Lunar Symphony:
Nuriko:grumbles under her breath:
Duo:gives her a gentle hug: Aww, come on Nuri. You've never had a problem writing fluff before.
Nuriko: I know that, Duo. I just never enjoyed being very fluffy.
Duo: Come on. Show them you can keep up with Jess in the sweetness and love category. Toss in a little angst and you'll have a winning chapter.
Nuriko:sighs: I'll try Duo. It's the best I can do.
Duo:grins: In Nuri-language, that means she'll succeed with flying colors.
Heero:eyebrow raised: How in the world do you know that?
Duo:smirks: Just like I know your 'Hn' translations. I listen and learn.
Heero: Hn.
Duo: Yeah, I know I am, but I'm your baka.
Heero:eyes wide: How?
Duo: Told you, I listen and learn.
Nuriko: Knock it off you two. Let me get to work.
Duo: Hai:he then got dragged off by Heero:
Nuriko:rolls eyes: Boys! Can't live with 'em and ya can't live without 'em. Now, on to chapter thirteen.
Chapter Thirteen:
He was an idiot! It was the only thing I could think to call him. I know he always called me a baka but he was more of one that I was. Heero hadn't even taken a look at my present. Some anniversary this was turning out to be.
"Duo, I'm sorry it didn't work," Morgana said softly, placing her arms around my shoulders. I smiled softly and wrapped her up in my arms, holding her close.
"Don't be, Morgan. Heero's stubborn that way. I'm certain he'll get around to it eventually."
"Actually, Duo, he's watching it now," a quiet voice spoke up. I looked up to see Une and Trowa.
"Yuy's still dense when it comes to people, I see," Une said with a smile. I stood and hugged her tightly.
"How are you, Une?" I asked, stepping back from the head of the Preventer's Organization.
"Pretty good, Duo. I thought I'd see how things are shaping up here. I know you didn't want to become a Preventer, so I got you on the payroll another way. The building looks great." I smirked and shrugged.
"The third floor is set up for staff and the older children. The second floor is for the rest of the children. Each room holds six children comfortably. The main floor has the kitchen, dining hall, entertainment room, offices, and play room. There is also one bedroom off of the kitchen with it's own bathroom for our live in cook, once we hire one."
"You've done beautifully, Duo. I'm amazed by all the work you've accomplished in such a short amount of time."
"The children helped," I answered honestly.
"Duo, there are child labor laws," Une said in surprise. Trowa and I laughed.
"They helped make their home livable faster. They were living on the streets, Une. In a hell hole far worse than you could ever imagine. Doing a little work to have a dry, warm, and clean place to stay is anything but child labor." Trowa grinned.
"He's got a point, Une. Besides, the two who helped Duo and Heero get Preventer HQ up and running are sixteen years old and only worked for as long as they wanted. They also are Duo's kids now, so had guardian consent."
"We all wanted to help, Miss Une," Kali said from the doorway, causing Une to turn and smile at the young girl.
"Of course, Kali. Forgive me for implying anything else." Kali nodded and rushed over to Une, giving her a hug, even though her small arms only fit partway around Une's hips.
"Duo, she wants to adopt me. Isn't that great?" I grinned. I knew Une and Kali would be a perfect match.
"Also, Quatre and I talked and we'd like to adopt Luc. As long as you approve, of course." I blinked in surprise at his words.
"I have no objections. I'm certain Luc won't either, seeing as he looks up to you as much as he does Heero. Only I can't okay the decision. That's up to the L2 government," I told them. Une smirked and then handed me a set of paperwork.
"Actually, you decide for every child that comes into this building and under your care. The L2 government agreed to give you full power. Apparently, with all the mess they're in at the moment, they can't deal with family-less children. By the way, thanks for the proof to go with those corrupt politicians." I waved off her words.
"No problem. L2 has needed this for a very long time." I grinned while Une and Trowa smiled in return. Just then Une got paged and looked at me.
"May I use your phone?"
"Certainly." I waved her toward my phone and stepped out of the office with Kali, Trowa, and Morgana. I smiled down at her. "Would you help Kali get ready to leave? This way she can leave when Une's ready.
"All right, dad. Come on Kali. Let's get ready."
"Okay," Kali said softly. Together they rushed off upstairs. I smiled softly at the sight.
"She loves you very much," Trowa observed. I nodded.
"She's been with me from the second week I returned here on. We've had plenty of time to learn to love one another, faults and all." Trowa nodded. He then placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Heero loves you too, Duo. He's just not very understanding of his new emotions. He's lived so long without them that living with them is difficult." I looked at him, my expression serious.
"I know all of this Trowa. I really do. I'm just a mess emotionally myself. I allow everything to hit me just a little too close to home."
"I could have told you that, Maxwell," a deep voice remarked from behind me. Only one person ever called me 'Maxwell' like that. Turning around on my heel, I saw Wufei leaning on Quatre, being led into the Haven. Wufei was bandaged from ear to ear around his forehead and one was around his right arm, holding it in place against him.
"Wuffles! Q-bean! What brings you two here?" I asked, both surprised and delighted to see them.
"I had told Wufei about Trowa and I wanting to adopt one of your kids and he had to talk to you about something serious," Quatre told me.
My name is Wufei, Maxwell. Please use it." He sounded tired and in pain so I dropped all pretense of wanting to tease him.
"Sorry. What happened and what would you like to talk about?"
"It was a sneak attack on L3. Unfortunately, we didn't have your knowledge there as we do here." I moved over to them and took Wufei from Quatre. Wufei looked at me in surprise. "You've been working out, Maxwell. You feel more filled out than last time we met." I couldn't help but smile.
