Additional Notes: Quarte is gonna be a little occ.
                           Quarte: A LITTLE? You've got me acting like Duo!!!
                           Sparky: ^_^;;;; Well Me and Silver plotted it that way.

I want to dedicate this chapter to Silverfox who helps me
when I'm down! I love you girl. I always want to dedicate
this to Amanda. I love you girl and even when life makes
you down, I worry. So email me sometimes…*sending her
virtual Duo plushie!*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 4: The Art of Shopping!!

The alarm rung bright and early Saturday morning and
Treize was up, coming down the stairs for his usual cup of
java. Passing the living room, a mustered blanket was the
only indication of his younger brother's presence. "That boy."
The older man silently thought. What was he going to do
about him? He paused only a few moments before he ventured
onward into the kitchen to see about breakfast and was not
surprised because it had already been prepared, covered in
blue and white ceramic pots. The coffeepot perked with
happy sounds, steaming hot with black heaven while Treize's
favorite mug with the engraved red roses and green
intertwining vines sat quietly waiting for its master to come.
Right next to that was Marie's mug, also with roses but
smaller with white petals. The tiniest quirk arched
on his mouth.

"He's turning into our mother..."

~***~

Duo secured his bike to the railing, gazing upward at the
structure of his high school. It felt so strange to come early
on a Saturday morning. None of his practices were ever on
the weekend, usually on weeknights for about two hours or
so and that included warm-ups.

A gentle breeze blew through his hair, tousling his chestnut
strands around like a father ruffling his son's head.

Father.

No. He was not going to bring that up and ruin his day.
Putting a hand into the side pocket of his jeans, he made
sure he placed the special pass Dr. Noin issued him was
there. Taking a deep breath, he walked up the stone steps
one at a time, each step representing another stepping
stone towards his goals...his future.

The future. Most students were terrified of the inevitable,
the closing of the chapter of childhood to journey into the
unknown challenges of adult life. But Duo? Afraid of
growing up? Please! He yearned for its completion...
craved the freedom of being his own person. Sure he
enjoyed his precious moments as a teenager, but most of his
stolen seconds were ripped away by a man bonded to him
by blood. Such a complex child but he could not help having
the insight of an adult at a very young age, but due to
circumstances beyond his control he had to deal with it.
Dealing with the knowledge of things he wasn't to
suppose to understand until he reached adulthood.

The soft scruffs of his sneakers padded down the empty
corridor usually accompanied by sounds of panicky
freshman, chaotic sophomores, insane juniors and edgy seniors.
Usually the cleaning crews were on the grounds during the
weekends along with the rest of the Maintenance
department making sure everything was fine for the following
week. A simple routine enforced by the forces of
administration, but with great benefits and lots of privileges.

Duo smiled as he passed by some of the cleaners, having
acquainted with them when he used to practice in the late
afternoons while on the basketball team. Alex and Wayne
waved as he went straight to the principal office, inquiring
the educator of the room assignment for his tutoring group.

Finally with information in hand, Duo proceeded to the
tutoring office located in room S168 on the south side of
the campus. It didn't take long to get there.

"I'm here." He sighed nervously bouncing on the balls of
his feet, like a dancer from one foot to the other in front
of the door. Gazing through the tiny window, he could see
the blonde-hared boy called Quarte smiling, writing happily
on the board. The boy reminded him so much like an angel
that it wasn't funny and he was too blonde to be Arabian.
Shifting a little, he could see the other boy. The one called
Wufei. He bit his lower lip nervously watching the Asian lad
balance himself precariously on the chair as he rocked back
and forth reading a newspaper.

Duo blinked, his large violet eyes widening as glowing
amethyst focused on the smooth lines on the Chinese teenager's
denim, eyes tracing the natural curves of tight well developed
muscles. The tee shirt clung to Wufei's muscular frame, each
ridge fitted his form like a glove and for the first time in a long
while, Duo felt very warm.

But that would change as total embarrassment registered
on his heart-shaped face when the owner of those two
onyx jewels stared him in the eye.

Strange. Wufei felt someone looking at him and when he
turned, his own dark visions were captured by a set of
wary indigo. He adjusted the glasses on his nose as he
sat up, causally pulling a stray of ebony back behind his
ears. Since it had been a while when his great grandfather
passed and his refusal to cut it again for respect, his hair
had finally lengthened over the summer and now glossy
darkness hung long down the middle of his back. He
motioned to Quarte of the presence of their honored
guest and the eager blonde blinked once in confusion.
Then he looked at the door. "He must be nervous."
Quarte answered in understanding. "I better get him."

Duo watched as the blonde honor student bounced towards
him, smiling an invitation for him to enter. His whole face was
red, blushing from being caught in his scrutiny, especially from
Wufei. "Oh shit." The words escaped his mouth before he
could stop them and luckily for him no one was in the hall to
hear him.

