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Wufei opened his eyes and let just the slightest bit of sunlight in. Some moron hadn't closed the curtains last night and so the sunlight was forcing it's way into places it wasn't wanted, like a spoiled child used to getting what it wants. Wufei sighed and moved to roll over, but found that something was pressed up against his back. It was warm, and yielding, and Wufei tried to remember where he was. It couldn't be Shaolin-they'd broken up months ago. Right? Or was all that just a dream...Wufei felt a little disoriented, and slowly moved on hand behind him to touch whatever he was touching. It was a face, and soft hair. 'Maybe I got drunk last night and slept with some stupid woman.' Wufei thought with a shrug. After all, no man could possibly have hair that soft and silky. He sighed and leaned back into the softness that was the person he was sleeping with. Then, it came to him.

'Holy goddamn shit! That is Hiro Yui! I am getting cozy with HIRO YUI. HIRO YUI!!!!' Wufei thought, resisting the urge to twitch and shriek uncontrollably. He didn't want Hiro to know that he was awake, because then it would seem as if he...well, you know. He'd been awake all this time and didn't do anything about the situation, therefore implying that he wanted said situation to continue, and he didn't. Well, he didn't want it to continue as long as it was Hiro occupying position number two. Wufei took a slow, deep breath, and started to gently move as slowly as possible. 'Okay, here we go. Nice and easy...' Just as Wufei was slowly detaching himself from Hiro, he saw an arm going flying around his neck.

"EEEEEP!" Wufei said involuntarily, in a strangely high pitched and feminine voice that would scare the pants of a...pants wearing thing. Hiro pulled Wufei back to him, began to pull a Starfish-Duo, and latched onto Wufei in numerous places. The creepy part was that Hiro was completely asleep. Wufei took hopefully calming breaths, but found that he started to hyperventilate instead. He forced himself to stop and closed his eyes.

' No offense Yui, but I'd really not like to be this close to you!!' Wufei thought as he tried to peel one of Hiro's arms off him. Wufei frowned as the arm refused to even budge off his skin. 'This is going to get decidedly uncomfortable, and if he doesn't move soon I am going to start using pressure points...' Wufei silently threatened. Though, he feared that if it did come to that, Hiro would wake and discover the position the two men were in, and Wufei couldn't decide who would be more embarrassed. But, if Wufei did nothing, Hiro might do something even worse.

Almost as if in response to Wufei's thoughts, the now Starfish-Hiro pulled Wufei freakishly close, and snuggled his head into Wufei's shoulder. Wufei's blush of embarrassment for both of them had the intensity of a brilliant, high voltage red Christmas light. He could feel the heat rising from his face, and it seemed to him that he was practically emitting a red glow. Wufei tried to move from side to side, to get his arms free, but Starfish-Hiro was too damn intelligent for red-Christmas-light-Wufei. Wufei could not get free. At this point, Wufei's focus was much more on simply getting free, regardless of the awkwardness that would follow if Hiro woke while still holding Wufei. Too bad that Wufei's high-pitched scream was used up earlier; he could have used it now to scare the pants of Starfish-Hiro, which might have broken S-H's creepy strong starfish-like grip. Damn the luck.

"Hiro...you're killing me..." Wufei strangled out, and that was not entirely untruthful. Starfish-Hiro did have a death grip Wufei's body...and as we all know, that's a dangerous position to be in. Wufei had trouble taking a full breath, because Hiro main grip centered on his chest area. Wufei tried to simply inflate his stomach area, but he wasn't used to breathing there and found that he was now putting too much attention into breathing. Wufei wriggled his legs, but Hiro had used his own limbs to effectively render Wufei helpless. Wufei moved his head back, and rested his eyes for a moment. He could probably break free if he really needed to, but that would most likely hurt Hiro, and that would be interesting to explain. 'Oh, yeah, as if I'd believe him if he said he'd hurt me because I did what he's doing...' Wufei thought, and rolled a shoulder backwards, adjusting Hiro grip slightly, but not enough. Wufei could feel himself getting impatient and what felt like claustrophobia minus the small space part, and made a bet with his self. If Hiro didn't let go soon, or loosen his grip, Wufei would act.

