Trilogy

Tale #1: A Heart Too Burdened
Tale #2: A Soul Redeemed
Tale #3: Duo's Decision

--------------------------------------<
1. A Heart Too Burdened
--------------------------------------

-Part 1-

"Master Quatre," Rashid knocked at the bathroom door, "are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Quatre didn't like lying to Rashid. The man was like a second father to him. But he did not want to burden the Manganac Leader with his personal troubles. "Look, I just got into the bath, so I'll be at least several minutes."

Rashid nodded, then moved away from the bathroom door. "I'll have the house-staff make some hot tea for you."

"Thanks," Quatre said, through closed door. He looked down at his wrist, open and bleeding, at the crimson billows in the water below. 

*****

"Quatre?" Trowa knocked on the bathroom door about thirty minutes later. He hadn't been alarmed for the first twenty minutes, seeing as Quatre had just gotten into the bath, and he usually took about fifteen to twenty minutes for bathing. But when he still hadn't returned to the sitting room to watch TV with the others, Trowa had become worried and had gone to check on the boy he loved. 

"Quat..." he began as he opened the bathroom door, the name faltering upon his lips as he beheld the macabre spectacle before him.

His knees gave way as he sank to the floor, the entire world suddenly shattering as his mind fragmented into a million pieces.

There on his knees, the sight before him forever burned into his mind's eye, excluding all other images that ever were or had been, Trowa didn't even know he was screaming.

-Part 2-

Alerted by Trowa's anguished screams, the Manganacs and the other three Gundam Pilots converged at the bathroom door.

"Master Quatre!" Rashid could not have been more heartsick if Quatre had been his own son. He'd helped raise and protect the boy from infancy and the young heir had always held a special place in his heart. "Why? Allah! Why?!" He raced over to the bath and lifted the lifeless body from the blood-reddened water. "Great Allah! This cannot be! Please, it cannot be!" 

He turned from the tub and carried Quatre's naked and dripping body out of the bathroom and to his bathroom, the other Manganacs following in silence like a funeral procession. He placed the still-wet body upon the bed and lovingly dried him, as one might dry a newly cleansed infant, before finally covering the lifeless body with the bedclothes, pausing only for a moment to place a parting kiss on the cooling brow.

Moments later, an ambulance, summoned by Wufei, arrived for Trowa. The boy was beyond the other pilots' help, Wufei knew. The Chinese boy also knew that he was the only one of them with the sense to see that.


Heero had his hands full with Duo, who was shaking his head and whispering "I'm sorry. Please, forgive me. Oh, God, I'm so sorry." and a variety of other heartfelt apologies over and over.

"It wasn't your fault, Duo." Heero told the Shinigami Pilot as he held Duo close and did all he could to reassure the grieving boy despite the fact that he was grieving himself.

-Part 3-

"It is my fault, Heero." Duo told the Perfect Soldier as stood on the balcony half an hour later. "It's always my fault. I loved him. That's why Quatre died. All my love and feelings I focused on Quatre. I did it to trick Him, you see. To trick Shinigami. I had to. Every time we made love, every time you kissed me, I thought of Quatre."

"Why?" Heero asked, trying to make sense of what Duo was saying.

"Because I thought He would be unwilling to take Quatre." Duo explained. "I thought Shinigami's fatal hand would be stayed by Quatre's pure soul. But He killed him, too. Shinigami took Quatre because of my trickery."

"Duo... that's nonsense!" Heero shook his head. "Quatre killed himself. We don't know why. But I'm guessing this war was taking its toll on him. It's taking its toll on all of us, even me. But he had to cope with all our emotional baggage as well as his own. That's a lot for a person our age to bear."

"Heero, I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, but it won't lessen the guilt. I used Quatre as a decoy to trick Shinigami away from you. I... I won't let him take you, Heero. I'll focus my feelings on someone else... he won't take you away."

-Part 4-

"No, Duo," Heero shook his head, "no. Now, you listen to me. If you want me to ever make love to you again, if you want to feel me inside you, you must love *me*."

"If I love you directly, you'll die, Heero. Just like everybody else." 

Duo's eyes gleamed with a cunning madness that deeply worried the Perfect Soldier.

"Duo..." Heero said, placing a hand on his koibito's shoulder.

"Don't tell me I need help. I know the truth, Heero. But don't worry, I won't let Shinigami take you."

