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Remember When Arc	By : Ashley Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1409 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
We
do not own the rights to GW! Never have and never will!

Warnings:
Angst, language, slight OOC

Archived
at: AFF, MM, and www.templeofthegoddess.com

Part
five of �Life loves a tragedy� by Sparkling Diamond PG-SSM &
Saiyajin_Raven69

It
felt like a typical Friday in Duo�s book. He was tired, a little on the grumpy
side, but nothing out of the ordinary. He got up before his alarm went off,
dressing himself in the best clothes he owned. Simple black pants, a white
cotton dress shirt, and a tie that he couldn�t remember buying, but had been
in his closet for a long time. Duo never had been one to dress up, he had never
felt the need to buy a suit, but now he was kicking himself in the ass because
he knew he�d stick out like a sore thumb amongst his wealthy friends.

He
crept quietly from the bedroom, careful not to wake Aleana. He couldn�t afford
a cranky baby today, knowing that he�d have little to no chance of putting her
down for a nap in the afternoon.

�What
are you doing up so early?� A quiet voice startled Duo, coming from the open
doorway of the bathroom.

�I
could ask you the same thing.� Duo replied, meeting Wufei�s eyes in his
reflection in the small mirror over the sink.

�Same
as you, I suppose. It�s going to be long day; may as well get a jump on it.� He finished tying off his hair with a
black elastic band, and turned to smile at Duo.
�You have a visitor in the kitchen, by way way.�

Duo
sighed loudly, rolling his eyes. He had one guess, and that would be Quatre, the
early riser. He strode the few
steps down the short hallway to the kitchen, muttering under his breath. �Quat, I swear to god, if you��

�Do
I look like Quatre? I swore I had a better figure than him.�

Duo�s
eyes widened, and his jaw dropped open, totally surprised at the unexpected
visitor. He gaped for a few moments
at the smiling face of his old friend, before wordlessly throwing himself into
her open arms.

�It�s
nice to see you too, Duo.� Hilde whispered, wrapping her arms around him,
squeezing him tightly.

�What
are you doing here? How�d you get here so fast? Who�s watching the yard?�

The
girl gave him an extra squeeze, and released the flabbergasted teen. �One question at a time, huh?� She said, playfully tweaking his nose. �I came because you needed me, Duo. I couldn�t have lived with myself if I
didn�t come for your baby�s funeral. The
yard is fine without me for one day; I�ve got some really great guys working
for me. They�ve got my number if
they need me, but I doubt that they will.�

�How
long are you staying?� Duo asked,
as his friend ushered him to a chair at the round table.

�I�m
bd ond on the red-eye shuttle home tonight.
The guys can do without me for a day, but I don�t want to push my
luck!� She winked at him. �Now sit down, mister, I brought
breakfast.�

�Hilde!�
Duo glowered, giving her that look that meant he wasn�t going to accept it.

�Sit
down and eat! The last time we were together, you bought breakfast, so now
it�s my turn.� She said, with a
dismissive wave of one hand. �Wufei?
Breakfast.�

The
dark haired girl sighed, plopping herself down in a chair next to her best
friend. The flight fL2 wL2 was long, and getting to the apartment from the
shuttle port seemed to take even longer, in the tiny car she�d rented. She
hadn�t seen Duo for well over a year, and his pale, gaunt appearance surprised
her. She had seen him on the
vid-phone when he�d called two nights ago, but the darkness of the room hid
just how much he�d changed since she�d last seen him.

The
call in itself was shocking. She
tried to keep in touch with Duo as much as possible, usually through e-mail, due
to the exorbitant cost of phone calls between Earth and the colonies. She�d known about Aleana from the
first day her friend had taken her in, but Miranda was a complete surprise.

�He�s
not himself.� Hilde noted, pushing around the scrambled eggs that clung
disturbingly to the Styrofoam container they sat in.

�How
did you come to that conclusion? He hardly said five words.� Wufei replied,
snatching up a small container of orange juice off the table, before taking the
chair across from Hilde.

�Because
if he were himself, he would have been
talking my ear off by now. Normally
he goes on and on about Aleana, school, work; I usually can�t get him to shut
up! Since his call the other night,
though, I�ve never seen him so�so defeated. No maniac grin, no babbling
about Aleana. He really thought when you walked out that he�d just lost one
more friend.�

�I
left to cool down. It would have done more harm than good to fight over��

�I
know what the fight was about.� Hilde
interrupted. �Duo told me
everything, right down to him jumping your back about the foon hin his mind, he
was doing the best that he could, Wufei. It might have not been the right
decision on his part, but he sees it from your point of view now.�

�I
was just worried. You see what he
looks like. He�s so thin, and so
pale. It�s obvious that he
doesn�t take care of himself, he�s too busy taking care of the girls, and
trying to get his degree when he barely makes enough money to support
himself.�

�We
all worry about him. I know he thinks that we mother hen him to death some
times. He�s taken on so much since he left Heero. He�s trying to forget
about his past so he can move on.�

�If
I could be so forward, Hilde, why aren�t you two together?� Wufei asked, tearing apart a bagel
without looking up to meet the girl�s eyes.

