FireImp- Duo isn't a morning person is he?
Chibi-muse Duo- (wings are crimped, loose hairs are sticking out everywhere and looks like living dead)
Chibi-muse Quatre- (screams and hides behind LL)
Chibi-muse Trowa- .
Chibi-muse Wufei- (pretty much the same as Duo, except his hair is more wild and he's wearing a little bathrobe with holes in the back for his wings)
Chibi-muse Heero- (using hairspray and a lighter to make a bonfire in the backyard)
LL and FireImp- Read and enjoy! (all sit and pull bags of popcorn out of the extra-large pockets of Wufei's bathrobe)
Duo only blinked at the clock blaring in his face before smacking it across the room. He rolled over. and landed on the floor with a loud thud. Then he remembered. He'd taken the couch last night.or maybe he just hadn't made it to the bed. No, this was the bed; he'd just been lying on the edge. Whatever, he was now thoroughly awake and his head throbbed. How much had he drunk at Howard's last night? He didn't recall drinking very much, but maybe it was the fight that had made his head hurt like hell. At the memory of the fight, his whole body started to hurt in various places, some of which he preferred not to think about. He wrapped a bathrobe around his bare chest and then winced at all the movement. He stumbled into the kitchen, and the welcoming scent of bacon made him smile despite all his aches and pains. Ri was standing at the stove, spatula in hand, and Re was mixing something in a large bowl, presumably pancakes. Ri looked.surprisingly well for the morning after a few pints and a bar fight. Neither of them had any visible marks on them from the fight, nor did they seem to be groggy. In fact, Ri seemed obnoxiously perky. He said, "G' morning, ladies," as he slid into a chair and let the table hold up his head.
Ri turned at the sound of his voice and smiled. "Hi Duo! You feel up to breakfast? Or will a beer do for you?" She bounced up and down as she stood by the stove, flipping the bacon so it wouldn't burn. How could anyone be hyper so early in the morning?
Duo lifted his head for an instant, "Both," he said as he succumbed to gravity once again.
At that response and the tone in which it was said, Ri stopped and went to him. "Do you feel all right? You should go back to bed if you're sick."
Her concern was touching, and Duo certainly didn't mind being taken care of by a beautiful young woman, especially not Ri. He briefly considered faking it just so he could get some more doctor-patient time in. But he figured she would catch him at it, so he just shrugged.
Re said from the kitchen. "Ri, sometimes when he says 'both' he might mean that he just wants pancakes and bacon and beer."
Ri blushed. "Yeah, well, um.yeah. Just let us know if you need anything." She bounced back to the stove. (Lady Lynnaya- I'm using the word 'bounce' to describe her a lot, but anyone who has seen me in hyper mode would agree that it's a very fitting word for me)
"Is the coffee ready?" he mumbled.
"Sure is. Help yourself. Ri and I have already had two cups." Re said mischievously.
"Each?"
Ri nodded, a bright light in her eyes. "Yep." She began bouncing around the kitchen as she tried to open another package of bacon.
"Oh, God."
Wufei entered then, shirtless, wiping his face with his hand. "I feel like I've been hit by a Mack truck."
"We felt the same until Howard came up and gave us some kind of concoction and made us feel better. He's such a dear man," said Re.
Duo nearly choked on his coffee when he heard Howard called 'dear', but Ri hadn't had her say.
"He was so concerned about our welfare. He even checked if we had enough blankets and pillows and everything. He even supplied the coffee grounds for us." Ri said with an infuriatingly perky smile.
"There wouldn't happen to be any of the curative left, would there?" Wufei asked.
"I'm afraid not. But we have our own cures." Re said. Wufei looked skeptical. She opened a beer and handed it to him. "Drink this and take a hot shower for the bruises on your ribcage and your left shoulder. I bet they hurt."
"Damn right, they do," he replied as he guzzled the beer.
Re watched him for a moment, and then wondered if he remembered anything about last night, other than the fight. She almost hoped not. She'd made a complete fool of herself, kissing him like that. He'd probably had girlfriends far more sexy and experienced than her. She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts, and returned to the pancakes. Inspiration struck, and though it probably wasn't the wisest thing in the world to do, she added a few handfuls of chocolate chips to the batter. (FireImp: It's good stuff. And, just some food for thought, Re's hands are huge. Just like mine ^_^) Ri heard the familiar clatter of the little morsels of heaven clicking against the bowl, and she turned to her sister with an enormous smile on her face. Re smiled back, both knowing the consequences of combining coffee and chocolate in the older of the sisters this early in the morning. When the pancakes were golden brown, Re dished them out. Duo bit enthusiastically into his breakfast, alternating beer and pancakes. He smiled and said, "Chocolate.I love you guys."
By this time, Quatre and Trowa had awakened and were sitting groggily at the table, their aching heads in their hands. They eyed their pancakes skeptically, but soon discovered that they were not poisonous, just outrageously chocolaty. Wufei took the longest. Being of a set mind and having set ideals about what could be served for breakfast and what couldn't, Re almost had to force-feed him the pancakes. He surrendered quickly, as Ri threatened to pound on his bruises until he cried, and grudgingly ate his first chocolate chip pancake.
"They're not toxic, at least," he grumbled.
Duo translated, "In other words, they're not bad, he's just not used to them."
"I don't need a damned translator, Maxwell."
Re cuffed him as she passed him to reach Quatre's plate. "You're grumpy on a regular basis, but you're worse when you've got a hangover."
He glared at her as she passed by him again and dumped some more pancakes on his plate. The five pilots ate in near silence, and the sisters cleaned up the kitchen in cheerful chatter. Heero asked the others, "How do they do it? God damn them, I wish I felt as good as they did."
"It's not their own doing. They have Howard on their side." Trowa said grimly before sipping his beer.
Heero rolled his eyes. "That explains it."
"Oh yes," Duo interjected, "I believe Ri used the term 'dear' to describe him."
Theirs sounds of gagging and coughing was heard even in the kitchen above the roar of the dishwasher. Re and Ri peered around the doorway at them in confusion. Re said, "I didn't think they were that chocolaty."
Noin's knock at the door brought a chorus of groans from the table. Ri opened it and said softly, "They're suffering from PMS."
Duo said indignantly, "We are not!"
"No, not that PMS. Post- morning syndrome." Noin explained.
Trowa shook his head. "Please, just call it the morning after. There's too much confusion."
Re subtly gestured for Noin to cover the red mark on her throat. Her flush was brief when the twins gave her identical knowing looks, and Noin amended it smoothly.
"The conference room has, yet again, been rescheduled, and our place in line has been moved forward to Wednesday." She announced.
Wufei asked, "What is causing all this moving with the schedules? This is ridiculous."
Noin shrugged. "Either way, we can't discuss our plans until we are in the safety of that sound-proof room. Who knows, we frequent Howard's enough to have led Oz to bug this place."
"You sound so paranoid. Wise, but paranoid," Re observed.
The older sister sent a glare to the younger, and Re stuck out her tongue.
"We'll meet at headquarters at 1500 hours on Wednesday. I expect all of you to be present.and sober." Noin added pointedly.
Re and Ri giggled as they looked at the table full of barely half-awake Gundam pilots. Noin left and the twins recognized the subtle purr of Zechs' convertible's engine. They exchanged another knowing look and grinned. Re suddenly remembered something. "As soon as you guys are sober enough, could you go to the grocery store for us? There's not enough food to last us until Wednesday."
"Yeah. There's only fruits and raw vegetables." Ri elaborated.
"Rabbit food." Re supplemented.
"Chick food," groaned Duo. Ri smacked him.
"No junk food whatsoever." Ri continued.
"We're doomed." Re said with a pleading look and woggle-eyes combo.
Heero said, "All right, we'll go, as long as we get fed."
Ri patted his head comfortingly. "You'll get fed. We promise."
"And it'll be home-cooked. Ri and I happen to be excellent cooks." Re said with pride as she slung an arm across her sister's shoulders.
"Can we get a nap first?" Duo begged.
Ri kissed his forehead. "Certainly. Re and I will draw up a list."
"They're going to need naps for this trip."
The five boys returned to their beds, and the twins pasted a list on the front door for them. Then, they pulled out bandanas and tied back their hair. They found the cleaning supplies and began to work on the little apartment as much as they could. Wufei, Heero and Trowa were hopelessly light sleepers, so they avoided their rooms and cleaned Quatre's and Duo's. Ri found it endearing the way Duo snored ever so lightly in his sleep, and she snuck in a kiss. Re tsked from the doorway. "Seducing men while they sleep. Sister dear, that's entirely unnecessary. You're good enough to get them while they're awake. Now me on the other hand."
Re didn't get to finish her statement. Ri smacked her with a goose down pillow, one of the heavy ones. Re landed gracelessly on her butt on the sofa. Ri stifled her laughter and bit her fist. "Oh shut up," her twin grumbled. "I know I'm clumsy."
"Oh, if that's not the biggest lie of the century," Ri chuckled.
The goose down pillow was airborne yet again and it landed squarely across Ri's abdomen. She fell back onto Duo's bed, and she froze. Duo twitched, muttered something, and glomped Ri to his chest. Re walked in on them and nearly fell over with her amusement. Ri whispered frantically, "Re! Don't just stand there, help me!"
