A/N: Heero and Duo have way too many issues to resolve in one night - but hey, a step in the right direction is still good!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Chapter 26

Liquor scorched my throat as I swallowed another mouthful of the amber liquid. It did little to alleviate the mood I found myself in, and I set the wooden tumbler back down on the table. Drinking hardly helped, as Wufei was quick to scoff at me earlier, but he must have found me particularly pitiful tonight because he only left a small pouch of herbs that were meant to soothe me into sleep.

I knew it was foolish to feel so disappointed; I had known this would happen sooner or later. After all, Duo seemed to just have a natural aversion to me - the very first moment we were introduced to each other as betrothed, he'd hated me. Even with the amnesia, some of that hate surely still lingered, ready to blow up until a raging blaze the moment I did something wrong.

I was almost constantly misstepping when it came to Duo. I would inevitably say or do something that made him turn on me, either with a harsh glare or scathing words, and any sort of apology I attempted to make after the fact fell on deaf ears. I learned very early on just to give Duo space after one of these altercations, let his cold fury die down to his usual simmering ire, and then make only the quietest of overtures - something like increasing his budget as the Duchess, bringing in merchants of luxury goods, or even allowing him to host a tea party with his followers if we were in the Capital.

The latter hardly seemed like a good idea; given the location and the complications brought about by his amnesia, I wasn't even entirely sure Duo knew who his previous friends were. He also refused the merchants I brought in last time, looking horrified for reasons I could not discern - something about closet space and organization, were Duo's maids doing their jobs correctly? - and so this left me with only the option of increasing his budget.

Usually Howard would get that done for me, but given that he was now packing up in order to relocate to our Capital residence for his involvement in the Peacemillion church incident, I had done it myself and left Quatre with the duty to inform Duo. The blonde had frowned at his orders but didn't dispute them; he did, however, say that I should consider actually speaking with Duo first before resuming old habits.

I didn't bother defending my decision to the blonde. Quatre would know and understand my thought process, and I had already gone through a long day of Trowa simultaneously supporting me but also judging me. I'd spent the majority of the day at the training grounds sparring with my men since that allowed me time to think and process, and by the time I came back to the main estate, dinner was being served to me in my room.

It was normal; whenever Duo and I had a fallout, mealtimes were taken individually by everyone. No one wanted to risk being stuck between us if Duo and I coincidentally met outside of our respective wings, and the people I considered especially close were very careful not to be caught by Duo while in the halls.

That was different now however; according to the complaints Wufei was making earlier, Meilan had sought out Duo's company earlier in the day and they'd spent dinner together as well as some time this evening. Trowa had also stopped by a scant time ago to give me his evening briefing, and then made a mild observation that Quatre had also stopped by the Duchess's study.

I felt the pull myself. The idea of speaking to Duo, of apologizing for whatever had set him off - I wanted nothing more than to look into those jeweled violet eyes and explain myself.

Duo and Hilde Schbeiker had never really gotten along prior to my expedition. Hilde was a professional and did her job well, and for all his vitriol, Duo had not denied that she was the best fit for the position as his attendant. Hilde never spoke back to Duo and showed only cordial courtesy to him, taking his verbal sniping without issue - a rare feat for anyone who interacted with him.

When Quatre had pulled both her and Howard into my office yesterday afternoon, though, and explained what they'd done to Duo while I was away - I had been furious.

Each of them had described to me, at length, exactly what they did that day Duo was visiting the Peacemillion church. Howard had been criminally negligent; he knew Duo was going to the Peacemillion church and was receiving lessons on its customs, and had not interjected or further elaborated on Duo's exact role or what he actually did in previous visitations.

Hilde, though - Hilde had gone several steps too far. She had not only explained the tenets of the Peacemillion church, she had also omitted anything about the religion Duo actually followed. She had gone over in length the processes and procedures for a church visitation by the nobility but neglected to mention that this was only true for the nobles who followed the Peacemillion faith.

In Sanc, that was the vast majority. The only exception - at least of nobles with a high degree of power in the kingdom - were the Maxwell's. They were notorious for their divergent faith, outliers from the main body of believers in Sanc. It was only through hundreds of years of public work that their reputation no longer suffered; some still whispered that their belief was heretical because so few nobles truly understood what it meant to be a follower of the Harvester.

