Author's Notes: I know, shock&awe, I'm not dead! But, to be honest, this year has been rough on me. Not long after I posted ch. 23, way back in something sad and pathetic like March... someone whose opinion once meant a lot to me basically told me that because my story was set "during canon", that it wasn't worth reading, because she already knew what happened during canon. I guess it dented my spirit far more than I wanted to admit and even though I'm over it now, I didn't write for awhile...as in a few months. H and I moved again (brutal), down to Brooklyn, where we are quite certain we want to stay for awhile - honest! Also, we adopted two baby male kittens who are madly in love with each other. Sooo cute! So, taking the bad punches along with the good...
Once I started writing again, I began to realize how long the arc of the story was in this chapter... umm... I'm sorry?
Last Time on End of the World: The end of the war meant the separation of the pilots, as they parted ways to work on different necessary projects, none of which went quite as planned. Relena sabotaged the creation of the Preventers, creating more work for Heero, while Duo and Quatre found their work on space clean-up stalled by continuing skirmishes with White Fang. Trowa tried avoiding his friends, but found he was hurting himself most. A fight with Heero led Relena to recover and begin rebuilding her kingdom and the four pilots (no one seems to know where Wu Fei is... ) met up for a lavish birthday party she threw in her own honor, haunted by the not-so-dead ghost of Zechs. Trowa and Quatre outed themselves to Duo, Relena and Dorothy outed themselves to Heero, and Duo decided that maybe ruffles weren't so bad after all... or at least, maybe Relena wasn't. Will he end up regretting that decision? What does a summer alone mean for the friendship of four of our favorite pilots?
Enjoy the fluff while you can, next chapter dips into the beginning of Endless Waltz.
Of course I missed you, don't be silly!
Chapter 24 – Declaration
AC0196-05-12
F: heero..icm..colony
T: quatre..r..winner..icm..colony
S: Requirements
ATT: Requirements..doc
Attached is a full list of requirements for our location this summer.
***
AC0196-05-13
F: duo..maxwell..icm..colony
T: quatre..r..winner..icm..colony
S: Safe and Sound!
Hey Quat,
Just letting you know I made it alive. Thanks for looking after Deathscythe for me.
Do me a favor and pick out somewhere awesome, okay? I've never been on "vacation" before!
--D
***
AC0196-05-13
F: trowa..barton..icm..colony
T: quatre..r..winner..colony
S: Hiatus!
Quatre,
Just wanted to let you know that I should be available by the beginning of June at the latest. Catherine's informed me that the time for the circus' annual tune-up/clean-out/re-vamp is coming up. She seems… a little less bothered by our plans that I expected, but I think maybe she's begun to feel reassured that I'm not disappearing on her forever every time I want to see all of you.
Speaking of which… let me know when you find the place or if you want a second opinion at all. I'm looking forward to this summer.
Trowa
***
AC0196-05-13
F: duo..maxwell..icm..colony
T: heero..yuy..icm..colony
S: birthday???
I'm here on L2 and… and it's weird. I needed to do this, come back here, but… but I guess I don't want to talk about it? I know, so why am I talking about it…
Endings, Beginnings, Journeys…
So, have you picked a birthday yet?
I've decided that mine's going to be July 4th. I bet you can put all kinds of assumptions behind that, right?
Hmm… I thought I'd gotten better with this letter-writing, but… I've been sitting staring at the screen for ten minutes without writing anything else and I…
I won't tell a lie - I miss you already. I'm counting the days, even if there's not an exact date yet.
--D
***
AC0196-05-15
F: heero..yuy..icm..colony
T: duo..maxwell..icm..colony
S: RE: birthday???
I miss you too. This conference has been ridiculously busy – long, long days of standing at the doors of rooms listening to people argue followed by long hours on ICM-VC with Lady Une regarding the training modules, to keep it succinct.
July 4th is largely known for being – before the UCA – the old USA Independence Day. The logical conclusion is that you might identify with the country that originally founded L2, but I doubt it would ever be that simple with you.
Should I research days to choose an appropriate one or was that more of a gut instinct on your part?
***
AC0196-05-16
F: quatre..r..winner..icm..colony
T: trowa..barton..icm..colony, duo..maxwell..icm..colony, heero..yuy..icm..colony
S: o/~Have a little faith in me~/o
Dear Friends,
Do you trust me or not?
I'm scouting locations every day.
I will find the place that is best suited to everyone's needs. Promise.
Fondly,
Quatre
***
AC0196-05-18
F: trowa..barton..icm..colony
T: quatre..r..winner..icm..colony
S: RE: o/~Have a little faith in me~/o
Quatre,
I trust you! I'm sure that we'd both list a lot of the same things as priorities anyway…
Yes, you can wonder what I'm implying by that for awhile.
Trowa
***
AC0196-05-19
F: duo..maxwell..icm..colony
T: heero..yuy..icm..colony, quatre..r..winner..icm..colony, trowa..barton..icm..colony
S: RE: o/~Have a little faith in me~/o
Ah, Quat, you know we all mean well!
--D
***
AC0196-05-20
F: duo..maxwell..icm..colony
T: heero..yuy..icm..colony
S: 7 & 4
Hey Heero!
You'll never believe who I ran into today – Hilde! Lightning strikes again? She was in town looking for a rare part they didn't have anywhere on L3, long story short, so we had dinner, talked… she's still running her parents' old place and she seems… okay, mostly. I think she was hoping I'd stay for awhile, but I told her I was just passing through. Oddest thing… well… she told me that she thought she'd seen Wu Fei a few days ago, back on L3. It was just a second, changing trains on her way to the spaceport, and not that there's anything any of us can do about it... I guess I just… thought you might want to know.
Back on the subject of birthdays… Actually, I did know July 4th was the USA-day, but that isn't the whole reason why I picked it. Think of it as a secret password you'll have to continue unraveling.
Any day you choose is fine! I mean, maybe not the day after mine, because two parties in a row would take a lot of stamina…
Besides, since you're picking it yourself, you can always change it!
Oh, almost forgot! I also made contact with Howard and he's in, no matter the location.
--D
***
AC0196-05-22
F: heero..yuy..icm..colony
T: duo..maxwell..icm..colony, quatre..r..winner..icm..colony, trowa..barton..icm..colony
S: Modules
ATT: Modules..doc
We'll be returning to Sanc from India in another 3 or 4 days.
Attaching documents from Lady Une regarding necessary training modules that need to be developed.
Any news?
***
AC0196-05-22
F: heero..yuy..icm..colony
T: duo..maxwell..icm..colony
S: RE: 8 & 15
I'll take the date under consideration and get back to you.
I'm going to choose August 15th.
Can I also choose for my gift to be "no party"?
***
AC0196-05-25
F: quatre..r..winner..icm..colony
T: trowa..barton..icm..colony, heero..yuy..icm..colony, duo..maxwell..
S: Location Found!
Dearest Friends!
I am thrilled! I have found our location!
Enclosed are pictures, maps, descriptions of facilities, wildlife, climate, etc.
I have a few family matters to tie up, but will be there as of May 30th, and you are all most welcome to join me as soon as you are able.
Excitedly,
Quatre
***
AC0196-05-25
F: duo..maxwell..icm..colony
T: heero..yuy..icm..colony
S: RE: RE: 8 & 15
H--
NO!
--D
*******
"Wow." Duo paused in mid-step on the path through the garden, suddenly understanding why Heero had asked him to take a stroll after delivering the last cart of dishes to the kitchen.
Heero kept walking, wanting to get further away from any remaining guests that might overhear them, but he tossed a response over his shoulder. "Wow?"
Duo jogged to catch up to him until they were stride for stride again. "She really doesn't care?"
"She encouraged me to go." Heero hadn't quite processed the conversation yet, but it seemed as if Duo was ready to do it for him… and it felt good – really good – to have that camaraderie back again. He'd missed it more than he had realized. The letters were good, but… not the same. Not like this.
Duo's hand shot out to snag Heero's wrist as they reached the clearing where they'd talked earlier that evening. "So, then… in a couple weeks, you're free? That's it?" He couldn't quite keep the anxious upward lilt out of his voice and hoped it didn't make him sound needy. He'd just… missed Heero.
Heero turned to face Duo and nodded seriously. "That's it."
"Hence, the wow." Duo loosened his grip on Heero's wrist, sliding his hand down to interlock their fingers. "I mean, this is really happening, isn't it?"
Heero raised an eyebrow as he led Duo over to the same bench he'd been sorry to leave several hours ago. "What's happening?"
"Well, I guess it depends on them, too…" Duo rambled as he sat down, crossing one ankle over the other and leaning back to look up at the sky. "I mean, when Quatre brought up the idea of getting together for Gundam upgrades, I was a little surprised at how readily everyone agreed. Happy surprise, for sure, but… Quat wants to do this, and so do I, and now you… if we can convince Trowa to take some time off, we can actually do this."
"Was there ever any sincere doubt, Maxwell?" Heero teased a little before tilting his own head up to see what colonies were visible, scattered between the stars, but deep down he knew what Duo was really getting at…
"Heh, well… not really," Duo squeezed Heero's hand. "I guess I'm mostly wow because I realized, in the instant you said you'd be free, that not only could we do this, but how much I actually want to do this. And maybe it wouldn't be as big a deal, except… it's strongest want I've had since… since the war ended. I know that sounds a little strange, but, do you know what I mean?"
"I do. I think we all want this, in our own way…" Heero paused, considering his words. "…and I'm really glad we'll all be able to work together again."
Duo elbowed Heero a little before turning to face him, leaning one arm along the back of the bench. "Not just work! It's going to be a lot of fun, all of us hanging together without the threat of constant death hovering over our heads! And yes, we are going to have fun!"
Heero couldn't help but crack a smile at Duo's exuberance. "Wasn't tonight enough fun?"
"It's not the kind of birthday party I'd want," Duo said with a shake of his head that whipped the braid over his shoulder to trail into his lap. "Speaking of which! Once we know exactly where and when we're going, I think we should both have our own! No matter what, I'd want to spend it with my friends, so what better time?"
"Our own? Birthdays?" Heero glanced at Duo as the braided boy reached out to touch his leg lightly.
"Come on, Heero – I want experiences – and I've never had this one before – I already know just how we'll celebrate!" Grinning, he leaned in and nipped at Heero's lips teasingly before pulling back. "Or did we not come back to the garden to finish what we've tried to start twice already today?"
Heero followed Duo as he pulled away to catch the other boy's lower lip between his own in a non-verbal reply. He fisted his hand into the ruffles of the braided boy's frilly shirt to yank him forward. Duo's breath caught sharply and he ran his tongue along Heero's upper lip before pulling away again, his eyes bright and a little glassy in the moonlight. Heero opened his mouth to protest, but Duo was already swinging one leg over him, shifting his weight until he was seated on Heero's lap, knees on the bench pressed tight against his hips. "Duo…"
"It's been way too fucking long," Duo leaned down to breath into Heero's ear. Resting his hands on Heero's shoulders, he ground his hips forward slowly. Heero couldn't help how his own hips rolled back against Duo's as he reached a hand up to curl into the base of his braid, tilting their heads until their mouths crashed together again. Feeling Heero's heat against his own sent every thought spinning out of Duo's mind as his heart started to race – he'd wanted Heero so badly, all day, all night, weeks and months -
Beep-Beep! Beep-beep!
Duo woke with a start as the shuttle's auto-pilot alert went off, disoriented for a moment as he was pulled out of reliving his tryst in the garden with Heero. "Damn, it feels like it's been even longer than last time," he muttered under his breath as he pulled the maps up to check the flight path. The last month's seemed to crawl by compared to the previous four. The alert meant that there was only an hour until arrival, maybe twenty minutes before he should take manual control back for landing. Yawning, Duo lifted his hands over his head to stretch as he let his mind drift back to the garden again.
