Gundam 06: Revelations

Gundam 06: Revelations

Two years before it starts:

Tears were falling from her violet eyes as the Gundam was flying at full speed from the colony. The Gundam's cockpit began to emit soft beeping sound that started to soothe the young pilot.

"Yes, you're right Desert Rose, you always are. It was right to leave Quatre behind. But now he won't have anyone to train with." she said, brushing her long brown bangs from her face. Yes I'm truly sorry I had to leave both you and p-pa… her thoughts were cut short when the Gundam emitted a warning note. "Ah ha, so you think you can take me off guard did you? Well I don't think so…ahhhhhh!" she screamed as she mentally sent the Desert Rose the command to turn around and pull out its energy weapons.

The mobile suits stopped as their target pulled out two long scythes (like Duo's Gundam but only one blade on each), turned around and attacked in one swift move, sending each pilot to their maker. Then as if nothing had happened, it put up the weapons and headed to the next colony silently followed by more suits.

A young boy was walking down the streets of the L2 colony, thinking of his last training session. Even for being just thirteen he stood at a decent height with a long, brown Dutch braid ending three-quarters of the way down his back. Damn, I can't believe how bad the training went. And I just started, too. He let out a soft sigh and shook his head with a grim smirk, well, at least this day couldn't get any worse. His head raised as a high-pitched scream followed by the crashing metal of a trashcan came to his ears. He closed his eyes and started to run in the direction that the fuss was coming from with just one thought, oh hell, trash that thought. His eyes opened just in time to see the person that caused all the fuss run strait into him, sprawling him on his back on the road. Looking up he saw a set of violet eyes staring into his. Her hair was draping over her shoulder and into his face as he let out a startled comment, "What the…?"

When she had gotten over the shock, she realized that she was on top of a boy. Her eyes looked down; maybe I landed beside him, she thought hopefully. But she didn't; not only was the poor boy sprawled out beneath her, but her long legs weren't exactly on top of his, more like, between them. A small gasp escaped her lips as she slapped him and quickly stood up. "Pervert!" she yelled.

"Huh?" he asked as he got up and gently touched his left cheek. "What the hell do you mean. You're the one who ran into me!" he started to yell back.

"Oh yea?"

"Yea."

"Well… if you had been looking where you were going you could have moved out of my way!" her yelling had started to draw the attention of the people she had been running from.

"Well if you hadn't been running-" he started.

"Hey!" "There she is!" "Get her! And the boy too!"

"Oh crap!!!!" they yelled together, still not over the fight. Then she grabbed his wrist and started to run in the direction she was originally headed, but went into an alley, allowing the security team to pass them without noticing the two of them pinned against a brick wall. But this time the young lad was the one pinning her against the wall. Well, till he remembered what happened the last time.

He quickly backed up and offered a slight smile and a hand, "Sorry 'bout that, lady."

"And I'm sorry that I can't accept your apology. I don't accept apologies from people I don't know," she said softly while staring in his eyes, causing him to fidget.

"Oh, well, the name's Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide," he said with slanted grin, "but I'll never tell a lie."

"Well that's all very interesting, Mr. Maxwell," she replied while taking his hand. "My name is Katrina Annabelle Vienia."

"Oh, is that all? And what's with the accent?" he asked, noticing how she rolled her "r's" in her name.

"Unlike you, I don't make a speech for every new person I meet. And as for the accent, I'm half Russian and half Arabian." Then muttered, "Idiot."

"And I'm not an idiot, thank you very much. But, you need a place to hide, right?"

"Yea, so?"

He softly sighed; I can't believe I'm going to do this. "Well, in apology for every thing… youcanhideoutatmyhouse." he finished quickly.

"Oh, and are you staying alone?" she asked him with a giggle.

"I live with my father… And just how old are you?"

"I'm twelve. And now it's my turn to ask a question. Are you a Gundam pilot?" she asked with a smile.

Duo gasped slightly and pushed her against the wall, covering her mouth with his hand as some stray security passed by. "What the hell are you trying to do, get us both killed?" he hissed as he felt some teeth bite his hand. "ouch!" he cried out as he jumped back and started to shake his hand. "God damn it. Wadda-ya do that for?"

She put a hand on her hip and while glaring at him through black tinted eyes, pointed a finger at him, "Do that again and you'll live to regret it. Oh, and you said I could stay at your house?" She then gave him a bright smile while offering a hand out into the streets.

