Focus.
Shoot.
"Please no more, Duo." Catherine said. "I have to go with Trowa to the grocery store."
Catherine hated shopping, I thought. The only thing she hated more was having her picture taken. I wouldn't have made her do it, but I wanted a picture to give to Trowa for his birthday. "One more."
Catherine's red curly hair was shining in the sunlight as she swayed back and forth in the rope swing. The composition was almost perfect.
"And Iris is getting really tired." Catherine turned to the tiny girl in the sandbox. "Aren't you, Iris?"
Iris nodded. "Tired. Real Tired."
Catherine smiled. "See?"
Iris adored Catherine and would have said the moon was orange if Catherine prompted her so. "One more." I repeated.
"Hello," Catherine said to someone behind me. "Are you looking for Trowa? He's at the house."
"No, I'm not looking for Trowa."
I froze. Then I turned around.
He was dressed in a dark blue suit and looked elegant and civilized. Hell, he looked gorgeous. "Hello, Heero."
"Can I go now?" Catherine asked.
I nodded. "But first you have to be introduced to Heero Yuy. This is Catherine."
Heero nodded his head in acknowledgement. "I've heard a great deal about you."
"Have you?" Catherine smiled. "Are you a friend of Duo's?"
Heero looked at me. "Am I?"
I smiled. "Hai."
"Nice to meet you." Catherine said.
Heero's gaze went to the sandbox. "Iris?" He crossed to the sandbox and knelt beside the little girl. "I don't suppose you remember me."
Iris smiled and handed him a red plastic bucket.
"Thank you." He reached out and touched the tiny gold earrings in her left ear. "I remember these earrings. Pretty."
Iris nodded and then reached out and touched his cheek. "Pretty."
He blinked, astonished.
She giggled in delight at the response and touched his other cheek. "Pretty."
"Now be sure to take Iris and get the sand off."
"I know, Duo." Catherine was already in the sandbox pulling Iris to her feet. "Come on, Iris. We'll go turn on the sprinklers and get clean, okay?"
"Sprinklers," Iris repeated, he face lighting up. "Hose. Umbrella."
"No, not this time," Catherine said as she started across the lawn, slowing her steps to accommodate Iris's tottering steps. "Not the umbrella but maybe the hose."
"It's been over a year." Heero said. "I didn't expect to see you still here. Children's photos are hardly your cup of tea."
"It didn't hurt for me to put my career on hold for a while. Catherine and Trowa needed me. I guess I needed them too."
"How's Iris really doing?"
"Terrific. She's still in rehab, but you can see how normal she's looking. The Mexican authorities found out her grandparents are dead and there aren't any relatives willing to be responsible for her." I smiled as my gaze followed Catherine and Iris. "So she's mine, Heero. I'm adopting her."
"That's great Duo."
"It's more than great, it's a new world for me. What are you doing now?"
"I've been very boring lately. I haven't killed anyone in nearly two days."
"Heero."
He raised a brow. "Gomen. Actually, I'm heading a research project on a new virus discovered in the Amazon rain forest."
"More germs."
He shrugged. "What can I say it's my specialty." His gaze fixed intently on my face. "I thought… we might go out to dinner."
"Why don't you stay and eat with us? You can meet Trowa."
He shook his head. "I want to be alone with you. I want to talk."
Heero? Talk? Boy, he sure loosened up a bit. "You do? What about?"
"Shoes and ships and sealing wax." He paused. "Dammit what do you think I want to talk about? Why do you think I'm here?"
"Tell me."
"Do you know how much I've missed you? Gods, you look great."
"I feel well." What an understatement. At that moment I felt as if I could soar like a balloon. "How are you?"
"Good." Then he said harshly, "No, I'm not. I'm surly and mean and impatient as hell."
"So what's new? You always were."
"You told Catherine a lie. I'm not your friend."
"Oh, you will be." I smiled luminously. "There's no way I'll have a lover who's not my friend, Heero."
He stiffened.
"I've been impatient as hell too." I said unsteadily.
"Duo." He was coming toward me and the expression on his face…
Oh, God, I needed to remember it forever
Focus.
Shoot.
~*~*~OWARI~*~*~