After all the months apart, just that once… It hadn't been enough at all, and if he hadn't already known they were going to spend the summer together, Duo wondered if he would have let Heero go to India without him. Or at all.
With a tap of his fingers, he pushed the flight path aside and looked out of the viewport at the world below. God, the pictures don't do it justice at all.
Islands seemed to creep up out of the vast expanse of blue – pieces of land that were hardly more than chunks of rock and dots of pure white sandbar dusted the turquoise and navy water like a swirl of icing. As he descended towards the landing coordinates, Duo could see the frothy crests of waves glaring in the setting sun. But the best of all were the clouds – they seemed unreal, as if they'd been painted on in a fiery display of fuchsia, indigo and cerulean. Until this moment, I don't think I'd ever seen those colors outside of a crayon box.
The thought forced him to crack a smile and a giddy feeling overtook him as the island, their island, home for the next month, finally slid into view. It was long and thin, roughly seven miles north to south and barely over two mile across, and Duo could spot Howard's boat parked in the deep lagoon on the southern end. The length of the runway on the island required the finesse of a superb pilot, he noted with mirth, and by the time he was throwing open the doors, Duo had been swept up in the thrill of a new adventure.
"Quat! Tro!" he hollered as soon as he had the door open, squinting into the dusk.
Quatre was already running across the runway, waving at him, and Duo climbed down the wheel of his shuttle, dropping his bag before jumping the last few feet to the ground just in time to grab his friend in a huge hug. Trowa was only a few steps behind, and laughing, Duo reached out to grab him by the arm, pulling all three of them into a group huddle.
"This place is phenomenal!"
"You haven't seen the half of it," Quatre shook his head with a grin as he straightened and swept a hand out in front of him. "It meets every requirement for the work we need to do..."
Trowa leaned in conspiratorially, interrupting the other boy. "But it might as well be paradise."
"Are you complaining?" Quatre replied in mock indignation.
"Complimenting!" Trowa assured him with an equally easy grin.
Duo grinned at the playful banter between his friends, bending to stretch sore muscles as he enjoyed the freshness of the island air. "Give me the grand tour!"
"Absolutely!" Quatre led the way towards the vehicle he and Trowa had come in and Duo stopped short as he saw that it was a golf cart. Looking around, he realized that he could see nothing from the runway besides dense jungle, and he turned slowly in a circle before raising an eyebrow.
"Just how far into the middle of nowhere are we?"
"Very. The roads on the island are very narrow – half of them are dirt," Quatre explained as he climbed into the driver's seat and Trowa slipped in beside him.
Duo jumped onto the back, one arm wrapped around back of their seat and the other gripping his bag. The headlights on the golf cart illuminated a few feet in front of them as Quatre turned the cart on, and a moment later they were chugging briskly down the dirt path into the trees, the salty breeze tickling Duo's nose and tossing his braid out behind him.
"My family owns this island, so the cottages here are all private," Quatre kept talking as he drove. "There's a minimal staff that keeps the place running, but the nearest thing resembling a real town is a half-hour boat ride away. We essentially have the entire island and surrounding waters to ourselves – and of course, Howard's crew and the Maguanacs are here as well. We'll be using his ship for most of the work on the mobile suits – the crew will bring Deathscythe over by barge at dawn."
"I think we should take Duo to the main building first – to the kitchen," Trowa interrupted lightly as they finally turned off onto another road that quickly started to wind downhill towards the shore.
"Famished!" Duo chimed in agreement.
Quatre finally parked the golf cart in a small clearing where tiny little lanterns burned brightly along the edges. With the motor turned off, Duo realized he could hear the crashing of ocean waves in the distance, growing louder as he followed his two friends. The lantern-lit path offered just enough light to keep him from tripping over the large and uneven stones, and he was glad when a set of stairs appeared to lead them to what he assumed was the main building.
"Every cottage has a name," Quatre tossed back over his shoulder as he hopped quickly down the uneven steps. "But we just call the main building the 'Clubhouse'."
With no further explanation, Duo followed them inside and was immediately swept up in the welcoming crew of a lot of people he hadn't seen in a month – or six. Greetings and handshakes shuffled him through the large room and into the kitchen, and his mouth nearly dropped open at the preparations that were underway. Between the three different crews, Duo couldn't count the number of dishes being prepared, and the kitchen seemed barely big enough to hold all of them.
"Duo Maxwell!" Rashid's voice boomed over the noisy room as he grabbed Duo in a one-armed bear hug and shoved a spoon into his hand. "Just in time to lend a hand, right?"
There was no way to turn down the request, and Duo had picked up a trick or two from the kitchens on MO-2, so he readily agreed. "Long as you don't make me promise not to snitch from the pot – I may be a thief, but never a liar! I will snitch!"
"Chef's privilege?" Rashid joked back as Quatre and Trowa appeared in the doorway. "Master Quatre! Is the Pavilion ready?"
"Indeed," Quatre grinned, holding out both of his hands. "Load us up and we'll start carrying everything down to the beach."
Duo's first trip down to the beach was with the pot he'd just finished stirring – an amazing creamy seafood soup that made his mouth water in anticipation – and he stopped at the top of the wooden stairs leading down to the beach to stare. He could only just barely make out the waves crashing against the shore less than a hundred yards away, but at the foot of the stairs, a large tent had been erected over a wooden platform. At the corners of the tents, large torches burned brightly, reminding Duo just a tiny bit of the festival celebrations they'd experienced while in Africa.
"If you think it's stunning now," Trowa's voice startled Duo out of his reverie as he leaned over the braided boy's shoulder to look out at the water. "… just wait until the sun's up. It's too dark to see the outlines of the coral reef."
"There's reef out there?" Trowa started down the stairs with an enormous platter of fish hoisted up on his shoulder, but before Duo had taken a step to follow him, Quatre's voice rang out behind them from the doorway to the Clubhouse.
"Duo! Trowa! Come quickly, Heero's calling!"
Duo raced down the stairs to deposit his pot on one of the tables under the tent and then skipped back up them two at a time to catch Trowa just as he reached the Clubhouse. "Is he almost here?"
Quatre gestured to them from a doorway down the hall and the three friends were soon gathered around the screen expectantly.
"I wish I was calling with good news," Heero started, crossing his arms over his chest in a clear display of his frustration. "But as it is, I've only got a minute or two."
"That doesn't sound good," Quatre frowned.
"Are you bailing-" Trowa started, and Duo flinched a little, leaning in closer to interrupt.
"You wouldn't."
"I'm not!" Heero insisted, the hint of a smile playing on his lips at the rapid fire banter between the group. No wonder I feel so pissed about the delay… I wish I was there already. "I'm up on L3 – don't ask - it's a long-story-last-minute thing – but the meeting is running long, and as a result, I've already missed my shuttle departure back down to Earth. I'll be there as soon as I can – just not tonight."
"At least it's nothing serious!" Quatre sighed with relief.
"Temporary delay," Heero responded automatically, watching all of their expressions. Despite his reassurances, he couldn't help but note the disappointment in Duo's eyes. "I have to go now."
"Well, keep us informed of your status," Quatre said. "There's always someone on duty in the main building and on Howard's ship."
Duo leaned in now, his braid slipping over his shoulder to dangle right in front of the camera as he addressed Heero brightly. "Even in the dark, this place is awesome, Heero – so you'd better hurry up or you'll miss all the fun!"
Heero raised an eyebrow at the challenge as he retorted. "You know the real fun won't begin until I'm there." He waited just long enough to see Duo's cheeks color, Quatre's mouth drop open and Trowa purse his lips to keep back a snicker, and then he ended the call.
Slipping back inside the conference room, Heero resumed his position against the wall. He wouldn't be able to catch a shuttle until this was over, and then the transfers involved because of his Gundam… Wait a minute. Why can't I just… fly Wing Zero straight there? It was absolutely against several of the new regulations, of course… but he'd had the right upgrades performed during the repairs after the war to enter the atmosphere, and to stay off most radar.
And cutting through the red tape will certainly get me there a hell of a lot faster.
o/~ I'll take you just the way you are
Imperfect words inside the perfect song
I feel you closer than you are
I've been waiting far too long
Too long ~/o
Just as he'd suspected, Heero had absolutely no trouble slipping out of the colony and down to Earth, which was excellent for his current purposes, but worrisome overall. He hadn't doubted he'd get past the sensors, but it shouldn't have been so… easy. Add that to the list of things to ICM Lady Une about…
It was pre-dawn as he flew over the Indian Ocean towards his destination, and the first blip to appear on his screen since departure was Howard's crew making contact. They noticed me and ESUN's scanners didn't? The Preventers modules had to be finished as soon as possible, he decided as he docked Wing Zero in the hangar of Howard's ship. There were simply too many holes in the defense of the new peace. It bothered him at the same time that it only convinced him further of all the things the Preventers intelligence needed to be able to cover. But with the help of the other pilots…it should go quickly.
Heero found himself looking forward to the reunion with his friends as he jumped down to the floor, surprised to hear music playing faintly from across the room. He hadn't thought anyone would be awake at this hour and hadn't even bothered to contact the main building yet.
Old pre-colony rock 'n roll… Heero thought as he walked closer, and a moment later, he felt a rush of heat pool in his gut as he realized it was coming from Deathscythe's cockpit… and that Duo was singing along.
Climbing the rope up to the cockpit in quick hand over hand fashion, Heero let the music cover the sound of his landing as he stood in the opening and watched the other boy work. Oblivious to the fact that he had an audience, Duo was bent over a panel, his long braid trailing down his back and swinging back and forth as he re-wired one of the circuit boards, a jumble of tools surrounding him. His hips shimmied in time with the music as he twisted two wires together and then started to screw the panel's cover back on.
Unable to help himself, Heero stepped lightly over the tools to grab Duo's hips as he rose, pulling the other boy backwards against him. "Didn't know you could shake it like that."
"Heero!" Duo exclaimed in surprise, shivering when he suddenly felt the other boy's lips against the side of his neck. "How long have you– I mean, I didn't think you'd be here until tomorrow!"
"Technically, it IS tomorrow," Heero said, sliding one arm further around Duo. "And… long enough." He paused to nip at Duo's ear lobe before adding. "I flew Wing Zero directly."
"Highly illegal," Duo murmured, dropping the screwdriver he'd been holding with a clatter as he turned in Heero's arms. "You couldn't wait?"
Heero lifted a hand to trap Duo's chin between two fingers, leaning in to brush their lips together lightly. "Didn't want to."
"Couldn't sleep," Duo breathed against his lips, sliding both arms up and around Heero's shoulders. "Kept thinking about the garden… Doubt anyone's awake yet back on the island."
Tilting Duo's head a little, Heero answered the unspoken suggestion by kissing a line along Duo's jaw as he reached to slap the button that would close the cockpit door. Duo let out a small gasp as Heero sucked on his pulse point, surprised when the other boy suddenly pushed him backwards into the cockpit chair. A flicker of a memory flashed in his mind and Duo thought of the first night at the school and the way that Heero had tossed him onto the bed and practically devoured him. There's the same look in his eyes now, the same want, pulling me in…
Heero slid one knee between Duo's legs, leaning in to kiss him as he reached to pull Duo's shirt free from his pants. Duo curled one hand around the back of Heero's neck to return the kiss, his tongue stroking hard against Heero's, but the other boy broke away a moment later, reaching down to press his hand against the quickly growing bulge. "Still can't deny you…" Heero murmured to himself, almost too softly to be heard, trailing into thought.
At the echo of words from the same moment he'd been thinking about, Duo's hips surged up into that touch. "Heh… I didn't even have to ask this time," Duo teased back softly. He reached his own hand out, but Heero caught his wrist.
"Should I ask you then?" Heero pinned Duo's wrist above his head and reached with his other hand to slowly unzip Duo's fly, pleased when he felt the other boy tremble. He'd known from the very moment he saw those hips swaying with the music that he would not be able to help himself and sometimes Heero wondered if he had any willpower left at all when it came to Duo.
