"So this is where you are
And this is where I am
So this is where you are
And this is where I've been
Somewhere between
Unsure and a hundred"

The Fay "Hundred"

CHAPTER ONE

Duo stopped midstep and turned to look out the massive window of the shuttle port beside him. It showed him a familiar view, a proud stretch of glorious azure sky broken only occasionally by a white wispy cloud. Hilde had said it was a good time of year to visit Japan and that the weather would be perfect and the tourist attractions all open. A vacation to Earth, a place he'd long left behind him. It felt odd, like a glove that was too loose and he had never quite grown in to. It had always felt this way, and he wondered what had made him hoped it had changed.

Sighing he started walking again, pushing through the crowds and to the luggage pick up. 'You'd think,' he mused mentally, 'with the technological advantage of space travel and giant robots that we'd have long mastered the art of sorting luggage. Alas.' Shaking his head in amusement, he crossed his arms and set himself to wait, eyes looking for the familiar case as his thoughts began to wander again.

As far as he knew, of all the pilots, Duo had been the only one to leave Earth for the colonies. Duo hadn't spoke much to them in four years since then, and it wasn't as if he had a birthday for them to call up and say hello on. However, Duo did miss them, wondered how they were as any old friend would. Every one of them had their place Wufei with the Preventers, Quatre the CEO of Winner Corp., Trowa with Catherine's circus.

However, there was one who's place Duo had no knowledge of, Heero Yuy's. Heero had been the first to leave, actually, having beaten Duo to the punch. Heero, though, didn't wish anyone goodbye and it had stung the group fiercely. They all had known they would finally part ways at the end of the Eve Wars, but no one was planning on cutting ties. At least, Duo hadn't and he was sure Quatre was under the same opinion.

Then again, Heero had never been one to do what was expected of him. These thoughts were tossed aside as his eye light upon the familiar black case and he bent to make a grab for it. All things required in hand, Duo turned to the exits determined to enjoy his vacation.

"Welcome to Tokyo!" a young woman exclaimed in strongly accented English, waving cheerfully at the passersby from the same shuttle flight as Duo and handing out brightly coloured paper. He tried not to frown and instead offered the woman a smile, taking the brochure.

Stepping outside the shuttle port, leaving the sanctuary of the commercial building, he suddenly found himself immersed in a sea of black-hair. Blinking in sudden surprise, Duo remembered again exactly why he had first turned down Hilde's suggestion of visiting Japan.

"How about Tokyo?" Hilde asked, picking up one of the many booklets spread on the dining room table between them. She opened it and gasped immediately, turning the pages with bright eyes. "You'll just love it there!"

Duo balked, stunned for a moment at the idea of Tokyo as his vacation destination. 'Everyone will…' he thought, hiding his face behind a Holland brochure as he frowned deeply. 'Will remind me of Heero…' "Nah, maybe not…"

It was stupid now, he realized, watching the faces of the people who almost literally flowed around him, like a stream to a rock dropped in its center. None of them compared to Heero. None of them even had the same chocolate hue of hair! Shaking his head and stopping himself from insulting the race about him further, Duo looked around for a taxicab. It was to his hotel for a nap to slay the creeping exhaustion at the back of his eyes, and then off to the Tokyo nightlife. Duo had to grin at that.

The room was exactly what he had paid for which pleased Duo immensely. He dropped his duffel bag and suitcase without a care on the couch and headed towards the bed. It was one of those little "suites" where it had a sitting room kitchenette mutant when you walked in, preceded by the actual bedroom area and then the bathroom. 'Just like home,' Duo thought dryly, sitting on the too firm bed.

Slipping off his shoes he started to make himself comfortable only to be rudely interrupted by the phone ringing. He frowned deeply, wondering whom just it could be calling him. Duo had yet to call Hilde and give her his hotel information and she'd call his mobile anyway. Standing warily to his feet he moved back into the sitting room and glared at the vid phone. After three more rings he finally did answer the call and was shocked at who just was calling him.

