Duo no Hero
By ChibiQuatre (6/22/00)


Yet another GW disclaimer: well, do you all REALLY want me to write a disclaimer?! We all know that I don't own GW (though God KNOWS I wish I did!). The GW boyz r'nt mine, never were, never will b. They are owned by their respective creators; Sunrise, There...happy!!! ((oh, and any trouble translating the japanese, I'll b happy to help!))

*NOTE: this started as a Duo/Hilde ficcie, but i think i strayed a little. heh it's continued as a sidestory to my other fic, "Mother," and it'll make more sense if u read that first. also, i have 2 other sidestories: "Constitution" and "Final Farewell."


I hated to leave Relena, especially after Wufei, Trowa and Quatre all left nearly
a week ago.

But I had to. I was bored out of my mind. Heero and Relena, well, they didn't
want to talk to me. They just sat across from each other, not saying anything. It
was way too quiet here.

I'm not a quiet guy. I get bored very easily.

And besides. I missed Hilde. I wanted to see her again.

So I decided to pay a visit to my home-colony. Just recently, she sent me an
e-mail saying she would be there on military leave.

If you ask me, that's an invitation for me to visit her, ne?

So I packed my stuff and waited to catch a free ride on the next shuttle to L2.

I can't say Relena was too happy. She looked like she was going to cry,
although I have no idea why. She has Heero, after all.

The two are, like, made for each other. They don't need to talk to each other to
get their point across.

Just like me and Hilde, even though we do talk. A lot. Heh, we love to talk. I think
we're the two most talkative people on earth. But we can't help it. We'd sure
never have a problem communicating.

Heero didn't look too sad when I announced my departure. But then again, he's
the Perfect Soldier. He's only a Gundam pilot. Why would he even notice
another fellow Gundam pilot?

Note the sarcasm.

Well, I left the mansion soon enough. Relena was crying and Heero was huffing
his annoyance. He could wait to see me go.

I couldn't wait to see Hilde.

* * *


I was surprised, to say the least, when Duo showed up on L2. Right on my
doorstep.

I don't know how he found me. I was staying in a hotel, and no one, not even my
superiors, knew where I was staying. So I was very shocked to see Duo on my
doorstep, smiling that goofy grin of his.

It was fairly late, but we had coffee in the kitchen. "How did you find me Duo?" I
asked curiously.

"Well babe," he started. Same ol' Duo, in wartime and in peacetime. "You sent
me an e-mail message remember?"

I remembered. "Hai, demo, how did you know where to find me?"

Duo's face scrunched up. "Eh, it'll be my little secret."

I laughed. Yep. Same ol' Duo. He probably used his hacking skills, the ones he
learned from Heero. Duo could be a genius at the computer if he really actually
tried.

Throughout the night, we talked together about nothing in particular. It was nice.
I needed to relax, and I think he did too.

"So how long do you plan to stay?"

Duo looked at me, eyes wide. He hadn't yet planned it out? "I, uh, well..."

Rash, rash, stupid thing to do. Duo no baka.

I sighed. "You can stay here if you want."

He shook his head. "I could never impose, m'lady," he drawled in an English
accent. "I am but a gentleman, and a gentleman always earns his stay."

How heroic. hee...Duo no hero.

Duo could make me laugh so easily. "Well," I said thoughtfully. "Maybe you
could do some chores here or something. Would that earn you a stay here?"

"Sure would dollface!"

I sent him off with grocery shopping to do. Nothing major...I didn't want him to
mess up my dinner plans.

He came back an hour later with everything on the shopping list, and more.
Namely, chips, cheese puffs, chocolate bars, and everything else unwholesome
to the diet. "Duo!" I scolded him.

He looked at me with wide violet-eyed innocence. "What?"

Dinner was a complete success.

* * *


I had the best dinner in a long time.

Whoa, don't get me wrong. Relena's cook did well, but Hilde's cooking was
magnificent. Steak, baked potatoes, and creamed vegetables. Yummmm...

Just thinking about it made my mouth water again.

Homemade dinner, just the way I liked it. I think I was full for the first time in my
life. If I had eaten another mouthful, I would have exploded.

I crawled onto the couch. It wasn't a very comfortable bed, but it would do. After
all, my princess would have to sleep in the real bed. I had intruded; I didn't know
what got into me. I should have called or something first, but that's just me.

