Lightening the Shadows

A/N: sorry it took me so long! don\'t worry. part 11 is already done and as soon as it\'s beta-ed then it\'ll be up too!! every thing around here is all done so there should be no more delays. happy reading! and... thanks to all who reviewed. =)=)

Part Ten


The grass outside was cool. Wufei lay back and stared up at the clear
sky. He had to fight hard not to look over at Zechs. The blond hadn’t
taken his eyes off of Wufei since they’d left the castle. Truthfully
it waartiarting to make him very uncomfortable.

He sighed in irritation. He’d wanted to ask Quatre why Zechs had
wanted him but the older man had never been more than a few feet from
him since they’d left the castle. Unable to stop himself any longer,
he darted a quick glance to his left and met ice blue eyes.

Zechs had been unable to take his eyes off his son since he’d first
seen him. At first glance he’d seen nothing of himself in Wufei, but
as he had the chance to study him longer he’d noticed little things
about the boy that were him remade. The tilt of his head when he was
curious, and the way that he moved. These were just small things but
they made Zechs feel closer to his son. He smiled gently. Finally
after all these years, he had Wufei back. And he was never
giving him up again. Not even to Shinigami.

“Those are dangerous thoughts, koishii.” Treize said softly. “You
must be careful of our lord. He is dangerous, especially when
protecting something that is his.”

Zechs’s eyes glinted. “Wufei is not his!” He cried.

Four sets of eyes, three blue, one black, focused on him in surprise.

Zechs composed himself. “Gomen. Inside conversation.”

The three younger boys nodded though black eyes remained locked onto
Zechs. Yes. This man definitely made him nervous. Quickly coming to
a decision, Wufei stood and held a hand out to Quatre. “I’m going to
the edge of the trees. Would you care to join me?” It was time for
some answers.

Heero made to rise with his lover and Quatre waved him back down.
“Stay Heero. It will be alright.” The little blonde smiled. “We’re
not going far. Besides, one Shadow Lord should be enough, ne?”

Grudgingly Heero nodded his assent. He settled back down onto the
blanket and tried his best to tune out the hushed conversation going on
not far from him.

*****

From the edge of thees ses someone watched the two boys walk closer.
Quietly the person waited. When Wufei and Quatre passed their hiding
place they pounced.

Wufei screamed when he felt unfamiliar arms encircle his waist. His
terrified scream turned into a gasp when he felt something sharp slide
over his throat just beneath his collar. With every ounce of control
he possessed he stilled his instinctive urge to struggle.

Quatre turned quickly when Wufei screamed. He carefully sized up the
attacker. The man was dirty and looked malnourished. The hand holding
the dirty knife against Wufei’s throat shook slightly and Quatre waited
fearfully for it to slice into unprotected skin. He mentally called
out to his lover.

*****

*Heero!*

The boy jerked and instantly went from relaxing on the ground to
standing at near attention. He swiftly scanned his surroundings.
Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he sent a careful call back.
*What is it Qu?*
?*

*There is a man. He has Wufei--*

Cobalt eyes widened then narrowed. *I’ll be right there.* “Kuso!” he
commented aloud.

Three Shadow Lords ran toward the sound of Quatre’s mental cries for
help.

When they were close enough to see clearly what was happening, Zechs
and Heero both leapt for the man holding the knife to Wufei’s throat.

The man looked up, terrified by the melee playing out with him as the
star. His arm jerked reflexively. The rusted knife pushed harder into
Wufei’s skin and the boy whimpered when he felt warm blood trickle down
his flesh.

Zechs saw nothing more than the red of his son’s blood. Power swirled
around him like dark fire and he growled. Ice blue blazed to red and
he attacked.

Wufei felt himself jerked hard, and then he was flying toward Quatre
who caught him easily. The blond quickly ran his fingers over the
shallow cut and Wufei felt a tingling burn flow out from injuinjury.

“What did you do?” He asked wonderingly.

“It’s healed.” He glanced over to where Zechs was busy blasting the
man apart and his expression turned mildly ill. “Perhaps we should
stop him?”

Just as Wufei began to turn to see what his friend was talking about,
steely fingers wrapped around his upper arms and shook him. Though it
was hard for him to focus through the constant movement, he was able to
make out flinty cobalt eyes boring into his.s eys eyes narrowed on
Heero’s lips. Was he saying something?

Heero was furious. No, he was more than furious. He was frightened,
and he found quickly that he hated that feeling. “Why didn’t you
activate the collar? It would have protected you, fool!”

A frigid voice cut through his angry outburst. “Heero. Stop.”

Heero took one look at Zechs’s angry face and immediately dropped
Wufei’s arms. The last thing he wanted was an angry parent after
him. He sighed. “Come on Wufei.” He continued in a milder
tone. “Let’s get you back home.”

The blond Lord leveled him with a harsh glare and gently picked up his
son. Wufei started to protest that he could walk perfectly well but
one look at the other’s grim face convinced him that he should perhaps
keep his mouth shut and let him do as he wished.

After just a few swaying moments of being cradled in the blonde’s arms,
Wufei amazingly fell asleep. Zechs just gazewn awn at his exhausted
son with a tender smile.

*****

“It didn’t work.”

The hooded figure glared at Chang. “I really don’t care. My informant
didn’t tell me that there were four Shadow Lords with the brat.”

“I don’t care what it takes or who is there. Just kill that little
bastard.” Maru snarled.

*I’ll kill him, Chang. And after that I’m coming after you.* The
figure nodded to Chang and rose silently. Just as the person started
to turn away, Maru spoke again.

“Don’t disappoint me any more than you already have, Meiran.”