Break out

Author notes: I got this idea out of nowhere and I'm going with it to see where it leads me.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's.

Chapter 10,

It was close to nightfall when Sally finally demanded they stop for the night. Wufei agreed. He was surprised at how far Duo had led Heero. The two men had on foot gotten quite a distance away from the camp of the previous night. Duo had left a trail for Wufei to follow though and it had led them alongside a stream until there was a bridge they could cross. From there it led them through a dense forest until the landscape became mountainous again and their path headed upward. They'd reached a spot from where they could see steam a short distance ahead of them and searched for signs that Duo had stopped here. They found none though, only the signs pointing out that Duo had kept moving and Wufei deduced that the two likely took a break on the other side of whatever caused steam there.

Sally and Wufei settled down for the evening with a warm fire for them and ate yet another nutri bar.

"When this mission is over I don't want to see another nutri bar ever again." Wufei grumbled.

"I thought I'd be done eating them after the war…we should tell Quatre to have his companies redesign these things so they actually taste like something other than saw dust…" Sally muttered glaring at the bars.

"No need. It's the first thing he planned on after the war. Right after the Kevlar weave. Trowa told me he was very happy with it. At any rate we should get some sleep if we want to catch up to those two tomorrow." Wufei said quietly. Sally nodded and settled down in her sleeping bag. Wufei always took watch first.

OEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

Duo stared at the path heading up and growled angrily.

"Fucking mountains…after this all I never want to see another mountain in my life…" he muttered shifting Heero's arm so the boy leaned on him more.

"Dun put weight on that ankle. Yer not up to that right now. Let me do the hard work kay?" he said. Heero simply leaned on him and waited for Duo to start walking so he could move. The two wobbled upward along the path that Duo hoped would lead them into Georgia by midday two days from now.

"Smoke…" Heero murmured quietly. Duo blinked and looked ahead.

"That ain't smoke…" Duo answered back hoisting Heero higher to make it easier for the other to wobble along without putting weight on his broken ankle. As the top of the path neared Duo and Heero both moved faster by a small margin and Once they got to the other side of their mountainous path where the road went down Duo let out a cheerful whoop and urged Heero to move faster as he spoke.

"That's steam! It's hot water!" Duo said a small part of him praying that this meant what he hoped it meant.

"Onsen…" Heero whispered staring at the naturally formed crater full of hot water that lay hidden to the left of the path which spiraled downward into more forest. It took a few moments for Duo to dig up the translation and he nodded.

"Yes, onsen a natural one." He looked behind them and grinned.

"So buddy want a hot bath?" he asked nodding to it. Heero looked at the water blankly a moment before turning to Duo with a pleading look. Duo smiled and helped Heero strip off his clothes and then set to work with plastic bags and rubber bands he'd collected from the shed to tie off the broken limbs and keep their bandages dry.

After Duo helped Heero settle down in the hot water he backtracked a bit recalling a plant Wufei had once told him could be used for making soap. He quickly found it and on his way back dug up the knowledge Wufei had shared on how to go about turning it into soap. Once he reached the hot spring he set to making soap as Heero watched him closely from his spot in the hot water. Duo then put the soap in a small container he carried in the bag and then stripped and joined Heero.

"Let's get you clean buddy." Duo said smiling as he showed the soap and carefully rubbed it on Heero's dirty arm. Heero quickly took to the idea and began with his good hand the process of lathering his body. Duo helped him with the parts he couldn't reach and even aided him in washing his hair using a spare container to rinse out the water when Heero shook his head to the question of dunking his head to rinse it. Duo after this let Heero enjoy himself in the hot spring and began to use the little soap he had left to wash his own hair. He smiled when he finished and fished around for the container he'd used to scoop water over Heero's head and heard movement just before water ran down his head.

Heero watched as Duo fished around for the container which due to the movement in the water only ended up further from Duo's grasp. He got up slowly and moved to grab it. He stared at the container and recalled what Duo had done. Slowly he mimicked Duo's action by scooping up water and letting it fall over Duo's head to rinse out the soap. He only had one hand to use though as the other was safely tied off with a bag and rubber band to keep the bandage around it from getting wet.

OEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOE OEOEOEO

Onsen he murmured with a content sigh as his elder self smiled.

Hai. Feels good. the elder him said warmly.

Odin took me to one once. He said I was a good kid. he said smiling at the memory.

You are. the elder him said. He frowned as the elder him seemed to look sadder somehow as if the memory wasn't as happy to him.

Ah! Retsu! he yelped. The elder him chuckled at this.

Yes it usually is outside the Onsen. It's only five degrees Celsius out after all. the elder him said. He pouted and stuck out his tongue at the other.

How come you're not cold? he asked the older him.

Because I can't feel. Elder him whispered sadly. He quieted down after this. It confused him a lot. For the first time the elder him seemed almost upset.

Hope you enjoyed it!