Okay, is everyone ready for the last part? Yes, that's right, Teresa is finishing a story in less than 6 months (barely, but still). Rest assured, I still have lots of stuff laying around that needs typing. I wonder if my sequel to "In Times of Peace" was packed with the stuff I have or the stuff at home…I guess we'll find out. So here's the last part of the story, but rest assured, there is more Isanu and Driana fun to come if I ever find that other damned notebook…
*****
In Times of Peace
Part 7 (Conclusion)
*****
That night, Isanu was resting peacefully until something woke her up suddenly. She was wondering why she was awake when she sat up and saw a dark shape moving in her room. She felt fear creep over her as she looked around for something to fend the attacker off with.
"Isanu?" came a familiar voice. "Are you awake?"
"Idiot!" she hissed, throwing her pillow at the figure silhouetted by the dim moonlight. "Duo, get out of here, you pervert."
"Calm down, Isanu." Duo held his hands up as if to ward off any further attacks as he advanced toward her bed. "And don't start yelling. You'll wake everyone up."
"I should yell then, just to see how you explain what you think you're doing, sneaking into my room at this time of night." Isanu glared at the slightly discernible shape nearly next to her bed. "How did you get in, anyway? I thought I locked the door."
Duo pointed at the window behind hhim, still slightly ajar, with the sheer curtains fluttering in the night air. "I could've picked the lock, but this way's more fun." Even in the dark, Isanu knew from his tone that Duo was grinning smugly. "Plus, I thought it'd be more romantic, instead of busting through the door like some common theif." He sat on the edge of her bed, so Isanu kicked at him, but with her feet tangled in bedding, she barely hit him. Duo chuckled at her indignant anger.
"It doesn't matter how you bust into my room, it isn't romantic." Her quiet tone was harsh and cold. She paused as a brisk wind caused her to shiver. "Leave, and close the window. It's cold in here." Duo ignored her order and turned on the dim bedside lamp. He frowned at her bare arms speckled with goose bumps.
"You're going to have to change into something warmer than that." Duo commented, indicating Isanu's sheer, thin nightgown. "Not that I don't like how it looks on you," he grinned suggestively as Isanu glared back at him. "But it wouldn't be good if you went outside in that. You might catch cold."
"What are you talking about?" Isanu pulled her sheets up over her chest. "Going outside? I'm not going anywhere. The only one going outside will be you. Kindly leave. You may use the window or the door, I don't care which, but leave. I was sleeping, you know."
Duo rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Look Isanu, the rich-priss girl act is getting old, don't you think?" he stood, quickly pulled the covers off of Isanu and scooped the shocked girl up in his arms. "Now I was just trying to tell you that I want to show you something out there," he jerked his head in the direction of the window, "to be nice before you leave tomorrow, and your teasy little nightie thing—" Duo neatly dodged an indignant slap from Isanu, while still firmly managing to hold her "—isn't going to be much good for hiking in, so don't make that I-don't-want-to-go-hiking-because-I-might-break-a-nail look, cause we're going, and if I have to, I'll carry you the whole way. And if you don't get changed now, I'll dress you myself. And you know I would." He gave her a challenging look. "Now get dressed." He set her down easily. Isanu gave him a suspicious look and he turned around, his hands raised defensively, "What? I won't watch. See, I'm not looking." He put his hands over his eyes as well. "But if you aren't done in five minutes, I'm helping you."
Needless to say, Isanu wasted not time in changing into something more suitable for hiking.
----------
"Duo, how…" Isanu put her head out the window and looked down to the ground, a good twenty feet below them. "How did you get up here?"
"Questions, questions." Duo shrugged. "Can't you just be swept away by my gesture?"
"Well, do you have some rope?" she asked.
"Ha, what for?" Duo scoffed as he scooped Isanu into his arms and climbed onto the windowsill.
"Duo, what are you planning on doing?" Isanu asked, holding onto him tightly. "That's got to be a twenty foot drop."
