========================================
Role Reversal
By Sefilin
========================================
Disclaimers: Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing copyright Sunrise,
Bandai, Sotsu Agency
==========
Chapter One
==========
Grinning maniacally, Duo materialised behind Quatre and
slapped him on the back, causing the glass the blonde was
carrying to clink against the white teeth in his mouth.
"Oi, Quatre-man!"
Quatre glanced at the slight red stains that now
dotted the sleeve of his pale pink shirt and just managed to
stop the grimace from rising to his face. He gave a resigned
sigh before placing his wine glass on the table and putting
a welcoming smile on his face. He turned to his friend.
"Konban wa, Duo-kun. I'm glad you made it."
"Yeah, took longer than we thought it would to finish off
those OZ bastards, eh? But we're here now."
"Baka," Heero stated as he moved past Duo and Quatre,
sitting at the table where his fellow Gundam pilots were.
The flickering light of a candle casting gentle, dancing
shadows across the faces of Trowa, Wufei and Quatre, competing
with the last rosy light of the sunset.
They were on the balcony of a restaurant perched on top
of a cliff, overlooking the sea. From where they were they
could hear the waves crashing against the rocks. To one side
the balcony opened out onto the cliff where brave souls, or
romantic ones could stroll by moonlight and watch the
silver-topped waves. Where you could imagine yourself all
alone, the sound of the waves masking any evidence of other
beings.
Duo stuck his tongue out at his partner's profile then
moved to the seat next to him, pulling the chair out from
under the table and moving both it and himself back in with
a noisy scuffle. He stretched his arms above his head then
turned his attention back to his blonde colleague.
"So what's to eat? I'm starving."
Quatre smiled tolerantly and gestured for a hovering
waiter who seemed to have been assigned exclusively to their
table.
"We're all here now. May we see the menu?"
"Hai, Winner-san."
Red leather menus bound with gold silk chords were
passed out to the pilots who proceeded to peruse them, Duo
muttering to himself as he skimmed quickly through the
restaurant's offerings.
Five minutes later, the five boys had ordered and
were sitting back awaiting their fare when Duo spoke up.
"Hey, why are we here? What's with the fancy
restaurant and all?" He looked to Quatre again, recalling
the blonde's invitation to join him at this cliff-top
restaurant for dinner, before heading off to his nearest
estate until their next mission orders arrived.
"It's his birthday," Trowa managed to state before
Quatre had the chance to say anything.
Duo blinked for a moment then began to get all
worked up.
"Eh? Why didn't you tell us earlier, Trowa-man? You
may have been able to get him a present but we couldn't.
Shoulda let us known."
Quatre smiled sweetly at Duo, "It's okay, Duo-kun,
I didn't want any presents anyway."
"Bu-aaaagh!"
Duo's next exclaimation was cut off by the hand that
wrapped around the end of his braid and jerked sharply.
"Whaddya do that for, Heero?" he grumbled a little,
"Jerk."
But it had the effect of keeping Duo from talking too
loudly for the next few moments and then their dinner had
arrived and they all settled down to eat.
It was halfway through desert when they were
interrupted by angry shouts somewhere to the left of the
restaurant. Turning their attention in that direction,
they saw a number of small, shadowy figures running up the
headland next to the cliff that fell away below them. There
was one figure out in front, obviously being chased by the
others.
The closer the small group got, the clearer the
shouts became.
"Thief! Stop thief!"
A shot rang out, a tiny burst of fire exploding from
the barrel of a gun.
The diners at the restaurant stirred uneasily at the
sound. As soon as it became clear the thief wasn't going to
stop, and that he was heading directly for the restaurant, a
number of the patrons rose with the intention of moving.
Many of them, by the way they were acting, had obviously only
heard about the war on television. For them, this was the
closest they had ever been to violence.
A few more shots were heard, each one closer than the
last until one of the pursuers angrily shouted to stop. The
pursued reached the restaurant and vaulted up the stairs
onto the balcony.
The Gundam pilots all watched, with varying degrees of
interest as the thief, a boy not much younger than themselves,
looked wildly around.
His eyes, glittering ferally in the candlelit darkness
caught ahold of Duo's. A flash of empathy, of recognition
and the boy was running in their direction. All of them
stood quickly, setting themselves in fighting positions.
Duo stood with his back to the rail, watching the boy
head for him. He knew why the boy had chosen him of everyone
there to head for. Duo knew what it was like to be in that
position, running from the authorities who would kill you
for stealing something as small as bread. Something needed
for survival.
When the boy was but two feet away he stopped and
looked at Duo, thrusting his hands outwards. Duo reflexively
tightened his fingers around the cloth-covered object thrust
in his direction and then the boy was turning away to run.
Then he was thrown back, crashing hard into Duo who,
now off-balance, also went backwards towards the rail
bordering the balcony. He hit and felt himself bending over
it, momentum still pushing him outwards. With his hands
occupied he couldn't make a grab for the rail. He flipped
over and began to fall. It was then that he registered the
sound of the gunshot that must have hit the boy, causing him
to knock Duo off balance.
He watched in disbelief as the sea rushed quickly
upwards, growing at an alarming pace. From somewhere above
him he heard someone yell his name, sounding as shocked as
he was beginning to feel. But he wasn't paying enough
attention to tell who it was since he was currently focussed
on the glowing waves below him. The ones that were
rapidly getting closer.
He had heard it said that your life flashed before
your eyes when you were about to die. Duo idly wondered if
the person who came up with that saying had ever been in a
life-threatening situation. The only thing Duo was thinking
as he fell was 'Now I won't get to finish that chocolate
cake.'
Whatever it was he had been carrying also seemed to
have disappeared. He vaguely recalled it falling past him
which made him wonder if he was stronger than he looked
since only something heavier than him could have gotten there
ahead of him.
A second before he would have struck the inky water
and the rocks hidden beneath there was a brilliant flash of
light.
All of a sudden something in the back of his mind
snapped into awareness and Duo shut his eyes in instinctive
reaction. A pressure built up behind his eyes and then, he
disappeared.
==========
Duo's eyes remained clenched shut as he slowly realised
he was no longer falling, that no longer was the wind rushing
by his ears or his braid flapping wildly above him. In fact,
he felt warm and seemed to be hugging someone. Well, it was
more of a glomp, but the sentiment was much the same.
As soon as this fact finally registered with Duo his
face relaxed, as did his hold on the person next to him. He
opened his eyes and blinked at the bare arm in front of his
face.
