Well, guys, I'm baaaaack. This part, too, is a little sappy, but there're a couple of things in here that are crucial to the story. If you just came in here or have been away a while, the gang's all over at Heero's house catching up over the last then years since Mariemaia's war. Heero and Relena are married with a daughter Akiko, Duo has a wife Sophie and Trowa's adopted Mariemaia, who is seventeen. The gundams have been rebuilt and everyone is anxious. In this chapter, Duo picks up Sophie, his mind stuck on Akiko, Heero's little daughter, but his wife's got a shock in store for him. In conclusion of Heero and Relena's story: the couple is trying to work out a shaky relationship from Heero's insecurity, and Relena remembers some encoded information she received for her "friends." Surprise, surprise, it's some history on Heero . . .
AC 206; The Change Time Brings (Part III)
"Surprise, Surprise"
Duo was asleep again at the kitchen table. Heero kicked the legs of his chair to wake him up. "I'll sit here tonight," he told his groggy friend. "You go get some sleep or call your wife or something." Yawning sleepy whatevers, Duo staggered off towards his guestroom, grumbling about two flights of stairs.
Duo threw himself on the bed, snatching the phone on his way down. For once he didn't hear Wufei purring to his sweetheart on the other end. Sighing, he spun his hat across the room and dialed home.
Sophie picked up on the first ring, her voice tense. "Hello?"
"Hey sweetheart, it's me."
"Duo! Where the hell are you? I've been so worried!" Sophie's heart-shaped face appeared on the mini-screen, pale and frightened.
Duo smiled gently. "Sorry I couldn't call earlier, but Wufei's been hogging the only phone line around here. I really can't blame him, though. You and I used to do the same thing."
Her eyebrows arched. "Chang Wufei? Is that where you've been, visiting your old pilot buddies? I got so scared when you just left in the middle of the night, Duo. You could have at least left a note or something. I mean, you haven't seen Wufei in ten years . . .what's wrong?"
Duo unclenched his jaws. "Something big's going up, sweetie. All of us are worried. It's not something I can really tell you over the phone, but you need to know and I need to stay here until we have things figured out. Oh, man . . ."
Sophie squared her shoulders. "Where are you? I can get a skyplane ticket pretty fast." and money shouldn't have been a problem. They had enough.
Duo waved his hand. "No, don't do that. You wouldn't be able to find Heero's place anyway and the cab fare would cost a fortune. I think . . . yeah. Pack some stuff for yourself and maybe a change of clothes for me. I'll pick you up in an hour or so."
Sophie touched the screen, leaning over, trying to study him. "Are you all right, Duo?"
Duo shook his head, secretly happy she'd noticed that he wasn't feeling well. "I'm worried. That's why I want you here. I'll be there shortly, honey. I love you."
Sophie's face softened. "Me too. Hurry, Duo."
"I will." Duo left the house and climbed into Deathscythe-RB, alerting Quatre to his mission. He responded lightly, although it was evident Quatre wouldn't be getting any more sleep while Duo was gone. Glumly, Duo watched the atmosphere thin as he shot up, cutting hours of travel time. That was the one thing he liked about the new gundams: they didn't need separate boosters to get into high atmosphere. He reflected upon the story Heero and Relena had related, wondering about what kind of hardships they both had gone through. Compared to the story of Sophie and him, it was truly a masterpiece. He and his wife loved and respected each other, certainly, but there was nothing extraordinary in their history the way there was with his friends (at least not to his knowledge).
He smiled, picturing her in his mind. No woman was more beautiful to him than his wife, short and a little stocky and dark-haired. Her eyes were a deep hazel rimmed with thick lashes, freckled face and shoulders surrounded by a mass of black unruly curls. She was quiet, but laughs came easily and wrinkled her button nose, a good nature on a girl that had been through more than she was willing to talk about. She worried easily, panicked at small things occasionally, but all for good, nothing he wasn't able to stand. She was two years younger than him, a runaway like he was. His arms ached to hold her . . . it had been days.
