Interlude

As Duo rounded another street corner, a familiar voice called out, "Hey, Duo! Duo, is that you?"

The boy spun around and saw a middle-aged man with a young girl beside him. His brow furrowed with split second confusion before a wide grin appeared. The sight of the man with his pot-bellied stomach, half shaven face, and signature smile warmed Duo inside so much that it pushed out all the loneliness and fears he had felt just moments before.

"Joey Hardcore!" Duo called out the familiar nickname with enthusiasm.

The older man jogged over to Duo and gave him a big bear hug.

"Haha, people don't call me that no more!" Then, he took Duo by the shoulders and sized him up. "You're still a shrimp! And that infamous braid of yers got even longer."

"Yeah, it has. And hey! I still got a lotta time to grow, so you watch out, ye hear?" The two laughed as Joey patted him on the back.

"You remember my daughter, May?" Joey gestured to a pretty, green-eyed girl with bangs and long braided, blond hair. "She's the joy of my life."

"Ah, I can see why. You've grown up, May." The girl blushed. "And I see you've also taken a liking to my hair style."

"Perhaps, Duo," she said smiling.

"Eh, so how abouts you coming back to our place for a cup of coffee of somethin'. Catch up on old times, hm?"

"Sure, sounds good to me," Duo grinned.

Joey chuckled, "Good! 'Cuz you know Joey Hardcore dun take no fer an answer."

Duo's voice filled with joyful laughter as the trio walked off, voices calling out to the wind in reminiscent but content tones. On the other side of town, a grumpy voice muttered under its breath after cursing at the laptop monitor. The braided loudmouth had traveled off somewhere without telling Wufei a thing, while Heero had called to check up on them for the second time. Instead of waiting around for the inevitable headache to come, Wufei decided to go out and get some medicine as he thought up a new lecture to give to Duo on communication problems.

***

AN: Thought this would be a nice break from the serious chapters. The next ones will get serious again and darker - just a warning.