Re said mischievously, "No, never! Would I deprive Duo of such a lovely surprise when he first wakes up?"
"YES!" Duo then decided to move his hand to hold her.chest. Ri blushed and looked pleadingly at her sister. Re had to take the pillow and bury her face in it to smother her laughter.
"Oh, come on, admit it. You really don't want to move."
"But. but. the others. Re!!"
"Oh, fine."
She gently moved Duo's arm over her sister's head and left the pillow with him so the change wasn't so noticeable. Duo rolled over with the pillow and snuggled deeper into the covers. Ri glared at her sister. "Just wait. I'll get you back."
Re chuckled. "I'm certain you will. But I doubt you can rope Wufei into anything. He's too stubborn."
"Just wait."
The boys awoke not too long after, while Ri and Re were in the middle of a game of poker. The two girls were stony-faced, until Ri showed her sister her cards and Re grumbled, "That's the fifth time in a row."
Ri gleefully smiled. "You just suck at poker."
"I give up."
Duo snagged the list off the door. "Is this it?"
Ri nodded as she collected the cards. "Yep."
The boys congregated at the door to pull on their shoes and Duo called, "We'll be back soon."
The door swung shut, and Re muttered, "Don't count on it."
The list was longer than they had expected. What on earth did those two need so much ramen for? Duo shook his head. He shouldered two giant bags of ramen into the cart and continued on. He found Wufei in the meat department, stacking steaks and chicken in his already full arms. Duo helped him settle the meat in the cart and commented casually, "Those two certainly are something."
'Those two' didn't need clarification. Wufei grunted. "I suppose so." After a pause, he admitted, "You would've gotten an eyeful this morning had you seen them."
Duo looked bemused. "I did see them. They looked fine."
"No, before they were awake."
Duo's expression quickly flashed to one of incredulity. "Wufei! You weren't spying on them, were you?"
"No! I had to go through the front room to get to the bathroom. I'm not perverted, Maxwell. Besides, you did enough spying last night for the both of us."
"You were ogling, too," the blushing American said defensively.
Wufei wasn't listening. He remembered them easily enough, even through the gray early-morning haze combined with a hangover. The sheets had been tangled at their feet, kicked off and wrestled to the foot of the bed. Ri and Re were curled toward each other, resembling the symbol of Yin and Yang, one dark, one pale. Their eyelashes cast shadows on their checks, their faces deceptively peaceful and angelic. Their hair was loose and fanned across the pillow that their heads shared, glittering with an icy sheen in the morning light. They were both still in their undergarments, their long, muscled limbs hanging at odd angles off the edge of the bed. Duo surely would have been salivating, just as he had been. He wasn't ashamed to admit that Re was beautiful, but his attraction to her was unforgivable. Nataku was still so fresh in his mind, and the memory of her was still bright in his heart. The strongest woman in the clan, the warrior, the upholder of justice.Oh, God, how he still missed her. Even after all these years, the pain was still strong. He determinedly held back his tears of grief for her. Though he loved her, he was too proud to cry in a public place.
Duo had remained silent during Wufei's meditation, knowing that the young Chinese man was thinking of his lost wife. In all honesty, he felt sorry for him, but that stick was shoved way up his ass, and it would take a serious medical procedure to remove it. He suddenly stopped at the doughnut aisle and loaded up on vanilla cream-filled ones. Quatre had just arrived and was checking off the items they'd already gotten. "Duo.doughnuts aren't on the list. Why are we getting so many?"
"Because." --Duo paused before he blurted that Ri liked them-"I like these things. Besides, we have no dessert or breakfast items. We must have doughnuts!"
Trowa shook his head in silence as he tossed the milk and juice into the cart. Heero hadn't yet come back from the endless aisle of alcohol and bread. Quatre was sent to drag him away from the beer.
Meanwhile, Re and Ri were bored out of their minds. They had succumbed to watching the afternoon news channel after their creative juices completely drained. Little silver ornaments hung from the windows and adorned the boys' beds. Rough sketches of the Gundams and their pilots lay on dressers, in the pockets of shirts and pants, under pillows and other random places. Re had saved the best ones for herself. Ri had begun working on a chain mail tunic of paperclips. The television suddenly blinked off, the accursed result of a shortage in the outlet. Re yelled at the miscreant piece of technology, "Why do you hate me?!"
She flopped onto the sofa in hopelessness. Ri sat to her right at the card table they'd abandoned long before. The coffee table in front of Re was nearly bare, except for Ri's exquisitely intricate little silver doily, a box of paperclips, a few pairs of jewelers pliers, and a bowl of grapes. Re picked a few juicy little grapes and popped them into her mouth. She tossed a handful of them at Ri, expecting them to land on the corner of the table, but her aim was off.depending on which way you looked at it. The grapes bounced off of Ri's bent head, and Re looked sheepish. Ri was forced to retaliate, naturally, and her grape nested in Re's hair. Re glared back at her sister, saw her expression, and they simultaneously dove for the grape bowl. They didn't collide, but instead in a coordinated move they each got a handful of grapes. Re took shelter behind the sofa, and Ri collected her paperclips and utensils before overturning the card table.
Grapes sailed through the air, bouncing off windows and furniture. As soon as the grapes ran out, they were forced to seek other ammunition. Ri dashed into the dining room and found a decorative bowl of oranges and apples. Re found the ultimate artillery in the kitchen: bananas and a watermelon. She'd made a mistake in forgetting the cantaloupe that also resided in the dining room. It nearly bashed her nose in when it came flying through the doorway at her, but the watermelon served as a great block. She peeled the bananas rapidly, tossing both the parts at Ri. Apples split as they crashed against the refrigerator, leaving Re with more weaponry. Ri was just too good at dodging, so Re decided to take the fight straight to her. After opening the watermelon and grabbing a handful of the cold, seedy meat, she rushed her twin. She was successful for the most part. The meat slid satisfactorily down Ri's shirt, soaking the black low cut t-shirt. But Re was careless and ended up with a noseful of watermelon seeds. They finally started rolling around on the floor, squashing fruit everywhere, and wrestling. Thus was the state the apartment was in when the Gundam boys walked in.
Quatre was speechless. Trowa's mouth hung open in shock. Heero looked at them in disgust. Duo looked at little worried. Wufei quirked a brow. "Did you not just clean this place?"
"We got bored." Ri explained as she sat down hard on Re's chest.
Re drew up her knee and booted Ri over her head. She fled behind the card table and armed herself with more watermelon. Ri stopped and grinned evilly at her sister. The boys were still frozen in shock, and Re's sudden change of targets was unexpected. The watermelon hit Heero and splattered, soaking Trowa and Duo in the process. Duo didn't hesitate; he entered the fray with the enthusiasm of a puppy and exacted revenge. Wufei was more reluctant to join, as well as Quatre, who thought that the kitchen was a neutral area. Mind you, he thought. The banana peel on the floor was classic. The twins almost couldn't believe the perfection that he performed that with. Trowa caught him though, and threw the peel at Duo, who was occupied with wrestling with Ri. Wufei had retreated to his room, but he hadn't locked the door. Re opened it and asked him innocently, "Don't I get a welcome home hug?"
He looked her up and down. He had gone to his room because the sight of her in a drenched, white t-shirt had almost been too much for him. He harshly suppressed his passion and replied coldly, "Not with sticky juice all over you. You're drenched in it."
True, she was soaked in it. The pale shirt clung to her, as did Ri's to her, but Re figured her twin would be without it sooner or later. Re smiled when she surprised him with a flying glomp. His shirt was officially just as drenched as hers was. She dragged him out into the front room and back into the madness. She couldn't quite discern how Ri had managed to get Duo's shirt off, but she'd done it. She was laughing too hard to notice Wufei behind her with a halved cantaloupe in his hands. The orange meat was tangled in her hair when he was done. Re reveled in it; Wufei had never shown any inclination to let go and play, but he sure as hell was now. He picked up oranges that had managed to survive and was taking very accurate shots at Trowa and Heero. Duo was always playing, there was never a moment when he wasn't. As of that moment, he was licking watermelon from Ri's bared shoulder. Trowa and Quatre were in control of the armaments in the kitchen and considerably drier than anyone else. Yes, even Heero had gotten hit with a variety of fruits. But, as everyone discovered, mutiny was a wonderful thing. The five to two ratio was very unfair, but it wasn't fair that they had all the fruit, was it?
Eventually, all of the fruit were too smashed to throw and everyone was all sticky from the juice. By this now, it was almost time for dinner. Ri and Re took one look at each other, looked at the guys collapsed on the floor, and raced each other to the shower. Re won, and Ri kicked the boys into gear. While they brought in the groceries and put them away, Ri cleaned up the wreckage from their mini-war. When Duo went into his room to get some clean clothes, he saw the little charms Ri had made hanging all over the place. He grinned. He knew then and there that he wouldn't remove any of them. They were so pretty, and Ri had made them herself. That alone made them worth keeping. He sat on his bed and look at them as they danced in the breeze formed by the air vents. He felt special. She had decorated his room with things she had made herself. He laughed at himself. What would the others say if they found out that he, the God of Death, was a hopeless romantic? Still, he admired her work and felt as if she had done it just for him. Heero was passing by when he saw the lamplight shining off the metal.
