After tossing both the pieces of clothes downstairs, P.C.�s pilot open the fridge for the eggs and found her hand on a faded pink, button-down shirt. A fire began to kindle deep inside as she determined that she was getting bored with these games. She took it from its hiding place behind the milk jug and threw it, with a little more force than necessary, down with the other clothes that needed washed. Thinking faintly that breakfast was out to get her, Amber opened the freezer for a casserole to spare her effort. The shoe she found instead forced her to bite back a scream of frustration. Then she noticed the easily readable trail that seemed left on purpose. A pair of tan pants strewn up the stairs and a painfully familiar turtleneck at the landing drew Amber up and left her at Trowa�s door. Hanging on the doorknob were a pair of light blue boxers that were far to small for the silencer to fit in. Slightly fearing what she would find inside, Amber removed the undergarments and opened the door.
Trowa was the first to wake up enough to notice Amber�s gaping presence in his doorframe. He blinked several times to rid himself of the groggy feeling the night had left and stated, �You look angry.� The warm weight on his chest made him realize what she was staring at, Quatre slept soundly on top of him. Startled, he sat up, disturbing the younger boy�s sleep. Pilot four moaned softly and rolled himself in the thick gray comforter that had been on them both. Taking comforting note that his boxers were still in place, Triton turned his gaze back to the doorframe and found it empty. He would have to explain to Amber later. Trowa shook Quatre�s pale, thin shoulder with one hand. The effect was instantaneous as the teen shot upright and managed to get tangled in the blankets, �Holy! What are you doing in my room?! I thought we discussed this!� Where he might usually regard this statement with humor, Trowa only smiled sadly, �The question would be, what are you doing in my room?� Taking a good look around caused the blonde angel to turn a deep shade of red; �This is yours isn�t it?�
Trowa made his unsullied way downstairs no more than ten minutes later. He had no hangover, as every other person gathered in the blue and green kitchen seemed to. Heero was holding a bag of ice to his slightly swollen cheek that must have taken some hit during the previous night. The perfect soldier had an empty aspirin package near his elbow and an untouched plate of eggs before him. Duo sat across the table, leaning so far back in his chair that he was taunting gravity, �I�m never drinking again�my head hurts.� Jess sat all but in his lap and was bubbling over with energy. She was blathering about how she was the only one who�d made sense the previous night and she�d practically had to kill all the soldiers herself. No one really seemed particularly interested in their faults in that battle and weren�t really listening. Amber was still cooking furiously, the smell of bacon luring the hungry to their seats. The silencer made his way behind her and lightly set his head on her shoulder in an odd show of gradually growing affection, �Can I talk to you later?� His question and touch both caught her by surprise and she nearly dropped the spatula into the boiling grease that was gathered on the bottom of the pan. Several words in German followed that were not meant to be understood; Trowa pulled back and sighed, �Sorry, I didn�t mean to startle you. Could we just have a moment, maybe after breakfast?� With a sharp glance his way, Amber considered a moment before answering, �Alright, fine, but it better be quick because I have to get things ready for Jess�s birthday party tonight.�
Pulled aside some half an hour later, Amber tapped her foot impatiently as Trowa prepared to speak. He cleared his throat, �Look, what you saw was nothing. It probably startled me more than it did you. We were both drunk last night and no one thinks right when drunk, you know that as well as I do.� Pilot six stopped him with a shake of her head, �Why don�t you have a hangover, Trowa?� He furrowed his brow at the suddenness of her query, �I just don�t. I never do. Why?� Her answer was another question, �How often do you drink?� Silence dragged between them for several minutes before he responded, �Every so often, why do you care?�
Leaning in the doorframe was a truth teller that Trowa didn�t bargain for; Quatre cocked his head just slightly. Just because I can�t make him stop doesn�t mean someone else can�t. She�ll probably do fine with it. The blonde youth knocked on the wall beside him for their attention, �Amber, just to let you know, he drinks every night. Not just a little, he gets sloshed.� Trowa shot Apollo a look of shock and betrayal, �Quatre?!� Amber arched her brow with a frown, �Really? Thank you for your input, Quatre.� The small Arabian nodded and gave Trowa an apologetic smile. The words he sent traveled as a whisper through the silencer�s mind, *I can�t stop you Trowa, but she has the will to.*
Amber turned back to the startled immortal with a touch of pity, �Why do you do it?� Giving in at last, Trowa folded himself into a large wing-backed chair that graced the corner of the living room. His words had the air of exhaustion; �I do it so I can sleep at night. So I don�t have to dream, so I don�t have to think. It lets me just pass out rather than sleep restlessly and stay up more than half the night.� Nodding slowly with understanding, Amber kneeled beside him and laid a gentle hand on his arm, �Alright, I�ll make a deal with you. If you give up your alcohol, I�ll give up the sleeping pills I take every night.� Surprise momentarily cast Triton into his familiar silence; he nodded rather than say a word. I guess I�m not the only one who doesn�t sleep well, I really didn�t expect that from her though! Amber smiled and got to her feet, �Good, then I need to get back to getting Jess�s birthday dinner ready.�
The celebration commenced later that evening as gifts and songs were exchanged. Jess received a number of items, ranging from an emerald necklace from Duo to a handgun from Trowa. Heero offered nothing but a down trodden, �happy birthday� and Wufei wasn�t even present. Jess didn�t seem to notice, as her favorite part of the whole event was the cake. After all of them indulged in several slices, that too was over with. Around halfway through the occasion, Duo tiptoed off with a grin that could cut his face in two. No one noticed until the party was over.
