Disclaimer: Don't own them, wish I did, but wishing don't make it so.

Contact: Kohaku_Neesan @ yahoo.com (without the spaces)

Notes: //writing// "speech"

And With Them I Have Love

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A blank stack of writing paper sits on a desk, then a pen, held in a strong, slightly scarred, but elegant hand, touches the paper and starts to write leaving a trail of ink in neat, flowing script.

//It's been 12 years now since the last war. We've all grown up and moved on with our lives and have become quite successful too.

Duo went to college and got a degree in engineering. He loves it, he always did like building things and making them better, last year he designed the tallest colony building and two years before that he designed a bridge on Earth that even the Gundams would have had trouble destroying.

Trowa, well he left the circus and became a wildlife conservationist. He's built wildlife preserves all over Earth for endangered species and has instituted a number of successful breeding programs. His sister Catherine is still with the circus and visits him during the off-season.

Quatre still runs WEI and after the reconstruction period ended Quatre kept the Maganacs on with the company and opened a permanent construction branch, appointing Rashid to manage it. Duo hires them for all his projects, they're pretty busy and they certainly don't mind. Quatre of course is not to be left out and eventually he always shows up at the construction sites to help out. He says working at the site gets him out of the office and keeps him from turning into a boring, out-of-shape executive. It's working so far.

Wufei left the Preventers after 4 years; he went to college and got degrees in philosophy and World history. He still lives on Earth and is a teacher now; he really enjoys his work with kids. He also gets to make sure our story is remembered properly in history. Some historians tried to twist it to make it sound glorified and turn us into something akin to the Knights of Camelot, Wufei didn't like that and set the record straight. I would have loved to be there for that.

I know I should have mentioned that when Trowa went to Earth to begin his new job he moved in with Wufei. Trowa is always bringing home one orphaned animal after another and every time he does, Wufei says that Trowa should have taken up residence at the zoo. He doesn't really mind though since it makes Trowa happy, but they did have to move out of their apartment and into a much bigger house. Trowa made sure it came with a really big yard too.

Relena is no longer Vice Foreign Minister, now she's the President, looks like she is a World leader once again. She's been elected 2 times now and I think she'll probably win a 3rd election since the people love her. She got married a couple years ago and has a little girl now, her mother loves having a grandchild and Relena couldn't be happier.

Then there's Dorothy. After all the trouble she instigated she surprised everyone and took Relena's place as Vice Foreign Minister. Now she's right in the middle of things where she always wanted to be but now she's not stirring up trouble.

Lady Une still heads the Preventers and 3 years ago she welcomed Mariemaia into the agency. She's so proud of her, and so are the five of us; she's grown into an admirable young woman. Despite the fact that Trowa isn't really her uncle, Mariemaia seems to consider him so, and extends that honor to the rest of us. Surprisingly, Wufei acts more like a doting uncle than any of us and we're pretty bad.

Sally Po became a doctor again; she now patches up Preventer Agents and works in a free hospital administrated by Iria Winner. I had wondered how long it would take her to realize what she was missing; she's a stubborn lady.

Noin and Zechs married, finally, and have two sons and a daughter. They still live on Mars and the two of them run the Preventers branch there. Relena goes out to visit them every year, she's finally gotten the brother she always wanted to know and he has his little sister back.

Howard retired a few years ago, he spent most of his retirement on the beach. Until Duo convinced him he needed an experience engineer and got Howard to move to space with him. But I think Duo was just worried about Howard living on his own and thought giving him something to do would keep Howard busy and keep him where Duo could fuss over the old codger. I'm pretty sure Howard saw through him, but he's so fond of Duo I don't think he had the heart to say no.

As for me.//

"Heero! Hurry up we're going to be late. Duo is getting impatient."

Heero looked up and called out into the hall. "I'll be there in a minute Quatre."

//I guess I forgot to mention that Duo and Quatre had started dating about the time Duo went to college. Later when Duo was a junior, Quatre went to L1 and dragged me away, I've never regretted going with him. I can't regret a decision that led me to live with 2 beautiful men that love me, and whom I love back. The 3 of us have been living together for about 8 years now and it's been great.

After the last war I learned how to garden and took up writing. I write science fiction novels mostly and they're quite popular; but recently I've begun writing a book about the five of us. Someone spilled though and it got back to the press. The book isn't even half finished and I have people offering me movie deals. Can you believe it?

12 years. a lot has happened since then, but we still remember the day the Gundams were destroyed for good, the day we began our lives free of war, no longer soldiers. The five of us celebrate it together every year no matter what we are doing or where we are. //

Duo wrapped his arms around Heero's shoulders from behind and leaned down to bring his face level with Heero's. "Are you done yet? Lets go!" Duo grabbed Heero's arm and pulled the Japanese man from his chair.

Heero laughed, scribbled one last line on the page and let his braided lover drag him away, hurriedly tossing his pen down on his desk. "Alright, I'm coming." They were nearly to the door when Quatre stopped Duo.

"Hold up Duo, he needs his coat and your tie is crooked." Quatre handed Heero his suit jacket and took a moment to capture Heero's lips in a fast but loving kiss then moved over to where Duo was looking in the mirror and fiddling with his tie. Quatre batted his hands away and straightened the silk knot while Heero shrugged into his dress jacket.

Quatre grabbed the lapels on Duo's jacket and gave him a teasing kiss. "You two look very sexy."

Duo grinned at his blonde lover. "Thanks Q, so do you. But unfortunately we don't have time for that now." He winked and opened the door, hooking his arms through Heero and Quatre's and ushering them out of the house. "We're going to miss the party! I'll bet Wufei and Trowa are already there and THEY had to come here from Earth."

Quatre pulled the door shut behind them and let Duo lead them away; he gazed at Heero. It never ceased to amaze him how much Heero had changed after coming to live with him and Duo. Quatre and Duo, who had fallen hard for each other quite unexpectedly, had been thrilled with the changes they began to see in the man they had both fallen in love with as teenagers during the war. They had happily helped to peel away the layers of sadness and loneliness that surrounded Heero's heart and as they had, the ice melted from Heero's eyes. Now when he looked at them, the emotions he felt for them were clear in his eyes and it warmed the two men to know they had made him so happy.

In Heero's office the pen he'd tossed had rolled across the wood surface and onto the paper, and there just by the tip of the pen, was the line he had written before leaving.

// I never believed that I could reclaim my soul, my life or have love after war, but now I have my life and my soul in my arms every day and with them I have love. //

~*Owari*~