Duo exclaimed to the pilot of Wing Zero. "Heero or whoever you are. Give up! You have no chance to stand against us." As if Heero would have been likely to give up. The American man smirked. Heero Yuy would rather die....
He almost screamed as Wing Zero turned back abruptly and pounced at the startled Shenlong. He heard Wufei sputtering before suddenly Wing Zero exploded... along with Shenlong.
"WUFEEEEIIII!!!!"
Xiaolong stared at the explosion in horror. Next to him, Sally looked as if she was going to faint.
From the layers of smoke, Cyclone's radar detected a person thrown away. Duo thrust forward and managed to catch a battered looking Wufei before he fell to Earth.
AC 215, December 24th.
On the screen, Quatre looked very concerned. "How is Wufei's condition?"
Duo sighed. "He'll be okay for a while. He's in a stable condition. We managed to get to the hospital right on time. He hadn't waked up yet though.
"And Vier?"
"He's been locking himself in his room ever since that fight. Apparently he blame himself for the death of some of the Maganacs member."
The Arabian man looked even worse. "Duo, I think I should go back to the mansion."
"Don't. You should stay with Relena. She needs your support. Vier has us here. We'll take care of him."
"But Duo...."
"Relena is one tough girl. I know that, you know that, we all know that. But even the hardest rock won't stand alone against the world. You have to be on her side. I'm sure Vier will understand."
Quatre looked doubtful at first before he finally nodded. "You are right. We have a war to prevent." With that, the blonde man cut the communication.
Duo leaned back on his seat for a while staring out the window before he finally got up and walked out from the study, heading straight to Vier's room. There he saw his son in front of the door with a tray in his hands. "Solo, what are you doing?
The boy looked at his father wearily. "Vier hasn't showed up at dinner and breakfast. I'm bringing his food for him but he won't open the door."
Duo chewed on his lips. Now what should he do....
"I'll give it to him."
Duo turned to see a friend he hadn't seen for years. "Trowa!"
Trowa Barton was standing behind him with his usual solemn expression. He had grown tall, even taller than the American himself. Damn, how could he always be tallest among them now and then?
Duo gave him a grin. "Hisashiburi da na. How's your life? Pretty good, I dare say."
"Aa." The Latino man walked over and took the tray from Solo's hand. He glanced at them. "Now would you leave us alone?"
After the two American had left, Trowa turned to the door. He balanced the tray on his left hand and knocked. "Vier, it's Trowa."
It was silent for a moment before the door slowly opened and the half-Arabian boy appeared. Vier's face was pale. His soft blonde hair was locked in messy tangles. His eyes were red, an evident that he had been crying all night.
Vier stepped aside as Trowa stepped into the room and placed the tray on the table next to the bed. Vier sat on the edge of his unmade bed. Silently he asked, "When did you arrive?"
The man pulled a chair and sat before him. "Not long ago," he said as he leaned forward to brush the tangled bangs on the boy's face. "I heard about everything that happened. Wufei's son told me."
"Xiaolong-san...." Vier mumbled.
Trowa reached for the boy's chin and made the lad to stare at his eyes. "Are you alright?"
Vier retorted. "Do I look alright to you?" He clamped his mouth shut as he realized what he had said. "Gomen nasai.... I shouldn't have said that."
"Daijoubu," the man said. "I understand. You don't have to apologize. I completely understand."
"Trowa-san...." Vier stared at him. Something in those emerald green eyes had comforted him, soothed his anger, and eased his pain. How grateful he was to have someone like him on his side in times like this. The boy threw him arms around the man and buried his face on his chest. "Arigatou... Trowa-san...."
Trowa just smiled and stroke the boy's hair.
Solo was walking to the elevator. He was going to the underground hangar to help the mechanics do some checking on Cyclone and Stardust. He wasn't an expert of mobile suits, but he knew machines, and mobile suits could be counted as machines, couldn't they? At least he could lend some help.
Better than doing nothing at all and going stir crazy.
He had been completely useless in the last battle. At least Xiaolong had the initiative to help and Sally had done the first aid when Wufei had been rescued. Vier had done a good job on preventing the white Gundam to blow up the mansion.
