“Are you ready yet?” Duo called.

“Yes, please hold on,” came Quatre’s faint voice from within his room. Heero, Wufei, and Duo waited impatiently outside his door, dressed in their shorts and tacky Hawaiian shirts. Of course, Trowa waited too but since he didn’t say anything, it didn’t matter.

Quatre finally came busting out wearing a cap, sunglasses, pants, t-shirt, and carrying a LARGE bag of things.

Under one arm.

Under the other arm was a large sun-umbrella that got stuck in between the door when he tried to get out. Then he had to turn himself sideways to leave his room but then his bag fell on the floor. Then Quatre tripped over it and his umbrella unsnapped and puffed open. “Um, can someone please help me out?” came Quatre’s muffled voice from beneath his umbrella.

Duo laughed and took the umbrella. Quatre got up, brushed himself off, then followed everybody down the stairs, lugging his heavy bag behind him. It made a loud BOOM! each time he went down a step. “What’s in there anyways?” Duo asked, holding the umbrella in front of him like a lance. Each time he walked down a step, he either whacked Wufei on the head or poked him in the butt through no fault of his own. Wufei glared each time but Heero and Trowa were walking side by side in front of him and he couldn’t get through because they were walking so slow.

“Oh, just some things,” said Quatre, making another loud BOOM!

Heero and Trowa finally walked out the front door and Quatre came last, holding the keys in his mouth and locking the door by a turn of the head. No one helped him because Quatre was the only one concerned about security.

“So, where’s our ride?” Wufei asked, hands across his chest.

“Check it out, guys!” Duo said, walking down to the curb and displaying their rented jeep. They weren’t using their limousine this time because Duo said that it didn’t look “cool” enough, and so he got them all a jeep for this one trip to the beach. Of course he had lied through his teeth when the guy asked him about his license.

“But who’s driving?” Wufei asked again.

“I am, of course!” Duo cried, dangling the keys and hopping into the driver’s seat. He stared expectantly at his friends still standing around on the lawn. Nobody moved.

“I…I don’t think I want to go,” said Trowa, shaking his head and backing away a step. Ever since the time Duo drove them all to the mall when Quatre’s sisters came, he had a permanent fear of cars.

“Oh, come on! I’m not THAT bad…am I?” No one answered him. “Geez, fine! Let’s see if you guys could do better,” Duo grumbled, moving to the passenger side and tossing the keys to the boys.

Wufei was the one that caught them, since no one else stepped forward. Quatre still thought it was illegal to drive without a license. Which it still was.

Wufei grinned in triumph, even though it had been no contest, and got in beside Duo. Heero, Trowa, and Quatre slipped into the back, shoving their stuff behind them. Quatre’s umbrella was poking into everybody.

Wufei stuck the keys into the ignition and started the car, Duo looking away and pretending he didn’t care. A loud VRRROOOOOM! came from the engine. Quatre jumped.

Everyone got whiplash as Wufei backed VERY quickly onto the road, looking behind his shoulder. Then, changing gears, he moved the car forward and everyone got whiplash again. Then they started.

Wufei was driving VERY fast. He drove so fast that the other cars didn’t seem like they were moving. Wufei didn’t seem concerned. After realizing how fun it was, Duo cheered, turned on the radio, and started singing along off-key. Wufei laughed.
Quatre was really scared. He gripped the handles tightly and braced himself with his feet so that he wouldn’t go flying out of the car. How could he have left these two maniacs in charge?

Beside him, Trowa was looking a little woozy again. His head bobbed back and forth in a daze. Quatre glanced at him in worry.

“Wufei! Don’t you have a license?” Quatre called up front. They were going WAY over the speed limit.

Wufei furrowed his brows. “A license? What is that?”

Oh, no. He was even worse than Duo.

Trowa’s head bobbed violently back and forth. He gasped.

“Duo!” Quatre called. “Give me a bag!”

Duo searched around, then threw something over his shoulder. The paper bag landed splat! in Trowa’s face and Trowa quickly clawed it off and used it. He leaned back and sighed.

The time it took to drive to the beach was usually forty-five minutes but they arrived there in ten. Wufei swerved into the parking lot and screeched to a stop no more than a micrometer from the signpost.

“That was fun!” Wufei cried and jumped out of the car. Duo happily agreed and they both raced to the beach.

