Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters belong to Sotsu, Sunrise, and Bandai. Of course, this fic belongs to me.

The Christmas Party
by Waltz195

"Oh!" Catherine exclaimed, her heel catching on a step. Luckily, Trowa was by her side and steadied her immediately. She smiled at him, murmuring her thanks as they continued down the lit stairway, led by their braided host.

"I've never seen this portion of your house before, Duo," Quatre mentioned to their host, gallantly assisting Dorothy down the steps.

"Me neither," Relena commented, looking around. "But, this looks like..."

"A hangar," Duo finished for her, looking back at his guests. "I know. It is."

"You're not housing a mobile suit are you?" Sally asked all of a sudden. "If you are, you know we'll have to commandeer it."

"Yeah, I know. Preventers Policy on Mobile Suits," Duo answered. "Don't worry, I'm not building a suit. This hangar's just for repairs on spacecraft and large vehicles, mostly government types. I have a license and everything."

Behind Sally, Wufei was grumbling. "So much for jail-time..."

The group glanced around, interested in the assortment of mechanical parts and gadgetry that he had managed to pack into this hidden portion of his property.

"Don't even think about it, buddy," Duo called back, catching the former Wing Zero pilot's gaze lingering on an impressive custom built engine suspended from the ceiling by heavy chains.

Heero glared over at him, feigning boredom. Duo wasn't fooled for a minute. The other man had a history of 'borrowing', after all.

"That baby's gonna be sold to a parts dealer two days from now. I'd like to keep it that way," Duo hinted heavily, as the other man looked away.

Relena giggled lightly, catching Heero's slightly disappointed expression. He looked like a little boy denied a bar of candy. Heero glanced at her and smiled a little, returning his concentration to their descent.

What seemed like an eternity of stairs actually took less than three minutes to travel down. At the end, they found themselves back on solid ground, or rather, solid metal. Duo motioned them over to one side where a repair room had been converted into a banquet hall. Near the doorway, Hilde stood readily, a satisfied smile on her face.

Duo approached her and leaned down to whisper in her ear. She nodded a few times and smiled back at her guests.

"We're glad you could all make it," Hilde stated warmly. "We welcome you to our Christmas feast!"

The others smiled and proceeded to enter the room. Once inside, they marveled at what they saw.

Much like what Heero had done for Relena at the MO2 party, Duo and Hilde had done to this room. Chandelier-like lights hung from the ceiling, giving off a warm yellow-white glow. The rest of the room was lit by temporary wall sconces, reflecting off of burgundy colored cloth draped along the walls. The customary holly and other greenery decorated the rest of the room, accentuating the giant pine tree that stood off to one side, boasting a multitude of lights and decorations itself. A large, long table stood in the center of the room, surrounded by four high-back chairs on either side and one at each end. Its surface was covered by a rich, dark red tablecloth, fine white china, glasses and silverware neatly lined upon it.

However, it was the food, also on the table, that caught everyone's attention, or rather, the vast amount of it. Duo hadn't been joking when he'd said Hilde had been cooking a lot. He really had meant a lot.

All along the table, plates, platters, bowls, serving dishes and every other food container imaginable were filled to the brim. Meat dishes, vegetable dishes, salads, breads, rolls, cakes, pastries, and side dishes of almost all kinds adorned the table, filling every empty space available. Pitchers of cold drinks fought for space along the center of the table, bordering intricate centerpieces made of leafy garlands and candy canes. If they hadn't seen it for themselves they would have thought it unimaginable.

They turned to Duo, eyes wide and mouths set agape in astonishment. He held up his hands in a helpless gesture.

"I told her we should've just ordered catering." Duo sighed, glancing down at the woman beside him. "But noooo...she just had to get the oven started. I told you she'd been cooking for a few days. I get chills just thinking about the electricity bill for this month alone."

"The oven's gas powered." Hilde elbowed him, blushing as her guests continued to stare at her. "We've used the heater to keep the freshest dishes warm. I made the desserts and longer lasting food in advance and kept them in the freezer until now."

Wufei finally spoke up, asking what the rest were thinking. "You...did all this?" He marveled at the woman before him. The top of her head didn't even reach Duo's chin. Her being able to prepare such a feast was indeed impressive.

Hilde sighed, an apologetic expression on her face. "Actually, I made more, but I donated some of the earlier dishes to the local homeless shelter today. Everything here is in about the same condition as when I finished cooking it. All of it should still be fresh."

Relena shook herself out of her stupor and approached her host. Gathering the smaller woman into a warm embrace, she smiled. "You're one of a kind, Hilde."

The others agreed, admiring the table and the assortment of food their hostess had prepared for the occasion. It was almost too much to take in.

