Here's the next part! Enjoy!

Part 6 of ?

The other three pilots shook their heads at the Chinese one.

"Go after him," Heero told him.

"Grovel," was Trowa's advice.

"A present of some sort would probably be good too, Wufei," was Quatre's suggestion. "You really messed up there. You're going to have to do some heavy duty begging to get him to talk to you again."

Wufei still sat looking at the door Duo had left through.

"Wufei?" Quatre asked concerned.

Slowly Wufei turned to look at the others. His eyes were almost blank. "He loves me?" he said in a shocked tone of voice.

Quatre facefaulted. "You didn't hear a word we said, did you?"

"Yeah, yeah, grovel, present... he loves me?" Wufei's voice had just a tinge of wonder under the shock.

"Yes! He loves you! Now go talk to him before he gets madder and stops!" Quatre practically growled.

The unusual tone of Quatre's voice had Wufei up and moving before he even thought. He ran upstairs and grabbed a couple of things off his dresser before heading downstairs and out into the garden. He didn't stop until he saw Duo in front of him.

The violet eyed pilot was glaring at a piece of wood he was systematically turning into splinters. He didn't look as if he had cooled down at all. Wufei took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"Will you still let me help you with your hair?" he asked, holding up the brush as a peace offering.

Duo glared at him, then snatched the brush from his hands and started attacking the knots in his hair as if they were all the problems he had.

Wufei sighed and sank to the ground beside him. "I'm sorry?" he said tentatively.

Duo ignored him.

"I wasn't trying to control you, I was just worried. I am allowed to worry right? After all, if you care for someone you're supposed to worry and try to protect them even if you're trying to protect them from doing something stupid themselves."

Duo's hands had slowed as Wufei spoke and now he gave him a sideways glance. "You're losing points," he pointed out.

"I thought I was already in the hole," Wufei said, hiding his relief that Duo was talking to him again and trying desperately to keep the conversation going in a light vein.

"Nope, you got out of it with the sorry and the caring for part, but you're heading back in with the stupid stuff stuff." Duo grinned slightly.

Wufei reached over and touched the brush, smiling slightly when it was released into his hands. Slowly and carefully he started working through the bottom of the long hair as he spoke. "I do care for you and that means I don't want you to get hurt. Surely you can understand that?"

Duo nodded carefully. "Of course I do. I care for you too, and I don't want you hurt either, but that doesn't make me your master." He grinned lasciviously. "Unless you want me to be of course."

"I think not," Wufei mock growled as he pulled hard at one of the tangles.

"Ow!" Duo glared back at his love as he grabbed the back of his head.

"I have no wish to become your master," Wufei told him, working his way slowly up the hair. "However, you can't blame me for not wanting to lose you to a suicide mission, can you?"

"It wouldn't be a suicide mission," Duo responded.

"You don't know that. All we know is that someone's been stalking you. He scared both you and Quatre. *And* he managed to get into our safehouse, without setting off any alarms and set up that sick exhibit in that room. Now, I don't know what that tells you, but to me it says that this guy is dangerous as well as psychotic, and we need to take extra precautions, not insane risks. I also think that part of caring for you is telling you when you're making a stupid decision. Just as I'd expect you to tell me."

"Okay. Well then, telling me you forbid me to do something is a really, really stupid decision," Duo informed him.

"I believe I figured that out," Wufei said seriously, causing them both to laugh. By now Wufei had managed to get out all of the tangles and was simply brushing the hair for the pure pleasure of running his hands through the softness. Neither seemed to notice or care.

"Am I forgiven then?" Wufei asked softly as they calmed down.

Duo nodded. "Just don't do it again."

Duo sighed happily and leaned back into the hands that were now more petting his hair than brushing it. He'd been really pissed when he came out, but now he was happy. Not only had Fei-chan come out and apologized, *apologized! The never wrong, lord of Justice actually apologized!* but he'd talked! And said important stuff! Caring stuff! Even now their conversations tended to be more Duo talking

and Wufei listening, though he would come up with good questions and if it was something that was important to him he could lecture for hours, but this time he'd actually talked most, without lecturing. He didn't think that'd ever happened before. And he knew that Wufei Chang had never apologized before. Then he thought back over their conversation and stiffened slightly.

"What's the matter?" Wufei asked, picking up the new tension.

"N...nothing," Duo shook his head. Absentmindedly, he reached back and started braiding his shining hair.

Wufei frowned at having his new toy taken away and the stutter in Duo's voice. "Duo, you don't lie remember?"

Duo twisted quickly to look at the other boy. "I wasn't lying!" he admonished.

Wufei *looked* at him. "Even in meditation and sleep it's not possible for a mind to truly be thinking of *nothing*. There is always some thought drifting around whether you wish it to or not. I suppose you could have been thinking of the state of nothingness, but I find that unlikely."

Duo could feel a chuckle trying to get out and bit it back, allowing only his eyes to show his delight at the small joke. "How about 'none of your business' as an answer?"

Wufei opened his mouth to answer, but the braided boy held up his hand to stop him. "Or how about, 'I'm not going to tell you right now, so don't bother asking'?" he smirked.

Wufei nodded calmly. "As you wish."

That reminded Duo of another old movie he watched, and brought him right back to the thread of thought he was trying to ignore. Wufei had said he cared for him. Several times in fact. That should be enough, shouldn't it? So why was he so caught up in the fact that he hadn't actually said the 'l' word? Just because he'd said it himself didn't mean that Wufei had to say it too. Chances were that the Chinese pilot hadn't even heard him say it. Maybe that's why he hadn't said anything. He hadn't heard Duo say it so he wasn't sure what Duo felt and didn't want to impose too much. He ignored the little voice in the back of his head that was trying to remind him that Wufei Chang, who was as close to perfect as it was possible to be if you weren't Heero Yuy, would not miss something like that.

"Wufei?" Duo asked quietly.

"Hmm?"

"Do you love me?" Duo held his breath waiting for an answer.

"I

"Wufei! Duo!" Quatre's voice broke the moment and they turned to see him waving them back into the house. Duo could almost swear that he saw Wufei give a sigh of relief. But that was impossible, wasn't it?