No sooner had he done this when he was shoved away from
the body and, before he knew what was happening, a fist slammed
into his face sending him crashing to the ground a few feet
away.
Duo moaned as he raised himself onto his elbows. He
glared at the dark-haired pilot standing above him, whose
hands were still clenched into fists. The look in his eyes...
Duo's heart clenched at the contempt there, the
hostility and anger at not being able to control something.
It was a stronger version of the look he saved for Relena
whenever she turned up and it was the only thing that made
Duo feel sorry for her, even if she'd never even *recognised*
it. He had been glad that it was not directed at him, glad
that he would never have to worry about it, but now...
Duo got a hold of himself and slipped on the familiar
joker's mask that still hid so much of himself at times, even
if he had been opening up to Heero a little. Cautiously he
felt his face, grimacing at the feel of blood flowing from
his nose. "Oi man, whatcha do that for? You could have
broken my nose, y'know."
Heero's eyes flashed angrily and his other hand
clenched, "I told you to fucking stop following me. I swear
the next time I see you, I'm going to kill you."
Another voice intruded, "I know how much you'd like to,
Heero, I'd like to do the same. But you know we can't, he's
too important."
Duo, still frowning from Heero's unusually harsh tone
of voice, turned to the new speaker.
His jaw dropped.
"Relena?!"
At least it *looked* like Relena. Sort of. The girl
now standing next to Heero had the same eye colour, hair
colour and build as Relena, but the similarities stopped there.
Normally she had blonde hair that hung below her shoulders
and wore annoyingly perfect outfits or her Sank Kingdom uniform.
But now her hair was cut short and she wore jeans and
a t-shirt, clothes that were much more casual and sloppy than
anything he'd ever seen her wear.
"What did you do to your hair?"
Relena gave him a look, out of worldy cornflower blue eyes,
generally reserved for those considered crazy and did not deign
to answer.
"Heero's been asking you to leave him alone for ages now.
He's not gay, he's not interested in you and he's *my* boyfriend.
Leave us alone."
Duo blinked getting the feeling he was missing something
really important, he just couldn't quite grasp what that was.
Then blood touched his lips and with another grimace of
disgust, he used his sleeve to wipe the worst of it off before
lying back on the ground and staring up at the sky.
A toe nudged him in the side.
"Julian?"
Duo swivelled his eyes in the direction of the toe and
looked at Relena, "Yeah? What do you want?"
"Are you going to leave?"
Duo stared at her short hair for a few moments then
shrugged, "Dunno."
Relena frowned and sent a glance in Heero's direction,
"You didn't hit him any harder than you usually do, did you?"
"No."
All of a sudden Duo sat up.
"Wait a sec. What did you call me?"
Relena looked at him strangely again, "Julian. Why?"
"Why? That's my line. Eh, man, this is weird." Duo fell
back to the ground again and began mumbling to himself, "Julian?
What kind of name is that? And what the hell is going on. One
minute I'm falling down a hundred foot cliff and the next I'm,
like, in the twilight zone or something. Julian... huh."
"What are you talking about, idiot?"
Duo turned his attention back to the pair above him and
demanded, "Why did you call me Julian?"
"Why? Because it's your name?"
Duo bounced to his feet, "But that's just it. My name is
Duo. D. U. O. Duo. Definately not something stupid like
Julian." Duo spat the name out and snorted. "Nope, ain't no way
I'm a Julian."
Relena looked at Heero again, worry lurking in her eyes,
"Are you sure you didn't hit him harder than usual, Heero?"
Duo finally noticed the clothes he was wearing and began
to swear under his breath as he took a look at the buckles on
his shoes, the white stockings and lavender trouser-things he
was wearing. And then there was his jacket. It looked exactly
like Relena's did. But he could handle that, they were only
clothes, even if they were as far as you could get from his
usual black priest's outfit.
He reached a hand behind his back to snag his braid,
something that always comforted him in times of stress. Then
he screamed.
"My hair! What happened to my hair!? Oh shit, where
is it!?" His hand groped behind him and he whirled, trying
to get it to swing out behind him as it normally did.
Nothing.
Duo moaned pitifully, "This has _got_ to be a dream, nah,
a nightmare. Heero doesn't like me, Relena's..." he shot a
disgusted look at Relena, "I'm wearing something that looks like
the bloody frosting on a cake with buckles, _buckles_ on my shoes
and my _fucking_ _hair_ _is_ _gone_!" Duo's voice rose as he
continued ranting until he was yelling.
Suddenly he bent his head, dropping it into his hands and
moaned again. "My hair, why did it have to be my hair. It took
me _years_ to grow it that long and now, poof! it's gone.
Someone really doesn't like me. Stupid cosmic jokes."
"What's wrong with him?"
Duo looked up and found himself looking at a petite
Chinese girl, dressed similarly to Relena, staring at him
strangely. He stared back for a moment before turning his gaze
to the other two people who had just arrived on the scene.
It was Trowa and Quatre. He looked them over, thought
briefly about throwing himself in Quatre's arms and wailing
hysterically when he noticed the slightly worried look in their
eyes.
"Who screamed?" Trowa's voice sounded the same.
Relena and Heero, now watching him like he was a highly
unstable lunatic gestured in his direction.
Quatre frowned, "What's the matter, Julian?"
Duo stared a little longer then snapped, "Aaaagh! I can't
take this!" He jumped up, sent a last sweeping gaze across the
two girls and three guys then turned found a tree and immediately
began knocking his head against it.
"Julian? Are you okay?" A feminine voice with a slight
accent asked in concern.
Duo whirled around and found himself confronted with the
Chinese girl, "NO! Duo! _I_ _am_ _DUO!_" His breath coming
in short gasps, Duo stared at the girl.
The scene froze for a few minutes, long enough for Duo to
notice the others standing in a rough semi-circle around them.
He moaned softly, "Wake up, man. This is a just a nightmare,
wake up."
When nothing happened he slumped back against the tree
and slid till he was sitting, his knees drawn up to his chest.
He bowed his head and tried to shut everything out, tried to
convince him that when next he opened his eyes everything would
be back to normal.
A hand was tentatively laid on his shoulder, "Jul..." Duo
flinched and the Chinese girl stopped, collected herself and
started again, "Um, Duo? What's wrong?"
Duo didn't reply.
Looking helplessly up at her companions she wondered what
to do next. Being the only one of the pilots who could really
stand Julian Peacecraft, it was left to her to do the approaching.
"Who are you?"
The soft question recalled her attention to the boy
hunched at the base of the tree, "Eh?"