He hadn't done anything at all. He had only watched as the battle had taken place in the sky. He had only been able to stare in horror as Wufei's Gundam exploded along with the enemy. He had been too shocked to do anything.
The elevator opened. Solo walked in and pressed the button.
No matter how advance technology could be, an elevator always gave out a humming sound. And between that humming sound, Solo lost in his thought and couldn't help but recalled his conversation with his father last night.
"Dad, I'm useless."
His father frowned. "No, you're not. What makes you say that?"
"I AM!" He was almost screaming. "I am useless. I couldn't help any of you. I didn't do anything but watched that Gundam blew up Uncle Wufei. I-"
"Enough!"
Solo was startled. It was the first time his father ever yelled at him.
Duo's next words were uttered in the way the child never ever heard from his usually cheerful father. They were quiet and remorseful. "Solo.... You... are not useless. You were in shock. You had never been into that kind of situation. I have spent... my whole life... making sure that you would never EVER have to deal with situations like that... like the things I had to face long time ago...."
The man looked into the child's eyes and for the first time, the child could see through the mask that he had never been able to see through before. There he could see the boy his father used to be. The pain, the anger, the sadness, the grief, the guilt that had been locked deeply inside the soul.
"Dad...."
"It was not your fault. It was not your fault that you could not handle a situation like that. If there was anyone to blame... it would be me...."
The elevator door opened. Solo walked out from it and headed straight to Cyclone's hangar; his mind was still filled with thoughts. He still hadn't managed to get over with the guilty feeling he had, but he also understood what his father had been trying to tell him. His father had suffered enough in the past. It would be natural if he wanted the best for his son.
//But....//
As he reached Cyclone's spot, Solo noticed the Chinese boy, Xiaolong.
The boy was being busy in front of what seemed to be radar devices. He hadn't seemed to notice Solo approaching him until the American boy accidentally stepped on a screwdriver. He suddenly hurled around pointing a gun on Solo's face. Xiaolong's hard face softened as he recognized his friend's startled expression and he smiled. "Solo. What are you doing here?"
Solo finally managed to get a grip on himself. "Jeez, Xiaolong! You can't just point a gun on someone's face like that. What're you trying to do? Give me a heart attack? What if something went wrong and you ended up blowing my head off?"
Xiaolong chuckled. "Well, I didn't, did I?"
The American boy glared.
The Chinese boy chuckled again before he turned back to his work.
Solo peered over his shoulder, eyeing all the stats and charts on the screen warily. "Whaccha doin'?" he asked.
"I am scanning this area within the range of 50 kilometers. I need to confirm our safety here and at least try to locate any armed intruder."
"Why?"
"I have a feeling that whoever was piloting Wing Zero, Heero Yuy or not, was still alive and wondering out there."
Solo blinked. "Uh... aren't you being a bit paranoid here? Judging from the way it snowed last night, don't you think the guy would have turned into a icicle lollipop by now?"
Xiaolong turned the seat toward the other boy and folded his arms. After eyeing him in scrutiny, the boy finally asked, or rather stated. "Uncle Maxwell really never told you about Heero Yuy, did he?"
Suddenly Solo found his shoelaces very interesting. "Well... no. Why? I also noticed that the others are kinda thrilled of the possibility of having him in the cockpit of that blown up MS. Why does his name freak you all?"
Xiaolong pulled another chair and gestured the other boy to sit down. When the boy was seated, he asked carefully, "What have you heard about Heero Yuy?"
"The brave soldier who ended the war years ago," Solo said, innocently repeating what his teacher had told him and his classmates.
Xiaolong sighed. He was silent for a moment, contemplating his words before he finally spoke out. "Heero Yuy was known as the 'Prefect Soldier' among the others. He was the most perfect soldier any commander would kill to have. He was strong and not to mention genius. He could use any kind of weaponry and machines. He could hack through every single system in existence. He could fall from 30-story building and only have several minor damages and a broken leg, which he could set up by himself. He self-destructed his Gundam several times and managed to survive. He could bend a steel bar ran with electricity with bare hands. He's almost unbeatable in hand-to-hand combat. He's an expert in guerrilla war. He almost never failed in his mission. He was, like people says, the 'Perfect Soldier'" [1]
There was a long silence.
"Okay...." Solo blinked. "Should I say... wow?"
