until1
Until We Meet Again
Part 1

It was midnight and once again Duo found himself unable to sleep. ~It's always the
same..Whenever I close my eyes all I can hear is the screaming and crying.~

It was two years after the Mariemai incident and the four gundam pilots had each gone
their seperate way to try and put the war behind them. In Duo's case it wasn't working.
He had moved in with Hilde, but things just hadn't worked out. They had parted as they
had begun, friends. She was the only one from that time in his life that he still kept in
touch with. When he had had nightmares, she had understood, and even stayed awake to
soothe away his fears. But Hilde was gone, and Duo was all alone.

The clock down the hall was chiming the midnight hour. Duo rubbed his eyes wearily and
wondered for mayhaps the thousandth time, if he should give sleeping pills one more try.
In the beginning, they had worked, but their effects wore off after heaby usage and the
nightmares came back. His cat, Shinigami, leaped up to perch on the windowsill beside
him. His body language all offended dignity at Duo usurping 'his' place. Duo smiled and
ran an affectionate hand down the feline's fur. "At least you're still here eh?"

Duo didn't believe in a lot. As a child, he had had most of his illusions stripped from him
during the destruction of Maxwell Churchs. Well those that had been left after years of
living on the streets. The few he harbored after the war and not been able to survive the
harsh reality of the thing called peace. Shinigami began his trademarked rumbling purr.
Duo swore no other cat in the world could rival him at it. He made the foundations shake.
He'd found the cat halfway dead, in the middle of a rainstorm. He had been hurrying
home from school and seen a group of young boys, ten or so, kicking at it. He'd ran them
off and the cat had officially adopted him.

The shrill sound of a telephone interrupted his dark thoughts. ~Who would be calling at
this hour?~ he wondered in startlement. He reached over to pick up the extension, his
voice coming out hoarse and dry, "Hello?" The voice on the other side started in, brisk
and efficient. "Hello Mr. Marxwell? I'm Nurse Conrad. I'm calling to inform you of a
Mr. Yuy's injury. You were listed as the person to notify in case of emergency." The
words ran together in Duo's head. ~Nurse....Mr. Yuy...Emergency...~ "Heero's been
hurt?" he asked, becoming fully alert. The nurse took a deep breath, "We're not allowed
to talk about these things on the phone, so could you come down to the hospital? It's the
Rio Hospital on Rodeo Drive." Duo wrote that down and assured the nurse he would be
there quickly. "Well Shinigami looks like I'm still needed for something." Shinigami
looked up at him smugly. Duo half-smiled, and shrugged into his jacket. Then he all but
ran out the door.

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