FINALLY HOME
Diana Crescent
Chapter Thirty-two: Family Affairs part ONE
Konnichiwa Minna-chan!!! Okay, domo arigato to all those that reviewed. Ashiteru!!
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Quatre sighed. They had been gone a week and he was missing Mina terribly. He missed her bright, bubbly laugh. The way her eyes lit up with happiness when someone told a joke.
Sammy sighed too. He missed Mauri horribly. Even Artemis was down in the dumps because of Luna.
"I hope everything works out with them soon. I know that they don't want the girls to know if they fail in getting their families to accept them, but I still think that we should have told at least Luna." Artemis said.
"I agree, but it's their decision. If their families accept them, then they'll give the girls that name, but should they not, they'll give the girls their code names as well as never mention their families to them. I know those guys. . .they don't like to fail. Failure is not something a Gundam pilot does." Quatre said, sighing.
"How do you think the girls are?" Sammy asked.
"Worried, probably, but they'll be alright. They're strong." Artemis said.
"How do you think things are going with them. I mean, I know they'll call when something happens, but how do you think they are?"
"I don't know." Quatre said.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Duo sat in the kitchen of the mansion that his parents, though they didn't know it, lived.
He had been hired a week ago by their secretary, but had yet to meet them, seeing as they were in Hollywood, his mother was going to make an appearance on a movie. They were going to be arriving home any minute.
"Eat up child." The old cook said as she washed the dishes.
He smiled at her. He hadn't been there two days when she confronted him about who he was.
::FLASHBACK::
"Just who are you?"
Duo looked at the old woman in shock. "Duo Maxwell."
"I know your name, I'm not stupid. You're that one Gundam pilot that calls himself Shinagami. But not only that, your names Duo, how'd you come by it?"
"That's what they called me in the orphanage." He whispered.
"You know something, now tell me. You know, I wasn't supposed to be a cook. I was going to be the young master's nanny, and I was the master's nanny too. I've spent over forty years in this house, tending to the Bartletts, and then the young master was stolen. Now, you look exactly like Mr. Bartlett, so tell me what you know, boy or I swear, I'll turn you over and spank your bottom. You're not too old for that, and neither am I. So spill."
Duo looked at them woman in surprise. "Alright. . .I am Duo Bartlett. I didn't find out until a few days ago. I am the Gundam pilot Duo Maxwell. I wanted to find my family, but more importantly, I wanted to give the woman I love a last name that was real, not something made up by some freak scientist that trained me."
The cook had tears in her eyes. "I knew you weren't dead. I just knew it!" She couldn't help but hug him close. "Now, about this woman, tell me about her."
Duo smiled. "Her name is Hotaru Tomoe. She's two years younger than me, but she's it. She's got shoulder length black hair that looks purple when the sun hits it. Her eyes are a bright and vibrant violet. She's smart, beautiful and I'm completely in love with her. That's why we looked up our fingerprints. We wanted to find out our names. When we read that someone had been trying to kill our families, we all decided that we'd protect them, and, maybe, be accepted by them."
"If they don't accept you, I'll spank them too. They're still young enough and so am I." She said and winked, making him laugh.
::END FLASHBACK::
Cookie, as she was now affectionately called by him, smiled. He had wormed his way into her heart. "I swear, you are just like your father, such a playboy."
"They're pulling in the driveway." Ms. Kent said, walking into the kitchen. "Come along, Duo. . .odd that you and Mr. Bartlett have the same name." She said, she still didn't know who Duo really was. (A/n: I'm going to refer to Mr. Bartlett as just that, Mr. Bartlett or 'his father'.)
Duo sent a nervous glance to Cookie. "Yeah. . .odd."
Cookie gave him a reassuring wink on his way out.
"Mr. Bartlett, Mrs. Bartlett, I would like you to meet Duo Maxwell. He's your new bodyguard." Ms. Kent said, as she introduced them.
His parents looked at him in surprise. He was an exact replica of Mr. Bartlett, though had Mrs. Bartlett's eyes, and he even carried the name of Duo.
