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"The Knights' Chronicles "Written By: SkyLark DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing, or its characters.
I just love playing with them. Pairings: 1x2x1, 5xOC Warnings: Serious AU, Angst, Violence, Sap, Romance
A Sidefic to By the Red Moon Betaed by ShenLong "The Knights' Chronicles " Wing and Scythe smiled widely, tails thumping against
the straw beneath them, as their newest visitors stepped into their
joint stall. Recognizing every face and smell of the family, they
leaned their heads as close to them as they could in greeting. The first to enter, the expectant queen of Epyon approached
to pat the end of their muzzles with a kind, "Hello, friends."
Focusing on the black steed, she smirked, "I feel your pain,
little mother." Scythe's head dropped as she let out a frustrated
grunt of a sigh, a plume of white smoke puffing from her nostrils
that had Noin and the others around laughing. Giving his nephew a tight embrace, Zechs said quietly,
"I do hope that you do not mind our coming unannounced like this.
You know how the women of our family love surprises." Duo pulled back as he snickered, "You know I don't
mind. It's great having you all here for this." Peering over
to his steed, he smirked, "I am sure that it means a lot to Scythe,
too." In response, the soon-to-be mother purred deeply and nuzzled
the Epyon King. "Well, we were certainly not about to miss the
birth of the babies to the first black dragon that has mated outside
of their own," Hilde grinned at the end of the hug that she and
Heero had exchanged. Gently patting the end of Wing's snout, she added, "Not
to mention the fact that those babies belong to two dragons that may
as well be family." At that, the white steed's smile only grew
and he licked the side of the princess' face in appreciation. Lowering the baskets of presents that he’d carried
inside, Trowa made his rounds to greet his friends while avoiding
tripping over Ingier and Nataku's dragonlings that were hopping around.
He ended with little Odin when the boy crawled up to him. Easily scooping
the little one into his arms, the prince grinned as his wife moved
in to tickle the squirming, laughing bundle. His green eyes scanning the lot around them, Barton
announced, "We just received word this morning that Lady Une
and Captain Greyson of the Virgo army are now engaged to be wed, hence
why they are as busy as they are at the moment." Unable to help himself, Duo cheered, "That's awesome!
Good to hear that they're moving things along. And how are Gloria
and Mueller holding up with the litter that they're expecting?" "Gloria is about to give birth at any moment and
is on ordered bed rest leading up to the delivery," Noin answered
as she slowly sank down onto a chair that that Zechs brought in for
her. "And she extends her deepest thanks to you for sparing Sally's
services as she and her pack would have had trouble trusting anyone
else to caring for her and her babies." Pulling a second chair up beside his wife, the Epyon
king nodded firmly, "Really, the timing could not have been better
for these deliveries as Commander Lewis is more than fit to oversee
our kingdom while we are away." Heero wrapped an arm around his husband's shoulders
when the braided teenager frowned deeply in guilt. Gently kissing
his temple, he told him quietly, "Do not worry, love. I am sure
that Gloria knows that you would love to be there, but understands
that this is where you really need to be right now for Scythe." Curling up beside Trowa under a shared blanket, Hilde
threw in, "Besides, Sally is convinced that the litter will not
be born for another week at least. Scythe's eggs will have hatched
in plenty of time for us to make it back to Epyon in time." Duo bit his lip and glanced over to Relena. When the
seer smirked and gave him a subtle nod that the others missed, he
let out a relieved sigh and smiled, "Alright, then." When Scythe stretched her head out towards him, the
braided king's heart sank at the tiredness in her green eyes and the
sad chirp that she let out. "Aw, it's okay, girl," he soothed,
wrapping his arms as far as they would go around her muzzle in an
embrace. "Your babies will be here soon." A small grin curling
her long mouth, the dragon closed her eyes and leaned into his touch
with a deep purr. If there had to be a choice over where Duo was going
to be, of course it was going to be by his steed's side. This was
easily the most vulnerable that he had ever seen her. She needed him
and he was not about to let her out of his sight until her dragonlings
were hatched. Gesturing to the opened book on the hay-covered floor,
Trowa asked, "Is that Commander Lowe's journal?" "Yea," Duo nodded. Giving his friend's snout
a few pats, he and Heero moved back to their spot. As he set the book
back into his lap, he said, "We were just reminiscing over the
events leading to my birth. You all came in at a great time since
we just got to the part where you came to Sanq to see my mom when
she found out she was pregnant with me." Trowa's eyes clouded over in dark memories of those
times. Reaching for his hand, Hilde squeezed it and frowned, "That
was about the time that Dorothy started acting... different."
