Jess: Hi there! Can you believe I was hit on yesterday?

Duo: Of course you were! Who wouldn't hit on a cutie like you? ::being a suck up::

Heero: Hn. Is this another one of your pointless stories?

Nuri: Heero, be nice. So… what did you do?

Jess: umm…::blushes:: I didn't know what to say… I think I came off as a total moron.

Nuri: Heero moment, huh? Didn't know how to respond.

Heero: Hn.

Jess: Yeah, when you put it that way, I guess it was a Heero moment… but then he said I was intimidating to "dumb guys like him"

Duo: That's why I hide the fact that I'm a genius.

Heero: Baka

Duo: See? It works!

Jess: Enough of my little sad life. On with the story!!!

Lunar Symphony

Chapter 8: Heero POV

Duo has feelings for me. I guess I knew that already because of what happened just a few days ago and earlier today, but it's just now hitting me how much he cares. I was about to walk into what was now being called "Maxwell's Haven" when I heard his soft tenor voice relate stories of our war-wrought past. I had never heard him talk about the war since we split up shortly after that and I hadn't seen him until now. He spoke about me like I was something to be worshipped, like I was some sort of idol in his eyes. The children around him ooh-ed and Ahh-ed at the appropriate intervals. They asked questions and earned answers I didn't realize Duo possessed about me, but he never mentioned who I was. When finally he was going to answer the young one who asked the name of Wing's pilot, I came into the room and announced I was the pilot.

Duo left shortly after that with a passing comment about Relena that insinuated that she and I were in some sort of romantic relationship. The children pounced on that bit of information as soon as it was said, all wanting to know what Relena was like and my feelings toward her.

"Is she really as pretty in real life as she is on TV?" the little girl with the eye patch, Kali, asked.

I smiled at her, taking a seat on the armrest of the couch before answering, "Yes, in fact. She's beautiful, but what makes her beautiful isn't her face or body, she has beautiful ideals and convictions. Relena is a pure soul as far as I'm concerned which is an admirable trait given that she's been raised and is now living in a world of sharks. True, Relena is a politician and she might be a bit out of touch with the workings of the real world because she's been sheltered, but she still has a firm grasp on reality and what her people need in order to maintain the peace." Kali smiled at me when I said that it wasn't Relena's physical form that made her beautiful.

"Are you in love with Relena, then?" asked Morgana. For all her tomboyish attitude, she still had the heart of a romantic.

I laughed a little and shook my head. "No, I'm not in love with Relena-"

"But Duo said that you saved her lots and lots of times!" Travis interrupted. He and the other two-gundam fans looked at me intently, as if daring me to deny it.

"Yes, I saved her. She is they key to peace, and I look over her as one would look over a little sister. I'm sure that if any of you in this room were in trouble, any of the rest of you would try and help as best you could." That got me a round of nods and a few of the older kids moved to hover over the younger ones in a very protective manner. "See? You all know what I'm talking about. I love Relena, that's true enough, but I love her like a sister and I'm in love with what she stands for. She is a symbol of peace and I am a war-hardened soldier. I would do anything to protect the peace I fought so hard for and that's why I protect Relena to the best of my ability."

"So you don't love her?" Luc asked.

"I do love her, but I'm not IN love with her… do you understand the difference?" I got a room full of nods.

"I wish I could be like you," Luc said with sad eyes. "I'm just a burden on all the guys here…I'm not strong and I can't do anything." He reached down and stroked his prosthetic leg, looking like a broken little boy.

"Hey," I picked him up and sat him on my knee, "You can do anything you set your mind to. Don't let this," I tapped the plastic limb, "stop you from accomplishing your goals. If anything, it could be to your advantage."

Luc looked up at me as though I had grown a second head, "How?"

"Well… people will underestimate you and your ability. The same thing happened with us because we looked too young to pose any sort of threat, and you all know where that led. Don't let someone tell you you can't do something because THEY don't think you can. Only you know what your capable of, got it?"

Luc nodded happily and I set him down on the couch. "I'm going to find Duo… is there anything you all need?"

"Go on! We'll be fine!" Cassie called from the kitchen where she and Collin were cooking.

I nodded and let myself out of Maxwell's Haven.

I stepped outside into the dimming lights of the colony's environment controls and found Duo leaning against the wall of the building, arms crossed over his chest, seemingly in deep thought. I walked over to him silently and called his name.