"Hello, nice to meet you." He said happily. He seemed to even carry his mother's personality around, though they both some how felt that he was a playboy.
"Hello. . ." His mother whispered, trying to hold back tears.
His father simply nodded at him.
"He was a Gundam pilot you know. . .the one that called himself the Shinagami." Ms. Kent said, making Duo glare at her.
Mrs. Bartlett's eyes widened. He even had her glare!
"Gundam pilot?" His father said, a little worried.
"I'm a Preventor now. But yes, I was a Gundam pilot. When we found out about the attempted assassinations, all of us were assigned a family to protect." He somewhat lied.
Caroline Bartlett looked at him with pride. She knew it was her son. . .call it mother's intuition, call it whatever you want. . .she knew it was her long lost son.
"Tell us about yourself!" She said quickly, making her husband quickly get a grip on things.
Duo was shocked by her sudden outburst. "Um. . .I grew up on Colony L4, I was in the Maxwell Church orphanage until it was destroyed in an attack. When I left, I took the name of the priest there, though I had always been called Duo. I was taken in by a scientist and trained as a Gundam pilot. After the wars were over, we destroyed our Gundams and became Preventors. . .that's basically my life in a nut shell."
Both of his parents smiled widely, both knowing deep down to the very core of their being, that they had finally found their child. . .all they needed was a way to bring it up to him.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
ONE WEEK LATER:
Duo was sitting in the back of a press conference that his parents were at for the Missing Children's organization that they were involved with.
Ever since he had met them, they had made him a part of the family. Mrs. Bartlett was constantly smiling at him and talking with him about her parents and grandparents and other family members, telling him old stories. Mr. Bartlett was always asking him to play golf, basketball, or just to discuss matters, such as business or wars. Every now and then they would talk about Mr. Bartlett's family.
His mother smiled and waved at him from the stage. He smiled at her and waved back. They didn't treat him any differently from a normal person, with the exception of constantly trying to make him feel like a part of the family, even though he'd been in war and battles countless times and killed countless lives. His father smiled at him proudly.
The spokes person began to speak, welcoming them all to the conference.
But the welcome was short lived when a man walked in, carrying two large guns and too much ammo for Duo's liking.
Everyone screamed and ran for cover as the man began to fire shots.
Duo pulled out his gun and began to sneak towards the hit man.
He pressed the barrel of his gun into the man's neck. Instantly the man stopped, understanding the feel of the cold metal.
"I suggest that you put the guns down." Duo said coldly.
The man put the guns down and held up his hands. He smirked menacingly. He quickly turned around and grabbed Duo's hand, trying to get the gun from him.
Expecting this, Duo punched him in his stomach, making him gasp for wanted air.
"That wasn't a bright idea." Duo said coldly and hit him again, making the disguise quickly fade.
It was a yoma, like the ones Hotaru had showed him when she shared her memories and past with him.
Duo glared. "Now I'm definitely going to have to kill you." He said.
"NO! Wait! My mistress, she can give you power! You are strong, she will gladly make you one of her generals! The queen will give you power! Don't kill me! Join us instead." The yoma pleaded weakly.
"Sorry. . .following orders and being someone's little messenger boy was never my thing." He said and shot the yoma dead.
The yoma fell to the ground. As soon as the impact was made it turned to dust and blew away in a sudden wind.
Caroline rushed to her son. "Duo! I was so worried! Are you alright? How's you wrist?" She said, nursing him, even though he was fine.
Duo smiled at her, "I'm fine. It's nothing. Didn't even hurt."
His father sighed. "Good to know my boy, good to know."
Caroline's eyes clouded up. "Duo. . .we. . .we're so proud of you."
Duo looked at her, a little confused. "Thank you. . .but, why?"
She shrugged, not knowing what to say.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
TWO DAYS LATER:
"Duo. . .we were wondering if you would do us a huge favor." Caroline said, not sure how this was going to go.