My father had agreed to the betrothal between myself and Duo, and I knew one of the reasons for that was because Duo followed the Harvester faith.

Just in case, my father had said. If you must marry, better it be someone who does not fear Death.

Fear was what had guided my father's decision, just as it had guided mine. I don't know if Duo truly did not fear death. I could never ask him, and speaking about such things with either Duke Maxwell or Solo Maxwell would have ended poorly. If Duo did fear me or what I've done in my capacity as Sanc's weapon, it had been eclipsed by his sheer contempt.

Our situation was indeed unique, even for the Maxwell family; Maxwell's tended to take foreign nobles as their spouses. Occasionally, someone from within Sanc's court would marry a Maxwell, but this was usually because they were taking in a Maxwell daughter or dandy; for multiple generations, Maxwell's did not have more than one child. Duo had been the first second-born for the Maxwell ducal family in over a hundred years.

Given their unique inclinations, it had been widely discussed that Maxwell's only married for love. Solo Maxwell, the heir to the family, was not even betrothed and there was no expectation for that to change. Betrothal letters were routinely dismissed and offers of courtship went ignored; if someone wished to marry the Maxwell ducal family's heir, they'd have to at the very least get his attention.

That was why I could understand Duo's disdain so well. He was the only Maxwell in decades who had not been able to choose his partner, but instead had one chosen for him.

And that partner was me - of dirty origins and with bloodied hands.

Duo had been given so few choices. His life had been mired in restriction after restriction: he'd been locked away in the Maxwell estate for most of his early life because of his fragile health, had debuted at sixteen, a full two years later than normal, and was immediately inducted as a dandy when most nobles of the same inclination didn't do so until their late teens or early twenties. Duke Maxwell had left very little leeway for Duo's life choices. Everything from his education to his spouse had been chosen for him, and I used to wonder how much of it Duo had input on.

I tried to give Duo freedoms where I could, where it didn't jeopardize either his safety or the safety of others. I didn't mind when Duo spent most of his time in our estate in the Capital, didn't restrict visits from his friends or his own travels. He had free reign over anything in our estate: the decor, the food, and the personnel were all managed by him.

So when Hilde exploited Duo's vulnerability and used it to coerce him into changing one of the few things Duo had chosen for himself to keep…

I had wanted her dead.

Quatre was the one that spoke up on her behalf, arguing that while her actions were heinous, I should reconsider my initial order for her execution. The only grounds for this reconsideration was that Duo would not like it - indeed, he really had grown close to Hilde in my absence, taking her in as one of his closest confidants.

It only made her betrayal that much worse in my eyes. That she had been able to accompany Duo for so long, to see the side of him that was carefree and happy and adoring, and had actively used that against him - I could barely stand to look at her.

I had decided on immediate severance and banishment from the Yuy province and all other Yuy residences. Quatre had informed me that Duo had left the choice of punishment up to me for both Hilde and Howard; the punishments were less severe for that reason, since I did not want Duo to believe I would only decide on bloodsport if he left such things up to me.

And yet…

I threw the wooden tumbler across the room and watched the cup shatter into splinters.

And yet Duo still hated me.

It was fleeting, but that momentary warmth I felt when Duo willingly spent time with me turned my insides to winter in its absence. Is this what people meant, when they said having something and then losing it was the most painful thing in the world? I had always known what Duo refused to give me before, but now that it had been given - however temporary - and then taken away, the pain and regret was all the more searing.

I could never do anything right for the people I loved. First my mother, then my father, and now-

I stilled abruptly, my eyes immediately moving to the balcony doors. It was a warm night so I'd left the door slightly ajar to allow a small breeze in, but the warning bell I learned to associate with the heightened senses of Wing was ringing.

Someone was encroaching on that open doorway.

Assassins were not common, at least not after I'd reached adulthood; after I'd left the last one a mangled heap shortly before my engagement to Duo, few were willing to brave my territory. Some had attempted while I stayed in the Capital residence, both before and after my wedding, but the few that had aimed for Duo had little left of their bodies aside from the bloodied smears after I was through with them.

