Oh my gosh, you lucky darlings you! Look I'm updating again! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

None of you will even be on here to read this today, because you'll all be too busy playing with your new toys, but you know what, so will I!!! Yay!

But yes, sooo....

This chapter is CRAZY long! It just kept going! I was totally on a roll! I think it's the longest I've ever done! Yikes!

Well, for whenever you DO get to it,

ENJOY!!

Heero and Duo began the trek across the island just before the sky began to redden. Mari's leash was tucked into one of Duo's many pockets.

"Are you going to put her on the lead when we reach town?" Heero asked, matching his stride to Duo's.

"Not if I don't have to. I hate putting it on her. It's like she's a prisoner."

Heero nodded sympathetically, neither of them were fond of using the leash, though they had trained Mari with it when she was puppy.

"She's so well behaved, and everyone knows her, I don't think we'll need it." Heero tried to reassure, if only to wipe the troubled look from Duo's face.

"Yeah. But it is a party night, she might get excited and steal someone's hot dog or something."

Heero laughed, "Only you and Mari can eat those awful things."

Duo chuckled lightly
"Nothing like a good hot dog with everything on it!"

Heero studied the man beside him. Duo was still wearing a mask, still hiding the hurt, but he was trying. That was enough… for now, Heero decided.

He moved on to appraising his companion. Duo wore a fitted black-T with the sleeves cut off over a pair of army-green cargo shorts and flip flops. Looped around his wrist was knotted hemp bracelet with a shell strung on it that Heero had bought for him two years ago; just after they'd taken up Quatre's offer to move to the island.

But Heero wasn't the only one checking out his traveling companion. Duo glanced over, Heero wore his blue button-down shirt undone over a white T-shirt that stretched tightly over his broad chest, and a pair of khaki bermudas, his black sandals were velcro strap-ons. Duo smiled to himself, Heero never had been comfortable in something as unreliable as a pair of $10 flip-flops.

"Enjoying the view?" Heero snickered, catching Duo throwing him another side-ways glance.

"I could ask you the same." Duo huffed, flipping his braid over his shoulder and pretending to stalk away.

Heero caught his wrist, then slid his hand down to twine his fingers between Duo's. It was then Duo noticed Heero was wearing the bracelet that partnered his. Heero grinned and pulled up their hands to let the long haired pilot confirm with his eyes what he already knew.

"Who said you could hold my hand?" Duo asked, cocking an eyebrow

"You're the one who said it was a date." Heero smirked, planting a kiss on the tanned knuckles

"Hnn… maybe I did. But you'll have to do better than a kiss on the hand if you want to woo me, Heero Yuy."

"Mission accepted" Heero grinned, driving Duo's back against a tree and plundering the former Deathscythe pilot's mouth with his tongue.

Duo's breath hitched, then he began to battle back, deepening the kiss. Heero moaned slightly as he pressed closer against Duo, his hand sliding beneath the fabric of the shirt to dance across sun-kissed skin. Duo's hands had begun an exploration of their own, sliding down onto Heero's hips as he pulled the other pilot tighter against him.

Mari sat a few feet up the path, waiting with the patience that only a dog or Buddha could muster.

"We'll never make it to that party if we don't stop now Duo…"Heero panted, breaking for air. "Then again, I could always just take you right here." His mouth closed on a sensitive spot at the crook of Duo's neck.

"Fucking on the first date huh? What kind of guy do you take me for?" Duo's glare vanished as he added, "plus, sex on the beach isn't all it's cracked up to be." He wrinkled his nose in distaste, "You end up with sand in all the wrong places, remember?"

Heero laughed. "How could I forget? You complained for days."

"It wasn't funny." Duo let Heero pull him back onto the path and they resumed their trek towards the village.

"It was a little."

"Yeah well, you weren't the one with an ass-crack full of sand." Duo pouted.

Heero burst into laughter. It echoed out, clear and crisp across the sparsely populated island. Duo smiled, of all the people he went out of his way to amuse, making Heero laugh was the most rewarding.

***
Relena studied the small water skimmer cautiously.

"We're really flying out to the island in that?"

"There's no air-field on the island, Marm'" smiled the pilot, a deeply tanned man in his late 50's. "It's the skimmer here, or a boat. But the boat'll take almost 6 hours to get ya' there, and by then you'll have missed most of the party."