"Duo, I want to lay claim to the love you feel for me. I'm strong enough to break the curse, if there is one. Please.. let me do that for you. Let me free you."

"You can't, Heero," Duo shook his head. "I cannot escape this. I can only misdirect it."

Heero covered Duo's lips with his own and drew him close. "I love you. I will always love you."

Duo murmured, but gave no answer.

"Duo... "

Duo shook his head. He would not say the words. He would not doom Heero to an early grave. Another would have to take his place. He was too emotionally exhausted, however, to focus his feelings for Heero on anyone specific. He would just project it elsewhere, anywhere away from Heero. It didn't really matter where at the moment. He was too tired and too drained to worry about it. 

~As long as Heero was safe, that's all that matters, right?~ he thought to himself, as he drifted off to sleep in his lover's arms..

At that same moment, thousands of miles away, the peace summit that had been moments from the solution everyone had yearned for suddenly fell apart

-Part 5-

The phone rang and Heero picked it up quickly. Duo was finally asleep and the Perfect Soldier didn't want his lover to be woken up again. Duo looked so beautiful, he decided.

"Heero," Relena's voice sounded very upset, "I know you're probably with Duo, but I had to talk to you. I just had to. It's so awful. We were so close to peace and then... I don't know what happened? Everything just went to Hell... I don't understand... we were so close to peace, now the war is back on."

Heero looked at the sleeping boy in his arms, realization dawning in his eyes, and his heart broke.

"It's true," he whispered. "Oh, kami-sama... Relena, can I call you back later? There's something I have to do."

"Sure, Heero." Relena replied, hanging up the phone.

Heero retrieved his gun and pressed the barrel to Duo's head. Duo had to be destroyed, he knew, for the sake of the world. Duo had caused this. And he'd killed Quatre, too. As much as Heero loved him, Duo had to die. This was his duty, and he could not let his personal feelings for the fatal beauty get in the way.

"I love you, Duo." he whispered as his finger squeezed the trigger.

-------------------------------
2. A Soul Redeemed
-------------------------------<

-Part 1-

The phone rang moments before Heero could complete his mission to kill the boy he loved. Holding the gun steady, finger away from the trigger (he didn't want any witnesses), and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Heero, it's Sally Po." the doctor's voice said, gently, on the other end, "I know you and Duo are pretty upset right now, with Quatre gone and the peace summit falling apart. But I have some news that might cheer you up a little."

"Thanks," Heero looked down at Duo's sleeping form and thought of how exquisite the braided pilot looked. "What's the good news?"

"Duo's pregnant."

With those two words, to Heero Yuy, Duo suddenly seemed a thousand times more beautiful, and a million times more dangerous. What if Duo suddenly turned on him, projecting his love for his child onto Heero to keep the baby safe? No, Duo wouldn't do that! He cared about Heero. They'd fought together, protected each other. Duo would never hurt him.

~Duo killed Quatre.~

The words rang out in his head, hammering themselves into Heero's war-addled brain.

~It's all just a bunch of stupid coincidences. Duo isn't cursed! He's not at fault for any of those deaths. Now, just relax. You're letting his hysteria get to you. And it's no wonder he's hysterical, he's got a child growing inside him. I don't know how, and I really don't need to know. All I have to know is that I love him and I love our baby and I will do all I can for him."

He put the gun away and kissed Duo.

*****

Duo woke the next morning and slapped Heero.

"What the fuck?!" Heero exclaimed

"Why didn't you kill me, Heero?" Duo demanded. "How many people have to die before you come to your senses and either kill me or leave me?"

"I can't do either, Duo." Heero told his beloved.

"Heero, I can't keep killing people just to keep you alive. But I can't kill you either...I..." He reached for his knife, but Heero grasped his hand and held it away from the blade.

"Duo, it's not just your life at stake anymore." The Perfect Soldier told the Shinigami Pilot.

"What are...?" Duo's voice failed him as the implication behind Heero's words suddenly dawned on him. "The implant took?!"

Heero nodded. "We're going to have a baby. Duo, under the circumstances, those being that we're going to have a child and the fact that I love you more than you could ever imagine... will you marry me?"

Duo threw his arms around Heero and wept with joy, their tears washed away by the joy that cleansed the pain from their souls.

"Yes, I'll marry you. I love you, Heero." the braided beauty told the handsome young soldier who held him close and shielded him from loneliness.

