Warnings: Yaoi, NCS and violence later on
Pairings: 1x2, 2x5, 1x5(NCS)
Summary: After the war, Duo and Wufei are living a peaceful life together. However, when Heero returns, things change...
A/N: POV switches between Duo and Wufei, 3rd person is a flashback.
Things Change
by Amyeyl
Chapter 1
During the war, I never would have pegged 'Fei as the domestic type. He was all business, and probably would'a labeled cooking and cleaning and such an onna's job. But that was a long time ago, five, six years at the least. Now, here he is in the kitchen baking something that smells absolutely delicious. And wearing an apron too!
Leaning back in my chair, something he would've scolded me for if he weren't preoccupied, I watch appreciatively as he moves about our tiny kitchen. He's all grace, 'Fei is. Never a movement wasted as he slips whatever it is into the oven and starts cleaning up. Standing at the sink, his back to me, it really is hard to compare my 'Fei to the Chang Wufei I thought I knew. He seems so different, but if I look hard enough I can tell they're one and the same. The most obvious thing is his height, he's grown maybe an inch if he's lucky since he was 15; not that I'm complaining. I love his small, slim body. He seems so delicate at times that I want to wrap him up in velvet and protect him from the world. He'd laugh at me if he knew that. That's another thing that hasn't changed. Wufei is still incredibly strong, one of the strongest people I know. I don't just mean physically either, though I'm sure he can still wipe the floor with me even with such a great height disadvantage. He's strong in other ways too. I don't think I'd be here today if he wasn't. There are so many times when I've failed him, when I could do no more than give up hope or break down and cry, so many times where he had to be strong enough to see the both of us through, and he's never failed to do so. I'm honored that he still chooses to stay with me and proud to say that I have a place in his heart, and that he has a place in mine.
Although he remains as strong as ever, it's different somehow. He seems more at peace with himself and that's affected how he carries himself. He no longer assumes the persona of the proud warrior, though it's not completely gone. Now he behaves like someone you would expect to find curled up with a book, in the kitchen baking, or out tending to a garden, all of which he enjoys. His hair is different as well. It falls to about the small of his back, kept neatly out of the way in a loose ponytail. Soon it will rival my infamous braid, and if I have any say, surpass it. I love his hair as much as I love anything about him, it's so different from my own. Straight and silky and so very dark. I can't keep my hands out of it sometimes, speaking of which...
Lowering the front half of my chair to the floor, I smile and make my way over to him. Whatever he's been baking has chocolate in it, the scent clinging to him becoming more obvious as I get closer. I drop my hands onto his shoulders, kneading gently before moving them into his hair. Peeking over him into the soapy water, I almost have a heart attack.
He's already washed the bowl!
Smiling at me over his shoulder, he gestures towards the counter with a tilt of his head. There's a wooden spoon there, heaping with leftover chocolate chip cookie dough, just for me. A quick kiss to the top of his head, and I'm in cookie dough heaven.
Did I mention that I love him?
**********
Finishing with the cookie mess, I turn my attention to Duo who's munching happily away at the leftover dough. It's amazing how something so simple can make him so happy. What's even more amazing is that he's here with me. If you had told me a few years back that he and I would be living peacefully together I would have laughed at you, and then hurt you severely for getting my hopes up.
Yes, even during the early stages of the war this boy, who was so unlike anyone I had ever known, fascinated me. He was so alive, so cheerful and outgoing, so not me. He could joke and laugh, no matter the danger we faced. At times I thought nothing could keep him from smiling for more than a few minutes. I wish I had been right...
*~*~*~*~*
Heero was gone. Heero Yuy was gone. He had walked out on Duo Maxwell a few days ago and now he was gone. The safe house the three pilots had shared had never been quieter. Even with two of the occupants being less than vocal, Duo had managed to keep some sort of sound going at all times whether it be his own voice, the radio, the television or some sort of combination. But now there was no noise. With the loss of Heero, Duo had become as quiet as Wufei had occasionally wished for him to be, perhaps more so.
