Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam wing.
****************A/N**************
Eh. . .
I didn't mean for the first part of this chapter to take up all of my usual allotted space, so (for fun, and because I'm really sorry this is so late) I have made this one twice as long.
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Laptop Journal Entry: Date, Unknown:
"I never meant for this to happen. I couldn't do anything to stop them, and it was Duo's own fault for getting caught, yes. But then, how is it that I can't sleep at night? It's nearly three in the morning, now, and I have a mission tomorrow. I hate how I can't stop thinking about him. Dr. J told me I had no weakness. I see now that he was so wrong, because when you act on your emotions, there will always be weakness. When I'm around him, everything seems so right; so right that I fear he is everything I can never be. Perhaps that's why I can't, and don't want to let go.
No one ever was brave enough to befriend me before. Perhaps that's what Dr. J meant, that no one would dare befriend me, and he didn't believe I would be fool enough to befriend another. Obviously Dr. J hasn't met Duo.
I want so badly to rescue him, but I need to have faith in him for both our sakes. This war can't be won if we waste time bothering with each other. If I were captured, I wouldn't want anyone to jeopardize his or her mission by rescuing me. But this thinking is corrupted; Duo would rescue me anyway, because he has that annoying, obnoxious, caring, emotional, wonderful disregard for orders.
I can never be like him; that's why I have to save him. I can never be like him; that's why I'm cursed to love him.
-Heero Yuy"
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Heero blinked up from the illuminated gel screen of the laptop after reading this entry and let his eyes adjust to the darkness of the room a little before turning it off and into complete darkness. There was no mistaking it. These were his entries; his thoughts; but it wasn't his life anymore. And yet, how was it that he missed memory so much. Memory had plagued Duo, Heero knew, but it was part of who he was, just as it had been for him. Heero didn't feel empty, though. He was filled with emotion, filled with joy, which he could tell from his entries, it was joy that he never knew.
Heero looked at the door as light streamed through. He hadn't noticed how dark the room had gotten in two hour's time just sitting and reading beside the light of the open windows. Duo walked in the room.
"Heero?" He asked the black of the room, "What are you doing in here? It's dark!" Duo didn't bother to look around for the face, and simply went straight for the lamp, nearly stumbling over the coffee table as he reached the pull-chain.
"I was just looking-over my computer for some things." Heero said, standing up for the first time in nearly two hours, and covering his eyes lightly with his right hand spread across his face as the light shone straight into his face when he looked at Duo.
"Wait a sec," Duo said as Heero put his hand down, his eyes already having gotten used to the light.
"Hn?" Heero raised one eyebrow dangerously high.
"No, no, do that again!" Duo grinned at a blank Heero, "You know, the . . . the hand thing!" Duo spread his right hand across his face mockingly, and Heero kind of made an 'oh' noise.
"You mean this?" Heero jetted his right elbow out to the right of his head as the right hand spread its fingers across his face.
"Yeah!" Duo exclaimed excitedly, raising a finger, "That's a really good pose for you (1), you know that?" Heero let his hand down gently to his side and shrugged.
"Yeah, that'd be great. I can look like a really bright light is shining in my eyes all the time." Heero mumbled as he turned away to re-charge his laptop. Duo widened his eyes and froze in shock.
"Sarcasm . . . from the perfect soldier?" Duo smirked, "I thought I'd never see the day."
"That's not me anymore." Heero finished, looking up into violet eyes that shone with love, admiration and unnecessary sympathy. There was silence a moment before Duo moved over to the table by the side of the small couch.
"I'm sorry about this morning. I really didn't mean to start feeling sorry for myself . . . to you, especially. I feel really bad." He started re- arranging the photographs on the table apprehensively. Heero thought it was better not to tell Duo that it was okay, because words wouldn't help, and just to get Duo's mind off the subject would make it much better.
Looking at the pictures Duo was looking over, Heero saw one that caught his eye especially. He and Duo were in soldier's uniforms in a hangar of some sort with two undistinguishable mobile suits in the background. Duo was looking rather cheerful with his left arm slung around him like a lifeline. Heero thought it was amusing to see him in the picture. To others, it might've seemed as if he was angry, but Heero saw himself blushing in the picture. No one would have guessed that's actually what he was feeling.
"You like that picture?" Duo asked, pointing at the framed photo that Heero still carried in his hands, before putting it back in the front where he found it.
"We were in the war, then." Heero reflected, almost a question, but decidedly not, Duo chose not to answer, "Why are you so happy?"
Duo froze, looking at the picture once more. He did, indeed, look very happy, and even had a peace sign plastered subtly to the side in Duo's right hand. Heero was fairly certain of the answer according to Duo's actions, but he had to be sure that Duo knew. It was more important for him, if anything, to help his friend as Duo had helped him so much before.
"You know, Hee-chan?" Duo collapsed onto the couch with a heavy sigh, "I wasn't happy." Heero sat down on the couch next to Duo, and slipped his arm around the frail waist. "I felt like I had to live like every day was my last, and I fooled myself into thinking I was so happy just to be alive, when I really wanted to die, Heero. We all wanted to die at some point or another." Duo stopped a moment as Heero squeezed his arm tighter, but not too tight around his waist, and Duo met Heero's hand with his own.
Duo was very sure that Heero didn't care to live or die during those years, and he certainly kept himself on the in-between most of the time. It became increasingly harder to tell if Heero was among the living as the years of the war wore on. They said Heero was warming up to the world, but Duo could only feel him growing colder, and Quatre's 'soul of outer space' had agreed on several occasions. Often, when Duo ran into trouble, he would come to Quatre for help, because Trowa and Wufei might listen, but it was doubtful that they would take him seriously. Of course, Duo trusted his life with every one of them, but they had never been the most agreeable of people to talk to with problems.
"Can I get you some water? A sandwich? Anything?" Duo asked frailly, although he made no attempt to pull away from Heero's hold. It was comforting, and Heero was content to keep Duo there as long as it took to comfort him.
"I'm fine." Heero answered, smiling slightly.
/ding, dong/ The doorbell rang.
"Let them ring." Duo said, snuggling into Heero's shoulder.
/ding dong! ding dong!/ It sounded louder the second time.
"We'd better answer. It might be important." Heero said letting go of Duo's waist and they both rose from the couch in annoyance. The ringing continued and Duo grumbled as he went to the door. No one he knew well would come to his door without calling. It was very rude, but since Heero had encouraged him to, he might as well answer the door.
Duo sighed, reaching for the door, which was still being pounded hard upon, as if the person on the other end was very irritated. Heero stood behind him, looking as busy as someone who had nothing to do could look when the door opened, but his expression changed very quickly to a mix of distaste and surprise when the visitor threw herself upon him obsessively. Duo narrowed his eyes, staring out into the empty hall, and praying to God their unexpected visitor wasn't who she seemed to be.
"Heeeerrrroooo!" The girl yelled as her arms threw themselves around Heero's neck almost so that he wasn't able to breathe.
"Ahem!" Duo cleared his throat as he turned around, trying to act as composed as possible as he restrained himself from doing something irrational. "Relena," he strained a weak smile, "I thought the vice foreign minister was going to be holding a conference on L3 this week."
Relena took her arms off Heero and turned around to greet her host, "Well, Duo, I decided to take a brief detour. I hope you don't mind." She smiled at him before turning to Heero again, completely ignoring his confused expression.
Heero was still in an indescribable state of shock, because he didn't exactly feel comfortable having a complete stranger throw her arms around him. Was he supposed to know her? Well, obviously . . . but did he like her? Duo obviously didn't, Heero saw. Duo's violet eyes had lost their brilliant vibrancy, and turned dark with revulsion as he stood facing the young woman in pink. Heero didn't know what to say. She seemed friendly enough, and even pleasant, but Duo had to have a reason to hate her so much.