The heavy wooden door opened wide with poor Duo
toppling in with a very sheepish Quarte looking down at
his lithe form on the floor. "Well there you are. We've been
expecting you, young man." He replied a wink.

Big indigo eyes widened. Did he just wink at me?
"Uh...yeah. I was kinda figuring that." Standing up, he brushed
himself off and bowed to Quarte. "Ohayo sensei."

"Oh please…" Quarte giggled, rolling his eyes at the
other boy's display. "We're all students here, Duo. No
formality is needed. Good morning to you too." Moving
to the side, he ushered the nervous boy in. "Come on.
Wufei and I were just wondering where to start with you."

Understanding Duo smiled timidly as he walked behind
Quarte to the table. "Well…how about from the
beginning. I can tell you if I know it or not."

"Sounds like a plan." Quarte sat on the table, while Duo took
his backpack off.

"Let's see…" Duo thought tapping a finger against his chin.
"Calculus? Physics? Advance Literature? I didn't blow up the
lab yet especially thinking there was only one thing he hated
worse than bullies. "Calculus kinda…a little problem…"

Quarte's entire face lit up. " Great! I'm a A+ student in that!"
His line of sight focused on Wufei, who had gotten up to go
the blackboard already in sync with Quarte's mindset. "Wufei
can do some problems at the board, while I'll do one on one
with you to help you out."

Nodding, Duo sat down, taking out his notebook. He flipped
open the book to a fresh page, waiting as Quarte called out
the pages he wanted to work on loud enough so Wufei
heard him. Duo's gaze shyly looked at the boy at the board
becoming mesmerized with color of Wufei's hair, such long
black hair. He blinked wondering why it enchanted him so.

Quarte watched silently as Duo kept stealing glances at Wufei.
The boy's story was kind sad. Such adversity he endured
and yet such a brilliant mind and spirit overcoming it. "Listen
up. We don't bite, Duo." He could see and feel the tenseness
radiating from the teen.

Blinking at Quarte's remark, Duo bowed his head again,
blushing as he wrote the figures down. "It's not that."

Aquamarine blinked curiously, waiting for the beautiful boy
to continue. "We used to move a lot." Duo replied softly,
concentrating on the assignment and not looking up, afraid to
reveal his emotions. "This is our first permanent place.

"Oh." Quarte blinked in understanding. Then he got closer,
not wanting Wufei to hear. "The people I see at the table
with you all the time…no friends right?"

Duo looked up, gazing into the prettiest eyes befitting an
angel. "I have friends…" Quarte's gaze somehow stopped
the words from leaving his mouth. This delicate boy, with
the soft golden waves and big blue-green eyes made him
feel funny. It was as if somehow he could sense his
thoughts, which he could not lie to him. "Kinda…"

"Kinda." He didn't need to hear anymore. Quarte already
knew without using his special sense that those people Duo
hung with were not really his friends. They were more like
associates and not to mention feeling like Duo did in his
freshman year.

Duo continued writing as he talked. "Family drama. No one
would understand so I keep a safe distance you know. It was
hard making friends…just…you know what I mean."

Nodding, Quarte smiled, his eyes closing remembering his first
days at this high school. Trying to fit in, trying to find his place
among the masses. It was only Monday when he became
acquainted with Heero and Wufei and boy did his world change.
The two brothers'-in-law was comical, especially how they
reacted around their new niece and nephew. All the football
games in the world could not prepare Quarte for the innocence
in Heero Yuy's eyes or the scene that the football star made
holding his newborn nephew in his muscular arms. That same
innocence lingered as he droved the two teenagers home and
that day the moment they got out the car, Heero's saw an
elderly woman in trouble and helped her across the street.

His complexity…the multiple facets that created the
enigma called Heero.

Yes. Quarte knew exactly what Duo meant. "Hai, Duo-san.
You're just sorta scared to do anything. You can't really believe
anything is true…that it's stable. But now you have to find
some permanency in your life."

Duo was about to reply when he noticed Quarte staring
intensely at the blackboard. "Wufei, that's wrong. There is
an error in the calculation for the third step." A giggle then
bubbled from his throat as Quarte then turned back to his
confused pupil. "Really. I'm gonna have to tutor him as well."

Loud growling rumbled through the room and the sound of
broken chalk resonated against the blackboard. "Oi!" Wufei
growled, swirling around as his arms crossed over his chest.
"You're the master at math, you should be up here!"

The smile on Quarte's face made Wufei blinked twice.
Unknown to Wufei, Quarte knew he had the biggest crush
imaginable on Duo. Though only a week had passed, he and
Wufei had become great friends. The Chinese youth was on
his highly respected list and the more they talked the higher in
ranking he journeyed. Dotty teased the hell out of him when he
told her the next day of his new tutoring job, tutoring the elusive
Duo Maxwell with his co-tutor being Chang Wufei. She jumped
up for joy in their club and a stream of pointers flowed from
her mouth giving his tips to snag his brother in law. Quarte
knew he didn't have to try hard for that. Wufei was cool
and Heero…sigh.

