Coming Home

Chapter 3

Duo paced around in his room thinking of what he could have possibly done wrong in his relationship with Heero. He had tried to keep in touch; he had sent Heero a post card every time he stopped in a new city.

'You've been gone too damn long without so much as a phone call'

The words kept chasing themselves around in Duo's head. 'He's right. I didn't call him, not once in all the time I've been away,' he reasoned with himself. 'Plus, all the times I did want to call him, he was out of town on business and I couldn't leave a message with a secretary. I mean, I didn't even know what I was calling for… It's not like I was going to pour my heart out to the secretary just so she could tell Heero I called. Besides, I hate leaving messages… especially when I don't know where I'm going to be next, thus I wouldn't be able to leave a phone number anyway.'

Duo had rid his room of the dust that covered just about every surface and even replaced the bed dressings. He sat down, head in his hands and decided he should call Quatre. They'd kept in touch over the years with the occasional phone call. It seemed that Quat's secretaries knew Duo from before and patched his calls through to Quatre's phone, no matter what Quat was in the middle of. Since Quatre was a high-profile business man, his cell phone was constantly changing numbers to keep people from harassing him, so instead of keeping up with them, Duo just called the office. They always knew how to contact Quatre. He grabbed the cordless sitting on his bedside table and flopped back onto the bed, punching the familiar numbers as he did.

"Winner Enterprises. Sandra speaking, how may I help you today?"

"Hey Sandy, it's Duo… is Quat around?"

"Oh! Duo, it's been a long time since we've heard from you. Please hold, I'll patch you through to Mr. Winner immediately."

"Thanks." Duo waited on the line, listening to the cheesy music people were forced to listen to while on hold. Soon enough, he could hear ringing as he was being connected to Quatre's private line."

"Winner"

"Hey Quat! Long time, not chat."

"Duo! It's been months since your last call. I was beginning to think you dropped out of the face of the world."

Duo chuckled a little, "Thanks for caring, man."

"Love your new book, by the way. Especially the part where the young multi-billionaire and the amnesic circus performer fall in love in the middle of a war between earth and the colonies. Where in the world did you come up with an idea like that?"

"I'm flattered, Q, and as for your question, I guess I put in pieces from people I know, that's all."

"Is there a sequel for it on its way?"

"Not sure yet. Maybe."

"Well, now that I know you're with Heero, I fully expect to get to see you; I want my books autographed."

Duo laughed a little before the words caught up to him, "Wait, how did you know I was with Heero?"

"A little bird emailed me."

"Is that so?" Duo wasn't sure how he felt being talked about behind his back.

"What's going on over there anyway?"

"Well… it's kind of weird. Everything's changed, Heero included. The only thing that's exactly the same as I left it is my room. Do you know why he's acting like that, Q? You have to tell me what I can do to help him. How long has he been this way?"

"Whoa, slow down, Duo," Quatre tried to sort his thoughts quickly. He wasn't sure how much he should tell his friend. He figured he should tell the truth, after all, they were going to be living under the same roof for a while. "Listen Duo… Heero's gone through a lot since you left. He's become really closed off and now only contacts me through email. It's like he's become a shell of himself."

"Why? What happened to him?"

Quatre bit his lip on the other end of the phone. He was already sharing too much information, but his friends would obviously get nowhere if he didn't step in. Besides. They were both asking for his help.

"He… he's been that way ever since he had his heart broken."

That gave Duo pause. Heero had his heart broken? By whom? No wonder he was cold towards his best friend, he was afraid of being hurt again!

"Thanks for telling me Quat. I should have known all Heero needed was a little bit of cheering up. It'll be just like high school. I'm sure I can get him out of that depression. Leave it all to Duo Maxwell. I'll make Heero stop thinking about that person. How dare they hurt my best friend?"

"Wait Duo-"

"Talk to you later, Q-man."

"But-"

"Give Tro a hug for me."

"Okay, but-"

"BYE!!"

Duo hung up the phone and put it down on the bed. He had a new sense of purpose now. Thanks to Quatre, he now knew the cause of Heero's dilemma. Who would possibly be stone-hearted enough to hurt Heero? He walked out of his room and began to search for Heero.

Once he searched the whole house through, Duo decided to check the back yard. Maybe Heero would be out side since he wasn't anywhere inside the house despite his car being in the garage.

He stepped into the large garden and was only half surprised to find an oriental style garden. It was simplistic with large stones strategically placed to give the garden an altogether exotic look. His eyes traveled across the grounds and found a human-shaped form sitting in what looked like a man-made lake. Steeling himself to become the comforting friend he was supposed to be before he left, he made his way to where Heero sat and plopped down on the ground next to him.

"Hey! There's fish in there!" Duo said without thinking. He wasn't expecting fish to be in the little lake.

"Baka. It's a koi pond. Of course there's going to be fish in there."

"Heh… I knew that…" Duo said unconvincingly. "So… what are you doing out here all by your lonesome?"

"Like you care." Heero's voice had sounded a little choked, but Duo couldn't see his face clearly; the sun was setting and Heero's bangs covered most of his face.

"Heero, I know we haven't been in contact too much these years… but you can still talk to me. Quat told me-"

"He told you? What did he say? He promised that he'd never tell you anything!"

