Young Hearts - Part 22 by Keara
Standard disclaimers apply
Relena smiled as she approached the door. She was glad
that Heero had called her, even though his reasons were not the best.
She liked all of the pilots, but Duo had a certain charisma. When
he smiled, it made her want to smile as well. Not that she was interested
in Duo in a romantic way, but he - like Heero - was sort of a protective
brother to her . . . he was family, as much as any of the pilots were,
although she hadn’t said so to any of them.
She brushed some imaginary dust from her slacks and rang the doorbell,
nervously flipping her bangs back and hoping that she didn’t
look a fright. This was a one of a kind moment . . . she was about
to meet herself in a few moments. Still, even though she was a bit
nervous, she had to fight off a laugh when she heard a young voice
yell from the other side of the door.
“I’ll get it! Hey . . . lemme down, okay, Rasid?”
She could hear Wufei’s warning to the child to be careful and
tried to imagine who it was that would be answering. The little voice
called from the other side of the door.
“Who’s there . . . OH! Thanks!”
From the shadows moving against the peep hole, Relena guessed that
someone had lifted the child up to see. Her suspicions were confirmed
when she heard the child describing her appearance. A moment later,
the door opened and Relena forced herself not to let out a squeal
of delight at just how adorable the little boy was. She crouched down
and smiled at what was obviously Duo’s clone. ‘And no
one ever adopted him? I wonder why.’ She smiled and held her
hand out.
“Hello. My name is Relena. What’s yours?”
“Ummm . . . Chibi-Duo . . . ummm . . .” The little Duo
looked behind him and then looked at Relena a few times.
It was then that Relena glanced over and smiled at the little girl
that was her own clone. The child was hiding behind Wufei, obviously
wary of her. Relena merely smiled. “Hello there. You can come
closer, I won’t bite.”
The little girl came forward and looked at her curiously. A young
boy with long blonde hair, obviously the clone of Milliardo, stepped
over beside the little girl and openly stared at Relena. “You
. . . you look like my mama.” He said in a whispered voice.
The little girl smiled. “Will I really be as pretty as you
when I grow up?”
Relena smiled and nodded. Then she looked up at Wufei. “Lady
Une called and informed me of the situation yesterday, but I didn’t
want to show up unannounced. So in that aspect, I’m glad that
Heero called and asked if I could come look after Duo.” Before
she could continue, Chibi-Duo spoke up.
“Are you SURE you can look after my daddy?” There was
a stubborn look about him that echoed his older self. She found it
adorable.
“Yes. I’ve been called in on a few occasions when he
was ill and needed someone to make sure he took care of himself.”
She smiled and turned her gaze back to Wufei. “Lady Une has
tried to contact my brother and Miss Noin, but she hasn’t been
able to reach them as of yet. You know how they get when they’re
in the middle of a project.”
“I quite understand.” Wufei nodded. “Allow me to
make introductions . . . everyone except Heero and Duo are in the
kitchen.” Wufei offered, gesturing for Relena to enter the house.
She did, and closed the door behind herself. A little hand slipped
into hers, and she looked down, smiling when she saw Chibi-Duo holding
her hand. The little boy was simply adorable . . . Relena couldn’t
help but want to smother him with hugs and kisses . . . but she decided
not to do that just yet.
“Be warned . . .” Wufei said, gaining Relena’s
attention once again. “Trowa’s clone is . . . skittish
. . . of any and all human contact. Don’t approach him unless
you assure him of friendship and ask his permission beforehand. Also,
he does not speak, so attempting to engage him in conversation would
be a wasted effort.”
“I’ll be cautious of him.” Relena replied, following
Wufei into the kitchen. She smiled warmly when she was brought face
to face with the rest of the clones.
Chibi-Duo took his hand away from hers and ran over to another little
boy . . . most definitely the clone of Heero. What a sweet looking
little boy, she thought, although the cold expression on his face
made her worry for him. The worry she felt faded a bit though when
Chibi-Duo poked him and told him to quit the glaring. The coldness
in the boy’s expression then thawed a little into neutral. ‘He’s
deciding what to make of me . . . which is to be expected.’
She entered the kitchen and fought off a laugh as she saw Quatre
and his clone eating almost completely in synch. The same could be
said about Trowa and his own little clone, although the two of them
merely sipped at some beverage. Relena smiled kindly at the boy when
he looked up at her with a startled expression.
Relena took a moment to collect her thoughts, feeling as if there
were some clones she had not had the opportunity to meet yet. ‘Okay
. . . I’ve met Duo’s, Milliardo’s, and my own .
. . seen Heero’s, Trowa’s and Quatre’s. Where .
. . Oh!’ She looked around at the sound of a slight scuffle
and smiled in amusement. Wufei’s and Treize’s clones were
playing what looked like tug-o-war with a plastic jar of peanut butter.