"What…"Quarte giggled, eyes turning to cat like slits and in a
playful mood, " and let you sit with such a pretty boy?!"

Duo blushed and poor Wufei, if he had been drinking water
it would have spattered across the room. He choked leaning
his form against the graphite board, trying to regain his
composure and at the same time, getting chalk particles
all over his back and hair. But this would be the least of his
worries. Just as he reached into his pocket to get his calculator,
a loud snap erupted in the room. Quarte blinked twice
watching ebony strands billow out to Wufei's side and
down his back.

"What?" Wufei blinked confused, and then he noticed strands
of hair all over the place. "Kisammaaaaa!" Quarte chuckled
at him. Swearing was not going to fix the broken band in
his hand. He hated that he went through more rubber bands
than a girl did.

Duo couldn't help but stare at the Asian boy. Wufei's hair
wasn't as long as his but it was pass his shoulder and the
way the light reflected off it. He had to turn his head back
down toward his book as forbidden thoughts popped into
his head. He was not ready for that.

~***~

Time flew as the session got busier and the rest of the day ran
smoothly. Since it was their first meeting, Wufei and Quarte both
agreed to stop half an hour earlier not to waste the rest of the
afternoon in a boring room. Apparently Wufei had some things
to do for his parents before he went home.

Wufei stretched, blinking sole eyes out at the world as he
finally arrived at the entrance, outside the building. The long
braid of their pupil flew in the wind and he watched as it
could be seen flying down the long winding road. He didn't
even get a good chance to talk with the boy; Quarte
monopolized most of the time sitting by his secret heart's
side while he stood at the board writing all the examples
and formulas.

Quarte shook his head from the side corner for the main
entrance watching silently as Wufei followed their student's
retreating form. Evilly, slyly creeping up on his prey,
nimble hands retracted in and out like claws seeing an
unguarded firm butt…

"Etai?!?!" Wufei yelped, clutching his molested buttocks
and then swirled to glare at Quarte.

The blonde boy just giggled to Wufei's dismay, hugging
his books to his chest, innocently. Stepping back a second,
Wufei did not like the evil grin on the so-called angel's face.
"You like him, don't you?"

"What?!?" Each syllable sputtering from his mouth as ebony
strands kept blowing in his face." "NO! No way!"

Walking innocently in front of his dark hared friend, one finger
poked Wufei delicately in the nose. "Youre bluuushing!
Don't bothering fibbing to me Wufei, it won't work."

Hands started flapping in the air like a duck franticly.
"I'm not lying!"

"So you like him!" Quarte shrugged, not really caring and
starting to walk beside him, keeping in step this time. "It's
okay, he's cute."

"I do not like him!!"

Quarte just ignored him, throwing a dubious look this way.

His arms crossed over his chest and Wufei just glared.
"You and Heero are driving me nuts with that!"

The tiniest giggled escaped again from Quarte from
the expression of his friend's face but then his cheeks
reddened slightly in embarrassment. "Really. It's okay to
like a guy, Wufei. Honestly, you had me worried with your
chauvinistic ways." Looking down at his watch, he sighed at
the time. It was still so early and his parents and older brother
were gone as usual discovering that fact from the messages
from the maid this morning. Back home, was an empty
house…an empty lonely house. He didn't want to go to
it or let Wufei know how depressed he really was.
"Well, it's almost two o'clock. I guess we'd better get home."

"Oh!" He stopped Quarte before he walked off. "I'm supposed
to be picking up a present at the mall today. I have no idea
what to get twins."

"Trust me." Quarte grumbled, "Nothing's the same. They
especially hate it when they have matching gifts. I have a
couple of cousins in another state that whine to my parents
all the time not to send identical stuff."

Wufei blinked a moment. "But they're newborns.
They wouldn't care."

Quarte just shrugged. "So…" Wufei paused, knowing
he needed help. "You wanna come?"

Shrugging delicate shoulders again and knowing he
didn't have anything better to do, Quarte nodded.
"Sure. I wanted to get some clothes anyway."

"Heeh…" Wufei snickered, "Yeah. Clothes…"

Quarte poked him in the gut playfully. "Perv! How about I drag
you to V-Secrets and pretend you're my cross
dressing boyfriend?!"

"What?!" If Wufei's eyes could get any wider…"I don't think
so! It's bad enough my parents know I'm bi."

