Title: Learn from past and live for future
Pairings: 1x2
Chapter 7
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Duo did not know what exactly woke him up but his senses where telling him that someone was watching him. Ironically there was not a big question who it could be all he needed to do was to turn his head and see the only person who mattered to him more than any other living being in the world, Heero Yuy.
"Hey buddy, can't you sleep?" Duo asked with a sleepy voice.
"Sorry," was all he got out of Heero. Answer although it was somewhat vague.
"What time it is?" Duo's sleepy eyes moved toward the clock "Oh, good it's only 2 AM we still have a lot of time to sleep you know." While talking he again turned his head toward Heero and asked "Why are you sorry?"
"I always felt most at ease when we were together," Heero continued.
Okay, that was something Duo understood, "I know what you mean and it's the same with me".
"Those times we shared a room where the best time for me; regardless of a war and problems we were facing." Heero said staring at Duo with fond eyes.
"Probably because deep down we knew we could depend on each other to watch one another backs." For a while only outdoor sounds could be heard "Those where good times," Duo absently added.
After a while Heero continued with his monolog. "Ironically, even after ending of a war and no threat around, I still could not feel at ease no matter whom I was with."
"It would be really suspicious if you could. War changes everyone Heero, no matter which side one was fighting for. It takes time to get used to it. For me that time came when I was traveling." Duo really hoped Heero understood what he wanted to say. "What about your wife?" he asked Heero again. That question did pull Heero back from his one side of talking.
"Relena," Heero asked with a frown, "What about here?"
"If you are with the right person Heero no matter the gender she or he can help a lot with adjusting."
For a while both felt quiet and Duo knew he would have to make Heero talk more openly to him if he ever wanted to get Heero to sleep, "Heero, talk to me".
"I never slept in same bad as Relena." Heero responded with a quiet tone not even looking at Duo anymore.
Duo eyes widened as he returned Heero's stare, he was to astonished to replay right away and in truth he did not know what was the right response to make to that statement. "WOW, that is a big change of the topic. How did Relena take that?"
And again Heero was quiet for some time before he responded to Duo's question "Don't know, she never talked about it. Usually I waited for her to get into deep sleep before I removed myself from bed."
"Where did you sleep then?" Duo really did not understand how Heero could be married to Relena and not sleep in same bed as here. But if he was honest to himself, if someone could do that it was Heero.
"In the guest rooms at first," Heero replayed "then as Solo got older I started to use his room. He had a big sofa and I did not need much." While explaining Heero made a strange facial expression something between frown and a smile that really irked Duo, but soon Heero's face went back to his stoic form.
"No, wait. What was that face about? What did you remembered?" Duo asked with wonder.
"It's about Solo. I am just remembering how Solo always reacted to my presence in his room."
"Do tell," Duo responded.
"I never woke him up or let him know I was there but always when I woke up he was on top of me."
"So you can sleep with him in the same room," Duo responded.
"Yes, my mind shield is immune to him," as it's to you, Heero wanted to add but didn't, "and don't ask me how or why, I don't know." Heero replayed knowing what Duo wanted to say.
"Okay," Duo responded "Continue, then".
So Heero did "I wanted to know what was going on so I stayed up and watched my son." And again Heero smiled that little intimate smile. "You should see him, that little guy standing up and walked to me and then crawling on top of me and the whole time he was actually sleeping. The research pointed me toward sleepwalking."
"Sleepwalking," Duo responded in wonder "What did you learn from research?"
"Sleepwalking, formally known as somnambulism, is a behaviour disorder that originates during deep sleep and results in walking or performing other complex behaviours while asleep. It is much more common in children than adults. Because a sleepwalker typically remains in deep sleep throughout the episode, he or she may be difficult to awaken and will probably not remember the sleepwalking incident."
It was nothing new for Duo to see Heero recite exact the same words he was reading online while searching all about sleepwalking. Why? Because all Gundam pilots could do it, even Duo himself.
"Is sleepwalking not dangerous?" wondered Duo.
"Sleepwalking usually involves more than just walking during sleep," Heero continued "it is a series of complex behaviours that are carried out while sleeping, the most obvious of which is walking. Symptoms of sleepwalking disorder range from simply sitting up in bed and looking around, to walking around the room or house, to leaving the house and even driving long distances. It is a common misconception that a sleepwalker should not be awakened. In fact, it can be quite dangerous not to wake a sleepwalker."
"So, yes to my own question" replayed Duo after Heero's monolog talking. "So what did you do?" Duo asked once again.