Violet eyes, half-covered by messy bangs looked up at her,
"Who are you? The others I know, but you... I've never seen
you before?"
Somewhat taken aback, she looked at him in disbelief,
"What do you mean?"
A slight chuckle emerged and a gleam of amusement appeared
briefly in his eyes. "I have no idea who you are."
Before she had a chance to answer, Relena spoke up, "You
know, if you forget your friends you'll soon be without any,
_Julian_."
Duo looked past the Chinese girl and looked at the blonde,
"And you're as much of a bitch as ever, eh, Relena?"
Relena hissed, "At least I'm not a brainless pervert who
goes around stalking people and endangering missions and who
can't take no for an answer!"
Duo sighed, "Man does that sound familiar..."
A smirk appeared on his lips as he looked at her with
meaning.
Heero snarled and took a step forwards, his hand clenching
into a fist.
The violet eyes turned to him and... fractured. Pain
and vulnerability appeared there and Duo dropped his head back
onto his knees, shivering.
The Chinese girl glared at Relena and Heero, stopping
them from doing anything else then she smiled sadly at Duo.
"I'm Chang Meiran. Pilot of Gundam Shenlong."
Duo's head jerked up, "Oh man! You're Wufei's wife!?"
It was Meiran's time to be shocked, she hadn't told
anyone about her marriage, "What! How did you...?"
The other pilots standing around her mirrored her
emotion, though for a different reason.
A weak laugh once again came from the boy next to her,
"Man, when he finds out I've _met_ you, he's gonna flip."
Meiran looked at him for a few more seconds bafore
anger began to build in her. For this _boy_ to be so
disrespectful to her late husband, to think he was alive, when
she'd seen the body...
"Oi! Does that mean I'm dead? This isn't like Heaven,"
he broke off and shook his head, "This is Hell isn't it?
You know that explains alot. Always knew I'd end up here if
there was an afterlife."
Meiran ignored his ranting, "How could you say that,
Wufei's dead! You can't tell him anything. Damn it! How
did you find out, who told you!" Her hands launched outwards
and grabbed ahold of the lapels of his jacket, drawing him
close to her face. "Who told you!?"
"Eh, ojousan, no need to get rough. Wufei... he...
Hmm, how do I explain this? Eh, what the heck do _I_ know
about what's going on?"
He dropped into thought, ignoring Meiran's dark eyes
drilling into his.
"Anyone know if there's such a thing as alternate
universes?"
"What kind of stupid question is that, baka?"
Duo looked disgustedly at Relena, "A _valid_ one in my
case, I think. It could explain this. Maybe. Hey! That
thingy that the guy gave me, maybe it was a dimensional portal
or something and when it hit the rocks, BANG, it activates and,
POOF, I'm sent to this weird place where everything's all
wrong. Well, except maybe Trowa and Quatre, they still seem
the same. Hmm, I wonder if Trieze and Zechs and OZ and
everything is the same? And if I'm Relena and she's... Hey,
ojousan, are you like, a Gundam pilot?"
Relena, with eyes slightly wide from the monologue that
had just emerged from Duo's lips without pause for breath,
nodded.
"Deathscythe?"
The nod came again and Duo went slightly green.
"Hey, Meiran, Wufei was, like, the pilot of Shenlong
where I, er, came from. And if Relena's the pilot of
Deathscythe and everything else is reversed and I'm, ugh, a
Peacecraft, then does that mean she's my... NAH. Can't be,
nope, no way, no how. Un uh!" He shook his head emphatically.
"Wait, Jul-Duo. What do you mean Wufei's the pilot
where you come from?"
Duo grinned, his spirits restored at the knowledge that
this couldn't possibly be his world, and sprang to his feet.
"That's why I asked about the alternate world-universe stuff.
Where I come from, Wufei is Shenlong's pilot, Relena's the
Queen of the World and a Peacecraft to boot, Heero hates her
guts and _I'm_ the pilot of Shinigami! There can't possibly
be another explaination that fits, so you see, it's gotta be
an alternate universe."
Pleased with his reasoning, Duo set about making himself
more comfortable, enjoying the bewildered and shocked looks on
the faces of the people standing around him.
He shrugged out of his jacket and undid the cravat he'd
been wearing, tossing them to the ground. He sat down to take
off his buckled shoes, which he glared at before tossing over
his shoulder. He pulled off his stockings and undid the
button that held the cuffs of his kneelength trouser-things
together then sat back and sighed in relief. Ah, that was
better.
He still wished he was wearing his usual black, but
he could deal with this for a while. He had, after all,
worn stranger things in the course of his short life.
Ignoring the people still standing around him he
leaned back against the tree and began to think.
How exactly was he going to get home?
==========
Later that evening, Duo was sitting watching Trowa
and Meiran sharing the cooking duties and listening to them
talk. He'd never heard Trowa so eloquent before, well,
eloquent for him anyway.
Meiran had pretty much been appointed his guardian
until the rest of them decided what to do with him. Heero
had been all for sending him back to his brother, deposed
King of the Sanq Kingdom. Duo had vehemently refused. He'd
then gone on to ask who his supposed brother was, since as
far as he knew he was an orphan.
He'd been rather surprised when they showed him a
picture of a _really_ good-looking guy with long blonde
hair and eyes almost as gorgeous as Heero's. Duo caught
himself before he went any further; this was meant to be
his brother after all. You weren't meant to drool over
your brother, no matter how good-looking they were.
He'd spent the remainder of the afternoon listening
to Meiran tell stories about some the missions she'd been
on. He'd reciprocated by telling her either his version
of the equivalent mission, if he'd been on it, or of a
different one.
Much of their time was spent arguing the merits of
his mission over the her's or vice versa. He'd had a
surprising amount of fun and was looking forwards to
getting to know her better. He could understand why Wufei
had chosen to call his Gundam Nataku, the same way Meiran
had hers.
Duo's nose twitched as the meal preparations
progressed and he drew in a deep breath in appreciation.
He hoped there was enough for him.
He placed his arms on the breakfast bar that
separated the kitchen from the dining room and rested his
chin on them.
Heero and Relena had obviously been avoiding him all
afternoon. He was slightly depressed by that but decided
he wasn't going to let it bother him. It wasn't _his_
Heero so he couldn't complain, particularly if he'd really
been as bad as Relena was in his own dimension.
"Duo, dinner's ready. Could you go and call Heero
and Relena? They're probably in Heero's room, second door
on your left at the top of the stairs."
Duo grinned and nodded, hopping off the stool and
bounding off in the direction of the stairs.
