Waltz of the Moon

By: Quatre Raberba Winner (Quatre-Chan/Onna-Quatre)

Disc 4

WuFei shut his eyes in defeat. He's right… He thought. He heard Chi's footsteps echoing in the distance.

"Don't listen to that windbag! Love does exist."

"How can you say that when you cheated on the person you cared for?"

"Because I still love him. Chi's wrong, I can feel it. Merin is somewhere on the planet. And after witnessing everything your father had pulled to sleep with a woman, I know you know that what Chi said about women only having one purpose is wrong. You refuse to be anything like your dad and the first step you took was falling for your wife."

"Yeah… but being that bastard's son everyone has high expectations of me." he opened his eyes, raised his right hand into the air then stared at the cursed ring on his finger, "But which am I? A man or a summoner?"

"You're a boy who was forced to grow up by falling in love with a girl you were forced to marry. But only a few years before that you were thrown on a path that you certainly didn't want to follow. The path of a summoner. In my opinion you're a man and I'm sure your wife would agree with me."

"I'm not so sure…"

~~~

With everything going before their unseeing eyes, Heero's party walked a fairly good distance. The town of Para now far behind them and now their goal ahead, they were going to stop at nothing to retrieve their friend and show Chi a thing or two in the process. That was until Quatre stopped his movement and placed his arms around himself.

The area they had entered seemed to be that of a ruined village. The sky was an extremely dark gray and thunder sounded off into the hills. All the buildings had been torched to the ground; some of the ruble still held the corpses of the residents and or travelers.

"Not again…" the blond choked as he plopped onto his knees.

"Quatre," the longhaired mage neared his friend, kneeling before him he held out his left hand, "we're all here, it's going to be okay. Is it the same feeling that you had when we were near Para?"

"Uh-huh."

Rustle Creak Crunch

"Heero, did you hear that?" the lancer questioned while turning his gaze every way possible.

"Hn…" the paladin too glanced around, but at a much slower pace than that of his companion.

Groan

"There!" Heero pointed to a piece of moving wood that once was a building of some kind.

The groaning became more simultaneous as 20 zombies came out of the ruins. Heero and Trowa took a fighting stance a few inches away from their loved ones.

"Duo," the green-eyed lancer spoke in a very serious manner, "protect my husband."

"I'll guard him with my life."

Duo stayed by his king's side, but started to cast a small spell. A tiny orb of fire was lit between his hands, seeing his lover and Trowa were still directly in front of him he decided to hold his action.

One of the zombies lifted a sharp piece of wood that had broken off of one of the near by buildings and threw it at the paladin, but the white knight dodges it without any effort. A large group, which held half of the army, stood in an odd formation that appeared to be almost the shape of a skull. Then a large force of dark energy shot out at the four boys.

Trowa moved nimbly out of harms way then witnessed the rest of his friends get engulfed into the shadows. The lancer sighed in relief when a small fireball flew out from the darkness and made contact with one of the living dead, setting it in a blaze.

The other zombies joined the others in the formation, which started to give off an eerie red and gray light. Looking over his shoulder the emerald-eyed boy made sure that his friends were okay before he jumped into the air, vanishing from everyone's sight.

Heero, taking the advantage that Duo gave him, loaded his gun with fire elemental ammo. Taking a breath he aimed carefully then fired at the one straight ahead of him. Making direct contact the zombie was once again set into flames.

The lancer came back into view from his hiding spot in the darkened sky and plunged his spear right through the walking piece of rotting flesh.

The black mage took his eyes off the combat to look at the desert king. As the violet-eyed boy feared, it was the exact same thing as the woods near Para. Duo took the shaking teen into his arms, shielding him from the battle.

The majority of the zombies were still up with the light that surrounded them getting brighter and brighter. The light around them turned into a large amount of energy as they hurled towards the party.

Seeing that they had no where to run, Heero and Trowa shielded their life-partners, hoping it would lessen their pain. To their surprise they felt nothing. The paladin slowly turned around and saw someone in black and purple armor, the boot of its right leg went up to its thigh, where as the one on the other foot only went as far as the ankle. And in its hands was a red staff.

