Duo's Past

Disclaimer:  I don't own anything.. yada yada yada…

Author's Note:  I know this is really bad, but I'm kinda rusty, I haven't written anything for over a year or so.  So please give some criticisms so I can improve and actually write something that people can actually stand to read.  This is kinda my own thing on Duo's past so…  R/R. 

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"Hey Heero!  Wait up!"  Duo runs across the school parking lot to catch up with his fellow pilot.  "So, how was school?  Did we play nice?" Duo asked sarcastically.  He always expected Heero to one day eventually get expelled from the school.

Heero simply shrugs and states in his calm voice, "Other than kicking your ass in gym today, nothing else."

"No need to rub it in.  But that hurt like hell."

Heero suddenly stops turns and they both see a girl running up towards them.

"What now?  Probably Duo and his little fan club of girls.  Eh this is getting old." Heero muttered.

Duo smirked at Heero, "You're just jealous.  But anyway, I don't know who she is."

The girl finally caught up with the two pilots, red-faced she gasps for breath and manages to ask, "Which…one…of.. you… is… Duo Maxwell?"

"I am.  Have we met?" 

"No.  I've been looking for you for years.  Ever since you left the colonies…"

Duo stared at her with shock.  What?  How does she know where I really came from, I thought Heero took care of all the information. 

"Huh??"

"I'm Lily, I knew Lise in the colonies before her father died."

Heero glanced at Duo, "who is Lise?".  Duo didn't see, to hear Heero, he just stared at Lily in disbelief.  I missed something here, why is Duo so shocked?  I've never seen him like this. Heero quickly turned to Lily, "I don't know what's going on here, but lets go to my place so we can figure this out."

The three walked up to the room where Heero was staying in a nearby building, Duo the entire time, was speechless, which was so unlike him.  I never thought he was capable of being quiet.

 

The three went inside the room only to find the other 3 pilots in there too. 

Wufei gave Heero a questioning look.  Why would those two bring some girl up here?

Quatre glanced at Lily and gave a small smile, "Hi, I don't believe we've met," finally breaking the silence.  "I'm Quatre and those two are Wufei and Trowa."  He glanced at Duo and looked at Heero apprehensively, "What's wrong??"

"This is Lily.  She said she knew a girl named Lise from the colony Duo grew up and trained in.  After she said that, Duo kinda just froze."  The 4 pilots stared at Duo anxiously for some kind of a statement, anything. 

"Duo, after the ummm…. incident… I went to her room and found this picture.  I knew she had a friend named Duo Maxwell who later went to Earth, so when I came, I decided to track you down.  It was hard, but I finally found records of you attending that school."  She glanced at Duo and his friends.  "I'm sorry Duo..  I'm sorry it ended that way, but you can't beat yourself up about it…. I better go now."  She got up and left the room, leaving the other 4 Gundam pilots in confusion.

They stared at Duo, who was seated on the bed, gripping the photo Lily had given him of a 13 or 14 year old girl with shaking hands.

"She was my only true friend during my time at the colony," Duo suddenly said, his voice empty.  "She was a friend, and it was because of me that she died…  I…I… killed her….and she was the only friend I had."  He glanced up at them, "You all know how we couldn't live as kids because of training, but Lise was different from the others.  She was going to be a pilot too, so we spent a lot of time together.  It's because of her that I was able to smile, but awhile after training, she died… because of me…"

The pilots stared at him, obviously anticipating a story to better explain what had happened.

"I found her in the woods after some men had killed and tortured her father.  I was still in training then, when I heard a scream.  She was just sitting there, blood all over her, crying.  She was wounded, and I knew that the men would be back.  They were hired by the government as assassins to kill those who opposed them.  I took her back to base, and helped her get better."

*flashback*

Duo stares at a girl in a small cramped room.  "You need to stay here for awhile, until it's safe enough for you to leave; after they believe you are no threat to revealing their secret.."

She whirled around, her face badly bruised, "I want to become a Gundam pilot too."

Duo was taken aback,  "I don't know, it's not that easily done.  Plus I've been trained since a very young, you're already 13 almost 14."

"I have to revenge my father, Duo.  I have to…"  She looked at him with sad eyes as he gets up to leave.

"I'll see what can be done.  I'll find someway you can help, I promise."