Quatre helped Trowa out, then began dragging his stuff to the beach. There wasn’t very many people yet, since they were still early, and Quatre quickly found himself a spot on the sand and dropped his things there. Then he began setting up.

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

Heero looked out into the waves. It looked like a good day to go surfing. He glanced at Trowa and Trowa quietly nodded, after tossing his barf bag into a garbage can. They went to a counter and began renting their surfboards.

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

The first thing Duo and Wufei did when they reached the water was jump in. A fraction of a second later, Duo jumped back out and rubbed his arms. The water was FREEZING!

Wufei stood out to the water up to his waist. He put his hands on his hips and laughed haughtily. “Are you afraid of a little water, Maxwell?”

Duo smirked. “Of course not!” he said, then forcefully shuffled himself into the lapping waves. It was the hardest thing he’d done in his life.

When the water was finally up to his waist about ten minutes later, Wufei asked, “How about a little contest?”

Duo forced his arms to his sides, even though he was aching to rub his goosebumps. “What kind of challenge?” Duo asked, voice quaking.

Wufei didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he looked out into the open water and breathed in the fresh air. “How about a test of integrity?”

Duo sighed. He should’ve known it’d be something like that. “What do you propose?” he asked, hoping the challenge wouldn’t be too hard. But, knowing Wufei, it would probably be backbreaking.

“A race to see who could swim out the farthest,” Wufei answered immediately. Duo shrugged. It shouldn’t be too hard. “I’ll even give you a head start,” Wufei continued, cracking his knuckles.

Duo, not the kind of person to pass up any advantage, quickly jumped in and started swimming.

Wufei waited for about ten minutes, then began.

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

Duo was making good time. He would win this race easy. Even if he did get a head start. Oh, well.

Duo could sense someone behind him. He turned to look.

Woah! Wufei was about a yard back and catching up fast! Duo continued swimming for awhile, then got an idea. He stopped and waited.

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

Wufei had almost caught up. This was too easy, he thought, heart not beating any faster than when he’d first begun.

When he judged he had just about passed Duo, he stopped and paused. Where was Duo?

“Yaaaaaahhhh!!” someone yelled from behind. Wufei felt a weight on his back and then he was pushed down and under the water.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Duo sat on Wufei’s back and grinned triumphantly as Wufei struggled underwater, trying to get a breath of air. Duo yawned. Now, to wait till Wufei got tired and then he could start swimming again.

He waited.

And waited.

Wufei still hadn’t resurfaced.

Duo looked at his waterproof watch. About six minutes had passed by.

It was just about this time that he realized that Wufei wasn’t moving.

Duo quickly slid off Wufei and Wufei slowly floated to the surface, face down.

“Wu-wu,” Duo laughed, poking him. Then, “Wu-Wu!”

Duo quickly swam up to him raised Wufei’s head above the water. Wufei’s eyes were closed. He wasn’t breathing. Duo quickly searched for a heartbeat. There was none.

“Wu-Wu!” Duo cried. He cradled Wufei’s limp body and, for once, Wufei didn’t refuse.

Duo felt tears begin to roll down his cheeks and he tried furiously to force them away but still they came. It was all his fault. If he hadn’t been so concerned about winning, none of this would have ever happened.

“I’m so sorry,” Duo said to no one, since there was no one there to listen. “I’m sorry about everything I did. I’m sorry about your room, I’m sorry about the drapes, I’m sorry about your shrine….” Wufei didn’t answer. “I PROMISE I WON’T CALL YOU “WU-WU” ANYMORE! JUST PLEASE WAKE UP, WUFEI!” He screamed the last part and forcefully shook him. Wufei’s head bobbed back and forth, limp on his neck. Duo let go of him and Wufei slowly floated away into the waves. Duo turned himself around. He couldn’t stand to see Wufei’s dead face.

“You promise?”

Duo spun around. Wufei coughed out into the water, taking several deep breaths. He was scowling. He was back. “Wu-Wu!” Duo cried and swam over and started hugging him.

“Ge---, by the gods, quit hugging me you insatiable weakling! I’m not dead yet!”

Duo ignored him. He had the happiest grin on his face. Everything was going to be okay.

Finally, Duo let go of him and shivered. “How did…how did you…?”

“It takes a lot more than that to kill me!” Wufei said in pride. He continued, “One can slow down their own heart rate to conserve energy if one had the incentive and proper training.”