"Sure, anything, you name it." Duo said, not prepared for what was coming next.
"We were wondering if you would take a blood test for us, to see something that would mean a great deal to us." His father said.
Duo understood what they were asking. "You want to know if I'm your son that got kidnapped, don't you?"
Caroline looked down. "Please Duo. . ."
"I am. I'm your son. I didn't know until right before I came here. It started out as just wanting to find out my real name, and then I found out that the both of you were alive, when I was told that you both had died. I searched my fingerprints. But, if you want, I'll take the blood test."
Caroline had tears streaming down her face. "People that we know will want to see it, but it doesn't matter to us. You're too much like us, in the way you look and in the way you do things." She got up and hugged him close to her.
"Welcome home son." His father said, joining in the group hug.
"'Bout time that you found out. I was wondering if you'd ever guess it." Cookie said from the doorway.
His parents looked at her in surprise and then at Duo.
Duo laughed nervously, "She threatened to beat me if I didn't tell her. She said that I looked too much like you."
Mr. Bartlett laughed and his wife smiled.
"We have to announce your return!" Caroline said suddenly.
"NO! We can't do that, not yet anyway. The other Gundam pilots are with their families as well. Just like me, they wanted to know their names. Plus, there's a girl back in Japan I want to tell before we tell the world. The four of us are going to stop these people from killing you before we go back. That's what we were hired to do. And a Gundam pilot never fails a mission."
Caroline smiled at him. "A girl huh, tell me about her. Do you have a picture?"
Duo smiled and pulled a picture out of his wallet. It was a picture of them at Mina's nineteenth birthday party. Hotaru was sitting, curled up in his arms and smiling. He was propped up against the couch, laughing at something.
"She's very beautiful. You look so perfect together. What's her name?" Caroline whispered.
"Hotaru. . .Hotaru Tomoe."
"Tell us how you met." His father said, wanting to know as much as he could about his son.
The sat there for hours, talking about Duo's life and friends, as well as their life and their friends.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
OK, TBC, REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Arigato to those that did.
Diana Crescent
Chapter Thirty-two: Family Affairs part ONE
Konnichiwa Minna-chan!!! Okay, domo arigato to all those that reviewed. Ashiteru!!
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Quatre sighed. They had been gone a week and he was missing Mina terribly. He missed her bright, bubbly laugh. The way her eyes lit up with happiness when someone told a joke.
Sammy sighed too. He missed Mauri horribly. Even Artemis was down in the dumps because of Luna.
"I hope everything works out with them soon. I know that they don't want the girls to know if they fail in getting their families to accept them, but I still think that we should have told at least Luna." Artemis said.
"I agree, but it's their decision. If their families accept them, then they'll give the girls that name, but should they not, they'll give the girls their code names as well as never mention their families to them. I know those guys. . .they don't like to fail. Failure is not something a Gundam pilot does." Quatre said, sighing.
"How do you think the girls are?" Sammy asked.
"Worried, probably, but they'll be alright. They're strong." Artemis said.
"How do you think things are going with them. I mean, I know they'll call when something happens, but how do you think they are?"
"I don't know." Quatre said.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Duo sat in the kitchen of the mansion that his parents, though they didn't know it, lived.
He had been hired a week ago by their secretary, but had yet to meet them, seeing as they were in Hollywood, his mother was going to make an appearance on a movie. They were going to be arriving home any minute.
"Eat up child." The old cook said as she washed the dishes.
He smiled at her. He hadn't been there two days when she confronted him about who he was.
::FLASHBACK::
"Just who are you?"
Duo looked at the old woman in shock. "Duo Maxwell."
"I know your name, I'm not stupid. You're that one Gundam pilot that calls himself Shinagami. But not only that, your names Duo, how'd you come by it?"
"That's what they called me in the orphanage." He whispered.
"You know something, now tell me. You know, I wasn't supposed to be a cook. I was going to be the young master's nanny, and I was the master's nanny too. I've spent over forty years in this house, tending to the Bartletts, and then the young master was stolen. Now, you look exactly like Mr. Bartlett, so tell me what you know, boy or I swear, I'll turn you over and spank your bottom. You're not too old for that, and neither am I. So spill."