"H-Heero," Duo breathed, his eyes fluttering closed as he felt the other boy's warm breath against him. Heero let go of his wrist and Duo's hands dropped immediately to tangle in the dark hair as he moaned. It was sweet torture, being completely clothed - but with Heero's mouth hot around him. Everything was friction. Duo hardly noticed as Heero slid his pants off to prep him, his head thrown back in bliss. The lights of Deathscythe's cockpit twinkled and blurred as he squeezed his eyes shut against both pain and pleasure.
Sensing that he'd pushed Duo close to the edge, Heero drew back, kneeling in front of the chair. There was barely enough room in here to be doing what they were doing, but he really didn't care. Leaning in closer, he kissed Duo again before speaking roughly into his ear. "Do you want me?"
Duo answered him by reaching a hand out to grab Heero through his shorts as he turned his head to lick a line up Heero's neck. "Want you…" he panted in reply, not caring to lose this battle. There's still the war to win. "Now… now!"
In one smooth motion, Heero pulled his cock free of his shorts and slid his knees onto the edge of the chair, edging Duo up and onto his lap until they were in position.
Wrapping his legs around Heero, Duo leaned in for another kiss, feeling the skip of his heartbeat as Heero filled him. Heero's thrusts were swift but deep and Duo jammed his elbows into the walls for leverage, riding out the waves of pleasure as he ground his hips down in return. The world beyond his eyelids exploded into growingly familiar fireworks as they collapsed against each other in a sweaty, breathless heap.
"Hell of a hello," he murmured into Heero's hair with a chuckle. "But you did say the fun wouldn't start until you got here."
*******
"A.C. 0196, 6-16, 1100…" Duo hissed into the hand-held recorder as he tromped through the jungle. So much for fun. Did I dream that incident inside Deathscythe?
Duo was hot, thirsty, tired and in a generally foul mood, and that was merely the tip of the iceberg. He wondered idly if maybe he'd jinxed himself, thinking this trip would be all fun and games. "Three hours and no sign of the enemy. Perimeter check…"
Duo paused, hitting the off switch and diving into the underbrush with a muttered curse as an explosion went off in the distance. He remained still for a moment and then flipped the recorder back on. "Perimeter check… is… is a fucking load of bullshit," he spat before clicking it off again. "Sixteen days of bullshit, to be exact."
How many times do we need to run these modules anyway?! Duo flipped the recorder back on again, his emotions bubbling up to the surface as he allowed himself to step outside the "game" for a moment. "You know what, Yuy? I hope you listen to this later going over the logs and it pisses you off!" he hissed. "I know we're designing shit to help protect peace and all, but I haven't had a shower or slept in a bed in almost four days! Do we really need to run ourselves ragged just so your statistics are perfectly awesomely accurate? Hah! Forget sleep or a shower in four days – there hasn't been anything besides war for sixteen days! Not. Even. Sex!" Duo hissed the last word before turning off the recorder and climbing to his feet again.
First, Heero and Quatre had been designing modules day and night while he and Trowa oversaw the layout and calendar of the initial Gundam maintenance plans – then it was survival training in all terrains, weapons training of all types, simulations – and all of it needed to be tested. Every day was excruciatingly long and he generally he just wanted to pass out when it was over. There hadn't been time for anything else. Duo knew that it was half… okay, most of, the reason they'd come to the island, but as much as he hated to admit it, the endless days of "pretend" war were starting to get to him. Trudging forward again, he paused mid-step, listening. Shit. It's Trowa.
Duo took off through the long grass of the jungle brush, diving for cover behind a rock as a ball of bright green paint whizzed past him and just barely grazed his cheek. "You'll have to do better than that, Barton," he taunted loudly, using the trees for cover as he switched positions. "You better come out or I'm gonnaaaaAAAHHHH!" The last word trailed off into a yell as the unstable sandy ground gave way beneath him. "!" The shift in balance sent Duo tumbling forward and he rolled down the side of the dune in a thrashing heap, hollering all the way. "Damnit! Stupid bullshit two weeks of stupid bullshit! Exhausted thirsty dirty nightmares, can't they give it a rest for even a day?!" He knocked into a particularly large bush and finally skidded to a stop, but the ranting didn't end. "There isn't real war anymore! Little blips on the radar, maybe. And yeah, yeah, I don't want there to be again, that's why we're doing this, I know that's why, but… but… goddamn, do we have to live with it every hour of every day until we're consumed by it?!"
"Duo…?"
Staring up at the small patch of blue sky visible through the trees as he lay on his back, Duo sighed dejectedly as he listened to Trowa picked his way carefully through the grass.
"Duo… you okay?"
"You're supposed to shoot me," Duo muttered, throwing one arm across his face with a scowl as Trowa appeared between the reeds. "I'm the enemy."
Trowa weighed his words carefully before replying wryly. "I would think your safety would be the more important priority?"
"And if it was a tactic?"
"Duo." Trowa looked down at his obviously exasperated friend, his expression a cross between worried and amused. "Then you would have shot me by now. And I'm not going to shoot you, so – really - " Trowa paused, then sat down in the grass beside him, dropping his paint gun. "Did you mean all of that?"
Duo closed his eyes as he lifted his purple paint gun and after pausing for dramatic effect, he turned it and shot himself in the gut.
POP!
There was a long moment of complete silence before Trowa responded. "Heero's going to be pissed. Suicide is against the rules."
"I don't care," Duo signed dramatically. "I need to get out of this headspace for a little while."
There was another long moment of silence while Trowa contemplated Duo's entire tirade and then, with a snap of his wrist –
POP!
Trowa flopped over in the grass beside Duo with a heavy sigh.
"Now he's really going to be pissed," Duo exploded into laughter, rolling around in the dirt.
"How long should we let them chase each other around?"
"Oh no, Tro – I've got a much better idea…" Rolling onto his side, he leaned in and started to detail his plan.
A surprisingly mischievous grin crept onto Trowa's face. "I'm in."
Working as a team, it wasn't difficult at all to ambush Quatre and once they had him pinned from two angles and literally up against a tree, he was forced to listen to their argument.
"Come on, Quat – you can't tell me that you didn't pick this island out without at least thinking you'd get to enjoy it a little!" Duo pointed out.
"True..." Quatre agreed warily, shifting his gun back and forth between his two technically dead ally-enemy-friends. Did it even matter if they shot him now? The module was obviously completely ruined.
Trowa lowered his gun with a shrug, figuring they really had nothing to lose. "I know these modules are important and need to be finished within a certain timeframe, but Quatre, I'm certain you also know that straining ourselves is…"
"It's unnecessary," Quatre filled in thoughtfully with a shake of his head, knowing his own tendency to get carried away with his work. "Dangerous, also, if something were to really happen…"
"All work and no play…" Duo still had his gun aimed at Quatre, but it was no longer necessary.
POP!
A bright yellow splash appeared at the same time as Quatre's smile.
Duo grinned, lowering his gun and stepping forward to sling an arm around Quatre's shoulders. "So, master strategist, how best do we three suicided soldiers ambush Heero?"
Quatre debated for a moment and then shrugged lightly. "We don't."
By the time Heero tromped into their clearing nearly two hours later, the three boys had stripped off most of their gear and were sitting in a circle sharing some fruit they'd plucked off the nearby trees. At the sight of the stony glare, all three went momentarily silent, but the only one who looked sincerely guilty was Quatre.
"Sorry, Heero," Quatre finally started, climbing hastily to his feet. "We're all… dead." He could hardly say the last word while keeping a straight face and Duo snickered a little.
Heero glanced around the circle, entirely aware that each was dead by their own color, and his eyes narrowed a little further. "I am not amused."
POP!
"But I am!" Duo lifted his chin defiantly with a smirk at the purple blob on Heero's chest, tossing his gun aside before flopping back over in the grass. "Now you're dead too – game over!"
"Seriously," Trowa interrupted as he also climbed to his feet, thinking of the things that Duo had said to him earlier, all of which he'd conveniently recorded on the logging device he hadn't had time to turn off. He hoped that Heero listened to them later, because a part of him agreed with the sentiments. "We don't have to stop working completely, but maybe we can… pace ourselves a little more?"
"The majority outvotes you," Quatre added, biting his lip to keep from smiling as he offered up the alternate plans he'd developed while lounging around with Duo and Trowa. "Let's take a break from this area. I know it's off the original schedule, but - why don't we take the boat out tomorrow and start setting up the buoys for the water modules? We'll take the snorkel gear too," he added quickly as Duo sat up, ready to protest. "A little work and a little play."
Finally given a chance to respond, Heero looked around at the identical expressions of weariness on the faces his friends and relented more easily than he initially expected he would. "I suppose we can change things up a little…" Why didn't any of them say anything to me? Even Duo? Was I not listening? I guess we have been out here a few days now… Lowering his gun a little, he reached out a hand to Duo, who accepted it and let Heero pull him to his feet.
*******
"I listened to the logs – yours and Trowa's."
It was early the next morning when Heero found Duo standing outside the clubhouse, watching the sun rise over the ocean. "The colors are unreal, aren't they?" Duo gestured to the pink clouds the sun was peeking out of as if he hadn't even heard the statement. He wasn't actually angry at Heero, just a little confused, and never very good at talking about how he was feeling. He didn't want Heero to think that peace didn't matter to him anymore. Back to that old staple of not letting our feelings get in the way of the mission. "Is the boat ready to go?"
Heero knew Duo's tendency to avoid, but after all the things they'd shared in their letters, he wasn't about to let him get away with it now. Reaching to touch his shoulder, Heero waited until the other boy turned to face him. "You could have said something to me."
"About what?" Duo turned to lean against the railing, raising an eyebrow at Heero and continuing to make light. "Your workaholic tendencies?" After all, Heero had shown up and practically seduced him inside his own Gundam and then… hadn't so much as touched him in the last two weeks, despite the fact that they were still sleeping in the same bed - when there was a bed to sleep in and not a jungle. What was he supposed to think? Was he supposed to turn his feelings off like a faucet when there was work to be done? But isn't that what we've always done? Why does it bother me now? Why doesn't it bother him? Too many questions that Duo just couldn't seem to ask. Maybe he didn't really want to know the answers.
Heero didn't defend against what he knew to be true as he watched the subtle changes in Duo's expression. "I should have said something to you about why I've been pushing us so hard." What would any of them say if they knew that at least part of my reason for pushing this work is so that we don't have to do this anymore? Would they agree? Are we all here because we want out… or because we don't? Or don't know how to let go? Don't know if we're supposed to bow out now? Heero had a feeling that if it was up to Relena and Noin and Lady Une and countless others, the Gundam pilots would always be at the center of the relentless fight for peace because they were the only ones trustworthy wanted to change that… trust was as important as strength and knowledge, and that was why the Preventers were going to be different. It was why he needed the help of his friends to design the program.
Despite his lapse into silence, the look of conflict on Heero's face was easy for Duo to read and he felt immediately guilty for the way he was acting. It's not as if I made a move towards him either. He wanted Heero to lighten up a little, not look even more troubled. "Heero…" Duo smiled a little, leaning his head back to catch the morning light on his face. "Contrary to popular belief, I'm not an idiot. I know how fragile this peace is. I know it's more important than… than any single one of us. It's important because without it, no one can live their lives freely…I just…"
Heero felt his chest tighten as Duo trailed off, wanting a way to put words to the things he was feeling. Least of all us. There was the dedication he felt towards helping this peace be lasting, the overwhelming sense of duty… coupled with the awakening idea that maybe, just maybe, when it truly over, truly safe… that they all deserved something more in their lives. But will it ever be over? The thought nagged at him constantly, but he wanted to believe that helping to create the Preventers would fill those holes, lessen the weight he still felt on his shoulders. He wanted to know that Duo understood that, understood him… "There isn't anyone else who can do this the way that we can."
