It had been a week since Duo had started talking to Usagi through the bathroom door. Each night he sat beside the door at promptly 9 o'clock. He always greeted Usagi and then waited for the small plop on the other side of the door that signaled she was there and listening.

He had told Usagi everything about himself, even down to him being a Gundam pilot. He hadn't planned on telling her about that but in a brief moment of thought it had occurred to him that maybe it would make her feel more safe.

With everyone else she was still the same silent Usagi. She never spoke a word and still refused to look at anyone. But occasionally she would look at him, and he would wink at her, earning a small smile that was almost not noticeable. Little things were changing, but he was the only one that seemed to notice. When they ate at the dining room table, which was normally only supper now, as everyone had went back to their original schedule, she would get up soon after he did and he would wait for her in the hallway and take her to her room.

She had also recently started to listen to music in her room, playing it very softly. Her weight had improved and her color was returning. She wasn't that dreadful pale color she was when she came to live there. The biggest change was that the day before she had actually came out of her room on her own and came to find him. He didn't know if she was just lonely, or tired of being in her room all the time. He didn't really care, he was just happy they were making progress.

She had found him in the library where he was reading a book, a rarity for him. She sat on the other side of the couch and curled up with a blanket. He didn't question her on why she was there, he simply started reading out loud to her.

As he reflected on the past week, he smiled. He felt that somehow, even if she didn't say anything, that she understood what all he had been through. He just hoped that there was going to be a day when she felt comfortable enough and trusted him enough when she could tell him her own stories.

He fired off another round into the target, where he had been for the past half hour. He had found that this was one of the few ways that he could clear his mind and think. He shot off two more rounds, before stopping. He put his gun away, and headed back into the house. His gun was deposited safely into his nightstand beside his bed.

His feet led him to Usagi's door before he knew what had happened. He had a surprise for her but he wasn't planning on showing it to her this early. Somehow, he got the feeling that it would be a good time.

He knocked, waiting for any answering sound. None came. "Usagi? Are you in there? I was wondering if maybe you uhh… would like to go somewhere outside with me? It's something special, and I think you will like it."

There was an answering movement on the other side of the door and finally the door opened. Usagi stood there, her blank gaze on her face.

"If you want to, grab your shoes. I will wait out here," He said, grinning. She nodded, and closed the door back. He could hear her walking around in her room, and within a few moments, the door opened and she was standing by his side.

"Come on. It will be great!" He led her through the house, and out the back door. "It will be a little bit of a walk." As she walked beside him, they walked into the woods around the back of the house. He kept pointing things out to her, such as pretty flowers or interesting things he saw as they walked.

Finally, he could hear the faint trickle of water and knew that they were getting close. "We're almost there." He pushed aside some hanging branches and led her into the clearing.

In front of them was a small pool of water at the bottom of a small waterfall. The water cascaded into the water below in a rainbow of color, due to the sunlight hitting it through the trees.

He glanced over at her and noticing the lightening of her eyes, he smiled.

"It's beautiful, huh?" He was rewarded with a nod and a small smile.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Quatre was worried. He couldn't find Usagi anywhere. She wasn't in her room, and she never left her room. Her door was unlocked and her shoes were gone from the foot of the bed where she normally left them. He hurried through the house, checking every room, and he still couldn't find her.

He found Heero and Trowa in the library. "Guys, do you all know where Usagi is? I can't find her anywhere!" Against his better judgement, he was starting to panic. Why would she just wander off like that?

"Did you check Duo's room?" Heero asked, not looking up from the papers he was reading.

"Duo's room? Why would she be in there?" He questioned. "I didn't look there, let me go check." Quatre hurried out of the room, not bothering to take another look at the people inside.

Heero smirked. He knew Usagi was with Duo. He had been watching from an upstairs window as they walked into the woods. However, if Duo didn't want them to know where they were going, he wasn't going to say anything. There had to be a good reason why he took her out there and didn't tell anyone.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

45 minutes later somehow it happened to be that Duo had stripped down to his pants and was wading around in the almost shoulder high water. The pool of water, although it was small, was deep in the middle and was just beneath his shoulder. Usagi was sitting on a rock on the outskirts of the pool, dipping her feet in the warm water.

She was surprisingly at ease sitting there. She was watching Duo splash around like a little kid. She was beginning to trust Duo, there wasn't really any reason why she shouldn't, since he had told her so much about himself.

'Seeing him without his shirt on isn't so bad either,' Her traitorous mind whispered to her.

For some reason, she was still holding back. She couldn't find it within herself to tell Duo what happened to her. She recognized that it was more fear then anything else.

'I'm damaged. He wouldn't care so much if he knew.' The saddening thought crept it's way into her head.

She was jerked from her thoughts a few moments later as a small splash of the warm water got her right in the face. Pushing her hair our of her face, she glared at Duo. He stood a few feet in front of her, looking at the sky with an innocent expression on his face.

Without any hesitation, she swept her arm over the water, sending a large wave of it at him. For the next twenty minutes they were involved in a water war. She was having so much fun that she didn't even realize it when she laughed.

Duo stopped, and stared. For a few minutes he was getting to see the Usagi from before all of this had happened. Her eyes were twinkling, her skin flushed from the exertion. Another large wave splashed him and he held up his hands in front of him.

"Ok, ok! You win! I give up!" He laughed, as he hid behind his hands. "No more!" He peeked around his hands to see Usagi standing knee deep in the water, raising a skeptical eyebrow at him as if she didn't trust his words.

With a sigh, he started to wring out his large braid. "Come on. We've been here a while. I'm sure Quatre has found us out by now and is worried."

They gathered their things together and started back to the house. The whole time Usagi's shoes made a squish sound from all the water and he had to fight back another wave of laughter.

When they were within about ten feet of the house, Usagi suddenly stopped. She gave him a small smile, "Thanks Duo." With that, she turned and walked into the house.

Duo didn't realize for a couple of minutes that he was standing there with his mouth wide open and a dumbfounded expression on his face.

'She talked to me…. ' Was his only thought.