"I don't mind at all, Miss Relena." Duo tried hard to hide his sarcasm, closing the door behind her. She dismissed this comment and began to ramble about her life to Heero. Heero just stood there, occasionally glancing to see Duo, who was looking over the one-sided conversation distastefully. The day had just gotten more dismal than he could have ever predicted. It was going to take much more than a few hints that she was unwanted to get the obsessive Peacecraft out of there. She, then, all of the sudden, stopped talking about herself for just a minute to sigh innocently as she turned to Duo and actually said something worth listening to. Well, it depended from which angle you heard it.
". . . I must say, I was a bit surprised to see they had chosen you to take care of Heero during his time of need, but you are forgiven. I would be more than happy to take him off your hands." She smiled sweetly, but it wasn't the kind of sweet smile you would expect from an innocent little girl. It was the kind of smile that was so sweet, you feel like hurling, or at least Duo did.
"Is that why you came here, Relena? To tell me you're better fit to take care of Heero? I hardly think you're in a position to decide. I was obviously chosen for a reason." Duo asked, hinging onto his suppressed anger. This reaction from Duo seemed to catch her by surprise, and her smile was erased.
"I -came- to check on Heero." She looked at Heero sadly, "You haven't answered any of my letters."
"And with good reason. . ." Duo mumbled to himself so no one else could hear. The day was getting more dismal by the moment. He recalled all the letters that Sally had shoved into that suitcase she gave Heero. Most likely, all were from the obsessive girl.
"What was that, Duo?" Relena narrowed her eyes at the braided man. She had heard, and Duo didn't care as he stared her down.
"Nothing, Relena," he growled.
"Fine," Relena crossed her arms indignantly, "You wouldn't mind making us all some tea, then." She attempted to get Duo out of the room, and it was too bad that Duo too polite for Heero's sake to do anything except agree, but Heero could see the equaled hatred they had for one another bouncing back and forth as Duo went to get her some tea.
Duo hadn't acted like that before, so far as Heero could remember, and he couldn't stand to see his love so distressed, all because of this 'Relena' and her obvious attachment to him. Didn't she know that he could never like her -that- way? He must have told her, right?
"Excuse me a moment." Heero told Relena as he headed off for the kitchen after Duo.
He found Duo frowning over the teakettle as he filled it with water in the sink. Bright violet eyes shone up at Heero with a genuine smile.
"Hey, Hee-chan, you'd better go watch over the queen of the world for me, make sure she doesn't jack the lamp." He chuckled lightly, but only grinned wider when he saw the serious face attached to the mop of brown hair. "What?!"
"Who is she?" He asked acutely.
"Vice foreign minister, 'voice of the people', frighteningly obsessive?. . .please, take your pick." Duo laughed out loud as he set the stove temperature and placed the kettle on top of the front burner.
"Then how do I know her, exactly?" He asked confusedly.
"That would be choice 'c', frighteningly obsessive. She's been stalking you ever since you first met, if I'm correct. . ." Duo grabbed a jar of home- picked chamomile that Quatre had given him once-upon-a-time and poured some into a mesh cloth, ". . . practically threw you off the deep end during the war. I remember when you locked and bolted the front of the safe-house because she could have possibly traced a call Wufei had made to Sally one day. That was a riot! The protection came in really handy, though, when OZ found us later that week." He tested the temperature of the smoke over the kettle; just about done.
"Has she always been so. . ." Heero searched for the word.
"Pushy?" Duo suggested, and Heero nodded, "Yeah." He looked down at the single black mug on the counter, "You want some tea?"
"No thanks, Duo." Heero said, smiling at the random question.
"Yeah; I'm not really in the mood either, but this stuff Quatre gave me makes some pretty good tea." He shook the jar gently before placing it back in the cabinet, and picking up the mug to bring into Relena, but he didn't move any further.
"What's wrong?" Heero asked.
"It's just that. . ." Duo reflected quietly, "Well, I was always a little afraid you might choose her over me, is all. You know, so she'd stop bothering you." He looked down sorrowfully, but Heero came closer to Duo and lifted the braided boy's chin up.
"I would never do that." Heero said, planting a kiss on Duo's lips that was short, but sweet, and left a blush when he pulled away.
"Thanks." Duo was silent a moment with renewed reassurance, as violet pools swam with emotion at the dark blue ones that shone with radiance before he took a deep breath, "ready to face her?" Duo asked gently, and Heero nodded. Duo clutched the mug tightly as he walked into the living room, followed closely by the other.
"Here's your tea." Duo threw the mug onto the coffee table before grabbing a chair and inviting her silently and reluctantly to sit down. Relena sat down in the chair across from Duo, smoothing the folds in her dress, before picking up the black plastic mug with Duo's favorite radio station and logo pasted all over the front.
Duo didn't bother owning any fine China or anything; never had. If anyone asked, it cost too much and it's much too breakable for the kind of living he was used to, but the real reason Duo kept his cheap dishware and other less-than-sophisticated items was that everything he owned had sentimental value, a story, if you will.
This particular mug was a consolation prize when he called-in at the radio station to answer some questions to win a ticket to his favorite band's next concert. Of course he got the questions right, but he asked them to mail the ticket Hilde's apartment. Duo knew how much she wanted to see the concert, and he needed to stay home and fill out some more paperwork, anyway. Duo remembered laughing as they called her his girlfriend and wrote them a 'thank you' letter when he received the black mug in the mail a week later.
This gesture had actually led him to apply for a job as an announcer at the radio station a year later. Thursdays from 11pm to 3 in the morning Duo had his very own program.
"Don't you have anything more suitable to drink tea in? I could give you a nice tea set if you want." Relena criticized, bringing the plastic mug to her lips.
"Well, I'm sorry if it doesn't meet your standards." Duo hissed, and looked up at Heero, who was still standing on the other side of the room. His voice softened considerably, although still irritated, Duo was not about to turn his anger back on the only person who had ever truly made him happy.
"You can sit, you know." Duo motioned Heero over. "This is Relena." Duo left it at that.
Heero looked at the girl across the table, and saw Duo huffing to his side. Heero took Duo's hand in his underneath the table and Duo's eyes brightened like a child's opening a Christmas present as he looked at Heero, who was staring across at Relena the whole time, but was slightly smiling at Duo's reaction from the corner of his eye.
"I suppose he doesn't remember me, does he?" Relena said sadly, breaking the intimate unspoken conversation between them with a most unpleasant topic.
"No, I don't." Heero finally spoke, dropping hands with Duo to cross his arms. "I'm lucky to be alive."
"You're right. I am so sorry." Relena bit her lip, "I suppose Duo hasn't told you anything about me, then." She shot a quarrelsome glance at the braided young man who rolled his eyes as he put his hands behind his head, pushing away from the table with his feet so that the chair was balanced on the hind legs.
"What's there to tell?" he smirked.
"Duo!" The vice foreign minister looked at him crossly, "I'd appreciate a moment ALONE with Heero!"
"Geez! Get over yourself!!" Duo came down from the balance of his chair and stood up so that he was high above the two, finally having lost patience. "Heero has never loved you. Just because he can't remember that doesn't make it any different! He rejected you over two years ago. This might be a good time to move on." Duo stopped as Relena stood, eyes shining with hurt.
"I think we can let Heero decide THAT!" She yelled meekly as tears began to surface. "Well, Heero?!" She turned over to Heero, fragile emotion finally taking its toll.
Duo looked at Relena, and suddenly almost regretted his harsh words. They had been such harsh rivals for Heero's affections that Duo had forgotten that as annoying, obnoxious, arrogant, and obsessive Relena was, she was still human. Duo was ashamed of his words, even though he had no reason to be. You should never feel ashamed of the truth.