"Silly me." Duo jumped back into Isanu's room, setting her down gently. "You could get hurt." He realized. Isanu sighed in relief. "I'll go first, then I'll catch you." He told her as he climbed back onto the windowsill easily. Isanu shot forward, grabbing his arm and pulling on it roughly. "What?" he asked, turning back to her.
"Duo, are you crazy?" Isanu pleaded with him. "Do you want to break your neck? Don't jump. We can just go out the door."
"That's not as romantic though, now is it?" he asked.
"It isn't romantic, it's dangerous!" she hissed angrily.
"I thought you didn't care about me." Duo gave her an amused smirk, climbing back down. Isanu smiled in relief, loosening her vice-grip on his arm and running her fingers through his chocolate bangs.
"Foolish boy, you know that's not true." She grinned at him fondly.
"And do you trust me?" he asked, his tone serious.
"I do, but that isn't—" Isanu began.
"Good, then let me do this." Duo hopped back onto the windowsill. "I've seen Heero do this kinda thing a hundred times. From higher drops, even. It doesn't look all that hard." And with that, Duo leapt out of the window, tucking and rolling as he hit the earth below. Isanu was too terrified to scream, she simply covered her mouth and watched in wide-eyed horror, not breathing until Duo rose to his feet once more. He looked up at her, holding his arms out expectantly, and without another thought except for being sure he was all right, Isanu leaped out of the window after him.
Half way down, terror struck her as she thought of what would happen if he didn't catch her. Oh please catch me, please—she grunted slightly as he caught her, more in surprise than in pain. She looked up into his eyes, stunned. The twin pools of cobalt were sparkling with happy life, but when he jumped…
"Are you all right?" he asked her tenderly. Isanu wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Was she all right? Of course Duo would aske a stupid question like that.
"Fine." She breathed, leaning in to kiss him passionately. She gripped his neck tightly as he held her in his arms. They broke after a few moments, and Duo set her down carefully. "Duo?" she began, her voice sweet and serene.
"Yeah?" he asked, smiling at her in clear adoration.
"Why did you do that? Do you know how badly you scared me? You idiot, you could've killed yourself! Is it so important for you to impress me that you risk dying?" Isanu scolded him angrily.
"Sorry, mom." Duo backed up teasingly. "Calm down, we're all right, aren't we? Let's go." Isanu made an indignant noise at this as he began to walk off. She followed him, though. After a while, she reached over and grabbed his hand, letting their fingers intertwine. Duo smiled at her apologetically and she let go of his hand, snaking her arm around his waist. He put his arm over her shoulders as she leaned against his side contentedly.
Duo led them to the forested area of Quatre's estate, along a small path that looked well traveled. After a while, Isanu shivered and nestled closer to him. "We're almost there." He told her. "Tired?"
"Not really." She shrugged. "Just a little cold. If I knew it was this chilly outside I would've brought a jacket."
"Don't worry, I'll warm you up when we get there." Duo promised. Isanu narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "Not like that! Don't get all upset, babe. I just meant that I'll make a fire."
"Uh-huh, I bet." Isanu sounded skeptical, but she remained close to him, snuggled into his warmth.
"We're here." Duo told her as they stepped into a clearing. Isanu stepped away from him, looking around. They had reached a spot next to a good sized spring. The moonlight sparkled on the surface of the steaming water. Isanu breathed in the clean, pine scented air as she turned her attentions to the star-filled heavens. She spun around slowly, eyes wide in awe before she remembered how cold she was. With a slight shiver, she looked around for Duo before she spotted him re-emerging from the forest with a variety of sticks and wood which he set about in a well-used fire pit with a bench-like log seat next to it.
"So?" Duo glanced at her as he quickly started a fire. Isanu walked over and sat on the stump while he worked on the fire. "How do you like this place? It's my favorite spot, but I usually come here alone."
"It's beautiful, Duo." She told him truthfully. "Very peaceful. I'm glad you brought me here." Isanu shivered involuntarily. Duo frowned at his small fire and then at her. He grabbed Isanu's hands in his own, gasping.
