========================================
Role Reversal
By Sefilin
========================================
Disclaimers: Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing copyright Sunrise,
Bandai, Sotsu Agency
Dedicated, as always, to Kellryn.
==========
Chapter Five
==========
JULIAN'S HOME UNIVERSE:
----------
Accelerating through take-off as fast as he could, Duo blinked
back pressure-tears as he was pressed back into the seat of
Deathscythe, swerving away from the small group still gathered in the
forest. Within seconds, he was out of sight, flying wildly through the
clear blue skies, laughing madly with delight. Damn but he'd missed
this.
Relena's Deathscythe was almost _exactly_ like his Shinigami
apart from a very slight increase in reaction time and a little less
manoeuvrability. It was nothing that any but the best of pilots would
recognise and was hardly enough to make a difference in any given
fight. So Duo took the chance to pretend he was home, flashing between
trees and twirling the thermal scythe in intricate circles about the
body of the Gundam.
He avoided anything that looked like it contained humanity as he
steered directly for the sea, wanting to make as much of the next hour
as possible.
He dived directly off the headland overlooking the sea near
Szcecin, the closest large body of water to the Berlin area where he
was. Bubbles surrounded him as he cut the Gundam's thrusters and
Deathscythe dropped to the bottom of the sea.
And just in time, he murmured to himself as he watched the blip
that was Wing go flying off down the coast a way.
He hadn't really expected the pilots to leave him unescorted, but
if it came to a choice between frolicking amongst the waves by himself
or being babysitting, this won hands down. It wouldn't be long till
Heero glanced at his tactical display and saw that Duo was here so he
was going to going to make the most of it.
Winding his way through the crevices that lined the sea floor, he
went about carving large smiley faces in the walls with the scythe.
This also had a secondary benefit - apart from the amateur artwork that
embodied his mood - and that was illumination of the area he was
passing through. A few startled sharks swam rapidly away from the
metal monster that had intruded upon their afternoon hunting and Duo
grinned again.
He flicked a couple of switches and Deathscythe cut rapidly
through the water, thrusters on full as it sped for the cliff he'd
fallen off. With a casual twist of his wrist, the Gundam burst
upwards, exploding from the water, until it was high above the cliff.
Then he flipped forwards and dropped into a soft landing on the grass
that iced the headland.
\\Duo?\\ came through the internal speakers.
"Heya, Heero! Damn, but I missed this," he smiled at the other
pilot, ignoring the almost disconcerted look on his face as he swung
Wing around. He hadn't noticed Deathscythe sneaking up on him, even
though he must've been showing on the tactical display.
Then Heero scowled, \\There are fifteen mobile suits heading this
way. Get back to the others while I take care of them.\\
"Mobile suits? And you expect me to go back? No way, man, I'm
not going to pass up the chance to introduce anyone to Shinigami," Duo
glanced at the mobile suits in relation to where he was and descended,
mentally, into stealth-combat mode, mumbling about it being a good
thing they weren't mobile dolls, though of course they'd have no
problems with them either.
He crept up on the MS's from behind, using their absorption while
taking on Wing as a distraction to position himself. He'd been
listening to Heero's sharp complaints and anger at endangering his
girlfriend's Gundam but was determined to continue his course of
action. He was as much a Gundam pilot as any of the others, even
though none of them knew for sure.
A quick sweep of the thermal scythe cut through two suits,
standing stupidly close to each other and they exploded in a burst of
flame and smoke. Adrenaline pumped wildly through his veins, pulling
his lips into their usual psychotic grin as he slid to the side and
swung again.
An arm fell of the MS and the joint sparked and fizzed where it
had been severed, the light show giving Duo the time to wade through
three more suits before slicing the armless Leo in half.
Two sweeps and a burst of Wing's beam cannon later, the Gundam's
stood amidst a small circle of smoking carnage, facing one another.
Heero's face flickered on Deathscythe's cockpit monitors and
opened his mouth to speak, eyes still burning with an intense anger.
Duo, however, began speaking before he had the chance, more used to
finding and taking advantage of openings.
"Whoohoo! Two weeks without fighting _or_ working on Shinigami
is too long, man. Damn, I can't wait to get back, gotta let Relena
know she's got a great machine... not as good as Shinigami, of course,
but it's still great. Let's go, ne, Heero?"
And, without waiting for a reply, he keyed his thrusters and sped
off in the direction of Milliard's mansion.
==========
Heero quietly watched him fly off, still trying to get his brain
around what he'd just seen. _Julian_ flying Relena's Gundam as well
as, if not better than, Relena herself.