"So, she did it to your room, too." Duo snapped back to reality.
"What do you mean?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.
"Ri hung charms in all of our rooms. You should see Wufei trying to get them off his ceiling fan. He can't figure out how she got them up there in the first place." After having finished destroying Duo's fantasy, he began to leave. He stopped by the door and called over his shoulder, "Oh, be careful to check all of your pockets before you put them in the wash. Apparently Re got quite bored too." Once Heero was gone, Duo started to look around his room. It was a lot cleaner than it had been that morning, so he guessed that one of the girls had cleaned it while he had been taking his nap. He did a quick sweep of the room, picking up all of Re's pictures and putting them in a drawer in his desk as he went. He managed to get all of them, wondering where she had gotten a picture of his Gundam. Noin was the most likely source. He lay back on his bed and looked at his ceiling. He sighed, though disappointed that Ri hadn't done it just for him, he was happy that he know had little reminders of her beauty all over his room. He soon drifted into a shallow slumber.
Wufei was having a lot of trouble getting all of Ri's charms off the blinds. He had gathered all of Re's pictures and had put them in a folder. He hoped that none of the others discovered that he had decided to keep the folder under his pillow. He loved the pictures Re had made of him and his Gundam. He looked at them, amazed at how well she drew them, even in a rough sketch. His mind drifted back to last night and that morning. He sighed, the pictures so beautiful in his mind's eye. He shook his head. I can't be thinking such thoughts. Forgive me, Nataku. He missed his wife dearly, and in a way he felt responsible for her death. If only he had protected her, if only he had been kinder to her, if only he hadn't taken her for granted. There were so many if only's that they overwhelmed him. He liked Re, he couldn't deny his feelings, but he still felt a sense of duty for his lost wife. In a moment of passion, grief, and confusion, he kneeled beside his bed, lowered his head, and folded his hands in his lap. He began to speak a silent prayer to the spirit of Nataku. "Please, Nataku, if you believe this girl and I are meant for each other, send me a sign. I refuse to forget you, but with your permission I will carry on. Please, my wife, send me a sign, yes or no, so I may have peace of mind and heart." With that said, he stood up. He felt very tired all of a sudden, probably from the emotional strain he was under. He lay down to take a nap before dinner.
He was back at the church. Duo looked around. He must be dreaming, there was no way he could really be there. In his dream, he saw Sister Helen and the girl that had always been his friend. For some reason, Ri made him think of her. Come to think of it, Noin had looked a bit familiar the first time he had seen her. He couldn't figure it out. Suddenly, the little girl wasn't little any more. Instead, Ri stood there before him, wearing all black. Tight black jeans, tight low cut black shirt, and silver jewelry hanging from her neck and throat. 'The Angel of Death' he thought as he looked at her. She certainly looked the part right there. She held a scythe, much like the one on his Gundam but smaller. Black bird wings sprouted from her back, and her hair flowed around her in a chocolate brown cloud. She looked behind her and held out her hand. There stood the Duo of ten years ago, when he had last seen her. Before his eyes the small boy turned into the young man he was today. He was also dressed in black, from his tight leather pants to the loose cotton shirt. Black bat sprouted from his back, and he too, held a scythe. 'The God of Death and his angel,' he thought, thousands of thoughts running through his mind. Then, he was back in the alley with the little angel girl and Solo. They were talking, laughing, and swapping stories like they always had. The girl had spoken of her sisters rarely, but he remembered her mentioning a twin once. They all knew she avoided talking about them because she knew the rest of them didn't have any families. Memories began to swirl in his head. Thoughts popped up, burst, and faded away. Things were beginning to click. The resemblance between the girl he remembered and Ri, the déjà vu he had felt when he met Noin, why he felt so strongly for Ri though he met her just yesterday. It dawned on him. Ri must be her. There was no other possible reason. He woke with a start, remembering everything he had dreamed. He wanted, no, needed to find out if she was the one. But how did he ask her? He thought of a way, and then decided to go see how dinner was coming.
Wufei woke up to hear Ri screaming and Duo laughing. He quickly decided to go assist the distressed onna, since Duo was probably molesting her. Instead, he restrained himself from laughing so he could enjoy the moment longer. Ri had a foot on Duo's chest and was beating him over the head with her thick-heeled shoe. "Stay away from the food Duo! We've got to save some for everybody else! You pig!" (FireImp: FEAR THE SHOE!!!)
Re was trying very hard to concentrate on the food in the oven, but even from this distance he could see her shoulders shaking. Whatever it was, it smelled heavenly. He slipped past the arguing couple and touched Re's shoulder. She turned, her eyes alight with humor and her smile dazzling. She stunned him for a moment, but he actually said what he'd meant to without sounding dazed. "What poison are you cooking up, onna?"
"Cyanide, why do you ask?" Re replied in all seriousness.
"I was being sarcastic. What are you really cooking?"
"Ramen and steak with a side of sautéed veggies." She said matter-of- factly. "Ri was working on the steak, but um." she chuckled. ".she got sidetracked."
He grinned. "So it seems she did. Would you like help?"
Re tried to hide her shock. Wufei was offering to help her cook? He knew how to cook? (FireImp: Scary thought.) She nodded and said, "Sure. The marinade's in that dish and we've been brushing it on occasionally as we turn it."
He nodded his affirmation and watched the steak with an eagle eye. Ri was playfully wrestling Duo in the front room.and winning. It certainly had to be a blow to his pride, but then again, he probably just liked having Ri on top of him. Re smiled at her own joke and shook her head. Those two were simply hopeless. But they were just so cute together she couldn't blame them for their playing. Wufei was doing a good job of making sure the steak didn't burn. He was certainly meticulous, but it wasn't a bad thing. When it smelled just right, she turned off the oven and began cutting it into small cubes and mixing it into the ramen. She added beef broth and let it simmer. She wiped her forehead with the back of one hand. "Well, that does it for now. This'll simmer for about a half an hour and then we can eat."
Only a hour or so later, it was gone. It had been delicious, and the twins had lived up to their claim of being excellent cooks. They talked about everything after dinner and they all helped clean up. (FireImp: Oh yeah, don't we wish we could really get people to do that.) They resolved to sleep in the next morning, as everyone was tired from their extensive playing that afternoon. The girls waited until all the guys were secure in their rooms and they slid into bed. Ri sighed. "God, I just can't get over how hot Duo is."
Re laughed at her sister. "That was perfectly random. But yeah, I guess he's cute."
"No, not cute; hot. I don't know whether it's the hair, the eyes, or the combo of the two. You know I'm a sucker for dark haired guys with blue eyes," Ri corrected.
"Whatever."
Ri smiled mischievously. "And what about Wufei? You think he's 'cute' or is he hot?"
Re rolled her eyes. "Don't even think about trying to play matchmaker. Last time you did, it was disastrous. I hope you haven't forgotten about David."
"Stop avoiding the question."
With an exasperated sigh, Re admitted, "Okay, he's gorgeous. Slightly bent out of shape, but gorgeous. Sometimes I want to dump a bucket of water over his head and just stand there and drool."
Ri laughed uproariously at that confession. "That's priceless! You should do that one day. It'll completely knock him off his feet."
"Duo wouldn't look half bad wet either."
"No, he wouldn't." Ri smiled and laughed. "I'm going to get him one of these days with a bucket of water, laugh and then drool."
"He would get revenge." Re warned.
"You think I mind? I'll make sure I'm wearing a white shirt when he does it."
They laughed together and stifled their giggles when they heard a box spring squeak. They rolled over that night and fell asleep, one dreaming of a shirtless, braided American and another dreaming of a drenched Chinese boy.
The next morning, the girls awoke promptly at eleven o' clock. They showered, dressed and brewed coffee. An hour later, none of the boys had shown hide or hair of themselves. Re and Ri decided to amend that.
Ri tiptoed into Duo's room, quiet and graceful as a cat. He was dead to the world. She swallowed a chuckle and blew a breath on his hair. He twitched. Ri devilishly backed up from the bed, and with a running start, pounced on the unsuspecting prey. Duo was awake in a flash, tossing his enemy off of him and onto the floor. Ri protested, "Ow.Duo, that hurt!"
After blinking the sleep from his eyes, he said, "Damn it, I thought you were an Oz soldier.I'm sorry, Ri, are you okay?"
She pouted and said, "Maybe."
Duo smiled roguishly at her. "What me to kiss you and make it better?"
She grinned. "Damn straight, boy."
It was brief and sweet, and just as playful as always. Duo smiled and asked her, "Feel better yet?"
Ri looked thoughtful. "I don't know.maybe I will if you kiss me again."
