CHAPTER FOUR

"Can't sleep…can't sleep…ugh...Not again!!!"

Duo tossed and turned, wishing he could just shut down somehow "I'm sure Deathscythe has it easier than me…he can switch off with the turn of a button but here…ARGH!!" He grabbed his pillow and pulled it over his face "My head is about to burst! If this continues I'm gonna end up a zombie!!"

He could not stop thinking about Heero, and how things were turning out for him. How can we get him to remember if he subconsciously doesn't even want to? And how's OZ gonna react to this? Sooner or later they'll figure something's wrong with the Wing pilot and who knows what the hell they'll pull?!

Suddenly his door squeaked open, and he sat up, shocked, who would be entering his room at this hour (Not that he had any idea what hour it was anyway)?! His hand automatically reached over to where his gun lay on his beside table and he squinted to try and make out the figure in the doorway.

"This is eerily familiar…" He thought as he gripped his gun "Reminds me of…"

The scene came back to him. His was in an OZ cell, his Gundam captured by the Taurus units…they were planning to use him as a scapegoat to gain support of the colonies…and then…

It was just like this, the figure in the doorway…Heero…

The dim light of the moon backed up the shadow, Duo instinctively looked at his hands to check if they held a gun. 

They didn't. In fact his arms were wrapped around his shoulders in the cold night air.

"Heero?" Duo called softly "What's wrong?"

"I…um…I can't sleep…" Heero stuttered, sounding almost…well, timid. Duo couldn't help wonder if he was dreaming, this was a tone of voice he had never heard of before.

"What do you mean?"

"I…just can't sleep…"

"And I'm meant to help you how?" Duo asked, incredulous, thinking "Here I am with severe insomnia and you want me to put you to sleep?"

"Umm…I…can I…like…err" Heero kept stuttering.

"What?"

"Umm…" Heero suddenly shivered, and Duo realized he was only wearing a light opened shirt and his spandex with the majority of his body exposed to the freezing air.

"Get over here!" Duo commanded, and without thinking he lifted his bed covers "I don't want you to get pneumonia on top of amnesia, then we'd get a woozy crazy Heero"

Heero seemed eager to accept the invitation, and without needing to be asked twice, he quickly shut the door behind him and climbed into Duo's bed, his feet brushing against his legs as he did so. Duo shivered.

"Whoa…you really are cold aren't you?" He pulled the covers over Heero "Now, what is it that you wanted?"

Heero looked down and muttered something in a voice so low it was inaudible.

"What?" Duo asked again.

"Can I sleep here tonight?" Heero finally voiced.

Duo was caught completely off guard.

"Huh?! Why?!"

"Well…I'm so used to sleeping in the same room as you and everything…and after everything that happened today that room felt so…wrong…"

"You slept there fine last night!"

"That's only because Trowa drugged me out! I could've slept in a garbage truck with what he gave me!"

"I'd like to see that" Duo said under his breath "So you feel more comfortable here? You wanna switch rooms or something?" Not that Duo would be willing to give his room up permanently; he may just be extra nice and let Heero stay in it for a night.

 "No…I…just wanna sleep with you…"

"Ark?!" Duo squeaked "You want to…"

"Please?" Heero looked up at him with enormous puppy dog eyes, which was enough for him to break out into a cold sweat.

"Umm…I guess it wouldn't hurt…" He replied hesitantly "You sure about this…?"

Heero had already lain down on a pillow and closed his eyes "Yup…"

Duo sat staring at the figure next to him, strangely enough Heero was smiling, and all of sudden he looked so innocent, so full of bliss. The moonbeams shone upon him gently, his hair fell softly over his eyes…

He couldn't remember the last time he saw this soldier look so perfectly satisfied…so happily satisfied…

Perhaps Trowa was right after all…Heero had really wanted to forget, perhaps at some point he just got tired of this life, perhaps he just wanted to start again…and never go back…

Suddenly he felt reluctant to try and make Heero regain his memory…perhaps he'd be better off this way. Ever since they've been back, expect for the moments he fell into confusion, Heero had been so happy, more than he had ever been before. He would laugh, joke and show all sorts of affection he never allowed himself to display before…and now…there was this…he had acted like such a child just now, an adorable child who needed to be cared for and protected, and he had looked to Duo for such needs…he would never have yielded to such emotions before…was amnesia really such a bad thing?

                              *                                  *                                  *

Heero had already risen by the time Duo awoke the following morning, he had absolutely no idea how he eventually managed to fall asleep in the end. The last thing he remembered was listening to the sound of Heero's steady slow breathing next to him, he must have drifted off somehow…

He staggered out of his room, and immediately fell on top of Wufei.