Duo found his thoughts wandering to Heero's little daughter, Akiko. He remembered earlier that evening, the girl laughing and clutching at his leg, yelling "Uncle Duo, save me!" as Heero growled and clawed at her playfully. She was so cute, so innocent. He'd enjoyed listening to her talk, as if only to escape from his problems. He thought, We've never even talked about kids . . . man I'm getting corny.
But he knew deep down that he might not be much longer in the world, with the sudden appearance of his gundam and the threat of oncoming war. He couldn't bear the thought of leaving nothing behind, although he had no desire to leave a family fatherless. He sagged in his seat, his eyes closed against the sudden threat of tears. He couldn't get the image of Akiko and Heero out of his mind.
The Los Angeles naval base gladly docked the gundam and Duo dragged his car out of storage and picked his wife up. He threw his arms around her as she opened the door, needing desperately to be held. Se pressed against him firmly, stroking his braid wordlessly, somehow understanding his uncertainty.
When he felt sure of himself, he said, "Let's go. There are some things we need to talk about." The car ride was silent, although Sophie looked at him wildly when the guard at the base waved him past. He could see nothing but hints of metal as the two of them rode the elevator up to board Deathscythe. Duo took his seat and beckoned his wife into his lap. "Sorry, honey, but there isn't room in here."
"It's not like it's torture or anything," she chuckled, leaning against him in a very satisfying way. "Where are we?"
Duo reached around Sophie and told the gundam to backtrack its latest route. When they were in the air, he began to explain the situation as best as he knew. Sophie never asked about the war, so he'd never explained very much to her. He found it more painful to tell when he wasn't with people who'd been there. Hilde's death still stung him horribly.
Sophie cradled his head as he confessed his worries. "I pray this will be over soon," she whispered, imagining what her husband had gone through. She'd always been a little afraid of war. To hear it so close to these times was frightening, especially because her husband would be expected to fight. "Oh, Duo, I had no idea."
The couple sat in silence for a while, looking outside and thinking their own thoughts. After a few long moments, Sophie asked, "Where have you been?"
Duo squeezed her waist. "Heero's house. It's a secluded country property, very safe. God, it's huge too! I've never seen a house so full of rooms. There's enough there to host half the guard in L.A. at least!"
"Why would a guy like Heero want a big place like that all to himself? From what you told me, he's a pretty lonely guy." Sophie tried to imagine a reason. Anything she came up with was too illogical or too predictable.
Duo grinned. "Well, he's not living there alone. We went over to say hello after we dragged his hiding place out of the bushes and we all got quite a shock when we found out he'd married Relena Darlian a few years after the war. There's been nothing at all about it, but apparently they kept it really quiet."
Sophie shook her head, several small intrigues she'd gotten an earful of snapping fully into place. "That was so predictable I thought it would never happen. That would probably have been a better strategy, both famous the way they are. Does he look healthy? Has he gotten taller?"
Her husband laughed. "I don't know about taller, but he does look older. We've all changed so much, Soph . . . it seems so strange to hear our voices. I can't tell who's talking anymore." Duo sighed, listening to his own deeper voice, looking at his hands, wide and long-fingered, slightly bony, slightly tanned from days out in the California sun. The gold band on his left ring finger shone green from Deathscythe's lights, reflecting onto his wife's shirt. The last years had been such a blur. "But that's not all. They've got the cutest little daughter, Sophie."
His wife looked a little surprised at Duo's sudden misty-eyed expression. Then, a smile spread slowly across her fresh face. "You're jealous, you dog!"
Duo gave her a lopsided grin. "Yeah . . . a little. I was just thinking, we've never really talked about kids, have we? I mean, I don't know if now would be a good time, but we've got a lot of years."
