Wedding Day

-----part 1-----

Duo sat on the balcony, looking out at the Winner Estate. The five pilots were enjoying a lull in the war. Quatre was enjoying the pool, a rather delightful sight, Duo thought. Especially since the boy was skinnydipping. //Whoever would've thought?// Duo pondered. He wished he could join the blond pilot and frowned at his broken leg. "Well, it's almost healed." he told himself. "The cast will be off in the morning."

Heero walked out onto the balcony and sat next to Duo. "Damn it, Maxwell." he grumbled. "Why do you have to be so beautiful? Even the cast looks good on you."

Duo blushed. "That's so unlike you, Heero." he remarked, nonetheless. "What happened to the Perfect Soldier? The one who always has two feet planted firmly on the ground."

"If I'd been thinking with my heart and not my head, you wouldn't have been hurt." Heero replied. "I was lucky that only your leg was damaged."

"*You* were lucky?" Duo blinked.

"I realized after you were hurt that if I'd lost you..." Heero trailed off. "Duo, I've been a fool. I should've seen it sooner. But now I know how I feel and I know what I want. Okay, so this isn't a romantic candlelight setting, and we're not elegantly dressed and eating fancy stuff. I don't care about that. It doesn't have to be perfect. All I care about is that I want to marry you."

"It is perfect." Duo replied, his voice full of joy. "It's absolutely perfect and do you know why? Because I'm going to say 'yes'."

Heero leaned over and kissed Duo, softly. "I'm going to buy you a ring." he promised. "The nicest one I can afford. And we'll get married tomorrow. I don't want to wait."

Duo smiled and kissed him back. "Come back soon." he said, as Heero stood up and turned to leave. "I don't want to wait either."

"I will." Heero promised as he left the balcony. 

Duo drew himself up onto his crutches after Quatre went inside and found Wufei lamenting to himself over something. 

"He will," he was saying over and over. "He has to..." Wufei turned and saw Duo standing there. He ran over to Duo and hugged him.

"You will, won't you, Duo? Tell him you will."

"What are you talking about?" Duo asked.

"Just say 'yes' or 'no'." Wufei pressed. "You will, right? Tomorrow. Right, Duo?"

Duo wasn't sure what Wufei was talking about, but as there were more things he would do than things he wouldn't he simply replied "Yeah, sure. I guess so." and was rather surprised when Wufei kissed him full on the mouth. He blinked at Wufei's departing figure.

"Duo," Rashid approached him. "I couldn't help notice that you've been watching Master Quatre swimming. I was just wondering if you were planning on being honorable?"

Assuming that Rashid meant not spreading gossip around about Quatre, Duo nodded. "Yeah." he promised. 

Rashid gave a satisfied nod. "Master Quatre will be pleased." he informed Duo as he left the room.

He limped into the living room and carefully settled himself down onto the couch next to Trowa. "Whatcha watchin'?"

"Some old movie." Trowa replied. "It's called Spaceballs. Its about this bride who runs away from her wedding. You'd never do that, would you?"

"Run away from my wedding?" Duo asked. "Well, I might if Relena was the bride."

"What if you were the bride?" Trowa asked, meaning it as a proposal.

"No." Duo shook his head. "I wouldn't run away. I look forward to my wedding, actually. I know I'm a guy and all, but with hair like this, I'm going to be a beautiful bride."

"You sure are." Trowa agreed, taking Duo's remarks as an acceptance.


At dinner that evening, Quatre stood up. "May I have your attention." he asked. "I just wanted to let all of you know that I am going to be getting married tomorrow afternoon. I know this is sudden, but I've only become engaged recently and I don't want to wait. Given the war we've been fighting, I'm sure you understand my reasons."

"Congratulations!" Heero replied. "I'm also getting married tomorrow afternoon."

"You, too?" Trowa asked. "What a wonderful coincidence. Hey, Wufei, I don't suppose..."

"I sure am." Wufei nodded. "This is great, isn't it, Duo? Duo?"

"Yeah." Duo agreed, realizing he now had four fiancés. And since he didn't lie or break promises he had no choice but to marry all of them.

-----part 2-----

Duo had agreed to go shopping for groceries with Heero after the cast was off. They were heading home when Heero pulled over at the Justice of the Peace. "Let's get married now." the Perfect Soldier suggested.

