A Strawberry and Vanilla Swirl
Chapter 6
It's been six chapters; guess I should do this again. Disclaimer: I don't own any Gundam Wing characters. They are © 1995 Bandai, Sunrise, Sotsu (and lots of others, I'm sure)
The bad news was that Destiny heard Quatre had a lot of work to do and that they were going to stay at his home a little bit longer. The good news was Duo said that she had Hilde's yummy stakes to look forward to.
After about four days, Duo said that he could just go get Hilde and bring her there. Quatre agreed and said that that way they could be his guests. Of course, that changed Duo's mind and he said that he wanted them to be a guest at his house.
Destiny learned that there was so much stuff you could do at Quatre's house. They had a large pool, an area for any sort of game, a giant trampoline, and so many fun things. But Uncle Duo was the only person who would do most of the things with her. Her mommy didn't get up much; she said she was just having a bad week. It wasn't that bad, anyways, because Uncle Duo was fun to play with.
At four in the morning, Quatre was beginning to get rather drowsy. It had been almost a week and a half since they first got there. He knew Destiny wanted to go to Uncle Duo's house, but she had amazing patience for a girl her age - she got that from her mother. He knew she could wait, and that Duo could keep her busy.
He had just about given up all hope for finding last year's assets. It was almost like those files never existed, but Quatre remembered filing them himself... he just couldn't remember exactly where it was he filed them.
A sudden beeping noise startled him, and woke him up a little. He sleepily reached over and clicked the button to pick up the call. The face of a good friend surprised him.
"Trowa! What are you doing, calling me at four in the morning?"
"Oh, sorry about that Quatre. I must have forgotten about the time difference. I didn't mean to wake you up."
Quatre waved it away. "Don't worry about it. I wasn't sleeping, so you didn't wake me up."
Trowa frowned. "You stayed up again."
"Don't worry about it. I'm not -- " he yawned and finished, " - tired."
Trowa raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything about it. He knew when it came to sleep Quatre was really stubborn about it. "I heard you couldn't find misplaced files."
"Yes," Quatre said with a sigh. "A.C. 204."
Trowa nodded. "Didn't you send those files?"
"Huh? Send them? Where?"
"Remember last year you sent a lot of information to the Sanc Kingdom's computer so you could work on it there?"
Quatre hit his head with his hand. "I can't believe that! I've been looking for something that's not even here. Now, all I have to do is get into Sanc's computer system and -- "
A beeping noise cut him off. The screen Quatre had been talking to Trowa on got a large document with words on it. Trowa's picture was reduced to the corner.
"That's done," he said.
Quatre's eyes widened. "You got all that information for me? Thank you, Trowa!"
Trowa shrugged. "Don't mention it. That's what friends are for."
Quatre grinned. "I'm glad Duo contacted you."
"How could you tell?"
"I think he's the only way you could have found out. Thanks a lot Trowa, you saved me a lot of work."
"I said, `don't mention it.'" Trowa smirked slightly. "Get some sleep Quatre."
"Thanks Trowa, good-bye."
Their link was then terminated. Quatre sighed and got a printout of all the information for last year. It never struck him that Trowa could help. That would have saved him a lot of time.
Rashid came into the room empty handed. The reason he left was to get Quatre some strong coffee.
"What's wrong, Rashid?" Quatre asked.
"Master Quatre, I think it is time you get some sleep. When was the last time you sleep? Six days ago?"
"But Rashid, I got last year's information. Now I have to organize it..."
"No. I'll organize it. You're young, you need your rest."
"But -- "
"No `buts', go to bed."
Quatre sighed heavily. He stood up and stretched his arms over his head, stifling another yawn. "Alright," he said as he put his arms back down. "I'll go. You know what to do, right?"
"Yes, yes," Rashid said as he pushed him to the door.
"Good night, Rashid."
"Good night, Master Quatre."
Quatre climbed up the stairs and went into his room. He took off his pants and put some bottom pajamas in place of them. He took his vest off and let it fall to the floor. On the way to his bed, he lazily unbuttoned his shirt and, when he got to the bed, took the shirt off and threw it somewhere - remembering to clean it up in the morning.
Quatre looked over at his alarm clock that read `4:36 A.M.' He didn't feel like setting his alarm clock, or waking up in an hour, so he unplugged it. Now, he turned to his bed and pulled away the covers. Climbing into it and being engulfed by its coolness from no one sleeping in it. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
It was about eight in the morning when Destiny wandered into Quatre's room. She grinned when she saw his sleeping form sprawled on the bed. She snuck over to the side of the bed and pounced on top of him.
Quatre's eyes shot open and he sat up quickly. "What the -- " He noticed Destiny, holding Mr. Cuddles to her, sitting on him and grinning, and he groaned. "Destiny. Please don't ever jump on me there. A little higher, a little lower, fine. But not there." He picked the girl up and laid her down next to him. "What time is it?"
She shrugged. "I don't know how to tell time."
"You don't, do you?" He sighed and rubbed his temple. "Is Uncle Duo up?"
"Uh-huh."
"Then it must be about lunch time." He looked over at her. "Why'd you let me sleep in?"
She shrugged. "Quatre," she said as she looked at her bear. "Can we go to Uncle Duo's house now? I don't want to be mean, but it's been a long time!"
He smiled. "I have a few more things to do, but we'll leave when your mother wants to."
She nodded. "Can I go ask her now?" she made a move to get up, but Quatre caught her. "Let's let everyone eat some breakfast and get their brains motivated first, okay?"
She was taken by surprise as Quatre pulled her over and began to tickle her. She laughed and kicked and tried to break free, dropping Mr. Cuddles on the floor in the process. Quatre laughed with much amusement. After a moment of her yelling `Stop, Quatre, please!' he finally stopped.
She rolled off the bed and landed on her feet. As she picked up Mr. Cuddles she said, "You can't tickle me anymore, okay?"
Quatre pushed his covers to the side and threw his feet over the edge. "Okay," he said as he stood to his feet. He bent over to crack anything that needed it. He knew it wasn't good for your back, but it felt good.
"Wow, you can do that?" Destiny asked. "I can touch my toes, too!" She bent over and touched her feet and then stood back up grinning.
"Yes, you can. So why's it such a revelation that I can do it?"
"Well, your legs are longer than mine."
Quatre got a funny look on his face. He got down to his knees and hugged her. She got a surprised look from the sudden move. "What's that for?" she asked.
"I've waited all my life for that." Quatre pulled away from her and looked at her directly. "I'm taller than someone - finally! Thank you."
She sighed at the overdramatic scene. "I'm short."
"No you aren't. You're four."
She nodded. "I'm short for most kids that are four."
"Who told you that?"
"Uncle Wufei."
Quatre rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it. Come on, let's go get some breakfast."
She pointed at his chest. "Aren't you going to put a shirt on?"
Quatre looked down. "I thought it was kind of chilly." He threw the top part of his pajamas on and looked at her. "How's that?"
"Good," she said. "Can we get breakfast, now?"
Quatre nodded. "Sure."
***
"So, you busy people are finally going to come visit us, eh?" Duo asked over breakfast. Today, breakfast was pancakes, bacon, sausage, milk, juice, and blueberry muffins. And best of all: it was free.
"Yes," Quatre responded. "But now that we're leaving and going to be back on Earth soon, I'm going to start making more frequent trips back here."
Duo nodded and continued digging into his feast before him. Relena looked up, but didn't say anything. She just continued cutting her food; amazed that Quatre was still going to be staying with them.
Destiny turned to her left, where her mommy was sitting and pulled her sleeve. "Can we do something fun on Uncle Duo's colony? Can we go to the zoo, Mommy? Uncle Duo says they have a zoo. Please?"
Relena smiled. "You know who you have to ask for that."
Destiny looked across the table. "Can we, Quatre?"
