Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters
Pairing: 1x2
Warning: shounen ai romance

Declaration
by Karen, The Huntress

"Duo. Again." Heero's mind repeated the words as he absentmindedly hung up his school uniforms in his half of the cramped dorm room closet.

"Roommates again." His mind was stuck in first gear.

"Why does that matter so much?" The question came with a demanding insistence. "You have been paired with him before so why is this time any different?"

This school was the third location change in four months. Heero's hacking skills had been put to good use as he effortlessly registered then unregistered he and Duo as they moved from one school to another.

But what better way to blend in than to be students? After all they were still teenagers although their eighteenth birthdays were fast approaching. With each change came a new adjustment period and just when they seemed to settle in the orders to move on were issued.

Neither of them needed the schooling. Heero had been taught everything he had to know concerning a mission's successful completion. Yes, Dekim Barton and Doctor J. had been very thorough in Yuy's training.

While Duo's training had not been as extensive, he had enough "on the job" experience to hold his own in any situation. Heero had to admit they made a good team. They had been together long enough to read each other's thoughts and anticipate the other's movements until fighting side by side had become second nature.

Even when Duo rambled on about some seemingly unimportant subject or showed too much emotion over innocent people that were unfortunately sometimes caught in the crossfire, Heero still respected Maxwell. He was tough, "street smart" and totally trustworthy.

"I never lie."

Heero had often heard Duo repeated that promise and he knew without a doubt that Duo was good for his word. His pledge to watch his fellow pilot's back in any combat situation had been proven over and over again.

All in all Duo Maxwell was an excellent agent and a damn good Gundam Master despite his sometimes foolish reactions to the complicated rules of engagement they were force to adhere to.

Yuy and Maxwell complemented each other. Each of their strengths offset their weaknesses. They were not only brothers-in-arms but also friends as near as Heero Yuy could comprehend the concept of friendship.

But over the last few months something new had developed. Heero found himself more aware of an odd and quite puzzling aspect of the self-proclaimed Shinigami. Heero found himself paying closer attention to the little things Duo did. How his eyes would light up at the simplest pleasures such as walking in a field or eating his favorite chocolate ice cream.

Heero more often caught himself casting a sneaking glance at Duo when he was certain the braided boy was not looking. Heero found that he was spending longer amounts of time studying things as simple as the way Duo's nose wrinkled when he laughed. Gradually Heero began to notice how the Deathscythe pilot's babbling didn't seem to bother him as much as it once did.

Now the sound of Duo's voice held an almost magical fascination. A melodious lilt, a quite pleasing tone. Everything about Duo created a peculiar wonder that more often now caught the Perfect Soldier's cold detachment completely off guard.

These strange emotional responses had begun to occur with a regularity that Heero found unnerving. His concentration when he and Duo were alone seemed harder to control than when he was away from his Gundam collaborator.

Even Yuy's sleep had been invaded by thoughts of Duo. Dreams of Maxwell came more frequently and, in the past weeks, those night visions held strange sexual connotations that proved to be the most unnerving of all.

And most pressing of all was the fact that Heero had moved from merely backing up his partner, weighting the risks against the mission's parameters, to feeling a protectiveness that was completely foreign to his stoic nature. Had Duo Maxwell touched the small speck of humanity that Doctor J. in all his training had left behind? Was that braided baka the source of Heero Yuy's transformation from Perfect Soldier to a human with wants and needs?

The sound of voices echoing down the hall brought Heero back from his thoughtful analysis of his provocative partner. Closing the closet door he turned toward the hall. Some odd quality in the voices as they met his hearing summoned him to investigate.

Moving to the door Heero peered to the left letting the sounds direct his attention. In the hall's center a group of four or five young men seemed to have surrounded a lone male figure.

By the tone of their voices raised in apparent anger Heero knew the gathered group was not in a friendly mood. But it was not his place to interfere. His orders were to keep a low profile until he and Duo could discover the location of an secret OZ warehouse believed to be located near the school.