Heero stood in-between the two magnetic forces, immediately repelling one another. He saw a lost girl on the verge of second heartbreak, and a rightfully angered Duo who was softening at the sight of tears. Heero felt himself drawn towards Duo, it always had been, but he knew he felt sorry for the disagreeable young woman. That's what it was . . . pity. Who knew that a soldier would be able to feel pity? Duo always did, and that, no doubt, is what made him suffer even after so many years.
"Heero?!" Relena screamed, almost pleadingly; selfishly. She leaned her hands onto the table in front of her and looked down into her tea as a few stray tears dropped into the rosy liquid. However, Relena's sadness was soon glossed by hatred.
"This is your entire fault, Duo." She told the ground before coming up to face both of them. "I've already had some of my representatives speak to Sally about Heero's care under the terms that he cannot possibly obtain his entire past from the perspective of a single person," Duo froze at the suggestion, "She has agreed."
"What do you mean? That's impossible! You have to have Heero's consent!" Duo snapped back angrily.
"But of course, I do!" Relena threw her arms around Heero possessively, but the strong, speechless young man pushed her away with ease and an obvious 'No!' before running out of the living room and into Duo's bedroom. It was a childish thing to do, running away, but children only run because they are confused, and Heero was just about as confused as he could possibly be at that point. It hadn't mattered so much that he couldn't remember when he was with Duo because it was never pressed upon him that he had to remember, but now, exposed to the real world for once in a long time, he didn't know what to do.
"Now, look what you've done!" Duo growled at her as he ran close behind Heero, finding him sitting on the edge of the black bed in the unlit room, looking at the bookshelf that seemed to blur under his vision as Heero's forehead grew hot with a feeling he couldn't explain. The open window cooled him off a bit, and let light shine lightly upon him, which made Heero look, to Duo, almost celestial.
"Hey, Hee-chan. . . are you alright?" Duo put an arm around his love's shoulder, and Heero threw his arms around Duo helplessly, although he still refused to cry. Duo ran circles on Heero's back to comfort him, and for the moment, seemed to help. They were lost in each other for a minute before Heero pulled away
"Sorry." Heero said finally. Duo nodded, half-smiling, because he knew that whatever Relena wanted, she got, no matter the cost.
Of course, as Heero and Duo sat whispering and comforting one another, blinding to everything else, they didn't notice that Relena stood outside the doorframe, watching their every move including a short kiss, and a tear ran down her cheek.
"So whatdya say to going out there and telling Miss Relena that she's not welcome here, huh, Hee-chan?" Duo suggested.
"Hai." Heero nodded, still holding Duo's hand as they stood and walked into the illuminated living room only to find that Relena was gone.
The room was as it had always been. There was a couch, lamp, table, chairs, and half a mug of Quatre's famed chamomile tea, but there was one change. Relena was gone, and in her place, a small note was pinned to the damp bottom of the mug.
Duo let go of Heero's hand to walk over to the scene, and picked up the pink piece of paper, obviously from Relena. She had even left her pen and cap on the table from when she must have left in haste.
Duo grew distant as he read the note, and Heero came to put a loving hand on his shoulder as he peered over it to read what the note said.
'I am sorry, Heero. You must be happy.
-Relena'
Heero looked sympathetically at the elegant handwriting. He didn't mean to hurt her, even though he knew that it would.
"I suppose," He started, "there are worse things than a broken heart?"
"Hee-chan," violet eyes met blue, "This happened a long time ago; she only just realized it."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The minutes wore on after Relena left as if they were stuck waiting for the sun to come out. Although beautiful outside, it was still a little overcast in Duo's apartment, to say the least.
Duo and Heero had immediately sat down to finish the cuddling they were so rudely interrupted by earlier, and Heero had taken to a particular strand of Duo's hair that had come unwound in all the excitement, and was playing with it around his forefinger. They didn't look at each other, for fear they might break the wonderful spell that had cast itself over the room and end-up lusting instead of caring for one another. It was the caring feeling that they needed more than ever, now.
"Duo?" Heero asked the young man he held from behind, who had his eyes closed contently, sinking into Heero's lap as much as was possible with his light weight.
"Yeah." the voice rang out wistfully as Duo tilted his head inwards to Heero's chest.
"I didn't know you read William Blake (2)." Heero's hawk-like eyesight had picked-up the title of one of the books scattered aimlessly around the room. This particular one was caught on the ground between the standing lamp and the wall behind the couch where it was insured never to see the light of day again. Well . . . unless you're Heero.
"You don't know a lot of things." Duo chuckled a little, opening his eyes to scope the room for the location of the long-lost book. There was silence for a moment, "Wait, how do you know about William Blake?"
"What do you mean? He's a poet . . . died in 1827, if I'm correct." Heero said quite stiffly, and Duo, to his surprise, shot his head up as if this was the best news since the end of the war. He looked Heero straight in the eyes with a hopeful smile.
"Do you remember anything else?" Duo asked excitedly, shaking his hands for an idea to come to him, "What about Shakespeare? What plays has he written? Do you remember?"
Heero opened his eyes wide with realization, "Hamlet, King Lear, The Tempest, Julius Ceasar. . . Yes, I. . .remember." Heero stared surprisedly, as Duo's smile brightened. He was actually remembering something!
"Do you. . ." Duo paused, "Remember the time I was taken hostage by OZ, and you came to get me against your mission assignment. That's something memorable. . . or at least it was to me."
Heero searched his mind for an answer, ravenously, devouring every last piece of what he could remember and taking it apart like a machine. Einstein's theory of relativity? . . . No, that doesn't help. Plank's constant? . . . No, not that either. Alexander the great? . . .Where the hell did that come from?
He realized that what Duo was speaking of was in the entry he read that day. Heero might have said he remembered, and then everything would have been all right, but he knew that whatever recollection of this experience remained with him rested only in the journal.
"No, I'm sorry." Heero said finally and Duo collapsed into the back of the couch with a sigh.
"No need to be sorry, but Shakespere's a start! There's more hope for the return of your memory than we ever expected!" Duo smiled happily and looked outside at the dark night sky before looking his watch. "It is Friday, isn't it?"
"No," Heero replied, "It's only Thursday. Why do you a. . ." His question was cut off by Duo who bounded up from Heero's lap, cursing under his breath as he went into the kitchen, to turn off the stove, it seemed, and again to another few locations gathering who knows what, but it looked like he was preparing to leave.
"Damn," He swore before looking across at Heero, who had long since gotten up from his comfortable position to observe Duo's actions more closely.
"Heero, I'm so sorry I forgot!" Duo said in apology, grabbing a light jacket from the closet and flinging it across the room at a target of dark brown messy hair before picking one for himself, "I'm going to be late!"
"Late for what?" Heero smiled slightly at Duo's hurried behavior as he watched the braid and its owner make his way around the room, gathering what seemed to be a pen, wallet, and card of some sort.
"Well, you don't have to come if you don't want to. . ." Duo's voice trailed off into the kitchen again to grab two containers of yogurt with spoons. ". . . this job only just a few weeks ago so it's kind of hard to get used to the schedule and. . ."
"Duo?" Heero stopped him.
"What?"
"Where are we going?"
"Radio station. . . . sorry about dinner." Duo said simply, handing him a yogurt and slipping on his shoes before walking out the door. Heero followed, still a little confused, into Duo's car as they set off to wherever it was they were going. Duo was happy to explain on the way.
"Well, I'm usually a little low on cash, so I auditioned for this radio announcing job on Thursdays, and I got in. It's not like I can just quit, you understand," Duo sighed as they just missed the green light at the intersection, "And you're liable to loose the job if you call in sick even once."