"Whoa, man!" Duo held up his hands in the gesture of surrender. "He didn't tell me any details or anything, he just said that someone hurt you bad. I'm sorry I wasn't here. Do you want me to find them and beat them up?" Duo grinned like a Cheshire cat, reminding Heero of how things used to be when they were in high school."

"You can't do that," Heero answered dejectedly.

"Why not, man? I know I've been AWOL but I can still kick some ass."

"Just drop it."

Duo tried to get a better look at Heero but the darkness was falling fast. "Come on, Hee-chan. Let me help you feel better."

"I said drop it. You can't help me…not any more."

Heero got up to leave but Duo held him down. Heero felt an odd tingle go through his arm starting from where Duo was holding his wrist. He hadn't felt like this since high school, when Duo was just another fun-loving teenager. He missed the old Duo. He needed the old Duo. He didn't want the sullen boy Duo had become since the death of his family.

"Heero, please talk to me," Duo pleaded. He looked up at those icy blue eyes. He was faintly aware that he was still holding onto Heero's hand when the other young man sat back down and heaved a mournful sigh.

"Fine, I'll talk to you… even if you don't deserve it." Heero stood up again to light several torches he had set up around the pond. When he sat back down, he didn't look at Duo. "What exactly did Quatre say?"

Duo fidgeted with the end of his braid, "Well… he said you've changed a lot since someone broke your heart…"

"Anything else?" Heero didn't know what to say to Duo, he didn't even know why he was having this conversation with him.

"No…I sort of went into mother hen mode and hung up soon after, then I came to look for you. I didn't know you were hurting…I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Heero… I'm here if you need me."

"So now you're here for me?" Heero scoffed.

"Yes, I'm here for you now. I wish I had known that someone had hurt you like that. I might not have been able to come back, but at least I might have been able to talk to you on the phone…"

"That brings me to something else, why didn't you ever call?"

Duo blushed lightly, "Well.. I did try to call… but you were never around when I called…"

"And you couldn't leave a message?"

"What would you have liked me to say? 'Hey Heero, I'm in Greece right now, but you can't call me back because I don't know where I'm going next. Oh, I also don't know when I'll be able to call you because a lot of these places I visit don't have phones.'"

Heero sighed. Duo blew his bangs out of his face. "Listen, Heero… I know I haven't been the best friend a guy could have… I… I had to get some things straight in my head before I could come back. I was always left behind and I was afraid you were going to leave me too, so I left before you could. I know it doesn't make sense, at the time that's the only thing that made sense to me. I… I was afraid of trusting again… I just needed to get my life together on my own. I'm sorry for any trouble I've caused." Duo paused, looking over at Heero, "Enough of me though, I came out here to let you talk. Quat said that someone broke your heart, and if you need a friend I'm here for you. I'm not leaving again."

"Promise?" came a timid voice.

"Yeah, Heero, I promise… I'm not going anywhere any time soon."

Duo saw Heero seem to relax a little. He looked over at the koi pond again and was about to ask Heero if he wanted to go inside, when he was knocked over onto his back. Duo looked up into teary Prussian blue eyes. "Heero?" Duo started when he felt a tear fall on his cheek. "Hee-"

Heero leaned in close and gently kissed the braided man under him. The lips below his were soft and warm, he had really missed kidding Duo. Heero pulled back, looking down at confused indigo, then sat back up again.

Duo stayed on his back, looking up at Heero, 'What happened? I thought he was in love with someone already. Didn't I blow my chance with him a long time ago?'

"Heero… I don't understand… I thought you-"

"You were the one. I know I can never have you, but knowing you'll stay here and be my friend will have to be enough. I suppose you can consider that a goodbye kiss. I… I won't apologize for it."

Duo abruptly sat up.

"Me?! The person that broke your heart was ME?!"

Heero looked away and shrugged slightly. Duo couldn't believe this. He thought that for sure Heero had found someone else. He wasn't expecting more than friendship from the Japanese man but when he had arrived back home and said man was brushing him off, Duo thought that maybe he really wasn't wanted any more. He would have never imagined that Heero had waited for him all this time. Duo noticed Heero starting to ease off him, the look in his eyes that of a kicked puppy. He would not lose Heero. Not now, not ever again.

Duo rolled over, pinning Heero under him and kissing him deeply. The kiss was the sweetest either had ever given or received. It was full of apologies and promises for the future. They kissed until the need to breathe hindered their actions. Duo eased off Heero but held him in a warm and loving embrace as the looked up at the star-speckled night sky.

"I'm sorry I ever left you, Heero. I'll never leave again."

Heero turned in Duo's arms giving him a chaste little kiss on the lips, "Ai Shiteru, koi."

Duo smiled. As an orphan those were words that he had longed to hear. He nuzzled Heero's neck as he held the other boy closer. "I love you too, Heero."

OWARI!

Jess' Rant

Yep… this is the last chapter… Was it rushed? Well even if it was, I'm too angry at some of my reviewers. Yes, I know my chapters are short. I also post them quite frequently compared to other authors. I have had my last "Your chapters are too short" reviews so I decided to just finish the story and be done with it. Every time I get one of those damn reviews my muse DIES and I have to hunt down another one.

Takes a deep cleansing breath Okay, I'm sorry to those of you who have been nothing but sweet to me since I started writing. If this chapter seems rushed or OOC for me, it's because I had to force myself to write it rather than leaving it unfinished. I apologize if it doesn't meet the usual standards. Again, gomen.