"ARK!" Duo croaked as he scrambled to get off the smaller, milder boy.

"Well good morning Duo" Wufei said in an oddly calm tone "Nice greeting"

Isn't he going to yell? Duo thought incredulously "Umm…sorry…bad night!"

"Obviously" Wufei remained lying on the floor as he waited for Duo to get back on his two legs "Your clumsiness sure hit an all time high here"

Embarrassed, Duo held out a hand to help other boy up, but as he tried to pull Wufei to his feet, he somehow managed to slip again, the two of them went crashing down, Duo landing back on top of Wufei.

"MAXWELL!!" He finally yelled "Is this going to become a routine?!"

"Sorry!" Duo cursed himself, what the heck was up with him anyway?!

Before he had a chance to get to his feet, Heero and Quatre appeared at the end of the hallway.

"Oh…my…" Quatre stammered "I…err…sorry, I didn't know you guys were busy…" He quickly turned and walked back to the living room, leaving Heero standing there by himself.

Gaping.

 "Argh!" Duo finally stood up "It's not what you think!!"

Heero remained silent, his eyes had widened to a size Duo never believed humanly possible. His mouth formed a perfectly shaped "O", which reminded Duo of a certain pet goldfish he had kept once.

Wufei stood up as well "Heero, it was just Duo's stupid foolishness, it was nothing really"

More gaping.

"Heero! Stop it!" Duo exclaimed, running up to him and shaking his shoulders "It was just an accident…it was nothing okay!?"

Then he realized Heero's face was becoming positively crimson in his attempt to control a building laugh. Finally it erupted, and Heero ran out of the hall leaving behind a stream of crazy laughter.

"OH man!" Duo pulled at his own hair "Now what am I going to do?!"

"Bury your head in the sand Duo" Wufei commented as he walked past "Ignore him"

"But…but…shouldn't we try to clear this up?"

"What is there to clear up? It's not like any of them really thought anything"

"But Heero…" Duo tried to protest.

"He was just reacting the way you would've if you came across such a scene"

Duo thought for a moment, it was true. He tried his best to shrug it off and continued on into the kitchen.

"Hey guys…" He started to greet, but cut off when he saw his three other friends—even Trowa—stifle giggles. "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!" He shouted in frustration.

"Mmmhmm…sure…whatever" Quatre nodded knowingly "Gee Duo, you have such twisted ways…"

"Classic case of the 'opposites attract' scenario?" Trowa teased. "Who would've guessed…?"

"Man you guys need to get a room, seriously!" Heero commented from behind his coffee cup "I mean, you two did take up quite a bit of space in that hallway!"

"Grow up!" Wufei demanded "Leave us alone!"

"Oooooo….!" Heero grinned "Developments eh?!"

"So soon?" Quatre asked innocently.

"Can it guys!"

                              *                                  *                                  *

Later on, in Wufei's room…

"I can't believe the immaturity of those guys!" Duo shook his head "Ugh!"

Wufei eyed him with amusement "This is like listening to Heero complain about other people's hostility, hypocrisy at its peak!"

"Sheesh!" Duo waved off that remark. "So…what do you think about this…situation? I mean Heero's condition not our…incident" He quickly added.

Wufei shrugged "Truthfully I'm lost about what to think of it all" He admitted "The perfect soldier goes off on a mission, and returns as the perfect caffeine-high-crazed-out-abominable snowman…what was I suppose to think!?"

Duo sighed "I don't know…I'm not sure what to think anymore…see…" He suddenly felt the urge to confide in someone "Heero seems so…happy…nowadays …okay okay" He hastily added noticing the look on Wufei's face "He's being a little crazy, but you know what I mean, I've never seen him so…contented before…"

Wufei nodded "So now you start to wonder if this is in fact a good thing?"

"Yeah!" Duo was surprised he saw through him so quickly "What…what do you think?" He asked again.

"I reckon we should just leave it up to fate" The Chinese pilot replied with certainty "There's nothing we can really do to help him get his past back, and there's nothing we can do to stop it coming back if it had to. I don't think we should try stimulate him on purpose nor should we intentionally avoid the topic. Just leave it up to fate"

Duo twisted his braid, looking hassled "But…but…"

"Stop worrying about it" Wufei went on before he had a chance to voice his doubts "Such hesitations are a sign of weakness!"

"Can you leave your strength and justice arguments aside for a while?! This is a friend we're discussing here!"

"Exactly! Don't you think it's only appropriate for you to be strong now, for him at least if not for yourself?"