He was not to draw any unwanted attention to himself or his teammate. Whatever the problem or the circumstances it was none of Yuy's business. Unless that was a great amount of bloodletting or a gunshot he was to keep clear of trouble.

But as he turned to step back into the room one word, that seemed to race down the hall, directly impact his hearing causing him to pause. There is not many times the word "braided" comes up in a normal conversation.

Realizing Duo's hairstyle was probably the most likely cause of that particular word's usage and not sure of his whereabouts, Heero decided a discrete investigation was definitely in order.

With stealthy movements Yuy made his way toward the clearly unruly gang. As he got closer he could see that his partner was indeed the object of the group's antagonism.

Duo, too, was well aware of his orders of isolation as he tried unsuccessfully to withdraw from the hoard of young men pressing in on him.

"Look guys I don't want any trouble." Duo announced again trying to push his way out of the tightening circle of flesh and bone.

One boy who appeared to be the ruffian band's leader grabbed Duo by the arm jerking him with sufficient force to stagger his balance.

"You should have thought of that before you came here." the boy replied giving Duo's captured arm a twist.

Duo's face grimaced in pain but he didn't respond to either the verbal attack or the physical assault. Once more he tried to free his arm in an attempt to leave the increasingly ugly situation.

"Let go." Duo hissed as he strongly considered disobeying his orders and beating the oppressive boy within an inch of his life.

"Is there a problem?" Heero inquired stepping up to the heated scene hoping that words alone could defuse the tension that was threatening to explode into violence.

The youth holding Duo's arm glanced over at the Japanese boy who he quickly decided clearly didn't know his place and who was dangerously close to becoming the next target of his wrath.

"Well look it's the pretty boy's roomy." he announced with a thin lipped sneer of distain. "If you know what's good for you, you will stay out of this."

"Maybe if he knew what his roommate was," one of the other boys spoke up, "he would help us teach this faggot a lesson."

Hearing that prejudicial word made threadbare what little of Duo's patience and composure that had remained in tact. With a forceful jerk, stronger than the young man's hold, Duo pulled free.

"Step aside now!" Duo growled raising his voice to be sure that his intention to exit the encircling human barrier was clear.

Heero, too, stepped nearer fully prepared to again back up his partner. "You heard him, let him pass."

The leader's answer to both pilot's demands came in the form of a swift punch that impacted on the side of Duo's chin with sufficient force to cause black dots to swim over Duo's vision and turn his knees to rubber.

As he staggered in place Duo clumsily brought his fingers to his lips where the punch's pain was centered. A crimson coating strained his fingers as he held them up for inspection.

That was all the provocation Heero needed to intervene on his friend's behalf. "Low profile, yeah right." he thought to himself as he stepped forward.

The bullying brute never saw Heero's fist as it flew free. Not until his rear end struck the floor and his back bounced off the wall did the loudmouth youth realize he had been hit. His crumpling form offered further evidence of the power of Heero's punch.

This swift strike and the damage it caused put the others on notice that their intimation session had reached an abrupt end. Without any opposition Heero stepped through the wide swath of humanity that opened up providing an unobstructed path to Duo.

"Are you all right?" Heero whispered slipping an arm around Duo's waist to shore up his shaky equilibrium.

Duo's hand retuned to his swollen bottom lip that continued to ooze a fresh stream of scarlet. He slowly shook his head feeling as if his brain had temporarily slipped off-center.

"Yeah.......I think so." he muttered the increasing swelling making it difficult to speak clearly.

Then Maxwell's head turned so rapidly that if his brain was out of alignment it must have surely slid back into its proper place.

"Where is he!" Duo called loudly rage blinding his eyes as much as the tearing cloud that the pain produced.

"Duo remember our orders." Heero spoke quietly reminding his partner that the mission came first.

Duo began to reply but his words were cut off as Heero with uncharacteristic tenderness touched his finger to Duo's lips. The gentle contact amazed Heero as much as Duo and the others witnessing the unusual display of affection.