He reached the top of the stairs by leaping up as
many as he could at a time. He almost fell once and the
increased pace of his heart felt good. Duo laughed at
himself knowing he was nervous over seeing this Heero.
Even if he did know this one was different from his own,
it still hurt when Heero looked at him with disgust. And
combined with Relena's patronising gaze...
He paused briefly at the top of the stairs,
balancing on one foot, what was with her anyway. You'd
expect that having grown up in an orphanage she wouldn't
be quite as stuck up. Duo sighed and shrugged it off, he
supposed he'd met arrogant orphans before.
Stopping outside the second door on the left, Duo
found his mind snared by a memory he hadn't had for years.
In his mind's eye he saw a small boy with hair as
tidy as possible for an orphanage where water was rationed.
Peter Merryweather.
Duo scowled and knocked on the door in front of him,
"Oi! Meiran said dinner's ready."
He turned without flinging the door open and yelling
in the occupants face's, still bound in the memory and
somewhat scared about seeing what the couple inside were
doing.
Peter had been a brat. None of the grown-ups had
known that, except maybe Sister Helen and Father Maxwell
who seemed to be able to see through everyone. He'd been
a stuck up, arrogant boy who'd spent half his time being
adorable for the benefit of adults and the other half
being downright nasty to the other kids.
He wasn't sure why thoughts of Relena had called him
to mind, apart from the fact that their colouring was
similar and they both came across as superior. In their
minds anyway.
But he was being unfair to Relena. She, at least,
was oblivious to a lot of her superciliousness due to her
obsessive nature. He had a feeling Relena would actually
be shocked if someone told her she was a snob.
Duo shook off his thoughts as he sat at the dining
table between Quatre and Meiran and decided that since
life was short he may as well have fun. It was a sentiment
he often repeated to himself to stay sane and it was the
only thing that worked.
He knew Heero had often thought he was hiding behind
a mask when he laughed all the time, and to a certain degree
he was, but there was more to it than that. He actually
_was_ happy when he laughed. He'd conditioned himself that
way and it wasn't something he wanted to change because he
_liked_ being happy.
Sure there were times when he was too sad or angered
or _broken_ to smile sincerely - like earlier - but there
was always something else out there worth smiling about.
Such an outlook was really great for situations such as the
one he now found himself in.
Duo laughed out loud at the depressingly
philosophical turn his thoughts had taken then caught
himself when he caught the looks the others were giving him.
He shrugged at them and, complimenting Meiran and Trowa
effusively on the meal, he dug in.
"So, um, _Duo_, how long do you think before you go
home?"
Duo caught the stress placed on his name as Relena
questioned him, still as disbelieving as she'd been that
afternoon. He couldn't really blame her, he had trouble
believing it himself whenever he actually thought about it.
Duo looked across the table at the blonde and frowned,
"I don't know. I can't really even remember how I got
here or anything. I mean, there I was, having dinner with
the other pilots, that's Quatre, Trowa, Wufei and Heero,
when this young kid comes running up to me and shoves
something into my hands. He's being followed by a whole
pile of goons with big guns. So the kid takes off again,
but before he gets anywhere he comes flying into me and I
go flying off the balcony."
" _Then_ I hear the 'BANG!'," Duo curled his fingers
into a gun and pointed them in Relena's direction to clarify,
"Of the gun that obviously got him. So, the next thing I
know, I'm flying backwards off the cliff and there's the
water below me, crashing against rocks and frothing and
stuff. And I was falling pretty fast but I got a decent
look at them since they were getting closer and all. Looked
really pretty with the moonlight playing on the waves."
Duo picked up his glass of water and took a sip then
another, dragging out the moment. Quatre and Meiran were
looking fascinated, Relena was impatiently waiting for him
to get to the point and starting to wonder whether he was
telling the truth, Trowa was as impassive as ever and Heero
was starting to look bored. Duo sighed.
"Anyway there was this flash just before I hit the
rocks and when next I open my eyes I'm looking at Heero's
arm wondering who the hell I'm hanging onto." He took a
deep breath, "So y'see, Relena, I don't even know how I
got here so it's kind of hard to say how or when I'm going
to be able to go back."
There was silence for a few moments as the Gundam
pilots took in Duo's words. Even Heero was looking a
little thoughtful.
Trowa shifted on his seat, "We should let Milliard
know."
Everyone's attention turned to him then Meiran nodded,
"Yes, we should. He's probably worried about Julian, or
soon will be."
"Milliard?"
Quatre smiled gently at Duo, "Your br - um, Julian's
brother."
Duo blinked then grinned sheepishly, "Oh, yeah.
Forgot."
"But what do we tell him? We don't even know where
Julian is, or even if he's still alive."
Duo looked at Relena in surprise. He'd been certain
she'd remain stubborn about not believing him, and had
been even more certain she wouldn't help.
"He might be in Duo's world," Heero suggested.
"Or still in his own body but... shut away or something?
And Duo's the one in control, now."
After Quatre voiced the possibility everyone turned to
stare at Duo, who began to fidget before finally bursting out
with; "How would I know! It's not as if I can feel him or
hear him or anything."
"But is it possible?"
Duo stared at the blonde then sighed. He lifted a
hand and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Yes. I guess it
is possible. About as possible as him being back in my
world."
Duo's hand stopped moving then he looked up wildly,
his violet-blue eyes fierce, "If I get back there and find
out he's done anything with my Heero, I swear I'll..." his
voice trailed off as he stared at a point on the wall above
Relena's head.
He didn't notice Heero's slightly uncomfortable gaze
skitter away from Relena's blue eyes or the tiny smile that
curved the girl's lips at her boyfriend's reaction. Heero
was so shy sometimes.
Into the silence, Meiran sent a query, "So, first
thing tomorrow we contact Milliard Peacecraft and let him
know?"
Duo once again found himself the centre of attention,
and mumbled an affirmative, "Yeah, sure. Probably a good
idea and all that."
Meiran and Quatre nodded, satisfied and returned their
attention to their dinner. Heero and Trowa followed suit.
Relena looked around the table, noticing Duo was still
glaring at the wall, "Duo, your food's getting cold."
Duo started and pulled his gaze downwards to Relena.
She smiled at him, picked up her chopsticks and calmly began
eating.
Watching her carefully, Duo finally came to a decision.
He took a bite of food and, catching Relena's eyes, smiled
back.
This Relena wasn't the one he was used to. This Relena
was one he thought that, maybe, could be a friend.