Jess glanced around with a half-hearted shrug and trotted upstairs to locate her missing boyfriend. Before doing so, she stopped to drop her gifts off in her room. A rather large and intriguing gift-wrapped box took up her carpet space, causing her curiosity for Duo�s location to fade off. A faint tune sung by a familiar voice drifted from the yellow and blue paper adorned box, �Seventy-seven bottles of beer on the wall, seventy-seven bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around�man I�m bored�� Jess smiled mischievously, �Well, I wonder who this present could be from! I think I�ll wait to open it tomorrow, I�m just to tired now.� A barely understandable whine emitted from the box, �No! Don�t wait till tomorrow! Open me now! Wait, open the card first!� Giggling hysterically, the freckled redhead sat on the waist high gift and pulled the card from under a loosely tied ribbon. The card was extremely simple, decorated with only a printed rose. Duo�s scrawled script inside read, �For your birthday, I give myself to you.�
Jess got up slowly and untied the ribbon, �Duo, what does this mean?� The amethyst-eyed youth poked his party hat topped head out of the opening; �You�re going to find out.� With his statement still hanging in the air, Deathscythe�s pilot popped out of his hiding place and wound his well-toned arms about the slim girl�s waist. Besides the hat, the only other article of clothing on the braided boy was a pair of birthday cake boxers. A smirk smoothed the worried crease from Jess�s forehead as she kissed the grinning boy�s cheek. Duo�s expression was chased off by something more serious and he ran his heavily callused fingers across Jess�s tattooed back, �I want to love you, I want to give you all of me. I couldn�t think of a better time or way.� His trailing hands connected his words in her mind and the worried crease returned, �Duo, I�ve never done this.� A finger to her lips stopped her from saying more, �It�s alright, I won�t hurt you.� �That�s not what I�m afraid of. In the morning, you have to promise that�that you�ll be there.� Her quavering voice brought a shocked look from pilot two, �Of course I will be! I�m not going to leave you.� As she consented, Duo laid her back on the bed.
In the thralls of passion, identical halves of soul found each other. One having survived milleniums without the other, the other barely a fresh flame of the mortal world. Intertwined at last, they would never be separated, even in death. At last complete and strong, that soul filled the bodies it possessed with flame that would never die. Flying without wings; the two teens� hearts beat as one that night. As they would for the years to come.
Jess stirred beneath purple satin sheets and sunlight poured into her unadjusted eyes. With a quiet groan, she rolled away from the source. The tired youth sat up with a slight grimace, a dull throb reminding her of her rather wild night. As her memory returned, Jess glanced around for the other body she expected to see and found nothing. Fear and betrayal flooded her in a rush even as she tried to keep it at bay, �He�s probably just�� No reasonable excuse came to mind immediately and tears ran, unbidden, down her flustered face. After her attempt to fight them failed, Jess gave up and curled up against the plain headboard. Several layers of downy comforter muffled her sobs.
Arms full of dishes and cups, Duo only just managed to open the door to Jess�s room with his elbow. The curled form he found inside banished his partially formed words from his mouth and replaced them, �What�s wrong?!� An emerald gaze shot up to find the boy they�d searched for earlier, overburdened with breakfast and wrapped in a black robe. Duo set his tray on the dresser and climbed into bed next to the slightly bewildered youth, �I only went to get breakfast, I�m sorry!� Relief came in a flood as Jess found herself in his arms, �You just weren�t there and�it doesn�t matter. What�d you bring for breakfast?�
Trowa paced an eight-foot distance in his room, his thoughts racing. He spoke quietly to the silence around him, �What�s wrong with me? She�s just another girl! There�s practically no difference between her and any other girl, why do I feel this way?!� He continued pacing absently, �There�s just something about her! I gave up on love, it�s never true anyway�but what if it could be�� A furious shake of his head caused him to sit down suddenly, �Could it?� Decision in mind, the tall Latino all but ran downstairs to get out what he needed to say before he ran out of courage.
He found Amber reading a book in the living room; she glanced up at him as he entered, �Hey Trowa, you look like you�ve got something on your mind. What�s up?� Striding across the distance between them, Trowa fought his modesty for all it was worth and left a gentle kiss on her mouth. He broke it with reluctance and began speaking before she had a chance to respond, �That�s what�s been on my mind for several weeks now and I didn�t want it to wait any longer. I don�t want you to say anything and I know you have a boyfriend but I want you to consider that something that I don�t particularly understand has been growing inside me and that just made it double.� His statement came out in a rush that he had no control over; he was surprised that he managed not to stumble over the multitude of words. Amber touched her lips with two tapered fingers as she considered the warmth that still remained there; �Well�concerning my boyfriend, I�ve been trying to break up with him for a while now and concerning the kiss�I hope, once I leave him, that I will have more in the future.�
Pilot three let loose a rare smile, �You really do? From me?� To answer both questions, Amber only nodded. She absorbed that smile, imprinting it in her mind; she knew it might be a while before she saw it again. �I�ll call Daniel and tell him that I don�t want to see him anymore.�
