I must take a moment to thank Mako-chan for being such a spectacular beta.

Accidents - Part 3

Somewhere out in the vastness of the universe there is a divine power guiding our movements for a grand purpose, and it hates me with a passion.

I think I've been pretty patient about everything so far, but these past few weeks have pushed me way past my limit.

It started when Miss Heero (oh so happy to be a woman) Yuy approached me while I was finishing some light katas. I had become strong enough to move about slowly, but I would tire out quickly.

"A party? What kind of party?" I asked, not that I was going to go. I had no desire to socialize in this form. As far as I was concerned, too many people knew about it already. Now Heero wanted to have a party so all of our friends that hadn't yet seen me could gawk? I'd rather have my spleen pulled up through my nose.

"It's almost been a year since our accident. I thought we should do something." She looked intently at me and seemed to read the thoughts in my head. "It will only be a small group of people who have all ready seen you as you are now."

Oh, that makes it so much better, I thought acidly. "Yes, well, I guess Quatre and Trowa attending are a foregone conclusion," I muttered.

I wasn't sure what sort of agreement they had come to regarding their interest in Heero, but at least they were not hovering over her as much as they used to. It was starting to make me ill watching them.

She smiled shyly. "Yes, they've been very patient with me, giving me time to get used to them as suitors. For a while, I was hoping that Duo would show interest, but I guess he's interested in someone else."

Well, there was an image. Trowa and Quatre are falling all over themselves trying to court Heero, who was interested in Duo, who was interested in- Wait- Who was Duo interested in?

"Who?" Damn curiosity again. What did it matter who he was interested in? It was none of my business where he went when he left my company. Heero looked at me like I was being obtuse.

"I thought that was obvious from the way he acts around you. Always fetching things for you, reading to you at night 'til you fell asleep, spending all his free time with you…"

I gaped at her stupidly. Surely she was joking. It was laughable. Duo was not interested in me. He wouldn't dare. Duo knew full well how I felt about being a woman. There was no way he would be fool enough to…

He wouldn't, would he?

The more I thought about it, the less sure I was. I started looking at Maxwell's actions over the past few months with a new light.

When next I saw him, I had no idea how to act around him.

"Hiya, gorgeous!" He bounded into to my room. He'd called me that before. At the time, I thought he was just trying to get a rise out of me. Was he trying to tell me something?

"Maxwell, l I told you to quit calling me that." My retort was pretty half hearted, and he picked up my lack of enthusiasm.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"I saw Heero today. She wants to have a party to commemorate the anniversary of the explosion."

"Cool. Guess Trowa and Quatre will be going." I winced inwardly as I heard the echo of my words coming from his mouth. Maybe we had been in each other's company for too long.

I needed to verify Heero's suspicions, but how could I discreetly ask if he was attracted to me? I decided to take the cowardly roundabout approach.

"I still don't understand what they see in her."

Duo shrugged awkwardly. "I don't suppose it's that hard to see. On one hand, you see someone who you respect, admire and trust. On the other, there's a beautiful, intelligent, strong woman who has just enough vulnerability to make a man want to take care of her." His voice started trailing off, and he looked away quickly, but not before I spied the blush he was trying to hide. The whole time he was talking, he was avoiding my gaze. Oh gods, he was attracted to me.

I wanted to be angry with him for having the audacity to see me as a woman, but I couldn't. Perhaps being a woman had slightly altered my perception of people's feelings. Instead, I hurt for him. He was a dear friend that had been nothing but kind and caring to me when I was hurting, and the one thing he'd like in return I couldn't give him.

I waited for him to finally look me in the eye, and it was painfully clear to both of us that we knew what we were truly talking about.

"Duo…" I began, but he held up a hand to stop me.

"Hey, don't worry about it. You know us Gundam pilots. We're tough. We can get through anything. It's probably just a harmless infatuation. It'll be gone in no time," he said with forced cheerfulness. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I should go see Heero about this party." He left the room, and I couldn't help but notice he never once openly admitted that it was his feelings he was talking about. As if pretending it was someone else made it hurt less.

I hurt him. And I suffered from knowing it was I who hurt him.

