I cringed. Duo looked at me curiously. "Who is that?" I looked at him
and smiled weakly. "My little brother."

"KATIE!! ARE YOU HOME?" he called from the backyard.

"HANG ON!!!! I'M COMING!!!" I motioned for the boys to follow me.

I opened the back door and my 12-year-old brother, Harold, ran up to
me.

I introduced the boys to Harold. He said hi and sort of shrugged them
off, probably wondering what they had to do with the huge bird-like
thing in our backyard. Heero nodded a hello and walked back to Wing
Zero.

"What IS that thing??!"

I sighed. "It's a long story. I really don't feel like explaining it
again...."

"Aw, come on! Tell me!" Harold pleaded.

"Fine. Duo, explain."

Duo groaned. "Why me?"

I glared at him. "Because." He sighed.

"Fine." He told my brother the entire story. At least Harold believed
him the first time he explained it all.

"Whoa, cool."

"Mmhm," I nodded. "Let's go back inside. It's FREEZING out here!
See...." I exhaled and blew out smoke.

We all walked back in the house, me planning out where the boys would
sleep.

"There's alot of room in here. Lemme go get some blankets and stuff."

I walked to the linen closet right across from my room and pulled out
three blankets and a few pillows and brought them back to the computer
room.

"Ok, you guys can decide where you wanna sleep in here", I said as I
gave Duo and Quatre each a blanket and pillow. Duo immediately jumped
on the sofa.

"I get sofa!!"

"No you don't, braidboy!" Heero called from another room.

"TOO LATE! I CALL SOFA!!" Duo protested to the other room. Heero
appeared in the doorway, holding up a handheld device.

Quatre's eyes widened. "Heero, you wouln't!.....oh wait, yeah you
would...."

Duo rolled his eyes. "Nice try, Heero, but you and I both know that you
wouldn't self-destruct and kill everyone here!" I looked at them both
increduously.

Heero smiled evilly and Duo's face fell. "What?"

"This isn't Wing's self-detonater....." Duo's eyes grew wide.

"NO! Fine!! Take the sofa, take the sofa!!!"

Heero nodded and turned to walk away. "Wise decision." He walked out of
sight.

Duo looked at Quatre. "Ya think he would've done it?"

Quatre shrugged. "I don't know really..... you never can tell with
Heero."

I acted as if nothing happened. "So..... whadda ya'll wanna do now? I'm
really bored."

Harold stood up. "I have an idea..."'



***************************************


A few minutes later, I found myself in the front yard, freezing half to
death, standing in the street with Harold, Duo, and Quatre. Harold had
rummaged through the hall closet and successfully found the New Year's
Eve fireworks....

"Hey, watch this!" Harold stooped down and lit the bottle rocket. He
pointed it toward a smooth rise in the cement, one that he used as a
small ramp to ride his bike on all the time. The bottle rocket zipped
across the street and onto the ramp, flying through the air straight
up, and exploded.

"Pretty cool." Duo commented. He walked over to a drain and peered down
it.

He smiled misheviously. "Hand me a bottle rocket." I gave him one and a
lit pump to light it with. Oh Lord... I thought to myself.

He lit the bottle rocket and tossed it into the drain. There was a
moment of anticipating silence, then BOOM!!! Flames erupted from the
drain. I gasped, Harold looked on, amazed, Quatre looked as if this was
NORMAL, and Duo laughed maniacally.

"That was SO awesome!!" Harold exclaimed. The flames grew higher. It
hit me- the dry leaves! That's what was burning! But there were leaves
all around the drain...

"DUO!!" I ran inside, filling a cup with water, and ran outside with
it, pouring it over the ever-growing flames. Luckily, I had gotten to
the flames before they could destroy the grass around the drain.

Duo frowned. "Awww..... and they were getting high enough to roast
marshmallows with!" I laughed and rolled me eyes.

"Let's do something a little LESS destructive, shall we?" Duo picked up
another bottle rocket and grinned.

"I have ANOTHER idea....." He walked toward the backyard. I jumped in
front of him.

"NO! No way! No more of YOUR ideas!" I protested.