"Did not need to really, because usually it was triggered just when I was in the room," Heero explained, "To me, it was like he felt me and wanted to be near me. His sub consciousness pulled him to me and if I let it be everything was alright."
"That would be fun to see. Do you think it could happen even here?" asked Duo.
"Don't know but it would not surprise me," Heero replayed.
After a while Duo continued with their talk "Let us get to the main reason why you can't sleep. Do you want your own room Heero?"
Heero again looked direct into Duos eyes before he replayed "If you are talking about sleeping in it then no, not really. I want to sleep in the same room and in the same bad as you if it's possible and you don't have problem with sharing it with me."
Duo could tell from Heero's tone of voice how nervous he was and at same time scared of Duos replay. Of course Duo could not tell him openly, not yet, how happy that request made him. "You know the answer to that," Duo responded "What do you want to do with your room. For what purpose will you be using it?"
While waiting for Heero to think about it and getting a replay Duo noticed how Heero's whole body posture changed into at ease status. Good, then maybe they both could go to sleep very soon.
"We could always use it for an office if you don't have one of course," Heero slowly replayed with closed eyes.
"I do have one but its small and it would be fun to have one big office," replayed Duo also with close eyes.
"A desk and computer for each of use," continued Heero.
"With large conference desk for Joe and Tom if they need to talk business with us or any other guest," added Duo.
The talk went on and on with both of them already half asleep and if someone asked Duo what time did he fall asleep or what did they talk about at the end, he could not say.
...
Next time Duo woke up it was 6 AM and his bedroom door was open just a little bit. That was strange because he did not remember letting it open when they went to bed and he never slept before his bedroom door was not properly closed. Maybe Baba or Buch got inn; while still thinking about possibilities his eyes roomed around his room before they stopped on Heero and the small burden lying on top of him. Talking about Solos sleepwalking with Heero and actually seeing the result of it were two different things. What surprised him the most was the fact that Solo actually came to the room without waking Duo up. That really was just one big "WOW" from Duos point of view.
"You really are one small wonder," said Duo more to himself then to the two sleeping figures in the room. While watching both of their sleeping faces he felt amazed once more to see the similarities between father and son. Solo was the exact image of Heero as he would be his little clone. If he hadn't seen the pictures of Relena in her pregnant state he would never believe her or anyone that she actually borne him.
While wishing he could just lie here and look at Heero and his son he knew he could not. He had to get up and help Tom and Joe with the animals and other early chores. So, with quick movements he selected his daily outfit went to the bathroom to change and was out of the room before either of the two sleeping figures even moved.
When he stepped out of the house his eyes landed on the horse barn. The barn was in square shape with entrances on all four sides with the ability to close down any one, two or three as needed.
Inside the barn were 8 horse stalls divided to 4 on left and 4 on right side. Each stall was 14 by 14 feet wide and 7 feet in hieght. In between the stalls they had solid partitions for those horses that did not get along. "Shiny for example." Common to each stall was also the position of water and feed bucket. Each bucket was in one corner opposite of one another. Duo was told that those positions discouraged horses from dunking their feed and also minimizes the mess they made.
His horse barn was light, airy, pleasant to work in and easy to kept clean, of course he had done it every day. He wanted his horses to feel homey and comfortable even if that sounded silly even to his own ears. Aside from stalls, the barn also had a tack room, feed room, cleaning room and grooming room.
All in all Duo was satisfied with it.
While walking toward the barn, Baba and Buch came running out with happy barking circling Duo and jumping on him to try and lick his face "Okay, Okay I love you both but you have to stop now." and they did as they were told.
When he entered the barn his first stop was Shiny's stall. With watchful eyes Shiny was already waiting for him and watching Duos progress while judging him with his eyes.
"What? I am not late. If you are so hungry you could always came and wake me up."
Shiny was the only horse on his property who had a habit of coming and going out of his stall as he pleased. At the start Duo did not like it one bit but as time passed by everyone just got used to it and now it was just one of Shiny's habit's nobody bothered to brake.
"Maybe tomorrow you can come very early and wake me and Heero up," just the thought of it made Duo smile "but first I have to make sure he doesn't have any weapon on himself or under his pillow."
While talking to Shiny Duo hugged his horse around it's neck and pet him for a few minutes not needing any more word. After a while he let him go and again looked at Shiny "I will make you breakfast right away and while you are waiting you can munch on the carrots," which he took out of his side pocket.
When he took care of Shiny's feed and water buckets he groomed him and cleaned his stall then he moved to other stalls and repeated that process. When the work was done and all he intended to do was completed, he went over to the School barn to see if Joe and Tom needed any help with horses.
