AN: The first chapter was 500 words, the second 1000, the third 2000. I know, I don't like reading short chapters either. I'm working on lengthening them each time though. But I also want to post them in a timely fashion as well.

Also, I'm aware that there is alot of build up, but it'll be worth it. I wish I could skip all this and get right into the drama and action, but stick with me, k?

I'm sorry the last two chapters were formatted weird, I dunno what happened .

Anyway, without further ado, here's the next chapter. And please remember to review. I need to know if people are hearting this or not. Kthx darlings.

When Skies are Gray

You are new and near now to someone you used to love
when you were young; when all was gold and you two touched
and felt the flutter underneath your skin. You stood in glowing rooms,
the light dripping from both of you.
and nothing since has felt as radiant or real.
and there is nothing more i want than just one night
that's free of doubt and sadness
one night that i can really feel.


"Touch" Bright Eyes

Heero's POV

One could call the silence in the transit ship to Earth awkward. To be honest, I don't a better word you possibly could use to describe the stretching silence.

I wasn't used to this "new" Duo, as Lady Une had coined it.

During the war Duo would seemingly pull conversations out of thin air. There was never silence. It was Duo who I had relied on to keep my mind off of things. To keep me sane.

I guess it's like when you get in the car and immediately reach for the knob to flip on the radio. It doesn't matter if there is a commercial on, or even some song you hate and would never listen to otherwise. Because the point is that you don't feel so lonely knowing that voices, however recorded, are filling your car. You're not alone anymore. Or at least that's the impression you get.

But there was no radio to flip on in this shuttle. Not that I had expected there would be.

I guess back during the war Duo was my "radio."

It didn't matter that I would hardly talk back to him. He was cheerful, he always carried the conversation, and he always kept Quatre happy even in the worst of situations.

I had just assumed that was the way Duo was, the way he had always been.

Not I can't help but wonder if maybe that was just his way of coping back then. I mean, we all had our methods.

Quatre coped through Trowa

Trowa coped likewise, through Quatre.

Wufei coped by withdrawing into himself and seeing revenge and "justice" as his only goal.

It isn't hard to say what my coping strategy was. I was silent; I was what I had been made into. The perfect soldier. I didn't feel, I didn't need to. I didn't care about life, not about my own, not about those whose lives I was taking, not about anyones. Well, I was almost the perfect soldier. There was someone's live I particularly cared about.

But the Duo sitting next to me know isn't my friend from the war. No, the Duo sitting next to me now is the pilot of 02 Gundam, morbid and introverted. I can't help but wonder if this is the way Duo really was before all the war began. Something told me that that wasn't the case. Something told me that introverted was an attribute that Duo was never meant to possess.

I guess that's how I am now now. I was never meant to feel emotion, it was an attribute I was never meant to possess---yet I do now.

I was never supposed to have friends, but Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei are my friends.

After the war I spent most of my time living with Quatra and Trowa. Wufei would frequently visit. In those two years my friends showed me that I wasn't the robot I had been trained to be. I know that now. I can't say I'm perfect. I can't say that I'm a normal guy. I'm not. But I try.

I have to force myself sometimes to talk, to include myself. But it feels awkward and forced. Everything I do is always so forced.

I glance over at Duo next to me. His jaw is stiff and his eyes are set straight ahead. Nothing Duo ever did was forced. Even now, even in his silence he seems so in control of what he does.

But I have to remind myself, this isn't the same Duo I once knew. I wish that I could show him that I'm not the same Heero. But judging from those glares I receive from his when he manages to brave a glance in my direction, that'll have to wait.

"We're almost there," I heard my strangled voice say against my will. I needed to break this silence. Quatre never allowed silence when we were all together.

"Yeah, I pretty much figured seeing as we're on Earth. You might have thought I was a dumb-fuck back in the day, Yuy, but since then I've studied up on it, and I've learned how to read signs. And that giant sign that says "Brooklake Springs Academy, 5 miles", that was a dead giveaway."

"Oh, okay," I muster. I make a mental note to never seemingly explain anything to him again.

As if the silence couldn't get more unbearable. The air was filled with electric now.

Just when I thought I couldn't bear being in this shuttle any longer I felt it come to an abrupt stop.

"We're here boys," calls the female voice from upfront.

Noin. Always a faithful servant of Preventers.

"I'll just make sure your bags are brought in after you!" said the purple haired woman.

"Okay," I manage before squeezing out a "thank you."

Duo was following me into the building now, taking his damn time walking up the what seemed like million steps. The building was huge, all brick, and appeared to be very old.