Quatre smiled, too. "We'll see." He glanced over to Duo, who smirked and continued drowning his pancakes with syrup.
***
The shuttle ride to L2 seemed quicker than the ride to L4 from Earth. Quatre got to sit next to Relena, because Destiny wanted to sit next to Uncle Duo. He could faintly hear Duo telling her a story about how he tripped and fell down a pile of junk once. Destiny found it quite amusing as Duo thoroughly described how greasy and hurt he was afterwards. With all of his stories, he was able to keep Destiny distracted until they got to the airport.
Duo's house wasn't too far away. Duo said it was a walking distance, but all eyes were on Relena to see if she wanted to walk. She said she's love to and that it'd be good for her. So they walked off. When the house was in sight, Duo picked up the pace. He got to the door and pushed it open, stepping to the side for them to go in.
Destiny went in, followed by Relena, then Quare - who mumbled to Duo, "You should lock your doors." Duo gave him a look before he went in himself, shutting the door behind him.
Destiny jumped onto the couch and bounced on it until she got a stern look from Relena. Then Destiny slid off and turned her attention away from her mommy to look at Uncle Duo.
"Hey, Uncle Duo, where's Aunt Hilde?"
"I dunno. Probably buyin' groceries. She knew I was coming home today." He winked at Destiny as he collapsed onto his couch. "C'mon in, everyone! Make yourself at home! I'm turnin' the TV on now." And Duo grabbed the remote and turned the television on with it, like he said.
Destiny decided to try to get on the couch again without getting in trouble with her mommy. She didn't. She grinned at Duo, who grinned back. Duo turned to the television and tried to find something on that she could watch.
"Mind if I get something to snack on?' Quatre asked as he headed for the kitchen.
Duo shrugged. "Get me somethin' too, will ya?"
Relena slowly sat on the couch, on the other side of Destiny. She rested her elbow on the arm of the couch and her head on her hand.
Quatre came back into the room just as the door opened. Hilde came in with a sack of groceries. The first thing she saw was Quatre. She put the sack on the ground and squealed, "Blond boy!" as she ran over and hugged him.
"M-ms. Hilde?"
"Hilde."
"Yes, um... what's this?"
"I heard you were back on L4 working your butt off. I thought you'd need a hug."
Quatre hugged her back. "Thanks."
Hilde patted his back and turned around. She saw Duo; they stared into each other's eyes for a minute before they both broke into big smiles. She walked over behind the couch and Duo turned around. They hugged each other.
"Welcome home," Hilde said. "I missed you." Their hug turned into a far from friendly kiss. If you could call it just a kiss Relena diverted her daughter's eyes away from the scene that she felt Destiny was too young to witness.
"Duo," Hilde said as she broke away. "I have to go get the groceries." Duo smirked. He watched her head towards the door, grab the sack, and close the door. She turned and looked over at Quatre, who had a surprised look on his face. She gave him a sly look. "Don't be jealous, Quatre. You want a kiss like that, too?"
Quatre shook his head viciously with eyes wider than usual. Duo and Hilde laughed at his reaction. Hilde walked back towards the couch. "Hi Relena," she greeted her blonde friend. She looked over at Destiny and grinned. "Hey, you! Are you listening to your mommy?"
"Yes, Aunt Hilde."
"Good!" She said and walked in front of the couch to the kitchen. As she passed Duo, he leaned forward and smacked her right on the hind. That made her jump and look at him. "Duo," she hissed in a `not-in-front-of-people' tone.
He grinned. "You were in front of the TV." She rolled her eyes at the bad excuse. She continued on her way to the kitchen, passing Quatre with a wink.
Relena stood up and picked Destiny up with her She decided it was time for some `girl talk'. She could have Destiny eat something while she and Hilde talked. She excused herself and took Destiny into the kitchen. Quatre watched them go and then he headed to the couch to sit next to Duo. He held up the small bag of potato chips he had been holding so Duo could get some.
Duo shoved a handful into his mouth and looked over at Quatre. Quatre could tell he had something on his mind, so as soon as Duo swallowed Quatre decided to ask.
"So what do you want me in space for Duo?"
"I still don't know what'cha mean. We wanted to see ya."
The subject shifted a bit. Quatre glanced over towards the kitchen and back to Duo. "You really love her, don't you Duo?"
Duo grinned. "Yeah, I do. I'm gonna marry her, aren't I?"
It took a moment, but Quatre understood what he meant. "You... you... Congratulations!"
"Yeah, well," Duo looked slightly guilty. "I haven't asked her yet. I haven't even bought her a ring. Actually, I was wonderin' if you could help."
"Huh?"
"When I do have to propose, will you help me?"
"Help you?"
"Yeah."
Quatre crossed his arms. "What do you want me to do, Duo? Whisper what to say?" A smile began to appear on Duo's face and Quatre shook his head. "You just have to tell her how much you care and then say, `Ms. Hilde Schbeiker, will you marry me?' It's not that difficult, is it?"
"Well... I dunno if I can do it. Maybe if you were in the same room... that's it! I can propose at a restaurant and you can be at a nearby table."
"Wouldn't she be bound to notice me just sitting there staring at you two?"
"No, it'll be like one of those secret agent movie things. You'll be hiding behind a menu spying on us."
Quatre sighed. "How etiquette."
Duo gave him puppy dog eyes. "Pl-e-e-a-a-se-e? I do stuff for you all the time!"
"Like...?"
"Like... I'm providing you with a place to stay now, aren't I?"
Quatre sighed. "I'll see what I can do. I can't promise anything. And this is just a favor, the favors you've done for me are irrelevant."
"Thanks, Quatre. I really owe ya."
"Sure. So when are we going to do this?"
Duo shrugged. "I... I'll let you know."
Meanwhile, Relena and Hilde were having a discussion in the kitchen. Destiny was happily eating a couple cookies, oblivious to what they were talking about. Relena and Hilde were standing by a counter, having a pretty quiet conversation as Hilde put everything in the grocery bag away.
"So, you two have a strong bond, huh?" Relena asked her petite friend.
"Yes," Hilde said. She glanced over at Destiny and back to Relena and said in a lower voice. "Such a strong bond that I have to take you-know-what pills."
Relena's eyes narrowed slightly. "Okay, Hilde, what's going on? You two aren't that protective. Are you being careful just to mock my mistake?"
"No, Relena. It's nothing like that at all. I just... Remember that time we went to Earth and Duo said we used protection?" She didn't wait for Relena to nod; she knew Relena remembered that. "He didn't mean anything by it. He was directing that towards me. You see, the night before Quatre called us we..." she trailed off; knowing Relena would understand the blank. "Well, this is the truth: he was mad at me. I had us use protection. That was just once. He was upset at me. It wasn't directed at you."
Relena got a small, understanding smile on her face. She nodded. "I had a feeling Duo wasn't that careful."
Hilde nudged her. "While we're on the subject, have you heard from you-know-who, living you-know-where, about you-know-what?"
In a soft tone, Relena replied, "You mean Heero, who's in space, and about Destiny?" Hilde nodded and Relena sighed. "I haven't talked to him in a long time, no."
"When was the last time?"
"Hm. Four years ago!" Hilde frowned and patted her back somewhat encouraging.
"It's okay, Relena. He'll come around... he always does."
Relena shook her head. She turned around to see her daughter. Destiny was sitting her chair, looking back with her Prussian blue eyes. No more cookies and milk. The only evidence were the crumbs on a napkin and her milk moustache. She smiled. "I'm done, Mommy."
Relena smiled. "Okay. We can go back out to the living room." She looked over at Hilde. "Coming?"
Hilde folded the now empty paper bag with a smile. "I'll be right out... and I can take care of her napkin and cup."
"Are you sure? I can -- "
"No, it's all right. I've got it."
