by Anne
Author's notes: This was written for the 5sentence_fics comm on LJ. They are snippets from Quatre and Trowa's life, out of chronological order.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing belongs to Bandai, Sunrise and Sotsu Agency. I promise to return the characters in one piece, more or less, when I'm finished, but hold no liability for any broken bones or psychological trauma sustained by them in my fiction.
Alicia Bloom Winner and Michael Maxwell-Yuy belong to their respective parents, and as said parents are ex Gundam pilots and a tad overprotective, ask before you borrow.
Thanks to: Linda and Misanagi for holding my hand and beta reading these as I was writing them.
#01 Impressionist
Quatre's first thought when Trowa bought home the painting was that it was interesting. A splash of colour here, a hint of something more there; the longer it was in the house the more he found himself drawn to it. Depending on the angle at which he stood, and his mood, he was able to find depths to it he hadn't noticed before. Trowa came up behind him one evening, his breath warm against Quatre's skin and, as he leaned back into his husband's embrace, he kicked himself for not realizing sooner.
"This painting," he told Trowa softly, "reminds me of you."
#02 Cat on a hot tin roof
It had been one of Trowa's more inventive ideas, and Quatre had been rather dubious about it at first. Duo had been right; it was always the quiet ones, although Trowa, with the right motivation, was far from quiet. It was lucky that they couldn't be seen from the ground, and that darkness was falling, although he could still feel the fading heat of the tin beneath him through the thin blanket.
"I love you, Cat," Trowa murmured, kissing him again. Quatre returned the kiss, decided that convention could go screw itself, and that making love on a rooftop was something they would have to do more often.
#03 Keeping it simple
One of Trowa's concerns when he and Quatre had decided to become a couple was how he would fit into Quatre's world. Quatre was the heir to one of the richest families in the colonies, and Trowa knew that some would view him as a gold digger who had fallen on his feet. Quatre just smiled and said that for him, the answer had always been simple.
"We will be living a lifestyle we are both comfortable with. Relationships only work with respect and compromise" he told Trowa softly. "And for you, my love, I would give up all my wealth in an instant for it does not buy happiness, and you have made me so very happy."
#04 One sock
Trowa came home one day to find Quatre alternating between glaring a pile of socks on the counter, and the dryer. "Socks hate me," he muttered, "or they wouldn't keep hiding."
After watching him for a few moments, and laughing at the sight of Winner Enterprises' CEO in the middle of a losing battle with laundry, Trowa asked him if he regretted their decision to live simply and share everything.
Quatre replied that he had never regretted it, although he knew Trowa did in those moments when he had to wear pink underwear and put up with his lover's less than brilliant culinary skills when it was his turn to cook.
Pulling him into an embrace and kissing him, Trowa said softly that anyone who thought that Quatre would ever put his own comfort levels first, had never taken the time to really get to know him.
#05 - Actions speak louder
While Quatre was very organized at the office and a tactical genius in the battlefield, there was no sign of those skills at home. His den was tidy, but he tended to leave a trail of paperwork and clothing from one end of the house to the other.
One day after Quatre had apologized again, Trowa pointed out that actions spoke louder than words and that if he was truly sorry he wouldn't keep leaving a mess. Quatre looked at him, said that he was trying, that habits like that were hard to break, started to say he was sorry, and stopped mid sentence.
Trowa, feeling Quatre's guilt, realised that he loved Quatre in spite of his failings or maybe because of them, and that really, although it was the little things that made or broke a relationship, if you truly loved someone you accepted them faults and all, and respected the fact that they weren't perfect, just as they accepted you weren't either.
#06 Saved by the bell
When Quatre was away overnight on business trips, he sometimes had nightmares. Trowa found on those occasions he could not settle into sleep, and knew that he was sensing Quatre's distress through their empathic link. The longer they had been together, the more spasmodic the dreams became, but often something unexpected would trigger them.
Reaching out for Quatre, Trowa would imagine them lying together while he stroked his lover's brow and whispered his name along with the reassurance that he was with him and always would be.
When that failed, he would reach for his cell phone and ring Quatre, knowing that the sound would act like an alarm, wake him, and save him from his guilt, at least until next time.
#07 Love is
"How do you define love?" Alicia asked her parents.
"Love," Trowa said softly, smiling at first his husband and then his daughter, "can sneak up on you unawares. It can be a simple touch, a light caress, a look that says far more than words ever can. When you love someone you respect, honour, but not necessarily obey, although between children and parents obedience is not an option."
"And," continued Quatre, "although love is a beautiful thing, and those you love and who love you make you complete, it also requires hard work and compromise to keep it alive and flourishing."
#08 Man's best friend
"Man's best friend," Quatre argued with Duo one day, "is not a dog, but his Gundam."
