Title: Enough
Author: Kimiko
Email: kimiko@theunknown.com
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Yaoi (1x2, implied 4x3), humor, angst ending in sap,
karaoke, yuri (original characters)
Disclaimers: The G-Boyz belong to Sunrise, Bandai and Sotsu
Agency. "Enough" belongs to Melissa Etheridge-sama, whom I
adore.
A/N: I love this. I think it's one of the best things I've ever done.

~HAJIME~

Heero sat in class, staring fixedly at the blackboard and seething.
Duo, beside him, was whispering and laughing with three female
students who had taken it upon themselves to flirt with the Braided
Wonder. Heero growled low in his throat, so low it was inaudible
even to him - but he could feel it, and he couldn't stop. A part of him
cautioned that if he stopped growling, he would reach over and
snap the necks of those giggling girls. Another part of him also
realized this, but would rather snap necks. Luckily for the girls,
reason won out over protective instinct. Heero set his mouth in its
usual line and began taking notes.

A loud "CRACK!" echoed through the near-silent classroom.
Heero's pencil, and its owner, had snapped.

He turned to Duo, who, along with the rest of the class, was staring
at him. Three words passed his lips, three tiny words which brought
Duo's already shaky world tumbling down around his ears. "Fine,"
said Heero coldly. "Date them." The Japanese pilot stood calmly
and quit the room.

Duo stared after him, for once utterly speechless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duo sighed, reclining catlike on his bed and staring up at the dorm
room ceiling. The steady, rapid click of keys bore evidence to the
fact that Heero was indeed in the room. Though it was not unusual
for his lover to be silent, the ominous quality of the silence was new
- almost like the silence of heavy stormclouds on the horizon
moving steadily closer.

The storm broke.

"I can't believe you would do that," said Heero, very quietly, in the
dead monotone which recently had been reserved for the presence
of people besides Duo. The braided boy exploded.

"What?" he bellowed. "What did I do? Nothing! I was TALKING to
my FRIENDS! *NORMAL* people do it all the TIME!"

Cobalt eyes met amethyst and there was a long, tense silence.
Then Heero spoke. "You were flirting."

Duo glared. "Another thing normal people do all the time. And how
the fuck would you know?"

Heero scowled (nothing new). "I know what it is."

The American laughed humorlessly. "This from the guy whose
definition of foreplay is dragging me to bed by my braid." /Not that it
doesn't always get the job done... but that's because I love him./

"You never complained before."

Duo looked away. "Maybe I should have."

Heero simply sat and stared at Duo for a long time. Finally, with a
tiny, decisive nod (which Duo, staring at the wall, missed), he stood
and clapped the laptop shut. "If that's how you feel," he murmured,
"I'll just move out."

"I'll bet you could switch rooms with Quatre," replied Duo, not
looking round, though there was a slight catch in his voice. "Maybe
that would be best for everybody. He's lonely in that room by
himself, he told me."

"Ryoukai." Heero quickly gathered his things and left, headed for
the dorm lobby.

Duo sat, staring at his hands, silent and still until he heard the door
close. He turned around then, too late, and gazed sadly at the door,
then took in the other half of the room - empty, the bed perfectly
made. There was no indication that Heero had ever been there at
all. He stood and walked numbly into the bathroom, where he
stared at his reflection in the mirror. /Boys don't cry!/ The thought
echoed in his mind as the tears flowed freely down his cheeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heero found himself halfway down the hallway before he absently
realized he had passed Quatre's room. He turned, cursing himself
mentally, and headed back the way he had come.

The blond Arabian smiled at him, gesturing him in and sitting at his
desk. Heero seated himself on the end of Quatre's neat bed and
explained himself.

When he had finished, the small blond was gazing at him with
understanding.

"They say," said Quatre, "that if a couple never fights, it means they
are hiding their true selves from each other. It's not healthy. I will
switch rooms with you, but only for a while; after... say... three days,
tops, you guys have to work things out yourselves."

Heero just nodded and began to unpack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duo was still weeping silently in the bathroom, pounding his fist
weakly against the sink, when Quatre arrived some minutes later.
The Arabian simply enfolded the other in a warm, friendly hug,
allowing him to cry on his shoulder. They stood that way for some
time before Duo managed to pull himself together.

"Thanks, Q-man," he said, grinning sheepishly and rubbing at his
eyes. He flopped despondently on the bed. "I guess I kinda need a
friend right now, huh?"

