(Author Note: WOW! I had writers block so sorry it took me a bit to up date this. Grrr! I hate writers block...EVIL EVIL! Sigh...But thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I FEEL SO LOVED! tehehehe. I really appreciate each and very single one of them! You don't know how much they motivate me to keep writing! Thank you so much!...Please don't abandon me…yet! .;;;;; I also want to give a special thanks to Liann, who is a fellow writer here at for taking the time to edit my stories! EXTRA COOKIE FOR YOU! And I don't own GW or any of its characters!)

Chapter 3

Golden Twilight

Normal POV

The nurse glanced over her shoulder at the sleeping patient and his 'guardian', her new nickname for him. Heero, who had not moved once since he brought Duo in, was staring off into an empty abyss once again. She was almost scared to disturb him. The way he looked off into the distance and how emotionless his face was seemed almost inhuman.

She heard Duo mumble random words as he shifted in his sleep. Smiling, Ms. Stephen walked up behind Heero, her loose, brown hair swinging by her shoulders. "Any changes?"

"No," he answered directly. He momentarily looked down at the sleeping boy before peering into the nurse's eyes.

"Thanks, Heero. You don't know how much of a help you've been for me," she sighed and sat down at her desk to write down some more quick notes.

Both Heero and the nurse looked up when heard a light knock on the door. In the doorway stood a pale-faced Quatre, and a slightly saddened Trowa, who had his hand on Quartre's shoulder for support. Spotting their injured friend, Quatre rushed over to the side of the bed.

"Oh my God, Duo," His eyes swelled up with tears as he looked up at Heero, who looked unfazed by the scene in front of him. "H-heero, he's...ok, right?" Quatre buried his head into the sheets next to Duo's legs. "...Right?" came another muffled plea.

Trowa came up from behind Quatre and knelt beside him. He touched Quatre's hand in hopes to comfort him. He knew that Quatre's concern for his friends was his greatest priority, but it was also his greatest weakness.

"He'll be fine. He's just asleep," Heero replied, easing the boy's nerves.

Duo stirred a little in his sleep but once again fell back into deep slumber. Quatre looked up at Heero, a huge smile plastered on his face. Tears that were once of sadness, were now tears of sheer joy. Grinning, he looked at Trowa, who was also giving a small smirk. Wiping his eyes, he sighed and continued to grin.

"That's wonderful! Trowa and I only saw you guys leave the classroom. We were both so worried! Someone said that Duo cut his hand but...I don't see anything..." Quatre noted, running his fingers over Duo's opened palm.

Heero sat as still as a stone, not showing that he was worried at all by the boy's observation. "It was only a small cut. You can barely see it now but cuts on the hand tend to bleed more then most places," Heero conjured up, hoping his lie sounded believable. And he assumed it did, seeing as to how both Quatre and Trowa were nodding their heads in agreement.

"I'm sad we didn't get to come sooner...Mrs. Stran wouldn't let us leave and I didn't have any time in between any of my other classes..." Quatre said gazing downward.

Heero gave a nod, he himself realizing that he hadn't caught the boys' names. He knew that he had seen the two with Duo but he hadn't gotten the time to really sit down and have a 'chat' with any of the other students. "Hn…who are you?"

"Oh, my name is Quatre and this is Trowa," He motioned to the boy behind him. "I can't believe you came from Japan! What ever made you come over to the states?"

Heero knew that Quatre didn't mean to pry into his personal life. It was a simple question that really anyone would ask, but Heero couldn't help thinking that Quatre could already tell something was a bit off. "I wanted a change. Japan is very populated," he thought up, but the lie wasn't necessarily all false. He did want a change and anyone knew that Japan was over-populated. He just didn't tell the whole truth...

"I see," Quatre said before looking at the clock hanging on the wall. "Ah! Trowa we have to go or we're going to miss our next class! And I don't want to get on Mr. Davis's bad side today! Bye, Heero! We'll be back to check on Duo la..." Whatever Quatre had said after was inaudible for both Trowa and he were already out the door and far down the hallway.

Heero gazed back down at Duo to see he had broken into a cold sweat.

