Author: Mel

Seven Days + Day 2

For the first time, since the end of the war, Quatre was free of nightmares. Instead he dreamed of a beautiful forest and two beautiful children.

He awoke with a smile on his face.

And Duo in his room, again.

This time he was ready for him, he was sleeping in pants this morning. "Good morning Duo," he yawned.

"Morning Cat," Duo smiled, "you're looking a lot more relaxed today."

He stuck his tongue out at the braided pilot. "No thanks to you, you had me going around in circles yesterday."

Duo pulled a face back at him. "Dry your eyes princess, you'll get no sympathy from me! And get up, I'm taking you out of this boring place."

Quatre sat up. "What? Taking me where Duo? DUO?"

It was about noon when they arrived at their destination, L4's markets. These were the pride of the colony, if you were after anything, this was the place to find it. And if you were trying to sell something, this was the place to find a buyer. One person's trash was another's treasure held truer nowhere else.

Quatre had been six last time he had gone to the markets.

He was now eighteen.

Needless to say, it had been a while.

And so the wonder of the place was no more lost on the young master now then it had been when he was a child. Quatre had to remind himself more then a few times that he had to breath. But there was so much to see, so much to do. Duo didn't seem to be having the same sort of problems that Quatre was having, but that was to be expected. After all, Duo had grown up in the streets, with people all around him. Quatre had grown up in a mansion, it had been a rare occasion when he went outside, and even rarer to have bodies pressed around him.

It was comforting to have Duo's hand in his own as the other teen led him through the crowds. Duo seemed to know where he was headed, and he dragged the curious Quatre along behind him. There were a few times in which Duo had to pull him away from some store. It was about the third time this happened when Quatre thought to ask where they were going. To do this he had to make Duo stop first, that took some doing. And then Quatre found that he would have to stand on tippy-toes so he could reach Duo's ear. It was too noisy to try and speak over everyone.

"Where are we going?"

Duo smiled as Quatre's breath tickled his neck. "You'll see." He winked cheekily and they were off again.

Quatre bit his lip, the only thing that kept him from demanding that Duo stop this foolishness. He was a little worried that if he said anything Duo would stop, and he was having fun, that didn't happen as often as he thought it should.

So he kept quiet.

It was possibly the hardest task he had ever under taken.

Thankfully it wasn't much longer before they arrived at their destination. It was the one shop that lined the market street that had no decorations. No people enticing others to buy their wears. Nothing.

It made Quatre hesitate. "Where have you brought me Duo?" he asked, now that they were out of the noisy crowds and took his hand from the other boys.

Duo looked over his shoulder, about to walk in, when he saw Quatre's face. There must have been something that he found there that made him stop, because now he turned so he faced Quatre. And he held out his hand.

"Do you trust me Quatre?"

Quatre didn't even pause. He trusted Duo, with all his soul. He took the offered hand, smiling. "Fine, surprise me!"

"Oh I intend to," smiling he opened the door and led him through it.

"And no anchovies, you got that? None what-so-ever!" Duo finished, handing the waitress the menu.

She grinned, "anything for you Duo-san!" The young woman breathed, obviously head over heels for the braided imp. She all but danced away, hugging the menu to her chest.

Quatre rolled his eyes. "You've been here before!" He accused Duo.

"Of course, I know all the best places in town, and this happens to be the best pizza place in the five colonies." Duo seemed rather proud of his discovery.

"Duo, that's nothing to be proud of!" Quatre chided him, his aquarium eyes laughing.

Duo snorted rudely. "Oh pish-posh! It's the only thing to be proud of! And you know it. This-" he indicated to the room around him, "is heaven in our universe Quatre, and you'd better believe it."

Quatre looked around. The place was nice, clean, and smelled of garlic and herbs. It was the first thing you noticed, the place smelled like the pizza it cooked. There weren't a great number of customers, but it didn't look like that was expected for lunchtime. Soft jazz music drifted through the air and tugged at his heart. Duo was right, this place was wonderful. Who knew it were just a few moments away from home.

The rest of their afternoon was spent in this state of euphoric bliss and they managed to somehow get through three pizzas with little effort at all.

Quatre's view of Duo raised several notches by the end of their time at the pizza pallor. Duo still talked as if his life depended on it, but there seemed to be substance to his words other then just mindless babble. Quatre had to wonder at which one of them had matured in the time away.

On their way home, now walking through the almost silent streets, Quatre looked up at Duo. "Thank you."

Duo returned the look, "for what?"

Quatre smiled and took Duo's hand. "For making me trust you."

Duo wasn't at dinner that night.

Quatre shouldn't have worried, after all, they had eaten heaps for lunch and it was only natural for someone to miss dinner. Except Duo was anything but natural when it came to food. And so Quatre did worry, he worried himself to an early night, but with little sleep.

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