"These are like ice!" he exclaimed. "I'll be right back." He told her, again disappearing into the trees. Isanu looked at the small fire and then at the hot spring, an idea forming in her mind. Soon, she was stripped down to her underwear, wading into the heated water.
"This is like heaven." She murmured as she sat down at a steep edge, letting the hot water warm her body and closing her eyes peacefully.
"Here, this should—" Duo looked around in confusion as he re-entered the clearing with a large bundle of blankets and couldn't see Isanu. "Isanu?" he set the blankets down on the log as he looked around before noticing her head just above the surface of the spring. "Oh, man, I'm sorry Isanu. I didn't know." He whirled around, staring fixedly at the fire and praying she wouldn't be too upset that he had seen her.
"Duo? What's wrong?" Isanu opened her eyes and realized that as far as Duo knew, she wasn't wearing anything. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not naked. I was just testing the water. You should come in. It's really nice." She encouraged him, swirling water around with her arm.
"Really?" Duo glanced over his shoulder at her uneasily. What if she was only playing with him again? He did care about Isanu, despite how he gave her a hard time, and he didn't want to upset her or disrespect her.
"Sure, why not?" Isanu shrugged, waving him over. Duo hesitated for another moment before stripping down to his boxers and wading over to join her. "Nice, isn't it?" she asked him, smiling slightly.
"Yeah, it is." He nodded. "It's like our own personal spa."
"How is there a hot spring out here, anyway?" Isanu wanted to know.
"I asked for it." Duo smiled ruefully. "It's nice to have a friend who can give you anything you could ever want."
"Quatre really thinks highly of all you guys, you know." Isanu admitted. "Otherwise I would have never given a guy like you a chance to begin with."
"A guy like me?" Duo raised his eyebrows questioningly.
"You're so crass and out of control." Isanu explained. "I thought you'd be a waste of my time."
"And?" Duo prompted her to continue.
"Even if it was a waste of time, I'd still do it again." She moved over to him, leaning in to kiss him as his arms went around her bare midriff. "I know I've been hard on you." She told him as they broke, lightly trailing wet fingers over the side of his face. "And I want to make it up to you before I leave." She leaned forward, kissing his earlobe softly. "So here it is. I'll do whatever you want tonight. Just tell me what it is." There. She had done it, and there was no turning back now. There was no way Duo and her could ever get back to their fun little fling now. This was the "idiotic test," as Driana called it, that she gave to men when she wanted to know if she could take the next step and have a more serious relationship with them. He'll never pass the test. No man ever has. She thought, regretting that they had reached this juncture in their relationship already. He is cuter than most. I was even starting to get fond of his crude manner of teasing. But it was over for him now. Guys always gave the same answer to her test, thus proving the age-old belief that they only had one thing on their mind. Some of them could get pretty kinky with their version, but the answer was always the same, and they all failed. There was only one thing she was asking for here. Respect and dignity. Yet that was apparently too much, and the selfish men always wanted the same thing. Not that she actually did what they asked. That was the idea. As long as they didn't want sex, she would stay with them and do whatever else they wanted. But if they did want sex, as they always did, she'd simply leave and be done with them. It was odd though. Duo had been considering her offer for several minutes now. It never took them that long to answer.
Duo got an overwhelming sense that something was wrong as soon as Isanu finished making her offer. This wasn't right. This wasn't the Isanu that he knew, the one that drove him to distraction with teasing and tempting. This was too…easy. Her words weren't sincere, he was sure. It was almost as though she was drunk, and despite what she might believe, he would never take advantage of a drunk girl. Especially not one he cared so deeply for. But he also thought she'd be insulted if he simply turned her aside. This was a delicate situation. Sure, he was crass and out of control. But maybe now he could prove to her that she had been right to take a chance on a lowly seeming guy like him. "Okay, Isanu." He decided. "I want you to sleep with me." He told her, his voice solemn and serious. Isanu's heart sunk. He'd failed then. And he hadn't even been very creative. But he wasn't done yet. "I don't mean to do anything, you know. I just want you to spend the night next to me. I'll be good, I promise." Isanu couldn't believe her ears. Of all the men she'd ever been with, Duo was the first to prove himself worthwhile. She felt happiness well up inside her. Isanu lunged into his arms, hugging him as tightly as she could, almost sobbing with joy.