Quatre smiled warmly at him. "Don't worry, Duo. I've got a plan.
Have you ever heard of Melissa Etheridge?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some time later, a much cheerier Duo sat comfortably on his bed,
chortling with glee. "Oh, man," he gasped, "that'll be perfect! You
know, Q-man, I never really figured you for the scheming type."

Quatre grinned at him mischievously. "I have 29 sisters, Duo. How
did you think I survived?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heero sat stiffly on the end of Qua - his bed, staring blankly at the
television (which the blond pilot had assured him he would need,
living alone, and had left with him). Gods only knew what he was
watching - some ancient situation comedy. A boy named Eric
Foreman was jealous that his girlfriend, Donna or what have you
(anyway, something with a "D"), was spending time with a male
friend of hers. Heero clicked the button and switched the channel;
the situation hit too close to home, and he decided he was not
ready to admit he was wrong -

Wrong?! Where had that come from? He wasn't wrong!

...was he?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quatre rifled through his backpack, seeking the flyers which he had
volunteered to post around the school. He grinned when he found
them, then glanced over at Duo. The braided boy was listening to
headphones, a crisp sheet of paper in his hand, and dancing about,
sometimes peering at the paper and muttering to himself. Quatre's
grin widened, and he left to post his flyers.

He roamed the halls, dormitory and class building alike, slapping
the signs up wherever there was room. Moving back down his own
hallway, he placed one dead center on the bulletin board across
from Heero's door, where the other pilot would be sure to see it.

As an afterthought, he placed one on the door to Trowa and Wufei's
room.

Quatre returned to his and Duo's room, grinning broadly and
flashing the victory sign at the American.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heero stared at the notice on the bulletin board, certain it had not
been there the night before. "KARAOKE NIGHT," it read,

"Friday the 11th
Auditorium
7:00 - 11:30 p.m.
Attendance Required"

"Attendance required..." Kuso. He didn't have time for this bullshit.

He shook his head, an almost imperceptible motion, and headed to
breakfast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As usual, Heero was the first of the pilots to arrive in the cafeteria -
with Duo a close second. Though the braided American abhorred
rising early, he had never been known to be late to meals.

He bounded toward the line, sidling up behind Heero and taking a
tray. "'Morning," he greeted the other cheerfully.

"Hn."

"Okay, I get the picture," Duo muttered sourly. "Forget I said
anything."

The three girls who had been flirting with Duo now arrived and
greeted him warmly. He shrugged at them, grinning sheepishly, and
jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Heero, who was practically
snarling at all four of them. The girls blinked, eyes wide, and one
opened her mouth to speak. Fortunately for her, Quatre arrived at
that instant.

"Ohayou, Janice, Aretha, Dionne!" he greeted them warmly. "You
know, I really love orchestra, but I'm having a bit of trouble with the
new piece..." It was a lie, and Duo knew it - Quatre could play that
music in his sleep, probably had - but he was grateful. He didn't
particularly need to be killed yet this morning.

The rest of the breakfast line passed relatively uneventfully, Heero
threatening the lives of the cafeteria ladies only twice on account of
he was distracted. He, Quatre and Duo joined Trowa and Wufei at
their usual table in the corner. The other two pilots, as usual, were
not eating breakfast. Duo worried about them briefly before his
attention was recalled to his own problems. He stared mournfully at
Heero, unknowingly allowing his Lucky Charms to become all
soggy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Have you heard about this 'karaoke night', Quatre?" Wufei was
asking. "We all have to attend it, it's required."

Quatre nodded. "I know. I volunteered to post the signs, and I only
just got around to it last night." He grinned. "I'm considering singing
something myself."

"What would you sing?" asked Trowa, mildly interested.

Quatre's grin widened. "You'll see." He glanced at Duo, beside him,
who was tracing little hearts in his cereal and drooling at Heero.
"Duo's singing at it, too."

"Huh?" The cereal went flying everywhere, splattering milk all
across the table, as the braided boy started at the sound of his
name. "What did you say?"

Quatre chuckled. "I said, you're singing at Karaoke Night."

"Baka," muttered Heero.

"Yeah, I am," said Duo enthusiastically, his attention diverted from
his estranged lover. "It's gonna be really fun. I've been practicing
really hard, too! Wait'll you see!"

"What are you singing, Maxwell?" asked Wufei.

Duo grinned at him. "It's a surprise!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Class passed rather uneventfully for all the pilots. It was simply
another day, albeit one in which Duo didn't speak to any of his
female friends. Everyone but Heero had noticed that he was trying
quite hard, and Quatre wondered how the Japanese pilot could be
so dense.