He shook his head; when he hadn't been able to find the other boy
after following him, he'd started to wonder whether he hadn't already
managed to crash the Gundam. Then he'd jumped out of the ocean and
proceeded to dance through the mobile suits he'd come up against, and
Heero had been hard pressed to remember to do his part.
If it hadn't been for Dr. J's insistance on the importance of
focus and concentration, it was quite likely that he would have
required saving by the boy piloting Deathscythe. And much as he hated
to admit it, he was starting to think of him as Duo.
He'd been much more sceptical than the other pilots from the
first, never having been trusting, and having the worst experiences of
the Peacecraft. That had been why he'd insisted on following Duo in
the Gundam when Relena had let him pilot Deathscythe. She hadn't
objected, fortunately, but somehow, she'd known he was actually a
capable pilot.
A dark frown dropped across his brow as he transformed Wing into
bird form and took off after the other boy, still going over what he'd
seen.
Grudgingly, he allowed himself to believe in Duo's story. The
quite amazing differences between Julian and Duo were becoming more and
more apparent, and there was no way he could hold on to his doubt
anymore.
The boy was Duo.
And, his curiousity rose and began feeding him questions he
wanted answers to. Questions about the other boy, his world and - he
winced - _his_ Heero.
==========
Relena and the other's stayed in the forest, waiting for the
return of Duo and Heero, who had insisted on keeping an eye on the
other boy, just in case.
Trowa had wandered off into the forest, followed shortly
afterwards by Meiran after a small smile passed between her and Relena.
She fully approved of a relationship between the tiny Chinese girl,
with her furious temper and motherly nature and the silent pilot of
Heavyarms. They had the necessary qualities to heal each other of the
wounds they had received over the years.
Meiran had never forgiven herself for the death of her husband
Wufei, something she had confided to Relena after Duo's shock statement
on the day he arrived. They had had a long talk that evening as they
walked outside before heading for bed. Meiran had also admitted her
interest in Trowa and Relena had given her full support.
Trowa's past was still a mystery, something he never talked about
to them, but he was opening up to the warmth and gentleness of Meiran;
shocked though he was, by her occasional burst of temper. The emerald
eyes of the pilot gained life each time he looked at the small girl and
seemed to follow he unconsciously whenever she was in sight.
Relena grinned as she shifted under the tree she was sitting
under. They were so cute together.
She only hoped Quatre could find someone to help him move beyond
his interest in the quiet pilot. He was cute and nice enough for her
to want him to be happy, but not at the expense of Meiran. Not that he
would interfere in something that was becoming so obvious.
Glancing across at the blonde boy, she smiled when she found him
talking animatedly to Treize and Milliard, seeming to be explaining the
situation to the older man. She had to admit, he would make a
wonderful diplomat or politician if he ever moved beyond the family
company he would inherit one day. He was a born leader and held them
together as much as mother-Meiran did.
But the longing in his sky-blue eyes when he looked at Trowa was
painful to watch.
Then she moved her gaze on to Quatre's two companions.
Milliard was looking as beautiful as ever, regardless of the
slightly harried expression on his face as he waved his hands to
emphasise one of Quatre's points. She let herself go, admiring his
long blonde hair, refined features and proud carriage. He was a man
who knew exactly who he was.
Which is what made him so effective as a representative for the
Sank Kingdom principle's of Absolute Pacifism, along with his eloquence
in public speaking and, of course, the fact that he was drop-dead
gorgeous. The women of the world loved that.
Treize, Milliard's business and political partner - possibly more
- couldn't help but look aristocratic. He had an arrogance and
certainty about him that was even more apparent than his partner's and
a charisma that influenced as many men as Milliard's beauty did women.
Not that Treize couldn't influence women, because he was handsome
enough to turn heads and his obvious intelligence attracted those who
put no store in appearance.
Altogether, the two of them, with Julian's youth, cuteness and
ability to talk the head off _anyone_ when he was on a roll, made an
excellent trio of pacifism advocates.
She still didn't understand it herself, and had no concept of how
they thought Absolute Pacifism was a possibility at all. Yet, they
were having a large influence on the world, which had in turn
influenced the Gundam pilots to appoint themselves protectors of the
trio. Though they, at times, regretted it because of Julian's
infatuation with Heero and his brother's inability to keep him away
from them.
A low vibration cut through her thoughts and she turned her head
to watch Deathscythe touch down lightly, making almost no noise. She
found herself impressed by Duo's piloting skills and justified at
letting Duo take the Gundam out. She been yelled at by Milliard, Heero
and Meiran as soon as the other boy had left, but had ignored it, but
she'd known he'd be good since he loved Deathscythe as much as she did.
