One Special Gift

Author's note: This story is a happy story (aka: fluff story)
So if you can't dig stories with cheerful innuendoes and happy endings......then leave!
And for those of you newbie anime-lovers that don't know any Japanese...
Here are some translations you might need to know:
Nani? = what?
Bisho'onen = handsome youth
Baka = idiot

This page is best viewed with:
Hot chocolate, X-mas music, and a blanket! ;)

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A lone figure walked along the icy streets.

All the houses around him had dark windows and snowy-rooftops.

Christmas lights. The small, bright little pixels were hanging on all the trees or gutters of their homes. And if one looked further up the road, a mass of thousands of tiny white pixels grew evermore concentrated. Conjoining into one cozy, lamplight glow that seemed to make the colony just a little warmer, even though the temperature remained the same.

The snow and metal panels of the colony carried the light to Duo's face, even though he was watching his feet.

"Hmph," he smiled, "seems even the God of Death can't hide from Christmas cheer!"

Duo looked down at the grocery bag he was holding and smiled. "She's gonna love this!.....I hope..." the ex-pilot thought as he shifted the bag to get a better hold on the other bag in his hand.

He gazed at the starry "sky" of the colony and suddenly wondered what time it was.

Fumbling with the paper bag, Duo strained in the dark to see his watch. It read: 1:07.

"One-O-seven?! No way!" he swore in disbelief, and tried to reconcile how he had made time fly.

"Let's see, it was only 10 when I left......went to McDonald's...then I went to the grocery store, and then to get Hilde's present...that should've taken me only an hour! So why?"

As he mentally cursed to whatever god that controlled time, a piece of candy fell from the bag.

Swearing again, Duo bent down to pick it up.

When he did, the sticker, 'Merl's Candy Store' caught his attention.

"Merl's Candy Store?! When did I?---oh yeah..." Duo suddenly remembered after getting the last thing on his list, he'd spotted some children running over to a new toy and candy shop. The kids were all saying, "Mommy! Mommy! Look! Candy! Toys! Oooo, Pokemon Gundainium Version!"

The kid inside Duo couldn't resist either to take a look.......for about two hours.

"Oh well...And besides, this was good deal,.... normally Pikachu suckers cost twice as much," Duo praised himself as he made it to the front door of his home that he shared with Hilde.

"Now, where'd I put those keys?"

After nearly dropping everything in his arms, Duo entered as quietly as he could.

"Hilde's gotta be asleep at this hour," he whispered, tip-toeing to the kitchen.

He glanced quickly down the hall to make sure she wasn't still up. The sight of her closed bedroom door confirmed his prediction, and he continued less quietly to the kitchen.

After placing the groceries on the counter, he quickly extracted her present and preceded to his room when...

"Where were you?"

Duo froze in his tracks, "H-Hilde? What are you doing up this hour?"

"Same to you," she yawned, not noticing the small box that Duo quickly placed behind his back.

"So...what's up?" Hilde asked, leaning sleepily on the counter to keep her balance.

Duo didn't want to lie to her, but he definitely didn't want to tell her Christmas gift early. Hurriedly, he searched for the best way to stretch the truth, "W-well.........you see........."

The darker-haired groaned....knowing she was in for a long one.

"ok.............its like this.........I was walking to Albertsons when........"

"Oh, never mind... screw it, tell me in the morning..."Hilde uttered, almost losing her balance as she turned and dragged herself back to bed.

Duo just froze there, baffled for about two minutes.

"Well...that was easy...!" he exclaimed to himself.

Braid-boy hesitated a moment, waiting to see if Hilde would return.... she didn't normally let him off this easily.

Then he too slipped quietly into his own room.

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The bright, artificial sunlight of the colony woke Duo up early,...early for him anyway.

"Wow, its only 10:30!" he gaped at the clock, "oh, but its too bright out to go back to sleep.....well...guess its coffee time!"

Running to the kitchen, he expected Hilde to be already up.....she was a morning person after all. But as Duo looked around....the living room was empty.

"Did she really stay up all night?" Duo wondered, and then slapped his forehead, "Of course, baka...she was waiting for YOU, wondering where-in-the-world you were last night.......stupid candy store...I'll have to buy stuff online."

Guiltily the pilot thought of a way to make it up to his best friend.