"And you thought it was Friday?" Heero raised an eyebrow, smiling on the inside.
"Hah, hah, very funny," Duo said, "I'm allowed to forget things, too, you know."
Heero and Duo sat in an awkward silence the rest of the 5-minute trip. Normally, Duo walked because it was murder looking for a parking space, but he would definitely be late that way, and at least he had a chance of being on time this way. Besides, he felt lucky.
Duo parked the car, inhaled his yogurt, and ran up the stairs to the small studio, followed closely by Heero. Duo gave the manager who was on the phone (most likely looking for a last minute replacement) a thumbs-up as he ran to the mike and headphones before the manager had a chance to wring his neck.
They tried to stop Heero at the door, but Duo mouthed the words 'he's with me' as he was put on air, so he was allowed entrance. Heero stumbled into the unfamiliar place, a little uncomfortable, as he took a seat beside Duo.
The clock read exactly 11:00pm as Duo started off with a 'Hello' in his most professional tenor that Heero had never really heard before. The voice sounded really false at first, but it was obviously because he knew Duo so well.
He watched as Duo put the first record on and flipped the switch to turn his microphone off with a satisfied sigh. They were on time.
"Duo! You're late, again!!" The manager stormed in. He was the kind of man who you would expect to find in a secluded cabin somewhere in the middle of Canada, chopping wood for a living. He stared at the young braided ex-pilot from underneath bushy eyebrows, with a beard and hair that hadn't been cut in a year (at least) all of which distracted everyone from his eyes nicely. He might have looked an intimidating lumberman, if not for the tie.
"Sorry, Dan, I wasn't really -late-, though. I came right on time!" Duo gave the manager a winning 'you-know-I'm-innocent' smile. The manager raised his bushy eyebrows so that his eyes were almost a little visible, as if judging the level at which Duo deserved a break, quickly turned them to Heero, and back to Duo again.
"Can your friend speak?" The manager asked, "I can't pay him much, but it'll give him something to do, and I've been getting requests for more than one announcer at a time. The public is really nosy like that." He stopped to look at Heero again, "so?"
"I could do that." Heero replied in his rich, deep voice, and the manager backed away a bit in surprise.
"Okay, you pass the test." He said and looked over at the record that was just about run out, and the needle picked-up, "Better get in there fast, boys." He motioned over to the seats with a grunt and showed a petrified Heero to a second set of headphones, "Go, Go!" He shooed Heero over to the microphone, where Duo already began to introduce him.
"Duo Maxwell, here, on your favorite radio station, bringing you the best of the oldies, and today, we have a very special guest, my pal Heero Yuy. Hey, Heero, you there?"
Heero fumbled around the controls before he found the slot for the headphones, and answered Duo's question quickly into the microphone, as he found the insert and sat down, a little disheveled by the experience.
"I'm here."
"Well, it took you long enough. So, while we're waiting for some song requests to come in, why don't you tell us all a little bit about yourself?" Duo urged, hoping something might jog his memory.
"I. . .uh. . ." Heero stuttered, and Duo saw that he wasn't ready, and saw a red button blinking to his right
"It seems we have a call," he pressed the button, "Hello, Duo Maxwell speaking. You're on the air." He spoke into the grid on the speaker.
"Hello Duo, this is Zechs Marquese." Duo swallowed hard, and Heero was afraid to know why. Was he supposed to know this person, also?
"Why, Hello, Zechs!" Duo strained a cheerful voice, trying to hide how nervous he was. "Would you like to request a song?"
"Yes, actually," the deep voice answered, "I'd like to dedicate this to my little sister, who called me only just this afternoon and she was," He paused for sincerity, "very upset. I hope that you're quite satisfied, and I would like to play 'Pity for a Dime', one of my personal favorites." Zechs hung up right there, and Duo cringed a little at the hidden message as he put on the record and switched off the mike.
"He's Relena's brother, isn't he?" Heero asked acutely. Duo nodded.
"We're in more trouble than we bargained for, I think. I hope that Zechs doesn't go totally mental. He's been known to do that, you know." Growing fears developed in Duo's mind as he recalled the warring times. Heero could only imagine what Duo said, and the situations he received in his mind weren't any less frightening.
They both sat in apprehension, listening to the rest of the song mindlessly. Perhaps, it wasn't a threat, after all. I mean, the song only forced them to think about how they must have hurt Relena. What did Zechs want, anyway? They felt bad enough already, but it wasn't their fault.
"Looks like we have another call. . ." Duo said weakly to Heero after the song ended and put the speaker on air.
"Hi. My name's Madeline from the second sector, and I wanted to ask you a question." Duo brightened at the idea of a question, and was eager to get on a different topic.
"Sure Madeline." The braided boy answered cheerily, "Fire away."
"What did you do to his little sister?"
/mass face fault/
"Why don't you request a song . . .?" Duo suggested as his hand burrowed into his forehead, leaning his elbow into the table.
"No thanks. You sure you don't want to answer?" She asked once more, hopefully.
"Positive. Goodbye Madeline." Duo hung up, looking at Heero before putting on a pre-arranged selection of songs, and taking them off the air again.
"Damn that Zechs! I bet he's getting a pretty good laugh right about now." Duo hissed to himself.
"Don't let him get to you." Heero said, trying to calm him down.
"You're right," Duo sighed, putting his headphones back on, "That's really the worst he can do."
The night wore on, especially quickly for Duo because of Heero's company. There were no more nosy personal questions, and some of the song requests were very nice selections. Altogether, Duo found the experience to be very successful. Heero warmed-up to his position pretty quickly, and soon enough, he was talking almost as much as Duo was. The manager even offered Heero a position on the job as they left at 3:00 in the morning with Duo on Thursdays and Duo jumped in to agree with his boss before Heero had a chance to even accept.
Getting home, they both sat down on Duo's bed to talk a little, but somehow, they both ended up asleep, exhausted, in their clothes on top of the bed. Duo was sprawled out all over the bed and snored lightly, while Heero had curled his knees up as he held the pillow his head was on lightly. It was a cute picture, just knowing that they had both fallen asleep knowing that the other was by their side. Things were definitely going their way, and Relena had been completely forgotten.
**********footnotes***********
I never understood that pose. . . . You know the one at the beginning of the 'Just Communication' opening. Very silly to add, I know, but I need something to balance.
William Blake was a very famous poet (1758-1827). One of his most famous poems is 'The Tyger', which is one of my absolute favorite poems of all time! His poetry often has very varied opinions, and because of this, he's sometimes portrayed as, well, insane, but all great minds are . . . to some extent.
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Violet Tears: You know what, hehehe, there's actually a funny story to that. I wanted them to go shopping and buy clothes to emphasize the 'new' Heero, but I have a terrible imagination when it comes to fashion, and I was afraid to put more than one outfit in because I would probably make Heero look awful! I know, I should have just said 'they bought a few more outfits' or something. Thanks for bringing it up. Please feel free to ask any more questions, because goodness knows my writing has plenty of mistakes! Thanks for the review! ^-^
Tashue: Thank you so much! Your reviews were so nice. I really appreciate it. I hope this chapter had enough angst: there's lots of it, that's for sure. ^^ I hope you liked it.
Fei: Yes! That's exactly what I was trying to get across in those lines! Joy and sadness do not need to be defined because sometimes they are one in the same. I am SO happy that someone picked-up on that, because it's important. ~grins~ No one else said anything about it, so thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ^-^
Diane: That answers your question, I hope. ~smiles~ I was going to put Relena in to end the story, but I came up with a better ending, I think, so I hope her entrance wasn't too random. After all, it wouldn't be a very complete story without a Relena confrontation, now, would it? ^-^ Thank you so much for your reviews; they are so great!