Duo's room was currently being officially guarded by Simon and Chiaki, although apparently Asahi was also spending his time off loitering on the tree outside Duo's study room window, so he would be safe. I would just take care of these pests here, then immediately check on Duo to make sure he was fine-

Then Duo pushed open the balcony door.

I nearly dropped the sword I'd pulled out.

"Oh good, you're still awake!" Duo grinned at me, stepping inside. I saw a nervous Asahi behind him, who was glancing between the both of us like he wasn't sure if he should keep following Duo in or give us a wide berth. Duo apparently sensed his guard's indecision, turning around to wave the other man off. "Thanks for the help getting here, Asahi, you can go. Enjoy your day off!"

Asahi bowed courteously but his expression was wry. "I was enjoying it, until a certain someone wanted to go wall-climbing…"

Duo shut the door on Asahi's mumbled complaints, turning back around to face me. I sensed Asahi's quick departure from behind those closed doors just as Duo began to move a little further into the room and closer to me.

I had no idea what was happening. My every thought seemed to circle around a single thought: Duo had climbed the estate walls.

"What were you thinking?" I snapped out. He could have slipped and fallen; if he'd landed on his head, he would have died, and even if he didn't, he would still be grievously injured. "Do you have any idea how dangerous-"

"I think the fresh air did me some good," Duo interrupted cheerfully.

My quickly-gathering steam immediately fizzled out, my mouth closing as my words died in sheer confusion.

"And Asahi was a perfectly good stepping stone," Duo continued, as if it was completely normal for him to climb into my bedroom. "There was no danger at all! Besides, I really wanted to see you."

I opened my mouth to protest the hand-waving of his own safety, but I couldn't get anything out as the latter sentence registered and I fully realized that Duo was in my bedroom.

My gaze trailed him as he wandered closer to where I stood beside the table I had been drinking at, those exquisite amethyst eyes catching on the glass bottle of bourbon I'd procured. The taste had reminded me of Duo's warmth, and I had thought it was the closest I would ever get to that again after what happened yesterday.

But Duo was in my bedroom.

"You really liked it, huh?" Duo's small smile was paralyzing. I could not tear my eyes away from it. "...Hey, how long are you going to hold that sword?"

I flinched, quickly shoving the aforementioned weapon back into its holster and setting it to rest against the wall. Duo watched my flurry of movements patiently, not at all intimidated by the weapon I had been holding the moment he'd entered and the threat it implied.

"I- Duo?" I managed out haltingly. Why are you here?

Duo raised an eyebrow at me, his smile turning teasing. "No, I'm Duo. Geez, Heero, how much did you have to drink?"

I couldn't help but stiffen. Why was he like this - warm, affectionate, everything I had wanted but could not have? He hated me, he hates me, it was the immutable fact of our relationship. Amnesia or not, Duo's contempt of me would persevere. I would adore him regardless, I would protect him to the best of my ability - so it was okay if that was not reciprocated. I didn't deserve it anyway.

In the ensuing silence, Duo's smile faltered and disappeared. His fingers tangled in the long chestnut braid hanging over one slender shoulder as his eyes flitted from me to the floor.

I turned away, grabbing one of my lightweight outer robes from where it was draped over an armchair. With tentative steps, I approached Duo - and to my surprise, he let me. He remained still as I pulled the softened royal blue fabric over his shoulders, as one of my hands traitorously brushed against that sinfully soft rope of hair. He smelled faintly of honey-apple and his own sweat, and I had to force myself a step back.

"Duo," His name tasted sweet on my tongue; the words tasted bitter. "Why are you here?"

"...I wanted to apologize."

His words were mumbled but easy to discern - and yet somehow hard to understand, since they made so little sense. Duo wanted to apologize? For what? I immediately thought someone had misled Duo in some way, where he felt compelled to apologize for no reason. Was there no end to the exploitation?

The confusion must have shown on my face as Duo stepped even closer. "What's with that look?" He asked me, somehow sounding both patient and put-upon. "Come on - you know I was acting like a complete asshole yesterday!"

What?! "You were not- Who told you that?"

"I don't need someone else to point out what a jerk I was," Duo said dryly. "If anything, I have too many people defending me… I didn't realize this would be a problem…"

Duo trailed off in thought for a moment before shaking himself out of his ruminations. "Anyway, that's why I wanted to apologize. Yesterday, about Hilde… I should have handled that whole thing better."