He considered breakfast-in-bed...but remembering what happened last time ...he decided he better not.

"And I always thought grape juice didn't stain as much as coffee..."

Fixing himself some cocoa, Duo moved to the living room to watch some TV. He sat on the couch with the hot mug---something Hilde would never let him do.......if she were awake.

After getting comfy, he started flipping through the one-thousand-and-ninety-eight channels they got.

"Too bad we don't have cable....Dang! Nothing but tiny kids shows....," he sighed, "I wonder when Pokemon's on....."

Duo turned off the TV, and decided to marvel at the little Christmas tree that stood by their living-room window.

It was decorated with multi-colored lights. Duo wanted them to blink on and off, but Hilde had said it would probably give both of them a headache.

The rebellious pilot tried it anyway and......Hilde was right.

Sipping the cocoa, he remembered how he and Hilde had first bought it from the tree farm. Hilde wanted a bigger tree, but Duo insisted they get the little one. 'Because everyone else will get the big trees and this one will be left without a home' was Duo's excuse. Though he was really trying to save money.....for the special gift now hidden in his desk drawer.

As he came back to the real world, Duo noticed a brown patch on the tree facing the window.

Frowning, he got up to shift it.

"There we go... Now the green's facing outside and the brown........" the Gundam pilot smiled, then realized his mistake," Oh crap! If Hilde sees this, were definitely going to buy another tree!"

Trees, like any other plants in the colonies weren't cheap. Duo almost started biting his nails when a second realization swept him.

Because of the expensive gift, there was now a large sum of money missing that Hilde didn't know about........yet.

They shared a bank account,........hell they even lived together like a husband and wife---minus sharing a bedroom--- he should've been responsible and told her....even if it meant telling her what he bought. That way, there would be no more problems...

"...And ruin the surprise?...no way!" Duo said, giving the tree one more good twist so the brown side faced the wall.

"Duo, what are you doing?"

*gack * "Hey Hilde!" Duo smiled his best innocent grin.

But the girl had lived with him long enough to see right through it, "Yeah, what are you up to?" she smirked, then she looked down on the couch.

"DUO!!!"

"WHA-What? It's not my fault! You see, trees just do that sometimes, all trees turn-"

"TREES?! I was talking about THIS!!" she pointed to the large chocolate cocoa spot on the white couch. The mug was on the floor.

"WHA-? How did that happen?!" Duo screamed.

The shorter-haired rubbed her forehead, "I don't know,.......but with you, anything's possible..."

Braid-boy sighed at his own luck..."Well, at least she didn't see the plant..."

A roll of paper towels and stain-remover were thrown near him.

"You're turn.......I cleaned up the last one," Hilde stated casually, heading towards the kitchen for breakfast.

Duo started putting paper towels on the stain, "I guess we need a coffee table."

"You'd still find a way, Duo." Hilde smirked, she was not pleased with the couch's condition, but she couldn't be mad at Duo for very long either.

"Yeah..." Duo grinned back, though it was more of a sad smile.

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"Bye, Duo, I'll be back."

"Huh? Hey, where're you going?"

Hilde turned from the doorway, "Huh? Oh, to the store...."

Duo looked confused so she reluctantly added, "...you forgot some things."

Duo sweatdropped, "oh...sorry...Hey, is that the only place you're going?"

"Yes......."

"Do you have money?"

"No, but that's ok...I'll just get some at the bank."

An alarm rang in Duo's head, "No, no, wait, I think I have some here..." He began hurriedly searching his pockets.

The dark-haired looked on curiously, "Duo...its not a big deal, the banks don't close until 3."

The pilot sighed as he realized he was broke, "Say, babe, why don't I come with you?"

"But you said you'd finish your work today so you'd have Christmas day off."

"Don't worry, I should be finished by tomorrow!"

"DUO!, Tomorrow's Christmas!!"

"WHAAA-?!...Oops..."

Hilde sighed, "on second thought....I better go before the banks close..."

"But-"

"what?"

"...nothing..." he sighed.

The door closed leaving Duo to pray, "...please don't let her find out..."

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The next hour was full of anxiety as the braided pilot awaited his companion's return.

"And when she does.........its Duo-BBQ time........." he wiped some sweat off his forehead. He'd been working overtime in the shop to get the repairs and salvaging done by tonight.