"I know…" But is it always going to be that way? Does the mission ever end? And how do I feel if the answer is no? Duo didn't voice his thoughts as he straightened, hacing no idea that he and Heer were thinking so similarly, waving to the other pilots as they came down the stairs from the clubhouse carrying a pile of gear. Touching Heero's arm lightly, he offered another smile. "S'not like any of us is really going to bail, so relax. Like I've told you before… I'm not going anywhere."
With a bag of snorkeling gear hoisted over his shoulder, Trowa followed Quatre down the stairs, worrying his lip as he observed the body language between Heero and Duo. Despite how light they'd made of yesterday's events, there was a sense of tension between all of them that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Before the survival modules, he'd spent most of his time with Duo and Howard's crew and when he stopped to think about it, even Quatre had seemed overly vacantly sunny to him when they'd spent any time together. It was troubling to see his friends seeming… not themselves and he wondered if there was anything he could do about it. "Everything ready with the boat?"
"Everything we need to set up the buoys and their recording devices is already on board," Heero answered, turning to lead the way down the stairs and towards the dock.
"Rashid sent us with lunch enough to feed an army," Quatre added, hanging back a moment to let Duo peek into the cooler he was carrying.
"Mmm," Duo grinned as he caught a whiff, leaning in conspiratorially. "Can't we make it brunch?"
"Didn't you just eat breakfast?" Quatre swatted his hand away and waited until Heero and Trowa were out of earshot. "I just want you to know that I'm actually really glad that you and Trowa did this."
"Is that so?" Duo raised an eye as he watched Quatre's gaze follow Trowa as he descended the stairs. "I guess you two haven't had any quality time either?"
Quatre had the dignity to blush a little at Duo's remark before sighing a bit wistfully. After the scene on the piano at Relena's birthday party, he wasn't going to try pretending to Duo anymore that he wasn't smitten with the other pilot. "We haven't exactly… talked about it? We got carried away performing at the party, and then he had to leave early the next morning to get back to the circus. And we've all been so busy since we got here…" Quatre trailed off, knowing that the truth was that he didn't know what to say to Trowa. Did he wonder, as Quatre did, what would have happened if they hadn't been preparing for the performance and been interrupted?
Duo's eyes widened in surprise. "Now I feel even worse about interrupting. So nothing's happened…"
Quatre shook his head, shifting the cooler to his other hand. "It was poor timing on our parts that day. And I… I guess there hasn't been any good timing since then? Small moments here and there, a glance, a smile--"
"You have got it bad," Duo cut him off to tease, reaching a hand out to ruffle Quatre's hair affectionately.
Ducking away, Quatre dashed down the stairs as he grinned over his shoulder at Duo, not at all trying to deny it. "You're one to talk, Duo!"
Now it was Duo's turn to color slightly. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" he called after him, but Quatre didn't answer back this time. Duo paused for a moment at the top of the stairs, watching his three friends in front of him as they walked down the wooden platforms to board their boat. Truthfully, he also wasn't a bit sorry that yesterday's events had meant a change in plans. Jumping down the stairs two and three at a time, he ran to catch up and hopped into the boat just as Heero was untying the last rope.
The sea spray was cool and refreshing as Quatre pulled the boat away from the dock, misting their faces as the small boat gained speed. "Everyone keep an eye on the depth radar," Quatre pointed to a small device mounted next to the steering wheel and Duo plopped down into the co-pilot's chair to get a closer look at the real-time graphing. "There's a great deal of coral reef out here and it's easy to accidentally ground the boat, especially right now with all the equipment on board."
"Aye-aye, Captain," Duo joked, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back in the chair to enjoy the view. Heero remained standing, one arm braced against the side of the boat as he watched the island take shape behind them and Trowa sat down in the back, coiling the last of their ropes into a neat pile.
The roar of the engine made it hard to talk without yelling, but the view was incredible as they sped over the water. There was nothing in sight beyond their island, just an endless expanse of aqua ocean, the wake of the boat cresting white and foamy behind them. Heero signaled to Quatre once they'd made it far enough away and the blond slowed the boat down until the engine quieted, leaving them bobbing gently in the water. Duo was glad they hadn't eaten lunch yet, as the lurch of the small boat was definitely enough to make his stomach turn a little.
Working as a team, they slowly set the buoys in a circle around the island as the sun rose high and bright overhead. By the time the last one was finished, Duo's stomach was growling in protest and he felt no qualms in protesting about it loudly. They ate lunch anchored at a long, thin sandbar that stretched out into the water in a curl before Quatre directed the boat out into a lagoon not too far from their dock.
Looking over the side of the boat as his friends began to slip on their fins and masks, Duo realized the water was so clear that he could see straight down to the sandy bottom even though the depth radar said the water was at least twenty feet deep. He wasn't afraid, but he also wasn't quite sure what he had gotten himself into. He slipped his fins on and stood up awkwardly, watching as Heero dove smoothly into the calm water.
Watching Duo's slightly apprehensive expression, Trowa jumped up onto the bench running along the inside edge of the boat and walked rather gracefully along its length to stand beside Duo, offering him a hand up.
Quatre had finished securing the anchor and sat down on the edge of the boat to pull his fins on, sliding easily off and into the water. "Are you okay, Duo?" he called up, catching the other boy's momentary hesitation.
Duo started slightly at Quatre's perceptiveness and gave a huge grin. "Uh, absolutely… just… taking my time!"
Trowa caught the slight incline of Heero's head as Quatre had Duo's attention, and with a barely imperceptible nod in reply, he promptly shoved the braided pilot off the side of the boat and into the water before diving in after him.
Duo hadn't secured his mask yet, so he came up spluttering and splashing to the mutual laughter of his friends. He would be mad at them for picking on him, but it was just the way they related – challenged each other. They wouldn't let him have the chance to be afraid. "Haha, very funny… someone want to help me with this thing?"
Quatre was closest and he reached to help Duo put his mask in place. "That end goes in your mouth, so that you can breathe."
"I feel like I'm sinking!" Duo gurgled around the snorkel as he tried to get the hang of his fins, a little relieved when he felt Heero loop an arm around him.
"Maxwell! Relax!" Heero said, then waved at Quatre. "Give us a few minutes."
Duo wanted to be embarrassed, but decided it was better to suck up his pride and try to learn how to not drown. Heero loosened his hold as Duo stopped flailing, backing up until there was a hand's reach between them.
"First, kick – no, not like that - even and not too hard. The fins make your kicks go farther, use less energy…" Heero grinned a little when Duo looked skeptical. "Just pretend you're a fish."
Duo grinned back and tried to follow Heero's advice, amazed when his body suddenly evened out and stabilized in the water. "Excellent," he chuckled. "Maybe fins are just what I needed!"
"Next you're going to put that snorkel in your mouth and practice breathing – long and slow is better than short bursts."
Duo was not surprised that Heero was somehow a supposed expert on snorkeling – the same way he wasn't surprised that Quatre knew the entire map of the reef surrounding the island… or that Trowa had thrown him into the water. It was oddly… comfortable, the four of them together. "Rike 'sis?"
Heero nodded, giving one final instruction. "Now, all you're going to do is tip your head forward and under the water and have a look around. We might dive, but you don't need to just yet."
Duo dipped his head down under the water and blinked several times, looking around. The only sound he could hear was the echo of his own breathing and the occasional slosh of water. What he could see, on the other hand, was incredible. The reef moved and waved beneath them, a fully living entity of color, and Duo followed the point of Heero's finger to see a school of tiny vividly electric blue fish darting in and out of the coral. Since he couldn't really talk or smile, he gave Heero a thumbs up instead.
It's like being inside the aquarium tanks… Duo marveled as he followed his friends across the top of the reef, watching as Heero and Trowa took turns diving down and trying to touch the sandy bottom where it was visible. In the dust kicked up by their dives, Duo started when he saw a beady pair of eyes appear, followed by a giant mouth full of teeth. With a gasp of surprise as he attempted to backpedal in the water, Duo took in a great mouthful of salt water and started choking. His friends were by his side in an instant, Trowa and Quatre each supporting an arm as Heero reached to yank the snorkel out of his mouth.
"Duo, what happened?" Quatre asked worriedly.
"Under," Duo gasped out, coughing up the last of the water. "Giant thing, beady eyes, rows of teeth--"
"Oh! Did you see a barracuda?"
"Let's head back to the boat," Heero said, pulling off his entire mask, unable to keep the smirk off of his face. "So the barracuda doesn't eat Maxwell."
"EAT ME?!"
"He's kidding, Duo," Trowa cut in as he pulled out his own snorkel and let go of Duo's arm, but even he couldn't keep from chuckling. "But it is getting late and I don't think we want to be caught out on the open water after dark."
Heero stayed close to Duo as they swam back to the boat, letting Quatre and Trowa board first, turning to face the other boy once they'd reached the ladder on the side. Reaching out, he took one of Duo's hands and pressed a rounded, rippled, pure white shell into his hand. "I picked it up off the bottom."
"Thanks." Grinning, Duo leaned in to brush a kiss across Heero's lips, wrinkling his nose when all he tasted was the same salty water he'd been coughing up for the last ten minutes. "Wow, ocean kisses are gross."
Riding back to the dock as the sun was setting, Duo felt oddly light. Maybe I coughed out a few brain cells… But no, looking around at his friends against the backdrop of the sky and the sea, smiling and joking - he knew the buzz he felt in his gut was something else. He had no idea what to call it, really, but it was something he didn't want to ever end.
*******
o/~ Do you care what i believe
or that i wear your heart upon my sleeve
Sometimes i think you never knew
the only truth i see is you
It's you ~/o
The energy between them all had changed. Even though the next week went by all too quickly as they swapped back and forth between modules and repairs, the pilots suddenly seemed to always find the time for a meal, a snorkel, or just a quiet walk by the ocean.
Tonight, Duo had managed to convince the group to have a bonfire down on the beach. There was no moon at all and when Duo stepped back to gaze up at the sky, the tapestry of stars appeared so bright that it seemed like he should be able to reach up and touch them. The blaze was burning upwards, the flames licking at the twinkling lights, and Trowa let out an appreciative whistle as he crossed the sand to where Duo had set several blankets at a mostly-safe distance from his creation. "All this for marshmallows? It looks like you're trying to roast us."
"It's awesome, isn't it?" Duo's eyes sparkled mischievously as he sidled up to Trowa. "Did you get what I asked for?"
"Yes."
"No one saw you?" Duo would have done the thieving himself, but he'd been too busy preparing the bonfire.
Trowa raised an eyebrow as he slipped a small flask out of the back pocket of his shorts and held it up between two fingers. "No one saw me. Heero was on ICM-vc with Noin and Quatre was collecting ingredients in the kitchen." The corners of Trowa's mouth twitched into a small smile and Duo jumped on the opportunity as he picked up a large palm frond and fanned his fire.
"So… how're things between you and Quat?" In the last week, Duo and Heero had resumed something of a more… regular interaction - he liked to think with an inward grin - but Duo wondered if things had gotten any further between his friends than the "smiles" that Quatre had mentioned.
Trowa didn't really know what to say in response, but he could tell that Duo was genuinely curious – and after walking in on their scene at Relena's birthday party, he could hardly blame the braided boy. "Good," he finally chose to answer, but he wanted to say more and Duo was still giving him the 'I'm waiting' look. "We've spent a lot of time together at night, listening to music or just talking…"
"Just talking?"
"Quatre… he has this way of knowing what everyone around him is feeling, or even thinking…" Trowa smoothly avoided answering, shoving his hands into his pockets and staring at where the flames were so hot that they looked electric blue.
Duo snorted, dropping the palm and flopping down onto one of the blankets. "Don't I know it… but he always means well."
"Yes… but sometimes I wish I could do the same – know how he's feeling, know… what to do."