The expression on Quarte's face from Wufei's admission
shocked the hell out of him. Both his parents were so busy
touring the world with their multibillion-dollar companies;
they were never around to notice his or his brother
preferences. It was like giving him everything he could have
ever wanted except the one thing that he did want, the thing
he craved more than anything; the love and affection a parent
felt for their child. "At least they're around to know." He
mumbled to himself quietly.

"What about you?" Wufei questioned innocently. "Zechs
and Trowa are always going at it like rabbits in the Yuy's
garage. Me and Heero love going there to tease them."

Hearing Heero's name, seem to brighten Quarte's mood.
"Well let's go then! On to Victoria Secrets!!" He yelled
with Wufei protesting from that last remark but Quarte
ignored him dragging him down the steps helplessly
towards their destination. Poor Wufei grumbled the
whole way helplessly under Quarte's grip, smiling in spite
of himself. "You are sick, you know that!!"

~***~

Duo arrived back home in record time. Taking his bike saved
him some money in carfare. He hadn't ridden his bike in a while
so it also gave him some much-needed exercise. The wheels
squeaked softly as he rode into his garage in the back of the
house. Before he even got a chance to get off he heard strange
sounds coming from the front of the house and cautiously rode
his ten-speed back around the front. That was when he saw his
brother coming out the front door along with his niece locking
up the house securely. "Niisan?!" He questioned in surprise.
"What?! What are you doing here? I thought you two were
at the zoo since this morning?"

Broad shoulders relaxed and his brother's blue eyes turned up
towards him smiling. "I received a business phone call this
morning. I had to modify some of the numbers and fax it over
to the office. Since rain was in the forecast, I decided to take
Marie to the mall."

Duo smirked at his niece who was playing with the game
boy he gave her for Christmas. He laughed at her antics
as she did a silly dance cheering her pikachu on. The mere
mention of shopping caused her to raise her head at her
father and uncle. Duo just blinked remembering he was
in great need of some stuff. "Oh! Great! I need a new pair
of sneakers from Foot Locker. They have a two for one
sale. I saw it in the paper Sunday." He pulled out his house
keys about to go back into the house when a thought
struck him. "Wait a sec. I have to go get my stash…"
He looked at his brother oddly, smiling devilishly.
"Unless…." Duo paused with the biggest smile possible
to fit on his face.

Treize already knew Duo wanted something. He had to
agree with Duo, the boy did need a lot of stuff especially
some new clothes. His baby brother only stood only five feet
six for someone at age seventeen and looked exactly like
their mother looked when she was alive. Thank goodness
he had a good enough job to provide for the three of them.
Feeling a slight tug at his heartstrings and pants, he looked
down locking eyes with his other trickster.

"Daddy!" Marie whine, beginning her turn in the shopping
mall game, "I want to get Pokemon gold!"

The two misfits continued their cutest "we want stuff" assault
at the older man. Trieze just shook his head and gave up
valiantly. "Alright. I'll buy!"

"Thank you, Bro!" Duo bounced up then, hugging his much
taller brother while Marie just hugged them both, loving
her crazy family.

~***~

Crossing his arms and pouting adorably, Quarte R. Winner
was annoyed. That was not a great feat. The drive over to
the Galaxian Mall was refreshing. The cool ride did the boys
good just commenting over the landscape, enjoying the autumn
breezes and dandelions floating on a mission of renewal.
Everything was fine when they entered the mall. There was
nothing like the smell of new stuff and buying was the perfect
pick-me-up when depressed especially topped off by a
banana split from Basken Robbins. Like most malls over
the planet, true ecstasy was sorting through multiple stores
spread across of a maze of concrete, glass and plastic searching
for stuff you didn't want or need but had to have. But as they
entered the majestic mall, Wufei remembered that he needed
some new sweats for his martial arts class. Now Quarte was
leaning in the sneaker section, standing by a rack of some
sort, sorting through various colors of t-shirts with the
oddest expression on his face.

"BOORRRRRRRING!!" The blonde teen groaned, nimble
fingers picking up another t-shirt and poking at it like it had
the plague. "Umm tell me again…Why are we here anyway?"

Wufei rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time since entering
the Foot Locker store with Quarte. He turned, seeing the
honor student making faces at the Adidas sweat socks
before moving on to something else to torment. It was bad
enough he totally forgot Heero was suppose to meet him here
after he finished babysitting. Relena had to do a quick errand
Heero had told him earlier that morning when they went
jogging and she would probably be back by the time his
tutoring session was over. Sighing over this new predicament,
he picked up a pair of silver gray Foot Locker brand pants
and stretching the material for elasticity. Quarte's continuous
whining caused him to speak out in anger. "Stop complaining
already! Those are Nikes at least!!"

"All jock stuff is gross!!! I mean c'mon…" he replied
pointing to a pair of odd looking sneakers, "Look at these
shoes!! UGGGLY!" He moved over to pick up another pair,
a pair of black and white Ascics track sneakers to make
his point.