"How long is this flight expected to take?"

"About an hour, we should be there just before the sun sets."

Relena nodded, "Very well then. Coming Dorothy?"

***
Heero and Duo completed the 4 mile hike in a little under an hour, and now strolled the boardwalk that ran along a good portion of the islands eastern shoreline. And along which all commerce in the village centered.

"Duo!" an old woman called out from a stand, "Come to enjoy the party have you… and Heero? Bless my soul is that really you Heero!?"

"Affirmative."

Duo jabbed him with an elbow

"Well hook my lip and call me a catfish! Hey Reg! Reginald come out here! Heero's back!"

An old man poked his head out

"Well I'll be damned! My favorite queers! It's good to see you boys back together."

"We're not exactly…" Duo started

"Thank you." Heero interrupted

"Ah, we all thought you'd lost your mind, leaving a catch like Duo behind." Maggie cackled, "All the girls were just tripping over themselves trying to make him feel better. Some of the lads too." She laughed

Heero raised an eyebrow,

"Duo hasn't mentioned any of that…"

"Didn't really have the time to…" Duo muttered. "And it was a bit… embarrassing really."

"Well, some of them'll be sore you're back and the rest'll just be glad to have two of you to chase after again." Maggie grinned, "Ah! Before you head off down to bonfire I've got something for Mari!" she disappeared for a few moments before coming back with a piece of sausage. "Here you go girl!"

"Thanks a lot Maggie." Duo grinned, Mari chomped happily as the trio resumed their stroll. They made their way down the boardwalk to the islands main beach and slipping out of their shoes headed off across the sand to join the large crowd already gathering. An impromptu stage had been set up and a band was already in full swing.

"Hey look! Someone's flying in" Duo pointed as a skimmer came in for its descent. "C'mon Hee-chan, let's dance! Be a good girl Mari!" Duo called, the dog obediently sat just outside the area the dancers occupied, guarding the ex-pilots' shoes.

Duo drug Heero to the center of the dancers,

"Alright Heero, I got you on the floor, now impress me" the band played a groovy swing-style jazz.

Heero cocked an eyebrow "Mission- accepted."

The other dancers slowly began to open the space around them as Heero began to lead Duo through a fast paced swing.

***

"C'mon Dorothy! Pick up the pace! Something's going on over there!" Relena drug the platinum blonde along behind her. The two wiggled their way through the crowd to stand at the edge of the circle. Relena's jaw dropped.

"Wow." Dorothy breathed, "Duo I expected… but… I had no idea Heero could dance like that…"

***

The crowd was completely focused on the pair spinning in the center, and as one song ended the band went straight into the next. Heero flipped Duo over his back, the chestnut haired pilot landed lightly on his feet as their hands reconnected and Heero spun him into a 'wheel'. Their eyes locked as they flew through the quick choreography, the rest of the world falling away as they were swept completely into the rhythm of the dance. Heero snapped Duo into a dip as the song ended and they froze a moment, eyes locked, both breathing heavily, sweat collecting on their brows, Duo's smile was completely unfettered as his violet eyes danced in front of Heero. Heero slowly pulled him back up, matching Duo's smile with his own, his arm slid possessively around his partner as the cheering crowd closed in.

"I'm gonna go grab us a couple snow cones before the fireworks start!" Duo beamed, planting a kiss on Heero's cheek before wiggling his way out of the throng that had reclaimed the sand in front of the stage. Mari trotted after him as he made his way towards a stand set up a little farther along the beach.

Relena, Dorothy in tow, shouldered her way through the crowd to where Heero had gone to sit beside his shoes.

"Heero!" She squeeled, "I had no idea you knew how to dance like that!"

"It was very impressive!" Dorothy agreed, then glancing around "Where'd Duo go?"

"Will you dance like that with me now?"

"Why the hell are you here?" Heero growled

"We…"

" Heard there was going to be a beach party" Dorothy covered quickly

"This island is property of the Winner Coorporation."

"And I have Quatre's express permission to be here." Relena smiled smugly, then turned back on the charm, "Oh please Heero, Duo's wandered off, come dance with me till he gets back."

"I don't dance."

"What are you talking about? I just watched you. You were amazing!"

"I… it's not me, it's Duo. Duo dances."

"Told you." Chimed Dorothy

"Heero, you were definitely leading, now come on, before he gets back. Let's dance."