Sophie steadied her hands on his shoulders and looked at him, shifting on his lap. "I'd always assumed that we'd have a family, but we're still young and our marriage hasn't settled down yet. I imagine Heero and Relena have been together longer than us."
"So, just not right now? I can live with that." Duo rubbed her hand with his cheek. It was cool, which felt good against his overheated head, though he didn't particularly love it in the middle of the night when he was trying to sleep.
Sophie shook her head. "I feel ready, I guess. It's just that from the way you've been talking lately I'm worried about what will happen if we get into another war. I still can't figure out where you would place your obligations."
Duo met her eyes, smiling kindly. She was testing him. She knew he'd never normally give it a second thought. "I'm pretty sure this whole thing is gonna blow over, but if it doesn't, Sophie, I'm not going to let it get in the way of us, understand? My first priority is us, now and forever. I'm not going to leave you a widow."
Sophie sighed, but Duo could tell she was relieved. "You can get so sappy. I don't know why I worry so, though."
"But that's why you love me, right? I like it when you worry. At least I know you don't want me dead!"
She laughed, her nose crinkling in the way he loved. "If I wanted you dead I'd call one of your pilot friends. I'm sure they've had just about enough of you."
"But Quatre would never let them hurt me," Duo lied, trying to wind down. There wasn't much room to get all riled up inside Deathscythe's cockpit.
She put her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad we talked about this," she murmured.
Duo closed his eyes and sat back. Yes, it was a great relief to have everything planed out. "Me too."
She shifted again, cool hands on the back of his neck. "I guess I was nervous when you brought it up. You know I had that doctor appointment a few days ago, right before you disappeared with your boys, and he wanted to do some tests. I got so scared." She laughed a little, cuddling his head. "Duo, I'm pregnant."
If the young man hadn't been strapped into his seat he would have shot straight out of it. Even though he had dreamed of hearing it, he never thought it'd come so suddenly and without planning. He'd just been thinking about it - what kind of coincidence was that? "What??"
"Eh? Did you change your mind all of a sudden?" Her dark eyes twinkled merrily. "Now, that's not fair!"
"N-no! Just, try to give me a bit more warning next time, huh?"
Sophie grinned at the look on her husband's face. "I didn't get any, why should you? I just found out two days ago. Oh, come on, you knew it would happen sooner or later. What's wrong with now?"
Duo threw back his head and laughed heartily. "Nothing! Nothing at all, my love. I get all the good fortune, don't I?"
Sophie kissed him long and hard. "You do."
It would be perfectly safe to say that the Maxwells both slept better that night, for they awoke in each other's arms the next morning. It happened to be a rather rude awakening, for what woke them was in fact a child's voice shouting "Breakfast, everybody!"
"Akiko, I presume?" moaned Sophie, standing up and stretching.
Duo made a lazy snatch for her butt and laughed. "Yup. Charming, huh?"
Sophie pulled on her clothes. "I suppose we should make an appearance. Get up, you lazy—"
Duo yawned and his wife threw his jeans at him. "Tch, fine. It's not like I was joking or anything."
The rest of the household was in the kitchen and eating when Duo sprang to unexplained attention beside the doorway. "If I may present the beautiful and vivacious Sophie Maxwell, belov— umph!"
Red in the face but nevertheless entertained by her husband's antics, Sophie shoved Duo into the wall and took the one available seat. She blushed a little more as the others chuckled, shyness taking over. She tentatively identified Heero, Quatre, Wufei, Trowa, Relena and the little girl Akiko.
"Welcome, Sophie. We've heard so much about you from Duo." Relena reached out across the table and shook the other's hand.
"It's a pleasure to be in such company," replied Sophie, a little overwhelmed by the friendliness of them. As Duo reached over her and began to dish food onto her plate, she felt a little more relaxed. He obviously felt right at home.
"Don't believe that for a minute," he told her. "We're all just a big bunch of slobs, aren't we, Relena?"