Duo followed him into the JP's office, his heart racing.

"Your names?" the Justice asked.

"Heero Yuy." Heero replied. "And my fiancé, here, is Duo Maxwell."

"Very well. Let's begin. Heero, do you promise to love, honor and cherish Duo until death do you part?" He was leaving a lot out, but he was a busy man, so he could be excused for that.

"I do." Heero nodded.

"And do you, Duo, promised to love, honor and cherish Heero until death do you part?"

"I do." Duo also nodded.

"Then I hereby declare you married. You may seal your union with a kiss."

"I fully intend to." Heero remarked as he pressed his lips to Duo's.

Duo noticed the clock and pulled back from the kiss. "Damn it, I'm going to be late!" he yelped, as he ran out of the office. "I promised I'd meet Quatre at 11:00 am!" 

"I'll meet you at home." Heero promised. "I just remembered a few items we forgot at the store."

Duo nodded and raced to the chapel where he'd promised to meet Quatre.

-----part 3-----

"Are you ready, Duo?" Rashid asked.

"I am." Duo nodded.

Rashid lead Duo into the chapel, first dressing him in traditional Arabian bridal clothes.

As he was lead to Quatre, Duo suddenly realized that Quatre didn't know it was Duo he was marrying. //boy is he gonna be surprised.// he thought to himself.


Quatre stood at the altar of the chapel, smiling as Rashid lead his intended to stand at his side.

Duo's hands and feet were bound in traditional style and he was presented to Quatre who accepted his bride amidst the tears of Quatre's sisters, who stood in for the bride's family to perform the wedding wail. 

Quatre wasn't heavily into tradition, but he'd let Rashid take care of the wedding plans and he found the ceremony almost as enchanting as the bride's violet eyes.

Wait a minute. Violet?

//My god,// Quatre thought, //It's Duo. Oh, Rashid, thank you. Did you know I love him. That I desired to hold him, to touch him. Thank you, Rashid. I owe you one.//

After the ceremony ended, Duo and Quatre rested in each other's arms for a while.

"Duo," Quatre said, "I'm glad we married. You're so lovely. But tell me, what's wrong?"

"I promised Trowa I'd..."

"That you'd attend his wedding." Quatre guessed.

It wasn't a lie, so Duo nodded.

"I understand." Quatre told him. "I'll meet you back at the safehouse tonight.'

"Thanks, Quatre." Duo kissed the blond pilot and hurried to meet Trowa.

-----part 4-----

"Duo, I was worried about you." Trowa pulled Duo into his arms. "You're cutting it close, you know."

"We agreed at a four o 'clock wedding and it's three fifty five now." Duo replied. He looked at the circus tent. "In there, huh?"

Trowa nodded. "The circus has been like a family to me, Duo. I promised them that if I ever got married, I'd do it here. Don't worry, we won't be on display or anything and I won't dress up in my circus clothes if you don't want me to. The crowds don't show up until later tonight."

Duo smiled and kissed Trowa. "Trowa, it's your wedding, too." he said. "You go ahead and dress up in your circus clothes if you want. God knows I've had enough dark things in my life. A little cheer now and then certainly wouldn't hurt. If I'm going to marry in an outfit that makes me feel good," he indicated the priest clothes he had on, "then so should you."

Trowa returned the kiss. "Now I know why I fell in love with you, Duo." he told his intended.

The wedding ceremony consisted of the traditional vows followed by the newlyweds throwing bits of the cake at each other and cleaning up the mess by spraying seltzer at each other. The guests joined in the fun by pelting the happy couple with water balloons.

"That was lots of fun." Duo laughed, breathlessly, when the ceremony came to an end and the tent was prepared for the night's show.

"Can you stay for the show?" Trowa asked.

Duo shook his head. "I have something I have to do tonight." he explained, not adding that it was his and Wufei's wedding. "I'll meet you back at the safehouse."

Trowa nodded and kissed Duo once more before waving goodbye and returning to work.

-----part 5-----

Duo arrived at the courthouse and ran inside. "Wufei." he said. "I got here just in time. I'm sorry if I made you nervous." He would've been there a few minutes sooner, but he'd stopped to make sure that none of Trowa's greasepaint had gotten on him and to change his clothes.

"Let's go." Wufei said, impatiently. "The judge is waiting."