" ...Password...." Hiro mumbled. Wufei arched an eyebrow, and mouthed to the screen that we're looking in from the word "Password?", although he didn't say anything out loud. 'What the bloody freakin' hell?' Wufei could not even imagine what the hell Hiro could be dreaming of, after all, he'd never had a dream like that...okay, well, in all honesty...there was that one time, but that's another story, and involved four pieces of licorice. Wufei wished that he had his hands free so that he could rub his temples and vent some frustration, but he resisted by default. 'Okay, let's start with the basics...' Wufei thought. He started thinking of possible passwords with the hope that if he guessed correctly he wouldn't have to hurt Hiro.

"Yui Hiro." No effect. Wufei thought again, if it wasn't Hiro's own name, perhaps someone close to him? "Relena Peacecraft." Wufei had hoped for more then the shudder that ran down Hiro's body. Wufei sighed and thought. "Chang Wufei." Wufei finally decided on. Hiro twitched. Wufei felt like cheering. He tried again. "Wufei." There was another slight twitch, but nothing more. Wufei narrowed his eyes, he wondered..."Wu-chan." One of Hiro's legs loosed its starfish hold. 'Okay. Now we're getting somewhere. All right, let's just go down the list of the stupid nicknames that Duo has for me...'

"Changy. Changy-chang. Cha-Chang. Fang-Chang. Chang-dittity. Changaly-wangaly. Wu-man. Wuffie. Wu-wu. Wu-er. Wu-baby. Wu-wu-kins. Fei-Fei. Fei-chan. Fei-dude. Fei-man. Fei-ster. El Wufeirino. Le Fei a la Wu." Wufei recited them one after another, and by the time he was done, Starfish-Hiro had relaxed his grip long enough for Wufei to scurry away. Once Wufei was out of the bed, he looked at Hiro incredulously. 'He's got to be on something!!!!' Wufei thought, and decided to take revenge for the starfish effect that Hiro had imposed on Wufei. While planning his revenge, his mind conveniently deleted that the things that had been the "password" were his name. Yep, conveniently.

Just as Wufei was about to extract his revenge (can we say: Chinese-water-torture-Wufei-style?) Hiro woke up with a jolt. He looked around, completely composed, and noticed Wufei standing there with his jaw on the floor. Hiro raised his left eyebrow and smiled at Wufei in both amusement and confusion.

"You must tell me how you managed to do that." Hiro said, marveling at Wufei's hanging jaw.

"Aye dun e-en know how aye d-d eh." Wufei said, trying to force his jaw back into place.

"I see." Hiro cracked his neck and stretched his arms out. He wondered why it felt like he'd been gripping something tightly. No matter, sometimes he woke up like that. He figured he must just tense up when he slept. "Good morning." Hiro said, after he finished stretching.

"Uh-huh." That was all that Wufei could manage since his jaw was still about five feet long, and not getting any shorter. 'How the bloody hell did I do this?' He thought, frustrated that it wouldn't go back to normal. 'Don't tell me that I'm stuck this way?' Wufei thought.

"I'd offer to help, but...I can't say I have any experience in this matter." Hiro said and lifted his body out of the bed. Wufei shoved hard on his jaw and thought of something serious. His jaw returned to normal, and he sighed. He never thought he'd be grateful that his jaw stayed in one place. "All better?" Hiro asked, and Wufei nodded, more than a little grumpy. It was a bad way to start the morning.

"Let's just go get dressed." Wufei ground out between his teeth. Hiro stayed silent. Wufei opened the walk in closet carefully, prepared for sequins, silk, and less than enough to cover a full body shirt or shorts cut so close to the waist is was more like wearing a wide belt. He expected such like that because one year as a Valentine's Day gag, Duo had sent all four other Gundam pilots matching outfits of said shirt and said "shorts." Luckily, Hiro's proposed thesis of provocative clothing proved wrong, although not necessarily unfounded, and they found normal clothing for the day. So, they threw the pile of their clothes down the laundry shoot in one sweeping motion and took out their new clothing.

Wufei was in black jeans, that although they were tight, they weren't unnaturally so. He had a black T-shirt and a light jacket that was a softer black. Hiro had a similar outfit, except his was more like a black and dark green mix. His outfit had a sticky note attached to it (obviously from Duo) that simply said: "Sorry, I couldn't find any black spandex shorts in your size. These jeans are all I could manage. " Both men had smirked at each other, and Hiro snorted.

"I'll have it known that they weren't spandex; they were lycra. There is a difference."

Wufei only laughed.

"So...we're supposed to do certain things...right Chang?" Hiro asked as they made their way to the kitchen.

"Uh-huh." Wufei said, and opened up the refrigerator. "Yeah, Duo said he'd leave a note somewhere with a whole list of stupid things."