When Duo didn't come back later that day, I cursed myself for being an idiot in several different languages. Couldn't I have just let him have his illusion for a little while longer? Would it have killed me to keep my mouth shut until I was changed back? Once I was a man again, he could have gotten over this infatuation, as he called it, without losing face.

Somewhere, hiding deep inside was a squirming discomfort that occurred when I thought about getting over his attraction to me. I refused to acknowledge it at first because the sensation was most likely my vanity talking. But as the days passed, and Duo stayed away, they grew stronger.

Others visited me, but there was an underlying tenseness, and I knew what they were thinking. I needlessly hurt the one person who stuck by me through this entire ordeal.

At one point, Sally came to tell me I could probably go through my regeneration again in as little as four months.

Hooray. Yippee. Yay me. It wasn't the same without Duo to share the news. I missed him terribly. I was horrified when I finally realized that I was acting very much like a weak woman.

Stupid woman body! With its stupid woman organs, and stupid woman feelings! This would never have been a problem before my accident!

I began questioning all of my actions from then on. Constantly wondering if what I was doing would be what a man would do or a woman.

In an effort to retain hold of my former gender, I started clinging to activities that I had done before my accident. My morning exercises became like a religion to me. At least I was sure I would do them as a man. Duo still had yet to show himself.

One morning a few days before Heero's party, I felt the distinct sensation of being watched. At first, I was a little thrilled and excited, thinking Duo had returned, but then something felt wrong.

Carefully scanning the area while I moved, something caught my eye at the edge of the garden. Feigning exhaustion, I called Auda, who was my chaperone for the day, to help. I spoke very quietly when he came to help me.

"There is someone over by the wall watching us." Watching me, I thought. He grimaced.

"Probably the press looking for a photo of master Quatre. The property has been plagued with them recently. Don't worry. We will deal with them."

I didn't want to sound vain, but I felt almost certain those eyes were watching me specifically. There was only one way to find out. "No. I have an idea."

Heero and I got into Sally's car, well in full view of our unwanted guest. She drove us to a local café, and we looked for all intents and purposes like three women having a lunch date, deliberately sitting outside on the "terrace" as much as you could have an outside terrace inside a colony.

We waited there like the bait that we were to see what sort of attention we drew.

A woman, who was not our waitress, popped up. "Hello! Connie Straight of The Colony Mind, are you Miss Chang Wufei?" she asked, pulling out a recording device.

She instantly had two strikes against her. One, for being a tabloid reporter, and two, for calling me "Miss". She must have taken my blank glare as an assent because she kept on going.

"I wanted to ask you a few questions about the recent transformation you underwent from man to woman."

Only years of training and experience being in mortal danger kept my table-mates and me in control of our reactions. Sally snorted, Heero looked amused, and I looked at her like she was a lunatic. She wasn't easily deterred.

"Is it true that you were Quatre Winner's male lover, and he paid for your transformation so you could produce the ever valuable male heir to the Winner line?"

Do you see what I mean about the universe hating me? I spend a few hours talking with the man outside this week, and now I'm accused of being his paramour.

This time it wasn't too hard for us to pretend to find amusement at her statement, although my laugh was a definitely forced.

"Ms. Straight, Quatre is indeed a friend of mine, and I can assure you he is quite heterosexual. However, even if he were not, anyone who knows him, knows he would never force someone he cared about to be something that they are not. Furthermore, we are not now, nor have we ever been, lovers. Now, go bottom feed somewhere else."

As statements go, I thought I'd made myself pretty clear. Unfortunately, she must have taken offense to the parting remark because she didn't leave.

I quickly looked over at Heero to see how she was reacting to this woman's line of questioning. After all, some of those questions had a small amount of relation to her. Her face was still carefully schooled for the reporter's benefit, but there was unhappiness in her eyes. I could tell she was uncomfortable with the questioning, and I could see Quatre's chances at ever being with her dwindle to nothing.

For my friends' misery alone, I could have smacked the woman in front of me senseless. But, she was a reporter for a sleazy tabloid. Anything I did or said could hurt my friends more.

The only way I could see to get her to leave would be to give her something else to feed on. If I told her I was indeed born a man and turned into a woman by accident, she would have her story, but my life would be over. Still, it might allow Quatre and Heero to have a chance.

I weighed the pros and cons of exposing my life to this shark when my knight in chestnut hair appeared.