==Owari, Chapter One==
http://www.geocities.com/sefilin/
sefilin@yahoo.com
Role Reversal
By Sefilin
========================================
Disclaimers: Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing copyright Sunrise,
Bandai, Sotsu Agency
==========
Chapter One
==========
Grinning maniacally, Duo materialised behind Quatre and
slapped him on the back, causing the glass the blonde was
carrying to clink against the white teeth in his mouth.
"Oi, Quatre-man!"
Quatre glanced at the slight red stains that now
dotted the sleeve of his pale pink shirt and just managed to
stop the grimace from rising to his face. He gave a resigned
sigh before placing his wine glass on the table and putting
a welcoming smile on his face. He turned to his friend.
"Konban wa, Duo-kun. I'm glad you made it."
"Yeah, took longer than we thought it would to finish off
those OZ bastards, eh? But we're here now."
"Baka," Heero stated as he moved past Duo and Quatre,
sitting at the table where his fellow Gundam pilots were.
The flickering light of a candle casting gentle, dancing
shadows across the faces of Trowa, Wufei and Quatre, competing
with the last rosy light of the sunset.
They were on the balcony of a restaurant perched on top
of a cliff, overlooking the sea. From where they were they
could hear the waves crashing against the rocks. To one side
the balcony opened out onto the cliff where brave souls, or
romantic ones could stroll by moonlight and watch the
silver-topped waves. Where you could imagine yourself all
alone, the sound of the waves masking any evidence of other
beings.
Duo stuck his tongue out at his partner's profile then
moved to the seat next to him, pulling the chair out from
under the table and moving both it and himself back in with
a noisy scuffle. He stretched his arms above his head then
turned his attention back to his blonde colleague.
"So what's to eat? I'm starving."
Quatre smiled tolerantly and gestured for a hovering
waiter who seemed to have been assigned exclusively to their
table.
"We're all here now. May we see the menu?"
"Hai, Winner-san."
Red leather menus bound with gold silk chords were
passed out to the pilots who proceeded to peruse them, Duo
muttering to himself as he skimmed quickly through the
restaurant's offerings.
Five minutes later, the five boys had ordered and
were sitting back awaiting their fare when Duo spoke up.
"Hey, why are we here? What's with the fancy
restaurant and all?" He looked to Quatre again, recalling
the blonde's invitation to join him at this cliff-top
restaurant for dinner, before heading off to his nearest
estate until their next mission orders arrived.
"It's his birthday," Trowa managed to state before
Quatre had the chance to say anything.
Duo blinked for a moment then began to get all
worked up.
"Eh? Why didn't you tell us earlier, Trowa-man? You
may have been able to get him a present but we couldn't.
Shoulda let us known."
Quatre smiled sweetly at Duo, "It's okay, Duo-kun,
I didn't want any presents anyway."
"Bu-aaaagh!"
Duo's next exclaimation was cut off by the hand that
wrapped around the end of his braid and jerked sharply.
"Whaddya do that for, Heero?" he grumbled a little,
"Jerk."
But it had the effect of keeping Duo from talking too
loudly for the next few moments and then their dinner had
arrived and they all settled down to eat.
It was halfway through desert when they were
interrupted by angry shouts somewhere to the left of the
restaurant. Turning their attention in that direction,
they saw a number of small, shadowy figures running up the
headland next to the cliff that fell away below them. There
was one figure out in front, obviously being chased by the
others.
The closer the small group got, the clearer the
shouts became.
"Thief! Stop thief!"
A shot rang out, a tiny burst of fire exploding from
the barrel of a gun.
The diners at the restaurant stirred uneasily at the
sound. As soon as it became clear the thief wasn't going to
stop, and that he was heading directly for the restaurant, a
number of the patrons rose with the intention of moving.
Many of them, by the way they were acting, had obviously only
heard about the war on television. For them, this was the
closest they had ever been to violence.
A few more shots were heard, each one closer than the
last until one of the pursuers angrily shouted to stop. The
pursued reached the restaurant and vaulted up the stairs
onto the balcony.
The Gundam pilots all watched, with varying degrees of
interest as the thief, a boy not much younger than themselves,
looked wildly around.
His eyes, glittering ferally in the candlelit darkness
caught ahold of Duo's. A flash of empathy, of recognition
and the boy was running in their direction. All of them
stood quickly, setting themselves in fighting positions.
Duo stood with his back to the rail, watching the boy
head for him. He knew why the boy had chosen him of everyone
there to head for. Duo knew what it was like to be in that
position, running from the authorities who would kill you
for stealing something as small as bread. Something needed
for survival.
When the boy was but two feet away he stopped and
looked at Duo, thrusting his hands outwards. Duo reflexively
tightened his fingers around the cloth-covered object thrust
in his direction and then the boy was turning away to run.
Then he was thrown back, crashing hard into Duo who,
now off-balance, also went backwards towards the rail
bordering the balcony. He hit and felt himself bending over
it, momentum still pushing him outwards. With his hands
occupied he couldn't make a grab for the rail. He flipped
over and began to fall. It was then that he registered the
sound of the gunshot that must have hit the boy, causing him
to knock Duo off balance.
He watched in disbelief as the sea rushed quickly
upwards, growing at an alarming pace. From somewhere above
him he heard someone yell his name, sounding as shocked as
he was beginning to feel. But he wasn't paying enough
attention to tell who it was since he was currently focussed
on the glowing waves below him. The ones that were
rapidly getting closer.
He had heard it said that your life flashed before
your eyes when you were about to die. Duo idly wondered if
the person who came up with that saying had ever been in a
life-threatening situation. The only thing Duo was thinking
as he fell was 'Now I won't get to finish that chocolate
cake.'
Whatever it was he had been carrying also seemed to
have disappeared. He vaguely recalled it falling past him
which made him wonder if he was stronger than he looked
since only something heavier than him could have gotten there
ahead of him.
A second before he would have struck the inky water
and the rocks hidden beneath there was a brilliant flash of
light.
All of a sudden something in the back of his mind
snapped into awareness and Duo shut his eyes in instinctive
reaction. A pressure built up behind his eyes and then, he
disappeared.
==========
Duo's eyes remained clenched shut as he slowly realised
he was no longer falling, that no longer was the wind rushing
by his ears or his braid flapping wildly above him. In fact,
he felt warm and seemed to be hugging someone. Well, it was
more of a glomp, but the sentiment was much the same.
As soon as this fact finally registered with Duo his
face relaxed, as did his hold on the person next to him. He
opened his eyes and blinked at the bare arm in front of his
face.