Hilde
covered her mouth to stifle the laugh that erupted. She smiled apologetically when Wufei looked up at her,
surprised at her reaction. �Sorry, but that�s funny, really it is. I love
him, but I don�t feel for him like that.
We�re like brother and sister. We wouldn�t make it as lovers, or
whatever. Now you on the other
hand�� Her eyes twinkled with
mischief as the Chinese teen stared at her, daring her to continue.

�Sorry, I didn�t mean to assume
anything, Wufei. I just figured by
the way he talked about you the other night that something was going to happen
between the two of you.�

Wufei
frowned, unsure of where the girl could have gotten the idea of something
romantic going on from her conversation with Duo. He opened his mouth to ask
just what Duo had said, when the boy in question swept into the room, with
Aleana balanced on his hip.

�Say
good morning to Uncle Wu and Auntie Hilde, Sunshine.� The teen said in a
sing-song voice, proudly showing off his beautiful daughter to his friend who
had never met her.

Aleana
was wearing the outfit that Wufei had bought for her. The dress was soft yellow, with tiny embroidered daisies
sprinkled over the skirt, with matching ruffled bloomers covering her diapered
behind. The saleswoman at the store
had thoughtfully pressed Wufei into buying matching sandals, which were white
with a small silk daisy on the toe straps.
The baby was busy thwapping her daddy with the white eyelet bonnet that
she obviously thought was a toy, rather than apparel.

�Oh
my, she�s even more beautiful in person.� Hilde grinned, taking the girl
from him, and sitting her on her lap.

Duo
beamed proudly, watching as his best friend became acquainted with his daughter. After a moment, he turned to the
counter, busying himself with making Aleana�s breakfast, and double checking
to make sure that he had enough bottles, diapers and toys in the diaper bag.

�Does
she walk yet, Duo?�

�Umm,
no, but not for the lack of trying.� Duo smiled, watching Aleana standing on
Hilde�s lap with a cross look on her face.

�She
doesn�t look happy. What�s the matter sweetie?� Hilde asked in falsetto,
making a grouchy face back at the baby, when Aleana broke into a wail.

�Ahh,
I don�t think that she likes me.� Hilde grimaced, holding the child out for
Duo to take, when Wufei scooped her up in his arms.

�Just
finish what you need to do, Duo. I�ve got her.�

�Thanks,
�Fei.� Duo smiled, handing him a bottle, a bib, and a drool cloth.
�She�s a spitter. You�ve
gotta watch her pretty closely to make sure she doesn�t get any milk on
herself or you!� Wufei nodded,
frowning slightly, before taking Aleana out of the kitchen, and into the living
room.

________________________________________________________________________

An
hour later, the baby had been fed without messing up her pretty clothes, and all
three adult occupants of the shabby apartment were dressed and ready to begin
their somber day, when the shrill ring of the vid-phone disturbed the quiet. Not surprisingly, a blonde ex-pilot
popped up on the screen when the call was answered.

Duo
sat down heavily in the chair in front of the view screen. Although Quatre�s visit the day before
had been welcome, and he had been very glad that his friend hadn�t turned his
back on their friendship, he still was wary about the visit in general. Quatre had been as generous and caring
as he always had been, and although Trowa�s visit was brief, he had shown Duo
with no uncertainty that he was there for the braided boy. There was still the presence of Heero to be faced, and Duo
just wasn�t sure that he was ready to take that bull by the horns. Thankfully, Quatre seemed to be alone at
the other end of their phone connection.

�Good
morning, Duo. How are you feeling
today?� the blonde boy asked.

�Hey,
Q-ball. I�ve seen better days. You?�

The
small Arabian smiled fondly at the nickname that Duo had dubbed him with during
the first war. �I�m fine. I just wanted to know what time to meet
you two for Miranda�s services. Would
you like us to pick you up?�

Just
then, Hilde leaned over Duo�s shoulder, waving at Quatre. �Got room for me in that big ol�
limo, Mr. Winner?�

�Well,
hello Hilde!� the blonde smiled warmly. �I
didn�t know you were here! Of
course we have room for you.�

�Hey,
wait just a minute! Hold your
horses, you guys. I don�t want to
ride in a car with Heero!� Duo
said hastily. �You guys can meet
us at the cemetery; I can call a cab to come get us, here.�

A
look of consternation crossed the blonde�s face briefly. He had hoped that maybe Wufei would have
talked Duo down from his strong feelings against his Japanese lover, but
apparently that hadn�t happened. He
almost wished that he had left the boy behind on L4. His presence was obviously causing more stress for an already
frazzled Duo.

He
sighed heavily. �I�m sorry,
Duo. I�m between a rock and a
hard place. It�s my fault that
Heero is even here on Earth with us; he was fairly adamant against coming, but I
forced him to. Now, though, he is
just as adamant about making amends with you.
I don�t think I can keep him from attending the funeral. You know how he is when he sets his mind
to something.�

Duo
huffed. �Fine. It�s a free country, he can go
wherever he wants. I just don�t
have to deal with him. I�m not riding in a car with him, and that�s final.�

Hilde
broke in on the conversation. �You
know, I have a rental car. It�s
tiny, so I don�t think I have room for all three of us.� She looked pointedly at Wufei.
�There�s really not room in the backseat for a long-legged adult, but
I can take you and Aleana.� She
said, returning her gaze to her best friend.