"Quatre?" he croaked, squinting at the blonde diplomat who was smiling one of those enigmatic smiles at him. The Winner heir appeared taller, as he sat perfectly straight, staring at Duo with amused aquamarine eyes. His platinum blonde hair fell elegantly about his face, curling here and there, yet not taking a notch of Quatre's undeniable masculinity. It was certainly different from the slight boy Duo had once knew, but a change that suited perfectly the man the boy had become.

"Hello, Duo," Quatre replied in a smooth baritone. Duo wondered why no one had alerted him that Jesus had returned, because it could only be so with his old blonde friend looking so…manly?

"Er, hi," Duo said, blinking as he realized it'd been a good minute. "What can I do for you?"

"Duo!" the diplomat exclaimed looking chastised. "Whatever makes you think I'd need something?"

"Well," he started, giving Quatre a dry look. "You couldn't have just had the whim to call me at my hotel when I'd never informed you either that I was planet side or in Japan. I think that about sums it up."

Quatre just looked all the more sheepish. "Its not entirely for that, I have missed you dearly," he went on to say, wringing his hands together in a nervous habit Duo had never seen before.

Waving a hand in the air as if to wave the matter off, Duo gave Quatre one of his all-familiar grins. "S'alright, even if you want to use me it is good to see your face, too," he joked, shrugging his shoulders and sitting in a chair.

Quatre smiled looking tired for the briefest of seconds, showing Duo the real man behind the smiling diplomat mask. "It is good to hear your voice, too," he said, making Duo really believe it. "But there is business in my call, sadly.

"You remember that Heero left without a trace after the Eve Wars? Well, I can't tell you the details," Quatre started, a worried look darkening his turquoise eyes. "But, he was supposed to take a mission for the Preventers, but has vanished once again on us. All of us, and especially Relena, are concerned. You—"

"Say no more, Quat," Duo said, raising a hand to stop the other. "I'm guessing you need my help finding him, then. This is Heero, however, and as much as I miss him I'm sure he hasn't gone missing without good reason."

"Yes," Quatre agreed, a small frown marring his features, as he stared distantly down at his twisting hands. "However, I believe if any of us, you will have the ability to find him."

Duo gave Quatre a hard long look, one that, Duo satisfied, made the Winner shift in his seat. "You've never been good at lying to your friends, Quat," the braided man finally said, ignoring Quatre's soft gasp of surprise. "But I'll help anyway. I'm not guaranteeing anything."

Quatre was subdued now, but he gave Duo a true smile now. "Thank you, Duo."

"Yeah, no problem, Quat. I'll talk to you later." And with that, he disconnected the call. Standing, he silently moved across the darkening room and collapsed into bed.

When Duo woke two hours later, he opened his eyes slowly to stare half-lidded at the ceiling. His naps usually never came with dreams, but it seemed this one had. It had started simple, a memory of the day and the fight he had with Heero on the last day he had seen the man. They were at Relena's ball; Duo was trying to bring Heero back to the party unawares that Heero was intent on leaving their—his life---lives forever. When Heero stormed off in frustration, Duo tried to chase him, but could never quite catch up and when Heero disappeared, he left behind the smell of blood and gunpowder.

His life seemed to be stuck in confusion right now, between his strange dreams and the strange story unfolding about. It was like some bad action drama and Duo found himself the main character and not really sure if he liked the role. Despite what he had said about Quatre lying earlier, he wasn't really sure if he believed that the blonde man was. After all, why would Quatre have reason to lie? Duo would gladly help whether---No, that was wrong, Duo realized. A bitter taste filled his mouth.

Hopping off the bed, he shoved all these thoughts aside. "So much for a fucking vacation," he scoffed as he went to his duffel to dig out a toothbrush, hairbrush, and his toothpaste. Feeling the need to calm frayed nerves, Duo got ready to get a feel for the area of Tokyo he was temporarily residing.

A good tooth brushing and re-braiding later, Duo was out on the town. He looked up and down the street his hotel squatted on with a curious air. When he'd first arrived, he'd been so tired; he hadn't taken the time to look about. The street was busy with others with the same intent as Duo in mind, the distant glow of neon signs brightening many street corners.