"And I love you, Duo." the Perfect Soldier replied, his heart so full of love now that it was as if he, himself, had just taken his very first breath when Duo had said 'yes'.

-Part 2-

A forlorn boy sat in the corner of the padded white room. His eyes glazed over from a combination of mental pain and drug-induced stupor. The drugs were supposed to help his mind. But nothing would ever cure the hole in his heart, a hole that once was filled with the sweet laughter of a beautiful blond Arab.

"Trowa."

The stricken boy looked up, his eyes wide with disbelief, as he looked up into the loving eyes he never thought he would see again.

"Quatre?!"

"Trowa," Quatre said, "come to me. We're going to be together again."

Trowa did not hesitate as Quatre reached out to him. He ran to the blond Arabian angel and held him, close, their tears mingling their tongues clashing as they kissed, their souls forever entwined, as they departed the room together, not looking back.

*****

The doctor who went to recover Trowa from the Quiet Room noticed that the boy was not moving. Turning him onto his back, she saw that his face was already turning black from asphyxiation. Horrified at the boy's death, she went to find the doctor to tell him what had happened.

-Part 3a-

Catherine Bloom laid a flower on the grave of the boy who called himself Trowa. 

"Rest in peace," she whispered, a tear falling upon the flower's petals. As she passed Heero and Duo, she noticed that the braided pilot averted his eyes. She'd heard rumors of his curse, but had never really believed them. Was it true, she wondered. Had he somehow caused Trowa's death? Something told her no. That Duo wasn't to blame. She returned to where the braided boy stood with his fiancé.

"Duo," she said, "I know this isn't the time and place, but I wanted to congratulate you on your upcoming wedding and to tell you that it wasn't your fault."

"Catherine.." Duo shook his head.

"She's right, Duo." Heero told him. "You can't keep blaming yourself. I'm going to take you home."


*****

"Duo! Stop it!" Heero tried to grab the braided pilot, who was attacking him, viciously.

"Leave me, you idiot!" Duo screamed as he slapped Heero.

"Snap out of it!" Heero exclaimed, slapping Duo back and knocking him down. He tried to catch Duo before the braided boy's head struck the dresser, but was seconds too late.

Duo struck his head and saw stars for a moment before he blacked out.

-Part 3b-

"Duo, I'm sorry,"

Duo turned and saw Quatre standing there.

"I ended my own life, Duo." he said. "Out of guilt and remorse. Because I let another bear my pain. I was so weak, so fragile. I couldn't bear the guilt or the pain, so deflected my curse to you. You seemed so much stronger, Duo. So cheerful. The death curse that was meant to be mine became yours."

"The death curse was *yours*?!" Duo shrieked. "Quatre! How could you do that to me?! We were friends!"

"We hadn't even met," Quatre explained, his head bowed in remorse. "Duo I heard about you from other street people, you were a legend, a soul who could not be broken, not even by death. I knew you were the one who could bear the curse without going mad. But Allah gave me a new curse when I gave you my old one. He gave me my spaceheart so that every time you suffered because of the curse, I would feel it. The guilt became too much to bear. That's why I took my own life. And when I saw that his life was going to be, endless days and nights in that institution, I took Trowa, too. I couldn't let him go through that because of me."

Duo nodded. "I'm glad you two are together. And I want you to be happy."

"Duo, you don't understand. Listen to me. Your baby is going to be stillborn. Shinigami doesn't sense your love for the infant yet, but during labor, you will be full of emotion that your love for the baby will be crystal clear. That's when the baby will die."

"I can't let that happen," Duo shook his head. "I won't let it happen."

*****

"...let it happen!" Duo sat up to find a concerned Heero crouching beside him.

"I'm sorry." Heero told Duo. "I didn't mean for that to happen. Are you okay?"

Duo shook his head. "I don't know." he admitted. "I honestly don't know..."

-Part 4-

"What did you dream about?" 

"It wasn't my fault after all." Duo's eyes gleamed with tears of relief. "It wasn't my curse. I was simply holding it for someone who couldn't handle it as well as I could."

"Who?" Heero asked. It was still delusional talk, but at least Duo was putting aside the guilt he'd held for so long. 

"Quatre." Duo replied. "He caused Trowa's death because he didn't want Trowa to spend his life in that mental hospital. He came to me because he was unhappy and couldn't rest. But he's at peace now. I forgave him."