The contrition was obvious in his face, in the way he held himself. I'd never seen Duo be anything less than confident in his words and actions before, not until I'd returned home recently. It was as if someone had peeled away the perfect armor he'd guarded himself in, everything he felt becoming so much easier to see in his eyes.

"You were correct," I insisted. I could not bear to hear any more apologies for something Duo was correct to be upset over. "As the Duchess, you have the right to-"

Duo slapped a hand over my mouth. "Stop defending me!" he cried out. "I haven't even finished my apology yet!"

Duo's hand smelled of honey-apple. I very carefully did not move a single muscle.

"So yesterday," Duo continued obstinately, one warm hand still over my mouth. "I should have handled it better. I did tell Quatre that hers and Howard's punishments were up to you, and now I know that you had already held back so that Hilde wasn't executed… But even if I didn't know that - and I didn't at the time! - I still should have spoken to you."

Duo's eyes slid from my gaze to my chin, discouraged. "Not like I spoke to you yesterday, but an honest conversation. I should have listened to your reasoning, should have tried to understand why you chose what you chose, but I-didn't. And that's on me."

He took a deep, quelling breath. "Instead, I was… mean. Cruel. I said those things because I knew they would hurt you, because I… Because I was hurt, and I wanted you to hurt too." His words got softer, his gaze more unfocused. He pulled away the hand covering my mouth slowly. "Heero, you don't deserve to be treated like that."

But I do deserve it.

I wanted to say that, to admit it aloud to a Duo who just didn't know any better. He didn't know that I had already exploited him, perhaps more than anyone else, and continued to do so. Our marriage cemented my taking of the Yuy ducal title; my political alliance with his family garnered me the trust of the throne; I paid his bride price and got so much more back in return, while he was moved from one restrictive role to another.

"Duo, you don't have to apologize for anything," I told him. I understood why Duo hated me. I understood it was well deserved. "If I hurt you, then I more than deserve to be hurt in turn."

Wide violet eyes met my own, Duo's heart-shaped face blanched white at my words. He seemed frozen at the admission, surprised somehow by it, but I had always been committed to this. The moment I agreed to Duke Maxwell's deal, I knew it would come to this: Duo would hate me - but he would be with me.

Daringly, stunned that he even allowed it, I brushed one calloused finger against the soft warmth of Duo's cheek. It trembled underneath my fingertip as I traced from one curved cheekbone to the end of his plush lips. His skin was tender against my own, heated by our close proximity, the smell of sweet honey-apple teasing at the edge of my senses.

He was beautiful.

One pale hand wrapped around my wrist.

"Holy shit, we are so fucked up."

The words were downright filthy. I hadn't known Duo could speak such coarse language; then again, what little conversation we did have before I left for the expedition had been short and barbed, meant to draw blood with as little speech as possible.

Duo's brilliant eyes were familiar and blazing as he looked right at me. He never had any trouble meeting my gaze, then and now. "You don't deserve to be treated like shit, Heero," he said, his grip unyielding around my arm. "Even if you're rude. Even if you make mistakes. Fuck, man - we're human. We all mess around and do stupid shit at some point. That doesn't mean you gotta be insulted for every little screwup."

He yanked my unresisting body closer to him, as if me breaching even more of his personal space would get his point across faster. All I could see was the beguiling hue of his eyes and feel the warmth of his body as he crowded closer.

"I was an asshole and I should never have treated you like that. You didn't deserve anything I put you through - not the insults, not the abuse, definitely not the fucking around with other guys behind your back."

I flinched. Duo looked a strange cross between vindicated and mortified.

"Yesterday with the whole Hilde situation - I was in the wrong. I was the one who pushed it off on you, I was the one jumping to conclusions and then taking it out on you," he continued. "I didn't even try to listen to you. And you know the shittiest part? I was more angry about the fact that you referred to me as the Duchess of Yuy than anything else."

I felt my stomach drop at the words. Of course Duo would hate that - it was a reminder that he was married to me. He abhorred any connection to me, and then hearing those words from my lips as if I had laid claim to him like some kind of property…

"Ah," I hesitated, ignoring the spike of hurt that flashed along the veins of my heart. "I-apologize, for bringing up something unpleasant-"

Duo's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, a look I soon mirrored.