****************A/N**************
Eh. . .
I didn't mean for the first part of this chapter to take up all of my usual allotted space, so (for fun, and because I'm really sorry this is so late) I have made this one twice as long.
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Laptop Journal Entry: Date, Unknown:
"I never meant for this to happen. I couldn't do anything to stop them, and it was Duo's own fault for getting caught, yes. But then, how is it that I can't sleep at night? It's nearly three in the morning, now, and I have a mission tomorrow. I hate how I can't stop thinking about him. Dr. J told me I had no weakness. I see now that he was so wrong, because when you act on your emotions, there will always be weakness. When I'm around him, everything seems so right; so right that I fear he is everything I can never be. Perhaps that's why I can't, and don't want to let go.
No one ever was brave enough to befriend me before. Perhaps that's what Dr. J meant, that no one would dare befriend me, and he didn't believe I would be fool enough to befriend another. Obviously Dr. J hasn't met Duo.
I want so badly to rescue him, but I need to have faith in him for both our sakes. This war can't be won if we waste time bothering with each other. If I were captured, I wouldn't want anyone to jeopardize his or her mission by rescuing me. But this thinking is corrupted; Duo would rescue me anyway, because he has that annoying, obnoxious, caring, emotional, wonderful disregard for orders.
I can never be like him; that's why I have to save him. I can never be like him; that's why I'm cursed to love him.
-Heero Yuy"
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Heero blinked up from the illuminated gel screen of the laptop after reading this entry and let his eyes adjust to the darkness of the room a little before turning it off and into complete darkness. There was no mistaking it. These were his entries; his thoughts; but it wasn't his life anymore. And yet, how was it that he missed memory so much. Memory had plagued Duo, Heero knew, but it was part of who he was, just as it had been for him. Heero didn't feel empty, though. He was filled with emotion, filled with joy, which he could tell from his entries, it was joy that he never knew.
Heero looked at the door as light streamed through. He hadn't noticed how dark the room had gotten in two hour's time just sitting and reading beside the light of the open windows. Duo walked in the room.
"Heero?" He asked the black of the room, "What are you doing in here? It's dark!" Duo didn't bother to look around for the face, and simply went straight for the lamp, nearly stumbling over the coffee table as he reached the pull-chain.
"I was just looking-over my computer for some things." Heero said, standing up for the first time in nearly two hours, and covering his eyes lightly with his right hand spread across his face as the light shone straight into his face when he looked at Duo.
"Wait a sec," Duo said as Heero put his hand down, his eyes already having gotten used to the light.
"Hn?" Heero raised one eyebrow dangerously high.
"No, no, do that again!" Duo grinned at a blank Heero, "You know, the . . . the hand thing!" Duo spread his right hand across his face mockingly, and Heero kind of made an 'oh' noise.
"You mean this?" Heero jetted his right elbow out to the right of his head as the right hand spread its fingers across his face.
"Yeah!" Duo exclaimed excitedly, raising a finger, "That's a really good pose for you (1), you know that?" Heero let his hand down gently to his side and shrugged.
"Yeah, that'd be great. I can look like a really bright light is shining in my eyes all the time." Heero mumbled as he turned away to re-charge his laptop. Duo widened his eyes and froze in shock.
"Sarcasm . . . from the perfect soldier?" Duo smirked, "I thought I'd never see the day."
"That's not me anymore." Heero finished, looking up into violet eyes that shone with love, admiration and unnecessary sympathy. There was silence a moment before Duo moved over to the table by the side of the small couch.
"I'm sorry about this morning. I really didn't mean to start feeling sorry for myself . . . to you, especially. I feel really bad." He started re- arranging the photographs on the table apprehensively. Heero thought it was better not to tell Duo that it was okay, because words wouldn't help, and just to get Duo's mind off the subject would make it much better.
Looking at the pictures Duo was looking over, Heero saw one that caught his eye especially. He and Duo were in soldier's uniforms in a hangar of some sort with two undistinguishable mobile suits in the background. Duo was looking rather cheerful with his left arm slung around him like a lifeline. Heero thought it was amusing to see him in the picture. To others, it might've seemed as if he was angry, but Heero saw himself blushing in the picture. No one would have guessed that's actually what he was feeling.
"You like that picture?" Duo asked, pointing at the framed photo that Heero still carried in his hands, before putting it back in the front where he found it.
"We were in the war, then." Heero reflected, almost a question, but decidedly not, Duo chose not to answer, "Why are you so happy?"
Duo froze, looking at the picture once more. He did, indeed, look very happy, and even had a peace sign plastered subtly to the side in Duo's right hand. Heero was fairly certain of the answer according to Duo's actions, but he had to be sure that Duo knew. It was more important for him, if anything, to help his friend as Duo had helped him so much before.
"You know, Hee-chan?" Duo collapsed onto the couch with a heavy sigh, "I wasn't happy." Heero sat down on the couch next to Duo, and slipped his arm around the frail waist. "I felt like I had to live like every day was my last, and I fooled myself into thinking I was so happy just to be alive, when I really wanted to die, Heero. We all wanted to die at some point or another." Duo stopped a moment as Heero squeezed his arm tighter, but not too tight around his waist, and Duo met Heero's hand with his own.
Duo was very sure that Heero didn't care to live or die during those years, and he certainly kept himself on the in-between most of the time. It became increasingly harder to tell if Heero was among the living as the years of the war wore on. They said Heero was warming up to the world, but Duo could only feel him growing colder, and Quatre's 'soul of outer space' had agreed on several occasions. Often, when Duo ran into trouble, he would come to Quatre for help, because Trowa and Wufei might listen, but it was doubtful that they would take him seriously. Of course, Duo trusted his life with every one of them, but they had never been the most agreeable of people to talk to with problems.
"Can I get you some water? A sandwich? Anything?" Duo asked frailly, although he made no attempt to pull away from Heero's hold. It was comforting, and Heero was content to keep Duo there as long as it took to comfort him.
"I'm fine." Heero answered, smiling slightly.
/ding, dong/ The doorbell rang.
"Let them ring." Duo said, snuggling into Heero's shoulder.
/ding dong! ding dong!/ It sounded louder the second time.
"We'd better answer. It might be important." Heero said letting go of Duo's waist and they both rose from the couch in annoyance. The ringing continued and Duo grumbled as he went to the door. No one he knew well would come to his door without calling. It was very rude, but since Heero had encouraged him to, he might as well answer the door.
Duo sighed, reaching for the door, which was still being pounded hard upon, as if the person on the other end was very irritated. Heero stood behind him, looking as busy as someone who had nothing to do could look when the door opened, but his expression changed very quickly to a mix of distaste and surprise when the visitor threw herself upon him obsessively. Duo narrowed his eyes, staring out into the empty hall, and praying to God their unexpected visitor wasn't who she seemed to be.
"Heeeerrrroooo!" The girl yelled as her arms threw themselves around Heero's neck almost so that he wasn't able to breathe.
"Ahem!" Duo cleared his throat as he turned around, trying to act as composed as possible as he restrained himself from doing something irrational. "Relena," he strained a weak smile, "I thought the vice foreign minister was going to be holding a conference on L3 this week."
Relena took her arms off Heero and turned around to greet her host, "Well, Duo, I decided to take a brief detour. I hope you don't mind." She smiled at him before turning to Heero again, completely ignoring his confused expression.
Heero was still in an indescribable state of shock, because he didn't exactly feel comfortable having a complete stranger throw her arms around him. Was he supposed to know her? Well, obviously . . . but did he like her? Duo obviously didn't, Heero saw. Duo's violet eyes had lost their brilliant vibrancy, and turned dark with revulsion as he stood facing the young woman in pink. Heero didn't know what to say. She seemed friendly enough, and even pleasant, but Duo had to have a reason to hate her so much.