I guess I really had wanted to see Hilde...badly.

She was the kind of person who doesn't mind how stupid you act, as long as you
make up for it in some way. She loves me for who I am, not who I pretend to be.

In fact, I feel the same way. I love her for everything she is.

After a sleepless while, I got bored of not talking again. We hadn't really chatted
much during dinner--it's hard to talk with your mouth completely full. I didn't
exactly care to disgust poor Hilde with my dinner habits.

Who would talk to me at this time of night? I thought hard. Who wouldn't mind
being bugged at this hour? I know!! I got off the sofa, walked to Hilde's phone,
and dialed Earth.

It rang seven times before someone picked up. I almost hung up, but I really felt
like talking.

"'Llo?" a very tired voice answered.

"Quatre!"

"D-Duo?"

"Yep it's me! What's up Quat-man?"

"DUUUUOOO," he whined. "It's 1 o'clock in the morning. What're you doing?
Where are you?"

"I got bored. Hey, I wish you could've been here. Hilde cooked me the best
dinner tonight and--"

Quatre cut me off. "What?! You're with Hilde? But isn't she in..."

"Yep! I'm in space. It's really great, 'specially on vacation. Ya know, space isn't
so bad if you don't plague it with war."

Quatre had fully woken up. In the background, I could hear another sleepy voice.

"Trowa?"

"He's here too Duo."

"HOW ARE YA TRO-MAN?!!" I yelled through the phone.

I heard the phone drop. Whoops. I shouldn't have, uh, yelled so loud. I even
forgot about Hilde, who was probably asleep right now anyways.

Maybe.

I heard Trowa on the phone. "GoodNIGHT Duo," he growled.

I laughed. "Fine, be that way. You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to," I
whimpered.

Quatre had picked up another phone, so we could talk simultaneously. "Duo, uh,
what on earth gave you the idea of calling us in the middle of the night?"

I blushed. "Well, I got bored."

"What?!" Trowa was getting angry.

"Trowa," Quatre said. "You can go back to bed now."

I heard a click. Okay, so Trowa was one of those people who are grumpy if
woken too early.

"Duo," Quatre said patiently. "Where is Hilde?"

As if on cue, I turned around...to face a very angry looking Hilde. "Uh, right
behind me," I answered in a tiny voice.

Hilde looked like another one of those people who are grumpy if woken too
early. "DUO!!!"

"What was that?" Quatre asked. Even he sounded a bit scared.

"Mt. Saint Hilde, ready to erupt."

I heard a sigh on the other side. "Well, Duo, you could have come to my estate
with me and Trowa if you wanted."

"I didn't want to be a bother to you," I said, dodging a pair of bunny slippers.

"No, no bother at all. It's better than being waken at midnight anyways."

"Uh, Quatre, am I annoying you?"

"No, whatever gave you that idea?" I noticed a hint of exasperation in his voice.

Maybe Quatre was also one of those people who are grumpy when woken.
"Sorry," I said, dodging a pillow.

Quatre laughed. At least he was friendlier than Trowa. "But really. If you want to
come to my estate, feel free. I've got plenty of rooms here, and my cook makes
the best meals."

"Hmmmm..." I considered the offer. I could hitch a ride on the shuttle back to
earth. "Okay, I'll come. It's more beautiful there anyways."

"Great. I'll be seeing you soon Duo." Quatre sounded glad to hang up the phone.

"Cool!" I hung up.

Hilde was glaring at me now, in silent fury. "Duo, what was that all about?"

"Uh, I was on the phone with Quatre."

She didn't even care to ask why I called Quatre. Instead, she chucked another
pillow at me. This time, it hit me square in the head. "Ow!"

"Serves you right," she mumbled before disappearing into her room.

"Sorry," I replied after her, trying to provide some kind of consolation.

* * *


"So, you're going back to earth?"

"Yep." He sipped his coffee. "Not that I don't enjoy it here with you, babe. It's just
that I rarely get to spend time Quatre and Trowa."

"Well, you better pack then."

Duo looked at me suspiciously. I wasn't very disappointed that he was leaving.
Last night's little phone charade was too much. He was really a baby sometimes.

