Author's Notes- Well, due to the fact that certain people do indeed seem to like this story, AND the fact that I left my dear Duo about to be eaten, mauled, or whatever your imagination can come up with, I just had to continue.

Heero- YOUR dear Duo? *twitch*

Oh, keep yer spandex on. You know I didn't mean it like that, cri-mi-ny.

Duo- Eh heh, protective Hee-chan.. ^_^'

Indeed.. Now, lets get on with it, shall we?

Disclaimer- No, still don't own any characters from Gundam Wing.. unless, of course, you're offering? *hopeful look*

Warning- *is REALLY starting to hate these warning things* ARGH!!! You already KNOW about the yaoi content, and if you DON'T, then you've been skipping chapters, and that's just a big no-no. So, if you do know, this is getting redundant, and if you don't, go check the first chapter.

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The bear stalked toward the youth, the only thing on its mind being food. It was gaunt and bony, driven half-mad by the hunger the winter had brought on. Stupidly, it had forgotten to store up enough food before the first freeze hit, and had therefore woken up too early. (a/n- don't mind me, just making every bear-person pull their hair out and scream at my incompetence, that's all..) It had been stumbling around in the forest for longer than its small brain cared to think about, and it seemed its search was at an end. It didn't care that he was about attack a human, the number one thing for a wild animal NOT to do, just that food was a prospect on the horizon.

Duo hadn't the least idea any of this was going on behind him. One minute, he was still wondering who had made up the idea of snowmen in the first place, and then he was wondering why on earth someone had thrown a furry boulder on his back. The braided boy thrashed around wildly, yelling for all he was worth. His hands groped about for something, anything with which to defend himself. Frozen fingers finally closing on a rock, he swung his arm above his head.

There was a crack as rock and bone connected, and the bear howled in pain, falling back off of the amethyst-eyed boy. Gasping for the breath that the animal had knocked out of him, Duo attempted to stand, still clutching the rock in his hand. He coughed, trying to clear his lungs of all the snow he seemed to have inhaled, and turned to face his adversary. The bear was bleeding freely from a wound on his head, but didn't seem to notice. Pain had combined with hunger to form a rage that was enough to drive it completely insane. Roaring, it launched itself at Duo once more, teeth bared.

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Heero had seen the bear before Duo had, seen the creature slink up behind the beautiful youth. He had heard himself scream the other's name, but knew it was futile. Not thinking a thing about his own safety, the beast-prince bolted from the room, racing to the front doors of the castle faster than humanly possible. Some part of his mind was, for once, thankful that he was no longer human, making that description no longer hold up a barrier for him.

Letting out a roar of desperation and anger, Heero thrust open the doors, taking no bother to shut them as he bolted across the snow-covered lawn. He saw the bear leap at Duo, and somehow managed to increase his already blinding speed. Thankfully, the braided boy managed to leap out of harms way; mostly. At the last moment, the crazed animal stuck out a paw edged in razor-sharp claws, slashing at Duo's side. Cloth tore, followed by skin, and the amethyst-eyed one yelled in pain, clutching at his side. Blood welled out between his fingers as he desperately tried to stem the flow with pressure alone.

Prussian blue eyes widened with rage and Heero roared again, leaping at the bear. The next few moments was a flurry of fur, claws and teeth to his cluttered mind. When his vision cleared from the furious red it had been, the bear lay, dead at his feet, and Duo was off to the side, eyes clenched shut and blood still flowing freely between his now crimson fingers. Heero winced himself, seeing the pain on the youth's face, and quickly made his way over. "Don't move.." He sincerely hoped his voice sounded comforting, but he just wasn't sure.

Bending down, he gently scooped the boy up into his arms, taking care not to jostle him any more than necessary. Slowly, Duo's beautiful violet eyes opened, and looked up into the face of his savior. Seeing Heero's sapphire orbs, he smiled weakly. "Thank you.." The words seemed to cost him, as he immediately clenched his teeth together, fighting back a scream. However, the beast-prince was already thanked enough. He would have jumped off a cliff just to be able to keep looking at the gratitude in those beautiful eyes.

Cradling Duo gently, Heero walked back to the castle, taking great care to keep his pace even. He could see the bleeding hadn't stopped, but running would only jostle the boy and make his wound bleed even more. Thinking hurriedly, he ripped a strip off of his shirt while walking, bunched it up and held it to the injury. Taking the hint, Duo accepted the makeshift bandage and clutched it in his own bloodstained hand, holding it tightly to his side. He didn't make a sound as Heero carried him across the lawn and through the palace, not a whimper, not a whine, at which the beast-prince was incredibly impressed. It also managed to make him love the braided youth even more. He kicked himself mentally. 'He could never love you..'

Shaking his head, Heero tried to clear such thoughts out of his head. All right, he had accepted that he was in love with Duo. Wasn't that enough? Did he still have to suffer, knowing the fact that his feelings could never be returned? It all seemed like a cruel joke.