The five retreated to their respective rooms to ready themselves for
the night's festivities, dressing in their best and even, in Duo's case,
grossly overdoing the cologne. They wound up in the auditorium at
roughly the same time.

Duo could not keep his eyes off of Heero. The Japanese pilot had
discarded his customary spandex and tank top for a pair of khaki
slacks, a white button-down shirt, and a navy blazer. He looked
absolutely amazing, and Duo was duly amazed.

Quatre, on the other hand, was watching Trowa quite avidly. The
taller boy was clad in a light brown suit, charcoal gray shirt and
white tie. He looked rather nice, Quatre thought to himself slyly, but
the ensemble itself would look nicer crumpled in a ball on his
bedroom floor.

A few students sang, all of them doing rather well, dedicating songs
to their friends or their significant others. They were enthusiastically
cheered by the audience. Soon, however, Quatre decided that it
was his turn. He stepped on stage and took the microphone.

"I would like to dedicate this song," he began, "to someone who
means a lot to me. You know who you are." Staring straight at
Trowa, he took a breath and began to sing.

"Maybe it's intuition
But some things you just don't question
Like in your eyes
I see my future in an instant
And there it goes
I think I found my best friend

I know that it might sound more than a little crazy
But I believe

I knew I loved you before I met you
I think I dreamed you into life
I knew I loved you before I met you
I have been waiting all my life..."

When Quatre was finished, he took a bow, blushing, and quit the
stage amid the cheers of his classmates. To his surprise (and
delight), Trowa simply wrapped him in a warm embrace and
pressed a kiss to his lips. The two of them conveniently
disappeared for the rest of the night.

It was nearing the end of the night when Duo finally gathered his
nerve and took the stage. "This song," he began, "is dedicated to
someone for whom I care very deeply, who doesn't trust me as
much as they should. I'm not sure this person realizes just how
much I've done for them." He closed his eyes as the music began,
then, in a sultry voice, began to sing.

"We were all wounded in some domestic war
I found you to settle my score
You looked like father
You felt like mother
My mind told my heart
There is no other"

He opened his eyes, gazing directly at Heero, and the force of his
emotion showed in his face.

"And I gave you my soul
And every ounce of control
I gave you my skin
And my original sin
I gave you my pride and my side oh my pride

Ain't that enough
I turned your dreams into lightning
Ain't that enough
I held the world back for you
Ain't that enough
I loved you past the point of dying
Ain't that enough of me for you

I was so sure one and one gave you one
My noisy love is coming undone
Now you leave like father
Disappointed like mother
And I know in my heart
There is no other

And I gave you my soul
And every ounce of control
And I gave you my shame
And my eternal flame
And I gave you my need and my seed oh my need

Why can't you hold on"

Heero was staring at him, his expression unreadable, and Duo
flushed, his certainty that this would work suddenly gone. "That," he
said shakily into the microphone, "was an old song - 'Enough Of
Me' by Melissa Etheridge, and I'd like to thank my friend Quatre for
suggesting it to me - " he scanned the crowd " - but I don't see him.
Oh well." He left the stage and made his way to where Heero and
Wufei were sitting.

The Japanese pilot stood, his face still completely dispassionate,
and grasped Duo's wrist, dragging him from the auditorium, amid
protests from the braided one.

"Oi - !" he said loudly, in the hallway, as Heero shoved him against
the wall. "What are you - mmmph..." His protests were abruptly
silenced as Heero kissed him demandingly, his hands roaming over
Duo's body. Duo parted his lips eagerly, and their tongues
entwined, tasting each other as if for the first time. Heero pulled
back with difficulty, Duo reluctant to end the kiss.

"It will always be enough," he whispered. "I... I was wrong. Forgive
me?"

Duo simply grinned and tangled his hands in Heero's hair, hauling
him in for another kiss. For once, he had absolutely nothing to say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later, when they snuck in the back of the auditorium, disheveled
and very happy, the three girls who had started this entire mess
were on stage, singing:

"...Oh girls just wanna have fun
That's all they really want
Is some fun
When the working
When the working
When the working day is done
Oh when the working day is done
Oh girls, they wanna have fun
Oh girls just wanna have fun!"

Then, amid the cheers of the crowd, Janice kissed both Dionne and
Aretha passionately, and the three of them disappeared backstage,
which action was met by catcalls and wolf whistles.

"See?" said Duo. "If we were flirting, it was harmless. They're not
interested in me."

Heero, eyes wide with shock, simply stared at the still-swaying
curtain where the girls had disappeared.

~OWARI~