Author's notes: Alright, so far, this is the longest story I've ever written. I seriously didn't expect it to get this long but well... y'know. Seeing my story posted in Sharon-dono's wonderful website has been a dream of mine for quite some time now. I hope it finally gets fulfilled with all the sleepless nights and the hard work I put into this (smile). But first, I need to thank The Valkyrie, my wonderfully evil twin, for the nudge and the inspiration when my muse upped and left me in the middle of writing this story; Honto ni domo arigato! Suki da! I'd also like to thank Sharon-dono for her capital idea of putting up Moments of Rapture; I have not been so inspired to complete a story in so long. The deadline got my creative juices flowing...er, most of the time anyway.

Applicable Warnings: A bit OOC, language, AU? (mysterious smile). Okay, I'll shut up now. I hope you enjoy my piece! Standard disclaimers apply: I do not own Gundam Wing nor any of its characters... I did put them in my Christmas wish list, though. Now, on to the story...

Remember Me
by La Fuego

Walking farther into his apartment, Heero was about to ascend to the kitchen on the second floor to fix himself dinner, when he changed his mind and veered off to his left to go into his room instead. With a weary sigh, Heero shrugged off his coat and carelessly draped it over the edge of his bed and then went on to stand by his window. Staring out into the dark night, he listened to the almost hypnotic patter of the rain against the glass, and just let his mind wander. It was frustrating him, this nameless nagging feeling that he just couldn't shake. He felt like he was missing something... or someone...

Finally giving up, as based on his experience, thinking about this 'something' (or someone?) at any length of time usually gave him killer headaches, Heero made a move toward his bed when he froze. He thought he heard something. Keeping as quiet as possible and straining his ears, he heard it again. And again. There was someone knocking on his door!

'Who the heck could that be?', Heero wondered, his brows knitting together in puzzlement, as he made his way toward the front door. Heero had no friends... or at least no one close to him enough that a late-night visit wouldn't raise an eyebrow, Heero's eyebrow in particular. His closest neighbor was three empty lots down the street and, unless it was a matter of life and death, he doubted very much that his neighbor would brave the almost torrential rain.

The knock came again, sounding almost frantic. "Yes, I'm coming." Heero called out, even as he was unlocking the door. Pulling open the door, Heero's eyes widened in surprise as a sopping wet, lithe human form fairly collapsed over him. Instinctively catching the person in his arms, Heero was forced to hunker down with the weight of his burden. He gently turned over the person in his arms and started pushing away at strands of dark hair that seemed to go on forever to reveal the smooth, pale, oval-shaped face hidden underneath when he saw that his foundling was fighting to open its eyes. And then it happened. A pair of eyelids fluttered open to reveal twin pools of deep amethyst that beckoned to Heero as nothing else ever had. They were both so hauntingly familiar and inexplicably mysterious to him at the same time. At first, those amaryllis orbs reflected fear and uncertainty when they took in Heero's looming figure, but after a few moments, they focused on Heero's face and they turned pleading. A feeble hand was raised towards Heero's face in supplication. Once again, Heero acted without thinking, instinctively meeting and taking the proffered hand and held it close to his chest.

"Don't worry. You're going to be alright." Heero tried to reassure... and then his curiosity refused to wait another minute to be satisfied, "Who are you?"

Full lips parted to give an answer, but then closed again. Smooth brow furrowed in thought, and once again, fear settled into those expressive orbs. And then a hoarse whisper, "Please help me," as those eyes rolled back and unconsciousness took over once again.

He awoke to the gentle patter of rain against the window. An old clock on the bedside table revealed that it was 11:15 in the morning. Sitting up in bed, he carefully took in the unfamiliar bedroom he was in. The room was spartan but not uncomfortable. The walls were a sterile white and depressingly unadorned. 'Where the hell am I?' he wondered to himself, and as if in answer to his unspoken question, last night's events came back to him in a flood. His head then began to protest and started to throb something awful. Clutching his head with both hands, he squeezed his eyes shut and took in a couple of deep, steadying breaths as he waited for the bout of nausea to pass and for the pounding in his head to be reduced into a faint, steady thrumming.

Gingerly, he got up from the bed and his face did a slow-burn when he realized that the blanket he woke up with was the only thing that was keeping him decent. 'Nothing to be ashamed of,' he reasoned with himself, 'I was dripping wet last night. He couldn't very well put me to bed like that. Nothing to get embarrassed about. Really.' And after convincing himself of this, a mischievous glint entered his eyes, 'Hmmm... I wonder if he liked what he saw,' as a little wayward smile played on his lips.

Not finding anything to wear within the room, he opted to wrap the blanket around himself, fashioning it after a Grecian toga, and decided to venture outside his room. Opening his bedroom door, he saw a little note taped to it. In very neat cursive, it said: I had to go to work. Please stay here until I can get back; we need to talk. I'll try to take half the day off, so I'll probably be back by lunchtime. Make yourself at home. Heero.

Still holding the note in his hand, he decided to take a tour of the apartment, careful to take slow, even steps as sudden movements tended to set of the damned marching band, complete with crashing cymbals, in his head.

First order of business, he had to go to the washroom really bad. He found the bathroom next to his bedroom. After taking care of his body's demands, he looked around and noticed that the bathroom was large and spacey and, strangely enough, it had three doors. Going to the nearest door that was beside the sink, he opened it to find himself staring back into his room. Strange that he didn't notice the door before, but then again, with his preoccupation with his throbbing head and his distressing state of undress, he thought it was excusable. Closing the door once again and crossing the bathroom to open the door on the opposite side, he found himself staring into another room. Heero's bedroom. Knowing that he probably shouldn't, but unable to stop himself, he entered the room with mingled curiosity and wonder. The walls were painted a comforting shade of pale blue though they were as unadorned as the other bedroom which he has taken to calling 'his own room'. A bookshelf filled with books on any given subject matter was standing to one side of the room. A comfortable looking bed was on the other side with two bedside tables flanking it. Closets were incorporated into the wall beside the bookshelf. A study table holding a black laptop computer and a reading lamp occupied the space beside the room's other door. Determining that he has seen all there was to see without feeling like a sneak, he went back the same way he came in. Giving himself one last look in the bathroom mirror (and deciding that he didn't look half-bad in a toga), he was about to explore the sitting area right outside Heero's room, his own room, and the bathroom, when it dawned on him: he will be sharing the bathroom with Heero. Oh joy!