No, he had to focus on Duo now. Deal with his own problems later. Calling out loudly for Quatre to bring medical supplies, Heero gently laid the slender boy on an ornate burgundy couch in one of the many sitting rooms. In a few moments, Quatre dashed in, carrying a basin of boiling water, a cloth, and a few rolls of bandages. The beast-prince couldn't actually see his servant, of course, but there had to be some reason why the afore- mentioned items were floating into the room without visible support.

Thanking the blonde quietly, Heero soaked the cloth in the water. Duo watched his actions with eyes half-lidded in pain, taking note the expression of fear mixed with compassion on the other's features. He was vaguely aware of a gentle command being given to him. "Duo, you're going to have to move your hand so I can clean the cut.." The loss of blood was making him a bit light-headed, but the braided youth managed to get a command to his arm to move his clenched hand away from his injury. Catching sight of it, he wondered at the deep red shade his skin seemed to be.

Knowing it would hurt the boy, and wanting to get it over with, Heero quickly pressed the wet, steaming cloth to the open wound. Duo's eyes immediately widened to their full capacity, and he managed to contain the scream struggling to escape in a mere hiss of pain. He was completely awake now, perfectly aware of exactly what was going on around him. That was probably the only reason he didn't jerk away and lash out at the beast- prince who was cleaning the gash in his side.

Heero heard the hiss (you would have to have been deaf not to at such range) and quickly began cleaning the wound, knowing the initial sting would wear off soon. The bleeding, thankfully, had slowed to a sluggish oozing, and the beast-prince was mostly focused on cleaning the cut and wiping off all of the blood that had soaked through his clothing and spread along the entire right side of the youth's chest. Soon, he realized that to do this, he would have to remove Duo's shirt. For once in his life, he was thankful he had fur. The boy couldn't see his blush as he voiced the fact. "You're going to have to take off your shirt.."

Nodding jerkily, Duo shed his shirt, albeit slowly and painfully. Heero wanted to help, but it seemed that the braided youth didn't want any. Finally, the mangled and bloodied shirt was off, and Duo set it to the side gingerly. At first, his task of fixing up the boy was enough to distract the beast-prince from the fact that the other's lightly muscled, pale chest was exposed, but as he cleaned the last of the blood from the soft skin, he found he had quite a time keeping a lid on his emotions.

Giving himself a quick mental shake, Heero snatched up a bandage and began unrolling it. A small part of his mind was curious as to why he was able to perform such delicate operations with such large and clunky paws, but a bigger part told it to shut up so he could concentrate. Duo, taking a hint, sat up straight, pulling his back away from the couch so he could be bandaged properly. The movement was slow and deliberate; the boy was taking great care not to let his injury start bleeding freely again.

Quickly yet gently, Heero began to wrap the bandage layer by layer around the other's chest, covering the wound completely. He checked that each layer was tight, and kept wrapping until he could no longer see blood on the white cloth. Fastening off the end securely, Heero nodded and looked up to meet a pair of intense violet eyes. Somehow, they held his gaze captive, and he found himself never wanting to look away. He could drown himself in those eyes, and would, willingly, given the chance. There was something, something in the deep amethyst depths that Heero couldn't quite identify. It flickered brightly, then disappeared, leaving him to wonder if he had seen anything at all.

A shiver ran up the back of Duo's spine. He could no longer feel the dull pain in his side, and whether that was due to the bandage or the fact that all of his attention was currently focused on the amazing pools of sapphire in front of him, he wasn't sure. He no longer saw a beast in front of him, indeed, he wondered where the idea of beast was coming from. He saw, instead, a young man about his own age with messy brown hair and determined features that were easily the most attractive he had ever seen. Check that, the entire apparition before him had no competition in looks anywhere, he was certain. Before he could begin to properly describe the gorgeous-ness in front of him, it flashed out of existence.

Duo blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision of the stars that had taken up residence there. Yes, there were the amazing prussian blue eyes, but they were back in the face of a beast. This particular beast, however, was not as hideous as the braided youth remembered. Certainly not. He had a more human appearance somehow, and hadn't there been fangs before? Snapping out of his reverie, his gaze traveled down to the other's arm. "You're hurt!"

The beast-prince blinked once, twice. He still seemed to be under whatever spell those eyes had seemed to put him under, and barely understood what the words exclaimed in his ear meant. As if in a dream, he looked over to his own right arm, where Duo's gaze rested. Indeed, there was a shallow gash there, which was bleeding sluggish onto the floor. "I hadn't noticed.." He reached for another cloth to dip in the now not-so boiling water, but was beat to it.

Brain not really comprehending what his body was doing, Duo's hand shot out and grabbed the cloth. Soaking it thoroughly, he wrung it out and held it over Heero's arm. "Here, I'll do it.. Just hold still." Quickly, he pressed to cloth to the wound. The beast-prince didn't so much notice the pain, as much as he noticed that the other had gone out of his way to help him. Duo imitated what Heero had done to his own wound before bandaging it up securely. "There."

"What about your injury?" Indeed, as soon as the braided youth's body caught up with him, he winced in pain. Slowly, he leaned back against the couch, a hand to his side.