"I can't believe him sometimes..." Hiro said darkly, and Wufei shrugged.

"It's how he is. Annoying, but amusing, I suppose." Wufei scanned the refrigerator contents. "Want anything we got in here? There's not much in the way of breakfast food..." Wufei pushed a few things around, scrounging for something that looked like if he ate it now he wouldn't regret in a few hours.

"No, that's alright. For breakfast, I usually just go out and eat something cheap." Hiro sat down at the table. "If nothing else, we could always get some ramen." Wufei made a face.

"I can't stand ramen. If we do anything, we'll just go and spend the money, thanks."

"Whatever." Hiro shrugged. 'Nothing wrong with ramen,' he thought to himself.

"So, did Duo say where he was going to leave this list? He didn't tell me." Wufei said, shutting the refrigerator and coming to sit down opposite Hiro.

"No, I thought he'd told you." Hiro shook his head. Wufei sighed.

"Isn't it always like that?" Wufei asked, and threw his legs up on the chair to his right. Hiro rolled his eyes to the ceiling and nodded. "If we can't find it, do we still have to do the things on it?" Wufei wondered out loud.

"We said we would follow it." Hiro said blandly. Wufei shrugged.

" Well, that was the agreement," Wufei said. "But, that was under the condition that we knew what was ON said list."

"I don't think Duo would buy that." Hiro said, and Wufei shrugged again, this time with more exasperation.

"Well, what are we supposed to do then?" Wufei scowled at Hiro, and ran his tongue over his teeth in annoyance. Hiro stood up.

"I motion we go and eat breakfast first, and worry about the list when we get back." Hiro said, and Wufei smiled.

"I like how you think Yui."

They got back from breakfast, full and happy, but still found no list.

"Maybe he forgot." Wufei suggested and plopped down into the chair.

"I doubt that." Hiro said with a scowl. He blinked, and frowned. Something was under one of the chairs. "Move." He said to Wufei, who grudgingly moved out of his chair.

"What is it?" Wufei asked, annoyed. Hiro reached out and grabbed the white piece of paper. His frown intensified, and he let out a small growl. "What?" Wufei asked, this time serious and ready for anything. Hiro thrust the paper into his hands.

Dear Wufei and Hiro,
Enjoy your stay! I'll bring over the list tomorrow, I'll place it on your clothes, so don't forget! I'll be hanging around; so, don't even think about disobeying the list!

Much love, affection, and all that,
Duo Maxwell

"On...our...clothes?" Wufei asked, confused. Hiro's frown hadn't lessened.

"As in on the pile of clothing that we..." Hiro used his hands to sketch out what they'd done with their clothes.

"Oh...shit." Wufei said, grinding his teeth.

"I'm sorry sirs, but we can't allow you to go in there." The man outside the laundry room said, apologizing for the seventh time.

"But, those are our clothes!" Wufei gritted his teeth dangerously. "As in, we own them! They're our private property!"

" I'm sorry, it's hotel policy." The man said, bowing and apologizing again.

" This is a total injustice! Those are our clothes and we aren't allowed to take them back? That's ridiculous! This is a dishonor! Goddamn hotel policy! How about I take that policy of yours and shove it-" Hiro stopped Wufei before he could go much farther on that tangent by clamping a hand over Wufei's mouth which he feared would begin spouting Wufei's wide vocabulary of curse words.

" We understand. Come, Chang, let's go." Hiro said, forcefully leading Wufei away from the manager, although, he didn't quite manage to grab Wufei's hand before he made an obscene gesture at the man outside the laundry room.

When they were out of sight and hearing range, Hiro released Wufei.

" Hiro Yui, what the hell did you think you were doing?" Wufei asked glaring with full force at Hiro, who wasn't even shocked enough to blink.

" Chang, there are other ways to get to that laundry room." Hiro said, motioning that Wufei follow him back to the room. Wufei followed dubiously. "Besides," Hiro threw over his shoulder, "there's no reason to act like an eight year old just because you didn't get what you want, when you wanted it." Wufei's face flamed red, but he stayed quiet. Hiro had a disturbingly accurate point, but Wufei did not intend to acknowledge that.

"Yui...there is no way I am going down that laundry shoot. No fucking way." Wufei said adamantly. Hiro raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" Hiro said skeptically. "And just whose fault is that we have to do this at all?" Wufei rolled his eyes. Just because he'd been the one to actually toss the clothes into the chute didn't put him at fault. And, just because it was because he'd rearranged the furniture the day before, they hadn't found Duo's first note in time didn't put him at fault. Okay, actually, both of those put him at fault, but he wasn't going to admit that. Hiro had been annoyingly correct twice today, and it was only 11:00am.