They continued staring back and forth at each other for awhile.

“HOW DARE YOU TRY TO DROWN ME, MAXWELL! JUSTICE!” Wufei thrashed towards him.

Duo started swimming. He zipped through the water as fast as his arms could take him.

Wufei watched Duo rocket towards shore. One just needed the proper incentive.

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

Quatre sat in his little collapsible folding chair and basked under the shade of his sun-umbrella. His sunglasses rested on his nose and now he rummaged through his beach bag. Where was…?

Ahhh, there it was. Quatre took out his bottle of sunblock marked SPF 90 and started slathering the liquid all over his arms, legs, and face. That done, he leaned back in his lawn chair and rested under the shade of his large umbrella. This was the way to enjoy the beach.

A bit of water splashed on him and Quatre frowned. He raised his shades above his head.

Duo was running towards him, coughing and choking and breathing heavily. He stopped right before the umbrella and rested with his hands on his knees. “Quick!” he gasped to Quatre. “Hide me!”

Quatre was confused. “Hide you? How?”

Duo quickly ran behind Quatre’s lawn chair and crouched himself down. Then, deciding that wasn’t good enough, ran back out and looked around. Only open sands everywhere. Sand….

“Bury me!” Duo cried and lay down beside Quatre. Quatre looked at him in confusion. Duo’s fingers drummed impatiently on the sand. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Quatre shook his head and got up. He rummaged through his bag for awhile, then drew out a plastic orange pail with a little scoop. He balked at the edge of the shade, then reluctantly stepped out into the sun. He could feel his skin burning already. Taking his little pail and shovel, Quatre started digging and burying. This was the strangest thing he’d done in his life.

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

Wufei came over. Quatre stopped reading “The Modern Day Aladdin” and looked up. “Yes?” he asked calmly.

Wufei furrowed his brows and scratched his head. “Have you seen that Maxwell anywhere?”

Quatre inadvertently looked at the slight bump in the sand beside him and quickly looked back up. “I can’t say that I have.”

“That’s strange,” Wufei said. “Where could he possibly be?” and stood right on Duo’s buried hand. A squeak came from the mound. Quatre wasn’t sure but he thought he saw Wufei give a slight smile.

“Why are you looking for him?” Quatre asked, wincing in sympathy as Wufei walked back and forth.

“Oh, nothing much,” Wufei answered, trampling all over Duo’s arm. He hopped onto the part where Duo’s chest would have been and a little sand spouted out of the ground from where Duo’s mouth was located. “Just a little something due to an unfortunate accident during a contest.” As Wufei talked he continued trampling back and forth. He stopped when he reached somewhere around Duo’s stomach. His foot raised, deciding whether to step on the region below Duo’s waistline.

He didn’t need to. Duo’s sand-covered face quickly popped out of the ground. “I give up, I give up!” he sputtered, shaking his head back and forth. His braid left a snake-like imprint on the sand behind him.

“Is that you, Duo?” Wufei asked, giving a look of surprise. He reluctantly stepped off him. “I didn’t know you were down here.”

Duo painfully stood up, lumps of sand falling off him. Sand still caked his eyes and he couldn’t see. “You don’t have to pretend!” he cried, talking to somewhere off on Wufei’s left.

“Pretend what?” Wufei asked, a smile tugging on his lips.

Duo finally got all the sand off him and he yelled at the open air for awhile, then realizing there was no one there, turned his body slightly and began yelling at Wufei.

Quatre sighed. Couldn’t he enjoy just one day of peace and quiet? Sensing the source of this argument, he asked Wufei, “Has your justice been done, now?”

“Yes, it has,” Wufei said and began walking off.

“Don’t you ignore me, Wu-W---.” Wufei turned to look at Duo, raising an eyebrow. He had made a promise. “Wufei! I’m not finished with you yet!”

Wufei smirked and continued walking.

Duo spun back around and began stomping over towards Quatre. The effect was ruined, though, when he tripped and sprawled into the indentation made by his own body. Duo thumped his fists into the ground in frustration and a cloud of sand puffed up. He coughed.

When the sand cleared, he looked up groggily.

His eyes snapped wide open. Who was that babe walking past?

Quatre watched as Duo’s face gradually changed from frustration to awe. He recognized that glint in his eye. He had seen it many times when his sisters were around.

