Hello again everyone! I'm back! This is the last chapter to this story. I may do an epilogue on it but I'm honestly not sure yet. With everything that's been going on these past few months I've forgotten what I was originally going to do with this story so now I don't even know whats going to happen in this chapter. Lol It will come to me as I type I'm sure. So, enjoy everyone! Sorry again for the long wait on completing this!

Same warnings as ever….

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

The first thing I noticed as I slowly woke was the softness beneath me. I also quickly noticed that the pain had diminished quite a bit and was now a sort of dull ache. I felt heavy and lethargic, but that was still better than I had felt before. Before I tried to open my eyes I quickly took stock of my condition. I was lying on a soft bed, not the hard surface of the operating table that I had been on. I let a soft sigh slide past my lips, I had been rescued. I sent up a silent thank you to Maxine and only then did I finally slowly open my eyes. It was relatively dark in the room, the only light coming from the softly glowing machines hooked to me. I turned my head to the side and immediately noticed the window with the heavy curtains covering it. There was a little bit of light spilling out from behind them and I suddenly wanted nothing more than to have them opened. I do not know how long I was held captive but, I do know that it has been far too long since I last saw the outdoors. Was it sunny and warm out? Or was it rainy and cold? I tried to remember what it felt like to have the soft breeze blow through my hair, or the cool rain to hit my skin, but I suddenly could not remember such pleasant sensations. The only things that came to mind were all painful. I was broken out of my reverie by the sound of movement on the opposite side of me. I slowly turned my head, suddenly afraid of what I might see. I looked towards the floor first and noticed a chair pulled up beside my bed. I started on the knees, since I couldn't see the feet, and slowly drew my eyes upwards. The chest of said person was covered by their crossed arms but I could see on the sleeve the preventer logo. My eyes stayed glued onto that logo, I wasn't sure how to react. What had happened before was only a dream. I never went crazy, I never even worked for the preventers. The sound a sharp intake of breath pulled me out of my musings and forced me to snap my eyes upwards. Wide violet eyes met my own and for a moment the world stopped turning and time ceased to exist. My eyes also widened in surprise before filling up with unshed tears, "Duo…" I rasped out. "Oh gods…. Duo!" I could hardly speak, my throat raw and sore from lack of use.

Duo did nothing but stare for moments, probably in shock as to what to do. Then without any forewarning he sprang out of his chair and drew me into a rough hug. I could feel his tears soaking my hospital gown as he held me. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world, being in his arms. I tried to raise an arm to put it around him in return but even that small movement was agony for me. A pained gasp escaped past my lips at that tiny movement causing Duo to quickly pull away from me. He gave me a sad smile before slowly releasing me. I watched as he pulled the chair closer to my bed before collapsing back into it. He gently lifted my hand to position it in between both of his before he finally spoke up. "You're awake…." I blinked at him before nodding slowly, careful to not do too much movement. "I was afraid you wouldn't wake up…." I tightened my hand around his and let out what I hoped was a smile. It was hard though. I tried to speak again, to ask some questions, but speaking hurt. After a few tries I finally managed to rasp out, "how long?" before have to take a few deep breaths. Just talking alone was wearing, two words and I felt like I had run a marathon. Duo gave me a look filled with concern and worry before softly answering, "You've been in here for nearly 3 months now. You've been mostly comatose the entire time. You woke up a few other times but only for the briefest of seconds before passing out again."

Three months! I was in a bit of shock to hear that. I can't believe that I had been in here that long. No wander my voice doesn't want to work. I shook my head and tried again, "How long….gone…" I rasped out. His eyes widened at this and he immediately started to chew on his lower lip in worry. "Are you sure you want to find all this out now? I mean, you just woke up. We can talk about this later…." I sighed, he was right. I should just concentrate on resting before anything else. My eyes left his as I looked around the room once more before resting on the jug of water just out of my reach. I felt as Duo slowly pulled his hands from mine and watched as he reached over and picked up the jug and a glass. "Water?" he asked looking at me expectantly. I nodded as vigorously as possible without hurting my head. He smiled and poured me a cup before reaching over to adjust the bed. Once I was finally sitting up he brought the glass to my lips and gently tipped. As soon as the first drop of water splashed against my tongue I became ravenous. This was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted! I never knew water could be so wonderful! I ignored the pain in my arms and reached up to hold the glass myself and tip it further up. I needed more! I was so incredibly thirsty. The glass was quickly emptied and Duo refilled it and gave me more. Even after the second glass I wanted more. Duo pulled the glass away from me and set it down beside the bed. I frowned, I still wanted more. He shook his head before grabbing my hand in his again. "I'm sorry Heero, " he started, "but that is all that you can have. I don't want to give you too much, it will just make you sick." I let my head fall back on the pillow and let out a sigh. This recovery business was going to suck. I slowly allowed my eyes to close and drifted into a quiet peaceful sleep.

