Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.... Damn...

Pairings: Eventual 1x2x1, maybe some 3x4x3.

Warnings: Eventual Shonen Ai, maybe violence, and Rock n' Roll baby.

Notes: Same notes as the other fics. Only this time I thought I would do something different. This chapter, 10, will have POV's from the characters. it's not a third person like the others, but this one is straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. So I hope you enjoy it, because I enjoyed writting it. And a warning, this chapter as well as the next one.... may have something you all might not like as far as pairings go.... DON'T HIT ME!

In The Valley Of The Diamond Dogs

By Black Dragon62

Chapter 10: Amidst The Crowds

Dou's POV

I thought I wouldn't have dream like that anymore.... But it just won't let me be. Why do I have to have flashbacks like that in my dreams? Why do I have to live my life in the past? Why can't I forget about... Duo looked down at his hands, they were trembling slightly. He looked down at the piece of hotel stationary, it had writing all over it, illegible, but writing none the less. This is what he had said... hadn't he? This is what he whispered in my dream right? He sighed heavily. He swept a hand through his bangs, and re-adjusted his pj bottoms.

He leaned his head down on his crossed arms, and breathed deeply. He looked back and saw that Wufei and Quatre had not stirred from their sleep. He took a look around the room. It's like all the others. Big and empty. Only this time it has three beds instead of one. Yup, just the same. One lamp on each bed side table, a tv with nothing on but infomercials and church talk, a dresser here and there, one bathroom so sterile it makes me sick, and a desk, a desk that I use for nothing but an extra table. He sighed again. This isn't home. But what is? That apartment I have back in Boston? It's a place to crash, where I have my stuff, but it's not a home. I've had it for what, 5 years now? No wait, 6, that's been my place on Earth for 6 years. I bet Quatre didn't know I lived on Earth just like the rest of them. Of course he wouldn't, would he? I had all my records vanish, with a little help from my hacking skills. But, most likely he would have known, that's just like him. But it's never really been my home. I don't think I ever had one to begin with... not my gundam, not the Maxwell Orphanage, not the boarding houses I shared with Heero, though they did feel better than being alone. My apartment was always a sanctuary, a place to get away from it all, to just rest and be by myself, that's what I wanted right? After the war, that's what I wanted right, to disappear? But look at me now, the mighty Duo Maxwell, a puppet for the world to watch, an icon for this generation's misguided youths. That's what I wanted right? To be in the spot light? No, that's never been my objective, all my life, I've lived in the shadows of the world, but now, I couldn't find a shadow if I tried. I never wanted this. I kinda fell into it in the first place. 'We were meant to live for so much more, have I lost myself?' He sat back in the chair, and stared out of the window, and saw the Italian night life twinkle below. He let out a breath and remembered. I miss Boston. It was never my first choice for a habitat, but it has served me well. I remember driving on a cold night to the beach. And sitting on the rocks, watching the deep and dark ocean roll with fervent waves. I would watch until the orange sun would rise from the horizon and light everything on fire with it's glow, then the ocean would turn from Midnight blue, to yellow, then to sky blue. That's when I would go home. Why would I watch the ocean just at night? He wondered to himself. It's 3am, maybe, I should try and get some sleep, I have plans with the guys tomorrow afternoon. Then I have the show at eight. Then after that, one more night in beautiful Italy. I wonder if the band is sick of me adding new songs after each show? He chuckled softly. Whatever, I have an early morning... Best try and rest.

Duo turned off the tiny lamp on the desk, and walked over silently to his bed. He took one last look at Italy, and fell into a light slumber. This time, to his relief, no dreams came.

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Who's shaking me?

"Duo! Duo wake up! It's time to get up! DUO!" Quatre yelled in my ears, trying with all he could to get me out of my nice warm bed. It's only 8am?! I fucking went to sleep 5 hours ago!

Duo moaned. "No." And he rolled over, taking the covers with him.

"Come on! It's a beautiful day! And Italy is waiting!" Quatre said excitedly. Some one should really take the caffeine out of his coffee...