"I don't mind at all, Miss Relena." Duo tried hard to hide his sarcasm, closing the door behind her. She dismissed this comment and began to ramble about her life to Heero. Heero just stood there, occasionally glancing to see Duo, who was looking over the one-sided conversation distastefully. The day had just gotten more dismal than he could have ever predicted. It was going to take much more than a few hints that she was unwanted to get the obsessive Peacecraft out of there. She, then, all of the sudden, stopped talking about herself for just a minute to sigh innocently as she turned to Duo and actually said something worth listening to. Well, it depended from which angle you heard it.
". . . I must say, I was a bit surprised to see they had chosen you to take care of Heero during his time of need, but you are forgiven. I would be more than happy to take him off your hands." She smiled sweetly, but it wasn't the kind of sweet smile you would expect from an innocent little girl. It was the kind of smile that was so sweet, you feel like hurling, or at least Duo did.
"Is that why you came here, Relena? To tell me you're better fit to take care of Heero? I hardly think you're in a position to decide. I was obviously chosen for a reason." Duo asked, hinging onto his suppressed anger. This reaction from Duo seemed to catch her by surprise, and her smile was erased.
"I -came- to check on Heero." She looked at Heero sadly, "You haven't answered any of my letters."
"And with good reason. . ." Duo mumbled to himself so no one else could hear. The day was getting more dismal by the moment. He recalled all the letters that Sally had shoved into that suitcase she gave Heero. Most likely, all were from the obsessive girl.
"What was that, Duo?" Relena narrowed her eyes at the braided man. She had heard, and Duo didn't care as he stared her down.
"Nothing, Relena," he growled.
"Fine," Relena crossed her arms indignantly, "You wouldn't mind making us all some tea, then." She attempted to get Duo out of the room, and it was too bad that Duo too polite for Heero's sake to do anything except agree, but Heero could see the equaled hatred they had for one another bouncing back and forth as Duo went to get her some tea.
Duo hadn't acted like that before, so far as Heero could remember, and he couldn't stand to see his love so distressed, all because of this 'Relena' and her obvious attachment to him. Didn't she know that he could never like her -that- way? He must have told her, right?
"Excuse me a moment." Heero told Relena as he headed off for the kitchen after Duo.
He found Duo frowning over the teakettle as he filled it with water in the sink. Bright violet eyes shone up at Heero with a genuine smile.
"Hey, Hee-chan, you'd better go watch over the queen of the world for me, make sure she doesn't jack the lamp." He chuckled lightly, but only grinned wider when he saw the serious face attached to the mop of brown hair. "What?!"
"Who is she?" He asked acutely.
"Vice foreign minister, 'voice of the people', frighteningly obsessive?. . .please, take your pick." Duo laughed out loud as he set the stove temperature and placed the kettle on top of the front burner.
"Then how do I know her, exactly?" He asked confusedly.
"That would be choice 'c', frighteningly obsessive. She's been stalking you ever since you first met, if I'm correct. . ." Duo grabbed a jar of home- picked chamomile that Quatre had given him once-upon-a-time and poured some into a mesh cloth, ". . . practically threw you off the deep end during the war. I remember when you locked and bolted the front of the safe-house because she could have possibly traced a call Wufei had made to Sally one day. That was a riot! The protection came in really handy, though, when OZ found us later that week." He tested the temperature of the smoke over the kettle; just about done.
"Has she always been so. . ." Heero searched for the word.
"Pushy?" Duo suggested, and Heero nodded, "Yeah." He looked down at the single black mug on the counter, "You want some tea?"
"No thanks, Duo." Heero said, smiling at the random question.
"Yeah; I'm not really in the mood either, but this stuff Quatre gave me makes some pretty good tea." He shook the jar gently before placing it back in the cabinet, and picking up the mug to bring into Relena, but he didn't move any further.
"What's wrong?" Heero asked.
"It's just that. . ." Duo reflected quietly, "Well, I was always a little afraid you might choose her over me, is all. You know, so she'd stop bothering you." He looked down sorrowfully, but Heero came closer to Duo and lifted the braided boy's chin up.
"I would never do that." Heero said, planting a kiss on Duo's lips that was short, but sweet, and left a blush when he pulled away.
"Thanks." Duo was silent a moment with renewed reassurance, as violet pools swam with emotion at the dark blue ones that shone with radiance before he took a deep breath, "ready to face her?" Duo asked gently, and Heero nodded. Duo clutched the mug tightly as he walked into the living room, followed closely by the other.
"Here's your tea." Duo threw the mug onto the coffee table before grabbing a chair and inviting her silently and reluctantly to sit down. Relena sat down in the chair across from Duo, smoothing the folds in her dress, before picking up the black plastic mug with Duo's favorite radio station and logo pasted all over the front.
Duo didn't bother owning any fine China or anything; never had. If anyone asked, it cost too much and it's much too breakable for the kind of living he was used to, but the real reason Duo kept his cheap dishware and other less-than-sophisticated items was that everything he owned had sentimental value, a story, if you will.
This particular mug was a consolation prize when he called-in at the radio station to answer some questions to win a ticket to his favorite band's next concert. Of course he got the questions right, but he asked them to mail the ticket Hilde's apartment. Duo knew how much she wanted to see the concert, and he needed to stay home and fill out some more paperwork, anyway. Duo remembered laughing as they called her his girlfriend and wrote them a 'thank you' letter when he received the black mug in the mail a week later.
This gesture had actually led him to apply for a job as an announcer at the radio station a year later. Thursdays from 11pm to 3 in the morning Duo had his very own program.
"Don't you have anything more suitable to drink tea in? I could give you a nice tea set if you want." Relena criticized, bringing the plastic mug to her lips.
"Well, I'm sorry if it doesn't meet your standards." Duo hissed, and looked up at Heero, who was still standing on the other side of the room. His voice softened considerably, although still irritated, Duo was not about to turn his anger back on the only person who had ever truly made him happy.
"You can sit, you know." Duo motioned Heero over. "This is Relena." Duo left it at that.
Heero looked at the girl across the table, and saw Duo huffing to his side. Heero took Duo's hand in his underneath the table and Duo's eyes brightened like a child's opening a Christmas present as he looked at Heero, who was staring across at Relena the whole time, but was slightly smiling at Duo's reaction from the corner of his eye.
"I suppose he doesn't remember me, does he?" Relena said sadly, breaking the intimate unspoken conversation between them with a most unpleasant topic.
"No, I don't." Heero finally spoke, dropping hands with Duo to cross his arms. "I'm lucky to be alive."
"You're right. I am so sorry." Relena bit her lip, "I suppose Duo hasn't told you anything about me, then." She shot a quarrelsome glance at the braided young man who rolled his eyes as he put his hands behind his head, pushing away from the table with his feet so that the chair was balanced on the hind legs.
"What's there to tell?" he smirked.
"Duo!" The vice foreign minister looked at him crossly, "I'd appreciate a moment ALONE with Heero!"
"Geez! Get over yourself!!" Duo came down from the balance of his chair and stood up so that he was high above the two, finally having lost patience. "Heero has never loved you. Just because he can't remember that doesn't make it any different! He rejected you over two years ago. This might be a good time to move on." Duo stopped as Relena stood, eyes shining with hurt.
"I think we can let Heero decide THAT!" She yelled meekly as tears began to surface. "Well, Heero?!" She turned over to Heero, fragile emotion finally taking its toll.
Duo looked at Relena, and suddenly almost regretted his harsh words. They had been such harsh rivals for Heero's affections that Duo had forgotten that as annoying, obnoxious, arrogant, and obsessive Relena was, she was still human. Duo was ashamed of his words, even though he had no reason to be. You should never feel ashamed of the truth.