Duo's POV

I just kept running. My body was on the verge of breaking but I knew that if I stopped, it would just be worse. I could feel the sweat threatening to fall into my eyes; the blood pumping furiously in my veins, making my hands and sides throb. All around me, creatures were peering at me from out of the darkness; their glowing red eyes never leaving me. They were hunting me...I was going to die.

As I ran I could hear old, dried out bones being smashed beneath me. Blood was being splashed at my legs every time I felt my feet contact the ground. I couldn't see any more than a foot in front of me. All I could witness around me were the eyes of my executors.

My body was failing. My leg muscles started retracting ever so slowly, making it harder to move ahead, away from my death. My breath became short and ragged and my head pounded. I could hear the satanic breaths of the creatures. I could hear them advancing on me even though I was running at my full speed. I glanced back behind my shoulder, seeing if I could see any of them behind me. To my horror, I failed to see a bone that was right in my way and my feet slipped over it. Before I knew it, I hit the ground almost hard enough to get the wind knocked out of me.

Coughing, I rolled my self back into a sitting position. I looked ahead of me, but I didn't need to. I knew I was surrounded; looking at it only made it ten times worse. Shaking in fear, I curled up into a ball and started to cry. All I could hear was the heavy breathing of the beasts, their saliva dripping onto me. I could hear various body parts being smashed as they crept up on me.

"I…I'm s-sorry. Please!" I tried to plead with them. My voice creaked and more tears rolled down my face. This was it; I was going to be eaten alive. I would be able to feel them ripping me apart and devouring my insides. I would be able to see them fighting over a limb, my limb! All the things I did…that I didn't do. It didn't matter now…never again-

My eyes bolted open and I quickly scanned the room for any of my demons but instead I found myself staring at the health room door.

"It was...just a dream?" I was panting and I could feel that I was sticky with sweat. I tried to move but I found my arms bolted to my sides by another. The person was apparently parked behind me and had me in a sitting position. I could feel my body pressed tightly against the person's chest, the steady beat of their heart. Even though had no idea who was behind me, I could somehow already tell.

"…Heero?" I called out softly to the person behind me. For some reason, I found myself hoping it was him that was holding me safe.

"It's ok, Duo. I'm here," He whispered in my hair. I felt my body tingle and I could feel myself relaxing. Why did I feel so content whenever I was around him, when he touched me…I only JUST met him yet it seemed so…right? I didn't know, but I didn't care. Suddenly, flashes of my nightmare flew past my eyes and I tried to press up even harder against him as. I could feel my fear rising once again to the surface.

"Heero…what's happening? It was…so real. Heero, I'm…scared," I cried out. I brought my knees as close as they could come to my chest and lowered my head. I could feel my pride being smashed into millions of pieces. I felt like I was making a complete jackass out of myself, that Heero would see how weak I truly was. Would he reject me? Would he break what little friendship we had tying us together? I didn't want to get hurt…I didn't want to feel the pain again. Heero was going to make me hurt again…I couldn't let him.

Struggling, I tried to get myself free from his grasp but he held his grip.

"Duo? What are you doing?" He questioned. His voice, it wasn't angry, it wasn't comical; it was…nothing. It was just a question.

"Let GO of me!" I yelled, still trying to make him release his grip. My life seemed to be passing by at the speed of light. What was happening to me? Who was Heero? Who…am I? I didn't know anymore! This whole world was just fucking stupid!

"Duo…Why? What's wrong?" He said keeping his grip on me. I felt slightly claustrophobic as I tried to resist him. I felt one of his hands release me and started to softly and gently rub the skin on my neck, right under my jaw. I felt myself instantly shut down. I wanted to be so angry with him, I want to be able to want to rip his head off for making me feel so worthless and pathetic, but I couldn't. His touches, his skin caressing my own, felt so unbelievably wonderful. Even if they were feather light strokes, at that moment, I felt truly wanted. Even though I was angry with him, I couldn't help but feel grateful. Here was a guy, who I really haven't even met, helping me on his own free will. I just couldn't understand why someone would do that.

"Heero...I feel hot. You're burning me," I winced as his hand continued to lie on my neck, "Heero, I'm burning up!" This wasn't normal. It wasn't like I was blushing, which I'm sure I was at the moment. I could feel my vision go blurry and my hands start to sweat. 'What's happening?'

