AN: Well, here it is. Chapter 23. There's only one more chapter after this I think and I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it. It's definitely longer than my others and I'd like to know what all of you think. I definitely had fun writing this chapter and even I was practically in tears… As I was writing it. O.o Heh heh, such a crybaby I am. Please read and review.
Special Thanks to:
Marauder Heir: I liked the punching Yusuke scene too. He's such a baka, lol. But he's our baka, hehe.
Kami-Crimson: Aww, I'm sorry… I know I had more depressing stuff. Hopefully not as much threatening though for the next review, hehe. But it's okay, I can understand your threats. I would do the same if I were you.
Tina-Chan O: Aww, you're too sweet. And thanks for another great review. You really make me happy. And actually you might be surprised who's really haunting Heero's dreams lol. Not who ya think but it's kewl. It woulda been a good idea if I'd thought about it… O.o But I like my idea too, hehe. Anyway, continue enjoying. Lots of luv!
Jess-Eklom: Aww, I'm sorry about the cliffie, but here ya go. A nice new chappie for ya to read. I hope you enjoy this one. Tis great. I had a lot of fun writing it.
Modified Tam: Hehe, thanks for another wonderful review. I love your reviews a lot for some reason. Happiness is me. I hope you continue enjoying! Please continue to let me know what you think. Lots of luv!
Cherry Fantasy: Hehe, thanks for a great review. Yeah, I loved that Wufei was finally able to say it. It's true that it's always better to hear it from someone rather than just to know it. I hope you continue enjoying this and I look forward to another great review from you. Luvs!
Lots of luv to EVERYONE! And thank you to those who have stuck to my story so far. It really makes me happy and my reviewers. Nothing inspires me more than they do. Thank you everyone! I love you all! Please enjoy this chapter and look forward to the last chapter.
Chapter 23
"Lily, phone! It's Duo!" Wufei shouted out up to their room. He listened as footsteps quickly made their way down the stairs and through the living room into the kitchen. The girl grabbed the phone from his grasp and fell into a chair at the counter, trying to catch her breath.
"Duo?" The girl gasped for air and she nodded to the phone as Duo was probably explaining things. "Sister Kaede did?" Lily's gaze darkened as Wufei thought maybe Duo was delivering bad news. "Heart attack?" The girl choked back a sob, placing her hand to her mouth as tears graced her soft cheeks. She shook her hair, long black strands flowing around her.
"Lily?" Wufei reached out to his love, taking her hand and pulling it from her face, causing her to look up at him. "What happened?" He stared into violet eyes watching as the girl struggled to talk. "Is everything alright?"
"No," the girl finally managed and passed the phone to Wufei. She would have explained herself, but there was no way she would be able to get the words out.
"Hello? Duo? What happened?" Wufei asked into the phone and sighed when Duo explained about Kaede and the heart attack and how she had passed on. Wufei never knew the woman, but knew that Lily did and that she'd held high respect for the woman. He hung up the phone and looked over to Lily. "Come on, we're going to the hospital," he'd explained and grabbed their coats.
"Why?" the girl sobbed out. "How will that help anyone? She's already dead."
"Duo needs you Lily and you know it," Wufei lectured her. "Without Heero around who will he turn to?"
Nodding, Lily took her coat from Wufei, slipping it on quickly as they both ran out the door and towards the hospital. Upon reaching the hospital, the two ran into Yukina who stared sadly at her friends. Lily blinked at the girl and tried to smile.
"Yukina, how are you?" Lily asked. The girl lately had been the nurse tending to Heero during her shift, while not on her shift she was studying hard at her new school not too far from the hospital.
"Tired," the blue haired girl answered truthfully. "But I'm sure we all are." Yukina sighed. "I'm really sorry about what happened with Sister Kaede. First Heero in a coma and now Sister Kaede passing away… Things must be rough lately."
"Thank you."
"Lily!" Hilde ran up to the girl, wrapping her arms tightly around her. "It's horrible," the girl sobbed out and Lily just held the girl tightly, sighing as warm tears wet her shoulder. Why were things the way they were lately? Why was everything happening all at once? Why were they even in such a predicament?
Hilde finally let go of the girl and led the couple over to where Duo sat, face void of any expression. Lily sighed and leaned down in front of the boy who stared at her blankly. She reached up pulling him into a warm embrace. Tears once again fell from her violet eyes and she felt Duo's arms wrap around her, holding her close as he buried his face into her shoulder. She felt him sigh as tears finally graced the boy's eyes the first time since he'd received the horrible news.