Duo pursed his lips to keep his chuckle in, along with his ideas of exactly what Trowa ought to be doing with Quatre. "You could try asking him. He does love giving advice. Or you could just try…" Duo looked up at Trowa, waiting until their eyes locked. "You could just try doing something about it, the next time you feel that way and don't know what to say."
Trowa knew exactly what Duo was getting at, but he was saved yet again from having to respond because Quatre was jogging across the sand with a picnic basket, a huge smile on his face. "I can't believe how big the fire is, Duo! I could see it burning the moment I stepped out the door, even from above!"
"I'll take that as a compliment," Duo made an especially showy bow as he invited Quatre to sit, noticing that Trowa waited until Quatre had chosen a spot before sitting down beside him.
As Quatre began to unpack the ingredients from the picnic basket, Heero came striding over the sand, holding out a fistful of sticks to Duo, each one perfectly and evenly sharpened. "I whittled them while Noin was giving me the updates. Safer than your suggestion of forks."
"Thanks!" Duo accepted a stick and reached for the bag of marshmallows while Heero gave sticks to Trowa and Quatre. "So I may know how to create an extremely large fire, but I haven't actually roasted marshmallows over one before… so… "
"Are you expecting us to tell ghost stories around the fire, Duo?" Quatre teased as he set out graham crackers and pieces of chocolate on plates.
Duo shook his head, inching his marshmallow as close to the flames as he could without setting it on fire. "Nah, I was thinking maybe a game? Used to play this over a soup can fire with some kids I knew on L2, guess it's older than dirt."
"What's that?" Quatre asked curiously, wondering if Duo was just baiting him.
"Truth or dare."
"Hmm," Trowa said knowingly, crossing his arms over his chest and waiting to see the reactions of his friends. "Played with the circus."
Heero nudged Duo in the ribs with one elbow. "Explanation?"
"Well, someone asks someone else Truth or Dare, like, let's say I ask Quatre Truth or Dare – he's gotta pick and he's stuck with whatever he picked. Since I asked him, I get to choose it – the dare or the truth."
Quatre raised an eyebrow. "And if I refuse?"
Duo caught Trowa's eye over Quatre's head. "Then we get to vote on a punishment."
"And this is supposed to be fun?"
Duo chuckled softly, old memories flashing in his mind. "It's always interesting. People ask the strangest things, dare the most revealing – or vice versa. Come on, Quat – Truth or Dare?"
Quatre fussed for a moment as he handed around the plates he'd prepared, seeming uncertain for a moment, but then he finally looked up and answered, calmly and assuredly. "Truth.
Trowa's lips twitched into a smile as Duo nodded thoughtfully. Of course, the whole idea was to get Quatre to forfeit and accept punishment, but he couldn't make that too obvious or they wouldn't have any fun with their plan. "Truth, eh? Well… tell us about the one thing most on your mind right now."
Quatre was glad that the flashing light from the fire hid the color on his cheeks and he purposefully avoided Duo's eyes as he jammed a marshmallow onto the end of his stick. Of course, I haven't been able to stop thinking about Trowa, but… "My… my family," he finally stuttered a little, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I've really put aside being head of the business to be here right now doing our work and some of my sisters have been on my case about it via ICM. I don't know why they expect so much of me. I might be the only male heir, but I'm still just one of the test tubes – no more special or gifted than any of them. Less experienced in some areas. And-and – have I said enough? I think I have." Quatre looked around the circle for confirmation, but no one said anything. "It's my turn then?" Turning his marshmallow slowly, he decided that there was no way he was going to let his friends outplay him at this. The idea was obviously to see who would crack first, in one way or another - and Quatre was far too good a strategist. "Heero – Truth or Dare?"
Heero barely waited a moment before responding, inserting his marshmallow until it caught fire. Withdrawing it, he coolly blew out the flame. "Dare."
Watching the curious expressions of his friends, Quatre could sense the mischief brewing and decided to play along. Oh Duo Maxwell, I can tell you're up to something, but I won't go easy on you. You say you want revealing? With perhaps the most unassuming smirk they'd ever seen from him, Quatre slid his marshmallow off the stick and onto the chocolate covered cracker before licking one finger. "Take off all your clothes and dive naked into the ocean." Quatre didn't know if Heero would do it, but if he did, Duo would probably lose it right then and there – and if he refused, maybe Quatre could figure out what the 'punishment' part of the game involved. Besides, whatever it was, he was certain that Heero could handle it.
Duo's eyes went as wide as saucers and even Trowa had to cough to cover his snicker of surprise.
Heero looked around the circle at his three very inane friends and rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. "That's really the best you can come up with?" As if I'd give them the satisfaction of saying no. With three pairs of eyes riveted to him, he pulled his tank top over his head and tossed it aside as he kicked off his sandals. Turning his back, he slid his shorts off, stepped out of them and took off at a run for the ocean.
Duo's breath caught in his throat as he watched the flex of muscles in that beautifully built body, the spell only broken when Heero finally disappeared beneath the water. "Mmm…" he hummed contentedly, leaning back on his elbows and giving Quatre a sly grin. "Thanks for the show, Quat."
The three boys had the decency to be very involved in making their next round of s'mores by the time Heero came back to the blankets and pulled his shorts back on. "Trowa," he intoned evenly, pulling the burnt and now cooled marshmallow off the end of his stick. "Truth or dare?"
After the way the last few questions had gone, Trowa wondered which choice would result in less torture. Would Heero dare him something bizarre? Was there anything he could be asked that he wasn't willing to answer? Heero was not the most readable person, and Trowa finally shrugged and just said "Truth."
Secretly glad he didn't have to think of a dare, Heero decided to keep it simple. Thinking of the letters he and Duo had written for months, he chose something open-ended but also revealing. "Tell us one thing we don't know about you that you wouldn't want anyone else knowing."
Trowa started visibly at the question, though he shouldn't have been surprised that Heero would use the game as an opportunity to learn more about the other pilots. He swallowed once, a bit uncomfortably, because he'd been thinking of telling his friends "the truth" for awhile now – ever since he'd lost and regained his memory. Addressing Heero directly, he frowned before responding. "I'm… I'm not the real Trowa Barton."
"I didn't think so…" Heero murmured, thoughtfully popping the marshmallow into his mouth and listening as Trowa explained the background story regarding his witnessing of the murder of the original Trowa.
"So it's not just that you're not Trowa Barton and that Trowa Barton is dead," Duo said in surprise, interrupting the story. "But you don't actually know your original name?"
Trowa shrugged. "It's not that big a deal to me – I just don't remember back past a certain time in my childhood, and even what I do remember is more addled now than it used to be."
"Sorry," Quatre mumbled, fiddling with the marshmallow he was putting on the end of his stick, surprised when Trowa wrapped an arm around his shoulders and squeezed.
"Don't even start with that," Trowa cut him off. "What's done is done. Isn't it my turn now?"
"Trowa, before we continue," Heero cut in, his brow crinkled in a way that signaled he was deep in thought. "In light of your latest revelation, I think it's even more important to keep an eye on what's coming out of X-18999. I'm still not sure that obituary wasn't forged."
Trowa nodded pensively before squeezing Quatre's shoulders again. "Truth or dare?"
In the warm circle of Trowa's arm, Quatre felt the old pains over the Zero incident ease as he debated what to choose. "Truth," he replied, assuming lightly that Trowa would be gentle with him.
That wasn't the case, however, as Quatre missed the glint in Trowa's eyes as Duo got up to add wood to the bonfire. "Truth, hmm? Quatre… how many people in this circle have you kissed?"
There was a teasing look in Trowa's eyes that said clearly that he only meant to force Quatre to acknowledge them in front of their friends, but the blond froze as behind them, Duo dropped a piece of wood onto his toes with a curse. "I… don't want to answer that," he bit his lip and ducked his head, hoping Trowa would take it as shyness. It had been many long months ago that he'd kissed Duo in Africa. We thought Heero was dead! His brain tried to give him excuses, but he hadn't forgotten about it and he was sure Duo hadn't either, and from the look of curiosity on Heero's face, he didn't think the other boy knew about it.
Luckily for both boys, Trowa had half been hoping for that response and forged right ahead with the plan he and Duo had concocted. "Refusing to answer?"
Duo dumped the wood onto the fire with a grin, relieved that Quatre had chosen not to answer the question and finally taken the bait for their plan. "Punishment!" he announced, nodding to Trowa. "Since you asked, Tro, I'm with whatever punishment you want to dole out."
Heero watched with interest as Trowa and Duo then proceeded to convince Quatre that he had to drink from the flask they'd obviously pilfered from somewhere, wondering why the previous exchange had seemed a bit awkward. Even more so, his mind was still on the situation on X-18999, debating about Trowa's ties to it and the relationship of Dekim Barton to what was going on in world affairs. He didn't realize it was his turn again until Duo elbowed him, still snickering at the tears in Quatre's eyes.
"Earth to Heero, it's your turn," Duo chuckled, taking the flask back from Quatre and taking a swig from it himself.
"Hey!" Quatre exclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest crossly though it was obvious he was simply playing along at this point. "I thought that was supposed to be punishment!"
"Maybe for you it is, law-abiding citizen," Duo snickered a little, offering the flask to Heero. He wanted to be surprised when Heero willingly took the flask from him, since the only time they'd ever had a drink together was the night the war ended – but he wasn't surprised, not really.
Slightly ruffled by both Trowa and Duo, Quatre decided it was a good choice to pick on Heero again for his turn. The little bit of rum he'd had sat hot in his stomach, but he found that he didn't really mind. It was warm and comfortable the same way the fire, and his friends, felt warm and comfortable. "Heero – Truth or Dare?
Heero took a long swig from the flask before passing it to Trowa, raising an eyebrow at Quatre and wondering what he'd come up with this time. "Dare."
Now that Quatre knew what the punishment - and point – of Duo and Trowa's little game was, he was even better equipped to play. "Kiss Duo."
Heero knew from the tone of Quare's voice that he wasn't going to take a quick peck in response, but that wasn't a problem. He'd been staring at Duo while drinking from the flask again, watching as the braided boy attempted to lick all of the sticky marshmallow goo off of his fingers. Heero could think of nothing better than complying. Crawling across the blanket, he took Duo down beneath him, crushing the other boy's mouth against his own, quite aware of the whistle they got from Trowa.
Duo was not quite expecting the sudden attack, but as Heero's warm weight settled over him, it was all too easy to forget their surroundings and return that kiss until he was breathless.
Finally breaking away, Heero pulled back a few inches to ask Duo, a hint of a smile on his lips. "Truth or dare?"
Duo smirked at the challenge in his voice. "Dare."
Heero sat back on his heels to let Duo up, holding up the mostly empty flask. "Finish it and get another one."
Quatre couldn't help but laugh at the startled expression on Duo's face and wondered if that was why Heero had made the request – to turn the tables on him.
"That's… not a dare!"
"Sure it is," Heero reached for his stick and the bag of marshmallows with a shrug. "A dare is just something someone else asks you to do." He waited until Duo had grumbled at him playfully and dashed off up the stairs to the clubhouse before addressing Trowa and Quatre. "Duo's… birthday is about two weeks away – not saying we need to decide right now – but it's a big deal to him…"
"Duo's birthday? Really?" Quatre brightened, humming a little as he started thinking of what to do. "Thank you for telling us, Heero. I'm sure we'll all be able to think of something special to do for him."
When Duo returned, he made a big show of finishing the original flask before producing the bottle of rum he'd snitched from the bar in the Clubhouse. "It was no trouble at all." Dropping the empty flask in the sand, he spun a pointed a finger at Quatre. "It's your fault it was Heero's turn, so you're next!"
"I'm not sure that makes any sense, Duo…" Trowa snickered into Quatre's shoulder a little.
"Well, the statement does," Quatre countered, watching as the bottle made its way around the group. He wanted to feel a little guilty – and not for breaking any laws – but he couldn't. He was having too much fun and his friends were having too much fun, and really, he wasn't sure he'd ever seen them this relaxed. "But the truth is--"
"Truth or dare!" Duo cut him off, still pointing, a surprisingly defiant expression on his face.