"No."

"Please Heero! Please! I know you can dance now! You've never danced like that with me! I want to try it!"

"No."

"Oh please Heero!" she whined, clutching his shirt

"Only with…" Mari's bark alerted him that something was wrong, he glanced up just in time to see a chestnut braid fleeing into the shadows. "Duo!"

Heero deftly twisted out of his shirt, leaving the blue button-down empty in Relena's hands as he took after Duo, following the sound of Mari's barking.

"He's not getting away that easily." Relena growled, pulling off her shoes and tossing them next to pairs abandoned by Duo and Heero. "C'mon Dorothy."

"Oh… shit." Dorothy grumbled but ditched her shoes as well and the two girls took off after Heero. This is BEYOND stupid… Dorothy thought to herself the two of us are NEVER going to be able to outrun a Gundam pilot, let alone Heero Yuy…

***

Mari's barking led Heero as the gathering clouds began blocking out the moonlight. Heero might be the faster runner, but no one could blend into the shadows like Duo. Dammit Duo! You didn't even give me the chance to explain! I didn't invite her here! I didn't even know she was coming!

They were coming up on a rocky cove, the most dangerous landform on the entire island, and here at low tide, more of the treacherously slippery rocks were exposed. Mari barked again, more distant now, Heero was losing ground on them as he picked his way over the slippery surface. Back on the sand, he sped up again, pumping harder to make up for lost ground. Running the circumference the way they were, it'd be just over 6 miles back to the bungalow, if Duo stopped there. Heero had a feeling he wouldn't.

When Duo was upset he needed to move, and move he would. He'd run the entire islands circumference and keep running till he dropped if that's what it took to clear his head. Heero wanted to catch him before that, if his hunch about Duo's train of thought was right, and when it came to what Duo was thinking, Heero was always right, then everything they'd started to rebuild was over.

Dammit! Why the hell did she have to show up here of all places! I'm not letting him go a second time! Heero came around a large boulder and caught sight of Duo, Mari keeping the desperate pace beside him. Heero put on an extra burst of speed and tackled him to the ground.

"Dammit!" he panted "Don't… don't fucking… run away from me…"

"Get… off…" Duo growled, trying and failing to hold back his tears, "Yuy… you… Bastard!" Duo's fist connected with the side of his head, Heero rolled sideways, stars flashing before his eyes, even so he came up on his feet "Don't… fucking… touch me!" Duo heaved as he too rolled to his feet.

Mari whimpered and barked nervously.

"Just… get away from me Heero. Go back, your princess is waiting."

"I don't give a damn who's waiting. I came running after you didn't I?"

"Just to save face."

"Save face? What's that even supposed to mean!? God dammit Duo! When have I ever cared about 'saving face'? I used to shoot people for a living, remember?"

Duo was silent,

"It looks like there's a storm rolling in, lets just go home, okay?" Heero put a hand on Duo's slumped shoulder, Mari whined and licked 02's fingertips.

"What do you think Mari?" Duo asked, jerking his head at Heero, "Should we let this bastard follow us home?"

Mari barked and spun in a circle, Duo sighed,

"Lets move it then, these squalls come up fast. Home Mari." Duo snapped his fingers once. The dog took off at a steady trot in front of them. Duo and Heero jogged silently behind her. They stomped up the porch and through the front door before Heero stopped and cursed,

"What is it?" Duo asked,

"We left our shoes down by the stage!"

***

"Miss Relena, I don't think this is such a good idea! The moon's gone behind the clouds, we don't know where we're going, it's totally dark, and we've completely lost Heero!"

"Stop whining Dorothy! Our cell-phones will work as flashlights! Now c'mon, he went this way!"

They reached the rocks,

"This is definitely not a good idea…" Dorothy moaned

"Oh come on! We'll be fine! If anything happens, Heero'll come."

"Why the hell would Heero come? He probably doesn't even know we were chasing him!"

"Oh he knows. He's just being stubborn. And he probably feels bad that Duo's being such a baby about all this. He really is such a sweetheart."

Dorothy rolled her eyes Sweetheart? Really? Heero Yuy is many things, but a 'sweetheart' isn't one of them!!

"Don't roll your eyes at me."

"You can't even see my eyes."

"I can feel it when someone rolls their eyes at me. Now c'mon, we've just got to get over these rocks."