Relena nodded. She took Destiny's hand and guided her out to the living room She noticed Quatre and Duo talking quietly on the couch.
"I'll let you know somehow when I've got it and I'm ready," Duo said in a low voice.
Quatre caught Relena out of the corner of his eye. Duo turned to see what he was looking at and his eyes widened. He wondered how long she had been standing there.
Relena crossed her arms. "What are you two talking about?" She asked suspiciously.
"Um..." Duo looked to Quatre for help.
Quatre cleared his throat and looked back to Relena. "Well, Relena. It is someone's birthday In April and someone else's birthday in May."
"Yeah," Duo put in. "And I need to buy presents for the people who are anonymous."
Relena smiled, understand what two people they meant. "We'll just go back in the kitchen," and she turned to come face-to-face with Hilde. Relena smiled and pushed her back in. Destiny followed confusedly behind.
Duo looked at Quatre and smiled. "Thanks for lying for me, Quatre."
"Don't put it that way," Quatre winced.
"Girls seem to have the idea that they have to tell their friends everything they find out."
Quatre shrugged. "Sure." He smiled. "You helped me with my excuse, now you have a reason to ask me to help you propose to Hilde."
Duo didn't get what Quatre just said. But he understood the point. He pointed at him. "She does act like you."
"She who?"
"Destiny."
Quatre grinned at the comment; he was being related to an innocent little kid.
***
After that, what happened that evening was rather interesting. There were only three rooms that could be slept in: Hilde and Duo's room, the spare room, and the living room.
Duo said that he and Hilde could keep their room, Relena and Destiny could stay in the spare room, and Quatre could get comfortable on the couch. Hilde said that Relena and Destiny should have their room, since the bed is bigger, and Quatre could get the spare room and she and Duo could sleep on the couch.
Well, Relena didn't want to take Hilde and Duo's bedroom, and Quatre refused to sleep in a bed when he knew Hilde wouldn't have one. And Duo didn't want to sleep without Hilde in the same room as him.
Hilde and Quatre had a small battle about who would get the bed in Duo and Hilde's room. Quatre wanted her and Duo to stay in their own room. So somehow in the entire configuration it ended up that way. Relena and Destiny got the spare room, Hilde got the bed in her room, Quatre got the chair in the living room and Duo go the couch. Duo was quite confused how he got that, too. Although deep down he knew that he wouldn't be able to be good if he and Hilde were alone in a room.
"Hey Duo," Quatre's voice broke through the darkness. "How..."
"I'm telling ya Q," Duo said, breaking Quatre out of what he was going to ask. "You never can tell with girls. All I can say is `expect the unexpected'."
Quatre nodded. He squirmed into the chair to get comfortable into sleeping sitting up. "Thanks for the great love advice."
"Don't worry," Duo mumbled. "You have any questions, just ask me - Casanova." That was the last thing he said before drifting off to dream land. Quatre mumbled something inaudible before he, too, fell asleep.
***
Quatre woke up to a pounding noise. He looked over to the couch to see Duo wasn't there. He made a mental note to stop sleeping in... and making sure people didn't let him sleep in.
He got off the chair and moaned. He had a kink in his neck and it hurt a lot. He heard that pounding noise again and looked down the hall to Duo standing outside his and Hilde's room.
"C'mon Hilde, open the door!"
"I'm dressing, Duo!"
Duo grinned evilly. "Nothing I haven't seen before... c'mon."
"I have a feeling if I let you in now, we won't come out for a few hours."
Quatre smirked slightly. Duo sighed and started banging on the door again. "C'mon baby! Do you know what it's like to sleep on the couch?"
"No, but I've given you enough experiences for you to know."
Duo leaned against the wall and looked to his left. His eyes widened slightly when he noticed Quatre looking at him. "You... didn't... hear any of that, did you?"
Quatre smiled at Duo before he walked down the hall and to the bathroom door, which was shut. He sighed and looked over at Duo. "Who's in the bathroom?"
Duo shrugged. "It's been shut since I woke up. I don't think anyone's in it, I think someone accidentally shut the door."
"Oh, okay." Quatre tapped on the door lightly. When he didn't hear an answer he turned the doorknob and pushed it open.
"Hey! Quatre, I'm taking a bath!"
Quatre stopped. "Sorry, Destiny."
"What do you want?"
"I was just going to go to the bathroom and get dressed. Sorry." He began to close the door again.
"Go ahead," she told him.
Quatre laughed weakly. "You and your mother using the bathroom at the same time is quite different than us."
"Because you're a boy?"
Quatre nodded. "Yeah."
"Oh, okay, I won't look." She covered her eyes to prove it.
Quatre smiled. "No, I'll just wait out here, okay?"
"Okay."
Quatre nodded and closed the door. He turned to Duo, who shrugged. Duo turned back to the door he was standing at. He was about to knock on it again, when Hilde came out. Simultaneously, Relena came out of the spare room.
"It's about time," Duo said. Hilde sighed and walked out. She gestured for Duo to go ahead and enter the room, but he shook his head. "I'm not fully up yet," he explained. "Sleep on the couch and you'll see what I mean." Quatre nodded in agreement and rubbed his sore neck, which made the two girls laugh. Duo grinned, walked over to Relena, and rested his head on her shoulder. "Next time, Hilde and Destiny can get the spare room, Quatre can get the couch and Relena can sleep in my room with me."
Relena smirked. "I understand what you're implying Duo," she said slyly. "But I don't think you have anything to offer me."
"Ooh," Quatre said. He tried not to laugh. Hilde, however, burst out laughing. Duo picked his head off of Relena's shoulder and gave her a look.
"Oh, shame on you," he said. "I'll bet I've got things more interesting to look at than Mr. Perfect Soldier."
Relena gave him a look back. "I don't know... I haven't seen him in a long time, and I can bet -- "
Duo reached down to his jeans. "You want to do a comparison? Huh?" He grinned. He wasn't going to let this joke end.
Relena waved her hand at him. "No, that's quite alright."
"Mommy!"
Relena turned her head to the bathroom door. "I'm called," she said as she headed to the door and went in.
Hilde too wasn't going to allow this gag to stop. She nudged Duo. "Well, come on. I'll do a comparison."
"Between me and Heero?"
"No, you and Quatre."
Quatre's eyes widened, as they both gave him evil looks. "Okay, guys," he said nervously. "That joke is over. I'm... uh... when's breakfast? I think I'll go fix it." He walked pass them quickly, just as nervous.
Duo and Hilde started to laugh. "We really have to stop picking on him," Hilde said. "We do it every time we see him."
"Yeah," Duo agreed. "But it's fun."
"Yeah, but it's getting mean."
"Okay, okay. I won't do it as often anymore."
Hilde gave him a gentle tug on his braid. "Good."
"You did a good job making a bath by yourself," Relena commented as she towel dried her daughter's hair.
"Thank you, Mommy." Destiny replied. Relena handed her a pink shirt to put on. As she put it on she asked, slightly muffled, "Can you do my hair that way again, Mommy?"
"What way, honey?"
"The way you used to wear it. With the two sides tied in the back."
"Oh," Relena said. She smiled at her daughter. "Well, go get your hairbrush out of your bag and bring it to me. I'll fix it that way, okay?"
Destiny nodded. She ran into her room and over to her bag. She unzipped a side and got out her hairbrush and two pink ribbons. Then she skipped back into the bathroom. "Here you go, Mommy! Can you put my hair like that, please?"
"Yes," Relena said, glancing around for where she could put Destiny. When she wasn't sure of where she could stand her up at, Relena sighed. "Let's go out to the living room, okay?"
"Okay," Destiny said, taking the accessories with her. Relena turned the lights off and followed. Destiny was standing in front of the television. Duo, who was sitting on the couch behind her, smirked.