"Yeayeayea," he mumbled as he led the way to his house. This should be interesting.

"Hey dad! I'm home!" Duo yelled as he stepped through the door.

Katrina looked around the cluttered room as she slipped off the black leather backpack on her shoulder and placed it beside the door; I wonder why he's so rude. But I shouldn't complain, I at least might have somewhere to stay. Then she noticed a piano in a corner of the room and placed a hand on Duo's upper arm are as she looked at it. "You have a piano?"

"I take it you like that old piece of junk?" a voice called out from the kitchen. An older man walked out and gave Duo a quick hug, "So this is your girlfriend, huh?" The older man stepped back as his gray eyes looked over Katrina and he casually ran a hand through his messy brown hair.

Katrina started to laugh as Duo's face turned cherry red, "Daaaad." he whined.

"Mr. Maxwell, I'm not his girlfriend (and I pity any poor girl that is or will be), but he did say that I could hide here for a while," she explained when the laughter had died down.

"Hide? Duo, are you keeping something from me?" he asked and he gave Duo the -please introduce us- look.

"Dad this is Katrina Annabelle Vienia." (How do you do) "And Katrina I believe you know my (occasionally very rude) dad." (Oh, fine thank you)

Katrina glanced at the piano silently and sighed.

"What's the matter? Bad memories?" Duo asked quietly.

"Not bad memories. Good ones." she whispered. " Oh I meant to ask you, do you play the piano?"

"Uh, tried, but no." he said with a slight smile.

"Well Duo? Why don't you practice while I talk to your friend here." Mr. Maxwell said. (Do it or you won't like the consequences) (Aw why are you so mean. ::mumblemumble::)

…………..

"Well I suppose you're a Gundam pilot too?"

"Yes, I am and I've been training for two years now."

"Ahh, I see." (Now Duo why did you have to procrastinate so much) (Dad. Stop.) "So I take it that you play the piano too?"

"Oh yes. My stepbrother taught me how to play a wide variety of instruments and songs."

"So why don't you play a song for us, then?" Duo called over from the piano bench.

"Ok. Get up and I'll show you how it's really done." (You sure she's not your girlfriend) (I don't want to talk about it, dad.)

………….

"Is that Beethoven your playing?" Duo asked her; surprised how she kept playing when she turned her head.

"Yes, and it's called 'Beethoven's Fur Elise'. ::sigh:: It's the first song my stepbrother taught me." she said, staring into his blue eyes. A slight blush came to her cheeks as she turned around to concentrate. "Sorry. It's just that I miss him so much."

"You talk about him like he was your only stepbrother." She stopped playing and stood up, seeing that it was almost time to sleep.

"He was." But then a slight frown came to her face. "But then again, I had twenty-nine stepsisters. Oh, can you show me the way to the shower?"

"Huh? Oh, this way." Katrina picked up her bag beside the door and followed Duo. "Just asking, but do you have anything to change into, because you could probably wear some of my mom's old things."

"Thanks, but what's the purpose of running away if you don't bring extra sets of clothes with you?" she asked him while showing him the backpack she had picked up at the door.

"Yea, I guess that's true." he mumbled. "Which colony are you from?"

"I told you when you were practicing?" (Think about that a little more. Some people can't multi task like others.) "::giggle:: Well apparently not" (::glare::) She pushed him slightly ending the glare, "Don't stare at me like that! I came from the L4 colony, why?"

"That's the Arabian colony, isn't it?" (Yes you idiot) "Don't call me that. I may have blonde moments occasionally but I'm not an idiot." (::glare:: My stepbrother's blonde.) "Any way, I was just wondering how far you came." He handed her a white towel.

She nodded her head and took the towel, "Arigatou." Then she headed towards the bathroom door.

"Um, translation? Please?" Maybe it's Arabian, he thought.

"This is the Japanese colony, isn't it?"

"No it isn't. Why do you ask?

"I thought this was the L1 colony?" she said while staring back in astonishment.

"Uh, sorry, this is the L2 colony."

"Damn it! The one time I don't give her the coordinates and she goes to the wrong colony!"

"Who? Your Gundam?" (duh) "I talk to my Gundam too. He's called Deathscythe. Oh, and weren't you going to take a shower?" With that last comment she slammed the door in his face.