When I awoke next I was once again laying flat. Duo must have lowered the bed for me after I fell asleep. I opened my eyes and was once again disappointed that the curtains were drawn. I frowned before turning my head to look around the room. As my eyes made it to the chair that Duo was sitting in before I immediately noticed that he was not there. I looked all over the room and could feel myself panicking slightly. I felt much more able bodied this time around and quickly found the strength to adjust my bed myself. I moved myself into a sitting position and was just getting comfortable again when the door was quietly pushed open. Duo poked his head in and gave me a wide smile, "ah, your awake. Good!" Then before he had a chance to push further into the room someone pushed him out of the way and rushed in. Before I could even register what was happening there was a flash of blond before I was enveloped in a tight hug. "Oh my god! Heero! We were sooo worried that you would never wake up!" a deep resonating voice said from the vicinity of my shoulder. I was confused. I didn't recognize this deep voice. Finally the figure pushed away from me and stood. My eyes widened to size of saucers. This person in front of me I didn't know, although he did resemble someone from my past. I studied him for a minute. Blond hair slicked back from his face with some kind of gel, gentle aquamarine eyes, and average size for a man. Probably around 5'10 or 11, broad shouldered and very muscular evident even in his neatly pressed button down suit shirt and tie. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion before moving them back up to meet with his eyes. It couldn't be….could it? "Quatre?" I asked softly. He laughed then, a gentle sound, deep and rich. His smile lit up the whole room and even as a big man, he still had that gentle air of innocence about him. "That's right Heero. It's me. I'm not surprised you didn't recognize me at first. Not many do nowadays." A chuckle from behind him made me finally look around. Everyone was here, but they all looked so different….They were all…grown up. My eyes finally made it back to Duo and once again I was surprised. When I woke up the first time, I didn't really look at Duo. I noticed it was him, recognized him immediately, then moved on. Now that I was really looking at him I noticed the differences. He had grown as well, no longer being the lanky teen that he was. He was a towering 6'2'' at least and also broad shouldered and muscular. What had me the most surprised was the fact that he had some stubble on his face. Not a beard or anything, but he obviously needed to shave. His face had also lost all of its baby fat and was now angular and well defined. I continued on my roam of the room and my eyes landed on Trowa next. The only reason I recognized it as him was because of the one visible green eye showing. His hair was different, it still covered one eye but instead of just hanging down his face it was pulled back into a loose ponytail. I had to admit that it worked well on him. I remembered seeing him during the second war and remarking about how muscular he was then, so that much didn't really change. He was always the tallest out of all of us, but now he seemed to be more average than anything. He was 6' at most. Behind him was Wufei, who thanks to his Asian heritage, was still very lean and lanky. I probably would have been the same, had I been given the chance. He was still rather short, standing only around 5'8'' or so and while he was well muscled he still was skinny and lanky looking. His hair had gotten longer but he still looked rather young. I was pleased that at least one person looked about the same. They all stayed quiet while my gaze roamed over each of them. I turned back to do and pleaded silently with him to answer some questions.

"You feeling up to talking a bit?" he asked as he strode over to sit beside me. Taking my hand in his once again he patiently waited for my response. I nodded slowly not trusting my voice at that moment. He sighed and looked behind him. "You guys ready for this as well?" Quatre winced in response to his question but nodded all the same. The others also nodded quietly. He let out a great sigh before proceeding with his story. "Heero… the year is now AC 200…It's November, and you were taken from us AC 196 in December. It's been nearly four years since we lost you."

I sat for a minute in stunned stupor before his words finally sank in. "How…why…wh-I-I…" I didn't know what to say. I wanted to scream I wanted to argue and wanted to call him a lier. I knew he wasn't lieing, Duo Maxwell never lied, but four years? He nodded sadly before continuing his story. "Heero, on the day of the battle with Mariemaia you passed out at the very end. Do you remember that?" I nodded and he quickly continued, "Ok well, we took you to the hospital but while you were there, we were attacked. The whole hospital was in danger so we all went to help defend it, leaving you alone in the process. It turns out that the attack was nothing more than a diversion. Once we were all away from you, they came in and kidnapped you. We searched everywhere, but were never able to find you." His eyes started to tear up as he spoke. "I'm so sorry Heero." I reached my hand up and gently placed in on his cheek using my thumb to wipe away the unshed tears. "Duo, please do not punish yourself over this. If they wanted me that bad, they would have gotten me even if they had to kill you and everyone in the hospital to do it. I'm sure you all saved a lot of lives that day." I met eyes with everyone else as I said the last part and continued to switch my gaze between all of them. "I do not blame any of you." As my eyes made it back to Duo I looked him straight in the eyes, "Did you ever give up? Did you ever stop believing that I was still alive somewhere?" He shook his head vehemently, "No!" he cried, "Never! Not once! I-I couldn't." I let my hand drop back down and even let out a small smile. "Good." I stated simply before leaning back on the pillows already worn out from the few small movements. "So what happened next?" I asked.