"Hn..." Heero's eyes spoke all the words his lips failed to speak.

"I know." Duo nodded, in complete understanding. "I love you, too."

Heero blinked as Duo kissed him on the cheek, then stood up and left the room.

---------------------------
3. Duo's Decision
---------------------------

-Part 1-

"I now declare you to be joined in wedlock," the girl performing the ceremony smiled, her eyes glittering with happiness for the boy she loved. She would not know his touch the way his husband would, but she did not mind. She knew that if she'd pushed herself on him, he would not have been happy, and she had decided that she would wish for an unhappy marriage. When the Perfect Soldier had asked her to perform the wedding, she had already accepted that he would never be her husband. But she did not intend to lose him entirely. 

"What last names will you use?" she asked. "Neither of you uses your real name, and it might be difficult putting down the names you do use on a wedding certificate. You might not be able to get one, in fact, without a valid name and you certainly can't put Heero Yuy on an official document. You might as well shout "Gundam Pilot Over Here!"."

"What are you scheming?" Heero asked, hoping that she wasn't trying to steal him away from Duo, no matter how good her intentions might be.

But that hadn't been her plan. In fact, the plan she did have was something far better. It was a plan that would give two war-orphans a family.

Heero smiled, affectionately, at Duo, his eyes also sparkling with joy. 

Duo's eyes were also glistening. He had everything he could ever want now. But Shinigami's shadow still hovered over him and he feared for his unborn child.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Heero?" Relena laughed, cheerfully at Heero, who was still gazing into Duo's eyes. "Hurry up and kiss my new brother-in-law."

"Whatever you say, sis!" Heero Peacecraft, whom Relena had adopted as her brother, leaned forward and kissed Duo upon the lips.

Overwhelmed at suddenly having everything he'd been deprived of all his life, Duo Maxwell-Peacecraft fainted.

-Part 2-

Duo opened his eyes and sat up.

"Are you okay?" Relena asked as Heero came back with a glass of water.

"Thanks, both of you." Duo nodded as he took the water and got to his feet. "I'm okay. This is just really overwhelming for me. I've never been this happy before in all my life. How much more of the ceremony is left?"

"None." Heero smiled, warmly, at his young husband.

"We're... married?" Duo could barely get the word out.

"Hai."

"Heero..." Duo tried not to cry, but it was impossible not to with all that had happened. "I'm sorry," he sniffled. "God, I'm sorry, Heero. I just... I really can't help it, ya know?"

"We understand," Relena reassured him. "You finally have the family you were deprived of all your life. It's no wonder it would be an emotional time for you. You have every right to cry, Duo."

"I'm a pilot. A soldier. Like Heero." Duo protested.

"Who is also crying." Relena pointed out.

"I have something in my eyes." Heero protested.

No one bought it and Duo had a brief vision of everyone holding up flashcards, like in a football game, spelling out:

*YEAH! RIGHT, HEERO!*

which made him snicker a bit.

"Yes," Relena agreed with Heero's statement, "love for Duo. It's been there for the longest time. And now the three of us are a family."

"The four of us." Duo corrected her, looking down at the bulge in his abdomen.

"The four of us then." Relena restated. "How far are you anyhow?"

"Seven months." Duo replied. "The doctors say the baby is healthy."

"How are you delivering?" Relena was concerned about this, since natural childbirth was out of the question, given the fact that Duo was male.

"We're having a planned c-section done." Duo explained, trying not to let the fear of Quatre's warning slip into his voice, albeit without much success. "we've already set the date and time. So we just go in, I go into surgery, and in a few hours, we have our baby. It's all very simple and there are no risks."

~If that's true,~ Relena wondered, ~then why do you sound so afraid?~

-Part 3-

Relena watched as Duo and Heero danced, slowly, across the ballroom floor. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears of joy, as she watched her brother and brother-in-law, their eyes only on each other, oblivious to the stares some of the guests were giving. She didn't admonish the guests for those stares. They weren't trying to be rude, after all. They just found Duo's condition to be fascinating.

~Who wouldn't find it fascinating?~ she thought to herself. ~I bet even when it becomes commonplace, male pregnancy will still be fascinating. But I bet no other male pregnancy will be as wondrous and as beautiful as Duo's.~

Duo did his best to hide the pain while he and Heero danced. He didn't want to worry his husband. 

"I love you, Heero." he whispered into the other boy's ear as they continued to dance.