Xiaolong almost smiled. Almost. "Solo... your father was the closest to him among the other pilots," he said. "I'm surprised you haven't got any information regarding him before."
"Your mom said so too," the American boy said sourly as he leaned back to his seat and gazed at the ceiling.
"Maybe...." The Chinese boy was about to say something but he trailed off and stopped. He clamped his mouth shut and hastily turned back to his work.
That didn't escape Solo's attention. He frowned. "What?"
"Nothing." The Chinese boy looked uncomfortable.
"What?" He tugged at him persistently.
"It's nothing."
"Xiaolo~~~~~~~~~~ng...."
"It's nothing, really."
"Xi. A. O. Lo. Ng." Solo gave him a glare. The glare was so intense that Xiaolong could almost hear it saying to him 'if you don't tell me, than I'll hang you upside down the catwalk and torture you inside out until you decided to talk and you DO know I won't hesitate to do so'.
The boy cringed and squirmed in his seat. "Well... Papa told me once... I don't know whether he really meant it...."
"That is?"
"He said something about Uncle Maxwell... having a bad crush on Heero Yuy...."
There was a long silence as the words sipped into the American boy's brain.
Xiaolong fidgeted.
It was still silent.
Damn, this was not a good sign.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT???!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Ouch.
"I told you it was nothing." Xiaolong rubbed on his aching ears, hoping to ease the pain on his eardrums.
Solo stood up abruptly, leaving the chair fallen on the floor. Xiaolong blinked as the boy stomped out of the hangar heading straight to the elevator.
After a moment of silence, the Chinese boy sighed and massaged his head. "I knew I shouldn't have told him that."
Solo stomped on the white snow, half running. Anyone who saw him could tell that he was totally not in a good mood. He kept on walking, not knowing where his feet were carrying him. He didn't care, as long as he was anyway from anyone.
He was far away that the mansion was unseen any longer when finally he couldn't take it anymore.
He screamed.
"You told him WHAT?!"
Xiaolong bowed his head in embarrassment. He had never felt so ashamed of himself. He really had to learn how to think before he acts. "I'm sorry, Uncle Maxwell."
Duo chewed on his lower lip. Had he been that obvious for Wufei to notice? Damn it! And why did he tell his son about it anyway? If only Duo could have gotten his hands on him.... "Where is he now?"
"I think he's outside, heading north," the boy informed him. "I'm really sorry, Uncle Maxwell, I really didn't mean to...."
"It's okay." Duo patted the boy's head. "It's okay.... There are... things that can't be hidden forever...."
Xiaolong watched in shock as the man walked to the door, taking his black jacket along with him. Duo smiled bitterly at him once before he disappeared behind the door. The boy could only stare through the window as the man slowly walked through the snow heading north to find his son.
"So it was true...."
Solo lay on the white snow panting, exhaustion washing him as the after effect of his lapse of emotional control. While he tried to compose his breathing back to normal, his mind wandered.
Now why had he easily believed what the Chinese boy had said? Shouldn't he confirm it with his father first? And even if it had been true, so what? Who was he to change the past? There must be thousands of reasons why his father had fallen to the Japanese ex-pilot. Some including hormones... war anxiety... loneliness....
Solo grimaced. Loneliness. One of the words he hated so much. He knew how that what seemed to be a mere word could affect a person. Some people do enjoy being alone, but being lonely in another thing.
His eyes gazed to the blue sky. The weather was nice for a winter. There's some cloud, he could think of a lot of resemblance for their numerous shapes. He was surprised when he noticed a pair of eagles flying above him. Now where had they come from? He had though that the eagles had extinct hundred years ago. Did they survive by lurking in the last places human thought they could inhabitant?
His mind wandered back to his father. Usually one would avoid staying in a place that would only bring bad memories back. But his father had stayed in V08744, the colony where everything bad in his past had happened. He couldn't understand why and the man never told him the reason.
No... not only that, in fact Solo didn't understand Duo at all. His father was always a mystery to him. All he knew about his father was gathered from the people who had known him. He himself never said anything about his past more than the stories of Maxwell Church, a street boy and his gang whose life had been separated by Fate, and five Gundam pilots.