Duo was amazed. He hadn't even thought it was possible to cry anymore with as much as he'd been crying lately, but here Lily had brought the tears out of him, allowing him to release the pain that he'd had pent up deep inside. Sister Kaede had been like a mother to Duo. She was always there to take care of him at the orphanage and now she was gone. The woman he had deemed most like his mother was gone. He'd never see that smile ever again.
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Heero was once again watching the scenes play in front of him as he'd contemplated what the young girl had said. Who was she? And why was she even in his thoughts? Was she someone important to him?
"If you're wondering if she's important then you really are lost."
Heero blinked, staring up at yet another young girl, probably about the same age as the one before her. This girl had black hair to about her knees, but instead of the red tips she had silver highlights throughout her hair. Her eyes were a pale blue. She looked familiar too, but Heero couldn't figure out why.
"Who are you?" Heero asked the girl.
"Someone who's known you for a very long time, although probably not as long as the girl before me," she explained. "I'd love to tell you my name," the girl chimed while grinning, "but I think that's up to you to find out."
"The girl before me… is she important to me?"
The girl nodded taking a seat next to Heero. "Hai. She's one of your two most important people."
"Two?" Heero blinked. "Who's the other?"
"You'll come to see in your own time my friend," the girl simply stated and disappeared from the boy's sight.
Heero, left alone once again, returned to watching his memories fly by.
Heero was sitting alone, all the kids on the other side of the room laughing about something. In the center was the boy with the long braid, violet eyes laughing with the rest of the group. Heero had wanted to be a part of that, but socializing just wasn't his thing. And then the braided boy turned to him grinning and ran over taking Heero by the hands.
"Why do you always sit alone Heero?" the boy asked him, and Heero blinked up at him.
"You know they don't like me."
"Is that really true?" Duo asked leaning down to be eye level with the boy. "I like you. You're my best friend and I want you over there with me. If they don't like that then that's their own problem and they can find someone else to hang out with."
Heero blinked and nodded, allowing the boy to pull him up from his seat and drag him to the center of the group with him. Many of the other kids greeted him and Heero actually felt like a part of the group for once.
"Enjoying yourself?" The girl with the red tips appeared yet again and Heero blinked up at her and nodded.
"These memories, they're a part of me," he explained. "I want to remember everything."
"But this isn't everything," she said sadly, violet eyes filled with loneliness. "Everything is in the real world where all your friends are waiting… Where me and him are waiting."
"Who is him?"
"The most important person in your life, Hee-chan. Remember… for us."
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Lily glared down at her brother. Anger consumed her and she hated it. She hated that he was in a coma. She hated that Duo was alone. She hated that Kaede was gone. She hated this hospital. But most of all, she hated her brother because he wasn't there for them. Instead he was locked deep into his own thoughts, not caring that anyone else needed him there… that so many people were waiting for him.
"Damn it Hee-chan, just wake up already." Tears fell from the girl onto her brother. She pounded her fist on the side of his bed, falling to her knees. "Duo needs you. I don't even care about myself anymore," the girl said while taking her brother's hand. "Please, return to us soon."
Lily quickly wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "I've never been so angry at you before and I know it's not your fault, but what are we supposed to do without you Hee-chan? Don't we matter to you? What's so important in there that's keeping you from us?" She stood, once again staring down at her brother. "I love all of you, and I can't stand to lose any of you. We've all been through tough times, but I think it's those times that have kept us all so close to one another." The girl smiled. "We wouldn't be the people we are today. I think if you'd never been adopted by my family then I would have always stayed a quiet little child who would lock herself away from everyone else, making no friends, or anything. You appeared and I was so happy to have an older brother and you always protected me. You shielded me from what used to be such unbearable pain. You are my light Hee-chan and I want that light back."
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Heero blinked as a memory unlike his others suddenly appeared in front of him.
Heero stood in what deemed to be a mansion while he was looking for a young girl a year younger than him. He'd only been here for a little time, but he'd learned that the girl was much lonelier than he'd been at the orphanage. She'd had a mother that never paid attention to her and a father that loved her very much but was almost never home due to work. The young girl hated her mother who never let her out or was always yelling at her about something. Heero had learned this is why he'd been adopted… to basically replace the girl. The father didn't want it, but the mother insisted on another child and since she had known the Yuy's and that they had been a well respected family, her sights were set on Heero. The girl though had taken a liking to Heero since that first day he'd woken up in the hospital.
