Disclaimers: Don't own GW.
Duo?
Chapter 13: Mother Dear
"Did you get her last name?" Heero asked Duo the next morning. Heero was determined to prove that Fuka had murdered Duo.
Duo thought for a moment. "Um, I know she got remarried, Hikou did tell me that she was Fuka's sister." It seemed odd to Heero that Duo should refer to his father by his first name, even if he was a foster father. "I'm pretty sure she said it was Sugiyama." Heero nodded.
"So if we can find Rumiko, maybe she can help me prove Fuka murdered you," he said thoughtfully.
Duo sighed. "I hope so."
xxx
I'll be back soon," Heero said, snatching up the keys to his father's car.
Duo blinked. "How'd you find her so fast?"
Heero shrugged. "I looked her up." He nodded towards the phonebook that still lay on the kitchen table. Duo's lips formed a silent "oh".
"See ya later!" Duo said cheerily.
"Later," Heero replied quietly and left.
xxx
Later, Heero arrived in a small neighbourhood. He had to drive extremely slowly so the kids playing in the street knew he was coming.
He parked in front of the house whose address he had written down on the paper in his hand. He smiled at the two kids in the front yard as he passed them. He knocked on the door and waited.
A boy maybe a year or two younger than him answered the door. He raised an eyebrow. "May I help you?" he asked coolly.
"Is this the Sugiyama residence?" Heero asked. The boy nodded. "Is Rumiko available?"
He sighed. "Yeah, hang on." He turned and called up the stairs, "Mom! It's for you!" Heero didn't hear what she'd said, but the boy nodded to himself and a moment later, a woman in her mid-thirties came down the stairs.
She smiled at Heero in greeting. "What can I do for you?" She was petite and had a very kind face.
Heero searched for someplace to start. "Well, I hope so. I'm Heero Yuy, my family just moved into your old house." Her smile fell to a sad frown.
"Oh? Do you like it?"
"It's great, my parents love it. But I need your help with something." Heero braced himself for lots of yelling. "It concerns Duo."
Rumiko blinked. "But... Duo is..."
"Dead," Heero finished for her. "I know, but I found your diary and I would like for you to help me prove something..." He knew he was going slow, but he didn't want to just blurt out that Fuka killed Duo. He brought the diary out of his jacket pocket and flipped to the last entry.
He handed it to Rumiko so she could read it. He watched her eyes scan the paper before she looked up. Heero sighed. "Will you help me prove that Fuka murdered your son?"
The image of Duo crying before going upstairs flashed in front of his eyes. He swallowed hard.
Rumiko shook her head in disbelief. "I don't know that we can... But how do you know about Duo?"
"You'll never believe it..." he said sadly, shaking his head.
She quirked an eyebrow. "Try me," she challenged.
"Duo is haunting my house. He's become one of my best friends, and I actually found him reading this." He nodded toward the diary.
Rumiko didn't respond.
Heero sighed defeatedly. "I knew you wouldn't believe it."
Rumiko shook her head. "No, no I believe you," her eyes filled with hope. "But do you mean to tell me that you can... see him?"
Heero smiled and nodded.
Her eyes shone with tears. "Can anyone else see him?"
Heero nodded again. "If he wants them to."
"Do you think I...?" she asked, her voice breaking.
"I'm sure of it," Heero said and smiled.
She brought her hands up to cover her mouth. The two children in the front yard came running to her yelling, "Mommy! Mommy!" They threw their arms around her and gazed up at her with worried expressions. "What's wrong, Mommy?" the girl asked. The boy nodded.
Rumiko smiled down at them. "I'm alright, Dorothy. I'm just happy."
"Then why are you crying?" asked the little boy quietly.
Rumiko kneeled between them. "Sometimes happiness is that overwhelming, Zechs."
Dorothy looked around at her brother and nodded. "Yeah, Zechs, that's just what girls do sometimes."
"Oh, ok!" The little boy smiled and squeezed his mother tight before running off again with his sister.
Rumiko stood again and swallowed hard. "Will you take me to see Duo?" she asked.
Heero nodded. He'd been expecting this. "Sure, um, do you want to drive yourself? I know it's a little hard to trust a stranger and get into his car..."
She blinked. "Oh, no! I trust you completely! You're friends with my first son, of course I trust you to take me to him," she confirmed.
Heero nodded. "Alright," he said and stepped to the side so she could step out. She stopped and told Dorothy and Zechs that she'd be back soon and to mind their brother. She then got into the car with Heero and they drove off.
They soon arrived at the house, and Heero led Rumiko inside. Heero looked around. "Duo?" he called. "Where are you?" he poked his head into the living room but didn't find him. He closed the front door and turned to Rumiko. "Could you wait for a minute while I go find him?" She nodded. "Ok, um, go ahead and take a seat in the living room." She nodded again.
Heero raced up the stairs and down the hall, into his bedroom. Duo was in that funny position again, with his feet on the bed and his front end hanging off the side. He sat up again when he saw Heero. "Well?" he asked.
Heero smiled. "She's downstairs waiting for you," he said. "She agreed to come with me."
Duo's eyes widened. "So... she's... here?" he asked quietly. Heero nodded and went back out, Duo closely following behind. He then found himself passing Heero with his fast steps, then he started running. He hurtled down the stairs and stopped at the entrance to the living room.
Rumiko looked up, startled. Heero then walked up behind Duo and nodded to Rumiko. "Duo?" she said, standing up slowly.
Duo blinked and moved a few steps forward. Heero rolled his eyes and pushed Duo so he would move. Duo stumbled and ran into the back of the couch. He glared at Heero who sat down and shrugged.