The sitting room only had a couch that looked pitifully small against the wide space. Hoping to see an improvement in décor, he naively climbed the stairs that would bring him to the second floor. Whether or not the second floor was better, though, he did not have the chance to see. Panting like he climbed up Mt. Everest, instead of ascending a single flight of stairs, and with his head feeling like it was leaking out his brains in agonizing bursts, he only saw the stretch of cool and inviting window seat on one side of the room. He half-scuttled, half-stumbled in his rush to get to the window seat and once there, collapsed into its cushions, his face buried into his folded arms which he rested upon the windowsill, trying to get his breathing down to normal and his head to stop hammering.

And that was how Heero found him: like a heartbroken elf-sprite, with his chestnut mane being playfully tossed about by the breeze, waiting for his lover to return. Quietly, Heero approached him. "Are you okay?"

Startled, Heero's beautiful (for there was no other way to describe him) charge's head whipped around to face Heero and squeezed his eyes shut once again, emitting a low moan of anguish. "I'll be fine," he managed to get out after a while. "Just give me a moment to convince the forge who decided to take up residence in my head to give the hammering a rest."

Heero gave a wry smile at that. "That bad, huh? Well, you just wait here and continue practicing your convincing powers on that forge. I'll be back in a couple of seconds with clothes."

At this, the nameless visitor cracked open an eye to look questioningly at Heero. In answer to the unvoiced question, Heero gave a little chuckle, "As fetching as you look in that makeshift toga, I doubt it could be very comfortable."

"Damn right!" the waif returned feelingly... and then hastened to add, "I meant that, you know... erm, well, it's just that since I wrapped this thing on, I've been in constant fear of unintentionally flashing someone. Makes me feel like I'm some sorta closet exhibitionist or something."

Heero's laughter rang out through the apartment.

Dressed, combed, and fortified with chicken noodle soup, Heero felt that his visitor was ready for their 'talk'.

"Alright, let's get this started. Who are you? What is your name?" Heero asked, fingering the ring that was hanging down his neck in a simple gold chain, as he looked intently at the other boy.

Lips puckered in concentration, brows knitted in thought, and after a few moments... a sigh of defeat. Hanging his head, he answered, "I don't know," a little pause, and then, "I remember waking up in the alley beside your apartment with the mother of all headaches. I remember stumbling through the blinding rain until I reached the first door I could find -- yours. I remember asking for your help before I passed out again..." Duo looked helplessly at Heero, "...but I can't remember my name..."

Heero nodded in understanding, though the look on his face said he was perplexed by this answer. Reaching out a hand, Heero ran his fingers over the other boy's head and felt the sizeable lump there. "Trauma to the head," Heero murmured. "I guess that would account for your memory loss," hearing the sudden intake of breath and seeing that panicked look enter those amethyst eyes, Heero was quick to reassure, "it could be temporary, though. Trauma to the head like the one you have rarely ever causes permanent memory loss." And then whispered, "I think."

Hearing the other boy make a strangled noise of distress, Heero decided on another tact, "Don't worry. Did you know that I work as a nurse's aid in the hospital downtown? What do you say we go to the hospital tomorrow and have one of the doctors there have a look at you? We've got a new doctor there. She says she's a General Practitioner but she's had so much experience with head trauma patients that she could be considered a specialist in the area. What do you say?"

Giving Heero a considering look, the nameless one slowly nodded his assent. Heero smiled in return. "So for now, we need a temporary name for you." Seeing another questioning look from the other boy, Heero hastened to add, "Well, I need to call you something don't I?"

The other boy nodded in agreement but did not a supply a name for Heero. Instead, he asked, "Do you live here alone?" as he looked around the expectedly spacious second floor with the expectedly sparsely furnished kitchen, the comfy window seat, which has easily become his favorite spot, and then back to the simple pine square table they were at.

Heero nodded, looking closely at the other boy, wondering where this was going.

"All by your itty, bitty self?" the other reiterated.

Another nod.

"So you're on your own? Going solo?"

"Yes," Heero finally got out with a hint of impatience in it.

The other boy gave a wide smile. "Well, if you're going solo, why don't I be Duo?"

"Huh?!" Heero was completely lost.

"My name," the other boy clarified. "Why don't you call me Duo?"

"Duo." Heero said, rolling the name around his tongue. "Weird name..."

"You don't like it?" face crumpling in disappointment.

"No, no!" Heero quickly assured, "I just thought it was an uncommon name, but I think it's as good a name as any. Duo it is then."

Duo just gave a beatific smile.

"Are you sure that this doctor is good?" Duo asked for what seemed like the thousandth time since they got to the hospital.

Heero bit back an impatient sigh. He's been watching Duo since the drive to the hospital and he's had to deal with Duo's questions that had, if one were to listen closely, a tiny bit of a whining quality to them. Right now, Duo has gone back to fidgeting, one of his hands clenching and unclenching, his other hand was playing with the tip of his meter-long chestnut braid. His teeth were worrying his lower lip and his eyes were furtively glancing around.

Heero gave up and finally asked, "Duo, what's wrong?"

