OPENING THEME

Toku ni kirameku

Yume o mi ageteru bakari da to

Jibun no ibasho o

Mi ushinattari mo suru sa

Yozora wa mugen no hoshi o

Kira kira kagayakasete

Kizuitenai dake

Kimi no kokoro to onnaji

If you are always looking up at a dream

Glittering in the distance

You just might forget where you are now.

The night sky makes the infinite

Stars to sparkle

Without being aware of it.

Your heart is the same way.

Dareka ga soba ni iru to

Minna hambun ni naru

We are only half ourselves

When someone is standing beside us.

Kanashii koto mo nayamigoto de mo

Fushigina kurai hagemasareru yo

It's mysterious how sad things and worries

Can encourage us onward.

Shinjite goran mahou ja nakute

Kimi no yasashisa wa subete no chikara

Boku wa I'm your friend

Please believe. It's not magic.

It's your kindness that holds all the power.

I'm your friend.

Dear Daiki,

It's the start of my first summer without you. We just got settled into the new house. The town is quaint and fairly small; I've never seen anything like it before. All of the houses are spread apart and sort of surround a pretty lake. You'd never know this was Japan. Well, it's not Tokyo and not what I'm used to, but it's very scenic. Say hi to everyone for me and give them my phone number. Okaasama wants me to go out to explore the area (or rather, get me out of the house for a few hours while she finishes arranging the kitchen) so I'll end this letter here. I'll write again once I find out more about the place.

Always remember, I'm your friend.

Sincerely,

Quatre

Episode 1: The Start of Summer! "I'd Love to Be Your Friend."

Quatre Raberba Winner folded a sheet of sky blue paper and slid it into a waiting envelope. He stood up from the desk and took a survey of his room. Yes, it was looking good. Two flowers in a glass vase on his hardwood bed stand, a poster of a violin resting on a piano placed carefully over his bed, a small animal cage on the floor in one corner, a wall scroll on the long wall, and his romance novels lined up on the bookshelf. The room didn't have a particular theme, but it was almost like Quatre's old room, so he was pleased with the results of his three hours' work earlier that morning.

Quatre kneeled down beside the metal wire cage and unlatched the swing-up lid. A slight rustling was heard coming from the wooden nesting box.

"Tomo-kun, how are you, boy?" Quatre lifted the lid of the box and carefully scooped up a palm-sized flying squirrel. For a moment the little creature blinked at him with large black eyes, and then it shinnied up Quatre's arm to sit on his shoulder.

"Tomo-kun, you're such a cute baby," Quatre couldn't help crooning. "I'm going out soon. Just wanted to say good morning. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Chu," Tomokazu chirped back.

Quatre laughed. Darling little animals always seemed to make him act silly. He lowered his friend back into the cage, and blew him a kiss as he left the room.

The fifteen-year-old softly walked downstairs. From the delicate chime of chinaware being moved about he knew his mother must be sorting and positioning dishes in the kitchen cupboards.

"Oi, Quatre," came a voice from the living room. "Are you off to the post office?"

"Oniisan." Quatre greeted his older brother. "Yes, Okaasama wants to get me out of her hair so I'm going out. What about you?"

Zechs turned from watching the TV, smoothing out microscopic winkles in his t-shirt. "I'll be going in a minute. This show's almost over. Could you mail a postcard for me? I'm entering a sweepstakes to win a car."

"Of course I could." Quatre closed his eyes and smiled.

"Now don't loose it."

"I won't. I know how to get to the post office and I'm going there straight."

"What are you mailing? Aa. Could it be.... a love letter?"

"No. There isn't anyone I like. I've told you that a hundred times. It's for Daiki."

"Hm. See, I told you it was a love letter."

"It isn't! He's my best friend."

"Or so you say."

"Quit teasing me."

"Oh, but you're so much fun, Quatre. Blushing madly whenever anyone talks about love. Or relationships. Or -"

"Please just give me the postcard."

"You spend so much time reading those books of yours that you don't try to find romance in the real world. But then again, maybe that's for the best. After all, anyone who sees my beauty wouldn't fall for you, now, would they? It's unfortunate, but life's not fair...."

"The postcard, please?"

Zechs dug the card out of his jacket pocket and after handing it to Quatre the younger boy stepped out the front door.

"I'm leaving!" Quatre said as always.

"Come back safely," Zechs returned in the essential tradition.

Quatre caught the earnest look on this brother's face and felt that the sentiment wasn't said purely out of habit.