Wing cut through the air shortly afterwards, touching down a
little further away. Heero had insisted on going after Duo and keeping
him from damaging her Gundam, and Relena had agreed, both for his sake
and her own. Because, no matter how certain she was that this was Duo
and not Julian, and that he spoke the truth about being a Gundam pilot
in his own world, there were still doubts.
Duo appeared in the open hatch on Deathscythe's torso and grinned
down at her, swinging down to land at the Gundam's foot before bouncing
over and throwing his arms around her.
A soft laugh sounded in her ear as Duo spoke, "Thanks, Relena, I
needed that."
She nodded, smiling as he stepped back and whirled around, arms
outflung, "I'm psyched! Damn, it was good to finally blow some stuff
up again. Your Deathscythe's almost as good as my Shinigami."
Then Duo stopped abruptly, his mouth falling open as he gazed in
the general direction of Milliard and his companions, she followed his
gaze trying to figure out what was wrong, but found nothing out of the
ordinary, though the trio was moving closer.
"Gah!" he yelled, waving an accusing finger in their direction,
"What's _he_ doing here?"
_He_ blinked, raising an aristocratic eyebrow in enquiry while
staring at the finger levelled at him. The enquiry became general as
everyone else gathered about, wondering what was wrong.
"Duo? It's Trieze, don't you know him?" Meiran asked quietly.
Looking at her as though she was crazy Duo snorted, "Of _course_
I know him, he's the leader of OZ!"
Silence reigned throughout the clearing while his statement sank
in, and it was Trieze himself who replied first, "Pardon? I'm what?"
Milliard was close behind, embarrassed by his brother's
accusation, "What do you mean, the leader of OZ? Trieze has been
working with us for the past number of years towards peace."
Duo took a step back under the disapproval and sighed, running a
hand through his bangs, "Sorry. It's just, he _is_ the leader of OZ in
my world."
==========
A slight frown appeared between Trieze's brows, his blue eyes
stern and doubtful of the truth in that. He couldn't imagine himself
as the head of a military organisation of any sort, but if Julian's
other self was a Gundam pilot, as had been explained to him, then he
supposed it was _possible_.
He found the idea of another world, so similar and so different
to their own, fascinating, though ultimately improbable. Of course,
the arrival of this Duo, did seem to suggest that such a thing was not
only possible, but was true.
He trusted his partner's judgement, especially when it came to
his brother, whom he'd avoided outside of what was necessary, both
socially and professionally. He found the younger Peacecraft a little,
well, annoying except when he was _being_ a Peacecraft, which was not
often enough to suit him.
Therefore the scene he'd arrived to at Milliard's mansion -
Julian rushing past, grinning and dragging Relena Maxwell, Gundam
pilot, behind him, was somewhat unusual. He knew those pilots had as
many problems coping with Julian as he did, especially given his
infatuation with Heero. So he'd spent the last hour listening to
Quatre and Milliard explain what was happening. And though he still
wasn't entirely convinced, he had suspended his belief until he had
decided one way or another what was going on.
He found himself watching the young man more closely than he ever
had, trying to find something that would mark him different from Julian
- apart from the dragging of Ms. Maxwell, the piloting of a Gundam, the
claims that _he_ was the leader of OZ and the genuine surprise the boy
had exhibited upon seeing him.
Duo shrugged apologetically at him, throwing off what had to be a
disconcerting event - coming face to face with his enemy - and grinned
with a charm that Trieze found irresistible. It reminded him a little
of Julian's 'Mischievous Peacecraft' smile, used when he wanted to draw
a particular emotion from a particular crowd, though much brighter and
far more carefree.
Then the boy from another world bounced forwards a little and
swept him a flowery bow, finishing up with a flick of his wrist and a
glance from bright violet-blue eyes, "Sorry, man, it's hard to
remember, at times, that things are different here. No offence meant."
His eyes moved beyond Trieze to rest on Milliard, his eyebrows
comically raised, "So, how was that?"
Milliard complimented Duo's bow, though added a 'tone it down' on
the end, which made Duo laugh again, something Trieze gathered was
habitual.
Everyone headed back to Milliard's mansion, in a good mood,
though there was a brief moment of tension when the pilots found out
that Heero and Duo had found themselves in a skirmish. It was
dismissed casually by Duo as nothing out of the ordinary and backed up
by Heero's reluctant statement on Duo's apparent skill.
The boy's eyes had lit up at the almost-compliment, a smile, on
the edge of shy, lingering on his lips for a long while afterwards and
he mused to himself about some things never changing, regardless of
which world one was in.
==========
DUO'S HOME UNIVERSE:
----------
"Damn it! Get off me, Julian, I'm trying to work," Heero yelled
at the boy that had squirmed his way into his lap and was now nuzzling
his neck.