Duo started and looked at Heero guiltily. "Nothing... I'm fine. I... I, um, I'm finding that I don't seem to like hospitals very much."

Heero looked closely at Duo, not sure whether or not to believe the excuse that was given him. Before Heero had a chance to decide, however, the two of them were called into the doctor's examination room.

"Sally, good morning." Heero greeted the doctor, and then turned to his companion, "Duo, this is Dr. Sally Po."

"Good morning, doctor." Duo practically mumbled in greeting, refusing to meet the good doctor's eyes.

Heero, looking in askance at Duo, seemed as if he was about to say something to Duo but before he could say anything, the doctor asked him to stay in the waiting room while she examined Duo.

After talking to Duo, doing a physical examination on him, and getting back the results on his CT Scan, Sally Po was ready to talk to the two young men.

"As you already know, Duo received quite a trauma to the head," Sally started explaining. "This resulted to a blood clot in his brain which, in turn, is responsible for his memory loss." Looking directly at Duo, she continued, "This condition is most assuredly temporary, though."

Once again looking at both boys, Sally went on, "Duo will not be needing any operation as the blood clot will disappear on its own. This will, of course, take some time; the clot will get smaller in the following months until it completely disappears. In the same manner that the disappearance of the blood clot is gradual, so will the return of your memories be," looking at Duo again, "So don't rush and stress yourself out if you have a hard time recalling your past. They will all come back to you in time. Just take it easy and make sure you get a lot of rest."

Sally gave out a few other do's and don'ts for Duo and then scheduled a progress check-up before declaring that the boys may go. Thanking the doctor, Heero and Duo were just about to leave when Sally seemed to remember something else she had to say.

"Uh, Heero?" both boys stopped halfway to the door and turned to look back at the doctor. Seeing that she caught the dark-haired boy's attention, Sally expressed a concern she had. "Duo will not be needing an operation," she repeated her earlier statement, "but what he does need is familiarity. You are the one person he knows now. In order to expedite his healing, it is imperative that --"

"I know, doctor." Heero interrupted her, and with a little smile to apologize for rudely cutting her off, "Duo will be staying with me for as long as he wants to. Thanks again, Sally." Then, without looking at his companion, "Let's go home, Duo."

Duo threw a grateful smile to the doctor before rushing out to follow Heero.

Two months have passed since Duo first stumbled into Heero's arms. Two months since Duo started sharing the two-bedroom apartment with Heero. Those two months have wrought visible changes to the apartment; with Heero's permission (and with a bit of Heero's savings), Duo tirelessly worked to make the apartment more inviting, more livable. Duo got rid of the sterile white walls and ceiling in his bedroom, painting them a dramatic dark violet instead, and then he flecked the walls with various lighter shades of violet such as lilac, lavender, etc., making his bedroom look like a dark, moonless sky bedecked with a million stars. At Duo's insistence, Heero's room also underwent a major transformation. Heero and Duo worked on rearranging Heero's room and putting up the elegant sapphire blue wall paper Duo chose to conceal the drab old pale blue paint that used to cover Heero's bedroom walls. During Heero's off days, both of them would comb through furniture bargain sales, looking for things they might want for the apartment.

The two have adjusted well to living with each other. They settled into a routine after the first couple of weeks, where Heero goes out to work and always come home at a specific time, and Duo stays in the apartment playing the dutiful housekeeper -- a role which Heero finds endlessly amusing for the other boy, seeing as how Duo never seems to manage to keep his own room neat. However, Duo's a decent cook and he manages to keep the house clean enough so Heero doesn't complain... too much.

Heero was tired and hungry. The hospital has been getting more and more patients and the hospital staff was getting swamped; Heero could only assume that the increased number of patients had something to do with the weather turning colder. As was his custom, Heero gave his apartment a sweeping, cursory inspection after he closed and locked the door behind him. This time, however, he gave a faint little smile at the obviously hastily repositioned chairs instead of a frown of disgust at a rarely used couch that used to be the only content of the spacious sitting room.

Already feeling the day's tension start to drain out of him, Heero took the steps of the stairs two at a time in his haste to find out what Duo prepared for dinner. Reaching the top of the stairs, Heero's eyes automatically went to the window seat where they knew they'd find Duo.

Duo was exactly where Heero found him every time the latter went home: sitting by the window, gazing out with unseeing eyes into the distant sky. Heero cleared his throat.

Startled out of his reverie, Duo's head swung around to Heero, a big, welcoming smile on his face. "Hey there, tough guy!" he greeted. "How was work?"

"Hn." Heero grunted in reply.

For some reason, this response caused Duo's smile to widen even more and his eyes to sparkle. "That bad, huh? Well, I've got steamed fish, buttered vegetables, rice and miso soup waiting for you. That ought to make you feel better, ne?"

Heero smiled gratefully at Duo as the former made his way to the small dining table. The kitchen and the dining room were still quite bare since Duo's "decorating fit", as Heero has taken to calling it, has not yet extended to the second floor -- there wasn't enough time.

Duo uncurled himself from the window seat with unconscious grace and went to the kitchen to serve their dinner. Finally setting down the bowl of miso soup, Duo sat down from across Heero on the table and they started eating dinner. As they ate and talked, Heero was once again fingering the ring that was hanging down his neck. Duo had first noticed this certain mannerism of Heero's the first time they sat down to talk. Since then, Duo observed that Heero did this unconsciously whenever he was perplexed or in deep thought.

Unable to stop himself, Duo blurted out the question, "What are you thinking about?"

"Huh? What do you mean? Weren't we just talking about --"

"No," Duo interrupted before Heero could finish what he wanted to say, "I was talking about the non-happenings of my day; you, on the other hand, were nodding your head at well-spaced intervals, pretending to be listening when you were actually miles away thinking about something else that seems to be really important."