Duo continued on to tell me about how the preventers took them all in and allowed them to continue the search for Heero for two years before they gave up and declared him dead. Even though the preventers wouldn't allow them to search anymore they continued to on their own time. "Just a couple months ago we got a phone call from someone about a stray satellite piece that was floating just outside of the L3 cluster. They said that it looked like there were lights coming from it. After that we got another phone call about illegal drug transactions taking place on L3. As preventer agents we don't generally deal with small crimes or even white collar crimes but they put us on this one because of the types of drugs that were being carted around. All mind altering drugs. Seemed suspicious right?" he paused then as if contemplating how to continue. "It seemed like any other mission; go in, get the bad guy, then get out. But it didn't quite happen like that. Never does, eh?" he smiled a cheeky smile before moving on. "We were finally able to narrow it down to one guy, Dr. Marcus Smith. Of course with such a generic name it could have been anyone. We finally tracked him down and he gave us a video recording of you in what looked like a psychiatric ward. He said that you were with him for treatment and would be back soon. It had already been two years at this point so we didn't know what to do. He promised to send us regular updates on you. We all talked about it and decided to lay low for a while and just see what happened. He came through with his promise and set us regular videos of you. You were even smiling and laughing with the nurses in some of them so we assumed that you were fine and would come back when you were ready. About six months after that, the videos suddenly stopped coming." He paused then to run a hand through his bangs and take a deep nervous breath.

"I wanted to go after you right then and there, but we didn't have enough information as to your whereabouts. We went back to L3 to search out the doctor once again but we couldn't find any more information about him. He was last seen when the last video had been sent. It was horrible. It was as though the man had disappeared into thin air! And the worst part was that he had you with him." He stopped again and I took that moment to ponder on his words. So some of what I remember was real. I was originally there almost willingly. They must have tricked me in the beginning. At least those nurses were nice and tried to make me happy there. "I was fine there at first. I don't know how they did it but they made me believe that I had gone there willingly. They were trying to draw the ZERO system out of me… The nurses were very nice and it was alright being there at first…." I paused unsure of whether I should say more or not. "He killed them. All the nurses that were just being nice to me, he killed them. He mentioned something about not being able to do things his way with them around. That's when the torture started." Quatre let out a loud gasp and turned to Trowa to bury his head in the taller mans chest. Trowa in turn wrapped his arms around Quatre offering as much comfort as possible. I raised my eyebrows slightly in question but was cut off from any answer as Duo started to talk again.

"We scoured the galaxy for you, every day. It's amazing how we found you actually. We were sent on another drug sting mission that was taking place on L2. It had gotten terribly out of control with tons of narcotics being passed around. We had to get to the bottom of it. Since I'm from L2 I decided to go undercover to try and draw them out. I quickly met up with a bunch of lackeys and joined their ranks. That was the easy part. As I moved up in ranks I quickly noticed just how much money was getting passed around for these drugs. I knew L2 was in bad shape but having politicians spend the colony's money on drugs was just too much.

I put a stop to that and was going to get the whole drug cartel closed down but was stopped when I heard a rumor. I needed to know who the head guy in it all was and nobody seemed to know. The only rumor was that they called him the Dr. I continued to stay under cover and made it up to the top ranks before hearing about where I could find this ''Dr". That was when we got word that he was on some floating bit of satellite out is space. Wouldn't you know it was the same floating bit that we'd heard about before and for one reason or another, never got around to investigating. Apparently he'd set up this workshop out there and was producing illegal drugs and selling them on the streets through his gang. My informant told me exactly where I could find said 'bit of satellite' and I called in backup before going to bust him.

I honestly wasn't expecting this doctor to be the same one that took you. As soon as we got there we burst through the door and right into his personal lab. There were drugs EVERYWHERE. On every available surface; pills, liquids, powders, plants, you name it he had it. It was disgusting. I immediately started to destroy everything. Shooting at whatever I knew would not explode before turning to him. He wailed on about his "research" getting ruined but otherwise gave up. Everyone was set to go but I wanted to look around first. I don't know what it was but something told me to keep looking. I found a semi-hidden door in the next room over and called the guys to come see." He stopped to swallow nervously, "When I opened that door, I looked in just in time to see your eyes slowly close." He let out a small sob then, "I thought we were too late. I ran in and tried to get you to wake back up but you wouldn't. You were so thin, and frail, and it was the most frightening sight I have ever encountered!" I placed a hand over his in reassurance. "Duo, do not worry about it. You found me in time, that is all that matters." He gave me a pained smile and we sat in silence for a moment just basking in each other's presence.

It was Quatre that spoke up next startling us all. "Heero, " he started softly, "Did you die once?" his question surprised everyone other than me. I was expecting him to have noticed. Our eyes met before I nodded once. "I thought so. I could feel it. I felt you slip away and then there was nothing. I was really scared. Then, the next day I suddenly felt you again, but you were very very weak. Can you tell us what happened?"

I was certainly not ready to divulge everything that happened to me right now, but I would share my "death". "I died, but I was given a choice. I could stay or I could come back. I was promised that I would be rescued quickly should I choose to come back, but that I was also more than welcome to stay. I was told that I didn't have to fight any more, that I was due a reward of happiness." I decided to stop there. I wanted to save the rest for when Duo and I would be alone. I leaned my head back against the pillows and closed my eyes, feigning tiredness. I was tired, I just wasn't ready to sleep yet. I wanted everyone gone though, except Duo.