He shook his hand. "I'm not gonna blow anything up, just follow me..."

Quatre shook his head. "I'm going inside." He walked back into the
house.

Duo turned to Harold. "You comin'?"

"No. I'm gonna go play N64." Duo shrugged. "Suit yourself." He looked
at me questioningly. I smiled. "Let's go."

The two of us walked through the gate on the side of the house that led
to the backyard, trying to be 'as quiet as possible', accordinng to
Duo. We crept up to Wing Zero, peeking into the cockpit just enough to
see Heero leaning back in the seat, sleeping soundly. His expression
was so innocent, not like his usual stoic face. I looked at Duo who
grinned. He mouthed 'Watch this'. My eyes grew wide. He smirked at my
expression and reached into the cockpit, with the end of the firework
pointing out. He lightly toughed Heero's face with it, causing Heero to
squint. I stifled my laughter at his expression. Duo leaned over to my
ear and whispered "He looks like one of those pug dogs!"

I bit my lip and giggled quietly. I heard a small noise next to me and
turned to see Roxy looking at me curiously. Duo grinned at Roxy and we
watched as the little Lab walked into the cockpit, jumping on Heero's
lap, and licked his face.

Heero woke with a start and looked at Roxy. Duo and I ducked behind
Wing within earshot of Heero. We peeked inside to see Heero stand up
and toss Roxy onto my bed, mumbling aggravated threats under his
breath. He sighed and sat back down in his seat. He closed his eyes and
seconds later, I heard his soft, sleeping breaths. Duo and I sat down
on the grass. "Whadda ya wanna do now?" I asked. He shrugged, and we
both sat in silence, trying to think up something fun to do. I sighed
and laid back in the grass. Duo did the same.

This is so nice, I thought. I needed a break from exams, and at least I
only had one tomorrow. The sky was a light gray color, not a cloud to
be seen. Winter here sucks, I thought. No snow, freezing cold weather
and rain, and an ugly sky. "Hey Duo-" I turned to Duo only to find him
sleeping on his side. I smiled and remembered his adorable face that
way this morning. "Duo." I shook him slightly. He whimpered a little
and opened one eye. "Wha- oh, sorry. Fell asleep." He smiled and sat
up, stretching. I sat up as well. "C'mon, let's go see what Harold's
doing." We both stood up and walked back into my warm house, only to be
bombarded by Roxy. I patted the little dog's head and looked over to
see Quatre wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa, sleeping intently. Duo
glared at the sleepping figure. "Grrr, no wonder he wanted to come back
in."

"No use waking him; let him sleep, Duo." I said before Duo woke poor
Quatre up from his *stolen* spot on the sofa. I looked at the clock
above the T.V.

5:00. It'll be dark soon, and my parents'll be home in an hour. What
can I do to keep Duo from blowing something up until then?

Luckily, Duo spoke. "I'm gonna get some rest. Get me up when your
parents get here so I can introduce myself to your mom." I nodded. "K."

He picked up the blanket and pillow and started making a bed on the
floor.

"Duo, don't sleep on the floor, it's freezing! Go sleep in my bed until
my parents get home. I'm gonna sit out here and watch T.V. 'til they
get here."

Duo was about to protest but got up instead. "Thanks." He smiled and
walked towards the backroom.

I sat down in the living room and flipped on the T.V. I channel surfed
without paying much attention to what was on, occupied with thinking
about the boys.

Heero must be cold outside, I thought. I got up and picked up the
blanket I had taken out for him before. I walked through the backyard,
just in case Duo was sleeping already. God forbid I wake him....

I walked over to Wing Zero and peered into the cockpit. Heero was fast

asleep, but I could just barely see him shivering. I climbed into the
open space and covered him with the blanket. I stepped back to look at
him. His face was so carefree. I smiled and hopped out. I got a sort of
premonition and peeked back inside. Heero was AWAKE and quietly looking
at the blanket, looking as if he were analyzing it. His face softened
and he curled up in the seat, closing his eyes and dozing off. I smiled
to myself and walked back into the house to await my parents' arrival.