Heero gaped at Duo, his mouth opening and closing several times like a fish out of water, before he managed an intelligible, "Why...? I mean, What...? How...?"

Duo smiled wryly at Heero. "The ring," Duo said as he nodded towards the ring clutched in Heero's hand. "I noticed that you fidget with it when you're worried or seriously thinking about something," he added with a careless shrug. "What's with that ring, anyway?"

Heero gave Duo a sheepish smile as an apology for his earlier inattentiveness, and then, in answer to Duo's question, Heero unclasped the simple gold chain with the ring and offered it to Duo. "It's a reminder," Heero added quietly.

Duo examined the ring, turning it this way and that. It looked a tad too small for Heero's fingers, which was probably why he wore it on a chain instead. As was the norm for anybody who was examining a ring, Duo tried putting it on his own fingers; it fit his ring finger. The ring was a simple gold band, the kind that one would most often see at the hands of married couples; and like other wedding rings, this ring had a name engraved on it: Heero.

Duo held the chain, ring and all, back to Heero. "A reminder of what?"

Without meeting Duo's eyes, Heero took the proffered chain and cryptically answered, "A reminder of something I don't seem to want to remember..." Duo seemed to want to question Heero further, but the cobalt-eyed boy stood up with his plate without another word and headed toward the kitchen sink.

That was the end of that conversation and Duo knew it. A sad little smile graced his lips as he threw a look of such longing towards Heero's retreating back.

Struggling for full consciousness in that place between sleep and awareness, Heero's hand traveled toward the other half of his bed, hoping to come against something... something warm, something soft, something cherished. Though not really knowing what it was his hand was looking for, in his state of half-sleep, Heero's brow furrowed when his hand consistently met with nothing but cool, empty sheets.

The shrill noise of his bedside alarm clock rudely jerked him into full wakefulness, though. Slamming his hand down on the abhorrent timepiece to silence it, Heero reluctantly sat up on his bed as he squeezed his eyes shut in frustration, trying to recapture that very vague, yet hauntingly familiar feeling that he had prior to really waking up.

Sensory memory. Something that your senses are so used to, so familiar with, that they can remember it even if your mind does not. Something your senses react to or search out instinctively simply because they've had a really long time to get used to it. 'Was that it?' Heero asked himself. 'Was I reaching for something that I used to have? ...Did I used to sleep with a teddy bear?' Heero shook his head disgustedly at that last thought. He wasn't the sleep-with-a-teddy-bear kind of guy, although the thought of a teddy bear stirred something in him. 'So what was I looking for?'

There it was again. That nameless nagging feeling that niggled at the back of Heero's mind. The feeling that was so insistent that he was missing... something. That same old feeling he was struggling with the night Duo came into his life. Without thinking, Heero's hand sought out the ring once again as he tried to make sense of that shadowy feeling; he finds himself getting that feeling more often these days. 'Come to think of it, I seem to be getting this feeling more often since Duo came -- Aw, Hell!' Heero abruptly ended his private musing when he caught his train of thought. He didn't really know what was happening to him, but it disturbed him when he noticed that lately, he seemed to always think of things in relation to his housemate. He measured days and months in terms of how long Duo had been with him. When he passed by a shop, Heero would always find himself commenting on the merits of the products being sold in terms of whether or not Duo would like them. If Heero had some scheduled free time, he would always consider Duo before planning any activity.

At first, Heero supposed that it was a natural part of learning to live with someone; to consider their thoughts, their feelings, their preferences. But then, when Duo started to sneak into Heero's thoughts in the unlikeliest of places and times, he began to wonder in earnest. Was Duo just someone he lived with? Was that all he was to Heero? The fact that Duo occupied his thoughts more times than he'd care to admit, Heero was beginning to question the relationship he shared with the other young man. The fact that Duo was just too nice to him didn't help matters any; Duo doted on Heero like a giddy new wife, fussing over him, giving him massages when he went home all tired out from work, preparing meals that had become Heero's instant favorites. And of course, there was this little matter of Duo's favorite pastime: watching Heero's every movement when he thought Heero wasn't paying attention. It was almost as though... as if... as if Duo had a crush on him. But... nah!

Shaking his head, as though to clear the cobwebs that had suddenly accumulated there, Heero stood up and prepared for another day of work. He decided that it was useless to dwell on things that he cannot understand at that point. He'd just have to be patient and wait to see how things played out.

At the bottom of the stairs, Heero called up to Duo, "I'm leaving!"

Seconds later, holding a dirty rag and a spray bottle of glass cleaner, wearing a thin white shirt, a grubby pair of jeans that were once Heero's, and a smidgen of dirt on the bridge of his nose, Duo appeared at the top of the stairs. He was obviously cleaning out the second floor in preparation for his 'decorating fit'. "Aren't you going to have brunch first?"

"No, thanks," Heero answered, shaking his head. "I've got to rush or I'm going to be late for my shift."

Duo grimaced at that. "Okay then. But you know, they really ought to have a bit more consideration than that; after all, you took the graveyard shift yesterday. You've only slept a couple of hours!"

Heero gave a small smile. "That's the way life goes. I've got to work hard if I am going to keep up with the way you spend my money," he said jokingly.

An eyebrow raised, "Funny, I don't hear you complaining about the results. Besides, you actually ingest most of the things we spend money on." Duo dryly said in response to the jibe. Heero was chuckling softly. Duo shook his head at Heero, "Now, if you're done implying that I am a terrible 'wife' for squandering your money and decorating you out of hearth and home, you'd best rush out before you really do become late," and then he muttered under his breath, "you'd probably blame me for that, too."

Answering instinctively to the slightly authoritative tone Duo's voice had taken, Heero replied with a, "Ninmu ryoukai," then he gave a roguish smile and a jaunty salute.