Needless to say, when Re peeked in to ask if Duo wanted waffles or French toast, she turned tail and ran. She decided that it really didn't matter, so she just started making waffles. No one else was awake yet either, and she checked on Wufei while the first one cooked. He was also dead to the world, which was a surprise, as he was usually such a light sleeper that he would've heard her coming into his room. She smiled and sat on the edge of his bed. His face was smooth and untroubled in sleep, apparently the only time when he wasn't frowning. She reached out to touch his unbound hair, but pulled back before she risked awakening him with such a shock. Re hadn't expected the mattress to slide off the bed, or be dumped in the floor.with a sleeping Wufei on her. Not that she minded having a muscled, handsome and utterly sexy guy on top of her, but that wasn't the point. Ri came from around the opposite side of the bed with a triumphant smile on her face. At her sister's distressed expression, she chided, "Come on, admit it. You really don't want to move."
Re glared at her gloating sister. "I hate it when you make me eat my words."
"But it's so much fun! And words are so tasty when they're served as a cold dish called revenge."
"Ri.please?"
Ri shook her head gleefully. "Nope. Not 'til you admit it."
"That's not fair!"
"All is fair in love and war, sister dear."
"Damn it, okay, no, I don't want to move. Happy?"
"Perfectly." Ri smiled and started out the door. "I guess I'll leave you two love birds alone now since you don't want to move."
"RI!!!"
She laughed and said, "I'm just kidding with you. Here, help me lift him up."
Re pushed up on his chest, and Ri pulled from behind. They settled him back in bed and Re said, "You know, this solved absolutely nothing."
"Oh, yes it did. I got my revenge."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut up."
"Okay, I'll leave you now to wake up Prince Charming over there.without dumping you in the floor."
Re bowed and said sarcastically, "Oh, thank you. Your generosity is overwhelming."
Ri tossed her a grin as she walked out. "Don't I know it?"
Re smiled and shook her head. Wufei was still asleep. Amazing what a fruit salad war will do to a regular schedule. She touched his shoulder and whispered, "Wufei.Chang Wufei.time to wake up. It's after noon."
Wufei blinked awake, and looked up at the young woman at his bedside. His eyes shot open and he sat up, and said, "Nataku?"
The woman's voice sounded dejected. "No. It's Re. Breakfast is ready."
She drifted away, leaving him cold and alone. Re fought back tears. God damn it all, he had a girlfriend. But...he'd said nothing, even when she flirted outrageously with him. He should've told her to back off or something. She could almost hear him saying it: 'Re, stop it. Your pathetic attempts at seduction are useless. I have someone, someone who means more than the world to me. Stay away.' Even imagined, the words hurt, like someone had clutched her heart with taloned hands and was twisting it. Ri and Duo were chatting amicably in the kitchen, and she swiped at her eyes before plastering on a smile and checking the waffle in the iron. Ri didn't buy it for a minute. "Re, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm.just a tired, that's all." Re said with a conviction that somehow rang false.
Ri was genuinely concerned about her twin. There was something more than 'just tired' and she knew it. One twin could never hide something from the other sister. She said, "Go on, I'll take care of breakfast." She said in an undertone, "We'll talk later."
Re didn't want to talk; she just wanted to be alone. So she accepted the offer, and shuffled toward Duo's empty room. She closed the door behind her and fell into the bed. Wufei was moving and banging around in his room next door, and Re swallowed another flood of tears. If she thought about him enough, she could almost smell him permeating through the wall. She curled up and tried to sleep, hoping that the rest would bring her some peace.
Ri fretted the entire afternoon. She'd gone in and checked on her sister numerous times, and only found her to be asleep. It was unusual to say the least, Re sleeping in so late. But she let her be, wondering what could have upset her so much. And of course, Ri's worries worried Duo. She was flitting, wide-eyed and entirely too troubled. The boys had finally been urged to go down to Howard's so they could relax. At almost five o' clock that evening, Re was finally awake. Ri closed the door softly behind her. "Okay. Tell me what's going on, or I'll go insane."
Re sat up in bed and hugged herself. Ri sat next to her and put an arm around her. She said shakily, "Wufei's got a girlfriend."
"WHAT?!"
Re's voice was dead, monotonous and flat. "When I woke him up this morning, he said, 'Nataku.' I don't know why he didn't say anything; I wouldn't have gone after him if I'd known."
Ri exploded, "I'M GOING TO KILL THAT KISAMA!!!!"
Re pleaded, "Don't say anything to him. He doesn't have to know. Besides, I'm crying, so that makes me a weak onna, right?"
"No, Re, that just makes you a baka." She tilted her sister's face to hers. "You never cry over idiot men, remember?"
Re smiled, if a bit weakly. "Right." She chuckled. "Idiot men is right."
An identically bright smile lit Ri's face. "That's the spirit." Ri suddenly remembered something Duo had said once. "Re, Wufei doesn't have a girlfriend."
"But he said the name as if." said Re, mopping her face with a tissue.
"I don't remember everything, but Duo said something about Wufei having been married but his wife died. I can't remember her name, but Nataku rings a bell."
"So it's not his girlfriend, it's his dead wife?"
"Apparently. From what Duo had implied, they didn't really start getting along until right before she died. It hit Wufei pretty hard, so hard he still has trouble with women even though it was four years ago."
"So all this time he was mourning his wife, and I've been hitting on him and dragging him into things and basically being an insensitive bitch," said Re, finally seeing why Wufei has so much trouble having fun. She would too if she were still in grief. Re was giving herself a serious putdown session when Ri slapped her and grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.
"Listen, since we showed up, he's smiled at least three times. And it isn't Duo, or Trowa, or any of the others putting that smile on his face. I don't think it's me, either. That only leaves one person, Re. You. Because of you he's started smiling again. From what I've heard from Duo, he's never been this loose. Remember the fruit fight?" Re looked down at her feet. How could she forget? He seemed to actually enjoy himself, pelting all of the rest of them with oranges. Re had to admit, she had been seeing his smile come more and more easily. She began to feel uncomfortable. Could she actually be making the human ice-burg melt? She decided to change the subject, something that Ri wouldn't be able to avoid.
"So, how's the search coming?" Ri tilted her head, confused. Re sighed and elaborated. "You know, for that guy you knew back in the church when Noin and I lost you on that colony? Have you gotten any leads yet? The other day it seemed as if you had something."
Ri chewed on her lip. How could she say this? She decided to go for her usual way. Straight forward. "I think I've found him."
Re's eyes lit up. She glomped her sister so hard they both fell onto Duo's bed. "Yay! I knew you would find him some day! So when do I get to meet him? Last time all I saw was him peeking around the corner when Noin and I went to pick you up. Where is he? Do you know if he's single? What name is he going by?" Re continued to shoot out questions until Ri sat down on the bed and her eyes filled with tears. She pulled her knees up to her chest and let her hair conceal her face. Re, worried, sat down beside her. She made a little trilling noise, and put her hand on Ri's elbow. When Ri lifted her head, Re saw a giant smile spread across her face.
"He's downstairs, he just broke up with his girlfriend two weeks ago, and he's going by the name Duo Maxwell." Ri fell back on the bed and spread out her arms. "He hasn't changed much. Not much at all." She sat up and looked at Re. "I recognized him pretty quickly, but hid it." She was about to say more when Re tackled her and started shaking her.
"BAKA! Why haven't you said anything to him?! You've had a crush on this guy for more than half your life, been looking for him for the past ten years, and you don't tell him you remember him?! I knew you were a ditz, but I thought you weren't stupid." Ri sat very calmly through Re's rant. When Re was done, she noticed something odd about the look in Ri's eyes. "Ri? What's wrong?"
"I have my reasons for not saying anything," she said as she slid off the bed and went to look out the window. "One, he doesn't seem to know who I am. Either he didn't recognize me, or he doesn't remember me. Both of the two are pretty likely. There's nothing about me that makes me that memorable, and girls tend to change more than guys over the years." She crossed her arms across her chest, something that had increased substantially in size since the last time she had seen him. "Second, I'm not entirely sure he's the right guy. I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of him. Even if he's not the Duo I knew long ago, he's still hot and I want to at least have a small chance with him."
"One thing, woman. How are you going to figure out if he's the one or not?"
"Leave that to me. There are a few things only he would know and I know just how to make them slip. If I do this right and I get the right answers, I'll know that it's him. If not, I'll just have to keep looking." With that, she turned away from the window and pulled Re off the bed. "Let's go downstairs. I'm sure the guys are wondering what's wrong. Act natural, don't tip Duo off to anything. Okay?" Re nodded and the two girls changed into more 'comfortable' clothes and headed down to the bar. This time they would be more careful about how much they drank.
LL- Cliffhanger!
Chibi-muse Heero- Where are the explosions?!
FireImp- They'll be coming shortly. There's still a few things we have to get through first.
Chibi-muse Quatre- This is chapter was sad. (cries and glomps Trowa) Why do things have to be sad?
Chibi-muse Wufei- WEAK BAKA! Sadness is a part of life, as is grief and anger.
Chibi-muse Duo- And hot chicks. (Glomps LL, who glomps him back and gives him a plate of blueberry pancakes)
LL- The llama has decided to make more pancakes, and is expanding into muffins. Read and review for blueberry baked goods and clever llama gymnastics.
Chibi-muse Trowa- (watches llama do flips and tries to teach it new tricks)
FireImp- Anyway, yeah. Read and review.