//No. _Four_ Gundam pilots. He never told me about the last one.//
Solo sat up and shook his head to clear the snow off his head. He felt better already now, having his head lightened from a part of its burden though there were still some unanswered questions. He'd try to ask his father later. With this unexpected revelation he got, maybe... just maybe... he could help his father... like he always wanted to....
He smiled at that thought. But suddenly the smile was vanished from his face as he sensed somebody watching him. Somebody unfamiliar.
He looked around. There were only bushes and several trees around, all covered in snow. But he knew he wasn't hallucinating. Someone was watching him.
Suddenly Solo caught a blur on the edge of his eyes. He turned around right in time to catch a glimpse of black about to strike him before his reflex brought him rolling to his side. Involuntarily his brain formed a hypothesis. //Panther?! In the middle of Himalayas? No way! Masaka....//
He jumped up and put a fighting stance. He was surprised to see that his attacker was a young girl with long moss green hair and piercing blue eyes. She was wearing a battered black pilot suit and her body was filled with bruises and wounds.
Solo was perplexed. His brain absorbed this information fast and came out with a conclusion.
The pilot of Wing Gundam Zero had not been Heero Yuy. It had been this girl and she had survived the explosion.
The girl dashed forward.
Solo was pretty good in hand-to-hand combat. He hadn't had a steady basic in self-defense, but whether it was karate, judo, jujitsu, kickboxing, taekwondo, wrestle, or even street fighting, he could learn by simply observing. But no matter how good he was, the girl's attack was hard to anticipate. The boy winced as the she-pilot managed to send him off balance by her strong kick against his side. He flipped back twice and talked to his attacker in a sing sang voice. "You gotta be better than that to kick my ass, honey bun!"
He soon regretted what he had said as the girl thrust forward and landed a her left fist on his gut hard. Before he realized it, she had moved again and landed her elbow on his nape.
Solo noted mentally as he slipped into oblivion. //I knew my tongue's gonna kill me one day....//</P>
The pilot of Wing Gundam Zero stared at the unconscious boy on her feet, her Prussian blue eyes blank. Her brain automatically processed her mission instruction.
//Target: Solo Maxwell.//
//Order: Terminate.//
She knelt before him and wrapped her fingers on the boy's neck. She was about to snap that neck like a twig when suddenly the sound of a gunshot stopped her.
The pilot stared at her bleeding arm blankly. Someone had shot her and the wound was much more than a mere gash. The bullet had stayed in her flesh. She looked up and narrowed her eyes as her shooter.
//Searching....//
//Found.//
//Name: Duo Maxwell.//
//Status: Target.//
//Order: Terminate.//
//Option #1: Terminate.//
//Option #2: Momentary retreat.//
//Analyzing situation....//
//Decision: Retreat.//
Duo lowered his gun as the longhaired girl ran away. No, he had no time to think about her, let alone chasing after her. He was more concerned about his son.
He ran to Solo's side and checked for his pulse. It was still there. He let out the breath he had involuntarily held. Right now, he'd better go back to the mansion as soon as possible. He had a son to take care and a fugitive to hunt.
The man entered the helicopter. He started the engine and let it warm up. While waiting, he rummaged through the cabin, trying to get familiar with the machine he had just stolen. After he felt the machine was warm enough to fly, he pulled the control stick.
The helicopter floated horizontally for a few meters until it was safe enough to fly vertically. The man pushed the stick forward and off he went....
...to the hill of Himalayan mountain.
Relena vomited. After a few minutes of emptying the content of her digestion system into the toilet, she leaned back and sighed. So much for lunch....
She hastily snatched a toilet paper and wiped her mouth with it. Feeling no better than before, she walked to the sink and washed her hand and mouth before walking out of the ladies restroom.
Her husband had been waiting for her outside, looking so worried. "Relena, are you alright?" Quatre asked as he held her hand.
Relena smiled at him. "I'm alright."
"You ran out of the meeting room in the middle of a discussion. Are you sure you're alright?" The blonde pressed his palm against her forehead. "You have no fever but you look pale."
"I threw up," she admitted.