"Hey, Destiny. You make a better door than a window."
Destiny turned around and gave him a confused look. "Huh?"
Duo pointed to the television. "I can't see."
"Oh, sorry," Destiny said and sat down.
"Oh, Duo. Leave her alone," Hilde called from the kitchen.
Relena walked over and sat on the floor behind her. She took the hair accessories and began to do Destiny's hair the way she used to have hers when she was younger.
"You don't have to help, Quatre," Hilde said as she stacked some toast on a plate.
"No, it's alright," Quatre said with a smile. He pulled down a couple glasses from a cabinet.
Hilde glanced over to the clock on the microwave and back to Quatre. "You can take one glass out of that group. Duo's only gonna have a half hour to eat his breakfast."
Quatre gave her a funny look. "Duo may need his vitamins. Milk makes your teeth and bones strong."
"Milk makes my body go-o-o-o-d!" Duo's voice could be heard through the walls.
Hilde tried not to laugh at his comment as Quatre shook his head. He turned to carry the cups out to the table. Hilde glanced over at him and looked down to the ground. She couldn't stand it anymore.
"Quatre."
Quatre stopped what he was doing and turned around, noting the seriousness in the usually cheery, petite girl's voice. "Yes?"
"What do you think of Heero?"
"Heero? He's a rather nice guy. He tries to do things with the best intentions, which I -- "
"That's not what I mean. What do you think of what he's doing?"
"Uh... Relena and Destiny? I don't know. I guess it's for the girls' best interest. I mean... Imagine Duo is cold, ready to kill, and fighting with himself inside. What would you do? What do you think Duo would do?"
Hilde got the point he was trying to make. She guessed the best way to prove her understanding was to answer. "I guess he'd try to get control of himself for everyone's safety... But four years?"
Quatre leaned against a counter with a lament look in his eyes. "I grew up in wealthy surroundings. I used to look down on myself for what I am and wasn't around other people a lot - especially my father because he was so busy. I had bodyguards follow me everywhere. But I never knew how fortunate I was.
"My friends have told me stories, and I've felt feelings that one would think they could only feel in an asylum. Heero acts as if his humanity was buried when he was a child. It will take him a while to feel those again. Although, I never feel him so nice and calm except when he's around Relena. She somehow sets him free. He doesn't show it... but that's just the soldier instincts in him. I truly believe he can do this, if not for himself, then for his two girls."
Hilde sighed. "I guess you're right. I can't fight with that... especially when I have no logic of my own."
Quatre opened his mouth to protest when the phone rang. Hilde walked over and picked it up.
"Hello? Yes. Okay, I'll tell him. Buh-bye." Hilde hung the phone up and turned toward the living room. "Duo! That was your boss! He said they have a car that needs special parts and If you can get thee in fifteen minutes he's gonna give you a raise."
Duo ran in. He took a piece f toast off the plate and gave her a peck on the cheek. "See ya." He put the toast in his mouth and made a beeline for the front door. Sparing everyone a wave before he left.
"Don't slam the -" Hilde winced when he pulled the door real hard and fast, creating a loud noise.
Destiny jumped up and ran into the dining room, her two braids tied together flapping behind her. "I'm hungry!" she proclaimed as she climbed up a chair. Relena came in and smiled at Hilde. "He sure wants that raise, huh?"
Hilde grinned almost evilly. No - it was evil all right. "What raise? There's no raise. I just told him he'd get one so he's get moving. That lazy braided bum, gosh I love him."
Quatre and Relena exchanged confused glances.
***
Hilde had relayed the schedule to them. Duo went to work part time at an auto repair shop until noon. Reason being, he knew the owner of the shop. Hilde would work with the parts they had for the sweepers ground. At noon, they ate lunch together and then her and Duo would continue in their scraps until they got no more calls or felt like quitting.
Hilde had apologized that she couldn't be able to be with them. But Quatre had waved it off and said Destiny had wanted to go to the zoo, anyways. So, this took the three to the zoo, which wasn't very far from Duo and Hilde's house.
When they got in, Destiny wanted to see a bear that may look like Mr. Cuddles. On the way to their first stop, they passed by birds, owls, panthers, and a lion. Quatre stopped in front of the lion's cage. It was just lying there... asleep. The two girls noticed Quatre and stopped also.
"What's wrong, Quatre?" Relena asked.
Quatre shook his head. "I was just thinking of the first time I took Destiny to the circus."
"I remember," Destiny said cheerfully. "Aunt Catherine saved me!"
Quatre grinned down at her.
**Flashback**
"What's that, Quatre?" Two-year-old Destiny pointed to a cage of birds to the right of the elephants.
"Doves."
"Ooh."
Quatre grinned. "And after the show, I'm going to take you back to see Uncle Trowa and Aunt Catherine."
"Uncle Twowa," she said rocking back and forth. She'd met him before.
After the show, Quatre kept his promise. He took Destiny to the back. She was looking at all the animals in their cages when Quatre led her to a girl with curly brown hair.
Catherine smiled at Destiny. She tuned her head to look behind her into the tent. "He's back there somewhere."
Quatre nodded and went in. Destiny was about to follow him when she realized who Catherine was. She tugged on the end of her dress and Catherine looked down to her.
"You almost hurt Uncle Twowa."
Catherine smiled. "I tried not to... he's my brother."
"Oh," Destiny said, surprised.
"Come on," Catherine started to head into the tent. Destiny began to follow her, but she was distracted again. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a lion in its cage. It had let out a big yawn.
Destiny grinned. "Lion kitty." She headed over to the cage.
It didn't take long for Catherine to realize Destiny wasn't behind her She headed back outside and looked around. She saw Destiny over by the lion's cage. She had her hand reached out in-between two bars to try to pet the lion inside. It had been trying to sleep and was now quite grumpy; it turned its head to the girl.
""O my God," Catherine yelped. She ran over and grabbed Destiny, pulling her away from the lion before he could do anything.
The commotion brought Quatre out, Trowa not far behind him. Catherine told the two what had happened.
"Wow, looks like Aunt Catherine saved you," Quatre told the little girl who smiled in return.
**End Flashback**
Quatre turned away from the lion. "Yeah, she saved you."
***
"Do you have any uncles, Uncle Duo?"
"Nope."
"Do you have any aunts?"
"Nope."
"I do. I have a lot. I have an uncle and aunt that lives on Mars!"
Duo grinned. "You do?" He tried to sound surprised.
"Uh-huh. Uncle Milliards is Mommy's brother."
"Yeah?"
"Uh-huh. But I never met him."
Duo nodded. He looked back down at the item in front of him. He got a light in his eye and looked up at Destiny. "Does your person wear a hat?"
"Nope!"
"Aw man," Duo whined and knocked down just two of his people. Destiny giggled.
The phone rang and Hilde bolted for it. "Let this be it!" she yelled as she picked it up. She had entered to win a cruise ride on the Pacific Ocean a couple days ago, which is why she always answered the phone when it rang. "Hello? Yes... yes she is..." She pulled the phone down and looked out to the living room where Relena was sitting on the chair, reading a book and Quatre was laying on the couch look like he was in deep thought.
"Relena." Relena looked up. Hilde shook the phone and Relena got the message. She got up, sat the book down, and went over to take the phone. "Hello? Yes, this is she. What? No... No... Oh my God. Yes, I'll be there as soon as I can." Relena hung the phone up and turned around to see everyone looking at her. "I have to go back to Earth now. Pagan is dying."
The End of Chapter 6
Okay, first of all, I have gotten so many reviews. Thank you! I'm glad you all like this so far! Second, chapter 8 (two chapters from now, the chapter after the next, whichever way you want to think of it) is going to have Heero in it, for all of you sitting there wondering. Third, the next chapter is going to take some time to get out, I have to revise it slightly. Lastly, as always, thanks for reading!