No sooner had he done this when he was shoved away from
the body and, before he knew what was happening, a fist slammed
into his face sending him crashing to the ground a few feet
away.
Duo moaned as he raised himself onto his elbows. He
glared at the dark-haired pilot standing above him, whose
hands were still clenched into fists. The look in his eyes...
Duo's heart clenched at the contempt there, the
hostility and anger at not being able to control something.
It was a stronger version of the look he saved for Relena
whenever she turned up and it was the only thing that made
Duo feel sorry for her, even if she'd never even *recognised*
it. He had been glad that it was not directed at him, glad
that he would never have to worry about it, but now...
Duo got a hold of himself and slipped on the familiar
joker's mask that still hid so much of himself at times, even
if he had been opening up to Heero a little. Cautiously he
felt his face, grimacing at the feel of blood flowing from
his nose. "Oi man, whatcha do that for? You could have
broken my nose, y'know."
Heero's eyes flashed angrily and his other hand
clenched, "I told you to fucking stop following me. I swear
the next time I see you, I'm going to kill you."
Another voice intruded, "I know how much you'd like to,
Heero, I'd like to do the same. But you know we can't, he's
too important."
Duo, still frowning from Heero's unusually harsh tone
of voice, turned to the new speaker.
His jaw dropped.
"Relena?!"
At least it *looked* like Relena. Sort of. The girl
now standing next to Heero had the same eye colour, hair
colour and build as Relena, but the similarities stopped there.
Normally she had blonde hair that hung below her shoulders
and wore annoyingly perfect outfits or her Sank Kingdom uniform.
But now her hair was cut short and she wore jeans and
a t-shirt, clothes that were much more casual and sloppy than
anything he'd ever seen her wear.
"What did you do to your hair?"
Relena gave him a look, out of worldy cornflower blue eyes,
generally reserved for those considered crazy and did not deign
to answer.
"Heero's been asking you to leave him alone for ages now.
He's not gay, he's not interested in you and he's *my* boyfriend.
Leave us alone."
Duo blinked getting the feeling he was missing something
really important, he just couldn't quite grasp what that was.
Then blood touched his lips and with another grimace of
disgust, he used his sleeve to wipe the worst of it off before
lying back on the ground and staring up at the sky.
A toe nudged him in the side.
"Julian?"
Duo swivelled his eyes in the direction of the toe and
looked at Relena, "Yeah? What do you want?"
"Are you going to leave?"
Duo stared at her short hair for a few moments then
shrugged, "Dunno."
Relena frowned and sent a glance in Heero's direction,
"You didn't hit him any harder than you usually do, did you?"
"No."
All of a sudden Duo sat up.
"Wait a sec. What did you call me?"
Relena looked at him strangely again, "Julian. Why?"
"Why? That's my line. Eh, man, this is weird." Duo fell
back to the ground again and began mumbling to himself, "Julian?
What kind of name is that? And what the hell is going on. One
minute I'm falling down a hundred foot cliff and the next I'm,
like, in the twilight zone or something. Julian... huh."
"What are you talking about, idiot?"
Duo turned his attention back to the pair above him and
demanded, "Why did you call me Julian?"
"Why? Because it's your name?"
Duo bounced to his feet, "But that's just it. My name is
Duo. D. U. O. Duo. Definately not something stupid like
Julian." Duo spat the name out and snorted. "Nope, ain't no way
I'm a Julian."
Relena looked at Heero again, worry lurking in her eyes,
"Are you sure you didn't hit him harder than usual, Heero?"
Duo finally noticed the clothes he was wearing and began
to swear under his breath as he took a look at the buckles on
his shoes, the white stockings and lavender trouser-things he
was wearing. And then there was his jacket. It looked exactly
like Relena's did. But he could handle that, they were only
clothes, even if they were as far as you could get from his
usual black priest's outfit.
He reached a hand behind his back to snag his braid,
something that always comforted him in times of stress. Then
he screamed.
"My hair! What happened to my hair!? Oh shit, where
is it!?" His hand groped behind him and he whirled, trying
to get it to swing out behind him as it normally did.
Nothing.
Duo moaned pitifully, "This has _got_ to be a dream, nah,
a nightmare. Heero doesn't like me, Relena's..." he shot a
disgusted look at Relena, "I'm wearing something that looks like
the bloody frosting on a cake with buckles, _buckles_ on my shoes
and my _fucking_ _hair_ _is_ _gone_!" Duo's voice rose as he
continued ranting until he was yelling.
Suddenly he bent his head, dropping it into his hands and
moaned again. "My hair, why did it have to be my hair. It took
me _years_ to grow it that long and now, poof! it's gone.
Someone really doesn't like me. Stupid cosmic jokes."
"What's wrong with him?"
Duo looked up and found himself looking at a petite
Chinese girl, dressed similarly to Relena, staring at him
strangely. He stared back for a moment before turning his gaze
to the other two people who had just arrived on the scene.
It was Trowa and Quatre. He looked them over, thought
briefly about throwing himself in Quatre's arms and wailing
hysterically when he noticed the slightly worried look in their
eyes.
"Who screamed?" Trowa's voice sounded the same.
Relena and Heero, now watching him like he was a highly
unstable lunatic gestured in his direction.
Quatre frowned, "What's the matter, Julian?"
Duo stared a little longer then snapped, "Aaaagh! I can't
take this!" He jumped up, sent a last sweeping gaze across the
two girls and three guys then turned found a tree and immediately
began knocking his head against it.
"Julian? Are you okay?" A feminine voice with a slight
accent asked in concern.
Duo whirled around and found himself confronted with the
Chinese girl, "NO! Duo! _I_ _am_ _DUO!_" His breath coming
in short gasps, Duo stared at the girl.
The scene froze for a few minutes, long enough for Duo to
notice the others standing in a rough semi-circle around them.
He moaned softly, "Wake up, man. This is a just a nightmare,
wake up."
When nothing happened he slumped back against the tree
and slid till he was sitting, his knees drawn up to his chest.
He bowed his head and tried to shut everything out, tried to
convince him that when next he opened his eyes everything would
be back to normal.
A hand was tentatively laid on his shoulder, "Jul..." Duo
flinched and the Chinese girl stopped, collected herself and
started again, "Um, Duo? What's wrong?"
Duo didn't reply.
Looking helplessly up at her companions she wondered what
to do next. Being the only one of the pilots who could really
stand Julian Peacecraft, it was left to her to do the approaching.
"Who are you?"
The soft question recalled her attention to the boy
hunched at the base of the tree, "Eh?"