" I'll follow you in about 5 seconds, so make sure you land quickly and get out of the way even faster." Hiro said in a clipped voice, and Wufei felt like laying his fist into Hiro's stomach to knock out that superior tone, but Wufei knew better.

'I'm just angry because the s.o.b. is right...dammit, I am acting like a child. I hate it when he says stuff like that though...' Wufei snarled to himself, and moved into position. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Wufei said out loud, and he waved his hand back and forth arrogantly. 'Going to kill Duo...kill...kill...' Wufei chanted in his mind as he squeezed his body into the shoot, hoping to God that he wouldn't get stuck or anything weird. 'All this for that stupid list...kill...kill...kill...'

"AH!" Wufei screamed shortly as the shoot curved suddenly, nearly making him dash his brains out. He stalled for two seconds and continued onwards, banging his extremely well muscled and bronzed Chinese body in multiple places. By the time he finally reached the bottom, he was bleeding in four places, and bruised extensively. As he sat in the basket that had broken his fall rubbing his head, he realized a little too late that Hiro was right behind him. "GAHHH!" Wufei yelled out as Hiro sprawled on Wufei. They were now tangled up in clothing, each other's arms, legs, and some other things that Wufei would rather not name.

' Where did all his training go?' Hiro thought, as he moved his body away from Wufei's.

" Nice job remembering to move, Chang." Hiro said evenly, as stood up. He felt Wufei's glare, but knew that Wufei wouldn't say anything out loud. "Next time, remember before you're supposed to act, hm?" Hiro said caustically, and he could practically feel Wufei fume. 'Good,' Hiro thought, 'he needs to be brought down from his high horse.'

"Whatever. Let's find our clothes." Wufei said, looking around from his place on the floor. Wufei couldn't help but notice that Hiro had received only one bruise on his elbow from his trip down the laundry shoot. 'How the fuck did he do that?' Wufei thought, willing his jaw not to drop, as they really didn't have time for that right now. 'Maybe I really do need to train harder...' Wufei though, glancing down at his aching body and comparing it to Hiro's near flawless limbs. Wufei swallowed hard, hoping to crush the strange urge he felt to reach out and touch that perfect flesh. Hiro moved away, and Wufei felt relief rush to replace what had nearly become a war of desires. "Uh...Yui, they're not here." Wufei said, after looking around briefly again. He had used words more than once to push people away, and to conceal his private thoughts.

"I noticed." Hiro said, and walked off towards the washing machines.

" Do you see them?" Wufei said, picking himself gingerly off the floor.

" Um...yes and no." Hiro said and pointed at their clothes that were at the top of a very dangerously high pile of clothing. Wufei just barely managed to keep his jaw normal this time, since the pile was at the very least ten feet tall. But, he could see his pants at the top. Yes, those were definitely his pants, and he could see a slightly crumpled piece of paper sticking out of one of the pockets.

" How are we going to get them though?" Wufei asked. "Think they keep a stepladder or something just lying innocently around?"

"Hm." Hiro said, and chewed his bottom lip.

'That's a new habit...' Wufei thought, glancing over at Hiro. 'He's never done that before.'

"You're Chinese, right?" Hiro asked, seemingly randomly.

" Uh...yes." Wufei answered, wondering where Hiro was heading with that.

"Time for some Chinese acrobatics." Hiro announced with a creepy glint in his eye. Wufei hung his head.

"Ready Chang?" Hiro asked. He laced his hands together to form a boost.

" Yeah, yeah, yeah." Wufei answered, and Hiro glared.

" Last time that you said that I ended up putting my face in a place that was never made for my face." Hiro said, glaring harder. Wufei laughed, but blushed. Hiro smirked back, but raised his eyebrows for confirmation that Wufei wasn't just saying what he thought Hiro wanted to hear.

" Okay: Yes, I am ready Yui-san." Wufei said, mocking a salute. Hiro shook his head slightly at the over use of military expression. Wufei cocked an eyebrow, and Hiro shrugged.

" Fine. Go." Hiro said, and Wufei started running towards Hiro. Just as he was about to land on Hiro's hands, a laundry lady came in. Hiro dropped his hands just as Wufei's foot hit where Hiro's hands should be. Wufei's chin crashed into Hiro's forehead and both were launched into the pile of laundry. It tottered for a moment, but then it all came crashing down around the two men.