The bested leader stirred in his lowly place on the floor as he was experiencing his own bout of vertigo. Now similar dots danced over his eyes before gathering into a cloudy gray mass that blurred his sight and confused his mind. A low groan rose from his throat only to lose most of its volume before it cleared his whitened lips.

"Come on let's go back to our room." Heero urged helping an astonished Duo to begin the journey with his first unsteady step.

One of the teenagers still maintaining a cautious distance from the volatile Asian got up enough nerve to question the Japanese boy's reasons for coming his friend's rescue.

"How could a person like you stand to be near someone like him?" he wondered as he had just seen Heero handle himself in a quite "manly manner".

"And what kind of person is Duo?" Heero asked for an explanation to the clearly bigoted question.

"You know what is he. You are not that foolish, are you?" the boy answered as he simply could not understand how the Japanese youth could come to a homosexual's aide.

"You have not answered my question." Heero hissed. The only thing keeping Heero from sending the second boy to join his buddy on the floor was his steadying of Duo.

"He's gay." the boy replied motioning at the slender American boy, "He has to be." he continued to make his point. "Look at that braid."

An amused smile momentarily flickered across Yuy's lips but quickly dissolved in the fierce rage sparking in his deep blue centers of sight.

"So his braid makes him gay." Heero stated with a mixture of disbelief and anger in his husky voice. "None of you understand." he added turning to Duo, locking his sight with Duo's expressive liquid violet eyes.

Something greater than anger suddenly stirred within Heero. Suddenly a realization stabbed through his mind with such force it threatened to take his breath away.

"But I understand." he declared so low that only Duo could hear.

Then raising his voice so all could hear Heero Yuy finally came to grips with the haunting emotions that had vexed his heart for so long.

"I understand a person like him because I am like him." he unashamedly declared for the entire world to hear.

Duo stiffened sharply in his partner's enfolding grasp. "What?" he stammered.

Carefully Heero wiped away the tacky residue left by the drying blood. Then what happened next surprised Heero more than anyone else present that day.

With a gentle brushing kiss he affirmed his statement. With that one soft caress of lips on lips Heero Yuy freed his aching soul from the torment that had enslaved it since he first realized his feelings for Duo had begun to change.

All the denial, all the sleepless nights as he longed to lie beside the beautiful boy sleeping across the room, came crashing to the surface with an unleashing liberation of mind, body and soul.

"If anyone wants to take exception with me or my choice I will see to it that he receives a severe attitude adjustment." Yuy promised with all the sincerity he could muster in both his voice and his body language.

"Come on." Heero repeated coaxing his startled friend down the hall.

The entire group of youthful males stood dumbfounded in stunned silence not quite believing what had just happened.

There was one thing, however, that none of them could deny, they had witnessed something that was genuine. An act that could not be dismissed as a case of hormone-driven lust.

There had been a connection made before them that day. Two souls had found peace in the simple act of caring for each other.

"Maybe there is no right or wrong." one boy whispered quietly to himself, "Maybe there is only love."

Heero pushed the door shut behind he and Duo before letting his supporting arm slip from Duo's waist. He locked the door for privacy wanting their next moments together not to be disturbed.

Duo leaned against the wall as his legs were still not inclined to cooperate. "Why me?" he whispered, "When did you......." He couldn't finish as tears welled in his eyes and escalating emotions choked off his voice.

"I'm sorry." Heero whispered lowering his head as an unaccustomed blush burned on his cheeks.

Duo straightened slightly leaning over to see under his teammate's dark tangled tresses. "Sorry for what?"

Heero didn't raise his sight as he studied the floor, "I shouldn't have said or done anything at least not in front of those boys. I am sorry that I embarrassed you."

Duo leaned forward further but his efforts were still defeated by Yuy's tousled locks, "I didn't mind." he declared then drew in a shaky breath of hesitation.

Duo reached out lightly laying his hand on Heero's arm, "I had given up.........." he sighed as a lump quickly formed in his throat, "given up hope." he finished swallowing hard to force the words to his mouth.