Heero's POV

I felt Duo's body heat skyrocket beneath me. I quickly removed myself from the bed and laid him back down. He started kicking off all the covers but I put them right back on him. I didn't understand what was happening. I had bonded with the longhaired brunette; he was supposed to receive some of my healing powers. I knew he had, seeing as to how his hand wound healed so fast but why was his body acting this way. Was it rejecting my blood? Highly unlikely but it could be possible. It could also be from an infection that had already set inside his system before I could retrieve the glass from his hand.

"Ms. Stephen!" I yelled out to the nurse who was currently getting a drink right outside of the room. She rushed in and took one look at Duo and gasped.

"What happened?" She said grabbing a thermometer and slipping it into Duo's slightly opened mouth.

"He woke up like that," I answered, still looking Duo up and down, looking for any possible injuries he might have missed. Duo groaned as he clutched his hands to his temples. 'Why was this happening? I've never seen this happen before...'

The nurse retrieved her thermometer and read the result out loud. "103 degrees!" she gasped, grabbing an ice pack from her mini freezer and placing it on Duo's head, not even bothering to wrap it in a paper towel, "But how? Just a few minutes ago his temperature was at 99 degrees." She franticly started scribbling things down.

"Heero, I need you to run into the bathroom and wet these cloths for me," she said handing me some white washcloths. I didn't want to leave Duo's side. I wanted to make sure he'd be ok, that nothing bad would happen when I left him, but I also knew that if I didn't do this, it could be even more dangerous for Duo.

"Hai...Yes, but where is it?" I felt stupid asking but I wasn't too concerned about myself at the moment.

"Go straight down the hall to your left and you should see it," she said pointing in the direction in which I was supposed to go.

I nodded and hurried out of the door. The hallway was deserted. Since the health room was air conditioned, I had forgotten how hot it was in the building.

Quickly trying to find the bathroom, I mumbled to myself out loud. "Could it be my blood? I had never done a bond before. Could I have possibly done it wrong? But I've watched my relatives do it quite a few times, I mimicked all their moves, all of their words. What could I have possibly missed..."

I found the bathroom and went inside, wetting the washcloths in cold water. I glanced at myself before leaving. My brown hair was a mess, as usual. Even though I was feeling all of these emotions, my face was still as expressionless. My brow was slightly damp from the weather and I wiped it off with my shirt. Not satisfied with my appearance at all, I left the bathroom anyway.

I jogged back to the health room and stepped in to find the nurse trying to keep Duo under control but every time the nurse touched him, he moved away.

"Here are the washcloths," I declared, walking up to the stressed out woman.

She quickly snatched them from my wet hands are placed them on Duo. His face was red and his breathing had gotten shallower. He peeked open one of his eyes and glanced at me, before shutting it just as rapidly. Sweat droplets covered his forehead as he tried once again to push down the covers, but to no prevail.

"He…Hee-ro…" He managed to say in a raspy breath. Duo tried to smile but I could see all the effort it took just to use the few facial muscles.

'Duo, I'm going to get you out of this. I'm going to make you better, I promise. You won't need to feel anymore pain.'

"Ms. Stephen, go get Duo a glass of water," I ordered, trying to get the nurse out of the room so I could deal with Duo. I needed to be alone in order to present the spell that I had just thought of doing. The spell itself wouldn't take long but I couldn't risk her knowing my secret.

"Heero, do you think you could get it? I really can't leave Duo like this," She argued, putting another thermometer into his mouth, which Duo then instantly spit out.

"Please, Mrs. Stephen, I have everything under control," I reassured.

I could see her thinking rapidly in her mind, contemplating what to do, what would be the smarter choice. Giving in, she nodded and reached for a Styrofoam cup and rushed out the door, but not before sticking the thermometer back into the rejecting patient.

I knew I didn't have much time. The nurse could be back any moment so I didn't have any time to waste. I walked up to Duo's bedside and took the thermometer out of his mouth. I glanced at it before setting it down. It read 106. If I didn't do something fast, this could before fatal.