" AH! What a mess!" The lady exclaimed at the sight of the fallen mountain. She looked around for the culprit. Wufei and Hiro kept very still under the avalanche, and so the lady merely shrugged. "Ah well. I'll blame it on the new girl, Anna. She should have gotten this started, anyways. She's probably out necking with that bellboy...humph. Things just aren't like they used to be, I'll tell you that." The laundry lady said to the washing machine.

What seemed like infinity later, the laundry lady finally left. Wufei popped out of the clothes first, gasping for air. He scurried out of the pile and started looking for his jeans. He couldn't find them, even though he sent hundreds of clothes flying everywhere. Turning suddenly, he saw them, going around and around in the washing machine. He groaned. He collapsed by the machine that held his pants and the list of things that they had to do before the two weeks were over. Hiro appeared out of the myriad of clothes and came over to Wufei.

" Chang. You have female underwear on your head." Hiro said in his deadpan voice, but Wufei couldn't even laugh. Wufei reached up and pulled of the lacey and showy thong off of his head, emotionlessly. He put his hand on the glass that allowed him to see his jeans going around and around and around and around.

" Yui...there's our list...it's all watery and stuff now. We'll never know what we're supposed to do." Wufei said wearily, placing his head on the glass. "We'll be running blind...and then Duo will blackmail us into an even longer 'vacation.'" Hiro sighed, and put a hand on Wufei's shoulder, after removing the bra that was resting on it.

" Look, relax Chang. It doesn't really matter. I'm sure we can guess what Duo would put on a list like that. Let's go back to the room." Hiro said, yanking on Wufei's shirt. Wufei sighed longingly for his pants, specifically for the list in the pants, but went along with Hiro.

Wufei and Hiro returned to their room dejected and frustrated. Neither felt like talking, so they sat in silence at the kitchen table for a few minutes. Wufei's skin prickled from the tension.

"I'm sorry." Wufei offered, glancing up at Hiro briefly to watch his expression. Hiro only raised his eyebrows.

"For what?" Hiro's voice was frighteningly neutral. Wufei wasn't sure if it meant that Hiro didn't think Wufei should apologize for anything at all, or if Wufei should apologize for many things.

"Well...I guess for just not paying enough attention. I mean...if we had been out in the field, and that list was something more important," Wufei paused, and sat forward. "We would have been screwed over six ways to Sunday. It would have been a failure because of me." Wufei tried to keep the self-pity out of his voice, but as memories flooded back, he found his grip on reality slipping. "If it had been another Chesterfill...maybe you wouldn't have survived my mistake twice. My stupid lack of attention to fucking details is going to get one of us, or both of us, killed some day." Wufei clenched his fists tightly. Hiro let Wufei calm himself down before speaking.

"Keep kicking yourself."

"What?" Wufei looked up, blinking in confusion at the strange statement.

"I said, keep kicking yourself." Hiro scowled, his eyes hard and flat. "After all, it's your fault isn't it?"

"I..." Wufei's mouth felt lax, and he knew he was probably making an excellent impersonation of a goldfish, but he couldn't help it. Hiro had never said anything like that before; even when Wufei had fucked up so bad Hiro had nearly died. Hiro had been cold, but strangely understanding. Now, because of some list, Hiro decided to turn on him. Well, fuck that. Wufei may have been at fault, but it wasn't like Hiro had never screwed up before! There was The Welliva Project that could have succeeded if not for Hiro's inability to seduce females, and there was the Toyster Mission that Hiro had messed up so royally Sally Po was still battling lawsuits to this day. Oh, and let's not forget Tilgrat. What a trip that was thanks to-

"Thinking of all the times I've ever fucked up?" Hiro asked gently, and his eyes were neutral again. Again, Wufei was taken aback. "Yes?" Wufei frowned, but nodded. Hiro's eyes lightened. "We all make mistakes, Chang. I fuck you, you fuck up, we all fuck up. It's part of the business. So, this is just one of those things. I'm not going to hold it against you, so don't hold it against yourself. You've apologized, you understand your mistake, you know that you're still expected to carry on, what's the problem?" Hiro stood up, and looked down at Wufei.

"Nothing. Nothing's the problem." Wufei gave a small crooked smile.

"Right." Hiro walked over to the living room, and sat down in what was quickly becoming "his" chair. "I think I'll call Duo and Yuu's house and see if he can fax over the list, seeing as we've lost it." Wufei nodded.