"Threw up?" Quatre seemed to be in panic. "What happened? Did you eat something wrong? But I thought they made sure there's nothing wrong with the food. Or maybe-"
"Quatre, Quatre, Quatre," Relena silenced her husband before he went into his usual worried exclamations. She smiled innocently. "Do you remember the time when I asked you to make me a durian ice cream covered chicken pie by yourself though I knew you didn't even know how to cook, much less baking a cake?"
Quatre's face was turning from remembrance, confusion, into an interesting shade of red as realization dawned to him. "Relena! You... you...."
She sighed in exasperation. "I was going to tell you guys after the dinner that time, but things just went out of control and ruined my plan."
The man gaped. "Oh my God... I can't believe it...," he stammered. "I'm going to have another child...." His lips turned into a huge grin. "I'm going to have another child. I'm going to have another child!!" He laughed joyfully as he grabbed his startled (but equally happy) wife and danced along the corridor, crying out, "I'm going to have another child!" repeatedly, ignoring all the funny looks given by the others.
"I'm going to have another child!"
A groan was heard. Sally looked up from her laptop. Wufei was awakening. Abandoning the computer on the table, she rushed to her husband's side.
"Sally...," the man moaned as he managed to focus his eyes on her. Obviously his mind was still half-fogged. He raised a hand to his head. "Itai...."
"You're suffering from head injury and a little concussion. The explosion also damaged your body although there's nothing permanent about it. The doctors were surprised that you managed to stay alive through this," Sally explained in her professional way before she sighed and pouted. "Chang Wufei, you made us worried so much."
Wufei groaned again. After an slight feeling of pain had passed, he asked. "How's the Wing pilot?"
"Duo has reported finding her trying to kill Solo on the hill," Sally explained as she went to the table to get some water. "The boy was taking a walk out side, or so I've heard, and unfortunately encountered her."
"...Her...? The pilot wasn't Yuy?"
"Apparently not. We have no idea who that pilot is. We could not identify her because Duo only saw her in a flash. The only distinguished aspect in her feature is her long dark hair, though Duo doesn't sure what the color was. We can't question Solo since he hasn't waken up yet, so...."
"Sou ka...."
The woman gave him the water and some pills. "Take this, they'll make you feel better."
As Wufei took the pills, Sally contacted the nurse to inform her husband's awakening. A while later, a doctor came in. "Mr. Chang, I'm glad you've awaken. It's time for your check up."
'How is it?" The Chinese man asked after the doctor gave him some treatment.
The doctor sighed. "I think we should keep you here for at least one or two weeks."
"ONE OR TWO WEEKS?!" Wufei nearly shrieked. "This is unfair! Injustice! I refuse to stay in bed while my friends are out there facing the enemy. Let me go! ONNA!" He struggled as Sally and the doctor grabbed him and tried to calm him down.
The doctor grimaced and commented, "Po, of all the years I had as your colleague, I'd never ever imagined you, of all people, having a husband like this."
Sally just smiled warily at him.
Blue....
Blue Prussian eyes....
They were lovely yet so dead. He had never seen a pair of eyes that could be so blank... deprived of any sign of live. Had she not moved and breathed, he would have thought that she had died a long time ago.
But she was alive. He knew. But somehow he also knew that she was not supposed to be like that.
//What's happening to you? I want to know....//
//I want to help....//
Solo stirred on his sleep. He tried to open his eyes but promptly shut them close. Damn light. Too bright.
"Solo...," he heard his father calling. He tried to open his eyes again and succeeded this time.
Duo was leaning over him. The man's face was full of concern and worry. "Solo, are you okay?"
The boy moaned. "Well, aside from this splitting headache and my neck felts like going to crack, yeah, I suppose I'm okay. Jeez," he complained as he rubbed on his sore neck. "Thank God the girl didn't break anything."
Duo could help but smile. Even in this kind of condition, the kid still had the sense of humor with him. That's a good sign. "You're lucky she didn't, though she nearly managed to when I got there."
The boy chuckled warily before he went silent. The room was filled with silence since both party felt oddly uncomfortable and couldn't work up the courage to start a further conversation. Solo stared at his father while the latter chose to stare out the window.
Finally Duo turned his head and met his gaze. "Xiaolong told me..." he started but then hesitated. Should he continue or....
To his surprise, it was Solo who finished his words. "About you and Heero Yuy." There was another silence before the child continued. "So was it true?"
