Author: Keiran

Title: A World in a Grain of Sand 9/?

Pairings: 1+2, minor 4x5x4 and 3xD (don't ask .)

Rating: It probably doesn't deserve an R, but let it be so. Just to be safe and all.

Genre: Romance, mild angst, historical sort of fantasy.

Warnings: Shounen-ai, Mild bastardisation of the pilots minus Duo. Smart and nice Relena.

Archive: my site: the URL is on my profile page. If you want it, drop me a line. ^_^
Notes: Progress! dances a small victory dance

Big thanks to Sundaire, for betaing this fic. bows

***

The sun had already passed its highest point in the sky when Duo finally found some time for the trip to the palace. He had been called there the previous night, and since it was nearly midnight when he could finally leave, the kind general insisted he at least take a horse with him. The perfect weather gave the man no excuse to invite himself along.

Duo brushed a handful of hay from the leather saddle. He was in the temple's stables, preparing Deathscythe for the trip. The horse stood patiently, submitting to his ministrations. Duo tightened the girth on its stomach expertly and stroked the animal's velvet nose.

"Hey, eager to go for a ride, aren't you?" The horse neighed loudly. Duo laughed. "I hoped so." He led the animal outside and mounted quickly. "It's a great day for a ride," he remarked to no one in particular. And indeed, the day seemed to be made for walks and horse rides. Even if it was still quite cold outside and the snow was still everywhere, the air was fresh and pleasant. One could clearly smell the upcoming spring.

"Duo!"

Said man turned his head and watched his friend running to him.

"Hello Hilde," he waved cheerfully. The girl stopped, resting her palms on the horse's neck and bent down trying to catch her breath. A few hard coughs made it past her lips. "You shouldn't run," the healer admonished, concerned. "As long as you're having these coughing fits, you shouldn't strain yourself."

The girl waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine. Where are you going?" she asked curiously.

"I need to return the horse to the palace. And I promised to fetch Sally today."

"Sally? That little blonde girl?" Hilde blinked a couple of times. "What for?"

"Well, I promised her that as soon as she is old enough she may come to the temple to study," Duo explained, grinning. "She had her seventh birthday the day before yesterday."

"Oh. Is she still having troubles with mathematics?" the girl asked.

"Surprisingly, no. The general has been tutoring her and she managed to grasp the idea behind it finally. I gave her a simple potion to brew, and she managed to dose everything correctly," Duo replied thoughtfully. "Well, she is no genius when it comes to counting, and she counts slowly, but she doesn't make mistakes anymore. It's a funny thing actually, but she appears to be really good at cooking. She can spot the difference between a spoonful and a handful of something with no problems, and we are talking her handfuls here, but she had so much trouble with seeing the difference between adding and multiplying!" Duo said almost disbelievingly.

The younger healer giggled. "I'm glad," Hilde's response was cut short by another coughing fit. Duo looked at her worriedly.

"Go inside and warm up. It's too cold out here," he advised sternly. The girl smiled at him and left, pressing a palm to her bosom to ease the pain in her lungs. The man watched her worriedly until she entered the temple. It wasn't normal; the coughing fits with no fever, which plagued the girl from time to time. Nothing seemed to help - easing the pain was all they could do. Even the master healers could do nothing but hope that it would pass with time. Still mulling over what could be wrong with Hilde, Duo turned Deathscythe's head onto the boulevard and urged him into a light trot.

"It is late. Although I don't think that the general would mind, you know?" the man said to the horse. "He probably would allow me to keep you if I asked. I wonder what has happened to him recently. He's being almost sociable these days. It may not be much, but he is smiling at me and being nice to people in general, especially me… it's almost as if he cared for me…," he ended in a whisper. "Really cared."

People never seemed to understand that even if he was grown up, he needed someone to care for him. It wasn't that he was tired of caring for people; he was a healer after all. It was his job to care for people. He was just tired of being the source of support. Everyone came to him seeking comfort or help and disappeared, figuratively speaking, as soon as they received it. It wasn't that they were ungrateful or anything – they just didn't understand what he needed in return. Duo had grown up virtually alone - he had a few caretakers and Solo, but he spent most of his youth away from home, accompanied by adults who either treated him as a toddler and spoiled him rotten or were accustomed only to dealing with adults and treated him as such. Therefore, if there was one thing Duo was unable to express, it was his need to be cherished, to have someone who understood, that despite him being always able to manage on his own he wanted and needed someone, who wouldn't need his support, who would support him.

'Just for once, it would be nice to have someone to lean on, once I've reached my limits. Someone to hold me when I'm sad or hurt,' he thought. 'Like Une always held Solo when something was going wrong.'

***

Heero was curious. Sally had been bouncing up and down for the past two days, for reasons unbeknownst to him. Finally he couldn't take the suspense anymore - he caught the girl around the waist when she passed him for an umpteenth time. He carried her easily to the nearest chair and set her down.

"Why are you running around?" he asked sternly. The girl blinked her blue eyes at him and beamed.

"I had my seventh birthday two days ago!"

"And that is a reason to be so excited?" Heero asked.

"Yes!" Seeing that the man obviously didn't understand, the girl elaborated. "The healer said that when I'm seven I can go to the temple and learn to become a healer too!" The general stared. "And he was asking me to do a potion the other day, and he said I did it very well, and he said he'll be collecting me shortly! And shortly is today! I've packed my things already," the girl uttered in one breath.

"What about your parents?" the man asked curiously, surprising himself with the realization that he was curious indeed.