But I still loved him. He was annoying at times, but underneath, he meant well.

And deep down, I didn't want him to go.

He deserved to be with his friends, now that they were on vacation. It was a rare
occasion.

So I would let him go. The best love is the kind that returns time and time again,
no matter how many times one lets it free.

* * *


I arrived at the Winner estate around 5 o'clock in the afternoon.

Rashid answered the door. "The young master is not home. He left with his
friend this morning. They were in their Gundams."

"But he invited me here! Quatre and Trowa, they left huh?"

The big man nodded sadly. "It seemed urgent. Would you like to come in?"

I thought about it, and shook my head. "Maybe I'll be back later. But if there's a
battle, I wanna check it out first."

It's a good thing I brought my Gundam. I had intended to store it for safe keeping
in Quatre's hangar, but I may very well use it. I climbed into the large
platform-bed truck and parked it behind a row of bushes to the side of the
Winner mansion.

Minutes later, I blasted off.

* * *


Over there!

There is a battle going on.

Well, there was...

I arrived a little too late for any action. Darn. Shinigami misses his cue.

I glanced around the ruins. And what action. The battlefield was littered with
mobile suit scraps. The burnt grass and charred landscape was still smoldering.
Wish I could've been here.

A little to the right, something caught my eye. The dying sunlight glinted off of
something metal.

I maneuvered Deathscythe over to the object.

"No," I gasped silently.

Sandrock's curved double-edged sword.

It was Sandrock's sword.

'Quatre.' My lips formed the name. And Trowa. Where was his partner?

Something else glinted further to the right. I fearfully made my way towards the
new object.

I hope it's not Sandrock...or HeavyArms.

As I got closer, I sighed. It's not Quatre or Trowa's Gundams. The designs are all
wrong. Then I froze.

That design...

Wing Zero!

No! Then, Heero...

I searched for a few minutes before I located my target. I opened the cockpit
hastily, jumped out of my Gundam ,and landed on the moist battlefield. My
breathing was ragged as I ran towards him.

The fool! He must've self-destructed.

And what of Sandrock and his partner?

I hoped the other two had sense enough not to kill themselves.

I dropped beside my friend's body, tears welling up in my eyes. My hand touched
the still-warm body. How long had he been lying here?

My fingers froze as a muscle twitched under my touch. Heero stirred, then
movement ceased.

Alive? Heero was alive!

But just barely. He really was the invincible soldier, and really lucky that I had
come along when I did.

I make my way back into the Deathscythe and started her up. She whirred to life
and I reached out a metal hand to pick up Heero. Even through the mecha's
hands, I could feel Heero's life, seeping away slowly.

I hoped it wasn't too late for Quatre and Trowa. Odds were that they had been
captured. I hadn't found any signs of their Gundams, save for that one curved
blade.

I promise, I'll find you guys. But right now, my main concern was for the pilot of
Zero.

I thought about bringing him to a nearby hospital; it was a popular one,
world-renowned, twenty stories high and staffed with some of the best medical
doctors on Earth. I had even heard rumors of one of the Winner sisters, one of
Quatre's younger ones, finding work there as a doctor or a nurse. But I couldn't
risk it, not with the reward on the Gundam pilots' heads.

I had to get him back to Relena.

* * *


I sighed. A job well done, if I do say so myself.

I had left Hilde's hotel without much incident, gotten the injured Heero back to a
concerned Relena, and made it to the Winner estate just in time for bed. Rashid
had been kind enough to get me a room almost as grand as Quatre's.

What luck!

I looked at my clock. 1:17. About the same time I talked with Quatre and Trowa
last night.

Where were they?

I hoped they were okay.

God, it was boring not to talk to anyone.

Hey! Wait a minute...

I rolled over to my other side and turned on the lamp on the nightstand. The
bright light stung my eyes for a moment. When the particles of dancing spots
disappeared and my vision returned, I picked up the phone.

Now, what was the number to Hilde's hotel room again?



~OWARI~



How was it! Luved it, hated it, wished i wouldn't write anymore? lol well, rate n review minna. IMHO, i didn't think it was 2 good, but that's just me! u know what they say...u r ur own worst critic ^_^ ja ne!!!

ChibiQuatre @ tigerlily6c@aol.com