"But, Heero, you've been on that thing for an hour now. Don't
you want to do something else?" the last was whispered breathlessly
into his ear, Julian's voice having dropped into a husky whisper that
was far too familiar for Heero's peace of mind.
He stood abruptly, tumbling the braided boy onto the floor and
stalking towards Wufei's room, hoping he had discovered something they
could do to get Duo back.
It hadn't taken him, or the others, to decide, soon after Julian
had joined them at the safe house, that there was no way he could be
Duo. He had not the least idea how to drive, let alone pilot a Gundam
or hack into a system. He was a worse cook than Duo had ever been and
complained constantly about the messy state of the house, ignoring that
it was him who had created it in the first place. The rest of the time
he was either harassing Heero or staring unseeing out to sea, a look of
melancholy on his face.
It was almost as if he was trying his hardest to convince them he
wasn't Duo... and doing a _very_ good job of it.
Heero now found it easy to believe Duo was now Julian, but found
it hard to believe that he now looked forward to Relena's arrival so
she could take him off their hands for a few short hours.
The two of them seemed to have bonded; Relena was long over her
annoyance with Julian having become an advocate for Absolute Pacifism.
The two of them had started swapping notes on the subject and had even
arrived back from one of their long walks along the beach calling each
other Oniisan and Oneesan, nauseating as that was.
Then there was the evening when Relena had stayed for dinner and
she and Julian had alternately talked about their ideals, trying to
convince the pilots, glomping Heero and arguing about it. He'd retired
to his room early, closing the door firmly and locking it behind him
before falling back onto his bed. He'd come pretty close to crying
that night.
He wanted things to go back to normal. He wanted his Duo back.
He knocked once on Wufei's door before slipping in and sinking
onto the edge of the Chinese boy's bed, running a hand through his
hair, "Anything?"
Wufei sent him a sympathetic glance and shrugged, "I think I may
have something, but it'll take a little while to confirm. There was a
research base of some kind around here and one of the scientists was
apparently trying to harness dimensional energies, or something. There
are rumours of a break in a fortnight ago and the scientist apparently
reported something was missing. I'm about to try contacting him."
Heero looked up in hope, "That sounds promising."
Wufei nodded, typing something into his keyboard, "Yes. We just
have to hope, if this does have something to do with Duo and Julian's,
um, swap, that the scientist can do something about it."
Heero's eyes widened. He hadn't even considered the possibility
of not being able to get Duo back.
But now that he thought about it... a little of the colour in his
face drained out and he left the room, thanking Wufei briefly.
It wasn't long before he was in his room again, the one he'd
shared with Duo before he'd fallen off the cliff, and lying on his
back, facing the ceiling. He pillowed his head on the arms folded
above his head and closed his eyes, shutting out everything but his
thoughts.
He hadn't known, he mused, he hadn't realised how much he'd come
to rely on the American pilot's presence in his life to balance him.
The laughter and, yes, the love had kept him from the abyss of self-
hate that had almost swallowed him at times. Duo was his equal in
every way that counted, physically, emotionally and spiritually, and
Heero missed him more than he could say.
This substitute, this Julian, made the loss even more apparent;
the body a clone, but the mind and spirit so incredibly different.
Though there was one thing to say of him, though that did not have much
to do _with_ him.
Ever since Julian had woken, saved by Relena, he had gradually
been gaining respect for the girl. Seeing her in a greater variety of
situations than ever before, he also saw that she was quite intelligent
and far more sane, at times, than he had thought possible. She could
converse sensibly on a variety of topics, including weaponry, much to
his surprise.
Apparently, she had grown up with a servant who had an obsession
with guns and swords, passing an appreciation and respect of them to
his young mistress.
This revelation had eventually led to a round of target practice
out in the forest, where Relena had matched them all shot for shot, and
then gone one better. Then she'd placed the gun back in Heero's hand
and walked away, saying that it was not a skill she would ever use to
harm someone; life was far too precious.
That day had opened his eyes to the various other strengths in
the girl and he was finding himself liking her against his will,
because he could respect hers.
But, none of that mattered when compared to Duo.
It was Duo that was important and Duo that he had to get back.
So, he would wait for Wufei to confirm the rumours and then he would
find out what to do to bring Duo back...
Because he couldn't bear to think of a life lived without the
braided baka at his side.
==Owari, Chapter Five==
I have no idea what the sea around Szcecin is really like, and no real
idea whether Deathscythe could manage to get from the Berlin area to
Szcecin in such a short time, but, well, :P
It's haa~rd to write combat scenes
http://www.geocities.com/sefilin/
sefilin@yahoo.com
Role Reversal
By Sefilin
========================================
Disclaimers: Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing copyright Sunrise,
Bandai, Sotsu Agency
Dedicated, as always, to Kellryn.