Duo looked at them woman in surprise. "Alright. . .I am Duo Bartlett. I didn't find out until a few days ago. I am the Gundam pilot Duo Maxwell. I wanted to find my family, but more importantly, I wanted to give the woman I love a last name that was real, not something made up by some freak scientist that trained me."
The cook had tears in her eyes. "I knew you weren't dead. I just knew it!" She couldn't help but hug him close. "Now, about this woman, tell me about her."
Duo smiled. "Her name is Hotaru Tomoe. She's two years younger than me, but she's it. She's got shoulder length black hair that looks purple when the sun hits it. Her eyes are a bright and vibrant violet. She's smart, beautiful and I'm completely in love with her. That's why we looked up our fingerprints. We wanted to find out our names. When we read that someone had been trying to kill our families, we all decided that we'd protect them, and, maybe, be accepted by them."
"If they don't accept you, I'll spank them too. They're still young enough and so am I." She said and winked, making him laugh.
::END FLASHBACK::
Cookie, as she was now affectionately called by him, smiled. He had wormed his way into her heart. "I swear, you are just like your father, such a playboy."
"They're pulling in the driveway." Ms. Kent said, walking into the kitchen. "Come along, Duo. . .odd that you and Mr. Bartlett have the same name." She said, she still didn't know who Duo really was. (A/n: I'm going to refer to Mr. Bartlett as just that, Mr. Bartlett or 'his father'.)
Duo sent a nervous glance to Cookie. "Yeah. . .odd."
Cookie gave him a reassuring wink on his way out.
"Mr. Bartlett, Mrs. Bartlett, I would like you to meet Duo Maxwell. He's your new bodyguard." Ms. Kent said, as she introduced them.
His parents looked at him in surprise. He was an exact replica of Mr. Bartlett, though had Mrs. Bartlett's eyes, and he even carried the name of Duo.
"Hello, nice to meet you." He said happily. He seemed to even carry his mother's personality around, though they both some how felt that he was a playboy.
"Hello. . ." His mother whispered, trying to hold back tears.
His father simply nodded at him.
"He was a Gundam pilot you know. . .the one that called himself the Shinagami." Ms. Kent said, making Duo glare at her.
Mrs. Bartlett's eyes widened. He even had her glare!
"Gundam pilot?" His father said, a little worried.
"I'm a Preventor now. But yes, I was a Gundam pilot. When we found out about the attempted assassinations, all of us were assigned a family to protect." He somewhat lied.
Caroline Bartlett looked at him with pride. She knew it was her son. . .call it mother's intuition, call it whatever you want. . .she knew it was her long lost son.
"Tell us about yourself!" She said quickly, making her husband quickly get a grip on things.
Duo was shocked by her sudden outburst. "Um. . .I grew up on Colony L4, I was in the Maxwell Church orphanage until it was destroyed in an attack. When I left, I took the name of the priest there, though I had always been called Duo. I was taken in by a scientist and trained as a Gundam pilot. After the wars were over, we destroyed our Gundams and became Preventors. . .that's basically my life in a nut shell."
Both of his parents smiled widely, both knowing deep down to the very core of their being, that they had finally found their child. . .all they needed was a way to bring it up to him.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
ONE WEEK LATER:
Duo was sitting in the back of a press conference that his parents were at for the Missing Children's organization that they were involved with.
Ever since he had met them, they had made him a part of the family. Mrs. Bartlett was constantly smiling at him and talking with him about her parents and grandparents and other family members, telling him old stories. Mr. Bartlett was always asking him to play golf, basketball, or just to discuss matters, such as business or wars. Every now and then they would talk about Mr. Bartlett's family.
His mother smiled and waved at him from the stage. He smiled at her and waved back. They didn't treat him any differently from a normal person, with the exception of constantly trying to make him feel like a part of the family, even though he'd been in war and battles countless times and killed countless lives. His father smiled at him proudly.