"I wonder how I forgot that Christmas was tomorrow." Duo thought with concern. Then he remembered how one time he'd forgotten his own birthday.

"Well,....that was the biggest surprise I ever had!....second to finding out that Heero had a son....." Duo thought back to his surprise birthday...the one Hilde had organized. All the G-boys were there, along with their respective girlfriends/wives. Even Wufei came... mostly because Sally dragged him.

The 21-year-old smiled; that was the day they all found out Wufei's worst fear: ...........rollercoasters!

They had all gone to Disney Universe,... Duo's favorite place,......but when Sally suggested they try the Tall Towers rollercoaster, Wufei immediately stiffened and choked on his soda.

After that, everyone knew what must be done: get that Mr. Stick-up-his-ass a seat on Space Mountain III!

Duo laughed outloud. That was the best fun he had in years!

...........and he owed it all to Hilde...

The chestnut-haired thought long and hard........until he finally decided...

"I have to tell her the truth...I can't let her freak out any more than she probably is right now..."

As if on cue, he heard the closing bang of the front door.

Sighing, "Well......now is as good as anytime..."

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Hilde put the groceries on the counter.

"Hilde...?"

"Huh? ...Oh, hey what's up Duo?" she continued pulling out the items from the bag.

"Uhh.....so....ya got everything on the list?"

Hilde looked at him, "Yup."

"Oh.......that's good......."
".........um.....I..."

"Look, Duo...I'm going to ask you something....and I want you to be totally honest with me...ok?"

The brown-haired stiffened, "Yeah, ok, sure I will, I mean; I promise."

Hilde looked at him with the utmost firmness, but even she knew she was letting some kindness slip through as she gazed into his dark blue eyes. She couldn't afford to blush...his complete honesty depended on her seriousness.

He cracked, "ok-I'm-sorry-but-really-it-was-all-for-you-I-swear-I'm-sorry-I-can't-tell-you-cause-its-a-secret-but--!!!"

"DU-O!!"

"Eeep!!...nani?"

"What in the world?!--I was going to ask if you're done with the repairs or not."

"...?!?!????!?"

"Well?"

"That's all you were going to ask me?!?"

"Yes!"

"ohhhhhh...."
"...well, in that case; no."

"@$%#%*!$%^(*!!!" Hilde threw her hands to her head, "..........thanks for being honest anyway, Duo...."

"No problem!"

"...now get back to work."

"Eh-heh-heh.....sure thing..."

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It was another late night for Hilde and Duo.

The braided bisho'onen continued to finish repairs on his last order, while Hilde paid some of their bills.

Duo examined her through the shop's window. Sweatdropping at even her slightest hint of dissatisfaction.

"Gotta keep workin'," he forced himself to look away from the window.

Hilde sighed as she looked over all the things she had to pay.

Bills certainly brought out the pessimism in people.

Suddenly she heard a loud metal clang and some cursing from Duo's workshop.

She hurried to the kitchen window just in time to see her apartment-mate bending down to pick something off the floor. When he got back up, Duo noticed her worried face and smiled...waving with the wrench that had fallen.

Reassured, his protective friend smiled back and then continued with her own work.

But she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, how tired Duo looked.

It was true that she'd been a little harsh on him...she felt like she had anyway. But perhaps something was already bothering him. He didn't seem to be in the best of moods, which (for Duo) was extremely unusual.

Perhaps he was a little cold...the heater in the shop didn't work too well.

Hilde frowned, sure that was it, and she grabbed a fleece blanket and her cup of hot chocolate on her way to the shop.

Duo wiped some sweat off his forehead. Amazingly, all his hard work was cooling him down.

"Shoulda put more layers on," he thought to himself.

Suddenly he heard a creak of the workshop's door.

"Who's there?" he instinctively called out.

"Its just me, Duo," Hilde smirked.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, babe....just not used to people comin' in here."

"I know......I brought you some cocoa," she said, handing him the cup.

"Hey, thanks!" he blushed as she wrapped the blanket around him.

And he almost choked when he found her arms wrapping around him.

"H-Hilde?..."

"I'm sorry if I've seemed a little grumpy lately, Duo...." she ruffled his hair, "I don't want you to feel like its your fault."

"Hey, no prob!" he sipped his warm chocolate, "what's been bothering ya?"