At Duo's touch Heero flinched. Duo's hand was hot. The heat radiating through his shirt fabric left a tingle that caught Yuy completely off guard.

Heero raised his eyes but still could not bring himself to look directly at Duo. "I knew that was something different about you from the first time we began working together. It was like a tugging on my heart. I wasn't certain of the source, of the nature of the beast.

At first I tried to dismiss the strange sensation, to tell myself that it was merely concern for a fellow pilot. That it could even possibly be caring for a friend even though I could not be sure what friendship was like.

The idea it could be love never entered my mind." Heero sighed as he was losing his concentration to the warmth growing at the site of Duo's touch. "I could not think of love in that way." he sighed, "In any way, I suppose." he added daring to finally raise his eyes.

Heero lifted his head allowing his sight to lock with Duo's widened eyes, "It wasn't until that bastard hit you that I realized it was love. Even all the times we fought side by side, the times I rescued you." he paused taking in a shaky breath, "When you were hurt or frightened I still felt that only duty was dictating my emotions."

Heero cupped a hand under Duo's chin lifting his face to meet his intense gaze, "Now I will never be able to think of love any other way." he confessed moving the other hand to entwine his fingers in Duo's cinnamon streaked hair.

Duo's legs once again became wobbly but this time the unstableness was not due to his compromised balance but from Heero's touch as the breathy declarations floated over his face.

Leaning Duo back against the wall Heero slipped one knee between his newly discovered lover's thighs until the pressure produced a tingling response.

The friction generated by the bodily contact made Duo's legs grow weaker still. Now it was only by sheer willpower that Maxwell kept from melting into his soul mate's embrace.

Without warning, without any prelude to his intensions, Heero captured the trembling boy's mouth in their first, fully passionate, kiss.

Duo's hand grabbed onto Heero's shirt, his fingers becoming entangled in the fabric as surely as his heart had become entangled in the kiss. Now Duo's willpower vanished as complete surrender took over.

When Duo thought that he could not be taken any higher, when everything around him had disappeared until nothing remained but he and his soul mate, Heero broke the kiss leaving Duo breathless and quivering from the tactile touches.

But Heero's mouth didn't move too far only enough to slide his wet lips close to Duo's ear. "I think I love you Duo Maxwell." he proclaimed with no doubt at all in his mind, heart or soul.

Before Duo could regain even a small measure of control he found himself being lead to the bed. Gently Heero eased his Gundam partner down on his back sliding down beside him.

Taking Duo's hand Heero brushed back several chestnut locks to better see his shimmering eyes.

"Please Duo," Heero pleaded with not one moment's hesitation, "Please be my soul's salvation." he begged unashamedly. "Please allow me love you."

Duo lifted his hand touching Heero's warm cheek; "I want to be with you, I have for as long as I can remember." he declared. A heart-heavy sigh followed, "It won't be easy. There are a lot of people like those boys who won't accept us, accept our love."

"I don't care what anyone else thinks I only care about you and me." Heero affirmed his commitment, "Together we can face whatever the world sends against us.

I promise you my heart and pledge that I will always stand by your side in whatever may come." Heero vowed then sealed his vow with a gentle kiss.

"I love you Heero Yuy." Duo whispered as they concluded their first kiss as devoted lovers.

Heero's hand trembled as he let it caress his lover's face flushed with excited anticipation. "I'm not sure how to do this." he freely admitted well aware that both he and Duo had no experience with love of any kind.

"I suppose we should let out bodies guide us." Duo answered as his own shivering betrayed his virgin status.

Pulling each other as close as physically possible the lovers let their increasing warmth enfold about them like a comforting barrier against the war's cruelty. The world's closed minds and hardened hearts would be a challenge they could now face with one combined strength.

Heero reached for the bedside lamp switching it off. Soothing darkness enveloped the lover's as they began their explorations of not only their bodies but their unified spirits as well.