His throat tight, the First Scout swallowed roughly
as he continued to stare out into his memories. "I was such a
fool for not picking up on the signs," he muttered. "Even
now, I can remember the first clues as if they just happened..." * * * * (Flashback) Humming to herself, Dorothy walked the long corridors
of the Sanq castle alongside her lover of many years. A perfectly
serene expression on her face, the sorceress practically floated in
her step as her eyes scanned the details around them from the floor
to the white arches of the cathedral roof over them. "This is easily one of the most lovely palaces
I have ever had the pleasure of visiting," she smiled. "They
certainly know how to make an impression here in Sanq, both in hospitality
as well as the grandeur of their surroundings. I will be sorry to
leave this behind when it is time to return to Epyon." Snickering, Trowa replied, "Well, I doubt that
this will be our last visit here. King Zechs and Queen Noin are frequent
visitors and I have no doubt that they will have us join them again."
Lightly nudging the gifted girl, he smirked, "Besides, Epyon
is not a kingdom that I would say is underwhelming." Dorothy turned her head towards him and shook her head,
"Oh, I did not mean to make it sound as though I am unimpressed
with our homeland in the slightest. There are a great many things
that make it a remarkable place, what with the rolling hills of an
endless sea of wildlife in plant and animal alike. There is no place
in this world like it." As they stepped out onto the balcony that they had been
heading for, the young couple gazed out to their high view over the
sprawling city with the mountains to their left and the ocean to their
right. Gesturing to the landscape, the sorceress smiled wistfully,
"However, you cannot argue the beauty and majesty of these sights."
"No, that I cannot," Trowa nodded, his own
grin spreading further across his face as he took in the landscape.
Closing his emerald eyes, he took a deep breath of the gently blowing
breeze that carried a salty hint of the sea. When he opened his eyes again, the First Scout took
a moment to gaze on his distracted lover as the light wind carried
strands of her long blonde hair and the chiffon ends of her orange
dress. "Of course," he began with a smirk, "there are
even more beautiful things yet." Her head spinning to face her companion again, Dorothy
blushed deeply. Biting her lip, she beamed and leaned in to take his
lips in a deep kiss that had them clinging tightly to each other. Only separating for air, the gifted forced her breath
to calm before she snickered, "You do know how to flatter a girl,
my love." Chuckling, Trowa shrugged, "Only because you deserve
it." He stepped behind her to wrap his arms around her waist
as she sank back against his chest. Gently kissing her shoulder before
resting his head atop it, he soaked up the companionable silence for
a lingering moment before he sighed, "King Zechs will make a
great uncle to his niece or nephew when they are born." "Nephew," Dorothy whispered, her eyes still on the city of Sanq below them. Blinking, Trowa leaned his head forward to have a better
look at her face and grinned, "So, you believe that Queen Sophia's
intuition is correct in saying that she is having a son? Your talents
do not include seeing what the future holds." A quiet gasp escaped the girl in his arms, as though
she did not realize she had spoken aloud. That brief state of surprise
was quickly replaced by irritation when her piercing blue eyes glared
at him. Instantly, Barton regretted his words, knowing how she despised
being reminded what her powers were not capable of. Dorothy Catalonia was prideful in her powers, much like
a certain sorcerer also in the First Scout's life. "I am sorry, love," Trowa was quick to apologize
when she walked out of his arms to face him fully. Shaking his head,
he frowned, "I did not mean to offend you by saying that." The sorceress drew a slow, deep breath that helped ebb
the tension as her glare faded and a small smile tugged her lips.
"It is alright," she reassured in that pleasant voice of
hers. Waving her hand, she giggled, "I should be sorry for my
immediate reaction. It seems as though I cannot help but be a bit...
put off when I have to realize how limited I am. No one in this world
has been more supportive of me than you." Quickly closing the distance between them, Dorothy looped
her arms around her lover's neck and kissed him soundly to seal her
apology. "Please forgive me," she beseeched in a whisper,
her lips brushing against the scout's when they moved. Shuddering, Trowa could feel his knees going week at
the spell of her affections. His back straightening, he wound his
arms around her waist again and smiled, "There is nothing to
forgive. And for your information, I do not think that you are limited
by any means. I have noticed your spells strengthening over the years.
Seeing all of the things that you are accomplishing now, I have no
doubt that you will be able to do anything with your gift." At that, the blonde young woman dropped her right hand
to lightly run it over the green tunic covering Trowa's chest. Biting
her lip, she hesitated before stating, "Well, I do have your
uncle to thank for that." It was the Scout's turn to bite back his ire that built
in hearing the sentiment. "Well, we will have to agree to disagree
on that," he responded, the words coming out short and heated.