Chibi-muse Duo- (wings are crimped, loose hairs are sticking out everywhere and looks like living dead)
Chibi-muse Quatre- (screams and hides behind LL)
Chibi-muse Trowa- .
Chibi-muse Wufei- (pretty much the same as Duo, except his hair is more wild and he's wearing a little bathrobe with holes in the back for his wings)
Chibi-muse Heero- (using hairspray and a lighter to make a bonfire in the backyard)
LL and FireImp- Read and enjoy! (all sit and pull bags of popcorn out of the extra-large pockets of Wufei's bathrobe)
Duo only blinked at the clock blaring in his face before smacking it across the room. He rolled over. and landed on the floor with a loud thud. Then he remembered. He'd taken the couch last night.or maybe he just hadn't made it to the bed. No, this was the bed; he'd just been lying on the edge. Whatever, he was now thoroughly awake and his head throbbed. How much had he drunk at Howard's last night? He didn't recall drinking very much, but maybe it was the fight that had made his head hurt like hell. At the memory of the fight, his whole body started to hurt in various places, some of which he preferred not to think about. He wrapped a bathrobe around his bare chest and then winced at all the movement. He stumbled into the kitchen, and the welcoming scent of bacon made him smile despite all his aches and pains. Ri was standing at the stove, spatula in hand, and Re was mixing something in a large bowl, presumably pancakes. Ri looked.surprisingly well for the morning after a few pints and a bar fight. Neither of them had any visible marks on them from the fight, nor did they seem to be groggy. In fact, Ri seemed obnoxiously perky. He said, "G' morning, ladies," as he slid into a chair and let the table hold up his head.
Ri turned at the sound of his voice and smiled. "Hi Duo! You feel up to breakfast? Or will a beer do for you?" She bounced up and down as she stood by the stove, flipping the bacon so it wouldn't burn. How could anyone be hyper so early in the morning?
Duo lifted his head for an instant, "Both," he said as he succumbed to gravity once again.
At that response and the tone in which it was said, Ri stopped and went to him. "Do you feel all right? You should go back to bed if you're sick."
Her concern was touching, and Duo certainly didn't mind being taken care of by a beautiful young woman, especially not Ri. He briefly considered faking it just so he could get some more doctor-patient time in. But he figured she would catch him at it, so he just shrugged.
Re said from the kitchen. "Ri, sometimes when he says 'both' he might mean that he just wants pancakes and bacon and beer."
Ri blushed. "Yeah, well, um.yeah. Just let us know if you need anything." She bounced back to the stove. (Lady Lynnaya- I'm using the word 'bounce' to describe her a lot, but anyone who has seen me in hyper mode would agree that it's a very fitting word for me)
"Is the coffee ready?" he mumbled.
"Sure is. Help yourself. Ri and I have already had two cups." Re said mischievously.
"Each?"
Ri nodded, a bright light in her eyes. "Yep." She began bouncing around the kitchen as she tried to open another package of bacon.
"Oh, God."
Wufei entered then, shirtless, wiping his face with his hand. "I feel like I've been hit by a Mack truck."
"We felt the same until Howard came up and gave us some kind of concoction and made us feel better. He's such a dear man," said Re.
Duo nearly choked on his coffee when he heard Howard called 'dear', but Ri hadn't had her say.
"He was so concerned about our welfare. He even checked if we had enough blankets and pillows and everything. He even supplied the coffee grounds for us." Ri said with an infuriatingly perky smile.
"There wouldn't happen to be any of the curative left, would there?" Wufei asked.
"I'm afraid not. But we have our own cures." Re said. Wufei looked skeptical. She opened a beer and handed it to him. "Drink this and take a hot shower for the bruises on your ribcage and your left shoulder. I bet they hurt."
"Damn right, they do," he replied as he guzzled the beer.
Re watched him for a moment, and then wondered if he remembered anything about last night, other than the fight. She almost hoped not. She'd made a complete fool of herself, kissing him like that. He'd probably had girlfriends far more sexy and experienced than her. She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts, and returned to the pancakes. Inspiration struck, and though it probably wasn't the wisest thing in the world to do, she added a few handfuls of chocolate chips to the batter. (FireImp: It's good stuff. And, just some food for thought, Re's hands are huge. Just like mine ^_^) Ri heard the familiar clatter of the little morsels of heaven clicking against the bowl, and she turned to her sister with an enormous smile on her face. Re smiled back, both knowing the consequences of combining coffee and chocolate in the older of the sisters this early in the morning. When the pancakes were golden brown, Re dished them out. Duo bit enthusiastically into his breakfast, alternating beer and pancakes. He smiled and said, "Chocolate.I love you guys."
By this time, Quatre and Trowa had awakened and were sitting groggily at the table, their aching heads in their hands. They eyed their pancakes skeptically, but soon discovered that they were not poisonous, just outrageously chocolaty. Wufei took the longest. Being of a set mind and having set ideals about what could be served for breakfast and what couldn't, Re almost had to force-feed him the pancakes. He surrendered quickly, as Ri threatened to pound on his bruises until he cried, and grudgingly ate his first chocolate chip pancake.
"They're not toxic, at least," he grumbled.
Duo translated, "In other words, they're not bad, he's just not used to them."
"I don't need a damned translator, Maxwell."
Re cuffed him as she passed him to reach Quatre's plate. "You're grumpy on a regular basis, but you're worse when you've got a hangover."
He glared at her as she passed by him again and dumped some more pancakes on his plate. The five pilots ate in near silence, and the sisters cleaned up the kitchen in cheerful chatter. Heero asked the others, "How do they do it? God damn them, I wish I felt as good as they did."
"It's not their own doing. They have Howard on their side." Trowa said grimly before sipping his beer.
Heero rolled his eyes. "That explains it."
"Oh yes," Duo interjected, "I believe Ri used the term 'dear' to describe him."
Theirs sounds of gagging and coughing was heard even in the kitchen above the roar of the dishwasher. Re and Ri peered around the doorway at them in confusion. Re said, "I didn't think they were that chocolaty."
Noin's knock at the door brought a chorus of groans from the table. Ri opened it and said softly, "They're suffering from PMS."
Duo said indignantly, "We are not!"
"No, not that PMS. Post- morning syndrome." Noin explained.
Trowa shook his head. "Please, just call it the morning after. There's too much confusion."
Re subtly gestured for Noin to cover the red mark on her throat. Her flush was brief when the twins gave her identical knowing looks, and Noin amended it smoothly.
"The conference room has, yet again, been rescheduled, and our place in line has been moved forward to Wednesday." She announced.
Wufei asked, "What is causing all this moving with the schedules? This is ridiculous."
Noin shrugged. "Either way, we can't discuss our plans until we are in the safety of that sound-proof room. Who knows, we frequent Howard's enough to have led Oz to bug this place."
"You sound so paranoid. Wise, but paranoid," Re observed.
The older sister sent a glare to the younger, and Re stuck out her tongue.
"We'll meet at headquarters at 1500 hours on Wednesday. I expect all of you to be present.and sober." Noin added pointedly.
Re and Ri giggled as they looked at the table full of barely half-awake Gundam pilots. Noin left and the twins recognized the subtle purr of Zechs' convertible's engine. They exchanged another knowing look and grinned. Re suddenly remembered something. "As soon as you guys are sober enough, could you go to the grocery store for us? There's not enough food to last us until Wednesday."
"Yeah. There's only fruits and raw vegetables." Ri elaborated.
"Rabbit food." Re supplemented.
"Chick food," groaned Duo. Ri smacked him.
"No junk food whatsoever." Ri continued.
"We're doomed." Re said with a pleading look and woggle-eyes combo.
Heero said, "All right, we'll go, as long as we get fed."
Ri patted his head comfortingly. "You'll get fed. We promise."
"And it'll be home-cooked. Ri and I happen to be excellent cooks." Re said with pride as she slung an arm across her sister's shoulders.
"Can we get a nap first?" Duo begged.
Ri kissed his forehead. "Certainly. Re and I will draw up a list."
"They're going to need naps for this trip."
The five boys returned to their beds, and the twins pasted a list on the front door for them. Then, they pulled out bandanas and tied back their hair. They found the cleaning supplies and began to work on the little apartment as much as they could. Wufei, Heero and Trowa were hopelessly light sleepers, so they avoided their rooms and cleaned Quatre's and Duo's. Ri found it endearing the way Duo snored ever so lightly in his sleep, and she snuck in a kiss. Re tsked from the doorway. "Seducing men while they sleep. Sister dear, that's entirely unnecessary. You're good enough to get them while they're awake. Now me on the other hand."
Re didn't get to finish her statement. Ri smacked her with a goose down pillow, one of the heavy ones. Re landed gracelessly on her butt on the sofa. Ri stifled her laughter and bit her fist. "Oh shut up," her twin grumbled. "I know I'm clumsy."
"Oh, if that's not the biggest lie of the century," Ri chuckled.
The goose down pillow was airborne yet again and it landed squarely across Ri's abdomen. She fell back onto Duo's bed, and she froze. Duo twitched, muttered something, and glomped Ri to his chest. Re walked in on them and nearly fell over with her amusement. Ri whispered frantically, "Re! Don't just stand there, help me!"