Duo's mouth gaped open in mystification at Heero's choice of words before he managed a last-minute directive for the young man who was just about to leave, "Don't forget your umbrella! It's been raining like crazy since early this morning."

Right before the front door closed, Duo heard Heero's, "Such a mother hen!"

Duo made a face and stuck out his tongue at no one in particular before he went back to his chores.

Heero went home sopping wet. Duo just tsk, tsked at him.

"What?" Heero asked almost defensively.

"I didn't say a thing," Duo answered in mild amusement. "Go and change into some dry clothes before you drown in the ones you're wearing," he added before he left to get a couple of freshly laundered towels.

A few minutes later, both young men were seated by the windows. Heero was still toweling his hair dry as he groused about the weather. "The damned umbrella you told me to bring was completely useless! There I was, holding an umbrella over my head when the rain was coming at me from all directions! Gravity was pulling the rain down, the wind was blowing the rain sideways, and the pavement was sending a spray back upward for every drop that falls against it! I got soaked despite the fact that I went through all that trouble of bringing an umbrella! Now, I ask you, where is the justice in that?!?"

Duo was doubled over in laughter despite the glare that Heero was sending his way. "You know," Duo said in between bouts of mirth, "for someone who can be so uptight at times, you really are a riot!"

Heero muttered something unintelligible about justice falling on Duo's head one of these days under his breath.

Duo gave another a hoot of hilarity. "Stop it! You're beginning to sound just life Wufei!"

Heero raised a brow at him. "And just who," he asked, "is Wufei?"

The laughter died out of Duo as he processed the question. "Wufei is..." He looked away as he thought. "Wufei is... I don't know..." A frustrated hand impatiently brushed his bangs away from his face as he repeated, "I don't know who Wufei is."

Seeing that the question upset Duo, Heero decided to drop it. This was happening more often lately. In his unguarded moments, Duo would let out a piece of information, probably a piece of his past, just like the one he just had. It seems that Dr. Sally Po was correct; Duo's memory was coming back in small increments. Just last week, he mentioned something about being in a boarding school. Three days ago, he said something about the former Queen of Sanc Kingdom so matter-of-factly that it sounded as if he really knew her personally. And then, there was today. Heero wondered who was Wufei. A friend, maybe? A special friend, perhaps?

Heero was taken aback at the upsurge of unidentifiable emotions his last thought had invoked. Could it be that he truly had gone and fallen in love with Duo? Heero turned to look at Duo and was surprised to find the other boy studying his face. 'Had he seen the emotions crossing my face?' Heero wondered.

Heero stared right back at the enigmatic young man and was puzzled by the frail hope that he could see fervently burning behind the other's amethyst eyes. Without words, it seemed as though Duo was trying to communicate something to Heero... as though Duo was trying to ask something from him which only he could give. Though his mind couldn't seem to comprehend, Heero's body seemed to be willing enough to give in to the request that only it could understand clearly. Though not consciously willing it to happen, Heero leaned towards Duo as the latter fought a losing battle to keep his eyes from fluttering shut. With only a hair's breadth between the two, a sudden boom of deafening thunder caused them to jump apart; whatever strange spell that, at least for a moment, bound them together suddenly vanished.

Duo was looking owlishly at Heero, mouth agape, mind racing, trying to comprehend what just happened... or rather what didn't happen.

Heero, looking thoroughly uncomfortable, mumbled an inane excuse about being tired and then made a quick get-away to his room.

Turning in his bed for the nth time, Heero finally gave a sigh of defeat, kicked off his blanket out of sheer frustration, sat up in bed, and ultimately admitted that he wasn't getting any sleep that night.

'Warm milk,' he thought to himself, 'I'll get myself a glass of warm milk and then fall right to sleep.'

It sounded logical to him and so Heero padded out of his room to go to the kitchen upstairs.

Heero reached the top of the steps and found Duo, not sitting on the window seat as was his custom, but on the windowsill nursing a mug of hot choco in his hands, staring blankly out into the pouring rain. Duo's profile, dimly illuminated by the nearby lamppost, looked so completely alone, vulnerable. What little Heero could see of Duo's face revealed an expression that made him look so completely lost, so pitifully bereft, so unbelievably heartbroken.

And then, into the still darkness, Heero heard Duo whisper three names: "Quatre... Trowa... Wufei..."

Not knowing what it was he just walked into, Heero remained where he was, not daring to make a sound.

Duo, completely unaware of the other's presence, continued with his quietly voiced, if disjointed, musings. "...I don't know... Quatre, Trowa, Wufei... I don't know anymore... What do I do now?" Duo said in an agonized whisper.

'Fuck it! He's still worrying over the fact that he can't remember!' Heero thought, as his own worry propelled him to get closer to Duo. With the intention of talking to Duo, of trying to offer him a bit of comfort, Heero walked to the person who had, in the last few months, become his best friend.

"Duo," Heero whispered as he laid a hand on Duo's shoulder.

Duo's head swung around, his surprise evident in the fact that he had not bothered to wipe away the tears he had been silently shedding. "Heero..." he managed to get out on a choked sob as he nervously swiped at the damning wetness on his cheeks with the edge of his long sleeve. Not knowing what to say, Duo looked down into the mug he was nursing and kept his silence.

Those twin streaks of wet silver lining Duo's cheeks, though very briefly seen, moved Heero in a way he couldn't even begin to explain. Gently, Heero placed a hand under Duo's chin and lightly nudged his face up until Duo was once again looking at him. All thoughts of comforting and reassuring Duo went flying out the window when Heero looked into those pain-filled amaryllis eyes. Before either of them knew what was happening, Heero swooped down and captured Duo's mouth, which opened into a little 'oh' of surprise moments before Heero's mouth descended upon his.