Heero opened up a cabinet in the kitchen to find the girl curled in it sobbing quietly. She looked up at Heero, violet pools shining brightly at him. He smiled placing out a hand for her as she calmly took it and climbed out of the cabinet.
"Lily-chan, daijoubu?" Heero asked the girl as he wiped her tears from her eyes. The girl nodded and smiled.
"Hai Hee-chan."
Hee-chan? Isn't that what that girl with the red tips called him? And then it hit him. The young girl had red tips as well. He reached out his hand brushing through the young girl. Who was she? And why had he been looking for her? Had he really known her that long ago? And then his mind brought him to another memory.
Heero had no idea where he was. He hurt… That's all he knew. He slowly started opening his eyes as bright light seeped in causing him to quickly shut them once again. Waiting a moment he tried again to find a girl staring down at him. She had a bright beautiful smile, with beautiful violet eyes that pulled him in.
"You're awake," the girl exclaimed happily. "I've been waiting here for you to wake up."
"Who are you?" Heero asked the girl, sitting up from his position on the bed.
"I'm Lily. I'm your new little sister. I'm a year younger than you," the girl explained.
"Lily?" Heero blinked and looked around. "Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital. Your driver got into an accident on the way to my house and you were badly injured," the girl explained. "My parents adopted you from an orphanage a while from here."
"An orphanage?" Heero held his head. "I don't remember anything."
"The doctor said that you might have amnesia," Lily responded sadly but was soon smiling again. "Don't worry." She climbed onto the bed next to the boy. "I'll give you new memories. Really happy ones," she sang out. "And hopefully one day I can help you remember from before today."
Heero blinked and smiled. "Thank you Lily."
"Anything for my big brother Hee-chan."
"Hee-chan?"
"Hai! Your name is Heero Yuy, but I prefer Hee-chan," the girl exclaimed.
Heero laughed. "Hee-chan it is then. But only you, okay Lily?"
"Hai!"
Heero smiled as he remembered now who the girl was and he looked up at her as she stood beside him, staring blankly at the scene before them. He hadn't seen her appear or anything, but knew it was probably her most precious memory as well. He stood, taking her hand in his.
"So that's why you're one of my two most important people."
Lily nodded. "Hai."
"And is my other important one Duo?"
Lily looked at the boy. "You must find that out on your own." She leaned over kissing the boy on the cheek. "I won't be appearing anymore. I'll leave the rest to the others."
"Others? Wait!" But the girl had already disappeared.
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Lily now sat outside with Duo once again. Hilde had gone off to find some coffee as she really didn't want to leave her friends here alone at the hospital. She knew she wasn't much help, but it was always nice to have an extra friend around to look to. Her eyes could no longer shed any tears over this incident. Her eyes stung from crying so much that they were now really dry and red. Luckily she hadn't looked in a mirror yet because she wasn't ready yet to see just how puffy her eyes got.
She walked back over to where Lily and Duo were to find Duo laying down, head rested on Lily's lap. Lily looked up, tired from all her crying, at Hilde and the girl handed her a cup of coffee. Lily took it graciously, and sipped carefully at the steaming liquid in her hands. She turned to Heero's room where Wufei was currently. She sighed and leaned her head back against the wall as Hilde sat on the free side of Lily.
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Wufei sat in Heero's room, staring blankly at the boy. He grinned. "You know, I remember how much you hated me when you first appeared," Wufei told the boy. "It was only because of Lily that you learned to accept me, but I think it's because of Lily that you hated me so much." Wufei laughed. "You were jealous of all the attention I was getting and most of all you were protective. For some reason you didn't trust me." Wufei shook his head. "Well now it's my turn to hate you and be protective. You better come back soon or those two bakas may never be their normal selves ever again. Like I said before, they're hopeless without you."
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"Yuy."
Heero turned to come face to face with a Chinese boy who had black hair slicked back into a ponytail. He blinked wondering who would be bothering him now. It was obviously someone else he knew and he blinked remembering the boy from one of his previous memories.
"Chang," he called out and the boy nodded.
"Why are you still here?" Wufei asked and Heero blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"You know this isn't the real world, so why are you still here?"