  ***

Duo's staring at Lise from outside the door.  She's attempting to brush out her long hair, but isn't succeeding, her hair entangled in knots.  She sounds like she is crying.

"Are you crying?"  Duo asked her.

"No." she replied firmly.  She turned around and reveals that her eyes are red.  "It's just that I can't get my hair untangled.  I'm so useless." Tears well up in her eyes due to frustration. "Duo, will you go get me some scissors?"

"What for?"

"I'm going to cut my hair.  It just gets in the way…" 

"Don't do that.  Here let me help."  He takes the brush out of her hand, grabs a lock of hair and gently tugs out the knots.  "I'll just tie your hair back in a braid, that way it won't get in your way."

"Thank you Duo.  You're like the brother I never saw."

The brother she never saw… she and her family split up when she was young.  She was separated from her brothers and sisters and mother all in one night.

*end-flashback*

"I did find a way to teach her how to fight despite her late start.  But on one of the earlier missions, I failed got captured and so did she.  I would've gotten out, but they used metal locks attached to the wall.  I couldn't pick the lock.  They weren't about to take any chances. She relied on me to get her out alive, but I let her down in the end.."

*flashback*

"LISE!! Run!! I'll hold them off for awhile!."

"No, I'm staying here, it wouldn't do us any good anyway if I was the only one that returned."

~gunshots~

Two bodies are thrown into a dark cell.

"Lise…. I told you to run…you're wounded…"

"I'll be fine, they're just flesh wounds."

Some men enter the room and drag Lise out.

"Where are you taking her??  You don't want anything to do with her.  I'm the guy you want!"

A man comes and kicks Duo in the face.  "Oh you'd be surprised."

They leave, and about ½ an hour later they return and throw Lise in, with only her hands tied.

"Useless bitch."  They shut the door.

Duo stares at Lise in disbelief, she is covered in blood and still has blood flowing from a wound in the head.  Her hair is soaked with blood.

"What did they do?"

Lise answered him in a whisper, "They wanted to know, about you and the Gundam.  But I didn't say anything, and that angered them even more.  They knew you wouldn't say anything, so they asked me… Don't worry Duo I'll be okay." 

"Listen Lise, take a pick out of my hair and unlock these chains.   We have to get out of here."

Lise takes out a pick and finally unlocks the chains with her tied up hands.  She falls down out of exhaustion and blood loss.

"Lise! Lise!!"  He examines her She's only unconscious.  I have to get her out of here, if I waste any time…  "Don't worry Lise, I'll get you out."  Duo unlocks his feet and unties Lise.  He then proceeds to unlock the door.  He glances out and sees only one jail guard.  He knocks the guard out and takes his gun.

"They tortured her, they tortured her because she knew me and they thought they could get something out of her."  Duo dug his nails into his palms until they started to bleed.  "They tortured her, and I couldn't do anything about it.  It was because of me that she died."

The other four pilots stared at him in shock.  No one had anticipated something like this. 

"By the time she got to base, it was too late.  Before she died, she told me, "Keep on fighting Duo, fight for me."  But …if only I hadn't been so weak at the time, she'd still be alive…"

"Duo, snap out of it."  Heero said harshly to his fellow pilot.  "She's gone, and there's nothing you can do about it.  She fought for the same reason we did.  She sacrificed herself just like so many others so we could continue fighting."

There is a long silence as the other pilots watch Duo intently.

"Are you going to be okay?"  Quatre asked timidly.  He had never seen one of the pilots in such distress.

There was a long silence.

"I'm going outside for awhile."  Duo gets up and opens the door.

"But its raining"

"I'll be back" he closed the door as the pilots hear his footsteps echoing in the hall.

Duo walks outside in the pouring rain and leans against the railing.  He felt deep pangs of sorrow drilling into him, but he couldn't cry, he never cried.  He tilted his head up and looked into the sky.  *"I love the rain.  I don't think it's meant to be sad, it lets the flowers bloom, and it washes away everything, all the blood and sins, so we can start over again.  Rain gives us all a new start."*

Suddenly he couldn't hold it in anymore, tears fell from his eyes as he cried for Lise and cried for all the faceless people who had died so they could fight for peace.  His determination was even stronger to save the colonies, so all these people would not have died in vain, at least not without a fight.