"I would know. I married the biggest one!" Sophie grabbed the fork from Duo and cut into a pancake, pleased that she got a little attention from the crack. It would make sense to them, having to handle him all day.
Relena gave her a curious look. "Really? I'll wager on that one."
Heero ignored her and continued to shovel food into his mouth.
Duo, however, grinned and massaged his wife's shoulders, trying to express in every possible way how happy he was, despite the jokes.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
"Ms Relena? Could I speak to you?"
Relena nodded. "Of course, Sophie. Is something the matter?"
Sophie shook her head and beckoned Relena into the other room. "No, I'd just like to ask your advice . . ."
Heero looked curiously at Duo. Sophie'd been pretty distant to all of them all day. "Do you have any idea what that's about?"
Duo shrugged mischievously. "Might."
The others gave each other looks that said why do we still put up with him?
"Do we really have to ask?" Wufei sighed, perched on the arm of the couch.
"Of course." Duo grinned wider, genuinely pleased about something.
Wufei looked helplessly at Quatre. The much more tolerant blonde rolled his eyes and said, "Okay, what are they talking about?"
Duo grinned again. "We-e-e-ell, I was talking to Sophie earlier and she seemed very taken by Akiko. As it turns out," Duo paused to add a bit of suspense, "guys, I'm gonna be a father."
Wufei burst out laughing, clutching his sides and making heads turn. Wufei usually didn't laugh . . . at all. "Oh man, that's the funniest thing I've heard in years! Imagine you— I mean seriously— sgnh!"
Quatre pounded the Chinese pilot on the back until he stopped choking, but nothing anybody could do was able wipe the nasty smile off Wufei's face. Duo, however, just shrugged and continued to look proud. "At least I got somebody to laugh, and that wasn't even a joke."
"You're not actually serious?" Trowa asked. "I have to agree with Wufei on that one. Of us all, Duo, you're the only one I imagined would actually stay single the rest of his life."
Duo's face turned serious for a moment, for what was perhaps the first time since he'd been in Heero's house. "Things change in ten years, friend. I think maybe what actually changed my mind was Hilde. She was always talking about wanting to settle down, and when she died, I think I wanted to keep her spirit alive through me. I mean, there was no one else who could." He looked down. "Man, I'm never going to forget that day. It was so horrible." Duo slumped over. "See, now I can't even enjoy the moment. I always do this. No wonder Sophie says I'm moody."
"No way. I'd be that way too if it's happened to Relena," Heero said suddenly. "I don't blame you a bit."
Duo gave Heero a strange look. "Dude, you really have changed, you know that?"
"Yeah. I know. Women do that to you." Heero sat back. Almost to himself he said, "But it's a good thing she did."
~~@[~*,~]@~~
"Happy birthday, Heero." From behind, Relena put her arms around his neck. He'd been dozing on the couch, trying to recover from an overly draining emotional episode and a shower to make up for it. She gave him a stern look when he didn't reply, as he'd warned her that he might need a little prompting.
"Mn," he said finally, leaning his head against her arm.
"What was that?" Relena's expression tightened. "Did I hear a thank you?"
". . .
She smiled, and Heero somehow felt relieved. "That's better. What do you want to do today? Anything?" She dropped down onto the couch beside him, still-damp hair brushing against his face on the way down. "I think I just wanna lay around here for now. How does that sound?"
Heero sighed, exasperated. That would be great. How could she have so much energy after all this? Was she always going to be so controlling? "I don't care."
Relena, unscathed, smiled cunningly and put her hand in his lap. "I think you might."
Heero's eyes widened and he turned to her, slightly disbelieving. He had absolutely no energy left for that again!
"I can be fun," she said in self-defense. She nudged his shoulder. "Like last night, if only you'd open up a little. I thought we were gonna work on that, remember?"
Feeling bashed, Heero asked, "What do you want from me?"
