Getting confused yet? =^_~=

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

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Despite the rotten way the afternoon ended, Duo had enjoyed the attention he received; the good attention, anyway. But as he walked back to the girls' dorm he ignored the stares and raised eyebrows from the boys; if it wasn't from Heero, it wasn't good enough by a long shot. Ah yes, he was supposed to be looking for Heero. He walked briskly towards Heero's mid-afternoon class, hoping to catch him before he went to the computer lab.

Behind him, he heard the faint pounding of running shoes on the terrazzo flooring. Had that disgusting bully come back for a rematch? Suicidal freak, Duo thought, as the footsteps grew closer. I won't antagonize him, I'll just keep on walking. Probably did enough damage to Relena's reputation for one day. If I can just make it to the end of the hall...

The footsteps caught up to him faster than he expected. The running man skidded in front of him, but it wasn't the cheeky halfback. Duo didn't have to go looking for Heero anymore, Heero had somehow found HIM.

A slight pause followed as Heero caught his breath. "I need Duo," he said calmly, "we have a mission."

Duo would give himself many mental kicks in the head for what he thought next. Find him yourself, jerk! "Um...I think I know where he is," he said, trying to act shy and innocent. "Would you like me to find him for you?"

"Hai." Heero ran down the hall, presumably to collect the rest of the team. Duo watched him run until he vanished through the double doors. Damn, that spandex was sexy.

He snapped out of it quickly. Halloween was over for now; there was work to be done. Forgetting the skirt and prim shoes, he ran to Relena's room and flung open the door, only to find it empty. Shoot, of course, she was in his physics class! He tore down the halls to the science wing, slipping and sliding on the flat soles of his shoes. A knock on the classroom door halted the lecture and brought a shy student to his feet to answer it, the one sitting closest. The door opened, and a mousy face with glasses peeked out.

"I need to see Re--Duo Maxwell, please. It's important." he told the spectacled mouse, wringing his hands.

"Just a sec," the mouse replied. The tiny face disappeared, spoke in hushed tones to the professor, and re-emerged a moment or two later. Duo remembered this kid; nervous, uptight, antisocial, and a bit of a bootlick. Not the sort of person he usually associated with, which was why the poor mouse had to ask teacher if Mr. Maxwell was present or absent. "No, sorry, he isn't here."

Would it be going to far to pilot Deathscythe in this condition? Yes, yes it would. There were no other options available, he had to find Relena. "Thank you anyway," he said, exasperated. With that, he started running in no particular direction, really having no idea where she could have wandered off to. He didn't know any of her girl friends on campus, not that she'd let them see her in her present state anyway. He checked the coffee house at the library entrance, every floor of the library itself, and the entire route between the library and her dorm room without success. Duo was starting to panic. What if she cracked and ran away? What if she ran into Heero and told him the whole story? What if the stress of the transference finally caught up with her and she passed out somewhere?

The last thought struck the right chord. She HAD been feeling miserable this morning, maybe she'd gotten worse. Asking directions along the way, he ran to the nurse's office and barrelled through the door. A sorry bunch of school casualties looked up at him like he'd just dropped a huge tray of silverware in the middle of the room. By the way they clutched their heads and yelped, he deduced that he must have missed some party last night. Two-thirds of those seated were clearly hangover patients.

With a sigh of relief, he spotted Relena sitting closest to the nurse's wicket, holding her stomach. Sitting next to her was the disgusting creep he'd given a beating to not two hours ago. He whimpered and cowered at the sight of Duo, scared that he had come to give him a second helping. Duo ignored him, reached forward and grabbed Relena's arm, pulling her to her feet. "We gotta get you out of here," he whispered.

Relena slowly focused her weary eyes on him. "...I-I'm going to b-be sick..." she sputtered.

He really didn't have time for this. Slinging her arm around his shoulders, he dragged her out into the hall and propped her up against the wall, fanning her with her purse. "Come on, focus! We gotta put you back, right now! I need my body so I can get on with this mission! Wake up!!"

Relena only heard every other word, and started to sink down the wall as dizziness took over. Duo hoisted her up with an arm around her waist. "Not NOW, dammit! Get up!" Looking around frantically, he spotted a janitor's closet with the door ajar; pulling her inside, he shut the door and flipped on the 60-watt bulb in the wall socket. Relena sank to the ground, leaning on a cart full of paper towels and hand soap, braid dangling in a bucket of soapy water destined for the floors. He crouched in front of her and checked for vitals.