Quatre seemed to get the clue and started to usher everyone out the door so that I could rest. Duo made to stand as well but I grabbed his hand before he could go. "Umm… you guys go. I'm going to stay for a bit." Quatre nodded once before he slipped out the door the rest quietly following. Duo returned to his seat, his hand never leaving mine.

"Duo," I started, "Do you know why I chose to come back?" he shook his head in response before meeting my eyes. "I came back because I made a promise to you not to die." He seemed surprised by this. "All that time that I was gone, I thought only of you. " My throat was feeling raw again and it was starting to get painful to talk, but I felt I had to get this out. "I was unaware of how much time had passed. He kept me on so much drugs that I was unconscious most of the time." He started to say something at that but I stopped him with a raised hand, "In my mind only about a year had passed, but that's irrelevant. What I'm trying to say is, it's because of you that I made it through at all." His eyes softened but I could still see questions rising in those violet orbs of his. "I thought of you every waking, and most of my sleeping, hours. The thought of you gave me hope, and gave me the will to continue on. I knew I would see you again." I squeezed his hand and he quickly stood and sat on the bed beside my knees before pulling me into a gentle but strong hug.

"Oh god, Heero! I was so afraid that we wouldn't find you. And then when I did find you and you looked…." He hiccupped once and started to cry once more, "you looked like you were already dead. I was so scared I had lost you before I ever even had you." He was sobbing fully on my chest now. I just quietly held him and stroked his hair. After a few minutes he quieted down. "Duo?" I questioned. He sniffled in response. "Duo, thank you, for not giving up." He looked up at me with a watery smile and hugged me closer. "I could never give up on you Heero…." He whispered into my ear. I smiled and wrapped my arms around him, both of us just enjoying the moment.

I woke up feeling heavy and disoriented. There was a heavy weight on my chest, pressing me into the soft mattress beneath me. At first I forgot where I was and started to panic thinking I was still back in the lab. That was until the weight on me let out a soft snore causing me to snap my eyes open and look around. My eyes immediately met with chestnut hair and traveled further down to a charming sleep softened face. I let out a relieved smile realizing it was just Duo and thanking the heavens above that it was him and no one else. I slowly raised my pained arms to wrap around him and hug him closer. We must have fallen asleep while talking earlier. Duo stirred then and slowly opened his eyes. He let out a bright happy smile as soon as his eyes met with mine, "Good morning" he said. I hugged him as tightly as I could before pain took over and was just about to respond when a knock on the door interrupted me.

Before I could answer the door swung open to reveal a young male doctor. He looked to be in his mid-twenties or early thirties. He had short cropped brown hair, brown eyes, and a goofy enough grin to rival Duo's. He seemed entirely too cheerful to be a doctor and I could think of nothing else to do but to scowl at him in response to his cheerfulness. "Good morning Heero! I'm glad to see you awake for our check up this time. It will make things much easier" he practically sang out as he made the two quick strides that brought him beside my bed.

I watched Duo frown suddenly before he slowly stood up, "Dr. Perkins, you're awfully cheerful today. Did you get laid last night or something?" he asked, crass as always. Good to know some things never changed. As he spoke he stretched, arms high above his head causing his t-shirt to ride up just enough to show off a sliver of tanned, toned, belly. My eyes darted right to that small patch of skin and became glued there in utter fascination. I was roughly pulled out of my thoughts though by the sound of rough laughter coming from said Doctor. "No, no Mr. Maxwell nothing that grand. I'm just very pleased at the progress Mr. Yuy is making and excited that he is finally awake while I am in here." He turned to me then addressing me directly this time, "Mr. Yuy, I'm a big fan of yours. You saved my family with your Gundam during the first war and it is an Honor to be your Doctor." My eyes widened and I could do nothing but nod stupidly in response. I felt an unexpected jolt of fear rush through me in response to his words. I don't trust Doctors any more. My next question almost didn't come out I was so tongue tied, after a couple of times I finally managed to ask the most important question, "When can I get out of here?"

The Doctor turned out to actually be alright. I wasn't allowed to go home right away of course but he did everything possible to make me comfortable. I quickly found out that I had several broken bones, severe muscle atrophy, Pernicious anemia, Photophobia*1, Rickets, and Marasmus. All the diseases were basically just nutrient deficiencies and the Doc assured me that they would go away over time as I got my regular diet back on track. I was severely malnourished weighing in at around 110 lbs. when I should have weighed at least 170. When I finally really looked at myself I noticed that I could see every bone in my body. I looked terrible, like a walking skeleton. The doctor was surprised by one thing, I did actually grow during the whole thing. I was close to six feet tall now. Not quite as tall as Duo, but still taller than I was. It was shocking to say the least. I had a long long road to recovery ahead of me, but I didn't care. I was alive and had another chance, and that was all that mattered.