 

Quatre left the post office and started walking down the main road in town. He tucked his city map into a jeans pocket and pondered his situation. Everything here was different from what he knew. Trees and woods surrounded him instead of apartment buildings and skyscrapers. It was quite picturesque really.

The teen had already decided to take a stroll along one side of the lake before heading home. However, a beautiful forest was coming up on his left so he deviated from the main road. It was such a romantic place, Quatre thought, looking upward at the sunlight gently filtering through the trees. He could almost feel the moss underfoot through his tennis shoes. He paused to gaze respectfully at a cheerful little stream before heading on.

"Kusooooo!"

Quatre stopped his casual stroll abruptly when he heard a yell coming from the direction of the residential area. Quatre silently hurried to see if somebody was in trouble.

He pushed aside some low branches and found himself staring right into the violet eyes of someone about his own age. They stood frozen for a moment, nose to nose, until Quatre backed away.

"Excuse me," Quatre apologized. "I didn't mean to get in your way."

"No problem!" The other boy put two hands on his hips and grinned. "Maybe you could help me out, though? I just dropped my colored pencils in the water over there but I'm wearing borrowed clothes so I can't get them wet trying to fish 'em out, you know?"

The boy ran a hand through his brown bangs and then offered the other to Quatre. "I'm Duo. Nice to meet you! How'd you get here?"

Quatre shook his hand and smiled. "I'm Quatre Raberba Winner. My family just moved into town over that way yesterday. We used to live in Asakusa. I'm just taking a walk and I'm glad to be of aid."

Duo's eye's widened. "Cool. You're sure polite," he replied, winking. "You'll notice as you get to know me that I'm a real hang-loose kind of guy. I'm pretty cool myself, so I'm sure we can get along."

"Oh, I'd love to be your friend," Quatre offered.

Duo stopped to looked at the blonde for a moment, trying to figure him out. "Super," he told him. "The pencils are down there."

"Was it you who was yelling a minute ago? I was wondering if someone is in danger or something."

"Aa, you heard that?" Duo shrugged. "Heh, yep. Those pencils cost 100 en each. I was dumb to drop them all like that. They were in this pencil holder I had on the ground next to the water but it tipped over. I'm workin' on a sketch."

"Of the brook? How lovely."

"Hei hei, I can't draw masterpieces. This place is just shady and sorta secluded so I draw here. I do fanart of anime."

Duo turned to lead the way the short distance to the water's edge and Quatre started. The other boy had a long braid trailing down his back past his waist. Quatre hadn't seen anything like it before. Not on a male, that is.

Duo paused. "Something wrong?"

Quatre's face turned a light shade of pink and he tried to smile nonchalantly. He was afraid it was turning out more like a goofy grin, although why he was feeling slightly embarrassed he couldn't tell.

"No, nothing really," Quatre responded. "I just didn't notice how long your hair was 'til now. It's very pretty."

Duo raised one eyebrow.

Quatre felt flustered. "What I mean is, it's rather becoming on you. No, that is -"

"That's fine. I get the jist. People used to comment, but I've been here a few years now and after a month or two, you get to know everyone in the community. Heh, whether you want to or not; we're that tiny. This way."

The two boys leaned over the greenish water. The stream Quatre had come across earlier widened and emptied into a small pond. Quatre sighted some rods of color under the water and, hiking up his jeans as much as possible, he retrieved them without getting too soaked.

"Thanks a lot!" Duo exclaimed, gathering the beloved pencils in his hands. "Come here, you can take a look at my art. Not that I show it to everybody, but I owe you something at least for rescuing these babies for me. You like anime?"

"Definitely."

Duo dropped himself onto the grass and pulled up his sketch pad. Quatre settled himself beside the artist.

"If you don't mind, I'm just gonna let you see some of the newer stuff. Not that you have much of a choice, huh? Anyway, the early pictures aren't too good. Suffice to say I'd be mortified if anyone saw those scribbles."

Quatre watched captivated as Duo started turning the pages and remarking on various drafts.

"Don't think I'm abnormal or anything, but I thought Ranma 1/2 was kinda cool just 'cuz he's got a braid, you know? But the show was sorta slapsticky, I don't know. So that's supposed to be Akane and Ranma. Boy, the arm's too small in that one. I never go back and fix my old work. See, each one's dated so I can see how I'm progressing.... or if I'm progressing, I guess. You seen Beruseiya no Bara? This's Oscar. She's a girl, not a bishounen. She just dresses like a guy. She was before Utena. That show was sorta like inspired maybe from BeruBara; I've got an Anthy & Miki picture somewhere in here...."