==========
Chapter Five
==========
JULIAN'S HOME UNIVERSE:
----------
Accelerating through take-off as fast as he could, Duo blinked
back pressure-tears as he was pressed back into the seat of
Deathscythe, swerving away from the small group still gathered in the
forest. Within seconds, he was out of sight, flying wildly through the
clear blue skies, laughing madly with delight. Damn but he'd missed
this.
Relena's Deathscythe was almost _exactly_ like his Shinigami
apart from a very slight increase in reaction time and a little less
manoeuvrability. It was nothing that any but the best of pilots would
recognise and was hardly enough to make a difference in any given
fight. So Duo took the chance to pretend he was home, flashing between
trees and twirling the thermal scythe in intricate circles about the
body of the Gundam.
He avoided anything that looked like it contained humanity as he
steered directly for the sea, wanting to make as much of the next hour
as possible.
He dived directly off the headland overlooking the sea near
Szcecin, the closest large body of water to the Berlin area where he
was. Bubbles surrounded him as he cut the Gundam's thrusters and
Deathscythe dropped to the bottom of the sea.
And just in time, he murmured to himself as he watched the blip
that was Wing go flying off down the coast a way.
He hadn't really expected the pilots to leave him unescorted, but
if it came to a choice between frolicking amongst the waves by himself
or being babysitting, this won hands down. It wouldn't be long till
Heero glanced at his tactical display and saw that Duo was here so he
was going to going to make the most of it.
Winding his way through the crevices that lined the sea floor, he
went about carving large smiley faces in the walls with the scythe.
This also had a secondary benefit - apart from the amateur artwork that
embodied his mood - and that was illumination of the area he was
passing through. A few startled sharks swam rapidly away from the
metal monster that had intruded upon their afternoon hunting and Duo
grinned again.
He flicked a couple of switches and Deathscythe cut rapidly
through the water, thrusters on full as it sped for the cliff he'd
fallen off. With a casual twist of his wrist, the Gundam burst
upwards, exploding from the water, until it was high above the cliff.
Then he flipped forwards and dropped into a soft landing on the grass
that iced the headland.
\\Duo?\\ came through the internal speakers.
"Heya, Heero! Damn, but I missed this," he smiled at the other
pilot, ignoring the almost disconcerted look on his face as he swung
Wing around. He hadn't noticed Deathscythe sneaking up on him, even
though he must've been showing on the tactical display.
Then Heero scowled, \\There are fifteen mobile suits heading this
way. Get back to the others while I take care of them.\\
"Mobile suits? And you expect me to go back? No way, man, I'm
not going to pass up the chance to introduce anyone to Shinigami," Duo
glanced at the mobile suits in relation to where he was and descended,
mentally, into stealth-combat mode, mumbling about it being a good
thing they weren't mobile dolls, though of course they'd have no
problems with them either.
He crept up on the MS's from behind, using their absorption while
taking on Wing as a distraction to position himself. He'd been
listening to Heero's sharp complaints and anger at endangering his
girlfriend's Gundam but was determined to continue his course of
action. He was as much a Gundam pilot as any of the others, even
though none of them knew for sure.
A quick sweep of the thermal scythe cut through two suits,
standing stupidly close to each other and they exploded in a burst of
flame and smoke. Adrenaline pumped wildly through his veins, pulling
his lips into their usual psychotic grin as he slid to the side and
swung again.
An arm fell of the MS and the joint sparked and fizzed where it
had been severed, the light show giving Duo the time to wade through
three more suits before slicing the armless Leo in half.
Two sweeps and a burst of Wing's beam cannon later, the Gundam's
stood amidst a small circle of smoking carnage, facing one another.
Heero's face flickered on Deathscythe's cockpit monitors and
opened his mouth to speak, eyes still burning with an intense anger.
Duo, however, began speaking before he had the chance, more used to
finding and taking advantage of openings.
"Whoohoo! Two weeks without fighting _or_ working on Shinigami
is too long, man. Damn, I can't wait to get back, gotta let Relena
know she's got a great machine... not as good as Shinigami, of course,
but it's still great. Let's go, ne, Heero?"
And, without waiting for a reply, he keyed his thrusters and sped
off in the direction of Milliard's mansion.
==========
Heero quietly watched him fly off, still trying to get his brain
around what he'd just seen. _Julian_ flying Relena's Gundam as well
as, if not better than, Relena herself.