Duo sighed, and rolled out of bed. Quatre and Wufei were already showered and dressed. Quatre had a light tan shirt, the creases were nice, and the buttons on the front were nice and shiny. He was wearing khaki pants with tan loafers, all in all, he looked nice. He looked over to Wufei, who was wearing a sky blue, long sleeved cotton shirt. The top two buttons were left undone, but he was wearing blue jeans and sneakers, he looked nice too. I have to dress nice for today I see.

He hobbled to the bathroom and took a quick shower and shave. He put on a dark blue tee shirt, and black jeans. He tied is braid tightly and secured the band around the end. He emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam.

"Geez Maxwell, what the hell did you do? Use up all the hot water in the city?" Wufei teased.

"Just about." Duo countered. "Well, let's go."

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They walked about the city, Duo in his hat and glasses, and each looking at the marvels and mysteries of the Roman streets. Beautiful woman gave them looks of interest, while some of the men decided not to care. Rome was indeed beautiful.

The fountains and buildings were architectural astonishments, though they were all probably more than 200 hundred years old at that point, they had all survived the war, more or less in decent shape. They were all in awe at the splendor of it all. They walked through shops and street markets, all enjoying themselves immensely.

The bookstores were filled with the works of Plato, Aristotle and Machiavelli, while the dress shops where filled with Armani and Versace suits of all sizes, colors and cuts. It was indeed a wonderful city. They entered a large bookstore, with rows and rows of books and volumes of different lengths and titles. They each decided to take a different section, Quatre decided to look in the Gardening section, Wufei decided to look into the Martial Arts section, and Duo decided to browse the Philosophy section. He looked over the different titles, all written either in Spanish, English or Italian. He roamed from Karl Marx's "Communist Manifesto", to Aristotle's "Ethics". None of which captured his interest. He looked for a few more minutes, from the Dahli Lama and Nietzsche till he came upon an author he had heard of, but knew little about. Machiavelli, there was no title on the front, the volume must had contained at least 1,000 pages, but the cover was what entranced Duo. He flipped it over and over in his hands, but decided to buy it anyway. He took it over to the counter to pay.

After handing over the money, Quatre and Wufei headed up next to the counter. Duo tilted his glasses down to look at them. He smiled and saw they were each carrying a book as well.

"Find anything good?" He asked.

Quatre nodded enthusiastically. "I found a great Italian cook book, I think I'll try it. And you two will be my guinea pigs." Quatre smiled as he handed his purchase to the young lady behind the counter. "What about you Wufei?" Quatre asked as he turned back to look at them.

Wufei nodded and held up the book in question. "Yes, Sun Tzu's 'The Art Of War.' It will give me something to read and study while on the plane." He handed over the book to the girl, and paid her. "Where are we off to next?"

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They walked down the busy and crowded street. None of them heading to anywhere in particular. Quatre and Wufei walked ahead, talking about some nonsense while Duo was at the rear. They walked on for a few minutes before Duo stopped and looked down another street, one quite not so busy. He looked ahead and saw that Wufei and Quatre kept walking, still talking. He looked back to the small street, and then back, and decided. He slipped unnoticed down the other street, and made his way down, his eyes on a sign that hung over the door of a small shop.

He stopped a few feet from the entrance of the shop, but took a deep breath and entered. He adjusted his hat over his eyes and tucked his braid into the back of his shirt. He pushed the dark glasses against his face, and opened the door. The sound of the little bell prompted a young woman with red hair to step from the entrance of the back room into the front of the shop. She wobbled a bit, she must have been at least 7 months pregnant, but her beautiful face was positively glowing. She walked over to Duo, with a gentle smile on her face, and an arm over her large stomach.

"Hello, may I help you?" She asked him.

Duo smiled at her, and lifted the cap a bit. "Yes, would you recommend a good year by chance?"