Following his leader's example, the dragoon turned his attention to the right of him, where he saw a flash of silver that was in the shape of a crescent moon, that also seemed to be attached to a chain. With that one single blow it destroyed ten of the enemies, one right after another.

"Now calm down… your souls will be set free at last…" a voice murmured on the wind as the final set of zombies were ignited into flames.

Once all the once people were gone, the person in front of them moved away to join the other two that had been there. Trowa went to his husband's side, taking Duo's place, while Heero and Duo caught a glimpse of their saviors.

Getting a good look at the person now, the one that had stood guard in front of them was female and was vaguely familiar to the Prussian eyed paladin. The next one that caught their attention was a woman with long red hair, a red coat and black shorts and boots. The two of them glanced at each other in confusion, for it was another familiar face. The last of the trio was another female. Her purple hair was free from any kind of bond, she was wearing a strapless one piece blue suit that stopped just above her knees, an aqua cloth was tied around her slender waist, her hands were covered by the long black cloves and she wore white shoes that were as white the snow they had been walking in.

Duo rubbed his eyes to make sure what he was seeing was actually there. When none of them vanished he grinned, then ran at full speed over towards them, "Mura!"

At the call of her name, Mura turned her gaze, but before she had any time to react the black mage had tackled her to the ground. "Nice to see you too, Duo."

"I can't believe it! You're alive! You're really here! You're not dead!!!!!"

"Yes, I am."

"What?" he removed himself from the position he was in, "You're right here. How can you be dead?"

"I lost my life, but was restored when I reached heaven. My mission was not yet completed and Lord Kamui gave me another chance to complete my task. However I am happy that I got to see you again." She stood from the spot where she laid.

"Not to sound inconsiderate of this joyous reunion, but I suggest we set camp in the woods to the east before we get attacked again." That came from Ruby, who then caught sight of the quivering mage in the lancer's arms, "Don't worry Quatre, we'll take you away from here, then you won't feel the astral plain anymore."

With little argument from the boys and her two companions, the Phoenix led the way into the woods. Avoiding conflict at any cost, they managed to reach a clearing. Trowa stayed by his husband's side, making sure that the blond would calm down. Mura had started a fire and pitched the tents, the girl in the armor sat next to the fire with her staff still drawn and a dazed look in her in eyes.

The chestnut haired boy decided to drag his koi off to explore that's when they found a picture perfect place for a little alone time. There was a small lake in the center, the moon and stars reflection was shown in the ripples. Duo couldn't take his eyes off of the scene even when he moved closer to the white knight.

Heero placed his arm lovingly around the other boy, carefully pulling him down to sit on the lightly snow covered ground. This is the kind of thing I wanted after we brought you back. I didn't want to fight again, all I wanted was to hold you like this and never let go…

"Isn't this beautiful, Heero? The moon shines a lot brighter here than it did in Para, plus the stars seem to have more of a mystifying aura on them. It's breathtaking…"

"Yeah."

"I'm glad to see that you guys can appreciate something so simple."

The two boys turned quickly to the right of them and revealed the firebird. "Ruby." Duo stated, acknowledging her presence then turned back to the scenery.

Ruby removed herself from the background and approached the couple, her arms crossed over her chest. The gleam in her red eyes seemed to be very angry. "After all this time you're finally coming back, but I wonder what your husband will do to you…"

"Who are you talking to? Heero and I aren't even married… well not YET anyway."

"To the moon. I was talking to its master, Yueh."

"I heard of that story." The paladin spoke with his eyes glued to the redhead, "It said that the Lord of the Moon was sent to the planet to create moonlight, then he fell in love with a mortal woman."

"Not quite. Yes we did send him here, but he fell in love with a summoner of the Chang family." At that moment her eyes flared up, but she resisted the urge to do anything violent.

"He fell in love with someone in WuFei's family? No wonder he's so screwed up."