"A hall of justice." Duo replied. "Figures you'd pick this. It's just so... you."

"And that irreverence is so you." Wufei smiled despite himself as he lead Duo into he courtroom and presented him to the judge. "This is the boy I want to marry. You will perform the ceremony."

The judge looked Wufei over carefully. "Very well." he said. "Normally I don't like being ordered around in my courtroom, but I recognize you, Chang Wufei, and in the interest of not dealing with a two hour justice rant, I will perform the wedding.

After a short civil ceremony, Duo and Wufei left the courthouse and headed back to the safehouse. 

"I have first patrol." Wufei apologized. "So I'll join you later."

Duo nodded and kissed him, then headed back to the safehouse. "Now what am I going to do?" he wondered.

-----part 6-----

"Hey, Quatre, hurry up in there." Heero's voice held a tone of urgency. "Duo's gonna be home any minute."

"With way you're talking, you'd think *you* were the one who married him." Quatre laughed as he finished getting dressed. 

"Would you care to repeat that?" Heero asked. "I don't think I heard you right. Duo's mine."

"Yeah, like fun!" Quatre replied.

"What are you two fighting about?" Trowa asked. "Quatre hurry up. Other people need to use the bathroom, too, you know. I have to get ready."

"This house has other bathrooms, Trowa." Quatre pointed out.

"Which are being serviced, remember?" Trowa reminded him. "Now hurry up."

Quatre came out and glared at Heero. "Duo's mine, Yuy."

"Not in this lifetime." Heero replied. "He's mine."

"What are you two fighting for?" Trowa asked. "I'm the one he married."

Wufei stood at the end of the hall. //Duo,// he thought to himself, //what the hell have you done?//

Duo walked in and was about to head into the bedroom area when Wufei grabbed him and pulled him into the training room. "Wufei?"

"I wouldn't go that way if I were you." Wufei told Duo. "Your other husbands are fighting over you. Duo, what the hell happened?"

"Well, I accepted a proposal from Heero. That one I meant to do. And the rest of you asked me a bunch of questions I didn't realize were proposals, and I just went ahead and say 'yes'."

"But when you realized what had happened, why didn't you just explain the mistake and say you didn't want us?"

"That would be breaking a promise." Duo replied. "That's something I'd never do."

"But this is breaking the law, Duo." Wufei pointed out.

"Gee, there's something I've never done before." Duo's playful sarcasm brought a light to Wufei's eyes.

"I agree." Wufei smiled. "You do tend to break a lot of them, I guess I can live with you being married to all five of us. But I have the feeling it's not going to be as easy as you think."

"What do you mean?" Duo asked.

"What about tonight, for example?" Wufei asked. "Duo, I happen to know you're a virgin. And you were also the bride in every ceremony, right? That means that every one of your new spouses is expecting to penetrate you tonight."

Duo went ashen.

"Don't worry, Duo." Wufei said as he lowered Duo back onto one of the mats. "I'll solve part of the problem by making love to you now. That'll be one less person you'll have to deal with tonight."

Duo looked up into Wufei's eyes. "I love you." he whispered into the Chinese pilot's ear as Wufei undressed Duo. "The fact that I love all of you doesn't mean I love any of you any less."

"I know." Wufei assured him as he kissed his way down Duo's untouched body, caressing the braided pilot's soft skin with his fingers, lips, and tongue, then taking one of Duo's nipples into his mouth, eliciting a soft moan from the braided virgin.

Wufei lubed one of his fingers and pushed it into Duo. He felt Duo tense up. "Duo?" he asked.

"I'm scared." Duo admitted. 'I've never...."

"I'm sorry." Wufei kissed Duo. "I'm going too fast. Tell me when you're ready." he resumed his attentions on Duo's nipples for a bit, then worked his way down until he was licking the tip of Duo's erection and slowly drawing it into his mouth, taking more and more between his lips each time.

"Please," Duo begged, his arousal growing more intense with each passing second.

Wufei pushed his finger back into Duo. The boy was still very tight, but this time he didn't tense up. //He's ready...// Wufei thought, //But should I be the first? Heero's the one he really wanted. The rest of us he married to keep a promise. But Heero's the one he loves.//

"I can't." Wufei backed away. "And no jokes. I can... actually, but Heero should be the one to take your virginity, Duo."