Chapter 6
It's been six chapters; guess I should do this again. Disclaimer: I don't own any Gundam Wing characters. They are © 1995 Bandai, Sunrise, Sotsu (and lots of others, I'm sure)
The bad news was that Destiny heard Quatre had a lot of work to do and that they were going to stay at his home a little bit longer. The good news was Duo said that she had Hilde's yummy stakes to look forward to.
After about four days, Duo said that he could just go get Hilde and bring her there. Quatre agreed and said that that way they could be his guests. Of course, that changed Duo's mind and he said that he wanted them to be a guest at his house.
Destiny learned that there was so much stuff you could do at Quatre's house. They had a large pool, an area for any sort of game, a giant trampoline, and so many fun things. But Uncle Duo was the only person who would do most of the things with her. Her mommy didn't get up much; she said she was just having a bad week. It wasn't that bad, anyways, because Uncle Duo was fun to play with.
At four in the morning, Quatre was beginning to get rather drowsy. It had been almost a week and a half since they first got there. He knew Destiny wanted to go to Uncle Duo's house, but she had amazing patience for a girl her age - she got that from her mother. He knew she could wait, and that Duo could keep her busy.
He had just about given up all hope for finding last year's assets. It was almost like those files never existed, but Quatre remembered filing them himself... he just couldn't remember exactly where it was he filed them.
A sudden beeping noise startled him, and woke him up a little. He sleepily reached over and clicked the button to pick up the call. The face of a good friend surprised him.
"Trowa! What are you doing, calling me at four in the morning?"
"Oh, sorry about that Quatre. I must have forgotten about the time difference. I didn't mean to wake you up."
Quatre waved it away. "Don't worry about it. I wasn't sleeping, so you didn't wake me up."
Trowa frowned. "You stayed up again."
"Don't worry about it. I'm not -- " he yawned and finished, " - tired."
Trowa raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything about it. He knew when it came to sleep Quatre was really stubborn about it. "I heard you couldn't find misplaced files."
"Yes," Quatre said with a sigh. "A.C. 204."
Trowa nodded. "Didn't you send those files?"
"Huh? Send them? Where?"
"Remember last year you sent a lot of information to the Sanc Kingdom's computer so you could work on it there?"
Quatre hit his head with his hand. "I can't believe that! I've been looking for something that's not even here. Now, all I have to do is get into Sanc's computer system and -- "
A beeping noise cut him off. The screen Quatre had been talking to Trowa on got a large document with words on it. Trowa's picture was reduced to the corner.
"That's done," he said.
Quatre's eyes widened. "You got all that information for me? Thank you, Trowa!"
Trowa shrugged. "Don't mention it. That's what friends are for."
Quatre grinned. "I'm glad Duo contacted you."
"How could you tell?"
"I think he's the only way you could have found out. Thanks a lot Trowa, you saved me a lot of work."
"I said, `don't mention it.'" Trowa smirked slightly. "Get some sleep Quatre."
"Thanks Trowa, good-bye."
Their link was then terminated. Quatre sighed and got a printout of all the information for last year. It never struck him that Trowa could help. That would have saved him a lot of time.
Rashid came into the room empty handed. The reason he left was to get Quatre some strong coffee.
"What's wrong, Rashid?" Quatre asked.
"Master Quatre, I think it is time you get some sleep. When was the last time you sleep? Six days ago?"
"But Rashid, I got last year's information. Now I have to organize it..."
"No. I'll organize it. You're young, you need your rest."
"But -- "
"No `buts', go to bed."
Quatre sighed heavily. He stood up and stretched his arms over his head, stifling another yawn. "Alright," he said as he put his arms back down. "I'll go. You know what to do, right?"
"Yes, yes," Rashid said as he pushed him to the door.
"Good night, Rashid."
"Good night, Master Quatre."
Quatre climbed up the stairs and went into his room. He took off his pants and put some bottom pajamas in place of them. He took his vest off and let it fall to the floor. On the way to his bed, he lazily unbuttoned his shirt and, when he got to the bed, took the shirt off and threw it somewhere - remembering to clean it up in the morning.
Quatre looked over at his alarm clock that read `4:36 A.M.' He didn't feel like setting his alarm clock, or waking up in an hour, so he unplugged it. Now, he turned to his bed and pulled away the covers. Climbing into it and being engulfed by its coolness from no one sleeping in it. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
It was about eight in the morning when Destiny wandered into Quatre's room. She grinned when she saw his sleeping form sprawled on the bed. She snuck over to the side of the bed and pounced on top of him.
Quatre's eyes shot open and he sat up quickly. "What the -- " He noticed Destiny, holding Mr. Cuddles to her, sitting on him and grinning, and he groaned. "Destiny. Please don't ever jump on me there. A little higher, a little lower, fine. But not there." He picked the girl up and laid her down next to him. "What time is it?"
She shrugged. "I don't know how to tell time."
"You don't, do you?" He sighed and rubbed his temple. "Is Uncle Duo up?"
"Uh-huh."
"Then it must be about lunch time." He looked over at her. "Why'd you let me sleep in?"
She shrugged. "Quatre," she said as she looked at her bear. "Can we go to Uncle Duo's house now? I don't want to be mean, but it's been a long time!"
He smiled. "I have a few more things to do, but we'll leave when your mother wants to."
She nodded. "Can I go ask her now?" she made a move to get up, but Quatre caught her. "Let's let everyone eat some breakfast and get their brains motivated first, okay?"
She was taken by surprise as Quatre pulled her over and began to tickle her. She laughed and kicked and tried to break free, dropping Mr. Cuddles on the floor in the process. Quatre laughed with much amusement. After a moment of her yelling `Stop, Quatre, please!' he finally stopped.
She rolled off the bed and landed on her feet. As she picked up Mr. Cuddles she said, "You can't tickle me anymore, okay?"
Quatre pushed his covers to the side and threw his feet over the edge. "Okay," he said as he stood to his feet. He bent over to crack anything that needed it. He knew it wasn't good for your back, but it felt good.
"Wow, you can do that?" Destiny asked. "I can touch my toes, too!" She bent over and touched her feet and then stood back up grinning.
"Yes, you can. So why's it such a revelation that I can do it?"
"Well, your legs are longer than mine."
Quatre got a funny look on his face. He got down to his knees and hugged her. She got a surprised look from the sudden move. "What's that for?" she asked.
"I've waited all my life for that." Quatre pulled away from her and looked at her directly. "I'm taller than someone - finally! Thank you."
She sighed at the overdramatic scene. "I'm short."
"No you aren't. You're four."
She nodded. "I'm short for most kids that are four."
"Who told you that?"
"Uncle Wufei."
Quatre rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it. Come on, let's go get some breakfast."
She pointed at his chest. "Aren't you going to put a shirt on?"
Quatre looked down. "I thought it was kind of chilly." He threw the top part of his pajamas on and looked at her. "How's that?"
"Good," she said. "Can we get breakfast, now?"
Quatre nodded. "Sure."
***
"So, you busy people are finally going to come visit us, eh?" Duo asked over breakfast. Today, breakfast was pancakes, bacon, sausage, milk, juice, and blueberry muffins. And best of all: it was free.
"Yes," Quatre responded. "But now that we're leaving and going to be back on Earth soon, I'm going to start making more frequent trips back here."
Duo nodded and continued digging into his feast before him. Relena looked up, but didn't say anything. She just continued cutting her food; amazed that Quatre was still going to be staying with them.
Destiny turned to her left, where her mommy was sitting and pulled her sleeve. "Can we do something fun on Uncle Duo's colony? Can we go to the zoo, Mommy? Uncle Duo says they have a zoo. Please?"
Relena smiled. "You know who you have to ask for that."
Destiny looked across the table. "Can we, Quatre?"