"Can I help you?" A smiling grandmother type of woman sat behind a counter and took down our information as Noin got our registration sorted out. Apparently they had been expecting us.

We were lead to a different building full of small apartment-like complexes which I supposed passed as dorms. Duo followed behind looking very indifferent to the entire situation.

"You'll be staying here," Noin explained while motioning us inside.

The dorm average in size, but living in Quatre's mansion for two years tends to change your perception of what is considered large.

One living room area complete with a TV, sofa, and small table, a makeshift kitchen area, and one bedroom made up the accommodations.

"Well I'll leave you two to get settled," said Noin throwing me a sympathetic smile.

"Before I go however, Lady Une wanted me to pass along a bit more information to you. Just so you know, classes begin tomorrow. Don't let yourselves stand out. I'm sure you know the procedure. Contact Preventers daily with updates on your situation. Other than that, everything you need to know is in this portfolio," she said passing me a manila envelope.

"Good luck boys," she said, eyeing us both, before exiting our dorm.

Duo had already managed to make himself comfortable on our sofa and was flipping through various channels on the TV. His tight black tee clung to his form and I couldn't help but become distracted for the slightest second. Perfect solider indeed.

"What do you want?" he asked haughtily without taking his eyes off the screen.

"What?" I replied taken aback. I felt a blush creep its way up my cheeks against my will. My body always found clever ways to betray me. I was lucky Duo refused to look at me these days, otherwise my giveaways would certainly be noticed.

"You're over there staring at me. You obviously want something," suddenly angry violet eyes turned their gaze to me for the first time today. This only managed to throw me off guard even more.

"I um, I wanted to go over this information together before tomorrow," I manage pointing a the envelope that Noin had passed onto me.

"Of course, what the hell else would you have to say to me?" He snapped, turning his attention back to the TV.

I couldn't understand why he was acting this defensive and angrily toward me. I certainly wasn't going to confront him about it. I didn't want him to blow up on me before the mission had even begun and storm out.

I took a seat next to him and opened the envelope Noin had given me. I scanned over the information while he watched some damn television show. His foot kept taping against the table leg. That simple act was unnerving to say the least.

"Well?" he asked accusingly.

"We're to be on the look out for a particular boy. His name is Konstance Lingg. He is supposedly the head of the chapter of the society here. If we manage to befriend him, there's a very good chance we'll be initiated," I said slowly.

"Hm." His attention remained focused on the TV.

I left the dorm shortly afterwards, not wanting to partake in the silence anymore. I walked around the large campus, making mental notes of where my classes would be tomorrow.

I brought back some burgers from a small restaurant I had found on campus. I remembered that burgers and fries had been Duo's favorite food. But when I had gotten back he refused to take any of the food, citing that he had already eaten.

I am almost certain that he hadn't left the apartment for one minute to get food however, I fact I was almost certain he hadn't moved from his seat on the sofa since we had arrived.

We spent the rest of the night unpacking and getting settled. There were bunk beds to save space. By the time I had gotten into the room Duo had already claimed the top. Not that I had my heart set on it or anything.

I took a quick shower for the evening and sat at my desk in the room researching the history of the school as well as information on the society.

Duo hadn't come to bed yet, and I was wondering if he was still watching that TV. It was already well past midnight and our first class began tomorrow at eight.

I padded into the kitchen under the pretense of making myself a snack and found that I didn't need a cover story. He was already asleep.

His body was stretched out on the small sofa, his legs hanging precariously over the edge, and his arms huddled under his head. Some of his hair had slipped free of its braid and hung around the softened features of his face.

This was the first time today that I had truly seen a side of Duo that I remembered from before. He was always so beautiful when he slept, and that hadn't changed.

Part of me wanted to wake him, I knew that sleeping on the sofa would lead to pain in the morning, but I knew that if I woke him he'd only revert back to his new self. I didn't think I could put myself through any more defensive rebuttals for the night.

I decided on an alternative. I slipped past him on the sofa and found the remote, wedged under the sofa. I made my way back to the doorway of our room turned down the lights so it wouldn't hurt his eyes when he entered. I pressed the volume button, until the TV was subsequently loud. I heard movement in coming from his direction and jumped back into my chair at my desk and stared at my laptop.

He walked befuddled into the room, managed to somehow glare at me through his sleepy haze, and then passed out on his bunk.

Mission accomplished.

I smiled a bit, in spite of myself, and then took my leave from the desk, stripped my pants and shirt, and made my way over to my own bed. I did have to wake up in four hours after all.

I heard Duo's soft breathing from above me, and to his rhythmic breaths I managed to be lulled into sleep.