In surprise, one of Duo's hands went to Heero's chest, as if to push him away. But Heero, as if sensing the other's intention, placed a gently restraining hand upon the side of Duo's face, effectively keeping Duo's head where it was. As Heero's mouth became more demanding, more insistent, and as the kiss steadily grew more passionate, Duo gave a little whimper of surrender as the hand that was on Heero's chest slid up over his shoulder and eventually came to rest on Heero's nape. Finally abandoning the mug that he never even drank out of, anyway, Duo's other hand followed the one that was already on Heero's nape, and silently urged him to come closer.

Those hands' gentle tugging made Heero come back to his senses in a hurry. He pulled away from Duo, even taking a couple of steps backwards for good measure. Breathing hard, lips moist and swollen from their passionate kiss, Heero looked questioningly at Duo. That kiss felt so right, so familiar. But that was supposed to be their first kiss, wasn't it? So why this feeling of familiarity? Why did everything about Duo seem so damned familiar? How could Duo stir so many emotions inside Heero? So many mad thoughts and questions were clamoring for attention inside Heero's head that he didn't know which one to focus on.

Staring at each other, Heero could hardly fail to notice when Duo's tears started to fall once again. Big, fat drops of tears trembled at Duo's lower lashes before giving in to gravity and falling, recreating the paths down his cheeks that Duo had wiped away just moments before.

"Why?" Duo asked in an aching whisper. Slowly moving down from the window to stand in front of Heero, Duo beseechingly asked, "Why can't you remember me, Heero? Did I truly mean so little to you that you could forget about me so completely?"

"What?!" Heero asked, completely confused. His hand automatically sought out the ring hanging down his neck. "Duo, are you feeling alright? You're the one who --"

"And what about the others?" Duo asked again, cutting off Heero, continuing his line of questioning as though Heero never spoke at all. Tears falling in earnest now, his voice rising in barely suppressed anger and bitterness, Duo went on, "What about Wufei, Quatre, and Trowa? What did they mean to you? We survived two wars together!" Duo was slowly stalking Heero as he talked, while the latter was shaking his head in denial and confusion, taking a step away with every step Duo made towards him.

'This is too surreal to be happening!' Heero thought. Was Duo having a breakdown? Was it because his memories were not coming back as quickly as he wanted them to? But no; when Duo mentioned those three names to him, brief images and faces flashed through his mind. His thumb was furiously rubbing the ring now.

"After Mariemeia, after Relena's pretty speech, after everything has been over and done with, Heero you promised me!" Duo plowed on, "Heero, don't you remember?"

Heero shook his head at Duo more vigorously. 'This is not happening... This doesn't make any sense...'

Duo persistently went on, "You told me you had to leave. You said you'd be leaving me, but only for a little while. You said there was something you needed to take care of, but you promised..." Duo's voice had taken on a pleading note, "You promised me you'd come back for me, remember, Heero? You promised me almost two years ago you'd come back for me but you never did..."

Seeing that his words were not having their intended effect on Heero, Duo suddenly felt all the fight in his weary soul go out. God, but he was tired. He felt his legs refuse to support him any longer and he fell onto his knees in a miserable heap on the floor.

Heero was seriously disturbed by Duo's earlier outburst. He didn't know what to say, how to react. But seeing Duo so broken, so defeated caused a sharp pain in his chest. Almost reluctantly, he went and knelt in front of Duo. "Duo...?"

Duo looked up at Heero, his tears still silently coursing down his already tear-streaked face. Duo reached out a tentative, shaking hand to cup Heero's cheek. "Have I lost you so completely?" he asked in a tremulous, heartbroken whisper.

Despite his confusion and the dreadful headache that he could feel setting on, Heero aimed to reassure. He gave a small smile, covered the hand Duo had over his cheek with his own, his other hand brushing away Duo's tears, Heero soothingly answered, "You haven't lost me, Duo. I'm here. I'll always be here for you."

For some reason, this only made Duo's tears flow harder. "Oh, Heero, will you never remember me again?" A sad little smile graced Duo's lips, "I was so damned arrogant when I told the guys I'd bring you back. I told them I'd make you remember us... make you remember me. Won't you come back to me, Heero? There were a few times when I thought you were coming back to me. Remember when you started grunting your trademark 'Hn' again? And remember 'Ninmu ryoukai'? That was your favorite phrase... well, that and 'Ninmu kanryou'," he added with a teary smile. Duo's thumb was making soothing little strokes on Heero's cheek. "I love you so damned much, Heero Yuy;" Duo bit back a sob before adding, "Will I never hear you tell me that you love me ever again? Me, Heero. Not the Duo who stumbled into your arms on a cold, stormy night, feigning amnesia, but me, the Duo you already loved once before. Love me again, Heero, please. Love Duo Maxwell."

A sudden burst of lightning clearly illuminated Heero's shocked face. 'Duo Maxwell' the name reverberated throughout his entire being. '...Duo Maxwell...' And then, without warning, it was as if a floodgate had been opened in Heero's mind. He clutched his head at the sudden burst of agony within his skull and gave a tiny cry of distress as his mind was assaulted by a million and one images.

We were hiding out in this boarding school before a mission. Duo threw an arm over my shoulders after a basketball game, as he was gamely waving to all the girls who were cheering for us. He urged me to smile and wave to the girls as well.

Duo and I were yet again sharing a room in another safe house. A bored Duo was pestering me to indulge in a pointless diversionary activity with him. I ignored him and continued working on the report I was typing on my laptop.

Quatre and Trowa finally admitted to us that they were in a relationship. Wufei only smiled his acceptance of their announcement. I congratulated both Quatre and Trowa. Duo was loudly cheering for the two and giving loud wolf whistles. He thought I didn't see it, but I didn't miss the yearning look Duo threw my way.