"Whoops." He tried to force a smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. Love could make you really stupid sometimes.. Love? What? Where the hell had that come from?! Duo rapidly searched through his short-term memory banks, trying to confirm what exactly he had thought. Yes, love had definitely been somewhere in the formula. 'Great..' He thought bitterly. 'The blood loss is making me delusional..' Again, that annoying part of his mind pointed out the fact that that hadn't been the first time the topic of love had come up around Heero. Duo half-heartedly told it to keep quiet.

"Here, let me carry you to your room." The violet eyed boy blinked at the offer.

"But your arm!"

"Really, I hadn't noticed it until you said something. I'll be fine."

"I can walk.." Hesitantly, Duo swung his feet to the ground and attempted to stand up. He managed it, albeit a bit unsteadily, and smiled triumphantly. The smile was soon lost, however, as he took a step and nearly collapsed in pain. He did, in fact, lose his balance, but Heero was there to catch him.

"I see that." Heero chuckled softly, warmly. Lovingly. Where had that adjective come from?! Duo mentally stored it away to deal with later, and went back to basking in the sound. "Still, with your superb walking skills, I think it would be better for you not to put them to use right yet." (a/n- could I make Heero any more ooc? Geesh.)

"Hmph. I suppose." Duo tried to sound irritated, but ended up smiling broadly. Again, he was barely aware of the pain in his side. He was aware, however, that the color of the skin on his hand was definitely not natural. He held out the crimson appendage, scrutinizing it. Heero noticed as well, and quickly stooped to retrieve a third cloth from the bowl of hot water (Quatre had had to leave for more, pressing, matters, and had left the rest of the cleansing cloths in the water so as not to get dirty) and proceeded to clean the dried blood from Duo's hand and lower arm. "Thanks."

"Mm hm." The beast-prince scooped the braided youth up completely off the ground and slowly began walking towards his room. Halfway there, he nearly had to kick himself to get back on track, and quickly turned to Duo's room. Luckily, the other hadn't noticed their detour. In fact, he was looking rather sleepy. "Tired?"

Duo yawned widely. "A bit, yea." Unknowingly, he leaned his head against Heero's chest. "But I think that's reasonable, considering I was just attacked by a vicious woodland creature, don't you?" The beast-prince laughed, the first real laugh in a long while.

"It does seem to have a strong reason behind it." The amethyst-eyed boy blinked rapidly. It had happened again, there had appeared to be an incredibly handsome young man in place of the beast. His gaze rose to the deep blue eyes. They always stayed the same. Not that he was complaining, he had, as before told, never seen such eyes. He wouldn't mind terribly spending the rest of his life staring into them.

As they reached Duo's room, Heero made his way inside and lightly lay the slender youth down on his bed. Smiling sleepily, Duo caught one of the beast-prince's hands in his own as he drew away. "Thanks, again, for everything."

"You act as if I had reason to do otherwise.." Heero replied softly, not entirely sure if the other had heard him. Slowly, the sparkling violet eyes he loved as much as their owner drifted shut, and the boy's breathing became shallow and regular. The beast-prince held onto his soft hand for a while longer, just gazing at the vision of beauty before him. Realizing he had been gawking quite long enough, Heero pulled the covers up around the youth and left silently.

Unbeknownst to him, four servants stood across from Duo's door, not making a sound but observing their master raptly. As he left, they quickly turned to one another and began talking in hushed tones.

"You were right, Quatre." Treize muttered, watching the retreating form of his master. "I hadn't much noticed before, but it's obvious."

"So, you think it'll work?" Wufei asked bluntly. He was rather sick of being invisible; yes, the other servants could tell where he was (how, none were quite sure) but no one could really see him. The same went for everyone else that worked in the castle.

"I see no reason as to why it wouldn't." Trowa's green eyes sparkled with hope, though no one could really see to confirm the fact. "We can only hope it does."

"Of course it will, you bunch of pessimists." Quatre shook his head, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Of course it'll work. Just keep watching, you'll see..." The blonde paused. "Although we might be forced to, help, a bit, with getting them to realize.."

Trowa's eyes widened considerably. He knew that tone. "Er, just what were you thinking of doing, koibito...?"

"Oh, I don't know, something." The four quickly split up, Trowa trailing after Quatre trying to find out what exactly the other was planning.

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Author's Notes- Whee, another chapter up, for your enjoyment! ^_^ Em, anyone have any ideas for what exactly Quatre is planning? I'm about as lost as Trowa.. Eh heh heh.

Yami- You mean you don't have THIS story planned either?!

Of course I have it planned! I just didn't know that one of the characters would suddenly pop out with something that would make me think about something that was not in the original plan! I have the ENTIRE last two chapters planned out to the last detail, thank you very much.

Yami- Well, that doesn't help anyone now, does it?

Well.. Hey, what are you doing here anyways?! This is Gundam Wing!

Yami- I'm a pharaoh, I deserve more than author's note cameos just in Yu-Gi- Oh stories.

-_- I think your ego has been hanging around with mine too much..