"Not arguing with you there buddy," Duo grinned, raising his hands in mock surrender. He paused, noticing Quatre's smile and his friend's hand over his heart.
"When Trowa and I first met," Quatre said softly, "he raised his hands in surrender, even though I had already stopped fighting. We each had what the other needed and," his smile grew, "we still do."
#09 - Cheque's in the mail
"I don't know how companies can operate like this," Quatre said angrily, throwing down his newspaper in disgust.
"Not all businesses are run like yours," Trowa said softly when he read the headlines proclaiming that a big corporation had let go of thousands of employees with two weeks notice and a letter telling them that their final cheque was in the mail. When Winner Enterprises had closed one of their factories several months ago, Quatre had worked hard to find alternative employment for each and every one of his workers.
"I know," Quatre shook his head, "but that doesn't make this right."
"There are a lot of wrongs in the world still, Cat, and sometimes the battles against them are fought little by little, and in the boardroom rather than in a Gundam, but that doesn't make each victory any the less significant."
#10 Naked
"I love you," Trowa whispered as he kissed Quatre slowly, deeply. Quatre didn't need to use words to reply; the look in his eyes said far more.
I love you, trust you; I am yours, just as you are mine.
Quatre arched his hips towards Trowa wanting, needing him; the handcuffs holding him to the bed head pulling on his wrists.
And Trowa knew that although Quatre was naked beneath him, his husband bared to him not only his body but also his heart and soul.
#11 - Breakfast at Denny's (caveat)
Trowa shook his head in amusement as Quatre carefully spread cream cheese over a portion of his bagel and then cut it into small slices. "We can get her one of her own to try," he said.
"She wants to try mine, don't you, hadeeya [1]?"
Alicia nodded, her small fingers reaching out to her father. "Daddy wants you to feed him too!"
[1] Arabic for gift
#12 Only one life
"Do you ever wonder how different your life would have gone if we had never met?" Quatre whispered late at night, curled up in bed with Trowa, their arms around each other, Quatre's head tucked under Trowa's chin.
It was one of their favourite positions after they had made love, their bodies still intertwined, as they talked of life, love, and things good and bad.
"Wherever you are, I will find you," Trowa said, kissing Quatre's hair. "You complete me. One life, one love," he paused, his voice choking as he continued, "my life, my love."
#13 Swords and plowshares
In the study at home there are two paintings hanging side by side. One is of a warrior, a sword in his hand, poised to fight to protect those he cares about. The other is of the same man, a few years older, plowing his farm, and wiping the sweat from his brow.
Trowa sees himself in the warrior, a boy brought up by mercenaries, fighting to survive; Quatre sees the blood on the sword as a reminder of the blood on his hands that he can't rid himself of, and of a wound which nearly cost him his life.
The farmer is their hope for the future, that those used for war can also be a force of great good to build a better world in a time of peace.
#14 - Deadman's hand
When Quatre brought home a new video game that Duo had loaned him, he and Trowa had been looking forward to trying it out. Deadman's Hand was an opportunity to relive the days of the Wild West, complete with bar fights, poker games, shoot outs and stage coach chases.
As it was a one player game, Trowa suggested that Quatre try it first. However, several minutes into play, Quatre went very still and began to shake until Trowa held him with whispered reminders that it was okay and part of a past that, although they will never completely put behind them, is over. The story of betrayal, vengeance and near death in the game had brought back memories that would haunt them both forever.
#15 Getting along
"They're getting along great," Duo grinned at Quatre.
"They always have," Quatre said, watching Alicia and Michael building sand castles on the beach. The two children had their heads bent together, talking intently with Heero about the best way to defend what they had just built from potential enemies.
"Children often become friends when their parents are." Trowa said, pushing his sunglasses up his nose, and adjusting his hat over his head, before returning to his impression of a lazy cat stretched out in the sun.
"And sometimes friends find their missing piece in each other, just like their parents did," Quatre added quietly, choosing to ignore his husband's glare.
#16 Photographs and memories
Quatre took another sip of hot chocolate and turned a page in the leather bound photo album. "Do you remember this?" he asked Trowa.
"I remember all of them," Trowa replied with a smile. He took the book from Quatre's hands, closed it, and embracing his husband, kissed him deeply. "They are like my love for you; engraved forever in my both heart and soul."
#17 Redeye
Quatre made his way slowly through the terminal, yawning and struggling to keep his already frayed temper under control. The idiot he had sat next to on the early morning flight had asked his name and then spent three hours telling him how he couldn't be that Quatre Winner because he was too young, and nothing like his picture. Quatre had smiled, gritted his teeth, and tried to focus on Trowa.
Someone bumped his elbow; Quatre turned scowling, ready to give his traveling companion a piece of his mind.