Wufei kissed Duo once more, then left the training room. 

//Might as well get some sleep, then.// Duo decided, letting himself drift off right there. //I won't be getting any sleep tonight.//

-----part 7-----

Heero around the table at dinner, noting the conspicuous absence of his newlywed husband. "Where's Duo?"

"Last I saw him, he was in the training room." Wufei replied. "I start to...but I figured since you're the one he loves, you should be his first."

"Gee... thanks for warming him up for me."

"He's still a virgin, Heero." Wufei pointed out. "So be gentle."

A moment later, all hell broke lose. OZ troops, somehow tipped off to the location of the pilots, burst into the house. The Manganacs sprang into action, determined to protect Quatre and his friends.

The pilots grabbed their weapons and joined in.

Duo continued to sleep in the soundproof training room, unaware of the attack. The door slid open and Zechs walked in.

"My beloved." he whispered, lifting Duo into his arms. "Ah, it is now time rejoice. Soon, my sweet Duo, soon we shall be married." He pulled a needle from his boot and injected the contents into Duo's arm, smiling as the braided pilot drifted into a drugged sleep. He removed his coat and wrapped it around Duo, not bothering to grab the Shinigami pilot's clothes. Then, with the others distracted by the battle, he spirited the sleeping pilot away.

-----part 8-----

Duo was awakened by the feel of a soft kiss upon his lips. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around the other man, drawing them back when he noticed the length of the man's hair. None of the other pilots had hair that long. His eyes snapped open and focused on Zechs. Or tried to focus on him. Zechs was too close to see clearly, but it was definitely him. And he was on top of Duo.

"Please?" Duo whispered. "Please, don't..."

"You want to save yourself for our wedding night." Zechs caressed Duo's face, placing another kiss upon his lips. "Very well. I will return shortly with the chaplain. He will marry us and then I shall make exquisite love to you."

*****

"We'll get him back." Quatre assured Trowa "Duo's ours, not theirs."

"*Ours*?" Trowa asked. "You think we should keep things as they are then?"

"There's no reason not to." Quatre replied. "And if any of us had to give him up, that'd cause strain between us and the person who got to keep him. The best thing we can do is just leave things as they are and..."

"...announced the marriage of Zechs Merquise and Duo Maxwell." a radio nearby cheerfully informed anyone who was listening.

Four heads spun toward the radio. 

"Great Allah." Quatre whispered.

"Hn..." Heero grabbed his gun and stormed out. "You guys I don't mind, but Zechs is one husband I don't approve of."

"I suspect Duo doesn't approve either." Quatre added as he followed Heero.

*****

"Lie still, damn it." Zechs demanded as Duo kicked and fought beneath him. "What the hell are you fighting for, I'm already inside you! Your virginity is gone, now. There's no point. Just lay there and accept it."

"I will *NOT*." Duo shrieked as he continued to fight even as Zechs pumped in and out of him. "Get OFF of ME!!!" Duo didn't stop fighting until Zechs came inside him. Then, suddenly, he let out a defeated whimper, and lay still, all the fight shamed out of him as Zechs cried out in triumphant orgasm.

Zechs pulled out of Duo, pulled his pants back on, turned to leave the room...

... and found himself staring at four very angry, and fully armed Gundam Pilots.

-----part 9-----

Zechs opened his mouth to speak, but was cut short by Trowa's fist.

"What you did to Duo was unforgivable." HeavyArms' pilot said, darkly. 

"Justice must be served." Wufei added. "We cannot allow you to get away with what you've done."

"Duo was pure," Quatre wept in sympathy for the braided pilot whom he and the others all loved. "until you stole that from him. How can you be so cruel? I know there's a war going on. If you want to shoot at us in combat, fine. We'd rather you didn't, but it's war. That happens. But this.... this we can never forgive."

"Omae o korosu." Was all that Heero said. And this time, he meant it. The drawn pistol in his hand made that as clear as day. He squeezed the trigger six times, catching Zechs twice in the head, twice in heart, and twice in a place that made the other pilots automatically wince. 

Zechs's body had barely hit the floor when the four angry Gundam pilots turned away from the OZ pilot, their anger giving way to pity, sympathy, and love as they turned their attention toward Duo.

The Shinigami pilot lay there, unmoving, the sparkle gone from his eyes. He looked more dead than alive. The only sign of life in Duo was the barely noticeable rise and fall of his chest. 