Relena leaned forward and touched her forehead to his. "A friend? A boyfriend? A lover? Something like that, Heero. We both have to decide that. What do you want from me?"
"I don't know." I think I want you to stop being so insecure. I came back, didn't I?
(Well how was Relena supposed to be comfortable and know you wouldn't try to run away for the third time?)
(Third time?)
(Don't pretend you don't remember. You keep making references -)
(Let's not talk about that!)
"Don't give me that! It's an excuse and I wish you'd just think about it for once. You can't blow me off like this any longer."
Blow her off? Thanks a lot for having faith in him! Really meant a lot! "I . . ." Heero thought hard, not wanting to sound scathing but a little frustrated "feel the same as you. I have a hard time deciding, not knowing where we'll end up. Guys don't read between the lines like that, and that's the truth."
Her face softening with pity and affection, Relena kissed him. "You just have to imagine that far. You want to know where I see us? In ten years I see us sitting together, exactly like we are now, only closer. I want to be close to you, now and forever. What do you want?"
"I've never been even close to thinking about it. I was always trained to be completely unselfish. What I want is my solitude, but I need company too. I'm confused." Get off my case. Heero sighed, realizing that she didn't understand his conflict and had no grounds to do so on.
She leaned against him. "No, you're not. I understand how you feel. You don't want to be a celebrity, do you?"
"I don't want to be a hero." Heero finally surrendered and put his arms around her.
"Heero, hero. Too late. But I'll tell you this. I can keep things between us quiet, and I will. The question is how far do you want things between us to go?"
"Far," Heero whispered, closing his eyes and burying his face in her hair, smelling her sweet shampoo. He allowed himself a few seconds of retreat into his own desires. Farther than I can imagine.
"We can do that." Relena rubbed his chest, feeling the stressed muscles under his skin and longing to relieve them. "I just want to help you, Heero."
"Can you help me find out who I am?" Heero finally let his fears surface. "I know it would make me feel more secure." Then maybe I can rest, both mentally and physically!
Relena was silent for a while. "I'd give my life for information that precious," she told him, trying to remember if she had come across anything in her travels to the colonies. "Hey, wait a second!" She jumped up and ran to her travel bag. After digging through it, she held something up in triumph. "I still have it!"
Heero ran over to her, heart waking up again. "What is it?"
Relena leaned against him. "It was given to me by a man who claimed to be an engineer that had worked on Operation Meteor. He told me that this disc contained important things and that I should give it to my friends. I didn't understand, because the disc is encrypted and none of the computers I have access to can decode it. The thought just occurred to me that maybe you could."
His breath quick, Heero plugged the disk into his computer. "I know this code," he said. "I used it as my personal encryption during the war." Within half an hour he had one of the six files decoded.
Relena leaned over his shoulder, squeezing it gently. "So, open it up."
The file opened with a series of pictures of Heero, each succeeding the last by a one-year time span. Relena grinned. "You were so cute!" It felt a little like meeting the parents on prom night. He bit back a sarcastic comment and focused on the written text. The information below it read:
CODE NAME: HEERO YUY
NAME: [NO FIRST NAME] YUY
ETHNIC BACKGROUND AND PLACE OF ORIGIN: JAPANESE; NORTERN HONSHU ISLAND
PARENTS: MEGUMI KIKUTAKE YUY AND MASAO YUY
LEGAL GUARDIAN: DR. J. OF THE L1 COLONY CLUSTER
HEERO YUY WAS TRAINED AS A SOLDIER FROM AS EARLY AS HE COULD WALK. SUSPICIONS OF GENETIC ALTERATION HAVE BEEN LOGGED BY HIS MANY COMMANDING OFFICERS, AS THE CHILD DEMONSTRATED FROM EARLY ON AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DISCIPLINE, AS WELL AS NEAR-PERFECT REFLEXES AND AN INVULNERABLE IMMUNE SYSTEM. ( THE EARTH SPHERE ALLIANCE IN THE YEAR BEFORE COLONY 394 BANNED SUCH GENETIC ALTERATION) WHEN SUBMITTED AS A CANDIDATE FOR AN OPERATION METEOR OPERATIVE, HEERO WAS DEEMED THE TITLE "PERFECT SOLDIER" BY HIS EVALUATORS, THEREFORE RECEIVING THE FOREMOST POSITION ON THE TEAM. HIS FLAWLESS PERFORMANCE DURING HIS TASKS WAS GREATLY ADMIRED BY ALL AND RESPECTED BY HIS ENEMIES, ALTHOUGH HIS FAILURE TO ASSASSINATE A WITNESS TO HIS TRUE OBJECTIVE, RELENA DARLIAN, REMAINS A STAIN ON HIS RECORD.