Duo sighed. Wufei had a point, he can't start feeling confused now, he can't throw Heero into further confusion, not when he's already in such a state. And it was true, they could do nothing to aid or prevent Heero from going back to his former self, it was beyond their control.

"You're right…" He said at last "I need to snap out of this mode"

He stood up and walked towards the door, just before he left the room he turned and smiled "Thanks"

"For what?"

"Nothing…just…thanks"

Wufei frowned as he left the room. That guy in here just now wasn't the carefree, happy-go-lucky Duo he knew, he had seemed so worried, so fretted and so perplexed…

He shrugged to himself. It wasn't that unnatural perhaps…

After all…the issue was Heero…

                              *                                  *                                  *

That evening, Duo wearily made his way back to his room, for the first time in a long while he actually felt sleepy at the right time, he was looking forward to finally a goodnight's sleep.

He climbed into bed and pulled his covers over his head, waiting for his senses to slowly drift and shut off…

"DUO!!!"

"ARGH!!" He yelled, and bolted upright, grabbing his pistol again he aimed at the intruding figure.

"Whoa! It's just me!" Heero shouted with his hands up "Drop your weapons I come in peace!"

"HEERO!!" Duo cried in frustration "What the heck? Why are you doing this to me?!"

"What?" Heero blinked "I just…wanted to sleep…"

"Well go ahead! Goodnight!" Duo laid down again and waited for the click of the door shutting, he was getting sooooooo sleepy.

The click did come, but then, rather than total silence prevailing, Duo felt his bed move beneath him, and he propped himself up on one elbow "What the…!"

Heero was in his bed again.

"Heero!" He exclaimed "What the…what do you think you're doing!"

"I umm…wanted to sleep here…"

"What! Again…why?!"

"I'm just so used to it now!" Heero tried to justify "And I just…can't sleep without… your snoring in the background…"

"What!" Duo protested "I do not snore!"

"Wanna bet?" Heero grinned.

"Err…no…not really" Duo thought the better of it "But…but…but…is this going to be a permanent arrangement?"

Heero didn't reply, just gazed at him with those big pleading blue eyes that could melt the paint off their Gundams.

"Heero…" Duo objected weakly "I…"

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" Heero whispered "Pretty please?!"

He surrendered, there was no way he could fight this. Battling the old Heero in a mobile suit would've been a breeze in comparison to trying to resist him in this mode.

"Whatever!" He shouted, and flopped back onto his pillow.

A moment of silence passed, and Duo started to think he was going to fall asleep.

He was disillusioned. Big time.

 "Duo…" Came a soft murmur beside him "I can't sleep"

"Oh help me!" Duo thought, he rolled over to face Heero "Now what?!"

"Can you sing me to sleep?"

"WHAT?!" Duo exclaimed "What did you say?!"

"Sing me to sleep" Heero requested again calmly as if it was a perfectly reasonable favor to ask.

"You do not want to hear me sing" Duo laughed "Trust me!"

"Why…?"

"The last time I sang…this was before your memory loss…you did not give me a very positive opinion on my vocals"

"Really?" Heero asked in interest "What did I say?"

"Basically that my singing voice was a cross between fingernails on a blackboard and a goose honking"

Heero laughed "Seriously?! I said that?!"

"One hundred percent serious…"

"Man…I wish I…" Heero's voice traced off.

"Well…like Wufei was saying to me…we have to be strong, you'll come to grips with everything soon enough…"

"Wufei…" Heero murmured, then, suddenly serious, he asked "You two…nothing really happened right? I mean this morning"

"Oh that?!" Duo laughed "Of course not! You guys were totally being stupid!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! For sure! Nothing like that would ever happen to me and him…if you haven't' picked it up by now he totally thinks I'm an airhead!"

"What do you think of him then?"

"Me?" Duo thought for a moment "He's a good friend…although he does tend to yell at me a lot, but when it comes to serious discussions no one can talk me into things the way he can, I guess it's his whole air of arrogance…and his strength…I admire him"

"Oh…"

"But nothing like that Heero…trust me!"

"Honestly?"

"Cross my heart!"

A sigh floated over from the figure next to him, perhaps it was just his imagination but to Duo it sounded almost like a sigh of relief.

"Goodnight Duo" Came the soft voice beside him, and to his surprise he felt Heero's arm reach over and close around his neck. He listened for a while longer but it was evident from the soft breathing that Heero had already fallen asleep.

Duo smiled, and closed his eyes. The feeling of that arm around him actually felt quite good…soothing…relaxing…comforting…

Maybe having this as a permanent arrangement wouldn't be so bad after all.