Mel: *holds up sign* :::sign::: Muse wanted.

Tsuru: ?.?

Mel: *hangs sign around Tsuru's neck* :::sign::: Muse for sale

Tsuru: Mel?

Mel: Hush! You are now an ex-muse. I'm looking for a replacement.

Tsuru: You'll never get one.

Mel: *glares at Tsuru*

Disclaimer: I still own nothing anime related. What a surprise….

Warnings: There is going to be un-translated Japanese in this, but that's alright because you won't need to know what it means in order to understand the story.

Mel: Other notes: Any conversation that happens between Quatre and Heero when no one else is in the room will be typed in English, but is supposed to be in Japanese. Is that too confusing for you?

Tsuru: Your readers are idiots….

Mel: *ignores her ex-muse* And anything that has Heero's thoughts, it's safe to assume he's thinking in Japanese, seeing as he doesn't know a word of English…

Tsuru: *sighs*

Mel: And now… TO WORK!!! MWA HA HA HA!!!!!

Kioku Soshitsu

Chapter 2

"Chotto hanashi ga aru." Not long after entering the house, Heero turned to Quatre, his tone demanding, as if he were talking to an inferior.

"Hai." Quatre turned to Duo, who looked completely confused. "I'm going to take Heero to his room. He wants to speak with me." Duo shook his head and looked at Heero.

"Man, this is a mess isn't it? How long 'till he gets his memory back?" Quatre sighed, and began to walk up the stairs.

"I don't know, Duo. I don't know…"

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

"You wanted to say something to me?" Quatre sat down in a chair next to Heero's bed, and watched as he scanned the room.

"Yes. I want you to explain to me how I know you and each of your friends, and why I'm here instead of with Dr. J." Quatre stared at Heero for a moment, trying to figure out how to talk to him.

"You've been working with us for a little over a year now… we've been fighting together for peace…"

"I've finished my training?" Heero's voice had a hint of happiness in it, which was quickly squashed down when the boy noticed it.

"Y-yes…. For quite some time now…." Heero began to walk around the room, looking into drawers to search their contents. He froze as he passed the mirror, and reached a hand up to touch his face. "Heero?" The boy turned to face Quatre, letting his eyes stay on the image in the mirror a little longer.

"How old am I?"

"How old are you?" Quatre had to focus to keep his voice from trembling. He hated the terrible feeling of not knowing… something Heero was being forced to endure. "How old do you think you are?"

"Answer my question," Heero snapped.

"Sixteen and a half…" As the boy turned to face the mirror again, Quatre felt guilt consume him. The lost look in Heero's eyes, the mass confusion that engulfed him… it was all Quatre's fault. If he hadn't been in the way, none of this would have happened. "Heero?"

"Leave." Quatre sighed, knowing he was defeated, and left the room. Once the blond nuisance was gone, Heero sat down in front of the mirror, crossing his legs on the floor.

"Five years…. I'm missing five years of my life…. What happened to me?" Heero ran his hand along the side of his face, marveling at how much older he looked.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Duo watched curiously as Quatre sat down at the table, and buried his hands in his hair.

"Hey, Quat. What's wrong?" The boy looked up and smiled slightly at his friend.

"I'm just worried, that's all."

"'Bout what?" Duo said as he pulled a chair up next to the blond.

"Heero."

"Ah." Duo flipped his braid over his shoulder as he sat down, then picked up a bright red apple from the basket in the middle of the table. "What ever it is, it can't be that bad. I mean, we're talking about Heero." He took a large bite out of the apple, then used his hand to wipe the juice away that had trickled down his lip.

"He asked me how old he was." Duo froze with his tongue halfway out of his mouth, prepared to lick the juice off of his hand. "Duo?"

"You mean, he didn't just forget about us?"

"No… he can't remember anything about at least the last two years. He didn't know he had finished training with Dr. J either…" Duo placed his apple down on the table, and bent over. His shoulders shook slightly with each breath he took. "Duo? Are you alright?"