The walk between two barns was not long and if someone would watch him he would see a man walking with two dogs and one horse. All tree trailing behind him. Between a school barn and their barn was just one large outdoor arena with nearby pasture. As Duo walked he watched school horses already out and grazing on the pasture, which told him that Joe and Tom let them out while working on their stalls.
While entering the barn he found Joe finishing the work with Tom nowhere in sight.
"Morning, Joe," smiled Duo while staring to help Joe with the cleaning.
"Morning, Duo. Did you sleep well?"
"Sure did, where is Tom I thought he would be with you," asked Duo looking around to see if he may be overseen Tom in some stall.
"He was here 5 minutes ago but said he will go do some work around the house," Joe replayed while working.
"You guys have all the notes and ideas ready for Simon?" Duo asked.
"Good you mentioned him, he called Tom on the phone and told him that something came up and he could not make it to the breakfast. He asked if it would be okay for him to just come to our place and talk there."
"He probably had some extra work come in and is juggling with both as he knows."
"Probably," replayed Joe.
When all the work was done and all the horses could be left alone both stopped with the work and just set for a while and talked.
"Did he tell Tom when you guys can expect him? What time I mean?" wondered Duo.
"No, but said he would call us when he is near," explained Joe.
"If you guys need me in any way just call me," Duo stood up.
"What about you guys?" asked Joe back.
"Heero and me?" Duo responded.
"Yes, do you have any plan for today?"
At first Duo thought about yesterday and then replayed "I thought I would take Heero and Solo with me today and go to Shopping Mall."
"Anything special you guys want to buy?" asked Joe.
"Yesterday I showed Solo a few guest rooms and told him he could choose one room for his own."
"Nice," responded Joe then waited for Duo to continue.
"After he did I promised him he would be the one who will have a saying in how his room will look and what furniture he would have in it," explained Duo.
"Is he not a little bit too young to have a say in it? He is only 5 years old or?"
"Maybe," wondered Duo aloud, "even so I still think it will be his room so he should pick what he likes. Oh, and he already decided he wanted to have his wall in rainbow colors. Will be cool to see how will Bobby paint them."
"Did you talk to Bobby yet?" asked Joe.
"No, will do it before we take a trip to the Mall," replayed Duo.
"You guys have a great time there and as long as you and Heero are there with him when he chooses it will be alright," Joe ended that topic.
"When we have all we need for Solos room we will have to clean all the guest room furniture out. So I was hoping you guys would help us out. "
"Of course we will, just tell us when," added Joe.
"Cool," responded Duo "The room you guys going to make for Toms sister will need new furniture or?" wondered Duo.
"Yes we will, why?" responded Joe.
"The guest room we will clean out is fully equipped with furniture and nobody will need it anymore. I thought if you guys want it you can have it." Duo just hoped he did not sound as if he was forcing the furniture on them. "Of course I understand that you guys have your own style and your own ideas about how some rooms should be equipped so just take a look while we clean and decide if you want anything of it."
"Duo, both of us where few times in your guest rooms and all the furniture in it are high class so if you really won't need it for any of your other rooms we will gladly take it. That way we won't need to wonder what to buy her or what she will need when the times comes." The smile Joe gave him was all Duo needed to know that he was telling him the truth and not just being polite.
"Good, now I have to go back take a shower and see if any of my guests woke up. Oh, and don't forget to mention the furniture to Tom."
Both Duo and Joe stood up "Will do. Tom will be in contact with Terry so don't worry about anything and have god day with Heero and Solo."
"Thanks and if anything happens," started Duo.
"We will call you," continued Joe "Now, go your guests are waiting for you."
...
When Duo entered the kitchen he saw Solo still in his pajama sitting behind the dinner table and drawing in his color book.
"Morning Solo,"
"Morning Uncle Duo," said a young voice and a tiny smile could be seen from Solos face.
"What you drawing there," asked Duo taking a look behind Solo "Oh, let me guess," while talking he used his fingers "that one is Shiny, that one Baba, that one is Buch and that one is you. Am I right?"
"Aha," replayed Solo shorty.
"You forgotten something can you tell me what it is?" all Duo wanted to do was to make Solo open up and talk with him. There was nothing he could do about Heero but the kid was still a kid and he would do all to make him be more open with his words.
"The ball," asked Solo with a frown.
"Exactly," he raised both his hand and yelled "ding, ding, ding" while imitating casino machines he heard while he traveled through Vegas. "You are as smart as you daddy is, I am sure when you start to go into school all the girls and boys will want to be your friends."