"Oh, that's stunning, Duo," Quatre commented, pointing at an Escaflowne group drawing as Duo flipped past.

"You like Esca? It's the best, don't ya think? Well, one of 'em. What kind of anime do you like most?"

"Well, I like seishun romances."

Duo stopped whipping the pages for a second. "Hm? Interesting. Pardon me for sayin' so, but I just wouldn't have imagined you liking ecchi."

Quatre froze for second. "Aa, no. Um, see, I like romances. I don't watch.... e.... e.... ecchi.... very often. There's a number of good programs that aren't ecchi." Quatre paused. He was talking about ecchi with someone he'd just met! "And some of the ecchi series aren't ecchi the whole way through or anything, just hardly," he continued, rubbing his hands together. "I don't.... really..... look at those scenes much."

"Sure, I've gotcha. Don't be shy. I like mecha series and sentai, but everything, really. Yeah, I'm an all-around otaku. Oh, here we go. I knew there was an Utena picture. I like Miki and Anthy. Too bad they didn't end up together. Did you watch that?"

"No."

"I'll loan you the LDs. But see this sketch? It's of Rurouni Kenshin. Now that's a great show."

Quatre gazed at the page respectfully. He moved his legs in front of his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

"Duo?" he asked.

"Hm?"

"Are you Japanese?"

Duo laughed and stretched out his legs in front of him. "Oh, you could tell I'm not, huh? Nope, I'm totally American. My mom's English and Scottish and German and about 20 other things. I forgot what my dad is.... cultural melting pot descendants, both of 'em. We lived in California until I was 10."

"That's so interesting. I've never been to the United States."

"Oh, it's great. Southern California, where I lived, has a nice climate and you can buy Japanese stuff there." Duo shrugged. "I've liked anime since I first saw a dubbed TV show airing on American TV. I was so psyched to move here."

"That's amazing," Quatre replied. "I've lived in Japan all my life, but I didn't really get into anime fandom until last summer."

Duo tossed the blonde boy a crooked grin. "Weirdo," he said.

"Oiiiiiiiii, Duo!"

The two boys spun around to see two girls on bicycles riding toward them. Quatre wasn't expecting that and promptly bumped into Duo, who consequently nearly fell into the stream but hastily grabbed onto Quatre's shirt to hold himself up.

"What are you doing, Duo?" one of the girl's voices rang out as she slowed to a stop. She hopped off the bike and looked down at him, eyebrows high in question.

"Nothing. It was him." Duo jerked a finger at Quatre's head.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you." Quatre quickly pried Duo's other hand from his shirt and rose to nod at the girls.

"This is Quatre," Duo introduced. "He just moved to town. This is Relena."

"Relena Peacecraft," the girl supplied. She flipped her dark blonde hair over one shoulder and gave a slight curtsy. "Nice to make your acquaintance."

"What the -?" Duo demanded. He shot a look at Quatre. "She's not usually this formal."

Relena smiled. "I am too, when I'm in the presence of those worthy of my civility."

Duo shrugged. "Hei, I didn't do anything to you."

"No, you didn't. I just like to give you a hard time once in a while." She winked.

"I'm touched," Duo replied dryly.

"Duo?" a second voice interjected. "Introductions seem to be in order."

Quatre sighted the other girl who was leaning her bicycle against a tree trunk. She straightened and walked over to them, grinning cheerfully. Her dark hair was mostly hidden beneath a deep rose-colored hat, but her eyes were sparkling and her mouth almost had a laugh on it. Quatre thought she was charming.

"I'm Hilde. You are?"

Quatre gave his classic closed-eye smile. "I'm Quatre Raberba Winner. I'm very pleased to meet you. And you," he added, turning to shine his smile at Relena. "I don't mean to be forward, but.... I seem to recognize your face from somewhere. Perhaps I'm mistaken."

Relena chuckled and Duo took it as an opportunity to explain for her.

"I bet you have," he agreed. "Wouldn't you know the second person you meet in town is our most famous resident. Ojousan was a supporting role on a short-lived TV drama called 'Toe Shoes'. It just ended production a few months ago and now she might get a new part in something else."

Hilde placed her hands on Relena's shoulders. "Yes, Relena-chan is really talented. She's also -" Hilde stuck out her tongue playfully, "- my best friend."

Relena raised a palm to her face in mock bashfulness. The girls giggled.

Duo impetuously twirled on his heels and stomped to the creek. He proceeded to glare into the lapping water.