"Fine." When Duo lifted his head, he had a large grin on his face. "If he doesn't remember anything, we'll just have to jog his memory, now won't we?" Before Quatre could reply, Duo had grabbed another apple along with his own, and was heading up the stairs to Heero's bedroom.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Heero hummed lightly to himself, trying to put music to the words in his notebook. He thought he would be able to get away with it today without punishment, mostly because Dr. J wasn't here. None the less, he jumped in surprise when he heard the door open, and scrambled to cover up his work.

Duo stood smiling in his doorway, tossing an apple up and down casually. "Hiya Heero! I brought you an apple. Do you want it?" At this, he produced another deep red fruit, and held it out to Heero.

"Appuru?" Heero tilted his head slightly, trying unsuccessfully to mimic the sounds.

"Apple," Duo said, as he sat down on the bed next to his friend. "Do you want it?" To emphasize his meaning, Duo placed the apple into Heero's hands, and gave him a questioning look, before taking it away slightly. Heero's eyes lit up with understanding and he took the fruit from Duo.

"Arigato." Now it was Duo's turn to fall upon a revelation. He knew that word. Heero had actually thanked him!

"Enjoy it, buddy." Duo took a bite out of his own apple, brimming with pride. After a year's worth of work, Duo was finally under the perfect soldiers skin. Then again, maybe this wasn't the perfect soldier…

"Aperu… Aperu… ru…ru… Duo?" Duo laughed as Heero tried to say the word.

"I guess there's no L in the Japanese language." Heero stared at Duo for a moment before pointing at his apple.

"Doyatte sore o iu ka?"

"Apple?"

"Aperu… ru…" Heero frowned and looked up at Duo. "Doyatte ka?"

"Hmm…." Duo thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to teach Heero how to make an 'l' sound. "Do what I do." And he stuck his tongue out. Heero looked at him oddly. "Like this." Duo put his hand on Heero's chin and pulled down, opening his mouth, then he opened his own mouth, hoping Heero would get the idea instead of shooting him.

"N-nani suru ka?"

"Ah" Duo said, imitating Heero's 'a' sound. The brown haired boy furrowed his eyebrows, and stared at Duo. "Ah" he repeated, waiting for Heero to catch on.

"Ah" Heero mimicked. Duo smiled before continuing.

"Aaaaa" Duo very visibly widened his mouth, changing the sound of his 'a'.

"Ah…. Aah… Aaaa." Heero repeated the sound until he could copy Duo perfectly.

"Apple."

"Appe… Apperu…" Duo smiled. The first half of the word was perfect. He just had to figure out how to do the 'l'. He decided to try the tongue trick again.

"Nani?" Duo pointed to his tongue, then at Heero's mouth, and then he understood. The boy stuck his tongue out and waited for further instructions. Duo opened his mouth so Heero could see inside, then slid his tongue back just behind his teeth.

"Llllll"

"Lllll…. Aaaplllllllle… Apple." Duo smiled widely, and put an arm around Heero's shoulder.

"You did it!" Although Heero didn't understand Duo's words, he could tell he was being praised. Duo, sensing his job was done for the moment, decided to go try to repair Deathscythe. It would probably be best to let Heero have some time to himself anyway. "Bye buddy. I'll talk to you later." He waved his hand as he left the room so Heero would understand.

"Sayonara." Duo smiled as Heero uttered another Japanese word that he understood. It was starting to bug him how Heero was so open. Well, at least for Heero…

To be continued…

Mel: *grins* and I'm not even supposed to be writing fanfictions! I've been grounded for the past month… ^_^ I'm glad I did this…. The lack of Kat was really starting to get to me. I feel a little better now.

Tsuru: *laughs* It took you long enough… I thought you'd never work on this one….

Mel: *glares at Tsuru* You, my dear, are an ex-muse. You are in no position to say that.