"You have no idea, Duo. Yueh is inside WuFei that's why I have been sent here with Muru and Merin to retrieve him."

"So that was Merin." This came from Heero.

"Yes, if you hadn't noticed the two I have brought here have a mark known as the Mark of Heaven, a magenta, seven pointed star. With that mark they are able to freely walk between the lower region and heaven."

"Wait, back up a sec." The black mage took his violet eyes off of the sky and turned them on Ruby, "You said, 'Muru', but you meant Mura, right?"

"No, I mean Muru, the Master of the Stars, Yueh's husband."

"What?! You mean my sister is my brother?!"

"Yes and no. I shall offer an explanation if you so desire."

"I would like to understand this whole mess."

"Very well."

*Flashback*

Time passed in heaven and the more it did the more the day that the moon lord left was behind them. Then the more apparent it was to Muru that his love wasn't going to come back. Ruby being the closest to the couple took it upon her self to try and comfort her friend.

She knocked on door of their home, but was greeted by silence. That greeting continued until she opened the door. "Muru?" opening the door all the way, her red eyes landed on the mess that was spreading all the way into the living room. Books and other trinkets covered the floor. Trying to avoid stepping on it she made her way into the living room and saw the young man in questioned curled up in the corner. "What happened?"

"Leave…"

"Muru, what happened here?"

"Yueh left and I shouldn't have to see anyone, so go."

"Yueh left to go on a mission. Don't worry, everything will turn out for the better. Believe me, he'll be back in your arms before you know it." Cautiously she neared him and placed a hand on his head, "You know he wouldn't want you to worry and I'm 99% sure that he promised to come back to you."

"Yeah… he did."

"Then you shouldn't doubt his words, you leave that to me." she gave a small, joking smile.

"You're right." He rose from his spot and wiped his tears away, "I shouldn't second guess his sincerity and neither should you."

"Hm? What's this? You're now saying that I shouldn't? Listen Muru, Yueh is a VERY strange man, I am happy for you and him, but there is a part of me that doesn't want to trust in him."

"Why?"

"He refuses to do a lot of the things that Kamui commands him to do and that concerns me when it comes to you. Yueh seems to be very dedicated to his work, but when he ignores or disobeys Kamui, I just feel that he may do the same to you."

"You're making me depressed again."

"I'm sorry, that's just my incoherent ramble, please ignore it. I'm positive that he'll return."

"Ruby, I leave this to you…"

*End Flashback*

"Man…" Duo couldn't believe his ears.

"I was the one that trapped Yueh on this planet."

"But aren't you his friend?"

"Yes or I was until he pulled that stunt. I used to find it amusing when he disobeyed Kamui just because he was a newly wed. I found it cute that he wanted to spend time with Muru. But later on… he still paid more attention to Muruka than his job or he was just no longer interested in his namesake. If he did lose interest I feared that he would have gotten board with Muru."

"Wait, I'm confused. Do you think that he did that on purpose?"

"Yes. I tried being there for Muruka, but what could I do? He wanted his husband and there was no way of knowing when he would return then Kamui gave me that little tidbit of info. Now I carry this huge burden on my shoulders, all because of Yueh…" her voice had gone back to being cold and seemingly violent.

"I wish you wouldn't speak ill of Yueh like that." Mura stated as she approached to join in the conversation.

"I guess the cats out the bag now."

"Ruby, I've known for quite sometime. Celestia was the one that told me."

"What?! And Kamui told me not to say anything…"

"I asked her to tell me anything that she knew. I think she may have had a feeling that I was going to request the rebirth. But even if she hadn't said anything I would have done this anyway." She took a few more steps so she was directly in front of the Phoenix, "In all truth Ruby, do you hate Yueh?"

"Yes."

"Then you hate me as well." After that statement the purple haired female turned her back to the small group, "If there's one thing I can't stand it's feeling abandoned or unloved. You have just done both, for that I can no longer trust you…" she walked off.

Heero stood from the ground, while watching his childhood friend's retreating body. "Ruby" he turned to face her. Shock played on his face as he witnessed the tears that formed in the fire bird's eyes, "you don't hate him, do you?"

She shook her head, "I thought I did. For a long time I believed that was the truth. After going through the rebirth I began to feel that loneliness. Yueh and Muru were really my only friends, the people I could confine in when I had to."