He shook his head; when he hadn't been able to find the other boy
after following him, he'd started to wonder whether he hadn't already
managed to crash the Gundam. Then he'd jumped out of the ocean and
proceeded to dance through the mobile suits he'd come up against, and
Heero had been hard pressed to remember to do his part.
If it hadn't been for Dr. J's insistance on the importance of
focus and concentration, it was quite likely that he would have
required saving by the boy piloting Deathscythe. And much as he hated
to admit it, he was starting to think of him as Duo.
He'd been much more sceptical than the other pilots from the
first, never having been trusting, and having the worst experiences of
the Peacecraft. That had been why he'd insisted on following Duo in
the Gundam when Relena had let him pilot Deathscythe. She hadn't
objected, fortunately, but somehow, she'd known he was actually a
capable pilot.
A dark frown dropped across his brow as he transformed Wing into
bird form and took off after the other boy, still going over what he'd
seen.
Grudgingly, he allowed himself to believe in Duo's story. The
quite amazing differences between Julian and Duo were becoming more and
more apparent, and there was no way he could hold on to his doubt
anymore.
The boy was Duo.
And, his curiousity rose and began feeding him questions he
wanted answers to. Questions about the other boy, his world and - he
winced - _his_ Heero.
==========
Relena and the other's stayed in the forest, waiting for the
return of Duo and Heero, who had insisted on keeping an eye on the
other boy, just in case.
Trowa had wandered off into the forest, followed shortly
afterwards by Meiran after a small smile passed between her and Relena.
She fully approved of a relationship between the tiny Chinese girl,
with her furious temper and motherly nature and the silent pilot of
Heavyarms. They had the necessary qualities to heal each other of the
wounds they had received over the years.
Meiran had never forgiven herself for the death of her husband
Wufei, something she had confided to Relena after Duo's shock statement
on the day he arrived. They had had a long talk that evening as they
walked outside before heading for bed. Meiran had also admitted her
interest in Trowa and Relena had given her full support.
Trowa's past was still a mystery, something he never talked about
to them, but he was opening up to the warmth and gentleness of Meiran;
shocked though he was, by her occasional burst of temper. The emerald
eyes of the pilot gained life each time he looked at the small girl and
seemed to follow he unconsciously whenever she was in sight.
Relena grinned as she shifted under the tree she was sitting
under. They were so cute together.
She only hoped Quatre could find someone to help him move beyond
his interest in the quiet pilot. He was cute and nice enough for her
to want him to be happy, but not at the expense of Meiran. Not that he
would interfere in something that was becoming so obvious.
Glancing across at the blonde boy, she smiled when she found him
talking animatedly to Treize and Milliard, seeming to be explaining the
situation to the older man. She had to admit, he would make a
wonderful diplomat or politician if he ever moved beyond the family
company he would inherit one day. He was a born leader and held them
together as much as mother-Meiran did.
But the longing in his sky-blue eyes when he looked at Trowa was
painful to watch.
Then she moved her gaze on to Quatre's two companions.
Milliard was looking as beautiful as ever, regardless of the
slightly harried expression on his face as he waved his hands to
emphasise one of Quatre's points. She let herself go, admiring his
long blonde hair, refined features and proud carriage. He was a man
who knew exactly who he was.
Which is what made him so effective as a representative for the
Sank Kingdom principle's of Absolute Pacifism, along with his eloquence
in public speaking and, of course, the fact that he was drop-dead
gorgeous. The women of the world loved that.
Treize, Milliard's business and political partner - possibly more
- couldn't help but look aristocratic. He had an arrogance and
certainty about him that was even more apparent than his partner's and
a charisma that influenced as many men as Milliard's beauty did women.
Not that Treize couldn't influence women, because he was handsome
enough to turn heads and his obvious intelligence attracted those who
put no store in appearance.
Altogether, the two of them, with Julian's youth, cuteness and
ability to talk the head off _anyone_ when he was on a roll, made an
excellent trio of pacifism advocates.
She still didn't understand it herself, and had no concept of how
they thought Absolute Pacifism was a possibility at all. Yet, they
were having a large influence on the world, which had in turn
influenced the Gundam pilots to appoint themselves protectors of the
trio. Though they, at times, regretted it because of Julian's
infatuation with Heero and his brother's inability to keep him away
from them.
A low vibration cut through her thoughts and she turned her head
to watch Deathscythe touch down lightly, making almost no noise. She
found herself impressed by Duo's piloting skills and justified at
letting Duo take the Gundam out. She been yelled at by Milliard, Heero
and Meiran as soon as the other boy had left, but had ignored it, but
she'd known he'd be good since he loved Deathscythe as much as she did.