"Unplea- what? You mean being Duchess?" Duo asked, bewildered.

I jerkily nodded.

He was quiet for a moment in thought. I resisted the urge to move - further away or closer (so close, close enough to breathe the same breath) - and remained frozen in place, watching the way his thoughts pulled his facial features into fleeting, minuscule expressions. The corner of his seashell-pink lips twitched down at the corners, his jeweled violet eyes moving from one part of my face to another, his sculpted brows furrowing and relaxing every now and then.

"Duchess Duo Maxwell-Yuy."

The words fell from those pink lips as if testing them. Duo's expression cleared, his gaze once again matching my own. There was no hesitance, no reluctance in his posture - just open curiosity, watching my reaction even as he tightened the hold he had on my wrist.

"It took awhile to get used to it, you know?" he continued casually. I wondered if he felt the way my pulse jumped up as he spoke. "I had no idea what it meant at first. I had to learn about titles and my responsibility from scratch."

Duo released my wrist but didn't fully let me go. Instead, he pulled my arm up closer so it was near level with our chests, exposing my left hand to his open gaze. My wedding ring shone bright, reflecting the light of the flames of the nearby fireplace across his face.

"Just like the idea of being married. I only had a vague recollection of you - Heero Yuy, youngest to ever inherit the title of Duke, renown commander of the battlefield with command of the largest militia," Duo continued, as if reciting from some kind of book. "You led numerous successful battles against the enemies of Sanc and came out as victor."

Here, Duo paused - but there was no hesitation in his eyes. "...It was as if all I knew about my husband was lifted from an outside source," he snorted. "You were a Duke, and you were a soldier. But what about everything else?"

Duo released my arm, drawing a step back but only to smile wryly. "What about your favorite food being dried fruit and nuts, like some kind of bird? Or about how you prefer eating with your friends?"

He glanced about the room, eye alighting on things nearby. "Or that you're willing to try new things, even ones that made you choke the first time?" he chuckled, eyes on the bottle of bourbon.

His gaze returned to me, smile softening even further. "That you're kind - too kind, even - to others?"

"Duo-"

I couldn't stand to hear these words anymore. Was this how Duo saw me now? It was such a hard thing to reconcile - the idea that Duo had so reviled me in the past, but once he couldn't recall what made him hate me in the first place, he could place me on such a pedestal now. It almost seemed like the only thing that compelled him to hate me was the circumstances of our situation, and not the natural revulsion I believed he felt at the sight of me.

It was almost as if Duo could love me-

"Heero, it's not the title of Duchess I hate," he said, violet eyes meeting my own. My heart jumped painfully at the word I so strongly associated with Duo's actual feelings for me. "What I hate is that it's all people seem to see."

I struggled to understand it for a moment, and then my words in the corridor yesterday came back to me all at once: I'd referred to him as the "Duchess of Yuy" when defending my reasoning to fire Hilde Schbeiker, and that was when Duo turned hateful. Yesterday in the corridor - that was when I saw the Duo I remembered after such a long time.

His words made me think now, made me reconsider what I had always believed to be irrefutable facts. If Duo was to be believed, then it wasn't being in a matrimonial relationship with me that had angered Duo - but the implication that the title of Duchess was considered to be so much more important than him?

I almost grew nauseous at the very idea.

The title of 'Duchess of Yuy' was, as all nobility titles were, highly sought after. When my father, the late Duke Odin Lowe Yuy, had inherited the position from his father before him, nobles from all houses in Sanc had offered him their daughters and dandies for a chance to gain some of the prestige. As he'd outlived his elder brother for the title and never been betrothed, many thought he would make an easy catch.

That is what made the title of Duke Yuy's spouse so dangerous.

My father, wizened after years subjected to the corruption and cruelty of Sanc's court, knew better than to bring my mother into the fold. Her frail health and waning condition would never have endured such withering looks, and the chance of her being assassinated was extremely high because the only repercussion would come from the Yuy dukedom, and not from any alliances that naturally happen once two nobles are wed. If the bride came from another noble house, any would-be assassins would have to take into account the possibility of angering the wrong network of people.