With a small sigh, Duo decided he didn't feel up to a night of partying, and resolved instead for dinner. Stuffing his hands in jean pockets, the braided man set off down the street. He thought, vaguely, of the tour guidebook Hilde had gotten him. He had found it, earlier, while digging in his bag for a new hair tie and ended up tossing it immediately in a drawer. It was probably making good friends with the bible right now unneeded by Duo who wanted to get to know the town without some silly tourist book.

Eventually, Duo found a small, hole in the wall, ramen shop. The smells seeping from the door every time it chimed open made Duo's stomach scream in hunger at him. With a grin, Duo headed on in, making a beeline straight for the bar.

There was barely enough room in the place to breathe, let alone the five tables and bar that they had somehow managed to squeeze in there. Duo had just apparently missed the rush, it now empty besides himself and the girl behind the bar he now sat at. She looked at him a little in surprise as she walked down the no more than two feet of length of counter to where he perched on a stool at the corner.

"Hello, sir," she greeted him in English, hers far better than any of the people he'd met earlier today. "How may I be of service?"

"Well, miss," he drawled, leaning on the counter and propping his chin on one palm. "I'm here on vacation and not really sure what you're specialty is. How about you bring me your favorite and we'll see how that goes?"

She blinked, obviously surprised at such a notion, before smiling brightly and nodding. "My name is Kyoko and I'll be your server this evening," she said, making Duo realize he'd been approved for some reason, as she had not offered her name originally. "I hope you don't mind spicy!"

"Not at all," Duo said with a grin and a wink. "I like 'em hot."

A blush and a giggle later, the girl was gone leaving Duo alone for a good three minutes before the bell over the door chimed again, announcing the arrival of another late night customer. Someone hollered a welcome in Japanese from the kitchen, and Duo turned to observe his company. With a silent surprised gasp; he realized he was looking at none other than Heero Yuy himself.

The man was too intent on his cell phone to notice Duo's presence, taking a seat at the table closest to the front window, his back facing Duo. Duo's heart raced and his stomach clenched. Four years had passed since he'd seen this man one of the only people he'd ever been really close to, yet, he found himself hesitating to get up and go greet him. Cursing himself mentally for his foolery, he stood up silently and walked over to where Heero was sitting, plopping in the chair in front of him,

Heero didn't look up yet, holding a single finger up as his fingers flew over buttons. Duo found himself chuckling before he finally spoke up. "Hello, stranger," he said, quietly and softly, his only response to Heero's order of silence.

Heero's fingers stopped, and shocked cobalt eyes met his own grinning blue ones. They stared at each other for a good few minutes before Duo sighed and sat up straight in his chair, looking down at Heero with a raised brow. "Jeez, that how you greet a guy after four years?" he started in a mock hurt tone. "Here I thought I'd get a better start outta ya and at least maybe one accidental hug or two. But nooo, just staring. What, have I got a pimple?"

Heero rolled his eyes and also sat back in his chair, slipping his phone away into a pants pocket and sizing Duo up. "You haven't gotten much taller," Heero observed, in his usual deep monotone.

"And now he insults me!" Duo exclaimed to the young lady server who had returned with two bowls, sitting one before each of them. Kyoko smiled at Duo and laughed before saying something to Heero in Japanese to which the man immediately responded making the girl laughed further. "How rude," Duo muttered, picking up his chopsticks and taking a bite of the noodles. The girl hadn't been lying when she'd said spicy, but it didn't make it any less good.

Duo looked up at Heero curiously, finding the girl gone and the other man doing that staring thing again. 'Maybe I do have a pimple,' Duo mused, staying silent until Heero was finally out with it on what he had to say.

"Why are you here?" Heero finally did ask after four minutes and Kyoko bringing them both cups of green tea, starting in on his ramen as well.

"I'm on vacation," Duo said after swallowing a bite of pork.

"Vacation?" Heero asked, incredulous.

"Yes, Hilde insisted I was driving her insane," Duo said, not noticing Heero's flinch as he looked down at his bowl, struggling to keep the noodles in the grasp of his chopsticks. "So I did."