Wing cut through the air shortly afterwards, touching down a
little further away. Heero had insisted on going after Duo and keeping
him from damaging her Gundam, and Relena had agreed, both for his sake
and her own. Because, no matter how certain she was that this was Duo
and not Julian, and that he spoke the truth about being a Gundam pilot
in his own world, there were still doubts.
Duo appeared in the open hatch on Deathscythe's torso and grinned
down at her, swinging down to land at the Gundam's foot before bouncing
over and throwing his arms around her.
A soft laugh sounded in her ear as Duo spoke, "Thanks, Relena, I
needed that."
She nodded, smiling as he stepped back and whirled around, arms
outflung, "I'm psyched! Damn, it was good to finally blow some stuff
up again. Your Deathscythe's almost as good as my Shinigami."
Then Duo stopped abruptly, his mouth falling open as he gazed in
the general direction of Milliard and his companions, she followed his
gaze trying to figure out what was wrong, but found nothing out of the
ordinary, though the trio was moving closer.
"Gah!" he yelled, waving an accusing finger in their direction,
"What's _he_ doing here?"
_He_ blinked, raising an aristocratic eyebrow in enquiry while
staring at the finger levelled at him. The enquiry became general as
everyone else gathered about, wondering what was wrong.
"Duo? It's Trieze, don't you know him?" Meiran asked quietly.
Looking at her as though she was crazy Duo snorted, "Of _course_
I know him, he's the leader of OZ!"
Silence reigned throughout the clearing while his statement sank
in, and it was Trieze himself who replied first, "Pardon? I'm what?"
Milliard was close behind, embarrassed by his brother's
accusation, "What do you mean, the leader of OZ? Trieze has been
working with us for the past number of years towards peace."
Duo took a step back under the disapproval and sighed, running a
hand through his bangs, "Sorry. It's just, he _is_ the leader of OZ in
my world."
==========
A slight frown appeared between Trieze's brows, his blue eyes
stern and doubtful of the truth in that. He couldn't imagine himself
as the head of a military organisation of any sort, but if Julian's
other self was a Gundam pilot, as had been explained to him, then he
supposed it was _possible_.
He found the idea of another world, so similar and so different
to their own, fascinating, though ultimately improbable. Of course,
the arrival of this Duo, did seem to suggest that such a thing was not
only possible, but was true.
He trusted his partner's judgement, especially when it came to
his brother, whom he'd avoided outside of what was necessary, both
socially and professionally. He found the younger Peacecraft a little,
well, annoying except when he was _being_ a Peacecraft, which was not
often enough to suit him.
Therefore the scene he'd arrived to at Milliard's mansion -
Julian rushing past, grinning and dragging Relena Maxwell, Gundam
pilot, behind him, was somewhat unusual. He knew those pilots had as
many problems coping with Julian as he did, especially given his
infatuation with Heero. So he'd spent the last hour listening to
Quatre and Milliard explain what was happening. And though he still
wasn't entirely convinced, he had suspended his belief until he had
decided one way or another what was going on.
He found himself watching the young man more closely than he ever
had, trying to find something that would mark him different from Julian
- apart from the dragging of Ms. Maxwell, the piloting of a Gundam, the
claims that _he_ was the leader of OZ and the genuine surprise the boy
had exhibited upon seeing him.
Duo shrugged apologetically at him, throwing off what had to be a
disconcerting event - coming face to face with his enemy - and grinned
with a charm that Trieze found irresistible. It reminded him a little
of Julian's 'Mischievous Peacecraft' smile, used when he wanted to draw
a particular emotion from a particular crowd, though much brighter and
far more carefree.
Then the boy from another world bounced forwards a little and
swept him a flowery bow, finishing up with a flick of his wrist and a
glance from bright violet-blue eyes, "Sorry, man, it's hard to
remember, at times, that things are different here. No offence meant."
His eyes moved beyond Trieze to rest on Milliard, his eyebrows
comically raised, "So, how was that?"
Milliard complimented Duo's bow, though added a 'tone it down' on
the end, which made Duo laugh again, something Trieze gathered was
habitual.
Everyone headed back to Milliard's mansion, in a good mood,
though there was a brief moment of tension when the pilots found out
that Heero and Duo had found themselves in a skirmish. It was
dismissed casually by Duo as nothing out of the ordinary and backed up
by Heero's reluctant statement on Duo's apparent skill.
The boy's eyes had lit up at the almost-compliment, a smile, on
the edge of shy, lingering on his lips for a long while afterwards and
he mused to himself about some things never changing, regardless of
which world one was in.
==========
DUO'S HOME UNIVERSE:
----------
"Damn it! Get off me, Julian, I'm trying to work," Heero yelled
at the boy that had squirmed his way into his lap and was now nuzzling
his neck.