"Then why did you tell her that you hated her…. His husband?" that came from Duo, who had decided now was a good time to get involved.

"A part of me still does, the part that blames myself for sending the flame of life. I guess… I hate myself. I do more so now seeing that I lost Muru too."

"You haven't lost him."

"Duo?"

"He's right. I thought I had lost him forever, twice in fact. But somehow he managed to come back into my life. If you tell Muru the truth-"

"Heero, I said I hated Yueh. Muru has been very protective of his life-mate since they had met. He will never forgive me…"

"Sure he will." The violet-eyed boy piped up and grinned, "After all, weren't you the one that ordered the search for Yueh?"

"How- how did you know that?"

"It's written all over your face. We all used to wear emotional masks, yours was trying to seem angry when you're really worried or sad. You felt guilty for trapping Yueh on the planet so now you're trying to make up for it."

She wiped away her tears then gave a small nod, "You're good Duo."

"What are you waiting for? Go apologize."

Snap Thud

The three turned towards the camp and noticed a twitching Mura on the ground right next to a tree. Ruby broke away from the two boys to assist her friend. "Are you okay?"

The blue-eyed girl sat up, giving the Phoenix a small smile, "I am now."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize how much I was hurting you by being mad at Yueh."

"No worries. We're going after him now, that's all that counts. Though…"

"Though?"

"If I died why did Kamui tell you to restore me to this body and not my rightful one?"

"Because I told him I wanted to help the boys in finding WuFei. If I brought you as Mura it would give these guys the happiness that it seemed they had lost with a quick glimpse."

"And her?" she turned her attention the camp, her eyes landing on the soulless fighter.

"She's going after the same thing you are."

Merin stared at the fire in some sort of trance. Though she was soulless she still had a mind. This fire reminds me of long ago…

*Flashback*

The female summoner stood on an edge of a cliff that was a couple miles away from the village of Irrishi. Her husband sat behind her with a book in his hands.

"Damn it! Why won't you obey me?!" Merin hollered, jumping up and down out of frustration.

WuFei caught a glimpse of his wife's efforts, but didn't totally divert his attention away from his reading material. "You can't scream at it."

"Shut up! You're only here with me because the elder ordered you to follow me!"

"Have it your way, but with that attitude you'll never be able to summon an insect let alone an elemental spirit." He stated mater-o-factly.

"What do you know?" she muttered, turning her back to her forced life-mate.

"A lot more than you do and the elder never lets me forget it."

"I don't care if your father was KaiRyu, I will surpass his greatness and become a full summoner."

"Good, then everyone will leave me alone."

Rumble

"What as that?" the girl questioned, but was soon rewarded with her answer as the edge that she was standing on broke away from the rest of the mountain.

"Merin!" the raven-haired summoner sprung to his feet and peered over the new ledge. Not seeing anything he carefully climbed down. At the third ledge from the top he spotted his wife sitting down with her hand over her ankle. "You okay?"

"No!"

"Jeez, bite my head off…" he landed next to her then knelt down to examine her ankle. "Could you move your hand?"

"Why? I'm fine, you don't need to stay here."

"Just a second ago you said you weren't fine."

"I said I wasn't okay. There's a difference." She turned away from him.

"Whatever…" he moved closer.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Helping a foolish woman." He lifted her into his arms and carried her into a small cavern that was located right behind them. He set her down on the ground gently. "Don't move." He ordered then started a small fire. After that task was finished he started for the exit.

"Where are you going? Are deserting me in a place like this?!"

"Isn't that what you wanted?" he was teasing, but when he turned to face her he saw an expression that played on her features that he thought he'd never witness from her. Fear. "Don't worry I'll be back. I'm just going to the forest below to find some healing herbs for your ankle." He turned his back and left.

"Hurry back…"

"Then follow me."

*End Flashback*

I still don't understand. Why? What am I to everyone? Why did you go out of your way for me? WuFei, I'm coming for you… She moved her hand down the top piece of her armor and pulled out the necklace and just stared at it.

Now access Disc 4 Epilogue…