Title: The
Ice Prince or Such a Marvelous Rose
Author: Meiran Chang
( bonking_bishies @ swirve.com )
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: DorlianXSylvia,
1+R, 6+2, 3+4, 5+Dorothy, 6x9, 2xH
Warnings: shonen ai,
AU, fairy tale, angst, verrrrrrry mild self-insertion in, like, the
last sentence. I made Dorlian a total OOC wuss >_<. Also, I've played
fast and loose with family relationships and situations.
Comments: Ohhhhh pretty
please? --> bonking_bishies @ swirve.com
Archive: 6X2ML Archive
can have it. Otherwise,
please email me, I don't bite.
Disclaimers: I do
not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters, they belong to Bandai and
Sunrise and the American rights are owned by Cartoon Network. Please don't
sue me, I'll just cry a lot. Also, the original story of "Beauty and the
Beast" is by Mme Leprince de Beaumont and not mine either. I don't own anything
except... the original portions of this piece of fiction...whatever
they are.
Dedication: To the
6X2ML, because they're darlings all and the inspiration
for this fic.
The Ice
Prince
Chapter XIV
Duo had a good week at home. Everyone was glad to see him back,
including his siblings' partners and their families, and he was pampered
as though he were the lost Peacecraft prince. His brother and sister absolutely
refused to let him lift a hand inside the house. While it was sweet of them,
it did make life a little bit boring. All he could really do was eat, lie
around, read, and tinker with Quatre's flute. At the Beast's, there was
always something to do, whether it be walk in the garden, or play with the
mirror, or explore the manor, or explore his closet, or talk to his friend.
The only cloud of Duo's homecoming was the shady behavior of his beloved
brother and sister. They simply would not listen to him when he defended
the Beast. They would attack him without mercy despite all Duo could tell
them, and then change the topic abruptly as soon as Duo got on the winning
side of the argument.
He didn't know what was going on with those two. "I know something
you don't know" had always been an effective way to taunt him when he was
a child, and the clandestine way Relena and Quatre skittered around was highly
suspicious. While he loved them dearly and was overjoyed to see them again,
their secretiveness was an unnecessary aggravation. His father was, of course,
sweetness incarnate all week long.
Evening of the seventh and last day found Duo sprawled on the cheerfully
flowery couch in the sitting room reading one of Quatre's old, dog-eared
books, a relic from White Fang. This one was a particularly dry historical
tome chronicling the Peacecraft dynasty. Quatre must have loved it, since
the pages were limp with handling and there were notes and underlines on
every page. It was a great work of scholarly achievement about as thrilling
as watching a fork, though even the author, who was making a real effort
to remain monotonous, couldn't help but get excited when he spoke of the
lost Peacecraft Heir.
The sound of footsteps and soft voices broke his trance and Duo lifted
his nose from between the book's pages as Relena and Quatre entered the
sitting room. They were in stride, looking serious and determined. At once
the image of all-blonde guerilla troops preparing for assault popped into
Duo's mind. He shook the image off and tilted his eyebrows quizzically at
them.
"Duo, could we have a talk with you?" Relena asked, hands clutched together
in front of her. His sister looked nice tonight, dressed in warm cotton
dyed a demure blue by her fiancée's hands. Quatre was still in carpenter's
gear covered in wood shavings, having been busy all day making furniture
for his and Trowa's farm together.
"Of course you can," Duo said with a grin. He patted the spaces on either
side of him. "Sit down. How are you two? Workin' hard?"
"We're fine," Quatre murmured, brushing the wood shavings from his overalls
and sitting down beside him. Relena followed suit, settling on Duo's other
side and primly crossing her ankles.
"So... what is it?" Duo asked, after a brief pause.
"Well... Duo, are you really planning to leave tonight?" Relena began, with
a glance towards Quatre.
Duo nodded. "Sure thing. You guys know that."
Relena and Quatre exchanged another look, and this time, Quatre sighed.
"Do you really think that's wise, little brother?" he asked.
"Why wouldn't it be?" Duo frowned. "Look, what's going on with you two?
Are you keeping something from me? It really feels like you are, and I bet
it has something to do with the Beast. You guys just don't understand that
he's really a good person, that he's --"
"-- controlling you!" Relena interrupted angrily. Duo only stared
at her, dumbstruck, as she corrected herself. "At least, that's what we think.
That's the only possible reason you could be defending him after all
he's done."
"Oh, is that so." Duo crossed his arms and glared. "I don't know whether
to be offended or appalled. Relena, you're smarter than this. Do I ever
lie?"
"You wouldn't be able to help it if you were under the Beast's control,"
Relena said earnestly. "You'd think you were telling the truth. You'd
be absolutely convinced you were telling the truth."