"Yes, yes, yes." She whimpered as she pressed herself to him. "Yes, I'll do that. It sounds wonderful. Thank you." She kissed him firmly on the lips. Duo's eyes widened. He wasn't quite sure what to think of all this, but he knew that his noble act hadn't gone unnoticed. He kissed her back, happy to be there with her, short though their time may be.
----------
"That's all of it, right?" Isanu asked Driana as the redhead brought out a pair of suitcases.
"Yes, that's it." She affirmed. "The shuttle I called for should be here soon." Driana bit her lip nervously picturing an angry Sukon in her mind and Isanu patted her back sympathetically.
"Don't worry. If Sukon is angry, it won't be all that bad." Isanu assured her. "He can never stay mad at you for anything. Plus, he must realize that you're still young and you needed this break."
"Hopefully." Driana muttered. "At least this time I left a note." Isanu chuckled nostalgically at that.
"If this is all taken care of, let's go say goodbye to the boys." The dark-haired girl suggested.
"Speaking of that, I couldn't help but notice Duo and you coming inside this morning, smelling of campfire. Did you—" Driana began before Isanu cut her off.
"Don't even think it. You know I'm still a virgin. And no matter how cute he is, I've only known Duo for three weeks." Isanu suddenly smiled. "But I did give him the test."
"No, not that idiot thing." Driana groaned.
"The same, but get this: he passed." Isanu informed her surprised friend. "He wanted to sleep next to me. And he was so good. I wanted to cry, it was so sweet."
"That is amazing." Driana attested. "I must say, I was wrong about him. I think at one point or another, we both underestimated him."
"It makes me even happier that we came here." Isanu commented as they entered the kitchen where all the pilots were busily eating. Quatre leapt to his feet, soon followed by Duo.
"Are you two leaving now?" Quatre asked them, his voice full of sadness.
"Soon. Our shuttle will arrive any moment." Driana replied.
"Well I guess we need to say goodbye then." Duo's voice caught slightly.
"Don't get all worked up, Duo. We'll stay in touch. And we'll definitely visit again." Isanu assured them all.
"It'll be a long time though, won't it?" Duo asked, sadness evident in his voice. Isanu nodded, struck by how sweet he could be when he really wanted to. "I…I'll miss you." He told her, stepping forward so that there was less space between them. "And…aw, shit." He shook off his compunctions and grabbed her, pulling her firmly to him for a deep, meaningful kiss. Driana and Quatre smiled while Trowa smirked knowingly. Wufei's eyes bulged in surprise as he choked on his toast while Heero laughed openly, obviously expecting some sort of retaliatory action from Isanu. When it became clear that she was kissing Duo back, Heero shrugged, now disinterested, and went back to his food. Finally, the couple broke. "Goodbye, babe." Duo smiled at Isanu, who hugged him firmly.
Driana, bored of watching Isanu and Duo, turned to Quatre and pulled him into a kiss that could contest Isanu and Duo's while Quatre turned bright red with embarrassment. He still managed to return her attentions, though. After some time, they broke, gazing at each other in adoration.
"Go Quatre!" Duo patted his friend's back as the young man's blush returned.
"Well, at least he had the decency to blush." Isanu commented dryly. "You haven't completely corrupted my baby brother yet, Driana." She gave Quatre a warm hug as the sound of a shuttle landing outside filled their ears.
"Goodbye everyone!" Driana and Isanu called out. Wufei nodded in acknowledgement, as did Trowa. Heero simply ate his food. "We will visit!" Isanu called behind her as the two girls left.
"I hope so!" Quatre called after them as he and Duo watched the two girls who had turned their lives upside down leave.
*****
The End