"Not together?"

Duo's eyebrows furrowed. Why would he and Hilde go on vacation together? Oh. "No, not together," Duo said carefully, looking up at Heero sharply. "Why would you think together?" Duo knew why, didn't mean he wouldn't ask, though.

"I thought you were a couple," Heero replied, matter-of-factly.

"Well, you can unfile as being so," the braided man replied curtly, stirring the few remaining noodles in the broth.

Heero looked sympathetic, surprising Duo immensely, before asking, "You seemed pretty close after the wars, what happened?"

"Just didn't work out," Duo found himself replying, grabbing the tea cup to warm his hands. He didn't elaborate further, never having been sure why it never worked.

"I'm sorry," said Heero softly, that sympathetic look back again making a shiver run through Duo. Who is this man?

Duo's importune dinner companion rose then, glancing at his watch. "I've got to go," Heero said, slipping a small card from his pocket, "Keep in touch?" The chocolate haired man placed the card before Duo and then was gone.

Duo stared at the crisp, white, small sheet of paper before finally throwing money down for them both and leaving. He wondered how the card had jumped from the table and into his pocket.

The blue light of the laptop's start up cast a strangely familiar eerie glow on the dark hotel room, making Duo squint against the sudden intense light. He wasn't quite sure, still, what had happened earlier. He'd met Heero, he realized that, but the man…wasn't the one he knew so long ago. No, even that was wrong, Heero was still Heero…just…different? Older? Mature?

Duo scoffed at this, fingers flying over the keys as he typed in his name and pass code to access the laptop. When had Heero never been mature? Realizing this, however, got him no closer to wrapping his mind around just what was different about Heero. It also didn't explain why he had his laptop out either. Despite that the business card Heero had given him had no more than an email address on it, did not mean that Duo actually had to email him…especially so soon.

Making a noise of frustration he ran a hand jerkily through his hair and slipped down in his chair to stare at the dark ceiling. It loomed overhead, cast in a dim blue colour from the wallpaper of his background, holding no answers to Duo's problems. "I'm just a desperate fool, aren't I?" he asked it, not really excepting an answer.

Shaking his head, he sat back up and stared at the desktop background, not really seeing it. Shouldn't he be angry for Heero having so easily tossed them aside as he had? Shouldn't he want to scream and yell at the man for…? For what? Heero'd done no more than what Duo had been planning to do, just with a more definite and final air about it. Did Duo really have the right to blame the Japanese pilot?

"No," he said aloud, opening the email program with one hand and grabbing the business card of Heero's with the other. 'We're just the same, he and I.'

With a determined air, he started the email. It didn't end up being heartfelt, mushy, or any way near being girly, as he feared may come from his sudden nostalgic mood. Instead, it was short and too the issues at hand, easy for someone like Heero Yuy to read and understand. Duo'd sum it up in three words: What the fuck.

No one had said Duo had to be eloquent. He'd put less crude terms, but when it came down to it, the three-sentence paragraph meant nothing more and nothing less. He could only hope Heero would be willing to answer his plea for some sort of understanding in the mess.

Was he really a Preventer agent now? Duo found himself believing it could be, but a part of him cried out 'no' to him. Heero had been very adamant after Une had given the man no promise that Heero would not have to take another's life. Even as Une persisted, Wufei tried to cajole, and Relena pouted, Heero had stayed firm in his answer. Would the man have gone back on that in the last four years? Duo could see that happening if something prompted the man into doing so, but as far as he knew, nothing that monumental had happened terrorist wise since the Eve Wars.

Sending the email, Duo could only trust Heero to tell him what was going on. That was what it all came down to, trust. He wasn't sure if he could trust Quatre, Duo already felt the man could have lied to him about the whole mission business. The others…'damned,' he thought with frustration, 'who knows about them.'

Looking at the computer clock that displayed midnight to his squinting eyes, he realized just how tired he was. Sighing, he grabbed a book and his reading glasses, clambered onto the bed and settled for the night. Maybe tomorrow would bring more answers. After all, he had six more days Earth side left in this shambles of a vacation.

To be continued...