Disclaimer: Sunrise owns Gundam Wing.

Wufei looked out over the water. He watched the sickly yellow patterns that drifted like a moving painting over the deep green lake. It was beautiful. For a second he pitied Quatre. The boy couldn't be outside with all the pollen, it made him terribly ill. Then he snorted. Quatre was always fighting, despite all his myraid ailments. If he got himself killed, that was his poor judgement. The weak should not fight.

Wufei stood under the tree's shade, even though it wasn't very hot out, there was no need to make himself ill by standing in the sun. He looked out over the lake. It was full of activity today. The pilots had returned to earth, specifically the Cinq Kingdom yesterday after a particularly long battle. Relena had invited them all to stay at this small farm where she was relaxing for a few days to rest. Heero had probably been here before since this was one of Relena's favorite getaway places, but he didn't know if any of the other pilots had been here previously. It seemed an unusal place for them all to be, but it was tranquil and he enjoyed the opportunity to just walk around and listen to the wind rustle the leaves. To watch the clouds creep across the sky and the butterflies flitter from one flower to another. It would be perfect, if he were alone.

He looked across the lake and saw Hilde sitting on a fence and Duo doing some kind of mating dance around her. Relena had deftly maneuvered Heero over to a row boat and now she was trying to talk him into taking it out on the lake. Heero looked less than pleased, but Wufei could tell the stoic pilot was crumbling by the way he tried to avoid looking at her face, which now held a puppy dog expression on it. And Trowa was laying out a blanket on the grass with Quatre standing behind him holding a picnic basket.

Wufei could feel the blood in his veins rise. What was Trowa thinking? Quatre wasn't supposed to be outside. He got headaches from the pollen and if he stayed out too long he would get nauseous. Trowa probably wanted to make him sick so he could spend the rest of the night taking care of his 'little one', but Wufei didn't feel like spending the evening listening to Quatre as he hunched over a toilet bowl.Wufei began the slow trek over the dam towards his friends.

When Quatre saw Wufei coming towards him, he smiled. Wufei was so antisocial. It was a rare ocassion when he made any attempt to speak with the other pilots.

"Hello Wufei, would you like to join us? We have more than enough food."

"No, I didn't come to eat. I am curious as to why you are out here today Quatre. Surely your health will be adversely affected. The lake is covered with a layer of yellow pollen."

"Oh I know, but it's such a pretty day. I'll probably have to take a pill and a nap when I go in, but it's worth it. I've been stuck in space too long." Quatre smiled and began to dig into the picnic basket. "Are you sure you're not hungry Wufei? I have cupcakes." He pulled a yellow cupcake with chocolate icing out of the basket with a grim. He lowered his voice."Trowa and I took the precaution of adding enough so that if we ran into Duo, we'd still have some for ourselves."

Wufei looked at the preoffered cupcake and said nothing. Was Quatre stupid or did he enjoy being sickly? "You know that if you eat that, it will probably sit in your stomach like lead until it comes up again. You're being foolish Quatre. You should go inside now, before the pollen starts to make your skin itch."

Quatre frowned and Trowa jumped to his defense. "Leave him alone Wufei, he wants to enjoy today just like everyone else. It's depressing to be stuck inside on a day like this."

"Fine if he insists on acting the fool, I won't stop him. Just make sure that his room is far enough away from mine, that his retching doesn't keep me up tonight." With that Wufei walked away from the pair.

Quatre looked miserable and Trowa had his hand in a fist, but stayed on the blanket. He didn't want to make things worse. He wasn't going to spoil their picnic by getting into a fistfight with Wufei, but this wasn't an end to their discussion.

Quatre skipped dinner. Wufei didn't say anything, but when Relena asked Trowa why his companion was absent, Trowa looked at Wufei as he explained that Quatre wasn't feeling well. He was daring Wufei to say anything. Now that Quatre was safely tucked away in bed, Trowa was determined to have a chat with the chinese pilot. It didn't take him long to get Wufei alone. Duo and Hilde had excused themselves after dessert and headed up to their room. Heero and Relena went outside to do some stargazing. Wufei was never big on tv so he settled down into one of the overstuffed armchairs and began reading a book of haiku.

"Well here you are."

"Is there something you want, Trowa?"

"I think you know what I want."

"I don't."

"You owe Quatre an apology."

"I do not."

"What you said wasn't very nice." Trowa leaned on the doorframe with his arms crossed. He was speaking quietly, but his eyes were angry and Wufei knew if he got up to leave now, there'd be trouble.

Wufei closed the book. Placing it on his lap he turned to Trowa. "Perhaps not, but I wasn't wrong. He skipped dinner because the pollen made him ill. I only tried to give him fair warning."

"No you didn't. You were purposefully cruel."

"I wasn't."

"You didn't need to upset him like that."

"Was he upset? I didn't notice."

"You wouldn't."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you can very inconsiderate at times. In fact at all times."

"I am considerate, when it is appropriate. But I will not suffer fools."

"Quatre isn't a fool. He doesn't need you telling him how to live his life."

"Fine I'll mind my own business."

"Please do." Trowa left and Wufei went back to his book.

"Wufei." A quiet voice came at him from somewhere far away.

"What?" Wufei opened his eyes and saw Quatre standing next to his chair. He blinked and looked at his book, it was lying open in his lap. He had fallen asleep. There wasn't a clock in the room, he had no idea how late it was.

"I'm sorry to wake you Wufei, but Trowa told me about the talk you two had and I wanted to tell you that I'm not mad at you."

"It doesn't matter Quatre."

"Of course it matters."

"Some of what I said this afternoon may have been inappropriate. You have every right to be upset."

"But I'm not upset. I am honored that my health is a concern of yours."

Wufei squirmed a little. "Yes well...how are you feeling Quatre?"

"Oh not too bad. I still have a little headache, but it's better now and I didn't eat much, so I am not nauseous."

"Oh, that's good." Quatre smiled. "You should go back to bed. It's late and I don't want Trowa coming after me, because he can't find you."

"Yeah okay. Here." Quatre handed Wufei the glass that he had been holding. It was full of milk.

"Why...?"

"To go with your cupcake." Quatre pointed over to the table by the armchair. "I saved you one."