Duo sighed. He stood from where he had seated and walked to the window. From his pocket, he pulled out a cigarette and lighted it. He inhaled it deeply and as he gazed outside, he started.
"Heero... was another pilot involved in Operation Meteor. He came from L1 colony, or so I've heard. I first met him when he was going to kill Relena."
"Relena-sama?" Solo raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, Relena." Duo grinned slightly. "Thankfully I managed to stopped him or who knows what'd have happened to the world." He stopped to inhale the smoke before continuing again.
"We argued a lot at first. Heero was so... different. I know we had our own pains; we're both the victims of war. But he was pushing me to the edge. My entire attempt to befriend with him had always been turned down. At least at first."
"How did you get attracted to him?" Solo asked.
Duo pondered the question for a while and shrugged. "Well, I don't know." He tilted his head to his side. "Maybe it was his persistence to ignore me. At first, he was like... a challenge. Once I could get him to let me understand him and I was starting to see who the boy behind those cold eyes... but after the war is over, we barely met again..." he trailed off. There was a hint of sadness in his voice.
It was silence once again. Solo watched as his father finished his first cigarette and took another one. "So...," the boy asked. "What happened?"
"He disappeared." Duo's face was expressionless. "I told him that I loved him. He even knew I was serious when I said it, but he knocked me out and just left without a word. I never hear of him again since then."
Solo's heart wrenched at the lack of emotion in his fathers voice. He slowly rose from the bed and approached his father's side. Gently he wiped the tear that was rolling on his father's cheek.
Duo, who hadn't realized the tear until his son wiped it off, chuckled in embarrassment. "Boys don't cry," he said.
"But I think it's alright to cry," his son said. "It's okay to let someone knows how you feel."
"Woohoo, look who's talking!" said the man sarcastically.
"Dad," Solo glared at his father. "I'm not joking," he said exasperatedly. "It's okay to let someone knows how you feel, as long as that person is someone you can trust. That's why I always run to you when I'm troubled, no?"
"You don't trust the others?"
"I do trust them... to some degree." Solo looked into his father's eyes. "Dad, do you trust me?"
Duo stared at his son questioningly. "Solo?"
"Do you?"
Duo looked back to his son. There was expectation in those violet eyes.
Solo waited for his father's answer patiently. When the man did not show any intention of answering him, he hung his head in disappointment. He was about to give up and went back to the bed when his father suddenly said, "I do."
The child smiled. He gave his father a hug and whispered, "Thank you...."
"How was it?" the doctor asked.
Veejay stared at the screen for a moment before replying. "Her condition is stable. The explosion didn't do her much damaged aside from some bruises and open wounds. She has landed on the trees, which prevented further injuries. She's now awaiting for further command."
The old woman tapped her fingers n the side of her wheelchair. "I can see that she encountered one of the targets."
The man nodded. "Affirmative. Solo Maxwell, to be precise."
"She failed?"
"Yes. An interruption came from who was identified as Duo Maxwell. Retreat was the best option referring to her condition."
Dr. I regarded her subordinate solemnly. "Now... what shall we...," she trailed off as an idea struck her brain. She smiled. "I think I know what shall we do."
As the old woman explained her plan, Veejay's smile grew wider. Nodding an agreement, he commented, "To catch two birds with one stone, no?"
"Exactly," she answered, the smile was still there. She turned her wheelchair and strolled out the control room, singing, "Oh my... my sweet revenge.... My blood can shed but I'll have my sweet revenge...."
The man watched her retreating figure before he went back to his work, humming the same tone.
"Oh my... my sweet revenge...."
Suddenly Duo and Solo heard a commotion outside. The shouting of the Maganacs and the sound of a helicopter approaching from afar and finally landing. In alarm, he slammed the window open and was attempting to ask out loud what the Hell was going on when he noticed the person who jumped out of the helicopter that had landed in the middle of the mansion's vast front yard surrounded by an armed squad of Maganacs. His words died in his throats and blood was drained from his face. His lips unconsciously worded, "Heero!"
Solo, who was stumbling to the window, curious of what's happening, almost shrieked, "What?" He watched as his father leaped from the window frame and dashed through the door. Although his neck was still sore and head still pounding from the last incident, he grabbed his night kimono and followed his father in a slower pace.