Wufei just shook his head, continuing to ignore him. He
rubbed his forehead in pain while Quarte was thinking how
the fashion police needed to come for his dark hared friend
with a vengeance. "I must take you to the Gap or
Old Navy before we leave, Wufei."

"Oh brother." He was about to say something else when
he glanced up a second, spotting a familiar mess of brown hair.
"Hey…isn't that?" Blinking dark eyes again, he smiled when
he saw the head search around for something and he began
waving his hand trying to catch his brother-n-law's attention.
He knew that had to be Heero. "YO HEERO!!"

Heero who was outside in front of the store looking around,
stopped in his tracks upon hearing his name. He turned towards
the voice, smiled and waved his arm. "Yo! Fei!" But then he
spotted a certain blonde that had been on his mind since he
drove them from the hospital. The blonde teenager seemed
to be in trouble when he entered to store.

"AND FURTHERMORE…." Quarte ranted to the sales clerk,
"Anybody who wears theses shoes should be dragged into
the street and shot!"

The sale clerk just looked at the boy as if he was crazy.
Adjusting the collar of her referee uniform that was
standard for all Foot Locker employees, she simply replied,
"Ah sir…if you are not buying those…could you please put
the shoe down?"

Quarte blinked a couple of times and replied; "Uh yeah…"
noticing that everyone was looking at him. His face reddened
in embarrassment as this angel slowly put the shoe back
among his friends on the rack. But that was just the start
of his worries. Poor Quarte was ranting so much that he
didn't see Heero approaching from behind, nor the fact the
fact that his secret crush was wearing the same shoes that
he was complaining so adamantly about.

"Er…" the soft voice of Heero purred near his ear,
" You don't like these shoes, Quarte-san?"

A cold chill entered the room and entered Quarte's body.
His lithe form froze as rigid as the coldest day in December,
not believe he heard that voice. Taking a chance, needing to
see with his own eyes, he slowly turned staring right into the
confused face of his dream. "H-H-HEERO?!?!"

Wufei walked over then, holding on to two pairs of
sweatpants rather than one. "So! You did pop up!"

Heero simply shrugged. "Yeah! They just got back and
that idiot sister of mine drove me out the house. I don't
know why I always let her irritate me!"

"Because you let her." Wufei answered. "I'm glad I just
have Shin and with him married now…It gets
so boring at times."

While the two family members conversed, Quarte's face
was reddening with each thought that had transpired.
Because of his big mouth, he knew Heero had heard him
say all those terrible things. He couldn't help himself. The
words just flowed from his mouth, stumbling in a rush. He
was too embarrassed to even raise his head to look at Heero
and started backing up away from them. "Wufei, on second
thought, I have a lot of homework and I need it done by
tonight baaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!"

Wufei blinked watching Quarte zoom out the store, smoke
trailing down the mall corridors trying to get away. Looking
back at Heero, who was looking at Quarte's retreating back,
he shrugged and told his brother in law about the latest sale
on Adidas and Nike cross trainers.

~***~

Meanwhile Quarte was running so fast trying to not to
bump into anyone, he didn't see the small family approaching
him. He slammed right into the teenager. "OMPH!!"

"OMPH!!!"

"Er sorr…Quarte?"

Quarte rubbed his sore butt, looking up sheepishly about to
apologize to the person but was shocked by two violet hues
of his student. "UH?! OH DUO!!" He answered confused,
"Hi…Didn't see ya!!"

Duo smirked down, helping Quarte up. "Yeah. I could see!
It looks like you were being chased by a pack of mad dogs,
Quarte! What are you doing here?"

Tenseness disappeared magically as Quarte relaxed a little.
"Ah. Just shopping and you?"

Duo pointed to his brother who at the moment was being
tugged towards Kay bee Toy Stores. "That's my bro
and my niece."

"Well…" Quarte began, rolling his eyes for emphasis.
"I was shopping. Wufei dragged me to all the stores I
don't like though." He watched Duo smile, trying his best to
speed up the conversation. "And er…ah." A blush widened
on his cheeks when Heero's face displayed vividly in his mind.
"Um gotta go, see ya!" and off he ran.

All that remained in Quarte's stead was the smoke from
his soles. Duo stood in the middle area staring at Quarte's
back in confusion. "Weird." Shaking his head, he yelled
to Treize that he was going into Foot Locker for his
sneakers.

The blonde boy slowed to a stop when he reached the foot
court, plopping down quietly into a chair, depressed as hell.
"Damn. Stupid me! Can't do anything right. Heero
probably thinks I'm a total geek."

~***~

Wufei and Heero were still in Foot Locker sorting through
masses of sport shirts, underwear, jackets and denim jeans.
Teasing shortly began when Wufei questioned Heero of his
new sleeping arraignments.