"Unlike my dear Uncle Dekim, you are not selfish in how you use
your gift." Releasing a deep sigh, Dorothy lowered her head and
said quietly, "I really do wish that you would give him a chance.
Your parents are gone and Catherine is living in Romefeller to master
her abilities leaving Dekim the only family that you have now." "I’ve given that man more than enough chances,"
Trowa replied with a shake of his head. Brushing back a few loose
strands of long blonde hair that had blown in his partner's face,
he grinned sadly, "However, I am glad that you two have found
common ground through your powers. Maybe he will make a turn around
in his ways with the help of your charms." Dorothy peered up at him with a smile that held... something
that was not completely readable. Before the soldier could dwell on
what was going on in her mind, his senses were overwhelmed when she
caught him in another deep kiss. The sound of footsteps approaching broke the couple
and they spun to find a familiar trio freezing in their tracks with
wide eyes. Heero and Wufei remained stiff as Anna was the one to clear
her throat and sputter, "S-sorry! We are sorry to interrupt.
We had no idea-" Laughing, the sorceress took a small step back from
her lover to wave her hand to the knights-in-training with a friendly,
"There was no harm done, so there is no need to apologize. I
have been looking forward to speaking with you since it is not often
that we get to spend time with others during visits like this." "We actually were searching for you for that same
reason since our head officers excused us to give the royal families
more privacy," Wufei chuckled, a sheepish grin on his face as
he and his own family stepped out onto the balcony. Noting the perfect view of the city below, Heero offered,
"It is a bit late now, and I am sure you are both tired from
your travels to get here, but we would be happy to give you a tour
of the city tomorrow if you would like." Her eyes widening, Dorothy gasped and folded her hands
together against her chest. "Why thank you! That would be marvelous!"
she cheered. "I am absolutely captivated by your homeland. I
want to know absolutely everything there is to know about it."
Trowa shook his head in amusement, but he was not about
to deny how he also looked forward to exploring more of Sanq. Facing
the sorceress, he smirked, "I am sure that Hilde would appreciate
getting out for a while as well. We will have to bring it up to her
over dinner tonight." "Yes, yes," Catalonia grinned to him, her
head nodding vehemently. "I have no doubt she would want to come
along." Completely taken in by their guests' anticipation, the
trainees exchanged wide smiles amongst themselves. "Ah, well,
we can start with the marketplace and the main town," Anna suggested.
"From there, we would have a lot of possibilities to where we
can go both in and out of the city." Raising her hand, Dorothy questioned, "Could we
see where your encampment is located?" Instantly, the mood in the air changed as the Terrible
Trio's backs straightened rigidly at the inquiry, their eyes wide.
Every bit as shocked as his new friends, Trowa leaned
in close to the girl to whisper, "Dorothy, you know that the
location of every kingdom's knight encampment is a secret to all outsiders
unless they are invited, no matter who they may be traveling with.
You know of the ancient spells that were placed on them to keep them
hidden from even the most talented gifted of today." That last remark earned Barton a glimmer of the ire
that his lover had overcome in the form of a brief glare from her.
As much as he did not want to remind her of what she could not feel
with her own gift, he was also a knight who understood the right of
his new friends to see that their base was not revealed. He would have reacted no differently than they had to
the inquiry were he in their shoes. What also had the First Scout concerned was the closeness
between Dorothy and Dekim. While he trusted his lover to keep such
a sensitive bit of information to herself, he knew that his uncle's
powers far exceeded hers and so he could coax the details out. Dekim always was one who wanted to know too much when
it came to the lands that they visited... enough so that it was becoming
unsettling to Trowa. So, the less information that there was for the
sorcerer to know the better as far as the knight was concerned. "Yes, how foolish of me," Dorothy finally
drew smoothly, her easy smile slipping back across her face. Giggling,
she bowed her head to her guests, "Please forgive my forwardness.
I should have known better, considering how I am with a knight like
yourselves, but I just cannot not help my excitement." The tension oozed from the air once again as all of the soldiers around eased. Shrugging, Heero used the sorceress's own words in a smirked, "There was no harm done, so there is no need to apologize. We will be happy to take you anywhere else you would like to go." Not one of the knights-in-training was about to mention how they had two regular visitors in their gifted friends. The circumstances there were different in that Quatre and Relena were invited to the base in the first place upon their first arrival to Sanq with their mentors since they were all representatives of the peacekeeping land of Romefeller. Somehow, the three soldiers had a feeling that the sorceress would have been put off even if they explained those details. And so they simply kept the matter buried. Nodding firmly, Dorothy grinned, “I do look forward
to that.” (End Flashback) His green eyes turning up to stare at the rafters high
overhead, he went on, "But his departure never settled with Dorothy.