Violet eyes, half-covered by messy bangs looked up at her,
"Who are you? The others I know, but you... I've never seen
you before?"
Somewhat taken aback, she looked at him in disbelief,
"What do you mean?"
A slight chuckle emerged and a gleam of amusement appeared
briefly in his eyes. "I have no idea who you are."
Before she had a chance to answer, Relena spoke up, "You
know, if you forget your friends you'll soon be without any,
_Julian_."
Duo looked past the Chinese girl and looked at the blonde,
"And you're as much of a bitch as ever, eh, Relena?"
Relena hissed, "At least I'm not a brainless pervert who
goes around stalking people and endangering missions and who
can't take no for an answer!"
Duo sighed, "Man does that sound familiar..."
A smirk appeared on his lips as he looked at her with
meaning.
Heero snarled and took a step forwards, his hand clenching
into a fist.
The violet eyes turned to him and... fractured. Pain
and vulnerability appeared there and Duo dropped his head back
onto his knees, shivering.
The Chinese girl glared at Relena and Heero, stopping
them from doing anything else then she smiled sadly at Duo.
"I'm Chang Meiran. Pilot of Gundam Shenlong."
Duo's head jerked up, "Oh man! You're Wufei's wife!?"
It was Meiran's time to be shocked, she hadn't told
anyone about her marriage, "What! How did you...?"
The other pilots standing around her mirrored her
emotion, though for a different reason.
A weak laugh once again came from the boy next to her,
"Man, when he finds out I've _met_ you, he's gonna flip."
Meiran looked at him for a few more seconds bafore
anger began to build in her. For this _boy_ to be so
disrespectful to her late husband, to think he was alive, when
she'd seen the body...
"Oi! Does that mean I'm dead? This isn't like Heaven,"
he broke off and shook his head, "This is Hell isn't it?
You know that explains alot. Always knew I'd end up here if
there was an afterlife."
Meiran ignored his ranting, "How could you say that,
Wufei's dead! You can't tell him anything. Damn it! How
did you find out, who told you!" Her hands launched outwards
and grabbed ahold of the lapels of his jacket, drawing him
close to her face. "Who told you!?"
"Eh, ojousan, no need to get rough. Wufei... he...
Hmm, how do I explain this? Eh, what the heck do _I_ know
about what's going on?"
He dropped into thought, ignoring Meiran's dark eyes
drilling into his.
"Anyone know if there's such a thing as alternate
universes?"
"What kind of stupid question is that, baka?"
Duo looked disgustedly at Relena, "A _valid_ one in my
case, I think. It could explain this. Maybe. Hey! That
thingy that the guy gave me, maybe it was a dimensional portal
or something and when it hit the rocks, BANG, it activates and,
POOF, I'm sent to this weird place where everything's all
wrong. Well, except maybe Trowa and Quatre, they still seem
the same. Hmm, I wonder if Trieze and Zechs and OZ and
everything is the same? And if I'm Relena and she's... Hey,
ojousan, are you like, a Gundam pilot?"
Relena, with eyes slightly wide from the monologue that
had just emerged from Duo's lips without pause for breath,
nodded.
"Deathscythe?"
The nod came again and Duo went slightly green.
"Hey, Meiran, Wufei was, like, the pilot of Shenlong
where I, er, came from. And if Relena's the pilot of
Deathscythe and everything else is reversed and I'm, ugh, a
Peacecraft, then does that mean she's my... NAH. Can't be,
nope, no way, no how. Un uh!" He shook his head emphatically.
"Wait, Jul-Duo. What do you mean Wufei's the pilot
where you come from?"
Duo grinned, his spirits restored at the knowledge that
this couldn't possibly be his world, and sprang to his feet.
"That's why I asked about the alternate world-universe stuff.
Where I come from, Wufei is Shenlong's pilot, Relena's the
Queen of the World and a Peacecraft to boot, Heero hates her
guts and _I'm_ the pilot of Shinigami! There can't possibly
be another explaination that fits, so you see, it's gotta be
an alternate universe."
Pleased with his reasoning, Duo set about making himself
more comfortable, enjoying the bewildered and shocked looks on
the faces of the people standing around him.
He shrugged out of his jacket and undid the cravat he'd
been wearing, tossing them to the ground. He sat down to take
off his buckled shoes, which he glared at before tossing over
his shoulder. He pulled off his stockings and undid the
button that held the cuffs of his kneelength trouser-things
together then sat back and sighed in relief. Ah, that was
better.
He still wished he was wearing his usual black, but
he could deal with this for a while. He had, after all,
worn stranger things in the course of his short life.
Ignoring the people still standing around him he
leaned back against the tree and began to think.
How exactly was he going to get home?
==========
Later that evening, Duo was sitting watching Trowa
and Meiran sharing the cooking duties and listening to them
talk. He'd never heard Trowa so eloquent before, well,
eloquent for him anyway.
Meiran had pretty much been appointed his guardian
until the rest of them decided what to do with him. Heero
had been all for sending him back to his brother, deposed
King of the Sanq Kingdom. Duo had vehemently refused. He'd
then gone on to ask who his supposed brother was, since as
far as he knew he was an orphan.
He'd been rather surprised when they showed him a
picture of a _really_ good-looking guy with long blonde
hair and eyes almost as gorgeous as Heero's. Duo caught
himself before he went any further; this was meant to be
his brother after all. You weren't meant to drool over
your brother, no matter how good-looking they were.
He'd spent the remainder of the afternoon listening
to Meiran tell stories about some the missions she'd been
on. He'd reciprocated by telling her either his version
of the equivalent mission, if he'd been on it, or of a
different one.
Much of their time was spent arguing the merits of
his mission over the her's or vice versa. He'd had a
surprising amount of fun and was looking forwards to
getting to know her better. He could understand why Wufei
had chosen to call his Gundam Nataku, the same way Meiran
had hers.
Duo's nose twitched as the meal preparations
progressed and he drew in a deep breath in appreciation.
He hoped there was enough for him.
He placed his arms on the breakfast bar that
separated the kitchen from the dining room and rested his
chin on them.
Heero and Relena had obviously been avoiding him all
afternoon. He was slightly depressed by that but decided
he wasn't going to let it bother him. It wasn't _his_
Heero so he couldn't complain, particularly if he'd really
been as bad as Relena was in his own dimension.
"Duo, dinner's ready. Could you go and call Heero
and Relena? They're probably in Heero's room, second door
on your left at the top of the stairs."
Duo grinned and nodded, hopping off the stool and
bounding off in the direction of the stairs.