"I asked him on my birthday if he had any control over me, and he said
no!" Duo protested. "Besides, Heero checked me over for foreign magic the
minute he first saw me, and he didn't find any."
"Heero's still only an Apprentice," Relena retorted. "He's not the powerful,
skilled mage your 'friend' the Beast is. It's very possible the Beast just
hid his magic well and that's why Heero couldn't see anything."
"Heero told me the magic on my ring was pure."
Relena shrugged. "So the monster got his hands on an article of white magic."
"He enchanted my ring just for me! I know what his magic feels like!"
"That's not the point," Quatre broke in, seeing Relena being backed into
a metaphorical corner. "Listen to me, Duo. The Beast has done terrible things
to you and to us. He's taken you away from us. He made us think you were
dead. He threatened to kill Father. Who knows what fits into his twisted
view of the world? You mustn't go back there. It wouldn't be safe."
Duo's violet eyes blazed. "I thought you two trusted me. Am I wrong? God's
eyes, I can't believe you two. After all I've been saying all this week!
Do I look like someone under the control of an evil creature? I'm
telling you that it's okay! I am not possessed! The Beast wouldn't
do that to anyone and especially not to me!" Fleetingly Duo thought
of telling them exactly why the Beast would never harm him, then thought
better of it, knowing that to add "Because he loves me" to his statement
would make Relena balk and Quatre turn pale.
"Everyone who's possessed says that they're not," Relena pointed
out infuriatingly.
"At least stay one more week," Quatre added pleadingly, seeing that Duo
was beginning to get that glint in his eye that meant he would not budge from
his position.
"The Beast asked me to be back within one week," Duo said firmly. "He's
expecting me back tomorrow, I can't just --"
"It's powerful magically when someone does anything of their own will,"
Relena said with an air of knowledge, though she glanced at Quatre quickly
to make sure she was right. "Who knows what awful spell he's waiting to perform
the second you get back? It's best to cut this now while you can. Throw that
gaudy ring away."
Duo looked down at the ring with a furrowed brow. "I will not. The
Beast gave me this as a birthday gift, and I, for one, think it's beautiful."
"Duo, please. We're just asking you to stay a little bit longer," Quatre
wheedled, his river-blue eyes filled with genuine concern. "If you stay,
it might break the Beast's hold on you."
"I'm not possessed!" Duo prodded Quatre's arm. "See, I did that on my own.
The Beast didn't tell me to poke you!"
"How do you know?" Relena retorted.
"Come on, Duo. Look to your future," Quatre begged, taking Duo's hands
in his own warm ones. "Stay with us. Just an extra week, so we can make
sure you're free of the Beast."
Duo shifted uncomfortably. "There's nothing to be free of," he muttered
unhappily. "You're inventing a phantom threat. The Beast wouldn't hurt me.
I know him, you don't, and I know he would never hurt me."
"Then what do you call what he's done to you this past year?" Relena demanded.
"Was that kindness? Was that caution? Was that real concern?"
"Stop it!" Duo shouted, looking torn. "He couldn't help taking me away.
He had to. And he's always been good to me!"
"Duo." Quatre put a comforting arm around his brother's shoulder. Duo was
looking distinctly miserable now. "Look, it's your choice. If... if it worries
you that much... just stay one extra week. He was probably being vague when
he said come back in a week. Two weeks won't hurt anyone, and it'll make
us happy. What do you say?"
Duo didn't say anything. Relena seized the moment. "Duo, we really are
worried about you. It's not that great a sacrifice to stay with us for a
little longer. We've missed you for so long. It's really you who holds this
family together sometimes. We love you, and we want the best for you."
"Fine," Duo muttered, falling back limply. "Fine. Shut up. I'll stay. But
just the extra week," he warned as his siblings' faces grew bright.
"No longer."
"That's good," Relena said cheerfully, and kissed his cheek. "There, that
wasn't so hard, was it?"
Duo shrugged.
"You did the right thing," Quatre said encouragingly.
His little brother glanced towards him, violet eyes lovely as always,
reminding Quatre strongly of why Duo had been called Beauty at fifteen.
"I'm breaking my promise for you two."
"It'll be all right." Quatre got up and hauled Duo off the sofa with a
smile and a quick hug. "Now get to bed, brother."
Relena said proudly, "I knew you would do the right thing, Duo. Never forget
that we love you and anything we do is for your own good."
Duo briefly considered informing her that he was eighteen, not fifteen,
but instead shook his head, bade them goodnight, and went upstairs to bed,
taking off his ring and putting it on the night table. Of the many things
he felt that night, "right" was not one of them.