"Sounds good," Wufei said. Privately, he thought that Hiro was doing what he always did: damage control. Wufei could execute a good mission, but if something went wrong or deviated from the plan, he tended to lose that control over the situation every mission calls for and worse things happened. Hiro could usually fix anything. It was something that Wufei envied more than anything about Hiro.

"Interesting," Hiro said suddenly. Wufei turned around in his chair.

"What is?"

"This." Hiro picked up a piece of paper by the phone. "This wasn't here when we left, was it?"

"I don't think so." Wufei frowned and got out of his chair to walk over to Hiro. He stood in front of Hiro until he looked up at Wufei. Wufei felt the strangest urge to lean over and rest one hand on each armrest, and because he was focusing on the piece of paper, he did just that. He now effectively had caught Hiro in a cage of arms. Hiro blinked, but as always, went along with it. "Let me see it." Wufei said, and his breath caused the hair on Hiro's head to move gently. Hiro turned the paper towards Wufei's face. Wufei took it gently and resumed a standing position. His frown returned and deepened as he scanned it.

"1. See a full length movie together. It can be of any genre, but aim for something you can both talk about afterwards.

" 2. Eat dinner in at least TWO fancy restaurants, and leave a note on the kitchen table ahead of time for dress up clothes.

" 3. Go to an amusement park and stay from the time it opens to the time it closes. Make sure to leave a note on the table for sun block, backpacks, and anything else you may need.

" 4. Go to an aquarium for the day, and find a fish that matches the other's personality.

" 5. Hold hands at least two hours a day starting the third day, to get used to intimacy.

" 6. Kiss at least three times on the lips before the first week is up, because you guys need to learn about that special spark.

" 7. Go on at least three picnics. Make sure the basket has food you both like, and leave note requesting any extras you want (ie: Frisbee, football, etc).

" 8. By the second week, hold hands at least three hours a day in public, mainly to answer any questions about what you are to each other to other curious people. It'll be good for your people skills.

" 9. Kiss each other once a day on the lips beginning the second week. This is not optional.

" 10. Optional: DO IT AT LEAST ONCE. COME ON GUYS. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO. Supplies are in the medicine cabinet.

PS-Next time Wufei don't be so damn neurotic. Oh, and Hiro, you have a sock sticking to the back of your left leg. Static electricity is fun, fun, fun. Have a great two weeks buddies!

MUCH LOVE:

The One and Only Duo Maxwell"

Hiro reached down and pulled of the sock off his leg. It was still there. Wufei looked up from the list to stare down at Hiro.

"How did he...?" Wufei began. Hiro shook his head and shrugged. Wufei looked back at the list

"When it comes to sneaking around, Duo is one of the best. You should have seen him back in the days he was part of the Preventers. He was incredible. He showed sides that were barely even hinted at during The War."

"Obviously. I think I've seriously underestimated him." Wufei read over the list again. "Strange how so many of these things seems to be what, say, a couple would do." Wufei glanced quickly at Hiro hoping to get a peek of his reaction, but Hiro's face was closed.

"Yes, strange indeed." Hiro peeled himself out of the chair to stand in front of Wufei. Wufei took a step back, and nodded. Wufei coughed, a little nervously.

"Want a copy of this?" Wufei shook the list to indicate what he meant, and Hiro nodded. Hiro's eyes then turned to the room, and Wufei breathed again.

'I know that he's mostly free from all those issues he used to have, but sometimes those eyes are just a little too much.' Wufei thought, as he went to get his personal copy machine out of his suitcase. It would take two scans to get the full list, but the machine was portable and that's what mattered.

"We should do something off that list today." Hiro said, following Wufei into the bedroom. He stopped at the doorway, and leaned against the frame. Wufei didn't even bother looking up from his work. He was trying to merge the two scans so he could print it out as one paper. So far, so good, but Duo's handwriting was erratic and it wouldn't match up properly.

"Like what?" Wufei cropped some more off the second scan, and made the first scan larger by .0078. Perfect. He pushed print.

"It's not even noon, what about something like going to the aquarium?"

"Hmm," Wufei said. His eyes stayed glued to the print. It was coming out identical to the original.

"Or we could go see a movie," Hiro suggested. Wufei nodded distractedly. Everything seemed to be coming out right, but the first scan had been enlarged, so the words were slightly blurry. Wufei had forgotten to fix the contrast so that the gray didn't show.

"Or we could get naked, dress up in thongs, and go ice skating. I can call to see if the rink is still open."