Re said mischievously, "No, never! Would I deprive Duo of such a lovely surprise when he first wakes up?"
"YES!" Duo then decided to move his hand to hold her.chest. Ri blushed and looked pleadingly at her sister. Re had to take the pillow and bury her face in it to smother her laughter.
"Oh, come on, admit it. You really don't want to move."
"But. but. the others. Re!!"
"Oh, fine."
She gently moved Duo's arm over her sister's head and left the pillow with him so the change wasn't so noticeable. Duo rolled over with the pillow and snuggled deeper into the covers. Ri glared at her sister. "Just wait. I'll get you back."
Re chuckled. "I'm certain you will. But I doubt you can rope Wufei into anything. He's too stubborn."
"Just wait."
The boys awoke not too long after, while Ri and Re were in the middle of a game of poker. The two girls were stony-faced, until Ri showed her sister her cards and Re grumbled, "That's the fifth time in a row."
Ri gleefully smiled. "You just suck at poker."
"I give up."
Duo snagged the list off the door. "Is this it?"
Ri nodded as she collected the cards. "Yep."
The boys congregated at the door to pull on their shoes and Duo called, "We'll be back soon."
The door swung shut, and Re muttered, "Don't count on it."
The list was longer than they had expected. What on earth did those two need so much ramen for? Duo shook his head. He shouldered two giant bags of ramen into the cart and continued on. He found Wufei in the meat department, stacking steaks and chicken in his already full arms. Duo helped him settle the meat in the cart and commented casually, "Those two certainly are something."
'Those two' didn't need clarification. Wufei grunted. "I suppose so." After a pause, he admitted, "You would've gotten an eyeful this morning had you seen them."
Duo looked bemused. "I did see them. They looked fine."
"No, before they were awake."
Duo's expression quickly flashed to one of incredulity. "Wufei! You weren't spying on them, were you?"
"No! I had to go through the front room to get to the bathroom. I'm not perverted, Maxwell. Besides, you did enough spying last night for the both of us."
"You were ogling, too," the blushing American said defensively.
Wufei wasn't listening. He remembered them easily enough, even through the gray early-morning haze combined with a hangover. The sheets had been tangled at their feet, kicked off and wrestled to the foot of the bed. Ri and Re were curled toward each other, resembling the symbol of Yin and Yang, one dark, one pale. Their eyelashes cast shadows on their checks, their faces deceptively peaceful and angelic. Their hair was loose and fanned across the pillow that their heads shared, glittering with an icy sheen in the morning light. They were both still in their undergarments, their long, muscled limbs hanging at odd angles off the edge of the bed. Duo surely would have been salivating, just as he had been. He wasn't ashamed to admit that Re was beautiful, but his attraction to her was unforgivable. Nataku was still so fresh in his mind, and the memory of her was still bright in his heart. The strongest woman in the clan, the warrior, the upholder of justice.Oh, God, how he still missed her. Even after all these years, the pain was still strong. He determinedly held back his tears of grief for her. Though he loved her, he was too proud to cry in a public place.
Duo had remained silent during Wufei's meditation, knowing that the young Chinese man was thinking of his lost wife. In all honesty, he felt sorry for him, but that stick was shoved way up his ass, and it would take a serious medical procedure to remove it. He suddenly stopped at the doughnut aisle and loaded up on vanilla cream-filled ones. Quatre had just arrived and was checking off the items they'd already gotten. "Duo.doughnuts aren't on the list. Why are we getting so many?"
"Because." --Duo paused before he blurted that Ri liked them-"I like these things. Besides, we have no dessert or breakfast items. We must have doughnuts!"
Trowa shook his head in silence as he tossed the milk and juice into the cart. Heero hadn't yet come back from the endless aisle of alcohol and bread. Quatre was sent to drag him away from the beer.
Meanwhile, Re and Ri were bored out of their minds. They had succumbed to watching the afternoon news channel after their creative juices completely drained. Little silver ornaments hung from the windows and adorned the boys' beds. Rough sketches of the Gundams and their pilots lay on dressers, in the pockets of shirts and pants, under pillows and other random places. Re had saved the best ones for herself. Ri had begun working on a chain mail tunic of paperclips. The television suddenly blinked off, the accursed result of a shortage in the outlet. Re yelled at the miscreant piece of technology, "Why do you hate me?!"
She flopped onto the sofa in hopelessness. Ri sat to her right at the card table they'd abandoned long before. The coffee table in front of Re was nearly bare, except for Ri's exquisitely intricate little silver doily, a box of paperclips, a few pairs of jewelers pliers, and a bowl of grapes. Re picked a few juicy little grapes and popped them into her mouth. She tossed a handful of them at Ri, expecting them to land on the corner of the table, but her aim was off.depending on which way you looked at it. The grapes bounced off of Ri's bent head, and Re looked sheepish. Ri was forced to retaliate, naturally, and her grape nested in Re's hair. Re glared back at her sister, saw her expression, and they simultaneously dove for the grape bowl. They didn't collide, but instead in a coordinated move they each got a handful of grapes. Re took shelter behind the sofa, and Ri collected her paperclips and utensils before overturning the card table.
Grapes sailed through the air, bouncing off windows and furniture. As soon as the grapes ran out, they were forced to seek other ammunition. Ri dashed into the dining room and found a decorative bowl of oranges and apples. Re found the ultimate artillery in the kitchen: bananas and a watermelon. She'd made a mistake in forgetting the cantaloupe that also resided in the dining room. It nearly bashed her nose in when it came flying through the doorway at her, but the watermelon served as a great block. She peeled the bananas rapidly, tossing both the parts at Ri. Apples split as they crashed against the refrigerator, leaving Re with more weaponry. Ri was just too good at dodging, so Re decided to take the fight straight to her. After opening the watermelon and grabbing a handful of the cold, seedy meat, she rushed her twin. She was successful for the most part. The meat slid satisfactorily down Ri's shirt, soaking the black low cut t-shirt. But Re was careless and ended up with a noseful of watermelon seeds. They finally started rolling around on the floor, squashing fruit everywhere, and wrestling. Thus was the state the apartment was in when the Gundam boys walked in.
Quatre was speechless. Trowa's mouth hung open in shock. Heero looked at them in disgust. Duo looked at little worried. Wufei quirked a brow. "Did you not just clean this place?"
"We got bored." Ri explained as she sat down hard on Re's chest.
Re drew up her knee and booted Ri over her head. She fled behind the card table and armed herself with more watermelon. Ri stopped and grinned evilly at her sister. The boys were still frozen in shock, and Re's sudden change of targets was unexpected. The watermelon hit Heero and splattered, soaking Trowa and Duo in the process. Duo didn't hesitate; he entered the fray with the enthusiasm of a puppy and exacted revenge. Wufei was more reluctant to join, as well as Quatre, who thought that the kitchen was a neutral area. Mind you, he thought. The banana peel on the floor was classic. The twins almost couldn't believe the perfection that he performed that with. Trowa caught him though, and threw the peel at Duo, who was occupied with wrestling with Ri. Wufei had retreated to his room, but he hadn't locked the door. Re opened it and asked him innocently, "Don't I get a welcome home hug?"
He looked her up and down. He had gone to his room because the sight of her in a drenched, white t-shirt had almost been too much for him. He harshly suppressed his passion and replied coldly, "Not with sticky juice all over you. You're drenched in it."
True, she was soaked in it. The pale shirt clung to her, as did Ri's to her, but Re figured her twin would be without it sooner or later. Re smiled when she surprised him with a flying glomp. His shirt was officially just as drenched as hers was. She dragged him out into the front room and back into the madness. She couldn't quite discern how Ri had managed to get Duo's shirt off, but she'd done it. She was laughing too hard to notice Wufei behind her with a halved cantaloupe in his hands. The orange meat was tangled in her hair when he was done. Re reveled in it; Wufei had never shown any inclination to let go and play, but he sure as hell was now. He picked up oranges that had managed to survive and was taking very accurate shots at Trowa and Heero. Duo was always playing, there was never a moment when he wasn't. As of that moment, he was licking watermelon from Ri's bared shoulder. Trowa and Quatre were in control of the armaments in the kitchen and considerably drier than anyone else. Yes, even Heero had gotten hit with a variety of fruits. But, as everyone discovered, mutiny was a wonderful thing. The five to two ratio was very unfair, but it wasn't fair that they had all the fruit, was it?
Eventually, all of the fruit were too smashed to throw and everyone was all sticky from the juice. By this now, it was almost time for dinner. Ri and Re took one look at each other, looked at the guys collapsed on the floor, and raced each other to the shower. Re won, and Ri kicked the boys into gear. While they brought in the groceries and put them away, Ri cleaned up the wreckage from their mini-war. When Duo went into his room to get some clean clothes, he saw the little charms Ri had made hanging all over the place. He grinned. He knew then and there that he wouldn't remove any of them. They were so pretty, and Ri had made them herself. That alone made them worth keeping. He sat on his bed and look at them as they danced in the breeze formed by the air vents. He felt special. She had decorated his room with things she had made herself. He laughed at himself. What would the others say if they found out that he, the God of Death, was a hopeless romantic? Still, he admired her work and felt as if she had done it just for him. Heero was passing by when he saw the lamplight shining off the metal.