Quatre smiled, too. "We'll see." He glanced over to Duo, who smirked and continued drowning his pancakes with syrup.
***
The shuttle ride to L2 seemed quicker than the ride to L4 from Earth. Quatre got to sit next to Relena, because Destiny wanted to sit next to Uncle Duo. He could faintly hear Duo telling her a story about how he tripped and fell down a pile of junk once. Destiny found it quite amusing as Duo thoroughly described how greasy and hurt he was afterwards. With all of his stories, he was able to keep Destiny distracted until they got to the airport.
Duo's house wasn't too far away. Duo said it was a walking distance, but all eyes were on Relena to see if she wanted to walk. She said she's love to and that it'd be good for her. So they walked off. When the house was in sight, Duo picked up the pace. He got to the door and pushed it open, stepping to the side for them to go in.
Destiny went in, followed by Relena, then Quare - who mumbled to Duo, "You should lock your doors." Duo gave him a look before he went in himself, shutting the door behind him.
Destiny jumped onto the couch and bounced on it until she got a stern look from Relena. Then Destiny slid off and turned her attention away from her mommy to look at Uncle Duo.
"Hey, Uncle Duo, where's Aunt Hilde?"
"I dunno. Probably buyin' groceries. She knew I was coming home today." He winked at Destiny as he collapsed onto his couch. "C'mon in, everyone! Make yourself at home! I'm turnin' the TV on now." And Duo grabbed the remote and turned the television on with it, like he said.
Destiny decided to try to get on the couch again without getting in trouble with her mommy. She didn't. She grinned at Duo, who grinned back. Duo turned to the television and tried to find something on that she could watch.
"Mind if I get something to snack on?' Quatre asked as he headed for the kitchen.
Duo shrugged. "Get me somethin' too, will ya?"
Relena slowly sat on the couch, on the other side of Destiny. She rested her elbow on the arm of the couch and her head on her hand.
Quatre came back into the room just as the door opened. Hilde came in with a sack of groceries. The first thing she saw was Quatre. She put the sack on the ground and squealed, "Blond boy!" as she ran over and hugged him.
"M-ms. Hilde?"
"Hilde."
"Yes, um... what's this?"
"I heard you were back on L4 working your butt off. I thought you'd need a hug."
Quatre hugged her back. "Thanks."
Hilde patted his back and turned around. She saw Duo; they stared into each other's eyes for a minute before they both broke into big smiles. She walked over behind the couch and Duo turned around. They hugged each other.
"Welcome home," Hilde said. "I missed you." Their hug turned into a far from friendly kiss. If you could call it just a kiss Relena diverted her daughter's eyes away from the scene that she felt Destiny was too young to witness.
"Duo," Hilde said as she broke away. "I have to go get the groceries." Duo smirked. He watched her head towards the door, grab the sack, and close the door. She turned and looked over at Quatre, who had a surprised look on his face. She gave him a sly look. "Don't be jealous, Quatre. You want a kiss like that, too?"
Quatre shook his head viciously with eyes wider than usual. Duo and Hilde laughed at his reaction. Hilde walked back towards the couch. "Hi Relena," she greeted her blonde friend. She looked over at Destiny and grinned. "Hey, you! Are you listening to your mommy?"
"Yes, Aunt Hilde."
"Good!" She said and walked in front of the couch to the kitchen. As she passed Duo, he leaned forward and smacked her right on the hind. That made her jump and look at him. "Duo," she hissed in a `not-in-front-of-people' tone.
He grinned. "You were in front of the TV." She rolled her eyes at the bad excuse. She continued on her way to the kitchen, passing Quatre with a wink.
Relena stood up and picked Destiny up with her She decided it was time for some `girl talk'. She could have Destiny eat something while she and Hilde talked. She excused herself and took Destiny into the kitchen. Quatre watched them go and then he headed to the couch to sit next to Duo. He held up the small bag of potato chips he had been holding so Duo could get some.
Duo shoved a handful into his mouth and looked over at Quatre. Quatre could tell he had something on his mind, so as soon as Duo swallowed Quatre decided to ask.
"So what do you want me in space for Duo?"
"I still don't know what'cha mean. We wanted to see ya."
The subject shifted a bit. Quatre glanced over towards the kitchen and back to Duo. "You really love her, don't you Duo?"
Duo grinned. "Yeah, I do. I'm gonna marry her, aren't I?"
It took a moment, but Quatre understood what he meant. "You... you... Congratulations!"
"Yeah, well," Duo looked slightly guilty. "I haven't asked her yet. I haven't even bought her a ring. Actually, I was wonderin' if you could help."
"Huh?"
"When I do have to propose, will you help me?"
"Help you?"
"Yeah."
Quatre crossed his arms. "What do you want me to do, Duo? Whisper what to say?" A smile began to appear on Duo's face and Quatre shook his head. "You just have to tell her how much you care and then say, `Ms. Hilde Schbeiker, will you marry me?' It's not that difficult, is it?"
"Well... I dunno if I can do it. Maybe if you were in the same room... that's it! I can propose at a restaurant and you can be at a nearby table."
"Wouldn't she be bound to notice me just sitting there staring at you two?"
"No, it'll be like one of those secret agent movie things. You'll be hiding behind a menu spying on us."
Quatre sighed. "How etiquette."
Duo gave him puppy dog eyes. "Pl-e-e-a-a-se-e? I do stuff for you all the time!"
"Like...?"
"Like... I'm providing you with a place to stay now, aren't I?"
Quatre sighed. "I'll see what I can do. I can't promise anything. And this is just a favor, the favors you've done for me are irrelevant."
"Thanks, Quatre. I really owe ya."
"Sure. So when are we going to do this?"
Duo shrugged. "I... I'll let you know."
Meanwhile, Relena and Hilde were having a discussion in the kitchen. Destiny was happily eating a couple cookies, oblivious to what they were talking about. Relena and Hilde were standing by a counter, having a pretty quiet conversation as Hilde put everything in the grocery bag away.
"So, you two have a strong bond, huh?" Relena asked her petite friend.
"Yes," Hilde said. She glanced over at Destiny and back to Relena and said in a lower voice. "Such a strong bond that I have to take you-know-what pills."
Relena's eyes narrowed slightly. "Okay, Hilde, what's going on? You two aren't that protective. Are you being careful just to mock my mistake?"
"No, Relena. It's nothing like that at all. I just... Remember that time we went to Earth and Duo said we used protection?" She didn't wait for Relena to nod; she knew Relena remembered that. "He didn't mean anything by it. He was directing that towards me. You see, the night before Quatre called us we..." she trailed off; knowing Relena would understand the blank. "Well, this is the truth: he was mad at me. I had us use protection. That was just once. He was upset at me. It wasn't directed at you."
Relena got a small, understanding smile on her face. She nodded. "I had a feeling Duo wasn't that careful."
Hilde nudged her. "While we're on the subject, have you heard from you-know-who, living you-know-where, about you-know-what?"
In a soft tone, Relena replied, "You mean Heero, who's in space, and about Destiny?" Hilde nodded and Relena sighed. "I haven't talked to him in a long time, no."
"When was the last time?"
"Hm. Four years ago!" Hilde frowned and patted her back somewhat encouraging.
"It's okay, Relena. He'll come around... he always does."
Relena shook her head. She turned around to see her daughter. Destiny was sitting her chair, looking back with her Prussian blue eyes. No more cookies and milk. The only evidence were the crumbs on a napkin and her milk moustache. She smiled. "I'm done, Mommy."
Relena smiled. "Okay. We can go back out to the living room." She looked over at Hilde. "Coming?"
Hilde folded the now empty paper bag with a smile. "I'll be right out... and I can take care of her napkin and cup."
"Are you sure? I can -- "
"No, it's all right. I've got it."
