Liberation
-----part 1-----
She could barely recall the time when she'd been male.
That had been five years and seven children ago. She loved every
one of her children. Their father she utterly despised, however.
He had forced himself on her repeatedly. He'd beaten her for
simple mistakes, and tortured her for what he thought of as the
big ones.
She'd agreed to the operation, and to what would follow:
Her marriage to this man.
She had no choice, unless she wanted her friends to die.
They were released unharmed, as promised. She had later learned
that they'd returned to the Oz installation to rescue her. But
by that time, the base had been evacuated and she and her
captors were now elsewhere.
"Duo?!"
She was so stunned that she spun around. She saw Wufei there and
was about to throw her arms around the other pilot. Then she
remembered her children at home. If she didn't come back...
"I'm sorry." She said. "You obviously mistook me for someone
else. Excuse me."
"Wait," Wufei grabbed her arm. He knew damned well he hadn't
mistaken her for someone else. He didn't know why she was a
girl, but that wasn't important. The important thing was that
he'd found Duo. Duo had been missing, and presumed dead, for
five years and Wufei had finally found him. Or her.
Duo wrenched her arm free. "I have to get home and start supper
for my family." She told him. "The general doesn't like to be
kept waiting."
"You don't love him." Wufei whispered.
"He'll hurt the children if I leave him." Duo whispered back.
Out loud she said "I love him with all my heart. He's been a
good husband."
She paid for her food and left the market.
-----part 2-----
Duo fell to her knees as her husband slapped her across the
face.
"You let yourself be seen." He accused her.
"I didn't!" She protested. "It just happened. I swear it. I
didn't know he was there. I tried to tell him I was someone
else."
"Get up on the bed."
"Please, no."
He slapped her again and tore the dress she was wearing. "I told
you to get up on the bed." he screamed at her.
Duo laid down on the bed, tears flowing from her eyes, as the
general shoved himself into her over and over until she was
sobbing in agony and holding her stomach. Then he stopped and
rolled onto his back.
"You deserved it." he told her. "Now get up, clean yourself up,
and make dinner."
Duo lay there, bleeding and crying. "I have to go to the
hospital, you son of a bitch."
The general slapped her. "You have to make me dinner." he told
her. "I know full well this is an escape attempt."
"You stupid, selfish bastard!" Duo swore, angrily. "You just
made me ..."
The general slapped her again.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!"
"Wufei..." Duo whispered.
Wufei kept his gun trained on the general as went over to Duo
and saw that she was hemorrhaging badly. He picked her up,
draping her over his shoulder.
"My children..." Duo protested, terrified.
"They're safe." Wufei assured her. "They're with Heero and Trowa
outside." He carried Duo out to the area where the other two
pilots were waiting with Duo's seven kids.
*****
"Is mommy gonna be 'kay?" Duo's three year old daughter asked as
she stood in front of the chair that Heero was occupying in the
hospital waiting room. She was looking up at Heero with eyes
full of curiosity and fear.
"I hope so, kiddo." Heero sighed.
Wufei came out of the room where he'd been talking with the
doctors.
"How is she?" Heero asked.
"She'll be fine." Wufei said, smiling down, briefly, at the
little girl. "At the moment, however, she needs her rest."
"Wait here." Heero told Duo's daughter. He pulled Wufei around a
corner, made sure the little girl hadn't followed them, then
looked up at Wufei. "What's wrong?"
"Duo had a miscarriage." Wufei told him.
-----TBC-----