Summary: Duo realizes that he loves Heero, but all he can do is tell him that he likes him. And sing a song.

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. The lyrics of the song don't belong to me either. But I love Shrek.

AN: Just taking a break from 'Cold Iron'.


There was a dark silhouette of a figure sitting on top of a sand dune. The moon was up, shining in all its glory. It lit up the endless dunes, glowing white in the moonshine.


I shivered in the cold night air, my bangs waving slightly in the soft breeze. I tucked them behind my ears, but it escaped just as quickly. Hmm. Annoying. I tried to take no notice and allowed my hair to dance out of control. It was starting to get a bit chilly now. In fact, I don't even have a clue why the hell I'm out here. Why am I not back inside the mansion, chasing Wufei around, calling him a weak little onna?

I think it finally got to me, how painful this love thing could be.

I turned my gaze slightly to look at the huge building sitting proudly on its hill, glowing with lights from the inside. The welcoming image seemed to wink at me warmly. It was very tempting just to get up, shake the sand off my black trouser and slip back inside. No questions asked. The desert gets very cold at night. I heaved a sigh and turned my face away from the impressive structure and looked out at the vast, empty space before him. Heh...'vast, empty space'...yeah...whatever. I've seen emptiness that's way more overpowering than the desert could ever be. At least you know that the end is somewhere! And that you can breathe. Spending time in space could give you that unsettling feeling in your stomach. Just looking at used to make me hurl. The idea of non-ending space drove many people crazy. Seriously though... am I crazy?

I think that I am balancing on the brink of insanity.

Woo, scary.

I stuck my finger into the sand, feeling the small, sharp, particles settle around it. I aimlessly traced pictures and letters.

D.U.O.

H.E.E.R.O.

I stared at the two names in disbelief before sweeping my hand over the words, erasing them from the sand. What the hell? I think that this is starting to work its way into my thick head. Alright, now I am definitely going completely mad. I raised my head to the sky, counting the endless number of stars that winked at me, almost fondly. Was someone up there on L2 or L4, staring at the sky, also wondering if they were crazy? Jeez, if God promised Abraham the number of his descendants are in the stars, he must be one busy man. I closed my eyes and let myself fall backwards, my back sinking into the ground with a muffled sound.

O-oh shit. Sand is such a bitch to get out of hair. I grabbed my braid, saved it from the sand and let my fingers run down my it aimlessly. I plucked a few silky strands out of the rope and let them hang. You know, I seem to be sighing a lot right now. I let the slick strands flow through my fingers.

What? I don't have to be modest about my hair, do I?

Suddenly, I was hit with the sudden urge to undo my braid and free my head from the constant weight. That has to be one of the weirdest things that I have ever wanted to do. My subconscious fought back, logic telling me that more sand would get trapped into it and it will be hell trying to get it back out again. My spontaneous impulses won the internal tug-of-war and my sandy fingers wrapped around the end of the braid and tugged at the piece of leather that held the masses of hair together. Sitting up and placing the hair tie between my teeth, I unbraided my hair carefully, letting the wind claim some of the strands. I shook my head and the chestnut silk floated behind me and waved in the breeze like a satin banner.

Now why the hell did I do that?

I certainly couldn't lie back down again unless I wanted to ensnare the desert's population of tiny scorpions into my hair. The wind whispered behind me, cooling the nape of my neck and my head felt strangely light. Like when I was ballyhooing back inside, earlier on that day.

Back when I licked Heero's nose and sang a song.

I sighed, once again, letting the hair tie fall out of my mouth and on to my lap. Unfortunately, a stray breeze caught it and threw it to another rolling dune. O-oh shit. Dammit, that was my favorite tie! Why the hell? I felt my eyes widen as I watched the small leather lash fly away from me. It was almost invisible against the black sky. A heavy weight settled at the bottom of my stomach. I didn't even see it fall, let alone where. "Shit," I said aloud, my voice sounding empty in the desert. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." And I was NOT going back to the house with my hair undone. The guys are probably gonna laugh at this. I just can imagine 'fei now.

Even the desert snickered and a gust of cold air breezed past me. I heard the stars laughing and humming with silent energy. I brought his knees up to his chest and felt the tugging of my hair as it swept into another direction when the winds changed. Heh, kinda like the sails of a ship. Except I dunno where I wanna go and my compass doesn't point north. The whispers started again and the cold started to bully me. I shivered slightly and reached back, draping my hair back around my neck like a scarf. "Damn," I whispered. "I really am crazy. The desert's talkin' to me."

How does one know if they are crazy? I suppose denial is the first sign...

Sand blew into my eyes and mouth, making me splutter. "Aw man!" I shouted to the sky, as some more sand blinded me. Heh, next time I go on a mission, I should bring some sand with me. Handy for throwing in faces. I cursed some more, before (wisely) burying my face into my arms. "Fucking hell..." God, I had to stop myself from clawing at the grains lodged in my eyes and forced myself to blink repeatably. "Stupid, fucking desert," I muttered. "What the hell does Quatre see here?"

"So what are you doing here?"