"So Hee-chan…" Wufei teased, poking a finger into Heero's
shoulder, "How are the babies? I know you love staying
up with their crying?"

"Actually…they sleep through the night. Now the mother
is the problem. Lena looks like a wildebeest every morning!
It's funny as hell!!" Heero snickered, stretching a Karl Kani shirt.
"I can't wait until your brother gets that call about their
new house."

"Yeah right!" Wufei replied, himself checking out a jacket.

"Yeah…" Blushing from his confession, "The kids are
adorable. They can stay! LOL!"

It was at that response, Wufei spotted a familiar face; a face
he didn't expect to see until Monday. Blood pressure rose in a
matter of seconds and his face flushed to a golden bronze. The
object of his desire had just walked into his favorite store…
alone. Duo many not have noticed the boys but Heero just
stared at his brother in law curiously while the teenager hurried
turning around and starting to bury himself in mounds of clothing.

Wufei watched the supple form move from display to display
with such grace and elegance, his fingers softly caressing the
different styles of sneakers like he would a body. From his
hiding place, Wufei watched Duo compared sales prices,
the shade of the shoe against his skin and bending the sneaker
while checking the soles for durability. "He's just really girly
looking…" He thought to himself. "That's why he…makes me
feel so funny. Because he's so pretty…just like a girl."

"What are you doing?" Heero inquired, leaning against
the rack Wufei was hiding behind.

Onyx orbs blinked, looking very stupid for a sec before
Wufei finally responded back at his brother in law. "Uh?
Oh! Nothing. I don't see the other pants I need for the
tournament here. You want to go get a shake at the
food court?"

"Sure." Heero agreed, and the two boys walked one,
one more cautiously than the other. The whole time Wufei
blushed as he watched a Foot Locker assistant approach
Duo to help him with his selection.

As soon as they were safe enough distance from the
department store, Heero looked over to Wufei shaking his head.
"You are terrible, Fei. You just need to talk to him. I mean look
you are his tutor, for crist sake!"

"Just because I'm a tutor," he stubbornly replied, " doesn't mean
I have to talk to him." He grumbled as his hands slid into his back
pockets as they walked. "Jeez! You and Quarte both keep trying
to make me like someone! What make you both so sure Duo is
someone I like?!"

Wufei was then taken back by the smooth cobalt blue of
Heero's eyes. They glimmered with a knowledge even Wufei
was afraid of. A lone eyebrow rose, arching like the mountains
of a plain, all knowing secure and still. "Trust me. You talk in
your sleep, Wufei." Heero then snickered, "and I know my
name does not start with 'D'."

If the earth could have swallowed him, Wufei would be
standing in quick sand. Golden skin flushed beet red and he
glared at his brother in law in anger. But Heero just shrugged
not caring because he knew he spoke the truth where Wufei
was concerned. He didn't understand while his friend would
be so afraid to just confess your feelings. The look Wufei was
giving him was enough to freeze anyone in their tracks.
"Well you do!"

Wufei opened his mouth to reply but he thought about it
for a moment and ignored it totally when he spotted Quarte
sitting all alone in the food court. The blonde boy had
changed from his usual school uniform he had worn earlier
that day for the session into a pair of low riding baby blue
bell bottoms; A black Gap shirt with the words angel were
imprinted in the front. "He's still here?"

"Who's here?" Heero questioned. When Wufei didn't
answer and pointed instead, Heero followed the direction
of his hand aiming directly at the slim form of Quarte. Heero
blushed, grabbing Wufei's arm pulling him towards that area.
"Let's go over there." His eyes lingered over the sad boy.
Such a delicate face sipping on a drink of some sort and his
heart broke. He watched as Quarte had one knee drawn
up to his chest while the other leg just dangled, swaying
under the table back and forth in a beat only the owner
knew.

Wufei just smirked. "And now who's talking in their sleep, lover
boy?" Wufei replied slyly still walking, going around
people since it was a large food court.

The reddish hue of Heero's cheeks only grew deeper in color.
"At least I know I like someone. You won't even admit it."

Wufei ignored that, removing his arm from Heero's grip as
they walked over to their friend. He frowned at Heero while
plopping unsuspected next to Quarte. "Oi! Quat! I brought
your favorite Ken doll!"

Totally surprised, cola nearly spurted from the blond boy's
mouth as shock registered on his face. "I-I was just leaving!"
he stammered, his arms flapping up and down. "I just
called my butler to come pick me up!!"

Wufei just stared at the young Arabian wondering why the
heck he was lying when Quarte drove him to the mall?!?
Heero interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey. You look like you need a friend."

Wufei smirked, agreeing with Heero but not wanting to
blow up Quarte's spot. "Right. It's Jeeves day off."

Quarte groaned knowing that Wufei knew he was lying
but thankful he didn't tell his brother in law.