Three weeks after my admittance to the hospital and I was more than ready to either be discharged or leave on my own. I suddenly remembered my dream where I escaped from the hospital just to go to Duo's house. I quickly squashed that idea down as I realized that was all a dream and I had no idea where Duo lived by this point. The photophobia made me incredible sensitive to light, especially sunlight, so I would have to leave at night. I was in the middle of contemplating just how I could get out without harming myself more when Duo strolled in, big smile plastered on his face. "Guess what Heero!" he called out as he quickly sprang to my bedside. "What?" I deadpanned. He'd been doing this just about every day. He'd come in, big smile, say 'guess what?' and proceed to tell me something inane or pointless. 'It rained today!' or 'my cat coughed up the biggest hairball last night!' or my favorite so far, 'this hospital has a whole cafeteria! And they let me eat for free!'. That's my Duo, always thinking with his stomach. I was brought out of my thoughts just as he started talking again. "They are going to let me take you home!" he exclaimed while pulling me into a tight embrace. My eyes widened in shock and I went stock still in his arms unable to believe my ears. "Wha? How?" He released me then and with his trademark grin told me his whole story. "Well," he started, "I walked up to the Doctor and asked him if you could be getting out anytime soon n' he tol' me that you couldn't go until you had a place to live. I asked if that was all that was holdin' ya up and he tol' me it was! He also said that you had made wonderful and amazing progress so far so as long as we keep ya on yer meds then you can go. I was so excited that I slapped the man on the back, tol' him to get your discharge papers ready, that you'd go home with me! So's he's gettin' the papers ready now n' you should be ready ta go by this afternoon. Oooh ya baby!" he finished his story and let out a loud whoop while pumping his fist into the air. I chuckled softly and shook my head. He quieted after a moment and looked at me with a now serious expression on his face. "Heero, I'm sorry. I should have discussed this with you first." He said, all hints of his L2 slang now gone from his speech. "I just took it upon myself to say you would be fine with me. Would you rather go with Quatre? Or maybe Wufei? Although I should warn you, Quatre is always busy with his business and any free time he gets goes to Trowa nowadays. And Wufei just married Sally not too long ago so they are still in that newly-wed phase, and if I were you I wouldn't want to interrupt that. I mean theres always Zechs as -"I cut him off with a finger to his lips and met his eyes with mine. "Duo! Shhh! Slow down and at lease wait for me to answer before jumping to conclusions. I would love to come and live with you. You're the only one I want to be with, and I mean that." After a quick hug he smiled warmly at me. "Thanks man!" he said as he jumped back towards the door. "Lemme jus' go see if yer discharge papers are ready and we'll get ya the hell outta here!" With that he was out the door leaving me in stunned silence.

True to his words Duo got me out of there that day and took me back to his condo. I was a little disappointed that he lived in a condo and not a house, but it really didn't matter. I would just give Duo the house in my dreams as our wedding present, that is, if I could ever work up the courage to ask him. His condo was nice though; three bedrooms, two bathrooms, spacious kitchen, giant living room, and even a nice large balcony/patio. It was too fancy for my tastes though and when I asked Duo about it he just shrugged and said that the condo was provided fully furnished by the Preventers and since he didn't have any other place to live it worked perfectly. He gave me a quick tour of what was to be my room, his room, and the bathrooms. He didn't show me the third room and looked nervous when I asked about it. "Eh… I might show you later. Lets just get you settled first though ok?" I nodded feeling suddenly drained from the trip and the small tour. I was under strict orders from the doctors to walk around for 5 minutes per day for one week then increase the time each week. Trust me, that's a lot harder than it sounds.

The next few weeks passed quickly and in a sort of blur. I did my exercises, ate, went to sleep, and then did it all over again. I was making progress sure, but I was still tiring incredibly quickly. It was really frustrating. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't make any moves on Duo until I was completely well. That promise was getting harder and harder to keep when all I wanted was to hold him or be held by him every day. On my two month anniversary of having moved in with him, I finally couldn't hold back anymore.

Duo was in the kitchen making dinner with his back to me when I walked in. He was humming some nameless tune softly, completely oblivious to the world around him. I don't know what came over me that day, or what I was thinking, but I just couldn't resist. Every day he would wear these super loose t-shirts that would slip off of one shoulder exposing his bare skin. That day was no different. I walked right up behind him and before I could stop myself I had my arms wrapped around his waist and my lips pressed into the dip in his shoulder. As soon as he felt me he stiffened in my arms. When I finally came to my senses I quickly released him and jumped back. "I-I'm sorry Duo! I didn't—I mean- ah!" I ran as fast as I could out of the kitchen and into my room shutting the door quickly and leaning heavily on it. I couldn't believe what I had just done. I didn't even know if he liked me that way. His stiff body language said it all though didn't it? The Duo in my dreams always melted into my arms…. It wasn't like that at all.

A soft knocking on my door drew me out of my miserable thoughts. "Heero? Can you open up please?" Duo called softly through the door. I sighed and pushed myself off the hard wooden surface. I opened the door slowly to find a sad and miserable looking Duo on the other side. He looked like a kicked puppy. "I'm sorry…." He said softly, surprising me. "No… I should be the one to apologize… I shouldn't have done that without…" I trailed off unsure of how to express my thoughts. He shook his head vigorously and reached out to grab my hand in his. "No! I don't want you to feel like that. You just surprised me is all! I was just in such shock…." He looked very afraid then and was avoiding my eyes. It was like he expected me to hit him or something. I frowned, "Duo, look at me". He slowly brought his eyes up to mine and visibly flinched when they met. "I'm really sorry Heero. Please don't hate me!" I was taken aback by this and roughly grabbed his shoulders. "I don't think you really get it Duo. I could NEVER hate you. Did you already forget what I told you back at the hospital? About it being thoughts of you that kept me alive? Do you not understand what that means?" I watched as he shook his head very slowly. "Ugh!" I cried out, "Duo! It means I-" I cut myself off then by pulling his face down to mine and roughly pressing my lips to his in a heated passionate kiss. I poured all of my feelings for him into that one kiss.

