Epilogue

Weeks passed, and together we kept Mr. Lance and his buddies at bay. It appeared, since Duo had the Death Scythe, they didn't want to anger him. They were also afraid of him.

Which made me feel a lot better. In the end, we worked on the company. Duo warded off Lance's whines and pleas and we were happy.

No, we never kissed. We never touched. We were friends, even though I longed for more. He didn't seem the sort to make attachments and I was rather content with that.

Our lives were threatened once when my former colleagues from Oz took him to test pilot a new mobile suit. He never talked about it, only that it was a hell of a weapon, if you could control it.

Yet, I knew by the way he trembled and huddled, wrapped in blankets on his bed, this Zero system bothered him.

When I inquired, he claimed it would have driven him insane. Then, he drove me out with a very firm, 'leave me alone'.

Afraid I'd cause more damage than good, I stood outside his door that night. I quietly watched him, in the amber glow of the bedroom, as he tightened a tong around his upper arm and shot something clear into his veins.

I cried for him then, sliding down the door, feeling his heavy heart torn at once more, but this time, by the monsters I once saw as heroes.

He never knew when I left, for shortly after his brush with Zero, he vanished, feeling fit enough to put the war to an end with people he claimed to trust.

I let him walk out the door, proud, yet feeling strangely widowed by him. Then, when all was quiet, I slipped away and into my old Oz uniform.

For myself, and my longing conscience, I did the final betrayal. I stole information concerning one of their most secretive weapons.

The act nearly killed me, and Duo, my angel with a tilted, tarnished halo, came on his blackened steed and dispatched my enemies with little effort.

We argued, but it was brief. I was in too much pain to fight and tolerated his name calling.

In the end, he was terrified he'd lose me and that was heard well over the curses and stupid woman remarks.

I don't know how long I drifted in and out of consciousness, nor did I know how long it took for the surgeons to put my battered insides together.

The only thing I did know was Duo was there, at my side, when he could be.

And it made the hell I went through well worth it.

The long haired youth sat at my bedside, a battered paperback in his hands, with man and a woman on the cover in a romantic embrace. I scanned the figures in the picture, noting the kilt was hiked up in an alluring position on the fellow's thigh.

Then I sighed, looking at reality, as my very own Romeo read awkwardly from the steamy, sometimes sleazy, novel.

Duo was red faced.

"... And I surrendered to him, my frail and passion weak form sinking into his strong slick arms..." The long haired boy paused, gaze shifting from the text to me. "And you like this trash?"

I nodded, helplessly admiring his muscle-toned arm. He was wearing a green tank top today and leather pants that hugged his hips and ass just right. I had given up on manly Scotsmen along time ago for my wild sexual fantasies and settled for my Duo to daydream about. I smirked and pulled my blankets painfully about my body. Ms. Poe, my physician, told me it would be a week or two before I was out of bed and to take it easy.

Duo took it as his sole mission to make me feel comfortable and even grudgingly partook in indulging my romance novel hobby.

The books were pale compared to the many blushes he gave while flipping through the many erotic scenes. Nonetheless, it was rather valiant of him to even attempt. "I don't know. Sometimes trash is fun."

He grunted and put the book down. "Depends. I suppose it is, if you don't have someone to... well, you know."

Was he implying something I didn't know about? I tilted my head, realizing men often assumed things that women failed to see. Wordlessly, I shrugged.

Duo exhaled, then flipped the book over and pointed to the cover. "Hilde, these guys, they're fake! Look at those muscles, and that face. I don't know any guys who look like that! Then there is that chick, she's phony too..."

"Would it be better if it were a skinny no but guy with long hair and a dykish perky gal with no boobs?" I called his bluff, aware he had already put us together in his mind a long time ago.

Duo flushed and looked away.

"Thought so. " I kindly smiled, happy he took a liking to me. Turnabout is fair play, right? "Well, speak up, Duo. I've never seen you this mute in all the time I've known you."

"Sometimes, dealing with Yuy is easier with dealing with women. Do you, or don't you, want to be my girl?" He questioned firmly, putting his hands on his hips and staring me down.

I sighed, then picked up the book. "Well, just so you know, I often imagine you in that kilt, dear." Then with a flick of the wrist, tossed the novel over my shoulder so it clattered against a nearby wall.

"Not a chance in Hell." He answered back with a smirk. "But we can get creative in other ways, I'm sure."

It was the start of a beautiful relationship.

My parents were going to kill me.

But then again, you can't win them all.

Fin