"Come on." Heero replied quietly. " You don't have to
leave. Come and hang with us."

Bubbles of aquamarine looked up into Prussian shyly.
"You don't mind?" He bowed his head in shame again.
"I didn't mean what I said." He replied apologetically for his
overacting. He didn't want Heero to believe he was a brat.
"Well I did mean about the style but not like that. It's
just I hate jock stores…"

Heero smiled. He didn't understand it but he didn't like
Quarte to ever be sad for anything. "It's okay, Quarte-san."
He replied, gently lifting Quarte's face by the chin to look
him in the eyes. "I don't mind at all. They're just sneakers.
I didn't really care about the style when my sister brought
them. Now all I'm worried about is getting those blankets
for the twins."

Smiling finally by Heero's gentle admission, he replied.
"So you want to go to the Gap? They have the cutest sale
of baby stuff this week? It was in the paper Wednesday."

A distinct melody vibrated in the air as both Quarte and
Heero stopped in their conversation and stared at Wufei
who was humming a familiar tune. "Quarte and Heero,
sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G---OW!!!"

Heero growled "Shut up!" while Quarte rubbed his fist,
lowering it from Wufei's head. "Honestly, Wufei! Grow up!!"
Quarte finished his soda, placing the empty can back on the
table. "At least I'd be honest enough with myself to kiss him!"

A golden finger pointed on Quarte's nose. "AH! HA! See!
You do like him!!!"

Two pairsof cheeks reddened and Quarte's eyes widened
in embarrassment. Wufei chuckled from the two, his smile
bigger that his head watching the interactions between his
friends, both of the teenagers blushing so cutely. "I'll see
you two later! Since Quarte going with you, Heero, I'll be
at the martial arts store. I've got some pants to buy."

But Wufei would never make it to his destination. Quarte
looked up, swearing he was hearing Duo's voice again and
this time he was right. He saw the boy laughing with his
family again. He watched hungrily as Duo giggled from his
older brother's ranting. Since he was a very good lip reader,
he could see it had something to do with a Kay Bee sale clerk
and his inability to help them find Marie's game. His eyes
followed the group as they entered the Foot Court area.
Smirking, he knew it was time to turn the tables on a certain
dark haired brat.

"And then," Treize grumbled, "She asked the clerk to define
the word 'ignoramus'. And when he couldn't he pointed at him.
I mean, Duo, the game was right there on the counter and
he still couldn't find it for her!!!"

"Duo?!" Quarte called, smiling over to the group as they
looked for a table.

Duo was still giggling but turned when he heard his name.
"Quarte-san?!?!"

"Yeah! I'm still here!!" Quarte giggled, waving his arms wildly
wanting Duo to come over to his table.

Duo maneuvered around the other patrons at tables, his hips
gracefully shifting ever so delicately as his brother and niece
followed behind.

"I changed…my mind." Aquamarine orbs glancing quickly
at Heero, who was on his right side talking to Wufei. Wufe
i had his back to Duo, leaning his elbow on the table, not
truly hearing Duo behind him because of the noise in the
food court. Quarte had to poke him to get his attention,
grinning like a imp with a smile swearing payback from
that teasing earlier.

Duo naively just smiled, dimples showing making his heart
shaped face appear younger than he already was. Only
when he was happy did he seem to have a glow around
him. "Hey Heero-san, Wufei-san…"

"OW!" Wufei yelled before his eyes widened in shock. He
just heard someone say his name with such a huskiness he
thought he was getting a hard on. If Quarte could have
wanted revenge, the look on Wufei's face was enough
blackmail to last a lifetime. He watched the ebony haired
lad freeze like a doe caught in headlights. Wufei slowly
turned, his throat dry as hell! "H-Hi!"

Smiling, enormous violet eyes blinked at Wufei. Wufei
couldn't breathe. Words stumbled from his mouth in a
jumbled mess! "W-What are you doing here?!?!"

Treize heard the boy speak to Duo, yet Duo just stared
at him a second longer than he should. "Duo, Aren't you
going to introduce us?"

Shaking his head out of his staring session, Duo blushed
sheepishly. "Oh!! I'm so rude!!" Turning to his brother,
he pointed to each of the boys as he introduced them one
by one. "Nissan…this is Quarte Winner, Heero Yuy and
this…" he paused wanting his Niisan to recognize the boy's
by face, "this Chang Wufei. You know…Xi-Shin's younger
brother? The one he's always talking about?"

Quarte leaned over a sec and a little breeze fluttered by
Wufei's ear. "You're can dooooo it, Fei-chan!"

Wufei gurgled, shutting his eyes to calm down, his eyes
moving slightly to the side to glare at Quarte. He then saw
the tall man with the bronze colored hair and piercing blue
eyes. Wufei had to blink at the colors in Treize's hair: red,
gold and brown. It seemed that Duo's was almost the same
color just a little darker than his brother. He saw the older
man extending his right hand in respect.