Heero stood in-between the two magnetic forces, immediately repelling one another. He saw a lost girl on the verge of second heartbreak, and a rightfully angered Duo who was softening at the sight of tears. Heero felt himself drawn towards Duo, it always had been, but he knew he felt sorry for the disagreeable young woman. That's what it was . . . pity. Who knew that a soldier would be able to feel pity? Duo always did, and that, no doubt, is what made him suffer even after so many years.
"Heero?!" Relena screamed, almost pleadingly; selfishly. She leaned her hands onto the table in front of her and looked down into her tea as a few stray tears dropped into the rosy liquid. However, Relena's sadness was soon glossed by hatred.
"This is your entire fault, Duo." She told the ground before coming up to face both of them. "I've already had some of my representatives speak to Sally about Heero's care under the terms that he cannot possibly obtain his entire past from the perspective of a single person," Duo froze at the suggestion, "She has agreed."
"What do you mean? That's impossible! You have to have Heero's consent!" Duo snapped back angrily.
"But of course, I do!" Relena threw her arms around Heero possessively, but the strong, speechless young man pushed her away with ease and an obvious 'No!' before running out of the living room and into Duo's bedroom. It was a childish thing to do, running away, but children only run because they are confused, and Heero was just about as confused as he could possibly be at that point. It hadn't mattered so much that he couldn't remember when he was with Duo because it was never pressed upon him that he had to remember, but now, exposed to the real world for once in a long time, he didn't know what to do.
"Now, look what you've done!" Duo growled at her as he ran close behind Heero, finding him sitting on the edge of the black bed in the unlit room, looking at the bookshelf that seemed to blur under his vision as Heero's forehead grew hot with a feeling he couldn't explain. The open window cooled him off a bit, and let light shine lightly upon him, which made Heero look, to Duo, almost celestial.
"Hey, Hee-chan. . . are you alright?" Duo put an arm around his love's shoulder, and Heero threw his arms around Duo helplessly, although he still refused to cry. Duo ran circles on Heero's back to comfort him, and for the moment, seemed to help. They were lost in each other for a minute before Heero pulled away
"Sorry." Heero said finally. Duo nodded, half-smiling, because he knew that whatever Relena wanted, she got, no matter the cost.
Of course, as Heero and Duo sat whispering and comforting one another, blinding to everything else, they didn't notice that Relena stood outside the doorframe, watching their every move including a short kiss, and a tear ran down her cheek.
"So whatdya say to going out there and telling Miss Relena that she's not welcome here, huh, Hee-chan?" Duo suggested.
"Hai." Heero nodded, still holding Duo's hand as they stood and walked into the illuminated living room only to find that Relena was gone.
The room was as it had always been. There was a couch, lamp, table, chairs, and half a mug of Quatre's famed chamomile tea, but there was one change. Relena was gone, and in her place, a small note was pinned to the damp bottom of the mug.
Duo let go of Heero's hand to walk over to the scene, and picked up the pink piece of paper, obviously from Relena. She had even left her pen and cap on the table from when she must have left in haste.
Duo grew distant as he read the note, and Heero came to put a loving hand on his shoulder as he peered over it to read what the note said.
'I am sorry, Heero. You must be happy.
-Relena'
Heero looked sympathetically at the elegant handwriting. He didn't mean to hurt her, even though he knew that it would.
"I suppose," He started, "there are worse things than a broken heart?"
"Hee-chan," violet eyes met blue, "This happened a long time ago; she only just realized it."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The minutes wore on after Relena left as if they were stuck waiting for the sun to come out. Although beautiful outside, it was still a little overcast in Duo's apartment, to say the least.
Duo and Heero had immediately sat down to finish the cuddling they were so rudely interrupted by earlier, and Heero had taken to a particular strand of Duo's hair that had come unwound in all the excitement, and was playing with it around his forefinger. They didn't look at each other, for fear they might break the wonderful spell that had cast itself over the room and end-up lusting instead of caring for one another. It was the caring feeling that they needed more than ever, now.
"Duo?" Heero asked the young man he held from behind, who had his eyes closed contently, sinking into Heero's lap as much as was possible with his light weight.
"Yeah." the voice rang out wistfully as Duo tilted his head inwards to Heero's chest.
"I didn't know you read William Blake (2)." Heero's hawk-like eyesight had picked-up the title of one of the books scattered aimlessly around the room. This particular one was caught on the ground between the standing lamp and the wall behind the couch where it was insured never to see the light of day again. Well . . . unless you're Heero.
"You don't know a lot of things." Duo chuckled a little, opening his eyes to scope the room for the location of the long-lost book. There was silence for a moment, "Wait, how do you know about William Blake?"
"What do you mean? He's a poet . . . died in 1827, if I'm correct." Heero said quite stiffly, and Duo, to his surprise, shot his head up as if this was the best news since the end of the war. He looked Heero straight in the eyes with a hopeful smile.
"Do you remember anything else?" Duo asked excitedly, shaking his hands for an idea to come to him, "What about Shakespeare? What plays has he written? Do you remember?"
Heero opened his eyes wide with realization, "Hamlet, King Lear, The Tempest, Julius Ceasar. . . Yes, I. . .remember." Heero stared surprisedly, as Duo's smile brightened. He was actually remembering something!
"Do you. . ." Duo paused, "Remember the time I was taken hostage by OZ, and you came to get me against your mission assignment. That's something memorable. . . or at least it was to me."
Heero searched his mind for an answer, ravenously, devouring every last piece of what he could remember and taking it apart like a machine. Einstein's theory of relativity? . . . No, that doesn't help. Plank's constant? . . . No, not that either. Alexander the great? . . .Where the hell did that come from?
He realized that what Duo was speaking of was in the entry he read that day. Heero might have said he remembered, and then everything would have been all right, but he knew that whatever recollection of this experience remained with him rested only in the journal.
"No, I'm sorry." Heero said finally and Duo collapsed into the back of the couch with a sigh.
"No need to be sorry, but Shakespere's a start! There's more hope for the return of your memory than we ever expected!" Duo smiled happily and looked outside at the dark night sky before looking his watch. "It is Friday, isn't it?"
"No," Heero replied, "It's only Thursday. Why do you a. . ." His question was cut off by Duo who bounded up from Heero's lap, cursing under his breath as he went into the kitchen, to turn off the stove, it seemed, and again to another few locations gathering who knows what, but it looked like he was preparing to leave.
"Damn," He swore before looking across at Heero, who had long since gotten up from his comfortable position to observe Duo's actions more closely.
"Heero, I'm so sorry I forgot!" Duo said in apology, grabbing a light jacket from the closet and flinging it across the room at a target of dark brown messy hair before picking one for himself, "I'm going to be late!"
"Late for what?" Heero smiled slightly at Duo's hurried behavior as he watched the braid and its owner make his way around the room, gathering what seemed to be a pen, wallet, and card of some sort.
"Well, you don't have to come if you don't want to. . ." Duo's voice trailed off into the kitchen again to grab two containers of yogurt with spoons. ". . . this job only just a few weeks ago so it's kind of hard to get used to the schedule and. . ."
"Duo?" Heero stopped him.
"What?"
"Where are we going?"
"Radio station. . . . sorry about dinner." Duo said simply, handing him a yogurt and slipping on his shoes before walking out the door. Heero followed, still a little confused, into Duo's car as they set off to wherever it was they were going. Duo was happy to explain on the way.
"Well, I'm usually a little low on cash, so I auditioned for this radio announcing job on Thursdays, and I got in. It's not like I can just quit, you understand," Duo sighed as they just missed the green light at the intersection, "And you're liable to loose the job if you call in sick even once."
