Author's note: WAHOOO!!!! AP TESTS ARE DONE!!!! GUESS WHAT THAT MEANS!!! I
CAN WRITE AGAIN!!! Whelp, here's another chappy. I'm not sure what's going to be
in it as I'm writing this, probably more of Duo's strange dream.
Disclaimer: same as it always has been. Surprised anyone? No? Oh. Well, then.
Read on please.
-~*^*~-
"D-Duo? How did you do that?" Heero watched Duo carefully, trying to find any
evidence that Duo actually knew what was going on. As of a few hours ago, Duo
hadn't been able to talk. Then all of a sudden he burst out with what sounded
like WuFei's voice. What had triggered that anyway? He hadn't heard anything.
Duo stared back at Heero, his expressive, vivid violet eyes wide. His hands had
come up to clamp over his mouth in shock of what had just escaped past his lips.
He started trembling and shaking his head in denial. He had no idea what was
happening to him and it scared him. He didn't like having so little control over
his life.
Heero was immediately around the table, kneeling in front of the American and
taking the chill hands in his own. There was no possible way Duo could know what
was wrong. He would never voluntarily show any weakness in front of him. "It's
alright Duo. Just... calm down. Everything will be alright. Try... try to say
something again."
Duo shook his head, fearing that the Chinese pilot's voice would again be heard
instead of his own.
"Onegai, Duo. We have to figure out what's going on. We both know that whatever
it is, it's not natural," Heero urged, gently squeezing Duo's hands within his
own.
Duo nodded, opening his mouth to test his voice, "He-" He broke of in a round of
harsh coughs, whatever it had been that allowed Duo to speak gone again.
Heero silently got up and poured a glass of water for the boy and haunched back
down in front of him after making sure the pilot had taken a sip to ease the
pain in his throat. "Better?" Heero continued when he received an answering nod,
"At least it was your voice this time, ne?"
Duo nodded sullenly, his feet catching his interest. /I think I want to go to
bed. I... I've had enough for the day,/ Duo sighed, standing up abruptly and
heading up to bed, a book under his arm.
Heero watched him go, wishing he could follow him, but knowing he couldn't. Not
yet anyway. He didn't want to scare Duo away. Who knew if this was his only
chance to win the braided baka's heart? He decided that he might as well go see
how Chang was handling himself. He had no doubt that the boy had heard Duo.
"Hey, Heero? Ah, gomen nasai. I did not mean to startle you," Quatre ducked his
head apologetically. Something was up if Heero hadn't heard him and Trowa
approach. "Why was WuFei yelling at himself?"
"That was not Chang... That was somehow Duo. I was just about to go up and speak
to Chang. You and Trowa should be there."
-~*^*~-
He hand never seen anything but anger, laughter, or insanity from those eyes.
Occasionally they'd be serious but he'd never seen the hurt. Oh, sure he knew
Duo felt it, but he knew how to hide it, just like the rest of them did. Had his
amnesia affected him more than they thought? He'd never seen Duo's eyes so open.
Perhaps he had forgotten how to shield his eyes. He blinked when he heard the
faint tapping coming from the other side of the door before it opened to reveal
the three pilots.
"WuFei? Is it alright if we come in? I'd like to speak with you about Duo,"
Heero closed the door once he received a nod from WuFei and Quatre and Trowa had
preceded him in. Trowa stood silently near the doorway, wrapping his arms around
his petit lover. Heero occupied the desk chair as WuFei took up a position
leaning against the wall, arms akimbo and ankles crossed.
"So what's up with Maxwell? He's acting rather strange," Chang remarked.
Quatre's brow furrowed in confusion. "Would someone mind filling Tro and I in?
WE weren't informed of what is going on with Duo. We heard he had been hurt in
battle, but we don't know to what extent."
"He's lost part of his memory as well as his voice. Along with that, he's woken
up with a rather unusual slice through the palm of his hand in the shape of his
mobile suit's scythe. Upon receiving it, it healed completely within five
minutes time, leaving only a thin scar."
"Anything else? There must be some connection between everything, but what was
it?" Quatre leaned back into strong arms and listened to Heero. He couldn't
figure out the connection yet, but he would. This couldn't be all that different
than a puzzle.
"When the gash appeared, he was in the middle of a dream of which he has told me
nothing about. In addition to that, his lights have been acting peculiar. His
eyes have changed color since the incident and apparently his hearing has
improved immensely. He has the ability to use someone else's voice, but as of
yet has no idea how to control that. What was it you said just before he
screamed out?" Heero brought his eyes up to meet the pilot's obsidian eyes.
WuFei had the grace enough to blush slightly. "I uh... I said something along
the lines that it would be nice if he never regained his voice. It would save us
a lot of head aches."
Heero nodded. "Yes, I see now why that would upset him so. He does not remember
anyone and therefore he cannot remember how those he knew interacted with him.
Hence, when you called him a baka, he didn't understand why and was hurt by it."
"And Hence, you protecting him. He doesn't remember that you were the worst of
us," WuFei smirked, completely understanding Heero's odd behavior over the past
hour.
"Hn. You know nothing," he gave Wufei one of his patented death glares before
ignoring him and returning to the original topic. "Do you understand the
situation now?" Heero turned to look over at the two pilots.
Trowa nodded and gave Quatre, who was trying to hold back a grin, a small
squeeze. Heero wouldn't take well to being laughed at.
"It's sweet that you're taking care of Duo. We all know how much the missions
mean to you," Quatre smiled.
"That is precisely why I am seeing to it that he recovers. He is an integral
part of our resources. His skills are necessary if we plan to win this war for
the colonies," he stood abruptly and stalked out of the room to check on Duo.
-~*^*~-
He had curled up on his side with a small light on next to the bed, reading. Ten
o'clock had found him in the same position with his arm stretched out, hand
hanging over the edge of the bed, and a long forgotten book laying open on the
floor. He was fast asleep and Heero hadn't the heart to disturb him, so he
simply pulled the blanket up over him and left.
It didn't take long after that for the dream from the night before to return.
... what about Heero? ... ... what's the price? ... ... not if I have to watch
him die ... ... do you accept? ... ... ... ... ... do you accept? ... ... yes
... ... you will be ready when the time comes ... ... I will see to it ...
He woke up sweating in the middle of the night. This time there was no pain, no
unexplained gashes, just remembered images of deaths, deaths that so many others
had mercilessly committed. Duo didn't understand where the gruesome scenes came
from, but he had a feeling they were somehow important. This was the second time
now that they had appeared. He remembered seeing similar images the night
before, but they hadn't had the time to burn themselves into his memory. The
slash in his hand had woken him up too soon for them to truly bother him.
Tonight was different. Something was evolving and he had a feeling it was him.
TBC