Quatre shook his head and continued reading Aladdin. He hoped the girl that would be Duo’s next victim would be okay.

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

Duo followed the girl as she wove in and out of the beachcombers. Her long hair shone brightly in the sun and from what Duo could see of her from behind, she would look pretty good from the front, too. Finally, when they reached an open stretch of beach, Duo ran up to her. “Hi!” he said.

The girl turned around. Duo jumped back. “Woah!”

It was Relena.

“Oh, hi, Duo,” Relena greeted him, wearing her little pink bikini. It was all Duo could do to force himself to look at her face when she talked to him. “Have you seen Heero anywhere?”

“Uh….” Duo couldn’t concentrate. Relena just stared back at him innocently.

After awhile, he finally answered, “Uh…the last I heard, he went surfing.”

“Oh?” Relena asked, hands on her hips. Duo gulped. “I’ll have to go looking for him then.”

She left. Duo stood there, goggling after her. He shook his head. “Hey, wait up!” he cried. He ran up to her and grabbed her arm. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to rent a surfboard,” she replied matter-of-factly, then began asking the guy behind the counter if he carried any boards in extra small, preferably pink. The guy searched around, then handed her a rose-coloured board with Sailormoon printed on it. Relena winced, thanked the man politely, then began dragging the board after her.

Duo walked beside her. “Do you need help with that?” he asked as Relena got the board stuck in a pothole for the third time. Relena nodded wearily and Duo swung the board over his head. A group of people they passed snickered at him carrying the pink Sailormoon board, then gawked when they saw Relena walk by.

“So, have you done this before?” Duo asked dropping the board into the water. Seeing that Relena didn’t do anything, he picked up the board again and placed it closer to her feet. Relena daintily stepped onto the board. She teetered around for a second, arms flailing about in the air and making interesting shifts in her clothing. Duo eagerly got ready to catch her.

Relena slowly righted herself on her own. Then she shakily got down to her knees, and finally settled for lying flat on the board on her stomach.

“Push me out, Duo,” she said, gripping the front of the board with her hands.

Duo obeyed and pushed the board out into the water. Relena drifted along for a second, then the board stopped. Relena waited.

Duo sighed, ran out into the water, and began pushing Relena from behind. He continued pushing for a distance and when Relena was finally satisfied, she said, “Thank you, Duo.”

“You’re welcome,” Duo bubbled from beneath the waves.

Relena slowly paddled herself out with her arms, then continued paddling. It didn’t look like she would be standing up anytime soon. Duo shook his head. She was on her own from now on.

He began swimming back to shore. Halfway there, he heard the voice of Relena.

“HEERO!” she screeched. “I’M COMING FOR YOU!”

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

Heero’s ears perked. He thought he heard a voice from far off, calling his name.

A seagull screeched overhead. Heero looked up. It must have been that.

He continued surfing over the waves, doing dangerous moves and Trowa followed close behind. Trowa was doing a handstand on his board. He had been doing that for the past half-hour.

Heero’s gaze wandered across the distance, casually scanning the water. He looked toward the horizon, then stopped. He looked back.

Was that Relena out there? He stared for awhile at the tiny figure lying down on the pink board. No, it couldn’t be, Relena wasn’t the kind of person to throw herself into the wilds like that, more or less surf.

Heero gave a whistle to Trowa and he and Trowa travelled together across a big wave. The tiny person that he thought was Relena was swamped by the ensuing downpour.

Heero shrugged. Anyone who wasn’t competent shouldn’t be surfing.

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

Relena called after Heero but he just surfed on past. Then she was engulfed by a big wave. “HELP!” she screamed. “HEERO!” before she was battered by the waves and dragged underwater. Relena frantically tried to go up for air. Somewhere along the way, she had lost her board and now she struggled against the waves, trying to stay afloat. “HELP!” she cried again. The ocean relentlessly pushed her under. She didn’t know how to swim.

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

Quatre paused from reading his book. Looked like his sunblock needed reapplication again. Quatre slathered the SPF 90 all over his limbs and face, then continued sitting in the shade and reading his book.

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

The dogs could smell something. Wandering away from their owners, they began searching for the particular scent, sniffing the ground and at other people.

They paused at a stick of sunblock for a second. The scent was very similar to this one but, no, it wasn’t the right one. They continued searching.