"Duo, I need you to relax for me. This is only going to hurt for a little bit but it'll be all better soon," I whispered to Duo. I heard him groan softly before forcing his body to slow down.

He body jerked and tensed up when I cupped his face with my hands. It was hurting him immensely with just the smallest human contact to the skin so I quickly chanted the spell. "Deixe seua dor acalmar na escuridão e é enchido com a beleza de vida."

A bright light surrounded his body for a second. Instantly, I felt his body cool down as his body temperature made its way back to normal. Duo's breathing slowed down and his body fully relaxed into the bed.

The spell I chanted hadn't cured him. I still didn't know what was wrong with him but I knew that I had to act fast. What I did was more of a temporary pain reliever. It cured all of his problems but only for a few hours and at most, half a day. I could have used a longer pain reliever but given the situation and setting we were in, there just wasn't enough time. I knew I needed information fast, and that information was sitting on a bookshelf, in the living room of my new house.

Right as the light subsided from Duo's body, the nurse decided to make her entrance. "Is he alright? Did anything happen?" The nurse asked worryingly. I almost smirked at how concerned she was for one of her patients. 'I wonder if she's always like this...'

"Actually, Ms. Stephen, I believe his fever is subsiding. It could have been due to a minor allergic reaction to something," I offered my thoughts to her as I witnessed her face light up.

"Really? It's subsiding?" She almost laughed the words. Running over towards Duo and felt his head and sure enough, it was feeling back to normal. "This is wonderful! But school's almost over, and I know his parents won't be able to pick him up. They both work more than an hour away from the school. I should know, I'd have to wait for them with Duo when he came in here sick," She explained, sitting down for the first time in a while.

"I am able to take him home," I offered. Things couldn't have gone any better.

"Could you? That would be wonderful! Are you sure you know where he lives?"

"I know exactly where he lives." God, the lies just kept piling up.

"Heero, you're an angel. I think you're going to fit in just fine here," She said, gathering up some papers. This girl could just never sit still could she?

I simply nodded. I could tell that Duo was still awake but he had his eyes shut.

"Duo, I'm taking you home. I don't think you have to worry about homework for tonight," I informed the boy. A small smile bloomed on his face and I found myself weakened. I had been without a smile for the longest time. Is that what made it so attracting? It was...beautiful. Beautiful? 'Heero, what are you thinking! You know what….just stop thinking. There should be no reason you should be feeling emotions. You've already learned were that gets people…' "Well, come one, I know you can at least sit up."

Duo's smile vanished and in its place fell a playful frown. He opened both eyes, the vibrant purple color streamed from them. "Aww...you're no fun, Heero..." Duo said in a scratchy voice before coughing to clear it. His throat still must have been a little sore. I saw him struggle slightly to stand up, but he managed to.

I walked over and allowed him to put one arm around my shoulder to stand up.

"Thank ya, Ms. Stephen. Sorry for causing all this trouble," Duo thanked. We both stood up and made our way to the door.

"It's ok, Duo. I'm just glad to see that you're alright. Are you sure you're feeling better?" she questioned, still worried for his health.

"I'm sure it's nothing some good rest won't cure."

"Well...just make sure to tell your parents about this."

I felt Duo tense up next to me but it was only for a spilt second. "Sure thing."

We walked down the hallway in silence, neither of us really finding the motivation to talk. I had no intention of taking Duo back to his house, that's for sure. I needed to get Duo over to my house and find a cure for whatever problem he had. I started to feel the spell wearing off ever so slightly and I knew it wasn't going to last much longer.

'Just hang in there...Duo, I'm not loosing you now.'

(Closing notes: Ok, Heero's chant translates to "Let your pain subside into the darkness and be filled with the beauty of life." just incase you really wanted to know. I had to introduce Quatre and Trowa into the story cause I didn't want to be forgetful about them and push them aside. If you couldn't tell, this is also a bit of a 3x4 fic. I love them and all but I love HeeroxDuo more. Sorry guys. Review please! Hehe, I'll give you all the cookies that I can't have for lent...stupid lent..(Cookie Monster barges in room) ME WANT COOKIES! vv) ((Disclaimer: I do not own cookie monster from Sesame Street))