Disclaimer: I own nothing!

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What is Cake?

Chapter 2

The first thing Duo noticed about the bakery was that it smelled freaking amazing! He began to drool only a few steps into the place. Duo was drawn to the big case full of cookies. "Heero. Can I get a cookie?" Duo pleaded using his puppy dog eyes on the Japanese boy who never forgot his wallet. Heero just glared at him. "Please? Pretty pleeease! With a cherry on top!?" Duo was on his knees grabbing Heero's arms while violently shaking him.

"OKAY! One cookie. Just let me go." Heero pulled his arms free with a jerk. "Only one so choose wisely."

"YAY! Okay then… What cookie do I want?" Duo pressed his face against the glass as he looked from cookie to cookie. "I've got it! No I don't. I've GOT it! Nope, it's not it." It continued like this for a while.

Trowa bought a small bagel of some sort and he was eating it slowly while waiting for Duo to decide on his cookie so they could go. Quatre was beside Duo looking at the cookies also, but he was ordering a few dozen. Duo noticed this with some displeasure.

"Heero!! It's not fair! Quatre is getting a few dozen! Why can I only get one!?" Duo turned to the Japanese boy eating a muffin, currently ignoring the American. "Please Heero! I won't ask for anything ever again!"

Heero looked at Duo with a'not buying it' face."That's what you said when I bought you ice cream and comic books and candy and porn and" Duo quickly cut him off.

"Okay! Okay! I get it. Sheesh." Duo turned back to the case and sighed. Finally he turned to the man and cried "I'll take the m&m chocolate chip!! Because it's good!" Heero paid the man and bought half a dozen cookies for himself. "WHAT!? That's so not fair Heero! I want six cookies!" Duo flopped down on his back and screamed "I WANT MORE COOKIES!! COOKIES!! COOKIES!!" Duo proceeded to scream at the top of his lungs.

Wufei decided he had had enough. He grabbed Duo by the braid and lifted him up off of the floor. "If you don't shut up I'll strangle you with your own braid." It wasn't a threat. It was a promise. Duo stood up straight and pulled his braid from the evil Wufei's grip.

"Fine. I guess one cookie is enough for now." With an epic sad face Duo sat down with the others and sighed heavily. Duo moped for a little while watching the other pilots eat their baked goods until he remembered his mission. Duo stood pushing his chair back so hard it clattered to the floor. The others looked up at him expecting another 'I want a cookie' outburst. Instead Duo turned to the counter and walked up to it purposefully.

"Sir!" Duo called, "I have a question." When the baker turned around Duo realized he was a very intimidating man who was nearly six foot five with scars all over his face and visible body parts. "Uhm… how er… what?..." The baker turned back around to the dough he was beating. "OH YES! I remember!" The baker turned again with a questioning look. "Why…uh… meep." The baker was now glaring at him with a 'stop wasting my time' look. "I was just wondering… uh… WHAT IS THAT!?" Duo just pointed. The baker looked then turned back with a frown.

"That would be a mop, sir." The baker sighed and went to turn around again, but Duo stopped him.

"Why… why are cakes called lies, sir?" Duo managed to squeak out. Duo was so freaked out he had to wonder. He had fought in mobile suit battles and gone against all odds to win battles. "I'm the god of death." WHY WAS HE AFRAID OF THIS BAKER!?

"What are you talking about kid?" The baker turned more towards Duo now and rested his large arms on the counter. Duo hadn't realized he had spoken that last bit out loud. "Well mister god of death I have no idea what you're talking about. Cakes aren't lies. Cakes are a happy feeling that grows. CAKE is NOT a lie. CAKE is the best thing on the planet! Good for any occasion! Birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, funerals, orgys, Earth day! ANY OCCASION! Whoever told you the cake is a lie was LIEING!"

Duo backed away slowly with wide eyes. The baker stepped around the counter and advanced on Duo. "Do you know why I lost my left ear!?" The baker turned his head revealing he had in fact lost his ear. When Duo didn't answer fast enough the baker continued on "I lost it in my first cake baking challenge! My partner hated my recipe so he BIT IT OFF! Those competitions are pretty fierce boy! Don't forget that!"

"Uhm guys!!!" Duo looked around feverishly. "LOOK AT THE TIME!" Duo yelled when he spotted his friends trying not to stare at him. "Sorry Mister Baker man… I'd love to hear more stories but I REALLY really gotta go." The baker frowned sadly.

"I thought I finally found an audience to." The baker sighed and turned back to the counter dejectedly. "No one wants to hear my stories of how I came to be a baker in a little corner bakery. Duo felt so bad.

"No, I'll listen. I'm sorry." Duo walked back up to the counter and was strangling himself on the inside. The baker turned back to Duo his eyes lit up with glee.