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

Heero and Trowa were resting around on shore. Each held a grilled hot dog in his hand and now they relaxed by the water, watching the tide come in. Trowa had found several pearly-coloured shells along the beach, and now he was entertaining several passers-by with his amazing juggling ability.

Heero watched emotionlessly as an exceptionally large wave came crashing onto shore. As the wave came rushing down, a figure suddenly appeared behind it, walking towards them along the water. The first word that came to Heero’s mind was ‘Zechs’.

Trowa stopped juggling and put the shells in his pockets. The crowd he had attracted stood around for a second, wondering what he would do next. Trowa just stood there and stared at them. When it became apparent that he wouldn’t be doing anything more, the crowd wandered off, looking for better entertainment. Trowa turned towards the water.

The white-haired man carried someone in his arms. It was Relena. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and she was chatting amiably to him and admiring his muscles.

The man stopped in front of Heero and they looked each other up and down. Relena took time long enough from staring at the man to glance down. “Oh, hi, Heero,” she said off-handedly. “This is Pechs.” She giggled and looked significantly at Pech’s huge pecs. “He rescued me. Pechs, meet Heero.”

Pechs and Heero just stared at one another. Relena was dropped to the sand as Pechs suddenly let go. She fell hard on her bum. “Ow!”

Pechs stepped over Relena and came face-to-face with Heero. The word ‘LIFEGUARD’ blared loudly on his red tank top. “So, you are the one that Relena’s been telling me about. Nice to meet you, my name is Pechs,” and Pechs held out his hand to be shaken. Heero just stared at it.

“Heero…,” Relena said over his shoulder, “shake the nice man’s hand.”

Heero reluctantly took it and they made a very firm handshake. But they wouldn’t let go. Trowa watched as the tendons on both Heero’s and Pechs’ hands tightened. Rivulets of veins bulged out from their arms as they just continued holding, smiling pleasantly at one another.

Trowa shivered and walked away from them, looking for more of his shells.

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

Quatre had finished reading ‘The Modern Day Aladdin’. Now, he was onto the adult version of ‘Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves’.

Quatre was onto his favourite part, when Ali-Baba yelled “Open, sesame!” when he heard a barking noise. He looked up.

A huge pack of dogs was running towards him, mouths salivating in hunger with spittle flying everywhere.

Quatre took one look, then dropped his book and ran.

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

Wufei was humming quietly to himself. He was humming the tune that he had heard on the car radio when Duo had turned it on and now he happily carried Quatre’s plastic pail and shovel and started scooping up a bucket of sand. That done, he walked back to his sand castle and continued to build.

This is going to be the best, he thought, ignoring the weird looks that many passers-by gave him. He had painstakingly crafted the palace of an ancient Chinese emperor to minute detail, gently patting down the walls and etching in each individual tile. Now, he was working on soldiers.

Just then, Quatre came by. “Heeeeeelllllpp!” he called as he ran past. Wufei looked up for a second, then looked back down continued working.

A pack of dogs came running after Quatre. Wufei stiffened. They were running perilously close to his palace. He glared at them all, daring them to come over.

One tiny mutt had been separated from the pack and now it ran over to Wufei, jumping and yapping. Wufei’s eyes widened. No…no….

The mutt crashed into one of his walls, then quickly scrabbled away. Wufei looked at the tiny indentation that the mutt had left and sighed in relief. Nothing that he couldn’t fix. Wufei reached over to repair it.

The section of wall gave and suddenly collapsed inward. Well, perhaps it would be a bit more of a challenge. Wufei stretched out a finger and….

The entire wall came crashing down. As if starting a chain reaction, the rest of the walls began crumbling along with it until the entire palace was destroyed. The whole process took about half a second.

Wufei stared at his ruins in disbelief. Then, “NOOOOOOOOOO!”

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

Quatre continued running, the pack of dogs biting on his heels. Quatre yelped, then ran faster. He was beginning to tire.

All of a sudden, one dog started biting on his swim trunks. Quatre had a tug-of-war with the dog for a second, then gave up and continued running, the dog hanging off his butt. Quatre veered into the water. He heard a tear.

Quatre dove into the water and behind him, the dog let go. Quatre swam out for awhile, then resurfaced.

The dogs were standing around on shore, sniffing. Then they each gradually left, one by one. Quatre sighed in relief, then started slowly wading to shore.