Quatre hesitantly took a step toward him but Hilde rushed past him, and, from behind, swung her arms around the angry boy.

"I'm sorry, sorry!" she exclaimed, hugging him tightly. "You're my best friend too! Seriously, I wasn't being mean or anything. Forgive me, okay?"

Duo pouted for a minute and then relented. Quatre had never had friends like these before.

Duo walked back awkwardly, Hilde still hanging from his neck. She waved at Quatre.

"Good to meet you," she told him. "It seems you're Duo's new best friend too?"

"Um-"

"Yep!" Duo affirmed. "Quatre and I are so close now. 'Cuz.... I let him see my drawings." Duo gave an all-knowing look to the girls.

"You didn't!" Hilde demanded to know. "You don't let anybody look at those. You didn't let me look at them until I knew you for weeks! Now I'm hurt. Okay, I'm kidding. But can I see your new ones?"

"Mmmm...... nope, you can't," Duo answered. He loudly whispered toward Quatre, "A girl likes it if you're standoffish."

"Duo, I do not! Come on, let's have the sketch book." Hilde hurried to pick it off the ground.

"Hilde, I don't mean to intercede," Relena spoke up, "but you might want to comply with Duo's wishes. If you take a peek without permission, you're dead meat. He's a violent youth."

"A violent youth?" Duo mouthed at Hilde with a quizzical expression. "Where'd she get that?"

Relena caught a glimpse of this and conceded. "Well, you never know. He seems like he could kill a person."

Quatre gave Duo a once-over and tried not to appear unnerved.

Duo scoffed.... and then pretended to go after Relena with a bladed weapon.

"Hahahaha! I'm after your blood, beautiful Ojousan!" he cackled. "Come to Duo, the Shinigami!"

Relena shrieked, dropped her bike, and ran circles around Quatre and Hilde, the latter who was laughing. Relena was laughing too. She was the only person Quatre had seen who could laugh and shriek at the same time.

"Enough, enough already!" Hilde cried after a few minutes.

"Duo!" Quatre grabbed onto his sleeve to slow him down. However, Duo had too much momentum to equal Quatre's strength and he spun out of control and directly into the stream.

"Kuso!"

Relena stopped shrieking and Hilde stopped laughing.

"Why Duo!" the navy-haired girl said incredulously as he stumbled, dripping, out of the water. "Duo....!"

Duo shrugged his shoulders and tried to wring out his braid.

"Duo Maxwell!" Hilde sputtered. "You're in for it! That's my best shirt, you idiot!"

Quatre felt a large sweatdrop slide down the back of his head.

Hilde frowned. "Okay, you've gotta pay me back for it. Where's your wallet?! And give me back my shirt! Take it off! I can't believe you're this irresponsible."

Hilde grabbed at Duo, yanking at and unbuttoning the shirt.

"Hei, stop it!" Duo protested, doing his best to shove Hilde off of him but at the same time keep his clothing intact.

Relena sat down on the ground, watching the unusual spectacle with some interest. Quatre found that to be a good idea and sat down next to her.

When Duo promised to pay for the shirt Hilde gave up. But not after convincing him to wash it for her and return it the next day.

Duo soon struck up an animated argument with Relena regarding which of them was more violent in general. Quatre turned to Hilde and was a little surprised to see her gazing at his face intently. She smiled shyly. Quatre thought it a bit humorous as she had been yelling reprimands the minute before.

"Quatre-kun? Would you walk over there with me for a minute? Please?" Hilde motioned toward her bike, which was a few yards away.

"Sure. Um, why?"

Quatre got to his feet and followed her, feeling a bit nervous for some reason. This always seemed to happen when he talked to girls.

"Oh, it's...." Hilde stopped her even stride beneath a maple tree. She lowered her head slightly. "You see, there's something that I've been wondering about lately. I hadn't found someone right to do it with before, but I just noticed you're.... perfect."

Hilde looked up at Quatre from under long lashes and his nervousness increased.

"Yeah. Just.... stand there," she told him quietly. "And close your eyes?"

Quatre found himself complying, but a hundred thoughts were flooding through his mind. He wasn't even sure why he was going along with this....

He could hear Hilde rummaging in a pocket for a moment, and then he sensed her step closer to him. And closer. Then her breath was on his cheek.

Just then a loud noise erupted in Quatre's ear and his eyes flew open. Suddenly his brain registered. It sounded like a gunshot.

ENDING THEME

EVERYBODY, NICE! EVERYBODY, NICE!

ashita no kagayaki wo shinjiteru

EVERYBODY, CHANCE! EVERYBODY, CHANCE!

kono te ni tsukamaeyou CARRY ON

Everybody, nice! Everybody, nice!