He stiffened at first and it was a long few moments before he tentatively kissed back. As soon as I felt his lips move under mine all rational thought went right out the window. It suddenly didn't matter that I'd been gone four years. It didn't matter that I was still recovering, that I was weak, none of it mattered because I had my love in my arms, and he was kissing me. I didn't think it possible, but it was so much better than the kisses I got in my dreams. We pulled away slowly after several long moments, panting from lack of oxygen and built up passion. "wow…." Was all he said as he rested his forehead against mine. I smiled, a true happy smile. "Do you get it now?" I asked. He graced me with one of his dazzling smiles and nodded. "I think I do" was his overly simple reply. I shook my head, "I don't think you really do". I gave my best sly smile and pulled him over to the bed. His eyes widened as he looked at the bed and then me. "Heero… we can't…you're not well." He said softly concern filling his big violet eyes. "I'm fine Duo. I'm still a little underweight and have a lot of muscle mass to catch up on but I'm fine. Even the doctor says I'm fine. Don't worry so much." He still looked uncertain but allowed me to pull him to the bed.

The back of my knees hit the bed first and I grabbed a handful of Duo's shirt and pulled him down on top of me as I fell back onto the soft surface. He let out a startled yelp but I quickly drowned out any other noises he could make with hard kiss. Having his weight on me should have scared me, but oddly enough it didn't. In fact, I found it strangely comforting. I knew everything that the doctor did to me, but I couldn't remember a lot of it. The doctor said that my mind had blocked it out and it was like selected amnesia of a sort. I certainly didn't mind though and took it as a gift. I didn't want to be afraid everytime I wanted to show Duo some intimacy. Duo moaned softly into my lips but otherwise made no move to do anything. I slowly brought my hand up under his shirt, running my fingers over his tight abs. I eased his shirt up and broke the kiss just long enough to pull the offending material over his head. I ended the kiss just long enough to really look at him. I longed to see him and couldn't get enough of his bare skin. I ran my hands all over his chest, abs, shoulders, and even down his arms. I just had to touch him everywhere. He was very still throughout all of this and when I finally looked at his face he looked as though he was at war with himself. I did my best to express my concern through my eyes before bringing my hands up to cup his face. "Duo… do you not want this? Or is it just me that you don't want?" I asked softly.

I watched as he bit his lip in response before meeting my eyes. "I don't want to hurt you, or have you over exert yourself. I don't want to be the cause of you going into some sort of relapse…" I rolled my eyes at him. "Dammit Maxwell! Give me SOME credit! I'm not a fragile little flower! I did survive 4 years of torture and if that couldn't break me then I seriously doubt that you will!" I was suddenly angry. I didn't fight my way back to be tiptoed around like some fragile breakable piece of glass. I pushed him away then and moved to stand up when two strong arms wrapped around me from behind pinning me in place. "Don't go…" Duo's soft voice whispered in my ear. "I'm sorry, you're right. I'm just so afraid of losing you again. I don't know how I lived without you these past four years but I know I couldn't do it again." I turned myself in his arms and grabbed his chin forcing him to look up at me. "Duo, I'm not going anywhere. I'm back and I'm here for good. We've already lost so much time together. Why should we waist any more?" his eyes widened slightly in thought at my reasoning. I kissed him softly then, just a mere whisper of lips touching. I pulled away, looked hard into his eyes and stated as clear as possible, "I love you Duo." His eyes widened then immediately softened as they filled with tears. Before I could make another move I was suddenly pulled back onto the bed with a very excited and happy Duo on top of me, kissing the daylights out of me.

This time it was he who wasted no time in getting my shirt off. When we finally pulled away from our frenzied make-out session he gave me the broadest, happiest smile ever and started to plant kisses down my chest. In between every kiss he would say something. "I" kiss. "love" kiss. "You" kiss. "love you" kiss. "love you, love you!" kiss kiss kiss. I chuckled softly at this and pulled his face back up to mine for another mind boggling kiss. Once I broke the kiss I wrapped my arms around him in a tight embrace. "Gods above Duo!" I cried out, "I never want to let you go again." He returned the embrace burying his head in my shoulder and letting out a muffled reply, "And I never want to let you go either. Don't ever leave me again Heero". Both of us were exhausted from our emotional outbursts by this point and ended up falling asleep wrapped in each others arms. It was blissful.