Halfway there, he stopped. Why did he have the odd feeling that something was missing?

Quatre ignored it and continued slugging through the water. The sooner he could get back under his umbrella, the better.

It was feeling kind of airy, for some reason. Quatre continued wading, ignoring the stares that people gave him. He was becoming more nervous by the minute.

Quatre’s toe stubbed on something and he happened to look down.

Why, where was…?!

“Eeeeeeeeeep!” Quatre screamed and vamoosed back into the water, his naked butt shining in the sun. For the second time that day, Quatre dove in.

That dog! It must have been that dog! Quatre realized, feeling extremely exposed. He crouched down in the water, but it didn’t help. Now, what was he to do?

Just then, Duo walked by. He was holding his hands behind his head and whistling a little tune. “Pssst!” Quatre whispered at him.

Duo looked around for a minute, then spotted him. “Hey, Quatre! So, you finally decided to go in the water after all!” Duo began walking over.

“No, stay back!” Quatre cried, holding out a hand.

Duo stopped, confused. “This IS a free beach, you know,” he replied, looking a little hurt.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that…” Quatre lowered his voice, “…I don’t have my swim trunks.”

“You what?” Duo asked. “You’re talking so quietly, I can’t hear you, buddy.”

“My swim trunks,” Quatre said a little louder, “I don’t have them.”

“What?”

“I DON’T HAVE ANY SWIM TRUNKS ON!”

The entire beach suddenly became silent at that very moment. Quatre’s face turned red and he crouched down even lower. He felt really uncomfortable right now.

“So, now what?” Duo asked. “I don’t have an extra pair of trunks with me.” He snapped his own waistband in emphasis. Then an evil glint came in his eye. “Hey, you want me to steal some?” he asked, eyeing a little boy playing in the water.

“No!” Quatre cried. “Here….” Quatre dug in his shirt pocket, then took out some money and handed it to Duo.

“Thanks,” Duo said, pocketing it. “But how’re you going to get your swim trunks back?”

“That money was meant for you to buy me a new pair.”

Duo looked at the crumpled twenty in his hand and sighed. Then he gave a salute. “Don’t worry, little buddy,” he called over his shoulder as he ran to the nearest ice cream stand. “I’m gonna get you a pair of trunks in no time, you just wait!”

Quatre shivered in the frigid water.

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

“So, are you guys going to let go now, any time soon?” Relena asked, hands on her hips. Heero and Pechs just stared at one another, continuing to grip each other’s hands to the death. Relena sighed, then wandered off to pester another lifeguard.

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

Trowa had found some more pretty shells along the beach and now he was sitting down on the sand and stringing them together.

A girl walked by and looked down at what Trowa was making. “Wow, I’ll give you five dollars for one of those!”

Trowa looked up from stringing and the girl held out a five dollar bill. Then, seeing that he didn’t do anything with it, the girl placed the money beside Trowa and took herself a lovely shell bracelet. Then she walked away, happy at the new adornment on her wrist.

Trowa stared at the money that the girl had left, then turned back to his shells and continued stringing.

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

Duo looked at the $2.50 in his hands and sighed. Who knew that 10-scoop ice cream would be so expensive?

Duo went over to the little stand that sold swimsuits and trunks. “What can I buy for $2.50?” he asked the proprietor who looked a lot like Master Roshi from Dragonball.

The man looked up from reading his newspaper (actually, playboy magazine was hidden behind it) and glanced at Duo’s money. “Hum, well, let’s see what we have here,” he said and started rummaging around the racks. Duo waited impatiently as the old man fingered a tiny bikini, then finally drew something out. “Here, you go, sonny.”

Duo looked into his hands. “Well, where is it?”

“Hmm, don’t you see it?” the man asked and held his hands a little closer. Duo bent down to see.

A very stringy-like thong rested in his hands. Duo hooked up one end and held it up. He didn’t know where one end started and the other began. “You sure you can actually wear this?” Duo asked, holding it against his trunks. It was probably only one one thousandth the size.

“Sure,” the old man answered, going back to reading his newspaper/playboy. Duo looked at the thong in doubt, than handed over the money and went to look for Quatre.

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

A family was coming into the water and Quatre carefully shuffled away from them, then continued waiting. Where was Duo?

“Hey!” Duo yelled, waving his arm in the air.