Quatre grinned, crossing his arms over his chest, thoroughly amused that they had all attempted to best Duo at his own game – maybe that was the point? "Dare, Duo – I choose dare!"
"Quatre Raberba Winner, I dare you to eat a flaming marshmallow!" Snatching Heero's reloaded stick out of his hand, Duo thrust it into the flames, withdrawing the fireball and bringing it within inches of Quatre's extremely startled face.
Watching as Quatre's face went sheet white, Trowa sensed an opportunity. Leaning forward, he slipped the stick right out of Duo's grip with a sharp twist, tilting his head back dramatically. "I will absorb your dare!" Quatre's expression was horrified as Duo looked on in shock, and Heero was… laughing. Mission Accomplished. Trowa grinned in satisfaction and inserted the flaming marshmallow into his mouth, swallowing it in one gulp.
"HOLY SHIT!" Duo bellowed, dropping to his knees in the sand. "OH DAMN TROWA BARTON!" All four boys dissolved into laughter until Duo finally managed to gasp out. "Just another circus trick?"
Trowa shrugged mysteriously. "Does this mean it's my turn or am I in trouble for breaking the rules?"
"Wait, wait," Quatre said breathlessly, his cheeks flushed and one hand clutching his gut from the pain of laughing so hard. "If we've already broken the rules, can't I break another? I want to ask everyone a question."
Duo crawled back onto the blanket beside Heero, wiping tears from his eyes as he realized that all of his friends were looking at him. Well, I did start this game… "Fuck it, go ahead Quat, ask away."
"I don't really know how my mind got to this," Quatre said, a little dreamily as he held the bottle of rum between his hands but didn't drink any of it. "Tangential thinking… but what would your perfect day be like? The place, the weather, the people, what would you do? Where would you go?"
"How could you even choose?" Duo answered immediately. He'd fallen backwards on the blanket, arms folded behind his head as he gazed up at the sky. "I don't know that I've seen enough to pick a favorite, a perfect day – too many places I want to go or things I want to do. I don't even want one perfect day, just a lot of days, peaceful days, to start checking off the list."
"No details?" Quatre persisted.
"I think a perfect day would be more about how it made you feel than where you were or what you were doing," Trowa started slowly, his eyes gazing into the fire and not at any of his friends. "So wherever I happened to be, I'd want all of you there."
"I'm pretty sure all of us want that, Tro," Duo answered him back. His gaze was still upwards, so he missed the sharp intake of breath from Quatre as Trowa suddenly stretched out beside him, laying his head on Quatre's knee with a smile. "As for details, Quat… well, I guess if it was my choice, I'd want a night, not a day – a breezy night, just as the last edge of summer's fading. There would have to be a beach involved. A lot of food. And fireworks."
"Fireworks?" Heero interrupted, leaning back on his elbows to look down at Duo with a smile. "Why am I not surprised that your perfect day includes explosives?"
"And yours wouldn't?"
Heero shrugged a little, taking a moment to ponder before answering. "Maybe. I can't wager on what I haven't experienced, but choosing from what I do know… I'd be riding a motorcycle on a cliff above the ocean – it would be overcast and cold – gray but not raining--"
"And you'd better be on the way to see me on this perfect day," Duo cut in, to which Heero rolled his eyes and elbowed Duo, who elbowed him back.
Quatre still had the bottle of rum in his hands, but he realized as he moved to put it aside in the sand that it was nearly empty. Had he really finished the second half of the bottle himself? Trowa's eyes were half-lidded and Heero and Duo were still engaged in an elbow war – or was it a groping war? When no one else spoke right away, Quatre took a deep breath and started talking. "I'll tell you mine, though it's hard to decide. I think I'd spend it on Earth, maybe Italy… no, Paris… It would definitely be a bright spring day, everything blooming, the fresh scent of flowers…crisp and clear… I know I'd want all of you there with me, of course – maybe we'd be at an outdoor concert, maybe even one we were performing in. Wouldn't that be fun? Then an elaborate dinner, as many courses as we could possibly eat, especially dessert… then perhaps a stroll beside the Seine at twilight…" He trailed off wistfully, coming back to reality only to realize that all of his friends had dozed off. He smiled as his gaze moved from face to face and then he leaned down to press a kiss to Trowa's temple.
"Well, does this mean I win the game?" Pleased as he was with his victory, even the half a bottle of rum couldn't keep his analytical mind from pondering. I don't drink, never drank. It's been scientifically proven that test tube babies have extremely low alcohol tolerance…that's why I've never… "Yet here I am, drinking like a fish, acting, sounding like… my father." Quatre's stomach turned over as he realized the implication, but at precisely that moment, as if he'd sensed Quatre's distress, Trowa reached a hand up to touch first his cheek, then his arm, tugging.
With the crackle of the fire and the crash of the ocean as his lullaby, Quatre decided he could let the thought go for the time being. He wasn't ready to face it yet anyway.
*******
o/~ It's my declaration
to anyone who's listening
You're my inspiration
as I stand alone against the world
Cause you love
and you bleed
cause you stole my soul
and set me free
It's my declaration ~/o
"So where exactly are we going?" Duo whispered.
"Just down to the beach…" Heero's voice was soft and teasing in Duo's ear as he knotted the blindfold snuggly in back.
The whisper of the other boy's breath on his neck made Duo give an extra shiver of excitement. "But I know what the beach looks like!" he protested feebly as Heero took one of his hands and led him towards the steps he'd run up and down a hundred times in the last few weeks.
"I thought you'd enjoy having a surprise?"
At the concerned tone of Heero's voice, Duo relented a little. "I do… but you didn't have to go to any trouble."
Duo hadn't been woken by the alarm this morning and he'd been tickled with delight when he'd walked into the main room to find a breakfast buffet the length of the room set up in his honor. Even better than that, his friends had announced that he'd been allowed to sleep in because they were all taking the day off together. Duo had at first felt a little bit guilty about it, with the work they still had to complete, but when it became clear that each of them was truly enjoying it, he couldn't help but feel really touched by the gesture. So, of course, he'd spent the morning body surfing and tube surfing out on the gorgeous beach with his friends, followed by the world's largest cheeseburger and an afternoon nap in a hammock in the shade. He'd been so happy when he'd fallen asleep… he really didn't want the day to end, and he'd been glad when Heero had come to wake him with this surprise.
Maybe after today, I'll have an answer for Quatre's perfect day question.
The thought made his stomach do a nervous sort of tumble and he wasn't sure why. It's only the first birthday I've ever had…
"Well, it's sort of your first birthday," Heero replied as they reached the foot of the stairs, startling Duo back into reality, as if he'd just slipped that thought right away from him. "I observed that you wanted it to feel… special. I hope we've done at least an adequate job."
They'd walked across the soft sand a little ways, but now Heero gently stopped him, reaching to slip the blindfold off. There was nothing but the gentle crash of the waves and a low rumble of thunder in the distance until Duo opened his eyes, blinking several times. It was dusk, the sun setting over the ocean streaking the sky a vivid rose that faded up into powder blue and then darkened to the east. The first thing to catch his eyes was the bonfire Heero had lit, but his gaze slowly traveled to the blanket spread out on the sand, Heero standing beside it with the wind tousling his hair, and in his hand… "Heero Yuy, is that a bottle of wine?"
"It's not for truth or dare, I promise," Heero quipped, his eyes flickering over Duo's shoulder as a bright bolt of lighting criss-crossed the sky a little too close for his liking.
Duo laughed as he threw his arms around Heero, hugging him tightly. "Was this really your idea?" he whispered in Heero's ear as the other boy set the bottle down in the sand with a heavy thunk.
Heero chuckled softly, not at all insulted by Duo's perceptiveness. "The part about us, alone on the beach at sunset? That was me. I'm sure you can guess the culprits behind the blindfold and the wine."
"I like the Us Alone part best," Duo said, pressing his lips to the side of Heero's neck and winding both hands into dark and unruly hair. "It's a great present." Heero's arms tightened around him and recalling the earlier statement, Duo choked out a few more words as he pulled back to look at the other boy, his eyes burning a little at the edges. "I feel special, I do. I feel…" I feel loved. "Heero, I…"
Thunder snapped loudly over their heads, interrupting Duo as they both jumped in surprise. A gust of wind lifted the blanket off of the snd and Duo reached to grab it, turning back to look at Heero with an expression that was somewhere between frustrated and apologetic. Heero was starting to think he knew what Duo was trying to say, and he wouldn't lie to himself and say that the idea hadn't floated through his mind at all in the past few weeks. Love. Do I… "Duo," he started slowly, though he nearly had to yell as the wind picked up again.
Another crackle of lightning bisected the darkening sky and a sizzle of sparks went up from somewhere further inland. With a final crash of thunder, the skies opened above the two pilots' heads.
*******
"Trowa?!" Quatre's voice called as he threw open the door to the cottage the four boys shared. The rain was lashing brutally against the windows and it took all of his body weight to close and latch the door securely behind him. "Did you there in time?"
"In the bedroom," Trowa called back to him. "And it's protected with tarps, but I saw the strike when I was on my way back. How bad is it?"
Quatre kicked off his sandals and shook the water out of his hair before following the sound of Trowa's voice through the darkened cottage. There were a few candles lit, just enough light to guide the way, until he reached the doorway of their bedroom and saw the circle ringing the room with golden, flickering light. Every single one reflected against the glass of the windows and the door was flung open, the rain already reduced to a gentle patter. The sight took his breath away and he paused awkwardly before finally answering the question. "Howard says it only hit one generator, that he'll have it back up in a few hours…"
Trowa lit one more candle, setting it down on the table beside the bed as Quatre crossed the room, turning in every direction as his cheeks colored. "Any other damage?" he intoned softly.
"No… but we'll have to hold off on the rest of the surprise until the storm passes, which might actually happen first. It's just a bad squall…" He came to a stop in front of the taller boy, surprised at the intensity in Trowa's expression when he met the other boy's eyes. "Trowa, this is…" he started, pausing when Trowa reached out to stroke a thumb gently over his lips. "Beautiful," he murmured.
Trowa's hand drifted to cradle Quatre's face and he leaned in to brush a feather-light kiss across the smaller boy's lips. "So are you," he said softly. He reached with his other hand to pull Quatre closer to him, whispering in his ear. "So you're telling me that no one will be looking for us for a few hours?"
"L-likely," Quatre stammered a little, his own hands rising to rest against Trowa's strong back. This is really happening. There's nothing to stop us. "Trowa, I…" Quatre had to admit to himself that he'd been teasing Trowa as often as possible since the night of the bonfire game, but he just hadn't been able to bring himself to ask, to push the boundary that far. But I sure as hell won't tell him no.
"Quatre…" Trowa whispered again, pausing for a moment to gather his nerve. "I want to be with you. Do you…"
Quatre didn't even wait for him to finish the question, but leaned in to kiss him softly on the lips, never breaking their gaze. "Yes."
A smile broke across Trowa's face and he suddenly scooped the other boy up, carrying him across the room to their bed even as Quatre giggled just a little at the gesture. He laid Quatre down on the white sheets and pulled the gauzy drapes closed around them, hovering over him for a moment to drink in the sight of the blond waiting and willing. I don't deserve him.
Sensing the hesitation in Trowa's touch, Quatre sat up, reaching for both of his wrists and pulling until Trowa was on top of him. "Don't you dare, Trowa Barton," he hissed. "Don't you dare tell yourself no when you tell me yes. Do you need me to tell you again? I'll tell you a hundred times for the once you've told me, if it means you won't doubt this."