Duo was sitting in a chair reading the flight control book for the long hour Katrina was in the shower. His dad had taken her backpack into the guestroom, normally called his room. He looked up in time to see her walk out of the bathroom, holding the towel around her with one hand and holding her clothes in the other, walking towards his room. His eyes widened when he saw her. Her wet brown hair hung down five inches past her waist, her long slender legs, the soft curves of her body…and then the presence of his father's elbow nudging his side. "Dad, stop it. I told you. Katrina's not my girlfriend."

"Uh huh. And I used to never look at your mother like that. I know you think she's cute." A slight mischievous glint came to his gray eyes as he continued to prod his son for information.

"Well, if you put it that way. She is kinda' cute… for a psycho!" Duo exclaimed, his eyes had a slight grayish haze to them from embarrassment of being caught staring at Katrina like he knew he was.

Then a small figure stood at the end of the hall wearing gray pajama pants and a white shirt. Her normally long, flowing hair was held back in a loose bun and wisps or it were escaping from the white scrunchi. "I heard that, Duo!" A look of murder crossed her now almost black eyes as she started to run towards him.

"Uh, bye." And Duo ran for the bathroom and quickly closed and locked the door.

Katrina skidded to a stop and started to pound on the door. "Let me in, Duo!"

"You must be joking. There's no way I'm letting you in! You're gonna' kill me!" panic could clearly be heard in the comment

"I take it you've never seen a movie from earth's twentieth century called 'Psycho', have you, Duo? It's about this poor kid with long brown hair that is killed while taking a shower!" A slight grin came to her lips as the room on the other side of the door grew quiet and while his father was trying desperately not to laugh.

Then sudden realization hit Duo as his eyes widened, "Daaaaaad!!!"

"Now you know how your mom treated me." Then he and Katrina both collapsed on the floor after the comment.

Ten months later…

Duo and Katrina were walking down the main street of the colony just having a calm conversation and laughing at how they meet, for once no fighting. Then someone came to ruin the current peace.

"Hey, Duo, how's it goin'?" a loud obnoxious voice called from behind the two. Two strong arms came from behind and grabbed the two in a strong shoulder lock.

"Great 'till you came Derick." Duo said with slight disgust in his voice.

"Awww, this is so sweet of you Duo. Taking your girlfriend out for a walk on her birthday. I never knew you had it in you."

Duo broke away from Derick's grasp. "How many times do I have to tell you guys. She's not my girlfriend."

"Aw, well I guess we were wrong when we thought you knew about her. Well I'm done. See ya later." Derick said, turning around a smile of victory crossed his lips when Duo's hand on his upper arm kept him from leaving.

"Hold on there, Derick. I know I'm gonna regret this, but, what should I know about Katrina?" Duo asked calmly while a panicked thought crossed his mind; She has a boyfriend. I knew I should have dropped this act a long time ago.

"Oh it's nothing really," then he whispered in Duo's right ear. "Those Arabian chicks know what make us guys tick, if you get my drift. Hehe."

"Uh, I couldn't quite hear that. Could you say that in my better ear." He had heard what Derick had said loud and clear, but he just wanted to make sure he got it right.

"I said," Derick whispered in Duo's left ear, while a confused Katrina looked on, "Arabian girls, like the one living with you, know how to make guys like us their night slaves. And I think you have been keeping the truth from your friends since she's been here. Did you hear that?"

Duo pulled back from Derick and turned his back to him. "Yea, I heard you. I even heard you the first time too." Then he quickly turned around, grabbed Derick's shirt, and pinned him up to the wall behind him, waving a fist in his ex-friend's face. "No one talks like that about Katrina. Not you or your slimy so-called friends. You say anything more about her and you'll regret it. Oh and one more thing Derick, whatever our so-called friend ship was, it's over. I don't need a back stabbing friend." With that said he dropped Derick in a heap on the ground. As Duo walked towards Katrina Derick managed to get up and call out one last comment.

"Yea, well it seems she's already made you her slave. In the night and the day."

Duo stopped and balled up his fists, "Ok, Derick," he growled, snapping around, "you asked for it." With that, he charged Derick and punched him square in the jaw. Duo hit him with all the anger that had been building up for the past ten months. All the snide remarks and dark whispers behind his back went all into this one hit. Electricity sparked up his arm as Derick fell to the ground in a heap. The left side of his face had a mix of both Duo's and his blood.

"You broke my jaw, you Arab lover!" Derick managed to mumble out.