She smiled at the prospect of a customer. "Why yes, we have a large selection of excellent years." She said walking over to a shelf. "Here we have Merlot ranging from 1838 to 1969, and over here we have Chardonnay from-"

Duo shook his head slightly. "I'm not a Merlot or Chardonnay person." He said as he walked over to another shelf and pointed at a green bottle. " I actually prefer a good Chianti myself. "He said with a grin as he got the wine bottle down carefully and handed it to her.

"This is a very good Chianti, aged and flavored to perfection, would you like to try some?" She asked, walking over to a counter that had a corkscrew and a few glasses on the surface.

"I would love to, Catherine." He said softly.

She stopped and turned to look the young man in the face. "How did you know my name?"

Duo smiled wider. "A beautiful name for a beautiful lady." He said with a gracious bow. He saw her cheeks tint to a pinkish color. "And I supposed your name was Catherine because your name is on the sign out front." He finished.

She blushed slightly. "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that." She smiled, trying to cover up the blush. She gently set the bottle down and began to unscrew the cork.

The bell on the door sounded again, and a young man with a dark blue shirt and blue jeans entered, carrying a bag of groceries in his arms. A brown unibang covering half of his face, the only thing visible was an emerald eye that looked at the young woman with a small smile on his calm face. He walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He whispered something about putting away the food and then helping with the customer. And he promptly disappeared towards the back of the shop.

Duo looked after him, and asked, slightly amused. "Who was that? Your son?" He let out a small chuckle.

"Oh, no. He's my brother. Trowa will be out in just a second." She said light heartedly, handing him a glass of Chianti. "I hope you will find this to your liking."

Duo took the glass from her and sipped at it. "Mm, this is excellent." He commented off hand. "I'll take two bottles." He said, smiling at her softly.

She smiled excitedly. "Yes sir." She said. Apparently, those were two of the most expensive bottle of Chianti. She called to Trowa for help. He emerged from the back, and Duo put his head down, hand still cradling his wine glass. "Trowa, will you help this gentlemen, he wants two bottle of this Chianti, I have some business to attend to in the back." She said as she went into that backroom.

"Two bottles sir?" Trowa asked casually. He saw the man nod, and proceeded to walk around the counter and to the shelf to fetch the two bottles. He paused as the man spoke.

Duo saw him turn and fetch the bottles. He removed his hat and glasses, and un tucked his braid from his shirt. He spoke to Trowa. "Don't recognize an old friend Trowa?"

Trowa froze. He turned and saw a sight he hadn't seen for years. He saw, Duo Maxwell, standing there with his fists on his hips, braid swinging softly behind him, and his trademark grin on his face. His mouth dropped open, the shut immediately. He was speechless.

"God Trowa, I know you're the silent type, but the least you could do is say 'hello'." He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled. "It's good to see you."

Trowa allowed himself a small smile. "Same here." He walked over to the counter and put the two bottle of wine on the counter. "Cash or charge?" He asked, letting out a small chuckle.

"Ha-ha." Duo replied sarcastically. "Cash. Smartass." He smiled though.

"Very good sir." Trowa said as he packed the bottles in paper and into a bag. "I heard you were in town, the whole city is talking about it. How long will you be here?" Trowa asked.

"A few more days. Then I'm off to the last stop on this freakin tour. Then it's off for some R and R, much needed R and R." He smiled softly. "Wufei and Quatre are here with me." He said finally.

Trowa looked up. "Oh." He said, eyes looking down.

"He wants to see you, you know." He looked at his friends down cast face. "He's down right nervous as hell."

"What about Heero?" Trowa asked suddenly.

Duo paused and blinked. "What about him?"

"Is he here with you as well?" Trowa asked, changing the subject.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Duo asked suddenly.

Trowa breathed out. He looked up into Duo's face. His visible eye calm and serious. "There are things that you and I have to discuss."

"Like what?" Duo asked, alarmed suddenly by the change in Trowa's voice.

"How long do you have?" Trowa asked, walking into the backroom.

Uncertain, Duo followed.

To Be Continued............................................

What a place to stop!!! Ah, but at least it will give you guys something to mull over for a while. LEAVE REVIEWS!!!