I can't take Duo out of my thoughts: his smile, the sound of his laughter, the way he walks, his cocky way of speaking...

Duo and I kiss for the first time.

Waking up beside Duo every morning is one of the greatest joys life has to offer.

On and on the thoughts and the images went. Years and years of Heero's past were catching up to him.

As suddenly as they had come, the memories rushing through Heero's head stopped... And then, everything became black.

Heero surfaced to consciousness gradually. Slowly opening his eyes, Heero took a little time to adjust to the bright sunlight filtering into the room he was in. Looking around, carefully assessing his surroundings, it didn't take Heero long to realize that he was in a hospital room. The crisp white sheets, the sterile walls, and the antiseptic scent floating in the air gave it away.

Gingerly sitting up in his bed, Heero stopped short when the ring at then end of his necklace fell out from beneath his hospital gown's neckline. Heero reached behind his neck to unclasp the simple gold chain and studied the ring. As he was studying the ring, the door to his room opened and Duo came in with a bouquet of wildflowers. Closing the door behind him, Duo looked to the hospital bed and was surprised to find Heero awake and watching him with avid interest.

"Heero! You're awake!" Duo jubilantly exclaimed, as he carelessly tossed the bouquet he was carrying into one of the empty chairs, and then moving on to Heero's bedside.

Heero raised an eyebrow at Duo to show him that he was not impressed with Duo's ability to state the obvious.

Duo answered that look with a sheepish smile and leaned down to kiss Heero's forehead. "How are you feeling? You've been asleep for three days and I was really scared that you might not wake up again..."

"Baka." Heero replied in a voice scratchy from disuse. Duo gave a brilliant smile at the familiar teasing. "I'll be fine," Heero said in answer to Duo's question, and then added, "I told you I'll always be here for you didn't I?" his intense cobalt blue eyes staring at Duo.

Duo nodded in the affirmative, his brilliantly shining eyes never leaving his beloved Heero's face, and his lips forming an exceptionally radiant smile of pure joy.

"Duo," Heero tenderly said as he took Duo's left hand with his own, "I have a lot of questions to ask. There are a lot of things I need to know, and a lot of explaining that you'll have to do. But before that," Heero lovingly slipped on the gold band he was still holding in his right hand onto Duo's left ring finger, "I want you to have this."

Duo, though truly touched by the gesture, looked unsure and raised questioning eyes to Heero.

"It was always supposed to be yours." Heero said in answer to Duo's question. "I had that ring made for you. I was on my way back to you, Duo, just as I promised; back to you with that ring."

"Thank you, Heero! Thank you so much!" Duo ecstatically thanked Heero, as the former showered the latter with little kisses all over his face. "I love you so very much!" Duo added in a heartfelt sigh.

Heero's hands captured Duo's face and he gave the latter a thorough kiss before letting go and demanding an explanation, "Now tell me everything that I need to know."

Duo nodded and started to tell his story. "You left me because you said you had some business you had to take care of. You didn't tell me what it was and I didn't ask --"

"Duo, I already know all this." Heero interrupted.

Duo gave Heero a dirty look, silently warning him not to interrupt again, and then continued. "I was okay for the first six months because although you never told me what sort of business you were taking care of, I received an e-mail from you at least once every week, so at least I knew that you were fine. But then, all of a sudden, the e-mails stopped coming."

"I met with an accident." Heero quietly told Duo. "I got hit by a speeding vehicle and suffered from amnesia." And then, looking sardonically at Duo, Heero added, "I got the real deal."

Duo just snorted and then went on, "After three months of not hearing anything from you, the rest of the guys and I decided to look for you; I refused to believe that you were anything less than alive. But for some reason, even with our combined efforts, we couldn't track you down. You wouldn't believe how many registered Heero Yuy's there are in this galaxy! It seems, that Dr. J wasn't alone in coming up with the brilliant idea of naming little boys after one of the greatest heroes of the colonies. And that made locating you even harder to do." Duo stopped when Heero started snickering. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

Heero couldn't quite repress the smile on his face when he answered, "I was amused at the fact that I got my name after the accident the same way. The only thing they found on me on the day of the accident was that ring. Taking a clue from the name engraved on the ring, I became Heero, but without a family name. One of the nurses who grew up in the colonies suggested that I take on Yuy as a last name, basically because that's the last name usually associated with Heero."

Duo nodded in understanding and then continued telling his side of the tale. "So almost 8 months have passed since I last heard from you and a little over a year since you left. As luck would have it, Sally Po contacted Wufei who, in turn, told me that she just started working in this hospital where one of the doctors said he looked at a head trauma patient suffering from amnesia 8 months ago and who, oddly enough, didn't seem bothered by the fact that he couldn't remember his past. When the doctor disclosed the name 'Heero Yuy' Sally thought we might be interested to know that the said patient was functioning normally and was working as a nurse's aid in the same hospital where she was working."

Heero nodded. "For some reason, I didn't forget about what I learned from first-aid and survival trainings. Even the doctors were astonished that I knew as much about the human body as did any of them. Particularly, I knew how much damage a body can sustain before giving way... I also knew a lot about patching people up, so everyone at the hospital assumed that I must have been a nurse or an aid before I got into the accident. They gave me a fairly simple assessment test to check the extent of my knowledge, and when I aced it, the doctor who looked after me gave me a recommendation and that's how I ended up working in the hospital."

"And that was how we found you." Duo said. "After doing preliminary investigation on your present status, I thought that the best way to get you to regain your memories was extended exposure to me; that was when I came up with the whole amnesia bit of my own. You found an actual lump on my head because when I presented the plan to the rest of the guys, Wufei was only too happy to accommodate me when I asked for a head injury that would look like it could seriously lead to memory loss. So there, those headaches on the first few days were unfeigned."

Heero was chuckling again.

