Trowalina:
Part Two
By: Kitty E.
Late one night, when the moon was full, and dogwoods had just come
into bloom, Trowalina stood on the windowsill quietly dusting. He
heard a slight rustle coming through the trees and looked up. A
bobbing ball of light was floating through the garden, slowly making
its way over to the window. He strained to see what this mysterious
light was, but he could see no definite shape. The little light grew
in size until it was almost as large as he.
Trowalina blinked several times, barely believing his eyes as the
glow faded to reveal a boy about his size. The soft illumination
seemed to come from his elegant wings, which were rather like a
dragonfly's, colored black and green. The boy himself was quite
handsome with brooding blue eyes, and a mop of dark hair from which
sprouted two golden antennae. He wore a green tunic, and a pair of
black tights which left *nothing* to the imagination. They stared at
each other for quite some time, both unaccustomed to making the first
move in conversations.
"Some time ago, did your mother not receive a gift from the Fairy
Queen that would allow her to have a daughter who would someday
become my bride?" Heero finally said, speaking as though reading from
a report.
"Hai," Trowalina replied simply.
"Well, where is she?" he asked gruffly.
Trowalina pointed one slender finger over towards the garden. Heero
followed it to a large rosebush underneath which was a tiny
tombstone.
"So there's only you?" Prince Heero asked. Trowalina nodded. "Well,
that doesn't really ma-" he began, but he was cut off by a high
pitched cry.
"Heeeeeero, don't!"
Another ball of light appeared, fluttering quickly over to where
Heero stood. As before, the light died down to reveal another fairy,
this one a girl with long, wheat colored hair, and a serious face.
She wore a fine blue gown to compliment her eyes, and kept fingering
a tear at the hem as though it were of some importance to her. Her
pink butterfly wings flitted constantly as she pleaded her case.
"You know I'm the one for you, Heero, not some stranger," she said,
gesturing rather disdainfully at Trowalina who was leaning against
his broom and watching amusedly.
"Relena, we've had-" Heero began, but was once again interrupted by
the sound of his name.
"Heeeero!" A third fairy appeared from nowhere, tackling the prince
from behind. This boy was just as beautiful as the other two, with a
long, ever undulating braid, bright violet eyes and dramatic black
wings. "It's not very nice to ditch your fiancee, you know."
"Where did you come from, Duo Maxwell?" Relena asked, clearly
dismayed. She grabbed the boy by the braid, and pulled him off her
Heero.
"I am Shinigami, I came from hell," he said, snatching back his
braid before his pink-winged opponent got any other ideas. He proudly
smoothed over his black tunic, fluffing out the riding pants which
had collapsed in when he'd tackled Heero.
"You are not Shinigami!" she insisted. "And you are not his fiancee.
I am."
"Neither of you are! He is!" Heero suddenly exclaimed. Brooding eyes
were now practically glowering.
Relena and Duo snapped their heads over to look at Trowa, who
shrugged elegantly. He shifted under the gleam in their eyes, and
suddenly felt it was in his best interest to explain himself,
"Technically, I am not. Heero's betrothed was the late Thumbalina."
Heero looked a little disappointed, then a little frightened as the
two love struck fairies returned their gaze to him.
"You still have to decide between Duo and myself, Heero." Relena
said sensibly, crossing her arms, and doing her best to look stern.
Heero first looked as though he might become violent, and then
suddenly as though he might cry. "Omae o korosu," he said weakly,
hoping to scare at least one of them away.
"Which one of us?" Duo asked, exasperation clear in his voice
despite his smirk.
Heero opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. Turning on his heel,
he took off like a comet, shining wings a mere streak in the dark.
"We had better find him before he tries to self-destruct," Duo said
with a sigh.
"You mean run into a tree again?" Relena asked tiredly.
"Yeah." The two were off with a flutter of fine glowing wings,
without a word to the Trowalina who watched them leave through the
white dogwood blossoms. It was then he saw yet another light, barely
hidden beneath the Azaleas.
"Hello?" he asked, none too fond of being spied on.