"OK! Now while my partner was biting my ear, I was busy baking and decorating as best as I could with a person hanging off of my ear." The baker continued. "I painstakingly made sure no blood got on the cake. Finally, I beat my partner over the head with my rolling pin to make him let go. With my partner out cold, I had to finish that cake all alone while gushing blood. It was difficult and I nearly passed out…" Duo couldn't listen anymore, this guy was weird. "and my cake won first prize! I was so happy. At the same time though, I was told I could never bake competitively again because I beat the poor guy with my rolling pin. So, I was very sad to. Then I grew angry and decided to fight for my right to bake! In the end, I went to prison, made a few friends, baked, and returned to the world a free man. I tried to get other jobs, but this bakery is the only place that would accept me with my ugly background. That is my story. Thank you for listening boy." Duo just nodded wondering what the hell he had just heard was. He stood thanked the man for sharing his life story and walked back to his table.

"Guys, I just heard some guys life story told in a matter of minutes." Duo muttered as he laid his face on the table.

"Don't worry. We heard it to Duo." Trowa said around his bagel.

"I don't know if I should be scared or happy." Quatre mumbled with a confused look on his face.

"Did you get your answer?" Wufei asked even though he should have been able to hear the man yelling about cake before he began ranting about his ear. Although, the ear thing was enough to make anyone forget what they had heard in the last hour or so.

"He said cakes aren't lies." Duo looked up smiling.

"He obviously knows little to nothing." Wufei took a sip of his coffee nonchalantly.

"Well, he knows a lot about baking with a person hanging on to his ear." Duo shrugged as though this mattered somehow. Everyone just kind of looked at him.

"Regardless, we got here and learned nothing, except that guy should not be working here." Heero stated with a bored look on his face. Duo just glared at Heero for invalidating his point.

"We'll just have to try somewhere else!" Duo piped up. The other pilots just looked at him as though he had grown another head. "What!? I will not drop this! I don't want to eat his shoe!" Duo challenged them all with his eyes. "Okay then, now that we're all clear on this issue. Where should we go next?"

"How about a cake factory?" Quatre suggested with a small smile.

"GREAT!" Duo jumped up and ran outside the bakery to the nearest phone booth. The others followed behind slowly wondering what he was up to.

"What are you doing Duo?" Heero asked as they walked up.

"I'm looking for the nearest cake factory!" Duo grinned as he held up a phone book.

"You aren't going to find a cake factory in a phone book." Wufei sighed.

"HAH! Found one!" Duo yelled excited. Wufei just looked amazed. "You think it'll be open? It is Sunday. So I doubt it." Duo frowned in thought. "We'll just have to go tomorrow." As Duo spoke about plans for Monday, a group of guys walking by whistled at poor dress wearing Quatre.

"Why are they whistling?" Quatre asked numbly. Trowa just sighed and placed his arm around Quatre's shoulders and glared at the guys now walking away pretty quickly. He removed his arm and turned back to Duo.

"Then we break open the security doors and burst in with bananas blazing into the silverware drawer."

Trowa had to wonder what the hell he had missed. Bananas? Silverware? What was going on in that braided boy's brain?

"Duo, why don't we just go up to the front desk and see what they have to say?" Wufei sighed looking at the American with a face that questioned his sanity.

"Or… we could do that." Duo mumbled. "But, that's no fun."

"I think I like Duo's idea more." Heero smirked. Everyone turned to look at Heero like he had lost his mind. Heero just shrugged. "I don't like how lazy we've been with the war being over and our gundams being gone."

"What else can we do to make this trip to the factory more interesting?" Trowa asked simply.

"I think Duo's idea would be wonderful! I hope Relena doesn't disapprove of it." Quatre laughed.

"Disapprove of what?" Relena asked. All five pilots screamed RELENA! and jumped back a few feet. This only made her more suspicious. "What might I disapprove of?"

"Oh nothing… just trying to prove the cake isn't a lie…" Duo murmured.

"Trying to prove what?" Relena asked "Duo. Everyone knows the cake is, in fact, a lie."

"BUT WHAT DID IT DO TO BE A LIE!! IT'S CAKE!" Duo cried.

"It's a lie for a reason Duo." Wufei shrugged.

"Well, I'm going to find out for myself, for good or bad even if it takes blowing up a cake factory!" Duo yelled striking an awesome pose for the effect.

"You will NOT blow up a cake factory." Relena stated darkly. She crossed her arms over her chest daring him to argue.

Heero turned to look at her. Relena noticed him turn towards her so she easily gave him her full attention. Heero thought for a moment before he finally decided on the best thing to say in this moment. "Relena… I'll kill you." Heero then turned and walked away leaving Relena shocked into standing in one place. Duo bolted after him laughing like a madman. The other three followed only after waving hands in front of her face to see if she would move at all. She didn't.

That night the five gundam pilots sat with their heads together over a map of the cake factory. They made their plans on how to infiltrate the factory get the information they wanted and get out before anyone knew what was going on. It took a good few hours to do. When they finished with their plans the pilots turned and went to bed excited for what tomorrow night had in store.