Duo jumped, startled out of his musings then realized where he was. "Heero," he said, pulling a set of folded papers from his back pocket and handing them to me. I took them and looked over them in the dimming light when he said, "I'm adopting Morgana."

I looked up sharply as he said it. I suppose it made sense to want to adopt her since they had been living together as father/daughter for a while now. It just never occurred to me that he'd make it legal one day. That got me thinking about Mei and how I had met her. She had been standing under a tree, crying, with a dog barking up said tree.

Flashback

"Are you okay?" I asked the little girl with soft brown hair and green-hazel tear-filled eyes.

She looked up at me as if she wasn't sure if she could trust me then pointed up at a white cat with dark brown points and blue eyes. "That meanie dog scawed my Bwuce up the twee!"

I looked at the dog and gave him my best glare. It looked at me defiantly for a few moments then whimpered and scampered off. The little girl was happy to see the dog leave, but her cat still wouldn't come down. The girl looked like she wanted to cry again, giving me no other choice but to go up there and get her kitten.

"Here, hold my jacket," I told her, handing the Preventer jacket to her and hoping she didn't make off with it. I then loosened my tie (I was just coming back from a meeting) and rolled up the sleeves to my shirt. I was glad my uniform required boots and not shoes with the hard soles and jumped up, catching the lowest limb of the tree. I then hauled myself up and swung my lower body onto the branch so that I sat on it.

I maneuvered my body to go from limb to limb until I was able to reach the Siamese fuzz ball that quivered on a branch. I picked up the little frightened kitten and held him against my chest, letting it scurry down my shirt to curl up between the starched fabric and my cotton undershirt. I then made quick work of getting on firm ground and landed right in front of the little girl.

She smiled brightly at me and gave me my jacket as I handed her back her kitten. She hugged it tightly, but not tightly enough to hurt it then kissed the kitten's head.

"What's your name?" I asked.

She looked at me warily but answered, "Meilindi…. But I like Mei better."

I nodded and held out my hand to her, "Nice to meet you Mei, I'm Heero Yuy. Where are your parents?"

Mei pouted and looked away, "I dun got no pawents."

"Then why don't you come with me? I'm sure Duo and Morgana would love for you to join us…" I wheedled. I know I was sounding suspicious asking a little girl to follow me, but I don't really know how to deal with children.

"Duo and Mowgana?" she asked, trying to hide the hope in her eyes.

"Yes, we're building a big house for all the kids in this neighborhood who don't have one of their own. Why don't you come by and see if you like it?"

The girl seemed to consider it for a second and nodded, "Okay, I'll go with you… but I'm not pwomising anythin."

End Flashback

I nodded at Duo; I think I'll adopt Mei and her kitty… on that note… I think I'll adopt Luc too. I doubt anyone would give him the support he needs to overcome his disability.

"You're okay with that?" Duo asked.

I nodded, "Why shouldn't I be?"

Duo looked at me a little curiously, "Well, you know… I thought you'd be more into the family values thing and since I'm not married or whatever, I thought you'd disapprove."

I shrugged, "You've got me thinking… maybe I should adopt Mei and Luc…it's something to think about."

"What?! You can't just adopt a kid just like that Heero! What will Relena say?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Why does it matter?"

"Well… umm… you know… you and she are together, aren't you?" Duo blushed a little and tried to hide his face while playing with the end of his braid.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. I laughed so much and so hard, I had to lean against the building for support. It was just too funny. The thought of Relena and me together was just absurd. "Duo," I gasped, "Why don't we go inside and talk. There's a lot of air to clear between us if you think Relena and I are together."

Duo nodded a little, but there was a hint of emotion I didn't recognize in his eyes. We walked into the Preventer HQ building and made our way to my room. At the present time, only Duo's rooms and mine were being occupied. The children and the older kids were all staying next door at the haven. We went into my room and Duo flopped onto my couch, looking like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. I offered him something to drink, but he refused, so I made my way to him and sat next to him, turning my body toward his.

Duo stared straight down at his hands resting between his legs and startled me when he spoke, "I'm moving out, Heero."

His voice was so quiet I barely heard it. "You're moving?" He nodded, still not looking at me. "Where? Why??"