HEERO YUY WAS KIDNAPPED FROM HIS BIOLOGICAL PARENTS TO BE USED AS A HOSTAGE TO HIS FATHER, SENATOR MASAO YUY (NEPHEW TO THE MARTYRED COLONY LEADER HEERO YUY, AFTER WHOM THE OPERATIVE WAS LATER CODE-NAMED). MASAO YUY WAS CONSIDERED A TRAITOR WHEN HE OPPOSED AND THREATENED TO EXPOSE OPERATION M. DR. J SOON ADOPTED THE INFANT AND SAW TO HIS MILITARY TRAINING. IT IS SUSPECTED THAT DR. J MADE CHANGES TO PARTS OF THE BOY'S GENETIC STRUCTURE AS WELL, ALTHOUGH THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF IT.
SPECIFICATIONS OF HEERO YUY'S MILITARY TRAINING AND SCHOOLING ARE AS FOLLOWS . . .
Relena watched Heero's profile as his eyes lingered beside where his parents' names were displayed, on a photo of a young couple holding a baby. They were unquestionably Heero's mother and father; He had his mother's eyes and hair and his father's face and build. She watched the muscles in his face work as he scrolled through the records beneath the short summary of his life. Beneath those was an evaluation of his performance during his involvement with Operation M.
After a long silence, Heero closed the document. Slowly, he reached up and put his hand over Relena's. "So, now you know," she told him quietly.
Heero smiled, still staring at his lap. He began to laugh, softly at first, then louder. At last, he threw his head back and collapsed against the back of his chair, laughing away all his bitterness and pain. "How full is a life," he asked her, "that can be summarized in a few pages of text and photographs?"
Relena smiled at him. "And do you really think that the document we've just read depicts in full everything you've lived through? If so, you're badly mistaken."
Heero's insane grin faded. ". . . . . I was being sarcastic." He said slowly.
Relena squeezed his shoulder again. "I know."
Heero looked into her eyes willingly for the first time. "Thank you, Relena. This gift is truly more precious than anything else I've ever received."
Relena reached over with her free hand to stroke his cheek. "I'm glad."
"Except," Heero continued his face earnest, "for you."
Relena blinked. She hadn't expected to pry that kind of remark out of him for months if not years, yet here he was saying it without prompting. Out of the blue, the words of Dr. J on the day of her father's assassination floated back to her and she was surprised to find herself shocked by them: "Heero's really a kind-hearted young boy . . ." He is, it just took time to show, she realized.
"Heero," she said, "you're more than welcome."
*********************************************
Well, that's this chapter. Hope you liked it (if not I'm making kind of an idiot out of myself) *sighs*. It seems everybody's getting together, so isn't about time to meet Wufei's new love interest? Phailin, a righteous Thai woman with a serious hatred for the Chang clan defeats Wufei in a duel. His honor disrupted, Wufei flees at the sight of her face. Why does she hate the Chang clan so much as to expose her gender in one of the most sexist parts of the former China to a crowd? Why can't Wufei get her out of his mind? Stay tuned for the next chapter of AC 206; the Change Time Brings: "Don't Call Me Nataku".