Heero looked into Duo's eyes as the dance continued, and saw the pain in them. He lead the other boy off the dance floor and over to a corner.

"Duo?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"You worry too much, Hee-chan." Duo replied. "It's nothing. I'm having some backpains." That was the truth, but Duo was having other pains as well.

"Why don't you go upstairs and rest?" Heero suggested. "I'll join you shortly."

"Don't be stupid, my love." Duo shook his head. "You stay here and entertain our guests. Tell them I'm sorry I had to duck out so suddenly."

"I will, shujin." Heero promised as he traded another kiss with Duo and watched the boy head upstairs to their bedroom.

*****

Duo curled up on his side in the bed that he and Heero shared, clutching the pillow so tightly that his knuckles were white, and began panting heavily. When Quatre had warned him that the curse would visit once again, he'd had his body altered so that he would be able to deliver the child without a c-section. He had known that other doctors would have protested, so he had gone to OZ's doctors, knowing full well that they would have no qualms against making sure a Gundam Pilot died in childbirth.

Now, Duo lay in bed, clenching his fists and teeth in sheer agony, as the delivery of his child slowly tore him apart. 

-Part 4-

"I'd like your attention, please," Wufei told everyone as the dinner had begun. "I just want to wish the new couple, Heero and Duo Peacecraft, all the happiness in the world. They deserve it and more. So, a toast to the new couple, may they have a happy life together and may their child be strong and healthy."

Heero smiled and nodded as the guests raised their glasses to him and to his absent spouse.

*****

Too far away to be heard by the crowd at the reception, Duo emitted a final agonized scream, as his child was born, then lay there, panting in pain and exhaustion, his eyes narrowing to slits as he lie there, too weak to move, barely alive.

One of the servants had just entered the corridor to spray the potted ferns that hung near the stairwell, when she heard Duo's scream. She raced into the room to see what was the matter and found Duo lying there, the tiny prematurely born infant lying next to him in a pool of blood. She phoned the hospital, then headed down to the reception hall.

*****

Heero was laughing and chatting with the guests when the servant approached him and tapped him on the shoulder. "What is it?" he asked.

"Duo just had the baby." the servant whispered. "You'd better come with me. I don't think he has much time left."

Heero's laughter suddenly stopped, his heart freezing in his chest. This couldn't happen! And what did she mean Duo had had the baby? How could he? He remembered the scar he had seen on Duo's body; the stitches Duo had been so elusive about. Horrified, he raced out of the room and didn't stop running until he got to the bedroom.

Heerro had seen carnage and bloodshed many times. These things went with being a soldier. But when he saw Duo's torn and bleeding body lying there, he couldn't help becoming violently ill.

The paramedics arrived shortly after and the crowd who had been at the reception watched in stunned fascination as Duo's was taken out to the ambulance, barely alive, with his newborn baby boy in his arms.

Heero got into the ambulance with Duo and the baby and held his young husband's hand as they sped on to the hospital.

-Part 5-

Heero's heart beat heavily with dread as the ambulance sped on toward the hospital. Duo was losing a lot of blood very quickly. The boy was going into shock, his hold on the baby more instinct than conscious act.

"Don't die, shujin." Heero whispered as he stroked Duo's forehead, then looked down at the infant, premature and tiny, but still large enough for his birth to severely damage Duo. "Don't you die, either, musuko." he whispered, firmly, as if he believed that giving it as a command would ensure the baby's survival.

"Quatre," Duo whispered.

Heero smiled. "Quatre." He agreed, noting that the baby did resemble the friend they had lost. He wondered if Duo believed the baby really was the late Winner Heir, or if he had named the baby after Quatre based on looks alone. "Duo?" he asked.

Duo did not reply, however. The blood loss had gotten to the point where he had gone into shock 

The ambulance pulled into the hospital and Duo was rushed into emergency surgery while the baby was taken to the pediatric ward and placed in an incubator in the premise area.

*****

Heero paced the waiting room. He half-read every little pamphlet and magazine in the room to try to keep his mind off the reason he was there. His fists clenched and unclenched. He swore under his breath at the damned clock for moving so slowly. He wanted this whole ordeal to be over. He wanted to be home, holding Duo in his arms, and watching as the braided pilot cradled their new son in his arms.

Finally, a doctor came out of the operating room. "Heero Peacecraft?" he asked.

