Which was the whole reason he was on the street in the first place, watching the people dance through the streets in their elaborate costumes. There were a few that were difficult to distinguish as to whether they were male or female, and they were of all ages. A pair of girls--or were they boys? he could never tell during Carnival--swirled by, one wrapped in flowing skirts with flowers twined into short blonde hair; the other in black robes with elaborately-braided chestnut locks. They both cast a glance his way and giggled before fading into the crowd again.
He smiled to himself. Ever since he turned 13, girls and boys alike always took a second look. He was a good-looking young man, even though his dark brown tresses had a mind of their own, with piercing cobalt eyes and a trim, muscular build. He sighed and readjusted his mask, hoping to blend into the crowd and make his way back to the hotel before--
"Wanna dance?"
He whirled around at the soft voice and came face to face with a vision. The girl--he *assumed* it was a girl, no guy could ever be that lithe or graceful- looking--was clad in white silk pants and a navy tank-top that accentuated her graceful shoulders. Her black hair fell around her face, drawing attention to her deep, deep brown eyes; they were so dark, he'd almost mistaken them for black. She put one hand on her hip and tiled her head, a pout beginning to form on her lips.
Before he realized what he was doing, he took her hand and allowed her to pull him into the throng of dancers. Heero would be the first to admit that he wasn't the greatest dancer, but with that vision at his side, he felt like he could dance all night long. She kept very close to him, as if afraid of losing her prize to one of the other Carnival-goers. The two girls-or-boys from earlier danced by them in the crowd, calling something out to the girl in a language he couldn't understand. The beauty with him flushed and shouted something back which caused the other two to laugh and dance off into the crowd again.
"Do you know them?" Heero asked, truly curious as to her reaction to them.
The girl looked at him with her wide, dark eyes and nodded. "Duo and Quatre. They're just jealous that I got to you first."
She turned and pressed a quick but gentle kiss to his lips before returning to the dance. Heero touched his lips, a small smile forming on his face. The girl glanced back over her shoulder and nodded for him to follow her lead.
They danced through the crowd with ease--apparently, his dance partner was a very popular young woman, as every person they passed caught her up for a few measures of the song. Heero finally caught her again and pulled her tight against him, burying his face in her silken black tresses.
She sighed softly and gently pushed away from him, only to pull him after her in another whirlwind turn through the streets. He followed her eagerly, realizing with a start that he was having more fun than he'd had in a long time... and that maybe, just maybe, he was falling in love.
A light rain started to fall, but that did nothing to deter the festivities. People continued to dance through the streets without a care; Heero and the alluring young girl dancing with him moved through the crowd with a fluid grace. He kept one hand on her hip, guiding her more than she was guiding him, it seemed. And she was more than willing to let him control the rhythm of their dance that night.
"What's your name?" he finally asked softly in her ear. She smiled slightly and shook her head.
"That would ruin the mystery," she said, eyes sparkling mischievously.
"Then I'll just call you Spanish Eyes, like the song, I guess," he said playfully. She seemed to consider that for a moment, then smiled, the sparkle still in her beautiful dark eyes.
"Come on," she said, tugging on his arm. "There's still a whole night ahead of us!"
The night passed quickly in a whirlwind of dancing and laughing, all the while an image in white stayed at his side. Several times he managed to sweep her up into a kiss, which she returned fiercely each and every time. Towards dawn, the two dancers he'd come across earlier that night joined them--and he'd discovered that at least one of them was a guy. The little blond with him remained quiet, shooting curious glances between him and the girl he called Spanish Eyes and smiling whenever they made eye contact. The boy, Duo, kept asking him questions about what he was doing in Rio anyway, and what he thought of the local color. After a few hours of chatting easily with the young man--he was a surprisingly good listener when he stopped talking to breath--they said their good-byes, and he turned to talk to Spanish Eyes, half-hoping that he'd get to see her again after tonight.
But she was gone.
Heero looked up and down the streets, talking to anyone he'd run across the night before, hoping that at least one of them had seen which way she'd gone. No one could rightly remember seeing her after the brief moment the pair of them had whirled by during the festival. One person thought he knew the girl, but when Heero went to the address the man had given him, it turned out to be a blond-haired girl named Relena. She didn't know Spanish Eyes either, but said that she hoped he found who he was searching for.
The week passed without incident. Heero spent every minute he could--i.e., every time he could get away from his parents for a minute or so--looking for the girl who had captured his heart, but couldn't find her at all. On the last day of the trip, he ran into Duo again. This time, it was easy to see that Quatre was a guy as well. Heero didn't recognize the other boy with them--he didn't seem all that interested in the newcomer, and kept his gaze averted to the store window.
"Oi, Heero!" Duo called cheerfully. "I was kinda hoping I'd see you again 'fore you left!"
"Hi, Duo," Heero greeted, smiling slightly in spite of himself. He couldn't get that raven-haired vision out of his head.... "This is my last day in Rio. Otousan's business trip is finished, and we'll be going back to Japan tomorrow morning."
"That's too bad," Quatre said softly, slipping one arm around Duo as he stepped up beside the other two boys. The black-haired youth turned to lean against the window, watching them all through half-lidded eyes. "I know for a fact that your dance partner wanted to see you again before your trip was over."
"You've seen her?" Heero asked, unable to keep his eagerness out of his voice. Duo laughed brightly.
"We see 'her' all the time!" he said cheerfully. "'She' wanted me to give you a message, if you think you'll have time to go before you head home..."
Heero blinked in confusion. "Go where?"
"La Gatita Negra," Duo said, holding out a scrap of paper with an address scribbled onto it. "We all hang out there all the time, and that's where 'she'll' be tonight if you wanna say good-bye in person."
Heero took the paper, glanced over the address and nodded. As he turned to leave, he thought he saw the boy leaning against the window smiled slightly to himself.
Heero arrived at the club before nine o'clock. When he walked in, he was struck by the grace and beauty of all the people inside. Some were male, some female, all moved with the same sinuous grace. He, however, was searching for one sinuous form in particular. He spotted Duo and Quatre making out in one corner of the room; the boy who had been with them before was making his way towards the dance floor to join the throng there. It wasn't until cheers and cries of "Dance with me next!" came from the crowd that Heero turned his attention back to the dancers. And his eyes widened in surprise as he realized who had attracted the attention of the club goers.
The dark-haired boy moved with a fluid grace from one partner to the next, eyes closed and a small blissful smile touching his lips. He refused to be held for too long by anyone, male or female, swirling away from each one as he allowed the music to move him.
Another pair of arms caught him as the song ended. His eyes flew open abruptly, anger flaring to life in them for just a moment before he caught sight of just *who* had managed to ensnare him. Then they lit up brightly, sparkling as brightly as they had during Carnival. "Heero."
"Hey, Spanish Eyes," he replied softly, then leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to the other boy's lips. One that was returned with the same fierce intensity as ever one before that.
From their corner of the room, Duo and Quatre grinned at one another.
"Didn't I tell you that Heero wouldn't care that Wu's a guy?"
"Yes, you did, love. Now shut up and kiss me."
Duo snickered and quickly complied.