"My last line of work required me to be in top form." Wufei sighed, leaning heavily against me. He really must be hurting to require my help. "What did you want to talk to me about?" I asked, leading him to sit down at a small couch. Once he was settled I glanced toward Quatre, who was getting a hug and kiss from Trowa.
"L3 has ten orphans with no place to go. The government refuses to acknowledge the problem. Are you willing to take them in?" I had to laugh softly.
"I'd be very upset if you didn't all ready know what my answer would be and didn't have them on their way." Quatre giggled.
"Told you, Wufei," Quatre said.
"So you did. They'll be here day after tomorrow, Maxwell." I grinned.
"Seems you all know me too well, you guys." Trowa smiled while Quatre nodded and Wufei sighed.
"You're a child magnet, Maxwell. Of course you'd want to take care of these kids." I was ready to remark with my favorite nickname for him when Une walked into the room, her expression serious.
"What's wrong Une?" Quatre asked.
"I'm afraid I have to send Wufei back out. He's the only stealth agent I have who knows the area in need of infiltration." Wufei slowly moved to stand.
All right, Une. I'll leave as soon as the room stops spinning." He suddenly fell foreword and Trowa and I moved swiftly to catch him.
"Where does he need to go?" I asked of Une. Une's eyes were concerned while they flicked over Wufei, who had been sat back down.
"The old Miller Warehouse in downtown L2 X517332 colony." I smirked.
"Standard demolition sneak or is it a bug and run?" Quatre blinked.
"Duo, it's your anniversary. You aren't even a Preventer. You don't need to risk yourself," Quatre said quickly. I rolled my eyes. I then handed Quatre his gun and Une her badge. They were stunned.
"I'm still the best at stealth. Wufei's hurt, so hurt he can't do this. I can get in and out of there quickly. I know the place forewords and backwards. I'll be back within a couple of hours."
"What about your lunch with Heero?" Trowa asked. I felt saddened by thoughts of Heero but shook it off.
"Just tell him I moved up our date and to meet me at Little Rosie's at eight." Trowa, realizing I wouldn't change my mind, turned to Quatre.
"Be his back up, love," Trowa said softly. Quatre nodded.
"What do I need to do?" I asked Une. A bug and run. We want hard evidence on these guys." I smirked, winking.
"Seems this is one job I'll love. Come on Q-bean, let's get this done quickly."
"Got you, Duo." We left swiftly, knowing the quicker we got this done, the faster we'd be home.
Seven hours later I was utterly exhausted. If I had known how much Une had required of me, I might have never volunteered. No, that wasn't true. Wufei had been injured too badly to handle it himself. Luckily I had talked Une into giving him some time to recover. I walked into my room and pulled off the black turtleneck I had chosen to wear. I tossed it on the bed and stared at myself in the mirror.
"You've fallen out of touch, Duo. You should have been done within two hours, not seven," I muttered to myself.
"I thought you didn't want to be a Preventer, Duo," Heero's rich voice spoke up from behind me.
"Hee-chan, what brings you here?" I asked, my voice tired. He stood away from the wall he had been leaning on and moved up behind me, one arm moving around my waist while his other rested over my shoulder. Two dozen of the most beautiful roses were placed right in front of me. Yet as I looked at them, I realized there were twenty-five roses, twelve white, twelve red, and one yellow. I smiled a watery smile at him.
"Did I do something wrong?" Heero asked, not bothering to answer a question that had answered itself.
"No, you didn't, Heero. You did everything right." I glanced up into the mirror, my eyes locking with his. "Do you know what the different colors for roses mean?" Heero appeared confused.
"The colors mean something?" he asked. I laughed softly and turned in his arms. I then held up one of each rose.
"White," I began, holding up the white one. "It stands for innocence, purity, and new beginnings." I then held up the red one. "Red stands for passion, love, and the spirit of romance." I couldn't help but kiss the tip of his nose after that. "Finally, there's yellow. This one means forgiveness and sorry. I'm assuming the florist knew you were getting them to apologize."
"I am sorry. I didn't realize it was our anniversary or that you had been making a gift for me the last week. Forgive me." I grinned and wrapped my arms around his waist, placing the roses on the dresser.
"It's all right, Hee-chan. We both messed up this time. I love you. I want to spend all of my life with you. We're bound to make mistakes. That's what happens in all relationships. If they didn't, then we wouldn't care very much about each other." Heero smiled and gave me the sweetest, softest, and most loving kiss of our relationship.
"Go shower," he mumbled, pushing me away. "You smell." I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing.
"Gee, thanks Hee-chan. You work seven hours straight sneaking around buildings and avoiding bad guys and see what you smell like."
"Hn," he answered. I giggled.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm going. Be ready in half an hour." As I headed into the bathroom I caught his mumbled reply.
"Hoe do you do that?" I smirked. It had taken me a year to understand his 'hn's' but I eventually learned all I needed to know about his one word replies. Now, I could translate all of them, much to Heero's surprise. Without answering, I closed the door to the bathroom and got to work cleaning up for our date.
The meal had been flawless, the music romantic, and the company was perfect. I loved Heero so much and I was finally willing to leave my past behind me. The children had taught me one thing the past is the past. It defines who you become, not what you are. It had taken a lot to realize that, but now that I knew it, I was going to attempt to move my relationship with Heero to the next level. I only hoped I had the courage to do it on the way home.
Nuriko: You're turn Jess.
Jess:glares: NO! You left me with more fluff. Damn you!
Nuriko:smirks: See what happens when you try to nail me with things I wanted you to do?
Duo:smirks as well: See, Nuri-chan is wise. She had ideas long before now. You just fell into her trap.
Nuriko: Not a trap, Duo, just my plans for this story.
Heero/Jess: Hn.
Duo/Nuriko: Understood. Until next chapter, ja!
Heero/Jess: How do they do that?
Duo/Nuriko: The world may never know.