The spokes person began to speak, welcoming them all to the conference.
But the welcome was short lived when a man walked in, carrying two large guns and too much ammo for Duo's liking.
Everyone screamed and ran for cover as the man began to fire shots.
Duo pulled out his gun and began to sneak towards the hit man.
He pressed the barrel of his gun into the man's neck. Instantly the man stopped, understanding the feel of the cold metal.
"I suggest that you put the guns down." Duo said coldly.
The man put the guns down and held up his hands. He smirked menacingly. He quickly turned around and grabbed Duo's hand, trying to get the gun from him.
Expecting this, Duo punched him in his stomach, making him gasp for wanted air.
"That wasn't a bright idea." Duo said coldly and hit him again, making the disguise quickly fade.
It was a yoma, like the ones Hotaru had showed him when she shared her memories and past with him.
Duo glared. "Now I'm definitely going to have to kill you." He said.
"NO! Wait! My mistress, she can give you power! You are strong, she will gladly make you one of her generals! The queen will give you power! Don't kill me! Join us instead." The yoma pleaded weakly.
"Sorry. . .following orders and being someone's little messenger boy was never my thing." He said and shot the yoma dead.
The yoma fell to the ground. As soon as the impact was made it turned to dust and blew away in a sudden wind.
Caroline rushed to her son. "Duo! I was so worried! Are you alright? How's you wrist?" She said, nursing him, even though he was fine.
Duo smiled at her, "I'm fine. It's nothing. Didn't even hurt."
His father sighed. "Good to know my boy, good to know."
Caroline's eyes clouded up. "Duo. . .we. . .we're so proud of you."
Duo looked at her, a little confused. "Thank you. . .but, why?"
She shrugged, not knowing what to say.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
TWO DAYS LATER:
"Duo. . .we were wondering if you would do us a huge favor." Caroline said, not sure how this was going to go.
"Sure, anything, you name it." Duo said, not prepared for what was coming next.
"We were wondering if you would take a blood test for us, to see something that would mean a great deal to us." His father said.
Duo understood what they were asking. "You want to know if I'm your son that got kidnapped, don't you?"
Caroline looked down. "Please Duo. . ."
"I am. I'm your son. I didn't know until right before I came here. It started out as just wanting to find out my real name, and then I found out that the both of you were alive, when I was told that you both had died. I searched my fingerprints. But, if you want, I'll take the blood test."
Caroline had tears streaming down her face. "People that we know will want to see it, but it doesn't matter to us. You're too much like us, in the way you look and in the way you do things." She got up and hugged him close to her.
"Welcome home son." His father said, joining in the group hug.
"'Bout time that you found out. I was wondering if you'd ever guess it." Cookie said from the doorway.
His parents looked at her in surprise and then at Duo.
Duo laughed nervously, "She threatened to beat me if I didn't tell her. She said that I looked too much like you."
Mr. Bartlett laughed and his wife smiled.
"We have to announce your return!" Caroline said suddenly.
"NO! We can't do that, not yet anyway. The other Gundam pilots are with their families as well. Just like me, they wanted to know their names. Plus, there's a girl back in Japan I want to tell before we tell the world. The four of us are going to stop these people from killing you before we go back. That's what we were hired to do. And a Gundam pilot never fails a mission."
Caroline smiled at him. "A girl huh, tell me about her. Do you have a picture?"
Duo smiled and pulled a picture out of his wallet. It was a picture of them at Mina's nineteenth birthday party. Hotaru was sitting, curled up in his arms and smiling. He was propped up against the couch, laughing at something.
"She's very beautiful. You look so perfect together. What's her name?" Caroline whispered.
"Hotaru. . .Hotaru Tomoe."
"Tell us how you met." His father said, wanting to know as much as he could about his son.
The sat there for hours, talking about Duo's life and friends, as well as their life and their friends.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
OK, TBC, REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Arigato to those that did.