Quatre looked at Duo, then at Duo’s hands. They were empty.

“Got it!” Duo cried and stopped at the edge of the water. He made a really strange motion with his hands, as if he was playing with an invisible slingshot, and in the next second, Quatre could feel something slap his face. Something dropped into his hands.

Quatre looked at the thing Duo gave him in confusion. “Duo…why did you give me a bunch of string?”

“It’s not string!” Duo called. “It’s a thong!”

“What?!”

Beside Quatre, the mother of the family quickly covered her young daughter’s ears with her hands. She glanced at Quatre in disapproval.

Quatre shook his head, panicking. “I can’t wear this!”

“Sure, you can,” Duo said, eager to get away and look at the girls. “Everybody’s wearing it.”

Quatre bit his lip, then discreetly put on the piece of string shaped like an underwear. He couldn’t tell front from back.

Quatre cautiously stood up. It felt like he had a permanent wedgie.

Now, the mother covered her daughter’s eyes and brought her away from the bad teenager. The girl clawed her mother’s hands away and just stared with her mouth open.

Quatre moved his hands behind him to cover up the back, then changed his mind and covered up the front. He didn’t know which was worse.

Finally settling on one in back and one in front, he bravely stepped out of the water.

“Looking good there, little buddy,” Duo said, looking him up and down.

Quatre just glared at him, then walked stiffly to the direction of his umbrella. It was a long way away. Duo slapped his butt to get him going and Quatre jumped, then started running.

“Careful you don’t give anything away!” Duo called after him. He was like a naked white ghost, floating along the breeze.

Duo put a hand to his chin. “Maybe I should buy myself one of those things.”

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

Trowa had attracted a lot of customers. They all watched the strange, silent boy as he stringed his shells, only getting up once in a while to look for more.

A growing pile of money lay beside Trowa. He ignored it and just continued stringing. People got the picture, donated their five dollar bills, then left wearing one of his bracelets. Word soon spread like fire of the mysterious boy who made shell jewelry.

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

Quatre stood around on the beach, wearing his thong. Where was his beach umbrella? He could feel his skin burning, and not only because of the sun.

Suddenly, a camera flashed from behind him. Quatre turned around, confused, and the camera flashed again.

“Hi, we’re from Teen Magazine and we’re wondering if we could interview you for an article on the fashion of thongs?” A microphone was held to Quatre’s face.

“Uhh….”

“Thank you, and how long have you been wearing this thong?”

Quatre didn’t know what to say. So he just ran.

“Strange boy,” the interviewer said, watching after him. “Oh, well. I want the picture of that boy blown up and put on the cover of the next issue.”

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

Duo lay on his stomach in the sand and admired the girls playing volleyball. From his location on the ground, he had a good vantage point of everything. Everything.

The ball accidentally flew out of bounds and hit him on the head. Duo just continued grinning.

“Are you okay?” the girl who hit it asked him, bending down.

“Yeah,” Duo sighed, not looking at her face.

“Hey, you!” a voice called from over the sidelines. Duo ignored it and just continued staring at the girl dreamily.

Someone grabbed the back of his neck. Duo choked as he was raised several feet into the air, his legs dangling below him.
“Are you staring at my girl?”

Duo slowly turned his head, then squeaked. A hulking guy with the muscles of Arnold Schwartzeneggar stared back him. He frowned.

Duo grabbed the guy’s ham hand from around his neck and pulled. Then he started thumping with his pathetic-sized fists.

“What’s that tickle?” the guy asked, scratching his head.

“Elmer, let go of him!” his girlfriend cried, pounding him on the chest. Duo was slowly turning purple.

Elmer finally let go and Duo fell to the ground, gagging and choking.

“Elmer?” he muttered in between coughs. “What kind of a name is that?”

“What did you say!”

Oops. Duo quickly covered his mouth. He didn’t mean to say that out loud. Elmer started running towards him.

Duo scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him.

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

Wufei gazed at his palace in satisfaction. Finally, all complete. The soldiers lined up in neat little rows along the walls and he even built a miniature moat that ran through it with real running water. Wufei stepped back and admired his work.

He looked around and stretched. Now, to…what was that Duo doing?

He saw Duo weave in and out of the sunbathers, zig-zagging back and forth along the sand. He appeared to be being chased. Wufei shrugged. Not his problem.