Duo ran as fast as he could through the snow-covered grass and stopped between the Japanese ex-pilot and the Maganacs. "What the Hell is going on?" he demanded.
Rashid's machine gun didn't quiver. "Get out of the way, Duo-sama."
"No!" Duo spread his arms and acted like a living shield. "I demand to know what's happening."
"You saw it yourself," the Arabian man said. "He killed some of the members of Maganacs."
"No! It wasn't him!"
They turned their faces to the boy who was running to them, his bare feet on the chilling snow.
Solo was breathing hard, but he kept saying, "It wasn't him! I saw the one who did it and it wasn't him!"
"Solo!" Duo rushed to his son's side right before the child's legs gave up. The young boy collapsed right into the arms of his father. "Why did you get out without any shoes? Baka yo!" the American fussed over his son.
The said son just smiled weakly. "You would have done it too if you were me, right, Dad? After all, I'm your son."
Had the situation not been so serious, Duo would have sweat dropped. Instead he just chuckled wistfully and scooped his son from the snow ground. He glanced at the Maganacs and said, "You heard the child. The man is innocent," before he escaped the front yard with his one again asleep son. But not before he gave a look at the man who left him 18 years ago.
The man had grown out of his boyish figure, but other than that, nothing seemed to be changed. He still wore the infamous green tank top, fading blue jeans, and his blue jacket. Those hair was still unruly, those blue eyes were still as intense as ever.
And those eyes were staring right into Duo's eyes.
Duo didn't say anything. Instead, he broke the eye contact and left.
Later.... He'd deal with him later....
Everybody in the room was tense, Solo could tell.
After Heero Yuy's arrival, they ha all decided to have a talk, or rather, interrogation, with him. Since Solo had insisted to be included in the interrogation, much to his father's dismay, finally it was decided that the talk would be held in Solo's room, regarding the boy's condition.
Duo was sitting on the bed next to his son. His expression was guarded, but Solo could tell that his father was trying hard not to openly stare at the Japanese ex-pilot.
Vier was sitting on the seat next to the window on the corner of the room. His expression was a mixture of anxiety and repressed anger. Trowa was standing next to the boy. His expression was as calm as ever, but Solo could tell that the man was also excited.
Xiaolong was standing next to the door. He was obviously in distress, but at least he tried to calm himself and act like a member of the Preventers like he was supposed to be.
And finally, the source of everyone's distress. Sitting in the only chair left in the room, next to the bed, was Heero Yuy.
Nobody in the room talked at first. Solo felt uncomfortable. He had never liked silence, especially one with tension hanging in it. Enable to take it any longer, he decided to break the stillness. "Err, Heero Yuy, am I correct?"
The Japanese turned his head to him.
The boy smiled. "I've heard so much about you. My name is Solo. It's nice to finally be able to meet you."
Trowa stared at the boy, fascinated. The boy had just learned about his father's feeling for the ex-pilot, he knew as he accidentally over heard Duo and Xiaolong's conversation before the American had gone to search for his son. Trowa knew the boy Solo was smart enough to know that his father had suffered a lot after Heero's disappearance. Even Trowa could think of other thousand reasons for the boy to hate Heero. Yet the boy was able to smile and greet the Japanese ex-pilot warmly. Trowa silently wondered if it was only an act or the boy actually wasn't disturbed by the fact that Heero was the source of Duo's Hell for 18 years.
The Latino man glanced at the said Japanese and almost smiled. Heero was mildly surprised too, he could tell despite the man's effort to keep his face straight. It didn't apply for Duo and Xiaolong though, as shock was written on their faces. In the other hand, Vier was totally oblivious.
Heero recovered from his surprise first and nodded to Solo.
The child's smile widened. "Actually, I can spend the whole night talking with you since I'm so eager to know you more, but...." He grinned and winked. "We don't actually have the time to do so and I'm sure that the others are _dying_ to bombard you with questions."
Trowa smiled ever slightly. Solo really sounded like the old Duo sometimes.
Heero regarded the child with a ghostly smile. "Like?"
Trowa raised an eyebrow. Heero smiled? Even if it's ever so slightly.... Hmm, apparently the Japanese had also changed in these 18 years.