Duo stepped back, cradling his right arm, and made another threat, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He stepped up to the body on the ground and was about to kick him when a light hand rested on his upper left arm, stopping him and making him step back.

"He's not worth it, Duo. Now let me see your hand," Katrina whispered to him, soothing his anger for the moment. Duo reluctantly let her see his hand. "Hmmm, seems you split you knuckles. And it's not that bad either. Let's just go to the medic station, ok?"

Duo nodded slightly and they both headed towards the medic station. Katrina kept a light hand on his back helping him along, she also did that because she noticed the slightly angry looks whenever he glanced over his shoulder.

"Thank you, ma'm," Katrina said while taking the supplies over to Duo, and helped him to stand. "Damn, is it that bad?" She lightly touched his right hand.

Duo winced away at the pain. "Still hurts like hell, Kat." Katrina smiled at the nickname he had given her in practice. 'Your reaction time is like a cat, Kat.' 'Hey! My stepbrother gave me that nickname!' 'Sorry it's mine now. Haha take this!'

"Here," she said while leading him to the back room in the clinic, "the nurse said I could use the back room to stitch up your hand."

Duo sat down in front of a table and carefully placed his hand on the table and let Katrina begin to clean the skin over his knuckles. "Are you alright?"

"What do you mean?" she asked him while cleaning the wound with peroxide. After a long silence she looked up to see him biting his lip to keep from yelling out in pain. "Sorry 'bout that." A small shake of Duo's head told her not to worry. She smiled and dried off the excess peroxide and started to lace the needle with the stitching string.

"You've changed," he said quietly. He closed his blue eyes so he wouldn't have to see her stitch up his hand.

"What do you mean?" She was just starting to stitch up the cut.

"You…lppp!" he whimpered a little when the needle went through skin. Then shook his head to clear his thoughts, "You've been a lot nicer than usual. I mean, we haven't had a fight in over a week."

"Guess it's from all the gas fumes from the Gundams, huh? Heehee," she quickly pulled the strings tight, making Duo yelp in pain. "There all done." and with that she bent down and planted a kiss on the closed cut; leaving Duo just to dream of the future.

He flexed his fingers and met slight resistance. "Um, is it supposed to be this tight?" he asked, as she was about to exit the room.

"Nope."

"Then why did you do it that tight?" He quickly ran to catch her leaving the clinic.

"I don't appreciate people hurting themselves to protect me." She stopped and brought up a hand to Duo's chin; making him look her in the eye. "You're a good person, Duo. But the way you live your life on the edge, and even the way you pilot Deathscythe, could get you killed one day." After she said that, she dropped her hand and started to cry.

For some unknown reason, Duo wrapped his strong arms around her and held her close to soothe the sobbing. "Shhh, cry all you want Katrina. I'm here," he softly whispered into her ear. Her head buried in his chest as he slowly ran his fingers through her long hair, softly comforting her. A gasp came from his lips as she wrapped her arms around his waist in an innocent hug before she made him promise something that would bring him pain and anguish for years to come.

"Duo," she softly said into his chest, while gently fingering the light material of his dark blue shirt.

"Yes Katrina?" he asked while placing his chin on top of her brown head.

"Promise me you'll never ever leave me. I never want to be alone again," she whispered. Duo never knew that a person's voice could ever hold such emotion, such caring. He was willing to give up being a Gundam pilot, to be safe with her forever. Even though they were young, he felt something between them that moment with her in his arms. He also knew that the next fourteen months were going to be like living in the bowels of hell itself. They both needed someone they could lean on and trust. So he gave up his heart with his answer, just two small words with no lie a light year away.

"I promise." Then he stepped back and lightly placed his hand in hers. "Come on, my dad planned something special for your birthday." He then gave her his famous grin and they both headed for home.

"You both did this for me!?!?" Violet eyes looked up at Duo and his father, both with stupid grins on their faces.

"Yup," Duo said, while placing a light hand on her bare shoulder. For her birthday he had given her a black T-shirt that had a drawstring at the neck. "Time to blow out the candles and make a wish."

The confused look in Katrina's violet eyes told him more than what she said. "Would you blow them out for me?" Then she gave him a small smile.

"Sure." He closed his eyes and wished his one wish, Please, let me one day have the courage to kiss her…one day, and the lights went out. Something damp brushed up against his cheek and he turned to look at it, but when his father turned on the lights, he was staring into a set of violet eyes glimmering with mischief.