"So, she did it to your room, too." Duo snapped back to reality.
"What do you mean?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.
"Ri hung charms in all of our rooms. You should see Wufei trying to get them off his ceiling fan. He can't figure out how she got them up there in the first place." After having finished destroying Duo's fantasy, he began to leave. He stopped by the door and called over his shoulder, "Oh, be careful to check all of your pockets before you put them in the wash. Apparently Re got quite bored too." Once Heero was gone, Duo started to look around his room. It was a lot cleaner than it had been that morning, so he guessed that one of the girls had cleaned it while he had been taking his nap. He did a quick sweep of the room, picking up all of Re's pictures and putting them in a drawer in his desk as he went. He managed to get all of them, wondering where she had gotten a picture of his Gundam. Noin was the most likely source. He lay back on his bed and looked at his ceiling. He sighed, though disappointed that Ri hadn't done it just for him, he was happy that he know had little reminders of her beauty all over his room. He soon drifted into a shallow slumber.
Wufei was having a lot of trouble getting all of Ri's charms off the blinds. He had gathered all of Re's pictures and had put them in a folder. He hoped that none of the others discovered that he had decided to keep the folder under his pillow. He loved the pictures Re had made of him and his Gundam. He looked at them, amazed at how well she drew them, even in a rough sketch. His mind drifted back to last night and that morning. He sighed, the pictures so beautiful in his mind's eye. He shook his head. I can't be thinking such thoughts. Forgive me, Nataku. He missed his wife dearly, and in a way he felt responsible for her death. If only he had protected her, if only he had been kinder to her, if only he hadn't taken her for granted. There were so many if only's that they overwhelmed him. He liked Re, he couldn't deny his feelings, but he still felt a sense of duty for his lost wife. In a moment of passion, grief, and confusion, he kneeled beside his bed, lowered his head, and folded his hands in his lap. He began to speak a silent prayer to the spirit of Nataku. "Please, Nataku, if you believe this girl and I are meant for each other, send me a sign. I refuse to forget you, but with your permission I will carry on. Please, my wife, send me a sign, yes or no, so I may have peace of mind and heart." With that said, he stood up. He felt very tired all of a sudden, probably from the emotional strain he was under. He lay down to take a nap before dinner.
He was back at the church. Duo looked around. He must be dreaming, there was no way he could really be there. In his dream, he saw Sister Helen and the girl that had always been his friend. For some reason, Ri made him think of her. Come to think of it, Noin had looked a bit familiar the first time he had seen her. He couldn't figure it out. Suddenly, the little girl wasn't little any more. Instead, Ri stood there before him, wearing all black. Tight black jeans, tight low cut black shirt, and silver jewelry hanging from her neck and throat. 'The Angel of Death' he thought as he looked at her. She certainly looked the part right there. She held a scythe, much like the one on his Gundam but smaller. Black bird wings sprouted from her back, and her hair flowed around her in a chocolate brown cloud. She looked behind her and held out her hand. There stood the Duo of ten years ago, when he had last seen her. Before his eyes the small boy turned into the young man he was today. He was also dressed in black, from his tight leather pants to the loose cotton shirt. Black bat sprouted from his back, and he too, held a scythe. 'The God of Death and his angel,' he thought, thousands of thoughts running through his mind. Then, he was back in the alley with the little angel girl and Solo. They were talking, laughing, and swapping stories like they always had. The girl had spoken of her sisters rarely, but he remembered her mentioning a twin once. They all knew she avoided talking about them because she knew the rest of them didn't have any families. Memories began to swirl in his head. Thoughts popped up, burst, and faded away. Things were beginning to click. The resemblance between the girl he remembered and Ri, the déjà vu he had felt when he met Noin, why he felt so strongly for Ri though he met her just yesterday. It dawned on him. Ri must be her. There was no other possible reason. He woke with a start, remembering everything he had dreamed. He wanted, no, needed to find out if she was the one. But how did he ask her? He thought of a way, and then decided to go see how dinner was coming.
Wufei woke up to hear Ri screaming and Duo laughing. He quickly decided to go assist the distressed onna, since Duo was probably molesting her. Instead, he restrained himself from laughing so he could enjoy the moment longer. Ri had a foot on Duo's chest and was beating him over the head with her thick-heeled shoe. "Stay away from the food Duo! We've got to save some for everybody else! You pig!" (FireImp: FEAR THE SHOE!!!)
Re was trying very hard to concentrate on the food in the oven, but even from this distance he could see her shoulders shaking. Whatever it was, it smelled heavenly. He slipped past the arguing couple and touched Re's shoulder. She turned, her eyes alight with humor and her smile dazzling. She stunned him for a moment, but he actually said what he'd meant to without sounding dazed. "What poison are you cooking up, onna?"
"Cyanide, why do you ask?" Re replied in all seriousness.
"I was being sarcastic. What are you really cooking?"
"Ramen and steak with a side of sautéed veggies." She said matter-of- factly. "Ri was working on the steak, but um." she chuckled. ".she got sidetracked."
He grinned. "So it seems she did. Would you like help?"
Re tried to hide her shock. Wufei was offering to help her cook? He knew how to cook? (FireImp: Scary thought.) She nodded and said, "Sure. The marinade's in that dish and we've been brushing it on occasionally as we turn it."
He nodded his affirmation and watched the steak with an eagle eye. Ri was playfully wrestling Duo in the front room.and winning. It certainly had to be a blow to his pride, but then again, he probably just liked having Ri on top of him. Re smiled at her own joke and shook her head. Those two were simply hopeless. But they were just so cute together she couldn't blame them for their playing. Wufei was doing a good job of making sure the steak didn't burn. He was certainly meticulous, but it wasn't a bad thing. When it smelled just right, she turned off the oven and began cutting it into small cubes and mixing it into the ramen. She added beef broth and let it simmer. She wiped her forehead with the back of one hand. "Well, that does it for now. This'll simmer for about a half an hour and then we can eat."
Only a hour or so later, it was gone. It had been delicious, and the twins had lived up to their claim of being excellent cooks. They talked about everything after dinner and they all helped clean up. (FireImp: Oh yeah, don't we wish we could really get people to do that.) They resolved to sleep in the next morning, as everyone was tired from their extensive playing that afternoon. The girls waited until all the guys were secure in their rooms and they slid into bed. Ri sighed. "God, I just can't get over how hot Duo is."
Re laughed at her sister. "That was perfectly random. But yeah, I guess he's cute."
"No, not cute; hot. I don't know whether it's the hair, the eyes, or the combo of the two. You know I'm a sucker for dark haired guys with blue eyes," Ri corrected.
"Whatever."
Ri smiled mischievously. "And what about Wufei? You think he's 'cute' or is he hot?"
Re rolled her eyes. "Don't even think about trying to play matchmaker. Last time you did, it was disastrous. I hope you haven't forgotten about David."
"Stop avoiding the question."
With an exasperated sigh, Re admitted, "Okay, he's gorgeous. Slightly bent out of shape, but gorgeous. Sometimes I want to dump a bucket of water over his head and just stand there and drool."
Ri laughed uproariously at that confession. "That's priceless! You should do that one day. It'll completely knock him off his feet."
"Duo wouldn't look half bad wet either."
"No, he wouldn't." Ri smiled and laughed. "I'm going to get him one of these days with a bucket of water, laugh and then drool."
"He would get revenge." Re warned.
"You think I mind? I'll make sure I'm wearing a white shirt when he does it."
They laughed together and stifled their giggles when they heard a box spring squeak. They rolled over that night and fell asleep, one dreaming of a shirtless, braided American and another dreaming of a drenched Chinese boy.
The next morning, the girls awoke promptly at eleven o' clock. They showered, dressed and brewed coffee. An hour later, none of the boys had shown hide or hair of themselves. Re and Ri decided to amend that.
Ri tiptoed into Duo's room, quiet and graceful as a cat. He was dead to the world. She swallowed a chuckle and blew a breath on his hair. He twitched. Ri devilishly backed up from the bed, and with a running start, pounced on the unsuspecting prey. Duo was awake in a flash, tossing his enemy off of him and onto the floor. Ri protested, "Ow.Duo, that hurt!"
After blinking the sleep from his eyes, he said, "Damn it, I thought you were an Oz soldier.I'm sorry, Ri, are you okay?"
She pouted and said, "Maybe."
Duo smiled roguishly at her. "What me to kiss you and make it better?"
She grinned. "Damn straight, boy."
It was brief and sweet, and just as playful as always. Duo smiled and asked her, "Feel better yet?"
Ri looked thoughtful. "I don't know.maybe I will if you kiss me again."