"Will I really go to school," asked Solo with wonder again.
"Sure will, your daddy said it, so it will be so," smiled Duo. "Why, don't you want to go," Duo could tell from smalls boy posture it was opposite of that but he waited for Solo to respond to him.
"You really think I will have friends?" asked Solo with quiet voice almost so Duo couldn't here him.
"I always say if you want a friend you will get a friend. So do you want a friend?" Duo again waited on Solo.
"I never had any other friends, just my daddy." replayed Solo while looking down and to Duo it looked like the topic made him sad. That was the last thing what Duo intended to do, so he had to make it better. "You daddy is a great guy and anyone who has him as his friend is a lucky person."
That sentence indeed pulled a huge smile on Solos face, "my daddy is the best."
"Yes he is," and to Duos ears it sounded like a statement. "I promise you, you will have a lot of friends when you start the school but first you have to grow more and get some meat on your bones."
"Can I play with Baba, Buch and Shiny today?" Solo asked with wistful voice toward Duo, as if expecting him say no.
"I cannot say if Baba will play, he usually stays around the barn or around the house but Buch and Shiny get bored very easy and will play with you whenever you like. It will be soon and those two will bother you to play with them," added Duo.
"How do you know?" asked Solo in a wonder while waiting for Duos replay.
"They grew up with me and I know them as I know my own pockets," while explaining he stood up and turned toward the stove. "And while we are talking, do you like pancakes?"
"Yes, very much. Can we have them for breakfast?" At first his voice sounded very happy and excited but then all was quite so Duo again turned around to see what made that small kid sad again.
"What is it Solo," he set down opposite of Solo and took is hands "Did I say something wrong? You know you can tell me everything and together we will make it better, you will see."
"My mommy never liked pancakes. Whenever my daddy wanted to have them for breakfast or for dinner she made him feel bad. And all, my daddy wanted was to make me happy."
"I am very sorry I was not there at such times." At that Duo really felt bad not just for Solo but for Heero to. And the more he imagined how those people made Heero feel bad, the angrier he got. It was like his inner demon was waking up.
"You are just like my daddy," a small voice brought Duo out of his thoughts.
"What?" Duo asked in wonder almost forgetting the reason why he was angry.
"My daddy has two sides, one side is quite and good the other is cold and deadly." For such a young kid Solo sounded very grown up right now.
"Don't worry about it. Let's just decide that whatever happened at your old home stays there. Those times are gone and now you are with me. Here we will eat and do all what makes each of us happy and one of those things are pancakes. What do you say?" and again Duo waited for Solo to respond hoping that he would stay in present and not venture into his memories.
"Uncle Duo?" Solo asked. "Do you have two sides inside of yourself to?"
"I think every person has two sides of themselves inside themselves, a good side and bad side?"
"Even me?" sounded Solo with astonishment.
"Even you my small friend and it all depends on yourself what side you will show to others. For example your daddy is usually very quiet but nobody knows that he is a very good person who would do anything to make everyone around himself safe. But if something happens that is not alright like that time when your mommy let those doctors near you then he can be as you said, very deadly."
"Can we have chocolate pancakes?" Solo asked changing the topic and with it change the atmosphere in the kitchen.
"Yes, and as well as jam pancakes or sugar pancakes but after breakfast you will have to promise me you will run very fast to bathroom and clean your teeth." While waiting for Solos response Duo again stood up and went back to making the pancakes mixture.
"I promise," replayed Solo.
"Good," said Duo absently his mind already on the mixture and pancakes. When the mixture was made and all he had to do was to start making them, he looked toward Solo "Solo," he waited for Solo to look his way before he continued "Be a pall and go wake you up your daddy and tell him Uncle Duo is making us breakfast. When you are done you have another job and that is to get dressed."
"Okay," said Solo absently putting away his crayons and coloring book; when he was done he run as fast as his small legs could let him toward Duos and Heero's bedroom. While watching him Duo remembered he did not talk with Solo about his sleepwalking or why his daddy was sleeping in Duos bedroom. "I will leave that topic for Heero." For now his first priorities was to make enough pancakes for each one of them and then to make the table. What else was needed to be done or to be said would have to wait for a little while.
TBC
To all my readers – I am sorry for taking so long to continue. I couldn't get myself to write earlier. So again – I am sorry and thanks for and R&R.
To my beta reader - "Poisonsnake23" - thank you for taking the time and helping out with new chapter. *hugs & kisses*.