The night before the mission to earth…

Katrina sat out side on the small balcony, shivering on the wooden bench from an artificial breeze. Looking up at the artificial stars was the only thing that calmed her slightly panicked thought, after tomorrow I might never see him again. She slowly closed her eyes as a familiar presence sat down beside her and broke the silence.

"It's been rough these past fourteen months, hasn't it?" Duo asked while placing his hands behind his head and looking out at the colony.

Katrina softly chuckled. "I think that statement should be nominated for 'The Understatement of The Year' Award." She silently scooted over closer to his side and placed her head on his shoulder.

"Hehe, I guess it should. But what were you doing out here. You don't want to get sick before our first real mission, do you?"

She got up and leaned on the railing, looking out over the colony. "Yea, I guess your right, Shinigami." You idiot! said a familiar voice in the back of her mind, it was the voice that controlled her time she fought. Don't call him Shinigami! He probably knows that you know about him! But if she's right, he is my enemy and I must kill him.

"Um, what did you call me?" Duo calmly got up and stood next to her, while a familiar frantic voice was asking him pointless questions, how could you blow our cover like that!? But is she the one, my sworn enemy, Sei, which I am to kill? it was the voice that controlled him each time he fought in Deathscythe. Duo stuffed the little voice back into the dark place it came from.

"The little voice in my head, told me not to trust you, but after what we've been through, I trust you with my life, Duo." she said while looking out at the stars.

"What does that have to do with the name?" he asked.

"If you would listen you would find out. Anyway, It goes back to when I was about three and was living on my old colony. The exploration L3 colony…"

"But that colony blew up!" Then something hit him up side the head, hard.

"I'm not done yet, idiot. This is right before it exploded. Well anyway, back to explaining. I was walking to the shuttle bay with my mother when I saw a strange man. He looked like a skeleton in a long black cloak, with flowing…hmmm; I think it was… dark brown hair that ended two-thirds down his person. . He had large leathery black, bat-like wings and a long glowing scythe, kinda' like the grim reaper's blade only green. And I know this might sound strange, but right before I boarded the shuttle I turned around to see him, well, smiling and waving. Then he turned around and walked into the streets whispering something like, 'Don't worry. Shinigami's coming.' And after the shuttle left the colony, the entire thing exploded. Some time later I finally found out what Shinigami meant from my stepbrother, it's Japanese for Death. And the reason I called you Shinigami, was that whenever I see your Gundam fighting it looks sorta' like what Death did in my old colony. But for you it would be ripping the souls from robots."

A little voice was snidely commenting on what she had said, I said 'Don't worry. Shinigami's coming quickly to end the pain you have.' Stupid girl. But she might be the one I'm looking for. Hmmmm… Duo stuffed the voice yet again into the very back of his mind. "Is that why you called me that. All because I act like the grim reaper when I'm fighting?"

She laughed. (Ya know that sorta' crazy laugh that Duo does occasionally. Yes that's the one. Now you know where he learned it from.) "Yup, that's it." What!!!! the two voices cried out at the same time, Is it possible that the kid's the wrong holder for my enemy. Damn it, I've wasted so much time on nothing!

"Do you want to sit down for a while before going to bed?" He went to the wooden bench and sat down. His eyes widened with surprise when she sat down next to him and scooted close to his side.

"I think I will. Thank you for asking." She slightly smiled when his arm went around her shoulders.

"Why did you come out here in the first place?"

"Looking at the stars calms my mind." A long awkward silence passed before Katrina spoke again, "Why do you and your father talk about your mother so very little, and when you do in the past tense?"

This question caught Duo off guard, causing him to regain his thoughts, " Well my mom died about..." he pauses and looks up at the stars thinking how long ago it was, "three and a half years ago from cancer. The cancer was caused by a radiation leak at her work. She started to get really sick right before the training and died seven months into the training. I stopped training so I could help my father get over her death." He paused and looked over at Katrina and gave her a half smile. "I started training again about a month or two before you came."

Katrina stared at him in disbelief as thoughts of sleep crossed her mind, " I would have never thought that you had less than a year of training. You were," she casually brought up a hand to stifle a yawn, "so great, so professional..." Her started to close her eyes as she snuggled against his side, So warm, so sweet... Katrina gently placed her head on his shoulder and sighed, her mind not waiting for her to get into a bed for rest.

