Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.
Warning: Fluff
Mindless Babble:
Duo sat down to a table almost breaking underneath the weight of all the food piled on top of it. Quatre and Wufei had made all of his favorites including a huge roast turkey with stuffing and sizzling rice soup. His mouth watered at the sight.
Trowa laughed. "Quatre, I think you could of made him a grilled cheese sandwich and have gotten the same reaction after all that hospital food!"
Duo nodded vigorously, agreeing whole heartedly. He started loading up his plate with a bit of everything. He was just pouring the puffed rice into the steaming broth when Quatre laughed.
"Eat up, Duo! Afterwards, I've got something special planned for you!'
In an instant, Duo's eyes clouded over with fear and confusion. He flung himself away from the table violently, colliding with the wall behind him. A framed picture fell from where it had been hanging, glass shattering into a thousand crystal shards. Duo stumbled sideways, falling into a fetal position.
The others had managed to stand up but shock had kept them from doing anything. When Duo crumpled in the corner, Heero finally snapped out of it. He walked slowly towards the trembling boy.
"Duo? It's okay. I'm here," Heero whispered, reaching out to the huddling mass. Duo flinched away curling up even tighter into a ball. " It's okay, Duo. It's me, Heero."
The braided pilot looked up and a hand emerged to reach towards Heero. He grabbed that hand and pulled Duo into a protective hug. Duo whimpered and wrapped his own arms around Heero.
"It'll be alright," Heero whispered. "I'll protect you. I promised to protect all of you, and I will."
Meanwhile the others were trying to regain their composer. Trowa was trying to comfort Quatre, who was absolutely stricken by the fact that he caused his friend so much pain. All he had meant was that he had a special gift for Duo, a welcome home present.
Wufei, on the other hand was lost in a memory that had been sparked by the sight of Heero cradling Duo. It reminded him of a time long ago, the exact moment he had chosen to pilot Shenlong. His wife, Meilan, no Nataku sacrificed her life to save Shenlong and Wufei, to later die in his arms in his field of flowers.
Wufei moved to stand beside Duo and Heero. He knelt and put his hand on Duo's back. He felt the lanky muscles tighten under the black fabric.
"Be strong, Maxwell. We are all here for you." And then to himself, 'That strength includes the strength of Nataku.'
Quatre and Trowa came to stand behind him just as Duo looked up. The fear was still in those purple eyes, but to a lesser degree. He tried to smile for the benefit of Quatre, partially succeeding.
"Duo? Would you come into the living room?" Quatre asked, his voice just a bit shaky. "What I had meant to say was that I had a special gift for you and I wanted to give it to you after dinner. But I think now would be a better time."
Duo nodded. He tried to stand on his own but was still trembling bad enough that his legs just could not support him. Heero slipped his arm under one of Duo's to help hold him up. Together, they made their way into the living room, followed by Wufei, Trowa and Quatre who slipped past them and ran to his room.
The remaining four settled themselves into the seats the stood in front of the fireplace. Heero sat in the cushioned high backed chair with Duo cross-legged at his feet. Trowa and Wufei shared the couch, Trowa leaning forward and Wufei sitting with an ankle resting on the other leg's knee.
Quatre appeared carrying a medium sized, white box tied with a red ribbon. He set it down in front of Duo, grinning from ear to ear.
"I found this when I went grocery shopping this morning. I know you'll just love it."
Duo eyed the young Arab suspiciously while tugging on the ribbon to release it from the bow. He paused as the red band fell to the floor. Had the lid just moved on it's own? It had! Duo reached out and flipped off the lid. Nothing popped out at him so he peered into the box. Beautiful, golden eyes stared right back at him.
Two tiny paws suddenly appeared on the side of the box followed by the rest of the little kitten. It's coat looked like it had gotten in a fight with a paintbrush and lost. It had swirls of red, orange and cream with stripes of black and spots of gray. Under its orange nose was a white spot around its mouth that made it look like it was puckering up for a kiss. The illusion was compounded by the fact that it was stretching as far as it could to touch noses with Duo.
"Do you like her?" Quatre asked. "She was the last of her litter to be adopted and I just couldn't resist. I thought she might make a good companion for you."
Duo grinned. He nodded as he took the little ball of fur out of the box and set her on the floor. The kitten immediately attacked the ribbon that had been on the box. That kept her attention for a whole five seconds and then she turned to find something else to play with. Unfortunately, the object of her next attack was Heero's shoelaces.
"Hey! Cut that out!" Heero pulled his feet away from the vicious attack and proceeded to sit on them.
"Humph! Kittens are weak!" As if she understood him, the kitten jumped onto the armrest next to Wufei. He turned to look at her and asked, "What do you want?"
The tiny kitten reached and bopped him on the nose with just the pads of her paws, no claws. She then turned, hopped down to the floor and scampered into the safety of Duo's lap before Wufei could even react.
Trowa laughed and said, "I think she just showed you up!"
Quatre and Heero joined the laughter. Duo smiled a bit wider. Soon even Wufei had to admit defeat and joined the laughter.
Suddenly Duo stood, the kitten clutched tightly to his chest. He turned and ran up the stairs leaving his friends wondering what just happened. He returned a short while later still carrying the kitten. The boy set the little ball of fluff in Quatre's lap.
The blond noticed a silver ID bracelet around the kittens' neck. He could tell that it had, until recently, been longer. He also noticed that there had been a name scratched into the tag part.
"I guess the kitten now has a name," he said, reading the tag. "Tora-chan. Doesn't that mean "
Heero filled in the translation. "Little Tiger."
Later that night, after everyone else had gone to bed, Duo picked up his sleeping kitten and walked to his room. There he found the last surprise of the night. A vase full of wild flowers sat on his dresser that had not been there earlier. There was a note attached to them written in Wufei's handwriting.:
To Duo,
Be strong.
From Meilan AKA Nataku