Heero nodded. "Yes, doctor. How is he?"

"We weren't able to repair the damage." the doctor apologized. "the tearing was too extensive and there was no solid foundation to begin stitches. He's awake. We have him resting comfortably."

"Take me to him." Heero demanded.

The doctor nodded, then led him to a room down the hall. He went inside and went over to Duo, who lie there, still bleeding heavily. The bed was already soaked with blood and Heero had to fight not to gag. 

~Because it's Duo's blood.~ he thought to himself. 

Duo smiled, weakly. 

"I love you, Heero," he said, sounding as if he were already far away. His eyes were barely open now and his breathing was shallow and irregular.

"I love you, Duo," Heero replied in a reassuring tone.

"Hee-chan," Duo whispered, "I'm sorry if this messes up any plans you might have had."

Heero smiled, despite himself. Duo always had a way of making him smile, no matter how bad the circumstances were. "Stay with me." he pleaded.

"I will." Duo promised, reaching up to touch Heero's chest, over his heart. "I'll always be right there." 

Heero clasped Duo's hand and kissed it. Then he leaned over and kissed Duo's lips one last time, just as Duo stopped breathing. The moment that he felt Duo's last breath upon his lips was one that Heero Peacecraft would never forget.

"I'm sorry," the doctor told him, gently. 

"How's the baby?" Heero asked, fearing the answer, but needing it all the same.

"He's stable." the doctor replied "He's premature, so his lungs aren't fully formed yet. We have him on respiration to help him breathe at the moment. You should visit him. They have research that shows that premature babies whose parents visit them have a stronger chance of survival."

"Take me to him." Heero whispered.

*****

The tiny infant was lying there in the incubator. Besides the oxygen mask, there was a variety of machines hooked up to the infant each performing a task necessary to the baby's survival.

"Quatre," Heero said, to his son, "please hang on, son. I lost your other father, I don't want to lose you, too."

He reached into the sterile gloves that were attached to the side of the incubator and ever-so-carefully stroked the baby's cheek, being extra careful not to dislodge the oxygen mask. He would be glad, he decided, when he could touch the baby without the gloves.

"I'm sorry, sir." An orderly told him, "I'm afraid visitting hours are over. You may return tomorrow morning at ten."

"Hn," Heero gave a perfunctory nod then turned back to his son. "I will come back tomorrow." he told the baby. "Sleep well for tonight. I love you."

He went downstairs to the main lobby and was heading to the phone when he saw Relena and Wufei standing there.

"We followed you to the hospital." Wufei explained. "We were going to join you, but then we thought that would be intruding."

"How's Duo?" Relena asked.

"He didn't make it," Heero replied. "The doctors said the damage was irreparable. I just don't understand why he had himself altered like that. He would've survived a c-section. Why would he opt for a delivery option that was almost guaranteed to be fatal when he was already scheduled for a survivable one?"

"We'll probably never know." Wufei sighed at the unjust of it all as he and Relena lead the despondent Heero to Relena's limo and drove him home.

-Part 6-

"I can't believe he's gone." 

Heero sat at the table staring into a cup of steaming hot cocoa that Relena had made him. Although the words came from his own lips, it seemed as though he heard them from far away. 

Relena put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Heero. I truly am. Duo was a rare gem of a person."

"I'll never find another person like him." Heero sighed.

"No, you won't," Relena agreed. "Oh, Heero, and on your wedding day... this is so awful."

Several of the guests from the wedding had stayed on to offer their support to Heero. They had seen Duo being taken out in the ambulance. They had seen the blood on the covering sheet and the tiny infant beside the weakening youth, and they had known that Duo would not live through the night.

"Heero," Catherine said as she walked into the room, "do you mind if I join you?"

"Hn...."

Catherine sat down and offered a sad smile to the Perfect Soldier. "Heero, I'm so very sorry. I know what it's like to lose someone you care about."

"Hn..."

Catherine would not be put off, however. "Hey, don't worry about Duo." she said, trying to cheer him up. "I'm sure Trowa and Quatre will keep him out of trouble."

"Trowa might keep him out of trouble," Heero agreed, smiling a little despite his sorrow, "but if it were just Duo and Quatre they'd be tying Kami-sama's shoelaces together."

"You're right!" Catherine smiled, thoughtfully. 

*****

"Sir, I don't care if I'm banished from here forever. I don't care if I spend eternity in Hell. I can't let him suffer like that. I just can't."