The next morning I woke up to the feel of soft kisses being planted all over my bare chest. I couldn't help the small moan that escaped my lips as I came fully awake. I opened my eyes to see Duo peeking up at me through his long bangs, a wicked smile adorning his beautiful lips. "G'morning Hee-chan!" he said and continued his exploration with his lips as the tour guides. My pants were suddenly starting to feel a lot tighter and I almost wanted to beg Duo to just touch me. My need for him was now greater than ever. "Duo…" I moaned out as I felt his hand brush the top of my pants. I felt his tongue dip into my belly button before traveling further south. My breath hitched as I felt him pull my pants completely off allowing my now weeping member to spring free. I almost came right away as I felt a wet moist heat suddenly engulf me. My back arched off the bed plunging myself deeper into that warmth. It felt even better than I ever thought possible. All it took was a couple of strokes of that heat and I was floating on the brink. "Duo….St—" I panted. "St-stop! Don't'…." I knew I was about to cum and didn't want to yet. I reached down and pulled him away from me and up to my lips. I could taste myself on his lips and while it wasn't exactly pleasant I found that it didn't bother me at all. I moaned into the kiss and quickly flipped us both over so that I was on top. It was my turn to explore, and explore I did. I licked, nipped, and kissed my way down to his very large erection and proceeded to do to him exactly what he did to me. I drew him slowly into my mouth until he was completely sated. It was a stretch since he was so big but I made it work. I drew back and let him fall completely from my mouth before sitting up and looking around. "Duo, do you have anything…." I trailed off suddenly very unsure for some reason. He nodded and pointed to the bedside table. I quickly reached over, pulled open the drawer, and withdrew a bottle of lube. "Slippery stuff?" I questioned as I read the bottle. He let out a soft mewl of dispair before grabbing me and pulling me into a sloppy kiss. "Its supposed to be the best, now hurry up and use it before I go crazy!" he exclaimed. I laughed at this and quickly squirted some onto my fingers. Once my fingers were liberally coated I went down on him once again. I licked him a few times before taking him completely into my mouth. At the same time I gently pressed one finger into him. After stretching him as best I could with the one, I added another, until I slowly worked my way up to three all the while sucking and licking him. He was wriggling around under me now, soft moans or pants making themselves heard. Just as I was about to withdraw my fingers I finally found that spot that I was looking for and brushed over it gently. Duo's body arched off the bed with a loud cry, his hand fisting into the sheets. "Shit! Do that again!" he gasped. I was all too happy to oblige.

I withdrew my hand completely after feeling that he was finally ready. I then coated my own weeping erection and positioned myself to enter him. "Are you ready?" I asked Duo looking him straight in the eyes. "Gods yes! Just hurry dammit!" he practically screamed out. I snorted softly. Apparently Duo could get very impatient in bed. I pushed into him slowly, easing myself in. He felt so good. I knew this was definitely heaven. His tight heat pulled me right in and I couldn't even hold back the moans any longer. "Gods above Duo! You feel amazing!" I managed to say before I started to pull back out only to push in again. Duo met each of my thrusts with a buck of his hips and soon we had a nice easy rhythm going. I knew I wasn't going to last long so I took Duo's erection into my hand and gently pumped it drawing even more delicious sounds from him. A few more thrusts and I could feel myself going over the edge. Somehow we both managed to cum together, at nearly the exact same time. It was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced in my entire life.

I collapsed on top of him once I was completely drained, but didn't pull out right away. I was enjoying the feeling of being joined with him too much. It was as if we were one person. Two halves of a whole. I wrapped my arms around him, placing a soft kiss to his shoulder, then another to his neck, and finally his lips. "Mmm… Heero…." He mumbled into the kiss. "Is this real?" he asked softly, lips still brushing against my own. "If its not, then I don't ever want to wake up" I replied ending the satement with a smile and another kiss. We both laid there in silence for a minute, each lost in his own thoughts. Then out of nowhere, I blurted out, "Marry me , Duo". I felt him go completely still in my arms so I propped myself up to better look down on him. I felt something wet hit my arms and realized he was crying. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" he cried while wrapping his arms around my neck and pulling me back into him. He rolled us over then so that he was on top and proceeded to kiss me senseless. Needless to say, we didn't end up getting out of bed until the evening that day. It was easily, the best day of my life.

The next morning I awoke alone. In a state of confusion I slowly got up, threw on some pajama pants, and padded out into the kitchen. I heard Duo before I ever saw him. He was cooking and once again was humming softly, even going so far as to sway his hips a bit with the tune. I leaned against the door frame and just watched him for a moment before deciding once again to try my luck. I quietly tiptoed into the kitchen and made my way up behind him. His eyes were closed and as he was stirring whatever it was he was cooking, he didn't seem to be aware of his surroundings at all. I smirked, this was going to be too easy. Instead of doing something sweet, I decided to play a bit of a joke on him. As soon as I was behind him I quickly grabbed him pulling him into a rough hug and bit down gently on the junction of his neck and shoulder, letting out a loud growl as I did. The huge jump and screech that he let out was well worth the smack I got from the spoon. I couldn't help myself and actually found myself laughing. Once I was finally able to stop I noticed Duo looking at me with an expression of wonder on his face. "What?" I asked. He wrapped his arms around me and replied, "I think that's the first time I've ever seen you laugh. I was getting afraid that you didn't know how." I smiled pulling him closer to me before bringing my lips up next to his ear and whispered, "It's all thanks to you. If not for you I wouldn't even be alive right now." I felt him shiver in my arms as my lips caressed his ear. "Ah… He-Heero…. " he moaned out, the sound going straight to my groin sending heat pooling through my limbs. I rocked against him gently, wanting to express just what I wanted.