Duo suddenly changed course and ran directly towards his palace.

Wufei’s eyes widened. “No! No! Stay away!”

Duo came to the edge of the palace, then jumped over it. He continued running.

“Phew!” Wufei wiped the sweat that had suddenly formed on his brow.

A big guy came lumbering past. He trampled right through the palace, instantly destroying his line of soldiers and everything else with it.

Wufei’s mouth hung open as he looked down at his precious moat. Now, it was totally muddy and demented-looking. A tiny soldier was stuck in the muck, appearing as if he was drowning.

Wufei breathed in and out for several seconds, trying to calm his beating heart. His vision swam. He was beginning to see red.

With a monstrous cry, Wufei tore after the guy, hands clenched into fists and veins about to explode.

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

Elmer was now kicking Duo, who writhed about on the ground, trying to protect himself. Elmer was about to make a crushing blow to his skull when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around.

WHAM! He saw lights as someone punched him in the face.

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

Wufei stood over the fallen guy and kicked him in the groin. Then he bent over him and continued punching and punching and punching….

“Uh, Wufei, it’s all right,” Duo said, staggering over and holding his bloody nose.

“No, it is NOT alright!” he cried, still punching. “He has demolished my palace! Justice must be done!” and started hitting with a renewed vigour.

Duo sighed and leaned back on his heels. When Wufei had finally had his fill, which meant when he was finally bored, he stood up and rubbed his bloody knuckles. The blood didn’t belong to him.

Elmer looked like…he had just gone through a meat grinder. Duo shuddered and looked away.

“What happened, here?” Quatre asked, walking over. He had his beach bag tied around his waist and he was desperately trying to hold the back closed. He listened to Wufei’s ranting for awhile, then shivered when he saw the bloody mess of the guy.

“So, now, I want to leave this deranged place!” he finished, waving his bloody hands in the air. Quatre nodded and, sitting on the ground, Duo also agreed. He would be black and blue for the entire week.

Helping Duo up, they walked away, first stopping by to pick up Quatre’s stuff, then searching for Trowa and Heero.

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

Trowa was easy to find. They just followed the group of people talking about the boy with the hair.

Trowa was surrounded by a large crowd of clients, each bidding on his bracelets. “I’ll give you ten dollars for that one!”, “Make that twenty!” and so forth. Trowa just sat in the midst of them, stringing his shells.

“We’re going,” Duo said to him. Trowa looked up, nodded, and walked away, leaving his bracelets to the pack of wolves. “Your money?” Duo asked him.

Trowa shrugged. He took out several shells and started juggling them.

Duo shook his head and ran back in the crowd. By now, they were fighting one another and clawing at the leftover bracelets.

Duo finally came out with the money. He also had a black eye. But he was happy.

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

Heero was a little harder to find. Relena found them first.

“That Heero,” she told them, arms crossed across her breast and pouting. “He and Pechs have been at it all day.”

Everyone examined Pechs and Heero, still gripping each other’s hands. They had permanent smiles stuck on their faces.

“Can’t you do something?” Relena asked, looking back and forth between Pechs and Heero.

Quatre scratched his head. He had never heard of a predicament like this before.

“It appears to be some sort of…internal struggle,” he said, poking Heero on the chest. He continued walking around and examining them, still holding his beach bag together. Relena looked at his odd fashion statement and Quatre blushed.

Duo took the easy way out and grabbed both their fists. Their pupils shifted to him for a second and Duo quickly backed away, completely freaked out. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do,” he said shakily, still trying to recover from those piercing gazes.

“We can wait it out,” Wufei said, already beginning to warm up for his meditating exercises.

“No,” Relena said, surprising them all. “If Heero and Pechs aren’t going to pay any attention to me, then I’m not going to be standing around waiting for them. I’m leaving,” and in a ladylike huff, she walked away.

Everyone shrugged, then followed after. Wufei and Duo looked forward to the drive home. They were already talking excitedly about their next trip in a jeep. Quatre quietly followed them, wearing his thong/beach bag and struggling with his sun-umbrella. Trowa glanced at Quatre’s sun-umbrella, then wondered if Quatre would mind if he used it for a barf bag.

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

The sun was beginning to set. Two lone figures stood together on the beach, shaking each other’s hands.

“You are good,” Pechs said.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Heero answered. Then they released each other and walked away.