That was why my father had never married my mother, had never allowed her to set foot in the Yuy estate or be part of the nobility. Instead, he'd kept her safe and quiet in a private residence nestled near the more wild terrain of the Yuy duchy, where she could raise me in peace.

When my mother finally succumbed to death, my father came back for me. To live as an orphan on the streets with Wing's blood running through my veins would be more disastrous than risking raising me himself, so my father took me in and proclaimed me the child of a peasant mistress.

The position of Duchess, even when attached to a Duke of commoner blood, was still a dangerous seat to hold. My father sought a partner for me from a strong, established power within Sanc - and found his solution in the second son of his long-time ally and friend, who only needed one look at me to agree.

My father had seen Duo and thought he'd found someone who did not fear Death.

I still wonder if Duke Maxwell saw me and thought the same thing.

When I married Duo, the position of Duchess had been wrapped around him like the strongest, deadliest shackle. I had been one of those who'd agreed to collar him, to continue to do so - because Duo meant far more to me than the title used to restrict him.

I had not thought it was the position itself that he'd so disliked. It was the highest position he could attain outside of royal power; as a Duchess, he sat unequal to nearly everyone in the Sanc Kingdom. There was no princess, and there were more people holding or in line for the title of Duke than there were for Duchess. Duo was guaranteed a seat of power, as a dandy of unparalleled beauty and even more prestigious blood. That was why I had thought that it was not the title that bothered him, but the person he married to attain it: me.

But if, all along… It had been the title he'd worn…

My heart beat so fast it almost hurt. I could not help but touch him, taking even more liberties with Duo at his most vulnerable; I trailed my fingers down the length of his braid, chestnut silk trends sliding against my skin. I followed the length down to the crook of his elbow, and from there, to the underside of his arm which I slowly began to lift up.

When my fingers paused in their journey, my hand had stopped at his delicate wrist. I felt the pulse under the skin as I raised it up and drew it closer, sliding my calloused appendages once more against his fair skin, down to his palm.

"I have never thought of you as just your title," I told him.

I raised the back of his hand up and pressed it, sweetly and delicately, to my lips. His fingers remained uncalloused, so unlike his heart; Duo was a dichotomy, having never been tasked with drawing blood with a weapon - but never needing to, because often his words were enough. He ate sweet pastries with the same mouth that could cut someone down with the bitterest of words; he could stab me in the back without ever holding a blade.

I breathed in the scent of tangy sweat and honey-apple before I continued speaking. My lips ghosted over his skin with every word.

"When I look at you, I see the man who once threw wine in the face of an administrator for making inappropriate comments to a maid."

Duo's hand was very still as I held it in my own. I heard the sharp intake of breath but did not raise my eyes.

"I know you as the person who nearly broke his leg trying to climb the walls of the Maxwell estate because you were interested in trying festival foods, as the person who insists on swallowing sweeter and sweeter confectionery because he knows the leftovers go to the servants who enjoy them."

My lips were so close to his hand still that they nearly touched, but I wouldn't allow myself to do so again.

"You are the type of person who sees the children of the Yuy duchy and works to give them a better future. You're innovative and inquisitive, with intelligence and vision that goes beyond the battlefield," I murmured. I pulled my hand away and my fingertips immediately grew cold, yearning to touch once more what did not truly belong to me. "You like flowers, and strong liquor, and meat."

I had been watching Duo before we were betrothed, before the hate clouded his eyes and he could scarcely feel or see anything else. I watched him just as devotedly afterwards, internally logged the contradictions with quiet remorse.

"You are a dandy, and you are a Duchess," I told him. "But most importantly, you are Duo. I have never seen you as anyone else."

The violet eyes caught on mine were wide, Duo's expression slack with surprise. His hand was still partly raised from where I'd left it, almost as if he too missed my touch. For a moment we did nothing but look at each other, my eyes greedily taking in all I could.

I didn't know what happened now. I had never been able to be this honest and forthright with Duo before - there was too much history, too much circumstance outside of us to have a conversation simply as Heero and Duo. I found I wanted nothing more than just that now.

"You," Duo finally began haltingly; in the faint illumination of the fireplace, I think I saw his expression contort into something soft and flushed. "Are really too- too much, 'Ro."