Relena began picking her way across,

"Oh eww, they're slimy!"

"Great." Dorothy muttered as she began to follow.

The wind had been picking up and the first of the storm surges sent a wave sweeping up at the two hapless blondes, sucking them both out towards open water.

Dorothy heard Relena scream as she struggling to gain purchase on a slick rocks and began scrabbling inland. Her feet touching sand she turned around

"RELENA!!"

"DOROTHY!"

"RELENA! WHERE ARE YOU!"

"I'M… I'M ON A ROCK!! DOROTHY GET HEERO! I CAN'T GET BACK! THE WATERS RISING!!"

"WHAT!? I CAN'T JUST LEAVE YOU!!"

"YOU CAN'T SAVE ME YOURSELF! GET HEERO! PLEASE DOROTHY! HURRY!"

"HANG ON!" Dorothy shouted back, before turning and sprinting for all she was worth along the beach. The wind continued to rise.

***

Duo climbed into bed, reluctantly nodding his acquiescence to Heero's unspoken request to join him. Regardless of his mood, it didn't feel right to make Heero sleep on the couch. Not after all they'd gone through together. Heero slid in beside him, careful at first, not to touch him. But when Duo slid closer to allow room for Mari to join them on the bed, Heero let a hand drift over to rest on his former lovers hip. Duo didn't pull away. They'd just started to doze off when Mari exploded into barking and raced towards the front door.

"What the hell!?" Duo sprang up, "She never does that!" He raced after her, leaving Heero sitting stunned and slightly startled in the bed.

Duo threw open the front door and Mari tore out across the sand racing down the beach.

"Mari!" Duo sprinted after her. Half a mile later found him running down an exhausted and panicked Dorothy

"Dorothy!?"

"Duo!" The girl dropped to her knees, "Relena… she's… the rocks… can't… shore…"

"I got it, go to the house, Mari'll take you, tell Heero what's happened, I'll get Relena. Mari Home!" he ordered, and took off towards the rocks.

Mari whined a moment, and barked once before licking Dorothy's hand and dashing a few feet back towards the house, only to turn in a circle and whine at the exhausted girls stumbling progress.

Heero met them part way, Mari dashed to him, barking and whining.

"Mari! Where's Duo? Dorothy!?" he caught the girl by the shoulder, she was shaking and crying, as he led her helplessly back to the house, and draped a towel on her and set her at the kitchen table. It took him several more frustrating minutes before he was able to get anything coherent out of her.

His blood ran cold when he finally pieced together what had happened.

"Mari stay!" he ordered, dashing out the door.

Mari whined, looked at Dorothy, and whined again, but remained where she was.

***

"RELENA!" Duo shouted above the waves

"HERE!" she screamed back.

The first flash of distant lightning lit up the area enough for him to spot her, clinging to a rock jutting up above the water.

"Fuck." He hissed, but struck out anyway, going on memory where the more dangerous areas were as he tried avoid letting the waves smash him against anything. It was several long, tense minutes before he reached her. His lungs burned and his arms and legs were exhausted. All the running beforehand had taken its toll, and the roughening sea wasn't going to cut him any slack.

"Oh my god Heero!" Relena sobbed as he reached her.

"Sorry." He panted, "just me."

"D…Duo!?"

"The one and only. Excuse me Princess." He wrapped his arm around her torso, just under her arms, keeping her tight against his chest so she wouldn't be able to turn around and cling to him if she freaked out, effectively drowning them both. But then, with his luck, they were both going to drown anyway.

"Here we go." He grimaced as the wave hit and swept them from the rock. Duo struck out sideways to parallel the sand, trying to put as much distance between them and the rocks as possible. He'd almost cleared them when a large wave crashed over them, he twisted in the water to shield Relena from the rock he knew was there. He felt his shoulder rip with the impact. His scream tore from his throat and echoed out across the water. Relena felt his hold on her fall away.

"DUO!?" she started to panic

"Keep it together! Swim WITH the current, towards the sand!" Duo yelled, and shoved her in the direction they'd been going, and safely clear of the rocks. Relena struck out, almost blindly, the waves washing her inland till her feet touched in the shallows, she cried out in relief, then in panic as she felt the undertow pulling her back out to sea. Then strong arms were clamped around her and Heero was dragging her onto shore.

Relena dropped to her knees.

"Where's Duo!?"

