. I know..." He scuffled his boots again; maybe it was a nervous habit. "I just wanted to be sure you knew. I couldn't remember if I'd ever actually told you before." He looked up, his whole manner softening slightly. "Nobody has ever compared to you; I just wanted you to know." He turned to me. "Man, Duo, you are the prettiest thing I've ever seen, and I just know you're a terrific guy too. Heero wouldn't have fallen for you if you weren't," he grinned mischievously.
"Oh..." I said stupidly. Nobody ever compared to Heero? Da~amn... "Well... Thanks..." I had one of those little leaps of imagination or something, picturing Heero in Rigel's arms. I shook it away before it got past an "R" rating, but it was too late to stop my mouth. "So, Rigel... You and Heero used to be...?"
Heero stiffened and glared at me, but we all know by now how useless that is.
Rigel bounced on the balls of his feet happily, willing and eager to share. "Yeah! He's got a presence that just won't quit! Half the Clan was hot for Heero before he went away!"
"Rigel!" cried Heero, appalled.
"What, Heero? Duo knows you weren't abstinent." Understanding dawned. "Oh... You never told him about your lovers!"
I looked at Heero, who looked to be approaching apoplectic. "Yeah, Heero," I teased. "How come you never told me about all your lovers?" It wasn't as if I was going to have hysterics at the idea of Heero being with someone else before we met; how silly would that be?
"Duo..." he growled.
"Aw, Heero. You aren't ashamed of me, are you?" Rigel sounded almost hurt.
"Rigel, of course not!" Heero snapped turning back to the other Wyvern. I jumped into the breech.
"Hey, Rigel; did he do that funny little shrugging thing with you?" Oh, Heero was going to kill me!
"You mean the..." He fluttered his fingers and I nodded. "Oh yeah! He still does that? Wow!"
"Enough!" Heero roared. Rigel jumped, wide-eyed. "I do not intend to have my present and former lovers comparing notes on my sexual idiosyncrasies!"
Rigel blinked at him. I blinked at him.
We blinked at each other, and I caught the hint of a smirk in Rigel's eyes and just threw caution to the winds.
"But Heero," I cooed silkily; "it's *cute*!"
And Rigel jumped in before Heero could reach for me.
"Take him flying, Heero. You *have* to." He glanced up at the sky before Heero could decide which of us to go for first. "I have to go, guys." He grabbed me around the waist for a hard squeeze that left me gasping. "Take good care of him, Duo; he really is a terrific guy." Then he braved my Wyvern's wrath and pulled Heero into another bear hug. "I miss you," he murmured against Heero's neck. "Take care."
Then he let go of Heero, changed form and launched, all in one smooth motion.
Heero glared after him. "Dammit," he muttered under his breath.
I slid up next to him. "So... Rigel loves you too..."
He snorted. "Do not start that with me, Banshee." He hooked his arm around me. "I have no control of what other people feel."
I head-butted him gently. "I know; I just think it's cute. And pretty damn decent of him not to resent me."
He softened then, and sighed. "Rigel is a decent Wyvern. He just wasn't what I wanted..."
"And I am?"
He looked into my eyes, holding me still. "You are everything I ever wanted, even before I knew what I wanted."
Well, damn. And *still* I couldn't say what he wanted to hear.
The kids were playing nicely on the swings, Tsutsuji agreeably pushing her brother. We collected them and headed back to the IchiBan's house, where we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing and chatting with whomever happened to stop by.
We went to bed early, got up late and Jake appeared right on time, yawning and with a cup of strong coffee in hand.
"Wait a minute," I said, doing the math. "It's only afternoon at home; why are you yawning?"
He shook his head. "Geez, Duo; you don't even want to know what's been going on. I had to port a crazy Dragon-lady to LAX last night, and then she wouldn't turn loose of me! I had to sit there and listen to her for seven hours! Her damn flight was delayed."
I stared at him. "A Dragon... taking an *airplane*? Whatthefuck?"
Again he shook his head. "Talk to Q; it's his fault. C'mon; are we going or not?"
I just blinked at him. "Heero! Let's go!" I yelled. "I gotta talk to Q."
Man, I love mysteries.