"Nice to finally meet you, Wufei." Treize replied smiling at
the younger boy. The lad did look exactly like his older
brother. Treize couldn't help but admire Mr. Chang, yet
out of respect for his marriage and his preferences and
would never acknowledge this fact.

Speaking shyly, Wufei replied "Hai" and grabbed Trieze's
hand a friendly yet firm handshake.

"Shin is funny!" Duo giggled, looking from Wufei and
then his brother. "They do look alike, right Niisan.
I told you so!" Trieze nodded in agreement, highly
impressed.

Wufei just blushed internally amazed that Duo was
talking about him to his older brother. It seemed like
a dream but the facts were before him. He smiled to
camouflage his thoughts. "Till you are the butt of his
jokes," he replied muttering under his breath after
several years of suffering from the bunt of his older
brother's antics.

Heero snickered already knowing the thoughts running in
Wufei's head. It was then he told Trieze that Xi-Shin was
married to his sister, Relena.

Duo looked back stuttering in shock and surprise.
"Xi-Shin's married to your sister? I always thought you
were cousins?!?!"

"Naah…" Heero explained, "We've been friends since birth
so naturally we think of each other as family. We told
everyone we were cousins not be to bothered. Now we
are related."

"Wow!" Duo gasped, "So you two are the proud uncles
of twins! That must be so cool! Shin said it was the first
in the family."

"Yeah!" That was the only good thing his sister had done:
falling for Wufei's brother. Having the twins in the house
was a dream come true. He would always go in the
room to check up on the two and kiss them good night
every night. Smiling and his eyes slowly glancing at
Wufei, he secretly wished to have his own set some
day with a certain blonde.

"So. What's going on, guys?" Duo asked curiously.

"Well…" Quarte answered seeing Wufei about to open
his big mouth. "Wufei is shopping for a security blanket."
He ignored the glare he was receiving from Fei, giggling
at the over reacting youth. "He can't sleep without one!"

Muscular arms and spilling hair frantically waved in denial
swearing justice on Quarte when this was over. "NO! NO!
Don't listen to him!! Heero and I are buying one for the twins!!"

"You wanna go with us, Duo?" Quarte asked, having a hidden
agenda. "These two jocks couldn't tell a baby blanket from a
jock strap!" He stuck out his tongue at Wufei and ran
behind Heero for protection.

"I can too!" Wufei growled! Treize just smirked from
the comedy. The interaction between these boys seemed to
be the right type of medicine his younger brother needed.

"So you do have a baby blanket?" Quarte questioned over
Heero's shoulder.

Duo looked on in confusion. "Baby blanket? OH!" He yelled
in understanding. "I'm great at getting gifts…especially
baby stuff. They have half price sale at the Gap
that was in the paper."

Clapping his hands, Quarte stepped from behind Heero
and walked directly to Duo. His eyes sparked, happil
y finding someone who had good taste. He took his
arm, giggling at having a comrade against the other two.
"Good! You help me pick out Wufei's Christmas
presents later on in the year then!!"

Gawking, Wufei watched speechless as the two
walked off down the aisle. "When then that boy
become such a tease?!??"

Thinking just like his cousin, Heero just shook his head
smirking. "Let's just follow, Fei." But before he walked
off, he turned making sure he excused himself properly
in front of Treize. "It was nice meeting you, sir," he
replied, taking Treize's hand to shake.

Quarte was still pulling Duo down the hall but he waved
bye to his brother. Treize then started laughing at the
departing boys. Marie finally looked up from her Game
boy, smiling. "I'm so proud of him. I got tired of their
nerds hanging around him."

Trieze looked down at his only daughter confused. "Eh?!"

Marie just giggled, more knowledgeable than everyone
thought she was. "Yup, Daddy! Duo is in good hands
with those guys. Especially that Wufei boy!"

"I hope so." Trieze replied, still a little worried. A tiny
hand patted him on the back as he stared a face so
much like his deceased wife.

"Trust me, Daddy. Just trust me."

TBC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author notes: Finally it done!! Goodness! I thought I would
never get this chapter done!! It would have been done
sooner if not for RL and the fact the direction of the story
to be worked on a little. I don't want to leave too many
gaps so you guys don't understand what's going on here.
Hope you enjoyed it! And I started the next chapter
already!! YIPPEE!! I'm on a roll!!

Duo: I'm just waiting to get with Fei-baby
Wufei: BLUSH!! Damn you sure change from passive
to aggressive!
Quarte: I taught him everything he knows!!
Heero: Hn *grabbing Quarte's hand just to make the blonde blush!*

~~onto Chapter 5~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
comments so far? e-mail Sparky @ either:
Sparkysama4662@aol.com or dreamerisle@hotmail.com

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