Relena sat sobbing, Heero grabbed her shoulders, yanking her to her feet and shaking her roughly

"WHERE'S DUO!?"

"I… I don't know!" Relena sobbed, "We hit a rock, he let go of me, pushed me away! He pushed me away! He left me on my own!"

Heero wasn't listening

"Duo!" he screamed starting towards the water, Relena clamped onto his arm, pulling him back "Don't! Heero it's too dangerous!"

Heero whirled, his hand closing around the girls throat "So it's not too dangerous for Duo to jump in and save you, but when it's his life at stake!"

"He's a soldier…" She choked "He can take care of himself..."

Heero released her, his mind flashing back to breakfast, it felt so long ago now,

"'I know it, because I will never need protecting the way that she does'"

Heero swallowed hard and turned back towards the waves, Relena clung desperately to the back of his shirt "DUO!!" he screamed, "DUO!!"over and over to the rising surf. Relena sobbed helplessly against his back. Another flash of lightning showed something washing up on shore farther down the beach, something dark. Heero ripped out of Relena's hands, dashing forward, as Duo, coughing and sputtering, pushed himself to his knees.

"Duo! Thank god! Duo!" Heero dropped beside him.

"Hey 'Ro." Duo coughed, "Do me a favor… my left shoulder… think it's dislocated."

Heero nodded, Duo sat back on his heels and took a deep breath.

"Ready?" Heero asked, bracing his hands

"Go." Duo nodded

Heero wrenched his shoulder back into place with a sickening *pop*, Duo swallowed his scream, letting Heero catch him as he pitched forward.

When the waves of mind-numbing pain had passed he sat back up.

"Thanks." He panted

"Duo…" Heero's voice was strangely choked, Duo was concentrating so hard on it, he barely heard as a sniffling Relena shuffled up.

"'Ro?"

"God dammit Duo."

"Are you crying?"

Relena froze, her Heero did NOT cry. Ever. Even when she wanted him to.

"'Ro?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Heero roared, "Baka! Are you suicidal!"

"Hey! Princess there was gonna drown!" Duo yelled back

"Then you should have let her!"

"You don't mean that." Duo hissed, "He doesn't mean that Princess," he assured her "we all know he doesn't mean it."

"Like hell I don't mean it!" Heero whirled on Relena, "If you ever, EVER put him in that kind of danger again, I swear I'll kill you myself!"

"Hey! Heero! Chill out man! She's had enough tonight! And it's not like I haven't been in danger before. I was a Gundam pilot too you know! I shouldn't have survived that war any more than you!"

"But you did!"

"That's right! So give me some credit!"

"You were supposed to be SAFE after the war ended! Safe Duo! Not being bashed to pieces on rocks because some dumb bitch can't understand it when I tell her 'NO'!"

They stood in silence for a few moments, with only the wind and waves and Relena's soft sobbing.

"Lets go home, Heero. Relena's freezing, Dorothy's probably gone out of her mind by now, and I'm sure Mari's going stir-crazy. She hates being left alone with strangers."

The hike back to the bungalow was slow going, and Duo's shoulder throbbed mercilessly. Heero kept an arm wrapped around his waist the entire time, while Relena stumbled dejectedly behind them. Mari barked excitedly from the porch, jumping and whining, but Heero's "stay" command kept her from leaving the porch to meet them. Dorothy cried in relief as Relena stumbled quickly to the door.

Mari licked Duo's hand as Heero guided him up the stairs.

"Hey Mari, were you good while I was gone? I bet you were! I bet you were!"

***

An hour later, Duo had organized the dispersal of towels and a change of clothes for the girls. And after a cup of hot tea had been given to everyone, he'd insisted that the girls take the bed.

Heero fluffed a couple throw pillows, and then pulled Duo close against him as they settled onto the couch. Mari curled up on the floor beneath them.

Duo's painkillers had finally kicked in, and with the adrenaline drained from their systems, both pilots fell quickly asleep.

***

"You know…" Dorothy said, as she and Relena settled into the bed, "I don't think you really give Duo enough credit. He's the one being nice here, I think Heero'd rather kill us."

"My Heero would never think something like that!" Relena snapped, but she couldn't keep her mind from wandering back to earlier

"Princess there was gonna drown!"

"Then you should have let her!"

He didn't mean that! She told herself, He didn't mean that!