I wanted him.

I turned away, eyes searching desperately for something to distract me. His expression was too open, too vulnerable; I wanted to hold him, to push my fingers through his hair, to taste his skin on my tongue. I wanted to hide him away from everything that had twisted us into what we were before I'd left on the expedition, and I wanted to push him away before he misconstrued me as anything but the monster I was.

I wanted him to love me.

My fingers barely trembled as I wrapped them around the bottle of bourbon. "Would you like a drink, Duo?"

A pause, and then a quiet huff of wry amusement: "Sure, why not."

Duo took a seat in one of the armchairs as I poured him a glass. We didn't talk about Hilde or his title; instead, he asked about me: about my time in the expedition, about the people and sights of Lagrange and the barbarian territories. I described them as best I could, wondered that if we still had this - whatever this was - in the future, if he would want to visit the country that had given me my closest friends and confidants.

We eventually segued into my recollection about the last time I was in the Capital and chanced upon Solo Maxwell, who had been attending a celebratory banquet in honor of the success of the expedition. This started a new line of intrigue for Duo, who had no memories of his older brother.

I told Duo everything I knew about his childhood and time in the Capital: how his weak constitution in childhood had kept him hidden away in the Maxwell estate, how people used to speculate about his wits and beauty, about his stunning reveal during his first debut. I told him about how he had all of the servants and knights of the Maxwell estate wrapped around his fingers, to the point where they would acquiesce to anything he demanded.

I told him the story Solo Maxwell had once told me, where Duo had snuck out of the Maxwell estate when he was still a child because he'd wanted to go see the local festival. How Duke Maxwell had been beside himself, noticeably furious for the first time with his second son - and then how Duo snuck out again the very next night.

Eventually, our conversation wound down to something quieter, more comfortable. Between that and the warmth of the alcohol, it wasn't long before Duo's eyes began to slip shut, and then I found myself carrying him to my bed to let him rest.

I intended to let him sleep alone. I had done more than enough tonight, more than I would be able to justify to myself tomorrow morning, once the bewitchingly late hour drew to a close and the spellbound state of the night no longer veiled my eyes.

But Duo's hand found my wrist, and though he was half-turned and cuddled into the sheets, his eyes looked particularly alert.

"This is your room, you should sleep here," he said, tugging me forward.

I hesitated. "I can sleep just fine on the sofa," I replied.

"Either lay down next to me or I'm going to try my hand at drunk wall-climbing."

After that, I didn't have much choice. I fell asleep, fully-clothed and awkwardly flat atop the covers, with the warmth of Duo's hand still wrapped around me.

When I woke the next morning, I stared up into the depths of the canopy in wonder. The early morning light was shining brightly through the still-opened curtains, the air smelling faintly of honey-apple and bourbon. It was already a little past the usual time I rose, but I couldn't quite get myself moving at the moment, too aware of the faint breathing beside me.

I turned my head just slightly to see Duo's dozing face.

My fingers curled into the sheets, intermingled with some flyaway chestnut strands that had escaped from his loose braid at some point in the night. Naturally, he was still fully clothed; we'd drank through the two bottles of bourbon I'd kept in my room last night, and Duo hadn't really roused despite the grip he kept on my arm the whole time.

I didn't want to get up. This was the closest we'd ever come to acting as a married couple; typically, Sanc spouses slept in the same bed at night, as this was supposed to encourage the matrimonial bond. While Sanc nobles may have separate bedchambers, the rooms were always directly next to each other so that it was nothing more than a formality.

Duo had moved himself to his own wing of the estate as soon as he'd arrived, and the bedchamber next to my own - originally meant for the Duchess of Yuy - had been left empty and locked this entire time. As the suites in my wing were more expansive and exquisitely done, I'd offered to exchange wings with Duo early on; however, he'd refused anything and everything from me back then, and simply added more luxurious decor that slowly stripped the estate of its own personality.

I'd noticed most of those expensive decorative pieces were gone now. Apparently Duo had sold the majority of them, restoring the Yuy estate back to its former ancestral glory. The gifts I'd given to him upon my return were placed in open view so that anyone could see them, almost as if Duo wanted to show off the things I'd purchased for him.