�Wu? Would you mind riding with the other
guys?� Duo spun in the revolving
desk chair to look pleadingly at the Chinese teen. �You know where the cemetery is, so
you can tell them how to get there.�

________________________________________________________________________

When
the black stretch limo arrived, Duo was strapping Aleana into the back seat of
the compact economy car that Hilde had rented at the shuttle port. The girl had apologized over and over
for the dingy little vehicle. She
had spent a large portion of her savings on the last minute shuttle trip to
Earth, so had too little left over to rent a larger, newer model. She was relegated to accepting the cheapest car on the rental
lot, and was now sorry that she hadn�t splurged on the nicer sedan.

Once
the baby was safely settled in her seat, Duo backed himself out of the
pint-sized car, and turned to face Quatre and Trowa. �So, did you manage to shackle Heero up to the back of a
city bus somewhere for me?�

�Oh,
Duo!� Quatre sighed, as he
embraced the braided boy.

Trowa
thumped his hand on Duo�s back a couple of times while the two smaller boys
hugged. �Sorry. He�s in the car. I could muzzle him for you, if you�d like.�

Duo
pulled away from the blonde boy, smiling wryly at Trowa. �Thanks, Tro.� He wasn�t sure if he was thanking Trowa for the
light-hearted comment that made him grin, or just for being there. He did know that Trowa would understand either way.

An
indignant shriek from the back seat let them know that Aleana was getting
aggravated at being strapped into a car seat, and ignored. �There�s our cue!� Duo smiled sadly. �Guess
we�d better get this show on the road.�

All
the teens piled into their respective vehicles, directions in hand, and began
the 9 mile trek to the cemetery, which was located on the outskirts of the city;
far removed from the dirt, smog and poverty of their current surroundings.

All
was quiet in the small car, Aleana having fallen asleep the minute the vehicle
hit the highway. Duo leaned his
forehead against the cool glass of his window, idly counting the construction
barrels that slowly passed through his line of vision. Finally, Hilde couldn�t take the
silence any longer, and decided to fill the space between them.

�So,
Duo�how did you come to have Miranda? I
knew about Aleana, but you haven�t told me the circumstances around how you
got the baby.�

Duo
turned his head and smiled wistfully at his friend. �I wish you�d gotten to meet her, Hilde. She was the sweetest thing. I don�t know how any mother could have
given her up.� He looked down at
his hands, not really seeing them, but seeing back in time to when he had first
come across the tiny girl.

�She
was just left at the free clinic that I take Aleana to for her check ups. I guess the mother stepped in the door
of the lobby, put down the car seat, and ran.
She was brand new. I�d had
her three days before her umbilical cord even fell off. The docs at the clinic said she�d been delivered in a
hospital, �cause she had a bracelet on, but the mother�s name on it was
fake, so even the hospital where she was born couldnind ind her.�

�And
the people at the clinic just gave her to you?�

�Well,
I kinda begged.� He smiled
sheepishly. �They all know me
there, and if I hadn�t taken her, God only knows where she would have ended
up, an orphanage, probably. I
couldn�t sit back and let her be sent there, so I pleaded my case, and they
let me take her home. I hadn�t
adopted her or anything, yet. I
don�t think I�d even be allowed to adopt, being a single kid with no money. So far, so good, though.�

Duo
looked back at the sleeping red-head in the backseat, and tears welled up in his
indigo eyes, as he looked at the cherubic face. �I just live in fear of the
day that someone comes and takes my angel away from me.�

Hilde
put her hand on her friend�s knee and squeezed tightly. �It won�t happen, Duo.

The
Chinese teen nodded in reply. Just
then, the officiant stepped forward and cleared his throat. �Mr. Maxwell? Are you ready to begin?�

Duo
looked at the tiny white casket, perched on the silver bars of the mechanism
that would lower it into the ground. Looking
back to the man, he sighed. Don�t angeanger mar your final moments with her.�

Duo
nodded at the blonde, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, before meeting
the eyes of each of the rest of his circle of friends. �Alright.� He motioned to the officiant to begin
the service.

The
man spoke of angels and heaven, without getting too religious, as Duo had
requested. All too soon, it was
over, and the speaker pulled a single white rose from the spray that Relena had
sent, and handed it to Duo. The
braided boy kissed the flower, then gently stroked the baby�s cheek with the
petals, before laying the rose in the casket with her.p; Wufei turned his head, meeting Duo�s eyes to make sure he
would be alright alone with the irate and dangerously strong ex-pilot of Wing.

Duo
nodded at Wufei, then walked a short distance to a lone maple tree, throwing
himself at at the base of its trunk. �I�m
still pissed as all hell, but I�m too fucking tired to fight anymore. We�re just gonna scream at each other,
no more pus, rs, right Yuy?� He
said in the direction of the quiet teen.

�Yes. No one will get hurt. Leave us.�
- 5
- 6
- 7
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Remember When Arc