"You can summon him here, like your friend did with his lover."

Duo shook his head. 

"No," he said. "That would make my son an orphan. I've lived that life and I wouldn't wish it on anyone."

"Duo..." the archangel began.

"Please? I don't care if you send me down as a puppy or a kitten or whatever. I just want to be able to make Heero happy again."

"Very well," the archangel decided. "I suspect you would probably nag me until I gave in."

Duo grinned. "Of course I would!"

*****

Relena was thrown forward as her limo-driver screeched to a halt moments too late to avoid striking a child who had run into the road. 

Fortunately, the driver had managed to stop in time to avoid causing the boy serious injury. He got out of the car and ran over to the boy.

Relena joined him. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice overlapping that of the driver who was asking the same question.

"Uh-uh," the child shook his head. "My shoulder hurts. And I feel really stupid, too. That was a really dumb place to land, wasn't it?"

Relena blinked. She could've sworn the child was a girl until he had spoken. But it wasn't. The boy was about ten years old, she guessed. "We'll take you to have that shoulder fixed." she said, leading him back into the limo, her mind trying to make sense of what he had said.

-Part 7-

Relena looked at the child as the limo driver headed back to the house. She wanted her doctors to look him over, not the ones at the hospital. She wasn't sure why, but the thought was clear enough in her mind.

~Don't take him to the hospital.~

"Okay, we're here," she said as the limo pulled into her driveway. She got out of the car and led the small boy into her home.

"He says his shoulder is hurt." she told her family doctor as she escorted the child into his office. 

"Well, let's have a look-see, shall we?" the doctor smiled, disarmingly.

"Okay," the child nodded and let the doctor remove the heavy jacket he'd been wearing. 

This seemingly normal event turned out to be quite extraordinary as it revealed a pair of black wings protruding from the child's back.

Relena's gasp of surprise was followed almost instantly by Heero's. He had come to see what all the commotion was about.

"Duo?!" Heero asked, hopefully. If this boy was Duo their relationship would be dramatically changed. He would become Duo's father, or older brother instead of his husband. That was okay. It was a small price to pay to be able to see those sparkling eyes once more.

-Part 8-

"Are you Duo, honey?" Relena asked the little angel.

Duo nodded. "Yup." he nodded, smiling at Heero. "I'm back."

"This is going to take some getting used to." Heero told him. "I mean, you used to be my husband and now you're ... would you prefer to be my son or my little brother?"

"I don't know," Duo said, uncertainly.

"Why don't I adopt him?" Relena suggested. "As a Queen, I need an heir. You want to be my heir, Duo?"

Duo nodded. "Yeah. I guess. Thanks, Relena!"

"I guess that makes you 'Uncle Heero'." Relena laughed at her brother.

"I suppose it does." Heero agreed.

"So, how did you get back here?" Relena asked Duo. "Did they let you come back for good behavior?" 

"Nope."

"They kicked you out for troublemaking?" The doctor suggested.

"Wrong again." Duo grinned.

"You nagged them." Heero guessed.

"Bingo!" Duo laughed.

"Only *you* could nag your way out of Heaven, Duo." Heero looked at the black wings and frowned, "Um... you *were* in Heaven, right?"

Duo nodded. "Yeah. You get to pick your wing color. Quatre's got pink ones." he laughed. "I think he's had one too many flamingos sitting on his Gundam."

"What about Trowa?" Heero asked.

"Oh, he just took the traditional white ones." Duo shrugged, wincing in pain.

"Oh, that's right!" The doctor remembered the little angel's injury and looked at his shoulder, very carefully. "Oh, that's not so bad. The wing's just making it hurt a little more. Duo, I want you to fold your wing inward. I'm going to tie it to your back so your shoulder won't ache so much. We just need to take the extra weight off your shoulder. You just got a pulled muscle. In a few days you'll be as good as new."

Duo smiled gratefully and let the doctor bind his wings. The doctor had decided to bind both, so that the weight of one would not put undo strain on Duo's back. When both wings were tied to his back, he looked up at the doctor. "Thank you. Now it doesn't hurt so much."

"You're welcome, Little Duo." the doctor smiled at the small angel. 

Duo ran over to Heero and hugged him. "This is so cool." he laughed. "I never had an older brother before. This is going to be really neat. We can do all kinds of stuff together! Right, Heero?"