Needless to say, when Re peeked in to ask if Duo wanted waffles or French toast, she turned tail and ran. She decided that it really didn't matter, so she just started making waffles. No one else was awake yet either, and she checked on Wufei while the first one cooked. He was also dead to the world, which was a surprise, as he was usually such a light sleeper that he would've heard her coming into his room. She smiled and sat on the edge of his bed. His face was smooth and untroubled in sleep, apparently the only time when he wasn't frowning. She reached out to touch his unbound hair, but pulled back before she risked awakening him with such a shock. Re hadn't expected the mattress to slide off the bed, or be dumped in the floor.with a sleeping Wufei on her. Not that she minded having a muscled, handsome and utterly sexy guy on top of her, but that wasn't the point. Ri came from around the opposite side of the bed with a triumphant smile on her face. At her sister's distressed expression, she chided, "Come on, admit it. You really don't want to move."
Re glared at her gloating sister. "I hate it when you make me eat my words."
"But it's so much fun! And words are so tasty when they're served as a cold dish called revenge."
"Ri.please?"
Ri shook her head gleefully. "Nope. Not 'til you admit it."
"That's not fair!"
"All is fair in love and war, sister dear."
"Damn it, okay, no, I don't want to move. Happy?"
"Perfectly." Ri smiled and started out the door. "I guess I'll leave you two love birds alone now since you don't want to move."
"RI!!!"
She laughed and said, "I'm just kidding with you. Here, help me lift him up."
Re pushed up on his chest, and Ri pulled from behind. They settled him back in bed and Re said, "You know, this solved absolutely nothing."
"Oh, yes it did. I got my revenge."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut up."
"Okay, I'll leave you now to wake up Prince Charming over there.without dumping you in the floor."
Re bowed and said sarcastically, "Oh, thank you. Your generosity is overwhelming."
Ri tossed her a grin as she walked out. "Don't I know it?"
Re smiled and shook her head. Wufei was still asleep. Amazing what a fruit salad war will do to a regular schedule. She touched his shoulder and whispered, "Wufei.Chang Wufei.time to wake up. It's after noon."
Wufei blinked awake, and looked up at the young woman at his bedside. His eyes shot open and he sat up, and said, "Nataku?"
The woman's voice sounded dejected. "No. It's Re. Breakfast is ready."
She drifted away, leaving him cold and alone. Re fought back tears. God damn it all, he had a girlfriend. But...he'd said nothing, even when she flirted outrageously with him. He should've told her to back off or something. She could almost hear him saying it: 'Re, stop it. Your pathetic attempts at seduction are useless. I have someone, someone who means more than the world to me. Stay away.' Even imagined, the words hurt, like someone had clutched her heart with taloned hands and was twisting it. Ri and Duo were chatting amicably in the kitchen, and she swiped at her eyes before plastering on a smile and checking the waffle in the iron. Ri didn't buy it for a minute. "Re, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm.just a tired, that's all." Re said with a conviction that somehow rang false.
Ri was genuinely concerned about her twin. There was something more than 'just tired' and she knew it. One twin could never hide something from the other sister. She said, "Go on, I'll take care of breakfast." She said in an undertone, "We'll talk later."
Re didn't want to talk; she just wanted to be alone. So she accepted the offer, and shuffled toward Duo's empty room. She closed the door behind her and fell into the bed. Wufei was moving and banging around in his room next door, and Re swallowed another flood of tears. If she thought about him enough, she could almost smell him permeating through the wall. She curled up and tried to sleep, hoping that the rest would bring her some peace.
Ri fretted the entire afternoon. She'd gone in and checked on her sister numerous times, and only found her to be asleep. It was unusual to say the least, Re sleeping in so late. But she let her be, wondering what could have upset her so much. And of course, Ri's worries worried Duo. She was flitting, wide-eyed and entirely too troubled. The boys had finally been urged to go down to Howard's so they could relax. At almost five o' clock that evening, Re was finally awake. Ri closed the door softly behind her. "Okay. Tell me what's going on, or I'll go insane."
Re sat up in bed and hugged herself. Ri sat next to her and put an arm around her. She said shakily, "Wufei's got a girlfriend."
"WHAT?!"
Re's voice was dead, monotonous and flat. "When I woke him up this morning, he said, 'Nataku.' I don't know why he didn't say anything; I wouldn't have gone after him if I'd known."
Ri exploded, "I'M GOING TO KILL THAT KISAMA!!!!"
Re pleaded, "Don't say anything to him. He doesn't have to know. Besides, I'm crying, so that makes me a weak onna, right?"
"No, Re, that just makes you a baka." She tilted her sister's face to hers. "You never cry over idiot men, remember?"
Re smiled, if a bit weakly. "Right." She chuckled. "Idiot men is right."
An identically bright smile lit Ri's face. "That's the spirit." Ri suddenly remembered something Duo had said once. "Re, Wufei doesn't have a girlfriend."
"But he said the name as if." said Re, mopping her face with a tissue.
"I don't remember everything, but Duo said something about Wufei having been married but his wife died. I can't remember her name, but Nataku rings a bell."
"So it's not his girlfriend, it's his dead wife?"
"Apparently. From what Duo had implied, they didn't really start getting along until right before she died. It hit Wufei pretty hard, so hard he still has trouble with women even though it was four years ago."
"So all this time he was mourning his wife, and I've been hitting on him and dragging him into things and basically being an insensitive bitch," said Re, finally seeing why Wufei has so much trouble having fun. She would too if she were still in grief. Re was giving herself a serious putdown session when Ri slapped her and grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.
"Listen, since we showed up, he's smiled at least three times. And it isn't Duo, or Trowa, or any of the others putting that smile on his face. I don't think it's me, either. That only leaves one person, Re. You. Because of you he's started smiling again. From what I've heard from Duo, he's never been this loose. Remember the fruit fight?" Re looked down at her feet. How could she forget? He seemed to actually enjoy himself, pelting all of the rest of them with oranges. Re had to admit, she had been seeing his smile come more and more easily. She began to feel uncomfortable. Could she actually be making the human ice-burg melt? She decided to change the subject, something that Ri wouldn't be able to avoid.
"So, how's the search coming?" Ri tilted her head, confused. Re sighed and elaborated. "You know, for that guy you knew back in the church when Noin and I lost you on that colony? Have you gotten any leads yet? The other day it seemed as if you had something."
Ri chewed on her lip. How could she say this? She decided to go for her usual way. Straight forward. "I think I've found him."
Re's eyes lit up. She glomped her sister so hard they both fell onto Duo's bed. "Yay! I knew you would find him some day! So when do I get to meet him? Last time all I saw was him peeking around the corner when Noin and I went to pick you up. Where is he? Do you know if he's single? What name is he going by?" Re continued to shoot out questions until Ri sat down on the bed and her eyes filled with tears. She pulled her knees up to her chest and let her hair conceal her face. Re, worried, sat down beside her. She made a little trilling noise, and put her hand on Ri's elbow. When Ri lifted her head, Re saw a giant smile spread across her face.
"He's downstairs, he just broke up with his girlfriend two weeks ago, and he's going by the name Duo Maxwell." Ri fell back on the bed and spread out her arms. "He hasn't changed much. Not much at all." She sat up and looked at Re. "I recognized him pretty quickly, but hid it." She was about to say more when Re tackled her and started shaking her.
"BAKA! Why haven't you said anything to him?! You've had a crush on this guy for more than half your life, been looking for him for the past ten years, and you don't tell him you remember him?! I knew you were a ditz, but I thought you weren't stupid." Ri sat very calmly through Re's rant. When Re was done, she noticed something odd about the look in Ri's eyes. "Ri? What's wrong?"
"I have my reasons for not saying anything," she said as she slid off the bed and went to look out the window. "One, he doesn't seem to know who I am. Either he didn't recognize me, or he doesn't remember me. Both of the two are pretty likely. There's nothing about me that makes me that memorable, and girls tend to change more than guys over the years." She crossed her arms across her chest, something that had increased substantially in size since the last time she had seen him. "Second, I'm not entirely sure he's the right guy. I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of him. Even if he's not the Duo I knew long ago, he's still hot and I want to at least have a small chance with him."
"One thing, woman. How are you going to figure out if he's the one or not?"
"Leave that to me. There are a few things only he would know and I know just how to make them slip. If I do this right and I get the right answers, I'll know that it's him. If not, I'll just have to keep looking." With that, she turned away from the window and pulled Re off the bed. "Let's go downstairs. I'm sure the guys are wondering what's wrong. Act natural, don't tip Duo off to anything. Okay?" Re nodded and the two girls changed into more 'comfortable' clothes and headed down to the bar. This time they would be more careful about how much they drank.
LL- Cliffhanger!
Chibi-muse Heero- Where are the explosions?!
FireImp- They'll be coming shortly. There's still a few things we have to get through first.
Chibi-muse Quatre- This is chapter was sad. (cries and glomps Trowa) Why do things have to be sad?
Chibi-muse Wufei- WEAK BAKA! Sadness is a part of life, as is grief and anger.
Chibi-muse Duo- And hot chicks. (Glomps LL, who glomps him back and gives him a plate of blueberry pancakes)
LL- The llama has decided to make more pancakes, and is expanding into muffins. Read and review for blueberry baked goods and clever llama gymnastics.
Chibi-muse Trowa- (watches llama do flips and tries to teach it new tricks)
FireImp- Anyway, yeah. Read and review.