"The healer talked with them. They said it is fine for me to go. And the temple is not far away too - I'll be able to visit anytime," Sally replied, although her voice wavered slightly. Heero looked at her closely.

"You don't have to go. You can stay here, you know?"

"Oh, but I want to! I've wanted to be a healer forever! And the healer was always telling me that I'd do well," the girl started explaining. "He came here five years ago, so I was two years old when he first came," she beamed, holding two fingers up, proving that her counting was correct. Heero nodded absentmindedly. "He started coming here, to the palace, teaching us all to read and write and I started taking part in those lessons as soon as my mommy said I was old enough. The healer taught me to read and all. Sometimes he would tell us stories about all those funny places he's been too, all the stories he has heard - you know that in some countries people wear bathrobes during the day?"

Heero smirked. "The bathrobes are called kimonos. And yes I know that. In fact my grandmother comes from that country," he replied.

"Really? Do you have a kimono?"

"I do have one. But I hardly ever wear it," Heero said thoughtfully.

"Is it true that they live on a ground that has water all around it?" she inquired further. "How come it doesn't sink? Ground is heavy."

The general raised a brow. "That ground is called an island. It cannot sink, because there is no water underneath it. It's a lot like… a mountain, only surrounded with water."

"Sally!"

The general and the girl turned their heads. There was a woman standing in the corridor not far from them - Sally's mother, Heero realized. The woman started, noticing the man her daughter was talking with. "Excuse me, milord, but healer Maxwell has come for Sally. He is waiting for you in the courtyard, sweetheart."

The little girl beamed. She uttered a quick goodbye to the lord and went to grab her mother's hand. Heero stood up slowly and followed the pair downstairs.

***

Duo dismounted and gave the reins to Tom. The horse neighed while it was led away.

"Healer!"

He heard an enthusiastic call, a split second before a child's arms wrapped around his waist.

"Hello," he said, waving to all of the other children who circled him then. "How is it going, you all?"

"Sally is telling us you're taking her with you to the temple, is that true?" one of the children asked curiously.

Duo smiled. "Yes, that's true. Sally is seven now, so she can begin her training as a healer," he explained patiently.

"Will you still be coming to teach us? Will she?"

"Of course I will. And Sally will probably be coming with me." Violet eyes twinkled merrily. There was another enthusiastic cry of 'Healer' and Sally launched herself at the man. "Hello Sally. Good day to you, Mrs. Po. How are you today?"

"Very fine, thank you," the woman replied, curtsying. Duo's eyes lingered on her for a short moment before acknowledging the person beside her.

"Good afternoon, general."

"Good afternoon," Heero replied to the greeting softly, taking in the joyous expression on the other man's face. He watched as Sally begun chirping happily about things she wanted to do, things she wanted to see and everything she could possibly learn. The healer managed to answer each of her questions, which was pretty amazing, considering she hurled them at a speed known only to wind.

"Sally!" the healer finally exclaimed, stopping her. "Go and get your things. We need to go if we wish to get to the temple before dusk."

The little girl looked at him, suddenly scared.

"Okay," she replied in a small voice. She ran into the palace quickly and returned at top speed with a bag tucked under her arm. When she reached her mother, she stopped suddenly, dropped her things to the ground, and flung herself at the woman. "Goodbye mommy!" she cried. The woman patted her hair gently.

"Go on Sally. We're very proud that you're going to be the healer, you know that, both me and daddy. Visit us sometimes," she added with a smile, even though there were tears in her eyes. She was very young and Sally was her first-born child. It was understandable that she was sad seeing her daughter leave at such an age, even if she wasn't going far away. The farewells would have been long and tearful, but Sally wasn't the cry-baby people often took her for. She stepped away from her mother and smiled bravely, blinking back a few tears.

"Goodbye, mommy. Say goodbye to daddy too. I'll see you both soon," she said firmly. What she did next surprised virtually everyone. She bounced over to the general and hugged him tight. "Goodbye milord! Thank you!"

Heero was shocked beyond words. It was hard to see, since he never talked much, but still. He recovered quickly enough to return the hug before the little girl let him go, picked her bag up, and grabbed the healer's hand.

"Let's go!" she said, feigning cheerfulness. That shook Duo from his stupor. He gazed at the general, astounded. This was the same man the children called 'scary'? The one Sally just hugged as if she was sad she wouldn't be seeing him anymore? The one with that soft, tender smile? Duo blinked. Perhaps there was something strange going on today. He glanced back at Sally's inquiring eyes and grinned.

"Yes, let's go." He took the bag from the child's arm and bid everyone present goodbye, allowing his eyes to linger for a couple of seconds on the general. The man offered him a tiny smile and a nod, to which Duo responded. He caught himself marveling at how approachable the general now looked. He didn't seem nearly as scary as before. The whole exchange only took a short moment, and very quickly Duo turned around to walk away. There was only about an hour before the sunset, which was roughly the amount of time needed to walk from the palace to the temple when one walked with a child.

The crowd in the courtyard was scattering. People had things to do; they couldn't afford to spend the whole day sitting around watching. A few minutes later, only Heero remained, looking where he could still see the two figures on the road. Strangely enough, this time he didn't feel the desperation he usually felt when Duo was going away. There was only anticipation. Heero would see the violet eyed man again, and he would see him soon. And when they meet, Duo wouldn't be running away in fright from him anymore. Suddenly the future seemed much brighter.

What made him so sure was the brilliant, if a little hesitant, smile Duo had sent him before he turned away to leave.

***TBC***