Believe in the shining of tomorrow.

Everybody, chance! Everybody, chance!

Grab onto my hand and carry on.

kata wo butsukete surechigau

nido to aenai oretachi

jibun kattena yarikata de

ashita wo sagasou

We who just bumped shoulders and brushed past each other

Each in our own way, we'll search for tomorrow.

itsuka aerusa omae ga sagashiteiru yume ni

kaze ni sakaratte toozakaru sono senaka ni GOOD LUCK & GOOD BYE

We'll meet again sometime

in the dreams you're searching for

as you face into the wind and I see your back becoming small in the distance

Good luck & good bye.

PREVIEW

"I'm Quatre Raberba Winner. My new friends I met in the forest are an unlikely group. Duo says I should audition for a summer musical with Relena. I've never been in the spotlight. What should I do? Hilde got a little too close to me for comfort. What was happening? And a mysterious destructive boy is suspicious....

"Next time on 'Junshin na Kare'! 'Episode 2: Quatre's Decision. Can I Act Alongside Semi-Professionals?'

"Please stay tuned!"

JAPANESE WORD & SUFFIXES KEY:

-chan: added to given name to address children affectionately, can also be used among girls who are close friends

-kun: added to given or family name of male friends or someone of lower status, also rarely can be used for girls

oniisan: someone else's older brother OR as a term of address "my older brother"

okaasama: polite form of okaasan, as a term of address "my mother"

ojousan: your or someone else's daughter OR a young lady or girl

oi: hey

hei: hey

kuso: crap

en: yen, the currency in Japan

Beruseiya no Bara: Rose of Versailles, a classic anime series

seishun: youth, adolescence. More broadly, the time of growing up, experiencing first love, trials of school and trying to graduate, figuring out what future to pursue, etc.

ecchi: "H", short for the word hentai which means perverted. Ecchi anime has sex in it. Some seishun romance series are ecchi.

mecha: short for mechanical, in anime anything mechanical from giant robots to hand-size gadgets

sentai: team fighting, a genre in anime and live-action TV shows

otaku: obsessed fan. Derogatory connotation, but used by many American anime fans to describe themselves.

Shinigami: God of Death

SONG CREDITS:

I'm your friend

Words: Kimito Keiko

Music: Iwasaki Motoyoshi

Arrange: Iwasaki Motoyoshi

Song: Orikasa Ai (as Quatre Raberba-Winner)

Romanization: Kristen

Translation: Katherine

Found At: The Gundam Wing Archive (http://www.gundamwing.net/gwarchive/)

GOOD LUCK AND GOOD BYE

Words: Andou Yoshihiko

Music: Ozeki Masaya

Arrange: Iwasaki Motoyoshi

Song: Seki Toshihiko (as Duo Maxwell)

Romanization: ??? (Found at DejaNews)

Translation: Katherine

Found At: The Gundam Wing Archive (http://www.gundamwing.net/gwarchive/)

Author's Notes:

I got through chapter, or I should say, episode, 1 and I'm quite happy about it. The idea for this story came to me probably in June or July and I've been wanting to write it for a while now.

Zechs isn't quite himself from the real Gundam Wing, is he? ^_^;

If you're wondering where in Japan Quatre and co. live, I don't know. I'm picturing the place in an episode of Card Captor Sakura when Sakura went on a vacation and met her grandfather. It is likely a fantasy area only for summer homes, but I don't know. If anyone knows of a place in Japan that fits what I've described in the fic, please let me know.

I'd like to note that Quatre's friend in Tokyo, Daiki, is named after my favorite manga/anime character, Asuka Daiki (more commonly known as Asuka Jr.) from Kaitou Saint Tail by Tachikawa Megumi. This is a very sweet romantic comedy, so if you enjoy romance please check it out. The manga is absolutely enjoyable and endearing. ^_~

You might have noticed that the TV drama "Toe Shoes" has the same name as a shoujo manga series by Mizusawa Megumi. There isn't really a TV drama; I made it up.

Thanks for reading!

-Stephanie

Gundam Wing characters, names, etc. © copyright by Soutsu Agency, Sunrise, Terebi Asahi, Bandai, and associated parties. The characters of this work are used WITHOUT permission for entertainment only. This story is not meant for sale or profit.

Story ©copyright 1999 by Stephanie M. Taylor

Comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated! Please e-mail me by removing the spaces: dioptase @ quixium .com

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