Throwing a withering look at Heero, which was studiously ignored, Duo went on with the rest of the story. "I was very scared that first night because I didn't know how you'd react to me. Heck, you could have thrown me out into the streets before I even had the chance to try to see just how much of your past you could remember. And then there was that little trip to the hospital. I was really nervous when you brought me there because I knew that you were going to take me to Sally. The thing was, she didn't know a thing about what I was planning to do and I was afraid she was going to blow my cover the minute she saw me. It's a good thing she caught on fast. When she sent you out to wait in the waiting room, I sort of briefed her into the plan and she went right along with it. So she "borrowed" another patient's scan results to show you the blood clot that was supposedly in my brain. She even went as far as to try and tell you that you ought to keep me around you, just to increase the odds of my success. I was so confident that you'll get your memories back soon enough, but you didn't. You didn't remember me, Heero, and that drove me nearly insane! There were times when I slipped and let out names and information that I wasn't supposed to "remember"; then again there were times when I let them slip on purpose just to see if any of them struck a chord with you. During one of my supposed 'progress check-up's with Sally, she warned me not to push you too hard or you might... well, she said you might end up here in the hospital." Duo gave Heero an apologetic smile.

"Why, Heero?" Duo once again asked the question. "Why didn't you remember me?"

Heero thought for a while, as though arguing with himself about how to best answer that question. After a short pause, "I didn't want to," he answered simply.

"...Didn't... want to? But... But Heero...?"

"Don't misunderstand me." Heero started to explain. "It certainly wasn't because I didn't love you. It was just the circumstances. The doctor who examined me, he told me that my memory loss was temporary as well. But I was a very impatient patient." Heero gave little smile at the pun, "I wanted my memory back and I wanted it back right then. And when that didn't happen, I fell into thinking. I had a ring with me that didn't fit me. It probably belonged to someone I loved very much. My memories about the wars were particularly damaged and so I assumed that the person who owned the ring, the person I loved very much, died in the wars. When I thought that my mind didn't seem to want to remember the past, I let it go. I thought that the reason why I couldn't remember my past was that it must have been extremely horrible and I thought that I could spare myself a lot of grief and pain if I simply didn't remember it at all. I thought that my past must have been severely tragic and it's best forgotten. I started to build a future for myself and I didn't want to look back.

"So by the time you came into my life, even though my head was completely healed, my stubborn refusal to remember blocked even what little remembrance I may have had of you." Holding both Duo's hands with his own, Heero gazed deep into Duo's eyes and apologized, "I'm so sorry, Duo. I never wanted to cause you so much pain."

"I understand." Duo tenderly said as he buried his face at the crook of Heero's shoulder, his arms moving to encircle Heero's waist. "I finally understand."

Heero slightly moved away from Duo, a hand once again going under Duo's chin to tilt up the braided boy's face and meet his kiss.

The joyful reunions have all been done with as soon as Heero got back home. Heero thought he'd never hear the end of it, what with Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei taking turns chiding him about the fact that he could forget about the most important things in his life so completely. Unfortunately, since Duo apparently told the other guys that Heero had become more personable during his bout with amnesia, even the patented Heero Yuy Death GlareTM didn't have its intended effect on its targets.

"Save it for someone who cares, Yuy." Wufei condescendingly told Heero, as Trowa tried to hide a snicker and Quatre benignly smiled at Heero.

After that, Heero just rolled his eyes and bore all other jibes with a forbearance that both the pacifist queen and Heero's scientist trainer would have been proud of.

But at the end of that night, as though to reward Heero's good behavior, Quatre presented both Duo and Heero with the deed to their beloved two-storey apartment.

"It's a gift," the blond-haired Arab said. At the pleasantly surprised and questioning looks he received, Quatre clarified, "for your wedding."

Duo spluttered, "B...But... But we aren't getting married! I mean, we haven't gotten around to talking about it! I mean, thanks for the gift, Quat; I really ap-- I mean, WE really appreciate it, but we aren't... you know..." Duo ended by shrugging his shoulders weakly before looking towards Heero for help. Duo's helpless expression turned puzzled, however, when he saw that Heero was smiling amiably at Quatre, their eyes engaged in a private, silent exchange.

A few seconds later, Heero gave the blond ex-pilot of Sandrock a slight nod before moving closer to Duo and pulling the braided boy into a loose hug. Duo bonelessly let himself be pulled into the embrace. "Thanks, Quatre." Heero sincerely said, and to Duo's shock, his cobalt-eyed lover added, "We'll let you know when we decide on a date."

"Now that's what I wanted to hear!" Quatre said with a satisfied, beaming smile before turning to his own fiancée. "Well, Trowa, I think I've heard all I needed to hear tonight. Shall we go home? I'm sure Heero and Duo will have a lot to talk about."

Trowa's nod in the affirmative seemed to signal the end of the party as one by one, their guests said their goodbyes and left the two lovers to their own devices.

When the front door closed behind the last guest, Duo once again turned to Heero, "So we've got to decide on a date, have we?"

Heero could only nod, mesmerized by the sexy way Duo was slinking back towards him and by the seductive smile playing on the amethyst-eyed boy's face.

"I'm down with that," Duo said, "but first, I need help with something that's been bothering me the entire evening."

"Oh? And what is that?" Heero asked in a low voice that has become suspiciously huskier.

At that point, Duo had reached Heero and was practically wrapping himself around the other boy who was trying his best to appear indifferent and unaffected. "You know all about this problem," Duo whispered in a voice thickened by desire. "You dealt with it lots of times before."

"Funny, I can't seem to remember." Heero answered in between little kisses to Duo's neck.

At that reply, Duo pulled back a little to look into Heero's eyes, a positively evil little smile playing on his lips. "In that case, let me remind you." And Duo did. All night long.