After a while of silence, Duo was distracted by a soft noise. He looked down and saw that Katrina was sleeping. I never knew she snored, but then again she's probably overly exhausted. He grinned at a thought, 'sides it's kinda cute. Not to loud, just right... A yawn caused him to bring up a hand to soften it. But then again, I guess I'm a bit tired too. He silently got up and made sure she didn't fall to her side. It's time to get you to bed. Gently, he slipped one arm under he knees and one arm wrapped around her back, picked her up, and took her to her bed. He slipped Katrina under the covers, pulled them up to the bottom of her neck, and placed a feather light kiss on her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Kat," he whispered and he started for the door, but a soft moan caused him to turn around again.

Katrina had moved in her sleep. An arm had found its way up to the top of the blankets and her hand was casually draped over the edge of the bed. Her hair was also was over the edge of the bed. She softly mumbled something under her breath, "Thank you."

Duo smiled while also yawning, making it quite difficult. While rubbing his eyes, he walked to the couch (yea, I know what you're thinking, and yes he has been sleeping on the couch for the last two years.) and lied down. He would have said a quick prayer for the mission the next morning, but he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow; he didn't even have time to take down his braid. And soon the only sounds were the soft snores from two over worked and under rested teenagers.

The next morning Katrina received a very rude wake up call that included pounding on the door and yelling. "Hey wake up in there! It's your six thirty wake-up call!" A brown head popped out of the crack in the door, unfortunately it was Mr. Maxwell's head. Unfortunate for him, because he had awakened Katrina from a great dream, and so, instead of being greeted with a cheerful fourteen year old, he was greeted with a baseball thrown at him. Fortunately for him though, Duo had also done something like that a couple of days ago, and was able to duck in time, causing the baseball to go into the hall. "Ok ok, I get the picture. I'll go get Duo up so you two won't be late."

Katrina got dressed, she put on the shirt that Duo had given her a little over a year before. Tying the neck loose enough to let her shoulders show. Her blue jeans she wore were knee length and had beads hanging down from the cuff. The boots were the ones she had bought specially for this mission, they were ankle height and were the softest dark brown leather she could find. One of the reasons she could get ready so quickly is because she had an old-fashion washbasin where she washed her face and did her teeth. After that she got her brush and started the long, but fun, task of brushing her long hair, when someone knocked on the door.

"Can I come in?" came a muffled voice.

"Yea, but you have to help me with my hair," I guess he wanted to make sure I wouldn't throw a baseball at him again. She turned around expecting to see Mr. Maxwell there but instead she saw Duo in some rather strange outfit. He was wearing black pants, black shirt, and a white shirt underneath it with the sleeves rolled up around the black shirt's sleeves. The weird combination made the collar seem like a priest's collar. But what surprised her was his hair; it was hanging loose, making him seem like an evil fairy. But she had seen it loose before, this time it was not only messy but also tangled like he had not brushed it for a month. She brought up a hand to try to stifle the giggles coming from her.

"Oh hell! Quit laughing, I know it's bad." His voice had a slightly p.o.ed tone to it, but when Katrina looked in his blueish-gray eyes, she just saw the embarrassment that his pride had gone right out the window. She was about to say something about his hair but he beat her to it. "I kinda slept in my braid last night."

Katrina quickly brought out a chair and pointed to it. "Sit. I'll try my hardest to fix it." He gave her a half-hearted grin and sat down, but his eyes were still downcast. About twenty minutes later, his dark chestnut brown hair had no tangles in it. "Damn, its done. Well Duo, you got your pride back."

"Thanks." He made like he was going to re-braid his hair and stand up. But something pushed him back down and slapped away his hands.

"Nuh-uh. I'm not done yet. I was wanting to do your hair, with your permission of course." Duo gave her a 'what-ever' gesture of his hand and let her braid his hair. When she was done, he stood up and looked at it with one of her mirrors.

"Hmm, not bad. Could you stand in front of the chair please." Katrina gave him a confused look when he passed her and stood behind the chair. Duo then placed his hands on her hips and sat her down on the chair. "My turn now." He took the brush and finished brushing her hair and after about five minutes he was done. "Now I want to teach you how to braid your hair." He took her hands and placed them on his and slowly French braided her hair, making sure she was following how to do it.

"Why did you want to braid my hair? I thought you liked it like that." she said while looking at the knee-length braid in her mirror.