Wufei had quickly become unnerved by the silence and had done everything he could think of to try and draw the other boy out of it. The Chinese boy had even gone so far as to contact Quatre for advice. The Arabian hadn't been able to come up with anything new, but had promised that he and Trowa would come to help as soon as they completed their current mission.
Sadly, nothing had worked. Wufei had taken to simply talking at him in an attempt to relieve the oppressive silence. He had started off trying to make the boy realize that things had been good before he and Heero had become a couple, and that things would get better again. That had failed miserably and had earned him a glare that would have made Heero proud, were he still around. After that botched attempt, he talked about the simple things like the weather, or something he'd read in the newspaper, or how Deathscythe was such a powerful gundam. He was worried about spending too much time talking of the gundams, for fear that it would somehow lead to one of them being called off on a mission. He wasn't sure which he feared more, Duo having to go on a solo mission, or being left home alone.
Nonetheless he was afraid, and one afternoon, lacking any other topics, he'd begun talking of his past. He'd never told any of the other pilots about his childhood or about Meiran, but he found the words flowed easily into the silence that surrounded them. This had been going on for about a month, interrupted by a brief mission during which Quatre and Trowa had Duo-sat. They hadn't had any luck getting the boy to talk either. Afterwards, Quatre had to leave on another assignment and Trowa provided the backup Duo assuredly wouldn't have been able to give, despite the irate doctors' disapproval.
It was that afternoon, after a farewell lunch prepared by Trowa that Wufei had found himself talking about Meiran's death. He wasn't sure what had brought it on, but had used the excuse of clearing the table to hide his tears. He made it into the kitchen before he lost himself and the dishes to the sobs that had begun to wrack his body. It had been so long since he had allowed himself to think of her as truly dead, and it hurt so much.
He was startled when he felt two arms wrap gently but firmly around his shoulders. He was even more surprised when he heard a soft voice whispering to him as a wet cheek rubbed against the top of his head.
"It's okay, 'Fei. It's okay to cry..." And cry he did. The two of them huddled together on the kitchen floor, mumbling reassurances to each other and crying for their lost loves and broken hearts.
*~*~*~*~*
Those same two arms wound their way around my waist, causing me to jump in surprise. I seem to have lost my touch during these times of peace. Duo's head rests on my shoulder and he stares at me with a strange look of worry. I smile a bit to try and reassure him, though it doesn't seem to work.
"What's the matter?" he asks, his soft breath causes some of the shorter hairs near my ear to tickle my skin and I turn my head to rest against his in an effort to escape. He presses a light kiss to my temple and lets go of me to rub my arms in a comforting gesture before turning me around.
"Nothing's the matter," I shake my head as I speak and offer him another smile. He frowns at me, still unconvinced. It's his turn to shake his head at me and sigh.
"You've always been a terrible liar, 'Fei, but that was just pathetic," he puts his hands on his hips and mock glares at me in a disapproving manner. "Now, are you gonna tell me or am I gonna have to tickle it out of you?" I sigh softly and move to stand flush against him, pulling his arms forward and around me. I'd feel foolish were I to admit this to anyone other than him, but I crave his embrace, his strong arms offer a protection I'd never thought to have, especially when I'm upset.
"I was thinking about that night in the kitchen... and Heero." He stiffens briefly in my embrace before relaxing again and lifting a hand to stroke my hair.
"It's alright," he murmurs, trying to comfort me through his own pain at the mention of that name. He lightly kisses the top of my head, one of the few, very few, benefits of being short. I don't know what I'd do without him. Without him, I don't think I'd ever have found true peace.
Did I mention that I love him?
**********
The phone chose that moment to ring and I gently extricated myself from his grasp. I smiled apologetically at him before crossing the room to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Wufei?"
"Speaking..."
"Mmm... Wufei."
"I'm sorry, I don't recognize your voice. May I ask who's calling?"
"Tsk tsk. It's not very nice of you to forget me Wufei. I bet Duo would remember my voice... It doesn't really matter though, I'll be seeing you soon 05."
"H-Heero?!"