"Okay, sounds good to me." Wufei adjusted the contrast, and zoomed in to 500 to check the blend lines. Yep, he'd have to print out another copy. Something nagged him in the back of his head. Hiro's last suggestion re-played in his mind. Wufei sat up suddenly, and blushed. "What the hell did you just say?"

"Just seeing if you were paying attention," Hiro said. He crossed his arms and looked pointedly at Wufei.

"Yeah, well, it worked. Hold on, I'm almost done here."

"I bet you say that to all the girls," Hiro said. Wufei looked up, let a moment of silence go by, then laughed. Hiro gave a small smile in return. Wufei shook his head and stood up. He handed the printed copy to Hiro with laughter still in his eyes.

"Never thought I'd hear you crack a joke Yui."

"That makes two of us," Hiro said softly. Wufei nodded in understanding. 'Then again,' Hiro thought, 'I never thought I'd live this long.'

"Well, as tempting as ice skating naked sounds, I think I'd prefer just going out to eat for lunch. Hell, we could make it a picnic and cut that off the list," Wufei said as he pushed past Hiro.

"Uh, I didn't say go ice skating naked, Chang." Hiro said to Wufei's back.

"Oh?" Wufei turned around to look at Hiro.

"No," Hiro said, and walked past Wufei, letting his words travel backwards. "We would have had thongs on."

Hiro and Wufei stopped at a Grocery store and bought more food for the impromptu picnic. They didn't have a basket, or a blanket, or anything else one might think of when one thinks of a picnic, except for the possibility of sandwiches. They walked the four blocks to the nearest park, with it's artificially planted trees, bushes, and pathways.

"This isn't a park," Wufei scoffed.

"It's not an ice skating rink," Hiro said evenly. Wufei snorted.

"No, indeed. It's not that." Wufei waved his hand at the trees. "But these aren't even indigenous to this region. They had to be imported. And these," he indicated the flowers, "are all just from a package. Real flowers don't have that spaced look, like someone scattered the seeds carefully. You want a real park, you have to go to China." Wufei looked up at the trees blocking the sunshine.

"Oh, China. Funny...I thought the real parks were in Japan." Hiro's voice came out completely neutral as he looked where Wufei was looking.

"Well, you're wrong."

The two men got back from the outing when the sun was setting, and their eyes were beginning to get tired. But, Hiro stopped at the grocery store and picked up coffee.

"I used to live off the stuff," Hiro confessed back in the hotel room. Wufei lounged on the couch, his feet thrown over one arm, his back against the other, and his arm stretched across his face. Hiro clicked on the machine and leaned over the counter. The white, cold tile pressed against his arms, but it wasn't entirely an unpleasant feeling. The park had been warm, and when they'd gotten into an impromptu race, both men had gotten sweaty and hot. Wufei sighed from underneath his arm.

"You know...I thought Duo was just being his usual asinine self, but...maybe he was right."

"What do you mean?" Hiro stayed still, but kept an eye on the coffee.

"Well," Wufei moved his arm off his face to behind his head and rolled his other shoulder back. "Maybe we did need this."

"This?"

"Yeah. This," Wufei swung his legs back normal and sat up in one motion. "This...what do normal people call it...vacation."

"Mmmm...vacation. I don't think I've ever taken a vacation before," Hiro said, in an even voice, implying nothing.

"Neither have I, not really," Wufei mused. "In fact, if you remember, it's when I have nothing to do that I run into trouble. God, I'll never live down Mariemaia."

"Well, at least you didn't ever do anything stupid like self-destruct." Hiro leaned over and poured the coffee carefully into the cup.

"It wasn't stupid, Yui. It was the best thing you could come up with at the time. It was also an order during a time when we lived by orders."

"Don't justify it Chang." Hiro walked to the refrigerator and pulled out the milk they'd bought. He returned and poured some into his. "Milk?" He asked Wufei, who only shook his head. Hiro put the milk back, grabbed the sugar box, and held it up as a question. Again, Wufei shook his head. Hiro shrugged and poured some into his cup. He used to take his coffee black until he'd realized there were other ways to drink it. He picked the cups up gingerly, and walked them slowly over to the couch. Wufei accepted his in silence, and Hiro sat in his chair. A few minutes passed where neither talked.

'I've never seen Hiro this open...this...honest. It's strange. Maybe we really are growing up.' Wufei thought to himself, sipping his coffee in quick intakes of breath. Finally, without warning, Hiro spoke.

