Surprises by Drupadi

Disclaimer: GW is not mine, but the kid is so leave him alone.

Pairings: 34 implied maybe some 25 later on

Warnings: ummm not really any warnings for this fic that I can think of right now

Part 1: Gone

The War was finally over with AN: Ano does anyone actually know how many fics start with that line?. Wufei had ended Treize's life and Heero and Zechs have finally finished their fighting. Libra and Peacemillion aren't going to crash to earth and everyone is finally happy.

Well almost everyone. The morning after a little party at one of Quatre's many estates everyone wakes up to find Wufei gone.

"So where do you think he went?"

"We thought you would know. You were closest to him."

"I have no idea Quat. I was hoping he told you or one of your servants. He wouldn't have just walked out without saying goodbye to us... would he?"

"Hn... Baka... Treize let himself be killed. Chang just needs some time. Let him be."

"Heero's right Duo. Wufei will come find us all when he's ready."

"I guess you're right Quat. Now that Fei's gone it reminds me that I kinda have to leave too. I uh... I have some things to do back on L2. I'll come back after I'm done, but if I have any problems I'll make sure to call you."

"Ok. I think Duo has the right idea. With the war over I need to get back to WEI. What about you Trowa... I could use a personal assistant who truly knows me."

Trowa nodded his head and went back to reading his paper.

Duo walked out the door towards the wing of the house with their rooms. Before getting to his room Duo stopped in front of Wufei's door.

"Hmm I wonder if he left anything that would let us know where he's goin'?"

Duo pushed into Wufei's room and thoroughly went over it. After not finding anything Duo plopped down on the bed and felt something under the pillow. He pulled out a small folded piece of paper with 'MAXWELL' printed neatly on the front.

Maxwell,

I knew you would go through my room even though I am sure that Yuy told you to let me be. If it makes you feel any better you can contact me through any of my old information.

-Chang

Duo chuckled and made his way to his own room. After packing up his meager possessions he headed back to the living room.

"Alright guys. I'm heading out. I'll see ya on the flip side."

"Where are you headed Duo?"

"I'm gonna hit L2 first then maybe go track down Wufei. He left a note in his room saying that we can contact him using any of his old information."

"That's good."

"Yeah... well I'm outta here."

"bye Duo"

"See ya Quat. T-man, be good to blondie. And Hee-chan... don't kill anyone."

Quatre blushed, Trowa nodded and Heero snorted, then they all waved as Duo headed to the waiting car to take him to the spaceport.

After a long flight Duo finally arrived on his home colony. The first stop was to find an apartment that he could rent for a few weeks. Or just a hotel room. Duo wandered around the area where the Maxwell church was and finally found a place that was fairly cheap and as clean as any hotel on L2 could get... unfortunately it wasn't very. He set up his laptop and logged into an old server they used during the war.

To: Dragon 05.gboy. net (1)

From: Shinigami 02.gboy. net

Subject: Hey Chang!!

-Wufei

Hey man. I found your note. I'm on L2, Q-man and Tro are taking up residence at WEI HQ and I think Ro's goin' to visit Queeny. If you're ever in the area look me up.

-Duo

To: Superman 01.gboy. net, ClownBoy 03.gboy. net, ArabianPrince 04.gboy. net

From: Shinigami 02.gboy. net

Subject: Update

-Yuy, Barton, and Winner

I dropped a line to Fei-Chan. Told him where we all were goin' to be. I'll stick with what Ro' said. We really should probably leave him alone until he contacts us first. You know give him some time. I found a shitty little hole here and I only need a few days here then I'll be headed back your way. Maybe stick myself to one of you for a bit... anyway. I'll hit you again before I leave.

-Duo

"Alright with that done lets go find some food."

Duo shut down his laptop and after grabbing his wallet headed out.

part 2:

Duo walked down the street of his old neighborhood. Remembering all the things that had happened to him before he snuck aboard the sweepers ship. He passed an alley with some small children hiding under a blanket and made a mental note to drop them off some food next time he went by. All too soon he arrived at his destination. The remains of the Maxwell church. Duo knelt down in the middle of the rubble, crossed himself and began to pray.

Duo crossed himself again as he stood then lay the flowers he had bought on the ground. As he was standing there remembering all the good times spent in the Church a man approached from behind.

"Excuse me... Are you Duo Maxwell?"

"I know where he is. Can I ask what you need him for?"

"My name is Charles Baker. I'm a social worker here and I have some matters to discuss with Mr. Maxwell."

"Alright. Tomorrow. Where is your office?"

Mr. Baker pulled a business card out of his pocket and handed it over to Duo.

"Here's all my information. I'm free around 2 o'clock. It was nice to see you Mr. Maxwell."