“I had it first!” Wufei’s clone tugged.
“I’m older!” Treize’s clone tugged back.
“Not by much!” Wufei’s clone tried to yank the
jar away, and failed. Treize’s clone was obviously stronger
than him . . . probably because he was larger and most obviously older
in appearance.
Relena was about to step in and break up the fight when Lady Une’s
clone nabbed the jar from both of them, causing both boys to stumble
a little. “I’ll make ‘em. Besides . . . fighting’s
not right.” She said, nodding to herself as she climbed up onto
a chair so that she would be able to better reach the counter where
a loaf of bread and a butter knife were waiting.
Relena let out a little snort. It was funny hearing any form of Lady
Une saying something like that. It wasn’t long before Wufei
introduced Relena to each child in turn, telling her the names they
now went by. Trowa’s clone . . . Triton . . . scurried out of
his seat and hid under the kitchen table when Wufei gestured toward
him. Apparently, he hadn’t appreciated getting the attention.
Trowa sighed, but made no move to go after his clone.
Relena diverted her attention away from the frightened boy. “So
. . . where is Duo?”
“I’ll show you!” Chibi-Duo volunteered, grabbing
Relena’s hand.
“You are not to go into that bedroom, Chibi-Duo.” Wufei
warned.
“I know. I know.” Chibi-Duo sighed dejectedly. “But
I can at least show her where the room is.”
Relena smiled. “That you can.” She spared a glance back
at Wufei. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he doesn't
go into the room.”
Wufei nodded his acceptance, but said nothing in reply.
Chibi-Duo pulled on Relena’s hand and she obliged by following
the boy. He led her upstairs and down a long hallway. Finally, they
stopped outside one of the rooms. “This is it.” He said,
letting go of her hand as he pointed to the wooden door. “My
daddy’s in there.”
Relena smiled, setting her hand down on Chibi-Duo’s head, lightly
ruffling his hair. “Thank you for showing me the way. Don’t
you worry, I’ll take good care of your daddy and see to it that
he’s up and around in no time at all.”
Chibi-Duo let out a happy giggle and threw himself at Relena, hugging
her with enthusiasm. Relena returned the embrace, then blinked and
watched as the boy drew himself away and skipped off down the hall,
returning the way they had come only a few moments ago. She shook
her head with a small smile and knocked on the bedroom door.
Heero opened it a mere moment later and nodded in greeting. “That
was fast. I only called an hour ago.”
Relena smiled and entered the room. “I was all set up to leave
the instant you called me. You see? I have learned not to pop up unannounced.”
She turned and smiled at Duo, who was grinning at her in return. “And
you will be pleased to know that I did NOT use the pink limo today.”
To her delight, Heero let out a brief snort of laughter and Duo snickered
a moment before erupting into a light coughing fit. “Are you
taking something for that?”
Duo made a face that said he was none too happy. “Yeah . .
. some cold capsules. They knock me out.”
Relena nodded. “But that means you’re resting like you’re
supposed to be.” She walked over and placed her hand on Duo’s
forehead, nodding when she could feel that he was only a little warm.
“It doesn’t seem too bad. I’ve met the kids. Your
little one seems to have a good influence on Heero’s . . . brother,
was it?”
Heero nodded. “Only Duo has adopted his clone as a son.”
Relena smiled. “I’ll see if I can get the paperwork together
to make it legal then.”
Duo’s eyes widened, a look of pure pleasure entering his sparkling
eyes. “Really? That would be AWESOME! It’ll do him a world
of good.”
Relena beamed at Duo. “Really. He’s so adorable, Duo
. . . and so sweet. It makes me wonder.”
Duo’s smile saddened a little. “I was too smart and too
energetic. I got into fights because I didn’t take anyone’s
crap. I was a troublemaker.” He sighed. “And, after a
while, my behavior just tested the people . . . I was testing to see
just how long they would put up with me.”
Relena felt sadness for her friend well up within her and she leaned
forward to hug him close. “Is that why you constantly press
Wufei and Heero’s buttons? You think that they’ll just
toss you out?”
Heero’s voice came from behind her. “Hn . . . Baka.”
He said, turning and quickly heading over to the door. “I’ll
go get some juice . . . it’s time for him to take his medicine
again.” He left, not saying anything further.
“I guess he doesn’t care.” Duo muttered quietly,
his eyes downcast.
Relena shook her head, smiling sadly as she stroked her hand along
Duo’s warm face. “He does care, Duo. He just . . . well,
he never was good at expressing his feelings.”
Duo didn’t meet her gaze. He simply took hold of her hand,
saying nothing. Relena quietly held his hand, hoping that it was giving
Duo some amount of comfort.
*******
TBC
*******
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