"Oh!" cried a voice as sweet as an angel's. For a moment it looked
as though he might flee but he soon called back, "Hello. Gomen. I
didn't mean to spy." The little ball of light began to float over to
the window sill.
"If you're looking for Heero, he's gone," Trowalina called back.
The fairy laughed as he landed light as air up the windowsill. "Iie,
I'm not one his suitors. I'm his brother, Quatre."
Trowalina could think of no response, utterly mesmerized by this new
visitor. He wasn't any more beautiful than the others, but for some
reason his heart was thumping noisily against his chest. Quatre had
dragonfly wings like Heero's, with a swirled pattern in pink and
violet, and golden antennae hanging low into his eyes like his
platinum bangs. Though the glow from his fluttering wings was gone, a
light still seemed to shine from his thoughtful turquoise eyes. He
was dressed finely but simply in a shirt and vest that matched his
wings, and khakis.
"I'm sorry Heero was so rude," he said when Trowa failed to say
anything for quite some time. "But he's been under a lot of stress
trying to figure out exactly who he's going to marry in a year. When
he was born my father betrothed him to his dearest friends' adopted
son, Duo, unaware that his wife had already betrothed him to Relena.
Then, the fairies of the Far East demanded that Heero marry their
first born, Wufei, to seal our alliance, but we *won't* go into that,
*especially* since my father, King Treize, has taken more interest in
the eastern prince than Heero. Anyway, my mother thought perhaps she
could solve the problem with a new contract, namely the one with your
mother. However, it seems even that fell through," he paused to take
a breath.
"Who will he marry now?" Trowalina asked to fill in the silence.
"I suppose he'll have to face up and make a choice," Quatre said
with a shrug.
"Why hasn't he already?" he asked for the sake of conversation, and
surprisingly because he found he didn't really want this pleasant
fairy to go.
Quatre scratched his head, and shrugged again, "Well, I suppose it's
because he's a soldier through and through. He's got three different
orders and no idea which to follow. It's driving him to madness."
"Is there such a fuss over who you shall marry?" Trowa asked, trying
to seem uninterested, but failing miserably.
Quatre shook his head sadly. "My mother and father have had no time
to even *consider* who I would marry. That and they don't exactly
approve of my choice of lifestyle."
"Lifestyle?" Trowalina asked.
"Hai, all male fairies are expected to become soldiers to protect
against the Rather Unpleasant Grasshopper People in the neighboring
kingdom. However, I don't want to fight, I'm a musician."
"Oh, I see. I thought you meant you liked boys."
"That too." He flashed a smile and was rather pleased at
Trowalina's shy reaction. "Only it's not such a problem since fairies
reproduce magically. You know, your mother's debt must still be
repaid �" Quatre said, the beginnings of a very attractive idea
forming in his mind.
"True," Trowalina replied, wondering what could be done about that.
He wished no ill will towards the old woman, despite the long winded
stories, the endless barrage of impossible chores, and most recently
her sudden fixation on seeing him in a dress.
"And I still need a fiancee," Quatre said taking a step forward.
"Indeed." The tiny hint of hope in Trowalina's voice was almost
indiscernible, but thankfully fairies have very sharp ears.
Quatre's wings flitted happily, casting a faint glow over his
features. "It seems to me there might be a singular solution to both
our problems."
"Ah," Trowalina said, trying to sound noncommittal, but Quatre's
acute hearing caught the enthusiasm.
"You could say," he said with a shy smile, as he began to advance,
"That we have no other alternative but to ... marry each other."
Trowalina was speechless but an ever so subtle smile played on his
lips. Good thing fairies have remarkable eyesight as well. Quatre
laughed, and launched himself at Trowalina to steal a kiss. Trowalina
turned pink, then red, and finally light shade of blue before Quatre
released him, breaking the kiss and somehow managing an innocent
smile.
"Well, that was ... quite lovely. While you're recovering I'll go ask
my parents if they approve, all right?"
Trowalina nodded, trying to catch his breath, and to stop blushing,
but it was ever so hard trying to look unaffected after that kiss.
Quatre soon returned, but alas, all was not well.
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Part Three