"Hey, babe! Sorry I'm late!" Duo leaned in and kissed me. That's right. I said kissed me. I admit I was spaced out from the shock for a moment while his lips were pressed against mine. I was half dazed when I answered him.

"That's okay. You're not that late," I said, responding automatically to his cover story. Despite the fact that he was smiling warmly, his eyes were glittering with rage. If this reporter had any sense, she'd be running for her life.

"Great!" He smiled at me, and then looked up at the reporter. "Yes, I'll have a double bacon cheeseburger with fries and a vanilla milkshake. Oh, and can I get some gravy on the side?" he asked her, deliberately mistaking her for the waitress to knock her off balance.

And it worked. She looked at him, appearing a little less certain. He made it worse for her by giving her a 'well what are you waiting for go get my order' look.

"Honey, this is a reporter who thinks I'm Quatre's male lover." I nearly choked on the endearment. Such cutesy names are not my style, but the reporter didn't need to know that.

"Correction," Sally interrupted, "Quatre's male lover transformed into a woman." She added the last bit with an amused tone.

Duo started laughing. Amazing, no one can laugh like Duo can. He looked at me. "Well, you've certainly had a busy day. Does that mean I have to kick Quatre's ass when I see him?"

"I am not sleeping with Quatre!" I stated with mock ferocity.

"Good, 'cause I'd have really hated kicking his ass." He turned to the reporter with a less than friendly glare "Well, reporter, I think it's time for you to leave."

Well, apparently she did have some sense because she left after that. I suppressed the urge to throw myself at him for saving me.

Oh, crap, I really was turning into a woman.

"Don't worry. Trowa and I made sure the van she was working out of encountered a problem with the electrical equipment in it. And she's soon going to discover that recorder of hers has suffered the same fate."

He took us back to the house, back to a very worried Quatre and Trowa. The blond pilot looked very solemn after we filled them in. I could tell my earlier suspicions were correct. He was going to back away from Heero. If I had my way, that woman would never write again.

Duo avoided me once we left the café, and he left quickly after we got home. We all figured the press must have got their information from someone at the regeneration lab. That was the only way they could have ended up with such a distorted version of the truth. He and Trowa volunteered to go over and knock some answers out of them.

I retreated to my room to give Quatre and Heero time to talk. I was worn out anyway.

As I lay there staring at the ceiling, I tried to pretend it didn't bother me that Duo didn't want to talk to me, or that I didn't feel a little rush when I saw him today.

Gods, I was changing. I had to get out of this woman's body. It was having too much effect on me. Missing Duo, getting all starry eyed when he saved me and kissed me. Wanting him to notice me or talk to me. There must be something hardwired into their genetic code that makes them act this way.

The rational part of me reminded me that not all women acted that way. It was possible it may not be all my new body and genes. There were also well documented studies about patients developing abnormal emotional attachments to their caregivers. Maybe the two circumstances combined were affecting my judgment.

I kept trying to convince myself that he just caught me at a physically and mentally weak moment when I couldn't resist his charm, but I knew that wasn't right.

More than anything, I just wanted him to talk to me again. Whatever it took, I was almost willing to do it. This was probably what brought me to my next insanity.

I dressed like a woman for Heero's party.

I had to get Sally's help, but there I stood, wearing white silk pants and a red silk tunic. The top was close fitting and revealed, quite clearly to all present, that I was currently a woman.

I watched carefully for Duo's reaction. At first, he seemed surprised, but then he looked angry. He spent the rest of the time at the party ignoring me like I was a piece of furniture, and I spent it miserable.

I couldn't believe how low I'd sunk. I was so humiliated. I didn't even bat an eyelash when Une, Zechs or Noin showed up making light teasing comments about my current state. If anyone noticed or cared about my lack of response, they didn't say anything, leaving me to brood alone.


Wufei sat in the corner sulking. Not that he/she would have called it sulking. Children sulked. He may have been a woman, but he definitely was not a child.

He looked over at the person who occupied most of his thoughts, still confused about how he felt. He couldn't call it attracted even though Duo was indeed very attractive. Charmed? Or maybe Duo's word, infatuated?

He should really have been thankful of the time they spent away from each other. It gave him a chance to get his head on straight.

