The individual candies were lined up along the top line of Heero's blotter, arranged by where they fell in the spectrum. Red was always the first to go with blue bringing up the rear. M&Ms had made a lot of changes in their time, but to Duo's knowledge they had yet to produce an indigo or violet one so that made blue the final victim of Heero's sweet tooth. Even if they were to produce ones that represented the end of the spectrum they would never make their way into Duo's candy dish.

No, he'd learned his lesson with the Easter version well over a year ago. He'd come back to the office after setting them out to find Heero glowering at the innocuous piece of crystal; his jaws clenched and lips a thin slash across his face. Heero had refused to even entertain the idea of trying the pastel sweets, arguing that it would not be the same. He'd left the office in a horrible mood that didn't begin to lighten until the next morning when he approached Duo's desk and found the candy dish populated with the usual plain M&Ms, his good humor fully restored by the time he took his usual one of each color out of the dish and carried them almost reverently to his desk.

Duo had learned something that day. It wasn't just the candy that was important to Heero, but the moment and the routine. There were not many things that Heero had even been able to trust would be a constant in his life and this small thing had become one of them. Duo had bagged the offending candy and left it on Une's desk with a note for her to enjoy it. Considering the other Easter gift he and Trowa were working on for the Commander he figured some chocolate would help balance the scales in his direction a bit.

Heero looked up from his paperwork, a slight smile on his face. He nodded briefly, fingers reaching for the next candy in line. Duo couldn't help but grin in response. There was something about seeing Heero relaxed and at ease that made him feel that, while not all was right the world, but maybe there was hope that some day it could be.