Relena nodded. She took Destiny's hand and guided her out to the living room She noticed Quatre and Duo talking quietly on the couch.
"I'll let you know somehow when I've got it and I'm ready," Duo said in a low voice.
Quatre caught Relena out of the corner of his eye. Duo turned to see what he was looking at and his eyes widened. He wondered how long she had been standing there.
Relena crossed her arms. "What are you two talking about?" She asked suspiciously.
"Um..." Duo looked to Quatre for help.
Quatre cleared his throat and looked back to Relena. "Well, Relena. It is someone's birthday In April and someone else's birthday in May."
"Yeah," Duo put in. "And I need to buy presents for the people who are anonymous."
Relena smiled, understand what two people they meant. "We'll just go back in the kitchen," and she turned to come face-to-face with Hilde. Relena smiled and pushed her back in. Destiny followed confusedly behind.
Duo looked at Quatre and smiled. "Thanks for lying for me, Quatre."
"Don't put it that way," Quatre winced.
"Girls seem to have the idea that they have to tell their friends everything they find out."
Quatre shrugged. "Sure." He smiled. "You helped me with my excuse, now you have a reason to ask me to help you propose to Hilde."
Duo didn't get what Quatre just said. But he understood the point. He pointed at him. "She does act like you."
"She who?"
"Destiny."
Quatre grinned at the comment; he was being related to an innocent little kid.
***
After that, what happened that evening was rather interesting. There were only three rooms that could be slept in: Hilde and Duo's room, the spare room, and the living room.
Duo said that he and Hilde could keep their room, Relena and Destiny could stay in the spare room, and Quatre could get comfortable on the couch. Hilde said that Relena and Destiny should have their room, since the bed is bigger, and Quatre could get the spare room and she and Duo could sleep on the couch.
Well, Relena didn't want to take Hilde and Duo's bedroom, and Quatre refused to sleep in a bed when he knew Hilde wouldn't have one. And Duo didn't want to sleep without Hilde in the same room as him.
Hilde and Quatre had a small battle about who would get the bed in Duo and Hilde's room. Quatre wanted her and Duo to stay in their own room. So somehow in the entire configuration it ended up that way. Relena and Destiny got the spare room, Hilde got the bed in her room, Quatre got the chair in the living room and Duo go the couch. Duo was quite confused how he got that, too. Although deep down he knew that he wouldn't be able to be good if he and Hilde were alone in a room.
"Hey Duo," Quatre's voice broke through the darkness. "How..."
"I'm telling ya Q," Duo said, breaking Quatre out of what he was going to ask. "You never can tell with girls. All I can say is `expect the unexpected'."
Quatre nodded. He squirmed into the chair to get comfortable into sleeping sitting up. "Thanks for the great love advice."
"Don't worry," Duo mumbled. "You have any questions, just ask me - Casanova." That was the last thing he said before drifting off to dream land. Quatre mumbled something inaudible before he, too, fell asleep.
***
Quatre woke up to a pounding noise. He looked over to the couch to see Duo wasn't there. He made a mental note to stop sleeping in... and making sure people didn't let him sleep in.
He got off the chair and moaned. He had a kink in his neck and it hurt a lot. He heard that pounding noise again and looked down the hall to Duo standing outside his and Hilde's room.
"C'mon Hilde, open the door!"
"I'm dressing, Duo!"
Duo grinned evilly. "Nothing I haven't seen before... c'mon."
"I have a feeling if I let you in now, we won't come out for a few hours."
Quatre smirked slightly. Duo sighed and started banging on the door again. "C'mon baby! Do you know what it's like to sleep on the couch?"
"No, but I've given you enough experiences for you to know."
Duo leaned against the wall and looked to his left. His eyes widened slightly when he noticed Quatre looking at him. "You... didn't... hear any of that, did you?"
Quatre smiled at Duo before he walked down the hall and to the bathroom door, which was shut. He sighed and looked over at Duo. "Who's in the bathroom?"
Duo shrugged. "It's been shut since I woke up. I don't think anyone's in it, I think someone accidentally shut the door."
"Oh, okay." Quatre tapped on the door lightly. When he didn't hear an answer he turned the doorknob and pushed it open.
"Hey! Quatre, I'm taking a bath!"
Quatre stopped. "Sorry, Destiny."
"What do you want?"
"I was just going to go to the bathroom and get dressed. Sorry." He began to close the door again.
"Go ahead," she told him.
Quatre laughed weakly. "You and your mother using the bathroom at the same time is quite different than us."
"Because you're a boy?"
Quatre nodded. "Yeah."
"Oh, okay, I won't look." She covered her eyes to prove it.
Quatre smiled. "No, I'll just wait out here, okay?"
"Okay."
Quatre nodded and closed the door. He turned to Duo, who shrugged. Duo turned back to the door he was standing at. He was about to knock on it again, when Hilde came out. Simultaneously, Relena came out of the spare room.
"It's about time," Duo said. Hilde sighed and walked out. She gestured for Duo to go ahead and enter the room, but he shook his head. "I'm not fully up yet," he explained. "Sleep on the couch and you'll see what I mean." Quatre nodded in agreement and rubbed his sore neck, which made the two girls laugh. Duo grinned, walked over to Relena, and rested his head on her shoulder. "Next time, Hilde and Destiny can get the spare room, Quatre can get the couch and Relena can sleep in my room with me."
Relena smirked. "I understand what you're implying Duo," she said slyly. "But I don't think you have anything to offer me."
"Ooh," Quatre said. He tried not to laugh. Hilde, however, burst out laughing. Duo picked his head off of Relena's shoulder and gave her a look.
"Oh, shame on you," he said. "I'll bet I've got things more interesting to look at than Mr. Perfect Soldier."
Relena gave him a look back. "I don't know... I haven't seen him in a long time, and I can bet -- "
Duo reached down to his jeans. "You want to do a comparison? Huh?" He grinned. He wasn't going to let this joke end.
Relena waved her hand at him. "No, that's quite alright."
"Mommy!"
Relena turned her head to the bathroom door. "I'm called," she said as she headed to the door and went in.
Hilde too wasn't going to allow this gag to stop. She nudged Duo. "Well, come on. I'll do a comparison."
"Between me and Heero?"
"No, you and Quatre."
Quatre's eyes widened, as they both gave him evil looks. "Okay, guys," he said nervously. "That joke is over. I'm... uh... when's breakfast? I think I'll go fix it." He walked pass them quickly, just as nervous.
Duo and Hilde started to laugh. "We really have to stop picking on him," Hilde said. "We do it every time we see him."
"Yeah," Duo agreed. "But it's fun."
"Yeah, but it's getting mean."
"Okay, okay. I won't do it as often anymore."
Hilde gave him a gentle tug on his braid. "Good."
"You did a good job making a bath by yourself," Relena commented as she towel dried her daughter's hair.
"Thank you, Mommy." Destiny replied. Relena handed her a pink shirt to put on. As she put it on she asked, slightly muffled, "Can you do my hair that way again, Mommy?"
"What way, honey?"
"The way you used to wear it. With the two sides tied in the back."
"Oh," Relena said. She smiled at her daughter. "Well, go get your hairbrush out of your bag and bring it to me. I'll fix it that way, okay?"
Destiny nodded. She ran into her room and over to her bag. She unzipped a side and got out her hairbrush and two pink ribbons. Then she skipped back into the bathroom. "Here you go, Mommy! Can you put my hair like that, please?"
"Yes," Relena said, glancing around for where she could put Destiny. When she wasn't sure of where she could stand her up at, Relena sighed. "Let's go out to the living room, okay?"
"Okay," Destiny said, taking the accessories with her. Relena turned the lights off and followed. Destiny was standing in front of the television. Duo, who was sitting on the couch behind her, smirked.
"Hey, Destiny. You make a better door than a window."