While he sulked, Duo was happily chatting with Heero. Every time he tried pulling his attention away, he found it being pulled back to them. When Duo embraced the new woman in a hug, Wufei stiffened. The seconds the two embraced ticked silently in his head. At five seconds, instead of letting go, Heero's arms went around Duo and returned the embrace, and she had that new smile of hers on her face.

The Chinese man-turned-woman fled the room before anyone could notice as a strange urge began pushing its way up his throat. He bolted into his room, collapsed on his bed, his eyes shut tight against the itching behind them. NO! He would not do this. He'd suffered enough female humiliations already. He would not cry!

Stupid, stupid woman body! Stop it! He yelled at himself mentally. He was mortified when a sob escaped his lips.

No, please stop! He begged his infernally confused body, but another sob got through. A few more joined the first two, and before long, he was throes of a full fledged crying fit.

Pains that he had thought long since buried all fought to join with the emotional release. He cried for the loss of his wife and family, for killing Treize, for living through the war, but mostly for his pathetic feelings for Duo.

He didn't hear anyone come in, so it surprised him when he was picked up by strong arms and pulled onto a lap. He recognized the arms as the same gentle ones that had been taking care of him for the past several months.

"I hate being a woman! Being a woman sucks!" he wailed.

The arms rocking him paused a moment, surprised by his outburst. What did it matter what he said anymore? There was absolutely nothing left of his pride.

"I hate periods and cramps and growing breasts and mood swings! I hate being jealous or infatuated with my friends! I hate not recognizing myself in the mirror and being so weak… I just hate this." He wound himself down to a final sob before quieting.

"Hey, you're handling it better than I ever would."

From his position on Duo's lap, Wufei's ear was pressed tightly against his chest. The sound of his voice was coming in as a soothing rumble that worked wonders to calm him.

"Heero seems to be doing just fine," he grumbled sarcastically.

"Heero was virtually a blank slate with no existing personality to get in the way of his transformation. He could have come back as a chimp, and he'd have been fine. You're different; you already knew who you were."

Wufei felt him shrug. "If it were me, I'd still be stuck in a fetal position, mumbling gibberish."

That produced a small laugh. "My secret is to chant 'its only temporary' sixty times a day." He was enjoying the comforting rumble of Duo's voice in his ear, and it tickled something in the back of his mind.

"Duo?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever visit me before I woke up?"

There was a long pause "Yeah. Why?"

"Did you ever talk to me?"

A longer pause and a quieter, "Yeah. You kept have nightmares. Or what seemed to be nightmares, so I'd just read out loud to you. It helped calm you."

"I heard you." He remembered the rumbling hum that droned on and kept him from going insane. Perhaps his attachment started forming then. "So you and Heero?"

"Are friends. Sooooo, just who is it that your 'infatuated' with?" he asked with false lightness. Wufei winced. He was hoping Duo had missed that part of his rant.

"I'm not telling you," he said petulantly. Duo was looking incredibly amused and smug. It wasn't hard to figure out. Wufei would have killed anyone else that tried to hold him like this. "It's not funny! It's not uncommon for a patient to develop an attachment to the one taking care of them."

"Ohhhhh. Sooooo… that would be me?" he drawled. His tone was way too casual to be anything other than gloating. Wufei resisted the urge to punch him. He crossed his arms irritably under his breasts.

"I am not remaining a woman for you, Maxwell," he stated firmly. "If you like it so much, you be the woman."

"Nehooo way. Little Duo is staying right where he is." Wufei laughed at Duo's phallic nickname. But, he sobered quickly.

"Duo, what if this is only a passing thing brought on by unusual circumstances?"

Duo forced his chin up to look him in the eye. "Considering how I felt when I thought you were dead, and how hard it's been for me to stay away from you, I don't think that's much of an issue."

"I don't want to hurt you." What would happen if Wufei became a man again and lost interest in Duo?

"Well, I guess we'll have to go real slow then. Although I will admit you're damn hot as a woman, I would still be willing to see you as a man. And in case I forget, you looked very beautiful today."

It was difficult for Wufei to deny the hopeful look on Duo's face. "Well, seeing as you like me as a woman so much, I suppose I could let you kiss me one or two more times like this before I change back."

-Owari-