"And you thought it was Friday?" Heero raised an eyebrow, smiling on the inside.
"Hah, hah, very funny," Duo said, "I'm allowed to forget things, too, you know."
Heero and Duo sat in an awkward silence the rest of the 5-minute trip. Normally, Duo walked because it was murder looking for a parking space, but he would definitely be late that way, and at least he had a chance of being on time this way. Besides, he felt lucky.
Duo parked the car, inhaled his yogurt, and ran up the stairs to the small studio, followed closely by Heero. Duo gave the manager who was on the phone (most likely looking for a last minute replacement) a thumbs-up as he ran to the mike and headphones before the manager had a chance to wring his neck.
They tried to stop Heero at the door, but Duo mouthed the words 'he's with me' as he was put on air, so he was allowed entrance. Heero stumbled into the unfamiliar place, a little uncomfortable, as he took a seat beside Duo.
The clock read exactly 11:00pm as Duo started off with a 'Hello' in his most professional tenor that Heero had never really heard before. The voice sounded really false at first, but it was obviously because he knew Duo so well.
He watched as Duo put the first record on and flipped the switch to turn his microphone off with a satisfied sigh. They were on time.
"Duo! You're late, again!!" The manager stormed in. He was the kind of man who you would expect to find in a secluded cabin somewhere in the middle of Canada, chopping wood for a living. He stared at the young braided ex-pilot from underneath bushy eyebrows, with a beard and hair that hadn't been cut in a year (at least) all of which distracted everyone from his eyes nicely. He might have looked an intimidating lumberman, if not for the tie.
"Sorry, Dan, I wasn't really -late-, though. I came right on time!" Duo gave the manager a winning 'you-know-I'm-innocent' smile. The manager raised his bushy eyebrows so that his eyes were almost a little visible, as if judging the level at which Duo deserved a break, quickly turned them to Heero, and back to Duo again.
"Can your friend speak?" The manager asked, "I can't pay him much, but it'll give him something to do, and I've been getting requests for more than one announcer at a time. The public is really nosy like that." He stopped to look at Heero again, "so?"
"I could do that." Heero replied in his rich, deep voice, and the manager backed away a bit in surprise.
"Okay, you pass the test." He said and looked over at the record that was just about run out, and the needle picked-up, "Better get in there fast, boys." He motioned over to the seats with a grunt and showed a petrified Heero to a second set of headphones, "Go, Go!" He shooed Heero over to the microphone, where Duo already began to introduce him.
"Duo Maxwell, here, on your favorite radio station, bringing you the best of the oldies, and today, we have a very special guest, my pal Heero Yuy. Hey, Heero, you there?"
Heero fumbled around the controls before he found the slot for the headphones, and answered Duo's question quickly into the microphone, as he found the insert and sat down, a little disheveled by the experience.
"I'm here."
"Well, it took you long enough. So, while we're waiting for some song requests to come in, why don't you tell us all a little bit about yourself?" Duo urged, hoping something might jog his memory.
"I. . .uh. . ." Heero stuttered, and Duo saw that he wasn't ready, and saw a red button blinking to his right
"It seems we have a call," he pressed the button, "Hello, Duo Maxwell speaking. You're on the air." He spoke into the grid on the speaker.
"Hello Duo, this is Zechs Marquese." Duo swallowed hard, and Heero was afraid to know why. Was he supposed to know this person, also?
"Why, Hello, Zechs!" Duo strained a cheerful voice, trying to hide how nervous he was. "Would you like to request a song?"
"Yes, actually," the deep voice answered, "I'd like to dedicate this to my little sister, who called me only just this afternoon and she was," He paused for sincerity, "very upset. I hope that you're quite satisfied, and I would like to play 'Pity for a Dime', one of my personal favorites." Zechs hung up right there, and Duo cringed a little at the hidden message as he put on the record and switched off the mike.
"He's Relena's brother, isn't he?" Heero asked acutely. Duo nodded.
"We're in more trouble than we bargained for, I think. I hope that Zechs doesn't go totally mental. He's been known to do that, you know." Growing fears developed in Duo's mind as he recalled the warring times. Heero could only imagine what Duo said, and the situations he received in his mind weren't any less frightening.
They both sat in apprehension, listening to the rest of the song mindlessly. Perhaps, it wasn't a threat, after all. I mean, the song only forced them to think about how they must have hurt Relena. What did Zechs want, anyway? They felt bad enough already, but it wasn't their fault.
"Looks like we have another call. . ." Duo said weakly to Heero after the song ended and put the speaker on air.
"Hi. My name's Madeline from the second sector, and I wanted to ask you a question." Duo brightened at the idea of a question, and was eager to get on a different topic.
"Sure Madeline." The braided boy answered cheerily, "Fire away."
"What did you do to his little sister?"
/mass face fault/
"Why don't you request a song . . .?" Duo suggested as his hand burrowed into his forehead, leaning his elbow into the table.
"No thanks. You sure you don't want to answer?" She asked once more, hopefully.
"Positive. Goodbye Madeline." Duo hung up, looking at Heero before putting on a pre-arranged selection of songs, and taking them off the air again.
"Damn that Zechs! I bet he's getting a pretty good laugh right about now." Duo hissed to himself.
"Don't let him get to you." Heero said, trying to calm him down.
"You're right," Duo sighed, putting his headphones back on, "That's really the worst he can do."
The night wore on, especially quickly for Duo because of Heero's company. There were no more nosy personal questions, and some of the song requests were very nice selections. Altogether, Duo found the experience to be very successful. Heero warmed-up to his position pretty quickly, and soon enough, he was talking almost as much as Duo was. The manager even offered Heero a position on the job as they left at 3:00 in the morning with Duo on Thursdays and Duo jumped in to agree with his boss before Heero had a chance to even accept.
Getting home, they both sat down on Duo's bed to talk a little, but somehow, they both ended up asleep, exhausted, in their clothes on top of the bed. Duo was sprawled out all over the bed and snored lightly, while Heero had curled his knees up as he held the pillow his head was on lightly. It was a cute picture, just knowing that they had both fallen asleep knowing that the other was by their side. Things were definitely going their way, and Relena had been completely forgotten.
**********footnotes***********
I never understood that pose. . . . You know the one at the beginning of the 'Just Communication' opening. Very silly to add, I know, but I need something to balance.
William Blake was a very famous poet (1758-1827). One of his most famous poems is 'The Tyger', which is one of my absolute favorite poems of all time! His poetry often has very varied opinions, and because of this, he's sometimes portrayed as, well, insane, but all great minds are . . . to some extent.
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Violet Tears: You know what, hehehe, there's actually a funny story to that. I wanted them to go shopping and buy clothes to emphasize the 'new' Heero, but I have a terrible imagination when it comes to fashion, and I was afraid to put more than one outfit in because I would probably make Heero look awful! I know, I should have just said 'they bought a few more outfits' or something. Thanks for bringing it up. Please feel free to ask any more questions, because goodness knows my writing has plenty of mistakes! Thanks for the review! ^-^
Tashue: Thank you so much! Your reviews were so nice. I really appreciate it. I hope this chapter had enough angst: there's lots of it, that's for sure. ^^ I hope you liked it.
Fei: Yes! That's exactly what I was trying to get across in those lines! Joy and sadness do not need to be defined because sometimes they are one in the same. I am SO happy that someone picked-up on that, because it's important. ~grins~ No one else said anything about it, so thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ^-^
Diane: That answers your question, I hope. ~smiles~ I was going to put Relena in to end the story, but I came up with a better ending, I think, so I hope her entrance wasn't too random. After all, it wouldn't be a very complete story without a Relena confrontation, now, would it? ^-^ Thank you so much for your reviews; they are so great!