"I don't… doubt it…" Trowa settled his weight over Quatre, reaching to brush the hair from his face, overwhelmed by the depth of emotion in those turquoise eyes. "That we both want… but…"
Quatre's heart tightened as he realized what Trowa had really been trying to ask him, probably for some time now. And he wasn't afraid of saying it first – the same way he hadn't been afraid to risk his heart in bringing all of them together in the first place. "Trowa, I love you. I have… for a long time."
"Quatre…" Trowa's voice broke on the other boy's name. "I love you too."
The two boys surged towards each other to seal those words with another kiss, tongues exploring and hands traveling as the wind from the storm flickered the candles and fluttered the gauze. Trowa wasted no time as his nimble fingers unbuttoned Quatre's shirt, pausing only long enough in kissing to pull his own off as well. He bent to take one pink nipple between his teeth, his hands dragging the rest of Quatre's clothing down his body in a whoosh. Quatre's hands buried in Trowa's hair as his body arched into the touch. His skin burned everywhere that it met Trowa's and he gasped at the hand that boldly encircled his cock, stroking it firmly.
"T-Trowa!" Quatre stuttered, his eyes rolling back in his head as the other boy's lips began to travel down to his navel, but just as he reached a truly teasing point, he pulled back again. This time it was Quatre's turn to reach up, hooking his fingers underneath the edge of Trowa's pants and tugging insistently. "Nothing between us." Trowa complied with the other boy's demands, sliding the rest of his clothing off and pushing it aside. Kneeling over the other boy, Trowa closed his eyes as Quatre danced his fingers lightly down his body, and then leaned down to take the other boy's length into his mouth, feeling his own cock tighten at Quatre's keening cry.
Quatre was making it quite obvious what role he wanted to play and Trowa had no problem with it at all. When he felt the blond's breathing start to quicken, he let go, crawling up his body to slide three of his fingers into Quatre's mouth. His face was flushed, his eyes darkened to near-black in the dimly-lit room and Trowa kissed him again and again as he reached to prepare him for their joining.
It felt almost like a sacred ritual to Quatre, the empathic swirl of their two spirits amidst the flickering candles, and as Trowa knelt again, lifting his hips gently, Quatre reached out to grab his hand, twining their fingers together. He couldn't help the little cry of pain as Trowa entered him, but it was quickly replaced by pleasure he knew he would never find the words to describe. Their bodies rocked together and Quatre closed his eyes, his ears buzzing until he thought that even their hearts were beating in sync. One last gasp of air and his mind blanked, and they were falling together, spinning and tumbling and… oh god, he was sure he'd never live it down, but he was actually crying a little too – but he could hear Trowa laughing, the sound echoing through every part of him.
*******
"Shiiiit," Duo hissed as the rain came pouring down. Heero reached to grab his wrist, pulling him across the sand, back towards the covered pavilion, and hand in hand, they ran for shelter. The moment was definitely broken as they skidded to a stop and Duo turned to watch morosely as the beach became a pockmarked pile of goo. They'd been right there, he knew it, knew the things that had hovered in the air between them. But what should he do now - just turn to Heero and try to say those words? "Damn…"
Heero winced a little as Duo kicked one of the chairs into a picnic table, dropping the blanket on it with a grumbled curse. "Duo…" he started, taking a step closer. "Hey."
Duo paused, looking up at Heero apologetically. "Sorry, I just… didn't want it ruined and…and…"
"It doesn't have to be ruined," Heero said with a shake of his head, watching as Duo began to pace back and forth across the small space like a caged animal. After a 7th loop, Heero couldn't take it anymore and he had to step in, blocking his path and grabbing his wrist sharply. "Maxwell! Stop! We're still…" and he paused, backpedaling Duo into one of the columns holding up the roof until he could shove a knee between his legs. "Alone on the beach. Are you really going to let it rain on your parade?"
Duo's lips curled into a smirk and he thrust his hips towards Heero's, shivering a little when a strong gust of wind dusted them lightly with the rain. "I guess I haven't gotten my present yet."
Lightning flashed again, illuminating the mischief in his lover's eyes, and Heero leaned in to claim that smirk, grinding his knee against Duo again and receiving one in return that forced a small grunt out of him. Tilting their heads, Heero slowly explored Duo's mouth, refusing to allow him any power in the kiss as he slowly stripped him of his swimsuit. Finding Heero's kiss to be completely unyielding, Duo let himself be plundered, sliding his hands down into Heero's swimsuit to squeeze his ass sharply before clawing the fabric down until it dropped around his ankles. "Your present…" Heero started, pausing to catch his breath. He lifted Duo up onto his hips, leaning in to lick a line along his collarbone before thrusting up into him.
"Aah!" Duo cried out, his voice lost in the pounding sound of the rain just beyond the edge of their shelter. He left one hand on Heero's shoulder and lifted the other to wrap around the column against his back. Heero was relentless, as if the force of the storm was driving their rhythm, and the angle at which he was thrusting was sending curls of pleasure all the way into Duo's toes. Wrapping his legs tightly around Heero, Duo squeezed with every thrust, his hair coming loose from its braid as it ground up and down against the column. The rattle of the rain on the roof rose in volume so that he couldn't even hear his own gasps for air, but as colors exploded in his vision and his eyes fluttered closed, he could have sworn that Heero was saying something to him.
Heero had said something at the moment of release, but it was lost to the storm as Duo collapsed against him and Heero sank to his knees. They sat like that, wound around each other, until the sound of the rain had quieted and the thunder was barely an echo in the distance. Finally, with one more kiss, they separated and climbed to their feet, Duo stretching and strutting around the pavilion naked. "Hell of a gift, Yuy," he crowed with sparkling eyes, climbing up on a table just to jump off of it.
Heero chuckled softly, pulling his swimsuit back on before tossing Duo's at him. "Didn't go quite as planned--"
"What ever does with us?" Duo grinned, pulling his swimsuit on – and just in time. The clattering of feet on the stairs signaled the arrival of their friends, and Quatre called out to them.
"T-minus 2 minutes to the last surprise of the day!"
"Better view out this way," Trowa added, waving to Heero and Duo as he and Quatre arrived at the bottom of the stairs. He grinned especially at Duo, but as Quatre had hold of his hand, he was quickly dragged away and out onto the drying beach.
Duo took Heero's hand and they ran to join their friends, Duo yelping about how cold the sand was under their feet. Just as they'd stepped out from under the edge of the shelter, a bright spark shot up into the clearing sky.
BANG!
A burst of color exploded against the silvery clouds, a shower of blue and purple sparks raining down over the murky ocean. "FIREWORKS!" Duo yelled, spinning in crazy circles on the beach. He ran from friend to friend, grabbing their hands and forcing them to spin with him as more fireworks exploded above them, faster and faster – gold rain, red spirals, green and pink and blue, big and small. Duo laughed as a particularly loud one's boom made his entire chest reverberate. Throwing his arms around his friends in a group hug, he knocked their heads together with a grin. "Perfect day."
*******
"I can't believe it's almost August. The summer is flying by." Duo chattered at Quatre as they climbed into the golf cart to ride across to the other side of the island, where the boat to the barge would be waiting for them. The field training modules were all finished and the Preventers' work had turned to intelligence, hacking, programming… and any other loose ends they could come up with. Duo's favorite was the 'how to hand off contraband while faking a punch' lesson.
Today, however, had been designated solely for the test piloting of the new Gundam upgrades and they were all, to put it mildly, hella-fucking-excited.
"Time flies when you're having fun, as the old saying goes," Quatre remarked, kicking up the speed on the little cart so that they careened around the curve.
Duo giggled a little as his braid swung out to the side, but he knew his driving skills had rubbed off on Quatre and he was already holding on tightly. "Time is exactly what I don't have a lot of!" Duo protested, turning on his pout full force even as Quatre pretended to stare straight ahead at the dirt road.
"I thought you'd already asked every single one of the cooks for their best cake recipes?"
"I did…" Duo huffed a little. "But how am I supposed to decide? What if it turns out terribly? What if it doesn't feel… special enough?"
Quatre knew what Duo was getting at, but also knew that nothing he could suggest would fill the void. "It has to be something that means something to the two of you. I can't possibly know the answer."
"I know…" Duo sighed, but immediately brightened as the cart came around the last bend to reveal Heero and Trowa waiting for them with the boat. With a whoop of excitement, Duo swung himself off the cart before Quatre had even fully stopped it. "Tell me that my buddy's all ready and rarin' to go!"
"Howard's handling the final check on surrounding airspace," Heero confirmed as Duo jumped into the boat. Trowa waited to offer a hand to Quatre and a moment later, they were speeding off towards the barge.
The second they had arrived, Duo was gone, tearing through the ship, out onto the wide deck where the four Gundams sat polished and gleaming in the sunlight. Shielding his eyes from the glare, he raised his gaze to look Deathscythe in the eyes, a slow grin stretching across his face. "More gorgeous than ever, 'Scythe." Not bothering to wait for his friends, Duo climbed the Gundam with ease, his hands going cold as he settled into the cockpit and hit the switch to close it. Anticipation for exhilaration.
"Got a bad case of ants in the pants, Maxwell?" Heero's dry sarcasm popped up in a window, but Duo could hear that it was laced with far more affection than it had been once upon a time. Trowa's and Quatre's windows popped up a heartbeat later and the four pilots eyed each other across the screens.
"S'not my fault if you guys are a buncha slowpokes!"
"Is that a challenge, Duo?" Trowa smirked as he cut in. "Because I am accepting all wagers."
"Just remember, it's a test pilot – not a duel to the death!" Quatre lectured them as Howard gave the group the green light for take-off.
Wing Zero shot straight up into the air like a bullet, Heero's voice dead-panning to his friends as he left them in the dust. "But we should push them enough to test the new mechanics."
Duo laughed as he engaged the controls, soaring upwards after him. "Now that is a challenge." The new modifications had changed the Gundams completely. Where once Duo had spent so much energy accounting for the mass, he now found that everything – every slice, every jump, every slash, every dash – was smoother, faster, less work and more power. The island became a mere dot the higher he flew until it was but a faint memory that faded in recess as he hit the edge of the atmosphere. It was tempting to head straight into space – he knew the upgrade was there, though shaky – but he didn't want Quatre to kill him for damaging the brand new shiny toys. It's a pity, really, that ESUN is slowly destroying all mobile suits in existence. Duo wasn't an idiot – he knew that eventually the Gundams would join the list. But damn if he wasn't going to enjoy every second of …this – this pure and powerful freedom – until the call came. Until then, he was still a Gundam pilot…
After the testing was finished, he lingered in Deathscythe's cockpit, lost in thought until Heero finally appeared in the doorway. "Everything okay, Duo?"
"Yeah, yeah," he replied quickly, powering the system down and rising to his feet. "It's just… been awhile. And time flies and all that. Hard to believe they're finished."
"It's good that they are," Heero said, stepping back to make room for Duo. "If there's a threat, we can neutralize it."
Duo nodded, not saying anything further until they'd climbed down to the floor. "For now, right? Until the Preventers is off the ground…" Duo wondered if Heero thought about the possible destruction of their Gundams. Would he really give up Zero if ESUN asked him to? "And then…"
Heero knew what Duo was getting at, but also saw the perfect opening for something he'd been trying to bring up for the last week. "Someday it will be just the Preventers keeping the peace, I believe it," Heero answered him. "I am also close to certain that ESUN will demand some form of surrender of our mobile suits once they are convinced that no others remain. How closely tied together those two objectives are… nobody can really say."
"So you'd hand Zero over?"
"I would, when it's time." Heero reached to touch Duo's shoulder lightly. "Duo, you know that I've already promised to see Preventers through to fruition – which includes heading up the training of the first recruits – and I want you to come with me." There were a lot of reasons why, some more revealing than others, but Heero didn't know if he'd need to share his mental list or not.