"But, Heero, you've been on that thing for an hour now. Don't
you want to do something else?" the last was whispered breathlessly
into his ear, Julian's voice having dropped into a husky whisper that
was far too familiar for Heero's peace of mind.
He stood abruptly, tumbling the braided boy onto the floor and
stalking towards Wufei's room, hoping he had discovered something they
could do to get Duo back.
It hadn't taken him, or the others, to decide, soon after Julian
had joined them at the safe house, that there was no way he could be
Duo. He had not the least idea how to drive, let alone pilot a Gundam
or hack into a system. He was a worse cook than Duo had ever been and
complained constantly about the messy state of the house, ignoring that
it was him who had created it in the first place. The rest of the time
he was either harassing Heero or staring unseeing out to sea, a look of
melancholy on his face.
It was almost as if he was trying his hardest to convince them he
wasn't Duo... and doing a _very_ good job of it.
Heero now found it easy to believe Duo was now Julian, but found
it hard to believe that he now looked forward to Relena's arrival so
she could take him off their hands for a few short hours.
The two of them seemed to have bonded; Relena was long over her
annoyance with Julian having become an advocate for Absolute Pacifism.
The two of them had started swapping notes on the subject and had even
arrived back from one of their long walks along the beach calling each
other Oniisan and Oneesan, nauseating as that was.
Then there was the evening when Relena had stayed for dinner and
she and Julian had alternately talked about their ideals, trying to
convince the pilots, glomping Heero and arguing about it. He'd retired
to his room early, closing the door firmly and locking it behind him
before falling back onto his bed. He'd come pretty close to crying
that night.
He wanted things to go back to normal. He wanted his Duo back.
He knocked once on Wufei's door before slipping in and sinking
onto the edge of the Chinese boy's bed, running a hand through his
hair, "Anything?"
Wufei sent him a sympathetic glance and shrugged, "I think I may
have something, but it'll take a little while to confirm. There was a
research base of some kind around here and one of the scientists was
apparently trying to harness dimensional energies, or something. There
are rumours of a break in a fortnight ago and the scientist apparently
reported something was missing. I'm about to try contacting him."
Heero looked up in hope, "That sounds promising."
Wufei nodded, typing something into his keyboard, "Yes. We just
have to hope, if this does have something to do with Duo and Julian's,
um, swap, that the scientist can do something about it."
Heero's eyes widened. He hadn't even considered the possibility
of not being able to get Duo back.
But now that he thought about it... a little of the colour in his
face drained out and he left the room, thanking Wufei briefly.
It wasn't long before he was in his room again, the one he'd
shared with Duo before he'd fallen off the cliff, and lying on his
back, facing the ceiling. He pillowed his head on the arms folded
above his head and closed his eyes, shutting out everything but his
thoughts.
He hadn't known, he mused, he hadn't realised how much he'd come
to rely on the American pilot's presence in his life to balance him.
The laughter and, yes, the love had kept him from the abyss of self-
hate that had almost swallowed him at times. Duo was his equal in
every way that counted, physically, emotionally and spiritually, and
Heero missed him more than he could say.
This substitute, this Julian, made the loss even more apparent;
the body a clone, but the mind and spirit so incredibly different.
Though there was one thing to say of him, though that did not have much
to do _with_ him.
Ever since Julian had woken, saved by Relena, he had gradually
been gaining respect for the girl. Seeing her in a greater variety of
situations than ever before, he also saw that she was quite intelligent
and far more sane, at times, than he had thought possible. She could
converse sensibly on a variety of topics, including weaponry, much to
his surprise.
Apparently, she had grown up with a servant who had an obsession
with guns and swords, passing an appreciation and respect of them to
his young mistress.
This revelation had eventually led to a round of target practice
out in the forest, where Relena had matched them all shot for shot, and
then gone one better. Then she'd placed the gun back in Heero's hand
and walked away, saying that it was not a skill she would ever use to
harm someone; life was far too precious.
That day had opened his eyes to the various other strengths in
the girl and he was finding himself liking her against his will,
because he could respect hers.
But, none of that mattered when compared to Duo.
It was Duo that was important and Duo that he had to get back.
So, he would wait for Wufei to confirm the rumours and then he would
find out what to do to bring Duo back...
Because he couldn't bear to think of a life lived without the
braided baka at his side.
==Owari, Chapter Five==
I have no idea what the sea around Szcecin is really like, and no real
idea whether Deathscythe could manage to get from the Berlin area to
Szcecin in such a short time, but, well, :P
It's haa~rd to write combat scenes
http://www.geocities.com/sefilin/
sefilin@yahoo.com