When the time came to switch them the first time, he didn't have to think about how it was done, it just happened. Now he needed to reverse it, and fast, but there was no flash of insight, no Shinigami whispering in his ear. What was he supposed to do, kiss her again? He found that more than a little repulsive, since this time he'd be kissing himself. He wrapped his hands around his eyes and ears and tried to block out the world. Blank out like you did before. It's not frickin' rocket science, just zone out and listen. All was quiet.

And the silence was broken by a voice without tone or cadence; it was always there, he just hadn't been paying attention. Taking his hands off his eyes, he looked down at himself, his true self, suddenly calm. He was a pathetic sight, pale and thin, dishevelled from a disturbed night's sleep; Relena obviously hadn't been taking proper care of his body for him. Not like the pampering he gave HERS today, taking her to the finest shops in town, plus that workout, and the succulent lunch of pizza and chicken wings. Probably best if he didn't mention getting molested in the hall, or winning the prize fight of the century.

Relinquishing his mind to instinct, he lifted her head so he could look into her eyes, same as before. Except she seemed to have passed out, so she wasn't about to look at anything. No matter, he sensed that this would be done differently anyway. A soul had to be guided out of it's home and into a new one through close physical contact, but once it was there, it always knew the way back. All that was required was to open both doors at the same time. But he needed her awake.

"Relena?" He slapped her lightly about the face, and the side of her head. "C'mon, don't do this to me..." She stirred with a tiny moan. "Relena! Look at me!"

Lifting her groggy head took all the strength she had, but it was good enough; Duo grasped the sides of her face and imagined himself unlocking a giant steel door. He didn't know if it would be enough, until they locked eyes and he felt the vortex forming around his mind once again. The overwhelming sensations of twisting, pulling, tearing all returned, and an instant later he was on the floor, looking up at Relena's face, contorted in pain.

"OWW!!" she hollered, rubbing her arms and legs. "Everything hurts! Oh God..." She fell to the floor next to him, whimpering, new tears forming in her own eyes. Duo wasn't in pain, the transference was even more effortless than it was the first time...what was she moaning about? Oh...right. He'd pushed her body to it's limits and beyond that day. Every muscle she had must be screaming in agony.

Duo tried to get up, but fell back against the paper towel rolls, lightheaded. "You'll be fine in a couple of days...now, what did you do to ME?" He sat up feebly, rubbing his temples and trying to focus his eyes on her. "Feels like I got hit by a cement truck..." A savage rumbling from his belly told him what was really the matter. "Geez, didn't you EAT today??" he howled.

"I f-felt too sick," she mumbled back. Looking herself over, she let out a cry of surprise at what she was wearing, and another tiny yelp for the braid in her hair. She pulled her tresses apart and scowled at Duo. "What am I doing wearing this? You don't go around in a skirt that short in this school! What must everyone think of me now!?" she shouted.

Hushing her quickly, he pointed out in a muted voice that they were still in the janitor's closet, and they should vacate before someone caught them and assumed the worst. At that moment, Relena was the stronger of the two, and she grudgingly helped him to her dorm room, feigning off strange looks from random students along the way. Dumping him on the sofa, she sat down on her bed, massaging her sore muscles. Lying on the sofa staring at the ceiling, Duo couldn't think of anything else but his empty stomach and how dizzy he was...what was he doing on the sofa? Relena had brought him here...why did he need to find Relena again? So he could get his body back...why did he need it back so soon? Oh shit.

He leaped off the sofa, instantly a mistake, as his weak knees buckled under him and sent him crashing to the carpeted floor. "What are you...you're just sitting there...c'mon, get up! Emergency!" He crawled over to the bed and leaned his chin at the foot of the mattress. "You gotta get me some food, I've got a mission like, half an hour ago!"

Relena snapped her head around, furious. Duo actually shrank away, as if something had hit him in the chest. Whoa...where did she learn to Deathglare like that? She was not amused. "I'm not bringing you food or anything else! I should LET you starve after what you put me through today! And even if all this hadn't happened, I'm not your maid OR your waitress, so find your own food!" With that, she went back to rubbing lilac-scented liniment on her aching limbs, determined to ignore him.

Too tired to argue, and in too much of a hurry, he scrambled to his feet and left the apartment, weaving back and forth down the hall as he tried to remember where the closest food supply was. Stumbling to the coffee house at the library entrance, he pulled a pitiful amount of cash from his pockets and wished he still had Relena's purse. He barely had enough for a honey cruller donut, which he shoved down his throat while running the familiar route to the secret hangar, from which he knew four frustrated boys had probably already departed, figuring Duo wasn't going to showing up for this mission.


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Just in the nick of time too...but it can't be that easy ALL the time... =^_~=