"I sometimes wonder what else I could have done. I think that maybe that was the most damaging thing I did when I was younger. It's been 10 years and I can still remember the feeling of pushing that button, thinking my life would be over before it even started. I think I'll still know that 10 years from now, and 10 years from then. I don't think I'll ever really forget. I don't want that hanging over me, but there it is. I remember how my mind was so blank...it was like I was in a small room full of nothing but silence and this light that shone through everything. I felt like I could have killed anyone or anything, and it wouldn't have mattered. But..." Hiro paused. Wufei kept as still as possible, barely breathing, afraid that he would move and shock Hiro out of his thoughts. He'd never heard Hiro speak like this before, not ever. "But, some days I wonder what I would have done if I hadn't had that place to go to. What if I had been Quatre? Or even Duo?" Hiro looked up at Wufei, who swallowed and held his breath. "And some days, I wonder, what I would have done if had been you."

"Did you like being married?" Hiro asked, his voice growing rougher as the night wore on. Wufei stared at the bottom of his mug, at the remnants of the coffee.

"Can I get a refill?" Wufei held up his mug. Any other person would have accused him of avoiding the question, any other person would have said get it yourself, any other person would have scowled or rolled their eyes, but this was Hiro Yui and so he only quietly reached over, lifted the mug out of Wufei's hand, and went to the kitchen to refill the mug. Wufei sat and looked as his hands. He listened to the sounds of Hiro pouring the coffee, refreshing his own serving, and padding back over to Wufei.

"Chang?" Hiro said to get Wufei's attention. Wufei looked up, grabbed the mug, and thanked Hiro. Hiro moved and sat back down in his chair and took a demure gulp of his coffee. Wufei sighed.

"Did I like being married..." Wufei asked himself, and moved his tongue on his teeth. He moved his jaw around, and took a sip of coffee. "Yes and no, really."

"Oh?" was all Hiro said. Wufei waited for more questions asking for clarification, but again, this was Hiro Yui, and he didn't seem to possess a bone of curiosity in his body. Wufei set his mug on the table, and leaned back into the couch.

"I hated it at the time, but I think, looking back, that it wasn't so bad. I mean, it gave me status, responsibility, and a position of head of household."

"Power," Hiro said. Wufei looked up, nodding slightly.

"Yes, exactly." Wufei looked up at the ceiling. "So, did I like being married?" Wufei looked back at Hiro, his eyes tired and jaded. "Maybe I'll never know."

"Let's hope the pajamas are better this time, hm?" Wufei said as the two men made their way to the bedroom.

"Hm," Hiro said, and held up a pair of silk boxers that would obviously cling to his skin. Wufei groaned.

"I don't know whether to consider it a step forward...or back," Wufei curled his lip in disgust as he lifted his own off the comforter. "Are we really expected to wear these?" Wufei turned to Hiro to ask, to find Hiro already half stripped. Hiro shrugged and unzipped his pants. Wufei turned away, blushing, and stared at the boxers in his hands.

"Goodnight, Chang." Wufei heard Hiro get into the bed, and pull the covers over his body. Wufei took a deep breath, pulled his shirt over his head, and pushed down his pants. He stepped into the boxers, and moved to the opposite side of the bed.

"Yeah...goodnight, Yui."

Recently, I've received a review about my spelling of "Hiro's" name. I spell it as "Hiro" because the English "Heero" 1. looks funny to me, 2. is in no way shape or form how it would be spelled out in a translation normally, and 3. is simply easier to type. I mean, I see "Heero" and I think of "hero," as opposed to "Hiro" which looks right to me. Besides, when pronounced, it isn't "Hiiiiiiro," with an elongated "i" so I don't see the purposed of the double "e." Also, if it WAS elongated, it would make sense to write it as "Heiro" instead of "Heero" if you followed the traditional way of writing hiragana. Of course, that would make his name "Heero" as in "Heh-roh" which sounds funny. And, so, I decided with control of the characters, I'll make it "Hiro" and satisfy my own eyes. Thanks for the review! D

hope that the revision is meeting with everyone's joy and happiness. As you can see, I've added MANY, MANY, MANY new scenes that I just skipped over originally, because it was just a sort of spur of the moment, not meant to go anywhere, thing. Now that I want to finish it, I have plot devices, and full 24-hour days, instead of 2-hour days, like I did before. (Originally, after they get the list back, they pretty much walk in, read the list, and then get ready for bed. Err...time really does fly when you're having fun, eh?)