"I…" Duo hadn't intended to work for Preventers, but with Heero asking him to go, how could he say no? After all, I was just reminding myself that being a Gundam pilot comes with a certain sense of responsibility… "Yes, yes, of course I'll go with you." What did it matter why he was saying yes? Whether it was for the peace, the mission… or just because he didn't want to be parted from Heero… did it really matter? Knowing what they were now going to do next lifted a weight of worry off of his shoulders that he hadn't even realized was there, and he hugged Heero tightly in relief. "Like I'd say no."
"Just thought I'd check," Heero said, hugging him back. "I can't promise it'll be island breezes, or even that it won't be a hell of a lot of the same crap we've been doing…"
"I already said yes," Duo joked gently. "You don't need to keep convincing me."
"No?"
Duo grinned, kissing him lightly. "Not unless you want to convince me in other ways too."
Back on the island that evening, Duo took a walk down to the beach early to set up what had become the near-nightly bonfire for his friends. Sinking into the sand after getting it going, he drew his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around and resting his chin on top as he watched the setting sun. He wasn't sorry that he'd agreed to go with Heero, but he also knew it was unlikely that Trowa and Quatre would go with them too. I really wish this summer could be endless… not a perfect day, but a perfect forever. Even so, he knew that change was simply a process of life – that all the things he wanted to do and the places he wanted to see would never happen if he stayed locked in any one moment forever. Besides, his friends had worked hard to bring his "perfect day" to life, no matter how vague his declaration, and in the end, no matter how perfect it had been, it had left him wanting other and different and just more days.
"Heh, maybe we should start trying to create the other perfect days too, maybe we'll come up with more ideas and it'll never stop." More than likely, it'd just become another challenge between us… Duo's thoughts drifted until an idea suddenly struck him. What if he could give Heero something that was a piece of his perfect day vision? There wasn't a lot of detail to go on, nor a lot of time to work with, but he definitely had an idea. "Where there's a will, there's a way…"
*******
Duo would probably always remember the date. August 13th, two days before Heero's birthday – he wondered ruefully if the number thirteen was haunting them.
A pounding on the cottage door at shortly after 5 AM woke all four boys at the same time, but it was Heero who reached the door first to find a member of Howard's crew banging on it as he gasped for air. "Sorry to wake you – but there's a call, Howard verified it. She says it's an emergency."
"She?" Duo groaned as he stumbled into the main room just as the door to Trowa and Quatre's room swung open. "Please don't even say it."
"Relena Darlian," the crewman finally spit out. "Please, you've got to hurry. It hasn't hit the wires yet, but it won't be long."
Heero was already on his way out the door, barefoot but dressed, and Duo hurried to pull a shirt over his head as he followed him, his friends right behind. It was still dark outside and the cobblestones were cold underneath Duo's feet, matching the chill racing through him. Has peace ended so soon? He didn't want to believe it, but if Relena was calling them frantically in the dead of night, then it couldn't be good news. The call was set up on the main screen in the Clubhouse and Relena was pacing back and forth across said screen as they filed in, Heero and Quatre sitting on the couch, Duo and Trowa standing behind them, all with bleary but equally concerned expressions.
"Heero! Thank goodness!" Relena paused to face the screen, her face a surprisingly ashy white – and she was also in her pajamas, pink and frilly. "I knew I could count on you – so sorry, I don't have long. There's… there's been an attempt on the president's life! He's currently being looking over by a medical team, and Lady Une - oh, but Heero, that's not all!"
"Take a deep breath, Relena," Heero leaned forward, his hands fisting until his knuckles turned white. "Who's behind this?"
"We don't know yet, but that's not all – it was a series of planned attacks, it had to be. Some government buildings, a couple resource satellites, MO-6, 13 —sorry, hold on a minute…"
Relena slipped off the screen for a moment and Quatre cursed under his breath, jumping up to grab one of the laptops from the table where they'd been working on the latest intelligence trainings last night. "I've got to get in touch with my sisters – if there's been attacks, casualties, if they need assistance…"
"Let me help you set it up," Trowa murmured, following him over to the table and leaving Duo to come and take a seat beside Heero on the couch.
In the quiet of the kitchen, Quatre quickly logged onto ICM to find a flood of mail in his box as Trowa worked to configure a conference call for him. "The good news is that there are no casualties among my immediate family," Quatre said as he quickly skimmed mail after mail. "But employees, families…" Quatre choked up a little with a shake of his head. "I'm going to have to go back into space as soon as possible. I can't let my family down right now – as head of the family, it's me that should be making condolences to all of these people." Just as my father would have…
Back in the main room, Heero was still staring at the screen, his expression a complete blank, and Duo was so blown away that he hadn't said anything at all since he'd found out that Relena was calling. He looked up as she appeared on screen again, her expression vaguely apologetic. "I'm sorry, Heero – please hold for the President of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation." Duo had only a moment to close his dropped jaw and compose himself as the screen blinked out and then back in again with ESUN's logo before revealing the powerful but kind visage of Jackson Anders Pierce.
"Heero Yuy – and Duo Maxwell too," President Pierce greeted them, much to Duo's surprise. The President caught the momentary start and gave a grim sort of smile. "I know very well who you are, friends of ESUN. And I do apologize for the early hour of this call."
"No inconvenience, Mr. President," Heero responded immediately. "And glad to see that you are doing well."
President Pierce nodded gravely. "But there are many people out there who were less fortunate – and the continued safety of all ESUN citizens is still of utmost importance to me. Mr. Yuy, I think you'll understand me perfectly well when I tell you that I can't do my job as effectively when I'm constantly watching my back. I don't think Minister Darlian had time to tell you, but the assassination attempt came from within my own security team."
"Damn," Duo breathed out before covering his mouth with one hand in embarrassment.
"Quite alright, Mr. Maxwell – that was a pretty spot-on mimic of my own reaction," the president replied with a quirky rise of one eyebrow before returning to his serious demeanor. "I'll be blunt. These people are in deep – whoever's behind this, they must have former ties to someone, something. They're unwilling to reveal themselves. The only thing we have to go on is an encrypted log from MO-6, sent out en-masse moments before the main space station on it was blown up – from within. We're doing our best to prepare press statements, but it's messy. The public is used to hearing about the skirmishes and raids that continue as we snuff out the last antagonists, but some of this is difficult to explain. A resource space station explosion? There may not yet be definite proof that all of these skirmishes are connected, but the timing is too precise – this isn't the work of White Fang remnants. I don't want to put citizens at unease – we are not yet at war; we have declared no war and war has not been declared upon us. But this situation is… ugly."
There was a beat of silence while Heero processed everything that President Pierce had said before calmly asking him. "Mr. President, with all due respect, what exactly are you trying to ask me?"
The President's eyebrows furrowed and he pursed his lips for a moment, but he didn't take true offense at the question. "Mr. Yuy, I need someone that I can trust to protect me, someone who will see the threat before it's coming. I'm aware there are still enemies out there, and until we eliminate every single one, all citizens of ESUN are in danger. And ESUN needs someone to unscramble that log. Relena Darlian suggested… but no, I shouldn't lay the blame on her shoulders. All of the Gundam pilots have proven themselves to be wholly behind the cause of peace, and therefore incorruptible in their loyalty to it. That's the kind of loyalty I require."
"That's a bold statement to make when you don't know us – only our actions."
"And what should a man be judged by?" the president countered. "The speeches he gives or the lives he changes?"
Duo could almost feel the ripple of emotion slide off Heero's shoulders, but the other boy did not change his expression or posture in the slightest, giving nothing away. "The Preventers--" he started calmly.
"Are still close to four months out, correct? There are good, trustworthy people involved – exactly the kind of people this government will continue to need – and in conjunction with the training that Noin tells me you've been creating, I believe the recruits will be able to do the job. In four months. But I need a guard now – I need much better than a guard."
"When and where?"
The president relaxed a little as he realized that was as close to an actual acceptance as he was going to receive – and that there was definitely not going to be a contract. "We've been removed from Luxembourg to the previously established safety zone 13. Noin's kept you up to date?" Heero nodded and the president continued. "As soon as possible, Mr. Yuy."
"It's Heero, Mr. President," he returned.
The president paused for a moment, considering as he flattened his hands on the tabletop. "Jack." A beat. "Have a safe trip… and thank you." He reached to press a button below the screen and the picture snapped to black.
Heero and Duo sat side by side on the couch, both still focused on the blank screen. "You gonna call Relena back?"
"…No."
"Do you think they're overreacting?"
Heero turned to face Duo, his expression finally softening to a twinge of unease. "Yes and no. It's true that this isn't at all similar to the White Fang skirmishes. However, if the culprit is intent on hiding in the shadows, it's terrorism, not war. The public views those two ideas similarly, yet different. I definitely think we should start our own investigations into all of this. We'll see what Trowa and Quatre have dug up meanwhile and discuss."
Duo's nerves calmed a little at that statement, at the reminder that they were still a team. "For what it's worth, Heero…" Duo said softly, resting a hand on his knee. "I can't see any way that you could have said no."
"I…" Heero hesitated as he rose from the couch, unable to meet Duo's eyes. "Didn't have a good enough reason to say no – not when it's so obvious there's no one else to do it."
An old flare of something bitter welled up in Duo at Heero's choice of words. "No one else? What do you mean?! I'll come with you – I already said I would!" Duo's words had a bit of bite to them as he jumped up, wondering why he felt so disregarded. We're working together, aren't we?
Heero flinched inwardly, having known from the moment he agreed to the President's request that he'd have to ask something of Duo that the braided boy might not want to give. He certainly didn't want to guilt Duo into it, either, so he thought that his best option was to give him honesty. "Duo, listen to me…" he started slowly. "I made a promise to a lot of people that I would head up the training of the first Preventers recruits. Any of those people would agree that a request from the President of ESUN supersedes it – they all work for and with him anyway. But I can't be in two places at once."
As Heero's words sank in, Duo felt like an iron claw had reached into his chest, grabbing his heart and twisting it brutally. He bit his lip hard to keep the tears from welling up in the onslaught of feelings and took a deep breath before he answered. "You don't want me to come with you---"
"That's not true."
"The President didn't ask me – he asked you. And are you… asking me… Heero, you know I didn't want to work for Preventers in the first place!" Duo was shouting now, but he didn't really care who heard him.
"I know… and I know I'm asking a lot of you when I won't be there myself – but Duo, you've got to understand!" Heero reached out to take the other boy by the shoulders, shaking him a little when Duo looked defiantly away, his face a contorted mess of changing expressions. "If I can't be in two places at once, if I can't do it myself - then the person I trust most to be there in my place is you!"
"You really mean that." It was more of a statement than a question, but Duo still didn't meet Heero's eyes. It meant a lot to him to hear Heero openly speak of the trust between them, but it didn't mean he was happy. "Even if it means we don't see each other again for months on end?"
"It's… not ideal…" Heero started, reaching gently with one hand to try and turn Duo's chin up. "It's not… you know it's not what I want. But…"
"But it's the mission," Duo chuckled softly under his breath, trying to keep the bitterness out of it. "It's that unspoken promise."
"Unspoken promise?" Heero questioned, glad when Duo finally lifted his eyes, though there was something in them that he couldn't quit place.
"Y'know, back in the beginning…" Duo gestured vaguely. "When you thought that… that I'd let us get in the way of it. But I didn't. And I won't if you won't. That's pretty much it, that's always been the unspoken code."
"I… guess you're right," Heero said slowly, thinking over some of the choices they'd made during the war.
"I know I'm right," Duo said, trying to inject a little humor to keep himself from cracking. "I guess what I'm trying to say is… I don't like it, but I understand."
Heero nodded a little, then hesitated a little before asking. "Then… you'll do it? Because I can't?"
"I'll do it because it's the right thing to do…"
Duo sighed, leaning forward until he could bury his face against Heero's shoulder, trying not to think about how their wonderful summer had come to an abrupt screeching halt.
o/~ And are there any words to say
that would ever mean enough
When the light runs from the day
will the darkness be too much
Will i ever be enough ~/o