Seeing him in this state was more than the other pilots could bear. They dressed him, carefully, then Heero carried him out to Wing.

"You'll be fine in the morning." Heero whispered in Duo's ear as they headed home.

-----part 10-----

But Duo wasn't fine in the morning. When Heero woke the next morning, he found Duo still staring at the wall, his eyes still devoid of the lively twinkle they'd always held. 

"Guys!" he called to them. "You'd better come in here."

Trowa, Wufei, and Quatre hurried into the room. 

"I'll get the medics." Quatre ran back out, returning a few minutes later with some of his medical staff.

The doctors examined Duo, then the medical team leader turned to the other pilots. "He was..." he faltered, unsure of what to tell them.

"We know he was raped." Heero grumbled, darkly.

"Besides that, what's wrong with him?" Quatre asked. "Why is he just laying there?"

"He's gone into shock." the doctor replied. "All we can do now is keep him comfortable and wait for him to come out of it. He will when he's ready. It's must a matter of time."

-----part 11-----

"Let's finish up these bastards and get back to Duo." Heero urged as he fired Wing's guns at several Aries.

"Right." Quatre slashed a number of ground troups with Sandrock's twin scimitar blades. 

"Just one more." Trowa remarked, quietly, as he brought down the last of the fighters. "Okay, now let's go home."

The four pilots made one last check of the battlefield, then raced home to their beloved Duo.

"How is he?" Quatre asked the nurse who had been looking after Duo. It had been about five months with little or no change. Duo was still catatonic. Just lying there, motionless. A nurse had been put in charge of him, but otherwise, there was nothing anyone could do.

"We have a problem." the nurse told him. 

Quatre's family doctor came out of the room. "Quatre, I'm glad you're back. The nurse asked if I would examine your..."

"You can call him my 'wife' if you want. Husband, wife, lifemate. It all means the same thing."

"At any rate,' the doctor continued. "I went ahead. He's lucky to be alive. Your friend was subjected to radical surgery before he was raped. We weren't looking for it before, that's why we missed it. But when the nurse was bathing your friend she noticed something odd and asked me to examine him. We ran a CAT scan, since x-rays don't show tumors quite as clearly."

"And..?" Heero sounded impatient.

"He's five months pregnant."

Four jaws simultaneously dropped.

-----part 12-----

Quatre spoke privately with the doctor for several minutes. Then, he spoke with the others. "We need to do everything we can to reach him." he told them. "We need to try even harder. The doctors can do a c-section when the time comes, but if he's still catatonic, it's likely he won't survive."

"So how do we wake him? We've tried everything. We tried cooking his favorite foods, hoping the smell would snap him out of it. We've tried talking to him. We've tried bringing him into the living room and watching his favorite TV shows with him. Nothing works."

"If only we could reach him somehow," Quatre sighed, "let him know we're still here for him, that we still love him and..."

"Heero no baka." Heero grumbled, thudding his head on the table.

"Nani?!" the other three pilots turned and stared at the Perfect Soldier.

"I think I know how to pull him out of it." He went to the room where Duo was lying curled up on his side.

"Heero..." Trowa warned as Heero drew Duo into his arms. "Don't. The last time Duo was ever touched in any intimate way was when he was raped. If you touch him, it'll remind him of the rape. He could go into irreversible catatonia or even slip into a full coma."

"Don't you understand," Heero asked, "Quatre's right. Duo doesn't know we still love him. We've been so concerned about how he'd react if we touched him that we never stopped to think of how he'd react if we didn't."

Quatre nodded. //You've come a long way from that cold soldier you were when we first met you.// he thought. //Duo's been a good influence on you.// 

Heero gently caressed Duo's face for a brief moment, then touched his lips to Duo's, giving the braided pilot his first kiss since that terrible day five months earlier.

"I love you, Duo." he whispered. At first he didn't think he had worked, then he felt and tasted Duo's tears as they ran down Duo's face and onto their lips. He let out a shuddering gasp of joy as his own tears of relief and gladness mingled with Duo's. "Duo." he said, covering the other boy with kisses. "I never thought I'd be happy to see you cry."

"I love you, too, Heero." Duo looked up at the others, invitingly, and they joined Heero in embracing him. "I love all of you."

-----TBC-----