A couple of years later, she was gone... just up and left as Dekim
had. I did all that I could to find her, but she was a talented one
in covering her tracks. We never heard anything of them again until..."
Shaking his head, the First Scout growled, "If
Dorothy had known the position of the Sanq knight encampment, that
would have likely been their first target so that the city would be
without most of its defense." He reached up to dry wash his face
as he groaned, "I wish I could have sensed that something was
wrong. There had to be a way I could have stopped what had happened." "Do not try to put any blame on yourself, Trowa,"
Hilde told him, her hand falling over his hand resting between them.
Squeezing it, she stated, "We were all around Dorothy and were
just as blind to what was going to happen." Her husband peered
over at her to give a small smile of appreciation. At the other half of the stall, Relena draped an arm
around her daughter when the little girl came to lean against her
with heavy-lidded eyes. Seated with his family, Quatre raised an eyebrow
and told the Epyon soldier, "I could always use my gift to make
sure you do not have those ridiculous thoughts again." His green eyes widening, Trowa sat upright and was quick
to reassure, "No, that is perfectly fine, thank you. As Duo would
say, I am over it." Snickers and quiet laughter filled the air. Letting out a soft sigh, Odin drifted off in his mother's
arms as Anna realized aloud, "It was not long after that visit
when everything in our world changed for us..." She swallowed
roughly and met the violet eyes that had turned to watch her and whispered,
"It was only a few months before your birth." Now that was an entry that Duo was all too familiar
with, the pain of Odin's words embedded into his memory from the first
and only time that he’d read it. Heero's arms wrapped around the braided king's waist
as he pressed himself close against his side. "We do not have
to go over that time in our history," he offered quietly, a deep
frown of concern at the distant look on his partner's face. Blinking, Maxwell's vision cleared in his return to
the present. A grin tugging his lips, he turned to face the cobalt
eyes on him and reassured, "It's alright. The past won't change
just because we're talking out it. I like hearing your side of the
story. Besides, in a weird way, it keeps my parents' memories alive." At that, Noin closed her eyes against the sting of tears
and rested her head on Zechs’ shoulder. Feeling a gentle kiss
press against her forehead, she announced softly, "I would also
like to hear more about Sophia and Solo." Unable to argue with that, Heero, Wufei and Anna exchanged
a conversation through their exchanged glances. Taking the lead, Yuy
pulled in a deep breath and shifted to sit up straight. Keeping his
arms around Duo, he began quietly, "Alright. It was almost a
year since we had last seen Quatre and Relena when we started to worry..." * * * * (Flashback) There was an anticipation hanging over the Sanq knight
encampment that spring. Queen Sophia was well into the final stages
of her pregnancy as the typical fifteen-month term for their world
was fast approaching. For three knights in particular, however, the arrival
of the heir to the thrown was not all that had them anxious. Since
their visit to Romefeller, there had not been a single word from their
gifted friends. And that was very unusual for Quatre and Relena. The fact that they had parted ways before the assembly
of the seers weighed heavily on the trainees' minds. What had they
learned now that Gallon's veil over what they could see of the future
was lifted? Why had there not been so much as a message sent to them
to inform at least how their friends were fairing? "Who knows how long it would take all of the seers
in this world to gather?" Anna thought aloud in the midst of
an all too familiar conversation between the Terrible Trio. Lying horizontal to her lover in Nataku's stall with
her head pillowed on the center of Wufei's chest, she shrugged, "Half
of the year could have been their waiting for everyone to return to
their homeland." Their steeds peering into the space all grunted
and wheezed amongst themselves as though discussing the possibility. The swordsman propped himself up enough to meet his
lover's eyes when he replied, "Relena and Quatre would have given
us some kind of notice to what is going on since we knew more than
we probably should have when we left Romefeller. They would know how
worried we would be waiting like this." Overhead, the dragons
snorted with deep frowns. Sitting atop the closed door to the stall, Heero shook
his head, "If there is a darkness that we are supposed to rage
against, do any of us really want to know what is to come?" And that was the question that not one of them could
really answer. The heavy silence that screamed in the air resonated
that all too well. Little did any of them know that moments later a certain
sand-colored dragon was flying through the overcast skies stretching
over the encampment.
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