"And how do you suppose I get back?" Heero demanded to know and Wufei only grinned.
"Figure it out yourself."
"Why the hell do all you people gotta be so cryptic?" Heero practically shouted. He was getting tired of these people appearing and telling him basically nothing. "Just tell me why the hell I'm here?"
"You already know the answer to that." And so he disappeared. Figures. Heero huffed out in anger and plopped down to the ground. Damn people were pissin' him off. He just wanted to remember things and more memories than he'd expected appeared before him, overwhelming him as he now wished he could see these people for real… not in this place which he now deemed the dream world. The question was how was he supposed to get out?
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Finally, it was Duo's turn to see Heero and then they would all go back home. Lily would probably just get the others to order out because he was sure she wouldn't be in the mood to cook tonight. But then he smiled. Knowing Lily, chances are she'd still force herself to cook and smile acting cheerful around everyone else being as that's what she did best. She was really good at hiding her real feelings.
Duo slipped his hand into Heero's and looked down sadly at the boy. He pulled the chair close and sat down, all the while still watching Heero. The boy looked so peaceful, Duo couldn't understand it. He ran his free hand through Heero's hair and sighed.
"Why are you leaving us alone like this?" Duo asked the boy knowing very well he couldn't really answer him, but he wanted an answer. He wanted the boy to wake up and to smile up at him, saying he was back… that he had returned to them, but Duo wasn't sure if that would ever happen.
"I got called into the hospital by Hilde this morning," Duo told the boy. He forced a smile. "I wasn't sure what to think. I was hoping that everything would be okay. But I get here and we wait and wait and then I learn everything wasn't okay. You see, Sister Kaede passed away today. She had a heart attack." Duo's smile faltered and he took a deep breath. "Funny thing is I didn't cry till Lily got here. She stared up at me for a moment and then next thing I knew she was hugging me like a mother would with a scared child. She started crying and I knew she was hurting not only because of Sister's Kaede's death, but because she could feel my pain buried inside me. It's weird how Lily can read us like that, but I'm glad because I was finally able to cry." Duo choked back a sob. "Why did it take Lily's help to make me cry though? And now…" Tears rolled down the boy's cheeks, falling onto Heero's face. "I want you back Heero. Please come back to me. I need you. I don't know what to do anymore. Things aren't supposed to be this way." Duo shook his head. "I'm hopeless without you."
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Heero felt something flood his chest as his heart suddenly tightened. He felt something wet and warm hit him, and he blinked up. What was this? He blinked as he realized that same wet warm feeling was rolling down his cheeks and he rubbed his hands on his face pulling them away and staring down. Tears? Was he crying? He looked around and a figure started slowly appearing before him.
A boy with bright cobalt eyes stared at him, with a long chestnut brown braid falling behind him. Heero recognized him as the boy from his childhood. The one that he'd wanted to remember. And then he remembered… He was trying to remember for him. His most important person.
"Duo."
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Duo blinked when he suddenly felt Heero's hand moved and he stared at the boy, eyes wide as he continued crying. "Heero, can you hear me? Do you know I'm here?" the boy asked. "Please wake up Heero. You need to wake up. We all need you back. I need you back. I don't care anymore if you remember your past or not. I just want you back. I realize now it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're here with me."
Duo sighed tightening his grip around the boy's hand. "I love you."
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"You'll come back to me, won't you?" Duo asked and Heero cried some more. He watched as Duo's hand reached out to him and a bright light started to glow around him.
"You really want me back?" the boy asked and Duo smiled.
"Of course silly. I love you."
Heero's eyes widened as he choked back a sob and smiled. He tried wiping away his tears and nodded. He reached out for Duo's hand. It was warm. Duo pulled him into his embrace and kissed the boy on the forehead. Heero closed his eyes as he felt a sudden pull like he was moving somewhere else and then…
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Duo blinked as tears suddenly fell from Heero's eyes. He wasn't sure what to think. Slowly those tear filled eyes started to open and Heero was staring up at the braided boy. Duo never thought he could cry anymore than he was now as he was so happy to see the boy awake. He buried his face into the boy's chest and Heero smiled, placing a hand on Duo's head.
"I love you too Duo."
AN: Well? What do you think? Hee-chan's finally awake… YAY! Please review. I want opinions people. Lots and lots of opinions.