He reached the top of the stairs by leaping up as
many as he could at a time. He almost fell once and the
increased pace of his heart felt good. Duo laughed at
himself knowing he was nervous over seeing this Heero.
Even if he did know this one was different from his own,
it still hurt when Heero looked at him with disgust. And
combined with Relena's patronising gaze...
He paused briefly at the top of the stairs,
balancing on one foot, what was with her anyway. You'd
expect that having grown up in an orphanage she wouldn't
be quite as stuck up. Duo sighed and shrugged it off, he
supposed he'd met arrogant orphans before.
Stopping outside the second door on the left, Duo
found his mind snared by a memory he hadn't had for years.
In his mind's eye he saw a small boy with hair as
tidy as possible for an orphanage where water was rationed.
Peter Merryweather.
Duo scowled and knocked on the door in front of him,
"Oi! Meiran said dinner's ready."
He turned without flinging the door open and yelling
in the occupants face's, still bound in the memory and
somewhat scared about seeing what the couple inside were
doing.
Peter had been a brat. None of the grown-ups had
known that, except maybe Sister Helen and Father Maxwell
who seemed to be able to see through everyone. He'd been
a stuck up, arrogant boy who'd spent half his time being
adorable for the benefit of adults and the other half
being downright nasty to the other kids.
He wasn't sure why thoughts of Relena had called him
to mind, apart from the fact that their colouring was
similar and they both came across as superior. In their
minds anyway.
But he was being unfair to Relena. She, at least,
was oblivious to a lot of her superciliousness due to her
obsessive nature. He had a feeling Relena would actually
be shocked if someone told her she was a snob.
Duo shook off his thoughts as he sat at the dining
table between Quatre and Meiran and decided that since
life was short he may as well have fun. It was a sentiment
he often repeated to himself to stay sane and it was the
only thing that worked.
He knew Heero had often thought he was hiding behind
a mask when he laughed all the time, and to a certain degree
he was, but there was more to it than that. He actually
_was_ happy when he laughed. He'd conditioned himself that
way and it wasn't something he wanted to change because he
_liked_ being happy.
Sure there were times when he was too sad or angered
or _broken_ to smile sincerely - like earlier - but there
was always something else out there worth smiling about.
Such an outlook was really great for situations such as the
one he now found himself in.
Duo laughed out loud at the depressingly
philosophical turn his thoughts had taken then caught
himself when he caught the looks the others were giving him.
He shrugged at them and, complimenting Meiran and Trowa
effusively on the meal, he dug in.
"So, um, _Duo_, how long do you think before you go
home?"
Duo caught the stress placed on his name as Relena
questioned him, still as disbelieving as she'd been that
afternoon. He couldn't really blame her, he had trouble
believing it himself whenever he actually thought about it.
Duo looked across the table at the blonde and frowned,
"I don't know. I can't really even remember how I got
here or anything. I mean, there I was, having dinner with
the other pilots, that's Quatre, Trowa, Wufei and Heero,
when this young kid comes running up to me and shoves
something into my hands. He's being followed by a whole
pile of goons with big guns. So the kid takes off again,
but before he gets anywhere he comes flying into me and I
go flying off the balcony."
" _Then_ I hear the 'BANG!'," Duo curled his fingers
into a gun and pointed them in Relena's direction to clarify,
"Of the gun that obviously got him. So, the next thing I
know, I'm flying backwards off the cliff and there's the
water below me, crashing against rocks and frothing and
stuff. And I was falling pretty fast but I got a decent
look at them since they were getting closer and all. Looked
really pretty with the moonlight playing on the waves."
Duo picked up his glass of water and took a sip then
another, dragging out the moment. Quatre and Meiran were
looking fascinated, Relena was impatiently waiting for him
to get to the point and starting to wonder whether he was
telling the truth, Trowa was as impassive as ever and Heero
was starting to look bored. Duo sighed.
"Anyway there was this flash just before I hit the
rocks and when next I open my eyes I'm looking at Heero's
arm wondering who the hell I'm hanging onto." He took a
deep breath, "So y'see, Relena, I don't even know how I
got here so it's kind of hard to say how or when I'm going
to be able to go back."
There was silence for a few moments as the Gundam
pilots took in Duo's words. Even Heero was looking a
little thoughtful.
Trowa shifted on his seat, "We should let Milliard
know."
Everyone's attention turned to him then Meiran nodded,
"Yes, we should. He's probably worried about Julian, or
soon will be."
"Milliard?"
Quatre smiled gently at Duo, "Your br - um, Julian's
brother."
Duo blinked then grinned sheepishly, "Oh, yeah.
Forgot."
"But what do we tell him? We don't even know where
Julian is, or even if he's still alive."
Duo looked at Relena in surprise. He'd been certain
she'd remain stubborn about not believing him, and had
been even more certain she wouldn't help.
"He might be in Duo's world," Heero suggested.
"Or still in his own body but... shut away or something?
And Duo's the one in control, now."
After Quatre voiced the possibility everyone turned to
stare at Duo, who began to fidget before finally bursting out
with; "How would I know! It's not as if I can feel him or
hear him or anything."
"But is it possible?"
Duo stared at the blonde then sighed. He lifted a
hand and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Yes. I guess it
is possible. About as possible as him being back in my
world."
Duo's hand stopped moving then he looked up wildly,
his violet-blue eyes fierce, "If I get back there and find
out he's done anything with my Heero, I swear I'll..." his
voice trailed off as he stared at a point on the wall above
Relena's head.
He didn't notice Heero's slightly uncomfortable gaze
skitter away from Relena's blue eyes or the tiny smile that
curved the girl's lips at her boyfriend's reaction. Heero
was so shy sometimes.
Into the silence, Meiran sent a query, "So, first
thing tomorrow we contact Milliard Peacecraft and let him
know?"
Duo once again found himself the centre of attention,
and mumbled an affirmative, "Yeah, sure. Probably a good
idea and all that."
Meiran and Quatre nodded, satisfied and returned their
attention to their dinner. Heero and Trowa followed suit.
Relena looked around the table, noticing Duo was still
glaring at the wall, "Duo, your food's getting cold."
Duo started and pulled his gaze downwards to Relena.
She smiled at him, picked up her chopsticks and calmly began
eating.
Watching her carefully, Duo finally came to a decision.
He took a bite of food and, catching Relena's eyes, smiled
back.
This Relena wasn't the one he was used to. This Relena
was one he thought that, maybe, could be a friend.
==Owari, Chapter One==
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