"Oh, I do. It's just that it's not safe to wear your hair loose on a mission. But don't you like it?" he asked, sounding a little hurt that she might not like it.

She turned around and gave him a fierce hug. "Oh I do like it. Thank you. But-"

"Hey kids, we need to get going if you don't want to be late." It was Mr. Maxwell.

"Thanks dad. We're coming." And Duo and Katrina left, but not before Katrina picked up a letter she had written in the middle of the night.

………..

Mr. Maxwell brought out a camera when they were passing by the park. "Why don't you two let me take a quick picture before the mission and I'll send you the copies."

They both smiled and stood in front of a big tree. As Mr. Maxwell got the camera ready, Duo quickly grabbed her right hand with his and placed his left hand on her hip. Sensing that Katrina put up her free hand to his face and started to play with his long bangs.

"Ok that's enough you two. Now smile…" Click.

Katrina turned to look at Duo. "I know you did a face, what did you do?" In response he redid the face. He winked and stuck out his tongue. "I…I don't …" and that's all she got out. "Why you little…" and she pounced on him and both started wrestling on the artificial grass. After a while two strong hands picked them up and separated them, laughing.

"Enough is enough. You don't want to kill yourselves before the mission does now do you?" they both shook their heads, braids waving in sequence. "Ok then, shall we get going. You two still need to suit up." And all three of them headed towards the shuttle bay.

"Would the two pilots please report to your respective shuttles. I repeat, would the two pilots report to your respective shuttles to prepare for launch."

Katrina and Duo were standing in front of the fork dividing to the two different shuttles.

"So what were you doing on the computer yesterday?" Duo asked. Yesterday was the first time since his last birthday they hadn't gone walking in the park.

"Oh I was checking into a house somewhere in Japan. Sorta like a safe house for between missions." She brought out the letter and placed it in his hand. "Here I wrote this for you. It has the directions to my new house and you're welcome any time. And also," she said while walking down the path to her shuttle containing the Desert Rose, "There's something for you to read in flight." Duo walked up to her and stopped her, a sad smile graced his lips.

"Aren't you gonna say bye?" She looked up at him and smiled. It took standing on her tiptoes to get high enough to kiss him on the corner of his mouth.

"So long, Shinigami," she said while putting on her helmet and turned away, letting Duo put on his helmet to hear her. "See ya on Earth."

He watched her board the shuttle and waved slightly. "::sigh:: See ya later. Have a good flight." Then with note in hand ran to the shuttle carting Deathscythe and strapped in just in time.

"Five…"

"Four…"

"Three…"

"Two…"

"One…"

"Lift off!"

………..

Awhile after lift off Duo pulled out the note to read. And I couldn't even write her something. Gesh.

Dear Duo,

Right now I'm probably wondering if you're reading this, but knowing how bored you get you most likely started to read this. Well, you know that I told you last night that a voice was telling me not to trust you, but it seems now she wants me to write you something. So here it goes:

Life searches Death in hopes to die,

Death searches Life in hopes live.

Both want what both cannot achieve.

In the end, Life yearns for love,

And Death needs to love,

Both loving what they searched for.

Life loves Death and Death loves Life.

Both would give up eternity to be with each other,

Both would chose to live a life on the ground,

Both would give up immortality to be together.

Ain't that sweet? Personally I never knew she had it in her, but who am I to talk, I wrote it! But any way, I told you that the directions to my new house were in this letter and I wasn't lying. Plus I wanted to give you the island that it's on, Hokkaido. Well here it is…

"Warning! About to enter Earth's atmosphere. Landing in t-two hours in the Hokkaido island of Japan."

Wow, and I thought we weren't going to be anywhere near each other. It'll be a snap to find her. Now for the rest of the letter…

44°N 144°E. Sorry about this but I didn't want it to be too easy for you. Well I need some sleep so see you in Hokkaido, Japan.

Love always,

Katrina Annabelle Vienia

Duo's yell could probably be heard out side the shuttle and over the noise of the ship entering the atmosphere. "LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE! WHY LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE!!!!"

The end…for now.

Author's notes: this is the prologue I've been working on for a little over a year. Ok I'm gonna get this over with, I do not own any of the GW boys, so don't sue me, I have no money (I even owe my parents money ~~; ). My story will occasionally cross with my friend, Christine's story, so in other words I do not own her character Meika. Please feel free to review this first part of my stories.