Duo sighed, one hand coming up to cradle his head, "Look Heero, it's not really a big deal, you know? I'm just moving next door so that I can be with the kids if they need me. You know my door is always open if you need me. That shouldn't be a problem."

He went quiet after that, perhaps waiting for my response. "You still didn't answer why."

Duo blushed a little; keeping his head down and not letting me see his eyes, "Well… I said I didn't want to be a Preventer. Sooner or later, this place is going to be up and running and I'm going to be needed with the kids. I don't need the Preventers as a part of my life… and when you leave, I don't want to be away from my kids."

"Leave?"

Duo nodded sadly, "I know you live on Earth, Heero. I also know that once you clean up here, you'll be sent back home. I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle it, but the kids will help me get through it." He shrugged, "it's fine though… I'm here while you want me around." He turned to me and gave me a weak smile that obviously was meant to hide how hurt he was. Mei was right.

"Duo let me apologize for today… I know I wasn't being sensitive and I probably made you think things that weren't true."

"Oh?" Duo tried to look nonchalant, but I knew that he was trying hard to hide his emotions.

"Well to start with, you seem to think that Relena and I are involved." Duo looked away, worrying the tip of his braid between his fingers. "We are not now, nor have ever been involved in anything other than friendship. In fact, I think of her as maybe a sister. She is someone I need to protect, but not someone I want for myself. In case you hadn't noticed, Duo… I'm gay."

THAT got a response from him. He looked at me with bright, but guarded violet eyes. It was almost as though he was afraid of believing me.

"Do you really believe that I'll leave sometime soon, Duo?"

He nodded, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.

"Do you want me to?" He shook his head 'no' and bit his bottom lip. I smiled at him, caressing his soft cheek, "What is it you expect of me?"

Duo looked away, trying to regain his composure. "You don't want to know, and I don't want to get shot."

"Try me. I won't hurt you… at least not intentionally," I whispered, my fingers itching to touch him again.

"I expect you to be the Perfect Soldier you're known to be. I expect you to stay here as long as it takes, do your job, then leave. You'll stay here long enough to use me and then leave me." He took a shuddering breath and brought his legs up to the couch, wrapping his arms around his knees. "I don't expect much, Heero… but I can keep pretending while I can."

I felt my cheeks flush and my heartbeat quicken. He thought I was just like all those others who came and used him before disposing of him as though he didn't matter! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Trowa was right; I'm such an idiot. How could I have led Duo to think those things?! I pride myself of my observance and how well I can read people, but I've failed miserably where I should have been paying more attention.

"Duo… I…I'm sorry you feel that way…I never meant to make you feel like that." I reached out slowly and put my arm around him tentatively. Gently, I pulled him into my arms and felt him melt against me, his strong arms reaching out to hold me tight. "Duo, I'm not going to leave you. I know I was being a baka earlier… I… I actually wanted to apologize for it when I came back… but then all this happened. I didn't know I was hurting you this much."

Duo mumbled something that I couldn't quite hear.

"What was that?"

"I said," Duo looked up at me, his eyes moist, but no tears spilled, "What's the catch?"

"No catch."

"Then why are you staying with me? You're just going to stick around because you know that you can have me any time you-"

"Is that what you think?!" I asked, horrified. Duo nodded. "If that's the case, I deserve the two tongue lashings I got today and more."

"Oh?"

"Never mind," I said as I waved off the question, "I care about you, Duo… more than I thought I ever could… I'm just really lousy at showing it. I want to stay with you now that I've found you again… if you'll have me."

Duo blushed a little, "You mean it?" I nodded. "Well… I do have something to ask…"

"Anything," I answered, tightening my hold on him.

Duo cuddled against my chest and practically purred, "I'm a jealous person, Heero… and I don't want anything taking your time away from me… If you want us to be together…" he paused, grinning at me.

"Just say it, Duo," I was getting a little impatient.

"Quit the Preventers."

"Accepted."

Jess: … wow… that was a long chapter for me. Hee hee… what do you think?

Duo: Did you have to make me cry there at the end?

Heero: You didn't actually cry… you almost did, though.

Nuri: Back to me! It's MY turn. ::insert evil laugh::

Duo: Should we be afraid?

Heero: Hn.

Jess: I would be if I were you.

Nuri: I'm not saying a word

Duo: You've just said five

Heero: Shut up baka don't taunt her.

Jess: Until next time!!