Destiny turned around and gave him a confused look. "Huh?"
Duo pointed to the television. "I can't see."
"Oh, sorry," Destiny said and sat down.
"Oh, Duo. Leave her alone," Hilde called from the kitchen.
Relena walked over and sat on the floor behind her. She took the hair accessories and began to do Destiny's hair the way she used to have hers when she was younger.
"You don't have to help, Quatre," Hilde said as she stacked some toast on a plate.
"No, it's alright," Quatre said with a smile. He pulled down a couple glasses from a cabinet.
Hilde glanced over to the clock on the microwave and back to Quatre. "You can take one glass out of that group. Duo's only gonna have a half hour to eat his breakfast."
Quatre gave her a funny look. "Duo may need his vitamins. Milk makes your teeth and bones strong."
"Milk makes my body go-o-o-o-d!" Duo's voice could be heard through the walls.
Hilde tried not to laugh at his comment as Quatre shook his head. He turned to carry the cups out to the table. Hilde glanced over at him and looked down to the ground. She couldn't stand it anymore.
"Quatre."
Quatre stopped what he was doing and turned around, noting the seriousness in the usually cheery, petite girl's voice. "Yes?"
"What do you think of Heero?"
"Heero? He's a rather nice guy. He tries to do things with the best intentions, which I -- "
"That's not what I mean. What do you think of what he's doing?"
"Uh... Relena and Destiny? I don't know. I guess it's for the girls' best interest. I mean... Imagine Duo is cold, ready to kill, and fighting with himself inside. What would you do? What do you think Duo would do?"
Hilde got the point he was trying to make. She guessed the best way to prove her understanding was to answer. "I guess he'd try to get control of himself for everyone's safety... But four years?"
Quatre leaned against a counter with a lament look in his eyes. "I grew up in wealthy surroundings. I used to look down on myself for what I am and wasn't around other people a lot - especially my father because he was so busy. I had bodyguards follow me everywhere. But I never knew how fortunate I was.
"My friends have told me stories, and I've felt feelings that one would think they could only feel in an asylum. Heero acts as if his humanity was buried when he was a child. It will take him a while to feel those again. Although, I never feel him so nice and calm except when he's around Relena. She somehow sets him free. He doesn't show it... but that's just the soldier instincts in him. I truly believe he can do this, if not for himself, then for his two girls."
Hilde sighed. "I guess you're right. I can't fight with that... especially when I have no logic of my own."
Quatre opened his mouth to protest when the phone rang. Hilde walked over and picked it up.
"Hello? Yes. Okay, I'll tell him. Buh-bye." Hilde hung the phone up and turned toward the living room. "Duo! That was your boss! He said they have a car that needs special parts and If you can get thee in fifteen minutes he's gonna give you a raise."
Duo ran in. He took a piece f toast off the plate and gave her a peck on the cheek. "See ya." He put the toast in his mouth and made a beeline for the front door. Sparing everyone a wave before he left.
"Don't slam the -" Hilde winced when he pulled the door real hard and fast, creating a loud noise.
Destiny jumped up and ran into the dining room, her two braids tied together flapping behind her. "I'm hungry!" she proclaimed as she climbed up a chair. Relena came in and smiled at Hilde. "He sure wants that raise, huh?"
Hilde grinned almost evilly. No - it was evil all right. "What raise? There's no raise. I just told him he'd get one so he's get moving. That lazy braided bum, gosh I love him."
Quatre and Relena exchanged confused glances.
***
Hilde had relayed the schedule to them. Duo went to work part time at an auto repair shop until noon. Reason being, he knew the owner of the shop. Hilde would work with the parts they had for the sweepers ground. At noon, they ate lunch together and then her and Duo would continue in their scraps until they got no more calls or felt like quitting.
Hilde had apologized that she couldn't be able to be with them. But Quatre had waved it off and said Destiny had wanted to go to the zoo, anyways. So, this took the three to the zoo, which wasn't very far from Duo and Hilde's house.
When they got in, Destiny wanted to see a bear that may look like Mr. Cuddles. On the way to their first stop, they passed by birds, owls, panthers, and a lion. Quatre stopped in front of the lion's cage. It was just lying there... asleep. The two girls noticed Quatre and stopped also.
"What's wrong, Quatre?" Relena asked.
Quatre shook his head. "I was just thinking of the first time I took Destiny to the circus."
"I remember," Destiny said cheerfully. "Aunt Catherine saved me!"
Quatre grinned down at her.
**Flashback**
"What's that, Quatre?" Two-year-old Destiny pointed to a cage of birds to the right of the elephants.
"Doves."
"Ooh."
Quatre grinned. "And after the show, I'm going to take you back to see Uncle Trowa and Aunt Catherine."
"Uncle Twowa," she said rocking back and forth. She'd met him before.
After the show, Quatre kept his promise. He took Destiny to the back. She was looking at all the animals in their cages when Quatre led her to a girl with curly brown hair.
Catherine smiled at Destiny. She tuned her head to look behind her into the tent. "He's back there somewhere."
Quatre nodded and went in. Destiny was about to follow him when she realized who Catherine was. She tugged on the end of her dress and Catherine looked down to her.
"You almost hurt Uncle Twowa."
Catherine smiled. "I tried not to... he's my brother."
"Oh," Destiny said, surprised.
"Come on," Catherine started to head into the tent. Destiny began to follow her, but she was distracted again. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a lion in its cage. It had let out a big yawn.
Destiny grinned. "Lion kitty." She headed over to the cage.
It didn't take long for Catherine to realize Destiny wasn't behind her She headed back outside and looked around. She saw Destiny over by the lion's cage. She had her hand reached out in-between two bars to try to pet the lion inside. It had been trying to sleep and was now quite grumpy; it turned its head to the girl.
""O my God," Catherine yelped. She ran over and grabbed Destiny, pulling her away from the lion before he could do anything.
The commotion brought Quatre out, Trowa not far behind him. Catherine told the two what had happened.
"Wow, looks like Aunt Catherine saved you," Quatre told the little girl who smiled in return.
**End Flashback**
Quatre turned away from the lion. "Yeah, she saved you."
***
"Do you have any uncles, Uncle Duo?"
"Nope."
"Do you have any aunts?"
"Nope."
"I do. I have a lot. I have an uncle and aunt that lives on Mars!"
Duo grinned. "You do?" He tried to sound surprised.
"Uh-huh. Uncle Milliards is Mommy's brother."
"Yeah?"
"Uh-huh. But I never met him."
Duo nodded. He looked back down at the item in front of him. He got a light in his eye and looked up at Destiny. "Does your person wear a hat?"
"Nope!"
"Aw man," Duo whined and knocked down just two of his people. Destiny giggled.
The phone rang and Hilde bolted for it. "Let this be it!" she yelled as she picked it up. She had entered to win a cruise ride on the Pacific Ocean a couple days ago, which is why she always answered the phone when it rang. "Hello? Yes... yes she is..." She pulled the phone down and looked out to the living room where Relena was sitting on the chair, reading a book and Quatre was laying on the couch look like he was in deep thought.
"Relena." Relena looked up. Hilde shook the phone and Relena got the message. She got up, sat the book down, and went over to take the phone. "Hello? Yes, this is she. What? No... No... Oh my God. Yes, I'll be there as soon as I can." Relena hung the phone up and turned around to see everyone looking at her. "I have to go back to Earth now. Pagan is dying."
The End of Chapter 6
Okay, first of all, I have gotten so many reviews. Thank you! I'm glad you all like this so far! Second, chapter 8 (two chapters from now, the chapter after the next, whichever way you want to think of it) is going to have Heero in it, for all of you sitting there wondering. Third, the next chapter is going to take some time to get out, I have to revise it slightly. Lastly, as always, thanks for reading!