Tori: I'd of thought one of you would have guessed!
Ke: …rub it in…
Tori: Think…Who died?
Ke: *rattles off list* Odin Lowe, Marshall Noventa, Fr. Maxwell, Sr. Helen …
Tori: *nods* We shall see.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Slowly, Duet turned around and when she saw who it was, stood at strict attention. God looked too, and his eyes drooped.
Not far off stood, well, God, only he seemed more…holy. His polished onyx halo floated above his dark hair at the slightest of an angle, and his piercing blue eyes looked more through them than at them.
"I think you've had your fun," he said, his voice echoing all around. He smiled slightly as the man they once thought was God fidgeted and then dropped his disguise.
Stringy blond hair replaced short ebony, and his angel-blue eyes took on a hint of green. He thinned and shrunk and changed to become the lanky teen from the L2 pilots' pasts.
"Solo…" Duo whispered, and hesitated only momentarily before wrapping his arms around him in a firm bear hug. A tear slid down his check and splashed on Solo's shoulder.
"Who is that?" Heero asked, a bit resentful. Duet's smiled when she turned away from the scene was as close to motherly as a bloodstained mercenary-turned-angel could manage.
"An old friend," she replied. God, the real God, joined them.
"He was going to let them go without saying anything if I didn't interrupt," God explained, "But I'll leave you to your duties now, Julian." And with that, he disappeared in a flash of light.
"STOP CALLING ME JULIAN!" Duet cried and cheerful laughter echoed about before fading into an awkward silence.
Solo looked up from Duo, scanning the faces of the five other pilots, eyes stopping on Duet. He shook the braided boy a bit and he stood on his own, swiping the tears from his eyes.
"Sorry, man… But it's been so long and- What?"
The two other L2 orphans were blinking a bit. Whether it was in confusion or just plain surprise was yet to be determined.
"No one… has called me 'man' in nine years…" the older angel explained. His lips twitched into a smiled and he ruffled Duo's hair. "Yep, you're definitely Duo! It's nice you kept the name too."
"If you call him Duo, why do you call Duet 'Julian'?" Quatre asked, a bit perplexed by the whole ordeal. He was beginning to accept the fact that nothing made sense any more (And that his Houri wasn't going to show up any time soon… Hehehe…) and decided to focus on the small, insignificant things that would eventually explain the larger, incomprehensible things.
"I gave Duo his name. Julian took the name Duet. Just as Trowa took his name, and therefore cannot bear it. Heero shall be Heero, because it was given, as you are Quatre by your father and Wu Fei is such by the will of his clan."
Quatre nodded. It made sense… in some odd, nonsensical way.
"What is my name then?" Trowa frowned. His name had seemed to fit him so perfectly, but he had never worn it with pride. It was as if a weight was being lifted off his shoulders, knowing he was no longer hiding behind someone else's mask, but rather starting with a clean slate and a fresh face.
"You are Nanashi."
He shuddered. Nanashi brought back horrible memories, but he couldn't deny that that's who he was.
"Julian isn't any better for me, Tro, so I'm still gonna go by Duet," Duet smiled warmly.
"What about Triton Bloom?" the banged boy grimaced, still disgusted with Nanashi.
"Triton Bloom could have been your name, but you never lived as Triton Bloom."
"…"
"Come on… We've wasted enough time standing around… You need to find your wards." Duet waved her hand at them and started off again in the direction they were originally heading in.
Reluctantly, Duo left Solo's side and followed after the angel that had once been his girlfriend.
"Duo!" the boy called out and he turned on his heel. "Nice choice. Julian's a keeper," he grinned and somewhere in himself the former Deathscythe pilot found the strength to smile again.
"HEY! I HEARD THAT!"
"I'll see you around, Solo!"
"That you will, kid… That you will."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Tori: I'm sorry these chapters are so short, but I want to get the out and I don't have as much free time as I let on!
Ke: A good part of this story was written while Tori was leaning on podium, waiting for her students to finish their tests.
Tori: A~nyway…If you were wondering, a Houri is what's promised to a pious Muslim. It's basically- *is bleeped out by Microsoft*
Ke: *scratches head* Well, that was weird…
Tori: *mumbling curses* …compound relative pronoun… Achem! (yes, 'compound relative pronoun' is a curse. Why? *shakes head* …I donwanna talk about it…)