Solo tapped his index finger on his chin. "Like...," he cringed. "Gee, I have no idea. Guys!" He turned to the others. "You're the ones who're supposed to interrogate him. So spill it out! I'm running out of vocabs here."
Duo's voice came out finally in hesitation. "We can start from why he's here...."
There was an uncomfortable silence before Heero finally answered. "Dr. J sent me here. It's about the attack yesterday."
That caught Vier's attention more than anyone. "What do you know about it?" he asked. The anxiety was visible in his voice.
"It was an ambush ordered by a scientist by the code name I. Dr. I was a colleague of the doctors before they left OZ. She stayed in OZ and suddenly disappeared one day."
"Why did she attack us?"
"We don't know. The doctors are still trying to find out."
"Do you know how on Earth Dr. I had Wing Zero with her?"
"She was one of the creator of the ZERO System. She has the blueprints of Wing Zero and somehow managed to rebuild and modify it."
"Why are you here? You do not actually work with her, are you?"
Heero glared at the child. However, Vier ignored it. Instead, he asked him, "So who's the pilot? If it's not you, who's the one who attacked us and killed some of the Maganacs?"
The Japanese chose not to answer.
It was past midnight already, but Duo was not in his bed. He was walking through the hallway, heading straight to Heero's room
The interrogation hadn't gone too well. Heero Yuy would either give a limited answer or say nothing at all. Everybody knew that he knew more than he let the other knew; yet nobody could bring him to tell. . After the interrogation, they had finally let Heero to dismiss himself to his room.
Duo sighed in resignation.
It was stupid. It was all stupid. Now that Heero was back, Duo couldn't bring himself to say anything. How stupid he could be. Baka, baka, baka! And the damn boy, nope, guy, didn't say anything to him. Not even a word of apology! And he owned him a punch on the gut at least!
And the worst was that Duo was thinking over things like this in a time like this! The American cursed softly.
He arrived in front of Heero's room. Raising his hand to knock on the door, he stopped it before it reached the wooden piece of door.
Would he confront Heero? Did he have the courage to? He knew that everything had to be settled down or he'd be doomed forever, but was it the right time? Who would guarantee that Heero would not disappear again after everything was over?
"...."
Duo was about to cancel his action and leave when he suddenly he heard something that was suspiciously sounded like sobs from inside the room. He frowned. //Sobs? From Heero's room?// Quietly, instead of knocking, he opened the door and enter.
The room was dark. The only source of lighting came from outside the window where the moon shone as bright as it could be. And on the opposite of the room, Duo could make out the shape of the bed and the figure in it.
He approached toward the side of the bed, fully aware that Heero could get awaken in any moment and attacked him for intruding into his room. To his surprise, the Japanese man didn't seem to acknowledge his presence.
What a decline of training.... Something he had not expected from Heero Yuy despite the 18 years of peace.
Duo watched as Heero trashed in his sleep. He seemed to be having a nightmare. Every now and then he would shift, moan, or sob. However, even in Heero's rough state of sleep, he kept on hugging something in his arms. As Duo tried to take a better look at the thing, he realized that it was a tattered teddy bear.
A soft sigh escaped Heero's lips that caused emotion turmoil to the American.
"Eva...."
Solo sighed as he leaned back to his pillow. It had been a rough day for him. His revelation of the secret of his father's past, his attack, Heero's arrival. He was so tired to the point that he could not sleep at all.
"Things can't get worse, can it?"
But he was wrong. Just as he decided to turn off the table lamp on the table next to the bed, he noticed a shadow moved on a corner of his dark room. Someone was there, watching him.
He sat up in his bed and asked, "Who is it?"
The shadow advanced forward and Solo's breath was caught. The moonlight revealed the girl he had encountered this afternoon.
The pilot of Wing Zero.
She had looked better. The bruises on her skin were barely visible. She had changed her pilot suit into a pair of black pants and a dark violet sleeveless turtleneck. But her eyes were still the same.
Dead.
He was about to ask who the girl was when she raised her hand. There was a gun on the end of the hand, aiming right to the boy.
Solo was startled. But before he could make any reaction, the girl had fired the gun.
End of Chapter Two
Hime D.
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