Hilde groaned, "Oh, its just these stupid bills...seems like we have less money than I thought we did."

Duo choked.

Hilde giggled, "remember; drink....don't inhale," she teased.

"Heh-heh...right, I know..."

The braided pilot looked away from his love's smiling face....unable to face her with the rush of guilt he felt inside of him.

His love?

Yes, he truly loved her.

Ever since the day they first met.

Even though on that first day she was holding a gun to his head. That was only because they were on opposite sides....fighting for the same cause.

He'd admired the way she stood up to her own supervisor. Even Duo was shocked when Hilde turned on her own mobile dolls, admitting that OZ wasn't doing the right thing.

She knew how to set aside her pride and make bold decisions. And though she was considered a weaker pilot than him,... it was Hilde who infiltrated Libra all on her own.

The fact that she made it in was amazing, but how she managed to escape, alive, from both the Vey-eight and Mercurous was unbelievable. Even though he had to come to her rescue at the end.

She did it all for him....the data she got helped the Gundams stop Millardo and save the earth.

Duo smiled warmly.

"Hilde........you know I'm one lucky guy."

"Huh? What do you mean, Duo....... Hey! Have you been looking at your Christmas presents early?"

"No-no!....its nothing like that, its just...."
"....."

"...what is it, Duo?" concern was hinted in her voice.

The chestnut-haired turned, and suddenly their faces were only inches apart.

"I don't wanna hide it from you any longer.....I don't need this guilt..." "...come'on I'll show you what I got you for Christmas..."

"Oh, Duo... you just can't wait, can you?"

"...Well...I think just in case you don't want it...we can take it back and use the refund to pay off some of the debts."

Hilde laughed as Duo guided her to the living room, "Duo, we're not that bad off...and besides... one, little present's not a big deal..."

"Well...." Duo rubbed the back of his head, "I think when you see what it is....you might start to worry."

"?"

Duo quickly went into his bedroom and retrieved a small, cubed item.

Hilde was confused at first....but when her closest companion got down on one knee...

"D-Duo.....?!?!?"

...and opened the box...

"Oh...my...go-"

"Hilde...I..." he could feel his face turning bright red..."Hilde...well...will...uh...you..."

Her mouth gaped open and closed again. The process soon evolved into her answer.

"Y-yes!" she squeaked, still in total shock.

"what did you say?" Duo wasn't quite sure if he heard her right.

"I-said-" she could barely get the words out.

"Nani?!" Duo was beginning to worry.

"yes, Duo!...I will!" she was now half laughing and half crying.

"really?"

"yes!"

"really?"

"yes!"

"really?"

Hilde reached over to the stunned Duo and placed the ring on her own finger, "Yes, Duo.......I love you!"

"Oh that's good," said Duo before falling backwards and fainting.

"Duo?"

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Shinigami awoke surrounded in a blanket with Hilde.

She was admiring the diamond ring on her left hand.

"Hey," he smiled at her.

"Hey..." she grinned back, "...now I see what you meant ...it isn't 'just a little present'."

"I can take it back if it's too expensive," he offered.

Hilde looked up at him, "hell, no!... I like it just where it is."

She leaned up to kiss him, "...so...I'm gonna be Hilde Maxwell, eh?"

"if you wanna be," he put his arm around her and kissed back.

"of course I do...and do you know why?"

"why?"

Hilde blushed and turned her head away to hide it, "...because meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me... this one gift" she held out her ring finger, "... is from my most special gift..."

Duo almost cried then...with tears of joy, of course,.... but he restrained the urge and hugged his fianc�e tightly instead.

They stayed close together that night...watching the fire dance in its place, and watching TV too,...of course!

Then Hilde suddenly remembered something...

"Oh, Duo...its time for you to open your present now."

"Really?!" Duo's eyes got big like a little kid's whenever they saw candy.

"I'm sorry, it won't compare anywhere near what you gave to me," she said, "...but here it is..."

She took a large present from under the tree and handed it to Duo.

Suddenly the floor was covered with bits of wrapping paper and ribbon, and as Duo finally opened the box he yelled with delight:

"POKEMON!!!" ;)

Hilde laughed, "I thought you might like it..."

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~owari~

So what do you think?
I enjoy praise
---kuni63