In what seemed like one fluid motion he had the stove turned down, a lid put on whatever he was stirring, and had turned himself around in my arms to press a fevered kiss to my lips. We didn't even make it to the bedroom this time. Our second round of love making was fast, wild, rough, and just as amazing as the first. At the end we both sat on the floor panting and smiling at each other. I was the first to rise and quickly grabbed a wash rag from under the sink to clean us both up with. Once we were cleaned up with our clothes back in place he went back to cooking while I sat down at the table to reflect on my life so far.

If it wasn't for that horrible "Doctor" I would say my life was not so bad, except for the fact that he stole somethings from me that I can never get back. Four years is a long time to loose and of course I can never get that back, same with my virginity; although that one is not near as big of a deal to me. I'm just lucky that those memories have been conveniently blocked. It was weird, I knew that he raped me, several times but, I cannot remember any of it. I wasn't going to try either. I'm just fine with not remembering. I was startled out of my dark thoughts by Duo's voice, "Heero?" he said. I looked up from my seat at the table and smiled at him, "Hm?" He smiled back and just stated, "I love you". I stood up and walked back over to him, wrapped my arms around him, and of course said, "I love you too. More than words can express".

Duo then pulled his big pot off the heated burner and put it on a cooled back one, turned off the stove, and grabbed my hand. "I want to show you something" he stated pulling me along with him into the hallway. We stopped in front of the third bedroom door before he spoke again. "I've been working on something for a long time now. It's supposed to be for my house, if I ever get one." He then opened the door and ushered me in. Once inside I was presented with what looked like a long rectangular table draped with a sheet. He reached over, grabbed a handful of the sheet, and pulled. I gasped in surprise. There in front of me was the start of the door that I dreamed. It was hardly complete, not stained yet or shined nor did it have all of the designs on it that I remembered, but it was there. "Duo…." I started unsure of whether or not to tell him. "Duo, I saw this. While I was captured I would dream things that I wanted." My eyes never left the unfinished door with all of its carvings while I spoke, "In one of those dreams you rescued me just like you did, only instead of taking me here you took me to a small house out in the outskirts of the Sanq Kingdom. This was the front door…."

He had a strange expression on his face when I finally turned back to look at him. "H-how? How is that even possible? I mean…. I thought of you every minute I worked on this. Does that mean that my thoughts somehow reached you?" I grabbed his hand in mine and brought it up to my lips. "I have it on very good authority that some of your thoughts definitely reached me" I said. "So, you saw it? Complete?" he asked. I nodded and turned back to the door. I pointed at a currently unfinished spot and said, "That is where Deathsythe Hell will be, and over there is where Quatre's Sandrock goes, opposite that is Heavyarms". He raised his eyebrows in amazement before grabbing a piece of paper from somewhere behind him. "You're right…" he mumbled out looking at what I assume was the preliminary drawing. "Well, I guess I have no choice but to finish it then. Although I think I just may change something….Can't have it exactly like your dream now can I?" The cocky smile he gave me made me smile. As I stood in that room, listening to Duo babble on about his door, I closed my eyes and sent up a silent thank you to Maxine. She had given me the greatest gift possible and now I was for once truly happy. From here on out things would be fine. Even if I regained all four years' worth of terrible memories, as long as I had Duo by my side, I would be fine. I opened my eyes to see Duo staring at me now quiet, a look of question burning in his eyes. "I'm fine, I was just sending out a little thank you to someone special" I said while pulling him into my arms. He nodded in understanding before turning back to his door. The sunlight streaming in through the windows landed right on us and his half carved door causing it to emit a soft glow. I stood in that spot with him in my arms basking in the sunlight and for the first time in my life, I realized, I am truly happy. I'm happy, I'm content, and things could not possibly be better, life is good.

THE END!

Almost forgot, Photophobia is just a severe sensitivity to light. It can be caused by vitamin deficiencies or several other diseases. A common cause for it is staying in a dark environment too long. For example people that sleep all day and work all night could develope it if they never expose themselves to sunlight. (Vampires probably have photophobia lol) The rest of the diseases are just vitamin deficiencies.

Also, Slippery stuff is real. Its supposed to be the best of the best. Its what the doctors use because it doesn't dry out. Its worth trying. Their website is

Ok, so, when I first started this story I was expecting it to do something completely different. I tend to just write and not sit down and plot anything out, but even this totally changed. Orginally the point of view was going to switch back and forth from Heero to Duo so that we could get both of their stories but that didn't end up happening. Over all I think I'm pleased with how this story went but I don't know. There will be a short Epilogue and it will be posted shortly after this so keep a look-out for that. The epilogue is going to be mostly fluff, just a heads up.

Thank you to EVERYONE who stuck by me on this story for so long. So many things have happened that I am just happy I was able to finish it. I actually have two other stories in the works and will post them as soon as I am able. You all have been wonderful! Thank you again!

-Tsuzukinyo