"Okay, okay. That's enough," Duo joked, noting the happy tears collecting in Hilde's eyes. "Everybody's going to be crying into their beef stroganoff if this keeps up."

The others chuckled at that. As expected, Hilde nudged him aside and ushered her guests to the table.

Quatre decided to sit next to Dorothy, still insistent that he could win their debate, and just smiled when she glared over at him. Next to them, Heero was assisting Relena into her chair before taking his place beside her. Duo glanced over at Hilde and their eyes met, sharing the same interested expression.

Across the table, Wufei was grumbling ineffectually as Sally insisted she sit next to him, stating that he was her patient and still in her care. Beside her, Catherine smiled up at Trowa as he pushed in her chair before taking a seat next to her. When their guests had settled, Duo took the host's chair at one end and Hilde sat in the other.

'Man...' Duo thought belatedly. 'No footsie.' Hilde looked up, as if reading his thoughts, and smirked.

The others spent a moment to admire the food more closely, savoring the delicious smells coming from the dishes.

"Oh! I just remembered!" Hilde spoke out, slipping a list from under her plate and looking it over quickly. "Are any of you allergic to any type of food?" She looked around the table expectantly.

"Oh, well, Trowa is allergic to peanuts," Catherine answered, glancing at the silent man beside her. He nodded slightly.

Hilde was silent a moment. "Hm. If you eat any, do you break out into a rash or something? Or is it just a small allergy?"

"It could kill me," Trowa stated plainly, his face impassive. The rest of the table was stunned into silence.

"Uh...that's kinda ironic, Trowa," Duo commented. "Considering you work in a circus and all."

Catherine nodded. "I remember he accidentally walked too close to the peanut vendor's stall once. Even that caused him to break out into a horrible rash. He was prescribed an anti-itch cream and couldn't do the show then. Imagine him as a clown with pink splotches all over his arms and back!" She turned to face him, lightly laughing at the memory. "Remember, Trowa?"

Trowa gave her a small smile, remembering the incident as well. It had allowed him personal time with Cathy, as she had been the one to help apply the cream, also tending to him until he had gotten better.

Hilde slightly frowned, going over her list once more. "I guess that means you stay away from the chow mein." She pointed to a large, red and yellow bowl. "It has peanut oil. No peanut brittle, obviously." She indicated a small dessert dish. "No peanut butter cookies. And you better stay away from the mixed-nuts pound cake, just in case. Sorry."

Trowa nodded, memorizing the dishes she had named. "Thank you."

"Anybody else?" Duo asked the table at large. The rest of them shook their heads. "Well, then, please join hands as we say a moment of grace."

The others joined hands compliantly, if a bit awkwardly. They had never done this before; actually sitting down for a Christmas dinner, all of them together. But, the experience was a nice one. They bowed their heads as Duo started to speak.

"During this Christmas season, we'd like to give thanks for the blessings we've all received. We're grateful for the bounty before us and wish for the same for others. We're thankful for the opportunity to have lived these past few years in peace and for being able to find love and happiness with the people around us. We cherish the peace we have now, and will hopefully have it for a great many years to come. I'd personally like to give thanks for having my closest and dearest friends here tonight. My comrades, my brothers really, and the beautiful women who have helped them grow. And for my own love, who I hope will stay by my side always. We give thanks for all of this and may we always be so blessed."

Duo paused a moment to compose himself, having meant every single word he had said. They really did have a lot to be thankful for and he was glad for it all. He sighed deeply, before raising his head. What he saw made him smile.

To his left, Quatre found his eyes a bit misty and quietly blamed it on jetlag, smiling brightly. Beside him, Dorothy remained silent, but offered Duo a respectful nod, her own eyes shining. Relena was already teary-eyed and thanked Heero, as he offered her a handkerchief, his own face soft with emotion.

Across from them, Wufei mumbled something, his head slightly bowed to hide his face. Sally reached over and hugged him, her eyes warm and understanding. Catherine, deeply touched by his words, smiled over at him as she reached for Trowa's hand. Trowa clasped her hand lightly and offered a small smile in return.

Down at the other end of the table, Hilde gazed back at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears, radiating pride and tender emotion. She smiled at him, silently mouthing "I love you".

Those three simple words were all that he could have ever wanted in life. Duo whispered them as well, and smiled as his own eyes turned misty.

"Ahem," Duo coughed, shaking his head. "I think I set the lights too bright in here. Must be hurting everybody's eyes."

A collective chuckle swept over the table as they composed themselves, smoothing over the warm, emotional moment.

Hilde picked up a corner of her napkin and dabbed at her eyes, vowing never to let him say grace again, if this would always be the result. She didn't count on ever implementing it, of course.

"Well?" Duo called out, his jolly self again. "What are we waiting for? Let's eat!"