Duo turned back to Rumiko. He wasn't quite sure what to call her... Mom, or Rumiko.
They both looked at Heero at the same time, silently asking what to do now. Heero looked surprised. "What? Stop being so formal," he told Duo. Duo lifted his shoulders but a fraction of an inch, and Heero sighed. "Duo, why don't you talk to your mother or something?"
Duo blinked. Rumiko's eyebrows lifted. Duo nodded to himself, maybe for confidence, Heero didn't rightly know. Duo jumped over the back of the couch and sat next to Heero. He smiled.
Rumiko smiled as well. "How you can look so real? It's amazing!" Duo looked down at himself.
"Um, I'm not really sure how that works... But Hee-chan knows that I can be invisible-" he disappeared, although the couch still looked like there was someone sitting there. He reappeared. "And that I can look how people assume ghosts look like-" And with that, his color drained from his clothes and body. He grinned and his color came back.
"Wow, that's really strange... But then aren't you supposed to go through things?" she asked.
Duo nodded. "I do when I want to." He put his hand through the table as if it weren't there. He then drew it back and touched the tabletop. He looked up and blinked at Rumiko.
She reached out timidly and touched Duo's knee. "I'd expected to go through you..." she said quietly. She sat up straight again.
"If I didn't want you to be able to feel me, you would have. But I don't mind anymore if people can touch me."
Rumiko nodded. "Ok, so, what happened when you died?" She didn't go any further than that.
Duo grinned broadly. "Hee-chan asked that too. It was really weird, you know how people say that your life will flash before your eyes?" Rumiko nodded again. "Well, it did that, but it went backwards."
"That is weird. I see you're breathing, but how is that useful?"
"It's not, I think it's just habit," Duo replied. He rose and held up a finger. He exhaled and just stood there, not breathing. He then walked around the living room before sitting down again. "Nope, I don't need it."
"Do you need things that we do, like food or drink or sleep?"
"I don't eat or drink, but I do sleep. I don't know exactly why ghosts sleep, but yeah," Duo said, glancing at Heero for a moment. Heero just shrugged. He wasn't ashamed that they slept together, they never did anything.
Rumiko's eyebrow arched. Her expression turned to one of mild suspicion. Duo looked down. "I don't think I have anything else to ask," she said, changing the subject.
Duo looked up hopefully. "Well, why don't you tell me about yourself then?" he asked.
Rumiko smiled. "Ok, well you know that I'm married already. And I've adopted twice more." Duo nodded. "My oldest is Trieze, he's 14, and Zechs and Dorothy are 10 year old twins."
Duo's eyebrows lifted. "Ooh, twins!" He grinned. "Do they really look alike?"
Rumiko nodded. "Yes, very much. They're so much fun!" She brought her wallet out from her pocket and opened it to some pictures. She handed it to Duo. "That first one is Trieze, the next one is Dorothy," Duo flipped the page. "And that's Zechs." She smiled fondly as Duo turned the page. His eyes widened.
There he was, looking about 2 years old, and very happy. Heero leaned over to see it. "Aww." He tugged on Duo's braid. "Look how cute you were."
Duo quirked an eyebrow at him as if to say "Were?" Heero shrugged and sat back down. Rumiko smiled at the picture as Duo handed the wallet back to her. "Will you bring them here to meet me someday?" he asked hopefully. She shrugged.
"I guess I could. It's not like they don't believe in ghosts."
"Why didn't you bring them to meet me earlier? When I was alive?" Duo asked.
She sighed. "I don't really know..."
Duo nodded.
Heero changed the subject completely. "Where am I supposed to go, to bring up how Duo died?"
Rumiko thought for a moment. "I would guess that you'd go to the police, but I'm not sure we can really prove it; it happened quite a while ago."
"It didn't happen that long ago, only a few months," Duo said. Heero nodded.
"Well, I know that, but it would be very hard to prove it, you know as well as I do that Fuka would deny it." She said Fuka's name so venemously, it made both Heero and Duo shiver.
Duo nodded. "Yes, but shouldn't we try?"
Heero sighed. "You have a good point, she would deny it, and it would be difficult to prove. Duo, don't you have some sort of "ghostly powers" or something?" he asked desperately.
Duo blinked. "Well, actually, I don't really know..." Heero looked up. "I mean, I have no way of knowing if I do or not..."
"Why don't you try something?" Rumiko asked.
"Like what?"
"Try to do voodoo or something," Heero suggested. "Or, picture her in your mind, and do something that way."
Duo looked down and thought a moment. He looked up again. "But how do I know if I did anything?"
Heero shrugged. "I don't know, just try it, and if it works, maybe something will happen to let you know," he replied. "I'll be right back."
He got up and went into the door beside the staircase. They heard his hurried footsteps fade and Duo looked at Rumiko.
She had a very serious expression on her face. Duo's eyes widened in surprise to that. "Duo, tell me, what is your relationship with Heero." she said.
Duo blinked at her. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, do you sleep together?"
Bing, right on the dot. Were they really that obvious? "Well, yes, but not like that. It's just that he got my old room, and he has a huge bed, so he let me."
Rumiko sighed. "Well, I guess there's nothing bad about that. But I couldn't help but notice that you two seem to..." she searched for the right word. "Well, I guess just care about each other more than most friends."
Duo's jaw dropped. Geez, they really were obvious. Duo swallowed hard. "Well, I guess that since you are my mother," he smiled. "I guess I could trust you with my secret."
Rumiko nodded. "Of course you can trust me, you can tell me anything."
Duo gave her a lop-sided smile.