"Wrong." Heero told Duo. "Duo, there's still a war on. Remember, I'm still a Gundam Pilot." 

The little angel looked hurt. "I... I came all the way back for you, and you don't want me here?"

"Of course I want you here, Duo." Heero said. "I didn't meant it that way. I just meant that I can't play with you all the time."

"That's okay, Uncle Heero." Duo grinned.

-Part 9-

It had been several weeks since Heero had lost Duo as a husband and had regained him as a nephew. The two of them were visiting the baby Duo had died giving birth to. The infant was still in the incubator, but the oxygen mask had been removed a day earlier, since the lungs were fully formed and he was breathing on his own with no problems.

"He's beautiful, Duo." Heero told the little angel. "Thank you."

Duo nodded, and smiled. "Uncle Heero," he said, "I'm sorry I left you like that."

"Why did you do that, Duo?" Heero asked.

"Quatre said that when I had the baby, the death curse would come once more to claim another life. I couldn't risk that life being yours or the baby's, so I arranged it to be mine."

"You sacrificed yourself." Heero realized.

Duo nodded. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Heero." He said, his eyes still on the blond child sleeping in the incubator. "Quatre," he told the baby, "I love you, but you're a pain in the ass."

"Duo!" Heero exclaimed, trying to hold in a burst of laughter. 

"Hey! It's my death, I can laugh at it if I want to!" Duo grinned, mischievously.

A doctor walked into the room a few minutes later and smiled at the pair of them. He was quite used to the winged child now. "I'm sorry," he said, "visiting hours are over."

"Time to go home," Heero told his angelic nephew. He turned as another doctor walked in with a clipboard. 

"You can take him home tomorrow." the doctor told him. "He's doing well. We just need to keep him one more night for observation."

Heero smiled and Duo suddenly went into a laughing fit.

"Hn?"

"I was just imagining you as a father." Duo admitted. "I know you'd make a great one. You've been a wonderful uncle to me since I came back. But I can't help imagining you putting the baby in spandex diapers... and its first words will probably be 'omae o korosu' and..."

"Hey! I'm not *that* bad." Heero protested, a smile upon his lips. "And to prove it to you, what do you say we stop for ice cream on the way home?"

"So you can flirt with the new counter-man like you did yesterday?" Duo teased.

"I was not flirting with him!" Heero protested. 

"Heero's got a crush! Heero's got a crush!" Duo sing-songed as he skipped around his uncle.

"I'll show you a crush!" Heero grinned, wickedly, as he gave the child a bearhug, which the little angel happily returned. He kissed the top of the boy's head then took his hand and left the hospital with him.

*****

~I still can't believe he's working here,~ Heero mused as he watched the well-muscled arms of the new employee there at he and Duo's favorite ice cream parlor. 

"Hey!" The man smiled at Duo and Heero as soon as he saw them. "Just come in from visiting the baby?"

"Yeah," Duo replied. "And guess what. My uncle Heero has a cr..."

Heero quickly covered Duo's mouth, bringing a look of protest from the small angel.

The man raised a pale eyebrow, having guessed the rest of what Duo was going to say, and smiled, wickedly. "Does he now?" he asked.

"I do *not*!" Heero protested, despite the fact that his heart was currently racing and he felt like a schoolboy who was afraid to ask for a date to the prom.

"That's a shame," the man replied.

"Hey! You!" the parlor's owner yelled at the new employee, "No chatting! We're busy!"

"Because I think you're quite handsome." the man employee in question continued. "I always have, to be honest. I'm glad you're free." he turned to Duo, "though I was sad when you died. There's not enough beauty in this world, and we lost a lot of it when you left us. Thanks for coming back."

"Zechs!" the parlor's owner yelled at him. "Back to work, NOW! And tie you damned hair back." the man stalked off muttering something that Heero couldn't make sense of.

"Yes, sir." Zechs grumbled. "Well, gotta get back to work, so what would you like?"

"Oh, um..."

"I'd like a five scoop sundae with Wavy Gravy (tm) ice cream and chocolate and praline sauce." Duo grinned. 

"One scoop." Heero said, firmly. "Duo, it's almost bedtime. If you have five scoops I'll never get you to go to sleep. And I'll have a brownie sundae with mint sauce."

Duo sighed, but did not argue the matter. That, he knew from past experience, would merit him no scoops and a stern scolding when Heero got him home.

-----TBC-----