Oh shit, someone crept on me! Stupid bastard. I turned around and saw Heero standing above me. Cross out the stupid bastard. His arms were folded and he had a small frown on his features. It was to dark too see properly, but I felt Heero's eyes shimmer. He seems to be doing that a lot lately. It was addictive to me. I had started to make a hobby out of drawing that special gleam out those Prussian eyes. What else could I do when I was bored?

I relaxed, squashed any ideas of maiming the 'stupid bastard' and moved to the side, even though there was enough space for the whole Maganac army to join us. Heero sat down slowly, keeping his eyes trained on me the whole time. Humph, what? It's not like I'm gonna jump him or anything. Why so paranoid? He's got better-than-normal-hearing so he would be on the alert the whole time...

Thump...thump...thump...thump...thump

Shit, I think he can hear my heart beating. And why was it beating so fast? I should be able to control it, shouldn't I? I should be able to slow it down in order to play dead if needed.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump...

Was that why he was staring at me? I felt all the blood in my body rush to my face. I'm glad that it's dark, dark is good.

"Duo," he said softly, turning his head so that he could look at me better. His voice was rough and so much more human than when I first shot him...I mean met him. The damn moonlight was letting him see my face properly. I tried to avert my eyes. Away...away from the eyes that I could so quickly drown in. And I'd do it willingly.

Whoa, this is a bit fast. I mean, I just kinda realized today, and already I'm dreaming of eating his face. Eee gahd! What is wrong with you Maxwell, get a grip. I mean, come on, he's not interested. And he has his pretty pink princess all on a platter for him. Why the hell would he like you and stuff. You don't even know if he even knows what the words, "I want a relationship" mean. I doubt that J's training would have covered that. Why would the old coot give a damn about poor Heero's love life. I guess that is why he's so -

"I saw you from the house balcony." He gestured with a vague wave of a hand. Yes Heero, I do know in what general direction Quatre's house is in but please continue. I nodded jerkily. My neck muscles seemed to have gone all stiff. Eek. "Your hair...it was blowing..." He chuckled dryly. "It was strange..."

Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump...

I'd be surpirsed if Relena didn't hear my heart beating. And she isn't even in the same country.

Heero tore his eyes away from my face and looked up at the moon. "It looked nice," he said, his voice thick. "I never seen it...down." He sounded very confused and out of it, as if he didn't understand what he was doing down here with me. His eyes snapped back to my face, boring holes into my skull as if pleading me to explain what was going through his head. Pfft, as if I should know.

"Thanks Heero," I said quietly, surprised that I could even get the words out. It felt like there was something squeezing my air pipe. He was strangling me with his look. But I'd rather this than have him go away.

THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP...

God, he looked so...nice in the moonlight. I felt blessed, very blessed, for once in my life. I inched closer and cautiously leaned against him, my back was against his chest. It couldn't have been called snuggling, but I definitely wasn't just sitting next to him anymore. I felt him stiffen for a second and he took a sharp breath.

I never believed in God, but now I prayed with all my might that he wouldn't push me away. 'Pleaseopleaseoplease...'

He wrapped a strong arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. My head tilted against his neck. Okay, now this is snuggling. I could feel his heart beating on my back. It seemed so steady and so calm compared to mine. What is he? Superhuman? Gah, I don't care. Just hold me.

"You have sand in your hair," Heero said matter of factly manner. Who cares? I'll get it out later with a two hour shower.

I nodded. "I know," I said. "It's okay."

"Oh." He looked down at me, a small smile tugging at his lips. Why oh why does he have to have such a perfect face? And a body of a god to go along with it. Dammit. This is hard. He might not understand the meaning of relationship or love or something like that. I don't know what he wants...

Well, I'll just have to teach him.


We left a while after, since Quatre was calling us inside. I was annoyed with him. But I wasn't pissed for long though.

Heero and I didn't do anything...important. But it was a mile stone for me. A definite mile stone for me. I was able to touch him without getting blown up or killed or even glared at. And he could touch my braid without my permission. We just sat there, on the sand dunes, and talked. What about, I can't remember. I think our conversation consisted of tofu and the number four. I never had a better chat though. The guy could have talked about sardines and I would have hung on to his every word.

But you know what? You know what the best thing about that night was?

The next morning, just before we left the mansion due to some sort of mission or party or something. I dunno. But Heero came running up to me. He didn't say anything about last night, though he smiled shyly at me.

"Hey Hee-buddy!" I clapped him on the back and I felt him lean back into my hand. Cool.

"Duo." He grabbed my hand from its place on his spine and he clasped it between his own. He squeezed it once, let go and strode off to join Wufei back inside. Jesus, I am so never gonna wash my hand again.

Anyway, guess what. I uncurled my fingers and in the middle of my palm, lay a slightly sandy leather strip.


A.N: Hoo boy.

EDITI went through the story to edit it and I found too many mistakes. (Shakes head) Dear God. But thanks to Ffpanda for pointing it out to me. The mistakes were for two reasons.

1. I had first written it in third person P.O.V but I realized that if it were from Duo's P.O.V then it would be better. So I had to rewrite the whole thing, changing he to I etc.

2. I wrote it in a program called Notebook and I'm still getting used to it. It is so much better than Word, but I still need to work on it. Anyway, review responses will soon be found on my profile page.