Mr. Baker turned and walked back to his car, which had been parked a ways down the street. Duo stared at the card then pocketed it. He turned and took one last look at the rubble strewn about him before walking off to find a convenience store. Duo picked up a loaf of bread and some meat before heading back the way he came. Duo stopped at the alleyway he had seen earlier only to find it empty.

"Hello! Is anyone down there? I won't harm you. I have some food."

At the last little statement a small girl stepped out from behind a dumpster.

"You have food?"

"Yes. I saw you earlier when I walked by and bought you some bread and meat."

"Why?"

"Because I used to hide in this alley too."

"Then how come you have money now?"

"Because I fought in the war and they paid me."

"Oh."

"Would you like the food?"

"It wont matter as soon as you walk away the bigger kids will take it from me."

"Well then I'll just have to sit here until you finish."

"Really you would?"

"Of course. I already told you I used to live here."

Duo sat down and made a sandwich for the little girl and when she sat down next to him, he told her some of what he was like when he was there.

"You know when I was your age there was always a bigger kid looking after me. Do you have anyone to look after you?"

"yeah. he's not a lot older than me, but he tries to take care of me. I don't know where he is though. He went to get food a couple of days ago and I haven't seen him since."

"What was his name maybe I can find him."

"I already looked."

"There are more things I can do than just look."

"Oh. His name is Daniel... I think... we just called him Dan."

"Ok. Do you remember where he usually got food?"

"yea there was this guy that gave him food. Mr. Charlie. I don't know where he lives though."

"Why don't you come with me tonight. I promise I'll look after you. I'm going to see this Mr. Charlie tomorrow. You can stay with me and get a shower. I'll even give you a bed."

"Ok... Thank you."

Duo and the little girl got up and headed in the direction of Duo's hotel.

"My names Diana. You can just call me Ann or Di or Ana. It doesn't matter."

"Alright. My name's Duo. How old are you Ann?"

"Well Dan and I think I'm six. Dan say's he thinks he's either eight or ten. But he does know that he has an older brother somewhere out there. Did you know that you kinda look like Dan? But not completely. Dan's eyes are dark brown and his hair's a little lighter than yours. I bet you're his brother. that would be really cool. I mean, Dan would have someone for him... and a home..."

"Hey now. No sulking. Just remember the Silver lining."

"The what?"

"The silver lining. You see on Earth..."

"You've Been To Earth!?!"

"Plenty of times, but anyway the clouds on earth turn dark gray or sometimes even black when the weather gets bad. You know like rain or something. And when you look towards the edge of the clouds there's like this silver lining."

"That sounds beautiful."

"It is. Hopefully you'll get to see it one day. Well here's where I'm shacking up for a while. The bathroom's through there. I'll find you a shirt to wear."

"Ok. Thank you Duo."

"Hey no prob kid. Remember I used to be just like you."

Diana smiled and headed for the bathroom. When the door closed behind her Duo began rummaging around in his bag for a shirt to fit the small girl. Once he found one that would be big enough he knocked on the bathroom door.

"Hey Ann I'm gonna come in for a minute. I have a shirt for you and I can take your other things to be cleaned. Do you know where everything is?"

"Yes Duo. Thank you."

"Don't worry about it. We'll talk more when you get out."

Duo left the bathroom with the shreds of Diana's clothes, and looking over them decided he was gonna buy her some clothes that would fit. A few minutes later the water turned off and Duo heard Diana fumbling around. Then she was standing outside the bathroom door looking lost in Duo's oversized shirt.

"Ok missy. You can go ahead and sleep on the bed. I'll take the floor."

"Duo?"

"Yes?"

"I wouldn't mind if you slept in the bed."

"Are you sure kid?"

"Yeah. Dan would let me sleep on his lap. He was always giving me hugs and stuff. I miss him already. I hope he's ok."

"Hey don't cry. Let me go get ready for bed then maybe we can talk a bit more."

"alright."

Duo grabbed a clean shirt and boxers from his bag then headed into the bathroom to take care of his hair and get ready for bed. By the time he came back out. Diana was curled up on the bed fast asleep. After covering the small girl up Duo fished out a spare blanket and pillow and lay down on the floor to sleep. A few hours later he woke up with Diana curled up tightly against his side. He smiled and picked her up then got them both comfortable on the bed. Diana immediately rolled over and latched onto Duo's arm. With a small smile Duo gathered her close and went back to sleep.

tbc

AN: Hmm dunno where Diana came from. Didn't mean to pop her into the fic... ::shrugs: oh well. I'm sure there's a reason she's in it... just wonder what it is... ::weird announcer voice:: Next time we meet Dan and Mr. Charlie same bat time same bat channel... I think I've been watching too much old school batman

(1) I hate the way ff. net is with url's in fics i also tried to put the little at symbol in there, but again they wouldnt let me