I curled a thick lock of chestnut hair around my fingers. Perhaps Duo meant to show them off, perhaps he was proud to have a husband who would shower him with such gifts.

I should have bought more.

Thunderous knocks on my bedroom door disturbed my idle thoughts about Duo's possible reaction to the idea. I couldn't help but scowl as Duo jolted awake, sitting up abruptly and pulling that soft lock of hair free from my slack fingers.

"Your Grace!" Meilan's shrill cry sounded behind the door. I could hear Wufei's muffled snap at his wife to calm down, but he clearly went ignored as she continued at a louder volume. "Your Grace, the Duchess is missing!"

Duo stared blankly at the door. I could almost tell he was wondering if he should just go back to sleep.

"I'll take care of it," I told him, rising from the bed and intent on shooing them away. I was encouraged by Meilan's loyalty to Duo; she'd obviously come barreling over here once she saw Duo's bedchambers empty.

Come to think of it, did Asahi not tell anyone? And if so, then it took Simon and the other guards this long to notice Duo's absence…?

Before I could even cross the room, I heard a swift "Pardon our intrusion," in Quatre's soft voice and then my bedroom door was pushed open. I stopped mid-stride and just glared at the interlopers in the doorway; Quatre was the first inside, but was quickly pushed aside by Meilan, who was followed by Wufei and Trowa, and then Simon and Mikhail. There was a small cluster of guards waiting outside in the corridor as well, stiff-faced and hands on the hilts of their swords.

They all stopped dead in their tracks as their eyes fell on Duo, who was still sitting up in my bed.

"As you can see," I began darkly, annoyance turning my tone heavy. "Duo is not missing."

Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei were looking at me in open bewilderment. I wonder if that's what my face looked like when Duo crawled in through the balcony last night.

"Damn, guys, good morning to you too," Duo yawned, still not making any move to get up. Should I chase them out so he could get more rest?

Meilan stormed over to the bed. "Your Grace-! When did you come to the Duke's bedroom?!"

Duo flushed red, turning a scandalized look on the girl. "Wha- I don't interrogate you about your nighttime activities, why are you asking about mine?!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR NIGHTTIME ACTIVITIES?!"

"WE WERE JUST SLEEPING IN THE SAME BED- DON'T BE A PERVERT, MEILAN!"

Quatre was frowning as well. "Captain Simon stated he was posted outside your bedroom all night, Your Grace," he interrupted, turning a calculating look on the pale guard and then on a quickly-blanching Duo. "How did you leave your bedroom without anyone noticing?"

Duo didn't reply, but his eyes darted to the balcony windows in a quick glance that basically broadcasted the answer.

Now it was Meilan's turn to look scandalized. "Your Grace-!"

"Did you climb the walls?!"

"Did you climb the walls in the middle of the night?"

Duo looked like he was considering doing it again in the next few seconds. Quatre, Meilan, and Mikhail had been doing all of the talking, although Wufei was starting to look just as scandalized while Simon just seemed taken off-guard. Trowa was just giving me a dull look, as if implying 'you just let him in? Why do I bother keeping you alive again?'

I quickly interjected myself between the riled-with-concern group and my husband, who latched on to the back of my shirt to keep me firmly placed between him and them.

I glared at them all. "Enough. Duo is allowed to have hobbies."

The entire group stared at me, baffled.

I felt Duo muffle a laugh into my back. "Did you just offer midnight wall-climbing to me as a hobby?"

The very idea set me on edge. "No. ...Please."

"Alright, but only 'cause you said 'please,'" Duo snickered.

There was a multitude of bewildered expressions at our conversation, but conversely, Quatre's expression looked pleased, seemingly relieved and content at what he heard. This both reassured me and made me feel embarrassed, so I turned my face away and felt my features stiffening into a glare - all to fight the incoming blush.

Duo's amused smile met my eyes.

"Would you like to get breakfast together, 'Ro?" he asked brightly.

I could not help the small smile that turned my lips in answer.

"Sure, why not."

A/N: Alright, so a cute little market date and then we should all be READY TO GO BABEYYYYY

Asahi, relaxing after a long night making sure Duo doesn't kill himself or the Duke: 😌

Asahi: ...why do I suddenly feel like I am in trouble?

Please be kind and drop a review! :)