Trowa smiled, pulling Quatre into an embrace; Trowa always knew what to say and how to say it, and kissing his husband deeply, Quatre knew that the frustration of the past three hours was more than worth that and always would be.
#18 Footprints in the sand
When Quatre wants to think he often finds himself on a beach, sitting on the edge of the tide, drawing pattern in the sand as it reminds him of talking with Heero when they arrived on Earth shortly after Zero.
"Do you think we made enough of a difference?" he asked Trowa one evening as they stood together, arms wrapped around each other, staring out to sea.
"We did what we could and that's all anyone can do," Trowa replied, leaning in to kiss him gently.
Quatre smiled up at him, and returned the kiss before looking back out to sea. He knows that when they leave, the only sign they were ever here will be footprints in the sand, which in time, will be washed away by the tide.
#19 Reap what you sow
When Quatre wakes from zero related nightmares, the overwhelming emotion he feels, apart from the fear of losing Trowa, is one of guilt. He reasons that in the light of what he did, in what he could have done if Trowa hadn't stopped him, he is lucky that the only repercussions are these dreams, and that he is reaping the consequences of what he has sown.
Trowa disagrees. He knows that Quatre reacted out of pain and grief, reminds him of that, and strokes Quatre's brow, holding him close until the nightmares pass. "You do reap what you sow," he whispers softly, cradling his husband in an embrace, "but those seeds of love and peace far outweigh the rest."
#20 The morning after
The morning after Quatre and Trowa brought Alicia home for the first time is one that Quatre will never forget. Rolling over in bed, he woke to find Trowa gone and the bassinet empty.
Pulling on his robe, he walked down the stairs to find Trowa watching the sunrise, a sleeping baby snuggled contentedly in his arms. Quatre paused in the doorway, blinking back tears, as Trowa told Alicia about the first time her parents had met, and how much they loved each other, and her. Quietly, he walked over and putting his arms around Trowa, kissing both his husband and daughter in turn, knowing that in that moment between dawn and the new day, they had found their own special version of heaven.
#21 Batman and Superman were lovers
"Were not!" Michael argued, pointing to the comic book he and Alicia were reading together.
"Hey," interrupted Quatre softly, from behind them. "I'm sure whatever you're arguing about can be discussed with both of you respecting each other's opinion."
"Michael thinks that Superman and Batman weren't lovers but they fought together just like you and Daddy, and Uncle Duo and Uncle Heero did," protested Alicia, "so they must have been."
Quatre coughed into his hand to hide his grin and felt proud that his daughter had obviously inherited some of his strategy skills.
#22 Flying blind
Quatre hated flying blind. Although he hated to admit it, he needed to be in control of a situation, to be able to plan his strageties, changing them to suit whatever was thrown at him if needed be.
Stretched out on the bed, his hands lying at his side, naked before Trowa in every way, he gave up that control to the one person he trusted enough to do so. Fighting the urge to touch, he obeyed Trowa's request not to, while his husband touched him, licking, kissing and nibbling over every part of his body, driving him crazy with need.
And yet, in giving up that control, and placing himself totally in Trowa's hands, he felt such great freedom in the knowledge that together they could soar wherever their desires took them.
#23 On the line
"The ball was over the line," Trowa said calmly, blowing his whistle and ignoring the parents glaring from the sideline.
"It was on the line," someone yelled.
"Over the line!" Quatre yelled back, annoyed that this idiot was questioning Trowa's ability as a soccer umpire.
Alicia and Michael exchanged a glance, looked at a grinning Duo, who was standing next to Quatre, and sighed. Sometimes having parents who wanted to get involved in their kids activities wasn't such a great idea.
#24 Ordinary man
"Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be more well ordinary?" asked Quatre when he and Trowa were cuddled up in bed together one night.
"Being ordinary suggests following a status quo," Trowa replied thoughtfully, stroking Quatre's hair. "We wouldn't have been Gundam pilots, or stood against the oppression which was the Alliance. If either of us was an ordinary man, we wouldn't have met, fallen in love, and married."
"No we wouldn't," Quatre agreed, kissing Trowa gently, "and I don't want to imagine how much less my life would have been without you."
#25 Rule of thumb
"I don't care what the rule of thumb was in this company twenty years ago," Quatre said in a cold voice. "We are moving Winner Enterprises into the future, I am in charge now, not my father, and you will respect that, even if you don't respect me."
Sighing, he watched the board of directors file out of the room one by one once he had finished talking. This war was harder than the one he had fought as a Gundam pilot, on so many levels, but he was determined to stand his ground.
Trowa moved out of the shadows to stand behind him and rub his back, his presence and the love between them a reminder to Quatre that, however difficult this battle, as with those he fought during the war, he would not be taking on those who opposed them, alone.
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